Chapter 10: A Reunion that turns disastrous...

After a long and exhausting journey, Axel and Linda finally reached their destination. The two are exhausted from traversing many obstacles along their journey. Despite that, their strong determination and courage made it all worth it in the end, and they finally did it. As the two take some time to catch their breath, the sound of the creaking door surprises the two of them, and as they turn around to look, they see a man with spiky silver hair and dawning a purple cloak, and long grey pants, the man slowly step out of the house, and he sees the two warriors looking surprised, the man greets the two warriors,

"Ah, visitors..." said the man calmly while slowly walking towards them. "It's been a long time we've seen visitors around here; it is a pleasure meeting with you two."

The man then reached out his right hand, offering the two a handshake. Axel nervously shakes the man's hand with the man smiling warmly at him. After he's finished shaking the man's hand, Linda too nervously shakes the man's hand as well, with the man still smiling warmly at her. After the handshaking; the man tells the two about this hill they're standing on,

"This hill you two are standing right now is known as, The Berkana Hills," said the man. "I've been living here for a long time. Even though the view here looks astonishing. However, we never had any visitors visiting this place.

The two are intrigued by this information the man gave them; then, Axel tells the man why they are here in the first place,

"Excuse me, sir, you see the reason why we came here is that we receive this letter from a Mysterious Sender," said Axel. "And the two of us are confused as to how this person could send this letter to us."

"A letter? Mind if I have a look?" asked the man.

"Sure, hold on, let me check my pockets first," said Axel, searching through his pockets to find the letter.

After a few seconds, Axel takes the letter from his pockets and gives the letter to the man; the man then examines the letter for a moment and then, he's expression changes to a surprised look, Axel looks on confused, and he asks the man, politely,

"Um, something wrong, sir?" asked Axel.

The man is silent for a moment, but he quickly regains his composure, then, his surprised expression turns into a happy and genuine smile and Axel look at him even more confused, the man then slowly walked closer to Axel, to which he obviously doesn't know what the man is doing which makes him very uncomfortable. The man then takes a look at his gi, then to his light blue hair, and after that, the sword on his back; as soon as the man finishes examining him, the man then asks Axel in his calm tone,

"Young boy, do you remember the time where you and your master trained together?" asked the man.

Axel is confused at first, but he thinks for a moment, and he remembers, long ago, when he was a young boy. He used to do training sessions together with his master every day; he then said to the man,

"Yes, I do remember that," said Axel.

The man gave a slight smile, and then he asks another question,

"Well...then do you remember the time where your master ever taught you to use that sword of yours?" asked the man still in a nonchalant attitude.

Again, Axel is confused, but; he took some time to think for a moment. And then he remembers it as well, while he was training with his master, he taught him how to use 'The Piercing Whirlwind Sword.' And after they finished training together, his master gave him that sword as a gift for being a great student. With the memories flooding back into his head, Axel tells the man,

"Yes, I remember it now! When I finished training with my master for the last time, he gave me this sword as a gift for being his great student. I do miss him, though..." said Axel, looking down at the ground with a sad expression on his face.

The man then put his hand on Axel's shoulder and gave a small chuckle, then the man looked up at him and said to him,

"Well...you don't need to feel sad anymore, young boy..." said the man, slowly lifting his hood. "It's because the person you're referring to is standing right in front of you."

As the man's face slowly revealed; Axel looks on dumbfounded with his mouth agape, then, tears start to stream down his face, and as the tears dripped to the ground, Axel's surprised expression slowly changes to joy as he uttered a name in a sad but also happy tone,

"I-It is you...Master Rhizor...." muttered Axel.

Master Rhizor then stretches his arms wide and said to him,

"Come on, boy, don't leave your old man hanging over here," said Master Rhizor, offering Axel a hug.

Axel immediately runs towards his master, and he gave him one the biggest hug can give as his master embraces him. Axel then started to cry with his master comforting him as he cried his heart out. Linda sees this emotional moment between master and student, and she too let out a tear, happy to see her friend finally reunited with his master once again. Axel tells his master while crying into his arms,

"So you're the one who wrote that letter to me...I miss you so much, master..." said Axel, still crying in his master's arms.

"I miss you too, Axel. Heh heh, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you," said Master Rhizor, continuing to comfort his student.

Linda continues to watch this very touching moment as she wipes her tears away, then from afar; a voice called her out,

"It's been a long time since we last saw each other, young girl..." said the mysterious voice.

