"I think we should make camp elsewhere," Nausikaa said with a little smile.
"I agree," Semele said looking around.
"Well Dike it looks like we'll be camping someplace else," I said nodding. I turned and
started walking with my sisters following me.
We walked for ten minutes when we came upon a clearing and we began setting up
camp. It didn't take us long to set up the tent and dig a fire pit so within an hour we
had a fire going and food cooking. I still felt like there was something strange here and
looking up at the sky again it didn't look like the moon had moved. Maybe I was
getting a little paranoid but I didn't like that. As soon as we finished eating I looked at
my sisters and said, "We should get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."
"The first watch?" Semele asked looking confused.
"One of us stays awake for a set time while the others sleep so we're not taken by
surprise by a monster or someone," I explained. "When your watch is over you wake
the next person up and go to sleep yourself."
"We don't need to do that," Nausikaa said.
"Remember that we're not safe here," I said shaking my head. "If we're all asleep a
monster could come and kill us all with no warning. This way we'll have at least some
warning if a monster comes. Now get in the tent and get some sleep. I'll wake you up
in three hours Nausikaa then you'll wake Dike up three hours later and finally Dike will
wake Semele up after her three hour watch. Semele will wake us all up after her three
hours. This will give each of us a total of nine hours sleep." With a little grumbling my
sisters went into the tent to sleep. Nothing happened on my watch except for the moon
remaining where it had been. At least we had a watch so we knew what time it was. It
was with some relief that I woke Nausikaa up for her watch since the quiet was starting
to make me drowsy. I could only hope that my sisters would be able to stay awake.
After changing into a nightgown I slipped into my sleeping bag and was soon asleep.
My dream started with me and my sisters on a train. The door to our compartment
opened revealing a young girl standing there with a look of surprise on her face. "I'm
sorry but there seems to be some sort of mistake," she finally said. "I was assigned to
this compartment but it looks like it's already full."
"What's your name?" I asked the girl.
"Helen King," the girl said.
"Well hello Helen," I said with a smile. "You're in the right place. We were told that
we'd have someone else with us for the night. I'm Lisa Plunkett and these are my
sisters Nancy Boone, Bai Kwan, and Sara Slade." I pointed to Nausikaa, Dike, and
Semele in turn.
"You don't have the same last name and Bai's name sounds oriental," Helen said.
"Well Bai's mom is Chinese," I said. "We're actually half sisters. Our dad only knew our
mom for one night each and left them with us. Our moms never knew what our dad's
last name was so we took or stepdad's last names."
The scene grew dark and then we were in some sort of great hall with floating candles.
Somehow I knew that this was Salem's Witch Academy though there were wizards
here too. I looked around to see Nausikaa and Dike sitting at a table. There was a
stern looking guy holding a pointed hat behind a stool. Looking at a piece of
parchment he called out, "Katrina McCusker." A girl walked forward looking nervous
and sat on the stool. When I saw her my pearl vibrated against my skin and I knew
she had been transformed.
As the hat is lowered onto Katrina's head the dream shifts again. I was now standing
in an office facing a stern looking woman. I was standing with Katrina, Helen, who
looked nervous and a boy that looked really smug. I knew that he wasn't in our house
and that there was a little animosity between the two houses. "There's no reason to be
roaming around the school at night without permission and being in the restricted
section of the library," the woman said. "The restricted section is dangerous enough to
the teachers let alone first years. All four of you will have a weeks worth of detention
and your houses will lose one hundred points for each of you."
The dream dissolved and I became aware of Semele shaking me and saying, "Wake
up Anthea."
"What time is it?" I asked opening my eyes.
"Well it's seven but it's still dark outside and the moon is still overhead," Semele said.
I sighed and got up. I had figured that it would still be dark but it was disappointing to
know that I was right. Once we were all dressed we left the tent only to find ourselves
in a bedroom. The bed didn't look like it had been slept in but there were girl's clothes
on the floor. Then I noticed there was something on the bed. Approaching it Nausikaa
asked, "Is that what I think it is?"
I picked the medallion up and nodding said, "I believe it is. This has to be the
Medallion of Zulo. At least it won't transform us, I hope."
Just then we heard a man's voice ask, "Who are you?"
I dropped the medallion back on the bed and quickly turn around tapping my bracelet
as I do. The silver disk grew into a shield and straps wrapped around my arm and the
palm of my hand. Out of the corner of my I saw that Nausikaa had drawn her sword,
Dike had drawn her dagger, and Semele had drawn her bow and arrow. I reached for
my sword as I completed my turn and saw a man and woman standing in the door.
Both of them looked frightened and before my sisters could do anything else I called
out, "Hold," and took my hand off my sword. I then tapped my shield and it shrank
back down to my bracelet.
"Who are you girls and what did you do with my daughter?" the woman asked.
"We have done nothing with your daughter," I said keeping my voice non-
confrontational. "As to who we are I am Lisa Plunkett and these are my sisters."
"Why are you here?" the man asked.
"To be truthful I don't know why we're here," I said sighing. "We were in a tent and
when we left we were surprised to find ourselves here. Perhaps we're here to help find
your daughter. Could you tell us what happened?"
"We may think about it if you put those weapons away," the man said. "You girls
shouldn't playing with them anyway."
"I assure you we are not playing with weapons," I said and then nodded to my sisters.
They reluctantly put their weapons away and the man motioned for us to follow him. I
grabbed the medallion and my bag and followed after them.
They led us to the kitchen and the woman said, "Sit down and I'll tell you." After we
had sat down she continued, "She went to her friends house yesterday to stay the
night with her friend. She woke up this morning to find my daughter gone which isn't
like her. Poor Aimee is beside herself with worry and wondering if she did something
wrong. What happened to her? Did she run away?"
"I may have an idea," I said then showed them the medallion. "Have either of you seen
this before?" When they shook their heads I continued, "It may be that your daughter
has been transformed and she left out of fear."
"You can't be serious," the man said. "My daughter couldn't have been transformed
because it's impossible."
"You saw my bracelet become a shield then a bracelet again," I said looking the man
square in the eyes.
The man looked away and said, "Well yes I did and I can't explain it."
"It's magic," I said sighing. "This medallion is also magic and has the power to
transform someone when they touch it to an article of clothing. Did either of you see
any clothes that didn't belong to your daughter?"
"Well I was hanging up some of her clothes when I noticed an Army jacket in her
closet," the woman said. "I thought that she may have a boyfriend and he had given it
to her."
I thought for a bit then said, "It may be possible that your daughter came home for
something last night. That something may have been in one of the pockets of the
jacket but when she reached into one pocket she touched the medallion and it
transformed her. The clothes she was wearing probably didn't fit so she took them off
and seeing that she had been transformed she pulled the jacket and maybe some
pajamas on then went to find the guy who gave her the jacket hoping he would have
some answers."
"So what do we do?" the woman asked. "We can't call the police and tell them that
our daughter was transformed. They wouldn't believe us."
"That's true," I said nodding. "You can call them and report your daughter missing.
They won't find her if she has been transformed but it's all you can do. We can look for
her and reverse the transformation."
"How can you do that?" the man asked.
"With these pearls," I said showing them my necklace. "We each have one and they
can reverse transformations. They can also sense someone who has been
transformed."
"You girls shouldn't go out by yourselves," the man said shaking his head.
"We'll be alright," I said smiling. "We have some power from our father." I concentrated
on the water in the glass before me and felt the tug as it began to swirl around. Soon
there was a tube of water swirling up out of the glass. I let it go back down and settle
before I said, "Our father is Poseidon, god of the sea."
"Well you girls will at least stay to eat?" the woman asked.
(AN: See
)