Jynx, by means of the unfathomable power of the Artifact of Calderas, finds himself whisked away from the cavern in the Beast Lands, and back in the City of Hands! The cubs and children, as per his wish, are with him, and several Savanite slaves rush up to free the children from their cages. It has all caused quite a stir, of course.

The black Khatta rises to his feet from where he had fell to the ground, and shakes his head groggily. Before him lies the Artifact, still looking like some sort of liquid metal. He rubs his eyes, and looks up to the others in his group, "Wha… what happened?"

The tracker and the air-mage look quite dazed themselves, and sign nothing in return. Their expressions seem to suggest that they're more inclined for JYNX to do the explaining.

Jynx blinks at this reaction puzzledly, but then the memories slowly creep back. The fight with the Rhian, and the secret room behind the idol. The memories after that are fleeting – not so much images and sounds as they are feelings and sensations… strong sensations. He looks back down to the artifact, "I-I guess we found it… "

"So, you found it," comes a voice from ahead. Somehow Jynx didn't notice before, but a poodle is now striding up to face him. It is none other than the aged bard, the Musician, Palao Alto. "You have the all-powerful Artifact, at last, eh? You're a fool. You haven't the WILL to use it properly."

The black cat shakes his head, is this for real? He instantly unsheathes his daggers and gets in a defensive crouch, snarling at the old poodle, "Stay back, you ancient mutt! I won't let you have it back! Never!"

"Oh ho!" laughs the poodle. "A FEISTY little kitten we have here! Not too bad of a speech, but you'll have to work in a bad pun or some sort of clever insult to live up to your grandfather's reputation. At least, as far as the books portray him." The old poodle grins and winks in an amiable fashion, as if life and death were not at stake here.

Without saying another word, the young feline springs at the aged canine, slashing at his chest and head. "I'm not my grandfather, I am MYSELF! And the Artifact is MINE now. Your evil won't touch it again!"

The canine's smile is still on his face as the black feline cuts into him. As the poodle falls to the ground, he looks genuinely surprised as he gasps, "You … definitely surprised me. No … no, you're not … Shikouju… You're … worse." He collapses … and falls silent.

A warm feeling surges through Jynx's body, filling every muscle and sinew. It's as if he's more ALIVE than ever before … STRONGER … more POWERFUL.

Jynx pants heavily as he stands over the crumpled poodle, staring down at him angrily. The power shoots through him, and he has to battle with himself to keep from kicking the still body. For once, the black Khatta feels no remorse for taking a life, and a slight grin crosses his lips. "Old fool, you shouldn't have crossed me, or any of my line!" He sheathes his daggers, and surpresses the strong urge to… roar? The new power continues to run through him, and his mind swims.

The Savanites in the City stand back, giving Jynx plenty of room. No one looks like they want to even RISK bumping into him accidentally.

Nonetheless, a feline dares to step forward … except that she's not a Savanite. She has glossy white fur, save for a black patch – of fur, that is – around her left eye. She's dressed in a blousy dress and a leather corset, and the hat upon her head is folded up on the side, with a large plume curling out from the band. "Nice work, young Shikouju. I concede. You're the victor. The Artifact is yours now."

The Khatta looks up angrily at all the cheetahs, a slight snarl on his lips. Suddenly, a small thought comes to the back of his mind: None of this is right! Painfully, the small notion wrestles with the massive feeling of power, only to be broken by the words of the white Khatta. He comes back to reality, narrows his eyes at her, and puts a hand to his dagger. "You were in league with him! Stay back, or you'll go the same way he did!"

The female backs away, swaying slightly as she does so. She looks too good to be true, but not quite in the same sense as that nagging thought in the back of Jynx's mind. She holds up her empty hands. "It is not in my interest to challenge you. You are far more skilled than Captain Dash, far more quick than Palao Alto, and LEAGUES more cunning than Captain Swiftkick. I do not wish to have you for an enemy." She smiles coyly at Jynx. "Far from it. I'd much rather be your friend."

The Khatta's mind battles within itself, it seems that this new power is also very much liking of flattery. He stares long and hard at the female Khatta, she's unarmed, and he notices that she is… rather attractive. The new Power Jynx feels urges him to give in to the flattery, but the little voice in the back of his head just won't quit! Grabbing his forehead in one paw, dagger in the other, he puts himself between the female and the Artifact, "Wh-why should I trust you? How do I know that you don't want the Power too?"

