“Daltoid Kindel,” she said sweetly, ”do you remember when you gave me this hairpin? It always reminded you of home, and you wanted me to be part of the memory forever. So here we are.”
“Kindel?” he said. “You mean I’m not Captain Daltoid Swaggelot?” He looked around, confused. “But I remember waking up on the shoreline to your touch I was a Captain, wasn’t I?”
“Try to remember, my sweet. We journeyed together in your dream. You always felt that your life was missing something important. You wanted so much to experience your birthright on your home planet, Zalturn, where you would have grown into a great sea captain and ruled a kingdom. But when the last timekeeper was set into motion it didn’t adjust properly, and everything was thrown into disarray. Anything has been known to happen on a triple eclipse.
The Treptalonians had ruled on this side of the planet where we are now, but their Kingdom sank below the surface and flipped upside-down and then the Mammolias became trapped in a shaft in their own world, underground, chained to one-another for generations. Both civilizations were enslaved, until today. She touched her hairpin.
“The continent on which you were born shifted to the other side of the planet, and the Kindel clan carried on, although their youngest son – you, Daltoid – were swept off to my planet, Datzonia. We met as children, grew up together, fell in love and married. But you always dreamed of your lost planet.
To make up for the poor installment of the last timekeeper that caused all these problems, the Council arranged for you to live out your wish.”
As she spoke, Daltoid closed his eyes as memories began flooding back into his mind.
Clarenette removed his eye patch. “Look at me Daltoid. You were never injured at sea, nor ever sailed the traitorous waters,” she said. He looked deeply into her eyes and the last pieces of his past came back. “You truly are everything you dreamed of, and more. Our whole world resides within our hearts. We can explore any galaxy for adventure with our eyes closed. You wished to experience all your unfulfilled dreams, and it happened.
“Now it is time to go home. We are not royalty there either, Daltoid, just a happy couple living off the land. Everyone at home is looking forward to the annual harvest of our gushberry bushes and bake-offs on the upcoming new moon on our wonderful planet far away.”
A look of peace came over Daltoid’s face. “I remember everything now. I don’t need to be a captain or a ruler anymore. I just need to be with you, my love.”
Clarenette smiled and took his hand. She turned her head so that he could see the hairpin in her bun. “You gave this to me when we were just children, and then again in this dream in Kavalon. Do you remember what it is?”
Daltoid reached up and touched the shining hairpin. “It’s my crystal casting stick, the one I had ever since I can remember.”
“Yes,” Clarenette said. “Your mother placed it in your tiny hand when you were born. And it is also an activator that is going to take us home.” She touched it, her eyes shining.
“Look,” Glitta said, “their legs and arms are beginning to vanish.” The crew watched as Daltoid and Clarenette slowly disappeared, leaving behind only a faint mist. Just then Glitta saw something floating in the water near the ship. “It’s the PolyMatrixor,” she sparked, and skimmed the surface to snatch it from the waves. “Catch, Mojo!” she said, tossing it to him. “You might be needing this.” Maximojo caught it, sat on the ship’s rail and flipped open the device.
The Council came online. “Well, Maximojo, your mission has been a success, even the parts of it that you didn’t know about. We had to find a way to restore the Treptalonians back to their former glory and free the Mammolias. Not to mention fulfilling Daltoid’s wish at the first opportune moment when Kalapsis arrived. Triple eclipses don’t come around that often. We owed him that much after the mistake with the installation of the last timekeeper, don’t you agree?”
Maximojo turned to Glitta. “The Council snuck in another romance,” he said. “They always do.”
“Glitta sent off some solar flares that burst into rainbows. “It is so exciting!” she sparked. “Daltoid realized how much he had, and Clarenette showed us how incredible she truly is, not to mention how much she loved Daltoid.”
“As for your friends piled in the tugboat,” the Commander said from the satellite. “We have signaled Zelzo to pick them up after he drops off the rat. Council out.”
“Wait,” Maximojo said. “What about McFee?”
“Sorry about all that,” the Commander said. “I couldn’t warn you about him. He was smuggling gems against the ‘Cosmic Code of Conductivity,’ and we needed to trap him. He was coined for destruction. If we had told you about all of this, you might have done something that changed the stability of the future.”
“So we have another great Fa-Hairy Tail Story ending,” Glitta said.
“That’s right,” the Commander said. “Another successful mission.”
Soon Zelzo appeared, soared to the edge of the tugboat, IT had become, and carried it to the shore. Everyone unloaded and the button bug immediately puttied into a little ball and rolled into Kelcius’s ear.
“How does it feel to be a hero, Sir Kol?” Meowlen said, Smelka at her side.
“It’s tough being a hero, but worth it,” he gave a little smile, and looked up.
