The Paradox Corridor

Chapter 42: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

As they walked over to the keep, James stopped Amber and Andrew. He looked directly at Andrew as he said,

"Andrew, we need to tell Amber about what happened last night." Andrew sighed, and nodded.

"Wait. What are you guys talking about?" asked Amber, suddenly worried. Andrew looked at James, and James looked right back at Andrew. One short, silent conversation later, James sighed.

"Well, Amber, there's no real good way to put this, but...um, you got possessed last night." Amber's eyes opened wide, and then she sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Damn...this is getting to be a trend, isn't it? What specifically happened? Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

"Well, we've been separated pretty much all day, so it would have been hard to tell you. And, as for what happened...", James started to answer. But as he continued talking, he was interrupted by Andrew.

"Your eyes turned really creepy and green, and you looked like one of those weird puppet things-"

"Marionette" whispered James under his breath, annoyed at Andrew's wild mood fluctuations. One minute he was super serious (like last night/this morning), and the next he was being a total nuisance. What was up with him?

"Right, right, a marionette," said Andrew, "Anyway, you looked like one of those, and then you started saying some weird stuff really slowly, with a voice that sounded very weird, like one of those ghost girls on ghost TV shows, and then you said this cool-sounding prophecy...thingy."

"You don't remember the prophecy, Andrew?", asked James, surprised.

"You do?" asked Andrew, even more surprised. James rolled his eyes.

"That thing went through my head all night, Andrew. I would be hard pressed to forget it!"

"I don't believe you, James. Prove it!" challenged an eternally stubborn Andrew. James rolled his eyes, then closed them, remembering.

"It went something like this: "A lost machine makes a deal with the devil, a lost man's wish dies with metal.

A second man awakes the end of all, for the third man's greed a planet must fall.

The heir of One fights a force to be reckoned, destroying Creation: the curse of the second.

The fate of the third, not even the stars can divine, so here sayeth the hands of time." No one moved; once again, the words were so powerful that it left no room for anything else. After a while, Amber spoke;

"Wow. Who do you think possessed me? And what is that prophecy thing all about?" James and Andrew shrugged.

"I have no idea who may have possessed you," said James, "I don't think it was the robot, because the way you spoke...it didn't sound like an emotionless machine to me." Suddenly, Amber remembered something.