Cassandra: Say My Name!

[Mizagium]

Chapter 1

Johnny’s girlfriend.

Cassandra instinctively reached for her bow. Ever since she was a child, all she had been was Johnny’s friend. The royal playmate. Now she was the prince’s girlfriend. No one even knew her name, not even this lowlife criminal holding a knife at her like an amateur. Oh, but he knew what she was.

“Yeah, that’s where I know you from—you’re the prince’s girl. Betchu got a lot ‘a money, huh? Why don’t you just hand it over so this don’t turn ugly, yeah?”

Silently, Cassandra drew her bow.

“Oh, come on,” he goaded. “Let’s not make this messy, yeah? Why don’t you put that away before you hurt yourself.”

“Sorry, man,” she said, “but I don’t have any money on me.”

“Lies! I know you’re in good with the prince boy. You gotta be loaded!” He tossed the knife between his hands, obviously trying to intimidate her. It didn’t work.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she replied slowly, “but I’m here on my own.”

He growled. “I know you got money!” The mugger lunged at her, knife first. She easily sidestepped the thrust and swung her bow around; it connected with the back of his head. He went down, still clutching the knife. She stood over him and stomped on his hand.

“My. Name. Is. Cassandra! Remember it!” She kicked him hard in the gut and left him there in the alley.

She had thought the city was a good place to lose herself in anonymity, but now she realized she was still too close to the palace—to Johnny. If even a lowly criminal knew about her relationship with him, then…what hope had she for the rest of the city?

Before stepping back into the flow of foot traffic, he put the hood of her cloak up and strapped the bow back. The hood might have made her more conspicuous, but it was the kind of conspicuous she needed. Hooded folks in Awesome Land and the surrounding nations tended to be incredibly powerful and wanting to be left alone. She was good for one of those and hoped everyone would just assume the other.

And it worked for a while. Nobody bothered her. Or tried to rob her. Or asked her if she’d left Johnny so that they could have a shot with him (not just girls, by the way). She was left alone. Nobody knew who she was. But that was the problem. Nobody knew who she was. Her entire purpose of going out on her own was to get people to know who she was! Angry at herself, she tore off the cloak and tossed it in the nearest dumpster. A few people looked her way, but her dire expression sent them away.

At that moment, Really Cool Land was not a very cool place to be.

But weren’t there a ton of other places to go? Awesome Land was basically within walking distance. Beyond that there laid Fun Land, Groovy Land, Dynasty City…and if she was desperate, Special Land. Even Ausum land was there…but she hadn’t heard of any ships going that way, air or sea. And besides, what would be the point? Really Cool Land was her home. If she was going to make herself known, it would be here.

But where to start?

Ventus City was more or less crime free thanks to the immediate presence of the Royal Palace. If she wanted to see some action, she would have to make for the countryside.

She was just getting ready to leave when the ground beneath her shifted. Everyone lost their balance as Ventus City began to shake. An earthquake? Maybe, but then the shifted changed. The ground began to stretch this way and that, no longer randomly. Each undulation became more regular, like something was bending the land in a specific direction. After a few minutes it seemed like the shaking had ended—but then half the city lifted into the air. Up it went until it formed a right angle with the rest of the city, but, amazingly, the people up there didn’t fall. Behind her, another section was pulled up, and then back down, creating a perfect 45 degree angle.

Just as everyone started to get their bearings, a deep laughter filled the air.

“Muahahahaha!” A man appeared out of a fold in the air. Not a portal, it was too…geometric. “Behold, Ventus city! I have resculpted you into a work of art!”

“Who are you?” Someone asked.

“Who am I? Who am I?”

“Yeah, that’s what I asked…”

“I am the great Soh, Cah, Toa!” He struck a pose. Cassandra stood in order to get a better look at him. He looked like the stereotypical math geek: white button-up shirt with a pocket protector, tan slacks and brown shoes, large, thick glasses, and a bowl-cut. “No geometry is beyond my comprehension, no angle to acute or obtuse, no—“ He didn’t get to finish. An arrow nearly struck him in the face. He reacted in time, folding the missile into a pretzel shape before letting it drop. “Who dares?”

“Me!” Cassandra notched another arrow with a flourish. “Cassandra Buresque!” She let it fly.

“Who’s she?” Someone whispered.

“I think she’s the prince’s girlfriend or something.”

“Shut up!” She shouted at them, taking her eyes off of the math wizard. “I’m more than just Johnny’s girlfriend!”

“Not much more, really. Do even have any powers?” Clearly, these people were not about to let her save the city. Which was appropriate, because Soh Cah Toa appeared right behind her.

