Crystal sighed lightly as she walked. She didn't know what to think anymore. At least about Paul she didn't.
Six months ago, he gave me this crystal, she reflected, clutching the pendant. It seemed as if we were made for each other. He told me so many times about how much he loved me, about how his future and mine were intertwined.
I remember the night he confided in me that he couldn't remember his past or his family. His heart was broken earlier that day when he found out that his best friend from his undergrad days had died saving a child from some sort of accident. He needed to talk to someone, to have someone listen while he sorted it all out in his head. I felt sorry for him; I understood his pain. My father died saving my mother from a house fire when I was thirteen. Paul's friend had been just like a father to him: the father he couldn't remember.
Of course, the reason he didn't remember his family makes sense now, Crystal thought. In fact, almost everything we did before these last couple of months makes sense... before I started planning my stupid game. She wrapped her fingers around the crystal a bit more tightly, looking at her clenched fist. This whole thing can't just be retaliation for that game. Something like that doesn't make sense knowing him. He was all for it when I started, and then he suddenly turns on me? Why did he do all this? What's the point?
"Crystal, are you okay?"
Crystal snapped her head up, her introspection interrupted. Sharon had asked the question and was staring at her with intense concern.
Crystal took a deep breath, releasing the pendant. "Yeah, I was just thinking." Her right hand instinctively came to her face to brush away some strands of hair. However, in the act, she stopped her hand in mid-stroke, noting the moisture on her cheek as her hand brushed against it. She touched her cheek again, feeling the tears that had been flowing during her reflection.
"About Paul, I take it?" Sharon still looked concerned.
Crystal nodded guiltily. "Yes, it was about Paul. I'm still trying to understand why he's doing all this."
Sharon rubbed Crystal's shoulder gently. "Don't think about it too hard, Rachel. We'll find that out in a little while. Straight from the bear's mouth, you might say."
Crystal half-smiled, looking ahead. She added, with a bit of melancholy on her voice, "Hopefully. Assuming that he'll even tell us anything."
Sharon stared ahead, a wicked smile spreading across her face. Crystal watched the smile unfold from the corner of her eye and shuddered slightly. Sharon, noticing Crystal's attention was focused on her, looked at Crystal, the smile seemingly changing from malevolent to benevolent in the motion.
"Something wrong again, Crystal?" Sharon asked.
It must have been my mind playing tricks on me, Crystal thought. "Not really. Was just wondering what you were just thinking about."
"Oh nothing, really. I was just thinking about how much I would love to beat up on Paul right now." She opened and closed her right fist, feeling the power of her magic surging through her fingers. "I wanna give him a piece of my mind for bringing us here without asking for our permission." She paused, smiling good-naturedly at Crystal. "But I'll let you have the first hit, okay?"
Crystal chuckled to herself. "Sure, whatever makes you happy."
"Are we already figuring out who gets to smack Paul around?" Kevin asked the pair of women from behind them.
Crystal, startled by the presence of someone that close behind her, jumped slightly when Kevin started speaking. As she regained her composure, she stopped in mid-stride, turning toward the cat. "How long have you been that close? You like eavesdropping?"
Kevin stopped and shrugged. "In a way, yes. I heard most of it." He lifted up one of his feet and pointed at it. "I didn't realize that I was that quiet. I thought you knew I was there the whole time. I'm sorry if I heard something that you wouldn't want me to hear."
Crystal, realizing that either Kevin was a good liar or was actually telling the truth, decided to just let the situation drop and shrugged her shoulders.
"So, Scott, how much further to that castle?" Kevin asked loudly. His feet had been sore all yesterday and today's trip wasn't helping the matter much.
"We should be able to see it in a little while," Scott replied from his position near the front of their group. He had returned a little over an hour ago and changed back to his human form. He had found the castle, so they knew that they were on the right track.
"Already can," Rich interrupted from the front of the group, pointing to a single tower now visible through the woods.
They walked out into a large clearing adjacent to the stream stretching back nearly half a mile. Standing in the back of the clearing, away from the stream and set slightly into a hill, was an old, decrepit castle. The top of the rightmost of the two towers in the front had fallen off, the stones strewn near the front wall. A significant portion of the battlements around the top of the wall was missing, and many of the wooden shutters were hanging by one hinge or had fallen off. Ivy and other clinging plants grew up the walls, coloring the weathered gray stonework various shades of green. The ivy partially covered the front entrance, growing up the massive wooden doors.
