It was difficult for the teens to decide where to go at first; Queen Eloine had provided them with directions, but it did take quite a while before the Guardians had finally made their way out of the forest at the location they were supposed to get out. The Bond of Light then proceeded to move toward the mountain; the Queen had pointed out a secret passage so they could cross the mountain quicker. The teenagers had to climb up for a while in order to find it, but eventually, they found it.
Still, somehow, there still hadn’t been a sign of Mari, while they should’ve run into her way before even reaching the mountain. As he and his friends crossed through the secret passage, Luke wondered what had happened, and figured it’d been nothing good. But what Luke did know, was that the Master was behind all this once again. He had to be.
*
Luke didn’t know, although it might’ve helped sooth his worry if he had, that Mari had made the decision to flee on her own. And, as of right now, she was learning about the advantages – and disadvantages – that came with being a Lost Soul. One of the advantages was her increased speed; she was able to run much faster, and jump much further. This was a true advantage to Mari; she’d run through the forest and reached the mountain in hardly ten minutes, and jumped from ledge to ledge on the mountain to get across. She was determined to reach the Master’s castle before her friends would get to her – she didn’t want them to see the atrocious deed she was about to commit.
But Mari had to do it. Her new powers, her new soul, had changed her. Had made her realise things she hadn’t realised before. How could she possibly have?
Part of Mari knew that it was the darkness inside her talking, telling her what to do, but Mari didn’t mind. The darkness gave her the power to do things she’d never thought she’d be able to do. It had set her free, and now she would set Lunaria free.
And then, everything would turn back to normal.
Mari paced through one of the villages that surrounded the lake; the few villagers who were still out, stared at Mari’s glowing eyes as she passed by. Mari paid them no mind. But when she arrived at Linmor Lake, she stopped. How was she going to get across, aside from swimming? She was able to jump far, but not this far.
Mari sighed as she looked around the dock; it was twilight, so there were hardly any people around, save a few fishermen who’d just returned from a day out on the water – she then realised for how long she and her friends had actually been asleep. But there were a couple unmanned boats, almost begging for Mari to steal one of them.
Mari knew stealing was bad, but sometimes, the end justifies the means. She looked around before approaching one of the boats, making sure no one saw her. As soon as she was sure the coast was clear, Mari untied one of the rowing boats and pushed it further into the water.
As she got into the boat, Mari decided to see if she could sleep as soon as she’d got out of sight of the dock, despite not feeling tired.
It’d probably take much longer for her friends to get where she was; after all, they’d have to be the perfect heroes and buy a boat.
Or maybe not...?
*
By the time Mari had set off into the water, Luke and his friends had finally climbed down the mountain. The teenagers were quite worn out, but Luke kept insisting that they had to keep going; his friends understood, yet they still wished Luke wasn’t so demanding.
The situation was dire. They knew. Luke cared about Mari. They knew. Their parents needed their help. The entire world was counting on them.
They. Knew. But Luke was just simply pushing it too far.
He wanted to do something that was just simply impossible to achieve in one day. Well, at least for humans it was.
“Luke, please,” Felicity said, trying to talk some sense into her cousin, “let’s stop and go to sleep. Mari’s probably long gone by now.”
Luke ignored her, and surlily kept moving forward. This resulted in an angry response from his friends; it took the four of them to work Luke to the ground.
“Now you’re going to calm down and get yourself together,” Felicity commanded her cousin; he was glaring at her. “Nothing what you’re doing is helping Mari.”
“Well, I seem like the only one who’s at least trying to help Mari,” Luke spat angrily. “I’m sorry for just wanting to save my friends and family!”
Felicity looked as if she was about to punch Luke. “I’m going to let that slide,” Felicity said, her voice emotionless, but her blue eyes icy, “because you don’t know what you’re saying.
“But next time, I’m kicking your ass.”
“...Of course,” Luke mumbled. He sat up as his friends had finally got off of him. “Fine. We can stay here for the night.” He sounded rather reluctant to come to this compromise. “A few hours, nothing more. When morning comes, we’re going.”
His friends smiled at him. “Glad you finally made a good decision,” Marco said. Luke snorted in response.
*
The Master was amused. Too amused. James was under his control once again, the adult Guardians were out of his way, and the new Guardians... well... they were trying their best.
The Master gloated as he watched the Guardians quarrel and fight over pointless issues. They were friends, like their parents had been, but they were far from as close. These teenagers were doomed to fail; the Master would be surprised if they’d even make it back to the Land of Light before they’d get sick of each other and split up. It was too bad that they’d survived something that could’ve easily killed them again, but once again, they’d only survived because someone else had saved their hide. And now, they were on their own.
The Master couldn’t help but laugh in utter amusement as he watched the teenagers struggle. He had the upper hand at last. “James?” the Master called.
“You called, My Lord?” James said; he entered the throne room as soon as the Master had called his name.
“Indeed,” the Master said. “I called.”
He walked down the steps as he continued to speak to James. “James, now that our conditions have changed, you may leave the Land of Light as often as you wish to.
“But I don’t think you’ll have to do so...”
