“It’s good to see you again,” Ceciliate told her returning visitors. “You probably figured as much, but Lady Piñole Alsike has left for the orange land. She has taken Lady Arle Alsike with her, as well as my brother, Burr, and our slave, Alfalfa.” She offered tea and cookies to Sarah and Samuel, something to give them a little strength before leaving for the orange continent.
After their break, Ceciliate lead the two to the edge of Aureum, and the start of the orange continent. “On this continent, you’ll find paths to the orange planet. This planet is not inhabited by human life, so dreams might not be what you expect of them.”
Crossing over the orange lands, Sarah and Samuel traveled until Aureum was no longer in sight. They chose this time to transform, becoming Clover and Shamrock.
“There are hardly any dreams here,” Clover said, looking around at a few distant white glows in the distance. “Can we really find the orange jewel with so few dreams to look in?”
“It’ll be all right,” Shamrock said. “If we can’t find it, then they probably can’t find it. Either way, once the orange jewel is found, we’ll give them the violet jewel. It’ll show that we’re not their enemy.”
“Right! Arle is our friend, so maybe Piñole can be our friend, too. She just thinks we’re going to do bad things. Even Alfalfa was nice to us and led us home before. I bet even Bernard will become our friend after this.”
While the two talked, the glowing light of a dream moved in the distance, engulfing other dreams in its path, and growing in size. By the time to two noticed, it was too late; the dream swallowed Clover and Shamrock, and continued its random path across the land.
In a white light, the world around Clover and Shamrock faded into view. A jungle thick with trees surrounded the two. The ground had barely any standing room, overgrown with tall grass, spread out bushes, and think vines hanging from the canopy above. Looking up, the kids couldn’t see through the thick of the trees far overhead.
“I feel a pulse,” Clover said, putting a hand to her brooch.
Shamrock touched his earring’s jewel. “You’re right. There are two of them, faint pulses. They have to be Piñole’s and Arle’s jewels. For some reason, they’re not using them.”
“Maybe they’re in trouble,” Clover suggested. “We should go and help them. …just in case.”
“It’ll be dangerous to show up before them if they think we’re competition for the orange jewel,” Shamrock warned, “but if they need our help, we should help them. Maybe it’ll show them that we’re all on the same side.”
A thunderous boom filled the air, and the ground shook. One of the wider trunks near Clover started to move, and lifted into the ground, showing itself to not be a tree at all. The item, a giant leg, stepped forward, revealing a large body above. Clover and Shamrock stood in place, unable to move due to shock at seeing the creature before them. The creature stretched out its long neck, and the mouth at the end of its small head bit into leaves out of view.
“If that’s what I think it is,” Shamrock said, looking up, “then I must be dreaming.”
“We’re both dreaming,” Clover replied, still looking up as well. “What’s a brachiosaur doing here?”
The ground continued to shake, accompanied by the sounds of the great lizard taking one step after another.
“Whatever made the dinosaurs all die on Earth never happened here,” Shamrock said. “This is an amazing discovery!” Another boom, and the ground shook again. “But, it might also be very dangerous. We didn’t wake up very well when we were on the violet continent. What happens if we die here?”
Clover moved next to Shamrock, and held on to his arm. “Let’s stay close together. I don’t want to get lost.”
“It’ll be all right,” Shamrock assured her. “We can find each other with our jewels. Besides, you’re a magical girl. You don’t have anything to fear.”
“Not even dinosaurs bigger than a building?” Clover asked. “We can’t use that much magic, can we?”
“We’ll think of something when we need to. First, let’s focus on finding the others. I’m really getting worried about them now.”
Elsewhere in the jungle, Piñole team of four walked quietly through the tall grass, around thorny bushes, and under low-hanging vines.
“Can’t you just clear a path with your jewel?” Bernard asked as he signaled Alfalfa to hold thorny bushes off to the side, allowing the group to safely pass by them. “Life would be so much easier if you would.”