“I’m a fair man,” he said smoothly. “I’ll give you a chance to walk away from this. Clearly, I can’t be hit by your arrows. In fact, I make pretzels out of them—I could even make them turn back on you. So how about you run along, and leave me to my work, yeah?”

To say she was pissed would do a great disservice to Cassandra. First, the mugger. Then the ungrateful citizen. Now this math wizard. She needed to hit something. Very hard. Soh Cah Toa was in the middle of forming the words “Thank you” when she hit him square in the jaw. He staggered back, stunned and a little hurt.

“How d—“

But she was on him again. Kick to the gut. Punch to the face. Bow to the back. Boot to the head. It was quite the massacre, so we won’t go into it. Her final blow smashed the glasses off of his face. Predictably, he began fumbling around for them. Ever so casually, Cassandra strode over to where they had landed and slowly lowered her foot on them. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

“You monster!” Soh Cah Toa screamed. “Give them back!”

“Put the city back, first!”

“I need them to see.”

“Put. The city. Back.”

He balled his fists, seething, but dared not strike her. “Fine.” And just like that, the city resumed normal angles. “Now, the classes…”

“One more thing,” she demanded. “What’s my name?”

“What?”

“What’s my name?” She lowered her foot again.

“I don’t-“ Crunch. “Cassandra! Cassandra something…” Crunch. “Buresque! Cassandra! Buresque!”

She smiled with so much venom. “Thank you.” She retrieved the glasses and tossed them back. “Now leave.”

“Yeah, I plan on it,” he muttered. “Oh look, you scratched the lenses. Do you know how expensive these are? And I just got them replaced , too…”

“Leave!”

“Whatever, crazy lady!” He replaced the glasses on his face, looking a bit sillier with scratched lenses. “But this isn’t over, you hear me? Once I get my lenses replaced, you’re on my list, Cassandra Buresque!” Space folded around him, and he vanished.

No one cheered. No one applauded. No one thanked her. Everyone just slowly went back to what they were doing, shooting odd looks her way. “Wow,” the muttered. “She’s a little…whoohoo in the head, huh?” “Crazy.” “She could have got us all killed.” “No powers at all.” “Useless arrows.” “Prince has got his work cut out for him, that’s for sure!”

She felt like screaming. Or crying. Or beating someone up again. Or maybe all three. How could they be like that? Was this why Johnny and Sarah weren’t adventuring anymore? Were people this ungrateful all the time when you saved their lives? What was the point?

On the verge of giving up, Cassandra started to walk back to the palace when she heard, “Excuse me, Ms. Buresque?”

She stopped dead. “Yes?”

A serious-looking woman nearly ran up to her and shoved a microphone in her face. Sharp blue eyes studied her. Blond hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. A professional suit adorned her frame, becoming jet black pumps. A reporter. “Cheryl Power, Channel 4 News. Mind if I ask you a few questions?” A cameraman appeared out of nowhere and put her in the center of the shot.

“Uh…sure?”

“Why did you decide to stand up to that madman?”

“Uh, well…” This was it, Cassandra. Time to sound like a damn hero! “He was, uh putting the citizens’ lives in danger. Someone had to do something.”

“Even though he never behaved antagonistically towards the people themselves?”

“Uh, well, see…”

“In fact, he was never given the chance to explain his motivations or demands at all.”

“Should I have let him? What he decided to use his geometry nonsense on someone? Then we’d have a murder!”

“And yet, you attacked him, potentially provoking him into doing just that. How do you explain yourself?”

She had no words. The fact that Cheryl Power was absolutely correct only made her angrier. “I’m done.” She started away.

“Ah, Ms. Buresque, one more question!” Reluctantly, Cassandra nodded. “My viewers want to know: Does your being here mean you’ve ended your relationship with Prince Johnny?”

“We’re done.” Cassandra shoved them aside and fled, angrier than ever.

“Well, there you have it, folks,” Cheryl spoke to the camera. “Cassandra Buresque. From royal playmate to public menace. Don’t you worry; I’ll be following this story as more develops.”

[Mizagium]

Chapter 2

“Stupid…math…ungrateful…” Cassandra grumbled to herself while she waited for her food. She wasn’t particularly fond of fast food, but the local Omnistar had been the closest place available after Soh Cah Toa’s dramatic exit. “Worthless…people…wizards…” When her food did arrive, she glowered at the waitress so that there would be no mistaking things: no tip, move along.

