Rebecca stared at the dragon emerging from the tear in the sky, horrified and frozen in fear. It couldn't have been real. Someone had to have been messing with her. Dragons aren't real. They're stuff in kids' fairy tales and movies, not giant monsters who just emerged from the sky when they feel like it. What was going on? This couldn't be real. Those weren't really- "Dragons." William said, hardly believing his eyes himself.
"How?" Halley asked, confused. "Was this what they meant?" What who meant? "The two Class Xs we just fought," Britney explained, "They mentioned something about Richard just getting started before they killed themselves. This must be what they meant." Just getting started? How could Richard pull something like this off? Was he really that powerful? Was he actually capable of something so horrible?
"Whatever it is," Brandon added, "We need to evacuate the city." And have Rebecca leave her family behind? Not happening. "Reba, they're dragons-" She didn't care. She was going to go find her family and they were all going to evacuate together. "Stop being stubborn, Reba." Halley said sternly, "Those are dragons. We nearly died fighting people. What we need to do is get Louis to a hospital as soon as possible."
Rebecca knew Louis was badly injured, but she couldn't just abandon her family like that. "You're not abandoning them," Kylian reasoned, "They will be evacuated in these conditions. We just need to help who we can help with what we have." What they had? What did they have? A bunch of Class SSS high schoolers, who were way in over their heads from the get go? They were right. There was no way they were going to defeat a dragon with that kind of power.
She wanted to help in the best way she could, but how was she supposed to do that? She barely had enough energy to use her magic after the blast. She needed more power- Kiara! Where was she anyway? "Louis said he left her with Julian." Brandon said. Julian! He could defeat the dragon. He had the power to! He was the Light Creator's magician after all. Where were they anyway?
"How can you be so sure he'll want to help us?" William asked gravely, "After all, we hurt Kiara, his soulmate and future bride." What? "He's right, Rebecca," Kylian added, "What if he was the one who brought the dragons here in the first place? As revenge." No, he wouldn't do that! Why were they being so negative in the first place? Yea, the dragons were pretty intimidating, but it hadn't done anything. There was nothing to fear-
The treacherous, thunder-like roar pierced through the clouds in the sky, and left them all feeling as though they were going deaf. Rebecca pressed her hands to her ears, but the sound still travelled through them, splitting her brain cells. Like a needle being dragged across her brain, the bellow left them powerless and frightened of the real power of the dragons. Such horrifying, harrowing pain sucked all Rebecca's courage right out of her.
When the clamor finally ceased, Rebecca let go of her ears and felt blood trinkle out of them. Halley rushed over to her and healed her immediately, but by that time, she was already too scared to move. What was she thinking? She couldn't fight that dragon! She couldn't even look at it without being enveloped in fear. Her blood went cold at the thought of the monster destroying all she had, but all she could do was allow herself to be drowned in that terror.
She was weak, huh? Weaker than she had thought. Weaker than she let off. All she did was place barriers in front of people that never even seemed to help. Britney still got hit. Brandon almost died. She couldn't protect Michael. The barrier shattered around Halley. Collapsed around William. Couldn't even protect Kylian. Let Kiara slip out of her grasp. She wasn't even able to protect Louis. She was too weak.
Everyone stayed quiet as Rebecca lamented her being unable to protect them. She was right. There was no way they were going to beat the dragon. They could barely withstand its cry. How the abyssus were they supposed to defeat something like that? They couldn't. They were all too weak. "Don't be like that," a voice said from behind them, "You guys are stronger than you could ever know."
They all turned, ready to fight without the ounce of energy left inside of them. Wait, that voice. Could it be? Yes, it was Julian! Rebecca's heart found a sense of relief at his arrival, while others were still clearly hostile to his presence. "Did you do this?" Britney asked, angrily, but Julian remained silent. "I said, did you bring that monster into our world?" she repeated, yelling the second time.
"I did." What? How could he? Were they really right about him this whole time? He had the power to, so why wouldn't he try to destroy the world? Rebecca laughed at her own stupidity as her mind wandered to Kiara. Where was she? Julian went quiet again, and William stormed up to him, grabbing him by his collar. "Where is she?" he yelled angrily. "What did you do to her? You promised you'd protect her, so where isn't she by your side?"
What did he do to Kiara? She wasn't de- No! She couldn't die. He said so, but did he lie about that as well? Rebecca's mind was in shambles. She didn't know what was true from what was fake. Was Julian a friend or a foe? Was he- Her attention quickly turned back to him as he grabbed William's wrists and gently pulled him off his shirt. "Kiara is fine," he finally told them, "For now, at least."
What did that mean? What happened? "Richard Mustollini had me open the portal and release the dragon." William tried swinging at him, but Julian caught his fist and threw him backwards. "You expect us to believe that!" he yelled from the ground, "The Light Creator's magician beaten by a terrorist? Just say you want to kill us all you piece of-" "I don't want to kill you all," he admitted, "Kiara wouldn't be happy if I did."
Huh? "Richard had complete control over Princess Celestia and assassin Park as well as Michaelangelo. He used a side effect of the Fountain Water to set a trap and he took Kiara after I opened the portal. I let him take her." Brandon walked up to punch him next, but Julian continued explaining himself. "Kiara can handle herself." Eighteen year old Kiara may be able to handle herself, but 4 year old Kiara sure as abyssus couldn't. What was he planning?
"I know both Kiaras, and both Kiaras can handle themselves just fine." Brandon had stopped his run up when Julian said she could handle herself and questioned the suspicious man. "Why should we believe you? How do we know you're not working with Richard yourself-" Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep. Brandon's phone went off in his pocket, cutting him off, and placing a grin on Julian's face.
He flipped open the phone and went wide-eyed as he looked at it. What? What's wrong with it? "It's Kiara." he explained, "She set off her tracker." The 4 year old did? How was that even possible? "Believe me now?" Julian asked smugly, "If you do, then listen carefully. First, you two-" Wait. Why them? They're a bunch of kids, and they had already used up all their energy fighting two of Richard's minions. What could they do?
