Mutante: Chapter 28
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
Rosie shuddered as Mr. Ocean’s presence finally faded. With an effort, she followed his instructions, letting all the love that had filled her pour out in the spell. The snail shell, which had somehow appeared around her actual neck, now began to glow and hum. Tendrils of glowing gold power burst from the shell and twined down her arms, sinking into her skin. She took a deep breath, new vitality filling her lungs and leaving her feeling as though she could swim around the kelp forest and back.
“Restored in health—body, spirit, and mind,
let this potion work, no matter the time.”
Rainbow light suddenly burst forth from the potion and then went out.
Robert blinked at her. “Was it supposed to do that?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Thomas?”
The mirror’s eyes were wide. “What did you do, Miss Rose?”
“I—” Rosie shifted uncomfortably. “I followed the spell.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “And? I’ve never seen power like that before. Was it the fireworm’s blessing or—” He glared at her. “Please tell me you didn’t call on the ocean.”
Robert gasped. “But—’a fate worse than death!'”
She sighed. “I couldn’t let Aquaria suffer. And—I couldn’t lose my grandmother. I—yes, I called on the ocean. He was—nicer than I would have expected. Anyway, I’ll tell you all about it later. We don’t exactly have time to waste. Oh, he says to warn you that the aftereffects are perfectly normal.”
“The aftereffects?” Robert squeaked.
“I have no idea, and he didn’t exactly give me time to ask about it.” Nor did she wish to gain his attention again if she could help it, especially if it involved him invading her mind again.
Thomas blinked and then cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose, as it cannot be changed, you should bottle this potion and take it to Madam Essie.”
Rosie nodded and began searching through her grandmother’s potion kit for an appropriately sized bottle.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Robert asked, pulling her into his arms. “I was so worried. I’m still so worried.”
She returned his hug and then loosened her hold, looking up at him. “I think I’m fine. At least I’m fine right now. Ominous warnings seem to be kind of his specialty, but I can’t exactly let that run my life. I mean, I’m already a mutante. If I start worrying about every little thing, I’ll go mad.” For the first time, that felt true. She couldn’t control who she was, only ride the beast or be trampled. And not only would worrying not change anything, it would make her less capable of managing whatever happened in the now. Somehow, it made returning home less daunting. There would be a host of consequences, but after being in Mr. Ocean’s presence, everyone else’s disapproval seemed rather small, even her mother’s. She would manage it when it came.
“I—” Robert studied her. “You look different, and what is that necklace?”
“I’m still me. I think being around Mr. Ocean just—put things in perspective. And can we talk about the necklace later? After all this trouble, I’d really like to save my grandmother.”
He nodded. “Ok. I’m holding you to that.”
Rosie finished bottling up the potion and then they followed Thomas’s directions to get to the rough stone tunnel that went to the house.
“Waterdancer won’t fit,” Robert said flatly. “Unless there’s some expansion charm embedded in the tunnel?”
Thomas frowned. “I do not know. Madam Essie never took me down here, only informed me of its existence.”
“Great. Go up top through Rina’s traps or leave Waterdancer here,” Robert snapped.
Rosie bit her lip. She really didn’t have any magic to spare right now or she would ask Thomas for a magical solution. “It’s up to you. Try it or not?” she asked Robert.
Robert sighed. “I hate to risk it; I can’t carry Thomas and have my sword ready.”
“I’ll carry Thomas and the potion—if that’s all right with you, Thomas?”
The mirror nodded.
Rosie smiled at Robert. “There. We can manage without Waterdancer if you want to use the tunnel.”
Robert ran a hand down Waterdancer’s cheek. “It won’t be for long, boy. You can be patient, can’t you? I don’t want to take you outside and risk running into more of Rina’s traps.”
The seahorse nickered.
Robert hesitated. “All right. Let’s take the tunnel.” He took Rosie’s hand for a moment. “I’ll go first.”
She shook her head. “I think I’d better go first.”
Robert opened his mouth to protest.
“No, hear me out. I know what Rina’s magic looks like now. If she put any more traps on the tunnel, I’ll be able to tell you so we can avoid triggering them.”
Robert crossed his arms. “And will you get behind me if there are other dangers?”
“Of course. I don’t know the first thing about fighting a sword.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like this idea, but all right. You go first.”
Rosie dropped a mock curtsey. “Thank you, sir knight. I shall endeavor to be a model maiden.”
“I would appreciate that, Princess. No need to throw yourself into danger.”
Rosie chuckled. “I don’t have the least intention of doing so.”
“And yet, you seem to manage it all the same,” Robert said chidingly.
