"What is your relationship with this Tall Man anyway?"
Baron winced, squinting slightly,his voice was tense but his eyes were intensely curious.
"What do you mean? What are you so worried about?
We're just business partners.
We work together that's all.
He's helping me solve this case.
He's just as eager to get to the bottom of this as I am."
"Yet you live here".
"Oh brother what are you my father?
I live here temporarily.
It's a business arrangement.
If you must know, I agreed to help him hunt this monster down and he agreed to give me a place to stay in return.
There's nothing going on.
Yet again why are you so worried?"
"I saw your face, those long stares back and forth.
I worry because I was very close to becoming your father".
"What? What are you talking about?
I met you when I was a little girl.
I was like 5 remember".
"No I knew you before then Maggie.
You don't remember but perhaps you've heard the stories.
The headline read: Little Girl Found Lost in the Woods.
I was the one that found you Maggie.
You were no more than 2 years old.
I looked after you for a time."
"For how long?"
"Until I could find you a home.
I tried to find your parents but there was no one, no one was looking for you.
I searched and searched far and wide yet there was not even a single trace, not hint, not a clue, not name not even a face.
You were indeed lost.
A babe in the woods they called you.
Some even went as far to say you were cursed.
You were unmarked.
You were untouched by any curse I assure you.
You were a pure child, a innocent one."
"Well I lost that innocence a long time ago.
Curse or no curse I'm not pure anymore.
I've seen a lot of evil, Baron.
I've encountered a lot anger hatred and bitterness.
I've touched the marked ones and I've let the marked ones touch me I suppose.
I know that sounds weird but I'm just being poetic I suppose.
I'm not that wide eyed innocent little girl anymore.
I've changed, I've changed so much.
I've become hard and serious.
I've grown up Baron."
"I know. I know very well which is precisely why I'm worried about you.
Things become more dangerous when you grow up and when you grow older.
Now tell me honestly. Be honest with your dear brother Baron, does this Tall Man have any hold on you?"
"Hold on me.
He's not holding on to anything especially anything that's mine.
So no he's not controlling me.
You know very well that I'm the only one that's in control here.
I control myself nobody else does.
I'm nobody's puppet.
This girl has got no strings okay.
I cut them off long time ago.
Maybe I never had them in the first place but anyhow you have nothing to worry about."
"What of those long stares?
Unless you think I didn't notice.
Let me remind you, let me refresh your memory; I saw it all.
Very few things escape me.
Care to explain?"
His voice reminded of the times he'd tell me stories before bed.
He had such a harsh and snarling voice but in moments like these that nasally voice would become poetic and almost pleasant.
It always made me laugh since he sounded as if he was going burst into song at any moment but instead he would chant the words like he was reciting a happy little nursery rhyme.
"Telepathy ring any bells.
I'm really good at it remember.
I was just trying out my skills again.
Practice makes perfect.
I'm practicing is that okay with you?"
"Sounds splendid.
The question is what are you practicing for exactly?"
"For the apocalypse.
I don't know.
I do it cause I can okay".
"You don't sound so sure.
I do think it strange that you stay here when you already have a home."
"I have a dinky studio apartment with hardly anything in it.
I mean have you seen it?
It's place to stay, sure, but it's definitely not something I'd call a home.
It's more of a prison.
Prison cells are better furnished than that dump.
I mean I actually have my own room with a grand four poster bed and silk sheets.
It's actually really nice.
I get plenty of privacy, it's quiet, it's isolated and most importantly it's safe.
He has a security system that's out of this world.
I mean it's completely foolproof.
I literally have everything here.
Who knows I might even stay here permanently."
Do you mean forever Magenta?
I could hear the gravelly voice of the Tall Man judder and reverberate through my mind.
I could feel my head throb with the sound.
The telepathic message felt like it was trying to escape my brain, I wanted to let it out.
Maybe I could drill a hole in my head so the pressure of those words would stop bashing and banging against the edges of my skull.
Please stop.
You're hurting me.
I can't think... straight.
Pain is all in the mind, as is fear and weakness.
Let go of your fear and the pain will subside.
Okay I don't have time for this.
I'm kind of busy right now infact I'm trying to have a fucking conversation right now.
So lay off.
Get out of my head.
I'm not in the mood to be doing this...this telepathy stuff.