Piñole stopped walking. She took the red and yellow jewels from her pocket. She gave them a look over, paying extra attention to the yellow jewel.
“Is something wrong?” Arle asked.
“It’s nothing,” Piñole replied. “I just wonder what those magical kids were doing with it. Here, take it.” Piñole handed the yellow jewel to he younger sister. The two transformed into Crimson and Melilot.
On the other side of a few more thorny bushes, the group found themselves standing in front of a bubbling tar pit. A three-horned creature had fallen in, and it struggled to get out.
“We have to help it,” Melilot exclaimed.
“I’m not wasting my jewel’s power on an overgrown lizard,” Crimson said back.
“As princesses of Aureum, isn’t it our duty to watch over dreams and protect them?”
“We don’t even know if this is a dream,” Bernard pointed out. “We might really be on the orange planet right now.”
“Does it matter?” Melilot asked. “Let’s do what we can to save it, before it’s too late. The poor thing’s sinking in deeper!”
Crimson gave in. She and Melilot combined their magic, and the creature lifted from the tar pit. It moved through the air, away from the tar pit, and was set gentle on its feet. The creature collapsed.
“I don’t think it’s alive anymore,” Alfalfa said to Bernard. “That tar looks pretty hot. There’s steam coming up from it and everything.”
A smaller lizard, a couple of feet tall, took a flying leap through the air. It landed on the larger dinosaur’s body, and started tearing through the creature’s skin with its teeth. A few more of the small, upright-walking carnivores jumped down to join in on the meal. Seeing this, Melilot turned away, covering her eyes with her hands. Crimson pulled her sister close to her, embracing her in her arms.
“Let’s just hope it’s a flavor they like,” Bernard said.
“Bernard, please,” Crimson scolded, holding her crying sister. “Don’t talk like that.”
“I’m just being realistic here. If those things don’t like the taste of that three-horned lizard, they might come after us. They’re small, but look at those teeth. Look at the large claw on each foot. These little guys are tearing right through the bigger one. If it’s still alive, even just a little bit, it doesn’t stand a chance. And consider this: these little ones didn’t come out to feast until after you two removed the big one from the tar. They’re not stupid. They knew not to get caught up in that stuff. I’m leaving before they tire of that stuff and look for something softer to chew on. Come on, Alfalfa. We’re out of here.” Bernard walked through grass and bushes, away past trees. Alfalfa followed close behind.
“We should go,” Crimson said to Melilot. “Keep looking over this way.”
Deeper into the forest, Crimson guided Melilot along the same path as Bernard and Alfalfa took. Not far behind, Shamrock and Clover tracked the pulses of the princesses active jewels. They soon found themselves at the tar pit.
“It’s a triceratops,” Clover said, looking at the lone creature lying on its side, its side torn at. She looked at Shamrock. “What do you think happened to it?”
“Something small,” Shamrock said, kneeling beside the creature and looking at its wounds. “Four, maybe five of them. Look at these marks down here.”
“Claws on their feet?” Clover asked.
“It has to be some kind of raptor.”
As it responding to Shamrock’s words, a small raptor raised its head from behind one of the larger dinosaur’s back legs. Two more peaked up, followed by another two. The first leaned forward, pushing its feet back, bracing its legs.
“It’s a chicken,” Shamrock said. He reached up and touched his earring’s jewel.
The raptor pushed back with its legs. It took a leap into the air, aiming for Shamrock. A blue flash of light engulfed the airborne raptor, and it came out of the light as a white-feathered rooster. The bird hit Shamrock’s arm, the impact knocking it back. The other four raptors surrounded the rooster, looking it over.
“They’re not thinking of eating their own friend, are they?” Clover asked. She placed a hand on her brooch, and waved her other arm at the raptors. “Chickens, they’re all chickens.” In four green sparkles, the raptors joined the first, as white-feathered roosters.
“The pulse is still moving,” Shamrock said. “Hopefully these chickens don’t have any friends watching from a distance. We should go quickly. If the others face a large carnivore, they may need as much magic as they can get.”
