Chapter 7: The prophecy
Far from the river, miles away, the Mystics have closed their caves. The time had come for them to leave the valley. In a long, slow procession by single file climbed the spiral path, and began crossing the plains.
By sunset the group had reached Kira's village, where they received a hearty welcome. In the center of a clearing were several long houses. The convex outer shell of each house is formed from the seed pod of some gigantic plant, split down the middle and laid flat to the ground, thus raising a striated dome. Doorways, windows, and chimneys have been neatly carved out and framed in wood. Through these apertures a cheerful firelight shines from each house
"Aren't these the people from ... from your memory?" was what Jen first asked Kira as they walked over.
"When the Garthim killed my parents, the Podlings adopted me. They're my clan."
As Rapunzel approached, she was almost pulled backwards by her hair by several passersby much like when she and Eugene arrived in the city of Corona on her birthday. To help her, Eugene, Kira and Jen began picking up the golden hair.
"How about a repeat of that hairdressing session here, blondie?" Eugene offered her, referring to when four little girls helped place it into an elaborate braid.
To this Rapunzel agreed whole-heartedly, "I'd appreciate it. Kira, do you know anyone who can help braid my hair without cutting it?"
Kira nods with bright smile. "Yes, of course." She turned to speak to some female podlings, one of them being Kira's foster mother, Ydra.
The smaller females gasped in delight when they saw Rapunzel's hair and began to babble excitedly before gently taking the human girl's hands. Rapunzel waited patiently as they worked on braiding the 70 foot long blonde locks. It was such a relaxing activity, for her to have her hair done after everything she'd gone through so far.
The others watched and waited as the group of lady podlings worked on Rapunzel's hair. After a short while, Rapunzel's hair was done up in one long braid that almost reached her ankles.
It certainly was a different pattern than from the way the little girls braided it with flowers, yet Rapunzel loved it all the same. She thanked them with a radiant smile while Kira translated.
That night there was a happy feast on the part of the little people. The interior of the houses are furnished with absolute simplicity. Nothing is decorative; everything serves a purpose. The chairs, the tables, the platters and spoons, all are made of wood, and shine with the rich patina of age and handling. Eugene and Rapunzel both found the party very festive. Neither was unable to keep a smile from their face. Same as their friends; Pascal was passed from hand to hand gladly eating the snacks and changing colors to the delight of their hosts. Maximus couldn't fit through so he just hung at a window while gratefully eating a few fruits and greens offered to him.
At some point, Jen started to explain the business about the shard to Kira. When Rapunzel asked about it, Eugene filled her in. Then Rapunzel summarized what had happened since they've been separated.
"...That was the last time I saw her." she was saying to Eugene.
"She distracted them long enough for you to escape? I guess she did love you in her own way." Eugene commented.
"She must've." Rapunzel nodded solemnly, "And I'm so sorry about your Master, Jen."
"He was the closest thing I had to a father. I don't think I'll stop missing him, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to." Jen told her, gently.
"I'm sure wherever he is, he must be proud." Rapunzel said with a tender gaze.
At that moment, Ydra pulled Jen to the floor to dance to the music. The other three chuckled good-naturedly.
"So you and Eugene?" Kira asked Rapunzel while Eugene smirks confidently.
"Oh? Yeah, we had quite an adventure together before coming here. We got to be very close." Rapunzel answered with a sheepish smile, a blush appearing on her cheeks.
"Ain't it the truth." Eugene said happily. "And it sure looks like you and Jen make quite the couple too."
"But we've only just met." Kira said, trying to dismiss the idea at first.
"Who knows? Allot can happen."
The party continued with Jen pulling out his flute to play along. But it all came to an abrupt halt when something burst through the wall.
"Oh no, not them!" Rapunzel cried when she saw the black clawed hand.
"Looks like we got party crashers!" Eugene yelped.
The Podlings scream with fear, and a lot of them are frozen in place, apparently too terrified to react. Fizzgig growls at a Garthim, and then quickly ducks out of the way before one of them smashes him with its claw.
"They're after me!" "They're after us!" Both Jen and Rapunzel exclaimed in horror, before turning to the other asking in unison. "Wait they're after you?!"
"This way!" Kira said, quickly. She grabbed Jen's shoulder and started to run, Eugene doing the same for Rapunzel. One of the Garthim snagged Jen's right arm with its claw. The startled Gelfling attacked it with the shard.
