The Adventures of the SOL

 "Gah!  Watch it Sady!"  Hotaru ducked as the large tail went soaring over her head and Sady turned to look at her, smashing her tail into a tree.  She didn't seem to notice.

 "I told you it isn’t a good idea to watch when I’m training Sady," Amy said sternly as Sady looked at Hotaru with a surprised expression.

 "Yip yap yap?" Sady asked, leaning in close to Hotaru.  Hotaru swallowed, looking at the dent in the tree where Sady's tail had smashed it in.

 "No, it’s okay, Sady," Amy told her reassuringly, "Wanna spar?  With who?  Cocoa?"  She put her hand in her bag, smiling up at her dragon.

 "Yip!" Sady jumped up and settled again with a rumble.  Amy smiled and pulled her hand back out.  In it was a small red stone.

 She tossed the stone to the ground and with a red puff of smoke a red dragon rose up from it.  The stone spiraled back up into her hand and she caught it with a trained eye.

 "Spar Cocoa?" Amy asked the fire dragon, then turned to Hotaru, "Fire dragons have a short temper, so it’s best to make sure they wanna do what you want before you make them do it."

 Hotaru nodded, edging closer to Amy.  "You seemed to have your favorites picked out.  So that’s Cocoa?"

 Amy nodded then yelled, "Go!  And don’t burn Sady again, Cocoa, or it'll be a long time before you come out of that stone again."  Cocoa snorted but waddled over to stand in front of Sady.

 The two Dragons circled each other and sized each other up.  Cocoa let out a snort and a cloud of smoke rose from his nostrils.  Sady spread her wings to make herself look bigger and the shorter Cocoa huffed again.

 It was easy to tell the difference between the Dragons.  Sady was black and Cocoa was a bright shining red.  Sady had large black wings and a long neck, while Cocoa had no wings and a shorter neck.  Cocoa was a lot shorter than Sady, but Sady was a black Dragon female, while Cocoa was a red Dragon male, making Cocoa much more aggressive then Sady with the ability of fire.

 Sady snapped at Cocoa, being more playful than aggressive and Cocoa crouched down.  With a giant leap, he aimed at Sady’s mid section, but Sady caught the action and brought her tail around, knocking Cocoa aside.  Cocoa was up almost immediately and charged her again, this time knocking her to her side.  Sady yipped in protest, and Cocoa sat on the larger Dragon proudly.

 "Good job, Cocoa," Amy clapped her hands to signal the fight was over, though it had been a short one, "Now you two can--"

 Sady saw Cocoa’s long forked tail pass over her face and she bit it, causing Cocoa to cry out in a loud growl.  Amy paused, a little surprised, as Sady let out a little Dragon laugh.  Cocoa licked his tail sensitively.

 Cocoa backed off and faced Sady with a growl.  He was about to jump, when Amy stopped him.  "Cocoa!  Calm down!"

 Cocoa gave her a sulky look and sat down, pouting, waving his tail around to show off that he had been hurt.  Amy just shook her head and held up the stone.  A beam of red light shot out and took over the Dragon and he disappeared into the stone.

 "That’s pretty cool!" Hotaru ran back up, "So what’s it like in the stone?"  She looked at all the multi colored stones in Amy’s bag as Amy stuck it back in.  It was like a bag full of gems but each stone contained a dragon.

 "I have no idea," Amy shrugged, "I mean, I didn't go to a school like I was suppose to so stuff like that I don't really have much knowledge on.  I just know that they like it, that is, except for Sady."

 "How come?" Hotaru asked, "I mean, if everyone likes it, then why wouldn’t Sady?"  She reached into Amy’s bag and pulled out a purple stone.

 "Uh," Amy frowned and took the stone, putting it back, "I’m not sure.  Actually, black dragons are pretty rare so any information at all is hard to find about them.  Sady was the very first dragon I ever had, though."

 Hotaru looked at Amy as Amy stood proudly, looking at Sady.  "What made you become a Dragon Trainer?"

 "What made you become a shapeshifter?" Amy countered and Hotaru gave her a strange look.  "What?"

 "I was born a Shapeshifter, like Rei was born a psychic and Mina was born an Animist," Hotaru pointed out, "Your profession is the only one in the group that you had a choice of being."
 "Uh," Amy thought a minute, "What about Twiggy?"

 "If she was born in Gothopic, then it wasn’t really her choice," Hotaru shrugged, "Brent goes there to deliver messages.  Vampires and Witches everywhere."

 "Well," Amy thought, "Serena chose to be a scout, right?"  She looked at Hotaru, and she shrugged back.

 "I’m not sure, I never asked," Hotaru waved her off, "So really, why did you become a Dragon Trainer?  You just liked dragons or something?"

 "Uh," Amy smiled to herself for a second, "I guess it was because I grew up in Dragon Village, which is where they sell dragons and supplies to people who are beginning Dragon Training.  After I left, I found Sady, and sort of fell into it."

 "Wow," Hotaru said, "But if black dragons are so rare, then how did you just happen to come across Sady?"

 "More like she found me," Amy said, kneeling down and petting her dragon, who had shrunk back down to the size of a dog. "I think she had an owner before me.  I could never have bought a black dragon.  Nobody’s stupid enough to sell one, not unless they really need the money, which mind you is a lot of money."

 "So how many colors and kinds are there?" Hotaru asked.

 "Too many to go into them all right now," Amy stood up and Sady walked away to sniff at something, "Just because a dragon is red doesn’t mean it’s a fire dragon.  There’s several mixes and matches too, not just color and size and such."

 "What do you mean?" Hotaru asked, not understanding.

 "Well, despite most beliefs about dragons, they aren’t all fighters.  A black dragon healer is the rarest dragon of all.  I bet there’s only two in the world right now.  Sady’s a black dragon fighter."

