(Author's note: I forgot to post on Tuesday, so I'm a couple of days late.)

Twisted Strings of Fate

Chapter 35

When you are under a curse, you should never be surprised by plot twists.

Charity stared at the oni mask as she made her way back to her friends, knowing that the drama was going up a notch. She could already see Gladstone pulling at his feathers. And she didn't blame him. According to the others, that painting she passed up was worth millions of dollars, not to mention the only way to save Gladstone's life. Instead, she had picked a cheap Halloween costume. And an ugly one at that.

Even before she reached them, Gladstone was yelling at her. "How could you do this to me? What were you thinking?"

Charity shrugged, shrinking at his words. Would he really believe her if she told him that the Goddess of Love texted her?

"Unbelievable, Charity," Gladstone growled, his fingers curved, claw-like. "I thought we had an understanding."

It was late and she had had enough champagne now that certain inhibitions were down. She raised the mask to her face and made a threatening monster-like growl.

"That's it. She's gone insane," Gladstone said, throwing up his hands.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I would have gotten the painting, but Aphrodite told me to take the mask," Charity admitted, hearing how dumb it sounded once it left her mouth.

Gladstone looked at her with a hand on his chin as if concentrating on her words. "Okay, one of us will have to commit her. She's obviously a danger to society."

"It's true. She texted me," Charity said, waving her cell phone. "I know it sounds dumb, and I haven't told anyone this, but Aphrodite has been sending me text messages since we left Ithaquack." She showed her phone as proof.

"Charity, this isn't a game. This is my life. A man wants me dead. A man that likes to make his enemies die in terrible ways and then buries them in several locations," Gladstone said angrily. "This was my one chance—one chance—to save myself, and you had to follow your delusions."

"Now, Gladstone, I'm sure we can work something out with Mr. Terrin," Mrs. Beakley said to the half-goose. "He's seems like a reasonable man."

As Mrs. Beakley placated Gladstone, Charity slumped against a wall and put the mask back on, hoping to hide from everyone. She had been on top of the world after singing her best at the karaoke contest, and now she might as well be mud. However, she looked through the crystal eyes, and it was as if she were gazing through a fish bowl, the image distorted, but that wasn't the only thing. Everything was in shades of gray except for colors crisscrossing the room, color that shouldn't be there. On a closer inspection, she could see strings tied to people's fingers, wrists, arms and other body parts, connecting to other people or jutting out past the aquarium to who-knows-where.

It was the Strings of Fate. She could see them!

"It's the Orb," she exclaimed, causing the others to look her way.

Excited, she looked down at her own hand, seeing the red ribbons that were tied to her pinky that sparkled with magic, three of them heading toward Launchpad, Fenton and Drake, the other shooting off to where Jim was.

And it was all thanks to Gladstone that they had come to the aquarium and for helping her win the contest. His luck had made it possible. He had kept his side of the bargain. Now she had to find a way to help him.

"Wait, that hunk of junk is the Orb?" Drake asked. When Charity offered it to her, he put it on.

"But those are just cheap crystals, aren't they?" Gladstone asked, taking a closer look.

"Hmmm, it appears that those 'crystals' may have been one stone but was cut in half," Goldie said, taking a closer look with her discerning eye. "But these are definitely not cheap crystals but a type of rare stone. Back in the old day, sears and fortune-tellers would use these stones to tell the future. What makes these stones rare is their clarity which is as clear as glass. I've only seen a few of these before, and not one this big. Whoever cut it in half was an idiot."

"Or they wanted to see the Strings of Fate with both eyes," Charity said. "It's a good idea although I don't know why they had to put the Orb in such an ugly mask." She raised the mask back up to her face, looking over the group. Her eyes fell upon Goldie and Scrooge's hands, seeing that they were connected with a red ribbon, one that looked like it had been severed and retied several times.

"Looks like you held up your end of the bargain," Scrooge said, patting his nephew. "Good job."

"Just my luck," Gladstone said with a frown.

"Let's see if we can turn that luck back around," Mrs. Beakley said. "Here comes Mr. Terrin now."

The smiling man approached the group by stretching his hand out to Scrooge McDuck first. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McDuck." He then went around and shook hands with all of them, asking what their role was in Charity's YouTube movies. He was particularly excited to meet Fenton. "I'm rooting for you, son."

Both Charity and Fenton blushed.

