Okay, sorry this is a bit later that I said last week. But I was a bit busy all week. And it didn't help that my sister was on this computer almost 24/7, so I didn't really get much time to write. But I'm here now, and it hasn't been a whole week yet (almost, but not quite). Hey, you should be proud of me. It wasn't three or four months like last time, right? Right…? …Oh well, I had to try.

Ebony smiled at them all.

"That's right," she said sweetly. "It seems none of us in this room have been completely honest as to who we really are. Funny what a small world we live in, isn't it?"

Jake's mind was racing. "So, that was you in the park that night?" Ebony nodded simply as Rose continued to stare. "But, how…?"

"It's a long story," Ebony said off-handedly, waving a hand as if to pass off the matter. "One we certainly don't have time for now. But let's just say I'm not exactly what you'd call… human." Jake stopped for a moment, trying to process this sentence. He opened his mouth to inquire further, but Ebony cut him off. "But enough about me." She then took a few slow steps toward Jake. "Let's talk about you."

Confused, Jake eyed her suspiciously. "Me?"

"Yes," she said simply. "Ironic, isn't it, that the one person I was most eager to get to know turned out being the dragon I would curse, capture and manipulate? Huh… Go figure." She laughed innocently.

Jake's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Ebony smiled somewhat seductively, still drawing closer to Jake, who continued to eye her warily. Rose stood watching from the opposite wall, an angry glare in her eyes, though she remained where she was.

"It's a shame we're on opposite sides of the game board, don't you think?" Ebony said. "You would no doubt be a worthy addition to my… cause." She raised her eyebrows in an almost questioning manner, as if waiting for an answer.

Jake was pretty sure he knew what she was getting at, but he felt he needed to stall for time. "What exactly are you saying you want?"

Ebony's smile only widened ever so slightly. She stepped up to the wall next to him, and whispered in his ear, "You." Slowly she stepped back and looked into his eyes. "Join me," she went on as Jake continued to eye her sharply. "When the curse is complete, you and I will conquer the world in our name. All will bow to our combined power. We will be honored and obeyed through all eternity. Let us rule… together."

Her eyes gleamed with excitement as Jake looked away, staring instead at the ground beside them. His mind was racing. There was no more stalling, no more lying, no more avoiding. It was time to draw the line.

Ebony continued to glance at him, her eyebrows now raising in a hopeful gesture. Jake lifted his head again, looking her directly in the eyes. With the strongest voice and most determined expression he could muster, he locked his eyes on hers and said, "Never."

Ebony's eyes flashed angrily. She backed up, breaking their gaze and seeming to calm down. She took a deep breath and looked at Jake again. "Fine," she said in a voice of forced calm. "Have it your way." She then began to slowly pace back and forth. "But I still need your blood for my final ingredient, and my spell will be complete." She then quickly drew a dagger from beneath her cloak and turned to face Jake, whose eyes widened at the sight of the blade.

"Exactly how much blood do you need?" came Rose's slightly anxious voice from behind Ebony.

Ebony smiled. "Well, the recipe calls for only a little," she said simply, speaking to Jake as though he had asked the question. "But seeing as you refuse to cooperate, I think I may need a bit more power, don't you?"

"You're not gonna… kill him, are you?" Rose spoke up again from the back of the room.

Again, Ebony did not look at her. Instead she only shrugged. "Well, you know what they say: If I can't have you, no one will." She laughed her hollow laugh again, as Jake paled considerably and Rose gasped. "So being the merciful girl that I am, I'll give you one last chance: Join me," she smiled sweetly, "or face the consequences." Her smile vanishing as quickly as it had come, she heaved her arm and threw the dagger forward. It plunged into the wall mere inches from the side of Jake's head. He jumped and shifted out of the way, causing the old newspaper clipping to fall from his pocket where he'd placed it hurriedly this morning. Lowering her arm slowly, Ebony walked over and bent to pick it up. She smiled, seeming mildly interested. "Ooh, what's this?" she asked innocently, glancing at Jake before turning it over. "It—"

Upon seeing the article, she froze her speech immediately, her smile vanishing. Her head snapped up to lock eyes with Jake, a mixture of surprise, anger, and sadness in her eyes. "Where did you get this?" she demanded, her voice shaking. Jake opened his mouth to answer, but once again she cut him off. "Do you know what this is?"

Confused, Jake tried again to speak. "What's the matter with—" Ebony held up a hand to silence him. "Ebony—"

"This is my mother," she said quietly, looking down with sad eyes at the photo of the gorgon.

"Why are you—What?"

She looked up again. "My mother, Diadora."

