Disclaimer, I do not own the characters and places spoken of in this title and this story is just written for fun
Chapter 19
Truth
The group then landed in a waste land, they awoke to find nothing around them, it was just a dark barren land with no life. The group looked around and tried to find the ring but they couldn't see a thing for miles. It was like nothing existed in this world, then like a shining ray of hope Maria appeared again this time as a kind of ghost. This time the others could see her and were shocked to see here standing there. She smiled at them and then ran off; the group followed her through the barren wasteland that just looked the same. She then stopped and turned to face them and smiled before a ring appeared before her, it was pale grey and looked like it was made up out of smoke.
"That's the Nothingness Ring" said Pan.
Ikuto and his group then appeared also being lead by a Maria looking spirit, the two groups were surprised to see each other but as both Maria's touched each other the groups we're shrouded in a bright light. Both groups then found themselves in a strange new place; it was like some child's variation of heaven with rainbows and puffy clouds.
"What the hell is this?" asked Dante.
"Weren't we just in some wasteland?" asked Train.
"That person, who was that?" asked Lyner.
"It was Maria" said Lucas.
"Oh so that's Maria, the girl that you care so much about" said Etna.
"So if that was Maria then she must have us in one of her own worlds" said Snow.
"Yeah, this could be something that girl made up, it does look typical for a girl" said Husky.
"But how and why can we see her and what does she want?" asked Amu.
"She must want to talk to all of us" said Sakura.
"But why all of this?" asked Syaoran.
"More importantly what is this girl and how does she have these powers?" asked Mir.
Then Maria appeared infront of them, she looked normal yet something was wrong, she looked saddened and Lucas and everyone knew that the smile on her face was fake.
"So you're Maria" said Ikuto.
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you all" she said.
"So what is this?"" asked Cynder.
"This is and astral projection world, I would ask you all not to move, scratch the wall of this world and you will see the other world lies just beyond it, think of this place as a sphere of light that I have encased you in" said Maria.
"Why have you brought us here?" asked Train.
"To talk to you, my Astral subconscious can not talk to you in real worlds" said Maria
Lucas then walked up to Maria and touched her, she then shaked out of place like a computer screen.
"Your not really here" said Lucas.
"No" said Maria.
"Well don't worry, we'll wrap up what we need to do here and come and get you" said Lucas.
"No, you can't, you can't save me" said Maria.
"Why?" asked Etna.
"I think she is afraid of something" said Joy.
"Well that's kind of obvious" said Lyner.
"If you come for me you'll be playing into Michel's hands" said Maria.
"We can handle him" said Lucas.
"No you can't, he isn't even human, I don't think that he can be hurt or killed" said Maria.
"But we have the gauntlets" said Ikuto.
"I don't think that even they will be enough" said Maria.
"What is he planning?" asked Spyro.
Maria looked at the floor and seemed like she wanted to tell them something important but couldn't.
"Maria, tell us or else we won't be able to stop him" said Snow.
"He is planning to use Pandora's Cocoon" said Maria.
"Pandora's Cocoon?" questioned Train.
"Long ago a creature called Pandora was born that had infinite power and potential yet where ever she went bad luck followed, people and planets died by her just being there and so in despair she cried a river of acid tears and then wove herself inside a cocoon and became nothing more then mere energy" said Maria.
"That's terrible" said Syaoran.
"Indeed however after this they learned that even though Pandora had intended to do good she had in fact put everything in even more danger, that energy inside the cocoon could easily be absorbed by another creature and that person could become a god with untold power and that is what Michel is after, the rings are a key to this weapon" said Maria.
"So this power is like a weapon and good old captain nut job has just got his hand on them" said Etna.
"Things aren't looking good" said Aigis.
"Originally there were only twelve rings yet Pandora was then sealed away a sealed world and the lock and key that was crafted to keep her power locked up was the rings, they crafted from her power twelve additional rings and used them to lock the door and keep her power sealed, the only way to unseal the door is for Michel to have all twelve rings, after which he will absorb their power gaining control over them and al the power that Pandora holds" said Maria.