“Yes, it is. And in honor of your courage for rescuing Maximojo and Glitta, on behalf of all of us, I want to present you with this.” Meowlen reached into her pocket of the matching rain slickers that had appeared on both her and Smelka after they had crawled into the bug boat, and pulled out a shiny, gem-studded medal on a tiny chain.
“Sir Kol, please step forward,” she said. Kelcius came forward, looking as sheepish as a Treptalonian could, and Meowlen picked him up in her paw.
“For courage in battle, and for the splendid curiosity that led you to explore the forbidden world beyond your caves, and for leading your own race out of slavery, I now present you with this medal.” She hung it around his neck, and everyone cheered.
“Not sure if I would do that again, hero or no hero. That bird had a sharp beak!” IT thought, and went inside his snout.
Kelcius leapt onto the highest rock, brimming with joy. “I have a long way to travel to get back to the others. We will cross paths again, I’m sure.” He winked at Meowlen and waved to the others, and disappeared into the thickets.
“Kazeees to you, Sir Kol,” Meowlen said.
“Everyone comes and goes so quickly around Kavalon,” Woofster sighed.
***
Inside the satellite, the Council members gathered around the screen. “It’s time to dismantle the lingering props in Daltoid’s dream,” the Commander said. He began turning dials on a control panel.
The ship’s crew began melting into the deck, and the ship began to slowly evaporate into mist. The whale and the dolphins dove under the shining surface of the sea. “Let’s get back to our outer space waterways,” the whale said. “I hope the Council will call on us again for one of Maximojo’s future missions. This adventure was just splashingly splendid!”
***
Maximojo’s sensor flashed. “The Council wants to meet us,” he said, a little worried. “This will be a first. They’ve never requested to meet with us before. I wonder if something else is wrong.”
“Do you think we are in trouble?” Glitta sparked. “I wonder if they think you put that gem in your pack when we first landed here. I told you it was a bad idea.”
“But I returned it,” he said defensively.
She latched onto his pack, and he soared toward the satellite. Once aboard, they walked to the Council room on the upper floor and knocked on the door. To their surprise, the parrot opened it. “Aaawk! Maximojo! Come in! We have been waiting for you!”
Maximojo stepped in, where they got their second surprise. Glitta couldn’t stop flickering.
“Lou?” he said. The odd fellow sat at the head of the Council’s table.
&n
bsp; “Yes, my friends. Welcome.”
Maximojo and Glitta gave each other a quizzical look. Lou pulled the pipe out of his mouth and set it on the table. It turned into a crystal stick.
“You’re the Commander?” Maximojo asked.
“Yes,” Lou said. “I just wanted to watch in action, and not just from the satellite. You see, I’ve read all the stories about you. I sincerely hope that we didn’t cause you too much discomfort.”
Maximojo shrugged. “I could have passed on the scorpiola poison,” he said, straightening his collar.
“Well, at least you didn’t have to deal with Scrapsie invading your body like I did. That wasn’t pleasant, nor losing my powers. I don’t think you’ll be seeing me on any of your future missions. You will be happy to know that soon Kelcius will take his rightful place as the Ruler of Treptalon.”
“What will happen to the Kavalon and its citizens?” Maximojo asked.
“They never really existed. All of that is dissolved now, like the ship and the crew. They were only part of the dream we created for Daltoid. And the Kingdom of Treptalon now stands in the cornfield where all the animals of the planet came to greet you,” Lou said, “next to the new watchtower. Kelcius may need it in the future. I believe he has a plan.”
Okay,” Maximojo said, “but what happened to McFee?”
“He has been sealed into a faceless coin, along with his estate, and disposed of in an empty universe that had been wiped out during a cosmic catastrophe. We were concerned that he may try to capture the Starrings again for his own purposes, so we scattered them throughout the universe for safety.”
“They came in handy to keep gravity intact during Daltoid’s dream,” Maximojo said. “At least the phase-in went smooth.”
Glitta looked up through the skylight at the glowing constellations. Lou turned to her. “The Starrings are grateful you freed them from McFee. They are waiting for you to visit someday. After all, like them, you began as a solar flare, and they are your siblings,” he said.
Glitta flickered over to Maximojo’s side. She shaded her face, and blushed. “Maximojo is my family now, we are an inseparable pair, but maybe someday we will have a mission in their galaxy.”
“What about my friends, Woofster, Meowlen, Whinniston, Mannie, Smelka and the rest of her old gang?” Maximojo asked. “I promised that we would return.”
“And my Mojo always keeps a promise,” Glitta sparked.
“So be it, my masterminds. You’re right. It is cosmically correct, based on the ‘Cosmic Code of Promises.’ Your wish has already been granted, Maximojo. It begins right now. You’d better get going and catch up to your future.”
