On Falling In And Out Of Storyside...

Part 11

            Jerry was dreaming. Huge noses were pulling on his Doc Martins and getting fluorescent snot all over his Girbauds while Naomi tore off pieces of her shirt to distract them. Just as she was about to tear off a part that would have certainly driven him to distraction, he woke to find himself lying in a large fourposter bed in a large room decorated with medieval furniture and tapestries, not unlike a castle room. A woman sat near him, hand on his arm. She was a willowy woman, not very tall, with a gown that was made of some type of deep azure silk. Her skin was incredibly dark and her hair, which was long and thick, was even more so. It hung in a long braid down her back with what looked like blue roses woven into it. She was more than just pretty, Jerry decided. She had a sort of mindboggling exotic beauty, which was not the worst thing in the world to wake up to after the dream he'd had.

            "I see you're awake," the woman. Jerry was stunned by her voice. It was powerful, yet soft, like listening to a queen and she spoke with an accent that he could only guess was British.

            "Uh, yeah," he guessed, assuming he was. "Where am I? Last thing I remember was lying under a drawbridge with Naomi and hurting a lot."

            "Experiences with Naomi do tend to be painful," the woman agreed.

            "Where is she right now?" Jerry asked, looking around.

            "She left to carry a message to someone, but brought you here to relieve some of your pain. You do remember being attacked by the alligator?" she asked him. He nodded, the memory still fairly vivid and she added, "How are you feeling now?"

            Jerry moved his arms slightly, sure he was going to at least feel some type of soreness. But, to his surprise, he felt nothing in the way of pain or even stiffness. He looked at his arms and saw a clean bandage around his arm that had a slight blood stain on it. "Am I still hurt?" he asked.

            "You still have your wounds, but no pain," said the woman. "You see, I can draw upon the pain you feel and use it as energy, but the actual healing process takes a different kind of magic. I'm waiting for Marcus to return to help you with that." Jerry looked confused, so she added, "Oh, how rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Robin and this is the Castle Eternity. I live here with my husband, Target, our children, Nina and Nicky and Marcus, my husband's apprentice. Naomi is (here she paused as if unsure how to word this next statement) a friend of the family."

            "Nicely put, Rob," said Naomi, entering the room. "Hey, you didn't die!" she added, coming over and sitting down on the bed.

            "Who said anything about me dying?" Jerry grinned.

            "I did!" Naomi said. "Remember, I said you were gonna die under the drawbridge?"

            "What a sense of tact you have, dear," Robin said sarcastically.

            "Dying?" Jerry said. "I thought you said 'flying'!"

            "What?!" Naomi exclaimed. "That doesn't even make any sense! 'Jerry, I hate to tell you this, but I think you're flying'? That's retarded!"

            "Well, the thing about that guy's nose was pretty weird, too, but I didn't complain!" Jerry retorted defensively.

            "What the heck are you...!" Naomi began.

            "Well, you're the one who..." Jerry started at the same time.

            "Both of you, stop it!" Robin commanded. Naomi and Jerry both stopped to look at her. She hadn't yelled at all, but her tone commanded attention. "Now, you both have more important things to worry about right now. Naomi, where is Joshua?"

            "At Daniel's," Naomi replied sulkily.

            "And have you told Christine to get him?"

            "No."

            "Then go do that," Robin said.

            Naomi got up off the bed. "Idiot human," she muttered to Jerry.

            "Stupid fairy," Jerry muttered back. Robin cleared her throat and gave Jerry a frown. "I meant her," he added hastily, realizing he was obviously speaking to another fairy.

            "Avoid general fairy insults and you won't have to worry," Robin said.

            "Yeah!" Naomi said.

            "Go!" Robin pointed a finger at Naomi and a little ball of light flew from its tip. Naomi was in motion almost at the exact moment the ball formed and had ducked down the hall. It followed her and Jerry could hear her yelp of pain in the distance. Robin smiled. "I've only recently learned to make them cut corners like that," she said proudly. "With her, you have to learn these little tricks. Now, as for you..." Jerry protectively pulled the sheets up near his chin and she laughed. "No, you're not in trouble. You just need to get dressed."

            Jerry's eyes opened wide. He checked under the sheets and found himself in his briefs. "That explains the breeze," he said, covering up again with a weak smile.

            "Hurry, now," said Robin, tossing Jerry his clothes as she left the room. "Naomi's about to do exactly the opposite of what I've asked her to do and I want to be there to see it."

 

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