The worm comes creeping in on tiptoes. She glances around furtively, and then puts a finger to her lips and says
Shhhhh, I'm hiding from Molly. She's very angry with me right now for the excursions that I put her through in chapter eight. : suddenly notices that Molly is stalking her: Uh oh. Uhhh, I gotta go, but while Molly is chasing me through every time zone that is known and not known to man, here are reviewer answers from the last chapter. Bye:: runs, with Molly in hot pursuit::
To Celestial Secrets: Perhaps you and Molly are sisters in another alternate reality! That would be awesome! As you can see, Molly and Rick are angry with me for writing them being betrothed. But it was Mia's idea, I swear! She and I converse in an alternate reality whenever I'm sleeping. She told me to write it so that she could put other plans into motion. As to what they are, I'm not sure. I'll find out eventually.
To Batya: 'Tis okay. I figured out that the reason why no one reads my stories is because the ideas have all been used before. So, I'm going to rethink the plots of my stories and repost them. Plus, I'm just not allowed on the internet, so everything is all good!
To Wingedrider:
Mia::blows on fingernails:: Yes, I am very good at coming up with plausible stories, aren't I?
Authoress: Hey, what am I, chopped liver?
Mia: Yep, pretty much.
Authoress: Grrrrrrr :chases Mia:
Rick: Has anyone noticed that we do a lot of chasing in the reviewer answers??
To Robyn:bows: Welcome to my humble story new reviewer. Thanks you and yes I will update.
To Tpfreak:puts on nerdy glasses and sits down at very large computer:types Wane from Kim Possible style: I'm loading a new program to help saturate my stories with detail and make them longer. Enjoy!
To Katzeye: Yes, I would like to thank the Goddess and the Graveyard Hag for that. Give 'em a round of applause ladies and gents:Mother and HG bow:
To TheRhythmOfLife: Yay:waves sword around: It's pretty! Thanks :sticks sword in belt: I shall never part from it!
Molly is still mad at me. We are currently about 1/32 through the known part of the Universe's time zones. So, while I'm, gone, here's chapter nine!!
Mia, Molly and Rick all rode up to the gate. They dismounted and a hostler took the horses away. Then, they walked up the steps. Jonathan led them into the banquet hall, where the palace cooks served a feast. It was a grand feast indeed. Or it would have been, had Molly, Mia, and Rick remembered that it was customary for certain appendages to still be attached to the birds when cooked. Also, Molly almost threw up when she found out that the "pudding" she was enjoying contained certain ingredients that are better left unmentioned. But the rest passed along smoothly. Mia, Molly, and Rick all discussed the new creatures with King Jon, and told him their real reason for being there. After the feast, the three friends were shown to three adjoined rooms in the east wing of the castle. Promptly after the servants left, Mia and Molly snuck into Rick's room, where they all sat in a triangle on the floor and talked about the day's events, as they hadn't done in a very long time.
"Molly, I will never forget the face you made when the cook told you what was in the pudding for as long as I live!" Mia said with a chuckle.
"Yes, ha, ha, ha. Laugh it up now, Mia. Can we please get to important matters?" Molly asked, blushing.
"Like what?" Rick asked and stretched.
"Like how do we know whether or not the Mother and The Graveyard Hag have fixed the time problem yet?" Molly said impatiently. "How do we know that it isn't the same time in our world as it is here? How do we know that our moms haven't called the police yet? That's like what." She said
"Don't worry. I've got it covered for tonight. My mom and dad went out again tonight, so I asked if you two could sleep over night. They called your parents and told then where you are. I also fixed it up downstairs so that it looks like we really are there, only asleep. They won't notice that we're gone until at least tomorrow afternoon. Don't worry so much. Anyway, I think we need to examine our suitcases more thoroughly. I bet we can learn something from them!" Mia said and jumped up excitedly.
She hurried to her room and brought back the trunk with A. H. etched into the lid. Molly grabbed her trunk, likewise etched with her initials. Rick pulled his out from underneath his bed. They all opened them one at a time, Molly's being first. Molly opened her trunk with her eyes closed, afraid of what she might find inside. What she did find inside was extremely unexpected. What she found included a set of dried plants with medicinal qualities, books on her magic, a suit of armor, along with enough dresses and other things to keep her happy for at least two months time. There were also riding breeches and a few hats. The trunk also contained a shield just right for someone of Molly's stature. Molly pulled it out and examined it carefully. It was midnight blue with a silver stripe around the edge. On it was depicted a white crescent moon. Molly smiled and set the shield aside.
