REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Chapter Twenty- Epilogue
//Bring me to life
I've been living a lie
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life//
Zordon watched Kimberly's family left, knowing the Master Warrior would appear soon. The last time he had seen Dulcea was before the Battle of Rainier, when she had given up her title as the Sentinel of Wisdom and taken up the mantle of Master Warrior from her mentor. His old friend and Dulcea's brother Ninjor had also been chosen to leave the vanguard as the Sentinel of Friendship to become the forger for the Temple. That had been the last time he had seen his Carys, the Sentinel of Love, alive. With the burden of her duties, Dulcea had rarely left the Temple of the Ninjetti on Phaedos for fear of those with evil in their hearts would try to access the Great Power. Time ticked on by, Alpha leaving to go recharge for the next day.
Then suddenly, Dulcea was there in her green-white ceremonial robes.
"It has been a long time since we last saw each other." Zordon spoke softly, eyes taking in the lithe form of the Master Warrior. She had barely aged in the time they have been apart. Her hair was still the strawberry blonde as the humans called it, her green eyes glittering with the warmth he remembered when the four of them had been together.
"Indeed, it has." Dulcea approached the warp tube, sad to see her friend still encased there in his prison. "The last we saw each other, Zordon, was at the ceremony before Rainier."
Zordon gazed at Dulcea a little while longer before mentally shaking himself out of his reverie. "I am glad that the Ninjetti Sentinels have been reborn. Too long has the Warriors been asleep."
"They have come finally, bringing a new era of the Ninjetti with them. The Nathadians' role in the history of the Ninjetti has ended once Ninjor and I have passed on beyond the Veil. The Ninjetti will be what it should have been long ago. Once the Royal Guard is found along with the Emperor and the Empress, those who are warriors will hear the call of their Animal Spirits and come to us. Until then, we must wait."
"Will the Guards come from Earth as well?"
"I do not know, Zordon. The Animal Spirits choose who they wish to carry the Powers. It has always been thus." Dulcea removed a box from her robe and placed it on the console before Zordon. Opening it, she revealed the five Power Coins her brother had created in his forge in the Temple. "The last three in your project along with two more as the Silver Archaeopteryx and the Gold Giganotosaurus have joined the ranks of the Ancient Ones to watch over the Rangers. and the chambers of the Order. Choose your five Rangers wisely for battle and war is on the horizon, Zordon."
"I believe I know who will carry the Coins. I will just have to watch them closely before my decision is final. Have you found the White Magnateoron Coin?"
"No, Zordon. We have not found it yet and neither the Grey Velociraptor Coin. In fact, Ninjor felt its destruction."
Surprise filtered over Zordon's face. "The Grey Coin has been in Rita's clutches this whole time. The Grey Ranger has been missing for months now since the last battle the Rangers engaged him in."
"That was when the Coin was destroyed. But be careful, the pieces of the Coin are still located in the Lunar Palace. She does not have the knowledge to re-forge it but one never knows with Rita. She can do something with the remaining power."
Zordon was quiet. If the Coin had been destroyed but the pieces were still in Rita's possession, where was Billy Cranston? And why had the Coin been destroyed if the Grey Ranger was the most powerful weapon in Rita's hands? "Dulcea, are you hiding information from me regarding the one named Billy Cranston?"
"It is more of the fact that I do not know if it will help you or the Rangers or him."
So Dulcea did know of Hank's son. "You do know that the sensors in the Command Center identified him to be the Blue Ranger?"
"I had that feeling, yes."
"Then you know that I was the one who made the decision to give the Triceratops Coin to Rocky DeSantos instead as I felt Billy did not fit my description of the Rangers I needed. Somehow, Rita knew Billy was the one who should have carried the Blue Coin and instilled an anger in him towards me and the Green and Blue Rangers."
"Yes, I know this as well. And perhaps that is the reason why the Spirits chose William to carry the Crest of Courage." Dulcea watched as shock flew over Zordon's face. "He is the Sentinel Commander, Zordon. He was able to escape Rita's control and teleport to Phaedos,. Luckily, I was patrolling the beaches when I stumbled on him otherwise he would have died from the wounds he received."
"He was under spell?"
