CHAPTER 11: LIAISON

Justin gazed at the object Che Centaur held. Now that they were safely out of the Void, it looked exactly like a warty rock.

"This is it?" Jaylin asked, sounding disappointed.

"It surely is," Che answered. He set it on the ground next to the lake. "Touch it."

Jaylin touched it. "Ooo, it's swell!"

"Precisely. But I'm at a slight loss as to how to use it."

The others touched the rock, and agreed that it was definitely the Foop. But no one had any idea how to use it.

"The Six Rings of Xanth are supposed to control it," Cynthia reminded them.

"Perhaps we should depart the Region of Water and find a more secure place to consider," Justin suggested.

"For sure," Breanna agreed for all of them.

Jaylin mounted Putre, and the party moved rapidly out of the Regions and south across the Gap Chasm, and on to Castle Zombie. There they hesitated.

"Mare Imbrium," Justin said. "We are very glad to have you back with us. But there is a complication."

A dreamlet cloud appeared over her head. In it was the head of a black-haired human woman. "I know," that woman said. "Putre has caught me up with what happened after I fell into the Void. Not only do I have a foal, I have become a tree nymph."

"I think this will make it difficult for you to return to your prior situation," Justin said gently.

"That's right!" Breanna agreed. "How can there be two of you?"

"They should get together and talk it over," Sim squawked. "They can decide what is best."

The others circled a glance around, nodding. Sim was indeed a very bright bird.

"What of Putre?" Jaylin asked.

"He should go with his dam," Justin said. "He found her. There is no further need of him to locate the Ring of Void, or to convey you there."

"I guess that's right," Jaylin agreed. She went to hug the colt. "I'll miss you, horseface. You really helped me."

A little heart floated up. Then the two horses departed, and Jaylin wiped away a tear.

"You can see him again, after we're through with the Foop," Justin said.

"In Mundania?"

He had no answer for that. He wished he had not spoken.

"We'd better go inside and catch up Jonathan and Millie," Breanna said. "And figure out the Foop."

Soon they were in the throes of it. "Six Rings and a rock," Breanna said. "Who would have thought they'd be so hard to put together?"

"Perhaps if we knew what the Foop does, we would know how to invoke it," Cynthia said.

"Considering the power of the Six Rings," Che said, "the Foop must be of a greater magnitude. It is hard to conceive of anything in Xanth that would require more than the control of all the Regions and the creatures and things within them."

"Well, our mission is to rescue the Demon Earth, so it must have power beyond Xanth," Justin said. "In fact, if only another Demon can have abducted D. Earth, it must have power of the Demons themselves."

"That makes a conceivable need," Che agreed. "Each of the major Demons has equivalent power, and we have seen how all the magic of the Land of Xanth is mere trace leakage from the Demon Xanth. This thing must be potentially stronger than the Demon Xanth himself."

"So maybe we should ask him," Jaylin said.

There was a silence. Then Justin broke it. "We could do that, but he might not like the idea of our using the Foop."

"A rival power," Che agreed. "It does seem better that we discover this on our own."

They studied the stone. "What are those warts?" Breanna asked.

"Stones are seldom regular," Che said. "They are fragments of larger processes. I assume the projections are random."

"Random can be dangerous," Sim squawked. "We had to deal with the Random Factor."

"Why would anything about an object of this potential power be random?" Breanna asked.

They considered again. Then Sim put it together: "I note six projections," he squawked. "We have six Rings. They must have to be touching the Foop to control it."

"One Ring per wart," Breanna said. "It works for me."

They took off their Rings and tried placing them on the projections. Each one fit perfectly. Obviously that was where they were supposed to go.

"Now what?" Cynthia asked.

"Maybe we have to invoke it, the way we do the individual Rings," Jaylin said. "Maybe just thinking what we want."

Breanna held her spread hands over the rock. "Rise, Foop," she intoned dramatically.

Nothing happened.

"Is it possible," Justin asked, "that there needs to be a particular order? That is, each Ring must be on a designated knob?"

"It sure as bleep is," Jaylin said. Then, seeing the other glance reprovingly at her, she apologized. "Sorry about the bad word. It just slipped out. What I mean is, that with a computer in Mundania you have to have everything just exactly right. You can't change the order to suit you. This must be like that. Maybe it's like a code, to be sure nobody gets it activated by accident."