The female laughs. "What? You think I couldn't have used it before?" She looks at Jynx and purrs, "It's very simple. I simply haven't the constitution, the focus of mind to use it. Palao made that PAINFULLY clear to me. You, however, do, and you're not so afraid of the Artifact as to lock it away in secret. Why should I need the Artifact … when I can have YOU?"

"Have… Me?" The black cat stares at the female once again, dagger lowering a bit. "What would you then do with me if I was… yours?" He glares. The voice never stops, although the Power tries to stifle it.

"Or, to put it another way," the feline says, sway-walking to one side, and putting a finger up to her chin in a demure pose, "I suppose I would be yours. It's all a matter of perspective, after all. And just what I would do … well, that depends. What do YOU plan to do? I'm sure that, whatever it is, it will be terribly exciting. And mutually beneficial, if we're on the same side."

"Yes… " replies Jynx, continuing to stare at the female feline. The thought of sharing his Power with someone is invigorating, and he begins to step forward towards her. "… on the same side… "

"One thing, though," purrs Madame Garrotte. "What exactly DID you wish for?"

"Wish?" asks the black Khatta. He blinks, trying to remember. "I-I wished for my friends and I to be brought to the City of Hands, along with the… children… " Jynx halts his advance, his mind returning to the cave, and the unforgivable conditions the small defenseless children were in, and what they were being used for. At this thought, the small nagging voice ceases to be small, and becomes a bellowing hollar. The ebon cat shakes his head, and his mind finally snaps back to reality. He backs away from Garrotte, raising his dagger once again, eyeing the female warily. "… and I don't recall you being one of them!"

The female's eyes widen just a bit. "Ah … so … that explains how we got … here. Well, I have no idea what possessed the Artifact to bring myself and Palao Alto here as well. It's an alien thing, after all. Possessed of powerful magic. Who is to understand its workings?" She takes a couple of steps back from Jynx herself.

Jynx backs closer to the Artifact, "Indeed… " He looks at the cheetahs gathered around him, and decides to end this scene as quickly as possible. "Someone bring guards," he signs, "quickly!" He turns his attention back to the female pirate. "I have no idea why it brought you along, but I know where you're going!"

The cheetahs seem quite eager to please, and every last one of them scatters to summon the requested guards. That leaves just Jynx and Madame Garrotte.

Madame Garrotte says, "Well, if you're intent upon sending me away, only the Artifact can do THAT." She smiles, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm not about to let a fine Khatta like you get AWAY." She winks.

The black Khatta blinks. He wanted help from the Savanites, but not like this! He looks back to the female, a scowl on his face. "Expect to be disappointed-" he blinks, what did she say? "What do you mean, 'only the Artifact can do that'?" He gets into his defensive crouch, drawing his other dagger.

Garrotte frowns. "You're really letting power get to you, aren't you? Let me guess. You're invincible now, and you don't need ANYBODY. You alone will rule, and everyone else might as well just curl up and die … or at the very least leave you alone. Am I close? All right, so maybe you're right. You DON'T need anybody. The question is … what do you WANT?"

"What I… want?" The cat's face seems distant, but quickly snaps back. "Why would you care?" He snarls, "And perhaps I don't need anyone! Besides, I never said I wish to rule anything!"

"Fine, fine," Garrotte says, taking another step back and holding her hands up in a defensive gesture. "You don't NEED to rule anything you don't want to! Why bother ruling, when you can simply have whatever you want, when you want it? Fine. I won't argue. And if you don't want me along … well … you can just take that Artifact and wish me away wherever you please. Preferably somewhere temperate and dry and civilized, given a choice."

The mention of using the Artifact again sends a surge through the Khatta, and the urge to use it again grows strong. He looks down at the artifact longinly, "Maybe… maybe I do want you along… " The inner voices do battle again, this time both equally tearing at Jynx's mind.

Garrotte looks more than a little disturbed as she purrs, "I wish you would make up your mind. You're a very dangerous man." She smiles faintly. "I find that strangely attractive … but I'd like to stay in one piece, too."

Once again the Power grows stronger at the flattery, but the nagging voice refuses to give up, and with one last look of longing at both the female and the Artifact, the voice prevails. "No, the only place you're going is to a prison cell! Now, do you want to come quietly?" He stares at her long and hard, keeping the Power pushed out of his mind.

