"So you live here? What a hell hole," Nick commented as he took in the dank cave walls that made up the Underworld.
"You live here as well. The darkness was banished here during the Great Battle," Koragg replied, demorphing.
"Yeah, I know. But can't you leave here whenever you want? Couldn't you just go live aboveground again?"
"The Master wishes that I remain here."
Nick rolled his eyes.
"Who the hell is this 'Master'? I hear all kinds of stuff about him, but we never see him or get an explanation of who he is. Come on."
"The Master is the true ruler of all of the Underworld and darkness," Koragg said, frowning at his son's insolence. "He was sealed in a world beyond ours by your predecessor years ago." The young man gave his father a wry smile.
"So you sealed him away? I'm not sure he appreciates that." Koragg arched his eyebrows.
"Do you not understand?" he asked gruffly, staring at his son. "The Red Mystic Warrior sealed him away."
"I don't think you understand," Nick snapped back, crimson eyes flashing darkly. "You were the Red Mystic Warrior before me. Or don't you remember?" The Knight Wolf shook his head in denial.
"Impossible. I have served the darkness my entire life. Your head has become filled with lies from the light." The boy held up his hands innocently, a large silver ring glinting in the dim light.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, man," he said nonchalantly. "Now where do I sleep in this dump?"
"I'm going on break, Toby," Madison shouted to her boss as she tossed her work shirt aside. Before he could respond, she was out the door, knowing exactly where she was heading.
Her cape fluttered in the sudden breeze as she entered the forest. In the week and a half Nick had been gone, she'd visited the forest countless times. She wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting, just that being here made her feel better. Today looked like it was going to be like every other day - nothing. That idea was shattered completely when something large and particularly rank dropped down in front of her, nearly knocking her down.
"Why so glum?" asked Phineas. "You look like something's wrong. You don't have worms, do ya, because they can be real buggers if -"
"No, Phineas, I don't have worms," Madison replied, glad to see the troblin even if her face didn't reveal it. "Actually, it's Nick." His face was immediately serious.
"What's wrong with Nick?" he asked, voice more intense than she'd ever heard it. She felt like she wasn't allowed to dance around the subject with him.
"Koragg's got him, and he used some spell to turn him." The troblin's eyes went wide.
"What? How?" he sputtered.
"Koragg captured me and said he'd kill me unless Nick submitted to his will."
"And ... ?" Maddie arched an eyebrow.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm here, he's gone and now he's evil." As she said the words, the being before her visibly sank into a stupor.
"Oh no, no, no. This isn't happening, no it's not, it can't be. Not after almost twenty years, after no problems. This was supposed to stop this problem. Where'd I go wrong?" he asked, looking to his imaginary friend. "No, that couldn't be it ... " Madison gave him a strange look.
"What are you talking about?" He looked at her as if he'd just realized she was there, like she had just dropped in on him.
"I put Nick there with his family. Right nice people, too. Putting him there was supposed to protect him from this. I failed ... " he added despondently. For a moment he silently moped before his face lit up again. "I need to see Udonna now. She can form a telepathic bond with him and find him." He started to march off, but Maddie grabbed his arm.
"What do you mean? You can only form long-distance telepathic bonds with family." He gave her a look that said he thought was crazy.
"Didn't I tell you?" he asked. "She's his mother."
"What if she's not here?" Maddie asked hesitantly as the dragon's mouth opened, allowing the duo into Root Core.
"Then I'll wait," the troblin replied, following the young witch in. "This is really, really, really important."
"I can tell," she muttered. The past ten minutes had been weird. Phineas refused to say much about what was going on, only that Udonna was Nick's mother. That was impossible, though. Udonna would know if it was true, and she would've told him, right? Phineas was just off his rocker, not that it surprised her.
"Where is she?" he asked out loud, seeming more than a little anxious.
"I don't know. Udonna?" she called out, looking around the room. "Udonna?" It took only a moment for the mentor to appear from another room, closing a book as she smiled at the young witch.
"Yes, Madison?" she asked. Phineas was next to her before Madison could respond, beaming widely.
"Hey, Udonna. Long time no see, huh?" he said, pulling the stunned sorceress into a hug. This lasted for less than a minute before he let her go. She stood back and smiled.
"It has been too long, Phineas. I hear you've helped the Rangers several times," she replied, genuinely pleased to see him.
"Oh, it wasn't much," he said modestly. "Just doing what any other troblin would." She smiled and shook her head knowingly.
"So what brings you here? Not that it isn't good to see you again," she added.
"It's about Nick and Leanbow." The older woman's face lit up with surprise.
"What about them?"
