AN: Prepare to be shocked... Surprise character coming...
_#_
Ria was back in her room and her clothes had changed into a white assymetrical top which was longer at the back and stopped just below her knee. It had golden and Silver linings. She also wore a silver trouser.
She rushed out of her home and saw dark clouds and a huge gate. The gate had been opened and Claire and Udonna were captured.
She was about to call her racer when she suddenly flew up. Being the Celestial protector has its perks, Ria thought. She flew towards the gate.
"The gate!" Ria said as she got closer. "Claire and Udonna have to be in there somewhere."
Suddenly Hidiacs appeared and Ria had to rear back as explosions appeared from where they shot at her.
"Hang on!" Ria called out hoping that the two people she needed to free would hear her. "I'm coming."
She flew forward and begin to shoot her way through the hidiacs using her bow. The arrows appeared as soon as she pulled the string.
The hidiacs all growled as she continued to shoot. She put up a shield and began to hack her way through the hidiacs one by one. As they all tried to strike her, she flipped over towards them and launched a powerful attack, "STAR DUST SHOWER!!"
The hidiacs fell to the ground and were destroyed. She finally got to the gate and entered.
Xxxxx...
RIA's (ASTARA's) POV
I went through the gate and arrived at the area where Udonna and my sister were being held. I noticed that Koragg was watching as Claire's power was being drained.
I see that Udonna is in some sort of ball and Claire is under some sort of seal and it was almost completed.
I blast the seal and some of Claire's power return back to her but she's still badly drained.
"Who did this?" Korrag demands.
"That would be me," I land in front of Claire.
"Who are you?" Korrag asked.
"I am the Keeper of the gatekeeper. The Celestial Protector!!" Udonna looked shocked.
"Claire!" I call to her worried. "Hold on!"
She glances at me weakly. And she is shocked. "Sis?" I nod at her as tears fill her eyes.
I turn to look at Koragg. "All right Koragg!" I say to the knight wolf with my shield in hand. "I challenge you to fight right now!"
He stares at me and then answers.
"I never say no to a challenge!" He tells me.
His own shield glows and I look around, shocked as Lightning flashes all around me.
"Whoa!" I say.
Next thing I know I am in daylight and outside. I have no clue as to where we are.
"Wha-," I say in confusion looking around. "What's happening?"
"Sis!" I hear Claire's voice yell and I see Clare trapped in a force field up on a hill.
"Where are we?" Claire wondered on her own.
I suddenly hear Koraggs voice and I turn to see him approaching me.
"Your challenge, my battlefield," he tells me which explains how we ended up here.
I stand ready to fight. "Fine by me. Come on!"
Koragg pulls his own sword out of his shield.
"I am ready," he tells me.
He runs forward with sword and shield in hand and we begin to fight. We clash swords against bow and then I raise my star shaped shield as he goes to knock me off balance with his. He stumbles back from the impact but quickly jumps forward again to battle me. I can hear Claire yelling worriedly at me to be careful. As Koragg steps closer I duck and roll to avoid his strike and then use my shield as he goes to strike me while I am on the ground. I block another and then he has to block one of mine. I jump into the air and kick him in the chest and he goes stumbling back. He growls and moves forward once more. I jump over a strike that he aimed for my mid-section and I ended up behind him. Quickly turning to face him I quickly raise my shield again as he goes to strike me.
I send energy balls at him which he is forced to dodge. I move to kick him and he blocks me with his shield. He finally manages to strike me and I go rolling across the ground. He goes to strike me with his sword but I wave my hand and he goes flying away from me. This gives me enough time to get back to my feet. I aim a kick at him but he blocks it again. I jump over him and turn to face him again.
"Come on!" I challenge him.
I finally manage to strike him a few times with my bow and he keeps trying to block me. I don't give him a chance. He knees me and then hits me with his shield. He flips me over and I hit the ground landing on my back.
"Get up!" Koragg orders me.
I quickly get back to my feet. I power up my bow and shield and I go flying at him covered in star energy hoping to do some damage. He strikes me hard and I go flying backwards.
I shoot arrows at him and he just manages to block them. The force of the arrows send him stumbling backwards. He comes back and I raise my bow blocking his attack. He strikes me twice and again I hit the ground. I jump back up and I have to block his next few strikes and it makes it hard for me to get in my own hit. One particular painful hit and I go over the side of a cliff.
I cry out as I am forced to raise a shield of my own to prevent a very painful landing. I lower myself into the water and quickly get back to my feet.
