Last time . . .

“I can sense you’re stronger already!” she said smiling. “I’m glad you were able to conquer it all!”

“Thanks . . . now where do head from here?”

This time . . .

Landing in the vast sea of water, Joey took in his aquatic surroundings, seeing a world that was unlike any above ground, he swam away from the cliff heading into the sea. Seeing some strange fish ahead of him, he swam towards them to investigate. Getting closer to the school, he saw a light flashing just above a coral wreath.

“Freaky . . .” He thought to himself as he curiously swam closer. Floating in front of the coral wreath, he saw that the light was an orb that was floating along with the movement of the water. The multi-colored orb drawing him closer, he touched it and was sucked into the white surrounding inside the orb. “Definitely freaky!” He said still floating as if he was in the water.

“Hi daddy!” the voice of his daughter rang through his ears.

“Maggie?!” He said turning around to see his daughter floating in front of him.

“I miss you daddy!”

“I miss you too sweetie!” Joey said floating over to her as she floated back.

“Do you hate me daddy?”

“What?! How could I hate you? What would ever make you think that?”

“Mommy’s always saying bad things about you, and she says that you’re never there!”

“Your mommy and I don’t always get along, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love you!”

“Then why don’t you come around anymore?”

“Sweetie . . . I know that I’ve been gone a lot, and a lot of those times were for dumb reasons, but things are different now.”

“Mommy says you choose skunks over me.”

“I promise you that when I get back, I’ll never do that to you again!”

“When is that?”

“Very soon I hope!”

“Where are you?”

“I have something very important to do.”

“Is it more important than me?”

“Never! But in a way, it’s for you!”

“Like a present?”

“Not quite . . . you know your daddy would never let anyone hurt you, right?”

“Yeah . . .”

“Well, I’m trying to keep some very bad people from hurting a lot of other innocent people and including you!”

“Why do they want to hurt me?”

“Because they’re bad. Some day you’ll understand what I mean . . . I promise! But for now, you have to let your mommy take care of you, but don’t let her make you think that I don’t love you or care for you! You’re my number one girl!”

“Promise?”

“Promise!”

“I love you daddy!”

“I love you too sweetie!”

“I’m going back to sleep now!”

“Sweet dreams darlin!”

“Night!”

As she disappeared, a tear came to Joey’s eye, thinking he was a bad father.

“Don’t even think that!” Another familiar female voice said from behind him. “You’re a great father, you’ve just got your priorities mixed up! By the way . . . great name for the kid!”

“Maggie!” Joey said turning to see his one time love. “You look . . .”

“More alive yet dead than the last time you saw me?”

“Something like that . . . I was going to say beautiful!”

“Thank you . . . you’re not too bad yourself . . . you’ve got some issues since last we met, but still a hottie!”

“Well . . . things haven’t exactly been the greatest for me . . .”

“I’d say that they aren’t that bad all things considering! I mean, you quit drinking . . . you still got a problem with commitment, but that’s partly my fault.”

“How is it your fault?”

“I never meant to hurt you like I did . . . but you have to understand that I did what I did because I had to.”

“I know . . . I actually came to understand that . . . but it just hurts to get close to someone because I’m afraid that I’m going to hurt them in one way or another. I mean, look what happened with Chris and Dani! And not all of us are as lucky as Josh and Lance!”

“Well, you could’ve been if you hadn’t pushed him away! By the way . . . that came a little bit as a shocker to me . . . never thought you of all people would go both ways!”

“Beryl . . . he’s the only one that I ever did go with . . . guy wise anyway. Things between us wouldn’t have worked . . . we were both too busy, me with *NSYNC and slaying, and him with slaying.”

“Well, one of those things isn’t really an issue now, unless you guys plan on goin on some kind of reunion tour, which I don’t see happening! Chris is too old, he might break a hip, and you can’t very well go on tour with just four members!”

“True . . . I mean, things have been different between us lately . . . these passed few days, I think they’ve been the best of my life in a really long time . . . for all of us!”

