"They relate to my talent. The moons are filled with all the ideas that haven't made it to Xanth proper. They have nowhere else to go, you see, so they exist on their own worlds."
A dim bulb flashed over Cube's head. "All the might-be folk--they're ideas! Until they make it to Xanth proper."
"Exactly. And I'm an idea too, a derivative of my Xanth-proper self. That way she doesn't have to hold all the ideas in her own head; she can store them in the moons."
"I'm astounded that there can be so many worlds and ideas and people. Each one seems as big as all Xanth. Is there any end to them?"
"None we know of. Perhaps someday someone will explore all the way to the last world. There used to be travelers back and forth, but recently there haven't been. That's another reason it has become dull. You are the first in some time."
"I hope nothing has happened to the others."
"I hope so too." Ida got up and walked to the fireplace. "It is cool here; I'll light a log."
"There's no need just for me. I don't mean to be a burden."
"You're not a burden, dear, you're a visitor. You are alleviating the dullness. I will be sorry when you go on your way." She fished a small knot of wood from a wood bin, set it in the fireplace, and snapped her fingers. A fire formed, igniting the knot. It blazed up vigorously, and she carefully set sticks of wood over it to burn.
There was a knock on the door. "Another visitor!" Ida said. "Would you answer that, dear? I'm afraid the fire will go out if I leave it too soon."
"Yes, certainly." Cube got up and went to the door and opened it.
A handsome red man stood there. "Would not," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"You misunderstand. That's wood as in a tree, and knot as in tied string. Wood knot. I smelled the wood smoke, and came immediately."
"Came for what?" Cube asked, confused.
"To marry you, of course. It is fated that I marry the one I would not, I mean wood knot." He gazed at her more closely. "Perhaps a small spell can improve your appearance."
Cube began to get a glimmer. "Oh, I'm not the mistress of this house. I didn't burn the knot. You are looking for Seren."
He looked relieved. "I do not know this name."
"She's really a Princess, but there's a spell--"
"Say no more. I understand. May I come in?"
"I--"
"Who is it, Cube?" Ida called.
"What a lovely voice," the man said. "We must be properly introduced. I am Magician Jaycn."
"Uh, yes, I will introduce you," Cube said. "Do come in." She led him inside.
Ida was just rising from the fire. "Hello," she said, surprised.
"This is Seren," Cube said, finding that she still was unable to speak Ida's real identity. "A very fine person with remarkable magic." Then, to Ida: "This is Magician Jaycn. He has come to marry you."
"Marry me!" Ida exclaimed. "But first I have to tell him--"
Jaycn held up a hand in a powerful stop signal. "Tell me nothing, Seren, before you hear this. I am under a curse that I may have no relations with any woman whose magic I know. I see you are beautiful and I know this is my only chance, so I must ask you to swear that you will never tell me the nature of your magic."
"But--" Ida protested, nonplussed.
"My only chance was to come to the wood knot when it was invoked," Jaycn continued. "Because it is an unusual variant of reverse wood. When it is burned, it changes reality to what might have happened but did not. You might have married me, but did not, because we did not know of each other. I lived on the red face, and you on the blue face. But I smelled the smoke and came at once. Swear never to tell me your magic, and we can confirm this reality, which frankly promises to be better than that lonely life I have known hitherto."
Still Ida hesitated, not wanting to deceive anyone.
"He has a point," Cube said. "His curse prevents him from marrying any woman whose magic talent he knows, so it would be unkind of you to spoil it by telling him."
"I suppose it would," Ida agreed. She looked at Jaycn. "If you really do not want to know."
"I really do not," Jaycn said. "What is that orbiting your head?"
"That's a small affliction she has," Cube said quickly. "She can't get rid of it, because it relates deviously to her magic. But it's harmless if ignored."
Jaycn caught on immediately. "I shall ignore it, of course."
