Temple of the Zodiac
Chapter 14: Glabrezu's Plan is Revealed
After lying for two weeks unattended and vacant, the Clubhouse was once again filled with life and activity as the five teams came home one by one. The exhausted Ham-Hams all gathered around inside the Clubhouse, having a victory feast in celebration for the collection of the Caidoz pieces. Seeds and acorns were spread out everywhere as the Ham-Hams gathered around for a feast. As they ate, they waited in anticipation for Daruth and Harmony to return so they could connect the Caidoz pieces into one. All ten of the Caidoz pieces were laid out in a pile in the center of the large round table, their zodiac signs glowing in a large variety of colors. The Ham-Hams gathered in groups so they could exchange stories about their adventure. Teams One, Two, and Four sat in a large circle talking to each other about their adventures.
"I tell you, Cade and Ilde was zee cutest couple I've ever seen," said Bijou as she finished her story about what happened when they visited the tribe.
"Wow, I never knew you were so good at bringing couples together," said Sandy.
"I guess eet's a gift," said Bijou. "I just wish we could've stayed for zee wedding." Sandy was sitting next to Maxwell and she soon noticed that he appeared a little nervous and he was hiding something behind his back.
"Maxwell, what's wrong?" asked Sandy. Maxwell seemed startled by hearing Sandy's voice and in response, he just stared at her as if he was afraid of her. "Are you okay? You look nervous."
"Well, I guess it's now or never," thought Maxwell to himself. All eyes were on Maxwell as he turned to face Sandy.
"Sandy, I have a gift for you," said Maxwell before rubbing his head out of nervousness, repeating "Kushi-Kushi" as he did. After rubbing himself for a minute, Maxwell worked up the nerve to reveal the gold necklace he had won in the Bungi Day Carnival. He had been holding the necklace behind his back. "I won it at the carnival, I hope you like it." Sandy seemed speechless upon seeing the gift.
"Maxwell, it's beautiful," said Sandy as she took the necklace from Maxwell's paws and put it around her neck. "How do I look?"
"Beautiful," said Maxwell.
"Thank you so much," said Sandy as she and Maxwell hugged each other, repeating "Schmubby-Wubby" as they did. As the two hugged, Stan sat next to Sandy and was displaying his disgust by pretending to gag.
Meanwhile, Team Three and Five were sitting in a group and they too were exchanging stories. Kaiu was next to his mother, wanting to tell his mom about his adventure with Neteru.
"You should have seen it, Mommy," said Kaiu. "Daddy just blew Glabrezu off his feet and then he pound him to the ground." Mara laughed at the sight of her son's enthusiasm.
"Well, I'm glad you're safe and it sounds like you were a good boy the whole time," said Mara. "I'm proud of you." Mara lovingly wrapped her arms around Kaiu and kissed him on the forehead. Normally, little boys wouldn't tolerate being kissed and hugged by their mothers like this but Kaiu was difference since he didn't mind his mom being this affectionate to him. As Mara hugged her son, Neteru began telling her about what happened on Drumstone, detailing the Baroque Association, Amy, and the fight he and the rebels were in. When he was done, Mara asked, "So what's going to happened to Drumstone?"
"After discussing the matter over dinner, Princess Amy agreed that joining Halastia would be a valuable asset to her country," said Neteru. "She's agreed to give the country to Halastia and Tick remained with her so they could discuss how they were going to do it."
"That's good to hear," said Mara.
"By the way, Oxnard just told me that you guys got to visit Soshi," said Neteru. "How are things going for her?"
"Oh she's doing fine," said Mara. "She had married a handsome young ham-ham named Kitsu and the two had an adorable baby girl together named Kuni. You should have seen her, she was such a sweetie."
"Aw, I wish I could have seen her," said Neteru as he tried to imagine what Soshi's baby would look like.
At that moment, the door to the Clubhouse burst open suddenly, startling the Ham-Hams out of their conversations, and standing in the open door was none other than Daruth and Harmony.
"Hamha, we're back," said Harmony kindly.
"Hey guys, did you find the Sidereal Palace?" asked Hamtaro.
"Finding it was harder than we thought but we succeeded none the less," said Daruth. Upon hearing the news, the Ham-Hams all leaped to their feet and began to gather around Daruth, eager to hear more. The most enthusiastic of the Ham-Hams was Hamtaro who was literally jumping up and down in celebration as he said, "Hamtastic, now we can go save Neanna."
"Hold on, Hamtaro, we still need all the Caidoz pieces," said Harmony.
"Don't worry, we have 'em right here," said Howdy as he pointed to the table where all the Caidoz pieces were piled. Daruth eagerly ran to the table, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran, so he could get a good look at the Caidoz pieces.
