Disclaimer:

I still don't own Xanth or any of its affiliates, no matter how awesome they are. Piers Anthony gets all the credit for the creatures and most of the puns. Only Nova and Chey belong to me so far.

Warning:

Like I said before, this was just a dream. I'll put up a chapter a week (just like my other fic) after this though. I will torture you with cliff-hangers! R&R if you want more!

Chapter 2; Forget-Me-Not Pond

It was still dark when Nova awoke, wakened by Chey, whose hand was resting on her shoulder. With a yawn, she stood, and the handsome grey took her place beneath the cottonwood tree, using its cushiony bark in the same manner she had, except he remained standing. Surveying their surroundings in the darkness, the filly stomped a hoof to wake herself up. Taking up a position beneath the sheltering branches of an old ironwood tree, the brunette crossed her arms over her stomach, listening to the nocturnal noises of the jungle around them. Nothing happened that night, and dawn lightened the sky without incident.

The sky spilt with a resounding crack as day broke. The sun was all the way up when Chey awoke, stretching luxuriously. Though he had only gotten roughly four hours of sleep, he seemed well rested, and eager to set off again. They had a quick breakfast of pies from a pie tree and washed down with some milk from the milk pods, took care of one or two private functions, and then trotted on northeast. Nova had an embarrassing encounter with things that were little- or unknown to her. Early in the morning, she stepped on a nickelpede nest, and was forced to squish all the nasty little bugs with her hooves. The nickelpedes gouged out coin-sized chunks of her flesh as they crawled up her legs, and she was forced to splash into a pond to drown them. When she splashed her way out of the pond, Chey insisted on checking her over again. There were several chunks of her hide missing, and she might have a couple scars left from this ordeal, but he concluded that she would be fine, and long as she watched her step. With a furious blush, Nova promised to watch where she put her hooves from then on.

Around mid-morning, they found a path, and though it was not enchanted, followed it, for it was going the way they wished. As they trotted in silence, Nova concentrated on keeping her two-beat gate in sync with Chey's. She had gotten good enough that she could time her gate by the sound of his, without constantly looking down at her hooves. The dappled-grey was only a couple inches taller than her, and most of it was in the shoulder, so it was easy enough to keep the rhythm. Suddenly, something wandered onto the path ahead of them. Out of caution, Chey stopped, but Nova was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn't notice.

"Nova! Look out!" At the sound of Chey's voice, the brunette snapped out of it, turning to face him as she slowed to a stop.

"What?" Something on the path made an indistinct woeful sound, and she turned to look at it. With a yelp, she stumbled back, surprised. It was a waif. The cutest, most innocent-looking, woe-begone little creature imaginable stood on the path in front of the centaurs, holding a little box of sticks with red tips.

"Match?" She pleaded, in a voice that could melt a heart of stone. Sure enough, all the nearby pebbles had melted into mush, and a boulder a little ways away was starting to look soft around the edges. Nova cast a glance back at Chey, and he met it halfway. This didn't ring quite true, but there was no harm in talking to the little girl.

"We have no money." Nova told the girl. She had no difficulty talking to the little girl, only to adults, and especially males. The waif looked disappointed, and then brightened as Nova asked, "Do you have a name?"

"My name is Woe Betide." Chey looked thoughtful as he joined them.

"Woe Betide… now where have I heard that name before?" Woe's expressive eyes narrowed, and she accidentally dropped her little box of matches, distracting Chey long enough to make him lose his train of thought. The dream locomotive choo-choo'd off into the distance as he watched, wondering. The little girl explained that she was looking for something interesting (but not in so many words), and Nova happily agreed to let her ride on her back. Then the three-some set off again, little Woe Betide talking animatedly.

"Do you have an assistant?" asked Woe. Nova looked at her curiously.

"A what?'

"You know, an assistant, helper, partner-"

"Companion?" suggested Nova.

"No, wait. I meant- spouse, "other half", next of kin-"

"Husband?" asked Nova, helpfully.

"Whatever." agreed Woe crossly. Suddenly, it clicked.

"Metria!" exclaimed Chey, coming to a halt. Both Woe and Nova looked around at him, wearing confused expressions. He explained quickly to Nova. "Metria is a mischievous demoness that is notorious for getting her words mixed up, just like that!" The little waif on the brown filly's back poof'd into smoke, reforming into a voluptuous woman whose glossy brown tresses fell fetchingly about her shoulders. There was something off about her though- her shirt was on sideways, however she managed that, and her skirt was apparently hanging from the ankles up.

"For your information, I'm not Metria. I'm her alter ego, Mentia. Metria is currently living with her husband, and being intolerably nice to people." Mentia cocked her head, putting it parallel to her shoulders. "It's about time you figured it out though. I gave you enough hints to drown a wail." Nova looked intrigued.

"What's a wail? And why did you want Chey to figure out who you were?" It was funny, that even though she was usually shy and quiet, she was talking quite freely now.

"A wail is a monster that runs on water, wailing. And you people wouldn't be nearly so interesting if you didn't know a demon was with you."

"Demoness." Corrected Chey. Mentia shrugged.

"Whatever." Chey spoke to Nova, keeping his eyes away from Mentia. It wasn't that she was unattractive, quite the opposite. Her body was, by human standards, perfect in every way. With luscious curves in all the right places, honey-colored hair cascading about her shoulders, and a bosom so full and well formed that it was probably sinful just to look at it.

"Don't pay any attention to her. If we ignore her, she'll eventually get bored and leave." Nova nodded, sending an apologetic glance back at Mentia, then the two centaurs started off again, pointedly ignoring Mentia's animated dialogue.

