Walk the dark path
Sleep with angels
Call the past for help
Touch me with your love
And reveal to me my true name
Nightwish - Nemo
When they reached the Tower Wyatt introduced her to his now grown son Jeb, a resistance leader just like his father. It was hard for her not to see the brave little boy who had stood up to Zero while his father was getting beaten within an inch of his life behind the young man just three years younger than her. Jeb picked up a pair of binoculars and glanced out at the tower.
"Security is as high as I've ever seen it," he said.
"Yeah," Wyatt agreed.
"Of course," Glitch complained. "Why would it be easy?"
"Well if you guys can blow the generators that power those turbines we can sneak in the same way we escaped," Wyatt suggested to his son.
"I'll send my best men down to light charges." Jeb said.
"It kinda boggles the noggin to think that we're going in there with all guns blazing," Glitch remarked.
"Well let's hope we're the quiet part of this plan," said Wyatt.
"We're almost ready," Jeb informed him.
"Have you guys seen Raw?" DG asked softly as she placed a reassuring hand on Glitch's shoulder.
"I, uh think he's lost his nerve," he answered.
She spotted him pacing behind a tree, his hands shaking and started toward him, Glitch close at her heels.
"Hey Raw," she said gently. "I wanted to show you something." She held up her palm and the House of Gale symbol was no longer there.
"That's bad...right?" Glitch asked worriedly. "I mean, you lost the emerald so what does that mean?"
"It means that I don't need it anymore," DG answered wisely. "All that I need is right here," she went on, placing her hand over her heart. "Raw. You are no coward." She placed a reassuring hand on the Viewer's shoulder. "You have taught me that courage is not about being fearless. It's about standing up in spire of your fear. You stood up to the Papays and threw yourself off a cliff. You escaped from prison."
"Raw do that for DG," the Viewer said timidly.
"No. You did that for you. Courage has been in you all along." DG insisted. The viewer smiled and embraced her. Not far away Wyatt listened attentively while he pulled his gun out of his coat pocket and checked the chamber.
"You know when I had a brain I was twice as scared as I am now with half a brain. Which means if I had no brain at all I would be four times braver than I was when I was brainy," Glitch said, trying his best to put up his own brave front. DG smiled with pride.
"Glitch. You're the smartest guy I know."
"No you're just saying that to make me feel good," Glitch laughed nervously.
DG touched his shoulder. "You helped me remember my past and that's probably the most important weapon I have now." Glitch threw his arms around her. "Thank you," DG whispered. After all, this man had sacrificed so much to try to prevent what she'd started in the first place. He nodded his head toward Wyatt and he and Raw walked away, leaving them alone in the woods. He stood rigid, his back to her.
Oh God, let me do this right...
"I know what you're doing kid," he said before she had a chance to. She gasped. "I've led men through battle myself." he went on. It was true, what she'd been doing is trying to give her friends courage but this talk was not the same.
This is different, can't you see that? Raw and Glitch are my friends but I could never say to them what I want to say to you.
"And umm...how am I doing?" she asked, unable to mask her disappointment.
"Well, there's less hugging when I do it," he said with a smile. "But not so bad."
She felt her heart breaking. No matter how hard she tried to reach out to him, she could feel him pulling away and the ice around his heart growing colder.
"We better get going."
"Look," he said abruptly. She stopped and they were gazing into each other's eyes. She felt her heart beating faster with hope renewed.
Tell me you love me, Wyatt. If you can find the courage to say it, so can I.
"You may not be able to save your sister. So if our plan doesn't work you will try to get to get out of there. Right? This is the one time I'm not going to be there to help."
"You've already helped me Mr. Cain," she said stiffly.
"I'm serious! Don't go up there and lose your head and forget about what's really important."
"What's really important is family," she croaked, trying desperately to hold back her tears. Once again he'd taken her hopes and shattered them. "I can't remember who taught me that," she added, glancing at her shoes. He lowered his own head.
You love me, you have to. Why are you looking me at me like that if you don't? And why can't you say it?
She held out her hand. "Good luck Mr. Cain," she whispered. Instead of taking her hand he pulled her into his arms and held her against him. When they seperated she could see that he looked as if he were about to cry himself yet he said nothing. Of their little group, she and Wyatt were proving to be the biggest cowards of all, lacking the courage to express their true feelings to each other.
She ran down the hill and leaned against a tree, her body shaking as she sobbed. "I love you, Wyatt! Why can't you remember me, remember us?" She could see him in the distance talking to his son. She dried her eyes. Now was not the time to break down. As she'd said before what was really important was family. She would free her sister from the witch, find her parents, reunite with her friends and come hell or high water, she was going to shatter the ice around Wyatt Cain's heart for good.
