CHAPTER 4

"Oh, my gosh! How much further?"

Through the depths of the damp and humid Invidian Rainforest, Harumi and Reese, their arms aching were sitting in either side of the boat, rowing the white boat from the haunted caverns. Dorothy, sitting in the middle of Stephanie, Tutu, and the exhausted Harumi, sulked down, sick of the intolerable jungle world around her. Opposite them were Heather, Nancy, Terry, and the horribly fatigued Reese.

Her arms sore from rowing, Reese tired eyes blazed upon Dorothy. "Dorothy, would your head, in any case, care to be acquainted with my oar?"

"Yeah, I mean, I don't see you helping us out or anything," Harumi agreed, her arms in the same condition.

"Look, you guys volunteered for this labor," Dorothy shrugged. "Not me. This is a 100% you guys."

"Dorothy, why don't you just back off?" Heather admonished, holding Nancy, who was fastened in an orange life jacket.

"No, be quiet, Heather!" grunted Dorothy. "This doesn't concern you!"

"Will all of you please stop?!" Stephanie said, holding Tutu, who also was secured in a life jacket. "There's enough heat around here without you all adding to it."

Dorothy glared down at Stephanie. "Steph, you know what? I will push you and your mangy little mutt out of the boat."

"Don't you dare touch them!" Heather protested.

"Or maybe I should throw you and your cat out," threatened Dorothy, turning to Heather now. "Tired of you two, anyways."

Now, it was Terry's turn to intervene. "Will you guys please stop?!"

"Shut up, Therese!" Dorothy yelled, belligerently. "You make me sick, too. Huh?"

As the boat neared a pier, conjoined to a clearing, Reese and Harumi, their arms burning from rowing, placed the boat on the right side of it.

Dorothy was completely relieved. "Finally, we can get out of this boat!"

"Who're you telling?" Harumi said, as she climbed up the ladder. "My arms felt like they were going to fall off."

"Not that you'd care, of course," Reese said, acerbically.

"That's true," Dorothy pointed to Reese and Harumi, acknowledging her agreement with Reese's sarcastic statement.

Heather and Stephanie, with their pets in their life jackets, rolled their eyes at Dorothy, and climbed onto the ladder carefully, so as not to bump their fragile heads.

"Up we go, guys," Heather said to Nancy and Tutu.

Terry, wobbly with her body, stepped out apprehensively and climbed on to the latter, fearful that she may fall over. But, Dorothy, with her selfish nature, granted her no support.

"HURRY UP, PIG!" Dorothy yelled.

Nervously, Terry struggled to get up.

"PIGGY, MOVE!!!!!" Dorothy reached out and pinched Terry's buttocks.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Terry wailed in pain.

"Wow, a baby carrying a baby! Priceless!"

Heather's eyes sparked with fiery anger. Her hatred for the little snob had raised to another degree. This was a replay, basically, of what the girls would do to her in gym class.

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"HURRY UP, PIG!"

"PIGGY, MOVE!!!!!"

These "warm gestures" were "charitably bestowed upon" poor little Heather by Jaime Anderson, as she and her friends, Celia, Nellie, Mary Trenne, Mee, Sandra, Katie, Amanda, and Rahel, were watching the girl attempt to climb up the rope in gym class.

"YOU HEAR WHAT WE SAID, STUPID?!" Jaime snapped.

"HEATHER, MOVE!!!!!!!!" Amanda bellowed, pinching Heather bottom hard.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Heather, tears falling from her face, screamed.

"' OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!' " mimicked Nellie, laughing.

"That was priceless!" said Katie. "Do it again, Amanda."

But, before Katie's wish could be fulfilled, the strawberry blonde gym teacher, Coach Jeannette Rodham, marched over. The torment slowly evaporated from under her glare.

"You do that," Coach Rodham said, coldly, "and I'll see to it that you guys have detention for the next three months."

"She's holding us up!" Mee protested, waving her arms angrily towards the sobbing child.

"I'll deal with her," Coach Rodham dismissed. "Right now, you had better step away. I am tired of you guys picking on her."

"Whatever," Mary Trenne stomped off.

As the other carpers did the same, Sandra and Rahel delivered some threatening glares of their own towards Heather.

"Crybaby," grunted Sandra.

"Next time," threatened Rahel, "we'll do our best to kill you."

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"Next time, I'll do my best to kill you!" Dorothy was currently saying to Terry, pinching larger and harder on Terry's body. "Seriously, if Shemiah doesn't send you and that unborn brat to the lake of fire, I will!"

Heather started to upbraid Dorothy. However, Reese and Harumi knew that Heather would just either provoke Dorothy to hurt Terry more, or hurt Heather next. So, preemptively, they ushered Heather on to the road up ahead.

Fortunately, though, friendly Stephanie went to the edge of the platform and reached her hand to help the pregnant girl up.

"Come on, Olivia Therese," Stephanie said, warmly. "I got you." Then, she, Terry, and the other girls hurried up to the bronze path to get as far away from Dorothy as they could.

As Dorothy climbed up to catch up to the others, Heather, Reese, and Harumi cut their eyes at her.

"You're mean, Dorothy," Heather averred, "you know that?"

"Yeah, what puts in your mind that you can just abuse anybody?" Reese confirmed. "Tell me."

"Hello? Did you not hear me establish the fact that this cow slept with my boyfriend?" Dorothy fumed.

"Girl, get over it, okay?" disregarded Reese, waving her hand in vexation, and walked away.

"'GET OVER IT?!'" bellowed Dorothy, incredulously. "'GET OVER IT?!' Look, you may either be from this planet, or another one, but a normal human from Earth with so much of a quarter of an ant's brain would consider a girl sleeping with someone else's guy to be UNFORGIVEABLE!!!!!"

"Dude, I don't care if she did it with grown men!" Reese debated.

"Yeah, what you are doing is not cool at all," Harumi agreed. "So, chill."

Her anger increased by Reese's and Harumi's stern rebuke, Dorothy held up her hands and walked away. "I'm done! I'm not gonna say nothing!"

