Chapter 26 – Tritanoss
Kendra glanced out of the opening in the fissure, and watched as the four members of the Society of the Evening Star eventually hit the ocean floor, not too far from where Tritanoss' plateau was.
Seth began muttering under his breath, although it was quite easy for the rest of the Knights to make out that he was repeatedly saying "Tritanoss shall slumber beneath the wave, unless a fire ring surrounds his grave."
"I'd be really impressed if Oblivion actually could pull off that little task," said Warren.
"Well, I'm not exactly in the mood to find out," said Kendra. "And I'm afraid that he already has a plan."
Seth watched as the four Society members, all still encased in bubbles, proceeded to walk around the base of the plateau. "We're the ones in need of a plan."
"I don't know about those other two people," said Bright, "but our real concern is with Oblivion and Ashley. Our magic won't work on them, and we'd give ourselves away if we went after the other two."
"Our best bet would be to have Mariana attack either Ashley or Oblivion, now while they're still vulnerable targets."
"What about me?" asked Raxtus, who was currently invisible. "I may be slower underwater, but they can't see me."
"We can still sense you, Raxtus," said Warren. "Even if you are invisible, it's still quite obvious to us where you are. And at least with Mariana, she'll have a speed advantage."
Raxtus sighed. "You've got a point. We're both likely to get spotted, and Mariana no doubt is faster and stronger than I am."
"Okay," said Seth. "Let's do this. Mariana, I want you to try and sneak up on Ashley."
"Mariana doesn't know who's who," said Kendra, observing the three uncloaked people. She could soon make out that they were in fact Ashley, Margot and Alexander. Alexander in particular stood close by Oblivion's side. "That's Ashley," she said while pointing, "the woman with the dark shirt."
Mariana spurted out of the fissure, leaving her riders behind, and began circling around the inner perimeter of Aquaton at a high speed.
"No," said Kendra, who was still watching out for the Society. "I think they know something's up!"
Sure enough, Ashley proceeded to transform into a red dragon. She merely stood still, as Mariana quickly lunged at her, wrapping her entire serpentine body around her's. Ashley growled, and struggled to break free, but was not strong enough.
"It's the Knights of the Dawn," said Margot. "Who else could it be?"
Oblivion proceeded to unleash his magic upon Mariana, turning her entire body to stone.
"Mariana," gasped Seth. "Did you see that? The Sphinx did that almost effortlessly."
Everyone watched as Ashley unsuccessfully struggled to break free from her stone entrapment. "Help me, Oblivion!"
Oblivion then whispered something to Alexander, who in turn said "Oblivion is unable to use his enhanced fairy magic to inflict pain onto others."
"We've gotta save her," said Kendra. "Before Ashley builds up the strength to shatter her body."
"If Mariana can keep Ashley at bay, we may have a chance of attacking Oblivion," said Clover. "But we need to act now."
"Right," said Bright, as she and Clover swam over towards Mariana and Ashley.
"Who are those merfolk?" asked Margot. "Think they can protect their insolent city, do they?"
The two fairies then used their signature magical powers to return Mariana's stone body back to an organic state.
"What's going on?" asked Alexander.
"Those mermaids look familiar," said Ashley, whose face suddenly lit up. "They're in cahoots with the Knights of the Dawn! Destroy them!"
Oblivion unleashed a wave of black magic at Bright and Clover, who in turn repelled it with a rainbow of their own magic. The two sources magic of pushed against each other, almost like an inverted game of tug o' war.
"We've got to stop him," said Raxtus, who then swam over towards Oblivion. Warren followed behind, and signalled for Kendra and Seth to do the same.
"It's now or never," said Warren, as he swam off after Raxtus. Kendra and Seth were both scared for their lives, but trusted their guts and swam after Warren towards the inner city.
"It is the Knights of the Dawn!" exclaimed Margot. "As merfolk?"
"I'll turn them into sushi," said Ashley, as she continued struggling to break free. "I'd transform, but this sea snake will crush me!"
