Chapter 55

In the prison cell Nova stared at the rope around her front ankles. "Burn…" she whispered as she continued to stare at the loop.

"Nova?" Renegade watched her, unable to comprehend what she was attempting.

A small wisp of smoke appeared on the rope and Nova concentrated harder, remembering what Love Heart had taught her. At last! Her efforts were rewarded when a tiny flame appeared on the rope. Nova's elation was short lived as the fire spread throughout the rope and she felt it burn her wrists, but it was a small price to pay as the gold-laced rope fell away and burned. There was a tiny gap between her ankles and the floor and as soon as the rope no longer touched her skin, Nova felt her motor functions creep back then she mustered all the strength she could, took a deep breath and made one roll, which took her limbs away from the rope.

Now that she was completely removed from the rope Nova felt her strength returning. Not all at once thanks to the long term exposure but breathing was no longer an intense labor. She lay there for a good minute before she was able to concentrate enough to get her horn glowing and force her head closer to her legs. She sighed in relief as she felt the minor healing aura of her horn heal the chafes and burns on her legs, not enough to completely get rid of the pain but enough that, with some effort, she was able to put enough pressure on her legs and stand up.

"Nova…How?" Renegade asked.

"I learned a little fire elementalism from Love Heart. Turns out he was right when he said it wasn't like magic or I wouldn't have been able to even attempt that," Nova explained. "Just give me a few minutes to rest and I can get rid of that rope."

"No…run…get…help," Renegade protested.

"What? But I can't leave you here Ren," Nova objected.

"Don't…want…you…cap…tured," Renegade said.

Nova stopped partway to Renegade and looked back over her shoulder. She sighed, "Alright, but as soon as I can I'm coming back for you." She took a step forwards then caught sight of the rope still around his neck and shook her head, "As soon as we're back home, we're going to make up for all the time we missed," she promised before she turned around and forced herself to leave the cell through the door that Pitch had left ajar.

Torrid hadn't left the work room since Soul left and as such could watch the events unfold in the portal they had been watching Flare in. Watching her former teammate be eaten alive by her own fire had cause her to break out in a cold sweat and become sick to her stomach. She had recovered only slightly as she watched Soul battle the Care Bears and now as her leader came back through the portal she conjured a cool wind for herself to calm down further. "Are you alright?"

"Physically, yes, but they figured out what's holding me back," Soul Heart said.

"That's not good. So the whole fear factor has been taken out of your equation," Torrid mused.

"You'd be surprised what one can live through," Soul Heart countered, "But that won't be a problem for much longer." Soul Heart moved over to pick up the device she and Torrid had finished working on earlier.

"But how did you kill No-Heart if you're unable to kill things?" Torrid asked.

"Through a lot of effort. I spent decades working through the barrier that keeps me from killing and what little progress I've made allowed me to kill someone on the verge of death who wasn't exactly alive, like No-Heart when we found him," Soul Heart replied.

She nodded in understanding. "I see. And this will allow you to break through all your barriers and kill whoever you want?" Torrid asked in clarification.

"The magic from those immortals is one of the catalysts I need to to do so," Soul Heart replied. "This device will allow me to siphon their magic and store it for the spell." She took up the device and headed for the stairs leading down to the basement. "Once I set this up we can have a proper farewell for Flare Heart."

"Should I inform the others about her...demise?" Torrid asked, already spreading her wings to take flight.

"Yes," Soul Heart replied before she disappeared down the stairs.

Flying upstairs to the common room Torrid screeched, getting her teammates attention. Glacial had fallen asleep with his head on top of Calm's and was startled awake when he heard Torrid's cries. Jumping he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and began to gently remove himself from the bed.

Calm Heart was woken up by the screech as well and she sat up and away from Glacial. "What's happening?"

"Something has happened. Torrid usually calls us all together zis way." Straightening his jacket he went out into the hall.

Pitch was leaving her room and a few of the others were making their way down the stairs. "Anybody know what has the bird's feathers all in a ruffle?" Serious Heart asked.

"How would I know?" Shatter Heart asked as they all made their way to the common room.

"That is why I asked Shatter Heart. I did not necessarily expect an answer" Serious quipped.

Torrid waited for everyone to enter but not a moment longer. "Flare Heart is dead." She blurted out.

Stolid Heart's mouth fell open, "What?!"

