Archie took a relaxed approach to eating but Jo was ravenous, and demolished fifty prawns in ten minutes. When Archie was finished, Jo was waiting for the second course which was a huge pile of scampi, the pile was about two feet tall, and Archie then did something that everyone looked at with confused looks. She threw them into her mouth, one by one in rapid succession, like tasty bullets. She repeated this until all the scampi were gone. Jo was starting to feel a slight strain but she continued on, as she wasn’t going to let Archie forget about this when she had won.
They finished the second course and out came the third, a big bowl of paella. “This looks lovely, and I am going to enjoy it,” said Archie.
“Come on Jo, you’re eating for four now,” shouted Arthur.
“What?” she said back to him.
“Nothing, good hustle kid,” he shouted back.
Archie shot him a venomous glance and he tried to avoid it. They slowly finished the course and the waiter brought them two large drinks. Archie downed it in one go and Jo struggled to lift the glass. “We are half way through and now comes the fourth course,” said the announcer.
It was three large fish that were battered in breadcrumbs.
“Excellent, finally we have real fish they look amazing” said Archie who was unfazed by eating such a large amount of food. Jo had now gotten her second wind, and she set about eating the fish as fast as she could. Archie just stared at her and then giggled, because Jo’s belly had begun to poke out of her shirt, and looked quite funny. “Yes I know, though if I am going to beat you I have to concentrate,” said Jo.
When they had finished the round of fish, it was time for the fifth course.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the two challengers have now eaten four courses of food and now have two courses left, the next one nobody has finished not even our champion because she has beaten all opponents before this stage,” said the announcer.
The next course appeared, and it was a huge bowl of fish soup. Jo stared at it for a second and shakily picked up a spoon. Archie called a waitress over and whispered something in her ear. She walked off and everyone wondered what she had said. The waitress came back with a large straw and Jo’s eyes widened. Archie then did the unthinkable, and actually slurped the soup up through a straw.
The crowd watched in horrid fascination at Archie drain the bowl of soup and then wipe her lips daintily with a napkin. Jo watched with her mouth wide open, she didn’t have a chance. “Give up, Josephine?” asked Archie.
“If I did, then I wouldn’t be a very good role model,” said Jo.
“Then you carry on, I need to ask Arthur to fetch me something from the ship,” said Archie.
She walked over to Arthur and gave him his instructions. Arthur was to go and get his business over with Sir Richard and retrieve something from the ship that wasn’t there before, and bring it back. The two people carried on eating after Arthur walked through the crowd and out the door. After Jo had nearly choked on the last bit of her soup, she leant back and groaned. “This is incredible, our two challengers have eaten five courses and we now have the last course, which is the hardest course to finish out of all six,” said the announcer.
From out of the kitchen came two carts and on them were large bowls, about a metre across, and they both had a cloth covering the contents. “This is something new invented by our chefs and they have yet to be given a name, but it has been agreed that the champion of this challenge will give them a name” said the announcer. The bowls were placed in front of the two, and the cloth was taken away. Inside was a mass of chips, and Archie was surprised that the people here didn’t get the memo that they were called chips.
“What are these exactly?” asked Jo.
“They are cut like wood chips but they come from potatoes, as mentioned in Asterix,” said Archie.
“She is right!” said the announcer.
“Go on then Jo, now that you know what they are go ahead and dig in. Shall I fetch you a spade?” asked Archie.
“I’ll be fine with a fork, thank you,” she replied.
Jo set about attacking the bowl. She had faced monstrous robots, a snow monster, an impossible trap, but there was no easy way out of this. “It’s funny when you think about it, but were being rewarded for being gluttonous and the fact that you, a princess, are being cheered on is brilliant,” said Archie.
“Why is it brilliant?” asked Jo, in a strained sarcastic voice.
“Socially you have escaped a Dark Age of repression and your technology has become advanced, and your morals are well balanced with the right combination of fun and restraint. Though you know what happens to perfect worlds?” asked Archie.
“Is this a trick to win?” asked Jo.
“No not at all, I just hope that Arthur brings me back what I asked,” replied Archie, who had nearly finished. Jo desperately crammed chips into her mouth which was now coated in soup from the previous course, and she had not bothered to clean it.
They finally finished and the whole crowd cheered. “Ladies and gentlemen, our two challengers have both finished and it is up to them if they wish to call it a draw,” said the announcer.
“What do you think Jo? I don’t mind, this way we’re not second to each-other and we’re both as good as each other,” said Archie.
“Since I’m probably going to explode, I agree,” she said. They were both presented with a trophy and thankfully they didn’t have to pay, since they had finished the whole thing.
The Book of Dreams
Arthur walked back in to find the two nearly lying on their chairs and in his hand he held a large book, with a blue cover that had a strange symbol on it.
“What exactly is this book?” asked Arthur.
“I refer to it when I need guidance, you see my domain is a little different from yours, when you see it you will understand,” said Archie.
“You didn’t really explain it,” said Arthur.
“Did you get allegiance from Sir Richard?” asked Archie.
“Yes, he is a great friend and he owed me a favour, and now that I’m done I am free to search for a cure,” said Arthur.
