Not My Fault!

Mithos looked around. “Where’s Martel? What happened to my sister?” He finally noticed Bookworm and Shade. “Who are you?” he demanded, raising his sword threateningly.
“Umm… I’m Bookworm. That’s Shade,” Bookworm said awkwardly.
“Where’s Martel? And what about Kratos and Yuan?” Apparently, Mithos did not remember any of the events that had recently led to his downfall. He glanced at his sword as he raised it threateningly again and noticed Sylvrr’s sphere. “What’s this?” Without waiting for an answer, he said, “It’s my Cruxis Crystal… but different… It’s more powerful… much more powerful…”
He touched the shiny silver sphere. As soon as he touched it, he saw strange memories that were not his own. Some belonged to Sylvrr, a creature with silver wings and a dragon-like tail. Others were from a tall boy, also called Mithos, who wielded his sword. Mithos ignored the drake’s memories and concentrated on the ones from the other Mithos. He was amazed by how often he was knocked unconscious. But what got his attention even more were the people the other Mithos knew: Kratos, Yuan, and Lloyd. The memories of these people reminded Mithos of all their recent betrayals.
“They killed Martel! Lloyd and those traitors killed her! And they killed me too!” Mithos screamed.
“Actually, that’s not exactly what happened…” Bookworm started to say, but Mithos clearly wasn’t listening. He had now noticed the Mage’s Ring.
“Perfect! I can travel to the worlds and gain more power before I get my revenge on them,” Mithos grinned.
Shade had had enough. If Mithos wanted to run into the middle of their fight and get possessed, that was okay. But now he was stealing her job as main villain. There was no way she would let him get away with that! She recited her favorite spell, sending a large fireball to turn him into pineapple-scented goo.
“Guardian!” Mithos yelled. A force field surrounded him and deflected Shade’s attack. “Judgment!” Bright light fell from the sky. Even with Bookworm’s Shield Charm and Shade’s magical defenses, this attack still did some damage. And more importantly, it distracted them long enough for Mithos to activate the Mage’s Ring and escape to Derris-Kharlan.
For a moment, they just stared at where he had been standing. “Umm… Now what do we do?” Bookworm asked. Before Shade could answer, they heard a low groan from behind them. They turned around and saw Keyblade, who had just regained consciousness.
“Oww…” Her head hurt from the explosion. “Mithos, are you okay? Mithos?” She looked around in confusion and noticed Bookworm and Shade. “Hey! The fight’s over! Have you seen Mithos?”
“Uhh… Yeah, actually you just missed him,” Bookworm said. She did not really want to be the one to explain.
“Where’d he go?” Keyblade was very confused.
Shade took over the explanation. “Mithos ran in the middle of our fight. He got hit with a powerful explosion that really should have killed him. But don’t worry! He didn’t actually die. He just got possessed by Mithos Yggdrasill. He wants revenge on Kratos and Lloyd, so he left to get more powers from other worlds.”
“WHAT!?!” Keyblade screamed.
“So what should we do?” Bookworm asked. She spoke calmly, but quickly moved out of Keyblade’s attack range.
“I’m going to kill him! I can’t believe he got more powerful than me! And I’m the evil one! Not Mithos! He will pay for this!” Shade said furiously.
“Let me get this straight. You accidentally hit Mithos with your spells, but didn’t kill him. He is now more powerful than us because he got possessed by Yggdrasill, right?” Keyblade asked.
“Yeah, exactly!” Bookworm said, relieved that Keyblade didn’t seem too angry. Her relief was short-lived. Keyblade clapped her hands and alchemified a keyblade. “Meep!” Keyblade chased Bookworm, trying to attack her with the keyblade. (Shade just watched them while plotting revenge against Mithos.) This continued for a long time before someone finally stopped them.
Keyblade, don’t you think we should do something about Mithos now? And I’d rather you not kill Bookworm just yet. Indigo said.
Keyblade thought about this for a second and activated the Sorcerer’s Ring. They all appeared back in Derris-Kharlan, where Kratos was looking even angrier than before. (This was previously thought to be impossible.)
“WHAT HAPPENED!?!” he yelled at them. “Why did Mithos just come here and say ‘I’ll kill you all for what you did to my sister’?!”
“He got possessed by Yggdrasill,” Keyblade got right to the point.
“That’s impossible! Yggdrasill is dead! I broke his Cruxis Crystal!” Lloyd protested.
“He said Sylvrr’s sphere was a Cruxis Crystal…” Bookworm said uncertainly.
“Maybe it has something to do with the sword. I attached the sphere to the sword, remember?” Keyblade said. (She had calmed down a lot after trying to kill Bookworm.)
“Oh yeah… Where did he get that sword anyway? I don’t think he ever told us,” Bookworm said.
“Mr. Kratos gave it to him!” Colette explained. “Mithos kept complaining about not having a weapon, so Kratos let him borrow Yggdrasill’s sword!”
“Of course!” Shade understood what had happened. “Some of Yggdrasill’s essence was still on the sword. It entered Sylvrr’s sphere through the crack. When Mithos’s life was in serious danger, it formed a powerful Cruxis Crystal. Mithos is still alive, but he’s controlled by Yggdrasill.”
Bookworm thought about this for a second. “So it wasn’t my fault! Keyblade attached the sphere to the sword! She tried to kill me with that keyblade and it wasn’t even my fault!”
“But it was your idea to attach it!” Keyblade protested.
“It was Shade’s fault! She broke the sphere in the first place when she turned him into goo!” Bookworm pointed accusingly at Shade.
Kratos gave him the sword. Indigo pointed out.
“You stole the Sorcerer’s Ring!” Lloyd brought up the old argument.
“Can we argue about this later? I want to defeat Mithos!” Shade yelled. Of course, by this time, Lloyd and Keyblade were whacking each other with their weapons while Bookworm threw kunai at both of them. Shade rolled her eyes and threw a fireball at them. It was a non-goo fireball, but she still made it tomato-scented. This left all three of them scorched and smelling of tomatoes. This really horrified Kratos, who decided to hide behind Noishe.
“Umm… Miss Shade, I think Mithos used that function-changing device,” Colette said, hoping to restore peace.
“Bookworm, Keyblade, if you think you can come without killing each other, we’re going now,” Shade glared at them. Her friends reluctantly nodded and put away their weapons.
A few seconds later, they had left Derris-Kharlan. They appeared in a strange city. A bat-like lemur flew right into Bookworm. It held onto her head as she ran around screaming, “AAAAHH! What’s on my head? Does it have an Acorn of Doom?!”
A boy with an arrow on his head ran up to them. “Stop running! You’re going to hurt Momo!” Bookworm did not listen. The boy’s companion, a girl in blue clothes, made some water fly through the air and hit Bookworm very hard.
Bookworm finally stopped running and screaming. Momo flew off her head, looking very dizzy. Bookworm blinked to get the water out of her eyes. Then she stared at the people who had just attacked her. She turned to Keyblade and Shade and stated the obvious. “I think we’re in Avatar World.”

