Chapter Nine

It is found that Katrina is not as innocent as she appears...

    The four girls watched the woman named Katrina as she walked towards them, stopping only a few feet before them. When none of the girls spoke, Katrina decided to continue. “Will you be willing to help me rid this world of evil?”

    “I didn’t know we had the choice.” Asha said, her claustrophobic fear now forgotten; for the time being.

    “Of course, you always had the choice.” Katrina spoke her tone was sweet and full of innocence. “However, I assumed since your friend was here, that you wouldn’t mind giving me a hand-”

    “Giving you a hand? It more or less sounds like you want us to fight your battles for you. Or so you made it sound.” The girls looked to Jade, surprised at her harsh tone towards this innocent looking girl.

    “It is true, that I need you four to take care of this for me…only because I am unable to do this on my own.” Katrina said, not denying what Jade had said.

    “And why is that?” Tygra questioned, now suspicious of this girl standing before them. If Jade was acting so coldly towards this child who had given them their powers, there must be something amidst.

    “I assume you had seen the outside world, haven’t you?”

    “Yes we have.” Rose said a little puzzled. “But what does that have to do with what she asked you?”

    “Simple.” Katrina stated her eyes shined with sorrow. “Because that is what happened, when I tried to do this on my own the first time.” The girls remained silent from her words, but their minds spoke loud and clear. What could have happened to cause this world to turn into what it was now? “He is a treacherous man; a spawn of a human and of a demon blood.”

    “Demon?” Rose question, unsure if she had heard her correctly.

    “Yes, in this world there are such creatures.”

    “This world? Does that mean we’re not on Earth anymore?” Tygra questioned.

    “That’s right; well, in a sense.” Katrina answered as she took in a deep breath. “You see, you are now within a different dimension then what you are use to. You are still on Earth, yet not the Earth you lived on. Does that make sense?”

    “A little.” Rose said thinking hard. “Is it kind of like the future?”

    Katrina laugh slightly. “No, not the future…it’s-”

    “It’s like how we are here on Earth but in this realm, we don’t see what we would in our own realm. It’s like two sides of a coin; it’s the same coin, but with two different etches on either side.” Jade explained. “It explains how my powers of Earth still work anyway.”

Katrina laughed again. “Exactly.”

    “Oh, ok.” Rose said, understanding the situation better.

    “But, how do you expect us to do anything when we don’t fully understand these powers you have given us?” Jade questioned, studying Katrina curiously.

    “There are weapons.” Katrina began, her eyes now shining brightly with hope. “With those weapons, even without the experienced knowledge, your powers will truly be yours to wield. With those weapons, you’ll be able to defeat that man causing all this chaos.”

    “Who is this man exactly? And what is his plan?” Jade questioned shortly. She had questions she wanted answered. If there were anymore opponents such as that man named Magmiss, she wanted to find out all she could from this mysterious girl.

Katrina smiled sweetly. “You certainly like to get to the point of the matter, don’t you?”

    “That’s right.”

    “Very well.” She said, turning from them as she walked back towards the center of the room. “You already know of the man named Magmiss. And I assume you know he is not the true mastermind behind all of this. However, he is the right hand man, and cousin, of the one who is.” She paused as she stopped within the center of the room, turning back to face them. “His name is Caleb and his plans are far more sinister then what you may think is possible. Long ago, it was my mother who had called upon the first Elemental Guardians.”

    “The statues…” Rose said quietly.

    “They were to defeat a fearsome woman by the name of Reyna. Now, this woman was no mere woman. She too had the blood of a demon coursing through her veins for she was the sister of Caleb.” Katrina paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “This woman, Reyna, wanted nothing to do with her human brethren and denied the blood within her veins to be even the slightest bit human. She wanted the world ruled by the demonic race and to destroy the human race.”

    “That’s insane.” Asha commented, a little doubtful of what she was hearing. This all sounding like some kind of fairytale to her.

    “Yes, it was.” Katrina said with another slight smile. “And that is why my mother had no choice but to kill her daughter.”

    “Her daughter?” Jade questioned, silencing her. “She was her daughter?”

    “Then that means-” Rose began as everyone put everything together.

    If Reyna was Katrina's mother’s daughter that only meant Katrina was her sister. Which meant Caleb was-

    “You want us to kill your brother?” Tygra asked uncertainly.