"It's not over yet!" I tell Koragg who comes running at me prepared to battle again.
"Right you are!" Koragg agrees as he continues to run at me.
"Try this!" I tell him. "Power of the Celestial bodies! Light of the sun and moon!"
I jump into the air and as sunlight and moonlight surround my body I go flying back towards Koragg and he groans as he is injured but not down.
"NO!" I snarl angry that my most powerful attack didn't work.
"Your magic is strong!" Koragg points out. "But it cannot compare to that of the master! Behold his power! DARK MAGIC STRIKE!"
I try to raise a shield but it is no use. The magic is too powerful. As the strike hits me I loose my bow and I feel an enormous amount of pain as i hit the side of the hill with so much force that it crumbles from the impact.
"ASTARA!" Claire yells seeing that I am down.
Koragg pulls me to my feet and holds me against the hill.
"Now you know the power of dark magic," Koragg says right up in my face. "That kind of power will always triumph!"
I glare back at him.
"Its not over yet," I say right into his face. "There's more power in courage... the kind it takes to keep going even when it looks like there's no hope. That's why dark magic will never beat us. I was just warming up."
I grab Koraggs sword and pull it away from my head and body.
"You fool," Koragg says realising that I haven't given up. "Just surrender!"
He goes to strike me but I feel a sudden rush of power. I kick him away and float into the air .
"I will never surrender!" I tell Koragg. "Power of the Ancients! ANCIENT MYSTIC MODE!!" My body changes.
"STARLIGHT WARRIOR!"
I fly high into the air grabbing my swords. I feel my body surround in light and as I get high enough I use my magic to send a spell seal to Koragg that holds him in place.
"NOOO!" Koragg yells as he struggles to move.
I then come flying down and he raises his sword but I use both of my sword, one to block and other to strike and I can feel mine overpowering his. His sword breaks in half and he goes stumbling away from where I am floating off the ground in the air.
"My sword!" Koragg says in shock.
He begins to spark as I land back on the ground.
"Oh yeah!" I say clicking my fingers and he finally blows up. "Claire!"
I run over to my sister. The shield breaks around her and I drop back into Celestial Protector mode as I get closer. I help Clare up who is still weak.
"Are you ok?" I ask.
"I think so," Claire says to me. "Being a sorceress is tougher than I thought."
There is a sudden explosion and I run over to look at the place where I had destroyed Koragg. He reappears having not been destroyed completely.
"NO WAY!" I yell is shock.
"You may have destroyed my weapon," he tells me getting back to his feet. "But you have not destroyed me."
"Koragg!" I yell to him before he disappears laughing. "This isn't over, get back here!"
Claire, stumbles over to me. She hugs me. "I thought... I would never see you... But you came..."
"I will always come," I promise her.
"The other rangers...," Clare begins and I can see that she is worried about our friends. "Morticon will destroy them."
Xxxx...
"The Gate!" Ria breathed as the gate closed, "Oh Claire!" . She had called Takara and was currently riding ger in zord form.
"Impossible! Who has done this?!" Morticon roared as the dark clouds disappeared, and Briarwood was filled with light once again. "My Dark Magic! Who dares interfere?!" the monster demanded as he looked around for the culprit.
"Hey! That would be me!" Ria's voice filled the air.
"Hey! It's Ria!"
"And Takara!"
"No way!"
Ria cast a spell to combine with Takara to make the Tigrys Unizord, "UTHE MEJOR ULTIMAS"
"Now it's my turn! STAR TRIDENT!" Ria used her much greater power, and quickly overwhelmed Morticon. "Come on Rangers!" she looked to his friends, who got up and stood around her.
"You insolent little ants!" Morticon snarled furiously as he got to his feet.
"You guys ready?"
"Ready!" the Rangers combined with his Megazord.
"Let's do it!" they grabbed their sabre and fought of Morticon with much greater ease now that they held the power of Catastros. They knocked him to the ground, and a light filled the air above them. "Check it out!" they held their staffs up, and the light filled their Magi Staffs, causing them to start glowing.
"Where'd this energy come from?" Xander wondered.
"No idea, but it couldn't have come at a better time!" Vida grinned.
"Let's see what this new power does!" Ria cheered. They held their hands over their consoles, activating their magic.
"Time to end this!" Morticon announced, holding out his sword so his dark magic surrounded it. "DARK MAGIC STRIKE!"
"ANCIENT POWER, MYSTIC SPELL SEAL!" the Rangers retaliated with their own magic, meeting his sword with their own sabre. On contact, Morticon's sword completely froze.
