Confronting the Past, Present, and Future
"Sorry to interrupt the moment, but, Celtic, I need to speak with you in private." Justin stood in the entry way.
"What do you want, Justin?" Bane turned and glared at the intruder.
"To speak with the Enchantress in private." Justin repeated.
"Not a chance, Blue." Rain came up behind him.
"What are you talking about?" Blue tried to play innocent.
"Are you really going to act innocent with the General of Dark?" Rain answered. Bane shifted so that Celtic was behind him. Awesome joined Rain, standing slightly in front of her. Grim, Joy, and Bre also came to join the group.
"What do you want, Blue?" Bre asked as Justin turned into Blue.
"How do you know I'm not the real Justin?" Blue asked.
"Simple. The elements told us. Celtic replied. "You would never understand, Blue, you never opened yourself up to this kind of power. Now you want it and can't have it, so you're taking it from those who do."
"You're no one, Celtic Star! You're not perfect and yet you stand there judging me. All of you were outcasts before awakening. You were all the lowest of society, so why did the elements pick you?" Blue's voice carried through the halls. The rest of the Mistresses and Generals made their way to the balcony.
"What the heck?" Heat and Nate were the last to enter.
"You are judged by your actions, by your intentions, and by you heart." Celtic said. "None of us are perfect. We've all done things we're not proud of, but we move on... we pick ourselves up and fix the things within ourselves. We don't seek to blame others for our mistakes, we take the responsibility and we strive to make things right."
"Shut up!" Blue shouted.
"When we recognize out faults and our mistakes, we grow. We become better. When we can't fix the things within us, we turn to our friends, our family." Celtic continued. She stepping in front of Bane, but he wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her close.
"I said 'shut up'!" Blue was getting angrier.
"We may be the outcasts, the lowest of society, but that doesn't make us worthless. We are strong because we stand together. We can face today and tomorrow because we choose to see the truth. We choose to believe in the hope of a better future." Celtic ignored Blue's shouting. "The past is what makes us who we are right now. Right now will make us who we are tomorrow. Our past, present, and future are as tied together as the elements that flow through us. I will not stand by and allow you to destroy everything!"
"With the power of Air and Earth, we stand." Latias, Simen, and Shadow stepped forward.
"With the power of Plant and Metal, we stand." Joy, Grim, and Adriano stepped forward and joined hands with Air and Earth.
"With the power of Fire and Cold, we stand." Heat, Frost, and Andy joined the six.
"With the power of Lightning and Water, we stand." Bre, Wolfie, and Eme joined the nine.
"With the power of Light and Dark, we stand." Ellie, Rain, and Awesome completed the circle. Bane, Celtic, and Nate stood in the middle with Blue.
"With the power of ten, the love of my family, and the hope of tomorrow, I, Celtic Star, Enchantress of the Elements, forever banish Blue from the realm of the living. You are dead and you are meant to stay dead. You have wronged so many, but you have wronged yourself more."
"Impossible!" Blue felt the power of his crystal drain.
"Blue, you belong in the past, not the future." Justin appeared as Blue faded into nothing.
"Celtic?" Bane felt her full weight against him.
"I'm fine..." She replied weakly.
"You are not fine." Bane supported her.
"She used all ten elements." Nate said. He knew what Bane and Celtic knew... using all ten elements could kill her.
"It is time for me to say goodbye." Justin spoke up. "Like Blue, I belong in the past. My time here is over.
"Justin?" Celtic opened her eyes. She, slowly, made her way over to him. Bane was reluctant to let her go.
"Celt, it is time for you to let this all go." Justin held her hands. "I gave my like to protect you and the future of this kingdom. I don't regret that decision. It is not your fault; none of what is happening is your fault. Have faith in yourself, just like you have faith in everyone else." He moved in to kiss her but she stopped him. "Yeah, I know." He kissed her cheek and looked at Bane.
"..." Bane wasn't sure what to say.
"I never stood a chance. Take care of her. You'll never find another one like her." Justin held out his hand.
"Thank you, Justin, for everything you've done to help us." Bane shook Justin's hand and looked at Celtic. "Especially for protecting her when I couldn't."
"Good luck, everyone. It is time to say 'goodbye' to the past." Justin waved and then disappeared.
"Celtic?" Bane took Celtic's hands and pulled her to him. "Are you okay?"
"I will be." Celtic smiled. Bane kissed her cheek. "Wiping away his touch?"
"Maybe." Bane smiled and then kissed her.
"Ugh... I think I'm going to be sick..." Frost and a few others moaned at the romantic exchange.
"Alright, let's give them some privacy." Nate teased.
"We should cherish moments like this." Rain looked at Awesome. He pulled her into him and kissed the top of her head. "Rough times lay ahead of us; it is moments like these that will push us when we need it."
-in the shadows-
"Blue is gone..." Zazara entered the room. She has been scouting the islands again.
"It was only a matter of time." Eddie replied. "At least our plan is ready. The Silence is going to be nearly impossible to break now."
"My Silence will reign!" Ember laughed.
"Ember, you and Zazara will activate the crystals while I make sure the ray works. I have to make sure the Enchantress and her followers are finished once and for all." Eddie commanded.
"We're on it. Let's go, Zazara." Ember said. He and Zazara left the room.
-a few days later-
"The Silence is strengthening." Nate said. Everyone was, once again, gathered around the table. "It seems as though Ember and his girlfriend are doing something that is making the Silence stronger. At this rate... it will be harder to break it."
"Where's Eddie?" Wolfie asked. "He wouldn't give up."