    “Or, are you working with them to get us here?” Asha questioned suspiciously.

    “No, of course not.” Katrina stated quickly.

    “Then why are we here? You have yet to answer that.”

    Katrina took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. “Caleb’s plan is to resurrect Reyna  and to bring her dream to life. I wish to stop that from ever happening.”

    “But, how can he bring her back to life? That’s not possible, is it?” Tygra questioned.

“It is. With the elemental stones-”

    “So, that’s why you brought us here. To sacrifice us to bring your sister back to life.” Asha said nastily.

    “No, that’s not it at all. I want to prevent your deaths.”

    “Then why bring us here?”

    “Because the stones need guardians.” The girls looked to Jade whose gaze was set to Katrina.  “Those women said they only remained to pass on these powers. But what would have happened if this Caleb found them first? There was no one to protect them anymore. If you hadn’t brought us here, he would have already won.”

    “I’m glad you understand.”

    “That’s why you brought Drake here.”

    “What?” Tygra asked shocked as she looked from Jade to Katrina.

    “It’s the only way I could get you four here. Please understand-”

    “Where is he?” Tygra asked angrily.

    “He is under Caleb’s control.”

    Tygra’s fists clenched at her sides. “You put him with that lunatic!”

    “I made sure he is safe.” Katrina assured her. “However, he has no recollection of who he is-”

    “How is that safe?”

    “Hold it, Tygra.” Jade said grabbing her shoulders as Tygra took a step towards Katrina. “We’re going to get him back, but not like this.” She looked back to Katrina. “How did you get Caleb to recruit him?”

    “I told him of a young man with the power of the dark arts.”

    “So you lied?” Tygra said tears in her eyes. “He’ll be killed!”

    “But it wasn’t a lie.” Katrina stated calmly. “Drake does indeed have the bloodline of a sorcerer. Caleb summoned him here and awakened his powers.”

    “Since you told him,” Asha began suspicion lurking within her tone. “That must mean you still speak with him.”

    “Yes, but not for the reason you believe. Since I failed to stop him the first time the only reason he kept me alive is for my likeness to our sister. So I played the part afterwards as the obedient sister and told him of a potential follower.”

    “Drake.” Tygra said angrily.

    “Please understand. I wasn’t going to allow your friend to be put into any danger. That’s why I brought you here so hastily.” She took a step towards them. “The sooner this is over with the sooner you can go home; all of you, including Drake.”

    “So,” Tygra began, taking a step towards her. “Where are these weapons?”

    Katrinaclosed her eyes, raising her arms slowly up from her sides. The room gradually began to be illuminated in a white light, causing the girls to shield their eyes. After a few moments, Katrinaopened her eyes once more allowing her hands to fall down to her sides.

    Once the girls noticed the white light fade away, they lowered their arms from their eyes. They could see they were now within a different room; a room with four doors, each adorning their own symbols. Before them was the door with the symbol of Earth, behind them was the door with the symbol of Fire. To their left was a door with the symbol for Water and to their right was the door with the symbol for Air. Set between the water and Fire door were a set of steps leading up to a platform and along the wall behind the platform was another door. Across the room, set between the Earth and Air was a set of double doors with a wooden plank set onto two hooks on the doors, locking them from within.

    Each of the girls returned their gaze back to Katrinawho stood before them with her features firmly set in pure confidence. “The Weapons of the Elements are waiting for their true masters just beyond these doors.” She looked to each of the girls individually; from Jade, to Asha, to Rose, then to Tygra. “I do hope you will forgive me for what I have done to get you here…” she shook her head slightly, closing her eyes once again. “But if I must, I shall bear your scorn for eternity for your assistance.”

    Tygra looked to Katrina, not one sign of emotion crossing over her still features. “You will only have to bear my scorn if something happens to Drake.”

    Katrina's eyes opened as a kindhearted smile formed upon her face. “Of course.” She watched as each of them went to the door corresponding to their symbols. Once they had passed through their doors, Katrina remained where she stood for the moment, staring down at the floor beneath her feet. She sighed as she made a silent prayer: When you retrieve your weapons, you will then become the true Guardians of the Elements. You will gain knowledge which would originally take intense training to earn…I wish you luck now, for I do not know when I shall see you again…Please, make it through this ordeal alive…