"What?" Zann's hand flew to his forehead. The purple marks were gone!
"Maybe we can get them back with a Restore spell," Perda suggested.
"But we haven't learned those yet," protested Gliss.
"So what? It's worth a try." Perda rubbed her hands together. "Restore!"
Zann stared at her hopefully. "Well?"
"Nothing." Perda's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, guys."
Darb shaded his eyes. "Look, someone's coming."
A woman was walking toward them. She was blue-skinned and bald, with a pretty, smiling face.
"Hello," she greeted them. "My name is Vee.
I am the guardian of the wormhole."
"Why does this wormhole need a guardian?" Perda asked.
"We've had some trouble lately," Vee replied.
"What kind of trouble?" said Gliss.
"The details aren't important." Vee was still smiling.
"What brings you young people to Pax?"
"Pax? Is that the name of this world?"
Zann didn't remember ever hearing his parents mention a world by that name.
Perda didn't seem to recognize it either.
That meant it probably wasn't in any of his parents' books.
"We're looking for two people," Gliss said.
"A woman named Wyssa and a man named Morb."
Vee gasped, her pleasant expression turning fearful.
"Why are you looking for Morb? Are you friends of his?"
"No way!" Perda exclaimed. "Morb is evil."
Vee looked relieved. "Yes, we know. He's the reason I was sent to guard the wormhole."
"So he was here recently?" Zann asked.
Vee nodded. "He visited Pax just long enough to steal a mibbit."
"A mibbit?” said Darb. "What's that?"
"One of our most cherished creatures," Vee said.
"Mibbits have very strong and specific magic, and they're prone to panic.
When they panic, they send out powerful energy that overwhelms anyone nearby.
Victims are unable to think or act or even move."
Zann and the others exchanged concerned glances.
"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good," Perda said.
"I bet Morb wants the mibbit to help him try to take over Magica again."
Vee looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
Zann quickly told her the whole story.
"So that's why we're afraid that Morb might be gathering power again," he finished.
"Maybe Morb is trying to force my parents to help him."
"Then again, maybe Morb isn't interested in Magica anymore," Darb suggested.
"Your parents know a lot about other worlds, right?
Maybe Morb is planning to use their knowledge to take over a different world this time."
"Like this one, maybe?" Gliss glanced around at the beautiful scenery.
"It's really nice here. And Morb knows the mibbit's magic would definitely work on the people of Pax."
"Or maybe he wants to take over World X," Zann said.
"That could be why he's after my parents.
He wants them to lead him there!"
"That makes sense," Perda agreed.
"If it's true that World X is some kind of gateway to all other worlds, controlling World X could give Morb incredible power."
"Oh dear," Vee said. "I fear the powers of our sweet mibbit could help Morb take over any world."
"How did he capture it, if it's that powerful?" Darb asked.
Vee looked nervous. "We don't know. It would take unimaginable power to immobilize a mibbit without panicking it."
"We really need to catch up to Wyssa now," Perda said.
"We have to warn her about this!"
"You're right. I don't think she realizes just how much power Morb must have now," Zann said.
"Plus she doesn't know about the mibbit."
"But how will we find Wyssa?" Gliss asked.
"We've lost our only way of tracking her."
Zann turned to Vee. "Do you know of any magic that could help us track someone through the vortex?"
"I'm afraid not," Vee said. "Paxian magic is quite different from that of many other worlds.
It mostly involves feelings and communications, not physical abilities."
"Really? But you guys must be able to do the basic stuff, right?" Perda asked.
"Like conjuring food, performing Blast spells, or building houses by magic?"
"No, we can't do any of that." Vee sighed.
"That's why Morb was able to overpower us so easily and steal the mibbit."
"Wow." Zann glanced at the distant city on the hill, awed to think that it had been built entirely without magic.
"That reminds me," Vee went on. "I should let my people know what you've just told me about Morb.
Pardon me while I send them a mind message."
"A mind message?" Gliss echoed.
"It's a kind of telepathy," Vee explained.
"We can all communicate within our minds anytime we wish."
"Cool," Zann said. "Too bad we can't do that!"
Perda smiled. "Yeah. It would save a lot of time, not having to inscribe message moths."
Vee closed her eyes. "I'll just be a moment . . ."
While Zann waited, he pulled out his message stone and stared at it helplessly.
How could he find his parents before Morb did?
"What's that?" Vee asked when she opened her eyes.
Zann explained about message stones. "This one holds a message from my parents," he finished.
"Too bad it can't tell us where they are now."
Vee smiled. "Perhaps I can help. All objects hold psychic traces of the people who last held them.
I might be able to read your stone—if you want me to."
"Really? That would be great!" Zann handed her the stone.
Vee took it and closed her eyes.
"The vision is faint, but I see two people: a man and a woman . . ." She quickly described them.
"That's them!" Zann cried. "My parents! What else can you see?"
"They're in a forest," Vee said. "They're surrounded by tiny people—the people don't even come up to your parents' knees."
Zann gasped. "World X! I knew it—my parents must be in World X!"