CHAPTER 20

MOONLESS NIGHT

"We found them, Skipper!" Private's voice ripped the penguin leader from his thoughts.

He turned away from the window; behind him his team came belly-sliding into the room, accompanied by the three lemurs and a young tenrec who had to be Timo. Skipper nodded at him and Clover briefly, relieved to see them alright.

"Why did you run off like that?!" Kowalski asked in an accusatory tone before he could greet them, "You know, you could say something before you go swim solo!"

"Sorry. I was just… I saw Clemson, and I went after him…"

Clover's eyebrows shot up. "Did you get him?!"

"Yeah. No. I talked to him… then he ran off." – He pointed towards the open window.

"Damn it." Clover beat her fist into her palm.

"Holy butterballs!" Skipper exclaimed when he then noticed Timo's bruised and beaten face, "What has that madman done to you?!"

"Oh, don't worry; I'm okay. At least the spell is gone and I'm myself again." The tenrec drew his swollen lips into a faint smile. "Hey, we haven't met before, have we? I'm Timo."

"Skipper." They shook paw and flipper briefly.

"Let's go, guys," Maurice urged, "We've got no time to lose. Both Masikura and the witch have stopped fighting and disappeared somewhere; now it's only a matter of time until Clemson's servants will notice we're around!"

The leader nodded sternly. "Right. Roll out, everyone."

They climbed out of the window, deciding to leave the castle the same way Clemson had left it. It was the safest way since most of his servants were still assembled in the entrance hall where Masikura and her former student had just dueled.

However, they weren't halfway across the rose garden yet when they heard a Harpy guard call out from somewhere behind them, "Hey, just a minute there!"

"Go!" Skipper shouted, and everyone doubled their pace.

Skipper risked a look back, and his eyes widened in horror: behind them the dark sky was swarming with Harpies, swirling shadowy creatures with eyes like glowing coals. They must have spotted them from the battlements or from one of the towers; after all, they had already managed to restore the two that had been destroyed during the magic duel. He felt their blazing eyes on his neck.

They had reached the jungle by now; in a whirl of broken twigs and flying leaves they were tearing through the undergrowth, weaving between tree trunks and springing over brambles and ferns. Skipper ducked when a wide black shadow swept down from above, passed him with a liquid whoosh, and disappeared into the next treetop.

"Watch out, everyone!" he yelled – the jungle was so dense here that he couldn't see very far in any direction. All he could make out was that Timo and his three brothers were already ahead of him. Suddenly a sound caught his ear – the rustle of something heavy moving through the treetops behind him.

"Maurice! Look out!" Clover shouted from somewhere.

Skipper stopped dead in his tracks and turned around; as he strained his eyes he could see the aye-aye's form in the shadows back on the way. An icy chill gripped him – two Harpies had just risen up from the treetop above Maurice and now began diving at him. He screamed and waved his arms at them frantically.

Julien was by his side in a second – together they tried to beat them off, but that only irritated them more. Then Skipper saw the first Harpy's claws lunge out at full stretch and catch Maurice by his shoulders. He violently tried to shake it off, but the flying lemur held tightly onto him. He cried out as its talons pierced his skin – and then, with one great downward stroke of its wings, the Harpy took off, seizing Maurice in its powerful claws and lifting him up in the air.

"Maurice! No!" Clinging on to his friend's arm as the beast flew forward, Julien, too, was lifted several feet off the ground and dragged along until he slammed up against a big old branch. By the time he'd managed to get back to his feet, the Harpy had already carried Maurice up to great heights.

"Help!" they heard the aye-aye cry out, "Help me! Please!"

"Maurice!" Julien reached up his arms as high as he could, but it was too late.

Skipper stumbled through the undergrowth toward him until his left foot slipped on a root, twisting his ankle. He cursed as he crashed face first into the mud, jagged bark scraping his flippers. He tried to get up again but tangled grass and weeds were clutching at his webbed feet, keeping him effectively from doing so. The others were coming back, gathering around them. Panting hard, out of breath from the run, they could do nothing but watch the flock of Harpies retreat… taking Maurice with them.

"You monsters!" Clover yelled, throwing her fists in the air while the others were staring after the demons in silence, with dismay on their faces. "You devils! You unutterable, stinking, rotten fiends! To Larry with you and your magic! We'll get you yet!"

Julien threw himself against Skipper's chest and flung his arms around his waist as he burst into sobs. "They'll kill him, Skipper! Oh, Frank – they'll kill him!"

Skipper wrapped a consoling flipper around his quivering body. He felt numb, expect for the cold, wet feeling of the moss beneath his feathers and his heart pounding hard and fast in his chest.

