A different wind begins to blow, and something is preparing. Mathias and Elizabeth feel it, as they run side by side, hand in hand, through the corridors of the manor, to escape as quickly as possible before the arrival of other reinforcements. For a reason they do not know, the mansion is shaken by violent explosions, gravas fall from the walls and the ceiling. A chandelier comes off and crashes to the ground. Soldiers and creatures in the manor run away on all sides, panicking, and ignoring the couple, a chance for them. As they prepare to go downstairs, Elizabeth stops, casting a last look at the family portrait, and sighs, as if denying the fact that she was part of this family. How can she continue to see herself as the daughter of a man who has tried to make her a monster? And her mother, who died only a few weeks after her birth ..... What would she have said? Elizabeth does not know, and before joining Mathias down the stairs, makes the portrait disappear through a vortex, forever, then she goes to join her love.

When they arrive at the bottom of the great staircases, they are surprised to see Cornelius Slate, weapon in his hand, and accompanied by his troops of the Vox Populi, and at their feet, the corpses of guards whom they have slain. The old soldier smiled at them, satisfied, his only valid eye determined.

(Mathias): "Slate, I'm glad to see you ..... Listen, we did not succeed, I ......"

(Cornelius): "Forget it, it's from the past. After what happened to Chen Lin, we decided to act. Fink is dead, and we took possession of his factories. What matters now is what already begun."

(Elizabeth): "What begun?"

(Cornelius): "The revolution."

(Elizabeth):"Have you found my father?"

(Cornelius):"Unfortunatly, he's not here."

The couple looks at each other simultaneously, wondering if the Vox Populi will emerge victorious from this terrible conflict with the few means they have and where Zachary is. The rebels of the Vox Populi continue to invest the mansion, and begin to destroy everything in their path. Cornelius then addresses Elizabeth.

(Cornelius): "Madam, I know it's your home, but ..."

(Elizabeth): "No matter.... Destroy everything. I never want to see that place again of my life."

(Cornelius): "It will be done, believe me."

Rebels tear the curtains, and others set fire to reduce this immense house to ashes. A Boy of Silence arrives at a group of rebels without fear, and themselves, seeing this strange creature, decides to shoot it without thinking. The bullets rain in gusts on the boy of silence, which despite the shots, do not fall, beginning to surround itself with a kind of halo of energy, to unleash him around him.

"GROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAN!" Roared the creature in an explosion of energy, then disappeared without leaving any traces, leaving the rebels very perplexed. Taking advantage of the panic, the Vox Populi invades the rooms of the manor, taking the soldiers of the prophet by surprise and shooting them without the least pity. Elizabeth follows Mathias and Cornelius outside, without turning around, clenched fists and face closed. In front of the manor, heavily armored rebels put explosives on the statue of Zachary Comstock, detonating it in thousands of pieces, screaming at freedom and revolution. All around the manor, shuttles of the Vox Populi, painted red, and less elaborate than those of the prophet, fly slowly in the winds, soldiers armed with snipers are on the shuttles, watch the surroundings. One of the shuttles awaits at the level of the platform. Cornelius gets on board, and invites the couple to come aboard, which they do without hesitation. Around them, the violent winds are reinforced more and the sky continues to roar by spitting flashes. The shuttle takes off in the direction of Columbia, escorted by several other flying units, and Elizabeth leaves the house of her father, letting it in the hands of the rebels, without regret.

The group of rebellious shuttles fly slowly but surely, and now arrives, with an overview, over the immense flying city of Columbia. The war has already begun. Many buildings are on fire while others collapse to pieces by explosions. Heavy gunfire and gusts are heard throughout the streets. On the air bridges and roofs of buildings, hundreds of shootings are committed between the soldiers of Comstock and the rebels of Vox Populi. A platform is the victim of a missile, exploding into several pieces and killing all the soldiers on it. Giant propellers are destroyed by the crash of a shuttle, and the big building that was kept in the air begins to fall into the void, collapsing on itself. On a bridge, a shuttle tries to take civilians to take them safely, but the craft is destroyed by firing another missile, killing all the passengers on board in a hell of flames. In a war, the first victims are always the innocent, and that Mathias knows too well unfortunately. How many innocent citizens will be killed in this battle? He prefers not to think about it. Above the city, the Vox Populi shuttles engaged in an air battle against the Prophet's shuttles. Two shuttles collide, exploding in a hell of debris and flames and falling in the direction of the city. From their shuttle, Mathias and Elizabeth contemplate this terrible sight, their hearts tight, and praying almost for their success.

On the shuttles, snipers from each side shoot, hoping to shoot down their targets. A sniper of the Vox Populi is shot in the head and falls into the void. A furious Handyman, wearing the colors of the Vox, throws himself on one of the shuttles of the prophet, making it almost capsize. The Handyman is hit by the shoots of the soldiers on board, but is protected by his iron body. With his powerful hands, he crushes the men of Comstock as he passes, or seizes them to throw them into the void. The Handyman makes a final assault, sends his mechanical arm through the cockpit, destroying the dashboard, and drops with the enemy shuttle, which crashes and explodes on a tower. The battle continues, but for now, no way to know who really takes the lead. Suddenly, from the clouds emerges a huge zeppelin, carrying the symbol of the prophet and slowly advancing with the wind in the direction of the air battle. Elizabeth opened wide eyes at the sight of this airship and warned Mathias.

