The whole group, minus Raltise, Talus, Luna, and Venus, was lead to a large box... that appeared to be made completely out of candy canes. The travel-worn group looked up at it, some gasping at the marvel, some rolling their eyes, shaking their heads. To them, this was one more wierd thing in a big, horrible, waking dream.
When Dan saw it, he managed a half-smile. "Heh, 'Jingle Jail', I get it."
"Quiet!" roared one of the guards.
"I don't," said Paithan, walking next to Dan.
"I SAID BE QUIET!" the guard roared again.
"I mean, what does a jingle have to do with candy canes? I mean, a jingle is like a commercial rhyme or something, like 'buy a tux for ninety-nine bucks and never rent again.' Unless you relate jingle to the song Jingle Bells which relates to sleighs, which relates to snow, which relates to winter, which relates to December (even though the bulk of Winter is in January and February), which could relate to Yule, which might be the approximate time of Christ's birthday which could relate to Christmas, which might relate to Santa Clause, who is known at some times known to have once left such sweets as candy canes for good little children on Christmas Day." Paithan paused for a breath, ignoring constant yelling from the guard and the fact that no one was listening any more. "But that hardly seems like a good reason to name it a 'Jingle Jail'. Don't you agree?"
No one seemed to, or maybe they did, but didn't hear him over the guard that was yelling about silence. Obviously there wasn't going to be any as long as he kept yelling it.
"That brings up a good point," said Paithan. "It's ironic how saying the word 'silence' breaks the word by speaking it. I see a riddle in there somewhere, but I'm not sure how I would word it..."
The group filed into the box-like candy cane prison, watched by the guards. Paithan stopped at the entrance to see if the candy canes were real. He examined the wall, felt it, licked and looked excited, proclaiming the fact that the walls were, in fact really made of candy cane.
A guard, the one that was yelling at him, picked him up and happily threw him bodily into the box-cage-candy cane thing.
The group groaned and sat down, unhappy to be prisoners, happy to be able to rest. Pait dusted himself off and looked around every inch of the box and, five minutes later, sat down, bored. The idea crossed his mind to eat his way out of the cage, but he really didn't have the stomach for that much peppermint.
He sat and thought, instead, about stuff. Specifically, he thought about why he was here. The point, it seemed, had been lost somewhere between insane cultists, traipsing through a sewer, and finding himself in a floating kingdom. In fact, the more he thought of his purpose, the more he lost it and eventually felt very ill, even more so than when he thought of eating through the candy cane walls. He suddenly remembered something about a watch and ketchup and, abandoning all pretense of logic, decided firmly that he was in this journey to look for a special watch. The Magical Watch of Turning. Turning into what, he wasn't quite sure yet, but he'd figure that out later. until then, he was stuck in this box-cage-etc thing.
Tired, sickly, bored out of his mind, Paithan began to hum his Official Family Song. His humming was rather loud and high pitched, so some people edged away from him. But the words themselves were rather soothing, the tune too nice to be completely lost on a bad voice.
Hey now, little speedyhead,
The read on the speedmeter says
You have to go to task in the city
Where people drown and people serve.
Don’t be shy. Your just deserve
Is only just light years to go.
Me, my thoughts are flower strewn
Ocean storm, bayberry moon.
I have got to leave to find my way.
Watch the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.
The ocean is the river’s goal,
A need to leave the water knows
We’re closer now than light years to go.
I have got to find the river,
Bergamot and vetiver
Run through my head and fall away.
Leave the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes.
Nothing is going my way.
There’s no one left to take the lead,
But I tell you and you can see
We’re closer now than light years to go.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
Fall into the ocean.
The river to the ocean goes,
A fortune for the undertow.
None of this is going my way.
There is nothing left to throw
Of Ginger, lemon, indigo,
Coriander stem and rose of hay.
Strength and courage overrides
The privileged and weary eyes
Of river poet search naivete.
Pick up here and chase the ride.
The river empties to the tide.
All of this is coming your way.
Strange, thought Pait as he finished the song, how well it described him when, even in his own family he seemed a black sheep. Thinking of his family, the tune still on his mind, Paithan drifted off to sleep.