Leave me be this instant!
You're starting to piss me off.
Oh really. I'm terrified.
Seriously what are you going to do to me if I don't leave you be?
Besides That friend of yours can wait.
I've more important things I wish to discuss with you.
Are you actually that arrogant?
You must think you're awfully special.
So You know what you can wait.
You're not that damned important.
You know something else I really don't appreciate you eavesdropping on my conversations!
It's rude and it's down right creepy.
If you try to interfere again in any way you can consider those precious sentinels of yours as good as gone.
I could cause them to self destruct if I wanted to.
I will destroy them.
I'll destroy every last one of them.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm very serious.
I'm not even bluffing.
You clearly fear nothing.
Believe me fear is a killer.
Out of all the time that I've known you, you never struck me as someone who could be cruel.
You surprise me, your courage and your cruelty.
It's so unlike the hero you claim to be, the hero you strive to become.
You almost think like a villain.
I'm curious would you have it in you to destroy that creature?
No but I have it in me to destroy you.
You definitely have the power and the knowledge to do so.
However this creature we have no idea what it's capable of.
We don't know it's weaknesses.
We have no clue of what limits his power has.
However according to your little friend Clara he's telepathic.
You need to be prepared.
Practice dose make perfect.
Allow me to train you.
Oh so I can telepathically kick your ass on your own turf?
If you are so lucky.
Okay fair enough.
I'll allow you to train me but under one condition.
This should be interesting.
What is your condition?
Please stop spying on me.
It's a Little bit unsettling to know someone is listening in on my conversations.
I like my privacy and I'd very much appreciate if you'd respect that.
Yes of course.
Your privacy will be respected.
The sentinels shall be stationed elsewhere.
I have some business of my own that I need to attend to.
However when you are finished with that conversation, there is still a matter I wish to discuss with you.
When you're done you will know where to find me.
Oh I'll just know will I.
Am I supposed to meet you in the lab or something.
No it's someplace different this time.
It's somewhat of a secret so please be sure you aren't followed.
Find the gold sentinel, follow it, it should lead you to a door, a silver one.
Open the silver door and that's where I'll be, on the other side.
Sounds like a plan.
I'll meet you there.
"Did you say permanently?"
Baron interjected my thoughts.
"I said I might stay permanently.
It's a nice set up here.
It's comfortable you know.
I suppose it just grows on you after awhile, the smell of stale chrysanthemums, of blood and formaldehyde.
It feels like a home.
It feels like freedom."
"So you are free here.
That's all I needed to know.
It does my old heart glad...to know that you are safe.
It is a comfort to me, a relief if you will, that you're not being taken advantage of by anyone."
"I'm far too strong to be taken advantage of, Baron.
I'm even a bit too high maintenance for him.
Honestly we are just roomies.
I mean we're just roommates.
There's nothing sinister going on.
I know he looks all grim and oppressive, I'll admit he's a bit intimidating but you know he's really not that bad.
If there's anything I've learned from being with you, Baron, is that you shouldn't judge someone by how you look and appear."
"Yes I taught you that didn't I.
Not everyone is exactly what they appear to be.
No one is exactly how they seem.
You can't judge someone by their appearance you can only judge them by their heart."
"I don't know about his heart.
I'm sure he has the heart of a villain.
A dark heart you know."
"We all have darkness around our hearts but that doesn't mean we are the darkness.
Take the night, we will always have it but it won't necessarily always be night.
Every night must come to an end but eventually it will be reborn just like the sun is reborn every day.
What I'm saying is that we all have dark parts in us that we don't wish to show to people but that doesn't mean we are dark people.
The darkness that surrounds us does not reflect on who we are.
You've seen many a dark thing but you have not lost your goodness and purity.
You're still innocent.
You say you've lost that wide eyed innocence well It maybe be lost but it's not lost in quite the way you think it is.
You lost your parents, you lost your way in the woods, at one time you lost me, but that innocence isn't truly gone, it's only hiding.
It's still right there in your heart you just don't know where to find it.
Just because you can't see it, feel it, touch it and hold it in your hands, it does not mean by any means that it's non existent
It still exists just as you exist.
Take your mind, you can't see it, you certainly can't touch and it would be impossible to hold in your hands but it's still there and you know it exists.
