Kirane tried to focus her blurry vision on the ceiling. It looked kind of like wooden boards, and reminded her of some of the movies she’d seen on Arret—the ones about its history within the last couple of centuries. It looked like the ceiling in one of those… what did they always call those houses? Oh yes, “log cabins”. Convenient that said movies always used that particular term at one point in time or another.

Kirane ignored the idiosyncrasies of her vocabulary and started observing other things. The walls continued the “log cabin” idea, but she was lying on a couch. A clearly more modern couch. To her right, there was a TV against the wall, with a quiver of arrows and bow leaning up against it. She didn’t bother being confused by the anachronisms; in fact, it was fairly comforting. All the more evidence that she’d found it after all.

“Good, you’re awake.” Kirane started a bit, then chided herself for the panic. This was clearly not Logan’s voice; it was the other voice she vaguely remembered, the one of her rescuer. She sat up and turned her head left, towards the voice. The red-haired woman from before, apparently, had been sitting at the table behind her; now she was standing and walking towards her. “I was a bit worried for a while; I’m not much of a doctor, myself.”

The woman had taken off her mask, which made a vast improvement. Combined with the nighttime darkness, the dark-colored mask had helped make her look a rather… well, she was certainly glad this creature was benevolent. Even now, she still looked unnatural—at least, not entirely human—but in a much different way. Other than the wings, there was nothing she could put her finger on, but something about her face, maybe her eyes… it just wasn’t like the humans Kirane was used to. Then again, that was probably normal in this town.

Kirane shook it off. She instead greeted her rescuer with a faint smile. “As strange as this is going to sound, he usually tries to be ‘gentle’.” She stopped as realization suddenly dawned. “How… how long have I been here?”

“Over an hour.” She glanced at a clock on the wall. “Exactly one hour and twenty-four minutes since I brought you inside, anyways.” She looked back and saw Kirane’s surprised expression. “I’ve rescued people with reasons for wanting exact details.”

Kirane smiled dryly. “Don’t worry; I can do without.” She started moving as many joints as she could, trying to work out the stiffness. “That was a pretty fast recovery, though. I’m not going to complain about that.”

She had just finished stretching her arms a bit when she finally turned back to face the other woman. She had a mixed look on her face, trying to hold back something and just barely winning. Finally, she said, “Look, I know the last few hours have been a bit rough on you, but… I mean, I’m a bit curious about a few things….”

Kirane shook her head. “Oh no, an explanation is the least of what I owe you. And I’m fine now.” Kirane pulled herself fully into a sitting position, making room on the other end for the woman to sit down. “I suppose a good place to start is my name. I—” She stopped; how should she introduce herself? “Well, I go by more than one name, but my real name is Kirane.”

The woman nodded. “That’s what I thought your ‘friend’ said.”

“Ah.” Yes… sometime she would have to get around to Logan. That would be… interesting. In the meanwhile, she cautiously asked, “Um, I hope you don’t mind my asking, but… what’s your name? The only one I have for you is ‘my rescuer’.”

“I have a few names, too.” The woman responded, with a shrug. “You can call me Ryana, but I also go by Phoenix Archer. Or Vanessa, but that’s a long story.”

Kirane nodded. “All right. Then Ryana, thank you for your help.” She smiled wryly. “I would say you were like my guardian angel, but I suppose you hear that a lot.”

Ryana mirrored the smile. “Yeah, a few times. I’ve mastered the art of rolling my eyes internally.” She hesitated for a moment, then added, “And… well, let’s put it this way. Most of the time, when people around here find out where they are, they’re either wildly confused by the strange sights around here, or asking me what kind of a name ‘Ditto Town’ is.” Fresh confusion washed over her features. “You’re… the first person I’ve met who not only knew what was going on, but… was pleased to hear it. How did you know?”

“That… is a long story.” Kirane paused, and quickly clarified, “Not that I don’t have the time to tell it; I’m just trying to decide where is the best place to start.” And for a few moments, that’s what she did. Finally, she began with: “I imagine you’ve already figured this out, but I’m not really human. My people are known as the Krescans.”

Kirane barely contained a sigh; she was getting nowhere. “My people have developed what you might call ‘wormhole’ technology.” She shrugged. “At least, that’s what most of the humans I’ve met call it. We’ve learned how to travel between worlds, and study the other means of transportation between worlds.”

Ryana’s face didn’t change much, but nonetheless, Kirane could tell that she was suddenly intrigued. “Other means? You mean other civilizations have this kind of technology?”

Kirane shook her head, then stopped, and shrugged. “Well, yes, but in a much more limited way. For the most part, they just exploit natural passages between worlds—calling them wormholes, gateways, or… well, I prefer ‘portals’.”

The other woman nodded, apparently still thinking that over. “So, then were do the ‘natural’ portals come from?”

“That’s a question my people have pondered for generations. And, to be honest, we still have nothing more than theories. We’ve just studied them.” She hesitated for a minute. “See, that’s why I’m here. Almost a decade ago, we… discovered something. An incredible amount of portals—natural and otherwise—that either began or went through one specific place. It took us a while, but we finally learned something about this place: its name.” She paused, almost as if for dramatic effect. “Ditto Town.”

Ryana was fully intrigued by now. She wasn’t really as surprised as she should have been, but… well, obviously, it was leading somewhere. “I guess that makes sense.” She responded. “I have personal experience with some of these… portals. There are a lot of those things around here.”

Kirane nodded. “To be honest, stumbling onto that information was a bit of luck. Because of how these work, it’s hard to find a physical location without actually being there. We could only try to follow them and get as close as we can until we finally found the right place. So, we continued trying, and picked up a little bit more information along the way—or speculated as best as we could.” Dryly, she admitted, “The name was the most striking information we’ve picked up so far. To be honest, I still don’t understand it. We managed to translate it into your language, and….”

Kirane didn’t seem sure how to finish, but Ryana had a feeling she knew where this was going. “Yeah, it doesn’t make a whole lot more sense here, really. I’ll explain it to you sometime.”

“Really??” Ryana was a little surprised by Kirane’s enthusiasm, but she slowly understood why. It was like uncovering the mysteries of some lost civilization, as far as she was concerned. She may have faked some of her own enthusiasm in that area, but even when she was disguised as Vanessa, she did somewhat enjoy her archeological work. A less excited response would’ve been cause for confusion. While Ryana was thinking this over, Kirane suddenly blushed and realized, “But of course, I still need to finish my story.”

She shook it off, and continued, “It wasn’t until about six years ago that we finally discovered the true location of Ditto Town. A call went out in the more scholarly circles for anyone who was willing to volunteer to go there, make first contact, and find out what we could from that end.” She smiled dryly. “I’ll admit, I’m not much of a scientist or scholar—but my parents have always been. And they felt I was perfect for the job.” She shrugged and admitted, “That might be an exaggeration, but I was willing to do it. It seemed like a good way to help my people.”

