Chapter Nine – The greatest power of them all
"What do we do?" Phoenix looked around at them. "Chaos has captured them in a spell of darkness beneath the water surface. To break the spell, we'll need a power stronger than darkness."
"Isn't Light stronger than Darkness?" Phoenix shot Musa a sad look. "Unfortunately, the struggle between Light and Darkness is one that hasn't been decided yet, Musa. Your question, your hypothesis…It shall be tested soon, I fear…too soon. No, we need a power that has been proven to be a thousand times more powerful than both Light and Darkness."
A strange feeling surged through the bodies of all the fairies and the specialists as realization dawned on them. "Love," Flora said, looking at Phoenix. Bloom and Sky looked at each other in the same way Stella and Brandon, Timmy and Techna and Riven and Musa looked at each other. The same way that Flora and Phoenix looked at each other.
"What do we do?" Phoenix tore his gaze away from Flora and looked at Bloom as she repeated her question. "If I harvest the power of the love that all of you…all of us possess, I can break the spell of darkness Chaos has imprisoned the headmasters in. You just need to focus on the love you feel within you."
Phoenix closed his eyes and levitated, focusing on the difficult task ahead of him. Sky walked over to Bloom and took her hand, and Brandon, Riven and Timmy followed his example.
Phoenix started emitting yellow light, and the others did as they were told. Suddenly, red particles of light flew off of Bloom and Sky towards Phoenix. Soon particles flew off of Stella and Brandon, Techna and Timmy and Musa and Riven.
Phoenix raised his hands above his head, and formed the particles into a small ball. "We need more power guys! Focus," he screamed, his eyes still closed. They did, and the stream of light particles flying towards Phoenix intensified.
The ball of red light grew bigger and brighter, but Flora saw on Phoenix' face that he still wasn't satisfied. Before she even realized it, she flew towards Phoenix. Gently, she cupped the green-haired boy's cheek and an intense stream of light particles made the ball even brighter and bigger.
"Stand back," Phoenix whispered, and Flora moved backwards a few feet. Suddenly Phoenix opened his eyes, which were glowing red, and the ball of light doubled in size and became blindingly bright. In the blink of an eye, he threw himself into the Lake and disappeared under the water surface.
Flora landed, her gaze fixed on the exact spot Phoenix had submerged. She and the others were startled as an explosion rocked the ground and erected a pillar of water in the Lake, and they feared the worst.
To their great surprise and relief, when the water fell back down, they saw Phoenix and the headmasters above the Lake. The four of them landed, and the other flocked around them.
"Thank you guys, you did a tremendous job. But I'm afraid the worst is yet to come," Faragonda stated and the other two headmasters agreed with her. "Chaos invaded our minds, Phoenix. He now possesses the same knowledge and skills that we have taken years to master."
"Then it is done," Phoenix said, suddenly shaking. "If he has your knowledge, than we don't stand a chance…We are doomed." Phoenix' surrender passed like wildfire amongst the other students, as they all seemed to give up hope immediately.
"Not necessarily," Griffin said cryptically, and all their heads snapped towards her. But it was Faragonda who explained. "Chaos possesses our knowledge and skills, yes. Combined with his power it makes him almost unstoppable, yes. But there still is a way."
She paused, looking at the fairies and the specialists one by one before continuing. "There is strength in unity. If Chaos has to do battle with all of us he will lose," she said, and Phoenix stared at her with an astonished look on his face.
He was about to speak when Saladin beat him to the punch. "Of course, only two of us stand a chance of surviving the battle with Chaos. For the rest of us, it would be too dangerous to try and fight him. He could wipe us out with a single thought."
"Each of you, as I have seen many times last year and at the demonstration this year, is wise and skilled in his or her own right. You all possess common knowledge and skills, taught to you at school. But you also have skills you have mastered and knowledge you have gathered yourselves. And that's how we fight Chaos," Griffin said and Faragonda took over again.
"What Griffin, Saladin and I are suggesting is that we give Chaos a taste of his own medicine. He invaded our minds and took what he needed forcefully, so there was little we could keep from him. But what little we have is better than nothing, and could prove to be enough if it is combined with what you have to offer."
"It will cost much. It means willingly sharing all of your deepest thoughts, your soul, with twelve other people. But it is our only chance," Saladin stated and the headmasters looked at the students.
Bloom and Phoenix looked at each other, realizing that Saladin was right. It was their only chance of saving the magic dimension. But they realized that it wasn't only their decision to make.
But as they looked around, all of their friends had the same look on their face. It was a look that said that they were willing to do anything to save the dimension, to help their friends. One by one, all of them nodded.
Phoenix's eyes shot open. "Chaos approaches," he said softly, and the others nodded. "I wish I could stay and fight by your side," Sky said to Bloom, and the fairy cupped the prince's cheek.
"I know, and in a way you are. I can feel you in my head, all of you, so in a way we're all fighting together. But physically, there's nothing you can do," she said and hugged Techna, who started crying.
"Are those tears, Techna? What are they for?" Techna, not used to really show any emotions in public, didn't answer and forced herself to stop crying. Timmy rubbed her back and put his other hand on her shoulder. "Everything is going to be alright. I'll see you soon," she said, suddenly sounding very convinced.
Meanwhile, Riven shook Phoenix' hand and wished the green-haired boy good luck. But when he tried to let go, Phoenix held his hand tight and drew him near. "Maybe, just maybe, I do care about you guys. A little," he whispered, and both boys smiled before Phoenix let go of Riven's hand.
As the purple-haired boy walked away, Sky came up to Phoenix. Before the prince could say anything, Phoenix stopped him. "I'm sorry about how I treated you guys. I…"
"It is okay," Sky said, smiling, and Phoenix smiled too. But immediately the green-haired boy's face turned serious again. "If we don't make it back, take care of Flora for me," he whispered, and Sky nodded.
"I will. I…take care of Bloom for me, okay?" Phoenix nodded just as Faragonda gave the signal that they had to go. Griffin and Faragonda worked their magic and the entire group flew into the air, and they flew away from the Lake.
Bloom, who had flown up as well, formed a dragon of fire around her just as Phoenix spouted flames around himself and gave them the shape of a phoenix. Just before they were too far, the others saw Chaos appear and form a winged demon with apitch-black fog thatwas a thousand times darker than the darkness of night.
A feeling of dread filled them as they realized that those were the three powers which would determine the fate of all the worlds. And they hoped, with all their hearts, that their angels would win.
T.B.C.
Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to update, but I had to work the entire week last week in a hospital in Breda, which is two hours by train from where I live. It's really fun to leave your house at six in the morning and come back at eight in the evening.
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