The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 15

“That’s it?” Maria questioned as a small, black cat emerged from the flowery fencing and perched itself on a pumpkin. “That’s the monster?”

“Don’t be fooled by its appearance!” I cautioned the girls. “Sometimes dangerous things pose as stuff that’s harmless and adorable! Not as adorable as Jett, but still!”

The cat began licking one of its paws, and all of the adults (except Casper) gazed at each other for cues on how to proceed. Casper had his eyes closed as if he were waiting for something, and we ignored him as we tried to figure out what to do. Finally, Osra spoke up, “There’s only one way to know the truth of its nature…”

Casper disagreed, “Wrong! There are several methods of detecting supernatural entities! Unfortunately, most of them can’t be utilized due to my tools being stored in my classroom, which we won’t likely have access to out here. However, we do have one advantage in this situation- any deception can get rooted out with my third-eye abilities!”

“Oh, jeez! This dope believes he’s psychic now?” Fletcher grumbled.

“I’m seeing… I’m seeing…” Casper kept his lids shut as he allegedly scanned the animal’s aura, and he apparently arrived at a conclusion when his peepers flickered wide open. “It’s a Howler in disguise! Don’t worry, this one is benign, we’re safe!”

Corvina started to enquire, “What’s a H-?”

Aleck interrupted her, “Don’t ask any follow-ups to his nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense!” Casper reacted in offense. “I have been awarded a gift, and… Okay, so I had to do a lot of honing to activate it, but even so, it is my gift, and I choose to share it with you! And how am I repaid? By-?”

“Hey, if you’re so sure it’s harmless, why don’t you go over and test to see if it’ll let people pass?” I challenged him.

Casper boldly accepted my dare, “I’d be happy to!”

As he approached the feline, Kendra softly chided me, “I understand that you don’t like the guy, but don’t risk him getting killed over it!”

“He won’t get killed! Maybe really hurt, but…” I espied her reproachful stare, so I begrudgingly agreed, “I’ll stand by just in case!”

“Hello, wayfarer from Beyond!’ Casper prouncedly greeted the kitty. “We mean you no ill will, so, will you grant us passage into your territory?”

The animal ogled at him judgmentally, and that led me to cast it as an excellent judge of character. All of a sudden, there was more rustling in the sunflowers, and I regretted joining Casper for this dumb venture! I despised that I would most likely have to fight to save this pompous dork’s life, but seeing how I basically put him in peril’s path, I didn’t have much of a choice! Besides, I didn’t want whatever was there to attack the children present! The entity there had a more considerable size than what we were standing before, so I braced myself to defend everyone… somehow! It’s hard to truly prepare for a barrage when the perpetrator is a total mystery!

A young lady in a bonnet poked her head in, and she looked alarmed by our activity. “What are you doing to my cat?”

“Did you realize your pet is a monster in an assumed form?” Casper pressed her.

“Pardon?” The young lady eyeballed him as though he was completely devoid of sanity, which made me snicker but also gave me an idea.

I went up to Casper and apologized to the young lady, “We’re so sorry, ma’am! We’re in charge of this patient, and he recently escaped from the asylum!”

Casper denied that allegation, “We’re not from an asylum! We’re from the twenty-first century, and we came to combat otherworldly beasts as well as convince General Carnotes to take his pants off!”

“Does that sound like something a sane person would come up with?” I posed to the young lady.

“I see… Well, carry on then!” The young lady parted her plants and permitted us passage.

Fletcher, Jasper, and I forced Casper to put his arms behind his back, and as we paraded him out, Casper claimed, “We were sent on a quest by a malevolent spirit!”

Eamon ruefully regarded her, “Sorry for our intrusion!”

When we exited onto a dirt road, Donna canvassed the young lady, “Do your parents escort you everywhere?”

“Of course not!” the young lady affirmed. This surprised the girls, but not as much as what she followed with, “But my husband does.”

“Huh? But, you’re our age!” Donna exclaimed.

The young woman chimed, “Oh, are you also fourteen?” Donna, Maria, and Corvina’s jaws nearly hit the floor from that tidbit, but their appall only heightened when she brought something else up, “Say… My husband has a brother who is unwed…”

Prior to the girls expressing their horror at that concept, Eamon as well as Kamali and Aleck linked arms with them, and Eamon informed her, “Forgive us for disappointing your kin, but we’re courting these ladies!” Ironically, the girls seemed rather grateful to have adults escort them at this juncture!

We walked down the lane for a while, and then Kamali wondered, “Where are we going?” 

I shrugged. “Down this way ‘til we find someone who can tell us where General Cartones is.”

Osra squinted her eyes, and then she determined, “It looks like we’re coming to the entrance of a town.”

“Please, let the general be right there at the entrance!” Aleck crossed his fingers on both hands and beseeched this desire to the universe. My ancestors, Fletcher, and I peered at him skeptically, and he defended his actions, “Hey! What’s wrong with hoping for the simplest solution?”

“There is something there!” Covina noted. “Maybe it’s his horse? Wait, it’s super pale!”

We grew closer to the entity, and as I studied it better, I came to a realization, “It’s a ghost! Also, it’s a moose! Wow, random!”

Jasper remarked, “A Ghost Moose? That doesn’t sound too bad!” As it stood in the archway bordering the hamlet’s perimeter, it glowered at us and emitted a guttural growl. “Hmm! I always heard these creatures were gentle!”

“It’s blocking the only route inside!” Kaleva observed.

“Alright, Mister Occult Expert! How do we get rid of it?” I quizzed Casper.

Casper tapped his noggin as he contemplated the matter. “Under typical circumstances, one could use tangerines or blue paint, but I distinctly recall a unique quality attributed to this form…”

The Ghost Moose continued with its menacing stance, so I proposed, “What if somebody distracted it while the rest of us snuck in? I mean, that person would have to race inside when they got an opening, but…”

“That’ll never work!” Casper belittled my proposition.

“Do you have anything better?” I retorted.

Casper resumed his rumination. “Perhaps… We’ll need a bag and breakable glass though…”

Eamon opined, “It couldn’t do any harm to give it a chance!”

“Thank you! See, I told you I was brilliant!” Casper pridefully commented.

“I wasn’t referring to you! Connor is on a decent track with his suggestion, although, once again, we’ll need someone nimble to pull it off, so, once again, I’ll volunteer!” Eamon steeled himself up to perform this task, and then he marched over to the Ghost Moose.

The Ghost Moose snarled at him, and Eamon taunted it, “Come hither, Moose! Whoo!” Eamon’s lure tempted the Ghost Moose enough to leave its post, and we initiated our sneaking in. Eamon soon tripped backward on a branch, and as he fell onto the floor, he discouraged the Ghost Moose from reaching him, “Turn around! They’re getting away!”

Natalia dryly stated, “Thanks, nimble one!”

The Ghost Moose dove for Eamon, and I sped to both of their proximity preceding any contact. The Ghost Moose aimed to bite him, so I strove to block its jaw from touching Eamon. I stretched toward it, and… It shocked me to watch my grasp go straight through the Ghost Moose’s mandible! “What the-? Oh, duh! It’s a ghost! They’re transparent!”

“I’ll save you, friend!” Casper valiantly threw himself in front of Eamon and stood in a heroic fashion. His pathetic attempt to garner admiration made us all shake our heads in disappointment.

“Alright, let’s go! Everyone ignore the Ghost Moose!” Aleck replayed his words in his mind, and he articulated, “Huh! There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say!” 

We all moved forward, and the Ghost Moose persisted in its efforts for a while, but eventually, it became discouraged and morosely gave up. I almost felt sorry for it! Almost!

We saw several citizens of this city browsing fruits and vegetables outside of a market, and Fletcher esteemed, “We should ask these folks for directions. Unfriendly people don’t take forever to pick out produce!”

Kamali argued, “I don’t think that’s true! How could there be a correlation between-?”

“Who cares? We gotta ask someone!” Jasper quarreled. He then addressed the marketplace patrons, “Excuse us! We’re visitors to this region, and we could use some assistance.” They gladly turned around to respond, but when they took a gander at our crew, their eyes went wide and they all ran inside. Jasper took exception to this behavior, “What? Do we smell or something?”

“Everyone smells here!” Natalia asserted.

A woman behind an adjacent window shouted, “How rude!”

Natalia blushed at this development. “Oh, you heard that?”

“Don’t expect us to show remorse! You didn’t even let us complete our question before you fled from us!” Jasper confronted them.

“We weren’t fleeing from you!’ The woman indicated to something behind us.

