CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

"Uh, so exactly where do we start?" Sean asked me when Cam and I walked into Tessa's giant backyard. Expected of a wealthy place, but it was still amazing to look at. All the flowers, the wide open space, the beautiful lawn decorations and fancy furniture; it was like a paradise. I looked at my friend's faces, all mirroring Sean's look of confusion and uncertainty. I could feel all of the things they felt through the tiny bond we all shared, and I wondered if they could as well or if it was just another "me" thing. I sighed and took my hand out of Cam's so that I could focus better

"Give me a minute." I said, holding one finger out. I wasn't quite the leader just yet, I was a leader in training (with no guide might I add). I was flustered and wasn't really sure about anything myself. I had only stumbled onto my other gifts in the heat of the moment, and the Goddess of Light was the one who usually pushed me in the right direction. I thought back to the times I'd summoned my powers, particularly the time I conjured my shield that was the first time I'd summoned a new power by myself.

"It…isn't easy," I told them, looking at them all (Cam had walked over to the group when I let go of his hand). "You kind of have to feel the power inside of you, feel the untapped potential underneath. You have to reach out for it and pull it up, and it's going to be far away at first, really far away. But the more you reach out, the sooner or later you'll grab onto it." I told them, feeling nervous and sure of myself at the same time. It wasn't easy teaching people something you hadn't completely grasped yourself, and it was even harder trying to come up with words to the parts you already knew about. But I had to get used to it, and it had to be soon. I couldn't stop the image of the Demon Lord's eyes from appearing in my mind and I had to struggle to shake it out once more before I shivered in fear. They all looked at me in confusion, not really seeing what to take from that.

I could feel what they felt, to a degree I mean. I could see that they needed something more, that they all were stressing about this a lot; finally realizing the pressure that I'd been going through for a while now. They were completely lost, they didn't know where to go. I sighed and walked into the middle of the semi-circle they'd made.

"Just watch me as I try, okay?" I told them all and they nodded, staring intensely at me now. I began to sweat a little under the pressure, but knew I had to show them what I was talking about, and what better way to show them then having a tiny go at it myself? I decided to pull out my shield, since that was the newer one that I couldn't conjure as easily. I looked inside of myself, looking for the power inside me that I knew was there.

"You have to look for the power inside of you, it may be farther down and that's okay, it'll be easier eventually." I said out loud as I commented on what I was doing myself. It didn't seem fair to just demonstrate without at least saying what I was doing (although I knew with each step I would probably grow more breathless). I grabbed onto it fairly easy, like I always seemed to be able to do. It was just the handling part that was the troubling thing.

"Once you have a hold of it, you have to try and push it outside of your body. You have to summon up the power inside of you and push it outward." I said, pushing the power out as I talked and felt the familiar sensation of my fire wrap around me.

Slowly I felt my shield pulling around me, encasing itself over me like a cocoon. But just as it had last time an enormous weight seemed to be suddenly put on me, as if the shield itself was a thousand pounds.

"It'll all be different for you, I'm sure. And you probably won't be able to get it right away. But don't let that discourage you if it happens. Just keep on trying." I said breathlessly, arms growing tired with every moment I kept holding up my shield.

"I-It may be different with all of you, but that's the best way I can put it." I said and quickly dropped my shield before it tired me out completely. I wasn't in a life or death situation, I didn't have to push myself as hard as I had last time (thankfully).

"So…look for some sort of power inside of us and try and force it outside our bodies? That sounds similar to entering the Spirit Realm," Mark said surprising me only a little. I hadn't thought of trying to get into the Spirit Realm without Reine, I didn't really want to honestly. But I remembered that she was supposed to be a crutch, a guide to help me, not to be used forever.

"How similar?" I asked Mark and also looked over at Jess and Tessa since they also could enter without their Spirit Guides.

"Hm…well with me it's sort of just a feeling, you know? When I think I want to go there or whatever I can sorta feel it out and bam, I'm there." Jess said, musing it over herself. Considering she hadn't known what the place was called or what it exactly was until now made sense.

"A feeling? Like sensing ghosts type of feeling?" Cam asked Jess.

"Spirits." Mark corrected him.

"Whatever, you know what I mean."

