The Magic Behind The Illusion
The trio stared confusedly at the chubby woman before them. She looked thoroughly outraged with them, yet the Guardians couldn't really tell why.
"Um, can we help you miss?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow.
"How could you three be so irresponsible to use magic in a Mortie filled area. And you weren't even trying to conceal it." She scolded, glaring with sharp eyes. Normal people would be very intimidated by that stare, however, the Guardians had faced too much it to have any affect on them.
"We do it all the time. Everyone knows about us, why try to conceal our actions?" Jake responded confusedly, earning an astounded gasp from the woman before them.
"WHAT?" She shrieked, forcing all of them to cover their ears. "You've exposed magic to all of the Morties? Oh wait until the wizard high council hears about this. The punishment for witches and wizards for such a thing will be extreme."
"What? Witches? Wizards?" Gwen asked, frowning.
"We're not witches or wizards." Jake stated indignantly. "We never use wands or anything. I'm the American Dragon, from the Dragon Order."
"I'm a sorceress." Gwen said next, making her hand glow blue.
"And I'm not sure what I classify as, I have the power to heal and telepathy. A couple of the abilities of light magic." Namine finished, following Gwen's lead and making her hand glow white.
"What's this?" The woman asked, her anger replaced by a perplexed look. "A dragon that can turn into a human and a true sorceress? I never knew such beings truly existed."
"What? Lady, we're world famous. We're three of the nine Valour Guardians that stopped Organisation 13. How could you not have heard of us?" Jake asked in disbelief.
"Organisation 13 were the leaders of the white creatures that attacked about six weeks back." Namine added. Seeing the confused look on the woman's face and smiling as a look of understanding replaced it. "Guys, the people of this place are so secluded from the rest of the world, they don't usually bother learning what's going on in the rest of the world. Not one person in town knew who I was. And if I remember what Gwen's books said, wizards usually don't bother with the mortal realm's current even anyway, so they wouldn't know about the source of the Nobodies, or why they left."
"The idea that the Morties knew the answer to where the white creatures went never crossed our minds." The woman mumbled to herself, just loud enough for the others to hear.
"Well, since then, everyone knows about magic. After that day, it was impossible to cover up it's existence." Jake continued with a grin. "And the nine of us that teamed up to defeat the Organisation have been working together and saving the world ever since."
"But enough on that." Gwen interrupted. "We need to get back to the matter at hand. Where did these two come from and what do we do with them?"
"I saw them rise from behind the castle walls." Namine said.
"What castle?" Jake asked in bewilderment, looking left to right. "I don't see any castle."
"You can see through the veil at such a distance?" The woman asked, astounded.
"Light mental magic is very useful." Namine grinned before pointing the giant building. "That modern-looking building is an illusion. It's hiding a castle."
"Which happens to be Vonderland, a school for witchlings and junior wizards." The woman stated, starting to recover from her shock. "I am the headmistress, Miss Crystalgazer. The two headed dragon, which was apparently two ratfinkles, came through a magic portal. Normally, they're only found in the underworld. Only powerful dark magic would bring them to the surface."
"Then maybe we should check this out." Gwen stated. Her eyes glowed blue as she looked up at the castle with a look of wonder on her face, her magic allowing her to see through the illusion. "I would love to go and see this school anyway. Can you imagine all the knowledge and history such a place must contain? The place must be simply amazing."
"You are welcome to see the school. You all have quite amazing gifts that I would love to learn more about and I must know what exactly has changed in the Mortie world." Miss Crystalgazer said, waving towards the school. "After all, the Wizard High Council must be made aware of such dramatic changes."
"Then you won't mind if I tag along?" A voice called from behind them. Caught off guard, Miss Crystalgazer whipped, wand in hand before Namine grinned reassuringly, grabbing her wrist and gently lowering it.
"Hey Raimundo, what are you doing here?" Jake asked with a grin, bumping fists with Rai as he dropped from the sky.
"I saw the SOS on my communicator and decided to drop in on the way back to the temple. A Shang Gong Wu activated not far from here." Rai replied, waving to the girls.
"Miss Crystalgazer, this is Raimundo." Namine introduced her. "He's a Xiaolin Dragon at the Wudai Warrior level and one of our team mates."
"Ah, the legendary Xiaolin Dragons, an Order created fifteen hundred years ago by Grand Master Dashi. I have heard stories of their magical art. I take it you are a dragon of the wind element?"
"Got it in one ma'am." Rai grinned. "So shall we be on our way? And maybe someone can catch me up during the walk?"
Nodding, the group took off, dragging the ratfinkles behind them as they headed towards the castle.
