THE FLASH OF COSMIC FIRE
The priestess's face held a soft, proud smile as she led Luna Frostborne, Liora Greenhaven, Aria Harmonix, Skyler Aeris, and Lyra Timekeeper down the Sanctuary's main hallway—its walls lined with gleaming silver stone that caught the light from the Argentum Spires' windows, casting prismatic patterns across the floor. Their pendants glowed with fresh power from the trials, and the air hummed with unspoken excitement as they headed to meet the patriarch.
Liora's green eyes were fixed on the massive oil paintings that hung along the corridor—each one depicting a robed figure surrounded by their element, their faces set in lines of unbreakable resolve. She slowed her pace, tilting her head as she studied the twelfth one—a woman with hair like spun starlight, her hands woven into a pattern that seemed to connect the sky, earth, and sea in one perfect thread.
"Who are these twelve in the paintings?" she asked, her voice carrying softly in the quiet hallway. "And what makes the patriarch so special that he's the one we're meeting now?"
The priestess paused, turning to face the paintings with a look that was part reverence, part sorrow. She gestured to the first one—a man standing in a storm of rain and waves that seemed to spill off the canvas. "These are the previous Twelve Mega Wizards. The ones who saved our world, Valvyx, from being swallowed by cosmic darkness."
Luna's white eyebrows lifted slightly. "Saved us? I've never heard this story."
"Few have," the priestess said, her voice dropping to a whisper as if the walls themselves were listening. "It happened nearly a century ago, before the rift tore Elyria apart. Their elements covered every corner of power you could imagine: Mega Water, Mega Ice, Mega Lightning, Mega Wind, Mega Ground, Mega Nature—" she nodded at Liora, whose pendant pulsed in recognition "—Mega Rubber, Mega Resonance—" Aria's gold eyes widened as she touched her own pendant "—Mega Neutrality, Mega Time—" Lyra's silver gaze sharpened "—Mega Copy, and Mega Connection."
Skyler whistled softly, running a hand through her wind-tousled hair. "Twelve different Mega elements? That's unheard of now. So what happened to them?"
The priestess closed her eyes for a moment, and suddenly the hallway around them seemed to shift. The silver walls faded, replaced by a vast, open plain in the heart of old Elyria. The air crackled with power, and the five friends felt themselves being pulled into a flashback—watching the story unfold as if they were there themselves.
FLASHBACK: THE BATTLE OF ELYRIA'S HEART
The sky was black with cosmic storm clouds that didn't belong to Valvyx—they twisted and writhed with colors that had no name, and from their center descended a figure so massive he blocked out the sun. The God of the Cosmos stood tall as a mountain, his body made of condensed starlight and dark matter, his eyes burning with the cold fire of a billion dead worlds.
"I have conquered thirty-seven observable universes," his voice boomed, shaking the very ground. "Yours will be the thirty-eighth."
From the ranks of the waiting mages stepped twelve figures—one for each element. The Mega Water user, Kaelen, raised his hands, and a tidal wave the size of a city rose from the nearby sea, crashing toward the god with a roar that shook the heavens. But the God of the Cosmos merely waved a hand, and the water vaporized into steam before it could touch him.
"Futile," he hissed.
The Mega Ice user, Elara, moved next—her hands tracing patterns in the air as glaciers sprouted from the earth, their spires sharp as diamond, racing to impale the god. He laughed, and a wave of cosmic heat melted them into rivers of water in seconds. But then the Mega Lightning user, Zet, struck—his body crackling with purple energy as a bolt of lightning as thick as a tree trunk shot from his fingertips, hitting the god square in the chest.
The deity stumbled back, a growl of surprise rumbling from his throat. It wasn't enough to hurt him—but it was enough to show him these mages were different.
The battle erupted in earnest. The Mega Wind user, Aera, summoned a hurricane that wrapped around the god like a living snake, tearing at his dark matter body. The Mega Ground user, Gideon, caused the earth to open up, sending pillars of rock shooting upward to crush him. The Mega Nature user, Mirelle, called forth a forest of massive trees that grew at impossible speed, their roots wrapping around the god's legs like iron chains.
