In the Underworld, the Tortuga Crew was going to meet the Fates. They got a ride in Charon's boat, following Athena's tip.
"Couldn't we just go in the Tortuga? This place gives me the creeps!" Jimmy embraced Koki.
"Everything gives you the creeps, sweetie," Koki said.
"Not everything," Jimmy complained, but then thought for a while. "Okay, most of the things."
Bite-Size hid in Koki's hair, scared as well. Mina held her brothers' hands tightly. Why her aunt wanted them to visit, she didn't tell them. Only that some connections will be shown.
Once they reach the place, Mina paid Charon with the coins Athena gave her and landed along with their siblings.
"Wow... for three old women living in the Underworld, they sure know how to decorate a place." Koki observed how clean and pretty the Fates' temple was.
"Yeah, the Fates like to have it spiffy and organized. They say it helps them think." The two skeleton guards at the entrance stepped aside and bowed to them as they entered.
Jimmy shivered, squeezing Koki's arm.
"Ouch! Jimmy, you're hurting me! You may be skinny, but you sure don't know your strength," Koki said.
"Oh. Sorry cupcake." Jimmy relaxed his grip on her. The walls of the temple were decorated red and blue lanterns, giving a faint light through the hall. After a few minutes of walking, the team came to a brighter, but still pretty dim, circular room. In the center was some kind of giant, white orb. Standing around it were three cloaked, long haired, withering women. The Fates.
"Come closer, Aviva Corcovado, Koki Bambrick, James Norville Z, Wilhelmina Merdith and Bite-Size," The eldest, Clotho, asked them.
The crew turned to Jimmy with surprised looks on their faces. He groaned.
"Yes, that's my full name. Just don't use it please." No one questioned him as the requested people approached the Fates. The brothers were about to follow.
"Stay where you are, Martin and Christopher Kratt. It is not time for your questions to be answered. In the early future, you will hear your purposes." They looked at each other confused, but didn't question them and stayed put.
"Okay... so what's going on?" Mina asked.
"You are full of doubts and curious about your pasts, aren't you?" Lachesis asked.
"Um... si?" Aviva confirmed. "Only, I never witnessed anything like everyone else has. No weird dreams or any childhood memories coming back."
"That's because she conceals those memories." Corcovado just looked confused at that.
"'She'?"
"You are a true human now, but would you believe us if we said that you were once a hybrid like Wilhelmina?" All eyes widened.
"Wait a second. Are you saying that... I'm part nymph? Or at least used to?"
"Up until twenty five years ago, yes. Wilhelmina, this might come to be a shock to you the most. Aviva Corcovado once had a past life, like everyone of you had. She was... your sister, Flora." The whole crew gasped. Mina felt like she was going to faint.
"Aviva... was Flora?" she asked.
Mina looked at her. She finally realized it was not only coincidence her deceased sister and her new sister were so much like each other.
"I'm Mina's deceased sister?"
"ONCE deceased," Clotho corrected. "But now reborn, just like the rest of the Guardians. I'm afraid we cannot tell the brothers of their past lives, for it is too soon to tell their tale. But they do appear in all of your stories. They are after all what linked you all back then. And it was that eternal link that brought you all back together and create the Wild Kratts." Chris and Martin were stunned. They connected the crew and even knew them in their past lives?
"Well, if you guys don't want us to hear, we'll wait outside," Martin said, pulling a shocked Chris by the hand. "Come on, bro."
Once they were gone, the Fates stepped aside from the orb.
"Now, dear three Guardians, lay a hand upon the orb."
They both put their hands on the Orb and millions of screens appeared, showing different things.
One screen caught Koki's attention immediately. It showed her with some other girls that looked her age. She was wearing a silky, orange skirt that splits on the side. Holding it up was a belt decorated in gold coins. Her matching top exposed her shoulders with it secured only around her neck. Her midsection showed. Around her wrists were many gold bracelets. She had ruby earrings and had on no shoes. Just wrappings up to her knees for fashion.
"Is that me?" she asked. Jimmy blushed when he saw the picture and turned away to look at the other images. The last Fate came up to her.
"Ah, the dear Fire Nymph, Rose. Was one of the eldest of the nymphs and one of the first Fire Nymphs. She was so sweet and loyal to her siblings, who some saw her as their peer. She was beloved by all of her family, including a certain mortal." She pointed to another screen. It had her and some warrior/wizard apprentice that looked like...
"Jimmy?" Jimmy looked her way. Following her gaze, he saw it and was surprised as well.
They took a closer look.
"Oh... um, hi." Pyce, a young apprentice of Helios, blushed while greeting Rose.
