Chapter Thirty-Eight

(Brief lyrics in this chapter are from the song "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake.)

"This isn't so bad," Danny said, sniffing the mist. The scent of oranges changed to something more flowery. Something that reminded him of Sam. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Daddy!" a couple of young voices shouted, and he suddenly felt people tugging on his hands. He opened his eyes to see two children latched onto him, both with black hair, but one had blue eyes like his, and the other had purple eyes like Sam.

Daddy?

"Come on, Daddy! Mommy's waiting for us!" said the blue-eyed child. The two children began dragging Danny away until they stopped before an older woman who looked exactly like Sam Manson.

"Sam?!" Danny gasped out, and everything began to click.

"I've missed you, Danny," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Siren watched as the mist around her vanished and she suddenly found herself in a castle, sitting on a throne. Some music randomly started playing, and Tulio walked through a door into the room, wearing a very tight black outfit.

"Tulio, what's going on?" Siren demanded, looking about herself. "Where are we? We were just in the maze, looking for Aralyne. And now… we're here. Where ever here is."

To her surprise, Tulio started dancing before her and began to sing.

"I'm bringin' sexy back

Them other boys don't know how to act"

The villainess's eyes widened at the spectacle before her. What the hell was going on?!

"I think it's special, what's behind your back

So turn around and I'll pick up the slack"

Tulio then began to strip, starting with his shirt. Her face flamed at what was going on, and her heart started pounding.

"Dirty babe

You see these shackles, baby

I'm your slave

I'll let you whip me if I misbehave

It's just that no one makes me feel this way"

It's a trap….

Aralyne! There was another spark connected to Aralyne's mind that seemed to have awakened a bit. And Siren could understand why.

It's a trap….

What's a trap? Siren wondered, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Tulio then moved forward, unzipping his pants in the process, and straddled her.

HE'S MINE!

The sudden shout startled Siren, and she shoved Tulio off her lap. This wasn't real. He would never be so bold.

"You're not real," Siren declared, getting to her feet.

And just like that, everything around her vanished, the throne, the castle, the half-naked dancing Tulio. She was standing in the golden mist, and turned around to see Danny and a fully-clothed Tulio standing completely still, with their eyes glazed over.

"Danny? Tulio?" she said, shaking them by the shoulders. They didn't respond. "Guys!" Siren slapped them both across the face, and they blinked, breaking out of whatever visions they saw in their trance-like state.

"What the hell?" Danny muttered, placing a hand over his red cheek. "What was that for?"

"Because something isn't right," Siren said, avoiding eye-contact with Tulio. Her own vision made her very uncomfortable. "It feels like a trap."

"Very good, Siren," a new voice hissed. The mist around them cleared up, and they saw in their path, perched on a massive spiderweb was a spider the size of a car.

"Oh, shit," she muttered, staring at the new threat before them.

"Clever of you to realize the visions I sent you weren't real. Did you enjoy my little gifts?"

"NO!" Siren automatically blurted out, her face becoming red. She could hear Catherine's voice teasing her already, You've got a woman boner!

"What do you want?" Danny demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" the spider sneered. "It's time for lunch!" It jumped off the web and landed behind the trio, blocking them from retreating.

"Okay, how do we defeat this thing?" Danny asked his companions.

"I don't know," Siren said, charging her hands with electricity.

"Well, how did you defeat it last time?" inquired the ghost-boy.

"It wasn't here last time!" both Tulio and Siren snapped.

The spider hurled itself at Tulio, right as he was pulling Excalibur out of its scabbard. He was unable to unsheathe the weapon in time, and jumped out of the way, tripping over his feet and falling over. The sword slid out of his grasp and stopped near the wall. A grotesque, slimy hand, latched onto the Excalibur.

"Seriously?" Siren yelled at him.

The spider bore down on Tulio, its pincers clicking excitedly.

Danny shot a ghost-ray at the spider, but it was like a mosquito bit - more of a nuisance than doing actual harm. The giant spider turned direction and scuttled after Danny instead. Within the limited space inside the maze, Danny couldn't fly very high or very far without either heading straight towards the spider or its massive web. The spider reached out and managed to grasp Danny by the foot with one of its long legs, and dangled the ghost-boy upside down. Danny shot more ghost-rays at it, but it had little effect.

