Ancient Prophecy.

Chapter Twenty one:

Rose was fuming; she had found the Ancient One meditating in the barns on the tribunal's orders. The old woman had already given the Japanese man a piece of her mind and it had nearly come to blows despite their usually controlled manners. Leonardo had returned merely an hour before, dragging a befuddled Donatello with him as he staggered towards the house sobbing unashamedly. Not even Splinter or Serena had managed to calm Leonardo enough to determine what had happened, all he would say between sobs that shook his body is that something was wrong with Donnie. Leo had become so distressed that Serena had cast a sleeping spell before the leader began to hyperventilate. It had been then they had turned to Donatello and no sense could be made from him at all, it seemed as if the boy had lost his mind in some way, or at the very least mentally regressed to a child like state. After having made sure her lover was comfortable, Serena had taken it upon herself to begin performing experimental spells upon him and try to reach the brainy turtle through magic enhanced meditation, the latter being aided by a very worried Splinter. There had yet to be any sign of Elyssa at all, which worried the grandmother immensely.

"What has happened has most likely happened for a reason woman, the tribunal have their ways and I am sure that the rest of the warriors will return soon victorious." Rose rolled her eyes keeping her back to the portly man.

"I am very glad you trust those things so completely but I am afraid that I have sensed large bursts of magic being used in New York's direction." She explained sighing, "The magic has been conjured by Elyssa and I know for a fact that my granddaughter would never unleash spells of the magnitude I have sensed if there were any allies close by."

"The tribunal are not so easily defeated." The ancient One told her defiantly.

"The tribunal have never faced anyone like Ursa!"

"They have faced the demon shredder!" The little man placed his hands on his hips.

"I seem to recall Splinter telling me that it was his sons that faced the shredder in the end and defeated him for good," she began walking towards the house, "I hope for your sake you have a good explanation for Splinter as to why one son seems heartbroken and the other has lost his mind." With that the ancient one actually looked guilty and remorseful, satisfied, she carried on her journey to the house hoping to the Goddess that her little Elyssa would come home safely.

Xxx

They were facing a whole army of ninjas and so far they were still on defence. Archie was using his magic to keep as many of them at bay as he could but it became obvious that these ninja were not human or mortal.

"Raphael," Yuri called and grunted as she performed a spinning kick to knock one back, "Do you still have my sword hilt?"

"Yeah but. . ."

"Throw it to me!" She yelled punching another away.

"But there's no blade!" He protested.

"Just throw her the sword boy!" Aradia yelled then hissed as she pounced on a ninja's face clawing and biting casting painful spells on them as she did so, relishing in their screams. Raph reached for the hilt and threw it at Yuri who caught it then leapt out of the way of a katana that would have taken her head off. She crouched down as she landed holding the hilt with her arm out to the side, angled just behind her. If the ninjas' faces were not masked then Raph was sure they would be grinning, but then a light began to emanate from the empty end of the hilt then with an audible whoosh a shimmering purple blade formed that was around the same length as the steel blade had been. Yuri grinned and charged slicing through the ninja as if they were paper and each one disappeared soon after. Raph turned back to what he was doing and stabbed two with his sai then threw them towards Yuri who quickly dispatched them. He barely managed to dodge a hit with nunchukus and he leapt out of the way vaguely noticing the ninjas around him, dissolve into nothing.

This opponent was different, he felt warmer. The others had given off a cold feel that almost made Raph wonder whether they were alive or not, but this one felt very much alive. He was in a ninja dogi that covered every inch of his body yet showed the warriors odd shape. Raph dodged another attack and blinked. It was a familiar shape. He couldn't be sure but it almost looked like one of his brothers, he had occasionally seen Leo in one for some of their excursions, especially when the colour of their skin would not suffice for stealth reasons. A pained yowl made him glance to one side for a few moments to see some sort of demon grab Aradia and throw the white cat into a tree, she rose but as she leapt at the demon once more a small circular window opened before her and she had no time to change her course as she flew through it for the window to close behind her.

"Aradia!" Raph yelled and grunted as his attacker clipped his shoulder hard. "Damn it, you'll pay for that whatever the hell you are!" He landed a punch on his opponent pushing him back and leapt at the demon.

"You would hit your own brother?" It asked in a curious, almost sing song voice making Raphael stop dead in his tracks.

