(So, as a late Christmas gift to you who have stuck with this series for so long, I give you an early Christmas gift... the beginning of the next World in Wizard101. Enjoy and have a happy 2015.)
"I've been having these dreams lately... like is any of this for real?" - Sora, Kingdom Hearts
The nightmare has been the same. It started out the first night I slept in my Watchtower Hall, right after we saved Avalon and were praised as heroes...
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| Don't own this picture, I got it off of Google Images |
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| See above |
And then... destruction. I cry in horror, unable to save anyone, watching the people below burn as the comet's shockwave rips through the scaly natives of that world, killing everyone. I try to reverse time, cast a spell... but I am mute and frozen to the spot, watching the death...
And I wake in a cold sweat. The nightmares have started coming every night... and I hope Cy was ready for the wrath of a woman unable to sleep regular nights due to night terrors. What did this dream mean if it came every night? Was it an omen?
I dashed it out of my mind. It had been two weeks since we recovered the Sword of Kings and healed King Artorius and his kingdom. Two weeks of peace, but two weeks of no peaceful sleep for me. My foot kicked open the door and I stormed in.
"Cy! You had BETTER have a good reason to call me in when I'm cranky from lack of sleep!" I bit my tongue. I had just gotten on his good side, no need to ruin it now.
However, he paid my outburst no mind and told me about a friend of his.
"What the Black Mage is an Aztecathingie?" I said groggily.
"You don't know what that is?" he said. "Well, you can ask him yourself. You can reach his Observatory by the Stela Izuma."
"The who now?" I asked.
If I had been him, I would have reacted the way he did, rolling the eyes. "It's a large stone monument in the Royal Museum of Marley--- hello?"
I was gone. I knew about that monument - Amy Mistcloud had introduced me to Haley long ago. It had seen long ago but now I remembered the item clearly as day...
I found myself before the giant stone obelisk. I touched it as Amy had done... and it flared into blue light! I felt myself being pulled in...
And I was at Haley's Observatory. I heard noises I wish I hadn't and snuck over the edge of the platform...
The color of their chitinous exoskeletons was different, but I didn't forget those hideous insectoids... they were the brutes of Morganthe's dark army! I tried to sneak around them... and slipped down the slope with a thud that obviously drew their attention to me!
"Light Bringer!" cried one of them. "We crush!"
I sighed and whipped out my book. This was going to be tough... I should have alerted the others...
"Yo, fools!" said a voice.
The bugs turned their heads as did I. "What the..."
"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the gum that sticks to your claws! I am your living nightmare! I am..." (poses) "Dawnblade Dame!"
Dashing dame of mystery,
Champion of light,
Swoops out of the shadows
Dawnblade slays the night
Somewhere some sorceress schemes
But her number's lame!
(3-2-1) Dawnblade Dame (When help you need, just call DD)
Dawnblade Dame (Let's get DANGEROUS)
Dawnblade Dame (Dawn-blade, Dawn-blade Dame!)
(Yeah, Disney is SO going to sue me for ripping off their Batman parody. ;P)
"Uh, I don't think the Goliaths are intimidated, Chrissy," I muttered as the bug-men charged at us.
(These two Goliath Rampagers aren't too tough compared to what you've dealt with in Avalon - they only have 2920 HP and are Fire.)
Needless to say, we defeated the foul bugs.
"What's with the outfit and the glowing wolf steed?" I asked. "What happened to your mine cart and your old armor?"
"The old armor was getting stinky and I didn't need it anymore," said Christina, smiling. "And the Watcher gave me this mount and this sweet blade, along with this..." She handed me a note.
Dear Sierra and friends...
I am so sincerely sorry I have spent so much time in Maple World and not enough with you. I know these little gifts won't make you forgive me for neglecting you, but I promise to watch over you. I will try to dedicate time to you when I can.
The Watcher
"It's silly," I said. "Why would our Watcher neglect us... any why the wolf? It's creepy."
"Okay, I'll change to a better vehicle," said Christina.
"Ice skates?" I asked. "Seriously?"
(Christina got the Winterglide Skates and her outfit - which I stitched her old armor into - from the Winterland pack which is the second Christmas pack. Sadly, the skates are not permanent. :( )
Well, have fun skating for the beetles, Chris. (I think the Rampagers respawned because Christina had gotten the quest to fight them herself. Get away!)
We found Professor Haley safe - he had been hiding in his house while we fought off the bugs.
"Why were they attacking you?" I asked.
"I don't know!" he replied. "But they appeared just as I got a visitor, a Quetzal."
"A what?" asked Christina. I was confused as well.
"It's a winged serpent," said the professor. "I'm not surprised you don't know about them. They're supposed to be extinct... maybe this one hadn't heard? Quetzals are said to be ferocious and territorial... or extremely docile."
"That doesn't help," said Christina, cringing.
"Where is it?" I asked.
"Over there, I built a little home for it with the relics I had lying about," he said, pointing to a pile of relics which looked ancient in nature.
"I am not touching that thing," hissed Christina. I stepped towards the winged snake and extended my hand gently. It smiled and wrapped gently around my body. I shuddered but it seemed docile.
I slowly reached to the bone tube around the creature's neck but it slipped it off for me - it was like it was commanded to give this message to me. I pulled out a message scrawled in ancient text across the leaves... and they glowed and formed understandable words...
Great Wizards of Bartleby, Azteca trembles in the shadow of Xilbalba. Pacal Redmask, Tzecat Threestar, and Zaylin Reedwalker
"Azteca!" said Haley in shock. "How could that be? It was supposedly destroyed by a comet a decade ago. Look through the telescope in my observatory. Maybe I was wrong. Oh look, there's something else around the Quetzal's neck!"
I pulled it off and gasped in shock. A Spiral Key! Could this be the key to Azteca? But if it was destroyed, why would there be a key? We decided to check out the telescope.
I saw the stone egg Amy had talked to Haley about. It was still there.
"Oh nice," said Christina, but a glare from me prevented her from touching it.
We got to the observatory and Christina looked through the telescope. She gasped. "Carrot fairy, you had better look at this..."
I checked and my jaw dropped. I pulled away in horror.
"Creepy," said Christina. "I bet Morgie's responsible for this, why else would she send her grunts? They were trying to silence that snake!"
"Carrot fairy... what's wrong?" asked my friend.
"We need to get the team together, tell them to meet in Grace's office," I said.
"It must have been an illusion to protect the World," I said. "And now something has forced the illusion to drop."
"Has to be Morgie," muttered Christina. "We'd better take that little snake to somewhere safe."
"I'll give it to Cy," I said. "He can handle it better than I." I didn't like the way it was licking me.
"Oh yeah, I have a gift for you from the Watcher," said Christina. She opened a box...
"Meet Pumba," said Christina. "That's what she responds to. Oh, and drop by your Hall... the Watcher has another gift..."
It was the best Christmas ever. (Kudos to my little sister Anna, who has a child, for buying the Winterbane Gauntlet card for my Xmas gift from her. That $40 will be well invested now that we have a means of getting cheap Megas. ^_^)
[To be continued...]
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