Author's Notes: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you… the longest chapter yet! Yay! While Chapters 1, 2, and 3 averaged to be about 7 ½ - 8 pages, Chapter Four is a whopping 10 pages, and 3,729 words! (Not including the author's notes.) Speaking of author's notes, I'd like to take the time to thank all of my reviewers… THANK YOU!
JestaAriadne ~ Don't worry! There's a method to Cassandra's madness, and I've actually changed it about five times so far. You'll discover the one I finally settled on in Chapter Five. J
Presto ~ I've read almost all of your fanfics and loved them dearly, so getting a positive review from you was like… well, I don't know exactly what it was like, but I know it was really, really, really cool. Thank you!
Mercedes Aria ~ I am my own worst critic, it seems! It's difficult not to be hard on my writing skills because I've never shared a story of this size with anyone else, and I wasn't sure what people would think of it. After reading a few fanfics here, my self-confidence kind of went blah, since there are so many fantastic ones out there. I never thought mine would measure up! Thank you for your review.
Jessie ~ Tweezers ahoy! Mwahaha! As much as I argue that Mistoffelees is well, you know, strange and weird and such, he really is incredibly fun to write! You are Electra in this story, enjoy it girl, because Crystal might have to dump the new professor because of his eyebrow dandruff.
…and now, on to Chapter Four!
Chapter Four: Reach Into Your Mind
Demeter was just thinking she was getting mighty tired of running, and beginning to wonder when Mistoffelees was going to stop, when suddenly, Mistoffelees did stop, and the two queens following nearly tripped over him.
"Are we there?" asked Bombalurina anxiously.
"Yes. Shhhh," whispered Mistoffelees.
"Where are they?" asked Bombalurina.
"Shhh!" said Mistoffelees again. "They're probably over there, in that barn."
"Well then what are we waiting for?" asked Bombalurina.
"SHHHH!" said Mistoffelees, obviously quite annoyed. "Keep your tail on! I'll go check it out in a minute."
"Don't you mean we'll go?" said Bombalurina.
"Shhh, and NO I don't mean we'll go," said Mistoffelees. "Remember the coffin?"
Demeter let out a loud sob. "Do you think you'll be… be able to… to… save him?" she sputtered.
Mistoffelees sighed. To tell the truth, he was quite unsure of his capability to save Munkustrap. It was a powerful spell, and Cassandra was a powerful cat – much more powerful than him. It might take him hours to summon the energy and power to perform such a complicated counter-spell – hours they didn't have. But of course he wasn't going to tell all this to Demeter. Instead he merely said, in his best confident voice, "Most likely," with a comforting smile to match. Then, without another glance back at the two queens, he swiftly glided up a small hill to the barn.
He could hear something moving inside. It wouldn't be a horse, no, he knew for a fact that this entire property was abandoned. There was a window into the barn that would allow him a nice view of the going-ons inside, but it was too high up for him to see through, or even to jump up on. He decided quickly to climb a nearby tree and try to see through the window.
He had reached a nice branch far from the ground that allowed him a view of almost the whole barn from the window. He glanced down, but there was nothing in the barn, nothing at all. He sighed and scratched his ear. What was it that I heard, then? It was coming from the barn, I'm positive.
I suppose I could go inside the barn and have a look around, but that would be walking into a trap, and I'd never get out of there alive. Cassandra's powerful and Munkustrap isn't exactly a wimp.
I don't really have much of a choice, though, now do I…
Then it happened. It felt as if his brain had suddenly frozen over. He had a horrible headache, thumping, thumping. He got incredibly dizzy and suddenly had visions of himself falling uncontrollably from the tree, falling, falling, never stopping, falling into eternal darkness…
"Ah, Mistoffelees, you do have a choice," said a voice behind him. The tuxedo cat suddenly regained control of his senses and whipped around to see his sister, sitting pleasantly on the same tree branch as he was.
"Cassandra," he muttered under his breath.
"Oh, don't speak of me like I am a foul Pollicle!" said Cassandra. "What would mother say?"
Who cares? he thought bitterly.