"What?" Raph asked. Yuri and Archie stopped as well watching the ninjas warily as they backed away and melted into nothing.

"Remove your mask slave." It sneered, bringing attention to the warrior still standing behind Raphael. He reached a hand up to remove the jet black mask to reveal a green head with baby blue eyes.

"Mikey?" Raph asked taking a step towards his baby brother hoping he would wake up sometime soon. His heart beat fiercely in his chest as he took in his baby brother who stood motionlessly as if waiting for permission from his new master, but the worst thing was his eyes, usually a clear baby blue, his pupils seemed tinted red and in the few minutes that he and his friends stood staring at the youngest turtle, Michelangelo had yet to even blink. He took a few more steps towards his brother, "Mikey, it's me bro. It's Raph, come on little bro, snap out of it!" But there was no recognition in his brother's eyes.

"Kill him slave, but make sure it is slow. I wish to see his face as his own brother kills him!" Raph ducked as Mikey swung his chuck nearly caving his face in. He backed away as he felt the familiar sensation of Archie entering his mind.

"My friend," Archie's voice sounded within Raph's mind, "I can help your brother but you must help me. Yuri will keep the demon at bay until the job is done." Raph heard a yell and Yuri leapt at the demon brandishing her sword. "Don't kill it, if you do Mikey will die!" Archie yelled out loud. Raph grunted as he dodged another blow, but this time he didn't move further away. Instead he grabbed an arm and twisted it behind his brother's back and forced him to the ground. "Keep him still." Archie told him, "I'll need your help Raphael, do you remember how I told you to enter a person's mind?" Raph nodded, concentrating on holding his brother down as best he could without hurting the younger terrapin. Together both Raphael and Archie chanted a simple spell and the trio were surrounded by an orange glow.

When the casters opened their eyes they found a place full of shadows. Raphael walked beside Archie for some time taking in the scenery. It seemed to be a series of rooms; all was in greyscale, even when he looked at his hand Raph saw nothing but grey skin. Along the walls of the room and hallways hung what looked like mirrors but every so often he caught a scene within them, each time he focused on the scene would fade and it would be a simple window again.

"What is this place?" Raph's voice echoed eerily.

"This is you r brother's mind." The other explained.

"This can't be right, I mean Mikey's so damn cheerful all the time, this is just . . ."

"Depressing?" Archie supplied.

"Well yeah I mean this is how I would expect my mind would look, sorta, but not Mikey's." Raph said fingering a window close to him.

"Remember, your brother is not the one in control right now, these windows often represent a person's memories." Archie explained as he lead the way towards what he hoped was Raphael's brother, "With that psychic demon in control the memories are suppressed and his consciousness locked away somewhere in the recesses of his mind. We have to find where the demon has trapped your brother's subconscious self and help him escape to regain control of his mind." Raph simply nodded and followed behind him. Every so often he would see glimpses of his past seen through Mikey's eyes, some were things his little brother had seen without his knowledge, things he would never have guessed the younger turtle would know about and before long they arrived at a large black crystal structure suspended in mid air. "As I thought, the demon created a crystalline prison. I will make a crack in this thing and then you must go inside and help your brother out. From then on he's got to do the rest alone."

"Whatever you say Arch." Raph said not looking away from the prism before him. Archie threw a spell at the dark object and a crack appeared, two more and the crack was large enough for Raph to jump through. Inside was deathly quiet and as Raph looked around there was barely any light save that which came from the crack he had just leapt through. He started walking; hoping that he would find Mikey soon and still amazed that something so dark could possibly invade the mind of someone so bright such as his brother. A small light appeared the further he walked, almost like a pinprick in the darkness around him so Raphael quickened his pace as he headed for it to find a tiny square set in what looked like some sort of cage and within that cage was none other than his baby brother who was curled up in the corner sobbing and rocking himself muttering he was sorry over and over. "Hey Archie. He said out loud knowing the sorcerer would hear him due to the nature of the spell they used to get into his brothers mind, "Mike's in some sort of cage, any idea how to get him out?"

"Try a light spell on the bars first and if that doesn't work then an explosion spell. I can't help you as I have to keep this crack from closing." Raph nodded purely from habit and concentrated, the lighting spell would be easy but if he needed the explosion spell that would be harder. He had only just begun to learn attack spells and the few he had cast were either way too strong or barely strong enough to scratch a kitten. With a burst of light his lighting spell was complete and every inch of the cell was now bathed in light, although, while the bars became transparent, they were still there and when he tested them every one was still solid.

