Scenes for each concept are not necessarily in order
The Bonfire Princess[]
Eyes shifted from the motionless Opal and Glace to the shattered device on the ground to the few spots of blood on the floor back to the motionless women.
Aurora was the first to speak up. “A-are you two okay?”
Still kneeling on the ground, Opal numbly looked up at the brunette, then back down at the fragments and blood spots. Glace’s gaze remained on the shattered device and blood spots on the floor.
Nathan took a step forward. “W-where’s Hope?” he asked shakily.
Opal’s breath caught in her throat for a moment and the hobbyist looked up at Nathan.
Nathan took in a deep breath. “Hope was with you two. Where is she?”
“I…I didn’t mean to…” Opal whispered.
“The hell you mean ‘you didn’t mean to’?” Nathan demanded, raising his voice. “The stains on the floor. Are those Hope’s?”
“I didn’t…didn’t mean t—”
“Would you stop saying that?” Nathan snapped.
“Nathan, wait,” Aurora spoke softly, putting a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Opal’s clearly not in the best st—”
Nathan shook Aurora’s hand off his shoulder. “No. I won’t wait.” The redhead stomped over to the shaken hobbyist. “Opal. Where. Is. Hope.”
Wordlessly, Opal dropped her gaze.
Bursting through the crowd, Robin headed straight towards Nathan and shoved him. “Back off. You can’t just—”
“You back off,” Nathan snarled, knocking the archer to the ground with a swift backhand. “You still have your sister. Mine has bloodstains on the floor.”
Jax stepped forward. “Whoa, Nathan, what are—”
“Shut up, Jax!” Nathan yelled, glaring at his brother, who immediately froze. He whipped back around and loomed over Opal. “Now talk,” Nathan growled.
“What did you do to my big sister?”
“Lord Flame, sir, there’s something outside that you might want to see,” a slime guard said, squelching into the room.
The fire-themed monarch stood up, stretching as he did so. “Alright then, lead away,” he sighed.
A few seconds later, the doors to the castle swung open.
Lord Flame looked around. “Sorry, what am I supposed to be looking at right now?”
“Look down, my liege,” the slime responded.
Laying face down and crumpled up on the stone steps in front of the monarch, was a young woman with long red hair, a red dress accompanied by a pair of pretty beat up artificial dragon wings, blue boots, and brown shorts and leggings. Her left arm was bent in places it should not have, and starting from the step her head rested on was a small, yet growing pool of red liquid that was dripping down to the bottom steps.
Upon noticing the pool of red around the woman’s head, Lord Flame’s eyes widened. “What were you all waiting for?!” he exclaimed. “You should have taken her to the medical ward immediately!”
Lord Flame dashed down the stairs, scooped the injured wizard up, and bolted inside the castle, leaving the slime guard still at the open castle doors baffled at the monarch’s speed.
“...whuh?”
Bright lights forced her briefly opened eyes back closed.
“She’s waking up!” a seemingly muffled voice said.
“...who…?”
“Someone get the lord!” came from another muffled voice.
She tried to open her eyes again, managing a blink.
Then another.
And another.
“Where…?”
Rapid footsteps.
“...huh?”
Still blinking, the woman turned her head towards the sound.
“Who…?”
She tried to sit up, only to open her eyes again and find herself laying back on…something.
“Whoa, lay down for a minute, you just woke up,” a deep, yet soothing voice spoke.
The woman could feel her face contorting into a grimace as she raised her hands to her head.
“It…hurts…”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. We’re trying to make it better. You hit your head pretty hard, after all,” the voice responded.
The woman turned her head towards the source of the voice: an average sized man with neat, dark red hair, sideburns, and royal blue eyes. As for his attire, he was wearing…red and gray pajamas?
Too tired to question it and with her brain hammering away at her skull, the woman managed to get out a single “ah” before blacking out once more.
“Now that you’re awake, I have a few questions for you, if that’s alright with you,” Lord Flame said.
The red-haired woman nodded.
“Okay, number one, can you tell me your name?”
“It’s…uh…” The woman froze.
My…name? What is my name? Why can’t I remember my name? …I…I have a name, right?
“...I…can’t remember…” the woman responded dejectedly.
“Hey, hey, don’t be upset,” the monarch replied soothingly. “How about we call you…‘Harper’ in the meantime?”
Harper? …Harper.
The woman nodded. “Harper.”
Lord Flame gave Harper a soft smile. “Alright, next question, Harper. Do you have anyone that can take care of you? A mom? Dad? Siblings? Cousins? Grandparents?”
The woman perked up and nodded. “Yes, I…I…” Harper trailed off. “I…can’t remember their names…”
“That’s okay, do you remember what they look like?” Lord Flame asked.
What they look like? Harper’s brows furrowed.
After a moment Lord Flame spoke up. “Do any of them have red hair like yours?” he inquired.
“Red…hair?” Harper reached for the back of her head and loosely held onto a few strands of hair which she brought over her shoulder. The woman stared at the unfamiliar strands of bright red hair, deep in thought. She then looked up at the man in front of her and nodded hesitantly.
The monarch looked at the woman skeptically. “Are you sure, or are you just saying that?”
Harper dropped her head in defeat. “I don’t remember what they look like,” she whispered, trembling.
“Okay, okay, take a deep breath,” the monarch instructed. “In…”
Harper took in a shaky breath.
“Out.”
The woman exhaled.
“In.”
Inhale.
“Out.”
Exhale.
“In.”
Inhale.
“Out.”
Exhale.
“Are you feeling better?”
Harper responded with a slight nod.
“Alright. I’m sorry if these questions upset you, but I’m just trying to get you to someone that knows and can take care of you, okay?”
Harper nodded.
“So, is there anything that you remember about yourself? Your age? Where you live? Any friends or roommates? Pets? How you ended up here?”
“I—I—I…I don’t…” Harper was blinking back tears now. “I can’t…why can’t I…”
“Hey, hey, hey, Harper, it’s okay, we’ll figure—”
“It’s not okay!” Harper suddenly snapped, causing Lord Flame to jolt back in surprise. “I can’t remember my family, my age, my own name, or what I was doing yesterday! I can’t even remember what I look like!”
Harper suddenly quieted down and dropped her head, letting tears drip down onto her legs. “I…can’t remember anything…”
With tears streaking down her face, Harper looked up at the fire-themed monarch.
“Who even am I?”
“You mentioned not knowing what you looked like, right?” Lord Flame asked. “Well, maybe this will help,” he offered, leading Harper down a long hallway. A few steps later, they stopped and turned, now facing a mirror.
In the mirror was the reflection of a man with ornate red and gold robes, Lord Flame. And next to him was a young woman with long, red hair, bright green eyes, and a white bandage wrapped around her head, but under her hair. Her right arm—no, it’s a reflection—her left arm was wrapped in thick white bandages and suspended by tan fabric tied around her neck. A sling. Harper found herself leaving Lord Flame’s grasp as she slowly stumbled towards the mirror. With her right hand, she slowly reached towards the flame tattoo on her cheek and lightly ran her fingers over it. Then her hand drifted towards the purple fabric covering her right eye. She cautiously ran her fingers over the fabric, then carefully pinched and lifted it up, exposing the scarred eye underneath. The color of the iris was faded and the pupil appeared to be split into several thin lines. Suddenly, a feeling of unexplained guilt rushed through the woman’s mind and she instinctively released the fabric, letting it drape over her eye once more. She took a step back and began reaching for the fabric once again, before deciding against it and dropping her arm.
Harper hobbled towards the mirror one more time, stopping right in front of it. She pressed her right hand up against the mirror and stared at the woman reflected in it.
Is this really…me?
Harper dropped her hand and turned back towards Lord Flame, who had left his gaze on the awestruck woman. Suddenly, she dashed towards the man and wrapped him in an awkward hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“We’ve been out here for days and we still haven’t gotten any closer to finding Hope!” Nathan groaned.
“We’ll find her eventually, Nathan,” Jax reassured his brother. “But maybe we should find somewhere to stay for the night?”
“But we need—”
“No, Jax is right,” Aurora interrupted. “We all want to find Hope, but we still need rest. Besides, it’s only going to get colder at night.”
“...fine.” Nathan folded his arms. “So where do you suppose we go?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Lord Flame started, “do you, by any chance, remember what happened to your eye?”
Harper paused mid-spoon bite. “My eye?”
“You know, your right eye?” he asked, gesturing to the right side of his face.
Harper put the spoon down. “My eye…” she mumbled to herself, staring into her bowl of food.
“It’s okay if you can’t remember or don’t want to talk about it,” Lord Flame said. “I don’t mean to upset you, just curious.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Harper said, looking up at the Fire Warden, then back down at the bowl.
Silence lingered in the dining room.
And then suddenly, Harper shot up, slamming her right palm and spoon on the table. “Cold!”
Lord Flame blinked. “What? The room? I thought it was at an acceptable temperature…”
“No, my eye!” Harper exclaimed. “You asked what happened to my eye! I remember! It was cold when it happened!”
“Cold…?” Lord Flame trailed off in thought. “Cold.” He looked at Harper intensely. “Harper, did the Caverners do this to you?”
Harper blinked in confusion. “The…Caverners?”
“Great Celestial, they messed you up bad,” Lord Flame muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Harper asked.
“Eh…never mind, I’ll deal with it,” Lord Flame sighed, standing up to leave the table. “I’ll be back later.” Before he left the room, he turned his head back to face Harper. “Don’t get into trouble while I’m away,” he said with a smirk on his face.
Harper stared at the intruders.
The intruders stared back.
Harper suddenly scrambled off of her bed, grabbed her spear off of its rack, and took up a defensive stance. “Who are you?” she demanded, trying to hide her rapid breathing as she slowly inched towards the door.
A red-haired individual stepped forward, hands raised in front of them. “Please, wait.”
“Nope, I’m good,” Harper swiftly replied, bolting out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her.
“Oh come on!”
As Harper blasted down the hallway, a purple tear in reality opened in front of her and a small brunette with a large purple mark on the left side of her face stepped out. “Wha—”
“Wait, we’re not here to hurt you, Ho—eep!” Accidentally cutting the brunette off, Harper crashed into her, sending the two of them through the rift and back into Harper’s room.
