This is from chapter one, “Show and Tell”, from the second edition of Renni Browne and Dave King’s “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print”.

Now, first things first, one should be an editor while writing, so it’s probably best to finish that first draft before going into editing mode. I’ve barely started the third arc of “Dream Clover”. I want to look over some things I’ve written in the first two arc, and try editing those, and see what I can come up with.

A lot of my writing for “Dream Clover” has been dialogue with very little narrative. Less narrative than there should be, as a lot of dialogue lacks a backdrop, and the gestures of those speaking.

I’m looking at a paragraph line from day 11:

[Arle said,] “… I’ll explain how to use your jewels to get to Aureum. …”

…

“We should go soon,” Arle continued. “Time acts strangely for those who dream, but for the people of Aureum, it moves consistently. If we arrive soon, you can find a diner to wait in, and I can summon Cecilia. Now, ready your jewels, and follow my instructions.”

The two followed Arle’s words, as Arle explained scenery for the two to picture in their minds. By their imagination, the village around them faded out, and a wooden table and wooden chairs faded in.

“Quick, transform back,” Arle told the two. They did as she said, and changed back into Sarah and Samuel. Moments later, more tables and chairs appeared around the three, surrounded by the building walls of a diner, and people filled the room. The two neighbors quickly pocketed their jewels.

Arle signaled for a waiter. The waiter handed out three menus, then lit the candle at the table as the guests opened the menus. As Sarah and Samuel tried to decipher the foreign writing, Arle signaled for the waiting to lean his ear closer to her. She whispered a message to him. The waiter stood, nodded, bowed, and then headed out of the diner.

The emphasized portion is what could stand to be re-written. Everything is going fine, moving slowly, as the Arle talks with Clover and Shamrock about what’s going on in Aureum. She has them do something, and then BAM, they’re suddenly in Aureum. Things continue to move quickly through some narrative soon after that, and more narrative is spotted here and there following after.

But I’ll focus on this one paragraph.

Maybe something more like this:

“Traditionally, special mirrors were calibrated to focus reflections of places to travel to,” Arle explained. “With an absence of mirrors, you’ll have to imagine where you want to be.”

“How can we imagine it if we’ve never been there?” Clover asked.

“That does make things more difficult,” Arle agreed, “but I have a plan. Both of you, close your eyes, and picture the following. A diner. A small place, with about 20 round tables, four chairs each. The lights are dim, and each table has a candle on it, lit only if someone is dining there.

“There’s a bar, and a bartender. The bartender has a funny mustache, and no beard. When he’s not preparing a drink, he’s always wiping out an empty mug with a dirty cloth.” Arle held back a sign, and the two kept their eyes closed, but nothing changed around them. “There’s a piano in the corner, and an upbeat tune is being played. Waiters and waitresses both wear dark-colored outfits, trying to blend in and not be seen when they’re not at a table waiting on guests.

“An attendant boy brings in a delivery, bottles of various drinks. The bartender graciously accepts them. They came as a gift to his diner from a customer who’d appreciated the service there.” Arle sighed, quickly holding a hand to her mouth after. “Sorry. I just expected to be standing in the diner by now.”

His eyes still closed, Shamrock felt to his left for Clover’s hand. He took his hand in hers, causing Clover to open her eyes, and look at him. His eyes remained closed as he held out his right hand. “There’s no way Clover and I can see exactly the same thing, let alone what you’re recalling. Help us visualize.”

Following Shamrock’s lead, Clover held her left hand out. Arle lifted her arms up, placing her hands into a light grip among the two. The three of them closed their eyes.

“Concentrate,” Shamrock told her, his earring glowing.

“I can see it so clearly in my mind,” Arle said. The village surrounding the three filled the minds of the magical two, but the scenes Arle had described slowly seeped into their minds. Clover and Shamrock could see the bartender wiping that glass mug, and they could hear the music of the piano. The village houses faded out of view as the walls of the diner appeared. A wine rack took its place behind the bartender. A small stage for performance appeared to the left of the bar, with the piano on its right. Beside the piano, the next wall stretched until a door appeared, and the final wall gave a place for guests to check in their hats and coats.

A wooden table appeared behind Shamrock, then a few more further back. Chairs visualized, one right beside Clover. People faded into view. The three opened their eyes to find the diner around them, and people looking at them.

“Follow me,” Arle said, giving the two a tug before releasing their hands. She lead them thought a side door. “Quick, transform back. We’ll lay low here in the pre-kitchen for a while, then head back out there like nothing happened.” Following Arle’s instructions, the neighbors transformed back, and quickly pocketed their jewels.

“What about them?” Sarah asked, nodding toward a small number of people washing and peeling vegetables in the room, none of whom gave any reaction to the three.

“They’re just slaves. They won’t give us any problem.”

After waiting, the three finally left the pre-kitchen, and took seat at an unused table.

Arle signaled for a waiter. The waiter handed out three menus, then lit the candle at the table as the guests opened the menus. As Sarah and Samuel tried to decipher the foreign writing, Arle signaled for the waiting to lean his ear closer to her. She whispered a message to him. The waiter stood, nodded, bowed, and then headed out of the diner.

I extended this a little to cover transforming back, since I changed a scene a little related to this. The narrative sending the kids back outside is a last-minute rush job addition, as was the addition of the waiter lighting the candle at the table.

There’s still room for improvement all over the place, such as with: Arle apologized for her rudeness in leaving the two to work through unreadable menus. She recommended a few choices, then the two visitors gave her their orders. But, I think this is nice for a start.

It’s fine for Aureum to have a piano and other Earth-like things because Aureum is surrounded by continents containing dreams from other worlds. They may not use advanced technology, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been Aureumis who’ve taken ideas from dreamers and made them a reality in Aureum. I should find a way to noting this somehow, a way of using Earth technology and non-Earth technology. The mirror reference helps pull together the use of mirrors, something Shamrock and Clover have done in the first arc, and something they’ll come to see later on here in the second arc.

Oh yeah, and I’ve effectively turned a section of about 150 words of mostly narrative to over 650 of mostly showing! Now that’s some nice progress. It’s not about the word count, but transforming narrative into an actual scene by its very nature will increase the word count. You’re taking a summary of what happened and you’re bringing it to life as a scene of what’s happening.

Did I need to read an editing help book in order to do this? No. But having the book reminds me precisely of what to look for to improve, and how to go about improving it. I’m sure, however, that there will be things in “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” that’ll make me say, “Wow, I never considered that!”

I accidentally has the day 25 commentary mixed in with the novel files, putting a little more than 600 words into my total. Oops! Still, 55,291 is a lot for me to have written during November, and it exceeds the NaNoWriMo goal.

chris@MercuriusJr:~/Writing/Dream Clover/Days$ wc -w *.txt
3006 01.txt
1902 03am.txt
2576 03pm.txt
1619 04am.txt
1321 05am.txt
2404 05pm.txt
2336 06.txt
1123 07am.txt
1228 07pm.txt
1602 09am.txt
2109 09pm.txt
1505 10am.txt
1307 10pm.txt
1033 11am.txt
1331 11pm.txt
1985 12.txt
1216 13am.txt
2515 13pm.txt
3088 14.txt
3113 17.txt
1031 18am.txt
931 18pm.txt
1026 19am.txt
1748 19pm.txt
1242 20am.txt
1727 20pm.txt
779 21am.txt
2262 21pm.txt
1401 25am.txt
1446 25pm.txt
755 26am.txt
2624 28.txt
55291 total

Where to from here? I have some ideas for the final arc of the story, but first I should look back on what I’ve learned during November.

