*This story is based upon the Shantae series, which does not belong to me (per the usual, it belongs to its rightful owners, WayForward and creators Matt and Erin Bozon). This story features LGBTQ characters, which does make some uncomfortable.

Critically, this story has some dark themes to it. Although I intend it for all teenage audiences, this could be considered light horror. Proceed with caution.

Embra's Missing Memories - Part 1
Cliff Town

Embra squirmed in her bed. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Don't worry about a thing, dearie. We will have that nasty little thing out of you in no time."

Her arms were tied down with restraints. In the waking world, her Shade Magic was beginning to manifest uncontrollably, recreating the same restraints, holding her in place.

A mechanical probe-like machine was being lowered to her in the dream. She squirmed and fought, both in the dream and in her bed. "It will be okay," assured the empty-eyed attendant in the nightmare.

Then pain, searing pain. Embra screamed.

Star burst through the door (leaving a human shaped hole in the door). "Embra, what's-" She saw injuries on Embra's wrists from the shadow restraints.

"EMBRA, WAKE UP!" she cried.

Embra's eyes snapped open, and the restraints faded away. She sat up and curled into a ball, shaking uncontrollably.

"'We will have that soul out of you in no time...'" she muttered, clearly quoting someone else.

"Embra, it will be okay..." Star raced up to hug her sister, but the moment she touched her, Embra felt cold as ice. Her Shade Magic had spiraled out of control.

"MOM, DAD, CALL A DOCTOR! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH EMBRA!!!"

=== Northern Light gates. ===

The two guards watched in disbelief as they watched a woman wearing little but light-themed harem pants and a bra walk up to them.

The younger guard spoke first. "Who are you, and why are you not frozen?"

"Watch your tongue!" snapped the older one. "Lady Lumina, I apologize. It has been so long..."

"Wait, Lumina, as in the Guardian Genie and Star's mom?!"

She bowed. "Yes, and I have important matters to discuss with both of my daughters. Will you allow me to pass?"

"Yes mam! You want to go two blocks past Embra's Timekeeper, the clocktower, and the Starlight Inn. You will find them at the house with the stars painted on it."

"Thank you, madam," Lumina said to the older guard with another bow. She proceeded by them with a graceful walk.

"The heck? I thought the Guardian Genies left a long time ago?"

"If one came back, that cannot be good..."

=== Huntsman residence. ===

Embra held the glowing mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She was still violently shaking and spilling some of the sweet drink in places. Star steadied her hands and her head.

"It will be okay, just drink this..." she said to Embra softly as she helped guide the cup to Embra's lips.

Avor and Emilia were with the city's premier doctor. He was knowledgeable in both old world medicine and in magic. It might have been more appropriate to call him a witch doctor, but he never liked the term.

"What's wrong with our baby?" Avor asked, horrified by the health of his daughter.

"I performed a test to see if there was something holding memories back. There was; a magic block on her memories, and it's beginning to fade."

"Who would do such a thing?!" exclaimed Emilia.

"It was Light Magic, surprisingly. And if these nightmarish memories are from her time in Cliff Town, the block predates it. It was from when she was about 7 and a half."

"Wait, if the memory block is from earlier than that, why are these nightmares behind the block?" Avor asked.

"Embra is an exceptional individual. Perhaps in order to deal with the horrors of that place, she somehow found a way to stuff the horrors behind the block. Unfortunately, that also means they're the first things to come out when that block fades."

"So, what she said..." Avor began.

"Someone in Cliff Town tried to steal her soul..." Emilia said, her hands over her mouth, barely believing it.

Mayor Shelly heard quickly of the trouble and had come with the good doctor. "Just like her attackers on Siren Island. The Sirens confirmed they had been stripped of their souls."

"Just what in the world are they doing over there?!" Avor said angrily.

"All of their eyes... All I see is emptiness, no care for the world..." Embra muttered.

"Ssshh. Drink," Star said to her, softly.

"Honestly, Star preparing the magic-laced hot chocolate saved Embra from more harm. The Light Magic seeping in from Star's magic cup helped Embra regain control of her powers quickly," explained the doctor.

