Chapter 8:
"Wake up, Joel!", a female voice says waking the five-year-old human-dragon hybrid. "Joe! Wake up!"
Young Joel slowly opened his blue eyes to see a familiar pair of green eyes facing him. He knew right then and there who it was.
"What do you want, Sis?", Joel asked as he looked at the smiling face of his sister.
"I'm bored!", she said in a bored like tone. "Let's go play!"
"But it's morning, Nerissa!", Joel said. "I want to get some more sleep! Go play by yourself for a while."
Joel then curled back up and closed his eyes to try and get some more sleep.
"But mother said not to leave the den alone.", Nerissa said. "We're either to leave together or with her."
"That's right.", Joel said. "So, I guess you'll have to wait for mother to return."
"You're no fun!", Nerissa said as she turned her back to Joel and he laid there trying to get some sleep.
A smirk then grows on Nerissa's face as she turns her head to look at Joel's sleeping form. She then brings up her right hand and charges her index finger with a small charge of electricity. Nerissa then turned around and was prepared to shock her brother's tail. She was a few inches away from his tail when...
"Do it, and I'm telling.", Joel said.
"How did you...", Nerissa began to questioned.
"I'm your brother.", Joel said. "I know how you think sometimes."
With a huff, Nerissa calls back her power and walks off. But she stops and turns around. She then drops on all fours and gets ready to charge. She rears back, wags her tail and runs towards Joel, who is still trying to get some sleep. But that is ruined as Nerissa rams him making him roll a few feet.
"Nerissa!", Joel yells at his sister.
Nerissa falls on her back laughing at her brother.
"That's it!", Joel snaps as he charged at Nerissa.
"Un-oh!", Nerissa said as she took off running on all fours.
"Oh, no you don't!", Joel yells as he to dropped on all fours and picked up the pace.
Nerissa then runs out of the cave they slept in and makes a left.
"Come back here!", Joel yells as he made the same left.
Joel then jumped at Nerissa and tackles her to the ground.
"Gotcha!", Joel said as they rolled around a bit.
"Ow!", Nerissa yelled. "Let go!"
"But you wanted to play, Sis!", Joel said as he put Nerissa in a headlock. "What's the matter? Can't handle it?"
As they rolled around they stopped when they hit something. They both looked up to see their adopted mother, Quintes, the Grand Dragon of Quintessence looking down at them.
"It's nice to see you both up and about.", Quintes said with a grin as Joel and Nerissa seperated. "Now you started this little fight?"
"She did!", Joel said as he pointed to Nerissa. "I was trying to get some sleep, and she rammed me!"
"I just wanted to play!", Nerissa countered with a pout.
"Joel, you shouldn't sleep so late.", Quintes said to the five-year-old hybrid.
"Ha!", Nerissa bragged.
"And you, young lady, shouldn't mess with your brother when he's sleeping.", Quintes said to the other five-year-old hybrid.
"But I'm five.", Nerissa said. "It's my job to bother my brother."
"What am I going to do with you two?", Quintes questioned with a grin as she shook her head.
"Love us like you always do.", Nerissa said with a smile.
"And I love you two enough to make sure you take your baths.", Quintes said. "And it's bath time! So, let's move it!"
Joel and Nerissa quickly ran to the hot springs they bathed in. Once there, Nerissa took off her yellow tank-top and shorts, while Joel took off his black tank-tops and shorts. They both then jumped into separate pools of warm water and began to take their baths.
"And make sure you wash your hair.", Quintes said. "I'll be back with your breakfast."
"Yes, mother.", Joel and Nerissa said as they continued their bath.
Quintes then headed into the forest to get them something to eat.
"Joel?"
"Yeah, Sis?"
"Do you ever wonder if there really are other dragons like you and me?", Nerissa asked as she began to wash her long, black hair.
"Sometimes.", Joel said as she was washing his short, spiky blond hair. "But then I remember that mother wouldn't lie to us like that."
"I guess you right.", Nerissa said as she dipped into the water. "I wonder if we'll ever meet them."
"Mother said that we will one day.", Joel replied. "We just have to wait until then."
Once they were done with their bath, Joel and Nerissa got out of the water and shook the water off before putting their clothes back on. Just then, Quintes came back walking on her hind legs carrying some fruit and a dead deer in her arms. Quintes lays the fruit on the ground and holds the deer by it's antlers and use her Quintessence/Energy powers to not only burn the fur off the deer, but cook it as well. Once it was fully cook, she laid it in front of Joel and Nerissa along with the fruit.
"Eat up.", she says as she tears off a leg and began to eat it.
Joel and Nerissa each tear off a leg and begin to eat. After a while they finish the deer along with the fruit. After cleaning their hands and faces, Quintes takes them through the forest to begin going over their lessons.
"Now, tell me about the power of Quintessence.", Quintes said to the two of them as they walked through the forest.
"Let's see.", Jeol said as he walked on his hind legs. "Quintessence is the life force of all living things.
"It's the energy within all of us.", Nerissa added.
"That's right.", Quintes said. "Now, how can it be used?"
"It can be used to heal and restore health to living beings.", Nerissa said.
"It can also be used to move certain things to the wielder's will.", Joel added. "As well as being used to make force-fields as well as harm a living creature."
"Like how we sometimes do when we do our training!" Nerissa replied.
"Very good.", Quintes said as they continued their walk. "Now what is Joel's Quintessence power, Nerissa?"
"It is energy Guintessence.", Nerissa said. "His power can be called on from the energy around him as well as the energy within him."
"Correct.", Quintes said. "Now, Joel. What kind of Quintessence power does Nerissa have?"
