“You finally got here, what took you so long?” she asked. Archie was wearing a different colour now; she was wearing a red and white combo that was similar to her previous one but the colours were simply different.
“Captain Scurvy’s Ghost, The Ghost of Queen Lilia and The Sneaky Sea Creature,” replied Jo.
“Ah, I see. Well, now that you are here we can leave and go to The Temple of Earthly Wisdom,” said Archie.
“First, I just wanted to apologise,” said Arthur.
“No need, walking around with platinum hair must have been punishment enough,” said Archie.
“It was actually, is there anything you can do about it?” asked Arthur. Archie put her hand on Arthur’s and his hair clouded over and became brown, although this time it was a bit lighter.
“Happy now?” asked Archie.
“Thank you, it’s finally back to normal,” he replied.
“Not quite, you are 337 and Jo here is 220, which is one heck of an age gap so I’d like to return you to normal,” said Archie. Stuart, Lilia and Mary witnessed Archie levitate off the ground and then Arthur did the same. He was enveloped by a bright light, and then he returned to the ground.
“You know, it is brilliant that you two carried on your relationship despite the age difference,” said Archie.
“You can’t put an age on love,” said Jo.
“Good, you two seem to be doing fine and I believe that Lilia needs some convincing,” said Archie.
She walked over to the group, and they all fell silent. “So Lilia, tell me what I can do to prove my authenticity,” she said.
“Can you grant wishes?” asked Lilia.
“Of course I can, but every Discoucian gets one so remember that,” she replied.
“You can ask for dreams,” said Arthur.
“No, I have only one wish, I want to marry Stuart,” she said.
“No I can’t do that,” she said.
“Why not? It’s selfless, and it will bring me true happiness,” she replied.
“I can give you a very good reason why, because that is already going to happen, and only you will leave the story now, and will not be involved in it anymore. If you wish to marry Sir Stuart, then it will mean your departure,” said Archie.
“Can I have a moment with Stuart to think about this,” she said.
“You have all the time in the world,” said Archie.
After about five minutes Lilia and Stuart returned, as the sun was beginning to set. “We have decided that we will leave, let Arthur and Jo continue on and we will return to Portalia,” she said. Arthur looked most hurt out of everyone.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said.
“I have to, you brought me out of hell and I will always love you for it. Now I will hopefully brighten up Stuart’s world the way you did mine,” she said.
“I got you back and now I’m losing you,” said Arthur.
“No you are not, and you can come and see me anytime, just please love me enough to let me go,” she said.
“OK, but look after her Stuart, not that she needs it,” said Arthur.
“I will, thank you for helping me get over losing my wife,” he said.
“I think this one will love you for who you are,” said Jo.
Archie was standing with Mary, as they didn’t have anything really to contribute. “It’s weird watching this from outside,” said Archie.
“I feel sorry for Sir Pageon,” said Mary.
“He will be fine, a lot of adventures lie ahead for him and his wife,” said Archie.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“My god so transparent,” said Archie.
“OK Archie, you can prove to me that you are benevolent, and give me the power to dream,” said Lilia.
“Is that your one and only wish?” she asked.
“I want to fall asleep and go to strange and amazing places, meet strange and amazing people while it’s all inside my head,” said Lilia.
“Come here then,” said Archie. Lilia walked over to her, and Archie put both her hands on her head.
Lilia felt her mind race, as it was filling with the most amazing things she had ever seen. She fell to the floor, and her eyes were glazed over with a rainbow of colours. They looked like two kaleidoscopes, both moving in tandem. Lilia blinked, and then got up. She then did something unexpected. She hugged Archie, and was brought to tears. “Thank you, thank you,” she said.
“Don’t mention it, just try not to be so xenophobic in the future,” said Archie.
“I don’t know what that word means,” said Lilia.
“Never mind,” said Archie, who clicked her fingers and in the distance a light appeared.
