"Aw...why do I always get the short straw?" complained a man wearing a long white coat. "I'll bet you guys are cheating."
"Nope, you just have bad luck," replied another man, who was also wearing a white coat.
"It's been decided fair and square," commented a third man in a white coat. "You have to feed her today."
"But...but...but she's so SCAREY!"
"Too bad," said the other two as they handed the first man a tray full of mushy looking food. "She's in a straight jacket, what can she possibly do?"
"Oh...I guess you're right," said the unlucky young man as he reluctantly took the food. "What harm can she possibly do?" He walked down the white corridors with a huge sweatdrop over his head. His steps seemed to go slower and slower as he neared the last room of the hallway and came to a stop before it's securly locked door. He hessitated as he reached for the knob, then he quickly turned it and walked inside making sure the door locked behind him. "H...h...hello, ma'am," he stuttered. "I...uh...brought you some dinner."
The old woman grinned an insideous toothless grin.
"Um...uh..."
The old woman began to cackle maddly with that insideous grin spread wide across her face.
"Or...uh...I could be going...if you're not hungry...that is."
"Do you want ta know what the voices told me t'day?"
"Er...um...n...not really."
"Darkness."
"W..w..what?"
"Darkness and ice over all the ocean. Straight offa the coast all the way to the ends o' the earth."
The young man began to creep backwards towards the door. He began to think of how he wasn't really cut out for this line of work. He turned the knob and got one foot out the door.
The old woman tossed her straight jacket to the side and began to cackle again. The young man stared at her in fear as she reached a boney old hand out and grabbed his wrist, quick as a viper. She tied him up in the straight jacket while humming an eerie tune and dissappeared down the corridor, leaving the young man tied up in a padded white room with a securely locked door. She smiled smuggly to herself as she stepped out the assylum's doors into the darkness of a world engulfed in a magic storm.
Back on the Captain's ship Lina was pondering something. "Xelloss, this spell originated on that island, didn't it?" Lina said, staring into the distance.
Xelloss nodded once in agreement. "Either Rianus is more powerful than I suspected...or we have a new foe altogether."
"What?! You didn't kill him?"
"He ran off after I wounded him a bit."
"He ran off? If he could cast a spell this powerful why would he run off? Xelloss, are you capable of casting this powerful of a spell?"
"That's a secret," Xelloss said, waving his index finger in front of his face.
Lina sighed. "Just the answer I would expect out of you. Hey! How thick is this ice?" Lina grabbed Xelloss and threw him down onto the ice. "I guess it's thick enough to support our weight."
Captain Garge walked up. "Argh! Ye aren't plannin' on walking all the way back are ye?"
"That was the plan," Lina said as she hopped over the edge of the ship and ran towards the island, dragging Xelloss with her.
"Ye be careful! That ice could dissappear on ye any minute!"
"Yeah yeah...we'll be careful!" Lina shouted over her shoulder.
Kopii Zelgadis paced back and forth on the shore. "We need to find out who cast this spell. They could be a threat to our plans if Lina gets to them first."
"I agree," said Rianus. "I doubt that a human could cast this kind of spell though."
"Unless they had a very powerful magic amplifier."
"True," said Rianus, narrowing his eyes.
"If we could get a hold on such an item, we could easily defeat Lina."
Rianus smiled an evil grin, "and Xelloss, I assume."
"Yes. We should search for this person tonight, while no one but us can use magic on this island. Do you know of any way to narrow in on this person's location?"
"Not unless the spell is cast again. I don't sense any powerful magic in the area anymore. The spell came from the village, but for now, that's all I can detect."
"Than that's the direction we'll go. We'll start heading that direction the moment I feel the pull of the moon," said Kopii Zel.
Lina couldn't see the moon through all the blackened clouds, but as soon as she stepped foot on Lupine Island again, she could feel it. The transformation was quick and painless now and she and Xelloss trotted towards the village on all fours.
"I'm not exactly sure this is the best time to go looking for the source of that spell. If it is a mazoku then there won't be anything I can do in this form," Lina said to Xelloss who was trotting not too far behind her. "But on the other hand, if it's a human then now is the ideal time because all of the humans on this island are wolves right now."
"What a dilemma," Xelloss agreed.
BOOOOOOM!!!! Lina hit something hard. "Owch" she turned to look at what she had hit and saw an old gray wolf. "Sorry, all you all right?"
The old wolf wheezed a bit then started cackling loudly.
Lina and Xelloss both sweatdropped, recognizing that laugh. They looked at each other and were about to walk away when the old wolf started to speak.
"Listen."
"What?" asked Lina.
"Listen."
"What?" Lina asked again, moving in closer.
"LISTEN! Ta...the voices." The old wolf broke into maniacal laughter and trotted away in the direction of Captain Garge's ship.
"What a kook." Lina commented as she watched the old wolf trot off. Than she and Xelloss started heading towards the village again.
Meanwhile, Rianus and Kopii Zel were also on their way to the village. "I'll bet the original Zelgadis would hope it was a magical amplifier that would be his cure," Kopii Zel commented. "I just want to use it to destroy Lina."
"Speaking of Lina," said Rianus, "there she is."
"WHAT?" Kopii Zel's eyes bugged out of his head. "I thought she left...I thought she was on that ship." He paused for a moment as a small smile spread across his face. "This makes things easier. We just have to make sure we get to the village first. Even if it isn't a magic amplifier, perhaps whoever cast the spell will join us."
"Just so long as they don't join forces with Lina," Rianus added as they continued on their way, keeping downwind and out of sight.
Part 5 | Fanfiction