"He wasn't touching us," Sim squawked. "He must be a year To."
"Oh, I must find him before he thinks he's been deserted again."
"We can step back."
Sim extended a wing, and Lacky took it, and they stepped back downtime. There was the dog, looking around, sniffing the air, confused. "Here!" Lacky cried, joining him. He wagged his tail, relieved.
They crossed From again, this time with the dog, and resumed their trek. Boss was interested in the terrain, now that he had company.
They came to a child-sized castle, with toys scattered around it and floating in its little moat. "His parents, Prince Dolph and Princess Taplin, live in a larger castle farther along," Lacky explained. "I understand they are rather upset by the brevity of their son's territory."
"Just how did they get together?" Sim inquired. "In Xanth they did not."
"Well, as I understand it, Prince Dolph was nine years old and on his own adventure, when he came across this sleeping princess. So he kissed her, and then later when he grew up he married her, and it worked out okay. She was Princess Taplin, daughter of King Merlin and Sorceress Tapis, but there wasn't much there for her, so her mother made her a coverlet and she bit into an apple or something and slept for most of a thousand years until Prince Dolph came. That seemed to be the right decision. How is it that it didn't work out in your reality?"
"Magician Murphy came and messed it up, and an ordinary girl ate the apple by accident, and slept, and married Prince Dolph, and they had two daughters, Dawn & Eve."
"Oh, I know them! They're the same territory as Prince Dolin, at least at this end. I didn't realize that they had the same father."
"Things can get confusing, with alternate lines of history," Sim squawked. "I have trouble keeping them straight myself. I hadn't known Prince Dolin's derivation. Do Dolin and Dawn & Eve know each other?"
But her answer was cut off by the appearance of Prince Dolin. "Oh, a big Mundane dog!" he cried, delighted. He was about seven years old.
"Yes, we have come to visit. You know Sim, I think."
"Who?" the lad asked, looking around.
Oops, there were two problems. First, he was invisible, and second, he had actually met the prince a little later than this, so might not be remembered. Still, time was not the same here as in Xanth, so maybe it was just the invisibility.
"I am a big bird with iridescent feathers," Sim squawked.
"Oh, yes, now I remember. But I don't see you."
"I'm invisible at the moment. The three princesses did it."
"Oh, those little brats. They do stuff like that."
The princesses were five years younger than Dolin, so he would know them as two or three years old. He had never had a chance to see them as responsible adults. Sim decided not to try to correct the confusion about their motives. "Feel my wing, so you know it's me," he squawked. He extended the same wing Lacky had held.
The boy touched the feathers. "Yeah, that's great. I remember you were real pretty. But you didn't stay long."
"Well, I'm only four years old myself, here. My attention span is brief."
"Yeah, I guess so." The prince turned to the dog. "Who's this dog?"
"This is Boss," Lacky said. "My new friend. He likes to be petted."
"That's great!" The two were getting along well, though the dog was actually larger than the boy.
"Sim needs to talk to you," Lacky said with adult diplomacy.
"Okay."
Sim firmed his beak. This might be tricky. Death was not something nice to talk about, especially with children. "I need to know the details of your--your fading out."
"No!"
"But it's important."
"Go away!"
Lacky interceded. "Boss and I are here only because we were showing Sim where you are. If he goes away, we'll have to go too, and Boss is really enjoying your company."
The prince hesitated. Boss licked his face. "Well--"
"The Sea Hag is hurting folk in Xanth," Sim squawked, grabbing his slim chance. "We need to stop her. I'm hoping you know how."
Prince Dolin looked intently at the space Sim occupied, orienting on his voice. "I'd sure like to stop that old bag."
"I'm guessing you saw something she wanted to keep secret, so she killed you. Is that right?"
