Hey, Everyone! This chapter will set-up a major story-arc that I have been planning almost since the beginning, and that many of my readers have been looking forward to! I must confess, coming up with a set-up scenario wasn't easy, but I am positive you all will enjoy it!
Chapter 54
Kala Mer'ri spent the morning apologizing profusely to everyone for her hormonal rampage the previous day, especially Clawdeen and Duncan. Ghoulia theorized that Duncan's combined normie and kaiju genetic make-up just happened to be compatible with Kala's own kaiju-hybrid genes, resulting in the triggering of her mating cycle. Everyone assured Kala that they didn't blame her; plus no-harm, no foul.
"G'day, Lagoona", a voice said.
Everyone turned to look, and saw a scaly, crocodile monster wearing red and black board-shorts and a black muscle-shirt; his long, muscular tail trailing behind him.
"Croc?", Lagoona said, surprised. "Crikey, what are you doing here?"
"Posea sent me", he said with a sharp-toothed smile.
"Everyone", Lagoona said, "this is Croc Dundeen; my ex-boyfriend from back home."
They all greeted him with polite caution, including Kala; who also seemed a bit embarrassed.
"So why did Posea you send here, Croc?", Lagoona asked.
"She asked me to bring Kala Mer'ri home", he said, a faint blush showing through his scales.
"Why would she do that?", Kala asked, blushing slightly herself.
"Weeeell", he smiled sheepishly, "as scared and 'not ready' as I was then, I was kinda flattered that you chose me the last time your cycle came around. It also got me thinkin' I needed to turn things around and do somethin' with my life. And if you had chosen me again, I was gonna….um….let you catch me."
"What are you saying?", Kala asked with hope widened eyes.
"I'm sayin'….Crikey! I'm sayin' I want to be with you and only you", he said, blushing furiously.
"Um…Lagoona?", Kala said, blushing brightly. "Would you mind too terribly if I cut my visit short?"
"Go, Kala", her friend replied with a smile. "Go and be happy."
"Hey, Croc", Duncan called out with a grin. "Bit of advice: don't ever make her mad. She's way stronger than she looks!"
"Crikey! I know that! It's one of the things I love about her!", he smiled, then looked shocked. "Did I just say that out loud?"
"Yup!", Clawdeen smiled. "And judging by her blush, she heard you!"
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Claire liked coming to her Aunt's classroom during her free period to get in more Magick study-time or help clean up or set-up for class. She and all the other students had learned a lot from Boodika already. When she arrived today, her Aunt wasn't there; so she took her seat and opened her potions book. A few minutes later, she heard a strange sound coming from the tall, antique cabinet near the magick mirror. Claire was curious, but Aunt Boodika had warned her not to touch anything there without her present.
Suddenly, the doors to the cabinet flew open. Claire cautiously went to get a closer look. She saw a small, ancient urn shaking on the top shelf.
"Please! Help me!" a faint voice came from the urn.
"Who-who are you?", Claire asked.
"Just a lost soul, seeking eternal rest in the afterlife."
"How did you get in there?", Claire asked.
"I was cursed upon my death, and my soul imprisoned in this urn. Will you please free me to join my family in the afterlife? Please! I beg you!"
Claire's heart went out to this poor spirit and their heart-breaking story.
"How can I help you?"
"Just break the urn, and I will be freed. Please! Hurry!"
Claire picked up the urn, turning it over in her hands.
"Hello, Claire", Boodika said as she entered. Claire dropped the urn in surprise and it shattered on the floor.
"I'm sorry!", Claire said.
"Claire, what are you doing there? Oh, no!"
"FREE!", grey-green energy swirled and formed into the ghost of an ancient knight. A malicious grin split his face. "Finally! After so many centuries! Thank you, my dear! Only one of the family blood-line could free me from that accursed urn!"
