Hyrestia Tales: To The Temple

Frost glanced out the hut.
It had been three days since they arrived, and the others STILL were training. Not much challenged them since they arrived in Siarnaq, but something still sent a chill down her spine.
A distant rumbling shook her bones, but she assumed it was just another golem falling.
Their time in Hyrestia had been confusing. First, ice golems were sent after them even though they were the "successors" to their patrons, nearly killing them at least 10 times. 10! Then, without warning, Kyurem struggled to hurry up the process of fighting for what side Maximus Chronos would pick, light or darkness, and killed a priest in the wintry forest. Then, they experienced many traumatic things while staying with the Mobian Heroes. Last but not least, Icirrus took over her nearly completely, and Electro went inside Snowy instead of Vicky.
Wow.
The green, luscious treetops made Frost a little resentful. She remembered Sarepia, the Forgotten Valley, and the homeland she left behind to fight a linear war. Apophis didn't seem interested in them, which made life a lot more generic and boring.
"Tempest, we spent too much time here. Let's move on to Poseidon's shrine. Maybe the whale god can help us." said Frost.
Tempest, who was right next to her, sighed with relief.
"I agree, Frost. The others are wasting time, trying to train their heads off."
"Jamaasian Heroes, to me!" cried Frost.
All of her comrades appeared, a few poised to strike... something.
"I wish I could do that." muttered Tempest. "All I can get are a few pidgeons and the scraps of a avocado to appear."
"Frost! We saw a gargantuan robot tearing down trees!" cried Snowy.
"Vramaa is being rebuilt, why is there a Mechanaloid here?" muttered Frost.
"And how is that not obvious?" retorted Tempest. "I could hear toppling trees even when I was arguing with a local about the zip line! The nerve of Siarnaqians! To them, we're just cranky preachers of the old days-"
Nobody listened to her crank out complaints after that, and she stopped.
"I saw-" panted Savior. "-that it was an Isfet Mechanaloid, and it was manned by Agate, the Deadly One."
"Great." grumbled Frost. "Now we have ice golems, Phantoms, and a crazy mechanaloid going after us. Can I have a platter of country fries with that, Zios?"
The other animals broke into nervous laughter, except for Amanda and Ignacio.
"Er, is that Jamaasian crude humor or something? I feel like when the popular jocks make an inside joke." inquired Amanda.
"Rated PG for Pulsating Gems." muttered Ignacio.
"Excuse me?" said Savior. "What was that?"
"Random comment," chortled Ignacio, and he burst into hyrestical laughs.
The gals shrugged at each other, clearly saying: I know how you feel, sis. Boys are weird, animal or human.
"Where DO we find this mechanaloid, Snowyclaw, Savior, Amanda, Pink, Ignacio, etcetera?" asked Frost.
She paused, and started to mutter.
"Why do I have to address an entire crowd now? It used to be just me and close friends! Now, I barely know some of you peeps!"
"Frost, to answer your question, I brought in some acorn-compasi." said Savior in a matter-of-fact way.
"Excuse me? Did she just invent a new word?" growled Vicky.
Frost nearly yelped. Sometimes, her friends didn't speak up for three-thirds of the conversation, which oftentimes caused a near-coronary.
"Rouge.... Jauhn... What does it mean?" muttered Ignacio. Apparently, he'd nodded off in just a few seconds.
Wow.
"Snap outta it, bro!" snapped Amanda, which was ironic (obviously). "Those are french names for colors, you nit!"
Savior rolled her eyes at the Twoleg antics, convinced that their spawn were even worse than Peck and her bretheren. Snowyclaw sighed, smile crinkles around her face, wondering if her own pups (one day) would do things like Amanda and Ignacio did. Vicky, exasperated by the mayhem in the hotel room, went into the bathroom to take a bubble bath, muttering something about venti being more under control than her presumed "friends". Pink, sickly and weak from her infection, half-heartedly analyzed everything in the room, like Vicky and Savior, extremely exasperated. Tempest watched everything with eagles' eyes, quite trained and honed by Frost, like a perfect blade of a swordsman. Evada, pretty much immersed in the Duat, was watching them go with much intriuge and mystery. Keldeo, of course, being the horse he was, was oblivious to the war preparations and was nickering in a forest clearing, munchin' grass.