"Wow, you can dish it out, but you can't take it, right?" Reese, her arms folded, asked indignantly. "And she talks about 'immaturity,' huh?"

Dorothy held up her hands and shook her head, indicating that she would not hear another word. While this was going on, Harumi jested, "Please, what real man would stay with that beaver-looking brat, anyway, let alone screw her?"

Reese smiled.

"BEAVER-LOOKING BRAT?!?!?!" Harumi Kobayashi had some nerve. That was exactly what many people called her throught her school career. Stopping in her tracks, Dorothy turned around and ran over to clobber the giggling Harumi. Out of nowhere, however, a soft voice seized her and uttered, "Have care, Miss Woods. You must not wound your companions. You need their help to find your way home. Furthermore, up ahead lies a greater danger for you children."

Heather, Nancy, Stephanie, Tutu, Reese, Harumi, Terry, and even Dorothy whirled around, wondering who was talking to them. Soon, a pink butterfly flew over to them. The butterfly later metamorphosed into the beautiful island angel that saved them from the wicked Pele.

"It's her," Stephanie said.

"It's Sophronia!" gasped Terry.

"Did either of you just figure that out?" Dorothy grunted.

Heather shot Dorothy a disapproving glance, but Sophronia stated, "That will do, Miss Woods."

Dorothy folded her arms, scoffing.

Then, Sophronia turned towards Reese. "Well, it appears that you have located the Virtual Emblem of kindness. Congratulations, Reese Canales."

Reese's butterscotch skin turned crimson red with embarassment. "Girl, don't sweat it. It wudn't nothin.'"

Heather giggled. "Aw, Reese's blushing."

Dorothy rolled her eyes. Sophronia proceeded with her speech, "However, I must inform you that in the Gulan Desert, you will face a greater danger than the Gorgon girl in the Invidian Caverns. There is a creature called Voracius. He is, in essence, the size and shape of a dog, with some cat-like features such as the head, ears, and claws...and might I add a thick coat of shaggy brown fur and a tail resembling that of a fox?"

"Is he, like, a Gulon?" Stephanie wondered.

"Is that a Pokémon?" Heather asked.

"No, silly," corrected Harumi. "That is a Scandinavian mythological creature."

Stephanie, given her Scandinavian roots (particularly Norwegian ones), stared at Harumi, astonished. "How did you know that, Haru-Chan?"

"Oh, I had to do an assignment of the Gulon in my English class," affirmed Harumi.

Impressed, Stephanie smiled. "Sweet."

"This monster will be located in the Alabaster Oasis," Sophronia warned. "You will not see him right off the bat, but he will come in the form of a human being. He will offer you lots of food and beverages. Be very watchful, however, and try not to buy into his schemes. And definitely, don't overinduldge yourself with anything he offers you."

Dorothy cast a malicious glint towards Terry. "Yeah, lay off the food, Fatso!"

"I'M NOT A FATSO!" Terry screamed and cried like a baby. "DON'T CALL ME 'FATSO!'"

Reese exhaled in vexation. "SHUT IT UP, PLEASE!!!!!! Tired of y'all acting like you was both five years old!"

"Truer words, my little butterfly, have never been spoken," agreed Sophronia. "With the rest of the Virtual Emblems to be found, this is quite an inappropriate time for any sophomoric squabbling. Now, please, have plenty of care and mind my words. This gem will be harder to find than the last two."

Dorothy wheedled in. "Actually, you gave the one of purity to Heather. She didn't earn it, so...."

Heather looked hurt by this truth. However, Sophronia stared at Dorothy, sternly. "Didn't I tell you to let the girls alone, Miss Woods?"

"Oh, so I can't tell the truth, right?!"

Stephanie and Harumi pushed Dorothy forward.

"Oh, shut up, Dorothy!" Stephanie snapped.

"Yeah, you're always messing with Heather," Harumi added.

"Wow!" Dorothy grunted. "Silencing the truth to comfort the clowns.....wow...."

Heather stayed behind to talk to Sophronia. "I promise I will work for the rest of them, Lady Sophronia."

"I have no doubt that you will, Miss Matthews," winked Sophronia. "Now, I must be off. My dear seraphic husband and the little cherubs are wondering where I am."

"Okie dokie," Heather and Nancy waved goodbye, as the angel once again, turned into a butterfly and fluttered away.

As Heather caught up with the other girls, Dorothy urged everyone (sans Terry) to run ahead away from Heather. As soon as Heather caught up, she panted, "Why did you run ahead like that?"

"Because I felt like running ahead of you," Dorothy sneered.

"Dorothy, that wasn't nice," Harumi said.

"Well, she asked me why we ran, and I told her, we felt like running." Then, she turned to Heather. "Next time, don't lag behind. If you see everyone else moving ahead, you should be right along with us."

Reese was seconds away from clocking Dorothy with her fists. But, with Sophronia's words deep in her mind, she gestured towards Heather. "Are you okay, girl?"

"Been...better....." Heather panted.

"She is fine, Reese!" Dorothy sneered, not turning back. "She needs the exercise anyways. And that goes for the preggo pig, too!"

Terry whimpered.

Heather stopped for a rest. "My body hurts...my legs....my lungs...my stomach..."

Reese touched the temple of her forehead. "I know.....Dorothy's making me sick to my stomach right now."

Stephanie agreed. "I know. She's turning mine, too."

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In the dome of the Alabaster Oasis, the interior and exterior of the structure were adorned with marble, mosaics, and metal plaques. The mosaics were quite reminiscent to the Dome of the Rock’s mosaics, given the Arabic script and vegetal patterns intermixed with images of items such as jewels and crowns. Arabic religious decorated the octagonal arcade.

Dressed in a white Indian sherwani, a sexy but mysterious blonde haired boy with porcelain skin, his cold, light blue eyes gazed upon the intricate palace walls.

"This is going to be interesting," said the seventeen-year-old prince, disparagingly. "Six little brats and their pets entering my domain. All I can say is that this had better be worth my while. I will not deign to be in the company of any rump-fed rodents. The girls that will be entering this temple had better be as tantalizing and alluring, such as myself. Otherwise, I will be scrapping that little clunkerheaded cyborg for wasting my time....of course after I was done with those six brats and their pets. Well, I'd better start making preparations for the 'welcome party....'"