"What?!" Morticon let out a cry as he fell back, weighed down with the block of ice that was his sword.
"How did we do that?" Vida demanded.
"We froze it!"
"It's gotta be..." Maddie was smiling as she realised.
"Udonna?"
"You mean the White Ranger!" Chip grinned.
"She must have her Snow Staff!" Ria realised with a grin. Feeling a cool hand touch theirs, the Rangers looked to their right to see the White Ranger standing beside them.
"Yeah! Now we can't lose!" Nick's resolve grew, as did the others as they cheered. "TOGETHER!" raising their sabre, they called on the combined power of theirs and Udonna's. "MYSTIC STRIKE!" the powerful hit slammed into Morticon.
"The great Morticon, has fallen, but the Master will prevail!" he swore as his body sparked wildly.
"Checkmate!" with one last call, Morticon collapsed, exploding.
"Great job Rangers, Morticon's gone!" Nick grinned to his friends.
"Forever!" they all laughed, celebrating their victory.
"We must save Claire now," Nick said.
"No need, Claire's safe" Ria told them. "Be back in a few guys," Ria ran off without demorphing, Takara following behind...
Xxxxx...
Ria looked on from her perch above a tree.
"Wake up child," Udonna smiled as she and the Rangers finally found the apprentice, who was lying outside of Rootcore, unconscious. Claire groaned, and looked up weakly, her mother's circlet in her hand. "It's over," she smiled, holding out her hands.
"Udonna...you're alive," Claire couldn't help but laugh as tears filled her eyes.
"A little frozen around the edges but yes, I'm alive," the rest caught up to the sorceress.
"Morticon's gone Claire," Nick told her as Maddie and Chip helped the girl up.
"For good," Xander added.
"Yeah, Udonna was able to channel her power through the Snow Staff to help us," Vida told her when Claire looked confused.
"But none of it would have been possible without your help Claire," Maddie smiled at her as she stepped back. Claire blushed, as the others nodded, grinning at her.
"She's right," Xander agreed.
"You sealed the forces of evil back into the depths! You're like...a super-sorceress!" Chip told her, and the others laughed at his excitement. Claire giggled, going even redder.
"Yeah...I guess I am..." Claire nodded shyly, but her smile faded as she saw the circlet on the ground. She crouched down slowly and lifted it. "But that was my mother's power...and now it's all gone," Claire looked to her Aunt with a sad expression.
"Niella would be proud of you today," Udonna walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "And so am I," Claire managed a smile as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
"I am too..." Ria appeared and was almost bowled over by Claire...
"You're alright!" Claire hugged her tightly.
"I am," Ria laughed.
"Who are you?" Nick asked looking suspiscious.
Udonna stepped forward to hug Ria which she returned, "This is Astara, the Celestial Protector and Claire's sister,"
Ria gave her a smile, "And your niece". Udonna smiled at that.
" Yeah, but... where have you been all this time?" Vida asked.
"I had been looking after four wayward teenagers, now five..." Ria grinned mischieviously as the others looked at her, confused.
"No way..." Chip suddenly exclaimed having figured it out, and stared at her.
Ria grinned and a flash of light later she stood in her ranger suit.
"Ria??!!"
Claire, Udonna and others looked in disbelief.
"Bu-but how?"
"My dad put a glamour on me to protect me from evil, it came off when Claire was in danger. That's why I couldn't come to help you guys..." Ria explained.
Claire just gave her a hug.
Xxxxx...
Claire and Ria, sorry Astara, where talking about their past, with Astara carefully avoiding talking about her homelife. Claire twirled the circlet in her hands.
"You know, it doesn't add up" Astara suddenly told Claire frowning at the band.
"What?" Claire asked.
"Udonna said that Mum gave up her life force to seal the gate. A sorceress's life force is her magic, right?" at Claire's nod she went on. "Then if she used up her magic, then how did it help you today?" Astara asked turning to Claire.
"I don't know. But you are right." Claire frowned. Astara took the circlet and almost dropped it in shock. She could feel the sentience and life radiating from the circlet.
"Impossible" she breathed. "What?" Claire asked.
Astara's eyes widened as she suddenly grabbed Claire. "What if it isn't Mum's magic that was captured in this circlet... What if it was..."
"If it was what??" Claire asked
"What if it was.. Mum herself??" she asked as Claire's eyes widened.
"You think?" Claire asked not daring to hope.
Astara turned and her eyes fell on the Xenotome, "Remember the message from Xenotome. What if it was meant for this..."