"No, they won't! We'll save him, Ringtail," he murmured, struggling to get back to his feet. He gently took Julien by the paw, dragging him up, too, and then they all started to run again.

Blinded by tears, Clemson fled, the gravelly path crunching under his feet. The rose garden was empty. Above him the night sky opened, vast and still. There were no stars, and the moon that had been visible before had disappeared as well. Everything around him seemed ashen. The world seemed dead, the breeze bitter. Smile at me, silver moon, he pleaded silently, please, please, please smile… smile at me, so the redness that scorches this world vanishes.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a figure running towards him over the meadow to his right –

"Clemson! Clemson, wait! Where are you going?!"

Seven stumbled to a halt in front of him. The young witch was bleeding heavily, both her arms and face wet and sticky with blood. His eyes flickered over her briefly, but he didn't care about her injuries in the slightest. The sight of her sickened him; the whine of her voice sickened him. He looked down at her with smoldering ill-temper.

He had nothing to say.

She stared at him, her mouth agape, when he drew his knife.

"You – disappointed me – again – you useless, useless witch…!" he cursed, his breath coming out in fierce gasps as he stabbed her just below the ribs, driving the blade up and in. It sank deep, didn't stop until the hilt thumped against her body. All she could do was utter a choked sound; the blade had pierced one of her lungs, robbing her of the ability to speak. She stared at him with wide eyes, her knees trembling. He stabbed her again. And again. Blood flowed over his paw and into the grass. Her knees buckled and then she fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Blood washed over the swirl of colors on his mind. Sweet blood… too sugary, like honey poured over mangos. It smothered his consciousness as he turned away from her and started to run again, nearly inflamed to madness by his despair.

Slipping from the gravelly path, he left the garden and found a dirt trail that cut through a thicket of small trees and wound along the bank of a river crossing the jungle that surrounded the castle. When he reached a place by the river where trees shielded him from view, he sank into the inky darkness and sobbed. His cries were wild and raw, his few sobbed words incoherent. He wept as he'd never wept before.

When his emotions were spent, he knelt there, numb and exhausted, resting his head against the trunk of a palm tree. The world seemed to rotate around him. He was the eye of the storm, a dot in a hurricane. Then he turned to the sound of the rushing river and watched the water crash over the rocks.

He couldn't hold out any longer. Nor did he want to.

What do I care? What's life to me? I have suffered enough to be put out of my misery.

He bowed down, lifted a rock he was barely able to carry, and clutched it tightly against his chest. And suddenly everything felt strangely clear, sharpened almost; his steps had purpose for the first time in what felt like eternity. He'd been lost for so long. It felt good to have direction again.

His paws shook as he gripped the rock tighter and began walking into the river. It was as if he could already taste the promise of what was about to happen so soon. He wouldn't lose courage, not now, not when he was so close. There was no turning back now. His mind was made up.

He smiled when he felt the first waves wet his legs and tail. He walked in further and then the waves just kept coming, slamming into him, surrounding him, taking him under. He didn't fight them, didn't move a finger when they went over his face. He just shut his eyes in sweet anticipation as the icy water engulfed him and let them have their way with him, giving up, giving in to the sweet surrender of blackness that loomed on the very edge of his being.

Take me to the other side… to the heaven of Madagascar, to the endless island!

Soon he would be gone, his soul lifted, lulled gently, and carried by the cool winds on a never-ending journey to eternity. Cold, dead, buried six feet under, and nothing but a memory. His entire body trembled like the most brittle of autumn leaves, beautiful and blessedly, blessedly, blessedly, sinking. His heart roared like the rush of water in his ears; it was all he could hear and feel as the weight of the rock kept dragging him further down.

His lungs started aching, and he was happy for the pain because it brought bright bursts of light behind his eyes and yet it was oh so dark, and everything pressed and burned – he fought his eyes closed against the feeling of death, waiting for the moment the water would crush the breath from his lungs. Spots of light were flashing before his eyes like fireflies – devastating moments of lucidity before the blur would return and this time would swallow him up and free him forever from the torment.

But no white-winged angel came to save him.

No black-clothed reaper came to take him away.

All of a sudden a strong paw grabbed him by the neck fur and pulled him back up toward the surface. That surprised him so much he dropped the rock. When he was pulled out of the water he gasped for breath, coughing as his lungs were taking in as much air as possible. His heart beating rapidly in his chest, he continued to gasp and wheeze as he forced his eyes open unwillingly. His head swam with shadow and light. He felt like years had passed. Slowly the blurred face hovering over him became clear.

