Discoucia

by Nicholas Lovelock

  “Did you honestly think I was that vulnerable?” she cackled.

  Arthur then climbed aboard and was quite drunk, then knocked over and fell on the ghost. They both landed in an undignified heap.

  “Oh God…Iiii’m so sorry,” he said, before falling unconscious.

  “So, the award for best costume goes to…” said Archie who grabbed hold of the ghost’s hair, which came off in her hand.

  “It’s a wig, but what about the head?!” said a very confused Archie.

  The knocked-down ghost did a very strange thing: the costume deflated and all that was there was an old dress, a pair of gloves and a wig. “I have no idea what just happened” said Archie.

  “Neither do I,” said Jo.

  “I’m dying!” said Arthur.

  “Come on, let’s drag this little negotiator inside and get out of here and bring the costume too, I want to examine it,” said Archie. When she got to the study she wrote a letter to Lady Christa explaining what had happened and posted it through the oak door. The ship took off and everyone met in the wardrobe to check out what was going on.

  “The costume has obviously been worn by someone, since it’s still warm and we heard it talk,” said Archie. They left Arthur downstairs in the study asleep, and were trying to figure out what was going on.

  “But the person who was in it is gone and their identity still a mystery,” said Jo.

  “Indeed but I don’t think that it matters anymore, with the help of Discoucia the island will be a little less isolated now,” said Archie.

  “So we’re just going to let this one go?” asked Lilia.

  “Like with your ghost, yes we are,” said Archie.

  Pageon of Persia

  The ship sped towards the largest island in the Luminosity Archipelago, the Island of Arkellia. This was also the capital and its Palace of Azahadria was a wondrous sight to behold. It was built of sandstone much like Evermore was only it was a darker red, and since Arkellia is mostly flat and desert terrain the walls needed to be higher. They were built higher and inside the palace walls was a garden and lake that were regarded enviously. Sir Nabelle was a descendent of one of the previous rulers of Gard who used his money to live in splendour like a king. However, Sir Nabelle is a little unhinged and loves to compete and win in the most irregular ways, as Arthur will find out.

  The ship landed with a bump that woke up Arthur from his drunken slumber. He didn’t have any visions this time and looked around for water. He couldn’t find any, and when he saw the huge marble lake outside the window he ran outside as fast as he could. He stuck his head underwater, and for a few seconds he had forgotten that he had to breathe, but he felt so good that he didn’t care.

  When he brought his head up, he had several ornate spears pointing at him by heavily armoured guardsmen. “Good morning, I’m sorry but I was so thirsty,” said Arthur.

  “Come with us sir, we are taking you to see Sergeant Crippler,” said one.

  “Well, he sounds delightful,” said Arthur sarcastically, who was pulled to his feet and taken inside one of the buildings.

  Arthur was thrown into a chair, and left in a room on his own. He straightened his bow tie, and then his jacket. He wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to look presentable. A man walked in, who was rather nasty looking.

  “Who have we got here then?” he asked in a menacing tone.

  “Sir Arthur Pageon at your service, do I have the honour of addressing Sergeant Crippler?” asked Arthur.

  “You do, and Sir Arthur Pageon, well, I see that you are one of our high profile guests,” he said.

  “Look I’m sorry for drinking out of the pool, I didn’t realise there was an etiquette that had to be observed,” said Arthur.

  “Is this an apology?” he asked.

  “Well yes, water is probably a precious thing here and I’m sorry for drinking it without asking,” said Arthur.

  “Well, in that case consider yourself to carry on with your business,” he said, suddenly nice and happy.

  “Huh? What happened to the whole tough guy act?” asked Arthur.

  “Oh, well I get quite a few posh snobs that would rather get me fired than apologise. They never can, but you are the only one that has apologised,” he explained.

  “Oh good, I’m glad to hear it,” said Arthur, shaking his hand.

  “What is it that you are here for?” he asked.

  “I am here to see Sir Nabelle on some business from High King Olandine,” said Arthur.

  “Oh, that may be a problem,” he said.

  “Why?” asked Arthur in a concerned voice.

  “Sir Nabelle is in a funny mood and he just read a book he got from Ailu, called the Prince of Persia, and I hope you didn’t have anyone with you,” he said.

  “Miss Archaelia and Princess Josephine Olandine,” he said.

  “OK, now I am going to explain to you frankly what happened and please don’t run after them. It won’t do any good, your only chance is staying with me as with me we can free them,” he explained.

  “That’s my best friend and fiancée and if he’s hurt them…!” said Arthur, getting angry.

  “No he hasn’t, they are probably imprisoned in the treasure room at the top of the Violet Tower,” said the sergeant.

  “Then let’s go,” said Arthur.

  “OK, but it isn’t going to be easy, it’s all to see if you are as chivalrous as the character in his book,” he said.

  “Not an issue, come on then,” said Arthur.

  They checked the ship, and saw that the girls had indeed gone and they walked up to the main door and it opened up into a large entrance hall. “Which way?” asked Arthur.

  “To the left,” he replied. They followed a corridor with a burgundy and black carpet with the most amazing patterns, but Arthur wasn’t concerned about the decor.

