Chosen Legacy (Book Five of the Chosen Universe)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BARTELLO
He was pleased with how far their work had come. Alpha Prime was fully reassembled and nearly reprogrammed. "You're very talented, Sage," Bartello said. "Thank you for helping me figure out what was wrong."

Sage smiled at him. "No problem. Alpha Prime is important to all of us," she replied. "Are you ready to find out how successful we were?"

He nodded, waiting for her to reboot Alpha Prime. After a moment, he came to life. "Sage? What is hap-?" Prime began. His eyes fell on Bartello. "Bartello of Eltar! What a surprise to find you here! I thought you perished long ago."

"Hello, Alpha," Bartello replied. "Tell me... What is your opinion of Eltar's Great Wizard?"

Prime seemed to frown. "He betrayed us all... He is a horrible, evil man..." He paused. "He was the one who killed your brothers and apparently failed to kill you, wasn't he?"

Bartello flinched a bit at the casual mention of his brothers. Four of the five were dead, after all, and time had not made that any easier for him to face. "Yes, Alpha... It was Zell," he said softly.

"I fear something was wrong with me... I assume you and Sage fixed me?"

"We did," Sage confirmed. "Jared was tricked into reprogramming you to bring him to Zell."

"Jared? Aye-yi-yi! Did he hurt him? Oh, Justin will never forgive me, and rightfully so!"

"Jared's safe," Sage said quickly. "He escaped. He's back with Justin. You were badly damaged when a second incarnation of Serafine attacked the Alliance's base. Stone found you and called Bartello in to help."

"Stone? Stone is here?" Prime nodded. "Good. Zell's afraid of him, you know. His power levels pose a threat to him. The Eltarians used to believe Stone would overthrow Zell one day and destroy Eltar."

"Really?" Sage asked.

Bartello laughed softly. "Oh, yes. That belief was quite popular on Eltar. That's why Stone lived in the mountains, away from most people."

"From the little I know about him, he's a respected Elder now."

"People came to trust Stone when he and Talon began working on Zell's Elite Counsel. After Zell's fall, Stone earned their trust even more as he worked to fix a lot of the harm Zell had done. Zordon also vouched for him. After all, his mother was very close to Talon and Stone. She viewed them as older brothers in a way."

Sera would have married Talon, he added silently. They were family to Daphne. He tried not to think about Serafine or Daphne. He missed them both horribly, along with their brother, but losing Sera had been especially hard for him.

"Bartello..." Sage said softly. He looked at her. "Are you alright?" She added.

The Mystic was quite good at reading his emotions. He took a deep breath. "Yes... Just thinking too much, I suppose. My apologies," he replied.

"Alpha, now that you're fixed, go ahead and return to the Command Center. After they catch you up, you should go see Justin and Jared. I'm sure they miss you," Sage said.

"Yes, Sage. Of course," Prime replied. "Thank you for your help." With that, he teleported away.

"Is there anything more I can do for you, Sage?" Bartello asked politely.

"No, but if you'd like to talk, I'll listen," Sage replied.

"You are quite kind, but I'm fi-"

"Don't try to lie to a Shaman," Sage said with a slight laugh. "You aren't fine."