Behind the castle walls, a golden flash of light heralded to appearance of a leather-bound book with a face on it behind a cluster of trees. The floating tome quickly opened itself and released another gale of golden magic in the form of a vortex, bringing with it, three young, screaming teenagers.
The first to hit the ground was a short boy with red hair and frightened, blue eyes. He was clad casually in in blue jeans and a yellow shirt, with a white, open shirt over the top. The second was again male. This one however, had blond hair, clearly inhuman, pointed ears and green eyes alight with excitement. He wore normal, blue shorts and a green hoody, emblazoned with lighter green stars. The final teen to fall on the pile was a girl with purple hair, tied in a ponytail, and light, aqua eyes. The top half of her outfit looked like a purple version of a classical witch's attire, while the lower half consisted of a short skirt with black shorts underneath and black boots.
"You did well today children. The amulet of Aphrodite is a wondrous source of magic." The floating book congratulated proudly, beaming down at the groaning children.
"That's great Ubos. Now would you guys get off of me?" The red head asked irritably, wincing at the increasing pressure on the small of his back.
"Sorry Verne." The girl apologised sheepishly, pulling herself to her feet. "So where do you think we should leave this for the adults to find?" She asked, pulling the retrieved jewel out of her back pack.
"Does anyone else think getting that thing was a little too easy?" Verne asked, accepting the offered hand from the blond boy. "We basically just walked right in and took it. Usually, Zarlak will at least send his ratfinkles."
"Aww, they probably just saw us and ran for the hills." The blond gloated, holding his head high.
"Oh, you mean like they did every other time, Gus?" Verne asked sarcastically.
"Now, now, let's just find a place for the amulet." The girl intervened. "The longer we're holding it, the more likely it is that we'll be found out."
"Good point Cassandra." Ubos nodded. He was about to say more when the excited muttering of passing students forced him to jump into Cassie's back pack.
"Can you believe it, a giant, two headed dragon, appearing out of our school." A boy in an orange robe said excitedly.
"Yeah, only to attack the town. I can't believe how quickly he was taken down though. I didn't think Miss Crystalgazer was that powerful." A girl in a blue robe replied in amazement.
"Well, it had to be her. All the other teachers stayed at the school, so unless there actually wizards willing to mix with the Morties…"
"A two headed dragon appeared at the school and attacked the Morties?" Cassie gasped, looking panicked. "That sounds like-"
"No way, impossible. How could they get to the surface?" Gus interrupted, just as worried.
"It would explain why they didn't show up on our last journey." Verne stated, paling. "And Zarlak wouldn't care too much about the amulet if he figured out a way to get his minions up here."
"He could just take it back." Ubos agreed, floating just enough to get his face out of the back pack. "We'd better investigate."
"Welcome back Miss Crystalgazer. All went well I trust?"
"Did that archway just talk?" Rai gaped, his jaw dropping as he stared at the castle entrance.
"Yes, at Vonderland, anything with a face is alive." Miss Crystalgazer responded before turning back to the living structure. "Yes, our young guests here took care of the problem quite nicely."
"Well then, great job young ones, and welcome to Vonderland." The arch boomed, smiling down at the group. Smiling back up with slight amazement, the group continued on it's way.
Just as they entered the courtyard, the front doors exploded open and student and teachers of all shapes and sizes poured out, heading straight towards their headmistress.
"Miss Crystalgazer, what happened?"
"Did you slay the dragon?"
"Where is it now?"
"Calm yourselves children!" Miss Crystalgazer called, trying to quiet everyone down. Unnoticed by all, the three students and their talking book joined the crowd.
"I never thought Miss Crystalgazer would be able to take on a dragon as quickly as everyone's saying." Gus said softly before frowning at the people behind her, staring around in wonder. "Hey who are they? They look like Morties."
"The red head doesn't." Cassie commented, checking out the blue cape over her clothes. "Well, sort of a mix."
"Hmm, I can sense powerful magic coming from all four of them." Ubos stated, frowning slightly. "They're not wizards. Each one has a very different type of energy. The blond girl in particular is very intriguing. Her power radiates with light."
"NO WAY!" Verne shouted, his eyes alight with excitement and a huge smile on his face, catching the attention of everyone in the courtyard as he ran straight through to the front of the crowd. "The Valour Guardians! I can't believe they're here. Are the other five here too?" He asked quickly, earning confused looks and grunts from everyone else.
"Verne, you know them?" Cassie asked as she and Gus reached him, raising a confused eyebrow. "I've never heard of any Valour Guardians. And trust me, if they were big in the magical world, I'd know."
