#5 Fancy Dresses and Alternate Dimensions: Octavia the Witch

I was living every fanboy's dream. Or perhaps I was every fanboy's dream, depending on personal preferences. I'd suddenly gone from clueless tagalong on extraordinary adventures to legendary hero destined to save the universe.

Or something like that.

Molly was still looking at me like I'd saved a puppy from a burning house and Locrio still had a calm, knowing smile on his face. In any other situation, I would've called the police if I saw someone looking at me like that, but I let it slide this time. Plus, I had a strong feeling that dialing 911 from another dimension wouldn't work too well.

"Do you feel any different, Amber?" he asked.

"Eh, not really," I said, looking myself over. "Am I supposed to sprout wings or something?"

Locrio looked at me pensively and then his face melted back to its calm expression. "I don't believe so. You aren't a groundling from Harmonia, are you?"

"A what from what?"

"Harmonia is the sky here," said Molly. "People with wings live there, but sometimes babies are born without them, so they have to live down here."

"So they're like duds."

"Very few of them will grow wings when they get older and that only happens under special circumstances."

"Like becoming a Fabric Healer."

Molly nodded. I looked back at Locrio and wondered if he had been trying to make a joke. If that was the case, he really sucked at it.

"So, that spell I just spoke or whatever. What is it?"

"It is the Secret Ancient Magical Language of Secoria," said Locrio in a lofty voice.

"Oh, so it's Latin."

"No no no. Secret Ancient Magical Language," he said, drawing out each word as though he were talking to a small child.

Pro-tip: It's always Latin. "Fine. Tell me what I said in this 'Secret Magical Language.'"

"Secret Ancient Magical Language. We must not forget that the older something is, the more powerful and important it is. What you said was an awakening spell meant to stir up hidden abilities. In your case, it awakened all the abilities a Fabric Healer might need. That's what all the light was for."

"So, what exactly is supposed to be different?"

"Your abilities should come gradually. They'll need to be exercised or drawn out. Each Fabric Healer's powers manifest differently because they don't all come from the same dimension."

Suddenly, my vision got foggy and my eyes itched like crazy. I rubbed at them frantically until it felt like I peeled my eyelids off. Neither Molly nor Locrio reacted in any way and I briefly thought about suing them if I went blind because of their complacency. After a couple minutes, the itching subsided and I opened my eyes to find everything covered in a florescent grid that spanned every color imaginable.

"What the?" I reached out and touched a red and orange section. It was smooth and warm, and it rippled a little bit under my hand. It was like touching the surface of a lake and not submerging your hand. "So, this is Fabric."

"You can see it?" Molly said excitedly. Honestly, the amount of emotion she had been showing was starting to scare me. What happened to that serious girl who doesn't understand sarcasm?

I wanted to reply with, "No, dear. I'm just sticking my hand in the air for no reason." What came out instead was a very genuine and very nice sounding "Yes. It's soft and it's. . .healthy." What the heck? When did I become the sensitive and almost saintly female character in a fantasy nov--oh wait. . .

I was starting to scare myself, so I decided not to think. I looked at Locrio, who seemed like he was itching to say something important that had to do with the next step in my quest to become a full-fledged Fabric Healer.

"Now Amber," he began, "it is time for you to take the next step in your quest to become a full-fledged Fabric Healer."

Well, there you have it. Also, why does it always have to be a quest? Why can't it just be a trip to the amusement park to buy cotton candy?

"You'll need a special book that can only be found here in the Super Secret Elven Library of Secoria," Locrio continued, "It's called The Fabric Healer's Guide to the Universe."

I'd heard that before. I'd definitely heard that before, or at least something like it. Did this mean that Earth was going to blow up and that the answer to everything was 42?

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," I said, feeling like my normal self again. "And isn't it supposed to be a guide to the galaxy?"

"It is a guide to all galaxies and all dimensions, all of which make up the universe," he said in an educational tone with one finger pointed up. "Now, I must summon it from its place in the deepest reaches of the library." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a few long seconds, he opened them again, lifted his arms and said, "Venio!"

Nothing happened.

Locrio stood there with an incredibly confused look on his face. Then, something seemed to dawn on him. "It's been stolen. The book's been stolen!"

Of course it was stolen. I'll bet it was stolen by some evil person who hates the Fabric Healer and now I have to get it back, I thought.

Locrio stroked his chin in contemplation. "I'll bet it was stolen by some evil person who hates the Fabric Healer and now you'll have to get it back."

