What should have been a simple life in the desert sand and stars becomes anything but. Haunted by dreams of a life of violence, and seeking answers as to why, Peridot and her friends find themselves caught in an ancient battle between Light and Dark...and find that the cost of being a soldier is higher than they might have ever thought.
Peridot: Ready to kick some Shadow butt? Absolutely!
Celestial: My Lady, thank you.
Lucera: Mother willing, never again. Now, prepare yourselves! Blessings of the Great Mother, descend upon these chosen Guardians. Grant them your strength, your will, your wisdom!
Lucera: Grant them the power to push back the Darkness once more! And so may it be done!
Obscuro: Ah...how I have missed the night wind on my skin. A shame about these three, however...they were quite useful. No matter--there will always be others.
Obscuro: Now...we shall continue. You two have much to give me...yet...
Obscuro: ...what?! WHat is this?!
Celestial: ...i've got my sword back but I can't see--I can't see! I can't--
Never let you go
It's why I did it all
For a chance at least
To live in your way
Love of you
Is my most cherished thing
So stay alive, bravely....
Lucera: No, my Guardians. It is I who should be thanking you. The burden I chose you to bear was never an easy one, but you have born it well. I am so, so very proud to have called you mine.
Peridot: Will we ever see you again?
Obscuro: NO! It cannot be!
Peridot/Celestial: *heavy breathing*
Celestial: Per?
Peridot: Still here.
Peridot: It's okay. I'll be your eyes. Are you ready?
Obscuro: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! HOW DID YOU BREAK FREE?!
Celestial: Born ready.
Peridot: One big attack at your twelve. Don't worry about me, I'll dodge.
Celestial: *cough* Got it. I'll come in high, you keep him mid.
Obscuro: ANSWER ME--
Celestial: *cough* Not usually our place to get involved in family spats, but--oof--your sister sends her regards.
Celestial: It's time to finish this, Obscuro! Once and for all!
Peridot: You're going to regret not going quietly last time.
Peridot: We're here to finish what we started, and put an end to you!
Obscuro: Never! There will always be Darkness--you can never be rid of me!
Obscuro: I exist in every living creature, every breath of the world! To destroy the Darkness is to destroy all you hold dear!
Peridot: We're not after the Darkness. Darkness has it's place in the world. Always has, always will.
Celestial: but you? Incarnation of malice and hate? *spits* Don't make me laugh. You're not in everything, or everyone! You're just a sad sack who can't take no for an answer!
Peridot: Say your goodbyes, Obscuro! This ends here!
Celestial: You're done!
Peridot: CEL!
Peridot: CELESTIAL!!
Peridot: no, no no no you can't--you can't leave me now! not like this! Cel!
Peridot: You can't leave me! Wake up! Cel please--
Peridot: Ma--MA!! We're over here! Hurry, please! Cel's--
Peridot: Cel's dying. Oh, Watcher, please...please, not like this! Help me--okay, okay, come on. CPR, you took a class for this!
Peridot: Please work please work please work! ...he's not breathing what--chest compressions!
Peridot: Come on! Wake up! One, two, three, four--Cel!
Peridot: One two three four--Cel! You don't last this long to quit now, you stubborn minthead!
Peridot: Cel, baby, please! We were supposed to have a life together now! We finally have it!
Peridot: Come on! Breathe, come on!
Peridot: Just hang on...I've got you, you're safe...it's over.
Peridot: It's finally over...
Peridot: That's someone else's fight now, guys. All that matters is getting through tonight, and then...Watcher, I don't even know...
Fern: Guardians or not, they're teenagers now. They're our responsibility, and I sure don't remember any Hunter showing up at my door to warn us the Shadow was starting to get loose! Dragons in glass houses shouldn't thrown stones.
Chronos: Hmph. Begone, the lot of you!
Celestial: I feel that. ...*sigh* Per, there's something I need to tell you--
Peridot; Blind, deaf, in a wheelchair--none of that matters to me. What matters is that you're alive, you're here, and we have a life together now. That is what I want.
Peridot: Please, baby, please--
Fern, off-screen: Peridot! Peri where are you?!
Calypso, off-screen: CELESTIAL!
Celestial: *soft gasp*
Peridot: Oh, thank you...thank you! It's okay, Cel, you're gonna be okay, it's over now!
Peridot: ...please hold on...please...
