I'm back!! I apologize on the wait, I really do. Crosseyedbutterfly has been having some...problems as of late. There was my car getting into an accident (with me driving it...), family problems, band family problems, groundings left and right, then just the usual stuff from school....yeah. This hasn't been the best times as of late. It's had its high points, I'll be the first to admit it. But it's had its low points too. And those I hate the most...
Anyways, enjoy!!
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Pixie appeared first from the group, everyone else slowly materializing one by one around her. Eventually the entire gathering was complete and she sank slowly to her knees, letting Big Blue support her for a few minutes before she felt her strength return and she was well enough to stand once more.
"Are you alright?" asked Holly worriedly, holding out her hand. "If that took too much out of you..."
"I'm fine," cut in Pixie, giving her a wry smile. "I've just never used that much power at once....or had that much power period before in my life."
"It's an odd sensation," said Lili, brushing her finger tips across Pixie's forehead before she went to stand at the edge of the bluff with Zelda, who was overlooking the scene below them.
Several scouts had spotted them and gotten word back to The Master of their arrival. Masses of squads and troops were gathered below, all waiting patiently for the word from their Master on what to do next. Weapons ready, shields set: they were ready to attack or defend, right now it depended on what the rebels did first.
"He's got his regulars up front," observed Zelda quietly, Lili standing beside her silently. "Specialties in the back as insurance in case the sheer numbers of his regulars somehow don't make it through to you. He's not pulling his punches this time, he's got every monster and fighter he's got outside the walls to meet you. Maybe a special guard for himself, but that's it."
"What would you suggest?" asked Lili, knowing already what she, Genki, Holly, Pixie, and Slip had to do. "Send ours in as a force or stay here and defend the hill as best we can?"
"Send out what fighters you have, but keep them close to here as a base," replied Zelda slowly, mapping out a plan in her mind. "That way they're only facing the mediocre fighters and such. I'm not saying they can't handle the specialties, but it would be over all safer for everyone if they did."
"Partially defense partially offense?"
"Exactly."
"Here comes the Master," called Slip from his vantage point of view. "He's floating up on some platform thingy. What do you want us to do, Lili?"
"Form up in ranks behind me, Genki, Holly, Slip, and Pixie on the hill!" called Lili so everyone could hear her. "No one make a move until I tell them to. Let's see what this scumbag has to say first, then we'll go from there."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Those from the valley and normal fighters formed up behind the five as ordered, the pups staying in the back with some of the younger fighters and those from the original group in the front.
"Lilianne," boomed the General's voice, looking similar to how she did in her full fledged form with four captains standing behind him in full battle armor. "You have returned and with new fighters I can see."
Lilianne stood out in front in her partially human form, the one he had last seen her in as he stood there before her now. She didn't reply, just stared at him with her icy, brown eyes.
"Give up this foolish quest and join me," he offered for the last time, spreading his arms out wide as if to encircle them all. "You know you want to, to not have to fight or let your friends die in an attempt to beat me. I'll even let you stay as you are now, without any additions at all. All you must do is bow to me."
Lili's eyes flickered, knowing exactly what her answer would be before she even said it. "Never."
"Then die!" The Master put his hands before him and blasted a huge sphere of dark energy at them. Lili easily deflected it as he flew back on the platform he had created to the safety of the back lines. The masses below surged forward with a single cry from all, those behind Lili hastening forward to meet them head on in one of the bloodiest clashes in Monster history.
"Come," said Lili in a calm tone, the four walking back with her to the edge farthest away from the edge. There they found five low pillars, each carved with a different symbol on it that looked like it had been created in ancient times. "When they created the five stones of the Phoenix, it was to be the backup in case he failed. But they all disappeared the day he was killed on the battle field with Moo. There has always been the legend of the Phoenix Stone and it's now to come to life."
Lili waited until each of them had mounted their pillar, lighting atop of hers and standing there for a moment with her feet spread apart. The light appeared and she transformed into her ultimate form as the others began their chants slowly. None of them knew what they were doing, no one knew why they were doing it, but the stones were guiding their souls at that point, and that is what the stones had told them to do.
Zelda fought beside Stormy and Tiger, just as deadly as she had been before without the special attacks or power. Golem and Big Blue hung back as usual, but they fought as much as anyone, driving back those who made it past the front line and leaving a trail of lost disks that crumbled underfoot beside them. Those from the valley and who were lead by Pong showed their worth, easily decimating those in their way and fighting as a team rather than as individual warriors.