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Leaving the vast rainforest, the girls and pets had now approached an extensive, barren stretch of land. It basically consisted of rocky stone plateaus, large areas covered with sand dunes, dune fields, sand seas, dying, gray trees, stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys, dry lakes, and salt flats. Given the high position of the sun, the extremely low relative humidity, and the lack of vegetation and rainfall, the Gulan Desert maintained a high temperature of 42°C (107.6°F).

Heather and Stephanie took their jackets off, both exposing their strapless tube tops, scooped up their pets, and wrapped them up like babies, in an attempt to protect them from the sun.

"Here, Nancy," Heather spoke to her cat. "Lemme get you outta this sun."

"Come on, Tutu," said Stephanie to her dog. "Don't want you getting a heatstroke."

Harumi took off her yellow blouse, revealing her navy blue spaghetti-strapped undershirt. Reese also removed her green jacket from her body, baring her yellow halter midriff. Already in scantily clad attire, Dorothy and Terry were dragging their feet in the deeply sandy dunes.

"Man, this place is hotter than Texas out here," Reese said, exerting herself in this highly arid environment, and placing her long brown hair into a bun. "Bigger, too."

"For real," concurred Harumi. "I feel like not even Texas has anything on this place."

"This place reminds me of the Sahara Desert," Stephanie said. "Has the same plants, design, everything...."

"I wish there were some dune buggies around," Heather said. "This way, we'd save ourselves some heat, time, and energy, you know?"

"Or camels or flying carpets," suggested Dorothy, "or whatever people in the Middle East or Africa use as transportation."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, touched her golden cross necklace, and looked up to the sky. "Lord, please cure her of her ignorance."

"Name one thing ignorant about it, Steph."

"Here are two. One: People in Africa and the Middle East don't always have camels. They have buses, cars, trains, and boats. Two: Flying carpets don't exist. They are make-believe objects used in fantasy fiction, and also in the speech of unenlightened, uneducated, and bigoted people, such as yourself!"

'" Unenlightened and uneducated?!' Dude, I was told that I have an IQ that rivals most doctors, even. Did you know that? I can even attend Harvard at age fifteen, if I wanted to."

"Majoring in what? Bigotry?"

"Anyway, why should I care about poor countries with consist of mostly people with dark skin?!"

Heather turned around. "Dot, what is your problem with dark-skinned people anyways?!"

"I'M TIRED OF YOU GUYS CALLING ME THAT!!!!!!!"

"I don't care! I'm tired of you dissing my people, but you're doing it anyhow!!!"

"And being annoying, among other things!" Harumi said.

"Don't come to me about being annoying," Dorothy scoffed, "with you guys' low maturity level."

Reese, as tired as she was of the bantering, turned around to face Dorothy. "You know something, Dorothy, with the 'high IQ' you think you have, I'd think you'd have more intelligent things to do, rather than complain about people of different races."

"Namely mine," Heather pointed to herself.

"Hard to stay chill in this desert, much less with a darky, a beaner-slash-Jew, and a rice eater. I mean, being around a holy roller and a man-stealing pig is overwhelming enough!"

Reese balled her fists, in preparation to pulverize Dorothy. "Man, if I hadn't wiped out from this heat, girl, I'd hurt you!"

"You touch me," Dorothy snarled, "and I'll wipe you out! I promise you that!"

Soon, Heather's eyes caught on to a large white building from up ahead. "Look!"

Dorothy whirled around, irritably at Heather. "What is it, Heather!"

"Use your eyes, Woods!" Heather said, impatient from both the heat and Dorothy's big mouth.

Growling, she admonished and turned to the large edifice before her, the girls and the creatures. The massive mosque was had a central dome, encircled by four small and four semicircular domes. It was built in a square plan and measured 41x41 meters. The central dome was 21 meters in diameter and the height of 52 meters. There were elegant cylindrical minarets of Turkish type with two balconies and conical caps, both of which were set on the western side of the mosque, and mounted to 82 meters. The roads that surrounded it were golden.

Surrounding the temple was fertile area of land, consisting of palm trees, verdant morasses, green bushes, cerulean waterfalls and creeks. White flowers bedecked the trees, bushes, and the morasses.

Heather, Nancy, Stephanie, Tutu, Reese, Harumi, Terry, and even Dorothy were blown away by the pulchritude of the temple.

"Oh, my gosh!" Dorothy said, her mouth agape.

"This looks like the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, in Cairo, Egypt," Harumi said.

"Save the golden roads, of course," Reese pointed out.

"I wonder who owns this beautiful place?" Terry asked.

"Let's go in and find out," Dorothy said, briskly.

Stephanie, however, wasn't really up to the task. Holding Tutu, she inquired, "Are you sure? I'm not keen on going into strangers' houses."

"Yeah, shoot, for all we know," Heather added, holding Nancy, "it could be the Gulon living in there."

Dorothy's cold eyes fixated upon Heather. "Let me explain something to you guys. My hair and shoes are filled with sand, I am sweating like a pig, my body is chafed, my eyes are dry, and if I stay out here for so much as two more seconds, I am going to SHRED YOU ALL INTO SO MANY PIECES, THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING LEFT OF YOU FOR THE BUZZARDS!!!!!!!!!" Then, her raging face now taking on a feigned pleasant one, she asked, "Is that understood?"

Acquiescing, Stephanie and Heather groaned. "Fine, fine! But, if we get harassed, hurt, or even killed, it's all on that flat little thing you got for a butt!" Stephanie exploded, as she and her friends started on the road. Then, she turned to Terry. "I hope whoever owns this place will let me use the loo."

"Me, too," Terry said, rubbing her portruding stomach.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Dorothy sighed irritably. "Oh, my gosh! You guys and the bathroom! What are you guys, four?"

"Did I not establish my condition earlier, Dorothy?" Stephanie argued.

"And mine?" Terry said.