Garrotte's shoulders slump, as she lets out a deep breath. "All right. There's no point in resisting. If you wanted to, you could simply kill me with the Artifact anyway. There's no escaping from the one who wields it. I am yours to do with as you see fit."

Jynx backs up to the artifact, and bends down to pick it up, but then stops. Even getting closer to it intensifies the urges, and he knows not what will happen if he touches it. Quickly, he pulls off his shirt and wraps it around the Artifact, careful not to physically touch it. Holding it in one paw, he keeps his dagger in the other, and makes his way back to Garrotte. "I have no wish to kill you. Now, go that way," he says while making a motion, "towards the prison. You'll be spending some time there." The nagging voice wins for now, but in a bit of juxtaposition, the Power now sits in the back of his mind, waiting.

It takes a while for Jynx to regain his bearings enough to remember just where the prison is. But there it is. There's a large stone building just a stone's throw away, with a wooden ramp leading up the side. The construction of the stone building is odd, in that the entrance is from the TOP, rather than from any of the walls. Perhaps it serves some sort of strategic purpose, in that the wooden ramp can be tossed aside to prevent easy access from flightless attackers. Madame Garrotte makes no protest or move to try to escape as Jynx edges her toward the wooden ramp. "The prison's in here?" she asks. "How long will you keep me there?"

"As long as Queen Third-Vision sees fit," says Jynx, then mutters, "or myself," without realizing it. "She doesn't take kind to those that cause children misfortune, nor to slaver pirates in general." The small Power throws a thought of escaping with Garrotte, and for a moment the black Khatta envisions it… but it is fought off with the situation. "Now, up the ramp. I'll have Third-Vision see to you soon."

"By the way," purrs Garrotte, "as much as I appreciate your musculature, your shirt isn't really going to matter to the Artifact, one way or the other." She marches up the ramp, and toward the hatch in the roof of the structure. She obligingly heads down the steps.

Garrotte heads right into one of the many cells, lit by a tiny, circular window set in one wall that filters in just enough light to see. She sits down on the bed, waiting for Jynx to shut the door and seal her fate. "Come visit anytime," she purrs.

Jynx's ears blush at the strange compliment, "And I don't care what matters to the Artifact, I just care about keeping it away from people like you." He hesitates as he beings to shut the door, taking one last look at the female pirate, the Power sitting in the back of his mind, urging him to use the Artifact. He sighs, and shuts the door, locking it. "Don't count on my visit anytime soon." He turns away, and starts to make his way back up the stairs, knowing he more than likely just lied.

As Jynx heads back up the stairs, he finds the air-mage and the hunter waiting for him. "What is going on?" signs Calm-Sky. "The enemy is defeated. We are free to leave. What is to be done with the Artifact?"

The black Khatta jumps, startled by the mage and tracker. He looks at them blankly for a moment, then comes to his senses. "I suppose we should take it to Queen Third-Vision," he signs one-handedly, looking down at the wrapped bundle, "perhaps the Twelve-times-Twelve will know what to do with it." His gaze stays fixed on the bundle.

Far-Strider nods, and darts down the ramp. Calm-Sky signs, "Let us go swiftly, then, before the enemies return!"

Jynx looks up at the cheetah and nods, flashing a knowing grin. "Yes, we must hurry." He heads down the ramp and towards the palace, bundled Artifact in hand.

As Jynx rushes away from the prison, the wind picks up, and he can hear the moaning of the warpwood trees. The warpwood trees, that is, which are in a grove at the top of the cliffs overlooking the City of Hands. Jynx can see several people rushing about as if in some sort of panic, for a reason he can't discern. But ahead is the Palace, and the air mage and tracker swiftly head up the steps, frequently looking over their shoulders, as if they might be attacked even within the Palace courtyard.

The black cat stares up at the warpwood trees puzzledly, were they there last time? And why are Calm-Sky and Far-Strider so nervous, as well as the rest of the populace? Brow furrowed, he heads up the palace steps and into the chamber.

Jynx walks into the Palace, just as he remembered it. For a moment, he feels dizzy, as if the ground were moving beneath him, but it must be an aftereffect of his ordeal. He can briefly hear the cries of the cubs and the young colt, as if they have been brought into the Palace as well, though they can't be seen.