Julian snapped his fingers, and Rebecca immediately felt a rush of adrenaline flow inside of her. She didn't feel any pain anywhere either. It felt like she could run a marathon. No. Three! What had he done to her? "Now you all have your energy back," Julian said, "I'll split you guys into three groups. First off, Prince William and Kylian. You two will follow Kiara's signal and bring her to the dragon." The dragon?
"Next, Rebecca and Brandon, you guys need to go into the capital and see what that explosion was about. Finally, the two Class Xs will come with me, to prepare to close the portal." Explosion? Class Xs? What was he talking about? Wait a minute! He still hadn't answered their question. Why a bunch of kids like them? "It has to be you guys," Julian explained, "Adults don't believe in fairy tales."
*****
What a strange man he was. That Julian. Rebecca wondered what Kiara thought of him as she and Brandon ran through empty street after empty street. Cars were abandoned in the middle of the road, buses were deserted, and not a single sign of anyone around. The once busy capital city was reduced to a ghost town. Judging from how barren the landscape was, everyone had already been evacuated, hopefully.
What was Richard trying to achieve? What was Julian trying to achieve? What happened to Michaelangelo? Who were the Class Xs Julian was talking about? Nothing was adding up in Rebecca's brain as she tried to figure out what was going on and who was on whose side. How was he even able to pull something like this off? Richard outsmarted the Light Creator's magician, but was chased away by a 4 year old 12 years ago?
It didn't add up. It was possible for him to become more powerful in that time, but more powerful than a Light Creator's magician? Not likely. Rebecca figured her best option was to just do as Julian instructed, and get to the bottom of the explosion they heard. Was that also the dragon's fault? Or was Julian the one who- "Why are we doing this?" Brandon asked as he stopped running, "Why are we following that lunatic's orders?"
Rebecca was brought up to listen to adults, so- "That's not what I mean. Why do you trust a single word he says?" Because he- It was- Wait. Why did Rebecca trust Julian's words? Rebecca stood still in the middle of the street as she thought about it. She didn't completely believe his words per se, at least she didn't think she did. However, he did save her from her own stupidity when she was younger.
"I know the story. He helped you release your Obrussa, so what?" That wasn't all he did. Julian also saved the young runaway from certain death of starvation and pneumonia. After she was all better, he asked her what was wrong in such an unforgettably gentle voice, and carefully listened to her babbles. Instead of dismissing her as ungrateful or a brat, he took her feelings into consideration before walking her home safely.
He helped her fear her father a bit less and love herself a bit more. Without Julian, she would probably would've wound up dead in a gutter somewhere. Rebecca related her trust in Julian to Brandon's trust in Daisy. He trusted Daisy's words from day one and didn't question him at all. "That was because his testimony matched Moore's" he said blushing, but Rebecca knew it was more than that, but he probably would've punched her if she said what it was.
Now that Brandon had calmed down a bit, Rebecca reached her hand out to him, helping him to his feet. Last one into the city center was a rotten egg. "A race to our possible death? Count me in." and they were off. Brandon's eyes glowed their sunlight yellow as he grew considerably faster with every step towards the city. Rebecca, however, wasn't about to lose as she jumped from barrier to barrier in the air, using it to her advantage.
*****
"I win!" Brandon declared, but Rebecca swore she let him win as they caught their breaths in the center of the post-apocalyptic city. The palace was a few ten blocks away, so they continued their journey to it walking as they examined the desolate capital. Brandon was eerily quiet as they walked, but Rebecca didn't necessarily hate the peace and quiet. She enjoyed the few minutes in the year when Brandon wasn't talking, but it usually meant he was deep in thought or depressed.
Reluctant to lose her peace, Rebecca forced herself to ask Brandon what was on his mind. "Julian," What about Julian? Did he still not trust him? "How could I? He appeared out of nowhere. He has the same last name as the royal family of the South too!" What was wrong with that? "He's white, Rebecca." So? They could've adopted him somewhere down the line. "You saw the way he talked to Kiara's eldest brother. He's known him a long while, and the respective tone means he's older too!"
What did it matter? She knew he was trying to avoid the main topic and called him out on it. What did he really hate about Julian? She wanted the truth. "I'm serious! How is a white man a part of the South's royal family-" Brandon! "Fine. He told us Kiara has the purest soul. It's the only way she can hold so much dark power, right?" Right. "If he is her equal, but opposite, that means he has to have the most corrupt soul to carry all light magic."
She hadn't thought about it, but if that's how it worked, then yeah. Julian had to have had the most corrupt soul ever created. Why did it matter though? He was helping them. "He willingly gave up Kiara, knowing I had a tracker. Who does that?" Someone who had calculated and evaluated the situation thoroughly before acting on it. "Why didn't he just kill Richard right then and there?" She didn't know.
Rebecca didn't know. All she knew was that something separate from all of that had happened at the palace and they needed to find out what it was. Rebecca kept walking as Brandon kept trying to figure out Julian's motives. "What did he mean it 'has to be us' and 'adults don't believe in fairy tales'?" Look, Brandon. Rebecca did not know. She was supposed to go fight terrorists at a palace not crack a riddle-
Close your eyes. Rebecca couldn't take her eyes off the scene in front of her as she warned Brandon not to look. "What?" No, you idiot. Close your eyes! She tried physically covering his eyes, but she wasn't in time to block his view. "What … is … this?" Rebecca looked back at the scene of dead bodies scattered everywhere. On the street, sidewalks, in the buildings. Men, women, children. They had all been mercilessly slaughtered. Who could have done such a thing? Richard? But he was calling the dragon-
Blergh. You idiot! That was why Rebecca told him not to look. She crouched down beside Brandon as he threw up everything he had eaten the day before right onto the city street below. "Mommy." he quivered, but it wasn't her. She rubbed his back as she told him he hadn't looked at his mother's corpse. He was going to be okay. He had to be. She couldn't do this without him, so she rubbed his back until he couldn't throw up anymore.
