INTERLUDE
or
By: Nabiki GMYW
Brief summary: It's just a bridge between point A and B, to put an old business to rest.
Disclaimer: Gargoyles ain't mine. So there. Gargoyles and all the gang is owned by Disney. It sucks, I know. One of these days, their lawyers will storm down the 'Gargoyle Fanfic Archive', tear it down, and sue us all. Meanwhile, let's just keep writing. E-mail me at paganj@caribe.net for comments and stuff.
One more thing, somewhat of a personal note: I've been called comic, quirky, bizarre, and many other adjectives of the like. I think the best is 'bizarre'. Yes. It has a good ring to it. Those who have read my other fics, mainly 'Cataclysm in repose', know that I like to experiment. Consider this fic to be the final experiment on 'First Saga', a long-overdue bridge to 'Second Saga', and the mother of all experiments in any saga.
PROLOGUE
It was dark. Night had fallen hours ago.
He was lying over a side in his bed, clutching a pillow between his arms as 'The Tonight Show' played on the tv. He had the tv turned horizontal, so he could see it better, rather than sideways. In the top ten list, the guy now spoke about the ten worse things a son could say to his father. The top-first thing he could say was 'Father, I've met someone. His name is John.'
His cell phone rang. He clicked the 'receive' bottom, and said nothing.
"Hello? Hello? Owen, are you there? Come on… talk to me… where are you? Please, let me inside… Stop running away… you gotta stop running away…Don't run away or else—"
He clicked off the cell phone and tossed it away before he could finish the sentiment.
It was a cheap motel in the outsides of NY City where he stayed. The number of rooms didn't pass 20, and it only had one story. A neon sign flashed out side, spelling a turned off 'No' with a bright 'Vacancy'. There was vacancy. As far as he knew, he was the only one there.
Somebody pounded at the door. "Hey, Mister! I've told you! Wanna spend the night, you gotta pay the bill!"
How impudent, he thought, asking for money in the middle of the night.
He lazily got up and opened the door. The motel manager was a fat old man who smelled like beer. "You gonna pay or not?"
He looked at him. Really looked at him. "You don't need money." He said with a perfectly calm tone.
"Oh, yeah? Then how will I eat?"
He stared at him harshly and replied, "I said you don't need money."
A circuit fused in the man's brain. The man stared away… out…
Owen smiled to himself and said, "You don't need money." And for the hell of it, he added, "You don't need money because you will put on a pink tutu and dance in front of this motel so people will throw money at you."
The man walked away, a living dead, chanting like a mantra the words, "Pink… tutu… pink… tutu…"
He closed the door with a satisfied grin and went back to bed to see the Tonight show. When it was over, an infomercial began and he was bored. For some reason, he felt sleepy but couldn't sleep.
He reached over to the table next to the bed and took a small white bottle. This wasn't the first time he couldn't sleep, nor would it be the last. He had a small bottle of sleeping pills to do that. It made him relax; rather, it made him sleep till late afternoon the next day. He liked that. He liked it very much.
Owen would've fallen in a dreamless sleep if she hadn't showed up.
It was quietly, in a blink of an eye as usual. He would think it impudent, just showing up like that. Would it kill her to knock for once?
"Where is he?" she asked rudely.
"Not even a hello?" he replied. "So like you to just barge in unannounced… so like you…"
"Where is he, Puck? You know, don't you?"
"I don't know," Owen replied petulant, "I'm afraid he's had a little bit of… an accident, I suppose."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you actually pulled it off… you don't honest expect to get away with it… do you?"
Owen yawned, rolled over in the bed, his back to the woman, "I don't know, milady. I'm tired. We'll…" he yawned once more, "…talk in the morning…"
She said something else, but he didn't listen. The drugs started kicking in and he felt he was falling asleep, and he wouldn't dream anymore.
CHAPTER ONE
One week ago
Lady Titania tapped her foot impatiently in the floor. She gazed to the door, she gazed to the window and she gazed to the door again. Needless to say, the Queen of Avalon was in a very ill mood. The whole court had dispersed and vanished. Her Majesty was left to her own devises to deal with this most peculiar of guests.
As if on cue, as if he were reading her thoughts, a bright burst of light appeared in front of Lady Titania, and power filled the throne room, not human, not fey, but something else.
"Greetings and salutations, sister dear!" Said what appeared to be a man, wearing black clothes covered by an equally black trench coat.
"You're late." She scolded.
"My apologies. I'm not from this time period. I didn't know wherever I was late or early." The man replied.
Out of nowhere, several chests appeared in the courtroom. The man gestured to them and said, "Let me say first that the Continuum is joyous that one of its sisters has returned to them. Allow me to present these wonderful gifts from—"
"I know about the Puck, You."
His smug façade evaporated. The man frowned. He looked like a dashing gentleman, in dark clothes that seemed to bring out the mischief in his voice, the pride in his way of walking, the arrogance that barely fit in the cosmos. And somehow, he got even more arrogant when he felt he was challenged.
But first he said, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. As I was saying--"
"Oh, cut the bullshit!"
That made Him perk up in alarm, and he asked, more bewildered that he'll ever admit. "What does that mean?"
"It seems that your little experiment has gone a bit awry," Titania replied. "You see; you didn't gave him just magic back, you gave him much more. He's not been able to control it, so… he's not in his best mind and judgement… if you know what I'm talking about."
He shook his head in denial. "No, I do not know what you're talking about. I demand an explication!"
"An explication?" She gave Him an evil eye and said, "I was hoping you would be the one giving explications."
He frowned again. "I'm afraid I cannot."
Unexpectedly, she slapped him. It was quite a loud slap and a pretty damn strong one too; making His face do a 90 degrees turn.
"Ouch." He limited himself to say.
"How dare you! Do you know how much this has affected us?"
"You weren't supposed to know! Would it affect you if you don't know? I can arrange that, you know…"
She slapped him again.
"Ouchie…" He replied once more.
He rearranged his jaw as Titania spoke: "I know what you are. I know where you come from and I'm surprised it took me so long to figure who you were…According to the clan, the last time you came here you refused to say your name…" She paused. "Why this subterfuge? Why are you doing this? What's the truth?" she said as she circled him like a vulture, "You have been using the Puck like a guinea pig? Is that it, huh?"
He kept rubbing his jaw while he said, "You wouldn't understand. Why don't you bake cookies or something?" She would've slapped him once more had he not covered his face.
She stood down and continued speaking, "Why didn't you tell us earlier? It would've at least spared us grief."
"Grief?" He repeated, "What's this about? I can't believe you're so upset about giving the kid his magic back! Cut him some slack!"
"Magic? You mean, your type of magic!?" Titania replied, "By what name do you go now? Last time it was Mab's bodyguards. Then it was the Jinn. What name do you use now? What's your lordly name of the hell you come from?"
The man looked at her. He adjusted his clothes and said, "Q. My name is now Q."
Titania nodded approvingly. "So. Mr. Q. Figures you would pick such a name. By the way the Puck spoke of you, you seemed a person of poor imagination to begin with. But because he was so agitated, he couldn't explain himself properly. The clan was no better. So I expect you to tell me… tell me what happened two years ago between you and the Puck. It was something important, wasn't it? The last time I saw you, I was barely a child and you created such chaos I had to deal with it in my adulthood. Then I find out your last appearance was barely two years ago, not to Avalon, but to the Puck. Do explain yourself."
"Why should I?"
"So you can help me…" She seemed to lighten up just barely, "Help me discover if my husband is dead." She regained her composure. "So tell me what happened two years ago. Everybody knows but nobody can explain…it's the key, you see…" she added with a soft whisper, "…My only key to Oberon…
"Yes…" He grumbled, "Let's just say it seemed like a good idea at the time."
Two weeks ago
The story, he thought as he silently remembered, was meant to have a sorry ending.
He was pushed back violently against a wall, bumping his head and making him see double. He was almost unable to duck from the bolt of energy that was sent his way.
His attacker got attacked, and David Xanatos was momentarily forgotten. He rubbed the back of his head and groaned.
It was probably the worst time to start reminiscing about the past, but life was starting to flash before his eyes.
He came to the conclusion it was all Their fault. If those three hadn't showed up, they wouldn't have given Puck his magic back. And if Puck hadn't had his magic back, he wouldn't be trying to kill them all.
His vision began to blur. He probably had a concussion. Before falling into deep dark unconsciousness, he thought he heard Oberon yell as a pretty, pretty, pretty light engulfed the main hall.
The chandelier fell. He was unconscious well before it hit the ground.
One week ago
In the quiet castle, he hoped against hope nobody would notice him heading downstairs. He felt stupid sneaking like that into the kitchen, but if they noticed they would just give him one of those boring speeches…
But for someone trying to sneak around, he wasn't very good at it. It certainly didn't help he was a little tipsy. However, he felt he wasn't tipsy enough to have any problems in the morning.
"Just one more didn't hurt anybody…" he muttered.
It was around 5 am in the morning, and for someone that still hadn't had his breakfast, a small gulp of Vodka was a hell of a way to start a morning. He took it out from Xanatos' wine cabinet. It was straight from Russia, just the way he liked it.
"Just one more…" he told himself as he took out a shot of it. He stared at the empty glass. "Just two more didn't hurt anybody…" he whispered as he took another shot.
Before he knew it, he was sitting in the kitchen floor, besides the doorway, with at least five bottles of wine, mixing and matching all he wanted.
Before he knew it, he wasn't just sitting in the kitchen floor, besides the doorway, with at least five bottles of wine, mixing and matching all he wanted; he was admiring the main hall… or what was left of it.
He silently twitched every time he stared at his main hall room, which currently looked like a war zone. There were craters of missile rifles on the floor. The candelabrum of the ceiling had fallen and shattered in the middle of the hall. The carpet had been half burned, the tapestries that adorned the walls were unrecognizable and unsalvageable.
One had to tiptoe around the chunks of cement that were once part of the ceiling and the nearby wall, hop over a water pipe that was about to burst any moment now, and be careful of all the loose electrical wiring.
In all, the main hall of Wyvern castle was barely recognizable from the better days of glory… barely two weeks ago, actually.
"Why do I do these things to myself? I don't have to be sorry. It's not my fault. I didn't do this." He muttered, "Why do they blame me, I didn't do this, I had nothing to do with this, it was all his fault anyway, it was all Their fault, it was all Goliath's fault, not me, no, I just wanted to take a nap, I didn't do this, no, no, no, I didn't have anything to do with this, no, not at all, no…"
He took another shot and kept on mumbling to himself. I didn't do it, I didn't do it…
Somehow, he managed to get on his feet. He had an awful need to sleep for awhile. He dragged his feet to his bedroom, certainly not before he bumped into flower vases and decorative iron knights in the hallway.
He simply let himself flop in the bed, as if he had just gotten rid of a heavy load. Just about when he was about to fall asleep ---into a sleep that had no dreams--- a set of paws passed by his doorway.
"And to your right," said the all too familiar of Brooklyn the gargoyle, "we have a specimen of an avalonis childus in a drunken stupor… courtesy of Brook's Wild Medieval Safari. No pictures please."
Somehow, Puck still had enough strength to yell a nasty obscenity about Brooklyn's persona.
"Your mamma." Brooklyn replied. He wore a curious winter scarf around his neck and held a small cup of soup in another. He took a sip, watching Puck, amused. He grinned and said, "Brrr… I don't know how you do it. The temperature has been downright freezing this last week… well, I suppose all those bottles of whiskey keeps you warm. Thanks to you, we're out. Gonna have to make do with soup."
"Drop dead." Puck muttered, "It's near sunrise. Go back to your balcony. You'd make one ugly lawn ornament in front of my room."
"Oh, funny, smart-ass."
"This is all you and your lousy clan's fault, of course. You know that."
"Don't tell me we're still hung up on the blame game." Brooklyn retorted, "We blame you, you blame us, and so the circle of life continues."
"You're a bunch of insensitive jerks…"
"Why can't you just let it all go?" the gargoyle asked, taking another sip of soup. He thought about it and said, "I guess there's no rest for the wicked."
Though the room was spinning, Puck still had enough to ask, "Who's wicked?"
"You're a mean person, Puck." Brooklyn told him, "And people like you suffer because of it."
Puck silently growled, "This," he said, "was not my fault. It was yours! Yours and your lousy clan's fault! I didn't do it! I didn't do anything!"
"You liar." Brook said, "This was your fault. You killed Oberon and you're going to pay! That innocent bit no one buys! You were the one to pull the trigger, and you enjoyed it, because you're one sadistic little monster…!"
And it proved to be unwise to say that, because the next thing he knew, boiling soup burned his eyes.
Two weeks ago
It was 3'o clock and all was well in the fair island of Avalon.
Oberon was staring out the window, admiring the blue sky when Titania found him. They were on one of the highest towers of Castle Avalon. The lord truly enjoyed high views. He could watch over most of the entire island.
"Lord," she began, "I've been meaning to talk to you."
He faced her and smiled, "My dear, what is it that you desire?"
"Only to make a visit to my grandson. I miss him so…"
"It is no problem, my queen, so it shall be." Oberon replied, "Besides, we do have to make the Puck is teaching him what he needs and should know."
"Yes, my lord. When can we leave?"
Oberon's answer was simple. "We could leave right now."
One week ago
When he arrived, a loose stone block almost landed and broke him in half. He managed to skip it, not because he was afraid he would die, but because he'd be an ugly sight indeed if he walked around with his head in a shoebox.
"What happened?" He mumbled, "The last crusade was fought here…?"
The main hall of Wyvern was falling apart. There were several chunks of stone in the floor, a chandelier had crashed and the curtains were a horror. It was as if a wrecking ball had passed through here.
He could feel the Child around but did not immediately sought him out. Nope. He was going to have to organize himself to meet him again.
