CURSED: The Last of Five Kingdoms.

Episode40-The other side.

They had crossed over to some kind of little kingdom. It looks empty like no one has ever set foot on the land but at the same time, it looked like something dangerous loomed around. They have been separated and scattered around. The first people Livas sees are, Melody and a few of his men, all looking almost lifeless. The place is draining the energy in them, somehow. Lucas adjusts Harry’s arm, which he’d slung across his shoulders to help his son walk as they search for a better spot to settle down next to the rest. He sees a hidden spot close to Melody and sets Harry down.

Grabbing onto his clothing, "dad, let me come with you," Hardy says in whispering.

Making sure he is comfortable, "no, son. Stay here. They need you more. I'll be fine. And I need to make sure that everyone is in one place. Let me search for them, then, I'll come to unite with you guys." He looks in Melody's direction, "Melody, where's the rest?" He gently taps her shoulder to wake her up because she is falling into a slumber.

"Tired. Rest." She mumbles, her eyes barely staying open.

Lucas makes the round to make sure that most of them are okay before he carefully set out to find the rest. "No one moves. Stay here. I'll be back. Let me find the rest of the team. Guard yourselves." He instructs before leaving.

The place isn't big yet, it has a lot of hidden places. It is just in a circle, an orb. Where you start from is also where you will finish. If that is the case, where is Mael, Grenade, Evelyn and Duke?

This world is filled with vegetation and they have eyes all around them, Mael is trapped in a conflict with his reflection. As soon as he arrived he saw someone that looks exactly like him and does what he does. So, instead of looking for the rest, he is battling with finding out who the person is.

The Mael checks himself out, turning and swelling, the identical figure does the same thing.

"Who are you?" Mael is forced to ask.

"Who are you?" the mirrored figure asks.

One could not tell apart who is real and who isn't because there is no difference between the two. Every little detail of Mael is present in the other figure. Trying to get it to talk but to no avail, Mael remembers that he better reunite with everyone else. Because this place is strange and no one knows what it has in store for them. It would be risky to not know where the rest are, and, if they didn't make it through the portal, it will give him peace to know that he is the only one there.

Stepping forward, his figure equally does so. He turns and it turns. It is becoming annoying to him and he had to put a stop to whatever this is because he isn't going to have to deal with another unfriendly puzzle. After he had just narrowly escaped the ones that the Guardians had for him in the crystal room. This is not one that he wants to deal with. Still thinking that it isn't real, he stops walking, ignoring the image before him, takes a deep breath and continues his journey. He has made up his mind to do nothing but ignore that figure no matter what it does. Would that even work for him? Because, whatever he had just created by coming through the portal, is hell-bent on annoying him to death. It will be so difficult and almost impossible to ignore it.

"Really, what do you want from me?" Mael screams at it, becoming irritated by whatever this is that is going on.

"Really, what do you want from me?" The figure equally screams at Mael, looking pissed off too.

Mael exhales and continues his search for the rest of the team. The rest of the place seems to be alive. One moment, Mael feels someone pass behind him, the other moment he feels like someone is watching him. It is creepy and gives him goosebumps.

"Okay, I am sorry if I was rude. What do you want from me? Who are you?" Mael pleads with the figure out of frustration.

"Okay, I am sorry if I was rude. What do you want from me? Who are you?" the figure repeats

Grumbling, Mael ignores it and continues his search. This is an unfriendly place and he knew that if got dark, it would even be creepier than he is feeling. Whatever he is doing, he needs to hasten up, forgetting the distraction or test that is in front of him.

"Dad! Melody! Harry! Duke! Grenada! Anybody!" He screams out loud. As he is screaming his voice echoes throughout because the figure is repeating word for word, the things he is saying. Mark has made up his mind to ignore it, no matter how annoying it will get.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lucas is searching high and low for Mael, equally screaming his name repeatedly. He doesn't get a response from his end. He continues with the search, mostly running in circles of starting and ending at the same point he took off.

