Coronation: Part Nine

I sank to my knees in the sand in front of Coltzan's Shrine. I had finally seen the ghosts that lingered in Saskia's Masks of Dread only to discover that I was the one being possessed by an evil spirit.

      The wicked enchanter's only goal was to eliminate the good in the world, despite the fact that it meant eliminating the darkness in the world along with it. He was going to engulf Neopia in the endless oblivion of a black hole. As long as his spirit lingered within me, the two dimensions would continue to collide and rip a hole in space big enough to devour both worlds. How was I to stop him?

      I removed the Fairest of Feathers Mask and dropped everything. The desert wind felt nippy against my sweating face. I had to think of a solution.

      Yuruyuki put her wing around me. "What did you see?"

      "Coltzan is right," I said in amazement. "The masks are being haunted by harmless ghosts. I'm under a spell, and if I don't get rid of this evil spirit immediately, his prolonged existence in Neopia will lead to its destruction."

      "What? How is that?"

      "The spirit is from another dimension. If he stays trapped inside of me, the two magnetized dimensions will continue to collide, creating a black hole large enough for Neopia to be sucked into!"

      Saskia calmly said, "Don't overreact, Sin. How do you know that there is an actual spirit in you? You haven't seen him."

      "You're wrong, Saskia. Coltzan and the ghosts of the masks have in fact seen him."

      But Saskia was actually right. I had never seen him for myself; any time I looked in Fyoras Looking Glass, his enchantment prevented me from seeing his existence within me.

      I lifted the Kings Lens from the sand and looked through it at Fyoras Looking Glass which rested on the ground. I waited expectantly, yet nothing appeared other than my normal reflection. The lens was not strong enough to lift the spell and nullify his concealment! How could I rid myself of him if I couldn't even see him for myself?

      I needed the mirror to change, just like how it had happened twice before on our journey. Whenever I had carried out the enchanter's orders and destroyed a mask, the mirror had cracked, symbolically showing me that his spirit was breaking through to the surface and causing chaos. Maybe I could use this tactic once more to provoke his spirit out into the open.

      "I need that mask!" I said suddenly aloud, grabbing for my shoulder bag. I reached in and pulled out the Spiky Glowing Mask. A sudden urge to destroy the mask surged through me, and I let that feeling envelop me.

      After a moment of contemplation, I felt a malignant impression to use the Kings Lens to destroy it. I lifted the lens into the air and used it to focus the sun's rays onto one of the mask's glowing eyes. The eye of the mask began to glow brighter and brighter until the powerful sunlight began to burn through the mask.

      "Sin, what are you doing? Didn't you just say that the ghosts in the masks were harmless?" Saskia asked.

      "I know, but I need to do this one last time. Just trust me."

      Yuruyuki and Saskia watched as the smoking mask caught fire from the intense sunlight. The brighter the flame burned, the more sinisterly satisfied I felt.

      Once it had burned completely into ashes, I picked up Fyoras Looking Glass from the sand; the glass once again appeared shattered. I held the Kings Lens in front of the mirror and looked at the reflection before the glass had a chance to repair itself.

      The image at first was dark and obscure; there was a face hidden in shadow.

      "Show yourself!" I said in my mind, just like how I had spoken with the Faerie Lenny.

      My unmasked face began being magically pulled towards the obscure image. My face hit the glass but pressed through like diving into a pool of water. To me it visually appeared as if my entire body had been sucked into the mirror, even though I could still feel the warm, Lost Desert sand beneath my feet.

      A heinous Wraith Draik appeared in front of me. His jagged smile curled as he leaned forward on his Throne of Intrigue and welcomed me. He wore a golden Crown of Splendour and bore a Scary Eye Staff in his left hand; the eye observed me vigorously while I scanned the strange surroundings. I felt as if the eye had the power to look into my mind and read my deepest secrets like an open book.

      The Wraith Draik spoke in a jarring, breathy voice. "You have awakened from your slumber... Why do you dare to enter my dominion?"

      "I am here to unchain my mind from your spell," I quickly responded. "Tell me, Enchanter, why do you persecute the Neopians living in the masks? They are no longer citizens under your archaic dominion."

      "Good and evil are timeless, and my dominion has no end. They will succumb to my darkness no matter how long they run."

      "Then why do you possess me to do so? Are you not strong enough to carry out your own reprehensible crimes?"

      "Strong? I am strength itself; however, strength can only exist when there is weakness. This is why you are my perfect host and why you will never escape from my grasp."

      "If I am so weak, then why did you continually hide yourself in shadow and safely out of my mind's reach? Enchanter, do you fear the immense good dwelling within me?"

      The Enchanter's expression turned contemptuous. "You overpowered me once while my exhausted spirit resided within the Clockwork Amulet, but I got my revenge by sinking my claws into you permanently."

      "Why did you send the Clockwork Negg to Neopia?"

      "When my prey escaped through time and space, I sent them a parting gift from my degenerate heart. The physical beings in your world were to be ensnared in its enchantment and detonate the Ultimate Neggs of Destruction. By doing so, all living matter would cease and the ghosts that escaped into your world would be trapped in an empty dimension for eternity. Their spirits would exist forever, but they would have no chance to regain a physical form with your planet wiped from existence. It was to be my ultimate victory over them."

      "We stopped you once, and we can stop you again. I know about your black hole; why do you drag Neopia into your old world's squabble? Can you not leave the innocent out of your rampage?"

      "It would be a shame to let the good in your world continue to overpower the darkness. Between the last hour of this dying year and the first hour of the new year, my full power will unfold, and your dimension will collide with mine and collapse into my kingdom known as the endless abyss."

      "You want to be king over us, yet your kingdom will be no more if you engulf it in a black hole. Neither darkness nor light can exist where there is nothing. You will be your own downfall."

      "And you, Sin, will be my queen. With every step you have taken on this journey, you have become my bringer of chaos and my consort in this foreign land. You have taken the sides of both light and darkness; together, our crowning achievement will be to betray everyone, both good and evil from both of our worlds!"

      "Why are you mad with power? Were you born with too much of it, or has your quest for power led you to insanity?"

      The Wraith Draik did not respond. He merely smiled at me while his staff rolled its eye around in place. After a moment of reading through my thoughts, he said, "An inquisitive mind is a sign of fear of the unknown. As my queen, we will face the unknown together. You will have no need to fear."

      "I may be your queen, Enchanter, but you will never be my king! I will find a way to banish you from my mind and prevent you from hurting anyone."

      "Your words are no match for the words of my spell over you, for you cannot overtake me alone. Leave my domain and let me resume my conquest. I will reign over all!"

      The Wraith Draik laughed maniacally as my body was pulled away from the vision. I reentered the Lost Desert and dropped both the Kings Lens and Fyoras Looking Glass into the sand below.

      Yuruyuki and Saskia were still standing where they had been before as if I had only been gone mere seconds. "Yuruyuki? Saskia? I have a plan, but I'm going to need as much help as I can get. For the final moments of our journey together, we are going to soar into the bitter depths of space..."

To be continued...