"No, her cat Sammy can find anything but home," Millie said. "So she could never go back."
"Actually that's no longer true," Jenny said. "My home is now in Xanth, so that's what Sammy can't find. Sammy could find the World of Two Moons if he wanted to. But we don't want to, anymore."
Could she find a way to unhappen Sammy Cat? No, he had been with Jenny too long. "That doesn't explain why you are here at Castle Zombie."
"Breanna's my friend. She helped me find my husband. So Jeremy and I accompanied--"
"Jeremy?"
"Prince Jeremy Werewolf--my husband. We met two years ago, when--"
"Thank you." Now she had the time scale on that relationship too. So Jenny Elf was now a princess. Melody could ruin that in short order. She made ready to slide into limbo.
Her two sisters appeared. "Oh no you don't, Melody," Harmony said. "We're taking you back to Ptero now."
"You can't," Melody retorted. "I have no soul."
"You will have to take yours back," Rhythm said. "Then you will be the sweet sister we have known so long."
"The sweet nothing sister!" Melody exclaimed disparagingly. "So limited, so dull, so boring. I'd rather have fun."
Millie, Jenny, and Breanna were staring at her as if she had said something weird. Well, who cared about them? She slid into limbo and fled the castle.
There was no sense going after Jenny and Breanna now; her stupid sisters would expect her to do that, and have them covered. She had to surprise them, and go where they would never expect. Where could that be?
A bulb flashed over her head. Princess Ida, at Castle Roogna--they would have to return to her to exchange back with their younger Selves in good order, so no one would expect her to go there voluntarily. Maybe she could find a way to mess up the return, and leave her younger Self stuck on Ptero. That would serve the little brat right. Without a soul she was pretty sure she couldn't go, but they might find a way to give her one, so she had to run some interference. She would see what offered.
She slid to the castle. There was Princess Ida's chamber, and there was Princess Ida herself, sitting quietly with her moon peacefully orbiting her head. How tiny that world looked from Xanth! Would it be possible to steal that moon, and hide it, so that they couldn't return to it? Probably not; there was a whole lot of magic associated with it.
She left limbo and landed before Ida. "Hello, Auntie dear," she said sarcastically.
"Hello, Melody," Ida replied, seeming unsurprised. "I wonder--did you ever meet my child on your world?"
"Oh, you mean Idyll? With the talent of suppressing all thought? Sure, we know her. What about her?"
"I was just curious. Perhaps some day she will come to me in Xanth."
Melody realized that Ida had no way of directly knowing folk who lived on her worlds, because she was the one person who couldn't go there. Too bad she hadn't thought to deny her aunt the information. Oh, well, it didn't make a whole lot of difference. "So how are you doing, Auntie dear? Not that I care."
Ida gazed at her. "So it is true that you have lost your soul. That's unfortunate."
"No, that's great. Now I am free to do anything I want."
Ida's gaze seemed sad rather than hostile. "And what do you want to do?"
"To have fun. To make mischief. To ruin people's lives."
"Why should ruining other lives make you feel better?"
"Because my life is not ruined, so I'm better off than they are."
"But wouldn't you have more fun helping others?"
Melody stared at her. "Why should I do that?"
"Doing good normally makes people feel good."
Melody laughed. "What a crock of spit!"
"Didn't you like doing good when you had your soul?"
"I had no idea what a drag that soul was until I lost it."
"Yet you do not seem to be happy now."
"Well, I would be, if I could just get my stupid sisters off my tail."
"But you always liked being with them."
"That was before I shed my soul. Now I am objective, and I see how deadly dull my life was. We never did anything dastardly. Now I know better."
Harmony appeared. "In fact we came here to stop dastardly deeds from being committed," she said.
"Oh, fudge!" Melody swore, and slid into limbo.
And bounced. Dazed, she stared at the invisible wall that shut her off from it.
"Rhythm is barricading that entry," Harmony said. "You can't use it to escape us any more, Melody."
