Besides having what must be one of the suckiest titles in the world, this is my second time posting this story. Only, the first time it was on another account, and only up for about...a week, I think. Anyway, after I finished my last exam, and my book, I thought up another character for this story and finalized a second, and gave both truely awesome names, if I do say so myself (-wink wink-). I got so excited about them, I cheated and started writing the part where they pop up XD

Then, I went back and starting working from where I'd left off before. Then majorly edited the first chapter, trying to make it flow better and taking out some of the descriptions...Anyway, tell me what you think, please! Reviews encourage updates like nothing else!

Ho yeah, I've got a picture of Kellt, the main character, and something of --, who appears later...does anyone want to see them? I'll be all too happy to show you if you do! 8D

-Oceans

(ps) Title is subject to change...I've really got to think of something. I'm too used to naming oneshots after they've been finished...Feel free to sugest anything

Retrieve the Lavender Egg, Part 1

"So Kellt, what are you doing after school?" Mina asked, buzzing happily.

Kellt closed her English textbook and held it close to her chest. "I have a job."

"Whaaaaat?" Mina whined. "But tonight's the first snow! You know that we always go down to the hill on the first snow!"

Kellt winced. "What makes you so sure it's going to snow anyway?" She bit.

Mina stepped back, wounded. She recovered quickly as her eyebrows tipped in. "Duh. Have you opened your eyes today? Look!" She waved a hand at the scene the girls walked through as if pointing out a bright yellow sign.

Kellt had to agree- it did look like it was going to snow. The street they walked down, waist high walls bordering the sidewalks, was slick and wet. The bricks that made up the drive were shiny and the hycroki, the winter flowering trees were in full bloom. White flowers the size of her head, their petals tainted blue and purple at the tips, hung heavy on branches of a deep burgundy color. The trees were planted evenly down the road as far was Kellt could see, their medians gated off by swirling, wrought iron fences as high as her ankles. The air was clear and strangely clean, a tiny breeze teasing her hair into motion and carrying her smoky breath away from her.

She sighed and stepped closer to Mina, dropping her head to rest on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry Mina. My boss is pretty static about my hours. But maybe we'll get lucky, and it'll snow later, okay?" She squeezed her shoulder apologetically.

Mina huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, then sighed and uncrossed them. "Okay…" She droned, rolling her eyes. Suddenly she smiled and skipped away. "But if it happens again, I get a cut of your pay!"

Kellt laughed, waving, and stopped. Her smile slipped away as she reflected on her recently acquired employment. She lifted her books up and nudged her forehead against the tops of them, gnawing on her lip, thinking.

Working for a treasure hunter was not a road to a long life. Applegate City's resident treasure hunter was a mysterious woman named Arianus, who had popped out of thin air and erected a business four years ago. The woman sold her wares from a home that did its own advertising. The house sat on the corner of Fighter's Street, and was very hard to miss.

What are treasure hunters? is probably what you're wondering. Treasure hunters are magic workers, usually. It's certainly easier when you can use magic, anyway. They do all kinds of stuff; recover lost items, fix broken things, heal. When a City is in jeopardy, town councils turn to them. They stop monsters, block flood waters and dispel sporuisions, waking dreams brought on by inhaling the spores of certain plants.

Though her business thrived, Arianus had no other employees. Kellt was taking on a staggering workload and she had no idea what she was doing.

Magic was returning to the world through the ground, the water, sky and plants, and it didn't seem to like technology very much. It always appeared in the most beautiful forms, but was also nearly always dangerous in some way. Take the hycroki trees, for example. Their 'smells' were different in different places, but no one had ever been able to tell the borders. The shock of breathing in wood smoke when you were expecting the taste of honey on your tongue was a terrible one, and it often set people to hospitals. It was an unspoken law to leave foreign hycrokis alone, unless you find someone who will tell you what they 'smell' like.

There was more. Floors that normally mirrored the world above were different one below. Reflections of light on the tiles were swimming dolphins beneath the surface, and whose chirps reverberated through your body. Fog was a tangible thing and deathly cold, and walking into it was the equivalent of boarding a plane with no destination. You never knew where you would end up.

That was another thing treasure hunters did. Since there was typically at least one in every City, they helped the fogged-away people find their way home.

The changes had begun when Kellt's parents were adolescents. It seemed like the earth itself was scolding the human race like a mother and taking their toys away. Young people weren't afraid of the changes. They were growing up with them, and as far as most children cared, they made for wonderful conversation. The elderly and middle aged were frightened by them, and many feared to leave their homes. Kellt's grandfather was like that, a hermit. He read old newspapers and watched only newscasts recorded from years ago, trying to pretend that the power lines outside his house hadn't sunk into the ground a week ago.