 "Do you have any Healers?" Hotaru asked.

 "Plenty," Amy nodded, "There’s three kinds:  Fighters, Healers, and Half-ways."

 "What are Half-ways?" Hotaru asked.

 "Uh, between a Healer and a Fighter," Amy said, "Which actually Healer is a bad name for them because the don’t heal.  They have telekinetic powers.  More like White Magic, you know?"

 "Telekinetic?" Hotaru asked, "Like Rei?"

 Amy thought of Rei with dragon horns, a tail, and wings and laughed.  "Sort of," suddenly her expression grew dark,  "Come on, we should head back.  Serena said that the Rais boy is still around and we’re not sure what side he’s on."

 "But you don’t think he’d attack do you?" Hotaru looked around, trying to seem nonchalant but a little nervous.

 "Well, I’m not sure," Amy said, walking down the forest path, "I mean, I think he’s really confused.  Sounds almost psychotic to me."

 "I’ll bet he’s in the trees right now and he’s gonna jump down and attack us both any minute," Hotaru whispered, "Then they’ll find us each stabbed twenty times."

 Amy rolled her eyes.  "I’m so sure."  Still she looked through the thick tree trunks and made eyes at anything that moved in the forest.

 Suddenly, something jumped from the trees and landed right in front of them.  Amy screamed and Hotaru would have, had her hand not been clamped over her own mouth.  "We don't want to fight you!" Amy cried, but looked up to see a girl with a red tangle of hair grinning at her.

 "Okay, whatever," Lita said, giggling, "I didn’t plan on it anyway."

 "Lita!" Amy yelled, realizing that she had been tricked.  Lita acted like such a ditz no one ever suspected her until it was too late.  "That was really mean!"

 "Mean, but funny, which makes it all worthwhile," Lita said innocently, "Rei wants y'all to come back.  We have stuff to discuss."

 "Stuff?  What kind of stuff?" Amy asked, her voice a little quieter, adjusting the strap on her bag and watching Sady sniff a tree.  Sady had ignored them even when Lita had tried to frighten them.  Hotaru was rubbing her forearm self consciously.

 Lita shrugged.  "She said stuff.  Creton stuff, Retopia stuff, Evilopolis stuff. Just, you know, general stuff."

 "What about all of that?" Hotaru asked annoyed, "You know, if Rei's dad fought this guy when she was little, shouldn't she know more about him?  She can be very mysterious sometimes, and that's not in a good way."

 "Not as mysterious as that Twiggy, if you want to talk about people in a bad way," Amy commented, looking around suspiciously. Twiggy had a tendency to pop up when she was or wasn’t wanted.  "We don’t know a thing about Twiggy, only that she is a breed that’s been known for evil and was brought up in the vampire capitol."

 "She hasn’t done anything suspicious," Hotaru shrugged, "But she is really really weird.  The way she’s always popping up out of no where.  And always right on time for something."

 "Aren’t you guys kind of stereo-typing?" Lita asked, smiling uncertainly at both of them.  "Maybe she turned out different.  It’s not so far fetched.  Think about Brashear.  She was a Lizertonian at one time."

 "That’s true," Amy whispered conspiratorially, "but I still don’t trust her--"

 Silence lapsed as they walked back to the castle.  They walked into the front doors and Lita led them under the stairs into the lounge.  Mina was sitting in a velvet plush chair with Serena sitting on the arm.  Twiggy was in the chair farthest away from the fire in the fireplace brooding in the dark.  Rei was sitting in a love-seat with Charlie and they were giggling about something.  Lita gained a slightly jealous expression as she watched them, then walked in and sat right smack between them.  Serena wiggled nervously, glaring at Lita.  Amy giggled and she and Hotaru sat next to each other on a separate sofa.

 "What’s so important you had to interrupt my dragon training, Rei?" Amy asked, ignoring the fact that she had been leaving when Lita had told her.  Rei turned to her with a whatever-I-think-is-important-enough look.

 "We need to decide what we’re going to do about Creton.  He’s a dangerous opponent and we can’t wait until he gains enough power to attack us and win.  We've been lucky so far but I don't think it will last much longer."

 "So we go on the offensive?" Lita asked and suggested at the same time, "Do we have that kind of power?"

 "No," Rei said rather flatly, "We barely have enough power to be on defensive, offensive is out of the question.  But we have to do something or--"

 She stopped abruptly.  Everyone looked at her expectantly, and Serena said, "Or what, Rei?"

 "Something bad is going to happen, and I think it’s going to happen soon," Rei said, "I can’t tell.  The dreams are so vague.."

 "Dreams?  What do you see?" Mina asked, running a foot over TK the Panther, who was curled up at her feet.  He looked up and stared at her, along with everyone else.

 "I--" Rei seemed like she didn’t really want to say, "A dark figure and-- look, it doesn’t really matter.  What matters is it’s going to happen soon."

 Everyone cast each other a knowing look.  Rei had a bad habit of with-holding information, first about Charlie, now about this.  She was pretty bent on doing things as independently as she could manage.

 "If it was bad enough to scare Rei," Twiggy told everyone else, "Then it should be taken seriously."  She folded her arms and stared at everyone.

 "Who said anything about being scared?!"  Rei asked, her voice a little shriller than usual, "I fear nothing!"

 Charlie snorted.  "Yeah well, what about that time that..."  He cut off because Rei had begun to glare at him and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

 "So how was training?" Serena asked Amy cheerfully as Rei continued to glare at Charlie, her attention completely taken by the task.

 "Pretty cool," Hotaru said for her.  "Sady won against this little fire dragon.  Did you know that Sady is a rare dragon?"