"Her powers ate her up alive. Soul and I watched her burn. She had gone to confront Snowy Heart and that doll thing of hers turned on her." Torrid's eyes had closed as she tried to rid the image from her mind.

Pitch's mouth had fallen open, "No way..."

"So her own powers killed her?" Flash Heart was also in shock, "That's... why would it do that?"

"She wasn't strong enough. That's what that thing said right before it burned her," Torrid told Flash. Glacial remained silent, shaking his head at the news.

"Soul tried to warn her. She even took the doll from her, but Flare must have taken it back when we were distracted."

"She never could restrain herself," Stolid sighed. "Was there anything left?"

Torrid shook her head, "No, her body dissolved into dust and blew away when she died."

Pitch shook her head, "How awful. I can't imagine how scared she must have been at the end. To feel your body turning into ash and nothing you can-"

"Stop Pitch! Just stop!" Torrid cried as she covered her head with her wings. Tears leaked from her eyes as she remembered feeling flames all around her.

Seeing what she had done Pitch got up, "Torrid I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Glacial grabbed her before she could get to Torrid and gently shook his head. "You need not say more." Pitch nodded and stood still, and sure enough Torrid's wings fell away.

Clearing her throat the eagle continued. "Anyway. Soul went to deal with Snowy and something unfortunate happened."

"And what exactly was that?" Blade Star asked.

"They realized that she can't kill anyone. Not yet anyways. And they were able to chase her off." Torrid told them.

Pitch smirked, "I imagine they are feeling pretty good about themselves right now."

"As good as they can, considering the state I left them in," Soul Heart said as she came up the stairs to join the meeting. "Most of Care-a-Lot is in ruins and while I could not kill them I did injure enough of them severely that even with Guidance Heart to accelerate their healing it will be at least a day before they are ready to mount an attack of any sort."

"So what do you want us to do then? Finish them while they are weak?" Pitch asked.

Soul Heart shook her head, "No, even in their current state that would be ill advised, that and I have other plans especially now that Nova has escaped."

"Escaped! But how?!" Shatter Heart asked.

"Apparently she knew some fire elementalism, which wasn't disabled like her other magic was, and she used that to burn through the ropes," Soul Heart replied.

"Interesting. I wonder who could have taught her that? " Serious mused.

"Would you like us to go after her?" Pitch asked.

"No, she can't escape from this tower in her current state, she still needs to regain her energy, so she will most likely call for help," Soul Heart replied.

"Then we should find her before-" Stolid was cut off by Soul Heart.

"No, let her make the call. It's time we relocated anyway. Glacial, could you bring Calm Heart here please?" she asked the polar bear.

He felt the fur on his back bristle, "Of course." He left the room and climbed the stairs.

"What do you need her for? Leading meditation time?" Pitch asked sourly.

Soul Heart raised her voice so Glacial could hear, "I want to give her the chance to leave before her former family arrives, so she won't inadvertently get dragged into the conflict."

"Ha! But it would be so entertaining." Glacial growled hearing Pitch's comment.

Arriving at his room he found Calm still on the bed. "Soul vishes to speak with you."

"What?" Calm Heart sat up and yawned, "Alright, I'm coming." She said as she got up, taking Glacial's hand to steady herself. He didn't yank away and together they rejoined the others.

"Thank you for joining us, Calm Heart. Now this," Soul Heart raised her hand palm up and conjured nine photos, one of each flew to each of the assembled members of the group. It showed a small grassy island with a number of houses and several trees on it. "This will be our new home once this tower is attacked, but before we relocate we're going to give the Care Bears fights to remember. When it is time to leave you can go there." She pulled a wonderland mirror out of her pocket and tossed it to Calm Heart, "This was Flare Heart's, her doll somehow did not destroy this when it killed her."

"Oh... wait Flare Heart's dead!" Calm Heart's eyes went wide as she caught the mirror.

Pitch nodded, waving her picture idly, "Yup. Burned to a crisp when she paid your friend Snowy a call."

"But he did not kill her. It was her own doing so Torrid said," Glacial assured Calm.

"The doll she fought with called her weak and burned her alive," Blade Star said, "But enough of this. What should we do about the escaped unicorn and will this disrupt your original plans?"

"No. Fortunately Renegade has enough magical essence for me to harvest without doing any permanent damage. I attached my magic siphon to him just a few minutes ago and it will siphon out his magic essence and store it in an inert form for me to use later." She held up a hand to stop Pitch who was about to speak, "He will not be permanently harmed, but he will be exhausted for a week or two after the process is finished. I'd hoped to take half of what I needed from each of them but Renegade will have to do."

