"So are you saying that we're back in the present?" Ashley asked excitedly. She had never realized how comfortable her pajama shirt was. Aiden's smile dimmed somewhat.
"Yes. All of us are. For the time being. Saber, Kyler, Arundel, the robots, all the people that fought for our side in both battles, and your friends from the present are milling around in the castle. Of course Saber, Kyler, and the others not from this time will be returned to their respective points in history subsequent to the final battle which will take place in-"
"Two days," Ashley interrupted, amazed at how predictable this was. "Poor Cassie. I wonder if that's what she looked so sad about."
"Yes, she has rather a big decision to make I'm afraid, and no matter what it is somebody will suffer." Ashley scrunched her face up for a second in sympathy for her friend, and that was how Jaz saw her when he opened his eyes.
Not wanting to interrupt Ashley's conversation, Jaz sat up silently, and sensed an aura of excitement about her even though he was looking at the back of her head.
"So we're in the present, at Yawnoc Castle?" Aiden nodded, wondering what Ashley was getting at. "And so everything that was ours, that we brought with us from America is in those walls?"
"Yes, I even managed to get your carryon bags from the airport between battles," Aiden answered. The smile that had left Ashley's face in light of Cassie's problems returned tenfold. She felt a great sense of gladness descend upon her.
"My gum," She breathed, testing out a word she hadn't said out loud in a long while. Then more confidently, "MY GUM!" Then, jumping up and down like a maniac, she proceeded to envelop Aiden in a tight hug, that due to the jumping, lifted the small girl right off her feet. After a second or two of this, Ashley ran full tilt towards the castle screaming 'my gum' at any passer-by that crossed her path. She disappeared through the doors, and Jaz watched with his mouth slightly agape. Aiden turned towards him, shaking her head.
"And I always thought she was the sane one," she said in wonder.
"So did I," Jaz answered. "I thought she was going to be such a refreshing change after Abbe."
"She may yet. She's just been denied her gum for a long time." It was at this time that Jaz became aware of the fact that there really was gum at this time. Without a backwards glance, he followed Ashley. Aiden frowned after them. She wasn't sure that they knew what this was really about. She sighed. The end was drawing near, and all these people cared about was gum.
Ashley found Abbe, Cassie, Jaimie, and Allysson all congregated in the bedroom, several empty packs of Ashley's winter fresh already littering the floor.
"What is this?!" she cried indignantly. Cassie looked up guiltily.
"I'm sorry, but it was just sitting there, and I haven't had gum in awhile either. And why are you dressed all normal again?" Upon second glance it was evident that Abbe and Cassie hadn't abandoned their strange costumes.
"No fair!" Abbe pouted. "Why do I still have to wear this? And my hair elastic broke during the battle, and my roots are showing! I never wanted to see my brown hair again!"
Cassie was on the point of replying when she was bowled over by a very small figure. Once she could breathe on her own again, she gasped a greeting.
"Arundel! You…um…surprised me. How are you?"
"I haven't seen you in forever, and I wanted some bread with honey."
"I just saw you yesterday, and I don't have bread with honey," Cassie said sitting up and rubbing her ribcage which had just had an unpleasant meeting with Arundel's elbow. Arundel's lower lip quivered, and his big, sad eyes began to fill. "No, no don't cry! Here, eat this!" She shoved a stick of gum in his mouth.
"Hey!" Ashley exclaimed.
"Chew but don't swallow," Cassie advised. Too late. A gagging noise and excessive coughing made it clear that the gum was gone.
"Awwww, it's so cute! Can we keep it?" Abbe asked stepping closer to Arundel and tickling him under the chin. This went on for a couple of seconds as Arundel watched, motionless. Abbe shrieked and jerked her hand away, having had narrowly escaped it being impaled on a set of baby teeth Arundel giggled rather maliciously and held out his hand for a second stick of gum.
"So…how's Nicole doing?" Ashley offered rather timidly. Allysson's face turned grim. Jaimie was too busy bobbing her head to some random song inside her mind to notice the direction the conversation had taken, and so had no facial expression whatsoever except for a serene, and rather content smile.
"She's not doing much at all," Allysson said after giving Jaimie a strange look. "She doesn't move, and she barely breathes. Occasionally her finger will twitch, but that's not very often."
