Storms of Rebirth Chapter Twenty-three

[Solana]

Chapter Twenty-Three - In The Eye Of The Storm

You choose to go voluntarily into the fire. The blaze might well destroy you. But if you survive, every blow of the hammer will serve to shape your being. Every drop of water wrung from you will temper and strengthen your soul.
Margaret Weis

A real hero always saves his best moves for the final scene, you know.
Yuuya, Hatoful Boyfriend


Merna's Guardians of Water and Fire were swiftly making their way through their home, ready to take on their former leader at last. As it had in the past, this structure would serve as a battleground between those who would decide the future of their world.

Solana wore her battle dress protected with both her own magic and ultra-thin plates of Atlantean orichalchum. It provided excellent protection while being light enough for her to use her dancer's agility. Her hair was tied up in a secure knot to stay out of her way, and the Water Guardian's expression was pure determination.

Aryn was in her new Caldera armor, her sword in her fist and lit up with scarlet flames. Her morningstar glimmered softly at her hip. The Fire Guardian was more than ready for a battle that she had long known was inevitable. With the stakes being Bachlan versus their people at long last, there was no question about who was going down first.

They raced up the stairs to the Memory Chambers. While Solana was trying to decide how to break in, Aryn stepped forward. "Fighters before healers," she declared slyly, while Solana nodded and dutifully stepped back.

Aryn sent a blast of violet celestial fire at the lock mechanism, shattering the seal and melting it into a puddle of metallic goo. She glared at that stupid symbol on the door, a weapon hanging over their world instead of the other way around, then gleefully aimed a kick that cracked the inscribed naginata in half and forced open the doors. She turned to Solana with a smirk on her face. "I've been wanting to do that for ages," she stated gleefully, then raised a hand as a breath of fire power covered Solana for a moment before sinking into her skin. "There, some fire protection so I can go all out. Ready?"

"I am," Solana replied, a pillar of calm in her soul.

Aryn nodded and led the way in. "There're some things I've wanted to say to your face for almost sixteen thousand years, you heartless bastard, and I'll start with- what the hell?!" She stopped and stared at the sight within, and Solana had to sidestep to prevent running into her.

The pair appeared to be standing on a relatively flat section of a large mountain crafted of basalt. Other majestic peaks could be seen nearby, some crowned with ice and snow, others sporting waterfalls. Off in the distance was a spectacular volcano cone. They were still in the Memory Chambers, (they thought), so what was this?

Solana gazed around incredulously. "This is the Great Simbel range! Except for that volcano..."

Aryn frowned, following her line of sight. "Yeah, that's where Fief Caldera should be, but why isn't the crater there? What's going on?"

"So you've come at last." Bachlan's voice boomed, sounding triumphant and a little world weary at the same time. The women looked around for the source, then finally spotted Bachlan's work-crystal floating just in front of what looked like an enormous boulder. The man himself stepped out of it to come meet them. Solana gasped in shock at what her former leader had become, while Aryn's eyebrows rose in astonishment.

Gray fire, the color of his essence, swam in and out of his body as if flesh was no deterrent to it. Shimmers of the other stolen essences lent sparks of different colors to the fire. Hate-glazed and haunted brown eyes swept them both with more arrogance than he had ever had. His favorite bronze robes had been exchanged for steel armor and a bronze cape. In one hand he clutched his double-ended naginata like a lifeline. "This is the Merna just after the Great Birth, and what I've been haunted by for millennia. Your precious volcano hasn't created the caldera that named you yet. THIS is what the essences were truly created for, to preserve this treasure trove for all time."

Solana shook her head. "No, change is inevitable! You're trapped in the past, and while we must honor and remember the past for what it can teach us, we must live and work for the future to come!" Remembering her promise to Trista, she tried to appeal to him one last time. "Give up the memory essence now, and free yourself from this while you still can!"

Bachlan brought his naginata into a ready position, and his power collected around him. "A hypocrite to the end!" he snarled, "If you had not left when you did, you would be joining me in this. Oriana won't be saving you this time!"

Solana shook her head a little even as she shifted into a battle stance and drew her kamas. I'm so sorry, Trista.

"You're the one who'll need saving!" Aryn roared. She leaped into the air and brought her sword smashing to the ground. Three flaming phoenixes crafted of sonic energy exploded from the impact, heading straight for Bachlan.

Bachlan only smirked and teleported out of the way, reappearing several yards to the left. Aryn glanced at Solana. "Pin him down," she murmured.

Solana nodded and prepared a spell as Aryn launched her Sonic Phoenix again. Solana reached out to grip the water in Bachlan's body, but he managed to teleport out of her grip and escape Aryn's attack again.

When Bachlan reappeared once more, he looked around the battleground and shook his head. As he murmured under his breath, the mountains, sky, and clouds grew fuzzy and began to tremble. After a pulse of power that nearly threw the women off their feet, the landscape changed.

This time, the three were in an area like the expansive deserts near the city of Ninaz. Yellow and gold dunes rippled in the distance, and a merciless sun beat overhead. There was no water or tinder to be felt anywhere.

Aryn was wondering if this was it when the sand between them began to shake. Earthquake? No, something's coming up from under the sand! She blinked. It IS the sand!

Two dozen reptilian-like heads crafted of the fine sand rose on swaying necks that grew longer with each second. At last, a large mound of a body was exposed, spilling off excess sand and dust as it came up to the surface. Most of the heads rose and roared at the sky, while others dipped down to eye their targets. An oozing, muddy substance dropped from their jaws, likely a toxin.

Without warning, three of the heads lunged at Solana and Aryn. Solana opened herself to her Aura and thought of a sea bird's huge, enveloping wings- the long ones that enabled a hunter to stay aloft for hours. Once she had it, she sent the feeling into her arms, but went for larger and made of ice.

Huge wings with pinions of sharp ice grew out from her arms. She kept one wing curved over them both and used the other to fend off the heads.

Aryn began slashing with her sword, trying to slice off the sandy heads or burn off any toxin that got too close. To her dismay, two heads grew from each one that she cut off! She growled and decided to turn up the heat. "Can you buy me some time, Solana?"

Solana nodded and used one ice wing to 'draw' two silver lines of power in the air. The silver dissipated and turned into a veil of mist that started to slow the heads down. The heads looked to be moving through thick syrup, giving Solana plenty of time to beat them away or use water to blast away the toxin. She bit her lip to keep her wings shielding them and the veil spell going, but would only be able to give Aryn a few seconds.

Aryn wasted none of it. She tapped into her fire power and unleashed her tweaked version of the Inferno spell she had learned on Lunar. Violet flaming swords rained down from the heavens, slashing off sand heads and making Bachlan have to teleport quickly to avoid them. Heat pounded at them like a drum from the force of the fire, but Solana was only a bit uncomfortable instead of cooked thanks to Aryn's protections.

Solana shifted her ice wings to water and waited to see how the hydra would fare. What was left was a slightly blackened pile of sand with the heads cut off. Satisfied with her work, Aryn held up her sword again, clearly ready to go after the source itself this time.

Except that things never went that smoothly. The sand rose up again, with the streams trailing out from it growing twice as many new heads. Gold and black marbled the whole body as the desert gave of its bounty to remake the creation. Once completed, the new hydra let out a war cry.

"No fair! Fire is supposed to PREVENT more heads from growing!" Aryn snapped.

Perhaps that was common in hydra mythology, but they were dealing with an artificial construct made of sand. Solana had an idea. "Go take on Bachlan, Aryn. I'll take care of this."

Aryn grinned. "I'm going to enjoy this," she promised, then took off in a sprint. Bachlan was nearby, controlling his sandy creation, but brought his naginata to a ready position when Aryn got close by.

