Mistoffelees was confused as he opened his eyes. He had never felt so light in his life. He was so free, lighter than air! Somehow, something had lifted off of him, though he had no idea what. But it was odd: there had to be something wrong with this. He sat up, rubbed his head with his paw groggily, and tried to get his bearings.

White. As far as the eye could see, everything was pure white. It never ended. He was floating in a seemingly endless expanse of pure white fluffiness. No, I take that back. There was one black spot, but it was rather far away. As Misto strained to see it, he found that it was coming closer. He tried to call on his power and fly toward the thing, but it was unresponsive. Well, he'd just have to wait then. As the thing came closer, Misto found that it was, in fact, a cat. An entirely black queen was floating toward him. When it finally arrived where he was and said nothing, Mistoffelees ventured, "Who...who are you?"

The queen smiled. "My name is Ebenitat." This didn't exactly explain anything, so Mistoffelees still scowled. Seeing his confusion and disbelief, she went on, "You can call me Ebony, or, if you prefer," --she smirked-- "Mom."

The scowl was instantly wiped from Misto's face. He now wore an expression of surprise, confusion, and a little horror. "You're..." he stuttered, "You're my mother?" She nodded, still smirking. "But...but...I thought you were dead!"

"I am"

Misto blinked. If she was dead, and he was talking to her, and he was in a really white place, that would mean he....

"No, you're not dead, kitten," she quickly reassured him.

"I'm not?"

"No."

He sighed and untensed his muscles. "That's a relief. But if you're dead, and I'm not, and I'm talking to you, then where am I?"

Ebony still smiled. She was having fun, revealing all these secrets to Misto (rather like Misto would have if their positions were reversed). "You're in the Heavyside Layer, kitten."

"But I'm not dead?"

"No. You came very close, though." Here, she stopped smiling and sat down. She was still floating, though, so it was more like she simply rearranged her position. "You see, kitten," she said as she put her paws under her chin. "Your Power was taking over. You were about to let it control you and make the biggest mistake of your life. You came very close to losing yourself in it. I kind of had to...eh...intervene." She looked around, nervously. "But never tell anyone I told you that! I'm not really supposed to do this..."

"Why not?"

"Well, let's just say, if the Everlasting Cat knew, He'd have a fit."

"Ah." Misto uttered. He was starting to feel pretty awkward, what with meeting his deceased mother and being a renegade in the Heavyside Layer. "I guess I'd better go now, then. Nice meeting you!" he said with false cheer, and immediately tried to teleport far away from wherever he was. However, try as he might, he couldn't make himself disappear. He tried to fly down from there, but that power wouldn't help either. Misto was quite effectively stuck. Grimacing, he met the smirking gaze of his mother. "Um, can I go now?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. I didn't bring you all this way and break a bunch of rules for nothing!" she cried. "And don't bother trying to use your power. It doesn't work here. Actually, it doesn't even exist here. Have you noticed feeling lighter?" He nodded: it had been his first realization upon waking up. Ebony went on: "That's because you don't have power here. Power simply doesn't exist here. It cannot coexist with the Perfection of the Heavyside Layer. Doesn't it feel better though?"

Misto looked away. It did feel different, and maybe it was a little better. Still, he felt like there was something distinctly missing...

Ebony's smile evaporated, and she took on a very solemn look. "Kitten, magic, by it's nature, is inherently evil."

He looked sharply at her in disbelief. "Are you saying I'm evil?" he demanded.

She shook her head earnestly. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying." Looking him straight in the eye, she said, "But you did come very close –"

"No!"

"Yes!" She took a hold of his chin and looked into his eyes. "Mistoffelees! You almost let Power take over, and you almost killed the only cats alive who truly care about you!"

Misto shook her off and stood back, eyeing her, dreading what she might say next. "No..." he started. "I...I didn't....it wasn't like...."

Glaring at him, she said, "Mistoffelees, do you need to see what happened?" He didn't respond, so she said, "I'll take that as a 'yes'," and waved her arm in front of her. Before his eyes, and image appeared in the air of the scene that had taken place only moments ago. He glared at it incredulously, for he couldn't believe that he had done what he now saw himself doing! In it, there he was, menacing Alonzo, his best friend, and literally trying to kill him for doing something over which he really didn't have any control! Munkustrap tried to fend him off, but he would have none of it. He even allowed himself to be turned against his own father. Now, looking at it with eyes unburdened by the evil of Power, Mistoffelees was horrified that he had done what he had!

"Did I do that?" he asked softly. Ebony nodded. "Oh......"

