The girls hid in the doorway for a moment and stared at the new Grace, who was happily making salad in the kitchen while humming a merry little tune. "This is so weird," Kylara exclaimed under her breath.
"Shhh!" Cyllia hissed. "Just come on!"
One by one, they crept along the hallway to their usual meeting place and took their seats at the little table. Once they were certain that the coast was clear, all three girls started talking at once. "Okay, quiet!" Cyllia ordered. "One at a time."
"What's going on with my mom?" Aliya exclaimed. "She's acting like a whole different person--and what's with the maid outfit?"
"According to my research--" Aliya and Cyllia exchanged glances as Kylara spoke:
Research? "--these symptoms are all compatible with the diagnosis of outside psychological control. This, along with Treasure's obvious mental instability, makes me think that perhaps Grace has been hypnotized."
"Okay," Aliya answered, immediately brightening up. "We know what it is, so all we have to do is cure it! How do we do that?"
"I may be able to find a cure on the Simnet, but then I'd have to recreate it here. Perhaps we could--"
"Hello, girls!" Grace entered the room, still smiling happily. "Master Treasure wanted me to inform you that it is time for bed."
"See that?" Kylara muttered. "
Master Treasure. We all know that Treasure has control issues."
"Okay, we'll go to bed, Mom," Aliya agreed. She drew Cyllia aside, and together they hatched a plan.
"Kylara will trick Grace, trap her, and start working on the cure," Cyllia whispered. "We'll have to pretend to be asleep so when Treasure looks in it will seem like Kylara and I are in there, as long as you cover your face with a blanket or something. We'll just have to hope she doesn't check in here to make sure you're sleeping, too."
"I doubt that'll happen," Aliya muttered in answer. "Aunt Treasure
hates me."
"Grace--"
"It's
Gracie, dear," Grace corrected with a smile.
"All right--Gracie, the bathroom in the hall is awfully grungy. Would you mind cleaning it? I'll show you which one it is."
She scurried back moments later with a report. "She's stuck in the bathroom: I locked the door, and all of the grown-ups are in their rooms so there won't be anyone to hear if she starts yelling."
"Good luck!" Cyllia and Aliya hugged Kylara, then the two girls went together to the kids' bedroom while the blue girl stayed behind.
"You should be trying to get some sleep," Cyllia murmured as she sat on the bed, resting her head on the headboard.
"I can't!" Aliya cried in frustration. "I never thought I would really
lose her, but now she's a completely different person. It's almost worse than if she had died."
Cyllia watched her Aliya climb onto her own bed. Suddenly, a thought came into her head. "Aliya, did you know that we're sisters?"
"What?" she answered, startled.
"Half-sisters, I guess. My father is your father, too. Didn't you know that?"
"Never really thought about it. How is that?"
"Remember when we were toddlers and there was that big fight between all the adults? Well, it's a little hard to recall now that we're children, but it used to be that my dad and your mom were married, and
I was the illegitimate daughter, not you. And Kylara's dad was married to Treasure. Kylara was illegitimate, too. You used to be the only kid with parents who were married, but now you're the only kid with parents who aren't."
"Mist and Blake aren't married."
"But they're together."
". . . And this is supposed to make me feel better?"
Cyllia winced. "I didn't really think it through."
Kylara worked long hours at the chemistry table, taking a break every once in a while to study the formula again. She had to get it perfectly right, or the potion would literally blow up in her face.
The clock seemed to move so quickly to the little girl who was so enraptured with the art of chemicals and science. Time was running out: if Treasure found out about this, she would be so furious that there was no telling what could happen. She only had until morning.
At last, in the final hours of the night, her work was done.
"Hi, Grace--Gracie. I have very wonderful news! The National Maid Agency (NMA) is so impressed with your work, they've decided to give you a special reward!"
"Really? For me?" Grace beamed. "This is such an honor!'
"Oh, it's a pink potion?" Kylara said in pretend surprise. "You should try drinking it! Maybe it will give you super-special cleaning powers."
The moment she tipped the entire potion into her mouth, Grace doubled over as sparkles surrounded her. Kylara experienced a moment of doubt--what if she'd gotten something wrong and killed her favorite half-sister?
But no, the sparkles dissipated and left behind the real Grace, gothic clothes and all. "What in the name of the Watcher just happened?"
"That doesn't matter right now, Grace. You should probably eat something while I go wake up Cyllia and Aliya."
The three girls quietly made another decision, and in moments everything was set into motion.
One by one, the other adults of the house woke up and hurried to find the source of the noise in the house. Treasure was at the front of the line, already livid with anger. She could tell that something had gone wrong.
