Chapter 5: Diggin' a Little Deeper (Is Hard)
"Hmmn." The Babushka, now known as Katyusha, a gentle and kind woman that was too young to be a grandmother, muttered as they explained their plight. "I think I see now… so you're saying basically that you don't really know what is going on but became turned into swans."
"No, we said that-"
Ivan was interrupted by Katyusha's hand holding his beak to prevent him from going any further. "Don't argue with me, birdie. There is much you do not know. It was not Jacque that created this spell, it was your young friend here." She gestured to Oliver, who was lying on the surface of a small cot, whining a bit whenever his bare feet brushed against the rougher scales of Katyusha's snake.
"Oliver wouldn't do something like that, aru!" Tao defended.
Katyusha raised an eyebrow before walking over to Oliver, pressing a hand to his brow. He muttered and whined nonsense words, but didn't do much more in reaction to the pressure. Tao was amazed by how tactile he had been the last few days. There was a shift in the atmosphere as magic tinged the air, the chains appearing around his wrists again, though this time, there wasn't a scent of burning flesh. Oliver moaned a bit as Katyusha retracted her hand, leaving him to rest again. "Yes, there is much you do not know, but you are correct. He wouldn't do that, but he did cast the spell."
"But-"
"Those chains that appear on his wrists, have they shown themselves before?"
"Yes, when he tried to free us from the spell, but it was hurting him then." Ivan supplied.
"Then that is the answer."
"Could you please explain, Katyusha-sensei?" Kiku asked.
"I could."
When she didn't continue with a response Kiku asked, "Will you?"
"I will." She looked at everyone's annoyed expression. "You haven't actually asked me the question. I said I could and I said I will. You have to ask the question."
"What happened then?" Heracles suggested.
"Correct question!" Katyusha smiled. "What happened was Jacque's magic! It's a very peculiar thing. He has all the skill and ability he needs to perform a great many powerful spells, but he just doesn't have an inner source of power. In other words, he can't perform magic without some sort of power source. Since it's rare for wands and magic staffs to be forged anymore, he's kind of stuck with siphoning off other people's abilities. Why else would he stay in such a small town such as your own without having some reason? There is so much magic residue that he can perform the simple tasks. But if he wants to do a great spells, he has Oliver for it."
"What do you mean by has Oliver for it?"
"Oliver is a giant engine full of magic energy- even for a normal magic user he has so much energy. Having such a power source, and close by, makes it easier for him to just take the energy like a leech. But for a full transformation, and the shadow man you spoke of earlier, it seems that Jacque is trying to make this permanent. The chains make it so that Oliver can only perform simple spells, and that if he uses the other magic source, Jacque can track him. To be frank, Jacque is in control of a majority of Oliver's magic, and whenever Oliver tries to fight back, he will make the chains force the magic back, which causes physical harm to the magic user."
"So Oliver is being used as a battery for all of Jacque's spells?"
"Essentially, yes."
"And that means we don't have a chance of breaking this spell?"
"Oh, you still have a chance, but I wouldn't suggest you use Oliver, his body simply couldn't take it."
"Then how do we turn back to being human?"
"You kiss a princess."
"What?!"
"Not you Tao although you can if you want, Ivan needs to kiss a princess, or his true love, but in these times, that's near impossible. Not like when I was younger. You could walk in the streets, smacking lips with the nearest person and probably find some man or woman that would click. Rather gross, actually."
"How old are you?" Ivan asked.
"I stopped counting after the first century or so." Katyusha shrugged.
"How do you look so young then?"
Another shrug. "Never bothered to ask. Higher powers than me seem to want me to stick around, helping unfortunate people when I can. Remind me to tell you that one story about some fishy lady I helped a while ago."
Tao coughed to get the attention back on the matter at hand. "So how do we find a princess? There aren't any around here."
"Tao does have a point." Heracles agreed.
Katyusha started, but didn't speak, staring at Tao and Ivan for the first time. Her somber blue eyes gave them a once over. She hesitated, before shaking her head. "Don't know what I was thinking. So scandalous! Anyways, there will be a window of time where there will be a princess for 24 hours on Mardi Gras."
"How?- I mean why?" Tao asked.
