“I feel like I should have a say in all this.” Jewel stated, one hand on her hip. “And where is Ella? Isn’t she normally the rational one?”
“Well, she is, but she’s off looking for some book she lost. She kept droning on and on about it, so she’s somewhere searching for it now.” Winter said with a roll of her eyes. “She just couldn’t wait to look. Not like we don’t have more pressing matters.” She muttered.
Jewel tried to steel her emotions and hide the guilty look on her face, but she wasn’t sure she did a very good job, since she could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks. Frost narrowed his gunmetal eyes in her direction, so Jewel tried to just send him a small smile and look as unbothered as possible. She only hoped that Jade had kept the book with her, because if Ella found it in Jade’s tent, stuff was going to hit the proverbial fan.
Galadriel appeared at Jewel’s side and attempted to redirect the conversation. “Well, I for one agree with Ryker. And why is it that Snowman is getting to voice his opinion, but no one else is?”
“Because he is my recruit. When I am no longer a Protector, he will take my place.” Winter said simply.
“Okay, so seriously. Why am I not being invited to share my opinion then?” Galadriel frowned. “I’ll be taking my mom’s place, so I don’t see a difference here.”
“We think your judgment is compromised.” Winter explained vaguely.
Galadriel stepped forward and the arguing commenced. Jewel couldn’t even think straight, and her temper was starting to rear its flaming hot head. No one seemed at all concerned that her dad was still an ice cube. She agreed with Ryker that they needed allies, but she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of irritation that even he wasn’t entertaining her idea of trying to contact the former members of the Pentad. If they could get the Shifter, Fairy, and Vampire communities on their side, they would have a much better chance at defeating Gertrude and her Horde minions, and Shade and his Dispatchers as well.
Jewel attempted to get a word in, but it was no use. Everyone had joined in the arguing at this point, and it was clear whose side everyone was on. Jewel kept trying to gain everyone’s attention, wanting to once again explain what she thought would be their best course of action, but they were all too busy fighting back and forth. And that’s when it happened- again. Jewel balled up her fists and screamed at the top of her lungs for everyone to stop and stop, they did, because as she looked around, she saw that she had successfully frozen everyone in place.
“Holey buckets.” Jewel muttered to herself as she slapped her hand up to her forehead and shook her head. This was ridiculous. All she had wanted was for everyone to listen to her, and now that she had finally gotten everyone to be quiet, that still wasn’t going to happen, because everyone was frozen.
It had been about twenty seconds of stillness, when Jewel heard a gasp from behind her. She whirled around and saw Ella standing there with her hand covering her mouth and her aura the brightest mix of white and yellow that Jewel had ever seen. Her light brown eyes were wide with fear and her golden locks bounced ever so slightly as she shook her head in disbelief.
“Wha-what did you do?” Ella stammered as she took a few steps back from Jewel.
Jewel held her hands out. “Ella, let me explain.”
“Explain what exactly?” Ella screeched, definitely teetering on the verge of hysterics. “Explain how you just so happen to be able to be a Keeper of Tempus and you failed to mention it? Explain how you have literally stopped everything within a half-mile of here and probably did so without batting an eye. A Keeper of Tempus is someone is very powerful, and one who usually has no other powers because of it. But you, you, just happen to be chock full of these rare powers, don’t you?” She sneered.
Jewel had been so wrapped up in Ella’s rant, that she hadn’t even realized that everyone had begun moving again, so when she felt someone grab her hand, her immediate reaction was to use her elemental powers to blast them backwards.
“See! See!” Ella spat, pointing wildly behind Jewel. “Even when there are those that care about you, all you do is hurt them. You’re too powerful. And I hate to say this, but I am starting to think that Shade was right about some things, because no one should hold as much power as you.” She finished, her eyes blazing with condemnation, judgement, and dislike.
Jewel turned to see that it had been Frost that she had flung backwards, but he didn’t look angry with her. Instead, he was headed back towards Jewel and glaring at Ella with a withering look that Jewel could only hope would never be directed at her.
