[Environment, Guide]
We were having a rare communal dinner and everyone was home at the same time. Ruby and Opal, McCracken and Gigi, this pair seemed to be spending lots of time together and not just at the theater. Groucho was having banana splits for dinner again, I hope he was brushing afterwards, Mossbeard was on his third bowl of gulasch, Mastat was mostly drinking dwarven ale and picking at soft pretzels. Henry and Martha and Ronja, it was a farewell party of sorts. Henry, Martha and Ronja were moving into their new apartments by the theater tomorrow.
Most of the talk was about the move but then the actors all started talking about the play and the one thing that was lacking. There was no music.
McCracken said, “Lu, if it was you what would you play when Titania wakes up in love with a donkey headed Bottom.”
“Well if I could it’d be Beethoven Symphony No. 9, the opening to show how upset she is.”
McCracken asked. “Mastat, what would you play for that triple wedding scene, before Puck asks for forgiveness.”
“That’s easy, it has to be Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.”
“Perfect I knew you two wouldn’t let us down, rehearsal is tomorrow night at six please don’t be late. I’ll have a minikeg of dwarven tapped when you get there.”
That’s how Lu and Mastat got trapped into supplying the music for the new theater’s initial production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". McCracken had offered Lu a job as the musical director at the theater before she became partners with Paula and Nim in the brew pub. At the time I was happy she turned them down because the theater often rehearsed nights when the young apprentices weren’t in school and I enjoy our evenings together.
But after witnessing that fight a week ago, I’d rather Lu be out a few nights a week than hurt or killed in a bar fight. I mean that’s how one of my favorite playwrights, Christopher Marlowe, died. A homosexual, atheist, literary genius, how can you not love the guy he sure beats 007 as the spy I’d most like to talk to.
After dinner when Lu and I were back in our room.
“Lu remember a week or so ago I said that I wanted to give you the limited Bibliomancer power. I dropped the ball, I’m sorry I’ve been obsessed with the portal network. But I did talk to Draco about it, he said he’d try and cast invisibility on you. If he can turn you invisible then he thinks the wand will work as well. Can we go down to his lair and ask him to try?”
“Sure, Rose, if it will make you happy.”
“It will, I know it’s not a weapon, but I’ve been thinking of a strategy, that planet I made with the hot springs where we first talked about. I could make a pit trap on the planet with twenty foot high metal walls, unscalable. You just touch the person, jump right into the trap, let go and jump home. No one gets hurt, if the person has a weapon, we make them drop it or I just turn the weapon into jello. Then we jump the person directly to the guard house and let the guard do their jobs.”
“Wow Rose you really thought this through.”
“There’s something else Lu, I want to find out just how strong you are and I had Doug do some research. It seems if you can dead lift one thousand to eleven hundred pounds you’d be one of the strongest people on Earth. Can I jump us now to Blackpool? Doug found a gym there where you can lift that much.”
“Yes, but why are you suddenly interested in how strong I am?”
“Doing what I did to Sparky and Draco, maybe I can do the same for you. But it’d be nice to actually know the numbers right, that's why we test before and after.”
“Let’s do it, if it works for Draco, I’m pretty sure it’ll work for me. What should we do first?”
“Let’s go see Draco, while it’s still early.”
We went out onto the interior balcony, overlooking the incredible forest contained within the tower. Magic is incredible, especially when it trumps science. Science will tell you that it is impossible that the interior of the tower is larger than outside of the building. But magic will say, hey if you want the interior bigger than the exterior then it is. We walked over to Draco’s lair, I knocked.
“Draco, can we come in?” We’re all great friends and we enjoy living together, but our rooms are private. That’s how so many people can live together and not drive each other crazy. We get our alone time.
“Come in Rose, Lu.”
“Nose or magic.”
“Nose, Lu’s easy, twins after a bath, that can be tricky.”
“Do you have a lot of call distinguishing twins after a bath?”
“No not really, but it did come up a few times over the centuries.”
“Would you mind making Lu invisible.”
“If you don’t want to see here anymore, Rose, I could just eat her.”
“Very funny Draco, are you taking comedy lessons from your pal, Groucho.”
“Hey he apologized, besides it’s not really his fault you did just materialize in front of him.”
“If it was just him running into me, I wouldn’t mind, but gurney surfing is not a thing.”
“Rose, that’s because people don’t understand just how much fun it is. Once we get you standing on the gurney Lu and I are pushing you with the wind in your hair, you’ll see.”
“Never happening Draco, can I ask you a private question?”
“Yep you can now.”
“Has any of your power faded?”
“Nope, not a bit still at one hundred and twenty five percent. Sparky too, the curse is still gone and his power is still at one hundred and twenty five percent, too.”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Great, I want to do the same thing to Lu, would that be okay do you think?”
“Let’s try the invisibility spell first, you want me to cast invisibility on you right Lu?”
