Hey, guys! After a cancer-related sabbatical, I'm ready to return with my new spinoff series: the Count's World Masks and the Art of Glitter spin-off, Masks and Glitter! I hope you enjoy it!
The sky above Starborn Valley twinkled with a thousand glittering stars, each one a kind reminder and an encouragement to the star kids living in the village below them, telling them that if they just tried hard enough and worked long enough, they could rise above to the heavens as every star dreams of, and be given the opportunity to bring joy to the people below by granting their fondest wishes. It was a tranquil night, right at bedtime when the ninjis of Starborn Valley were tucking in their charges with promises of sweet dreams and plenty of adventures the next morning.
The most difficult star kid to tuck into bed was little Etoile, one of the most restless and rambunctious star kids to ever reside in the valley. She had an endless supply of boundless energy and used it to get herself into trouble all the live-long day. As such, she was paired up with Hoshi, the most patient ninji who ever lived. Hoshi was responsible for keeping Etoile out of trouble, and though she did not often succeed, she never stopped trying, which is really all anyone could ask of her.
Right now it was most certainly Etoile's bedtime. She had already gotten it extended by listening to just one more radio program, receiving two glasses of water sandwiching one bedtime story, a nightly monster check which proved that nothing spooky was residing in her closet or beneath her bed, and one gentle lullaby. Now Hoshi was about to turn the lights out when Etoile stopped her by saying, "Hoshi?"
"Yes, my Starchild?" asked Hoshi in her most patient voice.
"What if the monster that lives in the abandoned palace comes back?"
"Oh, my sweet child." Hoshi went over to Etoile and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I promise you, nothing lives in the Crystal King's old palace except for some swoopulas and maybe a squatting duplighost or two who don't want to pay rent. Nothing wants to hurt you, I promise."
It was at that moment, unfortunately, when the alarm siren went off. It was a long, loud horn that echoed all throughout the village to warn the residents of intruders. Usually the horn only went off in times of danger, such as when Bowser had stolen the Star Rod. Lately everybody had been on edge, but Hoshi had no idea someone would raise the alarm at a time like this.
Etoile squawked, "It's the monster!"
"I promise you it isn't the monster," said Hoshi. "I'm going to go see if they need my help. Please stay in bed. If you can't sleep then you can read one of your books, but stay here." They both knew that Etoile would sneak out as soon as she could, but Hoshi had to go. It was part of keeping everyone safe.
Hoshi ran outside and saw that many of her fellow ninjis were doing the same. The house next to her belonged to Izayoi and the four star kids he minded. "Izayoi," called Hoshi, "do you know what that's about?"
"No," said Izayoi, "but I think the older kids just formed Monstar to scare away someone."
"Were Sparkle and Stardust talking about a monster?"
"A ghost, actually," said Izayoi.
Hoshi ran to the entrance of the village, where the kids who formed Monstar would go to scare away intruders. Monstar hadn't been used since the aforementioned time of crisis, and never by these particular star kids, but the children had been on edge lately and in the valley they always passed down stories of what they did in dark times, so it wasn't surprising that they were doing this now.
What was surprising, was the four characters swaggering into the village, being followed by a group of sheepish-looking star kids. There was an older goomba with thick glasses and thick eyebrows, following a red-spotted toad wearing a ridiculous leopard-print vest, a hot pink bandana, and ripped denim shorts, clutching a fire flower. She left a trail of sparkling yellow glitter in her wake. Beside them was an ordinary-looking red shy guy and a pink-shelled parakoopa wearing a phanto as a mask.
"Hey," said the toad. "What gives? We're hot on the trail of my pal's siblings in this unforgivably cold region when suddenly we get attacked by a bunch of tiny stars. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life."
"That's not saying much," said the shy guy. "You've never seen snow, either. Or ninjis. Or bumpitys. Or underground pipe tunnels. Or-"
"Yes, thank you for reminding me how sheltered I am," said the toad.
Hoshi stepped forward. "What happened? Who are all of you?"
"They're intruders," said one of the star kids, Stardust. "We saw the parakoopa and thought she was the ghost."
"It's not a ghost, it's a monster!" came Etoile's shrill voice from behind Hoshi. Then, when Hoshi turned around to see her up and out of bed, said sheepishly, "Uh... I'm sleepwalking."
"M-hm. Well, sleepwalk yourself right back to bed," said Hoshi.
"What's this about a monster?" asked the parakoopa with the phanto.
"First I want to know what you're doing here and who you are," said Hoshi. "This is a very sheltered place and we aren't used to people without an agenda just wandering in here.
"I can answer that," said the goomba. "My name is Professor Sullivan Bluth, and these are my students Dique-" he nodded towards the shy guy, who gave a slight wave- "and Ruby Spears. We're studying this toad here, Glitter Sue."
