Episode 9: Part 2
Even as the Rangers' magical campfire dwindled down early the next morning, Joe gave a contented yawn and smiled to himself. When he and his friends had settled down for the night, he was expecting to wake up cold and cramped. Instead, he found himself comfortably warm. As the Red Ranger slowly opened his eyes, he was shocked at the position he found himself in. To his left, his roommate Nick had rolled over into his side nearby and snored gently. To his right, Joe found Claire fast asleep and curled up beside him while pinning his arm to the ground. No doubt he was going to have a stiff shoulder today.
Checking his watch and seeing it was almost 6 A.M., Joe elbowed the Green Ranger to wake him up. Nick's snores were cut short before he opened his eyes slowly and gave an amused grin toward his friend.
"Seriously man... what the hell?" Joe muttered trying to nudge his burly roommate off him.
"Oh come on now," the Green Ranger laughed quietly, "You're just mad because you didn't call Big Spoon, aren't you?"
Joe rolled his eyes and sighed, "You know, I'm starting to think we spend way too much time together. Now do you mind helping peel Claire off of me? I can barely feel my arm."
While the Red and Green Rangers were busy having a petty argument nearby, Izzy gave a small yawn and opened her eyes, having been awakened by the noise. To her own surprise, she found herself snuggled up next to Danny who remained fast asleep. Even more shocking, he had kept his hands to himself and it was her who must have unconsciously rolled over during the night to stay warm next to him. Seeing that her other friends were still distracted, she let go and rolled back over slowly making sure not to draw any attention, or wake the sleeping Blue Ranger.
A short while later after everyone was roused from sleep, the five Rangers gathered together near the great pool of magic water where the blind angel Remiel continued to gaze at the waters, keeping his silent vigil. As they approached, Nick was the first one to call out, "We're back Remiel, and we're ready to face your challenge."
The blind seer remained motionless, nor did he even acknowledge the Rangers' presence. The five friends glanced at one another in momentary confusion before Izzy called out, "Umm, Mr. Remiel. We're still here. We want to take your test."
The Pink Ranger gasped and recoiled as the angelic prophet slowly raised his head from looking at the pond. "Most interesting," he said quietly as if to himself.
Danny gave an annoyed frown and prepared to make a smart remark, but Joe put a restraining hand on his shoulder to let the seer speak. "Up to this point, I have seen many dark omens in these waters. But the future surrounding you five... is still a complete mystery to me. Whether you are aware or not, it almost seems as if you children seek to defy the possible paths of fate that have been laid out in the visions. They are constantly changing."
"Well, we humans can be pretty irrational creatures," Claire answered stepping forward, "But like my friends said, we've all decided to face your challenge... whatever it may be."
Remiel glanced at the White Ranger for a moment before giving a nod, "Very well. The five of you will undergo a trial that will test your wits and your perception of reality. Without those qualities to begin with, you can never hope to defeat the Cambion armies. Now, step forward into the water."
Raising his hand, the seer called out an incantation and the pool began glowing with bright light. The five Rangers stepped forward hesitantly into the water and found themselves momentarily blinded as they were engulfed by a bright shimmering light.
When the light faded, the Rangers found themselves in what looked to be the center of a large underground passageway branching out into four different paths. At the center of the room was a large stone slab with glowing runes carved into it.
As they approached, they could hear Remiel's disembodied voice, "The powers of your Keyrunes will be limited in this place. You must learn to trust your wits and your physical abilities as they are all you have without your powers."
As the voice faded, the Rangers looked around and eyed the four diverging passageways.
"All right, whichever path we take, we all stick together, ok?" Izzy said gathering her courage.
Joe nodded and turned to the stone in the center of the room with glowing writing, "Agreed. But first I think we should take a look at this. It might be some kind of clue, but I have no idea what it says."
