Hi everyone! Whoa; we're about to learn the true outcome of the battle involving the Peacekeepers, the tributes from District 12, Geolo, and Thresh. Who survived and who did not? And what about Nessa and those of her allies who are with her? Brace yourselves for the answers…

Secret's Out

There were no more cannons after that last one. Yet Nessa and the others knew better than to feel relieved. The cannons could have been for anyone, and they couldn't celebrate any victories unless they knew for sure that their allies were still alive. They themselves had to be careful too, since most of them were still restraining Glimmer. Any wrong move, and she'd escape their hold to endanger them again.

For a while, all was silent. Foxface kept a watch for Marvel, while her allies glanced around for the rest of their team. Nobody came for fifteen minutes, however, and no second hovercraft arrived to pick up the latest casualties. Which made the wait a lot more nerve-wracking.

Sonia glanced at Rue's backpack, which now contained Glimmer's daggers, and shook off the thought. It was tempting to kill her so they'd be guaranteed an escape before Marvel woke up and went out to look for them, but she really didn't want to do that. Having Cato as a victim of hers was horrid enough, plus Nessa was right in front of her. Giving her nightmares was the last thing she wanted to do, and she could tell by Rue's expression that she felt the same way.

Three more minutes passed, and the tension within the group increased. Something had to happen, and soon. Someone had to come and find them, and it couldn't be Marvel. But it had to be someone, preferably their absent allies! And then something did happen: a vial slowly descended from the sky and into Sonia's lap. A tiny vial wrapped in fabric with a silk silver parachute attached to it. Nessa noticed the vial and started to ask about it, but Rue and Sonia both put their fingers to their lips. They knew it was a gift from a sponsor, and they didn't want Glimmer to know it was here. It was more than likely something that could somehow help them throw her off their list of obstacles.

Sonia picked up the vial and unwrapped it, but she didn't see a label on the item. It was filled with liquid though, and there was a cork keeping it inside. Nessa started to say something, but her allies silenced her before eyeing each other in confusion, both unsure of what exactly the liquid was. It looked sort of like water, but you could never tell for sure.

Mustering all her strength, Glimmer lifted her head up and asked in a clear voice, "What was that sound?"

Sighing, Sonia admitted that she had just received a gift from a sponsor. What else could she say? The fabric wrapping around the vial coming off had to have been what her prisoner heard, and it was a material too fancy-sounding to have possibly come from the arena, or any of the Cornucopia materials from Day 1. If she'd lied about the sound, it would never have sounded convincing.

Glimmer perked up in jealousy-induced anticipation. "What did you get? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"Uh…actually, I'm not sure what it is. I know it's some kind of liquid, but…is it water? None of us are in any danger of getting too…you know, in need of water."

Suddenly a flash of realization seemed to flash through Rue's eyes, and then both Nessa and Sonia saw that she was apparently formulating a plan. With a look that confirmed that she knew exactly what she was doing, she turned to Glimmer and said, in a very casual-sounding tone, "Maybe it's for Foxface. I've heard you can recover from injuries faster if you drink more water…or maybe it's some kind of pain reliever!"

"Why wouldn't they just send medicine instead?" Nessa asked. For some reason, her question seemed to increase the happiness Rue was keeping inside of her.

Upon hearing the word "medicine," Glimmer started struggling harder than ever to get out of her captors' grasp. "Hand it over right now! And let me go! I haven't used my fingernails to go at anyone yet, but this will be an exception if you don't—"

"You're right," Rue said, feigning nervousness. "Better go give it to her before you can touch us." And then, to her allies' shock, she stood up, took Sonia by the hand, and started to walk her towards Foxface, who could see what was happening and looked like she wasn't sure whether to trust that the girl had a plan, or stare at her in disbelief.

With only Nessa on top of her now, Glimmer was able to escape in two seconds. She then rushed toward Sonia and Rue before the former giraffe could stand up and follow her, but to their surprise, she didn't attack them. Instead she took the vial out of Sonia's hands, ran off with it while removing its cork, and drank all of the container's contents. Once she was finished, she tossed the vial and the cork onto the ground and laughed victoriously. "That drink actually smelled kind of sweet! I guess you were right, Career Replacer. That was medicine! Too bad you won't be able to use it now that I've taken it! Especially too bad since that means you'll lose your smartest ally by tonight!"

