Here is my next chapter! It takes me a month to write these...Anyway, the adventure starts to heat up here! It mostly happens on one day, but it has a few weeks in the beginning. I've recently been looking at some deep content of my life and adult content in fiction; also learning to deal with tyranny of the mob. School will be starting soon, so I don't know how much more I will be able to write. I hope though I might find time. Meanwhile...enjoy what I've already written
[First Person, Genevieve]
I don't know what I was thinking, letting Emily sucker me into that. I was excited over the prospect of a field trip, but why did I agree to go to a warrior world where it would be freezing! Darn Emily's Bambi eyes and convincing words! She always has a field day whenever this stuff is related. Didn't she even realize we would have to take a five day boat trip with nothing to eat but fish!
Sure we had a box of thirty banana muffins that Gloria Krendell gave us, but with Baldur's help we finished that in a day! Baldur tried to varietize the fish we ate so we wouldn't get sick of it fast, but after fourteen straight meals of nothing but fish and the rocking boat to boot…I feel sick just thinking about it. I would've hurled over the side, but when I realized the sky has no ground… all that was left for me to do was to curl up in the bottom of the boat and hope I didn't vomit. I wasn't the only one in this boat; Emily was curled up right next to me, green as moss.
Arriving in the next world did provide a temperature change; that didn't help my ill mood at all. I could barely hear what was going on in conversation. I tried to stand up, but the waves of dizziness forced me to collapse again. It was too much to bear, so I passed out.
I woke up next to a fire in a hut of some sort. Emily was awake next to me, covered in a blanket, and eating something from a bowl. Watching her eat something made me want to hurl. She looked at me and smiled. She swallowed what she was eating.
"Hey Gen," she said. "You look worse for ware, anyways, welcome to Grizzleheim!"
"Where are we?" I asked wearily.
"Grizzleheim," she said. "I just said that." I gestured the hut.
"Oh," she said. "Baldur had some friends who were able to help us with our nausea. They deal with a lot of sky-side ailments. I would say seaside, but… it's sky. Anyway, that bowl is for you. Don't worry; it'll help your stomach." I looked in the bowl; it was a bunch of herbs.
"How come I have the feeling this will taste bad?" I asked.
"There's water to wash it down," she said as she pointed to a canteen next to the bowl. She took a sip of hers; that made me want to hurl as well. I popped some herbs in my mouth and took a gulp of water; it went down rough and didn't taste good. I'm surprised I didn't vomit that. After a few minutes, my stomach illness went away.
"Whoever these bears are, they're miracle workers," I said.
"Now that we're all better we should go tell them we're okay," said Emily.
"But the fire's so warm," I said.
"I can produce my own fire," she countered. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can head back."
"You want to leave?" I said surprised.
"No," she said. "But I do want to explore the main square."
Exiting the hut, the first thing we encountered was fish hanging to dry. The stench reeked; it almost brought my stomach illness back.
"Em, you're lucky you can't smell."
Didn't I mention it earlier? Emily has this thing wrong with her nose. No one knows the problem exactly, but Em always has mucus to spare; it usually comes when she's really hot, cold, and maybe excited or stressed, of course I'm only guessing. Also ever since Emily was really little, as long as she can remember, she has had no sense of smell. Of course, she tells me she can smell when something is really, really strong. I just don't understand it; it can weirdly change her taste buds, to having taste, no taste, and weird taste.
We left the hut and made our way to the docs. They weren't hard to find considering the hut wasn't far away. Baldur was talking to some fellow bears at the docs as they were unloading and loading supplies and wares from his ship.
"Ah," said Baldur noticing us approach. "I see you are feeling better. I take it you two have never been on a boat before."
"We've been on a boat before," I said defensively, "a few times actually."
"We've just never been on a voyage before," clarified Emily.
"Anyways, are you two ready to go talk with the traders of Grizzleheim," said Baldur.
"Yeah," said Emily excitedly. Seriously, she would love to live here.
"We'd also like to explore a little if that's okay," I said.
"It's alright," said Baldur. "Just make sure you don't leave the main square. Do not cross the river, I can't have you wandering too far."
"We know our boundaries," said Em. "Right?" she added, looking at me.
In the past, I was grounded for wandering too far. She's one to bring that up; she wandered as well, she just never got grounded for it. The trick was she came back before anyone worried. Sometimes she'd be punished just from the wandering, like when she fell in a swamp and got all dirty. Still, can we even keep this promise? Even though we're older, we walk at our own pace, go our own way, miles away from everyone.
"We'll stay within limits," I said. "Who do we need to meet?"
"You must speak with three merchants," said Baldur. "Thrain Stormfriend, Vidar Silverthread, and Dain Goldwright: let them know I sent you with word of new trade partners."
"And you can't do this because," I asked him.
"I need to prepare the ship for our departure; I will need to send you home once you're done."
"Already?" asked Emily glumly.
"That's a short visit," I added. "A five day boat ride of nausea, fish meals, and boat rocking for a few minutes of talking. Why couldn't you have just done this?"
"I thought you would like a break from studies to have a glimpse of my world," said Baldur. "I'm sorry you can't see more. You have studies to get back to and I promised this would just be about the trade agreement." Emily was making a cartoony sad face. She was upset but was trying to be funny about it; I think Em secretly hopes she was a Viking in her past life.
"We better make the trip count then," said Emily, her face going back to normal.
We started by looking around the place. We saw forges for pottery and weapon making and also some fish baskets and huts along the banks of the river. We saw this field of flowers that played music like an orchestra with an attractive teenager conducting them. Here I thought only bears lived in Grizzleheim; maybe he was just there for the flowers. The last thing we explored was a rainbow bridge connected to this great hall. We were advised not to go into the hall just yet and that was fine with us; we mostly wanted to run around the rainbow bridge and hear the sounds it made by running along the different colours.
