Quintessence by Hugs.And.Kisses (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

in air in an attempt to calm the terrified whimpering coming from her throat. Her oversized T-shirt was stuck to her back from cold sweat, and was trickling down between her shoulder blades.

She almost let out a shriek as her door burst open, but swallowed it down when she saw Lock's familiar figure standing in the doorway. "Aubrey?" He asked, before seeing the fear on her face. He shut the door before walking over to her bed and sitting down. "What's-"

He stopped as Aubrey threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "Aubrey?" Lock asked softly, putting a hand on her back and the other touched her hair. "Aubrey, what's wrong?"

"The nightmare- that stupid nightmare's back!" She cried, clutching his neck tighter.

Lock's eyes widened as he looked down at her. "Aubs, you don't mean- not that one."

She nodded. "That one. The nightmare about Oogie." She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Lock- what if we were wrong? What if Oogie is back?"

Lock paused before he answered her. "We'll go see Dr. Finklestein in the morning- see if he can figure something out. Okay?" She nodded.

Lock kissed her forehead and moved to get up, stopping when Aubrey's grip on him tightened. "Lock… stay here. Please." She begged.

He paused, then took another look at the fear on her face and nodded. Aubrey's expression calmed slightly as Lock lay down next to her. "Go to sleep, Aubrey." He whispered, kissing her cheek. She nodded and cuddled into his chest, closing her eyes.

The next morning, Barrel refused to stop grinning at Lock. Finally, with an irritated sigh, the devil snapped his book shut and looked up. "What?"

"Dude, you went into Aubrey's room last night and never came out."

Lock threw his book across the room at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Barrel. Nothing happened."

"Right. Of course." Barrel snickered.

Lock glared at him. "Look, Aubrey-" He peered up the stairs to make sure no one was coming down them. "Aubrey had that nightmare again."

It took a moment for the shock to spread across Barrel's face. "No."

"Yeah. We're going to see Dr. Finklestein once she gets up." He sighed, slumping back in his seat. "Barrel, I'm getting worried. Something's going on, and it's too conveniently timed- I mean, Jack leaves, and Aubrey has a nightmare that hasn't bothered her since she was twelve?"

"And last time she had it, Oogie really had come back." Barrel finished. "I remember. You don't really think that Oogie's back do you?"

"I don't know what to think." He sighed. Lock straightened as footsteps padded down the stairs. Aubrey and Shock stopped at the foot of the stairs.

"She already told me." Shock said. "Get dressed. We're going- now."

"Hm, it's good that you came to me." Dr. Finklestein said, wheeling around his lab table. "And your fears are not unprecedented. My machines picked up some very unusual readings during last night's storm."

"Unusual how?" Barrel asked.

"An unusually large amount of magical energy disrupted Halloween Town's atmosphere. The storm we experienced was discharge."

"Discharge?" Shock asked. "But that only happens from summoning spells. And if the spell was big enough to cause a storm with its discharge…"

"Who the hell summoned what?" Lock muttered.

Dr. Finklestein nodded. "That's exactly what I've been trying to discover myself. This disturbance is no doubt dangerous, and I have taken a few… precautions." He motioned the four of them over to the table in the center of the lab.

"Whoa." Barrel said in awe, staring at what lay on the table.

"Are these for us?" Lock asked.

Dr. Finklestein nodded. "I made these weapons in case of emergency while Jack was gone."

Aubrey eyed the items. "Well, this certainly can qualify."

"I though you'd see it that way." He said. "Now, each of these weapons is specifically modified for each of you. Aubrey, the scythe."

She took the weapon off the table, examining it in her hand. The blade was obsidian black and shaped like a wing, while the handle was silver with runes etched into spiraling patterns.

"Lock, the sword." The devil picked it up, grinning. The crimson, rapier blade glinted even in the dim light, sinking into the ebony black handle. The ebony-colored hand guard spiraled over his fist like flames. "And the hammer, Barrel, is for you."

Barrel hefted up the weapon. Even larger than the scythe Aubrey held, the giant hammer in Barrel's hand was made of bone, held together by some unknown power. "What about Shock?" Barrel asked.

"Ah, yes. Shock, I've put quite a bit of work into your weapon." He pulled out a gold ring set with a large purple rock.

The witch's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"A philosopher's stone, yes." Dr. Finklestein said, handing her the ring. "It will increase your magic's power tenfold, but use it cautiously, as it will wear you out faster." She nodded and put the ring on her finger. The stone glowed brighter for a moment before settling into a dull smolder.

All five of them looked up suddenly as the howl-like sound of the town's alarm blared through the air. "Guess your weapons are about to get their first test run, Doctor F." Lock said, running toward the elevator. Shock and Barrel followed, but Aubrey ran the opposite direction, toward the window.

"Aubrey! Come on!" Shock yelled.

She smirked over her shoulder. "You've got your way, I've got mine!" She called, shoving open the window and jumping out, flaring her wings to catch the wind. She landed again when Lock, Shock, and Barrel were just coming out of Dr. Finklestein's gates. She walked over to Drake and Ra, who had been the ones to sound the alarm.