Two years…
Plus tard, mon bleu eyed la poupée. Si nous sommes chanceux, beaucoup plus tard.
Two years ago
"Until later, my blue eye doll…and if we're lucky, until much later."
That was the inscription I left the boy on the book. The mortal David Xanatos surely explained to you the Puck's unfortunate run-in with my sister, so I won't elaborate any further, dear Titania.
I should probably tell you of the last time I met the Puck. Xanatos might've told you the last time Puck saw me was in Central Park…and that's not quite true. I'm thinking the Puck didn't mention it to anyone.
Anyway, it was nearly 1 am when I appeared in his room…
CHAPTER TWO
Two weeks ago
"We could go right now." Oberon had told his queen.
"Hmm, perhaps later in the day. I have business pending here." Titania replied as she disappeared back to the shadows.
He stared out his window once more. His powerful eye could see Raven cheating in a poker game with Coyote, the Weird Sisters pestering the gargoyles and Banshee picking a fight with Odin once more.
He chuckled. How he adored this island. He thought back at his wife's request and smiled. How the Puck must miss it.
He silently grinned at the prospect of showing up just like that. He would enjoy making the Puck suffer and sweat.
His servant had always being too free-spirited. Even when he was still a young one, there was something that never got tamed. Something about his drive. Something that always resisted him. Something that always wanted to be better. Better in games, better in trickery, better in magic. And always, always trying to test how far he could go and get away with it.
Because, Oberon thought, he always wanted to be the center of attention. He wanted people to look at him. If he had just been quiet and calm, he could've avoided many grievances of his adult life.
But even though he seemed to have forgotten about it, Oberon was still his lord and master. Though his servant didn't acknowledge it, he was just that: a servant only good to serve his master.
He hadn't even begun to forgive him for what happened in the Gathering. Never, Oberon had vowed to himself. Never a changeling had chosen a human over him. That had been so humiliating. Puck got off easy, all things considered.
It was time for an overdue lesson in obedience for the Puck, and the earth would tremble…
One week ago
Brooklyn charged out of there enraged beyond reason. You killed Oberon! This is all your fault and you're going to pay…!
Puck sat in the bed and pouted. He admitted it was childish from his part to toss a casserole of red hot soup on someone else's face. But that was ok. It was ok to be childish every once in awhile. Being the grow-up sucked sometimes.
He threw himself in the bed and stared up the ceiling, a view he already knew by heart. He had counted the stone blocks (210) and the big cracks (7). He only needed to count the small cracks, but he didn't felt like it.
He could silently imagine Brooklyn coming up to Goliath and start whining. He was being childish too, whining to Goliath. Heck, it was fact to children one shouldn't tease the bully who can beat you to a pulp. Hence Brooklyn wasn't childish, just plain stupid, stupid, stupid.
It wasn't his fault Oberon was missing. They didn't have evidence it was his fault. Maybe he walked away and since everyone forgot, no one remembered which way he went. It wasn't his fault Oberon wasn't here anymore.
Even if he did have something to do with him, it wasn't his fault. It was the fault of the gargoyles, always teasing him, and later crying because they got the punch they so deserved.
It wasn't his fault everyone forgot what happened. The clan convinced him to forget all about it. It was their fault they couldn't remember. They didn't want to remember. They talked about him, but it was them who didn't want to remember anything about it and didn't want to know anything about it. They were to blame.
It wasn't his fault he felt so lousy these last few months. It was Their fault for giving him power They knew he wasn't ready for. It wasn't his fault he didn't know how to use the power. It was Their fault for not teaching him how to use it.
When he came down to it, most of what happened wasn't his fault. "Screw 'em." He muttered, "They are the guilty party."
He was paying more attention to himself, in the vanity mirror, more attention than usual. He was surprised he could look so pathetic. His eyes were red, and so was his face. He really hated it when he cried. He looked so damned repulsive. He really looked hideous when he cried.
He suddenly felt a shiver up his spine and the temperature began to drop; he began to shiver slightly.
"Damn that heater, it's broken again."
He checked the thermostat on the wall and turned up the heat. He went back to the mirror. He thought it was his reflection but he didn't saw himself.
There, right there, he saw someone that looked a great deal like him, but it wasn't him, because he was grinning, and he wasn't grinning, but in the mirror he was grinning and he was grinning maliciously at him, whispering, trying to tell him something.
He screamed.
Two weeks ago
A splash of cold water made him jerk away from the dreamless slumber. For a few moments, he didn't know who he was, when he was, and what was happening; it all came into focus when he saw Xanatos' face.
Xanatos was frowning.
"It's one thing to do it by night, but it's not afternoon yet and you're already getting stoned?"
"I was just taking a nap." Owen complained, "Is that wrong too? Another psychosis?"
"You slept for three hours."
Silence.
Uncomfortable, Owen replied unconvincingly, "I was tired."
Xanatos nodded with a certain sarcastic quality. He circled the bed and said, "Please tell me that's not the second bottle in one day."
"None of your business, sir." He replied with a sudden edge. "I know what I'm doing."
He had drunk down at least 2. The maximum was one, but he had learned that with at least five he could live. Not walk and talk at the same time, but live, and that was good enough.
"Y' know," Xanatos began, "I think I've been very supportive with you these last few months and I feel unjustly treated like shit."
Owen flopped in the bed and covered his face with a pillow. "Leave me alone. Don't start again."
Xanatos' attitude turned to scowl, "Your problems will still be there when you wake up, Owen! Please. Don't use sleeping pills to get away from it all."
That only served to push Owen away rather than pull him back, "Don't tell me Fox talked you into this…"
"She didn't have to talk much, its pretty obvious. How long until you overdose yourself? I just can't sit back and watch and wait."
He laughed a bitter laugh. "You sat, you watched, you waited the first time… want to atone now?"
"I didn't know the first time!" Xanatos retorted, "You never said anything! You never say anything to me!"
Owen covered his face and muttered, "I don't want to see you. Go away."
Xanatos felt that awful, awful rage that made him want to hit somebody or kick somebody, or take it out on somebody; better yet, to kick him around and show his contempt for the creature before him because he was stupid, stupid, stupid.
He did none of that, however.
"This is so like you. Fine. That's it. I'll leave you alone. But you can come to me when you want to. When you're ready. I just want you to know I'll do whatever it is you want once you make up your mind about it. My doors are open. You choose what to do next."
One week ago
If he was going to talk some sense into the Child, he had to get on his good side first. That was Q's reasoning when he knocked at the door. He could've simply passed through it or popped himself inside, but someone once told him that was 'rude'.
What did they know of being rude? He had been slapped at least one more time before he got the hell out of Titania's court. Now who's being rude? They should face Titania on a hissy fit, then talk to him about rude.
Just so the Child didn't think the worst of him; he knocked at the door. "Hello? Are you awake?"
No response.
Q thought about his options. He couldn't just wake him up. That would be rude. Plus, Lord only knows how pissed he could get. Most sentient beings wake up cranky in the morning.
Consequences be damned, he passed the door like an average ghost to enter the room. Well, he didn't have time or patience to act courteous. He had to admit it. He was rude by nature.
For someone labeled as crazy, his bedroom was really quite organized. The bed was made. There were no clothes scattered in the floor. In his Infinite Knowledge of All Things, he was sure there was no underwear under the bed.
Everything was normal looking, except for that strange young man sitting with his legs crossed in the thin air next to the window. The young man faced him and said, "I'm not sleepy. Haven't been able to sleep in a long time."
For someone labeled as crazy, Puck seemed rather normal.
Q inspected him and said, "Why didn't you answer?"
Puck's answer was calm. "If I told you to get lost, would you listen?"
"Not bloody likely," Q admitted.
Puck gave him a look and turned to the window.
"Jeez, might as well get it out in the open right here, right now." Q said, crossing his arms, in that irritably snobbish way he had, "What the hell is going on?"
Puck didn't answer.
He paused again and seriously asked: "Where is Oberon?"
Puck looked lost for a moment. "I don't know."
Q pulled up a chair from the void and sat down. He looked to the floor, he looked at his hands, he looked at Puck. "We've really done it now, haven't we?"
"I don't know why you bother with me. This is all the gargoyle's fault. I'm a good person. I didn't do anything. If I did, I would've remembered. Don't you think I'm a good person?"
"Yes. You are basically a good person."
"Basically?" he repeated, "No, I guess I'm not good enough. These things don't happen to good people." He gave Q a sad smile. "I had a little accident. I've had many little accidents."
Q simply nodded.
"You shouldn't gave it to me. This magic. I can't control it." Puck retorted, "It's so different from normal magic. I don't understand it. It's so frustrating." Then he added, "How's Trelane?… oh, wait. I forgot he was dead."
"I never did tell you why he died…" Q muttered absentmindedly.
"I have a pretty good idea…" Puck responded, "I don't like that magic or that talisman They gave me."
"What is there to like? It's magic. It's what you wanted, isn't it? Don't bitch around then. Never look a gift horse in the mouth."
"I'm a nobody. Yet you gave it to me. I'm nobody."
"They picked you because you were the best."
"I'm nobody…"
"I agreed with them and made you keep it."
"I'm nobody…"
"It was gift for you! Be happy about it! It gave you your magic back!"
"Gift my ass! You couldn't take it back, that's the truth! Your brothers used me and you couldn't fix it! You just couldn't! In all your infinite power, you couldn't fix it! You couldn't fix! And I'm still nobody!"
Q didn't answer right away. "All right. It's true. We couldn't fix it."
"The mighty Q admits culpability, there's a first." Puck replied. He paused. "This is all your fault, you know that, don't you? The nights have been very cold since I have it. They have been even colder since Oberon is gone. This is all your fault."
"How is this my fault? I tried to help you!" Q snapped, "I even dumb it out for you! I gave you a book that a three year old could understand!"
"Well, I didn't, ok!? I'm stupid! I'm dumb! I'm an idiot! I'm whatever lowly adjective you can think of, all right!?"
"Look, boy, what is done can't be undone! I've tried, you know. All right, so you were used and now you're pissed, and you have every right to be pissed, but you can either sulk or use it. You could see it as a curse or a blessing."
"It's still your fault this happened to me. I'm a good person! This shouldn't happen to me! It's all your fault! This is all the gargoyles' fault! They gave me the pills in the first place. I had done a few things I shouldn't have done, and that's when the blue pills began. My saving grace and the reason my kidneys hadn't failed was because these blue pills were of low dosage. That was Xanatos' idea. He made the doctor give me a very low dosage. I remember the other pills, the red pills. Those sure packed a punch. Made me sleep for days. Xanatos didn't like that.
"It was not my fault I can't sleep. It was Their fault. If it weren't for Them, this wouldn't have happened and everything would be fine. They were the ones to mess with around with me. So it wasn't my fault, you see. No, it isn't my fault I can't sleep.
"It was the clan who convinced me to start taking some sleeping pills to rest. They were the ones who convinced me to forget. It wasn't my idea. The clan convinced me to forget all about it. Everyone hated to remember what happened. No, it's better not to remember. They thought it was better this way.
Even I knew it was better this way. Trying to remember was so… painful, I suppose. It's better to stay out of their way. I'll be fine. There'll be no close doors. There'll be no empty rooms."
"Thinking like that will get you killed."
"It is your fault if I get killed."
"My fault? How's that?"
"You gave me the power and the talisman!"
"Ok, so maybe it is my fault! Facts are facts: I gave you something men seek for lifetimes, something other beings wanted so badly, something your brethren from Avalon could kill for."
"Or kill themselves for, right? Like the other 11 children?"
Q didn't reply and allowed Puck to boast in silent victory. He smiled insidiously and said, "Go away, Mr. Q. I don't need you. I've never needed anyone. Leave my loneliness unbroken and get the hell out of my room."
"Might as well tell you Titania will be here shortly to demand explanations."
"Then let her come. You, right now, will leave. Our business was finished two years ago." he gave him a contemptuous look and said, "I've nothing to say to you."
The man turned back for a moment. He wanted to say something, but words left him. "As you wish. Until never."
Then he was gone for good.
Two years ago
Anyway, it was nearly 1 am when I appeared in his room. I didn't do it often. Just drop by, give him a quick glance and leave. I didn't wanted uncalled attention.
I don't know why I did it either. I think I did it because he reminded me of that other boy. Both young. Both wise. Both foolish.
My mistake was a rather stupid one. You see, he had seen a crooked painting in his room and fixed it. Next thing I know, I get whacked with a brown slipper.
I was all like, "What's the big deal!?" when I get whacked with the other slipper.
I saw him standing up in his bed. He wasn't blond, he was the white-haired incarnation. He was getting ready to whack me with a pillow when I faced him. "It's you…" he mumbled.
He inspected me from head to toe. The last time we met, it had been almost six or seven months ago. In all, we had met only three times and we haven't spoken much.
He jumped off the bed and regarded me the same way a child looked at something very new and very shiny. "I never got around to catch your name." he told me.
"Of course I did." I gestured the book I had given him, "I wrote it."
"Plus tard, mon bleu eyed la poupée. Si nous sommes chanceux, beaucoup plus tard." He told me, "Sign with a Q. You didn't expect to see me again, right? At least, never talk to me again." He looked very innocent. "Why?"
"It didn't seem necessary. If you don't mind, I'll be going now."
"Why must you leave?" he argued, "I never got around to thank you for what you did…you never showed up again. Until tonight, I mean." He circled me like a hawk, "And you never told me what you guys were supposed to be."
"I don't think it really matters."
"Well, it matters to me," he growled, "My life was twisted around because of those three sorcerers and you. The least you can do is explain to me what you are before you disappear forever."
"Well, what do you wish to know?"
The boy shot me a look and said, "What sort of creature you are, for starters."
I tried to squeeze out the question, but he refused to give me a break. I'll grant him this —Puck is one of the most engaging creatures I have ever met.