I let out an exasperated sigh. Either Locrio was incredibly predictable, or he could read minds. I wasn't sure how much I liked either of those. "What kind of evil Fabric Healer hater are we talking about here?"

"There is only one person in all of Secoria who would dare to insult the Fabric Healer like this!" Locrio said dramatically. "Well, maybe two. . .or three. Five at most. Anyway, this one person is Octavia the Witch!"

Part of me felt like I should've gasped, but I didn't. The way Locrio struck a pose and held it didn't help much.

"Um, so, are we gonna go get the book?" I asked after a short, awkward silence, my voice echoing in the massive room.

"Of course," said Locrio, returning to his usual calm self. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't notice. "She lives in an old cottage next to a murky pond at the foot of the mountains north of here."

"That sounds like a long and involved journey," I said.

"It is. For the average person, of course. But Molly and I are Dimensional Guardians and you are the Fabric Healer. We can get there very quickly and put that Fabric Healer hater in her place!"

"Haters gonna hate," I said with a shrug.

"What?" said Locrio.

"Haters gonna hate, you know? Some people are just gonna mess with you and bring you down and whatnot, but there's nothing you can do about it because they're usually the stupid ones in the situation."

Locrio's eyes widened and he clapped his hands together. "Oh Fabric Healer Amber, your wisdom is wise!"

He had such a way with words.

"So, our innate specialness is gonna let us get this over with quickly? Let's go then," I said.

"Yes. We will use the inter-dimensional portal," said Locrio.

"I thought that only works for going to another dimension."

"If we can use it to travel to different dimensions, then of course we can use it to travel within the same dimension," said Molly without a hint of sarcasm or annoyance in her voice. "Sometimes you are very silly."

"Um, thanks?" I said. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment since she said it with a completely straight face.

"You're welcome. It is one of my favorite things about you. I'm glad that in addition to Dimensional Guardian and Fabric Healer we are also friends."

I had no snarky response to that. I didn't even have the desire to think of one. Molly was starting to grow on me.

Locrio closed his eyes and stuck his hand out in front of him. I could see that he was touching the Fabric, a blue section to be exact. I was pretty sure he couldn't see it, but he must've been able to feel it or something because he smiled and his hand glowed the exact shade of blue that he was touching. "Aperire!" he said and quickly brought his hand down as though he were tearing something down. One square of the Fabric stretched downward as he did so, revealing the black opening that I knew was the portal. Locrio stepped inside and beckoned us to follow him.

"Ten paces north," he said and the three of us walked leisurely and silently along the black tile path, Molly twirling her parasol every few seconds. I expected this inter-dimensional space to also be covered in the Fabric grid, but instead it looked the same as usual. I spent a minute or two thinking about it, and then I remembered how only one square of Fabric stretched when Locrio did his spell.

"Traveling through one square of stretched Fabric. . ." I said to no one in particular.

"Yes, but it only works for us on blue Fabric," said Molly.

"Wait, you can see Fabric too?"

"No. Dimensional Guardians can only feel Fabric. Or rather, we can only feel the blue Fabric that we can travel though. We only know that Fabric has colors because all the previous Fabric Healers wrote about it."

"Huh. So wait a second, how is this whole space not a connection between the dimensions?"

"It is, but it isn't a Direct Link. It's a space between dimensions that has no Fabric. We leave through the Fabric of one world by stretching it, not tearing it, and end up in this area of vague connectedness. We travel around in this space and then reach the blue Fabric of another world, which we sense and stretch open in the same way. In other words, one Fabric isn't connecting another Fabric so this isn't dangerous."

"All of these worlds are connected naturally. . ." I'm not gonna lie. That's kind of cool.

"They were created this way. None of them are the same, but because they all come from the same source they share this loose connection."

"Same source? You mean like God?"

There was a short pause before Molly spoke again. "Remember when I told you how Natasha is the kind of person who can only know that things are real if she can see them with her eyes?"

"Yeah. That's why she doesn't believe you about invisible pieces and stuff."

"Well, Dimensional Guardians can't help but believe that there are things that are real and true that are bigger and go beyond what we physically experience. We've seen patterns to things that others don't see and we know that there are many other things we can't see. There are even things that you can't see, even though you're the Fabric Healer. Basically, we believe that things that are true and real aren't limited to what we know and understand. It's okay to not understand things and not be in control of everything."

I felt like I was in a philosophy class, but what she said made sense and it was even kind of relieving. I hadn't been in control of anything ever since Molly first showed up and the more time I spent with her, the less understanding I had of anything. Somehow, hearing that it was all okay for things to be like that made me feel more at peace. My life was clearly going in a completely crazy direction, but now I felt that it was going to turn out okay. If there really was something bigger at work here, then I really didn't have to worry or be in control.