"Those aren't conditions, guys! They are the stupidest, most idiotic, ridiculous, immature excuses you use to purposely irritate me," Dorothy snapped.

"Shut up, Dorothy!" Terry said.

"Yeah, shut up, Dorothy!" echoed Stephanie.

At this, Dorothy grabbed a stone near her and threw it, barely hitting Terry's head. "TELL ME TO SHUT UP AGAIN, AND I WILL KILL YOU AND THE ANIMAL YOU ARE CARRYING!" Dorothy bellowed, as Stephanie turned to the wounded girl. Terry walked ahead, covering the wound with her left hand and, as she began to fall, rested it on a step leading to the palace. Before Dorothy could throw any more, Stephanie and Tutu helped Terry up. For a while, Terry's bloody hand was on the rock. As she ascended, the bloody handprint remained on the step.

Dorothy continued the rant. "And the same goes for you, Steph!" She pointed at Stephanie.

Heather and Nancy glared at Dorothy. "Dorothy, that's enough!"

"You want a stone sandwich, too, Heather?"

"Beter keep your hands off, Dorothy!" threatened Reese, "or all the stones in the world won't keep me from kicking your butt!"

"Dorothy, I am really getting tired of you picking on everybody all the time," said Harumi.

"Well, I'm tired of you symapthizers wasting my time," Dorothy shrugged, "but do I complain? I suck it up!"

"I wish you would learn to shut it up," Harumi grumbled.

Soon, Stephanie called out, "I wish you all would hurry it up! I've got a bleeding girl out here, you know!"

Dorothy shrugged, and shook her head, not believing that even a man-stealer was deserving of care or mercy. "Sucks to suck, doesn't it?"

"Let's just go," Heather said, as she, Nancy, Reese, and Harumi caught up with Stephanie, Tutu, and Terry. Flummoxed with frustration, Dorothy stormed after her friends.

"Whatever," Dorothy surrendered. "Anything to get out of this heat....and off this island...and far away from you clowns as possible....."

The girls and pets walked over to the door. Unexpectedly, the large, pearly white door jarred open before them, revealing the young white-haired man. A warm smile spread acorrs his face.

"Greetings, ladies," said the man. "Welcome to my humble abode."

The girls and the pets exchanged looks, not knowing at all what to make of the gentleman.

"The name is Sir Timotius Bayaz," introduced the man, "owner of the Alabaster Temple, which is welcome to strangers, especially if they are quite prepossessing, as you all are."

Heather looked bewildered. "' Prepossessing?' "

"That's his way of saying we look fine," Reese said, flouncing her hair, flirtatiously.

Heather giggled. "Oh, why thanks, Sir Bayaz."

Dorothy shot Reese and Heather a cold look. "He means me, not you guys."

Harumi sighed, impatiently. "Looks like the sun's did a lotta work on your head, Dorothy."

"Say, Mr. Timmy," said Stephanie, brusquely ignoring Harumi's and Dorothy's senseless squabbling, "Is there a bathroom my friend and I can use?" The "friend" Stephanie was talking about the still hemorrhaging Terry.

"Oh, yes, my pretty little bird," Sir Bayaz answered Stephanie. "I have everything. From soup to nuts....and speaking of soup and nuts, I have plenty of food, if you all are hungry. And that goes for your furry ones, as well."

As Stephanie and Terry first headed inside to find a bathroom, the others went inside, escaping the horrendous heat. With the girls and pets in a far enough distance, Sir Bayaz looked ravenously at the stair, where Terry's bloody handprint remained. Kneeling down to sniff it, he licked his lips, avariciously.

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In the long hallway, was a huge, rectangular table with a big white cloth covering it. On it were white plates of different foods.

Heather's eyes widened. "Hey, Nancy," she said to her cat, "that looks like sweet potato pie, Cameroonian jollof rice, Gambian salted fish, Jamaican jerk chicken and codfish, Trinidadian dasheen, and moros y cristianos from Cuba! Mom and Dad made this all the time." Then, she turned to her cat again. "You want the salted fish, Nance? I'll get you some."

"Oooh, lemme get some of that locrio and supreme kokosh cake," Reese took a plate and put some food on it. "Dominican and Hungarian food...just like my abuelo and bubby used to make."

Dorothy looked at Reese. "Did you say abuelo and bubby?"

"Dude, I come from a Dominican-slash-Hungarian-Jewish family, okay? Chill."

"Okaaaay, Reese."

"Please, that takes a great backseat to sashimi, sushi, Hawaiian poke, loco moco, and banana bread," Harumi grabbed herself a helping of the food.

"Look who's talking about dulled senses," Dorothy said, "Scottish haggis and cock-a-leekie soup and Ukrainian dumplings trump the slop you call food."

"Dorothy," whined Heather, "must you ruin our appetite?"

"'Dorothy, must you ruin our appetite?'" Dorothy jeered, grabbing some food. "It's called 'freedom of speech.' "

After grabbing their glasses of lavender lemonade, Harumi, Reese, and Heather, the third of whom was supporting Nancy, went to the dining table and wolfed down on their meals.

Dorothy, eating more ladylike at a table away from them, grunted, "PLEASE, QUIT SMACKING! GOSH! You're about to make lose my appetite with that noise!"

"Screw off, Dot!" Reese snapped, gulping down on her locrio.

"We're hungry, and we wanna eat our meals in peace!" Harumi added.

"You know, smacking is such a turn off to men," Dorothy chided. "I mean, unless you guys don't care of getting a husband, never mind a boyfriend....."

However, Sir Bayaz came to the girls. "Ah, relax, little lady. That's what my food is for here. In fact, feel free to eat all you want. Consider it an free-all-you-can-eat buffet from Yours, Truly."

Heather turned to Nancy, chopping up the boneless parts of food for the latter to eat. "Ya hear that, Nancy? We can have as much food as we want here!"

Nancy licked her lips, euphorically.

Dorothy, however, would not share the cat's or the girls' euphoria. "Alright, fine! I'll be the one with married with the husband, and you guys will be 'The Forever-Alone Club.' Shoot, the rate you guys are going, with the overeating crap, you losers are heading down that road, anyways. Oh, well...such is life."