At that time, Melilot needed to sit down. Crimson called out for Bernard to come back. She she leaned her sister against a large tree. Crimson looked around, seeing no one else beside her and her sister. She called out to Bernard again. “Wait here and rest,” she told Melilot. “I’ll go get Bernard and his slave. We’ll be right back.” Crimson hurried into the thick of trees.
Melilot slid to the ground, sitting against the tree truck. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She repeated this a few more times, until she started to feel dizzy. Hearing another breath nearby, Melilot looked around. Her eyes stopped on a creature about ten feet away.
The creature stood about five feet tall, upright. Its tail hovered over the ground, slowly sweeping to the side. The creature breathed heavily. Claws extended from its fingers. As it opened its mouth a little, sunlight shining down through openings in the leaves of the trees reflected off the creature’s sharp, yellow teeth.
Melilot tried to gulp, but found herself unable to. She tried to move, but her body had become paralyzed with fear. The creature looked directly at her, and she felt its eyes staring right through her.
Moving its leg, lifting it into the air, and setting it back down, the creature took a step closer to Melilot. It took another step, then another. Melilot tried to move, but still remained paralyzed, and the creature moved in a few feet, and then a few more, until it stood right beside her. The creature sniffed at Melilot, pushing its nose against her arm and shoulder, then pressing its cheek against hers. He let out a breath in her face, causing Melilot to cough, and turn away at the smell of raw flesh. Seeing a moment, the creature lifted upright, tilting its head back, and it let out a cry. A howling noise echoed from the creatures throat, then a similar, louder howling noise returned.
“Don’t move!” Shamrock called out, running into the area where Melilot pressed herself against the tree, now shaking in fear. “It may be a baby, but it’s still dangerous.”
“Is it really a baby?” Melilot cried out.
“I think it’s an allosaur,” Clover said. “They get bigger than this.”
“And louder,” Shamrock added. “There’re two big ones heading this way.”
At the time, two adult allosaurs looked around trees at the group.
“I don’t want to die,” Melilot said, crying. “I don’t want to be eaten.”
“We’ll protect you,” Shamrock said. He touched his earring. “First, we’ll muzzle Junior here.” A muzzle flashed over the child’s mouth, tightly restricting it. The creature reacted by clawing at the muzzle with its paws.
“You shouldn’t let your nails grow out so long,” Clover told the dinosaur. She touched her brooch. In a green flash per finger, the creature’s claw clipped short. The allosaur swiped at the muzzle, but its clipped claws had no effect.
Clover hurried over to Melilot. She helped her to her feet, but Melilot’s legs didn’t want to cooperate. They left like heavy weights trying to pull her down. Shamrock joined Clover in helping Melilot stand. The two held Melilot up, the three able onto to watch as the parent allosaurs stepped up beside their child.
“What should we do?” Clover asked frantically. “I want to stop them, but I don’t want to use up too much magic. If we both use all our magic and vanish, then what will happen to Melilot?”
“There’s no need to use all our magic,” Shamrock replied. “We just need to use our magic smarter.” He touched his jewel. “Shackling them together by the ankle should help.”
Shackles flashed over the ankles of the two larger allosaurs. The two dinosaurs noticed this, and pulled their legs apart, breaking the link between the shackles with no effort.
“They’re too strong,” Shamrock admitted, gritting his teeth after. “We’ll have to get out of here somehow.”
The allosaurs took a few steps toward the kids.
“Where can we go?” Clover asked. “They’ll follow us, and they might even know the jungle better than we do.”
Melilot’s head dropped down, her whole body becoming limp. Clover and Shamrock noticed, and lifted her upright. Melilot’s arms lifted, and her hands gently pushed against the two, notifying them to let her go. The two set her down as the allosaurs stepped right beside them.
Drops of drool dripped onto one of Clover’s shoes. “Oh, yucky,” she said. “These things can drool, too? Let’s see if we can’t muzzle Mom and Pop.” She reached for brooch, but Melilot set a hand on Clover’s, softly lowering it to the side.
