Earth was a strange planet. Extreme customs, even more extreme clothing. It had been over 12 murah, or one year, and still no sign of the Chosen Ones. She searched, only finding bits and pieces of useful information, until today- the Rahon of Trua- or, in Earth terms, the fourth of January.
“Princess?”
“Yes Xavier?”
“I think I have someone that might be of some help to you,” the guard said quietly, cautiously.
“Oh?” The 20 year-old woman stared at the 40-year-old bodyguard. “Who might that be?”
“He goes by the name of Richardson. Kevin Richardson,” he informed her confidently.
“Where is this Kevin?”
“He is in Florida.”
“Florida…” she said thoughtfully. She had heard about the state, Disney World and all. “We shall set off for this Florida place. Inform Karienne of our plans.”
“Yes Princess.”
Nebula turned in her office chair, back to her workplace. She held the ancient piece of rice paper in her fingers gingerly.
Evil powers, evil forces. The darkness that fills the Quentex is unknown. But one thing is for sure- they are out to kill.
Legend of Crystalon-
Worlds destroyed, species wiped out. All good was at stake.
Ten beings, different people, different powers, came together to destroy the sinfulness of the Quentex, only to have delayed their universal destruction. Fortunately, those same powers carried through the generations.
It was Foretold that the ancestors of Azaria Ellittrl, Crystine Tabermilek, Xavier Trackiprik, Yin Zasche, Elli Drischaron, Hureen Sabs, Lillian Eftona, Hera Lecamn, Rena Terarc, and Tasha Xi are able to defeat the evil powers of the Quentex.
With the power of each of their crystal rings, they are able to come together and annihilate the Quentex.
Ten rings of ten colors- red for fire, green for earth, turquoise for the seas, aquamarine for ice, yellow for lightning, bronze for nobility, purple for spirit, white representing faith, maroon for love, and black for courage- will slowly defeat the dreaded evil.
If these unlikely heroes decide not to fulfill the prophecy, the destruction of the Quentex will continue, even worse than before.
With another sigh, Nebula ran her fingers through her ice blue hair. At first glance, one could mistake it for very blonde. But then if it were concentrated on, the bit of blue would show. It was her favorite quality about herself. Again, Nebula rubbed her ring. It was a coincidence that she got the power of ice, for Crystalon was almost completely made up of ice. To her it was her element.
Sifting through the papers, she found the one she was looking for.
Quentex-
The Quentex, the humanoid creatures that roam the planet of Quentex (the 3rd moon around Lupyn), were have said to be possessed by a force so dark not even they could withstand its power. Scientists believe that it exists in other forms, not just a solid, giving it ability to trap people in their own minds. No one is sure of how this is done- many believe the evil are creatures but can take the form of a gas.
Only the strongest could fight this evil. But no one has offered to help the Quentex, for they are scared away by the threat of the darkness within them.
“Princess?”
“Don’t call me princess,” she sighed, knowing it reminded her of home- a home enslaved by Daja. For all she knew, all her friends could be slaves. “What do you need Rachella?”
Her older friend pursed her ruby lips in thought. “Does the prophecy say anything about where the Chosen are said to live?”
“No,” the princess sighed again. “But Xavier thinks he has found someone worthy of my recognition.”
“Richardson?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure he will help uncover the secrets of the other nine,” Rachella said confidently. “I’ve heard he is very successful.”
Nebula smiled at her friend’s high hopes. “We need all the success we can get.”
+ + +
“There,” Xavier pointed, gesturing to the tall handsome man walking down the sidewalk.
He was tall and well built from the looks of it. His dark hair was spiked up casually.
Nebula raised an eyebrow. “Not bad…for a human anyways.”
The young woman strode confidently towards the man. “Mr. Richardson!”
The figure turned and his dark emerald eyes fell upon the woman. He stopped. She was gorgeous. Her waist length hair was braided carelessly down her back, strands falling out; she wore an ice blue trench coat down to her knees, which were covered by knee-high boots- also ice blue. The woman wore a tight white shirt that showed her figure.
“Yes Ms…?” he trailed off.
‘Deep voice…’ Nebula smiled.
“Nebula. My name’s Nebula,” she introduced, holding out a manicured hand.
He got over the strange name fairly quickly, kissing her hand. “Kevin. Kevin Richardson.”
“Yes I am aware of who you are,” she said flowingly, blushing at his sweet gesture. “That’s why I need your help.”
“My help?”
“Yes. Your-” she stopped. She glanced down at her hand.
Kevin did too, inquisitive. His green eyes widened. ‘What?’
Nebula stared at her ring- it was glowing a pale blue. Her eyes closed at the memory of her father’s last moments…
“You must…find the 10…save Crystalon…” he gasped.
“10? I don’t…I don’t understand, Father,” she whispered, almost sobbing as she watched her father writhing in pain.
“The ring…it will know,” he choked, the end coming near.
“FATHER!” she cried, seeing his head twitch.
“The legend,” the King gasped.
‘This is what he meant!’ Nebula realized. She looked up at Kevin, who stood mesmerized.
“You…” she whispered. “You’re one of the 10.”
“Ten?”
Nebula looked around, suddenly afraid of someone listening in on their conversation. She grabbed his arm and said, “Let’s go somewhere else. We need to talk.”
Kevin only nodded. ‘Can those stories possibly be true?’