Harper scrambled back to her feet and wildly looked around the room, gripping her spear tighter as she realized that she was now cornered behind all of the intruders, excluding the dazed brunette on the ground. “W-what was that? What did you do?” the princess demanded, shrinking into the corner, spear, pointed towards the group.
A notably tall boy with white skin and hair stepped forward cautiously. “Hope, please, we need you to calm down. It’s us.”
The princess didn’t lower her spear. “One: I don’t know you. And two: who’s ‘Hope’?”
The group seemed taken aback. The boy began stammering. “Wh—you’re H—”
Taking advantage of the group’s distraction, Harper promptly charged through the group, who all instinctively dove out of the spear’s way. And with that, Harper was now dashing down the hallway once more.
This time, a cyan rift opened below the fleeing redhead and she fell through and plummeted into the floor of her room with a thud. Next to her, her Luma Sun Ray Rod clattered onto the ground.
With a groan, the woman looked up to see a brown-haired individual with sapphire eyes looming over her. Eyes widening, she clumsily scrambled over to her spear and shot back up to her feet. “S—stop it! What do you want with me?” Harper begged, trembling as she swiped at the group with her spear.
The red-haired boy stepped forward once more. “Hope, please—”
“Get away from me!” Harper screamed, slashing at the redhead, who barely dodged the attack.
“That’s enough.” The sapphire-eyed brunette walked towards the frightened princess and simply yanked the spear out of her hands, toppling the woman over.
Hyperventilating, Harper scrambled back and huddled into the nearest corner, her now flaming left palm pointed towards the group. “S-stay back,” she whimpered. “Please…”
“Be more gentle with her!” a small dragon exclaimed, bopping the taller brunette on the head.
“If you want to be skewered by her, be my guest,” the tall brunette grumbled.
A yellow-winged individual with a big fluffy tail inched towards the trembling woman. “We’re not going to har—”
“I said stay back!” A fireball rocketed towards the Astral Fey, but was extinguished by a Water Blast cast by the frazzled white-haired boy standing next to him. Frost then condensed around Harper’s hands, forming blocks of ice around the princess’ hands and forearms. The responsible Ice Fairy lowered a clawed hand, narrowed yellow eyes boring into the woman.
“Don’t. Do. That. Again.”
Harper didn’t respond, opting to curl up into a smaller ball and begin crying.
“...s**t.”
“We…made her cry.”
“Wait, we’re sorry, please don’t—AGH!”
“Aurora!”
“Harper. Harper!” a familiar voice called out.
The teary-eyed princess looked up to see her father lift up a cloudy-eyed wizard and slam him down onto the unconscious small brunette on the ground in front of him. “Harper, get out of here!” Lord Flame yelled, turning his focus onto the black haired woman with jade green eyes.
Harper clumsily leapt onto her bed, rolled to the other side, and made a beeline to the end of the hallway.
Suddenly, the red-haired male whipped around and dashed after Harper. “Hope! Wait! Please!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Lord Flame snarled, chokeslamming the woman in his hand before lunging for the escaping redhead. A cyan rift suddenly opened in the path of the monarch, dumping him out into another corner of the room. The one responsible stared down at the king emotionlessly, Storm Magic jumping from their fingertips and through their eyes and hair. Lord Flame forced himself back to his feet and glared at the Storm wizard. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that,” the Fire Warden said roughly, flames swirling around him.
“Oh you better believe we will!” the Luma hybrid suddenly yelled, nailing the monarch in the face with a flying kick.
“Hope, please, it’s me, Nathan!” the redhead hollered from down the hall.
Harper didn’t acknowledge the statement, turning a corner and still screaming for help.
At full speed, Nathan continued the chase, following Harper around the corner.
And the second he turned the corner, he found himself in the firm grasp of two guards.
“Let me go!” Nathan yelled, struggling against the Fire Fairy and the wizard holding him back.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” the fairy responded, beginning to drag his captive away by his right arm.
Nathan thrashed against the two guards frantically, keeping pleading eyes on the woman down the hall who stared back at him. “Hope! Please! Remember Mom? Blue hair, green eyes like yours? And dad? Remember his puns? Jax? Remember how he rocketed past us in height last summer? Scarlet? Your best friend since you were a baby?”
Harper’s brows furrowed.
“What about Glace? Opal? Remember trying to hide the crush you had on them when we were younger?”
“Kid, quiet, you’re making a racket,” the guard on his left grumbled.
“Hope, I’m begging you! Remember something! Anything!” Exhausted, the captured redhead went limp in the guards’ arms.
“Oi, finally, we can do our jobs,” the Fire Fairy sighed.
Nathan raised his head and wearily looked at the princess. “Hope…it’s me…Nathan…” the fire wizard said through labored breaths. “Your brother.”
Days of limited sleep finally caught up to the stressed wizard and he finally passed out in the guards’ arms.
The princess at the end of the hall stared at the unconscious wizard as he was dragged away, confused.
My…brother?
Squelching sounds resounded through the stone hallway of the underground jail.
“Soooommmmeoooone’sss comiiiinnnnggg,” Opal said in a tired sing-song voice.
Soon, a slime guard came into view, inching over to Nathan’s cell. “Are you named ‘Nathan’?”
The redhead lifted his head off of his knees and looked at the slime. “Yeah, why?” he responded gruffly.
“The princess would like to speak with you and those that came with you,” the slime responded, unlocking his cell.
“...Hope?” Nathan asked, standing up.
“Princess Harper,” the slime corrected.
“Her name is Hope Flamewhisper,” Nathan responded bluntly.
“Whatever, are you going to show me who your companions are so I can let them out or what?” the slime asked.
“So, uh…” Harper awkwardly swung her arms back and forth. Oh Celestial, this is a lot more awkward than I thought it would be… “Um…Naaa…”
“Nathan,” the wizard finished.
“Nathan,” Harper repeated. “Earlier, you said that you were my brother, right?” she asked.
He nodded. “Jax is your other brother,” Nathan added, pointing to the taller white-skinned and white-haired wizard with orange eyes.
Jax waved. “Hi, Hope.”
Harper waved back. “What about sisters?” she asked.
“I mean, you always considered Scarlet to be your sister,” Jax answered.
“Oh, and who’s Scarlet?”
The little Luma hybrid stepped forward. “I’m Scarlet,” the dragon responded. “Your father, Chase, raised me after I clung to him on sight. And when he and Samantha had you, we were practically inseparable…well, back when you remembered me, anyway.”
“O-oh, I’m…sorry,” Harper apologized.
“Don’t be,” Scarlet sighed. “It was supposed to be my job to keep you and your siblings safe.”
“And I’m sure you did a great job at that,” Harper answered encouragingly.
“Not good enough,” the dragon sighed, dropping her head.
An awkward silence descended on the room.
“So…” Harper started, breaking the silence. “What about the rest of you? Are you all…cousins or friends or something?”
After another moment of silence, the small brunette standing next to Jax spoke up. “Um, well, I’m Aurora, and no, we’re not related. The rest of us are just your friends.”
“Oh! So you’re Aurora? Um, okay, this might sound weird, but by any chance, are you dating Jax?”
“W-what‽” the brunette exclaimed, her cheeks turning pink.
“N-no, we’re just friends,” Jax clarified, his face turning red.
“Oh. Uh, sorry, that was weird, I guess,” Harper apologized.
“It’s, uh, fine,” Jax responded, face still red.
Suddenly, someone cleared their throat, drawing attention away from the embarrassed duo. “Raiden Dreamchaser.” The voice came from the taller brunette on the far left of the group.
“Oh, h-hi again.” Harper gave her a nervous wave.
The Astral Fey standing to the right of Raiden introduced himself next. “Rai Starheart.” He then pointed to the Ice Fey standing to the left of him. “And that’s my sister, Glace.” The Ice Fairy, still crossing her arms, raised 4 fingers in a half-hearted wave.
“Nice to meet you two…again, I guess? And I’m sorry about throwing a fireball at your face, Rai,” Harper apologized.
Rai shrugged. “Well, I’m alive.”
A woman with ash blonde hair and mechanical wings protruding off of the shoulders of silver and cyan armor. “Aria Steelwind. Bounty hunter and fellow amnesiac. Nice to see you again.”
“Wait,” Harper spoke, more alert. “You lost your memory too?”
Aria shrugged. “Yeah, not like I can tell you much about that, though,” the crime fighter said with a half laugh. “But I have been lear—”
“Okay,” a wizard with scruffy brown hair and cracked sunglasses standing to the group’s right interrupted. “I’m Robin Beastcrafter, and this is my sister…”
After a moment of silence, Robin nudged the woman standing to the left of him. “And my sister…” he repeated.
“Wrong side,” Aurora whispered back.
“Oh.” He nudged the black-haired woman standing to the right of him.
The wizard jolted back to reality. “O-oh, I’m…Opal Beastcrafter…” she mumbled, averting her eyes and crossing her arms. “We…uh…used to be…friends…”
“And I’m sure we can be friends again,” the princess responded with a smile.
Opal didn’t respond, still avoiding eye contact. Harper’s smile faltered.
“Well,” Lord Flame started, “Harper?”
The princess’ eyes scanned the assorted group, then she looked back at her father figure. “I…I think they really are my friends and family.”
“Very well then,” the monarch responded. “With that being said, I suppose I owe you all an apology for yesterday, for beating you all senseless. I just heard my dau—er—Hope’s scream and reacted without much of a thought.”
“And I apologize too, for getting you all thrown in prison for an entire night,” the princess followed up.
“It’s not your fault,” Aurora reassured the two.
“We did sort of break in here, anyway,” Jax added. “It’s only natural that the two of you responded the way you did.”
The former princess took in a deep breath. “Hey, this might be hard, but I have a request for you guys. About the whole ‘Hope’ thing.”
With several hearts sinking, all eyes turned toward the speaker.
“I get that you all knew me as ‘Hope’ for most of your lives, but I’m…not her. The two of us may have lived in the same body, but I…I can’t be someone who…died with their memories.” She looked towards Nathan and Jax. “I’m sorry, but ‘Hope’ is…gone. I’ll do my best to be your big sister, but I…can’t do that as ‘Hope’.” She turned towards a teary-eyed Chase and Samantha. “And I’d be glad to be your daughter, but I just can’t be ‘Hope’ for you.” She turned back to the whole group. “So, may I make this request, this request that you all call me ‘Harper’ from now on?”