Hare and Allen stuck together with Allen's worms, the three monsters and human easily doing damage to the ranks they went through, but still hanging back some as Zelda had advised just in case. Frost and Claws fought as one through double attacks and timed distractions to defeat those around them. Claw's claws were already stained crimson as always, and Frost wasn't exactly clean of blood either. Temi and Ice stayed back as they had been told, watching the fight from above with their guards and cheering for their parents and friends below.
The pillars were positioned in a certain way facing the fort: Holly to the west, Slip to the north, Genki to the east, and Pixie to the south. Lili stood between Holly and Slip at the back on the highest pillar of all, facing towards the fort between Genki and Pixie on the other end. They stood facing each other, each with their chant running on constantly and waiting for what was to happen next.
Holly began to glow first, her voice ringing lightly over the others as her hands came out before her, her power forming itself around them as she did in the shape of wings. "Wings of Fire!!" she yelled at last, sending it towards the center of the four instead of towards the fort and letting it rest there, glowing brightly all the while an still connected to her through a single thread.
Slip followed soon after, his glow matching hers in everyway except in color. While hers made her look like she was on fire, his created a blue shield about himself in an ice like way. Putting his hands before himself and letting his voice rise above the others, his power poured out into his hands, forming ice crystals that seemed to hang on space. "Storm of Ice!!!" he cried, sending it to the middle to collide with Holly's, the two feeding off of each other and growing all the while but still connected to the two of them as always.
Genki began to glow a dark green next, his chant booming over the others as his power began to pool in his outstretched hands. It took the form of a familiar face, but none of them could discern it from there and waited, wondering what it would be. "Dragon's Blast!!" cried Genki, sending it towards the others and letting it clash with them in the middle, their powers combining and racing through one another, growing and feeding off one another and their creators as much as they possibly could.
Pixie's bring pink glow threw shadows around the pillars, it's light illuminating them by far the most. Her outstretched hands quickly gathered the power she would need for the attack, letting it grow for awhile before she deemed it ready to be released. "Wrath of Demons!" she yelled, sending the miniature figures towards the center a thousand fold at once, letting them streak the other's power and grow as well.
Lili settled her eyes on the mass of power and energy before her and set her hands before herself, her voice soaring with the winds as the power gathered between her hands in a ball that had never been created before. The winds swirled above the warring monsters, hybrids, and humans below as Lili let it grow, the winds finally coming behind her to form the shape of one whom she had known and cared for not long ago...
"ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she yelled as loud as she could, thrusting her hands forward and with it the attack. The figure behind her went howling through her and the attack, catching it in it's force and bringing with in the attacks of the other four, twisting, turning, dancing, and racing together in one final push towards the fort in a deafening roar....and everything was silent....
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Lilianne....
Lilianne felt herself stirring slightly, something overhead shadowing her from the light above. What time was it? How long had she been out?
Is she ok?
I don't know, she won't wake up.
It's been...three days now...
I know, he said she would come to eventually and then he would return.
He has never proven wrong before, we will just have to wait...
Who was this 'he' they were referring to? Who was standing close to her period? She couldn't tell and every time she tried to move it just sent pangs of fire up and down her arms and legs. That could never be good...
She needs to wake up so we can get out of here.....is a waste land...
I know...don't worry.....come up with a plan....
The people's words were drowning in the subtle din around her, making it hard for her to hear what they were saying. Her stomach growled, enticing her all the more to try and wake up with the smells of something cooking nearby. Food would be nice...
Come get me...she wakes up...
I will.
Lili groaned aloud, letting the pain take over for a few moments as she struggled to sit up, two pairs of hands suddenly coming from behind and supporting her from there, letting her lean back on them for a second. She noticed she was back in her usual form, shrunk about three feet from the 8ft Protector and with small body build as well.
"Thanks," she mumbled, clearing her vision by shaking her head before she squinted around the room. "What's going on? Last thing I remember is the battle, and then some huge explosion..."
"The power from the attack went sent at the fort was so great, it devestated everything for miles around," explained Holly gently as she helped her drink some water from a cup. "Nothing is still alive within about twenty miles of here except for us, and our scouts tell us even hundreds of miles away it still shows the effects of the attack."
"How many of ours are still alive?"