Bookworm vs. Shade

“I’m a Dragon Rider?” A huge grin spread across Bookworm’s face. “Yes! Yes! YES!!!” She had completely forgotten the horrible pain from her gedwey ignasia. Now, she was jumping up and down, cheering wildly.
The dragon looked at her in confusion. Are you okay?
“What? I thought dragons weren’t supposed to talk for a while,” Bookworm stopped jumping and cheering. “What’s your name anyway?”
I am Indigo. The hatchling said.
“That’s the name of the drake whose essence was in the sphere you absorbed! Do you have any weird memories of an assassin’s village?”
Shade stared at bookworm impatiently. Bookworm then realized she’d spoke aloud.
“My dragon spoke to me! She says her name is Indigo.”
Shade’s eyes narrowed as Keyblade spoke out. “Isn’t that the name of that assassin drake?”
“Yeah, I think Indigo absorbed my drake sphere when she hatched,” Bookworm explained. “Maybe that’s why she can already talk.”
“Can you still shift into drake form without your sphere?” Keyblade asked.
“Oh no! I didn’t think of that!” Bookworm concentrated really hard and tried to shift into drake form, but it wasn’t working. She was still human. Then she felt Indigo’s consciousness touching hers. At this, Bookworm’s drake wings and tail appeared in a purple haze. “Yay! I’m in drake form! Yippee! Thanks Indigo!”
I think you can only shift when we use our bond as dragon and Rider. Indigo said.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Bookworm nodded. “Can I shift into full-drake form?”
“Unlikely!” Shade grinned evilly. “And that means I’m the only one who can shift into full-drake form! Cat lost too much of Goldd’s essence during the battle with Flare. And some of Sylvrr’s essence leaked out when Mithos got hit with a fireball.”
Bookworm groaned. “Why do you always end up being more powerful then us?”
Before Shade could answer, someone screamed, “They’re attacking!” Within moments, everyone was ready and waiting for the battle.
“Bookworm, are you and Indigo going to fight?” Eragon asked from his seat on Saphira.
“Yeah, I’m fighting. Indigo will fight with me, but she’s not big enough to ride yet. She’ll probably just use her teeth and claws to rid enemies to shreds. So stay out of her way. I’d really hate it if you accidentally got ripped to shreds,” Bookworm said, grinning.
Eragon missed her threat because he suddenly saw something that completely distracted him. He jumped off Saphira’s back and pointed excitedly at the ground. “Look, Saphira! I found an ant!”
Eragon, we are about to begin a battle that will decide the fate of Alagaesia. Can you please wait until after the battle to play with the ants? Saphira said irritably. Eragon had a strange obsession with ants. Sometimes, he would spend the whole day just staring at them. It got kind of annoying after a while.
Eragon reluctantly turned away from the ant. Before he could get back on Saphira, he saw the only thing that he obsessed over more than ants. Arya was coming.
She stopped when she saw him. He was staring at her, his mouth hanging open. He was even drooling a little. “Eragon, I want to talk to you about what happened at the party. It really bothers me when you flirt with me like that. You’re too young for me and I’d rather just be friends. So please stop flirting with me.”
“Okay, whatever you say, Arya,” Eragon said, wiping the drool off his face. “And by the way, you look absolutely gorgeous today. Are you doing anything after the battle? Hey! Why are you looking at me like that? No! Don’t go away!” He watched in dismay as Arya walked away angrily.
Come on, Eragon. It’s time for the battle. Don’t you want to fight Galbatorix’s forces? Saphira asked.
Eragon climbed back onto Saphira’s back, looking very depressed. “Okay, I think a battle’s just what I need right now. Lots of enemies to take out my frustration on!” Saphira flew into the air.
“Cool! Let’s fight!” Keyblade’s gold wings and tail appeared. She clapped her hands and alchemified a keyblade.
“Yay! Battle time!” Bookworm mentally contacted Indigo and shifted into drake form. She soon discovered that her perfect aim was now gone. But it was still better than usual. The kunai mostly hit their targets.
“Don’t turn me into goo this time! I wanna fight!” Mithos said excitedly. He shifted into drake form and unsheathed his sword.
“Then don’t give me a reason to turn you into goo,” Shade retorted. She shifted into Goldd’s normal drake form. (She had used up too much energy traveling from Ellesmera to Uru’baen and from Uru’baen to Surda. It would be a while before she could shift into full-drake form again.)
They fought well for a long time. Keyblade killed many foes with her alchemified keyblade. Bookworm’s kunai (mostly) found their targets. Indigo’s claws were red with the blood of Galbatorix’s men. Mithos discovered that many enemies were taller than him and was happy to stab them without being tackled by security drakes. Many of Galbatorix’s minions were turned into goo and/or killed by Shade. Then their luck worsened. Another Dragon Rider appeared, riding a red dragon. Eragon and Saphira flew to attack the other Rider.
Bookworm stared at Eragon. She knew what was going to happen. This was her least favorite part of the book. Eragon had already annoyed her by constantly flirting with Arya and obsessing over ants. Now his former best friend was going to fight him and spare his life. As soon as he got of earshot, Eragon was going to swear to kill him. This had really pissed her off when she first read about it. (She had even wanted to throw the book, but couldn’t because it was a library book.) Now she picked up an especially shiny kunai dagger and headed in the direction of the fighting Riders.
“Bookworm! Where are you going?” Shade asked suspiciously.
Bookworm didn’t even turn around. She just called back. “I’m gonna kill Eragon!”
Shade quickly finished off the enemy she was fighting. “No you’re not! I told you you can’t kill him until after I finish reading Empire!” She ran after Bookworm. Keyblade and Mithos followed. (Bookworm would probably either kill Eragon or get turned into goo. Either way, they didn’t want to miss it.)
“I don’t care,” Bookworm said, now turning and glaring at Shade. “Eragon’s really bugging me and I wanna kill him!”
“You’ll have to get through me first,” Shade said threateningly.
“Okay!” Bookworm grinned. She was getting tired of Shade always threatening everyone and turning them into goo. Fighting her seemed like the best way to prove that Shade was not the only powerful mage.
“What?” Shade was shocked. She had thought even Bookworm had enough sense of self-preservation to know not to directly challenge Shade.
“If I have to fight you to kill Eragon, I will,” Bookworm said. “I practiced my magic a little more since the last time we fought, so I’m more powerful now. Look! I even figured out how to store magic power in my gem kunai!” Bookworm held up her kunai proudly.
Shade sighed. Bookworm was getting very annoying. She would probably be better off spending the rest of the battle as goo. Shade recited her fireball spell.
“Protego!” Bookworm said the Shield Charm. The fireball bounced off her magical barrier and hit some dwarves who happened to be fighting nearby. They were turned into goo.
Bookworm, I think they were on our side. You’re not supposed to kill our allies. That includes Shade. Indigo said.
Don’t worry! I’m not going to kill her, just wound her badly. Then I’m going to kill Eragon! Bookworm replied. Out loud, all she said was “Brisingr!” An explosion of fire surrounded Shade. Shade’s own magic protected her from the spell, but many of the surrounding troops, both Empire and Varden, were badly injured.
Indigo decided to stay out of this fight. She joined Keyblade and Mithos, who were still just watching the fight. Do you think Bookworm will be okay? She asked them worriedly.
“Yeah, she’ll probably just get turned into goo,” Keyblade said calmly. Indigo did not think being goo was okay, but she realized being goo was better than being dead. However, as the fight continued and the magical explosions got more powerful, she started to wonder if Bookworm might end up dead after all.
Keyblade and Mithos were getting worried too. Both Bookworm and Shade were really powerful. It was very likely that they would accidentally kill a lot of people, possibly even each other.
“Do you think we should do something?” Keyblade asked worriedly. At that exact moment, one of the magical explosions went very close to them. All three jumped out of the way.
When Mithos was out of immediate danger, he looked around to see if his friends were okay. Indigo was standing a short distance away. From the look on her face, he guessed she was mentally screaming at Bookworm. But he couldn’t find Keyblade… Then he saw her lying on the ground near where they had been standing. The magical blast had hit her and knocked her unconscious. Other than being unconscious, she seemed okay. But Mithos was still really angry. This fight was getting way out of control. Any one of them could have been killed by that explosion. Eventually, Bookworm, Shade, or both of them were going to get killed. Killing or saving Eragon was not worth that. It was time for this fight to end.
Mithos unsheathed his sword and ran between Bookworm and Shade to stop their fight. Unfortunately, they both cast powerful spells at the same time. The spells collided, creating an explosion ten times more powerful than the one that had hit Keyblade. And Mithos was right in the middle of it. The bright light of the explosion prevented anyone from seeing what happened next. When the light faded, Mithos was lying on the ground. He was not breathing.
Bookworm and Shade ran over to him. To their surprise, Mithos stood up. “What happened?” he asked, looking around in confusion. His voice sounded different. It didn’t sound like Mithos, but it was still familiar… Suddenly Shade and Bookworm realized where they had heard that voice before. It was Mithos Yggdrasill.

Dragons!!!

