Hey guys! Long time no read huh? It's been a while and I was starting to wonder if I should continue this story at all and when I looked, I saw a lot of other stories started but never finished and I thought to myself 'I'm not gonna let that happen to mine!' so if you ever have a thought in your mind about this story being discontinued, throw that thought away and be ready for the next chapter!

Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Reunion

Gabriel only sat there astonished at what he heard. Did he hear her right? To regain what was lost about a year ago? "To … reunite the Allied Powers?" He whispered to himself. Sabrina nodded and stared at him waiting for an answer. He set down the book he was reading and smirked 'What has the city gotten itself into now? Are they so desperate that they need all the help they need?' he whispered again. Sabrina continued to stay silent but she gave him another nod. "Wasn't it disbanded? But even so what can I do now? I haven't been training at all these past few months and if anything I was still the weakest out of everyone in the team. So why would you want me on that team again?" he ends with a sad tone. She watches as tears start to form in his eyes and that's when she suddenly realizes, he still isn't over Seth dying, the fact that he's gone is still too much for him to take in. "Why would you want this?! Do you want the others to die as well?!" He raises his voice while Sabrina stays silent. He starts to sob and Sabrina walks up next to him and puts her hand on his shoulder, and he stops his tears for a moment.

"Do you remember what Seth told us when we always doubted ourselves?" She asks. His eyes widen slowly at the sound of this. "He's only told me this once but I know he's told you guys as well." He starts to tear up again. "It's not about power, it's about strength." He closes his eyes and tears start to fall down his face. "I never really understood what he meant by that, but hell, it sure did make me feel a lot better when I heard it." He stops his tears and slowly starts feeling better. He starts to slowly smile and he wipes away his tears. He scoffs and mutters to himself 'that guy always did make those weird sayings, but they always cheered me up.' Sabrina offered him her hand and he stares at it for a little bit.

"Alright, I'm with you!" he says with a smile and great confidence. "Come on, let's go get the others!" As he walked out the library with the others, he knew mourning for Seth wasn't the only option. Only now does he realize that he can live a full life for both of them. He looks back at the both of them and says "I think I know where Jocelyn is, she used to come and check out books from time to time and usually says she's in-" he was cut off when he bumped into someone. He had a mask that seemed to cover their whole face, leaving only one opening for his right eye. He had messy short silver hair. The design of the mask was a brilliantly colored orange phoenix with a purple background and a tint of blue mixed in. His eye looked red but upon closer inspection it was the same color as the phoenix. His clothes had the same color as his mask. He wore something similar to templar armor, a cross in the middle of his chest with armored shoulder pads, armored boots and armored gloves. He also had a cape that reached to the floor that also resembled the same cross on his chest. You could hear the rattle of the chainmail armor he wore underneath all of this as he stopped in his tracks.

"My apologies, I should've looked where I was going." He says in a familiar voice. Gabriel just looked as he tried to identify the voice.

"No it's also my fault, I wasn't looking either." He said as he scanned him. He noticed the mask and the familiar voice immediately but he couldn't stall him long enough to see everything.

"Goodbye then, good luck with your mission." He starts to walk in the direction of the Library and the others say their goodbyes. That's when something hit Gabriel. 'How did he know we were on a mission? Was he eavesdropping? Even if he was how could he know? That conversation was in the Library, not outside!' He looked back as this stranger walked away and also noticed that throughout his entire scanning of this man did he notice a single weapon on him. He didn't have a staff or even a wand! 'He looked like a veteran wizard but then why doesn't he have a weapon? If he doesn't have a weapon then he should at least have a staff or wand on him at all times! Is it perhaps that he doesn't even need anything? Just who was that guy!?' That's when he remembered his dream, how he saw someone with a mask in his dream once! He starts chasing after the man yelling at him to slow down but the man continues to enter the Library. He bursts through the door and sees the man walking down a dark corridor that has a sign over it reading 'Raw Magic'. Gabriel's eyes open wide and he runs after him. He can hear the others calling him but he chases after this man and at last about to catch up to him when he turns another corner. He slides trying to turn fast enough but when he looked at where the man should've been, all he saw was a book on the ground that read 'The Seven Trials'.

"What in the world? I've never seen this book in here before… and what happened to that guy just now? Did he teleport? No. If he did I would've seen the flash… Just who in the hell was he?" Gabriel says as he picks up the book. It glows bright white for a moment but soon after the light dies down. "This is … a sacred book? That's not possible; all of those have been destroyed in the battle of Wizard City five hundred years ago." He then hears his friends running and calling finally catching up with him.

"Don't run off like that Gabriel! At least tell us something before just bolting off somewhere." Sabrina says as she catches her breath. She notices the book in his hands and curiously asks "Whatcha got there?" Gabriel looks back at the book and thinks for a moment.

"Well, if we're really going to get back into action together, I should at least tell you what I think it might be." They listen as he begins explaining his thoughts. "I couldn't catch up with that man but he dropped something and I know it was him because these books aren't supposed to exist anymore. You saw how this book shined right?" The two of them nod "Well that's only something a special type of book can do. These books no matter what are considered legendary or sometimes even transcendent. They contain information that no ordinary wizards are allowed to see until they've reached a certain amount of power that lets them go on to the next level of even greater power. In short, not even some of the veterans are allowed to read what's inside these books. However, many years ago, the Battle of Wizard City took its toll and all of the knowledge inside of these books was lost, or so I thought."

"Do you think that stranger has more if he did drop it?" Neo asks as she looks at the book with a questioning glare.