“What’s your problem with Gem?” Frost inquired, while protectively placing his body in front of Jewel’s.
It wasn’t long before Rain and Lyric had joined her on her right, Galadriel and Dream on her left, and Sage, Jade, and Ambrosia behind her. And on the outside of them was Winter, Skye, Teagan, Foster, Ryker, and Zekiel- who had formed another defensive line between Ella, who looked stuck between bewilderment and psychosis, and Jewel- who wanted nothing more than to not be the literal center of attention.
“Ella, dear. What’s this all about?” Skye asked curtly and in a very condescending manner.
“She’s what this is all about!” Ella shrieked as she pointed towards Jewel. “Did any of you know that she is a Keeper of Tempus? Or did she hide it from all of you too? Or maybe you would be interested to know that when I arrived, you were all frozen. F-ro-zen!”
“Well, if that’s true, then we have something else that can be used to defeat the Horde, and Shade, along with his Dispatchers.” Winter stated cheerfully. Not at all bothered by the fact that Ella was pacing back and forth and reminding Jewel more and more of a tiger ready to pounce.
“Are you serious! Do you hear yourself?” Ella asked in disbelief. “I just told you that when I arrived you were all frozen. Do you care nothing about the fact that she is that powerful and would have had ample opportunity to hurt you?”
“Ah, but you said something key there, didn’t you?” Skye began. “She had ample opportunity, but we are no worse for the wear. And I’d wager that if she is a Keeper of Tempus, then this was probably not the first time she has frozen everyone. Would I be correct in my assumption, Love?” She asked Jewel directly.
Jewel sheepishly nodded her head in admission. She had always planned on telling everyone, but not like this. This was a worst-case scenario and nightmare, all rolled up into one big ball of crap and rubbish. It was crubbish. Yep. New word for the day and a perfect description of the current scenario. Absolute and utter crubbish.
“There we have it.” Ella said, motioning with her arm and taking a menacing step forward. “She is a liar that cannot be trusted.”
“Don’t you come any closer Ella.” Winter warned.
“Or what?” Ella snorted. “What exactly will you do Winter?”
“Whatever is necessary to protect Jewel.” Winter stated calmly, but the snowflakes flying off her fingertips said that she was anything but calm.
Ella took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, pausing briefly before speaking. “I’m not going to hurt her, not that I even could with all the powers swirling around in her person, but I do believe that perhaps Shade was right about a few things.”
Gasps and angry murmurs resounded around the group, and Jewel felt like she had just been punched in the gut again. It was bad enough to have heard Ella say it the first time, but Jewel had brushed that off to the Protector just being beside herself at seeing everyone frozen. But saying it a second time, however, solidified the fact that Ella truly believed it and that hurt Jewel more than she wanted to admit.
“How dare you.” Skye hissed.
“Take out your pendant right now.” Ryker demanded as he pointed towards her.
Ella shook her head like she couldn’t believe he had asked that of her, but she did acquiesce. Jewel understood right away why Ryker had asked to see the piece of jewelry. The pendant that a Protector wore contained a stone that would show if the Protector was being true t
o the oath they swore when they became a member. If it was clear, the Protector was but if it was tarnished in any way, then the Protector was on a slippery slope to being on the wrong side of the fence, so to speak.
Jewel strained her neck to see Ella’s pendant and admittedly, she had expected to see some vast difference in Ella’s, but there was only the smallest speck of yellow within the middle. Nothing horribly significant.
“Like I said.” Ella said calmly as she tucked the pendant back under her shirt. “I’m not going to hurt her, but that doesn’t mean that I am completely sold on her being the one from the prophecy anymore. I don’t think someone like Jewel was ever supposed to exist. And what I was trying to say, is that I can see why Shade was afraid of how much power she holds. I can also see why he attempted to keep the communities from marrying. Can you imagine what this world would be like if there were hundreds of Hybrids, and not just the one?”
“Are you hearing yourself right now? Which side are you on?” Winter asked in irritation.
