Chapter Two: The Way Things Were

Bombalurina walked slowly towards her best friend, who was lying on the ground. The red queen sighed. She hoped that her best friend would have sense than to kill the bearer of bad tidings. I should never have been eavesdropping on Munkustrap and Cassandra. Demeter shouldn't have to know…it would break her poor little heart.

Bombalurina sighed again, but then realized that maybe Demeter didn't have to know…

*~*

"What did he say? Did he say what was wrong? Why hasn't he been talking to me?" asked Demeter frantically the moment she saw her best friend approach her out of the corner of her eye.

"The truth is, Demeter…" Bombalurina paused. "The truth is that…I really don't know. Munkustrap was just asking Cassandra if…she's…uh, seen…Jemima anywhere. Little rascal's gone missing again. Ha, ha. It seems we are always missing someone, isn't it? Yesterday Electra, today Jemima-"

Demeter's face fell. "You don't have to lie to me, Bomba. I can take the truth."

Bombalurina wrinkled her face in discouragement. "But I wasn't lying…"

Demeter rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You're a horrible liar Bomba. Tell me the truth! I know you're lying."

"Alright, you got me," said Bombalurina. "I was lying. Yesterday we lost Etcetera, not Electra."

Demeter sighed and laid back down.

"Listen, I know you're upset, and I'm not helping much, but-"

"Bomba, I know you're just trying to make me feel better, but I think I need to be alone right now," said Demeter testily.

"Alright," said Bombalurina gently. "I'll leave you alone." With one last glance back at her hurting best friend, the red queen silently left the Junkyard and went off to find the Rum Tum Tugger.

Demeter sighed, and tried to drift off to sleep…but she couldn't. She knew Bombalurina was lying, and Demeter hated to be lied to, especially by her best friend. And on top of that, Bombalurina was usually brutally honest with everyone, no matter how much they hated it, which meant that whatever she was trying to hide from her had to be awful.

Demeter got up suddenly, and walked forcefully towards Cassandra's box. She would find out for herself what was so terribly awful…

*~*

Cassandra had Munkustrap right where she wanted him: weak, confused, and helplessly in love with her. He had no idea what was going on, and no one else knew, either. To anyone else, it would just appear as though Munkustrap had left Demeter (which he did, or was going to do, shortly.) They would not see Cassandra's hold on him: the fact that he would do anything she asked of him. Anything. They might suspect something, but they could never prove it. And the only one who could prove it was, er, a bit, um… preoccupied at the moment.

Cassandra chuckled to think of her brother prancing merrily through a field of daisies with a female cat, and then snorted. The image was just certainly not right: her brother was not exactly a charmer, was not particularly handsome, and the last time Cassandra had brought up the opposite gender around him he cried, "Ew! Girls have cooties!" It was almost as if Electra had suddenly gotten magical powers and forced him to fall in love with her, just as Cassandra was doing with Munkustrap…but no, that was impossible…

That was quite a long time ago, thought Cassandra, when he said girls have cooties. Maybe he's changed now. I wouldn't know. He won't even speak to me; he says that I disrespect the family. He says that I'm mad and that he wants nothing to do with me. I'm not mad…at least I don't think so…

And talk about disrespecting the family! thought Cassandra. Who was the one who took a different guise so the stupid Jellicles wouldn't find out who, what he was and kick him out? Him, that's who. At least I didn't change the name my mother so graciously picked out for me before she laid her head down and died on the mat… I kept my name… he had to go and change his, 'I've done too much, what if they recognize my name? I keep thinking I know that Tum Rum Tugger, or whatever his name is, from somewhere…' He never knows when to draw the line, that idiot brother of mine, first he hides his powers, then he flaunts them nonstop… that stupid brother… idiot Mr. Mistoffelees… or does he still go by Quaxo?

Quaxo, Quaky Quaxo, thought Cassandra with a snort. He could have at least picked a semi-decent name to go by for six months.