Fern: There they are!
Calpyso: Oh, Watcher--CELESTIAL!!
Hours later...
Chronos: You had no right to bring him here! He is a traitor to all life!
Calypso: He's a teenager who made a mistake!
Delphine: And not even in this lifetime, Master. I'm not saying Celestial is blameless--
Calypso: I am.
Delphine: --but he and Peridot just banished Obscuro! That has to mean something.
Chronos: They wouldn't have had to if they hadn't let him free in the first place!
Calypso: Well maybe if you'd done a better job keeping the door closed...
Fern: And stopped exiling good Hunters who could keep it shut--
Morte: *sigh*
Royal Cola: Still arguing.
Scarlet: Pff. He's no better than he was last time around.
Cinnamon: At least not a thrall this time.
Dawn: For now.
Candle: Babe, you don't--
Peridot: Obscuro's gone, but...there's always power leaking through that door. *sigh* He was right. We can never get rid of him.
Peridot: So long as people exist, there's always going to be malice and hate. He'll always exist, too.
Edelweiss: ...but so will goodness. *sniff* And Guardians.
Raven: Not sure that's a good thing...
Scarlet: ...not with Chronos in command of the Council. The next batch...they'll be in for it if he's still there.
Royal: Yes, but cannot change that.
Dawn: Not unless you feel like unseating all of them.
Peridot: Why did it end up like this?
Royal Cola: Cannot say. Fate? Plan of Watcher? Bad luck? Who knows.
*arguing grows louder outside*
Scarlet: ...I'm about to tear out his throat.
Peridot: Scar...
Scarlet: I'm just saying. Maybe I should try for a seat. S'not like a vampire's gonna age out of the position before those fools are dead.
Royal Cola: Lots of paperwork.
Scarlet: Oh yeah...blegh.
Peridot: *tired sigh* ...none of that matters now. I don't know if it ever mattered.
Later....
Celestial: ....mm...
Celestial: ...ow...where...?
Peridot: Cel? Oh, thank the Watcher...*breathy sigh* You scared me to death...
Celestial: ...where...are we?
Peridot: The Realm. El did her best to heal you, but...oh Cel...
Celestial: Is he dead? Tell me he's dead.
Peridot: He's dead.
Peridot: They're all dead. INcluding...
Celestial: ...Dad.
Peridot: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
Celestial: ...he knew what he was doing. And he...he tried, in the end. ...Per...the blindness, is that...
Peridot: ...El tried, baby. She couldn't...she stopped the bleeding but it was...
Celestial: *heavy sigh* Well. What matters is you're alive. Everything else is secondary.
Peridot: I'm alive. And I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.
Celestial: Thank you. ...it's..it's really over? Obscuro's been sealed again?
Peridot: It's over. We won the war.
Celestial: Now we just have to live with surviving...
The next morning...
Stone: Well, it may perhaps be a bit early to rest on our laurels, but it would seem that the worst has passed. The Abyss is quiet once more. As far as we have been able to tell, the Gate is sealed.
Lace: You are all to be commended for your success, Guardians. Whether in this life or the other you left behind, you have done all the worlds a great service. Would that we had more we could do for you...
Mandarin: More than holding off one stubborn old dragon!
Chronos: You should have come to us the moment you remembered that other life! Why didn't you?
Glacies: Because they knew you'd bite their heads off?
Cinnamon: ...Did not think we would be welcomed.
Scarlet: This is welcomed?
Raven: Shh.
Ignis: Chronos, you're not doing anyone any good like this!
Chronos: That hardly matters now! You could have doomed every realm in existence by not dealing with this problem sooner! To say nothing of how things turned out!
Edelweiss: Master Chronos...we did the best we could under the circumstances. And Obscuro is sealed away, isn't that what matters now?
Chronos: Not when so much was at stake, girl! And you, boy! You knew the cost of siding with that creature, but you still let your father do such a thing?!
Calypso: Master--
Fern: Lay off, old man. They did what they could.
Chronos: You--
Edelweiss: Master, please. We just want to go back to our regular lives. We don't want to be Guardians this time around, we....we want to be teenagers, and then adults, in the world outside.
Peridot: Live the life we didn't get a chance to before.
Chronos: Are you out of your minds?! The Realm has need of you! You cannot simply leave now!
Terra: Yes they can!