"But if there's a set order," Che asked, "why do the knobs accept the wrong Rings? We can't put the Rings on the wrong people."

"That must be part of the protection," Jaylin said. "It's like a secret code, and you have to know it to get it right."

"But we don't know it."

"So I guess we have to crack the code. Then we'll know it for next time."

The others nodded. They started changing the positions of the Rings. It was surprising how many patterns there could be for six Rings with six knobs.

A swirl of smoke formed. "We're getting something!" Breanna said.

Then it formed into the Demoness Metria. "What's up, doctors?" she inquired, her outfit becoming almost but not quite translucent, so as to compel the eyes of the males in the party without quite cauterizing them. It was evidently a fine art; Justin appreciated the precision of it without quite being able to remove his own eyes from the sight.

Breanna looked as if she were stifling a bleep-loaded outburst. Justin knew why: Metria was normally mischief, and this was a very important project. If they told her to go away, she would remain to pester them. But if they didn't, she might remain anyway. The question was how to get her to depart without alerting her to the fact that something extremely interesting was occurring.

"We are merely contemplating this dull rock," Justin said. That was technically accurate.

The demoness turned, showing more silhouette than a normal woman could manage in a lifetime. "Say, that looks just like a foop."

"A smelly what?" Breanna asked.

"A piece of filth, dirt, dung, muck, feces-"

"Poop?"

"Whatever," the demoness agreed crossly. "A smell poop." She started to fade out. But then she reversed. "Hey, wait-that wasn't the word! I said foop, not poop. What are you doing with a foop?"

"Bleep!" Breanna swore. "It almost worked."

Metria looked at her. "Are you trying to get rid of me, or only pretending to try to get rid of me?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. Obviously you folk are into something interesting here. You might as well tell me, on the off chance that I'll find it boring and fade out."

Breanna shot a desperate glance at Justin. He was able to receive it because he had managed to avert his eyes from the demoness when she faded and was keeping them clear now. It was a struggle, because his eyeballs were straining to return to the barely showing cake and buns.

"It is indeed a foop," he said. "We are trying to determine what it may be good for."

"That's easy. It controls demons. Since nobody in his right mind wants to do that, I'll just remove it and throw it away, saving you the trouble." She reached down toward the stone, her décolletage flexing dangerously.

"No!" Justin and Breanna cried together.

The demoness paused. "Do you care to come clean now? I called your fake."

"Our what?" Justin asked.

"Pretense, dupe, counterfeit, dare, challenge-"

"Bluff?"

"Whatever. Tell me all about it, or I'll steal the Foop and throw it away."

"This is-this is-" Justin sputtered, unable to get the word out.

"Blackmail?" the demoness inquired sweetly, her short skirt becoming scantier.

"Whatever!"

"I guess we'd better tell her," Breanna said reluctantly.

"Very well," Justin agreed, though he would have preferred to utter a brush-scorching expletive. "This is not just any foop-it is the Swell Foop."

For once they saw the demoness aghast. Her clothing became entirely opaque. "The Swell Foop! You actually got it? I thought that was an untamed quack pursuit."

"A what?"

"A feral ugly-duck hunt. One quarter of an inch off-center."

"A wild goose?"

"Whatever! Have you any idea how dangerous that thing is?"

"No. Do you?"

"No. But it hasn't been used in centuries."

"So what were you saying about a foop controlling demons? Does the Swell Foop do that?"

"Of course. It controls Demons. You know, the major ones, big D's, like the Demon Xanth." She frowned. "If I may get serious a moment, you don't want to mess with that one."

"It is not our choice," Justin said.

"I suppose it isn't. But you are entering treacherous waters."

"It's weird seeing you serious," Breanna said.

"It's weird being near the Swell Foop."

"So how does it work?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know!" Justin exploded. "You said-"

"I said it was dangerous. I did not say I knew how to operate it. No demon does, of course. Otherwise we'd turn it permanently off."

"Really?"

"No. No demon can touch it."

"But you threatened to steal it and throw it away."

"That was a bluff, even for a regular foop. They are immune from demon molestation." Then she reconsidered. "However, I might stop you from using it, if I freaked you out." Her clothing began to turn glassy.

"Metria, this is serious business," Justin told her sternly. "If you don't want to help, then kindly fade out."