Dulcea nodded. "At first, Goldar trained him physically to obey him and Rita or risk punishment which is why your sensors never picked up anything suspicious. Once he was taken back, Rita couldn't risk the chance of having him escape again so she placed a spell on him. Unfortunately for her, the Sword of Mazarin protected him when Jason slashed at him during a previous battle. The Dragon Zord also added some when Billy was studying him. This helped him to throw off the spell and escape about 8 months after he destroyed the Grey Coin."
"Why has he not come back yet? His parents are waiting for him." The boy would have so many scars on his physical body and his soul. To have his own family and friends leave him in the clutches of the witch. And they also carried their own scars from the forced torture under his hand, more burden to the heavy weight on his shoulders.
"Right now, his emotions are controlling him, Zordon. Any attempt now will be rebuffed and he will think later it will be too late to connect with his family. The Sentinels are watching over him, making sure he's talking and interacting. Once he is ready, I will send him here."
"There is one thing that has been troubling me, Dulcea. It was the fact how easily the Rangers and their heads of family turned on him. They were close friends before Rita was released but that night, it was as if nothing mattered." The Master Warrior did not know how many times Zordon had pondered the situation. His feelings over it was made worse by the fact the Grey Ranger was not evil as they first had thought.
"I do not know, Zordon. William was never with them the whole time. Rita could have done anything to them and you would not know. The sensors in the Command Center have become old and much has changed since their design."
"You are right. It has been a long time since I have my physical body that I have begun to forget the fact that technology cannot always detect everything."
"I will return to my studies of dimensional spells to see if I can find the spell that will counteract Rita's. Your body may not have aged during the time you were in there."
"I believe it has, Dulcea. Perhaps even at a faster rate." The mage's smile was sad. "If the fates are kind, they will grant me my wish to see Carys again."
"Your brother will be sad to hear of your death. He is hoping that once his son becomes of age, he will be freed from the duties of Lord Prime to come and visit you here on Earth."
"Ryland should worry about Eltar first. Our home planet is still recovering from the last war as are the last races of the Order of Meledon." Zordon noticed the expression on Dulcea's face. "Are there more news?"
"Reports from the edges of the galaxy have stated the sightings of the Feardorcha ships entering the boundaries. The Sentinels had been sent to Bremen to deal with one of Rita's descendents and to destroy her new weapon. The first report stated she had built the warship that was threatening the twin planet. I just finished looking over the video footage from its destruction. The design is similar to the Feardorcha's planet destroyers, too familiar."
"They have come back?"
"If the sightings are true, then another war will soon be on our hands. And I believe the Sentinels are still not ready for battle."
"Their numbers were decimated in the Battle of Rainier. They fled back to the Pegasus Galaxy with the Eltarian fleet behind them.
"Perhaps it was the vanguard and they have sent their entire fleet now. Whatever the numbers, the Order has begun preparations and have sent warships to patrol the galaxy boundary nearest to the Pegasus Galaxy. Any Feardorcha warship that is encountered has been ordered to be destroyed on sight."
"It took all seven races to defeat them. With the Ninjetti gone and the others still recovering, the battle will take longer and the costs greater."
"Hope for the best, Zordon. You have not yet seen the new assault vehicles William has designed. They are superior to any of the Feardorcha war machines. Hopefully, they will be great of an asset as to turn the war into our favor."
"Perhaps."
Dulcea smiled. "It will be just like old time, Zordon. Only we have taken the role of the elders while the younglings go off to battle."
"They will lose many of their loved ones, Dulcea. I don't know if I can handle them seeing them suffer so much pain. I have begun to see them as family in a way."
"We must learn to endure, Zordon. It is all we can do or risk being terminated from this life. May the Power protect you, Zordon." Dulcea saluted him in the ancient ways of the Nathadians before teleporting out. Zordon's gaze rested on the box, the dim light of the consoles glinting off the golden edges.
He will have to make sure William's family was ready if the Wolf Ninjetti ever came back. Yes, he would have to watch over his Rangers and their families.
Spyridon- This is the end of Ethereal Vision. Right now, I'm working on the first chapter of Forgotten Serenity which is set to take place in the last week of October 1994. I'm liking this timeline. :D I've also started a project for creating PR Themetic List which can be found on the CA forum. Any help will be greatly appreciated. But for right now, I'm so enjoying the end of EV. Last chapters are always killers.