----
Dio, Rasheed and Tracy stepped onto the sand of Scaraba. Rasheed reflected rancorously on the events that had marred their journey to his homeland.
They had to charter a Grey Hand bus from Threed to Fourside - a threat had simplified that purpose, and Rasheed had disabled the communications systems in the bus to ensure no warnings from the bus driver could be communicated electronically. Additionally, Dio had magicked away his uniform, betting the driver had sufficient modesty that he would not dare be seen in merely his underclothes.
In Fourside, Tracy had used her burgeoning psychic powers to coerce the ticket saleswoman at the Fourside Port to hand over three tickets for a Summers-bound ship, since the only Scaraba-bound ship would not debark for another week. After having obtained these tickets, Tracy proceeded to wipe the saleswoman's memories of her, Rasheed, and Dio from her cerebral cortex.
Upon boarding the ship, the S.S. Slogorn, Rasheed had led Tracy to the captain's deck.
"What? Who are you? Why are you up here?" the captain had demanded angrily.
"I regret to tell you there has been a change of plans," Rasheed had murmured. "We're headed to Scaraba."
"I can't do that!" the captain had protested. "Our manifest clears us solely for Fourside-to-Summers-to-Fourside travel. We don't have the permission to enter Scaraban waters."
"But I think you can." Rasheed smiled inwardly as he remembered what had followed. "Tracy?"
Tracy walked towards the captain. She raised a hand towards his face, the palm closer to the captain's face than the back. A mist appeared as a sort of veil between her hand and the captain's face; the mist then proceeded to waft itself into the captain's facial orifices: his eyes, his ears, nose, mouth, and so on. His eyes glazed over; his skin paled; his voice took on a dronish pitch.
"Master Rasheed ... I apologize for my transgression. Yes, of course ... I will change our course for Scaraba. My deepest apologies, Master Rasheed." The captain had gone over to his communication center and had patched himself through to the crew room. "There has been a change of plans. We will be heading to Scaraba."
Rasheed had been able to hear the barest of emotions expressed by the crew. "Tell them to come up here if they wish to debate your decision. One at a time, so that perhaps they might gain the advantage against you and thereby change your mind," he had instructed. To himself, he had added, Although I doubt that will happen.
One by one, the crew of the ship had entered the captain's deck. One by one, Tracy had used her powers to impress on each the merits — to Rasheed, of course — of changing course to Scaraba. And finally, once Tracy had obtained control over the entire crew, Rasheed had instructed the captain to inform the passengers of an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease. Panicking, the other passengers had hurriedly evacuated the S.S. Slogorn.
"Ah ... now we have the ship. All to ourselves," Rasheed had pontificated once he and Tracy had re-united with Dio. Except for the crew, this had been a very accurate statement. So they had sailed off for Scaraba.
Returning to reality from his reflections, Rasheed growled. There wasn't enough of a tourist count to achieve his plans as well as he would have liked. However, he had heard rumblings from the underworld of the growth of groups ranged against him and his plans. So, he reasoned, he would have to move. Now.
Drawing on his necromantic powers, Rasheed searched for a fitting way to purge his homeland. As he saw the greatest mainstays of Scaraban civilization enter his view, he was inspired. He called Dio and Tracy over, then, while leading them towards the Pyramid, whispered to them, "The Purge is coming, but to bring it to fruition, I need you to help." Having only slightly dabbled in biomancy, the magic of breathing life into things, Rasheed was not certain whether he had enough power to breathe life into the Sphinx.
"How would we help you?" Tracy wondered, truly puzzled. In the deepest recesses of her heart, she could feel a strange feeling. It was one that she had felt before, but it was one that she could not identify, too.
Rasheed lowered his eyes slightly. "I need you to give me a power boost, you too Dio. If I want to begin The Purge, I need more power than what I have."
Dio willingly supplicated, temporarily donating some of her magical abilities to Rasheed. A blue aura highlighted his body. Tracy was less prepared to supply Rasheed with any powers; why this was, she was not sure. However, she somehow connected it with the panging feeling in her heart. Nonetheless, she felt a portion of her powers drained from within her. Her eyes perceived her power's red aura staining itself into the blue aura about Rasheed, dying the aura a purple. The aura then shifted to full blackness.
