Travel between Aluria and Blossom Field galaxy had become an easy task over the last few years despite the fact that Aluria had been separated from the rest of the universe within their own dimension for millions of years prior. The Leylines that ran under the surface of Aluria acted as veins of elemental power coming from the Core—two elements to each of the five Lines—and when the Lines condensed all ten elements, they created a scapolite orb called a Leystone. Those Leystones were capable of allowing for travel between dimensions, although it hadn't been until recently that anyone knew that was their purpose. Previously, the stones had merely been held by Defenders to enhance their magic.
Only two Leystones currently existed. One stayed in Starlight's hands, and the other stayed with Tasia. She had inherited it from her father who had used it to travel to Aluria little less than thirty years before. It still remained a great mystery to all how the Leystone had gotten into the hands of the man who had fathered the Apex of Chaos. It could not be coincidence.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Lilac demanded from where she sat on a bench under a window in the throne room of Starlight's palace. It was really the only room that had remained standing. Everything else had been laid to waste. Yet, even the throne room had holes in the ceiling and some of the walls.
Phoenix and Vincent were in the process of pacing back and forth, so the others stayed clear. Rose sat curled up on Raven's lap. She felt utterly terrified of everything happening, but she held strong and proud like the Defender Cultivator she had been forced to become far too young.
"One of us is supposed to just up and die. Great. Keen." Phoenix hissed out a curse. "A martyr. Just like April!"
"Nix!" Starlight said sharply.
Phoenix was already turning, and he rushed to Rose to snatch her up in a fierce hug. "Baby, I'm so sorry," he said into the little girl's hair. "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean that!" The little hiccupping sob against his shoulder shattered his heart. "Rosie. I'm sorry, Rosie." He rocked the small Cultivator back and forth. "Your mom died honorably and proudly, defending queen and kingdom as a true Defender."
Rose clung onto Phoenix's shirt tightly. It hurt. It hurt so much. It had been three years and it felt as if it had been three days. She still remembered the last sight of her mother. She had been so strong and majestic as she confronted the enemy, and then Luc had taken Rose away from the scene and hidden her safely. Vargas had been the one to find them, and he had delivered the news to Rose as gently as he could that her father had fallen on the field and April had given her life to see to the safety of the kingdom. Rose had only had a moment to feel grief. Almost as soon as she had known the events, magic had welled inside her from her before-unknown Seed and a Mask had appeared in her hands. It had shocked Vargas and Luc alike as no one had known she could be Activated. She hadn't known either, but she had immediately put on the Mask, asked for a weapon, and demanded to be taken to Starlight.
No one on the team would forget the sight of Vargas approaching with the tiny Masked and armored Defender in his arms. They had all started at age five, but not in the middle of a war! They had wanted terribly to stash Rose away safely, but they had not wanted to shame her gifted duty. Instead, they had done everything they could to train her on the fly and ensure she knew they would always stand by her side. Phoenix felt sick for diminishing what April had done, or what Rose had done since.
"I'll take her," Luc said, a note of defiance in his voice. He had always been exceptionally possessive of Rose.
Phoenix walked over to where he sat and put Rose down next to him. He studied the way Luc automatically hugged her tight, his shoulder the perfect place for her to hide her face, and he smiled as he stood. Almost randomly, he said, "Sixteen-twenty-three."
Sunlight pondered that. "Twenty-six-thirty-two."
"Nah, given the family, twenty-one-twenty-eight," Yuiki offered
Luc blinked at the seemingly random string of numbers. "Huh?"
"Nothing." Phoenix rubbed his hands over his arms. Luc would figure out eventually that they were guessing at which age the young couple would be before they realized they were soul mates; everyone else had known for as long as Luc and Rose had been friends. "We're back to where we started. What the hell are we supposed to do? How do we decide whose life to return? We all would do it in an instant. The only one who cannot do this is Rose or the triplets. Rose is too young; we've lived longer, and she deserves a life. One of the triplets has to produce a child for Aluria's future, so there's no way we can let them do this either."
A knock on the door sounded softly before it opened and the Captain of Aluria's Royal Knights walked in. "Pardon the intrusion," Captain Dana Moore said, her voice slightly strained, "but there is a visitor here for you."