"What is this? Some kind of circle?" he said, exhaling deeply out of frustration. He is tired but for some reason doesn't feel the weakness that the rest of the team is facing. He needs to find Mael as quickly as possible or be on the brink of giving up.

Sighting from afar, he sees a white raven scream and goes flapping away to perch on some branch at the far end.

"I bet that wasn't there. I've passed here a thousand times and didn't see it. Where did you come from?" Lucas starts moving close to the branch, taking one step at a time like it was about to bite any moment. The branch is just a single one with the white raven atop. As he gets closer and closer, the once bug branch begins to look small and smaller until it looks like it is going to disappear out of sight almost completely.

“Where are you planning to go to? You are the only thing or person, whatever that I've seen here. Please don't go. I come in peace."

The raven doesn't even shake or blink, it keeps turning his head from side to side like Lucas is speaking in a different language that doesn't make sense.

"It is so hot!" Lucas complains, taking off his bullet best, elbow pad, knee pad, leaving on just his shirt, trousers and boots. "If you don't talk to me or show me a sign, I will end up melting. Help me. Somehow." He laments, sitting on the floor before the branch and the raven.

For the first time, the raven croaks.

"That is a sign. But, please say something other than that. Croaking will not just do. I am almost melting away. I'll appreciate it if you help me out here." He tells the raven, talking to it as of it were a human being that could understand him.

His attention is still focused on the tiny branch and the white raven when someone taps his shoulder. He turns swiftly and looks behind him. He sees an old, crooked, friendly-looking man who is bent, has watery-white eyes, dirty-blonde hair and is supporting himself with a staff. In one hand of the man, he holds a little pot.

"You look tired. Care for some water?" The man asks giving him a little pot with some substance in it.

Lucas, who is at the brink of collapsing due to taste and frustration accepts the pot from him without a second thought and gulps it down.

"Thank you," wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he returns the pot to the old man.

"What is it that you seek?" The man asks Lucas, his voice broken and barely audible.

"I am looking for my son. We can here together, but, I've not seen him. Can you help me?"

"You are the one with the power of your destiny. Where you search is not where you shall find. Search beyond what you see."

"I do not understand. This place seems to be an orb. Starting from one point, you will still be up back there. Can you please just give me a direction of some sort that can guide me? I'll very much appreciate it." Lives, getting up from the ground which is starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

"I cannot help you. But, I can tell you that what you seek is closer than you know. Look beyond what you see and it will make sense to you."

He begs him to stop that what he is saying is making him scared. It seems like there is no hope of reuniting with his son, and even if there is, he does not know how to go about it other than to continue looking until he is tired.

The old man wanders around briefly, coughs a bit and continues, " before it gets dark, there is hope." He fades out of sight.

Grumbling, "everything around here keeps disappearing out of sight." He stands and starts walking then turns back to where he just left, remembering something. "Please do not go anywhere. I'll come back to you," he squats and talks to the raven.

As he continues his search, it gets hotter. Scorching hot. Snorting, "you've to be kidding me. Is it just me or does this sun gets more annoying!" He screams into thin air. He blinks, then laughs under his breath. At least he knows that everyone else is safe and he only had to deal with looking for Mael. He wishes he could find him somehow, without having to deal with all this hassle. "No," he says. "I am not giving up," he mumbles. Within minutes, he is back to where he met the little branch and the white raven. "Well, at least I met you here. Thank you for not leaving," he spoke to the raven like it is a companion.

Heaving a huge sigh, he squats back on the floor. It is getting late and there is still no sign or hope of finding Mael. He further lies down on the floor, spreading his arms and legs like a corpse.

"You either show me a sign or I am sticking around here with this white raven!" He screams once more into thin air.

"Dad, who are you screaming at?" Mael's booming voice echoes. Mael looks like he had just left a ghost town. Covered in dust, his hair dishevelled and his face looking pale.

"Mael? Where did you come from?" Lucas asks, excitedly rising from the floor.

