//------------------------------// // Love for Creation // Story: Worlds Apart: The Chosen of the Prognosticus // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// The cave wasn’t visible until they were almost right on top of it. One moment they were walking on an invisible path over a canyon, the next there was a section of rock jutting out of the opposite canyon face that hadn’t been there before. Caspian had to hand it to the Hag, this place was hidden amazingly well. He was unsure how they would have found it on their own. Twilight set Toph down inside the cave. Whispering, she asked. “Can you feel things now?” Toph stumbled a bit. “Y-yes. Just… don’t have my bearings. Give me a minute.” “Okay.” Caspian looked deeper into the cave. There was no need for torches, for something glowed green and noxious deep within the cavernous depths. Caspian drew his sword, Data his phaser, and Cosmo pulled out an extra phaser she had picked up precisely for this purpose should it be needed. Caspian was delighted to see that smile remain on her face even as she prepared for battle. He wished he could always keep his smile like that. But now, his own smile was faltering as he moved forward, sword poised. Toph, their strongest fighter, was very weak from the ordeal, and Twilight didn’t have much magic left in her from all the exertion she had gone through with their failed trap. They would need to be on their toes to take down this Hag. “Data, you should take point,” Caspian suggested. “You are the best of us, right now.” Twilight frowned. “Let’s wait fo—” “Don’t give her time to know we’re here,” Toph interrupted. “I’ll be fine, let’s just move.” Data did as suggested, moving in front of the group, cautiously examining everything around for signs of the Hag. It did not take long to arrive in the cave’s primary chamber. It was of a decent size, easily large enough to hold a house. There was a massive cauldron in the center of the room, lit by green fire that spewed blue and pink fumes of smoke into the air, coalescing into an ice crystal that hovered above the roiling concoction. An ice crystal? Caspian thought. Surely, she can’t be trying to call upon the White Witch’s power? Behind the cauldron were bottles of varying shapes and sizes, some small enough to fit in a hand, others larger than some houses. Each and every last one held a creature of some kind, be it fairy, dryad, or dwarf. Caspian found Sonic easily but saw no creature that matched the description of Tippi right away. What did strike him was the silence of everything—he could see the trapped creatures moving and yelling, but no sound reached Caspian’s ears. The Hag must have put a silence spell on them. Not to mention reinforcing the glass somehow—more than a few of those creatures should have been able to bash right out from sheer strength alone. When there was a noise, a scratching gurgling from a part of the cavern they couldn’t see, it was so startling it made everyone plaster themselves as close to the cavern wall as they could. Data was still in front, Caspian right behind him. The noise continued, this time coupled with the dragging of feet. “It’s almost time, my pretties,” the Hag said, approaching the cauldron with her back to the cavern entrance. She held out a hand with a purple chaos emerald replica, dropping the crystal into the brew. “You can never get rid of the Queen forever…” She cackled, throwing her arms wide. “Your magic is your own demise!” Data stepped out into the middle of the cavern, firing his phaser. It hit the Hag directly in the back, sending a stunning pulse through her body. She twitched a few times before falling backward, slumping onto the cave floor. “The Hag has been neutralized,” Data reported, lowering his phaser. “Well…” Cosmo stepped out as well, Twilight close behind her. “That was anticlimactic.” Data reached down and pinned the Hag’s arms behind her back, just to make sure she wasn’t going to wake up and escape. As he was doing so, the Hag’s magic began to fade—the cauldron stopped bubbling and the floating chunk of ice fell into it, melting into the brew. The animals were still silent, however, despite visibly cheering and celebrating the Hag’s defeat behind the glass. “Citizens of Narnia!” Caspian declared, holding his sword up high. “By the power of Aslan, we have come to liberate you from this Hag’s evil clutches! Remain calm while we release you—we’ll figure out how to get past the glass.” “The sealing spells