"How long will that take? The siphoning." Torrid questioned.

"A little over a day. Until the I want each of you to prepare for personal combat, except you Calm Heart," she turned to the lynx. "If you still wish to remain neutral then you should use that mirror to relocate to the island immediately, or at least before the attack begins."

Calm Heart crossed her arms below her waist, "Thank you."

"Vill you be alright by yourself Layla?" Glacial asked. "If Soul would allow it I vill come with only briefly to make sure you settle alright. Since you are not used to traveling zis vay."

"You may," Soul Heart said immediately.

"I would appreciate that. Is the island already furnished?" Calm Heart asked.

Soul Heart chuckled, "Yes it is, but you may take the items here with you if you want to before the fight begins."

"What's the matter princess? You can't handle a little rustic living?" Pitch asked her with Torrid laughing in agreement.

She needed very little to survive and was looking forward to settling into that big beautiful nest in her picture. "Oh go get yourself laid or something Bitch Heart," Flash told her.

"Enough!" Soul Heart raised her voice to diffuse the argument before it began, "You can argue when this has finished. Until then the rest of you should prepare for battle in whichever way you feel most appropriate. And do not attempt to search for Nova, I need her to lure them here." She turned to face Pitch, "I want to release Nova and Renegade, but if I just turn them loose and return them then their families may believe something is wrong with them, we need the Care Bears to have their 'heroic rescue' in order to allow them to return to their lives without incident."

"So you've said. It doesn't change the fact they are being imprisoned against their will in barely sustaining conditions." Pitch reiterated. Going to the stairs she left the room without indicating where she was headed.

"I'll speak with her shortly," Soul Heart said. "Until then, you have your directives." Soul Heart turned and followed after Pitch Heart.

Flapping her wings Torrid conjured her mirror portal, "I'm going hunting. After what I saw I need a few hours of just me and some open sky." With a few pumps of her wings she vanished through the circle, leaving a cold draft behind her.

"I shall prepare myself for combat," Blade Star stated.

"Got that right!" Shatter Heart pumped his fist.

"I think I should too," Flash Heart said.

"I need some time alone," Stolid turned and headed for her room.

Serious Heart cracked her knuckles. "I better go make sure my plants aren't going to strangle me after eating that apple for lunch." She still couldn't believe Flare was gone.

Stolid stopped and turned back to Serious. "Maybe you can join me and we can give her a proper send off," she offered.

She nodded. "Only seems right. We were all Opposites before." Hunching her shoulders she crossed her arms, "It feels like ages ago that we woke up in No Heart's work room."

Stolid nodded, "It does. And now there's only five of us left," she looked to the stairs. "Renegade is one of us too, I almost feel jealous that he's been able to live away from all the troubles of this world."

"He was weak. Don't be jealous. Pity him. We were made to make a statement; to show we were stronger than our lovey counterparts. He succumbed to them and is a total pushover now," Serious told her.

"Only because he has that inconvenient weakness to gold," Stolid countered as she moved into her room and took a seat. "I'm impressed Nova managed to break out of those ropes though. I thought all unicorns were supposed to be frail and delicate creatures."

Serious chose to lean against the wall. "In my observations of them, I may have heard mention that she has been strengthening herself for a while. Living in Fauna's home." Thinking back to her last conversation with the Pegasus, Serious shook her head, "She should have joined us when she had the chance. Her skills would have been a huge asset."

"Maybe, but she made her choice and if Soul Heat's plan works she will at least not be a factor after this battle," Stolid said. She reached for a bottle of wine she had on a shelf. "I picked this up a while ago. Wanted the three of us to share it after we finished with the Care Bears, I guess it's a decent tribute to her if we share it now."

The monkey's face fell as she took the bottle and looked it over. "Flare would have liked this. It would have ignited real well."

Stolid nodded and sighed. "I know." She forced a smile, "Want a drink or should we pour it out for her?"

Popping the cork out Serious took a healthy swig, "One for me." Pouring some on the floor she added, "One for our fallen sister." Before handing it to Stolid.

"And one for me," Stolid took a swig, "A second for me," she drank again, "One more for Flare," she poured more out then past the nearly empty bottle to Serious.

"And I'll finish it off." swigging the rest she then chucked the bottle at the wall, shattering it. "We'll bury the pieces for our memorial. Broken glass for a broken soul."