Then Terrence turned to Charity, pointing to the mask. "Interesting choice. Most people would have gone for the painting, but to be honest, I hoped nobody would take it. I love that painting very much and did not wish to part with it."

"Then why put it as a prize?" Fenton asked curiously.

"Well, I have a long-standing game with a rich and powerful man. I occasionally put the painting out as a prize for my contests, hoping to lure him to one of my parties. But sadly, he had never shown up. Not once," Terrence said, shaking his head.

"Is it really a good idea to bait a Yakuza boss?" Mrs. Beakley asked.

"Ah, so you know of Torataro," Terrence said. "Normally, I do not associate with men like him, but Torataro has caught my interest that I can't help but bait him. He has done terrible things, but when it comes to the things most precious to him, he keeps to a code of honor. He would rather kill himself than to break that honor. However, he is also prideful, which prevents him from coming to my party himself and winning the prize. Oh well, maybe in a few more months, I'll try again."

"Please, if we could just explain our situation," Scrooge said, putting on his business tone, "we are in dire need of that painting."

"Then why did Charity not pick it?" Terrence asked.

"Because I also need this," Charity said. "It's complicated."

"Then please explain. I have the time and the imagination to take in complicated details," Terrence said.

The whole group exchanged looks. Scrooge went first, explaining Gladstone's predicament and how Torataro would be willing to negotiate if they could retrieve the painting.

"Ah, this I understand," Terrence said with a nod. "If this is true, then I would gladly sell you the painting. As much as I love it and baiting Torataro, I would give both up to save a life. But I don't believe any of it."

"Why not?" Scrooge demanded.

"Because Charity did not pick the painting. If his life was in that much danger, she should have taken the painting, but she did not. Why?" Terrence asked, turning to the lovebird.

She looked to the others, but Charity knew that she had to be the one to choose to reveal the story or not. "Would you believe that all those YouTube videos aren't special effects, and those aren't actors? That everything really happened?"

She expected Terrence to deny this, but he merely nodded. "Go on," he said.

Charity quickly explained how the mask's eyes were a magical orb cut in two, and why she needed the Orb. She told Terrence about Aphrodite and the Strings of Fate.

Terrence nodded. "Oh, yes. I know all about the Orb. It is the reason I obtained the mask in the first place. A friend of mine showed me how it revealed the Fate Strings, and I had to have it. I paid an exorbitant amount of money for the thing, and with it, I found my second wife, a wonderful woman. Sadly, it had already been cut in two before I obtained it and set it in the mask, otherwise it would have been a collector's item."

"So, you believe us?" Charity asked.

"Oh, yes. At least, most of it," Terrence said. "You must have known beforehand that the mask contained the Orb, but as for everything else, I'm afraid that you are pulling my leg. Your story is too far-fetched for me to fall for it, even if I could believe in Greek gods and curses."

"But, you know the Orb is magical. If you can believe in magic, the rest of our story isn't that far behind it," Gladstone reasoned.

"As much as I'd like to believe such a wonderful story, I cannot," Terrence said with a shrug. "First, I don't believe that the Orb is magic but of a science that has not yet been discovered."

Fenton hung his head, having made that argument before.

"And second, I'm not certain that this isn't just an elaborate scheme for you to obtain the painting for Torataro while making a fool out of me," Terrence explained. "Your story about getting the mask might just be your next installment of YouTube videos, and if so, I applaud your creativity. I look forward to seeing how you integrate the mask into your story."

"But why should it matter why we want the painting or what story we tell?" Scrooge asked. "I'm willing to pay you what it's worth." And with a smaller voice, "More if I have to."

"And lose my favorite painting without luring Torataro to my party?" Terrence asked. "Forgive me if you really are telling the truth, but I have heard my share of lies and have dealt with plenty con-men. If Torataro wants this painting, he must play by my rules. And I may have believed you—I almost did—if it weren't for one of his people in your midst." He nodded his head at Goldie.

"What? But I'm not one of his people," Goldie defended. "I just take his money and find him stuff."

"Nope, I'm sorry, but I just can't part with my painting with so many doubts," Terrence said. "However, if you come to any more of my parties, you are welcome. It is a standing invitation. Perhaps, you may even have a chance to win the painting once more. But for now, it will remain in my possession. Excuse me, but I have other guests to attend to. I hope that we may meet again in the future."

As the terrin walked away, Gladstone folded his arms and glared at the lovebird. "Well, that's it then. Do any of you want to turn me in to Torataro for the reward or are you just going to let the jackals come and drag my carcass away?"

