Chapter 21

Thunder came awake in the guild, looking into Calythé's teal blue eyes. She smiled. "Welcome back, little bro," she said. "We got you back from Cthulhu's trance."

"Thank goodness," he sighed. "It was awful."

"Did you just… speak?" Emi breathed.

"Yeah. I do when it's necessary. You got a problem with that?" Thunder shot back.

"N-no," Emi spluttered desperately. "Not at all. I just - never mind."

Thunder turned back to Calythé. "Listen, Callie… I had a lot of time to think when I was under the trance, and my pushing you off the bridge was unjustified and wrong. I was doing it out of rage and I wasn't thinking straight. I'm- I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, Thunder," she said affectionately, and gave him a big, warm hug. Suddenly, as they embraced, a yin-yang sign appeared over Thunder's head, and the light part flowed away from the dark and raced down his body, bathing him in light. There was a blinding flash - and suddenly there stood Thunder, altered in appearance. His once-white hair was now a creamy, warm whitish blond, with strands of yellow and pale pink scattered about. His eye was pale gold flecked with pink. He had been reclaimed by light magic.

"So… now you're a strawberry blonde?" Calythé asked.

"No. Shut up," Thunder growled.

"Awww, it's cute. Your head looks like my last birthday cake," Emi giggled.

"Got any good magic weapons, Blondie? We're going to need all the help we can get," Calythé inquired.

"Well, I have my rainbow rod in my hip sheath, and that should work out now," Thunder said, running his hand along the rod. "I also had a nimbus rod at one point, to summon rain. And don't call me Blondie."

"What nimbus rod?" Calythé said, tilting her head.

"The one I kept under my bed."

"Oh… THAT nimbus rod. Yeah, I kinda took that nimbus rod, so it's under my bed now," she announced, grinning. Thunder's face turned vermilion.

"Do you have it?" he asked, trying to control his temper.

"Yeah. Lemme look." She opened the vault and reached into the magic safe. "Hmm… let's see, dirt blocks, star cannon, some old crap of Ramisse's…"

"It's not crap! It's a 100% bona fide Horseman's Blade!" Ramisse hollered indignantly.

"…Cursed flames, vintage cobalt armor, fart in a jar… Aha! Blondie's nimbus rod!" Calythé exclaimed proudly, holding up a staff with a cloud and a lightning bolt on top. Thunder took the slender rod and ran his hand along it. Small yellow bolts of electricity coursed up and down the weapon, and Thunder twirled it around his finger and slid it into his sheath.

Calythé continued to pore through the safe. "Here, Ramisse, take your stupid Horsey's Blade or whatever it is." Ramisse slid the sword into a sheath on her back. Calythé stuck her arm further into the safe. "Here, Mona… there's a lot of stuff for you in here. Let's see… will you want your megashark?"

"Of course I want my megashark. I can only use a crossbow for so long!" Monavelle snapped. Calythé pulled a unique gun out of the safe. It had a shark motif on one end. She also pulled out several bags of ammunition. Monavelle put the ammunition in a special pocket on her quiver and slid her megashark into her hip sheath.

Ametha ran in, carrying the can of red paint. "Here. Take some." Thunder reached two fingers into the paint and smeared it on both cheeks. After some hesitation, Calythé followed suit, drawing a streak down her nose and two bars on each cheek. They all splashed the red paint on their faces, until Thunder stopped them.

"Wait a minute. I don't have wings or any other source of air locomotion. How am I supposed to do this?"

Calythé pulled her old ghost wings out of the safe. "Here. Happy birthday."

"But - what about us?" Saffa asked timidly. The three women turned and looked at him, standing next to Emi, both looking small and scared.

Calythé turned to Ramisse and Monavelle. "I'm having second thoughts."

"Seriously? The only emerald and sapphire on this side of Terraria and you're giving up on them?" Ramisse scoffed. "I can't believe you. You're the one who told us the prophecy."

"Do you think they have a death wish, Ms. I-Have-The-Best-Sword-In-The-World? They're only children. They're going to die out there."

"Not if I can help it." Ramisse stuck her arm into the safe. "Gather round, kiddies. In this safe there are some wings we don't use anymore… aha… here they are." She extracted four pairs of wings from the safe. Emi picked up a pair of leafy wings that rustled gently as she strapped them over her shoulders. Ametha reached into the pile and slipped her arms into a pair of graceful purple butterfly wings. Saffa reached for Ramisse's old ice wings.

"What do you have for me?" Topaz asked eagerly.

"We have one pair left," Ramisse said, holding up the last pair of wings: a pair of glittering golden fairy wings.

"Ugh. I'm not wearing those girly wings," Topaz snapped, turning away in disgust.

"Let me put it this way," Calythé growled at him. "If you value your internal organs you will wear those wings!"

"Fine," Topaz grumbled as he slipped the wings over his shoulders.

Saffa pulled Emi aside. "Did you hear what she said?"

"She doesn't believe in us anymore," Emi spat. "I think we should show her we can be believed in. For Embrea."

"For Embrea," Saffa echoed, touching the tip of his staff to hers with a slight click.