“Wait… you?” Kirane just nodded, as if she’d expected that. This next question was probably equally predictable, but Ryana asked it anyways: “But… I thought you said this was six years ago. Why did it take so long?” While she asked the question, her brain continued puzzling through it. This was about the point that she came up with a solution: “Did the portal somehow affect time as well?”

Kirane shook her head. “Some portals do seem to… bend the laws of time, but not to that extent. No, to be honest, there was a slight…” She hesitated, and for the first time since she’d woken up, Ryana saw that she looked disturbed. Slowly, she finished, “…detour.”

Her friendly demeanor didn’t return, but she regained her composure, at least. “The night I was set to leave, something happened. I don’t know what; all I know is that there were explosions and people shouting….” She shook her head. “I’ve puzzled over it for six years, and I still can’t piece anything together. The only thing I can say is that most everyone was confused as I was—but some seemed to know better.”

“Whatever the case, I was already ready to go before it started. They had just finished putting the last of the equipment together. Everything… came to a standstill when the noises started, but, when there was this last one that seemed to shake everything….” Kirane shrugged. “I don’t know if it was an accident or if someone decided to send me right away, before the place came down. Whatever the case, somehow, the equipment activated, and I was sent to my destination.”

“But you didn’t end up here.” Ryana surmised.

Kirane nodded. “The coordinates must have gotten scrambled at some point. As it turns out, I ended up on a world I’d never heard of called ‘Arret’. Their technology was… strange, and in some ways far more advanced than that of my people, but in terms of travel?” She shook her head. “Not even close. They haven’t even gone far beyond their own planet.”

“So no way home from there.” Ryana assumed. Kirane nodded. “And, with what happened before you left….”

Kirane nodded again, this time with a slight grimace. “My best hope was that it was just a minor accident, and I could expect a passage home within a couple hours. At worst, something drastic had happened, and I would be waiting in vain.” She shrugged. “I waited as long as I could, but nothing happened. Finally, I decided it was time to move on, find out what I could about that world.”

“There’s a lot to say about that world, so I’ll… ‘hit the highlights’. Apparently, this is a world where, for the most part….” She seemed to search for the right way to say this. Finally, she asked, “Maybe I should make sure. On your world, are your abilities… at all unusual?”

Ryana glanced at her wings. “You mean these?”

Kirane nodded. “And… perhaps it was my state of mind, but I thought I saw you somehow creating fire last night….”

Ryana nodded. “No, that happened. And you’re right, these aren’t normal.” She shrugged and added, “But, I’m also not entirely human. Most humans don’t have anything you might consider… a ‘special ability’. At least, unless you’re around these parts.” She smiled dryly. “I assume that’s what you were getting at.”

“Are you a mind-reader, too?” Ryana’s eye twitched slightly, but at least she avoided the flinch her instincts demanded. It was a joke, and there was no way Kirane could’ve known. No need to react just now; maybe she’d explain later. For now, she just shrugged the comment off; Kirane took it as her cue to continue. “Anyways, that’s true of Arret as well. Most of the population are normal humans. However, there are quite a few with extra gifts. Or ‘superpowers’, as they liked to call them.”

“‘Superpowers’? What, this was a planet full of superheroes or something?” Ryana couldn’t resist. She’d seen enough of that kind of thing from when the girls used to watch TV a lot. She was fine with it until they tried to suggest that she was some kind of superhero.

“Actually, yes, that’s what they called them.” Ryana’s eyes widened at that; um, that was supposed to be a joke…. “Apparently, they’ve had a form of entertainment called ‘comic books’ for several decades before the true ‘superheroes’ started to appear. Many of them created ‘alter egos’ modeled after these comic books.”

Kirane was being absolutely serious, but… Ryana just couldn’t believe it. Something like that almost had to be a joke. “Now I’ve heard of everything.” And she thought that’d happened when she moved into a town called “Ditto Town”.

Kirane decided that Ryana probably didn’t actually want a response. Instead, she continued her story: “To be honest, I liked the idea. There were some who abused their abilities, but many people used them for good purposes. Some actively fought crime, and others just found ways to help others. I even met someone who used his powers to help a charity.”

Ryana shrugged. “That’s a noble thing to do, I suppose.”

Kirane nodded. “So that’s why I decided to follow in their example. I had some help from a friend I met choosing a name, along with… some other things.”

Ryana seemed surprised by that. “Wait, you?” Kirane nodded, for the second time that night to the same question…. “Sorry. I didn’t realize that you had any… well, ‘powers’. I didn’t see a whole lot of that fight.”

“I didn’t have much opportunity to use them.” Kirane admitted, but other than that, she conveniently ignored her memories of the fight. In the meanwhile, a demonstration was in order. Kirane grabbed the edge of her left sleeve with her right hand. Suddenly, the light purple fabric started to change color, darkening to a deep blue. Ryana stared at it for a few seconds, before Kirane let go; the sleeve changed back to its original color.

“How did you do that?” The other woman wondered. “An illusion?”

“No, it really changed. I changed the color of the dye by… rearranging a few things. This isn’t the most accurate way to describe it, but think of it as… I have the ability to change things at the molecular level. To some extent, I can change the form or substance of… a lot of things. There are some things beyond my range, unfortunately.”

“I’m not really that much of a scientist, but that sounds like an impressive power.”

Kirane shrugged. “It’s actually fairly common on my world. Perhaps not to the extent that I have, but… I’m hardly the only one of my kind.” She paused, realizing that Ryana might be thinking of something else. “And, like I said, my powers are only to a certain extent. For one thing, I can’t change very much of… well, anything, at a time. And there are a lot of things I never figured out how to do.”

Ryana nodded, and let it drop. Instead, she asked a different question: “So, I take it you spent the next six years on that world. How did you get here?”

Kirane couldn’t really answer at first. She’d known the conversation would get here eventually, but… somehow, she’d kind of hoped to avoid it. Oh well; at least she’d figured out where to begin. “That’s a story that begins with a man named Logan Connell. I won’t explain why now—it’s pretty much irrelevant right now—but he and I have been enemies for… a long time. [One time, he got a hold of my teleportation technology. He was convinced that he could integrate my technology into his cybernetic components.”

“I’d like to hear that story sometime.”

Kirane nodded grimly. “Maybe someday. But suffice it to say that Logan gained his proficiency in cybernetics after he became a cyborg. And they believe that was just because his now-partly digital mind could hold more information, not because of any actual prowess.”

Ryana nodded in understanding, but she was still puzzling over one of those words. “‘They believe’? Who are ‘they’?”

“The scientists he stole the prototype from… and the ones he forced to help him install it.”

Ryana scoffed. “Sounds like a nice guy.” Now that that was taken care of, she returned to Kirane’s original point: “But, if he needed help to install them in the first place, then how did he plan to adapt it to your technology? I’m going to guess that technology from a completely different world was a bit different from his.”

