Young Guardian Trilogy by Lady Adellandra Dratianos (read aloud .txt) 📕

hadn’t known about her until recently is because you hadn’t been wearing the Locket.”
“How do you figure?” Luna’s gaze was confused.
“It’s hard to explain, so I’ll let them tell you about it.” Ariana replied.
“Who?”
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.” Ariana called. She sent Luna a quick message – Trust me.
In entered four sleepy Companions, as Earthbound Mortals. Luna’s mouth dropped.
“Kit – How?” Luna hugged her once she recognized them.
“Sibylline and the Sisters. They gave us the power to be Earthbound.” Kit started.
Katherine interrupted. “Only for a short time, mind you.”
Luna waved a hand at Katherine. “Doesn’t matter now, really.”
“Aye. All that matters now is getting the others together and finding Sabrina.” Wolf announced.
“Right.” They chorused.
“Where are the other Crusaders?”
“Aaron’s at his own house, and so is Derrick. Mark’s at the Parker Mansion.” Ariana responded, going to her mirror and losing herself in thought.
“How do we get them here, unannounced?” Luna asked.
Ariana stared at her reflection in deep thought. “Mirror Magic . . .” She whispered.
Wolf, Toby, Kit, and Luna didn’t know what she was thinking about, at first. Katherine understood immediately.
“I’ll let the magic tell its tale.” Ariana said aloud before raising her arms at the reflection.
The others stood silent as they watched her Dream Locket glow bright.

“Earthly Protector, hear my song . . .”

Across town, Derrick Reading could hear her words in his mind. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the familiar tug of magical energy. . .

“Aaron and Mark, please come along . . .”

At the Parker Mansion, Mark Grey was weary, but heard her chant from miles away. . .
Next door, Aaron Schmidt looked up from his newspaper suddenly. He saw and felt an aura of energy around him and whispered with a frown. “Ariana.”
Something was going to happen. . .

Ariana finished the chant with her voice raised, eyes closed and hands to the ceiling.

“From North to South,
“West to East,
“Crusaders unite to
“Fight the Dominion beast!”