Phineas, seeming to struggle with his words, finally said, "What do you remember about the Great Battle?" Her forehead scrunched up in confusion, but she still tried to answer.
"I remember fighting alongside the Mystics and our friends, losing Niella, Daggeron and Calindor, scrying to find a family for Nick and letting you take him to them." The troblin nodded.
"It worked then. You still believe that ... " He drifted off into his own thoughts. The two women could only stare at him as he tried to organize his words.
Behind them, the crystal ball lit up. Both women rushed to it, leaving Phineas with his thoughts.
"What is it?" Maddie asked, gazing into the ball. She hadn't quite mastered the divination technique required to see what the dark patterns meant, despite divination being the art of Blue Magicians, and losing Nick hadn't exactly helped with her concentration.
"There's dark magic downtown. Dico Rangers," the sorceress murmured absently into the sphere. The image shifted to the other three teens working. All of their phones rang that familiar tone and they were instantly huddled around Xander's open morpher.
"What is it, Udonna?" Maddie heard the young man ask. Their mentor just leaned closer to the crystal ball.
"Rangers, I've detected dark magic downtown. You must investigate immediately."
"We're on it," Xander responded, nodding to Vida and Chip on either side of him. The image faded away as Udonna stood up straight and turned to the younger witch.
"I'd like you to join them." Maddie started to protest, but her mentor stopped her. "Your team needs you. I know you are anxious to hear whatever it is Phineas has to say, but we will simply observe the battle until you return. Isn't that right, Phineas?" His head jerked up distractedly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah," he added hastily when he saw Udonna's stare.
"Well ... Okay," Maddie conceded. Hesitantly at first, she headed for the door. She was outside and ready to go through a tree when another idea hit her. It had worked for Nick, but magic obviously worked a little differently for him. She could at least try, though.
Clamping her eyes shut and focusing on her spell's intent, she whispered, "Uthe sastos."
For a moment, she felt nothing. When she opened her eyes, they told a different story. A bright golden circle was working slowly up her legs, edges flecked with sparks of blue and purple. As she let out a squeal of joy, the seal started moving faster, up to her shoulders within seconds.
Without a pause to let her acknowledge the weirdness that was existing ethereally, she felt herself reforming. Her eyes took in the scene around her in an instant; Vida was next to her, in a fighting stance like the guys, all standing opposite Necrolai and a strange-looking monster, even by their standards.
As her feet hit the ground, Maddie felt her twin jump.
"How'd you do that?" the brash young girl asked, eyes looking frantically over her sister. Chip and Xander both gave her questioning glances, and Necrolai seemed temporarily stunned.
"Just a little spell I learned from our Phoenix friend," she replied with a smile. Assuming a fighting stance too, she nodded to the enemies across from the quartet. "Shouldn't we be fighting them?" This seemed to snap everyone back to the current situation.
"Just drop the map and go way. You won't even need to fight us," Xander reasoned, stepping forward. The rest of the Rangers collectively groaned. They'd all assumed he'd given up on Plan Xander after every time it failed and he got attacked as a reward.
"The secret of the Fire Heart is mine," Necrolai sneered. "Attack them, my minion!" Following the order, the taxicab monster next to her charged the four teens, who jumped into battle without hesitation.
The creature sent a furious punch in Vida's direction, but she landed a solid kick to its chest, sending it stumbling back. This left a small opening for Xander to give it a hard roundhouse kick to the face. As it lurched dazedly, Chip and Madison caught it and, each taking a shoulder, flipped it onto its back.
It took only a moment to recover, up again in a flash, sweeping Madison and Chip's legs out from underneath them. Both crashed hard onto the ground, and pulled Xander and Vida to them. While the Yellow and Blue Magicians pushed themselves up, catching the wind that had been knocked out of them, the Pink and Green Magicians delivered powerful blows to the monster. Vida sent an overly destructive punch, reinforced by highly compacted air, at its head, but it quickly shifted into a real taxi. The attack instead simply shattered every window in the vehicle to millions of tiny shards of glass.
At the same time, Xander transmuted his wand into an axe, intending to bury it within the creature's body, but was caught off guard by its sudden change into a taxi. It still sliced through the metal and fiberglass like they were tissue paper, but it didn't have the same effect as he'd intended. The shower of glass that sprayed his face prevented him from removed his weapon from the trunk hatch of the car, which peeled out across the concrete of the parking garage. Madison and Chip had recovered themselves by now, standing next to their friends
"Very good, Rangers, but I still have the map," cackled the vampiress.
