That was an easy one to answer. “Ventarian delights.”
Ceceta gasped and turned back to Rhen as Bosternd dropped his head into his hands. Ventarian delights were the strongest drug in the Universe. They were banned on every planet. If you were even caught with one, you could go to jail.
Theta checked the other Genisters to make sure they were safe then said, “He put Ventarian delights into their drinks. I saw at least eight of them in the punch bowl. There’s no way to tell how many he put into Rhen’s drink. You see, I was late to the party and by the time I had arrived, they were falling down, and well, doing what they’re doing now.”
They heard a roaring sound just before Thatch crashed back into the building. She bounced along the floor, then sailed right through the glass windows of the school store before turning herself into a paper magnet. Ceceta watched as every piece of paper in the store flew towards Thatch, covering her and turning her into a ball of colorful paper.
“Is Rhen brain damaged now?” Aaron asked. He’d heard that Ventarian delights ruined your mind.
“No,” Theta said. “He’s a Genister, so he should be okay.”
Bosternd stepped in front of Theta to get her attention. “I want to know who the party crasher was.”
“Uh,” Theta said, turning away from him.
“Therol?” Bosternd asked. Theta nodded, while floating away from him. Bosternd had expected as much. “Therol hasn’t attacked Rhen directly like this in–”
Ceceta interrupted him. “Who else, Theta?” She could tell from the way that Theta was distancing herself that there had been someone else at the party. Someone they wouldn’t approve of.
Theta covered her face with her hands. “I was shocked when I saw him.” She glanced at the other Genisters to make sure they were safe then dropped down in front of Ceceta. “I mean, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even realize he could leave his prison. You know? I always thought he was stuck there. But he told me that he’d recently learned the Code Book would allow him to leave his prison to attend our Arrival Day Party. He said Themrock made it a day of amnesty. I was stunned, you know?”
“Who was it?” Jet asked.
“Thaster,” Theta and Ceceta said at the same time.
“Thaster?” James asked. “The Thaster? Ruler of Hell?”
“Yes.” Theta zapped Thellis’ clothes back on again. “He’s never come to any of our functions before. I was shocked when I saw him.”
Ceceta cleared her throat. “He’s plotting something. We have to figure out what it is right now or we’ll all be in trouble.”
“You don’t think that they were delaying the Genisters until that wave could take them into the TUB?” Bosternd asked.
Ceceta eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what Thaster was up to. “No. Thaster wouldn’t do that. If Themrock fell into the TUB, he’d be stuck in Hell forever.” She turned to Theta. “Tell us exactly what was happening at the party when you arrived. Don’t leave anything out. We need to know why he let you escape.”
Theta’s turquoise powers flared in protest. “He didn’t let me escape. He ran away before the wave hit. I barely had enough time to get the others out of there before the wave destroyed everything.”
“Theta, you arrived at the party to find…” Ceceta prompted.
Theta zapped Thellis, putting his clothes back on yet again. This time, instead of stripping, Thellis turned himself into a dog and started to hump the arm of the couch next to him. Theta checked on the other Genisters to make sure they were safe, then said, “I knew something wasn’t right when I rounded the black hole near the outer system. You know the one I’m talking about?” Ceceta nodded. Rhen had taken her there before. “You see, whenever Rhen goes to a party, there’s always music, but this time everything was quiet. I entered the platform past the silver arches and there was Thaster, sitting on a chair, with Rhen on his lap. Rhen’s head was bent down against Thaster’s chest and Thaster was whispering to him. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it looked like Rhen was agreeing with him. Thaster welcomed me to the party as if it were his event. He asked me why I was late, then told me he had brought some Ventarian delights to the party that everyone was enjoying. At that moment, we felt the first warning ripple of the TUB’s wave. Thaster laughed and told me to go before the TUB ate me for dinner, then he and Therol disappeared.”
Ceceta bit her lip considering Theta’s words. “He told you about the Ventarian delights and he warned you to leave before the wave hit, then he left you with enough time to save everyone.” She closed her eyes. Thaster had wanted Theta to save the others. Why?
“He barely left me with enough time to save everyone. If I’d been a few minutes later, they all would have died.”