"Spoilsport." Her clothing opaqued again. "A demon girl just wants to have fun."

They returned their attention to the Foop. "How will we know when we have the right combination?" Jaylin asked.

"We shall have to give it a command each time we change the Rings," Justin said. "When it responds, then we'll know."

They tried a combination. "Swell Foop, rise," Justin said. To no avail.

"It occurs to me that we may be trying the wrong testing procedure," Che said. "The Foop may not do things to itself, but rather it must affect demons."

The others nodded. "Then Metria can indeed be of assistance," Justin said. "If the Foop makes her do something not of her own choosing-"

"How can we tell?" Breanna asked. "She may choose to humor us."

"It is a risk we shall have to take."

"I'll cooperate," Metria said. "Because this is interesting."

"Hold on," Cynthia said. "If we try things on her, and they work, it may simply be because she is cooperating, not because of the Foop."

"Excellent point," Justin said. "Metria, you must help us by being completely perverse. Don't do anything we ask you to, unless you are compelled."

The demoness smiled. "This may be fun."

Justin tried, with the Foop Rings the same as they were. "Demoness, turn around."

"No way," Metria said.

They tried another combination. "Turn."

"No."

They tried another. "Turn."

"Go jump."

Justin, uncertain whether she was teasing them, was becoming quietly pained. They had thought they had success when they got the Foop; now failure was looming. He tried another combination. "Turn."

"Ouch!"

All of them were startled. "What's the matter?" Justin asked.

"I got a sudden pain in my posterior. But I'm not turning."

She was starting to be truly uncooperative. He hoped they found the right combination soon.

Breanna touched the Foop. "I'm disgusted. We're not getting anywhere."

"You and me both," Metria said, turning mottled gray. "We're all wasting our time."

"I came all the way here to Xanth, and braved the Void, for nothing?" Jaylin asked sorrowfully. She touched the Foop. "For this dull stone?"

"The thought makes me cry," Metria said, and bright tears flowed down her face.

Justin suspected that they were being mocked. He tried a new combination. "Turn."

"No, it's your turn."

Several combinations later, they still had no results.

Then Sim thought of something. "For a moment there, we had emotions," he squawked. "And the demoness shared those emotions."

A glance of sheer amazed surmise circled them. "Emotions!" Che exclaimed. "It generates Demon emotions!"

"And little d demon emotions," Metria agreed, surprised. "I'm excited."

"And you're faking it," Breanna said. "This isn't that setting."

"Curses! Foiled again."

"But is that the same as controlling demons?" Justin asked.

"I believe it is," Che said. "Human beings are ruled by their emotions, and even centaurs have been known to be strongly influenced."

"But merely feeling pained or disgusted or sad does not necessarily govern what a person does."

"Why are you marrying Breanna?" Cynthia asked.

"Because I love her. But that doesn't mean-" He paused. "Love is an emotion! I am indeed governed by it. Still, I also feel a certain, um, attraction when Metria displays her, shall we say, infernal charms, but I don't act on that."

"Really?" the demoness asked. "I have been holding back, out of deference for the defects of mortals, but-"

"For the whats?" Breanna asked, frowning.

"Imperfections, weaknesses, faults, failings, flaws-"

"Foibles?"

"Whatever. But if I chose to be seriously seductive-"

"Don't bother!" Breanna snapped.

But she was too late. The demoness had already faded her outfit to bra and panties, and Justin's eyeballs had locked into place. Those tiny bits of cloth barely constrained incredibly luscious quivering masses of healthy sculptured flesh. He reached for that divine form, unable to help himself.

Then the vision was cut off by Breanna's body. "Point made, demoness," she said as Justin's eyeballs broke free of their ruts and resumed mobility. "Men are ruled by their emotions. But we women aren't."

"Then why did you intervene?" Metria asked evenly.

"Because it griped me all to bleep to think of my man making out with a vamp like you."

"You were governed by jealousy. That's an emotion."

Breanna stared at her for a moment and a half. "Bleep!"

"Point made," Che said, having the wit not to smile. "Humans are emotional creatures."

"Oh, I could arouse a centaur too, if-"

"Point made!" Cynthia cried, covering Che's eyes before he could see the centaur filly shape that was forming.

