Author's Note: The Chapter is dedicated to the Pyrastrians! Giving you guys a feel of what their like. Thanks to all who read, and an even BIGGER thanks to those who review. Enjoy!

TWENTY-THREE

"This is an outrage!" Nabula cried marching up to the Oracle who was calmly walking down the corridor with Tibor at his side.

"What is troubling you Nabula," He asked, untouched by the anger in her voice.

"Two more planets have fallen!" She shouted. "Can you not sense it?"

"Of course I can," he nodded. "What is your point?"

"The Guardians aren't doing their job!" She growled. "They are out partying while the universe is in trouble!"

"It's just harmless R&R," he said.

"And helpless," She added. "Yet another world has been destroyed."

"How many is that in total?" Tibor wondered, sounding very concerned.

"10," The Oracle concluded.

"They need to take their job more seriously," Nabula continued.

"They shall," The Oracle nodded. "But their leader needs to spend more time in The Mind."

"Huh?" Nabule and Tibor asked in curiosity.

"She's special," He smiled. "Why do you think she is the Keeper? She just doesn't know everything she's capable of yet. She is the only one who can stop this war."

"Oracle!" Taranee followed by an older woman with long white hair, came towards them with quickened steps.

"Yes my dears?" he asked, stopping, stand in front of them.

"Alliances are beginning to form between the worlds," Taranee explained. "at this rate, we'll have innocence fighting innocence if the wrong move is made."

"This is getting to out of hand!" Nabula shouted.

"Have faith," The Oracle said simply. "The Guardians will fight and defend."

XX

Sometimes she thought of herself as short tempered, and a drama queen. The least she could do to show she still cared, was to show up at the dance. Emily could feel how sorry Carrol felt when she held her close. Carrol was almost crying, and had to wipe her eyes so her mascara wouldn't run. Even though Carrol told her that Irma was a wreck, she didn't make an appearance at the house. She knew that her Grandmother would lock her in her room with her until she got the truth out.

Not like she could anyways. Not with the new powers Emily got. The only reason she accepted Jhulyin's offer because he was saying all the right things to intrigue her interest. Yes she hated it when things didn't go her way, yes she didn't like how things were turning out, and yes she hated being the less significant one out of these girls. Her grandma had blindly given them cool powers, without even considering her feelings about it. She just wanted to get away from it all, but then came Jhulyin, waving a winning lottery ticket.

She still couldn't believe what happened, that afternoon in her living room. Did her grandma not care about what she was going to feel? She granted her best friend, along with four strangers amazing magical gifts, and left nothing for her own flesh and blood. The elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air were granted to Gwen, Agnes, Imera, and Carrol, and Martea was given a crystal orb known as The Heart of Some-Far-Off-Place. She was left with nothing. She tried to ignore it, and pretend like it never happened, but then she had a run in with Magical Doubles of Carrol and Imera, trying to pull of their identities. That sent her over the top.

Trying to get away from it all, she had broke off her friendship with Carrol, but that was when she met Jhulyin. At first she thought he was a freak, like the others(which he was), but then he offered her the opportunity to have powers too. So she wouldn't feel out of place amongst the people she knew. She hesitated at first, but agreed in the end.

"Wait!" Emily had shouted, turning around to face him.

"Yes?" Jhulyin answered, not turning around.

"I...I'll take it," She hesitated.

"I knew you would," He laughed, spinning around with a big grin on his face. "I'm glad you did too." The medallion appeared again in his hand, casting a red glow on everything around them.

"So....what do I have to do?" She asked, taking a reluctant step forward.

"Just take my hand," He said, holding out his empty hand. "And I'll do the rest." A little doubt had swept through her, but she accepted and took his hand. The next thing she knew, she was standing inside a palace. A palace with extremely high ceilings, large twisted columns, long hand-made carpets, and walls covered with ancient tapestries. Emily could help but gawk at the majestic sight.

