I do not own Fable-haven, I just love it!
ENJOY!
Being remade had brought the light of life into the emotionless marionette, he made his own choices now, well, at least for the most part, he was still greatly influenced by the inhabitants of fablehaven, mostly Hugo, who had taken on an elder brother type role with Mendigo, being the same as him, from being a servant to becoming an invaluable friend, they were the same, even though Hugo was earth and Mendigo was wood, but when you think about it, this also connected them.
From the earth grew wood in the form of trees, and when trees fell, they became mulch for the earth that had once held them up.
This is what they were told by the newest girl when asked what made Hugo and Mendigo different yet same; she was the protector and tutor of the daughter of Kendra and Bracken.
She was created by the same wizard who fixed Mendigo and gave him his personality, Agad had made her for Kendra and Brackens daughter, Lena, their daughter who Kendra insisted they named after her dear friend, for when she was young, he had heard that the young girl had wandered outside of the yard when no one was looking, so Kendra had asked him to make her a protector to keep her from doing that ever again.
So, he did, and since she was also worried about her granddaughter, the fairy Queen had bestowed her with fairy magic; she even has a pair of huge fairy wings to show for it, she was taller than the fairies in their warrior state, but she wasn't as powerful, and she was very slender as well.
Both Kendra and Seth Sorenson had opted to be the new eternals, along with the one known as sphinx and two others Mendigo did not know at all.
Mendigo laughed to himself, because he was still thrilled, even after all these years, that he had a mind of his own, he could THINK on his own. Though he still listened to what he was told, I guess the saying old habits are hard to break is quite true, especially in his and Hugo's' case.
He was intrigued by this fairy doll, as Lena had called her, her auburn skin and dark hair looked real from a distance, but when closely observed, her skin was made of red wood trees and mahogany, and her hair was of the finest silks, her very being ushered a magical aura.
When told she could name her doll of a guardian, she thought about it for days. She was only five at the time, so they thought it would something overly childish and girly, but the name she gave made the doll's eyes shine, like the name truly called out to her, it was the name she had meant to have. Mirabel, it was still slightly girly, but everyone agreed that the name suited her perfectly, so, Mirabel it was, that was three years ago, so they had her as a friend for that long, telling her about the amazing, and terrible, things that had gone on before her creation.
Mendigo loved having free will, he couldn't really remember what it was like as a thing that could move without a will, he could only recall flashes of those days, the day he was destroyed was the clearest, and he hadn't felt any actual pain he just left. He had been nothing before, but then he was nothing in all senses of the word.
Then from the blackness, he emerged anew, the instant he came into his new state of being, Kendra and Seth had hugged him, saying that they were happy he was back, and how much they had missed him, he cried for the first time that day, he didn't know why at the time, but now he did, he was whole, and he had friends that he wanted to protect, and not just because it was an order.
He was still learning how his emotions worked, and now he felt strange, very, very strange, but only when he was around Mirabel, he didn't get it, he was so confused, so asked around fablehaven for what to do about the feelings that now consumed him, he hadn't felt it before, he had felt anger, he was sad, and most of all he was happy, but this was way different, and much more complex.
He wanted so badly to know, when he asked his friends their responses were… interesting, Seth looked at him like he was a giant pink elephant, Kendra giggled from next to Bracken, who blushed as he pondered an answer, or more, how to explain it, but he soon gave up, saying it was complex, and once he knew, he would get it, but still NOT get it, Mendigo didn't get what he meant… AT ALL….
Hugo hadn't been able to help on the topic.
Warren and Vanessa had laughed, Vanessa said it was sweet, and that he would find out over time, this just made him want to know more, and he had to know why he felt so weird.
He asked Newel and Doren, they teased him about being "heart-struck", they offered to help him to be noticed by Mirabel, and he became even more confused at this.
So they left, saying they would formulate a plan, and recommended that Mendigo look his very best, for he had a hot date tonight, he still didn't get it.
"Mirabel, come quickly!" Doren yelled up to the tree house where Mirabel had chosen to live, she painted it a velvet red and shined silver dust over it, giving it a sheen like that of Celebrant's scales amongst rose petals.