Shelly shook her head. "Soul stealing? Virulent hate? Knowing things about people that have been long lost? What kind of insanity is going on there?"

They heard a knock on the door. Star slowly got up. "I will answer this. Can someone else help Embra for a moment?"

Avor nodded and went over to his daughter. Star made her way to the door. She opened it. "I'm sorry, but now is not a..." She looked up at the person who was standing there, but she couldn't quite believe her eyes. "M-M-MOM?!" she stammered.

Everyone turned to look. For many, it was the first time any of them had seen a Guardian Genie in the flesh for more than a decade... Or their entire lives.

"I apologize. I needed to bring a matter of great importance to my daughters, both Star and Embra, but I seem to be arriving in the middle of something?"

The doctor nodded. "Embra's powers spiraled after a Light Magic memory block faded, and all sorts of nightmare-like memories from her time in Cliff Town began to pour through. She's traumatized, but she's recovering, thanks to Star."

"I did not intend for such pain to have been held in like that."

"Mom, you don't mean..."

"I was the one to place the memory block on her. It was designed to fade when she was in a safe and happy place, and she would be welcomed by what I hoped to be happy memories. However, it seems that that same block was somehow used to help her cope with horrors none of us understand yet."

"Mom..."

"Star, sweetie, I never intended to hurt her. I was against the block from the beginning, but I was forced to..."

"Forced?" Star asked, confused.

Lumina walked up to her adopted daughter. "I am so sorry for what you are going through. You did not deserve any of this. You are kind and compassionate. You should have long lived a life of love and care, but because of circumstances neither of us could control, you are still suffering." Lumina gave Embra a hug. Embra could feel all the warmth and magic in Lumina, and it gave her comfort. Somehow, it felt better than the first time they met, back when she was turning into a half-genie.

Star, meanwhile, noted that Lumina herself was shedding tears. Guardian Genies were known for a kind of stoicism born of their immortality. Star knew Lumina cared for her and Embra, but she didn't realize how strong those feelings actually were. She was still pondering what Lumina meant by having been forced to apply magic memory blocks on Embra, but it appeared that whatever the reason, Lumina deeply regretted it.

"I must apologize to you all," Lumina began, "for I came to ask Embra for her help in going to the one place that she likely does not want to return to..."

"No... Not Cliff Town, not now!" Star said, horrified.

"We have no choice. Embra's abilities are the only ones that can get us into that forsaken place, to learn more about what it is they are doing."

"Why can't the genies see what's going on?" asked Shelly.

"We do not know. Our greatest Seers cannot penetrate through the veil. Had Embra have not been there, we wouldn't have realized the veil was there to begin with... It is designed to not be noticed or seen through."

"Wait, Embra said there was another half-genie with Shade Magic now, the zombie girl, Anna!" Star said.

"She is still inexperienced..." said Lumina, shaking her head.

"And no one knows the place like I do."

Everyone turned to Embra. She had gotten up. Shaking as she was, there was now a determined look in her eyes.

"Embra, that's the last place any of us want you going right now," Star said.

"... Even myself," Lumina said, shocking everyone.

"I have to do this. I need to figure out what happened there. What really happened. I'm scared, don't get me wrong. They tried to take my soul from me. I need to know why."

"I think we all do. Let us give ourselves some time to think and prepare."

=== A few hours later. ===

Lumina had spent the time spinning a new outfit for Embra. A matte, pure black hooded bodysuit that would allow her to sneak around without being spotted so easily. She ensured the feet were firm enough to protect Embra's feet but so soft as to not make noise as she moved.

Embra had gone through a few cups of Star's hot chocolate. The magic-laced drinks helped Embra calm down from her debacle. The memories were still pouring through, but she had a better handle on them. Still, they were coming out a jumbled mess for the most part, and it wasn't making much sense to her for now. The doctor cleared her after a while, and he was long gone.

Star wanted to be there for her sister, but she understood the danger Embra was about to face. If she came along, that would be one more person that could give things away. Embra had to go alone... And Star hated it.