"Faraday…!" he choked out.

"The very same, Milord." The old servant was carrying Clemson in his arms. He was not smiling. He was just staring down at Clemson with an unreadable expression.

Why don't you just let my poor soul rest in peace, Clemson wanted to yell at him, but before he knew it he was sobbing, the horror of the whole situation pouring from him in noiseless, wracking shudders.

He was so tired. So desperate. None of this was fair, and it was all happening to him.

He clung to the old servant, ashamed yet too desperate for comfort to let go. So he buried his face in the collar of Faraday's tuxedo, mortified as the hot tears he'd been suppressing began to course down his face. He hated letting someone like Faraday see him this way… He didn't want to cry in front of him, didn't want to show him the weakness that was eating at his heart like a disease. He didn't trust this lemur one bit.

And suddenly he knew why.

When he pulled himself slightly back so he could look up at Faraday – really look at him – he felt the rest of his sanity fray at the seams. The old lemur's appearance had changed so drastically Clemson almost didn't recognize him anymore. The river had washed away the ash brown color which he had obviously been using all along to dye his fur, leaving him with a shiny silver pelt and a gorgeous ringed tail that looked all too familiar.

Stifling a cry, Clemson twisted out of his hold and knocked his arms away before he stumbled back as if the other lemur had struck him. "Oh, dear Frank. You – you are –!"

The other lemur took a little bow. "If I may introduce myself properly this time… I am King Julien I, the first ruler of Madagascar."

Clemson swallowed a couple of times, not knowing what to say. "What on earth is that all about?" he finally gasped. He saw a flash of white as the old king grinned down at him.

"The tale of Seven the Golden Lemur… it is my very own," King Julien I explained calmly, "Back in the days I made the same mistake Yasu made; I became a ghost in just the same way that she did. As a young sorcerer I tried the very same thing… the Shadow Spell. And I, too, failed – and ended up as a ghost, just like her. But that was quite long ago, of course… about two thousand years, I estimate. Count Faraday is merely the identity I assumed after my… failure, just like Yasu became Seven. I did this so the dynasty of the Julien kings would remain pure and full of heroes and not become stained by a king who lost his life due to his own hubris." – King Julien I heaved a little sigh. – "Of course I should have known better than to mess with the Sky Gods… but well, what can I say? The prospect of power was all too tempting, so I had to pay the price for it."

Clemson stared at the silver lemur in silence, trying to process all of this as they stood there across from each other, both dripping wet. Somehow it was all too much for him to bear; he felt like he was getting too much information too quickly. His temples throbbed, and he put his paw to his forehead, still not sure if he should believe what he had just heard.

"If you really were king once, then why do you play servant to someone like Seven now?!" he asked, frowning.

King Julien I gave a little shrug.

"Well, firstly because she is a more powerful magician than I am, despite her young age. So when she cast a spell on me to make me her servant, I decided I'd better just go along with it and rather not risk a duel. But I cannot deny that over the years I have also taken a liking to her. Milady passed away so early in life, much earlier than I did. She suffered very much from this, and it took so little to make her happy – I sang her songs and taught her to play the organ, and it would help her forget her anger about the Light World and about Lady Masikura's ban… That is, until you and your ally arrived, of course."

King Julien I proceeded to stroke the elegantly twisted curl of his moustache and chuckled a little at the sight of Clemson's incredulous face. "It may come as a surprise to you… but I have observed the two of you already a long time before you came to Madagascar. I've been watching you, Clemson, from the moment you found that grimoire in Morocco."

At these words something dangerous flared in the old king's golden eyes, and suddenly Clemson felt like shrinking under the intensity of his fearsome gaze.

"That grimoire belongs to Lady Masikura; you see, I, too, have been taught magic by one of her ancestors, who also served as mystic advisor to my court back then… My great failure was known only to the witch doctors, who thankfully kept it a secret from the rest of the lemur people. From her predecessor Masikura eventually learned about my failed spell, too, of course. She came to visit me here in my castle many times. We have made peace with each other already long ago; there was never any need for her to banish me from the Light World. But things changed when, to my great chagrin, Seven eventually repeated my mistake… When she began trying to trick animals into allying with her and giving their bodies to her, Masikura and I agreed that until Milady could see reason, she had to be denied access to the Light World. Masikura also decided to send the grimoire away from the island to ensure that no animal would ever try to free her again – and as a means of providing additional protection she put my watchful eye into the crystal attached to the grimoire's front cover."

Clemson immediately recalled the red eye that had stared at him from the crystal that night in the desert, and the same icy shiver ran through his veins again at the memory, only three times as strong.

