Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Inkheart/Inkspell characters.
A/N: Enjoy! Hope you like it!
Chapter 10
Watching Meggie, Farid, and their staff fly into the sun, the companions left on the boat felt their hope of finishing Capricorn off leave too.
"Now look what you've done Dustfinger!" Mo said accusingly. "Now how are we supposed to escape Capricorn!"
"Hey, I didn't say the plan was foolproof, I only said we should try it!" Dustfinger retorted defensively.
"He has a point Mo," Resa said. "Plus, it's not like we were about to think of anything better than his plan."
Mo calmed down with a sigh, giving in to the truth. He dropped down onto the deck, then said:
"Well, you might be back and intact, but now Meggie's gone again!"
"Are you forgetting that Farid's gone too? After all, he may as well be partly my son!" Dustfinger replied, still offended.
Roxane gave Dustfinger an offended look, then stated:
"Look, we're in a bad situation, and I guess it can't get worse, but—"
"Guess again Roxane," Resa moaned, then pointed to the sky.
Fearing what they might see, but too curious to refrain from looking, the rest looked at the sky. In the distance, they were able to see a large, flaming red sphere coming towards them, and gaining speed by the second.
"What should we do?" Roxane asked worriedly.
"I bet it was sent by Capricorn or Calamita," Mo said.
"Well, whichever one sent it, I don't think they made a greeting message!" Dustfinger said.
"What should we do?" Resa asked.
As soon as she had asked, Roxane looked around, as if in search of something in the water that surrounded them on all sides. After a moment or two, her eyes hooked on a piece of seaweed sticking just above the water, triggering a distant memory, and giving her the perfect idea.
"This is great! Everyone, jump overboard, we're getting out of here!" Roxane exclaimed, diving into the water.
When she saw that no one had any intention of getting in, she said,
"Got any better ideas?"
Resa sighed, and reluctantly jumped in with Mo and Dustfinger in tow. Roxane beckoned them to follow, and dove underwater. Once underneath the surface, they noticed why Roxane had gone into the water. On the ocean floor, there was a pond within the ocean, the water in the pond looking separated from the rest of the ocean water. Added to that, it was an exact replica of the pond of the water nymph they had jumped into to get to Silver Secret.
With more confidence, they followed Roxane deeper into the ocean, and once they had reached the pond, they heard a swishing of air— signaling the arrival of the red sphere. With more urgency, they swam to the edge of the pond, and though it was a little more difficult, they all said one by one in bubbles, "I seek the land of Silver Secret".
Being the last one, once he was in, Dustfinger heard a loud swish and crash, obviously coming from the red sphere. With a smile, he thought, The red sphere is now destroyed, and we escaped it simply! Then, to his great relief, he felt himself free-falling through air, and landing on solid ground.
With a bigger smile, he shared the news with the others.
"You know, I thought this would be a little more exciting," Meggie said with a bored sigh.
"Me too," Farid replied.
They were still flying through the air, the flame they were covered in still going full speed. They were a little sad about how Dustfinger's plan hadn't really worked, and their excitement and worries of flying through the air covered in flames had long since gone. The ride was actually becoming quite an annoyance.
"Where do you think we're going to land?" Meggie asked.
"I dunno, but my legs are starting to ache from standing. I'm going to sit," Farid replied.
"But what would happen if the flames let you go once you sat?"
"Well, first things first, that's a trick question. It would be a relief to get off this ride, but it wouldn't be a relief to leave you here, and whichever version of events I choose, my legs are still going to ache, so I'll risk sitting down," Farid responded.
Meggie smiled at Farid, and watched with a beating heart as he sat down in the flames. To his and her relief, the flames kept him in, giving a solid ground to sit on. Seeing as it was safe, Meggie sat at his side with a relieved sigh.
"What are we going to do when we land, Farid?"
"I don't know, Meggie. But it looks like we still have a while to go," Farid replied, looking down toward the blue mass that was beneath them.
Meggie sighed again, and rested her head on Farid's shoulder, feeling safe in his strong embrace. When he kissed her forehead, she felt warm inside— warmer than she thought was safe being inside flames.
Smiling, she said:
"I can't remember the last time we've had alone time."
"Yes, but now that we do, we shouldn't let it go to waste," Farid smirked, then kissed Meggie again.
As if given its cue, the moment Farid's lips touched Meggie, the flames let them go, sending them free falling through the air, giving them another moment of panic.
Then, sooner than they had anticipated, they landed on a wooden ground, winded.
Added to that, the wood gave off a strange odor that filled their noses, then, eventually, filled their heads with a strange buzzing noise.
After sharing a confused glance, both Meggie and Farid fell into a deep sleep, the sound of their snores drifting on the wind.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well what's supposed to happen now?"
"We'll find out soon..."
"Well what do you mean by 'we'll find out soon'?"
"Well... I don't know, ok?"
Capricorn, Calamita, Mortola, and their crew were still waiting for some sign showing whether or not Calamita's spell had worked. It had been a few hours already, and to make matters worse, the sun was setting, and no one had any idea as to what type of... things... came out looking for certain prey at night. Along with that, everyone's temper and impatience was returning since there were no results.
Then, to their surprise, Calamita gasped:
"There it is! There it is! I told you that it would work! Look over there! My creation is returning! IN YOUR FACE! I told you it would work! HAHA!"
As they looked in the direction that Calamita was pointing, they noticed that she wasn't just hallucinating, she was telling the truth: a very small red globe was headed towards them.
When the miniature red globe was within Calamita's arm length, it waited patiently for her to reach her arms out for it. Once her hands were safely underneath it, it dropped into them, and became lifeless.
After an inquiring look from Calamita, it became full of life again, looking like a computer being turned on. Then, with a robotic voice, it stated simply:
"I was unsuccessful in destroying the enemy."
"You were what?" Calamita asked in both an angry and nervous tone.
"I repeat: I was unsuccessful in destroying the enemy."
"I thought you said this... thing... would work!" Mortola exclaimed.
"It should have! And it shouldn't have returned this way unless those bookworms were dead!" Calamita said, her eyes brimming with tears.
Much to everyone's annoyance, Calamita started crying like a baby who's toy had been taken away.
"There, there Calamita. It's not like we won't get them sooner or later!" Capricorn said in a harsh tone, showing no sign of affection.
Calamita kept blubbering.
"Calamita..."
More tears...
"Calamita!"
Still more tears...
"Calamita if you don't stop that annoying blubbering this instant, you'll be the one who'll have to look out for flying globes!" Capricorn threatened.
Reluctantly, she stopped most of her tears, then sniffled:
"I know where they are..."
"What! Then what was all the spilled tears about?" Mortola exclaimed.
"I've never messed up a spell before..."
"Well, that doesn't matter! Where are the bookworms?" Capricorn questioned.
"Silver Secret..." Calamita sniffled.
"Excellent! Now whip something up so that we could get there quickly, before they leave!" Capricorn ordered.
"Fine! Just ignore my sadness, and put me to work!" Calamita replied with an offended tone, then started another spell.
With Calamita to work, Capricorn said with an evil grin:
"We're back on their trail!"
(Ball tells them it is unsuccessful, Calamita cries like the baby she is
go to Meggie and Farid, hot air balloon they are in hears them talk about how safe they are from Capricorn, misunderstands them and bring them to Capricorn, Capricorn captures them.
Balloon is merchant's balloon which used to be the boat (when Calamita's red globe hit it, it gave it flames to turn into a hot air balloon and fly) merchant knows what happened to Meggie and Farid, the adults try to save meggie and Farid)