The Four Guardians

"Welcome back, master Tempus."

Several days passed since Tempus left the Magia academy. He hurried back as quickly as he could, with only the limitation of his horse slowing him down, and was greeted by Thorit at his arrival.

"Thorit." Tempus said. "I'll discuss with you later about spying on me, but first I need you to gather all the guardians. We are having an emergency meeting. Oh, and there is someone I need you to watch over."

His talk with Caitlyn reminded him of himself. He was worried about the threat the Jester masks bring and wished to do something about it. Caitlyn helped open his eyes and Tempus was willing to revert back to his past ways to do so.

"Welcome back, Tempus." Ifer was the first to greet him. "What's this meeting about?"

"Sit down. I'll explain when the others get here."

"Interesting. This isn't like the Tempus I know. Whatever happened while you were away, I wonder?"

"What are we doing here?" Seconds later Sagitta and Mane walked.

The four guardians sat down around a circular table, each of them in their respective spots, based off their sectors.

"So…" Sagitta said. "What is the problem, apart from you vanishing without telling us?"

"Whilst I was away I encounter a threat. They possessed magic that only exists in rumours and I fear there may be more to it than I know."

"What a strange sight to see. Tempus being all serious is something I haven't seen in a while." Sagitta added.

"Silence, Sagitta!" Mane's booming voice silenced them all. "It is clear that Tempus is concerned. We should hear him out."

"I don't know who they were because they concealed their face with a Jester mask. The main problem came from the Magical book they possessed. Although most of them originate from rumours, there are many evil catalysts out in the world. It's unknown how many there are or how many they have already, but one rumour says that the catalysts have powers that would allow people to rebirth the world. At first, I was suspicious of the rumour but after fighting with it, I fear the worst.

The book of Envy. Although it had many rumours about its power, one of them is true. It has the power to replicate any magic spell perfectly. Although it does seem dangerous, the book's weakness comes from its ability to replicate magic spells. It has zero close combat abilities meaning you three are better than I am at taking that book down."

"I understand." Sagitta said. "I do have a question. How many catalysts are there?"

"I don't know. I know they possess the book of Envy and the Necronomicon, but some rumours that date back before I was born mention that there are 13 terror catalysts whilst others say there are 100."

"Tell us about the rumours." Mane said.

"Well, the most common one is that a mage created 7 catalysts and gave them to 7 of his trusted friends. It was unknown what these catalysts did hench the number of rumours about them. No one knows what catalyst the mage used, some say he didn't need one. Others say he never existed and some say he was put in eternal sleep by the space and time angels."

"The space and time angels?" Ifer said. "Are they real?"

"They are." Tempus replied without hesitation.

"I see. Well then. Let's ask them about the rumours."

"It's not that easy." Tempus said. "I mean, I can do it, I've met them before, it will take me several weeks just to reach them. I can go."

"No, you won't go." Sagitta interrupted. "You will not be gone for several weeks this time. We have a meeting coming up with the leader of all the other nations. You have to be present for that."

"The meetings of the nations…" Tempus said to himself. "This is perfect." He said confidently.

"What is?"

"We shall tell them about the Jester masks and get permission to take them on ourselves. We can get it so that the leaders agree and give us the power and authority to use whatever means necessary. That way we won't have to worry about breaking any laws and causing a war."

"Hmpf." Sagitta smirked. "Not a bad plan. I must say I'm impressed."

"Good luck with that." Ifer added. "There is no way you'll get them to agree. They won't even believe you. They won't believe anything we say. If you are going to persuade them, you'll have to give them something in return. You'll need their trust."

"I disagree!" Mane shouted. "I believe he can do it. I've only seen Tempus like this once before. I want him to do it. I want him to succeed. These jester masks, whatever they plan to do will interfere with us. We will get their permission and we will destroy those Jester Masks."

The meeting came to an end shortly after. The four of them spent the remainder of the time planning for the upcoming meeting. They planned the transport and briefed the puppet guardians about the Jester masks and what they'll need to do whilst the guardians are away.

"Good, are we done here?" Ifer asked. "I want to go to sleep."

"Yeah… You can go no-"

"MASTER TEMPUS!" Thorit ran back into the room as they were leaving. He attempted to catch his breath and behind him walked one of the Demon Realm's spies, covered in blood and hanging onto their life.

"What happened?!" Tempus asked as he rushed over to help her.

"It was Master Beck! He was killed!"