The party approached the fortress cautiously, noting the lack of people in the buildings surrounding the main castle. Most of the houses near the castle had long been abandoned, their thatched roofs often collapsed into the structure. What had obviously been the main road through the town and up to the castle was weeded over, only visible when standing in its worn ruts. It was apparent that no one had lived here for many years.
"Creepy." Crystal glanced at the old buildings around them as they approached the castle. "It's like walking through a ghost town."
Lisa looked back toward the overgrown fields near the stream. "Why would people abandon this place? It looks like a perfect place for a prospering town. There's plenty of good farmland around here."
"Perhaps there was a plague?" Kevin suggested.
Rich nodded. "That might have been a factor, but it's equally likely that the exodus had to do with the history of the kingdom."
"What do you mean?" Doug asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, we know that the king's disposition suddenly changed, at least if we believe the stories. I'd be willing to bet that people in this area are highly superstituous. There were probably ghost stories and demon possession stories floating around. Either way, I'm sure that there was some story about a curse on the castle. When the majority of people moved away to avoid the curse, the remaining people probably didn't have the societal substructure they needed and were forced to move away also."
"Societal substructure?" Sharon cocked an eyebrow. "Since when did you become a social scientist?"
"Well, I was a physics and sociology double major in my undergrauate years."
"So, Rich," Scott interrupted, "you think that people moved away because they thought the castle was cursed?"
Rich shrugged. "It makes sense to me. I mean, at least with what we know about this castle and the kingdom, it sounds plausible."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
They stopped on the path a few hundred feet from the main doors of the castle. The gray stonework rose only about two stories up.
"Well, this castle is a lot smaller than I envisioned it would be," Kevin said, appraising the wall in front of them. "I suppose that they didn't need a huge fortress for this valley."
"Yeah, you're probably right, Kevin," Crystal replied. "This place looks just big enough and sturdy enough to house a royal family and a few court members."
Tony approached the massive wooden doors of the castle first. He reached for the handle of the door. When his initial yank on the handle failed to budge the door, he frowned, finally noticing a large padlock holding the huge doors closed.
"Well, how do we get in now?" Tony asked the group, pointing at the lock. Kevin slipped behind him and began examining the padlock.
Rich looked up to one of the windows near the door. "Well, the windows look like they're a bit too small for most of us."
"And I take it that you can't just levitate all of us over the wall?" Sharon queried.
"That's right. My levitation spell can only be used on myself."
"Well, we could scale the wall if you would float over it and attach a rope up there to something sturdy," Scott suggested to Rich, pointing to the top of the wall.
"Yeah, that could work. But that's assuming that something exists in there that is sturdy enough for us."
"That's a good point," Crystal conceded. "Are there any other options?"
"Well, we could just open the door and go in." Kevin stepped away from the door, gently tossing the formerly problematic lock up and down in his hand.
Tony blinked at the lock, surprised. "That sounds like the best idea right now," he admitted. "I kind of forgot you could pick locks."
Kevin shrugged nonchalantly, tossing the lock lightly to Tony, who caught it. "Yeah, well, it's another one of my incredible talents."
Rich raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose two talents is technically plural."
Kevin shot a quick glare at Rich as Sharon added, "Is irritating the rest of us considered a talent?"
"That's what I guessed. Otherwise, he'd have only one talent." Rich smiled.
Kevin glowered at Rich as the others in the party chuckled at the abuse. He growled, addressing no one in particular, "Well, I can put that lock back on and let you guys do all this the hard way, if you like."
Tony thought for a moment before throwing the lock far off in a random direction. "Shall we go in before Kevin has a chance to make good on his threat?"
Tony and Doug tugged on the door. It grudgingly opened, creaking on its rusted hinges. Leaves from the vines on the door showered down as the interior of the castle was revealed. A short hallway led to an open courtyard in the center, where weeds had grown rampant.