*~*

Nobody really liked Quaxo when he first came to the Jellicles, not even Electra. But she at least was semi-decent to the poor cat.

She remembered the other kittens and young cats coming down pretty hard on him one day. She thought it was cruel. She remembered Tumblebrutus and Pouncival laughing at his small size, and trying to get the others to do the same. She remembered Etcetera whispering cruel jokes in her hear, she remembered pushing her away. Etcetera then proceeded to continue her heartless whispering in the ear of Victoria, who listened but did not respond. She remembered Pouncival trying to get Jemima to join in the teasing. It was obvious he liked her, even back then. She was ever so glad when Jemima fiercely scratched his paw and ran off.

She remembered Alonzo coming over to see what was going. Oh, she had such a crush on Alonzo back then. He knew it, too, and the fact that he didn't hate her for it used to make Electra so happy. She thought he had a crush on her too. Of course he didn't, he was older than her, and Electra realized now that he just used her as an alibi every time he got in trouble. "No, Mum, I couldn't have knocked over those trash cans, I was with Electra at the park, right Electra?" And Electra, being young and helplessly in like, would nod enthusiastically.

She remembered Alonzo looking at his younger brothers, she remembered him struggling between anger and amusement. She remembered a smile finally breaking out on his face. She remembered him uttering under his breath, "Quaxo, Quaky Quaxo." She remembered Pouncival snorting, he was the only one besides Electra who heard it. She remembered Alonzo saying it louder. She remembered Etcetera rolling on the ground with laughter. She remembered Pouncival and Tumblebrutus jumping madly and hooting wilding. She remembered a small smile cross Victoria's face, and she remembered that Jemima, dear old Jemima, who would willingly stand up everyone, not being anywhere in sight. She remembered Quaxo slinking away silently.

Then she remembered doing something she never thought she would do. She stood up and scratched Alonzo hard on his right paw. He stopped chanting and looked at her as if she was crazy. It grew silent.

"Meanie," said Electra in a whisper.

"What?" said Alonzo sarcastically. He had heard what she said, but he knew the others didn't.

Gathering her courage, Electra shouted "MEANIE!" at the top of her lungs, for the whole Junkyard to hear. She saw Quaxo turn around out of the corner of her eye.

Etcetera had stopped laughing. So had Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. They had never seen normally quiet Electra do something this…well, loud.

Jemima suddenly reappeared. "Uh oh," said Pouncival. Electra could see why Pouncival was scared: Jemima looked fiercer than ever, and Electra knew that Jemi was not afraid to chase the boys.

"I'll give you all ten seconds," Jemima whispered, but they all heard her. Like a flash, Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, and Etcetera were all on their feet and were running as far away from Jemima as they could. Alonzo didn't stick around either: he scurried back off to his owner and they didn't see him for another two days. Victoria had mysteriously disappeared, as was her way.

Electra did not join in the excitement of the four kittens running wildly around the Junkyard. Instead, she sauntered over to Quaxo.

"Hey," she said, "I know a great dumpster by a deli where the humans are always throwing away scrapes of turkey and ham. Do you want to go?" She could hardly believe these words had come out of her mouth. It was not the kind of thing she would normally say.

"Sure," said Quaxo without hesitation. The two of them had walked off, leaving Jemima to deal with the 'meanies.' It was the start of a life long friendship, and romance…

…but most certainly not a perfect one.

She remembered a couple days before the Jellicle Ball, when she and Quaxo decided to be more than friends. He was still Quaxo then. But at the end of the night, three nights later, they were no longer Electra and Quaxo, the two kittens that had almost become as mischievous and as close as Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. They were now Electra and 'magical' Mr. Mistoffelees. Electra remembered not being sure what to feel.

He had brought back their leader, he had saved the day, destroying Macavity's evil plans when it looked as if there had been no hope. But yet, he had lied to them, lied to them all. He could have at least told her. She would have understood, right?

"I'm sorry, Electra," he had said. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but honestly…what would you have said?"

