Chapter Thirty Three ~ The Truth
ROBIN'S POV
I wasn't ready to die.
There was so much I needed to do. There was so much I needed to put right.
I knew what was going to happen before it did. All the time I had spent with Cassandra and her minion sons, I knew how malicious she was. There was no way I was going to live when she had been lied to by Mr Gomez. Cassandra was just filled with pure hatred. I guessed now I knew how it felt for Maria when she sacrificed herself right where I had fallen.
Maria.
Why didn't I just tell her? Why didn't I just tell her at the party? She confessed to me that she loved me and yet I said nothing. Why was I such an idiot?
Did I love her? Of course I did. I had done for ages. And I will never get to tell her. Never get to tell her how I feel and how much I love her. Never hold her in my arms. Never get to kiss her.
Maria, my dear, I love you.
Her face was the last thing I saw before Cassandra pushed me over the edge. Her beautiful face twisted with horror as I tripped and plunged to my death.
Falling. Then blackness. That's what I felt. Was this what being dead felt like? Was I to be in eternal darkness forever? Tortured by my own thoughts. Thoughts of what I had failed to do. Thoughts of what I should have done. Thoughts of the world and the people I had left behind. Slowly, but surely, going insane.
If I was dead, how come I didn't feel it? Surely if I was dead, I would know it. But I didn't. But I had to be dead. I fell. I fell from the edge of the cliff and into the ocean below.
Maria had done the same and come out alive. But she had her trusty white horse to protect her. I don't see any sort of creature protecting me.
"Robin." I heard that. That was a voice. Was this just my mind playing tricks on me? It must be. "Robin." Louder this time. The darkness around me seemed to fade and light filled my vision, blinding me. What torture was I about to endure? "Robin, you silly fool, wake up!" Now that voice was familiar. I braved the light and opened my eyes. In my view was Mr Gomez, beaming down at me with a awe-struck expression on his face.
"Are you dead too?" I asked. Cassandra must have killed him after she got rid of me. Mr Gomez just grinned and rolled me onto my stomach. It hurt quite a bit with my injuries I had already gotten from the gruesome brothers. I couldn't protest as my hands were tied firmly behind me back, the rope digging into my wrists. I felt Mr Gomez tug and pull at it whilst I stared into the ground, getting sand in my mouth and cuts on my face. Finally I felt the rope drop and Mr Gomez rolled me back over and helped me to sit up. I rubbed my wrists, which were torn and bloody. I couldn't remember how long I had been tied in those bonds. It felt good to finally see my hands again.
When I stared around, I saw we were on some sort of beach. Everything seemed to be deserted and we were the only ones sat on the sands. The cliffs above us seemed faintly familiar though I didn't voice my confusion. I turned back to Mr Gomez, who seemed completely unfazed by our situation.
We were dead and he didn't care.
"Where are we?" I asked carefully. He looked around, his face deep in thought.
"If I am correct," He began. "A beach." I frowned. I could have guessed that, stupid old fool. Though I did glanced around again. Who'd of thought this was where you end up when you die. "How you feeling?" Mr Gomez asked. I turned back to him.
"Surprisingly alright, considering I've just died." I sighed. Mr Gomez let out a chuckle.
"You're not dead." He told me. I turned to him.
"Of course I am." I said. "I fell off the edge of a cliff."
"You mean that cliff?" Mr Gomez asked, eyes on something over my shoulder. I turned around and saw the stone theatre in the distance behind me. The fall was quite great. How on earth did Mr Gomez think I could believe I survived something like that? "I saved you before you drowned." I turned back to him.
"You saved me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded.
"I jumped after you." He told me.
"How did you manage to survive the fall to save me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly.
"I just did." He said, his voice faint. I snorted. As if I believed that!
"You think I'm an idiot?" I asked. He just stared at me, not saying anything.
"We have better things to worry about than to argue about how I saved you." Mr Gomez said finally. I laughed.
"Like what?"
"Saving Miss Merryweather and the others." He got to his feet and walked away from me, his eyes on the cliffs. I stared at him, completely astonished. I clambered to my feet, wincing in pain, then followed him.
"We're dead, old man!" I shouted after him. "We can't save them!" Thoughts of what was going to happen to Maria struck through me. I wanted badly to be back on the edge of the cliff again, to see her again. To protect her.
But that was just a fool's wish.