"Curses! Foiled again," Melody muttered. She fled physically out the chamber doorway, and slammed the door behind her. She ran down the hall. Where could she hide?
She looked back, and saw the door opening. She ducked into the next chamber, and shut its door quietly, so that her sisters would not be able to tell which one it was. Then she turned around and surveyed the chamber.
There was a woman with lovely long hair sitting at a table, facing away, writing something. She was so intent on her business that she had not noticed Melody's entrance.
"Rapunzel!" Melody cried, going to the table. There could be only one person with hair like that.
The woman looked up. Her face was hideous. "No, I'm her twin sister, Repulsive. Who are you?"
"I am--" Melody hesitated. Maybe it would be better to conceal her identity, so that Repulsive could not give away her hiding place. "A visitor. What are you doing?"
"I'm preparing a question to ask the Good Magician Humfrey. It's my one chance of a lifetime, so I'm making sure not to waste it."
"You want to know how you can become as beautiful as your sister?"
"Oh, no, I'm satisfied with my appearance. After all, it is quality of character that counts."
"What a crock of--" But she caught herself. "That's nice," she said insincerely as she sat down opposite the woman. "What's your question, then?"
"It's complicated, which is why I'm trying to phrase it carefully. So he won't give me some technically accurate but useless answer. I have to make it so that he has to be responsive. If I mess it up, I'll never get another chance, and will go to my end cruelly frustrated, knowing I could have had my Answer and lost it. So this is absolutely vital."
"What is your question?" Melody repeated restlessly.
"Well, back in historical times, in the year Ten Forty-Three, in the Time of No Magic, all the magic suddenly left the Land of Xanth, making it just about like drear Mundania. I understand it was an awful time, for about a day, before the demon Xanth returned, and the magic was restored. The lesser demons became mere whirlwinds, and magic plants wilted and sagged, and the people lost their magic talents, and--"
"What's the question?" Melody asked again, about to explode with impatience. She already knew all about the Time of No Magic; it was part of history. The centaur tutors taught the dull details to all human children.
"Well, I'm coming to that. The thing is, the magic is supposedly conveyed by the magic dust. It leaks from the Demon Xanth's being into the surrounding rock, and as that shifts and weathers it reaches the surface, and the good folk of the Magic Dust Village arrange to waft it into the air so that it spreads widely, refreshing the whole of the Land of Xanth. It's a slow, steady process, taking eons to run its course. Wherever that magic dust goes, there is magic, but there's only so far that the winds can carry it, so Xanth is the only land where there is much magic. Even the Demon Xanth himself, when he visited Mundania in another body, had to get some magic dust delivered so he could perform magic there. He--"
"What's the bleeping question?" Melody snapped. She knew all about the magic dust, too.
Startled, Repulsive finally got relevant. "How could there have been instant loss of magic, when the Demon Xanth departed this region? Why didn't the dust hold its magic, the same as usual?"
Melody paused, considering. She had never thought of that. Repulsive was right: The magic should have lasted at least a millennium after the Demon Xanth departed. Certainly it would have been good fo
r a mere day, just about undiminished.
But she didn't see how she could use this situation to her advantage. So she explored it a little more, making nice. "So are you going to go to the Good Magician's castle, and struggle through the stupid challenges, so you can ask your careful question?"
"Oh, no, I don't have to do that. I was in a position to do him a small incidental favor, a while back, so he said he would Answer one question for me, and I could use a magic mirror to reach him. That's why I'm here." She indicated a picture on the wall, which Melody recognized as one of the castle's magic mirrors. Such mirrors weren't common; in fact Castle Roogna and the Good Magician's castle and maybe Castle Zombie were the only places she knew of where they were.
A black bulb flashed over Melody's head. She had an idea. She could help herself hide, and mess up Repulsive in the process. She needed just one other aspect to fall into place. "Repulsive, what is your talent?"
"Making masks," the woman replied.
