Mei and Luca walked down the hall to their next batch of lessons.
Today was the day they were to learn how to battle with weapons, when something caught Luca's attention.
"What's this?" He wondered out loud.
Mei turned in surprise to see what he was looking at. "It's a golden honour!" Mei exclaimed.
The golden honours were giant statues put up to display a guardian or a group of guardians after a huge achievement was done.
The two made their way to get a closer look at it. It looked rather old, and slightly decrepit, but the plaque was still legible.
"In honour of the Spectacular Six." It read, "for their defeat of the darkness long ago."
"It must be Jack and the gang." Luca exclaimed. "They have so many statues around here."
"Wait a minute..." Mei replied, pointing. "Look closer. Two of the statues' heads are knocked off, and while I do recognize Jack, Rapunzel, Merida and Hiccup... the other two are not Anna or Elsa. That one's clearly a man and the other... well, the sisters dress more... modest."
Luca looked over at his friend. "You're right!" He exclaimed. "Maybe the other four will tell us all about it."
Mei was about to say something else, when the warning bell rang through their ears.
"We'd better hurry..." Mei exclaimed, "or Merida is going to box our ears!"
The two tore down the halls and found their class. Sliding into their seats, they got out their pencils and papers.
"Meilin... Luca..." Merida began, not turning around. "I see you DO want to learn. Good."
Mei blushed hard while Luca pretended to be focused on his notes.
Merida wrote a few things on the board, then turned. "Weaponry is a very important skill to learn." She began. "While I know a good portion of you have your powers, what will happen when you can't access them? You'll need to be prepared for a plan B. When I say GO! You'll each come up and choose a weapon from the cabinet beside you."
She pointed to an unlocked door right beside Mei's desk.
"And once all of you have them, we will go outside and you will learn how to use it properly. Go!"
The class got up and immediately stampeded to the closet.
"Remember!" Merida called out. "What might not seem like a weapon may be your best ally."
Mei looked around. There were swords, spears and claws, but there was also frying pans and even a hockey stick!
Once everybody had their weapon, Merida lead the party outside to a special arena with lots of practice dummies.
"Good!" Merida began, "now watch me!"
In a flash, Merida brandished her bow and jumped into the middle of conflict. Loading it up, she quickly shot down every single dummy she saw.
"Now, it looks like I won, but..." she turned and shot down a hidden dummy that popped up behind her. "Never let your guard down! It could mean the difference between life and death."
"Do you think that happened to the two people in the statue?" Mei whispered in surprise.
Luca was about to respond, but an arrow wizzed past them.
"Mei, Luca." Merida began, "since you two feel you know it all. Please show us how to do it." Mei gulped.
Of the four most hallowed guardians, Merida scared her the most. She rarely joked around unless the situation called for it, and if she was mad... legend had it she used to use the misbehaving guardians in training as target practice!
Luca brandished his spear and ran out, stabbing and fumbling around with the dummies until he lost his balance and fell down.
"And you died." Merida said. "Next time pay attention in my class."
The rest of the lesson went on without a pinch. When the class ended, and the weapons were put away, Mei and Luca nervously went over to Merida.
"What can I do for you, wee ones?" Merida asked in surprise. "You two never visit me after work."
Luca gulped. "We have a question about one of your Golden Honours." He began.
"Which Golden Honour?" Merida asked in surprise.
"The one in the left wing on the third floor... the broken one." Mei replied. "It was a Spectacular Six one."
"Spectacular Six..." Merida laughed, nostalgically. "Been a while since I heard that name..."
"We think there might be two people in that statue who we are unfamiliar with. Who are they? What happened to them?"
A strange look came into Merida's eyes for a few seconds. "I'll tell you what, wee ones." She began. "If I give you their names, you figure out what happened. Sound good? You can ask any of the other three, and there might be history books, but I'm not telling you more than names."
"Why not?" Asked Luca.
Merida smirked. "It's part of learning. Not everyone is going to have all the answers. You'll just need to piece the puzzle together yourself."
"I understand." Mei began.
"Good." Merida replied. "Now, their names are Mavis Dracula and The Once-Ler. Good luck."