One week ago
Q had left Puck's room greatly disturbed.
He always thought of him as being so strong. That he wouldn't let this thing let him down. Now he was like that other child he encountered; the one that simply gave up.
The details of the battle and Oberon's current whereabouts still eluded him and Puck claimed he didn't remember. They had quarreled; Q knew that. But he didn't know who actually won. Odds in Vegas seemed to favor Puck, but he still had to make sure.
He decided to stay around and start asking questions. Sunset would occur soon, and he could grill the gargoyle clan about it. But first he went after Xanatos. It was safe to assume he was there when everything went down.
So he couldn't help but overhear with his mighty ear what he was arguing with Puck. His ears needn't be too mighty, they could be heard across the entire castle.
"Jeez, Puck, its barely 6 pm!" Xanatos snapped.
Out of the shock, Puck dropped the Vodka bottle and it shattered in the floor, "Oh, no… what a waste…" He mournfully kneeled in the floor to pick up the shattered pieces.
Xanatos stared at him disgusted and said, "You drunk. Here you are! With the bottle! It's 6 pm!"
"I know its 6 pm!" Puck replied as he stood up. Already under the influence, he had to get a hold of the counter. "I'm not stupid." He continued, swaying right to left. "I can read a clock. Even those wi' lil hands in a circle goin' up to 12… and those digital ones… an' those others tha' have hands but don' have numbers and you hav' to guess and those Timex crap what have it…"
"For the love of…" he picked up the glass Puck had been using, "Is this your first or thirty-first?"
Puck laughed an incoherent laugh and said, "Who keeps count…?"
Xanatos scoffed and took him by the arm. Slightly worried, he asked, "You didn't drank the pills with the Vodka, right?"
"Hell, no. I may be drunk, not stuuupid…" he retorted.
"Starting the happy hour too early?"
"Get bent."
He pushed Xanatos away and leaned against the kitchen counter. He put a hand to his face and said, "Shit… shit… that was the last bottle of Vodka… where' the whiskey?"
Without saying a word, Xanatos grabbed the bottle before he did and shattered it in the sink. "No more vodka, no more whiskey."
Puck groaned, stared up to the ceiling and muttered, "It starts…"
"If you hadn't been drunk like a dog, this wouldn't happened."
"How many times are we going to go through this? You haven't shut up the whole week."
"I won't shut up until you quit trying to sneak drinks behind my back."
"Why are you so upset?" the other smirked, "I mean, I did it! You thought that Oberon would be the end of us, but it wasn't! You told me! 'Push him away!', you said, 'I know you can! Get rid of him!' Well, I did and now you're pissed because I made your kid safe!"
"That is not why I'm upset!"
"Then why are you upset? Because the universe is short a man like Oberon!?"
"I'm upset because you've just made it worse!" he said, "When I said 'get rid of him', I didn't mean 'kill him'!"
Puck snorted and said, "He's not dead, you idiot."
"Then where the hell is he?"
Puck stared away and shifted uncomfortable. "I dunno."
Xanatos inspected him and said with alarm, "You better start figuring it out…It won't be long before word gets around into Avalon or Titania really gets upset and does something to you."
For a moment, neither said anything.
Xanatos tried to hug him, the other pushed him away. "Get off me, just--- off me--- I have enough--- I don't need you! I don't need your pity and I don't need your plastic sentimentality!"
"Oh, so that's what you think of me? Oh, face it, you just love my 'sentimentality'! You push me away but later you'll come running and beg me to stay! You just love it when you're the center of attention! That's what you always want! Attention! You do tricks, you take on Oberon and you do it to draw attention for yourself!"
The fey closed his eyes and replied, "Bullshit. This is all your fault. I didn't want to face him and you made me do it. It's not my fault. It's yours. You made me do it."
"Oh, so now I'm the guilty one?" he said, sarcastic, "Then you'll pardon if I leave with my 'plastic sentimentality'." Xanatos retorted and stormed out of the kitchen.
Q quickly forgot about his plans to talk to Xanatos. Perhaps he wasn't the smartest being in the universe, but he knew better than intervening in a lovers' quarrel. And even lovers treated each other more kindly.
He wondered why he should bother. "This is not my business. It never was. You're on your own, child. Do make the best of it."
CHAPTER THREE
Two years ago
"What sort of creature you are, for starters."
"What sort of creature am I?" I repeated, "Believe me, it's quite irrelevant."
He looked at me very annoyed, "I have heard stories of beings like you, but never really believed them. The Jinn, they called you. But that isn't the name of your people, right?"
"Nope. We have no name."
"Your sister," he continued, "Boasted of being all-powerful… is that right?"
"Power is relative."
He nodded approvingly. "You people simply adore riddles, isn't that so? You book…" he gestured to his night table, "I can't understand what's being done to me. Is there anyway you can break the spell…? Undo this… this thing that was done to me?"
I thought about it for a moment. "No." I said, "There's nothing I can do."
"But you're all powerful!"
"I never said that, you did. In fact, I have no true business in this place. I dropped by as a favor, nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh, really?" he snapped, "Then why have you dropped by more than once?" He laughed, "Did you really think your visits were left unnoticed?" He came closer to me and said, "You have helped me back in the business with Memory Lane, but you haven't told me why. I demand an explanation! Why are you tied to me, Mr. Q? What is making you come back?"
I grunted to myself. "It's not you, arrogant child." I said, "It's that other child. It's for him. I…I owe him that much. It's for the one before you…"
Two weeks ago
The world ended when the clock struck 7.
It was actually earlier in Avalon, Oberon made it so that they appeared at the castle at 7, on the dot. Lady Titania was by his side. She looked radiant.
"I hope my son-in-law doesn't get too upset." She commented.
"Humans tend to overreact to every little thing." Oberon replied, "Don't hold your breath."
Suddenly, the child Alex appeared. The boy was probably attracted to the magic emanating from the royal couple. He held a teddy bear with gargoyles wings.
"Alex!" his mother called from behind. "Get back here, its time for dinner---"
She stopped abruptly when she saw the duo on her living room. She grabbed Alex in her arms and said, "What are you two doing here?"
"Relax, daughter. I wish you no harm." Titania replied, "How is the little angel?"
"Better off without you!" Fox snapped.
"We only wish to see the boy's progress in the magical arts." Oberon interceded.
"Oh," Fox began, "Well… can we do it… I don't know… another day?"
Oberon frowned, "We will do it tonight."
"But it would really great if we could do it, ah, a few days… weeks later. Alex," Oberon's face turned to an ugly scowl as she continued, "just didn't see it coming and well, it's time for his dinner and…"
Fox continued ranting and talking, while Oberon growled until he yelled, "Silence! We will do this tonight or else! Is that understood!?"
Fox actually took a few steps backwards. "Yes… all right." She silently gulped, "Let me… go get Puck for you…"
She walked away, Alex with her, silent and obedient, chanting softly prayers for the dead.
One week ago
The sun fell on Manhattan and Titania was there to see it.
She scanned the castle for that other presence and she found he was already gone. She thought it typical.
Damn you, spirit, she silently cursed, Now I know the whole story…and you are as guilty as your brothers…
The Queen of Avalon had returned to Earth with one reason and one reason only: To find out what had happened to her husband…
…to find out if he was dead or not…
"You were there with us, Titania." Goliath had told her. "You know as well as we do what happened."
"If I believe what I saw, I must begin to question my sanity," she replied.
Goliath didn't seem too terribly excited, or even nervous about Titania giving him trouble. "I've had my share of magical events to last three lifetimes," he said, "What's one more to pester my existence?"
"I can't help but wonder how casually you're taking all of this, Goliath." she said, "Oberon is missing, and you know I won't leave until I get a straight answer. And let's not forget about Puck… I don't know what's his problem to begin with."
"What do you expect me to be? Surprised? I saw this coming for some time now. I'm worn out of being surprised." Goliath replied. "Confused? Tired? Annoyed? But certainly not surprised."
Titania shook her head and continued, "I need to find out where Oberon is. I know Puck had something to do with it. Something happened to us that night, Goliath! I need to find out what it is!"
"And that was to do what with me again?" Goliath asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I need to know what happened that night. I don't remember and---"
"I don't remember neither." Goliath interrupted. "No one in the castle does."
Titania was silent for a moment. "Why?"
"I don't know. I think Puck put a spell on himself and us. To not remember what happened."
"Why would he do that?" Titania asked alarmed. "If he put a spell on himself, he would've told me—" She halted for a second, "But he wouldn't remember either…?"
Goliath nodded. "Besides," he added, "I don't think I desire to know." "Right…" Titania muttered absentmindedly, "Right…"
"However," Goliath continued, "It started with the test for Alex. You were there. You ordered it." he said, with unconscious bitterness towards her, "But something happened."
"I can barely remember the argument…" she whispered quietly, "Only their echoes…"
"I can only recall bits and pieces." Goliath responded, "You're probably wondering why the clan isn't pushing on and trying to find Oberon. Normally, we would. But the circumstances of his disappearance, and the fact that he wasn't exactly well-liked, doesn't aid his cause."
"I remember only half the argument. It was in Alex's room. I don't remember how Oberon got there. I don't remember seeing him walk into the room. I don't remember myself walking to the room. Anyway."
"I was next to Alex bed, and he was crying inside. The trio and Angela were there. We were trying to sneak out of the room with Alex while Oberon and Puck argued."
"Oberon was talking about a war he wanted. They kept arguing. I remember thinking that Puck had never looked so enraged before. I also remember thinking that rage clouds the mind. He was clouded.
"I remember next running down the hall, with Alex, and I think Fox too. We ran to the weapons room. I remember Fox with a weapon. I remember bits and pieces of what happened later. The curtains caught fire, the chandelier fell."
"It was precisely the moment the chandelier fell from the ceiling that blackness claimed us. Fox swooned, so did the clan. The last thing I remember was seeing the chandelier in the floor and thinking, There we go again."
Titania gave Goliath a strange look. "Again?"
"Didn't someone tell you?" Goliath replied, "This is the second time Puck has taken a night from us."
"No, nobody told me! What happened?"
"It was at least three months ago. To this day I don't remember. That's why I have no hopes of remembering this time. We will never remember what happened to us those two nights."
"But was it important, what you forgot?"
"To be frank," Goliath began, "I find suspicious we don't remember that night. There was something in them Puck didn't want us to remember." Then Goliath sighed heavily. "Puck enjoys making this farce come true. Yes. I'm convinced of that too. He's such a selfish person. It's his fault we are all like this. It's his fault Oberon is gone."
"Isn't that cruel? He's been through a lot." Titania answered.
"You don't know him. He's a truly cruel person."
"He's blaming your clan."
"That is a lie. It was his fault. I may not remember the details, but I know we had nothing to do with it. He erased all memories on purpose."
"Puck says one thing---you say another. Who am I supposed to believe?"
"Believe whatever you want." Goliath said, "But some things are true, wherever you believe them or not."
Almost as an afterthought, Goliath added, "You know who could help you? Hudson. I think he knows the spell to make everyone forget. Perhaps if you had the spell, you could devise a counter-spell." But then Goliath grunted and added, "Perhaps you could find an counter-spell… but I don't think Puck desires to remember any more than I do."
"Why?"
"Because he'll learn how truly cruel he is."
Two weeks ago
The news almost gave him a heart attack, but it wasn't as nearly as bad as he had expected.
He looked a little weak for a moment and he had to sit down. He just sat on the bed, covering his face, taking deep breaths, praying or catatonic. After a few uncomfortable minutes of absolute silence, he muttered, "What does he want?"
"Pop quiz for Alex." Xanatos replied, "Doesn't even suspect."
His face still covered, he nodded. "You sure?"
"If he didn't know, he would be angry. Angrier than usual, I mean."
"Ok." He mumbled, "Damn, I'm so tired. I want to sleep."
"Getting high wouldn't do you any good." Xanatos mumbled back, "He'd still be there. Only angrier."
Owen perked up. "I don't know what to do. I can't think straight. It's-it's so foggy, I don't know, I don't remember what I did yesterday, I don't know what new spells I've taught the boy, I don't remember what I did half hour before---"
"Hey…"
"---or the hour before, the day, the month, the year---"
"Hey! Hey!" Xanatos interrupted, "Don't bother remembering, all right? We can deal with this later… right now, we have to survive, make a plan, get rid of Oberon and deal with the meaning of life later…"
"He doesn't know?"
"He doesn't know." Xanatos said, "I want you to try, just for a night, to pretend there's nothing wrong. If we pull this off, I swear I'll give you a raise and a vacation somewhere sunny, but we have to pull this off."
"I wish I hadn't had those three last blues." He said, "But the funny thing is that I really want three more. The world is ending, the sky is falling and I feel so damn lonely…"
Owen looked as if he was about to cry, but he didn't. He never cried. He insisted on being strong about that. He could yell, trash-talk, and be angry, but he would never allow himself to cry. He was sure Puck was very well capable of crumbling apart without much effort. Xanatos supposed that was another function of his Owen persona: try and keep himself together in situations he would've otherwise fallen apart.
He remembered back in the Gathering. He never did see Puck's reaction, he had automatically changed to Owen. It sort of proved his theory.
And even now, even though he was on sleeping pills 24 hours, his instinct on self-preservation kicked in. So he didn't cry. Yet. Puck would be a different story.
"You know… my life ended back with the Gathering. I thought it was just a matter of a nice afterlife here. Then my world ended three months ago. And it'll end again tonight. I just wish it would end for sure tonight."
"Don't say that." Xanatos whispered, "I'll be here the morning after."
Owen laughed bitterly.
"No, it's true. I'll be here. I'll be here if you need me."
"That's what you say now." Owen muttered, "We'll wait until morning to see it."
"But you gotta promise me something," Xanatos added, "You want me to stay, you gotta stay away from the booze and the pills. Just for today. You can't take him on while stoned. Can you do that for me?"