The girls groaned. Nancy crunched down on her fish, shaking her head.

Heather took it as a shake of disapproval. "I know, she's an icky person, huh?" Heather jested.

"She's got my amen on that," Reese said, drinking her lavender lemonade.

"Never mind her," Harumi said. "It's chow down time!"

Unbeknownst to the teens, Sir Timotius Bayaz was stealing a look from behind one of the golden pillars.

"That's right, little one," said the hostile host, "Keep stuffing yourselves...more and more corpulent bodies for me to feast upon.....the bloodspot on the step was merely and example of the kind of treats in store for me......"

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Later that evening, the girls were in the bedroom, resting from their large meal.

"Had enough, Nancy?" Heather said, as she and her cat were laying on the bed.

Nancy licked her lips and burped.

"Well, there's your answer, girl," giggled Reese, as she sat on the bed on the left of Heather. Harumi was behind Reese, combing the latter's lengthy brown hair.

"Thanks for saving us some food, guys," Stephanie said, sitting on the bed on the right and eating her plate of reinsdyr, Lithuanian cherry cake, smørrebrød, and Irish tea cakes. She put some of the meat entrée on Tutu's plate. "Here ya go, Tutu."

As Tutu jumped on the bed to eat, Terry, her head wound bandaged and mouth stuffed, sat across from Stephanie and said, "Yeah, it, like, totally hit the spot for us!"

Stephanie, Tutu, and Dorothy looked at her, vexed. "Uh, piggy," Dorothy snapped, sitting on the bed next to Reese and Harumi. "Do you hear all the noises you are making? Do you see or hear anyone else eating this loud?!" Dorothy then started parroting Terry's eating patterns, derisively.

"Or this fast, for that matter?" Stephanie added.

"Let the freaking food digest, Olivia Therese, gosh!" added Dorothy.

A slice of Black Forest cake in her left hand, Terry said, "It's 'Terry,' first of all, and two, when my mouth is working on the food, my ears are closed." She went on back to her stuffed goose with apples, German sauerbrate, djuvee rice, and Puerto Rican mantecaditos.

"And why do you have that much food, anyways?!" Dorothy asked.

"I'm eating for two here," Terry said, "for all you need to know."

Though tired of the smacking herself, Reese said, "Come on, Dorothy, leave her alone, okay?"

"Yeah, we have bigger fish to fry," Harumi said.

"The only thing that's gonna be fried is Piggy, she doesn't quit smacking," Dorothy pointed to Terry. "I mean, it's annoying!!!!"

"Her name is Terry, she said," Heather said.

"I DON'T CARE!"

"Guys, what part of 'Cool It' did none of you understand?!" Harumi snapped, stopping combing Reese's hair.

Dorothy stomped over to Harumi. "What do you have so worth us caring about, huh, Harumi?"

Closing her eyes and raising her eyebrows, Harumi challenged, "Does finding our way back home sound like a sensible answer?"

"Yeah, girl, as much as I am feeling this crib here," Reese said. "and, really, I am digging it, you know we can't stay. Our home is Minnesota, the land of ten-thousand lakes."

"Not to mention we have to find the other Virtual Emblems," said Stephanie, while Tutu was eating the last of his reinsdyr.

"Let's see," Harumi said, thoughtfully. "We already have the one of purity and kindness....."

"Great, now we just have five more to go," Dorothy, combing her long blonde hair, grumbled.

"Well, if there is another hidden here," Heather said, petting Nancy's furry stomach, "I hope it won't be as hard to locate."

Dorothy then marched over to Heather. "Use your brain, Featherhead!"

"It's 'Heather!'"

"Look, Featherhead," Dorothy ignored Heather's correction, "We barely squeaked by fighting that Gorgon loser and her sea creatures in the caverns, okay? Were it not for the emblem of kindness, it'd have been a remix of the 1970's song, "Timothy!" And certainly, we are not talking about Cuckoo-loa and those jerks at the beach hotel? You know, the same jerks who were flirting with you and Stephanie at the restaurant? Thracius and Alexander? Hello, stupid?" Dorothy asked, in her mock deaf vocal tone.

"Don't be a witch," whimpered Heather.

"Heather, actually, Dorothy has a point," Stephanie said, while at the same time, restraining Dorothy from pulverizing Heather.

"Which she is making in her usual diabolic, satanic way," Reese grumbled.

"Look, Heather," Stephanie redirecting her point to Heather, "the point is you know what we had to go through to get the first two Emblems. So, as much as I even wish it myself, it'd be irrational for you to hope that the pursuit of the others is going to be easy."

"Yeah, Miss Sophronia was crystal clear about them being hard for us to find," Harumi wheedled in.

"Duh!!!!" Dorothy snapped. "You need to listen, Featherhead, and not select the things you want to hear!!!!!"

"Oh, my gosh! Are you done barking, Dogbreath?" Heather sighed.

"Wow," Dorothy chuckled, scoffingly. "You actually thought that that little sophomoric remark was meant to be a good counteraction for correction?! How two-year-old of you!"

Terry then came to Heather. "Don't try to fight her, Heather. You ain't gonna win here."

"Learn from the pig, Heather," Dorothy said, pointing to her own head, to indicate the wound placed upon Terry's. "It knows what it's talking about."

"How about we all hit the hay, instead of each other, huh?" Reese asked.

"How about I hit you, Reese," Dorothy snapped, "since you wanna play peacemaker?"

"Girl, I'm right here waiting," Reese held out her arms.

"I think bedtime sounds like a good idea," Harumi said, preventing any possible altercations.

"Yeah, I gotta get my beauty sleep," Stephanie said, as she and Tutu stretched.

"Beauty sleep?" Dorothy laughed. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Forget her, Steph," Heather said, as Nancy arched her back and stretched her limbs, too. "Let's get our pets ready for bed. Sir Timotius said that the pet care products were in the closet."

"Okay, Heather," Stephanie said, picking up Tutu. "Right behind ya."

Dorothy shook her head. "I am so glad I don't have pets.....then, I'd have to walk them, feed them, give them water, clean after them......"

