Full House
(And now, for the Secondary Realms' enjoyment, I present Chapter Two of Full House, with special thanks to first reviewer Traveller59: I didn't know who to stick in as Tuesday, and the characters Japeth and Mathias just bugged me. almostinsane: Giac and Scamandros were my favorite characters, but I couldn't figure out where to stick Giac if Scamandros was the Upper House. Plus, he's a sorcerer, so... This story will have multiple pairings, and Suzy/Art will be there, just not exactly how you think... (mysterious). Look to the ending note for pairing couples. Also, thanks, Usowishuwereme for the review! This chapter won't have big paragraphs for each character - it's the New Trustee Convention, and there will be many differing opinions and thoughts bouncing around. I imagine it in the style of the Constitutional Convention in the USA, or the Second Continental Congress. Also, a hair change - I rewatched Harry Potter, and have discovered my ideal Scamandros model - Severus Snape. Add about three feet, take away any face wrinkles, soften the eyebrows, add a pair of spectacles when you need them - perfect!)
DAWN, LADY WEDNESDAY
"What?"
Lady Wednesday Dawn's voice rang loudly across the Port Wednesday station. The usual beams of elevators were weaker, transparent, and occasionally shook.
The elevator operator was quaking in his boots, obviously terrified at being surrounded by four superior Denizens.
"S-s-something must have happened in the U-u-upper House, milady," he trembled. "Th-th-th-that's where all the elevators are tied together."
Dawn stepped in front of her Times, standing a good four feet taller than the operator. "What is your name and precedence?"
"Ebbenforth, 856,234,156th in precedence within the House, if it pleases milady. Elevator Operator Second Class."
Dawn sighed. "Very well, Ebbenforth. I will deal with this myself. Who is highest in precedence among your particular Elevator Operator Association?"
Automatically, Ebbenforth recited, "Within the 254th Elevator Association of the House, highest in precedence is Coradellia, 852,111,025th in precedence within the House. Shall I fetch her?"
"Please do so," Dawn asked, in more of an order-like tone of voice than a request.
Ebbenforth bowed deeply, then disappeared into the crowd of Port Wednesday-goers, all staring at either Lady Wednesday or the wavering elevator lines.
Three years had passed since Dawn had found the portrait necklace of the old Lady Wednesday, and since then, things had not been good on the Border Sea. More and more often scores of Nissers, the servants which she had asked the New Architect to recreate, seemed to disappear from the waters, as were her Noon's patrol boats. And even though every day she spent flying above her sea, banishing Nothing from the water using her Key, more and more seemed to be coming from the bottom of the ocean, not from the Secondary Realms and such. It was all she could do to keep the major landmasses clear of harm.
In fact, Dawn had been so busy that she had relied on her Times of Day to think of any problems within the demesne, not having time to think herself, and now Noon and Dusk stood with a stack of papers. She thought she would have a peaceful elevator ride, sorting through the various papers and for once not restlessly watching the Border Sea, but it seemed as if that too was but a fantasy.
Dawn lifted the Third Key from her belt and raised it high.
"Strengthen, elevators, so I may reach the Great Maze!" She called.
The elevator lines stopped quivering, but seemed to have trouble holding their shape, and it took all of the Third Key's power to keep them in check.
"Milady."
A sweet, cordial voice came from behind her. Coradellia stepped to Dawn's side, bowing low.
She was dressed in a smart suit, with a black skirt instead of trousers, and had long blond hair not unlike Dawn's own.
"Coradellia, I presume?"
"Yes, milady."
"Post Elevator-Sentries around this station. I will also give you authority over twoscore Nissers to use as you like. Sunscorch, a good friend of mine, is the leader of my fleet. He will be docked in Port Wednesday's Second-Third Point Sixty-Nine Dock, just next to the Grand Counting House. Report to him any disturbances or problems with the elevators. Clear?"
Coradellia bowed again. "Yes, milady."
Without a further word, Dawn and her Times of Day entered the now-open elevator, unsure of where exactly the elevator would take her.