"Hi," said Glitter Sue, holding up her fire flower. "Did you know it's freezing?"
"She's a relic from a long-gone civilization brought back to life, and she's never seen snow," explained Professor Bluth.
"That's... weird," said Hoshi.
"It's a long story. You can read about it in the book Professor Bluth published about it."
"See, the phanto Ghibli- before he became part of me- has a lot of siblings. Like, a LOT. But a while ago they all got loose and scattered around the world, and now we're trying to find them all. But so far we haven't had any luck. We've been following rumors about a group of them that went up north, so we asked the bumpitys in yonder village about it, and they told us to head east."
"Maybe your siblings got eaten by the monster!" chirped Etoile.
"Go to bed, Starchild," said Hoshi sternly. Then to the group, "Come back to my house. I think we have a lot to discuss about this."
Ever since the defeat of Pixar and Marza, Professor Bluth had been following Glitter Sue as she learned about the world outside the desert. She had never seen green fields before, or forests, or snow-covered mountains, and the world was new and exciting to her. Professor Bluth wrote not only of what she told him about her village and her old way of life, but also about her interacting with the wider world for the first time. How she spoke to the toads of Toad Town, how she reacted to their civilization, their clothes (which were boring, according to her. Come on, you have bright colors and fancy patterns! Live a little!) and their zest for life. It was all so new and exciting to her.
She was never alone, though. When Professor Bluth was working his books, his papers, and his general research, either Dique or Ruby Spears watched her. Because one of them was always with the professor and the other was always doing work away from him, the two friends hadn't spent much time together since they left Dry Dry Desert. So when they heard that some phantos had been spotted up north, Professor Bluth recommended they take some time off to relax in the snow after getting settled and see Glitter Sue's initial reaction to the white north.
Inside Hoshi's house, with Etoile listening at the door, they regaled Hoshi with the story of how they met, how Glitter Sue was liberated, how Ruby Spears came to be, and how they came to decide on their quest. Hoshi was riveted, as she had never heard of such things happening, and Etoile doubly so, as she had never even imagined such things.
"Astounding," said Hoshi when the story was finished. "You've all had quite the adventure... I'm only surprised it's brought you up to our little nowhere valley."
"It's not nowhere," said Glitter Sue. "It's your home, and that makes it the most important valley in your world. Even if the snow does get into my shoes and makes my feet miserable. Can I use that fire flower now?"
"Thank you," said Hoshi. "And no, please not inside. But I still don't quite understand exactly what you're going to do here."
"Look for more people like Ghibli," said Ruby Spears, indicating her mask. "There have to be some around here somewhere."
"Perhaps," mused Hoshi. "I wonder if the children have seen anything. It might explain why they're all so on edge lately. You'll have to wait until morning, though, as it is far past my Starchild's bedtime." Hoshi added that last part pointedly as she glared at the door to Etoile's bedroom, knowing that the little star kid was peeking at them from the crack beneath the door.
"Thank you," said Professor Bluth. "I know this means the world to Ruby Spears."
"Now, it's getting late and I think you need to get some sleep, as well. There's a Toad House in this village, but I don't know that they have four beds. If you like, one of you can stay here while the rest of you go there."
"Sounds perfect," said Ruby Spears. "We'll have a slumber party just like when you and Nelvana were undergrads, eh, Dique?"
"Actually," said Dique, "if no one else minds, I'd like to stay here."
"Fine with me," said Glitter Sue.
Professor Bluth gave Dique a concerned look. "If you're sure."
"Yeah," said Dique. "I'm just really tired, y'know?"
"Uh... okay, I guess." Ruby Spears stood up. "See you in the morning, then."
"Yeah... yeah, the morning. Good night."
After thanking Hoshi for hearing them out, Glitter Sue, Professor Bluth, and Ruby Spears left for the Toad House. Despite his insistence that he was fine on the couch, Hoshi insisted he take her bed and she got some pillows and a blanket for herself on the couch. It didn't matter in the end. Both of them were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.
The next morning, Dique woke up to the delicious smell of a Yummy Meal. The house only had four rooms- two bedrooms, a bathroom, and the main room that contained the sitting area, a small kitchenette, and a dining table. When he stepped out of Hoshi's bedroom he saw Hoshi at the oven frying up an iced potato with a strange leaf, with Etoile sitting at the table and grinning excitedly.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Hoshi turned to Dique and smiled. "Etoile has been so excited. Every five minutes she asks, 'Is our guest up?' 'Can I go wake up our guest?' 'When do you think our guest will wake up?'" She turned to Etoile. "He's up now, but mind you don't pester him too much, Starchild."