“Y-yeah,” Samantha answered, voice cracking. “Of course you can, Harper.”
Chase nodded, smiling through the sniffles and tears.
A chair screeched against the floor. Everyone looked up to see Opal turn away from the table and wordlessly leave the room.
Harper’s shoulders sank as she watched the hobbyist exit without so much as a glance back.
Samantha wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter. “It’s okay, she’s just dealing with this…differently,” Samantha softly spoke.
“I think Harper is a nice name,” Aurora said quietly, trying to lighten the tension.
“...yeah…” Nathan stood up, pushing his seat back. “I…I need some air.” And with that, the fire wizard walked out of the room.
“Nathan…” Jax trailed off.
Another seat scooted back. This time, it was Scarlet’s.
But, instead of leaving the room, the little dragon flew over to Harper, and gave the woman a tight hug.
With a quivering smile, Harper reciprocated the embrace, pulling the little dragon in tight.
Eventually, the two released each other, and Scarlet backed away, a sad smile on her face. “Um…Harper, would you…like to see my children sometime?” the Luma hybrid asked.
Harper smiled. “I’d love to.”
Flapping her wings, the little dragon lifted off of the ground and slowly flew out of the room.
Harper stood up and looked around the room at everyone. “Thank you all for being here for me, I really appreciate it. And I’m really sorry if I hurt you. And again, thanks. It means a lot.” The young woman turned towards the doorway, and headed out. “Hey, Scarlet, wait up!”
After a while, the other members in the room left one by one, leaving Chase and Samantha alone, quietly crying in each other’s embrace.
“Lord Flame, sir?”
“Hm?” The fire king turned around, finding himself face-to-face with Rai. “Oh, hello there. What is it you’d like?”
“Before we all leave, I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“When we were in the jail cells, what kind of bands did you put on me and Glace?” the Astral fey inquired.
“Um, they were iron, why?”
“Well, they stopped us from using magic, but they didn’t…burn.”
“Oh, that’s because the outer layers are made of steel. The inside is iron though,” the monarch answered.
“But why go out of your way to make them like that?”
“Kid, you were in a jail cell, not a torture chamber,” the king chuckled. “We don’t actively harm our prisoners here. Everyone gets a different type of band depending on who they are. Whatever the case, I'm sorry your first night here was less than ideal. You lot didn’t mean any harm.”
Tag Team Tournament[]
“We’re back, everyone and it’s the fourth round of the Block B Quarterfinals!” Bannard boomed. “In the red corner is the sibling duo with spirits of fire, Hope Flamewhisper and Nathan Nightwhisper! And in the blue corner is a pair of friends who have worked their way through the ranks, Kylie Illusionheart and Jackson Darkshard! These two duos have proven that they deserve to be right here, but regardless, only one team can make it to the semifinals. So, let’s get the battles underway! I’m handing this off to you, G!”
Gina stepped into the middle of the arena, looking at the crowd, then at the two teams. “Battles in the quarterfinals and onwards consist of at least two battles. The first is a battle between one player on each team. The second is a battle between the other players, who will use their pets as well. Should each team have a tie after the two battles, the third battle will be a tiebreaker match consisting of both players on each team. A team may win a battle by completely depleting the hearts of all members of the opposing team or by knocking them out of the arena boundaries. Now, teams, select your first player.”
Up in the stands, Glace and Rai were making their way back over to their friend group.
“Oh, hey Rai! Hey Glace!” Aurora chirped. “Congrats on the win!”
“Thanks,” Rai responded, sitting down next to the Astral Trainee. “Hope and Nathan are up right now, yeah?”
“Mhm,” Jax confirmed.
“So who’s going first?” Kobe asked.
“Jackson will be one,” Raiden answered.
“Huh? Why’s that?” the pet trainer asked.
“Were you even paying attention to the battles earlier? Of the two, Jackson has a much better control of his magic, doesn't need relics or wands to harness multiple elements, and is simply the better fighter,” the borg answered, still staring at the arena. “Kylie is better suited for the pet battles.”
“There's also the rumor of Jackson being the current Prodigy,” Aurora added. “Mrs. Landcrafter was the previous one, right?”
Opal and Robin synchronously answered with a disinterested grunt.
“Anyway, what about Hope and Nathan?” Andrew asked, reappearing next to Kobe.
In response, he got screams from everyone in the group except Raiden and Glace.
“Ack, you guys are loud!” the storm fey exclaimed, covering his ears.
“You're one to talk,” Raiden scoffed.
“First battlers, enter the arena for the first round,” Gina called out.
In the red corner, the red-haired siblings gave each other a fist bump before Nathan turned around and headed down the checkered red and tan pathway to the arena.
“So Nathan's taking the first round,” Jax noted.
“And Jackson is the other one,” Rai pointed out, watching the wizard walk down the checkered blue and tan pathway.
“WOOO! YOU GOT THIS NATHAN!” Samantha yelled from behind Jax, startling the boy.
“Hailing from the red corner, we have Nathan Nightwhisper! And arriving from the blue corner, we have Jackson Darkshard!” Barnard exclaimed.
“Battlers, come forward and shake hands,” Gina said.
The two contestants met in the center of the arena and shook hands.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm winning this one,” Jackson said with a grin.
“I wouldn't be so sure about that,” Nathan responded, returning the expression.
The two let go and headed back to their starting positions, eyes sparking with determination.
Gina turned and stepped out of the arena. “Battlers, are you ready?” she asked, turning back around.
The two opponents nodded, staring directly at each other.
A yellow barrier rose from the edges of the arena, closing at the top, forming a dome.
“The battle begins in 3! 2! 1! DUEL!”
Flames trailed from the tip of Nathan’s Dual Blade as he wasted no time in swinging in an X formation, launching an X-shaped fire blast at Jackson. In response, the rumored Prodigy slammed his right foot into the ground then did a side kick. A wall of ice promptly burst out of the ground and rushed towards the blazing attack. Jackson repeated the motion two more times, launching two more ice walls at Nathan.
The attacks collided, leaving a cold mist and melting ice chunks in the middle of the arena.
The two opponents locked gazes as they began walking around the outer perimeter of the ring, elemental essence wisping around their fingertips.
The entire stadium was in complete silence, everyone anticipating the two boys’ next moves.
Until suddenly, a voice rang out across the stadium.
“GO JACKSON!”
The boy in question dropped his posture and turned a little red. “Yeah, thanks mom,” the boy mumbled, embarrassed.
Quiet laughter traveled through the stands.
“Okay, let’s get back to it,” Nathan said, stifling a laugh as he took up a combative stance once more.
The Ice wizard gripped her staff, frost swirling around her.
In contrast, the Ice fairy crossed her arms, seemingly daring the wizard to make the first move.
The wizard’s eyes narrowed. It’s like that, huh? Alright, fine.
"I'll show you something spectacular," the wizard declared, pointing the end of her staff at the fairy as frost swirled around her even faster. "Blink and you'll miss it."
"And with the match almost underway, Elise declares that she'll end this in a flash!" Bannard boomed.
“Three!" Gina cried, starting the countdown. “Two! One! Duel!”
Almost instantly, a very loud boom shook the stadium, and a blur of a figure blasted outside the Astral barrier and slammed into the outer wall.
The Astral barrier dissolved, releasing a cold mist and revealing a cracked battle stage with several massive chunks of ice pointed in the direction where the figure landed.
“What just happened down there?!” Bannard exclaimed. “Could it already be over? Could Elise have just ended this just like she said she would!”
As the mist cleared, all eyes were pointed towards the remaining silhouette on the battleground and the arena went silent in anticipation.
Soon, the figure of a clearly disinterested fairy became completely visible.
“Glace Starheart is the winner!” Gina announced.
“Could it really be?! It wasn't Elise who won in the blink of an eye! It was Glace! With one swift, massive move, Glace Starheart takes the victory!” Bannard shouted as the fairy hopped off the stage, dropping her arms. “All these rounds, and we’ve never seen anything like this, folks!”
“What the heck was that?!” Kobe exclaimed, shooting up out of his seat.
“T-that was instant…” Jax stammered, eyes wide.
"Ancient Harmony...I wasn't expecting Elise to win, but still," Hope breathed.
Aurora whipped her head towards the redhead. "Wait, Hope, aren't you supposed to be down there waiting for your next match?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I wanted a better view of Glace's match," the dragon enthusiast responded, standing back up. "Well, I'll see you guys after Nathan and I win our next one!" she called out, stumbling over various spectators' feet as she headed for the nearest stairway.
Crossing her arms once more, the victor walked over to her brother, clearly disappointed. “Well, they weren’t any challenge,” Glace scoffed.
“Well, what did you expect when you hit them with that not even a second into the match?” Rai laughed.
“One: She was talking big. 'Blink and you'll miss it' my a**. Two: So what? The point is to win, isn’t it?”
Rai rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Whatever, I’m up next. Wish me luck.”
This time, Glace was the one to roll her eyes. “As if you need it.”
“With one attack after another, Hope and Nathan are not giving Mackenzie any time to recover! Will Mackenzie find any way to fight back against these synchronized siblings?”
Another blast of fire magic launched Mackenzie to the arena boundaries.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
568/960
A wall of crystals burst out of the ground, blocking Mackenzie’s path to the boundary.
Before the witch could ricochet off the crystal wall once again, Hope swooped in from above, grabbing Mackenzie and tossing her into the air. Orange elemental essence condensed into the shape of a dragon’s head in the air above the sibling’s adversary and unleashed a fiery beam which blasted the airborne battler into the ground with a loud boom.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
520/960
Nathan unleashed a volley of fireballs on Mackenzie, followed by Hope swooping down, grabbing the witch by the arm, and carrying her into the air where she spun around rapidly before releasing her grasp and sending Mackenzie hurtling into the ground, where Nathan was waiting for another volley of attacks.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
473/960
Fire blast.
Dive and grab.
Throw.
Fire blast.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
425/960
“There they go again! Is this really it for Mackenzie?”
Mackenzie Quakeprism
383/960
I don’t care how many times we have to do this, Hope thought, sweat rolling down her face.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
345/960
Because when this fight ends, Hope and I are coming out the victors! Nathan thought, adrenaline coursing through his body.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
312/960
Me? Lose? The witch thought to herself, her heartbeat pounding through her head.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
289/960
No. I refuse.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
257/960
I will win.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
232/960
“I will win,” she muttered to herself.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
201/960
“I will win!”