– "Therefore, unknown to Seven, I knew all about your intentions to conquer Madagascar and enslave the lemur pack even before you came to my castle," King Julien I continued explaining, "And I couldn't let you take over my island like this, of course. However, knowing her pride and her thirst for power and revenge, I also guessed that Seven might very well agree to ally with you. So under these circumstances the only question for me was how to minimize the damage the two of you would do to my island as much as possible."

Clemson could see the cool calculation in the old king's eyes, in every feature of his thoughtful, unmoved face, and it made him recoil.

– "Unlike Seven I immediately realized that your comrade was no real lemur, so I hoped she'd choose him as a victim for the spell that would bind her to you… firstly because his loss would weaken you since, as I apparently estimated correctly, this lemur was a precious ally to you. And secondly it would prevent Seven from staying in the Light World permanently if the ritual wasn't properly executed… which, with an artificial being, was bound to happen."

Clemson swallowed hard as he realized what this meant.

"You… you knew in advance that Seven wouldn't succeed in carrying out the ritual…?" he asked slowly, drawing a shivering breath. – And yet you let Mea die for it?!

"Yes, of course. This ritual was created to join an animal's spirit with an animal's body, not with anything artificial. Seven hasn't failed to meet the spell's difficulty, as you so falsely accused her of doing – she performed it correctly, yet there was never a chance for her to succeed in the first place, simply because that spell wasn't meant to create a union like this. In other words, your alliance with her was doomed even before it started."

There was a joyless, sarcastic smile on the old lemur's face; only his lower lip twitched a little, the sign of a cracking mask. – "Though of course there was no guarantee that you would agree to offer her your only ally as a sacrifice… But it turned out I didn't have to worry about that: your selfishness ensured this just perfectly."

Clemson glared up at the other lemur in silence for a while, feeling short hairs prickling at the nape of his neck. His words were potent enough to leave him cowed and trembling, yet his eyes flamed with unconcealed rage when he retorted, "If this is really your story… then why didn't you just let me die?! Why, in Frank's name, did you have to save my life after all you've done to me?!"

King Julien I looked down at him. His cold, distant mask had shredded; in its place was a horrid scowl, a furious, burning glare. "Oh, you can be sure that if I'd had just any chance, I wouldn't have only let you die – I would have thrown you into that river myself already a long time ago!" The bitter revulsion against Clemson seemed to come from the very inmost recesses of the old king's soul; it was as though he showed him his true face for the first time. Even well-trained politesse obviously had its limits; now his every word was laced with the pent-up hatred he'd been harboring against Clemson since the day they'd met.

– "And that would have been gracious enough yet; you deserve a punishment at least three times worse for everything you've done to my poor people and all the other animals on this island! If only it were in my power, in any degree, I wouldn't hesitate to pry the crown out of your cold, dead paws and return it to my successor Julien XIII, the real king of this island – Frank knows I wouldn't! Just like I wouldn't hesitate to set Maurice free again in a second!"

"Maurice?" Clemson blinked his eyes in surprise. "What do you mean, set him free?"

"The Harpies caught him for you," King Julien I murmured, his rue about it undisguised now.

"They have…?"

– "Yes, and there is nothing I can do about it – just like there is no way for me to let you drown yourself," the old lemur finished angrily, "I am at Seven's command; Seven is at your command. I wish it were different, but this is the part in your alliance that binds me, too. This is why I had no chance but to save you, even though I would rather have done anything else." In a sepulchral, indignant tone he added, "That means, as long as the two of you are in league, I am and always will be… your obedient servant." He managed to force down his anger again in a matter of seconds; his expression shifted back into a perfect mask of polite aloofness. – "It was therefore my duty to save your life, Your Majesty."

With that, he turned away abruptly and began striding back toward the castle in high dudgeon.

Clemson remained behind, still stunned by everything he'd just learned. Slowly, ever so slowly, he felt the pain easing, his sorrow subsiding, his mind clearing. He didn't think about the river anymore. He didn't even think about King Julien I's story.

Suddenly there was just one fact that stuck out in his mind above everything else.

He'd lost the Moon Pearl. He felt he was about to lose Seven's support. His treacherous head servant had been working against him all along and would continue to do so.

But the Harpies got Maurice.

He still had an ace up his sleeve after all. He clenched his paws into fists, drawing a deep breath as he started to walk back to the castle.

If he couldn't bring Mea back to life, at least he would avenge him.

"Miss Seven will need to stay in my cave for a few days."

Dr. S had returned to the waiting room where Masikura sat looking haggard, shoulders hunched, green hands clasped between her knees. The old lady looked up with worry-filled eyes. "Will she… will she be alright?"