As he continued to study the writing, the White Ranger stepped forward and curiously touched the glowing runes. To her surprise, her mouth began to move uncontrollably and the other Rangers turned to her, frozen in shock. As if in a trance, Claire began to speak,
"O pilgrim child, unchosen with life so short, this labyrinth freely may you tread. In your trial, learn of truth. In your passing speak of truth. You who crawl upon the earth, yet yearn for Eden's path, a tongue of stone's blue flames your way beckons. Its muted form, a path for you to tread."
When the verse ended, Claire blinked in confusion, having regained her senses. "Woah. What was that all about?"
"Oh I don't know," Danny said to his friend, "You just went all possessed for a minute and totally creeped the rest of us out. I wish you'd be more careful."
"Hey, ease up on her preppy," Nick cut in, "She seemed to be able to read whatever was on that rock just now."
Joe nodded with a pensive expression on his face, "He's right. It almost sounded like some kind of instruction."
"Or warning," Izzy added with a concerned look toward the Red Ranger.
"Or warning," Joe corrected himself, "Now, let's take a look down some of these hallways and see if we can't find any more clues."
The five Rangers huddled together and cautiously walked down each passageway for about a hundred feet until they ran into solid stone walls at the end of each hall.
"Well, that's odd," Danny commented with a hint of concern as he tapped the stones. "Why would anyone completely seal up each one of these corridors?"
Nick stepped forward and raised his Keyrune toward the wall. To his surprise, the Keyrune glowed only faintly and the power he felt from it seemed only a fraction of what he was normally used to. Undeterred, the Green Ranger tried to summon his Feather Sabre gladius or Feather Stinger pistol, but found he could not. "Well, so much for smashing the walls down."
While he did that, Izzy stood watching the wall while pondering a solution when she caught a brief glimpse of a blue light on the other side of the wall. "Hey! Did you guys see that flickering blue light?"
The others glanced at her, then back to the solid wall. "Oh great. Izzy's losing it again," Nick sighed but Claire cut him off.
"Or maybe not. Remember what the inscription on the stone said? It said to speak of truth and following a blue flame."
"But all I see is a solid stone wall," Danny protested.
"But when Nick was using his Keyrune, I saw the light for a moment," Izzy explained.
Joe furrowed his brow thoughtfully before approaching the wall and activating his own Keyrune. As the corridor glowed in a warm red light, the Rangers watched as the stone wall seemed to fade somewhat and a blue light appeared in the far distance, further down that passageway.
"Remember that Remiel said we had to discern what was real and what wasn't," the Red Ranger said, "This could be some kind of fake wall. Maybe this wall is only solid if we think it's solid."
Claire crossed her arms and sighed, "Ok, Neo. So if we're in the Matrix or something, how do you expect we walk through this wall? Use our imagination and pretend it isn't there?"
The Red Ranger nodded with an adventurous grin, "Precisely."
Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked forward, seemingly disappearing right through the stone wall. A few seconds later, his hand emerged from the other side and beckoned the others.
"Awesome," Nick grinned as he followed Danny and Izzy through. As she watched her friends pass through, Claire gave a panicked huff as she kept feeling at the wall but found it to be solid.
"Hey! Wait up guys! Don't leave me!"
From the other end of the wall, she heard Izzy's voice call out, "Claire! Just hold still. Close your eyes, don't think, and take a deep breath ok? Just trust me."
Claire did so and immediately felt the Pink Ranger's hands grab her by the shoulders and pull her through to the other side. The White Ranger gave a startled cry which suddenly turned to embarrassment as she saw her other friends hide small smiles and laughs at her expense.
"Aww, don't sweat it Claire," Danny chuckled giving her an affectionate pat on the head, "I guess imagination isn't your strong suit, huh?"
Claire stuck her tongue out at him as the Rangers continued on down the dark passageway until they reached another stone with glowing inscriptions.
This time Izzy touched the inscriptions and began to recite the words in a trance.
"Ignorant mortal, you who trust not might, to what then will you place thy trust? You whose weapons scatter on the winds. What advantage remains to you over your foes?"
As the Pink Ranger regained her senses, Joe crossed his arms with a sigh, "Ignorant mortals huh? You know, it almost sounds like the powers that be don't actually want us here."