  They then ran into the first of their obstacles which was another corridor, which had bits of the floor missing. “I’ll go first,” he said. Arthur watched as he ran through the corridor by jumping side to side with considerable ease. Arthur followed almost exactly as the sergeant had done. They were now beginning to climb and when they reached their next obstacle, they saw why.

  They had emerged in the hall of learning which had stacks of books, though not nearly as many as The Temple of Earthly Wisdom. They were quite high up and they saw the doorway on the other side of the room. It was a balancing act across the top of bookcases and wooden beams. Arthur found that when he thought of Jo, he summoned up enough courage to keep going.

  They finally reached the doorway and continued along a darkened corridor. Arthur was beginning to get ahead of himself and overtook the sergeant, who pulled him back just before he was about to fall into a shadowy pit. “Jump” he said and Arthur watched as he sailed over the pit to the other side. Arthur stepped back and then jumped to; he landed in the dark onto the floor in what must have been one of the scariest moments of his life.

  They saw a light at the end of the gloomy corridor and followed it until they emerged into a courtyard, which had three levels. Arthur looked up and he could see the Violet Tower rise up behind the courtyard, and this only strengthened his resolve. He climbed up the courtyard in stages and this reminded Arthur of the courtyard that he and Jo had climbed up in Evermore.

  The sergeant was amazed to see how adept Arthur was at climbing.

  “Where did you learn to do that?” he asked, being a level lower than Arthur.

  “Princess Josephine taught me in Evermore,” he said as the sergeant scrambled to the top level.

  “You must love her very much,” he said.

  “I do, now, we don’t have a moment to lose,” said Arthur, who walked down the next corridor cautiously. They entered a large room with a glass ceiling which was made from purple, pink and blue stained glass, and through it they could see the Violet Tower.

  “We’re almost there,” said Arthur.

  “Here is where we split company, my friend. The
re are two separate towers that open the main door to the Violet Tower. You activate one and I will activate the other, and we meet back here,” he explained.

  “Thank you for helping me,” said Arthur.

  “Don’t mention it, all it took was one sign of decency and I’ll help you with anything, sir,” he said, and disappeared down the right corridor.

  Arthur went down the left corridor which was well lit, and seemed to have no mechanisms or traps. Arthur then walked to the interior of the tower which was filled with mechanical apparatus of every kind. There were chains linked to giant wheels, which were all motionless. Arthur looked up and saw that the switch he looked for was at the top of the tower.

  He set about climbing the tower. He began by climbing a ladder to a platform. He then climbed precariously around a wheel, and achieved his objective of getting to the next platform. He looked up and saw that there were about four more floors to the switch, but he couldn’t see a way to go.

  After looking around for a while he saw a small switch built into the wall which he pulled down. It clicked and some chains began to move in between the gap that led from one side of the platform to the next. Arthur ran and grabbed it. He waited for the chain to take him to the third level. On this level he ran up some steps to the fourth level.

  “Two levels to go” he said to himself. Arthur pulled another switch on the wall, and saw that the next way was a straight diagonal way up that was now moving in out of the wall. Arthur waited for it to go in and then started to run. As it came out he began to run up it, and that gave him the maximum amount of time to get up.

  Arthur had ample time and he got up to find a way to the last level. He found it. It was a set of cut-outs in the wall and they went up in a diagonal fashion before they reached the switch on a terrace at the top of the tower. Arthur carefully stepped along the cut-outs and managed to finally get to the switch. He then saw something other than a switch on the terrace.

  It was a gleaming sword, ornately decorated, and Arthur regarded it as a thing of beauty. He picked it off the stand it lay on, and Arthur also found a sword belt that he attached to himself. He put the sword in its sheath, and pulled the switch. The machinery began to whirr to life, and the whole tower came alive. Arthur now felt more powerful with the sword, and he jumped down to the sixth level. Then he jumped down and rolled onto the fifth level, and did a similar routine to this on the fourth, third and second levels.

  He then reached the wheel that he had used to get to this floor, and found that it was furiously spinning. “I wonder what I do now,” he thought to himself. He found a part of the level that didn’t have any machinery and simply swung down to the first level. He then climbed down the ladder and walked triumphantly down the corridor to meet the sergeant.

  Sergeant Crippler was waiting for Arthur in the room that they had left. “Sorry did I keep you waiting?” asked Arthur.

  “Not at all, I’m surprised you made it,” he replied.

  “It’s worth it, now let’s carry on,” said Arthur, who opened up the big doors to the Violet Tower. They walked along an extremely ornate corridor and emerged in a circular room with a large outer spiral staircase that extended up to the top of the tower.

  “Come on, let’s get going,” said Arthur who ran up the stairs as fast as he could. He felt quite dizzy when he reached the top as did the sergeant, and they emerged at the top of the tower.

  It was a large circular room with a series of widows that were stain glass in extremely ornate patterns. The treasure that littered the floor was what drew their attention first, but Arthur was only interested in finding Jo. “Jo!” he shouted. “Over here, in the cage!” she shouted back. Arthur ran up a pile of gold, and slid down it. He saw that there were two large cages, Jo was in one and Archie was in the other. Archie was wearing a more summery version of her dress, and was sitting cross-legged on the floor reading a book that she most probably had magically pulled out of nowhere.

