The crowd scooted closer to where Meyer settled before the hearth. Chairs scraped against the floor as their burdens pulled them forward, and others who perched upon boxes and stools leaned closer.

Meyer was silent until everyone had finished adjusting and settling in. He took his pipe from the pocket of his faded jeans and sifted some tobacco into it, lighting it with a practiced hand. His grizzled blue eyes landed on each person individually, his gaze piercing them like a venerable sword. He exhaled a wisp of black smoke, then hunched forward towards the group.

At the back of the inn, Tutu settled back against the bar and crossed her arms, her brow furrowed in concentration. This was the first time she was going to hear the story of what happened between Odette and Odile... It was hard to believe that anybody else knew the account, and yet, just by meeting Meyer's gaze, she could see that he was deadly serious.

She bit her lower lip. I don't have nearly any memories of Odette's, only the White Swans'... I have a basic understanding of what went on, but I don't know any of the details. It'll be useful to know what really happened, if Meyer is telling the truth.

Meyer drew a ragged breath and rested his rough hands on his knees.

The whole room seemed to hold its breath...

"It happened eighty years ago."

"In an alternate world, so very much like the one you all know today, this land was ruled over by a governing royal family."

A couple of listeners shifted in their seats. Everyone knew that the country was ruled by individual lords, rather than one united monarchy.

Tutu squinted in thought. But he is talking about an alternate world.

"The royal family was kind and just. They had the favor of their people, and they served their land to the fullest extent." Meyer took a ragged breath, the rattling characteristic of that of a long-time smoker's, and considered the end of his pipe. "The Queen, God bless her, had at that time been dead some fifteen years as the result of a tragic accident. The King and his daughter, Odette, were all that remained of the royal family."

Tutu's breath caught. Odette...

"Odette was a graceful and wise young lady. Her people called her 'the treasure of the kingdom,' as she was. One couldn't have asked for a better candidate for the throne. She was accomplished, and she was smart. And she had won the favor of several princes from the neighboring lands."

The crowd, wide-eyed, waited for Meyer to continue. He left them hanging for a moment, studying their faces with a hard gaze, before going on.

"Odette had spent much of her childhood with her closest friend... Odile."

Tutu shot upright. What?!

"Odile was the daughter of the Duke Rothbart and the Duchess Igraine, who died in childbirth. She was every bit as fair and talented as Odette, and when her father was away on one of his many long voyages, she was welcomed at the palace as a member of the family. The two spent many hours together, laughing and playing and growing. They were inseparable." Meyer paused to fiddle with his pipe. "They were sisters."

Meyer's words were a hollow echo in Tutu's ears. Her head was pounding, and her hands were shaking in disbelief. Odile... and Odette... were like... sisters?

"But Odile had darkness in her heart. She was insecure, and constantly seeking the love that Odette commanded from everyone around her. Likewise, Odette was not comfortable with her role in the spotlight. Together, they balanced and supported each other. They were both sisters and mothers to each other, filling the gap each felt in their hearts."

Tutu left her post at the bar to stand just behind the crowd. She never took her eyes off Meyer, hardly daring to believe his words.

"When Odette and Odile were about seventeen years of age, a prince from a neighboring kingdom came to visit. He was young, fair, brilliant, and charismatic. And he had a kind and gentle heart."

Meyer paused again, before settling his gaze upon Tutu.

"His name was Siegfried."

Tutu's heartbeat was a roar in her ears. He knows about Siegfried, and about Odile... He's not some crackpot fool. He knows what he's talking about...

But how?!

"Siegfried stayed for several days at the palace to discuss trade and diplomatic matters with the King. And while he was there, he caught the eye of the two wonderful young women who resided there.

Now, both Odile and Odette had fallen in love with the prince at first sight. He was a remarkable person indeed, so this was understandable. But when the prince made his preference for Odette clear, maintaining only a strictly platonic friendship with Odile, Odile was driven mad with jealousy."

Tutu grit her teeth.

"Odile relentlessly pursued the prince, but he rebuffed her every attempt. Odile's envy quickly suffocated her friendship with Odette, and they were soon enemies.

