Chapter Three

Ivory approached Liam and Jack, loosening the rope binding their hands. “Kids, now it’s time to accept your punishment. Don’t be afraid. It will be for two weeks only. You won’t feel a thing, as if you are in deep sleep.”

Almost idly, she waved one of her flowing sleeves at the boys, in the wake of which a thick layer of mysterious mist started to rise around them. It writhed and crawled from the boys’ feet up to their heads until their entire bodies were out of sight as if swallowed whole by an invisible phantom. An instant later, the mist began to disperse and grow diaphanous. Eventually it cleared out without a trace, revealing two statues that clung close to each other with the bigger one’s arms protectively circled around the smaller one’s shoulders.

Joe tore his gaze away from the statues, forcing the feeling of unease out of his mind. “It’s a good lesson for them. I hope they will know better in the future.”

“Definitely, I’m sure they will,” affirmed the Goddess with an alluring smile. “They are not the first kids punished in this way. Believe me, it works wonders on those rebellious young minds. The same goes to your nieces on Earth. Don’t you see that I just showed you an example of how to discipline kids? Your younger niece is of similar age to Liam, and the older one to Jack. How coincident it is!”

“Indeed. But I don’t have any magical power,” grumbled Joe. “If they are as untamed as these two, how can I deal with that?”

“Dear, even if you have power, you can’t exert it once you descend down to Earth. No one can, including me and the Dragon King. However, we can still ‘transport’ some magic from here to Earth—at a certain price.” From her sleeve, Ivory took out a sleek baton of jade no longer than a kid’s hand, one end in the shape of an arrow. “Look, this is a special tool that I’ve spent a year to forge. Call it a magic wand if you want. During this entire year, I had to avoid using any magical power so as to save it into the wand, which can then be used on Earth—for two times.”

“Why did you take such a big trouble to do that?” Joe was perplexed.

“You know that I am not only the Goddess up here, but also a worshipped goddess of justice on the east part of Earth. Humans on East Earth love me and pray to me every day. The more they believe in me, the more power I can wield; hence I need to strengthen their faith in me by going down to show myself to them from time to time and helping them punish a villain occasionally with a magic wand like this. During the long years, only a few extra wands have been saved for special purposes.” Ivory reached Joe’s hand and put that wand into his palm. “This, my dear Joe, is one of them. Take it. It will make things easier for you on Earth. It can turn a life into a statue for two weeks there.”

“Really? Wow—but no, no!” Joe hesitated. “I can’t ... I can’t possibly accept such a precious gift.”

“Joe,” Ivory cooed with a tinge of amusement, “do you not trust me? Or do you not know how much I care about you?” She raised a slim hand to stroke his hair lovingly. “I care a great deal about you, Joe. I want you to go down to Earth with this wand and help your sister out. You can use it to protect yourself and the girls if anything bad happens, or”—she glided to the statues of Liam and Jack, tracing the outlines with the tip of a long finger—“if your nieces really need to be disciplined, like these two naughty boys, the wand will be your most effective tool. To use it, you just need to point the arrow at the one you want to give a lesson to and say the word ‘statue’ out loud.” She smiled softly at Joe, her black eyes radiant and warm, her flowing hair reminiscent of a velvety dark sky on a clear night. “Remember, it can only be used twice. And don’t give it to anyone else, because other than me, only someone like you with dragon’s blood is able to call out its power.”

**

It was past noon When Joe and Doodle left the silver palace. Dragon Eye had risen to its zenith in the pale sky, turning around at a steady pace to scatter its light evenly on Magic Moon. Joe sat in the coach and fiddled with the wand absent-mindedly, eyes far away out of the window.

Doodle cleared his throat to break the silence. “Master, I think the Moon Goddess is right—we should go to Earth to help Princess Jasmine.”

“Of course she’s right,” agreed Joe, waking from his trance. “She’s always right.”

“However, I don’t think you should apply the power of that wand to the girls. They can be naughty or difficult at times, as all kids can, but it’s not right to punish kids in any situation in that way—even just for two weeks.”