Something about the food made her almost lose her appetite. It seemed to quiver on her plate, despite appearing as a solid. Dubiously, she bit her burger, chewed it slowly, and swallowed. “Wait. The hell…? This is Shadow Food!” Shadow food was like regular food, only without any of the nutritional qualities it may or may not have had. She once had the displeasure of drinking shadow water, only to find it was an empty, soulless liquid. Her food now was much the same, only a bit more solid.

“Stupid Leon…” she muttered, picking at her shadow fries.

Cassandra Buresque was not off to a good start in her solo adventuring career. True, she had technically defeated Soh Cah Toa, but nobody really appreciated her efforts. They were all worried about other things like getting to work and not getting killed. Don’t they know she saved them all? And now she was potentially even further away from her goals.

“It’s all his fault,” he said to her shadow shake. “Stupid math wizards with their…numbers and their formulas and their…make out parties. I should show him what happens when he messes with me.” Then it dawned on her. “That’s it! I’ll find that nerd wizard—and beat his face in to show him how serious I am about becoming a famous hero!” Leaving the remainder of her shadow food unfinished, Cassandra bolted from the table, bow and quiver in hand, feeling less hungry than before, but possibly less nourished.

So wrapped up in her own thoughts, Cassandra had failed to notice Cheryl Power and her cameraman, Tyrone Stevens and the booth behind her. Cheryl hadn’t said a word, merely held her microphone close enough to record audio while Tyrone did his best to capture the archer’s good side. One Cassandra was out the door, Cheryl turned to the camera.

“Well, you heard it here folks, Cassandra Buresque, former and possibly current royal girlfriend, is off to punch nerds in the face. Will her roaring rampage of revenge be restricted to Soh Cah Toa? Or will it grow to encompass all lovers of the numerical arts? Stay tuned as I trail the violent woman and find out.”

-

Cassandra returned to the scene of the crime, where Soh Cah Toa had appeared and disappeared through a fold in space. Not for the first time that day, Cassandra reflected on her distinct lack of superhuman abilities. Johnny had insisted multiple times that anyone could jump as high as the moon and fly if they really believed they could, but Cassandra erred on the side of suspicion, and so never developed supraphysical abilities.

She had, however, learned a thing or two about powers and abilities, of which one of the more frequently used was portals. A shudder sized her involuntarily, remembering what lay at the center of all portals. Portals appeared as a hole in spacetime, an unnatural tear in the fabric of reality, a swirling vortex of nonreal dimensions. Soh Cah Toa’s means of transport did not appear to follow those conventions. With him, space seemed to fold in around him, rather than being rent open. The implications did not escape her: The math wizard could travel anywhere at any time, without running the risk of encountering the PFG, the greatest, most horrible deterrent to portal travel in all of the Awesome Universe.

Aside from a few wrinkles in the pavement where he hadn’t perfectly flattened it, Cassandra could discern nothing particularly interesting from the spacefold location. A few passersby gave her looks, but she ignored them.

“Where did you go, math wizard?” she demanded of the air. “I can’t beat you to a pulp if I can’t find you!” Frustrated, she clawed at the air in a vain attempt to catch a loose thread or something that might lead her to him. For a few minutes, nothing happened, and she prepared to leave. She gave it one last swipe—

--and the air unfolded. Like a geodesic origami flower, space opened…and dumped out a girl, not much younger than Cassandra. Maybe sixteen.

“Oww,” she whined and massaged her rear. The spacefold closed quickly, leaving no trace of its existence. “That hurt. I hate spacefolds, they always dump me on my butt.”

Cassandra just stood there as the girl picked herself up and brushed residue off her clothes—very dressy, almost like a school uniform. White button-up shirt, blue and orange striped tie, plaid skirt, leggings, and nice black flats. Wide hazel eyes seemed to struggle to take in all the world had to offer, and her short hair (about the same shade of light brown as Cassandra) was kept in place by a red headband.

“Oh. Hi!” She nearly jumped when she said that. “My name’s Mara Lee! What’s yours?”

Cassandra inhaled slowly, deeply, and exhaled. This scene seemed familiar. “Cassandra Buresque.” She did her best to ignore the fact that this Mara Lee didn’t know who she was.

“Hi! Have you seen a—oh wow, where am I?” Suddenly aware of her surroundings, Mara Lee pirouetted and took in the skyline of Ventus City in one dizzying spin. “Nice city, Cassy. Doesn’t shine as bright as Gillreq’t, though, but I guess that’s because you don’t have magic pumping through every pipe, huh? Oh! I’ve always wanted to say—Take me to your leader!” She giggled. “Yeah, that sounded dumb—oh! Have you seen a math wizard run by here?”