"You okay Dad?" Jeb asked his father when Wyatt returned, his eyes bloodshot. "You and DG didn't have a fight, did you?"
"No. There were just some things we needed to say to each other, that's all." he replied evasively. And plenty I didn't but it's better this way. Neither one of us can go in there losing our heads. "You might want to have a talk with Xenia too."
"Xenia?"
"I don't know what went on between you two but you have to work it out. If there's one thing your mother and I never did, that was spend too long mad at each other. And no matter how much DG and I piss each other off, well...we can't stay mad at each other long either."
"Do you love her Dad?" Jeb inquired, staring hard at his father. He heard Wyatt take a deep breath.
"Your mother..." he began.
"Is gone, Dad. And the last thing she'd want for you is to spend the rest of your life alone and miserable which is exactly what you'll be."
"It's impossible Jeb. I'm old enough to be her father and she's a princess. They marry their own kind. No, we're better off being friends." Wyatt insisted.
"I said that once and right now I'm living to regret it," Jeb confessed sadly. Wyatt glanced over in Xenia's direction. "Don't make my mistake," he pleaded.
"I don't know...maybe when all this is over I'll feel differently. If...something does happen between DG and me, you sure you're gonna be okay with it?"
"We've all lost too much already," Jeb said wisely.
This war has made him grow up too fast, made us all older than we should be, Wyatt thought.
Even if we do win, what kind of world will we be waking up in tomorrow? A better one? Or will it be the same?
Wyatt threw his arms around his son. "Your grandpap can bitch all he wants to about this from wherever he is but I'm not caring right now."
Jeb laughed. "We Cains aren't huggers now cut that shit out."
"Go talk to Xenia but I have to tell you, if you upset her, I don't think I'm gonna be able to hold back the Zipperhead. That's his baby sister after all."
"Thank the goddess she has more brains in her head than he does in his," Jeb muttered. His father patted his shoulder affectionately. Jeb gave him a reassuring smile and went in search of Xenia. He found her kneeling on the ground, her eyes closed, her hands resting on the hilt of her sword as she prayed.
"Great Lurline, hear my prayer
Let us win this battle right and fair
With hands strong and hearts true
We will claim our victory in honor of you."
"Xen?"
Xenia opened her eyes and stood up. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just need to talk, that's all."
"I know what you're going to say. None of us know if we're going to make it out of here and its messing with our heads. I don't want you to stand here and tell me now you wish things could've been different for us because it never would've been. I'm a Temple of Lurline soldier, bound to protect the East Guardian and I cannot let my feelings for you become more than that again."
"Now who is condemning herself to spending the rest of her life and the afterlife alone?" Jeb countered. "There's no law in the books that says I'm forbidden to love a guardian. If Azkadellia can do it, so can I!"
"Y...You're saying..." she stammered.
"I'm saying that I love you, Xenia. I always have and I'm damned tired of seeing you look at me with nothing but hatred in your eyes because I was too stupid to admit it. If you don't have heart, you have nothing and you are my heart."
"Oh, Jeb!" she sobbed as she threw herself into his arms and kissed him.
"This mean you love me, Xenia?"
"If I have to say it you're more stupid than I thought. Yes, I love you!" she cried and they kissed again.
Wyatt watched from a distance, his face beaming with pride. He barely noticed that someone was standing beside him until he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder.
"You might be a grandfather soon, Tin Man," DG said with a grin.
"They better get married first."
"And just think...you and Glitch will be in-laws," she added.
"Aww, damn, forgot about that! Oh well, I can put up with her crazy brother as long as she makes my boy happy."
"Everyone deserves to be happy, Wyatt."
"What happened to Cain, or Mr. Cain?" he asked.
"I think we know each other well enough now that I can start calling you by your first name. We're going to win this. We have to. We all have so much to live for, to look forward to..." DG whispered.
If Jeb is willing to take a chance for love, why can't you? He may want to make you a grandfather but you're the only man I would ever want to father my child.
From our love a child there must be
To continue the bloodline that forever protects the OZ.
She felt him take her hand in his and squeeze it tightly. "No witch is gonna stop me from holding my first grandbaby," he said determinedly.
And she's not going to stop me from asking you to hold our first baby and the ones that come after because I intend to give you more than one, Wyatt.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked him.
"As ready as I'm gonna get, Princess," he said as they joined the others.