"Can we go see her? Where is she?" Abbe asked, attempting to play hacky sack with a small stone she had found lurking in a corner. Even though it was a round room. Allysson shrugged.
"Sure, you can go see her. Not that there's much point to it. We've all tried to rouse her. She won't wake. But if you want. She's in Annod's old room. Well, it's mine and Jaimie's room too. Anyway, it's right next to the library. I guess you know where it is. Or, No you don't. Ashley and Cassie do. Ashley, will you show Abbe where Nicole is?"
"Um…no," Ashley replied taking two pieces of her precious gum and putting them into her mouth. "Sorry, but I need my gum right now, and I don't want to be disturbed. And besides…" She trailed off as her eyes roamed over Jaz who was standing in the doorway waiting for somebody to acknowledge his presence and invite him inside. "Besides, I have company. Come in Jasper. I have gum." She closed her eyes in ecstasy as the mint flavour of the winterfresh burst on her tongue. And no more was to be said on the topic. Allysson rolled her eyes and turned to Cassie, but she was dabbing at her eyes with a pre-used tissue she had found in her bag, and was listening to her CD player.
"This song is so sad!" she gasped dramatically before burying her head in a pillow to sob uncontrollably. Allysson would have smacked her upside the head, but that wasn't in her nature, and besides she was scared of forever scarring Cassie's romantic spirit.
"I'll take her!" Arundel cried. "Where's the bedroom? Is it downstairs? The first door on the right of the Great Hall two rooms in?" Allysson nodded amazed.
"Yes, that's the one."
"Yay! Let's go! And then I'm gonna go and get some warm bread with honey on it!" He entwined his tiny fingers around Abbe's, and dragged her out of the room.
Outside that peaceful and secluded bedroom, it was a mob scene. Abbe's fellow band students clamouring for a private area to try on their special performance pants, the percussion drilling and re-drilling the street beat, Kimmy F. skipping around in pink Barbie boxers playing 'We are the World' on a badly tuned flute, Luke trying the angle of his black cowboy marching hat, Koil bemoaning the loss of his….well yah. It was chaos. The robots were swarming around talking to each other in numbers and making it very hard to get through. Abbe glared at them, and put her hand at her hip threateningly. The robots, who knew how dangerous she could be with that gun, parted for her immediately, muttering rapidly in their strange language. Abbe sneered at them as she passed. Arundel giggled at Kimmy F. and started skipping with him. Abbe was also struck with light heartedness and joined in. After several seconds she forgot her mission to visit her dying sister and was instead swaying from side to side with her arms in the air.
"Frolic!" She cried happily trying and failing to do a cartwheel. It may have continued this way for quite some time, until Arundel's insistent scream of 'BREAD AND HONEY! NOW!' kind of broke the mood. She grabbed his hand again and dragged him down the corridor while he laughed.
Of course Allysson had been quite right in saying that there was no point in trying to visit Nicole. Her eyes, though wide open, never blinked. She did not move, and she barely breathed. Abbe looked back on her childhood with Nicole, and found that she felt almost no different now that her sister's life was in peril. She was the one who had gotten rid of the bass drum after all. She sighed, Loyalty to family tugging fiercely against many childhood hurts.
Abbe returned to the bedroom with mixed emotions. Arundel had ditched her to go raid the kitchen of all bread and honey. The scene was peaceful, all the friends for the time being, content to be only with each other. Abbe sat on the floor and took another piece of gum.
The door, which Abbe had left slightly ajar, creaked open and Aiden peered around it.
"Yah, um, sorry to disturb you Allysson, but you and I need to have a chat that has been long delayed."
"A clarinet?" Allysson asked holding the instrument like it was a spun glass ornament that had no place in her life. "I don't get it. Why are you giving this to me?"
"I'll tell you after you play Mary Had a Little Lamb," Aiden replied impatiently.
"But I haven't played clarinet in six years!" Allysson protested.
"PLAY IT!" was the curt response. That was a difficult statement to argue with, so Allysson played it. A slow, choppy rendition of the classic song, riddled with air and squeaks. But it was the song.