Mackenzie Quakeprism
187/960
The witch slammed into the ground once more, pink and indigo energy sparking around her.
Another blast of Fire magic rushed towards her.
“Don’t mess with me!”
Suddenly, the sparks exploded into a surging pink and indigo field of fragmented energy.
Upon contact with the field, the fire blast flickered, then splintered into orange strands which dissolved in a matter of seconds.
Andrew shot up out of his seat. “What was that?!”
Aurora’s eyebrows furrowed. “Could that be the ‘Buster Magic’ she mentioned in her earlier match?”
Raiden crossed her arms. “Whatever the case, they knew this wouldn’t be an easy match from the start. Whether they win or lose depends on whether or not they can handle this.”
“They will win,” Jax said sharply.
A brief, neutral glance was Raiden’s only response to the Water wizard.
“What the heck?” Hope said, pulling away from the field and flying back into the air.
Nathan launched another fireball at the witch, only for it to also splinter into orange strands and dissolve. “Ohhhh crap,” he muttered to himself.
Mackenzie’s gaze snapped over to Nathan, and she began advancing towards the boy, the energy field around her increasing in size.
“Crapcrapcrapcrap…” Hope muttered from midair. Alright, let’s try this.
Hope raised her right arm up, and orange and yellow elemental essence condensed into the shape of a massive dragon head above her. The dragon’s jaws opened, unleashing a massive, bright, flaming, orange and yellow blast of Astral and Fire magic on the witch.
And yet, the attack never made contact.
Mackenzie whipped around and glared up at the dragon enthusiast, the end of the beam fracturing around her. Making a swiping motion with her left hand, she unleashed a wave of jagged, sparking pink and indigo energy onto the flying wizard.
“O-” Before Hope could even finish the first word coming out of her mouth, the wave of Buster Magic knocked her out of the sky, fracturing the energy beam and the dragon head above her.
The witch turned away from the plummeting wizard, not even hearing her hit the ground.
Badum.
Badum.
Badum.
The witch’s heartbeat pounded against her ears.
The field of Buster Magic surged around her, pulsing and growing in size.
Sweat rolled down Nathan’s face as he backed away from the approaching witch. S**t. Our magic doesn’t work inside that…field, and there’s no telling what might happen if we enter-
A battle cry interrupted Nathan’s thoughts as a red blur slammed into the witch, knocking her off of her feet.
…nevermind then.
The field of Buster magic dissolved, and with notably messy red hair and sparks of stray pink and indigo magic jumping across her body was Hope, breathing heavily and standing over Mackenzie.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
174/960
Just as Hope reared a flaming fist back, the witch below her, violently twisted herself around, sweeping the Fire wizard’s legs out from under her.
“Waagh!” the Fire wizard yelped as she lost her footing and hit the ground.
The witch began to push herself back to her feet, pink and indigo energy sparking around her once more.
“Like heck you do!” Nathan cried, tackling the witch. Shoving his hand close to Mackenzie’s face, Nathan unleashed several rapid bursts of Fire magic, whittling the witch’s hearts away.
Mackenzie Quakeprism
157/960
146/960
134/960
121/960
109/960
92/960
83/960
67/960
52/960
“Get off of me!”
Mackenzie grabbed Nathan’s arm and flipped him off of her and onto the ground.
“Do not play with me! I am Mackenzie Quakeprism, the strongest witch and the strongest wizard alive! And you two are in my way!”
In an instant, a field of pink and indigo energy tore through the stadium, shaking it violently and kicking up plumes of dust.
The yellow barrier surrounding the battle ring cracked and distorted, unraveling into dissolving strands of magic as the witch got back to her feet.
“Oh my elements!” Bannard screamed. “With an unexpected comeback, Mackenzie unleashes a massive burst of energy!” He paused. “Wait, the dust is settling and the barrier is…fracturing! Could Hope and Nathan really have endured such an attack? What could possibly be going on down there?”
Amidst the clearing dust, the silhouettes of two wizards got back to their feet, faltering slightly.
But they were still standing.
Orange magic fractured and dissolved around the siblings’ hands, but they didn’t seem to care. Quiet whirring and clicking emanated from one of their suits as dragon-like wings became active once more, propelling the wizard into the air.
The other brandished their sword and charged towards the witch.
This is it. Our final gambit.
“Is this it‽” Bannard exclaimed. “The final showdown‽ Is this determined duo betting everything on this final move?”
The wizard in the air looked down on her brother and the witch, waiting for the right moment to strike.
It’s all or nothing.
Pink and indigo energy surged around the witch as they remained in place, staring the approaching wizard down.
Hope narrowed her eyes, locking onto the pink and indigo bolts of energy.
Wait. Something’s not right.
The airborne wizard’s eyes went wide and she dove towards her brother. “NATHAN! STOP! GET OUT OF THE WAY!” she screamed, dying sparks of fire magic trying and failing to ignite at her feet.
The wizard in question hesitated, looking upwards.
Then he looked back down in front of him.
And there it was.
A massive pink and indigo energy blast tearing up the ground as it rushed towards him.
“EVERYBODY RUN!” Bannard screamed.
The panicked screams of the audience were the last thing either of the siblings heard before…
BOOM!
A red-haired wizard stumbled to their feet, ears ringing and vision blurry.
“Ugh…hello?”
As the ringing subsided and the blurriness faded, panicked screaming coming from all directions picked up in volume, briefly overwhelming the wizard.
And then they saw it.
The ground had a massive, blackened gash in it. A gash that went straight through and up the middle of the eastern bleachers, leaving a path to a gaping hole in the stadium’s wall.
The path where he should have been standing.
“Oh…oh Harmony please no…”
The wizard took off, running off of the battle ring and to the eastern bleachers, where one single body lay.
“HOPE!”
And still remaining in the arena was a single, solitary witch.
“Wow, Mackenzie,” a voice said from the sidelines. “You cut that one awfully close. That's not like you,” Ryker chuckled.
The witch didn’t acknowledge her partner, instead, staring at the red figure laying, unmoving, in the evidence of her power.
The witch turned away with a huff, making a promise to herself.
Nobody will ever come that close to defeating me again.
Nobody.
“Now, I bet you all are excited for the Block A and Block B finals, aren't you all?” Bannard shouted.
The crowd cheered loudly.
“Now, I’m sorry,” Bannard apologized, “but I will have to disappoint you all.”
The crowd quieted down, with a few “aw”s and “boo”s barely audible.
“Ah, don’t be so tense!” Bannard exclaimed. “Because, instead of the Block A and Block B finalists battling each other within their own block, each Block A and Block B finalist will be battling each other!”
The cheering resumed at a louder volume.
“So I guess we won’t be facing Mackenzie and Ryker after all,” Rai thought aloud.
“Of course not,” his sister grumbled sarcastically, slouching in her seat.
“Hey, we might get to battle Raiden and Aurora instead,” Rai added, turning his head towards Glace.
“Yeah, I guess…” Glace sighed, still displeased. “But if we do, I get Raiden,” she said, sitting up straight.
“Wait—I wanted Raiden!” Rai protested.
“You can battle Aurora, I get Raiden,” Glace asserted.
“Moooom…” Peregrine complained.
“There’s always the tag-team battle, you two,” Aly sighed from behind the two bickering siblings.
At that comment, Glace whipped around. “Are you implying we’ll lose one of the first two battles?” Glace demanded.
“Wow, mom, that’s a new low, even for you,” Rai cheekily added.
“Orrrr maybe, you both will lose the first two battles and not even get a chance at the team battles!” Ashley teased.
“How dare you!” Rai exclaimed, feigning a hurt expression.
A little further down the row, Jax was patting a sulky Aurora’s shoulder. “Hey, just because they both really want to face Raiden doesn’t mean they think any less of you,” he said, struggling to hold back a chuckle.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” she mumbled, pulling up her hood and sinking into it.
“With that out of the way, it’s time to reveal the new matchups!” Bannard announced. “The first tag-team battle will be between these two marvelous teams! The starlight and electricity duo from the A-Block facing off against the Faen powerhouses from the B-Block!”
Glace perked up, an expression of mild satisfaction on her face.
“That’s right!” Bannard shouted. “Dakarai Heavystride and Oliver Gearrunner versus Glace and Rai Starrrrhearrrrt!”
“NO!” Glace shouted, throwing herself back in her seat. “Why do we get all the boring opponents?” she sulked.
“Well, now that I’ve said the contenders of the first matchup, you can probably guess who’s in the second,” Bannard chuckled.
Jax straightened up in his seat, and stared down at the ring intensely. “Wait, so if Glace and Rai are facing Dakarai and Oliver,” he started, “then doesn’t that mean that you and Raiden…”
“That’s right, the lights of lightning, Raiden Dreamchaser and Aurora Starheart versus the crystalline companions, Mackenzie Quakeprism and Ryker Forgeshard!”
“Oh boy,” Aurora breathed, sinking back in her seat.
Jax turned a concerned gaze over to his friend. “Aurora, no matter what goes on out there, please keep yourself safe, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I will,” the Astral wizard responded, sitting up straight and holding a pinky finger out to her friend. “Pinky promise,” she said, smiling.
Jax smiled back, wrapping his pinky around hers. “Pinky promise.”
“I'm going first,” Raiden said, arms crossed.
“Oh,” Aurora responded, looking up. “I’m not really objecting, but why?”
“Mackenzie. Almost every round before this one, she's taken the first battle, leaving Ryker to take the pet battle,” Raiden answered.
Aurora perked up. “Wait, you actually want to face Mackenzie?”
Raiden raised an eyebrow. “What? Do you?”
“I—But you saw what happened to Hope. And what about her Bu—”
“It won't work.”
Aurora looked thoroughly confused. “What?”
Raiden tossed a very worn-out book on the table in front of Aurora. The girl jolted back in surprise. “Buster Magic,” Raiden started, “can only disrupt Elemental Magic.”
Aurora opened the book. “Whoa…this is ancient!” she exclaimed, flipping the stiff, warped yellow pages. She paused, looking at the contents scrawled onto one of the pages. “Wait, you can read this?” the Astral wizard asked, looking up at Raiden.
“Not exactly. I spent a lot of time translating it.”