As for Frost...
"Savior, why don't you just show me these Acorn-thingies?" asked Frost. "I think they were called something like pegasi or compose-see."
Savior growled in the back of her throat, clearly irritated to her bone marrow.
Out of thin air, four acorns clattered to the velvet floor. Even though it was fuzzy, the carpet was thin, and the wood flooring beneath it very easy to hear if you dropped something.
"This is woodland magic, taught to the best of the protectors of nature. I, being the Jamaasian Hero-" At those words, her tone switched to a harsh, bitter voice, although nobody noticed "-of nature, I easily learned this as easily as child's play.“
Frost rolled her eyes, as cynical as ever.
”Then show us it, genius." she grumbled.
"Be a smart alec, won't you? I think that Keldeo didn't hear you." replied Savior.
She whistled a short tune, and the acorns floated up into the air. They spun in a rapid circle, then clattered lifelessly to the floor yet again, looking like they had no rhyme or reason.
"Huh... the forces show me that the mechaniloid is... nearby. That's strange. If it were that close, we would've heard something already. Pink would've also detected it, and possibly sent out an EMP field to deter its progress." muttered Savior.
Pink suddenly had an interest in her claws and the mechanics of their existence.
"Um... about that, Savior, I was about to tell everyone..."
Pink looked up at them, her organic eye determined and her bionic eye looking... mechanical.
"I noticed the Mechaniloid, and analyzed it the best I could. Unfortunately, I'm too ill to send out an ample EMP field to hinder it, so I'm afraid we'll have to do a head-on confrontation. I accessed the Siarnaq (pronounced shar-naak) database, and retrieved all the data I needed for a good profile of the mechaniloid."
Pink faltered when she saw Ignacio rolling his eyes and muttering: "Are you speaking English, cyborg wolf?"
Her face flustered a deeper shade of pink than her fur already was.
"Yes, Ignacio, and you are being a nit, just as Amanda said!" retorted Pink.
Now it was Ignacio's turn to be embarassed and flustered. A few of the others chuckled.
"Anyways, to continue, its name is Xis (pronounced Sis), and its a new-model mechaniloid issued by Apophis himself. It's sensors reply to Agate's brainwaves, and adjust its movements to his will. It has spikes adorning its body, and a core of schist (greenstone) to keep away plants, as it is said to repel any organic life."
Savior scowled at the mention of schist, and muttered some curses under her breath. Frost presumed that among the world of the element of Life, schist wasn't... an honored guest. Elvis, her companion mouse, scurried deep into her fur.
"Its strategy is to try to crush, crush, crush its opponents, use a beam to splice their bodily parts, and ultimately destroy them."
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" bellowed a voice from outside. The muffled sqwauks of birds, the crash of fallen trees, and the screams of Siarnaqians awaited their ears like thunder momens afterwards.
"And that's its cry." noted Pink. "Ignacio, did you do that boy thing of making weird voices?"
Ignacio's eyes were wide, and his shoulders were trembling.
"N-no." he whimpered.
The wimp. Frost would have to toughen him up with some wedgies later, as she made a mental note of it.
"GROAAAH!" groaned the voice. "FUR-OST... AND .... OUT...HERS.... SHALL.... PUH-PAY...."
"Aaaaaand..." squeaked Pink, her tone so docile it could've been a mouse unlike Elvis (squeak-alongs at the wee hours, anyone?). "that..... is its battle cry. Anyone in the mood of some robot-busting?"

Outside, Frost nearly wet her pants... which would've been drop-dead-embarassing, since Jamaasians didn't have any.
A large Mechaniloid so large that its torso had to be close-cropped to a circular cone to save precious weight and resources awaited them outside, its giant hands magnet-controlled. You would've thought that a magnetic-control would've been imprecise, but perish that thought with your own soul.
It was so precise that it could've hit a tiny pin ten miles away blindfolded. Unfortunately, the brash Ignacio learned this the hard way.
"Hey, bucket of bolts! Aim for me!" cried the human boy.
"GROOOOOOH...!"
