Magic
Shrek had been walking for what certainly felt like hours. This time though he made sure to check intermittently at his feet and over his shoulder. The mist didn't look as if it was returning. Surely that meant the worst was over. Though, even just the walking was proving much more difficult than he would have thought. Everything was the same, exactly the same. The carved warnings in the trees eventually stopped, they were the only way the ogre knew he wasn't walking in circles. The lack of sleep was finally catching up with him, his eyes felt heavy as he pressed forward, his legs aching in protest. But he didn't stop, he couldn't stop. If anything, he was a little afraid of sleeping, that he'd relive everything all over again, or that he'd see more. No, Shrek forced himself to keep thinking about the task at hand, his own children. The past was that, in the past. It was his future that he should be worrying about. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop that numb feeling from creeping over him every so often. The more he tried to divert his attention, the more his mind would dwell.
Shrek didn't like feeling scared. It was rare when it happened, he was an ogre; ogres were the ones who did the scaring after all. But sometimes the unwelcome emotion would creep up his spine and grab him by the throat. As much as he hated to admit, he was scared quite a lot as a kid. Thinking back to then made some of those feelings return. Very quickly after leaving his childhood home Shrek vowed to never speak of it. So he didn't. There were quite a few awkward conversations with Fiona. He brushed on the topic of his father being a terrible person. Mostly he just told her his family were dead. They were. Those who weren't objectively deceased were dead to him anyway. It was the same thing. She didn't have to know the details. Fiona always let the subject drop, though she'd always watch him closely, suspiciously, afterwards. He'd shake off her concern and let her watch him all she liked, he wasn't going to react. He was only grateful for her silence. It had come up a couple of times with others, but mostly his past was left alone in the dusty box in the back of his mind.
His children were the biggest reminder of his past. Shrek remembered how terrified he was when he found out about his own impending parenthood. He was so scared that he would turn out like his own father. What if, deep down, he had the same insecurities? What if he ended up being disappointed in his children about being too human? With Fiona as their mother that was possible. What if he snapped at a child and they gave him that look he would give his father, mouth sewn together and fear in their wide eyes? Fiona was well aware of his concerns about becoming a parent, but she never truly found out why. Life proved his worries wrong. Sure the kids would be scared of what he would say if they did something bad, they'd frown and look at him sheepishly. They were scared of consequences, but they weren't scared of him. That was the difference.
That brought his mind back to the task at hand. His children. The tugs of guilt pulled at him yet again. He missed them so much. In fact, in the giant empty, silent place, he missed everyone.
"I can't believe I miss Donkey," he mumbled to himself.
Finally, Shrek stopped, circling on the spot. He looked around him, throwing his arms up in near defeat, "I'm sure it wasn't this big." He spoke loudly, sighing irritably.
"Don't you believe in magic?"
The ogre startled as the deep voice echoed around him. The anger rose within him faster than he could've expected. "Hey!" he yelled, turning and looking all around him. His gaze then fixed on a man who emerged a little ways down the path in front of him. A black cloak covered his body, a hood shielding his face. Shrek almost rolled his eyes, great, everyone always had to be so mysterious.
"Don't you?" the cloaked figure asked.
Shrek scoffed, "I know this place is magic," he stated, "But what I don't know is what you have done with my kids!" The ogre started taking confident strides towards the man. Magic or not, Shrek was ready to teach him a lesson. He balled his hands into fists, clenching and unclenching them as he got closer. The figure didn't move; it just seemed to watch him. "Where are they?" the ogre demanded.
"Ah they're wonderful little things aren't they?" he asked, chuckling, "They're so... so strong for such young children. They comfort each other well."
Shrek scowled at him, he was so close. The ogre clenched his fist hard.
"Ah, I wouldn't come closer if I were you," the man laughed, pointing to the ground.
Shrek let his gaze drop, the mist was tumbling around the dirt path from behind where the stranger stood. The ogre stopped in his tracks, suddenly realising he couldn't get any closer. There was nothing he could do, the mist was going to get him, but he wanted information. Instead, the ogre set his hard gaze back upon the man. "What have you done to my children?" he asked forcefully.
"You don't have to worry about them anymore," he spoke in a calm voice.
"What?" Shrek felt the alarm rise from within him.
"You should really be worrying about yourself."
