Chapter Thirty-Seven
Siren couldn't focus on running. She felt so scared, so angry, so alone. What was happening to Aralyne? With a growl, the villainess shook her head.
"Siren, look out!" Tulio exclaimed.
Siren blinked and skid to a halt before she could slam into the building before her.
"What's wrong?" Tulio inquired, "Is Aralyne okay?"
"I don't know," she replied, pressing her hands against her head. "She's alone and afraid and…." Something was wrong. The emotions vanished and Siren felt a sense of emptiness that reminded her of death. It was almost like Aralyne had emotionally shut down. It was overwhelming and Siren could feel it creeping into her. Her eye twitched as she felt herself losing control of her own emotions. "No, no, no, no, no!"
"Siren?" Tulio sounded worried.
She latched onto his vest. "Tell me you still have my mirror."
"Mirror?" Danny said in confusion. Was she really that narcissistic?
"Yes, it's still at my house," Tulio replied.
Siren stumbled on in the direction of Tulio's house, desperately trying to hold on to her emotions. Tulio and Danny followed her. Once at the house, Tulio led the others to his bedroom. From under the bed, he pulled out Siren's mirror, and handed it to her. She concentrated on her reflection, and with a flash of black light, the three of them were no longer in Tulio's room. They were in a ghost town – literally. Ghosts were wandering around the sparse buildings going about their business as if they had never died.
"Where are we?" Danny asked, glancing at an abandoned hospital behind them.
"We're in my mind," Siren said through gritted teeth. "Don't. Touch. Anything."
"How will this help us find Aralyne?" Danny asked as they followed Siren away from the hospital.
Tulio filled the ghost-boy in on their last adventure in Siren/Aralyne's mind. His entire being ached with sadness, since he had been with Flynn during their last excursion in this bizarre world. It hurt, knowing he would never have another adventure with his best friend again. By the time Tulio finished his tale the three of them came to the end of Fort Bayard and stopped at the entrance of the maze.
Siren stared at the entrance to the maze and felt something cold emanate from there. She had to hold back a shudder, highly aware that the males – particularly Tulio – were watching her.
"Well, are we going or not?" she demanded and cringed. Her voice cracked on the last word. Tulio took a step closer to her. He could tell she was afraid. She squared her shoulders and marched forward into the maze.
"Why don't I just fly us over the maze?" Danny suggested.
"Don't try it," Siren said. "It's a maze for a reason."
Danny rolled his eyes, and jumped up to try and fly over the maze. He seemed to hit an electric barrier that set him alight for a second before he dropped to the ground, his white hair smoking a bit. "Okay. Flying is out," he muttered, a bit dazed. Tulio helped him to his feet, and the three of them started walking through the maze.
At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary, and Siren was too distracted on Aralyne's half of their mind to notice anything amiss.
"Siren!" Tulio shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders, and pulling her against himself.
"What?" she snapped, annoyed with him, until she saw he was staring at something before them with an expression of both alarm and disgust. She looked forward to see people trapped inside the stone walls, their skin grey and dripping slime. Their eyes were pure white, and their hands were outstretched towards them. Eerie moans escaped their lips. "What the hell?!"
"What are those?" Danny asked.
"I… don't know," Siren admitted, repulsed by the oozing slime dripping to the ground. "They weren't here the last time."
"Don't touch the walls," Tulio said.
Siren shuddered. She didn't need to be told twice. Pulling away from Tulio, she began leading the men through the maze. With each twist and turn, there were more people hanging out of the walls.
"She's got a really wacked up mind," Danny whispered to Tulio.
"One more word from you, Phantom, and I'm shoving you into their grasp," Siren snarled without looking back.
Other than the moans from the people in the walls, there was no other sound to be heard. Then they heard a low growl, that sounded like it was all around them.
"What was that?" Tulio inquired, when they came to a halt.
"Sounds like an animal," Siren muttered. She felt dizzy as she fought to keep her emotions and mind in check. Aralyne's overwhelming sense of despair was trying to eat away at her. She shook her head, and tried to be alert like the males. Tulio had Excalibur drawn, and Danny's hands were glowing green with ghost energy as they looked around at any of the paths leading towards them.
One of the pathways was as dark as night, and in the shadows were glowing green eyes. The growl raised in volume when whatever was in the shadows flashed white fangs.
The creature leapt from the shadows, and the trio were surprised to see it was a large black wolf. Tulio swung at the wolf, but it swerved around the sword, and dodged the energy blasts from Danny, heading straight for Siren. Before she could focus her energy on her magic, the beast knocked her to the ground and snarled in her face. She turned her head aside so as not to inhale its putrid breath.
"Enjoying the dark recesses of your mind?" the wolf snarled at her.
"I don't even know you!" she snapped, struggling under his weight.
A flicker of light appeared in her mind as she heard Aralyne's voice say, Gmork.
"Gmork?" Siren wheezed out.
The wolf laughed. "Knowing my name isn't going to do you any good."
His mouth opened wide, and a string of hot saliva dripped down onto Siren's cheek. She couldn't focus. She couldn't think clearly. And it was making her angry. With a cry of rage, electricity shot from her hands onto the wolf's torso. He yelped and jumped off her. Danny rushed forward and grabbed Gmork by the tail.
"So long, fleabag," Danny said, pulling the wolf away from Siren, and blasting him away with ghost energy.
Run. Aralyne's voice!
Siren shot to her feet. "We have to get out of here."
He'll be back. RUN!
The link to Aralyne then faded once more to dark loneliness.
