WE DECIDED TO stop and formulate a plan instead of rushing in blindly. None of us wanted to pay the ransom; we knew it probably wouldn't really save Marionette. Erik suggested going in and fighting whoever had taken Marionette, but the rest of us put that idea down quickly.

"We don't know how many there are," Nick pointed out. "Or how big they are. One or two we could handle, but who knows? And I'm fine with killing monsters, but I draw a sharp line far before that with people, even kidnappers."

"Fair enough," Erik said.

Cristine was resting her chin on her hand, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Slowly, she said, "Well, we've got about…what is it, a couple hundred gold among us?" she asked. "If we just…brought it, and said it was for the ransom, we could probably get Marionette, grab the coins back, and run before they realised we'd double-crossed them. Judging from the writing on that ransom note, I'd say whoever kidnapped her isn't very smart. If we made sure we were allowed to see her before we gave them the gold, it could work."

"Could," I said. "Maybe we oughtn't even to risk that. I mean, it's not necessarily hard to make back, but I don't want to lose all of our supply money on could. We could just one of us bring our bag in and say the money's in there."

"Well, we shall have to do something," Erik said. "We need to get the fygg – and save Marionette, as well."

Nick sighed. "Just pack a bag with something and don't let them know it's not money!" he exclaimed, sounding frustrated. "No risk, just a quick double-cross and we'll be out of there with Marionette in no time flat."

We all looked at him. I was the first to speak. "You know, Nick… For a priest, you're pretty diabolical."

He smiled. "I'm not a priest just yet."

So, since it was the least risky plan we could think up, we went with Nick's. We piled the most metallic stuff we could find into my bag and headed out of the city and up to the cave.

I was a little absorbed in my thoughts, so when I heard Cristine's voice, I jumped a little. "Tammy…"

I looked around at her. "Mm?"

She fell into step beside me, playing with a lock of hair nervously. "What happened?" she asked, looking up at me. "In the courtyard, you… It sounded like Marion, but it was your mouth that was moving. What was that?"

I sighed and looked away. Not that it helped – I clearly didn't need to be looking at Cristine for her emotions to come across perfectly clearly. Confusion, concern…pity. Even a little fear.

"I don't know, Cristine," I said tiredly. "It just happened. Marion's ghost touched my arm… Well, I think physical contact makes everything stronger. And I think that memory is part of what's keeping her here. It was always going to be strong."

Cristine hesitated. I looked over at her. Her hand was half-extended, like she was second-guessing an impulse to touch me. I looked down and shoved my hands into my pockets.

"Go talk to Nick," I said quietly. "I think he'd like it."

"What do you mean?"

I smiled and looked at her. "I know what he was feeling when you danced last night," I said, and chuckled.

The surprised look on Cristine's face made me laugh out loud. "Go on!" I said, grinning broadly. "He's not a priest yet – and besides, he's never said anything about becoming celibate."

Cristine blushed a little, but she was smiling. "All right," she said. She was surprised, sure, but more than a little pleased. "I will." She gave me a hug and danced off to join Nick.

I couldn't help feeling happy when the two of them started talking. Then I sighed and looked off towards Erik. His worry had been nagging at my mind since we'd started walking. And his brooding expression made me sure I knew what he was thinking about.

Don't bother him, I told myself sternly. You wouldn't like it if he did it to you.

I kept walking for a moment. Then I glanced back.

No, I wouldn't like it. But I'd appreciate it.

"Brooding about Aquila again?" I asked, pausing for a moment so that I could walk next to him. He jumped a little, and then scowled.

"Why do you feel the need to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Bother me when I do not wish to be bothered," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you ever want to be bothered?"

He snorted. "Not by you."

"Well, you're stuck with it," I said. "So is it Aquila again?"

Erik sighed and looked away. "Yes."

"You know," I said, "you sure do worry about him an awful lot for somebody you think is so strange."

He snorted again. "The bond between a Celestrian master and apprentice is a deep one by the nature of what it entails," he said. "Imagine if the two of us were confined to the village of Angel Falls, invisible to all but one another, unable to leave but for a few times out of the month."

I raised my eyebrows. "We'd kill each other."

"True," Erik said, nodding. He put his hands in his pockets. "But Aquila and I got along rather better than you and I do. Aquila, at least, knew the meaning of respect." And, for the second time since I'd met him, he smiled. I blinked in surprise.

But, of course, I had to find a comeback. "Well, that's good," I said. "He was your master; he'd probably be able to beat the meaning of respect into your thick skull better than I ever could."