"Hamsterrific, it looks like you've got all of them and they've been activated, too," said Daruth.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Harmony. "Lets get these pieces back together."
One by one, the Caidoz pieces were put together side by side alongside the Capricorn and Aquarius pieces which Daruth had already put together earlier. Maxwell and Daruth monitored the arrangement of the pieces because they had to fit in the correct order. The Caidoz pieces were gradually fitted together on the table, their symbols glowing like Christmas lights.
"Okay everyone, stand back," said Daruth and all the Ham-Hams stepped away from the Caidoz pieces, not sure what was about to happen. Daruth placed his paws upon the pieces and began to recite out loud a verse that would combined the pieces. "I join these pieces to each other so they can draw power from one another." Once the verse was finished, all twelve of the Caidoz pieces began to glow a bright orange light which filled the room. With all twelve pieces together, the light they were generating was incredibly hot, almost like a fire. The light got brighter and brighter as the magic of the Caidoz pieces unleashed its magical energy. The strange surge of magical power only lasted for ten seconds before the light went out suddenly, allowing the Ham-Hams to see the new form of the Caidoz pieces. All twelve pieces have merged into one large solid piece with no creases or lines that indicated where the Caidoz pieces were once apart.
With the Caidoz pieces now together, they formed what appeared to be a dial of some kind. It was relatively flat and along its edge was the twelve zodiac symbols (all glowing an orange glow) arranged like the numbers of a clock face. Attached to the center of the dial was a raised cylinder of some kind. The Ham-Hams cautiously approached the Caidoz pieces, wondering what its new shape is supposed to be.
"Hey, wait a minute, I thought you said that the Caidoz pieces was supposed to form a key so we could unlock the door to the Sidereal Palace," said Howdy to Daruth.
"Perhaps this is a key but not in the tradition sense," suggested Daruth. Curious, Neteru picked up the large golden dial which was heavier then he expected since it now had the combined weight of twelve Caidoz pieces. He turned the dial over and discovered that the cylinder in the middle was hallow, creating a large square shaped hole in the middle of the dial as if the cylinder was a cup.
"I think Daruth may be right," said Neteru. "It appears this is supposed to fit onto something."
"You could be right but we wont know for certain how to use the Caidoz pieces unless we go to the Sidereal Palace and find out," said Maxwell.
"Great, when will we be leaving?" asked Daruth.
"Immediately," said Neteru.
"Immediately?" repeated Boss in surprise, followed by a few gasps and complaints by some of the Ham-Hams.
"But we just got back from a long journey of finding those Caidoz pieces, why can't we take a break first?" asked Oxnard.
"Because Glabrezu is still after the Caidoz pieces and now that we have them all in one place, anyone can use them," said Neteru. "We must get to the Sidereal Palace quickly before Glabrezu and Spat finds us."
"He's right," agreed Mara. "We must get to the Sidereal Place before they do."
"Yeah, lets go," said Kaiu as he hopped up and down happily, knowing that he was going on another adventure with his father.
With another journey ahead of them, the Ham-Hams packed their back packs once again for a trip to the Sidereal Palace. Fortunately, according to Daruth, the hike to the Sidereal Palace will only take a few hours. Surprisingly, the palace is actually located not far from where they lived. It was inside a forest located west of their home town. An unexplored territory for the Ham-Hams since their adventures took them east of their town. With the fate of the human and Ham-Ham race at stake, they walked through the forests, avoiding all the predators and natural obstacles that got in their way. All the while, Boss carried the heavy Caidoz key on his back, the weight of it baring down upon him.
"Can't we stop for a break, this thing is getting heavy," said Boss out of breath. Neteru, who was located towards the front of the group, turned his attention to Boss and realized that he did seem hot and sweaty.
"Okay, we'll take a break," said Neteru and the Ham-Hams all sat down to rest their tired feet.
Kaiu sat next to his parents as he waited anxiously for Mara to pull out a seed for him to eat.
"Daddy, when Neanna is freed, will she improve the world?" asked Kaiu as he waited.
"I'm sure she will," said Neteru. "She was the one who created all life on this planet and before she was in the Astral Plane, she was the goddess to the ham-hams of the world."
"Wow, that's so cool," said Kaiu. At that point, Mara managed to find a sun flower seed and gave it to Kaiu who immediately scarfed it down as if he was starving to death. As Kaiu ate, Neteru began scanning the area as if he was expecting someone.
"What's wrong?" asked Mara.
"I'm looking for Glabrezu and Spat," said Neteru. "I can't help but wonder where they are right now."
"They could be anywhere," said Mara.
"That's why we need to be careful," said Neteru. "The fate of the world is in our paws."