Phoenix frowned. "Dana?" He crossed to her quickly and found her dark skin to be unusually pale, and there was an odd look in her brown eyes. "Are you okay?" His eyes searched his wife's tall frame quickly but found no injuries immediately visible; the pain in her voice had to be emotional.
"No. No, I don't think I am." She curled an arm around his waist, as much to balance him as herself. "Come in," she said to whoever was in the hall.
The doorway suddenly filled with the appearance of another woman. Moonlight couldn't stifle a little shriek. Most of the others gasped. Rose grabbed onto Luc with white knuckles but he didn't notice; his jaw had dropped open. Even Vargas, Raven, and Felix, the most levelheaded of all those present, could say nothing. Could feel nothing except shock.
"You'd think someone had died," April Johnson chastised as she swept the room with her pine colored gaze. Her curly brown hair, the same shade as her daughter's, had been scooped up haphazardly on top of her head like always, and her olive skin had too much color for her to be a ghost.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Kiegan managed to whisper, "but I believe you did."
"I almost did." April closed her eyes for a moment in memory. "Taylor had already fallen. I was so close to death myself that I saw him reaching out for me. I reached for him . . . and then suddenly he was gone. And I heard this voice . . . she told me that my death was destined, but that was not the place for it." She lifted her chin and her gaze. "I was granted a reprieve for the time needed for this day to come." She placed a hand over her heart. "It is my life and my Seed that will be returned to the planet on this day."
"How can we just let you die again?!" Moonlight shouted.
"I'm already dead." The words were soft and gentle. "In your minds, that is how you should see it. I'm already dead. If it helps you accept such a thing, know that my soul has already reached partway toward the Realm for I can feel Taylor's presence near me."
"Why didn't you come back to us?!" Starlight demanded as she stalked toward her friend. Her hand cracked sharply across April's face and then she collapsed against her chest on a painful sob. "Damn you! It killed me!" Nothing ever felt or tasted as bitter for a Ruler Cultivator as to see one of their beloved Defenders fall protecting them.
April held onto her just as tightly. Whatever pain she felt in her cheek could not compare to the pain in her heart. "I would have come back. I intended to. But then I heard about how the daughter of the fallen Glass Defender of Aluria had found a Mask right after her mother's death and immediately stepped into the role. That, more than anything, told me that Aluria wanted me to stay dead." She looked at Rose and her eyes shined. "I am so proud of you, Rosie. You're more than I've ever been."
Rose scrambled off the bench and rushed across the room to throw herself into her mother's arms. Starlight barely moved in time. April caught Rose up tightly and wanted to cry at holding her daughter again. "I love you so much!" she said fiercely into her hair.
Hating himself, Vincent stepped forward. "Alright. You can die for the rest of us." When his team started to speak, he held up a hand sharply. "April has made her choice. Any way you look at this, we were going to suffer. At least this is a pain we are familiar with. We can move past this. We have before."
Phoenix said something particularly vile under his breath, and he almost instantly felt the comforting presence of Chaos surrounding him. Inside his mind, he heard Tasia's soft, mystical voice saying, You hurt.
Of course I hurt! Someone I love returns from the dead only to die again! And don't jump in my head! It freaks me out!
You needed me. The words were simple. April is right that it must be her death. Think of it, Nix. If things had stayed status quo, if your team had been whole and then one of you died, then the team would have broken. But because April 'died', a new Glass Defender came forward. April's sacrifice means the Alurian Defenders will be empowered as an entire unit, and for the coming war, both Resurrection and Alurian Defenders must be whole. Our magic too thoroughly complements one another.
Phoenix's eyes slowly widened. "Oh my god," he whispered.
"What?" Jeo asked warily.
"Tasia. She . . . she just jumped in my head. And she . . . she told me that April was right. If she hadn't died and Rose hadn't become a Defender, then when we reached this moment, whoever died would leave a hole in the team."