It's science and it's pure fact.
You have a clean heart, a clean conscience, regardless of all the evil you've seen and encountered.
You really haven't changed much at least not as much as you think you have.
You're still a child inside.
Yes you've grown up on the outside but inside you're still a child, Maggie".
"So literally I never grew up.
I don't know if I should be flattered or just plain insulted.
I know you mean well and appreciate your kind words, I really do but I'm not who you think I am.
I'm not a little girl, I'm a grown woman pursuing a heartless killer and a merciless murderer.
This case might be my last".
"Why your last Maggie?"
"I'm thinking of retiring.
I've been thinking about it for a long time now.
Yet there is a possibility that I might not survive this encounter.
If I actually manage to catch up with this murderous creature I may not make it.
I could die and that thing could very well kill me.
So either way this will be my last case."
"Retirement? Yet you're so young.
Retirement is for the old and the well aged and you won't die.
In fact I'm more likely to die than you are.
If this Tall Friend of yours doesn't cure me I shall surely perish."
"Don't you worry about that, he'll cure you, I know he will.
Why I'm sure that you'll be up and going and heading straight out of this place in no time."
"If I do survive, I shall go with you to hunt this murderous creature down.
You mustn't go alone.
Promise me that you won't go alone."
"Of course.
I promise you, I'm not in this alone.
I have the Tall Man to help and he'll be there to chaperone me on my journey.
I mean it's not really a journey, it's more of a mission, a dangerous one and you're probably right, I'll most likely survive this one.
I always have in the past but as you know the future is always changing and there's always a possibility I might not make it back."
He placed his abnormally long finger over my lips to silence me.
"You will come back...in one piece without a doubt.
Yet if something happens to you on his watch, I'm holding him fully responsible for whatever takes place even if it is your death.
I will blame him for your death.
Did you know that my kind can work magic?
They can cast curses as well.
If he fails to keep you safe my mark shall forever be upon him.
He shall be forever cursed.
I might seem like a harmless old Boogy Man but I assure I can be quite frightening.
Why I can even be someone's worst nightmare if I so wished.
That may sound like revenge but believe me I will demand retribution for your death."
"Save your curses for the creature that's out there murdering Innocent people.
I'm pretty sure Jeb won't let anything happen to me."
"Oh so that grim reaper has a name now.
Are you two on a first name basis now?"
His voice became a disgusted sneering snarl.
"At times we are yes...you know I'm surprised at you especially since he offered to help cure you.
He's not all bad but he's not all good either.
Let's just say he's fairly decent.
Anyway he's been very generous not just for me but for both you and Clara.
He's allowing you to stay here and he's giving you a place that is safe from that infernal creature that responsible for your injuries.
You don't have to like him, I mean I don't even like him more than half the time but at least give him a little respect.
Please, Baron, do this for me, give him a chance and let him help you.
You said yourself that you might die so if you don't cooperate with him that's exactly what's going to happen.
I don't want to have to deal with another death especially with someone I care about."
"Very well I'll do it for you.
Forgive my disgust but I do not trust the man.
If my pride had anything to say about, I would not even allow him to chaperone you anywhere but you are no longer a child in which I have to look out for, you are a free agent with a free will.
However if he hurts you in any way I'll shall be sure to know about it."
He then retrieved a silver rimmed mirror that was nearly the same size of his hand and his hands just so happened to be huge, so it was a fairly large mirror as you could imagine.
He always had this mirror on him, In fact he carried this mirror everywhere.
It allowed him to travel between worlds.
It also served as a portal that could transport anywhere in the world.
He claimed that it could take him anywhere in the universe however he only used it to spy on the human world and to transport himself to these human's homes during the night.
Sometimes I'd ask him how he gotten ahold such a magical artifact to and he'd tell me fairy tale like story about how it came into his possession.
"Well you see Maggie, a long time ago I was very handsome, I was so handsome infact that many people envied me and my good looks.
There was not too far away a castle where a cruel enchantress lived since she had many spies sent out throughout the land, she very soon had gotten word from her fellow servants of my existence.
I was surprisingly a selfless and humble man, I gave my help and service to anyone that asked.
If there was ever anything that I had that was of any value I would either share it or give it away.
I took nothing for myself but gave willingly to everyone and I treated everyone fairly.
