Sabrina shuddered faintly as the door to the Study slowly closed behind her. Edward had turned the room into a carefully guarded safe zone, pure and free from the twisting blight of the Mansion's curse. Now that she had retreated into the Hallway, all sense of security slipped away, like a gossamer scarf on a windy day.

I can bet that there are no more 'safe rooms'…we'll have to be on our guard, more than ever. I don't know what Thorne has planned for us, but I can bet that it isn't pleasant.

She chewed on a lock of hair as she contemplated the dark warlock. There's still something nagging at my brain…like there's something that I don't know, but I don't know what that something is…and I know I should know it, but I don't, and…argh, this is making my brain hurt. The Spirit Detective glanced at details of the Hallway as she continued.

I know that Thorne wants the Beacon, but not exactly why…I mean, yeah, unlimited power's great, but there has to be a reason why he wants it…He can't be content with just sitting around this Mansion with a bunch of Netherworld demons, terrorizing ghosts. This is only a step in something much greater…I can tell. But the problem is: what does he want to do?

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" Salem screeched as she continued, lost in her thoughts.

"HELLO! Walking Armor at six o'clock!" Leota yelled, wishing she had a corporeal body to shake the pensive girl with.

True to her companion's word, Sabrina whirled around to see a familiar suit of armor clanking down the hallway at top speed, a broadaxe raised high.

"What is WITH you people?" the Detective screamed, annoyed. "Don't you have anything BETTER to do with your time?" Not waiting for a reply (and not expecting one, either), she let loose a flurry of Power Shots. The Armors, she discovered, were rather resilient, requiring several volleys of energy to take them down.

Once the medieval miscreant had been properly disposed of, Sabrina looked around the Hallway. "Oh great. We're lost."

"You're lost, maybe, but I'm not. I used to live here, remember?" snapped Leota.

"Oh, yeah." Sabrina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Leota sighed gustily. "We'll try the Sun Room. It's down and to your right."

"Yeah, Sabrina!" mocked Salem, "what's wrong with you? Geez, you forgot Leota liv-" The cat soon found himself dangling from the scruff of his neck, the Detective's arm swung back and ready to send the cat sailing. "Never mind!" he wailed.

With Salem stowed back in the backpack, grumbling about contacting PETA, Sabrina continued walking down the hallway, counting doors as she went. No other creatures accosted them; it was as though the witch's fragile temper was a threatening, tangible presence in the Hallway.

"Here we go," she murmured as they stood before the correct door. I wonder what a Sun Room is…

She swung the door open, quickly scanning the room. The word 'austerity' came quickly to mind.

It was an average-sized room, built of aged marble. The furthest wall was mostly composed of windows displaying a cobalt sky. Lightning occasionally flashed through the gray rain now persistently pounding onto the grounds. Half of the far wall had been set farther back, allowing a small niche. In one corner of the room was a raised section stabilized by a few pillars.

Sabrina's attention was immediately diverted to the many full-length mirrors scattered throughout the room. Intrigued, she examined the nearest one. A small metal device poked out of the floor before it. Why would these be here? And what's a 'Sun Room,' anyway? What's the point to it? Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed what appeared to be a small crystal sphere in a gyroscope, with large rings surrounding it like a cage.

What is this? It looks like some kind of jewel or something…

"Leota, what is this doing here?" Sabrina called as she carefully stroked the cool, slick surface of the gem.

The psychic's lips turned up in a half-smile. "You'll find out soon enough."

Sabrina scowled at the indirect answer, and began prowling the rest of the room. Something white caught her attention, drawing her closer.

A faint, soft beam of moonlight shone through the furthest window, leaving a small pool of silver on the pale marble. Sabrina marveled at the pale light, reaching one hand out to let the moon shine upon. "Pretty," she admired.

She drew closer to the window, examining the heavens. A soft, wan moon shone high in the sky, feeble beams gently falling upon the earth. Even the moonshine was dulled here; it was as if the celestial orb had been weakened itself from Thorne's blight.

"Okay then," she said out loud, unexpectedly. "We have a bunch of mirrors and a weird jewel. How does this pertain to finding the light switch?"

"In case you haven't noticed, there is none here. However, the answer to your question seems quite obvious, unless you haven't caught on by now," Salem pointed out lazily.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"Always glad to help." The cat yawned and curled up, watching her through slitted eyes.