Leaping like an acrobat out of the way, Ignacio barely dodged a swipe of the large, Falzar-foot esque hand. It followed him, but Pink quickly snatched Ignacio by the scruff and tried her best to get him and Amanda to safety incognito.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down, as happened with Onyx and Cosmo. Tempest was caught mid-yawn as she swiped at Xis, which was hilarious and disgusting at the same time. Seriously, why did Tempest dribble so much when she was attacking, even if it were in a zeptosecond?
Let me take over.... muttered a familiar voice. It was wise, ancient and drowsy at the same time.
"No!" Frost muttered to herself. In real time, outside of her time bubble, she was sure her speech sounded like a short chipmunk chatter. How embarassing.
Why not? I would ensure you destroyed Xis with the flick of a claw, and protect you from draining your mana reserves.
"Don't you dare use persuading and charmspeak on me, Icirrus! I won't give in to Power Out without keeping free reign!"
Icirrus rumbled unsteadily inside her, clearly irritated by its host's stubborness. Apparently, it wasn't used to mortal ingenuity... and stubborn streaks.
As you wish, Frost, but remember: I forsee you will never feel this body again after the Third Phantom War ends...
Time sped up, and Xis's hand nearly crushed Frost underfoot (hand?) if she hadn't twisted out of the way.
"TWEET! TWEET! TWEET!" cawed birds nearby as they flew out of the trees.
Brash birds. They should've left long ago.
But then, Frost realized that they served as ample distraction for her own purposes. Xis growled, swiping at them in annoyance, and for once the glare was gone.
Frost should've been warned by how Pink described that Agate could use it using brainwave sensors, although it didn't say if others used Xis as an exterior armor too. She should've expected the ugly visage of Agate to become no surprise to her. A million other things should've happened.
But Frost froze (ha ha) as she saw Agate appear, his eye not contorted to make any expression, nor was his heart visibly beating. Hatred throbbed at her very essence, wanting to tear apart the commander of the armies of Is'Fet limb to limb. She shook away the lust with unease, wary of the instincts of Icirrus leaking into her.
But by then, it was too late.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" snarled Frost. Her eyes flared crystal blue, and a circle of sheer power surrounded her, the updraft of power calling upon the heavens for assistance. A golden light encased her like a shell, and Tempest and Snowy paused to watch the transformation with glorious details.
Too bad they were out cold when she first transformed, as it was quite beautiful, coated with sheen - and a bit heavenly, too, although quite feral and dangerous.
"Oh, great." muttered Tempest. "Here we go again."

Too late did Agate realize what Frost was up to.
"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" shrieked Frost. Her tone was frosty, feral, ancient, deep, metallic, and a million other things at the same time. But this time, it felt a bit more synched between Icirrus and Frost, their voices overlapping in more harmony and unison.
A large beam of raw power sliced through Xis perfectly, narrowly missing the cockpit. Wires and schist dangled from the pieces for a horrific moment, resembling entrails and blood too much, but then the robot clattered to the forest floor, quickly dissolving into the Duat. Elvis, who was still scratching at panels in the robot's side, was quickly called back to Savior's side before he could be dissolved along with Xis.
Agate narrowly escaped death by floating upwards. A cloud of static surrounded him, threatening to cause a coronary in unlucky onlookers.
"I am Agate, and you have offended one of the elite generals! REVENGE SHALL BE SWEET!" cackled the insane general.
In a quick flash-bang, Agate vanished. Good thing the bang was subdued; else Pink probably would've been blasted out of a nearby treetop.
As usual, the scarf that resembled Icirrus's furry wings whipped around Frost's neck, although it seemed more wild and brutally burning in the strong breeze of the woods.
"M---ush..... tt..... des...tory...." slurred Frost. Her eyes were clearly not hers, flashing red and cyan at the same time. At disturbing moments, her natural gray eyes showed through, almost overwhelming Tempest with despair.
Fortunately, there was a perfect retort to her speech.
"Excuse me, Icirrus, but could you speak normally? Your English isn't coherent." replied Tempest.
"RARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAR!"
As fast as lightning, Frost charged up next to Tempest, and slashed her perfectly across the chest, matching the scar already there perfectly. Ignoring the others, she absorbed the blood and glowed faintly.
Pink, still hidden and tending to the safety of the Twolegs (even though they had no clear purpose currently), started to analyze Power Out, despite having little to no data on the monstrosity.