"The sooner you just believe we're alive, the sooner we can work out a way to help them!" Mr Gomez called back. I groaned. Why wouldn't he listen? I kicked something with my foot and I looked down. A rock. I bent down and picked it up. I twisted it within my palm and looked back up at Mr Gomez's retreating figure. I launched the rock at him and it successfully hit his back. Mr Gomez stopped in his tracks and turned back to me, his eyes boring into me.
"How do you expect me to believe that nonsense story of your's when you're not giving me any answers?" I cried. I saw my tutor's chest rise as he inhaled deeply. His lip quivered in an odd fashion and he closed his eyes.
"You really want me to tell you?" He asked, opening his eyes.
"I want to know what the heck is going on!" I called. I could see him contemplating whether or not he should tell me. Finally I saw his chest rise with a sigh.
"Robin, there's something you have to know about me." He said, slowly. When he didn't reply, I made a gesture with my arms for him to continue.
"Go on." I urged. He sighed again then told me.
"When your father found me in the forest, just before your birth, he assigned me with the duty of protecting you." I frowned and thought a little.
"Well, no offence, but you're not doing such a good job. Look where we are now!" I said, an attempt of humour. It didn't work on him. He just sighed deeply.
"When you were attacked in the forest, I was trying to come find you." He said. "But your father did not want me to go in, until it was too late. I suppose it was his way of giving you 'independence'. Though it didn't work, so your father told me to keep an eye on you, double that I was before." I listened at this bit of information. I didn't know what to feel now I was being told that my entire life I had someone, in the background, protecting me.
Like a Guardian Angel, almost.
"Then there was when you went missing." Mr Gomez continued. "I was too busy trying to keep your father from getting too drunk that I didn't see you leave the party with Miss Merryweather."
"I didn't leave with Maria." I cut in quickly. "I left and she just followed." In remembering the night, I felt my cheeks hotting up slightly. Mr Gomez noticed and grinned.
"More to the point," He carried on. "When I did realise you were missing, I went to find you. Only to run into that batty tutor of Maria's. She had obviously gone to find Maria, as was I with you. Somehow the woman managed to drag me back inside, where your, very drunk, father appeared, throwing up his entire night's drink all over me. You were gone after I had cleaned myself up and left your father in the safe hands of his brother-in-law." I grinded my teeth together at the mention of my Uncle. Uncle George, an incredibly irritating man, though his actions I didn't take to heart.
It was his son, who I loathed. I had learnt during my time with Cassandra that Henry had informed her of Maria. Apparently he had wandered into the forest, completely drunk and angry after Maria had rejected him. Cassandra and her sons were going to kill him until he started muttering about a 'stupid Moon Princess'. They questioned him and he sang like a canary. Telling them everything and leading them to believe that Maria had powers that they could use.
That's where I came in.
They came to Merryweather Manor, planning to take Maria, only to find Maria and myself in the forest together. They overheard Maria confess to me and took this as an opportunity. When Maria was dragged back inside by Mrs Heliotrope, they acted quick and grabbed me.
Then came the days of questions and never ending beatings.
All of this was down to Henry. If I only I could have pulled him down with me when I fell from the cliff's edge.
"Alright." I nodded. "Let's say I believe that we're still alive. How did you managed to save me this time?" I saw Mr Gomez's face fall hard slightly then he sighed.
"Promise you will not judge me." He told me quietly. "You have no reason to be afraid." I frowned but nodded. He closed his eyes and held his arms apart. For a few moments I stared, wondering whether the fall had completely taken the man's sanity. It seemed my tutor had finally gone mad. Though I heard Mr Gomez groan and I stared in shock.
Mr Gomez's features began to twist and transform. His nose and mouth mingled together to create something a lot like a beak. His short black hair grew and turned a brown, cream colour, separating into large, long strands. I saw his hands shudder and form into long vicious claws. It seemed that his whole body expanded, tearing at his clothes. Soon though his red shirt and black trousers were merging into his on growing body and behind, what looked to be, feathers.
All too quickly, Mr Gomez wasn't standing before me anymore and in his place was a giant creature. A bird-like creature with an eagle's head, sharp, fearsome claws for it's front feet and large wings, bigger than it's body completely. It's body and back legs were, what looked to be, horse's.
I stared in complete shock. I couldn't move even if I tried. If I was correct, the mystic creature that stood before me was a Hippogriff, something that I believed was only true in fairy tales. It seemed not.
