Nikolas and Company: The Merman and The Moon Forgotten (12 page)

“Mermaids?” Xanthus called
out.

“Well,” said Grand, “that is what we
call the female Merrows.”

“Whatever,” said Xanthus. “Mermaids are
hot!”

“Anyway,” Grand said. “The Merrows do
not live within the city walls, rather off the coast of Eynclaene.
Still, they are given Huronite citizenship because they manage and
guard all of Huron’s wealth in offshore accounts. I would suppose
the Dujinnin mean to plunder those treasures. I must return to her
and so must you, Nikolas.”

“What? Me?” said Nick. The more Grand
talked, the more he felt confused.

“It is you Huron needs now, Nikolas. I
would’ve never risked coming to the ground and out in the open like
this if it wasn’t for our dear city. The Merrows are in grave
danger and with them, Huron herself. I must bring you
home.”

“Home?”

“Aye.”

Nick couldn’t manage a response. All he
could do was listen to the pressers. The mimes had withered to half
their size.

Grand squared to Nick. “Above all else,
what do you desire from this life?”

“Home—Moon, of course,” Nick combed
through his hair slightly frustrated. “But I don’t get any of this.
Where’s this city you keep talking about? Is there like an unheard
of civilization somewhere? Underground? Why do you keep talking
about the past like you’re some time-traveler or
something?”

Grand stepped into the middle of the
stardust scucca and spun his finger like a lasso, each revolution
smaller than the next. Dust began to clot into spheres.

“Saturn . . . Jupiter . . . Mars,” said
Daniel as planets took shape.

“What’s that stuff you’re using,
again?” said Xanthus.

“Stardust,” Grand said. “This was Earth
myriads of years ago, before men kept record of the heavens. If
they had, they would have known that our solar system bore not
eight, but nine planets.” He stepped to Earth and did a quick
revolution around it. “Earth had a twin.”

“Huhhh,” the kids said.

A second planet crested over Earth like
a blue-white sunrise. But it wasn’t its mirror copy, they were
fraternals. Slightly larger, its oceans were a deeper hue, its
continents more severe and pronounced. And it sparkled, like
someone had glazed it over with flecks of glass.

Phfiiiiiiiit . . .
The pressers wheezed to a stop again.

“I told you to keep them going, boys,”
Grand warned Tim and Xanthus. They resumed their
pressing.

“Mon was his name,” said Grand. “And
the brother planets were bound literally one to
another.”

Nick stepped around Grand for a better
look. The planetary bodies were so close that the atmosphere fused
together like Siamese twins. A massive rope crossed the
atmospheres, tethering the two planets together.

“The tidal waves?” Daniel shook his
head. “The gravitational force between the two would be enough to
rip the surfaces apart.”

“And so it did, until the tether was
constructed by Roch-umbria. It cast a spell over the planets,
keeping peace among skies and tides.”

“Where’s Moon?” Haley unfolded her
hands.

“Mon,” Nick said, knowing
the answer before Haley asked the question. “Mon
is
the Moon.”

“Yes, Nikolas. Well done. Earth, in my
time, is the barely inhabitable world. Except for the tethered
realms, it is ice or wilderness. As fate would have it, Mon, your
moon, is the rich, powerful planet of the brother worlds. Steeped
in wonder and mystery, he is the cradle of all magical
civilization.”

“Dude,” said Xanthus, lifting up his
bestiary. “Totally makes sense! We have always looked to Moon as
our source magic. Werewolves changed by it, farmers planted their
seeds by it, mothers prayed they would give birth by it. Oh, and
let us not forget the Greek goddess, Daphne—”

“Hey,” Haley said, “wanna be sedated?
‘Cause I will happily do it.”

“It’s my job to keep people
informed.”

“And here—” Grand pointed to the middle
of the largest land mass. “—is Huron, home. Your home, Nikolas and
Tim.”

Nick and Tim looked at each
other. They swapped the same expression:
“Seriously. Is anyone buying this?”

Nick looked to Xanthus who furiously
took notes in his bestiary while pumping the presser.