"Not for long," Maddie shot back, leaving her friends, who still fought the monster with ease. She ran toward the villainess, wand open, and shouted, "Acci map!" The map trembled in Necrolai's hand, but she maintained a firm grip. Madison determinedly shouted the spell again and this time the parchment tore out of her enemy's hand's and landed in her own.
"Stupid witch!" Necrolai spat angrily, eyes full of hatred. Without true magic of her own, she couldn't take back what had been hers. Even fighting these teenagers seemed like a bad idea now. The blue one was obviously in the mood to destroy any darkness she met without hesitation and therefore the pink one was too, if only by a sisterly extension. The green and yellow didn't seem to have the same bloodlust as the girls, but she could see that they would fight if the blue ordered them to. The best option in the vampire queen's eyes was to retreat to the Underworld and face Morticon's wrath.
"Minion, come! We shall deal with this later!" she shouted to her creature. It stumbled weakly away from the Rangers to stand next to its mistress. An angry scowl adorned to vampiress' face. "Goodbye, Rangers. We shall meet again." The two disappeared into a seal, leaving the four teens alone in the parking garage. Chip, Vida and Xander all rushed over to Madison.
"That was awesome!" Chip said excitedly, switching back to his civilian clothes like the others.
"Thanks," Maddie answered, distracted by the map in her hands.
"Where'd you learn that spell? I didn't think we'd studied summoning spells yet," Vida said. The question seemed to draw Maddie's attention away from the map. Where had she learned that spell? Vida was right; they hadn't learned summoning spells yet. So where had that one come from?
"I'm not sure," she replied slowly, trying to pick her own brain for the answer. It had all flashed by so quickly in the heat of the moment. The words had just appeared in her mind, but there was something else ... The words hadn't been in her own voice. They had come in Nick's, a faint whisper of his presence.
"It was Nick," she choked out.
"Long time, no see," giggled a voice from the archway entrance to Nick's room. He turned confusedly to the voice which he recognized so well.
"Leelee?" he asked incredulously. The blonde nodded perkily, curls bouncing around her pale shoulders. "How'd you get down here?"
She smirked at him. "Oh, get with the program. I live down here."
"Wait, what?" he asked, mind reeling with how it was even possible. Leelee wasn't evil. She was just an annoying customer at the Rock Porium who didn't know anything more about the darkness than your average citizen. There was no way she lived down here. "How is that even possible?"
"You're a wizard and you want to ask how that's possible?" she snarked. "It's a big duh, anyway. Necrolai's my mom." The way she said it, it was like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. Nick could only give her a dumbfounded stare as he tried to figure out how a vampire could have a human daughter. "And I'm a vampire princess," she added, a haughty undertone to her voice.
"So let me get this straight - you live here and you're a vampire princess." She nodded jauntily. "That's just weird." She rolled her eyes, sauntering into his room.
"Says the wizard Power Ranger. And I could say the same thing about seeing you down here. I don't usually come down here - I'm supposed to stay aboveground and watch you guys, you know - but Mom called me down here. She said there was a surprise, and here you are. So why are you here?"
"Koragg's my father, in case you didn't know, and he finally managed to turn me." She perked up.
"Really? You finally joined us?"
"Yeah," he answered simply, flopping into a large leather chair. He'd modeled his room in the Underworld much like his own at Gracey's, save for a few more ornate, expensive additions. One thing he couldn't replace was his bike, which he missed terribly. There wasn't a lot of room to ride underground, and absolutely no wind to whip across him. He hoped Maddie was taking good care of it.
"So anyway, did you just come to see me, or is there some sort of ulterior motive to this visit?" he asked as his guest took a seat on his dark oak bed, scarlet sheets creasing beneath her light weight.
"A little bit of both," she admitted. "I do have this plan to use against your friends, but I really wanted to see you. You have no idea how weird it can be being the only teenage human down here." Nick nodded knowingly.
"Kind of like being the only member of your family that can spontaneously start fires and send cousins to the emergency room? I get it. It has to be weird growing up around all these freaks."
"To them, I'm the freak," she replied with a wicked smile. "Most vampires have a human and vampire form, but what you see is what you get with me. Comes from my stupid human dad."
"Watch it," Nick threatened jokingly. "Some of us around here are full humans." She giggled and he returned it with a smile. "So where's your dad now?" Her cheerful smile faded a bit.
"Mom turned him into a worm. I haven't met him. Ever," she added, a strange sadness in her voice. "I don't even know who he was. I shouldn't care - it's not like I knew him or anything - but I feel like things would've been different if I'd known him, you know?" She wasn't quite sure if he was getting it, but he nodded.
"I never really tried to find my birth parents - would've been impossible anyway - but I'd always kind of wondered what life with them would've been like," he answered, adding with a rueful smile, "I guess I'm getting to find out."