About halfway through Mentia's recounting of how she had met Gary Gar, Nova grew so bored; she turned to Chey and asked a direct question.

"Do you want to race?" Chey looked startled, but didn't break the trot.

"Race?"

"Yes. Say, down to that bend in the path?" Mentia had stopped talking, but now stood, floating about two inches above the brown filly's back.

"Ready, set, go!" The two centaurs grinned at one another, and took of, sprinting full throttle. In gates, they were evenly matched, having roughly the same length of stride, but in an all-out race, Chey pulled ahead quickly. Nova had never been very fast, but she enjoyed running all the same. Then, just as he reached the "finish line", Chey spread his wings, launching himself into the air. Nova pulled to a stop, watching Chey soar over the trees with awe, and a tinge of jealousy. She could have given herself wings if she wanted, but Chey would have questioned the sudden appearance of the feathery appendages. When he landed, they grinned again, both still breathing hard. Whether part human or part bird (or both), all equines loved running. It was in their blood. It was around lunchtime when their race ended, and they stopped briefly beside the trail when they found another pie tree, drinking the fresh clear water from a nearby spring. They too drank from the spring's cold bounty, and soon their hunger and thirst were satiated. Sometime during their meal, Mentia faded out, muttering something about "… boring centaurs… never do anything fun…". Nearby, they found a staff tree, and from it they took a good stout pole for Nova.

"Let's get moving." Suggested Chey, and Nova nodded. They set off again together, their hooves beating out a steady two-beat tattoo on the hard-packed earth. He had forgotten how nice it was to travel with another centaur. And, wonder of wonders, she was a pretty filly; petite of human potions, and well-muscled equine parts. She had a pretty brown-and-gold coat that glistened in the sunlight, and a brown mane to match. He fell behind a little now, watching how her mane whipped in the cool breeze. She, like all the other centaurs, had a mane that extended halfway down her back. It was a pity she wasn't winged, or even really a centaur. But, Nova made good company in the meantime, so he could live with it. She twisted to face him, slowing down fractionally to trot beside him again. She cocked her head, blue eyes shining in her quirky way that asked the question for her.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Chey smiled, and she smiled back at him as she faced forward again. The afternoon was getting warm, and both centaurs were sweating. They paused in the shade of a green-leafed weeping willow, whose leaves were slowly dripping its tears. Nova looked like she was about to say something, when she paused, looking over her shoulder into the jungle.

"What is it?" She held up a hand, silencing him as she concentrated. Her face brightened after half a moment.

"Water." She said simply, as she moved off through the shaded jungle, taking full advantage of all four hooves. Hopeful, Chey followed, folding his wings tight to his back to avoid getting snagged on branches. He found that, though their gates were similar, he had to take short detours as she slipped in between large tree trunks, for though they were similar in length of the legs; she was (true to her human portions) slimmer at the shoulder and hip than he was. Before long, they came to a small, sparkling pond, fed by two tiny waterfalls from two cold springs.

"Wait!" the stallion called out, Nova looked like she was about to splash right in. "We don't know what the properties of that water are!" Nova, chastened, made to back away from the water, but she was too close to the edge. The soft overhanging bank gave way beneath her fore hooves, and she fell into the water with a loud splash. The pond was a lot deeper than it had looked at first, for when she reached the bottom the water was up to her human stomach. She looked around, blinking bemusedly.

"Nova, are you ok?" Chey wondered what problem they had blundered into this time. She looked around at him, her blue eyes dazed.

"Nova? Who's that?" she murmured dreamily. With a grimace, he realized what it was. Lethe water. It would make anyone who drank it or touched it forget everything. He met her gaze, and saw her body stiffen momentarily. "Wow, you're handsome…" she breathed, starting to rise. It took all of half a moment for Chey to realize what was wrong. The two little waterfalls! The pond was being fed by two different springs. A love spring and a forget-spring. This was going to be awkward.

"Nova, come with me. We need to get out of here." Chey turned, starting to walk away. As he had thought, Nova scrambled after him. For some reason though, she did not approach him or touch him. It must have been her shy nature holding back the magic of the love spring. As they walked, Chey updated his newly forgetful friend. "You just fell into a pond of lethe water, and you've forgotten everything." He continued to explain their situation and where they were going as they navigated the short stretch of jungle back to the path. They reached it in a matter of minutes, and by then, her daze had cleared a little. She nodded, looking worried.

"Yes. So I've forgotten everything important. But Chey, I love you. Is there a reversal for this?" Chey had to marvel at how clearly she was thinking, even under the pressure of the emotions forced on her by the love spring. Thus far she had refrained from making physical contact with him, and was staying at least a pace away. From what he understood of love springs, their effect was limited by the consciousness of the person affected. In short, she could restrain herself from approaching him, but if he approached her, she would lack the will to resist. It was just lucky that both of them hadn't fallen in. He noticed she no longer blushed when he glanced at her, and she paid much closer attention to his words.

"I believe the only thing to do would be to ask the Good Magician. I'm sure he has a potion to nullify magic love." They traveled on until the eastern sky started to darken, and the sun hastened his progress toward the horizon. They found a suitable clearing, and ate a small meal of fruits from a cornucopia plant. Agreeing to the same arrangement as the previous night, Nova settled down to sleep, while Chey took first watch. He thought on the earlier events. He had noticed that Nova was still shy, but much more willing to talk if he initiated the conversation. It was strange, having someone love him. He knew that it was a magic love, not to be denied; yet Nova had held it off. She loved him, that was unmistakable, but that she would have wished this had she not fallen into the spring… the answer to that mystery had yet to be seen.

PS

I love you all for baring with me. Thanks for reading! *hugs readers* Stand by for the next chapter!