"That's because the Valour Guardians aren't from the magical world. Not entirely anyway." Verne responded, his eyes never leaving the young heroes before him. "The Valour Guardians are nine, teenage heroes who protect the planet, each one having their own origins and abilities. They're known throughout the entire Mortie world for saving the entire planet from the white creatures that attacked and various other deeds since. Some were even known world wide as heroes before then, though they didn't meet until the invasion."
"Why would you let a bunch of Morties in here?" A boy with black hair and a red shirt snarled, looking down his nose at the Guardians. "This is no place for wizard wannabes."
"Even Mortie heroes are still nothing more then Morties." A girl, who was obviously the boy's twin agreed, sneering openly.
"Hey, back off you twits. Just one of them can wipe the floor with your combined power." Verne glared, clenching his fists. "You're looking at four of the most power teens on the planet. Wudai Warrior has power over the wind. He can even create tornados. In addition, he's also an amazing martial artist and has a number of magical items at his disposal." He stated, pointing to a smug Rai. "Namine is a being of pure light. She has the power to heal and telepathy." He said next, his hand moving towards the modestly grinning blond. "The American Dragon is from the Dragon Order, a breed that have human forms and are capable of using certain forms of magic, like duplication, while in them." He said next, pointing to the beaming Asian boy. "And Lucky girl's a sorceress!" He finished, causing the entire school to gasp, bringing a confused look to Gwen's face in turn.
"A sorceress? At her age? Get real." The female twin, Lucretia, scoffed, maintaining her look of superiority. "No little witchling has ever been named a sorceress."
"She's not that kind of sorceress." Verne snapped before anyone else could say anything. "Her powers are different from ours. She never needs a wand and is easily as powerful as any supreme wizard. She's probably the most powerful of all of the Guardians here!"
"The only competition for that statement being Wudai Warrior." Jake said cheerfully, interrupting the fight. "But it's not really worth arguing over."
"And you are giving our school a bad name." Miss Crystalgazer scolded sharply, earning nervous apologies from all three involved. "And let me assure you all that they are powerful. They are the ones who stopped the dragon. Or rather-"
"Ratfinkles?" Gus cried in panic as he recognised just who they were talking about, interrupting the headmistress. "How are they here? They're all supposed to be in the centre of the Earth."
"I do not know Gus, but I am going to look into it as soon as I send them back down there." Miss Crystalgazer answered, levitating the dark creatures in a blue, magical net connected to her wand. "Now, our guests, who need no introduction, thanks to Verne, are here to see the school and inform me of all the changes in the Mortie world in relation to their knowledge of magic. I expect you all to be on your best behaviour and give them space to breathe while they're here." She said, giving a few students pointed looks. "Now that that's been said, off you all go."
The students quickly did as they were told and went off about their business, though a few did continue to stare at the Guardians in wonder or curiosity. Verne was easily the most obvious of them, shaking with excitement.
"Yo Verne, come on." Gus called impatiently, grabbing the star struck red head by the shoulders and practically dragging him away, much to the amusement of the Guardians.
"I do apologise about the way the students behaved." Miss Crystalgazer said, turning to the Guardians as the students disappeared. "Some of our students have superiority complexes over non-wizards."
"No big ma'am, you get the same type of people in every school." Jake said casually, brushing it off. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I really want to check this place out. See how it compares to the home of the Dragon Order."
"Count me in, I've always wanted to check out a castle." Rai beamed, unable to stay still.
"And I really want to sketch the whole thing." Namine grinned, her fingers itching for her pencils.
"You are welcome to of course, but I really would like to have our conversation as soon as possible." Miss Crystalgazer responded, turning her eyes from the teens to the captives. "After dealing with these two of course."
"Well then, how about you send them wherever they need to go and I'll tell you everything you want to know? While on a tour of the interior would be nice." Gwen suggested before her eyes moved towards the castle, full of intrigue and excitement.
"I believe that is acceptable." Miss Crystalgazer nodded with a small smile. "And before you all go off on your own ways, if you have any questions at all, just find me or one of the teachers. We'll all be happy to answer anything."
"Ok, thanks. Now to fly." Rai grinned. Running two steps, he leapt into the air and soared straight towards to highest point of the castle, amazing everyone who could see him.
"Hey show off, wait for me. Wings of the dragon!" Jake called, summoning his wings with a burst of flames before taking to the air after the wind wielder, amazing the students even more.
"Who's he calling a show off?" Gwen asked, rolling her eyes, though her tone was conveyed nothing but amusement. Namine brought her hand to her mouth and giggled in response.
"Boys will be boys Gwen. I'll see you later." Opening her sketch book, she pulled out a pencil and took off, intent on finishing her sketch. Gwen just shook her head and smiled as Miss Crystalgazer led the way into the castle.