"Who cares?" said Cassandra in a fake astonished tone. "Why, that's a little harsh, don't you think, Mistoffelees? Or do you still go by Quaxo?"
"It's Mistoffelees," said the magician through gritted teeth.
"Well, that's good, at least you're not disrespecting dear old Mum down there," said Cassandra, motioning with her tail towards the stone on the ground that marked their mother's grave. "I'm sure she would have been ever so disappointed if she learned you went into hiding…"
And I'm sure she'd be real proud to learn you're trying to take over the Jellicles.
"I'm sure she would," said Cassandra. Mistoffelees looked up at her in surprise. "Yes, that's right, I did read your thoughts," said Cassandra, almost laughing. "You really mustn't make it so easy for me, it's taking away all the fun… you could have at least put up some struggle as I forced my way into your mind… instead, you just let me in like the weakling you are…the runt…"
Mistoffelees frantically tried to remember everything he could about protecting from those who could reach into thoughts. Clear your mind… and slowly build up the defenses… distract the one who is reaching…
Acting on impulse, Mistoffelees reached out and scratched his sister as hard as he possibly could on the face. She screeched at the painful, unexpected assault and attempted to get the blood out of her eyes. During this long diversion, Mistoffelees jumped off the tree branch onto the windowsill, and down from the windowsill into a bale of hay. He could feel her reaching into him, trying to stop him from doing the very thing he was attempting to do. With all his might he began building walls in his mind, walls to shut her out…
It was anything but easy. He could hear her screaming at him inside his head, he could hear her voice. She was breaking through all the defenses, soon there would be no way to protect himself and he'd be open and vulnerable, with no hope of escape…with one final cry he used all the energy he could summon at the moment and pushed her away. He could hear her outside give a long moan and fall off the tree. His mind was his own again.
Now, she's going to come in here, and I'm obviously too weak to use magic. I'm probably too weak to do much of anything, but no matter, I have to find Munkustrap and get out of here as soon as possible, before she weakens me any more and I can't do the counter…
There was a sudden cry from behind as Cassandra leapt onto her brother's back, sinking her claws deep inside his flesh. He wheeled around, not noticing the sharp pain or the blood – his blood – splashing everything around them. He grabbed Cassandra's arm and pinned it behind her back. "Where's Munkustrap?" he demanded.
"I'll never tell," breathed Cassandra.
Mistoffelees jerked her arm upward, and she howled with pain. "Tell me!" he cried.
"You can hurt me as long as you feel necessary," said Cassandra. "As long as you don't kill me (which you won't), I can heal myself. I only have to endure a few more hours and Munkustrap is mine… all mine…"
"What makes you think I won't kill you?" he shouted angrily.
"Because it was her last wish," said Cassandra smugly. "Don't you remember?"
Oh, of course he remembered… how could he ever forget…
*~*
"Mistoffelees…" said the queen weakly.
"I'm here," he said, choking back his tears.
"Mistoffelees, I'm going now… going up to join Mum and Pop with the Everlasting Cat…"
"No!" he said.
"Mistoffelees, you need to listen to me, alright?" she said.
He nodded.
"Mistoffelees, you have the power to do anything you desire… but don't let that get to your head. The night may make the world so dark it seems like there will never be another day again, but the sun will shine tomorrow, and all the darkness will be gone for another day… Mistoffelees… whatever you do, remember this: you can gather all the darkness in the world in one room, and the light of one small candle will extinguish it all. I believe in you, Mistoffelees. Make me proud."
He nodded again, though he was not quite sure she could see him, and though he was not quite sure exactly what she was saying.
"But, before I go, Mistoffelees, promise me one thing…"
"Anything," he breathed.
"Promise me, that, no matter what happens, you will not kill Cassandra."
It was an odd request, but Mistoffelees nodded. Back then, he had no reason for killing his sister.
"Promise me."
"I promise."
"Make me proud, Mistoffelees, make me proud… I'll be watching you…"
The young kitten nearly choked as his dear, beloved older sister and best friend took her final breath and closed her eyes for the last time…
*~*
"Aletta," whispered Mistoffelees.