"You act like you don't want to be here." Giving her a funny look, he shook his head. She wasn't usually so serious and it was kind of weird.
"A part of me doesn't want to be here. My father may have brought out my true darkness, but who I was didn't just magically disappear. I may have lost most of my morality, but I still have my honor and love. I know pure evil can't love, and that gives part of me hope. That part wants to be saved from this, but the other part likes it. I'm just a little conflicted right now."
"I can see that."
They sat in a comfortable silence after that, both of their minds pondering other subjects. A persistent thought pervaded Nick's mind and when he couldn't ignore it any longer, he asked, "So what's this plan of yours?" Leelee stared at him for a second, figuring out what he meant, and her eyes lit up when it clicked.
"Oh, my plan! Well," she giggled, smiling conspiratorially, "it involves your little Ranger friends joining our side with the help of a certain flytrap ... " Her words faded out as Koragg's voice overtook his mind.
'The Master wishes to see you both in the Pit.'
'Well, hello to you too,' was Nick's curt reply. He could feel his father roll his eyes.
'Just be there,' he commanded, disappearing from Nick's mind as quickly as he'd entered.
Leelee noticed how he'd tensed up and prodded his shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked. This seemed to jar him, as he looked up at her.
"The Master wants to see us, and now, apparently," he replied, irritated that Koragg couldn't come get them in person. "Come on. Let's go." He stood up and left his room, a confused vampire princess in tow.
Maddie tried to suppress all the emotions Nick evoked as she murmured again, "It was Nick. The spell came from him." She could feel her friends' jaws drop, both physically and metaphorically.
"You mean he spoke to you?"
"Why would he help us?"
"Telepathy is so cool."
"Do you think this means he's back on our side?"
"Guys, guys," Maddie said, holding up her hands to halt the deluge. "It wasn't like that. He didn't actually talk to me. It was more like ... Kind of like a thought from his mind drifted to mine. Believe me, it was weird." Weirder than she'd let on. Sometimes she caught herself thinking things that she'd never have thought before all of this. At first she'd just assumed that it was her mind going a little crazy with the guilt. After the tenth time in a single day, she'd begun to wonder what was really behind these strange, sinister thoughts. With a week and a half pondering the origin of these thoughts and the seamless blend of Nick's mind and hers when he'd given her his bike, she'd finally realized that their connection had become so strong that thoughts drifted between them like sands between two ends of an hourglass.
"So one of his thoughts just floated over to you, and it happened to be the perfect spell for the situation?"
Madison ignored her sister's disbelieving glare and nodded. "I know you guys know about his past and all, but that doesn't mean you know everything. You don't know how his magic works, do you?"
"Why wouldn't it work just like ours?"
"For people like him, magic is a bit different. We've learned all about light and dark magic, but his doesn't use either of those. It's this rare magic called balanced magic. He has it because he has evil blood, but he was raised to be good."
"So why don't they call it neutral magic?"
"Because it's good and evil, just like him. It uses light and dark spells and balances the strengths of each, making it really powerful. It's usually more than a little chaotic, not to mention really rare. It occurs in people of exceptional magical talent who also possess a duality of nature. It can manifest at any time, but only truly appears when the user has explored both halves of their duality."
"And how'd you know all that?" Vida asked, secretly impressed by the knowledge her sister had just imparted.
Maddie blushed, sheepishly replying, "I did some research after I found out. It's really interesting. Balanced magic users have this special ability, if you want to call it that, to almost always know the spell they need when they need it. It's kind of like an ancestral knowledge thing - you know the spells that your ancestors knew. Anyway, that's how the spell came to me. It was his mind subconsciously reacting to my need for a summoning spell."
"So he'll never need to study spells again?"
"Not exactly. There have been times when this ability has failed at crucial times. It's not always that reliable. I don't think he knows every spell, either. He can only know them if his ancestors knew them." She looked around at her friends, all soaking up the knowledge. "Anyway, I need to get back to Root Core. Something ... interesting is waiting for me."
"Do you need us to come?" Vida asked, looking at her sister worriedly. Everything about her situation with Nick made Vida nervous, like he could jump out and kidnap her at any time.
"No, I'm okay," Maddie replied with a shake of her head. "Just tell Toby I can't finish my shift and punch me out."
"Well ... Fine," Vida conceded hesitantly. "But try to be safe, okay? Things are flying out of control around us, and I'm pretty sure you're stuck in the dead center of it all."
"I'll be fine. I'm a big girl, V."
"I know. I just worry about you."
