Chapter 1

Bianca

I put another sugar cube into the cup of tea, watching it float back up to the surface. It slowly shrank as the tiny white crystals dissolved. I stirred the tea with one of those fancy silver spoons in order to make it dissolve faster, but it refused to do so. I reached for another cube.

"That's a lot of sugar," Alex commented.

"What's it to you?" I asked as I put the sugar into the tea.

"It ruins the taste."

I glanced innocently at the cup. "Putting sugar in the tea makes it cool down faster."

"You're supposed to drink it hot!" Alex argued. He took the bowl of sugar away from me and sighed. "What's on your mind, Bianca?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Alex took a sip of his tea. "You've been...well, really distracted lately. That's not like you. Is it because you're-"

"No. I've gotten used to it, I guess. I'm just tired." I rested my head on my arms to prove my point.

Alex studied my closely. And a little creepily. "Is it that Jason boy?"

"Can I please have one of those cookies?"

"They're called biscuits, and no. You've had enough sugar, don't you think?"

"Alex, I am your aunt, and you will do as I say." I got up and grabbed a cookie, stuffing it in my mouth.

"You're a difficult one," Alex said, his voice full of concern. He took another sip of tea. I waited for him to change the topic. Apparently he was doing the same.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I munched on the cookie.

"...What? This is my house!" Alex looked at me angrily. "Come on, tell the truth. What is it that you don't want to share with me? I'll figure it out eventually."

I sighed. "Fine. When I first met Jason, he was so cute. It was love at first sight. And he felt the same way - it was obvious. I mean, you should have seen his face. I thought we would be together forever. But no. Ever since he came back from his big mission, he's been really reclusive. I think something happened, like...eh...I don't know, something to make him not like me anymore."

Alex reached for his tea, but then withdrew his hand. "It's only been a week, give him a break. He'll be back to his normal self soon enough." Something in his voice said that he didn't really care.

"You don't like him, do you?" I questioned. "He saved your sorry life, you know. When you were stuck on that island, all alone."

"His friend probably made him. He's a rascal, that Jason. He was very rude to me at my store. I don't get why you like him so much."

"You're the worst nephew a girl could ask for!" I screamed. I was not going to let him trash my future boyfriend.

"Bianca, wait. I'll show you-"

I splashed my sugary tea in his face and stomped out of the house, taking another cookie with me. Sure, Alex was generally a nice guy, but he could be so cynical some times. So...impossible. For that reason, I didn't hang out with him a lot.

Oh, yeah. I just remembered. You don't know much about me. It's rather sad, I think, but it might clear some things up a little bit. I hope you don't mind if it's in third person..

 

*   *   *   *   *

Bianca looked up at her older brother. Tears ran down her red cheeks. "Please don't go. It's too dangerous."

Alexander (not to be confused with his son Alex) wiped away a tear. "I have to. Who better to go after Amaatlik than the setahr?"

"I don't know. What about your friends? Can't they at least come with you? To increase your chances?"

Alexander shook his head sadly. "They say that going with others makes you die faster."

Bianca turned away angrily. "You could die!"

"I have a present for you." Alexander reached into his pocket and took out a silver amulet. "This amulet will let us talk to each other and stuff. I have my own. They're magically connected."

Bianca took the amulet with a shaky hand and put it on. She closed the door so her brother wouldn't see her break down. She sobbed as she heard his footsteps walking away. She might never see him again.

The next week, Bianca was walking down the street. Nobody looked her in the eye.

"Hey, you!" she called over to a man by the bakery. The man didn't respond.

She turned to a woman. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The woman didn't answer either.

"They're depressed," someone said.

Bianca saw a boy looking at her. He was probably ten or something. "Why?"

"Didn't you hear?"

Bianca shook her head. "What?"

"The setahr got really sick. He's stuck somewhere. Barcos, I think. He might not make it."

Bianca swallowed. "Surely they're wrong. How could he just get sick?"

"I don't know. Someone from Barcos came here. He said that Alexander is all gone."

"What's your name?" Bianca asked.

"Amisto. What's yours?"

"Prove it, Amisto. Prove that Alex is really sick."

"Don't you think we're all upset?" Amisto asked.

"Go away!" Bianca shouted. She ran back to her house and closed the door. She was worried that something like this would happen. But Alexander didn't listen to her.

Bianca's mother came into the hallway. "What's wrong, honey?"

Bianca sat down, her back to the wall. "They said Alex is sick, and he might not make it."

Her mother kneeled down and squeezed her daughter. "Why, who said this to you?"

"Some boy on the streets. And everyone is really sad."

Bianca's mother smiled. "Then he was probably wrong."

"There's only one way to find out." Bianca got up and went to her room. She opened one of her drawers and took out the white box. Inside the box was the amulet.

Bianca rubbed the amulet. "Hello? Alex?"

The amulet glowed white. "Bianca. Let go of the amulet."

"Why would I do that? Are you okay?"

"I'm just sick. Keep holding on to the amulet, and you will be too. Because of that connection thing."

Bianca tried to drop the amulet, but it was stuck to her hand. "I can't let go!"

"Try using water," Alexander suggested. His tone worried Bianca. "Quick!"

Bianca went to the bathroom sink and ran it over the amulet. It fizzed and bubbled. After a few seconds it was no longer stuck. She threw it at the corner.

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked the amulet. Alexander was no longer there.

Bianca sat on her bed. She was starting to feel sick. Her forehead got really hot. Her skin was clammy. She felt nauseas.

"Honey, are you okay?" her mother asked from downstairs.

Bianca tried to answer, but her throat was sore. She couldn't talk, and began to panic. Alex was right. She got his sickness by touching the amulet. And she would probably share his fate. What if they both died? That would be counterproductive.

Her mother ran up the stairs. "Don't worry honey, the doctor's here. Everything's going to be all right!" But when the door opened, she gasped.

Bianca opened her eyes. A man was looking down at her. He desperately checked Bianca's breathing and pulse, a stern look on his face. The frown only deepened. It was not a countenance of worry, but of sadness.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. She's no longer with us," the doctor whispered.

"No," Bianca's mother said, shaking. She shook her head, covering her face in her hands. "No, no no...It can't be."

"It isn't!" Bianca told. "How could you say that? I'm alive, you stupid doctor! Don't play such a cruel joke on my mom!"

The doctor rested a hand on Bianca's mother's. He whispered something quiet in her ear.

"What's wrong with you?" Bianca asked. She got out of bed and waved her hand in front of the doctor and her mother. They didn't notice. Bianca went back to sleep, hoping it was a dream.

She woke up again.

Instead of her room, she was sitting on a gravestone, watching a bunch of people in black clothes. One of them was saying something to the others. They were all wiping at their eyes with handkerchiefs. When the man was done talking, music played, and a coffin was placed in a hole.

"Who died?" Bianca asked. She walked over to the group.

"She was the best daughter we could ever ask for," her parents were saying. "This was all so sudden."

Bianca looked at herself. Did she die? She didn't look like a ghost. Was this some kind of joke?

"Hey guys, I know you can see me!" Bianca shouted. "Give it up!"

"You really did die," one of them said. He looked at Bianca. His face was covered by a mask.

"How come you can see me?" Bianca asked. "Behind that mask?"

The man looked back at the funeral, and then at the sixteen-year-old girl in front of him. "You are under my protection."

2: Forgiven

Chapter 2

Jason

"Hey Jason, you've got mail!" my mom called to me from the kitchen.

I ran over to her, curious. "Really? Who's it from?"

"Let me see..." She squinted. "My, I think I need my glasses. The writing is so small." Yep, she was getting old.

I reached eagerly for the envelope. "May I read it? I mean, since it's mine?"

"Sure, honey." She handed me the letter. It looked pretty plain, which was disappointing.

I'd secretly hoped that it was from Amisto, wanting me to learn magic for real. Sure, I'd gone on two quests, or missions (whatever they're called), but that was just Amisto magically giving Sadie and me the energy we needed to cast spells, or something like that. As soon as the mission was over, the old man took back his magic, so Sadie and I couldn't really cast any spells. Anymore. Well, she probably can because she was practicing, but I couldn't.

Since it wasn't some kind of special envelope, Amisto thought I was useless, and didn't want me back. Oh well.

I noticed that my mom was peering over my shoulder. "What does it say? Is it from a girl? Do you know her?"

"I haven't even opened it yet," I said. "And I don't recognize the address. And can I have a little privacy?"

"Right. Sorry." She receded to the corner, watching me anxiously. She was a cool mom, but sometimes she got a little crazy. Just saying.

I opened the envelope and read the letter:

Dear Jason,

I know we've had some rough times in the past (or maybe one), i.e. when you went into my magic store and insulted me and we fought, but I am willing to let bygones be bygones. Why don't you come over to my house so we can have a cup of tea and chat? It is time we let go of the enmity between us.

Sincerely,

Alex

It took me a while to remember who Alex was. I recalled that he was the guy we saved on Grandor Island. But when we went to his store, I was really rude to him. But that was just the demon Amaatlik messing with my mind, controlling it and stuff (more or less) so I was happy to have him forgive me.

"Hey Mom, can I go out?" I asked, looking up from the letter.

"What for?" She looked at it suspiciously. "You do know this person, right?"

"Of course," I replied. "Why?"

Mom looked a little worried. "Oh, I just want you to be safe. There are bad people out there."

I sighed. "You know I can take care of myself, Mom."

"But Amisto is no longer giving you protection. You can't use magic anymore"

"Don't worry, I won't let anybody kill me. Bye." I walked outside. The second I was out the door I told myself I didn't know where Alex lived.

"Mom, can I have the letter?" I asked.

I grabbed the letter and looked at the address again. It was all the way on the other side of town. I would be getting a lot of exercise. How I hated exercise.

I strolled down Unicorn Way. Yes, that's what my street is called. And, surprise surprise, everything was all white and pink, just like a unicorn, from the "bright red" brick street to the white houses. No two streets in Draida were the same, and this one happened to be the stupidest of them all. I always asked my parents why we had to live on a street called Unicorn Way, and they never gave me a good answer. "We just do," or "Be glad you live at all," once "I don't know or care." That last one was my dad. He's funny like that.

Honestly, I think it's because they thought I was going to be a girl.

Anyway, ever since I got back from my mission and defeated Amaatlik, adults seemed to be a lot nicer to me. It also went the other way around. Well, mostly. I still pulled a prank here and there. But usually I wasn't that bad. People my age think I'm cool.

The walk to Alex's house took, looking at the sun, about twenty minutes. Maybe thirty. I'm not good at telling time. Draida is a large town. I didn't like walking. Legs weren't meant to be so strained. The few steps up to the front door felt all the worse. I knocked on the door.

"Hello Jason, it's a pleasure to see you again," Alex said warmly as he opened the door. I'd have recognize that face anywhere. Mostly because he looked a lot like me, with the same brown hair and blue eyes.

Alex opened the door more so I could enter. I entered. His house was small but very decorative. The furniture looked quite soft and fluffy. And slightly old-fashioned. A lot of it was ornate, with curls and flowers and stuff.

"Thanks for inviting me," I said carefully, suddenly hoping this wasn't a trick of some sort. Something else came to mind. "When did you have an accent?"

Alex looked slightly confused. "I'm sorry?"

"Where are you from?" I asked.

Alex frowned thoughtfully. "Oh. I used to live back east in Angol with my mum, if that's what you're talking about. I've been living here for a while, though. Thought I talked like you Draidans by now."

If you're stupid like me then you probably don't know what Angol is. It's some country to the east. South of Scotia and North of Welas. All three countries together are called Broton. I'm probably confusing you even more. I'm not good at country names. Ha ha, sorry.

"I guess it's easier for me to notice accents," I said, "since I met Amaatlik. His was really cool."

"Ah, yes, that demon guy. How was it that he had an accent? I mean, what did he sound like?"

It was my turn to be confused. This conversation was getting really awkward.

"Never mind. Have a seat."

We sat down by the kitchen table. There was a vase on it with several colorful flowers.

"So, do you live alone?" I asked.

Alex set the table. "Bianca used to live with me, but she found a home for herself while you guys were gone."

"That's nice." I tried not to show that I didn't care that much.

Once everything was on the table, Alex studied me. "Have you seen Bianca since then?"

"Not really. I've been busy." I wondered why he was asking me.

Alex nodded. "One lump or two?"

I looked at the sugar bowl. "Um...two please."

Alex put two cubes of sugar into a cup and handed it to me. He then got one for himself. "You don't have a lot of tea here in Draida, do you?"

"Not really," I said, trying not to grin. "Usually we drink coffee or hot chocolate or something."

"It really is a fabulous drink. Try it."

I looked into the cup. It did smell nice. I took a sip. "It's...great," I lied.

"Thanks. Special family recipe."

"There's recipes for tea?"

"Oh, there's all kinds of tea. White tea, green tea, black tea..."

My mind was blown. "Hey, are those cookies? On that plate?"

"No, mate, those are biscuits, big difference. Would you like one?"

"What's the difference?"

"These are better."

I grabbed one of the little cookies and bit into it. "Mmm. Delicious."

"Thank you."

To be honest, the need to be so polite was killing me. I didn't like the tea. Or the "biscuits". But I had to act like this, or our relationship would be ruined. What if I needed to go to his store again?

"So, how are things going? Are you still practicing magic?" Alex asked.

"Um...not really. I'm waiting for Amisto to talk to me, so I can learn from him. But he's been pretty quiet lately."

"Oh, yes. Kind of like someone else we know." Alex took a sip of tea. I wondered what he meant. Did he actually liked the tea? "Would you like to see something? When you're done of course, no rush."

"Sure." I chugged my tea and got up. Alex got up as well and showed me to his kitchen, where he had a pot boiling on the stove.

"This is a new potion I've been brewing. It's supposed to make your spells really strong, strengthen your aura, you know...make you really powerful. But it's very expensive to make, because the ingredients are hard to find."

I looked in the pot. It smelled great, kind like freshly baked cookies. The real kind, not "biscuits."

"What are these ingredients?" I asked.

"Eleven herbs and spices, among other things. Would you like to try it?"

"Is it safe?"

Alex grinned widely. "Of course it is. I would never offer you something dangerous."

I shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" It was nice of him to give me a sample. Not only was it expensive, but if I drank it, maybe I could do something to show Amisto that I could learn magic, and he would train me.

He got me a cup from the cabinets and filled it partially with the glowing red liquid.

I took a sip. "Mmm...it tastes kinda like chocolate." I could feel the magic coursing through my body. It was invigorating. "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if you gave me a different potion? Like a love potion?"

Alex hesitated for a second. Then he grinned. "Yeah, that would be hilarious."

3: Disturbing

Chapter 3

Sadie

I threw a chunk of bread at the ducks. They squawked and mobbed it, pecking greedily. The smaller ones were pushed away, so I gave them some too.

Ever since the mission, it had been really hard for me to concentrate. A lot of things were never explained. I often came to the park to think them through. It was pretty quiet there, making it possible to hear my own thoughts.

Where did Xavier and his family go? Jason and I reluctantly let him join us near the end of our mission, because supposedly his parents were sorcerers who went to kill Amaatlik some time ago, and he wanted to find them. We did find them, in the demon's cave. But they had disappeared right before my eyes as I ran over to them.

And why did Calvin have to go? He had left Jason before we went back home, because Jason had made it so that Amaatlik was bound to his wand instead of Calvin. And the wand turned into a tree. But couldn't Jason have bound Calvin to a different wand? Maybe the red one given to him by that strange magic talking book.

Which brought me to me next question. Why was that magic talking book? A ghost? It proved itself friendly with a ved spell. But I didn't tend to like mysterious people.

And...Amaatlik told me in a nightmare, while I was sleeping in the mud house, that everybody I knew was evil. Jason, Xavier, Rudolph, everybody. Except for Amisto. Apparently they weren't. But I once heard - from a trusted source, mind you - that Amaatlik never lies. So...

Would I use magic again? Or go on another mission? Magic was sometimes fun, I'll admit, but it made me nervous. Anything could have happened.

I threw another piece of bread at the ducks, but they flew away. I nibbled at the rest.

I closed my head and thought about all my crazy experiences on the mission. Somehow they added up, the problem was figuring out how.

It came to me.

Xavier said his parents were sorcerers. Amaatlik was brainwashing me at the time, I just recalled, and I was about to...harm them. So they must have teleported away. Jason and I lost our magic after the mission, because Amisto didn't need to lend it to us anymore. Jason couldn't have bound Calvin to his red wand. And the book...oh. Let's just say he wasn't important.

Ugh! Who am I kidding? I mean, why didn't Xavier's parents teleport away earlier? How could Jason have defeated Amaatlik if his magic was already returned to Amisto?

I was about to hit myself when I heard someone call eagerly.

"Hey, Sadie! I have amazing news!"

I turned to see Jason running up to me. He had a ridiculous grin on his face.

"What is it? Please don't say we're going on another mission. I don't think I would be able to take it. Always being near death."

Jason stopped and gasped for breath. He was still grinning. "You didn't like all of that magic stuff? It was awesome! We got to save kangaroos, who were actually sorcerers like us, and escape pirates, and find a guy, and go through the Forest of Nightmares and Port Barcos twice, and find Amaatlik, and trap him in my wand, and make it back home safe and sound, with everybody loving us."

Well, he pretty much summed our adventures in one sentence. A really, really long sentence.

"We could have died out there. Amaatlik tried to make me evil, and you were scared of everything. It was pathetic really."

Jason grin had yet to disappear, as if it was permanent. "No, we aren't going on another mission. It's even better."

"What is it?" I wondered what could have possibly gotten him so excited.

"I think I'm in love!" He curled his hand into a heart and stared ahead dreamily.

I almost choked on my bread. "You? In love? With who?"

"Bianca and I are going out tonight. Isn't that so awesome?"

"Is this some kind of joke?" I crossed my arms.

Jason looked genuinely offended. His grin was only slightly less wide. "What, are you jealous? Why would I joke about something like that? This is the biggest moment of my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I better get ready. See ya." He ran off the way he came.

"Jealous?!" I was really freaked out. I had seen Jason a few times since we got back. This sounded exactly like a joke he would make, and for some reason he seemed to have lost interest in Bianca (after our mission, before his joke), something that was probably Amaatlik's doing. We had changed a lot since we were free from his mind control. But he was never this good at lying.

Well, thanks to Jason, I had even more on my mind. So I decided that I had had enough. I left the park and made my way to Amisto's house. Surely he would have the answers.

I made my way through the crowd to his little mansion at the center of town. saying hello to those I recognized. When I got to the house, not too far away, I rang the doorbell. His butler answered.

"Greetings, Miss. Sadie. Head Mage Amisto was expecting you." I wondered if Amisto had changed butlers since we last visited. The previous guy was less amiable.

"He was?" I asked, surprised.

The butler gave a slight nod. "Come inside, girl. I will take you to him immediately."

I entered the house. The butler lead me through the house and showed me to a room I'd never been before. It was to the left, and down the hall two or three doors. He knocked on the door and entered.

"Sadie, I've been expecting you! So glad you've come!"

"So I've been told." I looked around. The walls were mainly gray and green, with some gold and white markings like ancient runes. The only furniture was a simple stone table which Amisto stood behind. On the table was a random disco ball.

"I knew you would be coming, but I do not know why. What is it?" Amisto leaned back in his chair.

"How did you know?" I asked.

Amisto gestured proudly at his disco ball. "I've been divining." Divining means telling the future, in case you didn't know.

"And what does the disco ball do?"

The Head Mage frowned. "What? No, no, this here is a crystal ball. As you can see, it is very much transparent. And useful for telling the future."

"Go on," I encouraged, gesturing for him to continue.

"I am no seer, but I did see you coming to my door. And it did indeed come true!" Amisto patted the ball proudly.

"What else did you see?"

His smile faded. "That's it, I'm afraid. But I'm still learning! Now what can I help you with, my girl?"

I looked back at the door. Now for what I came for. "I was at the park earlier. Jason came up to me, and he was acting kind of weird."

Amisto stroked his big black beard. "What level of weirdness, would you say?"

"Um...I don't know."

"Come on, just make a guess."

"Out of what?"

"Ten."

I considered my answer. "Ten."

Amisto knit his eyebrows. Jason did make the Head Mage angry often, but Amisto liked Jason and was obviously concerned. "What was he doing? He is a pretty strange boy."

I almost laughed. Amisto was right. But this was serious, so I ignored his joke. "He came up to me, said that he was going on a date with Bianca, and ran off."

Amisto stared at me blankly. "Forgive me. Who is this Bianca character?"

"I only saw her once. She's about sixteen, black hair. Has a crush on Jason, for some reason. I guess she's pretty weird as well."

"About your age, eh?" He looked interested. "Was she a sorceress?"

"Yeah. I thought I told you about her before."

"I don't recall. That's strange. When I was a young boy, I knew a girl by the same description. Young sorceress, black hair. She was quite annoying. But I digress. Why does this worry you?"

"Well, at first it was pretty obvious that Jason liked her back. But then he was like, 'Eh. Not really.' and didn't care anymore. I don't know why, all of a sudden, he would decide that he liked her again. He isn't like that."

Amisto nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

His response made me slightly annoyed. "You're the Head Mage. Shouldn't you know?"

"I have enough on my mind. No offense."

"None taken." My eyes fell upon the crystal ball, which Amisto had a hand on. "Hey, can't you look at him in your disco ball?"

"Like I said, my skill with that thing has yet to be improved."

"Come on, Amisto, please? I'm really worried. I'll do anything for you. Anything!"

Amisto bit his lip. "Eh...I don't know...all right. Since you are good girl." He bent over his crystal ball and waved his hands over it, mumbling strange things that I'm not sure I heard correctly. Some kind of spell. The most complicated ones required a lot of words.

I tried to remember when I casted spells, during the mission, but when my magic was taken from me, I had forgotten all of them. Afterwards, when I heard Amisto say them, they sounded weird and not as easy to memorize as when I was on the mission.

Amisto seemed to have an image, and squinted to look at it. I could imagine that it looked very distorted, being displayed on a sphere and all. He looked at whatever was in the crystal for another second before turning away disgusted. "Oh my. I did not need to see that. Don't look, Sadie." He waved his hand as if to shoo the image away.

"Did you see him?" I asked anxiously.

Amisto shook his head. "Afraid not, Sadie. It's as if some magic is shielding him from view. But I'll keep looking."

4: Losses

Chapter 4

Bianca

I walked over to the end of the road and stretched out my hand. It stopped and bounced back. Just as it always did.

What really sucked about being a ghost is that you feel hunger and pain, just like when you were alive, but you can't leave the area where you died. You probably knew that, but...yeah.

Now, I know what you're thinking! Bianca - you silly girl - you were with Jason when he was on his first mission, on that island! With Alex and the other person! Well, yes. That's because of the amulet he had. There was some kind of connection, and I was able to teleport to him.

Ah, Jason. I wondered if I would ever see him again. That was a shame, because you could tell that we were meant for each other. It was love at first sight. I sighed and kicked a pebble. Life was stupid that way.

I made my way back to the old house. My parents sold it to a small family, but I managed to scare them out and claim the house as my own. Nobody went near it, because they thought it was haunted. Though I guess it was. Except there weren't any other ghosts there. I was all alone, except for the two kittens that lived with me.

"Figaro, Izzy, I'm home!" I called as I opened the door. I slumped on the couch and waited for them to come to me.

After a while, I looked at the time. It was eight o' clock p.m. That was strange. Usually Fig and Izzy came running the second I called them. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a can of cat food. Chicken and gravy, their favorite. I shook the can for a few seconds, waiting for the sound of the bells on their collars jingling. There was only silence.

As you can probably imagine, I was really freaked out. Unlike me, the cats were alive, meaning they could have gotten hurt. I frantically searched the house. I didn't see them on the couch. They weren't in their soft fuzzy beds. They weren't hiding in the cabinets either. I kept calling, and shaking food, but to no effect.

This had never happened before. I went upstairs and searched the rooms. The floorboards creaked ominously as I walked through the hall. There were three bedrooms, one of which was a master bedroom, a bathroom, and a room that was probably an office. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find Fig or Izzy.

I was about to give up when I heard a scratching sound from the ceiling. I jumped up on the bed and got my ear as close to ceiling as I could. There was indeed something in my attic. I ran over to the office, which had a door to the attic.

But what if it wasn't the cats? What if it was a monster? The thought made me hesitate as my hand was halfway to the doorknob. I considered the possibilities. Open the door, and find out what the heck was going on, or not open the door and for the rest of my life be afraid of what was in there.

I gripped the knob and slowly turned it for dramatic effect. And because I was freaked out too. When the door was ajar by a few inches I poked my head through.

There was little light in the attic, the only source being a small window on the opposite wall. I had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. Let's just say that there was a lot of wood. The floor was wood, the walls were wood, and the ceiling was brick. Just kidding, it was wood too. There was a bunch of wooden boxes laying about, amid dusty old furniture. And a bunch of other junk that would most likely bore you to death if I were to describe it to you. For a minute there weren't any noises. I coughed dryly as I breathed the dust in the air. As if responding to the sound, a soft purr sounded from behind an unattractive love seat. Another one sounded a few feet away.

I was relieved to know that they were safe. "You two shouldn't be playing in here," I whispered in a voice as gentle as I could manage. "How did you open the door?"

Figaro and Izzy were silent. I went over to the loveseat, which was closer, stepping over stuff on the floor and around giant objects covered in blankets. I wondered what it was. Most of the things in the attic were covered up or shrouded in darkness. It would be a lot of fun exploring.

I was right in front of the couch. "Come on guys, no playing now. Get out of your hiding spots and let's have some dinner." I peeked around the chair, but there was no cat on the other side.

Two more purrs came from different locations of the attic. And even more. It sounded like there were twenty of them.

"You didn't have kittens, did you?" I asked. I couldn't help grinning. "I'm going to count to ten, and you better come out. One. Two. Three." They didn't move. "If you don't come right now, no milk for you. Four. Five. Six. Seven..."

A dark shape came from nowhere and knocked into me. I rolled away, banging my head on a table. I ducked under it and looked out. Some kind of monster was snarling at me. A wardrobe was standing between it and the window, so I couldn't make out the features, though it was pretty big but skinny, standing on all fours. And furry. I scrambled away, pulling my wand out. "Domio!"

The little white stick glowed at the end, and I pointed it at the beast. It backed away, but nothing else happened. I put my wand away and thought of another spell.

Without warning, the beast jumped on me again, knocking the table over and probably got close to killing me. Again. I mean, I was a ghost. And...already dead. Dying again would not be pleasant.

"Come with us and no harm will come to you," the beast ordered.

"Us? Are there more than you?" I asked nervously.

Another one raised its head from the corner and, all of a sudden, was right next to the first. I hadn't seen it move a leg. "I'm going to count to ten," the first monster mimicked. "You better get out from under there. One. Two..."

"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked. "And where are Fig and Izzy?"

He stopped counting and laughed. The second one joined him. They both sounded the same, with a harsh, hissing voice.

I gulped. What had they done to my poor little kittens? I pointed my wand again. "Senos!"

The second one turned to me. "Your silly spells won't work on us, human. There is no use in trying. Our only weakness is-" The monster stopped. "Run for it!" He clamped his jaws on me, firmly but without cutting my skin, and followed the first one behind a giant box. I struggled, but couldn't manage to escape.

"Hello?" someone asked. "Did somebody order a candle?"

"No!" one of the beasts shouted. "There's, um, gas, in here. If you bring in an open flame, it could explode. Don't go farther."

I looked around but couldn't see the candle delivery person.

"I know candles are your weakness. As for the gas, not likely. Unless someone...you know. Hold on, I'm coming in." Footsteps sounded by the door. The monsters scurried away, dropping me to the floor and running through the window. I covered my face as smashed glass flew at me.

"Are you okay?" the candle delivery person asked gently.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot." I rose and dusted myself off. "How did you find me?"

"I've been looking all over for you," she replied. The lady looked to be in her mid-twenties, with long blond hair and a pretty candlelit face.

I told her about the cats and we looked all over for Figaro and Izzy and double-checked more than once, but couldn't find them.

"I'm sorry to hear it," the lady said sadly. "I should have been quicker."

"They're magic. They will find a way to get back here," I said hopefully. But found it hard to believe what I said. They were only babies, and I hadn't trained them or anything.

The lady wrapped an arm around me let me rest my head on her shoulder. "You're probably right. In a world like this, heck, nothing cares about logic or practicality. There is an ironic twist at every corner. Don't cry."

I wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just, this is all happening really quickly. I don't understand."

"Don't apologize. Let's get away from this place."

We left the attic. The lady walked down the stairs, and to the door. I was slightly surprised when she opened it for me. "Where are we going?"

"Someplace special. It's just around the corner."

I cautiously went through the door, wondering how I could explain to her how I was actually a ghost and couldn't leave the road. I started to speak, but couldn't figure out how to start.

"Right here," the lady said. "Follow closely. You'll love this place." We were in front of a run-down old house with holes and spider webs dotting the surface. She walked into it.

The house was almost as creepy as the attic. They were both dark, with furniture and stuff. I knew not to be afraid. The lady was obviously a friend. She went down some steps into a basement, and I followed. It was pitch black. The lady took out another candle and lit it. From the small circle of light, I could see a a hallway going to the right.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

The lady nodded. "Don't worry, we're safe."

I went after her into the hall, waiting for the moment when I bumped against the invisible force field and stood there, embarrassed, not knowing what to do. But that never happened, I just kept walking. It was so long, the hallway, that I felt like I was repeatedly going back in time to when I first started. Back to square one. The hall wasn't decorated. The floor was stone or something, so were the walls and ceiling. I was beginning to wonder who on earth would own such a basement when we came to a set of stairs.

"It's up this staircase," the lady promised.

"Are you sure we didn't walk in a circle?" I asked.

The lady laughed. "Let's go." She went up the stairs. I had no choice but to follow her.

You can imagine my disappointment when I saw that the stairs twisted up endlessly to a ceiling that I couldn't even see.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, staring up even though it hurt my neck.

"Don't worry, there's an elevator." The lady went to the central column of the spiral staircase and felt along the surface until we heard a click. A section of it slid down, and beyond it was a wooden platform attached to some ropes. We stepped on it, and the lady pulled the ropes. We were slowly lifted up.

"How convenient," I mumbled. "Why are there stairs?"

"This is a VIP benefit," the lady replied as she raised the platform. "You'll understand all this when we get to the top."

I sat down. We had to stay at the center of the platform to keep it balanced. It wasn't perfectly aligned with the walls of the elevator, meaning it wasn't too stable. The ride was over before I knew it. A wooden door awaited us at the end.

"Ready?" the lady asked.

I nodded, and she opened the door.

It was then that I knew why the lady showed me the tower. The view was amazing. Almost all of Draida stretched out before us. I could see all the little houses, and shops, and streets, lights illuminating the town like stars in the sky. I had never imagined being so high up.

"This is amazing," I whispered. "Who are you? I mean, this...I'm really glad you showed me this, but why did you go through all the trouble?"

The lady grinned. "You don't recognize me?"

I frowned and looked her over. I could see her better in the moonlight. She was tall, wearing what looked like plain black ninja clothes that somehow looked really cute on her. She had a beautiful face with a knowing smile. I thought I'd seen her before. But I still didn't recognize her.

"Here's a hint." She took my hand. Her arm shimmered, becoming invisible, then visible, and blinking back and forth like a mirage. Then her whole body. I blinked, and found myself looking at a more familiar face.

"Jason?" I asked incredulously.

Jason grinned. "Yup."

"How? But you...was that you?"

"A trick Amisto showed me. A type of mind magic, I think. You can create illusions if no one sees you do it."

A stood there, not quite understanding what was going on. Was I dreaming?

Jason grabbed my arm and pulled my over to the battlements of the tower. Looking down the side, I saw that it was made of stone brick, as if it was from a castle. And we were pretty tall, somewhere in the southeast part of Draida. We had walked a long way.

"Sorry we missed the sunset," Jason said. "I couldn't find you in time."

"That's okay," I said slowly. "Is this some kind of trick?"

Jason looked confused and hurt. "Why would I trick you? You're the most amazing girl I have ever met."

I turned away, hoping he wouldn't see me blush. "But...ever since you got back home..."

Jason hesitated. "Like I said, I haven't been able to find you since then."

I felt something wet drop onto my arm. Startled, I looked at it. Water. More drops fell on us, and then it started to rain harder. My clothes were soaked and clung to my skin. It got really cold.

"Aw crap," I muttered, shivering. "So much for the romantic moment."

Jason laughed. "I'm not going to let this ruin your day. There's still some tricks up my sleeve." He snapped his hands, and the rain stopped pouring. Our clothes dried instantly, as if they were never wet. The fresh smell of rain lingered in the air.

"That's a nice trick," I commented. "But I thought Amisto stopped sharing his magic with you."

"He did," Jason said. "I've been studying. Here, look." He pointed his wand at the sky and concentrated. At first nothing happened. Then the stars quivered. A few of them moved slightly. As Jason continued pointing, they moved faster, and it was more obvious that they moved at all. The wand moved, and the stars moved with it. Jason was drawing. I watched curiously to see what it was.

"Ta da!" Jason set his wand down.

"Oh my gosh. It's beautiful!" He had drawn a heart, with B+J written in the middle. It was pretty classic, but I had never seen someone do it in the sky. Out of stars. I stared up at the sky, admiring the view.

"Have you ever seen an aurora?" Jason asked.

I thought about it. "Is it a flower?"

Jason grinned shyly. "Nope. Guess you're about to find out." He pointed his wand at the horizon and whispered something. A light flashed, and the light stretched across the sky. The soft green ribbon waved and continued to grow, undulating over our heads.

"What is it?" I asked quietly. "Magic?"

"Something from up north," Jason said. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do!" I reached out and tried to touch the light, but it was too far away. It was funny, how we were so high up, there on the tower, but the sky still seemed just as far away from us. I still couldn't touch it.

"Why are you so amazing?" Jason asked dreamily.

I felt the smile from my face melt away. "Oh, come on. This has to be a joke. You aren't yourself."

"You've changed me, Bianca. This isn't a joke. Why are you so amazing?"

I leaned on the battlements, biting my lip.

"Fine. I'll find out myself. Ved." A golden scroll appeared in my hand.

"Don't!" I tried to move away, but Jason snatched it away from me. "You're invading my privacy!"

Jason grinned. "I have to find out." He unrolled the scroll, reading to himself, his face overly affectionate. I kept trying to take it away from him, but he jerked it away while he read.

If you don't know what ved means, well, literally it translates to "truth." The user can find out the truth about the person he uses the spell on. Not unlike a diary. But usually only powerful sorcerers could cast that spell.

"What's this?" Jason asked, frowning. "You're some kind of ghost?"

"Yeah, I'm really famous on Halloween," I replied dryly.

Jason stared at the scroll. His hands were shaking. "Why didn't you tell me? Now we will never be together."

I stood there helplessly, feeling a lot of emotions at once. Every time I tried to say something, it escaped me, so I was silent.

Jason ripped up the scroll. "Why didn't you tell me? I swear, Bianca, I'm going to bring you back to life. In record time. You'll be back in your body soon."

"Please, don't! Do you know how dangerous that could be?" I gave him my best puppydog eyes. Throughout the thirty years after I died, many people had tried to unkill me. All of them had died unsuccessful. I didn't want Jason to get hurt, like the others.

"There's no stopping me. I'll get you back. But to make sure you don't stop me, go to sleep." He pressed his finger on my forehead, and I suddenly felt sleepier.

As I lost consciousness, one thought entered my mind-someone had bewitched Jason.

5: Brief Conversation with Myself

Chapter 5

Jason

The most embarrassing moment of my life.

Not long after the tea party thing with Alex, I was walking back home, minding my own business, when I suddenly stopped and fell over. I couldn't control myself anymore. I couldn't even move my eyes. Thank goodness nobody was there. That would have been unimaginably awkward.

But as you can imagine, I was thinking, What the heck is happening? Yeah, I still had my thoughts at least.

I waited there, staring at the ground. A trail of ants marched past me, carrying crumbs as they passed me. One of them was smaller and didn't carry anything. It stared at me. I never realized that ants were so scary up close, especially the really large ones we have in Draida. They have those giant jaw things, and those big bulging soulless eyes. I thought that nothing was creepier that Amaatlik, until then. The ant crawled onto my face.

I flicked it off.

Without meaning to, I got up and looked around. The thing was, I didn't mean to move at all. It was as if somebody was controlling me. It kind of made me feel like a puppet. I yelled at them to stop, and I could hear the words, but my mouth didn't move.

"Now to find Bianca," I said dreamily.

"Why would you make me say that?" I asked. "Who are you?"

I walked back the way I came, as if I knew where I was going. No matter how hard I tried, the person who was controlling me had a very strong connection.

"Can you hear me?" I asked. "Yeah, um, you better stop right now, or I swear, I'm going to rip your head off."

I smiled. "I wonder how she's going to react."

Did the guy not hear me speak?

My mouth moved by itself, and random words came from my lips. "She's going to be so surprised. I hope she feels the same way."

I stopped trying to talk. It was obvious that I couldn't hear myself.

The truth was, I didn't really have a crush on Bianca. That was only Amaatlik messing with my mind. Loving people you just met isn't real love. According to my mom. I don't really care, love is stupid either way. It drives people crazy.

The puppet me kept walking. He walked just like I did. And talked just like I did, but what he said was stupid nonsense.

"If she doesn't love me back, I think I'm going to die."

"Don't do that!" I shouted angrily. "This isn't your body!" Of course, I didn't have to worry. I was pretty sure that she loved "me" back very much. But someone making me die...that's just wrong.

"I'll do what I want to." I felt an evil grin on my face.

"You can hear me?" I asked, amazed.

The puppet me laughed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Who are you?"

The puppet stopped walking. "Why, it's obvious. I'm you."

"No you aren't. I'm me. If you're me, who am I?" I tried moving, but couldn't.

"We're both you," the puppet said impatiently. Man, it was so awkward with someone speaking through my lips. "I am a different version of you. A version of you that loves Bianca."

"You aren't someone controlling me?" I asked.

"Nope." Jason 2 resumed walking.

"Why don't you set me free?"

"Ugh." He stopped again. "I will do anything to get to my love."

I tried not to say something harsh. "But you're in my body. Can't you get one of you own?"

"Nah, I'm too lazy."

"Wow, you are like me," I said. "Haven't you heard of Romeo and Juliet? They died miserably because they loved each other."

"I don't think that those two people exist. And like I said, I will do anything for that chic. I'm not afraid of dying because I'm going to die anyway when the potion wears off. It will be nice to have experienced love before then."

"Not miserably. Wait, what potion?"

The puppet slapped his face. "Think before you talk."

"Well, looking on the bright side, at least I learned something today," I murmured.

"That's the spirit!" Jason 2 said cheerfully.

I waited for him to say something else. He didn't. "Hey, I know what potion you're talking about."

"What?"

I thought about what potion he was talking about. Then it hit me. "That potion that Alex gave me. Was it a love potion?"

"That's our best bet. Thank goodness you drank it." Jason 2 resumed walking.

"But still, you're going to kill me," I argued.

"How?" Jason 2 asked, still walking. "I defeated Amaatlik, you know."

"Now who's the stupid one?" Jason 2 was silent. "First of all, I'm the one who defeated Amaatlik. You weren't even alive up until now."

"You have a point," Jason 2 admitted.

"Second, everybody who's in love with someone else dies. Like Romeo. He got poisoned."

"Oh?"

It was my turn to slap my face. Mentally, because I wasn't in control of myself. "He poisoned himself because he couldn't get to Juliet. What if you poison yourself because you can't be with Bianca?"

"Did he really do that?" Jason 2 asked, a disturbed tone in his voice. "That's horrible. Why would I kill myself - and you - for no reason?"

"Think before you talk," I replied.

Jason 2 laughed. "Wow, you are smart."

"That would mean more if you weren't complimenting yourself."

"Right. Where were we?"

I had forgotten as well. "Something about no reason?"

"No reason...oh yeah. I remember now. Why would I kill us for nor reason?"

"And I told you to think about it."

Jason 2 frowned. "I feel so stupid."

"Welcome to my world."

"Okay, I've thought about it. I would kill us because I said that I'd do anything for Bianca."

I imagined myself clapping. "There you go!"

Jason 2 walked into a pole. A few people stared at him, and the children present ran away from the strange boy.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Jason 2 brushed the dust off of his clothes and hurriedly walked away, out of sight. "Yeah, thanks."

"So you still want to do this? Even though we're probably going to die?"

"Yeah." Jason 2 looked around. "Don't worry, I won't kill us."

I sighed. "Assuming you're right. What will Bianca do when you die?"

"She'll think you're me."

"That's my point. She'll be all crazy about me. And I won't feel the same way. And then she'll be really sad. All because of you."

Jason 2 shrugged. "You'll figure something out. You did defeat Amaatlik. Now, if you'll excuse me, I better find Bianca."

6: The Necromancer

Chapter 6

Sadie

"Wait, I see something!"

I leaned forward. "What?"

Amisto held up his hand. "Hold on, just a second." He stared at the crystal. "Oh my."

"What is it?" I repeated.

"They're on some kind of tower. Wow, they're really high up. Aw, that's so cute. What did Jason tell you?"

"He said he was going out with Bianca."

"He wasn't joking. But...it's pretty awkward looking."

"What's going on?" I asked impatiently. "Why can't I take a peek?"

Amisto grinned. "What, are you jealous? I don't understand it either. All I can see is the two of them standing on top of a tower. Looks rather romantic. Holy shrimp!"

"Jealous?" I shook my head. "Is it really that romantic?" I asked.

Amisto shook his head. "Not so romantic anymore."

"Why? What happened? Did they fall off?"

"Jason put Bianca to sleep-"

"He killed her?"

"No. Literally put her to sleep. Now he's walking away. And talking to himself. I can't help wondering what's wrong with him."

"No one knows," I replied. "Can you, like, teleport us there?"

"I don't know where that is. But I'll keep watching Jason." He looked back to the crystal ball, carefully scrutinizing the magical instrument.

I looked around. "So, should I...?"

"Stay right there. I might need you. This is really strange."

I looked around. There wasn't much to see. No, there wasn't anything to see. The room was pretty boring.