Artie Dagon stood high on the hill, his hand poised over the switch of the detonator. In the distance he could see a flash of light as Jeb raised his Katana sword. He pushed down on the handle and a loud explosion rocked the ground beneath the Tower. The leader of a division of Longcoats shouted orders to the others and they ran off in the direction of the blast.
The witch, from her position on the balcony of the tower, glanced down and smirked. "The resistance is giving me a fireworks display. No matter. There will be nothing left of them once I unlock the gates. Soon my pets, soon, you will have a feast laid at your table."
A second explosion erupted. As the Longcoats scurried after it, Wyatt and his companions started their descent into the Tower through the pipes.
On the tower balcony Bastinda stood on a platform, her head held high, her body quivering with anticipation.
"Ahhhh...let it begin!" she whispered. In the cellar of the tower the alchemist and his assistants threw the switches on the machine. Fans hissed, gears shifted and the Tower shook sending a burst of emerald green light up the platform where the witch stood. She held out her hands and sighed with pleasure as she felt the mauritanium in the earth responding to the commands of the emerald, sending the beam of light up to the moon with the double suns moving closer toward it.
A grey fedora hat flew out in front of a Longcoat standing guard near one of the pipes. As he turned around, Wyatt jumped out and delivered a hard punch to his face. He fell to the floor. Glitch pushed the unconscious man out of sight, brushed off Wyatt's hat and handed it to him.
"Let's go," Wyatt whispered when he felt they now had a clear path. Another group of Longcoats ran past them and they took cover behind another pipe. "Raw, which way?" he asked once they were out of sight.
"Up one floor."
Wyatt checked his pistol to make sure it was fully loaded. "All right, let's do it!" DG saluted them. "Good luck," he called to her as she started toward the balcony.
Wyatt, Glitch and Raw were sneaking up behind a pair of Longcoats ready to strike when the Longcoats were distracted by a loud bark. Toto shifted into dog form, raised his fists and punched both of them. Wyatt grinned.
"I thought you hightailed it."
Toto lightly slapped his shoulder. "Go. I'll watch out for you. Go."
You're okay, pooch.
Be careful, but be strong.
You too.
"Are you ready?" Jeb asked Xenia as they stood on the top of the hill, hands joined. Using her free hand, she pulled her sword from its sheath while Jeb drew his father's sword.
"He wanted me to use his today," he explained to her.
"I love you." Xenia whispered.
"I love you too Xen." He raised the sword up.
In the distance he could hear the ringing of a dinner bell.
"It's dinnertime boys!"they heard a female's voice call out in the distance and the sounds of a catapult being loaded.
From her position on the opposite side of the hill Sarah Jane, granddaughter of the famous 'Boiling Belle' watched with pride as her grandmother's famous pot was being loaded onto the catapult with a lethal stew she'd been cooking for several days in honor of the very same person her grandmother had dedicated her best stew to years before.
"Taste Return of Wyatt's Wrath you sons of bitches!" she screamed. "Launch it!"she commanded her assistants.
The lethal stew soared high in the air followed by enflamed arrows just as it had years before, engulfing everything it touched into a blazing inferno.
"Charge!" Jeb shouted from the top of his horse. Like his mother and father before him, he rode down the hill with his army at his back, weapons raised high ready to fight to the death for their freedom.
"Give em the second course!" Sarah Jane's voice bellowed out as a second pot was launched followed by flaming arrows.
Concealed behind large rocks, the daughters of the Lethal Laundresses raised their clothesline and tied it to sticks that had been hammered into the ground, waiting for their fellow soldiers to lead the Longcoat cavalry to their trap.
Behind another cluster of rocks a group of young men waited with their slingshots poised, a collection of small rock ammunition piled up beside them. Fifteen years earlier they had successfully defended their village from a smaller Longcoat army and fought beside their friends and families in the battles that followed once they got older but today they wanted to go back to their roots in honor of their original leader.
In the years since that first battle, the villagers of Elba were no longer alone in their fight. They now had help from all four guilds having won their respect by their sheer determination to fight for their freedom no matter what the cost and it was this unity that made them create a magic of their own.
Wyatt kicked open the door to the brain room. As Glitch gazed at the missing piece of him he cherished so much he smiled.
"I'd recognize me anywhere."
He stepped up to the glass case wishing he could just reach inside it, take his brain out and return it to its rightful place but he knew it couldn't be done now.
"Glitch, it's time to get reacquainted with yourself," Wyatt said softly. "Connect him to it," he commanded Raw.
Raw placed one hand on the glass and the other to the side of his friend's head. Memories began to flash through his mind, his work as the advisor, his family, his friends.
