Valkyrian was now on her bed, recovering from the fight with Neku. She had bandages on, covering her eyes. Nazina sat beside her with a look of sadness. And Egotist stood next to her with a blank expression. "Egotist, what is wrong with her?" Nazina asked, referring to Valkyrian. "When I tried to heal her, the spell didn't work. So what's going on?!"

Egotist was quiet for a minute before she answered. "She's been cursed. No spell can help her with it."

"A curse…?"

"Nazina, what did Neku say to cast the curse?"

"Ah… I think he said, manibus lusus horae dici. Maledictio missfourtune tempore videre protest."

"Time?" Egotist was confused at what she heard.

"What is it?"

"The curse of seeing through time."

"Seeing through time is a curse?"

"It very much can be. Since there have been terrible events in the past and there will be more as the years come. This curse is not used very often because of what else it does."

"What do you mean by that? There's more to the curse?"

"When it's first cast, only the negative can be seen. But through training and self control, then the positive can be seen too. Making it a power to see within."

"So, there's a chance that this will be more of a blessing than a curse of Valkyrian just trains hard."

"Yes, but there must be a reason why he cast that spell instead of something more deadly. And until we figure out a reason why, you should be very careful."

"I understand."

For Neku, things were not going well between him and Anubis. "You incompetent fool!" Anubis yelled at Neku. "My plan on getting rid of those rats was very simple. But you failed, again!"

"Master, these girls are stronger than they appear. And you gave me a limited amount of magic."

"That is no excuse! You should have known how to take them out with what I gave you!"

"This isn't a total lost, Pharaoh. I did give one of them the time curse."

"What good does that do for us?!"

"With what we have in plan. She will see it before it even happens. It will torture her and drive her insane. I bet she'll even take her own life."

"I didn't ask you to curse one. I ordered you to kill all of them. The wiccans and the enchantress!"

"Order…? I'm not your slave! I'm your second in command. The person who will rule with you."

"Rule with me?" Anubis laughed.

"What's so funny?!"

"Your assumption on where you stand. When you've really only been nothing more than a slave for years."

"Years?!"

"Yes, and now I have no more use for you. Good bye." A hole appeared under Neku, and he let out a scream as he fell in.

Neku landed in his room. "No more use for me? What does he mean by that?" Neku thought hard when he came to the realization of something. "Wait, that girl!"

Valkyrian was still unconscious, but as she lyed there she was seeing many horrible things about the past. In her trapped dream, her eyes were no longer a hazel pink. They didn't even look like normal eyes. They were clocks that glowed a black and white. "What am I seeing?" She asked no one.

Flashback


Prince Hemotep had a brother, a twin brother actually. His name was Aarotep. And just like his brother, he also had a lover with magic. His lover was named Settamp. She had long brown hair, with powder blue eyes and tan skin. Aarotep knew that Settamp would be killed if she was found so they would meet in secret. When Hemotep and Nephthys were killed, this scared Settamp.

"Aarotep!" Settamp called to her lover as she ran to him. Aarotep was in the village, looking into criminal activity.

"Settamp, what is wrong? You look as though you're in trouble." Aarotep said to the woman with worry in her eyes.

"I am, we are. Your father just killed your brother and my friend!" Yes, Nephthys and Settamp are friends. This fact was the very reason how Aarotep and Settamp even met.

"That can't be true. I can see my father killing Nephthys, just because she is a magic user. But there is no way he kill my brother, his heir!"

"You don't believe me?"

"I won't believe until I see it with my own eyes."

"But by then, it will be too late to run away. He will kill you too when he finds out about us!"

"Run away? What makes you think I would run away?"

"If you were running with me, we be safe."

"You want to leave?"

"Not want, have to. All magic users aren't just leaving Egypt, we're leaving this world altogether."

"But… But why?"

"Because my people have never been understood. Everyone has always thought of us as evil. You and your brother are the only humans I've met that accept us. However, because of how bad it is now we just can't take it anymore. So we've created our own world."

"And you want me to come with you to this new world?"

"Yes."

"I would have gone with you if you just asked. But I won't, since you're making up stories." Aarotep turned his back on Settamp and started walking for the palace.

"But I'm telling the truth, Aarotep!" Settamp began to cry as her love stayed silent and kept walking. "Aarotep, please come with me!" She yelled as she fell to her knees and sobbed even more. Settamp became broken hearted at what just unfolded. After letting all her tears fall, she picked herself back up. She then made her way for the portal to Hex. Praying that Aarotep wouldn't be killed after all.

