Storm Call

Self Sacrifice

"I know what's going on, so there's no time to waste," Enzefer shouted, beginning to walk towards the mouth of the cave. "If we don't go now, Ted will die!" Everyone hesitated, still not sure if they could truly trust him.

Ender was the first to speak. "How are we supposed to just assume that you're not trying to kill us all again?" he asked, his voice taut. "Do you want me to believe that you were just angry the entire time and acted on it?" he asked again, this time with a large amount of snow rising from behind him and his eyes glowing.

Before Enzefer could answer, a crystalline hook shot out from behind one of the boulders, aimed for his chest. "Za Warudo!" he shouted while casting his magic. Once he had finished, he kicked the once-moving hook upwards at an angle that wouldn't hit anyone around them before recasting and saying, "Time has began to move again." Once the shard began to fly off the cliff side, everyone stared in confusion. "What, you've never seen time magic before?" He asked shortly after the harpoon landed with a loud and heavy thud.

Johann responded first this time. "Yeah, but no one ever made audible JoJo references when they start or finish." He looked at Ender, then back to Enzefer, and then back to his brother. "Speaking of which, you haven't been watching ahead of me, have you, Ender? Still at the part where Koichi was-".

"Now is not the time for this, you two!" Luna shouted in annoyance. "Talk about anime later, there's still someone we have to save!" she said, much quieter than before, as she marched through the now thinning snow. Everyone else followed her example, double-checking that there weren't any traps in strange or unexpected places. Shortly after entering the cave, they encountered the first patch of glowing moss, with a crystal stalactite hanging a short distance. To the left of the hanging crystal was a side chamber, and behind it, the entrance to the main chamber, where Ted was being held captive.

Suddenly, a chorus of voices began to be heard, echoing loudly on the walls and ceiling. "Unless you have something to bargain for, if you enter the chamber ahead of you, you will die!"

Unsurprisingly, a few seconds after the echoes subsided, Ender decided to ask, "So can we have my girlfriend's sister back? I have a few bits of crystal on me I can give, if that's what you're looking for." Everyone stared at him as if he chose the wrong time to make a joke, but a large crystalite soon greeted them.

"These 'crystal bits' you speak of, where did you find them?" It asked, curiously intent on finding out if they were from Xeno or not. Ender, of course, reached into his pocket and fished them out for the crystalite to examine.

"I found it a couple years ago when me and my brother were looking for a lost dragon child. It took awhile for us to get the whelp to, uh, exude it from herself, and it broke into these shards in the process" he explained, not noticing that Liliana began turning a bright shade of pink. By this time, two more crystalites of roughly the same size came out, assisting appearing to examine the shards as well.

"Esidisi, Kars, this may be the one who disappeared several decades ago," the middle crystalite, the original examiner, said.

"I agree, Wamuu. Such a shame to see Santiago in this current state," Esidisi, the left crystalite, stated.

"There's no point in thinking about who might've died or been reduced to shards. There is one single way to restore him, but we cannot do it," Kars, the one on the right, told them. During the small conversation the three had, Ender began talking to Enzefer about the names they just heard.

"You realize those names are from JoJo, right, Enze?" Ender whispered, not wanting to interrupt the crystals.

"Yeah, but Kars looks to be the largest of them. Wait, Luna's right here," Enzefer whispered back before hurriedly moving away from her, who turned and glared at both of them for continuing the conversation.

Shortly after he moved, the crystalites turned towards the group. "We have decided to allow this transaction on one condition," Wamuu declared. "You must leave one person for exchange of Ted." At the raise of his hand, several smaller crystalites carried out an unconscious girl who looked similar to Stella. "Now, who shall we trade for?" Silence followed.

"If you do not choose, then I shall choose for you!" Kars shouted. More silence followed, as they were unsure of what to do. "Fine! You, girl, come with me!" He yelled, pointing at Luna. Johann almost used his magic to protest, but knew it couldn't do anything. Stella, however, tried to freeze the trio, disregarding what happened when she tried to freeze Xeno only days ago. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop them either.

"If you wish to die, keep wasting your magic," Esidisi told them all coldly. He eyed Luna, sensing her magical capabilities. "She's suitable enough for the trade. You've made a wise choice, Kars." He turned back to the group before addressing the small swarm of crystalites. "Now, escort our guests outside, and allow them thirty-three minutes to leave." With the final command, the group was quickly marched out of the cavern, and Luna was shoved out with them.

"Tell me you have a plan, Johann," Enzefer said with a worried tone. "We can't just leave her here, and my limit's only five seconds." Johann shook his head.

"I have one, but I'm not sure if I'll survive it." Everyone turned towards Luna in shock.

"W-what do you mean you're not sure?" Sadie asked.

"Exactly what I said," Luna replied. "Stella, remember the effect of the curse that'll happen when I have too much magic? I'm gonna use that. Fortunately I know of time magic and that a time bomb could be set with it, so Enzefer, clock me." She hoped he realized what she was doing before asking questions. By the time he set the bomb to the current time, 11:32a, Luna had began to transfer the magic from the hat to herself, causing her to faintly glow gold.

"Luna, no! You can't do this!" Stella screamed, knowing she planned to use herself as a bomb to blow up both the crystalites and the entire mountain range. "If your explosion doesn't kill you, you'll still be in extremely critical condition!" Tears began falling freely as she slumped into the snow.

Luna walked up to her before giving her a tight hug. "I know. That's what the second bomb's for." She drained a small amount of Stella's magic, which was enough to make the glow brighter. "You have to get away from here as fast as you can, otherwise you'll get caught in the explosion. Johann, I want you and Ender to go back to my house and tell Clair I had to use the imploding explosion. Set a spot to come back to here first, though." They nodded in agreement before doing what was asked of them.

"Well, it's time. Stella, come on, you're my ride. Milo and the others can take themselves back quickly," Sadie said, hoping that the plan would work. Taylor, along with Stella and Liliana, began preparing to fly back to the house, and once they all left, Luna headed back inside.

"Do with me what you will!" she shouted, her voice breaking. Several shards of crystal stabbed her in the arms and legs, keeping her completely immobile, causing her to cry out in pain. Her golden glow began to shine brighter and brighter until, eventually, it projected itself as a solid beam of light that everyone at the Kinze household could see it as clearly as the sun.

Then the first bomb imploded.