—
Leaving Merida's class, Mei and Luca looked at each other puzzled. There was no mention of Mavis or the Once-Lee from any of the guardians, and no other Golden Honours erected in their names.
"We'd better stop in the library..." Mei began.
"The library?" Luca asked in surprise.
"Yeah! It'll give us an outline of what we're looking for. The rest we can ask the other guardians about."
Luca nodded in agreement. Since they didn't have any more classes for the day, there wasn't too much of a time limit.
Mei combed through each book carefully, looking for any words that would tie it to her mystery.
Luca on the other hand flipped through each table of contents before he dismissed it as a write off.
"Hey Mei!" Luca finally called out.
Mei put down her book and looked over. Luca was holding a book open, a huge grin on his face. "I found them!"
In the picture was the usual four suspects: Jack, Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel, but there were two other people they had never seen before, around their age. One was a young, skinny man with dark hair and a hat while the other was a young woman who looked gothic and was wearing a small dress and had tiny little fangs.
"It's them!" Mei exclaimed, looking at the two strangers.
"They look so... happy..." Luca commented. "What happened to them?"
"Well? What does the book say?"
Luca's eyes scanned the page. "Our beloved heroes, the Spectacular Six. Hand chosen by the man in the moon to be our elemental warriors to aid in the battle of darkness and protect the weak and innocent."
"Elementals?" Mei asked in surprise.
"I guess they had element powers back then..." Luca commented.
He combed through the book and frowned. "The rest of it looks like someone made breakfast all over it."
Flipping the page, to Mei's dismay, they saw a collection of stains all over the book, making it unreadable.
"What does the next page say?" Mei asked.
Luca turned the page and frowned more. "The pages have been ripped clean out." He said in despair.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Mei exclaimed, snatching the book and flipping through it rapidly.
Sure enough, it went from page 17 to page 25.
"Wow... whoever Mavis and the Once-Ler are... their names must be taboo..." Luca began, and then he got hit in the back of the head with a snowball.
Turning in shock, Luca saw Jack floating above, tossing a snowball in the air and catching it.
"Whatever you're looking for, it's not going to be in THAT book." He said. "As one of your mentors, I order you to stop doing homework and have a snowball fight with me."
"We'd love to!" Mei exclaimed, "but we really don't have the time."
Jack slowly descended to the ground. "Killjoys!" He joked. "Now, what is this assignment?" He asked. "Merida mentioned something about assigning you an extra project... maybe I can help?"
"Thanks!" Mei exclaimed. "Luca and I were wondering what you could tell us about Mavis and the Once-Ler?"
Whatever Jack was expecting, it definitely wasn't that.
"Did you see their golden honour?" He asked.
"Yeah." Luca replied. "Mei and I asked Merida, but she said we had to research them as an assignment."
Whatever Jack was expecting, it definitely wasn't that. "Mavy and Old Once, eh?" He began. "Been a few thousand years since I heard those names..."
"Can you help us? Explain their stories?" Mei asked.
Jack closed his eyes and inhaled. "Look, kids." He began. "No matter how many years have passed, Mavis and the Once-Ler are very sore subjects, so don't expect to learn too much off us. But I will do what I can to help."
Pulling out a chair, he sat down on it backwards. "We may not look it, but we guardians are actually thousands of years old. Old Manny Moony had already chosen the six of us as guardians, but he needed a new group. The original group is still around, but what happens when there's more than they can handle?"
"So he chose the six of you?" Luca asked, eyes sparkling with fascination.
Jack nodded, chuckling a bit. "Yeah... Six snot nosed brats who caused a lot of trouble already... yet he saw some good in us. While the original group was meant to bring cheer to children, we were meant to protect. We were each given one of the six elements..."
"Six?" Mei asked in surprise. "I thought there was only four!"
"Yeah. Six." Jack replied. "Water, Earth, Fire, Air, Light and Dark."
"And you were Water?" Luca asked.
"At the TIME." Jack replied. "Once the group dissolved, our powers kind of... changed."
"Is that Why Merida and Hiccup have other specialties other than magic?" Luca asked.
Jack nodded. "We only went on one mission and got one golden honour before..."
"Before?" Mei and Luca asked, leaning in expectantly.