"All right, Glitch, I need you to remember something for me," Wyatt said to keep him focused. "Glitch, can you hear me?"
"My name isn't Glitch. It's Ambrose," he corrected softly.
"Okay, Ambrose. I need you to remember how you designed the sun seeder and how to shut it down."
"Do you see the keyboard numbers that control the light pulsing?"
Wyatt glanced down at the keyboard. There was so many. "Yeah...about a million of 'em. Which ones do I turn off?"
"Proper shut down sequencing to light pulsing is imperative!" Ambrose snapped.
Well I'm not a genius Zipperhead! Damn, I think I liked you better when you didn't hook up to your brain. Now you sound like you have a huge stick up your ass! "Okay but which numbers?" Wyatt asked, frustrated.
As Ambrose recited the numbers, Wyatt typed them out on the keyboard and pulled back the small handle. He could hear the machine slowing down as it responded.
"What's causing the trouble?" Vy-Sor demanded as he and the alchemist noticed that the gauges were showing low power readings.
"A power surging in the brain cortex. Some kind of synapse interference," the alchemist answered and approached a guard. "Get Kalm. You two, come with me," he ordered another pair of troops.
Now on the balcony DG stood face to face with the witch trapped in her sister's body.
"Azkadellia!" she called to her sister, hoping that her sister's light would be strong enough to break through and hear her. "There's still time to stop this!"
"Look up!" Bastinda commanded. "The power of the emerald is about to lock the double eclipse in the sky and bring permanent darkness to the OZ. A fierce new world is awakening!" she declared.
"No! Listen to me my sister!" DG pleaded. "This is not what you want, remember who you are!"
"Your sister is dead," the witch sneered.
"No," DG insisted as she moved toward the platform. Bastinda sent a powerful wave of dark light out at her, tossing her over the balcony. DG reached out with her light and made her hands large enough to grip the railing but she was finding it difficult to pull herself back up.
Out of the corner of his eye Toto could see the alchemist heading toward the brain room with the viewer Kalm and some Longcoats. He shifted into dog form and crept up behind them, hitting one of them and grabbing his gun, shooting the other with the gun he'd taken. The alchemist zapped him with the electric prod. He fell to the floor unconscious and shifted back into dog form.
Wyatt watched as the power showing on the gauges in front of them decreased. "I think it's working!" Ambrose called out another number.
Seeing the light dimming sent Bastinda into a rage. "Why are we losing power!" she growled.
"Synapse interference," Vy-Sor answered.
"Get it fixed, NOW!" she ordered.
"We're working on it!" he cried.
"Work faster!"
She focused with her magic and saw an image of Ambrose standing in front of his brain, connected to it by the viewer Raw and Wyatt Cain controlling the keyboard.
You won't stop me.
We're just about to, bitch.
Ahhh so the dragon has been awakened again, has he?
I have and I'm hungry for blood. Yours.
Come and take it then.
It's not mine to take. Yet. You face her wrath now bitch but she'll never give you the right to call yourself her master!
We'll see.
"Wyatt was laughing. They were almost there...
"And the last number.."
"Yeah.."
"To reverse light pulsing..."
"Yeah!"
Come on just give it to me, we're almost there!
The door burst open and Wyatt felt an electrical charge strike his right shoulder blade. He groaned and fell to the floor. Another charge threw Raw against a wall while one of the Longcoats grabbed Ambrose.
"One more and it will be your last," the alchemist threatened.
Wyatt slowly got to his feet, the electrical pulse surging through his body, blocking his dragon's spirit. He drew his pistol, ready to aim. A Longcoat fired his gun, the bullet striking Wyatt in the shoulder and tossing him into the hallway.
"No, don't fire your weapon in here! Kalm, tell me what they did in here and how to fix it!" the alchemist commanded the frightened young viewer, shocking him when he hesitated. As he started reciting the numbers, Ambrose attempted to interrupt him by reciting the wrong ones. "Shut him up!"
A hand was clapped over Ambrose's mouth, silencing him while Wyatt and Raw lay unconscious on the floor.
Bastinda cried out with delight as the suns were finally locked behind the moon and the OZ began to turn dark. "Now you'll cower before me Lurline. Your guardians have failed."
"I wouldn't be celebrating just yet!" Archie growled when he appeared on the balcony, the cloaking spell Az had been holding on him now broken. "I've been waiting a long time for this." His hands sparkled with magic. "Now GIVE ME BACK MY WIFE!"
"She's mine... as you soon will be!" Bastinda conjured an energy ball and threw it at him. He caught it in his hand and threw it at the roof of the tower.