 "No," Mina said, then looking around asked, "Where is Sady anyhow?"

 Amy stared at Mina, then looked around for the small Dragon.  "Where is she?" Amy asked herself, looking behind the couch. "She was right behind us when we left the forest."

 "Maybe she was hungry," Lita suggested, "She may have gone to your room."

 "Yeah, maybe," Amy muttered, but looked troubled all the same.  Sady only went places without Amy when Amy asked her to.  This wasn’t like her at all.  She quickly got up to go check in her room.

 She never suspected what had really happened.

"Father, I've done it, I've captured one of them!"

 Valerie burst through the Reptopia throne room doors and Creton lifted his masked face to him.  "You’ve caught one of them?" he was surprised.  He hadn't even sent Valerie out to capture anyone and yet here he was.

 Valerie nodded proudly, ready to make up for his last lousy mission.  He beckoned a guard forward and Creton waited with interest.  The soldier held a bag in his hand and opened it.  Sady poked her head out and sneezed.

 What he saw did not please him.

 "A dragon?!  I ask for one of Rei's warriors and you bring me a dragon?!"  he yelled, outraged, and Valerie winced.

 "But, Father--"

 "I want one of them!  What could this dragon possibly be used for?" he waved towards the black dragon at the guard's feet. Valerie turned to it and watched it for a moment.  Sady didn’t seem concerned with her surroundings.  In fact she was too busy trying to untangle herself from the bag she had been in that she didn’t even notice.

 "She is the very own of the Dragon Trainer," Valerie explained quickly.  He didn't want to disappoint his father again.

 "So she lost a single dragon.  Dragon trainers keep much more than one dragon, Valerie," Creton responded, glaring at his son.

 "But I heard her talking with the Shapeshifter. This one has much sentimental value.  Like a pet to her," Valerie said, smiling, "By simply capturing the dragon, it will most likely bring all of the others within our reach.  It wasn't even hard.  It was sniffing at a tree.  All I had to do was grab it."

 "Hmm," Creton considered Valerie carefully, "Perhaps you are right.   If this dragon is close with its owner than she will insist they come to get it.  Even if she comes alone we can use her against Rei.  Maybe I shall have Rei after all."

 Valerie nodded, but was cut short when Sady started to grow much much larger.  No one talked about hurting her master and got away with it...

Valerie gasped and jumped back, preparing to attack.

 Creton only waved his hand boredly and a bubble appeared around the dragon.  Sady gave a yip of surprise.  She had stopped growing.  In fact she was shrinking back to her original size.

 "Put her in the dungeon and make sure that the dragon trainer knows she’s here," he told Valerie and added, "And do not fail me this time."

 "But how will we fight all of them when they get here?"

 "You’ll see," Creton said, then chuckled at the thought.

"Have you guys found her yet?" Amy asked anxiously.  She was more worried than she could remember being.  Sady wasn't anywhere in the castle and apparently no where in the forest.  Amy was scared that one of the forest creatures had hurt her or something...

 She and Rei had met up at the base of the stairs and Amy leaned against the banister, rubbing her forehead.

 "No," Rei replied, "I was out there for a while but couldn't sense her nearby.  But don't worry, most animals aren't as easy to sense as humans are and I could just be overlooking her."  Rei chose not to mention that it wasn't all that likely that she was.

 "This isn’t like Sady," Amy fretted, "She’s been gone almost an hour.  What could have happened?"

 She was answered sooner than expected when Rei's attention snapped to the door.  She marched forward and opened it.  When she did a clear bubble with a note in it flew in and she took a startled step backwards.

 It zipped to Amy and the bubble disappeared.  Amy caught the note and looked at Rei.  After Rei had stared at it for a minute she nodded.
 

 "Dear dragon trainer,

 We have a small black dragon in our midst and we were wondering whether or not it belonged to one of you.    If it does, we would be very happy if you came to take it off of our hands.  Better come soon, we wouldn’t want to have to get rid of it.

        Yours truly,
              Valerie of Darkness"
 
 

 Rei let out a small growl over Amy's shoulder, holding up an angry fist.  "I should have known.  Valerie is such a coward!"

 "We have to go get her!" Amy cried, the panic swelling in her voice, "No telling what they’re gonna do to her.  We have to save Sady!"  She turned to Rei and Rei blinked.

 "Calm down, Amy," Rei said slowly, "We--hey!"

 Amy grabbed  Rei by her shirt, pulling her closer.  "Now!  It has to be now!  We can’t let her stay there and get killed or-or-or worse!"

 Rei stared right into Amy’s eyes.  "Let go Amy," she said very slowly, and Amy saw she had Rei’s shirt in her fists.  She let her go.  "We will get Sady.  Trust me.  But you do know this is a trap right?  There’s something waiting for us in Reptopia and it isn’t a welcoming committee."

 "But Sady--"

 "Isn’t going to be a happy Dragon when she finds out your dead," Rei finished for her and Amy stopped.

 Amy shook her head.  "I should have noticed she was gone before we even got to the castle.  How could I be so heartless?"

 "It’s not your fault," Rei reminded her, "Here, let me see the note, maybe if I just examine the way..."

 Amy handed it to her and Rei took it, but as soon as she touched it she felt a sharp pain in her chest.  She gasped and took a step backwards, dropping it.  It began to whither on the floor as though it were burning.

 "Are you okay?" Amy asked.

 Rei nodded, the pain edging away.  "I’m fine.  It’s nothing," Rei said quickly, but she felt as though there was something in her chest, pressing against her heart.

 Amy would have normally been more worried, but she was too worried about Sady to spare anymore.  "Come on, let’s go!"

 Rei nodded, and followed her.  They managed to find the others and explained the note and what had happened.  Or rather, Rei did.  Amy sat down and stared at the ground apprehensively.