"Amazing isn't it?" Jhulyin sighed. She looked over at him, and almost screamed in surprise. He was hardly recognizable now. His hair was no longer blonde, but a fiery orange, with a black streak on the one side, a pair of black wings had sprouted from his back, and his Earth clothes were replaced, by a simple black robe.

"Follow me," He said, smiling at her dumbfounded expression. He lead her down the outstretched hallway with his rough gloved hand, the whole time Emily's gaze shot around the room, taking in as much detail as she could. They entered the room on the end, and stood in the large doorway. There were tall gold and jeweled statues standing along side a long red carpet that led to a single throne, where a gold winged-man sat, decked out with gold jewelery. It must have been the throne room.

"King Sohndre," Jhulyin addressed, bowing. "I've brought you a human." Huh?, Emily thought, suddenly scared. Is this a trap?

"You did?" The man's mean face, became soft and excited. The two of them only took a few steps forward before the king launched himself from his throne and glided across the room to meet them. His facial hair was stubby, and gold streaked black hair flowed from his head.

"You did good Jhulyin," He smiled, at her, staring into her face with his red eyes. "She comes from a strong background."

"I-I do?" Emily stuttered.

"Yes," he nodded. "I can see it in your eyes. You have a lot of magic potential. She's perfect."

"For what?" Emily asked, taking a cautious step back, but Jhuliyn kept her hand in his.

"For handling the Firbolt Medallion," Jhulyin smiled. "That shiny trinket I offered you." Trinket? A minute ago he was calling it a super powerful medallion that could change her life. Why degrade it to trinket?

"Did she accept to the terms?" Sohndre asked.

"Well-"

"So there was a catch!" She snapped harshly at Jhulyin. "I knew it! I knew it! There's always a catch!"

"It's nothing big," Sohndre laughed patting her head. "If you accept the Medallion then you are recruited to the attack force to help defend our planet. Only a human can wield it, and access its ancient power. There's an Intergalactic War starting, so we need every last line of defense."

"King Sohndre!" Emily turned around to see a group(or was it a flock since they had wings?) of winged men fly in. The leader landed in between her and Jhulyin, pushing them aside.

"Sericco is destroyed," he reported bowing slightly.

"What on Pyrastra happened to your face?" the king demanded. Emily couldn't really see his face, but she was very curious.

"Did you anger a girl, Sarif?" Jhulyin laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There were humans on Sericco," the boy continued, ignoring his comment. "But not ordinary humans. They were gifted with the powers of the elements."

"Really?" The king rubbed his chin curiously with his index and thumb. "How many were there?"

"Five. Five human girls." The girls!, Emily shouted silently. So that's where they were.

"So you did anger one of them," Jhulyin laughed again.

"Do you want to get hurt?" Sarif threatened, turning on him.

"Boys, please act your age," the king ordered, but looked as if he was muffling his own laugh. So they were out trying to save a planet, but he just said it was destroyed. They could be dead! And that also mean that....these guys are the bad guys. Her eyes widened in fear, and she gasped ever so slightly, but it was enough to gain attention of Sarif. Her eyes widened even more at the giant, raw, hand-shape burn on his face. That's gonna scar badly. Must have been Gwen.

"And you are?" he demanded, eyeing her evilly.

"The new barer of the Firebolt Medallion," Jhulyin answered. "She's going to join the attack force."

"A human?"

"Only a human can wield it," Jhulyin reminded. "Come on, you were the best in history class, you should remember all this stuff." So aliens are a lot like us, she thought, trying to hide her smile.

"Well sorry for feeling rotten towards humans right now," Sarif turned to Jhulyin again.

"If that's all Captain, I need to get to casting the ritual," Sohndre said, motioning towards Emily.

"Yes there is one more thing," he nodded. "The one human, the one who could control fire, she controlled Pure-Fire." Pure-Fire? Emily made a face, and watched the king's face turn from slightly amused, to udder shock.

"Are you certain?" he asked terribly drawn to the subject.