Beyond the pillar, the corridor opened up into a wider hallway that resembled more of a lavish gallery. Lining the hall on both sides were rows of statues resembling ancient foot soldiers. Although silent, they stood in the gloom at rigid attention, guarding the path with an assortment of spears, short swords, and maces.
"Well, I can see where the weapons part comes in," Nick muttered taking a curious step into the hallway, "I wonder if that referred to them, or to us."
As the Rangers began to walk into the gloom, Izzy froze and suddenly grabbed the Green Ranger's sleeve pointing to the statues. Ever so slowly, they began to move, turning their heads and stepping off their pedestals.
"Probably best we don't stick around to find out," Joe gulped in fear as he pointed to the far end of the grand hallway. In the distance, the blue light they were following glowed brighter. "I vote we run for our lives."
"In a sec," Danny nodded as he held up his Keyrune and blasted a few nearby clay soldiers apart with a burst of watery magic. In a flash, he scooped up several weapons the statues had been carrying and handed them to his friends. "Ok, now we can go!"
While the hall came to life with a horde of animated clay soldiers, the five Rangers turned and fled down the hallway as fast as they could toward the light. After a short sprint, the five halted abruptly and looked in dismay as their path was blocked by a high wall of roaring blue fire. Those flames were the source of light that they had followed, except there was no way around it.
"Ok, what now?" Izzy called gripping a short sword with growing fear as she watched the small army of statues begin shambling down the corridor toward them.
Claire wracked her brain furiously thinking over the inscriptions and trying to find a clue. "Umm… the writing talked about a muted form being our passage. Maybe if we use our magic to subdue these fires?"
Danny nodded and drew his Keyrune while handing Joe the spear he was carrying. "I'll help. We've got the powers of Ice and Water."
"Whatever you're going to do, make it quick," Nick called hefting a mace. "We'll try to buy you as much time as we can!"
With that, Joe, Nick, and Izzy took up a defensive stance and opened fire on the attackers with elemental bolts from their Keyrunes. While they did, the Blue and White Rangers hosed the wall of flames with their counter magic. Despite their best efforts, the enchanted flames grew more intense and let out violent bursts of steam as it repulsed their efforts. Finally they let up as Danny pulled the White Ranger clear of a violent steam burst and coughed. "This isn't working!"
To their dismay, they saw that the clay soldiers had advanced and were being fought off by the other Rangers. Despite the bottleneck, the three were having difficulty fighting with hand to hand weapons in such a narrow and confined space.
One soldier's head shattered to pieces as Joe thrust his spear forward again, but as he did, the ancient spearhead broke off. While Izzy was too busy fending off another soldier, the Red Ranger was caught in the press of oncoming enemies and bowled over. To his relief, Nick lunged forward and smashed several clay soldiers backwards with a great swing of his mace.
"Thanks for the save," Joe gasped as the Pink and Green Rangers helped him back up to his feet and the three retreated further.
As the Rangers regrouped, the five looked about in frantic fear at their dire situation. On one side were a horde of killer statues, on the other a searing wall of intense fire.
"Do you think the fires are imaginary too?" Danny panted, trying to keep calm in the chaotic melee.
Joe quickly put the broken haft of the spear to the fire and drew it back. To the Red Ranger's horror, a good five inches of the wood was instantly burned away. "Uh… it's looking pretty real to me."
The five friends huddled together, moving closer to the flames as the clay soldiers drew dangerously close. They were trapped. There was no other way out.
As the other Rangers began to panic, Claire clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "We have to try the flames!"
"What? Are you insane?" Danny called in shock but he was quickly cut off as she pushed him through the fire. In the same heartbeat, she grabbed Izzy's arm and pulled the Pink Ranger with her into the inferno. Seeing their friends disappear in the fires, Joe and Nick exchanged a quick look and shook hands before diving headfirst into the fires together.
