The Challenge of the Masters

⊱⊰ 51: After the Fall ⊱⊰

The cool breeze blew past Arisa, swaying her dark hair. She shivered a little as the cold waves of the ocean bathed her feet as she sat on the road of pebbles, staring at the night sky. 

She didn't realize the beauty of the colorful streams decorating the sky as she remained lost in her thoughts. Her heart spread mixed emotions. A part of her was disappointed while another was sad for something she would have avoided.

"Will you keep sitting there for the whole dream?" asked a soft voice by her side.

Arisa didn't turn around, recognizing the owner of that voice. She curled her fingers. She didn't feel like seeing Eklipta after what happened in Mammoth Cave. As only the sound of the waves filled the silence, Arisa heard Eklipta sitting by her side.

"It's not the end," said Eklipta, its tone calm. "There are still two Masters hidden out there. We have to always look forward, no matter what happened."

Arisa gazed at the dark waters. "But we will always have our failures torturing us behind."

As the sound of waves took over the atmosphere for a moment, Arisa remembered the boy. She clenched her fists, seeing how close she was to retrieve the gem. After spending time trying to figure out the riddle, sacrificing their duty as Guardians in order to look for the Master and going through many obstacles to fight it, it was really painful to leave the gem in Taurus' hands. She wished they could have done something.

"I'm disappointed that you allowed Geb to be stolen," said Eklipta, breaking the silence.

Arisa's brows arched and she looked by her right side. She saw a girl with long dark hair, gazing at the starry sky. Part of her was caught by surprise since she always wondered what the boy's name was. Another part of her was hurt to hear the harsh truth that Eklipta itself wasn't happy with the results.

"Of course you are," she said, looking back at the dark waters. "You must be thinking that the previous generation had higher chances to complete this quest. That we're too weak."

As rookie Guardians, Arisa thought it was expected for them to fail their first task since her mother told her that her team had a tough time capturing the Master of Air. Still, she couldn't help but feel down about their failure.

"The previous generation would have their failures as well if they tried to accomplish their quest," said Eklipta. "But they didn't have the chance to experience that as some of them gave up right after capturing Anemoi. The destruction it caused after it was unsealed must have worried some members. 

"They thought it was too risky to unseal the Elements since there were high chances of them causing chaos around the worlds."

Arisa didn't say anything, wondering how her parents fought such a threat. Thinking about it, her team might have been lucky since Geb had no problem to be sealed before they were attacked by Taurus' soldiers. Besides the beast of earth and flora, Geb didn't show any signs of threat. She exhaled, wondering if they would have the same luck with the remaining Masters.

"At least you succeeded sealing Geb," said Eklipta. "It's not your fault it got stolen. You can always retrieve it when the right time comes."

Arisa sighed, still feeling down. Even if they had the chance to retrieve the gem again, she wasn't sure if they would succeed since the item increased the power of the Earth Guardians. She gazed at the young girl sitting by her side. She tilted her head.

"How come you didn't absorb the Element when I reached that area?" she wondered.

Arisa remembered her mother's words, saying that she only needed to seal the Elements. Eklipta would then absorb it. She wasn't sure how the process worked, but she wondered why it didn't react. After all, Geb had already taken the form of a gem.