After a well deserved rest, the Ham-Hams continued their endless march through the forest. The hours sunk into the afternoon and still there was no sign of the Sidereal Palace. Daruth and Harmony led the team through the forest. Although they kept reassuring that they knew where they were going but even Neteru was feeling skeptical about that claim. The Ham-Hams were eventually led up a steep hill, repeating "Ticky-Ticky" slowly as they tiredly trudges up the side of the hill. Sweat covered the Ham-Hams' bodies as they tiredly worked their way up the hill.
"Oh, I can't go on much longer," said Oxnard out of breath.
"Me neither," said Kana.
"Well, you should be glad you don't have to carry this huge key," said Boss as he shouldered the heavy collection of Caidoz pieces.
"Don't worry, we're almost there," said Harmony, overhearing the complaints.
"Yep, the palace is right on top of this hill," reassured Daruth. Tired, the Ham-Hams continued to hike up the steep hill, determined to reach the palace.
One by one, the Ham-Hams climbed up to the top of the hill with great relief upon reaching it. All the Ham-Hams were expecting to see a large beautiful building or an old beaten up stone structure in front of them when they reached the top of the hill but what they did see, they did not expect. The top of the hill was completely devoid of anything. All there was to see on the top of the hill was a bare patch of land and a single rock in the middle.
"Well, here we are," said Daruth. "The Sidereal Palace."
"Uh, Daruth, there's nothing here," said Sandy.
"Yeah, except for a rock," agreed Stan.
"Only to the untrained eye," said Daruth with a smile as he approached the rock. "It took me days to figure it out but I soon discovered how to find the Sidereal Palace. According to my information, it said 'The Palace has been hidden from view and can only be revealed by the combined Caidoz pieces. To reveal the Sidereal Palace, you need to find a landmark that shows the middle of the sky.' The clue didn't make much sense to me at first and after days of searching, I finally found out where the symbol was and it's right here."
"Where is it?" asked Neteru.
"Come here and I'll show you," said Daruth. Curious, Neteru walked over to the rock where Daruth stood with the Ham-Hams following close behind.
Neteru examined the rock and right there on the rock were several millimeter sized holes that were drilled into the rock. One hole had been placed directly on top of the rock amongst other groups of holes.
"Don't you see it?" asked Daruth.
"See what?" asked Neteru.
"These holes represent stars," said Daruth. "You can easily see it because their positions form The Big Dipper and The Little Dipper. One group of holes forms the unmistakable shape of The Big Dipper." Surprised, Neteru turned his gaze back to the stone and upon closer inspection, he realized that the holes formed the shape of the two most famous constellations in the sky. His attention was drawn back to Daruth as he spoke up again. "When I first saw this, I wondered what it all meant. As I thought about it, I suddenly remembered something from my years of studying astronomy. It's a known fact you can find the North Star by following the two stars that make up the front of the Dipper, also known as the Pointer Stars. By following those same two holes in the rock, you can easily see that the position of the Pointer Stars are pointing towards the end of the Little Dipper's handle. The star that makes up the tip of the Little Dipper is Polaris, our current North Star. The North Star is what the clue meant when it said 'center of the night sky' meaning that the Sidereal Place is right here."
"Wow, zat's brilliant," said Bijou.
"I have to admit, you're very observant but how are we going to reveal the Sidereal Palace from here?" asked Neteru.
"That is where the Caidoz pieces are needed," said Daruth. "Boss, could you please hand me the Caidoz pieces." Boss gladly handed the combined Caidoz pieces to Daruth who took the heavy object and carried it to the stone.
Daruth carefully held the key over the stone, aligning the center of the dial with the hole that represented the North Star. Once it was properly positioned, Daruth let go of the dial and miraculously, it began to hover over the rock like a UFO. The Ham-Hams stared in amazement at the floating dial.
"We better stand back," said Daruth as he directed the Ham-Hams to back away from the stone. Suddenly, there was an earthquake that began to shake the ground underneath their feet.
"What's happening?" asked Penelope but before anyone could answer her, the rock began to lift out of the ground as something very large under it began to rise up from beneath the Earth. The Ham-Hams repeated "Badda-Badda" as they ran in all directions to avoid the large structure that was rising out of the ground like bamboo. Chunks of dirt was flying everywhere and the Ham-Hams were lifting up their arms to protect themselves from the down poor of dirt and rocks. Once the earthquake had ceased and the falling rocks had stopped, the Ham-Hams cautiously walked towards the structure that stood before them.
"What is it?" asked Kaiu curiously.