“There is your ship, ready to take you to Portalia,” said Archie. Stuart shook her hand awkwardly and they left, flying off towards a new found happiness. Mary climbed down the stairs to find her relative. She returned to Alkenwedge with her cousin and the whole affair with Sir Thomas was quietly forgotten.
“So the three of us, back together again, sort of,” said Jo.
“I do prefer it when you are around,” said Arthur.
“Come on let’s get going, we have to be in Ailu before sunrise as I need to see Lady Christa on urgent business, and there are reports of her mother’s ghost haunting the Temple,” said Archie.
“Another ghost,” said Arthur.
“This one is a little bit different to the ones that you have faced before,” said Archie.
“How so?” asked Jo.
“You’ll see,” said Archie cryptically.
The ship floated up to the top of the pyramid, and landed on the massive open space. “Shall we go?” asked Archie.
“Of course, ladies first, then duo-gendered and then me,” said Arthur.
“Funny, but I’ll take it,” she said. They boarded and the ship flew to the south-east, to the Island of Ailu.
The Wilting Magnolia Flower
The Temple of Earthly Wisdom was founded by a group of members of the Order of the Tangerine, who were not happy with the way it was run. They left for the island of Ailu, which at that time was uninhabited. With a quarry of pink marble and several magnolia tree seeds, they founded the Temple of Earthly Wisdom, with the largest library in the whole of Alavonia, six hundred million books, which were mostly copies of the rare books that the sisters copied from the private libraries of Discoucia. The sisters of the temple are comprised of rich children who aren’t rich enough to attend the now defunct Starfall Academy. However the children there are intelligent but become complacent, whereas at the temple they become more diligent and attentive.
The Nostradamus now flew faster, for some unknown reason even Corky couldn’t explain, but he now had the power to fly faster. Back in the study the three were sitting in the safe, which was now referred to as the freezer. “You know the more I hang around with you, the faster the time will go so I need to do something that will sort this problem out,” she said.
“Archie, I know this is a little off topic but have you ever been in love?” asked Jo.
“To be honest with you Josephine, I wouldn’t know love if it smacked me in the face. Sure I had some flings in the past with mortal but that only complicated things. Nowadays I simply keep myself to myself,” replied Archie.
“Everyone has to have somebody,” said Arthur.
“Not me, I just shepherd other people like you two, but I don’t think there is any danger of me falling in love,” she said.
“No offence, but that’s a pretty lonely existence,” said Jo.
“I know, but there isn’t really much I can do about it,” she replied.
“Also I was wondering if you could slow down your effect on time?” asked Arthur.
“Well, I could put it into the story line that I clicked my fingers and time went back to normal,” she said, clicking her fingers. The ship began to slow down and Corky was as perplexed as ever.
“I don’t know how you did that,” said Arthu
r.
“I’m like a living Escher print,” replied a cocky looking Archie, who opened the door to the deck since she knew they had arrived.
Sure enough they had, and the sight that met their eyes was beautiful. The whole area seemed to be landscaped with pink blossom trees all around, and flower beds that were in full bloom. And the small rivers flowed like millponds through pristine white avenues. There were red wooden bridges across these small rivers, and lanterns on the end that were lit up in the dark. At this time of the day, anywhere would have a hint of evil or gloom, but not here. The ship had landed outside the temple which had a ten foot wall made of pink marble, that was pristinely clean as much as the rest of the island.
“This place looks like heaven,” said Jo.
“I got the idea from a Japanese garden, but it’s a pity that you don’t have koi carp in Alavonia because they would have been perfect,” she replied.
“Japan is a country in the other world?” asked Arthur.
“It is and at one time this is what most of it looked like, I’m just paying homage to it here because I was inspired by it,” said Archie.
“Tell us more about it,” said Jo.
“You have watermelons here, right?” asked Archie.
“Yes, though they are quite rare,” replied Jo.
“In Japan they have created square ones that are in a cube shape,” said Archie.
