Prologue[]
They thought they destroyed me. They were dead wrong. Literally. Now I'm back after 15 years, ready to finish what I started. Every wizard will now suffer under my wrath. But first, I need the pieces of the Astral Relic...
Chapter 1[]
It was time for sparring practice. Chase's favorite part of the day.
"Hey! Chase!" Samantha Waterwhisper, a friend of Chase's, shouted, running over to him.
"Hi Samantha! Wanna train?" he asked, waving.
Samantha nodded as she skidded to a stop beside Chase.
Everyone else chose a sparring partner.
Chase readied himself. Every time he battled Samantha, he always lost. Nonetheless, it was fun. He fired a blast of fire at Samantha, who easily dodged it. He was met with a Downpourtal of water. He shook the water off of his head, opened his eyes, and looked around for Samantha.
Samantha was behind him, and she used Aqua Spear. When it poked Chase in the back, he was met with another Downpourtal.
Chase's skin heated up and evaporated the water on him. "Alright, NOW I'm fired up!" he grinned, two fireballs hovering above his hands. He combined the fireballs and fired them at Samantha who simply used Water Burst and fired it at Chase. Chase was sent flying across the training ground and crashed into Lucas, who was training with Ian. "Chase, I think you got the wrong person," Lucas laughed.
The door burst open. A tall man stood in the doorway. "Excuse me, but may you all please leave? My class is here to have their next class. You can come right back afterwards. It'll take about 30 minutes."
"Ok, prime time to get this in order before our metaphorical soup starts getting cold."
Ian propped the crashed wizards up and separated them both, pushing Chase to his side of the room. He then started for the exit.
"That was a stretch. Disregard the pun."
Everyone else exited.
Everyone was now in the great hall. "What now?" Chase asked, "I'm boooored."
Samantha looked at the nearest clock. "We have History in about...10 minutes."
Chase resorted to banging the back of his head against the wall.
"Well I’m outta here. History is boring anyway,” Lane said.
Suddenly, wizards came screaming and running out of the battle training facility. "That's weird..." Lucas started. A black, shadow-like ooze came out of it. Lucas, Samantha, Chase, and Ian walked over to the entrance. He saw the shadow holding Professor Greenheart by one leg. "Hey! That's our training facility and our professor!" he yelled at the shadow. It dropped Professor Greenheart and stretched out a shadowy tentacle that grabbed Chase and whacked him on the floor a couple of times, before tossing him up in the air and blasting him with shadow ball that sent him flying across the main wall and into a wall. "That...was a blast..." he groaned before collapsing on the ground. "Ow..."
“What is this thing?!” Lane shouted.
"A shadow...but it looks so familiar...but why?" Lucas wondered aloud.
"This much is new. Haven't seen something so concentrated in dark since Makalu... but it does seem oddly familiar." Ian agreed. "But that doesn't stop us from fighting."
Ian cast multiple, smaller Spearicles than the area attack and fired them at the general direction of that... thing.
The Spearicles vaporized when they touched the shadow. The shadow picked up Ian and threw him at poor Chase who had just gotten up.
Ian slammed into Chase and Chase was slammed against the wall again. "Talk about having my back up against the wall..." he groaned.
Samantha trapped the shadow in a water cage. "Chase, grab Professor Greenheart and take him to his classroom. Lucas, take his students to somewhere safe. I'm going to hold off the shadow."
Lane started shocking the shadow. “Yeah, we got this.” Lane immediately got flung back into a wall. “You know what, imma just take a breather,” he sighed.
"Sure," Chase replied to Samantha, rubbing his head. "I'm tired of getting repeatedly slammed against the wall." Chase grabbed Professor Greenheart's hand and ran to the classroom. "On it!" Lucas exclaimed, running over to the students. "Alright, everyone pull out your maps," Lucas ordered. They nodded and pulled out their maps. "Alright everyone touch Firefly Forest-hey! Jack, I said Firefly Forest. Not your house." They all teleported to Firefly Forest, where Flora and Gerald were tending to the plants. "Hey Flora, could you watch these wizards for a bit?" he asked. "Sure!" she exclaimed. "Thanks!" Lucas teleported back to the Academy, where Lane was hanging upside down, by his foot on a banner, Ian was sitting in the corner, rubbing his head, Samantha was drenched in her own water, and Chase was lying on the ground, groaning in pain. "What just happened?!" Lucas exclaimed. "The shadow escaped," Chase muttered.
Ian was a bit annoyed at this outcome and got up.
"Does this goop thing enjoy demo work or something? Busted the entire front wall."
"What could it do out there?" Samantha muttered.
“THE NEXT TIME I SEE THAT THING I’M GOING TO DESTROY IT INTO THOUSANDS OF PIECES!” Lane exclaimed.
Samantha chuckled.
"Well, history class starts now," Lucas started, "I suppose we'll be learning about the wardens again."
"I don't think they would have us learn about the same thing for three weeks in a row." Samantha laughed.
Ian shrugged.
"If that's your main concern? Then sure, warden time. But we'd probably want to just keep an eye out. Usually shadow magic is drawn to the Caverns, the Lost Island, wherever it is, and the Titans. We don't have to worry about the Titans, the professionals are taking care of it... but still."
"Personally, I don't care," Chase shrugged. He almost always fell asleep during history.
"What about that closed off island, Harmony Island?" Samantha asked. "They could've gone there."
"Possible..." Lucas replied.
“They could’ve went after the ancient,” Lane said worriedly. “Also, you guys need to hurry it up so we won’t be late.”
"Let's just go." Samantha said. She walked to the History classroom.
“Man! I forgot my headphones so I won’t be able to listen to whatever the teacher says!” Lane sighed.
Ian followed, makeshift icepack on the back right side of his head.
Everyone made it to History class, and today the teacher was teaching the students about the Academy. The class seemed to go by in about 5 minutes.
Chase, surprisingly, did not fall asleep during the History period.
It was lunch time now.
They all sat down at the round, grayish-blue table with 6 round, gray seats that they sat at every lunch period.
Samantha ate her rice calmly. She watched Chase devour his food after she finished.
Chase's Pyro Peck hopped onto the table. He placed some hot coals on a fire-proof napkin, which he placed on the table, in front of it. It happily gobbled them up.
Samantha looked disgusted. She quickly made her face look normal again when she noticed the Pyro Peck staring at her.
Lucas laughed. "What do you guys think the shadow was after?" Lucas asked.
"Something in the Academy, maybe?" Chase replied, "I mean why else would it come here?" As if on cue, the windows in the lunchroom shattered and the shadow entered again.
"What the-" Samantha gasped. She trapped the shadow in a bubble and floated it to the roof.
Ian locked it in place with a few icicle shards stabbing through the bubble but not popping it. The areas surrounding the shards became frosty.
The shadow morphed into a wizard, who pulled out a shadow version of the Eclipse Sky Scythe and started slashing at the inside of the bubble.
“Hey! That’s my wand!” Lane yelled.
"Or at least a shadow version of it," Lucas started. He pointed to the Eclipse Sky Scythe strapped onto Lane's back. "You still have yours."
Chase flew up to the roof, blasting flames out of his hands.
