Chapter 2: Friend or Foe?

"You landed on North Carolina with a hotel!" blurted Seth, who was leaning with his legs crossed in front of a Monopoly board. "That'll be twelve seventy-five!"

"Aw man!" moaned Lance, as he thumbed through the money in his hand, which couldn't be any more than three-hundred dollars. "And most of my properties are already mortgaged!"

"If Seth didn't get me earlier," said David, "he wouldn't have taken my light blue set and been able to fund housing on the greens."

"It was a good game, though," said Lance, as he helped the others tidy the board up. He, Seth and David had set up a tent in the back yard at Fablehaven, and had played through a somewhat lengthy game of Monopoly since then.

"It's getting kinda late," said Seth, feeling around for crumbs at the bottom of a potato chip bag. "Let's say we call it a night, huh? We've got all weekend to mess around!"

The boys then cleaned up the tent a bit, and before long, they were lying down in their sleeping bags, all in a row.

"Night, guys," said Seth, as he proceeded to turn off the electric lantern that had been illuminating the tent.

"Wait," said David. "Uh, Seth. There's something I need to tell you."

"Really?" asked Seth. "What?"

"Well, it's kind of, well... personal."

Seth flinched. "We can go elsewhere if it's private. Lance can just stay in here."

"Lance knows," said David. "I just hope I can trust you. Based on what Lance had told me, it seemed like you'd be the best person to talk to."

"Well, what is it?"

David took in a deep breath. "Can you promise not to tell anyone else?"

Seth smirked. "What is it? Are you afraid of the dark?"

"He's serious," said Lance. "At least, that's what he told me."

"Seth," said David. "A couple of months ago, you were possessed by Navarog, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Seth in acknowledgement. "Not something I like to boast about."

David squinted, then covered his eyes with his hand. "I've... been possessed too."

"What?" exclaimed Seth, who then shook his head. "Wait, if you've been possessed, whatever it is that's possessing you wouldn't go around announcing it, would they?"

"I'm not kidding!" cried David. "I really have been possessed! This isn't a joke. Honest!"

Seth rolled his eyes. "By what, then?"

"A demon."

Seth groaned. "Don't joke around like that. I was possessed by Navarog for over a month! It was a horrifying experience!"

"I'm not making this up! A demon really is possessing me!"

"You could be telling the truth," said Seth. "When I was possessed, Navarog tried to make me behave as normally as possible until he got the Drakesoul. But he made sure that no one else found out about him until it was too late."

"We need your help!" said Lance. "Can you help extract the demon from David?"

"That really isn't my forte," replied Seth. "Beside, why would this so-called demon even let David seek a way to separate them?

"Because this demon is not an evil entity," stated David.

"There's no such thing as a good demon," said Seth. "A prime trait of any demon is that they all lack hearts and sympathy. Demons are ruthless monsters that seek power and will destroy anyone who stands in their way! But it's a good thing you sought help! If there really is a demon, maybe he just isn't powerful enough to fully control you, and we can extract him before he makes David do something bad."

"Please believe me," said David.

"I know," said Seth, as he took off a silver bracelet he had been wearing, then handed it to David. "Put this on."

"What'll this do?"

"Just put it on. I want to nip this whole demon thing in the bud."

"Okay," said David, sliding the bracelet onto his wrist. He then screamed in pain, yanked the bracelet off and threw it back at Seth.

"What was that?" asked Lance.

"That," said Seth in amazement, "was a charm that supresses dark energy. "If it truly made David scream like that, then there is, indeed, some dark force within him. My question is, where did it come from, and what does it want?"

"Maybe I should let him explain," said David. Seth switched his gazed expression from David to Lance, and watched as Lance nodded in agreement.

"Seth," said David, in an otherwise normal voice. "This is the demon speaking. I understand that you must be confused, but please, hear me out."

Seth didn't know what to believe. Just a few minutes ago, David was laughing and acting all friendly towards him. Now he was claiming to be a demon.

"My name is Zavarok. I am the twin brother of Navarog."

Seth scowled in disbelief.

"Let me explain," continued David. "Though Navarog is my twin, his intentions and feelings are drastically different than my own."

"But, you're a demon!" gasped Seth. "Demons are incapable of all that is pure and good."

"I must confess," said David. "Though I am genetically identical to Navarog, I bear no evil intentions."

"You really think I'm that stupid?" asked Seth. "I endured Gavin and all of his crazy schemes. Now you want our help too? I oughtta tell my family about you right now!"

"Though I am a creature of darkness, I mean you no harm. Please."

"I think we better investigate your family history a little more," said Seth, as he got up and prepared to step out of the tent. "No repeat of Chuck Rose's phony history."