"Did you forget you're the one who taught me dark magic, Bastinda?" He laughed harshly. "You wanted me to be your consort but I would never choose you over her! Dellia! I know you're in there. Break through!"
"She can't!"
"Yes, you can!"
Bastinda stretched out Azkadellia's arms and blasted him again and he could feel himself weakening from the power she wielded fueled by the moratanium that had been mined beneath the Tower but he would not falter. Not this time. He opened his umbrella and held it out as a shield, his hands shaking.
"Dellia, listen to me! I've been with you almost from the day you were born. I've protected you...but most importantly...I've loved you. I love you. Not because the Oz wills me to, because I CHOOSE to! See as I see, feel as I feel." He lowered the umbrella, placing his hand over his heart as he approached the platform. "Our two hearts are one Dellia and not even in death can it be undone. Remember every moment we've had together. See them. Feel them!"
"Archie," Az whispered, her eyes filled with tears as every precious moment they had together replayed in her mind.
"You're too late!" Bastinda laughed. "The eclipse is locked in the sky and the gate is opening."
"Come to me Dellia...give me tonight." He held out his hand to her.
Az reached out her hand to him, their fingers almost touching.
"Give me tonight Dellia. Give me the rest of our lives. She can't stop us now."
"NO!" Bastinda roared and blasted him again., slamming him against the side of the tower. He fell to the ground unconscious.
"Archie," Az sobbed, brokenly, feeling her control slipping away again as she felt her lover's pain as her own.
Tyler and Lavinia watched the darkness spreading throughout the land, holding tightly to reach other. "Please Lurline, if you can hear me...help us now!" Lavinia prayed.
"Jeb, behind you!" Xenia screamed as she saw a Longcoat sneaking up behind him with his gun ready to fire. She tossed her sword like a boomerang and beheaded the attacker with a single stroke.
They were now standing back to back, swords poised as a group of Longcoats surrounded them. Suddenly a barrage of arrows came flying from all directions, striking every Longcoat. A group of munchkins formed a protective perimeter around them.
"I am Red Hat. Come with us," he said softly.
"Thanks guys," Jeb said as he grabbed Xenia's hand and followed the group of munchkins back to their barricade. Another explosion rocked the ground.
The dragon's spirit is stronger in you now. You can call on it when you need it or use my strength...
DG closed her eyes and reached out with her light to Wyatt, feeling his strength merge with hers, the strength of a man, the strength of the dragon.
Along with the strength she felt another sensation...intense pain, her heart beating faster with fear. Her mate was injured. She started to climb.
I have to stop this now!
"Finally," Bastinda whispered. "Permanent darkness. It's over. I won."
As she was about to recite the spell to open the lock to the dark underworld she could hear a faint voice singing.
"Two little princesses dancing in a row
Spinning fast and free on their little toes
Where the light will take you no one ever knows
Two little princesses dancing in a row.."
DG climbed back onto the balcony and looked up at the witch, seeking out her sister's light with her own fueled by love, calling to her again. She could see Archie lying on the balcony unconscious. He seemed familiar but she couldn't place him.
"Do you remember that time at the cave and you remembered what all those symbols meant?" she asked through her tears. "You were so smart."
It's the picture language of the ancients...
From inside the prison the witch created for her Azkadellia could hear her own childhood voice calling to her along with her sister's. She pushed with her own light against the lock but it still wasn't strong enough due to her grief over the love she now believed dead.
"Your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble. That's what you said. You said your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble..." DG sobbed. "And do you remember my spinning doll and how we made it fly together? Concentrate!"
Azkadellia closed her own eyes and could see the two of them together, hands joined, the light flowing between them.
"And do you remember the bear?" DG went on. "How scary it was and you stood up. You were so brave and it made me brave!"
Just hold my hand Deege! Nothing can hurt us if we stay together!
Azkadellia pushed again, this time her light was stronger. She could feel the witch's hold weakening.
DG held out her hand. "Hold my hand. Nothing can hurt us if we're together," she said softly. "Take it. Take it!" she pleaded. "Take my hand!"
Help me Deege, I'm trying so hard and she keeps pushing me back...stay strong for me and for Archie. It's the only way you can save us.
"I can't lose him again...I can't lose you... I'm scared..." DG suddenly heard her sister's childlike voice repeat the very same words she'd uttered years before that got them all into this mess and she'd be damned if she was going to be afraid again.
"I'm here and I'll never run away again. Take my hand!"
"No! You're talking to the wind girl!" the witch snarled.