FRED INITIAL NUMBERS GOLD, SIR THURSDAY
Doctor First Class Papellion adjusted Fred's sling.
"I believe it will heal in a week's time, sir," the Denizen explained.
"Thank you, Papellion. Dismissed."
As the doctor left, Fred remembered the awful experience of what the people of the Great Maze now called the Tile Disturbance. He had lost over three hundred score men, and had many more missing. And that wasn't counting permanent or vacationing civilians.
Fred himself had only survived by the Fourth Key's power, but still managed to get his savage-sword arm crushed between two tiles. But besides that, he had had to appoint at least a dozen new Lieutenants, Sergeant-Majors, and Troop Sergeants. He still needed a suitable replacement for the Fair-Weather Cannoneer of the Moderately Honorable Artillery Company, the leader of that faction, and surpluses more.
His Noon, a man formerly named Jarrow, who had helped Fred and Arthur get to the Citadel for the first time, scurried up to him and saluted.
"Marshal Noon," Fred acknowledged.
"Sir, the Disturbance Ephemeris seems to think that tiles 45/872 to 65/899 are safe to cross for a day."
The Disturbance Ephemeris was a quickly-published Ephemeris detailing the likely paths most of the tiles had taken during the Disturbance, and similar patterns, noted by Borderer Mapmakers First Class. It had proven, more than once, to be more than a little wrong.
It was a chance he'd have to take.
"Fetch Marshals Dawn and Dusk, please, as well as two score of the Horde, and the same of Borderers and Artillerists."
"Yes, sir."
As he left, Fred sighed. Very few men, even of the honest Legion, seemed to be willing to leave stationary tiles. Fort Transformation had been abandoned - the tile had apparently moved far from it's fixed position. The lower left corner of the Maze was in pandemonium from the extra tile wedged unevenly between four others. Fred himself had gone to investigate the problem, and had found the same oily slick of Nothing under the Fort Transformation tile, although much, much, more, as thick as a sponge cake. It had taken much of his energy to rid the tile of the first layer, and after resting for a few hours, there seemed to be more Nothing gummed on than ever.
His thoughts were broken by the arrival of his three Marshals. Dawn saluted.
"Sir! I have received a letter from the Recruit Records."
Dawn handed over a letter with an envelope the size of Dusk himself. Fred unfolded the envelope to read what was written on the inside.
To Fred Initial Numbers Gold, Sir Thursday, Commander-in-Chief of the Glorious Army of the Architect, Overlord of the Great Maze,
The time has come for the recruitment of the following Denizens of the House:
Sneezer, Lord Monday, Master of the Lower House
Scamandros, Dr. Tuesday, Lord of the Far Reaches
Dawn, Lady Wednesday, Duchess of the Border Sea
One Who Survived the Darkness, Madam Friday, Mistress of the Middle House
Giac, Count Saturday, Ruler of the Upper House
and Suzy Turquoise Blue, Lady Sunday, Lady of the Incomparable Gardens
They must serve in your Glorious army for the appointed century, beginning in three year's time.
Sincerely,
The New Architect
"What?" Fred exclaimed. "Trustees have to do a century?"
"All except you, sir, for you show great prowess in commanding the Army already," noted Dusk.
Fred tossed the huge letter to the floor. The rest of the envelope was covered in details and such, six copies of The Recruit's Handbook, and other items which the Trustees would need in their recruitment. "I don't have time for this! Dawn, please gather the rest of the papers for the convention, but add that too. Prepare to leave in thirty minute's time!"
SCAMANDROS, DR. TUESDAY
Next to the Void, Scamandros felt very, very small.
The swirling mass of Nothing, though pushed back quite far away, was still gigantic, a wall of black that never ended on either side. It's depth was forever, but exact measurements were lost in it's cloudy coal-like fog.
In front of the wall of the Void sat a small worldlet, miniscule next to the mass of Nothing. Through it's bubble-like Immaterial walls there seemed to be a pleasant grassy field, and seven doors located in a circle around a large, short building, each divided from the other by walls.