Stark silence fell. "You see?" April said gently. "Doing this . . . I feel as if it is right. Of all the deeds I've ever done, there are two that I will be able to look on with the most pride. One, I will have given my life for my friends." She smoothed Rose's hair out of her damp face. "And two, I will have given life to this amazing little girl." She looked at Luc and hid a smile. She had always wondered about him, really. "You'll care for her."
"With my life," he vowed fiercely.
She looked at Starlight and Raven. "I want you to take Rose as your own. I'm giving her to you. I know you'll love her as much as I and Taylor would have." When they nodded, she looked at Rose. "Is that okay?"
Rose nodded and then found a smile for all of them. With all the strength of will of her older partners, she said, "It means I'll have two moms and dads to be proud of. Put me down, please." When she was set on her feet, she stood as tall and proud as she could. "I will fight for you, Mom. I won't let you down."
"You never have."
"So where do we go?" Lilac asked her. "Do you know where to access the Core of Aluria from?"
She shook her head. "I don't, I'm sorry."
"What, no near death experience flashes of insight?" Phoenix asked dryly.
"Hey, I wasn't in a position to quibble about the details. I had two punctured lungs and every bone in my body was broken. Death is a lot less painful than near death, seriously." She propped her hands on her hips. "Isn't it supposed to be somewhere where the power of Aluria is most concentrated?"
Luc brightened. "I know!" He went scrambling out of the room and nearly knocked over Dana along the way. When he came skidding back in, he carried a ragged but relatively intact map. "Here!" He unrolled the map on the floor. "Look at where the Leyline points are!"
Raven peered over his head. It was easy to see the points where Leyline power was strongest; each had been marked by an access point, and four of those points had defenses in the form of a Guardian Kingdom while the fifth was protected by the Alurian Kingdom itself. Sunlight and Felix ruled over one of the Guardian Kingdoms while Moonlight and Vargas ruled over another; Raven had been the heir to the latter until he married Starlight. "What about the points?" he asked.
Rose grabbed a pen and very studiously drew lines connecting the kingdoms. The resulting image formed a perfect star pentagram.
Softly, Tasia's voice murmured in Phoenix's head, A pentagram is one of the strongest symbols in existence. It is representative of land and soil and can be used for invocation, and it represents Destiny herself.
"Get out of my head!" Phoenix shouted at the ceiling.
"Yes, I hear it's quite dusty in there," April murmured drolly.
Phoenix made a single rude gesture. He refused to admit that he had missed April's tendency to needle him about everything. He wholly hoped, and expected, Rose to pick up that duty as well. She had already begun to sass him, bless her.
"I bet the most powerful spot is here." Rose pointed to the place that sat in the center of the pentagram. "But didn't Clara say the person sacrificing their life had to visit a place of memory?"
"There's only one truly important place for me," April said softly. "It was the place where I did the most important thing of my life."
Starlight knew instantly what she talked about. "Then we'll go there. We've all been there, though Rose won't remember it at all. Perhaps it is good for her to go there now."
"We have to stay behind?" Dana asked on behalf of all the Caretakers.
"I believe so." Jeo smiled. "I think this just became a Cultivator-only matter."
Luc frowned. Rose leaned over to kiss his cheek and his young heart flopped around. There was just something about her that he loved more than anything. He wanted to protect her always. "It's okay," she told him. "I'm just fine."
Lilac scooped her up under one arm. "You keep kissing people before you're at least twenty-one and you won't be. We'll lock you up where no one can find you."
"How old were you when you kissed someone?" Rose challenged.
"Kiegan, how old were we when I kissed you that time?"
Kiegan thought about it. "Nineteen? I think we were nineteen. And I stand by my statement that I had no objections to you kissing me in general, but you could have at least warned me you were going to do it."
"You kissed Kiegan?" Moonlight blinked in bemusement. "Why did you kiss Kieg?"
Lilac grinned. "Terrible date. Very terrible. As in left an almost literal bad taste in my mouth. Kiegan happened to be convenient. We had been sort of eyeing each other anyway, but that made us realize we were definitely not soul mates. Two years later, he met Marianna, and a few later than that, I met Mac. Given that Marianna is not unlike me, and Mac not unlike Kiegan, we figured that must have been what interested us."
