While the annual event at the Midnight Gardens was hosted by The Wicked Lady, other houses were invited, too. Invitations were based on whether they reached a quota set by The Wicked Lady. Tibby wondered why Daniel's house wanted the completion to thrive but knowing Daniel, their success probably meant his too. The Gardens were located on a small island near France, on what used to be England. In order to salvage the dying land after the Fourth World War, the large mass had been whittled down to a small island privately owned by the leader of the Sky Landers, Neil Portman. Every year, Neil invited his friends and colleagues to the island to enjoy a much needed vacation.
Tibby stepped off the ship, arm in arm with her brother. The woman and men of their house were clothed in shapeless black garbs and veils; they were closely followed and guarded by one of Daniel's personal crew.
A suited woman was there to greet them at the entrance of the portal. She led them to their personal suites on the islands only palace, The Buckingham Palace. There was a small village a few miles from the palace but it was sectioned off for the occasion. As she was being led to her apartments, Tibby only got a glimpse of the numerous people who were decorating the grounds around the Palace and the new arrivals. They were a week early from the opening date, when the Halloween ball would begin with an introductory ceremony for the upper echelon of Psychs. The following day would be the Virgin Auctions, which meant four days for the revelers to enjoy their purchases, with random parties and events. The next few days were filled with various games, ending with the final grand event, a large ball before everyone's departure.
After Daniel saw her into her room, which was connected to his own private suite, he locked her in to prevent any of the guests to happen upon her before he had the chance to put a warning out about her. He still had to purchase the upgrade on her protection barrier so he was waiting for Zerxes Novos himself, the inventor of the transferable barrier.
Ever since the Psych's had gone from a minority to a majority, Psych's had been required by law to project a mind barrier so they couldn't invade each other's minds. The higher a Pysch's level was, the easier it would be to break through the barrier but those few minutes needed to break through would give the other Pysch enough time to run or cause a distraction. Xerxes Novos had created a program that allowed relatives to transfer a barrier they created to their own blood. It became popular among families who had a high level Psych; a 3.5 Psych could have the barrier of a 4.6 level Psych.
It was said that Xerxes had come up with it because of his own situation. He was born a 1.2, while the rest of his siblings were above the 4.0 mark, while his youngest brother was in the top ten of the highest level of Psych's at a 6.8. Tibby had very few interests but the story of Xerxes greatly interested her. He had been a black sheep, supposed to be thrown out into the Low Lands, but his oldest sibling had taken him under his wings. Stephen Novos was one of the High Six, a group of world leaders who suggested rules for society. Tibby was suitably impressed by all of Zerxes Novos' achievements but what interested her was how he had been loved and protected by his own family, a totally foreign thing to her.
Tibby locked the door on her end, and both the hallway her brother's room. Deciding that she might as well enjoy this little trip, she pushed aside the light white curtains to the balcony door and took in the beautiful view of a real ocean. Over three quarters of the world's oceans were still being cleaned up of the toxic waste. This was one of the places that had clean, crystal blue oceans. This was also the only ocean that Tibby had ever seen. She found that she liked the ocean; the rhythmic waves soothed her and the occasional seagull squawking made she smile. At least one good thing came out of this trip.
A knock came at her door and Tibby started up from her chair and looked at the clock inside her room. She had dozed for about an hour or so. When she opened the door, two women quietly came in, one pushing in a rack of glittery new clothes and the other was carrying a large, black box.
"Did my brother send you?" Tibby asked of the women. They wore the insignia of the palace on their biceps and the white and gold colors that seemed to be the theme of the palace.
The brunette that came in with the clothes smiled and shook her head.
"You must be new here. The Palace provides clothes and accessories for all of their guests here. I'm Mina by the way. Have you had time to check out your closet?" Mina chattered as she led Tibby to sit in front of a vanity mirror.
"I have a closet?"
"Of course you do honey. But those are just normal wear." The other woman chirped up.
Mina chuckled. "Cass, one of those normal clothes cost more than what we make in a month."
Cass continued on as if Mina hadn't spoken. "These clothes are for the ball tonight and the other special occasions in the next two weeks."
"And we're here to dress you and get you ready." Mina finished.
Tibby looked at the clock again, which read four o'clock.
"I thought that the party doesn't start until nine."
"Oh, you sweet, naive girl, it takes that long to get you ready," Cass shook her head despairingly.
"So, what color do you like?" Mina asked without looking at her, already rifling through the rack of clothes.
Before Tibby could answer, Cass spoke up for her.
"Go with the gold. We'll dress her up as the color gold. It's original and simple. It's brilliant!"
"Hmm, she would look lovely in gold. Simple makeup and red lipstick?"
"Yeah, and heavy eyelashes with the tear drops."
"What about jewelry?"
Cass looked away from her black box and looked at Tibby's chest. "I'm guessing you're a thirty four C, honey?"