“I’m on the side of the Protectors and the Prophecy. I swore to protect the one from the prophecy and to help them succeed anyway possible, but I’m not sure we are protecting the right individual. In fact, I think that by protecting Jewel, we could be hurting the one we are supposed to protect. I think that Jewel’s existence is an anomaly and one that should never have come to fruition. If Steele had just listened to everyone, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now. If he had just left that stupid Rose alone, he wouldn’t be in the predicament he’s in.”
Jewel acted before she even thought about the consequences. It was one thing to continue to state that she shouldn’t exist, but to bring her parents into it had been a mistake on Ella’s part. Jewel felt grief every moment she was awake. She couldn’t sleep, she hardly ate. And maybe her dad wasn’t dead, but she still felt his loss all the same since he was perpetually frozen in ice until they could find a cure for the poison that had entered his body when Shade stabbed him with the dagger, or Slayer as Jewel now referred to the weapon.
Jewel’s wind power hit Ella forcefully, and the Sorceress was picked up off the ground like a rag doll and slammed into a nearby gem tree. Slammed so forcefully, in fact, that the tree actually cracked around her body. The ground began to shake, as all of Jewel’s emotions that she had locked away came to the forefront. The branches swung back and forth, making the tree appear as though it was dancing. And as the branches shook, the gems made a happy tinkling noise that was so out of place in the current scenario that it was almost comical. Almost.
“Spitfire…..I know what she said was horrible, but you need to stop sparkling on. You can’t S.O.S. on a Protector. You need to let her down.” Rain urged.
Jewel shook her head. “She won’t be my Protector after this. I can’t trust her, and everyone needs to learn that they can’t always be so careless with their words.”
Jewel knew that the others would attempt to sway her from holding the now unconscious Protector against the tree, and in truth Jewel hadn’t the slightest idea as to what she was going to do next, but Ella had gone too far. Of that, Jewel was certain.
“Green, she’s not worth it. You’ve got to let her go.” Galadriel implored, but it fell on deaf ears.
“Gem. Gem! You have got to let her go. This isn’t the way to go about this. It’s only proving her point.” Frost stated, trying to grab Jewel’s hand in the process, but Jewel was having none of that.
Ella started to come to, and Jewel took a few steps towards the woman who she had once thought of as her Protector, but that now was nothing more than another individual who judged Jewel for what she was- something Jewel had no control over.
“Love- you need to let Ella go now. We’ll keep an eye on her, but I think it was just the shock of seeing everyone frozen in time that is making her react like this. Winter and I will talk to her, but you need to let her go.” Skye urged soothingly, but again- Jewel just shook her head.
At this point, Ella was fully aware of the fact that she was pinned to a tree by an invisible force by a very angry Jewel with some very bright, glowing emerald green eyes. But, Jewel had to hand it to Ella, she wasn’t about to back down. Even when it was obvious that she couldn’t win.
“This is why you shouldn’t have this much power. You have absolutely no control over your emotions. You’re like a child throwing a tantrum because someone said something they didn’t like. Ridiculous.” Ella spat, which was a very bold thing to do considering that she was currently at the mercy of the individual she was still insulting.
Jewel pushed a bit harder with a mix of her telekinesis and wind power that had Ella plastered to the tree, and said through gritted teeth, “That shows how little you know, because I am showing a lot of restraint right now. You should consider yourself lucky that you’re only plastered to a tree.” She said menacingly.
Ella’s eyes rounded, and it brought a tiny bit of satisfaction to Jewel to know that she had caused a little fear in the Protector. It probably shouldn’t have, but there was no denying the fact that it did. Unfortunately, it must have been obvious to everyone else because it also spurred Ambrosia into action.