Come back to me Az. Come back to us. We love you. She can't hurt you anymore.
"Take my hand," DG begged again.
Azkadellia pushed with her light once more. The lock on her prison shattered. She could feel the witch reaching for her but her soul was soaring higher as the love her sister had for her flowed through it along with another, more fragile one...her child. Their precious Ambrosia reborn.
Make his strength your own and make your strength his. You are one heart, one body one soul! Fight for us, Mother!
"Take my hand," DG pleaded one last time.
I'm coming Deege...wait for me. Hold on Archie. I'm coming home darling.
The gloved hand, now Azkadellia's, reached out through the emerald light and clasped her sister's, the light flowing through them. The witch screamed, reaching for Azkadellia again but DG held on tight, pulling her forward and off the platform leaving the witch trapped inside.
"Have the little bitch. I care not for the heavens do my bidding," she sneered. "The emerald. Give me the emerald!"
Azkadellia shook her head.
The emerald is once again my possession and it will only obey my commands, not yours!
"Give me the emerald!" the witch howled and grew in size.
"Hold on," Azkadellia said softly.
"I'm not going anywhere," DG said firmly.
"Emerald of the north gate, hear your mistress's call
Form around us your protective wall!" Azkadellia cried.
"Chalice of the south gate, hear your mistress's call
Form around us your protective wall!" DG chanted.
"Bound heart, body and soul are we
I share my power with thee!" Az chanted, the amber ring on her finger beneath her glove glowing and burning through the fabric.
The amber pendant around Archie's neck began to glow, infusing him with magic and healing his wounds. He rose to his feet. "I told you I would get you out of her and today I'm following through on that promise." Archie clasped Azkadellia's free hand in his, their shield glowing brighter. Bastinda howled and began to fire at their shield.
"Bound heart, body and soul are we
I share my power with thee!" Archie chanted, the pendant around his neck glowing brighter. " It's over, bitch. I'm taking my wife back and you can FINALLY got to Ephesis and rot! Don't you dare break the chain Dorothia!"
"I'm not going anywhere," DG said firmly. She had no idea how Az had a husband but she was starting to like him already.
Hearing the voices calling out from the tower Jeb suddenly froze and took his staff out of its place on his belt. He thrust the point of the staff into the ground. The red eyes of the dragon began to glow.
"Staff of the east gate, hear your master's call
Form around them your protective wall!
"Xenia, my father's sword and the chalice...put them together!"
"Only your father can unlock the west gate but he doesn't remember how!" she cried as she took the chalice out of her pack and laid Wyatt's sword beside it while Jeb drew his own to use in battle. Wyatt's sword rose in the air and the blade locked in the chalice's center. "Ozma's ghost...he's unlocking it now...but how?" she pondered.
Wyatt had regained consciousness. His shoulder hurt like hell and he felt like he'd stuck his finger in a light switch but he knew he had to do something before that damned machine made their world dark. He took out the only weapon he had left at his disposal...his razor. Not much but it would have to do. He threw it at the nearest Longcoat. Ambrose called on his inner dragon and began to attack the other Longcoat before the alchemist zapped him with the prod.
Raw howled with blind rage and charged toward his tormentor. "Leave him alone!" he snarled as the alchemist buried the prod in his chest.
"You never understood. All you people needed was encouragement," the alchemist declared. Raw snatched the prod out of his hands.
"Raw just need courage," he hissed and zapped the alchemist until he fell to the floor dead. Raw embraced Kalm while Wyatt slowly got to his feet. He could hear DG and Azkadellia chanting on the balcony above them along with another voice, the one of Azkadellia's bonded.
Open the gate, Wyatt, he heard the Mystic Man's voice saying in his head.
What?
You are the Dragon Grand Master now. You have to open the west gate to give DG, Archie and Azkadellia a stronger shield against the witch. They can't hold her alone. The East gate is already open. You are the only one left. Concentrate! They need you.
She needs me.
As he concentrated he saw a memory of him standing in the middle of what looked like a drawing of a compass. He stood in the western postion, the blade of his sword thrust into the ground and heard himself chanting.
"Blade of the west gate, hear your master's call
Form around them your protective wall!" he cried.
The light pulsing between DG, Archie and Azkadellia's hands glowed brighter and burned stronger now. The witch shot energy bolts at the dome that failed to penetrate it.
"Your shield won't hold for long. Your bonds are not complete." the witch sneered.
"Ours is and you are never going to break it!" Archie sand angrily,
"We are bound in love. It will hold you long enough for us to complete all the bonds that will send you and your mistress to your prison forever!" Az cried triumphantly
She screamed and fired at them again. Az could feel Archie's strength depleting again along with her own.