Owen didn't answer right away.
"Can you?"
"Yes." He hurried to say. "I'll stay awake."
"You promise? For real?"
"Yeah… yeah…" Owen said, "And… for what is worth… I'm sorry for treating you like shit. Is that alright?"
Xanatos smiled and nodded, "It's alright."
Two years ago
"The other child was something else," I told him, the same way I'm telling you, dear Titania. He was something else the same way Puck is something else to you, milady. So you understand.
His name, as I knew it, was Trelane. I don't know who named him, I don't really care. He was charming, witty and a fast learner. He could've gone places. He could've been something. Everybody thought he knew what he was doing…so nobody really bothered to take care of him.
He…he got involved with three of my people, who offered him power beyond comprehension. He took it. You see…he was young, but he was greedy. And he took more than he could handle. By the time he realized the trouble he had gotten himself into, the damage was irreparable.
The slip-ups, the accidents and the 'accidents'. It wasn't long until he lost it.
"Can you imagine all the walls of reality crumbling down at your feet, boy?" I told the Puck, "That's what he did. All the lines became blurry…all the lines became one. Nobody should have that power. Nobody should piss somebody with such power."
"And his power…" the Puck continued, "is my power now. The Three sorcerers gave it to me." He clutched his chest for a moment, then let go. "What did…? How did he died?"
One week ago
"The world ended for 24 hours." An old gargoyle commented to the immortal Queen before him.
Hudson sat back in his chair and turned on the tv. "That's I know, that's all ye need to know." He sighed, "Ain' no better way to put it. The world ended, yes, it did. We were all nothing for 24 for hours. I checked the clock afterwards. 24 for hours. And the world ended again two weeks ago."
Titania leaned against a wall and listened. The old gargoyle flipped the channel, from HBO to ShowTime, then back.
Titania nodded thoughtfully. "And when the world ended, you were the only survivor?"
"The world has ended twice. I know I survived the first. I'm still not sure about the second."
Under normal circumstances, Titania would've dismissed the old gargoyle and thought him insane. But today, Titania had a task. She had to find out where the hell was Lord Oberon of Avalon. And in questioning the castle's inhabitants, they all said, "Ask Hudson. If anyone can tell you, he can."
Because, apparently, no one in the castle seemed to remember what happened the fated night when Oberon visited this place. She hadn't questioned Xanatos or Fox, but she was sure they would say the same thing.
But she could relate too. Even the Queen of Avalon had no knowledge of those 24 hours that hung in the air.
It was a blank. No one remembered. No one looked too interested in remembering.
That alone was odd, even a bit annoying for Titania. The only one that was willing to cooperate was this old gargoyle, Hudson. She knew Oberon was not well liked, but still…
…he was still her husband and she needed to find him…
…something had happened to her memories and she needed to know…
…this was a mystery that begged to be solved…
Titania smiled bitterly. "You remember what happened to Oberon that night, don't you?"
Hudson shifted in his chair like the old man he was and said, "No. But I can put two and two together to have some idea of what happened."
"Do you have concrete evidence? Evidence is what I need."
"Evidence is what I don't have." Hudson replied, "Your evidence is the memory of what happened, but since I don't remember, and no one here remembers, you don't have evidence." He paused. "All I have is an idea, because this is not the first time a night has been forgotten by the lot of us."
Titania perked up, actually interested. "From what I can make out, something happened to us two weeks ago, something important. But nobody remembers. And before that, three months ago at least, something important also happened. And nobody remembers either. And nobody has really told me how it came to be that all inhabitants of Wyvern castle lost their memories. Twice."
"Then allow me to give you a small summary:" Hudson replied, "Once upon a time, there was this old god that gave another young god a very shinny gift with the promise that it would give him power.
The first month was fine; it was fun. The second month was when the young god realized just how deep was the problem he had gotten into. The third month wasn't about wherever he had power or not or not; it was about controlling this huge match he had been given. The fourth month everything just went downhill at an amazing speed: the accident without intention, the accident with intention, the accidents that couldn't be called accidents, then the mother of all 'accidents'.
The fifth month no one remembered. The sixth month was up to the mere mortals to patch up what happened in the missing month. The seventh month no one remembered again. The eighth month the mere mortals were too tired, too bored, too hungry to patch up what happened.
"The ninth month the elder god returned to see that all the mere mortals were dead."
"Lovely tale." Titania murmured. Like the one He told me…
"Sad but true." Hudson replied.
"What did he do that you people had to deal with?" Titania said, disturbed, "It couldn't be too serious. Even to do something to Oberon, it would take an immense amount of power!"
"Power he has, ain't he, Titania?" Hudson replied, "Power that was granted to him, if my tired old memory serves me right."
"But what did he do to Oberon?"
"The mere mortals don't know."
Titania paused, "You're playing with me, aren't you?"
"I'm just tellin' it how it is."
Titania scoffed. She had to scoff. "You know--- most beings with such power are extremely dangerous. And suppose that story is true… you seem awfully calm about all this."
"It's a gift."
"But I wonder… Goliath mentioned Puck erased these two nights on purpose…"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because," Hudson began, "I suppose it's easier for all of us to deal with it if we don't remember…"
Titania stood up and began to pace. "I mean--- I have to be honest, and honesty is not one of my virtues. Honestly… I don't know what is wrong here! From what I can tell, the world has ended twice and nobody seems to care! You're world is ending a third time and you're watching tv! Your--- your very clan, for example. We are in such dire time, and your young ones just left to the movies! And me! You don't seem to care I'm here! You don't even let me in on the secret!"
Hudson didn't respond right away. "Honestly--- and honesty happens to be my highest virtue--- we just stopped caring."
Titania just stared.
"Don' look so shocked." Hudson continued. "Our world ended two times. What's a third time to us?"
In all her years alive, Titania had never a response quite like that. "You're wrong." Titania muttered, and promptly departed, lest she be taken in the wave of indifference.
Two weeks ago
She walked away, Alex with her, silently and obediently, chanting softly prayers for the dead. She walked away extremely fast, grabbing her child by an arm and almost dragging him; while she had a small attack of hyperventilation.
Well, this is just perfect, just peachy, mom just drops on by with no consideration no warning not a goddamned phone call and here I am running down the hall like I really need to go to the bathroom with a big plastic smile and my eyes all bugged out…
By the time she got to David's office, she was out of breath.
"I know, Fox," David said before she opened her mouth, "Saw it on the cameras. What do they want?"
She took a series of deep breaths and said, "Dunno. Just tests, I think."
"Good! Good! If tests they want, tests they get." David said coolly, calmly, collected. He said it slowly, very slowly, like a man spelling out instructions on how to survive a nuclear holocaust with this cool, calm, collected style.
He made it sound like a run-of-the-mill problem, which was comforting, else she be really scared and realize this wasn't a run-of-the-mill problem. Not everyday the lord of Avalon was in her living room, tapping his foot impatiently and constantly checking his wristwatch, metaphorically, at least.
"Here's what we're going to do. You go talk to the gargoyles, and put them up to speed." He tried to not sound too dreaded when he added, "And I'll go check if Puck is up to it."
"What if he isn't?"
"He will."
"But what if he isn't?"
"You leave that to me. Just go tell the gargoyles."
Still dubious, Fox questioned, "Where is Puck?"
"Uh… I think he's in his office taking a nap…"
"Again!? How can he take Oberon if he's stoned already!" She sighed and shook her head, frustrated, "David," Fox told him, "This is not healthy. Talk to him."
"What do you want me to say?" Xanatos replied, "I'm sure he'll get it over with. He just needs time. And help. You know. To deal with stress."
"Help is one thing, escape another." She said, "Can't you see it, David? These last few months he's been constantly sleeping or getting drunk in the nights. And you indulge him!"
"Well, what else can I do? Xanatos told her, "It's been tough to him. Don't you remember that morning after it happened? How… terrible… he was? Don't you remember what the doc suggested? 'Get supportive'? Isn't that what I'm doing?"
"You're helping him run away. His problems will be there when he wakes up. That's the problem with those Prozac, Ritalin… people now need prescriptions to 'cope' with everything."
"Maybe he really needs it, ever thought about that?"
"In all my years in the world, never has running away helped anyone out of a problem, except to the grave! You say you're worried about his life, but keep doing nothing, and he'll die a little more each day with every lil 'bonbon' he takes…!" she snapped, "And you know what? He'll drag us down with him!"
She stormed out of the office, Alex still in her arms. Damn you, David, she silently cursed, and went on looking for the gargoyles.
One week ago
"Ask Hudson." Brooklyn said, "If anyone can tell you, he can."
Titania, Queen of Avalon, nodded thoughtfully, and popped away, without bothering to say goodbye. And good riddance.
The Faerie Queen had been giving them a hard time since she showed up, asking questions about Oberon, and what happened that night.
She was there. She knew what had happened. She knew there was no answer.
Brooklyn couldn't give a damn right now. He could still feel the burn of hot soup in his face. The rest of the guys didn't look too thrilled either.
They were all in the highest balcony, doing nothing but try and stay out of each other's way.
For no obvious reason, Lex suddenly said, "Let's go out to see a movie." Everyone turned and stared. "What?" he asked, cowed.
"It's not a bad idea." Angela said. "A little normality for a change."
"Which one?" Broadway spoke up.
"I dunno." Lex said, "The first one that begins. What do you think, Brooklyn?"
"What the hell." Brooklyn said, "Anything to get out of this hellhole. First Oberon, now his Queen. I've had it up to here on omnipotent beings."
"We're all tired." Angela added.
"Who wouldn't? Puck gets a midlife crisis and then we have to get dragged into it." Broadway muttered, "Do you know what day is it? It's sort of a captious question, isn't it?"
"It's Saturday." Lex interjected, "I was helping out setting the castle's watches back online."
"Damn the watches, damn the nights, damn it all!" Brooklyn cried. "The whole castle has gone crazy since that night. How many days have gone? A week? Yeah… I think it was a Saturday. And half the castle's security is off-line, the kitchen has no power, the main hall is falling apart and maintenance hasn't come because Xanatos hasn't balanced his checkbook yet. Would it kill him to spend the night elsewhere before a loose fuse sets off a fire?"
"I don't know why we have to take all this." Angela commented, "It was not our fault Oberon is gone. And I don't care where he is."
"I don't even care for what happened." Broadway said. "I just want everything back to normal and bury this as soon as possible. And there's that Titania poking around."
"It's not fair. This is all Puck's fault. It was him who pulled the trigger. We just want some peace and quiet." Lexington added.
The young gargoyles talked and talked and talked. In their conversation, it was Brooklyn who thought he heard another voice talking. It was Brooklyn who noticed the temperature had dropped.
The others were lost in their chatter when he entered the broken main hall. And behind that burnt curtain, right there, inside that charred tapestry, he thought he heard something… somebody---
Brooklyn shook his head. They definitely needed to leave this place. His lost memory ordered him so.
CHAPTER FOUR
Two years ago
"How did he die?"
Now, how was I supposed to answer that? The best I could come up with was, "That's a long and complicated story…" I sighed, "You see… the three sorcerers were the ones who indeed kill him, but it…it was his fault, you know…"
"How can it be his fault?" he asked me, "What do you mean?"
I sighed again, stared at my shoes and finally said, "Because he didn't run away, like a sensible person would. You know…it was like a suicide… it was a suicide… picture a man that wants to die but doesn't have the courage to do it…what an easier way to die than running to the White House with a rifle? If he wants to die, he won't stop running to towards the steps and the Secrete Service will shoot him…He was an extraordinary coward, that other child…"
I sighed again and said, "And I suppose I could've stopped him. But I was busy. You know. His business wasn't my business. But I pitied him. I still do. And I…sort of feel sorry for him…"
"And now his power is my power and his case is my case…" He looked at my worriedly, "That's the prize for this magic, isn't it? Your mind…" He shook his head in disbelief, "Damn…this Talisman is not power, it's a curse!" He began to pace around his room, "…and…and I know why he lost it…it's a curse if you don't know how to use it…That's what must've happened to me…his spells were going wrong, his body felt strange and there was something growing in him…"
Again, he clutched his chest, "It's like…like something bleak taking over your senses, like this…blackness. It sort of…invites you, then drowns you…it's so attractive the same way a walk into a haunted house is attractive…" he sighed to himself, "You try to walk away from it, but it's so attractive and…and desirable you will end by going down…"
He looked at me and said, "Tell me. Tell me how to use this power."
Two weeks ago
Oberon snorted when he saw him coming. He didn't look any differently from four years ago. He held up in his arms small Alexander, and cooed him very charmingly.
Once a joker, always a joker…the lord thought.
"My lord!" Puck said as he bowed respectfully. "What brings the lord and lady to the mortal realm?"
"Nothing but a simple test to try my dear grandson's abilities." Titania answered.
Puck smiled dashingly, not differently from the way he smiled in the good old days. He gave a chuckle and said, "I assure you, the lords will be pleased. He has a wonderful teacher and he's a very clever child."
"We'll be the judges of that." Oberon retorted, "Show us what he knows."
It was 7:30pm.
Puck spent a good deal of time ordering his protégé show off what he knew. Trains hovered in the air, bubbles turned to butterflies and a thousand or so tricks and dreams floated in the air.
But if Titania was enchanted with lovely tricks, Oberon was focusing on the cold, harsh reality.
He knew the Puck from time before time, and he instantly recognized when he was acting. Because his smile wasn't at all sincere, his laugh somewhat somber and the feelings he projected were as artificial as artificial sweetener. Sweet, but artificial. Convincing, but artificial.
After the boy completed his routine, he even bowed to the royal audience, like Puck had asked him to do. Titania thought it "was the cutest thing I ever saw! You've done a great job, Puck."
