Dan and Sora reappeared in the attic. Dan quickly ran over to the Book and started flipping through the pages. He gave a startled cry and dropped the Book as the pages started flipping themselves. "I love when it does that." Dan said, picking up the Book. "The Oricalcose." Dan read, " 'A race of Atlantean warriors who take people's souls to feed 'The Great Lafiathon'. 'The Great Lafiathon' is a great beast who, if summoned, will destroy the human race and the world along with it. The leader, Dartz, was king of Atlantis 10,000 years ago. When Atlantis sunk to the bottom of the sea, Dartz wanted to resurrect Lafiathon to punish humanity. They use the three legendary Dragons as weapons. The legendary Dragons used to be warriors fighting against Lafiathon, but Dartz used his magic to transform them to evil dragons. The Oricalcose specializes in possession and soul thieving. There are no know spells to vanquish the Oricalcose or return the Dragons to their original state. To deposes a possessed person, an 'Open Heart' spell must be said over a bowl of crushed ginger and eye of newt. The person saying the spell must be a loved one of the possessed person.' Well, that's……informative." "We can make our own spell, can't we?" Sora asked. "Yeah we can, but we need the power of three to vanquish the Oricalcose." Dan said.
The pages of the Book started flipping again. When they stopped, Dan began reading to himself. "I have an idea." Dan said when he was done reading. He shut the Book and Gasped. The "Power of Three" symbol had split. The top symbol was separated from the bottom two. "That only happens when we do something REALLY bad. Marik must have taken his first soul." Sora said.
"Anyway, the page the Book opened up to was 'Spiritual Projection'. It allows somebody to project their spirit to another location and then return to their body. 'Body, Spirit, Mind, and Soul, separate themselves from me. Come back only at my will. Let my spell flow over thee. Never forget thy promise to me, To let my power reign. Oh spirits of the Earth rejoice, another Soul to gain.'" When Dan finished reading, he collapsed, in a heap, on the floor.
"Lord Dartz," the evil voice of the Oricalcose that did not belong to Marik said respectfully, "I have brought you the soul you ordered." "Excellent……now Marik, I need you to go on another mission for me." Dartz responded. "Yes, my liege, whatever you wish will be done no matter what the consequences." the voice said loyally. "Oh Marik, you flatter me. Now, I need you to bring me the souls of two of the most powerful magical beings on Earth, besides you of course-" "thank you my liege." that horrible voice interrupted. "As I was saying, I need you to bring me the souls of Sora and Dan Syringe!" Dartz yelled. He then began his infamous, maniacal laugh.
Dan gasped, or rather, his spirit did. Dan was not dead, as you may have thought, just letting his spirit roam free of his body. He was floating right next to his possessed brother. He knew they couldn't see him, but he still darted behind a nearby potted plant. He knew they couldn't hear him, but that didn't stop him from covering his mouth and peeking around the plant to make sure no one heard him gasp. Marik, we will help you. We will get you back to normal, and we will stop Dartz before any one else gets hurt. Dan thought to himself, hoping that his telepathy would reach the good Marik he knew was still there, trapped by the Oricalcose. He could swear that he saw his possessed brother turn and wink at him as Dartz said, "Hurry! You must leave now before they sense you coming!" "Yes, my Lord." said that horrible, evil voice of the Oricalcose possessing his older brother. I better get home and warn Sora! Dan thought.
At the manner, Sora was desperately checking Dan's pulse. "Come on Dan! You cant die on me now!" he was saying. The youngest Syringe wiped a tear from his eye. "You can't leave me alone like this!" "Who's leaving you alone?" said a strangely familiar voice. Sora turned around. "Marik! Your OK! How did you get rid of the Oricalcose this time?" "I'm not exactly sure……It was kinda like last time. It just……went away." Marik said in his normal voice. Sora examined his oldest brother thoughtfully. He looks normal again, but how can I be sure? The Book says that no lone person can escape the Oricalcose, so what gives? How did Marik do it? These were just a few of the questions buzzing through Sora's mind at the sight of his brother.
"So, anyway,who's leaving you alone?" Marik asked. "It's Dan. He collapsed a while ago and he's not breathing." At this, Marik had a weird expression on his face. It was almost frightened. "Do you have any idea what happened to him?" He asked. "Well," Sora said suspiciously, "He read a spell called 'Spiritual Projection' and then just collapsed." At this, Marik totally freaked out. "YOU LET HIM SPIRITUAL PROJECT! HIS SPIRIT COULD BE ANYWHERE! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ? WE MAY HAVE LOST A BROTHER!" He began to calm down. "Do you have any idea where his spirit is?" Marik asked as if he hadn't just yelled at his younger sibling. "W-Well, I don't know. He probably went to see what Dartz is up to, but he should be back by now…." Sora said, backing away from his brother.
Sora knew that something was wrong. Marik would never yell at him like that, or look at him the way Marik was now. He looked like he wanted to kill Sora.