He sighed and rubbed at his temples. "Must you always find some way to twist my insults to suit yourself?"

I grinned. "Yes. It's good fun."

He sighed again and looked ahead of us. We were crossing a bridge across a narrow river north of Bloomingdale. The cave wasn't far off.

"Three fyggs down," I said finally. "D'you know how many there are all together?"

"Seven, I believe," Erik said. "But I am not quite sure. They bloomed only moments before the darkness came to ravage the Observatory, so I did not exactly have time to count. But if I was to guess, I would say seven."

I nodded. "So we're almost halfway there."

"Yes."

We were quiet again as we walked into the trees. I could hear Nick and Cristine chatting up ahead of us and the river bubbling behind.

Then I asked, "What are you going to do once we've collected them all? I mean, you still don't have your wings or halo – not in any usable form, anyhow. I can see them, but they're all ghostly and invisible to everyone else. And you said that praying didn't get them back."

Erik shrugged. "I do not know," he said. "It is my hope that if we are able to return the fyggs to the Observatory, the Celestrians will finally be permitted to ascend to the Realm of the Almighty. Perhaps once there, I can entreat the Almighty to return me to my Celestrian form."

"And you'd be happy like that?" I asked. "Up there with all those stuffy, mortal-hating Celestrians? Probably you'd never be able to come back down to the Protectorate."

"Yes. I would be happy. I would be among my kind, and I would not have to deal with disrespectful mortal girls and irritating faeries." But underneath his dry attempt at humour, I sensed something. Hesitation? Doubt? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that it didn't go with what he had said.

But I didn't say anything. I just looked ahead and kept on walking.


We found the cave in a small clearing in front of a cliff. A bridge led across the little stream in front of us. It would have been kind of pleasant except for the rough sign, messily painted with the words The Bad Cave. F.I.C.K.O. Headkwarters. The Federashun of Increddibly Cunnin Kidnappers Organizations.

I snorted. "We'll never be able to pull the wool over their eyes," I said. "What a load of geniuses these people must be!"

Cristine frowned. "You'd think they'd hardly have even learnt to read, looking at that."

Erik shrugged. "It matters not, so long as we are able to rescue Marionette and obtain the fygg. Let us go." And he walked off towards the cave. We followed, passing another rough sign pointing inside and bearing the message People wiv enkweries, this way please.

We found ourselves on a raised walkway when we entered. To our right was a lower area with a door set into the back wall. As we entered, the door slammed open and a bulky-looking man came out.

"Wot the blinkin' Nora are we gonna do now?" he yelled, glaring back at the doorway. A skinny, shifty-looking guy came out, looking sheepish.

"Sorry, Guv," he said, "but it turns out the girl don't 'ave no family or nuffing. And she's given all 'er servants the 'eave-'o, so… There ain't anyone around who's gonna notice she's gone." He flushed and rubbed at his neck. "Yeah, come to think of it, the place was a bit quiet…"

The big one glared back at him. "You plonker!" he spat. The skinny guy winced. But the big one didn't pay him any mind. "But we ain't done for yet! Even if she ain't got family, there's gotta be one of 'er mates or somefink who'll turn up. Just sit tight. Someone'll turn up wiv the dough, you'll see."

"He he!" laughed the skinny guy, and I couldn't tell if he was afraid to get yelled at again or if he was just that stupid. "Sit tight, eh? Genius, Guv! Genius!"

Yeah, he was just stupid.

The two of them turned and went back through the door. Nick raised his eyebrows. "Wow."

"Yeah," Cristine agreed. "Looks like this will be easier than I thought."

At the end of the walkway was a little oval-shaped area with a table and rickety chair. There was also another sign. This one proclaimed, Welcum. Pleese come in and beseat yourself.

"Don't mind if I don't," I said. "That thing looks dangerous."

"So what do we do now?" Cristine wondered aloud. "I mean, it's not as if there's a 'ring for service' bell or anything."

That was when I heard the big guy's muffled voice. "Hm? I thought I 'eard someone walkin' about… Best 'ave a butchers…"

He came out of a door and up the ladder to where we were standing. "Wot are you doin' 'ere?" he asked. Then his little piggy eyes lit up. "Blimey! You ain't got the ransom, 'ave you!?"

I slid my bag off my shoulders and jiggled it around so he could hear the metal clink. He grinned stupidly.

"Ahem!" he coughed. "Well, well… Welcome to our 'umble 'ideout! Not much to look at, but, you know… We ain't the lucky ones. Don't tell me. I reckon I've got a pretty good idea of who you are. You're, er… You're Bloome's…" He was trying to think. It looked like hard work. I struggled not to laugh.

