Authors Notes: Hey again. Well, here is Chapter Three. Thanks so much for all your great responses to this story. This chapter's kind of short, but I hope to update real soon. I added the Prophecy in the beginning again, because the first part is talked about in more detail in this chapter and (just incase you wanted to read it again) you wouldn't have to go back to the first Chapter to remember what it said. Also, the second part will be more explained in the next chapter. I think thats about it. Let me know what you think!
From the Prophecies of the stars
When all the stars are in great need,
A being of true and pure light will awaken
Usual colors, unusual shape- but take heed,
This being will bring peace to the forsaken,
A One needs a Two,
For two offers strength and love,
Guardians of light are few,
But together they rise above.
Flashback
Kim ran up the stairs to the room she shared with her roommate, another girl from the school. In her hand she clutched a letter from Tommy, plus some magazines and two bills. Eagar to read the letter, she hurriedly unlocked her door and threw her bag by the couch before flopping down onto it. "Kimberly." A voice startled her right back out of the seat a second later as she came face to face with her strange visitor.
The woman, for Kimberly could tell even with the cloak that hide the stranger's face and body that she was a woman, was standing in the hallway towards Kim's bedroom. She didn't know what to do. Since moving from Angel Grove to Miami, Kim had gotten used to seeing things a lot more different then she was used to in her small town, but this beat all. The woman, besides the torn cloak that look about a hundred years old, was also holding a long staff; but otherwise seemed harmless.
Kim stood in silence for a minute before an image struck her from seemingly nowhere. A fire in the middle of ruins, her closest and dearest friends surrounding her and the feeling of a giant bird hovering nearby. "Dulcea!" she exclaimed as soon as the name came to her mouth. "But what… I mean how…" Kim was expectedly at a loss for words. What could she possible need to talk about that she would travel to another planet? Suddenly a fear gripped at her heart. "The Rangers! Are they-?"
"Your friends are fine." Dulcea cut her off soothingly. Kim sighed in relief before wondering again. "Dulcea, what are you doing here?" she didn't mean to sound rude, but whenever Kim was confused she was unnaturally blunt.
"I must speak with you about something of great importance." Dulcea replied, pulling her hood down and taking a seat in the nearest chair. Kim followed suit and slid back into the couch.
"When you and your friends came to Phaedos, I noticed something in you. A spark. A difference. Something I should have taken more seriously, but there just wasn't any time left to talk about it. You and your friends went back home refreshed and renewed and saved your planet, and I went back to my daily existence. But then I heard speak of the One of Prophecies. The one who was meant to save us all and I remembered you."
"Me?" Kim asked in a squeak. Dulcea smiled a warmly.
"Yes you, Crane. I remembered the color or your aura, Pink. Now, pink is always connected with… lighter spirits. On your planet it would be the butterfly mostly. Some small birds even but never the crane, never one with so much… power and force." Dulcea explained. "In the Prophecies, it is written that a spirit will awaken, one that will not be of a usual colored animal. One that is said to save not only their own planet, but the surrounding universe they live in." Dulcea finished her speech and sat back, letting Kim take it all in.
"Yes but… that can't mean me. I mean…" Kim trailed off and Dulcea let her gather her thoughts. " I don't know if you know this, but I'm not even a Ranger anymore. I've retired, I guess you could say." Kim explained.
"Ah, you gave up you coin, yes. But you never give up your power. It is in here." Dulcea placed her hand over her chest. "You have awakened your spirit to save your planet. You proved you did not need your coin, which, until then, you relied so heavily on." She said.
"Neither did any of the others. What makes me so different?" Kim questioned.
"Your colored animal. The others are unique, yes. But your Pink Crane is never heard of. A Crane is an unusual and rare spirit in the first place but a Pink one?" Dulcea shook her blond covered head.
"Dulcea." Kim started out hesitantly. "I think you're mistaken. It can't be me… I mean, me save the whole universe?" she said doubtfully. Dulcea just laughed.
"And what did you think when you were told you had been chosen to save your world?" she asked with a knowing smile. She had Kim there and she knew it.
"But that was different. I mean, there were six of us." Kim explained.
"My dear child, do not fret; you will not be alone in this. But you must now decide if you want to take the responsibility your were born into. You have saved your own planet numerous times and have graduated, sort to speak, from that. Now you must decide if you want to save the Universe." Dulcea started grandly. Kim was hesitant, still sure that there had been a mistake.
"What would I have to do?" she asked tentatively.
"If you decide to further your training, you will come to Phaedos and train. This will be hard, and it will take more than a year to complete. Your time does not coincide with Phaedos', however, and so it will only seem like half the time when you return." Dulcea explained.
"But what if… this is all a big mistake? Will I go through all that training, and loose all that time here for nothing?" Kimberly asked. "If I leave here now, I could never come back to what I'm doing." She added in explanation.
"If this is a mistake, which I highly doubt, we will know it within the first week of training. There will be tasks you will not be able to do." Dulcea replied. "Accepting also means severing all ties that keep you to earth. You most not speak of your training to anyone, and no one must ask or wonder of where you are." She added as if an afterthought. This hit Kim the hardest.
"I can't tell my friends where I am?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm afraid not."
"But…how am I supposed to tell them without telling them; and how will I get them to not ask or wonder about me?"
"This, I'm afraid, you must answer for yourself." Dulcea answered.
"And now I will leave you to think. I will be back in two days, your time, for an answer. Meditate well on this, Young Crane, for it is a responsibility not many would ask for." And with a shimmer, she was gone.
AN: Well, there you go! Hope you liked it. I think, so far, this is my favorite chapter. If the authors are aloud to play favorites :) What'd you think?