Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inkhear/Inkspell characters--- but Calamita isso mine!
A/N: Here's the next chapter, and I know it's been like centuries since i last reviewed, but it's spring, and I've got tons of sports and other end-of-school junk happening. And about that last review with the "angry mob", SORRY! Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Oh, and I don't know if you see it, but I think there's something funky about the font, so I made it bold.
Chapter 9
The boat kept going, but at a slower pace than before. There was an uncomfortable silence among them, silently suggesting the danger they were in. They all sat so still, the only thing that gave off a sign of life was when they looked at each other accusingly— as if someone had to take the blame for this, though the blame was for everyone to share.
Meggie motioned Farid over, all the while thinking of their situation. She began to get so lost in her thoughts, she was startled when Farid whispered:
"What do you think we should do, Meggie?"
"I honestly don't have anything brilliant in mind. Do you?"
"Well, we should find the nearest island," Farid replied.
"But Capricorn and Calamita are bound to find us— they each have before," Meggie replied, stating the obvious.
"Yes, but it'll give us a little more time..." Farid replied, sounding skeptical himself.
Together, they sat thinking for a while. All plans they could think of either wouldn't work, or wouldn't work five minutes into the plan. It was frustrating, and felt like all the time at sea had stupefied them— if that was even possible.
After much consideration of the idea, and much regret of bringing it up, Meggie said,
"We've reached a dead end Farid... the only thing I could think of is having Orpheus write us something."
"I guess your right, but think of this: we've been gone for at least a month now, and Orpheus must be furious—"
"I know we don't have much time before Capricorn finds us, but its worth a shot!" she said eagerly.
"That wasn't my point— but that's true too. Though my point was if we go back, Orpheus will be in a rage that I've been gone so long— after all, where has his servant been?" he replied.
"Yes, but don't you remember why you became his slave, Farid? It was because you wanted him to write you something to bring Dustfinger back, but he's here with us already!"
"Yes, but he'll want a slave once again to write these words!" Farid replied, raising his voice. Meggie hesitated, but she wasn't finished yet:
"But we could try threatening him," Meggie said, ending the discussion with a small beckoning to the staff.
Capricorn and his crew had been floating in the water for hours on end. They had looked around for a boat, but none had ever traveled this far. Their helplessness made them ill-tempered, with arguments non-stop among them.
Eventually, thirst and hunger got the better of them, and their arguments subsided. Even though just a word could turn into an argument, Capricorn said,
"Calamita, can you not make something to get us out of this?"
"No, I can't! First, I need a something steady to stand on, the patience to do it, and besides, I couldn't understand what you just said!" Calamita said agitated.
"Well, what about that boat of yours?" Mortola asked, her patience also thinning.
"I had them sink it before we attacked— and don't you give me that look woman! I didn't know that those bookworms had a knack for defeating us!" Calamita replied furious.
"Well, if it wasn't for your stupidity, we wouldn't be here right now!" Mortola retorted.
"Don't you start with me woman!" Calamita replied.
"This women happens to be very furious, so you better not start with me!"
"Pardon me, Magpie!"
With an surprising amount of strength for her old age, the Magpie attacked Calamita, trying to drown her, but Calamita was still quicker
than the Magpie. Soon, it looked like two children doing a more violent version of horse-play at a public pool.
After a few minutes the couple were tired— their little supply of energy already used up. Then, breaking their exhausted silence, Calamita exclaimed with the voice of a child:
"Driftwood! Get it, Capricorn, before it floats away! I WANT MY DRIFTWOOD!"
"I give the orders here Calamita, not you!" he replied stubbornly.
With an annoyed sigh, she pushed him out of the way, and grabbed the driftwood.
"Help me get on the driftwood!" Calamita said urgently.
"How in the world would that help?" Mortola said aggravated.
"Do you want to get out of this or not?" Calamita asked, knowing the answer.
With a reluctant sigh, both Mortola and Capricorn gave in and helped her balance on the driftwood. Then, with the practice of a master, she began to chant and move her arms about in a circular motion. The air around them began to have a suffocating feeling, all of it joining the motion of Calamita's movements. When the others began to feel as if they couldn't breathe, a the air included in Calamita's movements began turning into a solid red ball, just like a flaming meteoroid. Then, just when everyone lungs felt like they were failing them, Calamita stopped, grabbing the ball firmly in her hand, the suffocating feeling of the air gone with a pop.