"Good, as long as we have these rings then there is no way that he can summon Pandora" said Amu.
"You have another reason for all this" said Dante.
"Yes, I've kept a secret for too long" said Maria as she looked at the floor.
She then looked at Lucas and seemed as if she was about to cry.
"I'm so sorry, are you ready to regain your memories" asked Maria.
"Of course, I'm not sure if I'll like what I'll see but I need to remember" said Lucas.
You told me to take your memories and scatter them, I did as you asked so that you would never be able to remember and never get them back, yet you told me that if something like this was to happen that I was to tell you everything said Maria.
"Start then" said Etna.
"Lucas, you, me, Eric and even M were never meant to exist" said Maria.
The group all looked around with confused looks on their faces yet Lucas had heard this before and got ready to here all about his past.
"We are not children of the worlds like your friends are" said Maria.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Aigis.
"While you were all created and born on your world as some part of grand design we were not, Lucas and I were created not by humans but by the three lords" said Maria.
"Three lords and what do you mean created?" asked Amu.
"It was long ago, their was a war between the three lord of Chaos and their order and the lord of harmony and their order, as the battle raged on it seemed like the three lords would lose so they and their order turned to one creature which they made out of the darkness" said Maria.
"Michel" said Mir.
"Yes, the orders most powerful and Psychotic creation, he proposed the idea of using harmony against itself by mixing the blood of harmony with that of chaos, so he went to a multitude of worlds and took blood samples and returned to his lab, the world where you met me" said Maria.
"So what was he trying to do" asked Spyro.
"He wanted to prove his theory of creating a living entire that doesn't belong anyway, he wanted to make a weapon that could chose no side and belonged no where, something he could control and through this he manipulated the blood and created you Lucas along with Eric and M" said Maria.
"What?" questioned Ikuto.
"At first everything went as Michel had wanted, he brought you three to the battle field and you slaughtered and killed yet something then happened that Michel did not see coming, you suddenly refused to fight and just wouldn't kill anymore" said Maria.
"No, that can't….I'm not a killer I was born in a human world, I've lived there for a long time" said Lucas.
"No, that was the illusion I was asked to create" said Maria.
"Illusion, by who?" asked Lucas.
"You after I became you partner I saw your kind heart and soul for what it really is and granted you your wish, you wished to live a normal life like the humans and to forget all about what had happened, you couldn't live with what you had done but you couldn't cowardly kill yourself either" said Maria.
"Just who are you Maria or what are you?" asked Lucas.
"I am Maria the unwanted, I was created in case Michel did in fact lose you, for Pandora's cocoon to open something else is needed, Pandora herself must look at her cocoon and scream" said Maria.
"Well that's never going to happen" said Train.
"Don't be so sure, I was created the same way as Lucas except I had more of a harmonic side then originally had and I have Pandora's blood flowing through my veins, Michel practically made me like her daughter and made me Lucas's partner for a time, I have certain special powers because of Pandora" said Maria.
"So he's going to use you as well no matter what, hell force you to open the cocoon" said Syaoran.
"Yes, me and Lucas fought side by side, he was also forced to fight or else he would die, I healed him and then because I felt guilty I offered him a choice, he took it asking to live a normal life, I hesitated at first but gave it to him, I just did what I thought was right" said Maria.
"So what, you took away his memories then took him to some other world and dumped him in an orphanage" said Pan.
"Yes at his request but I had to keep their minds in a loop so that the others and Lucas himself wouldn't realise that he never ages at all and that he doesn't bleed and that he even learns quickly and adapts to everything" said Maria.
"I am not like that" said Lucas.
"Yes you are, think about it you have never aged a day in your life just like me, you're a clone, a mixture of other peoples blood just like me" said Maria.
"Whose blood?" asked Aigis.
"All of yours, Michel took the blood of all of the chosen by the Demis and those who now side with him to make us, Demis are the gatekeepers of Pandora, although they have forgotten their role now if they sense the possibility that it was going to open then they would act and so Michel knew this and planned accordingly" said Maria.