“Yes Draco, as long as you can make me visible again. I’d have a hard time being a bard if I was invisible.”
“No, I can see it, ‘The Ghostly Bard of Wyldwood’, you’d be famous. Alright ready, Hocus Pocus Focus, and there you are, or rather there you aren’t.”
“So that Hocus Pocus Focus is that the invisibility spell?”
“No, humans just like the magician to say something, when actually my brain is calculating a way to make Lu not reflect light anymore.”
“Quit fooling around, please make her visible again."
“Bipity Bobity Boo, and there you are.”
“You really are feeling younger aren’t you, not the regal, serious Dragon.”
“I actually am, and I owe it all to you, so off with you, I know you want to use the wand on her, and no that is not a euphemism.”
“Thank you Draco.”
“Yes thank you, especially for making me visible again."
Next we jumped to the Blackpool gym, I authored us a pair of membership cards and we went in, in our street clothes, I mean I wasn’t planning on exercising at all and Lu was just going to lift one bar to her belly button, so there was no reason to get changed. Before we jumped Doug had shown us a youtube video about how to add or subtract weight from the bar. I still had no idea, but Lu seemed to get it, she added weight to one thousand pounds and easily lifted it, she kept adding weight till she got to thirteen hundred pounds. She couldn’t lift it anymore, we ducked into the privy, and I jumped us to the tower.
I used the wand and gave her the jumping ability. Lu had been to Juliet’s World many times, so I just had to explain to her how I actually jumped.
“Lu, I always use the word jump, when I’m describing it, but really what I feel like I’m doing is entering. The first time is the hardest because you’ve never done it before, but it all happens in your head. Just imagine her world and see yourself there. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
I had my right hand wrapped in her sweater, she wasn’t going anywhere alone. Just in case we wound up somewhere dangerous I could jump us both out very quickly. Not that I think jumping into the sun is like tapping your hand against a pot to see if it’s hot. I suppose no matter how fast I was at jumping we’d already be ashe. Not that I mentioned this to Lu, no point in freaking her out.
She jumped us to Juliet’s world on her first try, but we were about three feet above the ground. So we both landed on our arses, laughing our heads off. I made her practice it ten times, Juliet’s World to the tower, back and forth. Finally we stayed in Juliets world and I authored that Lu’s magic was one hundred percent, I repeated that ten times. Then I authored a barbell with thirteen hundred pounds and a few hundred pounds of fifty pound plates.
Lu lifted the thirteen hundred pounds, easily. She started adding weight and got to seventeen hundred before she couldn’t lift any more. Then I authored her magic to one hundred percent another five times. She lifted seventeen hundred pounds. I kept authoring her magic up, she kept lifting until she reached nineteen hundred pounds. That was her limit. With that done we jumped back home to the tower.
Next we jumped to Hilltop, at the base of the hill with our hotspring, I authored a round pit trap, thirty feet deep with a thirty feet diameter, the sides and floor are half inch stainless steel. Next Lu held onto me, then jumped us to the bottom of the pitt trap ten times. I’d done everything I could think of to keep Lu safe.
I portaled to the bakery to pick up breakfast for everyone and I spied Salome out front waiting on tables. I jumped to Juliet’s world and authored an ice cube then I jumped back to the bakery, snuck up behind Salome and put the ice cube down her back. She danced around trying to get the ice cube out, yanking her t-shirt from her jeans.
“What was that for Rose?”
“Telling the leathersmith that a demon hunter was coming in to buy leather pants.”
“I never told her you were a demon hunter, just that you were coming in to buy leather pants.”
“Oh sorry, I thought you told her I was a demon hunter.”
“I wanted to but I knew she’d never believe me, so I just went for the leather pants, so she asked you about them?”
“Yes she did. Stop by the bookstore later. I have a present for everyone, okay?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I hate surprises.”
“You’ll like this one.”
“No, I mean I hate waiting, now I won’t be able to get it out of my head.”
“Yeah, that's what makes a surprise great.”
“Rose, before you leave will you talk to Lily please, she’s just finishing the magical bakes in the kitchen.”
“I’m coming.”
I went into the kitchen, as I passed through the store, Paula handed me a bag filled with sweet buns.
“Thanks Paula.”
“Your welcome Rose.”
“Hi Lily, what’s up?”
“Rose I’m worried about Sparky, he hardly eats anymore, is he sick?”
“No, Lily, I’m hoping that it lasts but I took him to Juliet’s World and removed the curse. I didn’t say anything to anyone because we expected for it to return, but so far so good.”
“Rose, I’m so glad to hear that I was imagining all sorts of terrible things, I actually thought that, he might even be dying.”
“No he is not dying, I promise, he was so happy when the hunger went away. What a horrible curse. I hope I never meet her, I’d have a hard time holding my tongue. But I have to go. I need to grab a few portal muffins, Henry, Martha and Ronja are moving out today”