The mist finally reached the ogre. Despite acknowledging his fated passing out, he could still feel the panic within him. Though he didn't know what he was more concerned about. What he'd see next or what the man meant about the triplets. As Shrek began to feel woozy the stranger began laughing. The ogre once again felt his knees turn weak and he fell to the ground.
"Just leave them alone," Shrek managed to speak as he felt his consciousness slipping away from him.
"Oh, you have my w-"
The cloaked figure's speech was cut off abruptly. From where he was laying, Shrek could see the man look up suddenly. Shrek then heard what interrupted him. It was a voice, a female voice, they were calling for him.
"Fiona..." he spoke before everything muted and turned black.
Fiona suddenly felt herself falling. Giving a small shriek, she hit the ground. Groaning a little, she pulled herself to her feet. Merlin's spell had happened so quickly. One minute she was feeling completely stupid standing on a giant shield in a sitting room, having dirt thrown at her by a crazy old man, and the next she was falling through the air. Rubbing the arm she landed on, she looked around. It was dark and she was in some kind of forest. There were trees surrounding her, they all seemed identical, it was a perfect place to get lost. She sighed, turning in different directions, she had no idea where to start. Her eyes then caught a somewhat brighter place, she figured that would be the best start. The ogress picked her way through the plant life, and eventually she recognised that she was heading towards a path. As soon as she stepped foot on the grassless dirt, she realised she could smell something. With so much emptiness, it was easy for Fiona to pick up something different. Ogres had a... strong scent, she was sure that was what she could faintly smell. Shrek had been here. It wasn't strong enough for her to follow, but it was something. The ogress looked at the two opposite directions; there was no way to tell which way he was headed. She trailed her gaze along the path, trying to make out any footprints, but as far as she could tell, the dirt wasn't loose enough to reveal anything. She considered calling for him, maybe he'd hear her and call back. But Fiona hesitated, she didn't know the situation. Perhaps they were unwelcome guests and it was best to keep quiet. She looked up, trees covered her view. Who knew who was watching?
"Shrek?" she kept her voice low. She listened hard, holding her breath a little. She then heard something, her ears perked up. She looked in the direction she thought it was coming from and listened again. Yes, she allowed herself to grin. There was a voice, it was so quiet, but it was something she could head for. Whether that was her husband or some enemy, she didn't care. She wasn't just waiting anymore.
Taking a quick pace, Fiona followed the path. It wasn't long before she could tell one voice was definitely her husband's. She started to run towards it. Since she received his second note she had been in half a mind to punch him as soon as she saw him, but that seemed to just melt away as she could feel how close she was to him. She suddenly just wanted to collapse into his arms and sob. Though, there wasn't time for that as the second voice, the one she didn't recognise, seemed to be in conflict with him, and sounded to be winning. She could hear laughter. "Shrek?" she called for him. Perhaps if the opposition realised Shrek wasn't alone, they might be a little more intimidated. She called again before she turned a smooth curve in the path and saw her husband laying on the ground. "Shrek!" Breathing hard she ran faster at him before she realised there was a man staring at her.
Fiona frowned, slowing her run into steady, confident strides. "Hey!" she shouted at the cloaked man. She couldn't make out his features from under the dark hood. But she could tell he was surprised by her entrance. The anger flurried within her, "What have you done?" she demanded at him.
"Hm," the man seemed to collect himself, "You're not supposed to be here... not y-"
"Well sorry, pal, but I am. You're not supposed to have my children, nor my husband, and yet here we are," she pointed exaggeratedly at the ogre's seemingly sleeping body at her feet. "What have you done to him?"
This only seemed to make the man laugh, "Oh you'll see, Princess."
Fiona was suddenly confused, she wasn't wearing her tiara... There was something more to her mysterious opponent. Mist began rising from the ground and the man began to laugh. The ogress quickly tried to connect all of the events. The mist was dangerous, it was all she could figure out. She backed away a little. If her husband was unconscious she couldn't fall victim to the same thing, their children needed someone to save them. Clearly, Shrek wasn't doing too hot at the job. She allowed herself a small eye roll and refocused her attention back on the strange man, "We'll stop you, whatever you're doing."
The man laughed loudly, "If you can outrun my magic, perhaps you can, but I've yet to see someone succeed."