“Like I said, the scientists believe that his mind could hold information, and probably process it faster, with the cybernetics. Provided the prototype worked as intended, since they never had a chance to test it, they designed it that way so that the cyborg could actually use his limbs. For Logan, who was already a brilliant scientist, it did make it far easier to take on a secondary science, mechanics and cybernetics.” She hesitated; this was the part of the story she wasn’t really looking forward to telling. “And… he may have overestimated exactly what he was capable of.

“I finally tracked him down. He’d already reverse-engineered quite a bit of my technology, and was in the process of adding it to his technology. He… he told me that there was just one more thing he needed to do. But he was left in a vulnerable state. If I tried to stop him… his cybernetics would probably malfunction, possibly completely shut down. He would be either in great pain or paralyzed for the rest of his life, if that lasted very long. But if I didn’t, then one of two things would happen. Either he would have my technology and be able to teleport to anywhere he wanted, or it wouldn’t work, and very likely, something would go terribly wrong.”

Ryana folded her arms, almost angrily. “Sounds like he’s a real sadist. The only reason he would tell you that is if, somehow, he thought all those consequences would be your fault if you stopped him.”

Kirane couldn’t say anything at first; it sounded so simple, so clean-cut when she said it. It sounded so good. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work so well. “Perhaps. Except… he had a point. Acting might potentially kill him just to prevent him from getting powers, or something going wrong and wreaking havoc.”

Ryana shrugged. “He’s the one who stole technology and was trying to ‘improve’ himself so that he could cause even more damage. If anything happened to him, he was asking for it.”

Kirane wanted to take that to heart, and had heard the same thing—and thought it herself—several times before. But it was hard not to wonder if the fact that it was her people’s technology, and his audacity to try to steal it from her, played into her decision…. “At any rate, I think you can guess what happened next. I decided to stop him. He was too strong for me, so I destroyed the power source. Everything shut down.” She took in a long breath. “He… was both right and wrong. He could still move and control them, but his cybernetic components were malfunctioning. I could tell… it wasn’t pleasant, at least. But he still managed to escape.”

Ryana raised an eyebrow at that, instinctually. “I was expecting a different ending. How’d that get you here?” A thought suddenly occurred to her: “Did you get your technology back?”

Kirane nodded. “He’d… made changes. On the one hand, he’d finally provided me with a power source powerful enough to activate it—I’m not sure if he ever knew I needed one, otherwise that was a foolish move.” She hesitated and admitted, “But, on the other hand, he’d clearly tampered with it. For all I knew, it might explode if I ever activated it again.”

“But I take it you did?”

Kirane nodded. “Logan may not have gained teleportation abilities, but he did gain a sort of….” She hesitated. “My friend Scott described it as ‘limited telekinesis’. It’s hard to describe, but we knew it had to have from what he did with my technology. And, this last time when I ran into him….” She shook her head. “He claimed he could use his abilities, in tandem with some device of his, to essentially create a black hole. And he was threatening to use it on a town, just to get back at me. He… apparently, what happened before didn’t just cause his cybernetics to malfunction. They’re killing him. So he had nothing left to lose.”

“Like I said, a real sadist.” In Ryana’s mind, he had moved below “pond scum”, and bordering on “Hasaré” territory. Granted, that’s because her opinion of Hasaré had… slightly improved since she’d decided her half-sister didn’t rule her life.

“I think he was depending on me thinking the device was completely deactivated—or he wasn’t expecting me to be willing to take that kind of risk. I took Connell’s bomb and activated the device. He got close enough to me that he came along with.”

Ryana’s eyes widened with that. “And… what happened to the bomb??”

“We lost it in transit. It probably exploded after we came here.”

Ryana wasn’t really reassured. “And… that won’t somehow rip apart dimensions?” Kirane’s expression was both confused and a bit… well, demeaning. “Okay, so I used to hear a lot of science fiction. It sounds like something that would happen.”

Kirane nodded, then shook her head. “No, not even close. I’m not a physicist or anything like that, but I seriously doubt Logan could create anything with the kind of power to cause that kind of damage. Besides, it was in transit—there’s nothing there to damage, really.” She shrugged. “At least, not to my knowledge.”

Ryana shook it off; Kirane seemed reassured, and she knew what was going on, so she’d trust her judgment. For now, though, there was a story to wrap up: “So, clearly, the device took you here.”

Kirane nodded. “I assume it’s because this was the original destination. So, it finally worked correctly—a few years late, but it came.”

“So… what happened to your device?”

“It got lost with the bomb.”

Ryana nodded, taking it all in. Some of it was going over her head, but… eh, she’d deal with that later. For now, there were more immediate concerns: “Well, I’m sure I’ve exhausted you for the night. You can sleep here for as long as you need to; I have plenty of extra rooms. But we can worry about more long-term arrangements later.”

Kirane smiled gratefully. “Thank you. For everything.”

Ryana shook her head. “Believe me, it’s the least I can do. Like I told your friend, you’re in Ditto Town, you’re under our protection. Besides,” She smiled dryly at this, “you sound like my type of hero.” Kirane blushed a bit at that, but didn’t say anything. Ryana stood up, and offered her a hand to help Kirane up. “C’mon, let’s make sure one of these rooms is still suitable for sleeping. I don’t think Shadow’s gotten to all of them yet….”

Kirane was a little confused. “Shadow?”

“I’ll introduce you two in the morning.”

A Varnafindë/leuthilalda/stargazer/starkat production

“Varna! Welcome!" Erik and Abby beamed at her.

Greetings were shared with the others, who had already arrived. Snacks were distributed, seats were assigned, screens were adjusted - and then they were all watching.

The hosts were familiar with the Professor’s translation of the Red Book – copies from their home world graced the Emporium’s bookshelves – and had seen these movie adaptations several times. So they had been able to devote most of their own attention to their friends’ reactions.

And as promised, Abby kept an eye – both eyes, when she could – on the Banks twins as well as her own daughter. But, at least early in the night, this had proven to be an easy task as little Tom and Maidenberry were also caught up in the action on the screen. Sea-Lily and Shasta sat with them too, to prevent too much over-exuberance, and to be available as a comforter for the more intense scenes.

"The world is changing ..."

Varnafindë enjoyed the little bits of history that were inserted at the beginning, although she wasn't sure that they were completely accurate. She reckoned that the movie-maker had to simplify things. After all, this movie would reach people who hadn't even heard about Middle-earth before. If he was to explain properly, he would have to make a TV series of several seasons instead.

It was not to be her first instance of thinking that details were not completely accurate. And when Frodo left the Shire, she couldn't stop herself from protesting.

"Hey, they should be telling that they're skipping something!" she exclaimed. "There were seventeen years between that scene and the previous one - and here it seems to be merely seventeen hours!"

