pj1228: I have not read your story yet. As I made the posts announcing it this morning, I turned over the title and summary in my mind and came up with a wild guess about the tale. What if the cure in the Abarat would have worked for Nick sometime in the past, but will no longer work for him in the present because Nick has become too old (and powerful)? Oh, how tragic! How delicious for tragedy! I look forward to finding out.