Ceceta disagreed. Thaster had been waiting for Theta.
“If Themrock is killed, what happens to this Universe?” Bosternd asked. He knew the answer, but wanted Theta to confirm it. Theta blinked and her eyes disappeared for a moment in her turquoise glow. “It ceases to exist. You can’t have any of the Universes without him. If Themrock dies, you die.” Themrock had told them the same thing when he’d visited from the future.
Ceceta thought she knew where Bosternd was going with his question. “And Hell, what happens to it?” She could see from Theta’s face that the Genister didn’t know what would happen to Hell. Perhaps it would remain intact or maybe it would open with Themrock’s death. Still, would Thaster chance killing Themrock and risk being trapped in Hell forever? Ceceta didn’t think so. It was too risky. “Is Themrock still the only one with the Codes to Hell?”
“Codes to Hell?” James asked.
“Themrock locked Hell. He’s the only one who knows the combination that will open that dimension,” Ceceta turned to Theta, “right?” Theta nodded. Ceceta rubbed her hands against her face. What was Thaster’s plan? Why had he given the Genisters delights then told Theta to save them? “Theta, could Rhen have unlocked Hell while he was on Thaster’s lap?”
“No. Only Themrock has that knowledge.” She pointed at Rhen, who was standing behind Sarah, eating the ends of her long black hair. Sarah turned around to see him chewing on her hair and jumped away. Rhen appeared confused. He turned, spotted Thatch, who had fallen to the ground from the weight of the paper that surrounded her then walked towards her, his hands forming scissors as he went. “He’s still Rhen,” Theta explained. “He’s not Themrock. He doesn’t know the codes.”
Ceceta stepped out of Rhen’s way. “It doesn’t add up. I’m missing a piece of the puzzle, and I’m worried that if we don’t get it soon, we could all be in danger.”
“He’s going to hurt her,” Sarah said, pointing at Rhen who was now slashing away at the papers around Thatch with his scissor-like hands.
“Let’s get the delights out of them and then the other Genisters can help us figure out what’s going on,” Theta suggested. “Does anyone know what to do?”
No one said anything. They glanced amongst themselves hoping someone might have some advice. Finally, Charlie cleared his throat. “We need to keep them moving and pour water into their mouths.” James gave him a look. Charlie grunted and scratched at his neck, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. “I may have taken a Ventarian delight before. From what I can remember, you need to move and you need to drink a lot of water.” He pointed at Rhen. “They’re in the hallucinogenic part of the trip, after that comes the slow part and then… well, it gets bad if you don’t hydrate. We need to make them exercise and drink. Everyone grab a Genister. We’ve got to get them moving and... oh crap,” he said when he spotted Thellis. “We’ve got a problem.” He turned towards Ceceta. “We need to make the ethereal Genisters solid. If a ghost takes a Ventarian delight, its molecules drift apart by the end of the trip.”
James closed his eyes. “I’m not even going to ask how you know that.”
Charlie shrugged impishly. He wasn’t going to tell if they didn’t ask.
Jet pulled on Rhen’s arm to g
et him off of Thatch. “That’s not a problem. All we have to do is change Rhen into Themrock then the other Genisters will turn solid.”
He stumbled back when Thellis’ dog form darted through his legs. Thellis’ lifted his front paws onto Rhen’s waist then began to hump Rhen’s leg. “Seriously?” Jet asked with a laugh.
“Okay, let’s turn Rhen into Themrock,” James said. He was happy to have a plan.
Theta snorted, her turquoise powers flaring. “I haven’t any idea how to do it. Ceceta, do you?”
Ceceta hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should tell them. Would it put Themrock in more danger? She watched Thellis and the others for a moment then made up her mind. Themrock would want to save his Genisters. “Tickle him.”
Theta was stunned. “Seriously?”
Ceceta smiled sadly. “We spent years in a cell on Punishment Island and all Therol had to do was tickle him to get what he wanted. Funny, isn’t it?”
Jet stepped around Thellis’ dog form. “I got it.” He reached out to poke Rhen in the ribs, but hesitated when Ceceta, yelled, “Stop!”
