Tied with Life

Part 3


Now they were off to the Tower of Secrets. They didn't know where it was, but Magiel's DeepHeart Magic sensed the right direction. They kept running in that direction, even though Draro was not there to guide them now. But after a while, they all got tired and had to stop…even Magiel. He looked around at the place they were in. "Where are we?" he said. The four of them looked around.

They were in a field that had a pond in the middle of it and a river with a waterfall on one side. They didn't see anyone else around. "That's strange," said Magiel, "It's so quiet here…it's not normal."

"And so empty, too." said Nana.

"It's nice, though," said Popo. "Don't you hear the waterfall over there? It's so peaceful."

"Pika." said Shocky.

While Popo and Shocky were busy looking at the waterfall, Nana and Magiel looked around the field some more. Suddenly, "I wasn't expecting to see you here," said a voice. Nana and Magiel turned around, and Nana backed off a little. Standing in front of them was a creature about the size of Magiel. It was a blue color with a blue-purple chest. It had icicle-like horns on its head, neck, and tail, and long fangs and claws.

"Thoragron!" said Nana. Thoragron was Popo, Nana, and Shocky's enemy.

"Thoragron? Who is he?" said Magiel.

"He's our enemy," said Nana. "I know him." Thoragron tried to charge into Nana and Magiel, but they jumped out of the way. Nana shot a blue beam at him from the machine. But it didn't hurt Thoragron.

"Ha! You think that will work on me?" he said. "See if you can escape this!" he got ready to attack with a beam of ice.

"Grrr! Leave her alone!" cried Magiel angrily, and he started fighting Thoragron. "Run!" he shouted. Nana ran away as fast as she could go.

Meanwhile, Popo and Shocky were in the pond. Popo was on a floating thing, and Shocky was floating in the water. "Popo! Shocky! Run!" said Nana as she dashed past them. Soon, Thoragron ran up. He jumped on Popo to get across the pond, knocking the floating thing upside-down.

"Pika!" Shocky was worried. Popo came up to the surface, but then Magiel ran by and splashed water on Popo and Shocky. He didn't know they were there, of course. They both got on top of the floating thing.

"What did I do?" said Popo.

"Pika? Pika?" said Shocky. Where's Nana? And why did she want us to run?

"I think I already got the answer," said Popo. He jumped over to the grass beside the pond and started to run after Nana, Thoragron, and Magiel.

"Pika!" called Shocky. I don't think that's a good idea! And it was not a good idea. Magiel and Thoragron were so fast that Popo couldn't get close to them.

How is Nana so fast all of a sudden? he thought as he stopped and went back to where Shocky was. "There's no hope of us getting anywhere near them," he told her. Suddenly, they saw Thoragron flying backward, far away. But he couldn't fly. Actually, he wasn't even flying. A pink glow was throwing him out of the field. Then the same glow lifted Popo and Shocky off the ground and took them to Nana and Magiel.

It wasn't until the glow placed them gently on the ground that they saw where it was coming from. Nana was standing there with her eyes closed and a pink glow coming from the heart shape. "Hi," said Magiel, "Nana found her hidden power in her DeepHeart Magic. She used it to bring you here."

"I noticed," said Popo.

Finally the glow disappeared, and so did the heart shape. "Oh," said Nana, panting a little, "I didn't know it was such hard work to use DeepHeart Magic!"

"Once you get used to it, it will be easier," said Magiel, "Using it to lift and move people is the only thing that's that hard."

"It must be easy for you," said Nana, "You've been using it all your life."

"True," Magiel nodded, "but DeepHeart Magic can't do everything. It has limits, remember. Don't use the technique you just used too often, or you will wear out your DeepHeart Magic-and yourself."

"I understand," said Nana. So they kept going. Soon they came to a place with a lot of very thick clouds near the ground. The sky was almost purple, even though it was daytime.

"My DeepHeart Magic is getting stronger!" said Magiel, "We are getting close."

"My DeepHeart magic is getting stronger too," said Nana.

Then, they saw Draro flying by. "Draro will lead us there!" said Magiel, "Come on!" They all chased after Draro. "We need to be able to fly," said Magiel, "or we'll lose it."