"A feral form of the hosts of the Chrono deities. Extremely powerful, but very, very crazy and unthinking. Not much information." she muttered.
Feral... Unthinking....
"Tempest! Snowy! Everyone! Outwit Frost!"
Snowy's scent suddenly carried an emotion: doubtful.
"But Frost is a battle tactician! She's wily and thoughtful!" cried Snowy. Frost, luckily, was still showing off, as if to warn her former comrades to leave her territory, growling and flashing her claws. Immediately, Savior was applying gauze and antibiotics to the wound on Tempest's chest... and Vicky came out in sopping towels, still smelling like Suave Ocean Delight shampoo.
"Well, as you can see, Miss Famous Blogger, she lost that trait in exchange for her power! Use that to your advantage, but don't kill her!"
"Thankyouverymuch, I already know that." muttered Snowy. Of course, Pink doubted she already knew, as the case with most Jamaasians that were clearly saving face, but she let it go.
"Frost... I know you're in there." muttered Tempest. "I know that you can control that power. Now, just let go of Icirrus, and imagine yourself in control, yet sustaining the power of icefire."
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORHHHH!"

Inside, Frost was bound in icy chains, watching helplessly as Icirrus coordinated her actions, using the dark side of frostbite and freezer burn direct the power into a concentrated mess.
"Let me go! Let me obey the call of Tempest, my apprentice! Most importantly, GIVE MY LIFE BACK!" cried Frost.
The large, ice-covered dragon looked behind itself, but the tubes were channeling dark power, and Icirrus's eyes gleamed with malice.
"I cannot, young one. I cannot."
Frost struggled, but alas, the chains were fit for sealing a god away, and Frost was no deity.
She closed her eyes, and despite being held in the void of her own mind, memories and emotions floating in and out of the starry expanse, she tried reaching into the Duat.
Her soul momentarily left her consciousness, and wafted over to the stars, but alas, they were more memories, the crisp ones ready to waft deeper into her mind!
"Argh!"
She lowered her vision into the Duat, clearly confined and unable to fully generate inside its flow, and saw it through her own eyes - although not in control.
An aura of power, stronger than even her own surrounded Snowy, the dark blue soul of Electro clearly trying to get Snowy to Power Out, only with her in control. Frost grimaced at the perspective that Snowy was scared of Power Out, and wouldn't take a chance, even if she was going to be in control.
"Snowy! Do it! I'm not in control, but with your aid, I can channel the power of Icirrus without burning up or abandoning control!" whispered Frost. Already, the consciousness of Icirrus was tugging at her, the vines of its reach already grappling for her to come back inside her consciousness, to pool into a secure spot.
Snowy, although probably stressed out and wrestling battle nerves, grimly nodded.
Frost retracted back, and saw no more.

Snowy recalled listening to the whisper of Frost's essence, and laying out the precise instructions in the back of her mind. Despite Frost being smart and all, she was far more experienced and levelheaded.
"Electro, please. Grant me enough power for a charged Power Out, but do not overtake me." she prayed.
Nothing happened.
Just as Savior was weakly shooting arrows at Frost, despite them being deflected by her corona and exploding into freshly buttered popcorn (wow, thats.... random, but hey, you never know when you're going to get hungry in battle!), and Vicky zapping the corona with thunderbolts charged with enough voltage to kill twenty Twolegs...
WHAM! KA BAM!
Two waves of power came from Snowy, and she clenched her eyelids down and gritted her teeth. Suddenly, all eyes were on her, as if she were about to perform a solo in a famous ballad.
You know how your ears pop when you dive, how painful a bellyflop is, how annoying it is to have mosquitoes buzz in your ears, and how your stomach feels like it was left behind when you drop from a 200-foot drop on a rollercoaster?
Well, combine all that together into a concentrated pack of juice, and slurp it up... and you have an idea how Snowy felt.
The darker side of Electro ripped at her essence, trying desperately to take over, even if it meant desecnding into insanity, or even burning up the host body. Countless millenia of clashing with Icirrus in bloody, savage, hand-to-hand guerilla warfare had scrambled the mind of Electro, making him a dangerous deity to contend with. He always believed in the "right thing", but it was oftentimes unclear what that was. Snowy had a lust to give in, and to simply curl up in the fetal position and be spared from this pain and suffering.