"Have something to eat," Ida said, handing him a glass of blue drink. Evidently she was somewhat flustered, understandably. The appearance of the Magician had been entirely serendipitous. Because she had the pacifier, Cube realized. It had struck again, perhaps changing her life.
"I must give you something in return," Jacyn said, and Cube understood why.
"No need," Ida said quickly. "You are giving me the pleasure of your company."
But awkwardness remained. "Tell us about yourself," Cube said. "You are a Magician? What is your magic?"
"I am the Magician of Matter. I can convert liquid to gas." He demonstrated by glancing at the blue drink, which fizzled into a cloud that floated out of the glass. "And gas to solid." The cloud shrank into a blue block. "And solid to liquid." He caught the blue liquid in the glass as the block dissolved. "And vice versa, of course." He sipped the drink. "Very good, I must say. Reminiscent of our red lemonade." He looked at Ida. "Now tell me more about you. Everything except your magic. You are of course single?"
"Oh, yes," Ida agreed. "Come sit down. We have much to catch up on."
Cube saw that the thread now extended to the doughnut orbiting Ida's head. So her journey wasn't done yet. "I think I should be on my way," she said. "Seren, may I speak with you privately for a moment?"
At this point Ida was surely eager to be alone with the Magician. "Certainly."
The two of them stepped out the door. "I think I should take back the charm," she said, reaching for the pacifier. "You have no further need of it, I suspect."
"Yes! I can tell him my real name, now that I won't tell him my magic." She returned it.
"And I need to follow the thread on to your moon."
"Torus. Do you have a way?"
"Yes." Cube got into the dogsled. "Farewell, Princess!" And to the sled: "Go."
The dogsled took off, zooming along the thread toward Ida's head. But it did not collide; the doughnut-shaped moon loomed larger, and soon Ida disappeared in largeness. Cube was coming down for a landing on the inner side of Torus. She was sure that Princess Ida would be able to carry on, now that her life had been serendipitously changed. That wood knot must have been there all the time, but never burned before the pacifier caused it to happen. What a devious interaction of spells!
So what would it be like on this weird-shaped world, and what kind of magic did it have? This was certainly a tour to remember.
They landed and zoomed across the rounded surface. At least this world was normally colored, so Cube was not obviously alien. But after the time magic of Ptero, and the size magic of Pyramid, she was nervous about this new world. What mischief might come of her ignorance?
Another thing that was weird was the fact that this world made an enormous curve, passing right over her head as she crossed the inside of the doughnut. She could see its mountains, rivers, and lakes, and marveled that none of them fell across the empty center to land on her head. But with enough magic, anything was possible.
She came to another lake. No, it was larger, a sea, for there was a sign saying SARAH SEA, and again the thread went right across it. The thread must have known that she would have a way to follow it unflinchingly.
There was an island on the sea, and it bore a sign saying ISLE OF NIFFEN. It seemed nice enough, but the thread didn't pause until it came to another house and stopped. Why did she think this would belong to another Princess Ida?
She got out and knocked on the door. Sure enough, it was answered by Ida, this time with an orbiting cone. It seemed that each moon was a different shape as well as having different magi
c.
Cube plunged right in. "I'm Seren, from Xanth proper. I'm following a thread that took me to your door. There must be something I'm supposed to do or learn here before I go on, and I hope you will help me do or learn it."
"This is a problem," Ida said. "On this world, favors rendered incur burdens of love. If I did you a favor, you would love me, and I suspect you would prefer not to do that."
So that was the local magic. "Is there any favor I can do you in return, to equalize it?"
"I am aware of none."
But Cube was already thinking of something. "I have a charm that generates serendipity. It makes good things happen by surprise. If I lent it to you, it might do you some good."
"I am already well enough off, thank you."
"Such as maybe finding you a good man."
Ida paused. "Come in."
"Thank you." Cube entered the house.
"How did you know I would like to locate a good man?"
"I discussed it with the Ida on Pyramid. The charm found one for her. Of course I can't guarantee what it will do; the results are always unexpected."
