"What the hell happened here?" Kim asked as they landed and looked around at the scenery. It was so much different from the last time that they had been here. Yes, there was still a bountiful amount of stone and water, but that was not what caught her attention. What caught her attention was the forest that had once been in the distance was now encumbering upon the ancient shore.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look like its going to be easy," Tommy said as he reached for her hand and she silently held onto his as he could feel her shaking. No one in their right mind started out a mission like this one without a little bit of trepidation. "We're going to make it back, Kimberly, I promise."
"I'm just worried about Jenny, Tommy, she's so young. She doesn't understand all of this," Kim said as he looked down at her.
"We don't want her to ever get to the point where she understands it and right now we are racing against time. The longer we wait around, the worse it is going to be and the longer we stand here and look at this forest, the worse it is going to be for us once we finally go inside," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded and they then started off towards their journey, having no idea where it might take them.
Phaedos was an eerie place, even for those that had been here before, this was hallowed ground that they were not sure they wanted to go through. It was time for them to give up being rangers, but they didn't know if they could take this. They were tired, they were old and they felt that attempting this was utterly foolish, but they had to do this. If they didn't, they were going to be stuck in a world that would only lead to a young death.
"Tommy…if the powers are going to be different, do you think there is another temple on this planet?" Kim asked as she followed in his stride, attempting to keep out of the way of the branches.
"There could very well be, but we are going to have to try to head for the summit point and then see if we can see anything from there," Tommy said as he reached back for her hand and she barely nodded her head in agreement. "Keep your attention up…I doubt that Dulcea is going miss that there are intruders in her woods."
"You would be right, Tommy," Dulcea said as she landed behind them and Kim twirled around and stared at her in shock. "Why have you come back to Phaedos?"
"We need powers…again," Kim said as Dulcea looked her in the eyes and Kim looked away.
"What else is there Kimberly? If this was only powers, the ones you have would suffice," Dulcea said as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance. "What has happened to you?"
"We're stuck as rangers," Tommy said as Dulcea dropped her staff out of shock and they stared at her.
"You've come here to disband with your powers?" Dulcea asked as Tommy and Kim looked over at her in confusion.
"We're not exactly sure if that's the truth of the matter…we thought we might be getting another set," Tommy said as Dulcea just shook her head.
"You've come to unbound with those powers, it's what is going to have to happen for you to be released. The main problem may be what your bodies do," Dulcea said as they looked at her. "You must return to the temple and there declare that you wish to return your powers to Phaedos…after returning the powers, you will have to come back to the summit and I will send you back to Earth."
"Our bodies?" Kim barely muttered as Dulcea gave her a thorough look, almost as if scanning for any problems that Kimberly might have.
"You should not even have those powers any longer, not with a child," Dulcea said, as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance and Dulcea gently placed her hand on Kimberly's stomach.
"I'm not pregnant…but we have a child," Kim said as Dulcea gently stroked her belly and Kimberly looked back at Tommy, as she was shaking from what she was feeling.
"You are Kimberly," Dulcea said as Tommy gently pulled her away so that Kim could clutch onto him. "Come with me, I will guard you until you reach the summit and then you will repeat your journey."
"Tommy…" Kim began as he smiled down at her and she stared at him in shock. "How can you even be smiling right now…you know that we'll probably lose the baby when I give up my powers…"
"Do not ruin it for me, I was not able to enjoy the first two Kim," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him. "I will not believe that we'll lose the baby and if we do, we have time to make as many as we want."
"I don't know if I can stand it," Kim said as Dulcea looked back at the two of them and saw the worry in Kimberly's eyes.
"You will be fine Kimberly, I'm just telling you this so that when you wish to die, you will have some reason to live. The two of you have had powers for so long that to have them ripped from your bodies will make you feel like dying would be better," Dulcea said as Kim and Tommy looked at her. "I once allowed myself to come close when I lost my powers…do not allow it to cross your mind."
As the two of them rested against each other on the crest of the summit looking out towards a temple that they thought that they would never see again, they hoped that tomorrow would somehow be easier. They could not imagined being attacked again as they walked through the skulls and they had even questioned Dulcea about it, but all she had said was that they were going to run a high risk either way. They could only hope that they would be attacked while they still had powers, if they were attacked on the return trip, they both knew there was a good chance that they would die.
"Let's get this over with," Kim muttered as they watched the sun rise and he looked down at her. Neither of them were thrilled to know what they were walking into, but they could be glad that at least they had each other, even if that was not much comfort at the moment.
"After you," Tommy said as she just shook her head and then followed him into the jungle, willing this trip to not be as horrifying as what they honestly expected.
"And so it begins," Dulcea said as she looked over at her friend, who merely shook his head. He was also unsure of how this would end, but he was sure that it would be the end of the two greatest rangers to ever grace the earth.
"We should have found a way around this 'Cea," Lanion said as Dulcea looked over at him and she sighed. "The two of them do not deserve this sort of treatment after all they have done."
"It's not our choice Lane, the two of them must disband with their powers in order to live again," Dulcea said as Lanion shook his own head, but kept himself rather calm. If Dulcea thought they could make it through what was ahead of them, who was he to disagree with her?
"Where have they gone?" Jenny cried as Susan wrapped her up in a hug. She was not sure how to comfort the child, considering that her parents had left them nothing to go on. She was definitely going to have a talk with Tommy once all of this was over, but right now she just hoped that he would come back in one piece.
"I'm not sure sweetie, but they'll be back soon, I promise," Susan said as Jenny just shook her head.
"You don't understand. Mommy's been gone for weeks and I didn't know where she was. Now it's her and Daddy? Why is this happening?" Jenny wailed as Mack stepped over and picked up the sobbing child.
"I don't know why Jenny, but I know that they love you and they wouldn't have done this is there was another way," Mack said as Jenny looked up at him.
"Andros could always go," Jenny said as Mack looked down at her and began rocking back and forth.
"I don't think that he could this time or they would have let him. Your mommy and daddy love you, they are doing this for you," Mack said as Jenny just shook her head. She didn't understand why this was going the way that it was going, but maybe things would change soon, but she honestly doubted it. Every time after something like this happened, things always seemed to just get worse, not better. She, however, did not want to share that with her grandparents; she felt that they wouldn't understand what she had already saw in her short life.