"Nineteen," Rose said smugly.
"Okay, fine. You can kiss Luc when you're nineteen."
Luc fell flat on his face, and Dana fought back laughter. "Call us if you need us," the Captain said dryly as all Cultivators marched out of the throne room.
"So where are we going?" Rose asked as she was set on her feet. She unconsciously took April's hand with one of hers, and Starlight's with her other. Her two mothers. Her two most important people.
"Is it still standing?" April asked Starlight.
"Thankfully yes." She let out a little breath. "It is one of the few remaining structures. I'm sure you've seen what has happened to our kingdoms and cities. Nearly everything has been laid to waste. The sheer fact that my throne room stayed standing has astonished all of us."
"I blame Tasia," Phoenix muttered.
Moonlight hid a smile. "Any particular reason?"
"Because it's easier to blame her. And she does those kinds of things." His worry for his Resurrection Cultivators friends stayed well hidden. He knew they suffered as well, and suffered in a way far more profound than what the Alurian Defenders were about to endure.
April smiled. "I wish I had had the chance to meet the Resurrection Cultivators. I suppose, in the end, all Cultivators whether we are Defender, Ruler, or Dual are much the same inside."
The place where they headed was a hospital in the main city and not far from the palace. It stood tall as a silent sentinel in the decimated city streets. The triplets wore hoods and cloaks to obscure their identity from everyone. Though all knew they were Defenders, they did not want to alarm the people with the knowledge that they went into a dangerous battle.
Rose studied the hospital curiously. She had never been there before. Because she was April's daughter, she had always gone to see Jeo if she was hurt. Jeo was not only a healer by magic but by choice. He had made himself versed in all forms of medicine. Yet, standing there, Rose felt the oddest déjà vu. She tilted her head. "I was here. When?"
"Eight years ago," April said softly.
Her eyes widened. "But I would have been a baby!"
"Yeah." Jeo smiled. "You were born here. I delivered you personally. Man." He shook his head. "You were just this tiny little thing with a massive cap of brown hair. And you cried. You were so pissed at us for disturbing you."
"Never mind that you gave us all heart attacks by being over a month early!" Kiegan groused.
April wrapped her arms around Rose gently. "You see? The memory I have here is of giving birth to you. It was, without a doubt, the most amazing thing I've ever done. It was worth every minute to see you now and know that I gave birth to such an incredible warrior."
"Warrior!" Rose looked up at her in surprise. "I'm a kid."
"Just who was it who defended the Glass-Thunder Leyline from being attacked?" Vincent asked. "And who was it who willingly joined her partners in battle to confront the heart of madness? You went to a place that most adults would run screaming from, and you did it with your chin up and your back straight. You make us better people, kid. If you can do it, then we can do it. It's that easy."
Tears welled in Rose's eyes and she swiped them away fiercely. Sometimes she felt as if she couldn't do enough as a Defender, be as good as her surrogate aunts and uncles. But to think they believed in her . . .
"Just how bad is childbirth?" Sunlight asked April as casually as possible.
April considered her words. "Well, I won't say that I wanted to die, but I entertained many fantasies about kicking my husband for helping get me in the condition I was in. That being said, though, every pain was worth it in the end."
Jeo eyed Sunlight intently and the other Cultivator warily edged away. Jeo let her get away with it, but made a mental note to insist on her having a full check-up. It wasn't like her to suddenly turn skittish. Other than Phoenix, she was the most outgoing of all of them. She was hiding something, and Jeo had his suspicions.
April remained quiet for many moments before she said musingly, "You know, I'm not afraid at all. I mean, few Cultivators are ever afraid of death, but I really am not afraid. I'm on borrowed time, frankly." She swung around, and her curls bounced in the air. Her eyes looked intense and focused. "Let's go. Let's go to the Core of Aluria."
To get to the Core on Aluria was easy for the Alurian Defenders. Since the Core itself produced the Leylines, all they had to do was find the place where one of the Leylines ran under the land and use it to transport themselves. Even with the Lines fractured, they could still travel along them. It would be far more accurate than trying to use regular transport magic, given they didn't have exact coordinates for where they wanted to go.