"Your friend, Natalia, decided to be a princess for Mardi Gras and midnight ends the spell." Katyusha swished her long white dress around, turning to Oliver. "Now that those matters are tended to, let's focus on what you three need." Placing a hand on Oliver's head again, she started to mutter. "This one seems to get it, even with his mind the way it is. Such a smart young boy. All you need is your health back…" Humming to herself, she grabbed a poultice from the side table, rubbing some onto the back of his neck and forehead. He whined but relaxed as his aching body was allowed a small rest.
Turning to Ivan, Katyusha swiped him into her hands. Petting him like an evil mastermind had been known to do with his cat, she scanned his mind. "Such a focus on the past. Never does anyone any good. This won't do. Looks like I'm going to have to beat some sense into you, the old fashioned way, through song!"
And with that the odd lady started to sing, a chorus of animals echoing her. "Don't matter what you look like, Don't matter what you wear, How many rings you got on your finger, We don't care"
Kiku and Heracles joined in, "No we don't care!"
"Don't matter where you come from, Don't even matter what you are, A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat, Had 'em all in here"
"We had 'em all in here"
"And they all knew what they wanted, What they wanted me to do, I told 'em what they needed, Just like I be telling you! You got to dig a little deeper, Find out who you are, You gotta dig a little deeper, It really ain't that far, When you find out who you are, You'll find out what you need, Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! Prince Birdy is a rich little boy, You wanna be home again, That ain't gonna make you happy now. Did it make you happy then? No! Your palace ain't got no soul, ain't got no heart. All you need is some friends, Make yourself a brand new start. You got to dig a little deeper, Don't have far to go. You got to dig a little deeper; Tell the people Mama told you so. Can't tell you what you'll find, Maybe love will grant you peace of mind, Dig a little deeper and you'll know." She let go of Ivan as soon as he seemed to grasp the lesson, eyeing Tao with a loving look. The swan took that as his cue to start flying around freely, feeling good for the first time in a long while.
Approaching Tao, she picked her up gently. "Miss Birdie, might I have a word?"
"Yes ma'am." Tao nodded to her.
"You's a hard one, that's what I heard, Your papa was a loving man, Family through and through, You your papa's daughter. What he had in him you got in you. You got to dig a little deeper, For you it's gonna be tough. You got to dig a little deeper, You ain't dug near far enough!" Tao seemed to think and Katyusha didn't bother to read her mind, thinking that she got the message, letting her go and fly. "Dig down deep inside yourself, You'll find out what you need, Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! Now do you understand what you need?"
"Yes, aru!" Tao exclaimed. "I've got to dig a little deeper, and work even harder to earn my restaurant!"
Kiku and Heracles facepalmed. Ivan seemed to sober up as well. But that didn't compare to Katyusha. The Babushka burst into tears, crying as she realized that Tao didn't figure it out. Sobbing, she was inconsolable, even as Kiku and Heracles tried to pat her on the back and calm her down. "I failed." She bawled.
"Two out of three is pretty good though." Heracles tried. Kiku gave him a flat look as the words made her cry even more.
She quickly recover though. "Well then I'll just have to work harder. And no more songs. That method isn't working." She smiled. "I'll just have to join you on your journey."
"You're coming with us?"
"Yes. Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you live here." Ivan pointed out.
"This place is getting stuffy anyways. I haven't left the swamp for a century or two." Katyusha shrugged, walking over to a chest and stuffing some of her clothes inside.
Oliver's dreams shook away as a gentle hand brushed over his hair. "It's time to wake up, Oliver." A woman's voice whispered in his mind. Opening his eyes, he wasn't surprised by the cottony feel of his head and how his body seemed to ache. Being sick sucked. His eyes were basically useless, blurry with the grime that built up while a person was sleeping. "There we are." The woman's voice spoke aloud. "Do you feel well enough to eat something?" She asked.
Oliver whined, this throat gravely, and he winced at the feeling. It felt like he had swallowed rocks. The woman chuckled. "So that's a no then? And you don't have to think of me as the woman, the name is Katyusha." He could feel her in his mind, and relaxed. That meant he didn't need to struggle to make words. All he wanted was sleep, to tell the truth, and the idea of eating made his throat hurt just thinking about it. Katyusha laughed again. "Alrighty then, go ahead and rest some more, but if you feel up to it, you can join us." Her presence at the edge of his mind started to retreat and walked towards an area buzzing with the noise of people.