"Right here." Eddie's voice came from the doorway. "I'm here to do what Blue and the others before me couldn't."
"You'll fail like all the others, too." Andy countered.
"I doubt it." Eddie laughed. A blast of energy went flying at Andy.
"Throwing plant energy at the Fire General?" Andy neutralized the energy with a fire ball. "Not exactly the smartest."
"..." Celtic felt like she'd been punched in the stomach.
"While everyone was watching you, Celtic was the primary target. And no body was watching her." Eddie grinned.
"Wrong..." Bane replied, a little out of breath.
"Are you okay?" Celtic laid a hand on his shoulder. Bane nodded and took her hand in his.
"You're not too smart, Eddie." Nate stated. "Not all of us were watching just Andy."
"..." The anger was plain on Eddie's face. Another blast of energy came hurling at Celtic.
"You didn't learn, did you?" Bane easily neutralized the energy with the force of a forest fire.
"You can't control fire!" Eddie shouted.
"You haven't done your homework." Awesome said. "Don't underestimate Bane."
"Attack Celtic again and I won't just neutralize the energy." Bane tensed.
"Is that a threat, Sir Bane?" Eddie mocked.
"That's a promise." Bane countered. "I won't stand by and watch someone attack her; threaten her."
"I'd like to see you stop this." Eddie said, revealing his "ultimate" weapon.
"Rain..." Awesome looked at the General of Dark. They'd seen a weapon like that before.
"I thought that was destroyed." Rain said.
"It needs to be." Awesome said as he stood in from of Bane. Rain stood next to him. "Bane, we'll handle that weapon; you focus on protecting Celt from Eddie." Awesome took Rain's hand. They focused their powers on the weapon in Eddie's hands. A beam of Light energy and a beam of Dark energy twisted together as they flew towards Eddie.
"You two are new to your powers. You are too weak to stop me." Eddie laughed.
"But they are not alone." Ellie stood beside Rain. She strengthened the energy beam heading for Eddie.
"You, too, are new to your power..." Eddie wasn't so sure he was going to defeat them.
"New or not, we are strong enough to destroy that weapon." Rain said. Everyone was confused but they didn't worry about that at the moment.
"They are not alone." Latias stood up. Everyone else followed her lead.
"..." Eddie sent a huge blast of energy at Celtic.
"I warned you!" Bane readied his bow. An arrow, cycling through the ten elements, neutralized the energy before hitting its target. "I keep my promises." He said as Eddie collapsed onto the floor.
"How is this possible?" Eddie was in shock. He could feel the power draining out of him.
"You made the same mistake they all did. You underestimate our unified power and hope." Grim said as Eddie took his last breath.
"Almost there. We need Metal and Earth." Awesome, Rain, and Ellie were still trying to destroy the weapon Eddie had.
"On it." Adriano and Simen helped them. There was a loud explosion as the weapon disintegrated into dust.
"Okay, so what exactly was that thing?" Heat asked.
"It was developed on the Island of Light and Dark. It was meant to create a balance between the two elements. When it fell into the wrong hands, it was altered to give more power to one element and weaken the other." Rain explained. "It was altered again to make one element stronger than all the rest."
"My father wanted Light to rule over all. He wanted complete dominion over everything in this kingdom." Awesome added. "His scientists and researchers made all the adjustments on that thing."
"Your father is the ruler of the Light Clan?" Ellie asked.
"Yes." Awesome answered.
"And my father is the ruler of the Dark Clan." Rain admitted. "I followed my father's wishes and ambitions until I met Awesome. We knew our parents would not approve of us being together. An ill-fated Romeo and Juliet if we didn't leave the island..."
"I refused to stop seeing her. There was - is - something about Rain... my father always told us that the Dark Clan was evil and that the only way to prevent the world from becoming evil was to destroy them." Awesome thought about how to word things. "I followed him until I met Rain. When I met her, I realized that the Dark Clan was not evil; that they were just like us. Humans."
"My father found out about Awesome and I. When I refused to stop seeing him, my father banished me from the Clan. I lived on the edges of the Dark Clan and eventually started to take care of the Dark dragons that lived there." Rain continued.
"Not being able to stand my father and his lies, I moved to the edges of the Light Clan. I began caring for the Light dragons and would visit Rain quite often. News spread of a possible peace treaty and that the power booster had been destroyed. Rain and I talked about it and it was decided that I would speak to my father about this. He said that the peace talks were fiction, but he claimed that the power booster had, in fact, been destroyed." Awesome took a deep breath. "Rain and I were supposed to me after I spoke with my father... but I ended up on the Lost Island instead."
"Apparently, that thing wasn't destroyed." Nate said looking at the pile of dust.
"Not surprised if my father lied to me..." Awesome mumbled.
"..." Celtic sat down suddenly. A pain shot through her mind.
"Celtic?" Bane knelt beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I..." Celtic placed her forehead against his and the images flashing in her mind began to appear in his.
"Oh." Bane pulled back and held her against his chest when the images faded.
"What?" Shadow was on edge... as was everyone else. Sonnet scurried over to Celtic and nuzzled her hand. As she did, the room was filled with islands in ruins. There were seemingly lifeless bodies strewn across open fields... both humans and dragons.
"Is that... the outcome of the Silence?" Ellie asked. Everyone was speechless.
"That is our future if we don't stop the Silence." Celtic said. "Everyone and everything we know... gone."
-back in the shadows-
"Eddie... is dead..." Zazara said as she entered the room.
"I guess that leaves us." Ember was thoughtful for a moment. "Everything is going according to plan. Blue is out of the way, Eddie is out of the way... The future is mine for the taking."