Merry Christmas/ Frohe Weihnachten to everybody!
Tmntf4ever: Thanks for the support! I'm very glad I decided to go ahead with the Period Plotline, and many of you seemed to agree...I think we've had enough of it being glossed over in other forms of fiction!
GoldGuardian2418: Anton & Marvel are now best friends; these characters write themselves I don't make the rules. Thank you for reading!
Booya: I'm glad you decided to give my fic a shot! Ironically enough, I wasn't even a fan of NBC when I started writing this story- but its taken on a world of its own since then!
Mutant Kitty: Welcome to the reviews! I'm honored you've found inspiration in this tiny fic, and I definitely want to hear more about your NBC fic idea!
Now, let's get on with the celebration!
November 29
Town Hall
3 am
It started, Jack felt, rather unassumingly.
He'd put the human to work in the study with him, going through all his ancient scrolls and books he'd been meaning to read but had instead cluttered the house to such an extent Ivy had spent a night amusing herself by never once touching Jack's hardwood floor, leaping from book to book with extraordinary balance and gauge of distance.
"It's like your obstacle courses!" She'd explained with a grin as she balanced on the spine of a book. Jack was thankful that her pain seemed to have diminished in the past week- the time she'd spend gritting her teeth and writhing on the couch even as she attempted to distract herself had brought up too many distant, painful memories of his wife, his mother, all the woman he'd loved who'd come and gone…
"Just kill me," she'd groaned one night, sweat on her brow as she held her knees to her chest with one hand, the nails of her other destroying his upholstery. He'd utterly refused to let her suffer alone in the small upstairs room, to the point of (carefully, humans were so fragile) slinging the human over his shoulder and bringing her to the study couch despite her protests. "I'll probably end up down here, anyway. You'd see me soon."
"Not yet," he'd replied, bones grinding with discomfort at the thought of her completely losing all traces of her humanity- watching her memory fade was painful enough as it was.
But that was beside the point. The point was that they'd spent many nights like this, with only the sound of Jack's muttering and Ivy's soft breaths filling the room, the pumpkin king politely ignoring the way her eyes would hungrily scan the text before slipping the documents into their designated positions.
One particular night, Jack had been struggling with a deadbolt on a box that had been serving as a coaster for a clump of cacti (which Ivy had hotly protested handling). He jiggled the lock over and over again, searching for some keyhole, even offering a few Latin chants as bribery, ignoring how Ivy's eye twitched.
"Will you either open the thing or leave it!" She finally snapped, hands curling over reported supernatural sightings from Ireland she was pretending not to read. "I'd think somebody like you would know all about lock breaking."
"That constitutes as a general undead skill here," he responded mildly. "But this particular lock is adamantly sticky, and I haven't my usual tools."
"Why don't you go get them?"
Jack waved a hand towards an enormous pile in the manor's hall.
Ivy gave a grunt of acknowledgment but dropped the records, padding over to Jack in near silence to examine the box. Her eyes narrowed and her fingers twitched as Jack watched her mind eagerly sort through the new puzzle. Her brown eyes lit up as her lips parted in an open-mouthed grin. "I may be able to help, actually!"
She scrambled back to her designated chair, unzipping her jacket pocket and rummaging around the contents before withdrawing a flimsy plastic card.
She knelt by the box once more, tongue trapped between her teeth in concentration. "Hold it steady and bring that light closer," she ordered. "This works on my door at home, we might as well give it a shot!"
Ivy slid the card under the deadbolt, holding her breath as she wiggled and lifted it against the bold. After a few minutes of "c'mon!" and "jetzt...jetzt…" the bolt relented and lifted free. She whooped and dropped the card in favor of snatching the box, rushing to a nearby table and flinging the lid open to reveal-
"What?" She grumbled aloud, hands falling dejectedly to her sides. "The hell is wheat doing in a locked box?"
"It's most likely the cursed wheat of Moldova," Jack explained, leaning down to pick up the now-bent card. "Allegedly, it led to people singing ballads at one another until their voices gave out and the town was rendered mute."
"I... literally can't tell if you're joking," Ivy grumbled, but the pumpkin king was far more interested in the card before him. Ivy's picture (albeit outdated, with a pained, awkward grimace,) faced him from the front, her full name printed below her messy signature, declaring her to truly be Ivy Walter-Kunze. Fine print announced it to be an identification card for the armed services- Jack snorted at the glee his small town militia would have derived from such an identifier- and flipped it over, eyes narrowing at the information printed casually in one corner:
Date of Birth: November 16, 1975.
Jack carefully glanced at a clock tucked away on an old cabinet. Ivy wouldn't be able to read it- the symbols were long forgotten by the general mass of humanity, but Jack knew it proclaimed the date to be November 27th.
"Your birthday has passed," he said.
A statement, not a question.
He shouldn't do this. Memories of what was left behind ought to be forgotten until they could return her...if they could return her...
