Disclaimer: The Time Quartet and 'The Scientist' are not mine.
Author's Note: Do not ask where I get my ideas. I just do. (Setting/Spoilers: End of 'Wind')
Back To The Start
Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need ya
And tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Sporos was entangled in the chant of the Echthroi. He was not going to Deepen, he was being Xed by them. Meg tried to kythe to him, but it was no use. All around her she felt darkness, wispy tendrils wrapping around her, she was being Xed. She tried fighting, but it would only make the Ecthtros hold tighter, she fought with more anguish until all the strength was being taken from her. Proginoskes tried kything with her but she could not respond. And then all of it was gone. All of it was empty. Meg had been saved.
"Calvin!" She kythed, receiving no response, "Calvin?"
"Meg!" But it was not Calvin's voice she heard. It was Blajeny.
"Where are Mr. Jenkins and Calvin?" Meg demanded, looking around in the darkness, trying to pick up any signal that Calvin might be there.
"Where does not matter. But if you need to know, they are here, but they almost risked themselves saving you from the Echthroi."
"Where are we now?" She questioned. Blajeny's voice softened.
"Open your eyes." Meg did, and looked around. She was in the Twin's garden. They were not there, their hoes and gardening tools lying on the ground, abandoned.
"Why are we here? Blajeny! Where is Progo? Where is Calvin? Where is Mr. Jenkins? Where is--"
"They are here, I have just told you that. They have not come around just yet." Blajeny looked quite grave; Meg felt Progo moving in her mind and took that as a sign he was okay. "Sporos did not Deepen. He was Xed."
"Did he X himself?"
"No. The Echthroi took him." There was a moment of silence, and then Meg heard Calvin groan. She stood abruptly and then felt as if she had been on a boat and then abruptly went onto land.
"Calvin?" Meg asked, her hand on his face, ignoring Blajeny's warnings not to move.
"Meg, I'll be fine." He whispered in a tired voice, his breathing slightly heavy, which reminded Meg of-- her heart almost stopped as she began running, tripping over Louise the Larger as she made her way along the pathway. Blajeny followed her and stopped her, using his powers to place her on the ground.
"Charles Wallace… where is Charles Wallace?"
Running in circles, coming in tails
Heads on a science apart
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
Mrs. Murry stroked Charles Wallace's hand as he fought to breathe, each time becoming more strenuous and difficult. Dr. Colubra tried to quiet down his screaming as he called for Meg. The respirator loomed large and angry looking, as the terrible news lurked on the doctor's tongue.
"We're about to lose him." She said to Mrs. Murry, whose hand was trembling uncontrollably as her son struggled for breath.
"Meg… left… me." Charles Wallace managed to say, leaving bewildered expressions on the two women's faces. Dennys came in the room and looked to his mother.
"Sandy still hasn't gotten a hold of Father. We've only gotten the hotel answering machine."
"Leave a message then, tell him it is urgent." Mrs. Murry gripped Charles Wallace's wrist, in search of a pulse. Charles Wallace's muscles convulsed. He struggled for breath, and Mrs. Murry fought back tears. She was losing her son. Dr. Colubra just looked on, there was nothing more to do but pray, something no one had even the strength to do.
- - -
"It is not where that is--"
"I don't care!" Meg screamed, her eyes watering as she looked around before throwing her arms up slightly in surrender. "I need to get to Charles Wallace, and I need to get to him NOW." Meg felt Calvin come up behind her and rest a hand on her shoulder.
"Listen, Meg. I'm sure he's fine. I think we saved him." His tone was sure, but there was a look in his eyes that suggested something different.
"We had to leave." Blajeny began, "because Meg was almost Xed. We could not risk her or anyone, so we had to retreat." Meg felt Proginoskes move about inside her.
"Meg," he said to her, "do you know what that means?"
"No, well, not exactly," Meg kythed to him.
"Charles Wallace is not doing so well." Blajeny interrupted. "Meg, you do not have permission to see him."
"Permission? Permission! I need permission now? I need to see my brother if he is dying!" She protested. Calvin tightened his grip.
"No, Meg. You cannot go. If Blajeny says you cannot then you mustn't."
"Oh, Cal! You do not even know why they say we cannot see him!"
"Meg, you would lose it if you were to see him now!" Calvin yelled angrily at her.
"I would not!" She screamed back, and began walking when Calvin hit her hard. She crumpled down, blood coming from where he had hit her in the jaw. Tears obscured her vision and she pulled her hand up to her mouth, feeling the warm blood on her skin.
"You would, Meg. Listen to Calvin and Blajeny." Proginoskes shot at her and as Meg looked around as the cherubim materialized, she realized she was cornered from all around and could not leave.
I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
- - -
"Where… is… Meg?" Charles Wallace whispered.
"Shh." Mrs. Murry said quietly, forcing an ice cube into his dry mouth. Charles Wallace tried to spit it out but had not strength enough. "I don't know." She wiped his forehead with a cool cloth and Sandy and Dennys burst in.
"Meg just came in! She's home!" They shouted in unison. A smile came across Charles Wallace's face and he fought his mother's hand.
Meg trudged up the stairs, each footstep accompanied by five beats of her heart. As she entered her youngest brother's room he became even more delirious. He mumbled words incoherently, and when she sat down beside him his breathing became even more strained. Mrs. Murry looked at her daughter and then back to Charles Wallace, a look of defeat crossing over his eyes. His breaths became even more far apart, his eyes dilated and unfocused. Meg let out a gasp of horror as all his responses were cut short.
Running in circles, chasing tails
Coming back as we are
"Charles Wallace!" She exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears, the tears falling down her cheeks. The phone rang. Sandy backed out of the room and answered it with a shaky voice, Meg not able to believe her brother had just died. Mrs. Murry sobbed. Sandy explained sorrowfully to his father that Charles Wallace had passed on. Dennys helped Dr. Colubra pull a sheet over the bed. Calvin ran up breathlessly and fell silent at the vision that met his eyes. Meg ran over to him and sobbed, his arms holding her tightly as he stared unabashedly upon the six-year-old.
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start
"No, he just… stopped." Sandy spoke tearfully into the phone as he heard his sister's screams. "It was so quick…" He sniffed and hung up, joining his family and Calvin and Dr. Colubra. They stood silently, the pain overbearing.
Ooooohhhhhhh
Ooooohhhhhhh
Ooooohhhhhhh
Ooooohhhhhhh