Toby agreed with her. "And they are leaving out completely my mentor and friend!" he added a little later. He glanced over at Tom. "I guess it was too long to put in that whole sequence. But they did do a good job on Bree. It is a little dark, but that's probably what it looked like to Shire-folk." Rose nodded.

But there was no time to discuss it, and they all just had to restrain themselves. Varna knew that with the amount of watching they were going to do, they couldn't stop for discussions. She figured she would have to wait for the first break.

She found, though, that in spite of all the changed details, she rather liked the movie. The Shire had the right feeling - the hobbit-holes didn't look very different from the real thing. Rivendell, on the other hand, was nothing like the place she knew, but it was still a beautiful place in its own right. And movie Gandalf actually looked quite a lot like his real counterpart ...

And eventually she also found that it was best to pretend that this was a slightly different story, not the one she knew so well - then she could really enjoy it.

When the Three Hunters went off to 'hunt some Orc', and food was served before they would start on the next movie, Abby winked at her.

"I could hear you snorting a few times," she said. "Were there more things that bothered you?"

"One of the worst things was how they were portraying Merry and Pippin," Varna answered. "Yes, Pippin was the youngest, and he did make some unfortunate mistakes - but he wasn't being as silly as all that.

And he and Merry did not interrupt the Council of Elrond, demanding to be allowed to join the Company! I know - I was there! My friend Bilbo was at the Council, and I was worried that they might ask too much of him. Merry, Pippin and I were waiting together for it to be finished. Sure enough, this was trying their patience, but they waited till the others came out and told us what had happened. They did not run in."

"Are you disappointed with the movie, then?" Erik asked.

Varna thought for a little while.

"Only with some of the details," she finally said, and went on to explain how she could distance herself from the bothering details, and then thoroughly enjoy the movie.

A Varnafindë/leuthilalda/stargazer/starkat production

After the second movie, intermission was taken outside, to allow everyone to stretch their legs. Gwanuig made an appointment to speak more with Varna later - he wanted to hear the real story, and to learn more about these elves. Abby tended to Molly’s needs then helped Rose and Sea-Lily with her twins. Above, the stars were clear and bright, and the conversation quickly turned to the constellations and astronomy of Middle-earth. But Erik had to cut the time short, since it was after midnight. There was more food, but not time for another proper meal. Fortunately, this food – consisting primarily of beverages along with sweet and salty snacks – could be enjoyed while watching, so soon the third movie was started.

The children fell asleep early in this movie, allowing Abby to devote all her attention to their guests, and to the movie.

The scene at the Grey Havens was the one that moved Varna the most. Even though the place didn't look exactly like the place she knew, the whole setting reminded her so much of seeing some of her friends off from the real Havens. And she remembered her farewell with Lord Elrond and the others when they were leaving Rivendell, that day so long ago ... She was glad to have brought tissues. She needed them.

"So I hope you were able to enjoy the movies, then?" Abby asked.

"Oh, I did, very much!" Varna said. "Although there were altogether too many people falling off cliffs - but as I told you, I still enjoyed them. Thank you so much for inviting us! It brought back so many memories.

It was a lot in one go, though - if I get a chance to watch them later, I guess I should try to watch one a day instead - but still it was a very nice experience. It's been a great evening."

Abby turned to Rose, who seemed a little thoughtful and upset. "Is there something bothering you?" she asked.

"Well I really enjoyed the movies, but I am disappointed that the people who made it are playing in to the Bywater-skeptics."

Toby explained. "Maybe twenty years after the Battle of Bywater, a small group of tween-age hobbits, mere babes at the time of the Great years, got it into their head that the whole story of the Battle of Bywater and the cleansing of the Shire was merely a myth, invented by older Hobbits who wanted to have some part in the great wars of the time. They sat in secret little gatherings, and declared that what really happened was that life went on pretty much as normal, with no thought of the outside world, while Frodo and the Fellowship were off destroying the ring. The movie sort of plays into that nonsense."

Rose's eyes were a little misty. "I went through the entire occupation as a fugitive, always on the run with my family. Toby lost his father up in Bree. We spoke out against the Bywater-skeptics more than once, and I wish they had included the scouring of the Shire in the movie. But," she said, brightening up. "They got the look of the Shire exactly right. I loved the interior of Bilbo's house; it brings back so many memories of my younger sister and I bringing in fall leaves to decorate the table for our special autumn feast..." She looked wistfully into the past, and her eyes got even more misty. She turned to Abby again. "It makes me homesick for the Shire and for Bagshot Row. Thank you so much for the evening; it was still wonderful to see the movies."

Varna nodded to herself. Yes, there had been trouble in Bree, too, not just around Bywater. And that was Toby's background? She silently agreed that the scouring of the Shire ought to have been covered.

The gargoyles were curious about this Battle of Bywater and its after-effects, and were eager to talk to someone so knowledgeable, but they knew the hour was late – or very early – and their guests were probably tired. Indeed, Erik had sensed that tingling which indicated that, despite his pendant, he’d join his friends in sleep once dawn came.

He and Abby exchanged pleased glances. “We’re glad you liked them. Maybe we could get everyone together sometime to discuss all the nuances and what really happened. But in the meantime…” The jade green female held out small gift bags, one for Varnafindë, another for Katherine and Gwanuig, and the last for Toby and Rose.

“Now you can watch them again anytime you want.” There were expressions of delight and thanks as the bags were opened to reveal DVD sets of the movies. “We picked these up last time we were in Manhattan. It’s just a little way to say ‘thanks’ to all of you for your friendship,” Abby explained.

It was Abby's words just as much as the precious gift that made Varna need one of her tissues again.

Toby looked over at Katherine and Gwanuig curiously. "Why only one bag for the two of you?"

Abby realized her blunder as her friends had been trying to keep their marriage a secret, but before she could say anything, Gwanuig jumped in, "I do not have a way to view DVDs when I am out in the forest or at my father's home. Abby and Erik gave us one copy and I will simply come over and visit with Katherine and her family to watch."

The movie night, the gargoyles agreed, had been a rousing success. Sure, there had been some effort required to get the Emporium ready – especially with a fussy little hatchling underfoot, not to mention keeping her entertained throughout the lengthy movie marathon – but the lively conversation and happy expressions on their friends’ faces had made it more than worth that minor inconvenience.

And the joy in those faces, when Abby had presented those friends with their own copies of the movies, was something they’d long treasure.

The only fly in the ointment – and it was a small one – was that they’d kept their day-preferring guests awake far later into the night than was usual.

Now, with the last farewell fading into memory and their friends likely safely back in their homes, the couple stood outside the Emporium, staring upward as the stars faded in the brightening sky. The only sounds were those of Molly cooing happily as birds announced the coming day.

“I think that really went well,” Abby whispered, summarizing both their opinions.

“Ditto,” he grinned back at her. She chuckled at his reference to the “Ditto vs. Originals” disagreements once prevalent in town.

