(Chapter Twenty Nine: Confront your fears)
The work was finally done, Zephyr was back in one piece, as nervous as that made Julia. She was known for having faith in others despite not knowing was the outcome might be. Sometimes she wonders what her life would be like if she never puts her trust into anyone.
She'd still be alone, but would it have saved her the bullying in her youth? Perhaps, or perhaps not. She sighed to herself, looking at the doll, who still hadn't said a word since being put back together.
The jester sat up slowly, moving his arms carefully, and attempted to move his hands and fingers. It was odd to him, MoonJumper never repaired him with his strings before, he always had to take matters into his own hands sometimes. However this? This felt... amazing! Almost like the strings made him feel... stronger. Her energy was miraculous, almost like it overpowered the demon's energy.
That must have been it though, she broke him free, she was the one who got him out of that box. By herself intentionally or not. Though, now that he was free, now that he can feel the magical energy around him again... he could finally sense something that wasn't there before...
The diamond child was right when she said she needed help, but... help was nothing he can give. No... it was wrong it felt off... it felt dangerous.
"Julia..." this voice caught the woman's attention.
"Allen...?" She inquired, it was odd hearing his voice outside the dream. But.. he could speak out now. Why was that?
"Zephyr is... Zephyr is scared." He said, "we sensed something... nothing good." He pointed to her center, where her soul would be. Julia looked down then up at him, Allen was unable to give any facial emotions but he sounded... distraught... sad. "Your soul it's... you..."
He seemed to be having trouble saying when he needed to say.
She grabbed his hand, looking at him with a straight face. "Come on, you can say it. Don't leave me hanging like this." She calmly said.
With a sigh, Allen looked down to steel himself, unsure how she'll take the sudden news "You're... you're dying."
It took her a moment, but she laughed! She wasn't taking seriously at all! The girl rubbed the side of her face and looked at him, calming down "I've heard that one before, it's probably another dimensional shift again, its been happening! You don't have to worry about that." She told him with a smile.
But he grabbed her shoulders. His aura dampening her joyful outburst.
"Child. You are dying. This is not something to laugh about!" He yelled at her, making her stand up with him. "Your 'magic' that you said was a mutation? Is a byproduct just like us!" Zephyr then shifted back, tapping her forehead rather roughly, making Julia flinch back "except the diamond has no outlet like Zephyr does! No, no! You're magic will burn you up! Up, up and away like ashes!"
"Nothing will be left of you." Allen somberly said.
Julia was in a state of shock now. Was... was that why she was losing control? Because her whole being can't comprehend the pain..? No proper outlet, so she lashes out at people?
Julia couldn't properly understand, she was 'really' dying? She started to hyperventilate, hands placed on her head. She's going to die? "When? How long do I have? Will it hurt!?"
She panicked, grabbing onto the shirt on Zephyr. Julia whimpered at him "I thought the charms were supposed to keep me from burning out!?" Had Gabriele misinformed her?
"If you were naturally gifted, yes... these charms would assist you in your learnings..." Allen grabbed her hands, carefully removing them off himself "but there is a reason non-magic users are incapable of learning magic... the power is just too much for their body. I'm sorry."
Just like anyone who seemed to come into contact with MoonJumper always has something terrible happening to them. Gabriele lost his body, Allen lost his mind and body, Julia thought she was lucky but in reality, her life was slowly draining away as well. She always thought she'd die one day... but Julia never assumed it would be her adopted father who'd cause a possibility.
But what good would crying and panicking do for her? It won't stop the process of it happening, it never had. Taking slow deep breaths, she grabbed onto his hands, she wasn't going to continue like this. She had to keep going.
Keep going.
People still need her. People still love her. She's not going to just curl up and wait for it... not anymore at least.
But breaking the news will be hard...
"We keep this... between us for now, okay?" She looked up at Zephyr, Allen... whoever was in control now. "I'll be the one to break this news... but I'll need some time."
"Do as you must..." Allen said, tilting his head. He then added "but on the bright side... people with green magical energy are known to be incredibly lucky. At least you have that."
Julia thought to herself, in retrospect, that would explain every near-life experience.
"Lassie! What're ya doin here?" The Conductor held a book close to his chest, looking as Melody and shortly Bonnie calm walking up to him.
Both he and Grooves were about to walk into the studio to prepare. They had found something that might work, at the most, keep Doppler in place for a while.
