When they got to the lake, the Zebras were surprised by all the activity. Many kinds of animals hurried to and fro, helping the humans to reconstruct Turtle Castle. The brothers were shot dirty looks from quite a few people and animals, and they kept their heads down. They couldn't possibly feel more shame than they did already, but the accusatory glares still burned.
Pulling up to a tent, Lim Chung helped Mr. No Hands dismount. Sparky Black and Sparky White gingerly got off the Turtles, keeping their eyes averted.
"Can we please speak to the commander?" Sparky White asked.
"That's why we're here," Lin Chung said coolly. "Come in. But be warned. No foolishness."
The Zebras nodded in agreement then followed Lin Chung and Mr. No Hands inside the tent. Mystique Sonia, Jumpy, and Mighty Ray weren't far behind. The Zebras stopped when Lin Chung held up his hand.
"Commander, we need Woo to take a look at Mr. No Hands. We were attacked by something unnatural and he was… not eaten, but something is wrong."
ApeTrully looked up and scanned First Squad. When he saw Mr. No Hands, his eyes filled with worry. Then he turned his gaze to the Zebras and it grew noticeably cooler.
"What are you two doing here?" ApeTrully asked.
Sparky Black and Sparky White didn't answer at first. They hesitated, unsure of how to explain the cascade of forgotten thoughts and memories that were all trying to come out at once. They both glanced at each other, made several silent gestures to be sure they were on the same page, then turned to ApeTrully. Their expertise was more important right now than their past mistakes.
"Commander, we made a terrible mistake," Sparky Black said solemnly.
"We baited First Squad into freeing something that never should have been freed," Sparky White said.
"And now we have to seal it away again before Hidden Kingdom is lost," Sparky Black continued.
"We offer our services, if we are still granted our gifts after what we've done," Sparky White said.
There was silence. Never had the two Zebras acted like this. There was no doubt in Lin Chung's mind that something had changed with them. He wanted to know what it was, but he had a feeling what they'd released needed their full attention first.
"What did we free, exactly?" Lin Chung asked, sitting down and gesturing for the others to do the same.
Sparky Black and Sparky White didn't sit down, but they waited until everybody was settled. Woo was the only one not looking at them, analyzing the purple goo that still clung to Mr. No Hands. The two Zebras pulled out their lanterns and waved them gently. All of First Squad tensed, waiting for a magic curse and expecting a battle to break out, but it didn't happen. Misty fog began billowing from the full moons set on their lanterns, and everything was obscured in less than half a minute.
"What are you doing?" ApeTrully demanded.
The Zebras didn't answer the question, but their voices came, calm and soothing and mesmerizing as they told the story in complete harmony with each other.
"Before Hidden Kingdom was severed from the rest of the world," Sparky Black began. "There was no magic in the land and animals and humans were very different and couldn't communicate."
"But then," Sparky White continued smoothly. "The Monkeys found a sacred tear from the gods and broke it. In its shattering, magic was released, and Hidden Kingdom grew apart from the rest of the world around it. The Monkeys were proud of this, proud of being the first, and they tried to rule Hidden Kingdom by forcing all others to obey them."
"The gods punished them for their arrogance, and they decreed that humankind shall rule over the animals and keep the peace," Sparky Black said. "The Monkeys were driven from the rest of animal society, and none have been seen since."
"Yeah, except the red one in the base," Mighty Ray muttered. There was a snap and he yelled. "Ow! Sonia hit me!"
"Quiet," Lin Chung ordered.
The Zebras continued as if they hadn't been interrupted, though they both noted what Mighty Ray had said. And they recalled a certain student of Parrot King who had joined them for their speech classes.
Sparky White spoke. "The animals and humans learned to live in harmony, but one day, their harmony was broken by a new beast. The Cursed Eater was formed from the bitter tears of a scorned woman and a ravenous spirit and was unleashed upon Hidden Kingdom."
"But what is it?" Lin Chung pressed. "What is its purpose?"
"The Cursed Eater consumes that which it craves," Sparky Black said.
"Which is?" Mighty Ray demanded irritably.
"Curses," Sparky White said. "It eats only dark magic channeled in curses. But this is not a good thing, for it grows ever bigger with every curse it consumes."
The fog colored and images began flowing before them like Chameleon Queen's movie screen, which they were all making full use of now that she was in Big Green. The images were three dimensional, moving around like Woo's holograms, but they were real, and all of them could tell that what they were seeing, the people and animals moving around, had been alive many, many years before. They were in a circle, their mouths moving as they discussed something.
"Together, the humans and animals came to an agreement," Sparky Black said. "The Cursed Eater had to be contained, had to be stopped, for there is so much magic, both light and dark, in Hidden Kingdom, that the Cursed Eater will become big enough to destroy all in its path, until Hidden Kingdom itself is crushed and comes to an end."
Sparky White continued, his descriptions being played out before them in visions of the past. "Using the gifts the gods had granted to each of their kinds, the humans and animals all worked together to seal up the Cursed Eater, combining the Harmonic Energy inside each of them to secure it in a magical shield, where it remains." He paused. "Until now."
There was a pause then two bright balls of light glowed and the fog dissipated to reveal the Zebras holding their lanterns and gazing at the floor.
"Why would you release that thing if you knew all this?" Lin Chung demanded.