What was Jason doing? He met his ex-crush on a tower, all lovey-dovey, and then she fell asleep. He walked away talking to himself. What, did someone give him a love potion or something? And did it wear off?

I wondered what it was like to be under the effect of a love potion. I supposed I wouldn't notice. When Jason and I were under the effect of Amaatlik's mind control, I didn't even know until we met him in our dreams. He made me distrusting and Jason scared. But it felt so natural, like common sense, that we didn't notice we were being influenced.

"I can hear him," Amisto said, interrupting my thoughts.

"What...what is he saying?" I asked.

"He's on a wooden platform, saying that he's perfectly normal. And he's saying it over and over again."

"Is he being sarcastic?"

"I don't think so. And it's like he's talking to someone else, but he keeps saying 'Jason'. Hold on...now he says that he knows what to do. That he isn't going to kill 'us'. Yeah, he's definitely talking to someone else."

"Do you think he's using mind magic to talk to someone?"

"Mind magic was Jason's strength, at least when I was giving him some of my power, but I'm not sure he's aware. Although that may be our best bet. Though why he would be doing this...I have no idea."

"Where is he going?"

"You're asking a lot of questions. I don't know. Scrying is very vague."

"You said you were looking in the future."

Amisto frowned. "No, I said I was looking in the present."

"Look in the future! See where Jason's going!" I gestured to the ball.

"I told you, divining is harder than scrying. For me, at least. Don't look so down, we'll find him still."

I laid a hand on the ball. "Then I'll do it. Tell me how."

"Now you're being foolish," Amisto said. "Get away from that ball." He reached to take my hand off his crystal ball, but I snatched it away.

"Jason would do the same for me. I have to do this."

Amisto tried to get the ball back again, but I pulled away. The ball slipped out of my hand and shattered as it hit the floor. A thousand tiny shards flew up.

"Look what you did!" Amisto scolded. "Do you know how expensive that was?"

I stared at the floor. "You made me."

Amisto trembled with rage. "Go. You no longer have my help."

I wanted to argue, but knew not to test him. Amisto tended to get really nasty when he was mad. So I left his house, ignoring his butler.

What was I going to do? Jason was in trouble. I just knew it. But there was nothing I could do for him. Amisto was no use. There was nobody else to go to. I started walking, no particular direction in mind.

After a while I started to get curious. I looked around. Sure enough, there was a giant stone tower, just sitting there, at the edge of town. The obvious things we never see. Gosh.

I kept walking. It was pretty late, like midnight, but a lot of people were up and about. Over by a bench I saw a couple arguing.

"How could you say that? You are so insensitive!" the girl shouted.

"No, you're overreacting!" the boy yelled back. He got up.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked hotly. "We aren't done with this!"

The boy left, steaming, leaving the girl sitting there alone, staring at him.

I watched the boy walk off. "What happened?" I asked his ex.

The girl looked up, embarrassed. "Nothing."

I looked up at the tower. "Are you okay?"

She sniffed. "Yeah. I should have known better than to date that jerk."

"Is he magic?" I asked. Draida was a magical town.

"Yeah. We were both trying to learn a few spells, just for fun. But he got really cocky and kept talking about how awesome he was. I asked him to stop, and he said that I was just jealous." The girl examined me. "You have a wand. Are you a sorcerer too?"

"Yeah. My name is Sadie."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Amy."

I sighed. No one ever recognized me for going on the mission to defeat Amaatlik. Oh, it was the biggest moment of their lives - we lived in fear of Amaatlik for years, and he was finally defeated. But whenever people thought about him, only Jason came to mind. But no, not I.

Then I remembered that I was talking to someone. "Sorry. Got distracted."

She smiled. "That's fine."

"Um, I could teach you a thing or two about magic."

Amy's eyes lit up. "Would you? That would be so awesome!"

"How about tomorrow at 3?"

Amy nodded. "Sounds great. Meet you at the park. Bye." She winked and ran off.

My mind wasn't on the upcoming tutoring. Seeing the two of them fighting, I realized what Jason was doing. He, like the other boy, was dating Bianca. But he got really proud of himself, and said that he was better than her. She said that he was wrong. Jason argued that he had been on two quests. Then Bianca told him that he failed the first quest (we failed to bring Bianca's brother, Alexander, back) and that he only managed to do either of them because Amisto shared his magic with him. Jason asked her what quests she'd done. She would be silent. Then Jason laughed at her. She called him insensitive, and he said that she was overreacting. When the tension between them grew, he put her to sleep, all alone on the tower, and he walked away. So there we were then.

I looked up at the tower again. It was so far away, as Draida was a pretty big town, and I didn't see Jason or Bianca on top of it.

"Think quickly, Sadie," I told myself. I took out my wand. One spell came to mind. "Find the destination of Jason, where I must go in order to talk some sense to him."

The gray wand slipped out of my hand, the gem at the tip glowing. It hovered around, pointing different directions. It seemed disoriented. After spinning around for a few seconds, it fell to the floor.

"What, can you not find places?" I asked. "Do I need some sort of tracker?" I don't know why I talked to my wand. It didn't have a creature inside it, like Jason's did with Calvin, before he released him.

The wand twitched on the ground. I bent down to pick it up, but it snapped away. I reached again, and it stood upright. The gem still glowing, it hopped through the crowd of people. They didn't seem to notice it in the darkness. Or they didn't care. I followed the wand.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" an old man asked me.

"She should!" a lady, probably his wife, stated.

I ignored them, pushing through people to get to the wand.

"Hey, you!" the man called. "Don't run when it's this dark! You could fall and break your leg!"

"I'm in a rush," I called back. "Don't worry, I'll be safe. And I'll go to bed right when I'm done."

Something whizzed past me. I flinched. A few feet ahead was a rock.

"Stop! You need to go to bed!" a younger man shouted.

I stopped and looked around. Everybody was in a circle around me, holding more stones. Their eyes glowed an eerie green, like an animal's. The crowd continued to gaze threateningly.

"I need to save my friend. Move along." I backed against the wall of an ice cream shop.

One of the green-eyed men growled. "Master Jason 2 doesn't need any help. Be gone!"

"Why?" I asked. "What is he doing?"

"He's bringing his lover back to life."

A bit of a delayed reaction there. "Bianca? Back to life? Did you say master? Who are you?"

"I am under mind control."

I stared at them with disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I am not. Now we shall dispose of you."

I looked around. These people were being controlled by Jason? Two? And Jason (2?) was, what, re-teaching Bianca magic? Surely he wasn't actually bringing her back to life. She wasn't dead. And did Jason have an evil twin? Was Amisto scrying on that evil twin and not Jason?

Doing some more of that quick thinking, I thought of something Amisto taught me. "Stop!" I commanded in Jason's voice. The man was still. "Good." I looked in the direction my wand had gone. "Show me where Jas- I mean I - told you I was going to go. Then you will be free."

The man nodded. "Follow me." He jogged, escorting me not where my wand had gone but a different way. I followed him, wondering where he would take me. It wasn't very far. We ended up by an ugly iron fence.

"Thanks. Go away now." I shooed the man away and picked up my wand, which was lying on the ground nearby. It must have gone a different route.

I looked at the fence. Behind it was a dark green hill and a path that wound up it. I walked around the fence until I found the gate. It had a lock, but that was broken and laid on the ground. I opened the gate. It creaked. The dirt path started at the gate and wrapped around out of view. I heard slight noises from the graveyard and imagined zombies snarling, getting ready to eat my brains.

"This isn't scary," I said quietly, trying to convince myself that it was true. "This isn't scary. This isn't scary. Come on, Sadie. You're just being silly. You're just shocked by all that's happened lately."

I went on the path, determined to find Jason. Supposedly he was at the other end. The path was small, almost covered up by the grass. Not too different from the Forest of Nightmares, before it was restored. There wasn't a lot, just trees and smaller trails that lead to tiny gazebos and benches. They all looked the same, really. It was still late at night, but the full moon washed everything in light blue light. I looked around for zombies or werewolves.

Well, I was probably walking for an hour or something. I think I fell asleep and sleepwalked some of it. At the end of the path was a sad-looking graveyard. Someone was kneeling by one of the graves chanting. He was clad in black and gray robes with a hood over his face. He seemed to have trouble concentrating, but kept saying the magic words.

"Hey, have you seen my friend?" I asked. "His name is Jason."

The figure looked me in the eyes. Oh, it's a small world after all - that guy was Jason. The irony.

"You can't really be bringing someone back from the dead. It's so goth. And not to mention dangerous."

Jason kept chanting, but he kept his eyes looking at mine. They were filled with fear. He slapped himself and went back to his spell, eyes closed.

I walked over to him. "If this really is a joke, fine. I'm scared to death. Now please stop."

Jason didn't seem to hear me. He kept muttering words about hopping worms or something like that. His voice was unsteady.

"Jason, stop! You could hurt yourself!"

He took something from a pouch with a trembling hand and placed it on the grave. The necromancer spoke one last word, and stopped.

"Oh well, looks like you failed," I said gratefully. "Come on, let's go back home. It's getting chilly."

Jason looked up at me again. "Tell me I'm dreaming."

"What?" I put a hand on his shoulder. "Why?"

He stroked the grave. "No. I'm going to die," he said softly.

"Tell me what's happening!" I demanded. Biggest "wtf" moment of my life. I kneeled down and glared at him. "Why did you do that if you know you're going to die?"

Jason shook his head. "Sadie. I...I'm...don't make it for nothing." A grin slowly spread on his face. "Sucks to be me, huh?"

"Shut up! You aren't dying! This is a dream, you aren't going to die!" I shook him, but there was no response. I pulled back his hood. His eyes were closed.

Something told me that he hadn't...passed. Maybe it was the fact that he was still breathing. But his skin was really pale, and he was shivering slightly. I looked away and turned my attention to the grave. It read: "Bianca. Died of an unknown reason in her bed. R.I.P."

"Why is this story so morbid?" I shouted at the sky. Surely this was a dream. One of those magic, realistic ones. Soon I would wake up, and Jason would be laughing his stupid head off.

But for now I had to figure out what he meant by "Don't make it for nothing." I noticed that the ground in front of Bianca's grave was soft. So I took out my wand again and used a digging spell, because the coffin was deep. I dug through until I came to a rotten piece of wood. I'd never been at a burial, so don't get mad at me for not knowing what that wood was. I dug around it, and not until I completely uncovered the coffin did I recognize it. I hesitated before opening the lid.

I expected to find a zombie girl in there. Instead I found Bianca, looking like she was asleep. She was dressed in normal clothes, looking peaceful.

One of her eyes opened. Then the other one. She gasped. "No, Jason, don't!" She flung herself out of the coffin, confused. "Jason?"

"It's okay, this is only a dream," I told her. But I said it more to reassure myself than Bianca.

She looked around. "I did just fall asleep. But...this isn't the tower. Is it? Who are you? Where are we?"

"You don't recognize me?" I asked.

She stared at me. "Um...give me a hint."

"I'm a sorceress," I said impatiently.

Bianca nodded. "You're Jason's sidekick, right? Sammie, was it?"

"I'm not his sidekick. And my name-"

She looked down. "What the...what is this?" She knelt down in front of her grave. Her eyes moved over to the still figure on the ground. "Oh no," she whispered. "I'm too late. I never woke up...did I?" She looked up at me sadly.

"You knew about this?" I asked, just as confused.

"He found out that I died when my brother left Draida. He got upset, and said that he would bring me back."

"As shown here."

Bianca shook her head. "I think someone is controlling Jason. And when we find him, he'll be sorry."

7: Skylos

Chapter 7

Bianca

Sorry if Sadie's narrating was awkward. She can be like that.

While we walked back to the gate, I found out a little about her. Apparently her name was Sadie, not Sammy, and she was Jason's best friend, or something like that. She said that she did just as much as Jason did on the mission. I somehow doubted that.

"How did you get here?" I asked her.

"He came up to me and said that you two loved each other, and then ran off. I thought it was really weird, so I went to Amisto. He saw you in his disco ball thing." We came to the gate, and she opened it. "I thought something wasn't right, so I followed my wand over here."

I walked through. "Who's Amisto?"

"You don't know?" Sadie asked. "You've never met the head mage of Draida?"

I was about to say that no, I hadn't, because I'd been dead the past 30 years. But that would have made things really complicated. We walked away from the cemetery.

"How does it feel to be alive?" Sadie asked.

"I don't know." I looked at my arms. "When I was a ghost, it still felt like I was alive. But I couldn't go anywhere."

"Well, no you can, thanks to Jason."

The thought of what Jason did made me sad. He had sacrificed himself, just so I could be alive again. And he didn't have a choice-someone forced him to. "Where are we headed?" I asked.

Sadie sighed. "We need help. But we can't go to Amisto. He's really mad."

"Then what do we do?" I thought aloud. "Do you know anyone outside of Draida."

"I wish you hadn't said that."

"Why?" I studied her face. "Is there some kind of last-resort, plan B person that's unreliable but there in case we need him anyway? Like a werewolf or something? Or an imp? Imps are so ugly. Please tell me you aren't talking about an imp."

Sadieshook her head. "I don't know whether we can trust him. He said that he's on our side, but he betrayed us once before."

"So it is an imp?"

"I wish."

"What is he?"

"A hellhound."

I waited for her to say more. She waited for me to respond. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You met a hellhound?"

"He was disguised when we first met him and his friends."

I stopped. "He has friends?"

"Not anymore. He's all alone now."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, hoping she'd say no.

"No. But Jason liked him for some reason. Skylos might know who was controlling Jason and why."

"What if he's the one?" I considered.

Sadie rolled her eyes at me. "They don't have that power. You should know, being a zombie and everything."

I barely stopped myself from punching her in the face. "What did you say?"

She shrugged. "You're technically a zombie, having been risen from the dead and all."

"I-I said I was a ghost. I've never seen a hellhound."

"If you say so."

I looked around. "Well? Let's talk to him! Go!"

"Right." Sadie took out her wand. "Find Skylos the hellhound, who we need to talk to. Unfortunately."

The wand flew up and spun around until it pointed toward the moon. Then it went off.

"He isn't far, is he?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know where he lives nowadays. Why?"

"Less talking more running, or we'll lose your wand." We ran after the wand.

It felt strange not being confined to my little street. I could go wherever I wanted and explore. See what life was like thirty years after I died. Though it would feel a little weird.

But now Jason would be the ghost. He couldn't leave the cemetery, he would be forever alone. That cemetery was filled up a while ago, and it wouldn't be visited. Why did he have to let go of his freedom, just so I could have mine? I kept having to remind myself that it wasn't the real Jason. Someone had killed him and made me feel guiltier than ever.

"Here we are," Sadie announced grumpily. "Skylos's house."

The wand had lead us to a wide brick building somewhere at the edge of town. A faded picture of a dog head was painted above the door. The black paint was chipped and peeling.

"Is this his house?" I asked.

"I don't know. We haven't seen him since we got back. Let's go in. Hope he doesn't try to kill us." Sadie walked up the steps.

"Pretty big 'hope'," I said as I ran after her.

"What are you saying?"

I examined the building. "Looks like it could be a trap."

"Don't worry, I've been in lots of dangerous places before. I'm an experienced sorceress."

"And modest too." I knocked on the door. It had one of those knocker things. We waited for a while. I knocked again. And waited.

"You need to hit the door harder," Sadie suggested.

I looked back at her. She had a weird look on her face. "Would you like to do it?"

"Sure." She walked up to the door and knocked on it, not much harder than I had done. Footsteps sounded from inside. "See?" Sadie asked. "A little pressure goes a long way."

The door opened before I could make a comment. "Hello. Are you two lost?"

"We're looking for a certain dog," Sadie told him mysteriously.

The guy looked scared. "Um, okay." He started to close the door.

"Excuse my sister," I said quickly. "She's a very disturbing person." Sadie kicked me.

"Come in," the guy said. We walked in.

The inside looked really plain. The décor could've been more tasteful. It was just a table and chairs, with a dull tile floor. There was also a door.

"You must be Skylos," I said politely as I could, figuring he was in human form.

The guy smiled weakly. "My name is George. Are you looking for someone named Skylos?"

"Nice one, Skylos," Sadie interrupted. "We need your help."

"It's been a long day," I explained. "This is a dog shelter, right?"

"That it is. What is this 'certain dog' that you were looking for? What does he look like?"

I looked at Sadie. She stared dumbly back at me.

"Why don't we look at all the dogs, and then you'll tell me which one?" George proposed.

"That would be great," Sadie replied.

George lead us through the door and down a hall. It had cages on either side, with dogs barking at us as we passed. They came in a wide variety of size and shape and color. I glanced at Sadie.

"Don't see him," she said. "I wonder whether he's really here."

"Did you know this dog?" George asked.

"Yeah, but he ran away," I told him.

"Skylos," Sadie said. "His name is Skylos."

George paused. "You asked me if I was Skylos."

That made me nervous. If the guy found out we were looking for a hellhound, we would probably get in trouble.

"We are quite a pair, aren't we?" Sadie asked cheerfully.

"Right. When did he run away?"

"Um...I don't...wait. It was, like...a week."

George nodded. "I know what dog you're talking about. Follow me."

"Nice one," I whispered as we continued walking.

"Thanks. I can't believe he's actually here."

George lead us to another door. "He's a wild one. We have him in here so he has a lot of room to run about." He opened the door, herded us inside, and closed the door.

"Do you think he locked us in?" Sadie asked.

"Oh my gosh, he's adorable!" I ran toward the little white Chihuahua puppy all curled up in the corner. "This is a hellhound? He's...ahh!"

Sadie covered her mouth and stared at me. "Uh, that's not...I remember now. Skylos is black, and he had a golden collar on. Built more like a hound than...that."

I scowled at her. "What do you mean, 'that'? This guy is so cute! Can't we stay and pet him?"

"No."

I pointed my wand at her. "Gairc!" Sadie froze in place. I love that spell. It usually lasted for only a minute though.

The Chihuahua opened his eyes and barked at me. I scratched him behind his giant ears. "I wish I could take you home. I think I'm going to call you...Henry. You kinda look like a Henry."

Henry barked. I think he liked the name. Oh, and how I could tell he was a boy...yeah.

"What's it like living in a shelter?" I asked Henry. "Do you have any friends to play with?"

Henry licked my hand, which was about as big as he was.

"Nice try," Sadie said angrily. "Posefre!"

I was slammed against the wall of Henry's room. "Ow! My spell didn't hurt!"

"Why did you freeze me? We're supposed to find Skylos. He's going to help us cure Jason. You know, because he sacrificed himself to bring you back to the dead."

"It's not my fault!"

"Aegis!" A gray shield of light surrounded Sadie.

"What, are you scared of a girl?" I mocked.

"I'm a girl too!"

The door opened. George looked in. "Should I leave?"

"We were just entertaining the dog," Sadie said, taking away the force field. Henry growled at her. Good boy.

George studied the three of us. I was hoping that he would make Sadie leave, but it wasn't to be so. "She does look happy, that Terrier."

"He's a male Chihuahua, can't you tell?" I asked.

He looked at Henry. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. Definitely a Chihuahua. So, I'll give you a discount on her since you did some entertaining and whatnot."

"He isn't our dog, unfortunately," I said, starting to get really pissed at the stupid guy. "Our dog is..." I looked at Sadie. "He's a black hound."

George nodded. He looked very impatient, and I was glad. "Very well. I think I know what dog you're talking about. He is also in a room."

"You better get it right this time. And you tell me." The latter of which was directed at Sadie.

We followed George farther down the hall. Near the end was another room.

"Please let this be your dog," George said. Again he pushed us and locked us in the room.

"It's about time ye showed up," Skylos said.

Sadie gave me a look as if to say, 'Don't say anything rude.' "Nice to see you again, Skylos."

"So, what adventure be we goin' on this time?"

"We need your help. Jason...got hurt...but we don't know how to cure him."

If Skylos had eyebrows (do dogs have eyebrows?), they would have been raised. "What a shame. I rather liked the lad. What did ye do to him?"

"Bianca here gave him a love potion and he got himself hurt trying to do something for her."

"Oh?" Skylos looked at me and grinned. "Yer such a bad lass."

I glared at Sadie. "Did not! I would never do that to him! Love potions aren't that strong. And how did Jason become so powerful? Necro spells are really hard. Someone is using mind control."

"Which is exactly what you'd say if you did give him a love potion," Sadie pointed out. "And you'd be likely to do it. You loved him, but he didn't love you back." That girl was so frustratingly reasonable. But I didn't do anything.

"I hate to interrupt," Skylos interrupted, "but did ye say he cast a necro spell? Was he tryin' to summon a zombie army or somethin'? That lad has some taste."

"He brought me back from the dead," I said nervously. "We don't know how to bring him back."

"Or how to find the punk who did this," Sadie added. "If it isn't Bianca."

"Which it isn't."

Skylos kept grinning. I wonder if it was a permanent smile kind of thing. "Well, ye came to the right guy. Hellhounds know a lot about necromancer spells. Take me to yer grave, lassie."

Sadielooked at me with another warning look, but I ignored her. "The name's Bianca. And I'd rather not go there. Sadie would be more than happy to show you."

"He's still there," Sadie said painfully.

Skylos actually stopped smiling. "Fine. What be yer last name?"

I shrugged. "Eh."

"What did yer gravestone say?"

"Something about dying."

Skylos got up. "Good enough." He got up on his hind legs and jumped at the wall. An inky black portal appeared, swallowing him completely. Once he was gone, it went away.

"Come on, let's leave," Sadie whispered.

"Why? He's helping us."

She clenched her fists, looking very determined. And pretty stupid. "You can never trust a hellhound. Come on, we're leaving. Now."

"No. We have our wands. We could take him if he were to attack us. Two on one, we have the better deal."

"It's not that he'll attack us. Hellhounds are known for their trickery."

"What could he do?"

"He could make us go up to your grave, then push us in."

"You're so dumb."

Her eyes glowed. "Why do you trust him? Why? What has he done to earn your respect? You can't just...go about, believing that everybody is good. There are bad people out there. Lots. You remind me of-" She stopped, looking away from me.

"Who do I remind you of?" I asked her, unsure.

"I forget."

"No you don't. Why are you so quiet all of a sudden? We were just having an I...remind you of Jason?"

She didn't answer.

"I didn't know you were such close friends. I..."

"After all we've been through, how can he have died?"

"Aw, Sadie." I patted her on the shoulder. "He isn't dead. Skylos is going to come back and tell us how we can make things right again. This is only the second novel."

"Jason was an optimist too. You guys would have been an awesome couple."

I smiled. "I know, right? What about you? Don't you have a crush?"

"No. Why?" Sadie's face reddened. I think she was hiding something, but I didn't push it.

looked like she was about to say something when the black portal thing opened up again, this time on the floor. Skylos climbed out of it, his black paws scraping the ground as he tried to get a grip on the solid ground. As the portal started to close up he managed to get out and shook himself.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. Which do ye want first?"

"The bad news," I answered. "Because then it's like, something bad happened, but then something good happened so it's okay. You end off on a positive note."

Skylos nodded. "Thanks goodness you said that. I don't know how I would explain it to ye otherwise. The bad news, nobody was there."

"Not even Jason?" Sadie asked suspiciously.

"Argh, not even him. Why did you guys leave him there in the first place?"

"We didn't want to drag him all the way over here," Sadie answered. "And we put him in a safe spot. Wait, did you eat him?"

Skylos looked slightly offended. "Me? Why would I do anything to the lad? I've changed, ever since Okeanos saved me."

"Okeanos?"

Suddenly, I had an idea. "Hey Sadie, why don't you use a ved spell to prove that he's telling the truth? It's the solution to everything."

She shook her head. "It doesn't work on animals. Nothing would happen."

"I'm not saying ye can trust me," Skylos said. "But it's yer best bet."

"What's the good news?" I asked.

"Oh, aye. The good news. I think I know someone who can tell ye what happened to yer friend."

8: Distrust

Chapter 8

Sadie

I know, I know. You were expecting Jason to narrate this chapter, and you wanted to know where he went. But that wouldn't be very suspenseful, would it? This way you are left to think about it for a while, use your imagination. Just...guess.

"Well?" Bianca asked impatiently. "Who might know what happened?"

"Well, I checked the whole place four times."

"Why four?" I asked.

"I have four paws."

"Speaking of your paws, didn't you burn them off or something?"

Skylos stared at me. "No, they were just...who told ye about me paws?"

"I read the chapter you narrated in Hunting Amaatlik. Chapter 10, wasn't it?"

"Someone healed them fer me."

Bianca looking really confused, as always. "You wrote a story about your adventure? Why didn't I get to narrate some of it?"

"Be glad you get to narrate in this one," I snapped. Was it just me, or is Bianca always complaining? Why is she so dumb? Was it some side effect of being raised from the dead? 

Skylos coughed. Once he had our attention, he continued speaking. "As I was sayin', I checked the graveyard four times. The fourth time I noticed somethin' written on yer gravestone." He looked at Bianca.

"Yeah, gravestones tend to have stuff written on them."

"Did it have Jason's name on it?"

I had a bad feeling. "Do you mean-"

"Ye keep interrupting. Argh. Underneath it was, 'Ye have a week 'till yer friend goes to Davy Jones' Locker.'" He wore a straight face. Seriously.

"Is that really what it said?" Bianca asked.

"Something like that," Skylos said thoughtfully. "At least that's how I read her."

"Are you two done yet?" the dog shelter guy asked from behind the door. "Hey, why can't I get in there?"

"Just a minute, George!" Bianca shouted back.

"We be doing somethin'!" Skylos added.

I facepalmed.

"Who's that?" George asked. "Whatever. I'll give you three minutes. Then I'll find my key and unlock the door." I heard him walk away.

"So who's helping us?" Bianca asked.

"Well, when I read the gravestone, and saw 'Davy Jones' Locker', it hit me. Why not go to Okeanos? Ye know, 'cause he lives under the sea."

"I still don't know who this Okeanos guy is," I said.

Skylos sighed. "Ye have. But ye called him Calvin. The fidi. his real name is Okeanos."

Bianca still looked confused. "Who's Calvin? And who's Davy Jones? Is he another hellhound? Why does he have an underwater locker? Why would he put Jason in it?"

"Are you really that stupid?" I asked. "Davy Jones's Locker is what sailors and pirates call the bottom of the sea. Like, when they die. And Calvin was his...familiar, I guess you could say."

"I guess that makes sense." She nodded slowly. "So we need to find a fish and ask him how we can stop Jason from dying. Yeah. Seems doable."

"He's not a fish, he's a fidi. A sea serpent."

Skylos laughed. "If ye children are done arguin', we better get goin'."

It was really hard to get Skylos out of the shelter. We had to cast a few spells here and there, and some other things.

Not that I wanted to take him along, or Bianca, but Jason was somehow her friend too, and apparently the hellhound knew how to get to Calvin's home.

It was a good thing that Jason wasn't with us. It would have been hard, seeing Calvin again. They were really close, and since he used his wand to capture Amaatlik, Calvin was no longer bound to it. In other words, he couldn't come home with us.

"Where do we go first?" Bianca asked.

I groaned. "Please tell me we aren't going to Port Barcos." We had a bad history there.

"Quit yer whinin'. I don't like that place any more than ye. Too many pirates."

"Then where are we-"

"It be a surprise."

His words made me slightly nervous. Skylos tricked us once before, and he was likely to do it again. I didn't care if Jason and Bianca trusted him, he was a hellhound. His breed tended to cause trouble. A lot.

"Are ye coming, lad?"

I realized that I had been standing behind, deep in thought. "Yeah. Sorry."

We walked away from town, toward the forest. It used to be called the Forest of Nightmares, but since Amaatlik was defeated, it was transformed into something more...gentle. My guess is that Amaatlik cursed it sometime, like when Alexander left. But it returned to its original condition.

As we walked, Skylos walked ahead, sniffing the ground and checking a map attached to his front left leg. Bianca and I fell behind.

"Are there any unicorns here?" Bianca asked me.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah." She looked around. "Well? Are there?"

"I've seen kangaroos, some other creature, and Jason saw an abrol. There's a lot of horrible things here. So yeah, there's probably unicorns."

"Unicorns aren't- no, really. I've haven't been outside of Draida for thirty years. I don't know anything."

"What about when your brother teleported you to that island on our first mission?"

"I didn't have the time to take anything in. And that wasn't here."

I looked ahead of us at the hellhound we were following. "Do you really trust him?"

"Who, Jason? Of course I-"

"No, don't be stupid. I'm talking about Skylos."

"Don't you?"

"Why would I?"

Bianca sighed. "You're so cynical. Why don't you trust people? If they don't work out, you can always dispose of them." She kicked a rock on the dirt path. "And if they are good, that's...good. Get it?"

"What I don't get is how you can think that. It's a lot different, here thirty years ago. People change."

"How do you know what people were like in my time?"

Bianca stopped walking. "Hey Skylos, over here! I need to ask you something!"

Skylos looked back and padded over. "What be it?"

"How do you know that you can trust us?" Bianca asked him.

Skylos smiled shyly. "Like I said, yer serpent friend saved me life, even though his kind don't have a likin' fer pirates like me. That shows a lot about him. And I figured that his mates must be very much the same."

"See?" Bianca asked. "Skylos knows to trust you."

I looked at Skylos. "No offense, Skylos, but what if you're lying? And none of your friends saved my life."

"How could you say that?" Bianca said. Her face got all red. "He's helping us find Okeanos, or Calvin, whatever his name is, so we can help Jason. And he's the only help we have. I don't know, something about having been a ghost, and him being a hellhound, I know we can trust him. He isn't like other hellhounds. He's okay. Why can't you listen to me?"

Honestly, I'd had enough of that girl. "No. We can't trust him. Know why? Because he's gone."

Bianca looked around. Skylos was no longer with us.

"He's going for a surprise attack," I warned.

"This is a nightmare." Bianca sat down, leaning against a tree trunk, and rested her head in her hands.

"Not surprising, since this is the Forest of Nightmares."

"Why, Sadie? Why did you scare him away?"

Instead of answering, I sat down by another tree and fiddled with a pinecone.

The question I always feared; what do we do now?

"You know we're screwed now, right?" Bianca asked, as if she could read my mind.

"We would have been in trouble if we had followed him to his 'surprise'. We'll find another way to find Jason."

"Why don't you trust him?" I couldn't tell whether she was angry or sad.

I was about to say something rude, but decided not to. "You haven't seen what I've seen."

"What?" Bianca regarded me from the other side of the trail. "What are you talking about?"

"On my mission. The more I trusted people, the more they tried to kill me."

"You've got to be kidding."

I shook my head. "Just listen. When I first met Skylos and his crew, we needed to get to Grandor Island. To find Alex. They seemed kind at first, but your brother somehow knew that they were bad. They...wanted to take our stuff and throw us overboard, I think. So he summoned a giant whirlpool and sunk the ship, while we made it out safely."

"Alex what?"

I knew I had her attention. "He tried to kill Skylos and his pirate friends. Calvin saved him, and brought him to some port."

"So Skylos is trying to return the favor," Bianca argued.

"That's what he wants us to think. And he isn't the only one who beguiled us."

"Beguile?"

"Yeah, it means they tricked us. Please stop interrupting. Alex attacked us when we got stranded after fleeing from the Wonderwolf. Of course, you should know that already." Bianca tried to say something, but I held my hand up. "Then, on our second mission, it was an abrol, here in the Forest of Nightmares. He tricked Jason into wasting almost all of our supplies."

"Did you see it for yourself?"

"No. But he told me, all excited because it told him to mix our potions and rip our invisibility cloak in half so that we would have two. Then I said that he was being stupid, and we split up."

"Something doesn't add up," Bianca said thoughtfully. "Why weren't you there with him? When the abrol...?"

I tried to remember why I wasn't there. "Um...he wanted to split up. He heard a voice in his head and wanted to see whether it was me. Knowing there was no use in saying no, I let him."

Bianca gestured for me to continue.

"Then...the next person to fool us was Amaatlik. He was disguised as a sorcerer named Francis. Jason called him Bob. He fed on our fears and turned us against each other by changing our emotions."

"How cliché. What did he do to you exactly?"

"He made Jason feel scared and he made me cynical. I guess it was based off of what we were really feeling deep down, but he amplified it. And he played with us, saying things that made us do things we shouldn't have."

"Now your story is interesting. What did you do?" Bianca sat with her legs folded, her chin in her hands.

"What do you- that's not why I'm telling you this!" I scolded. "The point I'm trying to make is that I can't trust anybody anymore."

"I think you're hiding something," Bianca commented. "But that's okay, Sadie. I won't prod you."

"Better not."

"One thing I don't understand though."

"Only one?" I asked.

"If Calvin trusted Skylos, why can't you?"

"Who said I trusted Calvin?"

9: Anthony

Chapter 9

Bianca

Yup. Sadie still doesn't want Jason to narrate. It's really unfair if you ask me.

After she told me why she's so suspicious of every living thing, I made her set up a camp and wait for someone to pass by so we could ask them for help, because I couldn't think of a better plan. Sadie thought it was stupid, but I forced her. So there we were, sitting by the fire, not really doing anything. She was too stubborn to talk.

"You know what?" I asked. "Go ahead. Be like that. I'm going into town to look for someone. You can stay here and do nothing. Good bye."

"This isn't a game," Sadie said finally. "I guess I can't blame you for not knowing that-"

"Why? Because I'm a girl?"

"Seriously, do I look like a boy to you?! You haven't been on a quest before. Every decision will have a positive or negative effect."

"Or neither." I got up from the rock I was sitting on.

"Where are you going?" Sadie asked.

I went back the way we came. "I told you. Skylos isn't going to come back." Without looking behind me, I walked away.

"You're too late for that."

I risked a glance back. There was a man standing behind Sadie, who looked just as surprised as I felt. He was quite large, with a wide black beard, a red jacket, a sword clipped to his belt, and a brown tricorn hat. The man had a sack slung over his shoulder, but wasn't holding anything.

"Who are you?" Sadie asked.

The man chuckled. "My name is Anthony. And I am not a pirate."

Sadie looked politely nervous, if that was possible.

"I heard you need help," Anthony continued. He gave us a wide smile. "Really, I'm not a pirate, my hat is just for decoration. Not a pirate hat." He patted it gently.

"What a coincidence you came right as Bianca was about to leave," Sadie said.

Anthony nodded. "A coincidence indeed. What do you need help with?"

"We need to help our friend," I started. "He's-"

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself first?" Sadie suggested quickly.

"Good idea," Anthony replied. "Well..." He paused.

"Exactly." Sadie turned away.

"Don't be rude!" I scolded. "Sorry, Anthony, she has problems."

"That's fine."

I tried thinking of some way to test whether Anthony was really willing to help us. He seemed nice, but..."Ved." The answer to everything.

A golden scroll (not real gold, I don't think) appeared in Anthony's hand. "Ah, using the old noggin, I see." He handed Sadie the scroll.

"My name is Anthony," the scroll read. Sadie looked a little angry, probably upset because she didn't think of using the ved spell. "I am an honest sailor on his way back home to Barcos. I was in Draida to meet an old friend, but now I am going back to Port Barcos. I don't mind helping these two young sorcereresses on their mission."

Anthony laughed. "There we go. What do you say?"

"I say of course!" I said enthusiastically. I looked at Sadie. She scowled and nodded.

"Let's go!" Anthony led the way.

"See, Sadie?" I asked. "It's better if you just go along with your instincts."

"Instincts?" she muttered. "We aren't animals. Our chances of surviving are 25% greater if we rely on common sense."

"Yeah...and common sense says that people are naturally good."

"Some people aren't really people."

I sighed. No matter how much she talked about danger at every corner, I thought that was stupid. If she lived her whole life believing that, she wouldn't have any friends. Wait a minute...

"Hey, do you want to hear a joke?" Anthony asked.

"Sure," I replied politely.

Anthony cleared his throat. "Why do people call it common sense if it isn't so common?"

I laughed, elbowing Sadie. She didn't join me. "It's true. Common sense isn't common. Huh."

"So we're going to Barcos," Sadie said, more stating it than asking.

"You don't like Barcos?" Anthony asked. "It's a very beautiful place."

"Not the poorer side of it."

Anthony laughed. "The more you stay there, the more you get used to it."

"You're lying."

"So, tell me. What's it like being a sorceress?"

Sadie seemed really uncomfortable. "Why?"

"Well, I'm not very magic. I can captain a ship, but that's about it. Just curious."

"And who was this friend that you visited in Draida?"

Anthony shrugged. "A friend."

Sadie frowned. "Did you have a friend?"

"He's, uh...his name is..."

"She's your mom, isn't she?" I asked, sensing what was going on. "You came here to visit your mom. That's so sweet!"

Anthony nodded, sweating. "Eh...yeah."

"Don't be nervous!" I urged. "Why are guys so embarrassed by loving people? It's crazy."

"And what's your mother's name?" Sadie  asked.

I pushed her. "Being a sorcerer - or, should I say, being a sorceress, is-" I was about to answer Anthony's earlier question, but realized that I hadn't even been alive again for 24 hours. And I couldn't even remember much from 30 years ago. There was a moment of awkward silence. I looked at Sadie. "I'm sure Sadie would love to tell you all about it."

"It's very stupid," she said simply.

Anthony looked disappointed. "Aw. Why is that?"

"Well, for one thing..." She looked at me.

"She woke up on the wrong side of the bed," I explained. And she doesn't trust you, I thought. But I still didn't understand why Sadie was being so cranky. Was she always like this?

"Oh, I understand," Anthony assured us. "You should have seen this one sailor, Patrick, he was so crabby. He woke up on day, threw his whole crew overboard, and starting speaking this weird language. Then he steered the ship into a rock." He laughed heartily.

"Was he okay?" I asked, shocked by the story.

Anthony shook his head. "Nobody knows. The crew somehow reached shore, told officials, and got them to go looking for the ship. You know, 'cause it had a lot of cargo onboard."

"Did they find it?"

"They did not. Very powerful magic was used in the search for the ship, and Patrick, but neither could be found."

"Maybe he swam up to the surface and dragged the ship away with him," I joked.

"Maybe," Anthony agreed seriously. "I could always tell that there was something wrong with that man...nobody listened to me...you see, young Sadie, you could end up like him."

We walked on, numerous animals wondering through the forest. Sadly no unicorns. I couldn't believe this beautiful place was called the Forest of Nightmares. Then I remembered that I was talking to Anthony. What were we...right. Patrick.

"So...his crew was safe?" I asked.

"What? Oh. Yeah, I guess."

"Were you in the crew?"

"Oh, um...no. But I heard the story from the crew itself."

I giggled. "Then how do you know it's true?"

"Lady Starfish's crew never lies. They are honest people. Hey, we're here."

I looked up. We were in front of a massive wooden gate, which I guess was the gates of Barcos. Two armed men stood at either side, holding spears. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there was also a wall. Like, around the town. There wouldn't just be a gate and no wall. Then people could go around the gate and...I think you get it.

"That didn't take very long," I said.

"Time goes by quickly when you're talking to someone else."

Sadie looked around. It was obvious that she had some bad memories there. "It felt like a long time to me."

We ignored her and walked up to the guards.

"I see you have an adult this time," the right guard said jokingly.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, confused.

"I'm talking to the boy." He pointed to Sadie.

"I'm not a boy!" Sadie shouted. She glared at the guard. "What, are you going to chase us and throw things?"

The guard seemed offended. "What? Haven't you heard?"

"She hasn't heard," Anthony observed.

The guard shifted uncomfortably. (The other one continued to watch the road, in case you were wondering.) "All the soldiers in Barcos were under mind control. Some dark force was messing with our minds."

"Not the only time, huh?" Sadie said.

The guard nodded. "Sure. Only one of them resisted. The captain, Noah. He got away, to his secret underground bunker, and gathered some items. Then, somehow, he broke the curse. It was a miracle. We all woke up, lying on the ground, holding weapons. Noah was there, panting, and holding the most beautiful sword I have ever seen. He said he had to do something else and left. It was all very amazing."

"So you like being controlled by dark magic?" Anthony asked.

"That's not what I was talking about. Hey, girl," The guard leaned on his spear and looked around. "Where's your mates? I believe there was a magical talking penguin, and a boy, and the hero who defeated Amaatlik."

The anger on Sadie's face was priceless. "Hero?"

"Yeah. Jason, I believe. He slayed the horrible apocalyptic demon, singlehandedly, with no help whatsoever. I admire him. Where did you say he is?"

"Jason's dead," Sadie said coldly. "The other two are lost."

The guard stared at her, probably a bit disturbed. "Well, okay then, you two have a great day." He opened the gate for us and we walked past.

When we were a good distance away, I turned angrily to Sadie. "What's your problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so rude? He didn't do anything to you."

"Yeah, he did. He tried to kill me. That whole Noah story was a lie. I never saw him when I was here."

"Stop being such a jerk!"

Sadie's face reddened. She took out her wand. "What did you say?"

"I said, stop-"

"Whoa there." Anthony gently separated us. "What the heck is going on?"

"Sadie has social problems," I told him. "She doesn't work well with people. I wonder how she ever got along with Jason."

Anthony nodded. "And what do you have to say, Sadie?"

She tried to say something, but it didn't come out, so she just shook his head and looked down, ashamed.

"You two should know better," Anthony chided. "You're, what...sixteen?"

"That sounds about right," I answered.

"Come along then. My boat is ready for departure, and I can take you where you need to go." He headed down the road, not looking back to see whether we were following. Sadie and I followed him without a word.

Barcos was a beautiful city. Everything was clean, and white, and designed. A lot of thought must have been put into the architecture. Oh, and they had the prettiest gardens and the prettiest little dogs. Being walked by their owners, walking about the streets with swagger, playing at the park. One was the size of a teacup, with a round face and snow-white fur. I would have petted her if we had the time. Have I ever mentioned that I love dogs?

The farther we got from the gate, though, the poorer everything looked. Whites faded to dull grays and browns, not unlike the colors of Draida. There weren't a lot of dogs anymore. And the people seemed slightly sadder as well. We went through a gate, and there was no more happiness. It was literally so dull that I could have colorblind an I wouldn't have been able to tell. Yeah, they really needed to redo the place. Maybe add a few pinks, and whites, and yellows. And some smiley faces painted everywhere, for good measure. And hearts, and flowers. With smiley faces.