And Electra remembered realizing he was right. He normally was right. She would not have understood. She was glad he didn't tell her. And though she, and all the other kittens of the tribe, had been warned against magical cats and their powers of trickery, she found it in her heart to forgive him.

A few days after the Jellicle Ball, Mistoffelees, not Quaxo, was inducted into the Jellicle Tribe. He was accepted by them all, and for a month, things seemed perfect…

…but Electra had the strangest notion that things were about to change drastically for the worse, and once again, she found herself once again not knowing what to feel.

*~*

It had been one short month since the Jellicle Ball, and seven long months since the time when he and his sister had first arrived at the Junkyard. As the two of them got to know the Jellicles, they also pretended to get to know each other. As the story went, they met once when they were young. They did not get along and never wanted to speak to each other again. At least, that's how his story went. He had thought that his obnoxious sister agreed to play along with his story. But apparently not – she went ahead and told all the Jellicles that he was her brother, causing him to look like an idiot as he pretended that she was his old enemy. Luckily he had managed to get himself out of that scrape mostly by laughing it off and telling all the Jellicles it was a little joke he and his sister had planned.

But then he realized his sister's jokes were no longer jokes…something was happening to her. He could feel it. He heard her voice inside his head, whispering things... he could hear her thoughts, her dark thoughts that never seemed to end.

"I know…" he remembered saying to her one day. "I know what you whisper to the darkness when you think you are alone, and I don't like it. You disgrace our name, you disgrace the name of our mother, and I won't have it. You are going mad Cassandra, mad! Turn away from the dark now, or cut the ties you have to our family!"

She cackled. She didn't laugh, she cackled. It made a chill run down his spine.

"I cannot turn away from the dark, now, Mistoffelees," she said in but a whisper. "It is in my blood. It is in your blood, too, and the time will come when the darkness will overtake you too. You can do nothing about it, Mistoffelees. Do not try. It is better to be with the dark. The night will soon overtake the day. It is only a matter of time. The sun cannot shine forever!"

"You can gather all the darkness in the world in one room, yet the light of one small candle will extinguish it all," he had shouted before leaving Cassandra, who knew in her heart he was right, yet would never admit it.

And so Mistoffelees began his close watch upon his sister, all while being very careful not to give the Jellicles even the slightest hint that he was a magical cat. He and his sister had been kicked out of several other tribes of cats simply for the fact that they had magical powers. Most magical cats were evil, and so everyone became terribly afraid of them. It was a horrible stereotype, but deep down inside, Mistoffelees couldn't blame them. It was a well-known fact that Macavity only had magical cats as his henchmen, and since there were so few of them, everyone became suspicious. And even if most of the evil cats weren't magical, it's hard to trust someone who could bring you so much bad luck. So they made up excuses, usually that the tribe was too full or something of the sort, and threw them out.

Maybe that was the reason most magical cats turned evil: they were tired of being pushed around when they had the power to rule.

But yet, for six months, Cassandra showed no signs of any evil.

She lived her life as a normal cat, not using her magical powers for anything. She went about her day as a normal Jellicle, she just didn't speak to Mistoffelees again. There was nothing abnormal about anything she did.

Nothing, until about a month ago.

He realized early on that she was planning something. He still did not know precisely what it was. All he knew was that suddenly Munkustrap was acting very distant, Demeter wouldn't stop crying, and Cassandra walked around everywhere with a smirk on her face.

"You can gather all the darkness in the world in one room, yet the light of one small candle will extinguish it all…"

Right now, the problems seemed small, at least to him. But nothing Cassandra ever did was small, and he knew she would strike not only him, but all the Jellicles. She knows that I will oppose her, so she will strike soon, when the Jellicles aren't too keen on trusting me…

To tell the truth, Mistoffelees didn't really understand why some of the Jellicles were fearful of him. Sure, he was a magical cat, but hadn't he saved them from Macavity? Hadn't he brought back their leader? Sure, he had lied to them for six months, but honestly, who could blame him? Wouldn't he have been shunned if he hadn't?

