The Zebras stayed as unobtrusive as possible that afternoon and evening, watching the activity but not saying a word to anybody. They huddled with each other, their somber eyes reminding everybody that passed by that something had happened to them. At least one member of First Squad kept an eye on them the whole time, but the Zebras didn't do anything but talk quietly to each other. That night, when the others were starting to settle around fires for the night, the Zebras were approached by a tall man wearing servant's garb. His bright eyes were very strong, and the Zebras gazed at him warily.
"Commander ApeTrully has summoned you for dinner. And to discuss the plan for tomorrow night."
"Lead on," Sparky White said respectfully.
They followed the tall servant to the commander's tent. He ducked inside with them then went to stand in the shadows with another servant. That one was elderly but almost regal as he stood there, watching everything.
"Ah, there you two are," ApeTrully said. "Come, eat."
Sparky Black and Sparky White trotted over and sat down on the cushions provided then accepted bowls of noodles. Woo the Wise came in and plopped down with a sigh. He took a bowl then turned to the Zebras as ApeTrully sat down on the final cushion and gazed at them intently.
"Do you know how to seal the creature in?" ApeTrully asked.
"We believe so," Sparky Black said but didn't elaborate.
ApeTrully ate, and the Zebras watched him curiously. Woo glanced between them, and that was how the meal passed. The Zebras were grateful when First Squad came in.
"Great! Food! I'm starving!" Mighty Ray exclaimed, and he grabbed a bowl and began shoveling it in.
"Ugh! You're disgusting!" Sonia exclaimed. She took her own food then came to join in the circle. ApeTrully nodded at her then turned back to the Zebras.
"How is your food?" he asked.
"Very good," they replied together. Sparky Black and Sparky White were actually quite proficient with chopsticks. ApeTrully mentioned this as the rest of First Squad settled down.
"Oh, yeah, I guess we are," Sparky White said in surprise.
"HighRoller made us learn," Sparky Black said.
"We've been doing it for so long now, we don't notice anymore," Sparky White said.
"Understandable," ApeTrully said, inclining his head. "Anything that becomes a habit is like that," he added quickly.
"Very true, sir," Sparky Black said. He finished off his food and looked up as Sparky White stacked their bowls. "However, some habits are harder to acquire for some people. Especially when it's not of your culture.
ApeTrully was suddenly very flustered and coughed on his noodles. He took a long drink of juice, averting his eyes. "That is true," he finally said tightly.
There was a flutter at the door and Parrot King flapped in, followed by Second Squad. Everybody gathered food and joined the circle. The Zebras nibbled on their bean buns, watching the humans curiously.
"So what's the plan?" Kowloon finally asked, setting aside his empty bowl. "And what are they doing here?" He pointed at the two Zebras.
"They are here to help," ApeTrully said, though he sounded cautious. "At least with this problem."
"Fitting, as they are the reason that thing escape," Mighty Ray muttered.
Mr. No Hands, struggling to use his chopsticks, stopped for a moment. "Still, if that thing hadn't escaped, I'd still be cursed."
"I have a question," Archer Lee said. "What if we destroy the thing instead. From what you've all said, killing it would solve our problems."
"Not at all," Sparky Black said.
"It would make things much, much worse," Sparky White agreed.
"In what way?" Lin Chung asked.
"The curses would be released into Hidden Kingdom," Sparky White said.
"And it's eaten so many that the sheer number would make it… unlikely that Hidden Kingdom would survive," Sparky Black said.
"I thought it consumes curses?" Lin Chung said.
"It does," Sparky Black said.
"But that doesn't mean that the curses are broken," Sparky White said.
"It feeds off the magic," Sparky Black said. "And that's why it's so big. The curses are all still inside of it."
"And killing it would mean that all the curses are re-released into Hidden Kingdom!" ApeTrully exclaimed. He placed a hand on his head and shook slightly. "Oh, great banana pudding, this isn't good. So we really must reseal it."
