Sammy bounded off. "Wait for me!" Jenny cried, chasing after him. Kim followed. Her screen just seemed to go wherever she looked, exactly as if she were really in the scene, and much of the time she forgot that she wasn't. Kim heard a faint eerie music. It was enchanting, but too distant to be intelligible.
They crossed an open area. Kim saw a giant spreading acorn tree beyond, easy to climb and sit in. The cat knew exactly where to go. But Fracto chose this moment to strike with all his fell force. A solid—well, liquid—sheet of rain came down to smite them. The water smacked into her screen, blurring it; she wished she had windshield wipers.
"Sammy!" Jenny cried, diving down. The cat had gotten swept into a sudden gully washer which was taking advantage of a gully, and he was getting washed away to the side. Jenny grabbed him, but then fell into the gully herself.
More rain poured down, sluicing across the scene. Kim grabbed a handkerchief and tried to wipe her screen, but her hand just passed through it without effect How silly, to think she could affect a scene within the computer game!
"KiM!" Jenny cried, being carried along by the rushing water. She was flailing, but couldn't get free, because she was holding the cat with one hand and water was coursing in from all around.
There was a rumble of satisfaction from Fracto. He was succeeding in messing them up.
Kim followed along, unable to do anything to help. She felt really guilty, because she was the one who had set off the irascible cloud, while Jenny was the one paying the consequence. "Jenny!" she called, knowing it was pointless
But maybe she could help. She could go ahead and see if mere were any good places to get free of the gullywash. Then she could tell Jenny, and she could get out of there.
But the storm just seemed to get worse, and she just couldn't see anything other than bits of overhanging branches and more water flowing in. All the world seemed to be water!
Again she heard that eerie music. It was as if someone were singing, and playing a stringed instrument It was ethereally lovely, but still too faint to understand. The gullywash became a stream, and the stream a river. Kim tried to find a shore, or even a shallow place, but the Kites had retreated, leaving a broad expanse of water, with still more rain pelting down to trouble the surface. Jenny was being carried into a veritable sea!
Then she heard a sinister rushing sound. That sounded like—like a waterfall! Right ahead.
She hurried back to find Jenny, who was doing her best to stay afloat with the cat Her hair and clothing were matted, and her spectacles were thoroughly fogged. "You have to get out!" Kim cried. "There's a waterfall!"
Sammy perked an ear. He meowed. Jenny smiled. "He says it's only a cataract," she reported.
A cataract Naturally the cat wouldn't worry about that But it remained a serious matter for a person. "You don't want to go through that," Kim said. "Who knows where it leads!"
"I don't have much choice," Jenny said sadly. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better Companion for you. But if you move on south, maybe you can still find the Good Magician and go on with me game."
"Don't be silly," Kim said. "I'm not going to leave you here." But how could she do anything useful?
The sound of the cataract swelled. Within it seemed to be that eerie melody, not quite drowned out tantalizingly familiar. As if mere were a damsel with a dulcimer somewhere beyond. But between her and them was the crashing water. Kim floated along, trying desperately to think of something, and failing. The rain was still pouring, and a stiff wind was boosting Jenny right on toward the disaster.
Maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe it was just a little bit of rapids, and then the water would drain off to the side and Jenny could scramble out onshore. Kim went ahead to take one more look.
It was much worse man she had had any right to fear. There was a misty veil, and beyond it a plunge into a dark ocean. That seemed hopeless.
She turned back to find Jenny—and the elf was already there, being carried right into the plunge. Jenny shrieked as she floated over the brink.
Kim dived for her. Her hands caught hold of something.
Then she, too, was hauled over the brink. Instead of saving Jenny, she had just gotten herself into trouble.
They fell, seemingly endlessly. Water was all around, in columns. Below was a frightening whirlpool.
They plunged into it, Jenny was swirled away. Kim inhaled to try to scream, but breathed water. She choked.
Then something was hauling her. She struggled feebly, to no avail. Whatever it was would have its way with her.
She landed on a warm grassy bank. She blinked, seeing the head and shoulders of a man. She had been rescued!