"We lost three from our valley," explained Allen sadly. "One of my worms, a Bowwow, and Pong."
Lili sat up straight, looking at him quickly. "Pong?? How in the world-"
"She was helping a younger warrior and was stabbed in the back by some hybrid," explained Allen slowly. "Their lost disks are gone as well. The only way we're still alive is through shields Holly and Slip were able to put up at the last moment, and we're still a little beat up from the encounter."
"Then he is gone."
"The Master or Creator guy?"
"Yes."
"Yes, Lilianne, he is gone as well as everything else with him."
"Let me see." Allen helped Lili to her feet and the two of them stumbled outside, pushing aside the flap of the tent she had been in and seeing nothing but bare rock and sand for miles around. The place where the fort had been held nothing but a few tumbled stones and some rusted iron from where the gate had been. Everything else had disappeared, completely vaporized with the brunt of the attack. "Wow..."
"Yeah, I never knew you were capable of that kind of destruction," whispered Allen, frowning as he did.
"Neither did I," replied Lili, completely in awe of what she had done. She had won, and completely wiped out the entire opposing army. But instead of feeling all powerful or like some supreme being she felt...empty...and void of life... "To kill so many..."
"You have done well, protector," said the Phoenix, landing on her shoulder out of the blue and touching her cheek with his beak. "I know this may seem hard for you to grasp...but it was the only thing left for you to do."
"There was never a way to bring back those who had been kidnapped, was there?" she asked quietly, her eyes blurring with tears as she did. "They were out there somewhere, knowing deep inside who they really were and who they were going to kill and not even caring because of what that man had done to them. That bastard! He-"
"Settle down," said Allen, pulling her into a hug as the Phoenix backed off and landed on Holly's shoulder instead, as she and Genki had just arrived with the others.
"Then we will never see them again?" asked Genki, his own eyes becoming bright with tears. "They are lost from us forever?"
"They are gone from you in body, but never in spirit," replied the Phoenix. "There is much to say, and little time to do so, but for you and I do a favor. Watch."
Genki and Holly watched with the others as a portal opened before them, showing them a land far away filled with the ghost of creatures, playing or walking around a huge grassy meadow in the sky.
"There's Moochi!" chocked Genki, holding back his tears as he pointed out his little companion to the rest. "And the monsters from Golem's valley and those who died in the battles....they're all right there!"
"This is their final resting place, the way The Creator treated their bodies it will be impossible for them to ever return again," explained the Phoenix, closing the portal once more. "I'm sorry it must be this way."
"As long as I know he's happy, I am content," replied Genki softly as Holly buried her head into his shoulder, crying as she did.
"As am I," added Golem, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes. "They are at rest...that is all I can ask..."
"Hey, there," said a familiar voice, a shape that was as shifty as the wind and just as see through appearing beside the Phoenix.
"Zephyr?" whispered Lili, raising her head slightly so she could see him better. "Is that really..."
"It is," he replied with a nod. "I am now Guardian of the Winds, Lili, aren't you proud of me?"
"I will always be proud of you," she whispered. "It was you at the battle, wasn't it? That presence I felt behind me..."
"It was," he replied gently. "You have done well. And thank you, for saving my sister. Zelda, I hope we can sit down and talk some day. This time as family, not as enemies."
"I hope for that too," she replied, lowering her head as a few tears slipped from her eyes.
"I must go," said Zephyr suddenly, his form melting away with the breeze. "I will come visit you again some day, this I promise....goodbye..."
"Good bye," whispered Lilianne, falling to her knees as she did.
"Lilianne," said the Phoenix gently, landing on the ground and standing with her where she knelt dealing with the warring emotions inside of her.
"Yes, Phoenix?" She lifted her tear stained face to him, completely attentive and willing to listen for the first time in her life.
"There is one more task for you to complete," he said softly. "Hybrids and Multi-breeds with monsters and humans cannot exist in this world. It is impossible for them to reproduce or reoccur naturally, they just aren't meant to be. You, Lilianne, the Protector, are the last of those kinds."
"Is there a way to reverse what was done to me?" asked Lili quickly, her mind going a million miles a minute. "I way that I could be fully human again..."
"No, there is not," replied the Phoenix sadly. "But there is something else you can do."
"What?" asked Lili, her attention fully centered on him once more.
"You can replace me, and become the next Phoenix."
