Elle felt her heart rise into her throat as she watched the others take a seat. This was what they had been waiting for. The moment where their pasts would be revealed. The origins of who they are and how they got their powers are going to be told to them. 

And Elle wanted nothing to do with it. 

She had been running from this since the second she was thrust into it. If she heard her story it would mean only one thing: there could be no more running. Everything she wanted to avoid would have to be faced head-on, and if she were honest with herself, she didn't know if she was ready for that. 

"Is there a problem, child?" asked one of the women from the table. 

The rest of the kids turned and faced Elle, whose feet remained planted firmly on the cave floor. Maybe there was a chance that she could run. An opportunity to get away from the crazy and go back to her normal life. 

But what was normal? Surely not her mother abusing her. Surely not being called names and having things thrown at you. It wasn't normal to live each day like an election period wasn't over for her father. The truth was, Elle's life was exhausting regardless of what she wanted at this moment. Both her original and her one in Glorianna. 

Elle just got a bad hand from the house.

Elle turned to walk out of the cave when a hand gripped hers. She turned and saw Judah stood in front of her with a sympathetic face. "This is our destiny, Elle," said Judah. "We can't run from this." 

She wanted to shout, to pound her fist into the floor. She kept hearing about destiny and how these powers and this world they were supposed to save is what she was meant to do. How there isn't a choice, but in Elle's mind, there was always a choice. Her mother chose to be an abusive woman. Her father chose to ignore his wife's antics, and Elle had always chosen to fall into the background. 

"I can't do this anymore, Judah," said Elle. She poked her head around his body and looked at everyone else in the cave. "We have had our entire lives turned upside down. From killer monsters to being forced into liking each other. I feel like I'm drowning and I can't come up for air with how fast this all has moved. I don't have it in me to keep going-"

"Nonsense," said the male guardian in the center. "Come and sit down immediately and listen to what we've to say." 

Elle wanted to say something, but her jaw remained on the floor. The disrespect she felt with his dismissive tone made her blood boil. Who was he to tell her that what she was feeling was nonsense? And then directly give her an order? He might be some all-powerful being here in Glorianna, but Elle wasn't from there anymore. 

"Who are you talking to?" Elle asked. 

Tension could be cut with a knife as the rest of the kids sucked in their breath at her response. She knew that she wasn't making the most respectful choice. Neither were they, and she refused to be pushed around any longer by them. 

"Child this is not a fight you want to start," said a female guardian tauntingly. 

"Some things never change," a male guardian chimed in. 

"I'm right here!" said Elle walking forward-looking at them with disgust. She pushed Judah to the side and stopped at the edge of the table. "Stop talking about me like I'm not. I'm so tired of this new world with its new rules, and new leaders who quite frankly suck." Moss started to surround the inside of the cave at a rapid pace as Elle began to fight back. The smell of evergreen began to waft, and roots began to sprout from the rocky ground of the cave. "If you're so powerful why don't you take care of that monster sitting in the gymnasium at our school instead of leaving it to a bunch of kids!" 

A pin drop would have been a devastating amount of noise in the moments to follow. As Elle stared down the guardians, they calmly stared back at her. She felt more anger boiling inside of her from their calmness. How dare they not get upset or talk back to her! 

"I said-" she began to say.

"Silence!" they said in unison. 

They each stretched a handout, and Elle felt her will leave her body as it floated up in the air. It was as if strings were attached to her body, and she was a puppet for the guardians. Judah winced and grabbed his head as Elle flew through the air, and into the seat that she watched magically pull itself out. 

"You will be quiet and follow instructions. We have a story to tell," said the guardians together. "It's one you need to know, and one we wished we could have told you a lot sooner than now. To understand your pasts, you'll first need to understand your powers. So that is where this story begins. 

Elle gasped as her vision went blurry. She gripped at her eyes, but just as suddenly as her vision disappeared, it came back, but she was no longer seeing a cave. She saw a large field, with a young man tending a horse. He looked strong, and something about him seemed regal. 

"Glorianna was not always a prosperous region," said a male guardian.  "Evil monsters and invaders would come into our land and feast on everything in sight. People, crops, livestock. There was nothing safe when it came to these invaders. Our ancestors watched in horror with no way to stop them." 

Elle held back a scream as from behind a tree in the field she saw a red tiger covered in flames emerge. It stood up on its hind legs and shot fire in their direction. The boy dodged the initial fire and hopped on the back of his horse, but to Elle's horror, multiple fire creatures surrounded him and attacked him. 

"We needed a hero," said a female guardian. "A savior to come and help us from evil. so the village got together and elected a boy of pure heart and spirit to go on a journey. Legend had it that deep in the heart of Glorianna lived a power that no one had been able to find. The elected boy had one purpose: to find this power, and take it home with him to protect his people." 

A boy that couldn't have been much older than Elle appeared in front of her eyes. He was hugging his family and had a knapsack over his back. He had a loaded-up horse, and a sword on his hip, and a will to succeed. He had strong dark features and a chiseled jawline. He had a strong chin and crystal blue eyes.

Elle watched the boy travel through mountains, through forest, through desert terrain. Defending himself from whatever came his way, and growing stronger than he had previously been before. 

"Months into his journey, he caught the eye of a woman in a village outside of the desert. She was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. The boy was smitten with her instantly, and part of him wanted to forget his journey, forget his people, and stay with her forever in that place."

Elle watched two people fall in love. From them walking around the village to sneaking secret kisses in the night. It felt like a personal invasion as she watched this unfold. Elle had never seen two people look at each other the way the man and the woman looked at each other in this story. 