Ian's icicle shards ripped out of the roof and began targeting the shadow, spinning around it.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" he demanded.
"I'm Dylan Nightshadow," the wizard hissed, "and I want you to show me the map to the pieces of the Astral Relic."
"Astral Relic? Map?" Chase inquired.
Dylan slashed through the bubble. He transformed into a shadow, phased through the Icicle Shards, and reentered the Academy.
Ian summoned his Ice Sickle and covered it in serrated ice.
"We don't know what you know. But we do know that whatever you're trying isn't acceptable."
The shadow covered the whole room in darkness. "Guess I'll have to kill you then," Dylan replied bluntly. "Well that got dark real fast," Chase joked, flying back into the lunchroom.
"I can't see a thing," a voice said. "Ow! That was my foot!" another voice cried out. It was probably Lane's. "Sorry," another voice sounding like Samantha's replied "Oof. Oops. that was the wall." "Hold on..." Lucas' hands glowed brightly and everyone could see...
Dylan. Standing right in front of them. Scythe in his hands.
"Oh, you're going down." Samantha said, rising water bubbles from her hands.
"STOP!" Said a voice. It was Professor Greenheart, wand in hand.
Ian's sickle refracted the light, the entire room now illuminated.
"Uh... hey, Professor.", he greeted awkwardly
He slammed his hammer on the ground, which caused the ground Dylan was standing on to spike upwards.
Dylan went flying through the roof, shadows disappearing with him.
"Whaddya know? The old man saved us," Chase laughed.
"Don't call me old man. My students do that plenty," Professor Greenheart said.
Chase shrugged.
"Thank you for saving us, Professor! Adding to that, do you know anything about the map Dylan was talking about?" Lucas asked politely.
Professor Greenheart twitched. "You don't need to thank me for saving you." He announced, trying to change the subject.
Chase and Samantha looked at each other and shrugged.
"You see, there's a map that leads to the Astral Relic, the source of all magic. This map gives the owner of it a direct path to it. The Astral Relic changes its location all the time, so the map is always changing." Professor Greenheart explained.
"So, where's the map?" Chase asked.
"Probably hidden somewhere in the Academy," Lucas replied.
"The map belongs to the deceased Astral Warden. It is said to now be in his home." Professor Greenheart answered.
Lucas grinned. The Astral Warden was his favorite warden.
"So, do you want to go find it and protect it so it will never be stolen?" Professor Greenheart asked.
"Of course!" Lucas exclaimed.
The wizard holding the sickle considered it.
"Is it my job...? No. Is it better than killing crystals forever?"
Ian shrugged.
"Maybe. At least a little better than what may as well be mining with more combat. Problem is, how do we know gooperblooper Dylan isn't going to follow us?"
"He will. But we can fight back." Professor Greenheart stated.
Ian started spinning his sickle, the light in the room starting to become erratic. Three people complained.
"To an extent, then. Sure."
He stopped spinning the sickle after another 5 people started complaining.
"Alright. Then we'll head off tomorrow. I'd like to see you 5 tomorrow at the Plant Tower's entrance." Professor Greenheart said. He walked off.
"What now?" Chase asked. "I'm going to head to the archives and do some research on the Astral Relic," Lucas stated before leaving, "Well, bye for now!"
"I've got yet another golem to deconstruct.", Ian added. "Cya."
"I guess I'll do a Crystal Caverns run," Chase stated, spinning his spear, "I've gotta prepare to face any thing of the Shadow element. And for some BLAZING REASON, THE SHADOW MAGIC KEEPS COMING BACK AFTER I LEAVE." He exhaled sharply. "Well, see you later!" he left, teleporting to Crystal Caverns.
“I’ll investigate the Dark Tower for any clues,” Lane said.
"Bye, guys! I'm gonna go visit Eve." Samantha said. She ran off, waving goodbye.
Chase trudged to the Earth Tower entrance, red-eyed, with a Crystal Monster latching onto his head. He had scratches and bruises all over him.
Professor Greenheart was standing by the entrance. "You're the first one here. Surprising."
Chase collapsed on the ground. "My mh o mh nht hv ghn jmt y dfn fst nt," he mumbled into the ground.
Lane followed, being pulled by his Luminex.
Samantha walked out of the Water Tower, and dashed over to the Earth Tower's entrance.
"Looks like I'm the third one here." Samantha slightly chuckled.
Chase picked himself up and pulled the Crystal Monster off of his head.
Ian mined out the crystal monster on Chase and bagged the shards.
"Cool Star Boy is late. They'll need a slip-oh wait, this isn't class." Professor Greenheart remarked.
"I'm right here," Lucas said, stepping out from behind the Professor, a book under one arm.
"Then make your presence known." Professor Greenheart stated. "Anyways, are you all ready?"
"Yeah," Chase replied, "If Dylan shows up, I'll be glad to pound him into the dirt. I owe him for last night."
Samantha nodded. Her Mimic and Aquaster appeared behind her.
Chase summoned his Embershed and Terrosaur.
“Not if I shock him into submission first," Lane said.
"Ha. You can dream." Professor Greenheart laughed.
"You can't shock him if he's already running away from my flames," Chase shot back. The two started arguing about who got to beat up Dylan.
“And I’ll turn my dreams to reality” said Lane as he called his Pterrocks.
“Why do you think paralyzation was invented?” said Lane.
"Fire exists, buddy. I could ju-uhuhuhuh-" Chase was cut off by Lane zapping him. He immediately fell on the ground, hair sticking up at several angles. "That was a shocking turn of events," he rasped, twitching from all the electricity coursing through him.
"How do you invent paralysis? It's a natural effect. That said..."
Ian summoned an old-design Flurrious and a Battabash.
"Get up. We've got a piece of paper to sacrifice our lives for."
“Natural effect whatever. The only thing that matters is that I get to beat up Dylan.” said Lane carelessly.
Chase sat up, twitching less intensely than before. "Then let's go!"
Chase looked at Lane. "I get dibs on beating him up first, though. You get what's left."
“Not on my watch.” said Lane
"What an ice-cold remark, Lane." Ian turned, not expecting anyone to think the pun was funny. Also expected. "Where to, professor?"
“Ian, we don’t want an icy Chase. That would be hell on earth. No puns,” said Lane.
"Where to, Professor?" Lucas asked.
"We'll head to Shipwreck Shore, and we'll ask Eve for her boat. She'll give it to us if you ask her, Samantha. I know you two are friends. Once we get to the boat, we'll head to Element Islands, which is the island The Astral Warden lived at. I'll explain more of our plan once we get there. Now c'mon, we have places to go." Professor Greenheart explained.
“Why do we have to do all that? Ian can just freeze the water and we can walk over it,” said Lane.
"We'll have to walk about 100 miles if Ian freezes the water," Professor Greenheart responded blankly as if it was common knowledge.
“Ugh. I hate the water,” Lane said reluctantly.
"So boat it is," Chase said, returning Embershed and Terrosaur to their icons in his Pet Book.
"Professor Greenheart, why is the island not on the main map?" Lucas questioned politely.
"After the island was ambushed 50 years ago, they removed it from the map so nobody could find the island and ambush it again." Professor Greenheart answered.