"Yes," Stolid stood up and pulled out her mirror, "Bury them where she could have lived." Together they went through the portal to the new island home, after they scooped up the pieces of the broken bottle.

"Pitch, can you wait a moment," Soul Heart said as she followed after the hyena.

"I know what you are going to say, and I know I said I'd leave her alone but she bothers me. Can't be helped," she called over her shoulder.

"That's not why I'm here," Soul Heart reached out and took Pitch's shoulder to stop her. "I want to ask a favor of you."

"Really? A favor?" She turned giving Soul her undivided attention. "I'm listening."

"I want you to look after Renegade." Soul Heart pulled a blue bottle ot of her pocket, "When the magic siphon orb is full I want you to untie him and rub this on the sore spots around his neck. It's a healing solution and it will speed his recovery. Also the others are away, so Nova will likely go up to Torrid's roost to rest and recuperate. If you can, please take her some food."

Looking to make sure they were alone she nodded, "Yup. I can do that." After a moment of hesitation she added "Thank you Soul."

Soul smiled back, "I promise, as soon as I have finished with Renegade I will not involve any of the immortals in our conflict, but I will defence myself if they attack me." She also checked around and whispered, "If you want, you can untie Renegade when the orb is three-quarters full. It will let him recover faster but by then he will be too tired to escape. Just promise me you'll let the orb fill before you unhook him."

"I will. It's because of you I was freed from my own cage so I hope you know I would never disobey you," Pitch turned the bottle over in her hands and took a breath "That's why I've been so against this, you know? They are just another casualty of human stupidity. They shouldn't have to suffer."

"I don't like this any more than you do, but I can't let you go against humanity without my help, even with the powers you have they would slaughter you, their weapons aren't as effective as your powers, but they are numerous. Once I have broken this infuriating seal the star placed on me," she clenched her fist, "I will be able to guard you while you take your full revenge on those monsters known as humans."

Pitch pulled her lip back and sneered, eyes glinting. "And what a revenge that will be. It will be a good follow up to helping you make Noble and True Heart pay for forgetting us. It's because of them the humans got their hands on me. I wasn't worth finding."

"Good. Also as soon as the orb is full and you've tended to Renegade, take the orb to our new home and set it in my house at the center of the island," Soul Heart added. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to make some final preparations."

"As do I. I think I need a coffee break before all this shit breaks loose. Renegade will be fine another half hour right?" Her mirror was already in her hand.

"Yes, it's a slow process, slow enough that it doesn't hurt," Soul Heart reassured her.

"Well in that case, I'll be back in an hour," she said with a smirk before vanishing.

Terra Heart was sitting at the base camp for her's and Treasure Hunt's current excavation, taking a well-deserved rest and drink from one of her canteens when she heard a strange resonation from nearby.

Pitch emerged from her portal, coughing at the dust that was stirred up. "Man, almost feels like home here." Seeing the tents she headed for the largest one.

Terra heart someone enter her tent and she sat up in her seat, "Who's there?" she asked.

"The reason Trez has been whistling while he works," Pitch replied, smirking at her own cleverness.

Upon hearing her voice Terra nodded, "Pitch Heart. It's good to hear you again. Take a seat, Trez won't be back for some time."

Frowning she did as Terra told her, "Really? What's he up to? And why aren't you with him?"

"I found a large collection of relics at our current dig site but I was getting dehydrated from working all day so he asked me to come back here and rest while he picked them out of the ground. It's been about..." Terra twirled her fingers as she counted in her head, "half an hour."

Leaning back she reclined on a large body pillow, "He better make it quick then. I only got an hour off. But it feels so good to be out of that tower. I was real close to killing some people."

"You could get to know me," Terra offered. "If you keep showing up to see Trez then you are going to have to speak to me sometimes and I'd like someone else to talk to. I like Treasure Hunt but we're going to run out of things to talk about at this rate."

"You're right. I don't mind talking to you." She thought about what she should ask Terra. "So where did you live before you ever knew the Care Bear family existed?"

"In a hole I dug under a forest," Terra replied before she gulped down more water.

"And to think I could have gone my whole life not knowing that." She teased the mole. "And you really hated living with them?"

"I wouldn't' say hated but I just didn't find much satisfaction in what they did for 'work'. I just don't care for humans much, but I find their history fascinating."