“Do you think we’ve passed this tree before?” Keyblade asked.
“I think we did. I remember this weird leaf,” Mithos said.
“But there’s another tree right over there with the same leaves. And another. And another…” Bookworm pointed to various trees. Then she added, “I think we’re lost.” This had been obvious for a long time now, but no one really wanted to admit it. It felt like they had been wandering through the woods for days, which was probably true. All the trees looked the same and there was no way to know if they were going in the right direction or not.
Suddenly, Keyblade thought of a brilliant idea. “We should try flying over the forest! Then we’ll be able to see the city from above!” She shifted into drake form again.
“Great idea!” Mithos and Bookworm shifted too. They all flew over the forest, looking for a large city beneath them. To their frustration, they could not see it anywhere. They circled over the forest for what felt like hours, but saw no signs of a city ever existing. Mithos’s flight skills improved with all this practice, but other than that, their long flight accomplished nothing.
“I’m bored,” Bookworm complained. “Let’s try flying south.”
“We could if we knew what direction south is,” Mithos said grumpily.
“Oh, that’s easy!” Bookworm took out her wand and held it flat on the palm of her hand. “Point me!” The wand spun around and then came to a stop. “It points north,” she explained.
“Bookworm! Could you have done that spell all along?” Keyblade demanded.
This thought had not occurred to Bookworm. “Oh yeah… I guess so… Oops…” Before her friends could yell at her, they were interrupted. In fact, they were almost knocked out of the sky. A large blue dragon flew out of the trees and nearly crashed into them. Everyone screamed, but no one plummeted down to the ground.
“Hi everyone!” an elf-like boy waved at them with a red sword.
“Eragon? What happened to you?” Keyblade stared at him. He didn’t look like a human anymore. His ears were even pointy.
“There was a big party with lots of magic. And a dragon touched me and chose me as the Dragon Rider to save the world. I got pointy ears and more powers. And best of all, my wounds healed! Even my back! Hey, look Mithos! My hand’s better!” He held up his fully-healed hand.
“Great! …What was wrong with your back?” Mithos asked.
“It got badly injured when I killed Durza the shade. I probably would have died if Angela hadn’t helped me. And even with her help, I was partly crippled these past few months,” Eragon explained.
“Oh… So you weren’t at your full strength when I fought you?” Mithos asked, terribly disappointed.
“No,” Eragon shook his head.
Are you going to introduce me to your half-dragon friends or not? Saphira asked him irritably. She had given him plenty of time to chat, but interrupted when he had clearly forgotten her.
“Oh yeah… This is Mithos. He beat me when we sparred. And that’s Keyblade. She turned into a half-dragon and scared all the elves. And that’s Bookworm… I don’t think she likes me very much…” Eragon said uncertainly. Saphira looked curiously at Bookworm.
“Skulblaka, eka celöbra ono un malabra né haina. Atra nosu waíse fricai,” Bookworm said, smiling at Saphira.
“What?” Keyblade and Mithos said in unison.
“I said ‘Dragon, I honor you and mean you no harm. Let us be friends.’ in the Ancient Language,” Bookworm explained proudly.
“When did you learn the Ancient Language?” Keyblade asked.
“I found a dictionary in Oromis’s house, so I read it while he was talking about something that sounded boring. I learned some of the Ancient Language, so I might be able to use magic sometime,” Bookworm explained.
“That reminds me… Where were you all? I haven’t seen you in days!” Eragon said.
“We went in the woods to escape from the mob and we kinda got lost,” Keyblade explained. “Where are you going?”
“We’re going to a battle in Surda,” Eragon said. “Lady Nasuada needs our help. Arya already left, so we’re going to meet her there. And we’re bringing Orik, too. He’s just taking a rest down there.” He pointed to the trees below.
“Can we come too?” Mithos asked, eager to go to a battle. He wanted to prove that he could fight without being turned into a short pile of goo.
“Umm… You can’t fly all the way to Surda with small wings like those. Saphira, how many passengers can you carry?” Eragon asked his dragon.
I can carry three. Any more will slow me down too much. Saphira replied.
“I’ve got an idea,” Bookworm said. “Eragon and Orik ride on Saphira. Keyblade and Mithos take turns riding on her. Whoever’s not riding shifts into drake form and flies. I think I can fly the whole time.”
Really? How will you do that? Saphira asked.
Bookworm grinned and shifted into full-drake form. She now appeared as a giant purple dragon. Eragon almost fell off Saphira in his surprise. (Bookworm was sorry he didn’t. The fall would have seriously injured him.)
Very well, your plan should work. But we should not delay any longer. Let’s get Orik and go. Saphira said.
“Yeah! We need to go find Arya! ...I mean, we need to go save the Varden!” Eragon said, his face getting red again.
Bookworm rolled her eyes. How did an idiot like that get to be a Dragon Rider with fate of the world in his hands? Bookworm felt very sorry for all this world’s inhabitants.
They picked up Orik and explained that some part-dragon people would be joining them. He did not trust the drakes, but he didn’t complain. A few days later, they arrived in Surda. Their arrival caused a lot of commotion in the Varden camp. Everyone saw Bookworm and thought another one of the dragon eggs had hatched. They were very disappointed when the big purple dragon turned into a normal(ish) human.
“Can you turn back into a big dragon during the battle?” someone asked hopefully.
“No, that took way too much energy. It will be a while before I can shift into full-drake form again,” Bookworm explained tiredly. The people were very disappointed.
“Do not get disheartened!” Nasuada said as she came to greet her guests. “We have Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Brightscales here to help in the upcoming battle. And their friends can surely help too, in some way.”
“I’m not Eragon’s friend,” Bookworm said immediately.
“You can rest now, if you want,” Nasuada said politely.
“Okay, I’m tired,” Bookworm said. She was about to rest for a while when she noticed someone approaching the camp. “Shade!” she said, without thinking. Instantly, the Varden soldiers grabbed their weapons. Many people looked expectantly at Eragon, since he was the Shadeslayer.
“Umm… I think we’d better go see her first. It wouldn’t be good if she turned all the soldiers into goo,” Keyblade said, running toward Shade.
Bookworm started to follow her, then hesitated. “Do you think she’d turn Eragon into goo?”
“No, probably not,” Keyblade said.
Disappointed, Bookworm ran after her. “Hi Shade! Watch out for all the Varden people trying to kill you! If possible, could you not turn them into goo? Maybe turn Eragon into goo instead?”
“It’s a shade! Kill it!” the soldiers screamed.
“Oooh! Let me kill it! I’m the Shadeslayer! Hey Arya! Are you watching! I’m gonna kill a shade!” Eragon yelled.
Shade glared at him. “Do I look like a shade to you?”
Eragon stopped trying to get Arya’s attention. He stared at Shade. “Hmm… No maroon eyes… No blood red hair… I guess you’re not a shade… Does this mean I don’t get to kill you?”
“Not unless you want to be turned into goo,” Shade grinned evilly.
“Try to kill her! Try to kill her!” Bookworm yelled.
“You be quiet. Stop encouraging him,” Shade said.
“Shade, where were you?” Keyblade asked.
“Uru’baen. I decided to visit Galbatorix and learn some evil magic,” Shade said.
“So you are a shade!” Eragon shouted triumphantly.
“No, I’m not. Shades are possessed by evil spirits. Now please be quiet and let me finish,” Shade said, glaring at him again. “Anyway, I was stayed in Uru’baen for a while, but then Galbatorix started treating me like his minion. The fool thought he could get away with it! I stole his last dragon egg, poked Shruikan, and brought the egg to his enemies, the Varden.” Shade held up a shiny purple dragon egg.
“Oooh! Lemme see!” Bookworm snatched the dragon egg from Shade. “Hey! What’s going on?” The egg started to glow. So did her drake sphere. There was a bright flash of light and both were gone. The egg had hatched! A purple dragon hatchling sat among the broken shell pieces. Bookworm reached out to touch it and felt a terrible pain on the palm of her hand. A silvery mark appeared where she had touched the dragon.
“That’s the gedwey ignasia,” Shade said. “Bookworm, you’re a Dragon Rider!”

Swordfights!

“Fine!” Eragon said sulkily. He absolutely hated sword training with Vanir, who disliked him very much and usually beat him up. He was starting to regret not paying attention to Oromis’s lesson.
On the other hand, Mithos, Keyblade, and Bookworm were looking forward to the sword practice. Mithos thought Eragon would be a good opponent. Keyblade wanted to fight some of the elves with her keyblade. And of course, Bookworm was eager to see Vanir beat the crap out of Eragon.
“Come on! Let’s go!” Bookworm ran out of Oromis’s house.
“Why is she so happy? I thought she was a witch, not a swordswoman,” Eragon said in confusion. He had not yet caught on to the fact that Bookworm wished him as much pain as possible. When they reached the area reserved for battle practice, Bookworm was jumping up and down in excitement.
“Eragon! Who are those humans?” a young elf yelled, running toward Eragon.
“These are my friends. Oromis said they could come,” Eragon explained.
“I’m not your friend!” Bookworm yelled at him.
“Good for you,” Vanir said. He disliked Eragon too, though not nearly as much as Bookworm. “Are you ready to spar, Eragon?”
“Can I fight Eragon first? Please?” Mithos asked.
“Yeah! I should practice fighting humans too,” Eragon said eagerly.
Vanir was about to yell at him, when he was interrupted by Keyblade. “While Mithos and Eragon are fighting, do you want to spar with me?” She clapped her hands and alchemified a keyblade. Vanir had never seen anything like that. He nodded to Keyblade and unsheathed his sword.
Mithos raised his shiny sword threateningly. Eragon unsheathed Zar’roc too.
“Go Mithos! Kill him! Kill him!” Bookworm cheered.
“I don’t think she likes me…” Eragon observed.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Mithos said, amazed that it had taken Eragon so long to realize this. He decided to stop talking then and start fighting. He aimed a blow at Eragon’s head, but Eragon parried and waved the sword skillfully through the air. Mithos dodged Eragon’s blow and swung his sword back at him. Bookworm loudly cheered for Mithos, until she realized that she was just distracting him and increasing Eragon’s chances of winning. Then she shut up and just gave Eragon a death glare instead. Eventually, Mithos swung his sword around and hit Eragon’s hand. Zar’roc went flying and landed near Bookworm. Blood poured out of the wound on Eragon’s hand.
“Yay! Can I kill him now? Please?” Bookworm picked up Zar’roc.
Mithos was not listening to her. “I beat him! Yay! I’m awesome!” he yelled, jumping up and down and cheering for himself.
While Mithos celebrated and Bookworm wondered how angry Shade would be if she accidentally stabbed Eragon, Keyblade was fighting Vanir. He was stronger than she expected. Because he was an elf, he was naturally stronger than a human… But was he stronger than a drake? Keyblade decided to find out. She shifted into drake form. Her wings and tail appeared in a gold haze. Elves are not used to humans randomly turning into half-dragon creatures. Many started to panic.
At the same time, Mithos yelled very loudly, “No! Bookworm! Shade will kill you!” He was trying to tug Zar’roc away from Bookworm, who was once again trying to attack Eragon. Unfortunately, none of the elves bothered to find out what Mithos was talking about. They heard the word “shade” and saw a drake. They completely panicked and mass hysteria set in once again. Mithos grabbed Zar’roc from Bookworm and dropped it by Eragon. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!” he yelled. Bookworm and Keyblade reluctantly followed him out of Ellesmera. They decided to wait in Du Weldenvarden for a while, until the rioting elves calmed down a little.
“Why did you have to shift into drake form, Keyblade? And Mithos, didn’t you know it’s bad to yell ‘shade’ in front of a bunch of elves?” Bookworm scolded them.
“Oh yeah, and you didn’t do anything wrong, Bookworm,” Mithos said sarcastically.
“I thought you wanted to torment Eragon, not kill him. Why the change of plans?” Keyblade asked.
“I wasn’t gonna kill him,” Bookworm said, trying to look innocent, but failing miserably. “I was just gonna stab him. Some healer would have saved him before he actually died. Can we go back now? I wanna see the dragons!”
“I guess so… Which way’s Ellesmera?” Mithos asked, looking around in confusion.
“I don’t know… Bookworm, did you memorize the map of this forest when you read Eragon?” Keyblade asked hopefully.
“Umm… I think it’s that way,” Bookworm pointed in a random direction. Everyone groaned. As she had proven in the drake world, Bookworm had a poor sense of direction. They were all lost.

