The Headmaster took the bad news as expected. "This is not good," he muttered. "If he intends to revive his wife from there, chances are... no, it'd be the end of the Spiral!"
"What is Dragonspyre, exactly, Rra Ambrose?" asked Grace politely.
"A ruined world, ravaged by the Dragon Titan during the Great War that sundered the Spiral into its current state," said Ambrose, stroking his beard nervously. It was clear this place was cursed. "All that is left of the people of that world are restless ghosts and vile draconians, soldiers of the Dragon Titan. Nobody would go there unless... no!"
"Maybe we can intecept Malistaire and stop him from going there," I murmured. "Do you have a Spiral Key to that place?"
Ambrose furrowed his brow. "There are only two copies of the Spiral Key to Dragonspyre, the only other way to get there..."
"Is through the Avernus Skyway," said Grace. She turned to me. "I traveled through that place on a ship bound for Valenica. It is living doom, with undead dragons crawling the skies." She shuddered.
"The first copy of the Spiral Key," said Ambrose. "I gave to your friend, Sierra. Christina Dawnblade is using it to scout out that world after my visions warned me that it would become important. The only other copy..." He lit up. "Yes! It might be a chance!"
"Huh?" I asked.
"The only other copy of the key is owned by Yoshihito, the Jade Emperor," said Ambrose. "He is the ruler of Mooshu."
I lit up and then blushed and hung my head. "Headmaster I'm sorry, but I... I asked Christina to take me to Mooshu briefly to get the Mandrake I asked you about earlier..."
I waited the tongue-lashing. I knew Christina would get mad at me for revealing this but...
I heard him chuckle. "It's all right, Sierra," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. He then handed me a key. "Here, you've shown yourself to be brave and strong, so I have no doubt you and your friend, Grace the *ahem* private detective can handle traveling there yourself."
I looked at the key and inhaled sharply as Grace got her key. "Are you okay with it? I snuck around behind your back and hitched a ride to Mooshu when I..."
"You're clever, and you have excellent friends," said Ambrose, smiling. "Go to Mooshu, warn the Jade Emperor not to let Malistaire ten miles within the Jade Palace, and you will do fine. By the way, you two deserve new spells. Here." He gave us magic cards. I looked at mine - it was called Blinding Light and could blind enemies and stun them. Penny didn't like Grace's card.
"Wild Bolt?" asked the mermaid. "Sounds dangerous."
"Well, it's worth a shot," said Grace as she pocketed it. "And it is cheap to cast."
"Thank you, Headmaster. We'll use these new spells well." I nodded to Grace. "Let's go..."
"To Mooshu!" (I had to rush Grace through Big Ben using Chris Storycrafter to get through those dungeons so Grace could join Sierra in Mooshu. Luckily, a couple of Pyros helped her rip through the place - Strong-boosted Meteor Strikes for the win. ^_^)
I inhaled the sharp air and smiled. Now I could show Toshio the two Seals of the Searphim I made for him while I was away. We met with a cow geisha - I recognized her kind as Moolinda Wu, our life professor(who I was learning spells from - I had one training point to go before I got a spell to heal others) - and bowed Japanese-style.
"Greetings, ones from the City of Wizards," said the woman, bowing back. "I am Su Lee, greeter of those traveling to Mooshu. Welcome to our esteemed land."
"We are here to see the Jade Emperor," said Grace.
"So you want to see the Emperor, Wizards?" asked Su Lee, who suddenly grew pale. I had a bad feeling something was up. "I have already said too much. None may see his Imperial Majesty without permission from His Majesty's Guard."
"Ugh," I muttered.
"However," she said. "I can save you some time. Go speak to the guard Nobaru Akitame by the Jade Palace. If anyone can help you, he can."
"This is bad," said Penny as I spoke with Zeke, who asked us to find blue oysters. "We don't have time for this! What if..."
"You worry too much," I said but I was worried too - something bad must have happened.
I climbed up the steps to the palace. I did see the palace on my first trip but didn't go near it, so I didn't realize that the trip was so hard! I decided to use my wings from now on. I bowed and greeted the samoorai - I remembered Kisai Shugenja during the Spiral Cup, but this guy wore full battle armor. He greeted me after I told him that Su Lee referred us to him.
"You seek his Majesty, the Emperor," said Noboru. "But another wizard such as you has already come before using the same beguiling words. Malistaire was his name."
NO. I was sweating. I tried to speak but my tongue stuck in my throat.
"After that unfortunate visit, no one may see His Imperial Majesty," said Noboru, bowing sadly. "We will make an exception only if you willingly submit to the Tests of Mind, Body and Spirit."