"But the woman was no ordinary woman," said the last guardian. "She was a powerful witch. One so strong that she was the sole protector of their village. She could defend them from monsters and fight off invaders. She was so powerful that invaders knew not to come to her village. The boy had thought he'd found the power that he sought, but the witch had no way to give him power. Their love grew so intense that they married, and he promised to come back to her when he found the power for his village." 

Elle watched a beautiful wedding with woven leaves and flowers take place. The witch had her long blonde hair braided with purple lilies sticking out of it. Her forest green gown was breathtaking. Her bright green eyes shone brightly with love. Suddenly the wedding day turned into the wedding night, and Elle watched embarrassed as they stepped into their cabin kissing feverishly. 

"They had one night together. One night before he was to go off and find the power source. Now with new motivation and a strong desire to come back to the woman he fell in love with." All of the guardians began speaking in unison. "On that one night, what the witch would soon find out was the cosmos aligned. That their union was blessed by the earth, the sky, and the stars. From that one night, a child was formed." 

Elle watched the most beautiful scene of planets aligning. They were not the planets she learned about from their world, but a new galaxy. Filled with pinks, blues, and bright stars. She watched as they shined and a beautiful ray of light-filled Glorianna, fell directly on the tent of the young lovers.

"Nine months went by," continued a solo female guardian. "And the young hero finally made his way back to her village. He was empty-handed, but couldn't bring himself to return and tell his village that. When he arrived for his bride, he was awestruck to see a baby, a small tiny girl, thriving in her mother's care. This baby was to become the first Queen of Glorianna. She grew up, living life as a normal child in the village. She played with others, went to school, and learned to sew, but one day everything changed." 

Elle watched a beautiful little girl running and playing with a group of friends. She had the same crystal blue eyes as her father and the stunning blonde hair of her mother. Her face was as beautiful as a picture, and from the looks of it, she was sweet as candy. She played with girls from around the village and they chased each other with dolls. It was a beautiful scene until Elle noticed the same red fire monster that killed the boy. 

It stalked toward the girls and by the time they noticed it, it was too late to run. The girls cowered, but the little girl stood tall and lifted her arm. Elle gasped as roots grew around the monster's legs, and tied it to the ground. It shot fire from its body to burn the roots, but as soon as it ignited its flames, the girl waved her hand again, this time having water fall on the creature. 

"Holy shit," said Asher.

"Quiet," said the guardian. "Watch." 

The girl once again waved her arm. This time the monster flew through the air and landed on its back. It got up and ran toward them yet again, but a lightning cloud appeared in the sky and struck the monster. It fell to the ground and panted. It was in a great deal of pain from the looks of it, but Elle watched as the little girl approached the monster and placed her hand on its forehead. It evaporated into a cloud of dust. 

"The daughter of the witch and the hero held the power of the Dominions." The girl's father ran over to her and embraced her. His wife and he looked at their little girl, and the pride beaming off of them was something Elle wished her parents had for her. "Her parents, knowing that their daughter was the power that he started his journey for, returned to his village. The little girl showed them the powers she possessed and on that day, the royal family was formed."

The scene faded, and Elle was once again in the cave. She looked at her friends and she wasn't surprised to see the rest of them with their jaws dropped. 

"For years, the power of the Dominions was passed down from ruling royal family member to ruling royal family. All powers were passed to the king and queen of their time, and when they pass, they became one with the guardian."

"So why do we have them now?" asked Elle confused. 

"There has always been a trainer that helps the royal family member hold the powers. They're derived from people who have spiritual authorities, and in instances of duress, they can help channel the power to help them settle their stress. The person that was attached to Elora, her helper, was the very person that now holds the power of the Vein." 

"Gedeon was her mentor?!" screamed Judah standing up from his seat.

"Yes," said the guardians. "He influenced her heart and darkened it toward the influences of light. We watched in horror as evil intentions filled her, and we had no choice but to strip her of the powers. At a great cost of our own." 

"What do you mean?" asked Selena.

"We no longer have ties to the Dominions."  said the female guardian. "When we become one with the other rulers and join the Guardian we are stripped of previous identities. When Elora strayed, she forced us to use the power that we no longer had access to, and many perished from our threshold because of it," she looked at Elle apologetically. "Which is why we can't fight the monster in your gymnasium." 

"We decided to never again bestow the power on one person again. So the remaining guardians searched the land and found the five children with the purest of hearts. We picked each of you from what we saw not only in you but what you can become. When the power was taken from Elora, she repented her evil ways and agreed to mentor you all in training and learning to use your abilities.  You became heroes of our land." 

"But Elora has magic!" said Jayden. "She appeared in our world, and threw Asher across the room!"

The guardians laughed and then looked at Asher remembering what happened when they first found out about their past.  "Elora was a naturally gifted witch. She was a direct descendant of the original witch that helped will the Dominions into existence. So she is still able to draw on that. It wasn't ours to take back from her." 

The other female guardian cleared her throat and continued their story. "When the spell was cast, we lost sight of you, and could no longer help. It wasn't until recently that Elora found you that we could finally put our plans into motion. We need to take down Gedeon and take our land back from evil, but to do that you have to remember your past." 

"Can't you just give it back to us?" asked Judah confused. 

"We can't give you what you never lost." said the guardians together. "You will embark on a journey of remembrance. Each of you has something you need to overcome, and we are going to help you do that. Good luck, heroes, and remember, you've had it all along." 

They snap their fingers, and the cave disappears from around her. She's in a black room, similar to when she was transported to Elora, but it feels different. Almost familiar. 

"We've placed you in the deepest part of your minds. It is up to you to figure out the rest."