Rue's hidden happiness began to fade, making way for fear. "Yeah…maybe that really was medicine."

"Wait, you thought it wasn't?" Then a yawn escaped Glimmer's lips, and her eyes widened in horror as she whispered, "Oh no…that's gotta be poison…"

"Wouldn't your cannon have gone off by now if it was?" Sonia asked, hearing what she said.

"There are different kinds…of p…" Glimmer suddenly fell to her knees and then onto her side, where she was unable to stop herself from closing her eyes and drifting into unconsciousness. When seconds passed and no cannon sounded, Rue crept towards Glimmer and checked her pulse.

Nessa skipped toward the scene, looking a little nervous. "Is she okay?"

"Her breathing's normal," analyzed Rue. "Whatever she drank didn't harm her…it just made her fall asleep."

Sonia chuckled. "You knew that was some kind of sleeping potion, didn't you? All this time you were just trying to trick her into drinking it."

"Actually," Rue admitted, "I thought it was nightlock soup with some extra ingredients added to make it look like medicine. But when nothing happened right away…"

Nessa licked her lips. "What's nightlock? It sounds delicious!"

Rue stared at Sonia in shock. "You even kept that a secret from her?" she whispered.

"Okay, maybe we should have said something to keep her away from it. But only because it's a fruit that looks harmless," admitted Sonia. And to Nessa, she said, "Nightlock is actually a type of berry that grows on some of the plants here and tastes foul. Like, so bad that you'll never be able to taste the goodness in the foods that do taste good ever again. So whatever you do, don't eat it."

Instantly Nessa grimaced loudly. "So that's why Foxface thinks some of the bush and tree food can hurt us." She then gasped and rushed toward Foxface. "How are you feeling?"

"Relieved that Glimmer succumbed to a vial of sleep syrup, if that is what you mean," Foxface replied. Although she looked more discouraged and tired than relieved, and her face had lost a bit of its colour.

"You know what I think?" Sonia said, an edge to her voice. "It's just sick. That could have actually been the medicine you need, which you can obviously benefit from by now. And the Game Makers know that. But since Nessa's here instead of Clove, and it should be obvious to Panem that it was because of a launch mistake, they automatically decide, 'Oh, since Five Girl happens to be seriously hurt, let's prolong her pain just so there'll be more drama and we won't lose any viewers! We wouldn't want a repeat of the boring frozen tundra arena incident!' Don't get me wrong, Foxface. I still think you're really condescending, but even you shouldn't be used as some…some…"

"Game piece?"

Startled, the girls turned around, recognizing the voice. Yup—there he was. Peeta Mellark, who had a bruise mark on his right cheek and a lot of dirt on his hands, but was otherwise fine, was walking towards them. Right behind him were Geolo, Katniss, and Thresh, who each had at least three bruises (and in the latter two's case, some cuts as well), but were also pretty healthy when it came down to it. That meant that all of the cannons they'd heard today, after Cato's, were for the Peacekeepers from the crashed hovercraft. Either way, it was the first time in history that even one cannon had ever gone off for someone other than a tribute.

"You're okay!" Nessa exclaimed with delight. She rushed over to hug the arriving members of the team, but Geolo was the only one who didn't step back and avoid her embrace. And even he seemed surprised that it came…yet a second later he hugged her in return, allowing himself to smile. Sonia soon joined the hug, but Rue simply held back and smiled gratefully.

Thresh, who was holding the sword Katniss had stolen, noticed the unconscious Glimmer and said, "Not bad."

"She won't be asleep forever," said Rue, "but definitely long enough for us to leave without her catching us. Thanks to a sponsor."

Geolo gulped. "What about…you know…"

"Cato's done for, and as far as we know, Marvel's unconscious too," said Sonia. "That one was because Rue used one of the deactivated mines to stun him. But he collapsed first, so he'll be up sooner."

"Good," said Geolo. He smiled. "You probably guessed by now, but the Peacekeepers have joined the Fallen. Maybe I should have stayed behind so the you-know-what repairs could be done sooner…but I didn't want you thinking I was, you know."

