Time and Space
A/N: This story is written by both Wantaco79 and Lost-Inside-1995. Credit goes equally to both of us.
Disclaimer: We promise we don't own Fable II, sadly.
222
The snow fell softly and quietly. The wind blew gently through the streets. Four children stood close together around a fire, staring longingly at Castle Fairfax. All four of them were dressed in little more than rags.
A small sparrow flew overhead and the only boy exclaimed with disgust.
"Ugh! Ewww…" he quickly wiped his head, small bits of the bird's 'present' falling out of his hair. A girl, the oldest, laughed.
"You know, some people say that's good luck, Sparrow, like finding a four leaf clover. Though I'd prefer the clover…" she patted the boy's shoulder.
The two younger girls laughed and Sparrow playfully shoved the smaller one. She stumbled and whined.
"Raaaaaaayyyyeee, Sparry hit meee!" Almost falling she uneasily stood up straight again, trying to blow her red hair out of her green eyes. She stuck out her tongue at Sparrow. The other girl with shorter red hair shook her head and gave Sparrow a good shove. She was a bit older than him and was taller than Sparrow at this point in their lives. Sparrow fell onto the ground will a loud "oomph."
"Happy now Ayelen?" she turned to her sister, her intense blue eyes softening a bit. Ayelen nodded and hugged her sister's arm.
"Enough, all of you! Really, it's a wonder I don't just knock all your heads together." Rose put her hands on her hips and chuckled. The younger three all looked away in mock shame.
Suddenly there was a loud commotion down the street. Rose opened his eyes wide and motioned to the others to follow her. Quickly they all ran down the street. Only a quick disturbance from Arfur got in their way.
As usual Rose quickly shot him down with disgust and ran off. They came upon a group of people all around a wagon.
"Oh, it's a trader." Rose muttered, losing some enthusiasm. They didn't have any money to buy food or clothes, let alone knick-knacks from a trader. Still they tried to peek through the crowd, their curiosity getting the best of them.
The trader went on and on about useless items, "Old Kingdom Relics," he called them. Clearly all of this was a cheap scam. But the people of Old Town were very simple. Ayelen, who was only six, was too young yet to fully understand all of these scams. She made a disgruntled face as she tried to understand why the other three were shaking their heads and making sarcastic remarks.
The trader turned to a small music box.
"Now this is truly, a marvel! This small unassuming box is actually a device created by the ancients. As used by the old kingdom rulers themselves." He went on to explain that it could be used to grant a wish. Rose scoffed.
"There's no such thing as magic." Sparrow, Raye and Ayelen all nodded along, eager to believe Rose. A woman in a hooded cloak turned to them.
"We live in dark times indeed if the young are too world weary to believe in magic. Most children your age believe eagerly," she said dryly.
"I see your eyes are bad. But I'm tellin' you, that music box is rubbish." Rose said.
"That's what the seller thinks. He has no idea what he's stumbled upon. But you have an inkling don't you? Some part of you wants to believe it's magic." The lady tilted her head, studying Rose intensely.
"Wha….you really think it could be?" Rose stumbled over her words as the old woman began to walk away.
"For five gold coins you could have your answer."
"For five gold coins we could eat for a week." Rose muttered.
"Listen to me Rose, at the end of that week, you and your brother and two friends would be no closer to your dream, no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle….." The woman walked away. Sparrow stared after the woman, watching her retreating form with interest. Rose turned away, confused. She looked at the younger children.
"What if it is magic?"
"We could buy it…." Raye suggested quietly.
"Five coins can't be that hard to get…." Rose muttered thoughtfully. "Alright let's try it. This could be our ticket out of here."
"Yay, shopping!" Ayelen grinned.
"There must be someone around here who will pay us to do…something… Come on, little Sparrow, let's find work!" Rose grabbed Ayelen's hand and walked down the street. They met the sheriff who asked them to find some lost warrants for him.
After some negotiation the sheriff agreed to pay them for the warrants. The children split up into two groups; Sparrow with Ayelen and Rose with Raye.