"Okay," said Etoile. Then he turned to Dique. "Are you really a shy guy?"
"Yes," said Dique with a warm chuckle as he sat down at the table.
"What do shy guys look like under the mask?"
"Etoile!" Hoshi squawked. "That is a very personal question you shouldn't be asking!" Then she looked at Dique apologetically. "I am so sorry, she doesn't quite understand some boundaries yet, you know how kids are..."
"Oh, I understand," said Dique. "Believe me, I get those questions all the time and I'd much rather hear a curious inquiry than a nasty, 'What? You got somethin' to hide, ya freak?"
Etoile's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. She hadn't considered that her question was intrusive and was mortified by the realization of what she had done. Sensing her embarrassment, Dique quickly said, "You know, I've never met a star kid before either. Is it true that you're going to grow up to grant wishes?"
Almost immediately the embarrassment was gone as Etoile quickly said "Yeah! I'm going to grow up and jump into the Star Road and when I do I can grant wishes and if I grant enough wishes then I can become a Star Spirit like Skolar and Misstar, and I'm gonna be a star spirit too just like them! I can already grant teeny tiny wishes and maybe if I'm good I'll be jumping real soon!"
Dique laughed. "Wow, that's so cool. If I could grant wishes that would make me so happy. Right now the only wishes I can grant are related to people who desperately want to know what food people in Dry Dry Desert ate regularly a thousand years ago."
"What did they eat?"
"A lot of dried shrooms," said Dique.
Hoshi came over to the table with three Yummy Meals. She gave one to Etoile, one to Dique, and kept one for herself.
"So," said Dique between bites. "You say there's a monster?"
"Yeah," said Etoile with her mouth full. She swallowed and continued, "it's made up of like a million faces all stuck together. It comes down to the village and tries to gobble up star kids!"
Hoshi shook her head. "I keep telling you, it's nothing to worry about."
No sooner had they finished eating when there was a knock on the door and, before getting an answer, it was thrown open and Glitter Sue strutted into the room. "Yes, yes, I have returned," she said, giving a regal wave to her surroundings. "You may applaud."
Ruby Spears came in behind Glitter Sue and immediately went to stand by Dique. "She's been in a mood all morning. Sometimes she gets full of herself, eh?" She nudged Dique and chuckled, and Dique could see Nelvana's grin behind Ghibli. He forced a chuckle back, then got up and went to the sitting area where Hoshi set up a couch and two easy chairs. He sat down in one chair and watched the door.
"I used six blankets last night and I'm still freezing!" announced Glitter Sue. She was still waving the fire flower, just daring anybody to tell her not to use it.
Professor Bluth shut the door behind himself when he came in. "Good morning," he said. "We've come to ask you about the monster."
"We were just talking about that," said Dique, staring right at Professor Bluth as Ruby Spears came up beside him.
Glitter Sue flopped down on the couch and stretched out lengthwise. At that Hoshi winced, because before she could caution anyone the couch was covered in glitter. "Yeah, what kind of monster is it? Does it have giant fangs and claws and a long tail full of spikes?"
"No," said Etoile. "It's made out of a million faces." He floated over to Ruby Spears and went in a circle around her head. "It looks kinda like you."
Glitter Sue snapped her fingers. "Bingo," she said. "I suspected as much. And when did it show up? Was it, say... four months ago?"
Etoile counted backwards in her head carefully before saying, "Yeah, yeah! It did!"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Glitter Sue to Ruby Spears.
"My siblings!" Ruby Spears' excitement was palpable.
"Fantastic," said Glitter Sue. We'll launch an immediate expedition to, uh, the place where you said the monster comes from."
"Shiver Mountain,"' said Hoshi. "Do you really think the monster the children speak of is there?"
"I do," said Ruby Spears. "I can feel it in my gut."
Glitter Sue jumped up, sending a cascade of glitter down onto the floor. "Then let's be off!"
Ruby Spears nudged Dique. "Climbing a mountain, won't this be fun? Remember climbing Mt. Rugged back when we were first heading to the archaeological dig where we met Ghibli? That was so cool."
"Yeah," said Dique. "You didn't like it so much at the time."
"Well, I never climbed it," said Ruby Spears. "Just Nell. But I remember it, it was kind of annoying. Her wings make it easier, though. She practically carried you at some points!" Ruby Spears laughed.
Dique gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah... let's go."
Traveling to Shiver Mountain didn't take too long, and since they were using the worn path it wasn't a trudge through the snow until they got there. In the meantime, Glitter Sue and Ruby Spears were gushing over the snow as Professor Bluth and Dique quietly followed.
"I just can't get enough of it," said Glitter Sue for the tenth time. "I mean, I hate it, but I also kind of love it? It's so weird. And cool."
