"You have done much. Until now, only I had the wisdom and competence to gather so many Turtle Balls at once!" Shunzang the Wise said as we stood inside the Temple of Eternal Serenity in Subata. "Would that I could give you my Turtle Ball, but it was lost to me... somewhere too dangerous for even me to voyage! Only the last Turtle Ball eludes you, and that will be the most difficult to reach. You must venture to Hamakala Temple!"

Shunzang looked in disbelief at our blank faces, and he said, "You are not afraid? Hamakala! Evil demon god of the Ninja Pigs. What, you think that you can just go in and out of his temple like-"

"Like the wind, Shunzang. That's the plan. If we're not back by morning... summon the Emperor." Monkey King said, and Shunzang nodded as we turned to leave for the Santo Oro.

XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX OXOXO XOXOX

The doors to Hamakala Temple stood before us, with tall stone statues depicting demons to either side of it, and behind us was a cemetery filled with tombstones, probably for the victims of whatever lived inside the temple. It didn't give me any comfort to know that we'd be properly buried if we were killed.

I think that we could all feel the evil that seemed to seep out from the cracks of the doors, so strong that it might as well have "THIS PLACE IS EVIL!" written all over the doors in bright, colorful marker, although I suppose that would ruin the temple's atmosphere somewhat.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, and the others hesitantly nodded. Taking a deep breath, I put both my hands on the doors. "Then let's be about it."

Opening the doors was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, and they made no noise as they moved, setting us more on edge as we stepped inside the eerily-lit temple. I took a glance behind me to see that the doors were silently closing behind Monkey King, who was guarding the rear, and I gulped as I faced forward to see a floating black robe, glowing purple eyes looking at us from beneath the hood.

"That is a very, very old evil right there. We've got to beat it." Nikolai said, and I glanced to see him grip his staff tightly. In the shadow of the six-armed Pig god and his weapons, bones flew from the darkness to assemble skeletons and the ghosts of oni rose out of the ground in a turquoise mist.

"Take no quarter, lads! And give none either!" I shouted as I drew my two swords, and we all leapt into the fray.

Temeraire was the first to strike, and a skeleton suddenly found his vision obscured as he coiled around his skull, determined to crush it. Monkey King cleaved through a ghostly oni with his golden staff, and Emma was taking aim at the ebon guardian ghost while one of Nikolai's magic circles glowed around her crouching body. "Tower Shield!"

As the Ebon Guardian threw orbs of darkness at her, a shield went up in front of her that blocked the attack and dropped as she pulled the trigger, managing to catch the ebon guardian's sleeve.

"Basilisk!" I heard Nikolai shout, and in the center of a glowing magic circle, stood a blue longboat-sized dragon with a yellow underbelly and three heads with golden eyes. Nikolai grinned as he pointed at the crowd of skeletons atop the middle head's long neck. "Get 'em, boy!"

The three heads of the Basilisk hissed as he charged towards the skeletons, throwing them up into the air to land on the hard, stone floor, scattering their bones all over the place.

I was left to face the Ebon Guardian by myself, and I readied my swords to charge. As tentacles made of darkness rose out of the shadows to wrap around my legs, I cut them down as I ran towards the Ebon Guardian. The Ebon Guardian began swirling around its hands to create an orb of darkness the size of a 42-pound cannonball that was launched towards me as I crossed my blades. "Valor's Fortress!"

A half-dome of translucent blue hexagons sprang up in front of me just in time to absorb the Ebon Guardian's attack, and as it shattered into pieces, I began to focus on positive memories that disappeared in my minds eye as quick as they had come.

Standing with Bonnie atop the topmost spar of the mainmast, looking at the chewed-up remains of Emmett's best dress hat, laughing at Jack's incredibly lame puns at dinner aboard the Aquila, watching Old Scratch brewing sweet-smelling healing potions, playing friendly games of dice with Ratbeard, listening to El Toro play his guitar, Rena's smile...

The screeching cry of the glowing blue eagle flying above us signaled reinforcements as the others were reenergized and healed of the minor wounds they had sustained, and I sheathed my left sword to draw my pistol. "It's time to break out the big guns!"

Drawing my pistol, I aimed it at the Ebon Guardian and pulled the trigger, firing a 42-pound cannonball made of blue energy that glowed as it spiraled towards the Ebon Guardian.

The Ebon Guardian let out an unearthly wail as it was defeated, and as it disappeared, the other guardians of the temple either collapsed into bones or disappeared in the case of the ghostly oni.

"The Turtle Ball should be in that chest at the feet of the statue. Get it before this place poisons our souls!" Nikolai cried, and I nodded as I ran to the stone chest at the feet of Hamakala's statue. Levering the lid open with my sword, I found the Turtle Ball lying inside. "Alright! Now let's get back to Shunzang!"