The cobra doctor readjusted his head mirror with the tip of his tail. "Oh, yes. Nurse Phantom and I are doing what we can. You can see her now, if you'd like to."

Masikura got up and followed him as he slithered ahead through the nooks and crannies of his cave. She was glad that Dr. S had agreed to take care of Seven right away when a few hours ago she'd brought the lemur girl to his cave after she had found her in the rose garden, unconscious and bathed in her own blood. Dr. S had been suspicious at first, but Masikura had insisted he cure her and promised that she would mean him no harm. He had relented eventually; since then Masikura had been sitting in the waiting room of his cave, worry gnawing on her as she waited for Dr. S to complete the surgery, silently cursing Clemson to death.

The snake doctor led her to the in-patient ward. Seven was alone in the room. She was lying in a bed near the far wall, covered by a big baobab leaf that was carefully folded at the top and tucked across her bandaged chest. Her eyes were closed, her face under the black fur very pale. Masikura waited until Dr. S was gone; then she bent down over the lemur girl and carefully drew the bandages off. She found the skin underneath crisscrossed with red welted marks; the stab wounds Clemson's knife had left were still crusty and raw-edged but had been carefully stitched closed. Masikura drew her wand and carefully touched its glowing tip to the inflamed flesh; she'd needed Dr. S for the main surgery, but now that this was done she would speed up the healing process a bit. A soft chant began to break from her lips –

"Come, try to remember… remember the form you once had."

The lemur girl stirred, her eyelids beginning to flutter as her teacher's healing power began to flow into her wounded body.

"Come, open your eyes for me," Masikura continued her chant, "What form did you have? Let's sing together. Come, Yasu – repeat it with me. Let us sing a song together. Then it'll all be better soon. Let us end your pain as fast as possible."

Finally Seven's eyes fluttered open, and she looked back at the chameleon lady. Her lips twisted into a faint smile; there was a bit of dried blood on the left side of her chin.

"Ma…" Her mouth worked hard to form the words. "I wonder how long it's been since I last sang with you…"

"Come, together. Come, try to remember. What form did you have?"

"Come, try to remember…" Seven obediently repeated after her, "What form did you have?"

When the two witches began to recite the same words, more and more sparks flew from Masikura's wand and spread through Seven's whole body until consciousness fully returned to her. The young witch's eyes were clear and focused on Masikura now, and a mirthless chuckle tumbled from her lips. "Hihihi… ha… haha, you got me, Teacher. You win. You were right; I'll never surpass you. How foolish of me to think I ever could. You're still the greatest witch of all times, Lady Masikura, and you always will be. That means we'll do things your way, as always. Always, your way."

She tried to turn her back on Masikura, but the monitoring wires attached to her body wouldn't let her. The older witch lowered her wand with a sigh.

"Well, what is it all worth? My intention was to make peace with you. And as far as I can see, nothing I did helped me to achieve this."

Seven stopped fighting with the wires and looked up at her teacher with a dark scowl.

"Okay, so I believe you when you say you didn't want to kill me." She struggled to sit up against the headboard of the bed. "But then tell me why you did this – why did you punish me like this? Why did you banish me all those terribly, terribly long years? With great power comes great responsibility, you told me a long time ago. What do you blame me for – in what way did I use my powers irresponsibly?"

Masikura grabbed hold of the tangled mess of monitoring wires crisscrossing the baobab leaf and lifted them over Seven's head to run across the other side of the bed, so that Seven could avoid leaning on them by accident.

"With my help you received these powers, and you turned from an animal into a very powerful witch," she said slowly, "This means that you suddenly had the opportunity to place yourself above the others around you, above the mere animals… and above many of your fellow students, too, who couldn't reach your level – an opportunity you'd just been waiting for, since you were on very bad terms with many animals around you at that time. Then you lost your life – but your heart would still remain in turmoil, and your anger just wouldn't vanish. So when Clemson came to you, you took your chance for vengeance right away and conquered the island for him. Those who you felt had done harm to you – you killed them at the first chance you got."

At her reply Seven frowned darkly and crossed her arms. "They deserved what came to them! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – I merely set things right and corrected injustice!" she hissed.

"Injustice?" Masikura raised her eyebrows at the lemur girl. "The provocation bore absolutely no proportion to the death of these animals. If that's your way of correcting injustice, then it was ridiculously excessive – an act of deliberate cruelty, in fact. And if you think carefully about this even for just one moment, you know yourself that it is true."