Bookworm's Revenge on Eragon Begins...

“No! Stop! Bookworm, don’t kill him!” Shade yelled. But of course, Bookworm was not listening. She was determined to kill Eragon, one of her least favorite book characters. Before the fight with Borakk, Shade would not have worried when Bookworm tried to throw a kunai at someone, but now Bookworm had already proven that she was capable of hitting her target with Indigo’s help. “Bookworm! Don’t make me turn you into goo!” Shade yelled again. When Bookworm continued to ignore her and run toward Eragon, she had no choice but to cast the goo-spell. (She even included the fireball this time. Bookworm was really annoying her.)
“Protego!” Bookworm shouted the Shield Charm. The fireball bounced off Bookworm’s magical barrier and hit some nearby trees, turning one into goo and lighting the rest on fire.
Shade cursed. Why did Bookworm wait until now to use the Shield Charm? There had been so many other times when that could have been useful. With the magical barrier, none of Shade’s spells would work. So she did the only thing she could to stop Bookworm. She tackled her and tried to strangle her again.
“Ow! Stop it! Get off me, Shade!” Bookworm screamed.
It was at this time that they discovered where they were in Alagaesia: Ellesmera, the elven capital in the forest of Du Weldenvarden. The elves did not like shades at all. Shades were really powerful magic-users possessed by evil spirits. The last shade, Durza, had only recently been killed by Eragon, but not before murdering many humans, elves, and dwarves. Ellesmera was probably the least shade-friendly place in the whole world. When Bookworm screamed Shade’s name, several elves ran out of their tree-like houses, thinking they were under attack. Eragon raised his sword and looked for the evil shade that had dared to invade Ellesmera.
Shade swore and let go of Bookworm, who was now too busy trying to breathe again to assassinate Eragon. “I’m getting out of here! Keyblade, make sure she doesn’t kill Eragon!”
“Huh? What?” Keyblade was confused. Shade had now vanished, leaving the city in chaos as all the elves searched for the missing shade.
“Who are you?” Eragon asked, finally noticing Keyblade, Mithos, and Bookworm.
“I’m Keyblade. This is Mithos and Bookworm,” Keyblade introduced them.
“Cool sword!” Mithos said admiringly.
“Yes, it’s called ‘Zar’roc’,” Eragon said. “What do you call your sword?”
“Umm… Yggdrasill,” Mithos answered. He had never actually named the sword, but he knew it had formerly belonged to Mithos Yggdrasill.
“Do you wield swords too?” Eragon asked, turning to Keyblade and Bookworm.
“No, I’m an alchemist. Watch this!” Keyblade alchemified her keyblade.
“Cool! Can you teach me to do that?” Eragon asked in amazement.
“No, you lack the necessary intelligence,” Bookworm said, with a nasty grin. After Shade’s attack, she decided she would wait to kill Eragon. In the meantime, she would just insult him at every possible opportunity.
“Are you an alchemist?” Eragon asked, pretending he didn’t hear Bookworm’s comment.
“No, I’m a witch from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I’m also an assassin drake,” Bookworm grinned even more at the look of complete confusion on Eragon’s face.
“Eragon! What are you doing?” an elf ran up to Eragon. “You’re supposed to be training with Vanir!”
“But Vanir’s busy looking for a shade! And I found some humans!” Eragon pointed at them. “Keyblade’s an alchemist. She makes a key-shaped sword appear out of the ground by clapping her hands! And Mithos has a shiny sword! And Bookworm… I think she said she’s a witch…”
“Hmm… a seithr…” the elf looked at Bookworm with interest. “I am Oromis, Dragon Rider and mentor to Eragon.” He looked around at the mob of panicking elves, then turned to Eragon. “I don’t think Vanir will be ready any time soon. Let’s start today’s lesson early. If your friends would like to join us, they are welcome to.” He found it very odd that three strange humans suddenly appeared in the hidden city at the exact time that the shade hysteria broke out. He decided he would have to keep an eye on them until Queen Islanzadi and Princess Arya had time to see them.
“I’m not his friend!” Bookworm protested, but she came anyway.
When they arrived at Oromis’s house, Keyblade alchemified some extra desks and they all sat down for a long lesson on Alagaesia history…
“So with the help of Morzan, Galbatorix was able to… Are you listening to me?” Oromis said sharply. He glared at his inattentive audience. “Keyblade, you’ve clearly been daydreaming for the past hour. Bookworm, stop trying to hide that book you’ve been reading under the desk. And Mithos, are you even awake?"
“Huh? What’s going on?” Mithos asked, waking up suddenly.
“This is pathetic! How do you expect to learn anything? Eragon’s the only one who’s been paying attention. He even took notes!” Oromis scolded them.
Annoyed at this praise of Eragon, Bookworm snatched his note paper and examined it. “These aren’t notes! These are doodles of stick figures kissing! It even says ‘Eragon + Arya’ in a heart at the top!” Bookworm held up Eragon’s “notes”. Eragon's face reddened.
Oromis stared at his students in dismay. “How do you expect to learn anything?” he repeated.
“Can you teach us magic now? I promise I’ll pay more attention!” Bookworm asked.
“No, I think you’ve had enough class for now. We’ll study magic tomorrow. For now, Eragon is late for his sword training,” Oromis said. Mithos was now fully awake. He was looking forward to the sword training. He was even hoping to challenge Eragon to a swordfight…

World hopping (Cat)

After escaping from her choir class, Cat dashed outside. Her initial reaction was to yell, but she decided to run out so that she could stop Lloyd. “Man, did she hear me…? Or what? Great now she le-” before Lloyd could finish, he was pulled down by a very annoyed brunette.
“What-are-you-THINKING?” Cat demanded, punctuating each word with a poke at Lloyd’s chest (she couldn’t reach his forehead, like Ed, she was also somewhat vertically challenged). "Well…I wanted to see you, but these guys in grey that had security on their shirts wouldn’t let me in, I tried to explain that I was your friend and…” Lloyd stopped short when Cat’s glare didn’t cease. She sighed, “Lloyd….look, first off, if people see you flying here, they’ll haul you off to some lab in area 51 or something.”
“Area 51? Where’s that”
“I dunno.”
“Then how do you know about, Cat? Oh! Do YOU do experiments there?!”
“No! Listen, I’ll meet you on top of the roof after school ends.”
“….When’s that?”
"When the bell rings! Look, I gotta get back to class, so just stay on the roof until I get there, and remain as inconspicuous as possible, okay?”
“….What does, inconspicuous means?” At this point gravity seemed to get to Cat, at she fell down anime style to the ground. She had forgotten that Lloyd’s IQ was around a 16 or so.
“It means without being noticed. Now, I’ll see you AFTER school, on top of the roof, got it?” Lloyd gave Cat a reassuring grin, “Sure!” he said and left for the roof as Cat headed back to class.
***
It was now some 10 minutes or so after the bell had rung. Cat had waited this long because she knew that no one was really around after school, buses and all that (she had called her parents and told them she was staying for extra help after school). Cat, using Goldd's power as a drake to fly, flew to the top of the school building. When she arrived she found Lloyd and another unexpected face, Riku.
"What are you doing here?" Cat asked, more-so curious than angry.
"Well, we came to get you."
"Why?"
"Because Sora needs your help."
"Why can't you help him? I have a life besides being a dragon."
"Well, it concerns the well-fare of the worlds." Lloyd, at this point, decided to intervine, "Cat, I know that you may have problems of your own, and how leaving here will cause problems, but maybe we can find a way to exlpain this to the people here."
Yeah, and then everyone here will want to grow drake wings and fly like it's some kind of new fad. Cat tried imagining one of her classmates whom she really didn't like with drake wings and a tail, trying to fly. This seemed terribly funny to Cat, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling. Riku and Lloyd just stared, not knowing why she was overcome with such a giggling fit.
Cat finally stopped, and said, "Look, I kinda just got home, and it would be really kind of a pain if I had to leave again." Riku sighed. He knew that it was nessesary to bring Cat with him. So, Riku decided to use force, "Lloyd, grab her arm. I'll grab the other one."
"What!!? No!" Cat made for a mad dash for the edge of the building, "YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE!!!" Cat yelled, waving a fist in the air. Why does she have to be so dramatic..? Riku wondered to himself. Cat was almost to the edge of the building when Lloyd caught her. She stuggled to get free while Riku opened a portal, leading to none other than Destiny Islands. Lloyd came over to Riku. Cat still struggling (and atempting to bite through Lloyd's arm in vain)listened in growing horror as Llyod said, "Well, we better get going."
"Yeah." Riku answered as he grabbed Cat's other arm (cat was still trying to bite through Lloyd's arm). They walked into the portal and as soon as they did, it dissapeared without a trace. Walking from the portal Riku had opened, they arrived on Destiny Islands' white sandy beach. Cat was released, and fell falt on her face.
"So, you're still a spaz, eh Cat?" A familar cocky voice said. Cat lifted her head up and saw none other than Ed, the Fullmetal (cat prefered miget) Alchmist. He held out his hand, as a sign he was only joking (mostly). Cat brushed it away lethargicly and mumbled something like "I can get up myself."
"Cat-chan!" Cat spun around to see a boy in his early teens running over to her. When he did, he gave her a big hug. "Cat-chan, it's so good to see you again." Cat saw this as somewhat akward, but then returned the hug and said "It's good to see you too Netto." Cat looked over and saw two other girls, one with red hair and another with blonde hair. The red haired girl reached her first, "Cat!" She cried as she gave her a bone-crushing hug. Cat said something like meep when this happened. "Hi there Cat! It's so good to see you-" Collete never got a chance to finish this sentence, because she tripped (on what looked like nothing) and fell on top of the other two girls, causing them to end up in a great heap on the ground.