Shelly herself was reluctant to let Embra go into this. Although Embra was more like a free-lance heroine, coming to the aid of people all over, she had become a treasured member of Northern Light, a warm personality who shared their values. She was Northern Light's second half-genie guardian as far as she was concerned. And it scared her to think she could lose her if things went wrong...

Avor and Emilia both only just got their daughter back, and now she was being asked directly by the Guardian Genies to go back to the one place that kept them from her. They were afraid they would lose her yet again... Maybe forever, now that they had even a faint idea of what was going on in that pit.

And Lumina herself? She wove as much protection and care into that suit as she could. But she knew other emotions went into it. She could not forgive herself for what she let Embra go through. She should have fought harder... She shouldn't have listened to the others...

If I had to do it all over again, I would have told my sisters to take a hike, she thought.

Lumina noticed Star walking up to her. "Mom, what happened? What really happened to get you to block Embra's memories?"

Lumina sighed. "I suppose the time will come to explain it in full, given the memory blocks have unsealed. But know this: I made sure Embra was protected during some of the time she was away from Northern Light. I do not regret that at all - only the memory block."

"You were forced to... By the other Guardian Genies..."

"Yes. I replay that moment a thousand times over every day. I still have regret about that one choice... I left that girl vulnerable. Because I couldn't stay, we nearly lost her."

Star had no idea that Lumina might have at one point defied the other Guardian Genies, but this answered a question she had for some time: just how did a 6-year-old Embra escape from the arctic lands of Northern Light alive?

Lumina must have helped her.

Embra entered the room herself. "Okay. I think I am ready. What is the plan?"

"We are going to use your skills to infiltrate Cliff Town. Although you have done well in the past against others, I decided your natural tendency for stealth is not enough this time." Lumina handed her the bodysuit. "I took great care to make this stealthsuit for you. It should help reduce noise and allow for you to move freely. We can't have you discovered there, now that we know both how much they hate the totality of who you are and have no souls. They are capable of anything."

Star butted in; "Err, did I hear you use a contraction just now?"

"It seems I'm falling back into old ways. It doesn't matter."

"So, I go in and look around, and I tell you what I find?"

"No, we need solid evidence. I don't think the genies will move if they don't see evidence of a threat." Lumina handed Embra a strange rectangular device. "People used these immensely in the old world to communicate, take pictures, and so on. I figured a technological solution was needed; it might be that our enemy can detect forms of magic if we aren't careful..."

Embra looked at the device. She could see equipment similar to the cameras on Siren Island embedded in parts of the device. Lumina held up another one. "Despite the passage of time, much of the infrastructure still works. I have linked these devices together. Any picture you take can be sent to me."

Embra gave that a test. She instinctively figured out how to turn it on and take a picture. She quickly grasped how the menus worked and sent Lumina a picture of herself.

"Well done! It has been a while since I have seen a mortal reflection of myself... Anyway, you should change into the stealthsuit."

Embra nodded. She took the suit and device with her to her room upstairs. The others noticed and came into the main room.

"So, does anyone here even LIKE this plan?" Star asked.

Not a single one stayed silent. Every single one of them said "no."

"You too, Lumina?" Emilia asked.

"Although I fine-tuned the details, I loathe the fact it puts Embra in a den of Grizzly Wolves. She has suffered enough. I'm now just trying to make sure she makes it out of there in one piece."

"Thanks, Lumina."

Everyone spun around to see Embra in the skintight black suit Lumina made for her, with the hood still down so everyone could see her face (and see that she changed her hairstyle to a lower ponytail with a soft tie - every trace of her genie outfit was gone). They did not hear her coming at all.

"Goodness, you startled us!" said Shelly, clutching her chest.

"I think the stealthsuit works," Star said with a deadpan tone.

"You may have noticed the pockets. I made them with your powers in mind. You can store evidence away in dark spaces by sticking it in your pockets."

"Oooh, neat!" Embra gushed. She basically now had bottomless pockets.

"Embra, do you have a plan?" Avor asked.

