It didn’t take long before she heard someone growl, “STOP.”
She turned around and there was the black robed Mo’beye. The two girls had been right about one thing . . . he, or it, had two very ugly eyes.
*****
The four girls made it to town in about ten minutes. Serpents are strong swimmers as you might expect. And even two young ones like K’ssss and Soo’ could easily pull the little sailboat at a breathtaking speed.
Sassi pulled the boat into the same dock as last time and tied the rope like before. Then both girls hoped out and to their amazement found their six baskets of food just sitting there. Obviously, the people of Fl’uxx were honest.
The girls took the food and stowed it on the boat. Then they headed back toward town.
“Hey, what do you want us to do?” yelled Soo’.
“For now, just guard the boat. If we need you, one of us will come back and get you.”
“I don’t like splitting us up again. It didn’t work very well last time.”
Sassi gave that some thought. A serpent would certainly add a little weight to their side. “Okay, you can come but tell K’ssss to stay close to the boat and not let anyone on it.”
So Soo’ gave her friend instructions, made sure she understood them, and then somehow launched herself out of the river and onto the dock. “Let’s do it.”
The two humans and the one smallish sea serpent (she was only about twelve feet long) made their way to the center of town. When they got there, something unpleasant and unexpected happened.
“STOP”.
They turned to see five Mo’beyes standing between them and the river. And each one had some kind of black staff . . . pointed directly at them.
Soo’ said aloud what the other girls were thinking . . ., “Oops.”
Chapter 2 - Fl’axx in Fl’uxx
The girls were led to a stone building on the outskirts of town. They went without making a fuss . . . being both outnumbered and terrified.
As they were pushed none too gently through the doorway, they stumbled into the main room. And there in the corner, sitting on a pile of hay, were Egg and Grammy. Standing guard over them was one more Mo’beye.
“EGG,” screamed Sylvia. “Are you okay? How’s Grammy?” But she got no response.
“Egg . . . grammy?” tried Sassi.
“What’s wrong with them?” asked Soo’ as if her companions would actually know.
“Silence.” Soo’ stopped talking and the petrified girls all moved closer to each other. The Mo’beye then commanded, “Sit,” and pointed to another pile of hay across the room. The girls hurried over and sat down.
Never one to follow orders, Soo’ whispered, “When do we start the rescue part of the plan.”
One of the Mo’beye looked at the serpent, pointed his black staff and fired a bolt of bright light. Soo’ let out an “Ohhh” and fell over. The other two girls jumped in fright then hugged each other as terror and fear gripped their hearts.
And then something happened that totally shocked the girls . . . the Mo’beye standing guard over Egg and her grandmother picked up his staff aimed and fired. The girls closed their eyes waiting for whatever it was that the thing shot to knock them over. But they felt nothing. Instead, they heard something thud as it hit the ground. They opened their eyes just a teensy bit to see what it was, and there on the floor were the five Mo’beyes that had captured them.
“Are you guys okay?” asked Egg as she ran over to look at Soo’.
Grammy came over to hug the two girls. She knew they must have been feeling guilty at leaving her . . . even though she had forced them to.
“Grammy . . . oh, Grammy I should never have left you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“Shush, child. You did the right thing. You both did. And I’m fine . . . now.”
Sassi wiped away her tears. She didn’t know what the older woman was saying exactly . . . but she understood the message very clearly. She looked up to see what the last Mo’beye was doing.
The figure in the black robe removed his hood and smiled. His eyes were normal like he wasn’t really a Mo’beye . . . and Sassi thought he looked familiar.
“Hello, Sassi-lassi,” he said.
The girl stared and stared. Only one person in all the world ever called her that. Grammy and Sylvia turned to look at what was happening.
“Daddy? Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart. Oh, yes, baby, it’s really me.” He held out his arms and Sassi raced to him and flung herself into his warm embrace. And she cried and cried and cried. And the once and future Mo’beye cried too.
Grammy smiled at the father-daughter reunion while Sylvia shared their tears of happiness.
*****
They tied up the five Mo’beyes face down in the straw. Not wanting to be in the same room with them . . . even if they couldn’t do any harm . . . everyone went to the kitchen in the back and closed the door.
Soo’ was a little groggy but otherwise okay. They had to help her up, which was kind of difficult because of her size. But they managed.
When she came to, she had seen Sassi in the arms of the Mo’beye, and her first instinct was to slither over to save her sister. Fortunately, she was too weak and was unable to move.
“It’s okay, Soo’,” explained Egg. “That’s Fl’axx, her father.”
“Her father is a Mo’beye? Couldn’t he find a real job?”
Egg translated for the other two. “Well I’m certainly glad you’re feeling better,” said Grammy. “Oh, and by the way, I’m Eloise . . . Egg’s grandmother.” She offered her hand; realized serpents don’t have any and pulled it back in embarrassment.
“Tell Grammy that the way serpents greet each other is they rub tongues.”
“Really?” said a grossed out Egg.
“Naw, just kidding.”
“So what the heck is going on?” asked Sylvia. “I’m so confused.”
“When I came to town, I just walked around the main square hoping that sooner or later the Mo’beye would find me there. And he did. He recognized my flying suit and yelled for me to stop. Then he dragged me back here.”