Her posture had frozen at his words, but to his surprise, she merely sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I...I know." One shoe slowly dragged against the floor and she picked at the skin of her fingers. "I'm not sure how long ago it was, to be honest-" her brow furrowed and he could see her straining to count the days. "-but hey, I'm 16 now! I can buy my own alcohol!" She grinned weakly and flashed him a thumbs up.
Though grateful he wasn't being accused of the gap in her memory, Jack found his mind couldn't let the matter rest, even as they drifted to other topics (evading his own birthday when the human inevitably broached the subject). It had persisted, a constant nagging of guilt and pity, leading to where he was now- crouched behind the door of the town hall.
He glanced over his shoulder- the glow worms had dimmed their light to keep the hall in shadow, but each monster was perfectly clear to the King's trained eyes. Photos were rare in Halloween, but the Tailypo had eagerly stolen her jacket, which the bats now held high above in the rafters. The Wind had been sent to fetch the human, and her good-natured grumbling floated on the breeze as the Wind's silent warning.
"Last time I was here, I ended up spilling my guts, almost literally, to the entire town," she griped, though there was little bite to the words. There was a pause and she laughed at some unheard comment before pushing open the door, smile falling from her face as she took in the dark hall with narrowed eyes. The Citizens held the silence for a moment more, than the Wind flung her off her feet and sent her soaring into the air. Jack felt a surge of amusement rattle his bones at the utter shock on her face, the way she pinwheeled her arms and kicked up her legs, her rapid heart rate before he slammed the door to the hall shut and plunging them all into darkness.
They all waited for the crunch of leaves and her soft 'oof!' as she landed before springing into action, excitement sweeping through the crown in a mad frenzy. An awful canopy of noise rose up as she worked her way from the leaf pile, which burst into flames of red and brown, the monster keeping up the ruckus as claws dragged against harsh surfaces, Jack began a death rattle that grew louder and louder, Chifte shed forms with the sickening sound of goo falling to the floor with each shift, bones snapped and limbs cracked until her scream led them to a crescendo, the monster roared their approval as the flames died down, licking harmlessly at the human's frozen form.
"Another year scared out!" Jack called, and the ruckus rose. The glow worms brightened once more, illuminating the hall with multicolored lights as the Jack-o-lanterns gleamed. Jack watched the other monsters finish 'cheering', a proud smile on his face as he stood by a large banner reading, "Happy Death Day!" with 'Death' hastily scribbled out and 'Birth' written above it in cramped handwriting. The human hadn't moved, except to snap her jaw shut, eyes huge as she let out a long, slow breath.
Jack felt his nerves grow along with the tension in the air. This was all their custom- ancient and honored, one of the few memories clung to by monsters despite its morbid nature- was she displeased? Would she scowl and curse at them? Would there be another fight, would this all lead to another failure to integrate her, to raise the town's dismal opinion of her, to-
Ivy laughed.
It was unlike the others Jack had heard- not short, jarring, or suppressed behind a snicker. It was loud and full and unpracticed, harsh only in its lack of usage. She trailed off into giggles, pushing herself to her feet and plunking a smoldering leaf from her hair. "This your version of April Fool's?" She asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. She caught sight of the banner and her face shifted, head tilting slightly.
There was a pulse of curiosity at Ivy's question, but the skeleton king- for once- pushed it aside.
"You haven't yet had your death," Jack began, gesturing to the hall. "So we've made a slight exception- happy, ah, belated birthday, Ivy Kunze."
Her face softened in something akin to wonder, mouth falling open as a new emotion entered her eyes. She glanced around the hall once more, nerves visibly eased.
"So," she asked, expression slipping back into its usual sly countenance, "how do you party when you're dead?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Extensively, apparently, was the motto of the celebration. Ivy was strongly suspicious that only death itself would give her the stamina necessary to keep up with the monsters who only grew more exuberant as the night went on. Straight Out Of the Coffin strummed away in the corner, the monster who'd bought Ivy the Cat's Eye sending her a wink as a twisted garland of twigs, black roses, and orange lilies was shoved onto her head, a much milder drink in her hand. ("Only this one free!" Nicholas had warned her, waving a hairy finger in her face even as he slid the drink over. "Next time, I expect some tribute!")
Ivy twisted away from the flour some monster attempted to sprinkle on her, sitting on the window sill and swinging the glass open, smiling at the Wind that instantly soothed her sweat-stained face. "Wind, you traitor," she teased, letting her head rest against the dark wood of the wall. "You knew what you were throwing me into!"
The Wind chuckled, brushing at the flowers on her head. "I hope you can forgive me," came the answer. "Jack was rather insistent on this, dear. A year closer to death, but another year survived. It's quite an accomplishment."
Ivy shrugged, sipping her drink, allowing the buzz to vibrate her chest. "I dunno about that. It's just living."
"But what astronomical odds for existence in the first place! We go on with our deaths here, make no mistake: Death is simply another birth, to a new world and new experience, but with you present, we can observe so much more clearly the passage of time."
Ivy chewed on her lip, thinking. "Is that why you celebrate death down here? Isn't that kinda...traumatizing?"
