Chapter 20: The Final Blow
Luna woke up to the pounding sound of rain on the tin roof of the farmhouse and without a moment to spare she jumped down to the hard cold ground. The six harvest sprites surrounded her and together they exited the farmhouse. The wind whipped through the trees and the sky was pitch black. Luna knew that she needed to find Jupiter and calm him down before she could even think about worrying about the witch.
"Jupiter!" Neptune shouted and everyone followed suit with their own names for Jupiter.
All of the sprites split off in different directions and frantically searched for their fallen brother. Luna walked alone along the beaten path and tried to focus on finding Jupiter, but her thoughts were muddled with the witch and the battle.
"Child..." A faint voice called out to her, "Please, help me child..."
Luna barely heard the noise but she did she a small flicker of white in the brush. Quickly, she walked to find a small old little sprite. "He's over here sprites!" Luna called out to all of the sprites and carefully lifted the small body.
The sprites assembled and hovered over Jupiter's body.
"Nice to see you Jupiter." Pluto greeted his brother.
"You as well, Pluto, Neptune." He shook his head to the other sprites. They all nodded in response.
"There's an unnatural storm brewing in the west." Jupiter coughed, "It's not my doing."
Luna understood what that storm was and asked, "Jupiter, can you do me a favor?"
"Let him rest Luna!" Uranus argued against her request.
"Let her speak." Jupiter hushed him.
"Can you create one last storm? Like the one you created last night."
"Over this village?" Jupiter assured the this village was the appropriate location.
"Yes." Luna nodded.
"But Luna!" Neptune interrupted, "The storm will put out your flames!"
Mercury chimed in, "You can't use magic against her."
Mars fist pumped, "YEAH! Brute force is the only way of killing her!"
"But..." Neptune worried.
Uranus stopped him, "It's okay. She knows what she's doing."
Luna smiled at Uranus and then handed Jupiter over to Uranus, "Head towards the Goddess Springs, I will meet you there after this battle."
Uranus nodded and then ushered the sprites away from Luna and then they created a spell to return to the Springs.
On cue, the storm begun. Luna looked up to the sky and felt the raindrops drip onto her face. She sighed and felt her mind clear. Luna slowly walked into town and while she was walking she summoned her sword. Her sword appeared in her hands and she felt the power of the Goddess ore surging through the core.
"Luna!" Cam ran up to her once she reached the town center. Without stopping he slammed into her and hugged her waist.
Luna leaned over and returned the hug, "You should be with your parents."
"But I want to help you fight." Cam refused to move.
"What a touching scene." An annoyed voice pierced a dagger through the precious moment.
Luna glared up at her while whispering to Cam, "Go home."
"No, stay." Witch smiled widely and wrapped a thick magical rope around his waist and pulled Cam out of Luna's grasp.
"Ahhh!" Cam screamed.
"Cam!" Angie shrieked and ran out of her house.
"Stay away!" Luna used a magical force to shove her back away from the fight.
"Hmmm..." Witch tapped her chin with her delicate finger, "What should I do to you?"
"Nothing." Luna threw her hand, palm facing out towards Cam, and created a shield around him.
"Oh darn..." Witch tsked and gave a false whine, "Whatever shall I do?" She turned towards the woods and yanked on another rope, "I guess I'll have to play with this one for a little while."
Luna turned her head towards the woods and gaped, "No."
Artemis was once in the grasp of the witch.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away from her!?" Luna shouted at him angrily.
The grip around him tightened and he laughed weakly, "Ha. I couldn't stand the thought of you beating her before I could even get a chance to take her down." A jolt of electricity shot through the rope and he screamed in agony.
Luna's heart throbbed, Damn that must hurt like hell.
"You have a choice," The Witch began, "Save this child or save your lover."
"Pff..." Luna laughed, "He's not my lover, and I'd choice the child over him at any moment." She shot another shield out towards Artemis, "But lucky for him, I choose to save both."
"Well," There was a crash of thunder and the winds howled with each step that the Witch took closer to Luna, "I guess that leads you wide open." Once she was close to Luna, the Witch punched her hand through Luna's gut.
Luna howled with agonizing pain and when the Witch removed her hand, she fell to the ground. Her magic wavered slightly, but it wasn't enough to release the shield.
"Luna!" Cam and Artemis screamed. Artemis continued, "Let me go! I'll be fine!"
Luna shook her head no and could not lift herself off the ground.
