THE GUARDIANS.

Part One: The Eight.

Chapter VII. Comfort


James spent the rest of the afternoon - from about 1:15 - in his room by himself. He felt guilty for what happened to Diana; he knew that Rikayla only hurt her because of how much he loved her.

He tried to meditate to clear his head, but the visions of Ice were starting to fill the Green Ninja's mind and would not let him meditate in peace. So he just sat on his bed. Alone.

At 4:00, there was a knock on James's bedroom door. No one had been checking up on him because he asked to be alone for a while, so he thought it might be important.

"Come in," he said, quietly.

The door opened and Morro and Zee entered the room.

"Are you okay?" Zee asked.

"No, it's my fault she was hurt," James replied.

"But she's okay now," said Morro. "Don't punish yourself. You had no way of knowing that would happen, but you showed up as soon as you could, and you fixed her. And as soon as Rik -"

"Don't... please, don't use her name. I can't deal with hearing it right now..."

"I'm sorry..." Morro apologized. "As soon as... she.. saw you, she blasted a way out and fled. She was afraid of us."

"No, Morro... She left because was satisfied. She got what she wanted, she hurt my angel... Diana is innocent, and she was hurt. And I didn't sense it until it was too late..."

The Green Ninja put his face in his hands. Morro and Zee looked at each other before Zee sat beside James.

Zee put a hand on James's shoulder and said, "Hey... look at me."

He obeyed and Zee continued.

"You and I have been friends for a very long time, and you have always taken all of the blame of every bad situation onto yourself. Every time something bad happens, even when you know it's not your fault, you take the heat. I know you do it so no one else has to deal with it, but you don't need to be punishing yourself for the deeds of our enemy. That's why she's our enemy."

"You're right... I'm sorry."

"Why?" asked Morro.

"Because I've made myself miserable because of my guilt over letting Diana be hurt, and that makes you guys worry. Thank you for coming and talking to me."

James stood up from the bed.

"You're welcome," said Zee.

"I used to think - hope - that, beneath the darkness, there was some good in her... but now I see. She is willing to hurt completely innocent people just to strike a low blow at us. If that's how she's going to operate then there's no choice. She has to be destroyed."

"Yeah..." Zee said.

"You gonna be okay?" asked Morro.

"I'll be fine," James answered.

"Alright, we're gonna leave you to your thoughts. If you need somebody, please say so," said Zee, closing the bedroom door behind Morro and herself.

Immediately after the door closed, the Green Ninja fell onto the floor on his hands and knees and the room froze over. Sheets of ice covered the walls and floor, snow fell from the ceiling, and the room became very cold.


"He still feels guilty," said Morro.

"I know..." Zee replied.

The two had gone to the living room after leaving James's room and were now sitting on the couch.

"I'll be back, baby," said Morro, standing up.

Zee stood as well. Morro kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and turned to leave, saying, "Don't wait up."

"Wait," said Zee, turning Morro back around by his arm. "If it's gonna be a while..."

They smiled at each other and she pulled him in for a long, tender, affectionate kiss.

"I love you," said Morro.

"Love you too, be careful," said Zee.

"I will."


James was in an ice fortress. In the ice walls he saw not his own reflections, but the image of Tenebris. He expected to see Rikayla, but saw no hint of her. Still, he could feel the darkness closing in upon him through the ice. He searched desperately for an escape, but kept ending up in the same room, a room that had an ice throne in the middle surrounded by smaller chairs.

The Green Ninja became angry and smashed an ice wall, revealing a new room. He walked into it; this room was more inviting but he sensed a dark presence inside. The room was lit by torches on the wall and there was a strange blue energy coming from small cracks in the stone floor and walls. The hole in the wall through which James had entered was no longer there. Suddenly, the ground shook and darkness rushed in through the cracks, corrupting the blue energy and turning it black.

When the Green Ninja looked at the only door in the room, he was confused by the sight he beheld. Through the door came charging many tigers and a mammoth, accompanied by a large figure whose appearance was distorted.


Diana was handling the events of the afternoon better than the Green Ninja. She was not shaken because she trusted the Guardians, especially her personal Guardian, to protect her. The wall that the Queen of Darkness had blasted out repaired itself earlier when the Guardians left the house, so everything was normal She was about to start getting dinner ready, as it was her night to cook, when her aunt informed her that she should take the night off from chores because of what happened.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," Diana assured.