Instead of searing pain, they felt a cool ripple of air as they emerged on the other side and crashed into the other shocked Rangers. The five sighed in relief, letting out a chorus of nervous laughs and cheers when they realized they were safe and no longer pursued by the clay soldiers. While Nick bent over and took a few dry heaves, Joe and Izzy exchanged a relieved hug while Danny helped Claire to her feet.
"Ok, seriously! What the hell Claire? For all we know, you could have killed me back there!" Danny exclaimed.
The White Ranger gave him a light punch in the arm with a grin, "Sorry. Imagination isn't my strong suit. It was the only other thing I could think of at the moment."
The Blue Ranger rolled his eyes as the five friends came to the end of the hallway where a ring of white light gently streamed upwards from a shallow pool of water.
"Well, this looks like the finish line to me," Joe remarked offering his hands to the others. "Looks like there's no where else to go from here but up."
The five friends joined hands and stepped into the ring together. In a flash, the Rangers were engulfed in warm light and found themselves where they had begun the trial, at the edge of Remiel's pool. Unlike the last time though, the five were already morphed in their Ranger suits. Standing before them, the blind seer Remiel extended his hands and wore a pleased smile, "Well done Rangers. You are well on your way to becoming worthy successors to our heroes."
"Remiel, I don't understand," Izzy called out as the Rangers removed their helmets, "What kind of test was that?
The angelic sage gave a pensive look, "Force of arms will only get you so far against the Cambion demons. Without a sense of Wisdom and Perspective, blind force is useless and unfocused. When you first looked upon the walls of stone and fire, you thought you saw an insurmountable obstacle. Yet when you were able to see things as they really were, you could realize that all things are possible, whether that is crossing through a wall, or defeating a seemingly invincible enemy."
Turning back to the Rangers, Remiel summoned a glowing orb of white light, "You have passed my trial and with it, I bestow a boon of the Empyrian warriors."
In a flash, the orb broke apart and five motes of light each descended upon the Rangers. As the glimmering light faded, the five found themselves wearing an ornate silvery-white pauldron on their left shoulders. Extending down their arm was silver angelic plate armor that ended at the forearm in what looked to be a combined gauntlet and buckler shield.
The five heroes looked in wonder as their armor seemed to infuse their suits with more power and make them shimmer softly.
"This Whitesteel Armor will protect you in battle and raise the defensive properties of your suits." Remiel said, "With it, you may fare better against the stronger demons within the Cambion army."
"Bad ass," Nick grinned running his fingers over the enchanted steel armor.
"Thank you," Joe said to the blind sage, "I have a feeling this will come in really handy."
Remiel extended a hand, "I have seen more dark omens Rangers. I urge you to return to your city, but before you go, take this."
A small blue gem rose from the pool of water and glowed with gentle light as it hovered toward the Red Ranger. Joe took the stone and looked up at the seer as Remiel spoke again, "Within that stone lies a glimpse of a possible future, and a way toward uncovering our greater legacy. I wish you luck... my blessings upon you."
The Rangers watched as Remiel again tucked his wings back and lowered his head toward the waters. Moments later, he became still like an ancient statue standing at his post. Taking the seer's words to heart, the Rangers hurried out of the cave and made their way back into the open air outside the waterfall. As they did, the bridge stones sunk into the water and the waterfall closed its entrance to them.
Standing in the cold refreshing air, the Rangers breathed a great sigh of relief but their moment was cut short as Claire pointed out to the distant horizon, just past the ridge. "Look!"
The others turned and glanced out over the ridges to see several tall plumes of dark smoke coming from the bottom of the mountain. Hyperion Falls was under attack again! Despite their feelings of dread, the Rangers' spirits were bolstered by the newest addition to their arsenal.
Taking a few steps forward, the Red Ranger looked toward the horizon with a grim smile and placed his helmet back on his head. "Come on everyone. If Gideon wants a rematch with us, then we'll give him one."
Giving a nod, the other Rangers donned their helmets and quickly took to the skies, soaring back down the mountain to save their beloved city.