"Pascal, where are you?" Rapunzel called.
The little chameleon scurried over knocked over objects and avoided the fleeing podlings to reach his friends. While Maximus was still outside
"Through here! Hurry!" Kira instructed. Rapunzel picked up Pascal before following Kira, Jen, and Eugene out into the night air. Once outside, they and Maximus started looking for cover.
In the village, three Garthim are looking around and snatching up podlings. One of them sees the group getting away and starts running at them.
Just as it was four or five feet away from them, something stepped out from the right in front of it.
"Mala!" It was the chamberlain. He raised his hand and stopped the Garthim in its tracks with that one word.
Rapunzel paled and gasped, "SkekSil!"
"You know him?" Jen asked.
She didn't answer, instead the young woman fearfully pleaded with her friends. "I want to go now, please!"
"Come on. Come on!" Eugene urged them as their unexpected savior turned to look at them. As Kira confirmed that they'd just seen a Skeksis, the Garthim tried once more to pursue them.
"Mala!" SkekSil insisted once again. This time, they relented and went about the business of rounding up the rest of the Podlings. Meanwhile, SkekSil turned in the direction his quarry had gone, humming to himself as he followed their route. He wasn't letting his little treasure get away that easy.
The group frantically hurried through the jungle, wanting to put a great deal of distance between them, the Garthim and the skeksis. Finally they stopped long enough to catch their breath.
"They won't find us here." Kira assured everyone. It was a relief for them all to relax.
"It's all my fault." Jen murmured in shame.
"That Skeksis. He saved us from his own Garthim." Kira remarked, confused as to why such a creature would do that for them.
"He's probably got a trick up his sleeve." Rapunzel suggested with a shiver.
"That was also the same creepy thing I saw the night they attacked Aughra's home." added Eugene.
"First Aughra's, then your village." Jen said to Kira, his sadness evident to all. "I wish I'd never heard of this shard." Before anyone could stop him, he threw the shard into the distance.
"No Jen!" Kira protested, but she was too late.
"Hey, don't go beating yourself up over this." Eugene told the gelfling. "Nobody could've predicted those things would come barging through the village."
Pascal and Maximus agreed with earnest nods.
"Oh, Jen, they hurt your arm." Kira noticed.
"Allow me." Rapunzel chimed in, she gently loosened one of her locks and began to wrap it around the male gelfling's arm. "Eugene's right, Jen. You don't know that you were the cause of this for sure." she added. With that out of the way, Rapunzel started singing the healing incantation.
At once, her hair glowed a familiar brilliant gold that Pascal knew well and that Eugene had witnessed when she healed his hand.
The two gelflings gasped lightly in wonder. Maximus and Fizzgig froze in their spots just watching the brilliance go down the length of the maiden's hair. None of them had ever seen anything so extraordinary.
"I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it either." Eugene commented.
Soon the golden glow faded, Jen removed the locks to see that his arm had healed completely.
"That's..."
"Amazing." Kira finished for him.
"Tell us about it." joked Eugene.
"It's kind of a long story...Wish I can show you."
"Perhaps, I wonder..." Kira said softly in thought. She took Rapunzel's hand then had her hold Jen's until the two humans were holding the hands of the two gelflings.
That was when it happened. All four of them saw each other's memories of the past. From their earliest memories to their most recent ones.
... Before everything started ... Back when I had a mother and father ... shiny and round.
It showed a small gelfling child amidst a chaotic scene where the Garthim were destroying a settlement.
The first thing I remember is fire. It's a war... I think. ... A tree. My mother puts me right in side and we ... Mother! Mother, the monster!
Another one where a female gelfling hides her little girl in a hollow tree before she is snatched up.
A sun of gold…My parents, that's them! And this must be when Gothel had taken me.
One showed a golden sun symbol upon a crib mobile and two brunette humans. The woman reaching into the cradle lovingly. Next a woman stealing the blonde baby away into the night
I don't even remember mine, just having the other children around for company.
An orphanage with several children, playing talking or wandering.
The first thing I remember is the kind one. He picks me up and he's big. He makes the monsters disappear, and I'd be safe.
Then the young gelfling – who is young Jen- being cradled up in the hands of UrSu the mystic.
Rapunzel's voice remarks. That's a mystic? He looks so sweet, much like someone's father or grandfather.
Absolutely. Eugene confirmed.
Am safe. The podlings...
