Mall of Mâvarin, Part Twenty-Eight

All week I've been trying to figure out what was going to happen in this entry. Then tonight the characters pretty much wrote it themselves. I love it when that happens, as long as they don't just talk things to death. My characters do that, sometimes. In this serial, they do that a lot.

The easiest way to catch up on past installments of this serial is here on Messages from Mâvarin. Synopses to Parts One through Six can be found at the top of Part Seven. Synopses to Parts Eight through Thirteen can be found at the top of Part Fourteen. Synopses to Parts Fourteen through Eighteen are at the top of Part Nineteen. Synopses to Parts Nineteen through Twenty-Five can be found at the top of Part Twenty-Six. The installments themselves can be read in order on Blogspot using the sidebar.

Part Twenty-Six: Cathma and Cathy wonder why they haven't lost consciousness with everyone else.

Part Twenty-Seven: Cathy and Cathma belatedly collapse and faint, much as the others did. They find themselves in a place without physical bodies, surrounded by a thousand versions of themselves. The only person present who doesn't have their face is Joshua Wander.

Part Twenty-Eight: Two of Us

“What are you doing here?” Cathy asked.

Joshua Wander shrugged. “I’m not so sure I am here,” he said. “I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”

“The subjective plane,” Cathma said.

Josh looked at her blankly. “The what?”

“The subjective plane,” Cathma repeated. “It’s sort of a way station of the Infinite, where spirits commune without regard for physical distance. Fayubi’s friend Harisi sends people here all the time.” Cathma looked around. “I’m not sure how we all got here, though.”

“It must have something to do with that messed up portal between worlds,” Cathy suggested. “Something Li and Lee did resulted in our being sent here. Or was this was your fault?” she asked Josh.

“I don’t know,” Josh said. “Possibly.”

“But that doesn’t explain why the others aren’t here,” Cathma objected. “Where are Carli and Carl and the rest?”

“And how did are all these other Cathys and Cathmas get here?” Cathy added.

“They’re leaving,” Josh said.

It was true. The thousand or more people with Cathy’s face faded away, leaving just Cathy, Cathma and Josh in the darkened void.

“That’s better,” said Josh. “You both seem like decent, reasonable people, but two of you is plenty for any one place, time and universe.”

It was almost an insult, but Cathy privately agreed. At least now she didn’t feel quite so overwhelmed. She’d been carrying on for quite some time now as if she weren’t tired and scared and confused, but she was really all of those things. Being able to deal with just two other people in this bizarre situation, instead of a hundred or so (at the mall) or a thousand or so (in this strange non-place) helped a lot.

“Fine,” said Cathma. “I had nothing to say to all those other Cathmas and Cathys and Crels anyway. But the question remains: why are the three of us here? And why are we still here?”

“I have a theory about that,” Josh said, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“It’s hard to know whether that’s true, until you tell us what it is,” Cathma said.

“I think I’m here as sort of your spirit guide,” Josh said. “Like Coyote in the Native American legends.” He shrugged again. “Or maybe like Marley’s ghost.”

“Why do you think that?” Cathy asked. “Why would we need a guide? You don’t seem to know much more than we do about all this.”

Joshua Wander grimaced. “I know about some things,” he said. “In fact I have a bunch of ideas that weren’t there until just a few moments ago. Now my head is filled with things to say.” He hummed for a moment, something Cathy vaguely recognized as a Beatles song. “Sorry,” he said. “I really wanted those Beatles records.”

“You didn’t answer Cathy’s other question,” Cathma said. “What do we need a guide for? Can you get us out of here? Can you get us both home where we belong?”

Josh shook his head. “Not both of you,” he said.

Cathy was suddenly more frightened than she’d been all day. “What do you mean?”

“You two have a decision to make,” Josh said apologetically. “Only one of you gets to go home. You have to choose which one.”

Welcome to Mâvarin

Use the sidebar to get to past installments of this serial and other fiction.

Mall of Mâvarin, Part Twenty-Seven

I think I'm finally on the home stretch here, or at least back on track.

The easiest way to catch up on past installments of this serial is here on Messages from Mâvarin. Synopses to Parts One through Six can be found at the top of Part Seven. Synopses to Parts Eight through Thirteen can be found at the top of Part Fourteen. Synopses to Parts Fourteen through Eighteen are at the top of Part Nineteen. Synopses to Parts Nineteen through Twenty-Five can be found at the top of Part Twenty-Six. The installments themselves can be read in order on Blogspot using the sidebar.