“Great plan,” kidded her friend.
“It was . . . really.”
“Hey . . . if you’re telling her what the heck’s going on, you have to tell me too.”
Egg whispered, “Dazzle.”
“I will translate for Soo’.”
“No, I’ll tell Soo’ and Sassi. You can explain it to Sylvia.”
“As you wish.”
“By the way . . . how come Sassi can understand Soo and vice-versa?” asked Egg’s Feminion.
“Every child on Aerianna learns the language of the other two races, as well as their own. It was so decreed by my father after he received the Crystal Egg. It helped bring all of us closer together.”
“He’s a pretty smart guy . . . your dad.”
“Yes,” she answered very softly. “He was.”
Egg turned to Sassi who was still in her father’s arm. “Sassi, I’m about to tell Soo’ what happened if you want to listen.” Then she quickly added, “Or I can tell you later.”
Sassi wasn’t about to let go of her father. After all, it had been seven lonely years. “Come on, sweetheart, we’ll both listen,” said Fl’axx. So they walked over to Egg and the others and made themselves comfortable on a little wooden bench.
“Are you okay?” asked Egg.
“I just can’t believe it. You found my dad. I’ve been a Sister for just a short time and already wonderful things are happening. Egg . . . I can never thank you enough. Never. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Not including my mom and dad, of course.”
“Sassi . . . it was an accident that I found him. I can’t take any credit.” Egg was feeling a little embarrassed.
“I don’t believe that. You told me how Dazzle helped make you who you are . . .” She stopped, horrified at what she had just said. Sassi had just revealed the exis
tence of Dazzle and her connection to Flying Girl to a Mo’beye . . . even if he was her father. The others became very, very quiet. If you listened, you could hear the collective sound of everyone’s heartbeat.
“What are you talking about, little one?” It was hard for Fl’axx to think of his daughter as anything other than the five-year-old girl he had last seen.
Sassi turned scarlet . . . which for someone with green skin was not all that easy to do. She couldn’t look at her father or any of the Sisters. She had violated her oath.
The seconds slowly ticked by and still, no one said a word. Fl’axx looked from face to face trying to understand what had just happened.
“Egg, you may tell him.”
“WHAT?” cried Egg startling Fl’axx.
“Tell him. Then before he leaves, use the power of the bracelet to hide his memory.”
Everyone looked very relieved except Sassi who was still ashamed for her mistake.
Before Egg could begin, Fl’axx said, “I am not sure what you are talking about or for that matter who you are talking to. But let me tell you how I became a Mo’beye. I worked with friends trying to overthrow our self-declared king . . . Mobius.” He fairly spat out the name. “When he killed our Princess, it was the last straw for many Aeriannians. With M’earth gone, Dazzle had led the battle against the usurper. But in the end, she died . . . for all of us. So the most loyal of her people over the following generations . . . including me and my wife, Sassi’s mother . . . joined forces to continue the fight. But like the Princess, we failed . . . one by one. I was captured and transformed into a horrid Mo’beye. They put me here in Fl’uxx to spy on these good people. There was nothing I could do. Nothing until she (he pointed to Egg) touched my head and drove out the evil that had control of my mind. If somehow you are a creation of the Princess . . . then I bow before you and pledge my loyalty.” And he did just that.
“Tell him your story Egg . . . but use the bracelet as you did with your sisters.”
“Dazzle, are you sure?” Egg was talking to thin air, which further confused Fl’axx.
“We need all the loyal allies we can find. You may tell him.”
So Egg told him the story. Since he could never see the Princess, it was not easy to believe . . . even when he wanted to with all his heart. So Egg took him outside, grew to twice his height, picked him up and flew around town then returned. It was more than enough to convince him.
“Can she hear me?” he asked when Egg had resumed her normal size.
“Sure.”
“Princess, I am yours to command.”
“Thank him. Tell him we must ask of him something that he will dislike. He must become a Mo’beye again.”
“NO,” screamed Sassi.
“I am sorry.”
“She wants me to become a Mo’beye again, doesn’t she? It is what I would have asked.”
Everyone was very impressed . . . confused as to why it was the right thing to do, but impressed that he agreed with the Princess.
“Your Majesty, please give us some time before you do it. Please. It’s been seven years and I can’t lose him again so soon.”
“We can wait. Egg, finish your story for now. Sassi, you need not hear this. Spend the time walking with your father.”
“Thank you.” So the girl took her father by the hand and led him outside. The two didn’t have much time . . . and they had so much to catch up on.
They waited for Sassi and her dad to leave, then Egg told Sylvia and Soo’ what had happened.
“Like I was saying, I just wanted the Mo’beye to capture me and take me to where he had Grammy. And that part of the plan worked really well. As soon as I got here, I shrank myself to the size of a flea. It’s not very bright in here and he couldn’t see me. He must have thought I disappeared. So I flew and landed right in his hair without him knowing it. Then I used the power of the bracelet. I wasn’t sure it would work very well with me being so small . . . but it did.”
“What did you say to him?” asked Sylvia.