"There's gotta be a way to teleport there....Maybe if I just..." Chase rubbed his map with his fist. He disappeared, teleporting to every island on the map at least twice, before returning to the Academy within 3 seconds. "Heh...the entire island flashed before my eyes..." he staggered around for a bit, dizzy.
"That’s Chase for you. Irresponsible," said Lane with a grin on his face.
"Yep! That's me! Irrespo-er wait. HEY!" Chase exclaimed.
"I didn’t expect you to fall for that but it’s funny anyway," said Lane, chuckling.
Samantha laughed. Professor Greenheart didn't want to admit it, but he also thought it was quite hilarious.
Chase scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
Ian snickered.
Then he began considering the ice path.
"But you can just use the boat-ice nether fast-travel system, it uses less packed ice... wait, what was I saying?"
Ian shook his head and agreed with Plan B(oat).
After a couple of minutes, the group found themselves in the middle of the ocean, Chase propelling the boat by blasting flames out of his hands, along with Samantha, who used the surrounding waters to push the boat forwards.
Ian made the occasional ice sculpture out of the edge of the waters in sight. There wasn't much to do, it was literally just a boat.
"Well, who wants pizza?" Lane asked.
"Not now," Chase replied to Lane.
"No thank you Lane, I would not like a pizza," Lucas said.
"Ah, you guys are boring," said Lane.
"Not as boring as water travel. For a ship sailed by what was a master captain, without the whole "Order of Influence" shenanigan this gets a little monotonous," Ian replied.
“I’m gonna see if I can catch any good pets here.” said Lane.
The water around Chase seemed to stop propelling the boat. He shrugged and blasted the flames harder. "No! Chase, stop!" a voice exclaimed. A hand of water stopped the boat from moving so abruptly that everyone was sent flying off of it, and onto the sand of an island in front of the boat. Chase pointed one finger to the sky. "Well that was a halting entrance." He dropped his hand and sat up.
"Thank goodness we’re off that boat," said Lane with a sigh of relief.
Lucas surveyed the area. "Looks like we made it... Professor, is this the island you were talking about?" Lucas asked.
"Yes. It isn't as majestic as I thought it would be. Now, whenever you see a cave, tell me. For now, we shall walk around," Professor Greenheart said.
"You guys can walk. Me on the other hand prefer flying," said Lane.
Leaves rustled in the distance.
Lucas peered in the direction of the sound. "I'm going to see what's going on over there."
The rustling stopped and a whoosh could be heard.
“Show yourself!” shouted Lane.
Lucas froze. He was too close to to where he heard the noise, but he knew he should head back.
Lucas was swept off of his feet by a shadow. Chase drew his Luma Sun Ray Rod only for it to get knocked out of his hands. "What the-" Chase was met with a punch to the face, sending him staggering back. The shadow morphed into Dylan, who kicked Lane back, and drew his scythe, parrying Ian's attacks while blocking Samantha's water attacks with a shadow ball.
"GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME YOU LIKE A WIZARD YOU LITTLE RASCAL," shouted Lane.
Professor Greenheart brought out his wand and wacked Dylan across the head with it. He was knocked out.
Lucas groaned. He had no idea where he was, but for some reason he could hear a battle. When he turned, he saw his friends through some kind of window.
"Funny isn't it. All your friends being defeated while all you can do is watch." Dylan's voice echoed throughout the area.
"Where are you? How are talking to me?" Lucas asked, failing to match the voice with a body.
Lucas fell onto the ground, his eyes closed. Samantha raced over. "What the-"
Back in Dylan's consciousness...
Lucas stared at the window, watching his friends fight Dylan. "Stop! Let them live, I won't watch them get hurt anymore." Lucas cried.
"Lucas?!" Chase dashed over to his friend. He saw the faint rise and fall of Lucas' chest and let out a sigh of relief. "He's still breathing."
Chase picked up his Luma Sun Ray Rod, and his hair flared up. He had a smirk on his face. "It'll be fun toasting you like a piece of bread," he said, pointing his spear at Dylan.
"I said he was mine to fight and I don’t go against my will," said Lane, pushing Chase out of the way.
"Let him fight. He'll get the job done faster, anyways." Professor Greenheart stated.
Chase ignored Lane and Professor Greenheart and blasted several fireballs at Dylan, who spun his scythe and deflected them. Chase charged at Dylan, slashing and stabbing at him. Dylan blocked blocked the majority of attacks, dodging the others, and deflecting the last. He knocked Chase's spear out of his hands and spun around him, kicking him into a tree. Chase quickly got up, clearly agitated, and charged again, hands blazing on fire. He threw several punches at Dylan, who yawned and ducked and dodged the punches. "You think you can defeat me? Pathetic." Dylan fired several shadow balls at Chase, who let out an enormous torrent of fire at Dylan. When the torrent had dissipated into smoke, Chase looked up, and did not see Dylan. The fire in his hands faded and let out a sigh of relief. But his victory was short-lived, as Dylan's shadow appeared behind him and chuckled. "Nice try, Flame Boy," he snorted. He engulfed Chase in a massive shadow ball, and punched him to the top, teleported to the top, kicked him to the ground, teleported to the ground, and punched him into the wall and teleported there and repeated the process several times, before slamming an unconscious, bruised Chase into the ground. The shadow ball disappeared, revealing a smirking Dylan standing over Chase's body. He stepped away. "Who's next?" he threatened.
"NO! CHASE!" Lucas yelled, desperate to help his friends.
"I’m next," said Lane. "You won’t live to see the light of my lightning once I’m done with you," said Lane with a grin on his face.
Lucas paced around the area. What do I do, how do I get out? He thought, trying not to look at his bruised friends. He paused. if the area belonged to Dylan, and if Dylan was of the shadow element... He facepalmed and started conjuring a giant orb of light. This better work... My friends need me.
Dylan spun his scythe and charged at Lane.
Lane was pinned to the wall. "Do you have any last words?" Dylan asked. Lane pointed his finger behind Dylan. Dylan was scratched by Lane’s Luminex and Lane was freed.
Dylan turned into a puddle of dark purple water. He moved away.
Dylan paused, then staggered back, reverting back to his human form. He screamed in pain and put his hands on his head. A beam of light emerged and Lucas gasped and woke up.
“Not so tough now are you shadow boy?” said Lane.
Dylan....disappeared, somehow.
"You coward! How dare you run away from a fight," shouted Lane.
Then Lucas abruptly stood up. "CHASE!" he yelped, running towards his unconscious friend.
Ian was converting all the shallow waters around the island into ice walls.
"Chase, are you okay? Wow, I never thought I’d say that," said Lane.
"He's alive, but just barely. I think we need to pause the Astral Relic mission so Chase can get better." Lucas said, relieved.
Ian checked Chase's pulse and made another makeshift ice-pack.
"He's alive. Unconscious, battered, and 5% out life's game, but alive."
He tossed the icepack onto Chase's head and went to climb one of the ice-walls.
"I’ll teleport him to a Waystone so he can heal," said Lane.
"You do that. I'll light up this area." Lucas said, conjuring a few small orbs of light.
"Can't see anything up here, but there are some weird rune-like symbols on a patch of ancient... structure... Ok, I can see something up here," Ian called out.