"Now for you, Rick. I want to see what a mage powerful enough to rival Numair carried around with him." She said
Obligingly, Rick opened his trunk. The contents of his trunk were similar to those of Molly's except his armor was slightly thicker, and his shield was white, and it depicted a rearing black bear. His trunk also carried a few more books than Molly's had, and he now took them out and set them on his bed for later reading.
Then, they both turned to Mia. She grinned, and slowly opened her trunk. At once, something sprang out of it into her lap. She let out a small cry of surprise to see a small orange cat staring up at her. It climbed up onto her shoulder and hid underneath her hair. Mia rummaged through the trunk for a moment and pulled out a note saying
Mia,
His name is Demetrius. Take good care of him.
"I suppose that this means that he is my "Cloud". Mia said.
"I prefer the term 'voice of wisdom' myself. I would appreciate it if you would scratch my ears, please." The cat said.
After a moment of stunned silence, Mia reached up and stroked Demetrius on the head. He began to purr contentedly. Then, she went through her trunk. There were two books on her magic, and her shield was pale green with a forest green stripe around the edge. It depicted two crossed arrows with a paw print in the center.
"These are amazing gifts that the goddesses have given us. Let us promise to study hard and try our hardest to succeed in the quest that they have given us." Mia said solemnly.
The others nodded in agreement. It was only then that they all noticed the three large bags of money strapped to the lids of the trunks.
"Let's go to the market tomorrow!" Molly said in a very excited voice.
"I've always wanted some medieval jewelry." Mia admitted.
So, they decided to go to the market the next day after breakfast.
That is, if they could make it through breakfast without incident.
The next morning did pass without incident, though Mia and Molly did have a very hard time explaining that they did not need an escort; they had Rick to protect them. They also didn't think that these people would believe that they had been trained in Tai-Kwon-Do since the age of five, so it conveniently slipped their minds.
The three friends were in very high spirits. They had discovered a note from the Graveyard Hag telling them that the time problem had been fixed. Three watches had come with the note; one each for Mia, Molly, and Rick. These watches were spelled to work with the set time arrangement. Though, the Graveyard Hag hadn't specified exactly how the time arrangement worked. She merely told them that time would move more slowly than it did in Tortall. So, all any of them had to do was check the time, go home if need be, and then return at the next possible time. Lucky for the three friends that Friday had been the last day of classes before exams. There were two weeks of those, and then a whole three month of summer camps and visits to Tortall. All in all, it had been a very good morning.
The three friends spent the whole afternoon shopping. They sampled spices from exotic places, tried new food, and examined cloth and jewelry. Mia and Molly were contemplating purchasing necklaces made of amethysts and silver, when they heard a familiar voice calling their names. They turned to see Dom and Neal heading their way.
"Hello there Mia and Molly." Dom said with a smile. "It's very nice to see you again."
"We were just going to eat luncheon. Would you like to join us?" Neal asked eagerly.
Mia smiled at his enthusiasm and said
"We would love to join you. We will only take a few more moments and then we shall meet you there. Where are you going?"
Dom gave her directions, and then asked
"Where is your other friend, Rick?"
Molly grinned and said
"He's talking swords with the blacksmith in the shop next door. We got sick of their talk and came here."
"We'll go see of we can drag him away from there and meet you in a few minutes, is that alright?" Mia asked.
Dom and Neal agreed and then headed towards the inn. Mia and Molly purchased the jewelry, and then went to get Rick. They finally dragged him away a few minutes later and then went to meet Dom and Neal at the inn.
After the meal, the three friends went back to the castle and changed for some sword practice. Mia was pleased to find a thick oak staff on her bed. Demetrius jumped onto her shoulder from his perch above her door, and then she met her friends on the practice range. She noticed that they too had found weapons in their room, Rick's being a sword, and Molly's being a bow and arrows. Demetrius jumped off of Mia's shoulder and sat on the side lines. With that they began to practice. But just as Mia was taking her fighting crouch, she was interrupted by some boys who were walking her way. She ignored Demetrius's warning hiss and walked over to them.