"We... we can't find Julia anywhere... it's like she..." Melody looked down, saddened.
"Like she just vanished from reality," Bonnie added, not realizing the irony of that saying.
After the whole moment finally calmed down, the children felt bad for chasing down Julia. They were scared and they couldn't think properly. Melody found it to be a habit of trying to fight her way out when things went south. Her fight instincts had kicked in when she saw Julia lose it.
Now though, when she thinks about it, Julia knows how she fights, the woman knows how hard she can hit. She was just as scared as the children and when she needed help the most... they ran her off.
"Well, I'm sure the tall lass will come around... sure she's been missin fer a few.. days now." The Conductor said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But this is Julia were talkin about. She's nae goin to stay down ferever."
"Once she has a calm mind again darlin, she'll be back." Grooves added in, still nervous that Julia might not show back up again, but he couldn't tell that to the kids.
The children seemed to light up just a little in hearing this. The thought of her coming back so that they could apologize gave them some hope.
"But lass... ya know that... Doppler is no good right?" He said whispering, looking around. It was true he didn't want the girls getting involved, but perhaps they could help them since Julia wasn't around. They certainly planned on doing this today, they had called everyone not to come into work for at least three days until further notice.
Some lie they came up with about a rat infestation and not wanting the cast members to be around while someone gassed the place. It was a thing that made Doppler even more suspicious of the two directors. No doubt the moment they walk through those doors with the children, the doppelgänger will be catching on.
"We... understand that..." Melody nodded, they know the monster was trying to get under their skin. They succeeded in doing that. "If you need help, well help."
The two directors nodded, finally stepping inside. It was broad daylight, but it was odd seeing the place empty. Not as spooky as it was during the night when the Conductor's fight took place, but a close second.
Now there was a real monster on the loose.
The children and the directors were prepared.
The group hadn't seen Doppler yet, nor heard anything. It was quite... but they took that time to prepare. With ink, they drew almost unnoticeable symbols on the walls and floors that created invisible barriers, or so the book says. They created a maze to a certain location... the perfect battle area.
The same place Julia was stabbed.
Only the blood was gone and the place was more open. The bleachers gone, however, the stage still stands. All three besides Bonnie had an air of dread, they remembered what had happened down here.
None of them thought they'd ever come down here again.
The two girls stood guard while the Conductor was drawing a larger circle with smaller symbols used for a stun spell until they could find a proper way to get rid of the doppelgänger. Grooves leaned off the stage and watched, they were finally putting their plan into motion. He still felt bad that he was the one who started this mess in the first place.
Guess He and the old conductor are even now for causing disasters.
In the shadows, a figure slinked around, just out of view. The group was unaware of being watched, as the Conductor continued drawing the unfinished drawing. A faint creaking made Melody's eyes shift around, then finally turning around and looking up with a gasp!
Doppler sprung from the ceiling and landed on the Conductor, shuffling around and knocking the ink away. The two tumbled and shoved each other around trying to get the other off. It kept going until the group wasn't sure who was who anymore.
Doppler had changed into the Conductor.
"Ey! Wot the peck!?" The first Conductor punching the other off
"Oh, nea one frauds the Conductor, laddie." The other Conductor said, as they both pulled up their sleeves and proceeded to duke it out.
The three were confused, they didn't want to hit anyone in case they accidentally hit the real Conductor. Though they couldn't just sit here and watch them fight it out! Could they?
"Lassie! Don't be afraid ta hit us!" The one Conductor yelled out, proceeding to weave to the right and uppercutting the other in the chin. "I can take a hit, ya know?!"
The second Conductor pulled out a knife and quickly slashed the other's suit. "That's exactly what the changer would want! Don't come to close, lass!"
The children were torn, looking left and right, no differences seems to be apparent with the two birds. Though just a Melody was about to take action, a loud tapping was heard. Everyone stopped and looked to the stage. There Julia stood, hat obscuring her face and she tapped her bat once again down on the hard wooden elevated floor.
"Julia!" Both Melody and Bonnie yelled out
"Darling! You're back!" Grooves called out, not sure if he was believing anything anymore.
The tall woman quickly looked up, eyes shaded by her hat but you could see a crazed hint in them. A smile that was so wide it sent unsettling shivers down everyone's spines. In the moment of the pause she created, everyone found Julia speeding past Grooves, pass the first Conductor, and smashing her bat directly into the second Conductor.