“Well, that’s what happens in the eye of the storm!”

“I never thought of it that way . . .”

“Sweetie . . . you can’t keep living like you’re doomed to be depressed and lonely forever! You have a lot to look forward to! Even when things seem at their worst, and believe me, they will, there is always good that comes out of bad. It’s always a balance. You may be sacrificing time that you can spend with your daughter, but like you told her, you’re making the world safe for her and millions of other innocent people. And even if you don’t get to see her grow up . . . you know that you’ve already chosen her as your heir to your powers. When that time comes, you’ll be together and make up for any and all time that you weren’t around.”

“So what are you saying, that I should just forget about my daughter for the sake of the fight?!”

“Forget about her? No . . . Concentrate on the fact that you’re trying to save the world for her, yes!”

“So use her as inspiration to put up a better fight?”

“Exactly!” Her voice echoed as the white nothing returned to the blue surroundings of the sea.

Looking ahead of him, he saw the entrance to the temple at the bottom of small hill. The gray stone door, marked with the sign of the Chosen Ones above it. Swimming to the entrance, Joey pulled on the heavy stone, when it didn’t budge, he tried his hardest to push the door in. That also not working, he started to get frustrated, he turned his back to the door and saw a large shark approaching him.

“Ok . . . this just got worse!” he said turning back to face the door. “Ok, come on Joe . . . think!” Concentrating on the door, he blended in with the stone; concentrating harder, he attempted to do something he had always wondered would work. He touched the door and channeled his power to push himself through the material of the door. Trying not to lose his focus as he succeeded, he grabbed the other side of the door and pulled his body the rest of the way through. Surprised that the temple held no water inside, he materialized and walked through the dark tunnel of the entrance. Holding his hand up, he attempted something Justin had taught him a long time ago. He channeled his energy towards his hand, and it started to glow, lighting up a pathway in front of him. He looked up to the ceiling above him and saw icicles hanging, dripping on top of his head. As he continued to look up, he saw the icicle start to shake, not wanting to stick around long enough to find out whether it fell or not, he started to move. Walking at a fast pace, he heard the ice shatter on the floor, followed by another icicle that fell directly in front of him. Seeing the rest of the icicles start to shake as well, Joey made a run through the cave, just barely being hit by the sharp shards of ice. Stopping short to avoid a larger piece of ice, he saw a large ice wall a few yards in front of him. Dodging another falling icicle, he sprinted towards the wall and made a leap through the air. Concentrating on his entire body mid-air, he engulfed himself in fire, helping him to crash through the wall of ice. Landing on the floor beyond the pathway, the flames went out and he groaned in pain.

“Didn’t work as well as I’d hoped!” He said under his breath, slowing getting up.

“That looked like it hurt!” Sean said helping him up.

“It was nothing!” He said grabbing his side.

“Right, and you and Beryl are just friends!”

“Huh? How’d you?”

“I have my sources!”

“Who?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Yeah . . .”

“So can I!”  He said laughing. “Now come, let us go!”

“Whoa . . .” Joey said noticing that he was now outside. “Freaky, but cool!”

“Follow me . . .” Sean said as he led him atop what looked indeed like the Great Wall of China.

“Now this is a forest!” Beryl said admiring the beauty of the scene in front of him.

As he started through the forest, he quickly noticed that it engulfed his every movement. He turned around to see of Leo was still there, but all he saw was miles and miles of forest.

“Cool!” He thought to himself as he turned back around and standing right in front of him was his archenemy, Lord Samuel.

“You think you were able to kill me? All you did was set my soul free to attack on the psychic plane!” He said wickedly smiling, fangs drawn and ready to fight. “The simple fact is, you can never forget me, I made you who you are today!”

“If you didn’t somebody else would’ve, so don’t flatter yourself!” Beryl said anger plastered on his face, also getting in a fight position.

“ENOUGH!” A loud male voice echoed through the woods, causing birds to fly out of their nest, and also making Lord Samuel disappear.

“Dad?” Beryl said looking up towards the treetops seeing his father descending to the ground.