"That is the Sidereal Palace," said Daruth. The Ham-Hams were amazed by the beauty of the structure. For something that had been buried underground for thousands of years, the palace was in good condition. It was made out of a stone that had been painted bright gold which shined brightly as the afternoon sun shined on it. The palace was square in shape and the exterior was covered in pictures of constellations and zodiac symbols as well as fancy moldings that formed the intricate and beautiful patterns that decorated the palace along its edges. The stone that was originally sticking out of the ground was actually a part of the main entrance where large golden colored double doors could be seen. The Caidoz key to the palace remained suspended over the rock until it eventually drifted to the ground in front of the door.
"Now what do we do?" asked Panda.
"I don't see any knobs that will enable us to open this huge door," said Maxwell.
"I guess we have to use the key to unlock it," said Cappy.
"But how do we use the key?" asked Mara. As the Ham-Hams were busy giving suggestions as to how to open the palace, Neteru stared at the door, looking for clues, when he suddenly noticed a circler indentation on one of the doors. In the middle of the indentation was a rectangle of some kind which was sticking out of the door. Neteru remembered that there was a square hole on the back of the dial. On a hunch, he picked up the key and carried it to the rectangle.
"Neteru, what are you doing?" asked Mara.
"I think the Caidoz pieces fit here," suggested Neteru as he lifted the Caidoz pieces to the rectangle and began to push the dial's hole around the rectangle on the door. Amazingly, it fit, allowing Neteru to push the rectangle into the Caidoz pieces.
"Why didn't I think of that?" said Daruth. Seeing that he seemed to be on the right track, Neteru began pushing the dial further along the rectangle and when the dial was pushed all the way into the wall, the palace immediately lit up like a Christmas tree. Neteru jumped back in surprise as all the symbols and drawings on the palace lit up in a bright orange light, revealing that the magic of the Sidereal Palace had been activated.
The Ham-Hams watched in amazement as words began to engrave themselves along the double doors in the same way the zodiac signs appeared on the Caidoz pieces. The words were listed side by side and they read:
Daruth, Kylie, Kana, Travis, Roberto, Mara, Moonbeam, Laura, June, Terra.
The hamans watched in amazement as their own names were being drawn along the door.
"What is this all about?" asked Laura.
"Why are our names up there?" asked Roberto.
"My information said that the Caidoz pieces work like a lock to enter the correct combination of zodiac signs," said Daruth. "I don't know for certain what that means, though." Looking for answers, Neteru once again turned his attention to the Caidoz pieces and by looking at them, he noticed that right above the indentation where the Caidoz pieces were fitted into, there was an upside-down triangle that was pointing down upon the indentation like an arrow. With the combined Caidoz pieces in the indentation, Neteru realized that it looked like the dial to a combination lock.
Curious, Neteru grabbed the protruding cylinder on the dial and then attempted to rotate it and to his surprise, the dial actually turned. The Ham-Hams watched in amazement as Neteru turned the dial effortlessly.
"Hey Daddy, how are you doing?" asked Kaiu.
"It appears that this dial can turn," said Neteru. "I bet that the creators of the Caidoz pieces intended the combined Caidoz pieces to work like a combination lock. By using zodiac signs instead of numbers, I think we're supposed to enter the combination in the same way you would with a combination lock."
"Why that's a brilliant suggestion but what combination should we put in?" asked Moonbeam.
"It's all written right there," said Neteru as he pointed to the names magically carved into the door. "I think we're supposed to enter the combination in the order of the zodiac signs of the people listed here. For example, the first name on that list is Daruth. Daruth, what is your zodiac sign?"
"Huh, Taurus," said Daruth. Neteru clasped the dial firmly and began to turn it clockwise. He rotated the dial a few times in order to reset it and then he turned until the zodiac sign of Taurus stopped under the pointing triangle.
"Okay, next on the list is Kylie," said Neteru. "Kylie, what's your zodiac sign?"
"Me?" asked Kylie. "It's Cancer." Neteru turned the dial counterclockwise until it came to a stop on the zodiac sign of Cancer.
"Kana, what's your zodiac sign?" asked Neteru as he read off the name of the next person on the list.
"It's Pisces," said Kana. Neteru turned the dial clockwise again until he stopped at Pisces.
One by one, the names were gone through the list and their zodiac signs were entered into the combination. Next on the list was Travis who's zodiac sign was Leo. This was followed by Roberto (Aries), Mara (Virgo), Moonbeam (Libra), Laura (Scorpio), and ending with Terra who was an Aquarius. as soon as the final zodiac sign was entered into the combination, the door to the palace automatically began to open. The large doors squeaked and rumbled as they slowly opened. The doors swung wide open, allow the Ham-Hams to see inside.
The interior of the Sidereal Palace was made up of the same gold painted stones as the exterior and it was covered in the same gold colored symbols. The Palace stretched on for about another yard before it ended with a large stone structure in the back.