Ideal! "Can you make face masks?"
"Yes, that's the kind I usually make. But they last only a few hours before they fade. So I usually make them for children at parties."
"Make masks of my face, and yours. Then you can pretend to be me, and I'll pretend to be you."
"But we are not children. We don't need to play such games."
"But wouldn't you like to be a lovely princess for a while?"
That got to her. "Yes. But I wouldn't pretend to be something I'm not."
"It's a game, simpleton--uh, a simple game. To see how long you can fool people who know you. And I'll see if I can make them think I'm you. We princesses love to play such games." That much was true.
"You're a princess?" Repulsive asked, astonished.
Oops--she had not revealed her identity before. No help for it now. "Yes. Princess Melody."
"But she's only four years old!"
"I'm her adult self, from Ptero. We switched places. For four days. I have to change back soon, but I want to have a bit of fun before I do."
"Oh. I suppose you would. Very well." The woman studied Melody's face, concentrating. In a moment a flexible mask appeared between them.
Melody plucked it out of the air. It looked just like her, except for the blank eyes. They would come alive when the mask was worn on the face. "Now make one of your face."
"I need to see a face, in order to copy it."
"Look in the mirror, dummy--er, dumpling. A magic mirror doesn't have to do magic."
"Oh, yes, of course." Repulsive got up and went to the mirror. As she approached, its picture cleared and it became a straight reflective surface. She concentrated, and soon formed a mask of what she saw. She brought it back to the table.
"Now let's see what we can do," Melody said, forcing a sincere smile.
She put the Melody face mask on Repulsive, and arranged her hair around it. "Of course your hair will change color to match," she said, hoping it was so. Rapunzel's hair could do that.
"Yes." The hair turned greenish. Now she looked remarkably princessly, except for the lack of a little crown.
Melody removed her own crownlet, and set it carefully on the woman's head. "Now you are a princess," she said. "Go see who you can fool. I'll stay here until you have had a chance to get clear."
"Yes." Repulsive walked to the door, opened it, and went out. The rest of her did not look as princessly, but most people looked mainly at the face, so it should be all right.
Then Melody got to work on her own hair. She had some dirt she had picked up somewhere; she rubbed it into her hair to make it brownish rather than greenish. Too bad she couldn't simply use magic, but she could cope. She fitted the mask carefully, studying herself in the mirror. "Pretty good," she murmured. "This should fool Humfrey."
The Good Magician's face appeared in the mirror. "You called?" he asked grumpily.
Oops--she had inadvertently invoked him by speaking his name before the mirror. Well, she was prepared. "I'm Repulsive, with my Question. Why did the magic fade instantly, in the Time of No Magic?"
The gnome-like man nodded. "That is an impressive Question, Repulsive. I'm glad you did not waste your chance. Let me check in the Book of Answers." He glanced down, reading. "Ah yes. This is because each of the major Demons has its own magic ambiance, and they compete for dominance. When the magic of Xanth was no longer buttressed by the presence of the Demon Xanth, the magic of the neighboring Demon Earth damped it out. The magic was still there, but suppressed by the more powerful field. When the Demon Xanth returned, his field extended throughout its former region, and the magic dust became fully operative again." The mirror went opaque; the Good Magician had returned to whatever other business he had. Such as staring at his monstrous tome.
Good enough. Now she had to get out of here, in the guise of Repulsive, before her sisters caught on to the ruse. With luck she would be hopelessly lost in the jungle, and they would be unable to find her before they had to return to Ptero. Then there would be no one stopping her from doing ever more dastardly deeds. She would make the Dastard look like a piker.
He'd be stuck on Ptero too, because he had her soul, and it was really the soul that traveled there. She almost let out a fiendish cackle of glee.
That reminded her: Maybe she would do the horrendously dastardly deed of releasing the Sea Hag. Now there was a woman of significance. The Hag had a soul, but it was so warped that it had no conscience left. Melody had come to know the Hag pretty well during her Possession, but had not before appreciated her qualities. Maybe they could make some deal similar to what the Dastard had made.