“Ummm . . . something like . . . ‘Let the goodness in your heart defeat the evil placed in your mind. Let the love of your family conquer the power of hate. Be you as you once were’.”
Sylvia knew that when Flying Girl used the bracelet this way, she said things that were just plain weird. Egg had no control over what came out. Soo’, however, didn’t know this. “Geez, for a stupid human, that was almost intelligent . . . dare I say smart?”
“Thank you.”
“So what happened to Fl’axx?”
Grammy continued the story. “As soon as Egg said what she said, his eyes changed from those ugly, monster eyes to normal eyes. He looked at us and said something like “I am terribly sorry. Believe me when I say it wasn’t my fault.” Then he asked if we were okay.
Egg took back the story. “I said I knew it was Mobius that turned him into a Mo’beye and now he was cured. Then I told Grammy that we better get out of here because as soon as Sylvia and Sassi wake up they would realize that I went by myself to save her.”
Grammy added, “When he heard the name Sassi he kind of moaned and said that he once had a daughter by that name but hadn’t seen her in six or seven years. When he said that we were sure it was our Sassi and told him so. He begged to come with us.”
“I said he couldn’t but that I would bring Sassi to meet him here in town. We didn’t want him to go to the Sisterhood. But as we were walking out of the house, he pulled us back in and scared the heck out of me.”
“Me, too, truth be told,” added Grammy with a grin.
“He had seen the other five Mo’beyes coming down the street. So he made us sit on the straw. He pulled his hood back on to cover his eyes then pretended he was guarding us. The other five came in and said they saw you guys coming and were going to lay a trap for you. They marched out of here and found you.”
“I wanted to go save you but Fl’axx said there was a better way. And that’s what happened.”
“Are you like the luckiest human in the entire universe?”
“Hey, it wasn’t all luck.”
“Oh really? Which part?” teased the serpent.
*****
After a bit, Sassi came back with her dad. She seemed both happy and sad . . . and that was understandable. But her first words surprised everyone.
“Egg, I am so sorry for breaking my oath. I will resign from the sisterhood.”
This bit of news was greeted with a chorus of “NO’s” from all the girls including Grammy.
“It was an accident and there’s no way you’re going to quit. We need you.”
“No, I can’t. I have to resign. I can’t be trusted.”
“Dazzle . . . tell her she doesn’t have to quit. Tell her.”
“Egg, the decision is hers to make. She cannot be forced to do something she does not want to do.”
“May I say something?” asked the former Mo’beye.
“Sure” answered Egg hoping he would talk Sassi out of quitting.
“Sassi . . . if you want your father’s advice, you should stay in the sisterhood. They are trying to do what your mother and I couldn’t. I would be very proud . . . more proud . . . of you if you were to help the Princess.”
Egg and the rest smiled from ear to ear at these words but waited silently for Sassi’s answer.
She looked at her father then her Sisters and said, “If you can forgive me . . . then I will stay.”
*****
Egg sent Soo’ back to tell K’ssss everything that had happened. Then she put her hands on Fl’axx’s temples and said, “All that you have learned today is yours to share only with the Sisterhood. Now return to the way of the Mo’beye in form only. Remain true to the love in your heart and use your position to foil evil wherever you can. At the command of a Hameggattic Sister, you will return to your true form . . . and be Fl’axx once more.”
The eyes of the man in the black robe began to change back to monster eyes. And in a moment,
he was a Mo’beye again . . . in form only. He walked over to his daughter, kissed her gently on the cheek then hugged her.
Egg went to each of the other five Mo’beyes who were still lying unconscious on the floor and, using the power of the bracelet, erased the memory of Fl’axx shooting them. Then the girls untied the ropes.
Leaving the house at a fast trot, they made their way to the boat, got in and sailed back to the castle.
Chapter 3 – Jay-Ee-ELL-ELL-Oh
As they sailed back to the castle, they were in high spirits. They had met their first challenge and won. Even though it was mostly Egg who did the winning, they all felt like they helped. At least they had stood up for one another.
And Sassi found her dad . . . what a surprisingly happy ending. The unpleasant fact that he had to become a Mo’beye again was ignored. But it did raise one question that Sylvia finally asked (with Egg translating).
“Sassi . . . does your dad know what happened to your mom?”
“No. In fact, he asked me what had happened to her. The last thing he knew was that they were being attacked by Mo’beyes and he made her run away while he fought them off.”
“He’s very brave . . . and handsome when he has normal eyes.” Grammy blushed ever so slightly when she said this.
“Grammy . . . he is still married,” teased Sassi. That got everyone to laughing.
They made it back to the castle and unloaded all of their wonderful supplies. “I am absolutely starving,” declared Eloise the Elder. “Your father may be handsome, but he was no gentleman. He didn’t even offer me a cup of coffee.” She, of course, was joking. “Anyone else like something to eat?”
“I would love some eels,” said the ever-hungry K’ssss.
“Oh my. I’ve never cooked eels. How are they prepared?”
“Don’t worry about it, grandmother. The fat water-worm will eat them raw if she has to.”
And they all settled down for a delicious breakfast filled with silly conversation, tall tales of bravery and an odd nursery rhyme or two from K’ssss.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 45