It wasn't very long before they stood in a place that made the hair on their skin lift. The air prickled with power that pulsed vibrantly. They all looked for a place that would lead them down, but it was Rose who finally discovered the stone hatch hidden by tall grass. She and Lilac pried it up so that the entrance was open.
As they all looked inside, Phoenix felt a chill. "It looks like a grave."
"Oh, you chicken." April gave him a shove and smiled with satisfaction as Phoenix cursed loudly when he hit the bottom. "I've missed that." She jumped down after her friend and was followed closely by the others.
It was pitch black in the tunnel to the point that no one could see anything. Hands linked to keep from being separated, they slowly worked their way down the tunnel. It wasn't as warm as they had expected; the air actually felt cool and comfortable. A spot of light finally became visible, and it steadily grew and expanded as if it pulled them in. When the light faded, they stood before a massive wooden door inlaid with scapolite stones. It looked like nothing they had seen before, and it had been carved with all the symbols across the universe that represented the ten Flower Elements of Aluria. The very center of the door held the edelweiss blossom that marked all Cultivators of the world.
"What kind of wood is this?" April asked. "I know it is the wood sacred to Aluria, but I'm not sure I ever knew what that was since I didn't need to know."
"Sycamore," Starlight helpfully provided.
"Okay. Why sycamore?"
Starlight smiled wryly. "That I do not know."
Across the back of Rose's mind, she heard a soft, mystical murmur, Sycamore stands for growth, persistence, strength, and endurance. For the record, that is fitting to Aluria as a whole for your own edelweiss means daring, endurance, and courage; and the scapolite is persistence, willpower, and transformation.
She linked her hands behind her back. "Sycamore is a persistent wood that represents growth and strength and endurance," she announced. Her partners looked at her in surprise, and she widened her eyes innocently. The voice was laughing in her mind, but it was too much fun to finally have one over her aunts and uncles. Besides, why else would Tasia have told her only? "It matches our edelweiss, too, because our flower means endurance and courage, and even scapolite is persistence and transformation and willpower."
Kiegan opened his mouth, then closed it. "Hmm." He eyed Rose. "And you just happen to know this?"
"Sure."
Starlight hid a smile. She had a strong suspicion where Rose had gotten her info, but she thought the little girl had more than earned her chance to know more than the other Cultivators. Being the youngest put her at a natural disadvantage. "Well, I suppose that does all make sense in the end, doesn't it? Aluria has always been enduring and persistent, given we have been alone so long. Growth and transformation surely related to our Core having ten Flower Elements. It's perfectly logical."
April ran her fingers over the door softly and felt it throbbing with the blend of elements. "This isn't the Core. This is merely the first step."
A soft feminine presence filled the air with such power that it made all of them catch their breath. It was familiar to all of them, and yet it was unknown. It was something or someone always there watching over them. And this time, Rose knew first what it was simply because her mind was the youngest and easiest to accept the truth. "Destiny," she whispered.
The door shimmered with all colors before becoming the green and silver of Aluria. Before me, a voice said softly, I see my Sons and Daughters of Aluria, and one Mother. Who is it who comes to make the final sacrifice?
"Me." April lifted her chin. "You granted me a reprieve, gave me back time that was not rightfully mine. On this day, I will pay back that favor. I will mend Aluria so my friends can protect it." She took a breath. "I am the Mother of Aluria. I have come to give back my life and Seed to the planet that brought me forth. I give myself in place of my partners so that they may fulfill whatever need you have of them."
Then you must make the first sacrifice. The sacrifice of mind. Your memories will remain here as you travel, and they will slowly leave you as you progress. You will remember only the people you love but not any experiences you shared with them.
"April," Jeo whispered.
"It is alright. I'm not afraid."
A glow centered at her chest and slowly came forth a brilliant and beautiful Life Orb. None of the Alurian Defenders had ever seen one before but somehow instinctively knew what it did. The Orb floated into the door and it dissolved to reveal another tunnel. Slowly, they started down it.