"It coincides with the arrival in Halloween, which many choose to celebrate instead as the details of life slide away," the Wind mused. "Every human, animal, thing of nature dies. I have seen even the strongest oaks wither away until no trace of them is left, the proudest of humans reduced to nothing in the grave. You each encounter it, yet none speak of it. You refuse to address this fear, giving it more power over you. Why do you fear death, Ivy Kunze?"
Numerous quips flew to mind, but the drink stalled them all. Ivy looked down at her feet, gingerly tracing the black rose tucked behind her ear. She found, for some odd reason, that she couldn't lighten the mood, or make some snarky comment to steer the conversation to different waters. She thought of Ciaran and Quincey, of all the monsters who'd forgotten their roots, of the mass graves she'd seen memorialized across her home country. The Wind had waited patiently-forever patiently- and for the first time in a long while, Ivy sighed and let an honest answer, unpracticed and uncertain, fall forth.
"I wasn't really...before," she admitted, tugging at the rose. "I...I didn't- don't- I dunno, believe in any kind of afterlife. I thought we died however we do and that's... it. We just...stop. Our molecules go spreading out into the universe, but whatever made us human just dies along with the neurons in our brain. Even now, it's not really the dying that's scary."
"Than what is?"
Ivy glanced up at the banner once more, anxiety filling her chest in spite of the drink's calming effects. "Being forgotten," she blurts out, face twisting with discomfort. "Or, now that I know this is an option, forgetting. I'm here now, I'm living and alive, but my family probably thinks I'm dead- they may be looking for me but other people will slowly forget except maybe to say, 'oh, yeah, remember Kunze? She just ran away one day…'" Ivy took a shuddering breath. "It's like I'm already dead, Wind. What're they gonna remember me for? No, I know what they're going to remember me for and I can't stand it. It doesn't matter how big or important you are- like, does anybody know that Mary Morgan was the rocket scientist who invented hydyne? Or that John Walker invented matches? No! And I haven't done anything like that, big or notable, I'm just some punk who's gonna forget everything-"
"What makes you say that?"
Ivy glared at the air in disbelief. "Don't give me that shit, Wind. Jack won't tell me anything either, but I know I'm forgetting stuff, I just don't know why."
The Wind sighed. "I do not believe it is my place-"
"What, you're gonna let Jack boss you around? Isn't he, like, a total baby compared to you?"
"If he is a 'total baby', you are not even a conception in terms of age-"
"Ew, ew, ok. Just...I'm getting kinda sick of being left out of the loop for everything. C'mon. It can be a birthday wish?"
"You may want to save that wish, Miss. There is a great deal I'm prepared to do for you- you wouldn't want to waste it on something as meager as this."
Ivy had no comeback to that and instead took another long drink.
"It is not by any malicious intent," the Wind began steadily, only a hint of smugness in the great voice. "Obsessing over what is lost benefits none, especially when the string of life has come unwound. So Halloween blurs the lines between living and dead, this world and that, letting unnecessary memories go until life seemed to have happened to another being, but not who they are now. You register this more acutely, perhaps, as you haven't yet crossed the final threshold into the next world- you still feel, all too keenly, what has been taken from you."
Ivy twisted a flower stem around her finger. "Can...can I fix it?" She asked, her voice small. "How far does it go? How much will I forget?"
"How much have you forgotten?"
Ivy chewed her lip harder. "That's the thing! I don't- I don't really know! I'm still bilingual and I know where I'm from and that I'm human, but my friend's faces are getting fuzzier by the day and I'm mixing up events and dates and things people've said to me- but then, on the other hand, some stuff is sticking more clearly than others. What's up with that?"
"Can you elaborate on what you are remembering?"
Ivy fell silent, picking at a patch of dried mud on her jeans.
"I don't ask these things to pry. I merely cannot answer your question without context, my dear."
She groaned and let her head fall back. "Stuff that I'm confused about. Things that make me mad. Things I wouldn't mind forgetting."
"Hmm."
Well, that was optimistic.
"Strong emotional memories will always override the mundane, no matter how unpleasant they may be. They may also fade in time unless you channel it for motivation to shape your afterlife."
"But this isn't even my-"
"Ivy! Come over here!"
Jack's voice startled her from the gloomy conversation, and she glanced out the window hesitantly.
"Go on, dear," the Wind coaxed, tone considerably lighter. "Forgive me for soiling this day with talk of death and the relentless passing of time."
"'S no big deal," she mumbled, closing the window and hopping down to join Jack, the last remnants of a cold breeze reminding her of something.
"Jack, have you seen my jacket? I haven't seen it all day, and-"
"Don't you worry about that," Jack cut her off, a mischievous grin on his face that instantly put Ivy on high alert. "We've a slight surprise for you."
"I think I've gotten nothing but surprises for the past month; I'm not sure how much more my heart can take."
"Your heart will like this one, I guarantee," Jack answered smoothly, practically vibrating with glee as he presented her with a medium-sized pumpkin, positively beaming.