Puck bowed respectfully and said, "I know", but it didn't sound as prideful as he wanted, and Oberon knew that.
Titania didn't notice anything. Pleased with the demonstration, she turned to him and said, "Come, husband, there's nothing here for us. Puck has done a great job."
The Puck quickly added, "Well, that was fun. Hope we get to do it again. I'm afraid Alex has to go to bed now, so I'll see you all next time. If you need anything, be sure to give me a holler."
Puck took Alex by a hand, and Oberon could hear him give a small sigh of relief.
Oberon debated what he should do. Puck had done well with the child. Titania was delighted. Why raise a fuzz? Why give him a bad time?
The king had to smirk. He could raise a fuzz, give him a bad time merely because he was his master.
So when Puck was about to walk out of the room, to a glorious momentary release, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. And his temperature dropped, reaching almost zero.
It was 8:30pm
One week ago
He woke up with a startle. For a few moments, he didn't know where he was, what he was, when he was, who he was.
It came to focus when he saw Titania, sitting in the bed, looking at him worriedly. "You all right?" she asked unsure, and to make her unsure was a task.
Puck remembered to start breathing again. He felt as he had run mile. "Yes… I'm…I'm fine…" he whispered, out of breath.
"Don't worry, my Puck, it was just a bad dream." Titania said, and tucked him in.
Puck gave him a bewildered look. It was kind of weird getting tucked in by Titania. The concept of Titania acting all friendly didn't fit his head. It was also weirder to hear her talk about a bad dream.
"What?" Puck asked.
"What what?"
"What was that about a bad dream?"
Titania gave him a patronizing smile. "Don't worry. It's all over now."
Puck sat straight on the bed. "What are you talking about? I haven't dreamed in months."
Titania blinked, and she tried not to sound too confused when she declared, "Puck, you've just screamed most of the night away on a nightmare."
Now, how was he supposed to answer that? He tried refuting it, but Titania insisted he was having a bad night. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me? Or you just don't want to remember?"
The last comment struck Puck as odd. "Not want to remember? What's that supposed to mean?"
Titania took a deep breath. "You know… I've been asking around the castle about Oberon and no one seems to remember."
Puck began to feel uncomfortable. "So?" he asked rudely.
"So…" Titania continued, "You know humans? Let me tell you this: for such a race full of flaws, these people are actually very smart and achieve great things if they really put their minds to it. I mean, if a guy is dead-set on a job, he'll do his very best. If he's dead-set on going on a killer spree, he'll do it. I suppose life on this planet would be a whole lot nicer if they put their minds to good things, but humans have a tendency to get into great deal of troubles… Sometimes, these troubles are more than they could handle. And sometimes… sometimes they are dead-set on forgetting."
Taking an edge in the conversation he disliked, Puck looked away, out the nearest window. "What's your point?" he asked without facing her.
Titania chuckled softly, "You, my Puck, are dead set on forgetting, aren't you? Stubborn as the humans you serve." Her tone softened even more, "Come on, child. Tell me what's going on your mind."
"With all due respect, that is none of you business!" Puck almost barked. "Why are you so intrusive, dammit! Ever stick your nose of your own problems?!"
"Why are you being so difficult?" Titania replied, "I know that you know that you caused all of this. How can I help if you keep blocking me out? I'm the only one in this castle that you can actually trust."
"Trust you?"
"Well, why not? Before you were Owen and I was Anastasia, you were Puck and you were my friend…"
"Then the Gathering came along…and it changed everything."
Titania couldn't reply.
Puck took a deep breath. He tried to put the words together. He closed his eyes and thought…
"This is not my fault. The clan asked me to do whatever I had to do to forget. They had been telling me to forget about it. It was their fault. They were the ones to push me, because they didn't want to remember. So it was all their fault, you see. I didn't mean it. They made me do it."
"But you don't know exactly what you did?"
Puck shrugged.
"All right." She said, "Frankly… I believe you when you say the gargoyles pushed you to forget. It's true. No one wants to remember. They are dead set of forgetting.
They force you to do something you don't like, somehow you can't accept it completely. I'm not sure of what spell you used, but it was something powerful to Oberon. Somehow, you lost it while you were at it. You blew everyone's fuse in the castle. If I didn't know better, I'd say most of the gargoyles are shell-shocked. And I think you're the most shocked of them all."
"Who died and named you psychiatrist?"
"I'm the fey Queen. I know my subjects."
"And now you pretend to understand the secrets of this subject's mind?"
"It's obvious what's going through the clan's heads. They're acting as if they were on the front line of D-day in Normandy. Of course they don't care about my presence. They've been through ten lifetimes in a night and they don't even have the luxury of remembering." She paused. "And you're the one that is really hurt."
Puck shrugged and mumbled, "I dunno." As he began to roll a lock of white-hair around his finger.
And Titania whispered softly, very softly, "You're hurt. You're so hurt you can't take it for much longer…"
Suddenly, Puck felt desperate for a drink. But he felt frozen. He couldn't bring himself to run out of the room right now.
"…and the one that set it all off was Oberon. It was him whom you were having a nightmare about, but you insist on blocking it out, blocking out what happened in your dreams and that night; to you and everyone in the castle."
Xanatos, sometime before time ceased to have meaning for 24 hours, had it right when he thought how easily the Puck could break without his wooden mask.
Not only did he felt sad, wretched, depressed and more than one suicidal thought flowed through his head, but he could also add enraged to the list.
Because very cold tears began to flow, in antithesis with the expression on his face that gave away the humiliation and rage of being totally exposed by that horrible, horrible witch.
In real life, the temperature dropped a few degrees and Titania began to feel the cold.
"So…" Puck began trying his best not to make his voice falter, "Is that what you two wanted to see? Me, crying like some idiot?"
The temperature dropped even more. Needless to say, Titania wasn't amused when she began to see her own breath and she didn't need to touch Puck's forehead to know he was cold, cold, cold.
"It is not my intention to hurt you, merely to---"
"Shut up, you pompous bitch!" Puck interrupted first, and unexpectedly, he jumped off of bed and charged out of his bedroom, trying not to sob too loudly as he ran and disappeared down the hall.
Two years ago
"Tell me. Tell me how to use this power." he told me.
I looked at him horrified. "That boy lost his mind trying to master the power! If you don't want to end up in a straight jacket, I suggest you forget about it!"
"I'll end up in a straightjacket if I don't learn to use it!" He argued, "Please, stranger! Help me, I'm going insane as is! You know what I did a few days ago!? I burned my master's 900 years old Book of Merlin! Before that, a toaster came to life and attacked us! Before that, a telephone danced! A dragon showed up in the kitchen! I can't control this power alone! Even the gargoyle elder pities me! Help me!"
I turned away from him and said, "I've already helped you. I gave you a book, didn't I?"
"No, no, it's not like that at all! You still don't understand…!" he groaned in frustration and said, "It's almost like the Talisman is alive and it—it woos you into…giving up! Your book is not enough! Not for me! Please, please help me before it gets out of control! Please!"
"Then exercise some self control!" I barked, "You're a big boy. You should be able to control yourself."
"No, I can't!" he laughed incredulously, "I can't! I can't!" he began to pace again, "I can't fight this alone! It's not like I can ignore it!" he sat on his bed and said, "I feel it gaining up on even as we speak…"
Two weeks ago
It was 8:30pm.
It was Titania who first felt a chill go down her spine. The air felt suspiciously cold, but she thought it was just her, that it was just that look that Puck gave Oberon when the later grabbed his shoulder.
"Husband?" she called.
"Can't you see it, dear?" He said, arrogantly, "He's hiding something."
The armor had begun to crack. He looked like a deer caught on the headlights. Oberon's eyes were upon him, and he simply freaked.
"Excuse me." he mumbled, and ran to the restroom by the end of the hall.
One week ago
Eventually, he sought refuge in Alex's bedroom. Alex wasn't there, of course. He was with his mother in… Xanatos told him, but he forgot where.
So he was alone, sitting on Alex's new racecar bed, holding his gargoyle-winged teddy bear, while occasionally crashing Hot Wheel into the wall. It was sum of the child-like, if not pathetic, portrayal of the spoiled brat that was lectured on what he didn't want to hear and was now pouting and commiserating with his toys.
He felt he was being childish, immature, and irresponsible. He figured it was ok. After so much, he felt it was his right to be childish, immature and irresponsible. When did he get to be the spoiled brat? He wanted to be the spoiled brat. He wanted to be the spoiled brat everyone had to please.
He heard an imaginary scowl that wasn't imaginary but he didn't know it. It was an angry ranting that sounded very far away, as if the next door neighbors were fighting, only there were no neighbors.
He couldn't help but stare at himself in the mirror. He looked unusually pallid tonight. He thought it was the weak white light that leaked from the window, but he realized he was just very pale.
He brushed his hair with his fingers very lightly--- but the mirror repeated the action exactly a fraction of a second later.
He blinked. The image in the mirror didn't.
"I thought I told you to quit hounding me!" Without thinking it twice, he grabbed the first heavy toy he could find and sent it hurling into the mirror.
Two weeks ago
There we go again, thought Goliath as he saw the chandelier fall and shatter in a billion pieces.
One week ago
Half an hour afterwards, he was quiet, too quiet, staring into space, from the comforts of his own bed. Though the whack didn't knock him out, it did made him see double and have a headache every time he moved his head. So he was just staring into the ceiling, tired, almost falling asleep.
Part aware, part sleeping soundly, he could here the conversation on his honor right by his door.
…he shattered all the mirrors he found… — …did you have to whack him with the iron rod?…
That last voice was of Titania's, and he had to smile. He was thankful she didn't let the guys tie him to the bed as they wanted. Bunch of bastards.
They went on for another minute or two before Titania charged into his chamber. She pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. With a truly sad sigh, she asked, "Why did you started shattering all the mirrors of the castle?"
Puck was too tired to even roll away. He settled with saying, "I thought I saw something in them…I didn't like it so I broke them…"
"What? What did you see?"
He smiled weakly and replied, "Myself. I don't like myself."
Titania said nothing.
"I'd like to have a drink, please."
"I think you better let go of the bottle while Oberon is missing."
Puck stared at her for a moment. After much thinking about it, he grinned, somewhat maliciously. "I think he was trying to tell me something. I shouldn't have broken the mirrors."
"Who's 'he'?" Titania asked.
Puck went on as if he had never spoken, "I'm beginning to think," He said teasingly, "he's in charge of the play. It's all his fault."
Titania gave him a look. Unusually serious, she asked, "Who?"
He rolled on the bed, his back to Titania. "I'm tired, milady. We can talk in the morning."
Two weeks ago
He ran to the men's bathroom and locked himself there.
Somebody knocked on the door, "Puck?" Xanatos called, "Come on! Open the door!"
Xanatos called out his name, but he didn't listen. He just sat in the floor, on a corner next to the last sink, covering his face and crying, furious but sad. Enraged, but very sad.
The millionaire had to literally kick the door down. When he saw him on the corner, though, he ran out of words and didn't know what to do next. He walked slowly towards him, and sat by his side on the cold stone floor.
After a few moments, Puck got a hold of himself, enough to whisper, "I don't know what to do."
Xanatos felt that nothing he could do or say would make it better. The best approach, he figured, was the logical one.
"This is not as bad as it looks like," Xanatos began, "Chances are, he doesn't even know what was done to you. And if he gets the whole story, what's the worst thing he can do?"
"Kill me. Slowly."
"…Ok." Xanatos was forced to admit, "But he can't kill you because of the crystal! It's perfect! You're more immortal that before!"
"Ever heard of Prometeous?" Puck muttered, his face hidden, "Who got killed everyday?"
Xanatos didn't know how to answer that. "Then lie, dammit!"
Puck opened his eyes and turned to Xanatos. "Are you trying to make me laugh or trying to get me into a fate worse than death?"
"I don't know what the hell I'm doing."
Neither said anything for a few moments.
"I have a Porsche."
"Hmm?"
"The red Porsche. And you know where are my estates. You could run."
"That's just bullshit and you know it."
Xanatos grunted. "Oberon's pissed like a bulldog. You better make it good."
"I better."
"And the exo-suit is all warmed up."
"I assumed."
"So…?"
"So… be a dear and fetch me a drink."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Improvise."
"You know…" Xanatos continued, "… you're not what you used to be when he left. You're so much powerful now."
"No, I'm not."
"You are." Xanatos insisted, "You don't have to get your butt whipped by this guy. I've seen what you can do."
"That's the biggest bullshit I've ever heard." He replied, "I'm just the servant boy. I'm nobody."
"You don't have to lay down and die…"
"David!" he barked. "You don't understand! I'm nobody to take on Oberon, especially not like this! For the love of God, I'm on Prozac! So even if I had the power, I'm just not in the mood, ok!?"
Xanatos just stared. "You know what your problem is? You're a coward. That's why you've spent these last few months drunk or sleeping, that's why you've been hiding behind Owen for years before!"
"You don't know anything…"
"I know a coward when I see one! And you know what? I think you're going to try to get killed on purpose, and Oberon will have the time of his life, because he'll have you like he had you before you took off in the Gathering!"
"I'm not going to let him…" Puck muttered unconvincingly.
"No, I'm not going to let him." Xanatos retorted as he stood up, "You've spent too much time sleeping to realize your own worth. Just sit down and let me handle it. I'll get you some vodka or something."
"What am I now, some retard?"
"Well, you could've fooled me."
Puck immediately grabbed the first thing he could find, a soap on the sink, and threw it right at Xanatos' face, not before he yelled, "Get lost, you sorry SOB! I don't need you! I don't need a bunch of ungrateful bastards!"
CHAPTER FIVE
Two years ago
"I feel it gaining up on even as we speak…"
"But I gave you a book!"