Linda doesn't why, but there's something oddly familiar about that voice, she thinks for a moment,

"Why do I feel like there is something familiar with that call?" asked Linda in her mind. "The tone of the voice and the way it speaks, could it be...?"

Then the mysterious voice calls her again but this time much closer,

"I've been waiting for you for a long time...and now, we finally meet again," the mysterious voice echoed out.

Linda then looks up and sees a woman standing in front of her. The woman wore a straw hat covering her face, a black-brown handkerchief tied around her neck, and she is also dawning a black-brown short vest and shorts. The woman slowly takes off her straw hat as she slowly reveals her face, and Linda looked on, surprised. Now with her face unveiled, the women said to Linda,

"Glad to finally meet you again, little girl," said the woman with a smile on her face, with the calm wind blowing on the woman's messy-green hair.

Linda is speechless when she sees the women's face, like what her friend felt when he sees his master, she starts to tear up and with watery eyes, she too, uttered a name,

"S-Sensei Ubelle..." muttered Linda with tears streaming down her face.

Linda ran up to her teacher and gave her a hug to which Sensei Ubelle fully embraced, and as she cried her heart out, Sensei Ubelle tells to her student,

"You have grown so much as well; you were just a little girl when I first meet you...I do miss the old times we spent our lives together," said Sensei Ubelle while comforting her student.

As she continues to cry, Linda said to Sensei Ubelle,

"So this is where you've been all this time...I miss you so much, sensei..." said Linda, still crying.

"I know Linda, I miss you too..." said Sensei Ubelle.

This long journey comes to an end in a very emotional and unexpected surprise. Axel and Linda, who lived a sad and tragic past, are able to be reunited with their loved ones once again. They are Master Rhizor and Sensei Ubell, their former teachers who raised them to become the people they are today. A reunion between Masters and Students. But it seems this little happy reunion will have to cut short because a disaster will come and knock at their 'little party.'

Axel and Linda both recollect themselves from crying, and as the two regained composure, the master and student started to have a conversation; Axel is the first to speak,

"So you two lived on this hill for a long time, how come you don't tell us about this place?" asked Axel looking at Master Rhizor and Sensei Ubelle.

"Well, I don't really want to tell you about it just yet since you're still very young," said Master Rhizor. "Ubelle and I are actually friends for a long time."

Axel and Linda are surprised to hear that their teachers are childhood friends; Linda exclaims,

"Wait! You two are childhood friends!?" she exclaimed, surprised.

"Of course, Linda, we've met each other since we're little kids," said Sensei Ubelle. "That is until we have you two as our students, that made us both happy."

"Aww, thanks, Sensei Ubelle," said both Axel and Linda.

The 4 of them continued to have their conversation as the setting sun is now on the horizon, Axel notices this, and he starts to look worried. Linda, Master Rhizor, and Sensei Ubelle saw this, and Master Rhizor asks his student while looking at him quizzically,

"Is there something bothering you, Axel?" asked Master Rhizor.

Axel jumped in shock, but he quickly regains his composure, and he sputtered,

"U-Uh, N-No, I'm fine, it's just I don't feel really well," said Axel, lying to his master for the first time.

But Master Rhizor isn't taking it; he continues to ask his students as he moves an inch closer towards his face; he calmly asks his student,

"What are you hiding, Axel?" asked Master Rhizor, moving closer towards Axel's face. "You know that you can just tell me about it."

Axel keeps telling him that he's all right, although deep in his heart; something, bad will happen because he sees that the moon starts to rise on the horizon. Sensei Ubelle and Linda look at him confused and with; every passing time, the moon slowly rises in the sky. To which, Axel looked on in horror as the twilight sky darkens and the moon; shining bright in the sky. And as Axel looks at the sky, his heart sank...then it happened, as the moon shines bright at the sky. Linda immediately clenched her right shoulder in pain as she drops onto the ground, groaning in pain.

Axel, Master Rhizor, and Sensei Ubelle quickly ran to her aid. Panicking, Sensei Ubelle asks Linda,

"Linda, are you all right!?" asked Sensei Ubelle, both worried and panicking.

Axel quietly uttered,

"Oh no...it happened once again..." muttered Axel under his breath.

Sensei Ubelle and Master Rhizor hears him, and the two turned around to look at him; the two asked him in a panic,

"What do you mean it happened once again?!" asked both Master Rhizor and Sensei Ubelle.