“It’s Cassandra, actually.” This girl was bubbly. Cassandra didn’t do bubbly. “And…a math wizard? Was his name Soh Cah Toa?”

“That’s the one!” Mara gave her a thumbs-up. “You seen him?”

“Uh, yeah, he just showed up here about an hour ago and tried to fold the city over itself.”

Mara Lee gasped, seemingly genuinely horrified. “Oh no!”

“Mhm. Then I…showed up and made him stop.” Might as well starting building her legend now.

Mara frowned. “Oh no, you didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“Not even a scratch. Truth be told, he got so scared when I showed up that he fled.”

“Where to?”

“Well, I’m not sure. He disappeared into one of those things you just dropped out of and I can’t go after him.”

Mara Lee nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, spacefolds are only taught in the college. It’s advanced level geometry, but Soh’s a master. I only just learned how to do it myself.” She rubbed the back of her neck and laughed nervously. “Geometry’s not really my thing. I’m only studying basic operations.”

“Oh, that’s, uh, cool.” Cassandra shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Usually, some other character was around to ask questions and move groups along. “Hey, so…do you think you could help me out?”

Mara Lee cocked her head to the side, decidedly like a puppy. “How?”

“Think you can open a spacefold and take me to where Soh Cah Toa went?”

Mara Lee rubbed her hands together thoughtfully. “Kind of. If he folded out of here recently, I can find the fold scar and trace it…in theory. I’m not very good, though. Also, I would need a map of this place. Folds don’t go in in a line, you see, they’re – “

“No, I understand. Portals work kind of the same way.”

The mathmagician’s eyes widened. “You guys still use portals around here? Don’t you know about the PFG?”

“Yes…we do…” Cassandra sighed.

“Well, ok. It’s your funeral.” She glanced dubiously around. “Stand back, please.” Cassandra did so, giving Mara Lee all the space she needed. The girl produced a notebook and a pencil from somewhere and began scribbling symbols which looked to Cassandra very much like a math problem. Appropriate, really, given the girl’s occupation.

“Ok,” Mara muttered. “That one’s my fold.” She tore out that paper and tossed it aside, scribbling again. All in all, the process took around fifteen minutes. “There! I’ve got the fold dimensions of Soh Cah Toa. Both folds opened at the same point somewhere distant. Now I just need a map of the area and I can find us a rouge wizard!”

“I guess we’re going to the library,” Cassandra shrugged.

“Oh! I love libraries!”

Elsewhere, Cheryl turned to face the camera. “What an interesting turn of events! Another math portal opens, and out pops a teenage girl; is she friend or foe? Who can tell when she allies herself with the dangerous Cassandra Buresque?”

Tyrone gave the cut signal and they raced off to follow Cassandra and Mara.

-

“Oh,” Mara pouted. “Cassy, I thought you meant a real library.”

Cassandra glanced around at the rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. “This…is a real library.”

“Then why is there only one floor? How come the librarians are secretly trying to uncover an ancient conspiracy your government is wrapped up in? Where’s the basement dragon?”

“Uh…just, come with me.” Cassandra pulled the girl towards the reference section, where the atlases were kept. Surprisingly, the number of atlases held by the Ventus City Royal Library amounted to exactly three: an outdated map of Awesome Land and her Surrounding Lands, a more recent version with Dynasty City and Crashed Super Land added (noted as “Post-Leon Veralice”), and a slightly out of date map of Really Cool Land. “This one should do.” They gathered it up and spread it over a large table. Cassandra smoothed it out while Mara plugged the map scale into her formula.

“I almost studied cartography,” she noted absently. “Maps are fun. But you can only record what’s there. Although I know a guy—dated my roommate for a while—says he can make maps of imaginary places and make them real! Seemed sure of it, too, but he stole money from me once, so I don’t believe him.”

Cassandra mostly ignored her, realizing how much of Really Cool Land she didn’t know existed: the Great Southern Forest, the mighty River Reiarn and its tributaries, and even the Four Queens Mountains. So much she hadn’t seen yet.

“Alrighty!” Mara Lee announced. “Got that formula all worked out, now if we just…” She basically crawled on top of the map on her hands and knees, muttering numbers to herself. Fingers pointed and traced invisible lines, head swiveled like it could fall off at any moment. “Aha! Here we are!” She hopped off and pointed to the southwest, a valley in the shadow of the Four Queens, and situated on the edge of the Great Southern Forest. “The Valley of Iron.”

Cassandra frowned. “The old mining region?”

