"Nice outfit," I said as we met in Grace's office.
"So you went back to your old outfit?" asked Grace.
"I like your home, Grace, I really do, but it was sweltering," I said. "I feel more comfortable in this."
"My secretary bought this robe," said Grace.
"It suits you, Mma," said Penny, smiling. "It would help fit in with where you need to go next. Rra Ambrose wants to see you two."
"Yes, we managed to recover everyone in the exchange program," I said. "Prince Tziri is safely back with his mom and..." I proceeded to explain the rest.
"Oh my," said Ambrose, brow turning gray. "Morganthe has recover her Deck of Shadows? I thought that it would have been forgotten when I sealed it away!"
"I fear Morganthe has not forgotten, Rra Ambrose," sighed Grace. "We couldn't protect the Golden Relics you gave the tribes..."
"It is all right, my dear," said Ambrose, brushing his beard. "You have much to learn, there is no way you could known where to intercept Morganthe."
"But Christina... she blames herself for not taking responsibility and letting Morganthe get the Deck," I said sadly. "She's going into hiding, I think she might try to commit suicide..." I sniffled.
"That's very odd," murmured Ambrose. "She seemed perfectly fine when she visited me earlier and asked about the Council of Light."
We gasped. "What do you know?" I demanded. "We learned you helped Grace's world crush Morganthe's power!"
"Yes, it is a long story," sighed Ambrose. "I fear the time has come to pass... I had hoped that you two had not been privy to such knowledge, but with Morganthe back to her full power, I fear you may be the only ones who can save the Spiral once again. Morganthe is a much more terrible enemy that Malistaire ever was..." He sighed.
"Tell us everything, Rra," said Grace.
"In order to understand how I helped your world, Grace," said Ambrose. "You must know about my world, where I and Gamma were born... Avalon."
We gasped.
"You know about Avalon?" asked Ambrose.
I explained about the exchange student from Wysteria who we tutored and how an ogre from Avalon kidnapped Belladonna Crisp and Benedict Flendeming for his 'school.'
"I see," said Ambrose. "My world was a wondrous world... until long ago..." He looked at us. "Emperor Yoshihito was also a member of the Council of Light. Visit him and learn what you can, then report back to me."
I was a bit stunned, but not by much. While helping the restless ghost in the Tomb of the Zebra Kings, he told about how an Emperor of Mooshu was one of the Council of Light. I never expected it to be the emperor who we healed by defeating the Jade Oni!
We bowed to him. "It is an honor for you to return, Sierra," said Yoshihito, bowing to us. "And I heard about your friend from others, welcome Grace. Your friend was able to aid us in times of great peril when I was unable to."
"It is in an honor to meet you, Rra," said Grace. She curtsied. "We are here to learn about the Council of Light, which we heard you were a part of. Morganthe has returned."
The Emperor bowed. "I know, I have felt the shadows over Zafaria return. This is most dire. To learn about the Council of Light, you must read the Scrolls of Light, which are guarded by the Jade Oni..."
"Wait, a Jade Oni guards the scrolls?" I asked. "But we killed that Oni!"
"The Jade Oni are a race of demons of light," said the Emperor. "They have served the Emperors past. The one you fought was a corruption of my spirit which was caused by the dark magic that infected me after Malistaire wounded me. I assure you that Makai Shaka is not evil."
I was directed to a dojo where I found the Jade Oni. He wasn't as big as the one I fought long ago, but he was just as fierce and was accompanied by a ninja pig. My ninja pigs took point, along with Medusa. (Makai Shaka has 11000 HP and is Life, and his Student of Khai is also Life and has 2700 HP. I couldn't find my Feints but a quintupled bladed Colossal Medusa did bring Makai down to 853 HP so a bladed Ninja Pigs, unboosted, finished him off. Oh, and did I mention this was a solo fight, you can't have any allies except minions and henchmen? I thought so.)
I found the scrolls and carefully unrolled them, reading the text...
In the Year of the Red Comet, blanketed by shadow, the world of Zafaria called for help. A Council of Light was born. The Council consisted of Merle Ambrose, Lydia Greyrose, Diego the Duelmaster and my humble self. With King Achebe, King Ztu Zebu, King Kaleb, and Queen Elissa, the Spider Temple was broken and the shadows were driven out. The Council of Light kept watch for new shadows throughout the Spiral, for evil can never be destroyed, only driven back.
I was stunned by all of these revelations - the Ice Professor and Diego were part of the Council?!
I read the scrolls to Grace and she nodded as we returned to the Emperor.
"Not many," I said, smiling.
"The Council of Light is a wide organization," said the Emperor. "It has many allies across the Spiral. Wizard City, Marleybone, Mooshu, Grizzleheim, Mirage... even Polaris."
I was stunned at how wide-reaching the Council was, even in worlds we had never been in!
"I want to join the Council," said Grace. "I want to stop Morganthe."
"Your friend, Christina, said the same thing," said Yoshihito. "She talked about how she had failed you and wanted to help stop Morganthe."
I was relieved that Christina hadn't lost all hope. "Where is she now?"
"I sent her back to Merle Ambrose," said the Emperor. "He would know."
As I exited the palace, I saw a familiar face. "Sailor Jup?" It was the Sailor Wizard who helped me fight the Plague and Death Onis!
"Hey, honorary Sailor!" said Sailor Jupiter with her trademark pose. "I heard you were helping this guy called The Professor. He contacted us and I was assigned to the job of helping the guy out."
I was upset. Here I was hunting my friend and...
"Go with him," said Grace. "I will talk to Rra Ambrose and we will figure this out."
I hugged Grace and she teleported away. I turned to Sailor Jupiter. "Ugh... Let's go see what this guy wants this time..."
There's a whole new world out there for you to see,
I'm not talking about Marleybone or Wizard City!
It's got foxes, giants and dragons galore,
You'd better be ready before you walk out the door...
(The Avalon updates will officially begin after the next update. I had to throw in lyrics to this song by TheChezz on Youtube - he made a rap song based on this world.)
[To be continued...]
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