"I know," said Ruby Spears. "It's like cold, wet sand!"
"Is this really water?"
"Yeah, it's frozen water that attached itself to dust particles to fall gently to the ground."
"Wow," said Glitter Sue. "That's a lot of dust."
"Watch this." Ruby Spears bent down and picked up a clump of snow, which she packed into a snowball. Then she hurled the ball at Glitter Sue and beaned her directly in her cap.
Glitter Sue yelped, and then laughed. "What's that for?"
"Snowball fight," said Ruby Spears. "Nell and Dique used to have them all the time. Dique usually won, Nell would surrender by hiding in her shell! Isn't that right, Dique?"
"Huh?" Dique looked like he had just snapped out of a trance. "Uh... oh, yeah. I guess."
Behind the mask, Ruby Spears frowned. Then she turned to Professor Bluth. "Hey, uh, why don't you and Glitter Sue go ahead? I need to take care of something real quick."
"Sure," said Professor Bluth, who then waddled ahead of Dique to join Glitter Sue. The two of them began speaking in hushed whispers as they continued on the path. Meanwhile, Ruby Spears took Dique aside.
"What's with you? You're like a million miles away."
"Huh? Oh. Oh, sorry. I just... I'm not so good around strangers."
"What do you mean, strangers? I've known you for years!"
Dique huffed. "Yeah, but how long have I known you? Just a few months, and that whole time you're acting like we're best friends and you kind of are my best friend, but you're different at the same time. You're more awkward sometimes, and you don't react the same way you used to for some things. Like snow. Nell was never excited about snow unless she was in the middle of a snowball fight. I never know what you're gonna do or how you're gonna act, and sometimes I think you're still Nell, but you're a different person and it's weird. I kind of miss her a lot, and that feels silly because you are her, but you're also not, and it's so confusing."
Ruby Spears was quiet. At first it seemed like a natural quiet as she was taking in what he said, but the longer the quiet lasted the more Dique realized he had said something he shouldn't have. Then the silence lasted even longer, and Dique began to wonder if he had said something so horrible it was shocking and unforgivable.
Finally, Ruby Spears spoke: "Dique, I'm sorry."
"Uh... you are?" Dique was not expecting that.
"When a phanto joins with another being, they create a new being that's the sum total of the two individuals. Since I'm so much like Nell and I have all of her memories, I tricked myself into thinking you would see us as the same person. But I'm not. I'm similar, but just different enough that it's uncomfortable for you. I'm sorry that I expected everything to be exactly the same without taking the time to get to know you as myself, and not just Nell with extra pieces."
Then Nell put her hands on the mask and started to take it off. Immediately Dique said, "No, wait! You don't have to-" but it was too late. The phanto was off. The black tentacles that had bore into Nelvana's skull had retreated and disappeared, secreting a protein that sealed the holes like they had never been there. There in the snow stood Nelvana the parakoopa and Ghibli the phanto.
"Hi," said Ghibli in an awkward cadence. "Uh... do you... remember me?"
"Of course I do," said Dique warmly.
"So, here's me," said Nell. "I feel kinda... hollow."
"You don't have to do this," said Dique. "I feel better just talking out my feelings."
Nell shook her head. "No, no, I want to. I really rushed into being Ruby Spears. It was so sudden, and then when she existed she didn't want to stop existing, but I really didn't stop to think what life would be like. I'm happy, though. Besides, it's not forever. I just want to spend time with you, and if it's easier for you to spend time with me as Nelvana then so be it."
"I really appreciate it," said Dique. "Honestly. It means a lot to me."
"Thank you." Nell nodded once. "Now, let's catch up to the others."
They met Professor Bluth and Glitter Sue just as they crossed the threshold of the secret passage in Shiver Snowfield to start up Shiver Mountain. Glitter Sue did a double take when she saw that Nell and Ghibli had separated. "Hey," she said. "You're two."
"Yeah," said Nell. "Me and Dique hashed it out. He wanted to spend time with me as me, not me as Ruby Spears.
"Yeah," agreed Ghibli. "And Dique never got to know me as me, so when Ruby Spears acts like me, it's like a stranger and not like two friends are one friend."
"Okay, cool," said Glitter Sue. "Now let's hike this mountain. Maybe the effort of dragging my feet through the snow will warm me up enough where I can save this bad boy for later." She tucked the fire flower into her vest.
"Professor Bluth, are you gonna be okay?" Nell was eyeing the path ahead of them. It had a lot of steep, icy stairs coming up. "It looks a little harsh."
"Don't worry about me," said Professor Bluth. "I've climbed much harder mountains in my day."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Professor, but your day might not be as in the present as you want it to be."
"And how exactly would you like me to take that?"
