Between Hope and Death
By: ChocolateEclar
Disclaimer: Some characters belong to the magnificent authoress, Diana Wynne Jones. I just borrowed them for a while.
Claimer: I only own Wyn, Aidan, Kamania and Chris Aprilian, Lady Kachioin (and her village), Miss Coca, Mr. Calypso, Professor Weph, Life, Death, Apocalypse, Rhys, and Heulo (aka 'the Sun Spirit of All Knowledge.')
A/N: Wow! 14 chapters already…
Chapter 14: In Which There is a Wedding and a Nightmare
"RHYS!!!"
"What did I do this time?!"
"This!" exclaimed Wyn throwing her arms out dramatically. Grasped in her flapping limbs was what had once been a jade colored dress "I left this on my bed for one second and the next thing I know its missing half of itself!!!"
Rhys gave a sheepish grimace and inquired, "What makes you think I did that?"
"Your face, the fact no one else would do this, and I can see that green cape behind your back!" retorted Wyn.
Rhys was wearing a jade colored suit himself and he said, "But this suit is ugly! I just wanted to spruce it up a bit! Besides, you just left it there! I thought it was a rag or something!"
"Liar!" snapped Wyn while grabbing the piece of green fabric behind Rhys. "You thought you could use it to play superhero with Aidan. Then, just bring it back and fix the dress with a little spell. You goofball, why didn't you just create a cape with a spell?"
"That would've been a waste of energy. I was recycling!"
"I see," said Wyn humoringly, "Now go comb your hair and you'll be ready. We have to look nice for Wedding number two." She was referring to Morgan's second and hopefully true wedding. The Kamania incident had ruffled Morgan for a while, but now he was ready to tie the knot with Mackenzie.
He had been dating Mac for about two years by then and she had truly grown on Wyn, which was very unlike a certain other bride. Wyn was sure Morgan would finally be happy. Meanwhile she had marriage possibilities herself. She was sure Aidan would ask her sooner or later, preferably sooner.
Little Rhys was six years of age now and quite the mischievous youngster. He was often found daydreaming and playing pretend and on that particular day he was Morgan's ring bearer. The ring bearer at the previous wedding had been, Hayden, Michael and Martha's oldest child. He would be one of the many people sitting in the rows of chairs praying that this wedding would turn out okay for Morgan.
Rhys's other half was still somewhat of a mystery to Wyn, who had noticed how her younger sibling was looking more and more like the spirit with each passing year. His hair had taken on a darker, richer black color now and it made his face pale in comparison. To remedy this Rhys had run and played in the sun with his friends so that now his skin was thoroughly tanned. He was rather tall for a six year old with long gangly legs he didn't seem to know what to do with.
As for Heulo, he seemed to have taken on some of Rhys's qualities as well. He was extremely afraid of heights (like much of the family) now and would often act a little gentler with a streak of mischievousness at times. Whether this was good or bad was still being debated between Howl, Sophie, Morgan, Wyn, and Calcifer, but over all the change had been perfectly fine. Heulo would often go for walks in his astral form and as before the chain linking the two parts would pulse with energy only they could see.
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Later on, Wyn and Rhys walked down the stairs into the main room of the moving castle. It was more like Wyn walked and Rhys jumped down half the stairs and then the other. Unfortunately he didn't land soundly on the first jump and tumbled down the rest of the stairs. He fell in a heap at the base of the stairs rubbing his head. Heulo on the other hand was 'shooting' scolds at the boy like, 'Are you trying to break your neck, squirt!' or 'You could have killed us both!' Rhys only whimpered back at him and crawled to his feet.
In the main room, most of the female occupants of the wedding were gathered. The bride's mother, Felicity, was pinning up Mac's hair and Sophie was making some last minute touches on the wedding gown.
Wyn smiled. 'Mac really does look great. Hmm. She's as flustered as Morgan…'
Rhys was the only male present, which was due to the men's tendency to say something unsuitable for the boy's ears. At the moment he was now fiddling with the wedding cake that Martha had made.
Martha, who loomed over the boy threateningly, said, "Rhys Jenkins, get your little fingers away from that cake!" She said it in a motherly way that made Sophie smirk. Rhys immediately pulled his reaching finger away with a defeated frown on his face.
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A few hours afterward at the chapel everyone gathered. Once again Morgan stood at the altar looking half like he was going to be sick and half like he was going to scream from all the waiting.
