#7 Fancy Dresses and Alternate Dimensions: The Inter-Dimensional Tour Part One

After the feast, Locrio stood with his arms raised to call everyone's attention. The dull conversational murmur ceased at once and he cleared his throat dramatically before speaking.

"I hate to cut the festivities short, but we must move on with the business I discussed earlier. Fabric Healer Amber must begin her Inter-Dimensional Tour."

"Tour?" I said, giving him the perpetually raised eyebrow I gave to everything else.

"Yes. You must present yourself to all the citizens of all the dimensions as the new Fabric Healer."

"All of them? How many are there?"

"Thousands and thousands, and there are many undiscovered ones as well. Of course, you only need to go to the main ones and then word will spread quickly enough to all the others. The Fabric Healer is a big deal and I am certain that by doing this now, we will be able to win over a large percentage of people who have lost confidence in you."

Great. I hadn't even done anything and already I was somehow responsible for people's hopelessness.

"First, I will take you around Secoria. Then, Molly will take you around Portchester, Vincent will take you to Triassica, and Michael and Ophelia will take you to Walden. We'll all be with you the whole time, of course, and after those four we will figure out where to go next. It's best to take the Inter-Dimensional Tour in small pieces."

"Sounds great," I said with a sigh. It's not that I didn't want to go dimension hopping, but I was getting worried about going home. I had no idea how much time passed in my own world, and before getting roped up into all of this I was out doing some casual shopping on a nice weekend. By now, David might've called the cops and filed a missing persons report. Then again, he never really questioned where I was going when I went out. Not after--well, yeah.

Anyway, Locrio called to Michael and Ophelia so they could introduce themselves to me. They walked over with much more swag than I would've expected from fourteen-year-olds. From what I could tell, they were twins or at least related. Both had blonde hair and leather hats with goggles on top. They looked like typical bored teenagers with their lazy eyes and pursed lips. I scowled because one thing I can't stand is cocky brats and these two seemed to be the epitome of cocky. When they spoke, their phrases were short and unenthusiastic.

"Michael."

"Ophelia."

"We're Dimensional Guardians from Walden."

"But you've probably never heard of it." Ophelia shrugged and looked away while her brother looked in the opposite direction.

"Actually, I heard of it a few seconds ago from Locrio," I said, crossing my arms. The twins' eyes snapped forward and they glared at Locrio as though he had revealed a huge secret.

"So," I said after a few seconds of awkward silence. "Nice goggles. What do they do?"

"Nothing," they said simultaneously and looked away from each other again.

"These are just for aesthetic appeal," said Ophelia.

"Yeah, we left our real pairs at home. We don't want other dimensions figuring out our technology," said Michael.

"Why not? If we're all allies then it only makes sense."

"If everyone found out about it, then there'd be no point in even using it anymore and we'd have to come up with something new that no one's ever heard of," said Ophelia.

I groaned. This kids were going to test both my patience and my logic.

"Well then, shall we get going?" said Locrio. "We have much ground to cover and Secoria is one of the larger dimensions."

Of course it is. Fantasy worlds are always ridiculously large.

So, Locrio led Molly, Vincent, Michael, Ophelia, and I out of the library (I swear, I must've been in and out of that place at least a million times before we finally left Secoria for good). It took us awhile to leave the forest because Vincent and the twins had to use the bridges between the branches. Meanwhile, Molly and I flew out on her parasol and Locrio jumped ahead of us from tree to tree.

We emerged ten minutes later in a luscious field underneath a sky filled with the brightest stars I'd ever seen. The difference at night between places with artificial lighting and places without is stunning. Not only could I see the brightest stars, but I could also see the dimmest ones. I wondered briefly how many of those stars were other dimensions and how many were dead. The air was warm and it wrapped around me like a soft blanket, reminding me that I was tired and I'd just had an incredible meal. A light breeze carried the fresh scent of healthy grass and I felt so relaxed that I just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. Maybe I'd have woken up back home and this entire journey of Molly whisking me away from my weekend of aimless shopping would've turned out to be a dream.

I wavered a lot back then between accepting my responsibility as Fabric Healer and just wanting it to be an extended fantasy. Maybe I was passed out on my desk from studying, or maybe I really was supposed to save the universe. I couldn't deny the Fabric itself, though. It was glowing, vivid, and always blended as it passed from color to color. I could see that this field was very healthy. I stooped down to touch the grass and felt a surge of warmth through my body. Yes, this is how Fabric was supposed to be.

"Is something wrong, Amber?" said Molly.

"No," I said. "It's just healthy here. That's all."

"Try not to let yourself be overwhelmed by the Fabric," said Locrio.

"Mhmm." I wasn't paying attention. In fact, I barely heard him and it took Molly poking me in the head with her parasol a few times before I shook my head and snapped out of it. "What--what happened?"

"It's easy for new Fabric Healers to be consumed by the effects of healthy and unhealthy Fabric," said Locrio. "Be careful, but don't worry too much about it. A little mind training will fix it up."

"Mind training?"

"It's in the Guide."

"You know, I'd love to read through this Guide and learn all these things you keep saying are in there, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and go through it because you keep making me go places."

"Not to worry, Fabric Healer Amber! I shall carry you upon my back so you may focus all your energies on studying!" said Vincent, stooping down so I could climb on. I stared at him for a few moments, hugging the Guide to my chest. It took awhile before I got used to him talking to me, but I was slowly realizing that he had no intentions of harming me or any other human.