“Seems appropriate, yeah? Plenty of caves for him to hide in. Shall we go?”

“Right now?”

“Weeeeell, not right now. I need to prepare the spacefold, but it’ll be quick since I just have to follow his path. Might be even easier if we use the fold scar in town, but I dunno. In case I doesn’t go well, I’d rather not put people’s lives in danger. You know, aside from us.”

Uh huh.

-

Cheryl and Tyrone followed the two girls from the library to an empty lot on the other side of town. Tyrone strapped the camera to his antlers and proceeded to walk the rest of the way on four legs. Cheryl strolled beside him.

“Don’t see how you two-legs do it,” he observed to kill time.

“Do what?” Cheryl asked.

“Walk on only two legs. I lose my balance if I’m up too long.” The Ruminant chewed at some cud gathered from some weeds that grew in the cracks in the sidewalk.

Cheryl shrugged. “We’re used to it. Although, I think I could do with another pair legs, yeah. That way I can run faster to chase leads!” She laughed.

“That all you think about?”

She never answered. They caught up to the girls and ducked around a corner. “What are they doing?”

“Just talking it looks like.”

“You rolling, Tyrone?”

“Always, Cheryl. Always.”

She smiled. Tyrone was a good cameraman, a good friend. He understood the importance of getting the story.

Mara Lee and Cassandra talked for a bit but then fell silent and the younger began writing in her notebook. More time passed, slowly, before she began to speak again. She shouted, calling out what seemed like a mathematical formula. Then the air suck in towards the empty lot, and a hole in the air seemed to unfold.

“Oh no!” Cheryl hissed. “That’s that portal thing they keep coming and going into—quick! Tyrone, we can’t lose them!” They took off running and reached the lot just as Cassandra disappeared into the fold and it began to close. With his front hand-paw, Tyrone seized Cheryl and tossed him onto his back. Now free, Tyrone sprinted at the portal, quickly closing the gap and jumping through at the last second.

He fell out onto hard stone.

The Valley of Iron.

[Mizagium]

Chapter 3

"Why would he come here?"

"I don't know." Cassandra picked her way around a particularly tight bend in the mine shaft. "I was hoping you could tell me."

Mara Lee made a loud "Hmm" noise that echoed throughout the narrow pass. "He always was reclusive. Maybe he came here, thinking no one would find him?"

"Maybe." It was true, no one came to the Valley of Iron anymore, not since the mines ran dry. A few towns remained scattered around the region, but they seldom interacted with the rest of the kingdom. They might as well be an entirely different land. She'd visited the lands before, long ago with her father. But that was then. Even during their hunts, the mines remained dark and uninhabited. Not so this time. Strange lights lined the shaft, leading them farther in.

The erratic curves of the tunnel became more regular, and the ground began to slop downward gradually.

"Hey, Mara?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we still being followed by that reporter woman?"

"Mhm. And that deer-guy."

"Thought so. Once we get closer, you're going to help me close off the passage, ok?"

"Why?"

"If we get into a fight with Soh Cah Toa (and I know we will, that's how these things go), they're just going to get in the way. If we block the way, they can't get in and mess things up for me."

"Ok! That way they won't get hurt either."

"Sure." She really couldn't care less about what happened to Cheryl Power or her cameraman, but if they got in the way of her big heroic moment, she thought she might turn her semi-justified rage on them. And that was something she couldn't afford to get caught on camera. She could see the headline now: Prince's Insane Girlfriend Attacks Reporters.

She shuddered at the very thought.

A little ways down, the passage opened suddenly, revealing a great cavern with a domed ceiling lost somewhere in the darkness.

"Oh, he's definitely in here," Cassandra muttered, drawing her bow.

"How do you know?" Mara Lee asked suspiciously.

"Oh please. Villains looove underground caverns like this. It even looks ancient and man-made. The perfect setting for a dramatic boos battle." Ignoring Mara's looks, Cassandra continued. "Come on, help me block the way."

Cassandra made to look for some lose rocks to roll in the way, but Mara Lee decided on an easier route. "Subtract: Tunnel entrance!" And the entrance to the tunnel disappeared, replaced with a smooth rock face. "Mathemagician," Mara Lee reminded her.

Cassandra nodded absently. "Get ready."

Right on cue, a ring of lights around the circumference of the cavern flared to life, revealing the width and breadth of the cave. It was massive, but mostly empty. In the center rose a great stone plateau that reached about halfway up. A series of stone steps wound their way around and up. With a shared shrug, Cassandra and Mara Lee began the arduous journey upward.

-

"How did they do this?" Cheryl demanded kicking at the rock wall. "They had to have come here! They had to!"

