The Abduction

Queen Aureole and I went to the Hamelin prison and said to the jailer out loud. "Release him!" The old jailer, wrinkled and weak, was puzzled by our entrance. "Pardon?"

I repeated, "Release him! He is not the killer you thought he is. We have found the suspect."

"Then who is it?" The mayor of Hamelin entered the prison along with a hundred citizen peeping outside his men with spears and swords. "Who did it?"

Oh, boy. It will be too complex to explain for this mortals. "He's not human." I said.

The people from outside gasped when they heard my answer.

I continued to explain, "This Pied Piper you said was not, is not, can not be Eugene Fitzherbert no matter what you say! He's innocent!"

"Is there a clear evidence?" The mayor asked. He wanted proof. "Or you are just blabbering random nonsense."

Aureole responded angrily. "I kept my mouth shut for seven years! And in my entire lifetime, I have never said any nonsense."

The mayor apologized, "I'm sorry. So do you have proof?"

"The old man's painting has enough proof." The young queen said. "And we are certain it was not Mister Fitzherbert."

Before they could ask another question, I gave them an answer. "He's the one who murdered me."

Everybody paused when they heard what I said. "You mean… you are not a wizard?"

"No." I responded. "I'm already dead and what you see now is my restless soul. I'm a god once. Omniscient and almighty." Now it is getting complicated.

The queen asked, "How is that possible? This piper killed you for what?"

"My gem. The source of my power." If we continue this kind of conversation, the people of Hamelin will be confused and quickly decide to execute Eugene. I have to think of something-
"The prisoner has escaped!" The jailer yelled after he saw the cell was empty. There were no sign of Eugene or Rapunzel anywhere. The locks are still intact. The walls are untouched or disturbed. There is only one way in and out of the jail. Queen Aureole and I were at the only door there. They can't sneak out undetected. I mean, there are people standing outside the building.

The mayor ordered his men to find Eugene. He told them that the man has proven to be guilty of the crime and he has escaped from his punishment. The people of Hamelin cried in rage. They picked up their pitchforks and torches as they ran around town and into the forest to find Eugene and his wife Rapunzel.

While they are away and we are alone, the young queen Aureole asked me. She still believes Eugene was innocent. She knows that he wouldn't escape just like that. Rapunzel will not allow that too. "Tell me this is not Eugene. There is some explanation to this, right?"

"It looks like it." I have one possible explanation for this. "They are kidnapped… by the Piper."

"You lost me there." Aureole said. "How can this guy enter the jail without-"

"He has my gem! It controls Time itself. You guys forgot there is magic, fairies and wizards! Anything is possible! He can take anyone anywhere and anytime. Now, he took the two with him."

"So the question we should ask is why." The queen's brother, Sir Heath, said.

"Do you know where he has taken them?" Sir Gregory asked me.

"Yes. But it will be too hard to get there."

Aureole asked, "Where?"

I answered, "Outside Time. To the great Void."

"And… are there any other ways to get there?"

"There's only a clean way. It's my gem. Unless..." But then something came up to my head. The river. Those children. "Oh, no."

"What is it, Oliver?" Aureole doesn't like what she's hearing. It sounds pretty bad.

"Those children were sacrificed. They are part of a nasty ritual." I remember this was practiced by the pretty old people during ancient times. "It is called the Anima Peregrinatione Ritual."

"How does it work?"

I asked the old jailer who stayed behind. "Mister, how many Hamelin children do these town have?"

"About a hundred and one." The old man replied.

"How many were taken by the Piper?"

"A hundred. The lame was not included because he could not catch up."

"Where is he now?" I asked.

Then Sir Heath came up to me, concerned on what I'm about to do. "You are not going to-."

I assured him it will not be like that. "No. I just need the boy for something else."

"Which is?"

"A marker so we can return from the void."

TO BE CONTINUED