A strange, low-pitched howl emanated from our backside, and I mumbled, “Why didn’t we guess it was a monster?” We swiveled around, and we beheld shaggy beasts with bodies like bears and faces like cats with inverted noses. “What the hell are those?”

While using a barrel as a shield, a man illuminated us, “Why, they’re the Howlers, of course!”

“Ha! Didn’t I say that there were Howlers around?” Casper folded his arms triumphantly.

“Yeah, but you didn’t say how to defeat them!” I riposted as the Howlers crawled off the rooftops and towards our locale.

Casper’s proud grin faded as he attempted to recall this vital info. “I dunno! But I will! I haven’t revisited my research on them since college, so give me a minute!”

Corvina pointed out, “Uh, we don’t exactly have a minute…!”

“I wrote a song about paranormal defense,” Casper recollected. The Howlers got within inches of us, and we all grabbed whatever was handy to defend ourselves. A few from our lot snagged some rocks, but the rest of us resorted to the ware from the store’s bins! At the precise instance I was praying a lemon would save me from getting mauled, Casper belted out a tune: 

“Granite, quartz, and running water,/

Can get used to combat beings from the hereafter!/

And make no mistake,/

You can also use a stake!/”

“Holy smokes! It’s working!” Kendra observed as the Howlers seemed repulsed by his crooning.

Casper sullenly spat, “My musical ability isn’t a magical deterrent!”

The Howlers resume their voracity when he quit warbling, so Maria urged him, “Keep singing, Mister Von Dutchman!”

After uttering an exasperated exhale, Casper went on:

“Some cannot cross a bed of roses,/

And some can be kicked in their noses…/”

I realized that he wrote this jingle, but it still bore the hallmarks of getting sung off-key! And rhyming mistake with stake? As much as I disliked his ditty, I appreciated it tremendously at this moment! The Howlers writhed in agony at the noise coming out of Casper’s mouth, and thankfully, after several seconds of this, the Howlers let out a final shriek and quickly scurried off!

The onlookers cheered, and Kendra complimented him, “You did it!”

I would’ve expected Casper to lap this fond focus on him up, but he stunned me when he grew miffed and pouted, “Yes, but I can’t brag about how I did it! What was the purpose if not that?” He stormed off, and we tailed him down the avenue.

At the other end of this borough, we viewed a field with tents and Revolutionary soldiers on it, and Osra breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness! We don’t have to get directions from anyone else! But, no one is outside! There must be another subhuman threat lurking about!”

“Maybe this one won’t be so bad!” Aleck tried to buoy our spirits. “I can’t imagine anything worse than the Howlers!” As if on cue, a dark horse came into our range of vision. Its rider had ornate clothing and no head, which caused Aleck to amend his previous sentence, “Yes, I can!”

“How does he see where he’s going with no eyeballs?” Corvina cried out as the Headless Horseman circled us fast enough that no one could budge. 

The Headless Horseman brandished an axe, and I advised Corvina, “Let’s figure it out later and assume he can see his targets for the time being!”

Suddenly, the Headless Horseman raised his weapon up, and…

The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 14

“Will you two stop acting like babies?” Fletcher shouted to us from the soccer field. “It’s not like it’ll happen twice within twenty-four hours with nearly the same set of students!”

“Yeah, we know!” Aleck responded as we stood by the gym’s side entrance. “We… We’re just… enjoying the shade!”

Fletcher, understandably, didn’t buy that claim. “Whatever you’re scared of, hurry up and get over it! These agility hurdles aren’t gonna set themselves up!”

I griped, “Oh, why not? It’s the twenty-first century- why doesn’t equipment like that exist?”

As we grabbed the rods that bore the appearance of monkey bars that were separated and three-dimensional, Aleck pointed out, “If they did exist, we probably wouldn’t have the budget for it!”

“Oh, yeah!” I acknowledged the accuracy of his statement. As we began setting the agility hurdles up, we kept glancing at the boys’ team practicing passes close by. Eventually, I asked Fletcher, “How does everything look out there?”

“Totally normal!” Fletcher huffed. Jimmy put a bouquet of dandelions in his mouth and motioned for his teammate to aim there, so Fletcher blew his whistle. “Spit those out! What did I say about eating crap off the ground?”

Jimmy argued, “I wasn’t gonna eat them! Well, not on purpose anyway!”

Fletcher gritted his teeth, and then he relayed to us, “See! That’s totally normal!”

“That’s true! ‘Kay, you win! We’ve gotta stop!” I acquiesced to his argument. “It’ll be nice to think about something else for a change! Okay, no more talk about spooky stuff!”

“Hey, Connor!” Casper approached the field. “I wanna talk to you about some spooky stuff!”

I let out a frustrated breath, and then I grumbled, “So much for that idea!” When he joined our group, I relented, “Alright, Casper! What is it?”

Casper narrated, “So, I was on my search for the source of that dark magic, and my divination rod led me to the English department. It suddenly jerked when I came to Room One-Three-Nine, so I opened the door. Do you know what I found in there?”

“Imelda grading papers?” I presumed.

“Yes!” Casper confirmed. “There weren’t any signs of the fairy folks anywhere, but I knew they must be around there somewhere! When I sought Imelda’s permission to search the area, she told me no! Can you believe that?”
I responded, “Uh, yeah!”

Casper seemed affronted by my lackadaisical attitude regarding his revelation. “Really? I thought we were on the same page with this matter! How are you not outraged?”

“What do you want me to do?” I shot back. “Scour the space without her permission? Consent is important, Casper! A woman has a right to say no!”

“Kaleva never tells me no!” Casper folded his arms and pouted. 

Aleck clicked his tongue in complete skepticism of his remark. “I don’t believe that for a second!”

Casper looked miffed, so, to end this potentially long spat, I humored him, “Fine! When we get the chance, we’ll check out her room.” Aleck gazed at me quizzically, so I gestured in a manner that indicated that I wasn’t serious. I attempted to finish this conversation by telling him, “We can’t do anything today, so you can go home. That concludes the spooky business for today!”

“Mister Fenmore!” Corvina ran up to me with a frantic frown. She appeared to be in a panic, but she oddly kept a tight grip on the sunglasses she was wearing. “I was just in the girls’ restroom, and… I  think something’s wrong!”

“Oh, gosh! That sounds like something you should bring up to a female teacher! Coach Huppert is in the wrestling loft running cheer practice…” I had enough knowledge of medical lore that I probably could’ve advised her with this issue, but it made me uncomfortable to do so! I mean, there was a reason I dropped my pre-med major!

Corvina insisted, “No! I need to show you now!”

We all shielded our eyes, but when we dared to have a peek, we realized she wasn’t referring to any feminine problems! Our relief in that was short-lived though- Corvina had kaleidoscope eyes! Our skin paled, and all I could determine to do was to put her sunglasses back on her head. We found the latest victim (well, technically, she found us!), and as much as we anticipated this event, we still didn’t have a plan for what to do with the afflicted, so, for a lengthy stretch, we were at a loss of what to do!

“Hey, Coach Jackson! What’s going on?” Jimmy craned his neck in an attempt to catch a glimpse of our activity.

“Nothing! Everyone go run laps!” Fletcher directed them with his voice at a slightly higher octave than he typically had it.

Aleck decreed, “I cannot go on another trip with them! Let’s get her away from here!”

I suggested, “The gym is empty. Come on!” As we steered her away from the field the boys were now running around, I requested to Casper, “Can you watch soccer practice real quick?” We dashed into the gym prior to getting an answer.

“What’s happening?” Corvina frantically pressed us.

“Nothing!” I espied her disbelieving expression, so I altered my assertion slightly, “Not yet anyways” I turned to Aleck and Fletcher, and I ruefully commented, “Out of all the medication I saw developed during my stint at Novak Neander, I don’t recall seeing anything that’d cure this!”

Casper perched himself in the doorway of the gymnasium and posed to us, “What is this?”

I grimaced at his presence, and since I was aggravated, I accidentally blurted out my honest opinion, “Ugh! You are truly useless!”

“Ouch!” Casper didn’t seem to relish that insult, but he didn’t seem deterred by it either. “Nice try, but I’m not leaving ‘til I understand what’s going on! Tell me, Corvina, did you encounter any individuals with webbed hands and blue skin?”

“What?” Corvina stared at him in confusion.

Aleck recommended, “Don’t ask!” He shifted his attention to us and theorized, “Maybe we can get the cure if we track down the person who fed her the-.”