Derris-Kharlan Again

“Where were you?” Kratos demanded. His calm voice could not conceal his anger.
“I can’t believe you just left us like that! That really pisses me off! We were fighting to save your lives!” Lloyd shouted, his short temper getting the better of him.
“Your cowardice disgusts me,” Kratos said, still giving Mithos a death glare.
“And you stole my hunnies!” Zelos yelled. Everyone stared at him. Then the long silence was broken when Shade recited some words of magic. Zelos instantly turned into a pile of broccoli-scented goo.
“He deserved it,” Shade said simply.
Sheena nodded and looked at the Zelos-goo. “I think it’s an improvement.”
“Are you going to explain what you were doing while we fought the Renegades?” Kratos asked.
“We went to the drake world! And look what I can do!” Bookworm’s purple wings and tail appeared.
“Wow! Those are nice wings, Bookworm!” Colette complimented her.
Colette’s cheerful attitude and his own curiosity calmed Lloyd down a bit. “How did you get those wings?” Bookworm proceeded to explain how Borakk had destroyed the drake village and Indigo had given her the sphere. “What happened to Borakk?”
“We fought and Keyblade defeated him. Then Shade sealed him in his sphere,” Bookworm said.
“And what was Mithos doing this whole time?” Kratos asked. (He disliked Bookworm, Shade, and Keyblade because they “stole” the Sorcerer’s Ring and “kidnapped” Lloyd, Colette, and Genis. But he did consider Mithos his ally, which is why he was angrier at Mithos than the others.)
“He almost assassinated a king,” Keyblade said. She decided it would not be a good idea to mention that Mithos had been goo during the fight with Borakk.
“He did?” Sheena, a former assassin, was clearly impressed.
“Yeah, I was about to stab him, but a bunch of drakes tackled me,” Mithos said, not wanting to admit that his assassination attempt failed because he tripped and fell flat on his face. Kratos still did not appear satisfied, so he added, “I think there were at least ten of them, all shifted into full-drake form.” Shade, Keyblade, and Bookworm had a hard time not laughing at this.
To change the subject, Bookworm asked, “So how did you battle go?”
“We just barely defeated the Renegades,” Lloyd said. “I think they left to get reinforcements. We were doing really well, but then Yuan saladmited Kratos and—”
“That’s enough, Lloyd!” Kratos said sharply, looking very embarrassed. “Mithos, you and your friends have caused a lot of trouble. You are all going home now.”
“I don’t wanna go home yet!” Bookworm whined.
“Yeah, can’t we go to one more world? Please?” Keyblade asked.
“I think so,” Shade grinned evilly.
“You are going home now. Or I will be forced to consider you my enemies,” Kratos said, giving them a death glare again. This left no doubt what their fate would be if they were his enemies.
“Really? If you were my enemy, I would turn you into goo,” Shade said, still grinning evilly. “Tomato-scented goo!”
Kratos’s death glare vanished. A look of horror appeared on his face.
“Keyblade, let’s use that function-changing device,” Shade selected one randomly. She waved at the Symphonians. “We’ll be back later!” Then Keyblade activated the Sorcerer’s Ring and they vanished.
When they appeared in the next world, Shade noticed that the surroundings seemed very familiar. Then she noticed a boy with a red sword, standing next to a blue dragon. They were in Alagaesia.
A moment later, Bookworm noticed the boy too. She grabbed one of her kunai and screamed, “Die, Eragon!”

Keyblade's Fanfic- The beginning!

here it is, keyblade's second multi-crossover fic. To those oblivious or confused, it is placed after the drake fic (Keyblade is also known as Cat in this fic). To anyone who doesn't know what a drake is, look on http://www.myowncafe.org/ on the cafe message board. The 'here we go it's me and shade's fanfic!' is the right post to read. anyways- presenting journey 2.0 of Cat's adventures!

It had been a month or so after Cat's adventures in the drake world. By some miraculous stoke of luck, she had been returned at the exact moment she had disappeared, meaning she did not have to explain just how she was able to morph into a drake, or the fact that she had been kissed by a guy-err drake (this wouldn't have gone over well with her dad). As of now, she was in her choir class, and had been given a break by her choir teacher. She was sitting by herself, thinking about her last adventure, thinking about the people she met and the friends she had been reunited with. First-off, there was Sora, someone she met on her very first adventure (N: the verry first and has not yet been documented-Shade). A naturally friendly and easy to get along with kid, Cat somehow felt that he could easily become the most popular teen in school with his attitude. Then there were Sora's childhood friends, Riku and Kairi. Kairi was the same age as Sora, and also the person who Sora happened to like. Cat honestly though Kairi was a perfect match for Sora, as she was incredibly kind and caring. Riku, Sora's other childhood friend was the quiet but strong type who also cared for his friends. Cat remembered Sora telling her he went so far as he nearly lost his whole state of being to find his fiends. Then there where some of the other people she had met. She met Edward Elric the "Fullmetal Alchemist" (although "Midget Alchemist" was a better title, as Ed was....well, in polite terms, "vertically challenged", and telling him of his short stature always seemed to spark some kind of very dangerous fuse that Cat would rather not have to experience again...) and his younger brother, Alphonse, who was a boy whose soul was sealed inside a suit of armor. Cat still wasn't sure how this happened, but thought it had something to do with Ed's right arm and left leg being artificial. She had also met the demon Sesshomaru, a quiet yet deadly demon who could kill someone faster than it would take them to notice. Sesshomaru had come with his lackey Jaken, who, unlike his master, was the least intimidating demon Cat had ever met. There was also Rin, the young girl who Sesshomaru allowed to travel with him. She was a kind and very warm hearted little girl who even cared for the friends of Sesshomaru's brother, whom Cat learned was a half-demon named Inuyasha. Then there was Lloyd and Colette. Colette was a former chosen of her world (Cat wasn't sure what this meant, but by how Colette talked about it, it sounded like something she wouldn't wish on anyone). There was also Colette's childhood friend, Lloyd (although it was obvious to Cat that they both felt that they liked each other a little more than just friends). Lloyd had told Cat that he had been raised by a dwarf (on account of the fact that his real father had not known he was still alive) and had a "dog" named Noishe. What made Lloyd and Colette different was that they were stronger than normal humans, and that they both had angel like wings. Another friend Netto, and his cybernetic companion, Rockman had joined Cat in her adventures. Cat though that Rockman looked alot like Netto, almost like his twin. Rockman always tried to act as respectably and responsible, while Netto...was the exact opposite. It wasn't that he wasn't respectable, it was more that he was somewhat immature. cat remembered how Rockman complained that he always had to wake up Netto in the morning, how he never did his homework, and how he had no sense of civil duty. But it seemed as though the two complained constantly, they seemed to enjoy each others company. Finally, there were the residents of the drake world cat had met, Tyrsis, the prankster, Arian, the majiker (who Cat was glad to have on her good side) and finally....Rainheart. Rainheart was...well, to put it simply, the person Cat had truly cared for. Cat sighed sadly, remembering their departing kiss (it was more so he had kissed her, however). Cat recollection was interrupted by a tapping at the window. Cat decided to disregard it as a bird, but when the tapping consisted, she decided to check it out. Cat nearly cried out when she found out it was Lloyd, floating and tapping at the window, obviously to get Cat's attention. She asked her teacher if she could go to the bathroom, and headed outside.

Cat?

