Part 22

Alan stood on the walls looking out over the ocean. Trying to find a glimpse of their enemies. He had left Scott and Kayo to plan their attack along with Lord Creighton-Ward. Penny had brought Virgil and Gordon with her out to inspect the Isles' defenses. Leaving Alan alone on the walls to think. It felt like an eternity ago that he and the others had arrived to Tracy Island to find it completely destroyed by fire. So much had changed since then. He had found out he had another older brother he had forgotten. A brother who had given up his life for them way back when and had been made the Ocean Spirit. Not that said brother had known… or had he? Alan looked at the water and looked at his reflection. He had kept his emotions in check and had managed to restore some faith in his brothers but right now he himself was feeling down, as if everything was hopeless. After all what chance did they have? The others only held a small portion of the Souls' powers whereas Fuse held a huge portion of it. How could they fight someone that was so much stronger than them? He sighed and looked at his reflection in the water. He then looked at his hand and saw the small wound Fischler had inflicted on his finger. The others had gotten real marks, marks that could help. But what could he do? Nothing.

"I'm sorry", Alan whispered. "I don't think I'll be able to do this… I need help. I… I need guidance." He closed his eyes and leaned heavily on the wall. "Where has the starlight gone?" he asked. "Dark is the day… How can I find my way home? Home is an empty dream lost to the night Johnny, I feel so alone. When will the dawning break? Stupid endless night… I wish I could remember the day when you were by my side, guiding my path. Brother I can't find the way. I know you promised you'd be there whenever I needed you. Whenever I call your name you're not anywhere. I'm trying to hold on just waiting to hear your voice. One word, just a word will do to end this nightmare."

"Ah, ah, ah…" he heard and his head shot up. He looked at the dark waters below.

"John?" he asked.

"Ah, ah, ah…" He saw something moving in the water. A sea otter.

"John!" Alan exclaimed and started looking for a way down. He soon found a couple of stairs and ran down them to the water. But when he got to the shore there was nothing. He looked around.

"Ah, ah, ah…" he heard and saw the little otter swim around a corner.

"I hear you…" Alan whispered. "I'm coming." He ran after the little otter, not sure where it was leading him. It kept swimming ahead of him. It was always just beyond reach. Alan didn't care. He wasn't even sure where he was running, only that he knew he needed to go. He soon saw that the little otter had led him to a cave. Alan blinked in confusion. The otter climbed onto a rock and looked at him before disappearing into the darkness. Alan hurried after him. The entrance of the cave was mostly hidden by vines. Alan pushed them aside and walked inside. It was dark inside, except from the faint light of the otter.

"What is this place?" Alan asked as he walked inside. In the middle of the cave was what looked like a pedestal. But when he looked closer, he realized it was a stand. A stand to put a staff in. He looked at the floor and saw that it was divided into seven sections. It was as if he was standing inside a wheel. In each piece of the wheel was a colored stone made of glass. The little otter was perched on a blue one. Alan slowly walked up to it and crouched in front of it. The otter looked at him with green-blue eyes. Alan reached out his hand and caressed the otter's head. The otter nuzzled his hand.

"John…" Alan all but whimpered and picked the little creature up and hugged it close to his chest.

"Come my treasure homeward bound", he heard John whisper and started sobbing when he felt arms around his torso. The otter had turned into his brother or rather… a child version of his brother. Alan looked at the little boy on his lap. He had big green-blue eyes. They were filled with wonder and curiosity. Alan chuckled and ran his hand through the soft curls. He then sighed.

"Why are you sad?" John asked.

"Because it all feels so hopeless", Alan replied.

"But", John said. "It isn't. I know that the skies must clear and that the sun will shine again."

"But… I…"

"What?"

"I… I can't do this John."

"I know", John said and gripped Alan's hand. "It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here." He looked up at Alan. "But we are." Alan met his gaze. "It's like in grandma's great stories Alan. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were and sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing… the shadow. Even darkness must pass, a new day will come! And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Alan, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something.

"What are we holding on to, John?"

The little boy had been looking at the roof where the stars shone down through a hole. Now he turned his gaze to look at his brother.