Her grandmother, her father's mother, on the other hand, was the opposite. The crazy old woman loved the strange changes. Grandmother Lily had been the one to secure Kellt's work under Arianus.

Without asking if she wanted it first.

The girl puffed a curly strand away from her face. Her eyes focused on the ground and she didn't see the sign until she bounced off of it and landed on her butt.

"Ow…" She whined, rubbing her bruised backside. She glared up at the sign (which simply read 'Treasure Hunter' in letters like scorch marks), and, sighing, looked past it to Arianus' home.

She'd never get used to the sight, no matter how many times she laid eyes on it.

For one thing, the grass wasn't grass at all. Instead it was a bed of flat, green and wiggling monsters. Gaping black holes filled with needle teeth marked their mouths, open and always eager for something to bite. A nip from Arianus' guard-dog-grass itched and stung terribly, and the teeth got stuck in the skin.

Then there were the wind chimes, strung with ivory leaves that danced in unlikely patterns to welcome customers. The house's front door was made of green sea glass and inset with a huge, aqua blue cat eye with a furry lid that flashed in and out of view. The building itself looked like a shriveled, triangular beach house that had shrunk into itself in shame of its mustard yellow paint. The saw tooth roof was hung with a collection of things, few of which gave off strange noises. Others glowed in bright colors at night. The porch of the house was unsightly, covered with boxes filled with junk, broken rocking chairs, mops and brooms, pots and trays of biting grass in thin plastic planters. Kellt stepped carefully around the planters as she pulled open the sea glass door and stepped in.

The immediate inside, were Arianus spoke with her clients, was very much the same. The tiny kitchen and dinning room were the same length and width of the porch, seven short steps across and barely five from the front door to the other opposite it. More of the slumping cardboard boxes were stacked atop the tiny table and under it, and against the wall on the kitchen counter. The room was as ugly a color of yellow as the house outside.

The door across the room from the entrance was a curious one that everyone- customers as well as Kellt- wondered about. As far as Kellt knew though, no one had ever asked Arianus about it. It was thick, unpolished wood with a handle and bolt forged out of gaudy iron. Kellt unlocked the bolt with a key from her pocket and swung it, gliding easily on well oiled hinges

A black and brown dachshund waited on the other side.

At least, until Kellt blinked. The girl winced at the reality of the creature that had greeted her.

Kellt didn't want to know what Kah'maji was. Cartoonish in an evil way, the dog's body was deep indigo with the feel of smooth rubber and a bloody purple belly. His acidic yellow eyes were far too large, as big as the circle of Kellt's forefinger and thumb and bright, and his paws were the size of pennies. The single most disturbing thing about him though, was his snout. Teeth as long and thin as her fingers hung over his bottom lip, shining a sick, creamy color in the poor light. The teeth of his bottom jaw, she knew, were virtually identical and fit snuggly into a muzzle that was much too thin.

"Drat. You were this close to being late." The dog's nose drooped sadly. "Oh well…come this way. Arianus is in the round room."

He spoke with a strange accent stereotyped to a dark race of island people. Shaking her head, Kellt followed him across the fire lit room and through one of three doors.

The door Kah'maji had selected opened onto a jungle scene. The air was heavy, humid, and thick with the sounds of calling birds. The hum of running water drifted to her ears from some unseen source, and a small brown monkey nosed through a pot of fruits off to the side of the cobblestone path. Kah'maji snapped meanly at the animal's bent knees, and received a whack by a banana for his efforts. Kellt laughed as the dog grumbled, his tail limp between his legs.

At the end of the path they came through a glass door and into a long, plainly colored hall. The doors on either side ranged widely in color and material. The one they opened was silver one. Behind it was the round room.

Of the parts of the house she had seen, this was Kellt's favorite. It was like a bubble. The ground was soft, grass, and the ceiling was a span of sky filled with fat white clouds. In the center of the room was a hycroki tree, and ancient and rare breed that Kellt had only read about before coming to work for Arianus.

It was called a ylan'lanen, a word that meant ageless in some forgotten language. It bloomed year round and took neither sunlight nor water. The leaves were bone, like the ones that hung from the wind chimes outside, and the flowers were twice as large as normal and heavy with fruits. The trunk of the huge tree, too round for Kellt to wrap her arms around, looked like it was carved out of silver by an amateur artist who'd gotten lucky.