“Oh, so that's why you were absent all afternoon yesterday,” Aurora realized aloud. Then, her expression shifted to one of inquisition. “But you use Storm Magic, don't you? That's still Elemental Magic. Won't Mackenzie still be able to shut that down?”
“What I use is not as much ‘Storm Magic’ as much as it is nonmagical electricity generation,” Raiden answered, “As such—”
“Mackenzie won't be able to Buster Magic to shut it down!” Aurora finished, shooting up out of her seat.
“Yes,” Raiden sighed, a slightly annoyed expression plastered on her face. “As for you,” Raiden continued, “Ryker is strong, but he's reckless. Stay on the defensive and wait for an opening.”
Aurora nodded. “Got it.”
“Good.” Raiden turned away, heading for the door. Then, she paused. “Oh, and Aurora?”
“Hm?”
“Stop hesitating. It's a battle. You're supposed to fight.”
“Yeah…okay.”
The Crystal Warden[]
A once heartbroken wizard cradled a small, brown-haired girl, barely over the age of one, walking through Lamplight Town, with newly crowned grandparents walking beside him. The girl felt overjoyed that day, and maybe a little bit worried. Up until this point, she had only ever known the adoption center.
Growing up, she naturally would forget this experience.
A few things stuck with her though.
That tall blonde-haired man is her grandfather.
The woman walking next to him is her grandmother
And the blonde haired man holding her? Well, he’s her father. And his name is Lucas.
And he’s just a statue now.
Sobbing, she clung onto the crystal statue that was her father, soon falling into the embrace of her best friend, still incapable of being comforted.
Three years ago.
Three years and she still hasn’t been able to bring him back.
Aurora sat alone at the kitchen table, quietly spooning cereal into her mouth while fingering a powerless void crystal, now referred to as Phorite by the island’s scientists.
“Aurora? You okay?”
Aurora looked up, instantly recognizing the voice as Jax’s. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
Jax gazed at his friend, her now frazzled brown hair having lost the last bit of blonde in it, while darkened circles had chosen to reside under her dead eyes. He took a seat beside her, the water constituting his right leg reentering a gold and blue relic on his finger. “Your birthday’s coming up,” he mentioned, after a moment of silence.
“Yeah.” Aurora twirled the crystal between her fingers.
“Looking forward to it?”
Aurora took another spoonful of cereal. “I want to.”
“Aurora, you’ve tried everything you could to bring him back, you can’t keep beating yourself up over it.”
“I haven’t tried hard enough.”
“You couldn’t have tried harder.”
“Yes I can.” Aurora took another spoonful.
“But-”
“If I tried hard enough, he would be here right now.”
Before Jax could respond, his sister walked into the kitchen. “Hey, we got a movie ready. You two want to join us?”
“Of course!” Aurora said, putting on a cheerful smile. “Jax?”
“...fine.”
“Then hurry up!” Hope said lightheartedly. “Nathan and Hei are getting impatient,” she added, walking away shortly after.
Aurora placed her spoon back inside the bowl and stood up, causing her seat to slide back. “Well? What are we waiting for?” Aurora asked, turning to Jax. “Let’s go!” Without waiting for a response, Aurora briskly walked away.
She did not pay attention to the movie.
Another adoption process. Something she never wished to do again.
She didn’t want to be adopted by her grandparents.
She already had a parent.
But what choice did she have?
After the movie ended, she smiled and said goodbye to everyone, before heading back to her grandparents’ farm. The smile quickly faded away.
“H-hey, Jax, could you come help me with something?”
Jax looked up at his friend. He’d heard the same thing from her on repeat for days…or was it weeks? Perhaps it had been months…
And with each repeat, she became more disappointed.
But she still had a few sparks of hope in her eyes…
At this point, anyone could tell her actions were fruitless.
He wanted to tell her. To tell her before she drained herself. To tell her to stop. To tell her that she had done her best.
But she still had a few sparks of hope in her eyes.
“Yeah…sure…”
“Great! Come on!” Aurora cheerfully exclaimed, oblivious to Jax's concern.
Coward, the water wizard thought to himself.
With a brief moment of hesitation, he began to follow the Astral wizard.
“I think this will work this time!”
Jax, you coward, tell her before it goes too far.
But he couldn’t.
Tell her.
She still had some hope. Who was he to take it away?
The sparks diminished once more.
Another failure.
And yet, despite her upset expression, she still had some defiant sparks of hope in her eyes.'
Those sparks wouldn't last forever…
And what would happen when she gets down to the last one?
Knock knock knock.
Knock knock knock.
The girl pulled her pillow over her ears.
“Hey, you okay?”
No response.
“It’s 3 in the afternoon and you still haven’t left your room.” The voice on the other side of the door sounded concerned.
Knock knock kno-
“Go away!” the girl snapped.
She slammed her pillow into her face and sighed frustratedly.
“...sorry.”
She pulled her pillow off of her face and sat up. “Wait, no-”
The door swung open.
The male wizard on the other side turned around to see the girl standing in the doorway, sweeping messy hair out of her eyes.
“Look, I didn’t mean that…I…I just…I’m sorry, okay?”
He fixed his eyes on her with a stern, yet concerned gaze. “Nevermind that, you can’t keep burning yourself out like this.”
She averted her eyes and shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
Her voice eventually broke the silence. “So why are you here?”
“To tell you to get dressed. You’re taking a day off.”
The next morning, Aurora got up and entered her father’s room, the door quietly creaking as it slowly opened. She sat on the bed, looking down. “I wish you’d come back.”
The statue in the corner did not respond.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know, I’m turning 16 in two days,” she continued.
Silence.
“I wish you were here…”
No reply.
“...I love you.” Aurora got off the bed and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She left the farm shortly after.
“Hey, why isn’t your hair the same color as your dad’s?”
The girl didn’t respond, lightly touching her hair.
It was a question she was asked often by other kids, but she still hadn’t gotten used to it.
Taking an early walk through Lamplight Town, Aurora walked through the Town Square and paused in the Vendor’s Plaza, staring at the currently closed stylist shop.
Venturing through Lamplight with her dad later that day, Aurora followed her dad to the Lamplight Stylist for a haircut. “Can you make my hair the same color as daddy’s?” she asked, midway through.
The dwarf paused, smiling at her. “You know what, I’ll do it for free.”
She dug through her backpack and procured 500 gold coins, placing them on the windowsill in the form of 5 stacks of 100 coins each. Thank you…
Returning to her grandparents’ farm, Aurora fed the animals, washed her hands, and prepared breakfast shortly after. Not too long later, Abner and Vanessa had exited their rooms and arrived to see Aurora placing three plates on the table, each plate having two pancakes accompanied by scrambled eggs and sausage. “Good morning!” Aurora said, greeting them with a smile.
“Aw, thank you!” her grandmother exclaimed in delight.
This was a behavior she picked up in frequency after Lucas’...petrification. Maybe it was to keep her granddaughter’s spirits lifted. Regardless, it was getting old. “Grandma, I do this almost every morning,” Aurora said, returning the smile.
“Doesn’t make it any less special,” she responded.
“Yes, yes, that’s nice, let’s eat breakfast already,” Abner interrupted.
Vanessa gave Abner a disdainful look, seemingly resisting the urge to chase him around with something non-lethal.
Aurora clenched her hand, pressing her right thumb against the tip of her arrow. "Just...go home, Jax. At least you still have a parent left." She turned away from Jax, walking away.
An expression of hurt briefly crossed the trainee’s face. “Aurora, we’ve been friends for about twelve years now. I’m not about to leave you here alone, even if we disagree.”
“Fine.”
The two continued walking in silence.
The arrow in Aurora’s hand dissolved as she put her glove back on. She raised her right hand to signal Jax to stop. The signal did not work, for Jax still walked into Aurora. Despite being annoyed, she didn’t bother to react, clenching and lowering her hand while focusing on a figure wandering about in the distance. Aurora picked up in pace, Jax quickly adjusting his own pace to match Aurora’s. “Are you Alge?” Aurora asked, once she had approached the being.
“Hm?” the figure turned, to face the two. Jax’s eyes widened in surprise. The fey looked just like Gale, except with different scars and short hair, with bangs covering his left eye.
“Are you Alge?” Aurora asked again, fidgeting with her fingers.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, after the void epidemic, my dad turned into a crystal statue and h-he hasn’t turned b-back.” The trainee stopped for a moment, sniffling holding back tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. “I w-was hoping you w-would know how t-to help? I…I want him back…”
Alge looked at Aurora sympathetically. “Hey, hey, please don’t cry. Take me to him, and I’ll see what I can do, okay?”
Aurora rubbed her left arm against her eyes, drying the tears. “Really?”
Alge smiled. “Yeah, really. But first, let’s get out of here.” A small smile made its way onto Aurora’s face as well. “Come on, then.” Alge turned around and took the lead, with a now expressionless Aurora following close behind.
Jax was the only one who didn’t smile.
He had seen the new hole in Aurora’s glove. And the purple scar behind it.
“Aurora, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Even I have to agree with him on this one. Working with a voidwalker? Aurora, you know how dangerous they are?”
Aurora still faced the door, hand gripping the doorknob.
Vanessa continued. “I know you want your father back, I want him back too. But this is going too far.”
No response.
“Aurora, drop the idea,” Abner sternly demanded.
Aurora sighed. “No.” She turned the doorknob and entered the room, placing a hand on the crystal statue that was her father. “Besides,” she said, taking the glove off her right hand, “every good plan should have a failsafe.” Black and purple tentacles reached out from the ground and wrapped themselves around Abner’s and Vanessa’s legs, leaving them helpless as they watched their granddaughter disappear with her father in a purple flash.
The tentacles binding the married couple disappeared in particles of void magic. The two numbly walked over to where Aurora once stood and knelt down. Vanessa looked up at her husband. “What now?” After a brief moment of silence, Abner looked back up at her.
“We talk to Storm.”
"Alright, where have you two been?"
The duo's hearts dropped as Opal watched them, leaning against a wall of the Great Hall. "Lamplight Town," Aurora quickly responded, attempting to look unconcerned.
"Where, in Lamplight?"
"The docks," Aurora answered.
"Then why didn't either of us see you there?" Hope and Scarlet entered the view of the two trainees.
"So, we'll ask you two again," Opal's gaze burned into the two. "Where were you all day?"