I wanted to break for it, but I realized that he could easily cut my head off with that katana before I moved. I sighed. "We will do the tests, right Gra---" I turned and saw that she was gone. Where is she? "I will accept."
"I must warn you," said Noboru. "No one has ever passed all three tests except for his Imperial Majesty Himself. If you wish to test yourself, Lo Pang will administer the first test by the Rock Garden."
Lo Pang the goat monk greeted me but what he said intrigued me. "Malistaire is not the only evil?"
"No, wizard," said Lo, nodding. "There are evils from beyond time itself and those greater than the one who... I must say no more. Still, to be as the Moodha is to be at peace and pure of mind. I hope the Rock Garden will lead you to peace as it has for me. Go now, enter and clear your mind. Afterwards, go inside the dojo and see what wisdom you can learn there. Return to me after you have finished your journey. I will tell if you are truly pure of mind."
I did as he asked and meditated in the garden, closing my eyes. I felt inner peace - whatever I learned about Malistaire seemed to be less of an impact on my mind. I then went into the dojo and read the book and smiled. Then I returned to Lo Pang.
"Yes yes," said the monk, studying me intently. "You have achieved inner peace. Keep this peace within you and you will become like the Moodha. Tell Noboru Akitame you have passed the Test."
The guard was not surprised. "I expected a wizard to be able to be pure of mind, but what of body?" He directed me to one of his fellow soldiers, the samoorai Yochimo Toyo. We greeted each other and met in the dojo nearby to have a friendly duel.
But I knew all of his tricks, he was a Storm foe and I had learned much about Storm from fighting with Grace. (I wondered where she had vanished to.) Yochimo was taken aback when I summoned the ninja pigs and they defeated him in one blow. (And without Monstrous TCs! ^_^)
"It was an honor to fight you," he said, bowing. I bowed back.
Noboru was amazed that I had passed two tests but warned me of the last. "A sinful man with an impure heart would rather flee in terror than face the judgement of the Moodha. Go meditate before the great Moodha and we shall see if you are worthy of the Test of Spirit."
I was a bit nervous but did as he asked, bowing before the statue. I then had visions as a voice entered my head... a calm and deep voice.
Greetings Sierra Fairyfriend, wizard of Myth magic. Your quest to be frugal and strong has brought you far to this world...
Great trials await you, the one you seek is not your only enemy - there is another, one more dark and evil than he. You must pass through many more worlds before you can defeat that one as well, and great difficulties await you...
But do not despair, for as long as you possess the clarity of mind, the strength of body and the purity of spirit, you and your friends will not falter and this greater evil will also perish before it rewrites the history of the Spiral into oblivion and plunges it into darkness. You have passed the Test of Spirit, Child of Light and Shadow.
I awoke and gasped. What was that all about? I looked at the statue and returned to Noboru, who was amazed and flabbergasted.
"Let me in, please," I begged. "I know something bad has happened."
"Very well, speak to the Jade Champion," said Noboru, opening the doors for me. I ran in and found someone lying on a bamboo cot in front of a throne. A larger samoorai in jade-colored armor, clearly the Jade Champion, approached, sword out. I quickly told him about the Tests and he lowered his blade. "Please, I need the key to Dragonspyre."
I did not want to hear those words. He told me that Malistaire visited a week ago and asked for the key, but when the Emperor politely refused, Malstaire blasted him and stole the key, fleeing into the gate. I was too late again. Malistaire had reached Dragonspyre and had the Krokonomicon. The Spiral was doomed.
I can attest that, as I hugged myself tightly and bit my lip to fight back tears, I went through all five stages of grief in minutes. But soon I heard a familiar voice...
"Sorry, is this a bad time, Sierra? Oh hello, sir." Christina bowed. "Sierra, I found this amazing pagoda a few miles from the city! Let's explore it together."
"How can you be so flippant?" I sighed. "The Spiral is doomed."
I left the palace with her and told her about what I had learned. "It's okay," said Christina, comforting me. "Old Mal isn't going anywhere. You forgot, MY Professor, Al, is the professor of Balance and helped make that book! He asked me to investigate Dragonspyre - it looks like the spirits are restless but things haven't heated up yet. It'll be a while. Right now, let's go explore that pagoda and get your mind off that mess."
I realized that I couldn't get mad at her but I realized that my mind was at peace - what the Moodha and Lo Pang had told me about greater evils meant that Malistaire was the least of my problems to come. I would have a reckoning, but for now I had to distract myself and exploring a new area seemed like the ticket. I just hoped that Grace could take the news better than I could when I found her again...
[To be continued...]
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