Chapter 21 – The Mystic Mother
The following morning after arriving in Briarwood, the six British teens stood outside Rootcore waiting for their escort to the Mystic Mother. Udonna and the others were tight lipped about this mysterious woman, only that she was the guardian of light magic. Whether this extended to wizarding magic, none of the Mystic Force Ranger knew. The Hogwarts teens were desperate though, if Voldemort possessed Chi magic this could make him virtually unstoppable.
After waiting in the early morning light for a few minutes, Nick appeared outside with Udonna close behind, "The portal to the Mystic Mother is open", the white witch began, "the time with her will be limited so use it wisely".
"I'll guide you to her realm", Nick added, "but once there you'll be on your own".
"Doesn't sound ominous at all", Ron grumbled under his breath, earning him a small slap from Hermione.
Ignoring his friends, Harry spoke up for his team, "Thanks for this", he began, "hopefully we'll be back in time to see more of the city".
"About that", Udonna sighed, "the Mystic Mother mentioned that you wouldn't be returning to Briarwood after your meeting".
Cho frowned, "Not returning? Is she kicking out the city or something".
"No, nothing like that", Udonna insisted, "unfortunately she was rather cryptic in her response, I couldn't obtain any additional information as to your future destination".
Harry sighed, if there was one thing he hated it was a mysterious quest. He'd experienced enough of those during his six years at Hogwarts. His team though needed all the guidance they could get. With Dumbledore dead, this Mystic Mother could be their only hope. Summoning up his Gryffindor courage, he said, "We're ready when you are".
Almost on cue a nearby tree glowed brightly with pure, white light, "Looks like she's ready for you", Nick announced, "after you guys".
One by one the teens stepped up to the tree and through the portal. On the other side all they could see was white, Harry had to shield his eyes from the brightness, "Sorry about this", Nick said from behind the group, "this is a natural defence from any unwanted intruders". Through a gap in his hand, Harry saw Nick point his Mystic Morpher in front of his body and type in a spell code. Instantly the brightness faded, it was still a dazzling white but it was now comfortable enough to see.
A few hundred metres away from a small property, sitting on a bed of clouds. The gothic pillars reminded Harry of a small temple or shrine, a fitting place for the mistress of light magic, "Well this is where I leave you", Nick began, moving to shake hands with Harry, "sorry the visit was so brief, perhaps when you beaten this Voldemort guy you'll come back for longer".
"We'd like that", Harry replied, accepting the handshake. Almost instantly though Nick disappeared, "Huh, that was unexpected".
"So is the house on a bed of clouds", Dean shrugged, "one thing I've learned since becoming a Power Ranger, you just have to go with the flow".
The house began to glow softly, almost inviting the teens to visit, "Maybe we should see if someone's home", Ginny urged the group, "this place is giving me the creeps".
Agreeing with the red head's suggestion, Harry led the group up the invisible path towards the property. As they got a little closer, they noticed there was no door, "How are we going to get inside?" Ron asked.
"Shhh", Hermione cut in front of the blue ranger, "I think I hear voices".
Harry too could hear some noise coming from inside the property, only it wasn't what he expected to hear from the home of the Mystic Mother. There were two distinct voices, a raspy, deep male voice and a shrill, screechy female one. Evidently the woman wasn't overly impressed with the man, "What have I told you about leaving your stuff lying around the kitchen Zedd?"
"You're one to talk", the man identified as Zedd countered, "if I trip over your staff one more time-"
"You'll do what radiator face", the woman spat in response.
The man snorted in reply, "Honestly woman that wasn't a clever insult when it was factually accurate". The teens looked at each other nervously, slightly uncomfortable by the ongoing argument between the couple, "Now, perhaps you should focus on something more important like greeting our guests waiting outside".
"What guests?" the woman shrieked. They was a pause and the wizards couldn't make out the continued conversation inside. Suddenly there was a flash and the teens found they had moved from the exterior of the property to the interior. Standing in front of them was a middle ages Asian woman dressed in a flowing white robe and elaborate headdress. Next to her was a slightly older man with greying hair and a blood red robe, "Welcome", the woman greeted with a much softer tone then she used when the teens were eavesdropping, "I am the Mystic Mother and this is my trusted adviser-".
"And hen-pecked husband", the man snorted.
"Can it would you", the woman snapped before turning her attention back to the teens, "as I was trying to say, this is my trusted adviser and husband, Zedd".
Something twigged inside Hermione's mind at hearing the man's name, "Zedd, as in Lord Zedd?" she asked, "one of the primary enemies of the original team of Power Rangers?"
A small grin appeared on Zedd's face, "Good to see my notoriety still lives on", he stated, "my days as the Monarch of Evil are long behind me", he added jovially, like he was talking about going to the shops, "nowadays I devote my time to research and aiding my darling wife with her duties as the Mystic Mother".
"Which basically means he spends all day sitting on his backside", the Mystic Mother snorted.
"Like you've got a busy schedule", Zedd snorted, "how many times does your crystal ball need monitoring anyway?"
The awkward feeling had returned for the teens, they had come to the Mystic Mother for advice, not to bear witness to a domestic argument, "Have we come at a bad time?" Dean asked, "I assume Udonna told you who we are?"
"Of course my dears", the Mystic Mothers replied warmly, "anything to assist the growth of good magic". She turned to her husband and switched to her nasally voice, "Zeddy, do something useful and fix our guests some drinks". She looked around the room, which was an extension of the misty atmosphere from the outside, "And make this place a little more homely would you".