Rebecca lay him down on his side, facing away from the hell scene as she looked around for a clean source of water for him. She got up to go check one of the vacant cars, but he grabbed onto her pants and held on for dear life, so she crouched down and told him she wasn't going far. "No, mommy. Stay here." he said, clearly out of it. Rebecca smiled reassuringly at his plea before screaming his name in his ear.
"Ow! What the hell, Reba?" he exclaimed while checking for blood in his ears. He was finally out of that state dead bodies put him in. She told him he was being annoying and told him to get up, so they could keep moving. "I am not annoying." Whatever you say, pal. Rebecca surveyed the streets as Brandon took his sweet time getting up from the ground, and she spotted another block they could get to the palace from.
She pulled Brandon along, even though he was "still dizzy" but she quite frankly didn't care at all. They had to get to the palace, and they were wasting time. The others were probably experiencing worse at that moment, so they had to keep going and get to the palace. The faster they figured out what was going on, the better. They rounded the corner as Brandon finally regained his balance, but he suddenly pulled Rebecca into an empty store. What the abyssus- "Shh!"
She wondered what his problem was until she heard a whoosh fly passed the building, followed by a series of explosions. What was making those explosions? For something to be that loud and that fast, it had to be magic. Powerful magic, but where was it coming from? Rebecca slowly rose to see what was going on, but Brandon yanked her back down and referred to her as a lunatic, but in the form of a question.
She wasn't insane, thank you very much, but she did want to see what exactly was happening outside their hiding spot. "Ugh! Of course you do. Fine." Brandon pulled out his outdated flip phone and told Rebecca to conceal him in a barrier of hers, so she did. Careful not to leave the barrier and expose them, Brandon and Rebecca slowly made their way out of the destroyed flower shop, and got closer to the loud booms outside.
For someone who called her crazy for wanting to get closer, Brandon was getting real close to the people fighting. To two people chasing … nothing? "Three Class Xs?" Three?! How were they supposed to fight three of them? They almost died fighting two of them. "We don't have to." Huh? "They're already fighting each other." Wait, Rebecca only saw two people flying around. Where was the third?
She desperately searched for the third Class X as Brandon walked in circles with his ancient phone in his hand. Wasn't he concerned? There was no real way to know if they were really fighting each other or- Boom! Again? Rebecca flinched at the sound of one of the Class Xs sending a blast of energy into a building behind her. What the abyssus were they doing? "Something weird is going on." You think?
Rebecca, stumped, confused, and annoyed, suggested they just leave them be and headed to the palace, but Brandon didn't budge. "This reading is weird." What was wrong with it? "It keeps fluctuating between Class X and dormant." It was probably just glitching. Anyways, they had to go! "No, one of them has a dormant attached to them." So? That wasn't Rebecca's problem. Plus, the two she could see didn't have anyone on them-
She was left speechless as the sun momentarily exposed a shadow on a building. At first, her brain thought it was a regular shadow until it opened its eyes and revealed midnight black irises resting in pure white scleras before it shut them and disappeared into the shade of the buildings. Rebecca had never seen magic like that before, but those eyes somehow seemed familiar to her. She had seen them before she was sure, but the situation was still too dangerous to remain there.
She tried pulling Brandon along, but he also recognized those eyes from somewhere. Boom! Not that it mattered! The reckless destructive Class Xs wouldn't care if they spotted them and chased Bran and Rebecca. They had to go figure out what the explosion was, how it related to the palace and report back to Julian and the others- Wait! Brandon ran out of the barrier into the middle of the street and yelled, catching everyone's attention.
"Hey, Mr. Shadow," the shadow stopped again and opened its eyes as Brandon yelled to him. "Throw the dormant to her!" To Rebecca? Did he really go up there and blow their cover in order to throw her under the bus? It seemed like it. The shadow looked around, confused, but the confusion soon melted away as Rebecca dropped her barrier and got ready to fight beside Brandon. She held out her hands as the shadow parted open and a blonde, curly haired child appeared.
The child was clinging to the shadow, but it soon let go after it said something to it. The shadow lifted the kid above it before chucking it right at Rebecca. One of the other Class Xs saw this exchange, and tried to grab the child midair, but Brandon's sunlight yellow arrow zoomed right above the little one's torso, and ended up in the attacker's shoulder as Rebecca successfully caught the child in a tangerine orange bubble.
She lowered the child into her arms as she set up another barrier around herself and Brandon. He was firing arrow after arrow at the Class X, but it was difficult for Rebecca to open and close so many holes in his barrier while trying to maintain her own. However, as the child got closer and closer, she seemed to recognize the child. The blonde curls, expensive private school uniform, and those piercing blue eyes. It was Baptiste!
He clung to her as she held him close in her own arms. What was he doing there? What happened? Who was that shadow? She looked down at the child, as he trembled in her arms and realized she couldn't ask him. She didn't want him to relive such trauma at such a young age. At such a young delicate age, he had already been through too much. Still, such a strong little boy he was, not crying at all with all this chaos around him.
It may have been Rebecca's maternal instincts kicking in or the boost of energy she got from Julian earlier, but she was ready to beat the Class Xs who had hurt little Baptiste. She looked up, and saw Brandon's barrier about to break as he fought the terrorist. She had to get him out of there! The shadow was preoccupied, running away from the other Class X, so Rebecca was on her own.
She looked up and around at the buildings above, and to her luck, all the explosions and blasts had weakened their framework drastically. One big push was all she needed to knock one over, so she came up with a risky plan. She reminded the terrified little prince to not let go of her, and to keep his face buried in her shoulder as she raised her arms, ready to use up all her energy. She just hoped it would work.
She tried to gather as much power as she physically could and focused all of it in her hands as she aimed for the two attackers with both hands. Obice. Hers and Brandon's barriers both shattered as new ones formed around the attackers. She yelled for the shadow to knock over a building as she slowly dragged them to the middle of the road. It moved quickly, so she held onto the barriers, despite the Class Xs getting ready to destroy them.
