It was impossible to believe... my old friend, Mma Fairyfriend, had met with and helped train Katie.
Why? Why had she reappeared? I thought she was... late. But Katie had traveled with her through Grizzleheim and helped to clear out the ravens, who were causing trouble again.
Katie refused to explain what they had discussed, only that Sierra had sworn her to silence while they dealt with more threats in Mirkholm Keep.
I recalled my first memories with Mma Fairyfriend. I had stumbled upon her in Colossus Boulevard and my first secretary Penny helped defeat the Gobblers with her special song that summoned the Sirens. I recalled how I had been captured while helping with an exchange program in my homeland and ended up rescuing Penny's sisters and gaining the power of the Sirens for myself. Had so much time passed since then? Why had Sierra shown up after doing a vanishing spell and falling off of the Spiral for a year? As a private detective whose mind always raced, I was determined to find out.
Author's Note: Goodbye $10, but I decided that I wanted to keep playing with Sierra, I have put so much love in that character. If you are interested in Sierra Fairyfriend, go check out The Tightwad Conjurer, my old blog. It has the adventures of Sierra, Grace and their friends as they explored the Spiral. I started that blog on January of 2014! ^_^
I continued training Katie, giving her a tour of Mooshu, where things had seem to decay again - the Onis had returned. When I recalled my memories with Sierra, I thought about how Sierra had acted when we first met - she had been as bubbly and energetic as Katie was now, curious about the Spiral and eager to prove something to it. But all of our old foes had come back to life with some dark magic and we were forced to defeat them again. If Morganthe was so powerful as to bring back even the War, Plague and Death Oni, I feared that the Spiral was in even greater danger than ever.
Worse, she restored the Coven. Katie told me how she and Sierra had put the foul foursome led by Rra Stormfather - may he never blight the name of Storm again - into defeat yet again. I had seen them get drained of magic by Morganthe in Nastrond, why are they back?
Was Morganthe sucking Azteca dry of magic to power her own dark ambitions and using the restored enemies to further her dark means? No, perish the thought!
We reached Dragonspyre and explored it, meeting the Loremaster again. Katie was very eager to learn lore spells even if she couldn't learn them right away.
But I worry about the people she battled the Loremaster with. She might fall in with a bad crowd.
(I hope Abigail Iceblossom and Blake Spellthorn do not mind me using this shot. Three Ice Mages are a bit difficult to run in a fight, but both Abby and Blake were past Fort Rachias because they both had Shadow Magic even though I didn't see any of the new spells cast. We'll discuss it when Katie gets it. I broke the vow but this screenshot is hilarious. :])
Later, she showed off a spell the Loremaster had taught her, even though it did no good with her current buff setup. But she said she was willing to learn Spirit Blades if need be. Dark times indeed when one would stoop to learning spells that do not work with their current school just for kicks.
/Author/ What were the odds that my Ice Wizard would be the one to learn Deer Knight?!? :( She learned this way after I had visited the Waterworks with Katie, so this picture is taken much later.
We eventually reunited with Sierra's Drake, Chester, and he took us to the Great Spyre for a quick look. I looked at the sleeping Fire Titan, breathing in relief that it had not been awoken again. Me, Sierra and Christina, our third member, had invoked the power of the Krokonomicon itself to put it back into its eternal slumber. I did not have the power to repeat that miracle alone or with Katie...
And then I saw HIM. The Dark One. He was shrouded in a hood that hid all but his glowing evil eyes. He looked at me and I heard his breathing deepen, as if he was angry at seeing me.
"Where is your Myth friend, Rain Wizard?" he demanded in a hollow voice. The voice was horrifyingly familiar... no, it couldn't be HIM. Katie saw him and came up to my side, sneering.
"Hey, jackwad," sneered Katie. "Why are you here and what's your deal? I know you're not here to just check out the giant ugly dragon belching in your face!"
The figure growled, clenching his dark fist and the pointing at me. "They..."
"What did Grace do to you, buddy?" She brandished her wand. "I warn you, buddy, don't test me!"
But he vanished, leaving behind some foul wraiths which we were forced to kill. I had a vision...
I recalled Cyrus confronting his brother, summoning Sylvia's shade, and being rejected.
We had fought him and he had become late...
I shook my head. No, that wasn't him. I was imagining it, but still... the man had the same body shape, the same height, and held a wand similar to Malistaire's old wand with a dragon on top of the head of it. But... it can't be! Still, my heart sank at the idea of who that dark man was...
"You okay, sis?" asked Katie. "Come on, let's talk to the Headmaster."