Fiona dropped her gaze to the mist that was rolling over the ground at a much faster pace. She looked between it and the man a couple of times and decided to do something crazy. She'd try her luck. If she could get there fast enough, perhaps she could take him out with her. She realised it was insane, but perhaps it was worth a try. She had been told mothers would do crazy things for their children and she was about to become a prime example. With a small run up, Fiona jumped over her husband's unconscious body and landed right in the middle of the thick mist, far closer than Shrek had come to him. She unwillingly paused a little, expecting herself to feel faint, or weak... But nothing happened. She smirked, and began to run at the mysterious figure. At this close, she could see more of his face, he seemed normal, but he was shocked, ever so shocked. Fiona very quickly considered her options, he was magic, so she needed to get him fast. She didn't normally punch people, it wasn't really within her comfort zone, but she realised it was probably the best thing she could do. She pulled back her clenched fist, taking a breath.
"PAUSE!"
Fiona found her entire body become rigid. She shrieked a little in response as it had almost a whiplash effect on her. It was a strange sensation, as if she had just run into a wall, but she didn't stumble backwards or fall. She was frozen, mid footstep, arm pulled back, bracing herself for the impact. Fear swept over the ogress as she realised she couldn't move, at all.
"What...?" pain shot through her body as she tried to speak.
"How exactly did you get here?" he moved close to her, circling and studying her.
The more his eyes trailed around her body the more anger took place of her panic. She wanted nothing more than to give him a thousand painful deaths. Glaring at him, as best she could, she tried to speak clearly, "Magic. Like yours."
The man stopped in front of her face, he frowned. It bothered her how normal he looked. He could have been anyone. He looked about Artie's age, he was human, there was nothing special about him. Though as his green eyes met hers, there was something about them that made her uneasy. Of course, the situation was a bind in itself, and he clearly had incredible power, but they were almost unnatural, and she couldn't put her finger on why. Fiona tried to struggle again, but pain shot through her body, worse than before; she couldn't help but let out a small whimper. It made him smile, "There's no point in trying. You won't be able to move until I let you."
"What... What have you done?" she managed to speak.
He ignored her, "What was the spell that sent you?" It was odd. He didn't seem to be asking her the question, he was speaking more to himself. He considered her again, as if she was some fascinating object rather than a person.
"Answer me." Fiona was ignored again.
He stood, square in front of her and closed his eyes, "It's about time we caught up, Princess."
"What have you done to my children?"
"Now, now."
"Where are they?"
"Hm."
"Where are they?"
His eyes flashed open, "Silence." He then closed his eyes again.
Fiona tried to speak once more but the words never left her lips. Her breathing quickened. She literally couldn't do anything as he stood in front of her, eyes closed.
The man then took a breath, "Heart and soul speak to me, show me things I cannot see."
Fiona could see his eyes fluttering beneath his eyelids, almost as if he were dreaming. She had no idea what was going on. It was a spell, she knew that much, but the words were so ambiguous she didn't know what he was doing to her. Fiona suddenly became aware of how much her whole body ached, a slow building pain also appeared in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut. She had to stay strong. She couldn't give in. The ogress tried to slow her breathing; she couldn't let this scare her away. Who knows if he'd done this to the triplets, she couldn't stand to think about how much this would hurt them. She didn't want to think about them crying without her. It was overwhelming.
The pain suddenly stopped. His eyes opened. He grinned at her. "Well, now, I'm glad this is cleared up. I'm ever so sorry for wasting your time, Princess." She stared at him wordlessly. He threw a glance to her husband, before returning his gaze, "Good luck."
With that, he disappeared. Fiona momentarily panicked, fearing she'd be stuck that way forever. But after a few seconds, her entire body relaxed and she fell to the ground. Her head throbbed and her eyes felt so heavy, but she crawled over to the unconscious ogre. "Shrek?" she mumbled at him. She took his face in her hands, she could feel his breath on her skin. She frowned, "Shrek? Wake up." She placed her hands on his chest and shook him. "Please wake up." Her husband didn't stir. She rested her ear against his chest, his heart was beating as normal. She breathed a little sigh of relief, he was completely alive. She shook him again. Fiona looked around her, the mist was gone, but clearly the magical properties meant he was down for a while. Returning her gaze to her husband's sleeping face, she pursed her lips, "When you wake up, you'd better tell me everything. We're going to have a long talk." With no response she sighed again. Her eyes were so heavy. Whatever the man had done to her, it had made her incredibly tired. Taking another look around, Fiona leant against the ogre, resting her head on his chest where she could hear his heartbeat. She hadn't slept properly in two days. Just resting her eyes for a moment wouldn't hurt.