"Never mind," said Nell. "Come on, Dique, let's roll."
The trip up the mountain was relatively uneventful. There weren't a lot of people living here since the Crystal King's reign was abruptly ended by Mario. Sadly, there was no sign of a monster with a million faces as Etoile had described, which made Ghibli's spirits sink. The whole way up, Dique and Nell discussed what they expected to find, things they had found in the past, and things they might yet find someday. Glitter Sue enjoyed sprinkling her glitter on the ground as they walked so she could see it twinkle in the snow, and Professor Bluth simply pressed onward, focused on their goal of reaching the top.
Eventually, Dique turned his attention from Nell to Ghibli. "How are you holding up?"
"Just fine," said Ghibli. He had been quiet the entire trip up the mountain until this point.
"That's good. I guess it's pretty easy for you to travel when you don't have to slog through snow."
"Yup."
"You're not too cold?"
"No. How did you sleep?" It was obvious by his tone that he was trying to make small talk and didn't quite know how.
"Just fine. The kid wasn't as noisy as I thought she might be. Cute kid. Says she can already grant wishes. Can you imagine?"
"Mm."
Dique then gave Ghibli a break and turned his attention back to Nell. "So what did you guys do for breakfast?"
"We woke up and there were like ten ice potatoes just lying around," said Nell. "So I just ate one."
"Oh, weird. I thought that only happened in Shiver City."
"That's what the tour book said, but here we are!" Nell laughed. "Need me to carry you?"
"Nah, I'm good. Did you save any potatoes?"
"No, sorry. They are so good."
Finally the five of them reached the palace. It was still standing proudly, though signs of disrepair were starting to show. There were some cracks in the ice, and as there was no longer a front door they could see straight into the main room, and how dilapidated it was starting to look.
"Here we are," said Professor Bluth. "Before we go in, remember that there used to be duplighosts in here, so if you see two of anybody be sure to ask a question only the real one could answer."
"We should have a code word," said Glitter Sue. "Like glitteriffic."
"Sure," said Dique. "Only not that, because it's stupid."
"Yeah, but now it's stuck in my head," said Nell, "so if we think of a different one all I'll be able to think of is glitteriffic."
"Ha ha," said Glitter Sue, "you're stuck with my lame idea."
From inside, the palace was not much worse than it had appeared. There was a glass wall running down the center of the entryway. It looked like a mirror reflecting the room, but though the doors, pillars, and wall decorations were mirrored perfectly, the party itself had no reflections. "Curious," mused Professor Bluth as the group took in their surroundings.
"Wow," said Glitter Sue. "So this is a palace, huh?" She sprinkled some glitter on a pothole in the icy ground. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"Weren't Dry Dry Ruins still around back in your day?"
"Well, they weren't called ruins back then, and yes they were, but I never went there. I never had any business there."
"Come on," said Dique to Nell, "let's check out these doors."
"I bet there's some cool stuff on the other side." Nell turned to Ghibli. "You wanna look?"
"No, thanks," said Ghibli. "I, uh... I'm going to stay with Professor Bluth and Glitter Sue."
"Suit yourself," said Nell. "Hey, Professor, me and Dique will be right back."
As soon as the door they went through closed behind them, Ghibli let out a frustrated grunt.
"Problem, Floatyman?" asked Glitter Sue, positioning herself right under Ghibli so she could look straight up at him.
"I hate this!"
"Hate what?"
"Being Ghibli." There was a definite pout in its voice that was almost cute, if it wasn't at the cost of its happiness. "It was so cool being Ruby Spears. She's cool, and confident, and smart, and I'm awkward and weird."
"But smart," offered Glitter Sue.
"You're plenty of things," said Professor Bluth.
"But not the things I want to be. I hate being alone. I miss my siblings. I miss Toei."
That hit hard on the listeners. Toei had been killed when Count Bleck and his minions helped Glitter Sue and the archaeologists stop it from fusing with Dique and using a dragon skeleton to amass enough power to rule the world. Toei had died after Ghibli first fused with Nelvana to become Ruby Spears, so it hadn't yet gone through the grief of losing its sibling on its own. And even though someone you love betrays and hurts you, that doesn't automatically make you stop loving the person they were before.
Finally, Glitter Sue spoke in a quiet voice, unusual for her. "Look. We're gonna find them. There's 998 phantos still out there, it's not like we can go the rest of our lives and never see at least one. That's just math."
"Heh..." Ghibli let out a weak chuckle.
"But we do have a thorny problem," said Professor Bluth, "and one quite unlike the problems I'm used to handling. On the one hand, Dique is uncomfortable with Ruby Spears because he misses his friend. On the other hand, Ghibli is uncomfortable not being Ruby Spears. So whether she exists or not, someone is going to be unhappy."