appear to still be in place,” Twilight observed. “It may take a while to break them all out.” “Luckily, we have time. And Toph.” “Is that what you think?” Caspian’s smile vanished. Have I heard that voice before? He whirled around, pointing his sword at a girl in a red, obviously arcane outfit. “Lulu,” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes. “What do you want?” Ah, so this is one of Count Bleck’s thugs. Caspian narrowed his eyes. Why does she seem so familiar to me? Lulu smirked. “What do I want? Please, use your brains—you do have them, don’t you?” She chuckled. “I’m here to stop you! I had rather hoped that the Hag would put up more of a fight, but that proved to be such a bore. But n—” Data fired his phaser, but Lulu blocked it with a mirror spell that reflected it into the ceiling. “See? All she had to do was notice you, but the nitwit didn’t even manage that. Such a shame.” She shook her head. “We’ve taken you on before,” Cosmo said. “We can do it again.” “Yeah!” Toph said—managing to stand strong despite the clear queasiness on her face. Luu waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, yes, I know, strength in numbers. But—now pay attention, this is important for you to understand—I’m not alone!” There was a flash of green, and something impacted Twilight’s face so fast Caspian couldn’t see it. The next thing he knew he’d gotten a brown boot to the head that sent him sliding, though he maintained his ready posture. Twilight was not so lucky. The impact had hit the base of her horn and now she was lying on the ground, letting out a high-pitched squeak of pain. “Heh heh heh heh…” a man’s voice said. The green blur dropped down next to Lulu, revealing a human man with a green cap, a black suit, a mask over his eyes, and a well-groomed mustache proudly displayed under his bulbous nose. “Some legendary heroes you are! One down already? Don’t make me laugh!” “You won’t be laughing in a sec…” Toph grumbled. The man looked her up and down. “You look barely able to stand, wow! This is going to be easy peasy!” “Who, pray tell, are you?” Caspian asked. “Unknown,” Data admitted, narrowing his eyes. “Likely a servant we have not seen before…” “I am… the one…” he struck a pose with a finger to the air. “The only…” He twirled around with his arms spread wide. “The legendary…” He jumped so high into the air he slapped the cavern’s ceiling. “MR. L!” With this declaration, Mr. L clapped his hands together and sneered. “And you are all the heroes of prophecy I’ve heard so much about!” “And you are one of Count Bleck’s vile thugs,” Caspian spat. “How can you pledge yourself to a man who wishes to destroy everything?” “Eh, reasons.” Mr. L shrugged. “Though, ‘vile’? Really? Have you seen this ‘stache? A better word would be ‘magnificent’, Mr. pointy-sword-mc-jungle-kid-king!” “I… what?” Caspian cocked his head. “Cease this buffoonery!” “I do believe he’s going to continue in the buffoonery,” Lulu said, smile faltering. “Really, it appears to be all he knows how to do…” Mr. L pointed into the air and started shaking his torso. “Prepare yourselves for a battle the likes of which you’ll never see again! With Miss throws-rocks-all-the-time about to puke her guts out and Miss makes-friends-all-the-time out of commission, you don’t stand a chance!” Data blinked. “You have demonstrated no particularly interesting abilities. I do believe you are mistaken.” “Can it, Mr. doesn’t-understand-basic-emotions!” Cosmo blinked sensing a pattern in Mr. L’s comments. “Wait, what does that make me?” “Miss useless-in-a-fight!” Cosmo’s left eye twitched. She pointed her phaser at him, releasing a beam of energy. With alarming speed, he jumped into the air and crashed down in her head, knocking her over. He pulled a wooden hammer out of seemingly nowhere and moved to smash Cosmo’s face in—but Data grabbed the hammer with his arm and wrenched it out of Mr. L’s hands. “Hey! That’s a collector's item!” Mr. L spun-kicked around, hitting Data directly in the chest. The android didn’t move. “Uh…” Data grabbed Mr. L’s leg and picked the man up, throwing him over his shoulder. Toph kicked a rock into the air, bonking him in the head as he pinwheeled through the air. He landed unceremoniously next to the cauldron’s base. “Looks like your new friend was rather useless,” Caspian said, keeping his blade pointed directly at Lulu. “Now, how about you tell us a bit about yourself?” “I have nothing to say to you.” She chanted something