Beyond the Rainbow
Chapter 8

“Can we take a break now?” Ronnie pleaded. Though the sandy riverbank was both comfortable and scenic, she felt in need of some respite from the awesome task before her. She and Morpheus had been working for hours with Azulia - who was closer to the magic than any other in the land, to replace the magic in the stone. With the magic of the Iris Stone still eluding her, Ronnie felt less confident than when they had begun. “Maybe I’m not really the Key Keeper or maybe my Iris Stone isn’t really the magic Key. Oh, how did I get into this mess?”

Morpheus smiled knowingly as he answered. “Ronnie Biv, we know that you are and that it is. How else could you have opened the Gateway using it? The true Key will work only for the true Keeper. The very fact that you are here in – as you put it – ‘this mess’ proves that you are the only one who can clean it up. You are right, a break is in order. Let us go and replace you some refreshment and we can relax, but only for a short time.”

Morpheus was feeling a little less anxious now that the storm was in a temporary lull. Zephyrus had appeared from the West to visit Iris and had blown Black Cloud and Storm back over the Gateway. Swift Flyer was no match for his strength and had retreated with her sisters. Morpheus knew the Harpies would return with a vengeance when Zephyrus was called away, as he inevitably would be. He also knew that even if Zephyrus were able to stay, he could not hold the Harpies at bay indefinitely. Only the Key Keeper could possess such magic.

Azulia shared his cautious optimism. “We can go to my home to refresh ourselves and relax. It is a humble abode with humble refreshments but what I have, I offer to you Key Keeper.” She bowed ceremoniously.

“Okay, that sounds great. But,” Ronnie added “I can only go to your house if you will stop bowing at me and start calling me Ronnie. It’s a little embarrassing to have people bowing and calling me a title instead of my name. I’ll accept that there might be something to all this Key Keeper stuff if everyone here will accept that I’m also just plain Ronnie Biv - who knows less about all this magic Key stuff than any of you. So, do we have a deal?”

“Yes, we have as you say ‘a deal’. Ronnie. But be prepared to repeat that speech often. Each of us here in Iridal was taught, at our mother’s knee, that the Key Keeper is an awesome, magical creature who can pass from our land to yours. No one of us can do such a thing. It has been foretold that the Key Keeper will, one day, be the saving of all of us.

“I believe that day is at hand and that you have been brought here for just that purpose. If ever we truly needed the magic of the Key and its Keeper, it is now. Come, you are in need of nourishment before you can continue. Perhaps after a restive period, you will replace the path to the magic that is inside the stone and inside you.”

The trio arrived at the village in short order. Ronnie, though tired, was reenergized by the vision before her. Each house, just like the Iridalites themselves, was a different shade of colour. The houses had not yet felt the effects of the Harpies barrage and they shone in the noonday sun. They reminded Ronnie of small lakeside cabins. Size, however, was all that those cabins had in common with these dwellings. Their roofs were thatched with live flowering plants whose vines interlaced, as they grew, providing an overhead shelter from any elements that might interfere with household activities. The rooftop flowers matched the walls of their respective houses making it hard to tell where one left off and the other began. In fact, there was, upon closer inspection, neither an ending nor beginning. The flowers grew into the logs of the walls, weaving in and out, forming as strong a wind block as ever there was. The oval door to each house matched the house to its right. If not for this feature, the doorway would have blended in too well to be readily seen.

Circular streets were connected by multi-coloured pathways lined with calico trees. The branches of some met overhead, providing dappled shade for the Iridalites when they strolled throughout the village; others allowed the sun to shine directly onto the paths below.

Azulia’s house was violet and her front door was a brilliant hue of green. The flowers that grew on the roof and amidst the log walls were the size and shape of those one would see on a honeysuckle vine and were as violet as violet can be.

“Welcome to my home Ronnie.” Morpheus and Azulia stood aside to allow Ronnie to enter ahead of them. “Make yourself comfortable while Morpheus and I prepare some food and drink.”

Ronnie was pleased to replace that everything inside was scaled to suit her size. There was no cupboard nor any shelf which she would replace it necessary to use a stool to reach. No piece of furniture was so large as to cause her feet to dangle above the floor when she sat upon it, and she did test every one.

Everything indoors was as vibrant as the land without. Sunlight streamed through the many, large windows lending a brilliance to all it touched. The Iridalites obviously lived a simple lifestyle with few of what we would call modern conveniences. Instead of a television or a computer there were shelves and shelves of books and board games and toys. Ronnie wished she had time to try out some of the games, but set aside that desire when her hosts placed the tray of refreshments on the oblong table in the centre of the room. There were exotic looking fruits and vegetables, an assortment of colourful breads and spreads, and brightly iced cakes and cookies. The aroma of the hot drinks reminded Ronnie of her mother’s herbal teas.