She watched the glow in their eyes as she depleted her energy by keeping them hostage inside. Her eyes and hands felt like they were on fire as she forced her body closer and closer to its limits. Finally, the shadow knocked over the building, and Rebecca finally let go of her barriers as the captives sent out their waves of magic to destroy the barrier. She watched as the wave got closer and closer to her and held Baptiste close as she braced for impact.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the shadow appeared and the midnight black figure stood between them and the blast as Brandon checked to see if she was alright. "You are so reckless! Ugh! You genius!" She was glad the plan worked out in the end. It really didn't matter if you were a Class X or a dormant. There was no way anyone was surviving after having a building dropped on them- Crack. Crack. Boom!
You can't be serious. Rebecca held out her hand and blocked the debris from hitting the four of them as the now enraged Class X attackers emerged from the building. They were really screwed. Now what? "Now we do what I say." Rebecca was more than happy to go along with whatever Brandon had planned, but she wondered if it would work as he sent the shadow off to handle one of the Class Xs.
The last time they fought a Class X and won, there were nine of them. The last time they fought a Class X in a 2v1, they almost died. Why did he think this plan would somehow work? "Trust me." Last time Brandon uttered those cursed words, Rebecca almost went bald."Almost. Now, trust me on three." What was she getting herself into? "One." Hold on tight Baptiste. "Two." Don't forget to keep your head down. "Three!"
Rebecca dashed off to the left as Brandon went to the right of the Class X attacker. As he had assumed, the attacker turned to strike Rebecca first since she was carrying Baptiste, the probable target. She played along to their little chase, careful not to use too much of her remaining energy to block the attacks. First they tried hitting the ground in front of her, but she dodged the attack and went around the blast, heading towards another dilapidated store in front of her.
They saw her path of escape, and blasted the store with magic, completely destroying any chance Rebecca had of hiding in there. She turned back around to head back to where she originally was, but they blasted the road in front of her, trapping her between a collapsing building and magical annihilation. "Gotcha!" they said smiling as they inched closer to her. "Now hand over the kid."
Rebecca firmly held onto Baptiste as she watched Brandon float behind the Class X, completely undetected. He didn't have a clear shot yet, so Rebecca tried to buy him some time by refusing to hand Baptiste over to them. "You're going to die anyway, so hand over the kid and save him the trauma." Not to be rude, but Rebecca would've much rather given her life protecting Baptiste than giving him up to extend it by a few more seconds.
"Whatever you say." She squeezed the little child in her arms as the attacker's eyes glowed and they raised their arm to kill her. Rebecca hoped and prayed trusting Brandon was the right idea as she watched the energy blade get closer and closer to her face. "Behind you!" the other Class X yelled to his doomed colleague. They turned around at the last minute and caught Brandon's sunlight arrow right before it could penetrate their chest.
"Now!" Brandon didn't have to yell. Rebecca could hear him perfectly as she used her last bit of energy to trap the attacker in a bubble. "You think this can hold me?" they asked, but it didn't need to as Brandon's arrow detonated in their hand, releasing a gas inside the enclosed space. It got harder to hold the barrier as they struggled to get out, but the gas did its job and they were soon out cold.
The shadow took advantage of how the other Class X cared more for his friend than himself, pinning him down on the pavement. It went to crush his throat, but Rebecca and Brandon ran over at the last minute and knocked him out before he died. They had done it! Rebecca high fived Brandon before turning to the slightly startled shadow. She insisted on a high five, so the shadow slowly chipped away revealing the head of a familiar face,
"Prince Awan!" They had seen him at Kiara's birthday ball, but they didn't really get to say hi to him. He was the shadow? Was something wrong with him? The rest of his body stayed as a shadow as his head bobbed around as he moved. He seemed like a shy boy at the party, but he looked very intimidating with his midnight black eyes and loose jet black curls. He stretched his arms out to Baptiste, but he didn't even look at him.
He must've somehow grown attached to Rebecca, so they let him continue clinging to her as he told them what had happened. "My eldest brother had invited Baptiste and I to the palace to fill in for him after he cancelled his date with his wife. Chenoa, Baptiste and I get along well, so our driver picked us up from the airport and we were driving to the palace when a huge explosion went off."
"The explosion drove the city into chaos, but we were instructed to stay in the car with my bodyguard, as Baptiste's bodyguard went to check something out of the ordinary. That's when we heard a loud bang, and he dropped to the ground. My bodyguard told the driver to pull out and drive away, but he didn't move. His breathing even went silent as I quietly unbuckled myself and Baptiste, who was quivering in my arms."
"He repeated himself over and over again, but the driver didn't move, so he went to pull his gun on him, but as soon as he looked up from his holster, the driver had a gun to his head. I covered Baptiste's eyes and jumped out of the car with him, and ran into a nearby building. I tried to calm him down as we heard the raining of bullets outside, followed by screams and the thuds of- I didn't want to use my magic, but I had to as that creepy smile found us in that building."
Was it the dragon? "We did hear the dragon, but I don't get what you're asking." Did the dragon set off the explosion? "From what I know, there were only 6 dragons left in Mytherra-" Brandon cut him off, impatiently, "Yea, yea. Everyone knows about that stupid fairy tale. You're telling me those dragons really exist? That the fairy tales are true?" Prince Awan didn't know, Brandon. He was traumatized and just saved their lives too.
Rebecca told him to be a bit more respectful to Prince Awan, but he preferred to be called just Awan, so that's what they called him. "Based on what I know about dragons, I don't think it set off the explosion. Dragons are notorious for being destructive when agitated. If a dragon had done this, we wouldn't be standing here right now." Were they really that powerful? Powerful enough to destroy the world? What exactly was Richard planning? Was Julian really going to help?
Rebecca didn't know who to trust nor what to do with this information. Did Richard conjure a whole dragon in order to destroy the monarchy? Why did he have to hypnotize Michael? To kill William and weaken Kiara? Why did he want to do this in the first place? It made no sense to her, and her head hurt the more she tried to figure it all out. She decided to think of something else, as Brandon and Awan turned to go towards the palace.