The prince grimaced. "Yeah. My talent is doing the right thing. So I was there at the edge of my range when I saw a huge monster. It was stuck in a big hole in the ground, and looked sort of unhappy, so I thought maybe I'd try to get it out. But before I got there, I saw the Sea Hag. She was in this middle-aged body, but I knew her right away, 'cause I can't do the right thing if I don't know who's who. She was hauling along a lovely young maiden with a rope around her neck. The poor girl had her hands tied and she was crying. So I ducked back and watched. I thought maybe the Sea Hag was going to feed the maiden to the monster, and maybe I could do something to stop it, because even a girl doesn't deserve to get chomped like that. But I wasn't sure what I could do; sometimes my talent doesn't kick in right away. So I just hid and waited. I saw her park the maiden by tying her to a tree. Then the Hag went up to the monster and walked right into it. Of course it chomped her and gulped her right down; it didn't care that she was sort of stringy and sloppy. That really surprised me; I mean she did it on purpose. She didn't feed the maiden to it, she fed herself to it."
"She was killing her old body," Sim said. "She has to be rid of it before she can take a new one."
"Yeah, I caught on to that. Then there was a while where nothing much happened. The monster was just burping and licking its chops, and the maiden was quietly sobbing. So I decided it was time, and I went to untie the maiden. But the funny thing was she didn't even thank me. She just said, 'There's no hope for me,' and went right on crying. I tried to lead her away, because the monster was getting hungry again and I wasn't sure just how firmly stuck in that hole it was. Then suddenly the maiden screamed 'Noooo!' in a wailing voice. Then she stopped, and a funny expression sort of traveled across her pretty face. Then she said 'Aha! It's good to be young again.' 'But you're the same age you were,' I told her. And she looked at me, seeming surprised I was there, and bared her teeth and said 'Are you trying to interfere, you disreputable boy?' And I said 'I'm just trying to get you away from that monster.' Then she said 'That's what you think, my pet,' and she picked me up and threw me at the monster, and it gobbled me up and ended my life at age eight. Then I knew she was the Sea Hag in a new body, but it was too late to do anything about it."
There was a brief silence. Then Lacky spoke: "That's horrible. She's a really mean woman."
Dolin looked through Sim's space. "So does that help?"
Sim was assimilating the rush of information. "I think so. She threw away her old body, and her withered old soul took over the fresh young body. Because you saw it happen, she killed you. But I'm not quite satisfied. Maybe my four-year-old mind isn't quite big enough to make complete sense of it."
"If there's no way to stop her from changing bodies," Lacky asked, "why does she care if anyone sees?"
"Maybe it's like panties," Dolin said. "For some reason girls don't want boys to see them."
"Well, panties are very personal," Lacky said, tugging her skirt down a bit.
The Prince nodded. "Maybe that's her panties. I mean, she doesn't like to have people see her changing bodies any better than a girl likes a boy to see her changing clothing."
A bulb flickered over Sim's head, but didn't quite flash. There was something he wasn't quite realizing. Something important. What could it be?
"There is a reason," Lacky said. "If a man sees a woman's underwear, he gets all excited and wants to signal the stork with her. She may not want to do that, so she keeps her private clothing out of sight. Unless she wants to send a message to the stork."
Sim's bulb remained, trying to increase its glow.
"So maybe if someone saw the Hag changing bodies, they'd want to do something she doesn't want?" Dolin aske
d.
"Like killing her," Lacky said, and they both laughed.
The bulb finally ignited. "She's vulnerable when she's changing!" Sim squawked. "So she wants to keep it secret. There must be something that can destroy her."
"That'd be great," Dolin said. "But what?"
"She evidently went to some trouble to bring the innocent maiden to the monster," Sim squawked, working it out. "Why do that, when she could have simply thrown herself off a cliff and taken the girl immediately?"
"There must be something about that monster," Lacky said.
The prince brightened. "Now I remember. There was something else she said. When she was tying the maiden to the tree, she said 'I must restore my spirit.' But then she fed herself to the monster."
"And the way you describe it, she didn't go straight to the maiden," Lacky said. "She waited a while. Why was that?"
