24: Failure and Hope

Rayrina bit her lips in anger, as she felt almost powerless towards the spirit. Everyone in the entire castle stopped fighting, whether they were winning or losing. They were frozen not in fear, not in anger, not in pain. Not even in hate, but in lack of power. Onrir absorbed their power like a sponge, causing him to gain more powerful by the second. Bit by bit, almost everyone collapsed to the ground, screaming. The only ones left were the Elemental Guardians

The same laughter filled the air once more. “We must get out of here.” The same thought rang through the air almost like it was being spoken. Everyone knew they didn’t have enough strength to get up and run, as their bodies were being broken down. Only one of them was fine. He didn’t have a body. He was energy.

Nocturn expanded himself to a size as large as the castle. Sucking everything in, he swallowed everyone in the rebellion, and teleported them back to Manoha’s hut, or at least, he thought he got everyone. Rayrina’s body, hung from Onrir’s left hand, would not go in. If he could get around her, he could take her back. It was too late. He was already gone, gone to Manoha’s hut. Rayrina was still there. Dying, but being kept alive with Onrir’s power. It was brutal torture.

***

The Elemental Guardians, Manoha, Rayman, Globox, Murfy, and Amatser were transported to Manoha’s basement. Everyone was silent, confused and scared. Trembling in fear, the Elemental Guardians looked at each other sadly, remembering that frightening image of Onrir. Glad that they were safe, they let out sighs of relief, but then clutched their stomachs. Something didn’t feel right. They failed so quickly, even on the day of the Rainbow. Everything went so fast it was nearly abnormal. It was all an illusion created to substitute the real battle, giving Onrir time to finally release himself from Amatser. They had failed from the start.

Without talking, Manoha took the exhausted Rayman, Globox and Murfy to the corner and let them sleep. She lit a match and made a fire in the middle, and dragged Amatser near the fire to make him warm. She then sat down on the other side of the fire and stared down. There was a strong tension between everyone in the basement. Rayax could understand that she had been planning for this day for years, only to fail so miserably.

The Elemental Guardians, without talking, sat around the fire and sighed. Nocturn, who for the first time seemed extremely sad, sulked down and clenched his fists. Clary, attempting to break the silence, noticed that Rayrina wasn’t there, and asked where she was. Nobody answered. Nocturn sulked down even more.

“You HAVE to be kidding me… That’s not possible… She’s here, right?” Clary whimpered.

Silence swept upon them like a cold wind. Clary, sighing in loneliness, looked over to her left, and saw Lien, who was shaking incredibly. Maria, Edman, and Raywill, who remained silent and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, looked up at once and swung their heads over to Lien. Noticing that everyone was staring at her, even Manoha, she let out a few tears and sighed.

“Onrir killed my family… and I swore that I would avenge them… but… I was so helpless back there…” she cried.

Almost everyone was about to praise her and say: “That’s okay, you were good.” But they decided not to as they knew that wasn’t true. Everyone wasn’t good. It went too fast, and they were too late.

“So mine isn’t the only life he ruined…” Amatser whispered for the first time.

Everyone returned their attention to him.

“Because of him, I have been exiled from this world, yet with nowhere else to go. I was brutally tortured,” he coughed. “Now with him free, I can’t even think of regaining everyone’s trust.”

“You’re with us now, don’t worry,” Edman murmured.

Amatser cracked a smile for the first time in years, and lay his head down beside the fire dieing once more. Maria re-lit the fire and hugged herself. Raywill, who was closest to Manoha, attempted to pat her on the back, but his limbless arm was swung back by Manoha. Glaring, she slammed the ground in fury, let out a few tears and then hugged her knees again. Edman, who was determined to break the painful silence, raised his head and prepared himself to talk.

“Ugh, Nocturn, you saved our butts back there, thanks,” he chuckled.

Nocturn looked up and sighed.

“That doesn’t matter. No mater how devastating that loss was, and how much our hope has been drained, we can’t give up now,” he started. “Manoha, I know you’re sad, but you can’t just stare at the ground forever and watch as Onrir destroys everything! Gather some courage for Polokus’ sake!”

Rayax, who twitched his eye at that comment, trembled and awaited Manoha’s reaction. She stared at Nocturn ungratefully, and frowned.

“SO WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO!?” The words came out of her mouth like plum juice out of a barrel.

“That’s for you to decide,” he said calmly. “Meanwhile, there has to be something we can do in order to seal Onrir back, right?”

“Yeah, it’s his greatest fear…” Amatser breathed.

Everyone started at him intensively.

“You know of this?” Maria asked.

“Yes. If all the Elemental Guardians bear their symbols on their bodies and connect their Elemental Crystals together, they can seal him back on the next day of the Rainbow. There is a condition of course… there must be a sacrifice.”

“We’ll consider the sacrifice once the Elemental Guardians all have their symbols ready.” Nocturn went on. “If this is our only chance, so be it. Tomorrow, everyone who hasn’t gained their symbol, including me, will set out to do so. The rest will stay here with Manoha, and make preparations for the assault. We can’t exactly wait a year, so once everyone has their symbol and crystal, Rayax and I will combine out powers to fast-forward time without changing anything. THAT is the new plan and it WILL work. I’ll make sure.”

Manoha raised her head and smiled.

“Not bad, for a lump of smart-mouth energy,” she sighed.

“But what about Rayrina!? Are we just going to let her die because of Onrir?!” Clary yelled.

“We’ll rescue her during the fast-forwarding, when everything is paused, and tell her of the plan,” Nocturn reassured.

“We’ll need Polokus’ help, right?” Maria asked.

“Onrir took care of Polokus by trapping him inside a cage. Once Onrir is sealed, we’ll free him,” Nocturn explained.

“I’ll definitely get revenge,” Lien spat coldly.

“We’ll finish him off together,” Raywill chuckled.

Hope swept upon them, everyone but Amatser. All he could think in his mid was “Sacrifice…” but the thought quickly dropped as he was lulled to sleep by the flames.