A Raven's Choice (Book 2)

Chapter 19: Raven's Problem

Agrigial's Point Of View:

Magpie furrowed her brow. "How do we know which founder is inside me and which is inside Raven?" I carefully crossed my arms behind my back. "Since you two are unaware of their presence, that means they haven't shown themselves yet." I paused. "I have three founders inside of me, the Jadern Founder, the Craven Founder, and the Uten Founder." Magpie gasped and Robin responded, "How can you hold so many?" I nodded. "Fair question. I can hold them off with my reaper powers. However, any more than that, and I will have no choice but to release them." I paused. "We need to get with Raven and let her know of this." Magpie questioned, "We have a month until the war starts. Will it be enough time to take on John?" I looked into her eyes, so innocent, yet so fierce. "It will be very close. We need transportation." Robin looked between the both of us. "I'll get with Wane, his people have the power of air." I smiled and placed my hands in front of me. "Good, get on it." Robin excused himself. After a few minutes, we saw Robin and Wane approach us. Wane extended his arms and yawned. "I was enjoying my long needed nap." Robin patted his shoulder. "It's okay, Wane. We just need you to let the Fryer Clan know what is going on." Wane looked up at Robin and blinked. "They already know." Robin raised an eyebrow as we heard something outside. All four of us rushed outside.

Robin's Point Of View:

Wane smiled and looked up at me. "I excused myself earlier, to let everyone visit, and so I can gather the army." I shook my head. "You're just a kid, Wane. You shouldn't be making orders." Wane just smiled and looked at the large Fryer army in front of us. What appeared to be the Commander, walked in front of them. He put a hand over his heart in respect. He had gold plated armor and two slits for his yellow eyes. His long blue hair flowed down his shoulders. He stood at about 6' 3" and appeared to be around thirty in age. "My name is Commander Veatros. You may call me V. It is a pleasure to meet you, Queen Magpie and King Robin of the Raven Clan." He then bowed, with his army following. Off guard, I looked to Magpie. Magpie smiled and lifted her hands. "You all may stand." The army and Commander did so. "I am Queen Magpie. Per Raven decree, we will fight in this war." Commander V looked up at her questionably. "Would your Commanders not be enough?" Her purple eyes shined with determination. "This war will mean many people will perish." She paused, with the army fully watching. "If we were to sit idly by, even more would do so. Tell your Queen and King the same. I encourage them to join as well." There was silence and then whispering. Commander V bowed his head. "I will notify them at once."

Wane's Point Of View:

Commander V notified our King and Queen. They agreed and arrived with their steeds. The Fryer King rode on a large bird like creature. The Fryer Queen rode on a large land lizard. Both were about the same in speed. The King had blue eyes and white hair with a white beard. He stood about 4' 4" tall and was fifty years old. The Queen had blue eyes and long curly black hair. She stood about 5' 2" tall and was forty years old. The King landed his bird beside the Queen. "I am King Gray and this is Queen Ama." Ama stood from her lizard and joined him on solid land. She bowed. Magpie bowed in return. "I am Queen Magpie and this is King Robin." Gray chuckled. "We know of you two. Wane caught us all up, since he was kidnapped from our clan years ago. We know what you did for our clan member, and we appreciate it greatly." Ama responded, "We do you the honor of joining the fight, as thanks." Magpie smiled. "Thank you. As we all were told from King Gorgon, the battlefield will be on Bunard grounds." Ama nodded. "Let us make haste." Ama leaped back onto her lizard, and Gray onto his bird. Ama reached for Magpie's hand. "You may join me, and Robin with my husband." Robin leaped onto the bird with Gray, as Magpie slowly joined Ama.

