Chapter 4:
"Where are they?", Zorlen questioned. "Where in the Frostlands are they?"
"You know that when one is sent to the Frostlands, they are teleported to a random area there, Zorlen.", Elder Micha said. "They could be anywhere."
"Then they are lost.", Zorlen said before turning towards his parents. "Are you two happy? Because of your anger towards your only daughter, she is gone now!"
"She brought this on herself!", Callen snapped.
"How can you do your daughter like that?", Hay Lin questioned sadly. "She took a great risk coming back here to see you again."
"After all the things she's done, she should of known better than to return here!", Callen said.
"She choose this path and is now paying for her crimes!", Varla said as she and Callen left the room.
"If there was an award for worst parents of the year, they'd win it.", Irma said.
"Gone.", Zorlen said sadly as a tear ran down his face. "My sister is gone."
"Do not threat, Zorlen.", Elder Unin said. "For we gave young Miranda, and her friend, everything they came here with.", he said with a kind smile.
"Hopefully, they'll be able to use those tools to survive.", Elder Gorm said with a kind smile.
Seeing this, Will raised an eyebrow at Gorm who, patted his pocket with a nod. Seeing this Will quickly turned around and left the room. The others along with Zorlen followed behind her. Once the doors closed behind them, the three Elders looked at each other smiling.
"I think she figured it out.", Unin said.
"I believe so.", Micha said.
"May you find peace, Miranda.", Gorm said as the three Elders left the room.
Once outside the Hall of Elders, Will made her way to the village entrance, where Caleb's horse was.
"Where are you going Will?", Taranee asked as she jumped in front of Will.
"Angelo and Miranda are on Earth.", Will said low enough for the others to hear.
"What?", Matt questioned. "But how."
"It was what one of the Elders said as he patted his pocket.", she explained.
"You mean Elder Gorm?", Zorlen questioned.
"Yeah.", Will said. "Once he patted his pocket, I knew that Angelo had his fold crystal."
"So, once in the Frostlands, he probably used his fold crystal to open a fold to Earth.", Cornelia figured.
"Only one way to find out.", Will said as she got ready to teleport everyone back to Meridian.
"Guardian, wait.", Zorlen said as he stepped up to Will. "When you see Miranda, give her this.", he said as he pulled out a necklace with a purple gem on it. "Tell my sister that her brother loves her and wishes he well. And that one day, we'll meet again", he finished as he handed Will the necklace.
"I will.", Will said as she took the necklace.
She then teleported herself and the others, along with Caleb's horse, back to the Meridian palace.
"Good luck, sister.", Zorlen said with a smile. "May you find happiness with your other family.", he said as he headed back to complete his duties.
Once back at the palace, Cornelia said her goodbyes to Caleb before Will opened a fold for Earth. Everyone then headed through the fold leaving Caleb, his horse, and Blunk.
"Good luck, guys.", Caleb said as the fold closed. "Now to go tell Elyon what's happened.", he said as he headed for the palace.
Once on Earth, they saw that they were in the Silver Dragon basement. They all transformed back to normal and headed for the Vanders' home which was an apartment building across from the Silver Dragon. Once inside the building's first floor, which was a martial arts school, that Angelo's uncle ran, they headed upstairs where they figured Angelo and Miranda would be at.
"Angelo? Miranda?", Will called out once she and the others were in the Living Room of Vanders' home, which was on the second floor of the apartment building.
"Over here.", Angelo said getting everyones' attention.
Everyone turned to see Angelo sitting on a couch with a girl that looked like Miranda who was laying on the couch with her head resting hi Angelo's lap. But the girl had gray skin and black hair.
"Is that... Miranda?", Taranee questioned.
"Yeah.", Angelo said. "This is her real form."
"Say what now?", Cornelia questioned.
"It's a long story.", Angel said as Miranda slowly opened her eyes, which were all black.
"Hey, guys.", Miranda said with a weak smile. "So, how do I look?"
"Well... It's new.", Irma said with a smile. "But at least you're okay.", she said making Miranda smile a bit more.
"So, what happened?", Cornelia asked.
"Well... After we said what we had to say during the trial, the Elders left the room to decide what to do.", Angelo said. "About a half an hour later, they came back and..."
Flashback
There Miranda and Angelo were sitting on a bench waiting for the Elders to return with their judgement. Angelo was doing his best to comfort Miranda, but he knew she was to scared and sad to be calmed. In the last half hour, more Shape-shifters had come to find out Miranda's fate. And most wanted her to suffer big time. He looked over at her parents to see them not even look over at their daughter. Seeing this made him feel bad for not only Miranda but her parents as well.
"I wish things had turned out differently.", Angelo said to Miranda. "But I guess you can't change people's minds."
"I just want this to be over.", Miranda said sadly. "It was a mistake to come here."
"No it wasn't, Miranda.", Angelo said as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. "You at least know that your brother still loves you. It's a shame that he isn't here."