Speaking in the language of Scaraba long-past, Rasheed quickly began to chant so rapidly that not even Dio — who was herself well-versed in the ancient language — could make heads or tails of it. The words confused Tracy, and she wondered what Rasheed was saying.
Suddenly the Sphinx, laying forevermore before them, shook.
"What's going on?!" Tracy demanded.
"The Purge!" Rasheed cried maniacally. "The Sphinx will do my bidding!"
"What is your wish, Master?" intoned the Sphinx. "I am at your service."
"My Sphinx, my servant," pontificated an excited Rasheed, "I summon you to perform a single service for me, and upon its completion, you may return to your former state."
"Ah, yes, I shall serve you well, Master. What is your wish?"
"Destroy the Scaraba resort! Be not merciful! Be truly thorough in your destruction!"
The Sphinx nodded her head, and started methodically plodding towards the city of Scaraba.
The bazaar buzzed with a bevy of tourists, trading their hard-earned money for trinkets. Usually these trinkets were overpriced, and when the tourists discovered this conundrum, they demanded fair price. Then the blanket-owners at the bazaar pointed to the tiny, almost-unreadable sign which stated "NO REFUNDS", laughed at the dumbfounded tourists, and quickly adjusted their blanket so "WITHOUT RECEIPT" was still unseen. Their next actions were to make a mark on a notepad and to ponder inwardly who would win the bazaar "Shown-up Tourists" pool that night.
Red Snake, world-renowned for his ability to mark down prices on items after they had been bought yet magically mark the prices back up again before the purchaser could acquire a second iteration of the item, was certain he would win this day's pool. Within an hour of opening his stand, he had shown up fifteen tourists, eighty tourists within two hours, and he increased the rate at which he was showing up tourists with each passing hour.
Of courssse I'll win! he thought to himself. Suddenly a series of ear-piercing screams accented the scorching heat of the Scaraban day.
"What'ssss going on?" he yelled to a running woman.
"The Sphinx!" she screamed as she ran towards the northern ocean. "She's alive!"
"Alive?" Red Snake pondered, then dismissed. "It'sss only in fairy tales that the Sssphinx comes to life." Then it seemed as if a cloud were blocking the sun from Red Snake's little blanket-stand. Red Snake looked up. He saw a giant feline foot dropping.
CRUNCH.
As the Sphinx stepped up, she shook her right foot. Crushed bone and dried blood stuck to it, as did fragments of blanket. She moved towards the rest of the panicked Scarabans and tourists, many of whom were contemplating jumping, or had already jumped, into the ocean. The Sphinx' mouth curled into a smile of malevolence. She leaned down towards them, opening her mouth wide, and ate them. She then leapt into the ocean itself and devoured the other Scarabans and tourists.
She leapt out of the ocean and, letting the desert sun dry her, padded towards her master. Rasheed.
"Your service has been completed, my Master," the Sphinx supplicated. She returned to where she once lay, and once more assumed her pose. Rasheed revoked the biomantic powers and returned them to the donors. Tracy's heart-pang seemed less forceful than it had when she had donated her power, so she took that as a good sign.
Meanwhile, in Altus...
Queen Cirra was helping with the recuperation of her kingdom from the attack by the Horsemen. But there was a face she had just seen, a face which she couldn't get out of her head. A young man. A few years her junior, she might have belittled him in school. Had she attended a regular school. The face couldn't get out of her mind. It reminded her of someone.
No, not just one person. Two people. But who?
And then, as if a shot out of the blue, and indeed that is what it was, it came to her.
"Harsemhin!" she exhorted.
"You mean that Druid guy who helped five years ago?" Chartreuse asked. "That other guy was him?"
"No... he looked like Harsemhin. But he wasn't Harsemhin."
"So who would he be? A lookalike?"
"No, that seems doubtful," Cirra murmured. "And despite that, I feel that Harsemhin is related to him somehow. Which would relate him to me. But we Altians have never involved ourselves with humans..." Cirra went back to working on the clean-up, resolved to figure out what was going on.
At the same time, in Jingle Jail...
Seong-un breathed heavily. If there were one thing he feared more than heights, feared more than falling, it had to be enclosed spaced. But not wishing to infect the entire rank and file of prisoners with his panic, he fought the almost unbearable urges to break down into tears, to shut himself off from the world. He felt he would die here. Die. Without ascertaining the reality of his heritage.