The girl made a face at his laziness, and then began to chew on a fingernail as she thought. I realize that I'm a Detective and all now, but…this definitely has me stumped. What do mirrors and a jewel have to do with each other? Is this the puzzle?

Something pricked at the back of her mind. "Oh, Leota…" she trailed in a singsong voice.

The psychic's eyes briefly closed, before opening and glowing a brighter shade of blue than normal. "Through the window, moonlight gleams; to light the crystal, aim the beams."

Sabrina blinked. Okay…so I need to make the crystal light up…and to do THAT, I need to make the moonlight hit it…but how? Without realizing it, she voiced her last query aloud.

As if in direct response, a small wheel—like that found on a piece of machinery to turn a gear—floated before her, bobbing jauntily.

"Would you take that as a 'how'?" Salem replied, smugly.

Sabrina shot him an evil look before leaning down and contemplating the wheel. She had learned not to question how the inanimate objects in the Mansion moved by themselves, but the idea of a floating piece of machinery still remained somewhat questionable in her mind.

Next, she examined the mirror to her right, and the small metal gear-like contraption poking out from the floor before it. She squinted. Wait a minute, there's a hole of some kind here. I wonder if that would fit in it… She turned to reach for the wheel, but it had already floated in front of her and settled snugly into the shaft.

"Why, look at that!" Leota exclaimed. "It's the same kind of gear used in the Winter Garden!"

Sabrina's lips pulled back in a confident grin. "And I bet that it works the same way, too." She reached forward, and quickly turned the wheel. With a creaking sound, the mirror began to swivel to the right. Satisfied for the moment, the Spirit Detective stepped back to admire her work.

"That means that these all work more or less the same way," she announced to the psychic and the cat. "The only problem would be moving the wheel to the other shafts."

As if to oblige, the wheel floated out of the shaft and hovered next to her. The girl blinked. "Uh…thank you."

Sabrina slowly meandered about the room, wandering over to the corner that was set back further. She noted two suits of armor standing in front of pillars. Note to self: make sure those don't start to attack me. A few assorted ghosts drifted out of the wall, swiping at the girl with elongated claws that served as hands.

She found that splitting her attack into a three-pronged pattern worked very nicely on hordes of ghosts swarming towards one en masse. She especially liked watching the little bullets of glowing yellow energy pierce through the wispy forms. If this keeps up, I'm going to turn into some kind of sadistic freak.

Finally, the Spirit Detective cleared the room of ghosts and stood in front of the pale moonbeam falling onto the floor. I see now…if you turn the mirror right next to this beam of moonlight, the light reflects off it. And it goes to bounce off that other mirror a few feet away.

"I get it!" she gasped. "We have to bounce the light off the mirror's surfaces!"

"ALL of them?" Salem stared at the dozen or so mirrors placed through the room.

"Just enough to make a path to the crystal," Leota explained.

Sabrina gave her friend an arch glance. "I thought you weren't explaining the puzzles."

"To you," the psychic teased. "You're the Detective here, honey. You have to figure these things out. I'm here to explain things to that cat of yours."

Salem bristled at the comment, but decided against starting another insult war with Leota. Sabrina needed the relative silence to concentrate. Besides, heckling the psychic meant that she might not help them in the next room…

The obliging little wheel hopped into the shaft and allowed Sabrina to begin to push and pull. Salem hissed slightly at the loud, obnoxious creaking sound the hinges made as the mirror swiveled.

The mirror swiveled to face the moonlight, which now bounced off of it and struck a mirror across from the first. Salem padded along as Sabrina walked over to swivel that one.

After the third or fourth mirror, Salem dragged the backpack with Leota over to the base of the crystal, and began offering 'hints' as to which direction the mirror should be turned in. "Left! Left! …Your other left!"

"Turn it that way! No, not that way, the OTHER way!"

"Put some muscle into it!"

Sabrina finally straightened up, flicked a braid over a shoulder, and leveled a glare at the feline. "Would you like to do this, or would you rather I turned you into a fondue set as a housewarming present for the ghosts?"

Salem blinked and paused. "Great job! I always knew you could do it, Sabby girl!"

Sabrina smirked as she continued turning the wheel.