The two parties found themselves engaged in a stare-off.
Finally, Jax buckled. "The void…" he sighed quietly.
"What was that?" Scarlet asked.
"The void," he peeped, now under the additional pressure of Aurora's glare.
"Jax, speak up," Hope demanded.
"No," Aurora hissed at the Water trainee.
Jax looked down. "The void," he answered, now audible.
"You WHAT?"
"And how, exactly, did you get there?" Opal asked.
"We...got a device from Ae-"
Astral magic wrapped itself around Jax's mouth, silencing the boy. Astral ropes bound everyone, tying them to the ground, rendering everyone in the room immobile. Aurora turned around, Astral particles swirling around her raised left hand. "Sorry, but I can't risk you guys stopping me from bringing Dad back." She paused, staring out the Academy doorway. "And Jax, I thought you were my friend." Clenching a small device in her hand, she leaped out of the Academy, falling out of view, before a purple flash indicated her departure from the island.
After carefully placing the statue in the center of the keystone imprints, the two backed away. Wisps of purple and black magic spun around Alge’s hand as he raised his palm to face the statue. “Before we start, may I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead,” Aurora replied.
“When you were here before, I noticed your friend was slightly fading, but you weren’t. Care to explain that?” Aurora's heart lurched into her throat, internally cursing herself for being so stupid. Alge smirked. “Actually, I don’t need an explanation.” Void tentacles and chains immediately restrained the girl, as Alge readjusted his aim, now pointing at Aurora. “Personally, I don’t want another threat running around.”
A distant scream caught the group’s attention, everyone halting their search and facing the direction of the scream. “Aurora!” Jax exclaimed, dashing away from the group, drawing his katana.
“Come on!” Nathan commanded the rest of the group, running after Jax.
Aurora lay on her side, breathing rapidly as void filled her facial wounds and used up a failsafe. She sucked in air through gritted teeth, as she tried to push herself back to her feet. Pain suddenly ripped across the back of the wizard’s neck, causing her to collapse once more. The girl rolled over onto her back and coughed up blood as void filled the wound, using up a second failsafe. Taking in shuddering breaths, Aurora weakly stared up at Alge, who had raised both of his blades above her heart, preparing to skewer the girl where she laid. Turning her head to her left, her gaze finally rested on the abandoned crystal statue not too far away. Tears began to roll down the side of her face, mingling with the blood beneath her head. Closing her eyes, she quietly accepted her failure, waiting for the blades to come down, to declare her efforts useless.
But they didn’t.
An outraged cry led Aurora to reopen her eyes to see a white-haired friend ruthlessly firing spells and slashing at the voidwalker fairy, forcing him back with each attack.
For the first time in months, a genuine smile had made its way onto Aurora’s face.
Jax.
Two wizards sat on the edge of the Academy, lightly kicking their legs back and forth as they looked down on the island below.
“Hey, Aurora?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t bring your dad back. We knew he meant a lot to you.”
Aurora sighed. “I’ll miss him…a lot, but…I’ve still got people here I care about, and I can’t keep pushing them away.”
The two friends sat in silence, still dangling their legs over the edge of the Academy.
Aurora looked up at Jax. “Hey, Jax?”
“Yeah?” Jax replied, looking up.
“Thanks…for helping me through this. And I’m really sorry for how I acted.”
“Hey, I’m just happy you’re finally feeling better,” Jax replied with a soft smile.
Aurora returned the smile, before turning back to the view. “You know, I missed this.”
“So did I.”
The duo quietly watched the horizon, admiring the pink and yellow skies as the sun set.
“Um, hey, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but we’re watching a movie,” Hope said, standing in the Academy’s doorway. “Either of you want to come join us?”
The two wizards looked at each other, then turned to face Hope, shaking their heads. “I think we’ll stay out here a little longer,” Aurora answered.
“Alright, but stop dangling your feet on the ledge. I don’t want either of you falling off,” Hope stated, turning to leave.
“Yeah, okay, Hope,” Jax responded absentmindedly, attention focused on the sunset.
A fair distance away, the unseen ghosts of two former wardens held hands as they watched their daughter, smiling as they did so.
She would be just fine.
“She said away from the ledge!” Scarlet’s voice rang out from the Academy, startling the two so they scrambled backwards. “That’s better.”
She would also be safer as of now.
My Dear Children[]
Accident—Water[]
Jax tightly wrapped his arms around the warden, returning the comforting embrace.
“Jax, your father and I never meant to replace you or your siblings,” Samantha spoke softly, gently running a hand through her son's snow-white hair. “And I'm so sorry for making you and your siblings feel th–”
Before she could finish her sentence, Samantha let out a cry of pain and fell out of the embrace and onto the floor, clutching her left side.
“Mama‽” a shaken Jax cried, quickly dropping to his knees. “W–what’s wrong? What happened? A-are you…okay?”
“I…guess it never…really did…heal, did it?” the warden spoke through labored breaths, eyes screwed shut.
“I…I don't understand…. Is…is this my fault? Did I–”
Samantha’s eyes shot open, fixing her son with a highly concerned gaze. “Jax, no—” a sharp gasp interrupted the woman. “N–no, this is not your fault, okay?”
“But–”
Despite the pain, the warden forced her body into a sitting position and clasped Jax’s hands in her own, holding back tears of pain. “Listen to me, Jax. This isn't your fault. Okay? It isn't anyone's. Not even his…especially not his…”
“Who…are you talking about?”
The warden’s eyes began to go unfocused, and her eyelids began to drift close. “He…he was going through so much…and we were all too blind, too ignorant…”
“Mama, Mama, stay with me, please…I…I can…”
“He even asked us what we would do if he were to…” A sob escaped the woman, and she jerked, taking in a sharp gasp as she grasped her side and collapsed on the ground once more, hyperventilating through gritted teeth.
“Mama!”
“I’m so sorry, Storm…” Tears streamed toward the ground, crawling over the bridge of the Water Warden’s nose and rolling down the left side of her face.
“I–I can g–go get someone,” the boy stammered, scrambling to his feet. “D–dad can help, right?”
Samantha shifted her gaze over to Jax and put on a faint, tired smile. “I'm…sorry, Jax. I wish I could…have spent more time…with you and your siblings…”
“I…”
“Please…forgive me…for losing you…and them…all those years ago…”
“Ma–”
The island rumbled as a pair of once bright green eyes went glassy and a deep blue streak faded, passing the mantle of wardenship to the unwilling heir.
I'm not the only one who felt that, right?
Anyone want to explain exactly what the hell was THAT?
Oh no oh no no no no…
Jax? Are you okay? What's wrong?
He shouldn't feel this way.
He should be happy.
Jax? Jax? Are you there?
He had done what Mother wanted him to do.
Jax, where are you?
So why was he running?
Why was he shouting for help?
Why was he so concerned?
Why did he…care?
…
He didn't know what he yelled when he burst into the tense Great Hall, but whatever it was, it sent the adults in the room into a frenzy. He was suddenly hoisted into the air and shoved against a wall by a yellow-haired man. The man was yelling something at him, eyes full of fear and rage. Jax stammered something out in response, but that seemed to only further enrage the man.
The warden was torn away from him by a shorter redhead, who began shouting at the enraged warden, hurt and anger visible behind teary eyes.
A blue-haired fairy shoved the two men apart, snapping something at the both of them before dashing after the other adults towards the Water Tower.
The redhead briefly glared at the yellow-haired warden before running after the bluenette.
The remaining man turned his head towards Jax, eyeing him suspiciously. Then, his gaze quickly softened for some reason. He sighed as he turned away and bolted towards the Water Tower.
Jax slumped against the wall and slid down towards the floor, staring ahead blankly.
A brown-eyed brunette sat down next to him and said something.
Other than a numbed gaze, he didn't respond.
The girl gave him a soft look, said something else, and stood up, holding her hand out to him.
He looked up at the girl, and after a moment, took her hand and pulled himself to his feet.
The brunette promptly wrapped him in a hug, which he almost returned. Instead, his arms froze midway through the motion, then dropped to his sides.
The girl released him, an expression of concern hidden behind one of sympathy. She glanced over at the Water Tower and looked back at him. I’ll be back later, she mouthed.
She turned away and headed over to the Water Tower.
Jax found himself numbly following the brunette to the Water Tower entrance, where he froze.
He wanted to go inside.
To go check on his other mother.
But he couldn't.
Not right now.
He leaned against the wall just outside the entrance and slid to the floor, pulling his knees close to his chest.
Many long minutes later, a pair of footsteps neared the Water Tower’s entrance and entered the Common Room, halting in front of the Water Warden.
“She’s alive.”
Jax perked up, looking up to see Aurora standing in front of him. “Huh?”
Aurora sat down next to him, crossing her legs. “They brought her back. Well, Gale did, anyway. She apparently had some injury in the past that never completely healed internally and it just…gave out today.”
“...oh.”
“...yeah.”
“Is…she okay?”
“Gale says she's fine now,” Aurora responded.
The two sat in silence for a while.
“Look,” Aurora whispered, “we can't get so attached to them. Mother asked us to do this, so we have to. It will only hurt more in the end if we do get attached.”
“Yeah, but she listened to me. She spent time with me. With all of us. She cared about all of us. Just like Mother does. I–How can I just not care?”
Aurora went silent.
Jax stood up. “I'm going to go check on her.”
“Jax, wait.” The brunette stood up and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder just as he began to turn. Aurora sighed. “...just don't forget why we’re here, okay? Mother knows best.” She dropped her hand and turned away. “Hope you feel better soon,” she said, walking away from the towers.
For a few seconds, the newly crowned Water Warden remained where he stood, then walked through the Water Tower entrance.
“...mother knows best…”
Target—Fire[]
The now very sore Fire Warden slowly but continuously turned around, searching for even a glimpse of his once long-lost daughter in the near-complete darkness of the Shadow dome. The blade of his Luma Sun Ray Rod served as his only source of light in the seemingly endless void. “Hope?” Chase desperately called out. “Hope, please, snap out of it! Please…I…I don't want to–”
Chase didn’t even get to finish speaking before a ball of shadow magic slammed into the back of his head, sending him limply somersaulting across the floor while his spear clattered away.
The redhead’s eldest “daughter” emerged from the darkness, approaching the dropped wand. She picked it up, squinting to prevent the light from the weapon from burning her eyes. She walked up to the Fire Warden, who lay face down on the ground. She prodded the man with the end of the shaft, and received no response.