Meanwhile, Solana shifted water into a vortex that swiftly surrounded her. Dozens of water whips edged in sharp blades grew out of the vortex, ready to challenge the hydra.

Six heads lunged for her, with venom dripping from rocky teeth. In a breath, Solana sent six of her whips at the heads, needing to test how her water would do against them and defend herself. The sharp edges had the same result as Aryn's slashes. However, where the water itself struck the sand, the sand absorbed the water.

Suddenly, one of the heads slammed into her back and knocked her out of her vortex to send her rolling. Pain blossomed on one shoulder where a mass of toxic mud had landed. Solana gasped and looked behind her to see the head coming back for a second attempt. She rolled out of the way and called the water to her again to reform her vortex. She stood and let another bit of water wash and cleanse the wound while two more whips sang out to discourage more heads from taking advantage.

Time to finish this thing off.

Solana crafted one large water whip from her vortex and sent it underground towards the hydra. She made a great show of dodging the other heads and beating them off until she felt her spell connect and be drawn into the base of the hydra.

Now.

A powerful lightning bolt was sent through the underground water whip as if it were a cable. The bolt was drawn into the very center of the sand hydra. The hydra sparked with power for a moment before exploding. Sharp shards of newly created glass shot in all directions.

Solana had expected this. Her watery vortex rose in time to become a domelike shield that was quickly frozen solid. Even Aryn's flaming sword couldn't cut through this shield, making her suggest it be called the "anti-stabbing shield".

The glass shattered against her ice, but not a fragment was allowed to enter. Solana waited to see if the hydra was going to be rebuilt again, but Aryn was evidently keeping Bachlan busy enough that he didn't have time to try. With a smile, she took down her shield and went to go help her friend.


Aryn raced across the desert gleefully, knowing that Solana would be along shortly. Bachlan was just ahead, moving like a puppet-master as he manipulated the sand hydra that was relentlessly attacking Solana. Aryn held up her blade as the flames around it seemed to explode. "Time to pick up where we left off all those years ago, Bachlan!"

He whipped around in shock, then smiled slowly. He raised his naginata into a ready position. "You're still an overconfident brat, Aryn. I really should have recruited your mother as a Guardian."

Aryn laughed. "If you think she would have given you any less trouble, you didn't know her at all." She quickly lunged in to try and get the first blow, but Bachlan had expected this and shifted straight into a parry.

The Guardians had served as sparring partners to each other for millennia, and even Bachlan hadn't exempted himself. The two knew each other's styles well. The flaming sword and silver blades of the naginata were a blur of movement as attack met parry each time. Aryn tried bringing out some of the new techniques she had learned in other worlds, but Bachlan's memory sweep had let him see some of these and he countered them with infuriating ease.

With a growl, Aryn spun and swept her blade around in a crescent strike aimed at Bachlan's side. Bachlan whipped up his weapon in a diagonal parry, slid the lower end behind Aryn, and brought it up to sweep her feet out from under her as the opposite blade plunged down towards Aryn's throat.

Bachlan had expected a roll or parry and was ready to adjust for either. What he didn't expect was for Aryn to create a globe of orange between them that swiftly exploded. While her spell didn't contain anywhere near the power of a supernova, the mini stellar explosion sent both of them flying in opposite directions. Bachlan teleported and reappeared on his feet, while Aryn twisted in the air to land in a crouch.

Aryn rose swiftly. Keeping her sword ready, she drew Phoebe with her left hand and let her lips curl into a cocky smile as she dashed to meet him. Bachlan blinked in surprise, as many did when seeing her pull out both of her toys at the same time. Aryn just smirked and lunged forward, swinging Phoebe to come from the side and her sword into a thrust.

Bachlan dodged the sword but forgot about Phoebe, and it smashed into the side of his armor with an audible 'crack!' He yelled in pain and leaped back, using one end of his naginata to try pushing away the spiked ball and surrounding his fist with rock as he swung it at her.

Aryn called the heat of a sun to Bachlan's rock gauntlet and managed to melt it. He dissolved it in a shimmer of power before it could sear the skin of his hand and lunged for her as Aryn dodged.

Suddenly, Aryn gasped as she felt a cut open on her wrist under her gauntlet and stepped out of range to prevent any more damage. Bachlan's naginata was still three feet away, so how had he...?

She heard footsteps thumping a lot closer than they should have been by the sight of Bachlan and sidestepped, slashing at the noise. Again, Bachlan seemed two feet farther back than she heard him, so how...?

Ah, the little sneak! He had interfered with her memory, bringing up images of where he HAD been and fooling her vision in the hopes of making defense impossible. Well, I've got a trick of my own for that.

Making her expression as cocky as possible, Aryn closed her eyes and trusted her instinct for heat signatures. There.... she could sense exactly where he was now, and could even see gaps in his armor where more body heat was given off. They could have been targets painted on him.

She stepped in and parried his naginata with her flaming sword, grunting in effort as she pushed it back towards him. She raised the handle of Phoebe, ready to slam the spiked tip of it at one of the gaps in his armor.

Bachlan teleported behind her, going for a quick overhead slash and hoping to end things. Aryn's morningstar was still held high, and she gave a hard flick of her wrist. The spiked ball on its chain wrapped around the staff of the naginata, and she yanked it off to the side. She brought her sword into position for a backwards thrust...

...as the air around her suddenly became as heavy as lead. Aryn tried to shift her position, but she was unable to move even a finger against the intense pressure that Bachlan had called into the air around her. She could also feel Bachlan smiling at her as he called up a lightning bolt to aim at her heart.

Flames seemed to leap up from Aryn's very skin, wrapping her in a thin covering of dancing fire. The intense heat increased the pressure of the air touching her skin, then blew away the air trap that Bachlan had created.

Bachlan's lightning bolt was released. Aryn gasped as she felt a pressure against her back, but no pain. It only felt as if she had been punched. Her armor had deflected the bolt as her Ezi had promised.

In return, she slashed with her blade and jabbed with the morningstar, then aimed a kick at Bachlan's midsection. Two, three, and an extra for me, Ezi.

Bachlan stumbled back with surprise, but recovered quickly. Aryn took a ready position, then smiled as she heard footsteps quickly approaching. Solana had finished her job and was ready for more.

Bachlan said nothing, but tapped into his powers as the scene changed again. This time they were in a reproduction of the lush jungles of Miniki. Spilled down one of the hillsides were the remains of an enormous mudslide that had taken out a large portion of the trees in its way. Many of the trees were still smoke-blackened.

Oh, that's low, Aryn grumbled to herself. She glanced over at Solana, who viewed the new landscape with a seemingly calm eye. Solana met her gaze thoughtfully, then held out one palm while her other index finger drew a circle that began and ended at her palm.

Aryn gave a nod of understanding at the hand signaled code they had learned from Leon and Junon's troops and went to duck behind one of the massive trees. Solana would take on Bachlan solo and lead him to Aryn for a surprise pincer attack. It had worked before, and Solana was the perfect bait.

"Why did you have to use this landscape, Bachlan?" Solana wailed. Tears glistened in her silver eyes as she seemed to survey the destroyed grounds with a broken heart, and her grip loosened on her kamas.

His mocking laugh rang through the trees. "Does it make you think that your misguided way has been wrong all along?" Bachlan appeared in a nearby tree, holding his naginata in a guard position as he called up a bolt of lightning to strike at her.

"Never!" Solana replied as she artfully dodged back, then responded with a flurry of ice spears. Bachlan leaped forward, easily melting the spears and sending a contained spiral of air at her to act as a drill.

