Authors: Piers Anthony
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #General, #Princesses, #Magic, #Epic, #Fantasy fiction; American, #Xanth (Imaginary place)
Ivy concentrated on Grey's power of relation. She felt
something happening, but wasn't sure what. Then there
was a moment of vertigo.
"Got it!" Grey said. "The source of the problem is
Man from Mundania
249
over there." He walked to the side of the path. "This—
bit of wood?" he asked, picking it up.
"That's reverse wood!" Ivy exclaimed. "It must have
reversed the enchantment on the path, right here near it,
so the dragons could get in!"
"Well, I'll null it, then."
"Don't do that!" Ivy said quickly. "Suppose it reversed
your talent?"
"But we can't leave the path unprotected!"
"Just throw the wood away," Donkey suggested. "It
won't do any harm if it's not in the path."
Grey wound up and hurled the wood far to the side.
Immediately the three ghost horses reacted, relaxing. The
two unconscious dragons stirred. Each dragged itself up
and scrambled away from the path.
"Problem solved," Donkey said with satisfaction.
"But there never would have been a problem if the Good
Magician were still around," Ivy said. "As soon as we
settle our personal problem, we'll have to resume the Quest
for him. We can't continue much longer without him."
"If we could find him, maybe he could settle all our
personal questions," Electra said.
Ivy nodded. Electra had a problem that was just as se-
rious as Ivy's own! When Dolph came of age to marry,
and had to choose which of his betrothees actually to
marry, he was very likely to choose Nada. Then Electra
would die, having failed to marry the Prince who had res-
cued her from her enchanted sleep.
Unless Grey could nullify the spell on her. Ivy pondered
that. Could it represent the solution for Electra? She hes-
itated to mention it until she was sure. Magic did not
always work the way expected, and mistakes could be di-
sastrous.
They reached the isthmus. This was as far as their steeds
could go, for magical creatures would soon perish when
out of the magic of Xanth. Donkey would keep watch for
their return to this spot, and the ghost horses would come
at his whistle. The final station on the enchanted path was
a nice one, with useful plants of all kinds and an excellent
250 Man from Mundcmia
view of the changing colors of the sea. Donkey said he
expected to enjoy his stay here.
The colors of the sea related to the times and places of
Mundania that the folk of Xanth could go to. Scholars
such as Ichabod, the Mundane archivist, and Amolde
Centaur had taken the trouble to study it and to issue vo-
luminous reports that entirely defined it. Unfortunately,
no one else was able to understand the reports. Most of
what Ivy knew about the colors was that when the sea
turned black, it led to the Black Sea of Mundania, where
her parents had gone to rescue Grandpa Trent and
Grandma Iris, ages ago.
This time they were not going to mess with the colors
at all. Grey simply nulled the magic of the border, and
they walked through to what was called Contemporary
Mundania, which was where Grey had lived. They knew
it was right, because their entry through the gourd in No
Name Key had also bypassed the magical barrier.
Thus the three of them found themselves stumbling
through drear brush in drear Mundania, and onto one of
the paved regions called highways, though in truth they
were low rather than high. Now Ivy and Electra could talk
to each other, but not to Grey, because Grey had been
raised with the nonsensical language of the Mundanes.
Grey demonstrated the magic of the thumb signal, to
make one of the cruising vehicles screech to a precipitous
halt. It didn't work very well until Ivy enhanced it slightly
by hiking up her skirt to show more leg. Then a monstrous
truck squealed to a stop, providing their first ride.
They let Grey do the talking, since they could not. Ivy
exchanged hand signals with Grey when she needed to,
and quietly pointed out the few interesting things to Elec-
tra, such as the odd boxlike buildings and colored lights
that always flashed bright red when the vehicle ap-
proached.
So it went, for an interminable journey along the as-
sorted and confused roads of this dull realm. They found
a public sleeping place called a bus station for the night;
the seats were not at all suited to comfortable sleeping,
but this was only another evidence of the craziness of
Man from Mundania
251
Mundanes. Ivy had to show Electra how to use the facil-
ities in the room for natural functions, and the girl was
appropriately awed. "How can they use perfectly good
drinking water for such a thing?" she demanded in a whis-
per. "Suppose somebody forgets and drinks it?" Ivy had
no answer; there was simply no explaining much of what
the Mundanes did.