"About the best one I can come up with is going into the memories I CAN recall, to find a place to create a shadow gate. I can slip in from there, then use my affinity for darkness to move around undetected... Hopefully."

"If you are in danger and can't create a shadow gate, let me know with your device. I can try to warp you out of there."

"Thank you. It's time to get started, whether I'm ready or not..."

=== Cliff Town... ===

Embra slipped in through the dark spot behind a dresser. She looked around. The place had been gathering dust for a while.

Her old room here. Apparently, it hadn't been occupied since she was kicked out.

She looked around. So familiar, and yet, a lifetime ago. That's when she started to see... Something. Like phantoms moving through the space. They came into clearer view. She could see... Herself? This was a memory before her transformation!

Embra looked at the Swap Amulet. It was getting grimy again. She glances over to the door, slightly ajar. She could clearly see Mayor Victor walking by. She looks at the Swap Amulet again. She starts reaching for the clasp...

Wait, I knew the Mayor was watching, and I still took it off?

Turn back. Leave this place.

What?

Embra shook her head. All of it was gone. She knew she had to be careful, those memories could get distracting...

She decided to not leave a trace of footsteps through the dusty room. She looked around and saw she could get to the door by climbing the ceiling supports. She noticed she had become more flexible since her transformation, but she never really had to use it. Not like this, anyway.

She made her way over to the slightly ajar door and peered through it. She inched back when she noticed a guard with some sort of gun. But on a closer look, the "gun" didn't have a barrel; it was a long solid tube. There was a core of some sort in the stock.

Evidence. She took a picture and sent it to Lumina. She noticed a message came back: "Looks like a magic based firearm. Be careful."

She saw the man's eyes before he turned his back. Empty.

Just like the others.

You are in danger, turn back now.

There it was again! That voice wasn't hers, but it was clearly showing concern for her.

I can't. I must keep going.

You will die.

Embra shook her head again. She knew this was going to be a struggle, but she didn't realize it would be this bad.

She decided to let Lumina know what is going on:

"I keep getting this voice in my head. It's trying to tell me to turn back, but it isn't mine..."

"Whose is it?"

Embra thought about it for a moment. She realized she had heard it before. Very recently. "Yours, actually."

"..."
"My protections I gave you at a young age are as strong as ever. I am sorry, they must be reacting to this place, trying to keep you out of harm's way."
"Press on - but only if you're comfortable."

"Thanks, I will be careful."

Embra put the device down. She let out a very quiet sigh and crept out of the room. No guards at the moment, no apparent surveillance devices. She looked around. What was the best way to get around? She looked up; there was plenty of dark space in the rafters. More climbing, but less likely to be spotted if she was careful.

She leapt up and grasped the support beams and bars. The suit was really working; her hands would have slapped the bars and made more noise, but barely a peep came from the metal. She pulled herself up and began to carefully crawl her way through.

She began to feel lightheaded. Something was coming... She braced herself by quickly finding a thick support beam to lay on. It was here she was hit by a strong memory...

---

"There, now, all better."

The machine arm rose away from her.

"Do you feel like a vessel for perfection?"

Embra looked at others who had just gone through the "treatment." Dead, monotone voices came from them. Their eyes were empty as they answered "yes."

She mimicked them. "Yes," she said, trying to feign that she was as empty as they were.

"Wonderful. We will show you to your room."

---

Embra quickly threw her hands over her mouth. She worried she might scream.

They will finish the job this time.

Shut it, let me focus!

That memory was the continuation of what started this whole nightmare trip. She knew it. So, she survived this soul-sucking device, and she seemed to know that if she acted empty, she could get away with it. Clearly, it worked if she lived among them for 9 years.

But how in the world did she pull that off? Was it really the sheer joy of being seen as a girl enough to keep her going, even when the place she was living in was a soulless abyss?

She climbed through the rafters looking down to see more guards with the magic firearms. Every now and then, she would see the phantom images of her memories, seeing a little girl - her - growing up while trying to show no emotions, to hide in a sea of husks who genuinely had none.