"Amazing," said Daruth breathlessly.
"What is?" asked Harmony.
"Everything," said Daruth. "I mean the fact that the ancients were clever enough to build a lock system based off of the zodiac. It makes total sense. Astronomy is the oldest science on Earth."
"Oldie, did we come all this way to admire the craftsmanship of the temple or did we come to free Neanna?" said Howdy sarcastically.
"Howdy, for once, I agree with you," said Dexter.
"Yeah, lets get in there," said Hamtaro.
"Last one there is a gerbil," said Kaiu as he sprinted into the Sidereal Palace, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran. The Ham-Hams followed the energetic child into the temple, unaware of the two sinister looking figures who stood in the shadows.
The Ham-Hams gathered in the back of the Palace and there, they saw a large structure of some kind. The structure appeared to be a large metal triangle which was flat and stood strait up on its own accord. The triangle was no more than half an inch thick and it stood about a foot tall. The material used to build the structure appeared to be a strange gray metal which had a dull shine to it. Along the rim of the triangle was a border with some kind of hieroglyphs written on it. It was clear to the Ham-Hams that this huge chunk of metal must be the portal that leads to the Astral Plane. On the floor were two dials, just like the one the Caidoz pieces formed, only the dials had glowing green zodiac signs instead of orange ones. Daruth approached the triangle and began running his paw along its surface.
"Amazing," said Daruth in astonishment. "This portal had been constructed out of meteorites."
"Meteorites?" said Sandy. "But aren't those rocks that fell from outer space?"
"Yes but meteorites can also be metal," explained Daruth. "Meteorites have been used for centuries as tools to travel through the Astral Plane. Since meteorites are the only materials on Earth that were forged in space, meteorites naturally are perfect for manipulating the energies of the Astral Plane even the magic of the outer space itself."
"That's great and all but how do we get this portal open?" asked Pashmina.
"I don't know," admitted Daruth.
"Heke?" chorused the Ham-Hams.
"But what about all those clues you received?" asked Hamtaro.
"It didn't mention that there was going to be some kind of a combination lock to activate the portal," said Daruth.
"Zere's got to be a way," said Bijou.
"Perhaps we need to enter our own zodiac signs again," suggested Cappy.
"Good suggestion, Cappy, but a wrong one none the less," said a dark and sinister voice from right behind the Ham-Hams. Everyone turned around in surprise and to their horror, Glabrezu stood right behind them and next to him was Spat who held up his pitch fork menacingly.
Neteru, Mara, Terra, Moonbeam, and Harmony immediately pushed their way through the crowd of Ham-Hams so they could get in-between the Ham-Hams and Glabrezu. They held up their staffs in a defensive manor (except for Terra who had no staff and Harmony who used her wand) and glared at Glabrezu in anticipation for a fight. Glabrezu was unaffected by their approach. Infact, he looked pleased to be seeing them. In his paw, he held a staff that the Ham-Hams had never seen before. the Staff was bright red in color and was even taller than Glabrezu. It appeared to have been made out of hamster bones that had been glued together end to end and then had hamster skin stretched over it then painted red. Neteru, Mara, Moonbeam, Harmony, and Terra could all sense the negative vibrations that came from the staff and it caused the fur on the back of their necks to stand on end every time they even laid eyes upon it.
"Get out of here, Glabrezu," said Neteru. "We got here before you."
"Or so you think," said Glabrezu. "The fact is, I've been waiting for you Ham-Hams to come here all day."
"What do you mean?" asked Neteru.
"You fool, I'm the reason you're all here in the first place," said Glabrezu.
"Heke?!" chorused the Ham-Hams in shock.
"That's right, I've been using all of you to get me into the Sidereal Palace," said Glabrezu. "You see, in order to use the Caidoz pieces, we needed at least twelve people to activate them," said Glabrezu. "Since Spat and I are not naturally born with a zodiac sign, neither of us could activate the Caidoz pieces. So we had to find others who we could manipulate into activating the Caidoz pieces for us and who would be the perfect candidates than the Ham-Hams. With so many Ham-Hams, there was obviously a diverse collection of zodiac signs, enough to activate all twelve Caidoz pieces. Since the Ham-Hams are so eager to help others, it was easy to trick you all into finding and activating the Caidoz pieces for us. It took years of planning and research but we succeeded."
Many mouths dropped open in shock and horror as they realized they had all been pawns in Glabrezu's evil scheme. Even Harmony couldn't believe what she was hearing but no one was as shocked as Neteru was. On his way to Halastia, it occurred to Neteru that Glabrezu would have used others to activate the Caidoz pieces for him but not once did he suspect that he and the Ham-Hams were those "others" Glabrezu was using.