"Okay, there. I played it. Now can you tell me-"
"Okay, here's the thing. You are not allowed to know what I'm going to tell you. It involves things that are never to be tampered with or disclosed on any condition, but I feel strongly that you will not do what is asked of you unless I give you the reason. One of your friends. You know which. She has other things on her mind right now, and who can blame her? But in order to prevail, she needs to stay focused. That's not going to happen. So, When she goes down, You will have to take her place." Allysson managed not to choke.
"What are you saying?! Is Cassie going to die?" Aiden laughed grimly.
"This I do not know. I doubt it, since she won't be fighting, but let me tell you what will happen. But remember, you are not to even hint that you know this stuff! Do you understand?"
"I'm a teacher's daughter for God's sake! I have to do that all the time! Now tell me."
The following day was very subdued. Nobody asked why Allysson had suddenly taken up the clarinet or where Cassie went when she wasn't playing. Nobody yelled at Ashley and Jaz for chewing gum while playing. It was strange, eerie, and wrong. Things livened up a bit that evening. Around half past seven Cassie came through the door dragging Saber by the hand while Kyler followed with Arundel. Abbe and Ashley grinned evilly at Cassie determined to get their revenge. What Cassie had done to earn their wrath, they didn't know and didn't care. They pulled out two decks of cards from their bags and shuffled them threateningly. Cassie glared, and took out one of her own. War could be heard clearly through Cassie's headphones. And during the next hour, the dirtiest and most intense game of Go Fish in all history took place. As soon as the three men from the past learned the relatively simple rules, they turned out to be quite…ruthless. Kyler in particular proved to be very adept. They eventually gambled their gum on the outcome, and Kyler more or less got all of it. He only gave some back to Ashley out of pure mercy and kindness. After she had gotten on her knees almost sobbing and begging for it back.
"Any aces?" Ashley asked Kyler, nervously eyeing the huge pile of gum at the centre of the table.
"Go Fish." Kyler said. The rest of the group, who had lost long ago watched the game contentedly, Cassie resting on Saber's knee. Ashley took in a deep breath and offered up a prayer. On of the two remaining cards on that table was an ace. The other was not. She reached out. Grabbed a card. Looked. Ah sheeit. Kyler must have sensed defeat. His grin widened to devilish proportions.
"Any fives?" Ashley flung her brand new card at him in contempt. Kyler accepted it with impeccable poise and placed the two cards neatly with his large pile of other matches. Many more matches than Ashley had. Kyler sighed and leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head. Ashley had an insane urge to smack that expression right off his face. Or kiss it off. Either way. The more immediate problem was the fact that her gum was about to belong to somebody else….time for drastic action.
"PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY GUM!" She cried. She blinked as hard as she could, and tears welled in her eyes. She got to her knees and clung to Kyler's ankles. "IT'S ALL I'VE GOT! ME AND MY GUM! AND I'VE BEEN WITHOUT IT SO LONG! GIVE MY GUM BACK! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!" and she collapsed on the floor sobbing wretchedly.
As wise as Kyler presumed himself to be, he was a bit gullible, and at the moment, he was rather alarmed.
"Okay My Lady, if your heart so greatly desires it, I will give you some of your precious gum back. But for a price"………
"A kiss?" Ashley asked turning scarlet and looking nervously at Jaz who had his mouth open. Whether it was horror or fury could not be told, and Jaz couldn't clarify because he was too busy turning from red to green and back again. All the others leaned forward in anticipation of the scene that was bound to follow. Well, Cassie and Saber were a bit delayed. They were having fun throwing cards at each other. Only after they realized that the room had gone completely silent did they finally shut up.
"Yes. That's all just a kiss," Kyler said quietly.
"On the lips?" The scene was momentarily switched to Jaz who had gotten out of his chair so fast that it toppled noisily to the floor. He stood silent, but if looks could kill…well, Kyler would be little more than a pile of smouldering cinders.
"Not necessarily," Kyler answered. "But a kiss nonetheless." Ashley glanced at Jaz again 'Yes! He's jealous!' she thought, power filling her mind. 'Well, if it'll get him to finally make a move then I guess….'
"Fine. I'll do it. How much gum will I get back?"
"Ashley!" Jaz cried in a desperate, strangled voice.
"What? Sometimes it's nice to know that somebody in this world thinks I'm good enough to be kissed." Who could argue with that?
Jaz wanted to argue. He wanted to shove Kyler out of the way, or at least demand a fight to the death for Ashley's honour and favour. But that couldn't be done, and he was frozen in place anyways. All he could do was stand and watch in abject misery while Kyler pulled Ashley to him.