She noticed there were more and more cables up here with her. She must be approaching a power core of some sort.

But did she just feel a tingle of Light Magic somewhere nearby? No, that can't be right.

Save yourself. Get out while you still have your life.

Oh, for the love of...

She made it to the end of a passageway. Indeed, she was right: this room was even labeled "Power Station." It could be a good source of information.

You will lose your magic, then your soul, then your life. Flee.

She looked around. The door had a keypad lock. She wasn't going to dare touch it. She looked back up. There was a vent. She could see light coming through. Bingo!

She climbed her way back up. She reached into the suit's pockets to find a tool she stored away. She pulled out a screwdriver and carefully unscrewed the screws out one at a time, catching each one before dislodging the vent carefully.

She crawled into the next room. It was truly massive. A giant tower rose through the middle, covered in lights. Seeing this, she wondered if this was even a mountain at all, it was so hollow. She took more pictures and sent them to Lumina.

"Can you get closer?"
"This doesn't look right."
"Be careful."

You will be caught. They will kill you.

"I will."

She snuck her way over to the towering structure. More guards. Men and women, all with empty eyes. Does ANYONE here have souls?

She ducked in between various boxes and objects littered throughout the space. She snuck closer to the tower, which now seemed to be both coming out of the ground from somewhere deeper and going through the ceiling.

Just what is this thing?

She made her way to this strange junction box on the side of the tower, close to the ground. She carefully opened it up to reveal something that made her heart drop like a rock:

THE Magic Lamp. The same one that caused chaos throughout the world by enslaving genies. The same one used to steal Shantae's magic. It was here! She could feel its unusual power.

But it was strange. It was heavily modified. The intake spout was restricted, almost to slow the flow of magic into it. That was connected to a strange device she hadn't seen before. More tubes reached inside the lid, going out and connecting to the wider machine. Were they using it to power whatever this machine was?

She took a bunch of pictures, looking around to make sure no one had seen her. She sent them to Lumina.

"..."
"..."
"This is impossible."
"If you can, disconnect it. They have modified it to take ambient magic from the atmosphere and funnel it into this machine."
"Under no circumstances are you to allow them to keep it."

Embra looked around. She spotted a problem.

"Can't do. When the door is open, disconnecting it will sound alarms."

"Alright, move on. I will think of something."

"Me too."

The world will perish in the flames of misused magic.

What?

That weapon will end all.

I will keep that in mind.

She slowly closed the box and made her way back to the vent. Retracing her steps, she put the vent back in place and resealed it, making sure not to miss one screw.

She looked around. She had another memory; she saw her 10-year-old self, shivering from the cold, clutching a stuffed animal. These were her first moments here.

She saw them offer her a place to shower and clean up. They told her they would offer her clothes. They did, then directed her to another room.

That place is of the foulest evil, do not enter.

She looked at the sign: "Purification Chamber." This is where they removed the souls. She knew it.

Then she noticed behind her was "Mayor Victor's Office." Evidence just HAD to be in there! The door was locked - entirely mechanical. It was time to pull a new trick she wanted to try...

She let the darkness in the door be her eyes. She could see how the parts came together. She could see what needed to move, and how, to get the door to open. She willed the shadows inside to start pushing things around inside the door to get it to open. With a light click, it opened!

She snuck inside and closed the door. She could see no one was in here. Good. She looked around. Although pitch black, she could see just fine. She saw many papers and books lying on a table. She took a closer look...

She could barely wrap her head around it. There were advanced equations and knowledge of forbidden magic all over. It looked like the ramblings of madness, except it was well ordered and easy to follow. She made sure to snap pictures and send them to Lumina.

"Do you have any idea how they got their hands on this?"

She looked around. She saw one of the books was on demons.

Well, I think I know where the souls are going.

Yours will be next.

You're not being helpful. Shut up.

She thumbed through the book. It seemed to not only list all sorts of demons, but what kinds of knowledge they had and even the deals that were made with them. She snapped a series of pictures to send to Lumina.