**********************************************************************************

When the sky grew pitch black, Sir Timotius Bayaz sat down in his chair, totally satisfied with the ostensible success in carrying out his plan.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," said the man. "These six girls were actually alluring...even that corpulent breeder.....I thought I would have to deal with rump-fed womanimals.....oh, well, even Sir Timotius Bayaz can be wrong."

Standing up to stretch his limbs, he continued, "It's getting late....time for me turn in.....to my true form, of course."

Immediately, his sleek, slender figure transformed into an ugly, hideous monster. With the exception of the cat-like ears and head, and a fox-like tail, the physique took on that of a humongous dog, which was covered by a large, thick, and furry white coat. He was known as the Voracius.

Sniffing the air, he stated, "Hmmm, I am detecting some delicious, savory morsels out in my courtyard, as we speak......"

**********************************************************************************

While Tutu and Nancy were handling their "business," Heather and Stephanie were waiting for them, holding their noses.

"The luxuries of owning a pet," Heather said, exhaustedly.

"Yeah, aren't they great?" Stephanie jested.

Laughing at the sarcasm, Heather put on some gloves to protect her hands. Stephanie did the same.

"Come on, guys," Stephanie said, picking up Tutu.

"Yeah, let us get you cleaned up and ready for bed," Heather, grabbing Nancy, concurred. "Glad we kept the pet conditioner and the shampoo from the island hotel. Hopefully, Nancy doesn't try to scratch me like she did the last time."

"Same with Tutu," nodded Stephanie. "She's eight years old and she still can't stand baths."

"Wow, your pet's two years younger than mine."

"How old's yours?"

"Ten."

"Your pet is a preteen."

"Isn't she?"

Rustling in the bushes several feet away from the girls was a mysterious creature. The opening of the shrubbery harbored a pair of glistening, scarlet eyes, which burned upon the two slim figures, making their way back to the palace.

"Hmmm, such savory creatures," said Voracius. "A canine and a feline....thrown in the mix are two palatable physiques....oh, I wish I didn't have to eat them....my jagged, hideous teeth would ruin the sweet, precious skins of these sensual angels...but, hey, what can I tell you? It's hard to get food around this desert....especially when it's free.....well, free food, here I come!!!!!"

Going in for the kill, he rampaged towards the girls, galloping loudly.

The frightened girls turned around. "What's that noise?" Heather asked, panicking.

Seeing the creature from afar, Stephanie said, "It's the Voracius, and it's heading straight for us! Let's get inside!"

"Yeah, hold on to the pets!"

"No need to tell me that!"

Though the pets' claws hurt the girls immensely, the pain was absolutely trivial in comparison to the threat that was charging behind them. As the loud stomps grew louder, the wicked Voracius galloped and pounced in front of the girls. Screaming, Heather and Stephanie ran around, trying to escape the large, hulking figure.

Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

"Leaving so soon, ladies?" Voracius jeered, revealing his bloody teeth.

Heather and Stephanie, each carrying their pets with one arm, tried to climb two trees. But, the wicked Voracius reached the tree before the little girls could even touch the bark on them.

Frightened, the girls turned to the trees on the other side. But, the wicked Gulon blocked that area as well.

"You idiots!" snapped Voracious. "Has the desert sun dulled your senses? You can't leave this place. You signed the contract already when you indulged yourselves with my food. You should know better to enter a stranger's house! Now, your gullibility and your greed make you all my property, or should I say my meals."

"Wrong answer," a bold voice bellowed from the door.

Voracius turned around, growling. Out of fury, he hopped down from the ledge and landed on the ground in front of Harumi, who had spoken, Reese, Dorothy, and a frightened Terry. He sniffed the bodies of the four other girls who challenged the evil beast. With the pet in their arms, Heather and Stephanie fled towards their friends.

"Hey, everybody is here now!" growled Voracius, an avaricious smile spread across his face. "First the appetizers, then the dinner! Can't get any better than this!"

"Well, you'd better get the taste out of your mouth, Voracius!" snapped Harumi, "because, you are not touching our friends!"

"That's a nice way to repay your host," Voracius accentuated, cynically. "I invite you to my house, and supply you all with food, and now you are refusing it to me? I have to tell you, you girls are some unappreciative and thankless guests."

"'Host?!" Stephanie put two and two and two put together. "Hold up, you had invited us here?!"

"Wow, you're pretty quick," said Voracius sarcastically.

"Watch it, Fuzzy," threatened Heather.

"Yeah, man, 'coz your life is worth less than a sack of marbles right now, pal," Reese hissed.

Sadly, Reese's threat resulted in a satirical laughter delivered by the evil monster. After having recovered from his laughter, Voracius snarled, "You know, my little saucy, leggy and lascivious friend, you must have gone overboard on the mushrooms...you know, it is a well known fact that it causes hallucinations. You should really keep away from that."

"Are you sure you're not the one tripping out?" jested Dorothy.

"Look!" Voracius began to lose his patience. "If any of you clowns think you can beat me, then you are more stupid than I gave you credit for. Kids like you are powerless against monsters such as myself. You guys are too impressionable and weak to defeat me. Why do you think I have created this oasis in the middle of this desert? To lure lost little souls like yourselves to my food and to fatten you up to the point where you are too sleepy to move around. And when you are too sluggish to move, it gives me an opportunity to gobble you clowns up. I've been doing it for years. How else do you think I had managed to stay alive?"

"Just like Hansel and Gretel," muttered Stephanie.

"Speaking of fat," Voracius' eyes blazed upon the paralyzed Terry, as he walked near her. "Do I detect rolls and rolls upon this delicate body?" He sniffed her stomach. "And inside it....smells like a precious little baby.....two lives for the price of one....." With his claw, he grabbed Terry by the front of her halter blouse.

"Please, don't hurt me...." Terry began to cry.

"Honestly, it's like dealing with a child," Voracius grunted, while still grasping on to the girl. "A child carrying a child...wow, what a downgrade! Not that my stomach cares or anything....."

Heather, Nancy, Reese, Harumi, Stephanie, Tutu, and Dorothy, who immensely eschewed the pregnant girl, gazed in fright.