“That’s it,” Ceceta said as she gestured towards the Genisters. “Thaster’s plan. He knows we’ll want to save the others. He’s counting on us to turn Rhen into Themrock. As soon as we do, he’ll attack and get the codes to unlock Hell from Themrock while he’s inebriated.
“So, what do we do?” James asked.
If they turned Rhen into Themrock to save the Genisters, he would be placed in danger. If they didn’t change him, the others would be gone forever. The choice seemed clear, but they weren’t willing to accept it. It seemed wrong to condemn the other Genisters to their deaths without even trying to save them.
“There must be something we can do?” Theta said.
“Do you want us to start walking them around?” Jet asked Ceceta.
“Yes. Let’s start the healing process while we try to think of a solution.” She motioned for the Surpen soldiers to move the furniture out of the way so they’d have more space while Rhen’s guard elves pulled Rhen, Thamber, and Thatch around the room, forcing them to walk. The Genisters weren’t very cooperative. At one point, Rhen went limp like a child. Jet pulled Rhen’s tunic off so Aaron and Shno could grab him by his shorts. They hoisted him up then dragged him forward. Thellis was still following Rhen around, humping his leg.
As Plos used his powers to force Rhen to drink, while the guards pulled him forward, Charlie positioned himself under Theta. “You’re doing a good job, Plos. I bet the Neptian tigers would be proud.”
A moment later, Theta yelled, “I’ve got it!”
Finally, Charlie thought, making his way over to help Jack and Shno with Thamber, who was dragging her feet.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think about it before,” Theta said, pointing at Plos’ shirt. He was wearing a Save the Neptian Tiger shirt from the Fair. It had a big picture of a Neptian tiger’s head on the front and a picture of the tiger’s tail on the back. “We’ll call the tigers for help.” When Ceceta just stared at her, she added, “The tigers are Themrock’s animal bodyguards. Their job is to protect him. Between our powers and theirs, we’ll be able to keep Themrock safe.”
“What’s the catch?” Ceceta asked. “There’s always a catch.”
Theta used a puff of her turquoise powers to push her hair back from her face. “The problem with involving them is that they always want to take Themrock away from us. They’ve never liked this dimension. You know, because of the fact that the mortals were always killing them. They’ll try to take Themrock to a different dimension. If Rhen wakes up in another dimension, he won’t be able to return to you. You’ll lose him. The only way he could return would be as Themrock.”
“Is that why Thellis is always telling Rhen to stay away from the tigers?” Ceceta asked.
Theta nodded. “Yes. We don’t want to lose him. We can’t travel between dimensions like he can.”
“The tigers won’t take him away from us,” Plos declared. “They’ll see we’ve changed. They’ll like us now.” Plos’ sentiments were sweet and innocent. Ceceta wondered if they’d be enough.
“Can the tigers defeat Thaster and Therol?” Bosternd asked. He didn’t want to call them if the only thing they did when they got there would be to work to remove Rhen. Then his troops would be battling the tigers as well as Thaster and Therol.
“They’re Themrock’s bodyguards. They can’t defeat Therol or Thaster, but they can keep them from killing him,” Theta explained.
“Let’s do it,” Ceceta said, making the decision. She walked over towards Rhen. Sarah had just finished pouring some water down his throat. The tip of Rhen’s pink tongue stuck out from between his teeth and his eyes were still glazed. Ceceta ran her knuckles down his cheek, before telling Tgfhi and Jet to lay him down on the ground and take off his shoes. She sat down on top of Rhen’s chest, as he lay docilely on the floor. Thellis was still humping his leg. “Go away,” Ceceta told Thellis, waving her hand in his face. He sniffed, made a slight woofing sound then ran over to a purple armchair in the corner of the room. He growled at it, then started to hump it.
Ceceta looked up at Bosternd, who was standing nearby. “Would you tickle his feet while I get his ribs?”
“Of course.” As Bosternd sat down beside Rhen’s feet, he noticed Theta was now floating in circles. She was in a seated position with her legs crossed and her hands palm side up on her knees. Her eyes were closed as she chanted, calling the tigers to her. Bosternd shook his head and got to work on Rhen’s feet.