Rather than try to excuse her perfectly reasonable behavior, she swam into the tunnel.
It was odd to see the glow of magic on the rock walls while still knowing that Robert was in pitch black. Magical glow didn’t illuminate much, but at least the tunnel’s limits were clear. She held the glow lantern high, trying to ensure her companions could see well enough.
After what felt like ages, they came to the end of the tunnel.
“There’s nothing there,” Robert murmured.
Rosie shook her head. “I can see the outline of a trapdoor in magic, but it’s not visible.”
“The password is ‘kraken kisser,'” Thomas said dryly.
She rolled her eyes. “That sounds like a password Grandma would use.”
After passing Thomas to Robert, Rosie put a hand on the center of where the door must be and said the password. The trapdoor shimmered into visibility, and she slid back so Robert could poke his head through first.
“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “Looks like we’re in the kitchen.”
Rosie followed him out and they began making their way back to Grandma’s workroom, hoping the creature would have returned there. Their cautious searching was like a life or death game of find-the-minnow. It was tense work, made even worse by the fact that every so often they ran across some of Rina’s magic.
“This one is tied to the doorknob,” Rosie whispered. “I have no idea what it does.”
Robert grimaced. “Let’s not find out. There’s another way to the workroom, isn’t there, Thomas?”
“Indeed,” the mirror murmured, showing a map of Grandma Essie’s house and highlighting a second route.
With an internal sigh, Rosie moved to follow Robert as they retraced their steps, carrying Thomas. Her previous exhaustion, so completely gone before, was gradually returning. Every so often, another patch of sickly grey-green appeared and Rosie would have to guide Robert around it. The sooner they reached Grandma, the sooner she could rest, she told herself a hundred times. Grandma could deal with the rest of Rina’s mess. She probably had some kind of reset spell to get rid of all foreign magic on the property.
Maybe a nap wouldn’t be out of the question.
Finally, with only twelve minutes to spare, they reached the workroom’s lower entrance. Rosie reminded herself that she just had to spell the kelp into the monster’s belly and then she could finally collapse. The door was still open and lights blazed from inside.
“If you will simply lean me against the doorframe, I believe Ranulf will not see me as a threat and I can determine whether he has indeed returned to the workroom,” Thomas breathed.
Rosie hesitated, but Robert nodded at her, so she gently slid the mirror into the workroom, angling it so Thomas could see around the corner.
“He’s asleep,” Thomas reported in a whisper. “In the upper left corner.”
“I can’t do it without seeing him,” Rosie murmured.
Robert opened his mouth and then closed it. He gestured for her to follow him, and then the two of them slipped into the workroom. The moment Robert passed the threshold, Ranulf’s many eyes popped open, and the monster whooshed towards them. Rosie yanked the kelp ball out of her pouch and glanced towards Thomas, ready to read off the new spell.
Then the room tilted.
Rosie’s chest grew tight; she couldn’t get enough air. Spots danced in front of her eyes. What was happening? Her hands began to shake, and the kelp slipped out of her fingers and floated away.
“Robert!” she called, her voice frantic.
Robert, who was whipping his sword in front of them, creating a sort of shield to prevent the tentacles from getting through to them, glanced back at her.
“I can’t—I can’t—” She sank to the floor as Mr. Ocean’s energy fled. She tried to raise herself up, to do something, to help or to at least get out of the way, but her arms collapsed.
“Rosie!” he screamed.
The monster took advantage of Robert’s moment of distraction and tentacles wrapped around Robert’s tail.
“Robert,” she whimpered, her vision beginning to blur.
Somehow, he freed himself and forced Ranulf back several feet, slicing at it.
“Sir Knight, the kelp is just below you!” Thomas called.
Sword slashing in one hand, Robert sank towards the floor and felt around for the kelp with Thomas shouting instructions. Finally, he grabbed hold of their neat package and then, with a glance towards Rosie, he took a deep breath and threw himself towards the monster’s mouth.
“No!” she cried even as the tentacles took hold of him, squeezing tight around his middle.
Robert shoved his hand into the monster’s mouth, pushing the kelp past the thing’s sucking maw.
The kelp traveled through Ranulf’s clear throat even as Robert turned red, the monster’s tentacles a vise around his chest. Robert slashed at the monster again, trying to get a good swing in, but the tentacles held his arm fast.
Rosie shoved herself up, still unable to do more than raise the upper half of her body. “Thomas! What do we do?” She couldn’t see the mirror, but she didn’t know who else to ask for help. Maybe Mr. Ocean again?
“Ranulf!” Thomas shouted. “Let him go! He’s not one of Rina’s agents!”