"Yes, it wasn't easy," said Glabrezu. "We knew the secrets of the Caidoz and the Sidereal Palace but it took over three years to find the remaining pieces. Once we did, we worked on ways of convincing the Ham-Hams into finding them. First, we had to find some way to indirectly give the Ham-Hams the information we had on the Caidoz pieces and the method I chose was to gave the information to Daruth to interpret and he could tell the Ham-Hams." Daruth's mouth flew open in horror.
"So you were the one who gave me the information about the Caidoz pieces?" asked Daruth in shock.
"That's right," Glabrezu said to Daruth with an evil grin. "I had used a transformation spell to disguise myself and then I befriended you and gave you the information. I knew you were smart enough to read the writing on the parchments I gave you and I also knew you would no doubt share this information with the Ham-Hams but I felt that there needed to be some urgency to get you to share the information and that's where Harmony came into play. I knew she liked to engage in meditations every week and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to fool her. Using astral projection, I projected an image in Harmony's vision, showing her that I was after the Caidoz pieces but the vision was entirely fabricated." Harmony couldn't believe it that she didn't see through the trick. She felt so disgusted in herself.
"Once Harmony saw the vision, I knew she would probably go strait to Daruth to see if he had any new information about the Caidoz pieces and hopefully he would have figured out the clues by then," said Glabrezu. "Once they realize that they know where the pieces are and how to activate them, I knew they they would immediately go to the the Ham-Hams to help them find and put together the Caidoz pieces before we did. In order to ensure the success of the mission, we followed closely behind to make sure you succeeded."
"I personally had been following Boss, Roberto, Stan, Sandy, and Travis to that volcano," said Spat. "I watched you guys enter the little cave in the volcano and I waited outside for you guys to come out but then the volcano began to erupt. The lava had flown towards the entrance to the cave and I knew if the lava covered the mouth of the cave, it would trap you guys and the Caidoz piece inside the cave. To prevent that, I had used my magic to cause the lava to cool as it reached the mouth of the cave." Boss's mouth dropped open as he remembered that when he was running out of that cave, he noticed that the lava around the cave had somehow cooled but he didn't have time to wonder what had happened. Boss couldn't believe that he didn't realize that someone must have used magic to cool off that lava.
"That's not the only time I've helped," said Spat. "After saving you guys from the lava, I teleported to Rokugon to help Neteru's wife and her friends find the next piece. Prior to her arrival, I had made a deal with Agasha. Glabrezu told me that Agasha was plotting to take revenge on Soshi so I came to him and made him an offer. I told him I would kidnap baby Kuni for him in exchange that he would destroy the Ham-Hams in addition to Soshi and Kuni. Since he had no way of getting anywhere near Kuni, he accepted the deal. I gave him the Caidoz piece and told him that he could use it as bait for the Ham-Hams. Using my magic and my wings, I flew up to Kuni's room, cut the hole in the wall and then kidnapped Kuni." Upon hearing this, Mara remembered that when she was inspecting Kuni's bedroom for clues, she wondered how could someone had flown up there and cut a hole in the wall. Now she knew. "After I saw Mara and the others go after Agasha, I disguised myself as a maid using a transformation spell. I then ran to Arwrue and then showed him the ransom note that Mara had left behind." Mara gasped as she remembered that Arwrue had told Soshi that it was a maid that informed him that Soshi was after Agasha. Mara felt sick by the idea of being used like that.
"Of-course, the trick was to help ensure the illusion that we were after the Caidoz pieces," continued Glabrezu. "For that, I decided to reveal myself that I was trying to get the pieces even though I really was not. Remembering that one of the clues said that a Caidoz pieces was inside a museum, I quickly kidnapped the museum's owner, Simon. After rendering him unconscious, I tied him up and then locked him into a closet. After that, I disguised myself as him." Glabrezu smiled as he noticed the shocked look on Hamtaro's face. "That's right, it was I who assumed the form of Simon and when you thought you were talking to Simon, it was really me in disguise. I had asked the guard to let any visitors who want to see me into the office which explained why the guard let you into Simon's office so readily. During that meeting we had in Simon's office, it was there when I first learned that Neteru had a dear sweet son." Glabrezu's eyes lowered themselves to Kaiu who stood behind his father, shielding himself from Glabrezu's gaze. "At the time, I had no idea Mara and Neteru had a baby and this knowledge allowed for a change of plans."