Arianus sat in a lawn chair, reading from a book with the front cover bent back. She was dressed in something like a bathing suit made of creamy strings. Kah'maji trotted ahead and curled up beneath her chair.

Arianus looked around her book. "Oh! Kellt! Good job dear, you were almost late. Well, what are you doing? Come here- you've got an easy assignment today. You can go home after you're done."

"I want to talk to you about the terms of my employment Miss." Kellt mumbled, repeating the words her mother had suggested she say. She'd been working for the woman for two weeks, and hadn't seen or heard anything about a paycheck.

Arianus waved her book at her. "Later, later. Rather, the thing I need you to go get; I need it soon. It can't stay where it is."

"Can we talk after I get it?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes…Now, this is what it looks like…" She snatched up something from the ground- a pouch, and dumped a fine grey into the air. Hovering, the particles blew around in a tiny storm and formed…

…an egg.

Kellt blinked at the tiny figure. "What is it?"

"We're calling the 'lavender egg' for now. It's in the room directly across from this one. Kah'maji is going to help you today; it would take you too long otherwise. Find the egg, and be very gentle with it- you can't imagine how delicate it is- and bring it to me. Then we can discuss your terms. Any questions?" Arianus flicked her fingers at the grey powder. The model broke apart and the dust flew back into the pouch.

"What if-"

"Kellt," Arianus cut her off, watching her through her eyelashes. "Don't ask me what will happen if that egg is damaged. Just be careful with it."

Kellt frowned, uneasy.

"Walk like you're made of glass." She suggested cheerfully. The hint of threat had disappeared from her voice. "That seems to work well. The password to unlock the door is ecolypsi. Have fun!" Arianus opened her book again.

Sighing, Kellt ducked her head in a tiny bow and left.

Arianus' door, the one across from the silver one, was by far the strangest, most out-of-place thing Kellt had yet seen inside of the woman's house simply because it was so…plain. A cheap cut of wood so thin and hollow she thought she could put her fist through it, with a peeling, gold painted handle that drooped on loose screws and was much too heavy compared to the wood. Kellt scrunched up her nose and mumbled the password.

Nothing happened. Kellt frowned and said it again, louder. "Ecolypsi."

"You silly girl. Doors don't have ears; how is it supposed to know what you're doing?" Kah'maji had followed her from the round room.

Kellt threw her arms out. "Well- duh, but how else am I supposed to give the stupid thing the password?"

"Put your mouth against the wood and say it again. It can feel it that way."

She scowled down at him.

"You can't spend this long opening the door. You don't have that kind of time."

Growling irritably, Kellt softly pressed her mouth against the wannabe wood. "Ecolypsi." There was a small click, and the door swung inward with a sigh of stale air.

"…Huh."

"Surprised, eh?" Kah'maji snickered.

"But it's a….a closet." Kellt pointed a shaking finger through the doorway.

"Most houses have them."

"But it's a closet. My job is to clean out her closet?”

"No, it's to find the egg. Weren't you listening?"

Kellt stabbed her tongue at him and walked into the long, thin room. "This is going to take awhile, isn't?" She asked ruefully, taking in the stacks and piles.

Kah'maji lay on the floor by her heels. "'S'why I told you not to waste time with the door."

"But I…I've got homework…" Kellt protested weakly. When Kah'maji didn't respond she looked down.

He stared up at her blankly.

"…Shut up."

"I'm going to stay here." He sat. "Tell me when you find it."

"Thought you were supposed to help me…" Kellt shoved the sleeves of her school uniform up past her elbows and began wadding through the mess. Might as well start at the back.

"It's basically a flower bud, right?" She yelled over her shoulder.

"…Basically."

"And it's delicate."

"Extremely."

"So it's not crazy to assume it's in some kind of container…a jewelry box, or something?" She mumbled the last part, peering into a sewing basket.

"It's logical."

"'It's logical'," She repeated mockingly. "What good are you?"

Kah'maji thumped his tail, but said nothing.

Kellt scowled and ventured further into the mayhem, tripping over the handle of another basket and hopping to regain her balance. Even when Kah'maji was a blue speck among the cardboard behind her, she still couldn't see the other end of the closet.

"Does it go all the way to Morrin?" She wondered out loud, taking a step-

She stumbled onto a chair. "What the…oh! My foot!"

Past her ankle, her foot had disappeared into a square pit of inky blackness.

Kah'maji appeared suddenly beside her leg, grinning.

"You found it."