The sight in the prairie caves that morning was not a very welcoming one. The six sky children sat in a circle with their masks off, surrounded by swirling tendrils of shadow. Mez told the group that the trick to shadow magic was emotion. The more negative your emotions were, the harder the shadows were to control. The more positive, shadow magic was like melted butter. 

To do shadow magic, you needed to be perfectly calm. Mez suggested wrapping shadows around your head. Even though it sounded weird, she told them that the spark was their emotional center, and it reacted to magic. Mez also told them the only way they could use light magic again was to master shadow magic. Waving her hands around, she guided them through the steps of shadows. Mez looked completely at peace for once, forming birds and mantas. Each sky child slowly but steadily mastered the art of shadow magic.

Eclipse waved her hands around, guiding shadow around her fingers. Mex called out from above.

"Make bonds between the darkness and the light. Let it reveal your true self. Your elder self."

Eclipse internally freaked out. How was she supposed to know what that meant? Finding out what elder she would be made it all the more stressful. Learning to fill an elder's shoes was not going to be easy. Forming flickering light around one hand, and shadow on the other, Eclipse wove the two together. She felt something click on her head. She called out to Mez.

"How do I know if it worked?"

Mez glanced at her. "Your spark changes color. Should turn opalescent."

Eclipse shuffled over to the reflective surface of the dark water. Her spark was the same old gold color.

"Try it again. Maybe make something familiar to you." Mez suggested. Eclipse tried again. This time, she made an object she knew well, her red barrette. The click this time reverberated throughout her whole body. Scrambling over to the pond, her spark was white and shimmered like an opal. She had done it! To try it out, she floated a small balloon of light over to Mez. Mez flicked it away with a bolt of shadow, flinging the balloon into a wall. Ao snarled at Mez, most likely surprised by the shower of sparks. Shooting over to the Eden elder, Ao bit Mez. Hard.

"OW!" Mez shrieked. Ao made a sound that could only be classified as a snicker. Rayem sprinted over to Ao and started growling and screeching at her. To Eclipse's surprise, Ao responded. And not just in dark dragon.

"DIE SHADOW CHILD!!" She screeched.

Mez glared at the baby Dark Dragon.

✵

The sound of water splashing on stones echoed around the room. This floor of the vault had multiple floating islands scattered in the void. A few ghost mantas supported lanterns glided and swooped around them. A couple of the islands had calm waterfalls splashing off the edges and into the floors below.

The vault floor was supposedly the place of ceremony. Each sky child would be figuring out what elder they would be one day. They would also meet the other two to-be elders. Gliding to and from islands were two sky children.

"Ethis!" Mez shouted "Kira! Come down!" The two figures obeyed, hurtling towards the platform everyone was standing on. Kira had curly hair pulled up in two buns, and a navy blue and gold petal cape. Ethis had a layered red cape with fringe on the bottom and black boots.

"Hi!" Kira said cheerfully.

"You got roped into this too, huh?" Ethis said grumpily.

Kira elbowed him, "Sorry for my brother being rude. He means that we also have no idea what's happening! We did get to meet this cool dude who taught us some shadow and light magic! That's one bonus!"

Ethis mumbled something like The only bonus...

Mez guided the group up to a high platform. She wrapped shadow magic around each of their wrists, forming bracelets, and one around their head.

I feel ridiculous Eclipse thought.

"The shadows will react to the cosmic energy, and let you access your elder form," Mez explained.

"Is it just me or is everyone confused?" Ethis asked. A chorus of yes's met him. Mez sighed. "Think of it this way, by having two energies meet, they create a pathway in your mind that lets you access your Elder, and communicate."

"Right, because that's so helpful." Ethis said. Mez shushed him. Eclipse closed her eyes and a scene played in front of her.

✵

A shadowed figure playing in a blue room, building things, and reading. The figure was subconsciously making a map of the Sky Kingdoms out of light and shadow magic. Two other sky children came into the room fighting. They started shoving each other. The main figure got up and shoved them apart, appearing to scold them. Hey! Eclipse thought. That's what I do! The scene sped up. The main figure was older now, on the same floor of the vault as they were. She walked into a waterfall, and when she came out the other side, the Vault Elder looked back at Eclipse. 

The scenery swirled around her and they were on an Island. The Vault Elder seemed to see Eclipse now and walked towards her. She smiled at Eclipse and took something out of her pocket. Handing it to Eclipse, she found a small stone book in her hands. When she looked up, the Vault Elder was gone.

✵

Eclipse's eyes snapped open to the vault floor. She was floating. No. Meditating. Mez was casually sitting on a stone bench, waiting. Noticing Eclipse, she got up.

"So, how did it go?" She asked Eclipse. Eclipse looked down at her hands and opened them. There was the stone book. "Ah," Mez said with a little bow, "Welcome, Vault Elder."

The air around Sunny turned cold. Dark. But alive. She wandered around stone pillars and slabs of stone. There was a sky child sitting alone, playing the flute. They sat on a rock, swinging their legs. Sunny heard voices in the distance. The figure got up and ran towards them. Two sky children were advancing on a small sky child, who was trembling. The figure stalked towards them, picking them up and throwing them away from the small child with magic. The scene shifted, showing the figure again on an arch. This time, he was giant. Powerful. The Wasteland Elder. Looking down at the much smaller Sunny, he rested a wooden staff on the ground in front of her. Sunny picked it up, and the Wasteland Elder faded away with a whisper. 

"Welcome, Wasteland Elder. Stay strong in all dark times."

Zaira heard the faint sound of birds all around her. Manta calls. Whales. She saw sky children playing, and one stood up and made a joke, causing the others to laugh. Seeming pleased with themself, they started doing tricks with shadow and light magic. Everyone sat in awe. Scene fading to reveal a different, larger figure standing amidst a throng of butterflies. The Prairie Elder. Turning his large head, he gave Zaira a crystal butterfly. He waved his gentle hands in farewell, and with a joyful shout, he told her.

"Welcome, Prairie Elder! It is the time of change!"

The child in front of her seemed small. Weak. Insignificant. But no one knew the power she held. How strong she was. The other children treated her like a mouse. Two children walked up to the figure in the scene. They laughed at her expense. Made jokes about her. But she had had enough. Sitting up from her seat, she blasted them away with magic. The scene swirled again, this time showing a different figure on the rock. This scene was much happier, filled with sunshine. The figure was surrounded by butterflies, and a single manta glided by. Edna walked in front of the figure, trying to find who it was. The Hidden Forest Elder looked up at her and smiled. Holding her open hand out, an origami crane lay in it. Edna accepted it. The elder looked up at Edna with a smile and parting words.

"Welcome, Forest Elder. Make us proud."

Birds. Sand. Stone. A new beginning. A sunrise. An old man stood in front of Ethis, staring out on the water. Turning around, he hobbled over to him. Pulling a golden mask from his cloak, he handed it to Ethis.

"Welcome, Isle Elder. It is indeed a new beginning. But this change is not one to stay, for one is coming that is greater than before."

Cheering echoed around Kira and revealed a young pair of twins. They seemed to be sword fighting. Flipping and spinning and twirling around the scene. They seemed to be evenly matched but still tried to beat each other. One would pin down the other but be turned around to only be pinned down themselves. Eventually, they both admitted graciously that one was neither better than the other. The scene spun, to reveal the not much older twins. They held out a sword to Kira, who took it apprehensively. Studying it a second time, it turned out to be a pop-out shield.

"To protect." They announced, "Welcome, Valley Elder."