A small group of men crossed our path. They wore fancy clothing, and jewelry, and hats like Anthony's on top of long black hair. A few had mustaches and goatees. Skinny swords were attached to their hips. What are they called? Cutlasses? I could tell that they were pirates.

"Ahoy," one of them said. He looked like their leader, with the most expensive clothes.

Anthony looked more annoyed than scared. "What do you want?"

The pirate captain gave an arrogant smirk and walked around us slowly. I reached for my wand. "Think you can harm me, lassie?" he asked smugly. "Young sorcerers can't harm mortals. You are very...innocuous." He spoke in a rather elegant, charming manner.

"Don't touch her," Anthony warned.

The captain reached out and poked me. "Touch."

Anthony shoved the pirate, but his crew supported him. "Be gone, pirates." He said the word with complete distaste.

The captain's grin didn't waver. "You say that as if you aren't one yourself."

I shoved some popcorn into my mouth, watching anxiously. This was the climax I had been waiting before. No, not really, this was real life. Instead I looked back at Sadie, to see whether she would have an "I told you so" look on her face. Anthony was actually a pirate. Sadie was right, I was wrong! But Sadie was emotionless.

"You're an idiot," Anthony spat.

The captain cackled like the crazy man he more than likely was. "Hey girls, do you know who this is? He's none other than Skylos the Mutt, taking on the same old human form he always does. No surprise, mate."

Skylos breathed fire on the unsuspecting pirates. I looked away and gulped, not wanting to see the burnt pirates. "Sadie, Bianca, to me ship. It be the one with blue sails and a dog figurehead. Go!" He breathed fire again, and I dragged Sadie to the ship, which I could just barely see by the docks.

"I told you so," Sadie muttered, a bit too late. "Anthony isn't who he said he is. Like I told you in the dog shelter, ved spells don't work on animals. The one you cast on him in the Forest of Nightmares was faulty. All we can do is hope that Skylos really means well."

I smiled. "Don't think we have to worry about that."

10: Why I Don't Trust Skylos

Chapter 10

Sadie

The waves lapped against the ship as it gently rocked back and forth. It was a bright and sunny day, and we were going to save Jason somehow.

I should have felt relieved.

Sure, Skylos had just saved our lives, and said he was willing to help us rescue Jason. We were going to go find Calvin, and it looked as though everything was going to be all right. But even if Skylos was on our side, he tricked us. The ved spell we'd used on "Anthony" hadn't worked, because Skylos was an animal, so we actually believed he was a merchant. And how would we find Calvin? What if Skylos was going to try robbing us again, like he did when I was with Jason and Alexander/Rex?

I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't feel like turning around. So I kept staring at the sea.

"Hey," Bianca said quietly.

I waited for her to go away. Unfortunately she didn't. "What?"

"You've been pretty quiet lately. I mean, more than usual."

"Why do you care?" I asked impatiently.

I expected her to argue, like she always did, but she didn't say anything. Instead she just stood next to me and gazed at the sea as if deep in thought. "Any friend of Jason's is a friend of mine."

"Jason isn't your friend. He doesn't really like you. That was just Amaatlik's magic."  The instant I said it I felt guilty, but I was still mad at Bianca for the things she said back on land, and for trusting Skylos.

"If you don't trust Skylos," Bianca said, "Why did you come aboard?"

"Because I knew you would drag me on anyway. And there was a bunch of pirates attacking us."

"Okay. But...you know, it's possible to be too cautious."

I sighed and tried to give her my best glare. Who was she to judge? I tried to reply, but there was nothing to say that wouldn't drag us back into that stupid argument.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"I thought Amaatlik made you doubtful of everybody. Why does it still effect you? Didn't Jason turn the guy into a tree?"

"If there's anything I learned..." I left the sentence unfinished. Horrible images came to mind.

"What?" Bianca moved closer, which made me edge away uncomfortably. "What did he teach you by making you evil?"

"I...you can't...I...killed someone...because I trusted Amaatlik. Okay?" The words felt bitter on my mouth, and Bianca wasn't someone I wanted to share them with.

Bianca was quiet again. It took her a while to absorb what I had just said. "Wait, what? You mean you killed a monster, right? Surely you didn't..."

I shook my head. "I wish. But..." I looked down at my hands as if there were blood on them. "I almost killed Jason too, but he was lucky enough to get away."

"Are you serious?" Bianca asked. She looked confused.

"On our mission. We met a seer named Rudolph. He was really kind to us, and even tried to get rid of Amaatlik's magic."

"So you killed him?"

"Amaatlik. He talked to me in a dream. But he was, like...a sorcerer. At least that's what he looked like. And he told me to watch out for Rudolph, because he was actually a warlock. An evil sorcerer. I was stupid enough to believe Amaatlik." I blinked, and became of aware of the fact that she was using sorceress charm to make me talk, but the words slipped out of my mouth. "He said...he said that Jason had died too..."

"He was a couple weeks too late," Bianca thought out loud.

I felt like I was choking. "No. Jason didn't...he didn't die..." I managed.

"That's not what I meant!" she said quickly. "It's just...what did Jason dying have to do with it?"

"When we got to Barcos, I trapped them in a shed...um...and Amaatlik spoke in my mind. He said two words. 'Kill him'. I thought no, Jason's with him. Amaatlik told me that it wouldn't matter, because he was a ghost anyway..."

Bianca put a hand on my own. "Sadie, you-"

"No. It's my fault. I...used a spell to suck all the air out of the shed until it collapsed on top of them."

"He was controlling you!" Bianca said desperately. "Anyone would have done the same!"

I took my hand away. "Please go. I need some time alone, if you don't mind."

"No! You've been alone. Talk about it! You need to get it off your chest!"

"I can't. It hurts." I tried to walk away, but she grabbed my arm.

"Listen to yourself, Sadie. This is crazy. Some demon possessed you-"

"It didn't work like that." My mouth went dry. I swallowed. "It's impossible to control someone completely. Amaatlik just talked to me. Brought out my inner emotions. He showed me what I would have done anyway."

Bianca hesitated.

"I can't do it. I...I can't do any of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Going on these missions. I can't take it. There's just to many people. You never know which ones you can trust."

"Sadie. Look at me."

I looked up at her doubtfully. At that point I didn't know how to feel.

"Don't you think I worry about all that stuff too?" She asked. "Trusting people to not kill me, or tell me to kill my friends?"

"No. Then you wouldn't have believed that Skylos cares about us."

"I don't," Bianca whispered. "I mean...I do, but..."

"But? But what?"

Bianca looked around to make sure Skylos couldn't hear us. He was still in his cabin. "I understand what you're going through."

"You understand?" I scoffed. "You don't understand anything. You've been dead for the past thirty years."

"No...I'm on this quest because it's my fault. If it weren't for me, Jason wouldn't have...you know...gotten into trouble."

"Well, he did sacrifice himself for you," I muttered. "So yeah. I guess you're right."

Bianca shook her head. "I mean...there's someone I shouldn't have trusted...if I had just said no to him, none of this would have happened."

It didn't surprise me that she would think of something as stupid as that. I just wished that she would stop trying to make me agree with her. Why did it matter? Why couldn't we just...I don't know, do something else?

"You don't believe me," Bianca said sadly.

"I don't. Never will."

"Well, I-"

"Arrrrrgh, mateys! Ship on the starboard side, ready the cannons! Ship, ship!" Skylos crawled down the crow's nest in a hurry.

I looked back toward his cabin, wondering how he got to the crow's nest.

Bianca turned to me. "We'll finish our talk later. And I won't forget." She looked at the Skylos. "What do you mean, Skylos?"

The hellhound held up a paw as he got his breath. "I mean, there be a ship comin' towards us. An' we can only assume she is none other than the Kraken."

"There's a kraken chasing us?" Bianca asked.

"No, lassie. Ye know the pirate we saw in Barcos? Well, his crew must be angry at me for roasting their captain."

We all looked over to the right. A tiny dot could be seen on the horizon.  

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"Aye. Ye don't want to meet the Kraken out at sea. Fightin' her crew on land...that be less dangerous, but we are at sea right now."

"They're so far away," I said. "How much farther until we get to where Calvin is?"

"Much. We don't have time. Those bilgerats are going to catch up to us. We're going to die!" He started running around in circles screaming, for emphasis.

"Dying isn't a first," Bianca grumbled. Great: Jason's bringing her back to life was all for nothing.

"Shut up, zombie," I said coldly. "I blame you for this."

"What, me?"

"You made us join Skylos. I warned you, said that we would get in trouble. But you ignored me. So here we are. It's all your fault."

Bianca gritted her teeth. Her former patience was gone. "What else could we do? He was our only option!"

"Stop yer bickering!" Skylos ordered. "We 'ave to right our last wills. Who has a pen and paper?"

"How are they so bad, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, they don't have a captain. We have these cannons. And they're, what, a mile away?"

"Take a look fer yerself," Skylos said. He put a cannonball in the nearest cannon, and got it ready to fire. As the ship came into firing distance, which didn't seem to be very far, he lit it up.

We covered our ears as the cannon fired.

The smoke cleared. Sure enough, the Kraken was still creeping toward us. I could then make out the shape of a ship.

"See?" Skylos said. "She can't be beat."

"How is that possible?" I asked. "We did hit her, right?"

"Aye."

As it got even closer, I could see that the Kraken was unnaturally fast. It looked just as unnatural. I did a double take. The ship was made out of a dark metal. It should have sank being made of something so heavy. Maybe magic was supporting it. But that meant..."

"We can't take her!" Skylos shouted, as if we hadn't yet gotten the point.

Enemy cannons blasted, and Skylos' new ship started to sink. Men cheered from the Kraken.

"We have to get away!" Bianca declared. "Come on!" She grabbed my left hand and Skylos's right paw so we were in a circle. "Oredne!"

The air around us tingled. Everything had a white tint to it, as if I was looking through fogged up glass. The shouts of the pirates faded away.

I waited to be back home, or on an island, or anywhere away from the pirates.

The shouts came back, and I could see everything again.

Of course. We're only beginner sorcerers. Teleporting was for more advanced sorcerers.

"Darn!" Bianca let go of my hand, picked up her wand, and grabbed my hand again. "Let's try that again. Oredne!"

Still nothing happened. I imagined crickets chirping.

"I appreciate the effort," Skylos offered.

The cannons fired again. One almost decapitated Bianca, missing her head by inches and making her scream.

"If only Calvin was 'ere," Skylos said. "Though that be too much to ask. Into the water! We can't stay on the ship!" He jumped overboard, on the side away from the Kraken.

A figure poked his ugly head over the guardrail of the Kraken. "Come out, you filthy mutt! What, are you afraid?" He waved a cutlass threateningly. I recognized him as the captain we had met before. Impossible. How had he survived? Skylos breathed fire on him.

"You should be!" Bianca yelled, even though the pirate was addressing Skylos. She pointed her wand frantically. "Ugh, what spell do I use? What's a good-"

Water splashed in her face.

We looked down. The edge of our ship was only a few feet over the water.

"You may have won this time," Bianca snarled at the captain, "but we will prevail!"

"Come here, girl!" the captain urged. "We'll spare you. And I shall make you my wife!"

Bianca shook her head. A disgusted look appeared on her face."Sorry, but I decline."

The pirate shrugged. "Suit yourself then. Prepare to die." He told his men to fire the cannons once more in a finishing blow.

Bianca tried to think of a spell.

"Remember, we can't harm him," I told her.

"Let's fire a cannonball!" she said. "We should at least try to sink them. Get a good blow."

"We already tried that," I pointed out. "We're done. They defeated us." Before she could argue, I grabbed her and jumped off the boat after Skylos.

11: Taking it Slowly

Chapter 11

Bianca

Ouch.

I slowly opened my eyes, fighting to keep them open. It felt like someone was sitting on my back.

"Ahh get off," I squeaked.

There was no response.

I looked around, which was hard because I was lying face-down. And it was dark. Where was I? It felt like I was on dirt. Weren't we just on Skylos's ship?

"Help!" I shouted. "I can't get up!"

Someone grunted. The weight was lifted off of my back.

I got up. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I looked at the speaker. It was too dark for me to make out their face. "Uh...where...?"

The speaker laughed. "Don't worry. Soon you will wake up again."

"Are Skylos and Sadie okay?" I asked. "What about them?"

"You'll see."

I didn't like the sound of that.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness. We were in some kind of dirt-covered...place. A bunch of dark gray stones protruded from the ground.

"So I just wait here?" I asked. "Are you a guy or a lady? I can't really tell by your voice."

The stranger lit a lantern, illuminating her face.

It took me a moment, but I recognized her. Same young lady dressed in the same black clothes, with the long blond hair. "Jason?"

She laughed again. "No, my name is not Jason. You can call me Mary." Her voice sounded more feminine.

It was a cloudy night with no moon or stars. A few lanterns scattered around were the only light source, giving us a circle of light that penetrated the thick dark fog.

"What do I do?" I asked.

Mary smiled. "I was just wondering why we popped up here in the middle of the night."

"So...you're just as confused as I am?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm afraid so, dear. But whenever this happens, it's over in a few seconds."

"What do you mean, whenever this happens?" I asked. For some reason, the more she explained, the more confused I got.

"I visit a lot of people's dreams. Daydreams too. Mostly I give them motivation and counsel. The last guy I talked to was this guy named Calvin. He was really cute."

Calvin? Wasn't he Jason's sea serpent friend? I dismissed the thought. If Mary talked to someone named Calvin, she was probably referring to a human.

I looked around. "This is a dream? Did I drown? Or am I dead? Again? Holy mackerel, is this a graveyard?"

"This is a graveyard. I don't know why-you're just dreaming. What is the last thing you remember?"

I sat on one of the rocks. "Well...I was on this ship...and...pirates attacked us...then I remember some guy pulling me off into the water."

"I think the shock made you faint," Mary said. "And one of the sailors of the ship brought you to land."

I thought of Sadie, all alone, struggling to keep both our heads above the water and watch out for pirates with a giant metal ship armed with magic stuff. The thought made me sad.

I'll admit, she is a pain in the you-know-what, but she was just trying to protect us. And she had had bad experiences with trusting people. The poor girl, she was probably lonely if she didn't know who to trust. And I had yelled at her...

"I know how you're feeling," Mary said as if she read my mind. "Really, I do." I had a feeling she wasn't lying.

The lights started to flicker a little. One on edge of our circle went out completely. Then they were  still again.

"Oh my, we don't have a lot of time left," Mary informed me. "Listen. Don't worry about your arguing with Sadie. When it comes to people like her, you just have to take it slowly. Get her gradually warmed up to the idea of trusting others."

I stared at her in awe. "Wow. I never thought of that before. I was so rushed...you see, we have a week to go where we need to, for our mission. And going on the ship seemed like our only chance."

"Well, there is one other option," Mary said as another lantern went out.

"Let me guess. Is it dangerous?"

Mary smiled again. "No. You just have to go by yourselves. Find your way to a town called Odom. If you can orient yourself, it's south of Barcos."

The lights flickered again, but this time they didn't stop. The darkness started to creep up on us. It made me shiver.

"Good luck!" Mary said cheerfully.

"Wait! I still don't know..."

All the lights in the lanterns died, and we were surrounded by inky blackness.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

I woke up on a small wooden skiff. Our things were stuffed on the sides, and we were drifting around on the open seas with no sight of land. Sadie was sleeping at the front, which may or may not be called the prow. I'm not sure.

"Sadie. Wake up," I said as gently as I could. I nudged her.

"Don't worry," she muttered. "We're coming..."

I poked him again, less gently. "Sadie, get up!"

She got up and rubbed her eyes. "What? Where- oh. It was only a dream. Who are you?"

Her response took me by surprise. "Um...what was only a dream?"

"I had this dream where my best friend was gone. I was trying to find him, but there was this really annoying girl and an evil hellhound, and...oh."

We sat in silence. I pinched her. "That wasn't a dream, Sadie."

Sadie scowled at me but then looked crestfallen. "Oh...okay then." She looked around.

"I had this dream," I began. "And I saw this-" I stopped myself. Silly me. If I told her that I had met a shady lady in a graveyard, of course she wouldn't trust Mary. I had to be more discreet.

"You saw Jason?" she asked excitedly.

"Ehhhhh no. Sorry. But I was...alone...and I came up with a plan to find Jason by ourselves."

"How?"

"We need to make our way to a place called Odom. Don't look like that, we don't need Skylos. This time we'll go alone."

She nodded. "Yeah. That's fine. Just one problem, in case you haven't noticed."

"What?"

"We're in the middle of nowhere."

12: Wonderchow

Chapter 12

Sadie

Up until then, I'd been pretty confused. About everything. I guess getting some sleep made me think more clearly.

I would never prove Bianca wrong by arguing with her. I was never good at talking to people. The only way for her to learn the consequences of trusting enemies was to experience them firsthand. She would have to wait and actually see someone betray us. Then she would believe me.

Anyway, after we escaped the pirates, I found a little wooden boat floating among the wreckage along with some supplies and got in it, pulling Bianca in as well. How long we had been out at sea, I don't know. Hopefully not too long.

"We should make a to-do list," I said.

Bianca nodded. "Okay. Good idea."

I grabbed a sheet of paper, and a quill and ink. "So, what first...?"

"Like I said, we need to find Odom," Bianca said. "Other than that, I've got nothing. Do you have any food?"

I looked through the bags. "Nope. Unless you want to eat some of Skylos' dog food."

 "Why do you have dog food?" Bianca sighed. "Never mind. I wish we knew some kind of spell that would get us out of here. Like, "Find Odom" or something. Yeah, that would be nice."

"Amisto told me that we can only use it when we're trying to find a person," I said. "And I'm pretty sure neither of us have the energy."

"Give me that paper." Bianca took the pen and paper and starting writing on our list. "First of all, we need to understand our situation. Then, we need to make a plan. We'll go from there."

"Our problem? We're stuck on a boat while our friend is dying. Our plan? Magically teleport to a small town, and think of a real plan while we're there."

Bianca looked over her really long list. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

A seagull landed on the edge of our boat, next to Bianca, and started honking in that annoying way seagulls do.

Bianca nodded as if she understood what the seagull said. "Okay. Yeah. Thanks, Sean."

Sean flew away in a flurry of white and black feathers, cawing as if to say goodbye.

"Did that just happen?" I asked. "What...what?"

"Sean said we're close."

I stared at the seagull, but he was no longer there. "Why did he talk to you?"

Bianca smiled. "You tell me."

Eh, she was right. Some people are just easier to talk to than others.

So do we just keep heading in this direction?" I asked, tying to get it right. I looked at the sun, and then at the water. We were heading northeast.

"Yeah. Just let the water take us to Odom."

"That's it? We just automatically go to Odom? You've got to be kidding."

Bianca shook her head. "No. Sean said that we can just sit back and relax. It's like our own mini cruise. Kind of. Not really."

"No."

The sorceress grinned. "Aw, I can't fool you."

"What did Sean really say?"

"What? Oh, I don't know. He wasn't really named Sean. It's just that...you know, Sean and seagull both start with sea-"

"Yeah. I know."

"You don't think that's cute?"

"Why are we sitting here making up stories about talking seagulls?" I asked. "Let's think about our plan."

"Yeah. We can't use our magic to solve everything. Our brains are way better." Bianca pointed to her head. "Except maybe mind magic, cause...it's like a combination of the two."

"So, 'understanding our situation' as you called it..."

"I think we need to use magic," Bianca said.

I groaned. This was so stupid.

Bianca went through the bags. "You've looked in all of these?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What's in them?"

"Just a bunch of dog food cans."

Bianca looked in the bags for something else, but in vain. "Thad doesn't make sense."

"Why?" I asked. I hoped she had some kind of plan.

"How did you find the pen and paper then?"

"Ohhhh. I had that on me."

"Like...in your pocket?"

"Um...kind of." I looked at the list she made. "We might as well throw all of this overboard."

Bianca laid a hand protectively on one of the bags. "No. We might need it."

"Need it? What for, making it look like we threw up?"

"No, you goofball. For eating."

I almost did throw up when she said that. "Ew! Why would you eat dog food?"

"I don't want to, but it's all we have. We need to survive somehow. To save Jason." She picked up a can.

It was dark orange and had a picture of a giant gray dog on the front, smiling crazily and holding his own can. WONDERCHOW - YOUR HELLHOUND'S FAVORITE CHOW!

"Hellhound food is probably...um...more dangerous, than regular dog food," I explained. "You can eat that if you want, but I think I'll pass."

"Fine." Bianca threw the can back in the bag. "Maybe we should pretend to throw up. Just for something to do."

I looked away. "Whatever."

"Do you have a can opener?"

"Does it look like I have a can opener?" I asked.

"Well sor-ry, Ms. Grumpy, I thought you were more prepared."

I remembered my resolution to stop arguing, so I kept my mouth shut.

"I'll just bang it against the side of the boat."

I heard the ring of metal on wood as Bianca tried opening the can. Nothing happened.

"Hold on!" Bianca said. "I think it's coming loose." She continued to hit the boat with her can. It went on for some time...I was beginning to wonder whether she'd break the boat when I heard a popping sound.

"There it is!" Bianca cheered. "Ready for this?"

"Just get it over with."

She tore the lid off and threw it over the side. "Whoa."

"Yeah, that's what dog food looks like," I commented.

"No, look."

"Is this some kind of trick? Are you going to, like, throw it in my face?"

"No, I swear. Just look!"

Bianca had moved to the prow while she was opening the dog food can so I crawled over to her side of the boat, trying not to make it rock too much.

The contents of the can definitely were definitely not dog food. The can had been cleaned out, and inside there was a fairly big golden bone.

"Think that's Skylos' treasure?" Bianca asked after I'd seen the bone.

I picked it up and examined it. "Did he have treasure? Like, some kind of ingot? We sank his first ship, the Wonderwolf. What I want to know is why he would waste precious gold on a bone."

"Maybe it's a magic bone. See if it does anything."

I looked at Bianca. "You think this golden bone will take us to Odom?"

"Sure, why not?"

"You just want food."

Bianca stared at the bone. "Well? What does it do?"

I gave her the bone.

First she carefully scrutinized it, holding it close to her face. She started to sniff it, and tap it.

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"No." She put the bone back in the can. "That was really weird. What do you think is in the other cans?"

"My guess is more of his stupid gold bones. Don't get your hopes up."

Bianca tore through the bags. She grabbed a can and started whacking it against the ship.

Let's just say that it was a long day, alone on a boat with a really loud girl trying to open cans of dog food. Not everyday you hear someone say that...

"This doesn't make sense," Bianca complained. "They all have golden bones in them!"

I rubbed my eyes and got up. Had I been asleep? It was getting late. The sun was low on the rosy horizon, to be replaced by the moon and stars.

"Did you look in every single one?" I asked.

"Yeah. And like I said, they all have golden bones. Is this all you found on the ship?"

"It was floating among the wreckage. I just grabbed whatever."

"Bummer," Bianca murmured.

"Well, that was a waste of time." I looked in the cans to see if Bianca was telling the truth. "Hey..."

"What is it?"

"This bone is really tiny." I picked up the bone in one of the many cans littering the floor of the boat (or deck, whatever it's called). The bone was tiny, about the size of a finger. The first one was more arm-sized.

Bianca looked through the cans. "They come in all different sizes."

I looked in all the cans. There was probably twenty total, all with bones in them. Some contained more than one. "You missed one, Bianca."

She looked over at me. "Did I? Oh yeah, I did." She walked over to the remaining can. "How did I miss it?"

"It was buried under these cans. What's inside?"

She opened the last can, and I wondered how much banging the poor boat could take. As usual, it took her a few minutes. "Okay, I'm opening the can."

"No you aren't. You're just holding it."

She slipped her hand under the lid and started to lift it. "I'm slowly opening the can."

"Just open the can," I said exasperatedly.

"I was just trying to be dramatic." Bianca tore the lid off the can. "Holy crap!"

"What?"

"There's a skull in here." She took out a golden skull. It was almost as big as the can itself, no bigger than a doll's head.

"How does that surprise you?" I asked.

Bianca turned the skull around. "I can see why a dog would collect a regular old bone, even a gold one, but would Skylos really want to munch on a skull? I mean, really. What use was it to him? Do dogs do that?"

I took the skull from her. It grinned creepily back at me. "Maybe these bones are real, from Skylos' former enemies."

Bianca's eyes widened. "What? No. He isn't that disgusting. Why would he paint them gold?"

"I'm just saying. This skull looks pretty realistic."

My statement seemed to disturb Bianca. A sick realization came to her. "I just touched all those bones. Ewwww!" She wiped her hands on her shirt.

"It isn't that gross. They were painted over."

"But they used to be inside someone," Bianca argued.

That made me smile. Just a little. "Or something. All these bones look either too small or too big to be human."

Bianca backed away. "Let's put them back in the sacks."

"You've been dead before. Why does this creep you out?"

"I was a ghost, not a skeleton. Big difference."

"I think we should look over them again."

"I think we shouldn't," Bianca begged.

I took the bones from the cans and shook them in her face. It felt good to tease Bianca, to get even after all the times she'd teased me.

"Please, stop! Sadie!" For once Bianca sounded scared. She backed away even farther. Her hand slipped over the edge of the boat.

"Stop being a baby," I said. "You're afraid of bones, but not hellhounds and pirates? And pirate hellhounds?"

"Camrat!"

The bones in my hands shook wildly. I dropped them. Thankfully, they didn't crack, but they still flailed about like there was no tomorrow.

"See?" Bianca asked, her voice shaky. "Bones are evil."

I watched the bones writhing on the floor. They shook so violently, it looked as if there was an earthquake. "I think it looks kind of funny."

Bianca glanced behind her, as if she was thinking of jumping. "When I was a ghost-"

The bones started flinging themselves upward, almost hitting her in the face. We hid behind the bags.

"I don't get it," I stated.

"I know why Skylos hid the bones," Bianca said. "He had an orisk."

"A what?"

Bianca brushed some hair out of her face. "An orisk."

"And that is...?"

"Oh. Right. An orisk is like...he's like this golden skeleton guy who can be either good or evil."

"That's all you know?"

Bianca dodged a flying bone. "Most people who encounter an orisk don't live to tell the tale."

"Okay then." I winced as the golden orisk bones kept whizzed past our heads. "Why did you have to cast that spell?"

"Camrat? It means 'leave.' I didn't know it would summon the orisk. I guess any spell sets it off when the bones are all together."

So...if I got it right, if we hadn't taken all the bones out of the cans, none of this would have happened.

"Have a plan, before we die?" I asked.

"Just wait. Maybe he's a good one."

"He better be, or I'm blaming you."

Bianca looked me in the eye. "I blame me too."

The bones stopped clacking, and flew back to the boat. Something told me that the orisk was forming behind us.

"You can look first," I said weakly.

Bianca poked her head over the bag. "Yup, there he is."

13: We Will Never Understand Joe

Chapter 13

Bianca

Oh, no. What had I done?

I didn't know much about orisks, but, having been a ghost, I did know a little. If you put their bones together and release a little magic energy (and I really do mean a little; I hadn't even used my wand when I casted that spell), they come to life, and you are at their mercy. Most of them are pretty bad. Once they're finished with you, they turn back into a pile of bones and get scattered somehow.

And, well, it was because of me that we had to face him. I should have recognized the golden bones when I first saw them. They're pretty unique to the orisk. But I'm not smart like Sadie. Oh well.

"Come closer," the orisk rasped. "Let me see you."

I came out from behind the bag we were using for cover. "Um...hello."

Some of the orisk's bones had grown while he was forming. At first most of them looked like a tiny person's, but the orisk was, like, seven feet tall. The moonlight made it look as though his golden bones were glowing. He seemed to be struggling to stay standing, he kept wobbling and shaking.

"Are you okay?" I asked nervously.

The orisk placed his bony hands on his knees and nodded. "I'm fine. It 's been a while since I was last summoned. I just have to get used to my body again."

The guy seemed nice. I could tell that we were lucky enough to have one of the good orisks. "So...you'll spare us?" I asked.

The orisk shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

I waited for him to explain. He didn't, so I had to be a bit more assertive. "Because...?"

"You have escaped death. That is against the rules."

Well, that sucked.

I laughed uneasily. So he was going to make me a ghost again? That didn't seem fair, after all that Jason was going through. I decided to stall, see if I could change his mind somehow. "You...will let my friend live, right?"

"Possibly. If she ever comes out from hiding."

Sadie slowly rose, not looking our orisk in the eye. Socket.

"Tell me about yourself," the orisk offered.

I cleared my throat. "Well, we were just-"

"I'm talking to the other one," he interrupted. "What is your name, second girl?"

The more he talked, the more I wondered what he was like. He sounded nice, but he said he was going to kill me, but maybe not Sadie. And he didn't even want to talk to me. What was my problem?

Sadie looked at the orisk and then at me. "That's okay, Bianca can talk."

"I'd rather listen to you."

"It's okay Sadie," I said supportively. "Just tell him who we are."

"Shut up," the orisk ordered calmly. "She can't talk if you are."

I closed my mouth.

"Well, we're sorcerers," she began. "From a town called Draida. We're trying to save our friend..."

The orisk- you know what? I'm sure you're tired of me saying "the orisk" all the time. From now on, I'll call him Joe. Joe gestured for her to continue.

"Shoot. Uh...we were on our way to save our friend. But we don't know where he is. So we got this guy to take us to him, but a bunch of pirates attacked us, and we barely escaped. I got us on this boat, and...well, here we are now."

Joe looked at me for confirmation. I nodded. "Well, you haven't been on this mission for very long, have you?" he probed.

Poor Sadie. If fluffy, adorable Skylos made her wary, a giant glowing skeleton probably scared her to death.

"It's only been about thirteen chapters," she said weakly.

"Are you writing a diary?" Joe asked cruelly. "How girly."

"Well, I am a girl." Sadie looked really uncomfortable, to say the least. It was hard, not beings able to say anything to save her. I felt even worse for yelling at her before.

"What else have you written in your diary? Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"I'm not very interesting," she attempted.

Joe made a weird noise with his throat, making his neck bones rattle. He might have been laughing. "Listen now. I told you to describe yourself. And when I tell someone to do something, they do it. Otherwise, bad things will happen. Understand?"

What a jerk. I understood why Skylos hid Joe's bones in cans of Wonderchow.

Sadie stood, staring at Joe.

"Do you understand?" Joe demanded. The harshness of his skeletal voice slurred his speech a little, but that didn't make him any less intimidating.

She swallowed. "I- uh- yes. I understand."

"Tell me who you are. No more games."

"Okay then. Um...Bianca and I," she pointed to me, "we're both-"

"I only care about you," Joe interrupted.

"We- I'm from Draida. And...I've been on two missions before, with a friend, but that was with help from a mage."

"Friend? This zombie girl is your friend?"

Ouch.

"I meant another friend," Sadie answered. Every question seemed to make her even more and more nervous. "The one we're trying to rescue."

Joe stroked his chin. "And tell me about your friend."

"What? You want to hear about him, and his friend, but not me?" I asked. Not that I wanted to talk to Joe, but it didn't seem fair of him to just ignore me like that.

The golden skeleton glared at me, his dark, empty eyes meeting mine.

"His name is Jason," Sadie said quickly before Joe could hurt me. She fiddled nervously and struggled to maintain eye contact with the skeleton. "Someone brainwashed him and made him bring Bianca back from the dead."

"Then he's probably dead," Joe said. He looked at me with malice again. "He literally gave you his life. I hope you're happy."

A tear ran down my cheek. Surely Jason didn't die. Skylos said we had a week.

But how long ago had we joined Skylos? How long had we been on the stupid boat? It couldn't have been that long. No more than a day. Not long after the pirates attacked. Right?

"Then I'll have to slay you as well," Joe told. "Necromancy is one thing. Supporting a necromancer is another. Don't you think I want to go back to life too? Well I can't. Because Death made me an orisk."

He just got worse and worse.

"You were once alive?" I asked, trying to somehow convince him that we weren't bad people. It was a small chance, but it was worth a shot.

"Do not mock me," Joe scolded. "All of the undead were once alive. Now let me kill you. Maybe you'll finish your little story in the underworld. Some necromancer will bring you back, like your Jason did to you." He detached one of his ribs. The curved bone suddenly looked like a wicked scimitar. "Hopefully not." He raised his arm.

"Wouldn't you rather have us cower in fear while you make all this really suspenseful?" I asked. "We would hate that."

Joe lowered his rib sword. "You have a point."

"It's your turn," I said. "Tell us about yourself."

I didn't feel very hopeful. Joe was probably going to kill us, and make us finish The Necromancer's Curse as ghosts.

"I was just a regular person," Joe began slowly. He sat down on the edge of our skiff, making it rock. "But then I died. And became an orisk. Okay, now I get to finish you off."

"That was pretty short," I muttered.

"You make me sick. I really want to make you a ghost again. But, to make you angry, I think I'll spare your friend. She will always be a much better sorceress than you."

I sighed. It was nice being alive again. I knew it was too good to be true. While Joe's words were supposed to make me angry, I only felt an empty void of hopelessness.

"Goodbye, Sadie," I muttered, blinking a tear away.

"Wait a minute!" Joe tilted his head, almost making it fall off of his neck. "What did you say, girl?"

"I said goodbye to Sadie."

He replaced his rib and knelt on the floor. "Oh, my. Please...please forgive me, milady! I should not have...I thought I recognized you. Please, please forgive me!"

At first Sadie didn't realize that she was the girl that Joe mentioned. She did a double take. "Wait, what?"

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

"I had not recognized you! My, you have grown!"

"He knows you, Sadie," I interpreted.

She frowned. "Um...nice to see you...I guess."

Joe clasped his hands together. "Please forgive me. I will do anything you ask. Just don't tell Death."

She still seemed a little uncomfortable. She cleared his throat. "Can you take us to Odom?" she asked.

The skeleton nodded. "Yes, I know that town. Very well. We will go to Odom."

I sighed.

Joe placed his skeletal hand on the boat and hummed. It turned gold at his touch. "Next stop, Odom Village. Many thanks for your amnesty, Princess Sadie."

14: Visitors to Odom

Chapter 14

Lizabeth

It was awful quiet here in Odom. Not many people like to visit.

I was sitting on my couch looking at an old photo album. A little boy smiled back at me while he tried reading a story book upside down. I flipped through the pages, looking at all the pictures of my little boy.

His name is Noah. Twenty years ago, he left to join the military in Barcos, up north. I never really wanted him to go, but he insisted. His father thought it would be good for him. So we let him go, and he said he would come visit us before we knew it.

He never did.

I asked Larry - my husband - to go find him, to see if he was okay. Larry went, but he never returned either. Now all I have are memories, all alone in the house. People keep telling me to remarry, but I don't want to give up the hope that Larry and Noah will come back.

After a few minutes I told myself that I wouldn't accomplish anything through mourning and feeling sorry for myself. The moon was rising on the other side of the window, reminding me that it was time to make dinner.

I got up from the little brown couch, leaning on the coffee table for support. You know you're getting old when it's hard to stand up. Ah well. What are you going to do? I then put the pictures back and walked over to the kitchen. Thankfully it wasn't too far from the living room. I was feeling pretty tired.

"Just make your dinner and go to bed, Liz," I told myself. "You need something to eat."

Looking through the larder, I pulled out some meat and vegetables. There wasn't much left. Sooner or later I would have to get some more ingredients. At the moment, all I could make was some stew. It would take a while, and I really wanted to go to bed, but I really felt like stew. Plus, it would be nice to have something warm.

Once the meal was decided, I grabbed all the food I needed and got the oven going. The first step was to brown the beef. I put it in a pot with some oil. Then I removed it and added onions. Soon the flour, vegetables, and herbs went in as well.

I loved cooking. It made the kitchen smell wonderful, and took my mind off of Noah and Larry.

This particular stew smelled really nice.

One time, when I was making it, I forgot to add the flour. It completely ruined the stew, so that it was really thin, more like soup. If flour had a scent like the herbs I would have noticed. I will never make that mistake again.

I was about to remove the pot when I heard a noise. It sounded like someone knocking on the door.

Knock-Knock-Knock

For a second I thought I was hearing things. Could that be Noah and Larry? Had they finally come home?

But sure enough, the knocking came again.

Knock-Knock

"I'm coming!" I called. I ran over to the front door, excited, and opened it.

"Hello ma'am. Do you know where we could find a place to stay the night?"

In front of me were two girls. One of them, I guess the one who spoke, was smiling at me. The other one, surely her friend, was looking down shyly. Both of them were shivering from being out in the cold.

"Oh dear, why don't you poor things come on in. You must be freezing!" I gestured for the children to come in. Yes, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't my family, but what could I have done, let them stand out there, alone? In the cold?

"Are you sure?" the first girl asked politely. "We don't want to be any trouble. Is there a hotel around here?"

I didn't understand what she said. How could they have been any trouble?  Here in Odom, we love company. And what was a hotel? "Don't be silly. Come on in."

As the two entered my house, I became very interested.

"Nice place you've got here," the girl said, looking around.

Her friend still didn't say anything.

"Why are you alone?" I asked. "Where are your parents?"

They looked at each other. "They're...I don't know," the girl said absently.

I fluffed up some pillows. The house suddenly looked terribly messy, and I felt terribly guilty. "Well. Why don't you young ladies take a seat while I finish dinner. Maybe we can talk then." I went back to my stew.

Oh no! I had forgotten to put in the potatoes! And I hadn't quite made enough to serve three people. What was I going to do?

I quickly went through the larder again, looking for appropriate food. There was a little left, but there definitely wouldn't be enough for seconds. Hopefully my guests weren't too hungry.

Now, what I really wanted to know was what the two girls were doing here. They were acting very quiet, especially the red-headed one. I hoped that a nice warm bowl of stew would get them talking. Then I would see what I could do for them.

It took me a while to make enough for three bowls of stew. I had to substitute and even omit some ingredients, but it didn't turn out that bad. There was just enough for all of us.

"Dinner's ready," I declared after setting up the table.

The girls sat at the table. The first one started eating.

"So, tell me about yourselves," I said once they had eaten. "You must have quite a story to tell."

The first girl looked at her friend, who nodded. "My name is Bianca, and this is Sadie. We were...on a ship, when pirates attacked. I remember waking up in a little boat, and we were in the middle of nowhere. Sadie thought that we should just let the boat hit land. We landed here."

"Interesting. What did you say you were on the ship for?"

"Um...I didn't say." Was it just me, or did she look nervous?

I decided not to push her. They must have been through a lot. "You guys can stay here for tonight, and we'll try to find your family in the morning. But for now, why don't you go to bed and get some rest?" I got up and showed them the door to the guest bedroom.

Bianca took a leather-bound book out of her bag and ripped a page out of it. Her friend frowned, but she ignored her. "Okay. Here." She slid the paper over to me.

"What's this for?" I asked, confused.

"You get to narrate our journal. Good night." She went to their room, taking Sadie with her.

 

So, here I am now, writing what happened tonight. There seems to be more to my guests than they say, but I won't worry about them. They seems like really nice children. I look forward to them being reunited with their parents tomorrow.

15: What to Do

Chapter 15

Sadie

Don't ask why Bianca let...our host...narrate. I honestly don't know. Anyway, it's my turn to write now.

The day after our arrival at Odom, we were to wait in our rooms for something to happen. I guess Bianca thought that our "family" would arrive, and we could then go back to our quest and save Jason. She seemed really anxious about our deadline.

"How much time do you think we have? To save Jason?" she asked for the millionth time.

Remembering my resolution to be at least a little patient with her, I turned away from the window and looked back at my bed, which she was lying on for some reason. "Do you think I want to be here?"

"Well...I'm just asking."

"Why are you in this room?" I asked.

Bianca sighed. "I'm just worried. Mary said- I mean..." She bit her lip. "According to my instincts, we had to go here, Odom, and then we would know what to do next."

She wasn't fooling me. I wanted to ask her who Mary was but thought better of it. I would just start yelling. I had told myself to be patient with her, as infuriatingly hard as it was. She would only learn to be less credulous if something bad happened to her, and me holding back our quest would only get in the way of that. "Fine. We should be looking around. Skylos was going to show us to Calvin, right?"

"Yeah. Oh, wait. That means we need to go to Calvin and ask him what was wrong with Jason."

I shook my head. "Someone was using mind control, or something like that. Don't you remember?"

"I mean, his friend might know who did this to him...wait. Wait a minute." Bianca got up. "I have an idea."

"What do you-"

She jumped off the bed, rushed to the door, and ran away without another word.

"Okay then. Let me know when you're done being crazy." I closed the door and blocked it with a chair before she could get back in.

For the first time since going out to save Jason, I was really alone. Thankful for the peace and quiet, I carefully smoothed out my bed and sat down.

So, Jason had made someone angry, and that person made him kill himself and bring Bianca back from the dead. But who would do that? No one knew Bianca. She was from thirty years ago. If someone did remember her then they would be freaked out to see that she hadn't aged since then.

What really frustrates me is how the love potion wore off just before Jason...was done. Jason probably didn't want to see himself sitting there, about to die but not knowing how. I know I didn't.

Where would this "mission" take us? How would we get to Jason? Or even Calvin. Was Calvin even trustworthy? He was a very strange monster. No better than Skylos.

I hoped that Bianca had come to understand our predicament.

The door opened, knocking back the chair I placed and interrupting my thoughts. Bianca grinned back at me.

"How did you get in here?"

She showed me her wand. The white stick was glowing softly. "What do you think? Alkezem. Open."

The drawers next to my bed opened.

"Stop messing around!" I scolded. "They can't know we're sorceresses!"

Bianca put her wand in her pocket. "Why? It's not like Barcos, where magic is forbidden. This place is full of seers."

"Oh? And how would you know that? Have you been here before? Thirty years ago?"

"No. I was talking to Liz this morning." She set her wand on a little table by the door.

That made me slightly suspicious. "What did you talk about?"

"She just told me about Odom."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It sounds really cool. They're really peaceful. There's no military here, and they never get in any fights. Sounds pretty nice, huh? Have you gone outside yet?"

"No. Why would I go outside?"

"This village is so beautiful. We didn't really get a chance to see it last night because it was so dark. The buildings, and the gardens-"

"We aren't here to look around," I pointed out. "We're here because some lady told you to go here." I remembered her mentioning Mary.

"No, we're here because this is where we washed up."

I shook my head. Bianca was so hard to figure out. "Why did you run out of the room and then come back? And when will you leave?"