Seven was stunned into silence for a moment. "Excessive?" she then retorted in a scathing tone, "You're not the one to judge my pain! Not you of all animals!"

"Then let's not talk about the others! Let's talk about you. Having enormous powers at your command requires responsibility not only to others, but also to yourself. How do you justify murder to yourself?"

The young witch shrugged. "Better vigilante justice than no justice. I've been denied my rights, and I've taken them back – there's nothing wrong about that to me."

"Well, you can hardly enforce your rights like this – not by turning into a terrorist who sentences others to death! Not without acknowledging that those around you have rights, too, which also must be enforced… the right to life, for example." Masikura's voice was sharp with accusation. "Besides, the animals you killed during your search for the pearl – Dorothy the Mongoose Lemur, the crocodiles' chancellor, and the rat woman – they didn't even know you! How could you blame them for something other animals did to you, years ago?"

Seven stared gloomily at the leaf covering her. "Are you saying that a general sense of justice can't be placed over the worth of a life?"

Masikura shook her head fiercely. "How can you talk about a general sense of justice when it's you – and you alone – who makes herself a judge, jury, and executioner over others! And the worth of a life can never be judged by an animal; it can be judged only by the Sky Gods." Masikura leaned forward a bit, looking squarely at her former student, her voice softening. "– I do, by no means, deny that what happened to you was wrong. But Yasu, look at you now: how much more on the right side of things are you? Your vigilante justice did no good whatsoever; it only cost other animals their lives – animals who were completely uninvolved in your case! – and ended up plunging all of Madagascar into disaster!"

Color rose in her cheeks as the young witch gazed back at the chameleon lady.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ma. You're not even really trying to explain something to me – you're just trying to make me feel guilty! You're looking for an excuse to cover up your cruelty toward me when you locked me away from this world, and you think that if you can just shift the blame onto me like this, you can win this argument."

Masikura threw up her arms in frustration. "You can think that if you like. It's your privilege. But what about your responsibility?"

"Well, in what way did you handle your powers more responsibly when you used them to banish me?!" Seven shot back at her, "You blame me for taking advantage over others with magic – and yet you did just the same thing to me! If it is wrong to overly focus on the bad behavior of others and to make yourself their judge, then how do justify doing this to me after everything I had already been through? Your decision to banish me just shows how little substance there is behind your words, how little you really care for others… for me. You sicken me. You're despicable, so you are!"

Masikura felt her heart contract painfully at the scornful disgust lacing her words.

– "Why is it that you keep talking about how sorry you feel for them, but you never seem to feel a bit sorry for me?" Seven's paws clenched on her knees, and her eyes misted as bitter memories rose up in her gaze. "When I first came to Madagascar, I was so alone. I didn't know anyone on this island. I didn't speak their language. I tried so hard to be like the other lemurs… but they never let me! They never gave me a chance! They made fun of me because of my accent, because I could never follow their jokes and conversations. I was never chosen, never celebrated like my classmates. I would never be homecoming queen, class president, nothing. And at the same time they hated me, envied me, because I had a talent for magic which they hadn't. They used to bump me and punch me and then put on those innocent faces when you came to class, Teacher. It was all so stupid in your magic school. It was as if I was there but not there at all."

Suddenly all her anger was gone, and there was only grief lacing her words as she spoke, a deep, tearing grief that seemed to flood her mind and heart; and in her eyes Masikura saw flickering memories of her childhood days, each one of them a painful reminder of the unfulfilled hopes and dreams that had kept weighing on her for years. Masikura understood that with this conversation she had ripped her old wounds open again and made her bleed. She remained silent for a while. Seeing her former student so desperate and upset about everything that had been done to her in her school saddened her beyond belief.

"I can understand your anger, Yasu, especially with what has happened to you earlier. But it still does not give you the right to kill," she finally said carefully and in a very sad tone of voice, "And if your mind weren't so clouded by hatred and bitterness, I'm convinced that you could see this, too. So please, open your eyes just once and look – look at what hatred has done to you! It tainted your heart, made you desperately wicked, deceitful above all animals. It has poured poison into the very fountain of your once beautiful being! Yasu, you're no longer the lemur I used to know – you were many things, but I could never imagine you turning into a killer!"

Seven had become very pensive. For a good while she didn't say a word and Masikura wasn't sure if she was going to get an answer. When the young witch finally spoke again there was a strange waver in her voice.