"Ian, you can check it out, but please don't go too far." Lucas said, adding more lights.
"I’m back," said Lane. "Chase is alive and fully recovered."
“What did I miss?” said Lane.
"Not much, Ian found something and he's going to check it out. Let Chase rest a little, last thing we need is for him to tire himself out." Lucas explained.
"Ugh...What the heck just happened?" Chase asked, rubbing his head.
"Chase you're awake!" Lucas exclaimed.
“Ha, guess who beat Dylan? Yours truly.” said Lane with a grin.
"I thought your Luminex scratched him, not you." Lucas said, sitting down on a large chunk of driftwood.
"Well, he’s my pet so it was my win," said Lane as he gave his Luminex a treat.
"All I remembered was that he was screaming in pain, I don’t know where he went," said Lane.
"He left. I believe he's still lurking around somewhere, but he won't come near the light, I think we'll be fine." Lucas answered, digging in his pack for some salad.
Lucas found six salads and handed them to everyone. "Sorry Lane, you finished all the pizza on the way here, I hope this will do."
"R.I. Pizza," said Lane sadly.
Professor Greenheart refused to eat his salad. He would not eat his element.
"Blame Lane," Samantha said.
"You should be grateful. I could’ve dropped you in the ocean," Lane shot back.
"Let's get going," Professor Greenheart hissed.
"The same thing happened to me," Lucas said as they continued walking. "I'm not sure what happened, but I could hear Dylan's voice... almost as if I was inside him."
"He transported you into his mind." Professor Greenheart stated.
"He did? How would he do that?" Lucas asked.
"Only extremely skilled wizards can do it. I don't know much about it," Professor Greenheart replied.
"Oh. Is Astral magic the only way out?" Lucas asked.
"I think so," Professor Greenheart said.
"Would someone remind me why we're still sitting here instead of searching for the Astral Relic?" Chase asked.
"Exactly," Professor Greenheart said.
Lucas frowned. "If Astral magic was the only way out, how did Chase leave? And if Dylan's mind was a place, would it be possible to map it?" Lucas asked while re-organizing his pack.
"Dylan also can let out who he traps in his mind." Professor Greenheart said. "He let Chase out by his own will."
"Arewegoingyet?Arewegoingyet?Arewegoingyet?Arewegoingyet?" Chase asked, repeatedly.
"One more word out of your mouth and you’re gonna have to go to a Waystone again," said Lane with an angry look on his face.
"The real question is, who will be on it?" Chase joked, dodging a lightning bolt.
"I see you're trying to lightning the mood!" Chase continued joking, dodging 2 more lightning bolts.
“Well guys, we’re gonna have to sacrifice someone today for the greater good.” said Lane while firing more lightning.
Chase ran around some more, before resorting to flying in the air by blasting flames out of his hands.
Lane promptly summoned a lightning bolt out of the sky and zapped him in midair. "Well that was stunning," Chase semi-laughed and semi-groaned, before falling out of the sky and into a tree.
"So does someone have a spare tombstone?" said Lane smiling.
"I'm still alive!" Chase groaned, still in the tree.
"Awwww. I wanted to bury you," Lane whined.
The tree branch snapped, sending Chase tumbling out of the tree, and landing on the ground with a thud. When he stood up, the ground shifted underneath him, and a cave of dark-blue rocks with several white, tiny star-like shapes on them, rose up. "Hey, old man, I think I found the cave!" Chase yelled.
"You were useful for once. Thank God," said Lane.
Chase glared at Lane. "Ha. Ha. Very funny," he said sarcastically.
"I know it’s funny," said Lane, firing right back at him.
Chase glared at Lane, and Lane glared back. Sparks flew between the two. Literally.
"Alright. Let's go inside. Take your weapons. If you feel like you're falling, it's normal." Professor Greenheart said, materializing his weapon.
"Why would we feel like we're falling?" Chase inquired, flying into the cave, Luma Sun Ray Rod strapped to his back.
Lucas was shivering with excitement, and hardly could resist flying ahead of the others.
Meanwhile, with Ian...
"SWEET CHICKEN 25% MONSTER DROP, HOW MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE THERE?"
Ian was fighting his way through a horde of fully-evolved monsters, all towards a selection of runes, a map, and a sort of constellation map.
Frost was littering the floor. Knocked out and frozen monsters were everywhere, with more beign added to the collection every second.
Multiple locked doors were behind the pile, each with a cryptic symbol. Ian wouldn't have been able to make anything out of it, had he actually been paying attention to it.
"There's this hole in the middle of the cave that we have to fall down in order to be transported to the Astral Warden's home. The cave can make you feel like you're falling, also, it will give you illusions of how you could die in the cave. Don't let fear consume you, or else you will become one with the cave." Professor Greenheart explained.
Suddenly, the cave shifted downwards, back to the position it was before it was opened. Chase banged his head on the roof of the cave. "Ow! That was a rocky start..."
"Your stupid puns are not amusing," Professor Greenheart stated.
Lucas ducked just in time and studied the cave again. "What does the relic look like exactly?" he asked.
Soon, the group was met with a fork in the...cave. Two paths for the wizards to choose.
"We're going right." Professor Greenheart ordered. He walked right.
"What if we split up? I'm slightly concerned that Dylan will attack one of the groups, most likely the one without me in it." Lucas said, peering at the path on the left.
"We're. Going. Right. I'm the adult here." Professor Greenheart said.
IAN STATUSCHECK:
56% HEARTS
INFINTISMAL STARS
HORDECLEAR 80%
Lucas hesitated, but he knew better than to argue with an elder.
IAN STATUSCHECK:
0.6% HEARTS
INFINTISMAL+1 STARS
HORDECLEAR 110%
BOSSCLEAR 100%
Chase was stuck at the end of the group, mostly because Lane wouldn't let him pass and the cave roof wasn't high enough for him to fly over everyone.
Lucas glanced back and thought he saw a shadow flash by. "Did you see that Chase?" He asked, while moving forwards.
Chase, however, wasn't there.
"Chase? CHASE?" Lucas yelled, and their single file line halted as Lucas ran to the back. "He just... disappeared." Lucas muttered.
"Ugh...what the heck just happened?" Chase asked. He was floating around in a black, cloud-like location.
For a split-second, Samantha's shadow gained purple eyes, but disappeared almost instantly. Nobody appeared to notice it, though.
Meanwhile, in ???...
Ian came across the room he was fighting to enter.
6 runes. A seventh, a simple gem, in purple.
The runes appeared to fit into 6 slots. Engraved within the runes, glowing images. The symbols of the elements.
Plant.
Fire.
Water.
Ice.
Storm.
Astral.
The slots had these same engravings.
The slots themselves, in a wheel, rings and text of an ancient dialect around them. In the middle, a closed chamber.
Ian inserted the runes, matching the symbols.
The gem glowed purple. The chamber opened.
Ian inserted the gem.
And the room went bright.
"Guys, where is Chase?" Lucas said, as the team went into a circle formation.
"Samantha, put a water cage around us. Let's be on our guard, too." Professor Greenheart said. Samantha clapped her hands, and a water cage appeared around them.