Solana jumped nimbly out of the way, backtracking some more and trying to look nervous. She wasn't the best bluffer in the world. Even so, Bachlan's strategy in trying to mess with her emotions by using Miniki's landscape was actually aiding her. Her eyes were moist, but she let it be as she snapped a silver lightning bolt back at Bachlan. Keep following me...


The flames on Aryn's sword went from red-hot to the blazing blue-violet of celestial fire as she tapped her Celestial Gift through Phoebe to mix with her fire essence. Grimly, she waited behind her tree as Solana lured Bachlan there as they continued hurling spells at each other. Wait for it.... wait for it...now!

Bachlan landed on a low branch on Aryn's tree, finishing off a light beam spell at her best friend. The second the last photon passed over her head, Aryn sprang up like a panther. Her sword in a reverse two-handed grip, she used every iota of strength to drive it home like a spear.

Bachlan's warrior instincts made him dodge just enough for the blade to sink into his shoulder instead of his chest, but he let out a choked scream as the nerves to his arm were obliterated by the celestial fire. His naginata fell from suddenly numb fingers to hit the mossy grounds with a thump. Bachlan spared a glance down at his shoulder, shocked to see the tip of Aryn's blade coming through the back.

Aryn was waiting nearby for his next move, Phoebe ready to go in her hands. Solana joined her, wondering if this would be enough to make Bachlan give up.

Evidently, it wasn't. Bachlan tore Aryn's sword from his wound with his good arm, gritting his teeth as the flaming blade was painfully extracted from his burned flesh. The burns were so deep that they had automatically cauterized, but the damage was extensive. He looked at the paralyzed arm that wouldn't move at his command, and began to laugh. Ironic, mocking, pained laughter. Aryn was starting to wonder if she had sent some of her celestial fire to his brain, too.

"Ha... ha... now my own body... is proving traitorous because of you. It's the power... only the pure, incorruptible power of our world that will cleanse you off the face of this world!" Bachlan howled. He kicked his naginata away from him. Flares and ripples of power exploded from him as he summoned hurricane-level winds.

They swiftly obeyed Bachlan's commands, roaring and screaming as they shot through the landscape. Aryn and Solana were quickly separated and tossed in opposite directions. Fire-weakened trees were torn from the ground to join them. The hurricane that Trista had summoned in Sagia was a mere breath compared to this monster.

Solana was blown upwards towards what trees remained, and managed to grab ahold of a branch to hang on for dear life. Rocks, shattered obsidian shards and cracked branches followed her. A small water shield repelled most of them, though a few tiny shards got through to score minor cuts on her exposed skin.

Finally, the winds died down. Solana sighed in relief. Evidently, Bachlan had just wanted to separate them. She managed to pull her body on top of the branch, then reached for the trunk to help ease herself into a standing position and plan her next move.

A shudder went through the tree, and a loud Crack! rang through the air. Solana gasped, noticing the fault line through the tree's trunk just before the entire tree gave way to the left. Solana lost her footing on the branch and started to slip off, then quickly lashed out with her kamas to just catch and hang on as it nestled against one of its brethren. The shudder that ran through it as tree struck tree rattled her grip on her kamas, but she held strong. She made the mistake of looking down and shuddered, then glanced up to start pulling herself up.

Bachlan suddenly appeared on the tree above her with a triumphant smile. Eziban's talents let him make a flat surface to stand on. He leaned over conspirationally. "Time to say good-bye, 'little dolphin'," he hissed, turning Kiel's nickname for her into an insult. He raised one hand that glowed with dusky power.

Solana started building up a shield, then suddenly wondered why Bachlan seemed to be stalling. His smirk was directed at her, but his gaze... no, his gaze was definitely past her, at their other combatant!

Solana gasped as she saw Aryn rise and glance up, then gained that same fierce hazel look in her eyes that always appeared just before she unleashed a beatdown. "Aryn, don't!" she screamed.


Aryn clambered to her feet, trying to shake off the ringing in her ears. Being thrown through the branches of one tree and getting stopped by the solid trunk by another would have been a lot worse if she had been in her usual leathers instead of this shiny new armor, and she knew that she'd be feeling it tomorrow. Blessing its maker and Rakaj equally, she glanced back up to the trees to plan her next move.

She saw Solana desperately hanging off one of the branches, Bachlan leaning over her with a gray-toned spell that was ready to be released any second. Just like he had hit her with in the Crystal Citadel all those years ago...

Aryn didn't even think about what she would do next. There was no need.

"Oh, hell no!" she yelled just as Solana called out something, letting loose with a concentrated explosion spell under her feet. Since fire couldn't harm her, the blast only shot her high into the air and straight at Bachlan. Celestial ripples formed a shield around her as she readied Phoebe. Gripping its handle tightly, she swung it around to gather momentum and prepared to launch her Shooting Star attack. "Eat thi-"

Aryn got cut off as a beam of intensely concentrated gray power streamed straight through her shield and hit her solar plexus. The sheer force of it slammed her back onto the jungle floor, too quickly to duck and roll to lessen the impact.

After skidding to a stop next to a palm tree, she shuddered as a cold slimy feeling trickled through her whole body. Aryn had no idea what Bachlan had just done to her, but she didn't think that she was going to like it one bi-

Pure agony shot through every cell of her body simultaneously in different sensations. Acid burned, claws tore, blades sliced, spears jabbed, and hammers smashed, with one feeling blending into the next in a symphony of torments that played out on every inch of her. Aryn's shaking fingers lost hold of Phoebe, letting the morningstar fall to the ground with a soft thump. She couldn't think, and couldn't control her body. Aryn screamed as the white-hot haze of pain blotted out every other sense she possessed.


Solana's heart blazed as she freed her kamas from the tree branch and dropped to the floor, controlling the water in her own body to slow her descent. Bachlan managed to teleport to the floor nearby, but he staggered and his skin looked a little gray. Whatever he had done to Aryn had clearly sapped his power for the moment, and he struggled to recover.

Solana knelt at Aryn's side, weeping as she examined her friend. Air hissed between her pursed lips as she realized what despicable spell Bachlan had twisted his power to use- every cell in her best friend's body was being forced to simultaneously relive every injury or sensation of pain collected in sixteen thousand years as a warrior. She gathered her power to fight the memory invasion.

Why did you do that, Aryn? Why did you do something so stupid?! she mentally screamed, purposely not thinking of the time that she had done the same thing herself less than ten years ago.

Aryn was flailing rapidly and shrieking incoherently, locked in a literal world of pain. It was only thanks to Eziban's modifications on her armor that she was still alive, but if Bachlan's spell wasn't broken soon her entire nervous system would shut down from overload. Solana tried and tried to rid it from Aryn's body, but she wasn't strong enough. Every point of healing light she used was snuffed out by the gray invasion, and it seemed to laugh at her pitiful attempts to remove it.

Aryn was her best friend in the Universe, her siliquemanita or little pod-sister. The Fire Guardian had followed her loyally and fought by her side and kept her laughing and going on her entire journey. This time, Aryn had willingly jumped into danger to save her. Solana's mind was working like crazy, desperately trying to think to of any possibly helpful spell that she hadn't tried yet.

"Don't... even bother... trying. Memory... is my element... and life... isn't yours," Bachlan wheezed. His stance was slumped, but getting straighter and straighter with every word. He would be ready to battle again in only seconds.

Bachlan was right, in that even her healing skills wouldn't be able to overcome this. Still, there was someone who could... someone in this very Citadel... if Joshua had made it to her and Merna had recognized Oriana's protective spirit...

I know that Joshua saved her, and that Merna would trust her with the life essence.