“I think it’d be fun to do this sort of thing occasionally; we could keep it small, inviting different groups of people depending on the movie,” she went on.

Her beloved was silent a moment, then she saw him slap his forehead with a “D’oh!”

His reaction puzzled her. “Something wrong? Don’t you like that idea?”

“No, dear, it’s great. I agree entirely. But I just realized we have another way to entertain guests right behind us.” He turned and gestured toward the Emporium’s roof.

“Thundershadow designed this awesome stardome, and I’ve almost never put it through its paces for our friends here in town. It almost seems selfish – even if I didn’t intend it that way,” he quickly added to forestall her objection.

“Well, you’re a natural,” she winked. “Sounds like fun.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, glad to have her blessing for his idea. Stifling a yawn, he added, “But right now I’m ready to sleep. Do you have any plans for the day?” He knew that his own pendant was about to take one of its irregular “days off” – so he would sleep in stone – but Abby and their little one would have no such limitation today.

She looked up at the sky; only one bright star remained, near the eastern horizon. “It looks like a beautiful day, and I was thinking of taking Molly out for a little stroll around town. It’s been a while since we’ve done that. Maybe we’ll even run into someone we know.”

He nodded his approval even as he turned back again toward the Emporium. Dawn was coming fast now, and he intended to sleep in the safety of their home. Abby followed; she’d have to gather a few things for Molly before going out on the town.

Neither saw the figure hidden in the nearby shadows; it smiled as the gargoyles entered the building and the door closed.

A Little Joe / Sonny Production

From last time

In a few minutes the three were on their speeder bikes, heading south out of town. About a mile out, Loren called to the others, "Ya ready to fly?"

"Totally, let’s do it!" Cameron said, powering up the thrusters on the bike and launching forward in front of Loren.

"Dude!" exclaimed Loren, laughing as Cameron's bike lurched. "Take it easy!" He and Eliana rose gracefully into the air and selected the destination coordinates. Their speeders turned slightly left.

Eliana chuckled. "Let's see how far ahead he gets before he realizes we aren't behind him," she commented to Loren as they headed over the forest. "I think he forgot to select his coords!" The two grinned at each other as the distance between them and Cameron grew wider.

And now:

Loren looked up. "Hear that, Eliana? I think Cameron's back!" As he said it, the SpeedStar 250 glided over the trees and descended to the clearing floor.
Cameron landed the speeder, as the engines powered down he unbuckled the helmet and jumped off. "Wow; that was fun"

Loren grinned. He assumed that Cameron has enjoyed himself by taking a roundabout way so he could have more time on the SpeedStar. "I knew you'd like it. So, here's the device I was talking about."

Loren indicated a strange metal platform. The center was a circular platform 6 feet in diameter.

"Holy smokes, what the heck is that thing?" Cameron said, adjusting the phazer belt his new friends gave him during his adventure. The gun was so much more efficient than his old repeater rifle and more powerful too.

Eliana shrugged. "That's what we'd like to know. It's certainly peculiar."

"Model number TRAN345," said Loren. "Not that that means anything."

"It's electronic, but that's about all we know. It seems to be in good condition, too. Missing a piece, though." Eliana indicated an apparent connection port on one side.

Cameron looked over the odd machine-thing "So, where did it come from?"

"We don't know. The plate with the company name is mostly worn away, but here," and Loren knelt down and indicated the metal information plate, "the last three letters are T-T-Y."

"I can't think of any company name with the last three letters... But what if TRAN stood for 'transport' could it be some kind of transportation device?" Cameron bent down beside Loren to examine the information plate for himself.

Suddenly Eliana exclaimed, "Look at this!" Loren and Cameron hurried over to where she was bent over by a tree on the edge of the clearing. "What is it?" asked Loren. "It's the missing part!"

She straightened up and held in her hands a keypad with a connection to match the one on the strange device.

"Well, that’s gotta be important" Cameron said, lifting his eyebrows. "Let's try it out"

Loren hesitated. "Well..." He paused. "I don't want to turn on some sort of weapon, or something we can't control."

"But it doesn't seem to be connected to any power source. That's one of the first things we checked, remember?" Eliana reminded Loren.

"Huh, good point. All the same, I think we should try it," Cameron said. He wasn't one to let things sit for any amount of time.

Loren and Eliana looked at each other. Suddenly Loren smiled. "Hey, why not! I'm been dying to do this!"

Eliana and Cameron grinned, and they hurried over to "the device." Eliana handed the keypad to Loren. "Uh, you do it." She backed off a little. "I'm not sure I want to be hit with hi-energy electrical arcs, in case there are some huge capacitors in there..."

"OK, here goes!" Loren said, and firmly pushed the keypad onto the connector. "Ow!" he yelled, and backed up, nursing his arm. "Oh, oh, ouch."

Eliana hurried over and took his arm in her hands. "Ouch!" she said and let go, looking at her hands confusedly. "Oh, that feels weird!"

"What happened?!" Cameron asked, drawing his phazer pistol as if he expected to have gremlins jump out of the machine or something.

Loren laughed shakily. "Some kind of shock, feels rather like..."

"Like I hit my funny bone," said Eliana.

"Yeah, that's it. Must have had some juiced up capacitors after all. Huh. Well, I am going to punch some buttons."

"You do that, Loren" Cameron replied keeping his distance.

"OK, so," said Loren, "this button looks like-" and he pressed it.

The screen glowed blue and the words "TRAN345 3rd-Generation Hyperspace Transport Device" showed up for 10 seconds.

"Hey, it is a transport device, Cam! You were right!"

"Well, would you look at that." Cameron leaned over the screen next to Loren.

"Where's it getting its power?" as Eliana, confused.

"Beats me!" admitted Loren. "Maybe there's a main connection underneath. Well, now's it's asking me to choose a local destination!" Without thinking, Loren selected the one that read "TRAN344 - Milton City."

Immediately, blue electrical arcs shot out form the four points of the star-like device, growing brighter. Loren and Cameron stumbled back. The arcs crackled and popped, and suddenly there was a bright flash, so bright and hot that the three of them fell to the ground.

"Loren!" Eliana screamed. "I can't see!"

"Ellie! Ellie! Where are you! Oh, my eyes!"

Cameron let loose a long stream of curses in his deep southern accent as his vision darkened. He hit his head on something hard and blacked out. Though he would never know, because his vision was already gone.

An hour passed before the Emporium’s door opened again. Abby stopped to bid farewell once again to her stone mate, then pushed Molly’s stroller out onto the walk. In addition to the hatchling, it carried a variety of supplies the little one might need during their day out and about.

The young mother blinked in the unexpectedly bright sunshine, then secured the door to her home before continuing down toward the center of town. First she leisurely strolled through the MacCormac Gardens next door; the sky was clear and blue, the birds were singing, and for the moment all seemed well with the world.

