Chapter Six: Preparation

"Okay, Chiro, unless we completely need her help, refrain from speaking Latin," Silhouette told Chiro. "It awakens her old self for a little while, and we can't have that."

"Alright," Chiro agreed, nodding. "But is she really coming with us?"

"She'll be flying us," Silhouette explained. "I can't fly; I use up too much power, and it can be detected. You can turn invisible while Emarelda is flying. That way no one will see us."

Chiro looked unsure. "Alright. I trust you." He turned to Emarelda, who wasn't listening. She was on her belly in the sand on the beach, looking at a hermit crab. He saw as she reached out to pick it up, but her hand (claws?) went right through the shell. She stopped and turned around. "Why is it she can't pick stuff up, but she can still land on the ground, fly, and swim?" he asked.

Silhouette looked at Emarelda. "The land, the air, and the ground are omnipresent. They're everywhere. And Air, Water, and Earth are elements. There's no getting around that fact. Well, maybe a bit with the water. She doesn't need to breathe underwater."

"Ah." He turned to Emarelda, who was sitting on the shore now, staring down at a jellyfish who had been forced ashore. "What's wrong, Emma?"

"I can't touch him," she answered, pointing to the jellyfish. "I want to throw him back in the ocean."

"Here, let me," Silhouette said. She picked put the jellyfish and threw it back into the ocean.

Emarelda clapped her hands and hugged Silhouette. "Thanks!"

Silhouette gasped for air. "You're welcome, you're welcome! Let me go!"

"Okey-dokey!" Emarelda gushed, releasing her and scampering down the beach.

Chiro walked up beside Silhouette, looking after the green dragon who couldn't even leave footprints in the sand. "I think you went a bit too far, Silhouette."

Silhouette looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"With the punishment. Cursing her like this. You said she'd regain her memory, and once that happens, she'll have even more reason to want to kill you."

"But she won't. She won't have her powers."

"What about the human she's bound to? Do they have powers?"

"It's a human. The only reason we bound her to a human was because she hates them."

"Not to sound like a downer, but once she gains her memory back, she'll kill the human."

"Then she'll die. We prepared for this," Silhouette finalized, crossing her arms, knowing the argument was done.

But Chiro wasn't finished. "Then she'll control the human. Just like an ornament. Hanging around but without any use."

Well.

Silhouette could not deny that that would be something Emarelda would do. Stooping low to control a human that had no say in what happened. Emarelda was too powerful, even now. So much power, itching to burst out.

"Come on slowpokes!" Emarelda urged them. She was suddenly behind them, pushing them.

"Ah! Alright, alright, Emma, stop pushing!" Silhouette said, edging away from Emarelda's huge claws. The dragon's whole hand could wrap easily around her torso.

"Okay," Emarelda said cheerfully. She turned around, and said, "Follow me!" before curling into a ball and rolling off. No imprint was left in the sand.

Chiro leaned to Silhouette and whispered, "How can she see where she's going?"

"She can't. It's not like she'll roll into cars or crash into people."

The animals on Orre were blissfully unaware of what was happening.

It wasn't until a huge crack appeared, and a blood-red light shone out that they freaked. The crack ran through the ground before finally stopping.

But they knew what was happening. Each and every living creature ran for the haven of their Orrean ark - a castle located on a sloping hill.

"Emarelda, these are all beach stores! They don't have any traveling stuff!" Silhouette scolded.

"Well, sorry I built these," Emarelda said sarcastically. "You know, I happen to like beach stores. They're fun!"

Silhouette was exhausted. Trying to control Emarelda was like trying to control a six-year-old. A giant, green, scaled six-year-old with infinite magic powers, weighed almost a ton, and could fly.

So you see the dilemma.

Emarelda suddenly froze and looked blankly into the distance. Silhouette looked up in concern, and asked, "Emma? You okay?"

Emarelda suddenly let out a loud roar, one that could've probably been heard around the world if for the fact that she didn't 'exist' alongside humans.

"HEADACHE!!!!" the dragon yelled, holding her head.

Silhouette looked on as Chiro attempted to calm Emarelda down, which was hard to do because she was walking around on her hind legs - being pretty intimidating at near eleven feet tall - and moaning and complaining about the pounding in her skull. Even cursed and trapped on Earth, Emarelda still - apparently - suffered from intense headaches. Silhouette remembered this quirk from her first few years after she was built. Emarelda, every once in a while, would go out of control and destroy stuff until she either came to her senses or someone knocked her out…which was hard to do.

Chiro had finally managed to get Emarelda to calm down, and when he did, she stood on all fours again, with her head hanging limply. She did not speak.

"You alright?" Chiro asked her.

"It feels like…my head and heart are cracking open," was her reply.

Chiro cast a worried glance to Silhouette, who mouthed 'Orre'. He then nodded.

They had finally gotten everything together (mostly stuff for Chiro to eat) and headed out at night.

Emarelda would take on the form of a smaller version of herself, barely as tall as Silhouette, and hover around them. She didn't talk, make a sound, or even breathe or blink - she just hovered next to Chiro as if pulled along by an unseen force.

After hours and hours of walking, Chiro's legs finally gave out. Emarelda wordlessly picked him and Silhouette up, put them on her back, and took off silently. She flew faster than Silhouette remembered, but her wings didn't make any sounds.

It was hours later that Emarelda finally fell asleep, drifting to a slow landing in the ocean. While she slept, Chiro and Silhouette talked.

"So, why are we going to Mount Everest?" Chiro asked.

"One, you need to go through the temple inside the mountain, and two, once we get to the top, we can use the Earth Keystone like a key to unlock Emma's heart, and temporarily return her memories, so she can fix Orre," Silhouette said.

"Wait, what temple?"

"There's an earth temple inside the mountain. Each Keystone guardian must prove themselves by going through the temple of the element that they guard the keystone of. I had to go through the Abyss Temple, on Amere, and that was not fun."

Chiro's eyes got huge. "What's in Earth's temple?"

"Bottomless chasms, ancient animals, rock falls, and other stuff like that," Silhouette said, shrugging. "But since you haven't been to the Earth Shrine where the true Keystone is, we'll have to go through the temple first."

Hey, this chapter SUCKED! Writer's block killed me.

Soooo, my birthday's coming up. July 6. :D Be nice, get me a present. JK JK

But I could REAALLLLYYYY use a blank robot monkey picture done in paint; you know, so I can color it in and make it look like my OCs? PLEASE?