April's steps did not waver even as her memories slowly bled away. She forgot her family. Her friends. Her partners. Her queens. Memories of her precious daughter who she had never gotten to raise faded from her mind. As the door loomed before them, memories of her beloved Taylor, her Caretaker soul mate, slipped from her mind.
She staggered suddenly, and another door of sycamore and scapolite was instantly there to support her when she would have fallen. The other Alurian Defenders could feel a stirring inside themselves as a wellspring of new magic. "What is that?" Sunlight asked softly.
It is your final evolution. When this journey ends, April will no longer exist on this plane, but her very memories, emotions, reason for being, and strength will become your power. You will be her living legacy.
A tear slid down Moonlight's cheek. "We accept her legacy," she whispered. Her hand sought Kiegan's for support and their fingers laced. Kiegan was her own twin soul, and she needed him as much as Sunlight needed Yuiki in that moment and Starlight needed Phoenix.
Vincent took a breath for support and then asked, "Destiny? May I ask a question?"
Always. The time for answers has finally come.
"Why did Aluria get separated from the rest of the universe into its own dimension? Why are we the only ones here? Why are we so important to these events?"
Because Aluria needed to evolve in a way that it could not have done had it remained in the normal dimension. When the dimensional wall breaks down, Aluria will be once more right at the cusp between Blossom Field and Tarmol's galaxies. That position is utterly critical, for when the Cleansing radiates from Blossom, it will need a focal if it is to spread to the entire universe and remove all evil once and for all. Like a prism catching light, Aluria will fracture the beam and spread its rainbow to all ends, and everyone will be free at last.
It dawned on Yuiki first. "The Leylines!" She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh god! Remember how we were wondering why it was that they so readily resonated to Tasia's power? We just assumed it was because . . . because she was a Mystic. But that's not it. That's not it at all!"
"That's how her father got that Leystone," Starlight whispered. "He didn't get it from here. It was Tasia's own power that created it. She has always been attuned to the Leylines because both are full of music and raw elemental power. It must have been in October. The walls were thin. And she did something . . ."
"She was five," Rose whispered. "She told me once that her father left after she turned six, so the October before that she'd have been five. Didn't LeAnn say that year had been a terrible one? What if . . . what if Tasia was singing? To maybe Storm, because he was so little. Her music and her majik moved through the thin walls . . . and Aluria answered. Maybe . . . maybe Raine wasn't joking when she said Tasia is like the Daughter of every world."
Silence. Then, softly, Lilac said, "You plan for everything, Destiny."
I want all my children to be free.
April straightened her back and took a shuddering breath. "Then let us continue. I'll be alright." A surprising smile touched her lips. "Well, as alright as I can be considering I'm about to die for the second time."
Then it is time for the second sacrifice. The sacrifice of heart. As you progress, you will lose your love for all those around you.
Someone cursed violently but April ignored them. She took a deep breath to steady herself. It hurt. Oh, it hurt to love someone and not remember them. This would hurt far worse. Yet there was no going back. "Do it."
A glow again centered on her heart and this time brought forth a silver and green glow that formed into an edelweiss blossom. It looked like the one on her upper left arm that had already begun to fade. The flower bathed the area in the pure light of her heart before slowly floating into the door. The massive barricade dissolved and left the path clear. She took a step but stumbled. Phoenix and Jeo moved instantly to her side. Together they braced her as she slowly walked down the darkened tunnel. Even the fiery Defender couldn't stop the tears running down his cheeks.
With every step, April felt her love for those around her begin to fade. Her friends, family, and partners. Her queen and princesses, those she had sworn to defend with her life. That she was defending with her life. Her precious daughter. Her love for Rose . . . vanished. All that was left was emptiness, the knowledge that she had loved her. And, finally . . . Taylor.
She balked for the first time. "No!" she shouted. "Don't take him from me!"
The third door appeared. Little one, Destiny said softly, I would not take from a Cultivator their true mate. The whole reason a Caretaker exists is to empower their Cultivator. Never has a Cultivator chosen an inferior mate for a Cultivator would not be satisfied with less than everything. Across this universe . . . for all time.
"How many Cultivators are there?" Rose asked. "I mean Defender Cultivators in particular. We're different."