"He has his duties to attend to.", Miranda said. "At least I got to see him last night.", she said with a small smile.
Suddenly, the three Elders returned and took their seats. Everyone paid attention to hear the verdict.
"Miranda, daughter of Callen and Varla. Sister of Zorlen. You are accussed of crimes against Metamoor.", Elder Micha said as she stood up. "Which is why we are having this trial. And after going over everything, we have come to our judgement.", she said as Elder Unin stood up.
"Miranda, daughter of Callen and Varla. Sister of Zorlen. We find you guilty of your crimes against Metamoor.", Elder Unin said getting cheers from the people in the room, but was silenced when he raised his hand demanding silence. "It is with a heavy heart that we Elders have come to this judgement. But with all of the pain and suffering you have caused, we had no choice to find you guilty.", he said as he saw the sad look on Miranda's face. "And now for your sentence.", he said as Elder Gorm stood up.
"Miranda, daughter of Callen and Varla. Sister of Zorlen. You are here by sentence to the Frostlands as well as having all of your transformations stripped from you.", Elder Gorm said making Miranda's eye go wide in shock as she saw him hold up a white crystal that was the size of a dagger.
Elder Gorm then pointed the crystal at Miranda and fired a beam from it. The beam them hit the orange crystal on collar Miranda had on. Miranda then felt all of her transformations being stripped from her. All Angelo could do was watch this happen, for he didn't know how to stop it. Once it was done, the beam returned to the crystal Gorm held. He then placed the crystal in a small glass case and sat it in front of him. Then, the guard that was next to Angelo and Miranda, took Miranda's collar off for it was no longer needed. What happened next surprised Angelo. Slowly Miranda began to change color. Her skin was turning gray while her eyes were becoming all black while her hair that was down to the middle of her back, stayed the same. Once it was done, she looked at Angelo with a sad face.
"What did they do to you, Miranda?", Angelo asked.
"This, Angelo, is my true form.", she explained. "Without all of my transformations, plus my strenght being drained, this is what I look like."
"I see.", Angelo said as he held her hands. "It'll be okay. Besides. Gray looks pretty good on you.", he said making her blush a bit.
Just then, the three Elders walked towards the center of the room and stood in a circle. Each held a pale blue crystal and pointed it towards the center of their circle. Each fired a beam from it and formed a portal. The guard then had Miranda and Angelo walked towards the portal which got more cheers from the people in the room. Once the couple were in front of the portal, another guard came up to them with the things they had with them when they first came to Dargen Village. Once they were aloud to gather their things, Miranda was about to go through the portal when she turned around to face her parents one last time.
"Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, father.", Miranda said with a smile. "I'm sorry for the dishonor I brought on our family.", she said as a lone tear ran down her face. "I love you both. Please tell Zorlen the same."
She then went through the portal getting more cheeres from her people. Angelo was about to follow, when Elder Micha stopped Angelo.
"Are you sure you still want to do this?", she asked Angelo. "You can simply walk away."
"I can't do that.", Angelo said with a small smile. "I care for Miranda to much to do that."
"Then we wish you good luck.", Elder Uniin said.
"And one more thing.", Elder Gorm said. "I believe this belongs to you.", he said as he handed Angelo his fold crystal surprising him.
He looked at the three Elders who gave him a smile and a nod, letting him know that they knew what it was. With a nod of his own, Angelo jumped through the portal. Once through the portal, Angelo saw that he was surrounded by snow. And boy was it cold! He then turned to see the portal close behind him. He looked around and found Miranda curled up in the fetal postion trying to keep warm. He quickly used the fold crystal and opened a fold for Earth surprising Miranda.
"How did you...?"
"Thank the Elders.", Angelo said as he scooped up Miranda and went through the fold.
Once through the fold, he closed it and took off his and Miranda's gear. He then laid Miranda on a couch and sat with her. She then slowly moved so that she had her head resting in her lap.
"You okay?", Angelo asked.
"I will be, once I warm up.", she said. "But for now, I need some rest."
"Get some rest then.", Angelo said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Get all the rest you need."
End Flashback
"It's been about an hour since we came back.", Angelo said.
"So, will you be able to change your skin and eyes?", Hay Lin asked.
"Once I've gotten my strenght back, yes.", Miranda said. "I can then start over with finding animals to transformation into again."
"At least you're alive.", Cornelia said.
"I only wish I got the chance to say goodbye to Zorlen.", Miranda said with a heavy heart.
"Oh yeah!", Will said as she pulled out the necklace Zorlen gave her. "We met your brother!", she said surprising Miranda. "He asked me to give you this. And to tell you that he loves you and wishes you well. And that one day, you two will meet again.", she said as she handed her the necklace.
"Isn't that the necklace he used on you last night?", Angelo questioned.
"Yeah.", Miranda said as tears began to stream down her face as she held the necklace in her hands.
As she held it close a purple glow eminated from the crystal and surrounded Miranda making the girls and Matt back away from her. She then began to feel a warm feeling going through her body. A few seconds later the glow faded.