“Wow! I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I saw all this food. I’ve lost track of time but it seems like it’s been quite a while since I ate anything. This all looks so good, nearly too good to eat!”

“Help yourself Ronnie,” Azulia invited. “I hope things here don’t taste so foreign to you as to be unappetizing. If there is anything you replace you don’t like, feel free to leave it aside and try something else.”

Ronnie tried a little of everything and discovered that although each tasted slightly different from she had expected, there was nothing on the trays that displeased her. When they had finished eating, each of them sat back in a soft arm chair with a cup of fragrant tea.

“Tell us about yourself and your life,” Azulia implored. “I never dreamed that I would meet an Earth Mortal and am eager to hear something of your world. Do you have a family? Do your people live in family groupings as Iridalites do?”

“Oh yes!” Morpheus piped in. “I know the Earth Mortals only through their dreams and wonder what their waking lives are like. Do tell us about yourself.”

Ronnie told them about her life with Beth and her mother, of Tilly’s role in the family and of her Gramma’s visits. She described her house, her yard, and, of course, her hammock. She went on to say that, although she did have a father for the first decade of her life, he was no longer with them. She talked about his love for the legends of rainbows and his telling of rainbow tales.

“That’s why Gramma chose the Iris Stone for me. That’s what I call the Key,” she said. “It reminded her of a rainbow with all its colours and she knew I’d love it. It was lucky for me that she wandered into the shop where she found it or I wouldn’t be here, with you, right now.”

“I would say it was lucky for us, Ronnie,” Azulia interjected. “Had she not presented you with the pendant, Iridal would have remained in jeopardy. I am sure you are close to discovering the magic within the Key and how it relates to you. But this is break time; tell us more about your father. He sounds like a man who understood the importance of rainbows and maybe even of rainbow magic itself.”

“Let’s see…his name was Graham, well, actually it was Roy but everyone called him Graham; that was his middle name. Most of us have three names. I have five names. My parents could not decide which of my ancestors to name me after so I got stuck with: Regina Olivia Yvonne Gena Biv. What a mouthful eh? That is why I like to be called Ronnie. Oh my, what is it Morpheus?”

The Dream God had lurched forward in his chair and spilled his tea in doing so. “Are you saying that both you and your father are named ROY G BIV?” He was incredulous.

“Well, yes. I guess that’s one way to put it. Why does that surprise you so much?”

“Ronnie, think of all the colours in a rainbow. There’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. If you take the first letter of each you get r-o-y-g-b-i-v. Roy G Biv. Your dad was not just a man who told the tales of rainbow legends; he was a part of rainbow lore and so are you. That is why the Key came to you! It was probably his destiny to be the Key Keeper but he was gone before he could fulfill it. You have been chosen, by the magic, to take his place. Do you see now that you are meant to be here?’

“Oh no, there must be lots of people whose name can be turned into ‘Roy G. Biv’. Why there is probably a Roy George Biv and a Roy Greg Biv and even a Rowena Octavia Yolanda Gwendolyn Biv. Any one of them might be the Key Keeper. You are just assuming I am IT because of a name. What makes you so sure that I am the one who is supposed to do all this magic stuff?”

“You are right Ronnie. There are many others whose names can be interpreted to ROY G BIV but do any of them have the Key in their possession? Was any one of them brought here by its magic and allowed to pass through the Gateway? Do you think any one of those others possesses the knowledge that your father did about rainbow lore or that you now possess through his teachings?”

Ronnie, unable to argue with Azulia’s logic, meekly shook her head and posed the question, “But why me, why my family?”

Morpheus came forward, knelt in front of Ronnie and took her hands in his. His gaze penetrated her doubts as he answered, “Magic chooses to serve those whom it chooses to serve. We cannot say why it chose you, only that it has chosen you. Your task now is to replace your way to that place inside where the magic resides and see that it serves you well.”

“Oh my gawd! So you are saying that I really am the Key Keeper! I kept thinking there must be some mistake and that I opened the Gate by some fluke. It wasn’t a fluke though – was it? This is amazing! Oh! That must be why my Gramma’s name is Iris. She must be a part of it all too since she is my father’s mother. I guess maybe I really do have magic in me. Let’s get back to the Gateway and back to work. I just know we’ll replace the magic I need to be able to banish the Harpies forever. Then we can figure out how to get Tilly and me back home. The magic must be able to do that too!”