Icy waddled toward her parents. They tilted their heads, the penguin way of smiling. Then they looked up.

Starlight shone down onto a center star-shaped flower. A glow came from it. It spread everywhere. Suddenly, all the other star-shaped flowers burst into full bloom.

"My charm!" Icy was so relieved to see it again that she ran over and immediately stored it. Lily also picked hers up. Rose was about to pick it up when all the star-flowers suddenly glowed with a black light. They began withering.

"What?! No! My charm!" cried several animals, rushing forward. But their parents held them back. Lucky for Lily, Rose, and Icy, their parents had lost track of where they were.

"Lily! Try communicating with the flowers!" called Rose as she tried to pry her charm from her withering flower. It wouldn't budge.

Lily closed her eyes and opened them after a bit. "The flowers say a force is making them close. But who would do such a thing?!"

"It doesn't matter," said Icy worriedly. "We have to save Rose's charm!"

Lily closed her eyes again. A few moments later, Rose's flower tried to open. It was clearly fighting against the mysterious force. Lily got it to open all the way. Rose grabbed her charm. But it wouldn't budge. Icy pulled as well. The charm fell onto the stone floor. Rose snatched it up. The flower snapped shut and disappeared into the ground.

"Hm. No one seems to have their precious powers," laughed a voice. It was coming from...a black spirit! A dog and a seal were gathered around it.

"That's the same dog that chased us!" gasped Lily.

"That's the same seal that chased us!" gasped Icy.

"These are my loyal subjects," laughed the spirit. "I am Lyxic."

"What have you done?!" a bunny said.

"I've done things you don't need to know about. All you need to know is that your precious little charms are gone until the next spring equinox. Have fun!" Lyxic laughed and vanished, and the dog and the seal faded too.

The animals split up into groups and left, each shooting another hostile looks. But the penguin and fox family stayed together.

"Thanks," Rose said to Lily and Icy.

"I've been having this voice in my head," murmured Lunis. "It sounded like the spirit's voice. It said Join me and we'll rule all the lands."

"So this spirit can send messages," Orca muttered.

"He can probably possess animals too," said Feather. "The center star flower would never fail. He must have possessed it!"

"But we can't fight him," said Lunis worriedly. "We don't have our powers!"

"But we do," whispered Icy.

"Hm? What did you say?" Lunis looked at her curiously.

"N-nothing," Icy backed away.

"Okay," Lunis tilted her head.

"Psst! Pengy! Come here!" Rose was beckoning to her. They all hid behind a bush.

"We probably shouldn't tell them," whispered Lily. "If Lyxic can possess them...They'll use it against us."

"Okay," agreed Icy. "But what if one of us gets possessed?"

"We'll fight it the whole way through," replied Rose. "Let's do this!"

(515Words)