Odette pleaded with Odile to stop her foolishness and return as a friend, as a sister, as they had been before. But Odile was too far gone. Her darkness consumed her completely, until she was a hollow, wicked shell of her former self."

Meyer gazed into the fire. It was apparent that his stern blue eyes were seeing a different time, a different place... As if he had lived his tale.

"Some months passed, and soon a grand ball was organized in anticipation of the official announcement of Odette and Siegfried's engagement.

But Odile would not allow this. She wanted the prince for herself - and no one else could have him."

No one made a single sound. The only noise was that of the crackling of the logs in the fireplace.

"The night of the ball, she unleashed the most powerful spell ever seen in this land. It wiped out the palace, killing everyone in it - and plunging the land into a Dark Age."

Tutu drew a hoarse breath in shock. I can't even imagine... What kind of envy would drive someone to such evil? To kill everyone in the palace, not just Odette or Siegfried?!

Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth set in a deep, grim line. So that is the kind of opponent I'm up against...

One who is not above taking any life that gets in her way.

The others present shifted in discomfort and disbelief, glancing at each other with stony expressions. The warmth that had lit the tavern previously was long gone, replaced by an icy, terrifying stillness.

Meyer swallowed. Tutu was surprised to see a watery glassiness come over his eyes. There's no doubt now... This is true. This is what really happened.

Meyer spoke again. "The land was put in a time loop of sorts. Though the palace was gone, the rest of the land was untouched - and at the beginning of each loop, time started where it had left off the day the spell was cast. The people had no memory of the royal family, and no memory of any of the events leading up to that fateful day. The loop would restart with the death of the reincarnation of Odette or Siegfried. And time will go on that way, always as it was the last time around, until the spell is ended...

But there is hope. For, you see, Odette was not about to let Odile's cruelty win. Her love for Siegfried, and for her people, manifested into the phenomenon known as the White Swan."

Tutu pulled at the hem of her glove.

"The White Swan is comparable to the reincarnation of Odette. And it is said that the day the White Swan, Odette's reincarnation, and Siegfried's reincarnation confess their love to each other, the spell on the land will break. The White Swan is born of part of Odette's essence, and given the ability to protect herself from Odile. For Odile is still hunting, even now, for Siegfried... And she seizes any attempt she gets to kill the White Swan."

Gruesome memories of Odile's annihilation of the past White Swans flooded Tutu's mind. She gulped and squeezed her hands into tight fists, desperately willing the scenes away.

"These long eighty years have passed, and the previous four White Swans have died at Odile's hands. The fifth one is out there, even as we speak - searching for her prince... and readying herself for the inevitable showdown between her and Odile."

Tutu pulled at her gloves again. That's a grand way to state it...

There was a long moment of stunned silence at Meyer's conclusion. Then, with a sense of awkward uncertainty, someone began to clap. Then another, and then another, until the whole room was applauding and cheering their appreciation for the 'story.'

Meyer ducked his head and grinned tightly, almost grimly, down at the floor, as if sensing some irony only he understood. He clapped his straw hat tightly onto his head, and stood. He was immediately swarmed by the rowdy group, half of whom clapped him on the shoulder and offered to buy him a drink. Meyer refused with quiet solidarity, refilling his pipe with fresh tobacco.

Tutu looked down at her hands and arms. Meyer's words made her feel more than ever the responsibility, and the looming pressure, of the White Swan. As if it wasn't hard enough to grasp already... She sighed.

For several moments, she was lost in a quiet reverie. I haven't learned much of anything that could help me defeat Odile and reunite with the prince... But...

I feel as if I haven't understood the situation in its whole until now.

Meyer knows just about everything... But how?!

And wait...

If he knows about all that...

Does he know a way to defeat Odile?!

And would he know why... why...

Her head shot up. "Meyer!"

Madam Eponine halted next to her, looking at her queerly.

"Oh - um," Tutu rubbed the back of her neck. "Where's Meyer?!"

"He left," Eponine replied, hoisting up a tray of empty mugs. "He never stays long, not even for a pint. He just walked out the door, so if you want to talk to him, I'd-"

"Thanks, Madam Eponine!" Tutu flew past her and bolted out the door at a full sprint.