Long Forgotten Stories
As soon as they reached the umbrella tree, everyone started eating. Grundy had picked some very good pies, and they hadn't really realized how hungry they were. There were also milk pods from a milkweed plant to drink. It was a pretty good meal.
"Mmm," Mya said. "I really like this redberry pie!!"
"I like the blueberry," Steph said.
"Well, I like the yellowberry!" Lyndsey said. They all laughed. Grundy just sighed. He really didn't understand women!
Once they were finished eating, they stretched out on the pillows. Mya had gotten a few more on their way back over. Now there were plenty enough for all.
Grundy couldn't wait any longer. "Let's tell stories now!" he blurted out. Lucky for him, the girls were, well, girls.
"Oh yeah!" Mya exclaimed. "Stories!"
"Awesome!! Can I tell mine first?" Lyndsey asked excitedly.
"Sure!" Steph answered. Grundy was secretly a little disappointed that he wouldn't be finding out what Mya and Steph's talents were just yet, but he WAS curious about Lyndsey, and he'd waited this long, so what was a little while longer?
"Ok! So my story starts about 13 years ago, when I was a little girl. I lived right beside the…beside the…well, beside somewhere. It makes people forget about it, because it has a forget spell on it. Well anyway, it made everyone forget about me. Except my parents, of course. So all I did everyday was run around, and play. But it was kinda lonely, playing all by myself. So one day, I decided to go find a friend."
"That was probably when all my troubles started. But I'll start at the beginning. I waited until both of my parents were busy, and then I snuck off into the forest. I didn't really know where I was going, but I was going, and that was enough."
"I met a whole bunch of strange animals. But none of them wanted to be my friend. I was getting discouraged, until I met Guinever." Here she paused, and smiled. Then she picked up Guinever before continuing. "Guinever was just as confused as I was. He's a penguin/elf crossbreed. His parents met at a love spring. But as soon as that wore off, they both hated each other. And neither of them wanted Guinny. So he was all alone, just like me!"
"We became friends, fast. Guinny even helped me find out what my talent is, which is strange, for a 3 year old. The first talent I ever stole was from a Yak. They talk a lot. So, I learned how to talk." She paused again. "Too bad Yaks don't really have a good vocabulary. By good I mean…proper. Like proper Xanthians."
"Oh, don't feel bad," Mya interjected. "Steph and I don't have proper Xanthian vocabularies either!"
Lyndsey grinned, and continued. "So Guinever and I were traveling around. Unfortunately, after I stole my first talent, someone found out about me. I'm not sure what his name was, but he wasn't too happy about my being a Sorceress. He said, 'You're just a little girl. But you're a Sorceress. A Sorceress of Talents. And I'm nothing! That's not right at all. Here, look in this,' and since I was so curious, I looked right in it. That was the gourd that you found me in. I've been there for 13 years." That was apparently the end of her story.
"Aww, that's so sad!" Mya said.
"Yeah, I can't believe that guy was so mean." Then, almost as if on cue, a cloud of smoke appeared. It didn't materialize into anything, but they all knew it was a demon.
"The demon (X)(A)Nth requires a meeting with you. You will be materialized there in one day's time. In the meantime, you, drink this," he said, gesturing to Lyndsey. He held out a vile. She took it. "Drink it," he said. Afraid of the consequences if she didn't, and too afraid to ask what it was, she drank it. Then, the demon disappeared.
They all sat in silence for a few moments.
"That was odd," said Mya, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, it really was," Steph agreed.
"I wonder what I just drank," Lyndsey wondered.
"I'm sure it wasn't anything harmful," Grundy reassured. "So, apparently you have a meeting in one day. While we wait, why don't you tell your story?" he asked Mya and Steph.
"Yeah, sure," Mya said. She started talking. "So obviously, Steph and I aren't from Mundania. But we did end up there. You see, we used to live in this village by the Kiss-Me river. Everything was really nice there. Steph and I weren't sisters, but we were so close, that most people thought we were."
"In fact, since we spent so much time together, and our talents were so much the same, lots of people thought we really were sisters, but the storks messed up the delivery," Steph added. She smiled at Mya, and Mya smiled back.
"So anyway, we used to play together all the time. But we weren't always called Mya and Steph. Our names were…" she struggled, trying to remember.
"It was…" Steph said, also unable to remember.
