It felt like the whole world had stopped just for them- they had though Celina had magic- this was true magic- the magic of love. They pulled apart and looked into each-other's eyes for a long time. "I'm sorry," Lina said quietly. "I don't know what I was thinking." Pittoo said. He stroked Lina's cheek one last time and they entered a peaceful sleep- Pittoo sheltering Lina from the cold.
In the morning, Drexel snuffed out the fire, and the group set out on their travel. "Hrr!" Drexel growled into Harlan's ear. The girl with the golden wings is the guardian! I can feel her power! "I know, she'll be the one to defeat Hades and free my mum." Harlan said, his wings twitching slightly. As they walked through the forest, Drexel began to feel uneasy. "Hrr- hrr" Drexel said, tugging on Harlan's hair. I can sense dark energy around us- prepare to attack. Harlan delivered the message to his friends, and they quietly armed themselves. "They're after me." Harlan said, fear entering his voice. "You're safe as long as we're together." Acero said reassuringly, pulling out his dual blades. "We're safe as long as we aren't killed by Underworld creepies." Harlan said as two long knives- almost short swords- appeared in his hands. The metal had a greenish hue to it. "Spoken like a God." Pittoo said mockily. Lina went to elbow him, but hesitated, and glared at him instead.
"Uh, guys, what's this?" Pit asked, nudging a black fuzzy and scaly lump. "I have no clue. Let's see if it reacts to light." Celina said as she walked towards it. As she neared it, the dragon charm on her necklace began to glow black, and Acero sucked in sharply. "Don't move a muscle." Acero whispered. Celina froze. The tall angel walked towards the lump, and underneath his hair, the scar on his head began to glow. "Don't touch it, Acero. It's a trap." Harlan said, grabbing Acero's arm. Acero turned to the God and stared as he watched the boy's pupil's turn to reptilian slits. "I mean it." He said, his grip on Acero tightening. Drexel snorted and jumped off of his master's shoulder. He shuffled over to the lump and poked it. "Hrr, hrr!" Drexel exclaimed. See, nothing happened! As soon as Drexel flew away, the ground began to shake. Lina stared hard at the little dragon. "Drexel, in the name of Palutena, what made you do that?" Lina snapped. Her eyes opened wide when instead of English words coming from her mouth, she once again made a series of growls from the back of her throat.
Harlan stared at her in amazement, his pupils returning to normal. He smiled slightly and said something under his breath. As it should be He said. It had been fated for Lina to speak in the Dragon Language- he could tell since he had truly been born to serve the timeline of fate. The two Pit's assumed fighting stances in-front of the girls, and then something quite unusual happened. The feathers on Pit's wings turned silver, and gained a metallic hue. Harlan smiled knowingly as the feathers became sharp and blade-like. "It's on!" The two Pit's yelled as monsters spilled from between the trees. Pittoo looked toward his counterpart and gawked when he saw what had happened to him. He seemed to be made of solid metal. The one thing that had not changed was his eye color. "P-Pit, l-look at yourself," Pittoo said nervously. Pit looked down at his hand and nearly fell over. "I'll explain later," Harlan shouted, stabbing his way through a horde of monsters coming his way.
Celina's dragon charm was blazing, as was the scar on Acero's head. "Well hello there, misfits." A familiar voice sneered. Pit looked up toward the sound and nearly screamed in anger when he saw an image of Hades, smiling darkly. "Hades!" Pit yelled.
"Pit!"
"HADES!"
"PIT!"
"HADEEEES!"
"PIIIIIIIT!"
"HADEEEEEEEEEEES!"
"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
The two droned on and on until Harlan interrupted. "Will you two just shut up?" "Now, little Dragon, you shouldn't be speaking to the one responsible for your birth that way, especially now that I have adopted you after Palutena left you in the dust." Hades said scornfully. "You had nothing to do with my birth, mum never abandoned me, and you will NEVER be my father!" Harlan screamed. He launched himself into the air, his green eyes turning yellow- like a lizard's- and his pupils once again becoming slits. His heart was pounding, his small wings flapping faster than they should have been able to. The energy that the last part of Rin-Tai had was flowing through his veins- and Hades should have known better than to upset the son of a Dragon- especially if that son was a God. "Rin-Tai- the Dragon King- was my father." Harlan said in the language of his kind. His wings began to shimmer and glow white. The face of Hades stopped smiling and gawked in horror. Harlan's wings more than quadrupled in size, and he spread them wide. "Now Hades, you and your monsters will die!" Harlan screeched, his voice booming. He pointed one of his swords toward the attacking monsters, and one toward Hades. At the tip of each sword, a green orb appeared. The orbs fired off in the direction the swords pointed, and rapidly grew. Instead of smashing into the ground or hitting the image of Hades, they became two Dragons.
