The Guardian Within

Chapter 19-Home

(Firstly I'd like to thank you all, until the ending I will be doing one week of writing and one week of not, just to balance out things! And when I'm done-you guys will be seeing...)

It didn't take long for us to return, and when we did, I finally felt peace. Everyone was standing around the house, please at our arrival through the woods. We lied, terribly, saying we only landed about half a mile west of the house. When I came to the house, my body shuddered. I could feel the cold air shifting my curls down, making them straight. An old cabin, sitting in an empty field, where only a single dead tree stood.

"My old tree," Lief said as he climbed up its wilting body.

"My old house..." Pierce said, walking off to the other house, just to the side.

"We all have memories here," Noi said as he came to my side, "It's nice to be back..." But it wasn't, something wasn't right, something felt very wrong.

"Noi..." I asked and reached my hand out to him, "Why did they have you go to the castle? Why not have you stay here?" His face saddened as he looked from the house to the sky, then the ground, then me.

"I think," Noi began, "She knew what was happening... that something would happen... She wanted people safe..." I thought for a minute, deep down... even I knew something was wrong... I didn't want to believe it... but it was true... something was very wrong, even in the past...

"I don't think she knew about Dominick," I said bluntly, "I think... she knew about her sister... about Alateca, but not about Dominick..."

"No one knew about Dominick," A voice said as we jumped back. Derek... and...

"RHAL!" I shouted while narrowing my eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here once I heard screaming, Dad's angry Asch," Rhal said, actually calming, "Do you have any idea how mad he's acting! And expected you two to now-"

"NO!" I said sternly, throwing my hand up to stop him, "I know what he expects... but it's not happening..." I hang my head with a soft sigh and begin walking inside the house. The smell of ice and old rotting wood filled my lungs as I walked through the house, my hand following behind me. There were broken pictures, the stairs were destroyed, holes in the house, and cracked windows everywhere. The air was thick and heavy. Rhys' crystal began glowing as a shot of light and a shout of laughter followed through the air.

"Tris!" Rhys called as he and the others walked in behind us. Suddenly the air wasn't so thick, it was much lighter. The rotting wood seemed... new... The broken pictures were fixed, back on the walls, the stairs were their normal straight shape and form, the holes and cracks were gone. As if they vanished. But the ice... the ice wasn't gone... It was forming.

"What is this?" Asch asked as they walked behind me.

"This is a memory," Derek said and came to my side. A sudden blast of ice stopping him short.

"MAMA!" The younger Derek shouted, "MAMA! LOOK! I did the thing!" A young woman came from down the stairs, watching as the younger Derek blasted the ice along the wall.

"Well, would you look at that," The woman said with a bright smile, "Why don't I help you with the next part?" With a wave of her hand, the ice shattered, small crystals floating all around the two.

"Mom..." Derek said softly, staring in awe at the vacant memory, "Tristian, how are you doing this?" I shook my head, still staring as a small girl came running in. The smaller me, with her hair tied into a tight bun.

"Momma! Momma!" She chanted as a man followed behind her.

"Dad..." I said softly, falling beside Derek.

"Momma! Momma! Momma! Daddy showed me how to use my magic too!" The younger me chanted.

"We learned on the same day?" Derek said with a smile, "AWESOME!" We finished at the same time, going into a large hug, which erupted into a large blast-throwing both of us across the house from each other. The ground began to shake as each parent ran to one of our sides. Our Mom to Derek, our Dad to me. The ground continued shaking as we held our heads. Powerful magic was activated... and we were the keys to it.

"What was that Zolia?!" Dominick asked from across the house. Her eyes reading with fear, and in that instance, Dominick knew exactly what happened.

"He got what he wanted the day we learned our magic..." I said softly as the memory faded back into the crystal.

"Who?" Rhal snapped at us.

"Alateca..." Derek answered, "The day he killed our Aunt Terriana... he was in charge of Alateca..."

"That's right..." I continued, "Alateca and Terriana were in love. When she died, he was so devastated, but to keep her family safe, he turned himself into a monster, following only under the orders of who killed her."

"Well, who killed her?" Lief said, "Maybe we can get them to stop this. If Alateca is the Magic Crisis." Derek and I shared looks before looking back at Lief. I looked straight into my brother's eyes. Asking him one final question before we pushed past the others.

"Now!" I shouted and without a second motion-a wall of ice formed around the house. Inside still was Rhal, Asch, Noi, Pierce, Rhys, and... Noi...

"We should hurry," Derek said with a nod, "We can fix this."

"We can," I said and followed him again, "We're gonna have to kill him you know."

"I know..." He said softly, glancing at me while we ran, "He was never my family anyways." I saw him smile, and I had to smile back. This was it. I mean what girl wouldn't dream of killing a supervillain with her older brother?

"I'm sorry Lief," I thought, "But he must fall if Damos is to survive..."