"...It's-"

But before Axel can finish his sentence, Linda lets out an agonizing scream as a burst of magenta aura surrounds her body. She then starts to clenched her head in pain as she begins to transform once more; her clawed-fingers sprouted once again as to her cat ears and tail as well. Then a shockwave of air burst from her magenta aura as Axel, Master Rhizor, and Sensei Ubelle tried their best to hold their ground. And as she continues to scream in agony, it suddenly becomes quiet; too quiet...

The 3 regained their composure and looked in horror as they see what is standing in front of them. The dust starts to settle as the 3 see Linda slowly standing up; looking away, she then slowly turns around and opens her eyes, which are now dark pink. She then stops and smiled at them with an evil grin; she once again becomes a hybrid, although the way she looks at them is more...wild and savage like, and sort of; too animalistic. The 3; looked on in horror, and then Linda starts to speak in a demonic echoey voice,

"You three looked surprise...no matter, now stand still and let me hunt you three down!" said Linda, sprouting her long sharp claws still smiling with that evil grin.

Master Rhizor and Sensei Ubelle looked on in horror as the two just witnessed one of their student, Linda, transformed into a monstrous hybrid. Axel is just standing there, speechless, looking at his friend with a sad look on his face. He once again felt the guilt weighing deep in his heart. It was his fault after all that he turns her into this monster in the first place; if he could've intervened that kitten from bitting her, this would've never happened. Sensei Ubelle shouts at Axel; demanding to know what's happening to her student,

"Axel! Explain yourself about this!" Sensei Ubelle exclaimed.

He looks down at the ground with guilt and tells her what happened to her,

"She...she's been cursed..." said Axel in a sad tone.

"Cursed!? By who?!" exclaimed both Sensei Ubelle and Master Rhizor.

"Do any of you two ever heard of a long-gone species of demonic cats?" asked Axel, looking directly at them.

They nodded, and Axel continues to explain,

"You see...I also thought that species of cats are long gone, but we came crossed one of its last species when we're out walking through the fields together. Sadly, I wasn't able to intervene in time, it manages to bite her, and now she's cursed into this monster."

"I presume it has to do with the moon that triggers the transformation since I witnessed it before, and that's why I looked worried when the sun starts to set. But when she first transforms, she wasn't like this at all; I think the curse's magic finally took over her mind...."

"It was my fault that led everything to this! I'm disgusted with myself! If I were quick enough to intervene, this would've never happened!" said Axel, smashing his fist towards the rockhard ground causing a small crack around it.

He then falls onto his knees and starts to sob as the immense guilt in his heart overwhelms him. Master Rhizor and Sensei Ubelle slowly understand everything Axel just told them, and they begin to sympathize with him. The two walked towards him and put their hand on his shoulders. Master Rhizor is the first to speak to him,

"Axel, I can understand how you're feeling right now; you should know that I too felt that feeling before with my friend, Ubelle," said Master Rhizor. "The feeling of guilt of causing harm to someone that is closed to you, I've been there before," said Master Rhizor, encouraging his student.

Then, Sensei Ubelle chimes in,

"I can tell already tell that you're thinking we're mad at you, and yes, we both are. But we start to understand why all of this happened as you tell us about it more, and for that, we will forgive you."

"We humans do make mistakes in our lives, and it goes the same for you as well; now I'm not saying that I encouraged you to do; more mistakes, no not at all."

"But it is for you to learn from your mistakes, look at yourself for a moment and think, every mistake has its solutions, so don't give up hope just yet. We'll help you free her from this curse, and we will use every help we can to do it!" said Sensei Ubelle, encouraging him as well.

Axel looked up at them, and he smiled softly while wiping his tears. He tells them as he slowly stands up,

"Thank you for your forgiveness, you two," said Axel, slowly regaining his mental strength. "You two are right; every mistake does have their solutions. We will find a way to free her from this curse once and for all!"

Linda let's out a chuckle, and it slowly turns into mad laughter as she scoffs at them still in an echoey demonic voice,

"Set her free? HA! Don't make me laugh. This will be easy; you're nothing but a victim to me..." said Linda, still with the evil grin on her face.

"Victim or not...I'm the one who started all of this, so now I'm going to fixed it here and now...you monster..." said Axel, staring down at his now possessed friend.

Finally; able to regain his mental strength with the help of the encouragement of both Sensei Ubelle and Master Rhizor. They now have a goal in their mind. To set Linda free from this Wicked Neko Curse once and for all. Will the 3 of them be able to free her from this curse? Or their effort will be in vain...