It had been a trying three years. The water spell-nets had broken, and pure Nothing had gotten everywhere, incredibly hard to control. Scamandros had just managed to protect Cavern Village, but now deep pock-marked holes of Nothing were scattered everywhere else, looking like a chinese checkers board. More difficulties had followed, with impure Nothing gushing up and a slow, steady, slime of Nothing spreading over the floor of the Grand Cavern, stretching from Nothing hole to Nothing hole. It was all Scamandros could do to keep his demesne from becoming a vast lake of Nothing. And the New Architect had yet to help him.
Slowly the gate lifted into the air, and he took a step forward.
Everything suddenly spun out of proportion. The Void shoved backward, getting farther and farther away but still looming over them, and the worldlet rushed towards Scamandros' face. It spun around until it found a particular door, then launched him at him, air rushing past his skin.
A moment later, Scamandros opened his eyes. He was in a slice of the worldlet, surrounded by dull whitewashed walls on either side. The edge, only a yard away, seemed to drop off into the ocean of Nothing only a few meters below.
Scamandros and his Times shakily got up and dusted themselves off; Dusk settled his top hat back on his head, and Noon wiped his face with a handkerchief.
The four of them walked towards the door, marked 'TUESDAY'. It was at least eleven feet tall.
Dawn, curtsying, opened the door.
Scamandros walked into the New Trustee Convention.
ONE WHO SURVIVED THE DARKNESS, MADAM FRIDAY
Curiously, Darkness noted, everyone had arrived at the same time, though she had seen none of them at the Cleargate.
The room had seven ornate desks, each with four places set, arranged in a semicircle - obviously where they were to sit. In front of the seven desks was an even larger one, where the New Architect stood. Darkness sucked in a breath - even though this was the millionth time she had seen him, the sorcerous power radiating off of him was gigantic.
She took a look at the other Trustees, not having seen them ever before. Darkness had often felt the Middle House was slightly cut off from the other demesnes, a House unto itself. Or maybe that was just her silent, brooding Winged Servant personality.
Sneezer, Lord Monday, was a handsome man, impeccable dressed in a tuxedo, with reddish hair slicked back off his forehead. He looked very pompous, a person you didn't want to talk with for too long. His Times of Day didn't seem too pleased with Monday either - Dawn and Noon were shooting exasperated glances at each other under giant stacks of paper.
Scamandros, Dr. Tuesday, was of the taller variety, and had a slightly larger nose than anyone else in the room. His black hair was in a tussled, yet shaped style, stretching to his shoulders. As she had seen briefly in the Old Universe, he wore a yellow greatcoat, rumored to be filled with hundreds of sorcerous contraptions from the Old House.
Dawn, Lady Wednesday, looked as she always did - blond hair, alligator riding crop, wise aura. But she seemed extremely tired, fragile; bags hung under her eyes, and her emotions flittered like a tiny Secondary Realms butterfly.
Fred Initial Numbers Gold, Sir Thursday, was very strangely proportioned. He was muscled, dark-skinned, thin, very tall, and had a faint youthfulness about him, something all Piper's Children possessed. His closely cropped black hair, standard Army style, matched the deep brown of his eyes and the strange sheen given off by the Fourth Keys.
Giac, Count Saturday, had a peculiar look to him. His hair wasn't unlike Thursday's, but his robes were gigantic, not because he was fat, but because they were simply too big for him. The seemed to be miles of various blue fabrics, silk and cotton all mixed together like a quilt. Giac's brooding, black eyes roamed the room, probably assessing his fellow Trustees.
And Suzy, Lady Sunday... Suzy, was, well, Suzy. Unkempt blond hair, squished top hat, blue swallow-tailed coat, the only new addition being a lace umbrella that was most likely the Seventh Key.
"Welcome, Trustees, Times. Sit." The Architect's voice stopped Darkness from any other musings. As if hypnotized, everyone sat themselves in their respective desks, all staring intently at the New Architect.
Her Dawn, Noon, and Dusk, she noted, had less stacks of notes than anyone else's did: Monday's especially seemed to be glad to put down the huge stacks of notes.