While Sonia and Rue told Geolo each of their perspectives on what had happened while he and Thresh were alone near the ditch and everything, Katniss slowly walked towards Nessa, a mixture of surprise, confusion, and suspicion within her expression. Seeing her, the former giraffe smiled and said, "Hi Katniss. Nice to finally meet you."

Katniss studied Nessa, her expression still remaining the same. "Did you ask a four-year-old to apply your makeup or something?"

"No, I put it on myself. The clothes too. And I had a wig, but I lost it after I cut it into three pieces and used it to blindfold the Careers when they didn't expect it."

"And your Capitol accent?"

Nessa stared at Geolo and Thresh in confusion, and Geolo shrugged. "Don't look at us. I told her everything on our way here, including the part about the body switch."

Turning her attention back to Katniss, Nessa said, "Listen, I can prove that I'm not really Effie. Ask me anything, and see if the answer I give you is one that the real Effie would say."

Katniss thought it over for a minute, and then accepted her suggestion by asking, "Okay…before we went to say goodbye to our families, whose name did you pull out of the reaping basket first?"

"That's easy. Yours."

Something seemed to click within Katniss, which surprised Nessa. "Really? Foxface said reaping baskets are what decide who gets to play the Hunger Games."

"Well, she must have forgotten to mention that I wasn't this year's intended choice."

"Oh. Who was?"

"A few more questions first," Katniss told her, although she looked like she was already beginning to suspect something was up with her escort. "What is my mentor's name?"

"Is it H?"

"Okay…then what does the H stand for?"

Nessa thought hard. She didn't know the answer at all, but she didn't want to seem rude. For all she knew, H could be one of the people watching her on TV right now! So, taking a guess, she inquired, "Does it stand for Harriet?"

Peeta started laughing. "Not even close," he said.

Finally, Katniss asked, "What was the last thing you said to us before we went to bed on the eve of the Games?"

"I'm sorry you have to go to a forest arena where people are going to try and give you a lot of big booboos?"

Katniss's eyes widened. "You really did swap bodies with my escort…"

"Yes, I did!" Nessa said. She frowned. "Why did it take so much convincing for you to finally say that?"

"If there's anything that each year's tributes from District 6 have taught me, it's that there are many different ways you can go insane. It gets to the point where you resort to behaviour so different, that the only parts of your personality that are still the same are your memories," Katniss explained. "That, and the fact that I never thought body swapping was possible, even in Panem."

"Same here," confessed Peeta, apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you tried to warn me. It's just, she tried to hide it, but Effie got a little emotional when she said goodbye to us the night before we went into the arena. I thought you were her going crazy because we might not make it out."

"Oh…but it's okay. The important thing is that you know who I really am now." Nessa then turned to Geolo and asked, "How long do you think it'll take to fix the…you know, the…"

"Hours," whispered Geolo, "depending on the damage. Which I'm guessing is huge. We might be able to glimpse the eliminated people's pictures before I'm done repairing the hovercraft. But don't worry, we might get a sponsor for Fox during that time—"

"We won't," Foxface said, looking even more discouraged. "We just received a sponsorship gift, and it was not for me. And as much as I hate to admit it, I believe Sonia is right. The Game Makers are deliberately letting my injuries worsen so no one will focus on being angry that they made a mistake with the tribute tubes. Which I imagine would be something for viewers to be angry about, since people like Clove usually receive more positive attention."

Geolo's shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Good point. And on top of that, things won't be so eventful here for a while now that Cato and the Peacekeepers are gone and the Ones are both unconscious."

"But we have to do something about Foxface's booboos!" Nessa insisted. "If we don't, they'll get worse and worse until they hurt so much, she'll be eliminated next!"

Seeing how determined the soul in her escort's body was to help the fox-like tribute, Katniss decided, "Let's get to a safe place, and I'll see if my gift can be of any help. If it can't, then…"

"Then what? We're not just gonna give up on her, are we?!"

"Might have to," stated Thresh, no trace of regret in his voice or expression.