under her breath and pushed some energy to Mr. L, rejuvenating him. He pulled a hammer out of nowhere and charged again. “The year of Mr. L never ends!” “Data, keep him occupied!” Caspian shouted. “Cosmo, Toph, we need to take care of Lulu.” “Oh, a ploy?” Lulu giggled, deflecting Cosmo’s attack with a simple shield. “And what are you going to do to hit me?” “Rocks,” Toph said, lifting rocks into the air. “And a lot of th—” Lulu cast a very simple nausea spell. To most people, it would have done virtually nothing. To Toph, who had been struggling to keep her lunch in for the last few minutes, it forced her into deeply unpleasant convulsions. “Now what are you going to do to hit me?” Lulu asked. “Attack until something hits.” Caspian jumped forward, swinging his sword from the side. Lulu blocked it with a simple shield spell, as he expected, allowing him to twist his body over her and kick her in the back. She stumbled forward, still having to focus on deflecting Cosmo’s shots instead of attacking Caspian directly. To compensate, she cast a simple befuddle spell that made Caspian lose his footing, allowing her to kick him without much effort. For such a young girl, her kick held a significant amount of spunk, taking his legs out from under him. With her free hand, she released a dagger from her robes, still casting shield spells to deflect Cosmos’ attacks. She jumped for Caspian just as his mind was starting to recover. Data threw Mr. L across the cavern, hitting Lulu with him. The two rolled head over heels into the nearby wall, dazed. Data did not stop his assault, pointing his phaser at them and firing. “Shell!” Lulu called, crafting a green barrier around both of them that absorbed the phaser blast. “Fira,” Lulu said, sending a tornado of fire from her finger at her enemies. Cosmo and Caspian ducked out of the way, but Data pushed through the fire. While his uniform caught fire, his body was completely immune. He was able to punch straight through the Shell spell and point the phaser right into Lulu’s stomach. “Bother,” she muttered as the weapon went off, stunning her. Mr. L laughed. “Now you will know the true fury of Mr. L once his comrade is down!” He brought the hammer down on Data as hard as he could. It bounced right off the android. “Mama mia…” Mr. L blinked a few times. “Well, she wasn't that much of a motivator anyway.” Data pointed the phaser at him. “I’m afraid you will be coming with us.” “Mr. L never gets captured!” The purple energy of the Void engulfed him and the unconscious Lulu, taking them away. Data sheathed his phaser. He kneeled down to check on Twilight’s horn. “Mild head trauma and a horn microfracture. Flipside’s rejuvenation should be enough for her. Toph?” Toph stood to her feet, wiping her mouth. “I… Uh, is it weird that I actually feel better than when I first walked in?” “No,” Data said, standing up. “Ejecting the contents of your stomach often improves the sense of health. After the fact.” “Oh.” “That was too easy,” Caspian said. “They were hardly able to put up a fight.” “I agree,” Data said. “But they may not have been fully aware of my capabilities.” Cosmo frowned. “Wait…” There was a soft rumble as a large Void portal opened in the middle of the cavern, depositing a hulking metal robot right on top of the cauldron, shattering it with its weight. The robot had two hands and two feet, but the rest of it was almost entirely head—a head modeled after Mr. L’s face, right down to a polished chrome mustache. In the forehead of the machine, stylized as though it were a green hat, a window showed Mr. L with his hands on the controls, sneering. “Behold, Brobot!” “...Brobot?” Cosmo cocked her head. “Yes! My metal brother, devoted to me to the very end! He and I will lay waste to your pathetic, primitive world of magic!” “Begone, foul demon!” Caspian shouted, bringing his sword down on Brobot’s foot. Crack. Caspian’s legendary hand-crafted sword broke in two on contact with the machine. “Well…” Caspian swallowed. “Uh…” Data and Cosmo fired their weapons, focusing their beams on one part of Brobot’s foot. The metal grew red-hot and started to sizzle, but it did not melt. “Your attacks are useless!” Mr. L declared. “I spit on your efforts! Nothing can face the brilliant engineering of Brobot! And guess what? He shoots missiles!” “Missiles?” Caspian furrowed his brow. “What ar—” “MISSILES!” Mr. L shouted, pressing several buttons. Flaps on the side of Mr. L erupted in a flurry of sparks, sending