Part Twenty-Six: Cathma and Cathy wonder why they haven't lost consciousness with everyone else.

Part Twenty-Seven: It's All About Me

Cathy tried to get to her feet, but a sudden wave of dizziness pushed her back into her chair. Her eyes closed involuntarily, and when she tried to open them again she found she could not do it. Nothing about her body would obey her. She was no longer sure she was in her body at all.

At first she was surrounded by darkness and silence, but then a dim gray light grew all around her, accompanied by the murmur of an uncountable number of voices. Many of the voices sounded familiar, but there were so many of them, all sounding at once, that Cathy could not distinguish individual words in the unintelligible hubbub. All of the voices were female – except one. Cathy tried to focus on the one voice that was different, but it was barely audible amid the others.

“Will everyone please shut up for a moment?” she cried out. She had no idea how she had managed to say anything, when she could not feel her own mouth or lungs or throat. She hadn’t intended to speak at all. Her voice rose above the others, and then faded away. It sounded no different from any of the other female voices she had been hearing.

The other voices subsided. “That’s telling them,” the male voice said.

But it was hopeless. The female voices rose again, a thousand versions of her own voice, she realized now, all sounding frightened or annoyed or downright angry.

The gray light resolved itself as Cathy’s bodiless vision sharpened. Shapes and colors emerged, gradually becoming distinct and recognizable. She was surrounded by teenaged girls, most of them blonde, all with her face, or a close variation thereof. They sat in a bewildering variety of chairs, or lay on beds. One of them was on a vinyl raft in a night-darkened swimming pool. Real eyes could not have processed what she saw now, a thousand Cathys or more, all in their own tiny room-sized environments, all so close she felt she could touch them, if she had a hand to touch them with. She directed her inexplicable gaze downward, and saw her own arms and legs and body. They did not look quite real or solid, but it reassured her a little to see them at all.

Through all of this, the thousand variant Cathys gradually quieted, and began to stare at each other instead.

Yet another girl appeared. Cathy was pretty sure it was Cathma. She was dressed exactly the same as the Cathma she had met at the mall, right down to the pizza napkin that still clung to her collar. “Merciful Mâshela!” she said. “What now?” She looked directly at Cathy, as if recognizing her specifically.

“I’ve no idea,” Cathy replied. Several other Cathys, scattered about, echoed her words, or said something similar. “But somewhere around here, there’s at least one person who isn’t a version of us.”

“Uh, that would be me,” said the male voice. It came from off to the left.

Cathy turned her noncorporeal head. Joshua Wander sat cross-legged nearby, on what looked like an Andy Warhol-inspired rug depicting Marylyn Monroe.

“Sorry about this,” said Josh.

Welcome to Mâvarin

Use the sidebar to get to the individual installments of this and other stories.

Mall of Mâvarin, Part Twenty-Six

I'm getting a complex over this darn story. Having watched episodes of House all afternoon and evening, I see that there are things other writers know how to do - characters manipulating each other, for example, or the unraveling of a mystery - that I don't know how to do. All I can do is tickle the part of my brain that speaks for Cathy and Rani and JW, and hope one of them knows how this story turns out. I sure don't.

The easiest way to catch up on past installments of this serial is here on Messages from Mâvarin. Synopses to Parts One through Six can be found at the top of Part Seven. Synopses to Parts Eight through Thirteen can be found at the top of Part Fourteen. Synopses to Parts Fourteen through Eighteen are at the top of Part Nineteen. The installments themselves can be read in order on Blogspot using the sidebar.

Part Nineteen: Li Ramet, Lee Ramirez and Joshua Wander go off to try to reverse the effects of Li's modified portal spell, which, along with the appearance of Josh's magic castle, apparently caused all the trouble. Meanwhile, Rani and Randy announce they have successfully returned their own minds and spirits to the right bodies. Rani sets out to try to help Carl and Carli do the same. Despite being only a bookish high school student in a strange and magical land, Randy Foster thinks he has acquired sufficient magic and knowledge to sort out Cathma and Cathy as well. They sit down together to let him try.