“My dear son . . .” Gabriel said as he landed in front of him.

“Dad!” He said hugging him.

“Why?”

“Huh?” Beryl said releasing him and looking at the site in front of him.

“Why?” Gabriel now said, his mutilated body now standing in front of him.

“NO!” He said turning around and starting to run, but was stopped at the site of the rest of his family, in the same state as his father.

“You did this . . .” They all chanted.

“NO!” He yelled falling to his knees, the dead leaves around him cushioning his fall.

“BERYL!”

“Huh?!” He said opening his eyes to see his family in their normal state, surrounding him.

“Baby . . . Are you okay?”  Alicia said kneeling beside him.

“I . . . Uh . . . Yeah . . .” He said still not sure what to make of the encounter.

“Why?” Gabriel said.

“What?!” Beryl said looking at him scared and confusedly.

“Why do you still carry this burden around with you, when you know it was not your fault?”

“I . . . It’s just . . . I . . . I just can’t stop missing you! I feel like I’ve hid so much from you over my life that just when we were really starting to become a true family, you were gone! And because of who did it, it was my fault!” He said bursting into tears.

“We may have died protecting you, but you were Chosen. You were Chosen even before we were!” Alicia said reassuring him.

“What?”

“We may have been the Chosen team, but it was just a temporary thing until you were able to handle it all.” Gabriel said also kneeling down next to his son and wife.

“You were the true Chosen One of our clan. There was no way that you could’ve handled all of our powers without our guidance, so The Fates instilled them upon us so that we could teach you to use them when the time was right!” Alicia continued.

“You should know more than anyone, everything happens for a reason.” Gabriel said stroking his son’s head. “Our death was the only thing powerful enough to get you to commit to the fight. It was the only way that we would all be safe. If you were given the powers without us being Chosen, we would’ve been killed anyway, and it would’ve been ten times worse on you than our actual death.”

“You would’ve killed yourself.”

“How do you know this?” Beryl asked, his tears still gracing his tan cheek.

“We’ve seen what would’ve happen in an alternate reality.”

“A reality where things are semi-similar to that of this world, but where you were The Chosen One, and Josh and his team weren’t called at all. You in your great power were forced to keep your secret from us, and in the end, we were slain not by the man who killed us in your world, but the God who posed the biggest threat to your Chosen One.”

“Xhang?” Beryl asked.

“No . . . Darlos.” Gabriel replied.

“Lance?”

“With Josh not being able to protect him, he was vulnerable to Xhang’s spell. No one was able to stop him.”

“Not even me?”

“You were in another part of the world, fighting an even harsher battle.” Alicia said.

“So he’s still human, but the amulet turned him?”

“Yes.”

“Can he be stopped?”

“Only by the next Chosen One.”

“Josh?”

“Yes, but he does not know it.”

“His world is different than yours. You were the only one that was able to show him.” Gabriel said.

“Is there any way that I can help?”

“You’ll find a way.” Alicia said helping him up to his feet. “Right now, you have a bigger battle to fight here, in your own world.”

“I love you guys so much!”

“We know. We are still with you and we always will be!”

“Why haven’t they said anything?” Beryl asked motioning to the rest of his family.

“Because we are the only ones who you would listen to now.”

“Beryl . . . you are such a vital part in this fight, it’s preposterous to even think that us as a team could’ve done as much as you as a single man.” Gabriel said caressing his son’s shoulder.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for you, Josh and his team would still be wet behind the ears!” His brother, Junior said, speaking for the first time.

“What he meant was, you’ve served as guide, teacher and ally to the only man alive that is able to stop one of the most powerful vampire gods in existence from conquering all of mankind and time. You share a connection, not like that of him and his team, or him and his lover, but you share a connection.”

“You also share a connection with the witch!” Anastacia, his best friend said smiling.

“Vanessa?”

“No”

“You and her will make a great pair, both in battle and in love.” Alicia said stroking his cheek. “Just give her a chance.”

“Who?”

“Well . . .” Gabriel said. “It’s time . . .”