"However, the fact that human beings are governed by their emotions does not mean that demons are," Justin said. "Demons really don't have emotions."

"That's what's weird," Metria said. "Suddenly I did have emotions, and if they had been stronger, I think I would have done whatever they wanted."

"That's it!" Sim squawked. "Demons have no experience with emotions, so no experience controlling them. Even a slight emotion might rule a demon."

"Or a Demon," Justin agreed. "I believe we have indeed discovered the key. The Swell Foop generates emotions in demons, and surely has the power to do the same with Demons, thereby governing them."

"That may be the only way a Demon can be controlled," Cynthia said. "They are immaterial beings with such enormous power that no physical constraint could be effective."

"Maybe we'd better wind the Foop back to that setting," Jaylin suggested.

"For sure!" Breanna agreed. "Change it back, Justin."

Justin felt dread. "I don't remember the precise positioning of the Rings," he confessed. "I was changing them randomly."

"For ship's sake!" she exclaimed.

"For what's sake?" Metria inquired.

"Cargo, load, freight-stop that! We've got to get that setting back!"

"We were all participating," Che said. "Surely someone must have tracked the changes."

"I did," Sim squawked.

"Then tell me where the Rings were when Metria had emotions," Justin said.

Sim did, and Justin reset the Rings. "Now we must verify it."

"Just like that?" Jaylin said, surprised as she touched the Foop.

"That's amazing!" Metria exclaimed. "I'm astonished. Astounded. Stupefied!"

"She's surprised," Breanna said. "Maybe for real, this time."

They verified it with several other emotions. Whatever emotion they thought of when touching the Foop, the demoness reflected. They had the setting correct.

"So are you through vivisecting me?" Metria asked. "I have a husband I have to send back into nonsensical bliss, and a son I need to collect."

"You're a family demoness!" Jaylin exclaimed. "Actually, I knew that, but it seems so-so-"

"Incredible?"

"Whatever," Jaylin agreed, forcing a frown. "But I remember now. You have half a soul, so you have to act halfway decent, for a demon."

"It's a pain," Metria agreed. "I got married to satisfy my curiosity, and Demon Professor Grossclout said I was going to get what was coming to me. I thought it was just an empty threat. But when I got half my mortal husband's soul, I became smart too late. Well, I'm off." She popped out.

"But what do we do now?" Cynthia asked.

"We had better ask her," Justin said. "If we can recall her."

"Does the Foop have a distance limit?" Che asked.

"We shall find out," Justin said. He touched the Foop. "Overwhelming need to return," he murmured, focusing on Metria. "Come back to me."

The demoness reappeared. In fact, she was suddenly plastered against him. "We've got to stop meeting this way," she said, kissing him. "I'm overwhelmed." Justin was too startled to protest.

"Wrong motive," Breanna said, annoyed. "Get into your own space."

"But I thought he really needed me."

"Like a cockatrice on his nose, he needs you."

The demoness pried her torso away from Justin's front with a faint sucking sound. "I just couldn't leave you folk like that," she said. "That half soul is really a drag."

"It wasn't your conscience," Justin said, recovering a portion of his equilibrium. The demoness did know how to kiss! "We drew you back with the Foop, because we have another question."

"Oh. I thought you needed me."

"I'll bet!" Breanna said ferociously.

"It seems she was required to answer the call," Che said, "but allowed some interpretation in the manner of it. That is generally mischief."

Metria nodded knowingly. "So what's the question?"

"The question," Cynthia repeated, "is what do we do now?"

The demoness looked flattered. It was of course pretense, but an apt emulation. "You mean you actually want my opinion?"

"Strong desire to help," Justin murmured, touching the Foop.

Metria considered. "Now that you have it working, I think you need to go to a higher power. This is capital D Demon business. Talk with Demon Xanth." She faded, except for her mouth, which floated across and caught Justin's mouth with another passionate kiss.

"Bleep!" Breanna swore, firing off the blackest of looks. But the mouth was laughing as it dissipated into mist.

Cynthia was nodding. "That does seem good."

"It's no good! I'll kiss him better than that."

Justin wasn't sure of that, but knew better than to say so. He loved Breanna, but it was evidently hard for an eighteen-year-long life to compete with the experience of centuries.

"Cynthia means the advice," Che said, his face struggling with an expression.