When Aarotep came to the palace, he was caught off guard on how quiet it was. He then made his way to the throne room. But before he even entered, he seen something in the room out of the corner of his eye. What he saw made him freeze at the very place he stood. It was Hemotep and Nephthys, lying on the ground. Their bodies were like they were skeletons with skin. And their eyes appeared that all the color and life was no longer present. They're dead. When Settamp told him of this, Aarotep did not image it would be anything like this. He very slowly and quietly walked back to where he came. He was so careful since he heard his father. When he was some distance away, that's when he started to run.

'Settamp was right! Oh Ra, why didn't I believe her?! She would never lie to me. And she was trying to protect me.' Aarotep thought as he ran out to the village. He went to the place that she was staying and saw that she was not there. Not only that, but all her stuff was gone. "No! I need to find her."

He went to the place they would always meet. But he wasn't thinking that he would find her there. He sat down for a moment so he could catch his breath. "She must have went to that new world. Dang it, how am I gonna find her now." As he was just staring off into space, he noticed something. There was something sticking out of a nearby tree. Aarotep went up to the tree and took it out to find that it was a map. With the map, there was a small note. It was written in Settamp's hand, it was from her The note read, 'In case you still wish to come, go to the X. I will wait for you until the portal closes.' With no time to waste, Aarotep read the map to see where exactly the portal was located. Once he found the X, he ran faster than he thought he could.

Back to where Settamp was, she was standing by the entrance of where the portal was located. It was in the under room of a home outside the village. This placement was so it would be hidden from Anubis. "Miss, the portal will be closing soon. You have to come in now!" Said a random sage.

"Please, just give me another minute. I'm waiting for my love."

"Sorry, but it's now or never."

"Okay…" Settamp had a look of disappoint as she approach the portal, but something stopped her.

"Wait!" Someone called. Settamp turned around and saw that it was Aarotep.

"You came!"

"I'm sorry, my love. I should have listened to you."

"It's alright. You are alive and we're together. We will now live in Hex with the name of Xion."

"Yes, your name in your new world."


End of Flashback

Valkyrian could not believe what she was seeing. It was the ancestry of her best friend. "This can't be real. Zi is… related to Anubis?!"


Where Nazina was at the moment was not at Egotist's anymore. She was now at the mall's arcade. 'Geeze, I can't believe this.' Nazina thought as she was playing DDR. 'Here I am playing games while my best friend is lying in bed with a curse. Well… it doesn't matter. There's nothing I can do, according to Egotist.' "Hey! Are you Nazina Xion?" Said a voice that got Nazina out of her thoughts. It was the girl that sat next to her in class.

"Yes, and you are?"

"I'm Astred, I'm in your homeroom class."

"Okay… That's good to know." 'Why is this girl talking to me?'

"You're most likely wondering why some random person in your class is talking to you." Nazina flinched when Astred said just what she was thinking. 'Wait, is she in my head?!' "And before you ask, no I'm not a mind reader. I'm just really good at guessing. Anyway, mind if I play with you?"

"N-no, not at all."

"Awesome!" Astred stepped onto the second player side the of the machine and insert her tokens. "Loser buys whatever the winner wants at the next door creamery."

"You're on!" The song was selected by random. It was Bad Apple! The teens started dancing once the music was playing.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Astred asked as she played the game.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Are you a witch?"

Nazina's eyes widen as she heard that escape Astred's lips. She was so shocked at she missed a few steps in the game. But Nazina was quick to collect herself and get right back to playing. "And why do you ask?"

"Remember your first day at our high school?"

"Yeah…" 'What does this have to do with this? She shouldn't remember what happened that day.'

"Well, there is a bit of a gap in my memory of that day. I asked everyone else in homeroom and they were the same thing. Also, I thought of it as weird that one minute that guy was yelling at you, and the next he's in the hall just as confused as everyone else."

"So you think that can only be explained by magic?"

"Not really, I'm sure there maybe other reasons to why it happened."

"Then why bring up this witch idea?"

"Well, to be honest… I've always believe magic was real. I just want to meet someone magical."

"So it's your dream."

"Yes! But anyway, you still haven't answered my question." Nazina was quiet. "It's okay, you don't need to worry. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"To answer your question. Yes I am, sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"I was a witch when I was younger. But now I'm a wiccan."