"This has all been a long game that Michel has been playing with us, my entire life was nothing more then a lie" said Lucas as he fell to the floor.
"Yes and so we now come to the end, kill me" said Maria who then opened up her arms.
"What?" questioned Husky.
"If I die then Michel's plan will fail, I won't let him win no matter what, this form if stuck with sufficient rage and force should cause my real body to die, so kill me" said Maria.
"We…" began Sakura.
The whole group was shocked and just couldn't move, they did nothing but silently shake their head except Lucas who stood up and drew his sword.
"Come on Lucas or should I call you Advaka, your real name, you hate me don't you, hate me for keeping this stuff from you and making your whole life into a lie, you hate me so much that you'll willingly kill me, so do it, kill me, kill me" said Maria.
Everyone stared at Lucas as he gripped his sword tightly, Lucas then rushed forward and lunged as if prepared to strike, Maria closed her eyes and tears fell form them as she heard Lucas's sword cut through something. Maria opened her eyes and looked; everyone was then surprised by this outcome as they saw that Lucas had completely missed Maria and had hit a Hex that was behind her and was going to electrocute her. Maria and the others looked at Lucas surprised yet somewhat proud of him.
"Many things can be forgiven but hurting the innocent and little kids isn't one of them, you did what I asked of you so what do I have to hate you for, I fact I should thank you for doing as I asked and then trying to get me to kill you so Michel could be stopped" said Lucas.
"Lucas….." said Maria who was shocked by Lucas's words.
Everyone was shocked by Lucas's actions and wondered how he truly felt and what was racing through his mind. Lucas then dropped his sword and fell to his knees as if he didn't believe what he had heard.
"It….just can't be true….I know that I did live those days and that my life was real" said Lucas.
"It is all true" said a familiar voice.
Eric then appeared and the white aura around them shattered to reveal a whole army of Hexes surrounding them in a circle, the group were shocked by this amount of Hexes and wondered where they all came from. The ring then managed to tuck itself away in Lucas's pocket and even though her sphere was gone Maria remained yet couldn't speak.
"Everything she said is true, because of you two and your shame crap we lost the war and the three lords were sealed away leaving the order of Chaos to revert to petty schemes like the Nothing card, however Michel had a plan that will put us back on top of those harmonic fools" said Eric.
"What is with your obsession with Lucas?" asked Amu.
"We are best friends, after the war ended I was sent to find you but this witch hid you well, I could never find you but when I learned that it was you that was leading this group well then I just couldn't wait to settle the score, you forced me to al those worthless worlds, I was forced to destroy my old home and this world to get rid of all evidence of your birth and it's all because of you" said Eric.
Lucas just stayed there not even moving; he had given up on everything including his life.
"So you've finally accepted this as truth, very well then it's time I put you out of your misery, like me and that witch and even M you are destined to die, you have no other purpose but to serve our master until death, you're fate is death" said Eric as he tried to slash Lucas with his sword.
A sword came clashing down and was going to hit Lucas yet suddenly the sword stopped, Lucas looked up confused and saw Ikuto stopping the sword from hitting him.
"Ikuto…." said Lucas.
"Is this really how you want to solve this problem" said Ikuto.
Eric then tried to kill Ikuto but Snow then jumped in and punched Eric away.
"Weren't you the one who said that the past doesn't mater, all that mattered was the here and now" said Snow.
"Your not going to give up so easily are you, I didn't take you for the cowardly type" said Etna.
"Who cares what you are or once were, we are all a bit odd but that's not going to stop us form fighting for what we believe in" said Syaoran.
"I may not have been here long but letting this get to you isn't the way to go, we all have a dark past, some more then others but we need to pull through and not let it consume us" said Train.
"If you fall down get right back up, letting something like this keep you down will not make the problem go away, the only way to make it go away is for you to face it head on" said Aigis.
"I've done things I'm not proud of because of Malefor but my friends taught me not to let it bother me so it should be the same for you" said Cynder.