a burst of over a dozen missiles at Caspian and his friends. There was no way they could survive such an explosive barrage in such close quarters. “No,” Twilight declared. Even though her head felt like it was about to explode and her horn was on fire, she ordered her magic to create a shield spell. Not around her and her friends—but around Brobot, ensuring that the explosive yield of the missiles harmed him and only him, not the imprisoned creatures behind him. The smoke cleared. Brobot was unharmed. Twilight passed out, entering a much deeper state of unconsciousness. Mr. L coughed, waving the missile smoke out of his face. “You got smoke in my ‘stache! You’re going to pay for that! No more magic, only explosions!” He pressed a button to fire more missiles. No missiles came. “What in… what did you do to Brobot?” Toph jumped onto the main window, grinning. “I just punched your little missile bay shut. What’re you gonna do now?” “How dare you sully my metal brother’s perfect exterior!” Mr. L pushed two levers forward, prompting Brobot to jump. He easily hit the ceiling, the force knocking Toph off and into the rocks. Weak as she was, she could still drive a spire of rock off the ceiling and through Brobot’s windshield. “Gotcha!” She jumped down onto the rock spire, sliding toward the hole she’d made. Brobot’s eyes burned red hot and blasted her with a laser, slamming into Toph’s torso. Unlike many of the other lasers they had encountered, this one burned right through her clothes, charring her skin thoroughly. Smoking, she fell—landing in Cosmo’s arms at Brobot’s feet. “Hahahahah!” Mr. L Cackled. “You’re inna pickle now!” Caspian’s mind raced. What could he do? His abilities were of no use against such a machine, Toph and Twilight were badly injured… they were running out of options. Perhaps… everyone trapped in the jars could help? If he could release them… He took off at a run, going for the jar that held Sonic. “Oh no ya don’t!” Brobot removed itself from the earthen spike Toph had created. It took one step, and it was on top of Caspian. “No tricks! N—” A red light started flashing in the cockpit. “What’s going on!? Brobot, your power!” Data punched a hatch on Brobot open, jumping out with a large black brick in his hands covered in drawings of lightning bolts. “The machine’s power has been neutralized.” “No! This is impossible!” Mr. L pressed buttons and levers with a shrieking rage, but without a battery, Brobot could follow none of his instructions. “How did you get in?!” “Toph’s attacks revealed several structural defects,” Data said. “You were so occupied with her that it was easy to sneak past your defenses.” “This can’t be happening to me!” Mr. L smashed his fists into the console. “...Wait, there’s enough stored power for one laser. Haha!” He grinned—noticing that Brobot’s eyes were pointed directly at the wall of imprisoned creatures. An opportunity to strike at the heart of Narnia even in utter defeat. “Say goodbye to your friends in jars!” And then Aslan was sitting in the cockpit with Mr. L. “W-w-wha!?” Mr. L pulled his hammer out and brought it down, somehow managing to smack himself in the face. “Confused child…” Aslan said with a deep sigh. Then his face became one of intense, burning rage. With one breath, he released a roar into Mr. L’s face that lasted half a minute. “B-b-b-b…” Mr. L babbled, mortally terrified. Out of options, he summoned the void portal, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared, leaving the empty Brobot behind. Aslan jumped out of the abandoned, wrecked machine, landing in front of the heroes. Caspian and Cosmo bowed. Data glanced at the two of them with mild confusion before doing the same. “Child, you respect me with your heart, there is no need to mimic the outward appearance of others when it does not serve the purpose.” Data cocked his head. “But I do not have a ‘heart,’ as you use the word.” “You have both an advantage and a disadvantage when it comes to these things.” “Ah.” “Aslan, once again, I thank you,” Caspian said. “You have saved the captured citizens of Narnia.” “I have not saved them yet.” Aslan turned around, just in time for a larger Void portal to appear and swallow up Brobot, allowing the captured Narnians to actually see the great lion. The response was one of overwhelming jubilation, though a few shivered in their jars. “W-well…” Toph managed from her smoking spot near Twilight. “I feel him now…” With one wild roar, a rushing