"I know you do, and you can overdo it sometimes. I've got to spread my wings sometime." Before she realized it, her twin had wrapped her arms and her in an intense hug. She leaned into it, a smile playing on her lips.
"I'll be fine, sis. You can trust that. I can defend myself now." Her voice was muffled slightly by the tightness of the hug and her twin's rippling cape. Vida suddenly stepped back, embarrassed by her sudden show of emotion, and nodded to the girl across from her.
"Go on. You've got bigger fish to fry than a weepy twin."
Smiling at the easy way Vida could read the whole situation, Madison closed her eyes and quietly whispered, "Uthe sastos." Her smile grew as she saw her friends' awestruck faces gaping at her display of magic.
In an instant, she could see nothing, and then she was in Root Core, a startled Udonna just feet from her.
"Why, child!" she gasped, looking over her young charge. "I didn't realize you'd studied teleportation magic quite yet." The young witch smiled sheepishly.
"Actually, I haven't. I kind of learned it from Nick. One of his 'heat of the moment' spells, you know? I just thought I'd try it."
"I see," the mentor responded. There was an odd gleam in her eyes - was it pride? Knowing? Or was she just reading into it too much?
"Is she back yet?" a voice yelled from another room. "That sounds like her."
Udonna turned to look at the hallway the voice was emanating from, calling back, "Yes, it's her." Phineas emerged from the hall and, from the look of it, he'd spent the entire time she was gone in nervous thought. It was one look she'd never imagined seeing on his face.
"Now, what is it you must tell me?" Udonna asked, a playful smile on her lips. She seemed to be taking this less than seriously.
Phineas shook his head stiffly. "It's not what I have to tell you, it's what you need to remember." He turned to look at Madison. "My magic ain't the greatest nowadays. Would you mind pointing your wand at her and saying 'Restituo memoract'?" The young witch looked apprehensively to her mentor.
"You may," Udonna answered, realizing the intent of the spell and intrigued by the effect it could have.
"Okay ... Restituo memoract," she stammered. Though she saw no immediate physical effects, she could see the change in Udonna. Her eyes seemed to be focused on something beyond any of them and her entire body slackened a bit, visibly drooping.
"What'd I do to her?" Maddie whispered, leaning over toward Phineas. He too leaned in, coming uncomfortably close to her face.
"A simple memory restoring spell. Fixes any lost or altered memories." Maddie furrowed her brow in confusion, but a short gasp from Udonna cut off any thoughts.
"Oh, dear," she whispered. "Bowen, Leanbow, Daggeron ... " She turned to Phineas. "What did you do to me?" A faint anger burned in her eyes, one Maddie had seen in Nick's gorgeous green eyes several times before. The ones that were eerily like Udonna's own green orbs, now that she thought about it. No way ...
Phineas interrupted that thought, hesitantly beginning his explanation, and trying to clear up the situation for Madison.
"Almost twenty years ago, during the Great Battle, you trusted Daggeron with your only child, Bowen. You wanted him to find a safe spot to hide with your child while you went out to search for Leanbow. Of course, he was gone, trapped behind the Gates pushing back the last of the Hidiacs as Niella died closing the Gates, but you still wanted to find him. Daggeron was betrayed by Calindor and he had to put Bowen somewhere safe while they fought. The thing is, they both disappeared. I had to watch the whole thing and I knew that Bowen needed to be somewhere safe, so I found him this great family in the human world and left him there."
"And why could you not leave him with his own mother?"
"I knew you'd be grieving for Leanbow and Niella and that would make you want to keep him even more, even though it was way too dangerous for him to stay. He had to go to the human world because that was the only safe place."
"And why did you find it necessary to alter my memory?"
"If you found out that I took away your baby, you'd have torn me to pieces to find him and died of grief. Little Clare still needed a family and I couldn't erase your memory, so I just changed a few things."
"And why now of all times to reverse the spell?" His head drooped a bit, defeat evident in his posture and words.
"Because I failed. The darkness has Nick. I know she probably knows that already," he amended to his invisible friend. "I just thought that you needed to know in case anything, you know ... happens to us." There was such a fear in his voice that it shocked Madison out of her thoughts. Was he really afraid if dying? Did he truly believe that Nick would kill them?
Udonna seemed to pay no mind to his fear, though, either out of the belief that it was misplaced or because she was too blinded by anger. Maddie was betting on the former, but the latter wouldn't be a huge stretch.