Sim's bulb flashed again. "Her spirit must suffer some wear and tear, getting out of one body and into another. So she needs to strengthen it. Otherwise she might not be able to take over a new body. The spirit of the owner might fight her off. So there must be something about that monster that enables her to do that."
"They do seem to have a working agreement," Lacky said. "Maybe they like each other."
"Sure, she feeds it women and boys," Dolin said. "But what does it do for her?"
Sim's bulb flashed a third time. "It guards her spirit! It helps her strengthen it."
"What, by chewing up the souls of victims and giving them back to her?" Lacky asked.
"I don't think a monster without a soul could do that," Sim said. "And my understanding is that this monster, which was stuffed in that hole by Prince Dolph in the form of a sphinx after Jenny Elf came through, so that no more monsters could come, has no soul of its own. So I don't think it could help her that way. But it might help her by guarding the spot beyond the hole where she stores souls. So nobody else could go after them. Then she can go there and get more spirit for herself, that enables her to beat down the spirit of her victim."
Lacky shrugged. "Makes sense to me. But we still can't do anything about it, because she's the only one who can handle souls like that."
"I think we can," Sim squawked. "Because otherwise she wouldn't care. If we could block off that cache of hers, so she couldn't upgrade her spirit, then maybe she couldn't take over another body."
"How can you stop her from going where she wants, when she's between bodies?" Dolin asked.
"Maybe by giving the monster a soul," Sim squawked.
The two of them looked at him, not getting it. But Sim was almost sure he had the answer. Because it explained why the Sea Hag went to that spot, and why she didn't want anyone else seeing her do it. If he was right, they could conquer the Hag. If they did it just right.
Chapter 12
MONSTER
Melody was in hell. The Sea Hag had complete control of her body, and was about to use it for awful new purposes. She was lifting the hem of her skirt to show him her panties, and she was not about to stop there. She was going to ravish Melody's body, by making it do what Melody never would.
The Dastard's eyes were almost bulging from his face. The girl Becka. was watching with evident horror; she at least cared about what was right and wrong. The villagers of the Isle of Fellowship were beginning to realize that something was wrong. But neither the Dastard nor the Sea Hag cared about any of that.
Melody concentrated all her remaining faint strength, and forced the hem down again. Wretched girl--stop that! I'll hurt you!
It was no empty threat. But Melody had to fight, lest she lose all. She struggled to lock the hand, holding the hem in place. Her panties would not be shown in public.
The Sea Hag struck. Melody was suddenly burning up with pain. She whimpered, but hung on. It was easier to prevent the hand from moving than it was to move it, so she was succeeding. For the moment.
The pain focused on the hand. It was as if it had been plunged into a bonfire. She could feel the skin baking, blistering, and flaking off. But she knew it was not real. She was close to fainting from the agony, but she would not yield. This was all the protest she could mount, and she clung to it.
"Are you all right, Princess?" Cesar Centaur asked, concerned.
"Yes. Just a muscle spasm," her mouth said.
"No it's not," Becka said. "The Sea Hag has Possessed her. The real Princess is trying to fight back."
"You lying snot!" Melody's mouth snapped. The pain eased as the Sea Hag's attention was diverted.
"The Sea Hag!" Charity Centaur said. "We have heard of her. She takes over young, pretty girls and makes them do horrible things."
"That's right," Becka agreed. "That's what she's doing now."
"Is this true?" Cesar asked the Dastard.
"Of course not," the Dastard said. "The girl is inventing it because she's jealous of our relationship."
"That's a lie!" Becka cried. But the surrounding villagers were nodding; it was the kind of thing girls did.
"Come, my pet," the Sea Hag said, taking the Dastard's arm with her other hand. "Let's depart this quaint village. The girl is welcome to remain here if she prefers."
"Don't let them go!" Becka cried. "The princess is captive. She just wants to be free. I know exactly how it is."
"Now how could you know anything like that?" Melody's mouth said. "The Sea Hag never lets go of a body."
The villagers wavered. They were reasonable people. The problem was that they were reluctant to believe evil of others, or to credit something fantastic.