"That maniac is going to totally swallow that kid down!" Reese screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"If he can keep her down with that big belly of hers," Dorothy averred, partially joking.

Harumi shot a look of danger towards Dorothy. "You really think that this is an okay time to play around?!"

"What do we do now?" Heather, tightly clasping Nancy to her chest, whimpered.

Dorothy glanced upon her, impatiently. "I dunno, Feather! Figure out something!"

"I'm too scared!"

"NOBODY CARES! JUST COME UP WITH SOMETHING QUICK!"

"Leave me alone! You're stressing me out!"

"You're stressing yourself out! Now, let's hear the plan! Spit it out now!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!" With that said, Heather, still holding Nancy, ran into the alabaster shrine. Reese, Harumi, Stephanie, Tutu, Dorothy, and Terry sped after her. With his thumping feet, he continued to pursue the girls through the hallways to the living room.

"There had better be a logical reasoning for that plan of yours, Featherhead!" Dorothy snapped.

Stephanie, while carrying Tutu against her chest, huffed, "Shut up and run, Dorothy!"

"Oooh, if we weren't being chased by some psycho, I'd clock you in the head! I get tired of you guys taking up for that loser!"

Soon, something entered Heather's head. "Guys, get something the hit this psycho with."

"What?!" Dorothy asked in disbelief.

"Just do it!"

Just as they thought they were in a far enough from the monster, Voracius jumped on the wall of the left side. Then, he jumped right in front of them, his massive weight shaking them so much, that Terry had fallen down hard on her bottom.

"Hmmm, such a delicious smell of blood," sneered Voracius, his paws cementing Terry's back to the ground, and breathing heavily on her.

Terry whimpered and wriggled around. "TURN ME LOOSE, PLEASE!!!!!!!"

"Quite reminiscent to the smell of the bloodstain on that rock....I am so glad that the blonde wounded you, or I would never known how savory your scent is......Now, what did you losers say you were going to do to me again?"

"How about this!"

A large blue vase crashed upon the gargantuan skull of the beast. Standing from behind the white couch was Heather, with her cat Nancy behind her. Terry, free from the beast's grasp, rose from the group and ran away.

Shaking his head from the hard blow, Voracius growled, "You know, maybe I should eat you two in her place!"

Before he could reach the couch, Stephanie, hiding with Tutu behind a large white table, with a white tablecloth, threw golden plates at Voracius' skull.

"How about not?" Stephanie said.

Blood oozing from his wounds, he rampaged towards Stephanie and Tutu, who huddled each other with horror.

"You know, there is a reason why I hate teenagers," Voracius growled. "They are always so much trouble."

Leaping in the air, he unsheathed purple claws, ready to slice up both Stephanie and Tutu. However, his plans of that were immediately thwarted when a large Egyptian urn hit his head, causing him to fall down and his body to deteriorate.

His eyes blurred, Voracius tried to pinpoint the girls. Then, as his eyes cleared a little, they were cast upon Reese, who had thrown the urn at the monster. Her eyes iced down on Voracius and her hands clenched tight upon the hilt of a khopesh.

"You little, slatternly, truculent piglet....." Voracius, trying to stay conscious, sputtered.

"Now, what did you say that you was going to do to us again?" Reese reversed Voracius' words.

Voracius let out a labored laugh, which angered Reese even further. "You still under the impression you can finish me off? A large little toy you can hardly lift...sounds pretty convincing!"

"What, you don't feel this sword near your nose, ¿payaso?"

"You had better hope I don't tear yours off that thing you call a face!"

"I wouldn't get on me about my face! I can't tell whether yours is real, or your neck had thrown up!"

Staggering towards Reese, he sneered, "You just signed your death warrant, you repugnant little mutation....."

Ceasing his words was a large, tall golden cupboard, crashing down upon his body, and leaving some shattered porcelain cups, plates, and bowls on the marble floor. Harumi and Dorothy, standing over the fallen furniture, walked towards their friends.

"On the contrary," Dorothy knelt down to the opening which revealed a small part of Voracius' head. "You'd just signed yours."

"It's safe now, girls," Harumi said, as Heather and Stephanie picked. "That guy can't hurt us anymore. Huh?"

To the amazement of the girls, a huge red cloud of ash bulged from Voracius' body and out of the Alabaster Temple. The cloud was vacuumed back into the Pyramid and a mighty shock wave imploded within the walls, causing everything else in the dome to collapse.

"S-S-S-Safe now, r-r-r-r-right, Harumi?!" Dorothy snapped at Harumi.

"Dorothy, sh-sh-shut up!" Stephanie, her arms wrapped around Tutu, bellowed.

"Let's g-g-g-get outta here!" Heather said, grabbing up Nancy and holding the cat to her body.

With burning lungs and aching legs, the girls and the pets ran past the falling ruins and china, jumped over moving sofas and tables, whizzed past falling chandeliers, shelves, and artifacts. They ran over to the trees, but even they, the rocks, water, and the plants were, along with the spiraling temple itself, being sucked from down below the sand.

With nowhere else to run, the kids headed towards the central dome for some sort of stability and safety.

"Oh, mess!" Reese shivered. "We are trapped!"

"We're gonna die!" Heather cried, tearfully.

"DIE?!" Terry cried hysterically. "WE CAN'T DO THAT! WE-----WE----!" Terry had now gone into labor.

Stephanie looked at the travailing girl. "Oh, dang! Terry's in labor!"

Exhumed with frustration, Dorothy sobbed, "This is just great! We are on the brink of hades and this loser is ready top drop the calf!"

Suddenly, a pink butterfly flew towards them, and turned into a beautiful island angel.

"SOPHRONIA!" Harumi called out, holding out her arm. "SOPHRONIA, HURRY!"

"Yeah, Terry's gonna give birth in a few seconds!" Stephanie said.

"Not that it's important or anything!" Dorothy yelled.

"STOP, DOROTHY!" hissed Harumi, nearly crying.

