the twenty first chaptah

“I guess I have some confessions to make.” Terry said. “Let’s start with Terry not being my real name. It’s Mystacia. I was born over a hundred years ago, when the Great Sea didn’t exist. Everything was land. Mostly. I have no idea how, but Gimeon was revived. The Ancients flooded the world and erased everyone’s memories. Everyone’s except mine. I just woke up one day and it was a hundred years in the future. I have no idea where my father is, but when I woke up, I had a third of the Spirit Medallion with me. Somehow Gimeon got hold of one of the other pieces, and you had the third.”

“But how did I get it?” Scott asked. “I never had it until the encounter with Gimeon.”

“I don’t know,” Terry replied, “but now Gimeon has the whole thing. If he gets the centerpiece…”

“Then Andoran’s pretty screwed.” Scott finished the sentence. “And how did Galo get here?”

“Father told me you needed help,” Galo said.

“The Gindu Tree! Maybe he can tell me why I had that medallion piece!” Scott said. After a while, Terry asked Scott,

“So, did it work?”

“Nope.” Scott replied. “It’s like he’s not there. I can’t even sense his presence.”

“Well, I guess we’re alone on this one,” Terry said. “How are we even supposed to find the centerpiece?” Scott asked. “It could be anywhere.”

“I can feel its energy signature,” Terry said. “Kind of like how you sense people.”

“Well, that’s going to make things a lot easier,” Galo said. Terry put her hands on her head, closed her eyes and said,

“Hmmm… let’s see… It’s on Stonewall Island . Let’s go there.” Scott, Terry, and Galo sailed to Stonewall Island on the raft. It was a pretty tight fit, but it was even tighter when Gorvval was with Scott, seeing as Gorvval was twice his size.

“Gorvval,” Scott thought. Even though he was a monster, Gorvval had been the closest thing to a friend Scott ever had. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. Gorvval wouldn’t want him to sit around and mope. He had to keep going. When they arrived at Stonewall, Scott was stunned. The whole island was completely flat. If it was any lower, it would’ve been underwater. The entire island looked like a huge graveyard. There was a single hut. Out in the graves walked a strange man. Scott went over to him.

“Well, hello. Name’s Zandal. What can I do for you?” he asked.

“Umm… hi,” Scott replied. “We’re searching for something that’s on this island.”

“It’s a little diamond-shaped thing. And it’s all glowy.” Terry said.

“Well,” the man said, “I might’ve had something like that, but I probably buried in one of the graves. You’ll have to find it.

“Great,” Galo said, “just great. I go with this guy on some adventure so I can get some excitement, but what do I end up doing? Digging!”

“It’s not that bad.” Scott said. “At least we’re not dead.” Scott, Terry and Galo kept digging and digging, until Scott heard Galo scream. He leaped up and saw Galo backed up against a rock by a giant ghost. He whipped out his sword and started to run when Zandal jumped out of his hut with a wand.

“Spectranna Req!” he shouted. A blue mist came out of his wand and went into the ghost. The ghost popped and blue mist floated out of the air.

“What was that?!” Scott exclaimed.

“If by, that, you mean the ghost, it’s called a Ghastly.” Zandal said. “They been poppin up like crazy round here. That spell was a ghost killer. It overloads the ectoplasmic energy inside of it, much like the death spell that Metamikau used on you.”

“Wait, how do you know about that?!” Scott exclaimed. “I know a lot of things.” Zandal said. “You’d better learn that spell. It could save your life.” With that, he left to go back to his hut. They continued digging for what seemed like hours. Galo kept seeing Ghastlies, but there was never anything there. Until Terry shouted,

“Holy crap! Scott, Galo, check this out!” What Terry had discovered was a portal into a strange realm. They walked forward until they reached a desk. A receptionist behind it said,

“Hello, welcome to the realm of the dead. You may speak to one person. Who would you like to speak with?” “You mean, we can talk to dead people?!” Scott asked, amazed.

“Yes, of course. What did you think the realm of the dead was?” Terry stepped forward.

“Is Mordalfo Andoran XXVII here?” she said.

“No, I’m sorry.” the receptionist said. “I guess he’s not dead.”

“So my father is alive,” Terry whispered to herself. Galo said she didn’t know any dead people. It was Scott’s turn. The first thought that came to his head was Gorvval, but he thought deeper. Finally he said,

“May I speak with Donovan Anderson please?”

“Yeah, okay,” the receptionist said. She led Scott to a videophone. He picked it up and said,

“Dad?”

“Yes, this is Don, who is it?” the voice said.

“Dad, it’s me! Scott! Your son!” he said. There was a long silence. Finally the voice answered,

“Scott, is that really you? I can’t believe it! How is everyone? Is Grandpa okay? What about Kilfred?”

“It’s okay, Dad, everyone’s fine.” Scott said. “Guess what? I’m a wizard!” Another long silence. Finally Scott’s father answered,

“I can’t believe it. Scott, I’m so proud of you.” A voice cut in.

“Your time is over. Please return to the main entrance.” “Bye, Dad.” Scott said.

“Good bye, Scott, and don’t get yourself hurt.” he replied. The receptionist led Scott back out to the desk. As she turned around, Scott caught a glimpse of something shiny in the receptionist’s hair. Obviously, Terry saw it too, because she suddenly said,

“Hey, what’s that in your hair?” It was the centerpiece! “Oh, just something that dropped down here one day.” she replied.

“Do you think I could have it? Please?” Terry asked. “Of course not, unless you’re willing to pay.” she replied. “We just want to borrow it.” Terry said. “How much money do you want?”

“Heh, heh, I don’t take money. I take souls,” she replied. “One of you gives me your soul until I get it back, or you don’t get it.”

“Forget it!” Scott said. “We’re not selling our…” Galo cut him off.

“You can have me. ” she said.

“What? Galo, no, you can’t!” Scott protested.

“Look, Scott, do you want to stop Gimeon or not? You and Terry are the only ones who can stop him.” she said. “I’ll go.”

“Galo…” Scott couldn’t find the words. Finally he said, “We’ll be back. I promise.” The receptionist took the centerpiece out of her hair and laid it on the table. She grabbed Galo and led her into the back. Suddenly, Scott said,

“Wait! Galo, I…” he couldn’t find the words. “Goodbye.