Power of Veto #15 - A World of Your Own

Submission #1

Lexi Howard
03/21/22
Power of Veto #15
A World of Your Own


Deep in the archive of legends, an ancient tale rests. The story begins in the land of Singuardia, a kingdom scattered with gardens of flowers and coastlines filled with passive fauna. But not all is peaceful in Singuardia, as the looming fear of reckoning seeps from the castle of Ouranos. King Bieber has a deceitful plan to absorb the powers of the four guardian spirits that protect the land. The guardians of flames, waves, soil, and hail. But his plans may be compromised as one ordinary girl has a premonition in her dream. The girl, named Mila, dreams of the malicious demise of her homeland and the first step to seeking out answers. She sees a path to the four guardian spirits who must compile their powers to override the draining force let on by the king. When Mila wakes, she’s being cowardly and reluctant to take action at first, but realizes that it must be a sign. Mila sets afoot towards the first guardian spirit in search of guidance.

The guardian of flames, Arisa the Aardvark, sits on her pedestal as the youthful Mila cowers towards. Mila exclaims. "Please, guardian of flames, aid me in my journey!" Arisa tells her she must complete a trial to gain their wisdom. Arisa casts a riddle onto the young adventurer. The riddle is proclaimed as "to gain the advantage you seek, tell me the man's name on the peak." Mila knows this one well; she lives in fear of this said man and could never forget his name. She quickly yells out, "King Bieber!" The guardian of flames replies, "very well, as my trial was easy for you, you must prepare if you wish to receive our maximum power. Here, I grant you my remaining energy of flames, as I am growing weaker from the king's wrath. Set sail across the lagoon towards the next guardian, the spirit of waves." Mila thanks the spirit and quickly rushes towards the lagoon in her race against time. She discovers an overturned canoe strapped with pool noodles for floatation waiting for her at the coastline and utilizes it to get to her destination. The rushing waves cause her canoe to launch her off into the water. Unable to fight the current, she passes out and wakes up on the island.

The guardian of waves, Pirate Ember, immediately greets the adventurer with her message. The spirit states, "adventurer, I admire you for attempting to make it here safely. You may think I will now face you with a trial, but the trial has already been done. The path here presented you with your biggest challenge yet. I'm running low on energy, so I must send you on your way to your next trial. Please, take the rest of my power of waves and allow me to split the lagoon to make a safe path for you to the other side of the lake. Farewell, traveler." Mila is stunned at the realization that she is halfway to achieving the full power of the spirits. She quickly takes the path through the split waters and continues her journey to the third guardian.

Advancing past the split waters, Mila sees a road ahead. The road is a winding path to the mountain with the castle of Ouranos visible in the distance. At the base of the mountain is a cave that’s needed to go through to get to the peak. In the cave is an altar with the guardian spirit of soil named Pedro. The spirit is trapped behind a pile of dirt due to his weakened powers. Mila unleashes her power of waves to wash away the dirt, and the guardian of soil is now free to be able to present the next trial. The guardian speaks and says, "Thank you, youngling. Please welcome me by participating in my trial. I have a puzzle you must solve before I can give you what you need." The puzzle consists of eight logs of various lengths. The solution is to have three stacks, all at the same height. After some trial and error, Mila finds the answer and eagerly requests the spirit to grant her his power. The spirit obliges and says, "Congratulations, traveler, you have successfully completed my puzzle and have earned your wish to receive the rest of my powers. Please continue upwards to meet with the final guardian and tell her that your time is running out." Mila receives the energy and readily scales the mountain.

Moments before entering the castle, she spots a shrine made from snow. The guardian of hail, named Theodora, requires desperate help. Due to her lack of power, Theodora cannot maintain her body heat and is overpowered by her own surroundings. Mila once again unleashes her power and sets a light flame onto the spirit. Theodora states, "Thank you so much. Your time is running out, so please complete my trial. You must overcome your own biggest flaw, and you will not know when you have gained my powers until you discover you've resolved your flaw." Mila replies back saying that she needs the full powers to defeat the king, but the spirit tells her to take the chance.

Mila reluctantly ventures into the castle, which is surrounded by electricity. She uses her powers of soil to negate the electric current and make an opening of dirt for her to enter. She walks through the door and sees King Bieber standing at the center of the atrium with his evil sidekick, Scrump, the cymbal monkey. The king turns around and notices her, then winds up his sidekick to take her out. Mila has an option to back away, but stands her ground. As Scrump runs closer, Mila screams out and unleashes the power of all four spirits. The magic of flames, waves, soil, and hail knock the king back, and Mila can turn the power extractor from suck to blow. As the king attempts to stand up, Mila receives the maximum power of hail and freezes the king in place. The spirits gain the strength to teleport to the castle, and they all strike King Bieber at once, killing him.

The sky transitions from a dark grey to a light orange as the balance is restored in the nation. Mila wonders what happened for her to harness all of the powers. The hail spirit says that she granted Mila their power for standing up to the king and being able to overcome her cowardly ways of the past. After years of mischief, the madness of King Bieber on the land of Singuardia is finally defeated due to the wondrous might and perception of a young girl.