"A little help here?" he shouted out, his voice thick with panic.

Magic didn't seem to have any effect on the spider so far, so maybe the only way to kill it was with a normal weapon? The only problem was, the ghouls inside the wall, still had Excalibur.

Siren stared at the wall for a second, biting her lip. Maybe fire could work on them instead? Getting rid of the electricity, Siren made flames appear in her palms, and she threw the fireballs at the wall. The ghouls' moans automatically turned into shrieks of pain, and the one holding the sword, dropped the weapon. She quickly ran forward and scooped up Excalibur, but before she could get away, a slimy hand latched onto her hair.

She cried out in pain, and without looking back, she swung the sword behind her. There was a sick splat, and when she turned around, she found she had cut off the land of the ghoul that had grabbed her hair. Siren kicked it aside, and rushed over to Tulio, handing him Excalibur as he was getting to his feet.

With the spider still distracted with Danny, Tulio lunged forward, and sliced through three of its legs with one swing. The spider screeched and dropped Danny before toppling over. It tried to regain its balance, but Tulio chopped off more of its legs. The spider half scuttled, and half rolled towards its web, breaking the sticky barrier as it tried to get away. Tulio chased after it, disappearing around a corner.

"Tulio!" Siren and Danny shouted, running after him. He suddenly stepped around the corner covered in blood and looking exhausted.

"It's dead," he declared, wiping the sword clean on his pants.

A howl could suddenly be heard in the distance, and it sounded like it was getting closer.

"Gmork," Siren said. "We need to keep moving."

She took off running down the maze, and the males went after her.

Alyss and Catherine followed the mysterious path towards a cave at the foot of a mountain. And sitting before the cave's entrance was a creature that had the body of a lion and the head of a woman.

"A sphynx," Alyss muttered.

"Well, at least it's not another dragon," Catherine remarked. She then spoke aloud to the weird creature. "Excuse us. We need to get into that cave."

The sphynx regarded them with a bored expression, then said. "If you wish to pass, you must answer a riddle each. Answer correctly, and I will let you into the cave unharmed. Answer incorrectly and I kill you both. Choose not to answer at all, and you may walk away unharmed."

"Riddles!" Alyss exclaimed with a wide grin. "I got this!"

"First riddle is for you," the sphynx said, addressing Alyss.

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.

It lies behind stars and under hills,

And empty holes it fills.

It comes first and follows after,

Ends life, kills laughter."

Alyss rolled her eyes skyward, muttering to herself, but Catherine and the sphynx could obviously hear her. "Can't be seen. Wind can't be seen, but it can be felt and heard. So it can't really be wind or air, can it? Lies behind stars? The sky? But you can see the sky." She grinned, focusing on the sphynx once more. "The answer is dark."

The creature nodded. "Correct. Now the second riddle is for you," it said, turning to Catherine.

"This thing all things devours:

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

Slays king, ruins town,

And beats high mountain down."

Catherine gave the sphynx an are-you-serious? look. She had learned this riddle a long time ago from some elves. Or were they dwarves? Either way, she knew the answer.

"It's time," Catherine said, and silently added, Which is something we don't have to waste!

"Correct," said the sphynx. "The two of you have successfully answered my riddles. You may pass." It stood up and moved out of the way of the cave's entrance.

"Thanks!" Alyss shouted to the sphynx, grabbing Catherine by the hand and dragging her into the cave.

The deeper the sisters trekked, the darker it became, until they had to slow down and feel their way forward. After a few minutes, the darkness lightened until the came to the end of the cave where they found the Holy Bell, and it was glowing with a pearlescent light.

"Oo! Shiny!" Catherine said, moving forward.

Together, the sisters reached out and touched opposite sides of the Bell at the same time. The Holy Bell's light brightened, blinding them. When the light faded, the girls blinked, and were surprised to find themselves back at the fairy village standing before Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather. The bell was in the grasp of both Alyss and Catherine's hands.

"You two did it!" Fauna exclaimed, applauding them.

"Pft! Of course we did!" Catherine said, "We're just that baddass!"

"Thanks for your help!" Alyss said, and the two sisters began trudging their way back to Nesidy with the Holy Bell.