Fixing the unconscious warden with an emotionless gaze, Hope turned the polearm around and slowly raised the blade above the warden’s neck.
And just as she was about to plunge the spear straight down, claws jabbed themselves through the dome. Light poured into the near pitch-black territory, as the claws violently tore a large hole in the barrier, shattering it. Just as the girl turned towards the disturbance with a raised hand shielding her eyes from the sudden influx of light, a white and orange blur slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her. She slid several feet away from the unconscious Fire Warden, feeling the polearm slip from her grasp and hearing it clatter to the ground a good distance away.
Harmony dammit.
Pinning Hope to the ground was a snarling Luma-Embershed hybrid, who transfixed the red-head with a furious scarlet glare. With one hand’s claws digging into the girl's chest, the dragon raised her right arm in the air, letting flames engulf her claws as she aimed for the wizard's throat.
“Hope—no. Whoever—whatever you are, you are going to get the hell away from my father.”
The pinned wizard grimaced, attempting to wriggle out of Scarlet’s grasp, but to no avail. The little dragon’s arm swung down, aimed to lacerate the girl's throat. Hope violently twisted to the side, unbalancing the dragon and causing the attack to graze her cheek instead. Hope let out a hiss of pain and twisted out of the dragon's grasp. She threw the dragon off of her and quickly got to her feet. Hope pressed her left hand to her cheek, wincing. She pulled it away and scowled at the red liquid coating her fingers, peppered with flakes of blackened skin.
Fuuuu…udge.
Hope? Are you okay?
Yeah, I’m just fine, Jax.
Wow! That sounds REALLY convincing!
Opal, please. I’m a little occupied right now.
Occupied? Occupied with what? Do you need help?
I said I’m fine, Jax.
Hope looked up and was quickly graced with the opportunity to see a white blur that immediately sent her recoiling from the force of a kick to the face. A groan escaped gritted teeth, and the wizard took up a defensive stance. The enraged dragon continued her onslaught of aerial kicks. Hope raised her arms and blocked and dodged the flurry of attacks. Scarlet roared, blasting a stream of flames at Hope’s face, to which the girl responded by materializing a small wall of Shadow magic between her and Scarlet. The dragon quickly maneuvered around the wall, wasting no time in aiming a spinning back kick towards the right side of the Shadow wizard’s face. Hope instinctively raised her right arm to block the attack, and let out a screech of pain as the purple spike on the back of Scarlet's foot drove itself through her right forearm. Shadow magic condensed around Hope’s hand as she slammed her left palm into the dragon's back and unleashed a blast of magic that sent the dragon hurtling into the far wall. Hope turned around and staggered towards the dropped Luma Sun Ray Rod, intending to finish her job. Suddenly, something rammed into her from behind, knocking the wind out of her and sending her skidding across the floor. The world rocked around the wizard as she attempted to get back to her feet. She was immediately knocked back to the ground and found the Luma hybrid standing over her once again. Claws raked the girl in various places, with each attack drawing blood. Hope desperately twisted and turned, waving her left arm around, trying to block the relentless rush of attacks, but to no avail. The girl curled up into a ball and rolled onto her side, trying to shrink away from the dragon’s claws, but she would not be granted relief.
Suddenly, pain shot through the wizard’s side, eliciting a sharp gasp as the girl went rigid. Wide green eyes took on a faint purple glow as they flicked towards the opponent.
Violet and black energy condensed around the dragon and released a massive discharge of Shadow magic that sent the little Luma rocketing into the ceiling.
Debris crumbled from the ceiling, and not long after, Scarlet came plummeting towards the ground, large purple burn marks present all over the dragon.
For a while, Hope remained curled up on the floor, holding a violet-marked left palm close to her chest and breathing heavily as purple eyes returned to green.
Eventually, she attempted to force herself onto her hands and knees, but buckled and collapsed back into a small puddle of sweat and blood. Hope groaned and rolled to her side and pushed herself back to her feet, wincing as she did so. She stumbled towards the polearm lying on the ground and picked it up, pushing the weapon into the ground for support. She shuffled over to the unconscious dragon, gripping her “father”'s spear tightly.
She knelt down next to the hybrid and released the spear, letting it clatter on the ground. She pressed two bloody fingers against the dragon's throat, letting her shoulders drop in relief when she felt the faint pulsation from a heartbeat.
Hope grabbed the polearm once more, and pressed the end of the weapon into the ground as she forced herself to her feet and staggered towards the Fire Warden.
Blood leaked out of every wound. Dark red stains slowly expanded through tattered robes. Hair was matted by sweat and blood. Faint purple marks on a functional hand grew more pronounced.
And all of it hurt.
Every step and every breath fired waves of agony through the wizard's body.
She didn't even remember when she hit the ground.
The Fire Warden was just mere inches away.
She wanted to get back up. To finish the job. To go back home. To make Mother proud.
But she could only watch her own blood creep along the ground in a slowly expanding pool.
And the world around the girl began to darken.
Mother…
Help…
Reflection—Fire[]
The girl opened her eyes, finding herself greeted by a blurry world. Instinctively, she blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. As she did so, something began nagging at her.
Wasn’t she supposed to be doing something?
Suddenly, a brief burst of adrenaline surged through Hope’s body and she jolted out of the cot, frantically looking around, despite not knowing what she was looking for. Something was said by a voice somewhat familiar to her, and a pair of purple hands awkwardly gripped Hope's shoulders. Still barely comprehending what the voice was saying, the girl struggled against the hands firmly, yet gently holding her in place. As the short-lived adrenaline rush wore off, feelings of soreness and pain took their place all over her body. With a groan, the girl sank back down in the cot as everything throbbed with pain.
Huh. The hands had released her now.
Hope blinked one more time, lifted her head, and focused on the person in front of her.
“Void…?”
The entity in question relaxed, closing his mouth and smiling at his sibling.
“Why am I…” Hope trailed off, realizing she knew the answer to her own question.
She failed.
The girl dropped her head back on the cot and lifted her bandaged right arm in front of her face, wincing and clenching her teeth.
She failed her mission.
She lowered her arm and looked at her left arm laying limply beside her, bandaged all the way to the hand.
She let out a shaky sigh as she stared up at nothing in particular.
She was sloppy. She let her guard down and got hurt. Got so hurt that she scared Mother enough to send Void after her.
Tears began to well up in the girl’s eyes, and she sniffled.
She was a failure.
No matter how hard she tried, she would always just be the same old klutzy Hope.
Always messing up and getting herself or others hurt.
Always worrying Mother.
Always apologizing.
She was a hopeless case.
Hopeless.
Then the girl suddenly burst into tears, blubbering apologies and not sniffling nearly enough to counter her runny nose.
Startled, Void held his hands out to sobbing redhead. “Hope, Hope, it's okay!”
“N-no it's no-o-ot!” Hope bawled. “I m-messed up a-again! I'm always messing up!
“That’s not true!” Void insisted.
“Y-yes it i-is!” Hope blubbered. “I'm a big, walking accident bomb! I couldn't even d-do this o-o-one thing for Mother!”
“Hope…”
“I'm j-just a failure, a-a-aren't I?”
“You’re not—”
“That’s why my own ‘parents’ tried to replace m-me three times, i-isn't it?”
“No—”
“W-why does that hurt so m-much? I…I don't even like them…”
“...”
“I'm a b-big mistake...”
“Hope…”
“A failure...”
“Hope.”
“H-h-hopeless.”
“Hope!” Void snapped, jolting Hope out of her downward spiral. “You are not a failure. You are not hopeless! You are smart, a great sister, loved and cared for—”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Hope sniffled.
“Maybe so, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm telling you the truth.”
Hope went quiet, still sniffling.
After a moment, Void spoke up again. “You feeling better?”
A big sniffle. “W-well, everything still hurts a lot…” she quietly responded, blinking back tears.
“Yeah…sorry. Not much I can do about that…well, not without…nevermind,” Void sighed.
For a while, the two went quiet again.
Eventually, the relative silence was broken by Hope. “...Void?”
“Yes?”
“Does Mother still…care about me?” Hope quietly asked. “Even though I…”
Void gave the girl a soft smile. “Of course. She wouldn't have sent me after you if she didn't.”
A small smile formed on Hope's face, and she began to doze off, having tired herself out.
On the contrary, Void turned away from his sleeping sibling and dropped his smile. Well what else was he supposed to tell her? That Shadow thought failure was not to be tolerated? That Mother saw her critical state as nothing more than a ‘lesson’? No. That would have broken her worse than that fight did.
She couldn't ever know.
Feelings—Fire[]
It was a dragon. She loved dragons.
So why was she so nervous about talking to it?
…
She would just have to suck it up and go to it.
It was exciting.
It was evident the dragon didn't like her.
…
It…kind of hurt.
It had been a month since Shadow had deemed her “well” enough to go back to class. For the most part, everything was normal. She didn’t talk to her classmates, and her classmates didn’t talk to her.
But now, every time she left a room, she could hear the whispers start. And every time she entered one, they would die down. Of course everyone wanted to gossip about the girl who tried to kill her own father, the Fire Warden.
It was fine, she could deal with it.
Ever since she got her injuries, everyone started treating her as if she couldn’t take care of herself. Again. Always keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t “hurt herself”. Most of the time, they weren’t even discreet about it.
And her “parents” were the worst. Always fussing over her, apologizing for not “protecting her”, pestering her over whether or not she needed something. As if they actually cared. But she still had to put up with it.
It was humiliating.
At least Scarlet wasn’t patronizing her.
Hope stared at her body in the mirror.
Every scar, every injury reflected back at her, reminding her of her every failure.
She raised her left hand to the dark pink burn mark on her left cheek, cautiously running her fingers over the rough patch of skin. She then ran her hand along the back of her neck, where four streaks of raised, abnormally smooth skin overlapped a more jagged, unclean scar from another incident. Her hand lowered to her chest and stomach, where tens of clusters of four claw marks had staked their claim, darkening and raising the damaged skin. She let her hand rest on the right side of her stomach, feeling the large series of four claw scars that peeked just beyond her side onto her back and front. Then, her hand reached for her right shoulder and slowly creeped down her arm, feeling every claw-caused scar down her arm, before pausing at her lower forearm. Dropping her gaze from the mirror, Hope slowly raised her right forearm with her left hand and looked down at the large, circular scar plastered in the middle of her lower forearm.