"Let Oblivion have the honors," said Alexander, who then sensed something and pointed. "Master, over there!"
Oblivion shot a blast of black magic at Raxtus, which not only cancelled out his invisibility, but rendered him a stone statue as it had done so earlier to Mariana.
"No!" gasped Kendra.
"We've got him," said Clover, as she and Bright used their magic on Raxtus to restore the fairy dragon back to his normal self.
"But we can't keep this up forever," said Bright.
"Well Oblivion can," said Alexander, as Oblivion used his magic to begin rendering some sort of golden force field around his entire body.
"I've got an idea," said Warren, as he swam over towards Bright and Clover, while Seth and Kendra followed behind.
"What?" asked Clover.
"Give me the Translocator. As long as Mariana's got Ashley pinned down, I can use it to force Ashley out of here."
"You've got a point," said Clover, as she used her magic to retrieve the Translocator and presented it to Warren.
"Thanks," said Warren, as he accepted the Translocator and proceed to swim over to where Ashley and Mariana were.
Suddenly, a bolt of black energy hit Warren, which turned both him and the Translocator into solid stone.
"Warren!" shrieked Kendra, who was now truly terrified of her own cousin having been turned into a stone statue.
"Is that the Translocator he's holding?" asked Margot, who was inspecting the poor merman's frozen body. If we could somehow dislodge it from his body..."
"Oblivion doesn't care right now," said Alexander. "He asks that the rest of you Knights refrain from pulling a fast one, or you'll join your friend over there."
"Hold on," said Clover, as she and Bright used their magic to turn Warren back to normal. However, they failed to restore the Translocator, which remained as a stone artifact.
"Oh no," said Warren, feeling the altered artifact that was in his grasp. "The Translocator. It's... ruined."
Suddenly, everyone heard an unfamiliar voice laughing heavily. Kendra and Seth were both unsure whom it belonged to.
Oblivion clapped his hands, and his cloak vanished. Standing in his spot appeared to be none other than a full-sized, black-haired, black-winged... fairy.
Everyone, including Ashley and Margot, was in shock. Alexander did not appear to display his own reaction.
"Oblivion..." gasped Seth, "is a fairy?"
"Ho-ly," exclaimed Warren, who was truly awestruck.
"Why are you surprised?" asked Oblivion, in a rather calm, yet otherwise stern, female voice. "It all makes perfect sense when you think about it."
"How?" asked Kendra, whose heart was pounding with terror. "How can you be a... fairy?"
"I'm more than just a fairy," answered Oblivion. "I am a dark fairy. And since you came all this way, I suppose the least I can do would be to provide an explanation. I hail from the Fairy Kingdom, just like all other fairies. But the rest of the fairies didn't like my intentions, so they banished me into this world to get rid of me."
"Then what are you doing in control of the Evening Star?" asked Warren.
"Oblivion laughed. That stupid Fairy Queen thought she was doing her subjects a favor by exiling me from the Fairy Kingdom."
"Don't talk about my mother that way!" snarled Bright.
Oblivion scoffed. "Stranded in this world of humans, I was lacking the power I needed to return home. But that didn't stop me from increasing my own power. Training myself to the limit, I grew stronger and stronger over the years, until I was ready to... move on."
"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" asked Kendra.
"I wanted power," said Oblivion. "But being a fairy in a world dominated by humans, I had to take measures to help myself fit in. One day I came across a girl by the name of Jordan Golding. Poor little rich girl. Using my enhanced power, I turned her into a cockroach, modeled my human form after hers, and took her place... permanently."
"You did what?" gasped Clover.
"I grew up as a human," said Oblivion. "With my knowledge of the magical world, I sought out the Society of the Evening Star and offered my services, working my way the the ladder as the Sphinx's personal magician. I didn't want people figuring out the truth about my identity, so I devised the whole Oblivion ruse. Only the Sphinx and Alexander knew. No one else."
"So now that the Sphinx is gone..." continued Seth.
