The elves immediately had the trolls restrained by holding their arms behind their backs, having them knelt down on their knees before Zora and Thana. From the look on Zora's face, their fate wasn't going to be a good one.
But all the trolls could focus on was that their friend was gone and unlike last time, they couldn't bring her back.
"I can't believe you would risk your lives to save a Lost Troll." Zora said. "After all the fighting between your ancestors and theirs. Especially for a troll as weak-minded as her." Zora looked back at Aria's lifeless body on the ground.
"You're a monster!" Poppy barked at the Elf Queen. "Aria was strong enough to put her own life in danger and believed whole-heartedly that she could save her tribe!" Zora sneered at the pink troll and chuckled. "And we will finish what she started!"
"And how do you believe you're gonna do that?" Zora asked. "The entire tribe is GONE!" Poppy felt a rage inside of her that she had never felt before. Without hesitation she whipped out her hair and struck Zora, knocking her over. When Zora recovered, she looked up at Poppy with her eyes full of fury. "You trolls need to learn some respect!" She snatched a beating weapon from one of the other elves and rose it up, ready to hit the pink troll as her guard shoved her to the ground. Poppy shut her eyes tightly and awaited the hit. But it never came...only a yelp followed by a grunting sound that wasn't her own. When she opened her eyes her heart dropped.
"Branch!" Poppy cried as she knelt down beside him. He had braced himself in front of Poppy and took the hit to his back. Thankfully he was okay, just wincing in pain. Poppy held him close and hugged his head while stroking his aching back.
"Hey! No one hurts the boy toy!" Barb snarled, trying to struggle free of her guard. Poppy looked at Branch and held his cheeks.
"Why would you do that?" Poppy said sadly, her heart breaking to see how much pain Branch was in.
"I-I couldn't watch them hurt you." Branch whimpered, trying to recover from the hit.
***
Aria gently opened her eyes. Her entire mind was a blur. She looked around and didn't recognize her surroundings. Everything was dark, nearly pitch black. She slowly got to her feet, stumbling slightly but soon regained her balance.
"Hello?" Aria called out into the darkness. Where was everyone? "Echo?!" She called again to her faithful guardian. She looked down at her guardian gem, it was gray and faded. Echo was gone. "A-am...am I...dead?" She muttered to herself.
"Not yet..." A voice said from in front of her. A gentle voice. A familiar voice. Aria looked up and saw a figure with glowing mist around it. It was a troll. Looking almost like Aria, but with long blue hair with faded gray tips. Aria couldn't believe her eyes.
"Mama?" She asked with wide eyes. The troll smiled at Aria as she outstretched her arms for a hug. "Mama! It's really you!" Aria ran over and hugged her mother, burying her head into her shoulder. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, sweetie." Her mother, Alana said. "Look at you, my girl is all grown up." She broke away from the hug slightly but still held her daughter's cheek. Aria smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "But you can't stay here for too long." Aria looked up at her mother, confused by her words. "You have a tribe to save." Alana said. Aria lowered her head, feeling defeated.
"I'm sorry mama. I really tried." Aria sniffed. "But...I wasn't strong enough. Even with Kairi watching out for me, and my friends." Alana held her daughter's cheek in her hand and raised her head up to meet her own.
"Why do you think Kairi came to you in the first place?" Alana asked her. Aria looked up at her, not knowing how to answer. "She saw your determination and spirit, and we both agreed that you deserved her protection on your journey."
"You sent her?" Aria asked. Alana smiled down at her.
"Your journey isn't over, Aria." Alana said. "Neither is your father's or Ash's. Or your friends' for that matter. So go and help them." A white mist of sparks formed above their heads, and in the center of it was her friends with the elves. Zora was about to attack them. "They need you Aria." Alana assured.
"I don't want to leave you." Aria lowered her head as she hugged her mother again. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do...I don't think I can do it again..." Alana took her daughters hands in hers and smiled at her.
"You never had to leave me." Alana assured. "I'm always here with you."
🎶Say my name🎶
🎶When you're hurting, darling🎶
🎶I'll take your demons away🎶
Aria looked up in surprise when she heard her mother sing that song. She never thought she would ever hear her sing it again.
🎶But you know there will come a day🎶
🎶When I won't be there🎶
🎶But I know that you'll be okay🎶
Alana nodded her head to her daughter, wanting her to finish the song. Aria smiled from ear to ear and gave her a determined look, tears escaping from her eyes.
🎶cuz' you are my blood🎶
The two trolls hugged each other tightly after the song. But Aria wasn't ready for the journey as she realized something.
"But I don't have Echo." Aria sighed. "I don't have a guardian." Alana gave Aria a sly look as she pointed to the left where a bright blue light was forming, and within it emerged a manta ray. It was Kairi.
"You have everything you need." Alana smiled. Aria looked at Kairi with wide eyes. "Let her bind her spirit to yours." Aria looked back to her mother one more time and nodded before bowing in front of the ocean goddess. Kairi started to circle Aria, flapping her wings and creating more mist and sparkles to surround her.
***
The trolls looked up at Thana in fear as she towered over them. She raised her hooves and was ready to strike them, they bundled together and held each other close with their eyes shut. But before Thana could do anything, Zora was distracted when she saw Aria's body start to move. The previously lifeless troll pushed herself up onto her knees, she had a straining look on her face as her eyes screwed up tight.