"I'M RIGHT HERE, GUYS!" Chase yelled. Nobody appeared to hear him.
Dylan's voice echoed all around him. "Your friends can't hear you..." Chase spun around, but couldn't see him. "Show yourself!" he demanded.
"Samantha where's your shadow?" Lucas gasped, turning around and staring at where Samantha would have been.
Samantha immediately fell out of the "sky". "Woah!" Chase flew up, and caught her in mid-air.
Ian's vision cleared. Bright magic streams in elemental colors ran across the room.
Images of Epics, Wardens, and Wizards on the walls, casting a unified spell against a shadow, a hooded figure, a wizard with a dark puddle around him.
Text appeared under the wizards.
The plant wizard, G R E E N H E A R T.
The fire wizard, F L A M E M A S T E R.
The water wizard, W A T E R W H I S P E R.
The storm wizard, S T O R M C L A W
The ice wizard, F R O S T B R E A K E R.
The astral wizard, H E R O L I G H T.
The shadow wizard, N I G H T S H A D O W.
The room went bright again.
Chase placed her on the ground. He scratched the back of of his head awkwardly. "You okay?"
Ian was transported to the cave.
"Guys stick together, we can't let him take one of us again." Lucas said, "Professor Greenheart, what do we do?"
"Lane, be careful, your Luminex can't save you in this tight space- Lane?" Lucas said, staring at the missing spot in their circle.
"Well well well, what do we have here. Two lovebirds I see," Lane teased.
Chase jumped.
“Well, time to snitch.” said Lane, laughing. “Wait, where even are we?”
"Ha. You thought you scared me off," Dylan hissed.
"Now you're nothing but my little pawns," he laughed.
"Hm. I thought you would be 6 feet under by now," said Lane.
Suddenly, Professor Greenheart appeared next to them all. Only Ian and Lucas were left.
"Welcome to the party, old geezer," said Lane.
Lucas turned just in time to see Ian and Professor Greenheart disappear. "G-guys, where are you?" The cave suddenly felt colder and darker, and Lucas shuddered. They must be in Dylan's mind... That means I'm alone.
Chapter 2[]
Dylan materialized in front of him. "Hello, Lucas," he said, menacingly.
"Bring them back. Bring them back right now," Lucas ordered.
"If you say so," Dylan said, smirking. Chase, Samantha, Lane, Ian, and the Professor appeared in front of them. But they appeared...different, somehow.
Then they all charged at Lucas.
"What did you do to them? What do you want?" Lucas asked, pushing out any panic.
Chase slashed at Lucas, followed by an Aqua Spear from Samantha.
He dodged them and created a light shield. His friends lurched away from the brightness, and Dylan backed up.
Lane tried paralyzing him while Ian threw ice sickles.
Chase's expression changed for a split-second, then he fired a massive blast of fire at Lucas, looking away from the light.
"Chase, wherever you are, you need to calm down-" Lucas screamed in pain as Dark-Ian speared his right arm with an icicle.
Dylan phased into the shadows, then appeared behind Lucas. He ran down the tunnel. "See you later!" he laughed. "Oh, and have fun dealing with your 'friends'."
Lane landed the paralyzation on Lucas and Lucas couldn’t move.
Chase stood over Lucas, spear in hand. He proceeded to raise the spear.
What a scene.
The brink of death. No movement. Complete vulnerability.
And then, should something not happen soon, silence.
Running down the cave halls, Actual Ian (A!Ian) began searching for the group.
He somehow knew where they were, what trouble they were in.
And he saw the scene.
At the entrance to the clearing, Ian snapped an icicle in his hand, the matter reforming into a collection of snowflakes.
He threw the Icicle Flakes.
Cages sprouted where they landed, stalling Chase and the others for enough time for Lucas to recover, trapping the enemies in that time.
He knew everything.
But he needed more time, and to defeat the wizards to explain.
Chase growled and increased his body heat, melting the ice.
Ian used the time of melting to move Lucas to the entrance of the tunnel and fire a barrage of icicle shards in a general direction, mainly towards the enemies.
Meanwhile, Dylan approached a massive star shaped hole. He smirked and jumped down it.
Dylan landed on the ground and saw the Astral Relic imbedded into a stone pedestal with ancient markings on it. It looked like your average spell relic, except it had 5 orbs in a circular position. An orange one represented fire, light blue for ice, a green plant orb, water orb that was blue, and an indigo storm orb. A yellow orb was in the center, representing astral. Dylan raised his scythe.
Suddenly, Ian and Lucas landed right behind him. "Oh, so you're here to watch the elimination of your magic as you know it?" he laughed.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” said a familiar voice.
"I know something you haven't, Nightshadow. The truth behind what you are. What we are."
Ian took in hand the runes, teleported to him after associating the dots.
"We, in a sense, have met at a stalemate before."
The runes began glowing. They flew forward, encasing the Astral Relic which was now emitting great magic energy.
"This time is different."
Ian threw in the air the Dark Gem...
And destroyed it with his sickle.
"It's over Dylan. Turn yourself in." Lucas said.
"They can free themselves now. You have no reason to resist." Ian took his sickle in both hands.
Lane appeared and said “What happened to me?”
Chase floated down. "No clue..."
Dylan glared at Lucas, then threw his scythe at the Astral Relic. It penetrated the field the runes generated.
And shattered the Astral Relic.
Chapter 3[]
Lucas froze. It was as if all of life had escaped him.
A burst of magic surged from where the Astral Relic was, knocking all the wizards off their feet.
The 3 pieces of the frame clattered to the floor.
Blue, orange, indigo, light blue, and green lights shot to different places on the island.
Chase sat up and blinked. Did Dylan just...destroy the Astral Relic?
Dylan just laughed and melted into the shadows. "Not so tough without your powers, huh?" he cackled. Then he disappeared.
"I still have a very sharp scythe!" Lane yelled.
Ian got up, barely breathing.
Everything felt different. Unnatural. Would history really repeat?
His hands were shaking. His very essence was draining, meaning all this work, all this fighting had made him depend on his magic. Not now. Not after knowing. I'm not letting this happen again.
His vision began blurring.
And then it stabilized.
The runes pulsed, as if a heartbeat.
They began emitting energy trails, running towards the lights.
Ian wasn't fainting anymore as long as he was with the ice rune, so... good!
But he knew he had some explaining to do.
"Ian... How did you know?" Lucas asked, peering suspiciously at his friend.
"I think icy bad pun boy is hiding something from us," said Lane.
"I learned a lot from that temple wall. That place, it was definitely for something important. When I activated it, our wizard names popped up under drawings of wardens and wizards. From what I understand? We died. We reincarnated. We are the wardens. 15 years ago, we sacrificed ourselves to destroy Nightshadow. But... it didn't work. He came back to finish what he started. We came back because we were destined to stop that. It sounds cheesy, but... that's what the temple said." Ian picked up the ice rune. "I can't explain everything. Not until we get out, not until we can get back to that place I was in."
Professor Greenheart sat up with a scared look in his eyes. "We....lost."
Chase slumped up against the wall.
"Wait, if all elemental magic is gone, and the Academy is suspended by magic, wouldn't that mean..." Chase trailed off.