“Wait!”

“It’s time Beryl . . .”

“Thank you,” he said sighing “all of you! I love and miss you all!”

“We’re always with you!” They said simultaneously as the leaves from a tree fell and covered their exit.

He turned around and saw a door on a tree with the mark of the Chosen Ones. He walked towards it and passed his hand over the familiar symbol that also graced his skin. Reaching the bottom of the emblem, he removed his hand from the tree and the symbol lit up, opening the door in front of him and also sucking him into the entrance. Surrounded by darkness, Beryl felt himself engulfed in water. Unable to breathe, he morphed a set of gills onto his neck, thinking more like Joey than he realized. Still unable to see, he brought his hands together and created an energy orb that lit up in front of him. After creating two more, he swam forward with the orbs surrounding his body. He noticed that he was in a narrow cave passage, full of dead ends and an endless amount of tunnels. Sensing he was being followed, he purposely swam into a dead end and saw a large serpent like creature coming towards him. Not sure whether the sea creature was friend or foe, he waited till it neared, all the while readying an energy blast that would take care of the beast if need be. Gaining nearer, the serpent stopped once it was in plain sight of the human. Sensing that the creature meant no harm, Beryl swam toward it and put his hand on its head, to read its thoughts.

“Follow me . . . I will lead you out.”

Nodding in acknowledgment, Beryl followed the serpent as it swam backwards through the pathway and turned into the main corridor. After swimming through a dozen more tunnels, Beryl found himself coming out of a large cavern in a deep ocean. Seeing various sea life creatures around him, he stopped for a moment to take in the beauty.

“Swim to the top, but watch out for the gel-orbs. They are attracted by your body heat and will drain you of all your energy.”

Beryl nodded and said thank you, before swimming up to find the surface. As he swam upwards, he saw a gel-orb coming toward him. Not sure what to do, he stopped to think for a second, but was cut short by a gel-orb that got him from behind. Feeling like he was being electrocuted, he concentrated his energy and made the area where the gel-orb was attached turn icy cold. Hoping that the change in body temperature would do the trick, he was relieved when he felt the gel-orb detach. Seeing that it was stunned, he shot an energy blast at the circular jelly like being and saw it explode. Watching as the thousand particles that were once the gel-orb scattered through the water, he was shocked when they themselves turned into a school of the monsters and came towards him.

“Oh shit!” He thought to himself as he shot cold blasts at them to stun them enough so he could make his escape.

He swam as fast as he could up to the surface, shooting ice at all of the gel-orbs that came his way, he was able to fend off all of the attackers. Just as he was about to reach the surface, he saw a massive gel-orb right above him. Thinking quickly, he turned his feet into a powerful energy blast that propelled him upwards, and brought his hands together and shot out ice all around him as he went head on with the mother-orb. Penetrating the jelly filled skin, he could feel the rest of the gel-orbs following the heat that was emitting from his feet. Right as he was about to reach the top of the large being, he changed the energy shooting out of his feet into ice, still propelling him forward as it caught onto his surroundings. Piercing the top layer of skin from inside, he reached the surface of the water and continued to propel himself up with ice until he was fully out of the water. Bringing his hands down and pointing them to the water, he flew up a little into the air and as he came down, landed on the giant piece of ice that was once the gel-orb. Out of breath from the energy exerted, he fell to his knees and looked around him. He saw that he was now at the top of the falls, in the stream of a river.

“Ok, I went from forest, to cave, to ocean to a river? Freaky!” He said, noticing Leo sitting on the branch of a tree that jetted over the water.

“Impressive . . .” Leo said laughing. “Sounds like a lot of fun!”

“I’ve had better!”

“Glad to hear it.”

“So this is the falls?”

“Yep . . .”

“Now what am I supposed to do?”

“Come, I’ll show you!”

TBC . . .

Okay, no promises are made, but we will attempt to get the next chapter out quicker than the last few… yeah, it’s been promised before, but we two busy mo-fo’s!

As always, let us know what you think, email us at: [email protected]