"That's rough," said Glitter Sue.
As the three of them pondered, they heard a low rumbling sound coming from the other side of the glass.
"What was that?" Ghibli yelped.
"I don't know," said Professor Bluth. "But if we're lucky, it'll be the monster with a thousand faces."
Meanwhile, Nell and Dique had found a room with dinosaur statues and were examining them. They had begun to crumble in the extremities, but were still recognizable and the good craftsmanship that went into them was clearly visible.
"So," said Dique. "What's it like being Nelvana again?"
"Weird," said Nell. "I keep trying to remember things that happened to Ghibli, but I can't really recall them clearly. It's like I only have a memory of the memory, but not the memory itself. You know what I mean?"
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Like a book. Like if you have a book, you can open it and read whatever part you want whenever you want. But then you give the book away, only you forgot something in it. Now you can't read the book, you can just remember what you've read but not word for word. And if there's a part you forgot to read before you gave it away, you can't remember it because you never knew it. I can only remember things Ruby Spears thought about, but I don't have any memories of Ghiblis she never recalled.
"So can Ruby Spears remember everything that happened to Ghibli?"
"Yes. And it's weird when she remembers contradictory things. She remembers Nell going off to college as if it happened to her, not someone else. But she can't think of me as herself. I'm someone else to her."
"You're making my head hurt."
Nell poked one of the statues. "Are these reznors?"
"No," said Dique. "They're Albino Dinos. I had one in my Intro to World History class when I was a freshman. Nice guy. He says they're related, though, like shy guys, bandits, and snifits."
"Cool cool."
They were both quiet for a while as Dique inspected the statues and Nell watched him. After a few minutes, Dique looked over his shoulder. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. You just got quiet and I didn't want to intrude."
"I was just distracted. I guess it's been a while since we've talked."
"Yeah..." Nell's voice was definitely sad.
"What?"
"It's been awhile since you've seen me, but not since I've seen you."
That realization was abrupt on Dique. "Oh. Oh, jeez, sorry."
Nell sat down. "I don't know if this is going to work."
"What?"
"Us being friends. Ever since Ruby Spears, you haven't wanted to hang out with me. I wanted to go on like nothing changed, but that's not true. I changed. And you're uncomfortable with that, I get it, but the thing is... I still want to be her. And I want to be your friend, too. And with us hanging out now, things are different. I can't articulate how, but they're different."
Dique sat down across from her, so his feet were sticking straight out and almost touching hers. "Maybe I didn't try as hard as I should have to get to know her."
"You shouldn't have to do something you're not comfortable with just to make other people happy."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't just never try new things solely because I'm uncomfortable. If that were true, I would have never studied archaeology and I wouldn't be traveling the world with my best friend, my professor, and some weird middle-ages throwback. I never imagined I could be doing something so cool. So if you want to be Ruby Spears, be Ruby Spears, and I'll just have to get to know her as well as I know you. I just have to stop thinking of her as a complete stranger... she's just a partial stranger, after all."
Nell smiled and she reached out her right hand. Dique pressed his little stub hand into her palm and they both held that, their gesture of friendship and acceptance.
The moment was cut short by a sudden rumbling that came with the shaking of the ground beneath them, as if a giant had grabbed the castle and started shaking it violently. "What is that?" Dique jumped up.
"I don't know," said Nell, also getting up, "but we'd better get back to the others quick!"
Glitter Sue tapped the glass when the faint rumbling began, before it made its way to Nell and Dique. "Hey, monster," she cooed, "come on out and say hi to Ghibli."
"Whether or not it's my siblings, there's got to be something over there," said Ghibli.
"If it's not, do you still want to say hi?"
The door on the far side of the glass opened and out jumped a white clubba, slamming the door behind him. He charged the glass and slammed his body through it, shattering the divide and sending broken glass cascading to the ground.
Professor Bluth grabbed Glitter Sue's vest with this teeth and yanked her back as the clubba came charging. "Outta my way!" shouted the clubba.
"What is that," said Glitter Sue, seemingly unaware of the blanket of broken glass or Professor Bluth's teeth on her vest.
"You'd better get outta here!" the clubba said as he ran for the entryway. "That thing's coming back! I thought I could smash it but it's too powerful!"
As the clubba ran, he collided with something unseen and fell backwards before scrambling to his feet and running off. The thing he hit had been floating in midair, but it fell down flat on the ground and barely avoided getting stepped on.
Ghibli floated over to the spot where it fell, and as it got up they all realized that it was Etoile the little star kid. "Etoile? What are you doing here?" asked Ghibli with much surprise.
"I couldn't wait to see if you were going to kill the monster," said Etoile. "You're not the first ones to come up and try."