"STOP!" Such a noise would have halted a rampaging llama, and it certainly did the trick with Kyler. Everyone turned, and there stood Aiden. Her eyes were blazing in panic, and her knuckles were white. As always, she was dressed for the time. Her hair in a messy bun, she wore snugly fitting jeans and a large, grey, hooded sweatshirt. The moment she noticed that they all had indeed stopped, her panic visually subsided. "Time for bed," she said breathing heavily, failing miserably to appear calm. "Big day tomorrow. Go to sleep now." She went away then, and an uneasy silence pressed in around the group. Then a collective sigh passed around the room. They said their goodnights, some more intimate than others, and went away to their respective sleeping places. Kyler and Jaz left together, and each looked more than willing to kill the other.
In a room in the back of the castle, the percussion huddled. No sleep was in store for them that night. Koil was still reeling from Jesse's betrayal. Luke was fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. Miguel and Marco were practicing double paradiddles on the rug. In tense silence, they watched the sun rise.
The rest of the band members who had sided with Aiden slept relatively well. They didn't have to fight after all. Just play marching songs at the back of the army lines. Aiden had perfected them in this art. Without the harsh discipline of Mrs. Conrad, the band had flourished, and they were now the best that they could possibly be.
The rest weren't so sure. They had after all, been in battle before. And even though most of them wouldn't be fighting, they knew that the fate of their happy ending rested in and around this day. And the dawn was breaking. The day that would hold their final destinies ; )
There was no need for a wake up call that morning. If even anybody slept, they woke up by instinct alone.
The atmosphere in the extraordinarily crowded Great Hall was quiet, tense, and moody as all who were fighting milled around, waiting for Aiden to give them their orders. Cassie was fastening the instrument sheath around her waist with shaking fingers. Saber came up to her.
"Remember what we talked about the morning of the first battle," he said quietly, reaching down to help her.
"Yes. I remember." His voice calmed her, and she found herself able to breathe again.
"And you need have no fear of dying this time. You are only playing. As are your friends. If you fear for anybody, fear for me."
How she wanted to tell him that it was him she feared for! But if she did, she might cause him shame. He had never gotten so much as a scrape in battle before.
So all she could do was hug him soundly. Clinging to his shoulders, her feet dangled in the air. She would always remember how he felt just then. Even when Aiden told them to go to their stations, they stayed rooted there, Cassie hoping that somehow through their current contact, her feelings would flow into him, and he would somehow know just how much she loved him, and how she feared for his survival and that of the rest of the world. Their timeless moment was broken by Aiden.
"It's time," she said in sympathy. "Cassie, you need to go to the hill with your friends. Saber, to the front lines." Saber nodded, and gently disengaged Cassie's arms from around his shoulders. Just like before, he kissed her forehead, and with one last backward glance, he strode from the room. After a moment in which Cassie struggled to maintain some kind of composure, she followed.
"Hey, what kept you?" Ashley asked when Cassie caught up to her. She didn't really need the answer, which was good because Cassie didn't give it. She merely took out her clarinet and played a scale. After she hit the last note, She, Abbe, and Ashley began tuning. A painful process even for just three people. Allysson was reclining in a lawn chair nearby, waiting until she was needed, and Jaz was with the rest of the band. Nicole, now chalk white and tinged with blue was on a stretcher next to Abbe. A red flag had been duct taped to her open palm.
No longer so far away, Darnoc's army approached. Her drums sounded, her trumpets whined, and her overwhelming number of life sized batons glinted dangerously in the blood red dawn.
"Now I've seen everything," Ashley said. It had been previously agreed upon that they were not to begin playing until the major crescendo in the song Darnoc's band was playing, which was 1812 Overture. The shing of Saber's sword could be heard, and then Darnoc's Bass drum began to play. It had truly begun.
It was worse than any of them could have imagined, watching the battle. Before, when they had been fighting, the interminable fog over their minds had kept them from truly seeing much. Now they saw brass players and band moms that they had trusted since seventh grade being slain without mercy. Ping-Pong met his demise at the hands of Darnoc itself, and Jesse Sevens was felled by a ball of light from one of the robots. Koil stopped playing and ran out to him, but he was stopped when a ball of light from the same robot went right through his groin. He lay there for awhile in acute pain, but he knew in his heart of hearts that he would live.
