Here ve go!
Chapter Eleven: ...At Some Point
Ray rode on Tatsurion's back as Tatsurion took him back to Blast Forge City.
"So...besides leaving me in the Fire realm with no idea of where you went..." Tatsurion said. "...how did everything go?"
"Bob..." Ray started.
"Yes?"
"As much as it's awesome you care, I really don't want to talk about it."
"Okay." Tatsurion landed on a mountain. He stood, arms crossed. "I won't keep going until you tell me."
Ray was taken aback. "What?"
Tatsurion nodded, as if to emphasize his point. Ray gave him a sort of are-you-kidding-me look, to which Tatsurion didn't answer.
Ray sighed. "Is this necessary? What's with the stubbornness?"
"Ray, I'm worried for you." Tatsurion answered firmly. "You haven't said anything since you re-summoned me, and it isn't like you've been Mr. Nice Guy since you came here."
"Bob..." Ray warned.
"No. Listen to me. If you don't talk, you might end up hurting the people you care about."
"Like you should be-"
"I know. But I nearly got you into trouble when Moorna attacked me a while back. Right? You could have been burned to a crisp. When I finally told you everything, it put you and your friends at less of a risk. Right?"
"Maybe, but this isn't the best time-"
"So when?!" Tatsurion said, rather loudly. "You trust me, and I trust you. So if you can't talk to me, I can't trust you. And if I can't trust you, we aren't moving until you start talking."
"Alright, alright!" Ray shouted. "You win."
He told him everything that had happened (minus a few...things...at the temple) from the moment they went back to San Campion.
"Permanently...?" Tatsurion wondered out loud. "How...?"
"I don't know." Ray said, looking more defeated than ever. "I just don't know. And Gabe thinks that I'm blind or something. That I should know something, when I'm totally lost."
"About Allie?"
"Yeah."
Tatsurion snorted. "I think that might be the only complete truth I've heard from the story."
"What do you mean?"
Tatsurion sort of snorted, sort of snickered. "You'll figure it out...at some point."
Ray face-palmed. "What is with the vagueness?! Can't anyone just come out and say what they mean?! Is that really so hard?!"
Tatsurion laughed. "You'll understand if she tells you." He tilted his head. "Or maybe...if you find it in yourself."
Before Ray could protest the vague sentence, Tatsurion took off and the two were headed for Blast Forge again.
Gabe kept working on the Northern sector with Gargle. He was a little pi...annoyed at Ray, but also felt a little guilty for leaving him without explaining what he meant.
"But how can he not see it?" he thought out loud. "How has it not slammed him in the face by now?"
"Is G-abriel alright?"
Gabe smiled at the creature. "Yeah...just..."
"Friend troubles? Should Gargle press troubleshoot?"
Gabe snickered. "No, it's okay." He sighed, smiled fading. "Ray will figure it out...at some point."
Allie stared at Gloom Hollow, where just one cave was being mended. Squeaky worked with her family, checking on Allie every minute or two.
"Are you almost done?" Allie asked. "Is the cave repaired?"
Squeaky chittered an "almost". Allie nodded.
"What is wrong with me?" Allie wondered out loud. "Why do I feel...so guilty?"
Later, Allie rode Squeaky back to Queen Kalima, finding the monarch in conversation with a darkness dragon. Sorry, not a darkness dragon. Bonerattle dragon.
Allie winced and tried to creep to her room.
"Tiny one?"
Allie grimaced, turned around and walked back to the monarch.
"You got into a fight with your tiny friend?"
Allie sighed. "Sort of. He challenged me to a duel."
"Bonerattle dragon said you lost your cool."
Allie winced again. "Uh, maybe...that's when the cloak showed itself."
Kalima laughed softly. "So silly, humans. Even with emotions at bay, they can lose control when frustrated."
Allie laughed nervously. "I guess."
"I also wanted to let you know...Megaria has been sentenced as a criminal."
Allie's eyes widened against her will. "What?"
"She stole the cloak from me...and although she implanted it on my chosen human, it is still a crime to steal from me." the Queen explained.
Allie nodded, but her mind was in a whirl. No more Megaria appearing in the shadows, telling her to doubt herself? No more battles of chaos in her mind? Was this really happening?
"That is all. You may return to your room."
Allie opened Janet's letter again. She read it over. "They don't need me." she whispered. "I can live without them. I know I can. And Megaria is gone. So now I can do anything."
"Megaria?" a voice asked from behind her.
Allie shot up and pointed her gauntlet at...Ray?
"Ray?!" Allie yelped. "What the hell?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"Figuring things out." Ray said. "I guess when I don't get something, I need to figure it out even if it means snooping around."
Allie snarled at him. He plucked the letter out of her hands. "What's this?"
"Give me that!" Ray put his arm out to hold her back as he read the letter. Allie struggled and pushed his arm away, but after Ray had finished reading.
"You told your dad you weren't allowed to write letters back and forth?" Ray asked, eyebrow raised.
Allie pursed her lips and looked away. "Well I don't have anything to write to him. What, am I supposed to say: 'Hey dad, I just love being on cleanup duty. The creatures are so very nice and my mana is always at work!'?! I don't want to lie to him, that I'm enjoying 'martial arts camp'!"
"She isn't lying." Ray said.
"What?"
"My mom. When she said that...she meant it. In fact...those are my exact words."
"...What?"
"'We're stronger when we work together.'" Ray quoted, sitting on the bed and staring at the ground. "'Our spirits can't be subdued when the three of us together.'" He sighed. "'So I hope she still visits us...and that we make up soon.'"
Allie said nothing, glaring at the foot of the bed.
"If Megaria was the one telling you...that you were dependent on your friends. Dependent on others. You could've shot back...'If I'm dependent on others, you're a Choten's minion.' You don't usually let things get to you like that." Ray said. Allie sucked in a breath and glared harder at the bed. If looks could kill...the bed would be ablaze.
"You usually come with some retort like that. You don't depend on us. And being friends with Portia and Maribel? It may make us mad, but it's your choice. Not me or Gabe's. So don't let us get in the way." Ray stood up, and Allie felt tears pooling in her eyes.
Ray opened a breach to the Fire civilization, but Allie grabbed his arm. "W-wait." Ray glanced back at her. "P-please...don't go yet. I need to..." Allie collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face.
"Allie?" Ray asked. He quickly closed the breach and sat next to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm...I'm so sorry." she whimpered. "I was so unfair to you and Gabe. It's my fault I lost my best friends. I was so selfish...and I'm sorry." She threw her arms around his neck. Ray was a little shocked to see his stubborn friend collapse, but wrapped her arms around her in return.
"Don't worry. Don't cry, Allie."
"I'm such a jerk...I let an enemy make a fool of me...I hurt my best friends..."
"Don't say that." Ray whispered. "It'll all be okay."
"To think..." Allie pulled away. A sad smile played on her lips as she wiped tears away. "...all of this happened in two weeks...while we still have an entire summer left of this..."
Ray smiled at her. "Sooo...ready to tell Gabe we're all friends again?"
Allie took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then nodded. She tugged a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "But, um...can we not tell him I-"
"Don't worry about it. Come on."
"Reef Prince, Glu-urrgle!" Allie summoned. The scatterbrained reef prince popped out, a little confused.
"G-abriel's friends?"
"Yeah." Allie said, a smile covering her face with the response. "We'll need watersuits so we can see Gabe." Gargle gave them the bubbles. Ray and Allie looked at each other before putting them on and banishing themselves to water.
So this is the chapter when the "+" in the rating becomes necessary. XD Hope you like!
-Phantom