"I see that," said Glitter Sue. "You're gonna get in trouble if your ninja mom or whatever finds out."
"I'm gonna get super grounded," said Etoile. "Oh, man, I forgot about that."
"You're welcome."
The rumbling got louder, and then there was a shake so violent it knocked Glitter Sue and Professor Bluth onto the ground. That's when Dique and Nell came rushing through the door they initially left through. "Is everything okay?" asked Nell. "I felt rumbling!"
"How did that not knock you down?"
"It knocked me into the door and then I opened it."
"It knocked me into her and then she opened the door," said Dique.
The door through which the clubba disappeared began to creak as a large, twisted hunk of ice began sliding through it. The ice was nearly opaque as it made its way into the chamber. Finally the wall cracked under the strain and a section of it burst and fell to the ground, revealing a strange shape of ice consisting of three elongated curves, one sticking up and two on the ground, like a propeller made of hooks. Clinging to the side of the top hook was the Crystal King. His blue robe was tattered, his ice crown was cracked, and his glowing yellow eyes were angrier than ever, but it was clearly him despite the fact that he was still invisible.
"What are you weirdos doing in my palace?" bellowed the Crystal King.
"What are you doing in your palace?" replied Nell. "I thought you were dead."
"Sadly, I was. But then I recovered and am ready to take back my rightful place as king of this region!" He threw a bolt of ice which knocked her back onto her shell.
Dique grabbed Nell and pushed her upright. "Hey! What's that for?"
"That's for breaking my home!"
"That so wasn't us," said Glitter Sue. "It was a clubba and then you! We're just standing here!"
Etoile, who was hiding in the back of the group, edged her way over to Dique. "Psst! That thing! It's the monster!"
"Really?" Dique whispered back. "I don't see the faces."
"I didn't at first. It wasn't like that before. But look at the ice!"
Dique squinted and saw that the ice was not completely opaque. Then his eyes widened and he reached up and tapped Ghibli. "Ghibli! Ghibli, look! At the ice!"
"What?" Ghibli looked at the ice, puzzled, but then saw it, too. Beneath the ice, just barely visible, were the faces of many phantos, frozen with their expressions twisted in terror and agony. "It is! It's my siblings!"
"What, these?" The Crystal King tapped the ice he was hanging off. "They showed up one day. Strange creatures, just roaming around, tightly packed together. At first I thought they were going to do something, but then when they didn't, I thought, well, why not? Why shouldn't they do something? So now they're mine."
"They're not yours, though!" Ghibli tried to make its voice sound forceful, but it came out as a nervous squawk. "They're my siblings!"
The Crystal King let out a massive gust of icy breath at the group. Nell grabbed Ghibli and Dique grabbed Etoile, and the four of them just barely got out of the way. Glitter Sue, who was unfamiliar with ice breath, was hit, as was Professor Bluth, freezing them both in an ice block.
"Wow," said Glitter Sue from within the ice. "I honestly did not think it was possible for me to hate ice even more than I already did, but you know what? I hate it even more."
The Crystal King summoned three crystal bits to flank him. Ghibli began to shake. Dique whispered to Etoile, "Get out of here. If you can't get back to the village safely then stay outside but get out of here."
"No, wait," said Nell. "I have an idea." She held up Ghibli. "Do you want to be Ruby Spears again?"
"What? Uh, yes! Yes, I do!"
"Fantastic." Nell put Ghibli on her face, and an instant later he had dug his hidden tentacles into her brain once again, forming Ruby Spears.
"Oh, that's weird," said Ruby Spears. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that."
From up on the monster, the Crystal King gagged. "Oh, that is disgusting. I'm going to hit you all extra hard for making me look at that."
"What's your plan?" asked Dique.
"Can you run interference?" asked Ruby Spears.
"What?"
"You're agile and quick. Keep him distracted."
"Oh. Oh! Yeah, I can do that."
The Crystal King was sucking up the bits he summoned. Dique charged him, zig-zagging as he ran, stumbling over the debris while broken glass crunched under his shoes. The Crystal King fired, but Dique was too agile for him and missed all three times.
Meanwhile, Ruby Spears pulled Etoile close. "Ghibli heard that you might be ready to jump into Star Haven, right? That means that you can grant wishes."
Etoile gulped. "Um, sort of? I mean, not really big wishes, and I'm not good at them yet. But I will be! Someday soon!"
"I don't need a big wish. I just need to be a tiny bit stronger than I am now."
"Uh... I can try. You just have to wish."
Ruby Spears clasped her hands together, bowed her head, and said, "I wish I was just a little stronger."
Etoile closed her eyes and circled around Ruby Spears' head, sending just a smattering of star dust down onto her. "Okay, I think that's it... do you feel any different?"