They followed a zigzag path through town, eventually arriving at the Cup and Platter. She greeted Hugh warmly upon entering. Once seated at their customary table, Abby ordered the chocolate chip pancakes for herself and a bowl of oatmeal for her daughter. She made a mental note to get some jalapeno hushpuppies for Erik on her way out.

She lifted Molly’s carrier from the stroller and placed it on the table where she could keep an eye on her child. Then Abby pulled out a small laptop computer and placed it on the table in front of her.

She opened a document and made a few small cosmetic changes before sitting back to read:

Announcing a

Refreshments Provided

This was followed by gift suggestions – general items every baby would need, such as diapers, blankets, toys, and feeding supplies – as well as a blank space for the date and time of the gathering. Around the text was scattered a variety of infant-related graphics such as toys and baby blankets and clothes.

She mourned silently a moment upon reading again the Emporium’s full name. She’d been hesitant to include the reference to Ethan, wondering if recalling his tragic death might dampen this celebration of new life. Yet Erik had encouraged her to do so, in honor of their comrade’s brave sacrifice. Abby still had her doubts, but knew there would be time to remove the reference should they change their minds.

Eventually, many friends would receive an electronic version of this invitation, but they would still print some out to be posted about town in the old fashioned way.

Satisfied for now, she saved her minor changes. I’ll have to check everything with Eliana, she thought. I hope it’s okay to have it in the evening, so we’re sure to be awake. She chuckled at this last, and then opened another window on her computer screen. Now it displayed a photograph she’d taken just before leaving home this morning. Her face broke into a big smile as she recalled the hours she’d put into the item depicted, and the sense of accomplishment upon finishing it in time for the baby's arrival. She hoped the deHonds would like this gift.

Her contemplation was interrupted by the arrival of their food; she took a moment to spoon some oatmeal into her hungry daughter’s mouth before digging into her own savory pancakes. They were as delicious as ever, and while Abby enjoyed them she contemplated her impromptu itinerary for the day.

“Lianna! I haven’t seen her in ages!” Abby blurted out suddenly. “And while I’m at the Apothecary maybe Dr. Ivanos can give you a little once-over,” she added, grinning at her daughter. “And then maybe later we can stop by the deHonds’ house to talk shower details…”

Her thoughts were interrupted by a squawk from Molly. Abby quickly offered her some oatmeal, but the little one pointed toward the pancakes. “You sure are your father’s daughter,” Abby quipped lovingly.

What did Alex think about Ditto Town? It was like a few dozen fantasy lovers decided to get together and indulge in all their craziest dreams and then pour them into one big melting pot. Alex spent a whole night and most of one day following his little sister around trying to believe anything he was seeing. Erica was mostly excited about showing off the town and hardly seemed to notice how remarkable it was. She pointed out buildings, rattling off some of their history, (HOW many battles have there been here?) and who lived there (gargoyles? As in wings and talons and turning into stone gargoyles? )

The three new fairy dragons followed in tow. There was no need for them to hide here. They weren’t a dangerous, rare secret. It had to be a pretty down time of the day for them to be the third oddest thing on the streets. They even seemed a little awed by the scenery and were staying quiet.

The group ate at the Cup and Platter, picked up an herbal remedy at the apothecary, crashed at the Mansion for a nap and further exposition on how many rooms the building had, or didn’t have, depending on who was wandering around looking for an extra room. This became an existential debate about how physics as seen on earth differed in this world. Then there was a walk by an abandoned compound in the woods. Erica suddenly found herself shy about going by the mill on the way home like she originally planned and took her brother another way.

Alex learned quite a bit about Ditto Town that day, but it would take him weeks to digest it all. It still amazed him how at ease Erica was. She was a different girl, excited, almost fearless, in her element. It bothered him that Ditto Town didn’t seem to have much infrastructure. It had a mayor who was frequently absent for alarmingly long periods of time. The town also had sheriff who resembled the Old West more than the tamer county sheriff. And of course there was the Ditto Patrol that Erica had been on a few times herself. This place was nuts! They let 16 year olds run around like fully trained police officers with combat experience! Of course, Erica had more military training than he did. She’d apparently received serious fencing lessons from the chick who lived in the space ship. Narah or something?

It took hours, but finally the crazy energy that comes from discovering a new world waned and Alex was dropped off in the Inn Between (where the cranky talking bucket barely made the top- ten- weirdest-things-Alex-had-seen-that-day list.) As Alex’s mind started to slow down and the overwhelming strangeness rushed in on him, he contemplated how he’d thought he’d been “let in” on all the world’s biggest strangest secrets when he’d discovered fairy dragons. Now it was like the universe was unfolding bigger secrets to him, layers within impossible layers.

Ditto Town certainly wasn’t heaven. It wasn’t perfect. It was torn by conflict and disappointment just as much as Earth, but it had a certain beauty to it that made Alex think the denizens of the town had a better grasp of just how wonderful heaven could be. That probably stemmed from an understand of how wonderful the Maker of heaven and earth really was. Strangely enough, it made him think of Professor Edward Johnson’s view of life. It was the late professor now, wasn’t it? Life was strange, beautiful, painful, and shockingly strange.

Alex wasn’t in a hurry to return to Earth. He didn’t have a job, his parents didn’t remember his sister ever existed, his mentor was dead. But did he really belong here? Erica belonged here. It occurred to him she’d probably stay in Ditto Town forever. The planet she’d been born on was losing its hold on her. She’d probably never forget it, but she was more herself here, with Val and the new connections she’d made.

Alex hung around town, not really talking to anybody, not really belong. He wondered who all these faces were, and he wandered around the town limits even more. Once he heard a band practising below his sister’s room and wished he could hang out with all the guys down there, even if he couldn’t play guitar to save his soul. (And if your soul is in jeopardy, circumstances probably make it even harder to play.)

His fourth day in Ditto Town, Alex walked down a path out of Ditto Town he’d discovered yesterday. It led to another old run-down building. This one possessed of those old cellar doors out front that opened straight up. The building itself looked slightly insane, with hundreds of unblinking eyes staring back at Alex as the shutters rusted off their hinges. It had a sign marking what its purpose was... if it hadn’t been so faded it was impossible to read. The building would keep its secrets, Alex decided. It was a shame all of them would never been revealed. They were probably epic secrets, full of witty word play and slightly sinister plots.

As Alex walked back, Ember joined him. The other two fairy dragons hadn’t come along that day. In fact, they were acting weird, even for fairy dragons. Alex supposed it was the new environment. Although he figured it would be wonderful for them. After all, they didn’t have to hide in a shut up, stuffy apartment all day. They could get as much fresh air and sunshine as they wanted.

That was another reason Alex didn’t want to head back yet. Ember was enjoying himself, flying off occasionally to check out the local wildlife then landing on Alex’s shoulder to preen himself or pant a little from his short, hyper bouts of activity.