"Well, I guess that's not important," Mya said. "So our talents were just developing. I, of course, being able to move all animate things, and Steph being able to move inanimate things. We're the Sorceresses of Transference!" Grundy's mouth gaped open.
"I never realized you had such strong talents! That's amazing!" he said.
Steph and Mya smiled. "Thanks."
"Wow," Grundy murmured. Lyndsey, of course, already knew this, so didn't comment.
"We were just discovering what our talents were. Steph could only move little things," Mya started.
"Like my mom's clothespins," Steph finished, laughing. Mya laughed too. Obviously she had been a part of that memory.
"And at the time, all I could move was myself," Mya said. "So one day, I decided to move myself out of our village. Don't ask me why. I guess it was just to cause more mischief. We did a lot of that. So I was just about to transfer myself elsewhere, when Steph toddled up. She grabbed onto my arm, and when I moved myself, my talent latched on to her too. Since I didn't have much control of my talent yet, I had no idea where we were going. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with us. We were transported to Mundania."
"Where our talents were rendered useless," Steph said. "Luck finally caught up to us, though, and we were adopted by a nice couple. They named us Steph and Mya, which were- hey wait! I remember our names! Night and Day! My new five letter name and your new three letter one!"
"Hey, that's right!! We can go back to using those now," Day said excitedly.
"Awesome!" Night said.
"Anyway, to quickly finish our story, we lived in Mundania with our foster parents for 11 years. Then, I found a game called Companions of Xanth, and here we are!"
Grundy, still thinking about the name thing, just realized how right the names Night and Day where. Steph, or Night, had long, black hair. Night-sky black, in fact. And her eyes were silvery-grey, like star dust, or the moon seen by a child. And Day, or Mya, in contrast, had blonde hair, so bright it reminded Grundy of the sun. And her eyes were light blue, like the day-sky.
"That was an interesting story!" Lyndsey said. "But if you're only here in a game, then…what happens when it's finished?" she asked.
"Well…I don't know," said Day, a bit taken aback. "Maybe that's what we were going to ask the Good Magician! And he said we have to find something that neither I nor Night can acquire. So if we find that, then maybe we can stay!"
"Yeah, but what IS that?" Night said.
"I don't know," was Day's answer.
"Maybe you can ask the (X)(A)Nth," Grundy suggested. But as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He knew that wasn't really a good idea.
"Ok, what a great idea!" Lyndsey said! Night and Day nodded in agreement.
"Maybe he'll know how to let us stay!" they both said. All the girls smiled.
Then, Guinever waddled over. He was smiling, too.
"Hey, I wonder if Guinever has a talent?" Mya asked.
"Come to think of it, I don't know!" Lyndsey said. "He can't talk, and I've never really seen him do anything!" Guinever frowned.
"Ohh, don't be sad, baby boy," Lyndsey cooed.
"It's ok Guinever," Day said, patting his head. Guinever smiled.
"He must have some sort of a talent," Grundy said. "Everything here in Xanth does!"
"Yeah, but what is it?" Night asked. Guinever frowned again, obviously unhappy about not having a talent. "Aww, don't be sad, Guinever. I'm sure you have a talent!"
"Yeah, it'll be ok!" Day said enthusiastically. "We'll figure out what it is!" Guinever smiled again.
A huge light bulb appeared above Grundy's head, making everyone realize just how dark out it was. "I think I figured out his talent. Whenever he frowns, everyone stops what they're doing, and comforts him. If Guinever's sad, his talent is that no one can do anything until he's happy! Once he's happy again, the spell is released."
"Hey, you're right!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "I always just thought it was 'cause he was so cute! I just can't stand to see him sad."
"That's because it's his talent!" Day said, laughing. Everyone else joined in.
"It's a good thing that IS his talent, or else we might have fought for longer," Night added.
"Yeah, that's right. He did break us up the first time. Then Grundy stepped in," Day said.
"Hooray for Guinny!" Lyndsey said smiling. Everyone else smiled too, including Guinever.
"But…it IS getting late," Grundy said. "We really should get to bed."
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired," Day said.
"Me too," Night agreed. It was almost impossible to see her hair now, in the dark. But her eyes glowed. It was really quite amazing.
"Sleepy," Lyndsey yawned. Her eyelids dropped over her violet eyes.
"Let's settle down then," Grundy said, and they did. Day slept beside Night, and Guinever slept beside Lyndsey. Grundy slept in the middle of them, content to have finally learned the Secret of the Sorceresses Talents. He dozed off, a smile on his face.