"When you guys came back to the museum, I had followed the Ham-Hams through the museum under an invisibility spell, waiting for the opportunity to kidnap Kaiu. While Kaiu was admiring that suit of armor, I seized the opportunity to kidnap him. I took him into the basement and deliberately tied the rope around Kaiu's arms loosely so he could escape from his bonds. After tying him up and leaving him in the basement, I had disguised myself into Simon again and then I went up stairs to find Neteru. I had personally wrote the ransom note and gave it to Neteru as well as the Caidoz piece. Neteru was fooled by the letter and I sent him to the basement. I changed back into my natural form and then I teleported back into the basement where I waited for Neteru to show up. During the fight we had in the basement, Kaiu had escaped his bonds just as I hoped he would and then I made it look like I was defeated. As Neteru and Kaiu were hugging, Neteru had dropped the Caidoz piece to the ground but I didn't go after it. Instead I teleported away. Little did you know that I only teleported to a floor above where I changed back into Simon, came down to the basement and told you guys to keep the Caidoz piece."
A wave of guilt washed over the Ham-Hams as they realized that all this time, they had been helping their enemy. If they hadn't found the Caidoz pieces, Glabrezu and Spat would have never been able to enter the Sidereal Palace. They wanted to help but all they did was aid the villains into coming here and they didn't see it coming even though there were so many clues right there in front of them.
Glabrezu grinned evilly as he stood there and enjoyed the sorrow he had caused the Ham-Hams.
"You guys really are too trusting," said Glabrezu. "Now stand aside, I will now open the portal and let my lord and master out."
"Never!" shouted Neteru defiantly. "You will never get past all of us." Glabrezu laughed at the statement.
"Still fighting to the very end," said Glabrezu. "How noble but utterly futile for this time, I have the upper hand. See this?" Glabrezu pointed to the strange staff he was holding. "This is the Staff of Alabasta."
"Staff of Alabasta?!" said Neteru in shock. "Isn't that the staff Belacqua was after?"
"The one and the same," said Glabrezu. "This staff was forged by the fearsome demon named Xenallox. It was a staff that was so powerful, it could destroy entire armies. He tried to escape Hell and enter the Mortal Plane by using the power of this staff but the spell he cast had backfired, causing only the staff itself to be transported to the Mortal Plane, leaving Xenallox trapped in Hell. The staff was later recovered by the priests of Drumstone who managed to discover the evil power of the staff and what it could do. Since they couldn't destroy the staff, they ended up hiding it from the world. Belacqua somehow knew about the Staff of Alabasta and attempted to take it for himself but I beat him to it. Belacqua was searching in the right storage room but unbeknownst to him, I had already found my way into the storage room and had take the staff for myself. I then left a Caidoz piece into the storage room and then used my powers to erase all evidence I had been there.
"With the power of this staff, I can destroy you all without even trying."
"We'll see about that," said Harmony who raised her wand for an attack. "Abellow geyosso." A white beam of light shot from Harmony's wand but Glabrezu easily deflected the attack with his staff. Harmony gasped in shock. "This cannot be. That attack should have knocked you off your feet."
"That is only a sample of what the Staff of Alabasta can do," said Glabrezu. "Demonic Web." By shouting the command into the staff, a web of some kind shot from the end of the staff. The web flew right past Neteru and it struck the Ham-Hams behind him. The Ham-Hams were caught by the web and then they were flung to the side of the wall where they stuck there. Glabrezu fired two more webs and more Ham-Hams were attached to the other side of the room and onto the ceiling. In less than a minute, Glabrezu had managed to immobilize all the Ham-Hams except for Harmony, Neteru, Mara, Moonbeam, Terra, and Kaiu (who was still hiding behind his father).
The large web that held the Ham-Hams glued them to the wall and ceiling, binding their legs and arms like flies on fly paper. They wiggled and squirmed through the web but they couldn't get themselves free.
"Help us, Neteru," cried Hamtaro from the ceiling.
"Yes, this is most uncomfortable," said Daruth who hung next to Hamtaro. Neteru and the others looked up at the Ham-Hams in shock. Angered, Moonbeam raised her staff and shouted, "Subbollogo egonnana." From her staff, a cascading cone of ice shot from the stone on Moonbeam's staff but Glabrezu used the tip of his staff to deflect the shot and revert it back to Moonbeam. The ice struck her dead on, knocking her onto her back. Glabrezu used the power of the Staff of Alabasta to enhance Moonbeam's spell so that the ice actually formed around Moonbeam's body, imprisoning her in a chunk of ice. Moonbeam tried to break free from the icy prison but she couldn't. Wanting to help, Terra began to use her telekinetics against Glabrezu but the protective shield generated by the Staff of Alabasta prevented any form of telekinetics from touching him.
"You need to give that brain of yours a rest," said Glabrezu. From his staff, a bubble was formed and the bubble then trapped Terra inside it. Terra tried to use her telekinetics to move a heavy object to pop the bubble but she quickly realized that the bubble somehow blocked her psionic abilities. She tried to pop the bubble using the quills on her back but that too was fruitless.