"Before Mavis and the Once-Ler's untimely demise." Jack said, his voice no longer jovial. "I've said enough though." He finally said, levitating out of his seat. "I hope that answers some of your questions."
With that, he took off at full speed. A loud crash was heard as glass came raining down from the closed window he flew through.
"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Mei asked.
"Probably has a date with Elsa..." Luca joked. "Anyway... we still need to learn more... maybe Hiccup can help?"
—
The two made their way outside to the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard, Hiccup was finishing up his one on one class with Raya.
"And that's one more step on how to train your dragon." He was saying. "Next week, I'll show you how to gain a strong enough bond with Sisu to be able to ride her."
Raya smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Master." She said before running off, Sisu following, talking to her in a language only Raya seemed to understand.
Hiccup smiled to himself and jotted a few things down before noticing Mei and Luca.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, stumbling in surprise. "Did I have a class with you?" He rapidly combed through his papers. "Luca And Mei..." he muttered over and over.
"No..." Luca said. "We don't have class."
"Oh." Hiccup put away his pad and pencil then turned to the two youngsters. "Well then... you must be here because of Merida's assignment."
"How'd you know?" Mei asked.
"Word travels fast." Hiccup explained. "I know Jack explained how we came to be, but that's only scratching the surface."
"How deep does this story go?" Luca asked.
Hiccup paused in thought. "A couple thousand years." He began. "We had just had our first team mission and defeated Pitch, and the Golden Honour was erected in our names, but something on that mission had gone wrong... Mavis. Our dark spirit. She tried to channel more darkness than she could handle... and became corrupted by it. The rest of us fought hard to protect the others and save her from herself, but we were too careless. Eventually, she killed the Once-Ler..."
"Why didn't Rapunzel try to save him?" Mei asked in surprise.
"She did!" Hiccup replied. "She tried so hard she lost her voice for a week. To her that was the biggest failure of her career as a guardian!"
"And what happened to Mavis?" Luca asked.
Hiccup lowered his eyes. "She regained her senses for a good enough time... but she was too far gone. The rest of us had to kill her."
Mei and Luca looked at each other.
This couldn't be the end. There had to be more to the story. Way more than an esteemed guardian losing herself to darkness and only one guardian lost. How did the honour break?
"Only one guardian left to ask." Luca exclaimed.
It was a little harder to find Rapunzel since she was patrolling, but eventually they found her healing up Dash and Vanellope who had gotten into another scrap.
"You two again." She was joking. "If you're not careful, you could break something. Now get to class."
"Um... Rapunzel?" Mei asked.
"Oh! Hi guys! Rapunzel said. "How can I help you?"
"Well..." Luca began. "I was wondering if you could tell us about your time in the Spectacular Six?"
Rapunzel's eyes flashed a look neither Mei or Luca understood, but she smiled.
"Well, I wouldn't call us Spectacular, but Anna, Elsa..."
"No, Rapunzel." Mei said. "With Mavis and..."
Rapunzel gulped and looked away. "Um... I gotta go." She exclaimed, turning. "Please don't ever mention either of them around me. I don't like to talk about that subject."
With that, she tore off, her hair marking her trail.
Mei's face crumpled. "Dead end..." She began. "There has to be a way to find out more about Mavis and The Once-Ler."
The two of them pondered over their problem until Luca snapped his finger.
"We could ask them themselves!"
"How? They're dead."
"Maybe, But my friend Miguel has a way for us to talk to them."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mei asked in surprise. "Let's go!"
—
"Miguel! Miguel!"
Miguel Rivera And his best friend, Riley Anderson, stopped in the middle of their conversation and turned.
"Oh! Sorry! Were we interrupting something?" Mei asked.
"Miguel is trying to find a way to confess to Mirabel." Riley replied, almost bitter.
"Mirabel Madrigal?" Mei asked in surprise. "She's a teenager."
"And I will be next year!" Miguel protested.
"Enough." Luca said. "Miguel? Can you lend us a hand."
"Oh! Sure, Luke. What's up."
Within a few minutes, Mei and Luca explained EVERYTHING to Miguel and Riley.
Miguel scratched his chin in thought. "Usually I'm the one traveling in between worlds. I've never sent one let alone TWO other people into the land of the dead..."
