Spiral: Part Six

      "W HAT?!?!” Bathori exclaimed

      “Surprise!” Frostrym taunted

      “You, all of you, you were all gone! I saw it with my own eyes! This is not possible!”

      “We couldn’t possibly let you take over the world without making a comeback special. That’d be irresponsible” Cree jested

      “No matter, with all six I have total command! Now OBEY” the pink jewel glowed. The four friends stood with one brow raised

      “Yeahhhh, no. I don’t think so” Cree stated

      “WHAAAT?!?! This can’t be!” Bathori looked to the winding artifact as though seeking an answer. The Usul gritted its teeth. As Bathori stood up, the Usul’s latest victim scrambled off as the grip on them loosened. The four friends surrounded Bathori, keeping a fair good distance away.

      “Let’s see how well you fare against my new powers” their foe faded, becoming semi-transparent, before vanishing completely. Immediately the four friends turned around. Cree raised her back legs, thrusting them out at something unseen. Moments later, Blaz did the same. Like a pin ball, Bathori rolled around, met by rod or kick. Eventually, the Usul was thrown upward, landing squarely in centre of the four friends’ midst. Gaining visibility, their enemy shook whilst rising up.

      “How DARE you use my powers against me” the defence jewel had activated, bouncing Bathori off of every impact. Flapping up, the Usul made a sudden dart towards Blaz. Moving out of the way, Blaz’s tail brushed by the Usul in close proximity.

      “Hah, Hah, Hah, Achooo!!” the Usul sneezed, head-butting the artifact. The light-green jewel shattered into fragments. Bathori gasped “Nuh, buh” the Usul was in disbelief

      “Awww. No need to get so defensive. Seems your powers weren’t all they were cracked up to be” Blaz quipped. Cree whinnied. The Usul flew into a fury. Bathori bolted, trying to get hold of Cree. Bathori struck out their claw, nothing met their grasp. The Usul’s expression fell. To the side, Cree grinned. Rising up onto her shoes, Cree stomped onto the winding artifact with her front hooves, destroying the light-blue jewel

      “Noooo!” Bathori shrieked

      “Too slow” Cree mocked, dashing away. The pink jewel glowed. The tree branches began to whip towards Frostrym. Jumping out of the way, Frostrym landed beside Bathori. Before the Usul could lay a claw on her, Frostrym leapt up. Bathrori watched helplessly as the branches thrashed down. Frostrym bombarded down onto her enemy’s brace, smashing the pink jewel.

      “Egh. You ugly” Frostrym mocked. Hopping away as the trees returned to normal. Staying down, the yellow jewel glowed. The Usul analysed its surroundings. Cartwheeling, Bathori leapt off a tree, swung around a branch and stuck out their foot as the plummeted down towards Charmifire. Charmifire took one step to the left. The Usul collapsed into the ground. Charmifire obliterated the yellow jewel.

      “Ooohh, that wasn’t a very wise move on your part” Charmifire insulted

      “AHHHH!!!” the Usul bounded up, flailing. Pummelling the air in frustration as they ran, Bathori soon came blindly into contact. Blaz ended up deflecting most of the attacks away. His bandages cushioned every blow dealt, and eventually Blaz led Bathori to a curved-up root. The Usul tripped. Punching the brace, Blaz destroyed the light-orange jewel before leaping a distance back.

      “Gee, and here I thought you’d be stronger”

      Fuming, Bathori summoned every ounce of their remaining energy to lift themselves up. Before everyone’s eyes, the Usul disappeared. Sluggishly the enemy dragged themselves towards Blaz. Unable to see Bathori, Blaz closed his eyes.

      Swerving, with a chomp, Blaz heaved up a weight into the air. A ripping noise sounded as Bathori regained visibility. As the Usul continued through the air, the brace flew off, white jewel shattering upon hitting the ground. Blaz had accidently torn through the Usul’s pants.

      “I see fangs and messed up hair, I see Bathori’s underwear” the four friends chanted.

      Fyora stood by as Bathori was taken into custody, chains of light wrapped around the Usul. In her possession was the winding artifact.

      “Very well done young Neopians, we weren’t wrong to put our trust in you” she praised

      *Snicker* *Shudder* *Twitch*

      “Muhahahaha. You think you have me beat?! Who do you think the defence trait came from? By destroying it, a great ancient has awakened. In the land West of Shenkuu, North-East of Moltara, where earth meets the sea, a land partially submerged” Bathori spat

      “No such place like that exists. You’re bluffing” Blaz countered

      “Am I? The Semi-Aquatic and Amphibious of that land won’t be thanking you when their homes and livelihood, both above and below the sea are destroyed by the ancient. You’ve lost. Muhahahahahahaha” the door to the asylum pod slammed shut as the spacecraft floated away.

      “Just the meaningless rantings of a deranged criminal” the asylum Krawk reassured. With his two Grundo interns, the Krawk doctor boarded a spaceship, taking the pod in tow.

      “Now. How to reward you?” Fyora wondered aloud. “Ah”

      In Fyora’s hand two pendants appeared, a ‘Squishy Shoyru Healing Stone’ and a ‘Lucky Uni Charm’

      “Potent healing items, to represent how you helped those who had lost traits regain their their abilities”

      Again Fyora placed out her palm.