Glacies: And they have my leave to do so!
Fulgur: And mine.
Ignis: Mine as well. They have served the Realm bravely, Chronos. It is time to let them go.
Chronos: You--fine. Fine! But if this is your decision, none of you will be welcome here ever again! Consider yourselves all banished from here on out!
Celestial: ...yes, Master Chronos.
Peridot: Well, he's friendly as ever. Here--let me help you out.
Celestial: Sorry. I know you were talking about coming back, but...
Peridot: That was for you. Frankly, I'd rather never lay eyes on this place again.
Peridot: Besides, "Master" Chronos is about half a step from going Thrall even without Obscuro. The farther away from that we are, the better.
Celestial: I hear you. But...should we warn the sages?
Peridot: Bah. Let them figure it out.
Peridot: We have our own lives to live. And they don't involve stubborn old dragon-men.
Celestial: Yeah, but...
Celestial: You know he's got power behind him. If he loses it, what happens to the world outside?
Peridot: That is someone else's problem today. Today I just want to get home and crawl back into bed.
Mandarin: Hold a moment, you two!
Peridot: Sage Mandarin! Is everything alright?
Mandarin: Alright as can be, given Chronos'....stupidly stubborn nature. *aggravated sigh* You lot had best stay away from here for at least a generation, if you can. Give him time to be replaced, or cool down.
Peridot: We can do that, easy. Was there something you needed?
Mandarin: To warn you.
Mandarin: Do you recall the Prophecy that was read when you were here last? When Nine comes at last...?
Peridot: ...we do. It meant the nine of us, didn't it? Us former Guardians?
Celestial: ...you don't think it does.
Mandarin: No. I do not think it meant the nine of you in this generation. Prophecies are very specific; had it meant the nine of you it would have been come at last, not comes. *sigh* I fear this is not over. Obscuro has been sealed, but not destroyed. His power still exists.
Mandarin: And there will always be those who seek that power. Be cautious, going forward. We have matters to attend here in the Realm, so we may be of little use to you in times of trouble. I am sorry I cannot do more.
Peridot: Thank you, Sage, but we'll be alright. We made it through this, after all.
Mandarin: So you did. Very well. Safe travels, and may you always stand in the Light.
Peridot: ...you were going to say something before Sage Mandarin came up. What is it?
Celestial: I...*sigh* It's...kind of hard to say, actually.
Celestial: Now that all that with Obscuro is over...what's your plan?
Peridot: Graduate high school. Probably go to college and actually finish it. Marry you, have Mari....nothing big.
Celestial: Marriage and kids isn't big?
Peridot: Not after everything else we've been through. Why? Are your plans different?
Celestial: They're not, but...Per, I'm blind. There's no undoing that. I won't ask you to stay with a blind man.
Peridot: ....are you saying you want me to leave you?
Celestial: I want you to be happy. And I don't know if I can be that for you like this.
Peridot: ...Cel, I didn't fall in love with you for your eyes. I fell in love with you, as a person. You being blind isn't going to change that. Besides, in sickness and in health, remember? I meant that.
Celestial: So did I. I just...how can I be what you need when I can't even see it?
Peridot: Hey, come on. Did you forget Gramoony was blind for longer than we've been alive, both times? You don't need eyesight to live a full life, Cel!
Celestial: I'll never be able to see if you or Mari need anything. I can't...
Peridot: We can find other ways. And I can't speak for Mari yet, but I can tell you if I need something.
Celestial: ....so you want to be a blind man's wife? Even if I can't provide for you?
Peridot: I want to be your wife.
Two years later...
Peridot: Looking good, Crystal...looking good.
Peridot: I do not miss that weight, that's for sure.
*knock on door*
Peridot: Coming!
Citrine: Oh, look at you! Short hair suits you.
Peridot: It's a lot easier than long, that's for sure!
Citrine: So, you ready for this?
Peridot: For a graduation? Oh, you have no idea!
Citrine: And I can't convince you to give a speech? You came in second!
Peridot: Mom, only valedictorians give speeches, and I'm not fighting El for that post, thanks!
Citrine: Still....
Peridot: *laugh* No, Mom, no speech.
Peridot: Just us, being glad to graduate for the second time.
Citrine: That is still...so weird to me. I missed your milestones!
Peridot: Only one!
Citrine: No, your first day of college too!
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