When Paula finished orbing to Hannah's uncle, she found herself in a very large place. As she looked around she noticed that it was a dome shaped room. Is was at least ten thousand feet high and twice that at the base. The walls were inlaid with gold in intricate designs.
As she was marveling at the place a strange person orbed in and said "I see you made it here."
There was something familiar about this person to Paula though she couldn't figure out what it was. As far as she knew she had never met this person.
"Oh I forgot" the lady said, "none of you have seen me like this. I'm Hannah and this is my true form."
Paula couldn't understand how this lady could be Hannah. While she was four foot five inches she looked to be about twenty-five years old. She had waist length, curly, blond hair. Hannah's hair was brown and straight. This lady had green eyes while Hannah's were brown. The most striking thing though was that her ears were long and pointed, they reminded Paula of elf ears. This lady was wearing a pink
gown and a tiara with a pink stone in the center. The effect was that this lady looked like an elf princess.
"I see that you're a little confused" the lady said. "Ask me any question you want."
"Ok" Stan said. After a few moments he asked "What was the first thing Hannah learned?"
"I learned how to shield myself" the lady said.
"Ok here's one for you" Jenny said. "What question did you ask me one night five years ago?"
"If you're referring to the night I first transformed then the answer is simple" the lady said. "What I had asked you was if you were getting in too when you had taken off your dress."
"No one knew that besides me and Hannah" Jenny said. "I guess you are Hannah, you just look different."
"How long have you known that this is your true form?" Stan asked.
"Since before I was transformed" Hannah said.
"Well this is odd" Stan said. "You look like an elf princess Hannah. Why did you choose to show up like this?"
"The council knows it was my shield" Hannah said, "so I decided not to hide. This is to remind them who I am."
"What would that do?" Jenny asked.
"Well it should remind them that if they don't treat me fairly" Hannah said, "my grandmother is likely to kill them. Not that she isn't close to doing that now."
Both Jenny and Stan backed up a bit with wide eyes.
"You mean that your grandmother is Lynn?" Stan asked.
"Yes she is" Hannah said. "You don't have to be so afraid, you're fine. You have done nothing to make her mad. The same can't be said of the council."
"I don't know if I want to meet her" Paula's mother said.
Just then a huge creature approached and Paula said "Look Mommy, a dragon."
"Hello there" the dragon said in a feminine voice.
"Hello Sa'ria" Hannah said, "it's good to see you again. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to warn you to keep your anger in check" Sa'ria said. "That is a message from your grandmother. The council is upset that Sherry is dead. Evidently she could have had some information that the council wanted."
"What information would that have been?" Hannah asked.
"I do not know" Sa'ria said. "All I know is that the council is angry with you and they are trying to keep your grandmother out of the council chambers during the hearing."
"What hearing?" Stan asked. "We were suppose to give testimony as to what happened but no one said anything about a hearing."
"It doesn't surprise me" Hannah said. "The council doesn't want me to be over here. I think that they think my grandmother and I will take over for some reason. What a stupid idea, my grandmother doesn't want to take over. She didn't even want to be a queen, she had it thrust on her."
"She is right about that" Sa'ria said.
"Is my grandmother in the council chambers now?" Hannah asked.
"Yes she is" Sa'ria said.
"Well that explains why they haven't sent for us yet" Stan said.
At that moment both Hannah and Sa'ria looked toward a door behind them. Sa'ria swept all of them off to the side with one of her feet. Seconds later the door flew out of the wall and landed with a thud right were they were.
"What was that?" Paula's mother asked.
"That was more than likely the council dieing" Hannah said.
Smoke was coming out of the opening that the door was in. Through this smoke a short figure walked out. Once the figure had come out far enough to be seen clearly Paula noticed that it was a female elf.
"Hello Grandma" Hannah said. "I take it that the council is dead."
"Hello Hannah" Hannah's grandmother said, "and the council is dead."
"Excuse me but what happens now ma'am?" Paula's mother asked.
"Please call me Lynn" Lynn said. "As to what happens now, well that depends. There is the Grand Council that may take this up. I do need to ask a couple of questions. Leo has already told me what he witnessed but I need to here it from you. First, what did Sherry threaten to do?"