One dragon circled around its targets and spewed flames at its enemies while the other one flew towards Hades. The God of the Underworld was baffled by the power the small boy had- Harlan had created- yes, created- two Dragons- a boy formed from thought had created the new Guardians of the Scales of Balance. The second Dragon flew towards Hades and opened a vortex in the sky. It flew in, taking the entrance with it. Moments later, the face of Hades screamed in agony, and then disappeared. Harlan had sent one Guardian to the Underworld to attack the evil God.
Hades called back his troops, leaving four tired angels staring at a flying Dragon boy. Harlan lowered himself to the ground, folding his massive wings behind himself. His wingtips nearly brushed the ground! "That was…" Acero said, trailing off at the end. "Awesome!" Pit exclaimed, reverting back to his normal form within seconds. Acero noticed slight changes in the Demi-God's appearance- he seemed to have become more muscular, as well as gain quite a bit of height- it must have been the spirit of Rin-Tai inside of him, attempting to force Harlan's physical form to its limits- that had to be the explanation for the enormous size of his wings. "Pit, let me explain what happened to you," Harlan said, his eyes fading from yellow to green- his pupil's unchanged.
The friends sat down to hear Harlan's story. "Pit, along with your new wings, I gave you the ability to transform into a superbeing. You can change your body into metal, which will pretty much turn you into your own impenetrable armor- just stay away from fire," Harlan said, laughing at his joke. Pit didn't get it. "This will not hinder your movement- that includes flight- or make you any heavier." Harlan explained. "I'm sorry to say this, but you wouldn't have been powerful enough to defeat both Hades and Koriel without assistance- they both have stolen the power of your Goddess- my mother." Harlan said sadly, his emotions threatening to make him cry. The Demi-God turned to Celina and Acero, who were sitting side by side. "Acero, your scar not only tells the creatures of the three worlds that you are the keeper of all knowledge, it also acts somewhat like a warning system-" Pittoo cut Harlan off, "Ha ha, you have a stop-sign on your head." Lina stood up and kicked Pittoo in the gut, causing him to fall backwards. "Don't you dare speak to my- Kiara's father- like that again!" Lina said furiously. Everyone aside from Acero and Harlan- who knew about this- looked at the golden winged angel, confused looks on their faces. "That's right, he's Kiara's dad- technically mine," Lina glared at Pittoo, who was rolling around in agony. "So I suggest you shut the hell up."
"Alright, back to the original subject," Harlan said, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "Your scar will glow when you are in danger." Harlan finished. He turned to Celina, who was fingering her ruby charm. "The charm I gave you also acts as a warning system," He said, looking at Pittoo for a second. "As well as amplifies your power. You too would have been too weak to face the power of three Gods at once." Harlan walked over to a whining Pittoo and pulled him upright. "It was fated that you'd be kicked in the gut." He said with a snicker. "Yeah, but why'd she have to displace my ribs?" Pittoo groaned, holding onto his bruising torso. "Lina, you are the key to winning this battle," Harlan said to the former human. "When you spoke to me in the language of Dragons, I realized you were the one the universe had commanded me to find." Harlan explained, Lina's eyes widening. "You are the guardian of the three realms, also known as the Unmei Guardian, and it is your duty to ensure that balance is returned- even if it means eliminating the Underworld entirely." Harlan said. "You are the one who can truly kill Hades once and for all, return Koriel to her former state, and return the stolen power to my mother." "I swear to do everything I possibly can to keep things on track until my duty is done." Lina said, sounding far more mature than she really was.
"It was fated," Harlan said with a smile. He held his hand to the side and Drexel appeared on his palm in a puff of smoke. He out his paws together and slowly pulled them apart, a portal appearing. Drexel threw the portal to the ground, and everyone watched in awe as it expanded, soon large enough for a Fire Wyrm to fly through with five others, side by side. "First stop, the Underworld." Harlan said as he ran through, his wings spread wide. Next came Pit, Pittoo, then Celina. Lina stopped and hesitated, thinking about what had happened to her. "Dad, why did this happen to me?" Lina asked- to no one in particular. "Because it's what the universe wanted, Lina." Acero said, placing a hand on the reincarnate's shoulder. "You are still my daughter, and I'll always protect you, Lina- reincarnate or not." "And I'll always be your daughter- reincarnate or not." Lina said, overwhelmed by many emotions. Lina turned and hugged Acero, and he caressed her lovingly. "I never wanted this," Lina said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know, I didn't want it either." Acero said quietly. "You are my real dad- and I'm a real angel- I'm not Lina anymore- I'm Kiara," Lina said, her baby blue eyes fading to amber. "And now I'm going to do what I was born to do- right what is wrong."