Part Twenty: In mindtouch with Randy, the girl who thinks of herself as Cathma is told that she is really Cathy after all. According to Randy, Li's spell is more an accidental "mindpush" (magical brainwashing) than an actual transfer mind and spirit. Randy takes Cathy on a whirlwind tour through the memories of her own life, until she feels like herself again rather than the Queen of Mâvarin. At the same time, Randy helps the real Queen Cathma to reclaim her own identity. The process leaves Randy exhausted—and there are still dozens of people from Dewitt and Mâvarin who need similar help.

Part Twenty-One: Since Rani and Randy are too tired to do mind magic with anyone else for the moment, Cathy suggests going back to "Plan A"--seeing that Li, Lee and Josh successfully reverse Li's spell, getting everyone home both mentally and physically. Although leaving the castle once again floods Cathy's mind with Cathma's memories, this time it does not overwhelm her sense of who she is. Shoppingtown Mall now looks intact again, albeit in Mâvarin instead of Dewitt. Li and Lee are proud of this accomplisment, Josh less so. Cathy points out that the point is to get the mall and the people back where they belong, not to reassemble the building in the wrong world.

Part Twenty-Two: Li and Lee propose to leave Shoppingtown in Mâvarin, at least temporarily, until the people are restored. When Cathy and Cathma press them on how that part of the problem is coming along, they say that the people who actually traveled with the mall (as opposed to safely in the castle) are "feeling much better now." They have mindpushed these people from a state of emotional shock to one of relative normalcy. The mall employees have even started selling their goods and services to customers--including curious Mâvarinû, who have started coming in from outside.

Part Twenty-Three: Li and his counterpart have convinced the mall personnel to accept Mâvarin coins, on the theory that they will be valuable in the other world for their gold and silver content and as collectible rarities. They've even worked outan exchange rate with the J.C. Penney manager: Ruthie Foster, Randy's mom. Randy rushes off to see her. Joshua Wander and Fayubi (who still doesn't know he's really Fabian Stockwell) both express an interest in goingshopping at the mall,on the theory that they may never have another opportunity to buy 21st century goods from a high-tech society. Before they go off to do that, however, Rani announces that all these stranded people, aside from the two sets or twins, aren't who they think they are.

Part Twenty-Four: Rani explains to the others that despite all previous suppositions to the contrary, nobody is in anyone else's body after all. Although the Mâvarinû remember bits of the Americans' lives, and even identify with them, they remain themselves in reality, body, mind, and spirit. He offers to help Li and Lee to feel like themselves again, promising that while in Mâvarin, Lee will still be able to do magic. Afterward, they will need to solve the problem of getting the Americans--and Shoppington Mall--back to DeWitt, New York. Meanwhile, the others decide to go shopping anyway.

Part Twenty-Five: Fayubi and Fabian go to a men's clothing store, accompanied by the four twins, Jamie and Jami. Over the next few hours, the eight of them buy clothes, discuss brand consciousness, and eat pizza--until they all suddenly pass out, with the exception of Cathy and Cathma.

Part Twenty-Six: Why Them and Not Us?

Cathma frowned. “What just happened?”

This hardly seemed like a fair question. “You’re asking me?” Cathy protested. “You’re the one from a world where magical things happen. In my world, the only way something like this would happened would be if they were all drugged or poisoned or something. Even then, it’s much more likely on TV or in a book than it is in the real world.”

“They couldn’t really have been poisoned, though, could they?” Cathma asked. She seemed very nervous and upset, much more than Cathy was. “We all shared the same pizza, and anyway, who would want to hurt them and not me?”

Cathy realized belatedly that Cathma’s brother had been poisoned the year before. She reached out to lay a reassuring hand on the young queen’s arm. “I’m sure it’s not poison. As you say, it doesn’t make sense. It’s more likely to be something that Li and Lee are doing.”

“Then why did it affect the others, and not us?” Cathma asked.

“Because we’re already ourselves, maybe?” Cathy guessed.

Cathma pointed at her brother. “So were Carli and Carl.”

“Because we’re female?”

“What has that to do with anything?”

“I don’t know!” Cathy practically shouted. “I don’t know anything about this stuff! It’s your world, not mine!”

“Well, don’t get mad at me!” Cathma said. “I didn’t do any of this.”

Cathy forced herself to calm down. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not your fault. But do you have any idea at all what happened to the guys? Are they all right?”