"The Society nearly crumbled!" exclaimed Oblivion. "But some of us still stayed in touch. Not long ago, I learned about the ordeal involving Navarog and the instruments of eternal power. So, I hatched this plan, and now, I am about to succeed, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop me!"
"But, you're a fairy," cried Seth. "Fairies aren't like this!"
"You think fairies are all sunshine and gumdrops?" scoffed Oblivion. "Well guess again! I desire power and see those that are weaker than myself as disposable. Billions of people live on this planet. I'll never run out."
"You can't do this," growled Kendra. "You can not take the Omega Star and rule the world with it!"
"I wouldn't stoop so low as to rule this world," said Oblivion with a devious smile. "I'll be ruler of all worlds! Infinite worlds with infinite possibilities! But I owe you my thanks. Had you never gone on your little quest to find the instruments in the first place, I'd have never bothered with this."
"Well you're never getting back into the Fairy Kingdom at this rate!" exclaimed Seth. "No one can get in or out!"
Oblivion laughed. "I was the one who sealed off the Fairy Kingdom, and I was the one who immobilized the five keepers! They never saw me, a member of their own kind, coming. You really think I'd have set up all those traps if I didn't have a way of disabling them?"
"You're a fairy," said Kendra, "and I am fairykind. As your superior, I order you to stop!"
Oblivion rolled her eyes. "I'm a dark fairy. I don't follow orders, even from you. Although I must thank you for your enhanced power. Without it, raising Tritanoss wouldn't be possible."
"You'll never succeed," said Seth. "You're crazy."
"Allow me to prove myself," said Oblivion, as she held up her hands and unleashed a massive wave of black energy. Within seconds, the wave had encircled the entire plateau. It then swelled up, parting away the water surrounding the edge of the plateau by several yards. The plateau was now surrounded by a barrier of air.
"NO!" screamed Kendra. Like her friends, she wanted to swim over to Oblivion and physically stop her, but knew that the dark fairy was far too powerful for her to handle.
Oblivion walked into an area of the air-filled barrier, and produced a small fireball in the palm of her hand. Laughing wickedly, she flicked the fireball onto the ocean floor. She then stepped back as the fire, in mere seconds, expanded from a tiny ball into a towering, circular wall that surrounded the entire plateau.
For several seconds, there was an absolute silence. Everyone, be they a Knight of the Dawn or a Society member, stood completely motionless. They were anticipating a tremendous uproar, but were greeted by what appeared to be nothing at all.
Suddenly, the entire ocean began to vibrate, as if an earthquake was now taking place. The entire city of Aquaton rumbled in chaos as the plateau began to shatter. Kendra and Seth wanted to react, but both of them were too flabbergasted at the occurrence to take any action.
What appeared to be an enormous shark, almost as wide as the whole plateau itself, burst out of the ground headfirst. It rose high above the city in a matter a seconds, even while the rest of its long, eel -like body was still rising out of the plateau.
"No," gasped Kendra. "No."
Oblivion laughed wickedly. "It worked!" she screamed. "It worked! Tritanoss lives!"
Tritanoss, whose entire body had not yet fully emerged from beneath the plateau, bent its enormous head back down towards the city to gaze down upon whomever awakened him.
"Tritanoss!" exclaimed Oblivion. She then proceeded to continue her sentence in an incomprehensible demon language.
Tritanoss responded with a booming growl, which was powerful enough to nearly cause a shock wave in retaliation.
"Tritanoss is a demon," said Warren. "He won't care who freed him. He won't obey you."
"Tritanoss!" said Oblivion, pointing at the Knights of the Dawn and finishing her sentence in demon-speak.
Tritanoss turned his head, not towards the Knights of the Dawn, but at Alexander and Margot, who were standing in the opposite direction. He quickly opened his mouth and blasted a huge bolt of electricity directly at the couple, obliterating their entire bodies to cinders in less than a second.
"He didn't listen!"
"A shame," said Oblivion rather casually. "As far as humans go, those two were fairly useful."