"It's....gone."
"It's fell to the ground."
"Everyone who was in that building....they're dead."
"It's all our fault."
Samantha sobbed.
Professor Greenheart just sat there. He was stunned.
Suddenly, pieces of the cave started falling around them.
"WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!" Chase yelled over the loud rumbling of rocks.
Samantha took Chase's hand and the two ran off. Everyone else followed.
"You guys run. I’ll hold it off," said Lane.
"NO! LANE!" Chase cried.
"If I die, beat the magic out of Dylan for me," said Lane,. Th saying his final words and being crushed by the rocks.
"LANE!" Samantha exclaimed, running over to the pile of rocks. Samantha hugged it.
"No..." Chase desperately tried pulling the rocks away.
The rocks continued falling around them.
Professor Greenheart eyes sparkled. "Wait....our hope hasn't been lost. You see, the relic can't be destroyed unless someone wipes out every element."
"But it was just shattered!" Chase exclaimed.
"That doesn't mean anything. Everything is still okay. By killing Lane, however, the storm element has been wiped. But if we can put the relic back together, storm magic will come back and Lane will be revived." Professor Greenheart explained.
Chase picked up the 3 pieces of the frame of the Astral Relic. "So we just have to collect the elemental orbs before Dylan does?"
"And put them back together. And yes." Professor Greenheart said.
The rocks tumbled faster. "If we want to do that, let's get out of here," Chase said worriedly.
Everyone dashed out of the cave.
A piece of paper fluttered out of it before the final collapse of the cave.
"Lane's body...it's been crushed into dust...but we can still save him." Samantha murmured.
Chase picked up the piece of paper. A picture of the Elemental Island was on it.
A green circle was in a forest, a blue in the water, indigo at the top of a mountain, light blue inside of the mountain, and an orange near a volcano. Each were at the edge of the island.
"Booo," said a familiar voice.
Chase shook his head. He was probably hearing stuff.
"You’re not hearing things fire boy." Chase looked around just to be spooked by ghost Lane.
Chase jumped. "Lane?" Chase asked.
"Yes. It is me. Oh man, you guys should've seen the looks on your faces. That was priceless," Lane laughed.
"So are you dead or not?" Samantha asked, slightly annoyed.
"I'm basically a ghost now," said Lane.
"So...you're dead," Chase said.
"Anyway which orb should we go for first?" Chase questioned.
"How about the orange orb?" Lucas asked.
"Alright! Fire!" Chase exclaimed happily.
Ian shifted uncomfortably.
The runes still remained with him, so he decided to nod. Slowly.
The orange rune glowed brighter in the presence of Chase, so Ian decided to just throw it at him. By some miracle Chase was able to catch it without looking.
When Chase held the rune, he somehow knew where the orb was, and began walking to the area, semi-consciously. He didn't even need the map.
"Chase stay with the group. We can't lose another person." Lucas warned.
Chase didn't seem to hear Lucas and kept walking.
Ian was thinking about Lane's half-demise, and the way the runes grabbed onto the astral relic, the way they pulsed. Did the runes absorb the power, or host themselves with the relic pieces? Everything was suddenly slightly more confusing.
"Ian, that goes for you too, don't fall too far behind." Lucas said, looking at the caboose of the group.
The Fire rune glowed brighter.
The group eventually arrived at a volcano. Chase walked to the base of it and instinctively grabbed an orange orb imbedded in it. Chase shook his head and blinked. "Wow," Chase started, "That was weird."
Ian looked highly uncomfortable.
He looked at the fire orb in his hand. He looked at everyone and waved the orb in his hand at them. "I got it!" he exclaimed. The reactions on their faces weren't what he expected. They looked scared. Chase turned around and instinctively pulled out his Luma Sun Ray Rod and blocked a slash from Dylan's scythe. "What-" Chase was cut off as Dylan melted into Chase's shadow, reappeared behind him...
and slashed.
Chase collapsed on the ground. The Fire orb rolled out of his limp hands and bumped against Lucas' foot.
"IF I WASN’T A GHOST, I’D RIP THE MAGIC OUT OF YOU AND THROW YOU INTO A DITCH!!!" shouted Lane.
Samantha immediately knew he was dead. Samantha took Professor Greenheart's hammer and hit herself across the head with it. Her head tumbled onto the ground, and her body fell onto the floor. Professor Greenheart twitched. He picked up his hammer, and said "We're all going to die, aren't we? We can't save anyone. It's all pointless."
"I... Professor don't do it, we still have a chance-" Lucas started.
The fire rune went dim.
Ian, out of pure anticipation of what would happen next, fired a full Spearicle at the ground and flipped the entire spear over by slamming an ice hand into the back. The orb went flying.
He caught it in midair and threw it into the volcano.
"History doesn't deserve a second chance!"
The volcano erupted.
"Do we, now? That route is the only thing I wasn't educated in. My parents made me learn everything. My brain is full of unwanted knowledge. It's all so painful, sometimes I feel like my brain is going to explode." Professor Greenheart muttered.
"Volcano doesn't matter anymore. Fire rune's well out of range now. Quit moping. We have 5 minutes to get out of here and win this race." Ian took charge of the situation, one of the only sane people left. "Lucas, take Samantha with you. We're leaving, NOW."
Professor Greenheart dropped his hammer and stepped on it. Crushed it. He had no motive for this. He just-did. "Alright."
"We'll go to the Academy. If it's destroyed, we're dead. If it's okay, Lucas will fix everything. And I'll see my students again." Professor Greenheart decided.
"Then get moving, Professor."
Ian slammed his hand into Lamplight Town's location on the map.
Dylan secretly followed them by melting into the Professor's shadow.
It was Pumpkinfest. "Is that part of your Halloween costume or what, Lucas?" Kandi Korn asked.
"It's... it's not, I'm heading to the Academy, so I can't stay." He said, still shuddering from the recent deaths.
"No time to explain, candy woman. Just... don't touch the neck stump if you don't want to be confused." Ian held up the ice relic and shot his hand forward and up.
An ice pillar the size of a skyscraper shot up and slammed into the side of the academy island. Ian skated up it using the Team Blue skates he got once from Shiverchill Mountains.
Chase's ghost rose out of his body. "Stupid shadow boy," he muttered. "Uh-guys? You forgot someone!" he yelled.
A note was haphazardly scratched into the Spearcicle. "Chase, if you wake up as a ghost, we're in the academy! Oh, and Samantha killed herself. Will explain when you get to academy. -Ian"
"...Ok then." Chase tried to pick up the map in his backpack, but his hands phased through it. "Stupid ghost body," he muttered, proceeding to float his way over the 200 miles of ocean. "Wait-did he say Samantha killed herself?!"
Ian was hastily trying to get past the waves of students before they figured out that Samantha was decapitated.
"Use your Academy Amulets to teleport you to the Academy. I'll use mine, too." Professor Greenheart said.
Chase finally arrived at the academy and phased through the door. Pieces crumbled off of the roof and walls. Astral banners were strewn all over the place. Books were all over the place, and bookshelves were toppled over.
"And....we're dead." Professor Greenheart muttered, upset.
Ian was muttering curses under his breath. He broke through the keystone pedestal door and stared Gale down.