After exploring, we decided to go talk to the merchants; we needed a reminder from Baldur of who they were. We then headed into the main square. It was bustling and busy. We figured the only way to find these merchants was if we used Emily's wand for directions. First we sought out Thrain Stormfriend.
"Welcome, young outsiders! Where are you from, and what can I do for you?
"Well he seems nice," said Emily.
"We're from Wizard city," I explained.
"We're here to set up trade agreements with Grizzleheim," added Emily.
"We were wondering if you and your wares would like to be a part of it," I concluded.
"Sounds good to me," said Thrain. "I'll trade with anyone with gold in their pocket."
"Well that's done," said Emily. "Next, Vidar Silverthread."
"He's right over there," said Thrain, pointing to the next stall over.
"Well that's convenient," I said. We approached Vidar at his robe stand.
"You there," said Vidar, pointing at me as we approached. "Can I interest you in a new robe? Or how about you?" he said looking at Emily. "This is a cold land, and you should try to stay warm. What sizes are you?" Emily looked as if she was just about to buy a robe. I wanted to remind her that the robes he sold were meant for bears; instead I tried a different approach.
"I'm sorry, but we're not robe shopping," I said, "besides the robes are too big for us."
"Aw," said Emily disheartened. Emily just wants to go native with the bears.
"We are however setting up a trade agreement between Wizard city and Grizzleheim, and we were wondering if you would like to be a part of it?"
"Hmm," said Vidar, "trade with Wizard City? I can certainly do that! I will have to get some smaller sizes in stock, though…"
"I will be looking forward to it!" said Emily with enthusiasm. Its official, Emily is in love with Grizzleheim.
"Okay," I said. "The last merchant we need to find is Dain Goldwright."
"Oh he's just around the corner," said Vidar.
"Thank you," said Emily as we headed off. It wasn't long before we encountered him at his ring shop. As we approached, he started speaking.
"You look like you could use a new rune-carved ring," he said regarding Emily. "I have just the one in stock…"
"No thank you," said Emily quickly. So Emily may love Vikings, but I guess she will never really like jewelry. "Actually," she continued. "We're here to set up trade between Wizard City and Grizzleheim and we were wondering if you would like to take part in it."
"That sounds like a great idea," said Dain. "Sign me up! I take it Baldur Goldpaws sent you to arrange this. I heard he was coming back today after he left on his trade voyage ten weeks ago."
"Yeah," I said a little surprised. "We're setting up trade with a bunch of merchants."
"And we got agreement from all the traders on Baldur's list," said Emily.
"Well," Dain chuckled at Emily's enthusiasm. She would fit in very well here. "You should head back and tell Baldur that we are willing to trade."
We headed back to Baldur at the docks, skipping in our steps from a job well done.
"They are in agreement then?" asked Baldur as he saw us approach.
"Yep," said Emily. "They all said yes."
"Good news!" said Baldur happily. "We have done well this day."
"Does this mean we're going home now?" I asked.
"The ship is ready to set sail," said Baldur. "Ready yourselves…I will take you home now."
"Yay," I said sarcastically. I dreaded the nausea and fish meals.
"I don't want to leave either," said Emily, misinterpreting my sarcasm.
"It was a pleasure working together," said Baldur. "I wish you both well in your future journeys."
"Don't be like that Baldur," said Emily. "We might see you again someday."
"If we don't have to travel by boat, maybe," I said. Baldur smiled.
"You may be unable to return to Grizzleheim right away, but when you do return, your visit will be marked by kind words and open hearts." Emily smiled back, while mine was a bit half-hearted. I don't know if I wanted to come back, Emily loved Grizzleheim more than me. Of course, Emily does need me, just as much as I need her. It may be another adventure we share.
The next five days weren't so bad; enough spare food was packed for three bears to ration, which was more than enough. Since our stomachs weren't being tormented, Emily and I could enjoy the view of the spiral and sea of skies we sailed through, letting us see all the worlds in grand scale, and also we talked about tales of grandeur with Baldur. During some of those talks, I found out why Emily loves Vikings so much, and it's not just because of dragons and the cold.
"Vikings know how to survive," she explained. "It's a lot better than normal life. It's the idea of roughing it, taking what life throws at you and not going down without a fight. It's about bravery and honour."
"It sounds as if it's an inspiration to you," said Baldur.
"I face a lot of hardships back on my home world. People liked mocking me for my very being, and other times they would threaten me; to be honest, it was a little overwhelming. Most people in my predicament would think of suicide to end it, when you have nothing that they won't mock, that they won't threaten. For some reason I never thought of it."
"I would endure day after day, no matter what was thrown at me. I thought it was never going to end, but then I read this folk tale about a Viking that wanted glory but had acceptance in society. In the end of the story, it turned out his difference was his strength. That story kept me going on hard times, and it harbored my fascination with Vikings and their bravery, because it's what I needed."
"You are indeed very brave, young Emily, and as is you, young Genevieve," said Baldur. We listened in. "I heard of your exploits from my stay in Olde town. Bravery is in many forms, and people exhibit it differently. From what you have shouldered from past to present, and the burden you choose to bear, it makes you very brave, and I am proud to consider you a friend."
"As for you, young Genevieve, you who fight alongside her; you may have your own reasons for doing so, but still you show great comradery, which is necessary in battle. Comradery and bravery go hand in hand, so it makes you a brave warrior as well. I'm glad to have known you."
Baldur's words made me think. Emily has had to be brave a lot in her life, she had no choice; as for me I was normal, and that just made me depressed. Still, comradery and bravery go hand in hand as he said. I have to think that I'm brave in giving up my normal life in being with Emily, yet sometimes I think I'm just selfish. I whine when things aren't going my way, and I keep looking for excuses to not do what I don't want to. Sometimes I act like a huge jerk, Emily's the real hero. She is bearing the responsibility, throwing herself into danger to help people; she's understanding, kind and polite with these dangerous situations. She's shown a lot of real bravery while I'm just along for the ride, helping her where I can. I wish I can prove myself somehow, to show I can be just as brave and honorable as Emily.