"What's going on?" Lock asked, running over.

Drake pointed at the gate. "That!"

Turning, all four saw what had caused such a panic in the square. A horde of skeletons and ghosts were marching toward the town, shrieking and wailing at the top of their lungs. "What the hell?" Lock murmured.

"Where did all of them come from?" Barrel asked.

Aubrey adjusted the scythe in her grip. "I don't know, but I doubt that they're on our side."

"The gate's shut, though- they can't get in, right?" Ra asked.

Shock looked over at him. "I wouldn't count on it. You two need to get everyone out of the square and into somewhere safe."

"The meeting hall." Aubrey said. "And find Clown! I want that gate open before they break it down." Not needing to be told twice, the two ran off, heading in different directions.

"Aubs, they'll be at the gate before they manage to find Clown." Lock said. "And the ghosts'll just come through if the skeletons don't break it down."

"Hence why we aren't waiting. Shock, get your broom. Barrel, do you still remember that float spell?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Cast it on you and Lock."

Shock looked over at Aubrey as she finished the summoning spell for her broom. "Aubrey, we aren't seriously going out there, are we?"

"That was sort of the plan." Aubrey said. And, with a flap of her wings, she was in the air.

"She's insane." Shock muttered, grinning. "I like it!" Swinging her leg over her broomstick, she took off over the gate.

Barrel sighed. "We have to go be chivalrous and help them, don't we?"

"Yeah." Lock said, following the girls.

By the time that Lock and Barrel had landed, Shock and Aubrey were already busy fighting off the army of monsters. "'Bout time you two showed up!" Shock called, casting another fireball down at the group of skeletons below her. It hit one dead on and reduced it to ash, sending the rest scattering into burnt piles of bone.

Aubrey's spun around, the blade of the scythe slicing through a ghost. It let out a scream and disappeared into mist. "We could use some help- there's at least a hundred of these things!"

Lock sliced through three skeletons as they headed toward Aubrey's back. "Seems fair enough." He smirked back at her. "But let's see if we can even the odds, shall we?"

Barrel shifted the hammer in his grip, putting both hands on the handle. "Oh, we shall." He said, raising it back over his head and slamming it down on an unsuspecting skeleton. The shockwave itself knocked down another four as they collapsed into useless piles of bone.

-Halloween Town-

"What's taking so long?" Ra asked, looking in Hazel and Zoe's cauldron. "Why can't we see them?"

"Be patient, Ra!" Hazel scolded. "It takes time to devise the Seer's Potion!"

"I don't think we'll need it!" Clown exclaimed happily. "Look!" He zoomed over to the gates, unlocking them.

Lock, Aubrey, Shock, and Barrel came through, looking so tired that you would've thought they hadn't slept in days. "You got rid of them all?" Drake asked hopefully.

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah, for now."

The Creature Under the Stairs blinked. "For... now?"

Shock shifted her broom over her shoulder. "Something's producing a weird energy out in the Hinterlands. Unfortunately, there's some kind of barrier around the source, so we can't get to it. That's where all those things came from."

"And that means that there will probably be more." Aubrey sighed. "Clown, get that gate locked. I don't want there to be any surprise attacks while the town's unguarded."

Clown nodded. "R-Right." He said nervously, scooting around them and closing the gate.

"Ow!" Aubrey flinched as Sally cleaned off a wound on her wing.

Sally sighed. "Sweetie, wouldn't it just be easier to let Barrel heal this?"

Aubrey shook her head. "Barrel's barely got enough energy to keep himself healed, mom. And with the attack yesterday..."

"What was it, the fifth one?" Sally asked. Aubrey nodded, sighing. "I wish that Jack was here..."

"Me too." Aubrey sighed, standing. "I'm going to go see how Barrel's doing. Today's been too peaceful, so if there is an attack I want to make sure we won't have to make sure not to get injured."

Sally just nodded as Aubrey walked out of the room and down the hall to the mage's room. She pushed the door open cautiously. Barrel sat up and waved at her. "Hey Aubrey."

She smiled, relieved. "Hey. You alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I've gotten most of my energy back, thanks to that potion Shock brewed up." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "The nap probably helped, too." His gaze fell on the limp wing at her side. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Skeleton got a hold of me and ripped out a few feathers. I sliced its head off."

"Are Lock and Shock okay?"

Aubrey nodded. "Lock nearly cut off his own arm trying to show off with that sword of his, and Shock's broom is in worse shape than she is."

"What happened?"

"She dropped her mace and smacked a skeleton with it instead." Barrel laughed, but it cut short as the siren sounded outside.

Aubrey growled. "I knew it had been too peaceful." Barrel threw his covers off and ran out after her.

"Where's Clown?" Aubrey yelled, coming outside.

Lock looked over his shoulder at her. "I told him to go hide with everyone else. There wasn't going to be enough time to get the gates shut."

Shock hefted the iron mace in her hand, the ring on her finger glowing brightly.