Man From Mundania (54 page)

Ivy concentrated on Grey's power of relation. She felt

something happening, but wasn't sure what. Then there

was a moment of vertigo.

"Got it!" Grey said. "The source of the problem is

Man from Mundania
       
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over there." He walked to the side of the path. "This—

bit of wood?" he asked, picking it up.

"That's reverse wood!" Ivy exclaimed. "It must have

reversed the enchantment on the path, right here near it,

so the dragons could get in!"

"Well, I'll null it, then."

"Don't do that!" Ivy said quickly. "Suppose it reversed

your talent?"

"But we can't leave the path unprotected!"

"Just throw the wood away," Donkey suggested. "It

won't do any harm if it's not in the path."

Grey wound up and hurled the wood far to the side.

Immediately the three ghost horses reacted, relaxing. The

two unconscious dragons stirred. Each dragged itself up

and scrambled away from the path.

"Problem solved," Donkey said with satisfaction.

"But there never would have been a problem if the Good

Magician were still around," Ivy said. "As soon as we

settle our personal problem, we'll have to resume the Quest

for him. We can't continue much longer without him."

"If we could find him, maybe he could settle all our

personal questions," Electra said.

Ivy nodded. Electra had a problem that was just as se-

rious as Ivy's own! When Dolph came of age to marry,

and had to choose which of his betrothees actually to

marry, he was very likely to choose Nada. Then Electra

would die, having failed to marry the Prince who had res-

cued her from her enchanted sleep.

Unless Grey could nullify the spell on her. Ivy pondered

that. Could it represent the solution for Electra? She hes-

itated to mention it until she was sure. Magic did not

always work the way expected, and mistakes could be di-

sastrous.

They reached the isthmus. This was as far as their steeds

could go, for magical creatures would soon perish when

out of the magic of Xanth. Donkey would keep watch for

their return to this spot, and the ghost horses would come

at his whistle. The final station on the enchanted path was

a nice one, with useful plants of all kinds and an excellent

250 Man from Mundcmia

view of the changing colors of the sea. Donkey said he

expected to enjoy his stay here.

The colors of the sea related to the times and places of

Mundania that the folk of Xanth could go to. Scholars

such as Ichabod, the Mundane archivist, and Amolde

Centaur had taken the trouble to study it and to issue vo-

luminous reports that entirely defined it. Unfortunately,

no one else was able to understand the reports. Most of

what Ivy knew about the colors was that when the sea

turned black, it led to the Black Sea of Mundania, where

her parents had gone to rescue Grandpa Trent and

Grandma Iris, ages ago.

This time they were not going to mess with the colors

at all. Grey simply nulled the magic of the border, and

they walked through to what was called Contemporary

Mundania, which was where Grey had lived. They knew

it was right, because their entry through the gourd in No

Name Key had also bypassed the magical barrier.

Thus the three of them found themselves stumbling

through drear brush in drear Mundania, and onto one of

the paved regions called highways, though in truth they

were low rather than high. Now Ivy and Electra could talk

to each other, but not to Grey, because Grey had been

raised with the nonsensical language of the Mundanes.

Grey demonstrated the magic of the thumb signal, to

make one of the cruising vehicles screech to a precipitous

halt. It didn't work very well until Ivy enhanced it slightly

by hiking up her skirt to show more leg. Then a monstrous

truck squealed to a stop, providing their first ride.

They let Grey do the talking, since they could not. Ivy

exchanged hand signals with Grey when she needed to,

and quietly pointed out the few interesting things to Elec-

tra, such as the odd boxlike buildings and colored lights

that always flashed bright red when the vehicle ap-

proached.

So it went, for an interminable journey along the as-

sorted and confused roads of this dull realm. They found

a public sleeping place called a bus station for the night;

the seats were not at all suited to comfortable sleeping,

but this was only another evidence of the craziness of

Man from Mundania
       
251

Mundanes. Ivy had to show Electra how to use the facil-

ities in the room for natural functions, and the girl was

appropriately awed. "How can they use perfectly good

drinking water for such a thing?" she demanded in a whis-

per. "Suppose somebody forgets and drinks it?" Ivy had

no answer; there was simply no explaining much of what

the Mundanes did.