 "What are we going to do?" Charlie asked Rei.

 "We’re going to go save Sady," Rei replied with a shrug, "We don’t have much choice.  If only there was some other way..."

 "Well, there’s not," Amy snapped suddenly, "So let’s go!"

 "Now?" Serena asked nervously, "But--"

 "But nothing," Twiggy said, simply, "We have to go at some point, but it wouldn’t be wise for all of us to go."

 They all stared at her.

 "We need to be able to sneak in and out.  They expect all of us to go, so we’d be safer if only some of us go."

 "So we could sneak in and out a lot more quietly," Rei nodded, "And avoid a fight altogether.  But what happens if we do get in a fight?"

 "We?" Twiggy asked, "You aren’t going."

 "What?" Rei stared at her indignantly, a sight which would have been amusing if not for the given situation, "Why wouldn’t I?  I am the Princess after all."

 "And if Creton gets his hands on you, he’ll kill you immediately," Twiggy rolled her eyes, "But if the rest of us went, you could still come save us because he’ll use us to get to you."

 "She’s right," Charlie warned Rei, "You're in too much danger by going.  Any attempts he makes at these girls comes back to wanting to destroy you."

 Rei looked from each face and saw they were all in agreement with Twiggy and Charlie.  "But--"

 "No buts, Rei," Charlie said.

 "Who’s going?" Serena asked, changing the subject.

 "Amy, of course," Rei said, "Twiggy because she’s got a lot of powerful magic and could at least stall if there was a fight, and me because I know how to fight Creton!"

 "Rei," Mina said, "You shouldn’t go.  We’re gonna need you here."  Everyone stared at her sternly and she started to protest.

 "Fine," Rei sighed, "Twiggy and Amy then."

 "What?!" Twiggy and Amy both yelped, looking at each other.  Amy paused then turned to Rei, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.  "I’m sorry but I can’t trust her.  I wouldn’t feel right going with her.  Send someone else."

 "Two’s company, three’s a crowd," Rei replied, "You two will have a better chance without a third person.  Even if I sent Lita, three of you would be too much noise."

 Twiggy nodded to show she understood, but Amy folded her arms.  "We have a plan if Creton attacks, what if Twiggy attacks me?"

 The room was swooped into an awkward and shocked silence.  Twiggy, who had been emotionless, now stared at Amy with surprise in her eyes.

 "Amy!" Lita cried shocked at her friend’s behavior.

 "Are you accusing me of being a traitor?!" Twiggy growled.  "You have no reason to think that!  I have done nothing that says I’m a traitor."

 "There’s a first time for everything," Amy growled back, "You haven’t done anything that proves you loyal either.  In fact..."

 "Cut it out, both of you!" Hotaru yelled.  Everyone stared at her a moment, then back at Twiggy and Amy.

 "The point is to get Sady out of there," Rei agreed, glaring at both of them, "You two are just going to have to get along."

 "Okay," Amy replied, "But if she steps out of line she’s gonna have a close encounter with one of my Dragons."

 Twiggy glared but said nothing.  She stood up without another word and walked out the door.  Amy paused and followed, then they were gone.

 "Mina," Rei said, "Where’s Cere?"

 Mina looked at her, then gave a small whistle.  Cere appeared on her shoulder.  "What do you want him for?"

 "Tell him to follow them.  To make sure that things go smoothly," Rei explained, "If something goes wrong he needs to tell you immediately.

 "So you don’t trust Twiggy either?" Mina asked after telling Cere what to do.

 Rei watched the squirrel leave.  "No, I don’t trust Amy.  Her judgment isn’t very sound at this point.  Sady means more to her than we can imagine and she might do something rash to get her back."

 "She’s definitely not herself," Hotaru nodded.

 "I sure hope Sady’s okay," Lita said.

"Master Creton?" Brashear asked cautiously, opening the throne room door.

 Creton was just putting on his mask and she almost saw his face.  "Knock Brashear," he growled.

 She nodded quickly.  "Valerie has just informed me of this new plan.  If Rei doesn't come with them, we won’t have much of a chance to catch her."

 "Rei will come with them.  I know her." Creton replied airily, "And there is nothing to worry about.  I will deal with Rei."

 "Ah," Brashear said, "And I was wondering... Can I have my throne back?"  He glared at her and she gave him an impatient stare.

 "OUT!" Creton roared and she jumped out of the room.

 "Sheesh," she muttered, "It is my throne after all..."  She walked down the hall and almost ran head on into Valerie.

 "That dragon bit me again!" he cried to no one in particular, "Those losers better hurry or I’ll do something very nasty to it."

 "Um.  It's not my problem," she muttered.

 He watched her go and walked into the throne room.  Creton sat brooding and Valerie quickly bowed.

 "I wanted to ask a question," Valerie stood back up and Creton said nothing.  Valerie looked around at the blackness around him.  The room had grown much drearier since Creton had taken over.

 "Go on."

 "What about Rais Bluesword?" Valerie asked him carefully, "How is he to be dealt with?  He is a traitor."

 "Then that's a new side job for you," Creton suggested, "The next time you meet him, destroy him.  In fact, I'm trusting you to do this for me, since you seem so adamant about it."

 "Thank you, Father."

 "You are right, Rais is a traitor and I will be glad to see the boy who has been a thorn in my side go.  If he cannot repay the debt he owes me, he will die."

 "I will do this for you, Father," Valerie assured him, "For the family of Darkness, I will do this."

Twiggy and Amy walked through the half restored swamp.   The side that was closest to Reptopia was still cleared.  They walked down the path without speaking.