"I'll get you to help, Aryn. Then I'll finish this," Solana promised. Tapping into all of her powers together, she took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts. Safety, protection, away from all danger...

A light blue glow swam around Aryn's form, then coalesced into a ball and vanished out of the Memory Chambers.

Bachlan glared at her, his second wind finally back. "She chose to sacrifice herself to save you. You chose to pass up a perfect attempt to kill me to save her. Fools, the both of you."

Solana rose to her feet and dusted herself off, then turned to face her adversary with a deadly calm in her silver eyes. There was nothing left for her to say.

Bachlan shifted, and suddenly the environment changed back into the original Memory Chambers. The walls of the Chambers were presently brightly lit with power, but he called it all back to him and sent one small pulse back to prevent any more comings or goings. Instead of simultaneously attempting the Great Rebirth, he would be facing her with everything at his command.

But he wasn't the only one preparing. Solana threw her awareness into the Tethys Sea just outside, the ancient aquifers of fresh water deep underground, the water tanks and features in the Citadel itself, the huge masses of water vapor that were the clouds above, and every droplet of vapor in the air around her. She felt their thresholds of ambient power as she made a request. Just as Eziban's stones held pure power from the earth element, so too did the seas and rivers and lakes hold that of water. After a wordless agreement, she drew upon their power to supplement her own, and it glittered with a silver light as it flowed into her water essence and Aura to help replenish them.

She drew on that and her Asterite Aura as her own memory called up an image she remembered seeing in her distant past. Bit by bit, Solana began to transform. Her form shifted into a reptilian shape, with diamond hard scales of the deepest midnight blue designed to withstand the crushing depths of the sea. The scales protected lean and hard muscles that promised a world of pain with every strike. Cruel kama blade-like claws sprang from four webbed feet, gleaming and ready for a target to sink into. A powerful tail tipped with a sharp spike curled around her new shape. Wings that would help their owner fly through the air or sea sprang from her back. The water dragon glared down at Bachlan, opening its maw to release a merciless war cry. Only the same silver eyes glowing Solana's wrath proved that this opponent was still the Water Guardian.

Bachlan couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that metamorphosis was a trademark of advanced Atlantean magic, but had only seen Solana use simple seagull or fish forms before. She shouldn't have been able to tap such a large and monstrous form.

Still, what was the power of one little Atlantean against all the cards he now held? He let out a war cry of his own and a blast of magic as Solana lunged at him with her jaws open wide.


The main room

Oriana sat up on her couch as she saw Solana teleporting Aryn away on one of Joshua's floating squares. Joshua followed her gaze and nearly choked on air at what he saw in the Memory Chambers.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light culminated in Aryn appearing on the floor next to Oriana. The Fire Guardian was writhing, as Eziban's spells woven with those in her armor battled against Bachlan's abomination of a spell.

Oriana's eyes grew wide in fright for one of her "children". "My Aryn!" she gasped as she leaned over to inspect the Fire Guardian, her heart pounding in her ears. Joshua wrapped an arm around Oriana to support her, as worried as she was at his comrade's condition. Though Oriana had never seen a vile spell like this before, she could read the effects that it was having on Aryn and felt sick.

Oriana got off the couch and knelt on the floor at Aryn's side with Joshua's help, one hand caressing Aryn's hair as her tears fell like a heavy rain. "I wish... if only I had my power," she murmured in despair. She closed her eyes, her free hand resting on her heart. "Please... please, I lost my children once already..."

A stunned Joshua glanced at her, but Oriana's attention was locked on the inside. A choked sob shook her entire form, one that seemed so very fragile now. Desperation was evident in her voice as she pleaded once more. "Please... don't take this one away, too..."

Pearly, iridescent light began to glow at Oriana's hands. Her eyes opened in astonishment, the tear tracks glistening on her cheeks as the light grew brighter and brighter. She cried out once as a rush of power flowed into her from below, from Merna herself, restoring what had been stolen at Bachlan's hand. A new life essence had rejuvenated her, and was ready to be put to use.

Oriana directed a flow of that power into Aryn immediately. The rainbow light poured in, chasing down every scrap of the dark gray intrusion and obliterating it. More flowed throughout Aryn's body, soothing it and slowing it from the aftereffects of Bachlan's spell.

Aryn's body jerked around on the floor as the fight went on inside her, until all of the gray from Bachlan's spell was gone. Her color changed from deathly white to a pale olive. She opened weary hazel eyes first at Oriana, then Joshua. "S-So-Solana?" she murmured, her voice raw from all the screaming. She gave a harsh cough as she managed to raise her head to look around. Oriana laid gentle fingers on Aryn's throat, directing another thread of her power into it.

Joshua glanced up at his square displaying battle above them. His heart nearly leapt to his throat when he saw Solana's dragon form, but Bachlan didn't look nearly ready to call it quits yet. Looking instead at the one outside, he could see their three friends staring at each other in confusion. The feel of power in the walls had vanished but for those around the Memory Chambers, and that could only mean one thing.

Joshua drew his mace and ran for the door to the Memory Chambers. "He has stopped his attempt! He will be attempting to kill off Solana first!"

Aryn let out a tiny moan as she tried to sit up. "Not if I can help it!" she barked hoarsely, trembling fingers reaching out to pick up Phoebe.

Oriana reached out a staying hand to her, giving a gentle push on her chest until Aryn reluctantly sank back down again. "You can do nothing for her at this point, my dear. Though Bachlan's spell has been broken, most of your own strength is gone."

Aryn managed to shake her head. "No, I'm supposed to be helping her!" she objected.

Joshua was surprised when he couldn't get through the door, then tried using a concentrated light beam to slice through the crystal as he had Oriana's prison. The crystal absorbed the light as easily as sunlight. He swung his mace at the door, but it bounced off and nearly hit his head instead. He leaned against the door, sorrow painted on his features. "We cannot," he admitted reluctantly. "He has warded his Chambers to make it a duel between himself and Solana alone."

Aryn's eyes went wide, and she debated seriously trying to get up again. One look from Oriana was all it took to convince her otherwise. "You believed in her for forty years, darling. Followed her, fought with her, protected her," she said calmly, as tears went down Aryn's cheeks. "You more than anyone know what she is capable of. Believe in her now, when she needs it the most."

If it had been almost anyone else, Aryn would still have objected. But this was Oriana, who had saved all of them repeatedly. She knew that Oriana was hurting for the one thought of as a daughter, as Aryn loved her best friend like a sister. She obediently stretched out on the floor once more.

The remaining three Guardians came running up the stairs into the common area, all of them looking confused. "What's happened?" Eziban demanded, his Star core safely tucked under one arm. He surveyed the room quickly, then raced over to Aryn's side. "Firebird, are you okay? What did he do to you? Where's Solana?" he asked.

Aryn managed a shaky laugh. "You, Solana, and Oriana all just saved my bacon, that's what. I think we can call us square now."

"The Great Rebirth attempt is over, so..." Trista trailed off as she spotted the battle still raging in the Memory Chambers. She wasn't sure which was stronger, her relief or her disappointment. Her head bowed, and Joshua quietly came to stand by her and offer his silent support.

"Can we get in there? Our work isn't over yet," Raoul pointed out.

"No, such a goal is unattainable at this point. I surmise that all we can do is wait this out," Joshua replied.

Aryn growled again. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate waiting?" A few nervous chuckles answered her as everyone faced Joshua's viewing spell to see how the last round would go.