"I don't know, but if he had even one of these books, then he could be a wizard completely out of our own league. Perhaps even rivaling the Knights of the Spiral themselves." Chills run down his spine as he imagines what kind of power he might have witnessed if he did catch up to this man. "The worst part is we have no idea who they really are." he starts to mumble to himself 'He was wearing the exact same mask as the man I saw in my dream. I wonder if the third one will appear anytime soon.' He looks back up to them and replies "We should hurry, if we are going to hang on to this book then we should assemble everyone as soon as possible."

"Right. Let's go get Jocelyn first; she's the only one we know where to find right now." Sabrina says and they all sprinted out of the Library as fast as a cheetah.

Footsteps can be heard as a shadowy figure comes from the depths of the Library. "So those little brats are in possession of a sacred book hmm?" The figure comes out only to be revealed as the Incinerator herself! "I don't know who that man was but if what that myth wizard said was right, then it looks like Wizard City is beefing up their security majorly. I have to be more careful."

"You should." She hears a voice from behind her and turns to see it's the same man as before! He's leaning against a wall with his arms crossed looking at her with his one eye. She jumps back unhooking her trident from her back. "Relax, I'm not here to fight you. I'm just here to talk." She hesitates but lowers her weapon to listen to what he has to say. "Good, you're willing to listen to me then?"

"How can I refuse? If you're really as strong as that myth wizard said you were then if we were to fight, it would be a catastrophe."

"Well, I'm not that powerful but I am an ascended wizard." Her eyes widened as soon as she heard this. Her jaw dropped and she dropped her weapon.

"You're … you're an ascended wizard?!" The man nods once "How can you say you're not that powerful?! They shouldn't even be walking the same ground as us! You're a liar! They're much too powerful to lower themselves onto this dimension of magic! Just who are you to claim that you're a wizard that has ascended passed everyone else?" She yells and waits for a response. He simply sighs and closes his eyes.

"Those rumors about us aren't necessarily true. You're thinking of a different type of wizards anyways. In fact there are more qualified wizards in this city alone than you even know. They all have the will, determination and even power to become one. However they haven't figured out how to ascend, that's all." He opens his eyes. "My name is Maso. My full name will remain unknown for now, but, you will eventually find out who I am." He disappears but she can still hear his voice. "Be warned Incinerator, this will be when the city makes its counter-attack against all of its enemies, including you." His voice echoed through the Library hallways, leaving the Incinerator feeling fear once again. She slams her fist into the wall of the hallway of books, burning them as her punch was absorbed by the wall.

"Damn it. We didn't even fight but I'm out of breath. Why the hell wasn't I able to keep my cool?" She holds her chest. "These guys, Maso and Deth… they're both able to make me feel fear. Why? Just who in the world are these guys?!" She then has flashbacks of when Malistaire had kidnapped her. "Is it that same fear?" She holds her forehead trying to understand it all. "I can't waste anymore time here. I have to keep going and collect as much intel as I can." She then imagines both Maso and Deth standing before her, towering over her, in the way of her goal. "Even if I'm all alone from now on…" In front of both of them she also imagines Connor. "I'll do what it takes!" She vanishes from the Library, leaving the building completely silent.

"Get our old team together? Why would you want to do that?" Jocelyn asks as she puts away her deck of cards and turns to them. She had been tutoring the newer wizards that come by Colossus Boulevard with her old deck of cards, however she didn't appear to have a wand or a weapon either. When asked about it she said she wanted to challenge herself in any new way possible and even said she likes to fight without a wand much more than with one. "Anyways, if there's anything wrong with the city or any of the other worlds I'm confident the other veteran wizards could handle it." She says as she turns back around to adjust her deck.

"Ambrose requested this personally and honestly I think we should probably listen to him. After all we can't rely on the others to finish this fight for us, we have to help in the war effort!" Gabriel said as she stopped adjusting her deck.

"Now you're sure about this?" she turned her head to look at everyone else and they nodded. She closed her eyes and smiled. "Alright, I'm in." The others looked at her with a questioning look.

"I thought it would've taken more than that to convince you honestly." Neo replied.

"It would've taken more but earlier I bumped into someone with a mask." They listened closely. "He reminded me of someone familiar but I couldn't figure out who, I apologized and told him I had something on my mind. He asked what I was thinking about and I told him that one of my friends died around this time a year ago. He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes as he said 'Never forget your memories, but never let them get in the way either.' And he left. I chased after him but by the time I caught up to him in the Shopping District, he was gone." Gabriel exchanged glances with Neo and Sabrina.

"Did he by any chance drop a book?" Neo asks with a sudden realization.

"A book?" They listened carefully "No not at all." They exhale in disappointment. "But" They return their attention to her "He did drop this ring. When I picked it up it started glowing and when I ran to give it back, well, you know what happens."

"Can I see that ring for a quick second? I want to check something." Gabriel said as he came up with an idea. She tosses it to him and as he catches it, pulls out the book from earlier. He looks at the ring and discovers that there's a phoenix engraved onto it. He then looks at the book to find that the exact same phoenix is on the cover with a few other images. "Just exactly what are we dealing with here?" Gabriel whispers as he inspects the ring and book. He looks back to the others and says "We should find the others immediately. Jocelyn, do you have any idea where Destiny or Jack is?"

"Last time I talked to Destiny she said she was guarding the entrance to the Sunken City. Lately the undead have become more powerful so she's taking care of them on the other side of the gate entrance. Before we go though, why are you in such a hurry? What does that ring or book mean for us?" She asks curiously.

"If I'm right, these items are without a doubt apart of some big puzzle. We need to find the others and see if they also have pieces of the puzzle so that we can piece together just exactly what the hell has been going on." Gabriel says as he looks back at the glowing objects.

Well I think that should be a good stopping point for this chapter. I'm working on this story only in some of my spare time so it won't be updated as much but I will try.

Welp that's all I have to say for this time except for

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Cya later!

-4321