"Okay, now you're just getting annoying." Zora growled at Aria. She took out her sword from her belt and started to approach her. "Well this ought to do the trick." The trolls looked over with confused and surprised expressions. Zora was about to swing her sword when Aria's eyes snapped open, but instead of them being their usual teal-green color, they were a bright electric blue color. As Aria knelt herself up she revealed a pair of blue luminous wings. Not wings of a bird, but of a manta ray; with long thin tail lashed like a whip behind her feet.
"Ari!" Poppy exclaimed, so happy that her friend was alright.
"I'm glad she's alive and all but...what happened to her?" Barb asked, wondering about the lost troll's appearance.
Aria stared at Zora with her piercing blue eyes and her wings outstretched. Zora was slightly thrown off by her look but proceeded to swing her sword at her. But to her surprise, Aria raised a wing and blocked the attack; no gashes or any sign of damage on her wing.
"This can't be happening." Zora grunted and signaled Thana to attack.
"Two can play at that game." Aria said as she charged at Zora, grabbing her by her tunic and flying up into the air. As for the other trolls, they broke away from their guards and proceeded to fight them off.
Aria flew high into the sky, still with Zora in her hands.
"You see Zora? This is what happens when you mess with a tribe protected by the goddesses." Aria bellowed to her. Zora swung her sword again, trying to break free from Aria's grip. But Aria wrapped her long tail around the base of the sword, disarming Zora from her weapon. She flew down to the ground rapidly, pounding Zora into the ground.
Zora tried to recover and pick herself back up, dazed from the fall. She signaled Thana to attack Aria and the evil spirit obeyed, charging at her. Aria summoned a huge burst of water, sending Thana flying.
"Grab the fire ruby!" Aria called out to the trolls. Hickory ran over to Zora's satchel on the ground and threw it towards Aria's direction. Trollex then hit the crystal with his tail to get it to her and she caught it in her hand. As Thana approached the ground, Aria pressed the ruby against the evil spirit's forehead. Thana let out a roar before she disappeared into the crystal.
"Aria! May I do the honors?" Barb asked. Aria smiled at the rock queen and threw the ruby at her and Barb smashed the ruby on the floor into tiny pieces, forcing Thana to disappear forever.
"NO!" Zora cried out while Aria and the trolls all surrounded her.
"It doesn't matter how many of us you try to get rid of!" Aria stated to the elf. "There will always be others who will stop you, whether they're a troll or a goddess!" Zora looked up at the trolls, feeling defeated. Aria flapped her wings, creating a deep blue mist that swirled around the cave, picking up Zora and the elves in the process and sending them out of the cave and far, far away from the Paradise Isles, or the Troll Kingdom for that matter.
"Ari! You're okay!" Poppy rammed into the lost troll and hugged her tightly.
"At least I assume it's you, or are you some demon version of Aria?" Branch asked slightly wary. Aria laughed.
"No it's definitely me." Aria assured. All the trolls gathered for a group hug, relieved that the battle with Zora was finally over.
"How did you get those wings? They look sick!" Barb was amazed by them, touching them with wide eyes.
"Yeah, the crystals are still down, how are you alive?" Trollex asked.
"A broken crystal can't stop a goddess." Aria said. The trolls went wide-eyed.
"That's Kairi?! She bound to your soul!" Poppy exclaimed. Aria nodded.
"Speaking of the crystals..." Branch started, pointing at the broken ocean crystal scattered on the ground.
"What do you think, Kairi?" Aria asked as she looked down at her palms. A blue mist suddenly formed around her as a bright blue light lit up the cave. Kairi appeared gracefully above their heads before using her magic to make the broken crystal disappear, and created a new one on top of its pedestal. It's bright blue light made the room as bright as ever.
When the mist faded and the crystal was restored, Aria returned back to her usual troll self. But this time, her hair wasn't tied up and flew around her shoulders with streaks of blue. She looked down at her crystal and saw that it was back to it's blue color, and from it appeared an orca.
"Echo!" Aria had never been so happy to see her guardian. Echo transformed into a fox as she jumped down onto the ground and the two of them shared a hug. Just like Aria's hair, Echo also had streaks of blue running down her body.
"You know, just between you and me. I prefer the whale." Barb whispered to Aria who nodded in return, agreeing with her.
They looked up at Kairi who flew down to meet the trolls' level, she stretched out her wing and lay it down for them to climb up on to. They climbed onto her back and she started to fly out of the cave. The trolls held their breath as they flew through the water, but were amazed by Kairi's beauty as she lit up the sea with bright lights of blue and teal. They burst out of the water again, flying high into the air.
"Are you okay with flying now, Branch?" Aria asked. Surprisingly, Branch wasn't clinging on to Poppy in fear, he actually looked like he was enjoying it.
"Kairi doesn't fly nearly as reckless as Echo does!" Branch replied. Echo looked at him, slightly offended. "Besides, at least it's not a bird!" But just as he said that a loud squawk sound was heard and a large golden phoenix appeared in the sky and started to fly beside them. "Oh I just HAD to say that!" Branch grunted. But lucky for him, it was Sana, the goddess of the sky.
"Sana!" Aria cried out, amazed. They all watched as Sana flew to the mountain top and used her magic to restore the Great Sky Crystal with a burst of amber light. They also spotted a large green leopard running on the ground below them. It was Akina, the goddess of the earth. She leapt onto the site of her broken crystal and created a swirl of mist to restore it. After the two goddesses restored their crystals, they followed Kairi back to the village of the Lost Trolls.