"But Miguel! If we don't learn this... we'll disappoint Merida!" Mei exclaimed.
Miguel sighed. "I'll do it. However! You're only spending ONE hour in the land of the dead. Too much prolonged exposure will be bad for you. Understand?"
Mei and Luca nodded. Miguel ran off, quick as a flash, then came back with his guitar.
"It's going to feel weird, but just for a second."
After adjusting a few things, Miguel began to play a haunting melody on his guitar.
A cold breeze flooded through Mei and Luca, but none the less, they stood still. Soon, their vision was flooded with orange and brown and the warm air got chilled and had a peculiar smell. Once the orange was gone, Mei and Luca were in the land of the dead.
"One hour..." Luca began. "We have to find Mavis and the Once-Ler in one hour."
"Excuse me?"
Mei and Luca turned. A young female skeleton was standing in front of her. She was wearing a familiar black dress and her hair was cut short.
"Did you say you were looking for Mavis and the Once-Ler?" She asked.
Luca nodded.
"HOLY RABIES!" The girl exclaimed. "I'm Mavis! I thought the Once-Ler and I were forgotten! Come with me!"
Her boney hands gripped ahold of Mei and Luca's fleshy ones and she lead them as fast as she could to a small cabin.
"Hey guys! I'm home!" She called out.
Luca and Mei noticed two other skeletons. One had a mop of auburn hair and seemed quite jovial. The other one...
"You're the Once-Ler!" Luca exclaimed.
The Once-Ler looked up from what he was doing. When he saw the two still living beings, he jumped up in shock.
"Mave!" He exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Why did you bring living things to our house?"
Mavis couldn't contain her excitement. "They were looking for us specifically! Our legend lives on!"
The Once-Ler smiled to himself, but there was a slight bitterness to it. "Maybe..." then he stood. "Why are you two here?" He asked.
Mei was just about to answer, when the redhead skeleton piped up. "Should we offer them refreshments?"
Mavis chuckled. "Johnny... you know we don't have anything they can have..."
The Once-Ler shot them a look. "Anyway... why are you here?" He repeated.
"We saw your Golden Honour." Mei explained. "And we want to know what your story is."
Mavis's face fell. "Oh..." she began. "Are you sure you want to know about this?"
Johnny hugged her comfortingly, and The Once-Ler laid a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay." He gently said. "They won't blame you."
Mavis nervously smiled, then looked up. "I guess it can't be helped." She said, almost bitterly.
Standing, she turned to the Once-Ler. "I'll need your help."
The Once-Ler also stood and the two of them inhaled deeply. Mid breath, Mavis opened one eye. "No, we don't need to breathe anymore. Just comforts us."
Mei and Luca stared with matching looks of disbelief and confusion.
Exhaling in unison, two bright orbs shot out of their bony chests and merged into one. Glowing bigger and brighter, it slowly manoeuvred it's way towards the young guardians and enveloped them.
"Luca!" Mei cried out.
She couldn't see anything but bright. She wasn't even sure Luca was there.
After a few seconds, Mei felt a familiar hand close over hers.
"I'm here." She heard him say. "Let's get the answers." He added.
—
Mei and Luca were floating through the bright tunnel of light when it finally stopped. On the other end, they could see the school, but it wasn't as they remembered. It looked... newer and had a little more sheen. On a wooden stage, stood, Jack, Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup, Mavis and the Once-Ler. Standing in front of them was... Santa Claus? They had heard he had played a huge part in the Guardians, but Mei didn't realize it was this deep.
"In honour of your teaming up against all odds to protect the world against Pitch Black," he was saying, proudly. "I hereby crown you as our newest guardians. Sandy?"
A small, plump man waved his hand and golden sparkles and dust spilled from his hand. It swirled around until it formed the Golden Honour.
"This Golden Honour will commemorate your heroics. Good job, my pupils." With that, everyone dispersed.
Hiccup and Merida went one way, discussing things, a bright pink blush on both their cheeks.
Rapunzel and The Once-Ler went off in another direction, holding hands stopping to exchange gentle smiles.
"That's... interesting..." Luca remarked, squinting.
Jack meanwhile, floated away in a third direction.
Mavis, on the other hand, stuck around. She looked up into the sky, a small smile on her lips.
