Spirited Away on Halloween 2: Hirac's Return
Well, we're getting on. This chapter will make this fic, complete or not, my longest to date. I'm glad, because I'm trying to mix in some elements of symbolism and metaphor in here, along with some character foils and parallels. I'll give you this one, because I doubt most readers could pick this up (hey, if I wasn't writing this thing, I couldn't pick this up).
Parallels: Jack and Pyramus. Both in a similar situation, waking after a long "sleep" only to suddenly find themselves alone in a strange place they thought they knew. Both have lost the stabilizing force in their lives (Sally and Thisby) and much of what they should be fighting for (HalloweenTown and the gargoyle "children"). Both Jack and Pyramus are trying to be stoic, strong, and independent in this time of crisis when, in reality, they're both on the verge of falling to pieces on the inside. Thought by eachother to be strange and incapable of working with, each respects eachother's power over the other and have formed and unintentionally dependent truce in which neither of them can escape from until their singular goal is met.
And there you go. That's "Cliff Notes" level stuff there. You can do this too if you pay attention in English class.
Jack landed heavily on his back, Pyramus bouncing off of his sternum before he could fully collect his thoughts. "Ow..."
"Jack, look out!"
The Pumpkin King opened his eyes just in time to see a set of teeth lunging for his throat. Faster than he could think, he snapped his legs up and kicked the attacking gargoyle out of the way, flipping himself onto his feet in the process. Pyramus stood beside Jack as he began to stand, his body tense and ready for action.
"What was that?" Jack asked.
Pyramus took a second to respond. "My son, Glaucus."
Jack, ignoring the statement because he didn't know Pyramus' son that well, took a second to look around. A simple hallway, about 20 feet wide, with hardwood floors and Victorian wallpaper. Red doors were evenly spaced on the wall on his left side, the opposite wall being pure stone and a few stain glass windows. Down the center of the hallway ran a carpet, which was the only thing that was keeping Jack on his feet right now (he guessed that if he tried to walk on the hardwood as a gargoyle, he would slip). Overall, a fairly normal hallway; in fact, Jack noted that this was one of the few places that Jack had felt safe in a long time.
Pyramus shared that safe feeling, aparrently, for he strode to his son's side and began to pick up the small gargoyle. Barely larger than a housecat, Glaucus's once pot-belly had been reduced to an emaciated shadow of a stomach, his ribs protuding from his "skin" with an alarming amount of clarity. His wings were small and shriveled; his face, which had always been a little skeletal (Glaucus had taken a lot from Thisby's side of the family) was now indestinguishable from his skull, his tiny fangs melding into his jaw without a hint of a lip anywhere. His hands were now whethered claws, his feet hawk-like talons.
Pyramus held out of Glaucus' small hands in his own, resting the small monster in his lap. "What have they done to my son...?"
"Are you sure he's-" Jack paused halfway through, thinking he might say something offensive again. "How do you know-"
"He smells the same." Pyramus held the gargoyle close and stroked his skin. "His body is segmented, but he has the same dimpled skin. He got that from his mother."
Pyramus put the small gargoyle on his shoulder and stood erect, stretching his back. "Besides, he responded to my bellow. He's my son."
"Bellow. Uh huh." Jack gave Glaucus a sympathy stroke on the head. "Well, we need to think of a plan now that we're inside."
Pyramus nodded, running a long finger down his son's spine. With a snort, Glaucus awoke, his eyes fluttering open with a shake of his head. With a jump, Pyramus held the little one in his arms, Jack smiling despite himself. "Glaucus! My son, you're all right!"
GLAUCUS LET OUT THE LOUDEST SHRIEK IMAGINABLE!