“Why not, Master?” James asked. “Please. Tell me what I have to do.”
The Master grinned at the obedience that almost seemed to radiate from James. This time, he wouldn’t be cured just by walking out of the dark. In retrospect, relying on only the dark atmosphere of Lunaria to keep James evil had been stupid, ignorant idea. Of course the Master’s siblings would’ve found some way to protect the world from going dark all over again – but the Master guessed he’d just become overconfident. His greatest weakness had always been his cockiness – the only trait he shared with his siblings.
But none of that mattered now. James was under the Master’s control, and he was planning on keeping it that way.
“James,” the Master said, “we’ll have guests arriving soon, and I’d like you to form a nice welcome committee.
“Track down the Guardians and get rid of them. There’s a special guest headed our way... I’ll take care of her myself, but you’ll have to get the Guardians out of the way for me.”
James bowed toward the Master. “As you wish,” he said, before leaving the throne room. “Nothing will stand in our way, My Lord. I promise.”
The Master watched his servant leave with a fond expression on his face; he flashed a vampire smile at the thought of James killing his own son.
And if Luke still somehow survived? Well, in that case, the Master thought, he’d make a fine servant.
Louloudia
Night had fallen, and Luke was unable to sleep. Perhaps it was due to his fallout toward his friends, or maybe it was due to everything that had happened in the few days.
Had it been like this for his father and his friends, too? Had they been as stressed, as scared, as on the edge as he was?
Luke held his knees and rested his head against them as he watched his
friends sleep. They’d been right; he’d been treating them unfairly, he had set unreasonable goals.
But why?
“Hey,” Felicity’s voice suddenly came from behind. “I saw you were awake.”
Luke looked at her. “Yeah,” he said. “Couldn’t sleep, so I decided to keep watch.” He chuckled. “Somebody’s got to do it, eh?” He paused. “Saw?”
“Do you feel unsafe here?” Felicity suggested, looking around; they’d found an abandoned cave at the foot of the mountain and were using it for shelter; apparently, Luke’s question was lost on her.
“Maybe,” Luke mumbled. “I don’t know. Maybe Dad’s out looking for us. Maybe the Master is. I...
“...I don’t know what to make of everything anymore, actually.”
He looked at the exit of the cave; from where he was sitting, Luke had almost a perfect view of the night sky. It was filled with millions of stars that twinkled like little diamonds. Luke knew that he’d never get the chance to see something like that on Earth – not this clear. Not this bright. And it amazed him.
“I don’t think anyone does, Lucas,” Felicity said. “We’re all a bit lost on what to do. But – everyone’s counting on us, so...” She ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair. It just brushed her shoulders, flopping around as Felicity led her fingers slide through it. It felt gross and greasy; after all, none of them had had the chance to take a proper shower for a few days, save the necessary cleaning.
“...we’ll just have to try and make the best of it,” Felicity finished her sentence, her eyes moving outside, to the stars. “If they believe we can do it, then we probably can.”
“But who decided that we can?” Luke said. “We didn’t – do anything. We just read a book we weren’t allowed to. And...” He sighed. “Even that’s my fault. The whole reason why we’re here, Felicity – it’s me.” Luke buried his face in his hands. “It’s all my fault. And it bites.”
Felicity put a comforting hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “Knowing that Akilah needed our parent’s help anyway,” she said, “I don’t think you should take this too hard on yourself.
“We agreed on the whole ‘stealing the book’-plan, after all. So... I guess that that makes us all at fault here. After all, there were five hands needed to release the magic – five Guardians to complete the Bond.”
Luke shrugged. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “Maybe.”
“I am right,” Felicity said. “If anyone’s going to point any fingers, we’re all to blame for this. Not just you.”
“Thank you, Fe,” Luke smiled. “Also... sorry for acting like such an annoying prick all the time.
“I was being ignorant and selfish. I should’ve listened to the four of you.”
Felicity shrugged. “Well, at least you’ve finally come to your senses.
“Although it took you a while.”
Luke made a small, offended noise. Felicity chuckled. “I’m just joking,” she said, punching her cousin in the shoulder. “Go to sleep.”
“Not before you answer my question,” Luke said. “You said you ‘saw’ that I was awake. How?”
Felicity’s eyes widened slightly. “I don’t know,” she said, “it was more intuition. I – I’m sorry I haven’t been of much use in the past few days. I wish I could’ve done more – but I was scared to mess up.”
“You weren’t useless and you wouldn’t have messed up,” Luke said decisively. “Just because you couldn’t see, you weren’t worth any less.” He swallowed.
“But I understand that you were afraid, and that you still are. At least now, we can fix that.” As he spoke, Luke reached for the leather bag the Queen had provided the Guardians with. The amount of food inside of it had already slimmed quite a bit. “With this.”
He pulled out the vial of flower dust, showing it to Felicity; its glass shimmered in the moonlight, and so did the substance the vial held.
“We can cure your blindness with this, Felicity. I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t know...” Felicity said. “What if we have to use the entire vial in order to get it to work?”
“We can always try,” Luke suggested; eventually, Felicity nodded. Luke took two fingertips of dust from the vial and blew the dust gently into Felicity’s eyes.
