“Oh, I guess you’re right. But the suit needed to be recharged.”
“Not at all. At least, not for me to restore the Princess.”
“So if I can figure out a way to get past the Fl’eyes, you’ll bring Dazzle back?”
“As I promised.”
“Oh, I can’t wait.”
“Was there something else?”
“Something else? Oh my gosh, I almost forgot. What did you mean when you said ‘whatever was will be again’?”
“You already know the answer.”
“So I was right. You’ll put everything back the way it was before Mobius messed things up.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Tree . . . I need my sisters back now. Would you do that for me?”
“You have yet to complete your Quest.”
“I know. But we did make it through the seven lands. And we did get Dazzle’s body. And we almost brought it to you. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Yes.”
“It does?”
“It counts for a great deal.”
“Really?” Egg was a little surprised.
“You and your sisters did the impossible . . . as I knew you would.”
“They were great, weren’t they?”
“As were you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“You and your six sisters have demonstrated many of the great qualities of a noble people. That counts for much.”
“Five sisters” Egg corrected. “Me and five sisters.”
“Consider that you were seven young ladies, from three races and two planets, facing dangers beyond your experience. And yet, you prevailed.”
“Just six young ladies. Or are you counting Dazzle?”
“The seven of you showed courage, loyalty, selflessness, compassion, resourcefulness, intelligence, and humility. Even now, you . . . Egg of Earth . . . are willing to give up your Flying Girl persona for the sake of the Princess. That is no small sacrifice to make . . . for anyone. I commend you.”
“Thank you but why do you keep saying seven of us.” She didn’t know why that bothered her so much. “Are you counting Dazzle?”
“No. The Princess is not a Hameggattic Sister. Perhaps when she has been reunited with her body, she may accept your invitation to join.”
“Then there are only six of us.”
The Tree did not respond to that statement. Instead, it said, “Do you know where you are?”
“Of course, silly. I’m lying in bed at the Sisterhood.”
“On what planet?”
“Aerianna.”
“If you were back on earth, standing at your bedroom window, to which constellation would you look at to find Aerianna?”
“Ummm . . . I think Dazzle said it was in the constellation . . . ummm . . . Pretty Knees.”
If the Tree could laugh, it would have at that answer. “I believe you mean Pleiades.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. That’s it.”
“What do earthlings call the stars in the Pleiades?”
“I’m not very good at science. Sorry.”
“They call them the Seven Sisters.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yes, is it not?”
Egg didn’t even bother to answer. She just shrugged her shoulders in her dream.
“Do you think it was a coincidence that the Hameggattic Sisterhood has seven sisters also?”
“Six. There’s me, and Bl’azzz and Soo’ and Aeri’elle and Sassi and K’ssss. That’s six.” She didn’t want to get upset with the Tree . . . but he was being awfully stupid.
“And because the seven of you have done so well, I will grant you this. You may restore your sisters to what they were before you entered the seven lands.”
“REALLY” she screamed in her mind . . . ignoring that number seven thing.
“Truly.”
“How do I do that? Do I like snap my fingers or say some magic words?”
“You must undo what was done by dreaming an alternate path for each of your sisters. Their image must be clear and unmistakable.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
“But remember, that which was last must be undone first.”
“I don’t understand?” But she was talking to herself; her dream was gone.
Egg woke up and looked around.
“Well, fiddlesticks” she groaned as she recalled her conversation with the Myst Tree. She didn’t know what the stupid thing meant.
One thing was for sure . . . she had better write it down so she would remember its exact words. She reached for her diary on the nightstand and went to rip out a blank page. But when she did, a piece of paper fell out.
There was something written on one side, so she turned it over and hurriedly wrote down the Tree’s instructions. When she was finished, she put the paper on top of her diary then went back to sleep. Maybe she could talk to the Tree again and find out what it really meant.
But all she did was sleep.
*****
The next morning she woke up and remembered her dream. She looked frantically for the piece of paper with the Tree’s exact words. After looking under the covers and on the floor, she realized she had put it back on the nightstand on top of her diary. She grabbed it and ran down the stairs yelling as loud as she could . . . .
“BL’AZZZ, BL’AZZZ.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“He said I can have all of you guys back . . . just the way you were. No more injured leg for you, and Soo’s going to be happy again and Aeri’elle won’t be scared . . . and . . . and . . . Sassi won’t be lost in the Maze and K’ssss will be . . . and K’ssss will be . . . ” she stopped because she was beginning to cry.
“A slithering sack of silly,” Bl’azzz finished for her.
“Yeah,” and she hugged her sister and didn’t let go.
They stayed that way for a full minute. “If you’re okay, tell me what he said.”
“He said we were terrific and that even though we haven’t finished the Quest, he would let us be together again.”
“Why?”
“He said we earned it.”
“Nice tree.”
“He is, isn’t he?”
“So what do you have to do . . . you know . . . to make everything okay again?”
“Hang on, I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget any of it. Let me read it to you . . . ‘You must undo what was done by dreaming an alternate path for each of your sisters. Their image must be clear and unmistakable. But remember, that which was last must be undone first’.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
“No clue. I was hoping you would know.”