It wasn’t long before Rhen was laughing. He tried to crawl away from them and ended up rolling over onto his stomach. Tears were streaming down his face as Ceceta and Bosternd tickled him. They heard a hiccup in his laugh and then Rhen flipped into Themrock. His dark brown hair grew down to his shoulders, his cheeks sprouted a beard and his Genister tattoos came out.
A very drugged Layla crawled out of Themrock’s body. She was mumbling to herself as she bumped into the furniture. Ceceta wanted to kick her, but she held back. This wasn’t the time for revenge.
“Look at them,” Sarah said, pointing at the Genisters. It had been hard to tell what the Genisters looked like before in their ghostly forms. Now, though, they could see that Tharis had blue eyes and blond hair down to her waist. Her pale skin was soft and unblemished. She had a round face and a dimpled chin. She was also surprisingly short; the top of her head barely reached Shno and Reed’s shoulders as they walked her around the room. Her pink powers were puddling at her feet as she shuffled along in between them.
Thestrst’s curly hair was as orange as his powers. Behind his mask, he had sharp, green eyes that looked hawk like, even though they were currently staring at nothing. His tall, elfin body loped along, as the elves pulled him forward.
Theta was still floating in the air chanting. She had thick, lustrous, shoulder-length black hair, a broad nose and dark skin. She seemed to like jewelry. There were at least seven necklaces around her neck and her arms were filled with bracelets
Sarah and the others had seen Thellis’ mortal form before, so they weren’t surprised by his short jet-black hair, trimmed goatee and dark brown eyes.
“Wow. Those are some amazing tattoos,” Jet said by Ceceta’s shoulder. She glanced down at Themrock as he lay beneath her.
“He loved body art,” she told him. She pointed towards a bird as it flew from his waist up his back, disappearing into his hair. “There’s his Universal Eagle. Here are the symbols for each of the different Universes,” she touched the rotating shapes on his shoulders, then pointed towards his right arm. “There’s his elfin horse.” The large horse with big ears appeared to snort and then gallop in circles around Themrock’s arm.
“I thought elfin horses were a myth,” Plos said, crouching down to pour some water into Rhen’s mouth.
“They’re real,” Theta said. Her voice had a beautiful, lilting quality to it. She blinked her turquoise eyes as she walked gracefully towards
Themrock then pointed one of her fingers, which had multiple rings on it, at Themrock’s dragon tattoo. “That’s my favorite. It’s a Universal Dragon.” The dragon on Themrock’s left upper arm swung its head around, shook out its wings then took off in flight. As it flew around his arm, Themrock’s skin darkened so it appeared as if the dragon was flying through space. They could just make out a glimmer of movement, as the all black dragon flew past them. When Themrock’s skin turned back to its original color, the dragon landed and tucked its wings into place.
“Fascinating,” Plos whispered.
Theta lifted her head and glanced about the room. “They’re here.” She rose to her feet.
“The tigers?” Plos asked excitedly. Theta nodded. “Where?” He couldn’t wait to meet them.
“They sense danger in the room,” Theta whispered. “They’re hiding, waiting for the danger to show itself.” Theta began to scan the room, searching for whatever trouble the tigers sensed, but she couldn’t seem to find it. “We need your help,” she said. “Therol and Thaster have given Themrock some Ventarian delights. They plan on hurting him. I can’t defend him alone. Will you help us?”
When nothing seemed to happen, Bosternd leaned over and asked, “Will they help?” Theta nodded.
Jet and Aaron lifted Rhen to his feet, then began to walk him around the room. A moment later, Latsoh burst through the front doors with Erfce. The two of them were breathing heavily. “There are hundreds of red people appearing on the lawn outside and they’re all coming this way. Tgfhi and Crystam are trying to stop them, but there are too many of them.”
“Oh, no,” Ceceta groaned. She ran to the stairs to look out the front windows at the Great Lawn. Not far from the front doors, she could see Tgfhi using his water powers to try to beat back Thaster’s slaves while Crystam was sending waves of love towards them, but there were just too many of them. They kept coming and coming. Her friends were being forced backwards towards the building. “Latsoh, tell them to come in here now.” She turned to Theta. “Can you put a spell on the entrances to keep them out?”
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 40