Locrio stopped and stretched open the Fabric just above a run-down and very creepy looking cottage. We landed silently in the overgrown grass and the second my feet hit the ground I was overcome with a feeling of dread. Looking around, I noticed that the Fabric here was faded and cracked, and for some reason that made me sad. Everything around was dying or dead; even the sky was faded into a dull gray and I noticed that the color of the Fabric matched.

The three of us approached the sad looking cottage and Locrio gave a hearty and insistent knock on the door. A small panel slid open and a pair bulging, uneven eyes peered out from the darkness inside.

"Ooooohhhhh, we have guests," said a slow, moaning yet somehow polite sounding voice. "We must recite the secret soooooong before I let you in."

"Secret song?" I said.

"I'll give you a hint: Trick-or-treat."

I understood everything now and I wanted to smack myself in the forehead. I had though we were done with the whole children's rhyming game thing after that incident with Jives, but apparently not. It did make sense, though. I mean, we were knocking on the door of a witch's house and I'm pretty sure whoever was at the door right now was a zombie; however, I had no desire to eat any candy from this house.

"Trick-or-treat," I said.

"Smell my feet!"

"Give me something good to eat."

"If you don't!"

"I don't care."

"I'll pull down your underwear!" The moaning that ensued sounded so delighted and cheery that I was starting to get concerned for Molly and I as the door creaked open. Sure we could probably fight him, but no one likes getting attacked by a pervert.

Standing there in the open doorway, however, was the cutest little zombie I had ever seen.

He was maybe three feet tall and completely wrapped in bandages. Had I seen him before hearing him, I would've mistaken him for a mummy, but I know a zombie when I hear one. His yellow eyes were wide with excitement and an even wider smile was spread across his face. In short, he was adorable. Creepy, but adorable.

"My name is Clef," he said, his voice like a revving chainsaw. "Please come inside."

We followed Clef as he slowly limped in the cottage. The place was dimly lit and seemed to consist of one giant room. Clothes and books were littered about everywhere and in the very middle was a giant boiling cauldron. Its contents were florescent green and standing in the glow above it was a green, warty, and angry looking witch. She was decked out in your standard witch apparel: black hat, bright orange hair, black cape, unnatural long nose, long wrinkly fingers, and so on and so forth.

"Clef!" she screeched. "What manner of tomfoolery is this?"

"Friends!" said Clef.

"No, Clef! No friends!"

"Aww," moaned Clef. His whole body slumped and he limped away to a dark corner of the room.

"Octavia," said Locrio authoritatively, "we've come for the book that you've stolen."

Octavia giggled shrilly. "Which book, deary? I've stolen many books in my time."

"You know the one. The Fabric Healer's Guide to the Universe."

Octavia's face fell into a scowl and she stared at me intensely. "So you're the one," she said, pointing a shriveled finger and walking toward me. "You're the one who's come to enforce the separation of the worlds! Fabric Healer my cauldron scum! You're afraid of change!"

"Creating Direct Links isn't the way to change things!" said Molly.

"Oh, hush. What's a few lives lost for the sake of creating the ultimate world! The Grand Master understand so much more than you ever will!"

"Molly, what is she talking about?" I whispered, but Molly didn't answer. I took that as a signal meaning she'd tell me later.

"Very well then," said Locrio, "Venio!"

A book the size of my torso sprang into the air and flew toward Locrio, but Octavia suddenly jumped up and caught it. Then, she fired some yellow sparks from her magic wand and we jumped out of the way just in time.

Molly already had her parasol fully charged and seconds later she doused Octavia with water. The witch screamed as she condensed into a puddle on the floor. "You haven't seen the last of me, Fabric Healer!" she said before she was forced into silence.

Locrio picked up the book and quickly walked out of the cottage. Molly and I followed. By the time we met him outside, he already had the Fabric stretched into a portal.

"She wasn't just saying that," he said quickly. "She will be back and it's best we get out of here as soon as possible."

I didn't ask questions. I was just as glad to get out of there. The whole place was strange and just very sick. Not even Clef's cuteness could redeem it. More than that, Octavia's talk about creating one giant world out of all the dimensions scared me. Was I supposed to stop that from happening? And the way she'd said that I was there to enforce separation didn't sit right with me. I had a lot to mull over and I was glad that neither Locrio nor Molly bothered to say anything as we made our way back to the library.