“Not a chance.”
“You know . . . he said something strange.”
“Stranger than what you just read?”
“Yeah. He said there were seven of us.”
“Why is that strange? There were.”
“There were?”
“Of course. Six sisters and the Princess.”
“No. He said there were seven sisters. He said Dazzle didn’t count.”
“Seven? Who was the seventh?”
“I don’t know.”
“You think maybe the Tree’s a little crazy?”
“How can you tell with a talking tree?”
“Good point.”
“I think we need help.”
“From who?”
“Maybe I should talk to my Grammy.”
“How can you get back without your flying suit?”
“My ring,” and she held it up. “Dazzle put in a special crystal that lets me go home.”
“Why would she do that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why would she give you that ring when you already have the flying suit?”
“Ummm . . . I don’t remember why she did it.”
“Pretty weird, if you ask me.”
“Well, lucky for us she did. How else woul
d I have gotten Zeke?”
“I guess. Listen, I’m going to make breakfast for Soo’ and I. Do you want something?”
“Sure . . . some toast would be nice.”
So Bl’azzz hobbled off to the kitchen while Egg reread her notes. When she finished, she happened to turn the paper over to see what was written on the other side. It was a letter . . .
Dear Egg,
Here is the picture I promised to send you. I think it turned out really well.
I’m sorry that we didn’t become good friends at camp. I’m sure it was my fault. But I thought you were the most interesting girl there. You certainly were very good at sports and I was very lucky that you didn’t win.
If you ever want to talk or something, here is my email address:
[email protected]
Hope you have a good year at school. Maybe I’ll see you at camp next summer.
Your friend, Sylvia.
Egg read it again. How strange . . . she didn’t remember anyone from camp named Sylvia. Oh well, it didn’t matter. She had more important things to worry about.
Besides, she had to go visit Grammy.
Chapter 4 – Grammy the Great
“Hi, Grammy.”
“Oh my . . . oh my.” The sudden appearance of Egg startled the elder Eloise who had been sitting quietly reading . . . but she quickly recovered. “My love, come over here right this instant and give me a big hug and a kiss. I’ve been desperately worried about you.”
“Sorry I scared you.” The girl had popped out of nowhere into the living room of the mountain cabin where her grandmother was staying . . . presumably with her granddaughter. She raced over and threw her arms around her Grammy who she hadn’t seen in weeks. For the older woman, Egg had been gone for about five days. That was because time ran differently on Aerianna.
“I’ve missed you so much.” She hadn’t realized how much until this moment.
“Is it over? Did you finish your Quest?”
“No. But we made it through the seven lands and found Dazzle’s body.”
“That’s wonderful,” beamed the older Eloise. “But what are the seven lands?”
“Mobius created these places with all sorts of monsters and things. We had to make it through to get to the Crystal Mountain.”
“I’m sure it was terribly challenging. I’m glad you all made it okay.” She hesitated then added, “Everybody did, didn’t they?”
“No, Grammy, it was horrible. Not everybody made it. In fact I’m the only one that got through without getting hurt.”
“Oh dear. I knew it could be dangerous. Did anyone . . . umm . . . I mean to say, are they all . . . ummm . . .”
“Alive? Kind of.”
“What does that mean? Tell me what happened.”
“The first land was called K’actus Kiln and they had sand serpents. If they scratch you with their scales, you kind of go crazy for a while. That’s what happened to me when I went to save K’ssss. But I’m okay now.”
“I see,” said her Grandmother very primly. “Perhaps we should have a doctor check you out . . . just to be sure.”
“Oh, Grammy . . . I’m okay, really. It’s the other guys that aren’t.
“We’ll discuss it later. Why don’t you tell me about the other girls?”
“In the Colorless Wood, Bl’azzz was bitten by a P’xxxie when she went to get her Booyah to try and save the rest of us. Once they bite you, you lose all hope and happiness.”
“That’s terrible.”
“It gets worse. In Switch Swamp, Bl’azzz was stuck in a giant spider’s web and was about to be eaten. Soo’ jumped into the water and drank some. She switched with Bl’azzz who became her normal self and burped fire at the spider.”
“So now Soo’ is without hope and joy?”
“Yeah. Bl’azzz was bitten on the leg and couldn’t walk. So I sent her home and she carried Soo’ with her. They’re at the Sisterhood right now.”
“Are they any better?”
“No. Anyway, we then met AyBee, a monster with the head of an octopus. He was about to squeeze the courage out of me . . . but Aeri’elle saved me. He squeezed her instead. After that, she flew home . . . we think.”
“My, oh my.”
“Then it gets worse. Our boat fell into a hole in the ocean and we ended up in the Crystal Forest and K’ssss cut herself really badly trying to save the rest of us. Then she was bitten by a D’ing Bat. When that happens . . . you turn into one of them.”
“Oh, that’s horrible.” The older Eloise was having a hard time picturing most of what her granddaughter was telling her. But she could feel Egg’s pain.