"That's one way to put it," Pitch drawled. Seeing some apples in a bowl she helped herself to one.

"Well I like to dig through the dirt to find things. The only other thing I can really do for fun is listen to music," Terra replied.

"Trez could take you to plays or movies or something. Just cause you can't see doesn't mean you are missing out. You get to envision it your way," Pitch told her.

"Maybe." Terra shuddered a bit, "But I don't like being around that many people at once."

Pitch stopped mid bite. "How do you even know how many are there?"

"I can hear them but usually it's the smell," Terra replied.

"I'll definitely give you that one. Humans reek," Pitch acknowledged.

Terra giggled, "An apt assessment. Do you ever go to see movies or plays, Pitch?"

She was silent for a moment, thinking. "I saw a drive in movie once. My circus stopped there on the way to the next town. I didn't like it."

"The movie itself?" Terra asked.

"Yeah and the whole watching from a cage thing didn't Help. Anyway the movie was called 'The Lion King'." Pitch shivered.

"You don't like lions?" Terra asked.

Pitch squeezed the apple hard, almost making it break in half. "They killed my family and ever since they haunt my nightmares. I'm terrified of them."

"Oh," Terra said. She sat in silence for a moment then sat up more, "I hear Trez, guess I should find someplace else to relax, or see if there's anything I can work on digging up."

"You don't have to go Terra, don't be stupid. Contrary to what you may think, I don't just use Trez for sex. I came because I needed to get away, and even though the sex is awesome, I like that he never forces me to do anything," Pitch told her in her straight forward way.

"Forgive me, but this is the first time we've ever really spoken," Terra said.

Pitch laughed, "Ha! That's because you either scurry away as soon as I get here or Trez and I are otherwise occupied."

"Well you kind of intimidate me, you always sound so angry," Terra said.

Pitch couldn't help herself, she laughed outright and couldn't seem to stop. That was when Trez came in, to a hysterical Pitch and a frightened looking Terra. "Everything alroit sheila? " he asked his partner.

"I think so," Terra said, unsure what else to say.

Getting control of herself Pitch explained. "Terra was just saying how I always seem angry and before that she was saying how we don't really know each other. But she managed to figure me out faster than any of my house mates ever did. It's just amusing."

"Well I have learned to listen," Terra admitted. "What did you dig up, Trez?"

He pulled out an antiquated necklace. Some of the links were broken and a few stones were missing but the ones that were intact were gorgeous, all different shades of purple, green, and blue. "Ol' necklace. Not worth savin but OI can sell tha stones."

Pitch was looking at it eyes shining, "I bet it was gorgeous once."

"That's good. Is there anything else at the site?" Terra asked.

He shrugged, "Few things. You wanna take a ganda?"

"If I need to leave for a while," Terra replied.

Trez looked to Pitch. She shook her head, "Not really in a lovin' mood. Just needed to get away. We lost one of our own."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Terra said. "A close friend of yours?"

"Nope. Barely knew her. But still it kinda hits home." Trez nodded in understanding and gave her a sympathetic look.

Nova was forced to use what little energy she had to transform into her human form so she could sneak out of the dungeon and up to the attic. She became more and more tense when she didn't seem to run into anyone, but she pressed on until finally she hauled herself up the last flight of stairs and collapsed, the spell wearing off and reverting back to her true form. "Looks like a bird's nest," She commented as she dragged herself to the side of the room.

After spending a little more time just taking with Trez and Terra, Pitch actually did stop to get herself some coffee before teleporting home. She aimed for Torrid's nest, since that was where Nova was most likely going to be, and she had picked up some food for the unicorn while she was out. Sure enough she saw her collapsed on the floor. "Man it freaks me out how Soul is right all the time." Nova looked over at her and she added, "I see you got yourself out."

"I did. So are you here to drag me back down there?" Nova asked. Her voice was tired, not able to muster up enough energy for an emotional display.

Pitch took a long sip of her coffee, eyeballing the unicorn. "Negative." Walking over to her she opened the paper bag in her hand and brought out a bunch of carrots, "Thought you might be hungry."

Nova eyed her suspiciously for a moment before she took one of the carrots in her mouth and began to chew it.

"Relax little unicorn. You can't get out of the tower anyway, so you might as well be imprisoned outside of the prison." She sat on the floor in front of her.

Nova finished her first carrot before she replied, "For now. But thanks for the food."

Pitch nodded, choosing not to comment on that. "How did you get out anyway?"