“But you realize that when we go to Earth, you cannot help me with a damn thing as you will become a real cat.”

“Yes, it’s true. I am sorry for that, Master Joe. But I promise I will still do my best to help you out. I’ll still have the same eyes, ears, and mind, and I can talk with you.”

“Certainly, what an extraordinary pet you will be! You can even talk!” Joe threw a sarcastic look at his servant.

Doodle appeared to have swallowed his humiliation uninjured. “I feel bad for Liam and Jack. What they did was not right for sure, but they aren’t offered any better way to improve their life, either. Most importantly, they are only kids, especially Liam! That was too severe a punishment for a young kid his age.” The compassionate cat lowered his voice at the last sentence, as if worried that his implied criticism against the Goddess went over the line.

Joe didn’t react in anger; he simply heaved a sigh. “The Goddess can’t do anything else. What choice does she have? It’s the law here. She’s in charge of helping the King maintain the order of the Moon. Any commoner that’s committed a crime will be punished in the same way, perhaps with variation of duration. I guess two weeks is the minimum.”

“So, it’s settled!” Doodle jumped back to the original topic. “We’re going to Earth!” He rubbed his paws together with palpable exultation.

“Why are you so eager to go there? Why is Jasmine so happy living there? It’s only a magicless place!”

“Master Joe, maybe there is something there that’s more powerful than magic.” Doodle locked Joe with the deepest look he could manage with his cat’s eyes. “For example, love.”

Joe sniffed with derision. What could a cat know about love? What did so-called love matter anyway? It was just an empty word!

**

After Joe drank the sleep-inducing tea, he lay down in bed and stared out into the murky sky across which night hung like a giant curtain. Soon, he closed his eyes and fell into slumber, ready to meet with his sister.

Since Jasmine’s arrival on Earth, Joe had started to meet her regularly in dream—for him every night and for her once a year—as dreaming was the only communication channel in which the time gap between Magic Moon and Earth could be overcome.

When Joe entered the wood and arrived at the clearing beside a tinkling stream that was encircled by wildflowers and soft grass, Jasmine was already there, sitting on a smooth rock beside the stream with her bare feet dipping in the water.

Feeling strangely at home, Joe took in the surroundings at a glance: the azure sky was occupied by a flock of birds flying in ever changing formations; the faraway mountain was splashed with vibrant colors of yellow, red and orange; and a large fireball was hanging languidly behind treetops, halfway in its slow descent down to the west.

“It’s the sun, remember?” explained Jasmine, following his gaze. “Brighter and warmer than Dragon Eye on Magic Moon.”

Joe nodded as he continued blinking at the sun with his eyes sheltered by a raised hand. “Of course! It’s not the first time we’ve met here. Besides, I’ve spent a month on Earth, remember?”

“Yes, you are right. I forgot that the visit was only a week ago for you.”

“I like it—the sun—and many other things here. They feel like safety. They are lively and colorful, more colorful than before.”

“You have observant eyes,” praised Jasmine. “It’s autumn now. That’s why we see more bright colors. Last time we met here, it was in summer, and the sun was scorching hot, remember?”

“Right. The sun doesn’t feel so hot this time, only pleasantly warm.”

“Do you also remember the other two seasons on Earth?”

“Uh ... spring and winter?”

“Super! You are indeed a fast learner. It’s wonderful to have four different seasons in a year, each with its unique beauty, isn’t it?”

“Is that what you wanna talk about—seasons and the natural beauty on Earth? Don’t you want to know my answer?” Joe cut to the chase but remained soft-toned.

Jasmine stood up and moved toward Joe, nervousness creeping over her face. “Yes, of course. Tell me.” She took Joe’s hands into her own and fixed him with an expectant gaze.

“I decide to do it!” declared Joe, a jot of excitement escaping his grudging voice.

“Great! Great! Great!” Jasmine burst with delight and jumped up and down like a little girl. When that was not enough, she threw her arms around her brother’s neck and hung herself there for a good five seconds with her face rubbing against his chin.