Woo smoothed his robe down then began toying with his mustache. "Harmonic Energy will do?"
"With the power from our Full Moon Lanterns? Yes," Sparky White said.
"You mean your Ghost Lanterns?" Mighty Ray asked.
"Not anymore," Sparky Black said. "They're back to normal."
"And so are we," Sparky White sighed. He rubbed his head as the beginnings of a headache bloomed.
"What does that mean?" ApeTrully asked.
"If it's all the same to you, Commander, we really don't want to talk about it right now," Sparky White said.
"Especially considering that it might not matter anymore anyway," Sparky Black said.
Puzzlement was on every face, but both Woo and ApeTrully looked curious too. Still, ApeTrully sat up straight and placed his hands in his sleeves. "Since we have quite a trek tomorrow, I say we go to bed. But once that creature is contained, you will explain yourselves.
"Sure," they said together, then they tucked their lanterns back into their magic pocket. They stood up.
"Where do we sleep?" Sparky Black asked.
"How do you sleep?" ApeTrully asked. "That determines where you will sleep."
"Um," Sparky Black muttered.
"We sleep together on a human bed most of the time," Sparky White said. "That's what HighRoller gave us, and that's what we do."
"Is there any other way you'd like to sleep?"
"Hammocks?" Sparky Black asked hopefully.
Woo stood up at once. "I'll get them set up. You can sleep in First Squad's tent tonight."
"Sounds good to us," Sparky Black said agreeably.
So Woo set up the hammocks in the main tent of First Squad. Lin Chung set up his bamboo mat to sleep in the same room, and the others headed off to bed. Sparky White and Sparky Black crawled into their hammocks without comment and quickly fell asleep. The next thing they knew, there was an explosion of noise as Mystique Sonia and Mighty Ray started arguing. They woke up to find sunlight streaming into the tent. The rest of First Squad were preparing themselves for the journey back to where they had released the Cursed Eater.
"Ah, you're up. Good," Lin Chung said. "Come and have some breakfast. Mystique Sonia grew us some buns."
The Zebras scrubbed their eyes and rolled out of their hammocks to obey. They ate the magically grown buns, enjoying the flavors.
"Gotta admit, this part of the curse is cool," Sparky Black said.
Mystique Sonia stiffened and glanced at them. "What do you know of my curse?"
"Anybody who tells you they love you three times gets turned into a Yaksha," Sparky White said absently.
"Your tongue is a weapon, and your spit is magical, too," Sparky Black said. "Man, you really made the witch mad."
"What did you do?" Mighty Ray asked.
"Nunya," Mystique Sonia snapped.
"Nunya?" Mighty Ray asked.
"Yeah, as in 'Nunya business.' Don't ask again."
There was something about Mystique Sonia's tone that made Mighty Ray not ask again. Her curse was just as sensitive a subject as Mr. No Hands's curse had been. Suddenly losing the curse also seemed to be a sensitive subject, too. He didn't want to talk about it and struggled with the fine motor skills he needed to manipulate objects. He hadn't been able to use his hands to do common tasks for years and years, and he was embarrassed about it. Lin Chung was encouraging, but Mr. No Hands didn't want to hear it yet.
After breakfast, everybody got together. All the animal kings and queens were there, including Chameleon Queen. Sparky Black and Sparky White greeted her, and she squealed at them.
"A good different?" Sparky White asked.
She nodded and squeaked again.
"We feel different," Sparky Black said. "But we'll explain later."
"If we can," Sparky White said.
The brothers glanced at each other, their expressions grim. Lin Chung noticed but said nothing. ApeTrully came into the tent with Woo and glanced around. "How are things progressing?" he asked, sliding his hands into his sleeves again.
"Just fine, Commander," Lin Chung said. "The Zebras were just finishing breakfast while we finished packing."
"Excellent," ApeTrully said. He turned to the Zebras. "You will be riding Turtles?"