wind blew through Aslan’s mane and directly into the jars. In an instant, the glass transformed into a harmless powder that fell to the ground. The Narnians that had been stacked on top of each other all fell into a rather amusing pile that upset more than a few animals, but none of them wanted to gripe or snap in the sight of Aslan. Instead, they swallowed their complaints and rushed to Aslan with too many words for Caspian to understand—but he knew the lion heard each and every word that was said. The lion’s face remained impassive, but the aura of kindliness radiating off of him was clear to for everyone to see. Sonic ran up to Cosmo. “Hey. Thanks for coming to get me! I’d say I owe you one, but it was your trap that got me caught, so…” “Have you seen Tippi?” Cosmo asked. “Hm? Oh, yeah, she’s in the back, right over there.” Sonic pointed, but before Cosmo could ask to clarify, he was gone. As it turned out, she didn’t have to go hunting for Tippi—the Pixl flapped her way over to them. Caspian stared in awe at her magnificent, multicolored wings. “You… all came to get me,” Tippi said. “Did you think we’d do anything else?” Cosmo asked. “As I’m sure Twilight would say if she were conscious, you’re our friend.” Tippi fluttered over to the downed form of Twilight. “You hurt yourselves getting here…” “In more ways than one,” Toph said, groaning. “Flipside… sounds good right about now.” “Th-thank you,” Tippi said, flapping back into the air. “I… you don’t know what this means to me. I can’t even…” She let out a soft giggle. Cosmo gasped. “You laughed!” “I… guess I did.” “Oh, this is excellent! We’re all back together, we have a new hero…” “A new hero?” Caspian nodded in her direction. “Pleased to finally meet you, ma’am. They all speak very fondly of you, and they were willing to go to the ends of the world to find you.” “I… wow. And you never stopped, even after all this time?” “The thought didn’t even cross our mind,” Cosmo assured her. “But… the Pure Heart? Shouldn't you be looking for it?” “We came for you first,” Cosmo said. “Speaking of the Pure Heart…” Caspian turned to the crowd of Narnians surrounding Aslan. Setting his face, he marched through the crowd. They quickly realized who he was and parted, letting him into the center ring to address Aslan. “Aslan, now that the Narnians have been saved, I must ask you for another favor.” “The Void,” Aslan said, nodding to him. “It is a terrible, tragic entity, unlike the pure evils you are accustomed to, Son of Adam. Be wary on your journey.” “I will, Aslan.” He bowed slightly. “I ask you for the location of our world’s Pure Heart.” “You already know where it is,” Aslan said, a smile crawling up his furry face. “You have stood close to it many times in your journey through this life.” “Wha—” Caspian stopped himself—and then he laughed. “I’m speaking to the Pure Heart, aren’t I?” “What…?” Cosmo said, cocking her head. Tippi’s fluttering slowed. “It… is coming from his direction…” Aslan let out a slow, purring sound that might have been a laugh. Whatever it was, it was a joyous noise. “Close enough, Son of Adam. I am not the Heart, but it is in me.” With a flash, a light blue crystalline Heart appeared above the lion’s head, shimmering in the light of the cavern. “It is here because of them.” He gestured with a paw at all the Narnians gathered around him, all with smiles of awe-inspired gratitude. “It feels their love for me.” He took a few steps forward toward Caspian. “It is my love for them.” The Heart descended into Caspian’s hands, where he readily took it. His entire being became rejuvenated by its mere presence. There was no limit to its power, he knew. It was love itself... “Son of Adam!” Aslan called, jolting Caspian to attention. “Son of Humanity!” Data nodded in acknowledgment. “Daughter of Life!” Cosmo bowed slightly. “Daughter of Eve!” Toph, despite herself, still nodded at him. “Daughter of Epona!” Twilight opened her eyes, a smile on her face. “Daughter of Light!” Tippi fluttered, shocked that she was being addressed. “Go, return this Heart to its place among the others and journey to the next world! Meet with the Daughter of Darkness and continue your journey into the Void itself! You have my blessing!” He let out a brilliant, terrifying, inspiring, and definitive roar for all in the cavern. “We will,” Twilight managed, coughing. “We will.” “See that you do. Now… Son of Adam?” Caspian nodded, lifting the Pure Heart into the air. “We got a Pure Heart!”