The Witch pulled Luna's hair back and looked her straight in the eye. Luna's eyes were in flames and the shield colored turned from blue to a bright fiery red. The rain sizzled with each drop onto the flames.
"You're weak compared to me." Witch spit in her face and then lowered her hand to Luna's neck. "Let's just cut this little pretty throat of your's."
"Over... my dead body." A voice appeared from behind Luna and with one swift motion, the figure grabbed Luna's sword for its hilt and stabbed it through the Witch's black jewel and through her throat.
A terrifying howl shrieked through the land as the Witch fell to the ground and slowly disintegrated away into nothing.
Luna dropped her arms and released the shield. She fell face first to the ground.
"Stay with me Luna..." She felt warm hands cradle her body and a cool breathe on her forehead, "You're not done yet..."
"Dad..." Luna gasped and smirked weakly, "A... little late... aren't you?"
"I came as soon... as I felt the storm..." Gale kissed her forehead and she felt a short burst of energy surge through her body. Her lower body began to reform and mold back into one piece. "The storm... was not natural... it was... disturbing my aura."
"Luna!" Artemis ran over to her, but was immediately pushed back by Gale.
"Dad." Luna laughed as he was slammed into a house, "Leave him to me. He's my problem."
"If you insist..." Gale nodded and looked at his daughter, "Your mother... is worried about you..."
"I missed you too dad." Luna shifted herself up once her body was healed.
"Luna!" Cam ran over to her and hugged her tightly, "I'm sorry!" He sobbed.
Luna pat his back softly, "It's okay, Cam. I'm okay."
"I thought..." Cam continued to sob. Luna felt something warm coming out of his chest. Cam felt it as well and backed away from Luna. There was a small yellwo blob emerging out of him.
"Hello!" It was the only female sprite, Venus. "My name is Venus! I am the goddess of love!"
"That was inside of me?" Cam asked in shock and Luna could see his semi-dried tears along his cheeks. He was adorable and Luna was thankful to have met him while she was on this island.
"Hey dad," She looked at her father, "Can you take this sprite to the Goddess Springs? She'll lead the way."
"Of course..." Gale nodded and created a portal for the sprite to lead him through to the Goddess Springs.
"Does that mean you're leaving now?" Cam's tears began again.
"My job's here is done." Luna rubbed his shoulder, "And I made a promise to return home, to my family."
"Cam!" Angie ran out of the house once again with Matt behind her.
Cam did not let go of her and Luna smiled, "It'll be okay, Cam." Cam gave her one last big hug, before turning to his parents and meeting them halfway to give them a tight hug.
Luna got up and walked over to where Artemis landed against the side of the house. She kicked him, "Get up."
"Have you ever been shoved by a magic pulse?" Artemis rubbed the back of his head.
"Yes," Luna rolled her eyes, "Now get up."
He stood up, "Have you come to kiss me good-bye?" He winked and smirked at her.
"I've come to offer you a second chance." Luna crossed her arms and ignored his remark, "Come with me back to Castanet and studied under my father long enough to become a full wizard."
"And then what?" Artemis asked.
Luna waved her hand, "I don't care. Come back here or stay there, that's up to you."
Artemis pulled her waist in towards him and closed any gap that was between them with a kiss.
Luna shoved him away, "What the hell was that for!?"
"A thank you." His smirk was supposed to be charming, but Luna was starting to get annoyed by him.
"A verbal thanks would have been just fine." Luna blew a flame against the upper part of his trousers and she laughed as he frantically put out the flame.
"You little...!" Artemis was shut up with another zipper spell.
Luna began to cast a spell for the Goddess Springs so that she could meet up with Gale and then return home. "Coming?" Luna directed that question to Artemis and then walked through the portal. He followed her and then closed it behind them.
Once they reached the Goddess Springs, Gale had returned the Goddess back to normal and the sprites were cheering merrily.
"The feeling..." Gale started, "The prophecy... is completed..."
Luna hugged her dad, "You have a lot of explaining to do when we get home."
Gale noticed Artemis, "We're bringing... him along as well?"
"He's going to complete his training." Luna answered why Artemis was with her and then Gale asked no further questions about his presence.
"Well then..." Gale rubbed his chin, "Where do I begin...? Well, it started... with a girl... and a Harvest Sprite..."
Author's Note: Finished! Now some of you may be asking, why did it take so long to complete? Well, stay tuned for my final author's note and playlist!