“In my time, the city of Huron is the
seat of Mon. Huron’s magic makes her both the jewel and the envy of
the brother worlds.

Before the city was built, the valley
of Huron was discovered. Because of its rich magic, fierce civil
war broke out among all the lings. Humling, creachling, bigling,
midgling, faerling. They fought over rights for the valley and its
magical properties. As a truce, Rah-Neron the Wise, decided to
build the city of Huron. All races were given their own boroughs.
It has become a metropolis, a melting pot, if you will, of Mon’s
fantastic creatur—”

“Forgive me,” Daniel interrupted.
“Aside from your more interesting rendition of Moon, we would find
evidence of a previous civilization. It’s nothing more than a mass
of iron and dust.”

“Yes. That was before the wars and the
burning away of all Mon’s creatures. There is no evidence of a
previous civilization because what you see in the sky, my friend,
is a corpse, a ghost of a once powerful, magical world. Some dark
force ripped off the skin between that time in history and today,
and flung it away from Earth to become a satellite, instead of a
brother. Even your scientists, Daniel, attest to the fact that Moon
is the remnant of a larger, more Earth-like planet.”

“Yes, well . . .” Daniel seemed to be
out of questions.

In fact, everyone fell silent, except
for the whistling of the pressers.

Nick took a step closer to the
stardust. “Home?”

Grand nodded. “That’s right,
lad.”

“They’re all like you?” said
Nick.

“Well . . . afraid there is no one like
me in Huron. The citizens are more . . . civilized. But yes, I call
them brethren.”

“Right,” Tim said in a slow,
unbelieving tone. “Look. All I care about is Mom and Dad. If these
are some type of mimes or clones or whatever scientists call them,
where are my parents?”

“They’re home. Oxbar Estates, Manor
Major, southeast of Huron.”

“No. I mean, really, Grand.
I’m fourteen already. You don’t have to fabricate stories to make
me feel better. Where are they
really?
”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, Tim. As I said,
the trackers hunted us throughout Huron Valley. I left them secured
at Manor Major.”

Nick looked to the shriveling mimes.
“So, they’re not my parents?”

“No,” Grand shook his head. “Surprised
you never suspected. I did a poor job making them, and I’m not
trying to be modest, either. The scuccas were close on our heels,
and I had to cut the mime’s firing time short by ten minutes.
Pulled them out of the kiln too fast, and they cooled
immaturely.”

“That’s why they were so weird,” Nick
said. “Always acted like they were cool, hip—one of us. They were
basically teenagers.”

“Yes,” Grand nodded. “The mimes share
your parent’s memories; that’s one of the first things you add to
the brew. But their personalities were underdeveloped.”

Phfit. Phfit. Phfit . .
.

“But we digress,” Grand clasped his
hands behind his back, sighed, and looked the Lyons brothers dead
in the face. “I am ashamed to admit it, but because I abandoned
Huron to her own devices, she abandoned me. I am no longer her
steward.” Grand’s bear-like finger rose to Nick. “You are Nikolas
Lyons. She will speak to you now.”

“Speak?” said Nick. “Like, with
words?”

“Yes,” Grand pursed his lips. “When the
city of Huron was built many epochs ago, a strange thing occurred.
A voice from the steward’s horn called to Rah-Neron. It was then
the settlers learned that every city has a voice. You see, a city
contains thousands, even millions, of citizens. If there is no
voice, anarchy and death would reign. The voice of the city is a
guiding light for all. But she doesn’t speak to just anyone. Huron
will speak only to her steward, and you, Nikolas, are that
steward.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Tim laughed.
“Steward? As in concerned for the well-being of other life
forms?”

“Could there be any doubt?” said
Grand.

“Ha,” Tim shook his head. “Yes. There
could be.”

“He’s like me in so many ways,” said
Grand, “if that be an indication of his care for the well-being of
others.”

In his mind, Nick saw Grand fling an
inocudrone across the room and lift up two bodies out of a
casket.

Really not helping,
Grand.