"As was regular in the Old Universe, we will start the complaints with Monday, working forwards. Sneezer?"
Lord Monday stood up, cleared his throat, and began.
SNEEZER, LORD MONDAY
"I have a number of grievances for the other Trustees, including my fellow bookmakers Friday and Saturday, but none more so than good Scamandros, Dr. Tuesday."
Scamandros' head looked up, his black curls bouncing in surprise. "Oh?"
Sneezer nodded. "I believe the manufacturing of Nothing in the Far Reaches is at an extremely slow rate. Seeing as that is what the Far Reaches is made for, I believe we should widen the spring of Nothing."
A flurry of outbursts from various Trustees was silenced by the New Architect.
"We are a fair House now, and shall put it to a vote. Trustees, you may confer with your Times of Day."
DAWN, LADY WEDNESDAY
Dawn had to suppress a snort of disbelief when she heard Sneezer's first point. Didn't he remember anything about the Old Universe?
"The time to confer is over; let us begin the voting with the Lower House."
Sneezer stood up, proud, confident. Dawn swallowed a laugh when she saw his stomach sticking out a bit. "The Lower House votes yes."
Scamandros cleaned his spectacles before standing up. "The Far Reaches votes no."
Dawn stood up. "In the danger of the universe being consumed by Nothing, I think it's pretty obvious that the Border Sea says no."
Fred, after a quick whispering session with his - what did they call the Times of Day in the Maze? - Marshals, stood up. "The Great Maze says...yes."
Dawn's eyes widened, as did Scamandros'. Sneezer nodded smugly.
Madam Friday, a former Winged Servant of the Night, stood. She was beautiful, in a peculiar way. Her dress had many layers, but was wispy and black, and seemed like it was moved by an eternal wind. A black veil obscured her face, and her ebony hair trailed down to her hips, thin and swishing. Friday didn't speak; she just shook her head no.
Giac stood up, large robes sweeping out behind him. "The Upper House votes no."
Suzy didn't bother to get up, her feet comfortably splayed on the desk. "Nah, Doc has enough on 'is shoulders."
The New Architect nodded. "That's that, then. Sneezer, you may continue."
Dawn yawned and lay her head on the desk, listening to Lord Monday drone on and on about various problems he had with other demesnes. It was going to be a long day.
GIAC, COUNT SATURDAY
Giac carefully wrote with the Sixth Key, pretending to be taking notes, 'CLOSE MY EARS'. It did its job, thankfully shutting off the monotone voice of Lord Monday. Giac could tell that Monday's Times didn't look pleased either; Dawn was doodling, Dusk was rolling his eyes, and Noon had taken the opportunity to nap.
Giac thought about the last three years, and how they had been riddled with disaster. Day after day, something seemed to happen in the Upper House - though most of it was connected with elevators and telephones. Every minute there seemed a new invisible cord snipped, an action which, to reverse, took at least six hours of extreme concentration.
And then, just a day after learning of the Trustee Convention from his Times, his base of operations, the Bridge positioned directly above the City of Four Roots, had collapsed from Nothing contamination. He had managed to hold up most of it, but some had smashed into the city, killing Denizens and destroying hard work and beauty. As he had worked on clearing and rebuilding the destruction, at least seven hundred telephone lines were snipped, giving him even more work that took over three months. And coming in day after day were complaints by Sneezer, Lord Monday - in fact, Giac and his Times often said that Sneezer seemed to be the only Trustee afflicted by a Sin this time around - he was the only potentially malevolent Trustee of them all.
Giac looked up. He had opened his ears as soon as his Dusk informed him that Sneezer was done, and had voted yes in an effort to help Scamandros with the Nothing lake within the Grand Cavern. The New Architect had promised to help as well, meaning that the Trustees had barely any work to do - a flick of the wrist, and the New Architect could banish all the Nothing from the Cavern. Presently, it was Dawn's turn, and she was still
"There is one matter which I would like to discuss," she stated. "Three years ago, to the day, I found a cloud of Nothing within my Border Sea."