"I know, but I want you to take it easy tonight," her aunt insisted. "Please? For me?"

"Alright... thank you," Diana smiled.

"No problem," her aunt responded, smiling and starting dinner.

Suddenly, there was a gust of wind within the house and Morro appeared in the living room, looking desperate.

"Morro?" Diana asked.

"Hey Diana, how are you?"

"I'm fine, are you alright? You look... stressed."

"Yes I'm okay, but I'm worried about James."

"Me too... he feels bad about earlier even though I told him it's not his fault and I told him not to feel bad. I must have typed 'Don't feel bad' a million times since then..."

"He really cares about you. It hurt him deeply to see that she hurt you."

"He looked ready to murder Rikayla when he saw she'd hit me..." Diana said, holding her hand up to show Morro where the Queen of Darkness had struck her.

"Yeah... and I know you texted him a lot not to feel bad, but I think he might need it to be more personal than that if he's gonna be okay."

"Diana, are you needing to go to James's house?" Diana's aunt asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah... he needs me."

"Go to him, don't worry about getting back before dinner. If he needs you, be with him."

"Thanks, Aunt Lou Lou."

Diana hugged her aunt and Morro teleported them out of Diana's house and into James's living room. Zee was no longer on the couch or anywhere else where she could be seen at the moment. Morro and Diana went down the hallway and stopped in front of James's door.

"I'm gonna go to my room," said Morro. "Gotta work on this history paper."

"Only September and Mrs. Tillerson already has you working on Sunday night," Diana laughed.

"Yep, good luck."

"Thanks, you too."

Morro disappeared into his room next to James's and Diana prepared to enter the Green Ninja's room where she would try to console him. When she opened the door, she saw the Green Ninja on his hands and knees, convulsing in the icy floor. As soon as she had noticed the ice around her, it began to disappear. When it was gone, the Green Ninja bounded backwards and landed on his back, face covered in fear.

"James!" Diana exclaimed, entering the room and shutting the door behind her. "Why were you in the floor? And why was there ice everywhere? Where did it go?"

James breathed heavily, still laying on his back.

"Sorry..." said Diana. "Tell me, what happened?" she asked, helping James to sit up and then sitting in the floor beside him.

"It's time to find the last one, the Guardian of Ice. Until we do, I'll have torturous visions from the element."

"Oh my goodness... is there anything I can do?"

"The visions can attack at any time if I'm by myself."

"Then... you're not gonna be by yourself until you find the last Guardian. I promise."

"Diana, you can't stop doing all your responsibilities to be with me all the time. I'll be fine."

"I still want to do as much as I can... why didn't the other Elements do this to you?"

"The other Elements aren't Ice. Ice is the most unstable of the Elements, its power is linked to the part of the emotional spectrum that includes despair and loneliness. So when I'm alone it can attack."

"Okay... promise me you'll tell me when you need me? Please?"

"Okay, I promise," James said, actually smiling at her.

He stood up and helped her up.

"You know," Diana said. "Morro brought me here to make you feel better. What happened today is not your fault, James. Please believe that, and please don't feel bad about it."

"Okay... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made myself so upset about it... if you're okay, then I can be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"For you, yes."

"So you're okay?" asked Diana, smiling.

"Yeah, darling. I'm okay."

"Good."

They hugged and James thanked her for coming and kissed her. She departed from his embrace and took out her phone. Diana figured that the main problem for James would be being alone at night.

"I'm gonna stay with you tonight, okay? You can teleport me home in the morning so I can get ready for school. I'll let my aunt know." Diana said.

"Okay... thank you, but you can't every night. You have other things to do."

"I know, maybe your friends would camp out in the living room with you sometimes? We'll figure it out, you're not gonna be alone at night."

"You're so wonderful... I adore you," James said.

"Just doing what I can, I love you too much to do any less."

"I love you too, thank you for this."

"You're welcome, James."

Diana informed her aunt that she would be spending the night at the Green Ninja's house. Her aunt was unsure about this at first, but when Diana explained the situation (and reminded her of the part of the Guardians' Commission that expressly prohibited sexual activity until such time as the war with the Queen of Darkness is over), her aunt was more than willing to allow it.

All night, there was peaceful sleep for everyone. The next morning, James teleported Diana back to her house and all was well.

That day, on September 16th, 2018, the Element Ice was satisfied. For on that day, a Monday like any other, the final Guardian was revealed.