As they stood before one of the strange unmagic mirrors
Ivy was surprised to notice how tall Electra had grown.
She was now as tall as Ivy, and looked mature, too. Ivy
realized that she had been too preoccupied with her own
concerns to pay much attention; Electra would have been
maturing all along. It had taken the stark mirror that
showed them standing together to make Ivy appreciate the
extent of it.
Grey got bits of wrapped food from the lighted standing
machines; he had saved some of their Mundane coins for
this purpose. Apparently the machines liked the taste of
metal better than real food and would give up their food
for it. Ivy had seen this on her last trip here, but Electra
was amazed. "When do the machines eat the food they
trade for the metal?" she asked. "Why don't they just eat
the metal to begin with, if they don't like the food?"
Again, Ivy could not answer.
They slept propped against Grey on either side, his arms
around each. Ivy wondered whether this was at all like her
brother's situation, with two betrothees. Innocent Dolph
would be satisfied to marry them both, the one out of
compassion, the other out of love. But the parents had said
No, No Way, Definitely Not, Absolutely Out of the Ques-
tion, and Never, so it seemed likely that they would op-
pose such a solution. Too bad, for Nada and Electra were
both so nice.
They finally reached Grey's apartment. It was hardly too
soon, for Electra wasn't feeling well. She had been eating
ravenously, never seeming to get enough, and had grown
somewhat short tempered and absentminded. She was also
quite dirty, so that she hardly looked herself.
Ivy had not liked this place before, but now it was bless-
252
ediy familiar. Her own room was unchanged, with plenty
of Agenda's food still on the shelves. She encouraged
Electra to eat what she wanted, and to clean up and don
one of the dresses in the closet, so she could be present-
able again. Then she went across the hall with Grey.
Com-Pewter's Sending remained; as soon as he turned
the machine on, they were able to talk naturally again. It
was a great relief.
SO YOU BROUGHT SOMEONE ELSE FROM XANTH, the
screen remarked.
"Yes, this is Electra, our chaperone," Grey said, as
Electra appeared at the door, cleaned and changed.
YES, IT IS PROPER TO HAVE AN OLDER PERSON IN THAT
CAPACITY.
"Oh, she's not older!" Ivy protested. But then she took
another look at Electra, and was amazed: the giri did look
older, like a woman of thirty or so. She had assumed that
it was dirt and wear on the clothing that had changed her
appearance, but now it was clear that those things had only
masked the true extent of the change. How could this be?
Grey, too, was surprised. "Electra, you're bigger and
older and, uh, fuller," he said. "Your new clothing makes
you look so awfully old! What happened?"
SHE is YOUNG? the screen inquired. WHAT is HER HIS-
TORY?
"She's actually from about nine hundred years ago,"
Ivy said. "A spell fouled up, and she slept until the pres-
ent, but she remained the same age until she woke. Until
now."
IT WAS FOOLISH TO BRING HER TO MUNDANIA, the SCTWIt
said. SHE is NOW IN THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING HER MUN-
DANE AGE OF NINE HUNDRED YEARS.
The three exchanged portions of a glance of sheer hor-
ror. "Oh, Electra, we never thought!" Ivy cried. "We
knew the magic folk couldn't come here—"
"It is of course my own fault," Electra said with sur-
prising maturity. "Naturally I should have realized that
this would be the case. I shall try to handle it in an adult
manner."
Man from Mundania
253
She was older emotionally, too! She was aging in every
way.
"How long before she, uh—?" Grey asked.
AT THE PRESENT RATE OF PROGRESSION, SHE SHOULD
HAVE ABOUT THREE MORE DAYS BEFORE BEGINNING TO FAIL
FROM OLD AGE, the screen printed.
"We've got to get her back to Xanth!" Ivy exclaimed.
"Patience," Electra demurred sensibly. "It required
two days for us to reach this destination; two days should
suffice for the return. We can accomplish our business in
the intervening day. I see no reason to jeopardize our mis-
sion merely because of my indisposition."
"Your indisposition!" Ivy exclaimed. "By the time we
get back to Xanth, you'll be an old woman! How could
you marry Dolph then?"
Electra smiled with the poise of maturity. ' 'That would