"Mei! Look!" Luca exclaimed.
Mavis didn't notice it, but small black particles were floating towards Mavis. Mavis was getting ready to go leave when a deep "Mavy-Wavy?" Was heard.
Mavis stopped and turned.
"Dad?" She exclaimed.
The particles compressed before forming a vampire.
"Holy rabies!" Mavis exclaimed, hugging the man tightly. "I missed you so much! I've got lots to tell you..."
"My Mavy... I saw your battle against Pitch... I'm so proud of you." He gently said, patting her hair.
"Thanks, Daddy." Mavis said, smiling into the man's chest.
Then man tilted her head up and smiled.
"But, I noticed your powers of darkness..."
Mavis smiled excitedly. "The man in the moon granted me them!"
Her dad laughed warmly. "I have a few myself. What's say you and I have a one on one lesson?"
Mavis nodded happily and the two of them heading away.
"I don't think that's actually her father..." Mei hissed.
Luca nodded in agreement.
For the next few minutes, Mei and Luca watched as Mavis and 'her father' battled each other day after day as a form of training, but as the training progressed, they noticed Mavis seemed to be getting more sluggish and... distant.
Luca wanted to go for a closer look, but the memory seemed to be forming a barrier around itself.
Finally, after the memory montage, the Big One seemed to occur.
Mavis stumbled into a courtyard at the academy, her usually bouncy walk was gone and in its place was an almost sleep walk. Looking around, she blinked a few times until her eyes turned grey and lifeless. Head snapping up, Mavis slowly raised a hand and flicked her wrist. A jolt of dark magic shot out, hit a tree and slowly began to let it wilt.
"Mavis!"
Mavis turned in surprise to find her team staring at her in shock and horror.
"What are you doing?" Jack exclaimed.
Mavis looked at her hands and smirked before sending another dark blast towards her team.
Hiccup sent a blast of air towards it, knocking it off course. It hit a tower on the side of the school and caused it to smash.
"Mavis?" Mavis asked in surprise, her voice now deep and sinister. "I think not."
"Pitch!" Merida hissed.
Mavis nodded, her lips curled in a smirk. "When you thought you banished me, my remnants remained. It wasn't easy to cling onto Mavis and let her trust me. As she trusted and even... dare I say, loved me, I was able to carve a small crevice in her soul so I can be brought back. Now... you are NOT going to interfere with my rebirth!"
With that, Mavis started sending dark blasts at all the guardians. They scattered, dodging and sending back blasts of their own.
"Formation!" Jack called out, firing an ice ball, clipping Mavis on the shoulder.
"Careful! We don't want to hurt Mavis! She could still be in there!"
Rapunzel pointed out, dodging another blast. The Once-Ler tried to block a blast with a vine, but it crumbled in front of him. Mavis began to levitate and slowly glided over, cackling. She raised her hand at the now defenceless earth elemental when...
"ONCE!" Rapunzel screamed, running over to him and diving on top of him as a shield.
Immediately, a blast of white light shot out of her body, enveloping them in a shield.
"Rapunzel?" The Once-Ler asked in surprise.
Rapunzel looked up in surprise. "I didn't know I could do that..."
The Once-Ler looked over her shoulder at the other three battling Mavis.
"We got to get back in there." He said.
Rapunzel turned. "But... Mavis almost hurt you..."
The Once-Ler smiled gently. "I know... but we're guardians. We have to protect the innocents. No matter how much we love and care for each other."
Rapunzel smiled sadly. "You're right..."
The Once-Ler gently leaned down and kissed Rapunzel on the lips.
"Which is why I must protect you too." He said.
Mei and Luca looked at each other in shock. This explained Rapunzel's hostile behaviour.
Raising her arms, Rapunzel lowered the forcefield around them and the Once-Ler charged back into the battle.
Merida was shooting fire balls in the form of arrows, Jack was shooting ice balls and Hiccup had sprouted wings and was trying to blow Mavis away.
Mavis looked down and smirked. "Ah. The lovebirds have decided to rejoin the battle. Good!" Her eyes narrowed. "More blood to spill."
With that, she swooped down to the Once-Ler and slammed him against the wall, forming a dark barrier around them.