Then, in a loud and very clear voice, Calamita said to the ball,
"Find and destroy our enemy!"
"Is there any way of quickening our ride?" Resa asked nervously.
"I don't think so," Meggie replied. Meggie and Farid had conferred their idea with the rest of the passengers, and the boat was now back to full speed, though everyone was more anxious than ever to get rid of Capricorn.
A little suspiciously and frightened, Roxane said to Meggie,
"But Meggie, don't you remember what Razz said to us after you created the staff?"
"Yes, he said 'use the staff wisely but do not use it selfishly',"Meggie replied, quoting his exact words.
"Well, if you think about it, using the staff to threaten anyone— and I'm talking about Orpheus— would go under using the staff selfishly... in a way,"
"That's true, but I'm not really going to do anything to Orpheus— besides, only seeing the staff would intimidate him, don't you think?"
"Yes, but you should still think about it before you do anything with it, something bad might happen, " Roxane said.
Meggie sighed, thinking it over. All of it was too much for her water-logged head at the moment, so instead she responded to Roxane,
"Is that all?"
"Not quite... are sure there isn't any other way to get rid of Capricorn? After all, why should we trust Orpheus?" she replied saying what everyone else had been thinking. After everything Orpheus had done to them, no one was comfortable with going to him for help.
"It's the only thing we could think of, and no one else seems to have any better ideas..." Meggie said, siding with everyone else's opinion, but still desperate for help.
"Alright..." Roxane said.
"She may be finished now, but I still thing there's something you should know about," Mo started.
"There is such a thing called the power of three— Fenoglio once told me about it— thought it's actually quite a simple concept, so you can stop rubbing your temples, your not that old yet. The power of three works like this: whenever you misuse any type of power, that same magic you use unwisely comes back to you, but the power of the magic is three times as much as the power you used," he finished, with a fatherly look on his face.
Meggie sighed and replied with an annoyed sigh:
"I don't know any more than you do about the staff, Mo, but I do know that I'm not going to misuse it."
"What about you, Farid?" Mo asked facing Farid.
"What about me?" Farid said stupidly.
"Do you know anything else about the staff?" Mo said.
"No," he replied.
"Can I say something?" Dustfinger asked timidly.
Everyone nodded, showing some interest.
Dustfinger sighed, then continued,
"I think I have a way to get us out of this without going to Orpheus for help. After all, wouldn't now be as good a time as any to try out the staff?" he paused for dramatic effect, then, facing Meggie, continued:
"Now, Meggie, why don't you and Farid both think of an island we could go to for refuge, then grab the staff, think of that island, and will yourselves and us to that island. I'm not sure it'll work, but again, it's worth a shot."
After a moment of thought, Meggie replied for the both of them:
"The only island we could think of is Silver Secret, and that'll probably be the first place Calamita thinks of to look for us," and Farid nodded in agreement.
"Well, do you know of any other passageways to different islands from there Roxane?" Resa asked joining the brainstorming.
"Well, yes... but it'll be more difficult than the one that we went through before," Roxane replied.
"That'll have to do," Mo replied for Resa.
"Well, then, hop to it kids," Dustfinger said.
"But, what if—" Farid started.
"There's no time for 'what ifs' Farid, just do your best!" Dustfinger interrupted sternly, with a look just asking him to dare ask another question.
Meggie grabbed Farid's arm, beckoning him to do it, and gave him a kiss on the cheek for encouragement. With a doubtful look on his face, he took the staff in his hands, leaving room for Meggie's hands. The couple shut their eyes tight, and in one unified motion, they brought the staff up and back down, tapping the deck of the boat lightly.
Instantly, the two of them erupted into a flames— surrounding them completely in a warm hug. Though it looked harmful to the others, the fire wasn't really harming them at all.
As if it was in a dream, they saw Dustfinger approaching them, trying to grab them out of the fire, but he pulled back his hand with an agonized scream.
"Farid, what's happening!" Meggie asked frightenly and nervously. In the midst of her sentence, she felt a tug from above her, and the two of them started to spin. It was as if they were puppets, and someone from above was directing them in the right path.
"Hold on, Meggie, we're definitely in for something big!" Farid said, grasping Meggie tight. She didn't reject, but just hung on to him just as tight, closing her eyes, waiting for the worst to come.
With another hard tug, they were pulled through the sky, and the fire surrounding them grew larger, making them look like a shooting star.