"No one backs down and gives up, at least not with out s fight" said Spyro.
"That's right" said Joy.
"Listen to them" said Mis.
"Who cares about some destiny or what happened a long time ago" said Pan.
"You need to face today head on" said Lyner
"No one gets though life without making a few mistakes and believe me I know" said Amu.
"Problems don't just sole themselves" said Husky.
"You have to try and fix your problems to really get rid of them that is what you taught me" said Mir.
"You won't be alone, we'll all help you" said Sakura.
"So hurry up and get in this fight or else you miss out on all the fun" said Dante.
"So stand up and fight, Lucas" said everyone as they drew their weapons and created a sort of shield around him.
Lucas was shocked by this and then Maria touched his shoulder and smiled at him as with the last of her strength she transmitted a single thought.
"I never wanted to hurt you, we all care about you, me especially and we don't want to see you go, you are who you chose to be, today, here and now" said Maria.
Maria then disappeared and returned to her true body, Lucas then smiled and picked up his sword and stood infront of the group. He laughed and then got ready to fight as the rest of group looked at Lucas with a smile across their faces. Eric and the Hexes were confused and angry by what was happening.
"What is this, why not face your fate?" asked Eric.
"They're right, giving up too soon is just too childish of me , maybe what you say is true and I am who you say I am but that doesn't matter now, all that matters is here and now, thank you guys for reminding me of that" said Lucas.
"No problem" said Amu.
"So you're just going to abandon your fate?" questioned Eric.
"No, I intend to challenge it, unlike you I have something I call hope and with it I'm going to change my fate and who I am, I will never give up" said Lucas.
As he said those words a card from Sakura's deck glowed and then appeared infront of them, it had a girl on it with a smile holding heart and was known as the hope card. The card transformed into a young looking girl in white clothes, she smiled at the group as they stared up at her.
"It's her" said Sakura.
"The nothing card" said Eric.
"No, the hope card" said Syaoran.
The girl then shined like a bright light blinding Eric and the Hexes but felt welcoming to the group, all of the groups wounds then healed and then they all felt like they had gotten some kind of upgrade. They felt supercharged and ready for battle, the girl smiled and nodded her head as she returned to her card form and returned to Sakura's pocket. The group then got ready to fight.
"We are not like you, we fight for our own fate, we follow our hearts" said Lucas.
"Carbuncle" said Sakura.
"Shiva" said Snow.
"Fenrir" said Syaoran.
"Tiamat" said Etna.
"Titan" said Spyro and Cynder.
"Cait Sith" said Amu.
"Odin" said Lyner.
"Alexander" said Aigis
"Shemhazai" said Train.
"Eden" said Ikuto.
"Ifrit" said Dante.
"Leviathan" said Husky.
"Bahamut" said Lucas.
Then their entire summons except Mir's who she still had not been able to summon appeared, Husky's was this huge sea serpent called Leviathan while Dante's was this huge fiery giant named Ifrit. Lyner had Odin, a dark looking knight that rode a horse and used a sword. Shemhazai, Train's summon was this huge man in red that used guns to blast his way through the battle field. All of them then got ready to fight as Eric and the Hexes began to panic.
"I'm fighting this fate until the end" said Lucas.
Eric then cowardly ran for his life as the group charged into the massive army of Hexes, even though odd seemed against them with their summons they managed to hold their own, the group cut down all the Hexes in there way, not one of them was a match for the two groups. The three Demis helped out in this fight and stalled a few Hexes before the group defeated them, Ikuto who had been in his merged form with Yoru the whole time fought back to back with Lucas taking out as many Hexes as they could. Soon not many were left and Bahamut quickly took care of them, the whole army of Hexes had been defeated and the group were left unscratched. The groups dismissed their summons and then celebrated and cheered but knew it wasn't over; they had to stop Pandora's Cocoon from opening and finish Michel once and for all as now only one ring remained. Michel in his headquarters was fuming with rage for the first time but then he smiled remembering a crucial thing that would win him the battle and the gate to Pandora.