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As soon as they reached the umbrella tree, everyone started eating. Grundy had picked some very good pies, and they hadn't really realized how hungry they were. There were also milk pods from a milkweed plant to drink. It was a pretty good meal.
"Mmm," Mya said. "I really like this redberry pie!!"
"I like the blueberry," Steph said.
"Well, I like the yellowberry!" Lyndsey said. They all laughed. Grundy just sighed. He really didn't understand women!
Once they were finished eating, they stretched out on the pillows. Mya had gotten a few more on their way back over. Now there were plenty enough for all.
Grundy couldn't wait any longer. "Let's tell stories now!" he blurted out. Lucky for him, the girls were, well, girls.
"Oh yeah!" Mya exclaimed. "Stories!"
"Awesome!! Can I tell mine first?" Lyndsey asked excitedly.
"Sure!" Steph answered. Grundy was secretly a little disappointed that he wouldn't be finding out what Mya and Steph's talents were just yet, but he WAS curious about Lyndsey, and he'd waited this long, so what was a little while longer?
"Ok! So my story starts about 13 years ago, when I was a little girl. I lived right beside the…beside the…well, beside somewhere. It makes people forget about it, because it has a forget spell on it. Well anyway, it made everyone forget about me. Except my parents, of course. So all I did everyday was run around, and play. But it was kinda lonely, playing all by myself. So one day, I decided to go find a friend."
"That was probably when all my troubles started. But I'll start at the beginning. I waited until both of my parents were busy, and then I snuck off into the forest. I didn't really know where I was going, but I was going, and that was enough."
"I met a whole bunch of strange animals. But none of them wanted to be my friend. I was getting discouraged, until I met Guinever." Here she paused, and smiled. Then she picked up Guinever before continuing. "Guinever was just as confused as I was. He's a penguin/elf crossbreed. His parents met at a love spring. But as soon as that wore off, they both hated each other. And neither of them wanted Guinny. So he was all alone, just like me!"
"We became friends, fast. Guinny even helped me find out what my talent is, which is strange, for a 3 year old. The first talent I ever stole was from a Yak. They talk a lot. So, I learned how to talk." She paused again. "Too bad Yaks don't really have a good vocabulary. By good I mean…proper. Like proper Xanthians."
"Oh, don't feel bad," Mya interjected. "Steph and I don't have proper Xanthian vocabularies either!"
Lyndsey grinned, and continued. "So Guinever and I were traveling around. Unfortunately, after I stole my first talent, someone found out about me. I'm not sure what his name was, but he wasn't too happy about my being a Sorceress. He said, 'You're just a little girl. But you're a Sorceress. A Sorceress of Talents. And I'm nothing! That's not right at all. Here, look in this,' and since I was so curious, I looked right in it. That was the gourd that you found me in. I've been there for 13 years." That was apparently the end of her story.
"Aww, that's so sad!" Mya said.
"Yeah, I can't believe that guy was so mean." Then, almost as if on cue, a cloud of smoke appeared. It didn't materialize into anything, but they all knew it was a demon.
"The demon (X)(A)Nth requires a meeting with you. You will be materialized there in one day's time. In the meantime, you, drink this," he said, gesturing to Lyndsey. He held out a vile. She took it. "Drink it," he said. Afraid of the consequences if she didn't, and too afraid to ask what it was, she drank it. Then, the demon disappeared.
They all sat in silence for a few moments.
"That was odd," said Mya, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, it really was," Steph agreed.
"I wonder what I just drank," Lyndsey wondered.
"I'm sure it wasn't anything harmful," Grundy reassured. "So, apparently you have a meeting in one day. While we wait, why don't you tell your story?" he asked Mya and Steph.
"Yeah, sure," Mya said. She started talking. "So obviously, Steph and I aren't from Mundania. But we did end up there. You see, we used to live in this village by the Kiss-Me river. Everything was really nice there. Steph and I weren't sisters, but we were so close, that most people thought we were."
"In fact, since we spent so much time together, and our talents were so much the same, lots of people thought we really were sisters, but the storks messed up the delivery," Steph added. She smiled at Mya, and Mya smiled back.
"So anyway, we used to play together all the time. But we weren't always called Mya and Steph. Our names were…" she struggled, trying to remember.
"It was…" Steph said, also unable to remember.
"Well, I guess that's not important," Mya said. "So our talents were just developing. I, of course, being able to move all animate things, and Steph being able to move inanimate things. We're the Sorceresses of Transference!" Grundy's mouth gaped open.