The Memory Chambers

It had seemed like such a brilliant plan at the time. First take out Aryn, the expert swordswoman who also commanded one of the most destructive elements known to Merna. It would be even better if it looked like Solana's fault for Aryn having to protect her. Next, slowly whittle down Solana's strength, since a mage who specialized in water and life would be easy prey alone. Once Bachlan had taken his time and broken her spirit, he would enjoy finishing her off a little bit at a time.

As he hurriedly called up a blast of fire to melt down the mouthful of ice spears that Solana had sent his way, it was painfully obvious that he had been dead wrong and had only royally pissed her off.

Whether it was the anger at seeing her best friend taken down in such a horrific way, or the fact that she could finally unleash all of her powers without worrying about damaging Aryn, Solana wasn't pulling any punches. Her water dragon form gave her several types of breath attacks in addition to naturally sharp teeth, claws, and that powerful barbed tail. She was leaner and smaller than most dragons he had heard of, which also made her infuriatingly fast.

Bachlan called up a sheet of lightning to coat the floor. Solana leaped up to one of the crystal pillars, wrapping her clawed limbs and tail around it. Her long neck lowered, and she pointed her maw at Bachlan and blew out a breath of mist.

Bachlan teleported away, then appeared in midair for a split second to grab ahold of one of her wings. In a flash he teleported again with her, intending to have her apparate halfway through the solid crystal wall.

Solana pushed at the water in her body to shift herself enough to appear intact next to the wall instead. She whipped her wings open violently, sending the Guardian of Memory flying before he teleported again and landed safely on the ground.

Bachlan called up a red cloud that was oddly familiar to Aryn's modification of the Inferno technique, seemingly trying to copy it. Solana called up a watery barrier to surround her, knowing her enhanced water skills could handle any fire that Bachlan could launch at her and not certain if Aryn's fire-shielding spell would work with her out of the fight.

Once more, flaming swords rained down from the sky to concentrate on her. The shield repelled the fiery creations easily, until....

Solana screeched as a hidden sword of lightning hit her barrier and caused it to electrocute her. She quickly took down her barrier and shook off the effects of the lightning, making sure it hadn't affected her too badly. Some minor burns showed black on her scales. How could she have forgotten that Bachlan was a fan of mixing fire and lightning?

Never one to avoid kicking a downed opponent, Bachlan followed up with a rock shower. He gasped as it bounced off of Solana's dark blue scales like gravel, then had to quickly teleport out of the way of the immense tail that had been swinging straight for his head. It instead smashed into the crystal wall, leaving behind an enormous dent as a signature.

Solana howled her fury and whipped her head around, searching for him. Once she spotted him, she inhaled and let out a breath of steam hot enough to melt steel at him. It took a combined shield of earth and life power to hold it off until he could drain the heat from the blast and turn it into plain mist.

Bachlan was losing, and he knew it. For all of his power, Solana outclassed him when it came to experience and knowledge of the elements, and it was showing.

But he had saved a special trump card for this one, something far worse than what he had dished out to Aryn. He began gathering his power to focus on pulling off a very special spell he had invented. He teleported behind a pillar in a far corner, not being able to handle any interruptions until he was ready.

A faint breath was released throughout their arena, and he felt it brush over him. Only a locator spell, and nothing to worry about there. Once his spell was ready, he came out into the open with one hand cloaked in his power. Solana found him and lunged, opening her jaws to blast silvery bolts of lightning straight at him.

Bachlan didn't even try to defend. He let out a cry of his own and released his spell in the form of a ribbon of dark gray that temporarily connected the two. There was a flash, the lightning vanished, and Solana shrieked as her eyes took on a dull gray color and the world went white...


Solana came to slowly, gradually realizing that she was back in her normal Atlantean form instead of the water dragon one. She was lying on something kind of pillowy, much like the sands on the islands that had served as campsites during her journey. She finally opened her eyes and yelped in surprise.

The pillowy softness was indeed sand, but it was delicate and silvery. Nearby, fragrant purple waves lapped softly against what looked like Shima beach near the Crystal Citadel. The sky was a deep emerald, glinting with Merna's sister moons, Atlantis' constellation Delphineus outlined by coppery dots of light, and filled with the sights of distant worlds from her travels instead of stars. The closest and brightest was an image of Lunar and the Blue Star.

Solana carefully got to her feet and turned to face the equally odd landscape. Hundreds or even thousands of bookshelves, of all things, were lined up like a labyrinth, interspersed with carved pillars topped with blue flames. She recognized those pillars from the Great Library in Atlantis. To the right was a garden-like area set up with candelabras and a comfortable-looking green couch. What was strange is that everything here was familiar from different points in time, just put together in an unusual way.

Except that green couch. Solana couldn't think of where she had seen it before, but a part of her insisted that it was familiar. Where had it come from?

Unnoticed by Solana, a book fell from one of the shelves. When the spine hit the ground, it flapped open and flipped its pages until stopping at a certain one.


The green couch was sitting in a somewhat small but cozy living room. Walls were alabaster white where they weren't painted with lovely seascapes and vibrant plant life. Windowsills were filled with potted plants, while model ships were displayed on shelves and hanging from the ceiling. A bookshelf was packed with an array of children's books.

A very young Solana was snuggled contentedly in her father's arms as he read to her from a book. Clutched in the little girl's grasp was a small stuffed dolphin, a gift from Kiel. Solana's mother was going through stacks of documents and making notes.

"I think she's almost asleep. My amareja, are you certain that Kiel won't mind looking after her during our trip?"

"It was his idea, love. He adores his 'little dolphin', and she feels the same. The only hard part will be convincing her to come back home with us."

They laughed together. Just as Solana was falling asleep, she felt a gentle kiss on her forehead and was picked up to be brought to bed.

Solana gasped as she returned to herself. She had only bits and pieces of memories of her parents from so long ago. Most of what she knew came from Kiel's stories. But now, she had just lived through this memory vividly, as if her age had been turned back twenty thousand years.

Memories....

Solana's eyes widened as she realized where she was. Was Bachlan pulling the strings in here? With so many painful memories at his command to put her through, how could she get out of here?

The book that had fallen flipped through some more pages, until another memory was called forth.


Solana tightly gripped Kiel's hand as she walked with him back to her house. She couldn't understand why he and Iris, the nice library lady, had been so upset today. They had assured her that it wasn't because of her, but then would move away to talk quietly. Maybe Mommy and Daddy would explain it better.

Kiel opened the door to her house and took a moment to look around, a defeated look in his eyes. He led Solana over to the green couch and sat down, then invited the little girl to sit in his lap. "Solana, my little dolphin, I have to tell you something sad. You're going to have to be a big girl now."

"Why? Kiel, when are Mommy and Daddy coming home?" Solana asked innocently.

Kiel's expression twisted in grief. "They're not," he said softly.

"Huh?" Solana asked, puzzled, then slowly smiled. It was a game. "They're hiding, right? Let's go find them!" She bounced up, tugging on Kiel's hand to come with to find them.

"No!" Kiel started, a little harsher than he had intended, then slumped. "I'm sorry, my dear. Your mommy and daddy are gone. They're... they're dead."

Shocked, Solana looked at his face. She knew about dead. Nerinee's calf Pella had stopped moving a few months ago. He didn't eat, didn't breathe, didn't play. Nerinee had been very sad, and Solana had made Kiel help her find a good fish to make her feel better. "No... Mommy and Daddy can't be dead! Dead don't move! How can Mommy and Daddy be dead if they're not here?"

"Solana..." Kiel tried to catch her hand, but the girl wriggled away.

"Not dead! Help me find them, please? Please, Kiel?" Solana begged, then dissolved into tears. This time, she let Kiel hold her, and she felt his tears coming down, too. Grown-ups didn't cry easily, and she knew then that it was true.