The hit made Doppler change back into their original form and was sent flying. Hitting doors of the locked Elevator, Doppler groaned out holding their head. Though the hit didn't keep them down for long.
"How did ya-?" The doppelgänger was about to ask when Julia laughed out. A lunatic laugh escaped her and her voice didn't sound like her own at all!
"Oh, what joy, joy! we meet again you slithering snake!" The figure of Julia slowly dissolved into the jester, making Melody gasp in panic. "Or have you forgotten that we too can wear a mask? No, no- you stole that ability from us! You stole our face!"
"Hey, hey now- it's uh... It's nice ta see ya again-" Doppler slowly stood up, "look here, I'm making use of your changing abilities... with my voice mimicry."
Zephyr floated closer, a clear desire to murder this imposter "Your success comes not of your own but others. Zephyr has never met anyone as lazy such as yourself. No showmanship, no fun. Boring, boring!" He twirled around, laughing.
"Look here! I may play with my food, but in the end, that's what it's about- food!" Doppler pointed out, "I ain't no sick peck who torture people until they take their own lives- I end it quickly."
"Yes, but Zephyr does not need to feed on the living or dead; You struggle to keep yourself alive like the parasite you are." Zephyr point back, growling out.
"I. am. Not. A PARASITE!" Doppler roared out, charging at the jester.
Zephyr swung around, throwing an arm in the air like he was matador dodging a bull "Olé! Such a burning spirit now. What has changed, Zephyr wonders?"
Doppler didn't reply, talking with this doll was not going to get him anywhere. They could try and leave through an air vent, but being called a parasite tugged at something they thought they had forgotten along time ago.
The Doppelgänger spun around and shot out his arms like elastic, grabbing onto Zephyr's arms and holding him in place. They launched themselves and landed a hit; they both flew back and continued the fight.
Melody was at a loss for words, why was Zephyr here, how did he get here? Things got too heated and Melody seem to not understand anything at all. Conductor and Grooves were also confused, but glad that someone else was fighting alongside them; they hadn't heard anything about this guy yet.
"Right-! The circle!" The Conductor snapped his finger, about to rush to the center of the fight. Only stopped when a hand grabbed his torn shoulder of his suit.
Everyone quickly looked around, they saw Julia who had a relieved smile on her face. Tired, but relieved. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Let me handle it."
They could believe it, this time it was her.
"Julia-" Melody said, but Julia walked away and picked up the fallen brush and spilled ink.
"Not now kiddo, when this is over... then we can talk." Julia threw a kind smile over at her, Melody felt herself rip for ever thinking that Julia would harm anyone on purpose.
"I'm sorry." She muttered as she watches the brush glow green in Julia's hand.
As the brush emitted an aura, she continued the drawing, but wiped away a few symbols and replaced them with different ones. Allen had made sure she understood the proper way to activate a sealing spell. Once she was done, she pulled out a small jar, ceramic and beautiful. Blue floral patterns decorated the stark white figure.
Doppler was a jack ass, be if they were going to be sealed permanently... might as well give them a nice looking pot. A white slip of paper was taken out that had similar writing as the circular she stood in, Julia held it in a place like it was a lid.
Meanwhile, Zephyr pulled out one of his knives and slammed it into Doppler's shoulder. A symbol on the blade reacted and shot a wave of pain throughout the doppelgänger's body. They convulsed for a moment before realizing that they couldn't move shortly after.
Familiar chanting could be heard but Doppler couldn't move. However, the voice was even more familiar and he started to panic when he realized what exactly was happening "Wait, wait- wait! C'mon doll! Don't do this! Don't side with this lunatic-!"
The Doppelgänger tried to move, tried to struggle, and convince Julia not to go through with it "whatever he promised, I could do better! I swear!" No response, Julia continued to chant out.
"My, my- you must have made the diamond child incredibly mad." Zephyr chuckled, enjoying watching the lazy monster panic and squirm. "Even she doesn't hate us that much!"
"Doll- Dolly! Julia, come on!" He pleaded one last time "please don't put me back in a jar!"
The chanting had finished, and suddenly the jar turned into a vacuum, sucking up its intended target. With a final shout, Doppler was gone, sealed away tight at the paper latched over the lid like unremovable glue was applied. The woman held onto the jar, looking at it with a glare.