"No we don't," Nessa affirmed, too caught up in her determination to help everyone including her first ally to realize she was raising her voice—a teeny bit more than she should be. "Everybody listen! I don't care if the people outside the arena won't give us the medicine Foxface needs. We are going to get it, sponsors or no sponsors. Because where are we going once you-know-what gets fixed?!"

"The continent you're from," Sonia murmured. Then her smile disappeared. "But are you sure that place has medicine that enhanced?"

"Okay, it doesn't, at least not as far as I know. So before we get to Brasília, if we don't get any sponsors, we're gonna find that medicine and use it while we're flying that hovercraft out of Panem!" Then Nessa remembered the arena's cameras and covered her mouth with a gasp. But it was too late; she had just exposed her own escape plan to the entire country, and all she could do now was whisper, "Whoopsie…"

Peeta stiffened. "Now we're really not going to get any sponsors."

Nessa sadly gazed at Foxface, who, despite still feeling fatigued and now appearing slightly paler, was shaking her head in surprise and disbelief. And seeing her condition, which she now knew was definitely only going to get worse…that was more than the former giraffe could handle. Her sadness and guilt becoming unbearable, she let out an almost inaudible whimper before running off by herself, leaving the tributes together in a tense silence.

Bongo, wearing some of the invisible clothes Golias had used to disguise himself (and later, him as well), was impatiently studying the sign hanging in front of the District 1 hospital doors—like he had been ever since the sun rose this morning. The sign read, Sorry, we're closed - but may the odds be ever in your health's favour!

"It's still closed?" Bongo exclaimed. "Let's go already!"

Effie yawned, having only just woken up ten minutes ago. One by one, she stretched each of her legs—well, each of Nessa's legs—from underneath her own invisibility disguise until she felt at least a little more awake. It was much more complicated than waking up as a human, since despite having learned to walk on all fours, she was still getting accustomed to doing everything else. Stretching, running, covering her ears…even skipping, which she never would have found out the hard way if Golias hadn't encouraged her to skip just before they'd set up the tent. Skipping didn't seem presentable at all, since it seemed quite childish, and even in a pink giraffe's body that she had to keep hidden from the public for her own safety, Effie wanted to look presentable. She couldn't imagine life without perfection! However, Golias had insisted that she at least give it a try, since that had been how Bongo decided he liked spinach (unlike Matt, who despised it even after trying it), and how Lili had decided karate really wasn't so bad. An excuse that, unlike skipping, was quite civil.

As she watched Bongo knocking feverishly on the hospital doors, Effie shook her head and observed the nearby areas of District 1, which were crowded with people who were all deep in discussion about their current tributes. And the fact that one of them had been tricked into consuming a bottle of sleep syrup. How she wished she was back in the Capitol, gathering sponsors for her own tributes…and how were they in the Games? She'd been so busy trying to look for Nessa so she could be swapped back to normal that she hadn't had a chance to watch the Games and see for herself. It was quite overwhelming knowing that it was taking this long to get back into her body and thereby her escort duties. Even though Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia were in charge of sponsors too, she still wanted to be of help to her tributes. If they were still alive now…were they?

Effie peered into the invisible tent and saw that Golias and Objectiva were still asleep. Hmm…maybe she could take one short minute to cross the street and see what was currently happening in the Hunger Games. It could help her gain some motivation for the search for her own body, and it would be nice to see how Katniss and Peeta were doing now. How close they were to winning, what kind of ideas making sure could give her for types of sponsorship gifts they could receive…as long as the hospital was closed and two of her helpers were sleeping, she had some time.

After glancing at the impatient and annoyed Bongo one more time, Effie left the hospital and went toward the other side of the street. She noticed several people were crowded around a shoe shop's display window, clearly deeply interested in whatever was inside of it, but they were too close to the window for her to see what they were looking at. Then she noticed a sign on the shop's door that read, Exclusive offer! Pay a hundred dollars or jewels and watch the 74th Hunger Games live on the best television in District 1! Available for 7 hours only; after that, our display window will only display shoes!

Her heart pounding, Effie started craning her neck in every possible direction (which was a much wilder experience now that her neck was extremely long), trying to see the television the crowd was looking at. If it was her tributes they were watching, she had to see how they were! Perhaps the Capitol wouldn't be alright with it, but she wasn't just concerned for their safety because her job was at stake!