Wane's Point Of View:

We rode onwards, until we reached the Bunard Clan. The clans were already there by the time we arrived. All of their different colored capes flew with the wind. All but two, the Jaderns and the Linens. Queen Ama stopped her lizard and both Magpie and her jumped off. Magpie reached out her arms to Raven. "My daughter." Raven, teary-eyed, hugged her. King Gray landed his bird and Robin joined in on the hug. Queen Ama addressed everyone, "Today, we train. In a few days, we battle for our very lives." King Gray joined in, "We combine our large army with the Grosen's large army. The rest of you have small numbers. We will show you how to make that your strength." Queen Magpie joined in, "Ama, Gray, Robin, and I will join the battle. Who amongst you will do you same?" King Gorgon immediately threw down his Bunard Clan cape. "I will." The Outlander Commanders responded, "For the King, we will." The Craven royalty, Rater, responded, "As my father is leading this bloodshed, I will obviously join." The Darnarg responded, "To fight John? It would be an honor." The Racheon Commanders responded, "On behalf of the entire world, we will." The Uten Clan was much smaller than the rest, but they had a Commander. He nodded toward us. The Grosen Commander responded, "Out with the old, in with the new." The extinct Avan clan only had two representatives. Frazior and Exavior stood by Luciano in determination. Exavior responded, "We will protect our future Queen. As per King Gorgon, no one below age sixteen will battle." Everyone agreed to this as I rushed to Raven's side. She hugged me close. "Do not worry, little Wane. I will make it out alive." It was then that Agrigial made her appearance known. "I will be the one to help you do so."

Raven's Point Of View:

I looked toward Rater. "Can you contact Valor and see what is going on with the Linens as well as Nora for the Jaderns?" Rater bowed. "Of course." With that, he excused himself. The others scattered to train, leaving just Robin, Magpie, Wane, and I. Agrigial slowly made her way over to me. "You are crucial to how this war will play out." I looked toward my father. I did not know this individual. Robin looked at Agrigial. "You have been in that room for many years, she does not remember you from before." Agrigial shook her head. "I apologize, Raven. I am Robin's half sister, Agrigial. Please, hear me out." I looked into her purple eyes cautiously. "Go on." Agrigial continued, "Magpie, you, and I, all have what we call the Founders inside of us. There are twelve total, one from each clan. We are the vessels keeping them from escaping into this world." She paused and crossed her hands. "John is one such Founder. Unlike the other eleven, he found a way to escape his vessel." I raised an eyebrow. "If there was someone inside of my body, wouldn't I be aware of it?" Agrigial smirked and placed her hands behind her back. "They haven't made themselves known to you." I crossed my arms in thought. "Okay, if we all contain them, how do we keep them from escaping like John?" Agrigial grew more serious, "To prevent the Founders escape, we would need one vessel to hold them all. I can only hold three at a time, while Magpie can hold one." Magpie responded, "Agrigial stated that you are the only vessel that can hold them all, dear."

Raven's Point Of View:

I saw tears threatening to fall from my mother's eyes. I looked at Magpie and Robin and then to Agrigial. "So, what's the catch? If I were such a solution, why does it seem like a bad idea?" Magpie clutched Robin's arm as he responded, "By holding all twelve founders, you would be forced to live with their personalities for as long as you live." My heart dropped. Split personalities? Would I even be, me? Agrigial slowly responded, "You have a choice, niece. No one will force this on you. Either you take them all on and save the world, or, they will all escape in due time and destroy us all." I lightly scoffed. "Doesn't sound like much of a choice." Magpie responded, "Or someone could sacrifice themselves to try and hold them." I frowned. "Why can no one else hold all twelve? Why does it have to be me?" I felt Wane's little hands clutching onto my pants in worry. Agrigial responded very carefully, "I hold three, Magpie and Luciano hold one, and Rafael holds another. This means, aside from John, you currently have five Founders within you already. Since this is an impossible feat in itself, only you can do it. I can extract them without hurting everyone, and bring them to you, if you choose this route." I looked her dead in the eye. "But, how? How can I hold so many?" Agrigial scoffed. "If I knew that, I would volunteer myself, dear." I sighed as Magpie held Robin's hand in worry. I felt everyone's pain and worry, but I also knew what would happen if John won this battle. "How do we go about John's capture?" Agrigial nodded. "If you choose to be the vessel, I will simply extract his soul into your body. Of course, only after taking on his army and weakening him." Robin patted Magpie's shoulder in support. "Don't answer now, daughter. You have a month to decide. Be with your loved ones for now, and come find us later for training." I nervously hugged my parents and looked at Agrigial. She nodded her agreement as I took Wane's hand and headed to Luciano, Exavior, Frazior, and Racon.