“I’ll handle this one,” Melilot said. She kneeled down, touching her anklet’s yellow jewel. Rather than yellow, a mix of yellow and black light sparked off the tiny jewel piece. The dark light became a cloud, a mist surrounding the three creatures. When the darkness faded back into light, the allosaurs had vanished. Melilot wavered from side to side, trying to stay standing.
“They’re heading this way,” Crimson said, returning from her search. She looked to see Clover and Shamrock standing on either side of Melilot. Melilot fell over, caught by the two on either side of her.
“What’s going on here?” Crimson asked. “What did you just do to my sister? Answer me!”
“We didn’t do anything!” Clover exclaimed. “But, there was something that happened, and then now Arle is like this.”
Bernard and Alfalfa joined the group.
Crimson touched her tiara. “Hand Melilot over to me, or I’ll take her by force.”
“Okay, okay,” Shamrock said. “Just don’t do anything rash.” He lifted Melilot into his arms. He took her over to Crimson, and Bernard and Alfalfa helped her stand.
“Leave us,” Crimson commanded the magical two. “To stay shows a desire to overpower the Alsike kingdom, and a method intended to hard the younger princess of the Alsike family.”
“Let’s go,” Shamrock said to Clover.
“But…”
“There’s nothing we can do right now except for leave or make things worse. Melilot doesn’t need that right now. Arle doesn’t need it. Let’s return to Aureum, for now, and we’ll head home.” The two touched their jewel, and they vanished.
“Take this,” Crimson said, handing her tiara to Bernard. A flash of light returned Crimson to herself as Piñole, causing the tiara to return to a single red jewel. “Use it to send me and Arle home, then use it to find and retrieve the orange jewel. Once you have it, bring both jewels directly to me.”
“So you’re just leaving us here?” Bernard asked, annoyed at Piñole leaving him and Alfalfa to do all the work again.
“Please, Bernard, I have to take her to see a doctor.” She removed the anklet from Melilot’s leg. “Those magical kids did something to this jewel. They made it dangerous.” She handed it out to Alfalfa. “Your slave can hold on to it. Just make sure he doesn’t try to use it, or chances are the jewel will make sure he’s sorry.”
“Take it,” Bernard instructed. Alfalfa held out an open hand. Piñole dropped the anklet with the yellow jewel onto his palm. “All right, I’m sending you two straight to the royal physician’s office.” The jewel glowed red, and it became a necklace around Bernard’s neck. His hair, eyes, and clothes turned red in a flash of red light. “Take good care of her,” Bernard said. He lifted the jewel at the end of the necklace. A light flashed from it, and Piñole and Melilot vanished. The anklet in Alfalfa’s hand transformed back into a round, yellow jewel.
“Careful with that jewel, Alfalfa. I’ve filled it with enough dark energy to keep its user in the physician’s bed for a week after using a powerful spell. Come on, let’s go find that orange jewel.”
“Shall I refer to you as ‘Crimson’, Master?”
“‘Bernard’ will be fine. Once I get that orange jewel, I’ll be certain to make a name for myself. I don’t need someone else’s name.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to find the orange jewel?”
“Yes. This isn’t a dream, we’ve actually ended up on the planet. There’s no human technology to interfere with the pulse of the jewel. I can feel it already, although it’s very far away. But it’s there. Even with the pulse of the yellow jewel, I can feel another. We’ll have that jewel within a day’s search. In the meantime, we need to stay alive. These are horrific creatures all around in this forest. One wrong move, and our lives will end. I’ll do whatever I can with this magic I hold to keep the creatures at bay.”
“Will you really keep the orange jewel for yourself?” Alfalfa asked.
“After everything that girl has put us through, I’m taking the orange jewel, and I’m keeping the red jewel. I’ll have the yellow jewel once it’s safe again. Then I’m going to relieve those green landers of their three jewels. After putting us through this, all of them, they will pay. This is for both my family and yours.”
