I walked through the door, and a whole other world overcame me. I gasped in surprise at the huge room that stood before me. Marble columns shot up from the ground and a fountain stood in the center of the room. In the center of the fountain stood a very large, stone brain, and etched on the rim of the fountain were the words: Power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it.

My breath on pause, I circled the fountain twice, searching for any missing clues. Nothing. I tuned toward Drake, who was muttering a strangely familiar phrase underneath his breath.

"Drake, what are you muttering?" I asked, curious.

"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure. -Rowena Ravenclaw. I swear that I've heard that somewhere. The only question is: where? I think that you mortals have made--"

"Wait, mortals? You do know that you are a mortal as well...right? Who are you, Drake?"

He just stared at me, not budging one bit.

"I deserve to know who my partner truly is."

Finally, he hung his head in shame and whispered, "If you must know, I am no mortal. I am a demigod, son of a god and a mortal. My father, Emancius, took me away from this world many eons ago and raised me to be his heir. The next Ruler of the Gods of Wilo. Unfortunately, before my training was complete, my father got into a fight with a Dark One. Dark Ones are evil, vile beings that hunger for power, and he finally killed my father. The Gods had decided millennia ago that if my father ever fell, his status would be taken by the one who caused his death. And so, the Dark One, Omaculous, is now ruler of The Gods of Wilo. The Gods did not want to risk their lives against such a powerful Dark One, as Dark Ones are the only beings powerful enough to permanently kill gods, so Wilo fell into a state of chaos and destruction. Omaculous sealed off the portal connecting Earth and Wilo, but before he did, I managed to escape."

"That's how I won the last Skull Games. Because I'm a demigod. I haven't been able to contact any of the other Gods, so I stayed low until I started running out of food. That's why I didn't back out of the Skull Games this year."

"Wait, so you can back out of the Skull Games?"

He paused, "Well, you could, for a fine."

I mumbled to myself, "Great, so one guy is an undead shade and another is an all powerful half-god. Wonderful."

Drake leaned closer and asked, "What?"

"Nothing," I sighed, "and aren't we supposed to take a sip from the Fountain?"

He nodded and tenderly took a step toward the Fountain. He then walked slowly to the edge of the Fountain, leaned down, and scooped up a handful of the golden liquid. He turned to me, smiled, and slurped the entire thing down. His hands fell to his sides, and he wore a slightly dazed expression.

"Harley..." he whispered, and I at once ran to his side, "...I can see the secrets of the universe."

"Really?" I asked, practically boiling over from excitement.

He laughed, then returned to a serious expression. "No." I slapped him upside the head, and he coaxed, "C'mon, try it. Tastes like vanilla to me."

I shook my head and walked away. "Too much power in my hands isn't a good thing." He smiled, and answered, "Let's get going, then. We must undo a curse."

We walked to the door through which we had entered, and an idea came to me.

"Drake?"

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking that, maybe the man doesn't have to be cured. Maybe the statue does."

He laughed. "Harley, you just say that because you like the dragon. Besides, how are we going to cure any of them without a black rose?"

"A black rose? Why?"

"Black roses are the most powerful beings on the planet. They alone can heal any wound and cure any curse. But, they can also create the most powerful spells that can never be broken, except by the same black rose that created the curse."

"Interesting. Hold on a second. My father gave me a black rose for my birthday, and you are saying that it is the most powerful being on the planet, correct?"

"Y-Yes, but why is any of this relevant?"

"Because I still have the gift my father got me! Right here, in my jacket!"

"Really?!!"

I dug into my jacket's pocket, desperate to end these treacherous Games. I found the rose, ripped it out of my pocket, and presented it to Drake. His eyes widened, and he snatched it out of my hand.

"It's the real thing," he whispered, awestruck.

He tucked it inside his pocket and turned to me. "Now let's find that man."

I nodded, and we both walked out of the room. I idly thought of our mismatched duo. Each intertwined by fate with the other. And I do believe the thread just got tighter.

The guardian stood still as a statue when we passed, and I gave it one last passing glance before turning away and catching up to Drake.

He walked with a sense of purpose, like he knew where he was going.

"Umm, Drake? Do you know where you are going?"

"Of course I do, I'm the son of Emancius for Pete's sake. I have a built in sense of direction. My father was the God of Weather, after all."

I nodded, thinking to myself. I bit my lip and asked, "Drake? Who was your mother?"

At this, his expression turned bitter. "My mother, Celeste," he spat, "didn't waste any time once my father took me to Wilo. She ended up having another child with a mortal man. Forgot all about me. Once I had escaped from Omaculous' wrath, I immediately went to my mother. She didn't even have the foggiest idea who I was. That's over."

He looked so menacing in the torchlight, and his muscles tensed in hatred. I meekly stammered, "W-What's over?"

