Note: I don’t own Abarat or any of its characters. However I do own: Namonrah, Rahetia, Jamila. Also, this chapter is a bit slow because its just Christopher remembering his childhood. I swear, later chapters will be better and constructive criticism is so completely welcome. Suggestions too! Luv RO

Chapter One: Sweets and Tag

Christopher Carrion sat upon a craggy perch overlooking the vast Isabella. The waves soaked his stolen mismatched clothing and stung his wounds while the rain-washed the salt kindly away. Across the see and into the pouring waters he could just make out Gorgossium in the distance, surrounded by its sorrowfully bloody mists. He shivered. His wounds ached and bled. What was it all worth? He wondered.

As the rain began to clear, Lord Carrion’s thoughts drifted to the far, far past, to a much kinder time for him.

Christopher Carrion, a young boy of seven with black messy hair and pasty skin, stood near a table covered with sweets from across the many islands of the Abarat. The ballroom of the Dawn Palace was packed with dancing nobles from the many islands. Different styled dresses and suits with many different colors swirled around in sweeping swirling motions. Christopher’s eyes wandered to an opposite corner where a group of giggling daylight girls stood, all between the ages of four to eleven or twelve. Each girl stood, gossiping just as their mothers were, batting eyelashes and standing oh-so properly. In an opposite corner from them, a group of suited daytime boys stood, the oldest being fourteen. They, too, stood with the properness of a rigid society based on courtesy and show.

However, Christopher turned to spot a gaggling gang of nighttime children all standing under the space of the grand white marble staircase. They were intermixed with boys and girls, all up to fifteen or even sixteen. A few older daylight children could be seen interspersed within the herd. They all laughed uproariously, they bantered and sang, and giggled and pushed. They danced around in tribal ways and grinned foolishly as a child slipped some worms into a jacket pocket. One boy was daring enough to slip some ice down the young lady Jamila’s dress. She was a sharp, black girl with a nose for trouble and fights. She was clever and witty and loved dirt. Whipping around the boy received a bloody nose for his troubles.

Suddenly, a booming voice came out over the crowd as a late arriving family stood at the top of the stairs. “Lord Brand and Lady Selena Blackrose of Midnight, and their daughter Namonrah.”

The couple descending was of an old family, as rich as the Carrions, although a great deal less powerful. They were known for their ability to shape shift into fantastic creatures and control a great number of magics. They were a lean couple, the man with pasty, sickly skin, and the woman with dark, exotic skin.

Behind them scrabbled a young girl of seven, her golden eyes gleaming mischievously as she looked around the room. Her dress was black with embroidered silver beads making rose-like patterns on it and it had already received a substantial rip along the bottom hem. Her hair, which had formerly been bundled up with ribbons, beads, and barrettes, had lost all ornaments and now fell into silky black waves and curls. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs she raced toward Christopher, reached behind him, and took a large piece of dark chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake.

“Hey, Cis.” She said with her mouth full. “Lon tim nosee!”

Chris laughed. Although he had just met her on the boat coming from Midnight, he had already decided that she was great fun to be around. She had even introduced him to Jamila, one of her two best friends, she had told him, and to Rahetia, a sixteen-year-old, redheaded girl with tight curls who was currently deeper under the stairs, viciously kissing a young man from Noon.

She swallowed. “When Princess Boa gets here we can all go out and do something interesting, though Rahetia might want to do something else.”

Christopher nodded and helped himself to some chocolate covered fruit. Jamila joined them shortly and grabbed a handful of chocolate covered nuts. Soon their impatiens was subsided as they spotted the king and queen upon the top of the marbled stairs. Their names rang out clearly across the silenced hall. They were stately, kind-looking people and they came down the stairs with ease and grace. The Princess trailed behind them dressed in baby blue and periwinkle silks. Matching ribbons had been braided into her hair and a small tiara was placed in the braided bun.

When given permission by her parents, Boa left their side and came to Nami and Jamila, throwing her arms around them. Christopher had seen the little princess before but had never been properly introduced. She curtseyed politely and was about to address him by his proper name of Prince Carrion before Nami jumped in.