"Maybe they took a different tunnel?" Tyrone suggested, not really believing it.

"There are no other tunnels," Cheryl nearly shouted. "They went through here, obviously. But somehoe closed up the exit."

Tyrone set the camera down. "Well, you saw what that little girl could do. She opened that weird portal that took us here. I imagine closing off a tunnel would be no matter." He stood up on his hind legs and flexed his arms. "Speaking of no matter..." He delivered a sharp punch to the wall. "Oh yeah, I can take this." A second punch caused the rock to crack a little. "Sit tight."

"Have I mentioned how much I love you, Tyrone?"

"Buy me a drink sometime."

-

Both women were out of breath by the time they reached the top. Soh Cah Toh was waiting for them, arms cross, standing atop what appeared to be an altar. He cracked a smile, and began to laugh maniacally. "I knew you'd follow me here, ladies, that is why I - "

"Hey, buddy," Cassandra interrupted. "Can you give us a minute here? We just walked the entire way up." She sat down and tried to regulate her breathing.

Mara Lee splayed out across the smooth stone. "Yeah, give us like five minutes."

Utterly off guard, Soh Cah Toa only muttered, "Oh, ah, ok. Do you two need some water, or...?"

"No, no." Cassandra waved him off. "Just a minute to breathe."

So he sat down and waited while Cassandra Buresque and Mara Lee caught their breath. After a few minutes, they stood back up and dusted themselves off. "OK," Cassandra said, stretching her arms. "We're ready."

"Right." Soh Cah Toa jumped back up and spent a minute getting back into his previous mindset. "There we are--Hahahaha! I knew you'd follow me here! That's why I made sure I jumped to a location a knew well." He produced what looked like a black pen. "With this I can - " He was interrupted by a long, loud sigh from Cassandra.

"Seriously, dude. We're here to beat you up and arrest you and take you back to whatever crazy land you come from."

"Gillreq't," Mara Lee supplied.

"Whatever. Point is, you're fame fodder for me. So let's get this over with." She already notched an arrow.

Soh Cah Toa pocketed his pen. "Boy, you have no fun, huh?"

"Nope." She let her arrow fly. It didn't work last time. It didn't work this time. The arrow halted and bent before falling uselessly. Undeterred, Cassandra shot another one. The same thing happened.

"Really?" Soh Cah Toa mocked. "It didn't work last time; it's not going to work this time."

I...I just said that.

It wasn't until Cassandra shot her third arrow that Mara Lee acted. "Multiply by Eleven: Arrow!" True to her mathmagic, the one arrow became eleven. Still, Soh Cah Toa managed to stop them.

"You see? Your magic is weak." He muttered something and began to ascend. Then the room began to shift, bend and twist. Up and down no longer hand meaning. Moving left could send you to the right. Cassandra lost her balance and fell down, up, around, before landing somewhere on what had been the ceiling. "Geometry is malleable. Space is something to be conquered. Location is subjective."

But Mara Lee was not so easily defeated. "I studied some Geometry," she called. "I at least know how to protect myself."

"And I studied the basics, too! Add: Fifteen energy blasts!" The other side of the room exploded. "Sixteen! Seventeen!" More and more explosions wracked the chamber, defeating Cassandra's attempts to right herself. The non-Euclidean nature of the room's geometry made her head hurt, and would nearly made her sick, but she kept her eyes open. This was it. This was the end. She was going to die here in this chamber, known only as Johnny's girlfriend. She wondered where he was and what he was going.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Johnny?"

"It's me," Mara Lee whispered into her ear. "You should be safe from his space-warping. I'm going to keep him distracted, but you have to attack him. I've messed with some of your arrows." Then she was gone.

"Wait, what?" Sure enough, her headache subsided and she was able to stand and even open her eyes.

"It won't be of any use!" Soh Cah Toa shouted. "I'm the strongest one in here! I am the greatest Mathemagician alive!"

He sure does like to hear himself talk, Cassandra thought, notching an arrow. She didn't stop to consider what it was Mara Lee had done or how it was going to work. Such thoughts were not for potential heroes. The arrow flew and immediately split into a team of twenty or so. Soh Cah Toa stopped them all.

"You see? Even combined, you can't stop me!"

But that wasn't the end of it. The arrows kept multiplying. He was forced to divert more and more of his attention away from Mara Lee to stop them all. She fired another one. It didn't split, but hit his invisible barrier with much more force than it should have. Another one did the same. A fourth began rapidly multiplying.

