"Sky…" I still hear, after shaking the voice off. "Listen to me."
"What?" I ask, and clench my whole body, after looking towards her face… the face I remembered.
"This is the wrong way, you idiot," Agusth laughs, while holding my hand. "How bad is it, that you think I'm some harmful illusion."
"Bad… but I remember the actual way," I say, and continue going forward, dragging her illusion with me.
"Well, CLEARLY you're lost."
"I mean you no harm," I say, and stop without looking towards her. "I know who my predecessor is… but can we not do this? You're in danger."
"It won't answer to you," Agusth sighs. "And you really think Crystal-cave is in danger?"
"Got you there. I never mentioned about nothing. How do you know?"
"I learnt the error of my way, Sky. There is no… no way. It is magical."
"I believe in-" I say, and I feel my arm get lighter… the illusion was gone. "What?"
The whole place shakes, and I'm forced to get off the ground while transforming. The once cave transforms into a huge void with one blue creature in sight… this most massive thing tries to grab me but I as a blue thing – was one fast blue thing in air.
"Leave!" an echo resounds out, shaking me up.
"You don't get it!" I scream and hold my sword in my paw while slashing it forward – as a warning. "I'm trying to help you."
"What you seek, is unreal."
"Rahambose got to you once, are you kidding me? What confidence do you live with?"
"I'm the lord of every dragon, dead and alive. Kneel and beg my mercy."
I shoot towards the tentacles at his chin, but as they strike towards me I lose my dragon-form and free-fall.
"You cannot beat me."
As I hit the ground, I groan in pain – with the feeling on my back.
"So leave, Sky," Agusth's voice reaches me, and I open my eyes to find her smiling at me.
"You don't understand…" I breath in-and-out.
"I don't need to."
And as Agusth lifts herself away from me, and walks backwards… the illusion in my view fades as I find a hand holding onto her head.
"Found you," someone snickers… someone Agusth had told me about.
"Rainbow," I say.
Rainbow… this… thing. Formless, grey humanoid thing with no face. Its long legs keeping it at a great height of at least seven feet. Its long grey claws digging into the head of… Crystal-cave. Its face looks at me, with no eyes.
"You know me, dear?"
"I, alongside a friend, read your paper."
"Like many, I presume. And somehow you are here, like no other. How come? You understand me?"
"The friend… did."
"And?"
"You don't have to do this."
"But I do. I want to fuck the Crystal-cave, like it fucks with us. With all those illusions and what not. This false god."
"Yet it is what empowers you. Think it through."
"And that's the thing… I want more of this power. All for myself."
"And?"
"I'm this close," Rainbow says, pressing down his claws, making Crystal-cave scream in pain.
"Skyto!" I hear a voice with all the voices I knew… and many others I didn't.
My face turns away as I get a mere glimpse of Crystal-cave's real form. Something which would be worse than Vyanah. Way worse.
"What a blinding form. You keep this for yourself? How dare you…" Rainbow says, while Crystal-cave continues screaming in pain. "Let's be one now."
I get pushed out with one strike of air, and I get tossed right into the forest. I gasp as I feel myself going to fall again, but something holds me from my bag… a dragon in – Leo.
"Skyto… please tell me you're okay," Leo asks, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Leo, how did you-"
"-not the time. We are screwed when-"
"-Leo!" Hailo's voice comes.
"Shit," Leo says.
I feel like getting pulled away, while still in Leo's grasp. And I find a pile of… gems. But not the ground. But on the back of a shell… of a dragon. It was like the stars in the night sky, the gems… stars of many colours, even black – apparently. And the night sky being a dragon, whose colour had dimmed because of the stars becoming the spotlight. But the whites and brown of the dragon's eyes were yet visible enough.
"Not quite to my liking…" Rainbow says. "But we can work with this. Who'll complain, am I right?"
"Who are you?" Spythun asks.
I look around to see everyone being present here. Everyone but Line.
"Who are you? Old general? Go away," Rainbow sways his hand and Tyle disappears.
"Transform," Leo whispers to me. "At the moment."
This way I get placed on the ground.
"Tell me… do you believe in the Prophecy?" Rainbow asks. "One reduced to a rock – with the betrayer and assistant following. Girl from the stars. Man's deed. Risen from death, one dead. What was the last?"
"The first warrior. You lot's doom," Leo says.
"Right-right. Also, Trinity will kill you. You're lucky I left her behind when I showed up here. She can be quite slow for the strongest. But… you six are so adorable. Once eight. Now six. How about a new prophecy?"
"What even is that supposed to mean?" Drego asks.
Wait, she was awake?