"They were trying to come home, Solana. A war broke out where they were. Their ship was destroyed," Kiel murmured, as much to himself as the little girl.

"What's 'war'?"

"I pray you never have to find out."

Solana staggered as the next memory hit her like a blow to the solar plexus, making her feel once more all of the despair and loneliness that she had then despite Kiel's promise to take care of her. She knew what war was now- by Merna, she knew all too well.

The onslaught didn't stop- if anything, it seemed to pick up speed. More and more books tumbled from shelves to release bits and emotions from terrible or difficult memories.


Solana kissed the dolphin's head good-bye. "I'll miss you, Nerinee. I'll have lots of stories of a new sea to tell you when I come back, okay?"

Nerinee gave her a loving pat with her fluke. "I'll miss you too, pod-daughter. Ecco had to leave his pod to pursue his destiny, but he came back."

Solana nodded and waded out of the Marble Sea to meet Kiel. "I'll work very hard with Oriana, Kiel. I'll make you both proud. I love you."

Kiel hugged her tightly, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I love you too, little dolphin. Never doubt that on your journey.


Oriana came into Solana's room, an odd look on her face. In her hand was Solana's last letter to Kiel. "My dear, there's something that I have to tell you. Atlantis... Atlantis has been destroyed."


"Come on! Come on!" Solana gritted her teeth and pulled all the power she could from her water essence and let it stream into her patient. She knew how to battle against a heart attack- she had saved patients before!

This time, it was not meant to be. The little old grandpa that she had treated since he was a little boy gave one last shudder and died in front of her.


Solana screamed as she watched Miniki be devastated by the magical mudslide that she had created. So many lives snuffed out in a single moment by her hand.


Junon's guards threw first her, then an angry Aryn into a tiny, miserable prison. "Stay in there and rot until you're ready to tell me what you've done with my husband," the Black Knight of Masked Death ordered darkly.


The Neo Epoch turning in the air, giving her one last view of a destroyed Atlantis...


"I'm sorry, Solana, you guys made it back a bit too late. Dante's been taken..."


"I have to kill them... kill them all! They stole my home from me! They wiped out my people!"


Being bound and helpless as the Alterius Scroll was destroyed in front of her...


The terrible nightmares she had experienced while under the Sin Sickness...


The people of Ridley joining together to take her life...


Solana had been driven to her knees on the sandy ground under the weight of the pain and failures of so many millennia, clenching her aching head. She had worked to learn the lessons from each time, but it was a completely different thing being forced to re-live them all one by one like this. Sensations and emotions were slashing her heart like icy blades, trying to break her down. She looked up at the bookshelf labyrinth in front of her, desperately trying to think.

The images flashing before her shifted to the very worst- Aryn's eyes. Solana screamed as phantom pains, an echo of what Aryn had experienced, racked her body. Her vision faded in and out- sometimes seeing flashes of white, or gray, or her own tear-streaked face bent over her friend, trying to heal her.

"I'll get you to safety, Aryn. Then I'll finish this," she heard her own voice saying.

Solana, what... why are you... sending me away? Aryn's thoughts were confused.

There was a blue flash, and Aryn was stretched out on the floor in the common room. Oriana stared at her in horror and Joshua gasped as he turned around.

"Help me down!" Oriana cried out. Joshua obeyed, helping the Life Guardian to kneel down by Aryn. Aryn moaned as the pains started to subside a bit, but hope was in her heart. Oriana would be able to fix this!

Oriana folded her hands and shut her eyes, trying to summon her power. Nothing happened. She tried again, and again, and again. The life essence was still gone.

Solana's gamble on Aryn's life had failed.

Solana whimpered to herself as Oriana hung her head helplessly. The sensation in Aryn's feet and hands had stopped as the nerves died, and was starting to crawl up her limbs. No! Not Aryn, not this.... she saved my life! She can't pay for it with her own! Please!

"Aryn! No! What did that bastard do to you?!" Eziban shouted as he ran in ahead of Raoul and Trista. The Star core dropped from his hands to hit the floor hard, but he ignored it as he ran to Aryn's side.

"Can't you heal her?!" Raoul demanded, eyes tearing.

Slowly, so slowly, Oriana shook her head. "I can't. My power has not been returned. Bachlan has created a spell to have her re-live every instant of pain in her life."

Eziban desperately turned to Raoul. "Bro, can you do anything? Nerves run on electricity!"

Raoul looked doubtful. "I'll try," he promised, and took one of Aryn's unresisting hands in his. He called on his power and tried to tame the flashing neurons, but nothing happened. The numbness had spread to her elbows and knees.

"C'mon, do something! Anything! Take my power if you need it, or maybe some of my power stones-" Eziban begged, ripping off the leather bands from his wrists to hand over.

"Mine, too! Take it and help her!" Trista added.

"I can't! He's tied in my power, and life, and memory. I can't break it!" Raoul snapped, then bowed his head.

Helpless, Solana began beating the ground with her fists. Hot tears splashed down her cheeks. Aryn, siliquemanita, stay with us! Don't leave! Don't leave me!!! Please...

Eziban grabbed Aryn's hands, tears of heartbreak running down his face. Aryn looked up at him in a gaze of love as the numbness spread to her chest, but that was all she could do. Her brain and heart were slowing down, and she had taken her last breath. It would be game over in a few seconds.

Eziban leaned down and kissed her. Aryn tried to respond, but she couldn't move. "I'm so sorry, firebird. I'm so sorry that my work on your armor didn't save you."

Aryn tried to open her mouth, tried to make some movement that would say that she didn't blame him, but she could do nothing. Her vision was fading away, and air left her lungs for the last time.

Ezi.... my love... Solana... my....sister.... protect... our.....world....

Then there was nothing.

Solana screamed her fury and grief. One question beat in her head consistently with every heartbeat. Why?! WHY?!

Why had she been unable to break Bachlan's spell?!

Why had Oriana not received her power back?

Why did Aryn have to pay the price this time?

Why...?

Why...?

Remember...

Solana looked around wildly at the unfamiliar voice. "NO!! Aryn shouldn't have died like this! It should've been me! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!"

Remember what Aryn told you last night... at the fire....

Last night....

What had they talked about last night? Solana tried to remember.

"Tomorrow's just the first step of a nasty road. We have entire countries already pissed off at us, more that will be at losing their shields against forces of nature, and a new path to forge for all of us. You're a symbol of rebellion against Bachlan, Solana, and our people know that. And your people in Lantias need you, too," she had said in her usual straightforward way.

YES, this was the truth! "Why tell me all this?"

"Because Bachlan fights like a dirty, cheating bastard, that's why," Aryn had replied frankly. "You figure I spent all this time challenging opponents just to learn new moves? He's the Guardian of Memory, remember, and we've both got things on our consciences that we aren't proud of." Her tone had turned deadly serious. "No matter what he throws at us, no matter what tricks he tries, remember that there are many people out there who still need what you can do, Solana. Promise me that."

"I promise."

Solana gulped a last sob and paused. There had been something wrong with what she had seen. Something missing...

The Celestial Gift... Aryn told me that it will be passed on to a new bearer when she dies. But that didn't happen. So either she lied, or this was created by someone who didn't know that.

Memories could be misleading. They could cover what had really happened, whether it was hiding an attack on an innocent group of elves, or pretending that someone had died. A trick. A trap.

A lie.

Solana got to her feet. She called on a spell to banish the image that Bachlan had called up, replacing it with the beach. Her kamas were in her hands again. "Show yourself, Bachlan! I will not break the promise I made to Aryn!"

Bachlan appeared, burning with fury at this latest failure. Beyond words, he started sending out streaks of air-tempered fire and lightning at her.