She began to walk as well, but her instinct kept holding her back. That and Baptiste suddenly tightened his grip on her shirt. What was wrong? Was he scared? He didn't need to be. Rebecca, Brandon and Awan were going to protect him. They were going to protect him, no matter what, but his grip tightened even more. What was wrong? "Gun." Rebecca asked him to repeat himself since he was whispering. "Gun."
Rebecca's barrier instinctively went up as she turned around and saw a group of men dressed in all black military gear, and they had … guns. Awan's eyes glowed as his head disappeared into his shadow form, and Brandon conjured his trusty bow and arrow, ready to attack. The group, however, just stopped a few stores away from them and parted, allowing someone else to pass through.
The blonde with straight gelled hair part to the side of his face walked up to them, unfazed by their weapons until a sunlight yellow arrow landed in front of his foot. "My, my. Didn't your mother tell you not to play with arrows?" One more step and it would've been in his chest. Who was he? "Me? I'm your doom." Rebecca's pulse rushed and heart rate soared as she made eye contact with the man. She could tell from his eyes. He was insane.
She tried moving to run away, but her body wouldn't listen to her at all. C'mon, stupid legs, move! They refused. Not because she insulted them, but because she wasn't in control anymore. "What?" the real lunatic asked, "Can't you run?" That's when it hit her. She hadn't noticed, since his eyes were blue, but the longer she stared into them, the more of their glow she saw. She wasn't running away because he was in control of her body now.
Thankfully, she could turn her head, but it was just enough for her to see Brandon pointing an arrow at her. "I'm sorry, Reba. My body won't listen to me!" She knew it wouldn't. Hers couldn't either. There was nothing they could do at that point. Maybe Brandon was right before. Maybe Julian sent them to the capital, knowing this would happen. Maybe this was all she could do. Fail over and over again.
The one thing she had control over, her own body, was no longer hers, and neither was Brandon's as his arm stretched back to put the arrow in her chest. He cried as he drew the arrow farther and farther back, but it wasn't his fault. No matter what he did, she wouldn't blame him at all. She loved him like the little brother she never had, so he needed to stop crying before he made her cry. She was alright-
A sudden, horrifying screech pierced the sky, and went straight into everyone's ears. Rebecca's hands flew to cover Baptiste as Brandon covered his own. The dragon! Whatever had happened, it broke the crazy guy's concentration, and they prepared to attack when the ground below them started to rumble. What the abyssus was happening? Why was the ground suddenly shaking?
"Look out!" Brandon yelled as a giant crack in the ground flew through the city, dropping every unlucky thing in its path into the core of the planet. "Jump!" Awan called to Rebecca, and when she did, she found herself suspended in the air, floating above the crumbling ground, towards the top of one of the few buildings still standing. She wondered how she was flying as she realized her shadow was connected to Awan by a long shadow of magic?
She didn't know how, but she knew Awan had saved her life as she held onto Baptiste. They were finally safe, she thought as she watched the men with guns falling into the crack one by one. All of them, falling to their deaths. She looked around for the lunatic, but didn't see him. He must've fallen into the pits himself. She thought he was gone. She thought she'd never have to see him anymore as a sparkling regal blue gem on the ground, catching her attention.
The sparkle grew bigger and bigger the longer she stared at it, and by the time she realized it was a spell, she was already falling into the crack with Baptiste in her arms. The spell must've shattered the connecting shadow between her own shadow and Awan. She tried to remain calm, to keep Baptiste from panicking in his last moments. She wanted him to leave with a smile, and she wanted to leave with a smile as well.
She had lived a long life already. She met her friends, family, Julian, Baptiste, Awan, Brandon. She just wished she could've told Louis she loved him. If she knew this was how this was all going to end, she would've told him while they were still at the palace with Kiara and the others. What a short life she had. She didn't want it to end. She wanted to hug everyone one more time. Argue with them. Fight them. Cuddle with them. Run around with them. Smile just one more time with them.
That's all she wanted. Rebecca watched as an angel descended towards her. Her time had finally come, she thought, no matter how much she hated the thought of it, she had to go. She hoped the others would win without her with them. They were smart enough, except Brandon. He was a genius beyond human proportions. She smiled as the angel got closer and closer to her view, but why did it look so much like Michaelangelo?
"Rebecca!" Michael yelled as he caught her by her arms and began flying upwards and away from certain doom to a more delayed doom. She couldn't figure out why or how he was saving her, but she decided to save her energy for her one swing at his face once they were safely on the roof with Awan and Bran. Did I say one? I meant two, no three. Yes, three is good. She went to punch him a fourth time, but she looked into his eyes, and stopped herself.
Why wasn't he fighting back? Why did he save her? Why did Michaelangelo's eyes look like he was- "You son of a-" Brandon ran up from behind Rebecca and sent Michael flying to the floor with one hit, but the others held him back before he could do any more damage. "I thought you guys were friends," Awan asked, confused at the violence, "You all went to the ball together, after all." Friends? "He tried to kill us! He's on their side, isn't that right Axel!" Brandon yelled.
Axel? Why did he just call him Axel? "You thought I didn't know? I looked into you and your family the second you told us you were a Sullivan." He did what? "Nothing came up about a Michaelangelo Sullivan, but there was another child between Raphael and Doria Sullivan mentioned: Axel Augustine Sullivan." Michael lied about his name? Did he not trust them enough to tell him his real name? And wasn't he under a hypnosis?
"He was," Princess Celestia explained, "And so was I." What was going on? If she was under hypnosis too, that meant they were going to capture them and take them to Richard. Rebecca tightened her grip around Baptiste as she asked them if they were working for Richard. There was no need to hide it anymore, considering they could very easily capture them. She was trying to stall them as she thought of a plan, but there was no way they were going to escape. Unless…
"We're not hypnotized anymore." Michaelangelo explained, as Rebecca began secretly creating a barrier. "Richard used my parents' secret project to hypnotize me, but Julian broke the hypnosis." "How did he do that?" Awan asked questioningly. "The Light Creator's magician used his magic to force us to drink the water from the Fountain of Purity he was saving for Kiara. He said he figured it out already, so he didn't need it."