We got back on the eighth of November, a school day, and Halloween long over which was Emily's greatest relief. We got back at noon, so it was a little late to head to class. We decided to relax for the rest of the day, unwinding from our travel. Once the day was done, we could probably head to our classes and check what we missed.
Of course, when we headed through Olde town, we were approached by Sergeant Muldoon.
"Oh thank goodness, the heroes of Unicorn way have returned from their voyage."
"What's going on?" asked Emily, catching on to his tone.
"You told me to send news to you if there was anything we needed help with, well something has come up. I would have contacted you five days ago when I first heard about it, but you were abroad."
"What happened?" I asked, suddenly concerned. This happened while we were traveling; we could have been here to help, but we were gone.
"Triton Avenue is in trouble," he said solemnly.
"That's my street!" I said panicked.
"What?" said Emily. "Your street?"
"The storm school's street; the street where storm magic is the strongest; what's going on!?"
"Surely you heard of who's taking care of the problems on Triton Avenue?" said Sergeant Muldoon.
"Yeah, Susie and Arter Gryphonbane; two storm students, why? What's wrong? Did something happen to them?"
"I'll tell you what I know," said Muldoon. "Problems on Triton Avenue started to appear around the beginning of October, when you two were still in school. Around that time, in order to stall the problem, Susie and Arter volunteered to take care of it and the street itself. They did fine at first, evacuating the street and making sure everyone had a temporary home in the meantime, staying in Olde town, the commons, and even on the other streets. Then the spirits of Halloween showed up and they caused the problems to be less severe; I'm guessing the dead didn't want the dead and the living ganging up on them. Of course after Halloween was finished and the spirits returned to their own world and the undead on Triton Avenue grew more restless."
"Do Susie and Arter need help now dealing with the undead?" asked Emily.
"It is a bit worse than that," said Sergeant Muldoon.
"How much worse?" I asked.
"Well, in summation, Susie Gryphonbane is asking for help on Triton Avenue, but I can't send aid because we're spread thin dealing with all the other problems in Wizard City. I feel bad leaving her on her own for five days. I told her I couldn't send guards, but I would ask for you two to help her."
"What about her brother?" asked Emily. "Why didn't you mention him?"
"I think her brother is lost, or something like that."
"No wonder she needs help! This is serious! We're not just saving a street but a person! We need to go help her!"
"We need to go talk to the Headmaster first," said Emily. "Who knows how long this will take us and we're in the middle of a school week."
"Alright," I said. "We'll go talk to him first."
"You think they plan to take out Triton Avenue to get rid of our greatest weapon," I asked Emily on our way to the Headmaster. "If the undead want the city to fall, it would be a smart move to take out the home of Storm magic. Without Storm magic, all other defense we could have would be mediocre."
"Uh huh," said Emily, giving me a blank stare.
"How would we be able to defend ourselves without storm magic? We would be fighting basically an endless fight!"
"You do know I've been helping you, right?" said Emily.
"Yeah, you help me when I can't do anything; but that's because my magic is so powerful it fizzles sometimes."
"You're unbelievable," said Emily exasperated. I realized then what my mistake was.
"Oh, I didn't mean to say your branch of magic sucked, it's just that you have to admit, mine packs more of a punch."
"Yeah, that's true," said Emily, still a bit deflated and annoyed. It wasn't long after that when we arrived in the commons.
"It's weird not seeing any ghosts," said Emily.
"We only saw them for a week, how is it weird?"
"It's not that weird," she clarified. "It is a little though."
We arrived in the headmaster's office and told him about the situation.
"I don't see why you're running this by me, girls," said Ambrose. "I already told you that you have a free-lance schedule. It would be more appropriate to tell your teachers when you are coming into class. Of course, this matter on Triton Avenue is concerning, considering that this will affect your branch of magic Genevieve."
"I know," I told him.
"Also, it will not be easy for you two to fight on that street, considering your own magic; Diviners are immune to most of Storm magic's effects and storm magic weakens the mana of Pyromancers."
"We'll be facing storm magic?" questioned Emily.
"It's a possibility if you remember your encounters on Unicorn way were with darkened Theurgists."
"So not only are the undead trying to take over the streets and weaken the magic there, but they are trying to use the magic the street provides against us?" I asked really concerned about what possible Storm magic they could possess.
"Still, it is only a possibility. The undead are still dead creatures, and it is highly unlikely that they could come to possess something as powerful as Storm magic."
"Phew," I said. "That would be terrifying if that did happen."
"In any case, I would like you girls to prepare yourself for what you have to face. I want you two to re-introduce yourselves to Diego the Duelmaster, who manages the Arena. You do know where the Arena is?"
"Just inside Unicorn way, on the right," said Emily. "We'll go do that Professor."
"I wonder how those guys are doing," I said.
"Oh yeah," said Emily. "Professor, did Ceren and Delia manage to clear all of the undead from the street?"
"Oh yes," said Ambrose. "Just around Halloween had ended, Ceren Nightchant and his friend Delia had managed to remove the last of the undead and get everyone back into their homes. The only creatures one can find there flying around the street are the good fairies."
"Well that's good news," I said as we headed off.
As we entered Unicorn way, we noticed that the headmaster was right. There were fewer guards than before, people bustling about in their business, and fairies flitting about; singing, dancing, and interacting with the people.
"Now it seems a bit too happy, like a hippie place," I said, "Almost missing the time when this place was in peril."
"Now Gen," said Emily. "Be nice; we're not going to be here very long, just to talk to Diego and brush up on some skills."
We approached the arena, where Diego greeted us.