"I'm one hundred percent," Sarif confirmed. "I watched her use it with my own two eyes."

"It wouldn't be the first time they tricked you," Jhulyin grinned.

"This is no laughing matter," The king snapped at him, before Sarif had the chance. "We'll have to talk about this later. Thank you Captain. You may leave now." Sarif bowed, and turned to leave, but not before eyeing Jhulyin and Emily in turn. His wings took him into the air, and out of the Throne Room, followed by the others.

"Now," The King sighed, clasping his hands together. "Come this way." Her turned towards his throne, and walked back to it, instead of flying.

"Um, I'm not so sure I.." Emily began, trying to find the words.

"Don't worry about old Sarif," Jhulyin assured, placing his hands on her shoulders, and moving her forward. "He's bitter to everyone."

"It's...not him that's bugging me," she said, bitting her lip.

"Are you having second thoughts?" he asked. "I know its a lot, but you could still visit Earth. There's no rule that says you can't." It was a lot. She wouldn't see her Grandma and Grandpa, she left things horribly with Carrol, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to work for the team everyone she knew was against.

"I just have a question," Emily said, watching the King place a hand on the arm of his throne, and push a hidden button.

"And what is that?" The king asked, looking over his shoulder at her with a kind smile, as the wall behind the throne shifted to reveal an empty pedestal.

"Did...Why did you attack Sericco?" She asked, staring down at the ancient carpet. The air around the king changed completely, and he turned to face her with strong authority.

"It really is none of you business," he began.

"I know, I'm sor-"

"But I guess it is a harmless question," he shrugged. "The Sericcons have always been a pain to us. They went too far by attacking one of my platoons. I decided to give them a warning, but made it more extreme when they nearly stole our Light."

"Your Light," she repeated. That's the thingy that creates all the stuff on a planet. So the Pyrastrians only attacked Sericco to keep their Light protected. So the Guardians must have gotten mixed up with which side is good an bad. Sounds about right. Her mind was just about spinning.

"Anyways, could you step this way?" The king asked stepping aside. Jhulyin gave Emily a slight push, and she was standing next to Sohndre in front of an empty fancy pedestal.

"Um....where is it?" she asked.

"It's not here," Sohndre answered.

"But Jhulyin-"

"It was just a simulation," he explained. "Only a human can remove it from its pedestal."

"But it's not even here," she sighed, becoming slightly aggravated.

"Humans," Sohndre chuckled, the calm air surrounding him again. "So simple minded."

"Well, that helps," she huffed, narrowing her eyes.

"Approach the pedestal already," Jhulyin ordered.

"Jhulyin!" The king motioned for him to be silent. Heaving a big breath, she stepped up so that she was looking straight down at the lightning symbol that stretched from one corner to the other.

"Still nothing," Emily grumbled after a few moments of silence.

"Are you sure?" Jhulyin asked. She could just imagine a big simile on his face. I'm sure. She was sure thats what she said. That's what she wanted to say, but they didn't come out. They only sounded in her head. She turned around, and the two men behind her were frozen. No in the ice way, but just...stiff. They didn't move. It was as if time stopped.

She turned back to the pedestal, her breathing becoming faster. What was she suppose to do? She opened her mouth to shout something, but no words came out.

"What's going on?", she thought. Well, she thought she only thought them. The words sounded as if she spoke them aloud. "What am I suppose to do?", she thought again. "Think to the medallion? Here little medallion!" She felt stupid. She was brought her for nothing. She wasn't going to get power at this rate. She put her life at risk to come to another planet for nothing.

"Can you at least show yourself?", she thought. Maybe it was hiding on purpose. As if it was a person. Nothing happened for half a minute, and this aggravated Emily even more, before a bright light shone in the middle of the pedestal. The medallion she was shown by Jhulyin now lay before her. She smiled satisfied, and reached out to take it. Before she even touched it, she was shocked by it. "Hey!"

"What do you want human?" Boomed a voice. She looked around startled, then settled her eyes back on the pulsing amulet.