"What do you mean?"

The song was now over, Nazina is the one with the higher score. "Guess that means I win. Come on, I'll explain everything at the creamery." The girls left the arcade and went to the creamery. So Astred could buy Nazina her reward. "Anyway, what I meant when I said I'm a wiccan is this." Nazina said as they took a seat at a table far from anyone else. "We magical people can be one of three categories. There is Starting, Learning, and Master. All magical people are born as a Starting."

"So is a witch a Starting?"

"Yep, Witch is the term for a female Starting."

"And I'm guessing a wiccan is a female Learning."

"Correct. And to fill in the rest of the blanks. A female Master is a mage. And for males it's wizard, warlock, and sage."

"So how does one turn from Starting to Learning, or Learning to Master."

"For Starting to Learning, you have to master a certain number of spells. And for Learning to Master you have to do one of two things. One, gain enough magic energy. Or two, create a new spell."

"Wow, that is so cool!"

"Now time for you to answer my question."

"Huh?"

"Why is it you're interested in people like me?" Astred's expression of happiness was then replaced with one of sorrow. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just hard for me to remember my past."

"I completely understand. It's sometimes hard for me too."

"Here's my answer. My parents were always fighting. To distract myself from it, I would read fairy tales. I was so amazed with the stories. Especially magic in it. Things are better now, and my love for magic is still strong."

"That's good to hear."

"Hey, I was wondering…"

"What?"

"Can we be friends?"

"Well, of course. I did tell you my secret. So why wouldn't we?"

"Awesome! I'm friends with a witch!"

"Ictus!" Nazina whispers, and the spell she casted gave Astred a slight shock.

"Ow!"

"Keep it down, will you. And I said earlier, I'm a wiccan not a witch."

"Sorry about that. Wait, I can't believe I didn't realized this until now."

"Realize what?"

"Where's Valkyrian? That girl with the glasses that you're always with."

Nazina was silent for a moment. Then she stood up from her chair. "Follow me."

"Huh?! Where are we going?" Astred asked as she followed the ginger.

"We're going to where I'm currently living."

"And where is that?"

"At the enchantress, Egotist's home."

"Wait, there's an enchantress living in this town?!"

"Yeah, she's always been here."

"Dang it! I can't believe there was an enchantress here, right under my nose!"

Nazina laughed. "Well, you'll have a chance to finally meet her. By the way, Valkyrian is also a wiccans, too." Astred screamed to the heavens. Hearing that there was not just one, but three magical people.

"This is, like, the greatest day ever!" Then Astred pulled out her cellphone. "Say, let's trade."

"Huh?" Nazina was confused by this. She was thinking Astred meant trade phones. "No, thanks but I don't want to."

"Oh! I meant numbers. I give you mine, and you give me yours."

"Will this is awkward…"

"It's okay to be confused. I bet your world is a lot different than this one. Wait… You are from another world, right?"

"Yep, the world Valkyrian an I are from is called Hex."

"Hex? Like a spell?"

"Yeah, needless to say that our elders weren't very original." Astred laughed. The girls continued talking as they walk to Egotist. When they enter Valkyrian's room. Astred was shocked to see the state Valkyrian was in.

"What happened to her?!"

"She was cursed."

"Cursed?"

"Yes, and ever since she got it she hasn't woken up."

"Then we must find her prince charming!" Astred yelled out of determination.

"Huh?" Nazina said confused. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"You know, Sleeping Beauty. When she was cursed, she didn't wake up til her prince charming gave her true love's kiss. The kiss broke the curse and woke her up."

"The curse isn't why she's unconscious!" Suddenly Valkyrian quickly sat up as she came to.

"Woo! The curse has been lifted!... Although I have no idea how."

"What did I just say? She wasn't asleep because of the curse. Now be quiet. Kyri, how are you feeling?"

Valkyrian turned her head toward Nazina, where she was hearing her best friend's voice. For she had the bandages covering her eyes. "Zi, you there?" Valkyrian asked because of her blindness.

"Yeah, it's me. You can take off your bandages if you want to."

"Okay…" Valkyrian took off what was stopping her from seeing. But once they were removed, Nazina and Astred gasped at what was revealed. Valkyrian's eyes were not normal, they appear to be silver clocks. The numbers is roman numeral style. There was a gear in the center, were the pupil should be. However, there were no hands for the clock eyes.

