The Legacies Live
He had a dream the night he died.
A blonde boy, running from a school with a black haired girl. He has no idea who they are but he knows they're like him - they are Loric. They are Garde. They are both numbers, like him.
He sees the world flash by, a boy India, a girl in Spain, a Mogadorian Rebel who can see the ghost of One (hang on, wasn't he in the village today?), a boy taken prisoner and escaping, a secret extra Loric, Ella.
He sees it all from the sidelines, the future of the Loric race, the defeat of Setrakus Ra (he's never even heard that name in his life), the great rise of the Mogadorian council, first led by President Rexicus Saturnus. He sees his people return to Lorien, he sees a bright light covering the planet, and finally he sees a large hall full of confused faces, he sees One, Two, he sees himself, standing in a stone circle, the Garde who survived are unconscious. He's smiling, he's telling everyone what's happened, what he saw the night he died.
So when he wakes up, and the Mogadorians have found him, he knows it was a vision. It had to be.
Number Three knows his final words are nothing but the truth, and always will be, even if no-one remembers he said them. They echo throughout the events which will soon take place, a mere footnote at the beginning of it all. They will leave a lasting impact on history, no matter how remote the words are.
Even as the blade of the Mogadorian grasping him tightly gleams deadly in the starlight, he has hope. He looks up into the cold, black eyes. If he could, he would say they were emotionless, but if he did, he would be lying. There was anger there. Pride. It almost blew him away how morbid these people - for when all was said and done, they were sentient life beings capable of individual thought, which made them people - were, and what nightmares they were capable of.
He keeps eye contact. Thinking of those who came before him. One and Two. Those who came after him. Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine. Of the fate that awaited them, as people, not as numbers, not any longer. He sees the fate of Hannu, of Maggie, of John and Maren and Marina and Cody and Stanley and it's beautiful. It's bright. Only One will retain her numerical name, because that was what she wanted.
It's Lorien, living. The dead, again walking. A future of peace, true peace, and prosperity.
So, he takes a deep breath in, says the words which make his body boil with hope and happiness even moments before his death -
"The Legacies live. They will find each other, and when they're ready, they're going to destroy you."
- closes his eyes as the sword is raised…
… and opens them again to a world full of light.
As he foretold, he is standing in a circle. He grins, and looks to his left. There are two girls, one blonde and one a little girl with red hair and glasses. Disorientated and confused.
To his right… to his right are battle hardened warriors, with the faces of twenty some-things, all unconscious, except for one boy, Eight - no Naveen, it's Naveen now - who is alert and awake.
His eyes are darting to and fro, until they land on the figure next to him.
Then he's on his knees, crying and saying, "I love you," over and over again and laughing as the girl opens her eyes at his touch. Not noticing the world around them as they lost themselves in a strange reunion. For him, it's be a precognition spell and five minutes since he last saw her, but for her, it's been eight years, a world of war and scars.
Three - no he's Hannu now, just Hannu, just a boy, not a protector of his planet - knows all of this. He saw it. He saw every last moment the Garde spent together, a decade sandwiched into an hour of REM sleep.
In the centre is a teenage girl, the Mogadorian rebel, and two humans, a man and a woman, both in their twenties. Sam and Sarah, a voice whispers at the back of his mind. The lovers of Six and Four.
The teenage girl, Ella, is shell shocked. None of the Garde had expected this. They thought they were only resurrecting the planet, not the people as well.
The Mogadorian, Adam, is standing there, motionless, before he breaks out into a run and gives One a bear hug, touching her, feeling her, for the first time in his life. "I knew you could do it, Adam,"
She smiles into his chest. "Now I can love you too,"
Three feels tears welling up in his eyes.
Around the circular hall, more and more people are appearing. A few of their faces press on his memory, people he can't quite remember. Soon the hall is surrounded by people calling out in confusion. Demanding answers no one had.
No one but Three. One and Adam were locked in a passionate embrace. Two is confused, comforted only when Ella lays a hand on her shoulder. The other Garde are still unconscious, Marina is too drained, and Eight is a clueless as the rest of them.
He calls for attention and every single person in the room stops at his command. He tells them his number, Three, but many do not understand what he is talking about, and they start talking amongst themselves again, when a young man with curled brown hair yells at all of them to stop, coming forward.
Five's Cepan, healthy and young once again.
The Cepan of the other Garde step forth, and there is an emotional reunion between Conrad and Two, and Hessu and One. Adelina and Reynolds kneel beside Marina and Naveen respectively. The other Cepan stand beside their own Garde. Three's Cepan is behind him, waiting, seeing that Three was otherwise occupied.
When everyone is once again settled, he tells them the story of the Garde, if a condensed version, the others can explain better than he when they wake up, because they were ones that lived it.
There is a bit of an outcry when he reaches Five's part of the story, but those people are silenced when he reaches the part detailing the part where he saved the other Garde and injured Setrakus Ra enough for Four to strike the killing blow.
From behind him, Eight makes it clear he doesn't blame Five for anything, because hey, he's Loric, and that in the end, is the only thing which counts.
He details Four's surprise and adrenaline in that moment, as if he had felt it himself.
As he ends his tale of heroics and sacrifice, the Garde begin to wake up, disbelieving at first, and shocked. None of them said a word. They just shared looks. Looks which showed years of trust and friendship. Looks which made Three almost jealous of the relationship he would never share with them. Almost. He can't be jealous of them, why would he be?
Silent tears fall down all of their faces, as they are surrounded by their parents, their grandparents, their Cepans, and brothers and sisters some of them didn't even know they had.
He sees Nine's Cepan, Sandor, rub the back of his neck, and awkwardly stumble and apology to a Cepan wearing a tan suit. The man shakes his head and laughs. "Not you fault I'm such a heavy sleeper. Besides, I would have done a terrible job looking after your boy!" The man, Daxin turns and walks away as a woman approached Sandor, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and kissed him in a way which made Three turn away, to his own family.
He almost does a double take. His eyes scan the group. In total, he counts seventeen family members. Some have to be cousins, aunts and uncles, but there is also a girl with his freckles, and boy who looks identical to him in almost every way, except with hair a shade lighter.
Hannu has a family, a home now. He looked around him, at the people, the noise, all signs of life and wonder. A tear falls down his cheek as he smiles.
For the first time in their lives, the Nine Loric Garde… can just live.
A/N: I needed a happy ending, so here you go. I hope you liked it. It was one of those stories where my fingers flew and didn't stop until I reached a suitable ending.