      “Thyora’s tear. A powerful shield to symbolise the struggles you overcame and your protection of Neopia”

      For a third time, Fyora’s magic caused a gift to materialize

      “And lastly, a Freezing Potion. To stand for the immortalization of good that you have done for Neopia”

      “Thank you so much” Charmifire expressed in gratitude.

      “That’s quite the stave. Probably at minimum it has 20+ icons consisting of a mix of water, light and air” Fyora praised. Turning to Blaz she spoke “And that pocket-watch. A dual duty 100% freezer”

      “I never knew you were a battledome buff” Frostrym stated. Realizing her overexcitement, Fyora regained her composure

      “Erhrm. Right, well, marvellous job. Great use of an Attack-Healer-Shield Staff. Quite the unique item. Never had that combination before” Fyora stated trying to sound as dignified as possible; containing her excitement. The four friends looked amongst each other.

      “Oh no. What am I to do. I am tripping now” Charmifire stated. He placed the golden stave in Fyoras hand before falling “Oh no. I guess the Faerie queen could try it out if she wanted to”

      “Hmm. This is slightly patronizing, but I’ll let it slide. Just this once” Fyora said, excited at the prospect of trying out the item. Pointing the stave, a flourish of light, water and air gushed out into the sky. Over and over Fyora pointed the stave. Fyora gasped

      “It’s Multi-use”

      “Ms Fyora” Frostrym began. Fyora looked towards the Cybunny “Why us?” she wondered

      “There’s no solid answer I can give to that question. The prophecy did not specify names or appearance. We didn’t know it would be Bathori, and somehow, I don’t think Bathori knew it would be you. If four others had rounded that ridge that day, perhaps they would be where you are now, or maybe this was set in stone and truly meant to be” Fyora supplied “RAAWWWRR” came a loud, reverberating roar from the distance. The group looked North-West of where they stood, exactly where the Usul had pointed out

      “Oh” Fyora piped up “There’s something here I’d like to look into” turning to the east, Fyora waved her hand over an intertwine of branches and vines with thorns. Shrivelling away, they revealed a brick vault with six sparkling jewels around a mechanical golden door.

      “Please wave your hands over the entrance” Fyora asked. The four friends performed the task in synchronized form. The door’s mechanisms began to turn. With a click, the doors unlatched, parting in the centre and moving to opposite side to open.

      “Well done. You’d make great apprentices…but we all know what happened to the last one” Fyora said. Entering the vault Charmifire, Blaz and Frostrym activated their item’s glows. A long staircase ended in a wall

      “It appears to turn” Fyora observed. The group headed down. Reaching the wall, Fyora’s hunch proved to be correct. Heading further down in the opposite direction the group cames to a locked door. At their presence, the ring of metal on the door rose and slammed thrice against the wooden boards. The lock seemed to unlatch. Ominously it creaked as it swung open. Cree, Blaz, Charmifire and Frostrym looked to Fyora

      “So…what is Charmifire short for?” Fyora stalled

      “Charmifiryarou” an unsettling voice called

      “Uh, it wants you” Fyora stated. Charmifire gulped.

      “Furblaswa” the same voice called. Blaz quivered “Yes… Furblaswa” the nasally, croaky, echoey voice said. Suddenly a strong gust blew the group into the room, the door slamming shut behind them. No matter how much they tried they could not get the door to open again. Torn, tattered sheets of black-speckled, blue material was suspended from the wall. Off to the side was a desk with a glowing lantern, but the glaring detail of the room was a large portrait. They portrait depicted that of a blue Lupe in a white shirt and brown vest with black hair tied back. Underneath it read ‘First-Mate Sylva’. The side and top edges each had two jewels embedded into them, six in total. Waving their hands, the four friends waited. There was no response. Fyora tried her magic. The portrait remained as it was.

      “This tells me two things, that it is firmly attached to the wall, and that this is super ancient magic we are dealing with here” Fyora said. Heading for the desk, the group found a book. At the bottom edge was an inscription ‘Property of Sylva’. As with the gate and portrait before it, this item had six jewels around its edge. However, unlike the others, this item was unlocked. Cree flicked through the pages

      “It tells of some of the adventures of first mate Sylva, but no mention of Mystery Island. These events must’ve happened before then” Cree figured

      “Does it mention any way out of here?” Blaz asked. Suddenly the books bindings snapped shut.

      “Ooohhh. Someone doesn’t like snooping” Blaz joked.

      “Maybe we can get it open again” Frostrym suggested. Placing up their palms, the four friends waved. The log opened, but not in the way they expected. A secret compartment in the logbook’s cover appeared beneath a flipped up section. Something seemed to be glinting within. Removing the item, the portrait of Sylva slowly opened like a door. Behind it was a well-lit tunnel. Taking the log, the group rushed through. The tunnel made a turn to the North. The four friends could hear it now. The sound of Floobix and Weewoos. What was that in the distance? Stairs! Hurriedly they made their way towards them. Up they scaled. Finally they emerged above ground…

      The End.