“Good, then I’m afraid that I must leave you, you need to make it to my home on your own but here, look at this,” she said, reaching into the cover and handing Arthur a map.
She literally pulled it out of the solid book cover and Arthur placed it on the table. It was a map of Lesiga and the island of Availa, which had a small ship on it, presumably the Nostradamus. “So tell me about the book,” said Arthur.
“Inside this book is every dream that I have ever had and from these you guys were born, your whole world and everything in it so if anything happens to you, the record is here,” said Archie.
“You created the world?” asked Jo.
“I had a hand in it, creating the oceans and all water. Now look in the book,” replied Archie.
“Is anything going to happen to me?” asked Arthur.
“Let me see,” said Archie.
She opened the book and inside it was nothing, just a swirling void of many fantastic colours. “This is what dreams look like?” asked Arthur.
“No, something here is terribly wrong, the book is in a flux which means that something bad is about to happen, all the harmony and balance in the world won’t hold for long, you need to get to The Great Rim as soon as possible,” said Archie, and she began to fade along with the book.
“But how do we get there?” asked Jo, but Archie had disappeared completely.
“Ohh, I think I’m having a food baby,” said Jo.
“I’m not saying a thing but were leaving for Lesiga now, we’ve lingered in this archipelago for too long, let’s go,” said Arthur.
“I can’t move,” said Jo.
“Then I’m carrying you, you can either make me look like a hero or walk,” said Arthur.
“You can be all the hero you want, a free ride is a free ride,” said Jo, who stretched out her arms for Arthur to carry her. He walked o
ut with her and with much cheering from the other diners.
Back on the ship Arthur tucked an already asleep Jo into bed and went downstairs. He couldn’t sleep, so much had happened. He was going to be a father and Archie had gone. He’d lost his freedom and his safety net in one day, and now ahead of him was the home of a god and the untold wonders that lay inside. He tried to get his head straight but nothing could work, so he opened his safe and looked at the bottles that Lilia and Stuart had left. They were all the same, all bottles of a purple substance. Arthur then saw that a note had been left on them.
‘Thank you for everything brother, here’s something that I know you will like, it’s a drink I distilled on Harrha called Purple Sunshine and it tastes out of this world, only don’t drink more than a glass in a day, it’s so sweet that you would probably turn into a nice person…Love your favourite sister, Lilia’
Arthur picked up a bottle and took it out of the freezing safe and out into the warm of the study. He closed the door of the safe and a wisp of cold steam puffed from the floor. Arthur covered the door with the carpet and stuck the bottle on the desk. He pulled the cork and a sweet smell instantly filled the room. Arthur then felt that he was in a dreamy atmosphere and he found that he felt surprisingly uplifted. All of his problems didn’t feel like problems anymore, but instead they felt like opportunities.
He poured the drink and drank about half. All around his head he could hear several different noises. At the bottom of both ears was a steady thumping sound and above that was the up and down sound that wasn’t as heavy as the first. Then in between that he heard a lyrical sound like a violin that undulated up and down at odd and irregular intervals.
Then he heard something new; he heard someone singing. It was a male voice, heavy and distorted and he couldn’t tell what the person was singing about, or the words. But then he heard three words, the only ones that were at all decipherable, ‘can’t come in’. The relentless beat went on and on, and it was so infectious that Arthur didn’t want it to stop.
Discoucia didn’t have many musicians and the best were all in the employ of Lords and Ladies for their personal entertainment. Arthur walked over to the window and collapsed on the windowsill, barely being able to keep himself up. The sky was on fire, and he saw rainbows and clouds of a thousand colours and hues all flowing around the magnificent scene that greeted his eyes. Arthur then collapsed onto the floor, which he found amazingly comfortable.
He slept there until the morning, and when Jo came downstairs, she shook her head in disappointment. “Drinking again, I think you’re turning into an alcoholic,” said Jo, but then she found that Arthur had drunk only a small amount of the bottle, and that he seemed so peaceful, not like he was before. She tried to pick him up and his eyes jolted open. He stood up, and seemed more alert than he had been in a long time. “No hangover?” she asked.
“No, I feel amazing, I have no idea why but I feel extremely refreshed and I want to go for a swim, are we nearly in Lesiga?” he asked.
“We’re there, Corky has landed the ship by the river, where it joins the sea,” said Jo.
Like lightning Arthur ran out of the study, through the sitting room and as he ran he ripped his clothes off apart from his underwear, then threw open the door. He ran across the deck and he saw all around that Lesiga was amazingly different than what he expected. He stopped on the deck as a slightly cold chill had hit him, and looked around at his surroundings which were all considerably different from what he expected.
“You haven’t been taking hallucinogenic concoctions, have you?” asked Jo.
“No, that would make me as bad as the people your father’s government imprisons,” said Arthur.
“And how do you explain this?” asked Jo, holding the bottle.
“It isn’t anything serious and it made me feel so happy,” he said.
“That’s as maybe, but I don’t want to lose you since I know how easy it is to get addicted. Archie told me what I did on Inimosisle and I don’t want to be embarrassed like that again,” said Jo.