"Well, you're top notch anyway, intcha?" he said hastily, giving up on the whole thinking thing. "Yeah, a real 'ighbrow 'ero, eh? Diamond! I knew she was worth kidnappin'!" The stupid grin was back. "Well, don't worry. The young lady is in good 'ealth. We ain't laid a finger on 'er." He turned towards the door. "Oi!" he yelled. "Bring the girl out 'ere, would ya?" He glanced back at us. "If ya wouldn't mind just bearin' wiv us a sec… He he he…"

We stood there for a long moment. Cristine fidgeted. Erik folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. I hummed quietly. Nick was watching the doorway intently.

But no one came out.

"Oi!" called the big one again after a long moment of no more kidnappers. "Wot's takin' so long, eh?"

The skinny guy ran out the doorway and paused by the base of the ladder. He looked terrified. "Guv, Guv!" he shouted. "We've, er… We've got a bit of a problem, Guv!"

"Eh?" grunted the big one. "Wot is it?"

"She got away!" wailed the skinny guy, wringing his hands. "The bird's done a runner!"

The big one's piggy eyes went wide. "You wot!?" he exclaimed, and scurried down the ladder. He and the skinny guy raced through the doorway.

"And there goes our fygg," I muttered. "Come on, we have to get to Marionette!"

We hurried after the two ruffians. Past the door, we split up to see which way to go, because there were three options. I headed northeast with Cristine. We peered around the bend.

"Nick!" Cristine called. "Erik! This way!"

The two boys joined us and we headed down the corridor. As we passed, the big guy grabbed my arm. "Better watch yer back," he warned. "They say there's a deadly monster down in the depths o' this place. A quiet bird like 'er ain't gonna stand a chance…" He muttered a curse, and I pulled my arm back. "Aah, bloomin' 'eck, this is a disaster!"

"Will not stand a chance, my vanished wings," Erik muttered. "I saw the prison in which Marionette was being kept. The bars were bent wide enough for two of us to walk through without difficulty."

"The fygg," Nick said.

Erik nodded. "Come. We must retrieve it before this gets out of hand."

We had to split up a couple more times to figure out which paths would get us to Marionette. The cave floor kept sloping downwards as the place got damper and more monster-filled. We ended up in a couple brief fights along the way, but nothing difficult. Finally, the narrow, rocky corridors opened up into a cavern littered with rubble and acidic-looking pools. Marionette was standing there looking around, seeming fascinated.

When she heard our footsteps, she turned. "Oh, hello!" she said. I hid my surprise. She didn't seem to hate us any more.

"Hi, Marionette," Cristine said quietly.

Marionette's smile froze. "M-Marionette?" she stammered. "H-How do you know my real name?"

All four of us shifted uncomfortably. She searched our faces, and then shrugged and changed the subject. "I've made some charming new friends," she told us. "One of them has a beard, and the other one has a mask and is called 'Guv'! Only…" She made a face. "I wasn't having much fun playing with them, so I decided to go for a walk. Are you on a walk, too?"

Decided to go on a walk! I glanced around at the others and knew they were thinking the same thing: bending iron bars seemed a little extreme just coming from a desire to go on a walk!

Then my head snapped up as I heard a loud roar. "What the –?"

"Oh, hello," Marionette said, glancing to the right. "Who are you?"

I recoiled as I saw the thing that had roared. It was horribly ugly, a giant skull-headed spider with legs longer than Cristine and I put together. "Hciiiiiiiiiiiih!" it hissed. I was disgusted. I wasn't particularly afraid of bugs, but this one was just absolutely dreadful.

Marionette, however, didn't seem to think so. She turned and curtsied to it, smiling. "Nice to meet you too," she said. "You're very interesting-looking, aren't you? Will you be my friend?"

Judging by the angry-sounding hiss that the spider thing made as it reared back, my guess was no.

Then Nick, Cristine, Erik, and I all jumped back as the spider slammed back down on Marionette, sending her flying across the room. She landed with a nasty thunk and lay there limply.

Nick led the way as we rushed to see whether or not she was okay. But Marionette didn't so much as twitch. "Darn it," I muttered. "Marion's not going to be happy about that…"

Cristine had looked around at the spider creature. "G-guys," she stuttered. "I don't think it likes us any more than it did Marionette!"

The rest of us turned to see the spider advancing on us, hissing angrily. "Oh, no, you don't," I said, and cast Hot Lick. The spider screeched as the flames enveloped it.