"Maybe you're right… I – I really don't want to kill others in Clemson's name anymore. At first it felt like the right thing to do, but now that I've been back in this world for a while longer, I… I often dream about the animals from the village who I killed. Like Dorothy… I see her in my dreams, and she is talking to me and saying that I killed her for nothing and that Ted is crying for her every night, and then I wake up crying, too. And then I think that this is not what magic should be used for, and if Clemson makes me carry out such orders, I should really end things with him…" Seven's voice had faded to a whisper. "But you know what that would mean…!" She gazed up at her former teacher, and the look in those eyes spoke of hurt and loneliness, pleading with Masikura to understand.

– "I never had anyone, anyone but you, Ma. And you gave me magic. Knowing magic means everything to me. It was the only thing I had in my life that ever made me really happy. If keeping my magic means having to stay with Clemson, then so it shall be. Even though… even though it's just terrible, and I wish nothing more than to get away from him…!" Her voice broke and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

– "He's terrible! He's insane!" she sobbed, "He craves for magic in one minute and despises everything about it in the next. He slaps me and strangles me if I can't manage to fix things to his satisfaction. He touches me in ways I don't want. And now he even stabbed me with a knife… Tonight I could feel how much he hates me. Maybe he really wanted to kill me!"

Masikura's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yasu, you have to get away from this lemur!"

"No… I can't lose my magic!" Her words thickened and ran together. "I don't want to give it all up just because of him!"

"Magic isn't everything! Now listen to me." Masikura climbed on the bed and up on the lemur girl's drawn-up knees so she could look her in the eyes.

– "Yasu, you are wonderful just the way you are, with or without magic. The fact that an animal becomes a magician should never change his or her character. I'm incredibly sorry for what happened to you at my school and that you had to suffer the way you did, and there's nothing in my life I regret more than the fact that I had to banish you. But even after that – and all the time before! – I've always loved you from the depths of my heart, and I'm so sorry if I failed to show you this."

The old lady was crying now, too, softly, the tears running down her wrinkled cheeks.

Seven wrapped her arms around Masikura and pulled her close to his chest, stroking her neck frill. "I'm sorry, too, Ma… about what I said to you before," she murmured into her scales, her lips trembling so she could scarcely say the words. "It wasn't fair. I know that you cared for me and that you often deserved far more gratitude than I offered you. And you were probably right about banishing me, too. I was so angry that night, at Karl, at everyone. If I'd had the power, I guess I would've been ready to destroy the world in order to make everyone pay for my misery!"

And then they both smiled and wiped at each other's tears.

"Ma, can we… can we just put that behind us?" the young witch asked, "You see, it's like I have a new life now. Clemson has done much harm to others and to me as well, but there's one advantage I gained from our alliance – I have a body again now. It's like I've been given a chance to live my life all over again, and maybe that could be a new start for me. What do you say?"

Masikura nodded, smiling warmly. "You will have to live with the memory of those you killed, Yasu. But at least you will live again. But what about you and Clemson now?"

Seven moved the leaf aside and got out of bed. "I'll go back to him and tell him we can't go on like this. There must be a way to get him to listen to me!"

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Masikura asked with a frown. "You just saw what he did to you when you tried to talk to him last time –!"

"Ah, he's probably sorry for it by now… It's been like that before, after I'd stayed out of his way for a while. Then he apologized again and begged me to forgive him…" She shrugged. "Of course it would be easier to kill him, but since I'm at his command, my own magic forbids me to act against him in any way or to even let anything happen to him – so as hopeless as it may be, it seems all I can do is try to reason with him instead. Now that he can't get his paws on the Moon Pearl anymore, he'll have to change his plans – and if I negotiate cleverly, perhaps I could at least try to bring his violent conflict with Julien to a peaceful end!"

Masikura pondered this for a while, remaining silent. She wasn't convinced it was the right thing to do; the thought of Seven going back to a madman who had almost killed her terrified her, yet she didn't see any alternative way of dealing with Clemson herself. The young witch's intentions certainly were the right ones, but Masikura wasn't sure if she could really handle the red lemur. Because the worst thing about Clemson wasn't his malice. It was his unpredictability.

"Be careful," she warned before they separated.

"Now what the hell are we going to do?!" Clover cursed when they arrived at the beach, breathless and tired. The sun had started to rise beyond the horizon by now, spreading vermilion fire across the sky and the sea.

"Yes, how are we going to save Momo?" Julien asked, "We have to come up with something fast – you know, before midnight strikes again!"

"Yeah. Too bad they won't be stupid enough to fall for my ruse a second time!" Clover muttered. Kowalski nodded his agreement.

"Besides, as soon as Clemson learns from his servants that we escaped, he'll put twice as many guards up."

"Where is he anyway?" Timo asked, "And what about the witch?"

– No one had an answer to that.