"Dammit Ambrose, get that thing shut down!"Archie yelled.
Wyatt rushed over to Ambrose's side to try to rouse him but he wouldn't wake up. He slapped him.
"Do I know you?" Ambose asked him, glitching again.
"Good morning sweetheart." Wrong person though.
"Cain!"
"We need that last number to reverse the beam now think!" Wyatt ordered as he pulled the other man to his feet and took him back over to his brain. "The number Ambrose, the number!" he pressed.
"Is it my locker combination, my parents anniversary...I can't think!" Ambrose cried frantically.
"Come on, dammit! We have a shield protecting DG and Azkadellia and it won't hold much longer!"
"Azkadellia? She's...she's back?"
"if you want to help them you've got to think!"
The witch pushed harder with her energy against the shield. Azkadellia, Archie and DG held on tighter.
"I won't let go," DG vowed.
"The shield can't hold much longer," Azkadellia said worriedly. "We have to try to open the prison."
"The seal won't be strong enough!" DG protested. "There's only three of us!"
"It's our only choice," Archie insisted.
"In this prison the darkness do we bind
Lock it away forever for no soul to find!" he and Az chanted.
"In this prison the darkness do we bind
Lock it away forever for no soul to find!" DG cried. hoping it would work.
In the brain room Ambrose was distraught. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think.
"You can do this!" Wyatt encouraged as did Raw and Kalm but Ambrose could remember nothing. "I know what to do," Wyatt said grimly as he bent down to pick up his pistol and looked at his friend with regret. I'm sorry. It's the only way. I have to save DG and her sister. The shield is about to wear off. You would do the same.
"Hold on!" Azkadellia encouraged her sister and they continued to chant.
"Dellia," Archie murmured, leaning against her as he felt himself growing faint.
"Archie, hold on! In this prison the darkness do we bind
Lock it away forever for no soul to find!"
"Have to...shut...that...damn machine down...Hurry the hell up Ambrose!" Archie mumbled.
They could feel the prison opening but the witch pushed out again with the darkness, slamming another, more powerful energy burst against the shield that was wearing down quickly as long as the machine acted as a conductor for the dark energy to combat it.
"If you can't reverse the number, I've got to shut it down." Wyatt pulled back the trigger on the gun. "I'm sorry Ambrose," he said as he pointed the barrel of the gun at his friend's brain.
"No, no wait!" Raw cried. He and Kalm reached out and touched Ambrose together. Ambrose closed his eyes and a wave of relief washed over him as he finally recalled the last number.
"1208, the queen's birthday of course!" he cried. "Commence the reverse pulsing!" he ordered ecstatically.
Wyatt bowed his head, feeling his own sense of relief. He knew he would have been killing a part of his friend, or possibly killing Ambrose himself had he fired that bullet.
To save one, I would have sacrificed the other...
He typed the number using his good arm and pulled the lever, sending a silent prayer to Lurline that it worked.
The witch screamed in agony as the prison unlocked, pulling her essence inside, the only trace of her left on the platform a puddle of black oil. The shield around them dissolved and they released each other's hands. The sisters stared down at the puddle their mouths agape.
"She melted." DG said softly.
Archie glared down at the puddle and kicked at it with his foot. "Go to Ephesis and rot, bitch!"
DG turned to her sister and they embraced. "Az, I've missed you so much!" she sobbed.
"I've missed you," Azkadellia whispered. With their arms around each other, they stared up at the eclipse, now a sight of beauty than terror. "Mother and Daddy are waiting for you."
"They've waited a long time. For both of us." DG said. "And I'm sorry but we haven't been properly introduced." She held out her hand to an exhausted Archie. "I'm DG, Az's sister."
Az chuckled. "DG, it's Jiminy! You remember him now, don't you?"
"I...ahhh..I'm a lot older since I last saw you. Archie is my cursed name."
DG grinned at her sister. "I knew you two would end up together and it's DG by the way." She drew him into their embrace. "What do we do with that now? It can't still destroy the OZ, can it?"
"No," Az removed the necklace and waved her hand over it. "The emerald obeys my commands now...and I've sent it back where it belongs...to the Grey Gale."
"We should go to your parents," Archie advised, linking his arm through Az's.
Wyatt slumped against the control panel, panting from exhaustion. "Thank Lurline," he murmured. He felt someone touch his injured shoulder and glanced over at Raw.
"Tin Man get shot again. Soothe wound til bullet can come out," Raw said as he pressed his hand down to stop the bleeding.