As they stood before one of the strange unmagic mirrors

Ivy was surprised to notice how tall Electra had grown.

She was now as tall as Ivy, and looked mature, too. Ivy

realized that she had been too preoccupied with her own

concerns to pay much attention; Electra would have been

maturing all along. It had taken the stark mirror that

showed them standing together to make Ivy appreciate the

extent of it.

Grey got bits of wrapped food from the lighted standing

machines; he had saved some of their Mundane coins for

this purpose. Apparently the machines liked the taste of

metal better than real food and would give up their food

for it. Ivy had seen this on her last trip here, but Electra

was amazed. "When do the machines eat the food they

trade for the metal?" she asked. "Why don't they just eat

the metal to begin with, if they don't like the food?"

Again, Ivy could not answer.

They slept propped against Grey on either side, his arms

around each. Ivy wondered whether this was at all like her

brother's situation, with two betrothees. Innocent Dolph

would be satisfied to marry them both, the one out of

compassion, the other out of love. But the parents had said

No, No Way, Definitely Not, Absolutely Out of the Ques-

tion, and Never, so it seemed likely that they would op-

pose such a solution. Too bad, for Nada and Electra were

both so nice.

They finally reached Grey's apartment. It was hardly too

soon, for Electra wasn't feeling well. She had been eating

ravenously, never seeming to get enough, and had grown

somewhat short tempered and absentminded. She was also

quite dirty, so that she hardly looked herself.

Ivy had not liked this place before, but now it was bless-

252

ediy familiar. Her own room was unchanged, with plenty

of Agenda's food still on the shelves. She encouraged

Electra to eat what she wanted, and to clean up and don

one of the dresses in the closet, so she could be present-

able again. Then she went across the hall with Grey.

Com-Pewter's Sending remained; as soon as he turned

the machine on, they were able to talk naturally again. It

was a great relief.

SO YOU BROUGHT SOMEONE ELSE FROM XANTH, the

screen remarked.

"Yes, this is Electra, our chaperone," Grey said, as

Electra appeared at the door, cleaned and changed.

YES, IT IS PROPER TO HAVE AN OLDER PERSON IN THAT

CAPACITY.

"Oh, she's not older!" Ivy protested. But then she took

another look at Electra, and was amazed: the giri did look

older, like a woman of thirty or so. She had assumed that

it was dirt and wear on the clothing that had changed her

appearance, but now it was clear that those things had only

masked the true extent of the change. How could this be?

Grey, too, was surprised. "Electra, you're bigger and

older and, uh, fuller," he said. "Your new clothing makes

you look so awfully old! What happened?"

SHE is YOUNG? the screen inquired. WHAT is HER HIS-

TORY?

"She's actually from about nine hundred years ago,"

Ivy said. "A spell fouled up, and she slept until the pres-

ent, but she remained the same age until she woke. Until

now."

IT WAS FOOLISH TO BRING HER TO MUNDANIA, the SCTWIt

said. SHE is NOW IN THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING HER MUN-

DANE AGE OF NINE HUNDRED YEARS.

The three exchanged portions of a glance of sheer hor-

ror. "Oh, Electra, we never thought!" Ivy cried. "We

knew the magic folk couldn't come here—"

"It is of course my own fault," Electra said with sur-

prising maturity. "Naturally I should have realized that

this would be the case. I shall try to handle it in an adult

manner."

Man from Mundania
     
  
253

She was older emotionally, too! She was aging in every

way.

"How long before she, uh—?" Grey asked.

AT THE PRESENT RATE OF PROGRESSION, SHE SHOULD

HAVE ABOUT THREE MORE DAYS BEFORE BEGINNING TO FAIL

FROM OLD AGE, the screen printed.

"We've got to get her back to Xanth!" Ivy exclaimed.

"Patience," Electra demurred sensibly. "It required

two days for us to reach this destination; two days should

suffice for the return. We can accomplish our business in

the intervening day. I see no reason to jeopardize our mis-

sion merely because of my indisposition."

"Your indisposition!" Ivy exclaimed. "By the time we

get back to Xanth, you'll be an old woman! How could

you marry Dolph then?"

Electra smiled with the poise of maturity. ' 'That would