"Wherever they are, it didn't seem that they were still on good terms with each other," Clover said, "Well, maybe that's an advantage."

Private looked at her with surprise. "They're fighting?"

"Yes. Seven even helped Timo and me escape… and she voluntarily undid the spell she'd cast on Timo before." – The tenrec nodded, confirming her answer.

They were all looking at the penguin leader now, waiting for him to make a decision.

Skipper was pacing ruminatively up and down, leaving a circle of footprints in the sand.

"Wherever Clemson is, his servants sure are where they're supposed to be, and that's why I'm afraid that no matter what we do, it won't be too easy to get to Maurice," he finally said, "Now that he can't be sure anymore that the witch is still fully supporting him, Clemson will guard Maurice all the more carefully to have leverage against us. Magic or not, as long as he's holding him hostage, he knows he's got something to bargain with. – That means we mustn't give him a chance to bargain! We'll attack right away!"

He pointed his flipper toward the three aircrafts still parking where Clover and the three penguins had landed them after their first attack. – "Clover, you explored the castle before. Do you know where they could have taken Maurice?"

The Captain of the Ringtail Guard didn't have to think long. "Since he's their prisoner, he's most likely being held captive in the castle's dungeons."

"I thought so. And the dungeons are underground, right?"

"Yes. They're on the second floor underground, the lowest part of the castle."

"Good. That means he will be safe when we attack the castle from above… the same way civilians are safe in a bomb shelter during aerial attacks."

Kowalski nodded. "I see what you're getting at, Skipper. That way we can fire away at the enemy's fortress without fear of harming one of our own, even though he's trapped in there, too."

"Exactly."

"Fantastic! Let's take the castle down, and for real this time!" Clover clenched her paws into fists, her face aglow with enthusiasm. "Now that he's in dispute with the witch, the odds are good that out of sheer spite she'll never restore it for him at all. Then it'll be easy to catch him and finish him off!"

Rico growled approvingly, and Private nodded his agreement as well.

Only Julien crossed his arms in front of his chest, shaking his head decidedly.

"No. That plan is too risky. What if Maurice isn't in the dungeons – what if they keep him captive somewhere else inside the castle? Then we would risk harming him if we just start bombing it! We have to send at least one of us inside to make sure he's safe before we launch our attack."

Skipper raised his eyebrows. "Are you mad? If we get discovered by Clemson's servants, we'll be caught and eaten alive by those monsters in a second!"

"Or turned into mindless slaves," Timo murmured fearfully.

"Or into an ice statue," Clover added, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but we can't do that. But don't you worry; where else would he be? The castle has so many secret passages; they sure know that if they locked him up somewhere else, he could escape easily, whereas there is only one way to access the dungeons – the spiral staircase in the center of the building – which can be guarded easily. And Clemson is a clever strategist; he won't take any chances."

She put a calming paw on his shoulder, but Julien shrugged it off and cast his eyes downward, staring at the sandy ground with deep lines of worry over the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe, but he's also an unpredictable maniac. It's too risky."

"But look, it would be just as great a risk for anyone else of us to get harmed or even killed by going in there," Private reminded him, and then Julien seemed to be outvoted.

"Skipper, I have a careful, well thought out plan of attack," Kowalski announced, drawing the penguin leader's attention to his clipboard. "We're six animals with three aircrafts at our disposal, each of them suitable for two persons. That means we need to split up into three groups of two."

Skipper nodded. "Alright… What about Private's plane though?"

The rookie glanced over at Timo.

"It's almost fixed," the tenrec reported, "It still needs to be refueled, though. I'll get at it right away." And he scuttled away, obviously relieved that they hadn't counted him in for the attack.

The rest of the group assembled in front of the three planes, where Skipper arranged them into teams and left them with some last words of encouragement for the mission.

"Alright, Flight Team One: Ringtail and me in the Maverick I; Flight Team Two: Kowalski and Private in the Maverick II; Flight Team Three: Rico and Clover in the Maverick III. – Gentlemen, Clover, I won't be lying to you; since we're dealing with the supernatural, our mission is not going to be an easy one. But whatever may come – I ask you all to give your very best! Our friend's life is at stake and we are going up against a cunning foe, so I don't want any of you to hold back! Make sure you push your limits and go beyond what you think you are capable of!"

He watched contentedly as Clover and his men settled in their cockpits and adjusted their aviator goggles with wide smiles on their faces, battle-ready and bursting with motivation.

"All Flight Teams – deploy!" he yelled, just before the Plexiglas canopies closed and the engines began their rising howl to takeoff. "Let's get up there and overthrow that wannabe king!"