The young Khatta wobbles on his feet, trying to regain his balance. He fights to make his way into the Queen's chamber, keeping an eye out for the young cubs and colts, wondering where they are. Hopefully Third-Eye can give some answers to quell his confusion.

The Queen's chamber is empty, save for various knick-knacks, and a large pile of pillows. Jynx's limbs feel very tired … quite unlike the surge of power he felt earlier. It evidently has left him, and the Artifact feels very, very heavy. The pillows look quite inviting. Perhaps the Queen would forgive him a moment's rest, in light of his accomplishments?

Jynx becomes startled as his eyelids begin to feel like lead weights, not to mention the Artifact. How did he get so tired? Just a moment ago he was on top of the world! He waits a few moments for the Queen, wondering where she could be, but the fatigue is just too much. He slumps over to the inviting pillows, and after making sure no one is around, curls up kittenishly in the cushions, encircling the artifact.

Sleep enwraps Jynx, and his head fills with voices suggesting that he can do whatever he wants with the Artifact, if he only wishes it. Every inconvenience can be wished away, if he uses the Artifact wisely and frequently. Garrotte can be his. She could even be turned away from evil, and made to serve good … or at the very least, his every whim. Jynx himself could be a new Priest-King … with or without Third-Vision as Queen, depending upon his whimsy. And, as demonstrated, distance is no object, for he can visit anyplace he can so much as imagine!

The dream tempts Jynx deeply. Imagine, all that power! Anything he wants, nothing beyond his grasp. His dream leads him to a picture of himself leading a great empire. All who follow the ways of evil vanquished, and no citizen even thinking such thoughts because they are inable to. He rules under the standard of the Black Lion, with Lady Garrotte willingly at his side… or perhaps Moon Brow? None can stand before his might, weilding the Artifact to his will!

Such grand fantasies seem quite real to Jynx's mind … and it seems as if he lives a whole lifetime in such a dream world … in the time it takes him … to wake up.

Hands shake his shoulders roughly. It's a very familiar scene when his eyes crack open – a cheetah face is staring down at him. It's Calm-Sky again. Has he no respect for the sleep of the weary?

All reality swims as Jynx borders on the world of dreams and the world of the waking. For a moment, he is aloss as to what is going on, and snarls savagely at the air mage. "Leave me be!" he says aloud.

Calm-Sky backs away from the Khatta, a severe frown on his face. "We are in the City of Hands. You have slumbered the whole way, and it has been impossible to pry the Artifact from your hands."

Jynx rises up in his bed, clutching a paw to his forehead as he looks around in a dazed manner, "Wha? Just now returning to the City of Hands?" He looks up at the air mage, confused, then down to the artifact in his paws. "But… but I thought… "

The Khatta's surroundings seem a bit fuzzy, as if they're trying to right themselves to Jynx's notions of what they SHOULD be. Somehow he staggers outside, and for a brief moment, it seems as if he's on the deck of a river-faring boat … and then he's on a street in the City, being led toward the Palace. The Artifact is still with him. As he gets closer to the Palace, the haze gives way to clarity. Things are a little different this time, though. For one thing, there are twelve statues ringing the Palace that he doesn't remember being there before. One of them looks vaguely like Third-Vision, but the hands are formed to sign, "Night-Veil". How entirely unexpected, whereas his previous visit to the Palace seemed to be nearly perfect, as he might expect it to be.

As he might wish it to be.

Jynx tries to make sense of it all: Stone Statues? Riverboat? And who or what is 'Night-Veil'? The Khatta's mind does flips, the flood of information keeping him from any form of coherency. As the chaos reigns in his mind, only one wish comes through. He wishes all this insanity in his mind would cease, and for the world he's seeing to make sense.

All of a sudden, at that final thought, it feels as though sharp daggers of pain rip through the black Khatta's skull, tearing his head apart. It seems like the Artifact is screaming out in pain… or is that Jynx himself crying out? He grasps at his head, and feels as though he were about to collapse to the ground.

Jynx vaguely senses the artifact slipping from his grasp, and hands grabbing his forearms and shoulders. When he comes to his senses again, everything seems so much clearer than it has … since … since he made that first wish in the presence of the Artifact. He's in the Queen's Throne Room, and Third-Vision is kneeling over him, signing orders to her servants. Calm-Sky is signing something to Third-Vision, "… treachery in our own number! The power of this Artifact is great, and not to be underestimated! It should be destroyed … "

The organic-crystal Artifact lies on the floor, rolled over on its side, pulsating weakly.