Pyramus immediately dropped his son and covered his ears! Jack growled in agony as his entire skull reverberated, just barely noticing a wave of black mass tearing down the hallways on either side. After a failed attempt to catch Pyramus' attention, Jack jumped to the ceiling and ran down the hallway, upside down, leaving Pyramus behind. He didn't look where he was going, just kept tearing away at the ceiling, running in a straight line until the hallway opened up into a foyer and Jack tripped back onto the ground. He landed on his shoulder, hissing his pain out until a small, screeching demon appeared on his back.
With a twitch of his wings, it had been thrown across the empty room. The black gargoyle shook its head and charged at Jack again, knocking him to the opposite wall with the strength of an 18-wheeler. Jack roared and snapped his tail at the tiny one's head, slashing his face and pounding him into the floor without a second's thought. "I WISH HE WAS GONE!"
With that last word, the small gargoyle vanished, leaving Jack alone.
The Pumpkin King stood shocked for a second, his "eyes" frozen on the empty space between his hand and the floor. He had no idea where those words came from... in fact, the past few moments seemed like a total blur in his mind... nothing... he could remember nothing... and he felt nothing...
Jack fell asleep. As he slept, his body receeded back into his normal, skeletal shape, causing the elf in his chest to get cramped and crawl out from his stomach cavity.
The elf's name was Winky-doo. It wasn't an uncommon name for an elf, almost as popular as "John". Winky-doo considered himself pretty average; sure, he had stolen his share of cookies and bad-mouthed "The Boss" as much as any other elf had, but why did he deserve this special punishment, he wondered. All of his brothers and sisters and mother and father and cousins and aunts and one uncle and "The Boss" and "The Boss' Wife" and the reindeer... but not the snowmen. The snowmen had been spared from the jaws of the fire-breathing wooden man. Why him? Why the snowmen? Why, period? He wondered whether or not he should have been dehydrated and wearing an albatross around his neck. He wondered why that weird thing he saw in his nightmares every now and then decided to pick him up and carry him around until he passed out. He wondered if he shouldn't have hidden in the carousel, and instead should have just let himself be eaten like everyone else did.
Winky-doo wondered this, all the while sitting on the sleeping skeleton's back. He looked at the skeleton man... he did probably save his life, after all... and, it was the weirdest thing: whenver Winky-doo had a nightmare, this thing would apologize to him at the end. Should he say it?
Nah-
Wait.
No.
No?
Nooonnnnnonnnnnnyyyyes.
Wait.
Yeah.
"Thanks, mister."
Winky-doo shrunk back, embarrassed. The skeleton man kept sleeping. Sure that he wasn't being heard, Winky-Doo felt a bit bolder. He lifted his head again. "You... helped me, you know..." He felt like he was going down a very cliche'd path, and he hated cliche's. (Note: somebody whos knows how to do accent marks on the keyboard, please tell me.) "I usually... don't... talk... at all. You... (sigh)... thanks..."
Still asleep.
Winky-doo thought. The skeleton man wished for something to be gone, and then it happened... he guessed. He leaned close to the skeleton man's head. "I wish you were a-hundred percent better."
Jack's head bolted up. "What the-" He turned around, fully focused (but not quite aware), and stared at his bottom. "Where's my tail?"
"Hey!" Winky-doo clapped his appreciation. "You're... um... awake!"
Jack rose to his feet, placing one hand on his head and rubbing it solemnly. His face was totally blank, his eyes open a bit wider than usual. "I could have sworn I was dreaming, and then I woke up-"
"I wished you up!" said Winky-doo, a strange sense of confidence welling up in his chest. "I wished you up, and it worked, and you're awake!"
Jack still wasn't quite "awake" yet, merely conscious. He still stood there, eyes on the ground, hand rubbing his head, and his heart beating... he then remembered he didn't have a heart. Patting the spot where his heart should have been, his fingers ran over a small ring box in his coat pocket-
And it came to him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box, an eyeball, a- Aaah, GEEZ louise, I know it's funny, but I'm tired of writing it! He pulled out the ringbox and a buttload of other crap, how's that?
(Jack: (insulted) CHARON!