Leota sighed quietly as she watched the girl continue with her job. We're close to the end of our quest. I don't think they realize just how close. She sighed again softly, wishing she were back in her Séance Room, with her trusty Tarot Deck before her. My Fortune Cards could always help me predict the future, since I can't do it on my own. I wish I knew what is going to happen…we've come so far, that I just couldn't bear it if we lost…

The psychic watched the black-clad girl. I couldn't stand it if something happened to her. Witch or not, she's the bravest person I've ever known, risking her life to save us. But all I can do is be patient, and give her clues. It's for her to piece together the mystery of the Mansion.

Sabrina yelped with surprise as the two suits of armor suddenly jerked to life and began clanking towards her. She yanked the Beacon back, letting the Soul Energy lace up her arm and gather into one pulsing orb.

"ULTRA SHOT!"

The Spirit Detective carefully angled the ball of energy so that it bounced off a nearby mirror and crashed into the walking pieces of metal. With a strange grunting noise, the Armors collapsed onto the floor, the broadaxes clanging as they struck marble.

Sabrina glared at the rapidly dissolving pieces of metal and blew a few stray wisps of hair out of her face. She turned and continued with her task, industriously fiddling with the mirror closest to her.

Salem amused himself by searching the room for spiders. Oddly enough, the strange little arachnids that had loved to torment Sabrina were absent from the room. The feline narrowed his eyes. Something's wrong here.

"Got it!" Sabrina crowed triumphantly. The soft ray of moonlight bounced from mirror to mirror, a wispy beam connecting them. The light hit the final mirror, aiming directly for the gyroscope. The beam touched the gem, which began to glow.

The group stopped in awe, staring as deeper lights flickered from the gem's depths. The metal rims on the gyroscope began to move, the gem shining radiantly.

"Ooooh…."

"Shiny," Salem offered. The cat then stiffened, the bristles on his back raising. "Sssabrinaa…." He hissed.

The air was oppressive, stifling. The Spirit Detective could almost taste mold and mildew in the air; the stench of decay was everywhere.

The gyroscope slowly quivered to a stop, the gem's light slowly dimming.

Purple-black flames burst into existence, before melting away to reveal the form of Atticus Thorne.

Maybe it's me, but this guy just doesn't seem to get it, does he?

"Still here, Sabrina?" Thorne purred, amused. His voice personified the attitude of silk over steel, and contained all the soothing qualities of a death threat. "I thought you would have had the presence of mind to think of your health—after all, there are not many who can stay in Gracey Manor before losing their tenacious grip on sanity…"

"I'm still here," Sabrina growled. "And I swear that I will not leave until I've freed these innocent souls from your curse."

Pale, pencil-thin eyebrows raised in amusement. "Indulging in melodrama, are we? I would hardly have thought the role of the dashing hero—or should I say, heroine—to suit you, child."

Rage and humiliation pulsed through Sabrina's veins. "Skew the truth all you like, Thorne. I may be young, and to you I may seem naïve and weak, but I swear that I will stop you. Self-pretentious bastards," she spat, "like you make me sick. You think that your power and breeding makes you superior? By the end of the night, I will prove that you are nothing but a nasty little waste of space."

A cold alligator-like smile spread across Thorne's face. "Oh? Will you?"

Sabrina glared in response. I never thought I could hate anyone as much as I hate Thorne…

He gave a mock-sigh. "Unfortunately, little half-blood child, I shall have to rectify your sadly mistaken opinion." With that, he dissolved quietly into flames.

Sabrina gave a snort of anger. "I really hate when he does that."

As quietly as he had disappeared, Thorne teleported behind Sabrina, preparing to throw fistfuls of flames. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on Sabrina's sharp ears picking up the crackle of the fire. With record speed, Sabrina whipped around counterfired. Grunting in pain, Thorne teleported again.

Salem backed against the wall as he watched the battle progress: Thorne teleported around the room, slinging caustic comments, along with bunches of flames. Sabrina admirably attempted to track his movements, blasting away with Soul Energy whenever she was able to lock onto the wizard's form.

"An admirable attempt," Thorne purred as Sabrina panted, nearing exhaustion, "but do you really think that you have the strength to continue?"

Sabrina growled, faint beads of sweat beginning to appear on her forehead. The coward…he keeps teleporting around the room. Too cocky and self sure to stand and face me.

Faster than she would have believed possible, Sabrina whipped a cord of Soul Energy up her arm, before lashing it out. Thorne gave another grunt of pain before collapsing into a pile of violet-and-black flames.

"I shall return," he hissed as he disappeared. "And do reconsider, child...these wretched souls are not worth dying for…"

Salem joyfully bounded over to Sabrina, nuzzling her ankles. "You sure showed him."