A flash of light made Luna and the others flinch, taking a step back.
In less than two seconds, Mark, Aaron, and Derrick had arrived. Derrick opened his eyes and smiled at Aaron, who smiled back. Mark was holding his head, barely able to keep his head up without hurting. He did it anyway, for show. Mark decided to sit on the nearest bed, which turned out to be Ariana’s.
Once realizing where they were, all three guys hugged the twins.
“How did we get here?” Mark croaked as he looked up and around him.
“Did you use magic?” Aaron asked the twins with a smile.
“Yes, I did.” Ariana said proudly. “I got you here by the use of Mirror Magic.” She gave Derrick a smile and a squeeze. “Lord Guardian taught it to me some time ago.”
“Sounds confusing, I know, but it’s a cool way to travel.” Luna supplied.
Derrick noticed the four strangers. He looked closely in each Companion’s eyes, recognizing Katherine right away from his trips to the Dream Realm. “How did you guys get here?”
“Mistress Sibylline gave us each an amulet with Earthbound Powers.” Katherine started. “Mine is the Ruby Amulet, with the power of Premonition.”
Kit showed hers. “The White Crystal Amulet holds the power of telekinesis.”
Wolf spoke up confidently. “I have the Amethyst Diamond Amulet, with the power of speed and agility.”
“My sister's name is Amethyst, remember Wolf?” Aaron piped up. Wolf nodded and turned to Toby.
Tobias White-Snow just stared at his for a moment. “The Emerald Amulet has the power of Unicorn Magic.”
Unicorn Magic. The words ran themselves in Aaron's mind. That’s what the magic he held within was called, thanks to the Blood-Pact.
“So, you used those amulets to be Earthbound?” Aaron asked, impressed. They nodded. “The Sisters must have a lot of faith in you guys.”
Katherine fingered hers. “Aye, I believe they do.”
She and Aaron smiled at each other.
“Once they arrived in their Companion forms, I cast a spell to change their appearances.” Ariana replied.
“It would look pretty weird with three talking cats and a talking dog roaming the city.” Mark joked.
Derrick was the only one not in the playful conversation.
What was on his mind? Aaron thought.
Derrick looked at Ariana. “Is it time?”
Ariana nodded. “Sabrina’s here, with Caroline and Grand Psycho.”
Luna and Ariana knew about Maximaniac, not wanting to tell the others just yet. The Companions each knew, sworn to secrecy, as was Mark.
“Oh no,” Kit gasped. “We are too late!”
“Not yet, Kitten’s Claw.” Luna remarked. “Sabrina hasn’t actually done anything here, yet.”
“Yet.” Aaron laughed under his breath. “Pretty soon, she’ll strike, and we won’t have any warning.”
Mark was going to complain that Maximaniac – Grand Psycho – was in on it, too, but he remembered his promise to his friend and kept silent.
Until it hit. A pain in his arms was itching, and he couldn’t stop scratching. “Ow!” He cried, and the Crusaders turned.
Ariana noticed this and went to him. “Mark, what happened to you? Your hands are all burnt!”
She took a hand while the others watched, knowing of her healing powers. No chanting was needed for such simple cuts. Ariana closed her eyes, hoping to pinpoint the cause of his scorched hands.
She began to see something in her mind. A picture . . . of Damian and Mark fighting. Mark was in a glowing red cage until he spread his hands, sending yellow energy out of them.
“You used magic?” Ariana asked him when she opened her eyes, amazed. “How did you learn?”
“From you and the Sisters.” He groaned, sitting on Ariana’s bed.
“Right now, you need rest.” Ariana said, looking into his brown eyes. “The first time I used my Ancient Mystic Magic, I was exhausted for three days.”
Mark nodded slowly, closing his eyes.
“I hope you can speed up the healing time, Ariana, because we really need him.” Luna replied.
“If he can use the Ancient Mystic Magic, you’d better believe we need him.” Aaron quipped.
“It’s not like my Magic, Aaron.” Ariana continued to soothe Mark’s hands with her Magic, a warm yellow glow surrounding the wounds. “It’s something within.”
“I should have known.” Luna said. All eyes were on her. “The Sisters that day at the Palace, remember? They told us we could do anything if we learned to grasp the magic!”
“Now I know what that means!” Derrick cried out.
“I thought of you, and the magic came to me.” Mark replied. He reached for the charm on the necklace around his neck.
She took it from his sore hands. “The locket I gave you has a little of my own magic in it. I forgot about that.”
She and Aaron shared a look, with him touching his bracelet and the scar on his wrist.
Mark closed his eyes, once feeling a headache coming on. The dizziness of the situation was starting to get to him.
Derrick stared at her. What did she do now? He thought to himself with a frown. Did she give Mark a necklace when all she’s given me were little tokens of love?
Ariana sensed this. “Derrick, please. It’s not what you think. You know Mark has been a great friend to me in my times of loneliness. I only sent it to him, from my mind, out of friendship. That’s it.”
“Fine.” Somehow, he believed her, and changed the subject. “Let’s play CASE.”
Case? Ariana thought. “CASE? Derrick, we haven’t played it in years!”
“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” Derrick prodded. Luna stared at them and nodded, finally remembering the trick they’d come up with on cases.
“What’s CASE?” Aaron asked.
Derrick smiled. “Now it’s my turn for a story. CASE is an old detective game that Shannon thought of to help us solve the cases we were working on at the time. C is for Crime. What is the Crime? In this case, the crime is Sabrina wanting to get rid of Ariana, thinking Ariana has her powers.”
“A is for Alibi,” Luna replied. “Of course, you can’t have an alibi without the Suspect – ‘S.’”
“Suspects are Sabrina and Caroline, for now.”
“What about Grand Psycho?” Aaron asked, confused.
The twins looked at each other briefly. “We’ll get to that – I promise.” Ariana assured him.
“Anyway, the ‘E’ would usually stand for Evidence, but there isn’t any, yet.” Derrick said. “Because she hasn’t done anything.”
“About Grand Psycho.” Luna started, taking a deep breath. “I had a vision, and he revealed himself to me as Maximaniac.”
Mark was awake now, listening. So were the Companions.
Derrick and Aaron listened closely with interest.
“Maximaniac told her he impregnated Sabrina, and the offspring will be born any day now.” Ariana concluded.
Aaron muttered, “Great, more bad guys.”
Katherine was silent until now. Since Derrick had mentioned her evil cousin, it had been teasing her mind. Even Wolf was worried about her.
“If I may say something Ariana?” She looked to Wolf, who nodded.
Ariana glanced at her now-Immortal friend. “What is it, Kat?”
“I have a confession.” Katherine began. “Sabrina and I fought and I accidentally revealed she did not lose her powers to you, and that she just forgot she had them.” She sulked. “I am sorry, Ariana.” Katherine began to cry, and both Ariana and Wolf comforted her. “I never meant to tell her the secret.”
“That’s okay, Kat. I’m sure it was an accident.” Ariana confided softly. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“If I could interrupt.” Luna responded. “Katherine couldn’t tell you because you weren’t really allowed to Crusade, remember?”
“I never would have realized, anyway, with all the tests I had to take.” Ariana replied. “So, Katherine Hawk, all is forgiven.” She gave her friend’s shoulders a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you, Ariana, for understanding.” Katherine wiped a tear from her eye.
“Now that we know this, how do we approach an upcoming attack?” Aaron asked.
“Good question.” The twins chorused.
Derrick and Luna sighed.
Ariana looked at the injured Mark, resting. She passed a hand over his eyes and wished good dreams for him. She touched his hair, looking into his dark brown eyes before they closed. Please, Lord Guardian, take care of him. She beckoned, and never knew when O’Dell answered.
The Companions looked at each other, helpless. Neither of the Crusaders knew what to do next, never knowing when Sabrina was going to strike first.

IV

The door to the Hill Crest Orphanage was propped open with a rock, so Sabrina and Caroline waltzed inside.
Some children stared while a few teenage girls frowned, keeping a couple of the younger ones closer to them. Sabrina noticed the bracelet one of the older ones wore. It looked familiar, but she couldn’t tell where it was from.
“Where is Helen Gertrude?” Sabrina asked one of the youngest, who looked about four. The little girl pointed to a room, and they headed over to where the girl was pointing.
Caroline knocked on the door, and heard a voice from inside.
“I’ll call you back later. I have prospective clients.” The phone slammed and Mrs. Gertrude opened the door. “Good Afternoon and welcome to Hill Crest. What can I do for you ladies?”
“Could we speak to you for a moment?” Caroline asked.
Sabrina interrupted. “It is about an old orphan of yours.”
“If there’s any trouble?” Mrs. Gertrude panicked.
“No, certainly none.” Sabrina supplied. “We just wish to talk to you about an Ariana Moon.”
The elder woman scowled, staring at them. The girls walked in and Mrs. Gertrude closed the door behind her before growling. “What