"Greetings, young wizards," he said with a bow and a flourish of his cape.
"Greetings Diego…Santiego…?"
"I am Diego Santiago Quariquez Ramirez the third, champion Duelist! How may I assist you two? Oh, Emily if I am not mistaken you're supposed to be learning something from me today."
"That's actually great," said Emily, "because we need to learn an important lesson in dueling."
"We need to learn how to fight unfamiliarly," I clarified. We explained our situation to him.
"But of course I could train you, and you've come to the right place," he said. "The Arena is a wondrous place! Students come here to hone their skills with magic, practice against others, and gain endless glory and fame!" We made our way inside the arena.
"Let us begin," said Diego. "The start of any duel starts with entering the dueling circle."
"Question," I said, raising my hand.
"Yes," said Diego.
"How does the dueling circle work? I mean, how does it just appear whenever we need to fight a monster?"
"That is a reasonable question," said Diego. "A long time ago, magic duels were fought without dueling circles. Magic would fly everywhere, and people would go wherever they wanted in the battle. In the ensuing battles, property would get damaged, and people nearby would get hurt. The ancients of the spiral then created a solution: dueling circles. Anywhere in the spiral, if magic sparked aggression with another magic, the circle would appear and a formal duel would happen. With this magic in play, only the people dueling would be involved and there would be no destruction."
"That's actually very clever," said Emily.
"Now without further ado," said Diego. "We will start, now please enter the dueling circle at opposite ends to face each other."
"Can't we fight golems?" I asked.
"Well maybe we should fight each other," said Emily. "We need to fight unfamiliarly. I need to learn how to fight storm magic."
"I need to learn to fight that too," I said.
"You can fight golems after you fight each other, how's that?" reasoned Diego.
"Sounds good," said Emily.
"I guess I'll do it," I agreed.
We trained for a few hours. It was easy for me to fight a Pyromancer, my magic dampened hers; it was mostly Emily trying to get used to fighting me. After she beat me a couple times, we were ready to move onto golems, charged with storm magic. It was easier for Emily since she already had practice against me and my magic had virtually no effect. At the end of it though, we were able to work unfamiliarly with the opposing forces, and it only took two hours of training.
"That is good enough for today," said Diego. "I think you'll be ready to fight whatever foes face you on Triton Avenue. I will advise you to keep training in your spare time."
"We will," said Emily. "Us heroes need to be ready for whatever comes at us."
"Good," said Diego. "If you train well, perhaps you will have skills to rival even the great Malistere, yes?"
"I hope so," I said. I had a feeling we were going to have to fight him one day. Diego started to reminisce.
"What a Duelist HE was! He's the only person I would not want to duel in a real fight. Luckily, we only spared for practice."
"Don't go scaring us," I snapped.
"Sorry," said Diego. "Oh, speaking of Malistere, did you know that he and Cyrus are twin brothers?"
"Who's Cyrus?" asked Emily.
"Cyrus Drake, also known as Professor Drake of the Myth School," Diego explained.
"That guy," I said aghast. That sourpuss was related to the great enemy; they did sound similar. Not only were they related but they were twins, just like me and Em.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Cyrus was helping Malistere with all this mess in Wizard City."
"Me neither," I said.
"Gen," said Emily shocked. "Sure he may not be nice (he's one of my teachers so I know personally that's true), but you can't go jumping to conclusions like that; think of Snape in Harry Potter!"
"What?" said Diego.
"Book we read," I said.
"Still," said Diego. "You should tell Ambrose to keep an eye on Cyrus."
On our way to see the headmaster, I couldn't help but have nagging thoughts. These twins were in a sticky situation, what would that mean for us?
When we met with the headmaster, we told him what Diego told us.
"Diego thinks that Cyrus is helping Malistere cause all this trouble in Wizard City, eh? Diego shouldn't be spreading foolish rumors. Cyrus is a good professor. I trust him completely."
"See, told ya," said Emily.
"I beg your pardon?" said Ambrose.
"It's nothing professor," I said.
"Malistere is a concerning issue though," said Ambrose. "I'm sure you heard that Malistere Drake used to teach at the Death school. He was once one of our best professors…very powerful and compassionate. He loved discovering secrets of power."
"What went wrong?" asked Emily. "How'd he turn astray if was so good?"
"Probably all of that power got to his head," I reasoned. "It's how most villains become evil."
"It's not that simple Genevieve," said Ambrose. "Even those closest to him are not sure exactly what turned him to do dark deeds; of course many could guess it had to do with his wife."
"Was she evil too?" I asked.
"Heavens no," said Ambrose. "In fact she couldn't have been more loved. Malistere himself loved her more than his power."
"You say loved…" said Emily, piecing the puzzle together.
"May she rest in peace," said Ambrose. Emily gasped while I adopted a solemn gaze.
"She died," said Emily choking up.
"Yes, I'm afraid," said Ambrose sadly. "If only she was still with us, things might have been different. But even death cannot be undone…"
"I guess that's how it happened," I said. "Without his wife, Malistere just got obsessed with power."
"Maybe," said Ambrose somberly. He then pulled himself together.
"Speaking of the issue of Malistere's contact with Wizard City…one of his favorite students, a boy named Duncan Grimwater, has been tackling the ghost problem on Triton Avenue."
"Like Susie and Artur?" I said.
"Yes," said Ambrose. "He went to help once things got hectic there."
"If only we were here," said Emily.
"We can dwell on the past later," I said. "What is it you want us to do professor?"
"Can you inquire if he has heard anything from his old professor? We need to know if Malistere has been contacting former students."
"Sure we can," I said. "We were going to head out right after talking to you."
"We can talk to him if we run into him there," said Emily. We stopped right before we headed out the door.
"Before we go," said Emily. "What can you tell us about the sidewalk protection? How does it work?"
"The undead popping up on the streets tend not to like the water in the ducts." I couldn't help but laugh.