Joe pulled himself away before getting choked, feeling a heartfelt smile touching his lips. He quickly regained his coolness and cleared his throat. “Don’t be so exhilarated yet. I have no clue how to babysit two little girls. Don’t blame me if anything goes wrong.”

“Nothing can go wrong—or seriously wrong. If you can change diapers and prepare smashed food for babies, which you did perfectly last time, you can definitely deal with two bigger girls.”

“So, your invitation last time was indeed just a training for me.” Joe was a little straight-faced.

“No, not at all! How can you say that? It was a long-expected vacation for all of us! You can’t imagine how much I’d missed you and wanted to show you my daughters—the joy and pride of my life.” Jasmine cast a glance at Joe before going on, “Of course whatever you’ve learned from last experience can still be put to good use on Earth. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

Joe looked at his sister out of the corner of his eye and shrugged.

Jasmine stood on tiptoes to give Joe a peck on the cheek before she pulled out a stack of paper from her pocket and passed it to him. “I really appreciate that you are willing to help, Joe, but I have to admit that it won’t be a walk in the park. They are not babies anymore, but kids at any age can be difficult, just in different ways.” She motioned Joe to open the paper. “This is a long list of information about Elena and Wendy, the house and the car, the school, the neighborhood ... everything that you need to know to have a happy experience on Earth next year.”

Joe turned the pages quietly, his eyebrows furrowed with concentration. The first thing in his view was a picture of Wendy and Elena, both with long hair and a shiny smile. Wendy missed two front teeth under her upper lip, giving her slightly freckled face a funny look. Elena’s forehead was thinly spread with pimples, which was perhaps the reason why she seemed not confident enough.

Joe continued flipping through the texts. After a few minutes, he lifted his eyes in disbelief. “Really? You need to share with me all this? Don’t you think it’s too much?”

“Which part specifically?” Jasmine looked a hundred percent innocent.

“The part that covers your neighbor’s dog’s preferred food, the names of your dentist’s children, the favorite color of Wendy’s teacher, the business schedules of all the stores, a whole page of passwords, and”—Joe raised a certain piece of paper and pointed his chin at the words that brought his voice down to a mumble—“Elena’s menstruation cycle!”

“You will find all the information useful, sooner or later. Oh, also”—Jasmine adopted a more solemn tone—“don’t forget to keep your identity card and driver’s license with you all the time, and don’t lose them. It took us days to have the fake cards ready for you.”

“Oh my god! What have I brought onto myself?”

“Nothing but good, I promise!” claimed Jasmine with only the slightest hint of flippancy.

Joe expressed his suspicion and grouchiness with a strange noise from his nose, although he’d already started to remember every word in the paper by heart and decided to follow her instructions with sufficient, if not absolute diligence.

**

On the day of King Aldrich’s birthday, as soon as Dragon Eye climbed above the skyline, Joe and Doodle headed off for the border between Magic Moon and West Earth.

The previous time they’d used the portal at the border to visit Jasmine’s family, Joe had been astounded by its proximity to where his humble villa stood as well as the ordinariness of the place. It took them only half an hour’s walk to arrive at the spot where nothing interesting grew or was built, only a few shapeless greyish rocks were scattered here and there. It was a place of ordinary desolation; no wonder very few on the Moon had knowledge of it.

As invisible as the portal was, it didn’t take Joe more than a minute’s scan to find it in between two rocks with somewhat sharper edges. Joe stood one step behind Doodle with a small bag over his shoulder. Doodle turned around to nod solemnly at Joe before he strode through the narrow space between the rocks with noticeable excitement in his face. Bright white sparkles glittered in the air, forming a shiny door frame above his head. His figure disappeared into the frame as soon as he crossed over. Seconds later, the sparkles vanished as fast as they’d appeared and rendered everything in the place back to normal, except that a piece of black clothes—Doodle’s livery—was now spreading on the formerly bare ground.

Joe fastened his mind on the hidden world beyond, hesitated a little, then shook his head and moved forward. When the door frame glittered again, he closed his eyes and prayed hard that he wasn’t going to feel sorry for what he was setting out to do now.