I cut him off, “Shh! Don’t give him any information about the… you-know-whats!” I lowered my volume and entreated them, “Let’s minimize the amount of people who know about the other realms! Him especially! If he learned about this, he’ll always get involved with our plans, and we’ll never get rid of him!”

“I disclosed my findings to you, so I demand you give me the same courtesy!” Casper badgered us. “We’re part of a collective that combats the occult, so it doesn’t benefit any of us to cause rifts with one another! When I played football, my fellow players and I never-!”

“Will you shut up for a minute?” Fletcher rubbed his temples in exasperation. “I can’t conjure up a solution with all your yapping!”

Corvina clutched her stomach and moaned, “I don’t feel so good…”

This behavior struck me with a bolt of inspiration. “Real fast while you still have your memory, what did you eat and drink today?”

I eagerly awaited her response, and I avidly anticipated the notion of finally obtaining a clue to the culprit responsible for carrying out Damon’s demented misdeeds for him! Unfortunately, my strategy only perplexed Corvina further. “Huh? Why am I gonna lose my memory?”

“It’s a part of the spell, undoubtedly,” Casper put in.

“No! It’s not a spell! It’s… Argh!” I emitted a noise of sheer annoyance, but I fully intended to continue with my interrogation… until…

Two cheerleaders emerged from the entryway to the loft, and one of them exclaimed, “So, yeah! Now, my abuelo wants to have a ‘chat’ with my date before we leave for prom! Can you believe that, Donna?” The pair of them spotted us, and they justifiably ogled at us in bewilderment. Donna’s friend inquired, “What’s going on?”

“Detention! She was tardy to all of our classes!” I fibbed. They appeared mollified by that explanation, and when I sensed Casper readying himself to deny that statement, I pinched him to shut him up. I was glad they were appeased, but the girls’ arrival caused me to wonder if this would become a trend, so I catechized, “Is cheer practice over already?”

“Oh, no! We gotta use the toilet, and someone clogged the drains up there!” Donna shared with us.

Fletcher recollected, “That’d probably be Stevenson! He carbo-loads before wrestling matches, so when he goes, he goes! Ooh, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned his name…”

The two cheerleaders were clearly at a loss for words from that exchange, so I sagaciously communicated to them, “In general, if you don’t know what to say, you should just walk away!”

“I believe that, Maria!” Donna heeded my advice and headed towards the bathroom as though she hadn’t witnessed our oddity whatsoever. “My parents wanted to escort me to the prom!” They nearly exited the arena, which would’ve garnered us more time to unearth a remedy for this catastrophe, but then Donna scoffed at her folks’ intention, “I’m, like, what is this? Colonial times?”

“Colonial times! Colonial times! Colonial times!” Corvina chanted.

As the swirling vortex manifested above us, Fletcher vexedly uttered, “Gosh darnit! This is not what I wanted to do with my afternoon!”

Casper differed, “It isn’t? Why not? We’re off to an adventure!”

I got the impression that if the vortex hadn’t swallowed us up, Fletcher would’ve toed the line of letting himself smack Casper! Not that I would’ve blamed him, and not that the interdimensional travel provided us any real benefit, but at least in this instance, perhaps it prevented one bad scenario from unfolding!

We gently landed on some vines, and a tri-corner hat fell over my vision prior to me getting to scope out our new surroundings. Once I readjusted myself, I saw that we were all donning eighteenth-century garb in the middle of a pumpkin farm. Corvina gawked at her outfit in disgust. “I can’t wear something so utterly conventional like this!”

“Trust me, in a minute, your wardrobe will be the least of your worries!” Aleck knowledgeably addressed her.

My ancestors materialized by us, and Natalia proudly showed us her footwear. “Look! The Big Guy gave me new shoes! Thank goodness! For a while, I was worried He’d make me go barefoot!”

My brows furrowed at the image she raised. “Why wouldn’t He give you another pair?” Natalia’s visage shifted in a slightly guilty fashion, but preceding her ability to explain herself…

Damon sat on a giant pumpkin as if he was lounging on a comfortable recliner, and he taunted her, “Yes, Natalia! Why wouldn’t he want to do you a favor like that?”

Natalia glared at him, but Kalmali was the first to react, “What? Like you’re so righteous! Didn’t you steal property belonging to Heaven?”

“Maybe…!” Damon snickered.

“Why did you do that?” I probed. “I mean, other than trying to get petty revenge against our town! You have such a grudge against Rosemary King High School- what did that place ever do to you?”

I’m not sure why I expected Damon to actually reply to that! It did make his expression sour though, so I deemed my effort as worth it. Damon seethed, “We’re not here to discuss my past! Only your future… in the past! Are you ready to hear your quest?”

Maria anxiously articulated, “I don’t even understand what this is all about! Are we in some sort of dream?”

“Some sort, yeah,” Osra stated.

“Your goal for this mission: persuade General Carnotes to go into battle pantless!” Damon dramatically announced.

Kendra threw her hands up in puzzlement. “You can’t be serious!”

Damon laughed, “He was the American Rebels’ most trusted military leader aside from George Washington, and not only will this humiliate him, but it’ll cause his men to lose a hundred percent of their confidence in his competency! Therefore, the British will become the rightful victors of this war!”

“You’re a Loyalist?” I questioned. “I don’t see why a nihilist like you would have a stake in this conflict!”

“If the colonists don’t win, then Terra Belle will cease to exist!” Damon leered. “Ha! And you probably all thought I lost my mind!”

Eamon verbalized, “We still do! Why expose the poor chap’s undergarments like that?”

Damon shrugged. “Well, I was going to have you kill him, but I assumed you do-gooders would’ve refused to do that!” We all recognized the accuracy of that accusation, and since that objection got resolved, he wrapped up our interaction, “Have fun!”

“Yes, we shall!” Casper enthusiastically avowed. Damon gave him a peculiar stare as he disappeared.

“Gosh, I hope this General Carnotes has nice legs!” Donna gushed as she and Maria giggled.

Aleck warned them, “Don’t get too excited! Before we judge whether or not this historical figure has a cute butt, we gotta survive the monsters first!”

The girls grew terrified at that concept, and Corvina implored us, “What kind of monsters are we gonna face?”

We heard some rustling in the sunflowers on the crops’ perimeter, and Jasper proclaimed, “We’re about to find out!”

The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 13

“Hey! That’s cheating!” I yelled as I viewed Damon in the cave. “You can’t sneak in there before we get a chance to complete the quest!”

“I’m not sneaking in so much as I’m trying to escape out…” Damon disputed my assertion. “It’s been a little difficult with Torcaness blocking the only exit!”

I queried, “Who’s Torcaness?” That mystery got solved when a massive, green-scaled dragon opened its red, reptilian eyes and emerged from its lair. I retracted my enquiry, “Got it!”

Torcaness let out a ferocious roar, and Kalmali admonished it, “Was that necessary? You don’t have to be so loud, we’re right here!”

It dove in our direction, and thankfully, we were all able to dodge its advance! Fletcher ordered, “Everyone, spread out!”

“Isn’t that what they said in that horror movie before everybody got killed?” George pondered. 

“When we get back, you’re getting detention!” Fletcher barked.

As Aleck eluded the vicious creature, he reminded Fletcher, “He won’t remember any of this when we get back to the Earth Realm!”

Fletcher stubbornly insisted, “I don’t care!”

Kendra esteemed, “These bushes look pretty thick. They’ll keep us safe from the wretched beast!” She changed her tune when she pulled out a slightly singed knight’s armor from the branches. “Never mind!”

The sun reflected off of the mail, and it caught the dragon’s attention, so Kendra had to run from it as it neared her. It chased after the shiny object, and Kendra darted back and forth, keeping it distracted. Ginger wondered, “Is there somewhere unsafe we can lure it to?”

“We could probably find a cliff and trick it into plummeting off the edge!” Osra mulled that brainstorm over for a moment and then frowned. “Oh, but these things can fly!”

“Take your time! This situation is fine!” Kendra sardonically regarded us as she fled from Torcaness.

Out of the corner of my periphery, I caught sight of Damon attempting to tiptoe out of the cave, so I instructed the others, “Figure out a way to slay the dragon! I’m gonna go get the Gilded Pheasant!”

When I grew closer to Damon, he rushed back into the cave as if I wouldn’t dare to enter those quarters. When I followed him inside, he let me know, “I don’t have your precious bird! See?” He alluded to a golden fowl roosting at the top of a pile of coins and jewels.