Charon: Fine, fine, I'm sorry... I go a little nuts if my stories get too long/too serious.)
"It grants wishes," Jack recited, placing everything that wasn't the jelly ball on the floor (including the ring box that held it). "It's magic, and it's grants whatever wish it hears..."
"It does?" said Winky-doo. "I wish you knew my name!"
A thought popped into Jack's head: The elf's name was Winky-doo.
"You're name is 'Winky-doo'?"
"IT WORKS!" Winky-doo screamed, throwing his arms in the air. "YEAH!"
:"Oh my Lord..." Jack rested his fingers on the jelly ball. He now understood; the huge "explosions" whenever it was touched, the unexpected wish-granting, the jelly ball was some kind of magical artifact! For a reader, this may seem obvious, but for Jack, it was a huge revelation. He clasped the ball in his hands and laughed his most triumphant cackle to date, nearly scaring Winky-doo back into shock. The first words out of his mouth were "I wish I knew where Sally was!"
Immediately he knew. Snatching Winky-doo up in his hands and stuffing him into his torso again ("Hey!" went Winky-Doo), Jack slithered onto the ceiling and wiggled through the obligatory air vent.
&&&
It was a terribly cramped fit in the air vents, with just enough room for Jack to push his way through with his feet. Oddly enough, the air vents were well lit, although there were hardly any openings for air or light often for what seemed like miles. Jack kept marching through the vents, pausing twice because he got stuck on a nail, but he soon made it to one particularly dark opening into a large, luxurious room...
Jack, still wedged into a tight board-o'-bone in the small vents, fingered the bars of the vent methodically. This was Sally's room... that much, he knew. He did not know why there were no lights on in the enormous space, nor why he couldn't hear anything, not even the slightest ruffle of Sally's stuffing...
His renewed confidence began to fade. He touched a hand to his collarbone in a failed attempt to touch the jelly ball. "I wish I knew where Sally was."
Sally was on her way!
A set of doors flew open, blinding Jack in a burst of light. There was a scream, and the doors slammed shut again, leaving once again a dark room but also a sign of life.
"Ow..."
Jack slammed his hand against the grating. "Sally?"
"What? Who said that?"
Suddenly, everything was pitch-black, even the air vent. Jack gasped in shock, but stayed calm. "Sally, it's me! Jack!" He paused for a response; Sally was shaking, he could tell, but she wasn't talking. She had to recognize him... but, she couldn't see him. But she could hear him!
"My dearest friend," he began to coo, "If you don't mind..."
He twitched as Sally gasped, but continued to sing. "I'd like to join you by your side, where we can gaze into the stars..."
"And sit together..." Sally began, Jack holding his breath. That voice of hers, it was enough to give him chills! "Now and forever, for it is plain-"
They began to sing as one. "As anyone can see: We're simply meant to be."
(Charon: Oh, god, ROMANCE!
Jack: (agitated) Charon, I have been waiting for this scene for the past 5 chapters! You are not going to stick in your little cynical comments and mess it up!
Charon: (sigh) Yes sir...)
Sally reached into the air duct and touched his hand. Jack finally breathed again, pulling Sally's body towards him. A metal gate seperating them still, of course, Jack and Sally could barely stand simply to hold eachother's hands and not touch eachother further. Sally got her face as close to Jack as he could, and he lovingly kissed her nose from lack of anything else to kiss.
"I was so sure you were dead..." Sally admitted. "Or worse..."
"Nothing's worse than being separated from you..." Jack whispered, his eyes brimming with tears.
He went to pull her hand again, but he noticed something. As he pulled on her, her arm would move... but she wouldn't. He ran a finger down one of her stitches and felt, of all things, a leaf! "Sally, your stitches are loose!"
"I know..." Sally gulped and began to speak again, her voice quivering. "Jack, you've got to do something. Hirac's made all of the mo- the cit- our friends into slaves!"