"I understand. May I see it?"
Cube presented the pacifier. "But I must warn you, it assigns you its name when you have it."
"That is hard to believe." Ida took the pacifier.
"What is your name?"
"Seren, of course." She paused. "Oh, I see."
"You will have your own name back when it leaves you."
"This alarms me," Ida said. "Please take back your charm." She returned it to Cube.
"I'm not sure what else I have to offer."
"We have been assuming that we have to exchange favors. But it may be that you are merely traveling through, and this constitutes no favor."
"I suppose that is possible," Cube agreed dubiously.
"Where does your thread lead?"
Now Cube saw it. "To your moon."
"That confirms it. Go on to Cone, unhampered."
"Thank you." Cube went out, got in the dogsled, and urged it onward. It zoomed along the thread toward Ida's head, and soon was arriving at the growing cone-shaped world.
Thereafter, things blurred as Cube followed the thread through world after world, seeking the Ida on each and going to her moon. Cone was filled with water, and Ida lived at the bottom of the pointed sea; somehow breathing wasn't a problem. Her moon was Dumbbell, where everyone constantly exercised. Then Pincushion, where everyone lived on huge long pins, and Spiral, like a little galaxy, Tangle, like knots in spaghetti, Motes, which seemed to be a swarm of particles, Trapezoid, which was not exactly cubic, and Shoe. Every old woman lived in Shoe, with myriads of children, so that none of them knew what to do. Then Implosion, Puzzle, and Octopus, which had to be seen to be believed. Then Tesseract--and the thread stopped.
The dogsled came to a halt inside a hollow cube the size of a world. The mountains, forests, lakes, and houses were all on the six great walls of it. And there was no way out.
Cube looked around. The dogsled rested on the floor of the giant box, beside a river and a hill, near a wall. Everything seemed normal, except that the thread stopped. That was why she knew there was no way out; the thread ended.
Well, not exactly. As she peered more closely, she saw that the thread actually turned and went into the wall to the right. But the wall was a picture, a painting, a mural, and the thread became a diminishing line on it, until it disappeared behind a painted house.
She got out of the dogsled. "Wait here," she told it, and the dog eyes closed for another snooze. It was a very obliging sled. Not the company Diamond was, but useful. As an afterthought she set the pacifier on the seat, so that it would not affect her exploration of this situation.
She walked up to the wall and tapped its surface. It was rock hard. She rubbed a finger across it, and it was mirror smooth. She squatted and traced the ground up to the wall; there was a faint path there, that became part of the picture so neatly that it looked real from any distance. She stood and reached high, verifying that the sky was painted too, and the clouds.
This was one giant picture, with only the square ground being real. But what was the point of it?
She traced the thread back the way they had come. She discovered that she was in a corner, and the thread came from another wall. She had come from another mural.
She walked out of the corner, toward a house that seemed to be in the real section. There was a man hoeing his garden beside it. But as she approached him, she discovered that he was frozen in place. This was odd in more than one way: not only was he absolutely still, not even breathing, he was off-balance, and should have fallen. But he remained as he was, slightly tilted.
"Hello," she said. But of course there was no answer. She touched his elbow, and it was as hard as stone. She pushed him, at first lightly, then strongly. He remained fixed in place.
She realized that the man must be a realistic statue, fastened to the ground at a slight angle, immobile. All the vegetables growing in the garden were fixed too; she could not bend so much as a lettuce leaf. All part of the crafted scene.
She went to a nearby tree. All its leaves were fixed in place. There was no breath of wind. She checked the farmstead's pitcher pump. A drop of water was falling from the spout. It was in mid air, frozen too, but not cold, just locked in place. All part of the scene.
Cube was beginning to feel nervous. She had thought this was a world inside a huge cube, but it was actually a lifeless model. She was the only thing moving within it. The only thing alive.
She explored further, using the whisk broom to get around faster, but only confirmed what she had discovered. All the trees, rivers, houses, and people were statuary, part of one encompassing artificial scene, marvelously made. She was alone in a three-dimensional picture.