"Gee," she said, grateful Jack never seemed to pick up on sarcasm. "I'm honored, Jack, a pumpkin from the thousands I've seen around-"
Jack waved off her words with a flap of his thin hands. "Not the pumpkin itself, you silly human! Unless humans generally keep the container of their gifts, in which case you're more than welcome to-"
"Wait wait wait, gift?" Ivy stammered, the pumpkin suddenly seeming to gain more weight. "Wait, no, you guys didn't-"
"We did," Jack countered, sweeping his gaze up and down her body, causing her to flush. "Besides, I wanted to, and Sally was more than enthusiastic to assist."
"Sally? You roped her into this? What'd you two even-"
"Why don't you open the pumpkin and find out?"
Ivy let the pumpkin thunk onto a nearby table, lifting the stem and peering inside, Jack helpfully holding a candle to illuminate-
"I hope this isn't overstepping my bounds," Jack murmured, his voice taking on a conspiratorial tone as she wordlessly pulled a shirt, just her size, from its depths. "I don't mean this as an embarrassment, it's just that, well, you keep trying to preserve those rags that you've got now-"
A thick pair of pants, spider-silk soft, but unyielding to her fingernails as she dragged them across the material, came next.
"-and Sally took your measurements, so it should all fit, and she told me it was designed to fit your aesthetic and activity levels while also-"
A jacket. Her eyes scanned the garment, felt its sturdiness in her fingers, before honing in on an ivy leaf design carefully- no, lovingly- stitched across the collar.
"-helping you avoid getting as many strange looks but, listen if you...if you don't like it, you can just put it back in the pumpkin and wear your old things and we won't speak another word of- OOF!"
Ivy had thrown her arms around Jack's middle, the bundle of clothing fastened firmly under one arm as she buried her face underneath his ribs, unsure if she should laugh or cry.
"Thank you," she mumbled through the fabric before her, hoping the physical gesture would convey what she knew, impossibly, her words never could. She didn't even tense when a skeletal hand hesitantly threaded through her hair.
"Of course," Jack whispered, slightly stunned, as he detangled a knot from her hair. He felt the bottom of his ribs scrape across her head, and looked down to where she had tucked her face.
"You may not see yourself as one of us," he began hesitantly, always unsure of the human's reactions, "but the town's opinion is far higher than you might have been led to think."
Ivy laughed wetly, pulling away and ducking her head. "That's just 'cuz they get a party outta me." She ran her fingers over the material once more, her eyes softening. "Mind if I…"
"Go on," Jack answered, gesturing in his usual grand manner to the back of the hall. "There's a few unused rooms- and I think the band's about to play something more somber, so this would be the time. Unless you'd like to partake in the wailing, of course."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
She'd opted out of the wailing, unsurprisingly, but her stomach twisted as she bolted the door, previous elation swiftly ebbing. It was undoubtedly wonderful of Jack and Sally (so that's why Sally had insisted on using Ivy as her reference to get measurements!). It was far more than she knew she deserved, truthfully, but she couldn't suppress the spike of anxiety as she fiddled with the hem of her own shirt. Sure, it was blood and sweat and mud-stained, with rips and holes, but it was hers, and it was human. It was a bit of her, of the Ivy Kunze who'd just made the wrong decision on a Halloween night. The Wind had already confirmed her memory would keep fading- how much more would she forget with Halloween pressed against her skin?
She shook her head and lifted the green T-shirt over her head, fighting paranoia as the cold evening air bit her. Sally must've developed some sort of telepathy- Ivy had to admit the button-down, though fancier than she was used to, was her style, with its dark black and green plaid pattern and easily adjustable sleeves. She rolled them up to her elbows and inhaled the collar deeply, closing her eyes at the now-familiar pumpkin scent. There was none of the stiff, new-clothes sensation that she loathed- just soft and worn, as though she'd already broken it in through a skating practice. The scent was cold and rich with something impossible just escaping her senses, as though a cold breeze had swept over her frame.
The pants were next. They were a dark indigo, the material stretchy and- Ivy rubbed a dewdrop from the window across her thigh- apparently waterproof. She twisted around, admiring the near-soundlessness of the moment.
She picked up the jacket last, eyes narrowing. Her jacket was fine- it was her Dad's old bomber, littered with patches across the back from the both of them, each telling a story. It had her Dad's name scribbled into the collar, scrawl identical to his daughter's. Ok, the bright tan may stick out a little in the town's dreary color scheme, and it wasn't as warm for when the weather got colder, but-
She pulled it on, the voice of protest instantly silenced. The cuffs fell just above her wrists, the hem sweeping around her hips. It was a dark mahogany brown, matching the flames she'd seen in her eyes from the Cat's Eye, and the material seemed to hug her, trapping her body heat. A shiver she didn't know she had was halted as she shoved her hands deep into the pockets, letting the jacket swing shut of its own accord.
Ivy turned and faced an old mirror, its surface shifting in the same way the mirror in her room did. The mirror was tilted upwards, causing her average height to become looming. A curious air overtook her as she pulled the collar up the way Jack always did with her old jacket, the ends framing her cheeks and skimming the edge of her now-short hair. She looked- well, she looked different.