Starting in October, I came up with the basic idea for characters and story in about two hours. I’m certain I had all seven main characters defined at least a little by this point. The basic plot had been developed, although it would rapidly transform, staying true to its roots, but growing off of that, and reshaping itself into something stronger.

The plot really solidified during the snowflaking stage, and I also came to learn more about the characters at this time. Originally, Pinole was going to be strongly portrayed as the story’s villain, up until it’s revealed that Bernard was responsible for the poisoning of the yellow jewel, not Clover and Shamrock. This ended up played down in the written story, though. I also wanted more screen time for Alfalfa and how he viewed changes Bernard went through, from a snarky attendant to someone who would take revenge on the Alsike family for using the Medic family.

I didn’t finish the snowflaking, but I figured I was ready when November came around. I had three arcs planned out. Arc one would be based on dreams and the introduction and learning of magic with Clover and Shamrock. This didn’t work out as planned, however, as the dreams focused on dreams rather than learning magic. The second arc is what I’d really snowflaked, and I was able to get about a good two weeks of writing out of it. However, the use of magic all but went away. A later draft of the story would best address this by having magic learned in arc one dreams and used in arc two events. Finally, the third arc was a one-sentence concept, really. Something along the lines of, “Arle spends time on Earth.”

With a general idea as to what to do, arc one was written with nothing to hold it together. With a fairly thorough snowflaking, arc two was nicely filled out. With no idea what to do, arc three is ambiguous. I’m working together possible ideas, but there’s really no direction, no ending. It’s coming out as an “after-story”, and I do want to explore a bit with Bernard and Alfalfa, but because I put so little focus on the two in the story, it anything Alfalfa goes through will feel exaggerated. Of course, there’s always the second draft to increase Alfalfa’s role within the second arc.

Another thing which helped was the writing I did in October. Not a part of the NaNoWriMo writing, I worked out the history to “Dream Clover” in that month. What happened to the ruling family before the Alsike family took place in the palace? How did the jewels end up spread out across the different planets? Why were two jewels placed on Earth, and how did they come to be in Samuel’s possession? When there’s talk of Alfalfa’s great-great-great grandfather, I’ve traced Alfalfa’s family tree all the way back to the man.

The man’s name was Arvense, by the way. Arvense Lucerne. He was slave to one Hayden, and Hayden attendant to Willden Seamróg. Arvense and Hayden held a relationship much like that of Alfalfa and Bernard, but Hayden and Willden also held a relationship unlike any seen between the Medics and the Alsikes.

As for how Bernard treats Alfalfa, this is not a typical relationship between an attendant and his slave, nor was that of Hayden and Arvense. The friendship Bernard and Alfalfa share shows Bernard’s good side, no matter his attitude, and the way he tries to get the Alsike family to admit all their wrongs makes Bernard the hero of the story in his own right. At least, this is what I’ve aimed for with this character. I do feel this should be expanded upon in a later draft, and I could probably include more indication that the relationship between Bernard and Alfalfa is a forbidden one, where the attendant treats the slave as being on an equal level to himself.

What have I learned? Having the story planned out, plot, events, scenes, makes it crazy easy to write. Writer’s block is not being able to write the next words, sentences, paragraphs. Essentially, not knowing where the scene will go, or not knowing which scene should be next, and not being able to put it in any directiontion to move the story along. If the whole story is plotted out, there probably isn’t much room for writer’s block. Sure, there might be difficulty in getting a character from point A to point C when you realize there’s no way for point B to be plausible, but write it down as best you can. Later drafts can refine this.

Next for “Dream Clover” is to finish the final arc. I’m going to just go with the flow and see where it gets me. A second drafts for me would probably be to clean up little bits and pieces here, and make sure everything is readable. With a cleaned-up second draft, the next step would be to pull the story together. Link arc one and arc two together by magic learned in arc one and used in arc two. This could add whole new scenes and chapters which would need to go through the “second draft cleaning”, but I’d still put the initial clean-up before this. The reason for this is to take a little break from writing to see how clean-up goes.

Once the links between arcs one and two are in place, I think linking arc two and arc three will be a matter of linking charcters and history. While arc one focuses on two characters, arc two introduces more characters, and arc three does something with those characters now that their main story is over. It’ll be revealed that after Bernard’s event with the rainbow jewels, that his mind isn’t all together (already mentioned) and that Alfalfa’s been caring for him. Even though Bernard’s family–including Ceciliate–has been demoted to slave class, and Alfalfa’s family has been promoted to attendant class, Alfalfa continues to watch over and care for Bernard, his one and only master. It’s expected for Alfalfa and Ceciliate to spend a lot of time together during the time between the two arcs, as he cares so dilligently for her younger brother. Get the two to spend time on Earth together at some point (the planned idea is for Bernard to end up on Earth, with Alfalfa having to find him; he can ask Ceciliate to come along as his slave, using that as an excuse to the royal family to allow her to travel with him to Earth, when really he knows she’ll want to find her brother as well) would allow Alfalfa and Ceciliate to be equals to one another during their search. There’s a lot of relationship potential for other characters as well.

That’s the character part. The history portion would come in the form of questions asked in arc two and answers for them in arc three. They needn’t even be introduced as questions in the second arc. An example is the blue jewel on Earth. If each jewel was hidden on a respective planet, then why is the blue jewel on the green planet? And who hid the jewels? What happened to the exiled family? It should be similar to finding the giant mirror in the green room with a cut out piece the same size as Shamrock’s mirror. (And just where did Samuel get that mirror from in the first place?)

Over 1,250 words written. I’ve gone over my morning goal! Wait, there are no more goals, are there? Perhaps there should be, although word counts for commentaries are meaningless.

I’m going to break from this writing for a while, though, as I’m way behind on so many things after a month of writing, and the time spent snowflaking the month before that.

“Peanut butter sandwiches?” Arle asked.

“Sure thing,” Samuel said, closing the door behind him.

Rather than idling her time doing nothing, Piñole headed to the bookshelf. Books on history, geography, animals, and the like filled on shelf. Plays and fiction stories filled a couple more. Another held information on science, chemistry, physics, and technology. Piñole looked over the titles of the chemistry books, but the corner of her eye caught something one shelf higher. A title in a language other than English on the spine of a book wedged in between fantasy stories held Aureumi letters. “Diary of an Exile?” she whispered to herself. Piñole looked back at her sister and Ceciliate, the two sitting on a sofa, talking. Looking back at the bookshelf, Piñole picked out the diary. She took it over to a desk, and seated herself with the others to her left. She opened the diary book about an eighth of the way in, her eyes moving quickly from side to side as she read over the words.

“I told her my name is Willden Seamróg. She struggled through my thick accent, and took my name to be ‘William Seamair’.”