"This should be a cakewalk for me then," I said wiping away tears.
"Last time I checked, you don't know any water spells," said Emily. My face blanched and I felt very sheepish.
"Why'd you have to bring that up?" I said annoyed.
"I'm sure you'll be fine none-the-less," said Ambrose. "I wish you both the best of luck."
With that, we headed out.
"I hope we remember our training for what we will have to face on Triton Avenue," I said whilst heading to Olde Town. "Facing Divinity and all, it will be a bit tough."
"Hey, I just remembered," said Emily. "We shouldn't just keep a lookout for Duncan, but also the Smith on Triton Avenue."
"There's a Smith there?"
"There's a Smith on every street," said Emily. "I also figured since we might run into some new undead, we could maybe finish Penny's project."
"Oh yeah," I remembered. "We're still doing that. What are the last two we have to find again?"
"Rotting fodders and Field Guides," said Emily.
"Oh right," I said. "Jack was a Field Guide, too bad he couldn't help us with the project."
"We'll just do it the old fashioned way," said Emily. It wasn't long after that conversation when we crossed through Olde Town and approached the Triton Avenue gate.
"Here goes nothing," said Emily.
"Onto our new adventure," I said nervously. We then crossed the threshold onto a new part of Wizard City.
When we arrived on Triton Avenue, the first thing we noticed was the street was pretty deserted.
"It's like a ghost town," said Emily.
"Pun intended," I said.
"Maybe," she jested. "Let's keep our eyes open for a Smith, any Rotting Fodders, or Field Guides."
"Let's also keep our eyes open for Duncan," I added. "He should be around here somewhere."
"Right," said Emily. She waved her wand. "Susie Gryphonbane." Her wand then pointed us in the right direction. As we headed down the street we saw these translucent golems walking about.
"Are those Rotting fodders," I asked nervously.
"No," said Emily in the same tone. "Doesn't match the picture Penny gave us. They must be the ghosts that Duncan's tackling." We immediately got onto the sidewalk, and continued following Emily's wand. Luckily the wand lead us past all the ghosts, down some steps into a recluse where we found a girl slightly older than us, but still shorter than us. We were very tall for our age.
"Are you Susie Gryphonbane?" I asked.
"Yes I am," said Susie. "I'm so glad you came! I've been trying to get someone to help me, but the guards are far too busy with the events of late."
"Susie listen," said Emily. "Sergeant Muldoon requested us; we are the sent help from Headmaster Ambrose."
"The Headmaster sent you? Great! Me and my brother could use the help. We are trying to stop all the Undead that broke down the gate from the Haunted Cave and invaded the area. My brother Artur went on ahead to check out the Haunted Cave. He had a theory that the force behind all this was in that cave. I'm worried because I have not heard from him in a while."
"That was very brave of your brother to do," said Emily, giving her condolences.
"We heard that you haven't seen your brother in five days," I added.
"My brother can handle himself, he's pretty skilled," said Susie. "Of course, five days will cause me to worry. He might be trapped in the cave fighting for his life. Could you go see how my brother is doing? He should be just inside the Haunted Cave; I wouldn't want you looking forever. If he's not there, come and tell me; you might need to search deeper. I'd go myself, but someone needs to handle the situation out here. I wouldn't want to endanger you, but my brother may have identified the dark presence responsible for Wizard City's troubles."
"We're pretty new at this ourselves Susie," I said. "The only reason we've been chosen for this is because we saved Unicorn way."
"You're the heroes of Unicorn way?"
"Umm," I wasn't sure if I regretted what I just said.
"We are," said Emily. "We'll find a way to help you Susie, and your brother as well." There I go again. "Maybe it would be better if we went together; that way it won't be much of a problem."
"Yeah, I guess so," I said.
"Then let's go," said Emily waving her wand, "Haunted Cave." We started to head the direction the wand pointed us, but as we made it down the stairs, we saw a death student.
"You think that might be Duncan?" I said.
"Let's find out," said Emily approaching him. "Excuse me, are you Duncan Grimwater?"
"Yes I am," he said proudly. "What is it you want?"
"Well um…"said Emily, trying to find the words.
"You were a favorite of Malistere's right?" I asked.
"Yes I am," said Duncan proudly.
"You said 'am'," said Emily. "Are you still in contact in Malistere? Have you heard anything from him lately?"
"I wish," said Duncan.
"Draco Malfoy," Emily and I mumbled to each other at the same time.
"What was that?" said Duncan.
"Nothing," said Emily grinning.
"Is it that you girls are impressed with my skills and find me attractive?"
"What! NO!" we both said the same time out of shock.
"I have feelings for someone else," said Emily.
"What?" I said in utter disbelief. "How can you have feelings for him if you only saw him once?"
"That's how strong my feelings are."
"You're being very rude," said Duncan. "What do you want?"
"Sorry," I said offended. "We were just inquiring something for the Headmaster."
"So, the Headmaster is still worried about Malistere? If you ask me, I think Ambrose needs to quit blaming Malistere every time something goes wrong in Wizard City."
"He did cause a lot of problems though," said Emily, annoyed.
"He tore the Death school out of Ravenwood," I added.
"Someone else had his job," reasoned Duncan. "I'd get that mad as well."
"He was behind the corruption of the fairies," added Emily.
"Didn't like them anyway," said Duncan.
"He tried to attack Ambrose and US!" I added enthusiastically. "Two untrained students!"
"He tried to attack you, I don't believe it," said Duncan.
"He did, in golem tower when we first got here, we were lucky the Headmaster was with us," said Emily.