Sparrow and Ayelen overheard a man reciting a poem to a girl on a balcony. They seemed to be having trouble with their relationship.
"Let's see if we can get some gold out of them…." Sparrow whispered to Ayelen. They set to work on Monty and Belinda.
Meanwhile Raye and Rose walked down the alley. They earned two gold pieces there, helping a drunk get his booze and smashing boxes in a warehouse. They found two warrants and even got into a fight with a bully picking on a dog. Sadly they had to leave the dog, unable to care for themselves, let alone the dog.
Sparrow and Ayelen were getting a lovely picture taken after finding three warrants when they all met up again.
"Great! Now we'll have enough gold for the box!" Sparrow grinned. Rose handed her two warrants to her younger brother and let him lead the way. They were stopped again by Arfur, offering to buy the warrants from them. Ayelen promptly told him no. She might have been young but she knew Arfur was no good.
They ran past him and Sparrow gave the warrants to the sheriff. Finally they had earned their last gold coin. Quickly they all ran to the trader. It was time to buy the music box.
"Very wise little ones!" The trader handed the box to Sparrow.
"Come on, let's try it out!" Rose pointed down the street towards their fire so they could be somewhere private.
"Magic box! What'll we wis' fo'?" Ayelen asked as they walked down the street.
"Castle Fairfax…" Raye said.
"I wish…I wish…" Rose began. The music box played an enchanting tune that slowly grew warped and twisted. Ayelen whined in fear, hiding behind Raye. The song was just scary now. And then….the box disappeared.
"Wha….what happened? Why are we still here?" Rose sighed. They had been scammed. Dragging her feet in despair she walked down the street to their little hut.
"Come on little ones…let's go to bed." The younger three followed Rose, wiping tears away from their cheeks.
When they reached their hut, they found the dog there, wagging his tail happily. Ayelen ran up happily to the dog, petting his matted fur.
"Le's keep 'im!" she said, nuzzling her face against him. Sparrow and Raye both turned hopefully to Rose. She sighed.
"Okay, welcome to our little paradise, Doggy." She got into her bed and closed her eyes. The others followed.
222
Sparrow awoke to Dog barking and growling. Ayelen was huddling behind Raye and Rose was talking to someone. There was a guard at their shack. Wary of the dog, the guard explained that he had been sent by Lord Lucian to escort them to Fairfax Castle. Their dream was coming true…
Grinning, the children eagerly followed the guard. Once at the castle they were greeted by a butler who led them down a great hallway. Rose did most of the talking; the younger three were filled with too much awe to speak as they gazed around them. They entered Lord Lucian's study.
"Children. It's come to my attention that you have some sort of magic box…May I see it?" The lord began, standing up straight from a map he had been studying.
"Music box went bye-bye…poof…" Ayelen said innocently, forgetting her manners. Raye almost covered her sister's mouth. Raye was three years older than Ayelen and had learned basic manners from their parents. Ayelen was still too young to know basic etiquette.
"It vanished, my lord. We made a wish and then it started to glow and it disappeared…" Rose said quickly, stepping in front of Ayelen.
"After you used it?" Lucian asked.
"Yes my lord. The man who sold it to us said it was magic…." Sparrow said timidly.
"The box is of no interest to me. What's remarkable is that you were able to use it….What was your wish?" Lucian stared sharply at all of the children.
"Oh…" Rose gasped.
"Well speak up, what did you wish for?"
"To live in a castle…like this one."
"Heh, perhaps that could arranged," Lucien smiled faintly. "I'm working to rebuild…well I'm working on something wonderful, for which I need individuals with particular talents. Let us find out if you possess them. Would you kindly step in the circle?"
"Um…" Rose looked around uneasily.
"I promise it won't hurt you." Lucian motioned towards the circle, his voice edging on impatient.
Slowly Rose stepped onto the circle. It began glowing blue.
"It's alright…come on little ones." Rose smiled at the younger three. Sparrow stepped on and the circle glowed a vicious red, sparking. Lucian's eyes widened in surprise. And then…Raye and Ayelen stepped on, holding hands.