The longer she stared into her own eyes the more unfamiliar her reflection became, the edges of her vision slowly turning white with mist. When had her casual slouch become tense and wired, like a coiled spring? Was her jaw always set like that? It wasn't her- it couldn't be- this person was graceful and measured and somehow ethereal, and she swore she saw flames of red and brown creep back around her eyes- the eyes that were too cold too knowing, too-
"Like what you see, darling?" Came a cackle, and Ivy swallowed a scream and flinch as a face materialized in one corner of the mirror. It was a woman's head, with large bouncy curls and deep red lipstick. The head hovered just behind Ivy's left shoulder, but she didn't bother turning around- she knew nothing would be there, nothing visible, anyway.
"Who're you, then?" she asked, her voice flat and cold to match her face. She kept her shoulders straight and tense, the mist from earlier curling around her shoulders in a mockery of a caress.
"I'm known in this world and others as the Madam Leota, Seere of the Unknown," the head droned, the sound echoing around the room. "No need to introduce yourself- I know just who you are, too."
"Really?" Ivy asked, bemused. "I've been changing ever since I got here, and the other me keeps getting quieter. Who's to say who I am after all this?"
Leota let out a dark chuckle, orbiting above Ivy's head as she took the mirror's image in. "Well, your future calls for you to change, though not in the way you expect, Spirit."
Ivy's brown quirked, confusion rather than discomfort spreading across her features. "Last I checked, I was still human, at least. I kinda expect to stay that way."
This time, Leota's laugh was high-pitched, sharp against her eardrums. "Oh, naive little spirit! You may be the form you're in now, but when the time comes you'll cause this town to burn, and this version you will follow."
As Leota spoke, strands of ivy sprouted from the mirror and floor, winding their way around her ankles and arms. She flexed, causing the vines to bite back, but she grit her teeth and refused to give Leota the satisfaction of looking down in a panic.
"I don't know what you're on," Ivy began as the vines crept higher, "but I don't actually want to see this town destroyed, or the Veil torn apart, or whatever the hell else you lot are trying to pin on me."
"Perhaps you don't mean to," Leota hummed, "but you are not truly forgetting your old form, Spirit, merely absorbing and re-writing the past to suit your new purpose."
"And what might that be, wise-ass?" the Ivy under her skin and the one present in the mirror snapped in unison.
The ivy strands tightened, and Leota's rank breath ghosted over her ear.
"Spirits become what they deal with in life," came the hiss. "And you, Spiritus Dolo, you'll fulfill both your namesakes soon enough, human and monster, and choke the life from this town."
Ivy tried to wrench her arm free, heartbeat making a sudden- and rapid- reappearance. "That's- that's not who I am!" she protested, stammering, but her reflection didn't mirror her panic. She reached a hand to rip an ivy strand from her arm only for her double to calmly wind another through her fingers. "I didn't- it wasn't a lie! I just- I didn't- I can't- nein, bitte- es war nicht meine Schuld-"
"Well? Are you going to show us?"
Ivy blinked and the vision was gone, just a human teenager in a new jacket, fist dead center in a spiderweb of cracks stretching across the mirror. She pulled her hand back, ignoring twinges of pain, and shoved it into her pocket, breathing heavily. She took a long, shuddering breath, shook her head, and turned her back to the now shattered and pitch black mirror, swinging the door open.
Jack took her in with his usual toothy grin, flashing a thumbs-up. "Now you look like a proper monster! Come on back now, the wailing is finished, thank Eternity, so now we can- say, are you alright?"
The phantom remains of ivy strands tickled the backs of her hands, and she shoved them deeper into the pockets. "I'm good," she managed, brushing past Jack. "I just...need a drink."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nicholas the werewolf was bartending once more, wiping his claws on a bloodied rag. He saw Ivy approach and (quite literally) wolf-whistled at her, drawing the gathered monsters' attention. Ivy grinned in spite of herself and gave an obligatory twirl, coat hem flaring out in a graceful arc. She plopped herself onto a makeshift barstool, tossing Nicholas a grin.
"Sure I can't get one more Worm's Delight?" she teased. The drink in question had an earthy quality that reminded her of the less bitter beers in the Upper World (though she adamantly refused to ask what was in it).
Nicholas lowered his eyebrows and gave her a good-natured glare. "You're not such a large thing," he teased. "Too much Halloween isn't good for decent young ladies."
Ivy flipped him off as the other monsters let out howls of mirth. "Bit late for that, Wolf-boy. You want to shut me up, tell me what it's gonna cost me."
Nicholas pushed her finger down and said bluntly, "your soul."
Ivy blinked.
Nicholas laughed, popping one hip to slam a drawer shut. "You should've seen your face! But really, come on now." He leaned across the counter, eyebrows wiggling in an alarming fashion as Ivy fought the urge to take a protective step back.
"Last I checked, souls aren't...tangible things…" she said, every cell of scientific integrity screaming at the situation. "So unless you've got like, one hell of an exchange rate or a bendy straw back there-"
Nicholas huffed, waving a claw in the air dramatically as he turned away. "I give up! Some monsters just aren't willing to give what's needed!"
