Chronicles of the Stars 5: Tainted Shadows

(A/N: Second to last chapter, finally. This hasn't been edited as much as others have been, but at least it's up. Enjoy.)

Time Runs Short

Tabuu watched from a balcony of the palace as his mortal bride played with their daughter whilst their infant son slept upon the grass. He couldn't help the warmth that flowed through him briefly. He transformed into his immortal form and flew down to the garden. Transforming back into human body before their daughter could see what her father truly was, he approached their son who was starting to whimper, likely about to wake up. He scooped the little boy up into his arms and gently cradled him, coaxing him back to the waking world.

The little one's eyes fluttered open and he blinked curiously up at his father before grinning then reaching up for his daddy's face and feeling it. "Papa!" he squealed in excitement.

"Hello, my little one," he softly said to the child. Truth be told he had no clue how to be a mortal parent, and gentleness and love were not in his nature. Putting such emotions and feelings into practice was proving… foreign to him… His nature drove him to be aloof, disassociated, uninterested, emotionless, cruel; and so he found himself spending very little time with his son and daughter and at times even working to keep away from them.

"Daddy!" his daughter screamed out, racing to her father and leaping into his arms happily. She kissed him and said, "Mama taught me how to make crowns from flowers. Look." She quickly produced a beautiful flower crown.

Tabuu smiled softly. And then there were times like these where for a moment, just a moment, he could almost become what a mortal parent was meant to be… These times he wouldn't exchange for the world… "It is lovely, my darling, just as you are," Tabuu replied, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Lina!" the little boy excitedly exclaimed, reaching for his sister.

"Hello other one," the little girl said, grinning at her small brother.

"Darling," the Shadow Queen greeted, coming up to Tabuu and draping her arms around his neck, leisurely kissing him. "You have made yourself very scarce these last months. The children and I have hardly seen you."

He heard the hidden reproach and coldness in her voice. "You know, beloved one, why it is that has been so," he replied. Hecate sighed, looking down. Oh how well she knew. "Come, Hecate, let us take the children inside. Dinner is ready. This time I promise I will dine with you." She smiled approvingly and took their son from her husband's arms, gently rocking him. "She was still breast feeding the boy, but slowly weaning him onto solid foods now as well. She concealed the little one beneath a shawl and allowed him to eat as they walked towards the dining room.

SMB

Tabuu and Hecate laid in bed that night trying to fall asleep. Tabuu cradled the sleeping babe on his chest softly. It was a foreign feeling to him still, but he believed he very much liked it. They heard the bedroom door creak open. The Shadow Queen looked up. "Darling, what is it?" she questioned their daughter, who had just entered.

"Mommy, daddy, I had a bad dream," she softly said, holding her stuffed bunny close. Tabuu's grip on his son tightened ever so slightly and he closed his eyes. He knew all too well why this was, why his daughter suffered nightmares as often as she did.

"Oh little one, come here precious," Hecate said, gesturing to her daughter. The little girl ran across the room and leapt up onto the bed, snuggling in between her father and her mother. Hecate smiled softly and wrapped her daughter in a gentle embrace, her fingers brushing against her son.

"Daddy, can we go stargazing tomorrow?" the daughter questioned softly.

For a moment Tabuu was silent. Soon, though, he answered, "Of course, my dearest." She smiled and kissed him goodnight before snuggling up into her mother. In moments their daughter was asleep, and so was Hecate. Tabuu looked the two of them over quietly, as well as looked over his son. After a moment he kissed each of their heads and fell asleep as well.

SMB

"Something is wrong," Master Hand declared to the other divinities. "Something is very, very wrong. The children, Light and Dark, have been born, and all is as it should be… but something is wrong… I feel it…"

"I fear for the children. I fear something has happened to them," Eldstar said. "Not physically, but there is definitely something… off…"

"What is it?!" Master Hand demanded frustratedly. "We can't find any indication of what it might be. We know only that it is there."

"We'll search for the answer. Soon enough we shall have it, Master Hand," Mamar said, bowing to him.

"Good… and Crazy and I will search too, as will the Cosmic Spirit… Until we have the answer, we do not congregate again," Master Hand stated. They all spoke their agreement and darted off to seek the answer they needed…

SMB

"There is the North Star, and over there is a cluster of Galaxies all their own," Tabuu pointed out as his daughter and his son sat on his lap, looking through his telescope.

"They're all so fascinating…" his daughter murmured. His son, of course, only yawned and snuggled closer. The child was only around a year old, after all. The little boy shivered and Tabuu snuggled him closer sending, via his powers, a wave of warmth into the boy.