+ + +
“The prophecy says that there are 10 people- 10 rings- that can beat this thing, regain my planet, and free the Quentex!” Nebula said in the last breath.
Kevin stared. “Are you sure?” he asked for the umpteenth time. “My parents have always told me stories but-”
She rolled her eyes. “YES I’m sure. You have a ring, don’t you?”
“Yeah…”
“Then HOW am I joking?”
“Well…” Kevin trailed off, then sighed. “What do you need?”
Nebula smiled. “Awesome! But first…”
“What?”
“What color ring do you have?”
Kevin laughed. “Black.”
“Courage…” she whispered.
“’Scuse me?”
“You have the ring of courage.”
“And you?”
“Ice,” she smiled.
“Ice? Then why is mine a trait and yours…something else?” Kevin asked.
“There are five trait rings and 5 natural element rings,” Nebula explained.
“Oh.” Kevin thought. He sat up straight. ‘Brian…’
“I need the phone…” he trailed off, seeing no telephone in the vicinity.
“Here,” she said, handing him a cell phone- which was, for the record, ice blue.
“Thanks.” Kevin dialed the number he knew so well.
Riing…
“’Lo?” twanged a familiar voice.
“Yo Rok wassup?” Kevin asked, smiling.
“Earth,” Nebula sighed, rolling her eyes.
Kevin glanced amusedly at Nebula while Brian replied, “Nothin…you?”
“It’s important,” Kevin stated simply.
“That would be…?”
“The rings- this woman knows,” Kevin just about whispered.
Brian’s crystal blue eyes widened. “What?”
“The rings. Crystalon. She KNOWS. It’s all true,” Kevin said.
Nebula watched the older man, eyebrow cocked.
“Oh my god…how?”
“Princess. She’s the princess.”
“Princess? Dammit why didn’t you say so?” the younger man hissed.
“Shush,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Just get ready- we’ll be over in a while.”
“But Kev-”
“I’m not joking Bri. It’s our planet too,” he argued. “This is it- our chance to save the world we never even knew about! She says we're her last hope.”
Brian laughed and let out a breath he had been unknowingly holding. “Ok. Ok. I’ll do it. Tell her hi for me.”
Kevin laughed. “You are so weird Bri.”
“I know. I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he smiled.
+ + +
“Ok right here,” Kevin instructed, pointing to a modest looking house.
“Should I come in?” Nebula asked uncertainly.
“Eh why not? He might not believe me,” Kevin laughed.
Nebula joined in and opened the door of the black Cruiser.
“You knock. Too nervous,” she insisted, biting her lip.
“It’s ok. It’s only Brian.”
She glared at him.
“Gotcha.”
He rang the doorbell and within minutes, a shorter man with dirty blonde hair greeted them.
“Hey Kev,” he smiled, hugging him.
“Wassup?”
Nebula couldn’t help rolling her deep blue eyes again. “Earth.”
The younger man glanced at her and smiled. “Hello, my name’s Brian at your service,” he said, grabbing and kissing her hand.
“You and him alike,” Nebula grinned, taking a liking to him already. “Nebula.”
“You guys are serious about all this space ship aliens thing, aren’t you?” Brian questioned nervously.
Nebula let out a small laugh. “Yes we are. Dead serious.”
Brian nodded uncertainly. “Let’s go then.”
It was clear the man didn’t know what he was doing.
The three got into the car and settled in- Nebula in the driver’s seat, Brian (with much effort) in shot gun, and Kevin unhappily in the back.
“So what’s the deal?” Brian asked.
“It goes a lil somethin like this- my planet is taken over by a species called the Quentex, who are said to be possessed by another evil, causing them to kill. Now ten rings- five traits, five natural elements- can be used to defeat it. But we only have three so far- you, me, Kevin. So we need the other seven. We can save my planet, and save the Quentex,” Nebula said confidently.
“How do we use them?”
“Erm…well, I haven’t quite gotten used to it,” Nebula admitted, surprised at Brian’s question. “But I’m learning. Which ring do you have?”
“It’s orange.”
“Bronze,” Kevin corrected.
“Shove off cuz,” Brian said playfully. “It’s orange.”
“It’s bronze,” Nebula jumped in. “For…what is it…nobility.”
“Leave it to Brian to get all noble,” Kevin joked, socking Brian in the shoulder.
“Someone’s gotta do it,” Brian smiled.
Nebula rolled her eyes. “So we have Courage, Ice, and Nobility. Cool.”
“What do they do?” Brian asked.
“It’s obvious what Ice does, but I’ll check on Courage and Nobility.” Nebula turned down a road. “I know I have it down SOMEWHERE.”
“How come the girl gets all the firepower?” Brian whined.
“Shut up,” Nebula said, but she couldn’t help smiling. “’Someone’s gotta do it’,” she mocked.
“Not cool,” Brian pouted.
Kevin let out a deep laugh.
“Ok we’re almost there,” Nebula announced.
“Whoa,” Brian breathed. “That is one helluva house.”
“I try,” Nebula smirked. “But it’s not a house- it’s a hologram.”
“Neat.”
“Yeah. Neat. Now let’s get inside- we have a lot to do,” the Princess said, getting out of the car.
Brian rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Let’s get cracking.”
+ + +
The Rings…so they attempt the destruction of me eh? Too late Princess- you’ve already lost.
+Hidden in Name+