Summary: The Lotus Ninjas must rewind and fast forward Saldana's mind when a powerful foe returns.
Shadow Recruit, Luna, and Nova gathered together inside the secret room of the apartment warehouse. They stood in front of a levitating Lady Shade at the center of the room.
"At long last." Nova said with a smile. "After 500 years, Lady Shade has returned to the Shadow Clan. Now we can finally fulfill our mission and rule the city under her dark wrath!"
"Remember, sis. Without this brooch, she can't move." Luna reminded as she observed the brooch in between her fingers. Her eyes moved to Shadow Recruit. "Recruit, you will stay here and gather the remaining ninjas while we plot the clan's agenda."
"What?!" Shadow Recruit snapped. "But I was the one who found Lady Shade and the brooch that controls her fair and square!"
"Do not disobey us, Recruit." Nova retorted. "You're the one who promised to obey the clan's every command when you sign up as a kunoichi. Now, do what she says and gather the ninja squad."
Shadow Recruit lowered her head down, but she narrowed her eyes and looked up at Luna and Nova.
"Yeah, that would be a no." Shadow Recruit grinned.
Shadow Recruit charged her parasol with bluish-grey energy and released a powerful energy beam that hit Luna and Nova to the wall. As she opened her parasol, a glow of bluish-grey energy surrounded the brooch out of Luna's hand. The brooch magically levitated away from Luna's clutches and inserted itself into the light grey star on top of the parasol, causing the weapon to glow in bright grey light.
Shadow Recruit held her parasol up in the air and Lady Shade opened her eyes, grabbing Luna and Nova's head with long white scarves shaped like hands and lifting them up in the air.
"Since I found Lady Shade, only I get to decide our next move." Shadow Recruit said as she hovered above Lady Shade on her flying parasol. "Once I find out about the brooch, Lady Shade will be reanimated to her free will once again!"
In the Crete Fortress, the Dragoness family gathered together in the living room.
"How can I be so stupid to trust Magus with Lady Shade?" Raven said frustratingly. "Not only she's back, but she will destroy all life as we know it."
"Don't feel bad about yourself, Raven." Angel said as she placed her comforting hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Angel's right." Lee said. "We need a plan and we need it now." She turned her head to Ella. "Hey Ella, any ideas?"
"Honestly, for the first time in my life, I got nothing." Ella replied with a shrug. "We faced Lady Shade before, but we can't tell how powerful she can be if we fight her again?"
"Well, we got to do something." Ellie said with a frown.
"Let's not forget we were trained from birth to protect the world as the legendary Dragoness." Donna pointed out. "Surely, our ancestors must have some answers that can help us."
"That's true." Saldana admitted. "But my mother Camellia was the only one who came close into learning all info about Lady Shade herself."
"And there's a possibility that you know about your mother's secrets somewhere in your memories." Raven said.
"Wait a minute. Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Angel asked slowly.
"Yes, if my mother's secrets are the key on defeating Lady Shade, my daughters must locate that secret in my memories." Saldana said.
Ellie, Donna, Ella, and Lee exchanged surprised faces.
Saldana sat crisscrossed on the floor in the middle of a large octagonal symbol.
"When Alisa was Evelina, she casted a powerful spell that allows her to see any memories of the past and present she wishes to see." Raven said. "I managed to know about that spell's existence when she was experiencing nightmares last week."
"But is that spell safe?" Angel asked in concern.
"Of course." Raven answered. "All they have to do is to seek the memories that only involves Saldana and Camellia." She looked at Saldana. "Even the emotional ones."
Saldana knew what Raven meant and silently nodded her head.
"In the meantime, Angel and I will gather my husband and my daughter to join us. Good luck." Raven said.
Raven and Angel disappeared from the living room.
Ella, Lee, Donna, and Ellie gathered around Saldana.
"Are you ready, mom?" Donna asked.
"Ready." Saldana said with a reluctant nod.
Ella twisted her hand into a fist and opened it in the air, Lee waved her hand back and brought it forward, Donna moved her index finger in a circle, and Ellie waved her hand back and forth with a grabbing shape.
"Memorisuraidoshō." Ella, Lee, Donna, and Ellie casted as they pointed their magic at Saldana.
Saldana's eyes turned bright white and a giant globe was created above her. Ella, Lee, Donna, and Ellie looked up to see the globe was filled with roaming memories in a form of glowing white spheres.
"Whoa." Ellie said in awe.
"Are these...mom's memories?" Lee asked.
"Every single one of them." Donna confirmed.
"Let's focus, girls. We only got one shot of this." Ella reminded. She looked up at the globe. "Show us every memory of Saldana and her mother Camellia."
One glowing white sphere came out of the globe and started playing a slideshow that was showing a child Saldana looking at her glowing Dragoness mark in a full mirror.
"Mommy, look!" Saldana said with a smile. "I've finally got my mark! I'm a Dragoness now just like you."
"That's right, my darling." Camellia smiled softly as she knelt behind Saldana. "Once you learn the ancient arts of magic, we protect the world side by side."
"I can't wait for that, mommy!" Saldana said as she hugged her mother.
Camellia hugged her daughter back.
The Lotus Ninjas watched the memory of their mother's child self in smiling silence.
"This memory is heartwarming, but no." Ella said with a sad frown. "Show us another one memory."
Another glowing white sphere came out of the globe and started playing a slideshow that was showing a twelve-year-old Saldana watching Camellia's disarming spell against an animated training dummy.
"Mother, why didn't you attack it?" Saldana asked.
"You know, mystic and yokais are old rivaling enemies, Saldana." Camellia replied. "When it comes to spell casting, you must carefully observe your enemy to plan either close or long-ranged attacks."