The female gelfling toddler wandering into the podling village.
How is this all possible? Eugene's voice cut in.
We're dream fasting. Kira's voice answered him. This is way for us gelfling to share our memories
One memory showed toddler Jen being bathed by UrSu in a tiny pond that was only three inches deep. Another of little Kira being fed by Ydra.
Look, I'm walking! Rapunzel's voice exclaimed to one memory showing her when she took her first steps towards Gothel.
Another shows a younger Eugene reading aloud to a group of children gathered around a bed.
Here I am reading the tales of Flynnigan Rider to the other kids in the orphanage.
... and then bigger ... And master, you showed me the whole valley stretching out. I thought it went on forever. Kira watch out!
The Garthim! They capture the podlings. It makes me cry. But sometimes it is good.
Young Kira ducks out of sight behind a boulder.
I like it well enough in the tower, but I do wish I could explore the outside if only for a little while.
A twelve year old Rapunzel gazing outside her window at the view.
I am happy. My master is family and teacher and friend ... and I can nearly forget...
Teenage Eugene with a traveling bag in a pub, deciding his next move.
On the road for so long, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a friend.
At that moment, some very significant memories begin manifesting, each one with something in common.
The lanterns. They always appear in the night sky on my birthday every year.
Yes, they floated out in the night almost every year. My master told me they were so that someone special would find her way home.
I saw them too with the podlings. They're pretty but I never knew what they were or that they meant something more.
Jen and Kira then saw the story of how Eugene and Rapunzel had first met, their trek through the Snuggly duckling, the fight in the gorge, the happy times in the city.
After that the more recent memories flooded through, from Gothel and Rapunzel's imprisonment by the Skeksis, Eugene and the animals arriving in the valley, to the day their journey began.
Finally they pulled away. Eugene gasped for air; he'd been so overwhelmed he nearly forgot to take another breath. "Wow! What a rush!"
"I never experienced anything like it." agreed Rapunzel, casting awestruck eyes to Pascal. "I saw everything, all those memories..."
"You're the lost princess." Kira whispered to Rapunzel.
"Yes. I am." Rapunzel answered, still stunned by the dream-fasting experience.
"That part still knocks me for a loop even after UrZah told me the whole story." muttered Eugene.
Rapunzel dropped her gaze. "As you probably saw, my hair's also why my mo- Gothel took me and why the skeksis kept us as their prisoners."
Despite everything she knew she had to go back and help her foster mother, if only to get her a fair trial when they return to Corona.
"I don't know about you, but I think I could use a good night's sleep. After all the excitement we've had." Eugene said in suggestion.
"What will you do if you no longer need to steal?" Jen asked him.
"I guess I get to find another, more honest line of work." the ex-thief replied.
It would soon be another day, a day of destiny.
In the morning, a bird call awakened the companions. Maximus and Pascal were the first to wake up, followed by Rapunzel and Eugene. Jen, Kira, and Fizzgig were the last to rise in the morning.
When they looked up they stared up in awe at an ancient building covered in vines.
"They're the houses of the old ones." Kira explained
Jen turned to her, "You mean our ancestors?"
"Jen, here's the shard!" The gelfling girl picked it up.
Through the dilapidated doorway, other walls and courtyards come into view. The stonework is graceful, with the remains of carvings evident here and there. The floors, where they are not covered with debris from the caved-in roofs, are apparently tiled.
Rapunzel and the others looked around the area. "It's incredible."
"Did your race used to live here?" Eugene asked as he looked around.
"We don't go in here anymore. Bad things happened in here once."
"But, they were Gelfling... like us!"
"Yes. They were all killed by the Skeksis long ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Rapunzel said, rubbing her arm nervously.
Eugene sighed somberly, "Ditto."
Deep in thought, Rapunzel traced a pattern on the stone walls before seeing something that attracted her attention. "Look at this one, it has more symbols on it."
"That-that looks just like the shard." Jen said, pointing to one symbol in particular. "What does it mean?"
"Can you read this, Jen?" Rapunzel asked him.
He looked at the symbols reading them carefully. "When single shines the triple ones, what was sundered and undone shall be whole, the two made one by Gelfling hand, or else by none. By Gelfling hand? Do you know what that means?!"
"This is a piece of the Dark Crystal!" Kira exclaimed, understanding.