My vision flickered between the Gilded Pheasant and Damon seemingly unopposed to the premise of me retrieving it, and my suspicion got roused. Getting that feathery treasure would satisfy our goal for the mission, but it was definitely out of character for that devilish dope to permit us to gain a victory so easily. After weighing my options, I finally decided the risk involved with this venture was too high to trust his integrity, and when I realized he had none,  I felt compelled to ask him, “Alright, what’s the catch?” 

“Nothing!” Damon answered with a shrug.

“What was that?” I probed as a luminescent glow flashed off of his hand when it was visible.

Damon hid his arms behind his back and acted innocently, “I have no clue what you’re referring to!”

From outside, I heard Phoebe propose, “Why don’t we strangle it?”

I chased after Damon to uncover the truth, and Eamon objected to Phoebe, “How would we do that? Our grip would be useless against its massive neck!”

Damon tripped over a tiara, and he exposed his fingers- one of which had turned into a glittery yellow hue! Damon unwillingly admitted, “That’s what happens if you touch it apparently!”

“What if we use a rope?” Jasper posed to the rest of them.

“A rope would help in this scenario!” I noted. “But I doubt Toraness would have any in this-!”

Ginger determined, “We’d need something that’s at least forty-four inches long!”

Damon demonically laughed at me, “It looks like you’re about to fail your quest!” As he cackled, he stretched out his limbs victoriously, and in so doing, he knocked a pile of trinkets down. At the top of the heap, a new set of valuables got revealed, including the Rainbow Tektite! Damon and I each got the same idea, and as we strove to reach the summit, we inhibited each other from moving forward.

While all this was occurring, Ellie remarked, “Forty-four inches? That’s my waist size! Oh, why did I say that out loud?”

“Hold on! That means we can use your corset to choke Torcaness!” Aleck exclaimed as Damon managed to push me off of the heap.

“Nuh-uh!” Ellie refused as I used Damon’s cape to pull him off of the rubble. “You can’t use my clothes to… Wait, none of this is mine! Here!”

I reached for the Rainbow Tektite, but Damon pulled my leg so that I couldn’t reach it. As this struggle went on, I heard commotion blaring out from the exterior, and I couldn’t discern whether or not our side was winning. It was inadvisable to entertain any negative possibilities at that juncture, so I presumed that someone was able to get Ellie’s corset around the dragon’s neck. I wished I had a second to spare to commotate on what a bizarre plan that was! If Damon prevented us from getting home, we would be doomed to remain in this realm forever! We would’ve missed our family, lost out on our jobs, and had to buy Ellie another corset without any of their currency at our disposal! I had to unearth a method of shaking Damon off immediately, but I was at a loss of what action to take… until…

Our brawl pushed a bronze egg from its lofty position and nearly whacked Damon in the noggin! Damon swirled out of the peril’s path, but he had to loosen his hold on me to do so. I garnered the ability to speed to the Rainbow Tektite, and mercifully, I was able to obtain it! Precisely when I grabbed it, Aleck entered and proudly proclaimed, “We slayed the dragon!” He spotted the Rainbow Tektite in my palm, and he somewhat sourly observed, “Evidently, we didn’t need to waste our efforts!”

I would’ve normally reassured him that they pulled off a magnificent feat, but seeing how everyone had convened in the cave, I judged it to be more prudent to flee from the medieval realm as soon as possible. I requested to the Rainbow Tektite, “Please, take us to the Earthly Realm!” The twirling vortex appeared, and I was delighted to catch a glimpse of Damon pouting prior to our departure from the land!

We manifested in the gym in the same spots we previously stood, which made the Ancestral League breathe a sigh of relief. The boys of Fletcher’s P.E. class gazed at each other perplexedly though. “Did something just happen?” Huey questioned no one in particular.

“What happened? Volleyball happened, that’s what!” I conveyed this to him. That wasn’t even a total lie- we did use a volleyball to defeat a monster in part of our journey!

“Why do I have this burn mark on my arm?” Jimmy catechized while peering at a scorched blemish on his skin.

Phoebe fibbed, “That’s a haphazard of the sport!”

George stated, “Why do I get this weird vibe like I did when Rakey was around?”

“You were in trouble then, and you’re in trouble now!” Fletcher articulated. “Detention after school today!”

“For what?” George reconsidered his protest, and then he accepted his fate. “Eh, I probably deserved it for something! Besides, the day is going by fast anyway! It’s already almost third-period!”

Ginger, Ellie, Aleck, Phoebe, and I all glanced at the clock, and we were horrified at the accuracy of his comment. Without saying goodbye or giving one another accolades for a job well done on that mission, we barreled back to our classrooms.

It wouldn’t have surprised me to have seen my students in the hall after dealing with whatever potential disaster Mrithan manufactured, but I did get surprised to encounter Casper in the foyer! He eyeballed me suspiciously, and then he grilled me, “You’re doing another paranormal investigation, aren’t you?”

“No…” I did my utmost to make that sound convincing, but I lacked confidence in my persuasive skills in that instance.

“How could you neglect to seek my advice once again?” Casper upbraided me. “Don’t forget, the occult is my specialty! I’m the expert in this field! Every person in town knows that! Especially Kaleva- that’s actually how we met! You see, we were on this ghost-hunting tour, and she… Where are you going?”

With my hand on the doorknob to my room, I couldn’t resist giving him a sarcastic response, “The North Pole! Actually, that wouldn’t shock me at this point!”

Casper grew indignant about my attitude. “Here you’re making jokes while I’m sincerely attempting to resolve the problem plaguing the school! Not listening to my wisdom and experience will-!”

“No one’s stopping you from doing your investigation!” I brought it up in hopes of ending this tedious conversation.

“You’re right!” Casper’s visage lit up in furor of the truth I inadvertently spoke. “I’ll conduct my own research, and, as a courtesy, I’ll share with you anything I find.”

Without a hint of authenticity, I verbalized, “Sounds great!”

Casper rubbed his chin contemplatively. “I need to uproot the fairy folks from their hiding spot! Where did I put my divination rod?” Preceding him explaining what that tool was or why he was so certain the culprits behind these attacks were fairy folks, I went into my classroom.

To my startlement, I walked into my space only to behold Mrithan hanging from the ceiling! He had evidently gotten tangled up in the projector’s screen holder, and all of the kids from second-period were in the midst of a mirthful uproar. Mrithan noticed my presence, so he requested, “Assistance, please!”

“They didn’t see any of the film?” I reacted in dismay as I pulled him down by his ankles.

“No, no, no! I mean, yes! They saw all of it!” Mrithan swore as I wrestled with freeing his sweater from the contraption. “I was merely trying to create a larger aisleway for everyone as the period ended!”

The bell rang, and as the pupils piled out, I shook my head in disgruntlement. I supposed I ought to have felt grateful that he kept the lesson plan running in my absence, but it irked me that I was forced to tend to his foolishness when I could’ve spent my few minutes of pause between second and third period to consider remedies for the existential crisis of the Rainbow Tektites appearing in our realm. I wasn’t clear on what I could’ve come up with in that short stretch, but still! I could’ve considered the suspects and who may have slipped the mystical rock shards into consumable goods that Aniela, George, and others all partook in. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the fix to my difficulty was literally staring me in the face…

With as much nonchalance as I could muster, I petitioned Mrithan, “So, are a lot of children gonna miss out on your special brew since you’re away from your desk?”

“Huh?” Mrithan obviously wasn’t expecting that topic to get raised on this occasion. “Oh, that! Nobody usually gets that unless it’s the start of the day or lunchtime.”

“I heard there’s a secret ingredient to your espresso that isn’t found anywhere else on this planet. Is that true?” I pressed him as he became dislodged from his ensnarement.

Mrithan’s brows considerably furrowed at that concept. “There is? Hmm! I never thought about reading the ingredients before, but since you mentioned it, I’ll take a gander at it! Well, unless I missed a bunch of calls again! See ya!”

I wanted to interrogate him further, but the bell rang again, and I would’ve appeared insane if I delayed the teens’ learning to chat about coffee! I watched him leave, and I was glad I arranged to show a short flick today- I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on anything that required any sort of thinking as I soaked all that transpired in!

After school, I went to the grocery store and put two bottles of wine on the conveyor belt. Once I was through, my phone rang. Assuming it was Phoebe needing something from the supermarket, I picked it up, “Hello?”

“Hey, Connor!” my dad greeted me. “Just a friendly warning- your mom is coming to your house this Saturday to introduce you to the wedding planner she hired.”

