New Mission
"Is the plan working?" A familiar voice came through the shadows.
"Give it time, my Liege." The Lord of Sun and Shadow replied.
"Argyos, what's wrong with her?" Bane's voice was thick with worry. He looked at Celtic as she lay unconscious on the bed. He felt completely helpless.
"If it's what I fear, I'd rather wait till everyone's here." Argyos said. He was still hoping he was wrong.
"Ahhh!!!" Celtic's scream made everyone jump. She screamed again before going silent. Her breathing was rapid and shallow.
"Is there nothing you can do?" Liber asked. There came a knock at the door and then Nate entered. He looked around the room and noticed Celtic motionless.
"What happened?" Nate asked. He looked at Bane... they all knew that the Archer and Celtic had been close.
"Argyos has a theory but he's not saying anything." Frost replied sharply.
"I'm still hoping to be wrong." Argyos sounded desperate.
"Argyos, you are rarely wrong." Nate said which did not make Argyos feel any better.
"No!!!" Celtic screamed again. Her body jerked uncontrollably for a minute before she was motionless again.
"I can't..." Bane left the room. Andy wasn't far behind.
"I shouldn't have gone to the Colosseum..." Andy started.
"I should have come to see her more..." Bane said.
"Will you two stop blaming yourselves!" Dt said. The men hadn't noticed when she'd joined them. "If it's what I think it is, there's not much you could have done to prevent it. What I want to know is how they managed it..." Dt trailed off in thought. The cryptic statement doing nothing to ease the men's concerns.
"Bane, Andy, Dt!" Joy, Grim, and Ellie approached. Their smiled faded when they saw the looks on their friends' faces.
"What's going on? Leajey said it was urgent." Grim said; he noticed the stressed look on Bane's face.
"Andy?" Joy noticed that her brother was near tears.
"Dt and Argyos think they know, but they won't say anything until the rest get here." Andy said... not really answering the question.
"Andy, can you go and get WK and Poke?" Liber poked his head outside. Andy nodded.
"I'll go with you." Ellie said. She left with Andy.
"..." Bane let out an exasperated sigh. He ran a hand through his hair. "...I don't like feeling helpless!" His tone was strained and tense.
"Bane..." Her voice was soft but he heard it. Bane entered the cottage and looked at Celtic, hopeful. His hope faded when he noticed that she was still unconscious. Nate rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Leave them alone!" Celtic thrashed again and her head moved side to side. Bane took a step forward, something compelling him. As if sensing his presence, Celtic relaxed.
"Argyos, please..." Frost was losing his composure. The stress was becoming evident.
Andy, Ellie, WK, and Poke entered the cottage. "You sent for us?" WK asked.
"..." Celtic sucked in a breath and sounded like she was in pain. Frost left the room; no longer being able to watch her suffer.
"We're all here." Joy poked her head in. "But I don't think we'll all fit inside." Liber nodded. Nate pushed Bane outside. Liber and Argyos came out after explaining something to the healers.
"What's wrong with her?!" Frost nearly shouted.
"I fear she's been poisoned." Argyos answered a little relieved to get that out in the open.
"What? How? By who? With what?" Andy asked all at once.
"I think she's been poisoned slowly... probably over the course of a few months." Dt. said. "It's not a poison generally found in our kingdom, so it had to come from outside."
"Andy, Frost, can either of you think of anything that might have caused this?" Liber asked.
"Um..." Andy thought and then looked at Frost. "Wait... a couple of months ago she started getting letters from Heat..." He paused, "but you don't think..."
"If he's the cause of this...!" Frost practically growled.
"Frost, calm down. We need to focus on a cure before we worry too much about 'the who'." Liber tried to keep a level head. It wasn't hard to wonder if this really was Heat's doing; it wouldn't be the first time a friend betrayed them.
"What cure?" Bane now spoke. He had been trying to drown out Celtic's screams but was failing.
"We'll need a team to set out in search of the ingredients." Dt answered.
"What ingredients?" Ellie asked. She had not had much interaction with Celtic, but she knew how unique the Mistress of Fire and Cold was.
"There are nine required. Some will be harder to acquire than others." Argyos answered. "Eight represent the eight basic elements. The ninth is water from the Fountain of Youth."