Suddenly, the hippogriff began to shrink in size and before I knew it Mr Gomez stood in it's place, looking pretty much the same, except his clothes hung off him quite a bit. He stared at me, waiting for me to react.
"So you're a bird." I said finally, swallowing hard. Mr Gomez chuckled and walked back towards me. He gestured for me to sit down on the sands again. I did and he sat in front of me. I waited for him to explain.
"I'm surprised you're not freaking out." He said, carefully watching me.
"I'm more bothered about the fact I could still be alive than the fact you're some freakish bird-horse." I told him. He smiled.
"I assure you, my boy, you are alive and well." Mr Gomez said. "I saved you by changing into the 'bird-horse' I have just shown you." I didn't say anything for a few moments.
"So you can turn into a hippogriff." I nodded slowly. "Care to elaborate before I faint with sheer shock?" Mr Gomez chuckled then explained.
"I suppose the names you could give me are 'Skin-walker' or 'Shape-shifter'." He sighed. "I can take the form of whatever animal I please." I stared at him, eyes wide.
"Any animal?" I asked. He nodded.
"Fairy tale or real. I suppose some would consider it a gift. Your father did." Not a word was said for a few moments. Mr Gomez was giving me time for the whole thing to sink in.
"That's the reason he told you to protect me." I said quietly. Mr Gomez nodded slowly.
"He said my gift was too hard to just 'throw away'." He told me. "So he put me to use within the castle. I was to look after his only son." He gave me a weak smile. "To look after you and protect you from danger. I was also enrolled as your full time tutor, giving me more time to teach you how to protect yourself so that, one day when I am not around, you can fend for yourself on your own."
"You're making me sound like a child." I muttered. Mr Gomez chuckled.
"You are definitely not a child, Robin." He told me. "It's just your father thinks too greatly of you and does not want any harm to be caused upon you." A thought occurred to me suddenly
"Are you the creature in the forest?" I asked before I could stop myself. I was a fool when it came to keeping my mouth shut. I was always in need of shutting up. And yet I can't tell a girl how I feel about her. Kind of pathetic really. Mr Gomez shook his head frantically.
"Of course not!" He cried. "I've been trying to find the beast, just like you!" He seemed hurt by my accusation.
"I'm sorry." I apologised quickly. "I just had to ask."
"I understand." Mr Gomez nodded finally. He then sighed. "You've met the creature, you know." I frowned.
"Yes, it did try and kill me."
"I didn't mean that." He sighed again. "Use that brain of yours that I have trained up for the past 19 years and think hard. You know who the creature is." I stared at him blankly. "The creature's a skin-walker like me, though it can only take one form." It took me a while to get my brain to think straight. I was too caught up with the realisation of what my tutor was and the fact I was still alive.
It seemed that I had finally believed my tutor. I was alive because of him. He had jumped after me and saved my life before it was taken by the violent waters of the ocean. I was alive to put things right. To tell Maria how I truly felt for her. Though first I was going to have to save her from the hands of Cassandra and her no good sons of hers.
Cassandra.
"Cassandra." I said. A large smile broke out across Mr Gomez's face. "Cassandra is the creature?" He nodded.
"As are her sons."
"There are three creatures?" I asked, astounded
"Yes but they cleverly made it look like there was only one." Mr Gomez said, grumbling. "Whilst you were trying to track them with your, umm, interesting methods, I used a more subtler approach." I frowned at his insult towards my ways, but let him continue. "Doing what I did best, I tracked the creature in animal form. I found clues that led me to realise that the creature was infact like me. At first I was against killing it. I wanted to help whoever they were and try persuade your father to give them a life he had given to me. They had only killed animals, so I didn't think they were a threat."
"This was before the attack on Danny and me, I take it?" I asked. He nodded.
"When you got hurt I realised I was wrong. When Danny died, I knew they were no good and were beyond help." He looked up and met my eyes. "My kind never kill humans. Any who do are considered evil."
"Just like Cassandra." I muttered. "When did you realise it was more than one?"
"I'm not sure." He shrugged. "Though I guessed I knew that the creature was like me all along, it just took a few nudges to get me thinking along the right lines."
"Why didn't you tell my father?" I questioned. Maybe if he had, then we would have had a better chance in catching them, stopping all this.