Meanwhile this Cruel enchantress grew tired of hearing of my good and noble deeds and secretly in her heart she bore a hateful jealousy for me.
She requested that I come to her and me not wanting to be rude I came to her without question.
However unbeknownst to me she had set a trap for me, she was scheming to trap me in my words.
She wanted me to be her servant but I told her my loyalty belonged to the people of the land.
She grew angry with me and she ordered her guards to throw me out of the castle gates.
I thought she would forget her anger but instead she never forgot my refusal.
She sent out her guards out to kill me but every time I escaped.
I continued to travel from place to place, hiding in caves and hollowed out trees.
I lead the life of a nomad and a ranger, I'd often create deep burrows for myself in the woods to stay in so I could avoid the eyes of my pursuers.
I grew thin and wiry since I was constantly moving and I ate very little during my journeying.
There were some seasons
when the air was cold and unforgiving that I saw very little of the world and in those times I lived a hermit underground in the burrows I had dug for myself.
I lived this way for many years until the Cruel enchantress lost her patience with searching for me.
Her spies had also told her that there were many people that had shown me mercy and had given me much kindness during those days of persecution.
This sent her into a rage so she cast out a powerful curse upon me and whoever had any loyalty to me, this included every person I'd ever helped along with those who had shown mercy and kindness at anytime.
The curse stripped me of my good looks, in some stories it is said that my comeliness was drained from me and locked away in a secret mirror.
The curse made my nails grow long and my teeth became sharp points.
My beautiful hands became spindly, my skin turned a sickly pale yellow and my eyes were no longer blue but a cruel silvery grey.
She made me ugly, a monster that had to feed upon the fears of humans to survive.
The only gift she ever gave me was this mirror.
It was not meant to be a kindness to me.
It was a artifact to remind me of my curse.
She gave it to me so I could look upon my ugliness with hatred and disgust.
I saw my first reflection in this mirror.
I nearly threw the mirror so I could destroy that image but the mirror did not break instead it fell in the mud and I saw another image, the image was of her, the one that had cursed me and she was laughing, laughing at my ugliness, laughing at my misfortune that her curse had caused.
There were others that had fallen victim to the same fate and so my kind were created, monsters doomed to roam the earth, living off the fears and nightmares of humans.
I hope one day I will find a way to break this curse but until that day I must remain a monster and I must be seen a as terror upon this earth.
I must spin dreams and create nightmares for those that sleep in their beds.
i must live in the shadows and hide in darkness."
I always thought this was just a story but I wondered now perhaps this story was more of a Truth than it was fiction.
Baron admired the mirror and gazed into it as if he still saw a handsome face staring back at him.
"You know very well that I have ways of checking up on you.
I have only to ask my mirror and it will tell me if you indeed still live.
This mirror can also show me of the things that have been,
In other words it can show me the truth of the past.
Oh don't you forget I share a special connection with you, a psychic link if you will, so if the mirror fails me, my intuition will not."
"Good to know.
Oh just out of curiosity all those years after you left and I thought you were gone forever were you checking up on me then?"
I was trying to sound casual but instead I just sounded accusing and incredulous.
"What a ridiculous question.
How could I not?
Of course I checked up on you and did so constantly.
You don't think I left you to face the human world all on your own?
Oh how foolish I am.
You must've thought I had abandoned you.
Tell me truthfully did you think I abandoned you?"
"Well to tell you the truth yes I did.
I mean you can't blame me, you left and I never saw you, I never heard from you, I didn't even feel your presence anymore.
What was I supposed to think?
You could have at least dropped in every once and awhile just to let me know you were still alive and still looking out for me."
"You were nearly 16, even I was a young man that was considered the age of adulthood."
"Well in this day and age that still is considered to be a child.
I was a child and I needed you.
Oh by the way I was 13 not 16 when you left.
Might I suggest that you get your dates straight better yet get your head straight while you're at it!"
"Maggie, please allow me to explain.
Maggie, Maggie, where are you going?
Maggie please wait!"
I was already heading down the Labyrinth of marble hallways.
I angrily told him that I needed some time to myself, time to think and calm down.
I also angrily requested that he wouldn't follow me and he didn't.
I then went in Search of the golden sentinel.
I had things to discuss with the Tall Man yet again.