"That is truly alarming. But demons aren't so dull as to give out so much information. They have been tricked. This much threatens them too."
"Cliff Town has accumulated so much forbidden knowledge that they pose a threat to the very structure of reality."
"Be careful..."

She looked at the last page that was open.

"I do not normally make deals with this one. He proves unreliable most of the time. In this case, I merely asked for the name of that one that wandered our halls as a false female. Martin Huntsman was his name. Smack dab in the middle of the legend of the one who ran from Northern Light. Fated to become a halfling abomination, leaving the last traces of his truth behind.

"I now realize that he is now the shadow-user of these abominations. Highly intelligent. Prefers not to fight directly. The powers may prove troublesome.

"He has returned to Northern Light. This happened weeks ago. Northern Light celebrated his falseness. They must be purged."

Embra held her hands up to her mouth. No... They couldn't be seriously thinking of...

=== Back in Northern Light. ===

"Shelly, we have a problem." Lumina showed her the final page in Cliff Town's demon book.

"Oh no... They're probably already on their way here!"

"It's just as you said would happen... Your premonition from years ago."

"We need to start setting things in motion. Now."

======

Embra closed the book. She needed to look into that Purification Room.

She made her way carefully out of the Mayor's room, then proceeded to reach for the door.

"HELLO?! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?! I'M SCARED!"

There was no time to lose! Embra quickly ripped the door open to see a woman strapped to the same kind of machine that was nearly used to take her own soul!

"Help me, please! I don't know what they're going to do to me!"

The machine whirred at an increasingly higher pitch. She didn't have long.

"Hang on!" Embra yelled as she raced over. The restraints were proving too strong for her. She manifested a shadow blade to try to cut through, but they were too thick. She instead manifested a rod to try to beat the machine to pieces, but it resisted her efforts.

In a last-ditch effort, she tried to pull the extractor away, but the moment she touched it, it sent a powerful jolt through her and sent her flying across the room. She looked up in time to see the horror of watching someone's soul being sucked out of their body, and all the pain of their body fighting back. It was beyond painful to watch. Embra nearly threw up.

She watched energy be rerouted to a small crystal at the top of the machine. She could feel it, somehow. That was where the poor woman's soul was...

Two men walked into the room. One was Mayor Victor himself.

"Ah, another successful extraction. Are you ready to be filled with perfection?"

"I am..." said the woman with an empty voice.

"What is your truth?"

"I was once a man."

The two men looked at each other. "Another victim of the genies. Unfortunate. You know where to take the corrupted."

The other man nodded and removed the woman from the chair and guided her out of the room. Victor looked over to Embra, the smell of her being zapped cluing him into her presence.

"And just who might you be?"

Embra defiantly pulled her hood down to reveal her face. "You know who I am."

"Well, Martin, I have to say I didn't expect you to come back."

"Embra. My name is Embra. Get your facts straight."

"Of course, you insist on this lie."

Embra turned the camera on the device to record. "Oh? What is this lie?"

"You are not meant to be happy, none of us are. Our souls lie to us, tell us how to end our suffering. But suffering is truth. And those genies did us a disservice by granting us our souls' wishes to make us happy. For you, you are lying that you are female. You were born a male and must forever be one. That is the truth."

"I don't know if you noticed, but..." she gestured to her body, one now unmistakably female.

"You have been corrupted beyond reason. You will perish along with all of the other Guardian Genies' mistakes. We will fill ourselves with glorious perfection, then undo their false corruption."

Embra looked around. She could see the layout of the room. There was another room in back, the door unlocked. And she could see the support beams above. If she hit it just right...

"But you are increasingly a thorn in our side. We cannot purify you. I will have your end, here and now."

"I don't think so!" she yelled, immediately manifesting a sledgehammer to smack a weak point in the support beams. It broke, and immediately, the room started caving in.

"DAMN YOU!" the Mayor yelled as he raced out of the room. Embra swiftly grabbed the soul crystal from the machine and made it into the back room, she ducked away from the door as rocks and dirt made their way through the port window. Eventually, this stopped.