"Daddy, tell us more about Star Haven," the daughter pled, looking up at her father. The baby boy's eyes flickered open tiredly and he blinked up at his father. Tabuu often liked to believe that the child was just as curious as his sister, but then again he was only small…

Tabuu was silent. "It was beautiful… It was peaceful… It was my… It was a home…" he murmured to her gently. "The ruling body were the Star Spirits, and they answered to no one say for two…" he finally replied.

"Who?" his daughter asked.

"Master Hand himself and his brother Crazy Hand," Tabuu answered.

"What was Crazy Hand like? I hear lots of stories about Master Hand, but not as many about Crazy Hand. Why?" his daughter asked.

"Because Master Hand was creation and Crazy Hand was destruction," Tabuu answered.

"Does Crazy Hand not feel love? Is he bad?" his daughter questioned.

Tabuu was silent. "Crazy Hand felt love for very few… But for those whom he had love, he felt it deeply… And none more so than the love he felt for his child, his one, his only, true and unique creation…" Tabuu replied.

"Was he a bad father to his son?" the daughter asked.

Tabuu was silent. Finally he answered, "No… I… I mean his son, could have asked for no better father," Tabuu answered, looking down at her.

"Was Crazy Hand like you?" the daughter questioned, smiling. He wondered, perhaps, if somewhere within her she knew…

Tabuu was quiet. Finally he answered, "Very much so… But perhaps I am crueller, colder, more wicked…"

"You're the best daddy ever," the daughter argued.

Tabuu chuckled. "Child, you have never had a mortal father…" he replied.

"A mortal father?" she asked, confused.

"Never mind, my daughter… In time…" Tabuu promised. "All will be revealed in time." The little girl nodded and turned back to the telescope. Sensing the conversation was at its end, the boy closed his intelligently glittering eyes and fell asleep, warm in his father's loving embrace.

SMB

That night as he slept he dreamt, and in his dream he stood in the skies, the cosmos, gazing upon all that existed in creation and all the universe. "It was you…" a voice said from behind, soft and gentle yet sad and pitying.

Tabuu turned around. There stood the Cosmic Spirit in all her glory. After a moment he answered, "How did you determine it?"

"Do you seek my answer so that you may hide the fatal flaw from your father and uncle?" she asked.

"Give me this…" he pled to her.

"They will learn regardless of if I tell you how I came to know it or not," the Cosmic Spirit answered. "Cousin, look at what you have done to yourself… The punishment will be grave… You will never walk the mortal coil again… You will never leave Subspace again…"

"I will not accept that!" he yelled furiously, spinning on her.

Tears burned her eyes and fell, becoming the food of the lumas, the starbits. "Tabuu, you have no choice…"

"I will not leave my little ones fatherless… Help me hide it… At least until they grow…" he pled.

"It is too late," she replied. "As we speak they begin to piece it together. You do not have much time… So take what little is left to you, and you must make the most of it."

"No… No!" he exclaimed, still unwilling to believe. And to his shock, and hers, he sobbed… He sobbed… It would be the last intense emotion he ever showed aside from love and hatred. They both knew it. Swiftly the Cosmic Spirit embraced him, holding him close to her.

"I love you, cousin…" she whispered. "If I could hope to change your fate…"

He held her tightly, unwilling to let go for fear that the moment he did he would be taken from this place and hurled into the depths of Subspace, his realm, and made prisoner in it. "Raise them as your own… Should Hecate too fall, you must take them under your protection and you must raise them as yours…"

"I will do so in your image or hers," she swore.

"Not in either, but in your own, cousin… In your own…" he answered, looking up at her and bringing forth a human form that looked much like his own daughter.

"As you command, Tabuu," she answered.

"Now let me awaken… Let me have this time with my children and my mortal bride," he said. She nodded and silently, tearfully, sent him back…

SMB

His eyes opened to the sight of the palace in which he resided with his wife and children. It was silent. The door opened and he looked towards it. Hecate entered in all her beauty, having just returned from feeding their son and kissing both him and their daughter goodnight, tucking them in. He was silent. She sighed softly and came towards the bed. She removed her gown, preparing to don her nightdress.

"Not yet, my beloved… Come to my arms, oh dear one, daughter of darkness… Come into my arms and there give your body to my embrace…" he said to her.

She shivered at his words and turned. After a moment she let the last of her clothing fall, revealing herself completely to him. She fell onto the bed, taking his lips softly. He wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her thigh. He moaned softly as she made the first advance, then eagerly reciprocated. Were this to be his last night at her side, he would make the very best of it.