Sneezer snorted and muttered something about 'what else is new?'.
Dawn, ignoring him, continued. "This Nothing was in an area patrolled by myself personally only a day before. Not only that, but the Nothing was coming from the bottom of the Border Sea."
Everyone, including Sneezer, sat up at that, most notably the New Architect, who had only spoken to put propositions to a vote. Giac jumped violently. Besides the Grand Cavern and the Border Sea, his own demesne had also recently had trouble with Nothing, not only with the Bridge but also with the telephone lines; only Activated Ink and other Nothing-products could destroy the invisible wires or the elevator shafts.
"Yes, and stuck in the middle of that Nothing pool was a Denizen, one that I did not recognize from the Denizens of the Border Sea, and later inspection showed that he never entered the Border Sea on vacation. Because Nothing is diluted by water, he had managed to stay alive, just long enough to tell me to get Arthur Penhaligon, and give me... this."
She held up a pendant, put onto a golden chain. On it was a circular picture of a beautiful Denizen, one who looked like a Trustee. She wasn't anyone Giac knew, but Scamandros, the New Architect, and Suzy all gasped with surprise.
"For those of you who don't know, this is a picture of D-drowned Wednesday, my former Master," Dawn whispered, quivering, her eyes brimming with tears.
"But how is that possible?" Scamandros asked in shock. "All the lost things in the Border Sea disappeared after the Old Universe was destroyed!"
The New Architect beckoned to the pendant, and it floated quickly through the air towards him. He grabbed onto it and began turning it over, obviously confused.
"I trust, Dawn, you will not mind my borrowing this?"
Dawn bowed. "Not at all."
ONE WHO SURVIVED THE DARKNESS, MADAM FRIDAY
Darkness quietly assessed the House as Dawn took her seat. That was four demesnes so far that had Nothing troubles, including her own. The eyrie of the Winged Servants had been consumed with Nothing, so much that Darkness doubted it could have been a mere 'leak' as her Times had told the public. In that catastrophe she had lost threescore Winged Servants, some of which she had known previously in the Old Universe. More Nothing had cropped up, most on the Middle of the Middle, and strange reports of loud laughing were coming daily from the Guild of Illustration.
Darkness listened intently as Fred stood up, his arm in a sling.
"A disastrous thing happened in the Great Maze roughly at the same time Wednesday discovered the pendant," he began. "The tiles stopped working properly, most likely due to a strange coating of Nothing on their mechanisms, and started zooming everywhere. I lost many a good Denizen in the Tile Disturbance; my own arm was crushed between two tiles. No one leaves the secure forts on their stationary tiles anymore, but even Fort Transformation, where myself and the New Architect trained, flew across the Great Maze, even though it was supposed to be stationary. It ripped through and destroyed at least eighty-five tiles, and is currently lodged in between four other tiles, it's bottom sticking up and displayed for the House to see."
The New Architect made a small sound, inaudible to all but Darkness' trained ears. It sounded like a whimper of sadness or regret.
He nodded to Fred. "I will come to the Maze as soon as I am done helping Scamandros."
Fred saluted. "There is another matter which I need to discuss. Noon?"
Noon handed Fred a large scroll of paper.
"Apparently, the century-long recruitment of the Trustees, excluding yours truly, is to begin in three days time."
Darkness froze beneath her veil, a stark contrast between the angry mutterings of the other Trustees.
Fred glanced at the New Architect. "Apparently, this was in the Recruitment Storehouses and flew out unpredictably this morning."
The New Architect blushed slightly. "Ah, yes, I had predestined a time for the Trustees to do their recruitment, but as it was prescheduled, I didn't know such troubling times would, ah, fall upon the House."
"Ah, come off it, Arthur!" Suzy said. "You command the 'ouse, so just do some magic or summat like that an' get rid of the recruitment!"
The New Architect sighed. "I imbued quite a lot of power in that document. It will take me several months to fix it. Until then, everyone must avoid food or drink; if you even touch a coin with Sir Thursday's emblem on it, you're recruited."