"I tried grabbing a white raven and all of a sudden, I saw myself here," he says. Looking around, "Where is everyone?" He asks as he looks around not seeing anyone.

"They are on the other side. I left them to look for you," Lucas says, hugging Mael. "Let's return to them. We must hurry before it gets dark." Turning to the white raven, "thank you so much. I owe you one and would somehow repay you." He bends and says thankfully.

"I hope they are okay? I saw hell where I was. It was like I roamed around in circles." Mael says, walking with him back to the others.

The happiness on Lucas's face is immeasurable. He can't contain the happiness of seeing his son in good shape.

Mael is exhausted from consuming no blood, his body racked and edged for it. He wants to feed, so hungry. His entire body is racked with pain, his face turning pale and his muscles weakened. He is trying to hide his true feelings from his father, not wanting to bother him.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I am fine. Let's hurry back to the others."

They start tracing from where they were, trying to find others. Shaking their head in disbelief as they couldn't find their way back.

"Should I —”

“No. I can't get separated from any of you again. I . . . see me.” Lucas’s weary gaze darting away from Mael’s face, “we will find them.” Which sounds impossible since it took them a long time of running in circles before they could find each other. Lucas couldn’t imagine how Mael would go in a different direction again because there is a possibility of not seeing him when he returns. And, besides, it is better if they did the searching together.

Stepping backwards, " your fangs are out. Are you okay?"

"I am fine. Just tasty," Mael says in between low growls.

"Take a deep breath. We will find the others real quick."

"I want to feed! I am so hungry!" Mael snarls.

Lucas begins the recitation, going over it repeatedly until Mael is calm. Together they begin to look for others. Searching tirelessly and going in circles, just when they were about to give up, they came to meet the team half dead with the ones alive, barely breathing. Lucas goes around checking for survivors and helping them to lie differently, away from the dead.

Seeing the ugly sight, Mael becomes sad. "What happened to everyone?" He asks.

Duke who was barely breathing, managed to speak. "An old man offered us water in a pot. After taking it, everyone became sick and some of us died."

"An old man?" Lucas questions.

"Yes, he appeared from nowhere and equally disappeared after he offered us the water."

"How do you feel?" Lucas asks them, checking their temperature and making rounds to make them comfortable.

"Extremely tired," Harry whispers.

Lucas had to find a way to either get them out of there or find a cure to whatever they were suffering as soon as possible. The more they stayed, the weaker all of them got and the deadlier Mael became. Soon, it will have to take more than just a recitation to calm Mael down.

Since they've been around the place, they need to find a doorway out but there is no hope. There is no form of passage, pathway or someone apart from the old man, who is now a suspect. Half of the squad is gone. Mael takes a deep breath and chants some words, out of thin air, Eugene appears.

"Yes, Master." Eugene answers.

"It worked. It worked!" Mael says excitedly.

"How did you do that? " Lucas says with pride.

"During our very first day in school, we were told that we are to connect with our messengers and once you do, he or she will feel, sense, hear and see whatever you want them to. I guess it worked."

"Good thing. How can we get out of here?" Lucas asks hurriedly.

"The dead can't get through. Only the living can. And, there is the inky one portal out."

"I hope it is different from the one we used in here because I am not going through that again." Mael laments.

"If you can walk, stand. But, if you can't, that is fine. We have to find our way out."

Eugene helps Melody up, Lucas gets Duke and Grenada up, Mael carries Harry and Evelyn, the rest of Lucas men help themselves up. They wobble behind Eugene who leads them one at a time until they get to the little branch with a raven sitting on top of it.

Howls and moans the cold air from everyone. “Come on we are almost there. Let us hurry before it gets darker.”

“Eugene!” Lucas and Mael squeeze together to give the people they were supporting enough space to work with them.

