I sat in the cage for what seemed like an eternity.

Mahin clearly had no intention of speaking to me; I think he was mad that I admitted what happened. He was a bit too dense to see how necessary confessing was.

I could do nothing but wait. Eventually, Megane would return, hopefully reporting success. I hoped he didn't do anything too terrible to Mr. Little, but I didn't know enough about the shady mimiga to speculate on his methods.

So I sat there. I sat for a long, long time.

Other mimigas, passing in the village, would glance over at Mahin and I before turning away and hurrying on. We were convicts on display, a sort of punishment by public humiliation. I didn't really mind the stares though; I was in here because I had done something bad, so I lived with the punishment. I did, however, get a bit more perturbed when I saw three figures walking in my direction.

Mom, Kazuma, and Professor Booster.

The three of them stopped a few yards from the cage. "Now look at that," said Mom. "That barbaric sort of punishment is one thing I never liked about the mimigas."

"But Mrs. Sakamoto," said Booster. "Haven't you heard what has happened? The village is abuzz with news on a crisis; these mimigas seem to have accidentally destroyed the food supply crop at the nearby farm."

"Yeah," said Kazuma. "They're talking about it everywhere. The poor mimigas are all on food rations because of these two." Kazuma stepped forward and bent down to peer into the cage. I prayed he wouldn't recognize me.

Kazuma looked straight at me. "My, you look familiar," he said. "Those eyes… they make you look…" he thought about it carefully. "Yes! You look kind of like Sue when she was a mimiga!"

I gulped. If Kazuma made the connection, I was doomed.

"I don't know any Sue," I said, disguising my voice as much as possible. "I'm Sam. Sam as in Samantha."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mahin shoot me a weird look, but thankfully he didn't comment.

"She does look a little like mimiga Sue," mom commented. "But she can't be; Sue's a human again anyway. Besides, Sue has a scar on her face."

I silently thanked Jack for that disguising skin cream.

Mom and Kazuma began to walk away. Professor Booster sniffed the air, peered at me curiously, and then turned and walked away.

Good Lord, that man was creepy sometimes.

In any case, my disguise had worked on those it needed to work on. I would be in the clear for now. I'd been sitting in here for hours now, so finally, I lied myself down and went to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept on the grass. It might have been only 10 minutes, or it could have been half a day. All I know was that I was awakened suddenly by a shimmering metal blade plunging into the ground about a half an inch from my face.

I sprang to my feet and turned to face Megane, smiling smugly from outside the cage. "I got your sword." He said curtly.

"You nearly impaled me with it!" I said in annoyance.

Megane just chuckled. "It wasn't particularly hard to get, really. You see, I found myself in the convenient situation of being there while Mrs. Little and her daughter were dangling, clinging to the edge of the outer wall to avoid falling miles to their doom. Naturally, when Mr. Little saw a big, strong mimiga like myself, he offered to do just about anything in exchange for my rescuing them. He was only too happy to hand over the blade after that.

A wicked smile appeared on Megane's face. "Of course, I weakened the platform that collapsed under Mrs. Little and her daughter in the first place, but hey, that's what they call business strategy.

Megane snickered at his mischief. Like I had thought, his methods had not been totally wholesome, but at least he hadn't ultimately hurt anyone.

"Alright, thanks," I said, pulling the blade out of the ground. "We're even. Go away."

Megane left without a word.

I looked at the blade carefully. It appeared to be just a regular sword, a nice one perhaps, but it didn't appear magical. I knew however, that King's spirit was sealed inside, waiting for his earthly mission to be complete.

Conveniently, Jack was walking by at that time. I called him over.

"Jack!" I said. "You've got to let me out of here!"

"No Sue. You'll serve the full punishment. I'm not letting you out early just because we're friends."

"You don't understand! I think I can find that secret store of flowers!"

This news caught Jack's interest. I showed him the blade. "This blade was once held by King, the previous leader of the mimigas."

"I know that!" said Jack. "I was King's right hand man! I'd recognize that blade anywhere! The question is, how did you get it?"

"That's not important," I said. "I think I can use it to speak with King's spirit, but only if it is used courageously! You have to let me out so I can try to awaken his might, and perhaps find from him where the flowers are hidden!"

Jack hesitated, and then opened the cage, allowing me out. Mahin suddenly leapt to his feet and barreled toward the gate, but Jack slammed in shut before he could launch himself through the opening. Mahin groaned in contempt.

"Go to the graveyard," said Jack. "I'll be supervising you. If this works, your punishment will no longer apply, since this is less your fault than it is Mahin's."

The two of us headed to the mimiga graveyard, where mushroom creatures wandered about.

"Well," said Jack. "Start fighting them. If the sword builds up power for King's spirit through battle, you're gonna have to attack."

About then it occurred to me that I had little experience with combat of any kind. I had never wielded a sword before. But at the moment, too much was counting on me. I had to try.

I ran forward, swinging the blade madly. A small mushroom creature only had a chance to look up at me briefly before I cleaved it in two. Another stood nearby on a ledge, and I swung the sword up, lobbing of his top half.

This was easier than I thought. I dashed around the graveyard, laying waste to all the mushrooms, including a particularly large one which I hacked into several pieces.

I stood there, panting, everything in the graveyard defeated. But still the sword showed no sign of special power.

Suddenly, Jack cried, "Sue! Look out behind you!"

I leapt forward, and only just in time. A strange, bear-like creature had emerged from the shadows. Had I moved a split second later, the large knife he swung would have sliced open my neck.

I whirled around to face the monster, jumped nimbly over another of his deadly swings, and plunged the blade into its chest. The creature roared in pain before collapsing on the ground, the life leaving its body.

I ripped the blade out of the carcass. "That was too close," I said. "He came out of nowhere."

"Um, Sue?" Jack said hesitantly. "The blade…"

I looked. The blade was now glowing. Did this mean I could call forth King's spirit?

Before I could find out, three more knife-wielding creatures emerged from the shadows. I swung the sword, and there was a bright flash. A white figure burst forth, rocketed to the end of the graveyard, and cleaved the three monsters in half before shooting back and finally coming to a halt a few feet in front of Jack and me.

The spirit was translucent, and its colors faded, but there was no question that the one standing before us was King.

"King!" I said. "We did it! We contacted you! And we need your help!"

King scrutinized me, and then spoke in an echoing, disembodied voice.

"Sue? The mimiga from outside the village? You hold the blade now?"

"Temporarily," I said. "Let me explain."

I told King everything that had happened after his death, and how the doctor had been soundly defeated.

"I see," said King. "This is good. I have been avenged. All the mimigas have. But obviously, I am still here, so my help is still needed."

"Well," said Jack, stepping in. "Sir, a blight has befallen the flowers in the village. We must know the location of the secret storage of them, hidden in case of such an emergency."

"The hidden storage," said King. "I knew I should tell someone. I didn't expect to pass away so suddenly. The secret store can be found in this very graveyard. Push aside the headstone of the hero Arthur, and you will find a stairway leading to his tomb as well as the chamber where an enormous stash of dried flowers can be found."

"There?" asked Jack. "That's excellent! It's nearby, it will not be hard to transport them to the village at all!"

"Yes," said King. "With that store, you shall survive the blight."

King turned to me. "I admire your courage. It took great strength on your part to awaken my spirit again, Sue. Perhaps, while alive, I misjudged you. You are as worthy an honorable a mimiga as any other."

A veil of light began to form around King. "At last," he breathed. "My work is done. I can move on to enjoy the peace of the afterlife, together with dear, innocent Toroko."

For the first in my memory, King actually smiled, and then slowly he disappeared.

The warrior's work was finished. The village would be saved.