The teenager blinked for a bit, giving the dust some time to do its work.
“Nothing’s happened,” Felicity sighed with disappointment, lowering her eyes. “I still can’t see anything.”
“Just go to sleep,” Luke said, “maybe it’ll have changed in the morning. It was only a little bit of dust, after all.”
“I’ll only go to sleep if you do so too, Luke. You’re my cousin, and I’m the oldest. So... that makes me responsible. If I don’t make sure you all get your naptimes, then I’m sure I’ll be getting a butt-kicking from my parents.”
Luke cackled with laughter, quickly putting a hand over his mouth in order to muffle his laughter. Felicity laughed as well.
Luke felt at ease and ready to go to sleep; maybe now his mind had finally come to rest a bit.
*
When he woke up at the crack of dawn, Luke felt slightly more energized and hopeful than he’d felt the night before. And there was more than one reason as to why he felt that way.
“Guys?” Felicity said as she woke up, “guys! I can see!”
“Really?” Marco said, with an astonished look on his face. Tony squealed with happiness, flinging himself around his sister’s neck.
“Yeah!” Felicity said, happily accepting her little brother’s hug. “I mean – not too well, it’s as if I’m not wearing my glasses while I’m supposed to – but I can see.” She then looked up at Luke. “You were right, Lucas! That powder restored my vision – even if only a part of it.”
“Told you,” Luke winked at her. “It’ll only be a matter of time until you’ll be able to see properly again, Felicity. I promise.
“Shall we go now?”
The others agreed; they had to keep going.
The teenagers walked into one of the nearby villages; they knew there was a lake ahead, and thus they’d need a boat. And these villages seemed to be the best place to find one.
The Guardians made their way through the village as its inhabitants slowly began to wake up; people opened their windows, came out into the streets to greet each other. And of course the Guardians didn’t go by unnoticed.
People started following the group of five as they were headed for the dock, silently whispering. The teenagers eventually caught flashes of conversations.
“...Not again...”
“....Why are they here? I thought.... dead.”
“Apparently, the Spirits.... kids.”
“Poor souls.”
Eventually, the teenagers, Daisy in particular, had had enough. “Alright,” Daisy suddenly said loudly, “if anyone’s going to help us out here, that’d be very appreciated. But what we don’t appreciate, is people following us as if we’re some kind of parade!”
The townspeople started to mumble. Apparently, they realised Daisy’s point, as they began to back away and return to their homes quickly. Only one person remained: she looked fierce, her dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her dark green eyes glittered dangerously in the low sunlight.
“Looks like you kids need a boat, huh?” the woman said. “Yeah, I can get you one.
“How much gold have you got?”
“Eh...” Daisy mumbled. “Nothing, actually. We’re not...” she paused, not exactly sure how to phrase it. “...from here.”
The woman laughed. “It’s fine,” she chuckled, “I kid. I know who you lot are.” Her expression then turned more serious, as did the tone of her voice. “But honestly, the fact that the five of you are standing before me does concern me. What are you kids doing here?”
She gestured at the Guardians that they had to follow her to the dock. “I’m Undique, by the way.”
“Well, Undique,” Felicity said, “we understand why you’re
concerned. Nobody here had expected the Master to return, after all.
“Honestly, neither had we.”
Undique nodded. “Obviously,” she said. “After we’d been freed from the underground hiding places we lived in to survive the Master’s reign, we’d never expected to ever see him again.” Her expression got a slight tinge of worry. “Has he really returned?”
“He’s trying,” Marco said, “but we’ll stop him before he gets the chance to take over Lunaria again.”
“But... at the current moment, we’re after one of our friends,” Luke said. “She... ran away because of something the Master did to her.”
“Poor girl,” Undique said. “You said ‘she’, right?” Luke nodded, causing Undique to let out a small sigh in relief.
“Well, this is my boat,” she said, pointing at a rowboat that was probably just big enough to take the five teenagers. “If you’ve got the time to return it, please do.” She chuckled. “But if you don’t, don’t sweat it. I’m sure it’ll find its way back to me somehow.”
“Thank you so much, Undique,” Tony smiled, as he shook the sailor’s hand, “we’re forever in your debt.”
“Not really, kid,” Undique said. “Not really. Just go and get your friend back – and maybe save the world while you’re at it, okay?”
Tony laughed. “Will do.”
*
Going to sleep had been a mistake.
During the night, Mari had drifted on the tide, but had unfortunately ended up far from where she was supposed to be.
As Mari rowed back to the realm that had once carried the name ‘the Edge’, now Louloudia once again, she thought of her friends. Where were they? Were they coming after her, or had they decided to put the most important thing – their mission, of course – before her?
While a part of Mari hoped that she hadn’t taken her friends’ minds of their mission, another part of her hoped that they’d come after her. That they’d come to find her.
But that probably wasn’t going to happen, so Mari quickly put her thoughts aside and focused on her own mission as she stepped ashore. As she did, Mari decided to follow the shallow stream that split from the lake into Louloudia to find the Land of Light.
Guardian: Darkness Rising Page 16