"I wanted to deal with them myself." He sighed. "They were incredibly clumsy considering there was three of them. I knew I out did them when it came to strength as I could change into any form. They had the disadvantage in only turning into the one." Memories of the day of the attack ran through my mind. Seeing Danny's ripped body and the creatures demon eyes staring into me right before it took a swipe. Which one of them was the creature that day? Which one of them killed Danny?
"What do they want with Maria?" I asked. Mr Gomez stared at me, his eyes confused for a few moments.
"Surely they told you?" He asked.
"They told me they need her for her power because they know she's a Moon Princess and believe she inherited some of the first Moon Princess's power. They need the pearls to complete the ritual to take them from her." I had remembered it well as it had been told to me many times over the past few days. They had used it for a way of taunting me before the beatings began. "But is that the real reason they need her?" Mr Gomez nodded sadly.
"I believe so." He sighed. "Like Cassandra has probably told you, their powers are draining and they believe Maria can help them."
"But she doesn't have any powers!"
"Cassandra chooses not to believe that." Mr Gomez told me. I looked up at the cliff's edge. Questions filled my mind. Were they still up there? Was Maria weeping over my death? Had Cassandra killed anyone else?
"What will they do now they know they can't use the pearls?" I asked, turning back to my tutor.
"I suppose they'll carry out the ritual without them." Mr Gomez shrugged.
"And what will happen to Maria when they do?" I asked, though I feared I already knew the answer. Mr Gomez met my eyes with troubled ones.
"She'll die." Everything went silent for a few moments. Even though I knew that Mr Gomez was going to say that, it still hit me hard. Why were we sat on a beach whilst Maria could be dying right now? I got to my feet.
"What's your plan then?" I demanded. Mr Gomez stood up aswell.
"I don't have one really." He admitted. "I guess we go find them and kill them before they kill Maria."
"You've not thought this through have you?"
"No." There was a pause. I grinned at my tutor, who grinned back.
"Do you know where they'll be?" I asked. He smiled, knowingly.
"I have an idea." He nodded. My grin widened and Mr Gomez held out his hand. I looked down at it and shook it. An odd gesture but I had grown used to my tutor's strange ways. "Now let's not stand around. I do believe you have a damsel in distress to save." I shoved him, though he only chuckled. "Stand back, otherwise you may get a wing in your face." I took a few steps back and watched as Mr Gomez transformed back into his hippogriff form. Now I was closer I could see the size of him more clearly. It was still very scary to be so close to such a magical creature, though I knew it was indeed my tutor.
The hippogriff turned it's head towards me and shrieked. I was stunned for a few moments before I gathered what it much have meant.
"I didn't realise I had to ride you." I muttered, staring at the giant wings. If the hippogriff could roll it's eyes then I guessed it would have right now. Hesitantly, I walked over and prepared myself to mount the hippogriff's back. With a deep breath and climbed onto it's back and sat myself between the wings. "This is so weird." I cried. The hippogriff ruffled it's feathers and shook slightly then broke out into a run. I gripped the feathers in it's neck hard, silently praying it wouldn't take off and fly.
I could only dream.
I felt the wings flap and soon enough the hippogriff's feet left the ground. We soared into the air and up towards the cliff. We flew higher until we were so high, we could see De Noir castle and even Merryweather Manor between the thick's of the trees in the forest.
I laughed breathlessly. Never in my life was I to dream I would ever fly. And yet here I was. The feeling was immense.
"Come on then, Mr Gomez." I called out, patting the hippogriff's neck. "Let's go find this damsel in distress you were talking about." The creature made a grumbling noise, which I guessed to be a chuckle and we dipped suddenly. The action took me by surprise and I jolted slightly with fear. Though when I recovered, I set my eyes to scan the forest, looking for Maria and the others.
Mr Gomez and I were going to find them.
(A/N) How are you all feeling then? Confused? Happy? Did any of you guess Mr Gomez's secret?
I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing and filled with too information. This was kind of the ultimate chapter that answered most of the questions so I had to fit it all in some how. Please tell me how you think the chapter went. Like I said, it's one of the most important chapters so I want to know if I did it right.
I haven't wrote any more on the story yet, but I think that in the next few chapters I may have to skip from Maria's POV to Robin's POV. I will tell you clearly when I do, this is just a heads up.
Anyway, I will try and write an update for tomorrow, but I can't promise anything. I think I'll have to spend a lot of time trying to get the next few chapters right so I apologise if updates are a little on the slow side.
Until next time, my faithful readers!
-jemlou-