"So you planted this story in my mind so I'd remember my only child and husband as the child of another woman and a family friend? Oh, Bowen, Leanbow ... " she said, letting the words and the emotions packed behind them drift away. The trio stood in silence for a moment as Udonna tried sorting out everything she was feeling, Maddie tried to come to grips with the fact that not only was Udonna Nick's true mother, but she had married Koragg and Phineas was silently hoping that nineteen-ish years were enough to soften Udonna's impending wrath. She suddenly moved toward him, garnering a flinch from the troblin. Instead of harming him like he believed, her arms wrapped around him in a strong embrace.
"Thank you," she whispered. As she pulled back, Maddie could see tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. "You've given me a family again. I may not be happy with your actions, but the past cannot be changed and I know you truly acted with the best intentions for Bowen ... Nick." She amended her words, knowing that she could no longer call her child by his birth name, but with the name he was accustomed to. Turning to Maddie, a smile played on her lips despite the tears. "And you, Madison, you are apart of this family, too." The girl made no effort to hide her dismay and confusion.
"Me? How? I was born in Briarwood," she stammered, praying to any omnipotent being that would listen that she and Nick weren't related somehow. That would absolutely suck and be more than a little creepy, given the intensity behind their kisses.
"You are in love with my son, child. That makes you family." She pulled the young girl into a hug, adding, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Maddie couldn't help but smile as the pulled apart. Not only was it a relief to know that she wasn't related to Nick in any way, but she had Udonna's blessing. It wouldn't have stopped their relationship, but it was good to know that your boyfriend's family liked you.
"So if Nick is your son," she began as the happiness started to wear off, "then isn't Koragg your..."
"My husband? Yes, he is. I fell in love with him when I was around your age, when he was known as Leanbow. He had lived with my family for many years, training as a Knight, but he wasn't one to blindly obey orders or stay still for too long. He loved to explore. I fell in love with the freedom and adventure he seemed to live with every day.
"After several years we married and life was good for a while. War was brewing around us, but we were happy. Only a month before the Great War started, I found out I was pregnant. That of course meant that I couldn't fight, so I used the time to study ancient prophesies and heal the wounded on the battlefield. I actually gave birth during a battle on dark soil. When I was supposed to be healing others, they were healing me," she added with a wry smile. "From then on, I was regulated to staying home with my child. All was well until I began to hear stories of Leanbow disappearing for days on end and then returning acting strangely. One morning I awoke to find Bowen gone and that Leanbow had disappeared again." She paused now, mentally sifting through the conflicting memories of what happened. The false memories of her past still remained despite the fact that she remembered the truth, and it was difficult to separate the truth from the lies. After another moment's thought, she finally found the thread of truth again.
"Rumors began to float around of Leanbow's return to the darkness and of his marriage to the infamous sorceress Akaia, all done under another name."
"Koragg?" Maddie interjected.
"Yes, Koragg," replied Udonna with a nod. "Koragg is his dark name, the one he was given at birth. He himself journeyed for his true name sometime after he defected to the light with the intentions of not only increasing his ability to fight his roots, but to distance himself from his old name and life. It took a toll on all of us, for he could very well die in the process. As you know, he very obviously returned safely, though not unscathed, with the name Leanbow."
"And Nickolaus was Bowen's true name, right?"
"Yes, it is," Udonna replied with a smile. "As I was saying, though, when I heard these rumors, I immediately left to find my family. The search took weeks, but I finally found them tucked away in a cabin in the hills. Leanbow was under a memory alteration spell, much like the one I was under. As you already know, I broke the spell after many attempts and dueled Akaia when she found out, which ended with her taking her own life rather than dying with dishonor at my hand.
"We returned home, but Leanbow couldn't escape the guilt he carried from the terrible things he did under Akaia's influence. In the Great Battle, he chose to fight alongside the rest of us once more as the Red Mystic Warrior, leading not only the Mystics, Daggeron, Calindor, Niella and myself, but the entire army of light. He sent Daggeron away with Bowen for protection, to be raised in a safe, hidden location until it was safe for him to be in the open again. As Phineas has told us, Calindor betrayed Daggeron and they both disappeared, leaving our troblin friend to take Bowen to the safest place he knew: the human world.
"The other Mystic Warriors fought to the end, dying as heroes, but Leanbow was not satisfied with simply defeating the enemy. He used his magic to force the Hidiacs to the Underworld while Niella held open the Gates, and then he followed them in to prevent any of them from escaping. Niella died closing the Gates and, in that single moment, I lost so much more of my family than I could've imagined." Her eyes welled up with tears again as she remembered the truth bit by bit. "Only Clare remained. I gathered all that was left of the Mystics, the wands that you all now possess, and headed back to a safe haven I had begun to build after war broke out."
