It didn't take Scotty long to get to the briefing room, he had been hiding his hand from other officers who happened to walk by, he didn't really want to explain how he hurt it. When Scotty walked in he noticed almost instantly that Kirk wasn't the only person in there, the whole landing party who had beamed back a short time ago were there. Scotty just flicked his eyes between all of them, "What's with the gathering Jim?" Scotty asked nervously. "Because of something that happened a little bit ago, which has me completely freaking out." "Which is?" Asked McCoy, Kirk rubbed the back of his neck. "While I was in the gym training with the punching bag, I shot a fire ball from my fist which ended up incinerating the punching bag." McCoy just stared at him, "You too…" Kirk turned to face him. "What? Did you also…" "Not quite that, no. When I was getting out of the pool earlier a jet of water hurled me up into the air, but when I flicked my hand towards the ground it placed me down."
Chekov folded his arms, "If we're talking about strange things, I managed to shatter a chunk of earth with a single touch and then I was able to move it about with a wave of a hand." Kirk couldn't believe what he was hearing, he then turned to face Lexie. "Anything strange happen to you?" "Yes, I destroyed my room with a single sneeze and somehow sprouted wings for a few seconds which allowed me to fly." McCoy rolled his eyes before turning to face Scotty, "You going to make it five out of five?" Scotty just nodded. "I shot a lightning bolt from my hand." It was several minutes before anyone spoke again, McCoy pinched the bridge of his nose. "So let me get this straight, somehow we've all gained wacky abilities, which apparently are to do with the elements." Kirk was about to speak when a voice seemed to answer McCoy, "In a way yes, that is what has happened my good fellow." Everyone looked around the room franticly, looking for who had just spoken.
Just then a bright light appeared in the corner of the room, it was so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes. When it faded there were two people standing there, one was a man with short silver hair who wore a suit of white, gold and purple with matching boots, complete with a flowing cape. He wore white gloves and there was a small scar on his right cheek. The other person was a girl who had light brown hair which was in pig tails, but her most noticeable feature was that she had a pair of what looked to be lion ears on her head and a lions tail. Kirk instantly drew his phaser, while Scotty stood in front of Lexie. The man simply raised his hands, "Please don't be alarmed, we're not here to harm you." He said calmly. "Who are you?" Kirk asked as he lowered his phaser, he had scanned the beings over with his eyes and he didn't see any form of weapon, so he didn't see them as an immediate fret. The man placed a hand on his chest, "My name is Alister, Keeper of Cecilia." He then gestured over to the girl. "And this is my student Kiara, a Shikari." Kiara curtsied to them, her lion ears twitched as she did so. "It is an honour to meet you."
Chekov blinked several times. "Umm, sorry to sound a little rude but… What's a Shikari?" Alister gave the Navigator a small smile, "It's quite alright young man, I didn't expect you to know. A Shikari is a human who is born with animal characteristics, mainly ears or a tail, but it is possible for a person to have both. Kiara has the ears and tail of a lion, which reflects in her courage." Scotty looked over to Kiara to see her lion ears twitch about, which he found strangely cute. "What are you doing on the Enterprise Alister?" Asked Kirk, "We have come to seek your aid, Captain." "But why us and why do you need our aid?" Kirk questioned. Alister sighed quietly, "It's best if we just show you, Kiara if you would." Kiara nodded as she held out her hand and in a flash of light a gold staff appeared in her hand. Alister could see that the crew suddenly became on edge, "No need to panic, Kiara is not going to harm you. She is simply going to show you what happened on Cecilia, five thousand years ago." Everyone just blinked as Kiara raised her staff high up, before slamming it down on the floor which caused a cascade of light to flood the room, blinding every member of the crew.
When the light faded they were no longer on the ship, they were floating in the sky above what appeared to be some sort of kingdom. "Where the hell are we?" McCoy cried as he stared down at the ground below, "We are in the past, five thousand years ago to be exact." Alister said. Scotty glanced around at the scenery, it looked like something out of a bed time story. "Is this Cecilia?" He asked, Kiara smiled at him. "Yep, this is what Cecilia looked like back then." Lexie and Chekov just looked at each other, "I assume that you are all confused as to the planets current state." Alister stated, to which everyone simply nodded. "Well allow me to tell you the tale of this place and how it became to be the way you see it today." Alister nodded over at Kiara who simply tapped her staff down on then none existent floor, causing the scene around them to change as Alister began to narrate the scene which was forming around them. "Long ago, Cecilia was a peaceful world where everyone, no matter who they were could live happily. Humans and Shikari's lived alongside each other, under the watch of a kind and courageous young queen, who had the power to create life and light." As Alister spoke the scene changed around them, Kirk and the others were confused and amazed at what was happening but they just listened.
"Peace was held for many harmonious years, that was until the young queen began to lose herself in her god-like abilities, she began to use them not to create light and life but to destroy them." Alister closed his eyes as he spoke, as if not to look at the changing scenery which showed a shadowy figure of a young woman, with glowing red eyes. "So what happened next?" Kirk asked, McCoy jabbed the Captain in the ribs. "Stop acting like a child." Alister raised his hand up and waved it about slightly, "It's quite alright, I can understand your Captain's urge to learn what happened, therefore I'll sum this up quickly." Once again the world around them changed to show five people. "These are the Elemental Guardians of Cecilia, they helped our queen maintain harmony and peace. But they were forced to stand against her when she became completely corrupted by greed and lust for power. In the end the Guardians managed to seal their changed queen away, even if they knew it wouldn't last forever, but their actions had consequences."