"A trick I picked up from Love Heart," Nova replied.

"Nifty little trick. Better keep that one handy." Pitch looked her over but didn't see any injuries that needed attention.

Seeing Pitch's gaze Nova continued to speak, "I've been working on getting stronger in whatever way I can." She took another carrot and began to chew it.

"Makes sense to me since your race is notorious for being fragile."

Nova snorted as she swallowed, "I'm not like them anymore and I can prove it once I recover from the gold."

"Oh I believe you. No need to show off for me." Pitch said, keeping her voice bland as she sipped her drink. "But if I were you, I wouldn't do anything rash. After all, Renegade is still down there." Pitch glanced at Nova out of the corner of her eye.

Nova glared at Pitch, "I'll get him free, I'm not leaving without him."

She smirked, "Again something we agree on." Getting to her feet she stretched casually, "Well if you don't need anything else, I suppose I'll let you hide up here. I hope that gold wears off before Torrid comes back."

"She won't find me." Nova took another bite into a carrot, chewing faster this time.

"If you say so." Walking to the stairs she paused briefly before descending. "My room is on the fourth floor of you need a new place to hide. It's the door with the Keep Out sign on it." Without another word she left, having done what Soul asked of her.

Nova smirked, "I might do that then if I can't get my magic working soon."

Glacial had barely arrived on the island and already he could feel the sun being a bit too overbearing and the humidity pressing in on him. Scowling he removed his jacket, "I recall zat Soul said zis island would be ideal for us all."

"At least it isn't tropical," Calm Heart had to fan her neck a couple times with her shirt. "It would be better if it wasn't a cloudless day."

He nodded to her. "Looks like that is ze house Soul has made for you." However a geographical feature to the far left caught his eye. "Of course, I do not believe she would be opposed to either of us moving to zat mountain." He pointed at the small rock structure, barren of all life, the perfect place to make snow on.

Calm Heart smiled, "That looks just fine, Glacial."

"Let us see then if your earth magic can relocate the house to there. It looks as if mine may be in that area already." He was looking at the picture he had been given and it showed the top of the cliff face.

"Not sure if it was meant to be my house." Calm Heart looked at the mirror in her hand. "I can move it if Serious and Stolid don't mind."

Glacial had forgotten she hadn't been assigned a place. "Unfortunately I can tell you zey would both mind. You may continue to live in mine. I do not mind."

"Thank you, Glacial." Calm Heart gave Glacial a little kiss on the cheek before she grabbed the suitcase she'd just repacked and, with her earth magic to assist, began to carry it towards the cliff.

Putting his hand to his cheek, Glacial felt his mouth turn up in a smile. Without hesitating he followed Clam to the house, very ready to create some ice because in the last five seconds it had gotten extremely warm.

Stolid Heat finished packing the earth over the broken glass they had buried. "Not much of a grave but it's all we can manage."

Serious nodded, "She wouldn't want something big and showy anyway. At least I know I wouldn't. It would just be a bigger testament to how I failed."

Stolid nodded, "What about a gravestone or rock?"

Serious shrugged, "Maybe. One just with her name." She tapped her fingers on her arm, "I can make some flowers grow around it I guess."

"Ok, give me a moment," Stolid moved off to search for a rock to use as a headstone. Serious began to call upon some of the local flowers, weaving a small arch of sorts with their vines and blossoms.

Stolid return a moment later, carrying a smallish slab of a rock towards the grave. She let it drop in front of the mound and sighed. "Got anything to carve with?" she asked.

Serious shook her head, "Sorry no, I left my chisel and hammer back in the stone ages."

Stolid rolled her eyes, "Well guess it'll have to be unmarked. The flowers are nice."

"I could help, if you like," Flash Heart spoke up from where he had walked up to their little ceremony.

Serious Heart raised her eyebrows at him, "What are you doing here? I thought you were getting ready for your fight."

"I am ready, Serious." He gave the monkey a quick kiss, "So I wanted to see how it was going for the both of you."

"As well as it can," Stolid replied.

Nodding she took her boyfriend's hand, "I am still trying to accept that she is actually gone. It all happened so fast."

Flash Heat held up his hand and shot out a thin beam of light at the stone slab, "I didn't know her all that well but I know what you mean. Death's hard to deal with."

"Yeah. But it's been awhile since I've had to say goodbye to a fellow opposite. I guess I just forgot." Shaking her head to clear it Serious said, "Well let's all say our goodbyes and be done with it. Kingdoms weren't conquered on tears."