“That’s incredible, what else?” asked Arthur.
“Strawberries, they have blue ones there,” said Archie.
“Do they taste any different?” asked Jo.
“No idea, I’ve never tried them,” said Archie.
“I have a question about Lilia,” said Arthur.
“Do you want to know about her dreams?” asked Archie.
“Yes please, what will she see?” asked Arthur.
“Since you cannot dream normally I cannot compare it to anything, but you Jo would understand,” said Archie.
“Explain it to me, and I will try to then explain it to Artie,” she said.
“Have you ever had a dream which…” said Archie, but she was stopped by a floating ghost that appeared on the deck.
It was wearing a pink dress that was ragged and frayed at the base, and she wore long white gloves and had long white hair. The thing that worried the trio was the fact that she had no face, no legs or feet, and between her the end of her gloves and the beginning of her dress, there was nothing there either.
“Good evening, we were just discussing the flora of Japan,” said Archie.
“Leave my temple,” is said in a menacing tone.
“What is your name?” asked Arthur, who had begun to get used to the routine.
“Lady Magnolia, ruler of the Earthly Wisdom,” it said, with the voice coming from nowhere.
“OK,” said Archie.
“What?” it asked in surprise.
“You want us to leave, we will but you have to give us a reason why,” said Archie.
“I wasn’t ready for a follow up question,” it said, before disappearing behind a cherry blossom tree.
“So we just saw Lady Magnolia’s ghost, let’s go to sleep and we can check out the suspects in the morning” said Archie. Jo and Arthur went upstairs to bed and Arthur had another night of no dreaming, the same as he always did, and then, just before the sun rose, he had a five second dream. He saw a swimming pool surrounded by girls of all ages. He awoke the same as Jo; they both woke up in tandem. They got dressed and met Archie on the deck. “Come on then, let’s wrap this one up quick, make sure you bring the bracelet for Lady Christa” said Archie.
They climbed down onto the path and walked up to the door. Archie gave it a loud knock. It was made of black oak, very old and very rare. The door was opened by a young girl with blonde hair tied in a bun.
“Good morning, Sir Arthur Pageon here to see Lady Christa,” he said.
“Come in,” she said; letting the three in, she closed the door and locked it. The inside of the temple was even more beautiful than the outside, with four rivers running into a central pool, and all the girls that Arthur saw in his dream were there, all sitting on the perfectly maintained lawn.
A woman in a silver dress walked up to them and introduced herself as Lady Christa. She has long silvery blonde hair, and was about 450.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Sir Pageon, welcome to our little slice of paradise,” she said.
“I have to admit, this place looks like a utopia,” said Arthur.
“Who are your friends?” she asked.
“This is Princess Josephine Olandine and this is Miss Archaelia,” said Arthur.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Princess, I hope you approve of our humble dwelling and I am afraid I am not familiar with your name, Miss Archaelia,” she said.
“I know, it is a bit odd but I was born with it and that’s all that can be said,” said Archie.
“Would you like a tour?” asked Christa.
“Of course, and then later I would like to talk to you about some business,” said Arthur.
“If you so wish,” she said, and led them to the lawn.
The first four girls looked quite young. “This is Sara, Jeshica, Felicity and oh no not Susan, what are you doing here, you’re supposed to be out in the grove collecting fruit,” she said. Susan promptly ran off and they moved off to the next group. The next lot of girls were older.
“This is Talia, Catalina, Cordalia and Louisa, they are our best mathematical scholars,” said Christa. They now moved around the pool to a larger group of girls that were in all sorts of acrobatic positions.
“This little conflab consists of Eloise, Galicia, Valeria, Iris, Virginia, Farah, Razia, Maria and Sernia,” she said. Arthur and Jo were amazed at how Lady Christa remembered all the names.