"You stop this right now," ordered Harmony.
"Or you'll what?" asked Glabrezu. "You know, you little pixie, I've had it up to here with you and this is the last time you will stand in my way." A glowing yellow beam of light shot from the tip of the staff and struck Harmony in the chest. At first, Harmony stood paralyzed as if she was a statue but then the light began to surround her and soon, it formed a large stone around Harmony. Harmony had been trapped inside a large prison made out of quartz crystal, her body still frozen in place.
While Glabrezu was distracted, Mara took the opportunity to counter strike. She shouted, "Vivalloco begina" and from her staff, a strange plant was created. The plant looked like a collection of thorny vines which flung through the air as the plant soured towards it target. The plant was supposed to grab the staff but Glabrezu saw the plant coming and immediately struck it with the tip of his staff. In doing so, the plant was automatically tainted with the power of the staff, leaving it under Glabrezu's control. Glabrezu then redirected the plant back Mara.
"Shevio..." said Mara but before she could finish the spell, the plant struck Mara in the chest and flung her to the wall next to the portal. The plant held Mara pinned to the wall, its thorn-covered vines sinking deep into Mara's skin. She cried out in pain as the plant held her pinned.
Upon seeing what happened to his mom, Kaiu immediately ran to Mara's aid, shouting, "Don't worry, I'll help you, Mommy."
"Kaiu, don't," ordered Neteru but Kaiu had already gotten away from him. Glabrezu watched Kaiu run to his mother and decided to destroy him. He aimed his staff at Kaiu and from the staff, an orange beam of light shot towards Kaiu but Neteru saw the attack coming and he immediately placed himself in-between the ray of light and Kaiu. In doing so, he saved his son but he also received the full blast of the attack. Neteru tensed in pain as seemingly every nerve in his body was screaming in pain. What Neteru didn't realize was that the spell was a "Advodarious Spell." A spell that hurts worse than anything else as it tears you to shreds. By the time the spell had ripped its way through him, Neteru's body struck the ground hard, covered from head to toe in burns and cuts.
There were some shocked and horrified gasps from the Ham-Hams but none of them could be heard over the sound of Kaiu screaming, "DADDY!" Kaiu repeated "Badda-Badda" as he ran to his father who laid bleeding there on the floor. Kaiu frantically knelt down to Neteru, tears pouring down his face.
"Please get up," pleaded Kaiu through his tears. "Oh Daddy, please don't be dead." The Ham-Hams watched tensely as Kaiu frantically tried to awaken his father, especially Mara who was in tears herself.
After what felt like forever (even though it was only a minute) Neteru groggily opened his eyes and looked up into the face of his son. Even though Kaiu was just a child, he could still see that his father was dying. Neteru's breathing was short and shallow and he was bleeding everywhere. Kaiu was helpless to save him and all he could do was be by his side. As Kaiu sat next to his father, he suddenly felt an ominous shadow descended upon him and as he looked up, he saw Glabrezu with his staff pointed at Neteru.
"Stand aside so I may finish the job," ordered Glabrezu.
"No," shouted Kaiu as he put himself in front of his father to protect him. "I wont let you hurt my Daddy."
"Kaiu, don't," said Neteru in a dull whisper. "You must go."
"I'm not leaving you," insisted Kaiu.
"Get out of the way, you little brat," seethed Glabrezu.
"No, he's my Daddy and I love him," said Kaiu as tears formed in his eyes. Glabrezu flinched in disgust at the sight of seeing Kaiu's selfless act to save his father.
"Very well then," said Glabrezu. "If you want to be with him so much then I shall kill you both." Glabrezu raised his staff, ready to use his magic on them. Despite the fact he was going to die, Kaiu would not leave his father alone and he instead wrapped his arms around Neteru and said, "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, son," said Neteru as he wrapped his arms around Kaiu in comfort. The Ham-Hams began begging and pleading to Glabrezu to spare Neteru but their pleads did nothing to help.
"Kokalbomral elzenionk," said Glabrezu and a large orange ray of light shot from the staff....
Author's note: There's one last clue to Glabrezu's plan that I had hidden. Chapter 11 was entitled "Red Herring" and in the dictionary, a red herring is "something used to divert attention from the basic issue." What Glabrezu had done to Neteru was considered to be a red herring because Glabrezu's attempt to obtain the Caidoz piece in chapter 11 was merely a way of steering Neteru (and the audience) away from the fact that the Glabrezu is not really after the Caidoz pieces himself. Also, I would like to point out that the zodiac signs of the hamans are my own fabrication.