"Jenny!" she gasped. "Jenny Elf! She's in there—"
The man dived under the water. A fluke showed as he disappeared.
A fluke?
Kim sat up, coughing out pockets of water. She was utterly bedraggled, but safe, and the rain had stopped. But where was she?
Then Jenny Elf appeared, still holding Sammy. She seemed to be swimming rapidly, but without effort, just halfway sliding across the water. Kim blinked, then realized mat Jenny was being carried by the man, who seemed not to need his arms for swimming. How strange!
The man set Jenny on the bank beside Kim. She was smaller than Kim had realized, being only about two-thirds her own height. But of course she was an elf. Other elves of Xanth were even smaller.
The man started to haul himself out of the water. "Eeeek!" Jenny cried. "You can't change here! I'm not in the Adult Conspiracy!"
"Oops," the man said. "Then I remain in merform for the nonce." He flipped up his nether section, and lo, it was a green tail. He was a triton! A man with the tail of a fish.
“Thank you for saving us," Jenny said. "I am Jenny Elf, and this is Kim, a Player in the game. I'm her Companion. if I may ask—"
“I am Cyrus Merman," the man said. "Son of Morris Merman and the Siren. My mother makes beautiful music, but she no longer makes it for strangers."
"That music!" Kim exclaimed. "That was the Siren's song!"
Cyrus looked chagrined. "Oh, you heard it! We thought no one was near. My mother's music always leads strangers to trouble, so she never—"
"She didn't know," Jenny said. "We were just passing, and then we ran afoul of Fracto, and he blew up a tempest and washed us into the Water Wing."
"The Water Wing!" Kim cried with recognition. "That's where we were heading."
"You picked a treacherous route," Cyrus remarked. "It was fortunate I happened to be near. Of course I was near because I was listening to my mother's music. I don't have a wife to keep me distracted, you see."
"I thought the Siren stopped her music," Kim said, perplexed. "I read how Chester Centaur destroyed her instrument, where the magic was."
"For a long time she wouldn't sing or play at all," Cyrus agreed. "But there are so few people in the Water Wing that it seemed safe, so she remade her magic dulcimer, and now my father and I love to listen. The music doesn't hurt anyone, it is just incredibly fascinating to men, who must come and listen to it. The problem is that they tend to forget what they are doing, and crash their ships into rocks or do other foolish things. But my father and I are used to it, and anyway, we are unlikely to drown. So we just listen and enjoy it."
"Oh, I would like to hear some more of it, before we go," Kim said. "All I heard was so faint, but I loved it"
"My aunt the Gorgon's talent affected only men, when she was young," Cyrus said. "But when she matured, so did her power, until it affected everyone, even animals. I think the same is true for my mother's talent"
"Then we should listen, before we go," Jenny said. "Because Kim wants to experience all the things of Xanth as she goes along."
Cyrus turned his handsome gaze on Kim. "What is this game you are playing?" he inquired. "You look like an attractive but otherwise ordinary young woman to me."
Kim opened her mouth, but stalled out before speaking. Attractive?
"She's Mundane," Jenny explain
ed. "She won a talent contest, and the prize was to be the first to play the demon's Xanth Game of Companions. Somebody else sneaked in and was first, so she's actually the second, but still, she's playing the game. We're going down to ask the Good Magician how to proceed, since we don't know where the prize is, or even what it is. I mean, it's a magic talent, but we didn't know what talent."
Cyrus considered. "I suspect it is a good talent, so as to provide a strong incentive for the Players. I suppose it would be especially strong for Mundanes, who otherwise can never have magic."
Kim finally found her voice. "It hardly matters, since I can never actually be in Xanth. All I can do is play a role from the other side of the screen."
"The screen?" he asked blankly.
"This one." Kim put her hand out to touch it. And froze, astonished.
"Your screen is gone!" Jenny exclaimed. "Now I remember: you grabbed my hand. Trying to stop me from going over the waterfall. But instead I pulled you down. I must have pulled you through the screen!"
"But you couldn't have!" Kim protested. "There's no direct contact."
Cyrus smiled. "Are you saying that I merely imagined hauling you to shore? It certainly seemed like contact to me."
