Chapter 5: Guardians Assemble
August 5, 1924
Midnight had fallen, yet the city of London was still alive with crowds of humans and rodents attending late night parties. No one had endured such livelihood during the Great War.
During the horrid days of the war, everyone lived in fear, both during the day and at night. London and the surrounding counties had been targeted by the Germans and many lives were lost.
At Baker Street, the aged human detective Sherlock Holmes was enjoying the silent peace with his elder dog, Maxine, a former loving member of the rodent Whittaker family. Many years ago, Maxine was gravely injured and the human detective took her in, not only as a pet, but also as an assistant in finding crooks, much like Toby before her.
Below in the mouse quarters, the Basil family were sound asleep, even their faithful housekeeper, Mrs. Rachel in her residential room downstairs.
The family was dreaming, quite peacefully. They met up with their friends and loved ones, including Winnie and Milton.
"How is Exmoor? When is your dad going to ask our Aunt Emma?" John asks the two of them.
"Not sure, we only got settled in a hotel for now. We'll be doing a lot of activities, including stargazing for the next few days," Winnie answers, but her face was bright.
"Daddy, can we go to Exmoor some time?" Sophie asks her father, Elliott Basil.
"Well, we can ask Aunt Emma and soon to be Uncle Dylan, but I'd wait until they feel settled. Emma has been very happy with Dylan for quite some time," the mouse detective replies.
"I can't wait for the wedding, I hope they do choose Exmoor to exchange their vows," Olivia said and her children got excited.
"Exmoor, where's Exmoor?" Gersham asks.
"It's a moorland in the southwest, the Bristol Channel is nearby," John answered his brother's question and the little boy mouse got excited.
"Did Ben go there for naval patrol?" he asks, again.
"No, he was at the English Channel," Leana replies, but she was thinking of Ben and the kiss he gave her on the cheek. She did wonder that he was doing all right as he looked embarrassed after kissing her and he ran off towards home.
Just then, Fonso lets out a great shout, "Everyone! Gather around!" Lulu taps him on the shoulder and he notices the frown on her face. "What?" he asks.
"You forgot to say the most important word," she remarks, which Fonso decided to make fun of by speaking nonsensical words.
"Okay, okay, I'm teasing. Everyone, gather around, please!" he said and Lulu shakes her head with a little smile.
"What's going on?" Winnie asks her mother, Roberta, who shakes her head. The young rodents were asked to move forward, just as a trio of powerful steeds the color of snow appeared from the sky, pulling a marvelous chariot of white gold. In the chariot was none other than the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene, and Tsura, the good witch, followed behind.
"Hello kiddos!" Tsura greets her friends and they respond back, but are curious of Selene's arrival. "We have some very exciting news, yet I will let the mighty Selene here explain what the hullabaloo is about," she adds with a snicker.
Selene also chuckled before composing herself and looked at the young rodents. "Tell me children, do you believe in guardian angels?" she asks.
They look at one another and both Sophie and Winnie say that they do. "And why do you believe in guardian angels?" the goddess asks them.
Winnie begins with her thoughts, "Guardian angels are there to protect you, even when you can't see them. I often believe that it's my mum standing beside me, watching me and comforting me."
Her mother, Roberta, smiles and gives her a dozen kisses all over her daughter's face.
Sophie shared her thoughts, "I often believe guardian angels are like a part of me, maybe some part in me that hasn't woken up yet."
"The two of you have remarkable points on that," Selene said and looked at everyone, even the adults. "When a creature is born in the mortal world, they have a spirit guardian that is also born. These guardians never leave your side, even when you are angry or disappointed with life. They are not like your memory guardians who will grow old with you and sadly, the memories wither and are forgotten, and the memory guardians become weak and lack the strength of protecting your precious memories," she explains, "However, in times of desperate need, your spirit guardian will come to your aid," she adds and then, one of the steeds from the chariot comes to her side. The horse was all white, not even a speck of dust was on its magnificent body, and there were stars shining in its dark eyes.
"This here is Luna, she has been by my side since the day I was born a mortal and later becoming a goddess," Selene said and the horse let out a neigh.
"Many spirit guardians will take their permanent form when mortals have grown up and have made a pact of what they want to do in life," Tsura said, and then, a giant horned owl lets out a haunting hoot and makes a rather dramatic dive on great wings, which startles her friends, except for Selene, Lulu and Fonso.
Lulu's and Fonso's guardians, a bluebird and a raven that also flew above them, took space on their masters' shoulders.
"This here is Spiro, he's my guardian and my world. When I was mortal, I was so fond of owls and their amazing ability to be silent while hunting in the night," Tsura said, showing her owl guardian to the youngsters.
"Incredible," Dawson comments, but then, a big trunk coils around him and he is hoisted into the air. Everyone looks at Dawson and the elephant, which appeared to be hugging him.
"Oh, Dawson! Your guardian is an elephant!" John shouts and the doctor starts to grow fond of his guardian.