Siren took off down the maze, running as fast as she could, the males, close on her heels.
It didn't take very long for Catherine and Alyss to get to the fairy village. They met up with Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather to explain what was happening in Nesidy and that they really needed the Holy Bell to destroy Chernabog.
"Oh, dear," Fauna fretted, looking between her companions. "No one has asked for the Bell in centuries!"
"I'm afraid we have it heavily guarded," Flora said. "If the two of you are up to the task, you can try and receive the Bell."
"Are you kidding?! We're up for anything!" Catherine declared, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders.
"Well, if you're sure," said Fauna. She and the other fairies waved their wands, creating a door in a tree trunk.
"Good luck," said Merriweather. "You're going to need it."
Alyss and Catherine opened the door. As soon as they stepped through to the other side, the door shut behind them and vanished.
"That's not weird at all," Alyss remarked. The sisters glanced around to find they were surrounded by massive boulders, and there was the unmistakable feeling of being watched.
"Well, I guess we start searching," said Catherine.
She had only taken a couple of steps when something long and spiked, slammed into the ground before her. Catherine let out a startled shriek, and stumbled backwards.
"Holy Mother of Dragons," Alyss said, eyes wide as she gazed up at a large, spiked dragon.
The dragon roared, and inhaled.
"Take cover!" Catherine yelled. She scrambled to her feet and the sisters dodged a stream of fire erupting from the reptile's mouth. Frustrated on missing its prey, the dragon batted at the girls with one of its wings and managed to knock Alyss off course. Catherine ran and helped her sister to her feet. The girls then ducked behind a giant boulder as the dragon let out another stream of fire.
"Okay, so this is going to be a bit tougher than we thought," Alyss sighed, brushing dirt off her dress. "Let's try an aerial advantage."
Catherine and Alyss transformed into bluebirds and flew out from behind the boulder. The dragon gave chase without missing a beat. The girls dodged more fire, and swerved around the sky, trying to disorient the dragon. There were a couple of near misses and at one point, Catherine lost a couple of tail feathers.
The dragon suddenly changed course and vanished from their sight. The sisters perched themselves on a boulder, panting for air and glanced around.
"Where'd it go?" Alyss inquired.
The dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere, charging straight for them.
Alyss jumped into the air, ready to fly away, but Catherine held her back by her leg. "Wait!"
"Are you crazy?! We're going to die!"
"Trust me!"
The dragon came closer and closer. Its mouth was wide open to chomp up the birds.
"Now!" Catherine shouted at the last moment. She released her sister and the two of them bolted off the boulder. With a sickening crunch, the dragon slammed headfirst into the boulder and collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
The sisters transformed back into humans and slowly crept to the dragon's head.
"Think it's still alive?" Alyss inquired.
"I don't know. Poke it with a stick," Catherine suggested.
"No, you poke it! It's your idea!"
Catherine pushed Alyss forward, then ducked behind the boulder in case the dragon woke up.
"Hey!" Alyss exclaimed, her hands pressed against the dragon's neck. She could feel the dragon breathing and figured it was out cold.
"Is it alive?" Catherine asked.
"No, just sleeping." Alyss pulled away from the dragon and joined her sister. "Thanks, by the way, for pretty much sacrificing me to this reptile!"
Catherine grinned at her. "It's what sisters are for!"
Alyss rolled her eyes, then glanced around them. "Now what?"
Catherine studied the area and spotted some sort of path leading out of the rocky area. "This way…. I think."
The two sisters ran off, leaving the dragon behind.
It seemed like a century ago when they had crossed paths with Gmork, and Siren and her companions were all on edge. Siren had made a mirror materialize in her hands to peer around corners for any other unexpected danger. This was a difficult task to perform as it meant they had to avoid touching the walls, as well. At one point, a slimy hand had grabbed Tulio's vest and started dragging him back into their clutches. He had to abandon that piece of clothing.
"Dammit! That was my favourite vest!" Tulio grumbled, looking down at his incomplete outfit.
"Shut up, Tulio," Siren sighed. She wasn't in the mood to hear the males complain about anything so trivial. She stuck the mirror out to check around a corner and frowned. "It's just mist. A golden mist," she said. Siren tucked the mirror away and led the boys around the corner. The three of them stopped before the mist and stared at it.
"Do you think it's dangerous?" Danny asked.
"Only one way to find out," Siren replied, then shoved Tulio forward into the mist.
"Hey!" Tulio exclaimed, stumbling before regaining his balance. "Why do I have to be the one to test it?!"
"Because, I say so, doofus," Siren said. "Now, how do you feel? Are you burning from acid?"
"No, I feel fine," he answered, waving his hand through the mist.
Siren and Danny took that as their cue to move forward.
The mist was cool and smelled like oranges. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.
Tulio watched the mist swirl around his fingers for a while, not paying attention to his two companions.
"Tulio…."
He lifted his head to see Aralyne standing before him, wearing a yellow sundress and smiling. She rocked on the balls of her bare feet, and her hands were clasped behind her back.
"Aralyne?" he said in bewilderment.
Her voice sound distant and dream-like. "You have to choose, Tulio. Me… or Siren."
Siren stepped out from behind Aralyne and glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Choose?" he repeated.
"You have to choose," both Aralyne and Siren said simultaneously. "Only one of us can be dominant. Which will it be?"
His eyes darted between the two, unable to give an answer.
(Sorry, for the long wait, everyone. I had really bad writer's block. Slowly trudging through it. Hope you enjoyed!)