Axel had watched the magicians cast the transportation spell enough times to know how to do it himself. A section of the protection barrier around the Elder Woods castle opened to let them in. Nurses brought out a gurney to take Ella to the hospital wing of the castle. Axel gets directed to the meeting room to find the leaders and guardians.
"Axel, you're back. Where's Brooke and Ella?" Holt immediately asks.
"Ella is in the hospital wing, she got burned while fighting against Darkstar," Axel informs them.
"Brooke?" Harry asks.
Axel sighs before he responds. "She left with Darkstar. He threatened to kill Ella if she didn't."
"Ella's gonna kill you," Harry points out.
"Yeah, I know," Axel sighs. "What are you guys talking about?"
"How to stop our new friend. We don't know what to expect from him, we don't know if we should stay together or separate," Ronald explains.
"You don't have to worry about him attacking anyone. He got what he wanted, attacking anyone would risk Brooke refusing to help," Axel says.
"Olsen," Emperor Arden calls his head guard. "Tell the magicians that they can stop and rest. We don't need the barrier anymore." Olsen nods and leaves the room.
"We should plan how we're going to find Air Guardian Brookelyn. We can't let her be harmed because of Luther's thirst for power. There is a reason he was rid of his title," Queen Veronica of the Glass Kingdom stands as she speaks.
"Before we continue planning anything can you guys tell us what exactly happened?" Holt asks.
"When his generation's guardians were being decided on, Luther was the first candidate for Air Guardian. He was a powerful angel and a kind person in general. A few weeks before the announcement ceremony he told the Ellers about a plan to "purify" the world," King Irving begins to explain. "He wanted to use the Ellers' powers to look into the mind of everybody in the four states. Anybody who had even the slightest thought of going against the order of the world would be arrested. They wouldn't be allowed to see their family let alone the light of day. The Ellers were appalled by this suggestion. He was warned that if he mentioned it to anyone else or acted on it, his position would be taken from him."
"I'm guessing he acted on it?" Axel asks.
"He almost started a rebellion," King Orion continues. "Luther held a meeting with a large group of people from all over the world. When the Ellers found out about his plan, they sent the other guardians to stop him. He was arrested and locked away, his power and title were taken away from him. The Ellers had started looking for new guardians around that time, that's when the next guardians were picked."
"Why didn't they just replace the Air Guardian?" Harry asks. "Why replace all of them?"
"When guardians are chosen, they are chosen in sets of 4," a new voice enters the room. "There is never one guardian that is replaced; they come in groups."
"Eller Jessica, it's good to see you," Emporer Hades bows and everyone follows. "May I ask the reason behind your visit?"
"Luther is back to his old antics, he has the Air Guardian with him and harmed the Water Guardian," Eller Alexander lists. "I think this is a great time for a visit."
"Looks like you finally got a sense of humor since the last time we saw you," Holt chuckles.
"Guardian Holt, Guardian Harry," Eller Jacob walks up to them. "It's good to see you again. How has it been since you left?"
"Not too bad, a lot harder than we thought it would be," Harry explains.
"Well, we're here to help lighten the load," Eller Emma says to everyone. "We want to capture Luther and finally lock him away for good."
"Where's your Soothsayer?" Harry asks.
"She's with the Guardian Ella," Jacob says. "She's trying to see if she can see her future."
"Was she unable to before?" Queen Cordelia asks.
"Yes," Eller Jacob answers. "As the Golden Guardian, we are unable to look through her mind unless she gives permission."
"The Golden Guardian?" King Orion.
"Yes, it has been 1,000 years already my friends," Eller Jacob says. "This generation of guardians are the Golden Guardians."
"Then we should prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Prince Elijah suggests. "Any time the Golden Guardians are here, something very bad always happens."
"The young prince is correct. It's best if everyone goes to their separate homes and prepares as well as they can for the war we will inevitably face," Eller Alexander advises.
The door opens and the soothsayer, Sophia, walks in. She stands at the end of the table and addresses everyone. "I wasn't able to look into Guardian Ella's mind."
"Even unconscious that girl is stubborn," Axel laughs.
"What did you need to see anyway?" Holt asks, suspicious.
"I wanted to make sure she was going to be ok," Sophia says.
The leaders continue talking about what they can do to protect their homes. Holt, Harry, and Axel sneak out and go to Ella's room. They find her laying on a bed with her arms covered in bandages.
"How badly was she burned? How was she burned?" Harry asks.
"Ella was fighting Darkstar," Axel begins. "Brooke made the ceiling fall on top of him but he stood back up as if nothing happened. He caught Ella in a ball of fire, threatening to kill her if Brooke didn't go with him. Brooke gave herself up so that I could bring Ella back here."
"Are we sure this is the best place for her?" Holt asks. "She's a mermaid who hasn't grown out her tail for weeks. If anything she should be in Oceana."
"That's correct," a new voice joins them.
"Prince Elijah," the 3 boys bow to the prince.
"I believe it would be best if we took Guardian Ella with us to Oceana. She will have access to our best healers and will hopefully heal faster," Prince Elijah explains.
Harry and Holt look at each other for a moment before responding. "You're right, she should be in the best environment to heal."
"We will be leaving in a few minutes," Prince Elijah tells them. "I'll have my guards get her ready for transport."
Prince Elijah walks out of the room and a minute later guards dressed in blue and purple armor enter the room. They carefully put Ella on a gurney and carry her out of the room. Harry, Holt, and Axel follow behind them.