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Meanwhile, elsewhere in the school at that moment; Dani Phantom feels a sharp chill go up her spine, and blue mist comes out of her mouth. 'Whoa! A new ghost? And a wicked powerful one at that!'
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"Claire! Get away from him!", Boodika called desperately.
"Too late!", the ghost sneered, just as he phased into Claire's body! Her clothes transformed into female leather and chain-mail armor with a dark witches cloak over her shoulders. Claire opened her eyes, which were now glowing red, a smirk on her face.
"Mordred!", Boodika yelled. "Release my grand-niece immediately!"
"I don't think so", the combined voice sneered. "You would not dare cause or allow any harm to come to this body!"
Mordred laughed as he levitated. Boodika threw a bolt of light magick at him/her, in the hope of stunning Mordred. Mordred blocked it easily with a sneer.
"You waste your efforts! I'm far more powerful that you!", the possessed Claire laughed. "With this curse, I lay waste the past; and seal your fate with a fiery blast!"
The spell hurled multiple blue fire-balls at Boodika, who dodged desperately and took cover behind her desk; which got blasted to pieces. When she looked up, Mordred was gone.
"I must inform the Headmistress!"
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Mordred—in Claire's body—strode the halls of the school as he learned about this new age from her memories.
'A school for monsters', Mordred grinned inwardly. 'So many potential, powerful minions!'
Mordred still seethed over the past. His mother, Morganna Le Fey, wanted him to be king, an ambition he embraced! As a mighty warrior-mage, he was determined to destroy King Arthur and all his so-called 'Knights of the Round Table'! But when he began using the darkest of arts to achieve this goal, his own mother turned against him! She had helped Arthur, Merlin, and Galahad to defeat and destroy him. But thanks to his dark magicks, his spirit not only stayed in this world, but he retained all of his powers! His mother helped them again by trapping and containing him, but he had already set the fall of Camelot in motion. He did grin at that memory.
He would, of course, eventually need to destroy Boodika. As one of the family line, she had the power to imprison him again.
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"Mordred? As in the son and first child of your own ancestor?", Bloodgood asked.
"Yes", Boodika said. "Long ago, Morganna helped to defeat him—her own son—when he delved into magicks and knowledge that were too dangerous in his single-minded quest to overthrow Arthur and make himself king. Afterward, she sealed his ghost within the urn. To redeem herself and her family line, she became the keeper of the urn, and it has passed down the family line ever since. The seal was bound by Le Fey blood-magick, so it could only be broken by one of our family line. Somehow, from within the urn, he must have tricked Claire into freeing him. And in his….'gratitude', he possessed her!"
"Just how powerful and evil is he now?", Grace asked, becoming very concerned.
"He makes Hitler and Rasputin look like members of a childrens' choir", the witch said darkly. "And he's way out of the league of my students, especially with one short of the whole coven. But he's too powerful for me to defeat alone."
"Since he's a ghost", Grace said, "we do have a resident ghost expert in the school. (Grace activates the P.A. system) Attention please. Will Dani Phantom please report to the Headmistress' office immediately."
Dani phased through the door just seconds later.
"I was already on my way here, Ms. Bloodgood", she said. "I sensed the presence of a powerful new ghost."
"A very old ghost actually, my dear", Boodika said. "I was thinking of asking her help already, Grace. To defeat and exorcise Mordred from Claire will require three different powers working together: light magick, ghost energy, and the raw elemental power of fire."
"Heath Burns?", Grace suggested.
"No, he doesn't have enough power or control", Boodika said. "I need Duncan. But even if we succeed, the urn is destroyed. I could make a new one to contain Mordred's ghost, but it would take time we don't have."
"I have containment covered", Dani grinned, taking out a green and silver thermos. "A Fenton Thermos. My family has been capturing ghosts in these for years, and improving the tech over time as well. And if you need Duncan, I can text him right now."