"Yes please," Sparky White said.
"Especially if you want us to keep up," Sparky Black said.
"Can't you tumble in your circle?" Woo asked.
"Too much of that makes us dizzy," Sparky White said.
"Yeah, and it's a long way to go," Sparky Black added.
"Noted," Woo said. "We'll get two Turtles for you. Anything else?"
"No," they both said.
"Thanks," Sparky White added.
Once the rest of the camp was ready, all the animal kings and queens formed ranks, waiting for ApeTrully to give the command. Climbing up on their Turtles, the Zebras watched and waited. They were instructed to be out front with the commander and First and Second Squad, so their Turtles obediently rolled up to join the rest of them. Most of the humans were staying back to mind the construction, but a few came, besides First and Second Squad. The tall servant joined, but the elderly one stayed back.
"Zebras, this is Jun," ApeTrully said.
"Really?" Sparky Black asked, his eyes going wide.
"You're alive?" Sparky White gasped.
ApeTrully suddenly looked panicked, but before he could say anything, Jun leaned forward to whisper. "Say nothing about who I am."
"Yes, sir," the Zebras said at once.
"Call me Jun," the human insisted. "Sir is not acceptable right now."
"Yes, Jun," they chorused.
"Good. I will talk to you two later. You have explaining to do."
"Yes, Jun," they both said again.
First and Second Squad finally got their Turtles together and joined the Zebras up front. Lin Chung greeted Jun pleasantly. "Are you joining us today?"
"Yes, sir," Jun said politely. "I don't want to miss it."
"Just be cautious," Lin Chung said. "This Cursed Eater is very bad news."
"Are we ready?" ApeTrully called.
"Yes, Commander!" came the reply from the animals.
"Then let's march! We must get there before the full moon tonight."
With that said, the procession started off. ApeTrully and Woo headed the pack, followed immediately by First and Second Squads. The Zebras rode with Jun, keeping their eyes fixed on him and letting the Turtles drive. They couldn't believe it was really him. There had been rumors that he was alive but in hiding, and to find him here with Big Green was surprising. But what better place for the Emperor's long-lost son and missing heir to be?
Jun glanced at them and gave a small smile. He drove urgent next to them. "I'm surprised you know who I am."
"We remember when you were a boy," Sparky Black said, his voice pitched low.
"Yes, your father summoned us from our temple to consult us about the future the stars told of," Sparky White said.
"What did you say?" Jun asked.
"We cannot interfere in the making of history," Sparky White said solemnly.
"But I promise you, we wish we could have changed ours," Sparky Black added.
Jun stared at them thoughtfully for several long moments. "You cannot change your past, but your future is in your hooves, isn't it?"
Sparky Black and Sparky White looked at each other then back at Jun. "Perhaps," Sparky White said.
"It depends on how the battle goes," Sparky Black added.
"But if it is?" Jun pressed.
"If it is, then yes. We want to change our future," Sparky White said.
"But we might not even live past tonight."
Jun's eyes widened. "What?"
"We took vows to use our gifts for the good of Hidden Kingdom," Sparky Black said.
"And HighRoller made us break them a thousand times over," Sparky White said.
"The gods must judge your actions," Jun realized.
"They will when we use the lanterns tonight," Sparky Black said.
"What happens then, who's to say?" Sparky White added.
"If we die, it's no more than we deserve," Sparky Black said.
"But if you don't?"
Neither Zebra answered. They were sure they would die for what they'd done. They simply looked at Jun with sad eyes then averted their eyes.
Jun continued to stare at them as the procession continued to March across Hidden Kingdom, thinking deeply about what they said. Tonight would either be the start of their new lives or the end of them both. The bravery with which they were facing their impending possible deaths was very noble. But would that be enough remorse for the gods to allow them to live after what they'd done for so many years? Jun simply didn't know. So he began to pray and didn't stop as they continued toward what could be the last battle the Zebras would ever face.