"Friends," Emperor Arden speaks. "Do your best to prepare for war. Keep your citizens somewhere far from the kingdom and safe from the fight. We don't want any casualties."
"We shall meet again soon," Empress Persephone bows to everyone and they all return it.
Portals to the different kingdoms open and everyone walks through to their homes.
"Take care of her Elijah," Holt stops him.
"I will," Elijah dives through the portal with the guards following behind him.
~
After everyone left, the remaining guardians were speaking to Emperor Arden.
"Guardian Harry, I believe it would be best if you went to Hell along with Prince Axel. We need all the protection we can get since we don't know who Luther will attack first," Emperor Arden explains.
"That might be a good idea," Harry says.
"Yeah," Holt agrees. "I'll let you know if we receive any info on Brooke or Ella."
"Me too," Harry tells him.
"We should get going," Axel turns to Harry. "My father will most likely issue a curfew for the people. We need to be inside on time."
Harry nods and they walk outside. They grab each other's arms and Axel begins the transportation spell. A few moments later they look around to find themselves in Hell.
"While we're here," Harry says as they begin walking. "Keep your sister away from me."
"I was already planning on it."
"Thank you."
~
All the kingdoms start to prepare their homes. They begin to move people to a separate location, hidden away from the mainland. Volunteers from the villages are taken in to become soldiers, men and women alike. No one is shamed for saying no.
Ella starts to wake up a few days after she came to Oceana. She realized where she was from her purple and gold tail. A healer came up to her and started her check-up.
"I will go let the king and queen know that you are awake," the healer bows and walks out of the room. Ella lays in bed and attempts to mind link her friends.
Ella: "Is anyone there?"
Harry: "Ella, You're awake!"
Holt: "How are you feeling?"
Ella: "I've been better, that's for sure. Where are you guys?"
Harry: "I'm in Hell, Holt's in Elder Woods. We decided it would be best if we had the guardians in their homelands while Darkstar is out there."
Ella: "Yeah, that's fair."
Holt: "What are you doing right now? When did you wake up?"
Ella: "I just woke up. The nurse that was with me went to tell the king and queen that I woke up. I need to find a phone and contact my parents, you guys should too. They must be worried."
Holt: "I completely forgot to call them."
Harry: "With everything going on, we all did."
Ella: "I'll call Brooke's parents and explain what happened."
Harry: "You sure you'll be able to handle it?"
Ella: "I'm her best friend, I have to. I can hear them coming. I'll talk to you guys later."
Holt: "Stay safe, both of you."
The doors open and the royal family swims in along with the nurse from before. Ella sits up against the back of the bed.
"Your Majesties," Ella bows her head as they near her.
"How are you feeling, dear?" Queen Cordelia holds her hand.
"I feel better, thank you," Ella smiles.
"It's good to see you feeling better," King Irving tells her. "I would like you to continue staying in bed until you're fully healed. Once the doctor says you're well enough, you can start training again. Slowly, of course."
"Thank you, King Irving," Ella bows her head again. "Oh, before you leave. Do you have a phone I can borrow?"
"Of course, Clare will bring it to you," King Irving looks at Clare. She nods and swims out of the room. "We'll let you get some rest."
Clare walks in with the phone and gives it to Ella. Ella types in her mom's phone number and waits for her to answer.
"Hello?" Her mother's voice answers.
"Mom?" Ella asks.
"Ella? Oh my god, how are you? I heard what happened, are you ok?" She immediately asks.
"Mom, I'm fine," Ella laughs. "Don't worry, I just wanted to call you and let you know. Are you and dad still in Elder Woods?"
"We decided it would be best to come back to Oceana. We don't know how long it will take for all this Darkstar stuff to clear up so we wanted to stay in the water," her mom tells her.
"I'm in Oceana too, in the castle. I was brought here to heal," Ella informs her.
"Would we be able to visit you?" Her mom asks.
"Clare, can my parents visit?" Ella immediately asks.
"Yeah, there's no trouble if they come by. Just let them know that my dad is going to start evacuating the city soon, so they won't be able to visit after that," Clare tells her.
"Mom, you guys can come," Ella says. "You won't be able to visit again for a while after though because of the evacuation so bring me some of your food please."
"Of course I will," her mom laughs. "We'll be there in an hour."
"Ok, I'll see you then," Ella says and hang up the phone. "I need to call Brooke's mom too."
"Do you want me to leave?" Clare asks.
"I might actually need you to stay with me," Ella says. "I'm scared to tell her."
"You have to tell her, better now than later," Clare says.
Ella nods and dials another number.
"Hello, Mrs. Oakes? It's Ella."
"Oh, Ella. How are you? Your mom told me what happened," Mrs. Oakes asks.
"I'm fine, don't worry," Ella smiles.
"Where's Brooke?" Mrs. Oakes asks. "I haven't talked to her in a while.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Ella sighs. "We had a fight with Darkstar a few days ago, he threatened to kill me if Brooke didn't go with him."
"What?" Mrs. Oakes's voice is barely a whisper.
"I tried to stop her but she gave herself up to save me," Ella tells her. "I'm going to try everything I can to find her, I promise. As soon as I'm allowed to get out of bed, I'm going to do everything in my power to save. I promise."
"Honey, are you ok?" Mr. Oakes's voice is heard faintly from the phone.
Ella can hear Mrs. Oakes crying on the other side of the phone. She ends the call and hands the phone to Clare.
"It's good that you told them," Clare reassures her. "They deserved to know."
"I'm going to find her," Ella says, determined. "And I'm going to kill Luther when I do."