Piñole almost stood right up, wanting to exclaim something. She forced herself not to, her eyes peering back at the two on the sofa, then returning to the words in the book. “It’s true,” she told herself in her mind. “It has to be. It’s a book in the Seamair house, written in Aureumi, telling about the exiled Willden of the Seamróg family, and how he came to be known as Seamair here on the green planet.” Her eyes moved to look at the basement door at the top of the stairs to her right. “If the jewels were stolen and replaced with fakes, and not drained of their power, then the exile of the Seamróg was unjust. The Seamróg and Alsike families should have ruled Aureum together, but because of those actions, they were torn apart. If I used my power to pardon them, the Seamróg family could return to power. I know my family wouldn’t allow this, but if done through marriage, it would be the combination of today’s powerful family with yesteryear’s powerful family. Don’t get too excited, Piñole. Samuel Seamair has every reason to be careful around you for past actions. You’ll have to be on your best behavior. Okay, I’ll do it! I’ll simply go along with whatever the others want to do. When the time is right, I’ll return here, I’ll ask Samuel to let me stop by and read books in his underground room. I don’t dare risk trying to take the book with me when either Arle or the slave can see it. No, not ‘the slave’. I have to abide by Samuel’s words. We are equals here on the green planet.”

She flipped ahead a number of pages.

“If only Hayden could see me now! I am now the father of an Earth child, the most wonderful child ever born. Victoria and I will raise him in the ways of my family back home. By the time he’s the same age as I was when I arrived on Earth, he’ll be as self-sufficient as I was. He’ll have his grandparents on my side teaching him the ways of my home, and his grandparents on Victoria’s side instilling the lessons and values of the typical American family.”

“Who is Hayden?” Piñole asked in her mind. “That name is undeniably Aureum. I must read more of this book later.” She looked to her left. “They have no interest in me,” she thought, “and what I’m doing here. I can’t become so enraptured in reading this book that I let one of them sneak up on me and see the writing. I’d better put it away, then check that thick book of plays or something, so I have a viable excuse to return and read.”

By the time Samuel returned, Piñole had made the switch, and had struggled through the first few pages of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

“That’s some good reading,” Samuel said, noticing the thick book. He looked at the title at the top of one of the pages. “That’s one of his most well known plays, too.” He set a plate with a peanut butter sandwich–cut into four squares–, a few slices of apple, and a few slices of banana, on the table. He placed a napkin beside it. “Be sure to set the book aside before you start eating. We wouldn’t want to get peanut butter all over the pages.”

The only reaction Piñole could give was to blurt out how she knows not to get food on a book, but she caught herself well in advance. Starting now, she’d be completely in nice-mode. She took the red ribbon attached to the spine of the book and placed it between the open pages. She closed the book, setting it aside. “Of course. Thank you for the meal, Samuel.”

“No problem,” Samuel said, taking two plates to Arle and Ceciliate. After handing the plates over, Samuel asked, “Do you have peanut butter sandwiches back home?”

“Actually, I heard about them when I was really little. You and Sarah were in a dream and saved me. Actually, I couldn’t find my way home easily after that. I had wondered into the green lands, even though I wasn’t supposed to. I finally found my way home when I ran into another dream. There, I saw Sarah–as Clover, of course–giving a boy a peanut butter sandwich. I’ve wanted to try one ever since.”

“In that case, let’s stop talking and start eating,” Samuel said, holding his own plate of lunch in front of him.

After the three had finished their meals, they headed upstairs. Samuel washed the dishes, then the group headed outside, Samuel locking the front door. “By the way,” he said as he took the key from the doorknob. “You can borrow that book later, if you want, Piñole.”

“Thank you very much,” Piñole replied, but in her mind anger filled her thoughts. How could he offer to let her borrow the book just like that? If she borrows the book, she wouldn’t have a chance to read the diary.

“Feel free to borrow any books that interest you,” he added.

The anger ceased all at once. “Any book?” Piñole asked. “You are very kind.”

“It’s no big deal. I just need to make sure anything you borrow is returned before you leave. Some of those books have been in my family for at least four generations, five if you count me. It might not sound like much, as it barely goes back more than a hundred years, especially considering some people in Europe have things going back over 500 years just sitting around in closets, but it means a lot to my family.”

The three headed down the street to a bus stop. “Oh yeah, I don’t think I ever saw cars back when I visited your world. How do people get around there? Does everyone walk?”

“Mostly, people walk,” Piñole told him. “Royal families may travel by palanquin, but that’s not very common.”

“Well, ladies, you’re about to be introduced to a little thing we call the mass transit system. You’ll notice the cars parked along the street we’ve been passing by, and the ones driving past.”

“I’ve seen them in dreams,” Arle says. “When I was in the green lands, I saw dreams with them.”

“I have also seen them in dreams,” Piñole added.

“What about you, Cecilia?” Samuel asked.

“I’ve never seen them before. To be honest, the only reason I wasn’t frightened to see one approach us is because no one else gave any reaction. Seeing the calmness on the three of you, I realized there was no danger, and the thing went by us without stopping or anything.”

“We’re going to be going inside a long, tall vehicle called a bus. Just remember: these are machines made by people. They’re not animals or monsters. Entering one is no different from entering a fancy palanquin.”

“It sounds too far above my class,” Ceciliate said. “I realize you said I’m an equal here, but still…”

“Are you kidding?” Samuel said back. “The bus is the transportation system of choice for the lower class. My family may be well enough off to have our own car, but a lot of people don’t or won’t own a car for various reasons, and they all take the bus. I guess where you’re from, the bus would be like a palanquin for the slave and attendant classes, but anyone with a dollar can ride. Oh, speaking of which, I’ve bought four day passes for the bus, so we can ride by showing these.” He handed a bus pass to each of the girls. “Piñole and Arle, it’ll be up to the two of you to fund your own way on the bus in the future if you want to go anywhere, but today’s on me.”

A short wait later, the bus arrived. Samuel showed how to use the day pass, and the others followed his lead. They took seat on the booth at the back of the bus, with Arle looking out one window, Piñole next to her, then Sameul, and Ceciliate looking out the window on the other side of the bus. The ride took them through residential and commercial areas for half an hour before they reached their stop.

“Hey Arle, see that cord up there?” Samuel said.

Arle looked up. “That one?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Reach up and give it a tug.”

Uncertain why, Arle decided to just go ahead and try it. She took hold of the cord and pulled, sounding off a buzzer, causing her to quickly let go of the cord, stopping the sound. “What was that? What did I just do?”

Samuel pointed toward the front of the bus. “You made the sign up there turn on. See? It says ‘Stop Requested’. That lets everyone else on the bus know we’ll be stopping at the next bus stop. The buzzer let the driver know to stop.”

“It’s all so fascinating,” Ceciliate said, looking around the bus from her seat beside Samuel. “The area we’ve traveled is already larger then the entire size of the town of Aureum. I could get to like it here. I kind of feel bad that we’ll be heading back home tonight.”

“Maybe you can visit again sometime,” Samuel told her. “I think it’d be difficult to stretch another visitor staying at Sarah’s house right now, though. Give it another four years, and you could always stay with me, and two years after that, you could stay with Sarah on any visits. We should have our own apartments by then.”

The bus stopped. Samuel lead the girls to the side door where they exited off the bus.

“Does everyone leave home at that age?” Arle asked as the bus drove away.

“Not everyone, but it’s tradition to leave around that age, or a few years earlier. In my family, the tradition is to keep the home in the family, so I’d be moving out to learn to further be self-sufficient, but I’d move back in to the old house when it comes time to start a family. Actually, Sarah’s family is like that, too. The Cloverfields have been neighbors with the Seamairs for some time now. Sarah’s the first female born to either family as far back as anyone can remember, so her parents worry that she might live elsewhere, leaving no one to inherit the house. I’m sure things’ll work out in the end, though.”