"You're talking to me?" she asked.

"You talked to me first," it pointed out.

"Great, a piece of medal that's a smarty pants."

"What can I do for you?" It asked.

"Um, the king is giving you to me, in exchange to join his army," she said.

"I'm well aware," the medallion replied. "But why do you want me? Power? Revenge?"

"I..." What was her exact reason exactly? She a little jealous that Carrol and her friends had fancy powers, but she wasn't so mad that she wanted to take their powers or something.

"I guess....I feel left out of the loop," she shrugged. "My grandma gave my friend and her friends special powers and left me out."

"Hmmm..." The medallion seemed to be thinking. "Very well. I will bestow my powers onto you. But change your reason, and I will take them away."

"Deal!" Emily nodded. The light died, and the medallion looked like an ordinary orange piece of medal.

"You got it yet?" Jhulyin asked from behind her.

"Shh! Jhulyin," The king hissed. "This could take her awhile."

"I've got it," She said, turning around with it in her hand.

"Awesome!" Jhulyin gawked.

"Excellent," The king grinned, motioning for her to step down. "Now let's see how you fair."

"How I what?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well I want to see you use it," he said. "Please." He motioned for her to go out in the middle of the room so she had room. She did so, and stood there with her back to them, staring down at the golden lightning bolt that streamed down them middle. She ran her fingers down it slowly, feeling the detail of the craftsman ship. Taking a slow deep breath, she put it around her neck. She took in another big breath bracing herself.

At first nothing happened, but she felt something. Something small, but slowly began to grow. She didn't feel any physical pain, but she felt herself grow a little taller, and a bit of pressure on her back before she heard the sharp sound of tearing fabric. That immediately grabbed her attention. She looked behind her, and her view was blocked by a pair of gigantic gold wings. She gasped, unsure of what to do with them.

At first they just sat there, looking gorgeous under the light that then came through one of the high windows. Then they had feeling in them. She could feel them there now, just like another pair of limbs. Carefully she extended them out as far as she could.

"Amazing isn't," Jhulyin smiled.

"Yes," She grinned, spinning around. She then noticed her hair wasn't curly anymore, but pin-straight, with a gold streek on one side.

"I'll have one of my servants bring you a new set of clothes," The king said, approaching her. "Wings are easy to handle. you'll get a hang of them in no time."

"I still don't get why you chose me," she says quietly, looking at the floor.

"I guess you were in the right place at the right time," The king said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You also have a strong heritage. Don't worry. You made a good choice." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Maybe this was all just meant to happen.

XX

Over the next couple of days, Emily learned a few skills from Jhulyin that were necessary to be on the attack force. Such as basic flying, fist fighting, and how to connect with the medallion in order to create some pretty impressive fire. It looked slightly different from his, which was expected. Hers looked more like regular orange fire, with a hint of red sparks.

On the third day, she was sitting on the railing of the balcony outside the room she was staying in in the palace. She missed the routines she went through everyday. Waking up to her grandma's great cooking. Helping Grandpa find his glasses, which were always on the nightstand in his room. Meeting up with Carrol, and walking to school together. Checking out cute guys at lunch time. Staying up late talking with Carrol on the phone.

I should go and see how she's doing, Emily thought. I was so rude. I should go an apologize. A soft knocking then came from the window.. She looked over her shoulder to see Jhulyin standing in it. He slid it open and stepped out.

"Something on your mind?" he asked, sitting next to her. "I was knocking on your door but you didn't answer."

"Sorry," she smiled, apologetically. "I was thinking."

"About what?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Carrol," she sighed. "I need to go and see her. I still feel awful about what I said. I need to go apologize."

"You're not mad at her?"

"Well...I can overreact sometimes," she huffed. "I guess it was just one of those times. I can't end our friendship over something stupid like that." Jhulyin only nodded, staring out at the horizon of the small odd houses of the town. They looked like they were pulled out of a Picasso painting, with the odd dimensions, but looked as if they were made to fit like a puzzle.