"I gave you a chance to run, back on the train." The girl pointed out "I gave you a chance to think, yet you came after me again; you came after my friends... my family." She held the jar close, unsure if Doppler could hear her "You fuck with them, and you've lost all form of trust. I'm used to being messed with, that was my life. But no one. Hurts. My. Family."
With a huff, she smiled, looking over at Zephyr who gave her a head tilt. "We did it!" She held her hands in the air, one still holding the jar. "That was... relatively easy- oddly easy actually."
"Not much of a boss fight if you ask me." Bonnie kicked her foot and knocked away rubble "kind of disappointing."
Julia laughed as she started to head for the crazy jester, she was planning on giving him the jar for safekeeping until... something unexpected happened. Clumsy as she was, she tripped over debris, falling as the sealed jar fell out of her grip.
They weren't greeted with a smash of ceramics however, not the seal wouldn't allow the pot to break. What were the odds of a portal opening up and swallowing the jar into the dimensional rift? Still flat on her stomach, Julia stared off slack-jawed. She cried out in panic as she soon realized what exactly happened.
"No, no, no!" She tried to get up and run for the portal, but it closed before she could keep it open. "No! Come back!"
Zephyr however was losing his already broken mind with laughter. It was rather comedic with Julia's reaction and the sudden change in her personality. One moment she was given a rather, dare he say, badass moment, to a rather fumbling situation.
"Well! They're the multiverse's problem now!" Zephyr said as he continued to laugh loudly.
"I feel really bad now-" Julia mumbled.
"What is going on!?" Melody yelled, stomping on the ground with her foot. Everyone went silent as she pointed at Zephyr "wasn't he sealed away!? Why is he here? Aren't you guys enemies?!"
Julia stood up, she brushed the dust off with a sigh, "it's uh... I-" Julia doesn't have a good explanation, at least not one that Melody would want to hear.
"Hello, hello! Do not fret hat child, Zephyr is not here to viciously attack the diamond-!" A charge shot from Melody's umbrella zipped past him, making a shriek escape him. "You prove to be ever yet dangerous!" He yelled out with a panicked voice.
"Melody, hold on!" Julia shot forward and held her umbrella down, "It's okay! Really! Let's... let's just get back to the ship, okay?" Melody looked up at her, skeptic, reluctantly decided to hear her out properly. She owed her that.
"Well, eh... guess we'll take the time to... clean the place." The Conductor said, scratching his head. He was rather confused, as well as disappointed just like Bonnie. They had this whole deal all planned out only for it to not be used. Or helpful.
"If we hurry we could... uh. Clean the paint off the walls and floor before they dry-" Grooves pointed out. More confused than anything, but happy it was finally over.
"Hey... sorry, I messed up your casting for the movie, DJ..." Julia frowned at him, a little upset.
"It's fine darlin', Conductor found out that this thing was a real menace..." he pointed out, softly smiling at her "Honestly, I'm glad they're gone instead of my crew... thank you, Julia."
With that done and over with, the children, Julia and Zephyr split ways with the directors for now. While the birds attempted to clean the place up, The other group went topside so that they could settle with a proper explanation as to why the crazy jester had been released. Julia had gone and done something crazy yet again, and Melody wasn't sure it was a good thing.
It was nice being on the ship again, no longer sleeping on the grass and dirt. Once she was safe, however, she noticed just how... drained she was. Taking a seat down, Julia held her head. The pain was back. Perhaps teleporting, then using the rest of her energy into seal away a being wasn't the best action... but a needed one.
It was like... water pressure. That's what it felt like. Like Julia was drowning in water, and she knows how that feels... happed to her twice now for a proper comparison.
Zephyr explained that her magical energy was like a fire, it will simmer out for a moment while she used it, but the coals are still hot and will always reignite. To put it simply, wind fanning a flame. It'll flicker for a moment but come back stronger.
Julia just wants to sleep.
God, I know I want to sleep now. I rained super hard last night and instead of putting me to sleep like normal, it kept me up. Sorry if this chapter was a little disappointing with fight wise, but I wanted to keep moving and threw the option out that anyone can use doppler now if that chooses so. The boi is gone for good in my story. On a side note, I dropped some more bombs in this story and more bombs will be coming! you guys can count on that.
Mr. Mega1423: Glad you enjoyed the puns, I've been waiting so long to use them on Zephyr you would not believe!