"I knew that! And that better not be a smile pushing out your muzzle, horseface!"

"It's an expression of disgust at the demoness's crude manners," Cynthia said. But a similar expression was lurking near her own muzzle.

"At least we established that the Foop operates at a distance," Che said.

"How do we talk with the Demon Xanth?" Jaylin asked.

"Invoke him," Sim squawked.

Justin nodded. "Desire to help us," he said, thinking of the Demon Xanth as he touched the Foop.

There was a weird swirl as the scenery shifted. Then the six of them were standing in an elaborate castle courtyard. A lovely young woman with greenish-yellow hair stood before them.

"Do come in," she said. "I am Chlorine. My talent is poisoning water, but I use it only for beneficial purpose. I will speak for Nimby." She turned and led the way into the castle. Justin couldn't help noticing that she had a very interesting walk.

"You notice too much," Breanna muttered darkly. She knew his thoughts just from seeing what he was seeing.

They followed Chlorine, bemused. "Where are we?" Jaylin whispered.

"This is the Nameless Castle," Sim squawked. "Where I was hatched, six years ago. I know it well."

"The Nameless Castle!" Jaylin exclaimed, thrilled. "The one that floats on a cloud?"

"It does indeed," Justin agreed. "Attendance here is by very special invitation only."

They entered a grand chamber. There stood a dragon with diagonal stripes of pastel pink and bilious green, and the head of a donkey: a dragon ass, the silliest of creatures. "This is Nimby, my beloved," Chlorine said. "He prefers to leave the talking to me." She cracked half a smile. "We get along well."

Jaylin was standing next to Justin. "How do we know it's really him, then?"

The donkey head twitched an ear, attracting their attention. Then his eye caught theirs, and seemed to expand enormously. Suddenly the chamber seemed to scintillate with rainbow colors, and the walls of the room faded away, leaving them standing on a medium-sized white cloud. The panoply of the Land of Xanth was passing slowly below them in all its mottled grandeur.

"I believe it," Jaylin breathed, awed. So did Justin.

"You have obtained and activated the Swell Foop," Chlorine said, as the outdoor scene slowly reverted to the original chamber. "You wish to rescue the Demon Earth and preserve gravity in our region of the universe. You need advice on how to proceed." She paused.

"Agreed," Justin said. "It is Cynthia Centaur's mission, and we are assisting her."

Chlorine glanced at Nimby, who twitched an ear. "This is complicated," she said. "We do not know where the Demon Earth is, only that nothing short of an attack by another Demon could have done it. We do not believe that any of the local Demons are responsible. We fear it is a foreign Demon. Therefore this is not a matter that can be settled by local negotiation; it is a system problem." She paused again.

"We have no idea how to proceed," Che said.

"You will have to enlist the support of six of the local Demons," Chlorine said. "Nimby will arrange a conference, but you will have to make the liaison."

"Won't Nimby be with us?" Cynthia asked, clearly daunted.

Chlorine looked at the dragon again, and received another ear twitch. "The Swell Foop is a Xanthly device. Each Demon has such a unit, but this is the one that was activated. Because it is Xanthly, it does not affect Nimby himself, and his participation will therefore not be trusted by other Demons whose participation is essential."

"But we have no idea how to approach Demons," Justin protested. "Especially when we have so little idea what we are doing."

"What you need to understand is that Demons exist solely for status," Chlorine said. "They achieve this by a series of contests with each other, whose rules are agreed in each case and may not be changed or abridged." She smiled. "I came to associate with Nimby as a result of one such contest. He came to me in his present form, spoke to me one time only, and thereafter merely responded to my wishes. I wished for beauty, health, intelligence, and the like. I did not know that in order to win, he had to receive one tear of grief or love for him. In time, thinking him dying, I did shed that tear, and thereafter our reality changed significantly. You must negotiate the terms of some similar contest with the other Demons, in order to enlist their cooperation in your mission. You will not be able to accomplish it without them, and it is doubtful whether you can do so even with them."

Justin's mouth dropped open. "Six Demons-with all their phenomenal powers-might not prevail?"

"That is correct, because we do not know the complete nature of the opposition. It may be that Demon Earth is captive and can be recovered. But it may be that he has already been more severely compromised, in which case the game is lost."

"This is no game!" Justin said, and immediately regretted it. Obviously Nimby and Chlorine knew that; it was merely a figure of speech.