Kim reached down to touch the ground. It was solid. She touched Jenny's shoulder. It was there. She reached for Cyrus, then hesitated.
"By all means touch me," the merman invited. "In fact, lean over the water, and I will kiss you. That should be contact enough." Was he daring her? Or teasing her? Kim decided to take him up on it. After all, she would never have another chance to kiss a merman.
"Uh, I don't think—" Jenny started, worried.
Kim leaned forward, and Cyrus leaned forward, and their two faces met They kissed. It was wonderful.
"You are an effective kisser," Cyrus remarked, smiling.
"I must be here," Kim said dreamily.
"You must have taken the second step,” Jenny said. "Now you believe in magic."
"So it seems all the way real," Kim agreed. "But I know it isn't."
"But in Xanth, illusion is part of our reality," Cyrus said. "So if you have the illusion that you are here, that is good enough for me. You must come and meet my parents."
Jenny looked alarmed. “I’m not sure—"
"But I want to hear the Siren sing," Kim said. "I'd love to meet your folks, Cyrus."
"Excellent allow me to go change. When my mother changes, she can form a sequined dress at the same time, but I have never mastered that ability. I shall return." He swam away.
"Changes?" Kim asked.
"They can turn their tails into legs," Jenny explained. "But men they are bare. As a juvenile, I'm not allowed to see a bare man. That is why I had to stop him from changing before."
"Oh. Changing from merform to manform," Kim said. Then she thought of something else. "Why were you alarmed when he offered to introduce us to his parents?"
"In Xanth, people mostly meet people just as they are," Jenny explained. "But if they bring their parents in, it means they may be getting serious."
"Serious?"
"Like maybe getting married."
"Married!" Kim exclaimed, astonished.
"He likes you. He's not married. So—"
"But I'm only sixteen!"
"So maybe he would have to meet your parents, too. Prince Dolph was still fifteen when he married Electra." Jenny smiled. "I understand they had a time trying to figure out how to signal the stork, because neither knew. But they did manage to do it."
"This is ridiculous. I'm not about to get married. Certainly not to signal any stork! This is only a game.”
"Maybe it's not a game to him. Remember, you did kiss him. That's a pretty strong sign." Jenny shrugged. "Of course I'm not party to the Adult Conspiracy, so maybe I'm all wrong."
Kim was nonplussed. She was not at all sure the elf was wrong. She liked the merman, but this was getting ridiculous. "Maybe we had better get on out of here, then."
"Maybe we had better," Jenny agreed.
They stood, and Kim became aware of two things: her clothing was sodden and chafing because of the dunking, and Jenny was not only smaller than she was, she had pointed ears and four-fingered hands. She was different not only from Kim, but from other Xanth folk.
But already Cyrus was returning. Now he was with legs, and he wore a shirt and trousers. He looked twice as handsome as before. It was too late to get away, and it would have been impolite to go without waiting. Anyway, Kim realized that she wasn't eager to separate from him quite yet. For all the mischief it might portend, that kiss had been fun. Back home, no boy had kissed her and complimented her the way the merman had.
"Right this way, ladies," Cyrus said grandly. "My folks are expecting you."
Kim wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. But she did want to meet the Siren, about whom she had read.
They followed Cyrus along a pleasant path. Soon they came to a nice little house. It seemed to be made of glass. But the glass shimmered, as if not quite solid.
Cyrus saw her looking. "Water bricks," he explained. "Lacuna's son Ryver made them for us."
Water bricks? "May I touch one?" she asked timidly.
"Certainly; they are tough. It's just his magic; he's good with water. That's a talent we respect, here in the Water Wing."
Kim gingerly touched a brick. It was soft but resilient, giving way only a small amount before resisting. Like a velvet-covered block of stone. Ryver was indeed good with water.
The door opened, and a lovely older woman stepped out. This was the Siren. "Come in, come in!" she said, "We have set the table for you."
Set the table? But Kim knew she couldn't eat, because she wasn't really here. Or could she? About all she could do was try it and see what happened.
Then the Siren got a closer look. "But you're soaking wet, both of you. Come inside; we'll have you dry and changed in no time."