Disregarding the quibbling, Sophronia summoned eight bubbles to encase the girls and pets and whisk them away from the collapsing temple, taking everything---the water, shrubbery, the trees, the stones, and the corpse of the wicked Voracius---with it and spurting out a huge cloud of sand...and emitting a loud burp and sigh, in the process.

Neither Voracius nor the Alabaster Oasis were never seen again.

******************************************************************************

Seeing this from the window of the Starlight Express, Alphie eyes turned red with alarm.

"Oh, dear! This is not going to please the Mistress one bit," Alphie said. "What will I tell her?"

**********************************************************************************

Now, in the midst of the jungle, Sophronia, Heather, Nancy, Reese, Harumi, Stephanie, Tutu, and Dorothy emanated from the bubbles. Heather, Stephanie, Nancy, Tutu, Reese, and Harumi hugged the heavenly heroine.

"¡Ay, gracias muchísimo, Señorita Sofronia!" Reese said, crying happily. "You are our heroína!"

"Yeah, you saved our lives," whimpered Heather, and she and Nancy clung to Sophronia's clothes.

"Think nothing of it, my dears," cooed Sophronia. "I try to help those who help themselves."

Stephanie, Tutu, and Harumi around the new environment that encompassed them. "Say, where are we, anyhow?" Harumi wanted to know.

"And where is Terry?" Stephanie asked, holding Tutu.

Dorothy grunted, at the sound of Terry's name.

"What?" Stephanie asked Dorothy, trenchantly.

"This is the Iramese Jungle," answered Sophronia, where you sadly will run into a beast far worse than Voracius set out to be. However, you will also encounter another young girl who had been tricked by the wicked Shemiah into coming on this island. Try to help her. She is being hunted by the same creature you will have to fight against."

"That's cool," Dorothy said, not at all liking the idea of another person joining the quest. "Another jerk for us to babysit."

"Don't be mean," Stephanie growled.

"She might be cool," Reese accentuated.

"I hope so," Heather stated.

Watching this from behind a tree was a tall, slim, tan-skinned girl with short brownish-red hair. Eyeing upon them coldly, she stole quietly away so neither the woman nor the young girls could spot her.

"And as far as Miss Jefferson goes...." proceeded Sophronia.

"Is she dead?" Dorothy asked, expectantly.

"No, she is taken to the Scarlet Hut so she can birth the baby."

"CRAP!" Dorothy stomped her foot. The other girls glared at her.

Sophronia scoffed. "Sheesh, I have never met a crueler girl in my life, besides the wicked Mistress. Is that any way to talk about a girl who's about to----?"

"Boring!" Dorothy walked away, shaking her head.

After laughing out of frustration, Sophronia continued, "Anyhow, for your victory over Timotius Bayaz, or Voracius, I gleefully present you with this!"

Out of the sky fell a yellow emblem. It went straight to Harumi's hands.

"Wow!" Harumi said, her voice expressing total satisfaction. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes," Sophronia said, proudly. "The emblem of moderation. It was only by the monster's death that the third emblem could be relinquished. You guys have earned it with your quick thinking and strength."

"Alright!" Reese cheered.

"That's what's up," Heather said.

As Harumi placed the emblem in the left pocket of her orange shorts, she said, "Many thanks to you, Miss Sophronia, for this gem."

"And for saving us, too," Stephanie winked.

"Bless you all," Sophronia said. "Best of luck to you on retrieving the others!"

"We're gonna need it," Dorothy said, bemoaningly.

As the girls (sans Dorothy) and pets waved, Sophronia resumed to her pink butterfly form and flew away, leaving now Heather, Nancy, Reese, Harumi, Stephanie, Tutu, and Dorothy to fend for themselves in the mysterious and somewhat murky Iramese Jungle.

As they sauntered in the wilderness, the pets and the now five girls began to discuss the new girl and how to prepare for the next challenge.

"I hope the new girl is very nice," Heather surmised, while hugging Nancy.

"Like our sweet amiguitas, Heather and Nancy," Reese said, placing her arm around Heather's shoulder.

Crimsoning, Heather smiled at Reese and leaned on the latter's shoulder. "Diós te bendiga, Reese."

"Ay, te hablas español, también?"

"Ay, poquito, de todos modos."

Dorothy faced Heather and Reese with a frigid stare. "This is not México, guys! Speak English!"

"No hablamos inglés," Heather said.

"STOP WITH THE MEXICO TALK, PLEASE!!!" Dorothy sounded possessed.

"Girlfriend, lemme iron out the wrinkles for you here," Reese whispered to Dorothy, advisingly. "Don't waste your time arguing with morons, okay? All that's gonna do is make you one of them."

"You do have a point," Heather said. "Shoot, arguing with morons is gonna give me a headache, too."

"Amen," Reese nodded, knowingly.

"What we need to do is worry about who that monster is before he or she puts their hands on the girl," Harumi said, ominously.

"Or worse yet, Terry and her baby," Stephanie said, holding Tutu like a baby.

Balling her fists tight and clenching her teeth, Dorothy screeched, "WHY DOES EVERYONE CARE ABOUT THAT KID?! YOU KNOW WHAT?!" This time, Dorothy ran ahead of all of the girls, not wanting to be so much as three feet near them.

The girls groaned. "Oh, Lord! Not again!" Reese said.

"For real, Dorothy?!" Harumi said.

"Why do you always do this?!" Heather called out.

"BECAUSE, I FELT LIKE IT!" Dorothy ran on, neither stopping nor looking back. "NOW, GET MOVING, SLOWPOKES!!!!!!"

"You heard her," Stephanie shrugged, as she ran behind her. Grumbling, the rest of the girls huffed, puffed, and followed them.

"HURRY UP, OR I WILL LEAVE YOU BEHIND!" Dorothy yelled. "As much food as you had been eating, you could use the exercise anyways....."

As Heather, Nancy, Reese, Stephanie, Tutu, and Harumi tried to catch up with Dorothy (to hardly any avail), Reese whispered to Harumi, "Why didn't you slam the Beaver's body down with one of those cupboards back there?"

"Trust," Harumi admitted, "I regret that decision myself."

**********************************************************************************