"He doesn't mean your actual soul,' a dripping wet creature said, taking pity on her. "That would be far too valuable to waste on a transaction such as this. Bearing your soul is different. Here in Halloween, we like to exchange-"
The pumpkin bread Ivy had been absentmindedly lifting to her mouth twitched and Chifte flitted up onto the counter in a bat form, wings steading as she balanced on an unfortunate patron's drink. The goop of her skin sat in the place where the bread had been, and Ivy folded her hands in her lap, appetite fleeing.
"What's the gossip?" Chifte asked, somehow arranging the bat's face into a smug expression. "A town this small, how'd you think we stay entertained? We can't always have human visitors dropping in, you know. Besides, you're existing with Jack- so what's new?"
The whole group at the bar leaned in as one, pressing against the human's tense shoulder. She tucked a short strand of hair behind her ear, casting a glance to where Jack was talking with Sally. The skeleton was hopelessly genuine and awkward, hand flapping around while Sally messed with the stitching of her fingers behind her back. Ivy watched them, her mind offering up different outcome and ideas, until she turned back to the group, eyes twinkling.
"Jack sings old love ballads when he thinks I can't hear," she confessed, and the monsters' answering laughter ignited a warmth in her stomach. This was familiar, this she knew- she could dredge up fuzzy memories of swapping tales with her friends at school, trading rumors over a shared cigarette at the park.
Nicholas poured half a drink, then swirled the rest of the bottle tauntingly. "One about Jack, one about you," he said. "That'll give you the taste of Halloween you need."
"Are my eyes gonna start doing that glowy shit again?"
The werewolf snorted. "They're always doing the 'glowy shit.' It's just a question of whether or not you can see it."
Ivy balked. "Wait, are they doing it right now? Can you see it?"
The monsters around her narrowed their eyes, a gleam of bright color swiping across the pupil. There was, surprisingly, no theatrics- no dramatic flames or earth-shaking revelations- but the veneer of Halloween normalcy was undoubtedly shifted.
"It's a lot stronger than usual," Chifte announced, as Nicholas' form went stiff. Human and werewolf locked eyes, and Ivy was struck with the same sense of self-preservation she'd felt when Vlad had turned his predatory gaze on her. Her mind raced.
"I never join Jack in those ballads," she said, crossing her arms over the counter. "Can't sing to save my life."
"Most monsters can sing!" Chifte protested, fluttering over to examine her throat. Ivy let the shapeshifter perch on her finger, a niggling thought at the back of her head yelling something about how the bat's claws should be digging in, painful- not barely scraping. "How're you going to sing the town song?"
"Guess I won't," she teased, resolutely ignoring how Nicholas' eyes were still glued to her face. "We were singing the anthem once for Tag der Deutschen Einheit, and I was so tone-deaf that we didn't even get to the chorus."
"How bad was it?"
"Tell wolf-boy to fill up my drink a little more and I'll show you."
Wait, what? The determined human part of her screeched. NO!
A cheer rose from the group and Nicholas snapped from his daze.
Xxxxxxxxxx
This was bad.
This was very, very bad.
Nicholas knew he wasn't the most knowledgeable of the Classics. He knew that having only a few centuries under his belt was laughable in the terror of all existence- Vlad, curse him, had even used the term windsnapper for himself and Marvel- but he knew the signs.
Ivy's posture was relaxed, lazily wiggling her fingers for Chifte to climb. She traded a barb with another monster, her eyes closing temporarily in laughter that in no way obscured the multicolored blaze in her eyes.
It wasn't as if humans didn't glow. All the monsters had seen it- a soft sheen in the eyes, small flames, but never noticed by another member of mankind.
"You know that phrase, 'the eyes are the window to the soul?'" Vlad had explained to him when Nicholas first joined Halloween. "There's some truth to it. You'll see them glowing like a candle in a hurricane, but pay no mind to it."
"How come we've got them, then?" Nicholas peered at the black and red flames that contained themselves to the vampire's sclera. "I thought we didn't have souls."
"Why do you think they're flames?" Vlad had snickered. "Our souls are burning for all eternity, boy. Humans burn with potential. We burn because it has been decided for us."
Nicholas watched as she tucked another strand of hair behind her ear, the fire burning as bright as any monster around her, and wondered at its source. The lines between human and monsters had only blurred more since they'd last met- which didn't make sense! She was human! Her heart still thudded noisily away...albeit much slower than normal.
Maybe Vlad would have some answers, some explanation or solution, but the vampire was nowhere in sight. Nicholas was left alone with a glowing...something and the monsters surrounding her chanting to give her a drink.
What to do? Didn't Jack see this?
Nicholas scanned the room, eyes meeting Jack's, dropping his gaze through the Veil as the skeleton blazed too brightly for even the werewolf to comprehend. He ducked his head at once, restoring his sight, and put as much pleading into his gaze as he could muster (a rather unpracticed skill, without being held at pitchfork as he had in life).