The big crescendo came. All breathed deeply, and began to play the song they had learned by heart.
Lord Darnoc gasped in pain as the first notes penetrated her soul. She ordered her band to play louder. The bass drum pounded, and she felt strength seep back into her again. But wait…no…she felt her energy wane again as Cassie echoed Ashley perfectly, clearly. Despite her worry, Cassie almost smiled. They were gaining!
Over and over again, each side played their song. For ages, neither gained a clear advantage over the other. The swords clashed, the guns fired, and those on both sides fell to untimely deaths, but time was now becoming crucial. Nicole, who had before been a delicate beige, was turning a mottled purple.
"She's Dying!" Jaimie cried. "Play louder!" and louder they played. Darnoc screamed in rage. Somewhat like a wounded elephant, and began to run towards them, her baton raised, malice burning in her eyes. 'Oh, this will not be good.' Abbe thought, slipping up a bit by playing a C sharp instead of a regular C.
From down in the field, Aiden saw Darnoc begin her deadly advance on the girls. Her heart stopped for a moment. Then tears pricked her eyes. So this was it. Well, there was nothing for it. Screaming like a banshee, she ran after Darnoc, her insignificant weight letting her gain. And then, not letting herself think about what she was doing, she took a dagger from her pocket and threw it with all her might at Darnoc's back. Both of them screamed as Darnoc's pain became Aiden's. She caught Abbe's eye, and the look on her face was something Abbe would remember for the rest of her life. The sheer agony as her spirit was pulled irritably into Darnoc's body was something that would forever haunt her dreams. And then the pain exploded inside Abbe's chest. Aiden had been her friend! Her teacher! She deserved more than this. Even while she played, her mind scanned around for something to do, and then she saw it.
Tank, having seen Darnoc go down, rushed to help. Abbe saw him going towards the fallen band director, and thought that Aiden, wherever she was, deserved more than to die in Tank's arms.
"OH HELL NO!" She yelled drawing her gun. "FOR AIDEN! GNOP GNIP!" Those were the last words Knat Hale ever heard.
Whether or not the wound Aiden had delivered to her counterpart was fatal no longer mattered. The bond that had connected dark lord and sidekick was broken by death, and that, more than anything else destroyed the Lord Darnoc Mrs. Conrad.
In shock, and rage, the Band Mothers took flight, never to be seen again. Cassie caught sight of Saber, and stopped playing to smile at him. Seeing her out of the corner of his eye, he stopped too, to return the gesture. His shoulders relaxed for a second, and he lowered his sword, only to feel the sting of one right between his shoulder blades.
The force of Cassie's scream brought her to her knees, but she quickly regained her footing to fly down to where Saber fell. Allysson closed her eyes and turned her head away, a tear of her own making its way down her cheek.
Once Cassie knelt beside Saber, the rest of the world faded into slight transparency, and she knew without really thinking about it that she was back in the past again. Her eyes blurred with tears, and his face, so precious to her swam before her sight.
"Don't cry sweet Cascada," He murmured as wave upon wave of excruciation swept over him. It was the end, he knew, and a great cloak of sadness covered him. "I would remember you face as smiling, and it will be some time before I behold it again."
"Don't say that!" Cassie said thickly. "You'll live! You'll heal, and be well and watch little Arundel grow up. You'll…"
"Shhhh," Saber whispered pressing a finger to her lips. "This was supposed to happen. It was meant that you should go back to your home, for I would have made you my bride. And now I have dishonoured you."
"No!" Cassie gasped, her heart being squeezed in a death grip.
"But we won the war sweet Cascada, and so my conscience will be eased. I leave you now, my love. I wait now for the day when the mists of time part and I hold you in my arms again." His last breath ended in a sigh.
"Nononononononononono!" Cassie uttered the words over and over in quick succession, praying that it was not so. It was just a joke! She would kill him for this! Kill….dead…Saber. Never again. Her keening cry pierced time itself, before she fell upon him, her tears of anguish mixing with the blood of his sacrifice and burning the ground with its potency. Her lips met his, still warm. "No. Let it not be so! Please!" Her sobs wracked her body until she couldn't breathe and all was darkness.