But not just any handle—and not even a real door handle or knob, she saw. No, this looked like the kind of handle you saw on workout machines at the gym. It was a long bar with grips on either end of it, making it look almost like bicycle handles that had been straightened out.
“What the fuck is that?” V’rone growled, glaring at the strange new development.
“That’s for you—this door is yours!” Terra told him. “Tem opened the first door and Rive opened the second—this one’s for you. I’m sure of it!”
“Grab it!” Tem exclaimed and Rive said,
“Hurry, “V’rone—we have less than thirty standard seconds left.”
The Brawn of the colony reached up with both hands and grabbed the grips of the handle.
“Now what?” he asked, frowning.
“Now pull it down!” Terra exclaimed. “Don’t you see? It’s a test of strength!”
She only hoped the big Monstrum would be strong enough to pass a test like this, considering that he’d been poisoned and extremely weak not that long ago.
But V’rone surprised her.
“Is this really all I have to do?” he demanded, pulling on the exercise handle. It made a clinking sound as it went down, just as though there really were weights attached to the other end.
As though to answer his question, the door made a click and suddenly swung open, just as the blinking red timer above it reached 1 second.
“I guess that really is all,” Terra said, relief flooding her as she saw the familiar rainbow vortex swirling in front of them. “Is everybody ready?” she asked.
Rive took Tem’s hand, who grabbed V’rone’s who grabbed Terra’s.
“Ready!” they all said in unison. And then they stepped through yet another doorway and into yet another strange new world.
FORTY-THREE
The Kat-sat-Suum was housed in a magnificent setting. The entire room that held it was covered in lush black velvet and overhead tiny twinkling lights had been scattered across the ceiling to look like stars. Soft, recessed lights glowed from the corners, giving the room a dim, rich feeling, like an expensive restaurant. The whole place was like a vast jeweler’s case, set up just to showcase the treasure in the middle.
But Terra wasn’t as concerned with her surroundings as she was with the fact that she had just now realized she was still completely naked.
“My clothes! My dress!” She looked down at herself. “I can’t believe I forgot them!”
“I didn’t. Here you go, my Lady.” Tem produced the flower dress and panties—both worse for the wear but much better than being naked. “I grabbed them just as we ran for the door,” he explained.
“Oh Tem, thank you!” Terra kissed the blue Monstrum on the cheek and let him help her into her discarded clothing.
“When you’re finished getting dressed, come see this,” Rive called.
Turning, Terra saw that he and V’rone were standing in the center of the room, where there was a sparkling marble fountain a little bigger than a large birdbath. In the center of the fountain was a white marble pedestal and resting on it was an elaborate golden cup. Not really a cup, though, Terra thought as she looked at it—more of what you’d call a “chalice.”
“Wow,” she murmured as she and Tem came over to examine the golden chalice, which was studded with precious jewels. “Is that it? The Kat-sat-Suum?”
“It must be,” Rive said.
“Well then, let’s get it.” V’rone reached out a hand…but his fingers passed right through the golden chalice. “Hey…” He frowned. “What the fuck?”
“Let me try.” Tem reached for the chalice but his fingers also passed through.
Rive tried with the same result and shook his head.
“I think this last part of our quest may be for Terra alone,” he murmured. “After all, each of us opened a door to get between worlds. This last part—the actual claiming of the Kat-sat-Suum—must be up to her.”
Terra shrugged. “Oh, okay. I can try, I guess.”
She reached out and wrapped her fingers firmly around the golden stem of the cup. It was empty but still incredibly heavy, clearly made of pure gold, she thought. Something like this would belong in a museum on Earth, but it was clear it was just going to sit on a shelf somewhere in Mistress Bodikin’s vast collection of Multiverse artifacts.
But as she lifted the cup, something strange happened. Though she hadn’t gotten it anywhere near the water bubbling in the marble fountain, it suddenly began to fill itself.
“Oh, look guys! Look what it’s doing!” Terra stared at the golden chalice with wide eyes. It filled itself almost to the brim right in front of them while she was holding it.
“What the fuck? How did it do that?” V’rone growled, frowning.
“Some kind of magic?” Tem speculated.
“It’s possible.” Rive sounded thoughtful. “There are sure to be some universes where magic works instead of science. Maybe this is one of them.”