"Hello." Rose waved. Other nymphs just chuckled at the apprentice' shyness.
"Um, I saw you dancing earlier, and, uh, I have to tell you that you were very graceful."
"Thank you. It brings out my flames whenever I dance." She did an example, spinning on the tip of her toes and making a stream of fire fall around her. When she stopped, the flames vanished.
"Wow."
"Hey, aren't you the new apprentice of Helios?"
"Um, yeah. I'm Pyce."
"Rose. It's nice to meet you."
"Rosie!" a little boy's voice called. Both turned to look in the direction of the voice. A little blonde boy with blue eyes was waving his arms around while on an empty pedastal. He looked no older than eight and wore a blue apprentice uniform. "Mama wants your assistance!" The other present nymphs waved at him and he waved back to them in politeness.
"I'll be right there, Aqua!" Rose called. The fire nymph turned back to Pyce. "Sorry I have to cut this short. How about we talk more later? At sundown maybe?" The apprentice of the Titan gave a big smile.
"Sure! I'm free the hour before sunset!" She blushed at that.
"Great!"
"Rosie!"
"Coming now, Aqua!" With that, Rose ran off to meet up with the child.
Koki and Jimmy just observed how happy Pyce seemed after speaking with Rose. He was truly in love.
"Awe, you were in love with me even in our past life," Koki said.
"And you looked like you liked me too," Jimmy added.
"You're soulmates," Lachesis explained. "Once in love, always in love." The couple blushed with a smile at this remark.
"Not to interrupt this heart touching moment of true love, but doesn't the boy look familiar?" Aviva pointed out. The team looked more closely at the child. Their eyes went wide.
"Martin?" they all questioned at the same time.
"Okay... I'm confused," Aviva confessed.
"I think we all are," Koki told her. "Why is Martin still a kid?"
"The boy you speak of is named Aqua," Clotho informed. "He was a mortal apprentice of Hermia along with two other boys. You were all once born at many different times. Aqua was the second youngest of the five of the original crew's past lives."
"Speaking of youngest, is that brunette with who looks like me Chris?" Aviva asked, pointing to another screen. There was a little girl and boy playing together. They looked about the same age. The girl had her long dark brown hair in two ponytails with white flower hair clips. Her eyes were a brownish grey. She had on a pink and green top similar to Mina's with a roman style skirt. The boy's brown hair was spiky in the front. He had hazel brown eyes and wore a green apprentice uniform.
"That is Hermia's youngest apprentice Terra."
"Aqua and Terra?" Koki wondered.
"Their real names were Arthur and Terrance. They received their nicknames because of their natural skills," Atropos explained.
"What natural skills?"
"Aqua loved the sea and was a very talented swimmer. Terra was more of a climber and hung out a lot in the forest."
"Just out of curiosity, were they brothers back then too?"
"Indeed they were. And they even had a third brother, the eldest."
"A third brother?" Aviva repeated in confusion.
"The eldest of Hermia's apprentices. His name was Ventus, originally Vincent. He loved hiking up hills and mountains because of the winds that are present."
"Weird. The Kratt family had only 4 children, not counting Clarissa and Mina, 'cause they were adopted," Aviva pointed out.
All three Fates looked to the ground. "We are sad to say that Ventus was not reborn like his younger brothers due to... certain circumstances." The way she answered made it appear that something bad had happened to the eldest sibling. "But that is another story. The Kratt Brothers' story." They nodded. "And they are free to know about this." Bite-Size noticed one screen with Pyce and Rose again. He flew over to it.
"Oh Pyce, why do you have be mortal?" Rose asked her love sadly.
"I don't know," Pyce said. "But what I do know... is that maybe love doesn't choose people for that. Despite being mortal, nothing would ever change the fact that I love you. Really much."
"Hmmm... well... maybe Aphrodite knew what she was doing when she put us together." Rose weakly smiled at him. But for Pyce, even the weakest of smiles was enough to make both feel better.
Both brought their hands together. In a few seconds, their lips met.
"ROSE!" someone yelled in horror. The couple broke their kiss and looked to see a nymph in her teen time. She immediately ran away. Both of the couple's faces paled.
"Oh no..." they said.
Bite-Size was confused. What was that about? Were they dating in secret and wanted to keep it secret for themselves?
"Excuse me, but what just happened in this one?" the bat asked the Fates.
"Back then, people of the magical world could not be with mortals. This came after Flora was born, because most of her sisters avoided her for her 'tainted blood'. But Aphrodite decided to change that rule by putting a mortal and a nymph together. Without using her powers at that. It was the love of Pyce and Rose that ended this unfair law."