Saldana looked back at the training dummy with a fascinated look.
"Very clever spell, mother." Saldana said.
"That was a clever spell. But no, find another one." Ella said.
The third glowing white sphere came out of the globe and started playing a slideshow that was showing a seventeen-year-old Saldana observing Camellia's cooking skills in the kitchen.
"Are you making tiramisu cheesecake?" Saldana said with an excited smile.
"I know it's one of your favorites." Camellia smiled back. "Once I finished my cookbook, you will pass down my cooking to your children someday."
"We always love Grandma Camellia's cooking recipes." Ellie said with a warm smile.
"Especially her famous pies." Donna grinned.
"Hands down." Lee agreed.
"Find us another one." Ella commanded to the globe.
The final glowing white sphere came out of the globe and started playing a slideshow that was showing Camellia and an adult Saldana under beautiful pink blossom trees. Standing next to Saldana was a tall, sturdily-built man. He has a very muscular physique, short black hair that is spiked up around his head, and sharp brown-gray eyes. He wore a white Japanese style sleeveless shirt, black hakama, and a pair of dark grey geta.
"This is it. This is the memory we're looking for." Donna muttered.
A scroll hovered in front of Camellia and Saldana. They stared at the drawing of Lady Shade on it.
"As Lady Shade destroyed the village, our ancestor struck her with powerful crystal in the history of the Lotus Clan." Camellia narrated. "It sent them both trapped to the Underworld, bringing peace to our world."
"That's it! That's how we gonna take down Lady Shade!" Ella said with a smile.
"But who's that man standing next to mom?" Lee wondered as she focused at the mysterious man.
"No, it can't be. Could he be...?" Ellie said in shock.
"Our dad?" Donna gasped slowly.
Saldana noticed the sad expression on her mother's face.
"Mother, why are you tell us this?" Saldana asked.
"Saldana, darling. I haven't told you the whole truth." Camellia said. "Remember what I've told you about the story of your grandmother Ariella?"
"No. Mother, you can't." Saldana pleaded. She grabbed her mother's hands and squeezed them tightly. "You're going to be a grandma...I'm pregnant."
"Oh, my lotus blossom, I wish I could stay and be a grandmother, but it is my duty to protect the Lotus Clan in case Lady Shade returns out of the Underworld." Camellia said as she gently touched her daughter's cheek. She shed a long tear from her eye. "One day, you will understand the sacrifice I must make as a mom. Be good for your husband and your future child." She looked at her son-in-law. "Protect my daughter with your life."
"I will." Caesar said with a nod.
Camellia moved her hand out of Saldana's and walked away.
Saldana reached out to grab Camellia, but Caesar stood in front of his wife and hugged her tightly.
"Mother, please!" Saldana screamed as her eyes streamed out tears down her face. "No!"
"I love you, Saldana." Camellia said.
With that, Camellia disappeared.
After the slideshow stopped playing, the giant globe disappeared.
Lee, Donna, and Ellie wiped their tears from their eyes.
"No wonder mom never talked about her." Ella says sympathetically with a wet face. "She died before we were born."
Raven and Angel reappeared in the living room with Azazel and Alisa.
"Wha? What happened?" Saldana said as she sat up on her knees.
"Grandma Raven, you're just in time." Ella said. "We know exactly what we need to do to defeat Lady Shade. There's a crystal in the Underworld. We just need to find it and figure it out how to use it!"
"I am familiar with the Underworld." Azazel said. "Leave it to me."
Azazel slammed his hands down to the floor and opened up a large portal that showed the rocky environment covered in flames, lava, stalagmites, and stalactites. He spotted a light blue-gray hexagonal dipyramidal-shaped transparent crystal that has a small glittering sphere inside. The crystal was hovering a beautiful, glowing black lily-like flower.
"There's the crystal." Azazel said.
"I've got it." Saldana said.
Saldana ran forward and flipped through the portal. Once she landed to the ground, she quickly sped towards the flower and took the crystal. She engulfed herself in blazing white aura and soared towards the opening portal.
As Saldana landed on the floor, Azazel closed the portal. Saldana held up the crystal with a triumphant smile, causing her family to cheer happily.
Then suddenly, the crystal glowed brightly and disappeared. It hovered into the air and manifested into a very tall male mystic in front of them. He has black medium-length hair and light grayish cerulean eyes. He wore a sapphire bluish-black armored chest-plate with a white Lotus symbol on the front and sapphire bluish-black pauldrons with black edges, black hakama pants, and sapphire bluish-black armored boots. He also wore a metallic black mask that covered his mouth area on his face.
The mystic man looked at himself with shocking eyes before looking up at the Dragoness family.
"What...What have you...?" The mysterious mystic muttered.
Suddenly, glowing black veins coursed throughout the mysterious mystic's body. He grunted in pain and fell unconsciously to the floor.
Saldana, Ella, Ellie, Lee, Donna, Angel, Raven, Azazel, and Alisa exchanged worried looks.
Meanwhile, Lady Shade's eyes glowed from bright grey to golden yellow. She released Luna and Nova from her clutches and moved away.
Shadow Recruit looked in shock as a black cloak engulfed Lady Shade entirely and bursted into a ravishing transformation.
Lady Shade has pale grey skin, golden yellow eyes, and waist-length black hair tied in a low thin ponytail. She wore a black armored suit completed with a breastplate, pauldrons, vambraces, cuisses, poleyns, greaves, and sabatons with silver-grey trimmings. She also has a dark grey cape attached to the pauldrons and a large black mask that hid most of her face.
"AT LONG LAST! I AM FINALLY FREE!" Lady Shade hollered.