"Fascinating," Basil said and he and Olivia looked around to find theirs. Just then, a magnificent half eagle-half lion creature and a beautiful white unicorn appear. The Griffin stares down at Basil, then begins to gently nudge him with its beak, while the unicorn bows to Olivia.
"The Griffin and the unicorn, astounding," Selene comments and clears her throat. "From my understanding, the Griffin's good qualities include justice, strength and will wreak vengeance on those with evil intentions, while the unicorn is a symbol of purity and innocence in Celtic mythology. I actually met Dagda, a really nice guy," she said, which made Olivia and her parents delightful.
"Oh, Hiram, I see that Argus was your guardian all along," Selene said, pointing to the black and white Shire horse, who was glowing a bright hue as he ran to his master.
"Argus, you're my guardian?" the toy maker asks and Argus lets out a neigh, catching the attention of Luna, Selene's guardian.
"What makes Argus a guardian?" Basil asks Tsura and Selene.
"Well, the real Argus made an impact on Hiram when he was a youngster and he never forgot about the horse. So a figment of Argus manifested into his guardian spirit and stayed with him," Tsura explains and Hiram couldn't help but shed some tears as Argus gently nudged him with his muzzle.
"Oh look!" Fonso exclaims, pointing to some blue specks that were moving and whispering. Olivia lets out a gasp and most of them laviate off the ground to her eye level.
"The will of the wisps!" she exclaims and her parents were ecstatic. The wisps look at the youngsters and each of them stands beside them. Then, John's wisp changes into a white bear, or rather a polar bear. It lets out a mighty roar and John lets out a roar as well.
"The powerful bear," Selene said, "Commonly a spirit of strength and independence. I see that you, John have grown to be strong and self-supportive."
"Oh, that's wonderful John," Olivia said to her eldest son and the bear let his master give a tight hug on its muzzle.
"What about me? I want to have a bear like John," Gersham complains as his wisp didn't change.
"Patience young one, you still have a lot to learn about yourself," Selene said, patting him on the head and then pointing to a wisp with an outline of a white dove flying above Winnie and Roberta.
"Oh, the dove," Lulu said, as Roberta changed into the dove and Winnie took her into her hands, while shedding tears. "A mother's love is always forever," Lulu adds and offers Winnie a warm hug.
"Whoa! Winnie, look at this little guy!" Milton exclaims, showing his adopted sister a hedgehog.
"Oh he's so cute!" she replies, but they were curious of Milton's guardian spirit.
"A hedgehog is a caring creature. They are curious, but also protective and compassionate," Tsura explains, "You Mister Milton have been caring and protective of Winnie ever since she came into your family."
"Wow, that really means a lot," he said, while struggling to hold back tears, but Winnie hugged his brother and their two guardians decided to hug, too.
The adults begin to compliment the youngsters' guardians, but then notice that Leana's wisp didn't change into an animal or anything. "Odd, I always assume that the wisps take a permanent form when mortals reach adolescence," Fonso said and his raven croaks.
"Not always, Fonso," Lulu replies and her bluebird chirps at the raven.
"Well…I…I honestly…" Leana struggles to say something, yet she was holding in her feelings about Ben. However, deep down, she was afraid for both his and her future. She knew he was struggling with the memories of fighting in the war and wanting to feel accepted as a good rodent, instead of being viewed as the spawn of Professor Ratigan.
"Hey kiddo, it's okay. Your guardian spirit will take on a-" "It's not that," Leana cuts in and pulls Tsura aside.
"I'm feeling a bit afraid," she said to the witch.
"About Ben?" Tsura asks and Leana nods. "Can't say that I blame you. What he did was unexpected, at least for you, but he's quite the handsome and brave type of rat," she adds.
"No Tsura," Leana replies, "I mean…it's true, I wasn't expecting him to do that, but he…he still has a long road ahead to recover from what he witnessed in the war."
The good witch nods her head and says, "Yes he has experienced a horrid time while fighting, and, sad as it sounds, he will not recover from it. Our memories, both good and bad, will stay with us, but the horrible ones we want to forget will never leave us alone, even when we want a moment."
Leana and her wisp let out a sigh, but Tsura gives her a hug. "Don't let that get you down. You're like a guardian angel to Ben. You think about him even when the darkest of times hover over you. Why, you even think of your family and not of yourself. I also see it in your family, always wondering about someone else's well being," she explains.
"Do you think Daddy is worried for Ben? Even when I believe he doesn't approve of him with me?" Leana asks, but Tsura lets out a laugh.
"Oh, c'mon Leana, your father may be a bit overprotective, but trust me, he worries about his clients and those he has met on the way during his investigations. Why, he was worried about your friends, the Easton sisters when they faced a big challenge after their father went to prison, but look at them now. They are nothing like the sisters you first met all those years ago," Tsura replies and the young mouse girl smiles.
"Leana!" Sophie calls to her sister, "What are you two doing?"
"Nothing, just talking," Leana answers, but notices something was not right with Sophie. "Are you okay?"
Just then, Sophie places a hand on Leana's shoulder and the world around them turns white.