“I’ll bear it in mind,” he said, walking back into the sitting room.
Scenes From a Childish Fantasy
From where Arthur was standing he could see that they had landed on a vast plain, with irregular hills and tufts of grass poking out in odd places. This continued as far as the eye could see but then the view was blocked by a bank of fog, and behind that they could see nothing. There was what had once been a deep stream but now it was dry, and in the centre was a line of blue which was strange against the sandy coloured silt.
“OK, I’m going to change and we are going to sail up stream to the source, which is where I think we will find the entrance to Archie’s domain,” said Arthur. He walked inside and after ten minutes the ship lifted off and began to sail up the dry stream, towards the ominous looking fog bank.
“So what are we to expect in Lesiga?” asked Jo.
“Well, the rulers live in a fabulously huge castle, and they are King Charles and Queen Georgina,” said Arthur.
“Oh I remember, they live in the Astral Castle in fabulous wealth while the rest of the people live below in squalid conditions, I visited it when I was little,” said Jo.
“There is also a large house between us and the castle, and if I remember rightly it’s called Danis Hall,” said Arthur.
“A bit of a lonely place to have a home, how big is it?” asked Jo.
“About the size of Evermore, the grounds that is, but the house is built upon the highest point of the southern moors and it looks out over the various farms and villages that are spread across the continent,” said Arthur.
“Are we going to run into any monsters?” asked Jo.
“I don’t know, but the place is a very spooky setting so who knows. As long as we have the ship we’ll be safe,” said Arthur.
Just after he finished they heard a blood curdling howl echo through the fog, and it sounded so horrific that Jo was gripped with terror. She grabbed Arthur and buried her head into his arms. “Oh dear, that doesn’t sound very pleasant does it,” said Arthur.
“Another thing I love about you Artie, you never panic,” she said in a muffled voice because she didn’t want to look up.
“I’m going outside to see if we can see anything,” said Arthur.
“There is no ‘we’, Arthur; I’m not going out there, not by a long shot,” said Jo.
“Fine stay in here, it was probably just one of the farm dogs a mile away and the sound echoes through the fog,” said Arthur in a calm voice.
“You can’t honestly believe that, when is that ever the explanation?” she asked.
“Good point, but I’m curious,” he replied and walked into the sitting room.
It was quite nice in the sitting room with the lights on; it was nice and bright in comparison to the dark fog outside. He looked outside and couldn’t see a thing, the light inside made it darker outside and since it was midday, he was amazed that there was no light coming in from above.
Arthur walked out into the gloom and was amazed at the stark change that had occurred to the landscape. He looked in the direction from which the howling came and couldn’t see nor hear a thing. He looked back in the direction of the sitting room and Jo was looking at him through the window. The silence was terrible; when there was a sound of some far-off creature the land had seemed alive, but now all that was left was this dense fog and nothing else.
Then Arthur heard it again, a howl from out in the darkness but this time it was closer, much closer and inside the howl was a undertone of growling, which took away the notion of it being a farm dog as they are not that big. Arthur ran to the spotlight that he had rarely used, pulled off its cover, and turned it on. The light buzzed into action and Arthur pointed it out into the gloom.
What Arthur saw next played on his mind from that point on. He always knew that there was no such thing as real monsters, and that he had been trying to find an explanation for the snow creature ever since
they had visited the Icicle Mountains. He aimed the light out to the bank of the river and he saw a black shape running out of the light. He had no idea what it was, but the more he thought about from then, the more the image changed in his mind.
“What was it? What did you see?” Jo asked as Arthur walked back in.
“I don’t know what I saw, but I’ll be telling Corky to stop the ship at Danis Hall for the night, I want to ask Sir Edward about a few things,” said Arthur.
“Can’t we just keep going, it would make so much more sense,” said Jo.
“No, it annoyed me that I never figured out what the snow creature was so I’m not letting this one go,” said Arthur.
“I’m going into the wardrobe, so I can find something nice to wear, and since your wardrobe has no windows it seems to be the safest place,” she said.
“Our wardrobe, Jo,” he replied.
“Yes, that’s going to take a while to get used to,” she said.
“Well wear what you want, it’s all ours,” said Arthur. Jo ascended the stairs, and Arthur walked out onto the deck and down the stairs into the hull. The hull of the ship was a large space, even for a small ship like The Nostradamus and had all of Arthur’s guns and gadgets in boxes and several crates of emeralds and rubies, for powering the ship. They were all sizes, and shapes.
Arthur just blithely walked past them and knocked on Corky’s door. “Enter” was the reply. Arthur walked into Corky’s room, which was large, and well lit. The front of the ship’s hull was glass, most of it at least, and this how Corky could navigate. All across the walls were maps and posters, and in the corner was a small bed. It seemed to be very cosy, in light of the conditions outside.
“Did you hear the howling?” asked Arthur.
“Yes sir, I reckon something’s trying to scare us but I know you don’t believe in such things,” said Corky.
“Neither do you, but in the circumstances we’re going to Danis Hall for a short stop, and with its battlements and high turrets it should be safe there until we have solved the mystery, how are we doing on fuel?” asked Arthur.
Discoucia Page 29