"I could kill your girlfriend..." she began. "After all, she IS the healer... but you could attack me back out of rage. Her? Well I'm not so sure."
"Once!" Rapunzel was screaming, shooting light beams at the barrier.
"Don't you DARE hurt the lad!" Merida hissed.
Mavis laughed, unhinged. The Once-Ler tried to summon a vine, but his powers wouldn't work.
"Sorry, Oncey." Mavis laughed. "Darkness only."
Laughing maniacally, she put her hand on his heart. Immediately, a blast of pure darkness shot through him.
The Once-Ler screamed as it coursed through him, burning every nerve. After what seemed like an eternity to him, the hand was removed and the barrier was dropped.
"Have fun with your boyfriend." Mavis sneered to a horrified Rapunzel before flying back to the fray.
"ONCE!" Rapunzel screamed, running over to him. "Once-Ler! No!"
Kneeling next to him, she flipped him onto his back.
"Hang in there! I... I can heal you!"
Putting her hair on his chest, she began to sing, but the Once-Ler, hand shaking, reached up and took her hand.
"Rapunzel..." he croaked. "Mavis pumped me with so much darkness... if you try it will only kill me faster."
Rapunzel stopped and looked down at him. His skin had a black and purple hue to it, and his breath was slowing.
"But... Once-Ler." She began. "I..."
The Once-Ler weakly smiled. "I love you too."
Rapunzel broke. She began to cry hard as she held her dying boyfriend. Reaching up, he pulled the two of them into one final kiss before his body went limp.
Looking up, Rapunzel let out an animalistic scream before turning to Mavis.
"You!" She angrily screamed.
Stalking angrily towards her, she raised her hand, a ball of light forming.
"You killed him! That can never be forgiven!"
Mavis smirked. "Bring it, Blondie!"
Suddenly she coughed and shuddered. Opening her eyes, they were back to normal.
"Rapunzel!" She screamed in her normal voice. "I'm sorry! Pitch has almost taken over me! The rest of you have to kill me! Quick before... You shut up!"
Pitch was back.
The remaining four guardians heard. Grouping, they turned to look at each other and nodded before turning back to Mavis.
"We're sorry, Mave." Hiccup said.
With that, all four of them sent a blast of their respective element towards Mavis.
Upon being hit, she let out a scream and disintegrated.
The battle was over. They had won.
The light evaporated and Mei and Luca were back in the land of the dead.
"Now you know..." Mavis sadly said.
"But why did the Golden Honour break?" Mei asked.
The Once-Ler hung his head. "That was Rapunzel. After I died, I stayed here, by her side. She wouldn't leave her room for years, unaware I was by her side, holding her, until one day... she left the room, went right to our Golden Honour and smashed it with a frying pan. I realized she didn't need me anymore, so I came here."
Mei and Luca were about to ask more, but a sudden tugging feeling immediately pulled them back into the land of the living.
—
"We... we know everything now!" Luca exclaimed.
Miguel and Riley stared at the two in confusion.
"Rapunzel smashed the Golden Honour..." Mei sadly said.
"Whaaaaaaaaat?" A loud voice rang.
Turning, they saw the Big Four staring at them.
"Rapunzel? You smashed the Golden Honour?" Hiccup asked.
Rapunzel nodded, tears in her eyes. "I wanted so badly to forget my fallen friend and lover..."
A hushed silence fell over the crowd.
Merida turned to Mei and Luca. "You both get As on your project." She began, "now, I believe we have an Honour to rebuild..."
3 weeks later.
"Looks better than new!" Luca exclaimed.
Sandy had come back and was able to rebuild the Honour from memory.
"Mavis and The Once-Ler we're still heroes." Mei added. "It's only right we keep their memories alive."
"Indeed."
The two turned in surprise.
"Rapunzel?" Mei asked.
Rapunzel smiled sadly. "It still hurts, but I'll get over it."
Looking up at it, she whispered. "I'll always love you."
Mei and Luca looked in surprise as a male skeleton appeared and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"And I you." He replied before fading.
Luca looked behind Mei and saw Miguel putting away his guitar.
"Anyway..." Rapunzel continued. "You have class with me in a few minutes, let's go."
The three headed off together, looking forward to the next adventure that awaited them.