It seemed whatever Alister had to say next was hard for him to say, "They were destroyed and Cecilia shattered as a result. The people of this once beautiful and prosperous land were frozen in time and there they will stay until the evil which devoured the land is vanished, but that would only happen when worthy people were found to finish what the beloved Guardians started." Chekov tilted his head to the side. "But why aren't you two frozen?" Kiara turned and smiled faintly at her teacher, "We were, the five thousand years ended only a few years ago. We've been searching the galaxy for the prophesied one's, the people who will free our people."
There was once again a bright light and when it faded they were back on the ship, Lexie had been listening to this but for some reason it all felt familiar. Alister smiled at them all, "The Guardians told me that they had found who they wished to be entrusted with their abilities." Scotty could see that Lexie was thinking about something. "Everything alright Lex?" He asked, "I've read this somewhere before, I think it was in that book I brought back on Lilo. But this has got to be some sort of coincidence right, I mean there's no way a book which I just happened to knock off a shelf would speak about events of a distant world." Kiara giggled. "What's so funny?" Scotty asked, Kiara smiled at him. "That your young friend there believes that she happened upon that book by chance, it wasn't that at all, it was destiny." Lexie just blinked, Alister smiled at her. "You see my dear, I was the one who made that book fall. I couldn't risk revealing myself on an unfamiliar world, so I placed the tale of my home in a book." Lexie was in shock, it all suddenly clicked in her mind. "It all makes sense now. Not only did you put in the story you just told us, well I assume you did since I haven't read the whole thing. But you also wrote about the ruins we would discover." Kirk just stared at his young Engineer, Alister smiled softly.
"Yes, I knew exactly how you five would gain your new found gifts. However I must admit, I was expecting you to arrive at Cecilia a little earlier than you did." "We sort of had a bit of a situation to deal with…" Kirk said as he rubbed his neck nervously, just then the doors to the room opened and in flew a familiar robot. "Hey Lex, the computer told me you were… What?!" Delta had flown in to find Lexie, but he never would have expected the sight that greeted him. Kiara narrowed her eyes as she span her staff around before pointing it at Delta, who simply froze in mid-air. Lexie dashed to stand in front of him, "It's alright, he's no fret to you Kiara. He's a friend." Lexie cried, her hands waving around frantically. Kiara nodded as she stood down, her staff once again stood next to her. "My apologies, I haven't had the best experience with machines in the past. Forgive me." She said sadly as she closed her eyes, Lexie looked over to see Delta land softly on her shoulder. "That's alright Kiara." The young Shikari smiled at her warmly.
Kirk then stepped forward, "I guess its time for us to introduce ourselves." Alister quickly raised a hand. "No need Captain, we already know who you are. The Guardians gave us your names." Kirk didn't bother questioning that, it wasn't the craziest thing he had heard today. "But why did we get chosen and how did your Guardians choose who got what element?" Asked McCoy, "You were chosen due to your overwhelming sense of courage and your dedication to protecting any form of life. As for who got what, that was based on your own personality's." Scotty tilted his head. Alister could see that he was confused so chose to explain.
"Kirk was chosen to willed the element of fire due to his bravery, McCoy was chosen for water due to his loyalty, Chekov was earth because of his unbreakable spirit, air was chosen for Lexie due to her belief…" Alister stopped as he turned to face Scotty. "And Scotty was chosen to willed the most powerful of the five elements due to his unconditional love and friendship towards those he cares about." Scotty just blinked but before he could ask a single question the lights began to flicker and the room became cold, Lexie rubbed her arms as she shivered. "What's going on?" She stuttered, Alister and Kiara exchanged a horrified look. Suddenly a dark mist began to form in the far corner of the room, "What the hell is that?!" McCoy cried as he slowly backed away from the darkness which was forming. Alister and Kiara hurried over and stood in front of the group, "Stay behind us." Alister ordered as he whipped his arm to the side and out of thin air a sword with a gold handle and a blue crystal appeared in his hand, Kiara tightened her grip of her staff as the tip began to gently glow.
Suddenly a being appeared from the darkness and they didn't look friendly, the most noticeable thing was their wings. One wing was made up of jet black feathers, while the other looked like a gigantic white bat wing, with what seemed to be a black belt wrapped around it, almost like a spider web. They had eyes of pinkish red which glowed menacingly on their face, one was behind a mask. In one of their bandaged hands they held a long spear with a red and gold tip, which sat on top of a jet black handle. The person grinned at them, "So, these are the humans the Guardians entrusted their powers to. Pathetic." They then turned their gaze upon Scotty and simply chuckled. "And to think you're the wielder of quintessence, you look just as pitiful as the original Guardian did." Scotty couldn't help but feel slightly afraid, he then felt his burned hand begin to sting again. He glanced down to see flickers of electricity dancing across his fingers, "I warn you now Alister, stand in my way and I will destroy you." Alister gripped his sword tightly in his hand. "It is my destiny to help defeat you, so I will not step aside." The winged being laughed, "Then so be it, I will destroy you in time. Along with these pitiful new Guardians." Then just as mysteriously as the person had appeared, they vanished. "Who was that?" Asked Chekov as he tried to slow his heart rate, "That was Alisandra, the queen of Cecilia." Alister replied sadly as he lowered his sword to his side.