When they returned to the palace, they were greeted by Prince Tyrsis, Rainheart’s younger brother.
“Cat!” he yelled, hugging Keyblade so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Mithos glared at him, but could not stab him. The guards had confiscated his sword as soon as they entered the capital. He asked his friends to help get it back. Shade and Bookworm threatened the guards a lot, but this didn’t do any good because Bookworm’s threats were really pathetic. Eventually, Keyblade asked Rainheart to get the sword back. He agreed as long as she promised not to let Mithos use it in the capital. So now Shade had Mithos’s sword and refused to let him stab any of her characters.
“I’m… not… Cat…” Keyblade managed to say. “Could… you… please… stop… strangling… me?”
Tyrsis let go of her. “What do you mean? Of course you’re Cat! You look just like her and you’ve got Goldd’s marble!”
“I think she has amnesia,” Rainheart explained. “And this is for you.” He handed Tyrsis Borakk’s sphere.
“Oooooooh! Shiny!” Tyrsis looked admiringly at the sphere.
Once Keyblade was able to breathe again, she said, “Umm… That marble has part of Goldd’s essence too. That will give Tyrsis a metallic sheen and make him the most powerful drake, other than me and Mithos. Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Yes, it’s definitely a good idea,” Rainheart said, grinning. There were a lot of things Tyrsis could do with his new powers. Rainheart did not plan on giving him enough spare time to cause trouble.
“Rainheart, you should probably have a doctor look at that wound soon,” Bookworm suggested. Rainheart’s wound wasn’t as deep as it had first appeared, but it still needed some medical attention. Rainheart nodded and left.
“So now what? Can I have my sword back?” Mithos asked.
“No, you can’t have your sword until we’re out of the capital,” Shade said.
“I know what we should do! We should have a party to celebrate the defeat of Borakk! We’ll surprise Rainheart!” Tyrsis suggested enthusiastically.
“Yeah! And we should play DDR at the party!” Keyblade agreed.
Tyrsis smiled. “Great! Cat agrees, so that’s settled. I’ll go make arrangements to get a new DDR machine. No idea how it happened, but the last one got turned into goo…”
The next day, everyone went back to the village with the DDR machine. Rainheart’s shoulder was heavily bandaged, but other than that, he was fine. He even played DDR with Keyblade (and lost, of course). To everyone’s surprise, Arian also showed up. She and Shade had a long discussion about various kinds of magic.
Mithos had planned to avoid the DDR machine, but then Bookworm said, “You just know I’ll beat you! Maybe I’ll challenge Rainheart or Tyrsis instead. They’re taller than you.” Height has nothing to do with DDR, but this taunt was all it took to get Mithos to accept Bookworm’s challenge. The end score was Underling for Bookworm and Lackey for Mithos. Not wanting to listen to Bookworm’s endless bragging, Mithos wandered away. He searched for something interesting to do and happened to notice that Rainheart was with Keyblade again.
“Thank you for defeating Borakk,” Rainheart said.
“You’re welcome. Thanks for saving me,” Keyblade said politely.
“Listen, Cat…” Rainheart started to say.
“I’m not Cat!” Keyblade interrupted, all politeness gone.
Rainheart sighed. “After everything that’s happened, I can’t believe that. I know you are Cat. And I love you.” Keyblade’s face turned bright red. Rainheart moved closer.
At this point, Mithos decided that Rainheart was too close to her. He wanted to stab him with his sword, which Shade had returned when they left the capital, but there were too many security drakes lurking nearby. And for some reason, they were all giving him death glares… Suddenly, Mithos had a brilliant idea! He activated the Mage’s Ring, sending him and his friends to Derris-Kharlan, away from the tall drakes.
Keyblade was very relieved to be away. Shade was angry because she had been in the middle of an important conversation. Bookworm was absolutely furious.
“I was about to beat Tyrsis at DDR!” she whined. Tyrsis had actually been doing much better than her, but she conveniently forgot about this.
Mithos ignored the complaints and grinned triumphantly. Then he stopped grinning. Kratos was glaring at him the same way Borakk had before trying to kill him. Mithos’s reaction was the same: “Meep!”

Battle!!!

The battle was not going well. Mithos kept “accidentally” mistaking Rainheart for Borakk and trying to kill them both. He claimed this was an easy mistake to make because “they’re both too tall”, but no one believed him. While Mithos was busy trying to stab Rainheart, Borakk lunged for him. Mithos happened to move at the last second to get closer to Rainheart. If Borakk had been just inches closer, he would have killed Mithos. Shade decided it was time to stop Mithos. She recited the goo spell (no fireball this time, just goo) and turned Mithos into a pile of cherry-scented goo.
“Shade! Don’t turn your ally into goo!” Bookworm yelled at her.
“He’s safer this way. He’s below Borakk’s eye level. And I’ll turn him back to non-goo after the battle,” Shade said. Bookworm couldn’t argue with this (at least, not while fighting a big drake), so she reluctantly agreed and continued fighting Borakk.
Borakk was really strong, so even without Mithos distracting them, it still would not be easy to defeat him. However, the odds were in their favor since they outnumbered him. But that changed when he shifted to full-drake form. If Mithos had not been goo at that moment, he would have been horrified by how tall Borakk was.
“This is for Queen Flare! Die, Cat!” Borakk yelled. He lunged for Keyblade, but Rainheart got in the way. Borakk’s sword collided with his shoulder. Rainheart cried out in pain as blood gushed out of the wound.
“Rainheart!” Keyblade screamed.
“I’m… fine…” Rainheart said, pressing his hand to his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Keyblade turned away from him and faced Borakk. He was now preoccupied with Shade’s magic attacks and Bookworm’s kunai. (With Indigo’s help, she could actually throw them straight!) Keyblade tightened her grip on her alchemified keyblade, ran forward, and stabbed Borakk as hard as she could! He fell forward, groaning in pain.
Shade took this opportunity to cast a very powerful spell. A glow of green light surrounded Borakk, then faded away until all that remained was a shiny green marble. Noticing Bookworm’s confused expression, Shade explained, “I sealed Borakk inside his sphere. And I took some of his essence for my own sphere, of course.”
Rainheart stood up shakily. “Cat… thank you…”
“Are you okay? You’re my friend, so I don’t want you to die,” Keyblade said, putting a slight emphasis on the word “friend”. She paused, then added, “And I’m not Cat.”
“We should head back to the palace. Rainheart’s wound needs medical attention,” Bookworm said.
“Wait a minute. I said I’d revive Mithos after the battle,” Shade said. She recited the life spell and used life energy from her friends to turn Mithos back into non-goo. (Some of Rainheart’s essence went into her sphere.)
He stood up, looking around in confusion. “What happened?...” He remembered what had been happening. “Oh no! Where’s that tall drake?!” He unsheathed his sword and waved it threateningly.
“Keyblade already defeated him. And I sealed him in a shiny sphere. You missed the end of the battle because you were goo… short goo,” Shade said with an evil grin.
Mithos was about to answer this when he was interrupted. The Squirrel King wanted to make one final effort to get revenge on the loud human creature with the shiny acorn. To get a better shot at Keyblade, he hopped onto Mithos’s head. But before he threw his acorn of doom at her, the Chipmunk King jumped out of a nearby tree and tackled him. They both wanted to be the one to destroy the loud human creature, so they started to fight over the acorn of doom, while still on top of Mithos’s head.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Killer rodents! They’re attacking me! Go away! Get off! You can’t kill me! I’m taller than you!” Mithos screamed, running in circles. This caused both the Squirrel King and the Chipmunk King to lose their grip on the acorn of doom. It went flying through the air and hit Shade on the head. A moment later, Mithos was free from the killer rodents. Two piles of banana-scented goo lay on the ground.

Borakk the Tall Drake

Surprisingly, Mithos did not panic or try to stab the big green drake with his sword. He remembered something Shade had said about spheres allowing people to communicate mentally. He decided to use this to call for help.
Meanwhile, Shade had given up on hitting Bookworm with fireballs. Instead, she decided to just strangle her. Keyblade and Rainheart were trying to make Shade stop. Bookworm was slowly dying of strangulation, but at least she had shut up about squirrels. Suddenly, Bookworm, Keyblade, and Shade heard Mithos’s voice echoing in their heads.
HELP! Mithos screamed.
Mithos, what’s going on? Keyblade asked.
There’s a shiny green drake! I think he wants to kill me! And worse, he’s taller than me! Mithos was starting to panic now.
It must be Borakk! Shade said, finally letting go of Bookworm’s throat.
Who? Mithos asked, completely confused.
The drake we’ve been searching for! The one who destroyed Indigo’s village! Have you been paying attention to anything?! Shade yelled at him.
You didn’t tell me he’s taller than me! Mithos yelled back at her.
Why does that even matter?! Keyblade yelled at him.
Bookworm had been quiet so far because she was too busy trying to breathe to worry about Mithos and Borakk, but now she spoke. Mithos, if you tell us where you are, we can come help you.
I’m directly beneath where I was flying. Oh no! I forgot! What happened to the second Keyblade? Mithos was panicking again.
There aren’t two Keyblades! That was me! And if you call me Keyblade again, I will turn you into goo. Shade threatened him.
Or she’ll strangle you. And trust me, that hurts. Bookworm said knowledgably.
“What’s going on?” Rainheart asked. He was excluded from this mental conversation because Mithos didn’t like him.
“Mithos found Borakk. We should help him before he gets killed,” Bookworm said.
“Yes, we’re his friends, so we’re the only ones who get to kill him,” Shade added.
They flew to approximately the same place where Mithos had been when he fell. Then they flew down to the ground. After that, it was easy to find Mithos and Borakk. They just followed the screaming.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Why do you want to kill me? What did I ever do to you?” Mithos screamed.
Borakk laughed. “You have Sylvrr’s sphere. The village of purple drakes set up a shrine to protect that. You are a friend of that village, so you must die!”
“Why does he hate that village so much?” Bookworm asked.
He was the only green drake born in that village, so he was not as talented a ninja or assassin as the rest of the drakes. Because of this, he was rejected from the village. He joined the army of Queen Flare and finally felt accepted. But then, Cat defeated Flare and Borakk was alone again. Indigo explained. He won’t be happy when he sees that Cat has returned.
Sure enough, as soon as Keyblade, Rainheart, Bookworm, and Shade reached the place where Mithos was running in circles and screaming, Borakk looked even angrier than before. “You! Cat! And Prince Rainheart! You’re the ones responsible for Queen Flare’s death. I will enjoy killing you!”
“She’s not Cat,” Bookworm pointed out.
Borakk turned to her and noticed the purple sphere. “Ha! Is that you again, Indigo? Great! All my enemies are coming for me to kill!”
“This should be fun,” Shade grinned and shifted into Goldd’s form again.

"Meep!"