Just as he expected, Shrek was standing in the same open plane in front of his childhood house again, though this time it was daylight. The sky was full of clouds, they were grey and threatening to rain. The ogre looked up to them. His distress about the flashback had been overtaken by something else. "Fiona!" Shrek yelled at the sky. He was confused, so confused. That was her, it was definitely her. It could have been something that cloaked figure had done, but Shrek vaguely remembered how his head snapped up in response to her calls. He seemed shocked. Yes, Fiona was uninvited. But now his wife was there, alone, with that... that... whoever he was. He called for her again, at the top of his lungs. Nothing happened. He just appeared to be yelling at the sky. Shrek closed his eyes, and pounded at his head with his fists, "Wake up, wake up, wake up," he shouted in frustration. "No, Fiona." He stumbled in circles, looking about the place. Looking for any kind of exit. That stranger already had his children, his wife couldn't be taken too. Shrek felt more helpless than he'd ever felt in his life. He stopped, staring at the door to the house. Before, he had woken up when he had seen everything that he needed to. So, the ogre realised he had better just get on with it.
Shrek took strides over to the door, but before he could push it open, he almost found himself colliding with his father. He quickly stepped aside, as his father scowled at the ground and kept walking. It suddenly struck the ogre as odd, that he was looking at his father from his current height. It was strange to him. He remembered his father being so intimidating, he was an ogre in every sense of the word. But, now, it was like Shrek could finally see him for who he truly was. As the ogre watched him walk into the distance, he shook his head, his legs weren't following, that wasn't where he was supposed to go. Instead the ogre stepped into the hallway, the door closing behind him. There was a small sack of belongings sat under the protruding roots that were purposed as coat hangers. The coats hanging there were bigger this time, clearly this was a few years on. He could hear the muffled voices of himself and his sister in the room they shared. Though he couldn't hear what they were saying. Instead, he was drawn to the sack, he couldn't help but kneel to the ground and open it. There were a couple of changes of clothes that belonged to his sister. Boots, a hat, food provisions... It then dawned on the ogre what day he had been brought to. It was his sister's leaving day. A rush of anxiety ran through him. Among ogres there was a tradition of sorts. Kids had to leave their home and never return for a long time. A tradition he had yet to break to his wife. He had once intended to, and tried many times over the years of the children's existence. But his wife had a certain idea of how parenthood would be. An idea that had nothing to do with sending a child away for a long time. It played on her own fears from the tower. She'd even explicitly told him that she'd never send the children away, that they'd never be alone. It was then that he decided it was best not to tell her. She was fighting her own demons when it came to leaving and staying gone. She was different to him, he had packed his away, shut the memories out. He looked around him... only to have then unpacked completely now. The issues didn't lie in his own leaving day, he remembered that fondly. It was this one that wasn't so good.
Shrek then stood, walking over to the doorway of his childhood bedroom. Seeing everything again made his mouth twitch into a smile. He had rolled his eyes at his wife's reminiscing when they were staying in her childhood room. But now, seeing all the things he deemed necessary as a child, he understood. It was odd how much things changed. Though he couldn't be distracted for long. He and his sister were sat upon her bed. She leaned heavily on the wall, her eyes dark and hollow, her cheeks seemed sunken. Shrek remembered when his sister got sick. She was ill for quite a while and it had been painful for Shrek to watch as a child. There was a simple remedy, but his father wasn't good with illness, he didn't know the recipes and ingredients for medicine. That had always been their mother's job and his father never bothered to learn. But she was gone. And that was probably the reason his sister never got better.
"I'll see ye in ten years," his younger self leant against the wall with her.
"No, ye'll be gone by the time I'm s'posed t' come back, Shrek," she shook her head.
"Will I?"
"Aye, ye big idiot," she laughed quietly.
"I'll track ya down, sis," Shrek couldn't help but smile at the confidence the child in front of him showed, "I'll find ye wherever ye are and ye'll be old an' needin' my help by then," the child laughed.