"Yes, dear old Aletta," said Cassandra. "Such a sweet cat, what a shame she had to go off and die like that, leaving us two alone… though, now I think her death has its advantages."
"She'd have wanted me to kill you if she knew you'd end up like this!" he spat.
"Are you ever so sure about that, Mistoffelees? Because you know, Aletta could see things others can't… she knew things… she knew about Macavity… that's why she ended up dead… the fool… the stupid, raving fool…"
"Don't talk about her like that!" cried Mistoffelees, accidentally letting go of his sister's arm in his rage. She took her opportunity and pounced on him, pinning him underneath. The tuxedo instantly realized his stupidity; that was, of course, exactly what Cassandra had wanted to happen. He cursed under his breath as Cassandra scratched his face and blood squirted everywhere.
I've got to get out of here, and I have to find some way to take both Cassandra and Munkustrap with me, he thought. We're running out of time. He cursed again when he realized that before walking blindly into Cassandra's trap he should have sent Bombalurina and Demeter back to the Junkyard for help… oh well, it was too late now… he didn't want to scream for help and get the two queens involved… no, he'd have to do this on his own.
He lifted his paw in an attempt to snap his fingers and end up anywhere except under Cassandra or in the Sahara Desert with an angry camel, but Cassandra was too quick. She grabbed his wrist with one hand and slashed his paw with the other, and then quickly did the same to his other paw. He cried out in agony, and for a moment, white-hot pain was all he could feel and all he could see… but then suddenly, he saw something else…
Gathering all the strength he had left, the tiny magician scratched Cassandra again in the face, and then quickly leapt out of her grasp and onto the high windowsill. From the windowsill he leaped towards the ceiling and just managed to grab onto a board that was coming off of the roof, and was partially falling inwards. He struggled and pulled himself up on the board, which did absolutely nothing.
Cursing to himself, Mistoffelees wished vainly he was one pound heavier.
Summoning up all the courage he could muster, the tuxedo cat leapt up into the air, and fell back down upon the falling apart board. It promptly snapped in half, sending both him and the board tumbling downwards, trapping a now unconscious Cassandra underneath.
Sighing to himself, and ignoring the fact that he was badly injured and bleeding heavily, Mistoffelees got up and began to search for Munkustrap.
He didn't have to look long. The grey tabby was tied up inside one of the horse's stalls, and in spite of himself, Mistoffelees smiled at his own cleverness. Cassandra couldn't control Munkustrap when she was unconscious, so the grey tom was just sitting there with a blank expression on his face.
Seeing as there was no way he could haul an unconscious body and a body with no control in it all the way back to the Junkyard, Mistoffelees decided he had to use his magic, against his Better Judgment (which was currently screaming at him in a voice that sounded remarkably like Jennyanydots.) He lifted the two bodies up into the air, and started to trek wearily out of the barn, the numbness in his back starting to turn into terrible pain.
By this time, Demeter and Bombalurina had basically worried themselves to pieces. Demeter had very much wanted to go see if they could help severa;, but Bombalurina insisted that it wasn't safe. At one point they had heard a sharp cry of pain, and Demeter practically burst into tears with anxiety and worry. Bombalurina wanted so very much to comfort her, but what could she say? The red queen highly doubted Mistoffelees would get out of there in one piece, let alone be able to save Munkustrap.
"Oh Everlasting Cat…" gasped Bombalurina.
Two unconscious bodies suddenly came floating out of the direction of the barn. Bombalurina looked up to see Cassandra and Munkustrap, magically suspended in the air. She was so preoccupied with the floating cats that she didn't notice the small black magician swagger out behind them until Demeter grabbed her arm and pulled her over to his side.
He looked awful. He was covered in blood that was still dripping steadily from deep cuts on his back, his face, and his paws. Bombalurina stared at him, wide-eyed: could this be the very same cat who, just about an hour ago, was talking cheerfully about nearly getting killed by a falling coffin?
"Ah," he said vaguely. "I think I've won." His voice was so empty, so hollow, that it almost scared Bombalurina. However, she was more terrified of the steadily bleeding cuts coming from the magician's back.
