Hope For The Heartless Chapter 71, a black cauldron fanfic

Chapter 71

The Horned King had lingered after the meal that night, talking with Avalina and telling her more about dragons, gwythaints and other beasts he had encountered from other lands. And she had been completely fascinated by it all.

She had asked so many questions. . .eventually, the conversation had drifted, and he had discovered they were now talking about horses.

Avalina loved horses with a passion. She loved Mitternacht with a passion, he could see it written all over her face whenever she talked about the stallion.

Now it had been his turn to ask questions. Not being able to approach any living creature had limited his knowledge of them. He asked her about different types, the different names and types of the equipment parts and the endless variety of color combinations, and she had answered them all, telling him that what Mueric hadn't told her, she had picked up from books.

That was something else she loved. She loved reading.

They had talked about books and literature for the remainder of the night, and the Horned King had been thoroughly enjoying himself for the first time since he could remember, when the clock had struck midnight and he had dismissed her for the night, noticing how tired she looked under all that excitement.

His chambers seemed quieter than usual tonight. Compared to the chatter that had went on all evening, he realized just how silent his chambers had always been.

It was like a tomb in here. How could he not have noticed before?

And how could he not have known his gwythaint was a female? After all the time he'd had them. The other one must have been a male. Gwythaints mated for life, but other than that, they were usually solitary creatures, unless in the rare instances siblings would remain together in groups until they found mates of their own.

Its behavior around Avalina had shocked him. Not just the friendly, accepting part.

He had studied gwythaints a lot, and what the one in his stable had been doing was exhibiting a maternal, protective behavior around Avalina.

He had never seen that type of behavior in gwythaints around anything except their own young, whom they guarded with a ferocious intensity.

The Horned King didn't understand it.

And tonight. . .she had talked to him for hours without a single trace of fear, whether it be in her voice or her actions. And he had been surprised to find that the monotony of his own mental state had lifted.

She could provide exceptional conversation for someone her age, and the Horned King realized he had gotten more mental stimulation than he had in a very long time.

And for the first time in his existence that he could remember, he had someone to talk to that wasn't so terrified of him they could scarcely speak.

And they happily talked right back.

He glanced down at the light bandage covering the stitches on his right arm, thinking.

He could still hear her thanking him for saving her life, right before she had gone out like a light.

He remembered that he had never thanked her back, at the excuse that if she had not ran away nothing would have happened. In truth, if he had not lost his temper and frightened her she never would have fled in the first place.

But since when had the Horned King thanked anyone?

The answer was simple. Never. And because of that, he had no idea how to go about it.

He felt that he should show her some form of appreciation for doing what she did. Something to let her know that he remembered. Actions were louder than words, and he did not believe that a simple "Thank-You," would be quite enough for Avalina being honorable. . .no, although that was indeed something she possessed, that was not the word he sought. . .the closest thing would be merciful, he supposed. Merciful enough to save her most hated enemy from a well-deserved death.

He would never have expected anything of the sort from anyone, and yet this girl had done more in that one moment to save his life than anyone else in the entire world would ever even think of doing.

Sitting there, he felt a nagging feeling come over him that he had been pushing away for some time, but it refused to leave now. He had no idea what it was, and it irritated him thoroughly. It was not a pleasant feeling, and he wished he knew what it was, so he could make this persistent, dragging ache in his chest go away.

Perhaps it was the mortal feeling they called. . .guilt? It might have been guilt. But why would he be feeling guilty? For hurting Avalina, maybe?

He snorted. He had killed thousands upon thousands, and now he was feeling guilty for giving a peasant a little bruising.

The door flew open as the Invisibles crashed inside.

"YOU WANTED US?!"

The Horned King calmly gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Yes. I want you to make something."

Deliberately, he lay the rolls of parchment down on the table by his chair, mere moments before they were whipped up into the air and unfolded.

Gasps from the Invisibles filled the room.

"You. . ."

"Want us. . ."

"To make. . ."

". . .this?" They squeaked.

The Horned King nodded once in affirmative.

"By tomorrow."

". . .Oh, well that's not so bad. . ."

"Yeah, we have a full twenty three hours! Can we do it?" One shouted enthusiastically.

". . .Nope."

"Nada."