"Your… mother?" Jake was more confused now than ever. "But… She's a—"

"I was born just outside this village," Ebony said, as if Jake hadn't spoken. "As I was growing up, my family and me… no one accepted us. Not even my mother's family. You know, even though portrayed as demonic creatures, most gorgons are generally peaceful and accepting, especially among each other, so I still don't fully understand why my mother's family shut us out. They banished my mother, forcing her to leave them and never come back. It was cruel, and even though I've never met them, I've hated them all my life." She looked down at the ground, sadness and anger in her eyes.

Jake looked at her. He was finally beginning to get to the bottom of everything that's been going on. "Why'd they banish her?"

She looked up at him, a serious look on her face. "For falling in love with a human."

"A human?" repeated Rose, as she stepped forward. Ebony turned to look at her, nodding in her direction. "A man named Gregory. He had been sent by his village to find and kill her and her family, but when he met her, he couldn't do it. She had done nothing to his people, and he knew that. They got to know each other in secret, and ended up falling in love. They kept their relationship under cover, fearing that their families wouldn't accept the…well…differences, until a time that they knew they couldn't keep it hidden any longer. Gregory's family was reluctant at first, but trusted him and was willing to give Diadora a chance. Her family, however, was much less accepting of the two lovers' union. They forbade her to ever see him again. She and Gregory, however, had no intention of ending what they had. So they continued to see each other in secret. It went on that way for a while without complication, until one day, when they discovered that Diadora was with child. It was then that they knew they could no longer hide their ambition from her family. So that night, Diadora and Gregory confronted them, and told them everything. Well, as you can imagine, her parents were furious. They absolutely refused to accept anything their daughter said. When Diadora threatened to run away with Gregory and never return, her parents went one step further and ordered her out. They left, though sadly, and all of Diadora's family severed all communication with her and never saw or spoke with her again. Three months later, Diadora and Gregory found an abandoned barn just outside the village, where they wouldn't be found, and settled down. It was there that Diadora had her child." Ebony paused and smiled. "And can you guess who that child was?" Jake and Rose, who had both been listening intently to her tale, knew exactly who the child was, though neither said a word. "Me," Ebony went on. "I was the only being in history to be born of a gorgon and a human."

"Then… why do you look human?" Jake asked slowly, glad to be finally getting some questions answered.

Ebony laughed, but not her usual hollow laugh. "You should see me when the sun goes down. I look anything but human."

That one confused Jake a bit, but he figured that was all she was going to say about it. Instead he brought up a different topic. "So… The article… Why did the villagers—"

"Execute her?" Ebony supplied, the sadness leaving her voice and the cold apathy returning. "Well, long story short, they weren't too happy when they found out it was her who'd been 'borrowing' small samples of their stock in order to support our family. They'd been hunting her for a while, and one night… they finally caught her."

The dream from the other night—the one that started all this—was drawn once again to Jake's mind. "I saw it…" he said in a somewhat distant voice. Ebony looked at him strangely. He looked up at her. "I saw that night… In a dream. That's why I took that clipping. I thought it was weird… that it actually happened. I guess it was true after all." Ebony looked down again, as if thinking. Jake shook his head as if to clear away remaining confusion. It seemed as though Ebony was finished with her tale, but the more Jake though about it, the more he realized he needed to keep her talking. The longer he could put off her plans, the better. "So… what did you and your dad do afterwards?"

"We moved around a lot, to escape, you know… This is actually my thirteenth home since that night. But it's also our last move. Here, now, I can finally get what I want." She looked back up at Jake, that dark, determined gleam in her eyes once more. "Now, the reason I came to this city in the first place."

Without warning, she strode right up to Jake once again and yanked the dagger from where it was still protruding from the wall. Jake jumped in surprise, as Rose shouted a protest from behind them. She tried to move forward, but the Huntsman held her back. Ebony then took a step forward, so her face was inches from Jake's. She smiled evilly and glared her eyes. "I'm sorry it had to work out like this, Jake. But no matter. You'll soon find… I always get what I want." Then she gripped the dagger in her hand and in one swift movement, cut a long, deep line across Jake's abdomen. He yelled in pain as she simply smiled at him, before stepping back and holding the dagger up between them. Her smile widened as the blood on it gleamed in the candlelight, reflecting in Jake's wide, pained eyes. She then strolled casually over to her table and stood over the bowl in the center. She held the dagger high and tapped the blade once, letting a drop of blood fall into the mixture. It sizzled a moment, then quieted, as a faint, silver mist began to drift slowly from within it. She then stepped back, a satisfied look on her face, and set the dagger on the table beside the bowl.

Rose, who had stopped fighting her uncle, stared at the scene in disbelief. "That's it?" she exclaimed.

