Shadows of Atlas

11- The Prince

"You what?," Brian asked in shock at what Eto had said. "Yael did say that Eto knows how to restore the prince and that it was scattered in his lost memories," Abner reminded everyone. "Tell us Eto, how can we bring my cousin back?," Brian asked with hopeful eyes. "I had a dream where the phantom led me to a large structure with a stain glass picture, of a boy who looked like me, in the main window," Eto explained. "We should let Andrew know about this," Zai suggested.

"I heard everything, is this by any chance the building you saw?," Andrew said as he walked in and handed Eto a tablet with a picture of a temple. "That's the one! This is where the voice told me that the fated battle will occur. It must mean that Lucious and I will face off here...," Eto said as it meant he must face off against the big boss himself. "So... she must be calling out to him," Andrew muttered to himself. "She?," Christian asked in confusion. "You can't mean the priestess, right?," Abner asked. "Who is this priestess?," Zai asked in exasperation.

"The Priestess of Chaos, Giselle. She must've completed her training for the Awakening," Brian suddenly blurted out. "Awakening?," everyone but Andrew asked Brian. "If I'm not mistaken, the Awakening is the ceremony where this generation's Priestess awakens the Guardian of Chaos's full powers," Andrew explained. "You are correct. Elvin never fully awakened because he disappeared and StrivCo. took over most of Atlas's government.," Brian explained. "Wait, StriveCo. rules over Atlas? Wasn't the king supposed to be the one who rules?," Eto asked confused. "After the prince disappeared, the king was too full of grief to rule properly so he appointed his most trusted friend, Lucious to take care of the kingdom's affairs. He still doesn't know of Lucious's intentions," Brian answered. "Keep explaining about the ceremony please!," Zai returned to the original topic.

"Right. The Guardian of Chaos and the Priestess of Chaos share a connection to the Primordial Force of Chaos, Cyzar. Cyzar is one of the 3 creators of the universe and the eldest. Cyzar blessed two humans to keep watch over the balance of magic," Brian kept explaining. "And that blessing travels from generation to generation," Andrew said as he explained the legend.

"The Guardian is the only one who can fully eliminate StriveCo., especially now when they've started using these Zyth Crystals; restoring him is of utmost importance," Brian added. "Prince Elvin still didn't have the necessary requirements to fully awaken before he disappeared" Brian said.

"What are those requirements?," Abner asked. "He needed 9 people in order to receive the Chaos Stars of each element. Those stars contain the very essence of the elemental magic they represent, but sadly three of the stars disappeared alongside the prince, " Brian replied. "You mean these?," Eto said as he brought out the Crystal Stars that the Odd Eyed Phantom left him. The blue star started reacting crazily around Brian. "Where did you get those?!," Brian asked in pure shock as he grabbed the blue star. "The Odd Eyed Phantom left them while I was collapsed on the ground; the green one reacted the same way, when I battled along side Christian, as that blue one is doing right now," Eto answered. "This is the Chaos Star of Water! And those other two are the Chaos Stars of Fire and Nature! Why did the Phantom have them in the first place?," Brian asked.

"Could it be that the prince is the Phantom?," Zai asked. "It's a possibility, " Andrew replied. "I don't know, but we should go to that temple," Eto suggested. "That would be suicide...," Abner said in sadness. "How so?," Christian asked. "The temple is next to the castle and both are heavily guarded. It is also impossible to do a stealth operation," Andrew explained. "Then we launch a full force attack!," Eto said. "Are you crazy? Our numbers are thin! How are you expecting us, a small resistance, to launch an attack on the castle?," Ernie questioned.

"I might know someone who'll help. The very same person who helped me escape," Brian said. "Who is it?," Zai asked. "The captain of the royal knights, Glenn Altaris. He is the Prince's older brother and my cousin," Brian explained. "Can we go meet with him?," Eto asked but was knocked to the ground by a powerful tremor. "What was that?!," Zai asked as she scanned her surroundings. "I don't know, the scanners seem to indicate that it came from the outside!," Ernie said as he got up. "Let's go, Zai, Chris, Bri!," Eto said as all four them ran outside the base.

"So you do have them. Give me the stars or perish," a voice said coldly from one of the trees.