"Rainbow Brite, you've done me a great service, freeing me from that shadow, and I'm in your debt. I don't like being in anyone's debt. I will repay you, and soon."
"Sorrell, I want those books. Plock cancelled the sale, and you know it."
"Yes, he did. Very well." He left the room, and come back with the remaining volumes. Violet took them from him. She had already picked up the Yellow Volume. "I may be a great sorcerer, but I know when I'm out of my league."
As he spoke, Violet quickly glanced in each one. She looked up and nodded at Rainbow.
"Cheer up, Sorrell, you've done the right thing"
"Uh huh," he replied, pretending to clean his workbench. He looked up. "Are you all still here? Get out; I have work to do!"
"One more thing. Where are the things that were taken from us?"
"They're in the store room, straight down the corridor, on the way out. You'll find it unlocked."
"May we have those Starsprinkles in there too?"
"Yes, yes, take them," he replied with irritation, "I don't want to be reminded of this fiasco." He pointed at the door. "Now get out while you can!" He sounded mean as he said it, but the corners of his mouth turned up for just a second.
Rainbow smiled back, and they turned to leave. Just as she was going out the door, Sorrell said, "If you do find out who killed him, let me know. I want a piece of them."
She turned and nodded, and closed the door behind her.
They found the storeroom unlocked, so they retrieved their backpacks and the bags of Starsprinkles. Rainbow used some to recharge the Belt. The rest were quickly sorted among the Kids. Violet found her book on a shelf, and put it in her pack.
As they left the castle, they talked excitedly about the improvements to the colors on the planet they would soon be making. Patty had been silent for some time, and trailed along behind the group.
Rainbow stopped, concerned, and waited for her to catch up. As Patty walked by, downcast, Rainbow took her by the arm.
"Patty? Are you okay?" she asked.
Patty suddenly sobbed and fell to her knees before Rainbow. Her arms wrapped around Rainbow's legs.
"I'm so sorry! Please, please, forgive me!" she wailed, the tears running uncontrollably.
Rainbow knelt in the dirt beside her and hugged her tightly as the tears continued. The others, confused, gathered around, murmuring concern.
"Patty, I do forgive you, because it wasn't your fault. That Slurthie took you over. You HAD to do what it wanted. Your body mouthed the words, but your heart was strong, and you were still a part of me. Your color was in its place. It failed."
"Sh-she had a Slurthie INSIDE her?" asked Lala, horrified.
Rainbow nodded. "It tried to make me think Patty had betrayed us.But the light of the rainbow..." she looked at Patty, who was trying to dry her tears, "...the WHOLE rainbow, was stronger than its lies." She smiled at Patty. "Now dry those tears. We have a lot to do on this planet, and yours will be the most important color."
Patty shyly returned the smile. "Thanks, Rainbow. I'm better, now. But it's going to be a long time before I feel clean again."
Canary and Lala stepped to either side of her, holding her hands and talking to her in low voices as they walked away from the castle.
Using the rainbow to travel, the trip back to the clearing took only seconds. They found Troy and Mist and Indigo waiting for them. The Color Kids quickly surrounded them, everyone talking at once to their long-lost friends. The two got many hugs and kisses, and it took a long time for everyone to settle down.
Krys took some Starsprinkles and recharged On-X with them. The robot horse came to life suddenly, disoriented, thinking they were still under attack. It took some fractions of a second for him to realize the Slurthies were nowhere around, all of the Color Kids and Rainbow Brite were there, and two new people.
On-X came very close to having an emotion, as he greeted friends he hadn't seen in a very long time.
They all went back to Troy and Mist's home, not bothering to conceal themselves.
The natives were a little shorter than adult humans, with bald heads and light blue skin. They were used to seeing others, like Sorrell, Troy and Mist, but now a whole bunch of new aliens appeared, and these were dressed in the brightest clothes they had ever seen. They all wondered at what this could mean.
Rainbow approached Troy and Mist with the Books of Dal.
"Do you have some way of leaving the planet?" she asked.
"Yes, our ship is hidden nearby. We haven't been in it for a very long time," answered Troy.
"Good! I want to ask if you two will take these books back to the homeworld!" she said.
"Us? Go back there?" asked Mist.
"Everyone will be very happy to see you, just as we are," said Canary.
"Do you really want to trust us, after what we did?" said Troy.
"That was because of Murky's gloom cloud," said Buddy.
"Yes, you must have gotten an extremely concentrated dose, possibly as much as two point eight times ten to the exponent five parts per million..." added Violet.
"VIOLET!" said everyone else.
Troy and Mist laughed. "Some things never change," said Troy.
"Rainbow Brite, if you want us to, we will do it, regardless of what kind of reception we find," said Mist.
"Thank you," said Rainbow, "You'd best find a good hiding place for them until you're ready to go."
Later, Krys asked Rainbow why she had given them that mission.
"They've been apart from their friends and home for a very long time. My rainbow freed them from the gloom cloud, and while they are getting better, they are not healed yet. Going home will be the best thing for them, and returning the Books is a good reason for sending them. They can be part of the investigation there. It will give them something else to think about," she answered.
Krys was even more impressed with his friend's thoughtfulness. She always seemed to know what was best for everyone. But she never pushed. It was always your own option.
The next day, they all stood in the marketplace, the objects of wonder to the town's population. These strange, bright aliens had promised to make their world brighter, more colorful, and a better place.
And then the sorcerer Sorrell had appeared, apologising for his behavior and making payments to those he had stolen from. His words were backed up by the leader of the aliens. He then left for his castle again, after putting in a big order with several merchants (and paying in advance). So he was forgiven.
Rainbow had charged the Color Belt to its fullest, and the Kids had charged their own powers as well. In this great dust cloud it would take a lot of energy to brighten this world, and to keep it bright.
She touched the star on the Belt, a rainbow appeared, and she and the Kids took off, Krys on On-X right behind them. The natives below wondering aloud at the beauty of the rainbow. It took several hours to circle the planet, making a general color-activation, with the Kids filling in gaps and adding touches of their own.
When they finished, the were over the town, listening to the cheers of the population below, watching as they reveled in the new brightness of their world.
"Rainbow!" called Krys on On-X from some distance behind.
"What is it?" she called back.
"Look up!" he said, gesturing.
They all did, and were amazed at what they saw. Swirls and eddys of color were expanding away from the planet in all directions. Some of it mixed, some didn't. It was a beautiful sight.
"What happened, Rainbow?" asked Red.
It was Violet that answered.
"When the Belt sent out the signal to activate colors, it must have reached the space dust, and it's responding as well!" she said.
Rainbow laughed. Violet was right. An unexpected development, and one she hoped would protect this planet from the evil that had come to it once.
This adventure was over. There were still mysteries to solve, but they would wait. They needed to tell Doris what had happened, and after that they had to go home to Rainbowland. For now, she was glad in her heart that she and the Color Kids (and Krys and On-X) had brought another world from the darkness and into the light.
They soared upwards, away from the planet and the Rainbow Nebula now surrounding it, to the greater Universe beyond.