"Oh. Yeah." She held out a book. I reached for it, but she took it back. "No, I'm just showing you."

"Um..."

She grinned. "It's Hunting Amaatlik. I thought that maybe it could give us a clue as to who would get Jason."

"You have our old journal?"

"Yeah."

"How did you get it? It's mine and Jason's!" I reached for it again, but she wouldn't let me hold it.

"What? I've never read your diary before. Just let me look at it." She slowly opened the front cover and squinted. "What does this say...'At first...my day seemed like it was going to be normal-'"

"You didn't answer me - how did you get that book?"

Bianca ignored me again, reading the diary - I mean journal - to herself. "Wow. Jason is so funny."

I had a strange memory of Jason trying to convince me that we were monkeys. It made me wonder whether he put it in the journal. And, just in case I confused you, no - we are not monkeys.

"Hey, why did you name your journal?" Bianca asked. "Why did you give it a title?"

I looked at the title, which was written on the cover. "Jason came up with it."

"Oh?" She skimmed through the pages. "All this was only a few weeks ago?"

"Or so. Have you found anything interesting? Can I take that book back now?"

Bianca looked at me, then returned her gaze to the book. "Why did you write it if you don't want anybody to look at it? You won't let me look at ours either."

"Because, I want to look back on my experiences when I'm older. It would be rather interesting."

"You are so stereotypical." She put the book on the table, next to her wand, and sat next to me on the bed. I edged away.

"Didn't see anything," Bianca said.

"Yeah. Think I would have remembered if someone was mad at Jason," I responded.

"Did you even read Jason's entries?"

"No..." Yeah, I'm not a creep like she is.

I heard the sound walking up the stairs. Lizabeth poked her head in. "Hello."

"Hi Mrs. Liz," Bianca responded. "Does anyone know what happened to our parents?"

"I'm afraid not," Lizabeth said sadly. "I'm sorry. I've asked everyone, probably twice."

It occurred to me that she probably wanted to get rid of us. "That's okay, ma'am. We can go somewhere else."

Lizabeth brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face. She looked pretty stressed out. "Are you sure? Why don't you stay another day, enjoy yourselves while you're here."

Well, it was pretty hard to enjoy myself when my best friend was dying, or possibly already dead.

Bianca elbowed me. "Come on, Sadie. We could do some work for her, or something. You know what Mary said....Don't you trust her?"

"What do you think?"

"Who is this Mary?" Lizabeth asked curiously.

I shook my head. If she found out that she was with two young sorcerers, she might be scared of us. Then she would call the police.

However, maybe she would let us leave if she found out. I know I wouldn't want magic people running around my house.

I walked over to the table and picked up the wand. "Lizabeth, what do you think this is for?"

16: The Library

Chapter 16

Bianca

Well, it was pretty strange that Liz didn't see the wand when she first walked into the room.

"I don't know. What is that?" she asked Sadie.

Sadie looked pretty annoyed, as always. "It's a wand. For casting magic."

"Ooohhh." Liz examined the wand. "Where did you get it?"

I felt kind of sorry for the awkwardness Sadie was more than likely feeling, but she showed her the wand. I was still hoping to take things slowly, but, apparently, Sadie had other plans.

"Yes, we're sorceresses," she said all crazily. She pointed my wand at a candle on the table. "Muro!"

The candle was ignited. A small flame flickered on the end of that string thingy that they put in the wax.

Liz smiled at her. "Oh, that's nice."

Sadie looked at the fire, then at my wand. "What?"

"I wish I could use magic," Liz said cheerfully. "Odom is a magical village, you'd think that I would be able to. But it just isn't for everybody. Where are you guys from?"

Sadie was absolutely speechless, so I answered Liz. "We're from Draida. To the south-west, right, Sadie?"

I don't know why, but magic seems to make you a little disoriented, and it's harder to get your bearings and stuff. I find it rather ironic, because you'd think that magic is supposed to make your life easier.

"Is Draida a magical town?" Liz asked, interested. I hadn't really gotten used to the current Draida, having been dead and all. So...I didn't know if it was still as magical.

"Oh, it's quite magical," Sadie grouched.

Liz seemed happy to have two magical people in her house. Both Sadie and I had been wrong. "I thought there was more to you than I thought. If you're magic, why are you really here?"

Sadie gave me his warning look, as if she was saying, "Tell her, and you'll be sorry! Grrrrr!" But I ignored her. As fast as all this was happening, I felt fairly confident.

"The truth is that we're on a mission-"

"Quest," Sadie corrected me. "A mission is given to you by the Head Mage, or some other important person. We're doing this for Jason, so it's called a quest."

That cleared things up a bit.

"Yeah," I continued. "We're on a quest to save my boyfriend. Someone was using mind control on him, and made him bring me back from the dead. Then he disappeared. Someone told us to go here."

"He's not your boyfriend," Sadie murmured.

"What, are you jealous?"

"Say that again, Bianca, and I'll smack you in the face. I'm not in love with him, he's my friend."

The smile on Liz's face faded. "You don't know what happened to him?"

I thought back to when Skylos told us that Jason had disappeared, and we had one week to...what did we have to do? How much time had passed since then?

"We don't know," I said. "Whoever is responsible wants to be all mysterious.

Liz frowned. "So who told you to go here? And why?"

"I don't know. Someone named Mary. I guess this is where we'll find out what to do." I opened up our journal and briefly checked my entry again. "She wasn't very clear about it."

I was pretty sure what Sadie was thinking too. She thought that we should be doing all this by ourselves, without some lady that we didn't know. But she didn't say anything. She just stared down at the floor silently.

"Would you like to ask around yourself?" Liz asked me. "Maybe you'll find someone who can help you."

"I don't know..." I looked at Sadie. If her eyes weren't  open, I would have thought that she was asleep. What was she thinking about?

Liz seemed to be thinking as well. "I'm really sorry, Bianca. I don't know how else I can help you."

"That's all right," I said. "She's right. We better get going. Thanks for letting us stay."

I figured that Liz was lonely, here all by herself, but we had to go. We had to go find out how to find Jason.

Sadie looked up. "Wait a minute."

"I'm waiting," I answered.

"Do you have a library here?" she asked Liz urgently.

A slight smile appeared on her face again. "A library? You know nothing about Odom, do you?"

"Oh yeah, I was going to tell you," I said. "Odom is home to some of the oldest books in the world!"

"Not just books, but all different types of literature," Liz said proudly. "We keep it all in our library, like a museum. Why does it interest you?"

Sadie nodded slowly. "Maybe we can find something in the library. Something that will tell us what to do."

Wow. The girl actually shared her thoughts with us. But I was a little confused.

"You think that we'll find Jason in the library?" I asked her.

"No. But libraries are full of knowledge and wisdom. And that's what we need right now."

She had a point. There weren't really many options available. But reading wasn't really one of my best skills.

"I think it's a great idea," Liz said.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

We went to the library right away. Our chances of finding Jason alive weren't getting any better.

The library was right at the center of the village. I guess there were a lot of scholars in Odom, or maybe they just liked a good story, because there were a lot of people at the library.

"Why didn't Liz come with us?" I asked Sadie as we entered the large stone building.

"Don't think she wanted to," she replied. "This is our quest."

We stopped talking and looked around.

The library looked amazing, just like everything else in Odom. It was giant, especially compared to the other buildings in the village. The library had three stories, and you could look down from the upper stories onto the first. A giant candle chandelier hung from the domed ceiling. Shelves full of books, scrolls, and other written works lined the walls, with tables scattered about. And a good thing that it was so big, because there were a lot of people.

"Maybe we should come back later," she said. "We won't find anything in this crowd."

That made me laugh. "Are you kidding? We just need to get help. Let's just ask that guy." I pointed to some random guy who I guessed was a librarian.

"Wait!" She stopped me. "How do you know that he can help us?"

"You never know," I said thoughtfully. "But...surely all these people know their way around. Why not ask someone?"

I walked up to the guy. "Excuse me sir. Could you please help us-"

He turned around. Or should I say, she turned around. Oops.

"Please excuse her, she's partially blind," Sadie told the lady quickly. "You don't look like a man at all!" Oh, Sadie, I just can't stop embarrassing her, ha ha.

The lady laughed. She turned back into a man. "Sure I don't. I don't look like a man at all."

I covered my smile as Sadie stared at the man-lady, confused.

One thing I forgot to tell her. The villagers at Odom are really...informal. Yeah, no wonder she hates the place. But Jason would have loved it here...

"Did you need something?" the man asked. I guessed that it was his true form.

 Sadie blinked. "Um...yes. Yes, please. We're looking for a book."

"Well, don't need my help for that," the man said. "I think you're the partially blind one."

"I mean...we're looking for a book on-" She stopped herself before she said that we were looking for a necromancy book. Necromancy is generally frowned upon as "dark magic" or "witchcraft." "We're looking for books on magic."

"Oh, okay. You could have just told me that in the first place. Follow me." He started to lead us to the magic section. "Name's Andrew by the way."

"Nice to meet you," I said. "My name is Bianca, and this is Sadie."

"Are you sisters?" Andrew asked, glancing back with that silly grin of his.

"We most certainly are not," Sadie uttered. Ha ha, uttered. Sorry, I just had to say that.

Andrew nodded. "Okay. Friends?"

"Sure. Let's go with that." Sadie looked upon me approvingly. I think.

"So what kind of magic are you two looking for?" Andrew asked. "Nature magic? That's pretty common here. But you aren't from Odom, are you? Maybe water magic?"

"Nope," Sadie said shortly. There was a moment of silence, as if she made it too awkward to talk. Though that's probably mean to say. The truth hurts.

"So...are you a librarian?" I inquired.

"Are you talking to me?" Andrew asked.

I looked around. There was nobody else around. Then I realized that he was joking. "Um...no. I'm talking Sadie." didn't say anything.

"There aren't any librarians here," Andrew said. "It's too busy, and there are too many books to look after. But we manage each other. Hey, you, no running in the library!"

A little boy (Why was there a little boy in the library, among all the older people?) looked up at Andrew, embarrassed. "Sorry, Andrew. I'm just really excited to read books."

"Just make sure you don't do it again," Andrew called. He chuckled to himself. "Yeah. Like I said, we manage each other. No need of a librarian." Another moment of awkward silence. "Well, we're here," he said excitedly. "The magic section. I've got to go now, hopefully I'll see you again. Bye." He walked away.

"Well, he was pretty...nice," Sadie commented.

I looked around. The magic section was on the second story. We were right on the edge, so we could look down on all the little people below us. Anyway, the magic section consisted of a few tables and a bunch of shelves with all sorts of stuff in them. Well...books and scrolls, really. There were a few people already reading.

"I'll start looking over there," Said said. She looked around, then lowered her voice. "Remember, a book on necromancy would be helpful."

"Why would they have that here?" I asked. Like I said, necromancy is usually a bad thing.

"Ssshhhh! They said that nobody in particular manages the place. Who knows what the shelves contain? Just don't let anybody see you reading a necromancy book." She walked away, looking at the shelves.

Reluctantly, I grabbed a book and looked through it for something on necromancers and what happens to them when they cast one of their spells.

17: The Cake

Chapter 17

Sadie

There were a lot of books on the shelves that I was looking through. Most of them were untitled, or in some strange language. Those I could read didn't make much sense. The more I looked, the more frustrating it became.

Eventually I found a book with a black and gray cover. The colors of a necromancer. As I flipped through the pages, I saw pictures of skulls and figured that it had to do with necromancy. So I returned to the first page and started reading.

When you see a necromancer, remember that they are very dangerous. Carry an enchanted candle with you at all times if you expects to see one. Recite "Uze ta Elto" (Chants, pg. 504) to ward off the necromancer. If he mutes you...

The whole book seemed to be about fighting necromancers, but it apparently didn't even talk about what happens to them when they bring someone to life. I would have to look through it all day to see if it did. Pretty stupid, if you ask me.

But the skulls did make me think about the orisk that almost killed us. Apparently he thought I was some kind of princess.

It seems reasonable to believe that nobody will read this. So...I've never mentioned my parents before. I don't really like to talk about it. Even Jason doesn't know about them. My only memory is of them scowling down on me, when I was very little. They said something, like, "You have failed us." and ran off. I don't even remember what they looked like, but saw them as two dark figures. It was probably too dark for me make them out clearly. I was glad that Bianca hadn't asked about it at Liz's house.

The thought that my parents might have been royalty was disturbing. Why was I forced to live in the humble town of Draida, while they got to live in a castle and live perfect lives? Why did they abandon me? Did the orisk we encountered belong to them or something?

After I was left all by myself, Amisto found out and sort of adopted me. But after a few years he said that I still had to find an old house, abandoned just like me (there were a lot in Draida), and make myself comfortable there. He checked up on me from time to time, giving me the essentials I needed, but wouldn't let me return to his house, saying that it was too dangerous or something. Yeah, I don't know. What I do know is that if Jason found out about my strange lifestyle, he would be disgusted and never talk to me again.

Seeing the skulls in the book made all those thoughts come to mind, but they were interrupted when someone bumped into me and knocked the book out of my hands.

"Oh," he said, scowling at me. He started to walk away.

A bit startled, I looked down at the book and called after him. "Excuse me. Did you just say 'oh'?"

"Yeah. What, is that a problem?" he asked grumpily.

"Yes. Yes it is. Pick up the book." I pointed at it, just in case he didn't understand.

The boy growled, his hands clenched. "Well, I'm sorry you were just standing there, in the middle of the aisle."

"Sorry you're so clumsy!" I shouted back. Who was this boy? Why was he being like this? I hadn't done anything to him.

balled his fists. I imagined steam to be coming out of his ears. "You wanna go?" he challenged.

"I want you to go," I retorted.

He grumbled, took out a wand from his belt and pointed it at me. "Aich!"

The spell didn't have any effect on me. Yet, as I watched, the binding on the book fell apart. Its dark leather cover stiffened and crumbled. The pages dissolved into a fine, pale brown powder. All I could think about was how that book still could have had something that would help us find Jason.

"That's the library's! You can't do that!" I shouted. Oh, it was on. I quickly thought of a spell. Only one came to mind. "Posefre!"

The force of the spell pushed him back, knocking him against the other side of the magic section.

He seemed dazed, but shook it off. He was still holding that ugly brown wand. "Alol!"

The shelves around me creaked a little, and leaned precariously in my direction.

"Aegis!" I shouted, just in time. The books tumbled off the shelves, aggressively knocking on my magic shield as the shelves piled on top of me. Everything got dark as they blocked out the light of the giant chandelier and the lanterns. I desperately hoped that my spell could hold it. What would the boy do next?

"What do you think you're doing, Dorian?" someone shouted. As I was under a pile of books, I couldn't see who it was, but I recognized the voice as Andrew's.

Dorian, as the boy was called, huffed. "This girl here is being a jerk. Make him stop!"

The bookshelves were slowly lifted off of me and pushed aside, and my shield went away. I grunted as I got out.

"She started using magic, and then threw the shelves on top of herself to make it look like I did it!" Dorian continued. "I think the kid has problems." Surely he isn't talking about me. I'm not a kid.

I looked at Andrew. Thankfully, he was shaking his head. "I don't believe that for a second. Go home. You're going to have to pay for the damage you caused."

Dorian seemed furious, but not surprised. He gave me one last cold look before stomping away angrily.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked Andrew as soon as Dorian was out of earshot. "Your son?"

The young sorcerer sighed. "No. Just a boy who likes to cause trouble. Are you okay?"

"Um...yeah." I brushed myself off. "Well, I think we better go. Bianca?"

-down.

"Reluctantly, I grabbed a book- oh, hey, Sadie." Bianca poked her head out from behind the book. "Find anything?"

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, not in the mood to mess around.

She stared at me blankly. "What?"

"You were saying something about grabbing a book...?"

"Oh. Just talking to myself. It's fun. You should try it." She smiled and went back to her book. But I wasn't convinced.

"You know the book is upside-down, right?" I asked.

She blushed. "I'm trying to challenge myself."

I took away the book and looked at the pages. It was one of those foreign texts, written in a different language. "Oh, you're challenging yourself all right."

"Fine! I'm writing my journal entry." She removed her hand from a smaller book that she had kept behind the library book. "...and looked through it for necromancers and what happens to them after they cast one of their spells," she finished. "Okay, done."

As she said the words, they wrote themselves in the book.

"We're going," I said. "I can't believe you've been wasting your time here writing."

Bianca frowned. "I can't read any of those books, because I'm- I mean, they're for smart people."

I grabbed her wrist and walked away. We came here for a clue as to how we could find Jason. Didn't she know that?

"I'm guessing you didn't find anything," Bianca said as we left the library.

"Guess you didn't find anything either," I replied. She was smart enough to not say anything.

How will we complete this quest if everything was so mysterious and Bianca kept goofing off? She should be taking this seriously. Our friend was dying, if not already dead.

We walked back to Liz's house. As soon as we got there I went straight to my room.

"What's wrong?" Bianca asked, following me.

I looked up. "Get out."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow. You're a grumpy girl today."

I knew that there was no point in arguing with her, so I just ignored her.

What are we going to do now? I thought. Just give up?

Just then, Lizabeth was nice enough to come over as well. "Hey, you seem to be in a bad mood. What's wrong?" she asked. Of course, she wasn't talking to Bianca. That girl's never serious about anything.

"She got into a fight at the library," Bianca informed her.

"Did not!" I argued. How did she know? I thought she was just writing in the journal.

Lizabeth, who actually believed her, groaned. "Did you really, Sadie? Who was it?"

I turned to look at her. She looked more concerned than angry, so I answered, albeit reluctantly.

"Some boy named Dorian."

"Do you want to get back at him?"

At first I thought I was hearing things, or maybe Bianca was talking in a good impersonation of the older woman. But it was indeed Lizabeth.

"What?" I asked.

"I happen to know how you can get back at him, but not cause any harm."

I was a bit surprised that she was being so mischievous, but the words "not cause any harm" stuck to me.

"What is it?" Bianca asked, beating me to it. But she seemed mildly disappointed with Lizabeth.

Lizabeth grinned. "It's a special cake, called a Horace Cake, named after Horace the Avenger..."

Horace the Avenger is some fairytale about some brave knight who caught an evil warlock that killed his friend. The thought reminded me of Jason, and I was a little angry at Lizabeth for mentioning it. But I reminded myself that she probably forgot about our quest, and most likely didn't name the cake.

"It's highly magical, and if you give it to someone, they get sick for a week."

"That seems a little harmful to me," Bianca said doubtfully.

She had a point, but I was still determined. "How do you make it?" I asked.

Lizabeth nodded. "I have most of the ingredients. Except one-"

"Well? Can you get it?" I asked impatiently. I remembered how Dorian could have done some serious damage to me when he made the bookshelves tip over. I could get back at him for that.

"You need to take a wooden spoon. Activate it's magic, which will take a day, and then give it to me. I will use the spoon to cook the cake."

"That's not an ingredient," Bianca pointed out.

A thought struck me. I was suddenly suspicious. "Mrs. Lizabeth, I thought you didn't know magic. Are you a witch?"

Lizabeth laughed, shaking her head. "I can't cast any spells. Anyone can bake a magic cake."

"One more thing. How do I activate the spoon's magic?"

"You have to spend a day with the boy," she answered. "What did you say his name is? Dora?" I knew that it was too good to be true. There was a sacrifice I would have to make.

"Dorian," I answered. "Did you say that I have to spend a day with him? I don't think I'll survive."

Bianca sighed. "Does it have to go like this? Why can't we go back to rescuing Jason?"

"Now you care!" I shouted. Earlier she had been messing around, "writing" in our journal, when she should have been helping me research. "You kept messing around, I thought you just gave up!"

"I love him! Why wouldn't I care?" Bianca shouted back. Her voice was shaky. "I was just trying to cheer us up a little, give us some hope, so the- the quest wouldn't seem useless. But you're always ruining it, being so grim and all 'it's no use, we can't do it, everybody's evil, blah blah blah' but we'll never get anywhere if you keep being like that! Attitude's contagious, you know. I can't...can't..." Her voice faltered. Her lips started to tremble, and her shoulders were shaking.

What a drama queen, I thought. She thinks that, by crying, I'll feel sorry for her.

"Liz, where's your spoon?"

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

I managed to get out of the house.

Liz handed me the spoon and told me to leave. I think she's on Bianca's side, because she seemed a little angry. But that's okay. I don't need her.

As I walked away from them, I realized that I didn't have enough time to go over to Dorian and charge the spoon. I needed to spend a whole day with him if I wanted the cake to work. But I couldn't go back to the house to stay the night. They'd kicked me out.

I shrugged. "Looks like you'll have to sleep in some bush, all alone, until tomorrow," I told myself.

"Yeah. Nothing new," I replied.

18: Xavier

Chapter 18

Bianca

Well, it's the day after Sadie left, and she's still gone. She must be pretty intent on getting revenge. Or maybe she decided to do the quest on her own.

Liz said that it might make me feel better if I write in the journal, so here I am.

Earlier this morning, Liz told me that she was at the market and saw someone I might know. She described him as a short blond boy, looking to be about twelve years old.

"Do you know his name?" I asked.

Liz frowned thoughtfully. "I didn't think to ask. But, you see, when I was asking around about your parents the other day, I met someone named Abby, and she told me that her son knew Sadie."

I didn't understand what was going on, but if the boy knew Sadie, maybe he could talk to her.

"Do you know him?" Liz asked, probably wanting to help me after I had been yelled at by Sadie.

I shrugged. "Maybe I did, once. Do you know if I could talk to him?"

"Oh, yes. He should still be there. You might get to see him if you hurry."

I thanked her and dashed out of the house.

It didn't take me very long to find the market. It was near the center of the village, near the library.

The market was basically a medium-sized clearing with a bunch of stalls selling various stuff. There weren't that many people, they were probably all at the library, but there were a lot of animals. By animals I mean...hm. There were many different kinds. I think they were mostly pigs. I like pigs, they're so pink. Anyway, there were a lot of them, so the market was pretty crowded, and the pigs didn't like walking around, so they tended to stand in the middle of the isle they were in.

How was I going to find him? I scolded myself for realizing that there were probably lots of blond boys running around. There was one thing I could try.

As I've demonstrated before, I'm not so good at magic. It might look like I've been doing it for a long time, but really I had just started by the time I died. And it's not like I was practicing that much as a ghost. But I figured it couldn't hurt to cast one of the few spells I knew.

I took my wand out of its little loop on my belt and closed my eyes as I thought of how do to it.

"Find...the boy I'm looking for. He knows Sadie, so I thought maybe I should talk to him. I'm sorry if I'm supposed to say his name, but I-"

The wand ripped itself free of my grasp and shot into the air. I once heard that, if you fail, the wand points to something random and hits it. But my wand didn't do that, so I guess I didn't fail. Yay.

I almost stepped on a herd of chickens being walked by their owner. But those little critters, they're pretty fast. They managed to evade my feet. Thankfully I didn't really step on anyone.

It took me a while to understand why it was taking me so long. Yeah, it was crowded, but the market wasn't that big. I wondered why my wand hadn't found anything yet.

Then I saw a familiar looking stall. It was selling watermelons, and they had more customers than the other stalls. People seemed to like drawing faces on the melons. Not far from that stall was one that sold ice cream. They probably used magic to keep it cool.

The thing was, I had already passed by those stalls. Putting two and two together, I figured out that the wand was taking me in circles. Maybe I had failed the spell after all.

I was about to try getting my wand back when I noticed a blond boy running away from something, pushing through the many animals. He seemed creeped out by it. Something small, white, and glowing was chasing him. My wand.

"Hey! Come back!" I called to my wand. "Stop chasing him!" It didn't stop, so I tried a spell. "Um...gairc!"

The spell worked. My wand froze in mid-air, and fell to the ground with the dull sound of wood against stone.

I picked up the wand. "You there. I need to talk to you."

He looked at me, disturbed, and backed away slowly.

"No, it's okay!" I said. "Do you have a mom named Abby?" I felt like I was interrogating him.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. What's it to you?" he asked, sounding a little anxious but also curious.

 "A lady named Liz - she's a friend of mine - talked to your mom. She said you know someone named Sadie."

The boy grinned. "Gosh, that's a lot of names. Don't think I can keep track of them all."

It was good for him that I wasn't as impatient as Sadie. I remembered that Odomians were quite playful. He was also lucky that I like him. He's really cute.

"Do you know someone named Sadie?" I asked, making sure to smile.

He nodded. "The Sadie from Kanuda? Yeah. She's right over yonder."

For a second I was disappointed. Nobody has last names here, so it's hard to identify people.

I can sense your confusion. Bianca, what the heck is Kanuda? Well, I'll tell you. The country I live in is called Mericia. It includes Draida, Barcos, Odom, and other settlements. To the north is a country called Kanuda. It's very cold, and there's plenty of penguins and polar bears there. To the south is Wesico. Just a little geography for you.

"Sadie from here. Mericia. Do you know her?" I asked.

"Does she have a last name?"

Oooohhh. He asked it. No. The only person I know who has a last name is...actually, nobody I know has a last name. What was he thinking?

"Yeah. She has a last name. It's Gullible. Sadie Gullible. Do you know her or not?"

He laughed, not at all offended. "I'm not falling for that one."

"Well, it was worth a shot."

"I do know a Sadie from...Draida, is it? Is she the one you're looking for?"

I was so grateful I hugged him. "Yes! That's the one!"

"Name's Xavier, by the way."

I let him go. "Bianca. Nice to meet you."

"And you. I'm not twelve, by the way. Everybody thinks that I'm twelve. But I'm actually fourteen."

"You are a little...mini," I commented.

Xavier sighed. "I know. So...do you know Sadie too? Is she your cousin or something?"

Of course. It probably was awkward for him, being asked about some person by a random girl.

"She's...a friend," I said. A hard friend, but a friend. "We're both sorcerers. Well, technically sorceresses but...you get the idea."

Xavier was silent for a second or two. He grinned a toothy grin, looking more comfortable. "Oh. Hey, I know you actually."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. You're in love with someone named Jason, right?"

It was my turn to feel awkward. I didn't know my love for him was that obvious. "Um...why?"

Xavier looked really excited. "My friend Calvin knows Jason. Jason told him all about you, and Calvin told me."

"Oh...okay then." I didn't know whether to feel excited or sad, because I didn't know if that was before or after he seemed to stop loving me. "Who's Calvin? He sounds familiar. Gimme a hint."

"He's a sea serpent," Xavier supplied.

"Oh yeah..." I remembered Skylos talking about him.

Just then. I had a brilliant idea, it just popped up in my head like a worm popping out of the hole it made in an apple.

"Xavier, do you know where I could find Calvin?" I asked,

"Calvin? Oh, yeah. Why?"

19: New Eyes, New Heart

Chapter 19

Sadie

While my wand was leading me to Dorian, I wondered what I was going to say to him.

The thing was, he more than likely hated my guts. And I hated his too. So how was I going to make this work? How could I spend a whole day with him? Spending time with people in general isn't as easy for me as it is for Jason and Bianca.

Well, I thought, nothing is easy for a young sorceress like me.

The wand stopped. Looking up, I saw an ordinary Odom home. The only difference was that his house seemed a little...less cared for. One of the windows had a crack in it and there was some strange substance on the walls looking like bruise-colored slime. All of the other villagers, as far as I could see, kept their yards nice and attractive. Dorian's, however, was just a patch of dirt and weeds. And I think there were some bones in there too.

Breathing deeply, trying not to panic, I picked up my wand, brushed it off, and put it away. Then I walked up to the door and knocked on it. Knowing that the wood was probably rotten, I knocked gently.

The door opened.

"What do you want?" Dorian asked.

Seeing him, I forgot what I was going to say. I suddenly felt very weird.

Dorian sighed. "Are you here for magic lessons?" he asked with an annoyed tone.

"Um...yeah," I responded. It was all I could say. Any second, he could start yelling at me.

"I was being sarcastic." Dorian began to close the door.

I pushed on the door so that he couldn't open it. "No. I'm serious. I need lessons."

"Do I know you?" Dorian asked. It was rather strange that he didn't recognize me from the fight he started in the library.

"Quite possibly. Are you going to give me the lessons?"

"Are you going to pay me?"

I frowned and looked through my pocket. "How about for one ducha and...two...lozi?"

"Go back home, loser." He started to close the door.

"Wait!" I pushed against the door to prevent him from closing it. "Please." It took a lot of self control to not yell at him. Thankfully, I've been working on it since coming back home from hunting Amaatlik. A little. "I thought you aren't good at magic. It's not like you're too good for me."

"Bad at magic? What makes you say that?" Dorian asked scornfully.

I shrugged. "You said you were being sarcastic after talking about giving me lessons. Thus inferring that you're bad at magic. I would like a humble teacher."

Dorian glared at me for a few seconds. "Fine. You get one hour. Meet me out back." He took my gold and silver coins and stomped back into his house, slamming the door behind him.

I considered the possibility that he might be a monster, and I would be walking right into a trap. Surely he would have recognized me. Maybe he sensed my magical power and wanted to eat me and gain it for himself. And could a human be so ill-tempered and cold? Surely only monsters acted like that. Or people under mind control.

I was going to walk away under the assumption that Dorian was indeed a monster. But confidence and curiosity got the better of me. I took out my wand and opened the gate to Dorian's back yard.

"It's about time you arrived," Dorian huffed. He was in human form.

"Where do we start?" I asked, ignoring him.

I remembered that I had to spend time with him all day for the Horace Cake to work, and he only promised to teach me for an hour. But Dorian's words interrupted my thought.

"I see you have a wand. That's the first step to learning magic," he said.

"What's the second?"

He took out his. "Point your wand at something and say a magic word. This is called a spell. Do you know any?"

I did know some. Since Amisto stopped giving me power, I remembered a few, but only so. "I know a spell or two," I replied. I pointed to a dead plant in his back yard. "Kob!"

At first nothing happened. Then the little plant quivered slightly. It slowly propped itself up, and turned from brown to green.

"Is that all?" Dorian asked. "You can make a plant grow?"

I can also do this. Cantaren!"

A tiny green frog that was hiding in the weeds hopped out. It looked up at me, then at Dorian. It's slimy skin shone in the morning sunlight.

Dorian smirked. "And you can summon a frog. Brilliant."

I shook my head. "Wait for it."

The frog grew feathery white wings and used them to fly into the air. It started to sing, flying around the boy who had a very red face.

"Oh yeah?" Dorian hissed. "Anyone can do that. Cantaren!"

I don't know how he expected the frog to become enchanted again. He was indeed pointing at the frog. Instead, the frog stopped singing and hovered in the air.

"Wait for it," Dorian said, mimicking me. He sounded boastful, but now I think I heard a little hope in his voice as well. That's because he failed his spell.

The frog's wings fell off. Without them, it fell to the ground with a horrid splat that made me shudder. The frog screamed and slowly withered away until it was just a skeleton.

"Oh. Very nice," I commented. "You can kill a frog. That's always useful."

Dorian stared at the skeleton. "Okay, we're done. Goodbye." He walked back into the house.

"What about my money?" I asked.

Dorian stopped, but didn't look back at me. "You- you can keep it." He dug the coins out of his pocket and threw them at me. I caught them.

I was in a state of panic. I was supposed to be with Dorian all day in order for the spoon to work. "Wait!"

"Haven't you messed with me enough?" Dorian asked.

"What?"

"You think I have no hope at being a sorcerer. All I can do destroy. I don't belong here, among all these seers. I'm supposed to create, and heal, and do good things. But all I can manage is that." He pointed to the dead frog. "You don't know what it's like to be so...useless."

At first I was confused. Something about what he said made me uncomfortable. I felt something that I surely had never felt before. I certainly didn't recognize it. Was it...empathy?

I had a flashback of when I was with Jason. I was like his sidekick. I got brainwashed by Amaatlik. He was the real hero, because he was the one that met Bianca. He started our quest to find Alex, and ended up finding two Alexes. He trapped Amaatlik, while I killed a man and could have slain more. No, I knew what it was like to feel useless.

Sure, I had felt sorry for people before. But at that moment I figured out that I had never truly understood someone. All my life I have been a weirdo, some girl who lives alone, in a dilapidated house. Someone who's always looking on the dark side of things. The hopeless, the faithless. The conceited girl that never smiled. I felt as though I would never find someone like me. But there I was, standing in front of Dorian.

I thought of all the other people I had misunderstood. Jason and Bianca. The closest I had ever gotten to friends. But how had I treated them? They were just trying to get help. Two teenagers can't get very far by themselves. If it weren't for Rex/Alex ,Calvin, Skylos, and all the others, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere. And Jason and Bianca were just trying to cheer them up. In thanks I had made them depressed and angry.

Not once had I thanked Amisto for all that he had done for me. He found my house, and while it wasn't much it was still a home. He gave me food and water and clothes. And lots of books to read. But all I could think about was how he didn't let me live with him, or someone else. Of course, I don't blame people for not wanting me to.

And Amy. The sorceress I had promised to teach back in Draida. When I was looking for Jason. Well, I hadn't met her at the park to give her lessons. I hadn't even thought about her at all after she left.

I know there are many more people that I left out. People I could have treated better. Another new feeling. Humility. Humbleness. I recall that Jason always felt those, even though he never had any reason too. He is a great person. I was the one that should have felt humiliated. Humiliated because of all the wrong that I have done. If I could relive those moments I had spent with Jason on our mission, I would give him all my pride.

And here I was, about to make Dorian sick. The one I had so much in common with. While I could have been trying harder to find Jason. For all I knew, he could have been dead. Had a week passed?

I took the wooden spoon and snapped it in half.

20: It's About Time

Chapter 20

Xavier

I led Bianca over to the place where I last saw the mermaids. The beach looked just as I'd left it, with the waves too lazy too brush against the cold gray-brown sand. The palm trees gave plenty of shade, and rocks provided good seating.

"So...we just call them, and they'll take us to Calvin?" she asked.

I liked that she said "we" and "us." Bianca's hot. And she let me write in her diary/journal.

"Xavier?"

"Oh. Yeah. We need a conch to blow." I looked at her expectantly.

Bianca laughed. "Okay. Get the conch."

"Oh."

"Wait, what?"

"Can't you just make a conch shell appear out of nowhere?" I asked. "You know...'cause you're magic?" It seems only logical, right? Sorcerers should be able to make things pop out of thin air.

"Aren't you?" Bianca asked. "Magic, I mean."

"I wish."

Bianca stared at me for a moment. "But you live in Odom."

"Yes."

"So shouldn't you be magic?"

I thought about my time here in Odom.

I was born there. My parents and I lived perfectly happy, minding our own business. Then they had to go on a stupid quest to find some demon who apparently came all the way over here to Mericia from Gaeleg (some stupid foreign country somewhere to the East), just so he could eat the sun. Or something like that. My parents dropped me off at a babysitter in Port Barcos.

But, you know what? That babysitter wasn't very nice. I decided to leave with Jason, Sadie, and Calvin. We went on a quest and some giant bird grabbed me. That's where it all got really weird. The air started shifting, and everything was all...distorted. I got all dizzy, like when I think of Bianca, and then BOOM. I was in this weird room, with the demon and his Gaelegan accent. Wait...I think his name was Amaatlik. Yeah. Calvin and my parents were there already. Amaatlik put us under this brown blanket that made us fall asleep. When I woke up, I saw Jason. Now that I think of it, Jason was acting a little weird. But I was so excited back then. Sadie came some minutes after Jason, and pretended to attack us or something. Then, when my mom's wand dried off, she teleported us back to Odom. And-

Oh, I was talking about why I don't know magic. Well, it's kind of...well, since Bianca isn't reading this, I guess I don't mind writing it down. Just to avoid awkwardness.

Actually, no. I won't. Ha, in your face!

Where was I? I think I was talking about Bianca and how beau- I mean we were talking about magic conch shells.

I was about to tell her something funny when a soggy black shape rose from the water, dripping and covered by strings of seaweed. It walked towards us.

"Har har har!" the shape chuckled and shook itself to dry off. "Ahoy, lassie!"

Bianca laughed. "Skylos! Is that you?" She ran over to what I later found out was a pirate dog. I figure he was in Jason's first journal, but Calvin didn't tell me about him. He and Bianca seemed pretty happy to see each other.

"You came back!" Bianca said as she picked seaweed off of him. "How did you find us?"

Just kidding, that never happened. Skylos never showed up. Gosh, writing in a journal is fun. I get to be as mean as I want and not offend anybody. I only hope Bianca doesn't read this. That would be pretty embarrassing.

What really happened is Bianca tried to summon a conch shell. Unfortunately she didn't know how.

"Well, looks like we're going to be stuck here," I said. "Don't you have someone with you? Someone who could help us get a conch shell?"

Bianca gave me a really strange look. I couldn't tell whether she was angry or sad. "Well, there was. He didn't want to join me anymore though. He thinks everyone is an evil monster and said that I was too trusting."

"Who is he? I'll kick him for you," I offered. I meant it. Whoever made Bianca look stupid is...well, stupid. She's the smartest person ever. That is...

"You trust me, right?" I asked.

She laughed, smart enough to not answer that question. Saying so would only prove her partner right. I hope she trusts me though. How could we be a thing if she thinks I'm actually a monster in disguise?

We sat there for a little while, watching the seagulls fly across the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. I was glad to have Bianca with me to enjoy it. Then I remembered something. Something important.

"You're from Draida, right?" I asked.

"Yeah...why?"

I told her about the strange things that happened in her town, trying my best to not make her extremely nervous. I told her everything my parents told me. The reports of zombies showing up all over town, the kids who kept disappearing, and the man named Alex who was supposed to be responsible for it. He apparently told the police that a boy went into his house and then left. That same boy went missing later on. It would have been a better story if I had better details, but Bianca seemed to get it.

"So...there's a bunch of zombies? Did they...do anything?" she asked, frowning.

I nodded. "You know what a zombie is, right?" She didn't seem to, I guess it's a boy thing.

"I know what a zombie is," she said politely. "What's the problem?"

I didn't believe her but thought it would be best to move on. "Well, they're not killing anybody or eating any brains. None of that. My dad said they're just causing mischief, stealing from the market and stuff. They think the potion brewer, Alex, caused it because he ran away from the authorities."

I'm not allowed to write down Bianca's reaction to what I said. Being the respectful gentleman that I am, I won't. I have to stop writing now, she said I could only write a couple of pages. Maybe I'll get to write more. Until then.

21: Finding Bianca

Chapter 21

Sadie

Before you say anything, I know it's Bianca's turn to write. She left the journal at Lizabeth's house, tearing some pages out to write. I doubt she's coming back, so she must not want to write more than those pages will allow.

I wonder how Bianca is doing. She trusts everybody, and eventually she'll find someone who can't be trusted. Like the pirates of the Kraken. Not that she trusted them, but still. Who knows what kind of crazy guy she could be with right now.

I probably don't show it, but I care about her. She and Jason would make a great couple, and she has to survive so we can find out what happened to him.

As I was going back to Lizabeth's house, I hadn't yet found out that she left. I was expecting her to be waiting for me to get back, and wanted to apologize for being a jerk. I even had plans for how we would continue with the quest without fighting.

"Sadie, you're back," Liz said when I arrived. The smile on her face was faint, and her eyes didn't show their former warmth. I could tell that she was still mad at me for yelling at Bianca.

"Listen, I know that I was wrong! Please forgive me!" I begged. I felt strange and still do. Being submissive isn't my thing. I don't want people to think I'm weak. But what could I do?

Liz looked at me, biting her lip. "Where's my spoon? I suppose you want me to make the cake now?"

She was testing me.

"I broke it. Such a horrendous tool shouldn't be in your possession. Making people sick just for the heck of it isn't right."

Liz seemed to relax a little. She waved me in. "Why don't you come inside, Sadie. We have something to talk about."

Taking a deep breath, I entered and followed her to the table. There were two little plates, each with a round pastry on it. They were decorated with frowning faces made out of red frosting.

"Are those Horace cakes?" I asked.

She nodded. "Would you like one? They're still warm. Go ahead, try it." I sat down. Why was she so upset? I said I was sorry. Some people just don't forgive easily.

Liz laughed as she sat down across from me, in front of the other cake. "Don't worry, they won't poison you. These ones are just for eating."

"Oh, really?" I looked at the cake in front of me. Since my emotions lately have betrayed me, I tried to think more logically. I hadn't seen Liz with the wooden spoon. Why did she want me to eat them? What was the point? I took a bite of the cake. "It's not bad," I said, eating my cake's eye.

Liz smiled again. She still looked wary of me, but not as much as before. "Do you know where Bianca went?"

I shook my head and took another bite of the cake.

"She left me a note saying that she had to get back to the mission. She didn't want to leave you, but thought that it would be better that way. The two of you just aren't a good pair, or something like that."

"Wha-" I started to choke on my Horace cake. And I continued to choke. Bianca, gone? Without me?

"Sadie! Are you okay?" Seeing that no, I was not okay, she got a glass of water and placed it in front of me. I took a sip and cleared my throat.

"She's gone?" I asked. "How does she expect to do everything on her own?"

Liz shrugged. "She has a friend with her. Someone named...I think his name is Xavier."

I was taking another sip of water and choked again. "WHAT? Xavier? That's even worse! I have to find them!" I remembered Amisto saying that the tracking spell could only be used once every three weeks. In case you thought I was forgetting something.

"I'm sorry," Liz muttered. She looked out the window, understanding. "I should have made sure that she stayed here, where it's safe. I'm a terrible host."

I knew that I should have insisted that it was my fault, but something stopped me. Whatever I was going to say was at the tip of my tongue when Liz spoke again.

"So you two aren't siblings or anything?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, just friends. We're both trying to find Jason because he's our friend. Or...at least he's my friend. Bianca fell in love with him somehow, and thinks that he will love her back if we save him." As soon as the words left my mouth I realized that I shouldn't have said them, but Liz didn't seem to mind.

"She's a young woman. We tend to get all worked up about that kind of thing," she said. She took a bite of her cake.

"What I don't understand is that she thinks everybody is a friend. Everybody. She even trusted a hellhound."

Liz looked at me for a moment. "She was just risen from the dead, and found out that her possible future boyfriend died because of it. She's probably going through a state of shock, and is desperate for any source of help she can get. I'm sure it's nothing personal."

"Wow." I bit the other eye on my cake and thought of how I could respond to that. "How are you so...smart?"

