They were still in trouble, the angered skeksis now surrounded them and Eugene.
Jen hollered down, "No! Leave them alone!"
"Give us the shard and you can go free." SkekSil said to the ex-thief, in an attempt to bargain.
"No way." Eugene shook his head in distrust.
After the way that creep deliberately brought down a pillar on him and Jen back in the catacombs, he certainly wasn't going to put his faith in that sleaze.
Rapunzel watches the proceedings, her eyes darting from Eugene to Jen and the skeksis. There was only one bargain these beasts would accept at this point. "If I can distract them long enough, it'll give you enough time to go free."
Understanding what she meant, Gothel shook her head.
"What are you saying?" Kira asked the princess fearfully.
"I can't let any of my friends die." She answered earnestly to her.
As she spoke, Maximus came to Eugene's defense, rearing up and almost kicking at one of them. Two or three of them backed away on instinct.
"Rapunzel, whatever you're planning, it's a bad idea." Gothel cautioned her.
"But if you do..." Kira said softly, "You'll be trapped for all time."
She and the older woman didn't want Rapunzel forever submit to the skeksis. The idea was just too awful to bear.
The maiden smiled sadly, "Everything'll be alright."
She started to get up until the she-gelfling gently placed a hand on her hair.
"Not like this..." Raising her arms, it looked as though she was going to hug the princess goodbye. But then she quickly collected the human girl's hair, slicing through it with Gothel's dropped dagger, which she retrieved during the prior embrace.
Eugene, Jen, and Gothel looked utterly shocked; they weren't expecting that.
"Oh no! Kira, what have you-?" Rapunzel cried, instinctively reaching behind her head, feeling the strands as they began to turn brown.
When the Skeksis saw what Kira had done, many of them screamed in horror. Stunned, Rapunzel picked up from where he hair had been cut, watching how SkekEkt, SkekOk and SkekSil picked up the long length of hair with panicked disbelief even as the magical properties started vanishing.
"You little-Do you realize what you've done?!" SkekZok roared, turning on Kira. He seemed to be losing what self-control he still had.
Now the skeksis were very beside themselves with fear and anger. Snarling, snapping their beaks, and reaching for her with their long, claw like fingers.
"Jen, go long!" Eugene threw the shard in his direction.
Quickly, the male gelfling catches it only for him and the others to glimpse the enraged ritual-master stab Kira in retribution.
"No!" Rapunzel wailed, then spun around angrily towards SkekZok. "You monster!"
But the priest was not to be reasoned with now. There was a sort of madness in his eye that looked dangerous.
Same with the others when another lunged for the two females, Gothel - who was already starting to feel the reversing effects- rushed one, fearing for Rapunzel's safety.
"You won't lay a claw on her!" The centuries old woman growled, pulling and hitting her opponent the best she could in her state.
The two struggled, as Rapunzel dropped to her knees by her fallen friend's side.
"No, no, no, no!" she begged Kira, "Stay with me!"
Eugene ducked as a Garthim reached for him. "Jen, do it! Heal the crystal!"
To add more incentive shock, the rapidly aging Gothel is abruptly thrown off - right into the fiery pit!
A horrified Rapunzel reached her arm out subconsciously for her adoptive parent to no avail. For the older woman's screams cut off as her true age caught up with her. Therefore, only the cloak hit the magma. However, her soul's destination – thanks to her final albeit selfless deed- was another story.
Jen, deciding the suffering had to end, held the shard up as he prepared to act. He looked up for a second. He could just see the moon coming into position in front of the sun.
Finally the eclipse begun. A single beam of light came down and struck the Crystal. With a determined cry, Jen reunited the Crystal with its missing piece. In that instant, he was thrown onto the floor as the Crystal turned pure white. This occurrence sent the skeksis in frightened hysterics, causing them to run around the chamber.
The Garthim, who had frozen with the healing of the Crystal, fell apart and revealed them to be empty and lifeless shells. Jen tearfully held Kira's lifeless body close him, watching with his friends.
"The UrRu!"
And much to the group's surprise, out from a corridor walked the mystics. The Skeksis either became very fearful or very hostile at the sight of their gentler twins.
Rapunzel stares at the urRu, being told of them by Eugene and catching glimpses of them in the memories was one thing, but seeing this wise race serenely walk into the crystal chamber was another matter entirely. She caught the eye of the one wearing a light cream robe with light blue swirled cuffs and back. He nodded once to her but did not stop his chanting nor his approach to the crystal with the others.
The slaves seem to break out of their haze and look around them, wondering where they are and what was going on. With the crystal healed, everything that had been stripped of them during the draining was slowly returning.
In the laboratory, Aughra is stumbling about, not paying any mind to the unconscious SkekTek being pulled back by an unseen force. She hears a scared howl then looks out in surprise to see Fizzgig with Pascal gripping his tail - the chameleon had gone white with terror- hanging onto the receptor inside the Crystal's shaft.
Aughra questions, "How did you two get out way there?" She then took a rake-like instrument and reaches out to rescue them. "Come on then."
Once inside, the UrRu began to position themselves around the Crystal. Meanwhile, the Skeksis were still in a panic from the castle coming apart around them. The restored slaves have already started searching for a way out.
In minutes, the Crystal released the light it had collected. Beam of light flow out of the Crystal, into the Mystics' backs, and then out of their eyes, onto the Skeksis twins' backs. When this happened, the Skeksis froze for several seconds.
