Then her drink swapped from boot rear to toot rear. She spat out her mouthful before it could take effect. Since turning woman, she was conscious of social nuances. Women did not toot. Soon it changed again to moot. That would do. But it was clear that the changes were not limited to native products.

  “We are nearing the conclusion of our mission, one way or another,” Vol said in the privacy of their compartment. “Thereafter, the members of the Quest will return to their own lives. What then of us?”

  What was on his mind? “Is there a problem?”

  “Will I return to being just an Element, and you to your Faun & Nymph Retreat?”

  She picked up on the tension. “Oh, Vol, no, no, no! When I committed to you, I meant forever, or at least as long as I live. I will join you in the Void, if you wish, or you can join me at the Queendom of Thanx, or wherever else we decide to stay. We’re a couple.”

  He relaxed. “I am glad of that. I do not want to be alone again.”

  “You thought I would leave you once the Quest was done? Never!” She felt her tears flowing. “I’m not a nymph anymore. I love you!”

  “And I love you,” he said.

  Then they kissed, and the night dissolved into rapture.

  In the morning, they organized and resumed their travel. The scene outside the cave was now a chill snowscape, but Vol had warm overcoats for any who needed them. Soon the land became a hot jungle and the coats were returned to the Void.

  The changes got worse. Savage storms alternated with burning dry deserts, and the land shifted without notice from plains to ragged mountains to deep seas. They were getting close. Could they hang on if reality itself changed in the presence of the Demoness?

  “Nydia,” Rob’s mental voice came. “The perturbations are worsening. What are you up to?”

  “I think we’re approaching Demoness Andromeda.”

  “Can you hurry it up? The shifts are getting dangerous.”

  “We’ll try,” Nydia promised. “But how can you be ranging here mentally when the native telepaths can intercept you?”

  “Eartha and I made a deal with them: help us save the galaxies and we’ll all benefit. We are on the same side. They are buttressing me.”

  Oh. That did make sense. She looked around the group. “It’s not just us. Rob says everything’s getting worse. We may need to change our plan.”

  “And give up the mission?” Santo asked. “That’s not smart.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” Nydia confessed. She was clearly in over her head, and pushing further forward might be really chancy.

  “I thunk of something,” Woe Betide said. “It’s getting pretty wild here in reality. Why don’t we just skip reality and make it a dream?”

  At this point Nydia was ready to consider anything. They could get feedback from the sensible members of the Quest. “Tell us more, please.”

  “With Gilgamesh, we got into mythology, each with a part. We did what we wanted, as long as it was still the story. Can we do it again, with a scene we choose instead of all this chaos?”

  “Child, you’re making sense,” Oakley said. “We can make our own reality within the broad limits of the play.”

  “Gee,” she said, flattered by his acceptance.

  Nydia glanced at Vinia. “Where’s the green?”

  “Woe’s in a ball of green.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Ecstasy said. “Rob is with us to unify us telepathically, as before, and now he doesn’t have to hide from the local telepaths. They want to survive too. But the details will count.”

  “I am thinking of a play of ourselves, a communal dream,” Oakley said. “That is, we each play ourselves, as we learned to do in the mind-shielded cave. And we define the scene to our liking so that we can manage reasonably well. We are going to meet Andromeda, the chained lady who is, on another level, also the Demoness of Change. She will be a lovely maiden in our play, and we will talk to her and try to come to a mutual understanding. With luck and grit, we may be able to save the galaxies from further mischief.”

  “We’ll be playing by our rules, not hers,” Ecstasy said. “That could make a significant difference.”

  “It could indeed,” Oakley concurred.

  Nydia looked around. “Agreed?”

  “Do it,” Lilith said, and the others nodded.

  Nydia looked at the two Droms. “What’s your opinion? This is your galaxy.”

  “We agree,” Favew flashed, and Wavef’s flash echoed his. “This is all our universe.”