"I'm old. Age usually brings wisdom. Plus I remember being her age." She paused as memories of her past came to mind.

"Wait a minute. How did you know that Bianca's a zombie?" I asked.

"She showed me your journal. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," I lied. "It's hers too."

We both had some cake, which by the looks of it wasn't poisoned. Why did she give me the cake if it was safe to eat? I briefly reflected that it might have been a good idea to switch them.

"Hey Sadie," Liz said. "Before you go, there's something I would like to offer you."

"What is it?"

She pushed aside her plate. The cake was half-eaten. "When my son was little, we used to play a game. He called it Mindreading. We would look at somebody and try to guess what they were thinking. It took a while, we had to look at their face, their posture, who they were with. Once we figured out their thoughts and emotions, we pretended that we were them, and imagined what it would be like to live in their skin. What we would do if we were them. And then we went up and asked them to see if we got it right."

"Did they think you guys were weird?" I asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "No. They knew we weren't boring."

I wondered if I was supposed to get it. Did her story have some sort of moral lesson? Was she trying to tell me something?

"Liz, why did you tell me the story?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Now, I'd look for Bianca if I were you. You need each other."

I got up, but then remembered what was on my mind after I was choking. The pictures I'd seen on the walls, mentioning her son. The fact that she seemed lonely. "One last thing. Is your son's name Noah?"

Liz looked up at me, shock on her face. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"I think so."

22: The Mermaids

Chapter 22

Bianca

Xavier took his mouth off the shell I finally managed to summon and smiled at me, panting. "Well, they should be coming any second," he said.

I tried to smile, but my mouth stubbornly refused to move. My feet were stuck in the sand, and all I could do was stare at Xavier like he was a monster. Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but it's how I felt.

How could Alex do such a thing? Is he some kind of evil sorcerer? The nephew I knew was a little paranoid, but he cared about people. He would never attack Draida like that...and I can't help feeling like he was the one who killed Jason. But how, and why?

"Have you ever seen a mermaid, Bianca?" Xavier asked.

All I could manage was a shake of my head. I sat down on a rock, waiting for the mermaids to come.

Xavier sat down next to me. "They're the most- oh, look! There they are!"

A head popped up some distance from shore, and a few more heads after that. I counted six. They all had pale faces and long black hair. One of them waved to us.

"That's our cue," Xavier said excitedly. "Come on, let's go!"

"In there? Like, in the ocean?" I asked, looking at the cold grayish-blue water. I had never swam before. There are no bodies of water at Draida, so I never got the chance to learn.

Xavier laughed. "Come on, it's not that far. I'll get us a stick to hold onto." He ran over to a tree, climbed up the trunk a foot high and held onto a weak lower branch, breaking it off. With the branch in hand, he ran back to me.

"Thanks," I muttered, holding onto the branch firmly.

We stepped into the water. It was colder than I thought, but I knew I couldn't turn back. I felt my foot slip, and for a second my head was under the surface. I gripped the branch even harder and coughed the water out of my throat, kicking as hard as I could.

"Bianca! Are you okay?"

I got myself to smile. "Yeah, that just surprised me." I didn't know swimming could be so hard. Ask Jason or Sadie if they can swim, and I bet you they would say no.

The mermaids came a foot or two closer and looked at us curiously. Some of them appeared distrustful but others, by the looks on their faces, were at ease. We were all friends of Calvin after all.

"Hey Selena," Xavier said. "How's it going?"

One of the mermaids rolled her eyes. "Why did you call us, little human? We were busy singing."

"Can you sing for me?" he asked.

"No." Selena looked at me. "And who is this, your girlfriend?"

"What, Bianca? Yeah."

"What? No!" I pinched Xavier. The movement made me slip again, and I started to choke on the water. Stupid karma.

Selena laughed. "You humans are so predictable. Do you need something, or...can we go?"

I leaned forward a little on our branch. "Yes. I mean no. I mean...we need something. We're looking for someone named Calvin, and Xavier said you guys would be able to take us there. Oh, wait. He wasn't lying, was he? Can you take us?"

"Well..." The mermaids looked at each other. "I'm sorry, we don't know who Calvin is," Selena said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we should really get going-"

My heart sank as I heard the news. Calvin was our only chance at finding Jason, and if we couldn't find him, then what would we do?

"Wait! Okeanos, his real name is Okeanos!" Xavier blurted. He looked at me. "Right?"

Selena swore. "Why would you want to go to him? Do you know who you're talking back?"

From then I didn't know what to think. Selena seemed to really hate Xavier, which wasn't good since we wanted her to help us. At least Sadie wasn't there, she would have scared her off at first sight. No offense against her.

"We're sorcerers," I said. "Or at least I am. I think we'll be safe."

"Then you should know that magic doesn't work well underwater," another mermaid said. "Of course, we can't expect you to know that. It's obvious that you're a novice."

What the heck was her problem? If I had known that mermaids were such snobs, I would have thought twice about this. Was it that obvious that I'm a beginner?

"Shut up, Melody!" Selena snapped. She gave me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, dear. It's just that...Calvin isn't the most approachable guy."

"Is he, like corrupted?" Xavier asked. Part of him looked concerned, but his eyes sparkled. The challenge of restoring his friend seemed to make him excited. He's a pretty weird boy.

Selena shook her head. "No, he's just in a really bad mood. Who knows what's on his mind. We haven't been able to talk to him ever since he came home."

"Where did he go?" I asked.

"On the quest with Jason," Xavier answered. "He couldn't come to Draida with Jason, so they had to split up."

"Were they that close?" Selena asked. "Jason is a human name. Okeanos befriended a human?"

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked. Something about her statement made me upset. "What's wrong with a friendship between a human and a sea creature? You're being so racist!"

The mermaids whispered to each other. One of them swam away.

"I can tell that meeting him really means a lot to you," Selena said. "Though don't complain when Okeanos doesn't want to talk to you. Here."

She handed us each a dark gray ring with a bright blue gem. We put them on. I made sure to keep my hold on the branch.

"Those rings will let you breathe underwater," Selena explained. "Are you guys ready?"

We nodded and followed the mermaids as they dived under. It was pitch-black. If it weren't for the strange feeling of time having slowed down, I would have thought that we were still up above.

"Your eyes will adjust," Selena said. She pulled my hand. I wondered if she was pulling Xavier too or just left him there.

"Okay," I replied. I heard a strange beating sound, which I later found out to be the mermaids moving their arms and tails. Future me, if you're laughing at me right now, stop. I said that I'd never been underwater before, and I had no idea what it was like.

It took a few minutes, but it came to be lighter as my eyes got used to the darkness. Selena let go of us. What I saw was amazing. There were a bunch of fish swimming about. A little white one came up to me and looked me.

"Ah! What is it doing?" I asked.

Selena looked back, startled. When she saw the fish fleeing, she smiled. "Don't worry, It's just curious. Fish don't hurt you."

Again, if you're laughing at me then shut up.

Anyway, it was very pretty underwater. The bottom was stone and sand, and as well as the fish there were these strange plants that wiggled. Some of them weren't rooted to the ground.

"That's a leafy sea dragon," Serena explained. "It's a type of sea horse. Those aren't real leaves, it's just a disguise so other animals don't try to eat it."

"Wow." I reached out and tried to touch it, but it swam away. "If it's a horse, why is it so tiny?"

"Horses are like that down here," Xavier said. "What? Calvin told me."

We went on, Xavier and me gliding after the five mermaids. Selena told us about the different types of creatures, each one making me more and more astounded.

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you seek audience with Okeanos?" Selena inquired.

"We were talking about his friend Jason," I said. "Well he's our friend too. We think Calvin will be able to help us find him."

"He'll be even more upset if he finds out that Jason is in trouble," Serena said sadly.

"Then he'll be even more willing to help us," I said determinedly. He had to. If not we wouldn't know what happened to Jason.

I remembered the first time I saw Jason, on the streets of Draida, that day. Suddenly a terrible thought came to mind. Why did I love Jason?

Before I could answer, the mermaids stopped. In front of us was a giant rock. A very strange rock.

"We're here," Serena declared. She looked at Xavier. "Ok, we helped you. You're welcome."

"Bye, Serena! Bye, girls!" Xavier said.

Serena waved. "Bye, Bianca. It was nice meeting you!"

"Bye!" I said, waving back.

The mermaids went off, probably returning to their singing. I watched them go, their rainbow-colored tails moving up and down.

"They're so beautiful," Xavier said, grinning.

Trying my best to ignore him, I looked at the rock in front of us. It was dark gray, almost black. From our perspective it looked flat and crescent-shaped. As I went around I saw that it was round on the other side. It was cold to the touch.

"It's a giant lemon slice," Xavier observed. "Somehow petrified. Like, turned into a rock."

"I know what petrified means," I said. Something was bugging me about what was apparently Calvin's home.

Xavier shrugged. "I was just trying to cheer you up."

"If you want to cheer me up, then you can bring Jason back to me," I said.

The thought came back again. Why did I care about Jason so much? Did I really know him? What was there about him that I liked? Maybe I didn't really love him. After all, he didn't love me.

I shook off the negative voices in my head. "Come on, let's go find Calvin. Try to be mature."

We went back to the front side but couldn't find an opening in the rock. Did Selena lie to us? We double-checked, over and over, but there didn't seem to be a way into the abode.

"Selena must be confused or something," I said. "Surely she wouldn't mislead us."

Xavier punched the rock but his movements were slowed underwater. He looked at his arm and growled. "Try using magic to find out."

"That mermaid said we can't. Magic doesn't work well underwater. I think it's like electricity, where water conducts it. Something like that."

"What's electricity?" Xavier asked.

"A type of magic. Why?"

He raised his eyebrow. "So electricity can't be used underwater. She was just talking about that, but other types of magic are okay."

"What if it's dangerous?" I questioned. I looked at the rock. There had to be a way in.

"Do you want to find Jason or not?" Xavier asked. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Bianca. If something happens, you can blame me."

"Fine." I took out my wand, and thought of a spell to use. I cleared my throat. "Alke-"

A hand gripped my collar, making me shriek and drop the wand. It silently plopped onto the floor, making bubbles and a cloud of sand rise up. A banana popped up out of thin air - or rather, thin water.

"I have caught you."

Oh crap.

I tried to look behind me, but the stranger held on to me tightly. A thin sword was pressed against my neck.

"Who are you?" Xavier asked. He grabbed the banana.

"My name is Yozka," the person behind me said.

I recognized the voice. He was the captain of the Kraken. The ship that attacked us...and probably killed Skylos.

"What do you want?" I asked. "How did you survive when Skylos set you on fire?"

"What did I miss?" Xavier asked.

Yozka laughed an evil laugh. "We're old enemies. And a friend of Skylos is an enemy of mine. As for how I survived, how do you think?"

"Are you magic?" I asked. "Are you a demon?"

"No! I'm not evil, witch! I'm simply a merman getting my vengeance!" A merman? There's such thing?

"What did I do to you?" I begged. "I just want to rescue my friend. We never meant to cause you any trouble. Let us go!"

"That would be a good idea," Xavier suggested.

Yozka applied more pressure on my neck. I felt a sharp sting.

"You really are a stupid couple of humans," Yozka said. "Those mermaids were my daughters. They brought you here to my ship, so I could capture you."

I looked sideways slightly. The rock was actually the Kracken. The giant metal ship looked like a boulder, sideways and half-buried in the sand. Yozka noticed where I was looking and cackled.

"I thought you would have recognized her. You humans are the stupidest, most disgusting race I have ever seen."

"We have names, you know!" Xavier yelled.

Nobody knew how to respond to that.

"Come with me, girl," Yozka ordered. "I won't kill you if you don't resist. And don't even think of escaping. Down here, we are in my domain. My home turf. Don't be stupider than you already have been."

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked, gulping. I looked at Xavier and saw the fear in his eyes. The poor boy must have been scared to death. But why? He was usually so chill.

"Bianca?" Xavier asked.

I smiled at him. "Go get Sadie, Xavier."

"But-"

"Get him!"

Yozka growled. "Go ahead, boy. I'd like to see you try and stop me. Yes...that could be quite amusing. Find your stupid human friend, and come back here to rescue the girl. You have twenty-four hours."

Xavier nodded and went back the way we came, leaving me alone with the creature.

23: A Tough Decision

Chapter 23

Xavier

When I made my way to the beach I was surprised to find that the ring kept me dry. As soon as I removed it though (I didn't want people to see me wearing jewelry) I was suddenly soaked. I put the ring back on, but the water was still there.

"Come on Xavier, concentrate," I scolded myself.

I looked around. The sun was setting, and a slight breeze chilled my damp skin. There was nobody else around. I don't know if I was expecting Sadie to be there, waiting for me, but she wasn't.

Knowing that I would have to think it through a little, I wrung out my shirt and sat down on the sand. All I could think about was Bianca and what that Yozka guy was doing to her.

I took the banana out of my pocket. "I wonder if this banana is magic."

"Of course I'm magic," came a squeaky voice.

I blinked and stared at the thing in my hands. There wasn't a face on it or anything, so how could it talk?

"What is it?" the banana asked. "Do you need me? I can help you. Really, I can."

"How?" I asked. I was about to say more when I heard soft snickering behind me and footsteps.

Sadie sat down next to me. "Where's Bianca?" she asked.

I looked down, dropping the banana. What I wanted to know was when she got to Odom, and if she was the one who abandoned Bianca or whatever. And how I could tell her that we needed to go underwater to rescue Bianca?

"Xavier? Is something wrong?" She looked at my wet clothes and the magic ring on my finger. "Why are you alone?"

"I'm sorry, Sadie." I sniffled, suddenly stricken with a cold. "I'm so sorry. I was trying to help you guys look for Jason, but I lead us into a trap."

She got up. "You what? Why would you do that? You idiot!" She grabbed me by the collar and yanked me up.

"I didn't mean to," I begged. It started to dawn on me though that I really was the reason Bianca got caught. If only I hadn't suggested going to mermaids for help.

clenched her fist and looked like she was ready to punch me. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as she glared at me. I didn't blame her for getting mad. I only blamed myself, for ruining our only chance at finding Jason.

At first I thought it was just some sort of game, where Bianca and I were looking for Calvin. When I found out what she was really doing, it became more serious. Jason saved my parents and I from Amaatlik. If it weren't for him, we might have been eaten of something. So naturally I wasn't happy when I found out that he was lost.

"What do you have against Jason and Bianca?" Sadie hissed. She slapped me on the cheek.

"Nothing!" I told her what happened. From the look on her face, she didn't believe me. "Come on, we have to fight Yozka. It's the only way to get Bianca back."

She looked like she was about to slap me again. "You're not magic, and I'm too weak to fight him. We would have to go by stealth."

"Exactly."

"And there's the matter of how we'll get there in the first place. In case you forgot, neither of us can breathe underwater."

It was too bad we only had one ring. The more I thought about it, the angrier I was at myself, and at Yozka. There had to be a way! There had to! We're all on the good side, right? Why should Bianca die?

Sadie pushed me back and sat down again. Her eyes were lowered and her hands shook. "It's all my fault."

"What do you mean?" I asked, surprised. Wasn't it my fault? Why was she so sad all of a sudden? "Are you me from two years in the future? Will I turn into a girl?"

She was still for a while before shaking her head. "No. I shouldn't have let her go. If it weren't for me, Bianca would still be safe. She would have learned her lesson the easy way."

I didn't know what she was talking about. Learned her lesson? "What are we going to do, Sadie? You're smart. You'll figure something out."

"Don't say that," she warned. "I wouldn't have such high expectations for me if I were you. I thought I was a great sorcerer. I thought I deserved as much credit as Jason did on our mission. But it turned out that I was wrong. I can't do anything right."

Her words silenced me. There was without a doubt more to Bianca and Sadie than I thought. I felt simple and naïve in their presence. So many thoughts were going through their heads. I hope it's not because they're older than me.

"Well, you're the more experienced of the two of us," I said. "And I don't have a plan."

"I was afraid you'd say that. You won't like what I have in mind."

I nodded. "What is it?"

"We can't go for Bianca."

"But we have to! She would do the same for us. We could find some Odomian sorcerers to help us-"

Sadie shook her head. I would have continued if it weren't for the grimace on her face, which deepened as the pain she felt got worse. "I know."

I understood what she meant. I tried to think of a third way, but nothing came to mind.

She stood up and we walked away from the beach as the sun went down.

24: I'm Done

Chapter 24

Bianca

"You monster," I hissed, wondering if it was true.

Yozka thrust his fist and the spell wore off. He snarled. "Quit that. Just because I'm merfolk doesn't mean I'm a monster."

I tried to move but, but was still immobilized. "You're a monster at heart. Why would he-"

"A monster...from your perspective." He went back to his merman form and took off his ring. "You see, girl, I'm only trying to help you. Don't give me that face. I am stripping you of your innocence."

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" I demanded. "What kind of magic was that?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Yozka grabbed his golden spear and walked out of the room laughing.

I looked around. After Xavier left to find Sadie, Yozka took me to his real home, a smallish sandstone castle not far from the ship. My room is somewhere in the dungeon to make it harder for me to escape. There's just a candle for light, and the only furniture is a bed and the table I'm using to write this entry.

A minute or so later I was able to move again. I sat up and looked at the walls. There were strange mermaid runes all over, probably wards to keep me in. They consisted of lots of circles, triangles, and really curvy lines. I also saw some rough drawings of sea creatures.

Knowing that I wouldn't get out of my prison any time soon, I tried to think about what had happened.

What I wanted to know was how the Kracken sank. It was a magical ship - only a magical ship could be made of metal and not sink, right? Skylos's cannons didn't work on it. Maybe Yozka had a weakness that I didn't know about.

I heard some knocking on the metal door.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"It's me, Selena."

Just her name made me want to scream. She had betrayed us. I thought she was a nice girl, but she just lead us to her dad. I didn't respond.

"Come on, Bianca, I need to talk to you," Selena said. "Please?"

"What could you possibly say to me?" I asked. My voice started to crack a little.

Selena sighed. "Bianca, I didn't know my dad would do that to you."

"He's a freaking pirate. How did it not surprise you?"

The mermaid hesitated. "Let me in. I promise it'll only take a few seconds."

 "Fine. How do I let you in?"

"See that star on the door? Place your hand on the star and read the words above it. I'll be able to open the door then."

Not really wanting her in my cell, I didn't do it at first. But then I figured she couldn't harm me, so I got off the bed and hobbled over to the door, doing as Selena instructed. The star rune glowed, and I got knocked back against the opposite wall. Selena opened the door and hurriedly closed it.

"You didn't say it would push me!" I stammered, surprised.

"Sorry about that. I didn't want you to escape."

I crossed my arms and scowled. "Of course you don't."

"Bianca, look. If you try to escape the guards will catch you, and I won't be able to talk to you anymore. This is important."

"You not being able to talk to me isn't that bad," I retorted.

Selena looked crestfallen. She kneeled in front of me. "I'm not like the others, hon. I don't despise humans like my sisters do. Like your friend, I thought I was helping you. I know you will never forgive me, at least let me help you."

Her mentioning Xavier made me even more worried. How would he get Sadie to help? She won't trust him. They can't find and save me. I closed me eyes in frustration.

"How can you help me?" I whispered.

"I'm not completely sure that this will work," Selena said. "But I plan to help your friends rescue you."

I got up and sat on the table, leaning against the wall. I knew that one of them would come for me, but doubted that they would be able to stop Yozka. He's a very powerful man. Fish demon. Whatever he is.

"I'll be back in an hour if you want to talk then," Selena said. "I hope you feel better."

I watched her open the door and swim away. Thankfully I wasn't pushed again.

Not wanting to get up and move around, I stayed on the table, left with my thoughts.

After talking to Selena I felt strange. This must be how Sadie feels, not being able to trust people. I think my heart broke as the thought struck.

But some people are good, right? Like Skylos. And Liz. The problem is finding out which people are trustworthy and which ones aren't. I wasn't too sure about Selena. I wanted to trust her, but couldn't.

So I figured out what Yozka meant by stripping me of my innocence. Too bad I had to learn the hard way.

Then the subject I was trying to push away came back to mind. The more I ignored it the more it bothered me.

The reason Sadie had gotten into this mess in the first place. We wanted to save Jason. How much time did we have, a week? What if Skylos read the grave wrong, and Jason was already dead? He said we had, what, a week? How much time passed? What if we were unable to get him back? Even if we did, even if we raised him from the dead, he could end up like an idiot like I did.

And the worst thought of all. The thought that I didn't really love him. The thought that I should just abandon the quest if I managed to flee from Yozka's underwater castle. Because Jason wasn't that important to me.

A voice in my head told me that I didn't really know Jason. I saw him, fell in love with him, and made him do a quest for me. He wouldn't have died if I hadn't gotten him into sorcery by asking him to find my brother.

I covered my face in shame. I was the reason Jason died. If it weren't for me, everybody I knew would be so much happier. For a second I wished that I was still dead.

There was another knock on the door.

"Bianca?"

I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me, and sniffled. "It's pointless, Selena. Don't bother rescuing me. It would be better for everyone if I stayed here."

25: A Fair-Enough Chap

Chapter 25

Xavier

Amisto looked down on us with confusion.

"Let me get this straight. Jason died, and his girlfriend turned into a boy?" He looked at me.

"Hey! I'm not Bianca!" I argued.

The mage raised his eyebrows. "Would you care to explain better, then?" he asked us.

Sadie glowered at him. "It's not that difficult, old man. I'll explain it to you again, more slowly. Someone brainwashed Jason and made him raise Bianca from the dead. The spell was so powerful that Jason disappeared. A sign said that we had a week to save him. We didn't know how, so we got a..."friend" to help us. The friend suggested that we go to Calvin. You met him. Xavier and Bianca tried to find Calvin, but Bianca was caught."

"And what do you want me to do?" Amisto responded.

I watched the two grumps bicker like children. Nothing good was coming from their heated debate, so I took it upon myself to intervene.

"Hey guys, we won't get anywhere like this," I pointed out.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you guys," Sadie said hotly. She looked at Amisto. "Are you going to help us or not?"

Amisto held up his hands in a helpless gesture. "I still don't know what you want me to do! How can I help?"

"I'll tell you, since Sadie is too dense to explain it clearly," I suggested. "We want to know if you have any idea as to who could have controlled Jason. Someone made him sacrifice himself for Bianca."

"He didn't really love her," Sadie added.

Amisto scratched his beard. "Okay, now that Xavier started explaining it, I'm starting to understand it a lot better."

"Well?" Sadie asked rudely.

"Calm down, boy. We still have time to save Jason. It's only been a couple days. I'm trying to think. And please do not look at me like that."

Sadie turned away.

"Can we go to the sitter?" I asked.

Amisto jumped a little. "The setahr? Heavens, no! No, no no no no no. Never."

We heard a humorless laugh from Sadie's direction. She didn't want to say anything though. Weird.

"Oh! I forgot about the zombies!" I blurted. "The potion brewer that summoned the zombies. I forgot all about him. Where does he live?"

Sadie had teleported us to Draida using one of Bianca's amulets. When we got there all the zombies were gone. I thought my parents had lied to me, but someone said that they went back to their graves. Something about the dead not going back to life completely. I think that, once you resurrect a dead person, they are only alive again for so long before they go back to being dead. Honestly, I was hoping to fight some zombies. Oh well.

So, back to Amisto. His eyes glowed as I mentioned Alex. "Great idea, Xavier! You are so smart! If only Sadie was as smart as you."

"Do you want to say that again, you sexist pig?" Sadie threatened.

Amisto shook his head. "You two should visit him. Here's his address. And here's a police badge for you, Xavier. You don't get one, Sadie. I hope you mind. Now, be off. I have stuff to do. Go on." He shooed us away from his office.

"He's such a jerk," Sadie muttered under her breath. We were walking over to Alex's house.

"What's up with you?" I asked after putting on my badge.

She gave me a dirty look. "Do you think this is some sort of game? Am I the only sorcerer who takes all this seriously? This is real life."

"I think all this tension is keeping you from getting anything done." I looked him in the eyes. "Have you ever completed a quest?"

"Yeah, I- wait, no. I guess it was Jason who defeated Amaatlik. And we didn't really get Alexander back to Draida. So no..." Her shoulders slumped and she seemed to be unsure as to whether she should be angry or depressed.

I patted him reassuringly. "See? You need to lighten up. That's what Jason and Bianca were trying to tell you."

"But it just doesn't make any sense," she complained. "I mean, it's not like they're so successful either."

"You're thinking about it too much. Could you at least give it a try?"

Sadie looked up at the sky. I feel bad for her. I like to think a lot too, and I know that you can't get anything done if you don't give the overthinking a break and actually try to do what you need to do. "We'll see," she said simply.

I took that as a "yes" and nodded. We didn't talk anymore until we got to Alex's house. It was relatively far away, so we were silent for a while.

"This must be it," I said. The address on Amisto's paper matched the one on the house. Both showed a golden lion holding a light blue kite shield. The lion was very handsome, kind of like me, it's face below the eyes covered by the shield.

I was so busy staring at the crest that I didn't notice Sadie telling me to get a move on. I apologized, threw the paper on the ground and caught up to her.

"Are you sure about this?" Sadie asked.

"Yes." I knocked on the door. It opened after exactly five seconds.

The young man opened the door and looked at us. "He- Sadie, is that you? And who's this, your little brother?"

I remember someone telling me that Alex looked like Jason. They lied. The potion brewer had short red hair, like Sadie, and his eyes were green. He was also several years older. I don't think Jason has an accent either.

"This is Xavier. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?" Sadie asked.

Alex's eye caught the police badge on my shirt. He started to close the door before realizing that it made him look suspicious. He smiled weakly. "Oh, you're a proper police officer, aren't you, Xavier? Sure. Come in, and I'll serve you tea."

"And cookies?" I wondered out loud.

"No. I do have biscuits though."

We walked in. Alex sat us down at a little table and got us tea and all that. I'm going to skip the boring details and get right to the juicy stuff.

"So what did you want to ask me?" Alex asked.

Sadie gave me a look and answered him. "Do you know what happened to Jason?"

"Why? What happened to him? Is he all right?"

"No, you killed him!" I shouted, pointing with my finger for effect.

Sadie sighed.

Alex's fingers wrapped around his cup. "All right. Care to explain just how I killed him?"

"You gave him a love potion that made him bring Bianca back from the dead. I think it made him stronger too. It doesn't matter though, because he's dead. All thanks to you." 

"I told him not to drink it!" he shot back. "Why would I do that anyway? What have I gained from his death?"

"Bianca's your aunt, and was likely whining about Jason not loving her back. So you tried to make her feel better by making Jason in love with her."

Alex grimaced. "I didn't want them to be together. Love at first sight is bloody stupid, and that's what Bianca was experiencing. The potion I gave him was a strength potion. That's all."

"So you don't like Jason?" Sadie questioned. "You know what? Darn it all, I can solve this." She took out her wand and pointed it at Alex. "Ved!"

The wand glowed orange, and a golden scroll materialized in Alex's open hand. It flew to her's and she held it out of Alex's reach.

"Tell me the truth, Alex," Sadie said. She waved the scroll in the air. "I don't want to invade your privacy, but I will if it means finding out the truth."

"I really didn't do it!" the brewer said angrily. Is it just me, or is Sadie really good at angering people?

They made direct eye contact like two animals about to fight. Sadie opened the scroll and a Brotish voice came from it. "Why don't you believe me?"

Sadie waited for more but that was all it said. She looked at Alex and crumpled the scroll, which must have been fragile because it turned into dust that got all over her tea and cookies.

"You make me sick," Sadie growled. She flipped her wand and pointed it at Alex again.

"This isn't going anywhere," I told them. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Sadie doesn't have the best conversational skills. Therefore, I took over. "Alex, we're just concerned for our dear friend Jason. You can prove that you don't mean any harm by offering a little help."

"He gave Jason a potion, and Jason died! How is that not proof?" Sadie interrupted.

I waved my hand. "Jason didn't die. At least not yet. Go ahead, Alex."

"Cheers, mate. At least one of you has some sense." He took a sip of tea. "I'm afraid I'll need some more info."

"Let me get this one, Sadie. So we saw-"

Sadie snorted. "I saw him do the spell. You weren't there."

"Would you like to tell him?" I asked.

She nodded. "So he saw the spell. We went to someone for help, and Jason vanished. You know, it's interesting that you weren't surprised when we said that Bianca's alive."

"Because you were yelling at me! Get out my house!"

"But you didn't give us our advice," I told him.

Alex growled. "Why don't you go to your mate, the one you went to for help in the first place?"

"That...good question," I said, looking at Sadie.

We didn't get much out of him. I couldn't shake off the feeling that he had something to hide.

"He changed appearance," Sadie said. We were well away from Alex's house.

"Did he really look like Jason?" I asked.

She nodded. "You could say that. He probably changed the way he looks so that people won't recognize him. Or maybe he wants people to notice, so when he changes to a third look they won't notice him. He's smarter than I thought."

"I thought he was a fair-enough chap," I said, trying to imitate his accent.

If Sadie was impressed she didn't show it. Instead she just scratched her head. "Xavier, what am I missing? Why didn't my spell work?"

"You're just a beginner, right? Amisto took away the magic power he gave you to fight Amaatlik. Maybe you need to build up your skill level first, or something."

She stopped walking. "How do you know all this?"

"Oh. I read your journal," I said, hoping she wouldn't get angry. "It's very entertaining."

"Why did we even start writing? I just can't have any privacy.You're writing in the journal from now on."

"Yay." I guess that explains why I'm writing this and not her. "One question. Why are we writing like it's a story instead of a journal?"

Sadie looked up at the sky. "That's a good question. I forget. I think we wanted to be writers when we get older, so we started writing it as though we're just characters in a story."

"What if we are?" I gasped. "Oh no."

26: It Wasn't Over

Chapter 26

Bianca

Selena dragged me over to the throne, where Yozka sat. He looked at me with a mix of anger and curiosity.

"I learned my lesson," I said under my breath. "Now let me go."

The merman laughed. "You think I'll release you? After you called me a monster? Take it back, and I might consider it."

I looked back at Selena, who tried to give me a reassuring smile.

If it weren't for her I would have taken my ring off and drowned myself. She had gotten through the door to find me sobbing like a baby and sat down next to me. It's nice, being able to share your emotions with someone. Talking to her made me feel like I was with my mom again. It's way more effective than writing in my diary. Relying on it to get my thoughts down makes me feel...well...alone.

Feeling more confident, I shook the gold chain on my wrists. "If I had my wand I would have killed you right now."

"Is that so?" Yozka replied, smiling to himself. He held up a familiar white object. "Is this your wand?"

"Maybe."

He snapped it in half. The two pieces of my wand burst into a flurry of bubbles.

"No!" I yelled. I ran forward but Selena stopped me. All I could do was watch the last bubble disappear. The guards laughed at me, pointing with fingers and spears.

"Not so assertive now, are you?" the merman said, grinning.

I closed my eyes and kept down all the scorn I felt for him. I still didn't know what Selena had in mind. Her plan was doubtlessly improvised, so anything could happen. I glanced in her direction again, and she spoke up.

"Father, I think I have an idea. A way to make the girl more amusing," Selena proposed.

Yozka's grin widened. He leaned forward. His tail swished excitedly, drawing bubbles. "Oh? And what is it, my beloved daughter?"

"A duel." She swam away from me so she had the space to make dramatic gestures. "Imagine. We could have it in the castle center, where everybody is able to watch. There could be a little fair, with food and drinks, and games, and duel Bianca. She's a powerful human witch, and defeating her would remind all your citizens how powerful you really are. You haven't fought in a while. Well, what do you say?"

The king looked a lot more excited about that idea than I felt. Yozka got up and rested his hand on Selena's shoulder. He said the words I really didn't want to hear. "Daughter, this is an amazing plan! Go take the human and prepare it for the duel. I shall make preparations."

Selena nodded and dragged me away. I was starting to doubt that she was on my side. That the talk we had was more than a way of getting me to see Yozka.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" I asked. "He broke my wand! And like your friend said, I'm only a beginner, I totally suck at magic! Wait, did he call me 'it'?"

Selena looked around and pulled me into a room. Knowing that we were out of earshot, she took a deep breath. "It's all part of my plan. Don't worry, you won't be fighting my father."

I stared at her, puzzled. "I'm sorry?"

"You won't be fighting. I will."

"But you said that it would be me," I argued. "Can you do that? Yozka won't be very happy. He's looking forward to beating me up." I don't know why I was arguing. I didn't really want to fight with him.

Selena smiled. "I'm going to use mermaid magic to switch bodies with you. Then it will look like you can still use magic."

"Would he believe that I can use mermaid magic?" I questioned.

"He's a little...dense," she said. "He won't think about that."

We both laughed a little. I hoped that Selena really was on my side. She's really nice and strengthened my spirit. One thing concerned my though.

"Will you be able to defeat him?" I asked. "And even then, will he let me go?"

Selena stopped smiling. She looked like she was thinking. "Well, if he gets rid of you then the others will be able to forget about his loss. On the other hand, if you stay, then people will be constantly reminded of the fact that there's a stronger being in the castle. You could also pose the threat of overthrowing him."

"Couldn't he just lock me up and not have to worry?"

"Look, Bianca, this is all we've got. Do you have a better idea or would you like to go with it?"

I sat down on a stone chair and thought about my possibilities. I highly doubted that Sadie or Xavier would be able to defeat Yozka in battle. They aren't the stealthiest either. I had to let Selena get me out of here before they came, for their safety. She's surely more powerful than they are.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Great. Stand up...a little to the left...right there. Perfect." She raised her hands and started chanting. "...atal, grezt, norku. Selena, Bianca." She drew an octopus in the air (sorry, the water). The glowing blue shape had a giant bulbous body, eight legs, and tiny eyes. Around the animal was writing in a different alphabet, probably the words Selena was saying. She finished the spell and the water around us cooled considerably.

I couldn't see for a second. In fact, I lost all my senses except the feeling of water wrapping around me. A second felt like years, because I also lost my sense of time. When the strange sensation ended, I was looking at myself.

"It worked," I said. Or rather, it was Selena speaking from my body.

"Wow, I look weird underwater," I commented from hers, staring at my own. It had a bluish tint to it, just like everything else, and my hair and clothes were spread out, waving around as she moved.

Selena waved her legs. "Wow. Is this what it feels like to be a human? I've never been able to change form, like my father. It feels strange to have legs."

"And I feel strange with a tail." It was also strange that I could stay off the ground without moving it. I tried to move about, and tripped.

"It's going to take some getting used to for both of us," Selena said.

We laughed again, trying to teach each other how to get around.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

The square was filled with festivity and excitement. Merkids were chasing their friends, knocking into adults and stalls. Everybody was either eating or playing games. An occasional few casted curious glances at Yozka, who was already in the ring. He flexed his muscles and waved his golden three-pointed spear around. I looked up to see guards watching us from the sandy walls with spears and crossbows.

"I have faith in you," I said. The number of mermaids made me a little nervous. What I was really thinking was Oh, crap. We're screwed. How will Selena beat him?

"Well, here I go," Selena said. She looked around and smiled at me. "Don't worry. I wouldn't be doing this if I doubted myself...I know you think this won't work. I understand. We did what we could, and just have to see what happens."

I smiled back, not completely reassured but grateful for all her help. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Wish we good luck." In my body she swam to the ring, kicking her legs behind her. The gold chain was still on her wrists. The civilians diverted their attention to the ring as they saw her in front of her dad. They shut up, but the tension only grew. I could feel it.

A young merman came forward with a flag. He looked at the audience. "Today, King Yozka and the Witch will duel to the death. They may both use both weapons and magic. If one of them is knocked out of the ring, they must go back in and continue fighting."

To the death? What the he- did Selena know that when she thought of the idea? I held a hand over my heart, hoping that she knew what she was doing.

"Your Majesty, are you ready?" the judge asked.

"That I am," Yozka replied.

"So am I" Selena said, winking at me.

"Then let the duel begin!" The judge raised a bright red flag. The chains restricting Selena fell apart.

Yozka laughed, twirling his spear around. "I'm not going to go easy on you, human. This is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me."

"So you think," Selena said. She flexed her hand and held it out to summon a wand. It was long, white and skinny, and I wondered if she was using a bone. She pointed the wand at Yozka and said a spell.

The wand grew strands of seaweed that wrapped around Yozka. He shrugged them off.

"You aren't even trying," he said. The merman swiped at Selena with his spear. It cut off the seaweed and almost knocked the wand out of Selena's hand. He went at her like a madman, stabbing with the spear and even swinging it like a battleaxe. I could hardly see anything because of the bubbles.

Selena took out a coin-sized crystal ring. She tossed the tiny red object at Yozka. It hit him in the chest and turned into a large crab. The animal pinched Yozka, giving him red marks all over his body. He really should have worn a breastplate or something.

 "Come on, Selena, that's not going to work," I muttered worriedly. The crab was just making Yozka angry. He flicked the thing off.

"You've got to be kidding," he snarled. "Is that all you've got, worthless human?"

Selena looked at her dad. Instead of saying something she pointed her wand and chanted, making another symbol. This one looked like a fish with a really long nose. When she was done, the symbol burst. What I thought was light morphed into the shape of a fish but three-dimensional. The light fish charged at Yozka and I realized that the nose was like a sword. It hit Yozka, pushing him back. He held it by the tail and tossed it out of the ring, giving himself a scratch on the chest.

"You little..." He took his spear and threw it at Selena. Rather than pierce her it pinned her down. He held his hand out and started chanting. A bunch of blood-red runes flew from his hand and flew in a sphere around Selena.

"Oh fudge everything," I growled. As mad as I was at Selena for not seeming to try, something smelled fishy. I didn't actually smell anything, I felt it. Like someone was trying to drain my strength. Maybe it was weakening Selena somehow.

Selena took her wand and shouted something. A blast of bubbles shot from her wand toward Yozka. They knocked some of the runes away but her opponent kept chanting. His face was full of wicked delight.

 "Do you want to give up?" Yozka asked, barely able to talk because of his cackling.

"No!" Selena closed her eyes and vanish

The crowd gasped. They looked around for her, thinking maybe she had gotten into the crowd. When she reappeared they gasped again.

She was behind Yozka. Taking advantage of his surprise, she kicked him in the back, stopping the spell. The runes turned into fire and were instantly put out by the water. Selena knocked her dad over and grabbed the spear, pointing it at his back, panting. Her shoulders were shaking, her hands holding the spear unsteadily. She stared at her father's back.

"Kill me," Yozka challenged. "I know you're too afraid to do it."

"I will kill you," Selena said. She raised the spear and tried to keep it still. Physical and mental strain were evident on her face. I wouldn't be surprised if determination and concern for me were all that kept her from passing out.

Yozka laughed like a maniac. "I know you can't do it. You can't, because you're too good to kill your one and only father."

"I- I'm not..." Selena lowered the spear a little.

"Kambare!" Yozka shouted, as loud as he could.

I got that weird feeling again, only aware of the water around me and my own thoughts. The enthusiastic whispering was gone. I couldn't see what was happening in the ring. No longer was I able to smell the food or think clearly.

"No! Crap!" I muttered when the effect wore off. I was back in my original body, holding the spear. I dropped it, as it was way too heavy for me. The giant golden weapon fell to the ground slowly due to the water resistance.

Yozka shoved me back and got up, retrieving his spear. "That was priceless," he informed me.

"What the heck was that?" I asked, enraged. "How did you know?"

"I'm not as stupid as you are." He stabbed me with the spear. Fortunately I was able to dodge it. Partially. The weapon tore my sleeve. Blood billowed out like smoke. It must have been a magic spear, because pain flared throughout my whole body, draining my energy.

All I could think about was that I was already dead. I backed away, wishing that the stupid water and his stupid magic wouldn't slow me down like they did. The wand was out of my reach, and I figured it didn't work with human magic anyway. I didn't want to look at Selena because I needed to keep my eyes on Yozka.

"Any last words?" he asked. For an evil person, he sure liked to laugh. The audience laughed with him.

"That's usually what the bad guys say when they're about to die," I pointed out, gasping for breath. "Look behind you."

Yozka gave me a strange face. "Do you think I'm falling for that? I told you, I'm not stu-"

His words were cut off by the monster that ate him. I looked a little stupid as I stared at the thing in front of me licking its lips with a purple forked tongue.

"That's cheating!" a little mermaid shouted. It threw something at my head, probably a rock. Whatever it was, it was hard. Hard enough to make me pass out.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

"Bianca, you're all right!"

I opened my eyes and rubbed them tiredly. "Selena...What happened? Am I dead?"

"No, dear. You're fine."

"Really? Why do I feel like I'm dead?" I asked, wanting to make sure. I looked around. We were in a cave. The bluish walls were rough, not smooth like the inside of a giant monster. I zoned out a little.

"...help you," Selena said in the soft, gentle voice of hers.

I blinked. "Sorry...what?" I tried to get up but the pain in my head got worse.

"Rest, child. You were hit pretty hard. I was saying that Calvin here just saved your life."

"Calvin?" The name made me curious. I looked around, but the serpent wasn't there. "That was him? Where is he?"

Selena looked up. I couldn't see what she was looking at, likely the mouth of the cave. "He can't fit in here. You can see him later."

"Wasn't he depressed or something?" I asked.

"He said he would like to talk to you later."

"Did he recognize me? We've never met, but my boyfriend told him about me. I guess he must have, if he saved my life."

Selena laughed. "When you feel better, we can go out."

"Well, I'm already better. Let's go!" I tried to get up again, but the pain flared in my head.

Stop. He's expecting to wait a while," Selena told me patiently. "I told him it might take at least an hour."

I closed my eyes, confused. "How did we get here?" I asked. "Why did that rock hurt so much? I feel like a boulder landed on me."

Selena looked away from me, unwilling to meet my eyes. "I'm sorry, Bianca."

"For what?"

"For everything." She took a deep breath. "It's my fault that you're here. If I hadn't lead you here, then you wouldn't have almost died. My father wouldn't have..." her voice started to crack, and she took another deep breath.

I smiled weakly. "Well, my life might suck a lot more than it did before I met your dad, but-"

"No! You don't understand! I could have defeated my father at the duel. I could have used magic to convince him to let you go. He wouldn't have-"

"I think you need to rest as well," I said.