"Multiplication spells," Soh Cah Toa growled, forced to hold them all back. Releasing his concentration long enough to bend them would give enough of them a chance to slip through. "I always hated multiplication." By now, Cassandra couldn't see him through the wall of arrows. She notched another that didn't feel like the others.

"Sub...tract," Soh Cah Toa said slowly and strenuously. "Arrows!" The arrows plaguing him vanished in a brilliant white flare. Cassandra let hers go. He hunched down, out of breath; he didn't see the last arrow until it hit his shield. The look of horror on his face betrayed a fact Cassandra would not have otherwise known: His shield was gone. He caught the arrow. "A subtraction spell?"

Mara Lee was already leaping at him. "Multiply Force!" She wheeled a fist back. "Times one hundred!" A magical aura surrounded her fist as she brought it down. Soh Cah Toa didn't have time to raise a barrier or mutter a spell; he barely had time to step away. Even so, he was still caught in the blast radius of Mara Lee's fist impacting the plateau. The Geometric spell on the chamber released and Cassandra slid to the ground, landing in a heap. Soh Cah Toa hit the wall and also hit the ground. Cassandra readied her bow and advanced on him, but Mara got there first.

"Soh Cah Toa," she panted, "Under the authority of the Gillreq't Mathemagician's Academy, I place you uder arrest."

But she didn't get the change to touch him. He laughed again as the stone behind him unfolded and sucked him in. Both women ran for the spacefold, but it closed supernaturally fast, leaving them panting and bruised.

The sound of a single person clapping echoed throughout the chamber. Cheryl Power stood there in the newly opened tunnel, Tyrone beside her, camera rolling. "Wonderful, just wonderful!" She ran towards them, beckoning her cameraman. "You took on the crazed wizard and nearly had him in your grasp! What do you have to say for us?"

Cassandra lowered her bow. "Well, I - "

"Not you!" Cheryl shoved her out of frame and put the microphone in Mara Lee's face. The young girl watched Cassandra stomp out of the cavern, but was unable to get away from the reporter.

[Mizagium]

Chapter 4

Mara Lee found Cassandra in Ventus City after a couple hours of searching. She had wandered off to the city park and was just sort of standing there, staring off at the pond. A pile of rocks sat at her feet.

Plunk. Plunk.

“Hey, Cassy?” Mara Lee ventured, easing up to her.

“Hey.” Cassandra didn’t turn around. Plunk.

“Are you…ok?”

“Oh suuuuure. I’m fine.” Plunk. Plunk. PLUNK.

“Cass…” Mara Lee was beside her now, watching her throw stones at the water.

“I never wanted to be famous, Mar. Some people do, but I didn’t. That wasn’t what my dad taught me. ‘We serve the royal family,’ he told me. ‘Nothing more, nothing less. Their success is our success.’ And then he died.” Plunk. “And I didn’t blame them. They tried to console me at the funeral, but I didn’t need it. He died in their service. He died doing what he loved.” Plunk. “He never wanted thanks or recognition. And he’ll never get it. But that’s how he wanted it.”

Plunk plunk plunk.

“I don’t want fame, Mara, but maybe a little recognition, yeah? Something other than ‘Johnny’s girlfriend.’ Is that so hard?” PLUNK. “Is it? Is that so much to ask?” Plunk. She was out of stones. Cassandra sat down and pulled her legs to her chest. “And it isn’t his fault, not really anyway, but I got so angry at him…and we fought last time we saw each other.”

Mara Lee sat down next to her. “Then why don’t you go find him and make up?”

“I can’t. Not after what I said.” She sighed. “Also, I think he’s run off to some other dimension to do something.”

“I’m sorry, Cass.”

She shook her head. “Not your fault, girl. Right now I’m blaming that reporter.”

“If we bring in Soh Cah Toa, I’ll be sure to mention you when they interview me.” Mara Lee lost her composure by the end and started snickering.

Cassandra had to grin in spite of herself. “So, math-girl, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Mara sobered up quick and didn’t jump up when Cassandra did. “Well, there’s a problem. When he jumped, he didn’t just jump through space…he jumped through time.”

“And you can’t track him?”

“No through the fourth dimension, no. That’s like…Grade S level theoretical math that I thought didn’t exist until earlier.” She grimaced. “Sooooo I don’t actually know what to do now.”

Cassandra groaned. “I…I know what to do.”

“Huh?”

“I know a guy. Can you get me to Fun Land?”

-

The other end of the spacefold revealed the great Clock Tower. Mara Lee stopped, dumbfounded. “Whoa…it’s the…THE Clock Tower. Like…Like…Like…Time Keeper!”