“Yay! We’re gonna fly again!” Bookworm cheered happily.
“Yeah! And I’m gonna fly better than the rest of you! Because I’m the tallest!” Mithos said proudly.
“Actually, Rainheart’s the tallest,” Keyblade grinned evilly at Mithos. Mithos glared at Rainheart and reached for his sword.
“Mithos, if you try to kill him one more time…” Shade said threateningly. Mithos stopped reaching for his sword, but continued to give Rainheart a death glare. Rainheart sighed tiredly. He could see this journey would be requiring his babysitting skills even more than the last.
“Where are we going, anyway?” Bookworm asked.
“We’re going to fly over the mountains. The destroyed village was near there, so it makes sense that Borakk would seek shelter somewhere near the mountains,” Shade explained.
“Shade, how are you going to get over the mountains? You can’t fly,” Keyblade said curiously.
“Don’t worry. You’ll see when we get there,” Shade said with an evil grin. Bookworm was still confused about Shade’s plans, but decided it was better not to ask.
They reached the mountains sooner than they expected. “Hey! It took forever to walk from the village to the palace! How did we get here so fast?” Bookworm demanded.
“Did you get lost at all, last time?” Rainheart asked.
“No! …maybe… I’m not sure…” Bookworm said uncertainly. She did not have a very good sense of direction, so they probably had been lost.
“Do we get to fly now?” Mithos asked excitedly. His wings and tail appeared in a silver haze. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped into the air and moved his wings rapidly up and down. He fell flat on his face again.
“Mithos! How many times do I have to tell you? Back and forth! You move your wings back and forth! Not up and down!” Shade yelled at him.
She’s right. Could you try moving them back and forth? I’m getting tired of falling. Sylvrr told Mithos.
By now, Bookworm, Keyblade, and Rainheart were all successfully flying. Mithos glared at Rainheart as if everything was his fault. Then he tried flying again, this time following Sylvrr and Shade’s directions.
“Yes! I’m flying!” Mithos yelled as he flew up to his friends.
“Good job!” Keyblade congratulated him.
They had started to fly over the mountains when they were suddenly joined by another drake. It had gold wings just like Keyblade!
“Noooooo! There are two Keyblades!” Mithos screamed in horror.
Mithos! Don’t panic! Keep moving your wings! Sylvrr warned him. But he was too late. In his shock, Mithos had forgotten to move his wings back and forth. He was now plummeting down to the ground.
The gold drake watched him fall. “If he crashes one more time, I’m turning him into goo!”
“SHADE!?!” Bookworm and Keyblade gasped, staring at Shade in amazement. Shade grinned evilly.
Rainheart was the first to recover from his shock. “We should go find Mithos,” he said, looking uneasily in the direction Mithos had fallen.
“No, don’t bother. He’s probably just unconscious again. We can find him later,” Shade said.
“Umm… Shade? Why are you a gold drake? I thought I was the only gold drake,” Keyblade said, still very confused.
“I put some of Goldd’s essence in my empty sphere. It also has some of Sylvrr and Indigo’s essences. I can shapeshift into any of those three,” Shade explained.
“How did you get Indigo’s essence?” Bookworm demanded.
“I took some of it when I used your life essence to revive Mithos,” Shade said.
“Oh…” Bookworm suddenly had a great idea. “Hey Shade! Didn’t you use a squirrel’s life essence too? Can you turn into a squirrel? Please?”
“No! Why would I want to turn into squirrel?” Shade asked.
“I dunno… But please turn into one! Please!” Bookworm persisted.
“Bookworm, you’re being annoying again. I already told you that if you annoy me, you will be goo. Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?” Shade asked, getting really irritated.
“Umm… I’m not sure… But are you going to turn into a squirrel?” Bookworm asked.
Keyblade and Rainheart watched as Bookworm dodged the fireballs Shade was aiming at her. (Apparently, she did have some sense of self-preservation.) Everyone had forgotten about Mithos.
Meanwhile, Mithos was on the ground, doing a victory dance. “I’m not unconscious! I fell really far and landed flat on my face, but I’m still not unconscious! Yay!” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the glint of shiny, metallic scales. “Keyblade! I’m not unconscious! And I’m still taller than you!” A growl of rage made him stop his victory dance and turn around. Keyblade was not behind him. Behind him was a gigantic dark green drake with metallic scales. He did not look friendly. In fact, he was looking at Mithos like he wanted to tear him into little pieces. Mithos stared at the big, angry drake and said “Meep!”

Rainheart's Decision

“Hey! Rainheart!” Bookworm ran into the drake palace.
“I thought I told you to go away for a while,” Shade said. “If you keep interrupting, I’ll turn you into goo.”
Bookworm ignored this threat. “Rainheart! Do you know someone named Borakk?”
This got Rainheart’s attention. “Yes, he was a green drake in my mother’s army. I remember he was a lot larger than most greens and very strong too. He was a great soldier, but was known for being much crueler than most of his companions. He disappeared in the last battle.”
“He recently attacked a village of purple drakes! And now he’s got a metallic sheen!” Bookworm said.
“How do you know this?” Rainheart asked suspiciously. Bookworm held up her purple sphere as explanation. Rainheart understood. “But how could he have gained metallic sheen? Only Goldd and Sylvrr have ever achieved that!”
“I think I know,” Shade said. She had clearly decided not to turn Bookworm into goo yet. “A lot of Goldd’s essence escaped the sphere when Cat fought Flare. If Borakk gained some of that essence, he could have gotten a metallic sheen and much more powers.”
“What’s going on? Who got more powers?” Keyblade walked into the room, followed by Mithos. The two drake guards each held one of his arms to prevent anymore assassinations attempts. Apparently, Keyblade had been unable to convince them that it was a misunderstanding.
Bookworm tried to explain. “I saw something from Indigo’s past. (She’s the purple drake.) A big metallic green drake named Borakk was destroying the village and killing its inhabitants. And Rainheart says Borakk used to be one of Flare’s soldiers. Shade thinks he got some of Goldd’s essence during Cat and Flare’s fight, which is how he got the metallic sheen.”
Mithos still looked completely confused, but Keyblade understood. “We should go after Borakk!” she suggested, eager for adventure.
“Cat, are you sure you’re well enough to do something that dangerous?” Rainheart asked worriedly. His conversation with Shade had failed to convince him that Keyblade was not his beloved Cat with a bad case of amnesia.
“Of course!” Keyblade said. “And I’m not Cat!”
“Don’t worry, Rainheart! Keyblade won’t get in a lot of trouble. And if she does, we’ll be with her to help,” Bookworm said, gesturing to herself, Shade, and Mithos. This attempt to reassure Rainheart failed miserably. He did not want to leave Cat in the protection of two strange magic-users and a suspected assassin. However, he knew there was no way he could stop her if she really wanted to go with her friends to hunt Borakk. There was only one thing he could do.
“Fine, but I’m coming with you,” he announced.
“All right,” Shade agreed. She would enjoy traveling with her character.
“No! Why are you letting him come?!” Mithos demanded.
“He will be a useful ally,” Shade explained.
“But I don’t want him to come!” Mithos whined.
“What’s the matter, Mithos? Why do you hate Rainheart so much?” Keyblade asked, confused.
“HE’S TALLER THAN ME!” Mithos yelled. Complete silence followed his words.
Finally Keyblade said, “You really have a height problem, don’t you?”
“He’s almost as bad as Ed,” Bookworm added. Mithos did not answer.
The green drake decided this would be a good time to intervene. “Your Majesty, are you sure it’s a good idea to travel with this human? He already tried to kill you.”
“I have to protect Cat from him. She needs me,” Rainheart said, reaching for Keyblade’s hand. She moved away from him.
“I’m not Cat! And I can protect myself!” Keyblade yelled. Rainheart stared at her.
“Keyblade, if you don’t want to be a pile of goo, stop hurting Rainheart’s feelings. And Mithos, you stop trying to kill him. I’m the only one who gets to kill my characters,” Shade said angrily. The two guards interpreted this as a threat to murder their king. They waited for Rainheart to tell them to arrest Shade, but he hadn’t even been listening. What Keyblade said had hurt him very much. He was now more determined than ever to help her regain her memories. And the upcoming journey seemed the perfect time to do so.

Assassination Attempt?