Solana shielded herself against them easily, then mentally countered the memory attack he had tried with her own choices. Being reunited with Kiel in Atlantis, then for good. Aryn agreeing to come along on her quest. The patients she had saved. Finding Leon and reuniting him with Junon while taking down the rebellion in Tristan kingdom. The battles she had helped win. Finding answers for herself and her friends and their worlds.

Failures teach us important lessons. We fall so that we get the strength to rise up again and continue on, more powerful than before. We know what it's like to be weak, so we work hard to protect others. I am not a Guardian despite my failures, but because of them!

The ground underneath her feet began to shake violently. Shelves buckled, dumping texts and scrolls out onto the ground. Solana desperately dodged through the labyrinth, stumbling and nearly losing her footing in an instance where one misstep would be her last. After diving past the final one, she finally made her way back to the open beach.

Bachlan's never realized this. Even now, he still clings to the memory essence and the vision that he was needed for the same saving role he had played so long ago. He's trapped in his own past. Even his love for Trista wasn't enough to make him come out of it. This is why he hates me so much, because I forced him to face the truth that he did not want to see.

Bachlan appeared, then began building up more fire in his hands. Solana was ready to block, but he turned around and threw it at a shelf. Made of carved wood and richly stained, it went up quickly. The books that were housed on it began to smoke.

Solana's eyes widened as she threw a watery shield over it. Again and again Bachlan tossed balls of fire seemingly at random. If he couldn't break her with her memories, he was going to try and destroy them! She tried to counter as quickly as she could, determined to protect both the difficult and the precious, and everything that made her who she was now.

Flames roared up from a mahogany bookcase, threatening to take every volume with it. Its neighbors burst into flame as well, and Solana had to spell weave fast to try to protect them. To her right, another lance of lightning threatened to take out all of her memories from her second millenium of life.

This wasn't working! Instead of just countering, she had to distract him with something, anything...

An image of Trista came to mind, asking her to please give Bachlan one chance to reform before engaging in battle. She concentrated hard, since they were in HER memory.

One certain book was summoned from a dusty pile and came to her arms. Solana opened it, then let it go as the pages starting flapping until they reached a certain point. Magic poured from it to form a sort of screen hanging in midair.

Like a projection, the images of Solana and Trista appeared in the Glade. Trista's tear-streaked face and the desperation in her eyes was clearly visible as she begged Solana to give Bachlan one last chance to turn away from his chosen path, one more chance to live as a different man.

Bachlan stared at it soundlessly. A fireball held in his hands slowly died away. Pain and longing danced in his eyes at the image of his beloved still wanting him to be safe, and his color drained. His left hand was trembling as it reached for the image. "My... wind blossom..." he muttered softly.

The scenery around them shuddered once, then began to lose shape. "No!" Bachlan cried out, but it was too late. Thoughts of Trista had interfered with those needed to maintain the memory spell, and it was falling apart. Colors washed out from the images in Solana's memory as they collapsed, and she felt a tug pulling her out from her memory storehouse. She closed her eyes...



...and opened them to see that she and Bachlan had returned to the Crystal Citadel to finish their duel. Solana swayed on her feet, her head aching and vision still slightly blurred from the memory attack.

Bachlan was now leaning on his double-ended naginata with his good arm, panting heavily in his fury. His hair was in a wild disarray as he glared at her. Being taunted with that image of Trista had pushed him beyond any threads of sanity he had left. Still the Guardian of Memory, he recovered from the mental jump a lot faster than his victim had.

Mangled bits of power from the stolen essences were slapped together into a haphazard ball. Bachlan's face was like thunder as he finished it and threw it directly at Solana, wanting to end things at last.

Solana tried shaking her head to clear it, and finally spotted the danger. She threw up a shield as fast as she could, but was too late to do more than barely deflect it. The ball hit the ground directly at her feet and exploded.

Solana gasped as the explosion sent her flying backwards into the solid crystal wall behind her. There was a sickening crack! in her back and an answering burst of pain before she slid slowly to the floor.


The main room

Oriana sat back on her heels. She was satisfied that the slow healing spell she had begun on Aryn would fix up what Bachlan's pain-awakening spell had managed to do, and blessed Eziban for his work on her girl's armor.

"Solana! Dammit, I should still be in there!" Aryn hissed, trying to get up again and reaching for her morningstar.

Everyone looked up at Joshua's square, seeing Solana lying prone on the crystal floor as Bachlan positioned himself for a final blow.

Oriana caught Eziban's eye and motioned him to stop his stubborn friend. He knelt down and began talking swiftly and quietly to Aryn, keeping one hand on her shoulder in either support or restraint.

Meanwhile, she carefully pulled herself to her feet. Her legs shuddered once or twice after her long ordeal in her crystal prison before taking her weight. Life essence or no, she still had some recovering of her own to do.

"Please, help me stay steady," Oriana murmured to Raoul. The brawny Thunder Guardian grabbed her shoulders and braced her. Joshua came up on her side, holding one of her arms and offering his support. Trista helped Eziban keep an eye on Aryn.

Oriana closed her eyes and opened herself to her life essence. Her powers could recognize other lifeforces, and join to them. It was how they had worked together as Guardians for so long. Normally, she went through their work crystals, but surely it wouldn't be necessary after so many thousands of years.

Her power slipped through Bachlan's barriers and walls, not being an offensive attack or teleportation spell, and found the heart of the eldest of her girls.


The Memory Chambers

Panicked after sliding down the wall, Solana tried to move one toe and succeeded. She wasn't paralyzed, but that could change in an instant if she tried to move. Her back felt like it had been pounded with a meat tenderizer for a few hours. With Aryn out of the battle, there was no one to distract Bachlan while she tried to heal herself.

"You might as well throw those grass-cutters aside- you and I are both going to have to finish this as mages," Bachlan declared, rubbing his useless right arm with his left hand. A blast of super-hot plasma shot straight at her. Solana raised her hands and summoned a stream of pure water, feeling her essence and even the Aura running dry. She was tired, so very tired and she hurt, but she could not give up!

You are not alone in this fight.

Solana gasped, hearing that sweet voice in her heart. Oriana? Your power came back enough to link us?

Yes, now that Joshua has freed me, Merna has returned most of my power. Think, my dear. As long as life still exists in us, so must hope.

"This is impossible! You're supposed to be helpless, witch!" Bachlan bellowed, pouring more strength into his spell. Solana gasped, trying to beef up her defense as her mind raced to grab onto anything that would help.

You are not alone....

Remember in your endeavors that the greatest strength is found in unity, whether it is a handful of Guardians or one hundred and eight stars or a league throughout the universe.

Pod members are unhappy when broken up, and only together can they prevail.

One cannot do everything themselves, and that is why we travel in pods.

The serpents regard the tale as one of their most noble, displaying the choice we have in misfortune. Do we allow it to isolate us? Or do we join together to rise above it?

Go with Miniki's prayers for your success. Don't forget what you have seen here today, nor that it is not one woman but the whole that creates our destiny.

That's it! We'll turn his own plan against him! Everyone, open our ties to one another, and give me your strength!

She could feel the releases on everyone's essences opening to her, and reached out with a mental hand to take what she needed. The flush of warmth was the heartfire of planets as Aryn opened her fire essence and Celestial Gift to her. A pair of joyful tears ran down Solana's cheeks at the confirmation that this sister of her heart was okay. Then there was the sizzling of lightning, the glory of pure light, the solidity and foundation of earth, and the revitalizing power of life.

As Oriana directed her power in, Solana felt a tug from the pearl around her throat, and suddenly understood as a burst of iridescent power trickled from it into her body.