She shook the deliriousness out of herself. No, she didn't need that, she needed control - and fast!
Just as it was getting unbearable, and she was tired of thinking "I won't give in! I won't! I won't!"....
FOOOMP!
"Well, then, Frost, I'll paddle your rump and make Icirrus wish that he handed over control already!"
"Kuuuurr." purred Frost. She seemed ferocious, yet understanding at the same time. Had the clashing dragons said the same thing to each other as they grappled over control of Maximus oh-so-long ago?
"Guys and gals! I know this is cliched, but BACK AWAY! I don't want any unnecessary deaths to haunt me throughout my life... if I truly have one."
If her remarks of wisdom weren't enough, then her sad, melted-chocolate eyes did the trick. Her comrades, friends-in-arms and allies backed away quickly, knowing things could get dirty in a picosecond.
"Grraaaannnn...." snarled Frost. Looking into those fierce, icefire-tainted eyes, Snowy had a grim determination to revive her friend - like the way two siblings would look at each other on the battlefront, knowing they would try a hopeless battle to win their sibling over to their side... or take their very life.
Suddenly, before Snowy could even flap her black wings (attached to her back) and hover over the dash, Frost went into a torpedo position and slid forward, cutting a deep groove in her belly. Blood trickled out, and even the icy fog that covered the wound didn't quite heal it.
Snowy quickly engaged Frost in hand-to-hand combat, as their predecessors did. She could see afterimages of them forming into the ice-covered forms of the dragons.
Slash to slash. Cut to cut. Icefire to icestorm. Bite to bite.
They were evenly matched, as Icirrus and Electro were. Only by splicing them apart and sealing them away had eased the conflict. Black and white, fire and storm, light and dark, night and day, they could've fought to a standstill, or even perpetually - but the break came in the form of a flying orange.
Yes, a flying orange.
WHACK!
A tough-skinned orange clonked Frost over the head just as she was delivering a blow, and Snowy did a finishing throat move that wouldn't crush her windpipe or otherwise kill her, but still subdue her enough that Icirrus's influence would recede.
Orange juice in her eyes, Frost wailed as the power was sucked back inside her, the Power Out accessories vanishing. She clawed at her throat as Icirrus lost control.
"Good one, Savior. I never knew you could control fresh produce. Where did you get the orange?" asked Snowy as Frost receded into a coma, which she would awaken from all fine in about an hour.
Savior blushed. Clearly, the silver-furred wolf knew that she would probably be dubbed Orange-Charmer for the rest of her existence, all to give Snowy an opening for attack.
"Ah, its very simple nature-charming. The life of an orange is miniscule, and it was going to rot anyway, so I charmed it from a nearby tree and used it in battle. Very, very simple, indeed."
Snowy sighed, and whistled for Pink and the Twoleg children to come down.
"Great job, Pink. Now, let Amanda tend to your illness with Savior. Place Tempest and Frost in the infirmary at once. I'll be fine, Electro's power is slowly recuperating me." said Snowy.
She turned to the others as Tempest (unwillingly) and Frost (who was deliriously muttering "Mmm. Time to freeze off someone's fingers.") were hauled into the hotel to their makeshift infimary upstairs. Pink, limping and allowing random sparks to fly off her pelt, came after them.
"Okay, Vicky, take day patrol across the skies and make sure nothing else is coming after us. Savior, talk to the nature stuff nearby and check on Keldeo. Don't forget to let Elvis scout ahead for the safest route to Poseidon's shrine. Evada, get your rump out of the Duat, and make sure nobody comes after us in the Duat or anywhere else. Got it?"
Everyone nodded in unison.
"Movement Jinx." said Snowy.
"That's not a real thing." replied Evada.
"Awwww...."

(Story Epilouge)
Later that day, they packed up, and let Evada haul their luggage to a nice camping spot Elvis found for them. Tempest reported that she knew that she was the blank slate for the forming of Maximus Chronos, but she should still be able to Power Out. Because the blank slate wasn't really that much of a personality, she was sure she could maintain control no matter what. Frost, still weak from the mana she drained, helped them check out of the hotel and leave for the Temple.
Advice: Watch out for possessed oranges.