"Get out of here if you value your life."
"But... the Ice pedestal is almost fi-"
"LEAVE."
Gale teleported out.
Ian ripped all of the keystones left out of the pedestals and attached them to the runes.
All that was left to prepare was the stalling.
He took out the crystal monster shards and crushed them into a powder, tossing it out the window. A purple portal formed in the blocked-off academy bridge. A wizard peeked his head out of it, sliced something with a weird scythestaff, and went back in.
Ian then proceeded to toss the Astral Rune in the air and shot next to it with an icicle, creating a completely bright light in the academy halls. All shadows were eliminated and Dylan was redirected to the portal.
[S] Preparation is complete.
"That escalated quicker then I expected. Here comes Dylan." Professor Greenheart remarked.
"Those boxes in front of that place are completely indestructible and unsurmountable. They were created by unknown means, and not even the darkest wizard has broken through them." Ian recited a line from a book from the library about jujus.
Chase's ghost arrived. "What are guys doi-ahh! I can't see a thing!"
Samantha's dead body thumped on the floor.
"Chase, don't ask."
Chase looked horrified.
"Chase, the minute you died, Samantha killed herself. There was nothing we could do." Lucas said sadly.
Chase sat down and buried his face in his hands.
"I'm sorry Chase. Wait, why hasn't she ghosted yet?" Lucas asked.
RELICCHECK-
Astral Piece: ???
Fire Piece: Probably coming back to earth over Bonfire Spire at terminal velocity
Water Piece: ???
Ice Piece:???
Storm Piece: ???
Plant Piece: ???
RUNECHECK-
All runes intact and powered.
Chase remained silent and stood up.
"Chase, we'll get her back. Just wait." Lucas said, hoping that Chase would be able to keep calm until then.
Chase nodded blankly.
Ian took out the Plant Keystone, now a dead swamp green. He tossed it into Greenhearrt's hands. "The race for those pieces is still on. Not much time to lose here. Best plan of action for the next piece would probably be Firefly Forest. Fireflies eliminate shadows."
Professor Greenheart teleported himself out of the area and into Firefly Forest.
Ian looked out the highest windows in the academy. The piece was somehow in Firefly Forest, even though it would have to fly overseas? It didn't matter. What mattered is that the piece was in Gerald's old sleeping spot, and a crapton of high-level monsters were surrounding it.
Chase mumbled something unintelligible and walked over in front of the monsters and away from them. The monsters growled menacingly and ran after him.
Ian punched a hole in the window and hopped out, making a few ice platforms and rockhopping to Firefly.
How many are left? Ian thought. Who's next to die? He shivered at the thought.
But maybe that was just the ice... no, that's... impossible.
History was looping, just in a different way.
Maybe we aren't meant to live past this. Maybe we need to repeat the cycle again.
Ian stopped to think.
There weren't any other wizards on that wall, though... and it was ancient.
Ian sped up again.
It's better that we win the race instead of leave it to the next generation.
The ice was freezing even more.
This isn't what's meant to happen.
The ice rune glew brighter.
We have to win the race.
Ian stomped on a piece of ice he froze and began surfboarding it down the air towards the Plant Relic Piece.
"Ian, be careful, please." Lucas said, his face showing concern.
"Lucas, i'm being careful as I can here. You might die, the professor might die. If anything, we shouldn't let Greenheart go alone. Besides, you know what I know. And you're the Astral Warden. You're basically my best friend, too. If anyone dies here, i'm the most unimportant." Ian looked down and gave the Astral Rune to Lucas. "Careful... was out of the picture for me a long time ago."
"Ian, I can't lose anyone else, promise me you'll be safe." Lucas said.
"..."
Ian didn't move, but that lack of refusal meant a yes.
He stopped the ice as it was about to hit the ground and found Greenheart in front of the relic piece.
"Well, hello, boys. Why are you here?" Professor Greenheart asked.
"We decided to follow you. Not letting something worse happen.'
Ian held up an icicle and Lucas shot a starbit into it, lighting up the entire clearing and eliminating shadows.
"Foolish boys."
Professor Greenheart melted, and Dylan stood in his place. "Professor Greenheart's already dead."
"Ian, what do we do?" Lucas said, stepping closer to Ian.
"Boo." Dylan jumped, startled. Lane's ghost appeared behind him. "Imma-" Dylan's scythe went through Lane's ghost. "What the-" Dylan was cut off as an unsuspecting Ian froze him.
Ian nabbed the relic and froze the entire floor.
He made a pair of ice hands which scooped up Lucas bridal style and he began firing another ice pillar into the academy, riding up its front.
"T-thanks Ian" Lucas blushed, glancing back the frozen Dylan. "Will that hold him?"
As if on cue, the ice began cracking.
"Perhaps long enough to get out." Ian held no certainty in his voice.
Ian jumped into one of the windows, pulled Lucas through, and froze what empty space there was in the glass.
"Ian... Can I tell you something?" Lucas said shyly.
"Hm?" Ian was sorting out the runes, but was still listening.
"I... I love you Ian." Lucas said, stepping forwards.
Out of a corner of the room, Dylan silently emerged and drew his scythe, then disappeared again.
Ian stopped and looked up. Turned.
"...Lucas. Shut up."
He moved forward and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.
Moved closer.
And...
3.
2.
1.
Kiss.
When they pulled away, Lucas looked stunned.
Dylan emerged. "Well isn't that cute," he laughed, leaning against the wall.
Chase phased in through the wall. "Did I miss something?" he asked blankly.
Ian turned around and clutched the ice rune.
"We don't have the luxury of being able to take another death, goopboy."
He stepped in front of Lucas and spun his sickle.
"Leave or feel an ectoplasmic karmic retribution."
The other ghost was waiting for a spooky. Lane facepalmed when Chase hovered in.
Dylan lunged at Ian.
Ian blocked the first strike and pushed Dylan away with a mini iceberg.
Lucas formed a rod of light and joined the fight.
Ian's iceberg exploded and pinned Dylan to the wall by his outfit via icicle shards. Chase was screaming. Lane had walked in and given up on the spookyfactor.
"It's over Dylan. You should have left when you had the chance." Lucas said.
Dylan melted into the shadows.
Ian held out an icicle behind him to lightflare the academy and had his sickle in front of him, primed for slicing.
"Go for it Ian, there's nothing stopping you." Lucas said.
Ian bopped the astral rune onto the icicle and Dylan shlopped out of the ground in a mess of black goop. He then proceeded to throw the icicle into his eye.
Lucas looked away. He wasn't enthusiastic about death, but it was the only punishment that would truly avenge his friends.
Ian stepped backward, weirded out beyond belief. "This wasn't supposed to happen..."
The icicle had pierced its target, all right, but the flesh turned into the goop and reformed around the icicle.
Chase was screaming with purpose now, as was Lane.
"Oh my goodness, what the fissural is happening?!" Lane screamed.
Lucas grabbed Ian's hand and pulled him back. "Ian, what's going on?"
"I don't even know, the shadow gem never melted and turned into f l e s h!"
Ian lanched multiple more attacks, all of which being absorbed into Dylan and making him more grotesque by the second.