"We have to get you back to the Junkyard," she said, "before you bleed to death!"
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Let's go, we're wasting precious time." He glanced over his shoulder at the setting sun, and estimated the time to be around 8:30. That gave him very little time to perform such a complicated counter-spell, and every minute that passed made the spell harder to complete. After closing his eyes and trying to find more energy within himself, he started off at a brisk run, the two queens at his side.
When they finally reached the Junkyard, Mistoffelees raced towards the car and lowered the two bodies down inside. "Now, it's very important that you listen to me and do everything I tell you," he told Bombalurina and Demeter seriously. "Bombalurina, go find Electra, and tell her to come to car and to bring her human's watch. Then go find Rum Tum Tugger (I'm guessing you know where he is) and tell him to get his father and bring him here. Demeter, go find me a piece of rope big enough to tie up this lump," (he kicked Cassandra) "and then go find my Better Judgment…I mean Jennyanydots."
"Please, can I stay here with Munkustrap?" asked.
"No, I need you to do this for me," he said. "I'm sorry, and I know you're upset, but you have to trust me. Alright?"
The two queens nodded, Demeter wiped away a tear, and the two promptly left the car.
"Oh my stars!" said a frantic voice behind the magician about a minute later. He had not heard Jennyanydots come in, he was busy concentrating, and he jumped about five feet into the air when she spoke.
"Oh, it's only you," he said when he turned around and saw her face.
"Forget about me, you are going to bleed to death if we don't do something quick!" she said with wide eyes.
"There are those in worse condition than I am," he said, motioning to Munkustrap. "Will you please help me untie him? My hands don't want to work properly."
"And I should ruddy well think so!" said Jennyanydots, taking one of his paws and wringing it frantically.
"Please! I'm fine! There are much more urgent things to deal with at the moment!" he cried. "If we don't hurry up, Munkustrap will die and it will be my entire fault!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Jennyanydots, dropping his paw.
"There's no time to explain now, I'll just say that by midnight tonight, Munkustrap will be worse than dead."
Jennyanydots stared at the magician for a moment, and then began to swiftly undo the tight knots Cassandra had tied.
Electra came rushing in a moment later, carrying a watch in her left paw. "Quaxo – I mean, Mistoffelees – what's wrong? What's going on here?" She caught sight of the magician and stared at the cuts on his back. "What happened? You're going to- "
"Yeah, I know, I'm going to bleed to death if we don't do something, I've heard," said Mistoffelees. "Please, just give me the watch."
Electra handed it over. "It's 9:05," she said helpfully as she did.
"Thank you," he said, and then promptly handed the watch over to Jennyanydots. "Here, take this, and keep track of the time."
She nodded.
Demeter and Bombalurina came in together, and Demeter ran instantly to her mate's side. "Demi's got the rope, and Tugger went to go get Old Deuteronomy," said Bombalurina.
"Good," said Mistoffelees, taking the rope from Demeter and thrusting it at Electra. "Tie up Cassandra as tight as you possibly can," he instructed. Electra nodded.
"Where's my son?" said a booming voice from the front of the car.
"Old Deuteronomy!" said Jennyanydots. "He's back here, sir, right back here…"
The leader of the Jellicle cats stepped into the car from the doors at the front, closely followed by the Rum Tum Tugger. The elder of the two swooped down next to Munkustrap, and the younger was casting his gaze anywhere but his unconscious brother.
Old Deuteronomy put a comforting arm around the sobbing Demeter, but she kept on crying. The Jellicle leader lifted his gaze to look Mistoffelees in the eye. "What happened?" he asked in his deep voice.
But Mistoffelees did not answer. Old Deuteronomy looked harder and noticed that the magician's eyes were glazed over, staring straight at him but not really seeing him at all. It gave the Jellicle leader the strange sensation that even though the small tuxedo cat was right there, he was really thousands of miles away…
Mistoffelees had taken his chance as soon as it arrived. He could do such a complicated thing as dive into Munkustrap's mind when all the attention of Electra, Jennyanydots, Bombalurina, and partially Demeter was on him. He was not that powerful, he couldn't do it with everyone watching. The moment Old Deuteronomy opened the car door all the attention turned to him, and that split-second was all the magician needed.