Ebony shrugged. "That's it."

"Then… Why did you have to—" she looked over at Jake, whose head was hung low as he groaned quietly. The cut on his stomach was bleeding profusely, his red shirt now stained dark around it.

Ebony followed Rose's gaze. "Oh, sorry about that," she said in a voice that sounding anything but apologetic. "I guess my hand just… slipped." She chuckled slightly, the same mirthless tone lining her voice. "It's almost sundown now, and the spell needs to sit for twenty-four hours before it will work to its full potential, so I don't need you anymore." Jake slowly lifted his head to glare at her somewhat weakly, as she grinned again and muttered something under her breath. At that moment, the ground underneath Jake seemed to open up, revealing a green forest floor some eight or nine feet below. "It was great seeing you again, Jake," Ebony finished with a farewell wave of her hand. She whispered something inaudible once more, and the chains binding Jake to the wall vanished, causing him to fall with a shout of surprise through the newly-opened hole in the ground toward the forest floor below.

-0-0-0-

"Anything yet?"

"No, not yet."

Back at the electronics shop, the three were still attempting to find out what the mysterious writing meant, and without much luck. Needless to say, they were getting exasperated.

"You know, I'm beginning to think we're never gonna find this," Trixie said with a sigh as she sat down on the couch. Haley sat next to her.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm any more willing to just give up," she said. "I'm sure any minute now, something will just come to us."

Trixie threw her a sideways glance. "You've been saying that every fifteen minutes for the last hour. Don't you think that if there was something out there about this writing, we would've found it by now?"

"Well," Haley replied casually, "I like to think positive. You watch. We'll find something."

"I found something!" came Spud's voice from his seat at the computer table. Haley just gave Trixie a look as if to say, 'See?' Trixie just shrugged and got up from the couch. Together the two girls moved to stand behind Spud and look over his shoulders at the computer screen.

"'Buried Spells and Forgotten Curses of the Ancient Grecians'," Haley read the title of the webpage aloud. Her eyes scanning further down the page, she finally saw what they'd been looking for. "That's it!" she said, pointing a finger at the center paragraph of the page.

"η δύναμη των ζωών δαιμόνων
και τώρα σας δίνει αυτήν την πληγή
η οργή θα σας καταναλώσει και θα σας γυρίσει ακατέργαστους
όλος άλλος θα φοβηθεί το δυνατό νύχι σας
δεν θα διακρίνετε το φίλο από τον εχθρό
και θα σκοτώσετε όλα αυτά πηγαίνετε ενώπιον σας
όταν βλέπετε μέσω αυτών των μισητών ματιών
καταστρέψτε μέσω όλης της αιωνιότητας"

"That's the same thing that's written on this paper here!" Haley said excitedly. Finally, they were getting somewhere. "Does it have the translation?"

Spud scrolled down the page a bit farther. "Right here," he said aloud, before moving aside so they all could read it.

"The power of the demons lives
And to you now this curse it gives
May rage consume you, turn you raw
Let all else fear your mighty claw
You will discern not friend from foe
And smite all that before you go
When through these hateful eyes you see
Destroy through all eternity!"

"Whoa…" Spud said after they had finished reading. "Sounds dangerous…"

"Yeah…" Trixie agreed. "I wonder who would use a curse like this, and why."

"Maybe Grandpa'll have some ideas," Haley suggested, still glancing at the computer screen.

Just then, Lao Shi and Fu Dog emerged from the back room.

"We finished analyzing that powder you kids found," Fu Dog began. "It's a sleeping potion, a more powerful and complex one than we've ever seen. Just goes more to the fact that whoever this guy is, we're dealin' with some pretty tough stuff here. Don't wanna underestimate this one."

"Were you successful in discovering more about that writing?" Lao Shi asked.

"Yeah, we found it," Haley began.

"It's an ancient Grecian curse," Trixie supplied. "Here, read the translation." The three of them moved aside so that the other two could see the computer screen. After a moment, they stepped back again.

"It is, once again, as I feared," Lao Shi said solemnly, clasping his hands behind his back in thought. "It seems that every bit of information we discover about our opponent, the more dangerous he or she is revealed to be. If the one who was in possession of this paper and this vial was in fact the same person whom Jake and Fu Dog saw at Central Park the other night, then we are to assume that this curse is in fact the very curse that Jake is now victim to." There was an audible gasp from the three kids, as their expressions grew worried. "If this is true, and I am almost certain that it is, then we are yet a little closer to ending our troubles. So now, all we can do is focus on finding Jake and finding a counter-curse. Trixie, Spud, you were very successful last time. I ask you two to once again return to the forest clearing and search as hard as you are able; find something – anything – to help us. Go." Trixie and Spud both nodded slowly, before turning and heading out the door.