The black Khatta himself looks up weakly at the Queen's face, still wondering if what he sees is reality or a dream from the artifact. "Wh-where am I? I-is this real?" He manages to sputter wearily. He looks from the cheetah noble's face to the artifact, seeming to send a sympathetic feeling out to it.

"Take it away!" Third-Vision commands, and a mighty four-armed reptilian Rokuga servant picks up the Artifact, with two arms to hold it, and two to deal with anything that would delay his departure from the Chamber. Third-Vision waits until the servant is gone before turning back toward Jynx. "What did it do to you? Are you of sound mind? I cannot bear the thought of my friend being corrupted by this … thing!"

Jynx tries to sit up, his head starting to finally sort out the sensations around him, but he is still rather weak. "D-do to me? I… I don't know… " He shakes his dizzy head, trying to bring everything into focus. "One minute I was at the cave, then the City, then elsewhere… " He looks up to Third Eye, "How did I get back here? What has happened? I-… I'm afraid I'm not quite sure anymore… "

Third-Vision doesn't answer, putting her hand to Jynx's forehead, as if she were his mother and checking for a fever. Whether or not she finds one, she pulls her hand away and signs, "I'm going to have my most trusted of the Twelve tend to you. And no one shall be allowed near the Artifact until we determine how to dispose of it. I do not think it will be so simple as a chisel and hammer."

No one shall be allowed near the Artifact… the signs echo in Jynx's mind painfully, but he pushes it deep down. He doesn't need this right now. "Y-yes, that sounds… good." He wobblingly tries to get to his feet, but sinks back down to the cushions. "I-I'm having trouble, I'm sorry… " He sighs.

Third-Vision just brushes Jynx's head-fur, reverting to the mother role again, in a way that just doesn't seem proper for a queen of the Savanites. "Rest," she signs.

Calm-Sky signs, "Twilight-Wing should tend to the Unlucky One. He is a Mind-Mage, and his loyalty is without question."

Jynx himself assumes the kitten role with no protest, and sinks back down into the cushions, curling up. A thought enters his mind… was she real or a dream? "T-tell me, is there a l-lady Khatta locked in the prison?"

"What do you mean, Unlucky One?" signs Third-Vision. "There are no Khattas, lady or otherwise, held imprisoned in this City."

Jynx's memories of locking Garrotte into the cell come more into clarity. The prison cell did seem awfully well-furnished for a prison cell, in retrospect. It looked an awful lot like a cabin on an airship, really.

Unlucky One blinks up tiredly at the Savanite queen, part of him becoming sad. He gives no reply to her question, and merely sinks down on the cushions, shutting his eyes to block out the world. He looks for all the world like a giant housecat, nothing more. In his mind he tries to focus: airship cabin? Just what did go on anyways?

Walking up the wooden ramp. Like a gangplank. Walking across the rooftop of the prison … like a deck of an airship. Like one just a little distance away … like the "landship" that had been just a short distance away in the cavern when Jynx used the Artifact to wish himself into the City of Hands…

The images still make no sense to the Khatta, and he tries to focus more, fighting off the unconsiousness that preys after him.

A lizard can barely be heard, hissing, "What shall we do with the children and the women that came from the Beastlands on Calm-Sky's airship? They are far too weak to earn their keep." Another lizard can be heard hissing, "The Priest-Queen will have to decide, of course."

There are few clues to helpfully piece together for CERTAIN what just happened. And can Jynx ever be certain he's not just in some sort of delusion right now? He has dried blood on his clothes and daggers, but whose blood? Did Palao Alto really die? And Madame Garrotte … was she imprisoned in anything more than an airship cabin … if she was even real at all?

Jynx tries to sort it all out… so the Artifact didn't bring him home? He was on an airship the whole time? Then… what was all that he saw, all he experienced? Was it all a dream? The children are safe, at least that part of the wish came true. And Palao Alto and Garrotte… not to mention his total disregard for the life of another.

The thoughts and visions dance around the Khatta's brain, and he fights tiredly to make sense of it all. The chaotic sensations assault him from all directions however, and Jynx is right back where he started: confused and exhausted. It all becomes too much, and the cat's instincts give him one final escape route, sleep. His body relaxing and mind waning, the feline slips into blissful oblivion, far from the visions, the outside world, and hopefully the Artifact.