Kai, on a high platform in the Sky Gardens, feeling a strange unease in the wind.)
Kai: (Muttering to himself) The winds... they're agitated. Something feels... off today. Like a storm brewing, but not the kind Aethoria usually sees.
(Suddenly, a distant explosion echoes, followed by a plume of bright orange smoke rising from the Crystal Quarter.)
Kai: Woah! What was that?!
(Kai quickly leaps and glides towards the smoke. He arrives to find Ren, surrounded by intensely flickering, almost sentient flames that are melting the crystalline ground. He's struggling, but the fire is overwhelmingly powerful, causing the Grand Pyre in the distance to pulse ominously.)
Kai: (Landing deftly) Hey! Are you alright?! That fire... it's incredible!
Ren: (Eyes blazing, hair flying, voice strained over the roar of flames) Incredible?! It's trying to consume the city! I... I can't stop it! It's too much!
Kai: (Focusing, hands outstretched) Stand back! I'll try to push it away!
(Kai unleashes a powerful vortex of wind, trying to contain the volatile flames. The fire twists and writhes, resisting his efforts, even seeming to feed on the wind for a moment before finally being pushed back, leaving scorching marks.)
Ren: (Panting, hair slightly singed) Th-thanks, Kai. It... it just erupted. I don't know what happened. I've never felt it that strong before.
Kai: (Eyes wide, looking at the lingering heat haze) That wasn't just strong. It felt like... the sun itself. Don't worry, we'll figure it out.
(Suddenly, a frantic shouting is heard from below. They look down to see a massive wave of water surging through the city's canals, swamping the lower districts and causing chaos. People are shouting and scrambling.)
Aoi: (Voice urgent, as she struggles on a floating platform, hands extended towards the rampaging water) No, stop! Don't do this!
(A girl nearby, Hana, quickly moves to a section of the canal, her hands moving with precise, graceful motions. The rampaging water instantly stills, then forms into a majestic, shimmering water dragon before dissolving back into the canals.)
Hana: (Calmly, bowing slightly to a soaked city guard) My sincerest apologies, citizen. The Water Crystal seems particularly lively today.
Aoi: (Staring at Hana, a mix of awe and frustration) How did you...?! I was trying to stop it, but it just kept going!
Hana: (Glancing at her) You have a strong connection. Perhaps you just need to guide it, not command it so fiercely.
(Just as the water subsides, a deep, ominous rumble shakes the entire city. Cracks spiderweb across the crystalline platforms, and entire sections of the city begin to tear apart. Dust and debris fly everywhere.)
Daichi: (Roaring, straining with outstretched hands as he tries to hold the crumbling ground together) Stay! Stay together! Why won't it listen?!
Kai: (Steadying himself against a flailing energy pylon) What's happening now?! The very foundations are splitting!
(A sudden, piercing cold sweeps through the air, causing ice crystals to bloom on everything. The trembling earth solidifies, the spreading cracks halting abruptly. A boy with silver hair stands quietly, a faint mist swirling around him, his eyes like glacial shards.)
Yuki: (Voice cold, clear) Unstable. Aetherium cannot sustain such uncontrolled fluctuations.
Ren: (Rubbing his arms, shivering despite his inner heat) Wh-who is that? That cold... it's intense!
Aoi: (Watching Yuki with calm curiosity) He stopped it. Just like that.
Kai: (Looking from one extraordinary person to another, a strange sense of inevitability settling over him) Wind... Fire... Water... Earth... Ice...
Daichi: (Still catching his breath, looking at them all) You all... you have powers too? Like mine?
Hana: (Nodding slowly, taking them all in) It appears the ancient prophecies speak true. The Five Crystals... they've awakened simultaneously.
Yuki: (A faint glint in his cold eyes) An unusual convergence. And dangerous, if these powers remain untamed.
Ren: (Looking at his hands, then at the others) So... we're not alone? And we're all... causing chaos?
Kai: (A determined look on his face) Maybe. But maybe, if we're together... we can learn to control it. And protect Aethoria, instead of just breaking it.
(Ha ha haah)A wild laugh .
Ren: Who's that!
To be continued...