  “Then let’s get to it,” Nydia said. She looked at Vinia. “Is there a safe place we can camp physically while we organize our mental realm?”

  Vinia focused. “This way.”

  The changing path took them to a roiling lake that shifted in size and color as they looked at it, but seemed essentially stable, with an island in the center on which grew a ring of local trees. Vol produced a boat that they poled across the colored water to the island. Inside the ring of trees was a glade that seemed relatively immune to the changes. Perhaps the trees, in proximity to the Demoness, had evolved to be resistant to such effects. This would do.

  They settled down in the tree circle. “Now the scene,” Nydia said. “Remember, Rob will put us in it, so we will be able to interact telepathically. The point this time is not to hide our identities, but to establish our setting and bring Andromeda into it if she is amenable. Then we can interact with her on a vaguely even basis. Remember, she may appear ordinary, but she is a capital D Demoness, like a galaxy to us grains of sand. Maybe we can make our point and stop the carnage. If not, well, we tried our best.” She took a breath. “Who has a suitable scene in mind?”

  “What about this one?” Ecstasy said. “This island ring of trees. Expanded to include Andromeda, who can’t be far distant, spatially.”

  “I like it,” Oakley said. “Expand this little lake to the big sea where she awaits the monster.”

  “As with the legend we saw before,” Noe said.

  There was a murmur of agreement.

  “Good enough,” Nydia concurred. “Only this time, we’re ourselves, bringing her into our framework. It’s not exactly the same story, remember, just a setting we have in common.”

  “And this is our castle,” Woe said, “from which we can see her, chained by the water.”

  “We’re ready, Rob,” Nydia said physically and mentally. “Make the scene.”

  For an answer, the turf on which they sat slowly transformed to stone tiles, and the ring of trees became a surrounding wooden wall complete with turrets. Rob had clearly seen many castles in his day, and knew their nature.

  “Now picture yourselves in this scene,” Nydia said. “Occupants of the castle, suitably garbed. Yourselves as you would be if you really lived here.”

  The members of the Quest grew clothing, medieval armor for the males, appealing gowns for the females, and fancy juvenile outfits for the children. The two Droms were included, becoming human figures. Their experiences in the Gilgamesh epic surely helped, because Favew looked like a battle-hardened warrior, while Wavef was a seductive maiden.

  Lilith peered over a battlement. “I see her,” she called. “The chained lady!”

  The others went to join her, ascending the steps to the top of the wall. There below was the maiden, shackled at the edge of the turbulent sea, getting splashed. Her gown was wet and clinging to her shapely body, and her elegant hairdo was sodden. She looked like lovely misery incarnate.

  And in the distance, something immense was in the sea, swimming toward them. That would be the monster.

  It was just the scene they had crafted, and the Demoness might reject it, but Nydia felt for her. She had once played that role herself. “I must go to her,” she said tersely.

  “I will be your handmaid,” Lilith said, assuming the garb of a servant. “I will bring you back if you faint.”

  “Uh, thank you.” She had no intention of fainting, but this was uncharted territory.

  “And the rest of us are at your beck,” Ecstasy added.

  Oakley nodded. He was letting her do her thing, available for whatever she might need of him. “Thank you—again,” Nydia said to them all. It might be meaningless on the larger scale, but she appreciated all the support she could get. She was conscious that of the three nymphs who had started this adventure, she was the only one remaining in the scene. She was waaay out of her milieu. She was hardly lonely or frightened, but loneliness and fright were like that sea monster, stalking her, ready to pounce the moment she lost her mental footing.

  But first she had galaxies to save. She had to act.

  Nydia walked out of the castle and carefully navigated the devious path to the shore where the chained lady stood. Lilith followed. Flecks of spume from the heaving sea spattered against her, soon reducing Nydia to a similar state of dis-dress as Andromeda. Lilith was unaffected, not playing the game to that extent. “Hello, Princess!” Nydia called. “May we talk?”