“That’s a lot like back home,” Ceciliate said. “The family’s name and home stays on the husband’s side.”

Pinole knew it to be more than “a lot like back home”. It was exactly like back home. The Seamrog family had kept the tradition going, and the Cloverfield family followed the same tradition. Why? Why was this? Where did Sarah and her family fit into all this? Pinole had to know how it all connected, and she knew that diary must tell all.

“Come on, let’s go,” Samuel said, gesturing toward the edge of downtown.

“I know this area,” Arle said, looking at their surroundings. “This is where we met before.”

“This is downtown. Whenever someone tells others they’ll be ‘in town’, it’s understood to be this part of the city. It’s a shopping and business district like no other around these parts. It it’s available to buy, it’s probably here in town somewhere. And if you’re looking to pawn off an item for money, there are plenty of places to do that.

“We shouldn’t be carrying around a lot of money, so I took the liberty of opening a second bank account and got a couple of debit cards tied only to that account. It’ll allow the two of you to access your money. Since your money is going to be pooled together, it’ll be up to you as sisters and as joint account owners to discuss any planned purchases with one another. All the money you get from selling items will be put onto this card, and it can be taken off of this card using special machines. Just watch what I do with it, and if you have any questions, I’ll answer them when we’re outside of a shop, okay? And if anyone asks why Cecilia is selling items and I’m taking the payments on the debit card, we’ll say we’re cousins, and it’s a family account, okay? I don’t expect anyone to question anything, but that’ll be our story.”

The group shopped around a bit, going to different pawn shops and finding out what each shop would pay for each item. After going around a second time to sell off the items Cecilia carried with her, Samuel determined the sisters had enough money to pay for room and board at Sarah’s house for six months. “There’s no way you can get them to host you for half a year, of course. I’m sure you’ll want to buy some outfits so you fit in a little better.”

“What’s wrong with what we have on?” Pinole asked, a bit cross at the remark. She realized her attitude and wanted to correct what she’d said, but Samuel already started to reply.

“I do notice how you’ve three all worn fairly plain and simple outfits, but you and Arle still have fancy outfits which makes you look like young royalty.”

“Aren’t we young royalty?” Again, Pinole realized too late the tone of her voice.

“That depends on your reason for being here and how much you want to stand out,” Samuel told them. “I mean, you could even go around telling people who you are and where you’re from if you wanted to try to get the whole royal treatment, but the only escort you’d be getting would be to the crazy house. No ones gonna’ believe you’re royalty, so you’d best fit in with everyone else.”

An hour had passed since Samuel reached the part, and in that time he watched teenagers hurrying to get to school before the sun peaked up from the east. He relaxed, and enjoyed the crisp, dew-scented morning air. In the next hour, he thought about Aureum and its inhabitants. “Piñole and Bernard are about my age, and Arle and Alfalfa are closer to Sarah’s, I think. Ceciliate has to be in her early twenties. I can’t get over how much Arle’s grown, though. I guess Sarah and I have, too, but it’s amazing what four years can do.”

From his vantage point on the hill, Samuel easily noticed a trio entering the park area. Two had black hair, the older with her hair in a ponytail on either side. The other, the oldest of the three, had blond hair, and she carried a cloth sack on her back, the straps over her shoulders much like Samuels’ backpack. Samuel hurried down the hill to greet them.

“It’s good to see everyone again,” Samuel said as he greeted them.

“I’m here for the jewel,” Piñole said before anything else could be said.

“Stop it, Piñole,” Arle scolded. “I already told you, this is your vacation. The jewels can wait.” She turned to Samuel. “I’m sorry about that. She really does have the best intentions for our home in her heart.”

“I understand. And how are you, Ceciliate?” he asked.

Ceciliate looked down and to the side.

“Is something wrong?” Samuel asked her.

“Slaves are to be seen and not heard,” Piñole explained.

“Nonesense,” Samuel said. He took Ceciliate’s hands in hers. Her hands were cold in the morning compared with Samuel’s warm hands. She looked at him, about to say something, but she stopped herself. She started again to speak, but stopped her self once more, before looking away again. “Here where I live, our position and status in life isn’t tied to our families. It’s tied to each person as an individual. If I say, ‘I’m Samuel Seamair’, probably no one will know who I am. Anyone who does know me, either personally or because they’ve heard of me, will judge me on the things I’ve done, and the reputation that’s gotten for me. The same will be true for the three of you while you are here. You will all be equals during your stay.”

“Do you expect a young queen to truly act as an equal to a slave?” Piñole asked him.

“Have it your way,” Samuel said back, slipping his hands back. He placed his left hand to his side, and his right hand up to his forehead in a salute. “As the acting representative of Earth, and holder of one of the rainbow jewels here on Earth, I demote Queen Piñole to commoner. I demote Princess Arle to commoner. I promote Ceciliate to commoner. None of these demotions or promotions carry over away from the Earth, as I only have jurisdiction here. Tell me, Piñole, do you still have issues?”

“I understand. Ceciliate Medic, as he has stated, we are of equal status here. Nothing you say or do will carry over when we return home.”

“Any words, Ceciliate?” Samuel asked, leaning over to look her in the eyes.

She smiled. “Please, call me Cecilia. It’s less formal, more friendly.”

Samuel took his backpack from his pack, and pulled a small laptop computer from it. “I’ve documented all the places to check on selling things. I’ll keep track of the offers we receive, then we can sell to each place for the best deals.” He looked at the outfits the girls wore. Piñole and Arle wore fancy, multi-layer dresses, Piñole’s looking more like royalty. Ceciliate wore a plain shirt and dress, made out of material common to slaves. “First thing we’ll have to do is get you three some new clothes. You’ll attract a bit of attention, like when I spotted Arle the other day.”

The concept behind the green jewel is that Samuel has both the blue and green jewels, and he gives the green jewel to Sarah every night while they dream. Because Sarah has the green jewel in her dream, she remembers her dream when she wakes up (although the dreams didn’t stay with her the first few mornings). However, because she does not have the jewel with her by day, the daytime events do not carry over as memories in her dreams. She remembers her dreams when awake, but she does not remember being awake when dreaming. Samuel remembers both at all times.

In a planned arc-transition scene, the jewels have started to regain their power. Here is the original concept I wrote, originally planned for arc two:

Sarah stops by Samuel’s house to borrow white-out. Samuel’s father says “He’s up in his room,” but when Sarah goes upstairs, she finds the door open and Samuel not there.

Inside Samuel’s room, Sarah looks around a little. She hadn’t been in Samuel’s room since the night she visited him when he was ill. She looked at a container of marbles, and found two familiar stones: one green and one blue. Sarah lifted the green one in-between her fingers, a feeling of nostalgia coming over her from her childhood, and a dreamlike haze filled her mind as she recalled the same jewel from her vivid dreams.

As Samuel pushes the door fully open, Sarah spins around toward him, dropping the green jewel into her pocket. She explains why she’s in his room, and Samuel says he knows. He went to get something downstairs, and his father saw him and let him know she was there on Samuel’s way up the stairs.

Samuel tosses a thing of white-out to Sarah, then she hurries home, saying she as a lot of work to do, so she cannot stay.