 Twiggy was just a little behind Amy, glaring at the ground.  Had Amy been paying attention she might have noticed what she said to Twiggy had really gotten to her.  Twiggy clenched the sleeves of her shirt hard, making angry fists.

 "I’m not a traitor," Twiggy said suddenly, her eyes snapping up to meet Amy's.

 Amy snorted and kept walking rather quickly.  Her grip on the strap of her bag tightened a little as she made her way down the hard dirt path.

 "I’m not!  I prefer to keep to myself, yes.  I prefer dark places, naturally," Twiggy said, running to stand in front of her, "Does that make me a traitor?"

 "What’s natural about preferring the dark?" Amy asked, nastily, trying to walk around her.

 "I grew up in Gothopic," Twiggy said, side-stepping in front of her and bringing Amy to a halt, "Of course I do.  Apparently, you’ve never been to Gothopic before."

 "That’s another thing," Amy started in, "Everyone from Gothopic is evil.  Why should you be any different?"

 Amy saw Twiggy's face flush with fury.  "You're sadly mistaken," Twiggy spat, "There aren’t many people in Gothopic who are evil.  Just misunderstood.  And I am sick of people accusing me of crimes I never committed because I call it my home."

 "Well, why are you a Witch, instead of a Wiccan?" Amy asked, but her argument was drifting.  Still Twiggy had no answer.  "See?"  Amy said and left it at that.  She walked passed her and Twiggy growled under her breath and followed.

 They walked in silence until they reached Reptopia.

 "What--what happened?" Amy asked as soon as the town was in site.  She forgot she was worried or angry when she stopped.

 They had seen Reptopia one other time before.  It had been a well organized orderly place.  It was also a bright place, but now the light didn’t seem to want to touch it, especially the castle.  It was like it was something unpleasant the sunshine wanted nothing to do with.  Dark clouds seemed to hang over the town and no one was outside, where previously everyone had been shopping and walking around.

 "Creton," Twiggy said shortly, calmly, as always. "This place has formed under his image.  He rules this kingdom now."

 "But Brashear’s Queen," Amy said, forgetting their quarrel for the moment, "Why would Creton have any influence?"

 "Do you think Brashear stands a chance against Creton?" Twiggy asked, "He has power over her, thus having power over the kingdom."

 They walked down the silent streets, staring around for any sign of life at all.  They didn’t see anyone at all in the streets.  The stores had been abandoned and the houses had the shades pulled down.  It was like a ghost town.  A chilly wind blew around them.  It felt like it was going to rain.

 "This isn’t a good place for inexperienced warriors, no matter who they work for, to wander around."

 They both froze as they heard a voice behind them.  Twiggy whirled around, pulling out her wand and Amy reached into her bag.

 "Oh," Twiggy put her wand down as she saw it was Rais, "You."

 "Yes, me," he said, leaning against one of the nearby buildings, watching them.  They hadn't seen him on the way in. "What do you two think you're doing?"

 "What do you think you're doing?" Amy asked, "Decided to work for Creton again?  Even after you saved Rei and Serena?"

 "No," he shook his head, "I followed you.  To see if you're as dumb as I thought you might be.  Do you honestly think the two of you have enough power to defeat Creton?"

 "We don’t plan on fighting Creton," Amy said, "We just want to get Sady back."

 "Sady?"

 Twiggy and Amy looked at each other.  No matter how much Amy mistrusted Twiggy, she definitely mistrusted Rais more.  "We have to go.  Don’t worry about us."

 "Well, either way, how do you plan on getting through a castle you’ve never been in?" Rais asked, heaving himself off the wall and smiling.  Twiggy and Amy looked at each other and Rais gave an innocent shrug.

 "We’ll manage," Twiggy said, "Let’s go Amy."

 He hesitated.  "Maybe I could help," Rais shrugged as they started to walk away, "I have been in the castle before.  What are you looking for?"

 "It doesn’t matter," Amy said, "We’ll find it."  She hurried to get away.

 "Or you’ll run right smack into the Reptopian soldiers.  Or maybe even the Evilopolis soldiers which would be much much worse," he looked at the ground and shivered, "Much worse.  But if you think you can manage..."

 "Do you know where the Reptopian dungeon is?" Twiggy asked, turning around.  Amy stopped in mid-stride.

 Rais considered her for a moment.  "I believe it’s down the right hand steps, the third door to the right.  Was that so hard?"

 He smirked at them and turned around gracefully.  He walked back towards the forest, not even looking back.  Amy looked at Twiggy unbelieving.  "What if he’s still working for Creton?  He’ll tell them where we are."

 "He’s not," Twiggy said, "He had the opportunity to kill Rei.  If he was still working for him, he would have taken that opportunity."

 "If you say so," Amy rolled her eyes, "Come on, we’re wasting time."

Sady looked around her.  She was in a grubby little dungeon somewhere in the castle.  It didn’t matter if she was big or small because there was some sort of spell around her cell, which was big enough to hold her in full size.  She didn’t feel afraid.  She trusted Amy.

 She didn’t like Spike.  Spike was the boy that kept coming down to check on her.  She called him Spike because he had a large one on the back of his head.  He didn’t taste very good either.

 One time Mean Girl had come with him.  Sady recognized her as the girl in the Lizer Castle when her and Amy had first came to drive her out.  Sady would’ve liked to see if she was as tasty as she looked, but couldn’t get close enough.  Sady figured that Mean Girl was afraid of her.  Sady didn’t blame her.

 What Sady suffered from was boredom.  Here there was no Rei to watch.  Rei was fun to watch because she did amusing things.  So were Lita and Charlie.  Charlie obviously didn’t like Lita as much as Lita liked him.

 The only amusement here was biting Spike when he got too close.  It was fun to watch him dance around and make strange howling noises.