"I'll get ya out Mikey, I promise." He called to his brother but there was no response. He breathed deeply and went through the spell in his mind before beginning to cast it. Raph hoped to whoever was listening that he didn't accidently blow Mikey away and threw the spell at the bars. It was stronger than he had hoped but the bars were gone on his side and his brother seemed unharmed. "Mike?" He asked running up to the younger, "Bro, you're free. Ya gotta go take back control okay."

"Raph? I'm sorry, I didn't want to attack you! I tried everything to get out I. . !"

"Shh, its okay Mike, I'm alright and you will be too so let's get out of this prison so you can stop this yourself." Mike sniffed and nodded before getting to his feet and following Raph out of the prism. As they exited the prism Mikey hid behind his older brother at the sight of Archie. "It's okay bro. This is Archie, he's a friend." Mikey nodded but did not come out from behind his brother.

"Hello Michelangelo, I need you to listen very carefully. You are free from your prison now, all you have to do is fight his hold, take back your mind and the demon's spell will be broken." The younger turtle looked nervously at his brother who gave him a reassuring smile.

"You can do it bro," he told him, "We'll be waitin' for ya okay."

"Don't leave me alone Raph." Mikey pleaded.

"We won't bro."

"We are just going to go back to our own bodies; you must find your own way to us." Archie said placing a hand on Raph's shoulder, who nodded and backed away.

"See ya in a bit bro." With a few quick words their spell was broken and Mikey was looking at empty space before them.

Raph opened his eyes only to grunt as the demon leapt towards him. It was all he could do to shove Archie and his brother's still limp body out of the way before the demon slammed into him. He used its momentum to throw it over his head. Jumping up he drew his sai and charged it with a feral growl. He dodged a swipe from the demon's talon like hands and slashed with his right sai as he past then jabbed towards its back. It spun around and Raph jumped high in the air to summersault over but the demon caught his ankle and slammed him to the ground. He rolled to his right to avoid another attack and stabbed with his right sai as he got to his feet.

"Where's Yuri?" He growled backing away slightly.

"Is that her name, little girl wasn't fast enough," he sang, "Went to sleep."

"You will pay for hurtin' her creep!" Raph threw both sais at his opponent's heart and immediately chanted a spell. He threw it full force without bothering to control it in any way and allowing it to fly at the demon like a raging inferno. When the smoke had cleared the hot headed turtle found he had taken out a fair chunk of the woodland ahead of him and there was no sign of his enemy. "Did I get him?" Raph looked over to where he thought his brother and Archie should be but realised he must have been drawn away to an area they had not been to yet, he certainly was not in the clearing they had initially been in. When he turned he managed a small gasp as the demon hurtled towards him and slammed him against a tree hard enough for his head to snap back and send an almost paralysing wave of dizziness to wash over him.

"Silly little boy, need more to stop me. Need true power to stop me." Raph blinked and shook his head trying to get rid of the spots swimming across his vision from his obvious concussion and winced as the demon's now glowing hand slowly moved to his face. A white hot pain washed over him and he screamed at the top of his lungs unable to do anything else. Tears began to slip down his cheeks as his vision began to fade into darkness.

Yuri shook her head as she regained consciousness and looked around. She frowned wondering why she still lived but shook off her thoughts in favour of picking up her sword and setting off to find her friends to make sure they were alright. She found Archie, along with Michelangelo not far from the clearing they had planned to settle for the night in. It seemed Mikey was just stirring from unconsciousness himself and Yuri crouched beside him to make sure her friend was alright first before setting off to find Raphael.

"Yuri?" Mike asked when his vision finally cleared and it settled on her, he whimpered and flung his arms around her. She could feel his whole body shake and he began to sob into her shoulder as she awkwardly wrapped her arms around him and comforted him as best she could, "I'm sorry I attacked you guys, I didn't mean to!"

"We know that Mikey." She soothed rubbing his shell.

"I was so scared."