“Okay!” I sighed. With all of the recent tumult, I nearly forgot about the whole marriage ceremony undertaking! It was aggravating that I didn’t have a valid excuse to postpone it, but I certainly couldn’t reveal that I needed to wait to do this until I thwarted an escaped Hellian’s apocalyptic scheme!

My father reluctantly added, “There’s more… She’s bringing a couple of family members too! Sorry!”

I groaned, “Relatives wanna visit too? Ugh! Well, thanks for the heads up!”

Following another exasperated exhale, I put four more bottles of alcohol onto the counter. The clerk guessed, “Your relatives are heavy drinkers?”

I affirmed, “No.” She raised her eyebrows but didn’t broach the subject any further. As I took off from that locale, I beseeched the universe to keep that paranormal pest away from my abode until my loved ones concluded their stint in Terra Belle!

The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 12

“Hey, Coach Jackson!” Huey nervously communicated to Fletcher as he glanced around the tall trees and thick fog.

Fletcher maintained a cautious eye on the path ahead of us, but he still responded to Huey, “What?”

Huey relayed to him, “I changed my mind! I wanna play volleyball now!”

After rubbing his temples in a frustrated fashion, Fletcher articulated, “It’s too late for that now! But I want you to remember this experience when we get back, and-!”

“Their memory of this experience will get completely wiped out when we go back to the Earthly Realm,” I informed Fletcher.

“Lucky them!” Aleck muttered as he untangled himself from a pointy branch. “I wish the monsters would hurry up and bother us already! Sam only agreed to watch my students ‘cause I told him I’d be back in a minute!”

Phoebe remarked, “No one is watching my kids! I said I was going to the bathroom real fast… which I still need to do!” She clutched her stomach, and then she notified us, “I’ll be right back!”

Ginger critiqued her decision to run into the thicket, “You can’t go potty in the woods! There are bugs there!”

“And possibly monsters!” Kamali added.

“Oh, come on! What are the odds she’d run into a monster at this precise moment?” Jasper pushed back against that notion.

From the spot Phoebe chose to occupy, we heard a male’s voice cry out in anguish! Phoebe reemerged, and after hoisting up her pantaloons, she announced, “I found the next monster! Maybe if we run, we can-!”

A statuesque wolf in people’s clothing entered onto the scene walking on his hind legs and glowered at us. “You humans are disgusting! You think you can leave your droppings just anywhere, huh?” As the boys huddled together in fright, he threatened, “You’ll pay for your misdeeds!”

The adults prepared to fight the wolf, but the children whimpered at this terrifying development. Jimmy exclaimed, “Oh no! We’re gonna get eaten by the Big Bad Wolf!”

“Hey! Who are you calling big?” The wolf shielded his guy from our view as much as he could.

“Isn’t that your name?” George inquired.

Quite affronted, the wolf replied, “Wow! Who taught you your manners?”

Huey indicated to my friends and me standing behind him. “These guys did!”

The other five awkwardly waved at him, but this interaction struck me with interaction, so I hurried over to the boys and whispered, “Forget all the rules of politeness we gave you! Be as mean as possible to this wolf!”

“Are you giving us permission to bully someone, Mister Fenmore?” Jimmy incredulously asked.

“No, in this instance, I’m encouraging it!” I answered.

The wolf bristled at their rudeness. “Ooh! I’m going to thoroughly enjoy killing you!”

I urged the boys, “Do it! Now!”

“How are you gonna kill us?” George somewhat timidly spoke to the wolf. “Are you gonna breathe your nasty breath on us?”

“My breath doesn’t smell!” the wolf indignantly stated.

The boys began to pick up on the wolf’s vulnerability, so Huey more jocularly jeered, “Maybe that’s his nasty feet we smell! He’s not even wearing shoes!”

Getting rather depressed, the wolf spat, “It’s hard to get footwear for paws!”

“Guys, he’s probably too poor to afford any shoes!” Jimmy snickered. “I mean, who’s gonna hire this nasty creature? He can’t draw a salary!”

“You’re all just… cruel!” The wolf busted out into tears and ran back into the knotty trees as the entire class laughed at him.

Ellie amusedly noted, “Teenage callousness has its place!” As the boys celebrated their victory, Ellie advised them, “Let’s not give him a chance to rebuild his self-esteem! Get a move on!”

We soon came to a babbling brook with a stone bridge above it. Prior to anyone setting foot on the span, I held my arms out so no one could embark on it. “Hold on! If I remember my fairytales correctly, there’s a troll underneath that bridge!”

“Who said we were in a fairytale?” Ginger challenged me.

“I dunno!” I shrugged. “The Big Bad Wolf thing made me go the fairytale route I guess!”

Jasper opined, “Seeing how it’s our only route forward, it couldn’t hurt to see if there was some sort of trap there.”

Natalia declared, “I’ve got this!” She took off a shoe and hurled it onto the span. Within seconds, a creature with brown fur, pointy ears, fangs, and a portly belly sprang out and ravenously devoured her footwear! When it realized it had been tricked, it glared at us and retreated into its shelter. Natalia bemoaned, “Oh, great! Now, I gotta get another pair!”

“Wow! I’m not used to hearing a woman complain about having to go shopping to expand her wardrobe!” Aleck commented.

“I’m from Heaven- there aren’t exactly a lot of malls in a place that doesn’t use money!” Natalia huffed. After I emitted a noise of disappointment at the premise of a favorite hangout of mine not having any residency up there, she continued, “I gotta get another pair from the Big Guy!”

George puzzled, “The Big Guy? Do you mean…?”

Osra elucidated, “He goes by many names! God, Spirit, Lord, Zeus, Brahma, the sun, Yahweh, Jeff…”

Ginger questioned that, “Jeff?”

After sighing, Osra clarified, “It was a cult thing!”

“Maybe we can ask him nicely to let us pass,” Phoebe suggested.

“I don’t think we have time to ask Him for a favor right now!” Kendra put in.

Connor gently corrected her misimpression, “I think she meant the troll.”

Kamali scoffed at that notion, “Who’s gonna volunteer for that death trap?”

“Aren’t you guys dead?” Jimmy pressed him.

“Yeah, but our spirits can still perish!” Kamali shot back.

Eamon audaciously asserted, “This task requires someone that’s nimble and quick enough to flee should things go awry, and none of you possess that quality! And, while I do, I cannot possibly perform this feat because…” When he realized the fault in his logic, he dismally went forward. “Alright, I shall make this attempt!”

He gingerly approached the troll’s proximity at the foot of the bridge, and he politely addressed it, “Excuse me, dear chap! My companions and I would like a hasty use of your domain. It seems mutually beneficial to not quarrel with one another, so I propose a peace agreement between both parties. What say you?” The troll did not come out or even acknowledge that it heard Eamon, so Eamon begrudgingly accepted that he would have to broach the beast’s terrain. As he carefully approached the span, he kept striving to negotiate with the troll, “If there is some other toll we must pay, we-.”

Prior to him getting to finish that sentence, the troll scurried out from its site of refuge and charged at Eamon at full speed! Eamon sprang off the structure in time to stay safe, and he rejoined our group with a visibly shaken visage. Fletcher tersely posed to everyone, “Now what? Do we gotta kill the varmint?”

“What if we built our own bridge?” Ginger propositioned.

“That’ll take too long!” Aleck argued.

Ginger contended, “I don’t mean anything fancy! We could use a tree trunk or even some large rocks! I see some over by the bank there…” As she went to retrieve them, she tripped over an unknown commodity behind a bush! “Man, I wish they didn’t put me in a skirt for this!” The boys rushed over to catch a glimpse of this sight, but preceding their arrival, Ginger already stood back up. After they groaned from disappointment, Ginger announced, “This is what tripped me!”

She held up an archaic volleyball, and George perplexedly regarded Ellie, “Missus Wayan, didn’t you say they invented that sport in the eighteen-hundreds?”

“Oh sure, now you’re paying attention to the facts I present!” Ellie pouted.

“Property of the Three Little Pigs!” Osra read some writing off of the volleyball. “I guess that other beast really was the Big Bad Wolf!”

At that moment, a lightbulb went off in Fletcher’s head. “Hey! We can use this to clock that sucker! We can lure him out, and then- bam! We can move on!”

Natalia folded her arms defiantly. “I’m not using my other shoe! Someone else can sacrifice their footwear!”

“What if we use this long stick?” Kalmali picked up a slender and lengthy twig high enough so we could all see it.

“Oh, fine! Make me look foolish!” Natalia sulked.