But now she was trapped. This was a back room, and for some reason, it was glowing too much for a shadow gate to be viable...

She reached for the device. She had received a message from Lumina about the video:

"Everything is coming together. These are truly troubling views. Let me know you're okay, please..."

"I'm okay" she messaged, "but I am trapped. Please, help me."

No response.

Embra noticed that there was some sort of interference with the device. Whatever was in this room, it was preventing her from communicating technologically.

She decided it was time to round the corner, see what it was that was causing this. Her jaw dropped as she witnessed a horde unlike anything she had ever seen...

=======

"What about the abomination, sir?"

"If he made it into the back room, he will starve of air before too long. It is of no consequence. We can use the other Purification Rooms in the meantime."

"We don't know how much he left with."

"No alarms sounded. But it is always prudent to make sure everything is in order."

Victor opened up the power junction box to the tower.

The lamp was gone.

"Well played..."

=======

At least while the man was monologuing earlier, she managed to spirit away the lamp somewhere no one would ever think to look. They never should have left it in a dark place!

But this was different. A pile of hundreds of Hyper Crystals stood before her, filling the room with their magical glow. She couldn't escape with a shadow gate, as there was too much light.

Wait... Magic. Of course! She couldn't escape with her own power, but maybe if she borrowed from the Hyper Crystals, she could make a warp gate out of here!

Embra grabbed a crystal. "Please, take me home!" The crystal glowed even brighter, and some sparks appeared, but nothing.

"Drat."

She grabbed another. With one in each hand, she repeated her plea. More sparks, still nothing.

"Hmm..."

She grabbed a few and placed them on the ground. She connected them, long end to long end, in a circle. She hoped a continuous loop would be enough to keep the power flowing. She made it wide enough to hopefully fit through.

"Please, let me return home!" She pressed her hands into the middle of the circle and let magic flow from her. It created a circular wave that hit all of the crystals at the same time. They reverberated, but again, nothing happened.

"Please... I need to get home. I need my family to know I am safe. I want to see my sister, my moms, and my dad again. Please..."

The tears flowed from her as she thought about them. They fell into the magic circle. Apparently, they were the spark she needed. The gate finally opened!

Star was the first to notice the magic gate had opened. "Embra! You're okay!" she yelled with glee.

Everyone else looked behind to see the floating gate above them. They saw Embra looking down at them.

"What happened? How come you couldn't message me?" Lumina asked.

"Hang on. I think this will explain it..." Embra pushed a chunk of the pile of Hyper Crystals through the gate onto the floor of her home.

"What in the world?! Aren't these Hyper Crystals?!" Shelly asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, and there are hundreds of them in here. Give me a hand, will you?"

======

"Everything here... I cannot foresee the Guardian Genies ignoring this. If even the demons Cliff Town made deals with knew just how much they knew, the demons would march straight in there and burn them out." said Lumina.

"Really? I thought demons would love to cause that much chaos..." Star remarked.

"To a point. They vie for control, and a way to escape the underworld. They hate the place as much as the tormented souls they keep. But what these people know could be used to rewrite the entire world..."

"Yikes..." Star turned to Embra. "Are you okay, sis?"

"No. I just watched a woman lose her soul. She was trans, and they marched her off to kill her. I know it in my heart..." She pulled out the small glowing crystal. "This is all that's left of her. Her soul is in this fragile little thing..." Embra was crying as she held the crystal. "I couldn't save her in time..."

"But you did, my daughter, for you rescued the most important part. She will be able to gain a new body, so long as you keep that safe."

"Thank you, Lumina..."

"Unfortunately, that leaves the Magic Lamp..."

"Actually, I got it out of there with a series of shadow gates after closing the door. The alarms disarm when the door is closed, so that left it vulnerable to me."

"Great job, Embra! I knew you could think of something!" Lumina congratulated her.

"But you alerted us to a new problem;" Shelly started, "Northern Light is going to be invaded shortly. Every man, woman, and child is going to be killed - or worse."

"What are we going to do?" Embra asked.

"Star, ready the contingency plan..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

By CrystalSeaDragon44