Ch 5
Fiona watched as her husband entered the living room again. He was feeling better but still a bit sore. Vathek was still there too. "What element does my husband control?" Fiona asked curiously. "It's the Element of Bravery, one that when all six of you unite makes you very powerful against Phobos. But he'll try to find him." He told her. She smiled at the shock on Shrek's face.
"What do you mean I'm a Guardian of the Veil? I thought there were only five." He told her. "Yes I know that." She said as the Heart reappeared in her hand and transformed him into his Guardian form. He looked at himself in awe as he hovered in the air on dragon like wings. "What element am I?" he asked her confused. "It's the Element of Bravery. It had been waiting in the Heart of Candracar waiting for someone brave like you to bear it." She explained as she transformed him back into his normal self. "You can't let anyone know you're the sixth Guardian. Not Puss, not Donkey or even Artie. If they knew, then Phobos would find out and hurt you. That's something I couldn't bear." She told him. He understood but wasn't happy. "I can't believe I'm the sixth Guardian of the Veil but there's a downside to it. I can't let anyone know I'm the Guardian of Bravery, not even my friends and I always tell them everything." He thought to himself.
But in Meridian Phobos had found out that the sixth Guardian had been anointed and was furious. He was still angry after losing to the Guardians of the Veil. "I've got an idea!" Charming said as he saw an image of the swamp. "What is it?" Cedric hissed to him. He swallowed his fear as Cedric became a mortal again. "The Keeper of the Heart lives there with her husband and family right? I propose we take her children and use them to make her reveal the identity of the sixth Guardian." He told them. Phobos liked this plan. "It's perfect!" he said as he opened a portal with dark magic. Cedric retransformed into a lizard man and went through it. He cackled as he hid in the shadows surrounding the swamp. Fiona had gone out for a while and Shrek was left with the kids. Cedric smiled as he slipped into the swamp house through the window. He made his way into the triplet's room and smiled evilly showing his fangs. "Perfect! Phobos will be delighted once I bring them to him. Then we'll find the sixth pathetic Guardian of the Veil and crush whoever it is." he thought as he vanished into another portal with the triplets.
It was later that night when Fiona heard no crying when she realised something wasn't right. She then opened the door to her children's room nervously. "Guys are you in here?" she whispered but when she found the beds empty, she was fearful that something had taken them. She then came back into her and Shrek's room upset. Shrek was waiting for her but saw the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong honey? Tell me!" he said to her as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's the kids... They're gone. Something took them. It must've been Charming." she said through tears. "Ssh it'll be alright Fi. We're Guardians of the Veil remember? We won't stand by and let this happen." he reassured her in his gentlest of tones. She then got an idea.
He watched as the Heart of Candracar appeared once more and she transformed into her Guardian form. "What're you up to?" he asked her nervously. "I just realised what happened to them. Phobos has them probably in Meridian. I'm getting them back." she said determinedly. "Shouldn't the other Guardians go with ya just in case?" he asked her. "No honey I can do this by myself. If I need help I'll let the other Guardians know through the Heart." she told him as she disappeared through a portal she'd opened using the Heart. "Please be safe. If anything happened to you or the kids, I'd never move on." he thought as he sat in the alligator chair near the fire. Phobos and Charming cackled as Cedric put the triplets in a cage. They started to cry loudly. "Are we scared? Good!" he hissed as he showed his fangs. Fiona could hear them as she entered Meridian.
She then flew into the castle but transformed back into her normal self as she reached the throne room. Phobos laughed as she came closer to the cage her children were in. He then revealed himself. "Hello Fiona." he said with cruelty in his eyes. "Let my children go! They've nothing to do with this!" she yelled at him. "I might let them go if..." he said. "If what?" she asked nervously. "If you reveal the identity of the sixth Guardian to me, I might let them go unharmed but as for you, it's a different matter." he explained.
A cold sweat ran through Fiona at his words. The only way she could save her children was if she revealed the sixth Guardian's identity but she could never betray her husband. "I can't tell you!" she answered him quietly. "Too bad." Phobos said as he shot her with blasts of magic. The triplets cried as their mother lay on the floor. "D...Did you kill her?" Charming asked worriedly. "No I didn't. I hurt her with it just. I need her alive for the sixth Guardian to reveal itself and I have a feeling the Keeper of the Heart and the sixth Guardian are related." he answered.
Shrek had woken up from a very bad dream of Phobos hurting Fiona. He'd asked her to reveal the sixth Guardian but she wouldn't. "I've got to get to Meridian but how can I? I'm not in my Guardian form and I need Fiona to do that with the Heart." he said but he heard knocking at the door and answered it. It was Snow, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Lillian. They looked upset. "Is Fiona here? We need to talk to her." Lillian said to him. They gasped when they realised she wasn't. "What are we going to do? We can't go to Meridian or transform without the Heart and it's with Fiona!" Snow said.
But then he went into the bedroom and closed his eyes. He was feeling something. Suddenly magic surrounded him as he transformed into his Guardian self. "Yes! I can do it without the Heart. Time to save Fiona and the kids!" he thought as he flew back into the room. The girls were amazed by this stranger. "Who're you?" Cinderella asked. "I'm the sixth Guardian. I control the element of Bravery. Let's go save Fiona!" he told them as they used their inner strength to transform into their Guardian selves. He amazed himself when he opened a portal to Meridian as they flew through it in the hopes of saving their leader and his wife...