"Root Core, right?" Maddie asked, looking around. The building seemed ancient, not less than twenty years old as Udonna claimed. She guessed that it was simply the magic everywhere giving it a more powerful look and feel than it would've had naturally.
"Yes. I finished building it alone, only little Clare and Phineas by my side. By this time, I had obviously been spelled by the troblin, but it was for the best, I know. I'm not sure if I could've gone on without my child, husband, sister or friends, but the spell eased some of the grief. I knew Clare would be safe with me, for the darkness knew nothing of her Gatekeeper powers. Bowen, on the other hand, was well-known by our enemies, having displayed early signs of great magical power as an infant. Oh, how I wish I could've raised him," she said wistfully. "He would've been a marvelous student and a feisty child. Alas, that's where everything of interest ends. After all that, I settled into Root Core, taught and raised Clare and awaited the prophesied day that the darkness would rise again and five legendary warriors would rise up against it." She turned to look at Phineas. "Have I missed anything?"
"I don't think so. I know Calindor was all pumped up by dark magic near the end, but Daggie fought back and they both disappeared in a shower of sparkly things that were really pretty." He gazed up at the ceiling dazedly, as if seeing the light show again. Udonna shook her head good-naturedly, inwardly amazed by the past few months.
"So much has changed," she said aloud, not really talking to anyone but herself. "My family is complete again. Except for Niella ... But that cannot be changed. She is gone and we forge ahead." Maddie smiled as the elder woman rambled quietly to herself, glancing down at her hands. There was something clutched in one, she realized and, after a moment's thought, the other events of the day came rushing back to her.
"Hey, Udonna, do you know what this is?" she asked suddenly, proffering the parchment. The sorceress took it and after quickly scanning over it, she inhaled sharply.
"Oh my."
"You rang?" Nick asked cheekily, walking into the main chamber of the Underworld next to Leelee. Morticon gave him a look of utter disdain, despite his lack of facial features he could apply such a look to. Necrolai stood to the left of Morticon's throne, looking incredibly angry. Nick could tell that his father was smirking as the vampire queen's unhappiness even through the helmet.
"The Master wishes for both of you to prove your worth as dark warriors," Morticon boomed. "Unfortunately, this hag has interrupted our plans with her foolishness."
"I told you," the vampiress spat, "the Blue Witch used powerful magic on me." Nick arched an eyebrow.
"The Blue Witch, huh?" he said, a sly smile creeping across his face. "No problem then." He closed his eyes and focused on Madison. When he opened them again, all he could see was the inside of Root Core. Waiting for a moment to make sure she hadn't realized he was there, he glanced around. The object he sought was lying on the central table with Udonna hovering over it. She suddenly turned to look at Madison, a questioning look gracing her face.
"Madison, are you okay?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Yeah. I'm just feeling a little strange," he heard the young woman answer. Her voice alone sent him reeling, a beam of light in the darkness that was consuming him. All he could think about now was seeing her again, locking lips with her and never stopping. They could be happy, just the two of them and no one else, and they could travel the world and answer to no one ... No, no thinking about that. The sooner he was out of here, the better. He took one last look at the map before making the hasty retreat from her mind.
His vision snapped back to the Underworld, mind swirling with images of the map, Madison and her sweet voice and new spells. Pushing thoughts of Maddie as far away as he could, he latched onto a new spell, pointing his wand at his forehead and muttering, "Mens eruo." He tried to pull the wand away, but it resisted. A fine red light had emerged from his wand point and enveloped something that didn't want to come out. Giving the wand one hard pull, he lurched back as his wand was suddenly released. A sheet of parchment fluttered to the cold stone floor, red light arcing gently over the surface and dispersing.
"What is this?" Morticon asked, voice more inquiring than harsh now.
"It's what you're looking for," Nick answered, picking it up off the floor. "An exact replica of the map to the Fire Heart's secrets." The zombie nodded approvingly, looking it over.
"You have done well, human. Now you and the girl shall go to the surface and retrieve it before the Rangers do."
"If the Master wishes it," Nick responded. He didn't like taking orders from either being, but the Master won out over the pumphead's orders. The center pool lit up in response, garnering bows from all in the room. "So be it. Come on, Leelee. We've got work to do. Uthe sastos." With a flick of his hand, the pair of humans disappeared into a circle of light.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Madison?" Udonna asked her young student, turning away from the map momentarily. For a second, something about the girl had seemed off.
"Yeah. I'm actually feeling better now. Just a passing thing, I guess," replied the young witch. "So what is this exactly?" She leaned over the map next to her mentor.
"It is the map to the Fire Heart," Udonna answered, voice full of reverence.