"Thanks Raw. You okay, Ambrose?"
"I want my brain back," he said sadly as he touched the glass box where his brain was still confined.
"I know buddy. We'll figure it out."
Lavinia and Tyler tensed as the door opened and Azkadellia entered the room. She no longer wore the emerald around her neck and the mobat tattoos had vanished. She gazed up at her parents, smiling timidly.
"My Azkadellia," Lavinia whispered with hope. "Is it really you?"
"Mother," her daughter said softly, lovingly.
Tyler gently kissed his daughter on her forehead.
"The witch is gone..it's over for now..."
"DG!" Lavinia exclaimed when she saw her other daughter standing in the doorway. "I was so afraid I'd never see you again." She was a beautiful girl as her mother hoped she would be. DG ran to her mother and threw her arms around her.
"Welcome home," Tyler whispered to Azkadellia and led her over to where her mother and sister waited. Lavinia and Tyler embraced the young women together, sobbing quietly, unaware that they now had company.
Archie clenched his hand into a fist and pressed it against his shoulder, kneeling.
"Jiminy! Oh thank the stars! You've done it...you've freed her!" Lavinia sobbed joyfully. "We are in your debt."
"The only repayment I ask is for your blessing for your daughter's hand in marriage."
"You have it!" Tyler said happily. "And there's no one else I would trust my daughter with than you."
"But...Archie...everyone thinks I'm her..." Az said worriedly.
"But we know the truth darling," Lavinia said softly. "And you and Jiminy have waited so long."
"Archie, Mother. He uses his cursed name now but it doesn't matter. I've been married to him in my heart for years."
DG smirked, recalling many moments when her older sister's crush on her former bodyguard was so obvious that anyone was blind not see it.
"My name is Archie Jiminy Ozopov Hopper," Archie murmured. "I know we can't marry right away...there's so much rebuilding to do."
Glitch opened the doors and led his friends inside, Raw soothing Wyatt's aching shoulder. When DG spotted them, she ran over to them. Wyatt removed his hat and his companions bowed.
"Thank you," DG said softly to them and hugged each of them, taking special care with Wyatt when she noticed his shoulder was bleeding and joined her parents , sister and Archie out on the balcony, all of them overwhelmed with joy as the suns emerged from behind the moon and the sky was full of light again. "That's the OZ I remember. I'm so glad to be home." she said.
Lavinia and Tyler approached DG's three companions while Toto stood off to the side. "We owe all of you more than we can ever repay," Lavinia said softly.
Ambrose bowed respectfully to his queen. "I will always faithfully serve the House of Ozopov, Majesty."
Lavinia patted his hand gently. "We will find a way to restore your brain to its proper place," she assured him and then turned her eyes to Wyatt and to his surprise, she curtseyed. "Jeb Mysticos couldn't have chosen a more honorable man to succeed him as the Grand Master of the Talons of the Dragon."
Wyatt went down on one knee before the queen and removed his hat. "I give you my word that I will faithfully serve and protect the House of Ozopov. For my word as a Talon is my bond."
"I know you will." She then approached Raw. He bowed.
"Raw and Kalm serve queen and DG too."
"Thank you, Raw. Your nephew shows great promise. He will learn much from you."
"No! Az! Archie!" DG cried out in horror, the others turning their heads to see what was amiss. Archie and Az lay on the balcony in each other's arms, unconscious. "Mother, what's wrong with them?"
"Archie is suffering from severe magical drain and Az is affected as well because of their bond. They must rest to recover their strength my angel."
"Commander Ozopov? Thank the goddess!" Ambrose exclaimed. "Where was he?"
"He was on the other side," they heard Elmer say when he walked into the room.
"Gulch? What the hell are YOU doing here?" DG demanded of her nemesis.
"I'm from here, DG but I was sent to the other side to protect you, not that you made it easy for me,' he replied sarcastically. "Your Majesty, the Tower is secure and the remaining Longcoats are in custody."
"Have a medical unit set up for the wounded and we must take my daughter and her husband to their chamber to rest."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As her father went to pry Az from Archie's arms, DG shook her head. "I've got this."
She gestured and the gold dome that was once Lavinia's prison appeared in the room.
"Oh DG, don't put them in there! It's so cold and full of unpleasant memories for both of you."
Inside was a miniaturized version of the Northern Island palace.
"They were so happy there. It's where they are in their dreams." DG smiled softly and clapped her hands together, sending them into the palace. She closed the lid. "I can see it. I can feel it...their love."
If only Wyatt would love me that much, she thought sadly.