No... I can't let that happen. I just can't! He frantically rubbed his ring. If you can do just this one last thing ... please, bring me to my heritage!
Jingle Jail suddenly became that less crowded, that less occupied. Seong-un had, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.
A rip in space and time opened up beside Cirra and Chartreuse, and Seong-un tumbled out of it.
----
With a sword now in her hand, PikaChan had exactly what she needed to get free and confront Riley. She pulled the chain on her left arm tight to make an easier target, and carefully swung the sword. It cleaved the chain easily, leaving her left arm free. She then took the sword in her left hand and freed her right. This coordination was terribly easy while upside down, but she wasn't determined to get free and save Riley.
Now that her hands were free, PikaChan slashed at the chain that held her legs and carefully dropped to the floor, avoiding the blade itself. Unfortunately, Riley chose that time to reappear. PikaChan scrambled to get her glasses before confronting him.
"So, you're free, are you?" asked Riley in a taunting manner. PikaChan raised the sword. "Oh, so you intend to fight me, do you? Lovely. Have at thee!"
Riley drew his sword almost out of nowhere and charged PikaChan. She barely managed to dodge and parry the attack. Off balance, she wasn't ready to counter, but Riley was ready to continue. He took another vicious slash but again missed as she dodged, using her lack of balance to her advantage.
Don't worry so much about dodging and worry more about countering his attack! urged the voice.
That's not exactly easy right now! returned PikaChan.
Riley is torn over you. The darkness wants to use you but he doesn't want to harm you. It'll do everything it can to end this before he can overpower it. Look for a careless attack and exploit it!
Hey, I don't want to hurt him, either! PikaChan's thought conversation was interrupted as she dodged to the side of a vertical slash, much like the one Riley had employed twice to carve the sidewalk in Fourside. She attempted to counter, but found it blocked.
As Riley moved to strike again, PikaChan slipped on some loose flooring, and began to fall backwards. Riley saw this and began an attack to take advantage of it, but as she fell a shadow appeared in front of her. Riley's slash met it powerfully, but it withstood it. It began to fall on one knee, then vanished.
Thrown off by the disruption in his attack, Riley was in absolutely no position to defend himself. PikaChan leapt to her feet and scored the quickest hit she could, a straight stab into Riley's chest.
A rush of dark energy flooded out of Riley as the blade hit home and PikaChan fell over him as he toppled to the ground. When he opened his eyes, they were no longer clouded by the Darkness.
"Pika ... Chan... What happened?" Riley asked slowly, looking into her eyes.
"Riley, you're back!" she exclaimed, and hugged him tightly. "Wait, your wound!" She let go of her embrace, and checked his front. There was no sign of the wound anywhere.
"Did that really happen?" he asked, sadly. "It was like watching a horrid movie..." He looked around. "If I'm here, I guess it was real..." His words didn't begin to describe how he felt on the inside.
"It's okay," said PikaChan calmly. "It's okay..."
Just then the voice spoke up again. Pardon me for interrupting this lovely reunion, but Rasheed, Dio, and Tracy are now in Scaraba. They're going down into the pyramid as we speak. We need to stop them, and NOW! instructed the voice. Both Riley and PikaChan could hear it, now.
"You can tell us where they are?" Riley asked aloud so PikaChan could hear.
Yes. There are passages that connect where we are to where they are. They may be mazes designed to trap people, but they can't beat me.
"But what can we do to stop them?" asked PikaChan.
Rasheed intends to sacrifice Tracy to use her light to release some immense power. That means we have three options: 1) Defeat Rasheed and Dio. 2) Kill Tracy before they can use her. 3) Destroy the ritual site.
"We can't kill Tracy!" exclaimed PikaChan immediately.
Riley was on a different page, though. "How do you actually know all this?" he asked the voice.
I have my ways and connections, it answered.
"I don't know if we can defeat Rasheed and Dio, though," continued Riley.
Well, there's one thing you can try...
"What?" asked PikaChan. Riley was more hesitant.
You remember how your dad was a shape shifter?
"Yes..."
I can help you do something similar. It's a sort of fusion. The other person needs to be very special...