Jack tilted his head at the blazing human, an unknown expression creeping onto the corners of his mouth, even as his hand landed on Sally's shoulder in a show of comradery. He met Nicholas' gaze once more than resolutely turned his back.
Knees threatening to fall out from under him, the werewolf filled her flask with the weakest ale the monsters had. Judging by the way her eyes narrowed as she sipped, the human hadn't been fooled but said nothing as she dutifully threw it back and began her tune.
"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Für das deutsche Vaterland!"
On second thought, calling it a 'tune' was generous. Her voice wobbled and shook, cracking even as her perceived confidence grew. But it drew laughter from the surrounding monsters, and it seemed to distract the human from terrifying Nicholas anymore.
"Danach lasst uns alle streben
Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!"
Somebody slapped her on the back and, for a brief moment, Nicholas swore he saw vines erupt down her arms, swaying in a macabre imitation of the beat.
"Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Sind des Glückes Unterpfand..."
She paused, eyes blinking in appreciation. "There's Halloween!" She cheered, throwing her arms up.
"Would you like to see, now that you're looking more like your proper self?" Chifte asked, claws working to lift a reflective plate.
Ivy's mood suddenly sobered, her face closing off. "Um...no thank you. I've seen it."
"And you don't want to see it again?"
"It's not quite what I would have expected," the girl said quietly.
"How can we be scary if we're predictable?" A monster asked rhetorically, slinking one of many arms around her shoulder. Ivy took in his true form- blue and cubic, just barely filling his physical form- and grinned, not moving to shrug the arm off. "Fear is always what lurks beyond, what leads to the next evolutionary advantage!"
"God, I hope I evolve to fight rabbits," she muttered, slumping slightly against the counter. "They got those beady little eyes. Don't trust 'em." She patted the monster on the shoulder. "But y're right. We gotta...bloom and grow. Bloom...Blüme.." a smile split her face as she dipped her head back and sang once more.
"Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
Blühe, deutsches Vaterland!"
The monster cheered once more, some picking up the tune, and Nicholas turned his back on the scene, fixing a strong batch to guzzle down, hoping it would wipe the memory of her cold eyes from his mind.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
5:45 am
A seeminly abaondoned road in Town
"-und, Männer? Sie sind nutzlos. Mein erster Freund, er wollte eine Verbindung. Eine Verbindung! Ich war vierzehn, er war sechzehn, und er dachte, ich hätte ihn gefallen? Doch. Als ich seine Freundin war, könnte ich die älteren, besseren Skatern treffen. Aber neeeiiiinn, er sagt, wir können nicht zusammen sein, nur weil ich ihn nicht mag- das ist nicht meine Schuld...ja?"
"Indeed," Jack agreed easily, bemusement radiating from his bones as his charge ranted on. The human's need for sleep, while reduced, was still prevalent, and found her yawning against the counter, dozing against a monster who'd handed her off to Jack with all the caution of an atomic bomb.
The human was now tucked against his chest, chin resting on his shoulder as she finished her tirade, arms still effortlessly looped around his neck, legs wrapped around his rib cage. He stepped over a loose cobblestone, ducking under a particularly low-hanging archway, causing the human to grumble.
"I'd apologize weil ich zu Schwer bin, aber the human bone can hold, like, over 8,000 kg of weight so I...glaube dass Sie sind in Ordnung?"
Jack sighed, feeling an ache arise between his axis and atlas. He shifted her up slightly, securing the arm across her back.
"I think I'll be fine," he assured, uncertain of how much she was hearing. "I wouldn't have thought you to be such a lightweight."
She snorted. "Anderes stuff to drink, hier. And I'm not even drunk. Just...a little dizzy."
Jack hummed, causing his entire torso to vibrate as he dug around his mind for her langauge. "And that's why you're letting me do this to you."
"I've done a lot of things I wouldn't have expected lately," she admitted, voice sounding clearer than it had all night. "And don't you get me wrong- if there was some way to go home I'd do it in a second- but I…. Ich bin gerne hier. Sie sind nett und lustig und ich glaube dass ich gehöre-"
"Ah ah ah," Jack chided, bumping her head with his chin. "Auf Englisch, bitte."
He tried and failed to hold in a smile at her indignant choke, tightening his arms so she wouldn't fall even as she pushed herself back to face him, a blush stretched across her cheeks. "You understand?"
"That's all I know, I promise," he lied, feeling his ribs tighten at her unexpected words. "Go on, bring yourself down to this old fool's vocabulary."
"Oh, that's rich," she muttered. "It's all sausage to me, anyway. Forget I said anything."
He blinked at the turn of phrase, about to question it further when she yawned again and dropped her head back to his shoulder, breath fanning across the vertebrae of his spine.
He hadn't held any like this since-
It felt like-
He remembered-
"Isn't he wonderful?" His wife asked, bouncing the child gently. Though undoubtedly exhausted, she raised her chin to meet his own awe-struck eyes, her hands gently stroking the babe's hair.
"He's perfect," Jack had croaked, suddenly bashful and humbled at the sight before him. He had boasted of countless deeds, succeeding in perhaps half, and here his wife had created an entirely new creation- one that Jack privately swore would be better than he, would never face the trials he had.