"It is a game to the Demons," Chlorine said evenly. "With the exception of Nimby, none of them care about the fate of life in the universe. Life is an incidental by-product of the gaming process, useful on occasion because of its erratic and seemingly random nature. It is never certain what a living creature will do; therefore wagers can be made on certain outcomes, as was the case when I participated." She smiled. "One completely unanticipated aspect was that Nimby, in his effort to understand me and the human condition better, came to appreciate some of the quirks of it, and to like me personally, for all that I am greatly enhanced over my original state. Hence our subsequent relationship, which is entirely at his convenience. However-"

She was interrupted by the sound of a baby crying. "Oops, Nimmy's awake. I'll be right back." She hurried from the room.

"The stork!" Breanna exclaimed. "The stork delivered! I remember when she learned of that, two years ago. Sure surprised her!"

"That's right," Justin agreed. "That must be a remarkable baby, considering its parentage." For the Demon Xanth had all power in the Land of Xanth, when he chose to exercise it, and could cause the storks to deliver any kind of baby with any magic talent, to any woman. Chlorine had clued him in on appropriate gifts of this nature, and Breanna herself was slated for something special when the time came. That was one reason she was so eager to get married.

Chlorine returned, carrying a glowing bundle. "Folks, meet Nimbus," she said. "His talent will be mixing metaphors, when he learns to speak."

Justin was perplexed. This was a rather ordinary talent, and the baby looked completely unremarkable. How had this happened?

"Isn't that like closing the barn door after the milk's been spilt?" Breanna asked, then did her best to blush. Evidently the baby's proximity had caused her to reflect his talent. "I mean, why not make him a Magician?"

Chlorine smiled. "We decided we wanted the experience of an ordinary child," she said. "I was ordinary at best, and Nimby lacks experience, so this made sense, don't you think?"

"For sure!" Breanna agreed, and the others nodded.

But Justin became aware of something else. The chamber had subtly changed around them, and now resembled the interior of a barn, with a puddle of milk on the floor. He glanced again at Baby Nimbus, and saw that his glow had intensified, fairly lighting the barn.

The others were looking around in wonder, evidently seeing the same thing. "The glow," Cynthia said. "Is it-?"

"Glow?" Chlorine asked. "His name is Nimbus, not Glow."

"And the barn," Che said. "That's-"

"Barn?" Chlorine asked, her fair brow furrowing.

Justin looked at the dragon, but the dragon averted his gaze with studied innocence. Then Justin caught on: Chlorine had asked for an ordinary baby, but Nimby had arranged for the delivery of an extraordinary one. Nimbus had a glow of almost angelic proportion, befitting his name-but Chlorine could not see it. And Nimbus's talent was not only affecting others, it made the mixed metaphors literal, or at least apparent as illusions. But Chlorine was not aware of that, either. The time would come when she would be surprised, possibly pleased or dismayed, but it was not their business to inform her.

"Our confusion," Justin said. "We have been faced with perplexing things, and have not quite recovered. We shall surely soon untangle this knot and sail across smoother mountains." As he spoke, the baby's glow intensified again, and the barn became a mountainous landscape with a giant rope knot coursing through it, making ripples in the terrain as it slowly unraveled. "Of course his name is Nimbus, and it is a nice name," he continued hurriedly, focusing hard to avoid further influence by the talent. "His talent should be interesting, once it manifests." He sent a glance around, trying to warn the others.

"Of course," Sim squawked, catching on quickly. In half a moment so did Che, followed in three-quarters of a moment by the others.

"I must return to business," Chlorine said. "Nimby, dear, you will have to change form for a while." She held the baby out to him, together with a fresh milkweed pod.

The dragon disappeared. In its place was a completely handsome man of princely aspect. He took the baby and pod, and settled into a chair, helping Nimbus to drink. The knotty mountain scene faded.

"She's really got him broken in," Breanna murmured appreciatively. "Observe and learn, Justin."

"As I was saying," Chlorine said. "My relationship with Nimby is entirely at his convenience, but it appears that convenience will last a few more decades. He likes learning about the microcosm. Similarly, there could be ongoing complications of this next Demon game. So consider carefully as you negotiate; you do not wish to conclude with unexpected awkwardness. The Demons not only have mind-boggling powers, they are quite literal-minded."