"It's alright now you'll . . ." her head snapped to her right toward the blood curdling scream coming from an all too familiar set of lungs. Before any of them could blink Yuri had already drawn her sword once more and rushed towards the source. The scene that greeted her made the anger flare within her, she concentrated the energy in her sword and threw it like a dagger at the demon, the attack left her defenceless for several minutes but it seemed to do the trick as soon as it hit its mark. The demon's eyes widened and he let out a feral yell before disappearing in a green flash leaving Raphael to drop to the grassy floor. "Raph?! Raphael, are you okay?" Yuri helped him to his knees with a look of deep concern on her face as he blinked continuously as if desperately trying to clear something out of his white eyes. "Wait, that's not right!" She thought holding his face with one hand to help him to at least look in the right direction. "Raph?"

"Yuri somethin's wrong with my eyes, I can't see nothin' an' I don't feel so good." He slumped a little and she had to be quick to support him so that he did not fall flat on his face and onto the dirt.

"I'm sure Archie's on his way, you'll be okay Raphael." She helped her friend get into a more comfortable position and allowed him to rest his head on her lap.

"Yuri?" He asked, his gaze not quite looking in the right direction for her face.

"Yes."

"He didn't hurt ya did he?" at his question she was almost glad he could not see her and the bruise she just knew was forming on the side of her face. All she wanted to do was to kiss him in a vain hope that it would take it all away, but she knew it wouldn't, instead she settled for gently caressing his cheek.

"I'm fine warrior." As he leaned into her hand she frowned noticing he was considerably hotter than normal.

"Raphie!" Mikey screamed making both his brother and Yuri wince. The younger turtle ran to his big brother like a child frightened by a thunder storm. He soon stopped however, when he saw the glassy white eyes that were trying desperately to look in the right direction, "No," he tried not to cry, "no, no, no, no! This is all my fault!" He began backing away.

"No Michelangelo. This was not your fault in the slightest." Archie supplied comfortingly as he approached his afflicted friend, "that demon was a gorlack demon. They are able to use psychic abilities to gain control of their victims, forcing them to do some of the most awful things imaginable. They are extremely powerful and dangerous creatures, without extensive training in psyonic magic then it is very unlikely even the strongest warrior could fight it off when once it has taken over." The mage knelt beside Raphael, frowning at the younger man's temperature, and checking for any other injuries that might need immediate attention.

"But it's still my fault." Mikey all but whispered.

"This ain't your fault Mikey!" Raph scolded sounding out of breath.

"Yes it is!" the other protested, "The others, they seemed like they'd given up trying to find you. It was your birthday and no one had even remembered or even did anything to remember you. We went out on patrol that day and ran off when I lost it. That's when that thing caught me and took me to Ursa." The young ninja looked away, "I was so scared Raph and then she said I was gonna be the one to hurt you and . . . and . . ." He clenched his fists and held back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It's okay Mike." Raph told his little brother, "I don't blame you I swear."

"Not that this reunion isn't touching my friends," Archie interrupted, "but that gorlack demon has one particularly nasty attack it can use and I believe Raphael has experienced an unfinished version of it first had. I can explain it to you later," he added quickly before anyone could ask any questions, "but for now we'd best get him somewhere where I can get him the necessary herbs and medicines."

"There's a town two miles west." Yuri supplied.

"Then we head there," Archie nodded then looked at Raph, "can you walk my friend?"

"Of course I can!" He snapped and tried to get up but once on his feet he swayed badly, nearly falling back down on his tail. Quick as a flash, both Yuri and Mike had claimed an arm each to correct the obvious problem the turtle was having and Archie shook his head in amusement.

"You warriors are all the same, you will never admit when you need help." Raph grunted his disapproval, "Others have to tell you when you need it." The mage grinned, "Well we'd best hurry before the symptoms worsen." They nodded and the group of four began making their way west as quickly as they could. At some point Raphael had rested his head on Yuri's shoulder, more than happy to breathe in her scent as she helped him. This didn't go unnoticed by Mikey but for once he didn't feel like teasing his brother about it.

"I'm gonna miss Aradia." Raph said out loud sounding a little slurred. "Think she'll be okay?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine Raph." Yuri replied, "After all she's survived thousands of years already and she wasn't killed. She only jumped through a portal. Aradia may even find a way back to us herself." With the sudden change of weight, Yuri looked to see Raphael had passed out which now left Mikey and herself carrying dead weight. Not caring if his little brother saw or not, Yuri pressed her lips to his forehead then carried on with the task at hand.

Yay another chappy! Hope you liked it, thanks for all the reviews etc so far keep em coming! Till next time, toodles! Angel xxx