So, I climbed on his back and settled into the crevice between his neck and shoulders. I leaned the book against one of his spikes and read in the starlight. Between their brightness and the way my eyes made everything easier to see, I felt like I was just reading under a lamp. Vincent trotted along with the others and I lost myself in the pages of the book.

To say that The Fabric Healer's Guide to the Universe is a tome is sort of an understatement. I mean, it contains thousands of years worth of observations, personal accounts, research, and other miscellaneous information. I started with the first section, "Fabric Healing 101: Everything You Need To Know About Saving the Universe" written by Topaz, the first Fabric Healer, and translated into modern English by Locrio, current chairman of the Inter-Dimensional Alliance of Harmony and Order. All of that took up more than half of the first page, but at least it all sounded official.

If you're reading this, then congratulations! You are the Fabric Healer. You might be wondering what to do next, or perhaps you've already been thrust into a life-threatening situation and discovered one or two of your new abilities. Don't worry. I've lived a long life, and I've spent most of that time as the Fabric Healer. After all this time, I've compiled everything I know into this book for you and for every Fabric Healer that will come after me.

The first thing you must understand is that the prophecy of the Fabric Healer came about the instant the first two dimensions made a connection with each other. Those dimensions were Secoria and Portchester. To Portchester, Secoria was a mixture of legends from their past. To Secoria, Portchester was vaguely reminiscent of the most current trends in fashion and architecture. Both worlds were undoubtedly shocked at the other's existence and in those days there were no restrictions on who could travel back and forth between them. Dimensional Guardians did not exist until I came along and by then, there were so many Direct Links between Secoria and Portchester that I had no other choice but to sever them as an unexperienced Fabric Healer. It was a risk that could have killed me easily, but I have seen evidence that a greater force is at work, ensuring that what needs to happen will happen. In order to save two dying worlds, I had to do everything from performing the first studies on Fabric to stopping people from traveling between dimensions. This is how I discovered the Dimensional Guardians. Like me, they were given special abilities that protected them from the negative effects of going between worlds. With their help, I was able to stop more Direct Links from forming and slowly break the ones that were already there.

All of this is to say that the Fabric Healer came about as a necessity. As good as it is for all dimensions to be connected, there are many things that can go wrong and whatever force is ultimately in control has planned for this. Therefore, the Fabric Healer and the Dimensional Guardians exist.

I paused from reading and looked around at the Dimensional Guardians with me, feeling a strong sense of camaraderie. Topaz had to figure everything out for herself like I did, but she didn't have anyone to look to for help except for the Dimensional Guardians she found. The fact that they were coming with me--even the brats--meant everything. I didn't have to face it all alone.

An hour or so later, we wandered into a small village and shocked the citizens by our procession. With one look at me, however, they started shouting, "The Fabric Healer is here!" and we were immediately welcomed into the first inn we came across. The innkeeper gave us his best rooms and offered us his Spring Time Special Meal for free. I told him we'd already eaten, but he insisted and I'm not one to deny free food for long so I took it. I could instantly tell why this was a special. The steak was tender with floral seasonings that created a very interesting and satisfying taste combination (it almost topped my brother's steak. Almost). The grilled vegetables were grazed ever so slightly with honey to give them a sweet but subtle flavor.

I shared a room with Molly, but spent most of the evening reading. I skipped a few pages ahead to the part where Topaz listed and explained her abilities. I remember Locrio saying that each Fabric Healer has different skills, but I wanted to see if there were any similarities. The only thing I had so far was seeing Fabric and improved vision.

I. Ability to see Fabric as a collection of colored spheres.
Fabric spans every color of the visible spectrum and it consists of colored spheres that are interchangeable. By switching Fabric around, I have been able to create islands in the sky and bodies of water in deserts.

Well, that was certainly different from me. As far as I knew, Fabric was just a colored grid that could be stretched. I never thought that a Fabric Healer could be powerful enough to change geography.

II. Ability to revive dead Fabric by touch.
I was able to sever the Direct Links by restoring the Fabric around them and weaving it together so it won't tear again. Now, the Fabric looks more like a woven basket than spheres.

That would explain why all of it was a grid now. I figured that future Fabric Healers continued her work of reinforcing the Fabric like that in all the dimensions.

III. Ability to use the magic of any world at any time no matter what dimension I am in.
Once I became a fully realized Fabric Healer, I had the skills of every dimension at my disposal. I learned as much as I could from as many different worlds as possible and I advise you to do the same. Dimensional Guardians can only use their own abilities

The only problem there was that I tried to use the parasols I got when I first helped Molly as soon as I was back in my own world, but they didn't work. Then again, I wasn't officially the Fabric Healer at that point.

IV. Ability to bend Fabric to hide my location.
This came in handy when confronting those who attempted to travel to the other dimension despite my warnings.

That was the last thing. It didn't sound like much, but that third item really encompassed everything and it's the one that Fabric Healers have spent the most time on. I closed the book, set it on the nightstand beside my bed, and crawled under the blankets. Molly followed suit and after saying goodnight, we were sound asleep within a few minutes.

That is, until Locrio barged into our room and said. "You must come quickly. Octavia has returned and she's destroying the village!"

The two of us jumped to our feet and I was grateful that I'd read about Topaz's abilities. At least I had some vague idea of what to do. As we ran down the stairs, I could hear the chaotic screams and had to push through a thick herd of frightened villagers before finally making it outside.

There she was, floating in the air with her arms outstretched and throwing fire every which way she could. To the average eye, her aim would've seemed terrible, but I knew right away that she wasn't using ordinary fire. She was using fire that could burn Fabric.