Mr. Ocean it was. Rosie put a hand around the snail shell, hoping it would strengthen her call. But, before she could even formulate the words, the monster’s body convulsed and its tentacles went slack.
Robert flung himself in front of Rosie, sword brandished, despite the welts that now lined his arms and the rapidly appearing bruises all along his torso.
“Robert, you idiot!” Rosie said, nearly crying with relief. “What were you thinking?”
He glanced back in her direction and winked. “Just thinking of rescuing my princess.”
“Just because I would—”
The monster squealed, and their gazes both snapped back to it. Ranulf’s mouth went wide and Grandma Essie slipped out in a rush.
Rosie held her breath, her stomach rebelling at the mess even as her heart swelled looking at her now free, beloved grandmother.
Robert darted forward and grabbed Grandma Essie, pulling her towards Rosie. “Any ideas on getting out of here, Thomas?” he said tightly.
“I can pull myself out of the room,” Rosie said. Probably. The adrenaline rush would empower her to escape, right?
With a wary look at Ranulf, who was still busy convulsing, Robert sheathed his sword, grabbed Thomas, and began towing Grandma Essie out of the room, staying level with Rosie’s faltering progress. She couldn’t swim. Her arms felt like bruised kelp leaves and the single tail-length to the door seemed like nearly a hundred. Still, despite the weight on her chest and the ache in every part of her body, she managed to crawl out of the workroom. It might not have been graceful or dignified, but she was alive.
Robert slammed the workroom door shut. “Now what?”
Thomas studied Rosie worriedly. “Miss Rose is in no state to spell the potion into Madam Essie. You will have to administer it manually.”
“How much time do we have? Should we go elsewhere?”
“You can’t carry Miss Rose and Madam Essie,” Thomas said, his brow furrowed. “Unless—perhaps Madam Essie’s storage closet.” He showed the diagram of the house, indicating a small room only a short distance down the hallway.
“You stay here, Rosie,” Robert said sternly. He carefully carried her grandmother and then Thomas to the room and placed them inside.
Rosie lay on the floor, unsure whether she even could move, regardless of what dangers might attack her. The weakness in her limbs had only intensified now that Robert was safe and she was lying still. Looking up at the ceiling, she shuddered. If the kelp hadn’t started working when it had . . . . Ranulf would have probably eaten Robert while she lay helplessly by.
Quicker than she had expected, Robert returned and gently pulled her into his arms. “Are you all right?” he demanded.
“Are you?” she snapped back. “That was a crazy stunt! I—did you even think about what would happen if Ranulf had swallowed you?”
A slight flush dusted his neck. “I figured he’d have to spew me out too if worse came to worst. I just planned on holding my breath.”
“And if he crushed you to death first?” she demanded.
The flush intensified. “I didn’t exactly plan for that. It turned out fine though.”
“You idiot! I can’t lose you too.”
Robert pulled her closer. “Now you know how I felt when you decided to consult the ocean.” He sighed. “What do you need right now?”
“Sleep probably. I don’t know. I just feel so tired and weak.”
His jaw firmed. “Ok. Well, you can just rest while I take care of your grandmother and then you will eat something. If it weren’t for the fact that we have less than ten minutes left, I’d be getting out food right now.”
She smiled. “My hero.”
Robert gently set her down near her grandmother and closed the door firmly. “All right, Thomas, what now?”
“Place the potion bottle between Madam Essie’s lips and massage her throat.”
“I guess it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” Robert muttered.
Rosie lay on the sand, unable now to even lift her head, watching as Robert removed the potion bottle from where it was tied to her waist and carefully brought it to Grandma Essie. Gently, he placed it between her lips, one hand holding it in place while the other began rubbing her throat in the pattern Thomas was calling out.
He was so gentle and kind. Despite his upbringing, despite the pain of his past, he still took such good care of strangers.
Rosie sighed, her thoughts flickering back and forth between worry that the potion might not work and admiration for Robert as her mind gradually began to feel as fuzzy as the rest of her. Maybe she could just take a quick nap. Robert would watch over both her and Grandma. Her eyes slid closed.
From behind her lids, a warm glow cascaded outward from the direction of Grandma. Hopefully, that meant the spell had worked. She hated to leave Robert to deal with Grandma’s meanness, but Thomas would help him.
And she just couldn’t stay awake any longer.
Rosie slipped into unconsciousness, her body no longer able to put off paying the price of channeling Mr. Ocean’s magic.
A/N: So there you go! They finished the potion and got it into Grandma Essie! Let me know what you think 🙂
See you guys on Thursday!