"Alright, something's definitely changed. We need to jump ship pronto."
Ian flared the icicle again and then backflipped out of the window on an ice platform. Lucas followed on a different platform.
Everything was with them, they could revive Greenheart theoretically, but now?
It was time to run from the liquid man.
"Ian, is there a way to stop him?" Lucas asked while they were running.
Chase shrugged. "Get the last 3 pieces of the Astral Relic."
"If Lucas defeats Dylan by himself, then there will be no need for that." A familiar voice said. It was Professor Greenheart's ghost walking-or floating-towards Lane and Chase.
"You mean... Professor, I've never... I can't kill." Lucas stammered, both shocked and glad that the professor was here.
"You must if you want to quickly wrap this mess up." Professor Greenheart stated.
"What if we isolate Dylan or-or trap him or something other than death?" Lucas protested.
"It won't work. You must kill him." Professor Greenheart said.
"You are the only one who can save the world, Lucas."
"He's shadow. You're astral. Lucas, you can do it," Chase reassured, with a smile on his face. The first smile on his face since Samantha's death.
Lucas sighed. He looked at the others, but they were all with Greenheart. "I... I guess I'll do it for the world. And you guys." He said turning around. "Do I just blast him?" Lucas asked turning to the professor.
“You need to stab him in the neck and keep going until you can see the other side.” said Lane, furiously.
"Um... I think I'll just blast him and make it quick." Lucas muttered.
Professor Greenheart nodded. "Go, Lucas. We believe in you."
Lucas turned towards Ian with a pleading look in his eyes, but he knew what he'd say. "And if I fail? If Dylan defeats me instead? What will happen?" Lucas asked, turning back to Greenheart.
"The world will crumble. The universe will swallow itself." Professor Greenheart answered.
"Right. No pressure." Lucas mumbled. He stepped in the direction of Dylan and sighed. "I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon." He said, turning away and walking towards Dylan
Dylan threw an indigo orb up in the air and caught it. He stared at Lucas. "What are you here for?"
"T-to destroy you." Lucas said. But he had another plan.
"Guess I might as well destroy this, then," Dylan pointed the indigo orb at Lucas. The storm orb.
Ian was right outside the window, silently filling the wall with icicles for emergency lightflare.
Don't mess this up, Lucas.
The thought of a loss like this shuddered the Ice Warden and he kept filling the insides of the wall with icicles.
Dylan threw the orb up in the air, and slashed at it. Only...it wasn't there. It was in Lucas' left hand now.
"You think you will destroy it. Unfortunately, you don't know what's coming." Lucas started conjuring a gigantic orb of light, which refracted off the icicles and lit the whole area. The light only grew brighter and Dylan screamed in pain.
Dylan sat up. He was still alive?
"Hello Dylan. You aren't the only one capable of Mindtrap." Lucas thought, broadcasting the words to Dylan. "Now, what do you remember before you were possessed by that shadow?"
Ian vaulted into the window and silently gave two thumbs up to Lucas.
All he could do to stop a happy breakdown of mental state.
Dylan's expression changed. "I was inside the academy...The wardens...they used all their power and blasted it at the shadow. Their physical bodies vaporized, leaving a spirit the color of their element...the shadow was nowhere to be seen. The spirits entered the academy and disappeared. I later left and had a run in with the shadow, who engulfed me. I felt fine at first, then started to lose control...that's all I remember." Suddenly, the shadow took over again. "And what are you gonna do about it?" he smirked.
"Careful. This might hurt." Lucas warned. He scrunched his face and concentrated on removing the shadow.
Dylan felt a funny feeling, followed by a sharp pain as the shadow was pulled out of him.
Suddenly Dylan was out in the real world again. He looked at his hands. "The shadow...it's...finally gone!" he exclaimed.
Lucas helped Dylan up. "Sorry about that, I only recently found out how to do it," he apologized.
"Guys! Come over here!" Lucas called.
Greenheart floated over-and then-he came back to life. Samantha manifested beside Chase. They tightly embraced each other.
"Everyone I'd like you to meet the version of Dylan that won't kill you." Lucas said, gesturing towards Dylan.
Dylan waved. "Heya!"
Ian moved his hand slightly to the left to remove the icicles in the wall and every icicle in the wall burst out in a mess of plaster and cold. The now-manifested non-ghosts were taking the brunt of the drywall. The icicles disappeared as did the serenity of not being sprayed by cold bits of the building.
"Ian." Lucas said with relief. He walked straight up to him and...
3
2
1
Kiss.
The drywall was not unnoticed by the others however, who were too preoccupied with the various bits of building hooked on their clothing to notice the relatively intimate smoch (with one o to emphasize how they did not notice, for authorital purposes, haha, haha. haha, haha. haha, haha.)
"Oh my goodness! Luminex, get the camera! We are sending this to every single one of my contacts!" said Lane.
Ian broke away and raised one fist, encasing it in ice and pointing it toward Lane.
A singular finger rose up from the fist.
A quite literally cold-hearted flip-off.
By this point, everyone had seen it. Lucas sighed and shooed Lane away. "Thanks for that." Lucas muttered.
"I was just joking. But I’ll happily fight you," said Lane.
"No one is getting into a fight." Lucas said, pulling Ian's arm down. "And even if you did fight, Ian would win because ice beats storm, and also because I will be supporting him."
"All I have to do is throw Chase at Ian’s face," said Lane.
"Okay, that implies Chase will have a well-borne opportunity to make a pun about it."
Ian smirked.
"I am immune, shocky man."
"Headphones were invented for a reason, icy guy," said Lane, smirking.
"Alright stop it with the bad names for each other, and where's Dylan? Oh wait there you are, guys can we gather I want a group picture- Lane stop teasing Chase- Oh forget it." Lucas sighed.
"Fine," said Lane.
"You know, it's shocking how cold-hearted you guys are to each other," Chase laughed, back to his usual self.
"Give me a good reason not to shock your mouth shut," said Lane, getting tired of the puns.
"Chase!" Everyone else moaned. Lucas sighed. "Alright second attempt at a group picture, hope this time will be better."
Unfortunately, this one had Lane firing lightning bolts at Chase. "YOU'LL NEVER CAPTURE ME ALIVE!" he laughed.
Suddenly, Lane’s Luminex slammed Chase into the ground and Lane started stepping on him
"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!" Lucas groaned. "Attempt number three, Ian can you freeze Chase and Lane?"
"Well, that was a crushing defeat," Chase groaned.
"Chase, I’m going to drown you soon," said Lane, as enraged as he was.
Ian froze Chase and Lane, only for Chase to increase his body temperature and melt the ice. "ICE try, Ian," Chase laughed. "Ok, I'll shut up now," Chase said, as a still-frozen Lane shot him a death glare.
"Just noticed I have a scythe on my back which I can cut this ice with. You are so going down, Ian," said Lane, chipping away at the ice.
Lucas facepalmed. "This is going terrible," he remarked.
"Then don’t take a picture!" Lane said.
"Just take the picture, Lucas. It'll be a flash!" Chase laughed.
Lucas adjusted the camera. "Alright it's going to take the picture in three.. two.. one..." The camera flashed and they were all smiles.
THE END