"Hm, more like ye'll be new an' needin' my expertise."
"Nah, I won't be needin' you!"
There was a pause, his sister looked at her younger brother for a moment, "Don't try t'find me."
"Why not?"
"Just don't. Ye supposed t'be on yer own. It'll be great on ye own, findin' ye own way. Ye'll forget all about us."
"I won't..." the child seemed offended. "I won't forget about you... I..."
"Shut up, Shrek," she smiled.
"You shut up."
The ogre remembered the exchange to be an affectionate one that would happen often.
"I am, I'm leavin'," the ogress hauled herself off of the bed and headed for the door.
Shrek staggered backwards to keep out of her way. His younger self stood in the doorway and watched her until she waved him away and closed the door behind her. Shrek then watched her sigh, her entire face fell to the point where she looked as if she were about to cry. The older ogre watched in silent fascination as she looked around the house, one hand holding her woozy head. She then sighed again, and headed to her bundle of belongings. Shrek watched his sister put her coat on, she braced herself against the doorway and wobbled a little.
"Yera!"
His father's voice made him jump. The girl looked up, eyes hollow.
"I'm coming," she spoke, her voice weak, she cleared her throat, "I'm coming!" she announced louder. The ogress grabbed the sack that sat at her feet and hauled it with some effort over her shoulder. She began heading for the door but tripped on her thin legs over the carpet. Shrek instinctively held his arm out and caught her, much to his surprise. The girl looked up in horror, and threw herself backwards into the wall away from him. Shrek watched as her eyes locked with his. She slid down the wall and sat against it.
"Who're you?" her voice shook, "Where'd ye come from? Why're ye in my house?"
Shrek was dumbfounded for a second, his eyes glanced to the closed bedroom door, no one emerged. He looked back to her, she continued to stare, wide eyed, at him. His confusion rendered him into silence. She pulled herself up and pointed at the door, "Get out, get out now!"
"I uh I'm sorry, I can't move," he spoke softly as he realised his legs wouldn't let him move.
Her brow then furrowed, she squinted at him, "Shrek?"
"...Aye," he wasn't sure what to do or say. He was completely lost.
"You're older," she was hesitant.
"I am," he chuckled despite himself, "I dunno what's sending me here, but I guess, I'm uh, from the future," he felt silly saying it, but then the whole situation itself was ridiculous.
"Wow... okay..." she looked over him, considering everything. "I'm sick," she finally spoke, looking down, "really sick. So yer prob'ly not even here, I'm prob'ly just losing my mind now too."
Shrek shrugged at her, nodding. It would make more sense to her, that was more important. Probably best she didn't go telling anyone about it, not that she could.
"Are ye okay?" she peered up at him, "I mean, now yer all grown up. 'Cause yer not okay right now, an' I need t' know ye'll be okay."
"Aye, I'm okay," he was almost moved by her concern.
"Good," she gave a small smile, "That makes things easier." She nodded looking towards the door. "Bye Shrek."
He watched her leave, using the walls as support and mumbling about how crazy she was, until she closed the door behind her. The ogre could feel the lump form in his throat. It was okay for ogre kids who were sick to skip the years away, it was seen as unfortunate. Only the ogres who had an especially sharp stick up their backside would complain about it. Except his father was one of those, he couldn't deal with the scrutiny or the judgement that he wouldn't even receive. So he sent her anyway. The next day he went out to check if she'd cleared the area and found her. It was too late then.
Shrek was finally able to follow, he did so slowly. He watched the last part of the awkward exchange between his father and sister before his father sent her off. Shrek looked back to the house, catching a glimpse of his childhood self, watching her walk away from his window. He remembered that, the memories hit him harder than he wanted them to. Shrek then realised his father was looking at the same thing. But he had a deep set scowl carved into his face. Shrek swore that expression never left. When the ogre considered it now, it seemed awful. Anyone who had shown him even a little affection had ended up disappearing, in one way or another. So, logically, he decided to never let anyone get that close again. He was better off alone. It made perfect sense... Until he met Fiona, that is. Still, even that was questionable, if the kids truly were gone, she'd probably leave him too. Shrek looked down at the ground. Perhaps that child, watching his sister walk to her grave had a pretty sad few years ahead of him. But his kids were potentially going through worse, he couldn't let them go.