While the spider recovered, the four of us leapt up and prepared to fight. Erik's claws ripped deep into the spider's side, making it screech again and turn on him, clearly angry. Cristine distracted it with a slice from her fan and quickly spun out of the way as the spider tried to shoot a web around her.

Then it turned on Nick, snapping at his left arm with its huge pincers. Nick didn't quite make it out of the way in time and flinched as the pincers caught his skin. But he didn't bother healing it – he just adjusted his grip on his staff and swung it hard at the spider's head. It reeled back, hissing in pain. It looked like there was a dent in its exoskeleton.

I feinted a couple stabs left and right, then slashed hard at one of the spider's front legs. My sword cut clean though and the severed leg hit the cave floor. The spider almost collapsed but then managed to regain its balance, glaring at me out of its hollow skull-eyes. Blackish blood was flowing out of the stump of its leg.

"Hey! Over here, seven-legs!" Cristine called tauntingly. As the spider turned towards the sound of her voice, she cast Frizz. The ball of flame hit it in the head and it hissed, batting at its skull with its remaining front leg.

Erik slashed at it from behind; Nick hit it again. Then it cast a web at me, and I didn't quite manage to evade it. I made a face as I writhed in the sticky strings, trying to get out. I couldn't get my sword into a position to cut the web open!

I had no idea what was going on in the battle around me, but I knew it when a pair of huge pincers suddenly closed around my midsection. "Oi!" I yelled as I was pulled into the air. "Let me down, you disgusting arachnid! I've still got a sword – nhg!"

That last part was because the pressure of the pincers had suddenly vanished and I'd hit the cave floor hard. "Ow…" I muttered.

"Tammy!" Nick called. "You all right?"

I tried to sit up, but I was still all tangled up in the spiderweb. "I can't move for this bloody web," I replied, but my voice sounded muffled. Several pairs of feet moved towards me, and I felt the strings start to loosen. Then I felt them being pulled away and Cristine helped me to sit up. I yanked a couple more sticky strings off of myself and glanced around. "Where's the monster?"

"Dead," Erik replied. "We killed it as it was attempting to go away and eat you."

"Dunno why it would, though," Nick said, grinning. "I don't reckon you'd taste very good, with all that bone and so little meat."

I laughed. "They like thick, muscular tissue," I said, flexing my biceps.

"Then it should have tried to eat Nick instead," Cristine said, smiling. That was true. The not-quite-priest was built more like a warrior than a man of the cloth.

Then I heard voices from behind us. "Oi! Miss!" one called. We turned. It was the two ruffians. They both paused, and the big one spotted Marionette's limp body across the chamber. "M-Miss?" he said. Then he hurried over to her. "Pull yourself together, love!" he said. "Come on!"

When Marionette didn't respond, he turned away, a look of horror on his face. "Oh, crikey…" he said. "She's a goner!"

"Watch it, Guv!" cried the skinny guy, his eyes widening in shock. Behind the big one, Marionette had stood and was brushing off her dress.

"Oh, dearie me," she said. "What a shock!"

A shock, indeed! But none of us were startled into incoherency like the big one, who stuttered, "'Ang abaht!"

When he finally got control of his tongue, he stammered, "Ain't you…s'posed to be dead?" He backed up a pace. "Th-This place is 'aunted! I-I'm gettin' out of 'ere!"

Then he and the skinny guy turned and fled, screaming like little girls. "Heeelp! There's a monster in 'ere! Help! HEEELP!"

Marionette looked after them, her eyes wide with confusion. "A…monster…?" she murmured. "Monsters are those nasty creatures that no one ever likes in story books…" Her face crumpled. "I understand now," she said quietly. "I suppose I always knew deep down… I'm sorry, Marion, but I'm just no good at being mortal… All those people aren't really my friends. They only like me for the things I give them. I've tried, Marion, for your sake… But I'll never be able to make true friends. I'm just a monster."

And then Marion's voice spoke. "You…are no monster… You are…my one true friend… My best friend, Marionette."

As Erik, Marionette, and I looked around for the source of Marion's voice, Nick and Cristine exchanged resigned looks. Not again, Cristine mouthed. I looked at them sympathetically. "Sorry," I whispered.

Then Marion's ghost appeared between Marionette and the four of us. Marionette broke into a huge grin. "You're back!" she cried. "Did you go out somewhere nice? Let's play! What do you want to play?"

Marion looked at her sadly. "I-I'm sorry, Marionette," she said quietly. "We can't play any more. We can't ever play again."