“Then in the Maze of Forever, Sassi tried to knock the monster down the wrong chute . . . but she fell down it instead. Now she’s lost in there . . . forever.”
“She was such a nice girl.”
“She IS a nice girl.”
“Of course, dear. That’s what I meant to say. Anyway, that’s six lands; what was the last one?”
“The Never ’Glade. If you get bit by the Tack-Toed Tick . . . you disappear and everyone forgets you ever existed.”
“Obviously that didn’t happen since you were the only one left . . . and here you are.”
“Oh yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So are you really okay?”
“No, Grammy. How could I be okay if I lost two of my five sisters and the other three are hurting so badly? They were my responsibility.”
The older Eloise was struck by how much her granddaughter had matured. This wasn’t the same nine-year-old girl who had left a few days earlier. She looked at the young girl and smiled with tremendous pride.
“I’m sure you did your best.”
“Grammy . . . that’s okay if I was playing dodge ball. But this isn’t a silly game. My five sisters were depending on me to get them through this . . . and I didn’t.”
“Egg, they understood the dangers. For all of you, the most important thing was to get Dazzle’s body back . . . and you did. I wasn’t there, but I know that you could never have done it without their help. Am I right?”
“Yes. They were amazing . . . even Zeke.”
“Zeke? You mean Z’kkk . . . not Zelda’s Zeke.”
“I meant Zeke. I needed help after everyone else was gone. He was pretty wonderful . . . for a boy.”
“Dear one . . . I’m getting a little confused.”
“About what?”
“Actually, about everything. Forgive me, but it is very hard to picture the things you are trying to explain. For instance, what was K’actus Kiln? It sounds like a desert.”
“It was.”
“Okay. And Colorless Wood and pixies . . . can you describe that for me.”
“The P’xxxies are little flying people who suck the color out of anything that’s alive . . . that’s their food. If they bite you, they suck out your joy and you become very, very sad.”
“Got it. How about Switch Swamp?”
“It’s just a swamp. But if you drink the water, you switch with the person closest to you. Sometimes you switch personalities or intelligence or in this case, Soo’ took Bl’azzz’s sadness and Bl’azzz took Soo’s happiness.”
“Very interesting. And there were giant spiders there also.”
“And other stuff,” she said dismissively, which very much impressed her grandmother.
“Okay, after the Swamp came . . . ummm . . . the octopus man.”
“His name is AyBee (and Egg spelled it) and he lives on an island in the middle of the sea named after him . . . the AyBee Sea.”
“Very cute. And I gather if he squeezes you, he steals your courage.”
“Yes. And what’s amazing is that he turned out to be Dazzle’s father. Mobius made him into the monster.”
“My, oh my. So, Aeri’elle tried to save you and was squeezed. Then she flew away . . . to go where, her home?”
“Yeah, we think so.”
“Okay, so you sent Bl’azzz
and Soo’ to the Sisterhood and Aeri’elle flew home. So there were three of you left.”
“Right. Then as we sailed away from AyBee’s island, the boat fell through a hole in the ocean and we ended up in the Crystal Forest. It was incredibly beautiful . . . and dangerous.”
“I’m sure. So this is where K’ssss cut herself, and then was bitten by the bat.”
“A D’ing Bat. She turned into one right in front of our eyes.”
“You must have been horrified.”
“We cried a lot.”
“I’m sure you did. She was a very sweet serpent. So, after the Forest you made it to the Maze and that’s where Sassi got lost.”
“Yes . . . trying to save me.”
“How very brave of her . . . of all of you.”
“They were wonderful.”
“I know they were. Anyway, after the Maze you went to the Never ’Glade. What happened there?”
“The worst thing is if you get bitten by the Tack-Toed Tick, you fade away and everybody forgets you.”
“But since you were the only person there, you obviously weren’t bitten.”
“No. I guess I was lucky.”
“Perhaps.”
“Oh, Dazzle did have to save me from some kind of cotton candy plant and she used up all the power in the suit . . . so I couldn’t talk to her anymore except once in my dreams. I couldn’t even use my Flying Girl powers.”
“But she’s alright?”
“Yeah. Her friend Storm came and got Zeke and me after we recovered her body. He’s recharging the suit right now . . . but it’ll take him a week or two. That’s why I’m wearing this outfit. It was Dazzle’s.”
“Why don’t you take it off so I can make a few alterations? It looks like baggy pajamas on you.”
“That’s what Bl’azzz said.” She took off the clothes and covered herself in a throw blanket from the couch.
“So you made it to the Crystal Mountain, but you were all alone. And you needed help so you went and got Zeke. How?”
“I used my ring.” and she held it up.
“That’s the one you made at camp and Dazzle put that special crystal in it.” She thought about that for a second then asked, “Remind me . . . why did she do that? Especially since you have . . . or had . . . your flying girl powers?”
“I don’t remember. Bl’azzz said she thought it was kind of strange.”
“Me too. Anyway, you got Zeke to go back with you, the two of you rescued Dazzle’s body and Storm flew you out of there. And now you’re here.”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 74