“Cool! It’s the drake palace!” Bookworm ran through the capital city, towards the palace.
Mithos stared at it in confusion. “It looks like a big tent to me…”
“Yes, it’s a giant tent with many separate rooms,” Shade explained. Mithos still looked confused, but decided not to ask anymore.
“Bookworm! Wait for me!” Keyblade ran to catch up to Bookworm. Soon they were both racing to the palace. Shade and Mithos walked after them. When they caught up at the palace entrance, Bookworm and Keyblade were arguing about who won the race. A nearby drake was glaring at them as though waiting for an excuse to send them away.
“We are here to see King Rainheart,” Shade said to the drake guard.
He nodded. “I will tell him you are here.” He walked into the giant tent. After threatening Bookworm and Keyblade to make them stop arguing, Shade followed him. They entered a room with a long carpet leading to a throne on a raised dais. Since he was not expecting visitors, Rainheart was elsewhere. The drake guard told them to wait there, then went to find Rainheart. Everyone stood there boredly for a while, then…
“Cat!” a warm voice yelled in excitement. Rainheart ran to Keyblade and hugged her.
Mithos stared in horror at him hugging Keyblade. Without thinking, he grabbed his sword and ran to attack Rainheart. Two drake guards who had come with Rainheart as protection rushed to stop him. Just as he was about to stab Rainheart, Mithos tripped and fell flat on his face. The unexpected movement of their target caused the two drakes to fall on top of Mithos, forming a large pile behind Rainheart and Keyblade. Sobbing with frustration, Mithos was forced to settle for giving Rainheart a very nasty death glare. (He learned it from Sesshomaru.) Since Rainheart wasn’t even looking at Mithos, this did not have any effect, but it was the best he could do.
“Cat! I’m so glad you’re back!” Rainheart said, still hugging Keyblade.
“Umm… I’m not Cat. My name’s Keyblade,” Keyblade said.
Rainheart let go of her, very embarrassed. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. “Yes, you are Cat. I’d know you anywhere…” Suddenly he looked very concerned. “What happened, Cat? Did you get amnesia?”
Keyblade did not know what to say. She looked to her friends for help. Shade was just watching with an amused expression on her face. Bookworm was not even paying attention. She was staring off into space, probably wondering if there was a library in the palace. Finally, she noticed Mithos, squashed under the drake guards. Following her gaze, Rainheart finally noticed him. He ordered the guards to get up. Mithos remained lying on the ground, just like he had after the DDR incident.
“Mithos, are you okay?” Keyblade asked worriedly.
“Why did you tackle Cat’s friend?” Rainheart demanded angrily.
“He was attempting to assassinate you, King Rainheart!” the orange drake said.
“He lunged toward you with his sword unsheathed, but we stopped him!” the green drake explained proudly. He conveniently forgot to mention that Mithos had only failed to stab Rainheart because he had tripped and fallen flat on his face.
Rainheart was shocked. Why would Cat’s friend be trying to kill him? Were her other friends dangerous too? He glanced at them. One had lots of dangerous kunai knives and the other one… She looked really evil. He decided to keep an eye on them. Turning back to the guards, he motioned for them to take the assassin away. There would be time to interrogate him later. Right now, Rainheart was more concerned with Cat’s strange memory loss.
“Mithos!” Keyblade started to follow the drake guards as they dragged Mithos out of the room. Rainheart's voice stopped her.
“Cat…”
“I’m not Cat!” Keyblade shouted, very irritated now. Unfortunately, Goldd’s sphere reacted to her strong emotions. Her gold wings and tail appeared, convincing Rainheart that she was definitely Cat.
Shade decided this would be a good time to intervene. “Keyblade, please stop hurting my character’s feelings.”
“But—”
“I will explain everything to him. King Rainheart, could I please talk to you in private for a little while?” Shade asked. Rainheart glanced uncertainly at Keyblade, then nodded to Shade.
“I’m going to go make sure Mithos is okay,” Keyblade said. She ran off in the direction the drake guards had taken Mithos, wondering just how she could explain that Mithos was not an assassin and his attempt to stab Rainheart was just a misunderstanding.
“I’ll go… somewhere,” Bookworm said, suddenly realizing she had no idea where she wanted to go. “Are there any libraries near here?”
“No, can’t you just wander around the city for a while?” Shade asked.
“I guess so…” Bookworm shrugged and exited the palace tent. She looked around the city and started walking. To make things a little more interesting, she made her purple wings and tail appear. It was fun to just walk around in drake form. She considered practicing her kunai throwing, which definitely needed work, but decided a crowded city was not a good place to throw knives. As she walked by a group of purple drakes, she overheard part of their conversation.
“It’s completely destroyed? Are you sure?”
“Yes, all that’s left is a pile of ashes. It’s definitely Borakk’s work.”
As soon as she heard the name Borakk, Bookworm began to experience a strange feeling. One moment, she was looking at some purple drakes in a crowded city. The next, she was looking at a giant drake fully transformed in a burning village. His he was dark green, almost black, and his scales had a metallic sheen. His massive jaws lifted in a grin as he watched the fire destroy the village. A young drake ran out of one of the houses. He killed it and a laugh rumbled in his throat. His eyes shone with triumphant expression. Bookworm felt absolutely angry, sad, and terrified all at once.
“Indigo!” She heard someone yelling and her strange vision ended. She was back in the city and one of the purple drakes was screaming at her. “Where did you get Indigo’s sphere, human?”
“Huh? What?” Bookworm stared at the drake in confusion.
“What happened to Indigo?” he asked more slowly.
“Indigo?” Bookworm was too confused by her strange vision to understand. The drake shouted something else, but she wasn’t paying attention. She remembered Shade saying something about viewing a drake’s past because of a sphere… She suddenly realized who Indigo was. “Indigo died. A shiny green drake attacked her village and badly wounded her. She gave me the sphere before she died.”
“Borakk! I knew it!” The drake said to his companions. “Did Indigo say anything before she died?” he asked Bookworm.
“Yeah, she said to tell Rainheart… oh shoot!” Bookworm realized she had completely forgotten her original objective in meeting Rainheart. She immediately ran back to the palace, leaving the purple drakes staring after her in confusion. Even if Shade hadn’t finished explaining the Cat/Keyblade situation yet, this was more important. She had to warn Rainheart about Borakk, the first drake to get a metallic sheen since Goldd and Sylvrr.

Goo!!!

“Are we almost there?” Bookworm whined. She had stopped showing off her kunai after many threats from Shade. Without that to entertain her, Bookworm was incredibly bored. So she entertained herself as best she could by complaining constantly.
Mithos was not much better. He wanted to practice flying instead of walking to the drake capital. “Why do we have to meet this Rainheart guy now anyway? Can’t we meet him after I learn to fly?”
“Rainheart is one of the main characters in me and Keyblade’s fanfic. We wrote a lot about him, so now we want to meet him in real life. Arian and the drake at that village told us to find him too,” Shade explained, trying very hard to restrain the impulse to strangle her complaining friends.
“And if we waited for you to learn to fly, Mithos, we’d probably never go to the palace!” Keyblade laughed.
Mithos opened his mouth to say something (probably another remark about Keyblade’s height). Shade interrupted him. “If you say one more annoying thing, I will turn you into banana-scented goo. That goes for you too, Bookworm. I mean it!”
“Why banana-scented?” Keyblade asked.
“Banana-scented attracts mosquitoes,” Shade said with an evil grin.
Mithos decided to stop annoying Shade. It did not take long to find another way to entertain himself. “Hey Bookworm! Can I borrow one of your kunai? Please?” Bookworm silently handed him one. (She had decided it was safer to remain silent non-goo.) Mithos happily took the kunai and threw it many times. Unlike Bookworm, he had enough sense to only brag when he hit his target. This kept him entertained, but did not annoy any of his friends, with the exception of Bookworm, who could not understand why no one got angry at Mithos for playing with the kunai. Unfortunately, this peace did not last long. As they neared the capital, Mithos tried to throw the kunai at a tree again. He tripped in mid-throw and fell flat on his face. The kunai flew out of his hand and passed dangerously close to Shade before hitting a ground a few feet away. Furious that Mithos had nearly killed her, Shade recited one of her favorite spells. A giant fireball hit Mithos, reducing him to a scorched pile of goo, which smelled faintly like bananas.
“Umm… Shade, I think you might have overreacted a little…” Keyblade said.
Bookworm picked up her kunai. “Shade, do you have a non-goo spell or something? We probably shouldn’t just abandon him like that, even though he is annoying.”
“I could do a life spell like the one Raistlin used to save Tas when he got poisoned, but I think Mithos is better like this,” Shade grinned. “And why can’t we leave him here?”
“I wanted to beat him at DDR again,” Bookworm said grumpily.
Keyblade had a brilliant idea. “You can turn him into goo again later. You have so much fun turning people into goo and Mithos is good at giving you excuses.”
“Yeah, I don’t know anyone more likely to annoy you and get turned into goo,” Bookworm said, forgetting to include herself.
Shade considered it for a moment. They did have a good point. It was very amusing to turn annoying people into goo. So for the first time ever, Shade used the life spell. Instead of using her own life energy to revive Mithos, she used energy from the surrounding life forms. A squirrel fell from a tree, his energy drained. He screeched “Chitter chir chir!” and scampered away. Roughly translated, this means “I will get the shiny acorn from you, annoying human creature, no matter what!” But seeing that no one spoke squirrel, they were just really confused.
“Umm… what happened?” Mithos had returned to non-goo.
“You got hit with a fireball and turned into a pile of banana-scented goo,” Keyblade explained cheerfully.
“Oh… Was I a tall pile of goo?” Mithos asked hopefully.
“No, you were very short!” Keyblade said even more happily.
“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Mithos screamed. Fortunately for him, he got distracted and shut up just before Shade got annoyed enough to turn him into goo again. “Hey! What’s that shiny silver stuff around my sphere?”
“It looks like the fireball broke your sphere. That’s Sylvrr’s essence leaking out,” Shade explained.
“What!?! No way! I need that to fly better than Keyblade and Bookworm!” Mithos wailed in dismay.
“You could try covering up the hole to keep the drake essence in,” Shade suggested.
“How am I supposed to do that?” Mithos asked.
“Oh! I’ve got an idea!” Bookworm grabbed Mithos’s sphere and sword. “Find some way to stick it on the sword. That would look really cool.” She looked at the sword and sphere in confusion, unsure how to attach them.
“Let me see those,” Keyblade took them from Bookworm. She clapped her hands and alchemified the sword so that the sphere was attached to it. The hole was now completely covered with no essence leaking out.
“Thanks!” Mithos grabbed his sword.
“Can we get going now? I don’t want to have to turn anyone into goo again,” Shade said with a grin that suggested she would absolutely love to turn them all into goo as soon as she had a good excuse.
“Yeah, sure,” Bookworm said. Then she noticed something strange. “Hey Shade, when did your sphere get so colorful? I thought it was empty.” Shade just grinned evilly, confusing Bookworm even more.