"What?!" Every gasped as Lili got up and shook her head, whispering to one another about what they had heard.
"Her, become the Phoenix?"
"But why?!"
"Can that even happen?"
"I dunno, don't look at me!"
"What's he talking about?!"
"SILENCE!" yelled the Phoenix, getting in control of things once more. "Lilianne, you don't have a choice in this. With the legend of the Phoenix stone comes the legend of the Phoenix predecessor. Some last for thousands of years as I have, watching this world and taking care of it as best I can. Some last for only months at a time, fading in and out of time as quickly as one blinks one's eye."
"The Phoenix can see the past, present, and future of time; and he or she bends it and shapes it so it turns out well for all, everything with in balance and the dark forces kept at bay. The Phoenix will also know when his or her time has come to pass on this task to another being, and my time is now, Lilianne. You are the chosen one, and you must complete this for me."
Lili looked around the group, seeing mixed emotions across the board and knowing it would only hurt all the more to ask them what they thought right about now. "I will do it."
"You can't!" cried Allen angrily, stepping in front of Lili and the Phoenix suddenly. "That's not fair to you, all you've ever done is fight and protect people, even you deserve a break!!"
"She will get one," replied the Phoenix gently. "We exist outside of time, boy. If I am tired I can rest for a thousand years and yet come right back a moment after I left. Do you understand? The normal laws of nature do not apply to me in any case. I will not die, I will simply enter the realm of the dead and never leave again as such is my fate as a Phoenix of the past."
"Then I will still be able to visit my friends and protect them as I please?" asked Lili, getting her final assurance from him.
"Yes," replied the Phoenix. "I watched over my family until they passed from this world and still I visit them occasionally in the next. Now I will get to spend forever with them there where nothing can ever separate us again."
"I am going," said Lili, pushing past Allen towards the Phoenix.
Allen caught her hand, holding it fast. "But Lili..."
"Don't Allen," she said softly, pulling her hand free of his. "I know...but it will only make it harder in the end..."
"This is for the best," the Phoenix said, coming towards her after circling over head a few times and aiming for the center of her chest. But instead of impacting with her, he disappeared and left a transformed Lilianne in his wake.
Her hair now reached her knees and hung about her in strands as fine as the wind, blowing gently about her as it did. Her clothes were now a single scarlet tunic that reached her knees and well and knee high boots to cover her legs. A golden staff with designs carved in everywhere rested in her hands, and a thin circlet of gold with a single ruby in it adorned her head.
"Wow," breathed Allen, having never seen her so beautiful before in his life.
"Nice," admitted Lili, checking herself over for a moment. "I would've gone more for a dark blue, but whatever..."
"Then you have to go now?" asked Allen sadly, realizing what this meant.
"Yeah," she said softly, closing her eyes as she did. "They are calling to me, as well as the wind...I will have to leave soon and assume the position that I am to be give there..."
"We will miss you," said Genki, giving her a hug as he did.
"I'll miss you too," said Lili, hugging him back as well. She let go and looked at Holly, who looked like she might cry again. "I will be back, Holly, so smile for me."
"Thank you so much for everything," whispered Holly as she hugged the younger girl.
"Take care of my cousin for me," whispered Lili with a wink, getting Holly to blush a little as she did. "That's my girl."
"What will happen to me now?" asked Zelda, nuzzling Lili's hand as she did. "I don't have a family or anything I can turn to..."
"Do you see that person right there with the brown hair and brown eyes?" asked Lili, pointing at Holly as she did. "She will take care of you for me, because she was the first who trusted you like I did." Holly went and put her arms around Zelda as a promise that she would do as Lili had said, and Zelda appreciated it with all of her heart.
"My time is up," said Lili suddenly, feeling something tug at her from the inside. "I will be back to visit you all, this I promise..." Everyone blinked and before they could say another word, she was gone...
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That's it, my friends. This is the end of Zephyr's Winds. Will there be a prolouge?? I dunno, what do you think?? Yes, there will be a prologue, you know there will be one because I happen to love them. That and how can I leave you like that?? It would be very cruel indeed to just leave you like that so I'll leave you with a prologue with in a few days.
Please review, I'll post the final score for the voting for the prequel or sequel there, then give you a teaser for the next fic when it comes out in a few months.
Thank you's and such will be posted next chapter since it will be the last, etc, bye!!
~crosseyedbutterfly~