"I got it!" laughed Ashley. "Dispose of Tritanoss, quick!"
"Got what?" asked Seth, figuring that Ashley couldn't have done anything while wrapped up by Mariana.
"Begone," said Oblivion, as she snapped her fingers, causing the wall of water to come crashing down onto the ring of fire, dousing the whole thing in one go. Before Tritanoss could react, he began to get sucked back down through the hole he had just risen from, as if it were a vacuum. Before long, the mighty sea demon had been sealed back up from where he had risen.
"All right, Ashley," said Oblivion. "Do your thing."
Ashley closed her eyes, and slowly began to change her shape into a more serpentine-looking one. As if by instinct, Mariana unraveled herself from her and swam off.
"Yes!" bellowed Oblivion, as Ashley's altering body swelled up in size. "Yes!"
"She's turning into Tritanoss," said Warren. "She'll kill us."
Within seconds, Ashley had transformed into a seemingly perfect replica of Tritanoss. She seemingly gained this form with ease through the use of her enhanced power. Before reaching her full size, which more than rivaled an ocean liner, her body had smashed against and broken many walls and domes throughout the city.
"Ashley doesn't need to kill you," said Oblivion. "For you see, we're heading for the Fairy Kingdom right now."
"Impossible," said Bright. "Even if you were the one who implemented the whole barrier, there's still no entrance to the Fairy Kingdom down here.
"How stupid do you think I am?" asked Oblivion. She clapped her hands and caused a small, fairy-shaped statuette to appear in her palm. "I have my own little shrine right here, works just like the precious one you have at Fablehaven. Since I'm the one who spawned the barrier, I can creature a hairline fracture in it that allows me to slip through with ease. And I'm taking Ashley with me."
"I want to destroy them," boomed Ashley in a voice that sounded nothing at all like her human one. "Now."
"Don't bother," said Oblivion. "When we take over this world, we can subject them to eternal torment."
"But I can kill them off right now," snarled Ashley, electricity sparkling from her mouth like foam from a rabid dog.
"It's more fun this way," said Oblivion, as she placed the statuette down on the ocean floor by her feet and backed away. "Now come on. No matter what they do, the Knights of the Dawn will either perish or die trying."
Before Oblivion could do anything more with the statuette, it was seemingly whisked away by an unseen force. Raxtus.
Everyone followed the statuette with their eyes, as an invisible Raxtus swam away from Oblivion and crumbled it with his own two claws. He then reappeared next to the Knights of the Dawn. "Let's see her warp to the Fairy Kingdom now," he said.
Ashley aimed her mouth at the Knights of Dawn and unleashed a bolt of electricity at the group. She was too slow on the draw, and Mariana had shoved them all out of the way using her tail.
"I'll get them this time," said Ashley, trying to follow the Knights of the Dawn as they all mounted themselves onto Mariana's backside.
"Forget them for now," said Oblivion. We must venture to Fablehaven and use the shrine there before the Knights or any of their accomplices sabotage it."
"Let's get out of here!" screamed Kendra, as the leviathan darted away from the city, barely evading Ashley's attacks.
"What do we do now?" asked Seth.
Before anyone could respond, they all turned their heads back and watched as Ashley, now posing as the tremendous demon Tritanoss, rose up from the city of Aquaton, no doubt heading directly for the surface.
"What do we do now?" asked Warren. "We need to stop the Society of the Evening Star. And from the looks of things, I don't think we have anywhere near as much power as we'd need to stop Ashley and Oblivion."
"There's got to be something we can do," said Clover.
"Ashley and Oblivion are going to the fairy shrine at Fablehaven," said Warren. "If we can at least get there before them, we can destroy it and at the very least keep the two of them out of the Fairy Kingdom."
"But we don't have much time," said Seth. "And the Translocator is unusable."
"We just don't have the strength in us to restore it," said Bright sadly.
"Then we've got to get back to Fablehaven," said Warren. "Right now."