“Yes,” Grand said. “He is just like me,
right down to name and place in the family order. The voice is
passed down from grandfather to grandson. Always the youngest. You
are the youngest, right?”

“Yeah,” said Tim. “By 28 minutes,
though.”

“Always the youngest grandson,” said
Grand. “And you are named Nikolas Lyons. Every Steward of Huron is
given the name, so she might find him. I am Nikolas Lyons, the
Eleventh.”

“Well, that’s a problem, then,” said
Tim. “His name is Nick. It’s on the birth certificate.”

“Are you my translator, Tim?” said
Nick. “Shut it, already. I can speak just fine.”

“
It
should
be Nikolas,” said Grand. “Your
father named you so before we came here. Anyway, that can be
rectified. I will take you to the Hall of Pickings so that you
might be given your true name.” Grand’s voice lowered. “It is to
you the stewardship passes. And with it, the voice of Huron. She
will speak only to you, Nikolas. For the Merrows’ sake, she must
speak to you . . .” Grand’s brow sunk, but he snapped out of it and
marched to the truck. He lifted the seat, revealing a dozen strange
oddities.

“There you are.” Grand held a small
copper box in both hands, with a cone-shaped tube pointing upward.
Clutching the device, he moved back to Nick. “Ask her what she
would have us do next.”

“It’s a gramophone,” said Daniel. “One
of the first record players.”

“Yes. The gramophone was inspired by
the steward’s horn.” Grand raised the device to Nick. “She speaks
to her steward through the horn. Nikolas, please.”

“So.” Nick pulled his hands out of his
back pockets. “What do you want me to do?”

“Rub your finger over the surface, like
this.” Grand glided his fingers over the small rubber
pad.

Nick slowly reached out with his index
finger. Small bits of static leapt out to his finger as he pressed
down. Then, just like Grand, he rubbed the pad in a circular
motion. Garbled murmurs crept from the horn. Nick pressed harder
with more speed. The murmurs shaped into voices, but fell away
again.

“Try again,” Grand’s tone a little more
determined.

Nick repeated the motion with more
pressure and speed.

Nothing.

Grand raised the gramophone.
“Troubling—it appears functional.”

“You don’t expect us to buy all thi—”
said Tim.

“I don’t need that horn thing, anyway,”
Nick cut Tim off. “She talks to me, in my—head.” He tried to stop
that last word, but it got away from him.

“Pardon me?” Grand lowered the
steward’s horn to his waist.

“Yeah. I, um,” Nick swallowed. “I can
hear her—she talks to me in my head. Something about peril and
intent and, you know, stuff.”

“That is unheard of,
Nikolas,” Grand said. “Huron speaks to her steward only through the
horn. She has never spoken directly
to
the steward.”

Nick looked around the forest clearing.
You could cut the awkwardness with a chainsaw. Even Xanthus stopped
taking notes.

“She doesn’t really, like,
talk
with
me,” said
Nick. “Just a sentence. Two sentences.”

Grand put the gramophone on the ground
and stood full length. “Very well, Nikolas. What were her words to
you?”

“Well, um . . .” Nick looked around. He
could hear pressers still sucking up their cargo, but now offbeat.
Each press seemed to meter out doubt from the onlookers.

“The—the Rones lie about their true
intent. They enter the city of Huron at the peril of us
all.”

“The Rones?” Grand raised both fists to
his hips. “Are you sure, Nikolas?”

“Yeah,” said Nick. “Why?”

“That,” Grand said, “that would
contradict our entire quest?”

“I don’t know. I can’t help it,” Nick’s
tone grew defensive. “The voice just keeps saying the Rones are
lying to everyone.”

“What’s a Rone?” Brandy leaned to
Xanthus.

“Don’t know.
I’ve
never heard of them,”
Xanthus said.

Grand’s green eyes investigated him.
Nick could almost hear the unhinging of his own mind. Then, he
raised his chin high. “I believe you, Nikolas. It will be a feat to
convince the Council of Teine of your testimony, but not unheard
of. Now—” Grand bent down and put the steward’s horn under his arm.
“—will you come home? Will you arise and take your place among the
clouds?”