"What the?!" Tsura exclaims, catching everyone's attention and both Basil and Olivia were shocked to see both their daughters' eyes white as snow.
Leana could see a monstrous form of a rat. It did look like Ben, but it wasn't him as the creature resembled something out of a nightmare with horrifying features like sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.
Both sisters let out gasps and their eyes return to normal. "What happened?!" Olivia cries out and cradles both her daughters tight.
"I saw…a monster…" Sophie replies and Leana nods.
"A monster?" Selene asks, but neither one explains what the monster looked like.
"Oh look!" Fonso exclaims, pointing to Sophie's wisp. It began to glow and swirls of light appeared and it began to take shape. It sprouted long translucent wings and its eyes grew big. Its body grew long and the color changed to a wonderful shade of blue.
"A dragonfly!" Lulu said and everyone was gazing in awe of the new guardian.
"Oh, you're beautiful," Sophie said, as her guardian spirit landed in her open palm.
"EW! I hate bugs!" Gersham shouts in disgust.
"Gersham, that's Sophie's guardian spirit," John said, but his brother still didn't like the dragonfly.
"Wait Sophie, you said you saw a monster," Tsura said and the young girl mouse nodded her head.
"Can you describe this monster?" Selene asks and Sophie closes her eyes, the image of the beast still fresh in her head.
"It looked…like…it's a hideous beast with sharp teeth and claws. Almost looks like…Ben…no…Ratigan…" Sophie said and everyone around went silent with horror.
"Ratigan?! He's back?!" Basil nearly shrieks as his anxiety went through the roof.
"Calm down Mr. Basil, I know for a fact that his soul is still trapped in the River Styx," Selene said in a warm voice, yet it did little to soothe the mouse detective's panicked mind.
"But what if a figment of him still exists? Like in Ben Whittaker's mind?" Olivia asks, she herself was overcome with horror.
"There is a saying," Henry Walker's voice said to them as he joins his student and his friends, "That the devil is hard to kill." An owl the color of snow sits on his shoulder and it gives out a loud hoot.
"Well, Ratigan is the embodiment of the evils from years past. I tend to believe that Lucifer is misunderstood," Fonso replies, his raven giving a loud croak.
"Fonso, the devil is supposedly the embodiment of evil," Lulu said, but her blue ray bird yelps. "All right, I believe that Lucifer might also be the embodiment of the free will for mortals," Lulu adds.
Tsura takes Leana aside, letting the others talk amongst themselves of Ratigan's possibility of returning to cause fear.
"Listen Leana, I think Ben's powers have been asleep for too long," the good witch tells the young mouse.
Leana begins to think and realizes something. "I know Ben has changed, but I didn't think Ratigan would have another opportunity in…in returning. I thought we got rid of him all those years ago. What's going to happen to Ben?" she asks.
"I thought of the same thing, yet you know Ratigan's blood runs through Ben's veins. An evil spirit can reside inside anyone, even you, especially for anyone who has black magic in themselves," Tsura said and Leana's eyes were shrouded in fear.
"Listen, we need Ben to awaken his powers inside. I am sure that'll buy us time so that we can figure out what to do in getting rid of Ratigan's spirit inside of him," Tsura adds, but Leana was confused.
"How do we do that?" she asks.
"I can answer that," Fonso's voice said from behind. His raven then manifests into a scary creature; it looked like a rat, but it had glowing red eyes, sharp claws, and razor sharp teeth. Leana nearly lets out a scream as the monster looked like Ratigan, but it transformed back into Fonso's raven.
"Fonso, what a genius you are," Tsura said with a smile.
"What will that do?" Leana asks, her wisp chirping.
"In the morning, go and ask Ben if you can accompany him to the market. We need you to get him to a secluded location and Fonso will take care of the rest," Tsura explains and Leana nods her head.
"But Orpheus here can be a bit unpredictable, like me sometimes," Fonso warns, but Tsura gives him a warning look. "What? We need them to be in a dangerous situation in order for Ben's powers to awaken," he explains.
"It's all right Tsura, I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of any evil inside of Ben," Leana replies, but Tsura did wonder if she was prepared for such a task.
"Okay, but remember, Ben's powers will only knock Ratigan out for a temporary amount of time. Which means it could last a week or two, so we will need all the help we can get in finding out how to get rid of that nasty rat," Tsura replies and looks to Selene, since the goddess had access to ancient texts and spells.
Leana and her wisp go to rejoin her friends and family, while Fonso and Tsura, with their guardians, stay behind a bit.
"I am really worried about this, Fonso," Tsura said and he nodded.
"I am, too. I have only met a few mortals in my lifetime who had wickedness residing inside them. As for Ben, I can only hope Leana provides the strength he and even everyone else really need," Fonso replies and the two witches go to join the others.
From the author: First off, I didn't mean to neglect this story for so long, but I've been suffering burnouts from work and at home. So, I hope I still have your attention. Will do my best to update in a timely manner.
Anyway, what do you think? I hope you understand all the various spirit guardians and their animal forms they symbolize. Also, things are looking grim for everyone, yet don't worry too much.
See you soon!