"To you of course", he said. "To my brothers and friends."

"How?"

"Because I know you will do anything you can to see this through to the end. Because you will meet the evils of this world and you will defeat them. Because… I love you."

Alan looked away from him. He looked up at the dark roof above them. He felt John's hands on his.

"The night must end sometime Allie", he whispered.

"I know", Alan sighed. "I know that the night must end and that the sun will rise. I know that the clouds must clear and that the sun will shine. And I hear your voice deep inside… I know… I know that the night must end and that the sun will rise."

"Before it does… the staff needs to be here."

"What?" Alan looked at the boy but he was gone. "John!?" He got up and looked around he then gasped. On five of the seven stones stood a person. On the red one stood a man with ginger hair and a ginger beard. He was dressed in red, brown and black. On his left was a young man with dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in orange, black and brown. There was a space between him and a man dressed in green. He reminded Alan a little of Kayo. Next to him was John, as a grown man this time. Next to him was a little girl with green-blue eyes and ginger hair. Between her and the first man was yet another vacant space. They were standing in a circle around the staff stand. Glaring at it with all their might. The moon was shining a bit from it. It was creeping closer to the stand and Alan understood.

"I understand", he told the five spirits. "I get it." He then turned and ran. His other brothers needed to know. The spirits behind him fell onto their knees and returned to the staff that had trapped them.

"You need to be careful Ocean", Lightning scolded him as he got to his feet. "Pulling all of us with you as mere shadows could have killed you."

"He needed to see, to understand", John replied. "Now… we got a chance."

Alan ran into the main temple area and saw all his brothers and Kayo there. He ran over, ignoring the reprimanding glares from the priests and priestesses around. He ran up to his brothers and friends and started telling them of what the spirits had shown him. Penny and her father looked confused. As did Sylvia. They had never heard of this cave.

"I'm not making it up", Alan said and glared at the trio. "John brought me there!"

"It's not that I don't believe you Alan", Penny said. "It's just… I've never even heard of this place."

"What young Alan saw was the true resting place for the Ocean Deity's staff", Parker said as he made his presence known. By appearing out of Virgil's shadow. Making the other man jump in surprise. "That's where I was heading when I got here and when I found nothing I went searching."

"What was it used for?" Alan asked.

"You know the stories. If the Ocean Deity dies the Souls give up their form to create a new one. That's where it was done. Why your priests moved the staff I don't know. But that was the original resting place. When it was needed the Souls would go there and together enter the staff. Later the place was forgotten and a 'hero' got chosen to collect the souls. The Souls are stronger when they are all together and on the same page. If the Ocean Spirit brought Alan there… it must be for a reason."

"He said we needed to get the staff there before the moon is right above it", Alan added. "Why?"

"Well the ocean is connected to the moon", Parker replied. "Water Spirits are strongest at night and especially during a full moon. There won't be a full moon tonight but the moonlight will be enough to boost the power of the Ocean Spirit."

"Why would we want that?" Penny asked. "Fuse has the Ocean Spirit."

"He does but I think this proves what we have been hoping for all along, even though not all of us remember it."

"The Souls are fighting the control over them", Kayo said and stepped forward. "They are trying to break free."

"But that's impossible", Lord Creighton-Ward said. "Once they have been taken by the staff there is no escape."

"The elements together is a power nothing can stop", Parker said. "The ultimate power. There is nothing that can stop it save the Ocean Deity themselves."

"So we need to change our plan", Alan said. "We need to get Fuse and his staff to the cave before the moon passes." They all shared a look and nodded.

"It will be easy because we got what he is after", Scott said and looked at Parker. Parker nodded and bowed.

"Allow me to be the bait for this", he said. "And I know exactly what to do."

"What?" Gordon asked and then grinned when all of a sudden seven Parkers stood in front of them. "Sweet!" Parker smirked at him and then they heard thunder rumble outside and all of them turned to look at the window. They could all see storm clouds approaching. Virgil looked at his brothers and they all nodded.

"Get ready everyone", he said. "They're here."

TBC