  “You got here then,” said Jo.

  “It wasn’t easy you know, but here I am, and where is our host?” asked Arthur, who was trying to unlock the cage door.

  “I am here Sir Arthur; and congratulations for beating my palace,” said Sir Nabelle, who had appeared out of nowhere.

  “Could you please unlock the door?” asked Arthur.

  “Now is the time when I give you a choice, you can either have all the gold here, or your trapped companions,” said Nabelle.

  “Take the gold, Arthur, and I’ll tear the place apart,” said Archie.

  “Hmm give me a millisecond to think about that, I would like to have my friends please,” said Arthur.

  “What!?” asked Nabelle.

  “Get my friends out of here if you don’t mind,” said Arthur.

  “Very well,” said Nabelle, who proceeded to unlock the cages and let the girls go.

  “Thank you. Now I have a request from The High King, he asks for your allegiance,” said Arthur.

  “I’m listening,” said Nabelle.

  “If you agree to give him support and help if he needs it, then you will have help from anyone else in the kingdom and you would be known as Lord Nabelle,” said Arthur.

  “This is only in a crisis,” said Nabelle.

  “Yes, if we are in war or if another island needs evacuation because of a small war or natural disaster, something of that kind,” said Arthur.

  “You don’t seem to be the normal stuck up official, why are you doing this?” he asked.

  “So I can marry Princess Josephine,” he replied.

  “That seems a worthy thing to do and I will not stand in the way of love, so by all means I will ally myself with Discoucia,” he said.

  “Excellent, here,” said Arthur, passing a bracelet to Nabelle.

  “Thank you, you were a worthy challenger, and I will allow you to take one piece of treasure with you,” said Nabelle.

  “May I choose?” asked Archie.

  “Of course, White Maiden,” said Nabelle.

  “Your people originally came from Sorro didn’t they?” asked Archie.

  “Yes, how did you know? People believe that we are from Gard because we have so much money,” asked Nabelle.

  “I like history,” said Archie, who was looking around the treasure pile.

  “What is it you are looking for?” asked Arthur.

  “Hold on,” said Archie, who dug into a pile of gold and pulled out a large clear fist sized gem.

  “I would like this,” said Archie.

  “How did you know about that?” asked Nabelle.

  “Well, you see, I need this; I cannot explain why, but may I please have it?” asked Archie.

  “Of course. I’m sorry I put you two in a cage, dramatic effect and all, you know,” he said.

  Archie clicked her fingers, and gestured for them to go out on the balcony. They all walked out, and the ship appeared. “It was nice to meet you,” said Arthur to Sergeant Crippler.

  “You go get em’,” he shouted. The ship flew away from the beauty of the palace, but unfortunately the beauty was lost on them.

  It’s a stone cold shame

  Professor Cordelia Paradise was the complete opposite of Archie, and her real name was Persus. She began by causing misery to those who deserved it, which could be seen as being amoral; however she took it to a major extreme that made Archie want to foil her at every possible opportunity. She has her secrets as much as Archie yet she didn’t seem to care as much about keeping them, since according to her it was too much work to be nice. Her daughter did her best to follow in her mother’s footsteps but didn’t possess complete godly powers, which was the result of having a mortal father.

  This wasn’t always so and Archie used to be her partner, back in a time when it called for it. Archie herself contained the Element of Water, where Cordelia contained the Element of Fire and she had a temperament to go with it. They both did some amazing things but their friendship came to an abrupt end when they disagreed over how to de
al with a particularly strange fairytale villain. Cordelia wanted to chop her head off while Archie wanted to send her to Icester.

  As far as looks, Cordelia was a contrast to her personality. She had bright pink hair and in her own realm wore a bright purple dress with red heart designs all over it. She looked like a fairytale princess since she preferred the Middle Ages over the more Celtic Paradise Archie had surrounded herself with.

  Archie had taken her costume off, and had put in the trunk with the rest of them that Stuart had made for her. She had changed back into her plain blue and white dress. The ship needed to stop off on the island of Larntone because it was steadily running out of fuel. Archie said she could just re-fill it but Corky needed to clean the whole thing out, which meant that the ship needed to stop.

  Larntone was a rocky island, similar to Omean but with more mountains and high cliffs. On the island at the moment was a small team of archaeologists also from Arkellia, only they were excavating the ruins of Sunrise Temple in the Dragon Valley. The ship landed rather bumpily in a secluded area above the valley and Corky began to fix the engines. “When do you want me to fill them up?” asked Archie.

  “When I’ve cleaned her; You may as well go for a walk, when she’s clean you can fill her up and we can leave,” replied Corky.

  “OK then,” said Archie.

  “If you can make fuel appear then I’ll eat my hat,” said Corky, who had been playing along with Archie up until this point.

  “I’m a trans-dimensional super being and you’re a driver, though none of that matters because you don’t have a hat,” said Archie.

  “Exactly,” he replied.