"Then this symbolizes the past and what needs to be done!" Eugene said excitedly looking at the hieroglyphics, "Look at those images down below. Those are the mystics on the right! And to the left are the skeksis!"
Rapunzel glanced at the ancient writing in wonder. "Of course! That's the crystal right there too, but I don't recognize these figures around it." she said with a pensive frown. She gazing at one etching of the crystal and several beings in robes surrounding it.
"Prophecy." A new voice entered the discussion. Everyone turned, and became instantly panicked at who had shown up.
"You!" Rapunzel nearly screamed when she saw SkekSil there, standing before them in rags. Kira started to pull Jen away in her fright.
"WHOA!" Eugene yelled, jumping back. And then, embarrassed by his fear stood up straight looking the other creature in the eye.
"Wait, stay! No, stay. Stay, I am friend." SkekSil coaxed them, softening his voice. His usual smirking face was painted in a friendly expression, intended to curry favor with the group.
Rapunzel shook her head and screams in horror. "Go away!"
Fizzgig growls and barks, Pascal glowered and Maximus pawed the ground.
"Stay, I am friend. Prophecy. Prophecy cause all this trouble." SkekSil attempted to explain.
"That prophecy?" Jen asked, pointing to the wall they'd been examining.
"Yes." the banished Skeksis answered, enthusiastically.
"That's why the Skeksis killed Gelflings?" Eugene inquired, sounding a little skeptical.
"Yes. Please, bad mistake. Skeksis afraid, fear Gelfling." SkekSil answered, taking half a step back as he spoke.
"But you're a Skeksis." Jen stated, a little confused.
"But I am friend. Save you from Garthim." the devious schemer reminded them all.
"Are you kidding me?!" Eugene sputtered, "You're telling us that you and your own start finishing off one race because of a prophecy?"
"The Garthim Wars helped. Quite a bit." SkekSil replied, thinking back on the day the realized they could have a problem with the Gelflings. The day they learned that one had destroyed a Garthim.
"Then why were you stalking us?" Eugene demanded.
"Don't listen to him!" cried Kira, "It's a trick!"
Rapunzel was with her behind the pillar, looking very much afraid.
"No, please. Must listen." SkekSil pleaded, coming towards the two females.
Maximus, seeing how afraid the two girls were of the skeksis, at once reared up on his hind legs, threatening to pound him with his hooves.
The horse's threat made the exiled Skeksis pause. Clearly, this animal was powerful and a kick from Maximus in just the right spot could easily break SkekSil's back. Keeping an eye on the horse and moving slowly, he looked over at Kira and Rapunzel.
"I am outcast. If I make peace, I'm outcast no more." SkekSil told the girls.
"Will you stop the Garthim attacks?" Jen asked him. He saw his chance and took it when Jen wanted to talk more.
"Yes. Please, come to the castle. Please, show them you want peace. Show them Gelflings will not harm us. Please, please." SkekSil could tell by the look in Jen's eyes that he was winning him over.
Eugene, Rapunzel and their animal friends didn't like where this was going.
"Oh yeah?" Eugene interrogated warily, "Would you be willing to walk right into Corona to stand trial for what you did?"
"Only me? I was the gentler ones to that little one." SkekSil began, gesturing to Rapunzel. "But, I wager that's no excuse to you. For the princess' peace of mind, I would answer for the duration of her stay with us." Once more, he put that silver tongue of his to good use.
Wait a minute, they never mentioned Rapunzel was the lost princess. Pascal shook his head fervently.
"Jen! No!" Kira said stepping in front the male gelfling.
"Come ... please ...please ...yes please yes."
"No!" Jen refused then he and Kira bolted out of the ruins.
Eugene and Rapunzel start backing away down the wall towards an exit route. "He looks like ten miles of extremely bad news, let's go!"
And the Chamberlain, apparently too large to pursue them through the opening, stays behind.
"No! Wait! Wait, please! Please, wait!" His voice was getting angrier and harsher. "Please make peace!"
Maximus then discreetly with one front leg, kicks him in the gut, knocking the wind out of the conniving skeksis. Then with a brief whinny of satisfaction, the horse trotted off after his friends.
He wasn't the only one affected. Far away, Ursol the chanter winced, clutching at his stomach as the mystics continued their journey.
With a groan of pain, SkekSil's hands clutched at his aching stomach. Though on his knees for the moment, a determined expression crossed his face. He never quit unless he couldn't win. And this was not yet over.
To be continued…