"Now, Gladstone, don't be so dramatic," Scrooge said. "We have the Orb. We tried our best. Perhaps we should just leave Japan tonight. No harm done."

"Except one of the greatest countries of the world will be out of my reach," Gladstone said sadly.

"No, we made a deal," Charity said, still holding the mask. "We promised Gladstone that we would fix his problem, and I'm not leaving Japan until we do."

Gladstone straightened up. "Really? But you have the Orb. And I didn't even really find it for you. You kind of did that yourself."

"But you brought me here and helped me win the contest. If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't even have known the Orb was even here," Charity said. "I don't want to get out of a bargain on a technicality."

Leaning in, Gladstone gave her a smile. "Are you sure you didn't fall in love with me?"

Charity gave him a dull frown. "You didn't save me, so of course not."

"Really? But what about falling for me in the old fashioned way?" Gladstone asked. "I am devilishly good looking and charming."

Charity pushed against his beak with a finger. "Please. You aren't my type."

Gladstone chuckled but he couldn't help but say, "Oh, my dear, if only you were ten years older."

"Me? Shouldn't you be saying, 'If only I were ten years younger'?" Charity asked with a smirk.

"And give up a decade's worth of wisdom. No thank you," Gladstone said.

"If we are done here, I suggest we leave," Mrs. Beakley said. "It is late, and I'd like to see how Webbigail's day went."

As the group moved toward the aquarium's exit, Charity said, "But we can't return to the hotel yet. I think we should go talk to that guy about Gladstone."

"You want to go visit a Yakuza boss at one o'clock in the morning?" Gladstone asked incredulously. "Just like that? Do you even have a plan?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Charity said as they walked out into the cool night air. "And it's going to work with a little luck." She gave the half-goose a smile.

They all piled into Goldie's limousine. However, they didn't get far before it became obvious that Gladstone was nervous.

"Maybe some of us should go back to the hotel," Gladstone said, fiddling with his jacket. "Some of us need our beauty sleep."

"Oh, come off it," Scrooge grumbled. "Torataro isn't going to do anything, not with so many witnesses."

But still, Gladstone gulped and stared with unblinking eyes out the window.

Surprisingly they returned to the gym from before—which was open all night—and Goldie led them back up to the second floor.

"Does the man live here?" Scrooge asked with a disapproving frown.

"Torataro keeps strange hours," Goldie said. "Be glad that he likes the night, otherwise he wouldn't be too keen on visitors."

Unlike before, Torataro was in an expensive business suit, although he had fewer guards in attendance. He didn't look happy about seeing the group return.

"You do not have the painting," he said as they walked in, his tail lashing.

"No, we don't," Scrooge admitted, realizing that the mob boss most likely had a man follow them or had received the news by some other means. "But we have come to renegotiate nonetheless. We wish to have peace between us and a way to keep Gladstone's life intact."

"Along with the rest of my body," Gladstone muttered.

"And if I refuse, what will you do?" Torataro said in a threatening manner.

"Wait," Charity said, stepping forward with the mask in her hands, held like a shield. "Please, Mr. Torataro, I'm very sorry for taking up a lot of your time, and I'm sorry that we couldn't get the painting for you. It was my fault, and I'd like to offer you something that's much more precious and valuable than the painting."

Before, the tiger's hackles had been raised, but Charity's presence calmed him, but he looked more bored and irritated than interested. "I am tired of these games you play. There is nothing that you or Scrooge McDuck has that I want."

"What about true love?" Charity asked, jumping in before the tiger could say anything more.

For a few seconds, the tiger froze, as still as a statue, before he gave a throaty chuckle. "Mr. McDuck, you have brought an interesting cohort, but I'm not interested in having my palm read or my fortune told."

Charity held up the mask, seeing a thick ribbon tied to the tiger's pinky, heading off outside of the building. "Your fate is connected to another, and you and that someone belong to each other. Mr. Torataro, I'm not a fortune-teller. I not only know you have a true love, but I can lead you to them."

He considered her for a moment. "Why should I take your word as truth?"
Charity shrugged. "I guess it's because I really don't have a motive to help Gladstone except because it's the right thing to do. I'm not related to him. I've only know him for, like, two days, and I'm not even sure if I like him all that much."

"Thanks, Charity," Gladstone muttered.

"I just don't think he should die for being a conceited jerk who has everything handed to him on a silver platter," Charity said.