"Hey," said Duncan. "You're the heroes of Unicorn way, aren't you? No wonder he attacked you. Of course you do have a point; he may have overstepped his bounds a little. It still doesn't sway my opinion of him. He was the best teacher I could have ever asked for. Malistere Drake was such an inspiring Professor. Most consider him to be the greatest Necromancer of our time! He understood life's limitations and strove to face them unafraid. Ambrose has no right to criticize my admiration for him. Can you believe him; Ambrose has suggested for me to stop practicing the Death Arts. He even suggested I give Life a try. Ha!"
"That is a bit uncalled for," I agreed. "I would never join the Myth School, it's against my character."
"Did you know Myth focuses on imagination?" said Emily.
"I forgot," I admitted.
"You're both being a bit uncalled for," said Emily, angry. "Stop being bias about the other Schools!"
"You're not bias because you're taking all of them," I told her.
"Oh you're that one," said Duncan. "Malorn said he was tutoring you in Death. Look I don't disagree with your want of power-"
"I don't want power," argued Emily. "I just want it to vary."
"Surely you can understand how great Death is," said Duncan. "It is one of the most powerful types of magic, and the bravest."
"I know that," said Emily. "It's also very dark."
"But I would like to keep studying on my own, rather than join a class."
"I can see that," I said.
"Maybe one day I'll be as powerful as Malistere!"
"You'll be a force for good, right?" asked Emily.
"Force for good, Force for evil; I'll be a force for myself."
"I don't like the sound of that," I said.
"Well, I told you all I know," said Duncan. "If you want to know more about Malistere, which you probably do, maybe you should talk to an old friend of his wife. You heard what happened to his wife, right?"
"All we heard was that she died," I said.
"No, apparently you didn't then," said Duncan.
"Was there something so tragic about the way she died?" asked Emily.
"Well when we saw Malistere, he wasn't that old; she must've died before she could have reached old age."
"Well…" said Duncan. "If you two are interested, go talk to Gloria Krendell in Olde Town and ask her about Sylvia Drake. Those two women were close. She could tell you more."
"Hey, we know Gloria," said Emily. "I think she'll gladly tell us about Sylvia."
"What about Artur Gryphonbane and the cave?" I reminded Emily.
"We can handle that later, this probably won't take long. Look, we either head off into unfamiliar territory and complete a task, or head off into familiar territory and complete a task. I rather get the familiar thing done and over with before I forget."
"Alright, I'll tell Susie what's going on, hopefully she'll understand, and then I'll go join you."
"You could go by yourself," said Emily.
"Actually I can't," I said. "My magic is kaput by itself."
"We had all that training," said Emily.
"I'd feel better if you came with me," I told her.
"I say go for it," said Duncan. "It won't take that long. Susie's also been a pain as much as I've been working with her."
"We weren't asking you," I said annoyed. "Let's just go, Em, I don't want to be here anymore."
Emily went on ahead while I explained to Susie that we had to complete another task for Ambrose in learning more about Malistere. Susie was a little upset, but after I explained the whole Duncan fiasco she seemed to be more on board. I reassured her that once we gathered information on Sylvia Drake, we would work double time on saving her brother.
When I caught up with Emily, she had just re-arrived in Olde Town. I told her what I told Susie and then we went to go speak with Ms. Krendell.
"Hello Ms. Krendell," we said as we approached.
"Hello girls," said Ms. Krendell. "Would you like some cookies? They're chocolate chip today."
"Would I?!" said Emily. Chocolate chip is her favorite flavor of muffins and cookies. She loves Chocolate in general, and I'm indifferent.
"No thanks," I said. While Emily helped herself, I asked Ms. Krendell about Sylvia Drake.
"You want to ask me about Malistere's wife, Sylvia? Oh my, yes. I knew her very well. She taught the Life magic class before Moolinda Wu," said Ms. Krendell. I chuckled.
"Life and Death; I guess opposites do attract."
"I sure miss her. What happened to her was such a shame. Poor dear." She looked forlorn as she relived the sad memories.
"What happened?" asked Emily with her mouth full. I elbowed her this time.
"What?" asked Emily.
"First, you're being rude," I said. "Second, you're being rude!" I gestured Ms. Krendell.
"It's okay dear," said Ms. Krendell cheering up. "Say, there is something you two can do for me. Would you find the scrapbook Sylvia and I made together? It would mean a lot to me to have it back." Emily swallowed.
"Sure we could, where do we start looking?" she said.
"I thought this wasn't going to take long," I retorted.
"Oh, I know where it is," said Ms. Krendell. "I just can't retrieve it."
"Where is it?" asked Emily.
"I'm not sure how, but Sergeant Skullsplitter has it. Could you go to his tower on Triton Avenue and get it back for me?"
"Sergeant Skullsplitter," Em said nervously while we were stiff as boards. "How come I have the feeling he's a monster?"
"He's a skeleton. He used to be revered among the living, and now he's revered among the dead. They say he's growing an army of the undead, but luckily they have him under check."
"So he's not a threat we have to deal with?" I asked nervously.
"Just get me my scrapbook back and I'm sure you won't have to deal with him again."
We gulped. "Well," said Emily. "We already defeated Rattlebones, Lady Blackhope, and the Iron Golem; surely we've garnished a name for ourselves."
"Yeah," I said. "Maybe we can go in there and threaten him to give it back."
So we made our way back to Triton Avenue, all the more nervous about facing someone called 'Sergeant Skullsplitter'. We mostly reassured ourselves that we were an unstoppable force when together. We followed Emily's wand to the tower on the street keeping our eyes open for Smiths and being wary for the translucent golems; we were on edge. Once we approached the looming tower, I got a message from my teacher.
"I heard that you have been asked to enter a dungeon," said Professor Balestrom.
"Yes," I said. "Emily's here too; say 'hi' Em."
"Hi Em," said Emily, trying to crack a joke.
"So you're saying this tower is a dungeon, and that's how he can't get out?"
"Yes," said my teacher. "The door's been enchanted. The only way for one to get in is if they stand on the sigil. Once the count to ten has finished, everyone on the sigil will enter at the same time."