Rich entered the atrium first and stopped just inside, pivoting around while scanning the open area. It had the look of an overgrown garden, with rose bushes and other flowers growing wild. A narrow stone path lazily cut through the floral carpet, passing by a large tree that grew in the center of the courtyard. As he completed his survey, he reported his findings.
"Well, we don't have too many places to go to," he stated as everyone else entered the open area. He pointed to a single door on the other side of the overgrown walled garden.
"Shall we continue, then?" Sharon prompted, leading the way. The party strolled cautiously along the stone path that led straight to the door in question.
"This place doesn't seem like it would hold up well in a battle," Crystal commented, staring at the stonework.
"You're right," Rich agreed. "It's almost built more like a palace than a castle."
"Strange."
After passing the tree, Sharon stopped suddenly, her attention caught by something hidden on its other side. "What's this?" she asked herself as she stepped off the path.
"What did you find?" Kevin queried, following her. She was kneeling in front of a near life-size statue of a human woman next to the tree, reading something on the base. The rest of the group gathered around, admiring the sculpture.
"What a beautiful woman," Scott said, whistling slightly. Cindy cuffed him lightly on the back of his head. "Well, she is," he complained.
"Can't disagree with you there," Tony agreed. Cindy glanced at him, her gaze filled with cautious disbelief. Tony scratched the back of his neck, slightly embarrased. "Um, but she's--"
Cindy smiled good-naturedly, interrupting the bull's sheepish reply and diffusing the possible tension.
The marble statue was of a regal-looking woman, wearing a long, flowing robe. On her head sat a delicate crown. The elaborate detail in the sculpture, even after years of being exposed to the elements, made it clear that the artist had been quite talented.
Sharon stood up. She turned to the group, and as if introducing the statue to everyone else, she said, "Everyone, meet the former queen. Queen Julia Danure."
"Julia?" Rich cocked his head, looking at the stone woman more closely. His face showed a mixture of confusion and awe. "If I recall correctly, Paul had mentioned that name a few times before. During dreams, he would often mutter it."
"You think this was his mother?" Crystal asked, touching the arm of the statue softly.
"Could be," Sharon replied. "The plaque claimed that this statue was in memory of her. The stories we heard about Paul's mother claimed she disappeared, so this statue might have been erected for her."
A few moments of silence passed as they examined the statue a little more. Eventually, Kevin became restless. "Shouldn't we be searching for Paul?" he urged.
Crystal sighed and nodded. She touched the statue lightly again. "Yeah, let's go."
They continued slowly to the door, which, unlike the outer door, opened easily. Stepping inside, their eyes slowly adjusted to the low lighting. Only a little sunlight filtered through the small windows set in the courtyard side of the corridor they were in.
"Which way should we go?" Crystal inquired. They had entered the center of a hallway which apparently stretched the width of the castle.
"Do you think we should split up?" Doug suggested. "We might find Paul faster if we did."
"That might not be too bad of an idea," Lisa agreed.
Cindy shook her head at the suggestion. She explained, "If Paul is as powerful as Kyther and others have told us, we're better off staying together in one group."
"Excellent point," Kevin conceded. "So, then, which way?"
Sharon pointed to the right. "I just have a feeling about that direction. Let's try it."
Crystal shrugged. "Well, at least someone finally made a suggestion. Let's go."
Crystal, Kevin, and Scott cautiously led the group down the hallway. Tony, Cindy, and Lisa followed closely behind, with Rich, Doug, and Sharon taking up the rear.
"You know, this hallway is creepy," Lisa stated, looking cautiously around her at the decor. A few burnt-out torches sat unused in their wall holders. Spider webs and dust covered the sparse furniture and decorations. Their footsteps echoed softly off the walls around them.
At the end of the hallway, to their left, were a pair of very solid oak doors.
"Here goes nothing," Crystal stated under her breath, reaching for the door handle. Crystal's hand was about to touch the door handle when the heavy oak doors began to creak open on their own accord. The group stepped back, wide-eyed, as the doors parted, opening to a large, spacious room. Small windows on the right side lit some of the room with sunbeams in which dust particles danced. The back and left sides, however, remained mostly dark, filled with mysterious shadows.
"Ah, you have finally arrived," boomed a familiar voice from the other end of the room. "Please come in."
The group cautiously stepped into the first spot of light, gauging their surroundings.