Unfortunately, because she still hadn't gotten completely used to her neck's length, her head soon began spinning around beyond her control, bumping into some of the people standing in front of the display window and catching them off guard. Half of them fell down and onto the pavement, and then immediately assumed the muscular-looking man standing next to them had bumped into them on purpose just to get a better view of the television.

"But it wasn't me at all!" the man insisted. "I confess that I would go to extremes in this case because my son is one of our tributes this year, but—"

"Marvel's father admits his guilt!" a woman called.

"You'll pay for that," snarled another woman, "and not in money or accessories!"

The man who was apparently Marvel's father ran away from the shop as half of the crowd angrily chased him down, leaving the right half of the television sitting in plain sight—and Effie speed-walked into the spot where the departed people had been standing in case anyone nearby tried to take it first. However, once she finally got a promising view of the screen, she froze and almost screamed. Katniss and Peeta were both still alive, but that wasn't the only thing she discovered. They were standing in a forest, in stunned silence, with both of District 11's tributes, the female tributes from Districts 5 and 8, and the male tribute from District 3 alongside them. And before she could deduce why they were with so many of their opponents in a non-violent fashion, the screen cut to another person in the arena: HERSELF. Well, not herself, but her body. WITH NESSA IN IT!

The very sight made Effie sick to her stomach. She should have known when she'd heard the gamblers from yesterday mention the "childish woman" who had apparently replaced the girl from District 2! This would reflect extremely badly on her job—and even worse, Nessa looked like she had just made another grave error and was literally trying to run away from it in guilty grief! And what had she done to Effie's body?! She'd left it without a wig in public, and she'd applied eyeshadow, lipstick, and face powder all in the wrong places! Were those streamers wrapped around her skirt actually cut off her wigs? And speaking of that skirt, it looked strangely familiar, as did the rest of her clothes…were those her latest three reaping day dresses all mangled and mixed together?! Their colours didn't even match! This was a nightmare! Haymitch was probably laughing his head off watching this foolish behaviour, whether he knew who was truly responsible for it or not…

The embarrassed escort was so overwhelmed that she couldn't help herself. She underwent a dizzy spell and fainted just as a few teenagers walked up from behind her, and in a few seconds, they tripped over her legs and fell on their stomachs. In the process, some of her invisible clothes were inadvertently pulled off of her, allowing the startled teenagers to see part of her neck…

Golias yawned and stepped out of the tent, with Objectiva fluttering right behind him. He instantly saw Bongo banging on the hospital doors and rushed toward him, so that both of them could be fully covered up by the invisibility disguises they had left.

"You have to be patient, okay Bongo?" the elephant gently said, once they were out of sight. "If we're nice to the people at the hospital, then Wish-Trish might get better faster."

"Alright," Bongo groaned, "but you know how bad I am at waiting sometimes. Well, often times. Hmm…maybe all the times. And then there's Effie…hey, where is Effie?"

"I thought she was with you. She wasn't in the tent when we woke up."

Objectiva glanced around for the once-human-now-giraffe, and gulped. "Oh dear…she likely went to watch the Games and see how her tributes are coming along! Swapping back is not the only dilemma on her—"

"Uh-oh! Look!" Bongo interrupted, pointing across the street. His two friends followed his gaze and then gasped. An unconscious Effie was lying on the ground in front of a shoe store, no longer disguised by the invisible clothes she'd been wearing. A huge crowd of citizens from District 1 were crowded around her, and some Peacekeepers were just getting out of a truck to see what was going on. One of them was holding a dart gun, and another was holding a hunting net.

Objectiva started to lead the Big Big Friends forward so they could save Effie, but at that moment, someone inside the hospital flipped the "closed" sign around, signalling that the hospital was now open. She sighed and just before entering the building she said, "You two rescue her, while I check on Wish-Trish. Do not do anything foolish, alright?"

"Okay," said Golias. But once the fairy was gone, Bongo yanked off his and Golias's invisibility disguises and hollered, "HEY! LEAVE OUR ESCORT…WHATEVER AN ESCORT IS…FRIEND ALONE!"