Afternoon was thinking about becoming evening when Alex arrived back in town. It was still too early for dinner and Erica was working. Alex decided to head back to the Inn Between even though he had absolutely nothing to do there either.

Boo Kay was laying in waiting with a diatribe. (Or rather sitting, since that was the eternal position of the bucket.) “Now look here you! You may be new and all, but don’t think that means you can waltz in and out of here without paying so much as a penny for all the services I’m providing. I’ll have you thrown in jail if you won’t pay like a descent, respectable person! Don’t you just walk past me...”

The voice was mostly drowned out by Alex shutting the door, although the walls were too thin to keep all noise at bay. Ember puffed up, but Alex petted his spines back down. No point being mad. He did plan on paying for the night. He’d have to get even more money from his little sister to do that though. He’d already been rebuffed once for trying to use dollar bills, which just didn’t have a satisfying enough clang for the bucket.

“Mist? Koua? Where are you guys hiding?” There was no answer, not the rustle of a wing in the whole room. “Mystic, Kouadio? Come on guys!” Alex felt just a hint of panic begin to form in his throat and started looking around the room, then paid attention to Ember instead as the little fairy dragon dropped to the floor, vanishing under the bed. There was an angry hiss followed by Ember’s retreat and Kouadio’s pursuit. The golden fairy dragon was puffed up like a blow fish as he warded off the intruder.

“Oh, come on, don’t start fighting now. What’s the matter? Come on, get off of him,” coaxed Alex, while he shooed the attacker away and looked under the bed. Mystic had pulled one of his shirts under the bed and was sitting within its folds. “What are you doing girl? Come out here.”

Mystic hissed in warning and arched her back as Alex reached for her. He withdrew his hand before she had a chance to bite it. What was wrong with his dragons? Had they gone mental inside their little inch-long skulls? Then Alex saw it. He had shifted so that a little light made it past his shoulder. Mystic was sitting on eggs.

Katherine was having a nightmare. To realize that one is dreaming is unusual enough, but to find one’s self in the middle of a nightmare was downright disturbing. Lights spun around in a circular pattern above her head. The world had a fuzzy quality about it. Pain sparked from time to time through her body and she could hear voices asking her questions.

One question started to come through a word at a time. “You… DNA… legend… nine…future…” It made no sense, but things were starting to click into place about where the nightmare was coming from and it made her shudder even as she slept. This was not a nightmare as much as it was a nightmare of a memory.

A hissed voice cut through the fog, “We will triumph. The Nine is the future of this planet.”

Out of the past came a sing song voice.
"The song late at night is the song of the morning
It echoes the mystery of all that is past
Its chorus adores the new day that is borning
And sweeps away all that the night has amassed."

Katherine sat up with a gasp and crawled over to her window seat and tried to grasp the memory of her dream before it faded as the morning light kissed the sky. Something in it triggered another memory and her mind continued down memory lane.

Gwanuig was making another attempt to see his father so Katherine decided to go in search of someone who had a past as confusing and crazy as her own. With this, she would have gone to Cymru, but with Cymru gone, Aria was her next best bet for some of the pieces that had started to fall into place.

The quote in the middle is from an earlier Ditto Story by a character that may well make an appearance in the future.

It was a lovely, crisp morning. Well, Kirane thought it was lovely, anyways; Ryana didn’t seem to enjoy the cool air quite as much. Unfortunately for her, Shadow didn’t seem to notice, and had no problem rushing off to bark at every moving thing he saw. Ryana looked about ready to shorten his leash to about three feet….

Meanwhile, Kirane was taking in the sights of the town. Ryana’s lonely cottage was the only building in sight for a few minutes, but as soon as they broke away from the trees, that changed dramatically. There were several little houses, generally not much bigger than the cottage, arranged in a neat row; between them was a perfect path to follow straight into town. It did strike Kirane as a little strange that there were so many houses, given what Ryana told her about the Ditto Mansion (that was a mystery she wanted to look into!), but she supposed they were built before the Mansion was. Besides, some people liked a place of their own.

Before long, she noticed that the buildings were changing from houses to shops. She was a bit surprised. “This isn’t a very big town, is it?” She mused aloud.

Ryana smirked dryly. “I don’t think anyone really knows. For one thing, it depends on what you count as town.” She shrugged and admitted, “But yeah, I’ve visited bigger.”

“How much have you traveled?”

“A lot, actually.” She smiled again, but Kirane could tell… she suddenly was a little bit awkward. “I… guess I’m kind of like you like that. You said you traveled around a lot, helping people out, back where you come from. I kind of did the same thing.”

Kirane nodded understandingly, but intrigued. It didn’t really surprise her, a life of travel probably suited Ryana well, but it was new. “Until you found Ditto Town? Or… is this another temporary home?”

“No, I’m sticking around. I’ve had enough moving on for one lifetime.”

Kirane was tempted to ask more about the last part, but decided against it. She had a feeling it was personal, and she was still virtually a stranger; she’d only find out if Ryana wanted to talk about it. Instead, she asked, “If you don’t mind my asking, why here? I mean, I know why I wanted to get here, but….”

She shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you. I mean, it’s… it’s just a nice place to live. The people here are very good—a little unusual, but good.” She paused, then admitted, “And I’m not one to judge about ‘unusual’.” She unfurled her wings a bit to demonstrate.

“Well, I can understand that.” Kirane half-expected that to be the end of the conversation, and briefly glanced away. Her eyes suddenly caught sight of something… bizarre; something colorful, something that dominated the landscape ahead….

“Good; I’m not one for desc….” Ryana noticed Kirane’s sudden distraction, and followed her eyes. Up ahead, covering some of the buildings around the Town Square, were dozens of banners, words painted on the walls, and confetti covering just about every surface. Ryana had seen this several times before, though not in a while. “Huh. Looks like the Ditto Team won this round.”

Kirane snapped out of it, and turned to her companion. “The… ‘Ditto Team’?” She looked at the banners again, which all read varieties of “Ditto!”, “Ditto Ditto!”, or “Dittos to All!” The same words were painted on the walls; although she didn’t dare suggest it, the confetti almost seemed to be spelling the word as well! “These are the… ‘Dittos’ you told me about?”

Ryana nodded absently. “Yeah. Looks like either the Originalists struck and the Dittoers retaliated, or someone was just feeling festive.” She shrugged. “All I know is, if the Originalists are getting back in action, all that will be gone by tomorrow. Just as long as they don’t end up repaving the roads again….”

Kirane barely noticed Ryana’s disgruntled comments. She was too busy mulling something over. “When you talked about this… ‘war’ and the ‘Dittos’, this wasn’t really what I had in mind.”

“If it did, I’d be worried.” Just then, Shadow, bored of standing around, started barking and yanking on his leash. Ryana virtually yelped, before regaining control and charging, “Hey, you’d better not be barking at every squirrel in Ditto Town while we’re in the Pub. I promised Hugh you’d behave when I came by.”