But the God of the Cosmos was too powerful. He shattered the trees with a single stomp, blew away the hurricane with a breath, and closed the earth's maw with a flick of his wrist. He lashed out with a wave of cosmic energy that sent Zet, Gideon, and Mirelle flying backward, their bodies battered and bloodied.
Then the others joined in. The Mega Rubber user, Luka, bounced through the air, his body stretching and twisting to avoid the god's attacks while striking with blows that packed the force of meteorites. The Mega Resonance user, Seraphina, sang a note that resonated with the god's very core, making his dark matter body vibrate and crack. The Mega Neutrality user, Orion, created a field of pure balance that blunted the god's cosmic power, making it manageable for the others to fight.
The Mega Time user, Nova, slowed time around the god, giving the others precious seconds to strike. The Mega Copy user, Lex, duplicated himself a hundred times over, each copy attacking from a different angle with the same power as the original. And at the center of it all stood the Mega Connection user, Solara—the woman from the painting, her starlight hair flowing as she wove the power of all eleven other elements into a single, unified force.
"We are not just twelve mages," Solara shouted, her voice carrying over the chaos. "We are the connection between all things—between land and sea, time and space, light and dark. And we will not let you destroy that."
She raised her hands, and the unified energy shot from her palms like a beam of pure starlight, hitting the God of the Cosmos square in his chest. The deity roared in pain as the beam burned through his dark matter body, revealing a core of condensed cosmic energy that pulsed with malevolent light. The other eleven joined their power to Solara's, and the beam grew brighter, pushing the god back until he was on one knee.
For three days and three nights, they held the beam steady. The ground beneath them cracked, the sky burned, and the very fabric of reality seemed to stretch to its breaking point. Finally, with a final, deafening shriek, the God of the Cosmos's core shattered. He collapsed to the ground, his massive body dissolving into wisps of dark matter.
Victory.
But as the twelve mages lowered their hands, gasping for breath, the god's dissolving body suddenly tensed. A flash of impossible light erupted from where he lay—a blast of pure cosmic energy that expanded outward faster than thought.
"RUN!" Solara shouted, but it was too late.
The explosion incinerated the twelve Mega Wizards where they stood, their bodies vanishing in a flash of light. The shockwave tore through the heart of Elyria, carving a massive rift into the earth that stretched for miles, separating the Celestial Isle from the rest of the land. The sky cleared, but the damage was done—Elyria was broken, and the twelve who had saved it were gone.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
The hallway faded back into view, and the five friends stood in silence, their faces pale with awe and sorrow. The priestess opened her eyes, a tear tracing a path down her cheek.
"The people of Elyria saw the explosion, wondered what had happened, but the truth was hidden to keep panic from spreading," she said softly. "Everyone thought the Twelve had vanished—maybe fled, maybe gone into hiding. Everyone except one person."
"The patriarch," Liora said, her voice barely a whisper.
The priestess nodded. "He was just a boy back then, but he'd snuck out to watch the battle from a distant hill. He saw everything—every strike, every sacrifice, every moment of that final explosion. As he grew older, he discovered he possessed a Rare Time element—not Mega, but powerful enough to relive the moments he'd witnessed. He used that ability to record every second of the fight, every detail of the Twelve's heroism, and presented the proof to the Sanctuary Council."
Skyler leaned against the wall, her blue eyes wide with wonder. "So that's why he's the patriarch? Because he proved the truth?"
"More than that," the priestess said, starting to walk again as they approached a set of massive silver doors. "He showed the council that the God of the Cosmos's core didn't fully shatter. Fragments of it are still scattered across Valvyx, waiting to be awakened. He's spent his life preparing for the day when we'd need new Mega Wizards to finish what the Twelve started."
They reached the doors, and the priestess placed her hand on the silver surface. It glowed softly, then swung open to reveal a vast chamber with a ceiling that mirrored the night sky—stars twinkling in patterns that seemed to shift and move. At the center, sitting behind a simple stone desk, was an old man with silver hair that flowed like water and eyes that held the weight of decades of memory.
He looked up as they entered, and his gaze swept over each of them—stopping briefly on their pendants, then on Lyra's face. A small, sad smile touched his lips.
"Welcome, new Mega Wizards," he said, his voice deep and clear despite his age. "I've been waiting for you. The fragments are stirring. And the God of the Cosmos… he's not as dead as the Twelve thought."