Guardians of the Light

A Great secret revealed

♦ Erika woke up at home in soft bed with her cuddly koala in her arms. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was 8:30. Normally she wouldn't want to get out of bed this early when it's the holidays, but today she was full of energy. She jumped out of bed, laid down, put her stuffed animal Nicky on the pillow, did her hair (today was Monday so she left her hair down), changed out of her Spider-man pyjamas into her favourite blue dress and decided to put on some make-up, she put on some light red lipstick . She went into the living room but saw no one there. Her father was surely still asleep, but her mother should be awake by now. Although it wasn't hard to imagine that she herself was still asleep. But David was definitely awake. She took the yogurt out of the fridge and as she walked into David's room she noticed that in her shoe, which she had left under the table next to David's, was a small box wrapped in blue paper with a dark blue ribbon. But there were no other gifts. She bent down and pulled out a box. Anubis ran up to her and barked happily as soon as he saw her. Erika used telekinesis; her blue aura appeared around the yogurt, the glass and the cup next to the bag of dog food. Using telekinesis, she turned the faucet on the sink and filled a glass with water, scooped the granules into the cup, opened the drawer and pulled out a spoon and summoned Anubis' bowls to her. She knocked on David's door and went inside with his permission. She placed the bowls on the ground and filled them with pellets and water. Anubis began eating his breakfast with vigour. "You're up early." David was sitting at the table, eating a baguette with marmalade and drinking milk. He was watching some series on his computer. "Can you tell me what's going on, David?" She placed the yogurt on the table and leaned towards it. He didn't take his eyes off the screen, but simply said: "You'll see today."

"Mom and dad are still sleeping?"

"No," he paused the show and turned to Erika, "they just went to arrange something."

"When will he be back?"

"By noon, I think."

"Where did they go?" David suddenly got a notification on his cell phone. He unlocked it, looked at what it was about, wrote something and smiled. "Why don't you ask them yourself?" Erika jumped when she heard the door open. Remus and Ariana entered. "Mom, dad. Where have you been?" Ariana laughed and Remus gave a small smile too (or at least as good as he could). David smiled too. Were they making fun of Erika? She didn't know what to make of that. Ariana turned to Remus, she pointed to her red heart collar necklace and Remus nodded his head. David rose from his chair and closed the blinds on all the windows in the room. "Magicis praesidio." said the parents. Ariana's collar necklace and Remus' snake-shaped bracelet glowed with the faintest light that engulfed them and time seemed to stand still. Erika gasped when she saw them. Ariana's short, golden blonde hair turned white and her eyes (right green, left coal black) turned red. The red blouse and jeans changed to a leather jumpsuit, high heeled boots and long gloves with gold embroidery. She had a paper-looking tiara on her head.

However, what Remus had turned into shocked Erika even more. The pupils of his golden yellow eyes now looked like the pupils of cats in broad daylight. His pale yellow sweater changed into a scaly green hooded jumpsuit. "That was you?" Erika blurted out as she managed to overcome her shock and speak. "How? Why? How? Mom?"

"We'll explain everything, kitten," Ariana said, stroking her head, "You did very well." Erika turned to David who was smiling wickedly. "You knew about this?"

"Yeah, but now I can finally tell you everything. You guys really didn't have patience." he laughed, "Open the box." Erika untied the gift's bow and tore the wrapping paper. The box was black with an engraved pattern and a large gold G in the middle. Just looking at the box filled Erika with strength, confidence, curiosity, and something deep inside told her that even if she hadn't found it in her shoe and even if David hadn't told her to open it, she would have. As soon as the lid of the box opened, the brightest light shot out. Erika covered her eyes as she dropped the box. She felt an indescribable power pour out of it and flow right into her veins, mixing with her blood and mana. Anubis barked happily. He must have felt the energy himself. The light was beginning to form, creating an orange hologram of a small man with a large nose, pale skin, and large orange eyes. As soon as he spoke, Erika recognized his voice from her dreams.