"It's true! I'm more powerful than he thinks! IT'S TRUE, DARN IT!" She slammed her fist against the cave wall. It exploded into a million pieces. I could see the sun sinking on the horizon. She looked back at me, and her eyes were red.

I was afraid to ask her why she didn't save me then. Not wanting to face her wrath, I inched away.

"I gave into temptation," she seethed. "You diverted my dad's attention away from me, so I despised you. Plus I knew that if 'you' defeated him in the duel, you would become queen. I wanted that power for myself, so I...I didn't try hard enough." She broke apart, weeping. I was mad at her, but sorry too. I didn't know what to feel. She had thought of betraying me. But cared about me. Unless the niceness was just a mask. What was the real Selena like?

She stopped and looked me in the eyes. I stared back. Finally she looked away again.

"Maybe it would be best if you went back home," I suggested.

Selena nodded. She obviously wanted to tell me something but couldn't. So she left. I was alone once again, feeling stupider than ever.

27: Noah

Chapter 27

Xavier

"Sadie, do you ever feel like someone is doing everything for you? Like you don't get to pitch in and make an effort?"

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, looking a little pissed and sounding sensitive as ever.

Noah shook his head. "I'm not suggesting anything. Actually, I'm referring to myself." He talk out a sheathed sword and threw it down on the table.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," he said. "But it's Nomilis here. All my work is her doing. So you might as well ask her instead."

I grabbed the sword and took off the leather sheath. Man, was that sword shiny. It looked like it was made of light. "Hello, Nomilis?"

We waited for the sword to respond. Alas, nothing happened. Like Bianca's banana it didn't talk at all.

"I think your sword is broken," I told Noah, shaking her.

"Noah, I think you're wrong." Sadie ripped Nomilis out of my hands. "She may be the source of your power, but you were brave enough to stop the soldiers infected by Amaatlik's curse. You wrote to us in the mud house, before we got to Amaatlik. There's a reason she chose you. Now please help us find our friend."

"She's right. There's a reason I chose you," Nomilis said in a really pretty voice.

"Oh, so you speak for them but not me?" I asked. The sword was silent.

Noah smiled. "I'll see what I can do. I owe you one, after all."

Yes you do, Sadie thought. That's right- I can read her mind. That's why I'm so awesome. In fact, I can read yours right now. You're thinking about how awesome I am.

Sadieheld Nomilis out to the Barcos captain but Noah ignored her, walking to the back of the barracks. There were stacks of crates there, and he found a giant dust-covered book. He walked back to us.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Just something to organize ourselves," he said, flipping through the pages. "I consult this book when making important decisions. First of all, let's list some people that could be of use. First of all...the setahr of Draida."

"Who is he?" Sadie asked. "We never found out. Should we be worried that we don't know?"

"Actually, he's a woman named Mary. My book magically keeps track of these things, and it says right here." He showed us the name and there it was. Setahr of Draida, Mary.

scratched her head. "Mary? Her name sounds familiar, but I don't know where I heard about her."

Maybe it was a different one. She sounds very mysterious," I said. "If you don't know about her than we won't be able to find her. Noah, why doesn't Barcos have a setahr?"

"It's not a magical town. Plus Draida used to be the capital. The next person is...your Head Mage, Amisto. He is very powerful, knows all four types of magic. I bet he could find your friend."

laughed. "What's next, the king of Mericia?"

"Er..." Noah coughed. "The fourth person, then, is we can find and capture a hellhound. Your friend might be held captive in the underworld, and we would need a hellhound to go there."

"Been there, done that," Sadie said. "We couldn't get very far without losing him. Could he really be in the underworld?"

I wondered why Noah wasn't on the list. Though he was helping us by finding all those people, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

Noah sighed and grabbed Nomilis, which Sadie had leaned against the table. He held it up. "Nomilis, would you be able to help us? We need to get to the underworld to rescue their friend."

The sword shined a little brighter. "I think the hellhound would be able to do that. We can find one, it's not that hard. Go to the Wriggly Squid. You will know what to do then."

looked like she was ready to give up. She glared at the sword but didn't say anything.

"What's up?" I asked her. "We know what to do now. Let's go to this squid place and see what to do."

"The last time someone told us 'You'll know what to do then.' was right before Bianca and I split up," Sadie grumbled.

I rolled my eyes at her. Why does she have to be so grumpy? I told her that whatever happens, happens. If we were afraid of something, it doesn't mean we should be.

"I'll go with you guys," Noah said. He sheathed Nomilis and attached it to his belt. We left the barracks and headed downtown, Sadie and me falling behind.

"Is there something I don't know about?" I asked Sadie.

She looked down, shuffling her feet. "A lot."

Oh. Okay then. I looked around and tried to think of something to say to her. She's difficult. "Would you like to tell me? I'd be more useful if I knew what you knew."

"You'd be useful if you knew magic," she replied. "Why are you even here?"

"Jason is my friend too. I want to save him."

"You and Bianca think you know him. He saved your life, doesn't mean he's your friend."

I told myself not to get angry at her. Her friend is probably dead, and if she fails this quest, that will make three in a row. I couldn't even begin to relate. The only thing I did understand was not being able to save Bianca. We knew that she would want us to get Jason first. I remembered from reading their journal that they were given a week. We might not be able to save either of them.

"If I left, do you think you would be happier?" I asked Sadie.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I shrugged, careful not to look him in the eye. "I make you annoyed. Am I stopping you from focusing on the quest."

She didn't say anything. That left me with a tricky option. I had to read his mind. I didn't want to invade his privacy, but we couldn't finish the quest with him being so difficult.

I don't get it, Sadie thought. Why can't I get anything right? I thought I understood how this is supposed to work. My experiences at Odom were supposed to teach me, but I'm still the same. Maybe I really should do this quest alone.

Whatever she was talking about, I wasn't sure. I stored it in my mind to think about it later.

"This is the place," Noah announced. "Too bad it's burned down."

We were standing in front of what used to be a stone building. Pieces of masonry and pieces of wood lay strewn about, mixed in a pile of ash. I could see a sign with the likeness of a squid flailing its tentacles.

"I think a hellhound was here," Noah observed.

"Your sword said we would know what to do when we got here," I said. "Does anybody have a clue? Oh, wait. I do. We can-"

Sadie took out h wand and pointed it at the rubble. "Mirar."

A tiny white cloud formed in front of the rubble, growing until it was the size of a shield. Sadie held it in her hands and stared at it. Upon further inspection I saw that she was looking into the past.

The cloud showed a black wolf fighting a group of human pirates. They had swords and were all over him, but he was breathing fire.

"Again?" Sadie asked the cloud.

We saw the wolf burn down the tavern and run away snickering. Smoke billowed from the burning building as it collapsed, people screaming inside. Others outside noticed but didn't seem to care if a bunch of pirates died.

"That was easier than I thought," I said.

"Shut up," Sadie replied. She put the wand away and let the cloud go. It floated up. "I don't know if we should do this, Xavier. Skylos could be in a state of craziness. What if he attacks us?"

"That was Skylos?" I asked.

Noah grabbed our hands and pulled us in the direction we saw Skylos going. His right hand was on the handle of his sword. "Well, it looks like we've got everything figured out."

Having a set plan made me feel better, and I hope it made Sadie feel better too. We just had to get Skylos, teleport to the underworld, and find Jason. We were a soldier, a sorceress, and a mind-reader. What could possibly go wrong?

Sadie stopped running. Noah had let go of our hands, so she fell behind. I looked back to see her kneeling on the ground, out of breath.

"Sadie! What's wrong?" Noah asked. He crouched down in front of her, a concerned look on his face.

"I'm just a little worn out because of that spell." She wiped her face. "It's okay. Go on without me."

Noah shook his head. "That's not an option, I'm afraid. We need you, and if we don't go now then we could lose the hellhound. Can you make it just a little bit more? We're almost at the docks."

"No. I can't get up."

"Come on! You have to!" Noah grimaced. "Here, take Nomilis. Holding her should give you enough energy to carry on."

Sadie took the sword from him and pulled her wand out. Before Noah could do anything, she cast her spell.

"Aich."

28: Another Beginning

Chapter 28

Bianca

I got up and straightened my skirt. Yozka's magic hard worn off, and I felt better. It was time I spoke to Calvin.

Ever since Selena left I had my doubts about everything. Sadie and Xavier where somewhere on the surface, probably going about on the quest to find Jason. Are they evil? Am I evil? I shook away the nagging thoughts and walked out of the cave.

"Calvin? Are you there?" I asked, adjusting the ring on my finger.

The serpent's head emerged from my right, making me jump a little. He watched me with interest. "Nobody's called me that in a while. Who may you be?"

"You don't recognize me?" I asked, confused.

"My apologies. I don't believe we've met."

"Then why did you save me?"

Calvin gathered his long tail behind himself and settled down before continuing. "I am a fidi. My kind hate pirates. I've been hunting that particular one for several years."

"I'm pretty lucky then. My name's Bianca, by the way. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand, but then put it back at my side. It occurred to me that Calvin didn't have a hand of his own to shake mine with, just fins.

"Bianca?" Calvin asked softly. His purple eyes became unfocused. He blinked and moved away from me slightly, his jet black body quivering. "Why are you here? What do you want? Did you come to taunt me?"

I watched him hopelessly. The look on his face told me that I reminded him of Jason, who must have been his only friend back when they were still together on the mission. I didn't want to drive him crazy, so I spoke to him more gently. "No. I was...was going to tell you that Jason's fine. He's going to-"

"He's fine?" Calvin asked, his voice cracking. "What do you mean he's fine?"

"Well...you look worried about something," I said.

His eyes glowed. He bared his teeth and glared at me, looking like he was ready to strike at any second. His tail whipped back and forth. "Jason is anything but fine. HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? GO AWAY!"

"What?" I backed off, but only a few steps. My feet refused to take me further. "What do you mean?"

"Like you don't know," Calvin said harshly. "He's dead."

I frowned and shook my head desperately. "He's not. We had a week to get him-"

"No, Jason's gone. I can sense it. Something about being his former familiar..." He turned around. His voice failed him. "Whoever said you had a week lied. Our dear Jason is...no longer with us."

I couldn't believe it. How could Jason be dead? The only way to bring him back was to sacrifice someone else. And even if we attempted to use a necromancy spell, only a really strong necromancer would be able to do it.

The thoughts made my head hurt again. But my heart hurt more. I sat down. All our hard work was for nothing. Getting Skylos, having his ship destroyed. Almost being killed by the delusional orisk. I met Mary and Liz for nothing. My time spent in the small merperson kingdom was for nothing. It was all to get Jason back...but he was dead the whole time.

Those thoughts I had back in my cell, about not loving Jason. They came back. The evil voice in my mind questioned my feelings. I touched my ring and started to slide it off my finger.

"What are you doing?" Calvin asked. "You aren't thinking of killing yourself, are you?"

The ring was at the tip of my finger. I stared at it, about to take it off. One little flick would drown me, ending my life. The life I hated.

Calvin came over and wrapped himself around me. He fixed the ring with his tongue. "Bianca, no. Please. You are the only part of Jason I have left. Please don't go. I don't know what I would do without you. You can't go."

"Okay," I managed, wiping my eyes. I put my arms around him. "What are we going to do now, Calvin?"

"We're going to teach you water magic. If you're going to survive down here, you'll have to defend yourself."

"Do you know water magic?" I asked. I thought only mermaids utilized it. The plan sounded good, but I was confused. We couldn't trust the mermaids. How was I going to learn water magic?

Calvin let go of me. He pointed to the cave with his tail. "Did Selena leave her wand?"

"Let's see." I went inside. It was getting dark. She must have cast a light spell, and it wore off. I stumbled around, looking for the wand. I would have used uze, but without my wand I couldn't cast any spells and expect them to work. "It doesn't look like it," I called back.

"Look again."

I searched the cave all over, looking under the rocks from the shattered part of the cave. The wand was gone.

"There's one person we can go to," Calvin said. "Well...not exactly a person. But not a mermaid either. Follow me, and I'll take you to her right now."

We walked away from the cave, staying close to each other. My eyes stung, but I wouldn't let myself cry. I had to stay strong, for Calvin. We needed each other to keep going and not give up. I held on to his neck.

"We're going to be alright," I told him.

He nodded. "Let's not think about it right now. At the moment we should get you to Marisca. I think you'll like her."

"Is she the one who's going to teach me?" I asked. "What exactly is she? You said she isn't a human or a mermaid. Is she a serpent like you?"

"You'll see when we get there. It's just around this corner here."

I wondered what life was going to be like from then on, living perhaps the rest of my life underwater. Calvin's a nice guy, but I might miss my friends back on land. There was always the chance that Selena could back. But I couldn't go back. I just couldn't. I had to stay with Calvin.

"Is that her?" I asked, surprised. I wasn't expecting Marisca to be a giant purple rock.

"It is," Calvin said. "Marisca, we need to talk to you."

When she opened her mouth I saw that she was actually what Selena called a clam. I hadn't seen one of that size though, so the sight of her surprised me.

"A human? Why have you brought me a human?" Marisca asked. She kept her mouth ajar, and the words escaped from it like there was someone inside talking.

"She wishes to learn water magic," Calvin said. "Would you mind teaching her?"

The clam laughed quietly. "I would be happy to. It's been a while since someone came to me. What is your name, child?"

I cleared my throat. I felt funny, talking to a giant clam, but found the words I wanted to say. "My name is Bianca."

"Bianca. What a beautiful name. Now, my way of teaching magic is a bit different from what you're used to. It's like a meditation. I'm going to need you to sit down and relax."

I did as she asked, sitting on the soft sand. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

"Good. Now listen carefully. The best water magic comes from your heart. So when you try to do a spell, think of it as coming from there. Your strength will come from controlling your emotions, and your natural goodness. Do you understand?"

I nodded. Marisca talked quietly, but I could hear her with perfect clarity. It was easy to relax with her talking.

"Envision a beach. See the waves meet the sandy shore. Hear the sound they make. Smell the salt in the air. Now pretend that you are walking into the sea. Feel the cool water on your legs as it embraces you. This water is your clay to mold, you will manipulate it with your magic."

The water around my legs whirled around, a current surrounding me. It made me nervous, but I forced myself to calm down. If I was going to choose water as my element, I couldn't be afraid of it.

"Now focus on your heart. Remember, it will be the source of your magical energy. Your manna, if you will. You must be in control of your emotions. First of all, think of all recent moments of uncertainty."

I remembered all the confusion I felt since starting the quest. Finding out that I was a ghost came to mind, when I was dealing with my state of partial death. I didn't know what to do, or how to feel. I lost all sense of time. And when I first saw Jason, I didn't know how to feel. I know I shouldn't love him because I was a a ghost and didn't really know him, but I did love him. The uncertainty got worse when I met my older brother. I was happy to see him again. But then I couldn't see him ever again. He and Jason were all I could think of. I wasn't sure what to do, or how. Then Sadie, and trying to find Jason. I don't know how to completely explain how I felt, but...it was so strange. I felt lost, like I didn't know where to go. I just did what I felt was right.

The magic current went up to my face, obscuring my view with a flurry of bubbles.

"Think of the times you were lonely," Marisca said.

Lonely? I felt lonely all the time, living alone in my old house. Even when Alex came, he lived somewhere else. Except for Jason, nobody really noticed me as a ghost. Thirty years went by. All I had were Figaro and Izzy. Thinking of my cats made me sad. The fact that I had forgotten about them made me hate myself.

The current got faster, so fast that it made a humming sound.

"Are you okay?" Marisca asked.

"Yes," I lied, biting my lip.

She grunted. "Reflect on the times that you felt like you failed someone."

I was hoping she wouldn't say that. All of the memories that she invoked were negative. Why? I thought of my brother, Alexander, who couldn't come home. Of my poor little kittens, who might have gotten eaten by those beasts that broke into my house. Of Sadie, who I could have listened to. And Jason.

"Think of all the other thoughts that made you sad or angry."

The water around me heated up. I thought about how stupid I was, not listening to Alexander before I died and Sadie on our quest. Yozka's ugly face was painted clearly in my mind. The way he had treated me fueled my anger, and the current around me went even faster. I could hear Selena's voice like she was right in front of me. Selena, who's shoulder I thought I could cry on. She didn't really care about me. She was a monster. She only cared about herself. All the painful feelings welled up inside me. I felt like tearing someone to shreds. Why would Marisca put me through this? Why wasn't Calvin doing anything to stop her, something to make me feel better?

"Try to calm down, Bianca," Marisca said gently.

I stood up, directing all my hate toward her. I held up my right hand, the current forming ball of energy. "Stop," I told her.

"Bianca! No!"

I looked back at Calvin. The worry I saw in his eyes made me stop for a second. But the sight of him reminded me of Jason. The thoughts came back. Do I love him? It shouldn't matter, he's dead. So? It's not like he'll make a difference in my life, I don't really love him. How could you say that?

"You aren't using fire magic, you're using water magic," Marisca said. She was calm for someone who was about to get blasted to bits.

"So?" I asked, pulling my arm back. The water ball gurgled and bubbled, glowing blue.

"Your magic won't be strengthened by getting angry like that. Recall that you need to be in charge of your emotions. Don't let them be in charge of you. It is your heart and nobody else's."

The ball stopped moving and fizzled out. I clenched my fist and loosened it. Then I loosened my whole body.

"Sit down again," she said. "Relax. Think about all the horrible feelings, but don't let them get to you."

I sat down and closed my eyes. The water around me spun in a circle once more. Grim memories came to mind, but I brushed them off. That is, all but one. I couldn't forget about Jason.

"It's not working," I told her, frustrated. The water spun faster.

"Have patience."

I took some deep breaths, trying to take advantage of the bad thoughts. I didn't love Jason. His death didn't bother me. I shouldn't get all worked up about it. Instead I should be grateful that he rose me from the dead. I learned a lot from my first quest.

The current slowed down and came to a stop. The water was tranquil once more.

Calvin laughed. "You did it! You controlled your emotions!"

I doubted it. There was still something making me weary, but I felt stronger. I felt like I had just woken up from a deep slumber.

"Well done, Bianca," Marisca said. "You have what it takes to be a water sorceress. Don't forget to practice constantly, and always look for more opportunities to learn. I'm proud of you."

"Wow. Is that it?" I asked.

Marisca laughed. "No, dear. That was just the beginning. I have a gift for you." She opened her mouth.

I was shocked to find that there wasn't a lady inside doing the talking. Marisca was the clam itself. I walked up and looked inside her mouth. She had a pearl in there. It was big, about the size of a ball. I grabbed it and quickly took my arm out. "Wow. It's beautiful. Thanks, Miss Marisca. What do I do with it?"

"You guard it," she said. I heard shouting behind me.

29: Finding Skylos

Chapter 29

Sadie

The sword dissolved in my hands. She went down without a word.

"Why did you do that?" Noah screamed.

I looked up. "She can tell the future. I don't want to know what mine is." Realizing that my words made me sound selfish, I added, "Plus she made you feel insecure about your abilities."

Noah stared at me in horror, speechless. He instinctively reached for his sword, but it was gone.

"Sadie..." Xavier looked at us. "I have something to tell you."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Run."

We ran away from the captain of the Barcosian Guard. As I'm writing this, I regret our decisions a little. He helped us, and we took away his source of power. I would hate it if someone took away my magic. But he relied on Nomilis too much, and I didn't want it to tell me my future. I didn't want to know whether Bianca and Jason will be all right.

"I'm glad you killed it," Xavier said as we were running. I made sure were going in the right direction and waited for him to say why. He just smiled at me really creepily.

"Because...?"

He laughed. "It wouldn't talk to me. I always wanted to have a sword talk to me. But the (he said a rather offensive word, rhyming with 'witch') wouldn't reply to what I said. Do you think it hated me?"

"Most likely," I answered.

"Do you hate me?"

"What kind of question is that?" His question made me do a little thinking. I came to the conclusion that I was being too irritable again. "I don't hate you, Xavier. I just have a lot on my mind."

He blushed a little. "Wow, you really don't hate me? Nobody's ever said that to me before."

I looked behind me. Noah was where we left him, in front of the tavern Skylos burned down. He was yelling at us and shaking his fist.

"Are you still worried about Bianca?" Xavier asked, slowing down.

"Keep running, we still have to get Skylos. Can you read my mind or something?"

He hesitated. "No. Are you in love with her? Because she's Jason's."

"I'm not in love with anyone. It's just..." I looked for a way to turn my thoughts into words. "I wish I had treated her better. She was really nice to me. Sure, we were both wrong. Mostly her- I mean, we were both wrong on how we chose our allies. If I could relive those moments, I would have been a better friend. I would have been more patient. Now I don't think I'll ever get the chance to apologize."

He nodded. "You know what they say. The worst things happen to the best people."

"Okay."

"Allow me to explain. You and Bianca are amazing people. But you're definitely not the best. So the worst can't happen to you. And the worst is dying...therefore Bianca's still alive. You don't have to worry about her."

"Two things that are wrong with your theory. One is that we might still never see each other again. The second is that you forgot to mention Jason."

He scratched his chin. "And a third thing. If Bianca died, she must have been perfect then. And also, I had this thought back at Draida. The zombies, the ones that almost invaded, went back to being dead, so do you think that whoever controlled Jason, which may or may not be Alex, went crazy and made him summon the zombies, like in addition to Bianca, and if they-" he stopped to take a breath. "-if they went back to their graves, why would Bianca still be alive?"

I got a horrible feeling in my gut. "I don't know. I hope the zombies were some sort of side effect. Maybe they were summoned by less powerful magic."

"Hey Sadie?"

"Will you ever shut up?" I asked exasperatedly.

"You wish. I just want to say that we're about to run into Skylos."

"How do you-"

I bumped into something soft, knocking it off the ground. I stood up, dusting myself off, thinking it was a plant.

"Arrrgh! What are ye doing, runin' o'er me like that?"

Xavier bumped into me, knocking me over. "Told you we were about to run into him," he said from the ground.

The hellhound looked at us and shook his fur. "Well, if it isn't ol' Sadie! Glad to see ya, lassy! Did Bianca turn into a lad?"

Xavier facepalmed.

"We have to get to the underworld," I told Skylos.

"Well, it be a good thin' ye came to me. I happen to be a hellhound, an' we be good at takin' people there."

I frowned. "You mean killing them?"

"Aye, that too. But ye can go without dyin'. It be gettin' out that ye should worry about. Are ye sure ye fancy goin'? Ye could-"

"Yes, I'm sure. And Xavier is too. How do we get there?"

Skylos laughed. "C'mon, lads! We be goin' to me ship!" We started walking to the docks. "Gimme yer ears, now. She be me third one, so I don't want any trouble. Savvy?"

Xavier cocked his head. "What?"

"Ye silly landlubber. Don't attract any bildgerat pirates, or they'll sink me new ship."

"Okay."

"Are you a werewolf?" Xavier asked.

Skylos stopped for a second to scratch himself. "Aye. Hellhound, werewolf, same thin'. Ye humans call us by so many names."

"Can I pet you?"

I watched them talk to each other like good friends, even though they just met. For some reason looking at them made me feel a little jealous. In a world where even demons liked to have a good laugh, I seemed to be the only one who couldn't. Then I remembered Dorian. Okay, two of us. I still feel out of place.

When we got to the ship it was in the middle of the afternoon. Our stomachs growled.

"I thought ye humans couldn't make that sound," Skylos said.

"We can do what we want," Xavier replied. He pulled a sandwich out of his pocket and took a bite.

"Um...do you have another one of those?" I asked.

He stopped and looked at it. "Nope," he said through a mouth full of food.

"Don't ye worry, Sadie," Skylos said. "I have us some wonder chow we can eat. It be way better than that crappy human food."

"That's okay, I lost my appetite," I lied, unable to keep my eyes off the sandwich.

"Suit yeself then." Skylos walked over to his cabin and grabbed about a dozen cans of dog food. While he and Xavier were eating I sat on a crate and watched sea. The ship had magically set sail and we were off at a steady pace.

Skylos and Xavier started talking again. They talked about the most random things, like whether there was such thing as a hellpig, how good a banana gun would be in a fight, and how Skylos could smile even though he was a dog.

"It takes a lot o' trainin'," Skylos said. He lowered his head to eat. "Ye have to be very happy to smile. But in the end anyone can smile, even a scurvy dog such as meself."

Xavier took another sandwich out of his pocket. "Do you know any other tricks?"

"Aye. Watch this." Skylos pushed his food aside and stood on his hind legs. He reached into his golden collar and pulled out a cloak. Now this is the strange part. He put the cloak on and covered himself with it. When he took the cloak off he looked exactly like Xavier.

"Whoa."

"And I can talk like ye too," Skylos said in Xavier's voice.

Xavier sat back and laughed. "You're amazing, Skylos."

They talked some more and laughed a lot. I couldn't help thinking about how much Xavier is like Jason. They both have that sense of humor, seem to never be afraid, and care about everybody. Jason must have been a big role model for him.

"Oh, would ye look at that. We be at the right place already," Skylos said to Xavier. "Time flies when ye be havin' fun."

We all stood up. I looked around, but there was nothing nearby. There was just water, for as far as I could see. Where were we?

"Are you sure?" Xavier asked.

"The ship be at about ten miles from Barcos. Nobody will bother us from 'ere."

Xavier looked around, as if searching for enemy pirates. "Could someone take the ship while we're in the underworld?"

"Not 'ere they can't. And yer bodies'll be safe as well."

"Our bodies?" Xavier hugged himself.

"When yer souls go into the underworld, yer bodies'll stay here. Ye won't be dead, but split in two, body an' soul. Some scurvy sea devil could kill ye though if he comes across the body."

Well, at least Skylos knew what he was doing.

"I'll start the spell," Skylos said. "Why don't the two o' ye get some supplies, anythin' ye think we'll need."

Xavier and I got some backpacks and filled them with important items. I found some rope, a first aid kit, some daggers, a tinderbox, and some other things. I looked back to see Skylos getting ready. There was a circle around him made of black, white and red magic energy. It had a intricate skull symbol at the center taking up most of the space, and runes around the skull. The runes slowly wrote themselves as Skylos chanted. He soon finished, and the drawing was complete. It flashed.

"This be the portal," Skylos said. "Let's go, me hearties! To the underworld!"

30: Leaving the Ocean

Chapter 30

Bianca

"Remember, girl. Don't love people just to be romantic. Love them because you really care."

I looked back at Marisca and smiled. "Thanks. For everything."

"I didn't teach you to be nice. You need to know. Now your first and last test with me; go and fight back those mermen. They can't get my pearl. Remember what I taught you. You've gone far, but there's still a long way to go." The giant clam disappeared.

"What..."

Calvin nudged me. "Come on, Bianca. Let's show them who's boss."

"But I don't have a wand."

"You don't need a wand here, Bianca. There's water all around you. The ocean is your wand."

I ignored his cliche quote and watched the approaching enemy. There was about twenty, each equipped with either a spear or a long sword and shield. They didn't have any clothes on, which would be a big weakness if I had a weapon. Something sharp or heavy to strike their exposed flesh. But I was a sorceress, and would have to make do with my magic.

If what Marisca told me was true, the heart isn't about love. It's about balancing your emotions or something like that. I imagined Sadie telling me that it's to pump blood or something like that. The thought made me smile and gave me confidence.

"Ready?" Calvin asked.

"Ready."

"Get on my back."

I got on his back and we charged into battle. He snapped at the mermen and lashed with his tail. I used magic to make sure that they didn't get too close. It made me doubt the usefulness of water magic underwater. All I could do was push them back. They just got up and returned to the fight.

The mermen easily evaded Calvin's attacks. They moved quickly through the water, and parried with their weapons. His tail was effective as my magic.

Calvin growled. He started to pick them off one by one, charging at them and eating them whole. I struggled to hold onto him, and even more to find a use for my magic. Did Marisca and Calvin know it would be like this, or was I just not trying hard enough?

"How do I use my magic?" I asked Calvin.

He enlarged his mouth and devoured another merman. "You're using your brain too much. Use your heart."

"Listen to your heart, Bianca," I muttered sarcastically. However, I was good at not using my brain. I turned it off, staring at the fight around me. That wasn't a good idea. Zoning out made me slipped off of Calvin.

"Bianca!"

"I've got it, Calvin!" I stood up, looking at the hostile mermen around me. By listening to my heart, I saw the emptiness in those of the merpeople. They don't experience emotions like we humans do. Selena was a good example. I visualized emptiness, the absence of what mattered most. The absence of emotion.

One merman was just a foot away when he stopped moving. His eyes widened, and he clutched his throat, making a weird strangling sound. The others did the same.

I concentrated on keeping the air pockets around my enemies. It seemed only logical that merpeople couldn't breath air. When I was with Selena and her friends, back on the surface when I first met them, I saw rings on their fingers. The rings weren't like mine, but were silver, with white gems on them. They were able to breathe air because the rings let them. The mermen didn't wear air-breathing rings.

Calvin laughed. "I knew you could do it, Bianca!"

He thought that using my magic was easy. Well, actually...no. It wasn't. Every second that passed took away a little bit of my energy. I felt a burning sensation in my chest. "Calvin, get them! I can't hold this spell much longer!"

"Oh, right!" he ate another merman.

I counted the amount of mers (I'm going to call them that from now on) left around us. Fifteen. Calvin ate two more, to make thirteen. The spell hurt a little less but I still felt like I was getting weakened.

Three of the smaller mers passed out. I collapsed their bubbles and focused on the ten that refused to go down.

"Ah!"

I looked at Calvin and almost dropped the spell. He had a spear sticking out of him, and blood was leaking from a wound on his side. He swam behind a rock, his fins twitching. My first thought was that he was a wimp, but I recalled that the spears were magic and weakened the victim's energy. I looked at the bandaged cut on my arm.

The spear had come from the mermen who I thought were unconscious. They had tricked me. Two more spears flew in my direction, and I re-covered the mers in bubbles. One of the spears scraped my good arm.

"Calvin! We can't hold them!" I grimaced from the pain.

"Try to think of happy moments!" Calvin said, gritting his teeth. "You have to keep your heart strong!"

"Okay." I closed my eyes. It was hard to think when I had to concentrate on drowning the mers. Happy thoughts, Bianca, happy thoughts. Most of what came to mind was just me being stupid, like the quest with Sadie. My family was gone. So was Jason, and Figaro and Izzy. But Sadie and Xavier were still out there. They made me feel happy. In my mind's eye I saw Xavier making a bunch of jokes, and Sadie helping me get Jason back, even though he was afraid. Calvin was with me.

I laughed.

The pain went away a little. I stood up straight, and kept laughing. I felt like a little kid again but didn't stop. The pain went away, and I actually felt good. Something was empowering me, something I didn't know about. Maybe it was Marisca, but I felt stronger than ever. With my renewed strength I held my hands out and moved the bubbles, spinning them in circles to make the mermen inside dizzy. I bashed them against each other and, to finish the job, I buried them in the sand. 

Calvin, are you all right?" I asked, remembering that he had a spear in him. I swam over to the serpent.

"Yeah," he said quietly. I could tell that he was lying though. He was trembling. The spear was still in him, and he was losing a lot of blood. The sight of it made me want to scream.

"I can try healing you," I told him. "Hold still."

He held still and closed his eyes. I remembered that I left the pearl behind so I picked it up and put it in front of Calvin, in case it was what had given me the strength during the fight.

"Don't kill yourself trying to make me better," Calvin said. He winced from the effort of talking.

"Sshhh. It's okay." I used magic to push away the cloud of blood so I could examine the spear. It had barbed tips, so it was going to be hard to yank out. I said a spell to get rid of it, but I could only use water magic.

"Hey, can't you turn into another sea animal?" I asked him.

He opened his eyes. "I could only do that before because I was captured in a wand."

"I can try binding you to the pearl," I said. "It's a magic item. I mean, surely it is if it came from a giant talking clam. What spell do I use?"

"Jason used erswe on Amaatlik," Calvin answered. I cringed when I heard the suffering in his voice. I told myself not to make him talk anymore.

The pearl felt light in my hands. I held it in front of Calvin and focused on happy thoughts to balance my emotions. He's going to be all right. I can do this. "Erswe."

Calvin stopped trembling. I had a moment of panic but mentally flicked it away. He was just getting bound to the pearl, which glowed light pink. Calvin glowed as well. His body dissolved and the pearl glowed with their combined luminosity. It stopped glowing.

"Calvin? Are you in there?" I asked him.

"It worked," he said. The voice came from the pearl in my hands, and he sounded like he was no longer in pain. "You just saved my life."

I shook my head. "I think you're exaggerating, Calvin."

"You've been cut by those tridents twice, but you don't know what it's like to be stabbed by one, and have it stuck in your body. They're magic, and can kill you just by breaking your flesh."

I winced, imagining the pain he must have gone through. A tear ran down my cheek. Calvin was all I had, and he almost died.

"If you can be bound to an object and still live, does that mean Amaatlik is still alive?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"He could be, but the only way to remove the binding is to bind another creature to the object. That's how I got out of Ja- out of the wand. And Amaatlik lives on a magic island, isolated from civilization. You can get out easily, but it's really hard to get in."

"Where's the island?" I asked, intrigued.

"What, are you thinking of awakening him?" Calvin asked, his voice accusatory.

I was so shocked I almost dropped the pearl. Didn't he trust me?

"Ha ha, I'm just joking. It's probably in Gaeleg, or the Barmudo Triangle."

I didn't know what Gaeleg was, but I knew the Barmudo Triangle is an area in the ocean, to the south-east of Mericia or something. It's really dangerous and lots of ships disappear mysteriously there.

I sat down, suddenly exhausted. "What a day. Was that all just a day?"

"I don't know. May I turn back into a fidi?"

"No, you should rest. It's okay, I can hold you." I looked over and saw the bloody spear that almost took Calvin's life. I wiped the blood off by shoving it in the sand. I was about to tell Calvin that living underwater wasn't very safe when I saw something in the corner of my eye.

The was someone watching us with glowing red eyes from behind a bunch of seaweed. They didn't seem scared but stayed behind the seaweed.

"Hello?" I called out to the figure.

"Hello," Calvin said.

The person behind the seaweed stayed where they were. They beckoned for me to come over.

I walked over to them carefully, holding on to the spear, or "trident" as Calvin called it. The person behind the seaweed swam away, moving like mermaid. She stopped at the mouth of a cave and looked back at me.

"We don't have time for games," I said. "Why don't you come over here and we'll fight?"

"I wish to help you," they said.

I stopped. The voice was one I will never forget. "Selena?"

"Come here."

I held the spear in my right hand and the pearl in my left. I didn't really want to talk to the mermaid, but there wasn't much choice. "What is it, Selena?"

"I both loved you and hated you," she said sadly. "So I took a form where I can think more clearly. Now I know that I should at least help you."

"What can you do?" I asked, stepping forward. She looked different. Her skin was white, her eyes red. I couldn't see her tail clearly. It looked like it was made of black smoke. Her whole body faded partially into the water, looking transparent like mist. I saw what she meant by another form, and seeing her reminded me of something I learned while I was dead. "You killed yourself to become a banshee."

She nodded. "I can take you to find your friend, in the underworld. Banshees are one of the few creatures who can transport humans there."

"I don't know..." It was all so sudden. How could I see Jason one more time? He was dead. You can't take spirits from the underworld unless their body is alive in the overworld.

"Let me summon a portal. Now, before I change my mind."

I nodded. She still didn't experience emotions the way humans do, but was willing to help us and I accepted it.

She took her right arm out of her cloak and used it to draw a circle in the sand. It was about the size of the magic circles she and Yozka used for their mermaid magic, maybe a yard in diameter. She carved a skull in the sand at the center of the circle, and wrote around the circle in that weird mermaid alphabet. She started chanting, and the circle lit up with red, white, and black magical energy. A minute later she stopped chanting and the portal flashed.

"It is done," she said.

I smiled. "Thanks, Selena. It was nice meeting you."

She must have sensed the suspicion I still felt because she just grunted. "Get on."

"Okay." I stepped on the portal.

31: A Taste of the Underworld

Chapter 31

Xavier

"We're alive, right?" I asked Skylos, closing my eyes. If not I didn't want to know what hell was like. As silence followed, I opened them just enough to see the hellhound.

He was looking around, taking in the surroundings that I refused to glance at. "Aye."

"Why did you have to look around before answering me?" I slowly opened my eyes and got up. We were on a grassy hill. Everything was black, from the grass to the sky.

Sadie groaned. "Can you please get off of me, Skylos?"

"Oh, why didn't ye tell me earlier, lad? Course I can get off o' ye!" He jumped off, landing on the cold black grass. For a second he looked camouflaged, his black fur blending in nicely.

We heard a sound from above, the sound of a funeral organ. I looked up to find that the portal reappeared in the sky. A black-and-white thing crashed from the portal and fell on top of Sadie, making him go back to groaning. The portal closed up and the sound stopped.

"Ye might want to get up, Sadie," Skylos advised. "Thin's will keep fallin' on yer head."

tried to get up but was unable. She grunted and wriggled around. "I can't, there's something heavy on me!"

"Oh!" Bianca got up. "Sorry! Wait, Sadie. Is that you? Xavier? Skylos!" She dropped her items and hugged us all, giving us some of her girly love. "What a coincidence! I thought I'd never see you guys again! What are the chances of us meeting up here? I'm glad I took the chance when I got it."

I pinched myself. It couldn't be true. "Bianca! How did you get here? Weren't you...?"

She let go of me and held on to my shoulders at arm's length, starting to calm down. "I'll tell you guys later. Oh, and Sadie. There's...something I want to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago."

"And I wanted to tell you something," she said, rubbing her neck. "Bianca...I'm sorry. For being so harsh to you on our quest. You were nice to me, and I...wasn't nice back-"

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been such an idiot," Bianca cried. She practically squeezed the tears out of Sadie, who hugged her back. "I promise I'll listen to you from now on," Bianca whispered. 

It was a beautiful sight, although very awkward for Skylos and me. We watched them with amused expressions on our faces. It's not everyday that you see two sorceresses hugging in the underworld.

"This is amazing. I'm so glad you're all alive," Bianca continued. She didn't want to shut up. "It's a miracle!"

Skylos laughed and licked her. "C'mon, then. Let's find Jason before the week is o'er. We should 'ave two to four days left."

Bianca was about to pick up her weird-looking staff and disco ball. She gasped, her expression a mix of anger and sadness. It was only visible for a second before she put her head over her hands. "Oh. You guys don't..."

"What is it?" Sadie asked her.

Bianca kneeled down, forcing a smile on her face. She kept her gaze fixed on Sadie's feet, her hair covering her face. "It's nothing. I...I'm just a little tired. Can we rest here for a little bit?"

I knew she was hiding something and considered reading her mind, but didn't. As a rule I never read the minds of women. It just isn't courteous. She could tell us when she was ready. We agreed to rest where we were and exchanged stories. After all, we still had a few days. Bianca had the journal on her lap as she talked, and the words wrote themselves on the pages.

"Why don't you just write in the journal itself?" I asked, confused. "Are you lazy or something?"

It was supposed to be a joke but she frowned. "No. I have dyslexia."

"Oh." I looked away, embarrassed. How was I supposed to know? I hoped that I hadn't hurt her feelings. She'd been through a lot.

"So, did you really write for Sadie?"

"Oh, yeah. She's one of those crazy people who want others to respect their privacy. I told her that nobody will ever understand her if she doesn't get her thoughts down, but she refused. I forced her to write one chapter though."

"Forced her?"

"I can hear that, you know!" Sadie complained. "Why are you talking about me like I'm not here?"

"'Cause ye aren't," Skylos said. "Yer soul is 'ere, ye left yer body back in me ship."

"Yeah, I got it the first time. Maybe I would've forgotten if we didn't look like ghosts. But why doesn't Bianca look transparent? You didn't get yourself killed again, did you, Bianca?" There maybe a little anger in her voice, but mostly worry.

Bianca shook her head. "I went through a portal. Maybe it's because of the pearl I was carrying. I think it's magic"

Naturally we all looked at the disco ball she had next to her, next to the gold staff.

"So how did you survive, Skylos? When the Kraken attacked, I mean." She reached for her ring.

"You might not want to take that off," I warned her. But it was too late. She took the ring off and was instantly soaked. The water got all over our journal and a little splashed on us.

"The journal!" she screamed, jumping up. "What happened?"

I laughed nervously. "Well, it seems the rings keep us dry while we wear them, but get us wet when we take them off."

"What rings?" Sadie asked. "Never mind. Don't worry about the journal. It's enchanted."

Skylos smiled. "Oh, ye humans ne'er stop makin' me laugh. What's the pe'rl fer, Bianca? An' the trident?"

Bianca sat back down, ringing out her clothes and putting the two things on her lap. "I don't know why I have the trident. I just felt like I'd need it. The pearl was a gift from that clam I was talking about."

"Shiver me timbers! Ye weren't lyin' 'bout Marisca?"

"You know her?" Bianca asked, combing her damp hair with her fingers.

"Aye." Skylos nodded in case we didn't know what "aye" means. "She be the most powerful witch in the sea. One could even say the world! No one knows her true power, but she be known to create giant waves to destroy towns, and make whirlpools to sink whole fleets o' ships. And ye met her!"

I didn't understand what they were talking about. I ate clams back when I lived in Barcos, but I didn't know they were animals. I thought they were a nut or something. And Bianca saw a giant one, one that knew magic.

"Do you know what her pearl does?" Bianca asked.

Skylos shrugged, another thing that dogs shouldn't be able to do but he did it anyway. "Don't 'ave a clue. Anyway, methinks we be ready to go."

"I'm ready," I said as we all stood up. "But where's Jason? How will we find him?"

"They say this place's like a maze," Skylos assured us. "Even I'll 'ave one heck of a time stayin' oriented. It's pretty massive, too, an' everything looks the same."

Sadie scanned the horizon. For as far as we could see, the grass was dead and jet-black everywhere. The sky was black too, without clouds, stars or a moon. It probably doesn't make sense that we would be able to see without stars and a moon in the sky, but the souls of Skylos, Sadie and I all emitted light, so we could see clearly. I know, how fortunate were we?

"You don't know where to go?" Bianca asked. "How long have you been here?"

Sadie adjusted her backpack as if she could still feel Skylos and Bianca falling on her. "We arrived right before you did. Now, time might not pass by at the same rate as it does in our world. We should go before our time is up. We must save Jason."

