Zephyr Maelstrom
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Marina Fontaine
Marina struggled to maintain her balance as the temple shook. She nodded at Pyrrha as she picked up Zephyr and soared on ahead. She stood back doing her best to keep Cron upright as Anton and Roland worked to clear a path out of the temple. She saw Leon use one of the objects that Zephyr had pilfered to unlock a passageway which he used to take Mei through. She nodded at him as he took off.
"If you find anyone, be sure to tell them where we are!" she called after him not even caring that they'd get in trouble. She didn't follow after him mostly because she was intimidated by an unknown temple that could very easily collapse on them. Mari didn't care that there were two Gaiamancers with her. A thousand tons of rock and ground seemed a bit too much for them to handle. She looked at the ground and saw the artifacts that Leon had haphazardly tossed around when searching for one to open the tunnel. She picked them up and sighed. She really wanted to leave them, but they came this far so there was no point. Plus, Zephyr would whine to no end if they got left so she shoved them back into their bags and pulled them over her shoulder.
Marina pulled Cron along going as fast as she could chasing after the two Gaiamancers who were creating a path forward dodging debris, and trying not to think about how the path behind them was collapsing preventing them from turning back. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, their makeshift path opened up to what looked like one of the main passageways. She almost cried in relief when she saw one of the Guardians. It wasn't just any Guardian, however, but her eldest brother Maxian.
"Maxi! Over here!" she choked out. He heard her and called for some other Guardians to follow after him to tend to Marina and the others.
"Mari! Oh thank the gods! When the Temple started collapsing and we heard you were in here, we were scared to death!" Maxian pulled her tightly to his chest ignoring the falling debris and fleeing monsters around him.
"There's no time for this! Did you find the others? Pyrrha and Zephyr? Leon and Mei?" she pulled back frantic.
"Yeah, we got word through telepathy not too long ago that the other squads picked them up. Speaking of which..." Maxian closed his eyes for a moment to send out the word that everyone has been found and to retreat immediately.
"We have no time to waste. Let's get out of here!" Maxian took Marina while the other Guardians helped Roland, Anton, and Cron, and quickly fled from the Temple through a makeshift tunnel made by the Gaiamancers. As soon as they were out, another earth-shattering earthquake shook the ground causing what was left of the Temple to completely disappear underground. They would find out later that five Guardians had lost their lives in their efforts to rescue them.
Later that day........
Zephyr woke up abruptly shouting and in a cold sweat only to be met by a vicious migraine. He moaned and collapsed back onto the bed. He felt as if he had lived a horrific nightmare. He wished it was only a nightmare... But the memories slowly came flooding back. From infiltrating the Temple all the way till the moment he touched the ethereal orb. It had happened. All of it.
"Zeph! You're awake! Thank Aztune!" Marina cried. Zeph glanced over to see the blue-haired girl with bags under her eyes and quite a bit shaken, but relatively unharmed. He grimaced at her still not quite ready to give his voice yet. He cast his eyes downward; guilt flooding his expression. This was too big of a screw up for Zephyr to take all the blame this time. His friends were surely going to suffer just as much as he was... Then he noticed the mark on his arm.Long spiraling black marks twisted up and down his forearm. He hadn't noticed it in the Temple, so where did it come from?
"We got those marks as soon as the orb shattered. We didn't notice till we were out of the temple, but all eight of us have them. The scholars are trying to decipher them, but they have nothing to go off of. No one knows what they are..." Zephyr nodded in understanding still not trusting his voice. Marina shifted uncomfortably before clearing her throat.
"So... As soon as you woke up I was told to take you to the Council room.... The others are already there." she offered a weak smile. She didn't want to deal with this either, and although she could cast all the blame on Zephyr, she didn't. She chose to follow him like she always has and for that she held no grudge.
"Oh joy..." he whispered voice cracking. Zephyr cleared his throat and stood up. Someone had taken it upon themselves to replace his previous clothes with a fresh set. Without further ado, he followed Marina to the Council.
The Council room was a large room with a large half circle table positioned in the back for all the clan heads to sit at. Zephyr spotted the rest of his friends already waiting in the center looking uncomfortable. Not that he could blame them. Almost everyone here had a family member on the Council. Marina took her place with the others and winced when she saw the exasperated expression on her father's face. Zephyr gave his friends an insincere grin and a wink before coming to a halt right before his grandfather, the High Elder.
"Hey Gramps, fancy meeting you here huh-"
"Cut the crap Zephyr. This is not a time or place for your antics." Ouch. Harsh.
"We need you to explain, in GREAT detail, what happened in the Temple. Go." So explain he did. Zephyr told the whole story giving all the details he could remember with the others chipping in here and there, and ended with his taking of the artifacts and his experience with the glowing orb. The Council was silent as they absorbed everything they were just told. Including the part about others entering the Temple before. Zeph braced himself fully expecting to get banished or lynched, but was shocked instead by what his grandpa said.
"It seems that this incident was going to happen one way or another. My only regret is that I couldn't have more clearly foreseen it. In any case, there is no turning back now. Allow me to explain the gravity of your mistake. Although many of the legends have been lost, the Council does know what was sealed within the Temple: Manara. Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors sealed away the whole of Manara from Astrasis because of the evil certain Mancers were committing. But now, you have unleashed it once again on a world that has long since forgotten its origins.."
"Whoa, back up. So, the rest of the world can't harness Manara? Why can we then in Caelfall?"
"Is it not obvious? To protect the Temple. Keep people from doing what you have done today. Although, to be fair, I don't believe our forefathers ever anticipated one of our own to unleash the seal... In any case, you have undoubtedly caused what may very well be the destruction of the world. It is up to you to fix it. There are four sealing grounds across the world. I believe those artifacts you pilfered from the Temple hold the keys to those seals. It is now your duty to go out and reseal what you have unleashed. You must go forth, leave the village, and not return till you have restrengthened the seal on Manara. The Council went into an uproar with many frantic parents voicing their opinions. They died down when Tehrest Maelstrom began speaking.
"Fath-High Elder. You can't be serious. These are children! OUR children! What they have done is unforgivable, but do you honestly believe they can fix this catastrophe?" Zephyr had never seen his father act with such emotion before. Not since mom died. For a rare moment, he was speechless. The other Council members were agreeing with Tehrest and were also shouting their outrage before Mavrik Maelstrom projected his voice.
"SILENCE! Enough! What choice do we have? We have no other options! They're Guardians! They can take care of themselves and each other. No more discussion. You have till tomorrow to pack up and prepare any necessary supplies. The young Guardians leave at dawn." Everyone was stunned silent. Mavrik never raised his voice.
"The meeting is dismissed. I suggest you use your time wisely." With a prolonged look at Zephyr, Mavrik left the room and slowly but surely, everyone dispersed to begin preparations.