Clotho's words were true. On another screen, they saw Zeus giving a speech.
"Their love is pure and true, and it is unfair to seperate them by such an law like this," Zeus said. "You were right, Aphrodite. I will now disable this law. Mortals and imortals are free to be together if they want."
"Thank you, my dear cousin," Aphrodite said in appreciation. "I'm sure that many of our world will be happy for this change."
"Pyce!" Rose called before taking a leap. The apprentice caught her in his arms. Both were overjoyed by the removal of the rule that forced them to not show their love around others.
"Yeah, my big sister gets to keep her boyfriend!" the young Flora cheered. Terra and Aqua chuckled childishly at Pyce. A third boy stood nearby, smiling. He was the tallest and had shaggy, dirty blonde hair with bangs that hang over his right eye a little. His eyes were sea green and he sported a white apprentice uniform.
The couple blushed at the hybrid's comment.
"Flora!" Rose shouted in embarrassment.
"Well, I'm happy for you two," the third little boy told them. "You deserve to be together." The adults smiled at him. The fire nymph fiddled with his already messy hair.
"Thanks Ventus. Now, if you don't mind excusing the other kids from here."
"Of course, Rosie! Okay, kiddies! Let's give our sister and her boyfriend some space!" The three groaned in annoyance, but listened as they followed the eldest child. With them gone, the couple looked at each other with loving eyes. Their lips came together and they were like that for several minutes.
Koki wiped a tear of happiness from her eye.
"Awww..." Aviva said. "This makes me imagine what happened to little Flora after this."
"Well, my dear, life was well, but then... HE attacked."
"'He'?"
"Chaos. He kidnapped Hermia and began bringing destruction to the world. The magical people fled to shelter. Hermia's three apprentices were then chosen... and they defeated Chaos."
"Wait. Chosen for what?" Jimmy asked.
"That is for another time."
"So it was the brothers' past lives that saved mom?" Mina asked in wonder.
"Indeed they were, child. After his defeat, a lot of things happened. But one event changed everyone's lives... forever." A screen came up. It showed little Flora talking to a man in a green robe with bronze yellow patterns. The man had his face hidden under a hood and his head hung low.
"What's the matter, Terra?" Flora asked. She still looked the same as she did before the attack of Chaos. The only difference was that there were flowers in her hair.
Terra did not say a word. This got her worried. "Terra, did something happen?"
"... They're gone..." he murmured.
"Gone? Who's gone?"
"Ventus... and Aqua... Ventus was... and Aqua is..." He couldn't get the words out. Flora gasped, finally catching up. Tears started to fall.
"I'm... I'm so sorry for your loss, Terra. But don't be sad. You still have family. Like me." The little hybrid took a flower out of her hair. She pulled down Terra's hood, revealing Chris's face. She placed the flower in his hair and gave him a hug. The apprentice lightly smiled as he returned the embrace.
"Oh, no. Por favor, no!" Aviva gasped.
"Oh my! What about Rose and Pyce?" Koki asked, embracing Jimmy.
The Fates looked away, not wanting to look eye to eye. "We will tell you first of Terra's fate. It connects to all of yours. After many months, he... was killed by Eris, the Goddess of Discord." They all gasped.
"Terra... was killed?!" Aviva nearly screamed.
"By a goddess?!" Koki added.
"But why?!" Jimmy asked.
"To bring ruin to the planet. What better way to make Hermia vulnerable than to kill her last apprentice? Well, after Terra's cruel death, Pyce and Rose stood against Eris and many warriors and nymphs went into battle against her forces. However, not many survived, and... neither of the two were one of those few." They gasped again.
"We died next?!" Jimmy shrieked.
"To Eris?!" Koki asked.
"Then... what happened to Flora?" Aviva questioned warily.
The Fates showed another screen.
*BG music: Cheap Trick - I Must be Dreaming*
Flora carrried some gems in her arms while running to her temple. She looked much older now and only two flower hair clips kept her long hair out of her face. There was a single, real hibiscus in her hair though. She wore a tan roman top and a matching wrapping held up with a flower pin. After her, an evil-looking woman with long blonde hair and black dress followed her.
"You can't hide from me forever, Flora!" She spoke. "I'll get the gems, then I'll defeat Hermia, become supreme Mother Nature!"
"Gaia chose Hermia! You have to accept this!" An nymph with long blue hair and a pale white dress tried to stop Eris, giving Flora some time to run.
"Oh, Luna... always loyal to your mother, huh?" Eris mocked, zapping her and turning her in to an owl. Flora reacher her temple just in time.