He groaned and whined, "But it's too difficult to read! I don't understand it! I need serious help, Mr. Q…I can feel something…" he stuttered, "…I feel this thing in my mind that I can't control…like… like this shadow sneaking around…and its waiting and growing and I'm scared…" He scoffed softly, "I'm scared its going to get out of control… Ever since your people gave me this Talisman, I feel all things are slipping out of my control…"
He ran his fingers through his hair and said, "I don't need books. I need some honest-to-God training…I don't think I'll make I alone…"
"Don't be foolish." I said, "You are stronger than most gargoyles put together. I know your type. You're too strong to lose control. And you don't look like the type that will give up like the others…"
"What others?" he was quick to ask.
I damned myself for the slip-up and said, "Others like you. The trio explained there are 12 of these talismans around…not all of the hosts' go on living for a long time…"
"Because they kill themselves, don't they?" he deduced correctly, "I can see it in your eyes." He gave me a cold look and said, "I bet you knew them but bailed out on them…and because they felt alone, they—"
"You're being unfair!" I snapped, "Can't you see? This is none of my business! Did you know I was endangering my son by just talking to you back in the Lane business? And I didn't even know you! And I still don't know you! And to be frank, I don't think I wanna know you!"
"Then why did you help me!?" he yelled, "Because I remind you of a long lost son!? I thought…I thought people helped strangers because it was the right thing to do, not to quiet torments or regrets or crap like that!"
I merely looked at him. "You remind me so much of him…"
"Then stop looking at me. It's clear I'm just wounding you." He replied acidly. "But if you truly want to honor this lost boy's memories, help me. Me!"
One week ago
When Xanatos' turn came to testify, he couldn't help but groan. "Now what do you want?" he said, looking bored.
"I'm just asking you to tell me what you remember? Is that so much to ask?" Titania responded.
Xanatos said nothing. He leaned back in his chair and said, "I don't know why you insist so much. No one remembers. Not even you."
"You know, your attitude isn't helping the situation. And I think I'm beginning to know why…"
"Wonderful." Xanatos muttered as he began reading a magazine.
She didn't want to be rude, but Titania grabbed the magazine from him, with intentions of shoving it where the sun doesn't shine. "Look, David, I don't like the idea of taking shit from the likes of all of the inhabitants of the castle to figure out what's going on!"
"Nobody asked you."
"True. But I do so adore a good mystery. It's just that it is so very complicated. You don't remember…" she tried to come up with a good phrase her son-in-law could understand, "because you don't want to. You're a bunch of inconsiderate jerks."
Xanatos arched an eyebrow.
"You know I'm right. The gargoyle clan doesn't want to help me search for Oberon, you know why? Because it's too much trouble. Because they just want peace and quiet. Because you guys will step all over the Puck just to get your way. Your precious 'normality'. You're a bunch of ingrates. You forced him to do something to Oberon and make him forget. And let's face it: you're not in a hurry to get Oberon back. He's a bastard. Everyone knows it. But it was still wrong from your part to force Puck to do whatever it is that he did."
"Titania," Xanatos begun, "You couldn't be more wrong."
"Really?"
"Really." Xanatos continued, "You know what I remember? Do you really want to know what I remember? Puck isn't the poor victim, he isn't the lost lamb, he isn't the poor boy caught and used by the evil forces of the mere mortals. He tried to ax Oberon all by his own! He premeditated it, thoughtfully, willfully planned and calculated it! Wake up and smell the sea water, sister, you've been had!"
"I don't believe you…" Titania said, but with a serious doubt on her voice.
"Oh, really? The Puck I remember was having a pretty good time beating up Oberon and I remember particularly well a red bolt of lightning aimed straight at my head!"
Titania took a step back. It wasn't the image she had come to believe. It didn't make sense. Puck had been acting rather smitten.
But his words…and her memories…
"I don't mean I remember it all." Xanatos continued, slowing down, "It's very fragmented. I do remember Oberon standing there, in the main hall. And I remember Puck yelling at me and at Oberon. I remember he snapped at me… he pushed me back and I ended up against the wall, hurting my head. And a bolt just missed me by inches. He did something to Oberon. I know it was very amazing to look at. But the images are just too blurred, and it was too bright so I looked away. Then the chandelier fell. All went blank."
"What did he do to Oberon…?"
"I don't remember!" the millionaire cried, "Don't think for a second that I was all go for it, because I wasn't!" he calmed down and said, "Puck wanted to forget. I didn't want that."
"Why?"
"Because…" he sighed, "I knew it would make it worse. And it is worse, because of that."
* * *
After he shattered all the mirrors he could find, Puck slept for quite awhile. For how long, he wasn't even sure, but it was at night. He had rested but Puck didn't feel any better.
For some reason, he felt wretched. He couldn't tell what caused it, but he admitted he felt very bad for breaking all the mirrors. He felt he had lost something very important with those mirrors.
Then the temperature dropped subtlety.
Or did I? He wondered.
So he got out of bed and checked the thermostat. Everything was normal. He automatically went to check the vanity mirror, but he had already broken it before. All was left was random pieces in the floor.
He picked up a rather large piece and stared at himself. "I know what I saw. What I saw wasn't me."
As he was crouched in the floor, somebody left and closed the door.
That was strange because nobody had been with him in the first place. So it was very impossible for somebody to have just left and closed the door when there was no one there in the first place.
He just stood up and stared at the closed door. "All right. Ok. I'm game if you are."
The doorknob was cold, that was one thing. He opened the door and took a peek out in the hallway. It was dark. The lights were out and he didn't know which way to go.
But it was chilly. And the chills seemed to go to his right. He figured it was just a matter of following the trail of cold. He momentarily debated just what was he hoping to find. Except he sorts of, kind of, knew. This was more like testing a theory. If what he thought was true, Oberon was going to be seriously screwed. And he would be crazier than he thought.
Either way, he went to his right, following the eerie cold down the hall. The other was two steps ahead, and he was fast, so Puck could only see his shadow when he turned corners.
He was going out to a balcony and Puck chased after him.
The night sky was star filled. There was no one in the several balconies of the castle. The clan was… he didn't know, he didn't particularly cared. There was no light but those from the city down below. There was no moon.
There was, however, that particular someone waiting for him, leaning very casually against one of the parapets of stone.
It was the one from the mirror, the one that wasn't himself, but in a way it was. It was himself because it was Puck leaning against the parapet of stone as Puck stared at him, not dumbstruck, but rather, he was expecting himself to be there, leaning against the parapet of stone.
Whereas he wasn't scared, because he had expected it, he was surprised to see that arrogant look on his doppelganger's face.
"My, glad to see you're amused with this." Puck muttered.
The other shrugged.
"I don't like you."
The other nodded bored, as if saying, I know, I know…
"I wish you went away."
The other gave him a look and smiled, but it wasn't pleasant, no, not at all, because he was looking at him the same way one looked at a rival to whom one had a great deal respect. He had respect, but a rival is a rival. Rivals, he would've added, are for tormenting.
Which was ok, Puck supposed, because he held respect to the one leaning casually against the parapet of stone and didn't stop him from giving him a decidedly annoyed look. He had respect, but a rival is a rival. But he didn't torment him back. He couldn't.
"You," Puck began, "are the cause of all my suffering."
The other arched an eyebrow and pointed at himself.
"Yes, you!" Puck snapped, "You're not dragging me into this!"
The other threw his head back and gave a soundless laugh. He stared back at Puck and shook his head with a tormenting smile.
"What do you mean, no!?"
The other shrugged. No as in no.
"This is all your fault! You caused all this! It was you, all the time."
The other stared, observed, inspected him, serious. You know, you know, too stubborn to admit it, but you, you, you know…
His look only managed to make Puck angry. "What?" he asked, annoyed, "Why do you look at me like that?! Talk to me! Say something! This is all your fault!"
The other didn't say a word or a whisper, or even made a sound, but just looked at him. He took a step towards him and Puck took a step back away from him.
He had a serious, menacing look…
The doppelganger grabbed him by an arm and twisted it violently, making him fall to the floor, pinning him down forcefully.
"Coldcoldcoldcold…!" Puck cried out, because his double's hands were extremely icy and freezing, so cold it cut right down to his every sense.
His double had him incapacitated, pinned down and helpless for a few minutes, and it gave Puck the impression of being in the bottom of a frozen lake.
"You," his double whispered softly, provokingly, but decidedly cold and lifeless, "are the cause of your own suffering…" then gave him a cold kiss on the cheek.
He screamed.
* * *
He had seen him take on more than a few pair of pills that morning. "You didn't drank anything before, right?" Xanatos asked alarmed.
"No, sir. You know I'm not that careless."
That was debatable. Xanatos tried not to look too worried when his assistant drank what could've been the fifth blue capsule he had seen that day. It was barely 10 am. And he wasn't even sure if it was the fifth. It could've been the tenth for all he knew. "Owen, those are medicated prescriptions, not bonbons." He said as he took his bottle away.
Owen stared at him incredulous. "I know they're not candy, sir." He replied, somewhat bitter.
Xanatos scoffed, "Fine, fine…just try to stay awake in this meeting." And he couldn't help but keep an eye out for his assistant in the elevator and the rest of the day.
Owen was particularly upset that day. He was distracted, ignoring people, pushing secretaries out of the way. In all, he wasn't being himself. Frankly, he hadn't been himself in a long time. It was debatable.
Nevertheless, he let it pass. He first thought Owen was angry, but then he realized it was more like shaken up. Very shaken up. Very nervous, actually. Dare he say it; he looked scared about something. But he tried his best not to let it show.
But it came obvious, painfully obvious, when they were about to practice some kempo. It was in the rather large dojo they had practiced almost everyday. There was a large blue mat in the floor, and all was dressed very simply.
Xanatos walked in freely. The millionaire had been prattling about meetings and schedules and agendas, and he turned back and saw he wasn't followed.
Owen was standing in the doorway, simply standing there, awkwardly staring at him. "I… I just… I don't feel like it today."
"Why?" Xanatos wondered.
He took a good look around and noticed why: three of the four wall of the dojo were wood, but the fourth was a windowed wall. It was glass, and it reflected, if not vaguely, the room. It served as a mirror.
"Oh." The millionaire said, "Well… that's ok. I don't feel like it anyway."
But Owen still looked upset about it. He shifted uncomfortable in the same spot and said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
He shifted and shifted, as if he were talking to someone behind a force field that he couldn't pass through. "Do you think…" he asked, abnormally awkward, "That I'm a 'mean' person?"
Xanatos blinked.
"It's just…" he continued, "…I was thinking… and I think I'm a very mean person. I'm very cruel, aren't I?"
"No," Xanatos replied, "Not at all! Don't you ever believe that."
"It's just… someone told me I'm mean." Owen continued, "And I was thinking… I think I'm not a good person."
"No!" Xanatos told him, "You're not bad. You're not a bad person. You… maybe you do some mistakes. But, you know, you have a right to do mistakes. You're only human."
"I'm not human."
"Not physically. But you and your family in Avalon certainly have some very human problems. Sex scandals. Jealousy. Murder. Attempted kidnapping. I've heard Goliath's stories from the Avalon World tour. I've read Greek mythology. Your people are not too godly. So it's fair to assume that we're all too human… in the metaphysical way, of course."
"It's not supposed to be like that."
"Oh, but it is." Xanatos replied, "Not only do you guys have all the bad things humans have, but you also have the good things. The capability to learn from mistakes and try to make amends."
"And I'm making plenty of mistakes, is that so?"
Xanatos didn't answer right away. He was trying to sound diplomatic when he said, "You do some things that some people might take the wrong way, yes. Some things are unnecessary. You can talk about your problems instead of---"
"Tossing hot soup on a gargoyle's face?" Owen sighed. "I suppose so." Then added, "But he deserved it."
"There were other ways to deal with that."
"But he deserved it." Owen repeated, "And I would do it again. He deserved what he had."
"But that's cruel!"
"He deserved it! I liked tossing it on his face!"
"It was 'mean'," Xanatos responded, "And if you enjoyed it… I suppose then, you are a mean person."
Owen was left speechless.
* * *
The sun fell on Manhattan and Titania was there to see it.
She had been sitting in one of the parapets of stone for quite a long time. Since noon, she had been sitting there, legs crossed, thinking.
By the time the sun fell, she had come to decision. She knew she needed to find out what happened that night. She had some idea of it, of course, she was also there.
She saw the light and the chandelier.
She thought she saw the battle.
But it was all too damn foggy.
She had decided, however, that the gargoyles also knew what happened. And she had decided she'd make up her own opinions from now on.
When she thought about it more and more, she found plenty of other ways of finding out what happened. She could read their minds, force them to speak. She could recreate the events with the leftover aura and magic. She certainly didn't need to question the mere mortals.
But she had this crazy notion they were begging to be questioned. And she was beginning to understand.
The gargoyle clan broke out of their stone shell one by one, with loud roars and yawns. They stretched and let themselves be heard in the city below.
Titania sat in the parapet undisturbed by the show, but most of the gargoyles jumped back in the scare.
"What are you doing here, Titania?" Goliath questioned.
"Relax. I won't harm you." Titania said, "But I don't come in peace neither."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooklyn asked.
"I came here for the truth." Titania responded, "And I'm not leaving without it."
Goliath sighed and said, "No one remembers what happened."
"Do they?" Titania replied, "Are you sure you don't remember, Goliath? Don't speak. Think about it. There are a billion ways of figuring out what happened. But I'd rather hear it from you."
"And why is that?" Hudson interrogated.
"Because," Titania told them, "I think you guys owe it to yourselves." She faced all the gargoyles of the balcony and told all of them, "You know I'm right. We owe it to ourselves to know what happened. Or we might lose a precious lesson."
"What lesson?"
"Tell me what you remember and I'll tell you your lesson." She replied, "I know your clan doesn't remember well. But you can be honest with yourselves and tell me what you do remember."