Siren, Tulio, and Danny finally made it out of the maze, and found themselves right outside a rundown Wal-Mart.

"Okay, so where is Aralyne?" Danny inquired.

Siren felt exhausted and completely drained. If her life didn't depend on it, she would have quit right then and there. Instead, she blocked out Aralyne's depression and faced westward where a massive black cloud was swirling and steadily growing larger. She gulped and held back a shudder. Would she be able to keep control of herself once she reached the cloud?

"She's over there," she said, pointing towards the darkness. "Come on, we don't have much time to waste."

"I think it'd be faster if I fly us," said Danny. He grabbed his companions by the wrists and shot up into the sky, zooming towards the cloud. Within minutes, they came upon the destroyed university campus, the cloud swirling around the main building – the Student Memorial Building. Danny set them down in an empty parking lot.

"What is that?" Tulio wondered, staring up at the darkness before them.

"Aralyne," Siren said. "Or what she's feeling, at least."

They heard a familiar howl, nearby. Siren swiveled around, her heart pounding. Gmork couldn't be here! It wasn't possible! But there he was in the shadows, his green eyes and white teeth glinting maliciously. He stepped out into the light, chuckling gutturally.

"Are you really prepared to face the Nothing, Siren?" he hissed out.

"The Nothing?" Tulio demanded, unsheathing Excalibur, and pointing it at Gmork.

"The dark cloud," Siren replied, keeping a wary eye on the wolf. She formed flames in the palms of her hands, and was ready to chuck them at the beast. "It's the darkest part of any person. Their fears, loneliness, and so much more."

"You two go find Aralyne," Danny shouted. "I'll take care of this mutt!"

Tulio hesitated for a second, then lowered his weapon, grabbed Siren by the arm and pulled her towards the Student Memorial Building. She doused the flames, and peeked over her shoulder to see Danny charging for Gmork.

As soon as they entered the building, Siren led Tulio across the foyer and around a corner where the elevator and staircase were situated. The doors to the elevator were ripped open and the carriage looked like it had smashed to the ground years ago.

"Stairs it is," she muttered, and yanked the door open. She raced upward as best as she could, but once she came to the second landing, she stopped. Tulio almost slammed into her, and avoided smacking into her by swerving into the wall instead. She stared at the cloud hovering before her face and shuddered at the cold it seemed to emanate from within.

"Why'd we stop?!" Tulio demanded.

"I can't go any further," she muttered, and took a step back down the stairs.

"What?! What do you mean you can't go any further?! Aralyne's in trouble and you're going to back down now?!"

"Listen to me!" she snapped, "As soon as I stepped into that cloud, I will be useless! I can't go any further without falling into despair like her! You're going to have to go alone! Now hurry, before Gmork catches up!"

Tulio shook his head, but didn't argue with her. He stepped into the cloud, leaving Siren behind. At first, he was a bit disoriented. There was a silence that unnerved him, and everything suddenly had a greyish tint to it. He glanced back to see Siren waiting for him outside the cloud, but it was like looking at her through murky water. Looked like he really was alone. Taking a deep breath, he ran up the stairs to the third and final landing. He pushed open the door and found himself in a long hall way. What very few tables and chairs that were available were thrown about. One wall was nothing but broken windows, the glass crunching beneath his feet with each step he took. At the far end of the hall were a set of double doors that were hanging crookedly off their hinges. He walked across the long hallway to the double doors, and climbed over them into a library. Just like in the hall, tables and chairs were scattered everywhere. Torn books and pages were situated in a large pile in the centre of the library, and sitting on that pile was…

"Aralyne!" Tulio exclaimed, running towards her.

She didn't acknowledge his presence other than by saying, "It's all meaningless, all of it."

"What is?" he inquired, kneeling down beside her.

"I should have known better. He chose her instead of me. Tulio chose her instead of me."

"Aralyne, no," he said, taking hold of her hands. "I don't choose anyone over you!"

Her head lifted, and she gazed at him with dull eyes. "Make a choice, Tulio. Me or Siren."

Tulio reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I choose you. All of you." He cupped her face and kissed her.

(Thank you, Princess Kanako for all your help, and the laughs in this chapter!)