"What's the Fire Heart?" Maddie asked, examining the map more closely. She couldn't see what the big deal was.
"No one is quite sure, but it is known that it's an invaluable magical treasure. Many have sought it fruitlessly over the years. This map, though, is truly an amazing find on it's own."
"So let's find the others and get this thing," said Maddie, taking charge. Udonna shook her head.
"It will not be that easy. The map directs you to the Cimmerian Forest, one of the most dangerous places within our dimension. It is too powerful to be claimed by any kingdom."
"The map should lead us through safely, shouldn't it?"
"True, but the forest may have changed since then. There may be dangers in the forest that are not on the map. The forest itself interrupts the regular flow of magic, twisting it in unforgiving ways. You will not be able to use your own in there."
"I'll still go. We need to get this thing before the darkness figures out how to." She wasn't going to back down from finding this thing, even if she had to do it alone.
"So be it. You must be warned, though, that the Cimmerian Forest is more dangerous than anything you have ever faced, and there is no guarantee that you will make it out alive. Are you still willing?"
"Of course."
Udonna nodded, adding, "I'll summon the others, then." Maddie sat down quietly as Udonna did so, pondering everything. When had her life become so crazy? That one she knew the answer to: it had been nearly three months ago, just days before her junior prom, when Nick had shown up in town, the day there'd been an earthquake and they'd become Rangers. After that day, her life had been interesting, to say the least. She had a boyfriend, magical powers, Ranger powers and fought evil on a near daily basis every few weeks. It had been a crazy summer so far.
Twenty minutes later when the others finally arrived, she was still thinking about how insane all of their lives had become. The trio's arrival jarred her thoughts, bringing her back reality in time to hear Xander talking to Udonna.
"So what is it?" he asked. "It sounded important."
"Yes, it is," Udonna answered. "Madison will be venturing to the Cimmerian Forest to retrieve an artifact of great power. You three must decide if you wish to go with her."
"Why wouldn't we?" Xander asked with a smile. "We like forests." Chip and Vida smiled too, nodding.
"This is nothing to smile about, Rangers. You will face untold danger. It is very possible that you could die." Xander's smile visibly fell. "Will you still go?"
"I will," Vida said determinedly. She wasn't about to let her sister go on a dangerous mission alone.
"Me too," Xander added.
"No question," Chip responded.
"Then you must go quickly. There is no doubt that the darkness will be searching for a way to find it, too."
"How we do get there? From the looks of it, it's pretty far from here," Maddie said, standing up with the map in her hands.
"You may be able to travel through the trees, though that may not end well with Cimmerian trees. They have been known to trap travelers. Of course, teleporting is another, safer option."
"But I'm the only one who can teleport, right?" Maddie asked. "And I can't move anyone besides me. I mean, Nick can, but he's a whole other case. I can't teleport all four of us." Udonna smiled.
"I believe you can. If you can master self-teleportation so easily, then group teleportation should not be hard. All you need to do is focus on the new spell and moving the others along with yourself." The young witch still looked unsure of herself.
"I don't know ... "she murmured, eyes cast at the floor.
"You can do it. Just try," the mentor encouraged. Madison gave her one last reluctant look and turned to her friends.
"Are you guys okay with this?" she asked, not knowing whether or not they were comfortable with an inexperienced witch teleporting them to who knows where.
"We trust you, Maddie," Vida answered without hesitation. Xander and Chip nodded in agreement with the Sprite. Maddie let out a deep sigh and stepped forward, taking their hands and forming a circle.
"Here goes," she whispered, eyes shut tight in concentration. As the spell floated to the top of her mind, she grabbed the words and focused on their intent and her own.
"Uthe sastos ozarro," she said softly, heavy magical undertones in her voice. The four Rangers were gone in an instant, bodies swallowed by a rapid spell seal. Udonna could only pray as she watched them vanish that she would see them alive again.
A/N - Wow. Finally got this one done. I thought I'd never get this one banged out. On the plus side, it is fairly long. Well, at least a little longer than the usual chapter. It's a chapter, though, so be happy. I'm hoping Leelee wasn't too out of character in her scene with Nick, but I wanted to get out some of that more serious side of her that we rarely see. Speaking of that, I loved Heir Apparent I. I was amazed at how closely I got the events of the Great Battle and just overall astounded by how awesome the episode was. I've watched it countless times since it aired, and I'm still awestruck by its greatness. The scenes in the Underworld near the end were particularly nice, not to mention Leelee's concern for the Rangers, Leanbow, Udonna's "Help me or get out of my way" to Clare and the sword fight between Nick and Daggeron. Absolutely brilliant.
Enough rambling, though. Onto the next chapter.