Flash Heart finished his beam of light, leaving the words "FLARE HEART FOX" carved in the rock. "Yes. So what are you going to do to prepare?"

"I'm going to go back to the tower and get some rest before anything happens," Stolid said as she pulled out her mirror.

"Probably eat something and rest as well. I never really had a problem calling up plants," she told him.

"Want to be alone?" Flash asked.

She shook her head, "Not right now no. Alone is not what I want."

Flash pulled her into an embrace, "Want to stay here or go back to the tower?"

Serious let two small tears fall as Flash held her, "Not back to the Tower. Flare was never here so I shouldn't see scorch marks everywhere."

Flash nodded, "Alright. Want to go to our new house here?" She nodded and together they walked from the grave. Serious kept her grip on Flash's hand as they walked.

With her hunting trip a success, Torrid flew back to her nest. In her talons was a big fat fish she deposited on the edge of the nest. Perching next to it she began tearing away the outer skin, not even aware of anything else in the room.

Nova smelled the dead fish long while Torrid was tearing into it. She had finished off the carrots that Pitch had brought her and had enough strength to conjure a quick illusion spell to render herself invisible. Sensing something off Torrid took a quick look around her room. When nothing appeared out of the ordinary she resumed eating.

Nova sighed internally then began to concentrate. The nourishment had given her enough strength to use magic again and thankfully her rescue was only a simple spell away. 'Aurora. Aurora can you hear me, it's Nova!'

The voice in her head jolted Aurora awake, as she and White Fang had slept in late that day. She stood up, knocking White Fang on his side. "Nova!?" she asked, searching the igloo for signs of her apprentice.

Groaning as he woke up, White Fang looked at his mate, "Aurora you were just dreaming. It's all this meshoogana research we are doing. We haven't found them yet." Curling back up he put his wing over his head and attempted to go back to sleep.

"No, I can feel the magic. Here." Nova touched her horn to White Fang's forehead, linking him to the communication spell.

'Nova, where are you?' Aurora sent the message through the communication spell.

'Some weird tower on a rock in the middle of the ocean. I can't see land anywhere else,' Nova replied.

Getting over his initial surprise, White Fang asked her 'Nova is Renegade with you? Are you two alright?' He also stood up so Aurora wouldn't have to bend over.

'White Fang? Yeah, Renegade's here but he's still in the dungeon. Can you track me through this spell?' Nova asked.

'Yes, now that I can sense where you are I'll contact you when we're ready to come and rescue you,' Aurora replied.

'Sit tight and do not do anything stupid.' White Fang added before breaking contact with his wife and going to his mirror he used to communicate directly with the Royal Caves.

Aurora felt the spell break as she looked up to White Fang, "This is a huge relief," she said. As if it knew what was going on, her unborn foal began fidgeting, and she whinnied in response.

White Fang smiled and opened his wings for her, "It is indeed. I am very relieved to know they are alright, and I know Fauna will be as well."

Aurora smiled back and moved to stand with her mate, their foal calming down as soon as it felt it's father's wing on Aurora's belly. "Yes, and hopefully we can open a portal to where she is and get her and Renegade out."

Nodding he gently moved his wing up and down, letting the feathers graze over Aurora's belly. Seeing Blue come into the mirror White Fang spoke before he had a chance to, "We found them. Nova contacted Aurora and we are going to do a spell now to pinpoint the location."

Blue smiled, "That's wonderful. I'll tell Fauna right away. Do you need us to do anything?"

"Just tell the Care Bears, I'm sure they have a plan for the rescue," Aurora replied as she leaned into White Fang, enjoying the feeling of his feathers caressing her belly.

Nodding Blue said, "Once you have the coordinates get them to Fauna and she'll tell the Care Bears. Sound good?"

"We will, thank you Kingsire," Aurora said with a short bow. Blue nodded in acknowledgement and closed the magical connection.

Turning to Aurora, White Fang rested his muzzle next to her horn, in an equine version of a kiss. "Let's find them to bring them home."

Aurora smiled, "Yes let's, as soon as we pinpoint her location."

"What do you think kinderlach? Ready to cast a spell?" He asked his unborn child.

Aurora giggled as she felt the foal wiggling in her tummy, "I think it's ready."

Patting it with his wing once more he gently turned Aurora with his body. "Me too. Let's do this."