"I never realized you had such strong talents! That's amazing!" he said.
Steph and Mya smiled. "Thanks."
"Wow," Grundy murmured. Lyndsey, of course, already knew this, so didn't comment.
"We were just discovering what our talents were. Steph could only move little things," Mya started.
"Like my mom's clothespins," Steph finished, laughing. Mya laughed too. Obviously she had been a part of that memory.
"And at the time, all I could move was myself," Mya said. "So one day, I decided to move myself out of our village. Don't ask me why. I guess it was just to cause more mischief. We did a lot of that. So I was just about to transfer myself elsewhere, when Steph toddled up. She grabbed onto my arm, and when I moved myself, my talent latched on to her too. Since I didn't have much control of my talent yet, I had no idea where we were going. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with us. We were transported to Mundania."
"Where our talents were rendered useless," Steph said. "Luck finally caught up to us, though, and we were adopted by a nice couple. They named us Steph and Mya, which were- hey wait! I remember our names! Night and Day! My new five letter name and your new three letter one!"
"Hey, that's right!! We can go back to using those now," Day said excitedly.
"Awesome!" Night said.
"Anyway, to quickly finish our story, we lived in Mundania with our foster parents for 11 years. Then, I found a game called Companions of Xanth, and here we are!"
Grundy, still thinking about the name thing, just realized how right the names Night and Day where. Steph, or Night, had long, black hair. Night-sky black, in fact. And her eyes were silvery-grey, like star dust, or the moon seen by a child. And Day, or Mya, in contrast, had blonde hair, so bright it reminded Grundy of the sun. And her eyes were light blue, like the day-sky.
"That was an interesting story!" Lyndsey said. "But if you're only here in a game, then…what happens when it's finished?" she asked.
"Well…I don't know," said Day, a bit taken aback. "Maybe that's what we were going to ask the Good Magician! And he said we have to find something that neither I nor Night can acquire. So if we find that, then maybe we can stay!"
"Yeah, but what IS that?" Night said.
"I don't know," was Day's answer.
"Maybe you can ask the (X)(A)Nth," Grundy suggested. But as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He knew that wasn't really a good idea.
"Ok, what a great idea!" Lyndsey said! Night and Day nodded in agreement.
"Maybe he'll know how to let us stay!" they both said. All the girls smiled.
Then, Guinever waddled over. He was smiling, too.
"Hey, I wonder if Guinever has a talent?" Mya asked.
"Come to think of it, I don't know!" Lyndsey said. "He can't talk, and I've never really seen him do anything!" Guinever frowned.
"Ohh, don't be sad, baby boy," Lyndsey cooed.
"It's ok Guinever," Day said, patting his head. Guinever smiled.
"He must have some sort of a talent," Grundy said. "Everything here in Xanth does!"
"Yeah, but what is it?" Night asked. Guinever frowned again, obviously unhappy about not having a talent. "Aww, don't be sad, Guinever. I'm sure you have a talent!"
"Yeah, it'll be ok!" Day said enthusiastically. "We'll figure out what it is!" Guinever smiled again.
A huge light bulb appeared above Grundy's head, making everyone realize just how dark out it was. "I think I figured out his talent. Whenever he frowns, everyone stops what they're doing, and comforts him. If Guinever's sad, his talent is that no one can do anything until he's happy! Once he's happy again, the spell is released."
"Hey, you're right!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "I always just thought it was 'cause he was so cute! I just can't stand to see him sad."
"That's because it's his talent!" Day said, laughing. Everyone else joined in.
"It's a good thing that IS his talent, or else we might have fought for longer," Night added.
"Yeah, that's right. He did break us up the first time. Then Grundy stepped in," Day said.
"Hooray for Guinny!" Lyndsey said smiling. Everyone else smiled too, including Guinever.
"But…it IS getting late," Grundy said. "We really should get to bed."
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired," Day said.
"Me too," Night agreed. It was almost impossible to see her hair now, in the dark. But her eyes glowed. It was really quite amazing.
"Sleepy," Lyndsey yawned. Her eyelids dropped over her violet eyes.
"Let's settle down then," Grundy said, and they did. Day slept beside Night, and Guinever slept beside Lyndsey. Grundy slept in the middle of them, content to have finally learned the Secret of the Sorceresses Talents. He dozed off, a smile on his face.
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