“We are almost there,” says Eugene, dragging himself slowly, getting closer and closer to the branch. As they got there, he pats the raven thrice and it transforms into an old man. This time around, the man looks different from the one he had earlier seen. He has shining skin, his entire eyes white, beautiful auburn long hair and his upright. This old man looks neat and flawless.

"So, this raven was here for a purpose," Lucas whispers.

"Who seeks passage into the Lake of Fear?" The old man speaks. His voice sounds kind but at the same time, stern. His eyes are blind because it is entirely white.

"It is I, Eugene, servant and messenger of Lord Mael, that seeks passage."

"Only the living may enter. The dead stays behind. This is their world."

"No one else but the living will go through."

"Do you have the sacrifice that will grant you the right of passage?"

"Yes," Eugene dips his hands into his pocket, brings out two gold pieces, stretches out his hand and gives it to the old man.

The little branch turns into a door open ajar. One after the other they begin to cross, limping, staggering and walking through. When Grenada makes to pass, "there is a dead among the living," the old man says before shutting the door behind her.

"What does that mean? Say something other than that! Please." She begs, but her plea is only echoing within the dark tunnel they were passing through. There is no response. Just echoes.

Walking through the endless dark tunnel with Eugene leading the way, they arrive at a place where they stop. He twists and turns the doorknob, opening back to the Lake of Fear. Where Lucas and his barely living team had earlier took off, he drops them there.

"I'll be back," Eugene says, heading for the Lake.

Lucas helps them get comfortable before settling down, his face shoeing so much tiredness and anguish. There main aim of being here, which is the sword has proven futile. He didn't get the sword, half of the team is mysteriously dead and his kids, weak. He needed to push Mael into his full form for them to be able to survive this.

Mael felt that he must rest, pondering endlessly to himself. He must have all his strength come dark. Since they've not been able to leave the place or found a positive result, he only had this little evening light to rest so that he can have the strength to keep watch at night. His hands were shaking and he feels discouraged. That is not what he needed at the moment. He had his loved ones to save and the school's hope is on him. He must not shake and has no choice but to pull himself together. The gods are with him. And if they get angry because he decided to rest, surely they will forgive me. He had slept so poorly of late. A nap would refresh him for the ordeal ahead. Lazily, he drags himself off to a corner and laid quietly. Yet, when he closes his eyes, he couldn't sleep. He could still see the vision that was shown to him by the Guardians in the mirror. More than it looked in the more, it felt very much real amidst the darkness of his dreams.

Perhaps if he takes a deep breath and clears his mind, the thought would go away. Doing so and with the help of happy memories he has about the home which he filed his mind with, sleep overtook him.

When he woke up, it is full dark, the place they laid down is black, and every joint in his body ached. The taste, more severe. Mael pushes himself up, his head throbbing. Clutching for the nearest thing that could give him support, he stands unsteady to his feet.

" So late," he thought. "They did not wake me," he mumbles to himself. "Dad?" He calls out.

"Hold on, Mael, Eugene is trying to light up the place."

With a few incantations from Melody, Grenada and Evelyn the entire place lights up.

"Wow, it is beautiful," Mael says. "How did you do this?"

"Eugene borrowed some crystal and brought them over. The girl's used their powers to enhance it."

"No one woke me up."

"You were sleeping peacefully and I didn't want to wake you."

"Hey, buddy!" Harry's excited voice says, hugging Mael from behind.

"Hey, buddy, you are okay."

"Yes, thanks to Eugene and that miraculous water he fed us. It did taste horrible but it saved us."

"Thank you, Eugene."

"Young Master, there is something you must know."

"Tell me."

"The sword of Peace must be found as soon as possible. The school is falling apart and the veil has torn the more. Soon, the supernatural cannot be suppressed by the little magic Professor Mackenzie and the witches come up with. They will come and go as it pleases them and that means they will reign havoc on this universe. The prophecy has begun."

"Then, we must rest no more. We need to come up with something that can help us locate the sword. We must use everything we have. We keep watch and stay alert. If a way is coming to us, we must be prepared for it."