Guardian: Darkness Rising (30 page)

“
Luke...” Mari mumbled. “You’re
either the bravest boy I’ve met, or the stupidest.”

Luke laughed. “I believe it’s safe to say I’m
both.”

For a moment, Luke and Mari were
completely engulfed by the deep purple and black flashes that
surrounded them, before the flashes disappeared completely -
leaving everything eerily silent. When the sky cleared again, there
was no sign of Mari and Luke – just two golden, glowing figures
that resembled them, who appeared to be made of dust, absorbing the
dark magic around them.

The two figures looked happy, waving at their
family and friends, before shooting into the sky and exploding like
a golden firework, spreading its light across Lunaria.

The wind stopped howling, and the black,
gaping hole in the sky vanished, revealing the deep purple colours
of dawn; the Light had been returned to Lunaria once
again.

Everyone was crying and
devastated, but James and Antonio had truly fallen apart. James had
sunk to the floor after watching his son disappear, shaking and
sobbing heavily, not even noticing the changes the return of the
Light had brought him. Antonio was still sitting on his knees on
the steps of the altar, staring at the morning sky, and remained
there until Bella and Thomas came to get him.

Both fathers were inconsolable.

“
What am I going to tell his
mother?” James sobbed, holding his sister tightly. “What am I going
to tell his mother, Samira? We don’t even have a body – he’s – “
James couldn’t finish his sentence, as he was overtaken by tears
once more.

“
You can tell her that he’s happy,
James,” Samira whispered. “You saw how happily he waved at you,
right?

“
He’s like you, James. A true
hero.”

James let out a gasp that almost
sounded like a laugh between his sobs. “Yeah,” he said. “And I’m
proud of him... I just regret never being able to tell him how
proud.” He paused. “Samira?”

“
Yes, James?” Samira replied
carefully. James sighed.

“
I... I’m sorry for what I did all
those years ago. I am sorry for putting you through all that
pain.”

“
It’s okay, James,” Samira
comforted her little brother. No matter how old or how much taller
than her he’d get, he’d always be her little brother to her. “It
happened a long time ago. You don’t have to worry about that
anymore.”

“
I’m sorry,” James replied,
talking to himself, rather than his sister. “I’m sorry.”

Mari’s and Luke’s friends had found comfort in
their parents and their soothing words. But Daisy was the one
comforting Antonio, rather than the other way.

The Spirits had retreated to a
quieter corner of the chamber to discuss the recent
events.

“
Did any of you know this was
possible?” Ince asked in a hushed tone.

He was asking all four of his siblings at
once; three of them instantly turned to Akilah. Unfortunately, she
didn’t exactly know the answer, either.

“
They both had magical abilities,
and therefore magical energy,” she thought, “so they were both able
to absorb the Dark Magic to some extent – whether at will or
not.”

“
Enough to prevent the destruction
of our world?” Aharnish said skeptically. “I highly doubt
that.”

“
Maybe it was true love that
allowed them to save the world?” Aine said, sounding slightly
dreamily. Aoife agreed with her.

“
But...” Ince said confusedly,
“they never... did anything to prove their true love. Or did they
kiss while I wasn’t looking?”

All four Spirits laughed; even Aharnish. Ince
was the Spirit of Innocence for a reason; he didn’t quite
understand the full concept of ‘love’, kind of like a
child.

“
True love comes in many forms,
Inky,” Aoife said. “True love doesn’t have to be anything
romantically.”

“
That’s beautiful,” Ince said. “I
had no idea it worked that way. But...” he smiled. “Now I do see
how that would work.”

“
I guess we’ll
never know what exactly allowed them to pull this off,” Akilah
said, “but what’s important, is that they
pulled it off
. They saved us; all of
us. And for that, we should be eternally
grateful.”

Home

The Guardians took a short moment of peace and
quiet to themselves to process the experience, before meeting up in
the centre of the Ritual Chamber again. It was time for them to go
home.

It was a much sadder moment than
everyone had expected it to be, but of course no one had expected
to go home with two less people in their party than they’d arrived
with – even though Mari technically hadn’t arrived with
them.

The sky was clear, and the Land of Light
already showed signs that it was starting to heal – after all, only
six days of Dark Magic-poisoning was nothing compared to a thousand
years.

The nine Guardians, adults and
teenagers, gathered together near the altars, ready to leave
Lunaria. But first, they had to say goodbye to the ones that had
guided them through everything.

“
So... I guess this is it, then,”
James said; his eyes were still slightly red and swollen. “Our
final goodbye. And... hopefully for good this time.”

Akilah and her siblings couldn’t help but
chuckle. “Don’t worry,” Akilah said, “we won’t need your help any
longer. I’m pretty sure that we’ll finally be able to rule Lunaria
in peace – just as we intended.”

“
Though we must say we are forever
indebted to you all,” Aharnish added. “Thank you for saving us,
Guardians. Thank you for saving Lunaria.

“
If you ever need us, just – give
us a call, and we’ll come rushing in to help you.”

“
Oh,” Antonio said, “forget it.”
The tone of his voice was friendly, but his eyes betrayed his
grief.

“
...What should we do with the
book?” Bella asked. “I mean – the last time we hid it didn’t
exactly end well.”

Akilah smiled. “Now that the
Master is completely gone and we have officially returned, the
magic within the book’s pages will run out eventually,” she said.
“After all, there wasn’t supposed to be any magic left for an
eleventh Generation – but apparently, the book decided there truly
needed to be one... And I guess it was right.” She paused to nod at
the four teenagers, who did nothing but silently nod
back.

“
Anyway... I’d keep the book
somewhere safe. As long as you don’t destroy it, it should be fine.
The book has served its purpose, and therefore I highly doubt we’ll
ever meet again.”