You mean... Riley asked the voice mentally.
Yes, I mean special that way.
Riley remained silent for a moment. "PikaChan..." he started but trailed off.
"It's OK. I know," she also knew what the voice meant. "What do we have to do?"
It's actually very simple. All you have to do is concentrate on each other and becoming one. Think about stopping Rasheed and Dio.
It then thought to itself, And you have the easy job ... I have to fight the darkness to release our own light. Light shone out from his fist which was clenched tightly, but he could not be seen. A drop of blood ran down his arm. This will be the end. It has to be. The end of the curse of darkness.
As Riley and PikaChan concentrated on the fusion, light began to shine from between them. It grew in strength until neither teenager could be seen.
"Matrix Fusion!" shouted the voice.
The light flashed even brighter for a moment, then receded. Riley and PikaChan could no longer be seen, but between where they stood there was now a new figure. Taller than either Riley or PikaChan, this new figure was both armored and armed. The upper armor was clearly female, but the rest looked more in place on a male warrior.
On their left arm was a shield much like Riley's father's - but larger - and in their right was the sword - also larger. The armor was of a pale blue, almost gray. While they kept PikaChan's ears and tail, the helmet had a dragon-like appearance, a strange combination.
"What ... are we?" asked PikaChan.
"I don't know, but I feel more powerful," added Riley. The voice came out the same as PikaChan's had.
The fusion is very typical. It's a combination of each of your best traits. Perhaps a different name is in order ... 'RianChan', suggested the voice.
"Works for me," agreed Riley. Inwardly, something about the name made him feel on edge.
"Then let's go," encouraged PikaChan.
Taking a cautious step forward before moving quickly, RianChan found it was faster and easier to hover a la Magus.
--------------------
Meanwhile, Rasheed, Dio, and Tracy were descending into the Pyramid, the Sphinx having done its part above ground.
"Now I'll be able to beat my brother..." said Tracy in anticipation, not knowing her plight.
"Yes... we'll have the power to do that," added Rasheed.
"I remember the last time we were here..." sighed Dio.
"We can be nostalgic later, we're almost there," interjected Rasheed.
They stepped through an archway and entered the room where Rasheed would give up his charade and sacrifice Tracy for the gain of himself and Golgothas...
---------------------
RianChan tore through the underground passages of the Pyramids. The voice would suddenly give a direction and they would dodge into a hallway without losing any speed. They knew they had no time to lose.
We're there! exclaimed the voice as they came through a final archway. They entered the room just after Rasheed, Dio, and Tracy did from another direction.
"Who and what are you?!" hissed Rasheed as he saw them enter. He turned to Dio, "Take her to the altar, quickly!"
Dio nodded and pushed Tracy gently towards the altar, then they both started to run. Rasheed prepared to launch an attack, but all three stopped as Rianchan moved more quickly and stopped in front of the altar.
"You're not getting past us," warned the fused warrior.
Don't worry about fighting them, just hold them at bay! Leave stopping them to me!
Whatever you say, I've always had to trust you, agreed Riley.
PikaChan was the first to react. RianChan stabbed their sword into the ground. She then created an orb of electricity around both them and the altar. Dio and Tracy were stopped dead by the shield, and Rasheed's attack dissipated harmlessly against it. With some of his energy used on the Sphinx, Rasheed couldn't break through the barrier.
"We can't go through that!" yelled Dio.
"Tracy, use your power and make them drop the barrier!" ordered Rasheed.
"I'm not close enough!" Tracy called back.
"Do it anyway!"
Tracy extended her hand and attempted to use her power, but when she tried to reach into their mind she found herself blocked by a firm guard.
"I don't think so!" growled Riley, putting his all into the mental guard.
"Wha...what?!" exclaimed Tracy. Her powers had never been blocked before. And indeed they probably never would have, but for the lack of range in her control, and the fact Riley was putting his every ounce of power into the block.
PikaChan generating the electric shield with her innate power, Riley throwing his all into the mental block, and the voice controlling their existence, they formed an almost perfect defensive unit. They lacked immense offensive power, but their defense was stupendous. Rasheed, Dio, and most importantly, Tracy, were held at bay.
