Tales of Arcadia: Douxie the Wizard Master

Part XVIII: Section II

Zoe sputtered in surprise. "Wait, what? Me? But I'm just a hex witch!"

"Yeah," Douxie acknowledged, "but I do recall you saying that you thought that you could do more than little spells. And, as my best friend, I know that you are more than capable of being the Guardian of Ice."

Zoe's eyes fell to the ground, and she looked like she was about to cry. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes as she paced the grass. Everyone leaned in, waiting for her verdict.

After a few centuries, she finally tackled Douxie in a hug, which was weird for her, but he decided to go along with it. "Thank you," she whispered, "for believing in me." Then she turned to the light and decreed that she was to be the new Guardian of Ice.

A blinding light filtered through the trees, and moments later, Zoe appeared. Just like Douxie, she had also accessorized. No longer did she wear her simple black t-shirt, but was instead embroided with rosy pink armor with silver veins racing through. She smiled as she admired her new attire. With the flick of her hand, the ground beneath her turned to crystal-clear ice.

The group clapped for her, flashing her smiles and remarks.

"And now, the final elemental," Jim sighed, killing the mood. The only sounds were the pine trees swaying in the wind.

After the longest stretch of silence in history, one surprising candidate volunteered. Claire stepped forward and growled, "I'll do it."

"Wait, what?" Douxie shrieked. "You're already a sorceress of Shadow Magic!"

Claire's shoulders' slumped. She sighed, "Shadow Magic has hurt more people than it has helped. I mean, this is the second time I've been corrupted and used as a pawn." She spat the last word bitterly. "I want to help people. I want to make it up to the world."

"But that means we won't have automatic teleportation anymore!" Toby exclaimed, but when everyone shot him a that-is-not-the-point glare, he shut up.

Jim came forward and held Claire's hands in his. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked softly.

She turned her huge brown eyes up to her boyfriend, and ran a hand along his cheek. "Yes. This is what I need to do." With that, she stepped forward and allowed the light to engulf her.

When she emerged, the former pink runes in the armor Merlin made for her were a mint green instead of pink. Douxie wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but her aura had changed, too. Before, she'd always been so shadowed in darkness and fear of the powers she didn't know how to control. Now that she was the Guardian of the Eternal Forest, she had a different sense to her. A sense of freedom and righteousness. The nightmare scars under her eyes had vanished, and there was a bounce to her stride.

"Looks like we have our new elementals," Douxie mused.

"Yeah, we sure do," Zoe said with a brighter smile than he'd ever seen on her.

Krel stepped forward. "What are you going to call yourselves?"

Douxie grinned, not sure if Krel noticed the way he blushed  a little whenever he talked to the wizard. "What we already do," he turned to Jim. "We're the Champions of Arcadia."

"The Arcadian Order," Claire hummed to herself. "Yeah, I think that can work."

"Douxie!" someone cried.

The wizard turned the trees, where a bat-like figure with glasses flew out of the darkness and launched himself at Douxie's face. Douxie sputtered at a mouthful of fur before detaching himself from Archie. "Arch! What gives?"

"What gives?" Archie hissed. "I've been worried sick about you. And oh, not to brag or anything, but while you were flitting around becoming Guardians and whatnot, Aaarrrggghh!!! and I actually found Blinky and the seals."

Douxie felt a stab of guilt. Amidst all the turmoil, he had forgotten about the others. Blinky and Aaarrrggghh!!! rushed into the clearing, and in his four arms, Blinky carried the seals.

Delicately, Douxie took them from the troll, but not before extensively interrogating the leader of Trollmarket. Luckily, only his pride had been hurt during his capture. Douxie admired the ancient Genesis seals before him. He didn't know if it was his new demigod form (wow, that was going to take some getting used to: Demigod Douxie), or if he just had the time to feel the power and essence of these seals. They were the very origins of magic, and now that he was an elemental, his powers were in tune with their being. The magic flooded through them, humming inside the ancient material.

"You're not going to destroy those now that you three have the ability to, right?" Steve questioned.

Douxie laughed. "Not on my watch. And just in case," he handed the seals to Krel.  "Can you hide these for us?"

Krel glanced from him to the ancient artifacts.  "Me?  In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really the magic type."  He crossed to of his arms.

"Yeah," Douxie smirked, "but I bet you know a place or two in the universe that could keep these safe."

"Just in case we get greedy,"  Claire added.

One of Krel's four hands brushed Douxie's, and the Keeper couldn't help but smile a little.  The Akiridion took the seals and grinned.  "I do have a few places in mind.  Thanks, Douxie."

"'Course," Douxie nodded.

Toby began a slow clap.  "Yeah, yeah, we saved the day.  Great job.  Now... the most important question... where's the nearest taco joint?  I think we deserve a little treat, you know, since we saved the world again."

The entire group burst out laughing, filling the night sky with a warmth that was formerly absent.

"We'll take my airship back to Arcadia," Douxie announced, motioning all to follow him.  "Beverages and entrees are on me."

All cheered as they raced back through the woods to the stranded ship.  As they took off into the early morning, Archie flew over and perched on Douxie's newly armored shoulder.  "You did it.  You defeated the Arcane Order."

Douxie felt something warm and fluttery swell inside him until it threatened to burst.  When he closed his eyes, his former mentor's image filled it, but it was no longer riddled with guilt or mourn.  It was hopeful and filled happiness. Thank you, Merlin.  For everything.  

"Yeah," he agreed.  "Yeah we did."