What else did he say? "After he freed us," Michael continued, "He told us to go to the palace of the West and save King Cheyton and his pregnant wife, the queen." They apparently were teleported into the palace by Julian, and made it to the royal bunker, where they were being held captive by their own bodyguards. "When they saw us, they weren't hostile at all," the princess explained, "They must've thought we were still hypnotized, so we played along."
"We told them Richard had sent us to retrieve them, and we managed to get them out of the bunker carefully and quietly even though the palace was crawling with his men." "Where are they?" Awan asked the princess, nervously. "We took them to the outskirts of the city, and they told us to come back for you guys as they kept moving." They left the king and queen alone?! What was wrong with them?
"Why should we believe a word you say?" Brandon asked as he drew an arrow straight for Michael's left eye. "How do we know you didn't kill them yourself and were sent by Richard to kill us too?" Rebecca wondered as well. Why did she believe every word Princess Celestia said even though she hadn't seen her in years? Why did she believe Michaelangelo, who led them to the pier and almost killed them?
She should've been the most suspicious of them, but strangely, she wasn't in the slightest. She believed everything they said. Rebecca believed they saved the king and queen, saved their lives because they were in danger, and weren't under any hypnosis. She reached her hand out and stroked the princess's cheek while staring into her warm brown eyes. They looked exactly like Kiara's. So warm and truthful.
She believed them. "What?" Brandon exclaimed. "Why?" In technical reasoning, if they wanted them dead, they would've killed them by now or not saved their lives at all. "And if they want us alive?" What would they want with Rebecca and Brandon? If they wanted that either, they would've killed them by now, and taken the princes to Richard. "And for moral reasons?" Look at their eyes.
"Their eyes?" Awan questioned. Yes. Princess Celestia had the warmest eyes (next to Kiara's) she had ever seen every time Rebecca met her before her disappearance. At the palace, her eyes looked dull, but Rebecca assumed it was from all the trauma she had endured. The same was present in Michaelangelo's eyes. They had also lost their sparkle, but they were too busy trying to change Kiara for any of them to realize.
Brandon still seemed unconvinced, so Rebecca asked Baptiste what he thought, but he had forgotten Princess Celestia. He, however, recognized Michaelangelo and verified Rebecca's claims by hugging him tight. "I'm sorry." Rebecca heard Michael whisper into the little one's ear as he began to cry. The poor thing. He had seen too much already. Princess Celestia held out her arms to console the boy, and like magic, he slowly stopped crying as he clinged to the 14 year old.
The child accepted them, so why couldn't Awan and Brandon? They stared at the two of them, debating in their heads whether or not to trust them. There was the ginormous risk Rebecca was wrong about them, and being tricked, but there was also the little shred of hope they brought along with them. "Are you Michaelangelo or Axel?" Brandon asked, carefully. Rebecca turned to look at Michael as he said, "I'm both."
Brandon went quiet as Prince Awan went to say something, but it was cut off by another horrifying screech from the mythical creature. That couldn't be good, Rebecca thought as a thunderous tremor shook the ground beneath them, causing the building to collapse. Luckily, Awan and Princess Celestia picked up the two of them. "We can figure this out later." the prince said, "For now we need to get to the Light Creator's magician."
Julian had said to meet them outside the city, underneath the portal when they had confirmed what had happened at the palace, but they couldn't go near it. Not with what Princess Celestia had told them. She hoped he would understand as they flew through the sky, above the crumbling city. How could this have happened? What had King Cheyton done to deserve something like this?
Rebecca had never paid much attention to politics, but she did remember the one time King Cheyton was mentioned, aside from his coronation. It was something about prison reform, but she couldn't remember what it was. Phew. Was May always that hot, or did the temperature jump a gajillion degrees? She looked around, and she wasn't the only one feeling weighed down by the sudden hot air.
"Why is it so hot all of a sudden?" Brandon asked. Was it the ground? The core of the planet was showing, so maybe it was the heat from there? "Could be," Awan added, "But it feels more like someone's pointing a radiator at us." He was right! The heat wasn't natural at all, and they were flying over the intact buildings. Rebecca wondered what to do, and thought heading towards the port would help.
"Great idea!" Princess Celestia said, tiredly. It was obvious the heat was eating up all her energy as she used her magic to fly and was holding Baptiste as well. She offered to hold him, to ease the princess's load, but she was fine with it. "And don't call me Princess or Your Highness. Celeste works just fine." Ah, Celeste. That's what they used to call her when she would tag along with Kiara on the middle school adventures.
Rebecca reminisced as they made their way to the sea-front apartments, and landed, exhausted. Where was this heat coming from? Were they being followed? Then why were the Class Xs equally affected? It wasn't making much sense and Rebecca's brain was already melting in the heat. Baptiste somehow got up and crawled over to Rebecca, exhausted as well. When he cleared the 3 meter gap, he fell face first into her stomach, out of breath.
She understood he was scared, but she couldn't have him wasting his energy like that. Still, the little prince pointed towards the portal. What was it? He didn't know how to describe it and he didn't have the energy to talk either. Worried for everyone's safety, Rebecca used her last bit of energy to create a bubble around all of them as they all lay on the roof. She asked Brandon to freeze the bubble, but he was exhausted too.
He felt as though he would "die" if he moved, but his eyes turned to sunlight yellow after Rebecca politely threatened to throw him off the roof. The bubble itself shielded off some of the heat, but Bran's freeze arrow blocked out all of it. Even though it was momentary since the heat outside melted the frosty interior almost instantly, it was long enough for them to hear another piercing roar.
The roar sounded different though, and amplified somehow. Crazy as it seemed, Rebecca didn't think the roar was from the same dragon. They turned to face the portal, and unlucky for them, Rebecca was right. Two new dragons emerged from the portal as the first one tore up the ground. One of the giant creatures out of a fairy tale nightmare had what looked like magma and lava bubbling in its joints.