Jack felt the urgency of her word in his chest. He could feel something was up just from the way Sally was talking, and tried to lean in closer. "Who's Hirac?"
"The thing that killed the gargoyles," Sally explained. "Well, he didn't really kill them, but he shattered them and put them back together, made them evil. He's some kind of magic-using beast; he's got half the town under some kind of brain-washing spell."
"Which half?" inquired The Pumpkin King.
"The strong half," she cried in terror. "Everyone strong enough to put up a fight, like the werewolf and the clown, are the ones under a spell. Everyone else is too scared to do anything."
Jack growled under his breath, grasping Sally's hand tighter (and nearly pulling it off in the process). "And that Hirac thing, where do I find him?"
"I'm not sure," Sally whispered. "I've been to a big throne room, though, that's probably where you'll find him if he's anywhere. He's rooted into the ground, he said it was to keep his strength up. He shouldn't be going anywhere." Sally lowered her voice to where it was barely audible. "Jack, he treats me like a toy! He picks me up and tosses me around the room, talks to me like you'd talk to a baby, and the way he looks at me... egh!"
Both Jack and Sally shared a disgusted shudder, neither one knowing what to say.
"Is that why your stitching is loose?"
"Sort of. That's what scares me. He said I was too soft, and that he was going to make me stronger..."
There was a distant slam from the other side of Sally's door. The ragdoll gasped in shock and teased her hand away. "Jack, you've got to rally the townspeople! You can't stop Hirac on your own. Find Pyramus if you can and keep Hirac at bay."
"Pyramus?" Jack startled as the memory of his friend snapped back into his head. "How did you know?"
Sally sounded a bit perturbed as she spoke. "Jack, my ear has been in your pocket this whole time. Don't act like I don't know."
Speaking of which, Jack felt Sally coyly reached into Jack's jacket and pulled her ear back out, tucking it into her collar. He lay dumbfounded, not sure of whether to apologize or just keep quite. He twitched lightly as something brushed past his cheek; it was Sally's hand, caressing his cheekbone. "Jack, stop worrying about me. I know this place better than you do, and I can take care of myself. It's you I'm worried about..."
What did she mean by that?"Sally..."
There was another slam, this time closer! A light began to seep out from under Sally's door. The ragdoll pushed Jack's shoulder. "Hurry, get out of here before they see you!"
"But-"
"Run!"
Jack, confused, bolted through the vent without a second thought. Spying a bit of light up ahead, he took what he thought was going to be one big leap to freedom-
And got his chest wedged in the vent, this time firmly STUCK in the tunnel.
Stuck!
"No... No, no! Come on!" Jack kicked his feet and clawed at the tunnel in front of him. No matter how hard he pulled, he wouldn't move. An old bout of claustrophobia began to engulf him as the tunnel became darker once more.
Trapped!
Screaming came from Sally's room. Jack tried to turn his head around to here, but found he was frozen in place while the sounds of a struggle came from behind him.
Sally!
With the crash of a glass vase and a sudden silence, Jack could stand no more! His people reduced to slaves, his comrade-in-arms captured by his own offspring, the love of his life being tortured, his kingdom being reduced to nothing, all by some ornament that used to hang outside of the town gate! How could this have happened! He was a monster! He ruled a city of MONSTERS, beasts that terrified the very souls out of people's bodys with a mere howl or snarl, why didn't they fight back?
His hands clenched, his teeth nashed, his breathing shallowed, and his mind raced with every single horrible thing that had happened to him, to Pyramus, to Sally...
Sally's words wafted through his mind. It's you I'm worried about...
The metal vent burst open! Jack flew out of the hole, fully gargoyle and fully enraged! He tore through a maze of metal tunnels and girders, slashing through wood and breaking through stone as he climbed higher and higher. In his rage, he dug his claws into the walls and shrieked a cacophonous ROAR that shook the very stone he was standing on and a few other things as well...