"Paul! Show yourself!" Rich yelled.
From the deep shadows at the far end, a tall human walked slowly towards them.
"Here I am, Rich," he replied, holding his arms out wide. "It's nice to see that you all survived the trip." Paul was in human form, his short brown hair in a disheveled mess on his head. His navy blue robe hid him well in the shadows where he had been standing. Around his neck hung a large silver amulet, with a large gem inset of exactly the same color as Crystal's pendant. His cape, a beautifully patterned flowing piece of forest green and deep blue fabric, hung majestically from his shoulders as he smirked at the group.
"No thanks to you and your minions," Sharon retorted. She clenched her fists in anger.
Paul chuckled evilly. "Just testing you, that's all. Don't feel bad about it." He began walking toward them again, arms still outstretched, a venomous smile on his face. "You're all my friends. Do you think I would I really hurt you?"
"Oh, I don't know." Kevin crossed his arms, acting as sarcastic as he could. "Goblins, skeletons, and ogres all trying to kill us. What do you think we think?"
Paul stopped for a moment, cocking his head to one side. "Ogres? I don't remember sending ogres." He grinned malevolently before walking towards them again. "No matter. The important thing is that you're here."
He didn't send the ogres? There's obviously someone else behind this now. Cindy knew she had to try the dispel magic before Paul did something he might later regret. She stepped forward in front of Crystal and Scott as Paul advanced. She knelt down and began chanting, preparing the spell.
"Oh no you don't, Cindy!" Paul cried as he watched her. He quickly chanted, extending his arms forward, pointing toward Cindy. A luminous yellow aura surrounded him as he chanted, swelling at first, but suddenly condensing into his hands.
"Cindy! Watch out!" Crystal drew her sword, stepping in front of Cindy and accidentally pushing Tony aside as the magic leaped from Paul's hands. Cindy, distracted by the quick and unexpected attack, dropped fully to the ground as the spell smashed into Crystal. Crystal screamed as the energy of the spell sent her flying backwards, tumbling wildly over Cindy and into the rest of the group. Her severely damaged breastplate fell off in midair, clanging on the stone floor next to her still body.
Tony watched as Crystal rolled on the floor, landing hard at his feet, unconscious. He glared at Paul, rage starting to boil in his blood. But the anger would be short-lived.
Paul's wicked smile, as the spell raced toward Cindy, evaporated as Crystal stepped in the way. When the spell struck Crystal, he suddenly clutched his head, muttering incomprehensibly under his breath. He shook his head for the next few seconds, trying to clear his thoughts.
In the moment of distraction, Tony angrily asked Cindy, "What the heck were you doing there?!?"
Cindy scrambled to her feet, rushing over to the unconscious swordswoman. She explained to the group as she examined Crystal, "I was trying a dispel magic spell. Kyther and I believe that Paul is--"
"RACHEL!" Paul screamed, dashing toward the group. Tears streamed from his eyes as the party turned to face the rapidly advancing wizard. Scott and Tony drew their swords, guarding the front of the group and preparing for the onslaught, while Rich and Sharon began chanting damage spells from the back. Doug stepped off into the darkness to his left, unsheathing his blade, while Kevin jumped over to the right, readying his throwing daggers. Paul noticed the attack stance of the group and stopped abruptly a few feet in front of them.
"Please... let me help Crystal! I have to help her," he pleaded to the party.
Kevin watched the mage, confused. "Why should we? You were the one who injured her in the first place!" he retorted. Dagger in hand, he prepared to throw it at Paul's chest.
"Let him help." Cindy stood up. "It's obvious that the spell on Paul is broken now."
Tony looked at her incredulously. "But--"
"Please, come help her," Cindy addressed Paul. Looking around the group as Paul started coming closer, she added, "Please trust me here."
Paul walked by Scott, who regarded the wizard with disdain as he passed. Scott noted a sadness in Paul's face that seemed genuine. He softened his attack stance, slowly lowering his sword.
Paul approached Crystal, kneeling down beside her. Cindy knelt next to Paul, softly patting his shoulder.
"What have I done?" Paul was crying, as he hugged Crystal. Crystal slowly awakened as Paul's warm arms embraced her. She grimaced and groaned as she awoke.
