Problems with the Heart

"What is it that we need to talk about Rayde?" Dekrosna asked.

They were in one of the many studies of the Temple of Time and were about to discuss what about Satre, or the Obsidian Dragon, that they didn't know.

"It's about Satre." Rayde said, "First of all, he was bound by a seal, he said it was you who put him there."

"I did." Ultima admitted. "I had to, or he would come again, eventually, and you know that we really can't risk that."

Rayde nodded, "I understand that part, but that's not what troubles me. He identified himself differently to Aster."

Ultima now looked concerned, "Who did he say he was?"

"He said that he was the Obsidian Dragon, and that we should ask you and Dekrosna for any further information on him." Aster chimed in.

Ultima rose and went to get a book as Dekrosna put a hand to his forehead as he visibly paled.

"What are we missing?" Rayde took the question right out of Aster's mouth.

Ultima dropped the book onto the table, opened it and began to search through the book while he spoke, "The Obsidian Dragon is his current form, but he wasn't always that way. I was hoping that he would not appear in you, Aster, but unfortunately, he did." He stopped flipping through the pages and Dekrosna picked up where he left off.

"Long ago, back when Ultima and I were still young, about two-thousand years at the most, a dark enemy resided on the Earth. He is the predecessor of Rogue."

Ultima waved his hand over the book and an image appeared, within the image, three figures stood, or rather, flew in front of a giant black dragon. They were fighting him, and looked as if the were at the end of their rope.

Ultima spoke as the image moved, "In this picture, Dekrosna, Sol (the previous Diamond Dragon), and I are fighting the Black Dragon. He had no name, but was known only as the Onyx Dragon. As you can see, we aren't doing so well."

Aster nodded but was in total shock, he never thought that anyone would be stronger than his father-figure or his cousin.

Ultima flipped the page and a new image appeared, this one later on in the battle, when the three of them were completely stationary. "This is later on in the same battle, and as you may have surmised, by this time, we were all exhausted, but in one last desperate attempt to rid the world of this evil, we combined our powers to eliminate his."

As he said this, the three figures joined hands and spun in a circular motion and began to glow in a white light. As the light grew, Aster noticed that the figure that was Sol was dimming slightly, but was making an effort to maintain the appropriate level of power.

"As you can see, Sol was unable to maintain the correct power level because he was taking the brunt of almost every attack." Ultima continued, "In the end, we still managed to pull off the attack, but it did not have the desired effect. Instead of completely eliminating his power, it split it into three, and was absorbed into us. Dekrosna and Sol were hit first, but because I saw them absorb the power, I was able to slip out of the way and the power disappeared, or so we thought."

The dragon was enveloped in the white light and three black orbs of pure darkness were absorbed into Dekrosna and Sol, and Ultima slipped out of the way, by mere centimeters. Ultima flipped the page.

The new image now showed Dekrosna struggling with the new power and sealing it into his mind so that it may never appear unless needed, and Sol suffering from the imbalance in power.

"Sol suffered the most. His power was pure, even his power over darkness was pure, but the dark power that was from the Onyx Dragon, who died because he was eaten by the very darkness he commanded, was corrupt. He ended up only being able to seal it in a four-pronged seal within his heart, but even that was too much. He died from the effort of casting such a spell." Ultima sighed, "Dekrosna still holds that power to this day."

Dekrosna nodded, "He identified himself as Sharidak, nothing more."

"As for the orb that was meant for me, well…let me just show you." Ultima flipped a few pages until he found his desired page, then an image appeared showing the dark orb of power changing. It grew and took a form until it showed a woman with pale skin, jet black wings, a jet black dress, and jet black hair that flowed in the wind. The orb of power had formed Rogue.

"Wow, so we're fighting part of the Onyx Dragon?" Rayde asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid that we are. Rogue isn't near as powerful though, which is the only good news in this situation." Ultima said, "The Obsidian Dragon is also part of the Onyx Dragon, he must stay with Aster, and not be absorbed into Rogue."

Rayde, Dekrosna, and Ultima began discussing the new developments about Satre, but Aster let his mind wander. He spread his senses and could sense the energy signatures of all the people present in the temple. He was missing one though, Leda.

"Ultima, where is Leda?" Aster asked out of pure curiosity.

"Ah, you sensed that she was gone did you?" Ultima chuckled, "She left because we found that there was someone that could be her apprentice, like Johnny is to Scry, on an additional note, she is around the same area as where I found you."

Aster froze, instantly scared and relieved at the same time. He knew who it was, but he didn't want to believe it. He wasn't ready to see her, and yet he wanted to see her so badly. Ultima saw his reaction and immediately understood his train of thought.

"Aster, you have to be prepared for that, it may be her, and it may not." He sighed, "You'll have to cometo terms with her sooner or later."

"Ultima, I'm not ready to see her yet." Aster put his head down, but spoke anyway, "I don't even know if I can see her without breaking down."

"Aster, I know that this is hard, especially because we never got the chance to talk about it, but you'll have to face this eventually," He shook his head, "you can't avoid her forever."

Aster's head suddenly jolted up, as his senses were still spread throughout the temple, he sensed her energy signature. He didn't know if it was her because he didn't know what it looked or felt like, but he sensed Leda next to her as she walked in, and so he made to get up, but Ultima stopped him.

"Don't do this to yourself, Aster." He said seriously.

"Ultima, you are like a father to me," He said sadly, "and because you know me so well, you must know that I can't!"

Aster ran out of the room, into the training meadow, and flew off to the balcony of a study to go to his room from there. Ultima turned around, "Well…I tried."

Rayde walked up to him, "Just give him a little time. He seems a little distraught, and with this new apprentice that is obviously here now, he looked like he was in complete emotional turmoil. I could see the pain in his eyes, Ultima; he just needs some time to build up his courage."

Then the door opened to reveal Leda, and her apprentice.

Who can guess who this new apprentice is? And can you also guess just what Aster's problem is with her? Show me what you know! :)

I was fairly disappointed to see very few reviews this last time, I usually get more so what happened to all my reviewers? I promise that I won't bite, so please REVIEW!!

-Ultima