 Sady was afraid of the Dark Man.  The Dark Man had nothing but evil surrounding him, and he had a familiar scent that Sady couldn’t place.  She remembered him from the ballroom dance when Amy made her wear ribbons, but he smelled like someone else.

 Well, only kind of like someone else.  Not exactly the same.

 Sady yawned and wondered when Amy would show up to take her home, and watched Spike curse over his bleeding finger that she had just given him.  Even biting Spike was getting a little boring.

 Then she smelt it.  Amy.  Amy was a scent she knew very well.  And it was getting closer.  Finally she could go home.  No more Spike and Mean Girl.

Twiggy had cast some sort of spell on the door when they arrived and the doors had opened voluntarily.  They walked as soundlessly as they could.  The walls were white and symmetrical on either side, but at the same time, everything was dark.  It was like the clouds from outside, which had begun to swell and grow angry, had somehow found a way inside.  The stone floor clicked under their feet no matter how much they wished it wouldn't.

 Amy was obviously anxious.  She kept clenching her fist around her bag strap and her breathing was quick.  Twiggy was still calm, though, walking too casually for comfort.

 The two of them followed Rais's directions.  Twiggy snatched a torch off of the left hand wall and held it forward, glancing around cautiously.  She was suppose to be the defense for their duo and she kept a sharp eye out for intruders.

 They came to the right hand stairs and Twiggy signaled for Amy to stop.  Amy didn't like listening to Twiggy but the witch seemed to know what she was doing.  Twiggy let the firelight gleam off of the gray walls, watching the stairs carefully.  Finally she took a step down.

 The stairs twisted down and down, unending.  Twiggy kept her position in front, holding the torch as high as she could.  The temperature dropped and Amy gave a small jump as thunder rolled outside.

 Suddenly, they could hear voices.

 "Sounds like Valerie," Twiggy whispered to Amy then waved her forward.

 Twiggy kept her back to the wall, ready in case Valerie immerged from the dungeon.  Amy followed her example.  The only sound was the growling from outside and the mutterings inside.  Amy listened hard.

 "I have half a mind to kill the thing where it stands.  How could they know the difference?" Valerie was saying.

 Amy's heart gave a lurch and before Twiggy could say anything, she shoved herself off of the wall and stumbled down the hall to the third door.  She heard Twiggy give an alarmed hiss but didn't comprehend what she had said.

 She reached into her bag and grabbed a stone, not caring what kind.  She surged forward and burst into the room where Valerie's voice had come drifting.  He gave a sound of confusion and turned to see Amy come running in.

 She took in what was in the room.  It was extremely long with two dungeon cells side by side.  Valerie sat against the door of one and Brashear was sitting in a nearby chair.  She left her seat at Amy's unexpected appearance.  Valerie's body tensed.

 Valerie hissed and began to build energy in his hand.  Too late.  Amy dropped the stone and a medium sized blue dragon surged forward.  The attack hit the dragon without any harm.  It was large enough to tower over them but short enough to fit into the room.  Its ears were long and rounded at the tips, webbing together with the side of its head like a fishes fins.  It had horns like a rams along with one small one in the middle of its forehead and teeth in sharp little rows.  The light shone off of its hide in glittering shapes.

 The water dragon built a small sphere in front of it’s middle horn and a great blast of water spewed out towards the couple.

 Twiggy ran in, her wand in hand, and saw the dragon.  She then saw Sady yipping in one of the cells.  She quickly took in everything.

 "You take care of things here, I’ll get Sady out," Twiggy said.  Amy had no chance to reply and Twiggy ran to the cell.

 She looked at the lock and tapped it with her wand.  It sprang open and she started to step in only to find a protective shield.  Of course, to keep Sady in.  She examined it for a moment then lifted her wand.  A gray blast hit the shield and it started to eat through it.

 Twiggy looked over her shoulder and saw Amy  had everything under control.  She started to turn back and saw an odd thing.  She saw a clear bubble floating ominously through the room carrying a mask like Creton’s into the dungeon.  It flew to where Valerie and Brashear were standing, now a little wet, and disappeared.  The mask just sat in midair.  Then a black figure zipped in and blurred behind the mask, forming a cloaked body.

 It was Creton.

 Amy took a step back as the man appeared in front of his son.  She made a small gasping sound deep in her chest and stumbled backwards, falling.  The mask held no expression, but Amy could almost feel him smiling.

 "So, Rei isn’t as foolhardy as I thought," he said, "I thought that she, like her father, would want to join in on the fight."

Amy just stared for a moment.  This was King of Darkness, a man responsible for the massacre of thousands.  One of the most feared legends in her time.  Now he was looking down at her, and she was completely helpless.

"Looks like you were wrong," Amy said without quite thinking about it, then immediately wishing she hadn't.

 Twiggy watched Amy carefully.  Twiggy realized that a combination of fear and anger was dangerous for Amy and decided to take the risk.  She shoved passed Valerie and to Amy.

 "Get up you coward!" Twiggy hissed.  Amy, too startled to be mad, wondered how on Dania Twiggy could stay so calm.  Still she shakily stood up.

 "So, only the two of you?  Thought you’d sneak in, steal my dragon, and run out?" he laughed.  They heard a crack of lightning outside and Creton held up a hand.  The chandelier above them went out, leaving them in semi darkness.

 The shield was gone and Sady scampered behind Amy.

 "Too bad," Creton sighed, mocking them all the time, "Well, I only need one of you to lure in Rei.  Which one should it be?  Who wants to die?"

 Amy’s heart froze.  They hadn’t counted on him only letting one of them live.  They had assumed he’d keep them both.

 The water dragon, without warning, launched a blast of water at Creton and Creton knocked it aside as if it had been a rubber ball.  The dragon let out a disgruntled snort and tried again, but again Creton knocked it aside.