Inside it was pleasantly warm. A fire was burning in the hearth. The sticks there were translucent and colorless: waterlogs, of course. Ryver wasn't the only one who was good with water.
The Siren bustled them into a lavatory whose walls were fortunately lined with opaque water bricks, and helped them out of their sodden clothing, and put them into nice fresh dresses. Jenny looked much improved; her regular trousers and jacket had made her look like a child, while now she looked more like a young woman. A very petite one, by human standards, but still ladylike.
"You look wonderful, Kim!" Jenny said.
Which was what Kim should have said to Jenny first. "You too," she said belatedly. But she sneaked a peek at the ice mirror on the wall, and saw that she did look rather nice, in contrast to her usual. Maybe the magic of Xanth was enhancing her. Too bad she didn't have that magic in Mundania!
They went out to join the family. Kim tried to remind herself that this was all just a game setting. But it did indeed seem like a friendly backwoods family, and she liked it. Maybe Fracto had done them a favor, blowing them here so that Cyrus had had to rescue them.
Morris Merman was a handsome older man, also wearnig legs and clothing for the occasion. "So you're Cyrus' young woman," he said affably.
Kim knew she should demur, but she didn't quite know how. She looked desperately at Jenny.
Jenny tried. "Kim is just passing through. This is a game to her—"
"A game!" Morris exclaimed. "That was a serious kiss!"
Kim's emotions were getting so mixed it was as if someone were stirring a big wooden spoon in them. She loved being complimented, but knew she couldn't afford to be taken seriously.
"I mean, she's a Mundane, just visiting Xanth, and—"
"A Mundane!" the Siren said.
It was sounding worse and worse. "Maybe we can talk later," Kim said uncomfortably.
But underneath her embarrassment was the wild excitement of recent developments. She had made the giant second step, and now seemed to be right in Xanth—and a handsome magical man had kissed her and called her at
tractive. Who needed to win the prize? This was fun enough.
The Siren served water cress, water chestnuts, water lemon, water rice, and water fowl, served on water lily leaves. For a beverage there was seltzer water. This was, after all, the Water Wing.
Somewhat dubiously, Kim tried her first mouthful—and it seemed real. So her belief was strong enough now to make it work. Relieved, she went ahead and enjoyed her meal.
Then they sat before the fire, and the Siren played and sang for them. It was absolutely beautiful and wonderful, and it evoked emotions Kim could not define. She wanted to be here always!
"Now we must talk," Cyrus said. "There is something I would like to ask you, Kim Mundane."
"Oh? I really don't know very much about things here." Kim had thought she knew a lot, but she had made so many mistakes that she realized she was an ignoramus.
He was unfazed. "As you know, I am unmarried. I am twenty-eight years old, and it is past time. But until now I have not had much opportunity to find a suitable woman. Now I think I see that opportunity."
Oh, no! Kim had almost forgotten about that She loved this adventure, but she knew she couldn't stay, and she knew she couldn't marry anyone here. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Especially not anyone as handsome and nice as Cyrus.
She looked at Jenny, but it was evident that the elf didn't know what to say either. Kim had once again overridden Jenny's cautions about kissing Cyrus and meeting his parents, and thus sent signals she had not properly understood.
How was she going to get out of this?
Chapter 5
PEWTER
Dug was glad to be on the way again, with a knapsack of supplies and some weapons. That business with the censor-ship had seemed like a joke, but had turned deadly serious. Maybe that was because it was all too easy to joke about serious things, avoiding really coming to terms with them. He had never much liked censorship, mainly because it always seemed to cut out the fun parts of anything he wanted to read or watch. But he hadn't taken it seriously. Until he had seen Nada Naga struggling across the deck of the ship, trying to do the job that he, Dug, had undertaken to do. That just wasn't right Suddenly he had come to believe in the importance of the mission, and with that belief, it seemed, had come acceptance of the larger situation. The realization that some genuine values underlay all the funny fantasy stuff he was seeing. Maybe he didn't really believe in magic, but he did believe in those values, and was willing to sacrifice in order to support them. Maybe most people went through life without ever discovering such values, maybe even poking fun at them, but those were empty people who didn't count.