  The princess turned to her. “You do know there’s a monster coming?” she called back. “He can swallow two or three maidens as readily as one.”

  So she was accepting the crafted scene. That was gratifying. “Yes. But we have a little time.”

  “A minute or an eon,” Andromeda agreed. “Who are you?” She knew, of course, but was playing the game. That was an excellent sign. From a distance she had looked lovely. Up close, she was scintillating, her aspect constantly changing but always outstandingly beautiful.

  “In this setting, I am the mistress of yonder castle,” Nydia said. She gestured back at the circular wooden turrets. “In my real life, I am Nydia Nymph, created out of incidental material two years ago, who more or less blundered into a Quest to save our magical Land of Xanth and its larger framework from the vagaries of out-of-control Elements. They are being stirred by change, which is becoming too extreme to handle. Hence my visit here.”

  “I am the Mistress of Change,” Andromeda agreed. “But I have a problem.”

  “Yes. In our mythology, your mother bragged so incessantly of her beauty that the god of the sea was annoyed and demanded your sacrifice. But that’s just a story. What is it in reality?”

  “It is Big Bang, the spirit of the origin of the universe, who learned of my nature and fears I represent a challenge in his dominance. This was not my intention, but he means to make sure by destroying me. He is the most powerful of all the Demons, and the others can’t stand against him. So they determined that I must be sacrificed to appease him. They confined me here in the Void section of GEH to await his displeasure.” She glanced at the monster, who was now significantly closer. “Time is largely irrelevant. I may be destroyed in an instant or in ten billion years, but my fate is sealed.”

  So the Demons interacted much like mortals. They craved power and acted to secure it when it was threatened. “The other Demons did this to you? That is not fair.”

  Andromeda smiled thinly. “Fair is a matter of opinion, and power determines its application. Bang has the ultimate power. I must be sacrificed. I do confess my regret.”

  “I must do something about this,” Nydia said, discovering that she liked the Demoness. Nydia might be no more than a grain of sand before a galaxy, but for the moment, they were like equals. “I don’t want to live in an unfair universe. I must talk to Bang and acquaint him with the error of his outlook.”

  Andromeda smiled the smile of one who must educate a small child about reality. “Bang brought the universe into existence thirteen or fourteen billion years ago by exploding equal masses of positive and negative substance that repelled each other, tearing the structure of nothingness asunder. It is still expanding. He means to see that this does not change. As he sees it, I represent a threat to his creation. Your commentary on fairness will not have the impact of a grain of sand against the universe, by definition. All you can do is go home and hope that Bang does not destroy me during your lifetime. If you annoy him now, he may act immediately. For your own sake, give this up.”

  “No,” Nydia said firmly. “I did not come all the way here to throw away my mission.” She turned to face the water. “Bang!” she called. “You big blob of nothing! Come here and assume mortal man–form so I can tell you why you’re an idiot!”

  Lilith started to dissolve into smoke, and even the Demoness seemed taken aback. Who in her right mind, or any mind at all, dared insult the ultimate power of the universe?

  There was an angry roar. The monster had heard and understood her. He blasted fire from his nostrils and fairly flew across the sea toward them. The water boiled and steamed, and the seabed beneath it quaked. He was huge, the size of a bloated whale, all maw and teeth, and roiling storm clouds trailed him, emitting jags of lightning. If this manifestation was intended to be scary, it was succeeding.

  Just as he was about to crash onto the beach, there was a clap of thunder that shook the scene, and he changed, becoming a handsome human man in a tuxedo. He ignored Andromeda and oriented on Nydia. “Speak your piece, nymph,” he said with deceptive calm as he stepped across the surface of the surging wave. The very air around him quivered with the power of his being, and the scenery around him was wavering. Both Andromeda and Lilith stood as if about to be blown away.