There was a bright flash, blinding everyone in the room. As it faded the circle was glowing bright silver with black sparks. Lucian ran over to consult a book.
"It's true…your blood…you are Heroes…" he muttered.
"Heroes? You mean like in the old stories?" Rose asked uncertainly.
"What are you…Wait there must be something here…you're heroes but you're not any of the three. One of you is the fourth….And the fifth and sixth…two of you could be…them." By now Lucian was flipping rapidly through pages.
Rose was panicking, scared. Ayelen hid behind Raye who was warily watching Lucian. Sparrow tried to step out of the circle, but it shocked him.
"This isn't what I wanted, but nothing must stand in my way," Lucian said to himself. He un-holstered a pistol and aimed. Rose shouted.
"NO wait! Don't!" The shot was deafening. Raye and Ayelen both screamed as Rose crumpled onto the ground. Sparrow stood in shock.
"I can't allow any of you to live either….I'm sorry." Lucian said, truly sounding regretful. He stepped forward and the circle's light faded. Lucian grabbed Ayelen by the collar of her dress, looked away and violently tossed her out the window. He aimed quickly and shot Sparrow who fell out through the hole created by Ayelen.
There was too sickening thuds as they hit the ground. Raye panted, sweating heavily. She stood still in shock and then, for a moment, stopped thinking. It was like everything had slowed down for her. She charged forward quickly and watched Lucian turn to face her. But it was like he was moving slower than he should be. Like she had sped up.
She hit him, punching furiously at any part of him within reach. Lucian's gun shot off again. Raye saw a splatter of red and felt her right shoulder shatter. She collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
"I have to finish you off as well….It has to be this way…" he loaded his gun with one last pistol and aimed. But Lucian froze. Raye was slowly standing up. She wasn't bleeding nearly as much as she should be.
"You…you're one of the two…" he knelt down in front of her, his eyes wide. "Just think of all I could learn of the Spire…from your blood…" he muttered to himself.
Raye faltered, falling over again. Lord Lucian grabbed the front of his gun and hit Raye with the handle. Everything went black.
222
"Today is not your day to die, little Sparrow…" the old woman spoke softly as she lifted the eight year old boy's broken body off the ground. "Only one of you has died today…." She glanced upwards towards the window of Lord Lucian's castle. Then she left with Dog following behind her without a single glance at Ayelen's body a few feet away.
Two shadows approached the young girl. One of them gasped sharply.
"Harold, look it's a girl! My goodness, what's happened to her?" a female whispered worriedly. The man, Harold bent down and gently lifted the girl's body.
"I don't know….let's take her home…we can't leave her here…." The couple turned around and quickly returned to their small home in Bowerstone….
222
Raye stumbled, tripping on the edge of a rug. She panted, allowing herself a short second to catch her breath. She was almost there but she didn't have much time before someone had noticed she was gone.
Three years had passed since that night…three awful years where she had been trapped in this castle. This place suffocated her, sucking the life out of her. Yes she was well fed and had a soft place to sleep and was safe from the cold but…she never got to leave. She hadn't been outside since that night. But worst of all she never knew what time of day it was…
That had been something she could always rely on before. That the sun would rise and set and the moon would follow it. Now she had no idea what time of day it was. Raye only knew it had been three years because the butler and other servants had mentioned it once. She needed to get out.
So tonight…tonight she would escape. She had found a scrap of paper a week ago, hidden under a lose floorboard in her cell of a room. It spoke of a secret exit in the library. So now she was running. She had attacked the butler when he came in with her meal, and knocked him unconscious.
She started running again, still tired and out of breath. It wasn't that she was out of shape. When one was imprisoned in a room they had little to do but exercise. But tonight had been one of those nights where Lucian extracted some of her blood for his studies. Raye was weak and light-headed.
She ran up the library stairs, stumbling a few times. She found the final book case and pulled out the book as instructed in the note. The bookcase moved, opening a passage into wet, dark caverns. Raye sprinted now, barely managing to keep from falling. She ran for what felt like hours and then….
She found the end of the passage. Raye stepped out into the sunlight.