"Before the Sands Trickled" Chapter 4

"It's a human! A human! A human!" they cried, all in a chorus as if they were singing "Boom-dee-ada". The fire ones tore their eyes off the completely shattered mirror (Eveline was ducking from the falling glass) and zoomed at her.

"NO!" shouted one of the giraffes, and a bolt of light stopped the magical fire that would have incinerated Eveline in a second. "NO EXPOSING OUR MAGIC TO HER!"

A creature with such gentle eyes wasn't expected to scream in such a loud voice. Eveline covered her ears as the giraffe continued, "The traitor isn't here. What say your search spheres, Speckle?"

"No spirits are near here," the second giraffe agreed, as Eveline stumbled backward and "accidentally" re-pressed the flush button just as the toilet was starting to finish its gargle. "We should report to Master. He still doesn't know what's going on."

And then, one by one, the creatures left single-file, leaving Eveline's bathroom demolished. She didn't know if they took the stairs or somehow magically disappeared in the hallway. She just knew that Oua had a lot of explaining to do.

"Can I come out now?" the JiiaÏ asked muffledly from the churning voice of the water, and Eveline, peeering into the toilet bowl, gave a nod. Immediately water spurted into her face and, as she coughed and sputtered, Oua materialized.

"How could you?" was the first thing Oua said. "How could you?"

Eveline, who had been expecting a shame-faced thanks, was caught rather unprepared, and, for once in her life, without a retort.

"At this point, when the humans have already captured the Jar of Subconscious, you should know that you can't get attached to what you make up anymore. If you're some visionary who aspires to make your dreams come true, then you should probably get rid of those and become an unintelligent drudgery worker until your obscure leader masters the stupid Jar. Don't you know what you can let loose? And you a human!" Oua seemed beyond mad, which was preposterous. "Nightmares. Dreams. Stories. Lies. There - are - so - many - things - your - stupid - master is - putting - at - risk - with - that - jar -"

"Hold it," said Eveline confusedly, still too surprised to be angry. "You're Oua, aren't you?"

"Well, duh," said Oua. "And whatever world I'm in, I don't like it. Send me back to the Hourglass Kingdom. NOW."

"Um, well...can't you get back on your own?" Eveline asked lamely. "With magic?"

"Of course not. I was sucked into the jar from your mind, when I opened my magic to call Master for help. Now, since you've made up some stupid thing about me - don't you know better than to mess with elementals? We're one of the most powerful magics around - except for maybe subconscious - how could you? - and so I'm yours to command until either you or the Jar releases me, neither of which is very likely. So LET ME GO!"

"Wait a second. So you mean...the human leader in your world has a Jar?"

"The Jar of Subconscious."

Eveline eyed Oua suspiciously. "I never wrote about that."

"And I suppose you wrote everything in the world? Come on, send me back."

"Okay, so anyway, you're my slave now, right?" Eveline replied bluntly.

Oua kind of squirmed. "Erm...not...exactl..."

"Well, guess what? I'll let you go. But until then, you have to do everything I say, right?" Eveline commanded. Without waiting for an answer, she went on. "So before I release you, I want you to do two things for me. First of all, repair my bathroom."

"Easy -" Oua began, looking relieved, but Eveline cut her off.

"And second, take me to the Hourglass Kingdom. I am going to stop the man with the Jar of Whatever for good."