Fletcher instructed, “Alright, you three reach that branch out as far as you can, and as soon as that troll comes out, serve the ball to him, Huey!”

Huey objected, “Why me? I know I said I wanted to play volleyball earlier, but… Why can’t he do it?” He indicated to George. “He’s the one who brought us here, and you said his form was so awesome!”

“He was only saying that to distract him from his weird eyes!” Jimmy disputed. “Besides, you’ll be a big hero, so you should cherish this honor!”

“Okay, you do it then if it’s such a big honor!” Huey tried to hand the ball to Jimmy.

Jimmy threw his hands up in refusal. “No way, man!”

The boys began to bicker, so Fletcher intervened, “Shut it! You wanna know why you, Huey? This nonsense! Quit it and let’s get this over with already!”

Kamali, Phoebe, and I guided the narrow piece of lumber to the bridge, and Huey nervously readied himself to complete the task. When our sprig finally reached far enough on the span, the troll shot out with its usual fervor. Huey launched his projectile, and…

“Wow! You missed the bridge completely!” Kendra noted.

“I told you not to let me do it!” Huey vehemently reacted. “I choke under pressure!”

Ginger asserted, “It’s all about angles! If you hit it from the right point, your trajectory will follow a motion that-!”

Cutting off her geometry lecture, I directed everyone, “Hey! Look at the ball!”

“I get it! My aim sucked!” Huey grumped.

“No! See how it’s sitting in the river…” I alluded to the spot it rested at, and everyone could discern it was only partially submerged.

Osra raved, “It’s been shallow all along! Ugh! Let’s go!”

We all heeded her decree and crossed the wet ravine. Ginger tossed the ball out of her pathway, and we heard the unmistakable sound of it landing on the Big Bad Wolf! We eagerly trudged through the brook to avoid dealing with that annoying foe once more!

“Are we there yet?” George moaned as we trekked through a shadowy sector of the woods.

“Yeah, but we kept going for the fun of it!” I sarcastically verbalized to him.

George’s eyes widened at that concept. “Are you serious?”

I irritably assured him, “No! You’ll know when we’ve found the Gilded Pheasant ‘cause we’ll have to fend off the dragon guarding it!”

Aleck probed, “How do you know it’ll be a dragon?”

“Because that’s the ultimate boss in fairytales,” I reasoned.

“Not necessarily,” Phoebe differed. “There could be a blood-thirsty giant or a witch with powerful spell-casting abilities! Gosh, I don’t know what to root for!”

Aleck opined, “We’ve dealt with giant creatures and jinxes before, and we know we can deal with them with whatever random crap is at our disposal. We were only able to defeat that dragon ‘cause I concocted a substance that combusted in its digestive system. We don’t have any of that at our disposal unless we happen to come across Merlin’s hut!”

Kendra protested his imagery, “Merlin didn’t live in a hut! He shared residence with us in Tintagel! A hut would’ve been nice for him- he was clumsy and destroyed several vases and small tables!”

Everybody except for the rest of my ancestors garnered so many questions about that revelation, but prior to any of us getting to delve into that subject, a puff of gray smoke blocked our route! We heard some guttural growling, and the entire collective understood what that implicated. Ginger tried to encourage us, “Maybe it’s a little dragon!”

We tiptoed around some hedges bordering a rocky crag. When we reached the edge, we warily peeked around the corner to behold what we were destined to duel. We all hoped for Ginger’s prediction to manifest, but in reality, we all expected a giant monster to greet our view. What we didn’t expect to espy was…

The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 11

Roxy demanded, “Tell me everything!”

Peter threw his arms up in a totally flummoxed manner. “I told you all I know! I was heading to class, and suddenly, I… was in the same exact spot! But it felt different! It was like I did manual labor or something! I’m glad I don’t remember any of it!”

“You have to remember something!” Roxy blocked his path to the hallway. “You were in the presence of my Day-Day darling! I need to find out where he is and what he’s doing! TELL ME!!!!!”

“Roxy, don’t make him late to second-period!” I warned her. “If he pushes you out of the way, I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see anything!”

My statement steamed Roxy up enough that she marched right up to my desk without noticing that Peter slipped out! She glowered at me in a furious fashion, and she seethed, “I don’t know what you did, but I’m positive that you spoiled my poor Damon’s plot! Mark my words- I’ll figure out what you did and get revenge! Wait, why am I waiting? I should come up with a plan for vengeance since I already have the knowledge you’re interfering with his efforts again! Be afraid! Be afraid!”

I took out my cell phone during her tirade and purposely scrolled through it to show complete disinterest in her pathetic, little attempt to intimidate me. The bell rang after she finished ranting, so without glancing up from my screen, I notified her, “There’s a tardy sweep going on- you better run!’ Roxy glared at me as she backed out of the room, but once she was in the corridor, I heard her sprinting. I tittered at the concept that she probably had no inkling that Damon most likely instructed his ally to strike when she wasn’t around! Not that she would’ve recalled anything her “Day-Day” would’ve said or done, but she would have roiled to know he was intentionally avoiding her!

“I found it!” Mrithan popped in as the students settled in.

“Huh?” With all that transpired in the last twenty-four hours, I couldn’t drum up what Mrithan was referencing there!

Mrithan explained, “The paper I forgot yesterday! It’s a permit to hold your wedding here, and it doesn’t have any coffee stains this time!” He peered at the sheet, and he amended his sentence, “Well, not much anyway! This one is loads more visible!”

Inwardly, I weighed whether or not I ought to act with honesty and express my disinterest in tying the knot on Rosemary King High’s campus or display some kindness by thanking him for his effort, which would have ultimately been the fastest route to ending this interaction and starting my lesson. I hadn’t reached a conclusion yet when I saw a text from Fletcher in our group chat- it read, “S.O.S.!” That was short for “Save Our School” in this instance, and it meant he spotted a teen afflicted by the Rainbow Tektite!

“I gotta go!” I immediately jumped into action, but prior to me dashing out the door, I informed him, “They’re just watching a video- all you have to do is push play!”

“Okie dokie! I can handle that!” Mrithan avowed. As I hurried towards the gym, I wasn’t sure how he could screw that up, but I still doubted that he could adhere to his guarantee.

When I arrived at the gymnasium, I saw that Ellie, Aleck, Ginger, and Phoebe got there around the same time as me! I relayed to them, “Only one of us needs to respond to these things!”

Aleck concurred, “Yeah! So, if this happens again, the first person to respond with “O.M.W.” takes care of the rescuing! That stands for ‘On My Way’ incidentally. My son had to explain that to me when I was picking him up from band practice…”

“Uh, maybe this can wait ‘til later…” Fletcher interrupted as he indicated to a boy by one of the volleyball courts.

“Hey, Coach Jackson! Why is everyone staring at me?” George asked. 

We tried not to flinch when we beheld his kaleidoscope-like eyes. Fletcher feigned as much cheer as possible when he answered, “Just your great form, buddy! Keep it up! And Jimmy, remember to keep your palms flat! Don’t forget how you broke your finger by attempting to pass it with your hands straight up!”

Jimmy didn’t seem to have heard Fletcher- he remained transfixed on George’s peepers. I recommended to the others, “Alright! Let’s move quick or Jimmy’s gonna get hit in on his skull or something!”

“Sure thing, babe!” Phoebe readily complied. “What do we do?”

“Uh…”  I had to mull that one over. With Damon’s past dimwitted schemes, it was easy to eke out a solution. Well, eventually! In the past, merely encountering his monsters and ghouls for a couple of minutes made the key to solving the problem work itself out somehow. With the banshee, I simply had to ask her to leave, and with the walking pumpkin, we only had to bash it in the head. With the radioactive bunny, we defeated it by getting it stuck in a narrow ally, but the remedy for the Rainbow Tektite ingestion hadn’t become clear yet. It was maddening to be so close to the pending disaster and not have the ability to do anything to prevent it from occurring! There had to be something, but I had no clue how to find it out!

Ginger suggested, “What if we keep him away from the other students? We could isolate him until… I dunno! He consumed it, so sooner or later, it’ll pass through his system, right?”

We all agreed to separate him from the rest of the P.E. class, and we collectively beseeched the universe that we could uncover a cure for this strange ailment sometime afterward! Fletcher blew his whistle and decreed, “George! You’re out!”

“Aw! Why can’t I be out?” another guy whined. “I don’t wanna play this old-timey game anymore!”

