“Hush, Dahlia,” Mistress Bodikin admonished. “I wanted you to see a rare sight—a complete colony from the Monstrum Universe!”
Dahlia sighed dramatically.
“Is this more of your Multiverse portal fol-de-rol?” she demanded, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, Mamma—I’ve told you time and again I’m not interested in your collection or how you get the objects in it!”
“Well you ought to be interested in these three bodyslaves,” Mistress Bodikin said sharply. “Since I’m planning to buy them for you for your birthday!”
“Really? Well now, that’s different!” Dahlia at once came over and started stroking V’rone’s bicep. The Monstrum Warrior gave her a cold look.
“Oh, no! No, I’m afraid there’s been a mistake,” Terra exclaimed. “These warriors—my bodyslaves, I mean—are not for sale.”
“They’re not?” Dahlia stepped away, her pretty face twisted in a pout. “But Mamma I want them! Make her give them to me!” She glared at Terra.
“Now my pet, we’ve talked about this before—you cannot have everything you want—only most things,” Mistress Bodikin admonished her. She looked at Terra. “Forgive the mistake—I naturally thought you had come to trade these rare bodyslaves for one of the artifacts in my private Multiverse collection.”
“Well, I did come to buy one of your artifacts,” Terra said cautiously. “The Heart-finder from the same universe my, er, bodyslaves come from.” She was still keeping an eye on Dahlia Bodikin, who was standing sullenly beside her mother’s throne, clearly sulking because she couldn’t have V’rone and Tem and Rive. “But I have other means of payment.”
“I see. And what means are those?” Mistress Bodikin raised a peacock blue eyebrow. “Impress me.”
“Show Mistress Bodikin what we brought.” Terra stepped to one side and let the three big Monstrum show the chests they had been carrying.
“As our Mistress wishes,” V’rone growled. Then all of them opened their chests.
Tem’s chest was filled with ingots of gold that gleamed in the light of the crystal chandelier overhead. Rive’s held bars of shimmering platinum. But V’rone’s chest was the most impressive—at least Terra thought so. It was filled to the brim with diamonds and other precious stones. She wondered where the Monstrum got all this wealth. Did they own mines somewhere or was it from their home world where possibly such rich substances were more accessible and plentiful than on Earth?
However, now wasn’t the time to ask, as she well knew. She looked at Mistress Bodikin to observe the other woman’s reaction to the unimaginable wealth displayed before her—only to see her yawning as though she was bored.
“Forgive me, my dear Mistress—Terra, was it?” she said. When Terra nodded, she went on. “Yes. As I was saying, forgive me but I own one of the biggest Dream Gas deposits in the Southern hemisphere. So while I’m quite certain what you’re offering would impress most people, I have no need of any more wealth. However—” she continued, before Terra could say anything. “There is one thing I want and I think you and your bodyslaves might be in a unique position to provide it.”
Terra frowned, not liking the sound of this.
“And what might that be, Mistress Bodikin?” she asked.
“An artifact from another universe, of course. The Kat-sat-Suum—a rare religious relic made by the now-extinct Theebra people. It is said to have rejuvenating powers—enough to make me as young as my own daughter, here.”
“Mamma, you can’t look as young as me—that would be disgusting!” Dahlia exclaimed, making a face. “Besides, if you get younger, it will take twice as long for you to die so I can get your money!”
Mistress Bodikin laughed.
“Such a sense of humor!”
Terra laughed politely but to be honest, she didn’t think Dahlia had been joking. Mistress Bodikin’s spoiled daughter was giving her mother a cold glare that didn’t look funny in the least. Still, her mother didn’t seem to notice anything and just went on talking.
“At any rate, I want this artifact—the Kat-sat-Suum—for my collection but I am unable to get it because of the three worlds one must walk through in order to collect it.”
“Three worlds?” Terra asked, frowning. “Worlds in our universe or another one?”
Mistress Bodikin shrugged.
“Does it matter? The fact is that one needs companions that have courage, intelligence, and heart to get to it. And if my study of the Monstrum Universe and the world of Colony Five has taught me anything, I believe you and your bodyslaves would be able to get it for me.”
“Well…” Terra looked at her three Monstrum. Courage, intelligence and heart—that pretty much described V’rone, Rive, and Tem to a T. “Is it dangerous?” she asked, frowning.
“Oh, heavens, no!” Mistress Bodikin laughed as thought Terra was being ridiculous. “It’s right through my multi-dimensional portal. It’s just that there is no point in going myself, since I don’t have the right companions! I would not be able to open the doors between the worlds, you see. Which is where you and your bodyslaves come in—if you can get me the Kat-sat-Suum, I’ll give you the Heart-finder and we’ll consider it an even trade. What do you say?”