This was drastically different from the gems shining between the gigantic boulders holding the first dragon together. Awan knew about the dragons right? Why did they look so different? "They're 6 dragons: air, water, earth, fire, space, and time. They all control their respective elements of the universe." She looked to him as he explained, and the prince went pale with horror as he stared at the dragons.
What else was there to know? Why was he so scared? "The dragons were always appeased by their tribes in Mytherra because they have the power to destroy worlds." W-worlds? Plural? What the abyssus was Richard thinking? There was no way he could control something so immensely powerful. Right? "We can still breathe, so that's a good thing." Brandon randomly said, "But the ground was torn up and this heat is insanity."
"Space, time, or water." he concluded, "Which was the third dragon?" They turned to witness the third humongous beast exit the portal with a screeching siren-like roar. Siren? "Hey, Reba," Brandon asked, "What colour do Kylian's eyes turn when he uses magic?" Rebecca felt herself go pale in fear as she eyed the deep sapphire blue gaps between the last dragon's rock coral exoskeleton.
"We need to move." Celestia said, picking up everybody and fleeing from the port as the waves in the water below grew more and more violent with every passing second. Awan grabbed ahold of Rebecca's and Baptiste's shadows, lifting their weight off Celestia as they flew as fast as they could towards the portal. Rebecca kept her barrier up, but she knew it wouldn't last the whole trip or one crushing blow from the impending attack.
She stared as a terrifyingly large wave grew bigger and bigger the closer it got to the capital city. They had gotten far, going at full speed, but the tsunami behind them seemed to be going faster as it quickly caught up to them. Brandon tried thinking of different ways to stall it somehow or go faster, but there was no use. Regardless of Rebecca's pessimistic opinion, Brandon conjured up a giant sunlight yellow circle, and they started going faster!
He had done it! "You doubt me too much, Reba." he said smugly as he obviously struggled to keep up the spell. The air near the wave was cool, but they would die if they got too close to it. The air away from the wave was safe for avoiding drowning, but the impossible heat made it difficult to even breathe. Landing anywhere on the ground wasn't an option either as they were flying away from the insanely fast wave.
What was Rebecca supposed to do? She was using up all her energy in their only protection, her barrier. If she tried to conjure anymore than what she had, she feared she would slip and go berserk. As Brandon's spell grew weaker and weaker and the deadly surge caught up to them, Rebecca had no idea what to do until Michael suddenly said, "I can get us out of here, but it's going to hurt."
That bubbling moron! Why didn't he mention anything before? "It's dangerous." he whined, but danger wasn't a factor they could really care about at that point, now was it. If he had a plan, he had to do it, and fast. "Protect Baptiste. He'll really get hurt." he warned as his irises turned thunderstorm grey and lightning bolts appeared. Rebecca shrunk her barrier until it was a firm ball surrounding Baptiste right before everything flashed before her eyes.
She went from flying right below a giant wave, to falling out of the sky above the field where Julian was fighting the dragons, but it looked more like he was fighting the army gathered there. Confused, Awan still managed to catch everyone before they face planted into the floor. When Rebecca finally got her bearings, she looked around until she saw a happy Halley jump at her as an amused Britney laughed in the back.
They seemed alright, thankfully, but who was she to worry when she was "one spell away from passing out." Halley complained. She wasn't thinking about it as her eyes went to the Light Creator's magician, and the suspended missiles behind him. What was going on? "Julian said the dragons are scared by humans, but the army keeps trying to fire projectiles at them." Scared by them? The dragons?
It made a little sense in how most animals only attack humans when they're scared or protecting their young, but why hadn't Julian closed the portal yet? "I need Kiara for that," he said, walking over to Rebecca and replenishing her energy once more. She was grateful, but wasn't he arguing with someone a second ago? Wasn't it rude of him to leave mid-conversation- Rebecca turned to point at the general, but he was in a block of ice.
"It fits his personality," Julian claimed. Anyways … Why did he need Kiara? Wasn't he strong enough to close the portal himself? "No, I am not. This portal is connecting Wisteria and Mytherra, so it's a bit different from regular portals." Different how? "You'll see when she gets here, but in the meantime, we need to calm these guys down." Julian pointed towards the dragons, but Rebecca looked around for who was going to calm them down because she knew he didn't mean her.
"Oh, but I do." Julian insisted, "Don't worry. They don't bite, probably." Wow! That definitely destroyed all the nervousness Rebecca had inside of her, but she still wanted to help any way she could. "So you mean to tell me," Brandon asked, annoyed, "the reason why we almost died three times is because you guys keep spooking the giant scary dragons that can destroy the world?" "It wasn't us, stupid," Halley rebuttled, "It was them."
She pointed to the army trying to fire another missile at the dragons, but it once again stopped in midair. Probably because of Julian. "We told them we could handle this and tried to get them to go check on the palace, but they refused to listen to us." Britney explained. "To make matters worse-" Her eyes started to glow out of nowhere as she signalled for Halley's attention. "What is it-" Her mood went down the toilet as well as they both stared at Michaelangelo.
Wait! Rebecca and Brandon tried to stop the two of them, but before they could even get a syllable out, they were already within punching distance of his face. When did they get so fast? Nevermind, Michael! Rebecca frantically turned around, but Awan had caught Halley's turquoise foot and Britney's pearl punch with two midnight black shadow hands. "Now is not the time." he said sternly, but they ignored him.
"Halley." Britney said. "Yea." Halley replied. What in the world was wrong with them anyway? Halley jumped backwards with turquoise eyes and at one point fired a turquoise arrow at Michael after Britney dropped Awan onto his butt. Michael deflected the shot with his own thunderstorm grey eyes as he tried to talk some sense into them. "I'm not under Richard's control anymore." "Liar!" they yelled simultaneously as Britney jumped next to Halley and grabbed her right hand.