&&&
Lock trudged through the hallway, his mind blank. His turn to clean the toilets, he reminded himself, or else Hirac would toss him in the furnace again-
REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
The devil boy was thrown to the ground, his toilet brush landing on his gut and staining his gray uniform. "Ow! Hey!"
Lock immediately jumped to his feet, his fangs bared and tail held high. "Who did that? Show yourself!" He picked up the brush, brandishing it like a sword. "I dare you! Fight like a man!"
Seeing that no one was nearby, Lock began to smile. He felt... renewed. He hadn't felt like this since last Christmas! An energy began to run through his stomach and into his throat, and the devil boy began to laugh.
&&&
REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
The Mayor dropped his load of laundry, his happy face spinning to the forefront for the first time in a LONG time. His eyes began to narrow menacingly, a sinister chuckle forming in his throat.
&&&
REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
Sadir the werewolf smacked the washbucket out of the impudent gargoyle's hands. "Werewolfes don't sew, you numskull!"
The frightened gargoyle turned to run, only to run into Mario the Harlequin Demon's belly. He soon found himself swamped by the werewolf, tearaway clown, harlequin, and bass player, all of whom were beginning to laugh demonically. Poppy the witch flew in overhead, holding a boiling kettle of water on her broomstick.
"Eat this, pansy slave!" She roared with laughter as the gargoyle saw the boiling water shoot towards his head-
&&&
REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
The roar stopped the attacking gargoyles just long enough for Pyramus to get away, leaving them to fall miserably behind him. The once-proud Pyramus was now covered with scratches and scars and one more gargoyle, a tall one with huge wings and snake-like appendages for hair. The female assailant chased after Pyramus on all four legs, following his every step as he bounded over the ballroom's huge walls, annoying chandeliers and prominent, tower-like centerpiece. (Sound familiar?)
Pyramus skidded to a stop on the floor. The female gargoyle raised her hand to strike Pyramus, only to have him catch it midair before she could make contact with him. Not missing a beat, she swiped with the other hand (he caught it) and both her feet (his wings grabbed her ankles). She found herself trapped in his grasp.
Pyramus inspected the female gargoyle. Long tentacles with round, pointed heads growing out of her scalp gave her the illusion of having hair made of snakes. Pitch-black, with a well-rounded female figure (albeit with huge hips) and enormous wings, this female had surprisingly hollow cheeks and a flat, almost non-existant nose, not to mention a total lack of eyebrows...
Pyramus counted the ribs on her thin frame. 27...
Pyramus began to delicately sniff the hyperventilating female, the surprisng she-goyle quickly returning the gesture. His grip on her loosened, and he let her feet touch the floor once again and moved his hands from her wrists to her palms...
The gargoyle hoard flew in through the windows and doors, charging towards the stoic couple-
("QUIET, ALL OF YOU! STAND YOUR GROUND!") The she-goyle shrieked in a dialect of gargoyle, making all of the small creatures stopped in their tracks, confused.
She returned her focus to Pyramus, who was giving her nose one last huff before he pulled back his head. ("I don't believe it...")
Pyramus pulled the she-goyle into a hug, grinning ear-to-ear and purring into the she-goyle's wings. The she-goyle wrapped her wings around Pyramus and grappled his neck, shedding a few tears and trying to keep her breathing steady.
("Who is he, mother?") asked one of the little-goyles.
Thisby pulled away and looked into her oversized husband's eyes. ("He's your father...")
DONE!
THIS! CHAPTER! WAS! HARD! TO! WRITE! I am going to save this story to disk so if it gets deleted, I WON'T HAVE TO DO THIS CHAPTER AGAIN! MAN, this was hard! You guys know how hard it is to keep a coherent story going for this long! Geez louise!
By the way, I'm going to delete the thing in the last chapter that says quote unquote "Sally's gonna be in this one" because it ruins the shock for future readers.