  Nydia knew this was make-or-break time for her. If she failed, the galaxies would suffer. If she succeeded, she could save Andromeda—and the order of existence as they knew it. So she plowed on, inspired by the way the alien girl Squid had persuaded the Demon Chaos to cease his war with the other Demons. “You are an idiot because you have got the situation exactly wrong. The Demoness of Change is not your destruction, she is your salvation. Change is the reality of existence itself. Without change, there is nothing worth having. The cessation of change is death. You started the universe by changing nothingness to positive and negative energy, and those energies are still expanding into the original emptiness. That’s continuous change, the very fabric of reality. If you stop change, reality will collapse, and your own existence with it. Are you fool enough to do that?”

  Bang stared at her, the churning clouds fading to wisps of vapor. “You speck of annoyance, you are actually making sense,” he said, amazed. “I got it backwards.”

  “You bet you did! Fortunately, you can save the situation. Consider Andromeda, the Demoness of Change. There is nothing in your universe so lovely as Change. Do not reject her. Embrace her. Make her part of your reality so that the present order of flux will be maintained.” She paused for breath as she turned to face the Demoness. “Look at her, you exploding conception! Can you even imagine more beauty?”

  Indeed, Andromeda was shimmering with inherent change, radiating the shifting joy of her nature. It was phenomenal.

  “No,” Bang whispered in wonder. It seemed that he had picked up the suite of human emotions along with the appearance.

  “So embrace her and kiss her to show your commitment to her. Do I have to tell you how to do that?”

  “Yes,” he breathed, his gaze fixed on the scintillating beauty before him.

  This was actually Nydia’s area of nymphly expertise. She seized it. “Step up to her.” He did. “Put your arms about her gently.” He did. The Demoness stood still in her aura of perpetual motion, not resisting. “Purse your lips.” Again he obeyed. “Touch them to hers lightly. Make a little sucking motion.” He did. “Feel her response. When the feeling is mutual, little hearts or the equivalent will fly out.” This was all a mere simulation, but it was the focus of their interaction. It counted.

  Suddenly there was a burst of mini explosions radiating out, each a forming universe. The manacle on the princess’s ankle blew asunder. The two figures in the center detonation changed forms, still linked by the kiss, becoming different males and females, but always lovely and handsome and devoted to each other.

  “You did it,” Lilith murmured, awed.

  “I had to.” Nydia knew she would suffer her own noodle-kneed reaction later. Right now, she had to maintain a tight grip on the scene. It was figuratively everything or nothing. But in the background, she felt the Elements relaxing. The disturbance of Bang’s explosive presence was fading.

  “Better move it on,” Lilith said, “lest they kiss for centuries, literally.”

  She was right. “And that’s how you do it,” Nydia concluded. “Now end the kiss and come join our group so we can teach you how to be routinely social when you’re not on duty maintaining reality.”

  The kiss broke. The mini universes sailed off to colonize virgin emptiness. The two Demons turned to her, obeying her guidance. “Lead on,” Andromeda murmured. She knew Nydia had just saved her and the universe.

  “This way.” Nydia turned and walked back up the path to the castle. The two Demons meekly followed, with Lilith trailing.

  They entered the castle. The members of the Quest were there, standing at silent attention. They knew what had happened—indeed they had seen it happening—and were waiting on Nydia. She was, after all, the leader.

  Onward. “Oakley, Ecstasy, take this newly formed couple and explain what follows kissing. Demonstrate if you need to. They must be fully informed.”

  Ecstasy took it in stride. “This way, please,” she said, and led the way into their chamber. The door closed behind them.

  When the rest of them were alone, as it were, Nydia explained her plan. “This is all a mere inset story, but the emotions can be real. Treat Bang and Andromeda like the honored guests they are. When they are satisfied, we shall wend our way home.” She glanced at the children. “You have no idea what Oakley and Ecstasy are telling the visitors.”

  “None,” Vinia and Woe Betide solemnly agreed almost together.