Nana noticed a large dog-like creature nearby. It was pale yellow with dark yellow paws and a white-tipped tail. It had red fur around its neck that looked like a cape and could turn into wings. "We could use that Capiri over there," said Nana.

"Can it carry all four of us?" said Magiel.

"It's not too big," said Nana, "but Capiris are strong for their size. I think it can." So she shot the beam from the machine around Capiri. It stood there for a moment. Then it walked up to them and turned its cape-like fur into wings. Popo, Nana, Shocky, and Magiel got on its back, and it flew after Draro. They followed Draro until they came to the end of the place they were at, and they had to return Capiri to normal.

Now they were in another mysterious place. It was very empty, except for a few trees and a spot with thick clouds that were hiding something. "We are almost there!" said Magiel, "My DeepHeart Magic is so strong it's like a fire! And I recognize this place."

"That's good," said Nana. She wasn't used to DeepHeart Magic, and she could hardly handle its strength at this point.

Suddenly, a small dog-like creature ran up to them. It had long brown fur speckled with light and dark brown marks. It was barking. "It's an Afigahn!" said Popo, "It's trying to tell us something!" Afigahn kept barking, and it took a few steps forward. When Popo, Nana, Shocky, and Magiel started to follow it, it stopped barking and started to sniff the ground.

It was doing this because it was searching for the Tower of Secrets. It had overheard them talking and wanted to help them. It left them when they were close to the spot with thick clouds. Just then, Draro flew past. It cleared the clouds when it flapped its wings, revealing a tall, old tower with many windows and a mysterious-looking door. "Look!" said Magiel, "There's the Tower of Secrets!" Draro flew around happily. So Popo, Nana, Shocky, and Magiel went over to the door.

Magiel used his DeepHeart Magic, but nothing happened, so Nana used hers too. Then, the door opened-and dust flew out from inside the Tower. Magiel coughed. "It seems that no one has been here for a long time," he said.

"Well, I guess we should go inside," said Nana. So the four of them went inside. Draro followed them just before the door closed-but they didn't know that. They walked through the room. "That's strange," said Nana, "The tower looks ancient from the outside, but inside it looks brand-new."

"The Tower of Secrets is magical," said Magiel, "It uses the DeepHeart Magic of any creature that goes in it to restore itself, even if it's not activated."

"It sounds like an interesting place," said Popo, "but where are we supposed to go?"

"To the room on the top floor," said Magiel, "I've heard that's where the truth about DeepHeart Magic is."

"That's a long way," said Popo, "This is a really tall tower. But we can do it."

"We have to be careful in here," said Nana, "I have a feeling it hasn't been as long as we think since this place was visited."

Suddenly, "Pika!" cried Shocky, and she disappeared.

"What happened? Where did Shocky go?" said Nana.

"Stay calm," said Magiel, "It's only the magic of this place. Anyone who comes here for the first time gets taken to the past for a short time…"

"What?! You didn't tell us that!" said Popo.

"I know," said Magiel, "but no one in the past knows you're there. Everything happens exactly as it did, and nothing can be changed."

Meanwhile, Shocky found herself in a place she recognized. It was the house of her old owner, who had been forced to abandon her. Then she saw him walking into the room, carrying a Pichu-Shocky! "Do you want to go outside and play, Shocky?" he asked her.

"Pichu!" said Shocky in the past. Her old owner smiled, but when he opened the door, he came face-to-face with a tall angry-looking man.

"I'm sorry," said the man, "but we have found out you can't afford to keep a pet anymore. You'll have to let go of your Pichu."

"Pi!" said Shocky in the past. She hugged her owner with a frightened expression on her face.

"But…why?" said her owner, "Shocky is my friend! I can't do that!"

"You have to," said the man.

Sadly Shocky's owner walked over to his desk and wrote a note. Then he put it in Shocky's hand. "Goodbye, Shocky," he said softly, "I'll miss you. Find a safe place to stay and show this to whoever finds you. Maybe you'll get an owner…kinder than I."

"Pi! Pichu..." Shocky in the past said. You're the kindest person I know! Goodbye, friend… Then she left. She and her owner both wiped a tear from their eye as they were separated.

To be continued…