"Each of the eight ingredients will come from eight different dragons." Dt paused. "This will not be as easy as you think. You can not manipulate the elements in order to control the dragon."
"Alright, what are the ingredients?" Frost impatiently asked.
"You will also need to travel outside of the kingdom; at least half must be from wild dragons. It will be a lot stronger if all eight are from wild dragons." Argyos added. "We will need a butterfly chrysalis, Terradiem leaves, Panlong tears, Love's scale, Paper's claw, Reindeer antler, and Bearded's spike."
"How are we possibly going to get any one of those ingredients?" Bre sounded pessimistic.
"We don't have any other choice, Bre." Joy said. "Let's do this."
"How are we going to decide who gets what?" Wolfie asked.
"I want the Mistresses to remain here." Liber said. "We may need you here."
"We will send the Generals out in search of the ingredients. To make it even harder, you will have to get the opposite of your element." Dt waited for the moans to die down. "For example: Andy will have to get the Reindeer antler while Frost has to get the Paper's claw. Work together; work quickly..."
"How long do we have?" Nate asked.
"I'm not sure." Argyos looked at Dt. "This is a bit more complex of a case."
"What do you mean?" Liber asked. "Does it have to do with..."
"I think so." Dt cut off what Liber was about to say. Even after three years and accepting her fate, Celtic still had asked that her new powers be kept quiet. "I'm afraid we'll have to break Celt's wish. Everyone needs to know what we're dealing with."
"Huh?" Echos asked. He looked at the others and then back at Dt.
"Celtic has developed the ability to control all eight elements." Silence was thick as Dt made the announcement.
"And these new powers are complicating the poison?" Latias asked. Celtic's screams could be heard through the window.
"We think so. She shouldn't be reacting like this at all; she should be completely silent and still. The change in her powers are causing visions, but the poison is turning those visions into nightmares. Without this cure, she could be locked in that state forever or..." Argyos trailed off, not really wanting to finish that sentence.
"Or? Or what?" Bane asked. Nate squeezed his shoulder.
"She'll die." Dt said solemnly.
"..." Bane turned his back on everyone.
"Generals, please pack for your journeys. You will leave as soon as possible." Liber said. They nodded and did as they were told. "Take a few dragons with you... you may need the extra protection."
"Bane?" Nate turned to his friend. "How are you holding up?"
"..." Bane looked at Nate but didn't say anything. The stress and worry were evident on his face. "I want to know who's responsible." His hands clenched into fists.
"We will figure that out. Bane, I want you to stay here with Celtic." Liber held up his hand to stop Bane. "I know you want to help, but I think you'll be of more help here."
"Liber's right. I've been thinking that Bane's presence here might help to calm her." Dt looked at Bane. "The two of you have some sort of connection. I think it could help."
"Alright, I'll stay. Keep me up to date, though?" Bane realized that Dt was probably right. Besides, he didn't think he'd be of much help if he was constantly worrying about Celtic.
"You'll do the same for us?" Liber asked. Bane nodded. "We'll check in, some how, every few days. Mistresses, help out where and when need be. And protect her at all costs." They nodded. Nate and Liber took off in search of information that could tell them who would want to harm Celtic. The Generals took off in search of the ingredients needed to save her life.
"My Liege, the Generals are searching for a cure." Shadow said. Justin emerged from the darkness.
"Any word on her condition and how heavily she's guarded?"
"They say she's not doing well. Something is causing her to react differently to the poison." Shadow could have sworn he saw concern flash in Justin's eyes.
"Guards?" Justin asked.
"The other Mistresses, Master Argyos, Lady Dt..." Shadow paused, not sure if he wanted to mention the other name.
"Is that all? Where are Liber, Nate, and Bane?" Justin needed to know.
"Well, Liber and Nate are searching for clues to who might be responsible and Bane is..."
"Bane is where?!" Anger flared in Justin's eyes.
"With Celtic..." Shadow waited for the jealousy to rage.
"...what exactly do you mean by that?" Justin could feel the anger and jealousy grow.
"As in, he's watching over her. I guess they thought it better if he stayed with her." Shadow, again, waited for the rage.
"This time, Celtic will be mine and all who stand in my way will die."