"We have to negotiate?" Justin asked. "With other Demons? When we have no idea what we're doing?"

"You will be helping the Demons to rescue D. Earth. The Swell Foop can affect them regardless, but it would be better to obtain their voluntary cooperation."

"But if we don't know how to do it, and they don't know, either, how can we accomplish anything?"

Chlorine glanced again at Nimby. One ear wiggled. That startled Justin, but of course the Demon could make a human ear move if he wanted to.

Chlorine nodded. "Since it must be a Demon who has abducted D. Earth, and Demons exist to challenge for status, you will have to locate D. Earth's captor and challenge him to a game of status. The Foop will locate D. Earth, and therefore his captor."

"Challenge an unknown Demon!" Justin exclaimed. "This is preposterous."

"Therefore you must prepare your case carefully, to make it seem reasonable to the other Demons."

"Reasonable! We don't even know how to get in touch with-"

"The conference of Demons is scheduled half an hour hence, at this site. I suggest you use that time to confer with each other and prepare your case."

"Half an hour!" Justin cried, appalled anew.

"For your convenience, we have set the clock," Chlorine said. She gestured, and a large framed picture appeared on the wall, showing a timer set at 30 minutes. As they watched, it clicked to 29. "One other thing to remember: The Demons are enormous, quite beyond mortal comprehension. For your convenience they will limit themselves in the manner Nimby does for me, so that no more than one percent of their attention focuses on you. They will still be rather beyond your scope, but at least you will be able to have a dialogue. They will emulate mortal limitations, so as to seem, well, remotely human. That should help."

"But-" Justin said. And stopped, for they were alone in the chamber. Their three hosts had faded out.

"At least they left us a nice snack," Breanna said, going to a table piled with appealing delicacies.

"Dear girl, food is the least of our concerns!"

"No, I think we have enough to go on," Sim squawked.

"Yes," Che agreed. "Let's eat well, preparing for the encounter, and set up our presentation. I think Justin is the fairest spoken among us, so he should be our spokesman."

"Me! But I have no idea how-"

Breanna stuffed a spinach cookie into his mouth. "Shut up and listen," she said.

Justin shut up and listened, and what Sim squawked and Che said slowly came to make sense. He could after all make the case, for whatever it was worth.

They finished their snack and made themselves comfortable around the edges of the chamber. The timer reached zero and bonged, then winked out of existence.

Nine figures were in the chamber. They appeared to be human in body, wearing voluminous robes, but their heads were rotating spheres. They stood in place, neither moving nor speaking. They were evidently emulating mortal status.

Justin realized that they were waiting to hear his presentation. He plunged in. "Salutations, Demons," he said formally. "We are six mortal creatures from the lands of Xanth and Mundania who wish to enlist your help on a mission to rescue the Demon Earth from captivity. We have obtained the Rings of Xanth and the Swell Foop, and learned how to operate it." He lifted the stone with its six Rings.

Now there was a stir among the visitors. One with a small hot head glided forward, reached out to touch the Foop, and did not. "True." Then, as Justin wondered who that one was, print appeared on the robe: MERCURY.

Simultaneously, names appeared on all the others. The Demons were all named after the planets, or were the planets; Justin had never been quite sure about that. EARTH was missing, and there was one he didn't recognize: NEMESIS. Odd that he hadn't heard of that planet, or seen it in the night sky during his decades as a tree. But obviously it existed, or its associated Demon would not be here.

Well, on with it, before they lost patience. "We know that the Swell Foop will generate emotions in you, and thereby control your actions. But we don't wish to aggravate you. Rather we want to enlist your cooperation in our effort to save the Demon Earth from captivity. We believe that it is to your interest to save him, because his force is gravity, and we all need at least some of that on occasion."

He paused. There was no reaction. That, he hoped, was good news. So he continued. "We doubt that even with the Foop we'll be able to rescue Demon Earth ourselves. We need the formidable power and expertise of Demons. That way we may be able to arrange a challenge for status with the captor Demon, proffering terms he will not care to decline. If we win, we will restore the Demon Earth to his accustomed place, and gravity will not be lost." He did not speak of losing; that was not expedient at this point.