Well, time to do it, I suppose... The voice began concentrating all the energy it had ever summoned into a compact little space. As it grew it became volatile very quickly.
What are you doing? asked PikaChan, Riley too busy to ask himself.
We can't stop them, so we prevent them from ever getting to the altar!
Tracy let down her assault, finding it useless, and Riley had a chance to respond. But how? What could do that?
Simple. I destroy this place.
But that will take us with it! yelled Riley, more concerned about PikaChan's safety than his own.
Not if we're at the center of an expanding mass of energy. stated the voice. After I release it, I'll get you two out before it collapses.
What do you mean, 'you two', queried PikaChan, not letting the shield down.
This will be the end of me for sure. I'd perish from that attack I blocked for you, anyway... Get ready.
The energy continued to grow, and Rasheed realized it quickly. If it was released, it might not destroy him, but it would surely annihilate Tracy in its wake. Then there was the issue of the collapse that would surely follow. Even if Tracy survived the blast, the three of them couldn't hope to prevent themselves from being crushed or buried alive.
Rasheed made a very hard choice. "Out! NOW!" he yelled, turning and retreating. "Let them bury themselves!" He hated giving up the power, since he couldn't perform the ritual anywhere else, but he had no choice. He would have another chance, even if he had to wait forever.
"What about the ritual?" asked Tracy.
"That will have to wait. We cannot perform the ritual if we're annihilated or crushed!" He hated the thought of not gaining the power, but there were no other places he could perform it.
Dio was surprised at Rasheed's use of simple logic and surrender of power, but realized the sense in it none the less. She and Tracy followed behind him.
With the trio gone, only RianChan remained. PikaChan was getting tired, but Riley propped hr up when Tracy wasn't fighting him anymore.
I'm ready... Goodbye Riley.
Wait! You never told me where you came from or who you were! shouted Riley.
And that you will never be allowed to know...
PikaChan remained silent as the voice released the energy. The power washed over the room and shattered the rock pillars it reached. The structural strength of the room, and even the pyramid itself as the walls were damaged, was compromised. It began to collapse.
As he had promised the voice warped Riley and PikaChan away, leaving only his shadowy form as the ceiling collapsed. Dio, Rasheed, and Tracy were long since clear.
The shadow dissipated as the collapse finished, and the altar was sealed from contact, human or otherwise, for a long time.
Riley and PikaChan were left in a field, unconscious. Unaware of the battle that was preparing to take place in Scaraba.
----
The hut was momentarily silent as Talus grinned at Luna, and she looked at him with a wistful expression.
"You... remember? You remember me?" her eyes looked pained, like they were waiting for it to be another joke of the fates. Venus had one hand over her mouth, watching the scene. Raltise, on the other hand, who had just recovered from his faint, was pulling a disdainful face at the two. They were now, he noticed with a certain degree of disgust, staring into each other's eyes with love. Talus stepped closer to Luna.
"Every last bit."
The embrace between the two was expected, but sudden nonetheless. Raltise had really been hoping for a bit more eye-staring. If only he could have tied Luna's shoe laces together faster..!
Talus tilted Luna's head up to his, and wiped the tears gently off her face. "Especially the part about me Loving you."
Raltise was making a motion of sticking his finger down his throat when Venus hit him with a plank of wood. The other two broke out of their embrace, and Talus turned to Raltise.
"I think we'd better see what we can do about getting the prisoners released, don't you, Raltise?" The ghastly demon grumbled and replied.
"Yes... I suppose we must... Young Master." He has an extreme look of pouting on his face, as if someone had ruined the punchline of his joke. "They are being held in the Jingle Jail," he muttered, gesturing out the door. "Follow me, please..."
The four exited the chief hut, and started towards what appeared, from a distance to be a containment area made out of... candy canes? Venus shook her head. Surely nobody would do something like that...
Luna and Talus walked behind Venus, hand in hand. Stopping for a minute in a clearing in the middle of the village, Talus looked up at the moon, and then at Luna. He smiled softly as he spoke.
"I didn't want to do this with Raltise watching. He's going to bother me enough, as it is. But I couldn't let you get away without it." This said, he gathered Luna in his arms, and bent towards her face. Luna, in turn blushed, and closed her eyes, the moonlight bathing everything in its soft, white glow.