"What is it!" She flew out of the entrance, diving down and landing gracefully before the satyr, she was on the offensive to any attack, and she huffed "Has Bahumat escaped, is there another shadow plague, or have the centaurs started rebelling to gain land?" She may not have been there, but from what she was told, these were all terrible things that had happened in the past, she was ready for anything.
"No, nothing that bad, but Lena has been taken into the forest, Mendigo went after her, we must make haste!" Doren pointed her to a direction, indicating that that's where he saw Mendigo run off to.
"Warn the others!"
"Yes, ma'am," He saluted her"Right away!"
With that she took off in a desperate flight to catch up with Mendigo, hopefully they were safe, and not in any sort of real trouble.
Lena walked up next to the laughing satyr "Where's Mirabel going so quickly?" She asked innocently, he bent down and whispered what was going on, and the young girl giggled.
"Yes, yes I know, but don't make it public; it'll be our little secret." He said and bounded off after getting an ok nod from Lena, who was still giddy with excitement. She wished she could tell Uncle Seth, he would love this, he would laugh his head off, "he'll find out later I guess," Giggle, skipping away to the house.
She raced over the tree tops, looking for signs of either Lena or Mendigo, she saw a flash of carved wooden limbs and veered to the left, her flight had taken her to the pond where she had first been at fablehaven. When using the fairy queen shrine to enter fablehaven not long after being created. She traveled often with Raxtus, at least, when she wasn't watching Lena.
"Mendigo, where's Lena" he pointed in the direction of the house.
"Is she alright?" he nodded
She sighed from relief, and then realized something.
"Was she in any danger at all?" He shook his head.
"So Doren lied to me?" she asked irritated, he nodded.
"And you were in on it and Newel no doubt too?" She began to fume as he nodded again.
"Why?" She asked as she stopped pacing.
"….." He hung his head and shrugged his shoulder, that's when she noticed it; Mendigo was wearing a black tuxedo.
"What, wha huh ummmm?" She was dumbstruck by his clothing article.
"Why are you wearing that?" on the verge of tears "You look ridiculous!" He looked like he was going to cry too, so she stopped laughing him.
"Sorry, did Doren and Newel put you up to this? Is this some sort of prank?" She asked wiping wetness from her cheeks.
He nodded, and then shook his head.
"So they put you up to it, but it's no prank…. Right?" He nodded.
"Then what the hell is going on, I was worried sick that Lena was actually in danger, just to find you, wearing a tux, by, the, pooond…" She stood there, pondering what could this be, and then it struck her.
"Ooh, um, why, Mendigo, are you here?" He pointed shyly at her.
"And why won't you say anything?" He pointed at her again, and then he shrugged. Mirabel's eyes grew wide, she realized what was going on, jaw dropping, and now she was sure of it, Mendigo LIKED her.
"Okay, this is very awkward." She studied his demeanor, he always acted very shyly around her, in fact, she had only heard his voice when he didn't know she was around the corner, or somewhere nearby, and now it all made sense. He had a crush on her.
"Mendigo, I'm flattered, but I just…" she trailed off as he looked up at her with eyes she hadn't seen him with before, she saw the eyes of someone she genuinely scared of what would come next, so she left, she didn't say anything, she just flew away, she stole one glance back at him, but he had ran off.
She started to cry, why had she done that? Maybe she could find him and apologize about leaving like she had, but she couldn't face him, does he even now what he feels toward her? He acts normal around everyone but her, for her he acted different, at first she thought he didn't like her at all, but he acted like a lost child, alone and scared of her, yet looking to her for help, so she kept thinking it had to be something else, yet now that she had found out, she wanted to forget.
"Hello Mirabel!" Lena skipped up to her, a knowing smile on her face, it vanished at her friends tears.
"Are you okay?" Mirabel shook her head.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" She shook her head again.
She gasped, she was acting like Mendigo. She sobbed and fell to her knees, hugging the young girl for comfort.
"I'm sorry; I just need some time to be alone."
She got back up to her feet and flew back to her tree, gliding through the entrance; she pulled the latter up so that no one could disturb her.