Bianca pressed the pearl against her chest and clutched the trident. I could tell that she was hiding something, something she was going to add to her journal when we weren't looking. "Let's find a way to locate him then," she said.

I looked at our pirate friend. "Skylos, you lead the way."

"Wait, there be somethin' I forgot to tell ye," Skylos said nervously. He kneaded the ground with his front paws. "As soon a' we step six feet away from where we landed, we gonna get our first challenge."

I grabbed a saber from my backpack and ran forward six feet. Skylos didn't lie. On the sixth step a skeletal hand popped out of the ground and grabbed my ankle.

32: The First Challenge - Mirg

Chapter 32

Sadie

Xavier slashed at the hand with his sword and it stopped moving. He looked back at us and grinned. "Don't worry guys, I've got this!"

"Xavier!" Bianca ran forward and grabbed him, pulling him back to us.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?" Xavier asked, struggling to get out of her grip. He punched and kicked, screaming as though Bianca couldn't hear him. "I was fighting the monsters! Let me go, or I'll kill you!"

Bianca ducked and sidestepped as she dodged the sword that Xavier was waving in the air. She almost let go when it chopped off a handful of her hair, but kept an arm over his chest. "Xavier, it's me. Bianca. You need to stop. Skylos, what's wrong with him? He's acting like a little demon." She ducked again. The sword missed her face by an inch.

"Argh. He be under a berserker spell, makin' 'im crazy for a fight. And there be the witch that cast it on him."

We all looked in the direction he pointed, expecting to see an old lady with green skin and a wart on her nose. Instead we saw a (fairly) handsome young man. He wore black armor made of spiky black and purple metal. His gauntlets were clawed and he held a horned helmet at his side so we could see his long white hair and well-defined features. More skeletal hands popped up around his feet while we were staring at him.

"Welcome to the underworld, humans," the man said. He held out a hand, and Xavier fell asleep, dropping the sword. "I'm Mirg, your guide."

"Bianca, don't trust him!" I shouted. "He's lying!"

She slapped me in the face, taking me by surprise. There was a dangerous look in her eye. "I know."

I'd never seen her hit anything. I hadn't even seen her get angry. She had changed since I last saw her, in Odom. What had happened? She started her story in the mermaid guy's throne room, and ended it when she learned magic from Marisca the clam. I could tell she left out a lot of details, and was going to change her entries later. She didn't explain how she managed to hold off Yozka, or why the monster ate him. She didn't even identify the monster. We didn't know how she got to the underworld. We didn't know how she changed.

"What do you want, Mirg?" she asked, her voice full of disrespect.

Mirg smiled. Yeah...I suppose he was handsome, maybe a little, and was obviously trying to sway Bianca. "I really am your guide. What, do you think we all want to harm you here in underworld? Give us some credit!"

Bianca kicked Xavier away and held the pearl and trident in her hands. She pointed the trident at Mirg. "Go away."

"Oh ho. You're quite a feisty girl. If I were evil, don't you think I would have killed you by now? Or are you just judging me because of my appearance? Listen, You would have put a spell on the boy if he wanted to kill you. Drop the weapons and we can all be friends. Look, I'll even take off my claws." He slipped off the metal gloves.

"Yeah right." Bianca held up her trident. There was still water on her - the lack of a sun must mean no evaporation - and she dried herself off, scraping the water off her clothes and keeping it as a giant bubble in front of her. By moving the trident she moved the bubble as well, and placed it on Mirg's head.

He blew the water away from him and scowled. "Weak little human."

Bianca was silent. She used her trident to grab the water again and whirled it around like a flail, striking him with it. It didn't do much damage but her tempo and force increased with each hit. 

"You can do it," I cheered. Not that I was feeling very cheerful. There's nothing particularly thrilling about watching a knight get splashed repeatedly by a crazy girl. While standing next to a hellhound in the underworld.

The skeletons broke free. They were giant, like seven feet tall. Their dirty white bones were sparsely covered with bits of clothes and armor. Most of them had swords and arrows sticking out of their ribcages, and all of them had some sort of weapon. I saw jagged-edged swords, maces, and several scythes. There was something strange about them. They reminded me of the orisk we saw, but there was something else that I couldn't place my finger on.

"You think you can hurt me with water?" Mirg asked Bianca. He dropped his helmet and yawned, letting the water hit him.

"Stay still, won't you?" she stuttered, her voice shaky. Oh, great. The magic was making her tired.

I looked at Skylos, who was licking Xavier to see if he was all right. "Skylos, he's going to be fine. Can you back Bianca up? I think she's going to need a little help." We watched her get slower as she swung the giant weapon.

"Don't need it," Bianca told Skylos. "It's okay. I've got this. Just gotta...gotta...got to get a good hit on him. At least give me a minute."

Mirg nodded. "Yes, please. This is quite amusing."

Bianca stopped and looked at him, panting heavily, bent over leaning on the trident. She looked like she was about ready to pass out. I thought she had put the water back on her body, but it was sweat. Mirg rolled his shoulders and stretched. He was as ready to fight as ever.

"Do you want to die first or last?" Mirg asked her. He said in a friendly voice, as if asking, "Would you like to go out some time?"

"Neither," Bianca replied. She stood up and made direct eye contact with her opponent. "I want you to die first."

"What are you-"

She stabbed him with the trident. It went right through his armor. Blood seeped through the three wholes she made, dirtying the trident. She pulled the weapon back and it was her turn to laugh. "I got you good, Mirg."

"Wow," I murmured. "She's so...so..."

"Badass?" Xavier asked.

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't use that word, but-"

"I would," Skylos interrupted.

I did a double-take. "Wait. Xavier, you're awake? Where did you guys come from?" I had moved off to the side so Bianca would have more room to fight, but the two were sitting next to me, Skylos on my right and Xavier on my left.

"We're ghosts here," Xavier said. "Woooooooo. Join us, Sadie. Jooooiiinnn uuuussssssss."

"I'm already one too! And why is Skylos transparent? Don't hellhounds come here in the flesh, like Bianca did?" I sighed. Nothing made sense anymore. I looked up to see what was happening with Bianca and Mirg.

Mirg was clutching his wound and staring at it in disbelief. He took his hand away and shook some of the blood off. "Okay, girl. I'm not going easy on you anymore." He reached to his right for a skeleton's sword but got a rib instead. It didn't seem to matter though, because he held it like a curved sword.

"So you're going to hurt a useless girl like myself?" Bianca asked mockingly.

I stood up. "Bianca, don't tease him! You'll just make him angrier!" Stabbing Mirg with the spear had virtually no effect on him. And we had no idea who the guy was.

"Aye! An' I forgot to tell ye who he is!" Skylos shouted. "His full name be Mirghokaenichiertonomikiao, and he can't be killed by a lass. All yer attacks'll be useless!"

"Am I the only one who thinks that's a really long name?" Xavier asked.

Skylos stared at Mirg. "Oh, I made all that up. I have no idea who 'e is. So Bianca should be even more careful."

"I wish I had a name like that," Xavier informed us.

Mirg and Bianca were dueling, thankfully not paying attention to what the two idiots were saying. Bianca was swinging and stabbing the trident. Mirg was pushing her back, hitting her with the bone. The skeletons stood still, waiting for Mirg's instructions. He must have forgotten about us, fully concentrated on Bianca. He got a lucky hit. The blow knocked her down at the edge of the hill and she started rolling. And screaming. The trident flew out of her hand but she still held on to the pearl like her life depended on it.

"You make me sick," Mirg said. He picked up the trident and looked at it, scowling at his own blood on the tips. "No human has ever wounded me."

"Ye must not 'ave met many humans," Skylos said smugly.

"Shut up!" I scolded. But Mirg turned to us. Angry, with a sharp stick in his hands. Judging by the look on his face, whatever was on his mind wasn't pleasant.

Xavier threw his saber at Mirg but he deflected it with the trident. Seeing that a weapon wouldn't harm the immortal knight, he took out a banana. "You're going to pay for hurting my friend."

"You're toast," Skylos told Mirg.

Xavier pointed the banana at Mirg and said a spell. The banana made this weird little shrieking sound and fired darts at Mirg, sticking to his armor. He got about a dozen shots before smoke came from the end of the banana. It stopped firing. He was going to say the spell again but something stopped him.

Skylos breathed fire on Mirg, who was unfazed by the darts but disintegrated under the hellhounds's attack.

I sat down, taking in the scene around me. Did that just happen? I grabbed Skylos by his collar. "Why the heck didn't you do that before? Bianca wouldn't have gotten hurt! And Xavier, since when did you...!"

"Calm down, lad. The witch was gettin' weakened by the wound Bianca gave 'im. My fire was just a finishin' blow." Skylos patted Xavier on the back. "As fer the banana gun, we fused the banana wit' yer wand. Hope ye don't mind."

I felt around in my pocket to find that my wand was no longer there.

"I didn't know I could use magic," Xavier said excitedly. "Wenjag. Reload. This weapon is awesome." He tried spinning the banana but dropped it.

"You'll get punishment later," I snapped, kicking the banana away just as he was about to pick it up. He somehow managed to steal my wand and turn it into a toy, without asking. I was furious with him, but there was something more important. I ran over in the direction I had seen Bianca roll down the hill.

She was at the bottom, lying in the obsidian-like grass with her eyes closed. I ran faster and knelt by her side. "Bianca. Bianca, are you okay? Say something."

"I'm okay," she answered. Needless to say, it didn't look like it. She had a nasty bruise on her cheek where Mirg hit her with the bone, and there were cuts all over her arms and legs. I assumed that they were from the grass, which is sharp like broken glass if contact is made at the right angle. Both her arms had a larger cut on them, likely from before she got to the underworld.

I looked back at Xavier and Skylos. "Come on, Bianca. As crazy as it is, you're the only sane person I've got. I need you to neutralize Xavier and Skylos for me."

She smiled, her eyes still closed. "Yeah. I hope they learn. If they don't man up they'll have to learn the hard way, like I did."

"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened?" I asked her. "You didn't talk about how you changed."

"Well...I'll tell you later." She opened her eyes and I offered her my hand. She got up, still clenching the pearl. "So that was our first challenge. It's designed to make sure only the strong and brave move on to the next challenges. We'll have six more before we get to our destination."

We started walking up the hill. I offered to help her but she waved it away.

"How do you know that?" I wondered.

"Have you forgotten already? I've been dead before, Sadie. And I'm starting to remember some things about this place."

33: The Second Challenge - It Didn't Work

Chapter 33

Bianca

Well, I tried writing this out by hand to prove to Xavier that no, I'm not lazy (he just gave me a dirty look). I couldn't do it though. So here I am, talking to a book.

So yeah. I marched on in the dark, determined to stay on my feet for as long as Sadie and the boys. Speaking of boys, is going to the underworld to bring someone back to life a boy thing? The more I think about it the stranger it feels. It's like Jason is the damsel in distress and I'm the heroic prince. Skylos, Xavier and Sadie are my trusty steed. Of course that doesn't make sense, so what we're doing is obviously a boy thing, like I said.

"It sucks that we don't have my trident," I said tiredly. "Too bad you lost it."

Xavier stopped staring at his shuffling feet and looked up at me. "You know what really sucks? Skylos's navigating skills. If he wasn't so bad at it we wouldn't need the trident."

Skylos moaned. "Everythin' looks the same 'ere. It all be just black grassy plains, with yer occasional hills. Even a monster 'as trouble findin' his way."

"Aren't the lights helping you?" I asked. The underworld had black, white and red balls of light to match their color scheme. We started to see them after leaving the hill where I fought Mirg, they weren't everywhere but not too rare. They let us see better and I thought that they would serve as waypoints for Skylos, but remembered that they disappear after a while to reappear somewhere else.

"We wouldn't need Skylos or the trident if I still had my wand," Sadie argued, ignoring Skylos.

"Ye don't need me?" the hellhound asked.

Xavier gave a long drawn-out sigh. "Are you still upset about that, Sadie? I said I was sorry. You can have the banana gun after we finish the quest. I didn't know you only carry one wand. But at least we can have a little fun while rescuing Jason."

"This isn't a game, Xavier," Sadie mumbled. She closed her eyes. "That wand was Jason's." Xavier knew better than to reply.

I looked at the giant pearl in my hands. Calvin didn't know where we were. He didn't know that we were so close to Jason, but probably never able to see him again. If he did know, he would freak. And the others didn't know that Jason was dead.

Crap, how long can I keep these secrets from my friends? I wondered.

Thinking must have gotten the gears going in my brain. After some time I finally figured out why we weren't getting anywhere, and laughed liked a maniac when the thought came to me.

"What's so funny?" Sadie asked, annoyance evident in her voice.

"I know what we need to do," I told her. Honestly, I thought that she would be the one to figure it out. "We aren't going anywhere because this place can make it look like it. But if we form a long line, we can use each other for reference points-"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Xavier muttered. But they stopped moving and were watching me expectantly.

scratched her head. "How did you think of this?"

"Well, I was wondering what it would be like if we left Xavier behind because nobody likes him, and if Sadie went up ahead because everybody annoys her."

"Hey!"

"That wasn't very nice."

"Why were ye thinkin' that?" Skylos asked with a wide grin on his face.

I shrugged, sharing his smile. "If we use each other as reference points, then our minds can't be fooled by the magic of this place. I don't know how to fully explain it, that's the way underworld magic works. It can trick you if you don't have something physical to focus on."

"Sounds about right," Skylos commented. "Be this our second challenge then?"

We looked at each other, hoping that all the walking we did counted as a challenge. Unless we were still in the first challenge, where Mirg was supposed to chase us and we were supposed to get away using the trick I thought of.

"Either way, we'll get all five," Sadie said.

"There's seven," I corrected her.

She stood up straight. "We'll complete all seven challenges. One thing I don't exactly get is what happens when we do."

"You could ask me."

"And you could tell me the answer."

"Well..." I put the pearl in Xavier's hands and stretched my arms. They were pretty sore. "No one knows. I don't think any human has ever gotten to the underworld. I think it's if you want to get out. Skylos can open a portal, but we wouldn't be able to use it."

Skylos started the spell but Xavier gave me the pearl back and stopped him. "I think she's telling the truth, man."

chat. Sadie, go ahead. I'll tell you when to stop. Xavier will go back, and Skylos will tell him. Go."

walked forward, occasionally giving me doubtful looks over her shoulder. Skylos had to tell Xavier to not be stupid and walk backwards. But we got it done sooner than I thought. Sadie and Xavier were just close enough to hear me but far enough for it to count. I kept Skylos with me because I didn't shed light like they do and wouldn't be able to see where I was walking without him. We marched forward.

"Yer sharp for a zombie," Skylos said as we walked on.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

He was walking so close to me that I could feel his fur against my leg. I think he wanted to protect me in case those skeletons came to get us, though it wasn't likely if they were taking orders from Mirg.

"Skylos? What do you mean by zombie?"

"We're here."

I sighed and looked up. There was something in the distance. Sadie, visible as a distant white light, was walking a little faster to see what it was. I looked back and saw Xavier looking in our direction, trying to see if we were getting anywhere. He was too far away to see the trees that we saw.

"Go get Xavier," I told Skylos. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything rash."

"Got it."

I ran after Sadie, feeling the strange grass crunch under my feet. The sound made me think about the grass and what was under it. Black dirt? Black stone? Nothingness? I would try pulling the grass up but don't want to find out if it's something that could harm us somehow. I doubt I would be able to pull it out anyway.

"Bianca. It's a swamp," Sadie called.

We stopped at the edge. We could just barely see a bubbling, blood-red lake, the other side not visible. The space in between was taken up mostly by hundreds of looking,white trees, which marked the start of the swamp. The trees didn't have leaves but the tips of their many long branches leaked thick red liquid which dripped onto the ground. The ground itself seemed to be black mud.

"That's nice," I commented.

Skylos and Xavier ran up, almost knocking us into the mud. Xavier pointed his banana gun at it. "Wenjag!"

The banana squeaked as tiny darts shot from it. Too bad they shot from the wrong end, knocking Xavier down. Actually, I'm not sure that it was a bad thing. He was fine.

"That thing's useless," Sadie grumbled.

We examined the swamp. Nobody wanted to try walking on the mud. I'll admit that the blood creeped me out. After seeing the tridents being used, I thought I was used to it. I mean blood in general. Looking at what was maybe a giant lake full of blood, and bleeding bone trees, is an entirely different thing.

"I know the next challenge," Skylos said.

"How?" I asked him.

He cocked his head, staring at the swamp. "They be all tests, tests o' if yer worth bein' in 'ere. If me calculations are right, this be the second challenge. One a little strange. Could be easy, could be impossible. 'Tis 'bout followin' directions, an' 'keep movin' for'ard' o' somethin' like that."

"Could you please say that a bit more clearly?" Sadie asked.

"Can we go?" I asked. "I mean, do we just walk forward, like on the mud? And in the lake?"

"Aye."

Xavier walked forward, snickering when he heard the squishing sound his footsteps made.

"How immature," Sadie muttered. She walked forward, passing Xavier. "Well? Are you guys going?"

"Aye," Skylos replied, running towards the lake. He got Sadie and Xavier muddy in the process, making them run after him really pissed. Well, Sadie was possibly a little madder than Xavier.

That left me. I followed them, slightly worried. It wasn't fair that I got a cheesy life lesson while they were still a little naive. Sure, I still have a lot to learn, but Xavier and Sadie, even Skylos, will have to learn the hard way, like me, if they don't...well, Xavier and Skylos could tone down a little. Sadie could tone up, if you know what I mean. I hate to be so judgmental, but it's true.

"I thought bad guys have names that start with 'Mal-' like 'Malgorkan,'" Xavier said. "Unless they're a demon, then their name starts with 'Dem-', like-"

Sadie grunted. "That's so stupid."

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Skylos. Besides, it was just a joke."

Skylos laughed. "Ther names can also start with 'Sa-'. Like 'Sadie.'"

"Stop fighting," I politely advised. "How will we get this done if we're picking on each other? We have to work together to save Jason. You still want to save him, right? He's in danger, and if we don't get to wherever"

"Hey, why is no one picking on the lady?" Xavier asked, laughing.

I grabbed him by the collar. Why I cared so much about finding Jason when he was already dead, I don't know. But their immaturity was annoying. "I'm serious, Xavier! Please! If this challenge is about following directions, then you should follow mine. And I order you three to stop being mean."

"Who put you in charge?" Sadie asked, hands on her hips. "No one's picking on anyone."

"We were so picking on you!" Xavier argued. "And you were being mean to us too!"

I pushed him and walked away. As I expected, we didn't have to walk through the lake. There was a boat on the lake's shore. It was made of black wood, long and thin like Xavier's banana gun. I know that's a bad comparison, Xavier just tried shooting me with that thing.

"Come on," I said.

The men took long enough to get to the boat. I made them push it into the lake and we hopped inside. We could sit with our backs to the water, looking at each other. There was an oar, which Skylos used to get us moving.

"This place is really goth," Sadie said. "Why does everything have to be black? It's hard to see everything because it all blends together."

"It's hard to see because we're the only sources of light," Xavier said. "Well, besides those light ball things."

I looked up at the sky, trying to see through the white gnarled branches that almost completely covered it. A sun/moon never appeared in the sky while we were walking through the plains, making it really dark. We saw the "light ball things" (I think they're will-o'-the-wisps) in the swamp too, which is how we could see. The lake had a lot of mini islands and trees sitting in the water, making steering difficult. Skylos grunted with the oar in his mouth as he swerved around the obstacles, trying hard not to bump into anything. Blood dripped from the branches over our heads so we made a little tent with Sadie's supplies.

"Do you think it's like the grasslands?" Xavier asked us. "What if we need to travel in a line as eye anchors, or whatever you called us?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I thought about what he said. "If you're willing to get in that lake and be our 'eye anchor' then go ahead. Jump in."

"Okay." He got up and took off his clothes, throwing them on the floor. "Well, here I go."

Skylos laughed, his voice muffled by his oar. Sadie grabbed Xavier by the arm. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? She was being sarcastic! You can't go in there! It's, like, blood. A bubbling, magic pool of blood. What makes you think that would be safe?"

"Oh..." Xavier sat back down.

"Don't think she was bein' sarcastic," Skylos told Xavier. "Wouldn't recommend it though."

"I was being sarcastic," I said. Ugh, boys. They're so crazy. My fears of them getting themselves killed only increased as time went on.

looked around, waiting for something to happen. She forgot what Skylos had told us, and the pirate was happy to tell her.

"We shouldn't be lookin' 'round, lad," Skylos said. "This's 'bout lookin' forward, mind. I remember when I was a wee pup. Couldn't help lookin' all 'round, an' never forward. Got meself into much trouble, I did. Learn from me mistakes, and ye'll be better off."

"Shouldn't you be steering?" Xavier asked.

Skylos jumped and looked at the oar. It fell into the water. Or rather...the blood.

"Wow. You just had to make that joke. It wasn't even funny. Or a joke," Sadie scolded him. He leaned back with his arms crossed, looking up.

"Why don't ye yell at Xavier?" Skylos complained. "At least tell 'im to put 'is clothes back on. O' tell Bianca t'say somthin'. We need t'follow each other's directions 'cause this be the following directions challenge. Tell 'er whatever ye want, an' she has to listen. C'mon, please?" He gave Sadie puppy dog eyes, but they didn't work.

"I just want to get out of here!" she shouted.

"Please!"

We started at the sound. Through all the arguing we had failed to notice the crocodile head poking out in front of the ship. It was, of course, jet-black like everything else, with one eye red and the other white. The crocodile rose, standing on two legs. It looked more like some creature that was half crocodile and half man. It was twice as tall as your average everyday human. I could tell because it was somehow standing on the surface of the lake. 

"Hi," Xavier said weakly.

"You four aren't any fun," the croc guy criticized. "This place is supposed to scare you out of your clothes." He looked at Xavier, who was still in his underwear. "I guess you've passed the second trial. Here's another oar, keep going in that direction and you'll find a city. Get into the city and to the top of the main tower. By then you will have gotten through your third trial. Now please leave, annoying humans." He sank below the surface.

"So this be actually the brav'ry challenge," Skylos said. He took the oar that the guy handed us and rowed forward.

Sadie sighed. "We weren't even paying attention to this place, we were so busy arguing. I didn't notice how scary it is."

Xavier pulled his shirt over his head and nodded. "Let's get out of here. It is pretty scary now that I think about it."

34: The Third Challenge - Rusdeqs in City

Chapter 34

Xavier

As we got out of the large black canoe I couldn't help realizing something. Bianca didn't even thank us for getting past the second challenge. If we hadn't distracted each other, the scariness would have gotten to us. I didn't want to tell her, though, because then her gratitude would be false.

The other side of the lake was close to the swamp's edge. Outside we saw another plains, and the city was in the distance. It was weird. By city I expected a large town with bunch of zombies and bone houses, something like that. The city we saw was large and had a wall around it, with actual houses and a tall tower at the center. I could see the city because it was illuminated by millions of light ball things. It looked like it was a mile away though, and I couldn't tell what it was made of. I hoped something other than bones.

 "Well, this must be it," Sadie said as she stood watching it. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sadie.

Bianca pointed ahead. "Look, there's a sign over there. I wonder what it says." She walked over to the sign. We followed her, just as curious as she was. I loaded my gun first, in case we met trouble. After preparing myself I ran up to read the sign. There wasn't much written on it.

Warning: Rusdeqs in city. Do not look back.

"Ah. So this be the look forward challenge," Skylos said. I couldn't tell whether he was talking to himself or to us. Or both. He stared at the sign.

"What does...'Rusdeqs in city' mean?" I asked, wondering if I pronounced it right (roos-decks).

Bianca squinted at the sign. "Oh, rusdeqs? Is that what it says? A rusdeq is a ghost that can kill you if you look at it. They can only appear behind you, though. They have to tempt you to turn around and look at them. Don't worry, if you just look forward they can't do anything."

I looked at the sign again. It was made of black wood, and the ink was also black, making it hard to read.

"So this is our next challenge?" Sadie asked. "Do we have to go in a line again? Even if we don't, it would be a good idea. Then the rusdeqs can't appear behind you, not if they would be appearing in front of the guy there. I can go in the back, so they'll be behind me. I'm mature enough to not look back."

"That's so stupid," I told him. I covered my face in embarrassment. "Then they'll still appear behind you. And we don't know whether or not they would be able to appear behind everybody else. If they do, everybody but the guy in front would be looking at one and die. All thanks to your plan. No, we should walk shoulder-to-shoulder to make sure we don't end up looking at someone else's rusdeq."

Skylos whined. We look at him. He was still reading the sign. "Argh. There be smaller print. Says we should split up an' meet at the tower. No, we 'ave to. Neither o' ye are right."

"So we all go alone. Yay," Bianca muttered.

"That better be some more of your sarcasm," I said.

She nodded. "Well, maybe splitting up will be good for us. Then we can't argue. But there's one problem; I can't see because I'm not glowing like you guys."

"Do you want my gun? You could use some sort of light spell." I selflessly offered her my only weapon, a magic weapon at that, but she shook her head and held up her hands.

 "I can just try capturing a will-o'-the-wisp. If I can't do that...well, I'll figure something out." She patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. We all will."

"Famous last words. Okay, let's go." We walked toward the city together.

Like I said, our destination looked like it was maybe a mile away, but because of the underworld distance trick that Bianca was talking about we got there in just a minute. The walls were made of black stone, and the open gate was black metal. I could see the houses inside. They were yellow, made of wood and stone and other stuff. Just kidding. The houses were black. I only wanted to be interesting.

At the gate we told each other to have good luck and split up. I considered stalking one of them, maybe Skylos, because I didn't really want to be alone. But didn't want to risk it. The sign said to split up, and if the challenge was about following directions then so be it. I walked around, keeping my eyes glued to what was in front of me.

If you're me, Bianca, Sadie or Skylos, you may have forgotten what the city looked like, other than the fact that it was black. If you aren't one of them, then you have no idea at all. Besides it's being all black, the city was pretty typical. Most of the buildings had stone foundations, wooden frameworks and upper walls, and tile roofs. There were a lot of gates and walls enclosing parks and stuff. They and the empty windows sent chills up my spine, because I had no idea what was on the other side. I imagined demonic spirits coming at me from the darkness, their appearance so gruesome that I died. The thought wasn't a pleasant one.

"Where's the freaking tower?" I asked myself, speaking out loud to feel like I wasn't alone.

"You've gone too far. Cut through that garden, and keep turning left. You'll get there eventually."

I was going to turn around and thank the speaker for his help but stopped myself. A rusdeq. Right behind me. It was so close I could feel it breathing down my neck. It put a hand on my shoulder.

"You better hurry, before your friends get worried. They're all at the tower," It said. I ran forward but it stopped me by wrapping its arm around my neck. I didn't look down at the arm, in case that itself would get me killed.

"Dude, what's you're problem?" I asked. "Let me go!"

"Don't you recognize my voice? It's me, Jason."

I did recognize the voice. It was Jason's. He took his hand off my body and stepped away. "Hey, Xavier. I like your banana. Are you a sorcerer too now?"

"Oh, it's just you." I laughed and looked at the gun. "Yeah, I'm still trying it out but apparently I know magic now. Cool, huh?"

"Why are you here? Did you think I was dead?"

I paused, confused. And angry. Did he just say what I think he said? "Well, we...we thought it was a possibility. Are you really alive? How...HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US? We were so afraid! I thought you were the best. I looked up to you, and couldn't wait to see you again after you defeated Amaatlik. And when I heard that you were probably gone forever...you have no idea how scared and upset I was! And to think you were fine the whole time. You should be ashamed of yourself!" I sniffled as my feelings finally revealed themselves. Were Sadie and Bianca wrong, when they said it wasn't a game? Were we worried about nothing? Jason was here, safe and sound, the whole time?

"I'm sorry." His voice was emotionless.

"You're sorry?" I spat. "Was this supposed to be some kind of joke?"

"No. I thought the necromancy spell didn't work, so I went here to go and find Bianca. I couldn't find her, of course, but ever since you guys entered the underworld I've been wanting to talk to you. I left a sign, saying what I was doing. Xavier, please. Look at me. I'm telling you the truth. Why would I lie to you?"

I turned around ninety degrees and froze. In Sadie's journal account she said that the sign was "You have one week to save your friends" or something like that. And it was on Bianca's grave. How could Jason leave us a note by changing what was written on the grave? What's more is he had gone limp after casting the spell, surely unable to just wake up and go to the underworld. And he was under the effect of a love potion.

"Liar." I tried to run away but he put his arm back around my neck. I shut my eyes.

"Xavier, it's really me. Why don't you believe me? Why won't you look at my face?" He pulled me closer. "Come on."

I yelled and shot him with my gun. "YOU MONSTER! THAT WAS THE WORST TRICK ANYONE HAS EVER PLAYED ON ME!" I kicked and managed to get out of his grasp, subconsciously choosing the path he told me about. Through the garden, keep going left. My eyes were set on the ground. Sounds erupted all around me. Roars, howls, screams, cries. Horrible, wicked laughing. Some of the rusdeqs told me that my friends had looked back and were dead. That they were the easiest challenge of all seven, and if I was so shaken by this one, they said, I would surely fail the others. I would have to do it alone anyway because my friends were all dead.

"I HATE YOU ALL!" I shouted. "Why do you want to kill me so much? I'm just trying to save my friend Jason!"

"We want your life essence," one of them told me. "And Jason's too."

I heard something else. Something I didn't want to hear.

"Xavier! It's got me, please help!"

Hearing Bianca cry for help made me cringe. I stopped and kneeled down, putting my hands over ears and closing my eyes. The voices and noises weren't cut out but were just as clear as before. Except for Bianca's voice, which was drowned out. Is that the real Bianca? I thought.

I couldn't take it. I raised the gun and shot in a circle, firing darts around me. The rusdeqs just laughed.

"Don't worry, if you just look forward they can't do anything." That's what Bianca had said. She would never lie. I supposed that what I heard was just an illusion, something to make me give up. I decided to save Bianca.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked up. Bianca was standing there in the middle of the road, looking scared. She reached out to me. "Xavier. Let's find Sadie and Skylos, and get out of here as soon as we can."

"Okay." I got to my feet. My heart was racing, and I tried to slow down my breathing. Bianca and the others were okay. "Where to? Do you know the way out?"

She didn't answer me. Instead she looked at me silently, and I looked back at her, until she frowned.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You're supposed to die. Oh, wait. I need to be in my true form. Hold on, one second."

Thankfully I understood what that meant. I fled, running down the cobbled streets, away from the rusdeq as fast as I could. If it weren't so stupid, it would have changed into what it really looked like, without telling me. I would have died.

Those four words echoed in my mind as I ran to the tower, hoping that the others were fine.

35: The Fourth Challenge - Wait for It...

Chapter 35

Bianca

We stood at the top of the shape-shifting tower, looking over the edge at the city below. I hoped that we didn't have to see any more of the rusdeqs up on the top of. Or ever again.

"That was a close one," Sadie breathed. She was sitting down, her back to the railing. "That was harder than I thought. You said they couldn't get us if we didn't look back."

"It grabbed me!" Xavier said.

I looked back at them and sat down too. "They aren't supposed to touch you. That's what...what people say."

"What people?" Sadie asked.

I shrugged. "The guy who watched over me when I was a ghost. He told me a lot about the underworld. Maybe they got stronger since then."

"It doesn't matter," Skylos said sleepily. He was lying on his side, in a sleeping position, legs twitching. "We need to get to the fifth challenge."

"Fourth," Sadie told him.

He whimpered. "That be one more challenge we 'ave to do then. Okay. Let's get to the fourth challenge, which should be a maze. Bianca, where be the way?"

"I don't know," I admitted. I went back to the railing, watching the will-o'-the-wisps fly around the city that must have been their home. They were so beautiful, and I found it strange that they would be in such a place as the underworld. I wonder if they're souls or something. I tried catching one but they don't like it when people go near. They just disappear and pop up somewhere else.

"Bianca?" Sadie got up and joined me. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, surprised and confused. It wasn't until she asked that realized there was indeed something on my mind. I was a little mad at her for bringing it up, but then remembered she still didn't know that Jason was dead, or that I was holding Calvin in my magic pearl. She didn't know about the torture Yozka inflicted on me. But she sensed it. I turned away from Sadie, wishing that I could just fade away like the lights.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Bianca, what is it? You can tell me."

"It's nothing. I'm just worn out from all this adventuring." I managed a slight smile and shook her hand off.

"Stop bugging her, Sadie!" Xavier demanded. He got up and pulled her away. "She wants to be alone so she can cry!"

"What? No I don't!" I glared at him and turned back to the city. "Why are you guys so focused on me? Don't you have problems of your own? I'm not the only person here."

Sadie squirmed out of Xavier's grasp but stood at a respectful distance from me. "Because there's something you aren't telling us," she said. "If you don't want to tell us, that's fine. I'm just saying...it might make you feel better."

"I want to tell you, and I agree that it might make me feel better if I got it off my chest." I stopped and took a deep breath, trying not to appear weak in front of them. Once the threat of tears went away, I continued. "But you might hate me if I told you."

"I will never hate you," Sadie said seriously.

"I, especially, would never hate you," Xavier told me with a wide toothy grin on his face. 

Sadie nodded. "If there's anyone I hate, it's Xavier. But I don't even hate him."

"Thanks, Sadie," Xavier said, for some reason flattered.

I smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys. But...you won't like what I have to say. It's not necessarily good news. Far from it." A part of me still thought that they would hate me for telling them.

"We promise we'll be tough," Sadie told me. "I won't judge you by what you have to say. Cross my heart and hope to die."

Her words made me feel better. She really was serious. I was lucky to have such good friends. And if Sadie would be tough, so should I. I shared my secret before I could change my mind. "The note on my grave was wrong. Jason is dead."

Sadie and Xavier were silent. I didn't know if that was what they were expecting. They didn't seem to hate me, but I could see that the news shocked and depressed them. They looked down, having a respectful moment of silence for our deceased friend.

"I told you," I said softly. "I'm sorry."

Sadie looked up. She ran forward and embraced me. Her face was damp with tears. "No. I'm sorry, Bianca."

"No. He was your friend. I now know it was stupid to be in love with him. We hardly know each other. But you guys had been friends for five years. I just can't believe that one more person died because of me."

"Shut up. None of this was anyone's fault. We'll still try to get Jason back. No matter what the cost."

I moved away a little and wiped my eyes. "Thanks, Sadie."

Skylos padded over and rubbed against our legs and told us to sit down. "We can only move for'ard. I felt the same way when me crew drowned. Nobody will ever replace yer mates, but Jason wouldn't want ye to grieve like that. He would want ye to get up an' keep goin'."

"You're talking as though we won't get him back," Sadie told him. She petted the hellhound. "We're in the underworld. We can do this. There might not be any visible way of moving on to the next challenge, but this could be some sort of puzzle. We just have to solve it."

"The girl's right." We all jumped. None of us had noticed the crocodile guy sitting on the rail a few feet away.

"You again. Do you have a name?" Xavier asked him.

He grunted. "I am Eskro. My job is to watch you as you advance through the challenges."

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" I asked nervously. I didn't want him to know that we were planning on bringing someone back to life. If all dwellers of this place were like the orisk, Eskro didn't want us to break the rules of life and death. But he just smiled.

"Ambitious," he commented. "You passed the fourth challenge. It was a challenge of patience. Are you ready to move on to the next trial?"

"You bet we are," Xavier told him.

Eskro nodded. "Then come over here and jump down. When you land you will find yourself in a desert. The sand is so soft that it will break your fall. You'll see what your next challenge is from there." He turned into a black cloud and swirled around in the air before mixing with the shadowy sky above us.

Sadie, Skylos, Xavier and I looked at each other expectantly, silently asking who would jump down first.

"I'll do it," I volunteered. I walked over to the black metal railing and sat up on it, my feet dangling over the edge. I'm not afraid of hights, but looking down I got a sense of vertigo. I gulped and told myself to get over it.

"Let's all go!" Xavier said quickly.

I smiled gratefully. We all got on the railing and, at the count of three, jumped down together.

36: The Fifth Challenge - Run for Your Life

Chapter 36

Xavier

The lizard guy was right. As we were falling - it felt like forever, by the way - we were teleported or something. The city became a blur, blending with everything else, and when we stopped falling it was gone. It looked as though everything had disintegrated, turned into heaps of black sand. There was no tower, no houses, no shops. We were in the middle of a desert. The light ball thingies flew about lazily.

Seeing the balls made me think of them as stars that were closer to the ground. Is that what stars are like? Small balls of light that float around in the sky? I want to look at one up close but never have the time.

"We're here," Sadie said once we had landed.

"I already know that," I told her, grinning.

She looked at me really funny. "Where are Bianca and Skylos? Did the jump? Maybe we got split up?"

"Skylos ate her, and she ate him, so they're gone," I answered. I looked up. "Or maybe they're about to land right on top of you."

"Not again!" Sadie shrieked. She ran away a couple seconds before the other two crashed where she was just standing, forming a giant cloud of sand. We spit it out of our mouths and brushed it off our bodies.

"That was so scary," Bianca stammered, traumatized. She staggered and set down her pearl. "I thought I was going to die. How did the sand break our fall? I thought the underworld has the same laws of physics as our world."

Sadie looked up at the sky again and walked forward. "Maybe you shouldn't listen to everything that guy told you. If he lied about rusdeqs not being able to touch us and physics being the same here, then surely he told you other things that aren't true."

"I know. I'll be more careful from now on. But it also said so in the brochure." She took out a folded piece of black paper and showed us. "See? Here's where it talks about rusdeqs...and here's the physics thing. Oh, wait. Never mind. It's out of date. This is from thirteen years ago." She threw it on the ground. "So...when do you guys think we'll find out what our next challenge is?"

We fingered our items, knowing that it could come any second. I made sure my gun was still clipped to my belt, Bianca picked up her pearl (I still don't know what it's for), Skylos...and Sadie made sure she had our backpacks. I'd made her carry mine because I had to carry the gun.

I figured that Mirg and his skeletons would come back eventually. It seemed strange that we saw them for only a few seconds before Bianca and Skylos defeated them. Maybe I was the only one who wasn't surprised when we saw them marching towards us.

"Look!" Sadie shouted.

We were already looking. The white bony guys stood out against the dark sand dunes. Seeing them I got an idea. "Hey Sadie."

She looked at me. "What?"

"What's white, black, and red all over?"

"Xavier-"

"The underworld!" I waited for her to laugh. Nobody did. "Sorry, I had to say it."

"C'mon, lads, the skellies are only gettin' closer," Skylos called. "And faster." I looked at the way the skeletons were moving, roughly measuring the distance they traveled in five seconds. Using that information I calculated the rate at which they moved.

"It's no use. They're faster than us, and accelerating. We need a better, quicker source of transportation. Does anybody have a dragon?"

Have you ever seen someone riding a rabbit? If so, have you seen a dog riding a rabbit? If not, then we should really get this journal published and turn it into a movie so you can see. It was an amazing sight.

The furry creatures popped out of the sand. Four of them, which was just enough. Skylos and I got the ones with red eyes, while Sadie and Bianca got the white-eyed ones. I don't know why, it just worked out that way.

"So this be the racin' challenge," Skylos told us. "We race these rats across the desert, and can't let the undead get to us."

"Piece of cake," I said.

Bianca pet her rabbit. "They aren't rats, they're bunnies. Gofenshet bunnies. Only found here in the underworld. In addition to their large size they can run even faster than normal ones. The hard part is getting them going-"

"Wenjag." I pointed my gun up vertically and shot. I had forgotten that it made such a pathetic sound when it fired. The bunnies- I mean the rabbits weren't scared by the noise. I could easily imagine them laughing at me.

"Oh. Well this is stupid."

I looked at Sadie. She was going through her pack, and pulled out a journal. Hunting Amaatlik.

"What are you going to do with that?" Bianca asked. "Read to the bunnies?"

Sadie shook her head and slipped off her rabbit. She went over to the one I was on and held up the book. "I'm just getting these rabbits to start running."

My rabbit didn't like being spanked. It squealed and reared up on its hind legs, almost knocking me off. If it weren't for the excessive amount of neck fur to cling on to, I would have fallen. The rabbit run off at an unnatural speed. In a couple seconds I couldn't see the others anymore because we were so far away.

"Can you please slow down?" I begged, having a bit of difficulty with keeping my grip. I pressed my face against the Gofenshet's neck so the air rushing past wouldn't be blowing on me. "You can hear me, right?"

The rabbit slowed down, letting the other three catch up. She was still really fast, but I liked riding her. I felt like I was riding a horse. 

"Woooo!"

I rolled over to my right. Skylos was having one heck of a time and made sure that we knew it. Like me, he was lying with his chest pressed against the rabbit's back, legs clamped around the animal so he wouldn't fall off. Honestly, I expected Sadie to do just that, but we all managed to stay on. Maybe the rabbits were magic or something.

"I think I'm going to get sick!" Bianca screamed.

"We have to do this," I told her. "You better get used to it. The skeletons are getting quicker. They're going to get faster than the Gofenshets soon."

We looked back. The skeletons were clattering in pursuit. Those with weapons like flails and scythes dragged them behind as they ran. The skeletons with lighter, less awkward weapons, like swords or clubs, waved them in the air. Their eyes glowed red and they were yelling at us. I couldn't see Mirg yet.

Bianca lead her rabbit over to me and smiled. "Hey, Xavier. Can I borrow your banana?"

"Oh...yeah. It's actually a gun, but sure." I threw her my gun. She caught it with her free hand - she was still holding the pearl - and pointed it at the skeletons behind us.

"Do I need to say something?"

"Nope, it's loaded. After twelve shots you need to say wenjag.Well, eleven shots now because I used one already."

"Um...how do I fire it?"

"I...just imagine that you're firing it."

She nodded and fired at the skeletons eleven times. Only a few hit their target because of the movement of her rabbit. Three of the skeletons were disarmed. One that got hit in the chest exploded, bones flying all over the place and knocked down the skeletons around it. Bianca wenjagged and shot the monsters repeatedly, taking out the ones on their front lines.

"Wow. You're great," Sadie said jealously. "How are you so accurate?"