Effie was immediately roused by the kangaroo's shouting, and then realizing she was exposed to the Peacekeepers, she ran back across the street as fast as she could. Why had she let herself faint?! Deep down she must have known that would get District 1's Peacekeepers' attention—what had she done?

The Peacekeepers dashed after Effie while the District 1 residents watched in excitement. One of the gamblers from yesterday walked up and bet sixty dollars that the Peacekeeper with the hunting net would take action, only for a man next to him to cover his mouth so the soldiers in white wouldn't get mad at him. And they would have…if one of them hadn't discovered something was wrong with his dart gun. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to move its trigger.

Arriving at the other side of the street, Effie dashed behind Golias for protection, only for him and Bongo to give her the same knowing frowns they'd given Lili just before they'd met the Freaky Friday Fairies for the first time. The frowns that had lasted until the girl had given them an apology she'd apparently owed them. Alright…perhaps hiding behind one of the animals who was trying to help her during a scary situation was a bit of a cowardly move.

Reluctantly, Effie stepped out from behind Golias and steeled herself for whatever might happen next. This time it was her fault that a troop of Peacekeepers were after them, and she had to take responsibility for it. If anyone was going to be captured and locked away in a zoo, she was not going to let it be the Big Big Friends. Oh, how she wished she hadn't made that critical wish on the eve of the Hunger Games…

The Peacekeeper with the dart gun was still struggling to activate his weapon. "Come on, Ludwig," grunted one of his teammates, "open fire already!"

"I'm trying! My trigger won't move!"

"Well then pull it!"

"I AM!"

While the Peacekeepers ordered all the District 1 civilians to leave (secretly so they wouldn't humiliate themselves trying to help Ludwig pull the trigger on his gun), Effie side-whispered to Bongo and Golias, "We must get back to the Capitol! I know where Nessa is!"

Bongo groaned. "After all that handcar pumping?"

"We had to do that pumping! For Wish-Trish!" Golias whispered.

"Listen," said Effie, "Nessa is in terrible danger. She's entered the one place I never thought she would go to: the arena where the 74th Hunger Games are being held right this minute!"

Golias gasped in horror. "She's in the Games? Does that mean she won't be able to eat anything until she wins or something?!"

"Well…um…not exactly."

"Then why are they called the Hunger Games?" Bongo asked.

Before the escort could answer his question, the trio heard the Peacekeepers loudly straining with all their might and turned their attention back towards them. The citizens from District 1 had disappeared, and the entire team of Peacekeepers were tightly grasping Ludwig's weapon trigger, trying to get it to move. But even that wasn't working, and even Effie had to admit that the whole scene looked quite hilarious. She did her best to stop a chuckle from escaping her mouth as she wondered what could possibly be wrong with the silly man's dart gun.

As soon as she silently asked that question, she received an answer. Ludwig and his teammates pulled on the trigger even harder, and the gun finally responded—yet it wasn't a dart or any kind of weapon that shot out of it. What came out of the gun was a harmless cupcake the size of a thimble, with strawberry icing and a tiny cherry on top. However, what really took everyone by surprise was what happened a millisecond after the cupcake came into view. A mouth and two eyes suddenly appeared on its icing, and in a voice that sounded exactly like President Snow's, the cupcake cheerfully said, "May the odds be ever in your favour!" Then the cupcake fell on the ground in between the animals and the Peacekeepers, where it splattered and sent droplets of icing flying onto the men's white uniforms.

All the Peacekeepers glared at Ludwig, and one of them shouted, "You were supposed to put darts in that thing! This isn't a food fight!"

Ludwig stared at his weapon in shock. "But…but…I swear there wasn't any food in here…"

Effie looked at Bongo, but he said, "But I didn't do that! I would have put candy or rotten apples in his thingamajig! Cupcakes would have been Lili's first choice."

"I would have put peanuts in it," said Golias. He gasped. "Our powers! They must be starting an adventure on their own again!"

Ludwig fumbled with his gun's trigger again. "I'm telling you," he insisted, "there are darts in here! There weren't any cupcakes! Someone probably just put it in there as a joke. Next thing to come out, that'll be a dart."