Claire looked at her and asked, "Yeah but what did it mean??"
Astara frowned, "It meant... the instrument which can't be touched... Voice... the answer is song. We have to sing"
Claire looked at her sharply. "Then do it".
Astara looked at her determined face then took a deep breadth and began to sing a lullaby from her memories which her Mum used to sing...
I am singing a lullaby to moon
I wish I had found you soon
I thought you'd be my sunshine, shining bright.
You turned out to be my moonbeam, lightning up the night.
Never was I so glad to be wrong
Glad that you've found your song
I've been waiting for so long... for you
My precious moonlight
Shining up so bright...
I am singing a lullaby to a star
Without you, how I survived so far?
I had feared it would be a cloudy night
But you proved me wrong as you twinkled bright.
Never was I so glad to be wrong
Glad that you've found your song
I've been waiting for so long... for you
My treasured shooting star
Never stray too far...
Magic filled up Astara as she sung. The circlet began to glow brightly and hover as a figure began to form under it. As the sing finished, a woman who looked a lot like Claire and Astara stood up and blinked.
" Niella??!!" Udonna came up from behind them and almost shrieked...
Xxxxx...
@1
"It was all you Claire. It was your magic that defeated Necrolai, your magic that fought Korrag, your magic that sealed the gate. I don't have any magic left in me... My magic was used up capturing me in this circlet... Else I would have died..."
@2
"You were married? And had a son?"
"Yes, Leanbow was my husband who died in the war... And Bowen my son... Your father took the two of you as evil was after you... But no one knows what happened to Daggeron and Bowen..."
"My dear, were you alone when you were found?"
"Yes mum"
@3
"How did you learn to fight like that!"
"Well, I learned it in a secret martial arts academy. I learned the basics of all arts, but was in the advance class of Kung fu..."
"How did you get there..."
"Er... I was stumbling through a forest when I heard a sound... I went to check it and saw a Tiger cub surrounded by hynas... its mother was dead... I don't know why, but I ran to it and snatched it from there... The hynas chased me, I ran... They were too fast. I climbed a tree... but they refused to give up. We stayed up the tree for hours. Suddenly the branch gave out and we fell... It was the first time that the teleportation thing kicked in... We landed in a deeper part of forest and I fainted... I was too tired. When I woke up I was in the academy..."
Niella and Claire tried to hug the stuffing out of her after that...
Xxxxxx...
After every thing was explained to Niella she had hugged the living daylights out of both Claire and Astara. The two kids had been told of Leanbow and Bowen and Daggeron.
They all had had a tearful reunion of shorts and then Udonna had sent the two youngsters to bed. They had not wanted to, but after promising that she'll still be there in the morning Niella had send them to Claire's room which Astara would be sharing tonight.
"I must say, I am looking forward to bed tonight," Niella announced as she walked through the main chamber of Rootcore, stretching. "I can only imagine how Claire, Astara and the Rangers are faring. Not to mention y..." Niella stopped as she saw Udonna standing with a ring in her hand. "Leanbow's ring..." Udonna glanced around as Niella walked over.
"Do you think Bowen could be out there somewhere?" Udonna spoke after a moment, looking back at the ring in her hand.
"I do. After all, Astara found her way back, did she not?" Niella smiled softly at her little sister.
"But she was alone... she said that herself" Udonna's voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"That just means that Daggeron and Bowen weren't with her. Who knows what happened to them?" Niella's voice quivered a little, and she cleared her throat. "Have faith, Udonna. You had faith that the Mystic Force would appear, and they did. We will find them, I promise," Niella promised.
"Udonna! Mum!" they both looked around as Claire ran in, looking excited. "I did it!" she told them with an excited smile.
"What is it Claire?" Udonna asked, returning the ring to the chest and shutting it over.
"Why aren't you two asleep yet?" Niella asked as Astara rushed in after Claire.
"I finally perfected my vanishing spell! Watch!" Claire cast the spell as they watched, and her top half disappeared, but left her legs still visible. "Oh..." Niella and Udonna tried not to laugh. "Ok, maybe not perfected," Claire groaned, stumbling off to try and fix it.
"So much like you," Udonna looked to Niella, and started laughing as she pouted.
Astara turned at the adults, "She did perfect it you know... I will go after her and help fix it. Goodnight Mum, Aunt Udonna... It's good to be able to say that". Niella smiled softly at her and hugged her.
_x_
AN: OK I agree that the song was ridiculous. But come on... its the FIRST TIME I'VE WRITTEN A SONG.
But liked my surprise? wink...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Please review!