"You won't believe us," Sparky White said.
"And we don't blame you for it," Sparky Black said dully. He twisted his lantern around to peer at it. "I'm surprised they even work for us after all the times we broke our vows."
"Vows?" ApeTrully murmured to himself, his brows coming together.
"What do you mean?" Lin Chung pressed. "Why would you do that if you knew the consequences?"
"Because we couldn't remember," Sparky Black said desperately.
Sparky White cut in. "Look, we don't have time for why we joined HighRoller and why we're acting different and all the other whys."
"Sparky White is right," Sparky Black said earnestly. "We'll explain later, but our first priority has to be in containing the Cursed Eater again."
"You said that that thing eats curses?" Woo asked slowly.
"Yes," the Zebras replied together.
ApeTrully, Woo, and Lin Chung exchanged curious glances before they looked back at the Zebras.
"So, theoretically, if we were to remove Mr. No Hands's restraints, he wouldn't be forced to tickle himself?" Woo asked.
"Yes," they replied again.
Mr. No Hands stood up when Woo gestured for him to, then he removed the covering to reveal the stocks binding his hands. He reached up and loosened the bolt then swung it open. They all stood there, watching Mr. No Hands for any indication of tickling. There was none. Not even the twitchy movements that had come after Woo had tried to break the curse with science. It was simply stillness.
Mr. No Hands wiggled his fingers slowly then looked at the rest of First Squad. His gaze latched onto Lin Chung. "What do you think this time?" he asked, holding out his trembling hands.
Lin Chung handed Mystique Sonia his bamboo staff then took Mr. No Hands' hands and closed his eyes. He opened them after several moments and smiled. "I believe this time, it is truly broken, my friend. There is no disturbance in my Harmonic Energy, and since the curse was broken by a magic being, I think there's nothing to fear."
Mr. No Hands went to his knees and curled into himself as he began to weep. "It's gone?" he choked out between sobs. "Is it really gone? Can it be? Don't lie to me, please."
"The Cursed Eater eats curses," Sparky White said.
"And since you tried to steal the Mystical Treasure of the Dragon's Feather, you were cursed," Sparky Black said.
"But now the curse has been eaten, so you should be fine," Sparky White finished.
Mr. No Hands abruptly stopped crying, and he and ApeTrully stared at them without speaking for several moments, too shocked to form words. Then ApeTrully managed to speak. "How do you know of that treasure?"
"We know of all the treasures of Hidden Kingdom," Sparky White said.
"Though we might need to figure out if more have been added since we were… indisposed," Sparky Black said delicately, and they both glanced away.
"It has been awhile," Sparky White muttered.
The members of Big Green stared in wonder at the Zebras. They spoke different. They acted different. And they knew things that were hard to discover. They needed to know more, but that would have to wait.
"We have the Bronze Giant," Lin Chung said.
"No we don't," Sparky Black said.
"What do you mean?"
"We don't have Bearstomp," Sparky White said. "We're short one hero."
"Drat!" Lin Chung snapped, slamming his bamboo staff on the ground.
"But we have all the animal kings and queens here to help with the Harmonic Energy," Sparky Black pointed out.
"And we could use our lanterns to finish sealing it in," Sparky White said.
"That… could work," Lin Chung said. He eyed the lanterns, noticing again the full moons that seemed to cast an ethereal glow from where they sat on the lantern instead of faces.
"We have to wait until tomorrow night," Sparky Black said.
"Then we'll have full use of our lanterns," Sparky White added.
They stared at ApeTrully and Lin Chung expectantly, waiting for their approval or disapproval. Lin Chung nodded slowly. "I think this will work. It will take us several hours to get everybody together where the beast is. But we'll need bait."
The Zebras considered this then turned to Mystique Sonia. "It was after you, right?" Sparky Black asked.
"Well, duh, she has a Yaksha," Sparky White said.
"Ah, right, Witch of Xiaping," Sparky Black said, thumping his forehead.
Mystique Sonia went white as a sheet, and Yaksha had to keep her from falling. He made several irritated noises, shaking one of his limbs at them.
"Keep your shirt on," Sparky White said.
"We know all about the witch's curses," Sparky Black said.
"The important part is that we have a way to lure the creature to us," Sparky White said.
"Wait," Mystique Sonia said slowly, her expression falling. "I'm bait?"
"Unless you've got somebody else who's cursed? Pretty much," Sparky White said with a shrug.
Mystique Sonia held Yaksha tight. "I don't want to lose my curse. I'll lose Yaksha, too," she whispered.
"Then we'll make sure you don't get caught," Mighty Ray said.
Glancing around at each other, they all agreed on the plan. The Zebras were taken with Mr. No Hands to an area where they could get the purple goo out of their fur. They bathed gratefully, not saying anything. They both knew what was at stake. They didn't know if their own curse had an affect on their vows. If it had, then this would be the very last time they would ever be able to use their Full Moon Lanterns. It was a sacrifice they had no qualms in making, if it was actually going to be a sacrifice. If their lanterns were gone, that was one less reason HighRoller would want them around. And honestly, any reason to avoid him was a reason the Zebras would embrace. As far as they were concerned, they never wanted to see him again, even if it meant giving up the gifts the gods had granted to them all those years ago.