"You got any tacos?"

"Guys!" The first shouted, "This is serious!"

"We KNOW THAT!" They bellowed back. "But doing it in twenty three hours? You must be joking."

The Horned King frowned.

"You have less than twelve."

"Um. . .no, I'm pretty sure we have twenty three, Horatio, old buddy. You said tomorrow."

"Um. . ." Another Invisible interrupted the first, (Or was it the same one?) "Its one o'clock in the morning. What used to be 'Tonight' has officially become, 'Yesterday.'"

"In that case," the Horned King corrected himself, "You have less than. . ."

The clock gonged the half-hour.

"Eleven. So get to work."

". . .We can't do this in eleven hours!" One of them exclaimed in a horrified voice, flapping the paper around for emphasis.

"YES WE CAN!"

The others bellowed back enthusiastically, shocking the first.

". . .What is wrong with you two? First we have twenty three hours, and you say no, and then we have less than half a day and you say we can? What is your problem?"

"Ha! Twenty three hours is so last year," one of the Invisibles snorted.

"Yeah, I don't know how in Orion's Belt you expected us to go THAT slowly. Jeez, what do you think we are, molasses in February?"

"Do either of you realize how little time we have?" The first shrieked wildly, flapping the paper. "And how big this thing is?"

"Of course we do! We're not stupid!"

"Right on!" The other answered. "Now pour me a glass of tea."

"And cookies. We must have cookies."

"WHAT!?" The first screamed.

"WE HAVE LESS THAN ELEVEN HOURS AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FOOD!"

"Annnd. . ."

". . . . . .Your point is?"

"DO EITHER OF YOU CARE-!?"

"Sheesh, calm down, Dusty Rainbow," one of the two snorted. "They don't call us the "Handy-Record-Fixer-Upper's-That-Take-Time-Off-For-Pranks-And-Sugar-Duo for nothin'."

"Sooooooo don't you worry," The second sang in a low voice.

"About a thing," the other picked up, before they pitched in together in perfect harmony.

"Cause every little thing. . .Is gonna be alright!"

"Alright!"

"Right on!"

"We'd love to stay and chat, Horatio, but our evening's just got packed," one of them said cheerfully as the first Invisible stormed out and slammed the door, muttering something about irresponsible idiots.

"We've got to do all of our diabolical planning now instead of later."

"Yep, later's gonna be full of a project that'll take about as long as peeling a landscape on a potato."

"When you're a ninja."

"An artistic ninja."

"HI-YAW!"

"HI-YAR!"

Cackling, they laughed together.

"SO WE MIGHT AS WELL START RIGHT NOW!"

The Horned King had no time to react as a large, old, fishy-smelling net came down on his head, entangling itself horribly into his horns and falling down all around him in thick folds.

Snarling, he tried to rise, only to find that he couldn't. They had netted him to the chair.

"Bye-bye, Horatio!" One of them cackled.

"Now we want you to sit there and think about what you've done!" Another squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

"We have work to do!"

"Release me this INSTANT!" The Horned King roared, his eyes flashing blood red.

"Well, you see, due to our limited schedule, we can either release you from that horrible mess, or we can fix up the item you planned for us to do," one of them said cheerfully.

"So which one will it be, Horny, old boy? Get free or have your plans ruined?"

The Horned King snarled in white-hot fury, realizing he'd been beaten.

"I think he chose the latter."

"Me too."

"Mark my words, you wretched slaves," he bit out, glaring flames at the air in front of the door, "That. . .item. . .had better be nothing but the complete, absolute best, or so help me I will find a way to make you pay."

"Its so touching, isn't it? He's putting others before himself for a change!"

"I'm gonna cry, do you have a tissue?"

The sounds of blowing noses disappeared as the door was closed, leaving the Horned King trapped in his chambers, netted to his seat.

Calling them everything under the boiling sun, the Horned King began to snap apart the net, one tiny hole at a time, cursing everything imaginable at the Invisibles and then some.

He could rip himself free, it would just take a while.

A very. . .long. . .while.

His temper frayed to the final thread and his pride on the back burner, he roared so loudly the stones shook.

"CREEPER!"

Thank you to everyone that reviews! Ya'll make my day when you do! XD