Maybe my problem is that I think too logically, thought Mistoffelees. Maybe if I acted more than I thought, I wouldn't think the fact that everyone acts faster than they think so frustrating. Does that make sense? Maybe I just have way to much time to think. Maybe if I acted more, when I did have time to think, I would be so used to acting that I would act faster than I think, and then I wouldn't think that everyone else acting that way is wrong.

…or maybe my problem is that I actually think about these types of things.

But, regardless of what my problem is, will I be able to stop her? Will anyone help me? Will anyone believe me?

Will one candle be enough to bring light to the darkest corners? To make things the way they were?

Only time will tell.

*~*

Demeter broke into a run. She had to get to Cassandra's box, she had to know what was going on, she had to find out. Munkustrap was there. Munkustrap! She had to know what was going on.

"Demeter, stop!" cried the voice of her best friend behind her, but Demeter did not listen. She didn't care what Bombalurina said anymore, it didn't matter, she didn't understand, she had to know…

She felt Bombalurina's arm grab her and stop her from going any farther. She tried to fight back, but the red queen was stronger and larger. "Demeter!" cried Bombalurina again, but Demeter was not listening. She was doing anything she could to break free of Bombalurina's grasp.

"Demeter!" cried a voice, but it was not Bombalurina. The voice made both Bombalurina and Demeter freeze and look up with awe.

"Munkustrap!" shouted Demeter. She stood up so fast she knocked Bombalurina to the ground. She rushed over to her mate and gave him a hug, but he did not return it. There was a solemn expression on his face.

"Munkustrap, what's wrong?" asked Demeter, looking up at him peculiarly. He sighed and gazed back down at her, then began to talk in an almost monotone-like voice.

"Demeter, I'm sorry, but I cannot be your mate anymore. I do not love you. I love another. I love Cassandra. She will love me in return as you never could. She will help me, guide me, be there for me. I am sorry. You must understand. Goodbye."

But he did not leave. Instead he just stood there, staring ahead at nothing in particular, blinking every now and then. Demeter let out a great sobbing moan and slid to the ground by his ankles, wailing furiously. Munkustrap did nothing.

Bombalurina could not move. The anger surging inside of her was so great she wanted to get up and hurt Munkustrap as bad as he had hurt Demeter, but she could not move a muscle.

"I must go now," said Munkustrap quietly.

"Wait," said Bombalurina suddenly. "Munkustrap: September 23rd – what does it mean to you?"

Munkustrap blinked. "That date means nothing to me. Why should it?" With that, he turned and walked away, and Demeter wailed harder.

"That was our anniversary…" mumbled Demeter after a long pause.

"I know," said Bombalurina solemnly.

"I can't believe he said it meant nothing to him…"

"That's not like Munkustrap at all."

"I know…"

Another pause. "It's like Cassandra's got control over him…" mumbled Demeter, almost incoherently. "Like magic… horrible, horrible magic…"

Bombalurina all of a sudden stood up. "Maybe someone does," she said forcefully.

"Wh…what?" mumbled Demeter, who was still a weeping puddle on the ground.

"I said maybe someone does have control over him. Someone close to Cassandra. Someone close to Cassandra with the ability to do magic."

"What are you saying?" asked Demeter, straightening up a bit.

"I'm saying MISTOFFELEES! MISTOFFELEES, WHERE ARE YOU?"

*~*

Author's Notes: You guys have no idea how much fun that was to write! "MEANIE!" Quaxo, Quaky Quaxo! Wee! It was great! I'm sorry this took so long, but Chapter Three will probably take longer due to complications in Real Life ™. More Mistoffelees/Electra in later chapters, lots of angst-y looking back nostalgic type things, and some good old fashioned violence (but not too much!) Trickery, deception, suspicion, betrayal, jealousy… makes you tremble with anticipation for the next chapter, huh?

--jemi gr 28-june-03 (exactly one month from my last update!)