"She threatened to kill me when she barged into my office" Paula's mother said.
"And what did Hannah do?" Lynn asked.
"She jumped in front of me and all of a sudden some blue thing appeared around us" Paula's mother said.
"That would have been Hannah's shield" Lynn said.
"I know that now" Paula's mother said. "When Leo had come in he had told her that she could drop her shield."
"What did Sherry try to kill you with?" Lynn asked.
"It was a Spontaneous Combustion curse" Stan said.
"And what happened when it hit Hannah's shield?" Lynn asked.
"The red ball bounced back to her" Paula said "and she caught fire."
"Leo didn't say a four year old girl witnessed that" Lynn said. "I'll have to have a talk with him about withholding information from me. I'm surprised that you're handling it so well."
"She used to be a fifteen year old boy" Hannah said.
"What or who transformed her?" Lynn asked.
"It was a Medallion of Zulo" Hannah said, "the one that can alter reality."
"Those medallions cause a lot of trouble" Lynn said.
"Grandma, what was the information that the council thought Sherry might have?" Hannah asked.
"She could have had knowledge of where the other children from the nursery are" Lynn said.
"Oh great" Hannah said rolling her eyes. "How are you coming with finding the other children from the nursery?" Hannah asked.
"Not good I'm afraid" Lynn said. "We haven't found any more for the past five years. By the way young lady, where have you been for the past five years?"
"I was transformed five years ago" Hannah said. "I'm sorry that I didn't get in touch with you sooner, but I had thought that you would have forgotten about me as Rick."
"Why would I forget about you as Rick?" Lynn asked.
"Because the same medallion that transformed Paula transformed me" Hannah said.
"So that's what happened" Lynn said. "I had wondered why your parents didn't remember you when I had called, and why your name and number was missing from the list at work."
"Well that medallion does alter reality" Hannah said.
"Hannah, can we go now?" Paula asked.
"I think we can" Hannah said, "but you'll have to ask my grandmother."
Paula didn't want to ask Lynn that question. She was scared of her because she had gotten mad at the council and killed them. She didn't want Lynn mad at her.
"I think she may be a bit scared of me" Lynn said. "Is that it?"
"Y-y-yes" Paula stammered.
"You don't have to be afraid of me" Lynn said. "I may be scary at times but I'm easy to get along with."
"C-c-can we g-g-go?" Paula asked.
"Well there's nothing else I need from you" Lynn said. "Now why don't all of you come to my castle for the night. You can stay longer if you wish."
"Sounds like fun" Paula's mother said.
"Then it's settled" Lynn said. "Hannah, I want you to watch this young girl while she is at the castle. I'll have other people watching her as well."
"Why do we have to do that?" Hannah asked.
"I'm just being cautious" Lynn said. "There have been rumors going around that the wizard who took you left instructions for someone."
"Well I doubt that anyone would be stupid enough to try to steal someone from your castle Grandma" Hannah said.
"I'd rather be safe than sorry" Lynn said.
"Couldn't you just orb to the ones taken?" Paula's mother asked.
"If only it was that simple" Lynn said. "You see a powerful enough wizard can block someone orbing to a specific person or place."
"I should get Snowblade to help me" Hannah said.
"That's a good idea" Lynn said. "Why don't you orb there now and get him. We'll meet you at the castle."
"Ok Grandma" Hannah said and she orbed someplace.
"Ok let's get going" Lynn said. "Hold on tight to me."
"Why do we have to do that?" Paula's mother asked. "We know how to orb."
"Even this young lady?" Lynn asked.
"Yes I can orb" Paula said.
"That's unusual" Lynn said, "however there are some enchantments around my castle that I have to take you past at first. Don't worry about Hannah getting through, she'll be fine. Now hold on to me tight."
Everyone moved toward Lynn and grabbed her. Paula held on tight to Lynn's hand so she wouldn't be left behind.
A few seconds after she had grabbed Lynn's hand, Paula felt the somewhat familiar feeling of orbing. This time though she wasn't orbing on her own, she was just along for the ride.