"And that leaves us to find a counter-curse," Fu Dog said, clapping his hands together in a business-like manner. "Haley, you look out here. Gramps and I'll head to the back." With that the two of them disappeared yet again into the back room. Haley sighed to herself, before turning back to the computer and beginning her search.

-0-0-0-

"You think we're gonna find anything this time?" Spud asked as he and Trixie reached the clearing.

"I don't know, but we'd better look fast. It's starting to get dark." They started by turning to the edge of the clearing and searching along the outermost trees in the area. They had hardly begun to look when they heard a crack from behind, followed by a familiar voice. They turned quickly to the center of the clearing to see Jake fall from somewhere above, landing on the soft grass below.

"Jake!" they shouted at the same time as they headed swiftly toward him. He stood up shakily, his back to them, just as they reached him.

"What happened, man?" asked Spud. "Are you okay?"

"I…" was all he said. He turned slowly to face them, and they saw that he looked hurt. He had both his arms clutched over his stomach, a dark red stain protruding from beneath them. His eyes were shut tightly, his teeth clenched in pain.

"Jake- Hey," Trixie began, "What happened?"

He opened his eyes to look up at them, smiling briefly, before all of a sudden collapsing forward. Trixie and Spud both caught him as he passed out, before laying him down carefully on the ground. Spud moved his arms and lifted up his damp t-shirt, showing them the long, deep cut underneath. He and Trixie looked at each other, and without a word they lifted him up, Spud holding under Jake's arms, Trixie carrying his legs, and staggered as quickly as they could back the way they'd come.

-0-0-0-

"You know, usually findin' stuff out is somethin' we're good at. How come this time's so different?"

"Perhaps," Lao Shi answered Fu Dog slowly, "it is because this time, we are much more outmatched. Our enemy is taking careful steps so that we cannot defeat him so easily."

"I can't believe this is happening…" Haley said somewhat sadly from her spot against the back room wall. She had recently come back to see if her grandfather had made any progress. "Things never happen like this…"

"Do not worry, Haley," Lao Shi said consolingly. "There is always hope."

Just then, they heard a muffled knocking sound from the front of the store, followed quickly by Trixie's voice shouting to open the door.

"It's unlocked, you know," Fu Dog answered.

"Yeah, well, our hands are kind of full at the moment," Trixie replied in an urgent voice. Fu Dog got up and left the back room.

"So you found more clues?" his voice asked from the front of the room. Haley and Lao Shi listened quietly, but stayed where they were.

"We found something way better," came Trixie's answer.

"Actually," Spud's voice said from outside, "it depends on how you look at it. I mean, this isn't exactly the way we would've wanted to find—"

"Alright, alright," Fu Dog's impatient voice interrupted. "I'm comin'." They heard the sound of the door open, before Fu Dog spoke again, this time his tone quieter. "Uh-oh. Uh… Gramps?" he called to the back room. "You better get in here."

Lao Shi sighed, before getting up and leaving Haley to return to the front. "What is it… now…" his voice trailed off at the sight before him, the sight of Trixie and Spud swiftly carrying his unconscious grandson into the room. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Trixie said as they laid Jake down on the couch.

"We were looking for clues," Spud continued, "when we heard this crack, and he just… appeared… out of nowhere. We went up to him, and he sort of… passed out. Then we brought him back here."

They all heard the door open as Haley began to enter. "Alright, what's going—" She froze upon seeing her brother, before running up and kneeling beside him. "What—?"

"We don't know," Trixie said again as Lao Shi walked over and lifted Jake's shirt to examine the wound. He then stood up and turned to face everyone, ready to once again give orders. They all waited and listened.

"Spud, Trixie – head to the side room and prepare a bed as quickly as you can. Do it on the floor if you must." They nodded and ran off to the side room. "Fu Dog – put together the best healing spell you can in the next ten minutes. Use anything you can find in the back, and when you're finished, administer it carefully." Fu Dog saluted in an obedient manner, before striding swiftly to the back room. "Haley – head back to your house and tell your parents everything. You've been gone quite a long time, and I am sure they are wondering what is going on. When you are through, bring them here. I wish to speak with them." Haley nodded briefly and turned on her heel, heading out the front door, leaving Lao Shi alone with Jake. He sighed solemnly, before turning to his grandson, and adding in an undertone, "And pray we find the strength to defeat this evil, before it's too late to stop it."

Aaaaaaaaaaaand, end Chapter 14! Well? What'd ya think? Please review and let me know, 'kay?

See ya soon!

-oMM