"I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know there was other practice going on today. Do you need us to move?" She asked politely.
"I think that you'll want to stick to dancing your majesty." One boy with slightly long blonde hair said. His two companions snickered at his comment.
Mia ignored him and took that as a no.
"Be extremely careful. I don't like the smell of this one." Demetrius hissed to her.
Mia ignored him and began to move in a series of blocks. She was interrupted again by the same boy, who this time grabbed her staff.
"Didn't you hear me?" He asked. He tried to take the staff away. "Fighting is no place for you."
Mia smiled when she heard Rick snorted and Molly suppress a giggle. She yanked her staff out of his hands and used it to knock him off his feet before he had time to even blink. Then, she leaned on her staff and gave him a long look.
"From the looks of it, I'd say that I've been staff fighting since before you could even walk. You're what, sixteen, seventeen?" She asked calmly, but sarcastically.
The boy got up and wiped off his hands on the back of his pants.
"Eighteen." He mumbled embarrassed.
Mia raised an eyebrow.
"Well then, in that case, since about the time you and I could both walk, seeing as how we're the same age and all." She said.
The three boys stared at her.
"Are you a knight?" One of the blonde friends, a pale boy with brown hair asked.
Mia grinned at her friends.
"I guess so. Though, I haven't had nearly as much training as you three have." She said.
Mia distinctly heard Rick mutter
"How odd that in the same amount of time, she has acquired twice as many manners as all three of them put together."
She heard Molly suppress another giggle and fought the urge to laugh as well. She grinned at the three boys and went back to her staff work. The boys tried to engage her in a conversation, but were eventually scared off by Demetrius, who hissed at them when they tried to sit down near him.
After staff work, Mia changed into a dark blue dress with long sleeves. Along with Demetrius, she went in search of Daine. Mia figured that if she was even going to hope to do half as much as Daine did in almost a fraction of the time, she would be in need of some guidance.
Mia eventually discovered Daine in a courtyard. She was feeding the sparrows with Kel. She walked up behind them silently and cleared her throat. Kel and Daine both turned and smiled at her.
"Hello Mia. Would you like to feed the birds?" Kel asked.
Mia nodded. Daine handed her some seed, and Mia silently held out her hand. She then whistled a few notes. Instantly, two birds flew down to her hand and began to eat. She turned to see a shocked Kel and a pleasantly surprised Daine. She grinned and said.
"I think I have Wild Magic. I came here to see if Daine would be willing to guide me down the right paths as to how to control my magic."
Daine smiled and said
"I would be happy to teach you what ever you need to know. But tell me, can you do that for other animals, not just birds? Imitate their calls, I mean, in human form?
Mia thought for a moment, and then imitated a cat, then a dog, and then finally a horse.
Daine smiled again.
"Well, this is a wonderful surprise. I must tell Numair of your talent."
Mia grinned and said
"While your there, would ask him if he would be willing to mentor my brother? Rick has recently discovered that he has the Gift, and it is rather powerful."
"Of course I will." Daine said, and hurried off in search of Numair.
Mia watched her go, and then placed the bird seed and the two feasting birds gently on the ground. After warning Demetrius, who was eyeing the birds in w ay she didn't like not to touch the birds. She brushed off her hands. Then she turned to Kel and said
"I also wanted to ask you about your glaive. Is it possible that I could perhaps take lessons on its use from you? Since I heard of the glaive, I have been most interested in learning how to use it. I am familiar with staff work, but I hear that the glaive is much heavier than a staff."
Kel nodded and launched into an explanation about the glaive. When Daine returned, Kel promised her lessons the next day. After Kel left, Daine began to instruct Mia in the ways of Wild Magic. By the time dinner arrived, Mia was bone tired. She barely had enough energy to engage in a conversation with Daine, who found her during the meal and made a schedule with her for the next month so she could train her new found powers.
Voila, six pages worth of story, chock full of detail. I wrote this with my eyes half crossed from tiredness, so please excuse any grammatical mistakes I might have made. Thank you, and I hope to see you in chapter ten!
A/n: (added during the edit) I decided that Demetrius should be a cat because it looks less conspicuous than a marmoset which is a kind of monkey for those of you who didn't know. I also decided that the cat should be a talking cat just because.