Cathma reached out to touch her brother’s chest. “Well, he’s breathing, anyway.”

Cathy examined her own brother. “You’re right. It’s as if Carl’s just asleep. What about the others?”

They checked on Fabian and Fayubi, Jamie and Jami. They all seemed to be sleeping, but in no distress. Their breathing was normal, and their hearts beat steadily.

“Maybe the reversing spell Li was going to work on knocked them out somehow,” Cathma suggested.

“Maybe,” Cathy agreed. “But why Carl and Carli, and not us? And what about the other people here?” She looked around. People at the other tables – male and female, Mâvarinû and Americans - were also slumped in their chairs.

Cathma was looking around too. “Looks like we’re the only ones still conscious. What are we going to do about it?”

“Well, unless you want to take a nap, there’s only one thing we can do,” Cathy said.

Cathma looked at her and nodded. “You think we should go find Li and Lee.”

“Well, don’t you?”

Queen Cathma stood up. “Yes. Let’s go.”

Welcome to Mâvarin

Use the sidebar to get to the individual installments of this and other stories.

Mall of Mâvarin, Part Twenty-Five

I'm in the middle of a very busy weekend, so my online presence will be minimal for the next few days. But well, I told you I was obsessive about this journal! So here's a minimal installment of Mall of Mâvarin to tide us over until next weekend.

The easiest way to catch up on past installments of this serial is here on Messages from Mâvarin. Synopses to Parts One through Six can be found at the top of Part Seven. Synopses to Parts Eight through Thirteen can be found at the top of Part Fourteen. Synopses to Parts Fourteen through Eighteen are at the top of Part Nineteen. The installments themselves can be read in order on Blogspot using the sidebar.

Part Nineteen: Li Ramet, Lee Ramirez and Joshua Wander go off to try to reverse the effects of Li's modified portal spell, which, along with the appearance of Josh's magic castle, apparently caused all the trouble. Meanwhile, Rani and Randy announce they have successfully returned their own minds and spirits to the right bodies. Rani sets out to try to help Carl and Carli do the same. Despite being only a bookish high school student in a strange and magical land, Randy Foster thinks he has acquired sufficient magic and knowledge to sort out Cathma and Cathy as well. They sit down together to let him try.

Part Twenty: In mindtouch with Randy, the girl who thinks of herself as Cathma is told that she is really Cathy after all. According to Randy, Li's spell is more an accidental "mindpush" (magical brainwashing) than an actual transfer mind and spirit. Randy takes Cathy on a whirlwind tour through the memories of her own life, until she feels like herself again rather than the Queen of Mâvarin. At the same time, Randy helps the real Queen Cathma to reclaim her own identity. The process leaves Randy exhausted—and there are still dozens of people from Dewitt and Mâvarin who need similar help.

Part Twenty-One: Since Rani and Randy are too tired to do mind magic with anyone else for the moment, Cathy suggests going back to "Plan A"--seeing that Li, Lee and Josh successfully reverse Li's spell, getting everyone home both mentally and physically. Although leaving the castle once again floods Cathy's mind with Cathma's memories, this time it does not overwhelm her sense of who she is. Shoppingtown Mall now looks intact again, albeit in Mâvarin instead of Dewitt. Li and Lee are proud of this accomplisment, Josh less so. Cathy points out that the point is to get the mall and the people back where they belong, not to reassemble the building in the wrong world.

Part Twenty-Two: Li and Lee propose to leave Shoppingtown in Mâvarin, at least temporarily, until the people are restored. When Cathy and Cathma press them on how that part of the problem is coming along, they say that the people who actually traveled with the mall (as opposed to safely in the castle) are "feeling much better now." They have mindpushed these people from a state of emotional shock to one of relative normalcy. The mall employees have even started selling their goods and services to customers--including curious Mâvarinû, who have started coming in from outside.

Part Twenty-Three: Li and his counterpart have convinced the mall personnel to accept Mâvarin coins, on the theory that they will be valuable in the other world for their gold and silver content and as collectible rarities. They've even worked outan exchange rate with the J.C. Penney manager: Ruthie Foster, Randy's mom. Randy rushes off to see her. Joshua Wander and Fayubi (who still doesn't know he's really Fabian Stockwell) both express an interest in going shopping at the mall,on the theory that they may never have another opportunity to buy 21st century goods from a high-tech society. Before they go off to do that, however, Rani announces that all these stranded people, aside from the two sets or twins, aren't who they think they are.