Where is it?” he shook the PolyMatrixor. “Can you give us a hint this time?”
“You will receive your mission report sometime in the future. Right now, you had better catch with Zalturn. It is speeding along in its new orbit. Rest assured that the legacy from this adventure will be inscribed in the history of the cosmos for many millenniums to come in Fa-Hairy Tail Stories.”
“Dreams really do come true with a little imagination, just ask Smelka,” Lou said.
Glitta sparkled. “And the others!”
The parrot opened the door for them. “Off to your future,” Lou said. They left and stood on the launch pad of the satellite. Glitta hooked onto his backpack, and revved up into a rocket. They blasted off.
***
“Watch out Mojo! We are going to crash into nothingness!” she flared, hoping once again that he was not steering them wrong.
“The spacegate should open just about now!” The entrance glistened into view. A door swung open. “Right on schedule,” Maximojo hollered. He made a sharp turn, barely missing the stoneheads who had been waiting behind the moon all this time for their return. But once again, the cosmic duo sped by them too fast to be caught. The spacegate slammed shut in the darkness behind them.
“History sure goes out with a bang!” Maximojo said, veering onto another spacetrack.
“Catch us, even if you can’t!” Glitta teased the stoneheads.
“How could you let them escape!” the biggest stonehead grumbled, almost imploding with disappointment.
The moon lit up. “There is always tomorrow,” it thought, and no longer felt alone.
“Someday we’ll grow up into planets and orbit in our own solar system,” one of the stoneheads said, shrugging off their defeat. In the cosmic scheme of things, there was always another sunrise.
“MOJO … MOJO-O-O-O!” the planets and stars called out when they recognized the inseparable duo, speeding through the universe as Kalapsis took another breath, thankful everything was running like clockwork.
Chapter 0
The adventure continues …
“That was some adventure, but things will never be the same for any of us. I feel different somehow like the undefeatable, reliable, loveable Woofster!" he said, as the troop found itself back in the cornfield where they started. “I wonder why Maximojo hasn’t come back yet, he promised, and I’ve read every book and he always keeps his promise.”
“Yo! Don't get carried away, remember how to behave on duty, you're still on watch,” Mannie said. He looked towards the horizon and placed his paw on Woofster's shoulder saying, "I have big plans for us partner!" Woofster let out the breath he was holding and said out loud, "So there is more excitement for an old junk yard dog!"
“Meows and I have other ideas,” Smelka said, checking her nails, which were freshly painted in Venus Velvet, as she and Meowlen strutted along in high heels and fashionable sunhats.
A scratchy voice came from behind them. “Hey what are you doing here? The troop turned in unison to look. Rutty, Letcho and Scrapsie were running up to them. Rutty pointed at Smelka, whom he barely recognized in her fancy outfit. “If she can go with you, why can’t we? Strength in numbers, remember? What do you say, buddies?”
“Hey, guys, look at Smelka, all dolled up!” Letcho teased. “She doesn’t look like an orphan anymore.”
Scrapsie pinched the lizzardo’s mouth shut. “No more teasing. We’re starting a new beginning.” Scrapsie felt on top of the world.
“Yes, from now on watch it,” Meowlen said, displaying her claws of many colors. “Be super nice to my sister, Smelka. She may rule a planet some day.” Letcho smiled for the first time in his life.
Just then, the skies lit up. Everyone looked up in awe as Maximojo and Glitta arrived, shattering the sound barrier and sliding into the cornfield, stopping at Whinniston’s front hoof.
“I knew it! They show up just like in the Fa-Hairy Tails.” Woofster exclaimed, and excitedly lassoed his tail around Letcho.
“We're glad you finally made it,” Whinniston said. “Maybe next time you should accept a ride from somebody, namely me.” He regally threw back his head proudly, his mane flowing behind him.
***
Ruler Kelcius-Kol strolled out of the castle and onto his balcony. “What a glorious day in Treptalon!” The Ruler filled the water dish and admired the watchtower built to ward off potential invaders. Flutterers gathered around. He heard a commotion in the cornfield surrounding the Kingdom. “Who are those strangers?” he thought peering over the railing. Kelcius squinted, his eyes not yet accustomed to daylight. He recognized the shape of a horse, and it looked like others were on its back. “Could it be?” Kelcius said, his heart beating fast.
“Yes, it is!” and let out a loud whistle.
Widow Wynder ran across his foot. “Noisy-noisy! Keep it quiet around here. My little ones were sleeping in the castle. Now you’ve done it. They’re awake. Must attend. Fast-fast.”
Excerpt from a Fa-Hairy Tail Story
A Timekeeper Kalapsis Recording
***
s book with friends
Maximojo and the Wand of Light Page 22