“Old-timey?” Ellie balked at that notion. “It’s only been around since eighteen-ninety-five, which isn’t that old really! Lots of sports are loads over than that! Like tennis- that’s been around since medieval times, which is…”

Suddenly, George became stiff and started chanting, “Medieval times! Medieval times! Medieval times!”

Over his speech, I directed the rest of the children, “Run! Run! Run!”

Jimmy whined, “But we ran the track yesterday!”

I gritted my teeth, but I didn’t have a moment to spare in straightening out his misimpression. In a trice, the swirling vortex appeared, and all of the occupants in the gym got sucked inside!

As we stepped out onto a cobblestone road, I was preparing to canvass the others about whether or not they expected to float around in nothingness as we traveled between realms too, but we were immediately greeted by an overpowering odor! The stench was so awful that it caused us all to gag, and Phoebe remarked, “It smells like my stepdad multiplied! I forgot they don’t have underground sewers! Bleck!”

“Pardon the intrusion, but are you all ill? Do you need me to fetch a physician?” a young lady in a corset dress with a matching veil queried.

“No, thanks! We’re…” I got distracted from my polite refusal when I caught sight of the shift in my outfit- my slacks, polo, and loafers morphed into a loose, puffy shirt beneath a cloth vest that tucked into baggy pants with boots over the bottom cuffs! I glimpsed at the others, and we were all donning peasant garments! I confusedly gasped, “What the-? Why did our clothes change?”

The lady hesitantly addressed us, “I… I shall go fetch that physician for you!”

After she rushed off, Jasper filled me in, “The rules are different for each realm. Sometimes, the universe cares about us blending in, and sometimes it doesn’t. No one knows why!”

“Who are these guys?” Fletcher inquired.

“They’re my ancestors,” I replied.

Fletcher griped, “Oh, great! More people to keep track of! This is gonna be a disaster!”

Bearing the appearance of a feudal lord, Damon manifested before us and delightfully cackled, “Having fun already?”

The kid who took issue with playing volleyball chirped, “Yup! This beats exercising! And it reminds me of this video game I played called-!”

“Let’s see if you’re still having fun when you hear what your quest is gonna be!” Damon huffed with clear signs of getting miffed that the youths got some enjoyment out of his deranged arrangement.

“So, it is like a video game!” Jimmy reacted in glee.

Natalia briefed him, “Yes, but if you die here, you don’t get any more lives! You’re just gone forever!”

Damon became pleased at the juveniles’ worried visages, so I added, “Don’t sweat it! He’s a moron, and you can definitely outsmart him!”

My snide comment made his mirth sour, so I snickered. Damon ignored my merriment and dramatically revealed, “Your mission today: collect three feathers…”

“Done! Easy!” George espied a nearby chicken and began chasing it around the plaza. 

“I’m not done yet!” Damon snapped. “I didn’t mean any old feathers! You must get the feathers of the Gilded Pheasant! It’s not a bird you’ll find hanging around the village, so good luck finding it!”

George chimed, “Thanks! This dude is so nice!”

Damon almost corrected him, but instead, he chose to emit an exasperated exhale and fold his arms as he disappeared. 

“I got here as soon as I could!” A man in a robe and a bird-like mask arrived on the scene and set his bag down as he visually scanned over our group. “What seems to be the problem?”

“We’re fine! We…” I mulled it over for a second, and I realized he actually could provide us with some assistance. “Well, physically, we’re alright. But, we could use some advice… Can you tell us where the Gilded Pheasant is located? Please say it’s walking distance!”

The physician, who had begun digging into the trinkets he brought, dropped a wooden hammer in shock at my enquiry. “It is guarded in the Driscoll Cave centered in the Belician Forest, which is due north of our hamlet. But surely, you did not forget this! After the horror that has emerged from those woods, you could not have let that slip past your memory!”

Kendra pretended to recall, “Oh, that cave! Of course! Well, we best be off!”

With eyes bulging wide enough to see through his mask, the physician articulated, “Please, do not tell me you intend to seek it out!”

Aleck affirmed, “Okay, we won’t tell you…”

“Oh my!” The physician shook his head in dismay. “Wait here! I shall retrieve a priest to expel whatever demon that’s afflicting you!”

“Sounds great!” Aleck planted on a fake grin. As soon as he was out of sight, Aleck advised the boys, “Let’s get out of here!”

George catechized, “Hold on! What about the priest? Wouldn’t his blessing be beneficial to us?”

The boy who didn’t want to play volleyball posed to him, “If that’s what the doctors wore, do you really wanna see what the priests wear?”

“Huey’s right! Let’s go!” George stated with a harried expression on his face.

“I said that!” Aleck objected.

Ginger verbalized, “Who cares? Let’s go!” We all sprinted in the northern direction before it was too late.

After a while, we got tired and switched to a slower gait. If we weren’t in mortal danger, I would’ve savored the scenery quite a bit. The architecture of the structures in this neighborhood was quaint, and the games that the children played in the street were rather inventive. The bread displayed in the bakery window looked delicious too! I assumed everyone was relishing our surroundings until Ellie complained, “Ugh! That’s not historically accurate!” We all stared at her in confusion, so she illuminated us, “The addresses on the buildings! No one attempted to number any houses until fifteen-twelve!”

“Do you really want this place to be a hundred percent accurate?” Ginger challenged her. “They used to burn women as witches for knowing how to read!”

“We’re not in the exact era that occurred on Earth,” Osra filled Ellie in. “A lot of the traditions stayed intact, but not everything is a replica.”

Phoebe puzzled, “So, this universe had a modern postal system but not modern plumbing?”

Prior to anyone providing a reaction to that, we reached a vast expanse of trees behind a wooden sign that read: “Belician Forest. No trespassing! Surviving violators shall be prosecuted!”

“That’s new!” Eamon observed. “I used to do trade all over this land, and on the many occasions I traveled through these woods, I never once saw anything that warranted a cautionary message like that!”

“You probably never saw monsters lurking in the shadows either!” I shot back. “But, if you did, could you describe them? Please? That’d be great!”

Jimmy griped, “We gotta fight monsters?”

Kamali conveyed to him, “We gotta find the Gilded Pheasant or the Rainbow Tektite, and I doubt either of those would be free of perilous creatures guarding them!”

“It’s either that or go through a strange ritual with the bird man’s priest!” Kendra kidded. One boy made a bid for the village plaza, so she grabbed him preceding him from getting too far. “Woah! I wasn’t serious! If you want to see your precious video games again, we must do this!” And, with that, we set foot onto the murky path.

The Terra-Belle Ancestors, Chapter 10

“Is this the Rainbow Tektite?” I queried as I held the kaleidoscope-like rock in the air. One of the snakes lunged at it as if it was trying to grab it with its mouth, so I deduced, “It must be if they want it! How do I make it take us home?”

“You gotta talk to it!’ Kalmali informed me as he fended off a couple of serpents. “Make a request to return to the Earthly Realm.”

I felt pretty silly speaking to a hunk of mineral like that, but I had no choice but to risk looking stupid at this juncture! We were losing this battle to get Queen Reanestec’s spoon for that dastardly dolt, and if we could avoid seeing Damon again for a while, all the more better! I put it close to my lips as if it were a microphone, and I requested, “Take us back to the Earthly Realm!”

Nothing occurred! For an instant, my heart broke into pieces thinking that I may get stuck in Ancient Egypt trying to defeat a monster that showed no interest in leaving us alone, and I almost started to search the treasure room for our dumb Quest Master’s moronic demand, but then Kendra advised me, “Use your manners!”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” I grouched. I held the Rainbow Tektite up to my lips yet again, and I cordially beseeched it, “Take us to the Earthly Realm… please!” We didn’t have to wait long for the swirling vortex to appear! It swallowed all of the humans present into its whirl, and, once more, I expected to float around in a strange void for a significant stint, but before I knew it…

“What the hell happened to you three?” Sam the hall monitor ogled at us in perplexion. 

At first, I thought his arithmetic was off, but as I surveyed the hallway of Rosemary King High, I realized that my ancestors had vanished. I could only assume they were safe wherever they disappeared to, and I strove to shift my focus to the situation at hand, but I couldn’t fathom a response that would make our haggard appearance seem reasonable. Thankfully, Peter’s cluelessness (admittedly justified right then!) came in handy for a change! “I have no idea! Why do I feel so winded? Am I late for class?” The bell rang, and as his peers streamed out of their classes, Peter became even more mystified. “Wait, I’m early? Then why…?”