"You okay, Miranda?", Angelo asked who still had Miranda's head in her lap.
"Yeah. I think so.", she said as she sat up. "Actually, I feel like myself.", she said as she stood up.
Miranda then look at the gem of her necklace and smiled.
"You okay, Miranda?", Cornelia asked.
"I'm more than okay!", she said smiling as she suddenly changed into her human form. "I have all of my transformations back!"
"How were you...?", Matt began to question.
"It's the necklace, Zorlen had you give me!", Miranda said.
"How can that little gem give you back all of your animal shapes?", Irma questioned.
"This gem is a memory gem.", Miranda explained. "It copies my memories so other Shape-shifters can see what I've been through. Zorlen used it on me last night to see what I've been through."
"That's right.", Angelo said. "He did use it on you. But how did it give you back all of your transformations?"
"Maybe Zorlen knew what was going to happen to me and made it so that the gem would restore my transformations that would of been taken from me.", Miranda figured. "He must of figured that he would of gotten to the trial in time to give it to me, but was to late."
"So, how did you get it, Will?", Angelo asked.
"Yeah.", Miranda said. "I'm grateful, but how did you get this?"
"Well, after we got to your village, we met your brother.", Will explained. "He then took us to the Hall of Elders, where your trial was going on. Once we found out what happened and that you guys were given back all of your stuff, I figured that Angelo had his fold crystal. "So, we dropped Caleb and Blunk as well as Caleb's horse back at the palace and folded back to Earth and came here to see if you two were here and okay."
"And here we are.", Hay Lin said with a cheery smile.
"Thank you, Zorlen.", Miranda said softly as a tear ran down her face.
"You okay?", Angelo said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah.", she said as she wiped her tear away. "You were right, Angelo. It wasn't a mistake returning to Dargen Village. I now know that my brother still loves me. And then there's the Elders. They could of just sent us to the Frostlands to die. But they didn't. I only wish that my parents didn't hate me.", she said as some more tears began to flow.
"Aww, Miranda.", Taranee said sadly feeling for Miaranda.
"I wish they didn't either, Miranda.", Angelo said as he held Miranda in a hug. "Really I do. But at least you know that your brother loves you."
"I know.", Miranda said. "Even though he's far away, I know he cares.", she said as she and Angelo pulled away from each other. "Can you help me put this on?", she asked as she handed the necklace to Angelo.
"Sure.", Angelo said as Miranda turned around so Angelo could put the necklace on her. "There you go.", he said as he put her necklace on her.
"Thanks.", Miranda said as she turned around smiling as well as having some tears running down her face.
"You okay Miranda?", Angelo asked getting the attention of the others.
"I'm fine. Really.", Miranda said as she wiped some tears away. "It's just that, after all that's happen, I know see that when it comes to family, I've had more than I thought I did."
"You lost me there.", Irma said causing the others to slap their foreheads moaning. "What?"
"You guys are my family!", Miranda said with a small laugh. "You guys! Elyon! Caleb! All of you were willing to give me a second chance after all I've done. I had hoped my parents would of done the same, but they didn't. But you all have.", she said before turning towards Angelo. "And even after all you know about me, you're still with me.", she said as she brought her hand up to Angelo's face gently. "Thank you for not judging my badly."
Angelo then pulled Miranda into a kiss that she returned lovingly which earned some 'awwws' from the girls. As the couple ended their kiss, Irma checked her watch and gasped.
"Hey, guys!", Irma said getting everyones' attention. "We have to go! My dad's cookout is about to start in twenty minutes! And we still have to get the buns for the burgers and hot dogs! As well as extra charcol!"
"And you all were going to do that and rescue us at the same time?", Angelo questioned.
"Well... Yeah!", Will said as they all headed out of Angelo's home. "The plan was to find you and Miranda and then open a fold to Earth."
"Then we'd head to Mr. Lair's cookout.", Hay Lin said.
"That... Actually makes sense.", Miranda said as they headed for the cars they were riding in.
"And we leave it at that.", Will said as she and Irma got in Matt's car with Matt while Taranee and Hay Lin got in Cornelia's car with Caleb and Cornelia.
"Let's just go get what we need to get and head to the cookout.", Angelo said as he and Miranda got him his car.
They all then drove off to get what they needed to get and go to the cookout and had some fun. Cause after all that's happened, they needed it.
A/N: It seems that the Elders aren't that bad after all. And thanks to Zorlen, Miranda has her transformations back! Alls well that ends well. Right? Come on now folks! You know how I do things! The fun is just getting started! Something big is about to go down! Just wait and see!
Please review.
Also, before some of you say anything, Miranda's true form isn't like those gray aliens that you see on bumper stickers and T-shirts. Her head and eyes aren't all big! She looks human. It's just that her skin is gray. And her eyes are the same size. They're just all black. I just figured that you all should know that. Thank you for your time.