That night, when Sarah enters her dream, something is different. She has memories of her waking life. Suddenly she feels as if a second person has merged with her, and that person is herself. She realizes that when she was awake she could remember what happened in her dreams, but not the other way around. Now that she has the green jewel, she remembers her waking life even as she dreams. And she now knows that it truly is Samuel playing the role of Shamrock, not just an illusion of her dreams.

I actually forgot to write a chapter with this, and remembered it over 800 words into the PM chapter today. I could have rewritten Sarah’s reaction to seeing Arle as one of surprise, realizing that her dreams really did happen, but I didn’t want to throw out this transition portion. Rather than try juggling things, I’ll simply move forward. It’ll be understood, by this commentary, that Sarah has learned about the dreams being “real”, and Samuel knows she knows.

If I hit a roadblock later this week, I can write that chapter, but for now I’ll leave it out. Because I wrote the above quoted piece before November, it does not qualify as a portion of my NaNoWriMo word count. That’s all right, though, because…

NaNoWriMo Goals

I finished this morning at 50,975 words. Back in October, I wondered if this word count could be reached. The truth is, if I didn’t skip out on writing Monday, I would have had it then. The further truth is that if writing conditions were a little better for me last week, I would have hit it by Friday, and I could always have reached it Friday night or Saturday. For me, that’s very “wow”.

The two walked down to the park. They joined the waiting person at the swings.

“Is that who I think it is?” Sarah asked, looking at the person on the second swing from the end. “Is that Arle?”

Arle looked up, and over at Sarah. “Did you miss me?”

“Is this a dream?” Sarah asked. “Am I asleep?”

“It’s no dream,” Samuel told her. “Arle’s really come to Earth.”

“But how?”

“It’s like this,” Arle started, swinging slightly. “After you two disappeared, my sister knocked Bernard Medic over, and took the jewels from him. The break-up of power left the jewels drained. Only recently they’ve started to regain their power. It seems to be a natural process. That’s what the big issue was a hundred years ago, when the jewels lost their power. It was expected their power would return, but it turns out the real jewels had been hidden away on different planets–as you both know–and fakes were put in the palace in their place. It wasn’t until this drain that we’ve been able to document the recharge process. It’s been four years, and I’ve finally been able to use the yellow jewel in the yellow room to come here.”

“What happened to Bernard?” Samuel asked. “Was he taken into custody?”

“We don’t have jails on Aureum. As punishment, the Medic family has been demoted to slave class. I tried to stop it, but it was out of my hands. To see Ceciliate Medic demoted as well, I’m starting to wonder if this is really the best way to handle such events. It’s always been easiest to track families, rather than individuals.”

“Is he all right?” Sarah asked. “He seemed different when he had all the jewels, somehow.”

Arle pressed her shoes to the ground, stopping her movement. “He…” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Physically he’s all right. His mind isn’t all there. No one knows if there’s any way to fix it. The Lucernes were promoted to attendant class, but Alfalfa Lucerne cares for Bernard. He hopes that when the jewels have reached their original power, that Bernard will be himself again. But let’s talk about something more positive right now. Sarah, there’s a reason I wanted to talk with you. Samuel can be here, too.

“See, Piñole is a queen now. It’s not like being a queen in any Earth royalties, though. What it means is she’s given responsibilities she’ll need to perform as a full-fledged queen one day. It’s the same responsibilities I’ll be taking on in a couple of years, as well. Part of her responsibility is to oversee the jewels. I’m afraid she might become the same as Bernard Medic was. Before, she was collecting the jewels to keep our family safe, and I want to believe she won’t be seduced by the power of the jewels, but I just don’t know… Since she’s been diligent in her duties for the past year, I’d like her to take a vacation. I’d like her to come to Earth, and live life outside of the palace. Not at home where everyone would recognize her, but here on Earth, one of the planets whose dreams she’ll be tasked to protect.”

Arle took some steps back, then lifted her feet, swinging again. “That’s at least part of my reason for coming here. After she’s spent time here, with Sarah, and maybe with Samuel, too, I hope to convince her to separate the power of the jewels. There are six jewels and five planets inhabited by humans. It would be all right or two people to watch over dreams on the same planet.” She stopped swinging abruptly as her shoes pressed against the ground. She looked at the two. “I want to convince Piñole to let you two be the Lucid Dreamers who protect the dreams on Earth. I can handle another planet, and so can Piñole. I think Alfalfa Lucerne could be a Lucid Dreamer, too. He has no ambition for power. Ceciliate Medic would be the last. Of course, the Medic and Lucerne families would have to be promoted above attendant class, but that’ll be within Piñole’s power in a couple of years. If we have Piñole’s support, maybe my parents will help out. They did promote the Lucernes after hearing about how I might not have survived if not for his help.

“I’m doing all the talking. You both probably want to say something about my request for you to become Lucid Dreamers. Essentially, you’d be a magical girl and magical boy again. The thing is, how can I convince Piñole? How can I convince her to separate the powers, and to let the two of you watch over Earth? But first I have to know, would you two accept such an offer?”

Samuel looked at Sarah. “You’re the holder of the green jewel now, so it’s completely up to you. So long as the blue jewel gives me the power, I’ll do what I can, but the holder of the green jewel is the one who may travel through the mirror.”

“Why do you sound so serious?” Sarah asked. “Of course I’ll do it! If Piñole offers the position, I’ll take it in a heartbeat. Even if she doesn’t offer it, we can still help stop nightmares once the jewels get enough power back, right?”

“To tell the truth,” Arle said, “this is only the reason I wanted to come down here. I’m only here because Piñole sent me here. Her reason isn’t the same as mine. She sent me here to collect the jewels from the two of you. That’s kind of why I’m afraid. She didn’t sent me here to steal them, but she didn’t send me here to ask for them, either.”

“So you want her to stay here for a while,” Samuel interrupted. “And that’ll give her the perfect opportunity to take the jewels for herself.”

“Samuel, I don’t think Arle meant–”

“No, Sarah, I agree with you. Please, Arle, I don’t mean any disrespect, but things like this have to be thought through. What happens if Piñole visits, and the jewels disappear? I prefer to have the jewels locked away safely, rather than suspect that someone took them. That sounds best, right?”

“I agree,” Arle responded. “I wouldn’t want to be a suspect, either, and if someone else took them, Piñole would certainly suspect the two of you. Maybe even me. The only thing we would need is a place to stay while we’re on Earth. I arrived only today, and Piñole expects me return tonight, for an update, but if I can convince her to visit here, I’d like it to be for a longer stay, with no communication going back home.”

“We have a guest room at my house,” Sarah suggested, “but I don’t know if my parents would go for the idea. We’ve always been lower middle class. We get by just fine, but we can’t really afford two more people to feed.”

“I don’t see where that would be a problem,” Samuel said. “I’m sure Arle and Piñole can find some fancy trinkets their family doesn’t need, but could be sold on Earth for a decent price in a pawn shop. Nothing extravagant, but enough to pay for them to stay for a while. If Cecilia comes along, just for the sales, there should be no problem with age when selling in the antique shops.”

“That should be doable,” Arle said. “When I report to my sister tonight, I will suggest to her a vacation on Earth, and will say I even have lodging planned. She might consider this a chance for her to get the jewels in person, so I’ll request that she not mention the jewels until it is time to leave. The jewels are too weak to sense one another, so she won’t be able to use her jewels to find the green and blue jewels.”