"How do we get out?" asked Emily, with her voice cracking.
"That's easy," said Professor Balestrom. "Just grab the handle and say 'out, please' and then that person (who does not sound like the prisoner) will be transported out. Be safe girls!" Then the message disappeared.
"Okay," I said. "So we just…stand on the sigil?"
"Yeah," said Emily. "You take the first spot, and I'll take the second spot."
"Why do I have to take the first spot?"
"It's your street," reasoned Emily.
"Fine," I said standing in the first spot. Emily took the second. We waited ten seconds…and nothing happened. I face-palmed, "We probably need to say to say something to get in."
"Your teacher left that part out," said Emily exasperated. "What are we supposed to say: 'In, please?'" Her spot then glowed; I guess those were the words.
"IN PLEASE," I quickly said. My spot glowed as well. After the ten second count, we found ourselves disappearing and reappearing, much like the teleportation we learned in class.
Inside the tower, we saw the skeleton. He didn't look much like a Sergeant. Beside him was this type of ghost I've never seen before; this ghost looked like a woman with long red hair and sharp nails.
"What do we have here?" said the Skeleton. "Visitors, I don't get visitors, I never get visitors. I mean I do on the rare occasion, but I've never had visitors this young before. I think you two students are in the wrong place. You're trespassing, and that could be considered a crime."
"We don't mean any trouble," I said quickly. "We just want the book back!"
"Book? What book?"
"We-we heard you had it," said Emily. "Sylvia D-Drake's s-Scrapbook"
"So, you two have come for the Scrapbook that belonged to Malistere's wife, eh? Pity she caught that cold and died…"
"How'd you even get the book?" I asked him, regaining my composure.
"I stole it! How else would anyone have what doesn't belong to them?"
"Well, you could have found it somewhere," I said. "Or Malistere could have given it to you for safe keeping."
"HA!" he said. "Malistere giving me anything, that's hilarious!"
"That's a relief," said Emily. "We run into to many dead who are working with him."
"Wait a second," said the Sergeant. "You two defeated Rattlebones and Lady Blackhope."
"How do you know that?" asked Emily.
"News travels," said Skullsplitter.
"Yeah… we are," I said, regaining my composure again. "Unless you want your butt kicked you better hand it over."
"Well, I won't allow it!" he said. "I don't care who you are! I will deny him any kindness after what he denied me in life!"
"What did he deny you?" asked Emily.
"He's a Necromancer and I was getting old; I wanted to be immortal, cheat death, and he said no!"
"I can see why," I said. "It's greedy."
"I don't think he even knew," said Emily. "Don't you think that if he did, he would have saved his wife?"
"His wife would probably be against it," he justified. "Anyways, after that I died, stole the scrapbook for revenge, and then got locked up in here. Of course it's all for naught, I'll form a new army of the Undead, break myself out of this prison, and take over civilizations until I hunt down a way for my life to be restored."
"That's probably it," said Emily.
"What's it?" I said.
"Malistere is causing all this chaos, in the end of it, he's probably just distracting us, getting revenge on those who don't understand, and in the long run…he's trying to find a way to bring back his wife."
"What if you're wrong?"
"Malistere loved his wife more than anything…what wouldn't he do for her?"
"Enough! Enough about Malistere! I'm the one you have to worry about, not him," said Skullsplitter. "As for you two, you are both very strong and capable willing to take out many foes…"
"Thank you!" I said.
"You will be perfect! Prepare to join the ranks of the dead and serve me!"
"I'm rescinding my thank you."
"Looks like we're fighting after all," said Em. "Since I'm more familiar with Skeletons, I'll take the sergeant, and you can take his ghost friend."
"I know nothing about this ghost!" I said.
"You knew nothing about the ghosts you fought on Unicorn way," Em countered.
"Fine," I said.
"You don't stand a chance," Skullsplitter laughed. I hoped he was wrong.
The first ones to make a move were Sergeant Skullsplitter and his ghost friend. Sergeant Skullsplitter launched a Thunder snake at Emily, while the ghost launched a Bloodbat at me. I had a feeling I was facing someone studied in myth magic…great. It really hurt when it tried to chew my face off. For Emily's first move she cast a Fire Blade while I passed. The second turn had Sergeant Skullsplitter launch a scarab at Emily, while I was lucky with the ghost passing. Emily used her saved pips to try to cast a Fire Elf, but it fizzled, and I cast a lightning strike.
The next move fired at Emily was a dark fairy. That was concerning for Emily wasn't wearing her ruby slippers while I was, and I couldn't pass them to her like I did before. The ghost decided to fire a snow serpent at me; it circled me, creating an aura of cold to surround me. I retaliated with a Thunder snake, but it fizzled just like the second Fire elf Emily tried to cast.
The fight continued, where I realized this was a lot harder than our last fights; we were really getting into this. Skullsplitter cast a scarab at Emily, and the ghost passed; Emily and I did the logical thing and healed ourselves with the pixie spell. Skullsplitter then sent another dark fairy at Emily, while the ghost fizzled its myth attack, Emily and I then sent some Storm magic flying with Emily casting a Thunder-snake and me using my Lightning strike.
I had yet to lay a scratch on the ghost, while Emily had already laid her first hit. Now Skullsplitter was mad, he sent another scarab at Emily while the ghost trapped me in a myth trap. Emily retorted to Skullsplitter's scarab with an Ice Beetle, and I finally managed to burst forth a Thunder-snake. Skullsplitter was ready to finish it when he cast a Thunder snake at Emily, and it fried her with an electrical blast. I got some snake as well, for the ghost cast another Snow Serpent, which spat an ice ball at me, winding me and maybe giving me frostbite.
Emily healed herself with another pixie spell. Meanwhile. I. was. Done. With. This. Fight. I summoned up the reserves of my magic,
"Thunder and Lightning, not just that, I call forth a storm… of Lightning Bats!"