Sabrina rubbed her forehead. "I guess." She briefly fanned herself. The gyroscope began spinning again, the gem at its center emitting light again.

"Laaaaa la la la!"

Girl, cat, and ghost trapped in a crystal ball whirled to look at each other. "Which one of you did it?" Leota scowled.

"I was just talking, how could I have been singing?" Sabrina protested.

"Don't look at me; I stopped singing soprano a couple centuries ago," Salem pointed out in his usual rich tenor tone.

"And I wasn't talking, either, so…" Leota trailed off.

"LAAAAA! La la la LLLAAAA!"

The group whirled once again to see the ghostly figure of a woman slowly appear near the far window. Sabrina's eye twitched. "You've got to be kidding me."

She was clad in the style of a stereotypical opera diva: a long, flowing dress that clung to her enormous bosom, two pale braids that fell nearly to the floor, and a horned Viking helmet perched on her head. Of course, like most stereotypical opera divas, this woman was…about twenty or thirty pounds over what could be termed 'pleasantly plump.'

The ghost bent her arms forward in a dramatic gesture, and trilled a bit longer. "La, la la la, oh, do I have a pleasant surprise for you, dear! A little token of my thanks for helping us to beat back that horrible warlock." She straightened herself, her bosom bouncing in a manner Sabrina found vaguely comic. "Of course, it isn't every day that someone receives a present from the great Brunhilde! So, it must be special, indeed."

Salem rolled his eyes. "Even death can't dim a diva's pride."

With another dramatic gesture, a spark of blue light flared in Brunhilde's hands. It swelled and grew, light erupting to form a blue Soul Gem. Sabrina gasped as she accepted it. Deeper facets of cerulean and a pure sapphire shone on the walls.

Brunhilde sighed. "I used to have a pair of earrings like that," she murmured. "They were so beautiful…the way they caught the light. They would shine when I was on the stage." A wistful smile tugged at the woman's mouth. "Ah, the stage…that brings back so many memories…" Her boastful manner slowly crept back.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Sabrina whipped out the Death Certificate. "I believe this is yours."

"What?" Brunhilde turned, bewildered. "My—my Death Certificate? But how… Well, now…that makes everything a little more clear." She struck a theatrical pose. "When I was in my prime, I was a singer in the Grand Opera House! I was superb! Patrons came from all over Europe to see me in Carmen! I brought the house down!" She stopped, startled. "Well, goodness…" she started chuckling. "I guess I really did bring the house down the last time, didn't I?"

Unsure of what to say during this monologue, the group stared at Brunhilde.

She sighed gustily. "Oh, I do miss being alive. The thrill of the stage…my adoring fans…and the banquets for the performers…oh, I do miss those." She seemed to drift off into the distant past, in which the name 'Brunhilde' meant something, where she meant something…

"Caviar…beef ragout…cheesecake…pork chop sandwiches…Oh…the pork chop sandwiches…"

…or, simply, a past where she had been able to partake of her favorite delicacies without caution.

"Um, well, that's very nice, but we should probably get going," Sabrina hedged. She and Salem began to slowly back away from Brunhilde, who had begun lapsing into song.

Remembering how Brunhilde had died—and the fact that Leota's crystal ball was close to glass—the Spirit Detective grabbed her two friends and sprinted out of the room.

Brunhilde blinked at the departure of her audience. "Goodness. They were in quite a hurry. I didn't even get to wish them luck!"

She shrugged, and began singing again—for it was perfectly safe, now that the room had been 'cleansed.'

"…no thoughts within her head, but thoughts of joy! No dreams within her heart, but dreams of love!"

"Brunhilde" is the name for the Opera Diva that is on her concept art for the movie. No lie. She's one of the very few ghosts that have names. Thank you, Mona May. (Brunhilde's rant about food is taken from the game) Also, the song Brunhilde sings at the end is from Phantom of the Opera (little surprise) and is from Act Two, Scene Seven. The cast of the Paris Opera is performing "Don Juan Triumphant," an opera written by the Phantom. Christine plays the role of a young woman named Aminta, whom Don Juan is trying to seduce. Aminta sings those lines.

Next chapter: When Sabrina finds the next volume of the Tome of Shadows, she learns of one of Leota's problems…but that's nothing compared to the chess game they'll be forced to play…and what's this about a ring?