Aniela gazed at me for an explanation, and I threw my hands up as though I couldn’t recall a thing. A twinge of guilt surged through me for lying to her, but I was also fairly positive that the truth would’ve been more disturbing than this slight deception! Sam’s eyes focused between the three of us in an investigative manner, and when he could discern no rationale for our odd circumstances, he exasperatedly exhaled and trudged away. I was grateful that I dodged his scrutiny, but I couldn’t relax quite yet…

“Oh, Connor! There you are!” Mrithan jovially ambled over to me, and then he reported, “I went to your room to deliver another form about your wedding, and when you didn’t show up, I kinda figured you got lost into the nothingness, so I stayed and listened to the presentations. Everyone did so wonderful that I gave them all A’s!”

“Great!” I privately doubted that all my students had merited high marks, but I couldn’t take away something they were promised, so I begrudgingly accepted this development. “So, where’s the paper?”

Mrithan pat himself down in search of that sheet. “What did I do with that? Did I leave it on your desk? Oh, Manuel is gonna get mad! Well, don’t let me make you tardy!”

I began sprinting towards the classroom when something clicked in my brain- someone was slipping children Rainbow Tektite dust in consumable goods, and my prime suspect was right in front of me! Keyword: was! I circled back, and even though I was out of breath, I pressed him, “Hold on! …Is… there… something… different… about… your… coffee?”

“Well, there is something…” Mrithan seemed alarmed by this conversation initially, and I imagine it may have stemmed from my wheezing. Now that it appeared he was willing to fess up, I inferred that he grew nervous about what he intended to reveal. My own nerves flooded with the excitement of putting this misadventure to rest at the beginning of it, and then Mrithan leaned in and whispered, “It’s actually decaf! Don’t tell anyone!”

“Oh!” As the campus emptied again, I stood there feeling like a deflated balloon. He didn’t show any hints of dishonesty, so either he rapidly became adept at concealment or I took a total misstep with this direction! As I slumped back to my room, I pondered what my next move ought to entail.

In Phoebe’s classroom, I sat with Aleck, Fletcher, Ginger, and Ellie as Phoebe held a discussion with a small group of teens at the opposite end. Slightly miffed, Phoebe explained, “No, Dennis! We can’t have live birds at the prom! Even if we had the budget for that, it’d be impractical Do you know how hard it is to get birds out of the gym?”

Dennis objected, “But it’d be such a cool photo op!”

The other four were becoming restless in anticipation of the news I was set to deliver, and I grew anxious to tell them. What was occurring with the Rainbow Tektites was far more intense than any of us previously pictured, and I sincerely hoped to receive some insight from any of them that would guide us to a path that would get us out of this mess faster. Yes, I realized that was a long shot, but hey, it was at least vaguely possible that my experience could have provided the key to solving this puzzle! To dissipate some of my fidgety energy, I pulled out the Netherworld key and twirled that spoon around with my fingers. After a minute or so, I mused, “Out of all the stuff he could’ve used to unlock that door, including an actual key, why did he pick an eating utensil?”

“Maybe Damon was hungry when they were coming up with the design,” Aleck thoughtfully articulated.

“Wasn’t he a vampire when the door was made?” I brought up.

Aleck argued, “They could use a spoon to feed themselves! Imagine if their prey was already bleeding out- they could grab the silverware, and…” Aleck became aware that the youths’ attention tuned into the conversation at that point, so he fibbed, “We’re discussing animal behavior. Specifically, cercoithecidae since they’re primates with the capability to-.”

Phoebe interrupted him by addressing the athletic male in the front row, “No, we’re not doing a drum circle, George! No one would hear it above the music!”

“Drum circle?” Fletcher’s brows furrowed. “What in tarnation is the theme of this dance?”

“Uh.. it’s Woodstock,” Phoebe sheepishly relayed to Fletcher.

Fletcher’s eyes widened upon that revelation. “Oh, no! No, no, no! I’m not chaperoning no damn hippie fest! You have to change that immediately!”

George proposed, “What about ‘An Enchanted Evening?’”

“We did a magic theme last semester,” Phoebe apprised George.

“Yeah, but I liked it!” George contended.

Imelda popped her head in and stated, “I couldn’t help but overhear…”

Phoebe muttered, “I bet you could’ve tried!”

“What about a theme that teaches everyone about upright behavior?” Imelda continued as if she didn’t catch Phoebe’s slight. “Imagine if everyone dressed appropriately, used polite language, and maintained a healthy distance from one another!”

“That sounds boring!” Dennis expressed with frankness.

Imelda was not deterred by this slur. “You haven’t seen the refreshments yet!” She held out a tray of red circles that were centered around a bowl with a mushy, white substance in it. “It’s a nutritious substitute for nachos! You see, you take these radishes and pour on this dip made of Greek yogurt, tahini, and-!”

Fletcher griped, “Bleck! I’d rather do the hippie fest!”

His insult caused Imelda to glare at him, but prior to a battle of words commencing, Phoebe let Imelda know, “Listen, it’s too late to change the theme now, but feel free to suggest that for our Homecoming!” Once Imelda left, Phoebe espied the juveniles’ worried visages and assured them, “Don’t freak out! I said she could suggest it, I didn’t say we’d do it!” She then glanced at the clock and decreed, “We’ll pick it up from here on Friday. We gotta start ordering supplies, so please, no more expensive ideas!”

“Define expensive!” George demanded. Phoebe gave him a reproachful look, so he slinked out of the room.

“Seriously though- why Woodstock?” Fletcher catechized. “Is that dumb trend coming back or something?”

Phoebe responded to him, “Oh, who cares? I wanna hear what Connor went through today! It must’ve been crazy for him to not put it in a text!”

Everyone gave me rapt attention, and I took a deep breath as I dramatically narrated, “On the way back to my class after lunch, I saw…” My cell phone rang, so I declined the call and went on, “…by the water fountain, I saw…” It rang again, so I peeked at the screen. When I saw the source of the persistent communication, I groaned, “It’s my mom! I gotta take this!” The other five protested, so I had to insist, “I already made her mad! It’ll get worse if I don’t!” Much to their chagrin, I answered it, “Hello?”

“Oh, you’re ignoring my calls now?” my mother accosted me.

“No, Mom! It was an accident!” I lied.

She didn’t quite seem like she believed me, but for whatever reason, she decided not to press the issue. “Whatever! Guess what? I’m about to make your life a whole lot easier!”

Given the subject we were just on, I automatically assumed she obtained some sort of intelligence that would help us in toppling that supernatural pain in the neck’s scheme, so my interest piqued by her assertion. It did perturb me a bit that she found out about our paranormal problem, and I garnered a ton of questions on how she did so, but I tabled that notion to ready myself for what she planned to disclose. “Oh, that’s awesome! What did you find?”

I envisioned all sorts of messages that she might have delivered to me, but what I didn’t predict was… “I found you a wedding planner!”

“Oh!” Her announcement felt super anticlimactic to me. With the apocalyptic nature of our current conundrum, I could hardly care about issues related to our upcoming nuptials! I instantly regretted not adhering to my buddies’ advice and dearly wished I could hang up on her!

“What do you mean, oh?” my mother challenged me. “I’m doing you a huge favor here, and… Ah! I forgot to mention that the expenses are taken care of! Your dad and I agreed to pay the bill!”

Somehow, I doubted that my father had much of a say-so in the matter, but I refrained from bringing that up. “Yup! That’s what I was disturbed about!”

My mom affirmed, “Perfect! I’ll set up a meeting between you, him, and Phoebe! Oh, and he needs to know who your Maid of Honor is.”

We swiveled to view both Ellie and Ginger, and they both stared at each other probingly. Ellie eventually proclaimed, “It should be me! I’m her oldest friend!”

“Maybe physically!” Ginger retorted. “I’ve definitely known her longer! Plus, you’re married- I’m the only one who’s still a maid!”

“Please!” Ellie scoffed at that argument. “You and Brielle have lived together long enough that you technically have a common-law marriage!” Ginger opened her mouth to bicker with that, but she closed it when she recognized that her allegation had some merit.

I told my mother, “I’ll get back to you on that!”

My mom chirped, “Yes, do that as soon as possible! And I’ll send you the details of your meeting after I arrange it.”

“Cool! Well, I better get back to my current meeting! Bye!” After she bade me farewell, I complained, “I don’t know why that couldn’t have been a text!”

“Who cares?” Phoebe repeated that phrase. “Tell us what happened before something else bugs us!”

I broadcasted the Ancient Egyptian story to them, and their stunned silence spoke volumes! It became evident that none of us possessed an ounce of insight on how to move forward from there…