"No," said Ruby Spears. "But check this out." She pulled herself into her shell charged up for a second, and then went careening across the room, smashing into Glitter Sue's ice prison. It cracked right in half and fell apart in an instant.
Glitter Sue threw her limbs out. "Oh, yes! I'm slightly less freezing!"
Ruby Spears poked her head out of her pink shell and said, "Isn't it about time to use that fire flower?"
"I've been waiting for one of us to suggest that." Glitter Sue pulled out the fire flower, jumped behind Professor Bluth, and let out a spray of fireballs that melted both Professor Bluth's ice shell and the ice surrounding Ghibli's siblings, not to mention knocking the Crystal King down on his backside on the floor.
As the ice melted away, the phantos trapped inside it began to spread out and swirl around. They were still clustered together but they were no longer positioned in the awkward hook propellor shape. Immediately they clustered around the Crystal King, pummeling him like he was an interloper that had stolen their key, until he cried out and ran from the chamber, metaphorical tail firmly between his legs.
"Great plan," said Dique, rushing to give Ruby Spears a congratulatory hug.
"I couldn't have thought of it split up," said Ruby Spears. "Nell is a great thinker but sometimes she needs a little more."
"She could have thought of that," said Dique. "I mean, if I had mentioned what Etoile told me."
He looked up at Ruby Spears, and from the angle at which he was standing, he could see her smiling behind the mask. "What?"
"You hugged me."
Dique looked surprised. "Yeah... I guess I did."
"Maybe you're not as uncomfortable around me as you thought. Maybe you were nervous and just overthought it."
"Maybe."
Glitter Sue came up between them and threw her arm over both their shoulders. "Well, I'm glad it worked out for both of you, but do you think we can leave? I'd like to not spend the night here or be walking down the mountain when it starts to get dark."
"I can't leave without my siblings," said Ruby Spears.
The gaggle of phantos, hearing this, came sliding back in through the hole in the wall. "Hello," they said in unison.
"Hi, guys," said Ruby Spears.
Professor Bluth was muttering quickly under his breath as his eyes darted up and down the shape. Then he said, "By my calculations there are twenty-five phantos here."
"That's right," said the mob.
Glitter Sue started counting on her fingers. "So one thousand minus two is 998, minus twenty-five is 973. There are still 973 phantos out there."
Ruby Spears got up on her tiptoes and held her hand out, which was absorbed into the mass of phantos. "Why did you go north?"
"We were afraid," said the phantos. "We did not want to fulfil our duty. But we were afraid of the repercussions. We went here, as far away from the desert as we could think, where the tribe would not find us."
"The tribe is gone," said Ruby Spears.
"Except for me," said Glitter Sue, "And I don't care what you do."
"Do you want to stay here?" asked Ruby Spears. "Or do you want to come with me to find the rest of you? Or do you want to go back to the desert?"
The mass hummed quietly for a few moments. Then it said, "We want to stay here. It is cold but it is cozy. We are... happier here than we were."
Ruby Spears closed her eyes and leaned forward. She was enveloped gently by the mass who surrounded her completely in a loving embrace. "It helps to know where you are," she murmured.
"Will you stay?"
Ruby Spears shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. I need to know where the rest went. There are so many... I just have to know."
"We understand." The mass slowly receded, letting Ruby Spears stand on her own. "We will miss you."
"This isn't goodbye forever," said Ruby Spears. "Just... goodbye for now. We'll see each other again."
"Please tell us if you find more family."
"I will."
Etoile had been cowering behind Dique again, but slowly peeked out from behind him. She cautiously approached the mass and looked at him with a furrowed brow. "You know," she said quietly, "this guy isn't as scary as I thought."
"I am not scary," said the mass. "I am friend."
"I guess I won't mind if you stay up here," said Etoile. "And... maybe not if you come down to the village sometimes. During the day. When it's not so dark and spooky."
"Speaking of which," said Professor Bluth, "We'd better get you home before your guardian completely loses her mind with worry."
"Oh, I am so grounded," mumbled Etoile.
Ruby Spears flapped her wings and took to the air. "Goodbye! Goodbye Williams! Goodbye
Warner! Goodbye George Pal! Goodbye, Hanna! Goodbye- oh, for goodness' sake. Goodbye, everybody!"
And so, with only 973 more family members to find, the group set off. First to return the child, and then on to the next adventure, the one that would bring the family even closer.
Hope you liked it, and I'll be back soon with the next episode... okay, okay, yes, April Fool's. This isn't really my new series that I'm writing instead of the Count's World. I also can't say when I'll be back with what I promised, but I will be back. I'm still struggling with cancer and it's still kicking my butt. But it's all going to work out :)