We spoke with Rra Ambrose.
"Oh dear, you said you saw a figure who looked like Malistaire?" he said in worry.
"It cannot be him," I said. "He is late."
"Yes... Cyrus placed his brother's body in a coffin and sent it into the Outer Dark, the lanes that connect the worlds of the Spiral," said Ambrose sadly. "I was there to watch the funeral proceedings. Hmmmm, this is worrisome." He shook his head. "We need to know more before we make any assumptions. Please speak to Grandmother Raven, you should know where she nests."
"I know where she is, Headmaster," I said, bowing. "I will head there immediately. Please tell Katie to continue her studies without me and I will return to her side momentarily."
"You are a fine woman, Grace," said Ambrose, stroking his beard. "But don't stop your studies just for this investigation." He then stroked his beard and smiled. "Your final exam is coming soon."
I gasped. "So soon? I did not realize..."
"Indeed," said Ambrose, chuckling with a twinkle in his eye. "You have reached the point where we, including Professor Baelstrom, are unable to teach you much more. In fact, Baelstrom hopped into my office just recently and handed me a writ asking if you and your friends could have an early graduation. He has a friend in the Outer Spiral who he wishes you to meet, one who can increase your power to levels far beyond any student here in Ravenwood. Even though you will always be at home here in Wizard City, it is about time you, Sierra, and Christina moved on to bigger and better academies. There is only so much we can teach you and you are reaching that point."
I was a bit stunned, but nodded. "Very well, Headmaster. I will try to do well on my exams and make you proud of me. But for now...."
"Yes, speak to Lady Nightstar," said Ambrose. "Bartleby is feeling a bit under the weather. I fear that Morganthe and her minions are to blame! Even though I have made sure that Wizard City is well protected from her invasion after that attack months ago, Bartleby's roots touch every world in the Spiral, even the ones that Morganthe controls, and he senses her power growing."
This was very dire news, to be certain. I teleported to my house and headed through my Spiral Door to get to Wintertusk as quickly as possible.
I hurried to Hrundle Fjord, but the news Grandmother Raven told me was what I had perceived.
"It is indeed what you fear, Grace," she told me sadly. "Morganthe is reviving your past foes to slow you down. Something terrible has happened in Azteca and Malistaire is indeed involved, but how I cannot say. The Shadow Queen blocks even my sight with her powerful dark magic."
I grew very afraid. If someone could blind one of the two gods of The Spiral, I feared Morganthe was more powerful than we had first believed.
"Go to Celestia," said Grandmother Raven. "I sense Morganthe has reappeared in the Chancel and is stirring up the Pisceans again."
"I have a new charge, I will take her there at once," I said. "Thank you, Mma. You have helped me and my friends so much."
"And you have aided us so much as well," said Grandmother Raven, smiling. "You broke the Coven's power before and saved Grizzleheim and my people from the Everwinter. You are a mighty hero."
I had never had the chance to fully explore Celestia. The last time I was there was helping Sierra and Christina with Dalton Prescott's problems in the Survey Camp. I decided to help Katie out and I finally got to explore the full of Celestia - the underwater Grotto, the exotic Floating Land where I got my first set of enchants, and the Crustacean Empire. Katie enjoyed the place, especially the Floating Land, and we dealt with any problems and helped the Marleybonian Expedition out again.
Author: I know I should have used the Swift Skirunner Shark for this world, but you can't deny that a coffin car has its charms, especially since it somehow holds up underwater! XD
Katie told me of some of the adventures she had while I was in Wintertusk. Sierra had convinced her to check out the library of Krokotopia and discovered that the reading rooms were now open...
But the people who used them were not amused at being disturbed.
Author: Finally farmed some Wooden Keys off of Jade Oni and Sierra had a key too so Katie got to claim the titles for the new Wooden Key Bosses in Zan'ne's library - Ra(WTF?) and the strange burglar called Sapoti. (He's a native of Mirage, but more on that later.)
Don't worry, unlike Takabatsu, these two guys are wimps. (WTF Ra? Why are you so weak!?) They have to be because they are the easiest Skeleton Key Bosses in the game being where they are. Sierra got an Anubis Scepter from Ra and a Foxy Dragon pet from Sapoti. Katie got... bupkis. :p
She told me that she and Sierra had revisited the Sons of Ymir to make sure they were okay. I was glad they were fine despite being mind-controlled by the Coven.
