Author's Note: Hi! Again, thanks for all the support you've given me throughout this story! I really, really appreciate it. And to all of the John/Sarah fans, don't worry. I've got a trick or two up my sleeve…
So, here's Chapter 21! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review!
John
Today's the big day and I'm not looking forward to it.
"John… get up." Sarah says, nudging my side.
I groan and roll over, shielding my eyes from the sun. "I don't want to."
"Come on…" she says. "You have to wake up sooner or later."
I groan again. "But I don't want to."
She laughs a little bit. "Fine, suit yourself. But don't start crying when the others get stronger than you because you refuse to get up for training."
And then she left.
Eventually, I got up since my head was hurting from oversleeping and the sun hurt my eyes.
The others were already there, eating breakfast and laughing together. I rub the back of my neck and sit down in between Sam and Sarah.
We all eat a hearty meal of eggs, bacon, and toast. Six then begins making plans for the day.
"Okay. So, there's been some change of plans. First off, we need to get Sarah back to Paradise. But I was thinking, Sam, Malcolm, and I can go with you to Paradise and after we drop Sarah off, we can go to Malcolm's house and search that well again. Since you told me about the things you guys found there when I went off to Spain, I've been thinking we should learn more from that well. It could hold some Loric secrets and maybe reveal which Elder we'll all be."
We all sit back in awe. It makes perfect sense that she'd want to go to that place. I'm on board with that idea since I think there are much more things in there we need to discover and now that Malcolm's here, he can help us. Well, that's if his memory pushes through.
Slowly, I nod. "I think it's a good idea. So the five of us will go to Paradise and get more stuff that has some connection with Lorien, the Elders and all that. Eight, Marina, Ella, Adam, Five, and Nine will stay back and help Ella get her Chest.
We all nod in agreement and went off to change into clothes that aren't coffee-stained (none of us are really that good in laundering clothes) or pajamas.
After that, we get into yet another van we stole and drove off to Paradise. Nerves are filling my thoughts and I get a little excited. Paradise was the first ever place that made any sort of impact on me. Like, the other places me and Henri went to were always just there. Nothing significant happened. But in Paradise, that was where I met my first and best friend, Sam, and my true love, Sarah. It was where I got my first Legacy, and where I had my first fight with the Mogs.
That place had a lot of my firsts, but it was also Henri's final resting place.
It's a bittersweet story when you think about it.
…
Marina
"So, Ella, you ready to get your Chest?" I ask her, pulling her hair up in a high ponytail just like back at Santa Teresa.
She nods. "Yup! I've been waiting forever."
I laugh. "I know how you feel."
Just then, Eight comes in followed by Five. He puts his arm around his shoulder and I blush at the slight contact despite the fact that he's already done it so many times before. We are sort of together now since that battle in Dulce. He kept thanking me for saving his life and things just kind of went from there.
"Are you guys ready?" Five asks, interrupting my reverie.
We nod eagerly.
"Good. Nine's the only one we're waiting for. He's still, uh, doing something." She says.
Eight grins. "Ooh. Nine." He raises his eyebrows at her and I can't help but laugh.
Her cheeks flush and she looks down. "What?"
"Oh, nothing… You guys have just been…closer together lately…" Eight replies, still grinning.
Five laughs with him and shakes her head. Me and Ella look at each other and smile.
Eventually, Nine joins in and we drive off to Ella's hiding spot.
Ella's hiding spot really is hidden. It's down an alley. You have to climb down a manhole and into the sewers. We all asked her if there was another way but she said that was the only way she and Crayton ever went to their place.
After, you walk around the sewers a little bit and try to avoid getting wet by toilet water and you eventually reach a wall marked with the Loric symbol for Number Ten. We all thought it was pretty obvious to the Mogs but we also don't think the Mogs spend any time down the sewers. They're disgusting enough as they are.
"Silly Papa…" Ella giggles as Nine punches the wall with a pickaxe.
After some time, the wall caves in and we manage to rescue a box decorated with Loric carvings and gemstones much like the ones in our Chests.
We haul it back to the hotel. We got some weird looks from people at first but Five made it invisible using her Legacy.
While the others rest, me, Five, and Ella excitedly open her Chest.
She runs a towel over it first, smoothing out the edges and dusting off the cement.
She presses her hands on the metal lock and it clicks. Her eyes light up as she opens up a lid and picks a blue cube at random.
"What's this?" she asks, putting it up close to her nose.