 Amy felt Sady growing behind her to help the water dragon.  Amy wasn't ordering any of this; they were doing it on their own.  Sady stepped over Amy's head and she watched breathlessly as Sady lunged for Creton.  Sady opened her mouth and a large ball of energy flew towards the masked figure.

 Creton was overcome by the attack and Amy held her breath hopefully.  But slowly, from inside the aura of impenetrable black, a low chuckle sounded.  Amy felt her heart freeze all over again.  The aura burst apart.

 The dragons stood in front of the girls, but Creton saw this.  He held up his hands and suddenly both dragons flew opposite directions.  Creton pointed a finger at the girls, now open for an attack, and paused.

 "Let’s see who dies first then, shall we?"

Cere ran through the swamp, trying to find Mina.  He had stayed long enough to know that Amy and Twiggy were in trouble.

 He broke out into the town and ran through the market place, dodging feet and carts.  Some people watched him as he streaked past.  He came out on the other side and to Lizer Castle.  The doors were shut so he climbed up to a window.  He went through and searched frantically for Mina.

 Cere went into her room, but she wasn’t there.  He tried the kitchen and the bathroom, but still no Mina.  Finally he found her sitting with everyone else in the throne room.

 As he scampered in everyone stared.  Mina stood still as he jumped up next to her and scrambled onto her shoulder.  No one spoke as she listened carefully.

 "What’s he saying?" Serena asked anxiously, gripped the chair, ready to stand up and leave immediately.

 "He says that Amy and Twiggy found Sady, but they’ve run into Creton!" Mina translated.  "Amy has both Sady and another dragon fighting, but they’re still losing.  We have to go!"

 "Right!" Lita cried.  Rei stood up but Lita shoved her back down.  "You stay here."  Rei opened her mouth to protest, but Lita wouldn’t hear it.  "Let’s hurry guys."

 "Er, I believe I’ll stay here with Rei," Charlie said.

 "I’m going," Rei said, angry.  She stood back up and Lita didn't dare shove her back down. "You guys won’t stand a chance without me!"

 "Confident aren’t we?" Mina asked as TK stood up in anticipation.  Rei sighed and folded her arms.

 "I’m going alright?!" Rei said, "I hate to do this but as Princess of Lizerton, I order you to let me go.  I’m putting my foot down."

 "Okay, fine!" Lita snapped, "We have to go now!"

 "Then let’s," Rei said, "Are you coming Charlie?"

 Charlie seems a little pale and shook his head.  "I’ll be here in case you need help.  You never know do you?"

 Rei stared at him for a moment, then shrugged.  "Let’s go!"

Creton looked ready to attack, but suddenly Twiggy shot her wand forward.  Creton took a graceful step to his right and the attack disappeared.  Twiggy bit her lower lip and gripped her wand tightly.

 "We don’t stand a chance," Twiggy hissed as the dragons moved to attack again.

 "We have to try," Amy hissed back.  Twiggy looked at her and saw that her eyes were flashing.  If she had been scared before, it was gone now.

 Sady swiped at Creton with her tail, but Creton reached out with one hand and caught it.  Sady tried to jerk it back but couldn't move.  Sady couldn’t free herself.

 Creton laughed loudly.  "Give up.  Or better yet, join me.  I have use for either of you.  After all, what can Rei give you that I cannot?  Plus you'd be on the winning side."

 "You wish, Creton!" Amy yelled, "You'll have to kill me before I'd ever even consider joining up with the likes of you."

 "Well then," Creton seemed unperturbed and Amy's heart went cold again, "We’ll have to see if that can be arranged."

 He pulled Sady's tail and she skidded across the ground.  She slammed full force into the water dragon and both of them went down.  There was nothing blocking his path from the two girls now.

 He began to walk towards them.  It was dark and they couldn't see him too clearly but they could hear the rustle of his cloak on stone.  They could tell from where he stood how much taller he was than them.

 Twiggy muttered something and a ball of fire momentarily lit the room.   Creton held up a hand and caught it, extinguishing it with a flick of his wrist.

 "You don’t think you can win against my power do you?" Creton asked.

 "No," Twiggy said, "but we can try."

 "How very noble of you," he mused, "It’s a shame I have to kill you.  Your powers, Young Witch, are great, and these dragons have enough power to destroy this castle if it weren't for the fact that you were still in it.  I could give you more power.  I could make you several times stronger than you are.  Say yes and you’ll be fighting on the winning side.  How could you resist?"

 Amy looked at Twiggy.  The witch cast her a glance and then looked at Creton.  Amy felt herself become overwhelmed in fury.  Twiggy really was a traitor.

 "What you call power I call a cage," Twiggy spat suddenly and Amy blinked, "For the last time, neither of us is interested."

 "Then you can suffer until Rei comes for you," Creton replied, then looked at Amy.  He held a hand forward and an attack more powerful than either girl had ever seen appeared.  The entire room was illuminated and as it shot out, Creton's cloak flew backwards in a blast of wind.  Amy's feet were locked into place, but it wouldn't have done her much good if she could have moved.

 Amy realized that she was going to die.

 "Amy, get out of the way!"

 Amy felt something hit her from the side.  It had been Twiggy.  Amy doubted something had ever hit her with such a force.  Amy slid all the way to the other wall, well away from the deadly attack launched by Creton.

 She looked up with shock on her face and saw, just in time, Twiggy's back arch.  The attack drove itself into her.  Instead of flying backward from the force, the attack drilled into her chest and shot out the other side.

 Twiggy slipped to her knees.    She stared at Creton for a minute, then fell forward.  She lay there, not moving, in a spreading pool of blood.