He tossed back his head and laughed, but the sound that came out was more like a bark. "My mother's treachery is over, that's what. Died in her 'sleep'. Of course, that wasn't really true. I strangled her to death." I gaped at him in horror. Murder? I didn't expect Drake to be capable of murder.

Drake looked at me and his eyes softened. "Don't worry, the past is in the past. I was angry at Omaculous, so I took out my anger on my mother. I will make sure that never happens to you."

I thought to myself, But what if you are angry at someone else, and you take out your anger on me?

I forced a smile, and directed my attention to the walls around me. Finally, Drake stopped in front of a large tapestry depicting a bear fighting a wolf. He ripped the tapestry apart, revealing a small hole that seemed to widen further on. He climbed through, and I followed suit. The hole led into a tunnel, and it seemed that at the end of the tunnel was a bright light. We cut through the rodent-filled terrain, and pushed past the overgrown plants, until we reached the bright light. It looked like the same bright light that led me out of the box-filled room. I reached out, determined to touch it. Yet, it flitted away, just beyond reach.

It floated in the same spot while we watched it for a few minutes. Finally, we decided that it would not lead us, and we continued down the tunnel. The tunnel opened up to a rather small room, filled with barrels and boxes galore. A strange, screeching sound emitted from the room, coming from one particular barrel. I sniffed loudly. The air smelled like salt.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Don't do that," Drake answered immediately.

"Do what?"

"Say 'Hello'. As if the murderer is going to pop up and say, 'I'm over here'. It also gives away our position."

"Point taken."

We crept along the borders of the room, until we both drew towards one musty barrel. The screeching sound was squeezing my brain, threatening to pop my head. I gulped mouthfuls of air in a desperate attempt to stop the noise. Drake moved closer to the barrel, clearly fighting his own battles. He leaned down and flung the top of the barrel off, causing the screeching sound to increase tenfold. I covered my ears and threw myself to the ground, keeping my eyes barely open. I noticed that Drake wasn't next to me, so I raised my head up, and saw Drake fighting a huge, bat-like creature.

As my eyes adjusted to the strange sight, I realized that the only bat-like resemblance the creature had was its midnight colored wings. The rest of its body was snakelike in form, but the creature had large, reptilian arms sprouting from just underneath his neck. His face also resembled a snake, but he had not one, but nine long, winding tongues. His body and head were a bright green, contrasting to his dark black wings. Drake was wrestling this creature when I finally took my dagger and stabbed him from behind. The creature let out one last, dying cry before slumping to the ground. I knelt next to the prone figure, and pierced his head through and through for good measure.

Drake and I glanced at each other. Suddenly, his warm, soft arms were embracing me and the scent of apple filled my nose. I sighed in content, and we locked eyes for a second. His dark blue eyes channeled all of his anger, regret, and love and I felt myself being lost in them. They were breathtaking. I leaned in closer to Drake, and so did he. We steadily began moving closer to the other, each afraid of backing out.

Suddenly, a barrel fell to the ground, and the spell was broken. We both released each other quickly, and an awkward silence engulfed us.

"So, that was some Kryme, huh?" he began.

"Crime? What crime? We--We didn't kill anyone, did we?" I asked anxiously.

He laughed and said, "Crime? No. K-R-Y-M-E. But it's pronounced Crime-ey. Kryme."

I nodded, and whispered, "Where is the man, then?"

At this, he hung his head and replied, "Well, the Kryme...was the man. He had been transformed to ward others off from this area. It's kind of like a huge 'Wrong Way' sign."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I...sort of have the power to read minds," he rushed, the words tumbling over one another.

I took one step back from him. "Don't worry, I can't read mortal's minds, which is strange, seeing as you are the weakest beings in the entire multiverse." I opened my mouth, but quickly shut it. He can't know that you aren't human.

Why? a rival voice in my mind hissed, he shared his secrets with us, it's only fair if we share our secrets with him. I nodded, listening to the voice intently. He isn't human, he'll understand, the sly voice coaxed. Besides, you do want him to know that you aren't so different, right? Maybe then he'll think of you the way you think of him.

I nodded eagerly at this part, thinking of the possibilities. I turned toward Drake and answered, "Well, I'm not a mortal. I have the power to see beings from the Vengeful world."

He nodded, lost in thought. "Hmm...interesting."

He knelt down, facing me, and my heart skipped a beat. "Do you want me to say I'm sorry, or should we just go?"

I paused, confused. "W-What?"

"You were right, the guardian is the curse we must undo."

I sighed, "Then, we must go immediately. I want to get out of this death trap as soon as possible."

He nodded, and we traced our steps, leading back to the guardian at last.

The only problem was: the dragon was gone.