"Don't mind me, when I tell you. Being an all-powerful being. I'll set in stone a prophecy. The Six Empire Dragons. Only six shall survive. The others shall die. Your powers will be found in your children – the ones who reap your blood. And in the end… you'll serve chaos."
"Did you just say children?" Spythun asks. "I-is any of you pregnant?"
"And he will lose his humour through time. I'll make sure of it. Now… be gone. There are still more pages to turn before doom."
I brave again, as we get thrown out, but this time I transform like Leo had asked of me. I try to move the wind and reduce the impact on everyone's fall – and I somehow successfully do it, but… this was different.
"Hey, you guys alright?" Tyle asks, appearing above our fallen faces.
"I feel weird," Spythun says.
"What the heck just… happened in there?" Drego asks.
"We've lost our powers," I mumble.
"But you are still in your dragon-form," Hailo says.
"Our gems are still with us… but I think our powers have become limited now. That's the best explanation," Leo adds.
"I feel indifferent," Drego says, and transforms into Tyle, and then me. "I could even maybe try using your powers."
"Enough showing off," Wyrom sighs. "Guys, I feel different too. How many of you feel your powers in a faded tone or whatever?"
Everybody but Drego raise their hands, and Drego flinches a bit. "This wasn't…" she says and looks at Leo.
"You both explain to us of what in the world happened with you," I say, glaring at them.
"Gust ever mention about a paradox? Somebody named… Mister Paradox. Ring any bells?" Leo asks.
"I don't think she ever did. Why?"
Leo just nods to himself.
"Well, there seems to be some entity who knows stuff. Probably everything. At least… that's how I and Leo got the rest here," Drego explains.
"Not me. I knew of this place," Spythun admits. "It's gone, isn't it?"
"Yes," I say.
"Okay, I thought you didn't know… what is gone?" Wyrom scales Spythun and Hailo.
"I don't know either, I swear," Hailo claims.
"It is not magic," Spythun says. "It's evolution. Contained in our gems. Surely we are of a lineage which can bear such an evolution change. But… it's a farce."
"Well, it is quite a real farce," I say, glaring at Spythun. "Yes it ain't magic. But there is a god of evolution."
"Just something we haven't figured. Well, Agusth hadn't."
"Agree to disagree. Crystal-cave is most possibly either this God. Or the closest to such a God. It was Rainbow's theory, all along. And it started because of… our Dad."
"An entity and all, confused with a repeated trigger? No. That's just because… it was supposed to happen. For example… how does your powers work, Wyrom?"
"The more stronger I need to be, I become? With a limit."
"Yes. In a way. But, theoretically… if something just made you strong enough, but it, with all due respect, had more skills than strength?"
"I'd lose," Wyrom admits, calmly.
"Right. So moments of some people's lives are the trigger to just another gem which triggers a teleportation. In a way, this gem is a connection to every possible gem, every possible gem has a predestined owner. And… it works."
"It is like a cut will cause bleeding and clotting. Just the nature of things."
"But what is… gone?" Wyrom asks.
"The gem which kept this place uncharted… for ages. A thousand or so years. Maybe two thousand."
"Trinity broke the ground… and probably knew what she was doing with it," Leo explains.
"She talked… as if she… she could feel the presence of that paradox entity. She… she knew the future to an extent. So she must've put it to use."
"So then the future is different you mean?"
"No… It was supposed to happen later. Just had happened sooner."
"And the entity told you that?"
"Yes."
"Is this entity trustable?"
"That's what I wanted to find out by asking you."
"I have no clue."
"Then… We'll have to ask Agusth."
"What?"
"She's alive."
I feel myself move closer to him, while mindlessly grabbing my sword.
"I expected you of all people to not joke about such things, Leo."
"I'm not lying."
"You think I'd just give you the benefit of doubt always, now that you're testing what-"
"-Sky!" A voice sharply calls out to me, making me drop my sword.
I feel myself shiver.
No. Drego… She wouldn't… She promised. But even this…
I just continue looking at Leo, unable to take my eyes off of him.
All my life I only thought of one thing… We really hadn't seen her die that day. But then again… She wouldn't put Street in harm's way when…
But it was her. The strongest dragon I knew. But…
"I-I mean…" her voice shudders in an unknown denial. "Mister Skyto."
I couldn't mistake Agusth's voice to anyone. No. What… was this?
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Author's note:
A minor but major change has been made on the last few chapters (chapters belonging to season 2), it has been fourteen years since Stree's demise in 'Then there were six (2)', not eight as it was pre-change. Therefore, since that event was in 2002, the year of this season's start is somewhere in 2016. Happy reading! Will try not to make any more blunders.