"I think I need help," she murmured to herself.
She returned to the dogsled. Then she reached into the pouch. "Metria."
The demoness caught her hand and slid out. She looked around. "Oh, my! What fine mess have you gotten us into this time?"
"A three-dimensional painting," Cube said. "I was riding the dogsled along the thread, into the world of Tesseract, and found myself alone in this cube."
"Cube! That's fitting," the demoness laughed. "Cube in a cube."
Cube hadn't thought of that. "Names are seldom entirely coincidental, in Xanth. Could I have been drawn to this world for a reason?"
Metria got serious. "But you said the world was Tesseract."
"Yes. But it seems to be a cube."
"Let me check this out. I'll just pop off for a moment." The demoness disappeared with a sharp pop, leaving a dissipating wisp of smoke behind.
Cube, alone again, tried something else. She summoned a nickelpede. The creature appeared, looked around, and glanced curiously at her.
"I don't understand it any better than you do," she said, and banished it. She had merely been verifying her talent. She felt safer, knowing that she still had her nickelpedes.
Metria reappeared. "It's a cube, all right. Outside it's a cubic moon in orbit about Ida's head, featureless. Inside it's just this decorated shell. Could this be the end of the line?"
"I don't think so. The thread goes into the wall. I just can't follow it."
"Maybe the thread has given out. How many moons has it traversed?"
"I believe this is the fifteenth. But if it's the end, what am I supposed to do here?"
"I just remembered: it's not the end, because there's Zombie World on down the line. So it must be a tired thread."
"I'll bring out the Princesses," Cube said. She put her hand into the pouch. "Princesses."
Three hands caught hers. The three slid out together, and landed before her. "Wow!" Melody said, looking around.
"A square world," Harmony added, looking asquare.
"A cubic world," Rhythm said, looking acube.
"Cube's world," Metria said.
"But it's supposed to be Tesseract," Cube said. "Wha
tever that is."
"We'd better look it up," Melody said.
"I'll get the big dictionary," Harmony agreed.
"Ooof!" Rhythm grunted as a huge tome landed in her arms.
They put the dictionary on the ground and turned the pages, poring over it.
"Tesseract," Melody said, finding the word.
"A cube generalized to four dimensions," Harmony read.
"A four-dimensional hypercube," Rhythm read.
"A structure consisting of eighty-one identical cubes occupying the same space," Metria read over their shoulders. "That's three to the fourth power."
"We're only three to the third power," Melody said.
"You mean three cubed," Harmony said.
"That's wrong," Rhythm said. "We are really only one Sorceress cubed."
Cube was having difficulty following this, but doubted that the little Princesses knew exactly what they were talking about. "Do you mean that however you figure it, the tesseract is beyond your power?"
"That's what they mean," Metria said. "They can't fix it."
"Then who can fix it?"
"Maybe one of the others," Melody said hopefully.
"Like Karia," Harmony said. "She's smart."
"All centaurs are," Rhythm said.
Cube brought out the centaur, and explained the situation. "Do you know what a tesseract is?"
"Of course. It's a hypercube. A four-dimensional structure."
Cube's head was thickening. "Can you explain that from the ground up?"
The centaur smiled. "I'll go into didactic mode." She reached behind her to draw an arrow from her quiver. She used the tip to make a dent in the sand before her. "A dimension is a measurement. This is a point--a no-dimensional object." She scratched a line. "This is a line, a one-dimensional object. It has length, nothing else." She scratched a square. "This is a two-dimensional figure, length and breadth. Infinitely greater than the prior figure, but still limited." She glanced at the Princesses. "Eight sticks, please." They appeared in a bundle, and she continued her lessen. She stood four sticks at the corners of the square, and connected them with four more. "This is a cube, a three-dimensional figure, with length, breadth, and height. Now if we extend it another dimension, we'll have a hypercube. A tesseract. It's elementary."