"Flora... is that you?" A young little girl asked. She wore a short dress and had her long white hair falling on her face.
"Mina! Hide!" she said, hiding behind the Earth Gem's pedestal. But Mina didn't knew where to go. Eris took the opportunity to attract Flora to battle.
"You or your sister, Flora," the Goddess of Discord challenged.
"Who's there?" Mina asked, innocently. "Do you wanna play?"
"Mina, NO!" Flora shouted, calling her little sister's attention, just when Eris hit her with a ray of dark magic. The youngling fainted.
Flora gasped, running after her little sister, while Eris flew away. "Follow me if you dare, Flora!" she cackled evilly.
"Mina...wake up..." Flora begged as tears fell from her eyes. She noticed the longer parts of Mina's hair turned black. This made her gasp, and take her decision.
"I'm Hermia's only hope now. I can't just stay here while innocents suffer on Eris' hands." Flora put Mina on her lap, and put her flower hairclips in her little sister's hair, adding some of her own magic into them. "I will not allow Eris to corrupt you. My magic will protect you for now on." Mina smiled as she slept, making Flora relieved that her defense power worked.
"I'm fighting. For you, little sister... for all of our friends... for Gaia!" Flora grabbed her Scepter and floated, with the Elemental Gems floating around her.
Eris saw Flora ready to fight, and powered up. With tears in her eyes by thinking about all the souls that suffered under Eris' hands, especially her friends, the nymph lifted up the scepter and faced Eris with a powerful glow in her eyes.
Hermia saw the glow from the survivors' hideout and flew up to see what was happening. Once she got there, she saw Eris, as a statue, and Flora had disappeared, leaving behind the scepter and the gems. Understanding what happened, Mother Nature knelt and silently mourned her daughter's loss.
"Huh?" Mina slowly woke up, a little dizzy, but seeing way more better. "What happened? Where's Flora?"
Hermia, with tears on her eyes, embraced the little one, crying silently.
Mina began to cry silently. "She... she saved me... and the planet... at the cost of her life," she whimpered. Aviva and the others followed the hybrid's reaction. Mina turned to Corcovado. "And now, she's back... as my sister again." Her heart lifted up a bit at that statement, and the two embraced each other.
"After this battle, Hermia hid the Elemental Gems across the globe and retrieved the Scepter. Since Flora's death, there wasn't any more Guardians, for there wasn't any need for them. But we believe that Flora wanted to die."
"I what?! Who would want to die?!"
"One who wanted to be reborn so she can be with her friends. At that time, Aqua, Terra, Rose, and Pyce were given rebirth. And Flora wanted to join their mortality. So she timed her death and was reborn as Aviva Corcovado."
"She was a pretty smart girl..." Aviva commented.
"Indeed she was. And very loyal to those close to her heart. That's why she allowed herself to die. She knew her friends would need her, but she wouldn't have been able to communicate with them because she was still part nymph, and interactions with mortals at that time had been limited. If she was all mortal, just human, she could at least be with them. And look where what happened to the reborn friends."
"The founding of the Wild Kratts," the crew answered with smiles.
"It wasn't mere coincidence. We were destined to be friends," Koki stated.
"And my sister returned to me," Mina smiled at Aviva. "And now I don't only have her, but you guys as siblings as well."
"Like it was meant to be." The three turned to the Fates and gave a bow in respect.
"Thank you for everything," Aviva praised.
"It is our pleasure, young Guardians," all three replied, bowing as well.
Martin and Chris waited at the far side of the hall. After departing from the room, the two had talked about their childhood memories. Some had still not surfaced during the 'Through Mint and Minds' day and they were finally coming back. They were the occasional days where they played with each other using their powers, making them smile continuously.
Half an hour later, they saw their crew coming up to them.
"Oh, there you guys are. So how was it?" Martin asked.
"Let's just say we have a lot to tell ya." Aviva carried Mina on her shoulders. The team started walking back to the river, to get a ride back home.
"You're just in time, sweetheart," Hermia told Flora, following her to Gaia's tree. The goddess placed a flower from her hair on a giant white rose, that slowly bloomed to reveal... a little baby girl with short white hair.
"This is your sister," Mother Nature said, while Flora's eyes glowed in awe. She slowly picked up the little one in her arms.
"Which name you'll give her?" Luna (still as a human) asked.
"I always liked... Wilhelmina," Flora answered, receiving a giggle from the baby. "She liked it. Wilhelmina Meredith."
The baby opened her eyes slowly, chuckling at her big sister. "I get the feeling that you are going to be very important in the future."