Zedd sighed grumpily as a large silver staff with a stylised Z appeared in his hands, "It's days like this which make me miss Goldar". A crack of lightning temporarily blinded the teens as the room turned into a large, comfy looking sitting room. Two large chairs were at one end of the room with two sofas flanking the area, "Make yourselves at home", Zedd added before turning to his wife, "your usual bitter tea Rita my dear", he added in jest as he magicked up several pots of teas and coffee for the centre of the room.
"Rita?" once again Hermione's mind was working, "Rita Repulsa?" the Mystic Mother sighed in annoyance, "how did you become the mistress of all good magic?"
"Aren't you a smart one", Rita grumbled towards the yellow ranger, "it's an interesting story but that's not why you're here today is it?"
"No it isn't", Harry began, "have you heard of Chi magic before?" Both Rita and Zedd went wide eyed, "I'll take that as a yes then", the red ranger continued.
Rita took a slow, deliberate drink from her china tea cup before answering the wizard, "I thought there was something familiar about your powers", she began, "Chi magic is amongst the oldest brand of magic in the universe".
"There's many practitioners of Chi across the galaxies", Zedd picked up the story, his earlier argument with Rita long forgotten, "including myself at one point".
"You?" Cho asked sceptically, "I've heard about the infamous Lord Zedd, I wouldn't have picked you as a Chi user".
A sad smile passed over Zedd's face, "Voldermort and I share a common character fault, we both love power and will do anything to get as much power as we can possibly get. Chi is all about balance, too much darkness can be intoxicating.
"The same can be said of light too", Rita added, "peace and tranquillity is a noble goal but they can be a path to dangerous inaction. Perhaps that's why magic chose me to be the Mystic Mother, only someone who's known true darkness can appreciate true light".
Harry sighed internally, this was turning into a Dumbledore style conversation, "You must be the red ranger", Rita shook her head whilst looking at Harry, "no matter the team, the red ranger always lacks patience".
"Forgive me for wanting to stop a psychopath from taking over our world as quickly as possible", Harry replied dryly.
Zedd snorted, "I like him", the former Emperor of Evil said to his wife, "but I refer you to my earlier comment, Chi is all about balance and it will do anything to keep that balance".
The teens thought for a moment until Ginny spoke up, "So if Voldemort's strengthened his army then Chi will find a way to strength our side too?"
"In theory", Rita began, "in my experience though magic isn't that literal though". Rita's staff appeared in her hands and the orb in the centre slowly powered up, "I'm sure it hasn't escaped your attention that your opponent bare striking resemblance to Zedd's monsters".
"Tommy mentioned something about that", Dean replied.
"Ah Tommy Oliver", Zedd smiled, "who would've thought he'd become a Doctor". After a couple of moments he returned to his story, "Chi isn't like any other source of energy, it can never truly be destroyed. Unbeknownst to me, I tapped into the residual Chi energy around the planet when creating my monsters, giving them similar visages to the Gormal".
"But not the power", Cho commented, much to Zedd's grumpiness, "not to knock your evil powers but there isn't much that can truly rival a fully powered Gormal beast".
Zedd reluctantly nodded his head, "After much research in the last 20 years I have also reached the same conclusion".
"So that explains the monsters, I guess", Ron began uncertainly, "but what about our zords?"
"Why do they bare a resemblance to the old Thunder Zords?" Rita finished the blue rangers question for him, "unfortunately only Zordon would know the answer to that".
"And he died several years ago, correct?" Hermione asked, to which Rita and Zedd nodded in agreement, "Maybe he saw images of the Mythic Beasts and copied their designs for the Thunder Zords", she theorised.
"Knowing Zordon as I did, I suspect it wasn't quite as simple as that", Rita responded. She powered up her crystal orb to show the teens some more images, "Have you ever taken a close look at Tommy's second set of powers?" Pictures of the original white ranger appeared on the orb, "Do they look familiar?"
The wizards looked closely but didn't quite understand, that was until the images changed to superimpose the Mystic Squadron next to the white ranger, "They're a perfect fit", Dean stated in confusion.
"That's not possible", Cho added, "there were only five ancient warriors, not six".
"Someone hasn't read up on their Ranger history", Rita shook her head, "adding a sixth rangers to a team is almost a tradition".
"One you unwittingly started", Zedd couldn't help but snip at his wife, "also remember what I said about balance, if one side becomes too powerful then Chi will automatic try to balance the odds".
"By creating a new set of powers?" Harry asked, "Can Chi really do that?"
Zedd nodded, "It can, I will caution you though, this sense of balance will work for both sides".
"We've noticed", Hermione sighed, "the power of the Gormal Generals have been given to some of Voldemort's most loyal followers".
"Then there's no time to lose", Rita stood up and grabbed her staff, "no doubt Voldemort and his followers will attempt to claim this potential new power for themselves".
Harry though wasn't so sure, "Hang on a second, just where are you sending us and how can you be so sure there's a new Chi power out there".
"To where the Power Rangers began, Angel Grove", Rita answered, "as to why we're so sure there's a new power out there", she looked at the husband and smiled, "experience tells us that if the bad guys have gotten a power upgrade, the Power Rangers will inevitably find an upgrade of their own". In conjunction with Zedd, the pair cross their staffs, "and it will be nice to be on the right side of this for once".
Before the teens could protest a portal opened underneath them and they were spirited away to Angel Grove. The moment the wizards disappeared, Rita's knees gave out, "I thought they'd never leave", she commented weakly.
"Are you certain it's him", Zedd asked with concern, "he hasn't been seen in over twenty years. Maybe Zordon's energy wave cleansed his existence from the universe".
"No", Rita replied firmly, "I would recognise his evil energy anywhere". She struggled to her feet and dropped heavily into a chair, "Someone has called on the dark powers of Lokar once again".