“
Let’s drink to that,” Bella said
with a smile. The others, even the Spirits and the teenagers,
seemed to agree.

“
When we get home, I’m going to
get myself drunk,” Antonio mumbled, hoping his friends wouldn’t
hear him. And if they did, he hoped that they’d think he was
joking.

“
Very well, then,” Aoife said,
“are you ready for your journey back home?”

The Guardians nodded. They were
ready to leave everything behind; ready to go back to their usual
lives – for as far as they’d be able to call them ‘usual’ from this
point further.

“
Very well,” Akilah said.
“James... I know we’ll meet again, but I hope not to see you here
for a very long time.”

James was slightly caught off-guard, but deep
inside, he knew what Akilah meant. Perhaps he’d always known – ever
since he’d been resurrected. Akilah hadn’t resurrected him just
because – she’d resurrected him with a purpose, so James could
repay her one day.

“
I can hardly wait to fulfil my
duty by your side, Akilah,” he smiled. “But for now, I think I’ll
enjoy my time with the family I have left.”

“
I hope you enjoy every moment of
it,” Akilah smiled. “Farewell once more, Guardians. Take
care.

“
...And sleep well.”

*

When James opened his eyes, the first thing he
saw was his wife. How her dark curls framed her face, her brown
eyes filled with surprise. She was sitting on her side of the bed,
looking at him; a smile appeared on her face as soon as she noticed
James was awake.

“
Hello, there,” Anna said, her
voice shaking. “You’re back early.”

“
Didn’t I promise you I would be?”
James responded, kissing his wife on the cheek. As happy as he was
to see his wife, he couldn’t bring himself to telling her what had
happened.

Unfortunately for James, though, Anna asked,
“Did you all get home safely? How did Luke and his friends find the
adventure?”

James swallowed. “Anna, there’s something you
need to know,” he said.

He told her to go downstairs and wait for him
– James would wake up his children. They had to know what had
happened, too.

James carefully woke up the two
seventeen-year-old boys and their twelve-year-old sister, asking
them to come follow him downstairs.

And thus there they sat, anxiously waiting for
James to break the news. Obviously, Luke’s absence hadn’t gone by
unnoticed; the teenagers asked their parents where he was, and
James let out a sigh. He had to confirm his family’s fears,
although he didn’t want to.

“
Luke... didn’t make it back,” he
said slowly; his eyes as well as those of his wife and children
instantly welled up with tears.

“
Oh, my baby boy,” Anna gasped.
“What happened to him, James?”

“
He...” James paused, thinking
about what Samira had told him. “He’s a hero, Anna. He died saving
Lunaria from destruction.”

Anna smiled through her tears, but couldn’t
keep herself from sobbing as she threw herself against her
husband’s chest. James beckoned for his children to come closer;
both parents hugged their children tightly.

“
He promised us he’d come back,”
Ian said through his tears. “This isn’t fair! He said he’d come
back!”

“
I’m sorry, Ian, Theo, Emma, Anna,
all four of you, I’m so sorry,” James said, noticing he was
sobbing, too. “But – if Luke and Mari hadn’t sacrificed themselves,
none of us would’ve come back.

“
And I think the least we can do,
is thank them for saving us. Whether they’re hearing it or
not.”

*

James wasn’t the only one who returned home
with sad news. Antonio had woken up in his apartment, instantly
setting his mind to a mission; he had to go back to his old
neighbourhood, to his ex-wife.

She had to know what had happened to Mari.
After all, Louise hadn’t seen her daughter in four years,
either.

Antonio drove back to his old house, the house
he’d left three years ago to look for his daughter. Ever since
then, he hadn’t truly had a real home; he kept moving from place to
place in New York and the area surrounding the city, in hopes of
finding his daughter.

And he’d finally found her... only to lose her
again right away.

An event Antonio would probably regret for the
rest of his life. But then again, it had been Mari’s own choice.
She wanted to be the one to save the world, as if there was a debt
she had to replay. Mari had grown up so fast – faster than Antonio
ever would’ve wanted her to.

As Antonio pulled up at the sidewalk of his
old house, he hesitated. He wasn’t sure whether this war the right
time to tell his ex-wife what had happened to their
daughter.

But whether it was the right time or not, it
was Louise’s right to know what had happened. After all, there is
never a right time for hearing your child has passed
away.

Antonio slowly got out of his car and walked
toward the front porch. He rang the doorbell out of respect for his
ex-wife, despite having the key in his pocket.

The door opened slowly, and Louise appeared in
the opening, her hair tied in a messy bun and her eyes tired. “Oh,
it’s you,” she said, seemingly not too happy to see her husband.
“You’re back.”

“
Yeah...” Antonio mumbled. “I... I
came by to tell you something.

“
I found Mari.”

Louise’s eyes widened in surprise. “You did?”
she said. “Did you run into her after you got back from the other
world, or-?”

Antonio shook his head. “No,” he said. “I...
May I come in?

“
You might want to sit down before
I tell you about Mari.”

Louise let her ex-husband in, and the two of
them headed straight for the living room. Antonio wasn’t planning
on staying long – Louise probably didn’t want her to.

“
So... what’s going on with Mari?”
Louise asked. “Anton, please tell me she’s alright.”

Antonio bit his lip. He felt his throat
closing up; if he wouldn’t say it now, he wouldn’t be able to say
it for a long while.

“
Mari... was alright, Louise,” he
said. “She was safe. Until...”

“
Until what, Anton?” Louise asked,
the worry in her voice resembling more than just an undertone.
“What happened?”

“
The Master, who once controlled
Lunaria, had taken her prisoner for his own purposes,” Antonio
mumbled. “He wanted her to help him fulfil his plans.”