Chapter 454: A Strange Element Part 2

The next day Kana walked outside the cave and breathed out a puff of steam as the cold mountain wind blew by. She took out her element detection device and switched it on. Once she confirmed everything was the same as yesterday, Kana was ready to leave. "We will be flying over who knows how much water, so be prepared."

"Kana, if need be, if something happens, I can make a space at the bottom of the ocean to keep us undercover." Aoi had no idea what they may face over the ocean, but she hoped it would never come down to them needing to hide.

"Okay. If anything, we could do some ocean bottom exploring as well, after we are all done, of course." Kana did not mind checking out the bottom of the ocean. It seemed like it would be interesting enough. 

The group flew out over the ocean to see a calm blue sea. Small waves peaked here and there, but other than that, it seemed eerily still.  After flying for a few days straight, Kana finally paused mid air to look around. "Kana, do you think we are close to land?" Naru asked.

"I am not sure..." Kana wrinkled her nose as she waved the device in her hand around. "Umm… I think we are here..." 

No matter which direction Kana pointed the device, the beeping she had before was not found. She pointed it down and got nothing, but when she pointed it up, it went crazy again. Kana looked around and saw a thick cloud bank right above them. It was not a storm cloud as they were white and puffy, but it seemed to be very dense for a normal cloud... "It should be up there. Let's go check it out." 

Aoi and Naru looked at each other and shrugged as they flew high up into the sky.  They flew around the cloud bank up to its top. But what awaited them was not exactly what they were expecting. On top of the clouds was a large white castle. Around it were different kinds of plant shaped clouds as well as cloud shaped animals frolicking around the grassy cloud fields. "This is very strange..."

"Is this even an element? I mean... " Aoi and Naru both had no idea what kind of element could create such a place.

"It may not have been an element that created this place, just like how I found the two of you. In the end, the places I found you were not created by you either. So my guess is that the element we seek is in the castle there." Kana was not sure if what she said was true, but it was most likely the best answer. 

The group flew across the cotton landscape and landed at the doorsteps of the castle. After looking around and not seeing anything too out of the ordinary, they walked up to the door and pushed it open. What lay in front of their eyes was a pearly white interior with golden trim. The front entrance led into a large hall with a platform on the far wall. On each side of the platform were two doors and on the left and right of the room were hallways leading to other parts of the castle. 

Kana looked at her device and noticed it indicated whatever they were searching for was still above them. "Aoi, you and Naru go together and look around. You are not to split up, though. Just in case anything happens, you will be safe if you are together."

"Mmm… You should be careful too, Kana." Aoi said before taking Naru's hand and flying off into the distance. 

Kana watched as they flew off to the left before proceeding to the platform. When she stood on it, she almost jumped out of her skin when a semi transparent screen l appeared in front of her. "A computer screen?" Kana tilted her head to the side as she looked at the semi transparent screen while scratching her head at the same time.

"I have never seen these kinds of characters before, but for some reason, I feel like I can read it. They seem like numbers..." There were strange symbols on the panel, all laid out in a list fashion. Kana reached out and tapped one of the buttons. As she did, the whole platform glowed, causing her to close her eyes. When the light dimmed, she found the area around her had changed. "So this is like an elevator." 

Kana walked off the platform the semi transparent screen that was in front of her disappeared. She looked around to see that she was in a large room but much smaller than the last. She turned on her device and spun around the room before pointing it towards the ceiling. When she saw that she had to go higher she got back on to the platform and pressed the next button. 

After seven different floors Kana finally arrived at the floor that was at the same level as the element she was looking for. She walked out of the room that had the platform and found herself in a long hallway with many paintings on the wall each one depicting a different kind of being. Some of which Kana had never seen before. But when she walked by one painting she paused her steps and looked at it. There was a woman with pure white hair, two black horns and a halo hanging off of one of them. "Hmmm… She is quite pretty." The woman was dressed in a pure white sleeveless dress that went down to her feet. When you combined it all with her fair skin and white feathered wings it was as if she was the purest being in the world. 

Kana reached up and touched the painting. For some reason she felt a bit nostalgic when she touched it. Letting out a sigh she retracted her hand and turned to look down the hall. "Let's go see what this element truly is."