She shook her head, and with more humor, asked Kirane, “Looks like he’s getting antsy.” She realized that Kirane still wasn’t really paying attention. A little confused, she added, “Shall we go?”

Kirane pulled herself back. “Yes, of course. Sorry.”

“You okay? I mean, you don’t have a problem with,” she paused, “*that word*, do you?”

“Oh no, nothing like that.” Kirane said with a chuckle. She paused, then admitted, “Actually, for some reason… I think it’s rather beautiful.” With that, Kirane left her thoughts behind, for the moment, and followed Ryana into town.

Author’s note: This little snippet was inspired by Ryadian’s post, above, and recent comments in the Library.

“Those pancakes just seem to be better every time I taste them,” Abby told Hugh with a smile. “My compliments to the chef.”

“Thank you,” he said, bowing elegantly. “And here are Erik’s jalapeno hushpuppies.” The hologram held out a small bag.

“You read my mind!” Abby grinned; she hadn’t even ordered them yet. “Thanks!”

Hugh returned to his duties, and Abby resumed packing up her laptop, infant supplies, and her baby. Molly was contentedly gurgling, intent on chewing a hole in a small pink blanket she had managed to grab with her little talons.

“All ready to go!” Abby said, touching her baby’s nose before snapping her little carrier back together for the trip outside. Molly giggled at the attention then returned to her task.

Abby inhaled deeply of the hushpuppies. “I don’t think Erik will miss just one,” she said to no one in particular, popping one of the spicy treats into her mouth. “But let’s get this home and refrigerated before I eat them all.”

With that, Abby picked up her bag and baby carrier, bid goodbye to those in the pub, and stepped back out into the sunshine.

“What in the world?” she began, the comment dying in her throat. The Town Square was littered with confetti, as if she’d missed a ticker-tape parade during breakfast; banners emblazoned “Ditto!!” hung from several buildings and even some of the large trees lining the streets. And the same word had been spray-painted on some of the walls and even on the street.

“I just don’t get it,” she muttered, shaking her head. “But it is kind of funny.” Then a startled look crossed her face as she said, “The Emporium!”

She picked up her pace, walking quickly toward the large building her family called home when they were in Ditto Town. While she and her mate had no official position on the whole “Ditto vs. Original” debate – they were aliens here, after all – she knew that he wouldn’t put up with such shenanigans with the Emporium. The grand building had been designed and built by their good friends Thundershadow and Aria, the Tireless Engineer, and her crew; to deface it so frivolously seemed, well, disrespectful of all that hard work.

So Erik had arranged some extra “security measures” to help protect the structure. They were automatic, designed to come on even if the gargoyles were in their stone sleep or out of town. She knew her mate well enough to know that they wouldn’t be crippling or deadly, but hadn’t managed to get the precise details out of him. “You’ll see some day,” was all he’d say.

Abby rounded the corner just in time to see a couple members of the Ditto Team finish their work in the MacCormac Gardens and cross over to the Emporium’s front yard. “This will be great!” one of them said emptying a bucket of confetti onto the sidewalk and pulling a “Ditto” banner from his pack.

“Stop!” Abby called from down the street, but it was too late.

With a whir and a whoosh, the automated sprinklers came on, thoroughly dousing everyone in the yard with water.

"I don't know why you're so freaked out Alex. Aren't there tons of people back on Earth that would take them?"

"Well yah, that's actually what I'm worried about."

Erica and Alex were of course discussing the unexpected clutch of fairy dragon eggs. Mystic and Kuoadio were guarding their offspring with all the fervor of new parents. They had at least let Alex move the eggs off the floor into an old Stetson hat Erica had scrounged up from somewhere in town. The other two dragons, Val and Ember, had tagged along for a leisurely walk around the town.

"I mean," Alex continued, "I don't know everything going on back in London, but I get the feeling Professor Johnson was keeping things from getting out of control. His daughter said something after he died that... well it was scary.” Alex didn't elaborate. He hated the thought of Erica discovering her parents didn’t remember she existed. (Or for that matter everyone she’d known back on Earth.) All because she owned a fairy dragon and Sarah didn’t want anyone delving too deep into that investigation. Of course, Erica hardly noticed her brother's reluctance.

“Where was I? Oh yah, I don't know what to do with the eggs. I can't imagine having six of these things. No offence Ember." Ember looked he might take a little anyways. "And it's not like I just release them into the wild here and they'll have a good life. They need mates... fairy dragons are very social. But I can't just go tramping through London asking who wants to help me breed mythical little dragons. That probably wouldn’t turn out well."

"Dude, they haven't even hatched yet. I think it's exciting!” Erica said. She understood her brother’s concern, at least distantly. But why worry about it when there wasn’t much they could do? “Ooh! What are you going to name them? You get to name them right?”

“Well yah, hadn’t thought about that much. Traditionally fairy dragon’s names relate to their abilities, but a lot of the time, their abilities don’t show up for a year, so breeders just pick names I guess. None of our dragons are named after their abilities, except maybe Ember, but all fairy dragons can breathe fire.”

Ember, who was sitting on Alex’s shoulder, looked slightly offended (again) at being average. Val couldn’t keep still long enough to sit on anyone’s shoulder for more than a few seconds. She had teleported herself away to investigate the town.

“Well, fire related names can’t go wrong I guess. You could do Blaze or Heat or ummm... Smoky.”

“That sounds like a bear... or a dog. What about Inferno? Nah, that sounds like a massive critter,” Alex said with a laugh will stroking his small companion who puffed up and started blowing minuscule fireballs.

Erica’s face wasn’t helping make the occasion solemn. She had scrunched up her nose as if the naming of dragons was painful. “Candle... or Torch... wood. Yah, I’ve got nothing. What’s the French word for fire? Everything sounds awesome in French!”

Even if Alex had been fluent in French, he never got a chance to answer. Val reappeared on top of Erica’s head, chattering angrily about something. Her wings, on their way to regrowing, stuck straight up from her shoulders like rabbit ears.

“Hey Val, what’s up?” asked Erica as the small group entered the MacCormac gardens. The new view was answer enough.

“Good gravy! What on earth is with all the banners and graffiti? It looks like a very colorful hurricane hit!” Alex exclaimed looking up and down the road.

“a hurricane that likes Dittos! But seriously, this used to happen a lot when I first arrived in Ditto Town. I haven’t seen anyone do this in ages!”

Val practically buzzed with some emotion that resembled fury and started flashing towards the group that had just arrived at the Emporium. They were armed with an arsenal of Ditto making materials.

“Val! What are you doing! Get back here!” Erica hissed, but of course, the little dragon had never responded to that command in her life. Erica, Alex and Ember went running onto the grass to keep someone from being bitten just in time for Abby and Molly to come running around the corner. Just in time to get a face full of irrigation.