(Elizabeth): "This is the Hand of the Prophet."

(Mathias): "What?"

(Elizabeth): "Zachary Comstock's zeppelin. He's probably on board. Mathias, we have to go, we can end all of this now!"

If indeed the prophet is on board this airship, the opportunity has to be seized. If the prophet dies, his troops will surely be lost and surrender. Mathias agrees and addresses Cornelius by pointing to the zeppelin.

(Mathias): "Slate! Zachary is on this airship. Your shuttles will not be powerful enough to destroy it. We have to go for it, it's our only chance to put an end to this war!"

Cornelius observes the zeppelin carefully, and he also seems to agree. To kill Zachary is an opportunity not to be missed. The old mercenary agrees and orders his pilot to direct the shuttle towards the zeppelin, and the soldiers present with him to prepare their weapons for a collision. Mathias sits down, preparing his weapon and prepares himself to use his tonic as much as possible. Elizabeth sits in front of him, twisting her fingers, looking very stressed.

(Elizabeth): "Mathias ...... Do you believe that Zachary is afraid of god?"

(Mathias): "No ....... But he is afraid of you."

(Elizabeth): "And you? Are you afraid of me too?"

(Mathias): "No ...... Because I trust ...... And I love you." he said with a firmly voice, and with a great sincerity. 

She blushed. The shuttle avoids entering the middle of the battle and goes towards one of the sides of the zeppelin, where normally there are small platforms to deposit cargoes. Meanwhile, several other shuttles from the Vox Populi are destroyed, unfortunately indicating that the prophet's army seems to take the lead. The couple must be fast. The shuttle arrives on one of the platforms of the zeppelin, with a strange facility. Mathias, Elizabeth, Cornelius, and the few soldiers with them, all set foot on the platform, ready to confront the prophet and his troops on board. But what is happening was not planned, because once again the giant bird comes from nowhere like a ghost of the air and violently lands in front of the group, making shakle the platform and blocking access to the rest of the zeppelin. This time, Mathias and Elizabeth are unaware of how they are going to get out ..... Unless ..... Mathias remembers, the flute, and those words that were told... "With the bird....The freedom..... Recognizes the bird at his singing...." He repeated in his mind. After all, he could try.

Mathias takes the flute in his pocket and begins playing a few chords. The music is strident, metallic, like the cries of the bird. To the sound of this flute, Songbird stops suddenly, listening to the melody with interest. Elizabeth is amazed to see that the bird seems almost hypnotherized, even soothed by this melody. The soldiers, terrorized, retreated of several steps and were about to shoot, but Elizabeth stopped them.

(Elizabeth): "No, stop!"

Mathias stops playing and does not understand what she is doing, and sees the young woman turn to Songbird, whose red eyes indicate that he is ready to fight. Elizabeth, silent and confident, advances step by step, facing the giant bird, who, seeing her, becomes calm again, and even affectionate towards her, like a great pet. Slowly, Elizabeth caresses Songbird's head, before everyone's eyes, stunned. And by her sweet voice, Elizabeth speaks to the bird, softly.

(Elizabeth):"Shhhh.....Calm down......It's me."

The bird emits a few other affectionate sounds, always under the caresses of the young woman.

(Elizabeth): "For too long, you're manipulated, Songbird. You're not fighting for the right people ..... If you love me, if you want to protect me, then prove it really ..... I beg you, help us ...... Do it ....... For me."

The bird seems to listen to her, emitting small metal cries, even if no one understands what it means. The girl and the bird seem to have a special link, and only her seems to understand him. Songbird stands up on her hind legs, spreads his giant metal wings and flies away leaving the group quiet, and Elizabeth smiles at the sight of the majestic creature flying towards the air battle.

(Elizabeth): "He will help us!"

(Mathias): "You really sure?"

(Elizabeth): "Sonbird is a machine, but he has a heart, which Zachary had long extinguished ...... And I turned it back on."

Mathias understands better, and is reassured at the idea that this huge mechanical monster is now on their side. Now, he understands the means of this flute and the words that this woman told. Songbird flies at high speed, uttering a powerful deafening cry, and with all his might throws himself on one of the shuttles of the prophet, cutting it literally into two parts. Songbird resumes his trajectory and heads for another shuttle, to cling to her with his powerful claws. The weight of the impact makes the shuttle capsize its trajectory, the soldiers lose balance and seeing the bird in front of them, panic. Several gunshots hit Songbird's head, but have no effect on him, on the contrary, it annoys him more. With his immense arm, Sonbird sweeps all the soldiers of the shuttle and with all his physical strength, breaks the shuttle motor and flies away, leaving the wreck in flames falling from the sky, and the Songbird continues his fight for Elizabeth. On the platform, the couple observes the giant bird at work, with the hope that henceforth, the fight turns in their favor.

TO BE CONTINUED