But when he pulled his trigger, he didn't get exactly what he wanted on the second try either. A dart came out, but it looked more like the harmless kind of dart you use to play dartboard games than a harmful tranquilizer dart. Plus, this object also had a face, which said in the same voice and cheerful tone as the cupcake, "May the odds be ever in your favour!"

"Then again," Golias admitted, "that is the first time I've ever heard that kind of sentence on a magic adventure."

The Peacekeepers glared at Ludwig again, who exclaimed, "I'm telling you! I put tracker jacker venom darts in this gun and only tracker jacker venom darts in this gun! Someone must have tampered with it when I wasn't looking!"

"Peacekeepers don't tamper with their weapons," frowned the Peacekeeper with the hunting net. "Now step aside, so I can show you how to get things d…WHAT THE HELENITE?!" Suddenly, his hunting net had turned into a giant series of bright pink hair strands that looked like a net, but were too thin to be used as one.

Effie studied the spectacle in fascination. "Well isn't that funny! That colour looks an awful lot like one of my wigs." And then she gasped in horror. If Golias and Bongo didn't always have control over their powers and their magical adventures still only introduced quotes they themselves would have used, did that mean…Nessa's powers were working by themselves…by manifesting her own knowledge and bringing it to life?!

Bongo and Golias must have realized the same thing when and as she did, because they were now slowly looking in her direction, in a stunned silence. Which confirmed her theory to be true. Feeling immense terror building within her, Effie glanced around, and when nothing out of the ordinary happened, her heart beat faster and faster as she tried to brace herself for the unprecedented. She had powers that she didn't have control over, and they weren't even hers. They belonged to Nessa, whom she guessed didn't always have control over them either!

"Why are you so nervous, Effie?" Bongo asked, forgetting to whisper in the Peacekeepers' presence. "This is great news! Now we know that every time we have to get past an obstacle, you can do something magic to get us past it too!"

Hearing what he said, the Peacekeepers froze in surprise and fear. They looked at each other, then at the animals…and before Effie could blink, the soldiers had turned and run away, with the one who had the bright pink hair strands shouting, "No more dealing with those creatures until we get to the Capitol and tell President Snow about them! It'll take the most invulnerable army of mutts to deal with them!"

When the Peacekeepers were gone, Effie walked towards the splattered cupcake and harmless dart, and studied them, gulping in fear. "I…I…cannot believe I just…I mean, that they just…"

Golias frowned. "What's wrong? I thought what happened was awesome! We're safe from those unfriendly men again, and you can do the things we can do!"

"Yeah," agreed Bongo, "don't you like having our powers? Well, Nessa's powers. You are in her body, which means she probably can't use them anymore. Instead you can!"

"But I don't want Nessa's magical abilities!" Effie cried. "I'll admit they're useful, and even a little festive, but…I'm not like you! I don't perform my talents through magic, I practice them through perfection and punctuality! I could never get accustomed to something like this even if I wanted to. Magic's much too complicated!"

Bongo shrugged. "It can be when we don't have control over it. But wait until you do! You could create all kinds of neat stuff, like castles made of jewels or forests made of…whatever you want! Maybe pearls. Nessa always loves pearls."

"And dresses," added Golias. "Especially the sparkly ones. You could even bring toys to life, or change what people's clothes look like! Or you could make clothes appear on yourself, us, and anyone. Anything you want, as long as it fits what kind of adventure we're having."

Effie looked at her reflection through a nearby window and considered her companions' words. She then smiled and admitted, "I suppose it would be amusing to experiment with fashion in any new ways I can think of. And those ribbons tied around these horns do seem pretty elegant…even without some future experimenting..."

"See?" Golias grinned. "Magic's fun! You just have to let yourself enjoy using it. We do need to save Nessa and switch you two back, but we can always take some time to have fun while we look for her."

Effie started to genuinely agree, but her smile disappeared when she noticed Objectiva's reflection flutter into view beside her own and the boys'. The poor fairy's eyes and cheeks were wet with tears, and even worse, there was no sign of Wish-Trish.

"Eh…" Bongo awkwardly inquired, "does this…mean we'll have to go to the island with those magical objects?"

Objectiva's only response was bursting into a series of deep, miserable sobs.

Ooh…

Be sure to stay tuned for the news. Oh boy…