"Yeah." she agreed. "Pretty bad. I know. If I hadn't gotten you out of there, you might have turned out as evil as Macavity..."

Mistoffelees started at that remark. Like Macavity? Macavity wasn't evil. Well, not to Mistoffelees, anyway. He had never been anything but a second father to poor Misto! But here was his mother, telling him that Macavity was evil! "Wait," he interrupted. "Did you say that Macavity's evil?"

"Yes, why?" she looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"He's not evil!"

"He's not?"

"No!"

She looked at him incredulously. "He's not evil, you say?" Misto nodded with conviction. "Well," she went on, "If he's not evil, how do you explain what he did to me?"

"What did he do to you?"

"He killed me!" Mistoffelees simply stared at her, mouth agape. Ebony's face took on an expression of sorrow. "He did! You were there, in fact! It was right after you were born! I never really got the chance to get to know you..." she put her paw on Misto's face in a gesture of motherly compassion, but he frowned. "Fine, I'll show you." She waved her arm over the picture in front of them, and it changed to reveal the scene that took place after Mistoffelees birth in the Jellicle Infirmary. Mistoffelees couldn't take his eyes off it! Macavity, the cat he'd come to know as family, had tried to kill his family out of spite?! When it was over, he still stared at the still image, unable to say anything. Ebony softly muttered, "Wait, it gets worse. This one happened three years before, when we were all kittens, and Macavity still lived in the junkyard." The image before them shifted to show the story of how Macavity lost control of his Power. Mistoffelees still stared.

"It was so sad," Ebony said when it was finished. "He was less than a year old when he lost control." Misto looked at her, and she turned to him. "You're lucky you made it to three years."

Finally Mistoffelees believed it. He believed every word of it: what his mother had told him, what Power had done to Macavity, and what would happen to him if he didn't shape up. "Why didn't it take over me sooner?" he asked softly.

Tears started to form in Ebony's eyes as she muttered, "You were luckier than he was. You had friends who loved you."

"Alonzo?"

"Yes. And Victoria, and Tumblebrutus, and Pouncival..." She wiped away a tear. "If only Macavity had been so lucky, none of this probably would have happened..."

Determination formed in Mistoffelees face, and he declared, "I don't want that to happen to me ... Mom." (It was the first time he had ever addressed anyone as such.)

"I know, kitten," she said as she wiped away a tear. "I know." Ebony rearranged her postion so she appeared to be standing. "Kitten, you've got a long way ahead of you," she said. "It's not going to be easy. Remember how good it feels now to be free of magic: you'll never get rid of it again as long as you're alive."

Mistoffelees frowned. "But how can I not let it take over?!" he asked in desparation. "It...it feels so good!" He was on the verge of tears.

"I know. You're just going to have to not let it take control of your life. But don't cry: you can do it. You have help."

"I do?"

"Yes. Munkustrap, Alonzo, Victoria, they all love you! They'll help you stay in control."

"They will?"

"Yes."

He sniffed, and murmered, "I guess this means I can never use magic again, huh?" He gave a fake chuckle.

Ebony gave a real chuckle and smiled. "Now I wouldn't go that far..." Mistoffelees' face perked up immediately, and Ebony finished, "But please, listen to Munkustrap! He knew what he was doing when he tried to limit your magic. Please do as he says, and use it sparingly!"

"I will," Misto vowed (and he meant it this time, too!). But suddenly, saddness came over him, and he looked down and muttered, "I guess this is goodbye..."

Ebony swiftly gathered him up in a tight embrace. He hugged her back: she felt more real than she ever could if she were alive. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she stood back, and said, "It's time for you to go now, kitten."

"Goodbye," Misto uttered, and tapped his power, trying to go home. Then he remembered exactly why he couldn't do that, and asked, "Um, how do I leave?"

Ebenitat smirked, trying to hold back giggles, and said, "Don't worry, I'll send you home. Just close your eyes." Misto did so, and Ebony put her paw on his shoulder. Immediately his mind started to get fuzzy, and he knew he was blacking out. "Tell Munkustrap I love him!" was the last thing he heard from his mother.

"I will," he whispered, and with that, he was wisked away from the Heavyside Layer.

A/N: ::sigh:: another chapter done. I swear, I'm going to finish this before Christmas break is done. Another block of review responses: No, you guys don't need to write me poems. I'm not that egomaniacal... I might mention I now officially love thesauruses . I'm going to be sad when it's over, too! My genius is showing! Ooh! And, don't you just love Alonzo in this story! ::note to self: do something centered around Alonzo...:::