Rapunzel and Eugene clung to each other tightly in awe beside the astonished Jen. Maximus shielded his eyes from the sudden sunlight streaming in. The Skeksis are pulled backwards toward the Mystics as more pieces of the ceiling continue to fall.
At last, the entire castle was made entirely of pure white stone.
The Mystics then stand up higher than their skeksis counterpart, the two species getting closer until they merged, becoming luminescent beings of pale gold. They were tall, slim and dressed in long robes with a sun and moon pattern on the front.
"What...what happened to them?" Rapunzel asked, not sure she understood what they'd just seen.
"What's going on?" questions Eugene, "And more importantly, what's this supposed to mean?"
Jen appeared to be struck speechless with the proceedings.
Aughra soon appears at the railing with Fizzgig and Pascal then says awestruck. "What was sundered and undone, the two shall be made one."
"So...the Skeksis and Mystics were the good and evil halves of these beings' nature. They were just split up?" Rapunzel asked, wondering if she was on the right track.
Recognition dawned on Eugene's face. "Hey, you're those guys in those symbols back in the Gelfling ruins that were surrounding the crystal."
"You are correct. And now, the prophecy is fulfilled. We are again one." one of them answered Eugene.
For the nine beings were UrSkeks, a mysterious race that arrived in Thra exactly one millennium ago.
The UrSkek named UngIm continued, "Many ages ago, in our arrogance and delusion, we shattered the pure Crystal, and our world split apart."
Jen, Rapunzel and Eugene couldn't speak for a minute. It was a true miracle they had witnessed.
"Your courage, friendship and sacrifice have made us whole, and restored the true power of Crystal."
Jen, much like the human couple, had been staring up at the UrSkeks in wonder. Then he stood with Kira's body still in his arms.
"Hold her to you. She is part of you as we all are part of each other." UngIm said to him before speaking to Rapunzel. "Little princess..."
"Yes, sir?" Rapunzel asked, snapping to attention when he addressed her.
"One more song." The UrSkek encouraged her gently, "You know the incantation, now speak them with your heart."
The young woman followed his gaze, knowing he was talking about Kira. She looked to Jen, who still holding the female gelfling's body and felt her spirits sink.
How can she? When her hair was cut the power was lost. And as a result, she failed to save a friend.
Full of guilt and sorrow, Rapunzel kneeled down, placing a caring hand on Kira's head. Eugene, Pascal and Maximus approached with sad expressions of their own.
"Heal what has been hurt..." she sang softly, "Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost..." her voice came out shaky. "Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine..."
She began to cry quietly, one of her tears falling on the deceased gelfling's forehead. Thus, she didn't notice how that tear seemed to sink into Kira's skin with a glowing pattern of a flower.
But she, Jen and Eugene did see when Kira's injury glistened briefly. Then to their endless awe, wisps of light bright as the sun flew through the air. The shimmering golden strands weaved around the crystal chamber in elegant patterns, wrapping partially around them, the Urskeks, Aughra and even the wonder-struck podling ex-slaves.
Pascal, Maximus and Fizzgig either rubbed their eyes or shook their heads to make sure they weren't the only ones witnessing this.
They all watched as the tendrils formed the shape of the famed golden flower of the sun right above Kira's body before softly disappearing.
Once it did, Jen and the humans exchanged confused glances then looked at Kira. Could it?
After two seconds, the girl gelfling stirred. Her eyes opened and looked up at Jen.
Jen greeted her with a joyous smile which she returned. Rapunzel gasped in elation and hugged them both. Eugene smiled, "Welcome back, kid."
They both look back at the UrSkeks for UngIm's parting words. "The flower's gift lies in you and it will be passed on to your children and theirs. There are other blooms scattered across the world only time will tell whether they will be found or not. And now the role we played in helping you discover yourselves has ended.
We leave you the Crystal of Truth. Make your world in its light."
And the nine celestial beings transform into a single green beam of light, with blue lights swirling around them. It flies up through the ceiling and far into the sky.
"Where d'you suppose they're headed?" Jen asked.
"To their home." Aughra replied as she walked to them. "They've been away for two thousand years this day."
The word abruptly reminded the four denizens of Corona. "Home?!"
"That's right. We have to get you to the king and queen." Eugene remembered, turning to Rapunzel. He'd just remembered UrZah's words about mending what was broken. The mystic must've meant to repair the metaphorical bridge between Corona and Thra.
Maximus stood to attention, he was ready to take them back to Corona as soon as possible.
"What's the quickest way to get there?" Rapunzel asks Aughra.
Twenty minutes later, Aughra was able to show them maps of the land, and plot out the quickest route to follow.
It would take them at least four hours to arrive. The podling's village was just on the way, so the human pair offered the healed slaves and prisoners to come with them.
Jen, Kira and Fizzgig would also be joining them on their trip back.
"How about you?" Eugene turned to Aughra.
The older female shook her head. "My place is here."
"We understand. And thank you for all the help." Rapunzel said, thankfully.
As the caravan exited the castle, they look at the changed landscape and are pleasantly surprised to see that the dry countryside has been reborn. They see streams flowing beneath trees, flowers and rich green hills as far as the eye can see.
With the healing of the crystal, Thra has been restored now all that's left is for Corona to hear the good news.
To be concluded…