What had she meant? She seemed to know more about his feelings in a single minute than he had in thinking about it extensively over the past few weeks.
She said that she had been flattered, but what did that mean? Flattered by what exactly? He ran because another feeling had overwhelmed him and told to run as far as he could, he would until he rings that held him unscrewed and fell from him, and then he would lie there, rotting into mulch.
His feeling told him to do so, but Hugo had found him and caught him, apparently he had missing for a few days, it had felt like only an hour for him, he shocked to hear Hugo tell him that he had been gone for six whole days, running in different directions over the preserve.
Funny thing, he didn't remember ever turning left or right at all, he thought he was going straight the whole time, it must have been the distracter spell Kendra mentioned to Hugo, that Mendigo since had disappeared she put up a distracter spell to keep him in the preserve, to protect him from getting lost out in the world beyond the fencing.
He hung limp, having been suddenly slung over the giants' shoulder, at first he struggled, his emotions told him to do so, but he gave up, knowing it to be useless.
Now he looked lifeless, making everyone worry as Hugo approached the house. Mendigo didn't bother saying anything as he was scolded by Kendra, bracken, and even Seth joined in the 'I was worried about you' ranting.
After a few hours of everyone going though their own little lectures and saying that they were worried, Lena walked up to him.
"Mirabel's acting funny…" She said somberly, Mendigo, shocked, spoke to her.
"Where is Mirabel?" Everyone exchanged nervous glances.
"The same day you ran off, she came back out looking for you, when you didn't come home…. She..." Bracken started.
"She went back into her tree house, and she still hasn't come out, we can't get in to check on her, the fairies say she's okay, but she's been doing something." Seth continued.
"She's falling apart, literally, she took of her hand, and pulled all but her thumb off, she won't speak at all… we're worried that she's so worried about you, that she's become indifferent to everything else." Kendra hung her head.
"She won't even look at me." Lena sobbed, the tears flowing from her eyes.
"Mirabel obviously blames herself for you leaving, she feels terrible," Mendigo shifted uncomfortably; "The fairies also say that she's been talking to herself, they overheard something particularly disturbing." Stan continued.
"She said that you hate her, and that you want to hurt her, we're afraid that whatever happened between you two caused her to go slightly…. How do I put this nicely, mentally disturbed?" Ruth added; Mendigo sat hard on the ground.
Why would she think that?
"Mendigo… what happened?" He shrugged, but told them about the day he had left.
"So you actually like her?" Seth inquired, Mendigo shrugged, and after some thinking, he nodded, it must be the feeling he's been mulling over for so long, LOVE, the most confusing of all emotions.
He stood fast, why couldn't he figure it out before, it was so obvious!
He took off, they sent Hugo after him, telling him to grab him if he left the yard, just in case he ran away again, but he wasn't running away, he knew exactly what to do now, he finally knew what he was feeling, and what to do about it, he would need REALLY nice flowers for this.
"Do I love him? Hate him? " she rocked back and forth in the corner, her eyes wide, dried tears breaking as new ones made their way down her wooden cheeks.
Mirabel had become a ghost of her formal self; they would think she was an antique if she stopped moving.
Her mind was shattered, her hand lie on the floor, she had torn it off, and plucked the fingers off it, saying he loves he loves me not, until she hit the last one, it would have been a 'He loves me' and she knew it, so she tossed it across the room, treating her fingers like confetti, she sobbed.
She got up and gathered her fingers back up, she crawled over to get them and her hand, her legs had refused to work for the past two days, she was slowly deteriorating, her body, though dusty, looked fine, but the magic that held her together was just giving up, her wings fell off two days ago, they were removable, but they had fallen off themselves this time...
She was dying slowly on the inside from a shattered heart.
Was he a friend or a foe, do I love him or do I hate him?
She heard knocking on the base of the trunk, she had heard it many times before, skin on wood, rock on wood, but this sounded like… wood, on wood, was it Mendigo?
No it couldn't be. He was gone forever, never to return, but the wood on wood was persistently, perhaps worriedly, knocking, at first she tried to ignore it, putting her fingers back on her hand, saying that they would go away, they didn't.