They finally reached the group of much older girls, and there were four of them. “And at the top of our school, we have Melody, Symphony and Harmony, and our head girl, Lady Alicia May,” said Christa. Alicia May was about 220 with white hair that seemed to reflect the sun, and she wore a simple green dress with black lace that matched her deep emerald eyes.
“You have a lovely temple, and so well tended,” said Jo.
“Who is this?” asked Alicia.
“This is Sir Arthur Pageon and his two companions Princess Josephine and Miss Archaelia,” said Christa.
“Are you here to deal with the ghost?” asked Melody.
“Now Melody, I don’t want you talking about that,” said Christa.
“We met the ghost last night and she seemed an interesting character,” said Archie.
“Do you have any clues about it?” asked Harmony.
“None, except she is most probably a resident of this temple though I can’t think of a motive,” said Archie.
“Neither can I, but can I talk to you about that business, Lady Christa?” asked Arthur.
“I have to show you the grounds first,” she said.
They were taken through the immaculate grounds that were kept perfect even though the weather was so hot that ordinary grass would wither and die. “How do you keep the grass so green?” asked Arthur.
“One of our previous students has become an eminent botanist and she managed to create this grass that could withstand any kind of heat, and will still remain lush and green,” she explained.
“That was lucky,” said Archie, as they walked past a group of girls who were meditating in a circle under the shade of a large willow tree.
They reached an ornate door which was circular and painted red. Christa opened it and they came to the Library which extended down underground as far as the eye could see. “So this is where you keep the millions of books you have,” said Jo.
“If we ever get a load more, we dig and add another level; it’s kinda like a reverse skyscraper and we’re going down instead of up,” she said.
“I love the idea but why would the ghost of Lady Magnolia haunt the place?” asked Archie.
“W
e have some students here that don’t want to be, they are sent to us by parents that wish to travel instead of take care of them and we inherit those issues,” said Christa.
“You think that it is a student playing a joke?” asked Jo.
“I do and frankly I’m willing to look the other way until they get bored. Now what is that business you wanted to talk to me about, Sir Arthur?” asked Christa.
“Is there somewhere private we can go?” asked Arthur.
“Allow me to show you to my study, you two are free to move around the grounds as you wish,” said Christa.
“What do you think we should do?” asked Jo.
“Wait for nightfall and then trap the ghost,” said Archie.
“What if this like Lilia’s ghost and a trap has no effect?” asked Jo.
“Look, Jo, there is only one place where you are going to find real ghosts and that is my domain, but thankfully they are the people that don’t spend their time scaring other people,” said Archie.
“Am I ever going to see your domain?” asked Jo.
“One day, very soon,” said Archie.
“Let’s go and capture a ghost,” said Jo.
They went back to the ship, and rigged up a complex net trap above the deck, and several girls were watching with avid fascination at the two women that were setting up such a complex trap. Melody looked out from behind the black oak door and sneered. Harmony was up a tree, and she also saw the trap, and she sneered too. Symphony was pruning a magnolia tree when she saw the trap, and she laughed.
“Are there any real ghosts or monsters in the world?” asked Jo.
“Of course there are, ask any crypto-zoologist and they will tell you that there are some things in this world that science can’t explain now, but will probably be able to in the future,” replied Archie.
“And how would somebody explain you?” asked Jo.
“They wouldn’t, because that would be downright rude to go into my physiology and find a reason for why I’m so special, but other than that I try to live in blissful ignorance of my own existence,” replied Archie.
The day turned to night and the girls sat on the banister, waiting for the Ghost to appear. Arthur still hadn’t returned and they waited anxiously for him. Jo at least was worried about her fiancé, but Archie was much more interested in the ghost. They heard the rustling of some leaves and looked behind them. There was nothing there and they turned back. The ghost stood in front of them, waiting for them to scream. Archie pulled on the cord that activated the trap, and the net came for the ghost. She slid back into mid -air before the trap hit her, and stood triumphantly on the banister.
Discoucia Page 26