Torataro threw his head back and laughed. "Now, this is a bird that I can work with. Alright, little lovebird, if you can keep your word, perhaps we can come to some arrangement so his goose isn't cooked." He laughed again at his own joke.

Gladstone huffed.

Back in the limousine, Charity sat up front to give the driver instructions. However, through the divider, Gladstone nervously stuck his neck out and asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Charity took off the mask. "Well, I'm not sure what I'm doing, but Aphrodite sure does. She's the one who suggested it." She showed him the texts on her phone.

"I still can't believe you're on speaking terms with the Goddess of Love," Gladstone said.

"She's very invested in my love life," Charity said unhappily.

After driving thirty minutes through the city of Tokyolk, Charity finally found where the other end of the ribbon led. They parked in front of a small café that was open 24/7, and even at this hour of night, was still popular. Most of patrons were on laptops, cell phones or tablets, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi while enjoying extravagant coffee. Through the large windows, Charity saw the ribbon connected to Torataro was tied to a female tiger, who was filling up another cup of coffee from a fancy machine.

"This is it," Charity said. "She's in there. The barista on the other side of the counter."

Torataro lowered the window with a bored look on his face. However, after getting a good look inside the café, he raised the window back up, his eyes wide. Once he was behind tinted windows, he covered his mouth with one hand.

"So, do you know her?" Goldie asked, the only one brave enough to say something.

Torataro took a moment before he answered slowly, "Her name is Yuriko."

More silence.

"And," Charity said, her tone asking for more details.

"And I have been looking for her for most of my life," Torataro said, looking back out of the window. "We had both been at the same orphanage when we were young, and that's when I fell in love with her."

Charity put her elbows on the window divider and leaned her face into her hands, her eyes sparkling. Love stories like this are what she lived for.

"But she was adopted, and I never heard from her again. When I came of age and left the orphanage, I went looking for her, but I was just a poor boy with no family. I intended to work until I had enough money so I could find her, but…well…I suppose my priorities took a bad turn." He flexed his hands as if reflecting on his life.

"Well…," Charity said, gesturing toward the café. "What are you waiting for?"

"I cannot just go inside and tell her who I am," Torataro said. "If I did, I would have to tell her what I am, what I have become. I am a…bad man. I have done terrible things."

As if that were a reminder to everyone, several ducks shifted away from the tiger.

"So what?" Charity said, frowning. "If there are things in your life that are stopping you from talking to Yuriko, then you have to change."

Torataro's expression returned to that of the Yakuza boss. "That is not an easy thing to do."

"So, that's your excuse to continue to do bad things? Your true love is in there. You have a chance for happiness," Charity said passionately. "If I were you, I would do everything I had to do for that happiness. I would change whatever I had to in my life for love, no matter what."

Torataro moved awkwardly through the limousine so he could sit near to Charity, ducks fleeing to give him space. He took Charity's hand and kissed it, his whiskers tickling her knuckles. "You are young, but sometimes, that means you have more insight than those who have been jaded by the world."

Charity clasped the tiger's paw in both her hands, which were miniature next to his. "Good luck on winning Yuriko's heart. I know you can do it," she told him. Then, with a big smile she added, "You should rub Gladstone's head for good luck."

To the goose's horror, the tiger's paw reached out for him. His life flashed before his eyes.

"I will forgive the slight to my honor if you forget the debt I owe you," Torataro said. "And next time, stay away from the poker tables."

"No problem," Gladstone said with a gulp.

Torataro told his driver to take everyone wherever they needed to go before stepping out of the limo. He straightened his suit before going inside the café, sitting down and shifting worriedly. When Yuriko went to his table, he looked just like a teenager talking to his crush for the first time.

"It's been a late night. Back to our hotel," Scrooge said, giving the driver the name of the hotel.

"Awww, but I want to see what happens," Charity gave a tired whine. "It's like reading a romance manga."

"Yeah, they can title it The Barista and the Boss," Gladstone said sardonically, looking at his reflection in the window. Torataro had completely ruined his feathers, removing all his hard work at combing and slathering gel to keep them in place. Now his head was an unruly mess of curls. At least the night was finally over.

"Charity," Fenton said, leaning over to the lovebird, "did you just reform a Yakuza boss?"

Charity didn't even hesitate to instate her modesty. "I did nothing. This was all done because of love."

Gladstone stuck out his tongue. "I think I would have preferred to be mauled than to hear such cheesy lines."