"Lightning Quintessence.", Joel answered. "It is also known as Sky Fire, seeing as lightning comes from the sky during thunder storms. Like me, her power can be called on from the energy around her as well as the energy within her. Only for Nerissa, it take on the form of lightning, while mine takes the form of energy."
"Nicely done, Joel.", Quintes said. "Now today, we're going to test how well you two can use your powers together,"
Quintes looked around for something to test their powers with and soon spotted a large boulder.
"That will do.", Quintes said. "I want you two to use your powers together to move that boulder. And remember, you must work together."
Joel and Nerissa looked up boulder that was taller than their mother was in her ten foot size. They then looked at each other and gulped getting nervous.
"I'm waiting, you two.", Quintes said in a calm voice, trying not to laugh a little.
Joel and Nerissa then gathered their energy in their hands slowly until there was a ball of energy in Joel's hands and a ball of lightning in Nerissa's hands.
"Ready?", Joel asked his sister.
"Un-huh.", Nerissa said hoping they could pull it off.
"Now!", Joel said as they fired a beam of their powers at the boulder.
Once their powers hit the boulder, it began to surround it like a lasso. Joel and Nerissa then nodded at each other before focusing their power and begin to move the boulder up in the air.
"Not bad.", Quintes said. "Now move it to the left."
Nerissa and Joel then slowly moved it to the left.
"Now to the right.", Quintes said.
Nerissa and Joel then moved the boulder to the left.
"Now make it spin.", Quintes says.
They then make it spin slowly at first, but soon have it spinning faster.
Now keep it spinning while moving it to the left and right.", Quintes said.
Slowly but surely, Joel and Nerissa were able to move the spinning boulder left and right.
"Now lower it back to the ground slowly.", Quintes said.
Joel and Nerisa gladly lowered the boulder back to the ground slowly. Once it was on the ground, Nerissa and Joel released their hold on the boulder and fell back on their rears tired from moving something so big. They then laid on their backs while looking up at the sky through the trees. They could feel their chest move up and down as the breathed heavily.
"I'm very proud of how strong you two have gotten.", Quintes said as she looked down at her two adopted children. "But it seems that you two could use a little rest."
"Uh-huh.", Nerissa said as she looked up at her mother.
"Oh, yeah!", Joel agreed.
"Well rest, my young ones.", Quintes said as she laid down in a way that she had herself curled around the two in a protective position. "You've earned it."
Joel and Nerissa made their way to their mother and curled up next to her and slowly fell asleep. Quintes smiled down at the two little dragons as they slept. At first she thought that she wouldn't get used to the two. But before she knew it, she grew to love them both as if they were her own children.
"I love you my little ones.", Quintes said. "Sleep well."
Quintes soon took a nap of her own along side of Joel and Nerissa, getting the rest she needed after getting up so early. Meanwhile on Earth, Will was in the basement of the Silver Dragon along with the other girls, along with Matt, and Caleb. She had just explained to them what had happened between her and her mom the other day.
"Why would you tell her everything?", Irma questioned.
"I had to, Irma!", Will said. "She was worried about not just me but all of us! If you haven't noticed, we're not acting like ourselves!"
"So, how did she take it?", Cornelia asked.
"Besides being disappointed in us being the reason Angelo and the other are in the shape they're in now, she took it all pretty well.", Will replied. "And don't worry. She promised that she won't tell our parents about us. Unless we all go missing few days or longer."
"Well, that's a relief.", Irma said.
"So, what now?", Hay Lin questioned.
"We have to face the fact that Angelo and the others may come back and want some payback.", Taranee replied.
"Well, we are the reason they're the shape they're in now.", Irma said.
"Which means that we have to be ready for them.", Caleb said. "I know that most of them are your friends, but..."
"We know, Caleb.", Matt said. "We have to be ready to fight them when and if the time comes."
"I hate to say it, but it has to be done.", Will said. "We can do some training whenever we can."
"Well, you know me and the other Regents have you back.", Matt said as he placed an encouraging hand on Will's shoulder.
"Don't forget, you have me, Elyon, and any of her forces at the ready.", Caleb said.
"That's not one, not two, but three Hearts on our side.", Hay Lin said.
"But the main question is, do we really have what it takes to fight our friends.", Cornelia said. getting everyone's attention. "Nerissa's one thing, but the others are another story."
"We'll just have to wait and see.", Will said. "Until then, we prepare ourselves and hope we don't have to fight them."
And that was all they could do. Prepare for a possible battle, with their friends, and hope that there won't be any battle at all. But sometimes, you can't always get what you want. Back on in the realm of the dragons, Quintes was watching over Nerissa and Joel as they played around with each other in a field of healthy green grass. As she kept an attentive eye on them, all three of them were being watched by another dragon from on top of a mountain. This dragon was black with yellow eyes. As he watched the three from on top of the mountain, a smirk came to his face.
"Don't think you can keep her safe for to long, dear sister.", the black dragon said. "I was able to corrupt her once, and I can do it again. And when I do, I'll have a even more powerful puppet to do my bidding!"
The black dragon then teleported away, before anyone could sense him. Down on the field, Quintes was resting peacefully, when she sensed something from a distance. She then looked up towards the nearby mountain but saw nothing.
"For a moment I thought I sensed...", Quintes began to say. "But it couldn't be! Could it?"
A/N: Well, you got to see how Joel and Nerissa are doing. Maybe this will change Nerissa for the better. Her and Joel do get along as siblings. And Quintes shows them both love. So, things may workout well for Nerissa. But what of this black dragon? Who is he? What connection does he have with Nerissa? And what of Will and the others? Do they really have to prepare for a big battle? Only one way to find out. Next up is a day in the life if Micheal. If you were wondering.
Please review.