The one that had left her right hand virtually useless.
Mother said she was lucky she could even move her fingers at all.
Didn’t feel so lucky, especially when the best she could get out of them was a twitch.
Hope sighed, lowering her right arm, and looked down at her legs and feet. More telltale claw scars. Several overlapping scars on her knees. Various other stray scars. A darkened toenail on her left pinky toe.
Hope let out a shuddering sigh and looked back up at the mirror.
All of a sudden, the girl found her lower lip quivering as she blinked back tears.
All of this was her fault.
Her fault.
Her mistakes.
She was to blame.
It was her fault, and it hurt.
She turned the faucet on all the way.
She didn’t need anyone hearing her cry.
Autumn wouldn’t shut up.
She just kept talking, and talking, and talking.
It was so annoying.
Having to do everything one-handed was a hassle.
Worse yet when your dominant hand is the useless one.
She had to relearn how to write legibly. How to regain control of her magic. How to use a polearm. How to not burn her hand when using Shadow Magic. That one had to be done in private, of course.
She could barely hold a stack of books without dropping them all, an event that still happened often.
A plate of food would shake back and forth rapidly as she struggled to balance it.
Opening a water bottle was an awkward task.
Catching a ball, cutting paper, tying a knot, cutting a fruit.
Even the seemingly menial task of putting on clothes was a battle of its own. And don’t even get started with zipping up a jacket or coat.
And every time, someone would insist on helping.
She didn’t want their help. She could do it herself. She wasn’t just some clumsy mess.
…
Ah, who was she kidding. They were right.
It was frustrating.
Every day she was around, Scarlet never failed to glare at her.
Even when she wasn’t looking, she could feel the Luma hybrid’s gaze boring into her.
At least the dragon was well enough to move around unimpaired.
It was relieving.
She thought she cared.
She thought she loved her.
She thought she was her daughter.
He said she cared.
He lied to her face.
She dumped everything, all of her insecurities onto him, and he just lied to her.
He didn't care either.
And they had the gall to pretend to care when they tried to replace her three times over.
She should have stayed dead.
None of them cared.
It was…heartbreaking.
Maybe…
Maybe they would be better off without her.
Nobody wants a failure anyway.
It still felt all so vivid.
Nathan’s earth-shattering scream. The crashing of two chairs against the ground. The sounds of two pairs of footsteps trailing behind him. Nathan kneeling outside the open bathroom door.
Samantha got there first.
For a brief moment, the woman froze, and horror immediately took over her face. Then she ran in.
When he got there…
His heart shattered.
Samantha was already sobbing, kneeling in a small pool of blood that wasn't her own, cradling her eldest daughter, and begging her to wake up.
And then his youngest two finally caught up, both donning expressions of confusion and horror.
Two times.
Two times he failed.
Everything was all there.
He even acknowledged it.
And yet…
It was heart-shattering.
She really did mess everything up.
She couldn’t even do that right.
The redhead ran her finger along the new addition to the side of her neck.
It hadn’t been long since Nathan found her…
…
And now everyone was watching her more intently than before. They tried to hide it. Hide that their eyes were on her. But she knew.
…
She should have locked that door.
It…
It wasn’t important.
She could still hear their voices in her head.
For the most part, they had stopped calling for her long ago. Every time they called for her, she refused to respond. But she was never removed from the link. So, sitting alone in silence, she could hear them all. The ensuing chaos caused by one of Opal's antics. Glace shouting something notably alarming. Rai announcing the addition of a new rock to his collection.
And she wasn't there to participate in any of it.
So, she kept telling herself that she didn't want to be there. Kept telling herself they didn't want her. That they didn't actually care. That she could handle being alone.
Maybe she was lying to herself.
After all…
It was awfully lonely here.
She wasn’t dead. He refused to believe it.
They just got her back. They couldn't lose her again.
Everyday, he or Sammy went out, searching for their missing daughter. Sometimes their children came along. Sometimes a friend did. But every time, they returned, unsuccessful.
It was disheartening.
Conversation—Water & Fire[]
Still asleep, Samantha shuffled in her and Chase’s bed before stretching out her right arm and letting it flop onto the left side of the bed. Her arm rose up in the air again and once again flopped onto nothing.
“Mmrmf…”
Her arm rose up and once again lowered onto nothing. Samantha’s eyes slowly opened, then she blinked a few times. The left side of the bed was empty. The former Water Warden pouted.
“Chase…” she whined.
No response.
Samantha sighed, and tried to get out of the bed. Unfortunately, her lower half was wrapped in an entire blanket and as a result, she just fell off the bed with a quiet thud. The woman then clumsily thrashed her way out of the confines of the blanket before grabbing onto the bed's mattress and lifting herself to her feet.
With that out of the way, the now definitely awake mother haphazardly chucked the half-rolled up blanket back onto the bed and headed towards the partially open bedroom door. As she pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway, Samantha’s eyes were drawn to a faint light down the hallway. The kitchen light.
Rubbing her eyes, Samantha walked down the hallway, taking a brief stop at the children's room. The door quietly creaked open as the mother poked her head through the opening, scanning the room and the four individuals inside.
Each of the kids originally had their own rooms, but not long after Hope’s…disappearance, they all insisted on sharing a bedroom. And so, there they all were, crowded in Autumn's room. In the back left corner was Jax and Nathan’s bunk bed, with the latter having taken the top bunk. Autumn's bed remained in the back right corner, but now it was rotated to be parallel to the bunk bed. Scarlet, meanwhile, had no bed, as she insisted that she could sleep anywhere. And sleep anywhere she did. Most of the time on Autumn's bed, sometimes on the floor, sometimes on Jax’s bed, and on very rare occasions, Nathan’s bed. The room was admittedly lacking in space now, but the children were content with it, happy to be in each other's presence as they slept.
Deeming the children well, Samantha pulled the door close, and headed down the hallway once more. Then, she paused outside of another door.
Hope’s bedroom door.
Tentatively, the mother reached for the doorknob and turned it. She gently opened the doorway and peeked inside, as if Hope would have suddenly returned.
She didn’t.
Sighing, Samantha slowly shut the door and reluctantly turned away, before walking down the hallway again. Once she reached the end of the hallway, she turned the corner, walked through the living room and into the kitchen.
She then spotted her husband sitting at the kitchen table, back to her as he gently tapped his fingers against an empty cup in front of him. Samantha approached the redhead from behind and bent over, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on the top of his head.
“Hey,” the former warden softly spoke, “you okay?”
Chase sighed, his hands abandoning the cup in favor of gently wrapping themselves around his wife's arms. “Samantha?”
“Mmm?”
“Am I…a good father?”
“Of course you are,” Samantha calmly answered, a tinge of concern in her voice. She would have been surprised by such a question, but with how everything was going, one of them was bound to ask it sooner or later. But even still…
“...it doesn't feel like it.”
Maybe tell him he’s focusing too much on the negatives? Samantha thought. …No, that wouldn’t help at all. Samantha rotated her head so that her cheek rested on the Warden’s hair. “Could you explain why?”
Chase frowned. “Do I even have to?”
Silence.
Chase could practically see his wife's displeased expression. He sighed. “Three of our children got kidnapped, under my watch, and they all hate us for it. Hope got corrupted by Shadow magic, then she tried to…to…” Chase’s voice cracked. “And then she…left.”
“Chase,” Samantha softly responded, “it's not your fault Hope left or that she tried to…kill…” For a second, Samantha’s voice caught in her throat. Clearing her throat, Samantha started up again. “You…you did your best, okay?”
“No I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“No I did not.”
“Chase, believe me, you did.”
“If I did, she wouldn’t have gone down the same path as Storm.” Chase could feel Samantha tense. “He was going through a downward spiral and what did I do? Nothing. Too caught up in my whole ‘laugh and it will be fine’ mentality. And look where that got him.” He took a deep breath. “I should have learned. I should have done better. For Hope and Storm. But I didn’t. And now you and the kids have to deal with a mess I could have prevented.” Chase dropped his hands and slightly sank in his chair.
“Chase, this isn’t your mess.”
“Sam, Autumn and Jax still wake up screaming from nightmares of that day, Nathan barely talks to Jax or their friends, and Scarlet's even more stressed than usual. And every day and night we’re here, you open the door to Hope’s room and look inside, hoping to find someone who isn’t there. Sure sounds like a mess, and thanks to me, you all have to live with the shards.”
Samantha sighed and released her husband. She walked over to his right side and crouched down, taking hold of his right hand. “Chase. Look at me. Chase. Chase. Look at my face.”
Chase turned his gaze towards his wife, and was immediately taken aback by the tears rolling down her face. “Samantha, you're…crying.”
“How could I not?” Samantha responded, voice quivering. “They're my kids too. Hope, Nathan, and Jax? I lost them under my watch too. And when they finally came back, all three of them thought we tried to replace them. That hurt to hear. And when I saw Hope on the floor, bleeding out from her neck, I felt like a failure. She needed help, and I wasn't there for her. And the day she ran away, when Nathan yelled at us that it was our fault Hope was gone, I officially thought I failed as a mother.”
“...Sam…”
“And Storm? I'm the reason he ended up a Voidwalker. I crushed him with a f***ing robot. I contributed to his death, and I couldn't even bring myself to so much as apologize to him before it was too late!”
“No…that was an accident…it—”
“‘It wasn’t your fault’?” Samantha interrupted. “You’re a real hypocrite, Flamemaster,” the former Water Warden joked through a sniffle. “If you're going to blame yourself for all of this, at least let me share some of the blame too. I deserve a good chunk of it anyway.”
Hesitant, Chase pursed his lips.
Samantha stood up, wiping her tears with her right palm and still holding Chase’s hand with her left. “As far as I'm concerned, our five children need us. Both of us. So let's agree on this: we are going to get through this together, okay?”
Chase stood up and nodded. “Okay.”
Samantha smiled. “Good.”
And just as the former Water Warden began to turn away to drag her husband back to bed, the redhead suddenly let go of her hand, rushed into her body, and wrapped his arms around her.
“Thanks,” he whispered, “I needed that.”
The bluenette returned the embrace. “I did too,” she whispered back.