Author: Wintertusk is brutal to Katie because 90% of the enemies are Ice. Luckily I had my Myth Wizard, Sierra, help out since Myth is super-effective to 2nd Arc Ice enemies. ^_^
During one rest period, I fell into a trance and had a nightmare of me and Katie being tortured to death by Rattlebones, the first foe Sierra had fought. This time he was much more powerful.
"Ha ha ha!" laughed the skeleton. "You do not know the power of the Shadow! Soon the Shadow Queen will erase you and your friends from the Spiral forever and the Skies will Fall! Mwa ha ha!"
I woke up screaming and sweating. "Are you okay?" asked Katie.
I told her about my nightmare. "You had a similar nightmare to me!" cried the Ice Mage in horror. "Only in my dream, me and Sierra were fighting this Krok called Krokopatra, that evil queen she told me about in Krokotopia, the one who stole the Krokothing! That evil witch brainwashed me and Sierra cried in agony as she summoned a big bug that zapped me with some crazy beam of light! I woke up before it hit me, though."
I was horrified. Morganthe was sending us nightmares to weaken us! "We have to rebuild the portal to the Chancel immediately, mma!"
Author: I. HATE. MASTER DUEL KROKOPATRA!!! Just as Sierra was about to kill her she cast Beguile on Katie and the Mystic Colossus zapped Katie. Level 100 Conjurer with full gear and uber spell vs. Level 40 Ice Wizard with low resist. Worse, Krokopatra was slain at the same time so even if Katie could warp back with dungeon Recall, she lost the battle and thus couldn't get the loot.
She was robbed of her spoils. She and Grace lost against Master Duel Rattlebones because he used Mass Feint and then his normal attack which crit'd, so Katie had to summon some henchs... and I had bought the Master Duel Rattlebones fight so Katie was low on Crowns...
And had to watch the Videos of Shame so she could stitch her robe. (sigh)
Author: I have put up some links to Duelist101 about the new one-shot rematch arenas as talking about them would take moons and this blog isn't unlimited in space. :p
I think Rra Ravenpetal has a beau but she will not say anything about him other than his name is Alex Ice. She helped him out a few times.
Author: Alex Ice is a nice guy and helped me get into the Grand Tourney gauntlet through a glitch. He tried to get her into the Clock Tower gauntlet but the game caught him red-handed. :) We also tried to do another Rattlebones Master Duel but only his Level 10 friend Connor Griffin got in and Katie and Christina(yes, I still use her from time to time) got nearly REKT by the cheating. Christina was there to put up Unbalance to keep the Bones from using his Mana Burn cheat but the Fairy Queen did a lot of damage(and I forgot that she would use the Feint Swap cheat if she was targeted). Still, I did get a Mote of Transport and Ultra Trumpet Vine from these two duels.
We hurried to the Chancel, the place Wizard Mercury helped my friend in... and I saw HER again.
"Morganthe!" my secretary Zoey screamed.
The evil woman turned to us. "Well well well, never expected a black kitten to cross my path again. How unlucky must I be."
Katie frowned. "I heard all about you, Morgana Le Fay. You've been a naughty girl."
"Oh, another of those children," growled Morganthe.
"You are the one reviving all our old enemies," I said coldly. "Why?"
"I was hoping they'd kill you and spare me another headache in Azteca," said Morganthe. "After all, it took almost all of my power to subdue your friends."
I paled. "No... Sierra and Christina! You..."
"But... I just..." Katie began. "Sierra was..."
"Yes, I tortured them until they broke. I am upset that they managed to spirit the key away to you before I caught them, but all in all, thanks to a little trap my elephant ally, Belloq, set up, they fell like cards and now I know the Key to Azteca is in your hands."
She scowled. "Hand over the key, you dark-haired Diviner, or else I promise you, what was done to you in Zafaria will be blessed compared to what I will do to you now."
Katie stepped forward with a scowl. "Listen, you cold-hearted slut! I don't know what the chip is on your shoulder, but you are not going to get away with murder. If you hurt one hair on Sierra's head, I swear, I will turn your innards to ice and enjoy frosted Morganthe-slushes on my tongue!"
I was stunned. This girl was much tougher than she looked.
"Oh, the puppy has a spine, does she?" chuckled Morganthe. "Meet me in Mirror Lake and we'll see how tough you really are." She then resurrected Big Salgio and teleported away. "Remember the prophecy, my friends... The Mirror has broken and soon the Horn will Call..."
She threw Big Salgio back at us, but Katie annihilated him with her ice Colossus. Still, those parting words made me shiver.
I was afraid.
[To be continued...]
No comments:
Post a Comment