“Let me check with my parents first,” Sarah said. “If you can pay for your meals, and a little for rent while staying there, I think my family will be glad to have you stay. I can tell them you’re friends from a foreign country. It wouldn’t even be a lie or anything. We’d better not let them see Arle until a few days after I get permission, though.”

“I understand,” Arle told her. “In the meantime, perhaps Samuel would be kind enough to show Piñole, Ceciliate, and myself to these shops that’ll buy our ‘fancy trinkets’?”

“But I’m sure she attends this school,” the dark-haired teenage girl said back.

“Why don’t you visit her at her house?” the lady suggested. “School’s out in just a few more hours.”

“I don’t know where she lives. That’s why I’m trying to find her at school.”

“Have you checked the white pages?”

“What’s that?” the teenager asked.

“You know, the phone book. Residential listing.”

“I’ll look somewhere else,” the girl said, giving a sigh. She walked out of the room.

The school sat on the edge of the city’s downtown shopping district, and that on the edge of the business district. Cars filled the streets, people the sidewalks. Although the other schools the teenager had checked were filled with a lot of people about her age, she felt the streets had even more people along them. The girl looked up the height of the tall buildings, reaching higher than anything she’d ever seen at home. For her, this was the kind of place one would only see in a dream.

“That’s a very old fashioned style dress,” a teenage boy said as he walked up to the girl.

She looked at him. “Is it? I always wear outfits like this.”

The boy looked at the girl’s face. He stepped back, and looked at her from head to toe.

“Can I help you with something?” the girl asked.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” the boy replied. “You remind me of someone else who wore outfits like this one. She’d be about your age now. Same black hair and brown eyes, too.”

“A lot of people around here look the same,” the girl told him. “Look at those men over there. They all look alike.”

The boy looked where she pointed. Three Asian men wearing business suits walked abreast down the sidewalk at the edge of the business district, facing the two. “No, not really. All three have different types of suits on, their heights aren’t very much the same, and their hairstyles all differ.”

“Really?” the girl said, looking more closely. “Maybe you’re used to it. Where I come from, people aren’t so varied in, well, everything. We have different heights and hair colors and styles, but there’s a lot of things similar to us. When I see a lot of people who share a variety unknown to me, isn’t it natural to have trouble recognizing them?”

“I suppose so. Where are you from, anyway? Another country?”

“You could say that. I’m not from around her.”

“Well, where’re you from?” the teenage boy repeated.

“No place you’d know of,” the girl told him.

“Try me. I pride myself on my knowledge of the world. I know every country. If you’re from a city I’ve never heard of, I’ll make it my assignment tonight to learn about it and its people.”

“If you insist,” the girl said, “but in return will you help me find a person I’m looking for? I only know her given name, and these school places won’t tell me anything.”

“Hm, going by only a first name, that sounds like a challenge. If my hunch is right, it might be an easy find. So, you’re from where now?”

“It’s a place you can’t simply read about in a book, but it’s a town called Aureum.”

“Aha, I knew it!” the boy exclaimed. “You are her!”

“Excuse me?”

“Just try and tell me you aren’t Arle Alsike.”

“How do you know my name?” the girl asked, looking from side to side. “The name I’ve been giving people here is Caroline. It’s my real name.”

“You mean you don’t even recognize me?” The boy stepped back a few steps. He spread out his arms. “Come on, look me over. Tell me you don’t know Samuel Montgomery when you see him.”

“Samuel?” Arle looked carefully at his face. “It’s you…” She ran up to him, into his open arms, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close. “It didn’t think I’d find anyone I know here!”

Samuel continued to stand with his arms out. He didn’t expect to invite a hug. As Arle held on to him tight, Samuel decided to hold her close to him. “You really do stand out in that outfit,” he said, her head beside his. “If you weren’t wearing it, I wouldn’t even have approached you. Now, who are you looking for? Is it Sarah?”

Arle nodded. “I’ve checked every ‘high school’ in the entire city. There are lots of them! But I couldn’t get anyone to give me any information. Most wouldn’t tell me anything, but some tried to be helpful. When I said I was looking for Sarah, they asked for her surname. They said there were hundreds of Sarahs in the school. Why would so many people name their child the same name?”

Samuel let Arle back away from him slowly. He put his hands on her shoulders while she looked at the ground. “There’s more than just matching names. A lot of different families have the same surname, so sometimes there’ll be two or more people with the same given and family name. Earth is a big place, and the concept of family isn’t the same as you have back home in Aureum. Let’s walk back to my house. Sarah lives next door.”

“You two live next to each other?” Arle asked as they started walking. “Does this mean you two’re married?”

“Married? Ah, no, it’s not like that. I don’t mean our rooms are one door apart, not like that. What I mean is, our houses are next to one another. I know housing’s a bit spread out in Aureum, with the bazaar and such at the center of town in Aureum, and this town’s actually a bit like that, but we’re not spread out. Houses, shops, and business buildings are all packed together as close and tightly as possible here.

“So, why are you on Earth? Are you really here, or are just dreaming? Are the jewels working again? Mine haven’t worked since that incident. Oh, and what became of Bernard, and everything else?”

“I’d rather wait until Sarah can join us. Then I can go over everything all at once. While we walk, please, tell me what life is like here on Earth. I have many questions about it. Like, I learned about these schools where many kids go to learn things, but I couldn’t easily find Sarah at any of them. What should I have done to make it easier to find her?”

“Well, checking the school is something of a dead-end. Sarah doesn’t attend a school.”

“I was told going to school was a requirement here.”

“Kind of,” Samuel said. “There are different kinds of schools. For Sarah and myself, we’re home schooled. Our parents and relatives teach us, and we go on a lot of outings to learn more.”

“Are you on an outing right now?” Arle asked him.

“I’m on the most difficult kind of outing, actually. Sarah’s 16th birthday is in a few months, and I’ve been going all over the place trying to figure out what to get her. I’m completely at a loss. Up until now, it’s always been simple things, home-made gifts. Now I have friends telling me something like that would be too childish. Actually, they say it started being too childish about five years ago, and Sarah’s just too nice to say anything about it.”

“That’s not true,” Arle said. “I mean, I don’t think it is. Where I come from, home-made gifts show more than thoughtfulness. She show time and effort. You see this dress I’m wearing? Piñole learned to sew and made this for me. It wasn’t for a holiday or a special event or anything. She did it just to show how much she cares as my sister.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m having so much trouble. “The home-made gifts were never as extravagant as your dress. How long are you staying? Maybe you can help me think of something.”

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, but I’ll go over that when we have a chance to sit down with Sarah and talk it all over. Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk with Sarah about, really. I’d like someone else to spend some time on Earth, as well.”

“What happens if we keep our jewels?” Shamrock asked, looking directly into Macrae’s eyes.

Ceciliate translated the message for her brother. Macrae grimaced. “You want to renege?”

“He wants to know why you’re going back on your word,” Cecilia told Shamrock.

“I’m not going back on anything. I said I wouldn’t give the jewels inside Arle’s dream. I said we’d figure out what to do next here. Clover and I have had these jewels since we were little kids. Why should we hand them over now? What if we don’t want to give them to anybody?”

“That’s right,” Clover said, walking over to Shamrock. “We can use these jewels to help other people. Why should we give them to you?”