“C’mon, Chris, Boa, Jami! We got some fun to have!” She grinned. Boa laughed gently and made Chris smile. Jamila merely grabbed more chocolate and followed them over to the gang of nighttime children, who had recently been joined by the ever-so-proper daylight children.

“What do you want to do, Boa?” Asked the youth who had been so into Rahetia moments before.

“Dunno, Quiffin. What do you all think?” She smiled and the smile was reflected on every face.

“Hey!” Nami said. “Let’s play tag! Palace-wide tag. The bottom banister can be base.” She pointed at the closest banister on the stairs.

Everyone nodded, except for Christopher. Quiffin shrugged. “Me n’ Rahetia are going to sit this one out, k? Why not start in a different room since base is so close?”

“Alright!” Boa Laughed. The children found the coatroom before Boa turned and asked if everyone was clear on the rules. Most nodded, others shook their heads. Christopher didn’t do a thing. He had no idea what tag was but from the quick list of rules the Princess gave he guessed it was a chase game where you had to reach base or you became the person who had to chase the others around. Jamila confirmed this fact when she was picked as being “it”.

Suddenly she lunged at the nearest person. Everyone shrieked and raced out of the room, laughing. Nami grabbed Christopher’s hand, who had decided to just stand there. “Come on!” She said laughing.

They zigzagged out of the closet and found Boa running hard too. Jamila was right behind them and before Christopher knew it, it was his turn to be “it”. Nami let go of him and raced after Boa, shrieking with laughter. Jamila ran, too. So Christopher ran. He gained quickly on the girls, but before he had a chance to tag them, a boy drew too close and was “it”. He lunged at Nami, who hadn’t been expecting anything while she caught her breath.

“Hey!” She shouted. Boa laughed and dodged Nami as she reached for her. Boa brushed past Christopher. “Well!” He turned and ran.

As they ran, Christopher her an Umph! From behind him and saw a black wolf puppy sitting onto of Jamila. It had golden eyes and its front legs were silver, along with its underbelly, the inside of its ears, and a strange cresent moon shape under its eyes.

“Nami! That’s not fair! No shape-shifting!” Jamila shouted and shoved the dog off, who, in turn, shifted back into the girl called Nami in a ripped dress. Christopher assumed that what had let the dress shift with her was a simple spell she could work.

“Cool.” He said.

Boa laughed. “Alright, Jami! I’ll be ‘it’ for you, ok?”

Jamila nodded and the chase was on yet again, but this time the “it” changed seven times before coming back to Jamila in the form of a brown haired boy with buck teeth. Jamila raced after her three friends and suddenly, Christopher found Nami slipping in front of Boa on spilt punch, bringing Boa down with her, and before Christopher could stop, all three found themselves sliding fast toward the sweets table and a seven-layer cake. Screaming, they all caught the white tablecloth to slow themselves down, only to find themselves upturning the table as they hit a hidden bar underneath it. Capsized, the table sent the seven-layer, dark chocolate cake straight at King Klaus and his brand new white suit.

Silence followed them as Nami waved sheepishly and Boa ran over to explain. Luckily, the king was a good humored man and they were merely told to play outside and that they would no longer be having cake as dessert.

Lord Carrion was rudely snapped back to the present as a clap of thunder rolled over the sea. Yes, those had been pleasant times, times of cake, friends, and tag. Yet they had grown.

Jamila had been married away to a rich nobleman twice her age from Yebba Dim Day. Rahetia had left to study medical magics and was now working as a leading scientist and secret sorceress for Commexo City.

Namonrah, however, had been married, widowed, and banished from Midnight unjustly within two years of turning fifteen. She had left for Scoriae to work in Princess Boa’s Twilight Palace and had witnessed some particularly painful events unfold. She had been a bridesmaid at the Princess’s wedding, and after that, had turned pirate for several years before disappearing on Efreet with a small group of shape shifters and rebels evading the law. On occasion, as Christopher Carrion knew from his network of spies and contacts, Namonrah could be had as one of the best assassins and trackers in the Abarat, for a price. Thusly saying, not only did you have to be skilled to find her, she was labeled impossible at being caught by the law, and was extremely rich through several untraceable bank accounts.

It seemed to Christopher Carrion that he needed to pay a visit to one of his dear friends, if only until he was finished with her.