Us? What did she mean by us? Slowly, he rubbed at his eyes, making it a bit easier to look around. They seemed to be in a sort of hut made of one piece of wood, moss growing all around the walls. Glass jars lined the shelves, filled with strange colored substances and specimen. It was like a more homey version of Jacque's basement at home, the light permeating the area rather than dank darkness. Oliver worked himself farther into the bed in reaction to the train of thought, even if Jacque probably couldn't get him here. His eyes eventually focused on the table on the other side of the room. Everyone was sitting at it, laughing and eating merrily. The scene was strange with Tao, now wearing a necklace with a small flower on it, probably from Katyusha, and Ivan still swans. They didn't seem to be so upset about the development, and Oliver's stomach sank.
What if his spell lasted forever? Would Tao and Ivan fly off together? Even Kiku seemed to think they were overly friendly. The Japanese man himself was sitting next to Heracles, their tails entwined behind their backs. It seemed that Oliver was right about them too. He had heard about people who liked each other when they were the same, but only from Olivia and with a few mean words that Tao told him never to repeat. Katyusha was sitting opposite of Kiku and Heracles, telling a story of some sort. The picture seemed so happy and domestic. They seemed happy… without him.
Oliver shuffled, noting that not even a glance was sent his way. He had been put out of their minds. That in itself caused his next actions. Ignoring his socks and shoes- they had been set aside his bed previously by someone- he silently crept out of the hut, not seeing the snake, who had been sleeping at his feet, wake and slither towards Katyusha. As soon as the light room was out of sight, he bolted. The darkness of night made him shiver as he ran. He didn't cringe at the sludge under his feet, nor the branches that whipped at his arms and legs, too focussed on escaping the happy smiles. There was a loud call of his name from the treehouse that he left, and he paused. Were they actually looking for him? That must mean that they cared, right?
Turning around, he started towards the voices calling, stopped by something that had caught around his angle. Looking down, he saw a shadowy hand before he was pulled down to the ground. Crying out in pain, he clawed for purchase of something to hold onto to escape but there was nothing but slimy ground and moss. Another shadowy hand covered his mouth as he screamed Tao's name, fear taking over his mind. "Now, now. There is no need for that, Ollie." Jacque's voice hushed. Freezing, Oliver let the arms take him towards his brother. The blonde haired man was picking at his nails in a bored fashion, the skeleton mask flickering as the orb around his neck started to lose power.
"I believe you have something of mine." Jacque stood to his full height, lifting up Oliver by his shirt collar, noting the gaps and tears in the fabric. "It seems you've had a fun time in the swamp. Now I think it is time for you to go back to your place." Jacque dropped him, letting the shadowy appendages carry him around. And as Jacque's magic lingered over Oliver's, the small boy passed out.
"Something is wrong." Katyusha stated when they couldn't find Oliver. "There is a darkness that shouldn't be here." Her eyes flashed in the night and she gasped. "There's been a surge of dark magic, and I didn't even notice!"
"Where is he?!" Tao cried out, flapping her wings rapidly.
"He's gone. Out of the forest."
"He can't run that fast, aru."
"No, he couldn't. At least, not with his fever still as high as it was."
"We need to find him, you have to be able to do that somehow." Ivan insisted.
"The only place outside of my reach is the city, we'll have to return there if we want to find him." Katyusha explained. "Off to the city we must go." And with that, all five of them started off to go look for their friend.
Jacque tapped his foot, waiting for Magnus to arrive. What was taking him so long? Playing with his card deck, he flicked one towards the door as it opened, embedding it into the wood. "Watch where you throw those things!" Magnus, wearing Ivan's appearance, hissed as he eased into the room, eyeing Jacque's cards with apprehension. "You could have killed me!"
"You're late. I trust that it was for a good reason."
"A wonderful one." Magnus rubbed his hands together. "Natalia proposed that we get married. You're plan to take over the town should work. I will be on the main float during Mardi Gras to be married, and can sneak you into it so that you can take everyone's magic… That is if you still have the magic left."
Jacque smirked. "I think I'm good." He jerked his head in the direction of a darkened section of the room. Oliver was chained to a small pole, looking at everywhere with fear and resignation. "My mission was successful." He snapped and the chains around Oliver's wrists started to glow, making the boy cry out as more of his exhausted energy was transferred to the orb around Jacque's neck. "Quite successful… We shall proceed as planned."
