Power Rangers Mystic Force: Battle of Brairwood
Prologue: Calm Before the Storm
The Master's defeat had washed away the fear that kept the humans of Briarwood and the magical inhabitants of Briarwood apart and ushered in a new age where love and understanding prevailed over fear and discrimination and humanity made the first steps towards bridging science and magic.
However not everyone was happy with change or the fact that there were vampires, fairies, selkies and all sorts of beings walking amongst humans, in broad daylight for some will always see them as less than human… monsters ready to pounce.
The recent goblin conflicts did nothing to assuage the growing concerns despite the Mystic Force rangers did their best to stop the war from spilling over to Briarwood but word spread and so did fear.
Seeing Briarwood's acceptance towards non-human beings, other cities followed their approach. Soon, mutants found a haven in Silver Hills and aliens found refuge in Bellwood, National City and New Tech City. There were even rumors of Norse Gods settling down in a small fishing town near New Orleans.
The unity the common people displayed with the woodland beings had far reaching consequences, changing international policies within a few years, and making considerable headway into interplanetary relations with other planets.
For some people, things were changing far too fast. Some secret government officials were paranoid that it would backfire on Earth, and humanity would lose their culture. S.P.D. representatives and former rangers were quick to point out that humanity was always an amalgamation of different cultures and still, different people in the world still retained their heritage despite accepting the cultures of those around them.
Despite what was happening outside of Briarwood and the impact this small city had on the entire planet, the people of the city lived blissfully unaware of it, and so did the Mystic Force rangers, their anonymity maintained by a subtle yet powerful spell by Mystic Mother that prevented anyone from disclosing their identities in any way and wiped away the knowledge from prying minds.
The Mystic Force and those under their protection lived in peace and happiness for a short while, unaware that another war was looming over their heads.
For the longest time, Udonna had thought her niece was all she had left. Then, the darkness broke free and she chose her champions… the next generation of Mystic Force, and slowly, they turned from her disciples to her children, and nothing could have prepared her for the shock she received afterwards. The return of her old friend Daggeron, her husband Leanbow whom she had thought lost forever and the discovery that Nick the red mystic was her son.
After the war, she had lost almost everything and everyone dear to her but she got her husband and son back, and gained a new family.
Now, she was truly happy and only hoped it would last.
She looked down from the terrace of Rootcore, taking in the greenery all around her. She could see dryads and fairies in the distance, playing with some human children.
The Master's defeat had heralded something truly unprecedented… humans of the city walking hand in hand with their people, without trying to cut down their trees or burn the forest.
She felt a pair of hands wrap around her from behind and smiled, feeling the warm embrace of her husband as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
Everything was as it should be. The Heavenly Saints had answered her prayers after so long and given her family back to her. Life could not be more perfect.
Daggeron walked through the forest, hand in hand with Itassis.
"The surface realms are filled with beauty…" She murmured softly, seeing a butterfly fly around them.
"They are." The knight agreed. Never had he thought that a being from the Underworld would have such a kind heart and a courageous soul, but Itassis had proven him wrong. Her eternal quest for knowledge had led to her salvation from the Master's doctrines and shown her the beauty of life and the inherent magic in the universe present within all of them. "And so are you."
Her blue cheeks flushed at the compliment, and Daggeron remembered all these emotions were new to her. Courage, hope and… love.
She smiled at him, as they continued their walk.
Their relationship was not conventional by any means. A knight of the sun and a maiden of the Underworld being together made little sense, but then again, love seldom did.
Vida laughed, seeing Matoombo give her a thumbs up from his place near the disco as she took over the counter. With Xander helping the 'Retro Rangers' on some mission again, she had temporarily taken charge.
She saw Leelee helping some customers find what they needed and some children playing with Phineas.
Her phone beeped and she saw the message notification from her sister, who was currently in film school in LA, with Nick staying with her and working as a mechanic in a local garage though they were supposed to come home for Christmas.
We reached the airport. See you soon sis.
Vida smiled.
In the middle of the forest, under the careful supervision of the Snow Prince, Chip was sparring against a thunder mystic, yellow lightning clashing against sonic waves.
After the Master's defeat, the Snow Prince had returned to the Realm and taken on new apprentices, to train them as the next generation of Mystic Knights.
Chip had giddily signed up for that, devoting himself to the ancient fighting style and legendary magical tutelage of the Snow Prince. Despite becoming the most promising student the Snow Prince had in years, Chip was yet to unlock his Ancient Mystic Mode… the first step to becoming a full-fledged Mystic Knight of the realm like Daggeron and Leanbow, though that did not make much of a difference, considering he had been able to best other students who had unlocked their mystic modes, with just his fighting strategies and lightning magic, and without using his ranger powers.
Still, the Snow Prince had told him to be patient. Despite his talents and achievements, he was still new to the ways of magic, while most other students were from the magical realm and had known about magic their entire lives.
The Mystic Mother smiled at her latest protégé, Clare as she perfected another spell. In the last great war, to protect her daughter from being tracked by the forces of darkness, the previous Gatekeeper Niella had used a cloaking spell on Clare when she was just an infant. While the spell was successful in cloaking her from evil forces for most of her life, it had the unintended effect of inhibiting her magical powers, the reason why her spells occasionally went awry.
Clare was yet to find her own element and despite the fact, she could channel the lunar energies and portal magics, those abilities stemmed from her mother's blood, not her own.
The Mystic Mother supposed her element will reveal itself when the time was right, like all things do. For now, she was teaching her not just the magic she had learnt in her time in the magical plane, but also spells and rituals she had mastered over the centuries before the evil energies had been purged from her soul… Magic from other planets.
Clare wielded her mother's staff, drawing on its power as she created a platform of purple light before she changed it into another hard light construct.
There was more to magic than just the elements, and while she had been afraid to teach it to any other student, fearing that they might be corrupted like she had been thousands of years ago, she felt that Clare had the purity of heart and the mental strength to resist the allure of darkness and solely use her magic for good.
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