A majestically huge, and intricately designed bow mixed with turquoise and pearl appeared in Halley's left hand as she pointed it at Michaelangelo and Awan. Britney reached for the string and the further she pulled it back, the larger the pearl and turquoise arrow grew. Rebecca didn't understand what was going on, but she knew she had to protect Michael from the blast, no matter what.
She thought about jumping in front of the two of them, using her barrier to protect them, but she didn't think it would hold, so she went with plan B. She ran up to Halley and Britney as they were about to release the arrow and tackled them both, sending the arrow upwards and away from Michael. "What the abyssus, Rebecca?" Britney yelled, but Rebecca yelled back. What were her and Halley thinking, trying to kill someone?
"He left us to die, didn't he?" Halley argued. "He didn't have a choice," Brandon rebutted, "He was under Richard's control. Aside from that, what the abyssus did you two just do?" Halley and Britney both calmed considerably until their response was cut short but a shrieking roar. Rebecca looked straight up at the 13,000 meter tall beast and realized the blast she interrupted had hit the fire dragon.
It turned to face them, and Rebecca sensed the impending danger as she put up a barrier between its flames and the others. The barrier was as thick as it could be, but the beast was melting it away like an ice pop on a scorching day. The others tried reinforcing the barrier, but nothing was working. The dragon continuously spit fire from its mouth until the barrier finally gave way. This was it.
This was finally it, she thought pessimistically until a small figure jumped between the flames and her, taking the entire blast head on. When the flames finally ceased, they ran over to what was left of their hero, but the small figure got up and signalled for them to stay back. Confused, but intimidated, Rebecca and the others obeyed as the earth dragon walked towards the figure.
It was going to step on her, but Rebecca's ever-extending maternal instincts didn't kick in at all. She wasn't worried as the figure disappeared before her eyes as the dragon set its foot down to crush them. They were moving at such speed! She couldn't see them at all, so it just seemed like the dragons were being strange as they jumped onto their hind legs to swat what appeared to be nothing.
Each time the dragons' paw, tail or even fist made contact with a new part of their body, a shockwave was sent throughout the world as Rebecca struggled to keep her barrier up. She tried to figure out who the figure was to be able to withstand such a blast, but she didn't wonder for long as Julian's voice echoed towards the figure. "Kiara! Stop fooling around, and get down here." Kiara? Was that really her?
As Rebecca wondered, the princess appeared right before her very eyes before she could even blink. She reached out to hug her "little sister", but her lifeless eyes scared her. The old Kiara was back, but Rebecca somehow didn't care and embraced her anyway. She was just glad to see her, and she couldn't remain scared of a little cutie like her with giant monstrous dragons right in front of her.
She giggled a bit at Rebecca's banter, and her pure smile shone through her furrowed brow. "I need you guys to wait here a bit." Rebecca instinctively grabbed onto her arm at hearing those words again. "You said something similar before," Britney said, "And we didn't see you for 6 months after that." Brandon went to apologize, but she reminded them there was a place and time for everything. "Promise you won't leave us behind." Halley pleaded.
Kiara looked troubled as they all stared at her with their pleading eyes. Her cold expression cracked into a smile as she ruffled Brandon's hair and said, "Now, I feel older than you guys. Don't worry, I won't leave you guys behind." Julian then popped up right behind Brandon scaring the sh- "Shall we, Ira" he said with a smile and she took his hand. What were they supposed to do? "Get the earth dragon to that spot."
Julian expected them to move a dragon to under the portal? Who did he think they were? Rebecca doubted as all their eyes glowed and turned as they set off to move the dragon. First up, Brandon and Halley jumped high into the sky, and were sent even higher by Celeste and her gleaming cloud white eyes. There, they each fired two arrows directly under the dragon's eyes, grabbing its attention.
Obviously peeved, the beast turned to hit them out of the sky, so Celeste dropped them as Britney and Awan tied up the dragon's hind legs. The beast turned to see what was going on as Bran and Hall landed on Rebecca's bampoline (trampoline + barrier), but it tripped instead and fell right on the X as all attention turned to Kiara and Julian's darkness and light eyes as they closed the portal.
Michaelangelo was last up as he set a giant circle around the beast with paint at lightning speed. With everything done, they all watched as the dragon was slowly sucked into an unbreakable vortex between the ground and the portal above. They were simultaneously closing it while sucking the dragon back in, a brilliant plan. Rebecca turned to the other two dragons, who didn't seem to care and wondered how to entrap them as well.
Maybe she could- "Wow." a disgustingly familiar voice exclaimed, "You guys are a lot more annoying than I thought, but you know what mama always said, do it yourself." Richard flicked his hand towards the vortex with indigo eyes, and Michaelangelo went flying into the vortex, where he started ascending upwards towards the portal after the dragon. Brandon jumped in after him along with Rebecca, and Britney and Halley followed them as well.
"Bind my shadow to yours and connect them all," Celeste instructed Awan as she jumped in as well. She must've hoped she could pull the others out using his strength, but she instead got sucked into the vortex as well. Stuck, Rebecca yelled to Kiara for help, and luckily, her voice reached the Dark Creator's magician. She immediately let go of Julian's hand and flew towards them, destroying the vortex.
"No!" Celeste yelled to her older sister. "Close the portal! We'll be okay!" She was right. The portal was opening back up, and the earth dragon didn't look very pleased with their little trick. Kiara, as stubborn as ever, ignored her sister, and went to catch them all midair as the dragon's roar shook Wisteria once more. "I'm not losing you again." she said firmly as she placed them all on the ground, but Rebecca wasn't going to let her act like a spoiled brat.
She yelled for Awan to connect hers and Julian's shadows, and as Rebecca hypothesized, the vortex reappeared and the portal began closing again as it pulled them all higher and higher into the sky. "Stop!" Kiara yelled, but the prince ignored her as the portal was almost closed. "Kiara!" Julian yelled as Rebecca realised her miscalculation. She had thought the portal would close before they got to it. What had she done?
~To be Continued ...