Aggravated, Mirabel stood to the best of her ability, carrying her hand with her still attached one, leaning on the walls, tables, and chairs for support, shuffling like an old lady who had a hip surgery just yesterday.
She tumbled and fell; she didn't bother stopping herself with her one hand, so fell flat on her face, causing a loud crash echoing, she stood back up, she had forgotten where the opening was, so she had to search for it, she ended up tripping as it came into sight, she fell through it.
She expected the cold embrace of the cold ground, but two strong arms caught her in a rush, she heard a rustle as whatever the arms held before fell.
Mirabel squinted in the light; her eyes had become so accustomed to the dark she forgot that 'light' and 'sunshine' even existed. Her hand she was holding fell as her remaining her went limp at the sight of who had caught her, it was Mendigo.
He looked her up and down, noticing her missing hand and wings. Finally their eyes met, she looked up at him, wanting to put on a face of defiance and hate, but what he did stopped her, he was crying, green liquid fell on her, she cried against her will.
She began to panic, she tried to break free, but her weakened state made it easy to hold onto her, so she stopped, he held her like a precious glass vase that could break from just breathing on it.
Everyone rushed up to them, they were slow and silent, they couldn't speak, and they just looked at her, not knowing what to do.
Mendigo began to set her feet down taking her chance she pushed him away.
Without his support she fell, and curled into a ball, they all flinched towards her, but stopped when she screamed.
Glaring at them "Stop looking at me like that!" she began to struggle to crawl away, but slowed, she couldn't move, no one had moved, everything felt weird, she started coughing up magenta blood, Mendigo flashed instantly to her side as everything went black.
"Just as we feared, the magic holding her together is undoing it 'self slowly, she's completely giving up on life." Bracken's voice cracked at the end as he hung his head.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Kendra hung onto Brackens arm, comforting them both.
"The only thing we can try to do is convince her that life is worth living." Stan answered for him.
"But WHY!" Lena wailed.
"Doesn't she care about us!" Hugo lifted her up in a big rocky hug.
"Mirabel does care." He rumbled "Mirabel just sad."
"Well I'm sad too!" she sobbed into the golems shoulder.
"Lena, we're all sad, but she's just, very, very sad." Seth consoled her.
"This is his fault!" She pointed an accusing finger at Mendigo, "It was fine until he ruined it!"
She leapt from the golem's arms and punched Mendigo, again and again, she punched him, ignoring the pain of the splinters, until Seth set a comforting hand on her shoulder, to which she whipped around and embraced his waist, her face buried into his abdomen, sobbing and gasping, her tears soaking into his shirt.
"I'll take her inside and put her to bed for a nap, let us know if anything happens…" Seth said as her picked Lena up bridal style, who looked sleepy from all her crying.
Mendigo hadn't payed the others any attention past the point of Bracken saying that Mirabel was dying, and he had to find a way to show her that she had to keep going, but would him telling her his feelings be enough?
His feelings had done this to her in the first place and what if he tried and it made her condition worse, he would have to show her rather than tell her, when, and how? Would that even work?
He finally came back to himself and saw his surroundings; everyone had left, save Hugo, who had stayed put, refusing to move until Mirabel was better.
"Hugo," the golem looked at Mendigo, "Could you hand me the flowers, please?" He asked slowly, and Hugo complied, holding the flowers out towards Mendigo who took them.
Holding the flowers in one hand and holding up Mirabel in the other, he brought the flowers closer to her.
"I brought these for you," he choked on his words "To say I'm sorry…" She stirred, but he didn't notice, he had his eyes closed tying to hold the tears back.
"I'm so sorry." He managed before bringing her close, and he hugged her, dropping the flowers, he held her close with both hands.
Mirabel woke and, instinctively held him close as well, he jumped slightly, but didn't let go. They separated slightly to close in at another angle, they kissed, they were both surprised to find that fireworks were exploding all around them, when they stopped and looked into each other's eyes silently for so long.
Mirabel was the first to break the silence with a weak whisper.
"I'm sorry too."
I was torn between a sad ending and a happy ending, so I went with happy, because I'm such a sap. XD
Should I continue, or is this a good ending?