The last piece of the life essence had been with her all this time.

Solana and the others could feel Trista hesitating. So could Bachlan, and he butted into Oriana's connection spell using his stolen life power. I knew that you would not betray me, my dear, after I came to you in your darkest hour!

Solana held her breath. Trista? What are you-

Quiet! Trista's inner voice was wrought with pain, but had a strange sad serenity threaded through it. Bachlan, I love you. I really, truly love you and I'll always be grateful that you saved my life. More than anyone else here, I know the pain you felt in carrying the burden of the memory essence by yourself. I've only wanted to help you and stay by your side for always.

Solana felt her heart sink as she saw Bachlan's eyes glittering in triumph. Aid me now, Trista! Take of my power to destroy the traitors, and return to my side where you were meant to be! He opened his memory essence and stolen power to her, inviting her to take what she needed.

Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out for his power and twined it with her own. The Guardians in the common room with her drew their weapons cautiously, wondering what she would do first. Like you did for me, I'll give you freedom from your chains, those of the memory essence and the mental prison you made for yourself. My last gift of love will be eternal peace for you. Trista opened her essence to Solana, making herself a conduit between the two adversaries.

Solana didn't hesitate. The rush of the gales filled her as she drew on it, followed by the smoky gray of memory and what remained of their stolen power. When she drew upon the gray, her mind was suddenly clouded with a vision- that of a world giving birth to itself.

These were the memories of the world during the Great Birth. Sea serpents were bearing witness as Merna let all of her power flow out to create herself anew for more life. Solana could FEEL the happiness and triumph that Merna felt at this change, and the joyful expectation of what she would become.

But what struck her the most was how this sight was no less wondrous than what the planet had become over time, and what they had all seen in their travels. Solana felt a burst of sadness. Oh, Bachlan, you fool. You saw this with your own eyes, and still you did not understand the heart of our world.

A light seemed to die in Bachlan's eyes at Trista's defection, followed by a moment of hesitation, and finally acceptance. He summoned a strange dark cloud of sickly charcoal gray power around his hands, the same that he had hit Solana with in the past. With his essence stripped, he was now turning the magic of his own lifeforce into a weapon.

Solana herself was trembling with the force of so much magic swimming through her. She wove everything she had into one beam of brilliant multi-colored light. She raised her arms as Bachlan opened his hands and they both let fly with their spells.

The sickly gray beam sped towards her, but the light that was the Heart of Merna rammed straight through it, obliterating it instantly. Undeterred, the rainbow beam continued on to hit Bachlan straight in the chest.

The Memory Guardian was rammed straight back into one of the crystal pillars. His body wracked in pain, and slowly began to dissolve under Merna's pure power. As it did, a small smoky gem dropped to the floor, containing the memory essence.

For a fleeting second and the first time she could remember, Solana caught a look of deep peace in the brown eyes of her former leader. As they closed, Trista's name was on his lips before he was gone, made a memory of the past.

The rest of the power that remained from everyone's attack split into seven beams and raced to their previous owners, replenishing their power. As it did, Solana heard the same voice that had called her to remember Aryn's words. It was neither male or female, but one that somehow contained facets of all of their elements in its whispered cadences. Well done, my chosen Guardians. Learn, laugh, love, and live, and I will take my joy in yours.

It was something she would never forget. We will.

The barrier around the Memory Chambers collapsed with its maker, and the door finally opened to allow some of her friends entrance. Raoul, Oriana and Joshua were there first to see Solana slumped against the wall, her eyes barely open. She was utterly exhausted, but couldn't allow herself to slip into unconsciousness quite yet. "Aryn?" she squeaked.

Oriana smiled as she knelt down and began examining her younger friend. "She'll be fine after some more healing and some rest. Just like you, my darling. The cracked vertebrae in your back will heal fully, although it will take a bit of time. Raoul."

Raoul nodded and knelt down by Solana's side, just touching the middle of her back with feather-light pressure. A bit of crackling power entered, and suddenly Solana felt like she'd been given a massive dose of an anesthetic. In addition, the lower half of her body felt frozen in place to prevent any more injuries. She managed to raise one eyebrow, impressed by the idea and his level of control. "When did you learn that?"

Raoul smiled modestly. "Oriana and Malika are good teachers. I'll bring you to the infirmary, so Oriana can keep an eye on both of you." He carefully scooped her up into his arms, being as gentle as if she were made of glass the thickness of a hair.

"What about this?" Joshua asked, staring down at the memory essence contained inside the piece of crystal.

Oriana shook her head. "We'll handle that later. Come on." He reached down and grabbed it, then tucked the crystal in his robe pocket for the moment.

Downstairs in the common room, Eziban was carrying Aryn towards the infirmary, a tearing Trista at his side. Despite Aryn's paleness, she still managed to summon a shadow of her cocky grin. "He couldn't even do his own dirty work to try and finish me off, but had to rely on what others have tried," she remarked.

"This from a woman who couldn't even finish her fight," Trista pointed out. Aryn flapped a hand at her carelessly, not worried about the details.

"Trista," Solana began. Everyone paused as the Air Guardian came to stand by her. "You succeeded. When Bachlan... when our power touched him, and his essence left, I saw peace in his eyes. It was you that finally set him free from himself."

Trista sniffed. "I know that. As hard as that was, I'm grateful. Now... now's going to be a new beginning."

"Indeed it is, but you two need to build your strength up first. Infirmary, now," Oriana ordered crisply.

The boys obeyed and brought their charges to the wing of rooms used for those Guardians or other patients that needed prolonged care under Oriana's eye. They were very clean, with crystalline walls that had been tinted various pastel colors to be more harmonious and handmade coverlets on soft beds. Eziban had helped to design this wing so that the crystalline walls could sink down between rooms so that patients could talk, or just be separated by curtains. The walls were presently up and would stay that way to let them rest.

Eziban brought Aryn to the closest room, cradling her very gently as he brought her through the open doorway. Solana could hear him murmuring questions, while Aryn softly reassured him. Raoul brought her to the room next door, and very carefully set her down on the comfortable bed. "It would be best to let Oriana undo this, so I don't damage anything," he explained.

"Thank you, Raoul. You have such excellent control to be able to do that," Solana said warmly. Raoul ducked his head, a little embarrassed by the praise, but he was pleased nonetheless.

Oriana was just behind him, since Aryn had already been stabilized during the battle. The Life Guardian smiled and motioned for Raoul to leave, then came to Solana's bedside.

As tired as Solana was, there was one more question. "Oriana, your essence..." she began.

Oriana knew instantly what she meant. "Yes, love, I put a piece in your pendant to keep you safe from Bachlan's power the day that you two came back to us those years ago. That day proved all too well what Bachlan was capable of." Her smile saddened a bit. "I'm just sorry that that bit of intuition was proven correct."

"We all make our own choices, Oriana, for good or for evil," Solana murmured. She remembered the time that the magical power of that bit of life essence had saved her in Tiraz-leen so many years ago, then slowly recharged its power to be returned this day. She thought of just how many times this woman had saved her life over time.

Suddenly, a burst of insight came to her, thinking of what Raoul had told her of his stay in Deynain. "The elves taught you, didn't they? When you helped Liam, so they saved us twice-"

"No more questions," Oriana stated firmly in her best healer tone. A gentle hand brushed Solana's forehead, and waves of sleep wrapped comfortingly around her like a favorite blanket.

As Solana sank down gratefully, she murmured a well-known phrase in her native tongue to Oriana and Merna alike, that was a reminder that no breath of life was to be taken for granted- "Grati prail donalo dea animada."

Thank you for the gift of life.