"Please, Seth," said Lance, grabbing him by the arm. "I believe him."

"I can't believe you're in on this too!" said Seth, trying to pull away.

"Evil has many forms," said Lance. "But neither Zavarok nor David are one of them."

"Seth, David isn't the problem," said David. "I am. I've possessed David just like Navarog possessed you, but for a different reason."

"What's that?" asked Seth reluctantly, as he sat back down.

"Though Navarog is my twin, we have always despised each other. He'd have destroyed me eons ago had I not been as equally powerful as him. Likewise, I didn't have the power to destroy him, nor would I have found the killing of another a viable punishment. However, I did assist several wizards in weakening him in his human form, allowing him to be contained within the Quiet Box."

So that was how Navarog wound up in the Quiet Box in the first place, Seth thought to himself, assuming David was telling the truth.

"Why have I never heard of you?" asked Seth. "Navarog controlled me for more than a month, but he never spoke of you. And for that matter, why are you posing as David? Or is this your actual form?"

"While Navarog was a tyrant, I kept to myself. But when you're a massive, intimidating dragon, you tend to not get much good publicity. I was also afraid that people would mistake me for Navarog, so I normally stuck to my human form, something that Navarog greatly disliked. I waited for the opportunity when Navarog was a human himself to knock him out long enough to be placed within the Quiet Box."

"Is your human form the same as... Gavin's?"

David nodded. "Seeing as how we are identical twins, yes. Or at least, it was. The previous summer, Navarog was released from the quiet box and immediately sought revenge on me for originally trapping him. He killed my human form, but my spirit lingered about."

The thought reminded Seth of how Navarog had undergone a similar experience back when Raxtus had eaten Gavin.

"Okay, so how did you wind up with David?" asked Seth. "Navarog specially targeted me due to my shadow charmer attributes."

"That's the thing. I'm not a malevolent entity myself, so I didn't need a dark figure for a host. I only assumed a host so that I would have a way to interact with the world. As for why that host happened to be David, it was mostly due to chance. After Navarog destroyed me, I followed him around, hoping to find someone with the capacity to defeat him. Posing as Gavin, Navarog joined the Knights of the Dawn. One woman in particular, Estelle Smith, was assigned to work closely with Gavin. However, she was elderly and not an adventurer. Hoping to use her as a connection, I followed her back to her home and learned of her grandson, David, who was anxious to join the Knights of the Dawn. However, I made a terrible mistake. Once I assumed David's body, it became impossible to escape it."

"I get it," said Seth. "But why didn't you tell anyone the truth about Gavin?"

"Because they'd have thought I was crazy. That or they'd have penalized me for possessing an innocent boy. David had no real influence among the Knights. He wouldn't have been ready to join until finishing high school."

"So what did you plan to do?" asked Seth.

"My only hope was to wait out my time until David could properly join the Knights, and find a solution from within. I learned about the Knights' exploits throughout the months, and when I heard about the whole incident involving Navarog and the instruments of eternal power, I was hoping maybe that would solve my problem."

"What do you want, exactly?" asked Seth.

"I just want to be separated from David. Later on, I overheard that the crew at Fablehaven was trying to save the instruments of eternal power from the Society. Since Lance had gotten caught up in the whole experience, and needed a home, I convinced David's parents to adopt Lance once the opportunity arose."

"Convinced them?" asked Seth. "Lance was only at Fablehaven for a couple of days. When I was younger, I asked my parents if we could have a dog for years, but they never gave in."

"I... admit that I cheated," said David. "While I am not evil, my dark essence can subdue others. It helped David's parents decide to adopt Lance. At first, I saw Lance as little more than a source of information and a potential ticket to Fablehaven. But since he joined the family, I've learned to love him and care for him."

At that moment, Seth threw his arms into the air. "Look, I don't know who to believe now. I can see that you're possessed, the bracelet kinda proved that. But, a demon is still a demon."

"Please," said David. "I'm really not that keen on being stuck within someone else's body."

"And just how exactly do you expect me to get you out of David?" asked Seth. "It took the power of the Omega Star to ultimately separate me from Navarog. And don't think I can just go and ask the fairies to lend it to me. They're not exactly running a library, and being a shadow charmer, I am not on the best of terms with most of them."

"Why not ask Kendra?" asked Lance. "The fairies will listen to her, would they not?

"Same reason we can't ask anyone else here for help," retorted David. "If I told anybody else here that I'm a demon who needs rescuing, they'd... they'd..."

"David?" asked Seth. "I mean... Zavarok?"

"I give up. Seth's the only one here who can sympathize with me."