"So will you take me?" she asked.

"It's night there right now," he said, looking at her.

"What day?" she asked. "How many days has gone by since I left?"

"Only three, just like here. It's a Friday Night."

"So its the Night of the Halloween Party," she gasped. "We have to go! NOW!"

"Halloween Party? "He asked, following as she dashed back into the room.

"Yes," he nodded. "I promised Carrol we'd dress to match. She's an Ice Ballerina and I'm the Ice Sorceress. Oh, shoot the costume is at my house!"

"What did it look like?" he asked.

"Um, like any normal white dress, that went down to my ankles," she explained. "but with the thin blue material that covered the dress from the waist down in this fancy design. The sleeves hung off my shoulders. The front had these fancy snowflakes, and my face was going to be painted with white and light blue make up."

"Like that?" Jhulyin pointed at her. She looked at herself, and she was now dressed in the exact costume she described, but with some awesome extra features, like a snipped fringe.

"How did you do that?" She gasped.

"You actually did it," He shrugged. "Some Pyrastrians can change their appearance and clothing without even thinking about it. Looks like you can too."

"Yeah!" She squealed, skipping over to the mirror to look at herself. Her hair was even up in a bun, and instead of a gold streak, there was a blue one.

"But what am I going to do with my wings?" She sighed.

"Ask the medallion to hid them maybe?" he suggested. Emily closed her eyes, breathed in slowly and concentrated.

"Please hide my wings," She asked silently. She didn't feel anything, so she opened her eyes to make sure that they were gone.

"Yeah!" She cheered.

"Would you like me to accompany you to the dance?" Jhulyin asked, a gleam of hope in his eye. Emily didn't even have to think about that one.

"No," She shook her head. "I just want tonight to be all about me and Carrol. I miss her."

"Alright then," He nodded, looking disappointed. "Let's go then." Emily gladly took his hand, and the next thing she knew, she was standing outside of Sheffield Institute's Gymnasium without Jhulyin. Music and light was blaring from the inside, and kids were flooding inside. Emily stood outside, patiently waiting for Carrol to come. It took awhile, but her friend's mom's blue car pulled up at the curb. Emily Stood up straighter, awaiting her friend to exit and walk across the lawn. But she didn't. well, not right away. It took her twenty minutes before finally getting out. Boy does she take forever, Emily thought to herself.

Her friend stepped out awkwardly on thin heels. She saw her shiver after she slammed the door shut. She should have made the skirt a little longer.

"About time you got out of that stupid car!" She shouted at her. Carrol looked around behind her first, then turned toward the Gym, and her eyes grew wider then a cows.

"Emily!" She cried, breaking into a run. Seeing her friend made her feel warm and whole again, and she didn't even mind her nearly knocking her over.

"Where have you been?" She demanded. "Irma's a wreck, I've been so worried."

"It's OK," she smiled. "I'm here now." Carrol was close to tears. She sniffed, and whipped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She pleaded. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's OK," Emily shrugged. "I over reacted. I'm sorry for making you worry." Carrol nodded, and hugged her again.

"Now, let's show these people how to really party huh?" Emily cheered. She wanted to have a fantastic time tonight, because she wasn't sure when the next time she'd see her again would be.

"Yeah," she nodded. The two of them entered side by side.

XX

She had so much fun. They danced, laughed, took pictures together. Emily was happy she was able to come tonight. The last song of the night was about to start, when Imera had arranged for Gwen to sing with Zanic. Gwen panicked, but the others pushed her forward, while she just slowly followed. When Gwen got up on the stage, someone tapped Emily's shoulder. She turned around to find Jhulyin.

"You have to come back now," He said.

"So soon?" She pouted, looking back at her friend.

"Yes, the king wants to speak to you," He nodded.

"Fine," she whispered, not looking back at him. The last thing she saw before returning to her room, was everyone breaking off into pairs to dance, and Carrol looking around for her.