“What are they saying, Cecilia? I don’t like this.”

“I just need to convince them,” Cecilia told her brother.

“What’s this all about?” Piñole asked. “What’s this about handing over jewels?”

“By the sound of your voice,” Shamrock said, looking to Piñole standing at the other side of the bed, “you want to know what’s going on. Bernard here–Macrae–wants to take all six jewels, and he plans to use them to his benefit until your family lists work it’s had other families do for it.”

“And he’ll send you and Arle to blue continent in the meantime,” Clover added.

“So, it really is treason,” Piñole said to Macrae with a scowl. “We shouldn’t settle this here. Let’s take it to the back woods. We’ll settle this in the woods behind the palace.”

“Fair enough,” Macrae said. “I’ll see you there.” He waved his arms up into the air, and he vanished in a flash of red and orange.

In the back woods, Macrae appeared. He pulled out the yellow and violet jewels. He gripped them in one hand, squeezing tightly. “The power of these jewels is mine.” Yellow and violets flashed from between his fingers. A glow surrounded his hand, the yellow and violet lights fighting each other as they spread up Macrae’s arm. The yellow spread across his chest, the violet across his back, the colors clashing at they met at his other side. The colors enveloped Macrae. Red and orange glows spread out, joining the yellow, overpowering the violet.

After the light died down, Macrae stood, feeling a bit out of breath from the spreading of the glowing lights. His hair had turned orange with red and yellow streaks, his eyes orange with red and yellow specks. Red and yellow hand-sewn threads held his orange outfit together. A hint of violet appeared at the roots of his hair.

“Macrae!” Shamrock called out as Piñole led the group to him.

Macrae’s eyes moved directly to Clover. He leaped high into the air, landing behind the group. Before anyone could react, the ground split open, a column of dirt pushing out, lifting Clover up high. With another jump, Macrae lifted himself up to the top of the dirt column. Looking down, he could see the others, over two stories distance away.

Clover tried to back away, but the column didn’t allow room for moving around.

While Clover looked back to make sure she wasn’t about to step off the edge, Macrae reached out, grabbing Clover’s brooch. He gave a push, Clover falling back, and the brooch pulling from her shirt. As she started to fall, Macrae’s eyes focused only on the green jewel in his hand.

Falling through the air, Clover became Sarah. A gust of wind briefly slowed her fall, then Shamrock appeared, holding on to her. Shamrock landed on the ground, but stumbled, the two falling over. Arle hurried to them to ensure the two were all right.

“This jewel is now mine,” Macrae said to himself. He squeezed the brooch in his hand as it transformed back into a sole green jewel. The jewel lit up, a green glow spreading out. As the green light spread, red and orange glows extended out from Macrae, engulfing the green, suffocating it. The green glow snuffed out, leaving only a few green roots among the violet in Macrae’s hair. “One more.”

“This isn’t good,” Alfalfa said, looking up the pillar of dirt, unable to see Macrae. “In the past, the Seamróg family ruled with the jewels by giving two to each family withing the palace. They specifically paired certain colors together, and more specifically kept certain colors apart.”

“Why would they keep them apart?” Ceciliate asked.

“Certain colors just don’t go together. Shamrock and Clover worked well as a team because blue and green work together well. So do blue and violet, or green and yellow. And then there’s yellow and orange, orange and red. Red works with violet.”

“It’s red and green,” Shamrock said, holding Sarah in front of him.

“And it’s yellow and violet,” Alfalfa added.

“And orange and blue?” Sarah asked, sitting up in Shamrock’s arms.

“So what happens if he gets the last jewel?” Piñole asked, looking directly at Alfalfa.

Alfalfa started to open his mouth, but he hesitated.

“Never mind about slave versus royalty right now. Speak your information.”

The tall, narrow wall of dirt caved in, falling like the sand through an hour glass. As the top of the dirt reached the ground, Macrae descended, his arms out wide open. “What a glorious day! I see only to take the boy’s earring, and victory is mine. All mine. Never again shall the Medic family act according to the will of the Alsike family. I’ll banish them all to the violet planet.” He looked into Arle’s eyes and smirked. “Every last one of them.”

“I don’t like how he said that,” Sarah said. “Shamrock, we have to do something.”

“Please,” Alfalfa cried out, dropping to his knees before Macrae, “stop this. Please, Master. Your mind is being conflicted by the opposite powers of the jewels. It’s not too late. You can give the jewels back. You’ve made your point. Stop now, and I’m sure Lady Piñole will be very understanding.”

“Go away,” Macrae replied. He pushed out with his hand, and the ground slid away. The ground pulled Alfalfa away with it, holding him by the feet, causing him to fall forward, his body dragging along until the ground stopped by a few distant trees.

“Brother, you’ve never done such a thing to Alfalfa before. You must stop this,” Ceciliate implored. “Alfalfa has always been like a younger brother to you. You’ve always been such good friends, no matter what. Are you really willing to let all that go? Are you really going to give it all up?”

The ground pulled down from under Ceciliate’s feet. It sank, Ceciliate falling with it, until she was too far down to see anything but the funnel of dirt leading to the visible sky outside.

“Who’s next?” Bernard asked. “You, other Lucid Dreamer, how about taking me on?”

Shamrock stood. “Go with Arle and Piñole,” he told Sarah, his voice stern, his eyes not leaving Macrae. “The three of you go to Alfalfa.” He lifted an arm, and Ceciliate lifted out from the hole. She set down beside it. “Take her, too, and go to Alfalfa.”

Although reluctant to agree, Sarah didn’t argue or hesitate. She and Arle helped Ceciliate walk over to Alfalfa.

“You, too, Piñole. You’re in on condition to fight him, not without a jewel.”

Piñole backed a few steps, then turned and headed toward the others.

“Time for fight?” Macrae asked.

Shamrock touched his thumb and finger tips to his jewel.

“You are on,” Macrae said, placing a hand on his necklace. He lowered his hand back down a little as he watched Shamrock lift the earring into the air.

The earring sparkled in the light of the setting sun as Shamrock held it out. He dropped it to the grassy ground. “It’s yours.”

“You are wise fool.” Macrae told him as he lifted a hand, pulling the jeweled earring into his grip.

“Wise, indeed,” Shamrock said as he transformed back into Samuel. “At least, I hope so.” He turned and sprinted toward the rest of the group, as they watched in wonder at what he had just done.

Holding the blue jewel in his palm, Macrae concentrated on its pulse. The light of the jewel lifted from the jewel, wrapping itself around Macrae’s body. The orange light from within Macrae appeared, pushing away at the blue, but the green light joined the blue. Red and yellow surrounded Macrae, with violet adding to the mix.

“What’s happening to him?” Arle asked as Samuel reached the group.

Samuel looked back. “I don’t know. Whatever’s happening, I only hope the resolve is good for us.” He looked at Alfalfa sitting beside the tree. Samuel kneeled down beside him. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my best friend’s about to be torn in two. Don’t mistake my words, as I don’t blame you. I just can’t believe this is happening.”

Macrae looked around. His eyes, growing a rainbow of alternating colors, focused on the group. Wind blew his rainbow of hair in different directions and Macrae lifted a few inches off the ground, then pushed through the air, landed on the ground beside the others. “Now this is power. I cannot be stopped.” His neck tilted, and his eyes took turns twitching. One of Macrae’s knees jerked a leg to the side, then back in place. “The power. I feel it flowing through me completely.”