“Girlie. I’m only going to tell you this once.” Ambrosia started. “I completely understand why you are angry. You have had more than your share of tragedy and abuse over the years that no one here, including myself, will never truly be able to comprehend. You are dealing with a myriad of unknowns, a bunch of individuals who are hunting you down for various reasons, and a father who is currently not doing so hot. So, I get it. And now, this one-” She said as she made a thumbing motion towards Ella. “-is saying some pretty hurtful and idiotic things which has got you going all ‘glowing green-eyes, ‘I’m going to show you who’s boss’ mode. Which, I also get. But, you’re not thinking this through strategically. You have got to let her go at some point, and then what? Listen….I’ll back you up with whatever you decide, but you’re going to have to let her go for now. We can decide what to do with her later. You know, when we’ve had time to come up with something that will be beneficial to everyone.”
For whatever reason, Ambrosia’s logic reached Jewel- just like it always seemed to, and with a heavy and very frustrated huff, Jewel let the Protector go. She was about to suggest that someone should probably tie Ella up, but before Jewel got the chance, Ella had pulled out a vial of teleporting potion and disappeared.
Jewel was torn, because there was no denying that she was glad Ella was gone, but at the same time she had a foreboding feeling that this particular incident with Ella was going to come back to bite her in the butt at some point.
“Well, that’s another problem for a different day.” Ambrosia stated, mirroring Jewel’s thoughts. “Now, Girlie- how about you tell everyone about this Keeper of Tempus thing, because that could be really useful moving forward.”
And so, Jewel did, but with a sense of resignation and a weariness in her mind that only seemed to be growing more pronounced by the day.
Chapter Three
The Tome of Enchantment
It had been a week since Ella had vanished, and Jewel could tell the remaining four Protectors were uneasy about it, but they tried they’re hardest not to show it any time Jewel was around. What the four of them weren’t trying to hide, however, was how they were still divided on the issue of planning their next move. They were still going back and forth about how to deal with things regarding Gertrude and her Horde, and Shade and his Dispatchers, but at least they did seem to be discussing things in a calmer way now versus arguing which was good.
Sage, Galadriel, and Jade were still helping Jewel try and find the ingredients needed for the potion that would hopefully free her dad of the poison. Ambrosia, on the other hand, was busy researching all that she could about what exactly being a Keeper of Tempus entailed, because other than Jewel knowing she could freeze time sporadically, she hadn’t the slightest idea as to what else that might mean or a clue as to how she should try and control it.
And unfortunately, nobody else seemed to know much about it either.
“I think we might have found all that we’re going to here in the Meadow.” Sage announced as he brushed the few specks of dirt off his hands. Seeing the disappointed look on Jewel’s face, he quickly added. “The good thing is that we’ve rounded up all of the common, everyday ingredients that we will need, and in addition to that- we have found two of the extremely rare ingredients which we certainly wouldn’t have if Hammo..err…Steele and I hadn’t stumbled upon this place.” He finished, a dismal expression crossing his features at the mention of Steele’s name.
Jewel placed her hand on his arm and squeezed encouragingly. She kept forgetting how close her dad and Sage had gotten before Shade had used Slayer to stab and poison her dad. It was true to say that Jewel had, in a way, lost her dad a second time, but Sage had also lost his friend which served as his motivation for helping Jewel in her quest to make the complicated potion. It was a good thing too, because without Sage’s assistance- she would be no closer now than she had been when she first started searching for the ingredients. He had been a help with finding the correct plants, but also with comforting and encouraging her, and for that Jewel was grateful.
“That just means we have even more reason to figure out a plan for when we leave the Meadow. We can’t stay here forever while the world is crumbling all around us, and Winter’s ice magic won’t contain the poison in my dad’s body forever.” Jewel pointed out. “We need to figure out how to get rid of Slayer, and how to unite the communities against Shade and his Dispatchers.” She asserted.
“Don’t forget about needing to defeat Gertrude and the Horde, Green.” Galadriel added. “Oh, and you not getting caught by any of the radical groups that have formed that hate you because you’re a Hybrid. Oh, and the other groups that hate you because you’re an Immune. Oh, and-”
Jewel punched Galadriel in the arm. “I get it. There are a lot of individuals who would love nothing more than to imprison me or kill me. Blah, blah, blah.” She said mockingly.
The Council Page 3