Part Twenty-Four: Rani explains to the others that despite all previous suppositions to the contrary, nobody is in anyone else's body after all. Although the Mâvarinû remember bits of the Americans' lives, and even identify with them, they remain themselves in reality, body, mind, and spirit. He offers to help Li and Lee to feel like themselves again, promising that while in Mâvarin, Lee will still be able to do magic. Afterward, they will need to solve the problem of getting the Americans--and Shoppington Mall--back to DeWitt, New York. Meanwhile, the others decide to go shopping anyway.

Part Twenty-Five: Shop 'Til You Drop

Fabian Stockwell shook his head. “You know, this is still very strange for me. I feel sure that I should know who Tommy Hilfiger is, but I really don’t. Does he work in this marketplace?”

Fayubi chuckled. “No, he doesn’t. And it’s called a mall, remember?”

“Oh. Right. So if this Tommy person isn’t in the mall, then why did you ask how I felt about him?”

“Not him,” Carl said. “It. Or them, maybe.”

Fabian turned his puzzled frown on Carl, and then on Fayubi. Then he turned to Cathy. “Can you tell me what they’re talking about?”

“Tommy is a brand name,” Cathy explained.

“Okay. What’s a brand name?”

Hmm. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain. Under normal circumstances Fabian Stockwell would have known as much about branding as she did, and probably more. He’d even talked about brand consciousness in his psych class. But for now, with Fayubi’s memories overshadowing his own, he seemed completely unfamiliar with the concept. “Look, let’s just go into the Bon Ton, and I’ll show you what they’re talking about,” she said.

So that’s what they did. “A brand name,” Fayubi explained, sounding very much like Mr. Stockwell on a normal school day, “is a means of labeling or identifying a particular piece of merchandise, or more likely a series of related products, using a particular name that the potential buyer is expected to remember when making purchasing decisions. Once a consumer associates that name with positive expectations about the related merchandise, brand loyalty is established.”

“Right,” Cathy said. “Imagine that you’re really good at making pants.”

“Or shirts,” Carl put in. “Really nice shirts that everyone likes.”

They had arrived at Bon Ton. Carl led the way in. Cathy and the others followed. Fabian stared at the shirts as they went by—Ralph Lauren, mostly. “Okay, shirts, then,” Cathy said. “And you put your name on all your shirts, just inside the collar. After a while, people who like your shirts will look for shirts with your name on this, and choose them over other shirts.”

“Over here. Look,” Carl said. He led the way for a rack of Tommy sports shirts. “See? There’s the Tommy label.”

“So this Tommy person makes shirts?” Fabian asked. He picked up a long-sleeved shirt with red and blue stripes, and stared at it dubiously.

“He designs the shirts,” Fayubi said, “and his company makes them. What do you think? Will I enjoy having something like this when I’m fully myself again?”

“Well, it’s certainly a curiosity,” Fabian said. “Maybe we can get just one shirt, as a tangible reminder of this day.”

Three shirts (two for Fayubi, one for Jami), a jacket, four pairs of jeans (one each for Jami and Carli, two for Fayubi), and two necklaces (identical ones for Cathma and Cathy) later, the four twins and their mentors had pushed together several tables and were eating pizza together. The Americans-turned-Mâvarinû all seemed to enjoy this at first, but before they finished their slices, Jamie and Fabian started behaving as if they were suddenly very nervous. Their movements became quick and jerky, and they blinked rapidly as they downed the last of their mushrooms and pepperoni. Cathy glanced at Jami and Fayubi, and was alarmed to discover that they were behaving the same way.

“Are you four all right?” King Carli asked.

“Fine, fine,” said Jami and Jamie together.

“No, we’re not,” said Fayubi.

“Something’s happening,” said Fabian.

“I think…” Fayubi began, but he never finished the sentence. He slumped over suddenly, apparently unconscious. So did Fabian, Jami and Jamie. Carli and Carl followed suit a moment later. Cathy and Cathma were left staring at each other, across a double table full of sleeping men.

Welcome to Mâvarin

Use the sidebar to get to the individual installments of this and other stories.