She pushed the door cautiously open and peeked out. The way seemed clear. She stepped out and walked boldly down the hall toward the exit. Everyone would take her for Repulsive, departing after getting her Answer.
A figure stepped into the hall before her. It wore her face. It was Repulsive, returning. "Hello," the other said.
"Good riddance," Melody said, and brushed on by.
But the other followed her. "Wait! I need to change back, so I can ask my Question, and get the Answer of my life."
"Oh, too bad," Melody said. "I already used your Question."
"You what?"
"Only I forgot what it was, so maybe I asked the wrong one. I asked why do ogres crunch bones, and he said because they are hungry, and not to call him again. He seemed oddly disappointed; maybe he had expected more of you." She moved on.
Repulsive seemed stunned. "You wasted my Question? The one my whole life revolves around?"
"Oh, stop whining," Melody said smugly. What a lovely lie she had crafted on the spur of the moment! The front gate was ahead; she would soon be out.
"I couldn't believe it," Repulsive said, tears beginning to ruin her mask. "I thought no one could be like that. But they were right."
They? "Who?"
"Us," Harmony said, stepping out to bar her way through the gate.
Oh, no! Melody whirled, but Repulsive was barring her way back. She tried again to slide into limbo, but it remained blocked. They had caught her.
Well, it wouldn't do them any good. There was no way they could make her take back her stupid soul.
Chapter 16
SACRIFICE
Becka watched Castle Roogna from the orchard. "I've always liked castles," she said. "Except for one thing: They have moat monsters instead of dragons guarding them."
"Squawk?" Sim asked invisibly.
"Oh, it's nothing against moat monsters. I get along with them just fine, when I'm in dragon form. But they sort of monopolize castles. My dream is to someday have my own castle, that I can live in as a girl, and guard as a dragon. The best of both, really. Though I must admit it was sort of fun being Castle Maidragon. That's a fancier castle than I ever imagined. That will be in my dreams for years, with all its fancy turrets and walls and chambers and gardens and things. I just loved it. And that Random Factor--what a secret!"
"Squawk."
"That's right, Sim. The way Melody and th
e Dastard changed when their souls were switched is amazing. He became a decent man, and she became a mean woman. In fact, I think he was less indecent without a soul than she is. I got to know him halfway well, and he wasn't really bad, just, well, indifferent to the rights and feelings of others. He would keep his part of a bargain if he made one. The others hardly believe what I tell them, until they see for themselves. Now that he has a borrowed soul, he's amazingly decent. Maybe he's trying to make up for everything he did before. But I hope this is the last stop; you've had to carry me around too much, so I can talk to them."
"Squawk."
Becka jumped up. "You're right--they're coming out. This time they've got Melody."
Melody walked out, with Harmony on one side and an unfamiliar, ugly woman on the other. They were holding her arms so she could not escape physically. Rhythm and the Dastard, of course, were in limbo, blocking her off there. What a handful the wild princess had turned out to be, with the Dastard's talent and without a soul.
"Take us to the glade," Harmony said as they reached the orchard.
Sim curved his talons so that the four of them could fit inside an invisible temporary enclosure. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air, carrying them all.
They landed at the glade. Then they made spot introductions. "This is Becka the dragon girl," Harmony said. "And Repulsive, Rapunzel's sister, who happened to get caught up in this. Sim is invisible. Rhythm and the Dastard are in limbo. Now we have some work to do."
"Lotsa luck, sister dear," Melody said sourly. Even her appearance had changed; she looked--Becka had to delve into the terminology that her Possession by the Sea Hag had caused to infest her mind--bitchy. Her eyes were wild and her lip tended to curl. It was clear that she was not to be trusted. At the same time, there was a certain challenging beauty in the way she flung her hair, thrust her bosom, and twitched her rear. No man would be safe near her.