Paul, noticing that Crystal was waking, smiled through his tears. "Crystal, forgive me," he whispered to her as her eyes focused on him.
"Um, Cindy, or anyone else for that matter," Tony started, sheathing his sword, "would you mind explaining what the heck just happened?"
Paul stroked Crystal's hair and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. He set her softly back on the ground, telling her, "I'll be right back. I'll let Cindy heal you, okay?" Crystal nodded slightly, tears flowing from her eyes. Paul stood up.
"Yes, I can do that. I suppose I do owe all of you an explanation at this point." He spoke in a measured, rational tone of voice, sighing as he finished.
Cindy had prepared a healing spell by this point, and rubbed her hands across Crystal's abdomen. Crystal grimaced as the pain shot up her midsection.
"Are you sure you know what happened, Paul?" Cindy asked from her healing position.
"Somewhat," he replied. "A bit of it is fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure I know what happened."
"Well, would you two know-it-alls please let us in on the secret already?" Kevin exclaimed, placing his dagger back into its scabbard in his shirt.
"Sorry, Kevin. Where should I start this story?"
"How about the beginning?" Tony suggested.
"Okay then." He sat down on the floor, next to Crystal, stroking her hair gently. Cindy continued healing as he spoke.
"I'm sure by now you've heard about my reign here as king. After my mentor--you know him as Kyther, I believe--left on his trip, I had a strange nightmare one night. That nightmare was the last thing I remembered before I found myself as a bear in your world with no memory of my past."
"Wait a minute," Tony interrupted. "So, you have no recollection of your attacks on your towns or the battle that sent you to our world?"
Paul shook his head solemnly. "I didn't know about my past until very recently. I had no memories of my past while I was in your world, which obviously confused me to no end. So, I buried myself in gaming and academics to try and drown out my thoughts about my unknown past. Since I had no connections in your world, I had trouble finding a job or even getting into a college. But, luckily, I had, early on, come in contact with a very generous professor of mathematics. He managed to get me enrolled at the university he worked at, with a full scholarship. Thus, I was able to devote my time entirely to my academics and graduated in three years.
"I came for graduate work at DeMontfort, where I met all of you, including Crystal. With Crystal, I found a true lover and someone who could understand me." He looked down at Crystal who was listening to his story, trying to hold back both tears of pain and grief.
"I love you, Crystal. I will always love you." He grabbed her hand, holding it lightly in his. He bent down and kissed it. Crystal blushed slightly.
"Sorry about that," Paul apologized as he realized that he had digressed.
"So, anyway, a couple of months ago, it felt like someone was inside my head, peering into my thoughts and feelings. It was a bit disconcerting and I tried to resist as best I could. But, soon, I felt as though I was no longer in control of my life. It felt as if someone else was making me do things I didn't want to.
"It was about this time that my memory started returning, slowly. The memories of my attacks and the fight against Kyther came from nowhere. I slowly came to the realization that I didn't belong in this world. It was during this time that I broke up with Crystal."
His eyes clouded with tears. "Truthfully, my heart told me that I shouldn't do it, but I did anyway. It seemed like someone was testing what I would and wouldn't do. My mind was a horrible mess for those last months. Soon I realized that whoever was trying to control me was trying to have me come back to my own world, to continue my reign of terror on this valley."
"Mind control? You're telling us that someone was controlling you?" Kevin queried, confused.
"Yes, that's probably correct." Cindy looked up at the group. "I had suspected it after I had a similar mind-scanning experience when I was casting the dispel undead spell that night we were attacked by the skeletons. It felt as if someone was trying to control my actions that night, but I couldn't tell who. Luckily, I was able to repel the attack, but it still scared me. That was why I asked Kyther a question about whether or not mind control was possible."
"That was your question to him?" Scott asked, recalling the scene.
"Yes," Cindy continued. "He told me that it was possible, and that it might explain Paul's actions twenty-five years ago. However, we didn't know who might be controlling Paul."
"So, the person that controlled you twenty-five years ago is the same person who was controlling you this last month?" Tony asked Paul.
Paul nodded. "Possibly. I can't discount that. But I still don't know who it might be."
Cindy looked up at the group. At that moment, she had it all figured out.
"I think I know who did it, Paul," she whispered hesitantly.