The gargoyles stared at each other and started mumbling among themselves. Goliath crossed his arms and asked, "What if we don't tell you?"
"You'll be no different than the Puck which you blame and in turn blames you." Titania responded. "And you'll be as deluded as we all know he is."
Slowly, Goliath said, "And if we do… you'll deal with the Puck?"
"Absolutely."
He quietly consulted with the clan before replying. "Fine," Goliath said, "This is what we know and remember before the chandelier fell…"
* * *
He tried and tried, but he couldn't get himself to sleep. He basically rolled and rolled in the bed, occasionally standing up to pace in his bedroom. Perhaps he didn't want to fall asleep yet.
He popped a deck of cards out of nowhere and a magician's hat appeared a few steps away from the bed. He began to toss cards, bored.
Titania caught a card mid-air.
"Don't you ever knock?" Puck questioned. "Now what do you want?"
Titania stared at his eyes, "I know what happened that night."
Puck looked at her bored and asked, "Really?"
"And call me crazy, but you do remember a few things." Titania told him as she circled the bed, with a confident smile and the zeal of a scientist with an experiment.
It only managed to get Puck on the defensive, as he followed Titania with his eyes and with an expression quickly beginning turn into an irritated one.
"Do you want to hear the tale, my Puck?"
"Not particularly, milady."
"I'll tell it to you anyway." Titania told him, and she continued, "Sometime ago, a gentleman we know —a nameless acquaintance of ours— gives you your magic back. Inexperienced, you fumble up at every attempt to use it. Naturally, you're upset. And you realize bad things happen when you get upset. The first time you got upset the whole castle lost a night of their lives; so Hudson says. The second time you got seriously upset, the castle looses another night and Oberon looses, quite possibly, his life."
"I didn't kill the poor bastard. I thought I told you that. I didn't do nothing to him."
"Oh, you did." Titania responded, "I had the gargoyle piece together the random pieces, and the picture I see is not flattering for you."
"Whatever I did, they made me do it!"
"Oh…" Titania replied with some sarcastic wonder, "You did it all by yourself." Titania began to circle him like a vulture, "You were told to back out."
"What?" Puck asked, suddenly shocked.
"You heard me," the icy Queen replied, "You were told by everybody to back away. Xanatos told me he made you stay in the restroom. And you didn't. The clan told you to stand back, and of course, you didn't."
"That's a bunch of bullshit, don't dare believe it!"
"What the clan seems unable to remember is what you did when you left the restroom… care to enlighten me on the subject?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, yes you do!"
"I don't remember!"
"But you do! You do remember and you simply prefer to ignore it! This business won't be over until you first admit to yourself what you did and tell me what was it!"
"I'll never tell you because I don't know…!" Puck snapped as he stomped his foot on the ground. A nearby vase toppled over. The temperature dropped.
Memories of two nights had already disappeared, Titania wasn't about to let the third occur tonight. "Control yourself, Puck! You know what you did! Wherever you want to acknowledge it or not isn't debatable! 'Reality sucks', as they say. You can't do anything about it but accept it. Only cowards run away… and don't tell me you're a coward!"
"Screw you, all right? I don't need your help or your pity!"
"Fine." Titania told him, "Then continue to be miserable for the rest of your days. There is no worst blind that one that doesn't want to see!" then she added, "Now is your break, my child, my Puck. Accept what you know. Or else run away. What'd you say?"
It was spectacularly unsuccessful.
"Way to go, Titania." Xanatos mumbled, "Five minutes after you left, Owen packed his bags and left behind our backs."
Titania sat down on Xanatos' desk, tired, very, very, very tired, "I know where he is. I know everything. I also know he would run away if I drag him back."
"If he doesn't want to, no words can convince him." Xanatos said.
"The first truth of the night, my dear friend." Titania muttered back, "There's nothing I can do about it. I suppose I can, but what is best: to change by yourself or to do it by the snap of a finger? Choose, Xanatos. I can offer nothing else."
"You're serious?"
"Always."
Xanatos thought about it. "The snap of a finger is tempting… but if something can last forever… I'd rather let Owen choose by himself."
Titania gave him a dubious look. "Are you sure? You trust him?"
Xanatos said, "I trust he'll do what's right."
"Why?"
"Because," Xanatos responded, "Deep down, he's not a bad person."
Titania couldn't help but stare.
"He asked me this morning," the millionaire continued, "And I told him I don't think he's a mean person. These last few months… That's not really him. He's not a mean person and he doesn't enjoy being mean." He said, "I trust he'll do the right thing. I just know." Then he added with a lighter, with a very simple, airy tone, "Of course I know. He's my assistant."
CHAPTER SIX
Two years ago
"Then stop looking at me. It's clear I'm just wounding you." He replied acidly. "But if you truly want to honor this lost boy's memories, help me. Me!"
I turned away from him. "You said it yourself. We are strangers. I've nothing to do with you, other than a sickening connection at that long lost boy. I gave you the book. Give it enough brains and you'll understand…but I don't recommend it in the first place. You will lose your mind."
I faced him and met his gaze upon me, disappointed, enraged or completely hopeless. "Right." he mumbled, looking away. "You're absolutely right. We are strangers… It's stupid of me to count on strangers…You're no better than your brothers…they've left me to my own devices, just like you have…" he sat down on the bed, still looking away.
I was about to leave, but for a moment, I turned to him and burst, "I did give you a book! It's the best lead I could give you! You really don't need it anyway… Power corrupts, you know…"
"I know it corrupts…" he muttered quietly, "That's why I'm so afraid if that I ever give myself to that thing…" He looked up to me again, "Did you know They recommended that I gave myself completely? I'm still not sure what that means, but if I give myself up, they'll be nothing left of me. You understand…?" He chuckled unenthusiastically, "I'll lose myself and I don't know if I'll get me back…"
I didn't know what to say. I'm not known for comforting words. I just didn't know what to say. So I just shrugged and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out…"
He looked at me again. If I didn't know better, I'd say he looked…betrayed. But he looked away too quickly.
The boy picked up the book and said, "Yeah. I'll figure it out. Don't worry about me, 'cause I'll learn…yeah, I'll learn…" He looked up to me one last time and said, "Goodbye, Mr. Q. It was nice meeting you." Then turned away from me.
I wanted to say something else…but I just left.
I didn't have anything to do with him.
I didn't want anything to do with him.
So I left.
One week ago
Titania had not taken a step out when he slammed the door behind her. 'You're being unreasonable…' she had told Puck before she left, 'And unreasonable people always get the worst part…'
How many times did he have to whine that he didn't remember; that it wasn't his fault? He slowly admitted that there were a few things he indeed remembered. He remembered Oberon talking and he remembered the chandelier falling. If there were anything else to it, he certainly would've remembered.
"I'm not a bad person and I'm not being unreasonable," he said to no one in particular. "It's perfectly reasonable for me to think I didn't do it, because I don't remember."
However, he didn't remember being 'mean' to everybody, but he was.
That got him thinking. He couldn't recall, beyond the incident with the hot soup, any specific time he was 'mean'. Though they were little things. And big things.
There was a time he blew up Lex's computer. Another time he set framed Broadway for the theft of a chocolate cake. Not to mention the countless insults he had lashed at the clan.
But those were little things. Before all those so-called accidents. He admitted at first he was teasing them, but later on, it became something else, right? It wasn't a joke and the clan wasn't laughing.
Two nights had been stripped from their collective memories, and it hadn't been a tease but a very cruel act from his part. There was a very fine line between joking and cruelty.
"Could it be," he muttered, "That I'm not a good person?" Puck didn't even bother to face the shadow that was behind him. "And you just leave me to screw up, don't you?"
The shadow said nothing. Not that Puck expected an answer. He was used to his silent partner already.
"Damn. I must be insane to even be talking to you."
Whoever was in the shadows probably thought that was too true.
"Yes, I bet you think I'm crazy. You just never say anything. Why is that?"
The shadow shrugged.
"To keep me guessing?"
Whoever he was, he strolled bored and casual and never did he say a word.
"Or," Puck continued, "You just want to tell me something, is that so?"
The whoever halted and stared at him.
"What?" Puck called alarmed.
Whomever stared at him, with a teasing grin, and with his index finger did a little 'come here' gesture.
Puck doubted but stood up and diligently followed. He couldn't help it. He found him very attractive. He would've kissed him if he asked him nicely. He was so attractive.
Here we go again, he thought, passing by the shattered chandelier that had fallen from the ceiling give or take two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago
Oberon couldn't help but wonder why Puck suddenly ran away and locked himself in the restroom. The human Xanatos had gone in after him. They had been in there for quite awhile.
Titania and the lord exchanged looks. "What was that all about, lord?" Titania questioned.
Oberon crossed his arms with a heavy sigh and said, "We're waiting, Fox Xanatos. What worries the Puck?"
Fox began to stutter, "Well…uh, you see, he… when you gotta go, you just gotta go!"
"How can you be sure he hides something?" Titania questioned.
"Because he wouldn't have run away, that's why." Oberon said, matter-of-factly.
Xanatos eventually came out, and he locked the door behind him with a security lock and a password.
"Lord," he told Oberon. "I don't even now how to begin explaining this…please, sit for a moment…"
"I prefer to stand." The lord replied coldly.
Xanatos didn't know quite well how to begin. He took a blind step forward and decided just to tell the tale as it had been told to him.
* * *
Puck truly thought himself a coward for still cowering in the men's room.
He had no idea what he was doing, what Xanatos was doing, what Oberon was doing. It was ridiculous. He was here, while the others were there. He was supposed to be there with them.
Yet he didn't made the slightest move to stand up and join them.
He just sat there, in a corner, feeling sorry for himself. He had to think long and hard about himself, something he didn't do often. He was trying to figure out what precisely made him be sorry for himself.
There was the magic, and the horrible rage he felt when he thought that his victimizers got away with it. He thought about himself; how poorly he had taken the situation.
He thought that was it. He had taken it all very badly and lost the respect of everyone he knew. That was what made him feel sorry. That he had been childish and stupid, and that no one took him seriously anymore, and that he had been forced to act like the coward he was.
He didn't have to take it. First time he had tried a gun, tonight he would try Oberon, and the next time, if there was a next time, he would simply throw himself off the damn building if necessary.
* * *
"Let me see if I follow this…" Oberon said smugly, "These three gods suddenly show up in the castle, they give this strange talisman to the Puck and then leave. Puck hasn't been feeling good ever since and you're here to beg me I don't make him any sicker?"
"Yes, lord. That's basically it." Xanatos replied.
Now what was he supposed to do, the lord wondered. Was the human serious? He figured that if he were to lie, he would've lied more effectively.
For such a fickle lord, Oberon hadn't immediately jumped the gun and killed them all. Yet. Though he was here with no intention of leaving without a fight, he would let the mortal say his piece first.
More so, he would give him an excuse to punish the Puck in the first place.
"Seriously, lord. Puck is simply not being himself. He's been punished enough these last few months. Leave him alone."
"I know that trickster. He never gives up without a fight."
"I know you, Oberon," Xanatos replied, "He won't give you a fight. I know why you are here. You are here to break him down. But what use is breaking down one that is already cracked? What kind of victory is that?"
Oberon suddenly felt like a soldier without an enemy. Does it meant that Puck wouldn't give him the fight he looked for? Was the mortal serious? Where's the fun in that?
He had seen, while they were testing the child Alex, that Puck hadn't been his usual, competitive self. He had to think logically for once. He didn't know anything about emotional matters, and for an inconsiderate prick he knew he was to notice Puck's ill mood, it was because it was obvious.
Titania asked, "What will you do now?"
The nursery's doors flung open and Puck himself made an appearance.
The more Oberon thought about it, the more disillusioned the Puck looked to him. Was he truly not going to give him his fight? He had come all the way for no fight at the end?
"Are you all right?" he asked, not because he felt any concern for his servant, but because he was concerned for the fight that seemed more unlikely to happen with every second.
"No, sir, I'm not." Puck replied, "I just wanted to let you know you were right. You said I was worthless, disobedient, stupid, and showed plenty of times intentions to punish me any way you could. You won, lord. The mighty have fallen and are now begging for mercy."
Oberon just stared. "Is this a joke?"
"No joke, sir."
"But…" Oberon begun, "That's not like you."
"I guess not."
"You mean that if I were to crush you with a thought, you wouldn't run away?"
"No, sir."
In a fraction of a second, Oberon flew across the room, grabbed the servant by the neck and pushed him against the wall, almost making it tumble over.
"And if I kill you now, you wouldn't do anything to stop me?" he asked with an angry whisper.
With another whisper, Puck replied, "No…" And much to Xanatos' dismay, he added, "… you useless, arrogant, ignorant son of a whore!"
Oberon smirked satisfied. "And here I thought I wasn't getting my little war."
Everything made sense to Xanatos, and with the horrible realization, he began to mutter, "No, no, no, don't do it, please…"
* * *
Goliath heard thunder in Alex's nursery, and since thunder wasn't supposed to happen inside a castle, he thought the worse, and worse it was.
He saw that Puck and Oberon were arguing about something, Oberon yelled, "I knew it was a bluff. You will never give up, it's in your nature. And if what you say is true, then this will be a glorious little war!"
"Then why don't you quit yapping and try me? Or are you afraid? Or are you just too tired and old to take me on?!"
"Ignore him, lord!" Xanatos yelled as he stood between them, "He doesn't know what he's doing!"
"Puck, what are you doing?!" Titania interjected.
All of them began to yell at the same talk.
Angela and the trio, having arrived before Goliath, already had Alex in arms and were beginning to run as fast as they could.
He grabbed Brooklyn and asked, "What's going on!?"
"I think Puck's trying to get himself killed on purpose!" Brooklyn retorted.