You are indeed. When the final battle comes, there will be twenty-two Defenders. Ten of Aluria, one each to the Lower worlds of Blossom, and two each to Protea and Delphinium. Not every world has had Defenders, and not all worlds who had them found them every generation. Some worlds never had Defenders at all. Always . . . almost always the wars came to Blossom Field. Certainly the most terrible did. Blossom Field is the center. The place where all life started. It is where everything will come to an end. There will be no more Defender Cultivators born. There will be no need.
"And that makes this worth it," April whispered. Her breathing sounded ragged. "What have you left to take from me?"
The reason for your existence: your Seed.
Rose buried her face against Starlight in agony. April slowly straightened to her full height and stood proud and strong. "It is yours."
The glow came one final time and her Seed came forth. As it merged to the door and dissolved it, the gaping hole inside April grew. With every step, it grew. She had no memories of her battles. No memories of the pride and the gift of being chosen by Aluria. She could barely walk, only held up by the friends she could not remember. Inside her was only a driven purpose. A need. Her Mask appeared in her hand and she clung onto it. She had been revived from near death, and that event had bolstered her lifeforce enough to ensure. She would hold on until she could give her lifeforce and her Mask to the world that had birthed her.
As something drew closer, the others realized it was not a door but a doorway that slowly surged toward them and enveloped them all in light. When it faded, they stood in a rounded room that glowed silver and green. A large chunk of scapolite in the center with growing and decaying edelweiss flowers all over it sat in the center. Evil tar dripping from the ceiling slowly ate it alive. The Core of Aluria.
April. It is time, little one.
The Glass Defender shook off Phoenix and Jeo and straightened her back. Painfully, slowly, she made her way toward the Core. The evil tar tried to attack, but it was repelled harmlessly away by an invisible shield over her body. She barely noticed as she climbed onto the dais.
She softly touched the stone and could hear the world crying in her mind. Tears burned her eyes as she placed her Mask on the stone and then covered it with her hands to let everything she was well up. The Core soaked up her life eagerly and the Mask disappeared. So, too, did April begin to fade, and the Core came to life with renewed energy. In that moment, that shining, beautiful moment, it all came back. Every memory, every feeling. She turned her head to look at her friends and then looked at her daughter. Her beautiful, beautiful daughter. "If I did any one thing right in my life," she said softly, "it was having you, Rose."
You are everything that is Aluria, April. You have grown and persisted, enduring under burdens you did not know existed. You have done all that was ever asked of you, even when you did not know you were being asked. Your final rest is here.
April turned toward her friends and held her hands out toward them. Even as the last of her life poured into the Core, her friends could feel her inside. And as she faded from sight, still wearing the sassy smile they had always loved, the Core came to life with renewed vigor. It glowed brilliantly, brightly, and illuminated everything as its flowers bloomed anew. That bright light swept the room and obliterated the evil. It could not hold up.
The Alurian Defenders could feel the pulsing warmth of April's magic inside their souls as proof of her memories, emotions, existence, and life. They were her living legacy. Their Masks appeared before them and began to glow brightly. Any fractures mended, and all Masks began to sparkle softly. All Flower Marks began to glow hotly; only Starlight had two full Marks, though her sisters had empty outlines over their hearts to mark being Deactivated Rulers. Even those outlines glowed.
It is time, Cultivators of Aluria, came Destiny's voice. Take this destiny thrust upon you and fully bloom!
All pulled their Masks on, and all Defender Marks took on second or third blossoms before all blossoms across all Marks opened into full bloom. Armor rushed in to cover them all, and it had gained glimmer to metal and shine to cloth. Anyone whose hair was long enough to enter the standard tightly packed braid of an armored Defender now had a silver and green ribbon tied around the end. Those with shorter hair gained the same ribbon tied around a lock of hair near their Mask. A memory of the Defender Cultivator who had given all of them life to live and life to defend.
Tired, drained, they all fell to their knees where they stood. They had not imagined that literally channeling the raw force of an element for their world could be so exhausting. Destiny's power swept down and around them in a hot and comforting wave. Rest for now, my children, she whispered softly through their souls. The final battle will come soon enough.
I'm counting on you.
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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