Wyn stood in the doorway with her basket of daisies as the flower girl. Beside her, Rhys was peering at the velvet pillow in his hands. "Where's the ring?" he asked Wyn.
Wyn's head shot his way quickly. "WHAT?! You're the ring bearer! You're supposed to have the ring! Morgan handed it to you, remember?!" said Wyn with panic growing in her voice.
"Oh, I remember now!"
"And?!"
"And I have no idea where I put it…" continued Rhys in a stunned sort of way.
"You little idiot! Morgan's gonna kill us!" Wyn yelped.
'Do you remember, Heulo?' questioned Rhys.
Heulo smirked and replied, 'You left it in the moving castle on the workbench, I believe.'
"Heulo thinks its back home on the bench, Wyn!" shouted Rhys.
"Thank our lucky stars! Let's go!" and with that Wyn transported them both back to the moving castle. Wyn hurriedly searched all over the workbench for the small gold ring, but it just didn't seem to be there.
"Morgan really is going to kill us!" Rhys shrieked theatrically.
'Calm down you two. The ring is under the workbench. It must have fallen,' explained Heulo so that both of them could hear him.
Wyn practically jumped underneath the worktable and pulled her head out quickly. "Found it!" she yelled happily holding up the golden band.
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"Where have you two been?! The wedding's about to start!" Sophie said when they had returned to the church.
Wyn and Rhys took their places again, with the ring safely nestled onto the pillow. When the music started both of them walked forward with as even of a pace as they could do. Wyn threw the flowers gracefully and when they reached the altar, she smiled supportively at Morgan who only chuckled nervously.
Ultimately Mac arrived at the front of the room as well. She stood opposite Morgan looking tremendously anxious herself. As the priest said the usual words, Wyn glanced at Rhys. He looked relieved now and was staring at the future husband and wife politely.
Wyn turned back to the couple when they kissed. She beamed and laughed at the disgusted look on Rhys's face. 'We'll see how he reacts around a nice girl someday…' she thought amusedly. She cheered with everyone else and threw her remaining daisies at the newlyweds.
Presently the cake was cut and everyone sat in various places talking, laughing, and just plain having fun. Wyn sat with Aidan, Calcifer, and the couple chatting and discussing certain changes that were going to take place in the newlyweds' lives. For now, Morgan and Mac would live in Morgan's tiny house until they could properly afford a larger home.
Meanwhile, Rhys played outside with his cousins. Both Martha and Michael's younger children and Lettie and Wizard Sullivan's last child, a thirteen-year-old boy named Ian, were out there tossing a bright scarlet ball between the six of them. Rhys was the second youngest of the children, but he was quick and agile. He whacked the ball roughly with his hands until he was too exhausted to do anything more. Then, he dragged himself back into the reception room.
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After Morgan and Mac had left for their honeymoon, Wyn and Aidan went home to their little flat and Howl, Sophie, Calcifer, and Rhys returned to the moving castle. They all felt relieved.
Could Morgan have really found someone for him?
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'It was cold. So cold… What is that?!'
A flash of bright light momentarily blinded the boy that seemed to be all alone. Soon he could see again and he screamed at what he saw.
Rhys awoke abruptly, alerting no one but Heulo of his sleeplessness. Heulo analyzed the frightened boy. He poked at Rhys's mind until Rhys allowed him to get a glimpse of what the nightmare had been about. He stumbled back at the sheer force of the dream and muttered, 'Oh, Rhys…'
He had seen a cold harsh place with no floor, no sky, no anything. Eventually out of that infinite nothingness an ancient creature came. It was like a Sifrai, but hairless and reptilian with huge jagged teeth. It had sniffed out the scent of life coming off Rhys and had attempted to attack the child. The thing that had scared Rhys was the feeling of being totally and completely alone, and the fact that before he had awoken, Rhys had caught the scent of real blood coming from the beast's horrendous mouth. It was as if the creature had eaten everything. People. Planets. Stars. Moons. Animals. They all would be eaten just like in Rhys's dream if they didn't stop Apocalypse's true form: the creature itself.
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A/N 2: ^_^ Hehe. Cliffy…
A/N 3: Anyway, you'd think this story would have come to its climax by now, but I seem to be prolonging it, don't I? I mean Rhys is already six years old!
A/N 4: Oh well. *^_^*
A/N 5: (I promise this is the last note for today.) You'd better review or I'll sick Apocalypse's true form on you! ^_-