"Kyri, your eyes are different." Nazina said as she handed Valkyrian a hand mirror for her to see.

"What's going on with her eyes?" Astred said, clearly freaked out.

"It's proof that she's cursed with seeing through time." Egotist said as she entered the room as well.

"Seeing time is a curse?"

"Yeah, when you truly think about it. Wait… What's this human doing in my house?!"

"Well… She seemed harmless when I met her at the arcade." Nazina said as she laughed nervously.

"Just because she seems harmless doesn't mean she won't cause trouble. If she lets one word slip, it's all over for us!"

"I promise I won't tell anyone." Astred said, stepping into the conversation. "If you don't believe me, I'll even write it in blood."

"Wow, that's a bit dark." Nazina said about Astred's statement.

"As dark as it may be, it still doesn't change anything. Even if you promise to keep it secret. There's still a possibility of you accidentally letting it out." Egotist said to Astred. "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to erase your memories about everything related to magic."

"What?!"

"No!" Valkyrian yelled out.

"Valkyrian, what did you just say?" Egotist asked her, surprised she spoke up.

"I said no. Because you don't have to erase her memories."

"And what makes you say that?"

"I don't see her causing any harm."

"You… see?"

"Yes, trust me when I say that we can trust her." After saying that, the black and white clocks in her eyes vanished. Returning her eyes to their normal state.

"I understand that you are fully aware of your new curse. But let's get back to what's really important here. Nazina yo-" But before Egotist continued, she turned her head and saw that Nazina had left the room. "Where'd she go now?" She yelled about the ginger who disappeared.

"Wow! She must have used some type of teleportation spell to sneak away." Astred said, getting excited.

"No, she just walked out a few seconds ago." Valkyrian said.

"Did you really have to say it so bluntly?"

"Well if she didn't, I would've." Egotist said with the same bluntness. "We'll have to worry about what Nazina ran off for later. Valkyrian, we have to begin your training."

"Training?" Valkyrian asked. Since she was out cold while Egotist explained it to Nazina. She had no idea what she was talking about.

"Your curse, with a little bit of training it will no longer be considered a curse. But a very unique power."

Where Nazina was now was the park, it was completely empty. 'She's already using the curse to her advantage.' Nazina thought. 'With each new spell, she gets stronger.' "But what about me? What can I do to get stronger?"

"You want to be stronger?" Said a voice that seemed foreign to Nazina. Hearing the voice made her jump from the swing she was sitting on.

"Who's there?" She said as she kept turning her head. Trying to find the owner to the voice, but she didn't see anyone.

"I can help you get what you want." This time when Nazina turned around, there was a hole of light. She had to shield her eyes so they wouldn't be blinded. Someone came out of the light hole. This person was Hemotep. However, Nazina did not know it was him. For she has never seen the man.

"Who are you?"

"I am Hemotep."

"What do you want from me? And where did you come from?"

"I'm here to give you power. Isn't that what you want?"

"I…" Nazina hesitated with her answer.

"What's the matter?"


Back at the house, Egotist and Valkyrian had changed to their enchanted gear. "Okay, Valkyrian." Egotist said to her student. "Are you ready to begin your training?"

"Yes master!" Valkyrian replied.

"Okay then. To start, activate your curse and tell me what's going on right now."

"Very well." Valkyrian closed her eyes, and when they opened again the eyes of time were visible. As they appear, Valkyrian saw Nazina. "Zi is at the park right now. With…" What Valkyrian saw through her eyes made her stop speaking. What Nazina was seeing in front of her was not truly Hemotep. Valkyrian saw who was really with her friend. Instead of it being Hemotep in front of a hole of light. It was Anubis by a dark hole. "No, Zi!" Valkyrian ran straight out through the front door and was heading for the park faster than her feet could carry her.

"Hey! What's wrong? Where are you going?!" Egotist yelled at the running Saga. But she was already too far to hear the scream.

"What's going on here?" Astred said as she entered the room.

"I have no idea."

When Valkyrian made it to the park. She saw Nazina hesitantly reaching out for Anubis's extended hand. "No Zi, don't do it! It's Anubis." She yelled.

"What?!" Nazina said of shock as she quickly turned around and saw Valkyrian out of breath. Without letting any second past, Anubis grabbed Nazina and dragged her into the hole of darkness. Her screams were muffled by Anubis's hand. The sound echoed as the hole closed itself up.

"Zi… No!"