The Other Side of Midnight
Chapter 2
Tugger ran after Mistofolees and found the magician on his knees on the ground a short distance from the old car, his paws cradled against his chest, his face a tight mask of pain.
"Let me see," Tugger said quietly, pulling gently at the small tom. "Let me see."
Mistofolees wanted to ignore his friend, wanted to close his eyes and let the unconsciousness that beckoned from the distance come closer. Unfortunately, the caring concern in the Tugger's voice wouldn't let him. He had to reassure his friend he was okay so he gathered what little strength he had left and looked up. "I'm all right," he whispered hoarsely. "I just wasn't expecting it."
"Expecting what?" asked the Tugger, still pulling at Misofolees' arm. "Let me see."
Mistofolees gave a short breathless laugh that was more of pain than mirth. "It hasn't happened in a long time. I guess I'd forgotten."
"Forgotten what? Damn it, Mistofolees, let me see!" Mistofolees held out his paws and the Tugger gasped, then whistled low in his throat. The tips of the nimble black paws were red and blistered. It looked as if the young tom had held them over a flame and hadn't pulled them back in time.
"What the hell happened?" Tugger demanded.
"I went too deep. The magic there is very concentrated and I forgot to shield my paws against the energy force." The magician coughed out another painful laugh. "Not that I could have if I'd tried."
"Why did you do it then?" The Tugger was angry.
Mistofolees raised his eyes from his burned paws and met the Tugger's gaze. A lopsided smile that was tight with pain and exhaustion curled at his lips. "Because Demeter asked me. And I swore long ago that I would help any Jellicle who asked." He could see that Tugger had a hard time grasping the concept of self-sacrifice for another. Still, he wanted to make his friend understand. "I can do simple parlor tricks or great feats of magic, that's true. But that's not what magic is, not really. Magic is power. Yes, it makes for a nice diversion now and then but when I'm really needed to do something, like tonight, that's when it becomes what it's truly meant to be, a power worth having. And with that power comes great responsibility. There are those who want that power for themselves. Macavity has a small amount of magic, of that there's no doubt, but he craves more. He wants to have more so he can do more. More evil, more mayhem. Someone has to counter that, Tugger, don't you see? And I am the only someone who can do that right now. If I were to turn my back on the responsibility of my gift, I would be no better than the Hidden Paw himself." He could tell that the Tugger was thinking. The large tom's forehead was furrowed and his paws twitched.
Finally, the Tugger nodded. "You're right. I think. Still and all, depleting yourself like that can't be good for you. You need to get some rest." He stood and helped Mistofolees to stand. He felt the magical cat sway and lean heavily against him. Tugger knew that the little tux was at the end of his endurance. "Why don't you just stay here?" he suggested. "Why do you have to go home?"
"My family is a man of some magic himself. He sees us as we truly are."
The Rum Tum Tugger stopped and stared at his friend. "No one, no one sees us as we really are, Mistofolees. You are mistaken."
The magician shook his head. "You are mistaken, Tugger. There are those few humans who can see us in this form. My family, Attivus, is a man of magic. He sees beyond the cat that other humans see. I can choose which form I present to him."
Tugger was skeptical. No one had ever seen beyond the feline form they presented at home. People, to his knowledge, had no idea of the human forms the Jellicles could assume when unobserved. That Mistofolees' family could see this was odd and slightly disturbing. "Does Old Deuteronomy know about this?"
"Yes. He has always known."
"I still don't see why you can't sleep it off here." Tugger grumbled, irritated that someone knew something he didn't.
"Ah, but you see there is something else about Attivus, my friend. He's a doctor."
"A veterinarian?!" The Rum Tum Tugger paled. Although he knew that the doctors who cared for animals did a lot of good, he was terrified of them. He didn't know of a single cat, or dog for that matter, who didn't vanish every time the word was mentioned.
Mistofolees chuckled with genuine mirth. "No, not a veterinarian. A human doctor. It comes in handy sometimes. Especially a time like this. You see, Tugger, until my strength is restored I can't change back."
Tugger stopped and pulled his friend around so he could see his face. "What about your shields?" Every Jellicle had an innate ability to shield their true forms from the rest of the world. But sometimes a Jellicle had lost the ability for one reason or another and the results had been catastrophic. Some had been burned at the stake for being witches. Others had been tortured as demons. And some had been enslaved by traveling shows who showed them off for money. A cat who couldn't shield was in a very dangerous place.
"I can shield." Mistofolees assured him, his dark eyes meeting the Tugger's green ones evenly. "Long ago I learned how to put away enough magic in a place I couldn't reach it so that I would always be protected."
"How did you manage that?" Tugger wondered. He was finding out more about his small friend in an hour than he had in almost a year.
"The twins," was all Mistofolees said. And Tugger knew that he meant Coricopat and Tantomile. The two mystical cats had no magic, not Mistofolees' kind anyhow, but still possessed a strange power of their own. Most Jellicles were both awed and intimidated by this and the twins had few friends. Mistofolees was one of them.
"Well, as long as I don't have to worry about losing you to a crowd of humans," Tugger replied. "Now let's get you home before it gets any lighter." The tom put a supporting arm around Mistofolees' back, careful not to brush the raw, painful paws and led him out of the junkyard and into the brightening dawn.