Goliath had no doubt the Puck had lost his mind for harassing Oberon like that, but he didn't know what were his intentions; he tended to believe what Brooklyn said. However, he figured that didn't mean he had to get killed with him.
It was then when Xanatos was sent hurling out the door, with such momentum he crashed into the far wall of the main hall and promptly broke a few body parts. He had barely wits and time to duck an energy discharge Puck sent his way.
Goliath, without thinking it much, attacked the attacker, and made him tumble to the floor. He pinned Puck down and asked, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Oberon floated next to them and blasted them both. Goliath was sent rolling, but Puck didn't seem too hurt, he stood and floated eye to eye with the lord of Avalon, "Missed me, you bastard! Come and get me if you can!"
The lavender gargoyle looked up to the floating figures and couldn't do anything but cover his head when their magic missed their targets and hit the stone walls, making chunks break and fall.
Someone, Fox, she ran his way and yelled, "Get up and follow me!" He got up, and along with his daughter and Brooklyn, made a wild dash through the hallway. Goliath could only take a quick glimpse at the fight above him, and he thought he saw Puck with a grin, though the gargoyle believed he was losing.
Fox led them to the weapon storage room and locked the door behind her.
"This is insane…" she whispered as she fidgeted with the locks of the weapon cabinet, "This is so damn insane…!"
"Father, what are we going to do?" Angela asked, "What the hell is going on?"
"I think Puck's lost it, that's what I think!" Brooklyn interrupted.
"That maybe true." Goliath admitted.
Fox opened the cabinet and said, "Ok, everyone, grab a gun!"
"But who are we going to shoot?!" Angela snapped. "Puck or Oberon?"
"Puck doesn't mean us any harm," Goliath replied, "But I very much doubt we will be able to reason with him. And Oberon came here just to fight, there's no reasoning with him either. We shoot them both. Oberon first, but shoot them both."
"Before we go out there, we have to have some sort of plan." Fox spoke up. "I already told Broadway and Lex to take Alex to Elisa's. I don't know where Hudson or Bronx are; probably looking for us. David is out in the main hall and he's hurt."
"Then you will go for Xanatos, take him out of there, find Hudson to take care of him and come back." Goliath replied, "We three will cover fire."
"Granted the charges hurt them in the first place!" Brooklyn complained.
"What the hell are we supposed to do, then? Let them kill each other?" Angela told him.
"We need to take out Oberon. Concentrate on him. Puck can't do it." Goliath said.
"Why not? Those three that started this gave him power!" Brook said.
"But he has no intention of using it!" Goliath snapped. "He doesn't want to win, he wants to fail! And we are not going to let it happen, because I know, I know, none of us will live with ourselves if we simply stand back and do nothing!"
No one replied.
"Now… you two will take Oberon." Goliath thundered, "I will take Puck, even if I have to drag him by his pointy little ears…"
One week ago
"So you just left?" Titania questioned, "Just like that. Left him armed only with a book."
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Q said, "Besides, I didn't even know him. We had spoken, what, three, four times before? I owed him nothing. In fact, I gave him the book to learn more out of pity than anything."
But Titania just looked at him, with something of disgust in her. "How…?" he whispered, "How do you live with yourself? You just stood back and did nothing… strangers or not, you can't leave a person alone in a desolate island merely because it's not in your schedule!"
"It's not like that at all—"
"You are disgraceful!" Titania interjected, enraged, "You are no better than those sorcerers! You are even worse! You disgraced the Puck, and you've also disgraced the memory of that dead boy!" she shook her head in disgust and snapped, "Man, get out of my court!"
"What about Oberon's disappearance?"
"I'll deal with it." she said, "As Puck said, one shouldn't count on strangers. Just get out of my court. I don't want to see your face anymore."
She stood up from her throne and walked towards the door, pass Q without even looking at him.
And he just stood there, for a few moments, before disappearing in a burst of light.
Two weeks ago
Oberon thought this was rather easy. His servant had been fast, but he had been faster. He had made him fly around, ducking lightning, and it had been fun. A splendid little war indeed.
But now that he had Puck pinned down on the floor, choking him almost, it was time to end the game. "Still up to it, boy?" he sneered.
But he wasn't looking at him, he was looking at Xanatos, who was lying against the wall, almost unconscious, but whispering, "You don't have to do this, no, don't give up… you can beat him… you mustn't give up…"
He looked at Xanatos then faced Oberon. "I…I've decided… it's not your ugly face what I want to see before I die…"
"You started this." Oberon told him, "Won't you end it? Be responsible and end it!"
"I'll end it, alright. I just said it's not your ugly face what I'll see before I die." He grinned sarcastically and said, "I'll end it when I remember that I started it."
Goliath and company had just charged in when a pretty, pretty, pretty white light engulfed them and the chandelier of the ceiling fell and came crashing down upon them, shattering in a billion pieces and making them black out one by one.
Oberon watched everyone faint and wondered what happened. He had time to hear Puck say, "I'll bring you back when I remember I started this." Oberon was about to ask what did he meant, but he never knew what hit him.
The last one who fainted was Goliath. He had time to examine the situation and realized that every time the Puck tried to take his own life, everyone didn't remember it in the morning. And he had a feeling that was going to happen again right now.
His second-to-last thought was, Great, another damn farce, and his very last thought was, There we go again…
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was dark. Night had fallen hours ago.
He was lying over a side in his bed, clutching a pillow between his arms as 'The Tonight Show' played on the tv. He had the tv turned horizontal, so he could see it better, rather than sideways. In the top ten list, the guy now spoke about the ten worse things a son could say to his father. The top-first thing he could say was 'Father, I've met someone. His name is John.'
His cell phone rang. He clicked the 'receive' bottom, and said nothing.
"Hello? Hello? Owen, are you there? Come on… talk to me… where are you? Please, let me inside… Stop running away… you gotta stop running away…Don't run away or else—"
He clicked off the cell phone and tossed it away before he could finish the sentiment.
It was a cheap motel in the outsides of NY City where he stayed. The number of rooms didn't pass 20, and it only had one story. A neon sign flashed out side, spelling a turned off 'No' with a bright 'Vacancy'. There was vacancy. As far as he knew, he was the only one there.
Somebody pounded at the door. "Hey, Mister! I've told you! Wanna spend the night, you gotta pay the bill!"
How impudent, he thought, asking for money in the middle of the night.
He lazily got up and opened the door. The motel manager was a fat old man who smelled like beer. "You gonna pay or not?"
He looked at him. Really looked at him. "You don't need money." He said with a perfectly calm tone.
"Oh, yeah? Then how will I eat?"
He stared at him harshly and replied, "I said you don't need money."
A circuit fused in the man's brain. The man stared away… out…
Owen smiled to himself and said, "You don't need money." And for the hell of it, he added, "You don't need money because you will put on a pink tutu and dance in front of this motel so people will throw money at you."
The man walked away, a living dead, chanting like a mantra the words, "Pink… tutu… pink… tutu…"
He closed the door with a satisfied grin and went back to bed to see the Tonight show. When it was over, an infomercial began and he was bored. For some reason, he felt sleepy but couldn't sleep.
He reached over to the table next to the bed and took a small white bottle. This wasn't the first time he couldn't sleep, nor would it be the last. He had a small bottle of sleeping pills to do that. It made him relax; rather, it made him sleep till late afternoon the next day. He liked that. He liked it very much.
Owen would've fallen in a dreamless sleep if she hadn't showed up.
It was quietly, in a blink of an eye as usual. He would think it impudent, just showing up like that. Would it kill her to knock for once?
"Where is he?" she asked rudely.
"Not even a hello?" he replied. "So like you to just barge in unannounced… so like you…"
"Where is he, Puck? You know, don't you?"
"I don't know," Owen replied petulant, "I'm afraid he's had a little bit of… an accident, I suppose."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you actually pulled it off… you don't honest expect to get away with it… do you?"
Owen yawned, rolled over in the bed, his back to the woman, "I don't know, milady. I'm tired. We'll…" he yawned once more, "…talk in the morning…"
She said something else, but he didn't listen. The drugs started kicking in and he felt he was falling asleep, and he wouldn't dream anymore.
His impudent Queen made him wake up. So he was half-dozy when Titania kept on talking idiocies. "Why did you run away, child? I could help you remember. Isn't that what you want? If you remember, you can prove the gargoyle clan that is wasn't your fault. You must stop running away."
Owen smiled groggily and said, "I already remember, Titania. I'm tired of running away."
Titania cheered up and asked, "Really? Well, can you tell me where Oberon is?"
"Why, I already sent him packing back to Avalon!" he replied, "I had promised him I would bring him back when I remembered! Don't you see, Titania?"
"See what?"
He hugged her and whispered, "That I started it and that I must finish it. That I was a mean person because I didn't finish what I started. That's why I was so miserable. I must finish what I started."
Titania pulled away. "What did you started?"
He handled Titania an empty bottle and said, "Third time's the charm…"
"Oh, dear child, no…" Titania mumbled when Owen fell in her arms.
She made him sit in the floor, but he was fast loosing feeling in his body. Titania was reduced to slapping him around and yelling, "Wake up, dammit! You can't give up now!"
"…I'm sorry, Titania… it's what I started… its what the mirror told me to do…"
"Mirrors?!" Titania snapped, "Since when can mirrors talk?!"
"They… don't… "
Titania suddenly felt she was being watched.
She lay down Owen on the floor, stood up, and saw a white-haired boy sit midair, by the window, with his legs crossed, staring at him with an amused grin.
"I could make a list on what's wrong with this picture…" Titania muttered, somewhere between horror and the deepest of fascinations…
There was Owen Burnett of the floor, dying; and there was Puck floating by the window. It would not be such a perplexing sight if they weren't actually a one.
She circled the Puck and inspected him. That Puck, or whatever he was, smirked at him. He didn't move but he was expecting something. What was going on was beyond even her, but then she stared at Owen in the floor. She turned back to the doppelganger and asked, "Why?"
The double replied, 'Finish', but his voice wasn't heard, because mirrors don't talk.
She grabbed Owen by the arm and made him stand up. "Listen," she said, without taking his eyes off from the other, "I can heal you, but that won't do any good if you try to do it again. There are other ways to finish it, you don't have to do this!"
"There's no other…" he began to whisper, but his voice failed him.
"Yes, there are! Don't listen to… whatever the hell he is! He's the mean person, not you, you can do so much better!"
"Bein' responsible…"
"You want to be responsible?? This is the epitome of irresponsibility! You're just leaving the whole mess to the clan, who already feels like awful as is! You won't finish it! Not for everyone else! It will go on forever, here and wherever your soul might end up…!"
Some of it must've reached him, because he whispered inaudibly, "…not over…ever…?"
"It'll be over when you stop running away from it all. Not just from tonight. But from everything else too. It'll be all over when you want it to."
Owen didn't respond, but the doppelganger in the mirror stared right at him and said, again without a voice, 'It's all over, then.' And simply disappeared.
EPILOGUE
Titania had to explain it three times before Oberon would understand. The whole story was giving him a headache.
"I suppose David Xanatos was telling the truth after all." Oberon told him, "Three of those 'people', the Jinn or whatever they call themselves now, " he said with considerable disdain, "are running loose on the galaxy, giving away 12 crystals of great power and even greater-side effects. Puck accidentally ended up with one of them, right? He's as almost as powerful as I, but it almost drove him insane."
"Almost." Titania repeated, "Almost."
"But I still don't know how did I ended up back in Avalon. And I do not remember where I was that entire week."
"That's because he's not as powerful as you," Titania sincerely replied, "I don't know what he is anymore. No one will ever know where you were that week, your majesty."
Oberon grunted but he knew there were some secrets of the universe that weren't meant to be answered. He was back in Avalon, with his wife Titania, and all was well. He decided to put that behind. Not forget it, since he saw that wasn't good for the health, but he left it behind.
It was Titania's job to patch things up the third time. Paid respects to the lord of Avalon, put him up to speed and all that. She neglected to mention the most… bizarre …aspects, because no one needed to know. It wasn't necessary.
Back in Manhattan, everyone was putting the bizarre nights behind. Titania had already said her good byes, but she dilly-dallied a few more days for the sake of. Again, she neglected to mention the strangest parts, because she was still trying to figure out who was the third party in the motel room. She would probably never know.
Everything was ok as ok could be in such a city as Manhattan. Everyone was present and accounted for, except for those blue pills that vanished one night and were never seen again. It was one of these mysteries of the universe that weren't meant to be answered.
She did wonder about another thing…the dashing gentleman whose invisible lines had caused all this… and she wondered if he would come back…
But again, it was a question that wasn't meant to be answered.
FINITO
All my thank yous go to my beta-readers that toil and struggle beyond the call of duty to read my fics and along with me, their benevolent leader, conspire to take over the world and proclaim me Queen and Empress of the Universe. Special mention to Nemi, whose long brainstorming/brainwashing sections in ICQ have made me indifferent to the pain of others.
(Because I'm gonna be Queen, you know. It was prophesized to me by the Psychic Hotline that 'when the pigs soar thorough the skies, thou shall be made Queen of the Universe.' $5.99 a minute, I better believe it…)
All who suck up to me now will be made generals in my Empire, I assure you. All who email me with comments will have an honorable mention. All who give me money, shall receive a brand-new island. So call now at paganj@caribe.net to reserve your island today!
Something to think about: though third in the series, this fic was the ninth written. ROMANSU and Ring were already posted when I got around to write this one. I did it to compensate the drastic change in moods between Cataclysm and ROMANSU —I thought Cataclysm had too sad an ending, so I wrote this one to correct that and create the link between both First and Second Saga. (Of course, I wasn't going to make it easy to understand; I wanted something that needed brains to read. I'm evil like that.) The title is a reference to that, but it had occurred to me before the problem even came up. It's good to be the writer.
(September - October 2000)
(Revised: April 20, 2001)