Still no response. "Because Demons are not accustomed to emotions, we believe that a liaison between Demons and mortals will be expedient. In that manner the formidable emotions generated by the Foop will be filtered and modified by creatures who are accustomed to them, giving our team an advantage."

They just stood there. Was he making sense to them, or washing out? Now he would find out. "To have a fair game, one that the captor Demon will wish to participate in, the stakes must be conducive. We must be able to offer something the captor Demon desires. I am unable to say what that might be. Here I need your input."

"A second Demon," the Demon Nemesis said. His head was the largest of all of them, a dense brown sphere.

"Will that be sufficient to induce him to play?" Justin asked.

"Two Demons," the Demon Neptune said.

There was a pause. "The two of you are volunteering?" Justin asked.

They nodded. "I am the least apparent yet most influential of our number," Nemesis said. "My associated planet is beyond the sight of the others, but is more massive than all of them combined. The captor will desire my ambiance of Dark Matter."

"I am not the largest or prettiest member of our group," Neptune said. "But my Higgs boson particle field generates mass itself, without which none of the others could exist, and my aspect of energy moves all things. The captor will desire that too."

Justin was amazed at the significance of these two obscure Demons. Indeed, Dark Matter was invisible yet most pervasive, a phenomenal mystery, and mass/energy was the fundamental building block (as it were) of existence. "And this would bring the other Demon in?" he inquired, to be absolutely sure, for there was no certain predicting what motivated Demons. Now the others nodded.

"Then if you will choose from our number to align with, we can institute the challenge," Justin said, privately amazed that this was falling into place so neatly. They had thought it should, but knew that with Demons nothing was sure. Demon Xanth had communicated with them on a Demonly level, so they readily understood the situation, but was that enough?

This time there was a long pause. Justin felt quite nervous. Which Demon would choose him? What would such an association feel like? What would the contest itself be like? None of them had ever been involved in anything like this before.

Demon Mars, with a small red head, floated toward Sim, then veered and went to Che. The Demon walked right into the centaur and disappeared. He had Chosen.

Demon Jupiter floated toward Sim-and faded into the big bird. He too had Chosen.

Demoness Venus floated to Breanna.

Demoness Saturn floated to Cynthia.

Only Justin and Jaylin remained. They waited, but no other Demons came. Instead, they faded out. This, it seemed, was it: Four Demons were playing, two were stakes, and three were not participating. "But what about us?" Justin asked somewhat plaintively.

Chlorine reappeared. "You have not been neglected," she said. "One of you is needed to animate the Demon Earth, and the other to animate the enemy Demon."

"The enemy Demon! But we oppose it!"

"It must be given the same situation as the rest," she explained. "A mortal body. If it plays, it will choose one of you. The other will go to the Demon Earth."

Oh. That did make sense, he supposed. "But how could it choose me, when I oppose it?"

"The game will not be that straightforward."

Somehow that did not reassure him. "Well, what is the next step?"

"Use the Foop to locate the Demon Earth."

Oh. Yes. "I will now, with the acquiescence of those participating, use the Swell Foop to orient on the Demon Earth."

There were no demurrals. This business of nonresponse was eerie.

Justin picked up the Foop. "Demon Earth," he said, concentrating on the identity.

He felt nothing. But that might simply mean he wasn't facing the right way. He turned, slowly, holding the stone.

As he completed his circle, he felt a slight warmth in the stone. He focused on that, turning back and forth, but there was no further heating.

Then he tried lifting it-and felt more warmth. The direction was up, not around! He set it on his shoulder and turned again, verifying the orientation. "That way!" he cried, pointing.

"Where is it?" Jaylin asked.

Che tilted his head, calculating azimuth, elevation, and chronology. "Fornax," he said.

Justin's jaw dropped. "But that's no planet! That's a foreign galaxy!"

"Fornax," Che/Mars repeated angrily. "This is worse than any of us anticipated."

"Worse?" Justin asked, dreading the answer.

"That is the region of contra-terrene matter," Neptune explained grimly. "That has the potential to destroy all of us."

"Contra-terrene matter!" Justin exclaimed, appalled. "But mere contact with that is lethal!"

"Not in the presence of the Swell Foop," Breanna/Venus said. "Its magic protects us. So that is where we must go to engage the foreign Demon."

"And if we lose that encounter?" Justin asked.

There was no answer. That was more than enough answer.