“Alfalfa.” Samuel kneeled beside the boy. “What happens now?”

“I don’t know, but I think the jewels will fight one another until they’re pushed out all opposing jewels. I have no idea what will become of my Master in the process.”

Macrae started laughing hysterically. “No one can stand in the way of the Medic family now!”

“Listen,” Samuel whispered next to Alfalfa’s ear. “If I can take two of the jewels from him, blue and green, maybe he’ll be thrown off balance as the other others rush against the violet. That’ll be your chance. You’ll have to rush him, and take the other jewels.”

“Rush my master? I could never do such a thing!” Alfalfa cried out.

“I’ll do it,” Piñole said. “Just tell me when.”

Samuel took Sarah’s hand in his. “We don’t know what will happen next,” he said to her. “Bernard may be hurt by the jewels. He may not be. If he isn’t, he may hurt others. We’ve already seen him attack a friend and a family member. I hoped having the final jewel would overload him and he’d pass out or something, but that didn’t happen.”

The laughter stopped. “Why isn’t anyone laughing with me?” He watched as Samuel walked by, leading Sarah behind him. “Where are they going? Do they thing it’s all over? They should have given me their jewels sooner. They must punished!”

As Macrae turned to follow the two with his eyes, Samuel stopped walking, and Sarah stopped beside him. The two faced back at Macrae.

“You want to punished us?” Samuel asked. He tightened his hold of Sarah’s hand.

Sarah breathed deep, then out slowly.

“Then punish us,” Samuel said, looking directly into the color-changing eyes. “Are you ready Piñole? You’d better get ready now. Tell him to take us out for our insolence. Tell him we mock him, and the only way to stop us is to end our lives, one quick motion.”

“I can’t say something like that,” Piñole said.

“Do it!” Samuel demanded, still watching Macrae.

“How fascinating,” Macrae said, a wide, goofy smile across his face. “The more I hear, the more I understand. All the words I’ve ever heard of this language are coming back to me. I think I understand. I fulfill your request.”

Lights glowing all colors of the rainbow surrounded Macrae’s arms. He lifted his elbows, and pulled his arms back. Sarah leaned against Samuel, squeezing his hand harder back. Macrae thrust his hands out forward, rainbow-colored beams of light flashing out from his hands.

The lights filled the whole area, causing everyone watching to close their eyes, covering their hands over their eyes, and even then they could see colors flashing. When the lights stopped, hands went down slowly, and eyes carefully opened, blurry vision obstructing the view of everyone by the tree.

As her vision started to clear, Piñole could see Macrae standing, huffing and puffing. A few trees in his line of sight had disintegrated in the attack. Sarah and Samuel were gone.

“I think you’re supposed to attack me now,” Macrae spoke in perfect English. He tilted his head to one side as he looked over at her. “Are you going to risk–ah… Grr…” Macrae dropped to his knees. He grabbed his arm with his other hand. Green lights flashed around the gripped arm, then blue lights around his chest and stomach.

Without giving a thought, Piñole sprinted, then lunged, knocking into Macrae, and he cried out from the pain in his arm and chest. Piñole held Macrae down as he screamed, the pain moving around through his body. Piñole took hold of the necklace, giving it a tug, breaking the clasp on the back, and freeing it from around Macrae’s neck. Piñole lifted the necklace to throw it. For a brief moment, she could see six jewel. In a blur, the green and blue jewels vanished. Piñole threw the necklace as far as she could, and the necklace broke into four jewels as it hit the ground.

The lights withing Macrae left his body, returning to the jewels.

“I’m not Melilot anymore,” Sweet said as Macrae reached the bottom of the hill, still walking toward the group. “My name’s Sweet now.”

“And I’m going by Chelia,” Macrae’s sister said.

“Sweet and Chelia. Fair enough. Please address me as Macrae.” He looked at Clover and Shamrock. “My name is Macrae.” He turned back to the other two. “I might not know their language, but I’ve picked up a few words and phrases along the way. I trust they’ll be given line-by-line translations of anything worthwhile I have to say. The first order of business is for you to give me your jewels.”

“Shamrock, what are the talking about?” Clover asked.

Chelia replied, “He wants our jewels. Bernard–Macrae, rather–why are you doing this? What do you hope to achieve?”

“I hope for nothing more than our family’s revenge against the Alsike family.”

“And you need all side jewels for this?” Chelia asked.

“One jewel or six, the number of jewels doesn’t seem to affect my power in any significant way. For this reason, I must ensure Piñole doesn’t get a single jewel. So long as any one of you has a jewel in your possession, you may give it to Piñole, or she may take it from you. I will not allow that to happen. If you truly are a member of the miserable Medic family, then hand me your jewel, and step aside.”

“‘Miserable’? You call our family ‘miserable’? You’re projecting your own feelings onto the whole family.”

“I see. So, that’s how it is. No one cared when Alfalfa and I were gone for five whole entire years. Our struggle is not the struggle of our families. An attendant and his slave were sent away for five years, and nobody cared.”

“No… That’s not–”

“An attendant and his slave were promised promotions for their families, then the promiser extended the conditions of the promise. ‘Chelia’, was it? Listen to me well: The Alsike family doesn’t care one bit about us. If we don’t stick together as a family, then we have nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Macrae held out a hand. “Whose side are you on? The side of the Medics and the Lucernes, or the side of Piñole, and the Alsike family.”

“I understand.” Chelia slid the ring off her fingers. Clover and Shamrock let out a combined gasp as Chelia held the ring over Macrae’s open and waiting hand. “What would you do to the Alsike family?”

“I intend no harm. I will bring no harm to Arle, either. I must think of a suitable punishment. I’m thinking the entire Alsike family should own up to all the underhanded deeds they’ve performed through other families. Until they do so, Piñole will be help responsible in some manner. Perhaps I’ll send her to the orange continent. Maybe she’ll find a suitable escort–from within the Alsike family–to keep her company while running away from the beasts there.”

Chelia set the ring on her younger brother’s palm. “Not the orange lands. Maybe blue, but not orange.”

“What’s going on?” Clover asked, “What’s going on?”

“They’re going to send my sister away,” Sweet told her. “They want to send her away to the blue continent.”

“That won’t happen,” Chelia said with a smile. “Once the royal family hears these conditions, they’ll outline everything they’ve hired families to do for them, right? Then Lady Piñole will not have to go to the blue continent.”

“Are you crazy or something?” Sweet exclaimed. “There’s no way they’ll talk about anything! They’ll let Piñole be sent off, because they still have me to be the princess. If Piñole is set away to the blue continent, then I have to be her escort. Maybe they’ll at least think about it…”

“I’ll go with the two of you,” Chelia said to Sweet, speaking Aureumi so her brother would understand as well. She looked him in the eyes. “If they won’t talk, you’ll have to think of something else. If you never see the Alsike princesses again, then you won’t see me again.”

Sweet kneeled down and removed her anklet. “I trust you. If you’re with us, I know we’ll be all right.” She placed the anklet next to the ring on Macrae’s open palm. She turned to Clover and Shamrock. “Please, give him your jewels.”

“Not here,” Shamrock said in a stern voice. “Let’s meet outside of Arle’s dream. Once she’s awake, we can figure out what to do next.”