With the swarm of bats overwhelming her, the ghost was finished. Skullsplitter was shocked.
"How?" he questioned.
"I take it she was a conjurer," I said. "Weaknesses work both ways buddy." In his anger he fizzled his next death spell, while Emily successfully fired a Fire cat at him and I healed myself with a pixie. He then tried to be strategic and save up his pips, but that's when Emily quickly spouted the finishing words,
"From my words I doth ignite a cat to bring within my sight. Its foes and mine thus entertwined; the battle's brought, now burn through this fight!" With one final trounce from her Fire cat, he was finished. We had saved our own hides. We searched around the tower for the scrapbook and found it in a chest, thankfully unscathed. We then grabbed the handle to the exit door and said 'out please,' and we were transported outside.
Making our way back to Ms. Krendell, we collected wisps to bring us back to full strength. That was a doozy of a fight, Emily was winded, lacking in her mana energy, as seen when we checked the crystal ball. We arrived in Olde Town and made our way to Ms. Krendell's.
"Ms. Krendell," I said as we approached. "We got the scrapbook back."
"You were able to get the scrapbook back from Sergeant Skullsplitter?"
"Yeah," said Emily. "It sure was tiring though."
"Oh good!" said Ms. Krendell. "I was afraid it was lost forever. It contains all of my memories of Sylvia."
"She must have been a really good friend to you," I said.
"She was…" said Ms. Krendell as she began to thumb through the scrapbook. "Now let's see…Ah, yes. Sylvia had such a wonderful laugh. It was so sad when she got sick. She caught a nasty cold and wouldn't get better. They tried everything to heal her, but nothing worked. Imagine, the greatest Life professor being struck down like that."
"It is ironic a Life professor couldn't be healed." Emily elbowed me. What was with Emily and elbowing me? I was going to get bruised ribs.
"She was dying, and that was that," Ms. Krendell continued. "Poor Malistere couldn't stand it. It broke his heart having to let her go. He was never the same afterwards. He withdrew from his colleagues…even from his brother Cyrus." Wow, to think twins could break apart like that. I wondered and worried if that would ever happen to me and Em. "Well, thanks for bringing this scrapbook back to me, girls. I am forever grateful."
"It was nothing Ms. Krendell," said Emily. "Least we could for you."
"Well I insist on giving you something in gratitude. I have just the thing." She went in her house and came back out with two hats. "I made these for you. I made a student helm for Genevieve and Verdant helm for Emily." We looked over the hats she gave us.
"These are really nice," I said. "You didn't have to make us these."
"Oh but I wanted to," she said. "You've been doing so much for wizard city, it's the least I can do for you. They will help protect you in battle."
"Thank you," said Emily.
"Thank you very much," I added. After that was done, we still half an hour before dinner. We decided to go back and help out Triton Avenue until then. We put on our hats to protect us from death magic and headed out.
"Em I was thinking," I said as we headed over.
"Yes," she said.
"What if we ended up like Malistere and Cyrus?" She slowed her footing.
"Why would you ask that?"
"It's just something that worries me, if we were to ever fall apart like that."
"Gen," she said reassuringly. "They fell apart because Malistere was in love, and we don't have boyfriends."
"You're in 'love'," I said mockingly.
"It's a crush, that's it," she said flatly. I'm glad she admitted it, even if she doesn't really know the guy that well. "The other reason was because Malistere turned evil. I'm never turning evil because I learned a long time ago that it's better to do what's right even if you hate the person. As for you, I think you're too stubborn and hard-headed to be evil."
"Har-har," I said. "Are you sure we still won't fall out?"
"You're always there for me, so how can I leave you? As for you, you think I'm nothing without you and you want to experience everything with me; even if we fight, I think we'll always come back to each other."
"That makes me feel a little better," I said smiling a little.
Once we made it to Triton Avenue, we went to tell Susie we were back on the case with her brother. While I was talking to Susie, Emily spotted something: a smith across the bridge and two waterfall streams. She went to go make sure it was the smith. I was going to go with her, but I ran into Duncan.
"So you find out about Malistere's wife," he said.
"Yeah," I said. "We found out she got a cold and died, which caused Malistere to turn evil in hopes of bringing her back. You could have told us that."
"I'm no good at telling stories and I didn't know everything you just said. Where'd your sister run off to?"
"She went to go see a Smith, and then we're continuing through the street. How do we get there anyway?"
"You really have never been here before," said Duncan. "You see that portal over there?" He pointed. I looked and saw a glowing portal.
"Yes," I said.
"It leads to the other part of the street. You should consider yourself lucky that the undead don't like water otherwise undead hordes would be flowing through that portal."
"Yeah I guess I am lucky," I said nervously.
"Even if the undead find a way past that, I'm here, the greatest Death student of Malistere; no one can handle this situation better than me."
"Right," I said. "Then why hasn't the situation been solved yet?"
"I need to find out where the haunted minions are coming from before I leave. At least I'm not sitting still with worry like Miss Gryphonbane over there."
"You probably don't have any siblings," I said bitterly. I went to follow Emily. She was coming back after locating the Smith.
"It was a Smith," she said. "Check that one off the list."
"Don't leave me alone with Duncan again," I said sternly. "Now let's go check out the other side of the street before dinner."
Some intrigue in there, along with some deep reflection. If you haven't these things I will now point them out: Emily and Genevieve are twins. Emily is more heroic and noble-like than Genevieve. Emily causes Genevieve a lot of pain and mental confusion but is also very precious to her. Emily is more the protagonist than Genevieve, but Genevieve is still a hero to the people, just more of an anti-hero. Emily has things like a tragic past and a heroic mindset, while Genevieve is filled with doubt and has a very mundane and flat life. Just a little more insight on the characters. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
Until then-Admiringroseblossom11