"Hm…sorta. I could never actually see spirits only sense their presence so it'd probably be more similar to me than you. But for you I would imagine the feeling of right before the pop out to greet you would be about the same thing." Jess said, wrinkling her forehead as she thought hard. It was apparent Jess was not the thinking hard type of person.

"Alright, well for those who can't go alone they should also focus on that. It will be easier not having to rely on our Spirit Guides to get us into the Spirit Realm." I said and they nodded.

"So, uh, where should we start?" Sean asked me and I shrugged.

"With whatever you want I guess. If you want to go for Spirit Realm training, go for it. I imagine you all will want to test your powers out first though considering how eager you've all been." I said with an amused smile. They all laughed and we went our separate ways, each of us needing time away from the team dynamic to strengthen ourselves. Reine came strutting out from wherever she had been and began to twine around my legs, begging for attention. I reached down and petted her ears softly, relaxing at the motion of petting her and the sound of her purring wildly. I wasn't sure where I wanted to start myself, I just knew I had to start something. As the leader (and apparent saviour of the world) I had a lot on my shoulders, stuff that a 16 year old girl really didn't need. I sighed and began to do some basic warm ups to get my body ready for the shit it was about to take. I knew my strong suit was with my ability of wielding light, I already had that down nicely. It probably could be improved, sure, but it was not priority. I was sure my biggest problem was my shield and extending the time limit and not wearing out so fast from it…but at least I could manifest it. My focus landed on getting into the Spirit Realm alone. It was the thing I could get working; a major problem considering.

I felt a part of the problem might stem from the fact that a) I've never thought to try it because Reine is a comfort and I rely on her and b) I like have Reine as my crutch, it made me feel safer somehow. I cracked my knuckles and stood like an idiot for a minute trying to figure out how exactly to go about it. How do you sense something if you can't even remotely feel it out? I looked down at Reine for some clue but all she did was give me her ruby eyed stare and meowed, demanding me to pet her since I had looked down at her. I sighed and bit my lip. I probably felt just like my teammates did right now; digging around for something that was just beyond my reach.

"Meditation always helped me." Tessa whispered and I jumped so hard that I landed on my butt and scared Reine off (only for a short period though since I knew she would come back and bug me for attention).

"Jesus Tessa! You scared me!" I said and rubbed my butt as I got up.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure how else to approach you," She said while laughing. "But like I said, meditation is helpful for me. I used it only to help me at first when I was starting to sense something…otherworldly, I don't have to now, but you can see my point."

"Meditation huh…? That might actually be a good idea, thanks." She smiled and walked away to do her own thing.

As she walked away, I really wondered what her powers were. In fact, I wondered what all my friend's powers were. With Tessa it would have to be something calming, she may be shy and a little timid at times but she's cool like ice. Ice power would be cool, maybe that's what Tessa had? It was just thoughts that ran in my head. I couldn't say much since obviously powers didn't appear to based on personality alone. Look at me; powers over light. I didn't feel like I was a sunny, light kind of person. I looked over at Sean and saw him sitting against the house next to Alex, visibly thinking deeply. Sean seemed the supportive, protective type; if anything I thought my shield fit him more than it fit me. For Mark (who was quietly taking notes alone under a tree)…well I wasn't too sure. I'd like to say I knew a lot about my team, but Mark was the one person I hadn't bonded with really. He was a mystery to me, probably like I was a mystery to him. I felt a little bad about it and decided I needed more bonding time with Mark, get to know the man behind the books and brains. I looked over at Jess who was talking animatedly with Lola about…well god knows what. Jess was so blindly sunny and bright that I instantly thought she should be the one with the light power (all of these are based off of personality mind you). Maybe there was a thing such as sun power? Who knows? I looked over at Cam and blushed slightly when I saw him looking at me. I waved awkwardly and turned away, pretending I was doing something else besides examine everyone. Cam was also a mystery in a way. I knew his personality, but I wasn't sure what power could fit with him. He was a bad boy with an I- don't-care attitude, but under that he was encouraging, kind, passionate, sweet…let's just say I could go on and on about him. If I had to a close power would be something, rock like. An outward shell with something else on the inside type of thing.