"Find her sisters," Becka said. "Ask them. They'll tell you the truth."
"Shut your $$$$ mouth!"
The villagers were appalled by the awful word. Two females fainted, and several children held their heads in pain.
"See?" Becka cried. "No princess speaks that way. She's the Hag! Stop her until you can verify what I say."
That decided them. Several centaurs closed in and caught the swearing, struggling Sea Hag. Others surrounded the Dastard, preventing him from interfering. They conducted them to closed separate cells, and, to be fair, put Becka in a third cell. They sent out runners to locate the other princesses.
You started this, the Hag thought at Melody. You just couldn't keep your hand to yourself. Now you'll pay.
The pain came again, encompassing and awful. But Melody knew that as long as the Hag was distracted with her, she wouldn't think of a worse danger to her. Melody might not be able to save herself, but she might at least prevent the Hag from winning.
But the Hag caught the thought. What's that? What are you plotting?
Melody tried to stifle her thought, but the Hag ferreted it out. So that's it! You cunning little schemer!
Then she raised her voice and called across to the Dastard. "The centaurs are on their way! They will bring the other princesses. Destroy this community before they can do that."
"No!" Becka cried from her cell. "Don't do it! Then you won't be able to unhappen the Hag!"
"I don't want to unhappen her," the Dastard responded. "We have a deal. We can do each other a lot of good."
"But you can't trust her!" the girl called. "She's just using you. She'll throw you away the moment she's tired of you."
"Who are you going to believe?" the Hag called. "Get us out of this, and the princess's panties are yours."
The worst of it was that the Sea Hag was sincere. She had concluded that the Dastard was genuinely useful, and she knew how to keep him happy. She didn't have to like him; she liked nobody. But she could use him for a long time. She didn't care about the body at all; she would make it do anything she needed to, to keep things moving. So she would satisfy the Dastard early and thoroughly, so that her will would gradually become his, and he would be her puppet without knowing it.
There was a silence. How was the Dastard reacting? Was he considering sliding into limbo to unhappen that first key meeting between Ann Chovie and Demon Strate? Or would he listen to the dragon girl an
d let the princesses come and deal with the Sea Hag?
The cell faded away. They were standing in a glade empty of all buildings and all people except the three of them. The Dastard had unhappened the Isle of Fellowship.
Becka was crying. The girl had clearly liked the community. Melody was sorry too. The Dastard had done a huge amount of harm this time. All because he wanted to--
"To get at your pretty body, honey," the Sea Hag said, using Melody's mouth. "It's a good body, and now he's going to get it. I won't have to make you hurt any more; I'll just let him hurt you another way."
It was true: There was no worse way to hurt Melody than by making her acquiesce to what the Dastard wanted. The horror would be emotional more than physical, for all that it was a purely physical act. She couldn't stop it; even if she managed to freeze her whole body, it wouldn't stop him from having at it. She was inevitably lost.
"I'm so glad you understand, my pet," her mouth said. "I will love this; you will hate it." Then her feet propelled her toward the man.
Melody tried to resist, to drag her feet, but the Sea Hag's control was complete. She continued toward the Dastard.
He in turn approached her. "You will truly do it, Sea Hag? Our deal remains?"
"Our deal remains," Melody's mouth said. "But let's make this a bit more fun. I will free the princess' head, so you can hear her. No more than that. The rest of her body will be mine. The next voice you hear will be hers."
Suddenly Melody had her head back--and no more. She screamed.
The man paused. "You're really the Princess Melody?" he asked.
"Yes!" she cried. "Don't do this!"
To her surprise, he actually seemed to listen. "Why not?"
"Because it's not right! I don't love you. I want you to stop doing dastardly deeds."
"But that's my mission in life," he said. "That's how I get ahead."
Melody found herself somewhat at a loss. She hadn't expected him to listen, or to talk with her. She wasn't prepared. "How does it help you to do dastardly deeds?"
"It makes me feel good, because then others who were happy aren't, and I'm ahead of them."