Bianca bit her lip. "I don't know. It's a magic gun, I guess-"

"Why can't I fire it?" I argued. "It's my gun!"

"Technically it's Jason's," Sadie amended. The thought made her face darken. "Keep shooting, Bianca. Maybe we'll get them."

"I don't think so. That's what I was trying to tell you, it's not working. They just get back up. In fact, I think it's making them angrier. And faster." She threw me the gun back. I wasn't expecting her to, and almost couldn't catch it. The only reason I could was because it flew to my hands magically. Haha, I love how I'm giving magic all the credit whenever we do something right.

"I could try breathing fire on 'em," Skylos said. "Be more than happy to."

"That might work," Sadie admitted. "But if it doesn't we'd have to slow down and they could catch up to us. I think it would be a better idea if we just tried to outrun them."

"Won't take nay for an answer," Skylos replied with a grin. He did a backflip and turned 180 degrees in midair, so that he was facing the skeletons. His feet were still on the running rabbit. I love how awesome that guy is. He breathed fire, but his breath only reached about ten feet.

The skeletons were too far away. Maybe 37 feet, 9 inches, 3 centimeters and a millimeter. At the time that Skylos breathed fire. The skeletons had stopped gaining speed, but were so fast that if we let them get ten feet away from us they could probably catch up.

"We need to go faster!" Sadie urged. "The bunnies are living organisms and will tire eventually. I doubt that the skeletons will ever tire, because they aren't alive. I know we can go at a faster pace!"

I kicked my rabbit but it didn't want to go any faster. "Sorry, Sadie."

"What do you mean, sorry?"

"It won't go faster. You were wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yeah."

"No I wasn't. I was righter righter than I've ever been. Bianca, let me take that pearl off your hands."

"No!" Bianca wrapped her arms around the shiny pink ball protectively.

Sadie groaned. "I need it, to cast a spell. Xavier's banana won't work."

"I..." Bianca looked at the pearl. She looked at Sadie. "Okay. Do you promise you'll be careful?"

"Yes."

Bianca shifted her rabbit over to Sadie's and threw her the pearl. Sadie then moved her rabbit to the center and raised the pearl.

"Volas!"

I straightened my body as my Gofenshet grew black bat wings and beat them experimentally. All four leaped and started flying away from the skeletons. We weren't unlucky, because the skeletons didn't grow wings and were unable to go after us. They stopped and stared as we escaped.

"Ha! Can't touch this!" I bellowed, laughing at their stupidity.

Sadie smiled and winked. "Told you I was right. We needed to go faster, and the only way to do that was by flying. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box."

37: The Sixth Challenge - Joe

Chapter 37

Sadie

The Gofenshet rabbits flew faster than they ran. Fast enough to get away from the skeleton warriors, but slow enough so that we were comfortable. Slow enough to allow Xavier to write in the journal.

"How can you write at these speeds?" I asked. Due to the flux of air, I had to raise my voice to make myself heard. As I said, the rabbits were going pretty fast.

looked up at me and beamed. "Well...I'm not saying that my handwriting is too neat. Hopefully the guy who publishes it will be able to read what I'm saying. What do you think, Sadie? Can you read it?"

"For the millionth time, it's not getting published!" I protested. He knew that I wanted our entries to be private. I would rather not have some random person like at mine and laugh at the way I narrate. "Ugh. What are you writing about right now?"

"Um...I'm writing about how badass you and Bianca are."

"Can you please not..." I sighed.

"Not what?"

"Nothing."

"Are you writing too? What's that in your hands?" Xavier leaned forward to stick his nose into at what I was holding. "Is that Hunting Amaatlik?"

I hugged the book. Something about the rabbits' magic made it so that we couldn't fall off or drop any of our items, so I wasn't afraid of losing the precious journal in my hands. I was able to hold it because I had given the pearl back to Bianca and replaced it with Hunting Amaatlik.

"Didn't you and Jason finish writing that?" Bianca asked. "Have you been writing in that journal instead of ours?"

"No." I found it hard to avert my eyes from the cover of the book. Part of me didn't want to. "This is all that remains of Jason. I don't know why, but...holding it keeps me going. It gives me energy somehow."

Bianca looked at the pearl and smiled sadly. "I understand what you mean."

"You guys are so emotional," Xavier mocked. "I'm glad I'm a boy. All I need to keep me going is common sense. I know that Jason is my friend, and I should save him because he would do the same thing for me. Plus I'm a good person. I don't need a book to remind myself of Jason."

"That's not what I meant," I argued, offended.

"Don't worry, girl. I understand what you mean."

You could say that hearing a voice behind me freaked me out. You could also say that it nearly gave me a heart attack. I looked around to see Eskro sitting on the rabbit behind me. "What are you doing here?" I asked. I put a hand over my heart. "Why on my rabbit?" 

"Like I said, I'm watching you humans as you head toward Death. I must say, you have gone farther than I thought you would. I respect your progress."

"Head toward death? So we be goin' t'die?" Skylos asked.

Eskro laughed. "No, Death as in the overseer of the underworld. You did want to see him, right?"

"No," muttered.

"Yes!" Xavier cheered. He jumped up and down on his rabbit. "That would be so cool! Then we could tell him to give us Jason back!"

"That's not exactly how it works," Eskro explained. "He can be very hard to talk to. If you think getting to him is hard...well, good luck talking. Of course, if he...oh, never mind. I know you guys are so set on getting your friend back. I don't want you to be disappointed if it doesn't work."

Bianca knit her eyebrows. "You say you're on our side?"

"There are no sides, Bianca. There is no conflict, no disagreement. Death only excepts those who he thinks are worthy, and throws different trials at you. There are only two left, by the way. Death does not hate you. Nobody here hates you. But the weak can not survive. They will instead join us. To answer your real question, I am indeed 'supporting' you. Although young, you three are strong. I see potential in all of you."

"Even Xavier?" I questioned.

He nodded. "All of you. But are you sure that you want to go on with your quest to find Jason?"

"Why wouldn't we?" I asked, embracing the journal.

"Like I said, you could get through the next two trials and meet Death, but he might still find you unworthy. He is a lot harder to please than I am." Eskro folded his tiny crocodile arms and tilted his long head upward. "Duel me, Sadie."

"I don't think so."

"Yes." He stood up and held out his hands. Two identical black metal swords appeared in them, blinking red and white in the light cast by the will-o'-the-wisps that whizzed by. Eskro handed me one of the swords. I stood up and accepted the weapon, handling it gingerly because I had never held a sword before.

Xavier, Bianca and Skylos gaped at the scene before them. Xavier was going to take out his banana. I could tell by the look on his face.

"Don't, Xavier."

He groaned.

"Why are we doing this?" I asked. "This isn't the sixth challenge, is it?"

"At least let me fight!" Bianca begged.

I frowned. "I'm glad you guys believe in me. Don't worry, I can do this."

"Smart girl." Eskro slashed at me with the sword. I had lied to my friends. I didn't know how to use a sword. I held it up as Eskro attacked me, parrying to avoid his strikes, not wanting to hit him but just block his sword until he got tired. I wondered if he was going to kill me. He said he was supporting us, but also told us that the weak die. I was too afraid to ask him, so I just kept going. Hunting Amaatlik was still in my left hand.

"I think you have an advantage," I told Eskro. "This isn't very fair."

The crocodile man laughed. "Never tell your enemy one of your weaknesses. Now I know that you are bad at swordplay." He started to hit harder and faster.

"I was...just kidding," I informed him. I knew that I could just let go of the book and try grabbing his sword hand or something...wait, would that have worked or would that allow him to chop my arm off? I don't know because I didn't do that. Rather, I kicked him off the rabbit. "That was a distraction," I improvised, calling down to the falling figure below.

"Is he dead?" Xavier asked as he stared at Eskro. We were pretty high up, and he had a long way to fall.

"I'm right here." That time Eskro had appeared right behind Xavier. The boy didn't jump or scream or anything. He just looked back and closed the journal.

"Did I win?" I asked.

Eskro scratched his head. "I suppose."

I rolled my eyes. My sword dissolved, letting me sit down on the rabbit. "Let's face it. You don't want to kill us, you're just here to make us scared and want to go back to our own world. You're the sixth challenge. It's not working."

"It's not because I'm a trial. I really recommend that you stop. You shouldn't be doing this, Sadie. Death could get really angry and...you don't want that to happen. Jason wouldn't want you to die trying to save his life. Just ask Bianca there. Am I right, Bianca? Doesn't it hurt, knowing someone got himself killed just so you could live?"

Bianca grunted. "I don't know. You tell me."

"Let us go," I pleaded.

He shook his head. "I can open up a portal to your world for you. You can go back, and forget that anything happened. Stop trying to get your friend back."

"You're just like that orisk guy," I told him. They both were strongly opposed to us reviving Jason for some reason. And they both acted nice, like they were the good guys. Then something occurred to me. I leaned forward, gaping. "Wait, are you?"

He bowed. "Princess Sadie. The real name's Sotekh Haro, at your service my lady."

"Wow. You have a last name. Is that what you looked like when you were alive? You weren't human, were you?"

"No, here I can take on any form I wish. I like this one. It makes me feel powerful." He flexed his muscles. "It's way cooler than a golden skeleton. But I digress. Raising the dead is not natural. I don't think it's ever been done before. Even if you do get past the next trial, and to Death, he would require that at least one of you sacrifice yourself. You might not be able to choose who it is, it might be all you. And Jason might be given his life back, but Death could return him in such an unhealthy state that he would die again."

"We have to at least try."

Sotekh sighed. I looked him in the eyes and saw something strange there. Before then I wouldn't have believed that a crocodile could look sad. "Fine. There is nothing more that I can do to influence your decision. At least take a weapon to defend yourself, because you lost your wand. What would you like?"

His question surprised me a little. I didn't want a weapon. Magic was better. But, to be nice, I decided to accept. "Do you have...um...a spear, I guess."

"A spear? Sure thing." He summoned a black spear and handed it to me. "Oh, darn. I have to go. I won't be able to communicate with you from now on, so this is goodbye. And good luck, Sadie. All of you. Don't die."

"Oh...okay. Bye. And thanks, Sotekh." I was going to wave but he smiled and disappeared before I could lift my hand. One second he was there, and the next there was no sign of him.

Bianca, Skylos and Xavier all exchanged glances.

"What?" I asked.

38: The Seventh Challenge - You and One Army

Chapter 38

Bianca

We landed soon after Sotekh left. The rabbits gently set us down on a beach and and flew off.

"You think we should just give up?" Sadie demanded.

"I'm actually glad that you want to keep going," I said. "Jason risked his life for me. I want to do the same for him."

Xavier sneered. "That wasn't Jason. It was a Doppelganger of sorts, created by a love potion. Probably Alex's. The real Jason wouldn't sacrifice himself for you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"This is stupid. At least one of us will have to give him our life, and he would just die again anyway. Why waste our time here?"

"Must say, I agree with the lad," Skylos said.

I grunted. "If there's one thing I learned since being alive again, it's that you can't push off the hard things in life. Even if you do get away from them, they will come back to get you. I first thought that I could ignore the pain and hide it by never being serious. I was such an idiot. I thought everybody was good, and that if I had a good attitude I could get through anything without feeling that pain-"

"Isn't that right," Sadie muttered.

Skylos growled. "Exactly. Now get over this decision. We 'ave t'go back home, 'cause we can't get Jason. It be too dang'rous, might not work. I can open a portal too, a portal to the overworld."

I looked down at the pearl and shut my eyes, not wanting them to see my stupid childish tears. I had to appear strong. "No. Your way is the easy way. You think that you can just go back and let someone else revive Jason. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Only we can get Jason, nobody else."

"You guys can do that," Xavier told us. "I know you and Sadie only doing this because you love Jason."

"Do not!" Sadie and I said simultaneously. We looked at each other.

Sadie grabbed Xavier by the shirt and Skylos by the collar. She pulled them towards her and kneeled down, glaring at them. "You guys are helping us. We all committed to this when we entered this place, and we're all in this together. If I didn't think we could do this, I would have given up as well. But I didn't."

Xavier muttered something.

"What was that?" Sadie asked.

"I said you're a b-"

"WHAT?"

Xavier met her eyes fearlessly. His hand crept dangerously to the banana gun hanging on his belt. "I said, you're-"

"Dormi!" I shouted, holding the pearl above his head. He stopped, surprised, and started swaying. The sand broke his fall.

"We aren't getting anywhere," I told the remaining two as Sadie let go of Skylos. I put on my determined face. "Sadie's right. Let's go."

Skylos kicked Xavier. "What do we do with him?"

"I don't know. But I think our real problem is that giant ocean of blood over there." I was trying not to look at it. Not to be girly, but that much? Really? I hoped that it was actually red water. Yeah, that's what I'm going to say from now on. Unlike in the swamp, the red ocean was glowing. We could see well even though there were only a few will-o'-the-wisps.

"No." Sadie kicked Xavier too. "Our 'real problem' is that the skeletons are over there."

We all turned our heads to witness Mirg's skeletal army heading our way. There was about a fourth of a mile between us and them. Upon spotting us they brandished their weapons and charged. Their battle cry sounded like someone scraping a blackboard with their fingernails.  

"Oh crap. Wenjag." I snatched Xavier's gun and shot twelve of the skeletons. "Wenjag!"

"It won't work," Sadie warned. She put a hand on the gun. "Gosh. Are they our seventh challenge? A big battle?"

"They were our first and sixth challenges, so maybe. You're the smart one, Sadie. What should we do? What's their weakness?"

"I don't know. I wish we still had the Gofenshets. Then we could just fly away. But something tells me that we should fight back. Remember what Sotekh said? He told us that they don't want to kill us. They're just trying to remove the people that don't deserve to seek audience Death, the weak ones. All we have to do is prove them that we're strong. Then we can talk to Death."

"Oh, yeah." I watched the skeletons and emotionally prepared myself to use the heart magic Marisca taught me. "I can't believe we're already at the seventh challenge. Or trial, whatever they're called."

"I know, right?" Skylos said. "Well, looks like we be fightin', so heck. Why not?" He ran forward and breathed fire on the skeleton warriors.

I tried to calm down. The little imps in my head told me that I was incapable of fighting. They told me to give up, like Skylos and Xavier. I should just tell Skylos to take us back home, or if that didn't work jump in the ocean and die. Anything to prevent the misery and suffering that would follow if I helped fight against the skeletons. But I ignored the unhealthy thoughts, imagining the nonexistent imps dying.

Sadie charged with her spear. I held the pearl. Yet I struggled to remember the spells. They were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't think of a single one. I kept an eye on Skylos and Sadie as they fought the Skeletons. Sadie seemed to be having a little trouble. It was obvious that she had never used a spear before. I pushed away the bad thoughts as they returned, telling myself to not let my environment control my emotions. They were mine. The meditation didn't help with remembering spells, though. I couldn't think of any spells.

"Bianca! Use your magic!" Sadie shouted as she was being chased by a skeleton wearing armored pants. Her enemy had two longswords and was chopping wildly.

"I can't!" I called back. "What's a spell that I can use?"

handed and bit her lip. "I don't know. These skeletons must be effecting our memory or something."

Skylos jumped on a naked skeleton and tore off an arm bone, munching on it contentedly. "Ye girls better hurry up. I can't take on all these rascals by meself."

The pearl glowed in the light of the creepy ocean. It looked red in the luminescence. I wouldn't have given that much thought if it hadn't given me an idea. Was the ocean made of water? What if I could control it, like in the ocean when I was fighting the mermen? I made sure that I was calm again and raised the pearl, my back to the water. "Watch out, guys!"

"What?" Sadie asked. "How?"

I'm going to do something crazyI."  imagined the "water" of the ocean behind me rising. Just like my hopes rose when I thought of the idea. I was excited, but made sure that I wasn't too emotional. I had to remain neutral. Too much positive emotion was just as bad as negative emotion. I could suck up the whole ocean that way, crazily drowning myself, and Skylos and Sadie, along with the skeletons. Oh, and Xavier. So I closed my eyes and balanced myself out mentally and emotionally before trying to manipulate it like clay. The cool thing was that I could feel the water, even though I wasn't touching it physically. It felt like jelly, squirming around in my hands. With the water in my control I sculpted it into a trident. The feeling was amazing.

"Bianca, it's working!" Sadie shouted. I kept my eyes closed and my grip on the trident I felt in my hands but smiled at her.

"Watch out, Sadie!" Skylos advised. "Let's get out of the way."

I waited several seconds. After sensing that I could attack without getting my friends, I moved my arm back and threw the trident of water. I heard the loud but satisfying sound of a giant wave hitting land. I wasn't done yet. I gathered the water in my hands and molded it again, that time into a whip. I rolled the thick slimy substance with my hands, making it long and skinny. With my whip I hit the skeletons and heard them scream. I opened my eyes, shocked.

"Wow! That was amazing! How did you do it?" Sadie ran up to me with her spear. "Was that the water magic you were taught?"

"Yeah. What exactly happened? I mean what did it look like?" I looked around. The charcoal sand was wet and squishy under my feet. I was wet too, and it would have been less unfair if Sadie and the others were completely dry. Bones were lying around everywhere, along with weapons and bits of clothes and armor. Most of it had washed away with the returning waves, and I could see the remains of skeletons floating in the ocean. "Ew. I'm totally soaked. I really hope this isn't blood."

"It must be water. You were able to control it."

"Yeah, what did it look like though?"

She took a blanket out of her backpack and wrapped it around me. "Well, there was that giant three-pointed spear made of water. It didn't take up the whole ocean or anything, but that thing was really huge. Like, thirty feet long. You threw it at the skeletons, and then turned it into a whip and started hitting them. You almost got Xavier, but unfortunately you missed."

I laughed and dried myself off with the blanket. Manipulating the water had used a lot of energy, and I was getting more aware of it as time went on. It was as if I didn't start to wear out until after the spell was cast. Having a blanket around me made me feel even more exhausted. I wanted to fall asleep. We were done, and I was ready to get a little rest before meeting Death. I started to stagger as I lost my balance.

"Ey. You aren't done yet. Stay standing, girl."

That voice. I looked up and blinked, forcing my heavy eyes to stay open. Mirg was standing there, holding a long black stick with a curl at the tip and a red gem at the center of the curl. He had his spiked armor on, with the helmet, but I could definitely recognize him.

"So we didn't win?" Sadie asked. "The cha- trial, I mean."

"Of course not. The trial is to defeat me. You haven't even started yet." He spun his staff and it glowed black. I don't know how that worked. Perhaps it absorbed all the light around it, something like that. The red gem at the top glowed and twitched.

"Bianca can't fight you," Sadie argued. "She used all her energy to get rid of the skeletons. If they aren't part of the trial, and we were supposed to fight you instead, isn't that cheating?"

He shook his head. Behind his horned helmet he might have been smirking. "That was the sixth challenge. You were supposed to lose us in the desert, but we were able to follow you. So you had to complete it here."

I groaned and plopped down on the mushy sand. We still had to fight him? I could still control my emotions, but didn't have the physical strength. I knew that true water magic got its power from the heart, and wore out your emotions rather than your body. I was doing something wrong. I had to figure out how to use the strength in my heart to find the energy I needed to fight Mirg. I got up shakily.

"No, Bianca." Sadie steadied me. "You're in no condition to accept his challenge."

"I have to. There's no other way."

Skylos charged at Mirg and was a couple inches away from our armored enemy when he froze in mid air. The hellhound was pushed back by some invisible force.

"Skylos!" I reached out to him, hoping that he was okay. He got up and growled, but didn't say anything.

"But didn't I prove my strength when I used that magic?" I asked. "I wiped out your entire army."

 "If you're really that strong then you can take me on."

I shrugged off the blanket and rolled my shoulders back. The pearl was at my feet so I picked it up, looking for any energy that it was willing to lend me. It gave me a little. "Okay. You make the first move."

"No. You will make the first move."

"What, are you chicken?"

"No."

"Than have at me."

"I think you're the chicken."

I smiled and looked at Sadie. She seemed confused. "Look at this guy, Sadie. He's so scared that he's afraid of a girl. Well, I guess I did stab him in the chest with the trident that one time."

Mirg roared and pointed the staff at me. The circle thing that I saw with mermaid magic, with the symbol in the middle and runes around, appeared at the point of Mirg's black staff. It had an angry skull in the center and glowed in black, red, and white. A black wave of energy, looking like dark lightning, shot out of the light circle. Getting hit by his magic wasn't very fun. I felt like I was getting burnt.

"Give up, Bianca?"

"No!" I closed my eyes and felt for the water putty that I used to control the ocean behind me. I grabbed the water and threw it at Mirg, not taking the time to turn it into a magic weapon. There was no crash, so I reached out for more clay. A handful of it appeared in my hands. I squished it and balled it up, throwing it at Mirg again. but there was still no splash.

He guffawed. "Stupid human. You can't beat me."

"You aren't human too?" I asked, feeling fatigue again.

"I'll tell you later. But now..." I felt his death magic as he struck my a second time. The attack was stronger, and it knocked me into the knee-deep red water. I grimaced and stood up, not wanting to believe that I was standing in blood. Of course, I wasn't. Ahem.

I scooped up more water clay for me to shape and turned it into a wide shield, placing it before me.

"Now who's the chicken?" Mirg asked, his voice full of amusement. He hesitated. "I wouldn't use that spear if I were you, young lady."

"Sadie, don't!" I sighed and watched my emotions. Calm, don't think too much. Just focus. My thoughts were interrupted by something that hit me hard on the head. He was attacking me from the sky. I opened my eyes and looked up. He wasn't flying, but there were shadowy missiles in the sky. I dodged the other five and waved my arms around, willing the water to work with me. It didn't obey, and I probably looked really stupid. Mirg's chortling confirmed my guess.

He stepped forward. "What if Death wants to fight you? He sometimes does that. If you can't fight me, you most certainly can't fight him." Sadie threw the spear but he flicked it away with his staff.

I couldn't risk closing my eyes so I looked at the pearl and Mirg at the same time. Should I summon Calvin? I thought. I don't want him to know what's going on. But we're so close to Jason. Maybe the two of them will be reunited. I really need Calvin's help right now. He could eat Mirg or something. And I'm in water, so he would be able to move. But what if Death doesn't let us have Jason back? Calvin will be so upset...

Mirg raised his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to speak and stumbled before kneeling down. "What?"

"That's for trying to kill Bianca!" Xavier shouted. He flipped his banana gun, but dropped it. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," I replied.

Sadie nodded.

Mirg stared at the dart sticking out of his chest. It must have been his weak spot, because that was where I had hit him with the trident in our first battle, during the first challenge. He turned to dust, leaving behind a small, ornate black key. The head was shaped like the light circle he used, with a skull in the middle and runes around it.

"The key to Death's palace," Skylos breathed.

39: The Moment We've Been Waiting For

Chapter 39

Sadie

The palace was right where Skylos thought it would be, about a mile from where we overcame the seventh trial. A long bridge (Xavier said it was exactly 300 feet and 10 inches) lead to Death's home. The main part was a giant tower that rose from the red ocean. It was thicker at the base and gradually thinned out as it went up, but the top was still pretty wide, up to the pyramid-shaped roof. There were four smaller round towers built into it at the corners, approximately one third the height. In the ocean a dozen or so smaller, skinnier towers surrounded the palace to the sides and behind. Two giant statues stood to the left and right of the main building's entrance. Numerous windows in the black towers were candlelit, yellow light standing out against the black stone.

"Wow. That's epic," Xavier muttered. "Can we explore a little bit?"

Bianca patted his shoulder. "We have to find Jason first. Death might get mad at us for snooping around his home."

Xavier didn't look happy with that answer but he didn't argue. We walked along the bridge, staring at the towers in awe. Of all the things I'd seen, I had never seen a palace. It was stunning.Surely the most beautiful thing in the underworld.

"Remember to smile," Xavier said. "And try to act cute."

"And you can act like the twelve-year-old you are," I snapped.

"What did I say?"

"Well, you suggested that Sadie wasn't already cute," Bianca informed him. "She doesn't like that."

"You girls are so weird," Xavier remarked. He looked as embarrassed as he should have been. "Skylos, don't you agree that they're weird?"

Skylos nodded. "I find all humans rather strange. What is it with ye? Why do ye walk on two legs? It be much less stable." Xavier face-palmed.

I looked at them and decided to change the topic. "So what do you guys think the palace will be like on the inside? Will there be a bunch of red carpets and crystal chandeliers and gold things? Skeletons guards? A bunch of dead people?"

"I think it will all be black," Xavier answered.

Bianca frowned. "Hopefully Jason will be there. And Death."

"Wouldn't mind gettin' me some more bones," Skylos said. He licked his chops. "I look forward to seein' some skeletons."

We all thought about our expectations of the place until we came to the black wooden gates. The two statues turned and pointed their spears at us. "What do you want?"

"You're alive?" Xavier asked. The statues didn't answer.

"We need to talk to Death," Bianca told the guards. "We beat the seven challenges, or trials."

"Who ever said that he allows humans to be in his presence?" the right statue asked.

Bianca parted her legs and put her hands on her hips. "I've talked to him before. I was once a ghost, before someone resurrected me. I need to talk to Death about several things."

"What things?"

"It's none of your business."

I was going to tell her to be a little nicer to the statues but the left statue grinned. "She's telling the truth. Girl, do you have the key?"

"I do." Bianca took out the key that Mirg dropped after being killed by Xavier, and threw it up to the left guard. "You'll let us in, right?"

"That depends. Will you speak to Death as you speak to us?"

No, she won't, I hoped.

Bianca nodded. "I'll talk to him however I want. Now let us in."

That time both of the statues laughed. The left one took the key, which looked like a speck of sand in his fingers, and touched the gate with it. The glowing death magic seal appeared and the gate opened. The two statues went back to their original positions, staring behind us. We walked in.

"So badass," Xavier commented as we entered and the gates closed behind us.

"Stop saying that!" I shouted.

"What, are you jealous?"

"I agree with Sadie," Bianca said. I'm glad she intervened before I could do something bad to Xavier. "Why can't you guys just get along? We're here. Behave, or Death will think that we're children."

Skylos snorted. "But ye are."

"She meant that we shouldn't show it," I argued. Xavier's attitude was really bugging me, and I wanted to hit him (not a first), but thankfully caught myself first and shut up. Control yousrelf, Sadie. You don't want to do anything you might regret.

We walked in silence for a few minutes. There was only one way to go. The gates had lead to the main tower, and a red carpet led up a spiraling staircase. So we just followed that. It was rather dangerous, because we could have slipped on the carpet, but nobody seemed to mind.

"Skylos, carry me," Xavier muttered eventually. At first I thought he said 'marry me' or something. "We've gone up 1,236 steps...1,239...1,345...and we're only a third of the way there."

I wanted to tell him that he was making the rest of us feel tired by complaining, but again I knew that I had to bite my tongue and act mature. Any disputes could ruin our chances of getting death to listen to us. We might not get Jason, just because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. So I scowled and didn't say anything.

"Be ye makin' this up, laddie?" Skylos asked. Like the boy he was panting heavily. "2,690 more steps to go? Argh. We'll never make it!"

"Come on, boys." Bianca gently pushed them forward, giving them a little boost. She sounded a little tired too, but didn't show it much. "If I can do this, then so can you. Come on, you can do it."

 I watched them, a little envying. Xavier and Skylos were never put down. They always looked at the bright side. Bianca was so nice to them. But I wasn't optimistic, I wasn't gentle. All I had was my strength. I frowned. "Bianca?"

"Yes? What is it, Sadie?"

I hesitated. "Um...I...uh...what can you tell us about Death? You said you've talked to him. I mean, if you don't mind."

She smiled. "Of course. He wears a fancy black robe with red and white trim. It goes down to his feet and drags behind him a little. The robe also has a hood, and he wears a white mask with this really weird expression on it. It's kind of like...it's a face where it looks like he cares about you, but it's really expressionless. You have to stare at the mask for a little while to really see anything in the face."

"So you stared at him?" Xavier asked.

"No. I mean yeah. When we talked I looked him in the face."

"He doesn't wear armor like Mirg?"

"No."

"His armor was cool. I wish I had armor like him."

You know that this whole magic business isn't about being cool, right? I thought.

Bianca pushed Xavier again because he was slowing down. "Maybe you will, some day. I think the gun you already have is really cool. But usually to get things you want you have to work hard for them. Let's work hard now by getting to Death. I don't remember what we talked about, or what he's like. Be prepared for anything."

"Is he human?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know. Maybe you'll find out."

Stop taking and you won't be so out of breath, I wanted to tell him. Well...not really. I didn't quite know why I was so angry. I didn't have any reasons. It was just so much easier to have bad thoughts. I should have been happy. We were about to go and do what we had been wanting to do...well, pretty much since the beginning of this book. That was to find Jason. But something made me uneasy. I sniffed the air. Nothing in particular. It didn't really smell like anything. There were no sounds but those of our footsteps as we ascended the stairs.

It took us, again according to Xavier, thirty minutes to climb the rest of the stairs. At the end was just that. A dead end.

"This can't be," Xavier complained. "Now we have to go all the way back down."

"It's a spell," I said finally. The wall reminded me of something I saw once in Amaatlik's house. I walked up and examined the wall. It was black stone brick, with a stunningly accurate painting of three skeletons looking at each other. I stretched out my hand and touched the wall. It was solid. I closed my eyes and reached out again, that time making my hand pass through the wall. I knew because it felt like I was moving my hand through water. I pulled my hand back. "Close your eyes."

"Wow. You're smart, Sadie," Xavier remarked.

I forced a smile. "Thanks. Come on, let's go." I let them go first and entered last. On the other side of the wall was Death's throne room. We gasped.

It wasn't large, but certainly not small. The room was made of, you guessed it, black stone. There were pillars supporting the ceiling and past them windows that looked out on the ocean. Not a very good view, I would assume, but I suppose it made the room look more pleasant. If anything in the underworld can look pleasant.

"So you are the ones?" Death asked us. He looked like Bianca described, with his trimmed robe and strange mask.

Skylos, Bianca and Xavier were too stunned to talk, so I spoke up. "We seek audience with you, my lord."

"Lord?"

I paused. "My apologies, how shall I address you?"

"I would like you to address me...as 'mother'."

When I heard the words I thought I was hearing things. Surely the lord of the dead didn't make such a stupid joke, right? I blinked. "Mom?"

"Sadie. Come up before me."

Slightly suspicious, thinking maybe he was some sort of weirdo, I slowly approached the robed figure seated before me. He didn't move. Hadn't since we entered, I realized.

Death took off his mask. Or should I say, her mask. Curly red hair fell over her face, her real face, which didn't look very different from the one on her mask. She watched me expectantly, as if she actually thought I had the ability to speak. "What did you come here for, my daughter?"

I felt my lip trembling. I wanted to cry, to laugh, to scream, to faint. I wanted to know what the heck was going on. My own mom. Ruler of the underworld. All I could manage was a short, quiet, "Where have you been?"

"You didn't answer my question," my mom said sternly.

"You didn't answer mine."

"I asked you first."

"So?" I exhaled and lowered my gaze to the floor. The words I remembered so clearly echoed in my mind. You have failed us. "Why did you and Dad leave me? Why did you force me to live all by myself for sixteen years? Don't you love me?" 

"You don't understand," she answered simply. "We had no choice."

"What happened?"

She rolled her eyes. "When you were born, your father and I were necromancers. A friend of ours died, and we wanted to bring them back. We wanted to bring a lot of people back. But everybody else feared us, just because we wanted to do something that others didn't do. Necromancy. Even our best friends feared us. When we found out that you were born, we were afraid for you. We left you in the care of one of the few remaining friends we could trust. Gabriella Byrnes...I will never forget her name." She clenched her hands.

"What happened?" I asked. "Did you bring your friend back?"

"No. We were at the graveyard, about to do the ritual. The person who does it almost always dies, but we thought that if there were two of us then we wouldn't die. We said all the words. All but three. Before we could finish an arrow was sticking out of your father's side. He collapsed, slain by one of his best comrades. All I felt was horror. Someone was willing to kill my husband because of how he used magic. I used a spell to knock the bow out of the man's hands and ran over to you to make sure you were safe. Gabriella was holding you, about to put you in the blazing fireplace. I took you back, set you down in a chair, and fought Gabriella. 'You have failed us,' I told her. 'I trusted you.' We rolled around on the floor until she took out a knife and stabbed me. I pushed her into the fireplace. We both wound up dead. Death was so impressed by my act of love for you that he let me take over as ruler of the underworld."

I knelt down, letting my long hair cover my face from her. It was all too much for me to take in. My parents were necromancers? They did what Jason did, and got killed for it. But Mom's face and tone were completely expressionless. She didn't show any sadness. I shuddered and looked up at her.

"Where's Dad?"

"He didn't love you as much as I did, so Death made him an orisk. Name is Sotekh."

"What do you mean he didn't love me?" I asked softly. Sotekh? He's my dad? A lot of things still didn't add up. How was I still alive?

Mom leaned forward. "Stop bringing back painful memories and tell me what you want?" Her voice carried bitterness. It struck me like a whip.

"What would you do if you could raise someone else from the dead?" I asked. "To make up for what you couldn't do in the past?"

"Are you mocking me?"

"No. I want you to bring back my friend. Some idiot made him kill himself, and it's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." She sat up in her white throne, straightening her back. "Do you think it was fair when everybody hated your parents, just because we were necromancers? When we had to live in fear? Do you think it was fair, when we were brutally killed while you got to live? Live isn't fair, Sadie. Now you're asking me to do something I've never done before. You're asking me to break the rules of nature by giving someone life. Someone who most certainly doesn't deserve it."

It pained me to know that I finally met my mom and found out that she was a total witch. She didn't care about me. She didn't love me.

"Go away, Sadie. You disgust me."

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked. My voice sounded emotionless to me, like my mom's. I cleared my throat. "It's not my fault that you were hated for your choices." My voice still was emotionless.

"You aren't even crying for me," she said. "You don't care about me."

"Where you like this when you were alive? What about Dad? I met him. He was a little weird, but I know he cares about me."

Mom put her extremely pale hands on the armrests of her throne and growled. "This is my throne room. I am going to count to five, and by the time I'm done, you and your friends will be out."

I looked at my friends. They were frozen in place, unable to move. Unable to get out. "What are you going to do to your one and only daughter?" I asked.

"How dare you defy me?" She stood up. I could see that she was quite tall. "Fine then. It looks like you want torture."

"What?" I screamed. It wasn't physical torture. I wish it was. No, Death tortured me mentally. I don't want to get into the details of what she showed me, but in my mind I saw myself. I was standing next to Amaatlik, in his cave, and we were laughing together. We laughed like good friends. But it wasn't a good-natured laugh. No, it was hardly a laugh. No good person would make that sound. Amaatlik took out his sword. I had one as well. My friends - Jason, Bianca, Xavier, Skylos...even Calvin - were lying on the ground, tied up. Amaatlik and I raised our swords and...well...

The image was stupid. I would never do that. But I remembered how Amaatlik had taken control of me, and made me try to kill Jason.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Death asked.

"Stop," I begged.

She laughed, in the same way Amaatlik and I had. "Get out of my throne room. Get out of my palace."

"Not until you give me my friend."

I winced as another image broke into my mind. It was a freezing, rainy day in the middle of a grassy field surrounded by fog. The sky was dark gray, and by the look of the ground it had been raining for a while. I sat alone on a rock while a bunch of people walked by me. I tried to talk to them, but nobody answered me. Some glanced at me, but they just turned their backs to me and twirled their umbrellas as they walked away and faded into the fog. Then someone came and sat on a rock next to me. It was Jason. He wrapped his jacket around my shoulders to shield me from the cold.

"What are you doing here, all alone?" he asked.

I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't do anything.

"I've been looking all over for you, Sadie. Where have you been? Are you okay?"

You know how, when you're dreaming, you think it's real? That's how the torture felt. I wanted to tell Jason that I was sorry. I wanted to hug him. I didn't try hard enough to save him. I couldn't tell him that. All I could do was sit there, staring at him dumbly.

"Sadie?"

"You have failed us," I muttered. I stood up and kicked Jason in the chest, sending him flying. Ignoring his cries of confusion, I faded into the mist like everybody else.

Why did Death show me that?

"You aren't my real mom," I whispered.

Death, who was making black lightning like Mirg did and looked like she wanted to hit me with it, gaped. "What?"

I meant it as a sort of disowning thing, but her reaction surprised me. I realized something and stood up. "I said that you aren't my mom. Moms don't do this to your children, do they? Of course, I wouldn't know. I don't know what it's like to have one."

The figure before me closed her hand and the lightning dimmed until it was gone. "I am your mother," she said.

"What's going on, Death?" I asked her.

She sat back on her throne and looked daggers at me.

I turned around, grabbed Bianca's pearl and pointed the shiny ball at Death. "Ved."

A small golden scroll appeared in her hand. It flew to mine before she could catch it, trailing dust behind it. I opened the scroll and opened it in front of her, shining golden light on her face. There was no voice coming out of the scroll. Just the sound of a guitar and someone singing a song without lyrics.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth," she snarled. "Death didn't give me his position as lord of this place. We combined to form bodies, to create a more powerful being. Get out now. get out or I will kill you and your friends." She summoned the lightning once more.

I shook my head. "Being with him corrupted you, mom. I'm thinking that you weren't the best person before, but you weren't bad. Split off, get away from Death. He's making you evil."

"Don't listen to her," Death commanded. I assumed that he was talking to my mom. "She's the one making you evil."

My mom smiled, but on Death's face, breaking the mask. "Sadie."

"No!" Death aimed at me and threw the lightning like a ball. I dodged it by about a centimeter.

"Sadie! Touch me!"

I walked over to Death but he threw another ball at me. He had really bad aim. Maybe Mom was making him miss. "Mom?"

"It's okay, dear. Just touch him."

"I can't!"

"Yes. You can."

Death threw two more balls. One of them brushed against my left arm. I ignored the pain and dashed forward. Death was a foot away. But my movements were slow. He was changing the space around me to slow me down. I moved about an inch a second while he slowly backed away.

"Don't worry, Sadie," Mom said. "It's all right. We-"

"No. I can do this!" I clenched my teeth and wrestled with the invisible force keeping me from releasing my mom from the demon that pretended to be her.

"You know I can just strike you right now, right?" Death asked. "This is my domain. I do as I please. So I won't kill you."

"What?" I stopped moving and stared at him dumbfounded.

Death sat back on his throne and took the form of a male with thinning white hair and a thick beard. He was still tall and skinny, and wore the same clothes. "I admire the fire within you, Sadie."

"You aren't supposed to say that! Are you? Aren't you evil?"

"No. Nobody is evil. We just get rid of the weak." He tapped his hand on the right armrest. "We'll make a deal, eh? How about that?"

 My head spun. I didn't know what to believe anymore. Nothing new, really. I swallowed and nodded. "What deal? Nobody else has to die, right?"

"I can not bring death. Necromancers bring their own deaths when they summon people from the dead. I can give Jason life back though, by removing him from this dimension which I dictate and returning him to yours. But that isn't a very good lesson. I can't just give him back to you."

I kneeled again. "Please. I'll do anything to get him back. Anything!" I clasped my handed together. "What can I do?"

He tilted his head. "In addition to controlling the inhabitants of my realm, I control the way time flows in relation to time in the overworld. I will send you and your friends back forty years in the future."

"Oh...okay..." I didn't understand what that meant.

"In addition, I will take away - not kill, take away, as in separate - one of your friends."

"Who?"

"The serpent." He held out his hand and wriggled it up and down. Black smoke emulated from the pearl and drifted into the portal that I hadn't seen on the high ceiling.

"Calvin was...he was in the pearl? All that time?" I asked. So that's why Bianca was so determined when she looked at the pearl. She was holding Calvin in it. Does he know what happened?

"I expect you to take good care of Jason when I send him back. He won't be in a very good condition. I can't help it, dying and going back to life does things to your body. But with proper care he'll be good as new."

"Wow. Thanks, Death. Thanks, Mom."

"Don't thank us. We didn't do anything.  If you weren't strong, then we wouldn't have done this for you." Death waved his hand, flinging all four of us up towards the ceiling portal and back to our own world.

40: Forty Years

Chapter 40

Bianca

I finally found her, visible in the light of my lantern. Seeing her on her knees, head lowered, I approached slowly.

"Hey, Sadie Haro," I said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't call me that."

She was looking at one of the graves. A fresh bouquet of yellow and blue flowers had been placed in front of it.

"Why?"

"My parents don't really love me. They only supported me because they thought I was strong."

I kneeled down next to her. "Maybe they're hiding what they feel on the inside. Behind their masks."

"I doubt it. Amisto was the only parent I ever knew. He could be really annoying, but at least when he wasn't I knew he was sincere. He was the one who raised me when I was little. I wanted him to know that I finally completed a quest. I mean, Jason did the all the work when he defeated Amaatlik. But I was the one who talked to Death, and got us back here. I was looking forward to seeing the pride on Amisto's face." She stroked the grave with a shaky hand.

"You shouldn't be afraid to cry," I told her.

Sadie closed her eyes and hardened her face. "No. That would be selfish. We don't know what happened to Jason's and Xavier's parents. Skylos and Calvin are gone."

"Xavier thinks that their parents are going to be okay, where ever they are. Skylos went looking for Calvin. They're going to come back here and we'll be all together again."

"You're just being optimistic."

"Don't hide your emotions like your parents," I told her. I remembered how Sotekh had changed his appearance, and Death wore that mask. "It's okay. Just me."

Sadie slowly opened her eyes. The tears made them sparkle in the light of the lantern. She blinked but didn't wipe them away. "Thanks, Bianca."

I put an arm around her. We sat together in the chilly midnight air, staring at Amisto's grave and thinking about our quest to save Jason. It felt like so long ago, but it was just earlier that day. 

"How is he?" Sadie asked.

"He's doing fine. I put him in the new Head Mage's house while you were watching Xavier. The nurse said he's going to be all right."

"Good. I'm glad we didn't do all that for nothing. And what about Xavier?"

I smiled. "He said he's going to live here now. Do you think Death really made him two years older?"

"It looked like it." She sniffled and smiled back. "Wow...Xavier's our age now. He's going to be hitting on us now. Even more annoying than before."

"Yeah."

"Bianca?"

"What is it?"

"What do you think our future will be like? Will we have to go on another quest? Go back to using magic?"