“It’s rather like using stepping stones to get across a stream or a river,” Mistress Bodikin continued. “You have to step from one stone to the next to get to your destination. Only in this case, you have to step from one world to the next. There—all set,” she added, stepping back from the round, multicolored board and nodding her approval.
“Do those colored wedges represent the worlds we have to go through in order to get the Kat-sat-Suum?” Terra asked, nodding at the board.
“Very perceptive, my dear!” Mistress Bodikin gave her a look of approval. “Yes, indeed they do! I only wish my Dahlia was such a quick study in matters of the Multiverse.”
“Ugh! Are you almost done with your lecturing?” Dahlia demanded. “If you’re not going to buy me the bodyslaves I want, I’d just as soon leave. Listening to you go on and on about your little pet portal is so boring.”
Mistress Bodikin frowned but made a shooing gesture with one hand.
“Fine, you may go. But someday you’ll inherit this portal, you know—it behooves you to learn how to use it!”
“Later!” Dahlia was already flouncing out of the room.
Mistress Bodikin sighed in apparent frustration when she left.
“Children! They never appreciate what you do for them, do they?”
“Yes, they can be exasperating,” Terra agreed diplomatically. “But hopefully she’ll grow out of it,” she added.
“I certainly hope so—she’s thirty-three next solar month.” Mistress Bodikin sighed again.
Thirty-three? Terra hadn’t thought the younger Bodikin looked that old. But then again, Mistress Bodikin herself was extremely well preserved. Presumably they lived a life of luxury and never had to work while they had the very best of everything—such an easy life wouldn’t age you much. In fact, she was surprised that the Yonnite Mistress was so interested in the supposed rejuvenating powers of the Kat-sat-Suum. But she supposed the old saying always applied—“You can never be too rich or too thin.”
Or in this case, too young, Terra thought.
“So tell me about these worlds we’re about to hop between,” she said, deciding to change the subject. “How do we get from one world to the next and after we have the Kat-sat-Suum, how do we get back here to Yonnie Six?”
“Ah, that is technology I pioneered myself. My scientists worked for ages to develop these!”
Mistress Bodikin tapped another part of the wall and a kind of safe was revealed. After undergoing another Retinal scan and another DNA test, the thick metal door swung open to reveal a tray of small, brightly colored bands.
“You will each wear one of these homeward rings,” she said, presenting the tray to Terra. “Take that gold one, my dear—it will resize itself to fit your finger.”
“These will bring us home?” Terra asked, carefully plucking the golden band Mistress Bodikin had pointed out to her and examining it. It didn’t have any special tech that she could see—in fact, it just looked like a plain gold wedding band except for the fact that it was glowing softly. She started to put it on her finger but it was much too big. However, it shrank as she slid it into place, fitting her perfectly.
“Yes, indeed—these homeward rings will bring you back to this very doorway where I will be waiting with the Heart-finder you want from the Monstrum universe,” Mistress Bodikin promised. “They will also enable you to see the path you must take through each world and allow you to find the door that leads to the next world in the sequence.”
She offered the tray of rings to the three Monstrum as she spoke and each of them chose a band to wear. As the golden band had shrunk for Terra, each one of their glowing bands grew to fit on their much larger fingers. She noted that each Monstrum had chosen a band that corresponded to his skin tones. V’rone was wearing a ruby band, Rive was wearing an emerald one, and Tem had on a sapphire band.
“Now that you all have homeward rings, you’re set to begin.” Mistress Bodikin put the tray with its remaining rings back into the wall safe and closed the door securely. “So whenever you’re ready, the four of you can step through the portal.”
“Wait!” Terra exclaimed, when V’rone would have done exactly that. “Can’t you tell us a little bit about the three worlds we’ll be going to?”
“Oh very well—I suppose that might be helpful.” Lady Bodikin cleared her throat. “The first world is DY-12, a place ruled by a sentient being known only as ‘The Watcher.’ The inhabitants there have no emotions, so you must be careful not to display any yourselves, so as not to stand out.”
“Really? No emotions?” Terra frowned.
“Don’t worry about it too much—just stay on the path which only you can perceive with the help of your rings,” Mistress Bodikin told her. “The less you interact with the inhabitants of any of these worlds, the better off you’ll be.”