"Oh, I have something just like that. I think it's called Sustenance. Supposedly, the yellow cubes are sources of food, and the blue ones are for water." Five explains. I look on, amazed by the little cube and both embarrassed by how little I know of anything in my Chest.
Ella wrinkles her nose. "How do I drink this?"
"You put it in your mouth."
Ella does so and her mouth overflows with cold water. She spits the cube back out, rubbed it dry with a towel and put it back in the Chest.
"What does this one do?" she asks, picking up a round, metal thing with spikes on the edges. It looks sort of like a silver crown without all the fancy gems and carvings.
"I think you're supposed to put it on top of your head." I say, unsure.
She slowly does so and it was a perfect fit; like it was made exactly for her.
It just sits there, on top of her head, accenting her auburn hair around her pale face.
"Does this even do anything?" she asks. Both me and Five shrug.
"Maybe you're supposed to be under attack for it to work."
Since the three of us really don't know, we tried it. Five shot Ella with a little earthy stick in the neck. I was prepared to heal her anytime when, suddenly, just when the stick was about to hit her, the crown expanded all over her body, enveloping her like an iron armor so quickly until just her eyes were visible.
We all stood there in shock. It happened so fast, the crown looked like a blur doing it.
Ella's eyes widen in shock. We rush over to her as she says, "Um, guys? Do you know how to turn this thing off?"
Me and Five laugh.
"Come on! Don't laugh! I may be stuck in this thing forever!" Ella whines, her voice muffled by the armor.
"Come on now, hey. Don't think like that." Five says, patting her shoulders.
"But how do I get this off?"
"Maybe you should try to will it off. With telekinesis?" I suggest.
Ella scrunches her eyes close and focuses. After a minute, the armor snaps to a close just as quickly as it opened. It transforms back into a crown, innocently sitting on top of Ella's pile of auburn hair.
"Wow! Good job, Ella!" Five comments.
Ella grins victoriously but shrugs. "It was your idea, Marina."
I smile and we keep digging inside her Chest.
"What's this?" Ella asks after a while, grabbing a neon blue crystal from the Chest. It was pulsating with light and in the middle of it, a bright pink gem sits on the surface.
Five shrugs, standing up and looking over Ella's shoulder.
"Maybe you should—"Five begins but was interrupted by the crystal transforming into a sword that's just a little longer than Ella's arm. Its edges were glowing with a dark blue light, slowly spreading against the surface. The pink gem sits on the hilt of the sword, also glowing with a peculiar blue light.
"Hey, why is that thing glow—" Five begins again but the sword stretches forward. Five jumps out of the way, the sword missing her by just a millimeter.
The sword crashes towards the wall, chipping some of the paint off. Before anyone can say anything, the sword switches back to its original length. The edges have stopped glowing, which seems to be a good thing.
"Are you guys okay?" I ask immediately.
They both nod.
"I'm so sorry, Five! I didn't know what was happening and—"
Now Five cuts her off. "It's okay, Ella. I wasn't hurt. And besides, that sword is pretty awesome!"
"Yeah," I agree. "But you have to learn to control it, Ella."
She nods. "But I don't know why it did that. And I don't know how to control it either."
I walk to her side, putting my arm around her shoulder. "That's okay. You'll be able to learn to control it sooner or later."
She nods again but I can tell she isn't convinced. She sits on a nearby couch, the sword on her lap. She puts her chin on her hands and sighs. "I wish Papa was still here. He'd know what to do."
I plop down next to her. "I know, Ella. I wish he was here too. But we have to stay strong and figure things out for ourselves."
She sighs again. "You're right, Marina. I can't just sit here and sulk! I need to figure out some of the other things in my Chest so when the time comes, I'll know what to do with them."
I smile at her sudden surge of confidence and we sit back on the floor and dig in again.
We found a Healing Stone, and another cube. It was yellow and when Ella put it inside her mouth, she said she was like eating something. The cube was a substitute for food, apparently.
There was also a rubbery ball and we found out that it's a type of gum that lets you breathe underwater for quite a long period of time.
The last thing we discovered was a box full of red darts.
"What do these do?" Five asks, examining one of the darts in her hands.
Meanwhile, Ella is speechless, her eyes wide and her mouth open as she picks up one of the darts.
"Is that what I think it is?" I ask.
Ella nods slowly, counting the darts inside the box.
Five looks around, confused. "What? What do these do? How do you guys know?"
I told her the whole story about Setrakus Ra being able to take away our Legacies and about how these darts helped us escape alive.
"Oh my God." She exclaims. "I can't believe we have so many of these. We may have just found the key to beating Setrakus Ra."