He's still in here, somewhere. That was the only hope Mistoffelees had: the knowledge that Munkustrap still had a part of his right mind in here somewhere. Cassandra had taken over most of it, as was quite plain. The only things inside Munkustrap's mind that Mistoffelees could see were brief glimpses of the memories of the things Cassandra had made the grey tom do. There were no thoughts circulating around most of his mind right now, since Cassandra was not able to give them to him.
To tell the truth, the fact that Cassandra had been rendered unconscious was the best thing that had happened to Mistoffelees all day. It would be seven hundred times easier to get Munkustrap's mind back to its rightful owner without her fighting him.
All the flickering memories from the last few days had passed Mistoffelees by, and now there was just a vast, empty space all around him. His only hope was to press onward, to try to find the small spot in this expanse that was still Munkustrap's…
He continued onward, for how long he did not know. Then, suddenly, there was a flicker all around him. It disappeared a moment later, and Mistoffelees backtracked a few small tiny steps to see if he could catch another view of it.
"Munkustrap…" said a voice from behind him. He turned around frantically and discovered himself in a clearing just outside the Junkyard. There was Munkustrap, and there was the Rum Tum Tugger approaching him.
"What?" said Munkustrap.
"I need to tell you something. It's important."
"Can it wait?"
"No. It's about…someone…"
"Who?"
"Before I tell you, promise me you won't flip out, alright?"
"Alright."
"It's about Quaxo…"
"What about him?"
"He's not who you think he is…"
"What do you mean?"
"He can help us… help us get father back…"
"Quaxo? What… how…?"
"He's a magical cat, Munkustrap…"
"Magical?"
"Yes, but I swear, he would never do anything against us. I think I might be able to convince him to help us, but you've got to trust him. Alright?"
"Trust him? I don't know, if he lied to us this whole time…"
"Please, you have to trust him… it's the only way... you don't want Demeter to get hurt again by Macavity, do you?"
"Well, I suppose we really don't have a choice…"
And then the clearing faded, and Mistoffelees was back in Munkustrap's mind again. The fact that he had uncovered a memory from back when Cassandra didn't have control of the tom was a good sign; it meant he was getting closer to the bit of mind that was still Munkustrap's. However, the fact that this memory was so close to the parts of the mind that were ruled by Cassandra meant only that Munkustrap had thought about this particular memory very recently, within the past four days, during a moment when Cassandra wasn't controlling him…
He had no more time to think of this, though, because suddenly, a whole stream of memories and thoughts flooded him, and he realized he had found Munkustrap.
Now he just needed to bring him back.
*~*
"What's wrong with him?" asked Electra, noticing that Old Deuteronomy was staring concernedly into the eyes of her mate.
Old Deuteronomy looked up at Electra. "He's not here."
Electra rushed over to the Jellicle leader's side, followed closely by Rum Tum Tugger and Bombalurina. She gazed into the magician's brown eyes. The first thing she noticed was that the mischievous glint in his eyes, the friendly twinkle she loved so much, was gone. The next thing she noticed was that the friendly twinkle had been replaced with a glazed over, dull look. He stared ahead at nothing in particular, and did not more or blink. Old Deuteronomy was right: he simply was not there.
Suddenly, Mistoffelees gave out a small cry and blinked twice, still staring ahead. Cassandra stirred in the corner, and then suddenly let out a sharp wail. Electra was too busy panicking to put her paws above her ears, for Mistoffelees had fallen to the floor in a dead faint.
Cassandra stopped wailing, and all was silent.
A few moments later, the most unlikely of all the cats in the car stirred.
"What happened?" said Munkustrap groggily.
*~*
Author's Note: Wow, can it be? Did I really update that quickly? Didn't I just update yesterday? Yes, folks, I did! Wow! Go me! This chapter forced me into a severe bit of writer's block. Do you know how hard it is to write a chapter about delving into someone's mind? O_o
Well, anyway, it was fun.
--jemi gr 02-july-03