Udonna didn't flinch at Madison's trembling defiance. Her calm smile remained, her voice carrying the same soothing warmth it had since she first appeared.
"I understand your fear. I understand your anger. But you are not prisoners here. You are guests… though you do not yet realize why."
Her words seemed to roll through the room like a gentle wave, brushing against the edges of their frustration. None of them spoke right away, though Nick crossed his arms and scowled, refusing to let go of his distrust so easily.
"Guests?" he muttered under his breath. "Pretty shitty hospitality if you ask me."
Vida gave a sharp exhale through her nose. "Yeah, if this is a hotel, one star review from me."
Xander, always ready to diffuse tension with humor, smirked at that, but his smirk faded when he saw the gravity in Udonna's eyes. There was no hint of deception—only conviction.
Udonna lifted her wand slightly, and the runes etched into the floor pulsed faintly with blue light. The cold air thickened, and with it came a strange clarity, as if the weight pressing on their minds had lifted just a little.
"Sit," she said softly, motioning with her free hand.
None of them moved at first. But the warmth in her tone was strange—it wasn't an order, but an invitation. One by one, almost reluctantly, they found themselves lowering to the ground, forming a loose circle around her. Nick sat with his arms crossed, glaring sideways at the floor. Vida sat with her legs stretched out defiantly, tapping her boot against the runes. Madison folded her hands tightly in her lap, eyes flicking between her friends and Udonna. Xander leaned back with practiced ease, pretending to be comfortable. Chip was practically vibrating with excitement, barely able to contain himself.
Udonna let the silence breathe for a moment before she began.
"Long ago, before any of you were born—before the age of rangers as you know it today—there was another war. A war fought not with machines and weapons of steel, but with forces far older, far greater. It was the war of the Mystic Force."
Her voice deepened slightly, carrying the weight of memory.
"The world was threatened by a darkness unlike any you could imagine. An evil so vast it sought not to conquer, but to consume. To smother the light itself. Against this evil rose the Mystic Force—an order of wizards and sorcerers, bound together by ancient magic, sworn to protect the world."
The runes on the floor glowed brighter, and suddenly faint illusions began to shimmer in the air above them. They saw shadowy figures, cloaked in black smoke, clawing across a battlefield. Opposing them stood robed warriors, staffs blazing with light, spells crackling like thunder.
The youths gasped softly. Even Nick, who tried to keep his skepticism, found himself leaning forward slightly.
"They fought valiantly," Udonna continued, "but the darkness was overwhelming. One by one, our forces fell. Our towers crumbled. Our defenses shattered. It was not a battle of equals—it was a desperate attempt to hold back an inevitable tide."
The illusions showed wizards falling, swallowed by the smoke, their spells snuffed out as if they had never existed. The ground turned black beneath them, cracked and bleeding with shadows.
Madison flinched, whispering without realizing it. "That's… horrible."
"It was," Udonna said gently. Her gaze softened, but her words remained steady. "I was there. I fought alongside them. And I watched them die."
The room fell still. Even Chip, whose mouth had been open in awe moments ago, closed it and swallowed hard.
Udonna's eyes seemed to drift far away, lost in the echoes of the past."I was not the strongest among them. I was not even the bravest. But when the darkness struck its final blow, I was among the few who still stood. Myself… and one other. A child. An infant, no more than a few months old."
The illusions shifted. The battlefield dimmed, and in its place appeared a woman—Udonna, though younger, her hair less silver, her face less worn by time. She clutched a swaddled infant to her chest, running across a collapsing bridge of light as shadows clawed at her heels.
The group leaned forward, their eyes wide.
"That child," Udonna said softly, "was all that remained of my closest friend. A life born amidst death. I swore then and there I would protect him, no matter the cost."
Vida frowned, her voice softer than before. "So… you're saying… everyone else…?"
Udonna nodded. "Gone. Entire legions of wizards and sorcerers… wiped out. Our libraries burned. Our knowledge scattered. What we sealed away that day was not victory. It was survival."
Her wand tapped gently against the stone, and the illusions shifted again. This time, they saw a great seal—an enormous circle carved into the ground, runes upon runes spiraling inward. Wizards poured what remained of their strength into it, their bodies crumbling into ash as the circle ignited with blinding light.
"Together, with the last of our strength, we created the Great Seal," Udonna said, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "We forced the darkness into slumber, binding it deep beneath the earth. It was not destroyed. It cannot be destroyed. Only held."
The seal flashed, and then the illusion faded into silence. The room's dim lighting returned, the runes beneath them still glowing faintly but no longer projecting images.
No one spoke right away. The weight of her story hung in the air like smoke after a fire.
Finally, Chip broke the silence. "So… you're like… a survivor of the last wizard war? That's… that's insane. That's like, straight out of the comics. Wizards vs. world-ending darkness. And you were there?!"
His voice carried awe, but there was a flicker of fear in it too.
Udonna's lips curved into a sad smile. "Yes. I was there. And I have carried that memory every day since. A memory of failure… and of hope."
Xander tilted his head, brows raised. "Hope? 'Cause from what you're saying, doesn't sound like there was much left to hope for."
"Hope," Udonna repeated, her tone sharpening just slightly, "because the seal held. Because for centuries, the darkness slumbered, unable to touch this world. Because in those centuries, humanity flourished, grew stronger, and found new protectors."
She looked at them each in turn, her eyes lingering just long enough to make them uncomfortable.
"But the seal… is weakening."
Her words dropped like stones into water, rippling across the silence.
"The signs are clear. The runes crack. The shadows stir. The darkness seeks to rise again. And this time, if it awakens fully… it will not stop. It will not rest until this world is drowned in eternal night."
Vida crossed her arms tightly, scowling to mask the chill running down her spine. "And let me guess—you brought us here because you think a bunch of regular kids are somehow supposed to stop that?"
Her sarcasm was sharp, but the fear behind it was sharper.
Udonna didn't answer right away. She let the question hang in the air, her calm gaze meeting each of theirs.
"Yes," she finally said. "Because it is your destiny."
Nick scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Destiny? That's bullshit. If this is such a big deal, why not call the rangers? They fight monsters for breakfast. They've got giant robots and flashy suits and all that. Why drag us into this mess when you've already got professionals on the job?"
The others nodded quickly, the same question written on their faces.
Udonna's voice lowered, carrying a gravity that silenced them instantly."Because this is not a battle the rangers were born to fight. This darkness… it was never meant to be theirs to face. It is yours. Yours alone. You are the ones the ancient prophecies spoke of. You are the ones chosen by fate itself."
The room went quiet again.
None of them knew what to say.