But Cassandra was already pounding on the door. “Hey, Knox! Let me in; it’s Cassandra!”

Mara Lee’s mouth dropped. “What? You…like, know him?”

“Hmm?” Cassandra kicked the door a few times.

“He’s an Immortal, Cass! How do you know him?”

“Uhh…” Cassandra thought back. “I dunno. Some stuff went down with some illegal blackjack dealers, then it turned into save-the-world stuff, then he just kinda stuck around. Then we got really depressed for a while.” The door swung open. “Also, he’s kind of sleeping with Johnny’s sister. Come on, he’s in there somewhere.”

Cassandra lead the awestruck Gillreq’tian through the Clock Tower, calling all the way. They were about halfway up the seemingly deserted tower when they heard someone whispering.

“…on Old Man, you can’t go yet.” The two girls crept up to an ajar door and peered inside. Knox was seated by a bed, on which an infirm elderly man lay. “You need to tell me what to do.”

“Knox?” Cassandra said. He whipped around, panic in his eyes—then he relaxed. “Ah, Cassandra. Sorry, I…didn’t know anyone was here.”

“It’s ok.” She pushed the door open more and stepped inside. She recognized the old man. She had seen him with Knox around a few times, but couldn’t remember the name. He was some Immortal. “What’s wrong?”

“Theska’s in a bad way.” She noticed that Knox had changed his outfit since last they met. No long adorned in robes of a defunct organization, he wore a rather fancy-looking suit that appeared over a century out of date, but nevertheless, was quite handsome. “It’s…over for him.”

“I’m sorry,” Cassandra muttered moving closer. “Is…can we do anything?”

“I don’t know.” He looked at Theska and grimaced. “Maybe. Theska, hey, it’s Knox. I know you’re doing your best, but please: I need you to come back and tell me what to do next. Where did you go? Did you find who you were looking for? Please.”

Suddenly, Theska seized Knox by the arm and pulled him close. He whispered something quickly, urgently before letting go and falling back into cataonia.

“No!” Knox shouted. “Wait, I still don’t – “ But it was too late. Theska’s breathing slowed. With each exhale, he seemed to expel more and more of his life. When he breathed his last, the room became deathly still. Everyone waited, unsure of what exactly they were waiting for. Just…something.

Then that something happened. A bright light erupted from Theska’s chest, a brilliant sphere of the purest light. Knox caught the sphere in his hands. “Cassandra,” he said solemnly.

“Yeah?”

“Will you accept the Immortal Element of Light? To be its caretaker until such time as the proper owner may be found?”

She knew her mouth was hanging open, which was no way to behave at a time like this, but… “What?”

“Theska tried to locate the next Immortal of Light before he died, but he wasn’t able to reach her in time, so he came back here. Now I have to get this to her.”

“I get that, but why do you need me?”

“An Immortal can’t possess two Elements at once. It’s some law or something. So he wanted me to entrust this to you, at least until we can find the next Immortal. Will you help me?”

Mara Lee and Cassandra exchanged a look. “After that, will you help us with something?”

“Of course, but right now…”

“Yeah. Um. Ok. I accept.”

“Very well.” Knox stood, bearing the Light carefully. She could see that the bed behind Knox was now vacant. “Cassandra Bureque. In the names of Seraphina and Delmerith, I name you Interim Bearer of the Universal Element of Light. Bestowed upon you are all the powers and abilities, duties and responsibilities of an Immortal until such time as a permanent vessel may be found. Bear this office with grace and dignity; it is not something we toss around too often.”

“I will. Thank you.”

The sphere of light floated from his hands to hers. Warmth filled her body, starting at her finger tips and spreading throughout. A strangeness overtook her, a sensation of power, but also connectedness. Bonding to the Light filled her with knowledge she couldn’t quite comprehend, and probably never would. She understood that she could do anything, and yet that she shouldn’t. And permeating it all, was the faint presence of another, watching, ready to step in and offer a hand if needed. And…another, far away.

“I can feel her,” she said once acclimated to the Light.

“Who?” Mara Lee asked.

“The next Immortal.”

“Good.” Knox glanced back at the empty bed and frowned. “That saves us some time. Where do we need to go?”

“Some place called…Funky Land?”

Knox nodded. “East of Groovy Land. Lotta music stuff there. Not as much as Ausum Land, but whatever. Let’s go.” He summoned up his Time Keeper powers, his generic Immortal teleporting abilities and- “Before we go…Thank you, Cassandra.” –they disappeared.

To be Continued in Awesome Land!: A Rebooted Story...