"Ok, and I have a plan that I think will work", Boodika said. "Dani, come with me and text Duncan to meet us in my classroom. Grace, this is what I need you to do…"
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Mordred had found a large empty room with many rows of seats down to a stage. It was here that he decided the stretch and flex his magickal muscles after so many centuries.
"This girl's abilities and potential are impressive for one so young", he smiled to himself. "Combined with my power and knowledge, I dare say I could be as powerful as my mother was in her prime!"
Just then, the P.A. system crackled to life: "Attention, Students. Will all the Magickal Studies students please report to Boodika Le Fey in her classroom immediately for an urgent assignment."
"Damn! She must be trying to create another urn to capture me! If her other students are even half as talented as this girl, they could succeed fairly quickly! Buuuuut….", Mordred/Claire smirked. "It would be a simple pleasure to kill them before I finish her! If I hurry they won't have time to make the urn!"
Mordred walked back to the classroom, to give the students time to arrive so he could eliminate all of them. He burst into the room, intending for a 'shock&awe' ambush…..only to be blasted to the back wall of the room by a burst of light magick! He growled as he rose and levitated several feet in the air.
"Alohamos!", Boodika called out, shutting and locking the door with magick. "This room is now magickally sealed, Mordred! You're trapped!"
"Where are your students, Boodika?", he growled in the double-voice of himself and Claire, as he glared at her.
"Did you really think I would risk the lives of my students?", she sneered. "With today's technology, I was able to tell them to ignore the false announcement. Now release my grand-niece at once and surrender!"
"Surely you jest!", Mordred laughed. "You are no match for me!"
"Maybe not alone", she smiled knowingly. "But I'm not alone."
At that moment. Dani became visible to her left, and Duncan came out of the storage closet to her right and turned full kaiju. Mordred growled. He recognized these two from the girl's memories! Boodika had the three powers required to stop him!
"NO! I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
"Now!", Boodika called out to Dani and Duncan.
"Havada Kadavra!", Mordred roared, at the same moment Boodika yelled, "Expelliarmus Exorcizus!"
The curse and spell collided between them, and it seemed that Boodika's spell was losing; until Dani added a concentrated beam of ecto-energy and Duncan added a tight, powerful stream of fire. The combined powers were beginning to slowly push back the Mordred's killing curse. The abundance of magickal energies were saturating the room and began to affect the magic mirror behind Duncan; the very same mirror that Cupid had departed Monster High through, and it began to glow!
The clashing energies reached critical-mass, and exploded! The bright flash through everyone in the room backwards. Mordred was the first to rise…..without Claire's unconscious body.
"Now, Dani!", Boodika called. The ghost-girl flew quickly and opened the Fenton Thermos in Mordred's face, sucking him inside.
"Nnnnnnoooooo!", he screamed as she closed it and tossed it to Boodika.
Boodika then cast a blood-seal spell on the Thermos, so again nobody outside of their family line could free Mordred.
"Got 'im!", she said satisfactorily. "I think I had better seal this in my vault from now on. I want to thank you both for your help."
"No problem", Dani said with a smile. "I can always get another Fenton Thermos from my dad and…wait. Ms. Le Fey, where's Duncan?"
"What?!", Boodika looked to her right, where Duncan had been. He was gone. And she saw her magick mirror flickering, then it went dark and cracked!
"Oh, no!", Boodika said. "He must've been sent to another realm! Grace is not going to like this!"
"Nevermind about Ms. Bloodgood", Dani said soberly. "What about Duncan's family? What about Clawdeen?!"
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Author's notes: Short chapter, I know, but this one was all about setting up for the next major story-arc. Some of you already know where Duncan went, so no spoilers! It's gonna be fun, plus more OC's and pairings!
The spells used were again inspired by Harry Potter, except for the fire-ball spell used by the Mordred-possessed Claire, which is from the Ever After After High special; "Way Too Wonderland".
And, oh yeah, Clawdeen is NOT going to be happy about Duncan being missing!
As always, long reviews and suggestions are welcome! No flames, please.
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