"Well, don't give up," said Seth. "The main reason why separating me from Navarog was so hard was because Navarog was an uncooperative monster."

"You still think they'd help a demon? Especially one who has the privilege of being Navarog's twin brother?"

"And where would you go after being freed from David?" asked Seth. "If we can't use the Omega Star to restore your body, where are you supposed to linger?"

"I don't care about that. This whole thing was a mistake in the first place. I was dead. Only a true demon would've possessed an innocent soul."

"You helped me find a loving home," said Lance. "That's gotta count for something."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" asked Seth. "Asking for the Omega Star would just be out of the question."

"You said earlier that you're not on best terms with most of the fairies," stated David. "Are there any that you are on good terms with?"

"Only three. Bright and Clover I get along with well enough, but I could never just convince them to help out with something like this. Besides, their magic might not even be powerful to work on you."

"Who's the third?" asked Lance.

"Umbriel," said Seth, tapping a silver ring he was wearing on his right ring finger.

"Umbriel? I don't remember her."

"She's my fairy guardian. Because Kendra got abducted by Matthew and Ashley, after that whole ordeal was over with, it was decided that Kendra and I should have something in case of an emergency. She's not very powerful, but she's the only fairy who's willing to do almost anything I say."

"You think maybe she could help?" asked David, his face suddenly lit up.

"It's worth a try," said Seth, as he formed a fist with his right hand. He then clenched his eyes, and suddenly, a dark blue pulse of light emanated from his ring. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small, raven-haired fairy with blue, angelic wings and a matching navy blue dress, shot out of the ring and hovered before Seth.

The fairy let out a rather loud yawn. "Seth," she moaned, "it's the middle of the night! How am I supposed to get my beauty rest if you wake me up like this?"

"Umbriel," said Seth. "These two folks are my friends. However, David here has a problem."

Umbriel turned to face David. "Look, if someone here is snoring, there's not a whole lot I can do about it. Don't you humans have doctors for that sort of thing?"

"It's not that," stated Seth. "David's been possessed by a demon, and we need you to try and extract it from him."

"A demon? Are you crazy? I ought to report you!"

"Please don't!" gasped David, as he poked his head towards the fairy, who then backed away.

"Umbriel, no!"

"There's definitely something peculiar about that boy!" cried Umbriel, whose tiny body had been pressed against the inner wall of the tent. "I can't go near him!"

"Look, can you just calm down and help?"

"No way," said Umbriel. "I've sensed a dark vibe coming from that boy, and now I feel repulsed! It's like some supernatural force is keeping me away!"

Holding his hand in a fist, Seth aimed his ring at Umbriel. A ray of blue light shot out of the ring at Umbriel, pulling her back in.

"No wonder," said David. "Umbriel isn't as powerful as say... Bright, Clover or those fairy dragons, right?"

"With all due respect, her power is somewhat limited," said Seth.

"Well, that's why Vanessa cried when I approached her. The fairy angels and adult dragons are strong enough to resist my dark vibe. However, an underdeveloped fairy being like Vanessa was vulnerable. That's why she shied away from me, just like Umbriel did."

"Seth, are you sure you can't get any other fairies to help us with this?" asked Lance.

"I doubt it," said Lance, "Umbriel is the only fairy who's loyal to me, and that's only due to her agreement. And we just saw that she's unable to tolerate Zavarok's dark vibe."

"What do we do now?" asked David. "Should we just try asking Bright and Clover? See if maybe they'd understand?"

"I still wouldn't trust them with something like this," replied Seth. "Fairies and demons are sworn enemies. Even if they did manage to extract you from David, the fairies might destroy you with their magic, even if by doing so unintentionally."

"There's gotta be another solution," said Lance. "Like, what happened to all the other demons who would up like Zavarok and Navarog?"

"Demons spirits are immortal," said Seth. "The only way to get rid of a demon is to trap one or expel it somehow. I know nothing about extracting one from another being."

"So is Zavarok trapped inside David forever?" asked Lance.

"Only until David dies. Then he'll be free."

"Well, I'm not sending David to an early grave," said David. "In fact, I don't want to be around when that happens anyway."

"We may not have a choice," said Lance, placing his arm around David's shoulder.

"I admit," said Seth, "that I am not the go-to person for this sort of thing. Although I am a shadow charmer, matters like this are pretty much out of my league."

"Well, who would know more about this matter?" asked Lance.

"Possibly my grandfather. Maybe we can get some more information from him."

"Why would your grandfather of all people be willing to help us?" asked Lance. "I've heard stories from you about how he used to punish you at the drop of a hat!"

"We'll, we're not going to get any help from my grandpa directly," stated Seth. "But maybe the answer we're looking for can be found in his study."