Darkness drooped, her veil spreading out on the desktop. This was crazy; if she left the Middle House for one more second, madness would descend. Thank the House the Architect had slowed down time on the worldlet; only five minutes would have passed in the House after they returned from the full day.
She motioned for her Noon to stand. She signed in Winged Servant language to Dusk 'Tell him to tell them of the black spring of death spouting from my former abode,' the best she could do in the language. Dusk nodded and whispered to his friend. Noon smiled and began.
THE NEW ARCHITECT
Art was exhausted; there was trouble everywhere except for the Lower House, but that was besides the point; he had to break the news to them of his plan.
Suzy had just finished a loud talk, still sitting, about the gigantic roots that had spread over the Incomparable Gardens, destroying everything in it's path. Giac had also told of the collapsing of his Bridge and the telephone and elevator problems.
Art massaged his temples; he had been on a two-day vacation to a remote Secondary Realm and had not remembered to slow the time there, so by the time he returned to the House, four years had passed.
All the Trustees and their Times were looking at him intently; he had to close the Convention.
Art stood.
"Everybody, there is one addition I have to make. You have already noticed the extreme problems within the House, all of which pertain to Nothing, no?"
Everyone nodded.
"There is but one reason for this; a Nithling. Not just any Nithling - a Nithling that was created from a folly of mine. A Nithling rarer than a perfectly circular Gore-Draken"
Curious muttering.
"I call this Nithling a Maw, and it was created when I separated Arthur Penhaligon from my body."
Surprised murmurs; Sneezer and a few others had not known of this.
"The Maw is both in the Void somewhere and imbued in me, keeping me with all my power and life. The only reason the Old Architect did not create one was because the Old One was Denizen-like in genetic makeup, yet I separated myself to make a mortal being. So the only way to fix these problems is to retrieve Arthur from the Secondary Realm known as Earth, locate the Maw in the Void, and join us three together. But there is a catch."
Unsurprised whispers; in the House, a catch was normal.
"If we were to conjoin, the endless font of youthfullness that encompasses the Denizens would die out."
Suzy was the first to understand this. "So if you go an' patch yourself together again, we all just kinda crumble? Lose our immitality?"
"Immortality," Art absentmindedly corrected. "And yes. I shall put it to a vote. The Lower House?"
Art turned to Sneezer. He had not, evidently, consulted with his Times. "The Lower House says no, do not find the Maw."
In that moment, Art could see something glimmer in Sneezer's eye, something shiny and round, something menacing.
"The Grand Cavern says yes."
"The Border Sea says yes."
"The Great Maze says yes."
A nod for the Middle House.
"The Upper House says yes."
"Yeh, I guess, for the Incomparable Gardens."
"Then it's settled." Art stood up. "I will need to check which day it is on Earth in order to retrieve Arthur Penhaligon. Here goes."
The entire worldlet spun around, and several Times were knocked to the ground. Arttook out a pocket watch.
"At the moment, it is a Wednesday on Earth. Dawn?"
Dawn bowed. "I will do my best to get Arthur Penhaligon here."
Art nodded. "Meanwhile, I will begin to search for the Maw. To leave the worldlet, poke the Immaterial Wall outside your hall. Stand steady; it's a tough ride back."
Giac sighed with relief. "At least we're going home! Who knows what happened in the House in just five minutes?"
Art blushed a bit and hung his head. "That's the problem. When I checked for the Earth day, I accidentally loosed the time bonds I put on this worldlet. When you get back to the House, you'll have been gone for..."
"For 'ow long?" Suzy demanded.
"Five months."
"WHAT?"
(Thank you for reading! A note on couples: There will be a lot of Art x Somebody Else, some Trustee x Trustee (in fact, two very important plot-related couples), and Some Trustee x Time of Day. You may be surprised as to who Art/Arthur ends up with. That's another thing: through the course of the story, Art and Arthur will be separate people, with separate minds and crushes. Will Arthur consent to becoming one with the New Architect again? Find out next time on Full House!)