"You've got to hold him at some point, Jack," she'd teased, prying the babe from her breast and offering him to her husband. "He needs burping- put him up, over your shoulder, gently, gently, let him hold you…"
And Jack, who once proudly proclaimed he would obey no man, fervently followed his wife's soft orders, raising his son- his son!- to his shoulder. The babe whimpered only a moment at the loss of his mother's warmth before settling instinctively against his father, breathing onto his neck in a way that was soft, warm, ALIVE.
The babe burped and Jack laughed, patting his boy's back. "That's it, James. Well done, my boy. That's it…"
"Mmmhm...Jack? Jack?"
The skeleton tore himself from the memory, arms shaking. He'd always occupied his mind with the danger of his descendants, he hadn't thought about his son in- in-
"Jack, dude, we're here. You can-" a yawn- "you can put me down."
But he didn't want to. Had he repressed the memory or had it been taken from him? By whom? How dare Halloween decree that memory wasn't important enough to stay?
"Jaaack…" she squirmed again, sounding much younger than her now 16 years. "You're not that comfy, lemme down."
He'd somehow ended up on his front porch, the door looming before them. He could easily hold her with one arm to open the door- ignore her protests- pretend his child hadn't been taken from him for just a few more moments, please-
The Wind blew around the pair, a hint of pressure at where Jack's hands clutched the human close. Swallowing, Jack tightened his arms for only a moment before loosening them, swinging the girl down to the ground and ignoring the newfound ache in his chest it left behind.
The Wind must have said something to her, as her eye lost some of their bleariness and gazed upon him, chewing her bottom lip.
"Yes?" Jack asked, kneeling to her height and looking into her eyes- still slightly aglow, only a bit brighter than other humans. He noticed, with some glee, that she hadn't moved away. Her face, troubled and drawn, had made no effort to retreat from his own skeletal one.
"Thank you," she said, tugging at her coat- setting off a flare of pride in Jack's chest at how much better she looked in it. "Not just for the party or these clothes, but for- everything, I guess. I dunno if I said it before, but even if I did, I think I ought to- no, I want to say it again."
She raised her chin and stared into his sockets, the Wind lifting her short hair around her face, giving her an ethereal appearance. "I wouldn't have survived my first night in Halloween if it hadn't been for you, Jack."
A cold pit fell through Jack's stomach. "I think that's a tad harsh, Ivy, do you truly think that these monsters would-"
"Others haven't," Ivy interrupted. "And...you haven't just kept me alive, Jack, you've actually tried to make me happy, like the giant nerd you are. So...thank you. I don't know what kinda thing humans can do for you, but if you need anything- ever- I'll help out. Even if I'm back in the human world."
Jack tried not to wilt at the 'if'. "Whatever happened to leaving without a glance back?" Jack asked, tone light as he stood and opened the door.
"I've a feeling that even if I glance forward, Halloween will be there," she mused, following him in. "Even if I never see you again, I don't think this place will let me forget it so easily. Good night, Jack."
"Good Night," Jack answered, even though dawn was an hour away. He knew the human would draw the curtains and bunker down, Tailypo guarding her pillow, and sleep so soundly she never noticed him checking in on her. "Horrid dreams."
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Ivy wasn't sure how, but there was a spring in her step. Her mind whirled with the revelations of the day- the party, Leota, spirits and death, and drinks- but like any mixture, her thoughts eased as she opened the door of her room.
She knelt to untie her Converse, whistling hello to the Tailypo, who lay on its side, claws scratching away at something. Humming one of the band's songs, an eerie pitch that made the human part of her skin crawl, she pulled her jacket off and approached the bed, ready for another day of-
She froze, eyes fixed on the Tailypo, who was currently sharpening its claws on the soft wood beside her bed.
The wood where she'd been marking how many days she'd been in Halloween.
The Tailypo, sensing a shift in the air, curled itself into a ball as she stretched a finger towards the gauge marks, which utterly obscured the neat progression of days. Her fingers uttered unconsciously to her watch- still frozen at 9:32 am.
There was silence in the room, Ivy's face twitching as the two trains of thought in her mind raged. The Tailypo rose, prepared to slink out-
"If you wanted something to get your claws into, you could've just asked," Ivy laughed, catching the Tailypo around the middle and turning her back to the ruined wall. The Tailypo gave a questioning purr, eyes featuring towards the marks. Ivy hummed and scratched the Tailypo behind the ears, just the way it liked, and it was in such a state of bliss it nearly missed her next words.
"Maybe the others are right. Maybe it's time to stop looking back and obsessing over what I can't do. Why bother counting days, hours, minutes? It'll end when it ends."
She only paused in the stroking of the Tailypo to unstrap her watch and toss it under the bed, where it would lay forgotten for a long time to come.
Head over to Tricked Out's Tumblr ( tricked-out) and Corona Pax's ( skeletonanne) for more holiday fun!
Also, check out Mutant Kitty ( mutantkittyissalty) for some fantastic Tricked Out fanart!