 Amy felt all at once that she had forgotten to breathe.  She let out a breath but it came out ragged and choked.  "Twiggy?"  She shoved herself to her feet and ran over, landing next to her.  She reached out to touch her and hesitated.

 Amy turned her over and Twiggy smiled faintly at her.  "Told you I wasn’t a traitor..."

 Amy just stared.  Had she really said that?  Yes she had accused her of being a traitor.  Amy, not knowing what to say, turned away.

 "What's your problem?"  Twiggy's voice sounded gargled and weak.

 "You're going to die aren't you?" Amy asked, squeezing her eyes shut.  She didn't want to look at her.

 "So what?  Life comes and life goes," she said, "It's how you use the time you got that makes it worthwhile.  Wish I had done something more than saving a dumb princess like Rei."

 "Don't say that!"

 Twiggy stared at her.  Slowly, her eyelids slid down and she fell limp.  Amy gasped and shook her.  "Twiggy, don't do this!"

 Behind her, echoing off of the stone walls, she heard applause.  A set of hands clapping.  Amy stared at the lifeless form of Twiggy, breathing hard.  Suddenly she turned around.

 "Well done," Creton smirked, "Now, getting you into a cell shouldn't be too hard, don't you agree?"

 "You!"  Amy stared at Creton with more hate than she knew she could feel.  He had no reason to kill Twiggy.  All Twiggy did was protect Amy.  She clenched her fists and felt hot tears begin to roll down her cheeks.

 Suddenly, she paused.  It was like she had become calm, like the eye of a hurricane.  It was there then it was gone.  She stood up.

 Silence fell heavy.  Everyone watched, uncertain.  Amy just stood there, her shoulders hunched.  Suddenly her head snapped up and she glared at Creton.

 "What magic is this?" Creton asked.

 Her eyes glowed bright purple.  It penetrated the darkness around her.  As if gravity had been driven away, she began to float.  With a sunburst of light, a purple aura surrounded her.  She continued to glare at Creton.  Wordlessly she held up a hand.

 The image of a smoky butterfly appeared in her hands.  It was a symbol of some kind.  The image floated up, looking lazy and harmless, but as soon as it was level to her eyes, it shot forward.  Creton wasn't quick enough.  The purple energy surrounded him.  Ensnared him where he stood.

 All at once the light around Amy faded and she fell out of the air.  She landed on the ground, feeling too weak to stand.  In fact she felt she might faint if she wasn't careful.

 A voice slowly brought her back to reality.  She looked around, feeling detached and surreal.  She saw her dragons standing to one side, watching Creton.  He was still fighting off the attack Amy had delivered.  She reached into her bag and held out two stones.  The water dragon flew into his and Sady let out a frightened cry as she was sucked into one shaped like a black heart.

 "Sorry Sady," she muttered and looked at who was speaking.

 It was Rais, who would look at her, then back at the rainbow display in the direction of Creton.  He was tugging frantically at her shirt sleeve.  "We have to go now!  That attack won't last forever!  Come on!"

 Amy started to stand up.  "But Twiggy--"

 "We don't have any time!" Amy let herself being tugged to her feet and stumbled away after Rais.  He led her up the stairs.

 Amy, confused and disoriented, looked over her shoulder at Twiggy's corpse.   Right before they hit the stairs she heard Valerie yell out to them.

 Rais muttered something very quickly and suddenly they were standing outside the Reptopian castle.  Amy held out a hand and looked up as rain pelted down on them, catching a few drops in her hand.  Rais took a deep breath.

 "Transportation spell," Rais explained.  Amy didn’t say anything.  She just stared up into the angry clouds.

 "Amy!  Rais?!  Are you okay?  Where’s Twiggy?" Amy looked up and saw Rei running towards her.  She stopped suddenly in front of Amy.  "Amy where is Twiggy?"

 Amy looked at her sadly and looked away.

 "Is she--" Rei already knew the answer and she made a fist.  "Creton."  Her eyes had fire behind them and she began to walk towards the castle doors.  Before she got too far she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

 "She's dead," Rais's voice said, "You don't have to be."  Rei turned around and everyone looked ready to try and stop her.  Everyone stood in the rain, looking at the ground.  Rei glared at the doors and walked away from them.

 "I’m coming back," Rei spat, "And taking care of a problem I wish my dad had taken care of a long time ago.  I’m putting an end to Creton once and for all."

 Amy nodded, feeling her own hate build.  "And I’ll help," Amy said, "but not today.  Not now.  We’ll get him but not now."

 Rei nodded and turned around.  They all gave each other sad glances and followed her back to Lizerton.  The trip was silent and no one noticed as Rais stopped and walked into the forest.

"You know, Amy, you can go home if you want to."

 Rei stood over her shoulder, watching her.  Amy sat with her knees pulled to her chest, looking out over the town from one of the balconies.

 "I know."

 "I would never ever even suggest you stay," Rei shook her head, "Not after that.  In fact, if all of you wanted to leave I would understand.  I would..."

 Amy laughed halfheartedly.  "Shut up, Rei."

 Rei stopped.

 "No one's going anywhere.  Not now," Amy told her, looking up at the moon, "I'm not moving.  Before I was doing what I thought was right by protecting this kingdom, but now... Now it's more than that."

 Rei nodded.

 "You wanted me to say 'yes?'"

 "Yes."

 "Why?"

"Never mind," Rei said and turned around, walking away.  Amy looked over her shoulder and watched as Rei started to go back into the castle.

 "Twiggy wouldn't have said it was your fault you know," Amy told her, "Had it been me instead of her."

 Rei paused and smiled.  "I know."  With that she left.  Amy sighed and continued to watch the night sky.

She will be missed... *sniffle* Chapter 6