I tried to pull myself away from the emotions of girl and doll, but it didn't work.

"Don't you like me any more?" Marionette asked, confused. "Is that why you don't want to play with me?"

"I was all alone in the world, Marionette," Marion said, shaking her head. "You were the one who kept me going. But now… Now, you are all alone."

Marionette looked at Marion. "Alone?"

Marion would have cried if she'd been alive. "You brought me such happiness. I, I…"

Marionette's face lit up. "Happiness!" she exclaimed, heart rising. "Yes! I'm always happy when I'm with you, Marion."

"I'm so sorry," Marion said. "Be free now, Marionette. Forget about my dying wish. Just be free."

She started to glow, and the longing in the air grew exponentially. I sighed inaudibly. That shouldn't have been such a familiar emotion…

"I am Marion. You are Marionette. I have to go somewhere far, far away. The Celestrians are coming to take me. Don't pretend to be me any more. You are Marionette. Go back to being a doll now." Her figure rose into the air. "Thank you…Marionette… Thank you…my one true friend… May you…find happiness…"

And then, with a bright flash, Marion went on. I lowered my arm from where I'd raised it to block the light. Marionette was looking at us. "Marion has gone on a long journey," she said, "so I must go back to being a doll. But first I must tell everyone that Marion's going away…"

Solemnly, she left the cave.

And, slowly, we followed her.


The fygg was waiting for us back in the graveyard, where we found Marionette lying limply against Marion's grave.

"There it is!" came Nanny's voice from behind us. We turned to see her standing in the doorway. She walked out to join us. "How ever did Marion's doll end up here? Come along, Marionette. Let's get you back to Marion's room so you'll be there when she comes home." She started to pull the doll away, then glanced back at us. "Oh, yes. My dears… Marion wanted you to know that you can have her ship. Apparently, the ship's warden is waiting for you on the jetty. He's abreast of the situation, too. Goodbye, then, dears." She waved to us and entered the house.

We headed down to the dock, where the warden, an old man in a brown robe, was waiting. "There you are!" he called as we drew near. "I've been waiting for you! I expect you've been busy being showered with gratitude by Ms Bloome, have you?"

"Actually, no," Erik said. "We were unable to speak with her before she set off on her journey."

The warden raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he asked. "She's a standoffish one alright, that young lady! She could have at least thanked you for rescuing her before heading off." He shook his head. "Anyway… As promised, this old vessel is yours now, to sail on wherever you please! Take her far and wide! She likes to travel, this one!"

I smiled. "Looks like we have something in common already," I said, patting the railing of the gangplank. "We're going to have a good time, you and I, old girl!"

"Uh-oh," Cristine said, smiling too. "Maybe we shouldn't have done this. We'll never get you off this old thing!"

The ship's warden smiled as well. "Go on then, climb aboard. There's a fine wind today. You wouldn't want to waste it!"

"Thank you, sir," Nick said, and we filed on board. I took a deep breath of the sea air. Soon we'd be on the move again, and by my favourite means: the ocean.

The warden waved. "Have a safe journey, young'uns," he called. "I'll be praying for you."

We waved back, and I set to work getting us ready to set sail. Cristine, Nick, and Erik helped under my direction. Soon enough, the sails were ready, and I took the wheel to steer us off and away from the shore.

As the wind caught and we picked up speed, Stella popped out. "Yay!" she cried, and for once I didn't feel like arguing with her sentiments. "We've blagged ourselves a boat at last! Let's set sail and see what we can see. Other than the sea, if you see what I mean…"

I smiled. "Don't need to tell me twice," I said.

And we sailed on through the cerulean waves.


Hey again, all!

Oh, it feels good to update... A few days ago I was ready to panic about it. I'd attached the Word file for this story to an e-mail and saved it in my Drafts folder, figuring I'd be able to click on the attachment and open it right up, but...it didn't work. I was freaking out. Almost half the chapter was already written, and for some reason it had given me a lot of trouble to get out. So I was worried that I was going to have to rewrite it and it would take forever to update, but fortunately Mom thought of an idea: I'd send her the message and she'd open the attachment from her own account. Luckily, it worked, so even though the chapter's a bit late, it's not nearly as late as it would have been if I'd had to completely rewrite.

So I hope you enjoy this. We're travelling now and I don't have a flash drive, so I'm not quite sure how I'll keep my work with me, but I'll do my best. I've really been enjoying this, and my cousin Nina has actually given me a couple good ideas for things to do with Erik and Tammy. So stay tuned!

May all the bodies of the heavens watch over you!