I couldn't say for sure but that's where my thoughts went to. Reine meowed loudly and I looked down, her stare seeming to be slightly disapproving. I realize that my slight inner babble was just a way of me procrastinating, but I couldn't help it. It was easier thinking about other people than myself. I sighed and gave Reine one little pat to tell her that I was going. She sniffed and followed after me as I went into my own little corner and crossed my legs together. She walked over my legs and sat in the middle, closing her eyes and purring. Reine was very princess/queen like, always doing what she wanted to do. I sighed and closed my own eyes, not sure how to do the whole meditating thing. I knew you had to empty your mind and, if anything, focus on an empty spot in your mind that would block out anything. So that's what I tried doing, although it was harder then what one would think. Thoughts would pop into my mind as I tried to clear it and eventually it got to a point where my mind would even create fake sounds to fill the silence.

"Ugh!" I sighed exasperated and tried not to pound my fists into the ground out of irritation. Reine looked up for a minute and then closed her eyes and kept on purring, the sound louder than before. I looked down at her and found the sound calming. I took deep, even breaths and the irritated went away. But it also gave me an idea. Maybe I didn't have to clear my mind completely, maybe allowed a certain noise would work the same way? I closed my eyes again and this time, and honed in on Reine's hypnotic purring sounds.

Just listening to the sound of her purring followed by deep breathing and my heart beat slowing down, I was able to slip into this inner bubble of serenity. I tuned out everything that was around me and the only thing I could feel and see was myself. It was a weird feeling and the description of it is hard to put into words itself. Slowly I tried to put more clarity and intent into this bubble I was in. I didn't really think the words as I sought after this "feeling" of the Spirit Realm, I just felt out for it. An inner hand in my soul searching around for something that my heart and soul knew was there. It was 10 long minutes of sitting there doing all that before I finally found something. It was an energy of some sort, something I wasn't sure of. It held mystery and intrigue, my heart and soul singing in tune with the silent song it played. I felt that if I could grab it that something would happen, that or I hoped, I wasn't sure. I reached my soul out to it, wanting it so badly I could taste it on my tongue. I could feel myself being pulled into the energy, but the feeling was weird. It felt as if it was a game of tug of war, two parts of me fighting to reel in the other. Just as I could feel the energy merging with me I snapped back to the real world, my hold on what I had broken completely.

I sat in dumbfoundment, wondering what in the hell had just happened. I could only assume that the energy I felt was a connection to the Spirit Realm (that was the only thing I could see it being). But it slightly irritated me that I couldn't cross over properly. I suppose it was good that I had at least breeched it somehow, but it would have been better to have actually gone there. I sighed and stretched out my legs, feeling the cramping they got from staying in the same position so long. I looked down at Reine and she was completely asleep, her head resting on my thigh like a pillow. I looked up into the sky and could envision the pink skies that I always saw when I entered the Spirit Realm, the way that time seemed to freeze in place. My mind was never too far away from the Spirit Realm and most of all, the Demon King. He dwell within that world, and he was someone who I had to stop at all costs. I was weak right now and for sure wasn't strong enough to take on his army of Shadow Demons. But I had to be, I knew I had to be and I would be.

It would just…take some time. I looked around at my friends and saw how hard they were all working on trying to become stronger as well and it filled me up with confidence and hope. Earth Realm and the Spirit Realm had nothing to worry about, we'd for sure take him out, and I knew it. No matter what it took, we'd stop him. I crossed my legs back up and closed my eyes again, getting back to that bubble of peace that would lead me to the Spirit Realm and make me stronger than I was before.

*AUTHOR NOTE:

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long, I apologize profusely :'(. I haven't been able to write since I started school and it's been one thing after another. With me being on summer vaca now I'm hoping to jump back into more writing. Writing this felt really good and I realized how much I missed it, so I hope you guys like it (even If it might be slightly shorter then my older entries) I tried adding a little more into the whole entering-the-spirit-world-alone type of thing since I felt like I was slightly going off that angle and it's obviously important that the whole team can go there alone and all. With the next chapter I'm planning on go more into the other character's powers; you can try and guess what powers they'll have, for some you might be surprised ;). So yeah, that's my piece; hope you liked it