Who wants to be the hero?
Chapter 4: Brethren of the Quest
Once upon a time, King Jack's first wife, Dame Amaryllis, had given birth to another son they named Tom. It was the day of his christening when the ritual of the gouging of eyes took place. Baby Tom was crying helplessly and his tears wet the black cloak enveloping him in his cradle of thorns. Watching at his throne, King Jack was disgusted to feel such weak aura, just like what he felt with the new-born Hatchet many years ago. Dame Amaryllis sat down beside the cradle as her stepdaughters, the illiterate Timber Lea and the invisible Magenta, chanted the lost songs of the Murdered Bard. Prince Hatchet, the baby's elder brother, presented the silver spoon of the Moon.
King Jack came over the cradle and took the blessed spoon. After the systematic hollowing out of the baby's eyes, the mortal imperfections of emotion, sleep, and care flew out like the phantasmagoria from Pandora's jar. The two eyeballs shone like stars and floated away to the dark sky for which they shall watch over the mortal whom they belonged. The auroras still gushed out from Tom's eye sockets, filling the grand room with colored shadows of ghastly hues. Suddenly, the doors opened and came in the baby's stepmother, Isinglass, gazing upon the cradle with grim disgust and envy she could not swallow. Jack didn't love her as much.
She waved her hands up high and ululated hysterically. The auroras were frightened by the aura surrounding her and faded out of the room. Jack could feel the bitterness in her and feared to the extent that he somewhat regretted in creating a second son to his first wife. As for Amaryllis, she could feel the extreme jealousy in the witch, but still, this made her ego bigger and challenged Isinglass to ruin her family. Isinglass pointed to her sons and cursed, "Evidences of the Love I could not attain, you shall not find the Happy Ending that you are destined to have. You two shall create each other's downfall!" Lightning flushed inside the room and the gale highlighted the horror.
Jack kneeled in submission and Isinglass collapsed on the floor. Magenta went over to help her mother, while Timber Lea did not stir and continued singing. Amaryllis held tight of her new son whose eye sockets stopped bleeding. Hatchet whispered to his distraught mother, "Don't you worry, mother. Such words could not dictate the stubborn Fates who weaved my life as the Hero. And I promise to love my brother." But this promise had never been fulfilled. As the brothers grow up with their mother's strict training, Hatchet would ignore Tom and rather hunt in the woods with other knights and spend drunken nights in pubs while Tom slept in his room, uninvited.
Both were highly-skilled in battle and won much carnage with their boyish mother. But they differed a lot in their personality. The brawny Hatchet had the choleric personality, full of ambition, energy and passion, and would instill it from others, especially from his brother. Young Tom, on the contrary, had the phlegmatic personality, stoic, cold and as silent as the grave. He inhibited his enthusiasm in others and stayed indoors while not training. And yet, there's still one more thing they were similar to each other. Both dreamt of becoming the Hero of Happy Endings, a stereotype in their romanticist way of living, and they're just waiting for the first sign called absentation.
And it started after they first took their stepsister, Timber Lea, to a battlefield. Their mother stopped training them and spent hours with Isinglass and Timber Lea in a secret get-together. One day, they went into the thicket and Amaryllis returned bruised and lame at twilight. While the doctors treated her wounds, the royal herald, Lionel, approached the smoking queen and threatened her that he shall tell the king what she and the other queen had done to his daughter. Amaryllis then called her son, Tom, "My son, my pride, I have a simple task for you to prove that you are worth it." Hatchet laughed at the idea, "Mother, Tom could never do such thing."
"True. He has a lion's heart. I'm testing him if he had the potential to go beyond that."
Armed with his sword, Tom stalked the royal herald until he arrived on top of a tower. Lionel focused his senses towards the thicket to foresight the arrival of King Jack and to reveal beforehand the secrets of his two wives. He failed to feel the presence of Prince Tom who sneaked behind him with his sword ready to kill the tattle-tale. But Tom soon realized there was no honor in it and had second thoughts of doing his mother's wish or not. Lionel soon sensed the danger lurking behind him and, on his knees, he pleaded the prince to spare his life. Tom finally decided to let him go but Lionel must not come back to Way Castle ever again.
"Thank you, m'lord. Please accept this token, the eye of the dragon, Illuden. I once fought that monster, but only got away with his eye. It is of no use to me anymore because I could no longer continue fighting and I am now but a herald."
Tom accepted the gift as Lionel jumped off the tower, plunged into the dark waters of the moat and rode off with the night winds. When Tom returned with his sword soaked in cow blood, his father was already home and lamenting over the news of his missing daughter. Amaryllis had told him that Isinglass, jealous of her stepchildren, kidnapped Timber Lea and ran away with Magenta. Tom was delighted because this was what the books and songs said as the start of a hero's adventure. This was the absentation. But Hatchet suddenly announced that he shall venture forth and find his precious stepsister, Timber Lea.
Right away, his father provided him with the necessary equipment and the best mail armor and horse. Then, his mother readied Hatchet's two swords and whispered in his ear, "Go find the precious one, my son. Kill her for me. Return with the more precious one instead, the enchanted diamond in her head." Hatchet nodded and kissed his mother's knuckles. Finally, his father kissed his forehead with good luck and pride. Hatchet rode off to the deep dark woods, but his journey wasn't that long as expected. One dreary night, he "saw" the bright twinkles of the diamond. Strangely, it seemed it was flying on its own instead of being atop of someone walking in the meadow.
He followed it through the meadow and to the entrance of another forest. The aura of the trees sang of a warning to whoever wanted to enter the dreaded Mortevalle place. Hatchet disobeyed the trees and continued following the diamond which soon arrived at a huge chateau. Hatchet went inside and finally found the diamond on a table. He found out that a fairy was holding it the whole time. She smiled at him slyly. "You're in trouble for trespassing in this place," she said as a shadow suddenly appeared behind the clueless prince. The cloaked figure wielded a huge scythe and held out his boney hands. Yet, Hatchet stretched out his hands for a hug, "Godfather Grimm!"
"Ah, Hatchet, it's so nice of you to visit these old bones. Lulu, get us some petit fours and ale."
The fairy, whose mischief became a foil, flew away and returned with a tray of grotesque goblets and Halloween cupcakes. Hatchet related of his adventure to find his sister and return with the diamond she found. Godfather Grim looked at the dark fairy and she explained that she did give it to Timber Lea because she was afraid of the girl's fearless aura. And yet, Lulu was determined to take back the enchanted diamond. Hatchet asked her of where she found his stepsister. Lulu was stubborn but she was forced to admit it because the guest was her master's godson. "She's in the Sun Palace," she replied, "where she's going to be sacrificed to Illuden the Devourer."
"Good! The dragon's going to do my job for me," Hatchet tossed his goblet with his godfather.
"You're just like your mother," Godfather Grimm said, "Death is always a priority. I like that in mortals, giving importance to my job. That's why I agreed when your mother herself asked me to be your godfather." In the morning, Hatchet said good bye to his godfather and the fairy, and soon returned home with the precious diamond that the Necropolitans could see. Before his mother, Hatchet lied about killing Timber Lea; besides, the diamond was proof enough that he did what Amaryllis wished. But before his father, he explained that he failed to find his stepsister, but instead found the diamond. King Jack refused the diamond and lamented more for his more precious daughter.