Rise of the Guardians

Arlecchino

Chapter Nine

The girl wandered aimlessly, town after town. She ate nothing, drank nothing, merely walked, watched, and walked even more. She was partially transparent, each day a little bit of her seeming to fade away.

The only thing left of her physical form was her pain. It did not diminish, it did not fade, it stayed in her chest like a fire that could not be contained. It drove her to wander aimlessly, seeming to seek something. Lune had seemingly granted her wish for her to fade but it was time consuming and with her mind full of darkness and pain, she felt as if she were in constant torture.

She sat on the cliff, looking up at the stars. Her face was stained constantly with tears, her skin pale, her body thinner, frailer. She was a Spirit, she didn't need anything save to wander.

Marcaria remembered this devastating pain. It brought her back, to where she hovered over her family, unable to leave but seeing them suffer as if she were a ghost, draining them of their life. It had taken all of her to leave them but she kept close, trying to keep an eye on them but watching each of them grow old, die, and fade away into forgotten history.

She felt the moon touch her, trying to talk to her. But she no longer heard him or felt much of his light. Just enough for a vain attempt to talk some sense into her.

Elsewhere, Momus had returned to Olympus and remained cloistered in his old home. He did very little and the various visitors left feeling strange. He did not raise his voice, he did not insult, he did not point out the obvious in a cruel yet honest way.

"I rather like him like this," Zeus drank from his wine with glee. He grinned at Hera. She was dressed in the most elegant of outfits, her beauty shining like a sun, nearly as bright as the distinguished crown upon her head. "He no longer treads on my authority."

"It is wonderful to have him silenced." Hera purred, clinking glasses with her husband. "To think, a worthless mortal could change him."

The couple laughed, once more clinking their glasses.

Eris was at Momus's home as she stormed in. "It's been nearly a month, Momus. Either you straighten up or you go and get her back."

He was in the kitchen, drinking down his fifth bottle of wine. He was well past intoxicated. He was unkempt, filthy, and currently chugging down the wine, the residue falling down his chin to puddle against his clothes and floor.

"Momus… look at you."

He gurgled, coughed, and threw the empty bottle against the wall, watching it shatter. "Who the Hell cares?"

"Come on, Momus, go to her. You can't live like this." Her hand touched him, or least partially. Two of her fingers seemed to go through him as she pulled back hurriedly.

Eris was soft-voiced. "Momus… you're bringing your own destruction."

"Me? I'm not going to fade. My story still exists."

"But.. You're.. fading.."

He snorted. "It's not me."

They both froze as they realized who it was that was disappearing. For Momus, it felt as if the ground disappeared and he was falling fast into a pit of nothing.

"M..Mar… oh, Gods, what have I done?!"

"Go to her!" Eris cried. "Come on, Momus. Out of everything in this world, both ours and hers, no one but her has ever made you a better person! Not even the Almighty Father can do that. He's punished you, tried to praise you, anything to get what he wanted and yet… she did it without asking of anything from you."

"I can't. It's too late.." His eyes were haunted. "She's gone forever…it's my fault…"

"No, it's not! You need to actually try!" Eris tried to drag her brother up but it was like trying to move a dead body. "Oh, Gods, Momus! This isn't you! You fight, you argue, to just win! This is where you need to stand, to move, to take action! Not to crumble. If you're a goddamn God, then be it!"

He staggered to his feet and got outside to see Zeus waiting.

"Eris, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking Momus to where he's supposed to be."

"He belongs in Olympus. That is where we reside," Zeus's voice was sharp and cold.

"No, he doesn't. He belongs with his trinket. Zeus, don't you want to stay forever? Do you want to be like some of the Gods where they are halfway gone because humanity has forgotten them? That each decade, a story fades and disappears into history, that would cause their existence to fall into decay?"

"We do not fade," Zeus snapped. "We are all powerful, we are everything, we are GODS!"

Thunderbolts shattered the ground around Eris, who held onto Momus tightly. Dark clouds swirled over the group as Eris looked to Zeus.

"Are you insane?"

"I am the Almighty Father and you will obey me." His voice was low. "Do you understand?"

"I have to take him to her.." Eris started.

"You will not!" His hand raised as lightning grew violently. He made a swift gesture as Eris held onto Momus tightly, expecting to be struck by his bolt.

There as a sound of paper ripping, as the Heavens above broke apart as the moon shone in full glory. It struck the ground, causing the Gods' reality to fluctuate, warp as Zeus shouted and tried to attack the moon.

The light struck him, throwing him to the ground as he grunted under the force of the light.

Momus slowly looked up, his face full of nothing but anguish. "I'm sorry…"

A single, soft beam of moonlight touched him. Momus's eyes widened. "Eris.. We have to get to her… once this month is finished, she'll be gone forever.. There's only a few hours left!"

They managed to leave with a lot more ease with Zeus still crushed under the power of the Man in the Moon. He screamed incoherently, his power bounding and rebounding around him as he couldn't even direct his attacks to no one else but himself.

Eris was having trouble keeping Momus up. "Geez… you let yourself go. You're as a weak a kitten!"

He was about to fall to the side only to find his mother holding him up as she caught him. "Let's get him going."

The two women dragged him toward where they could sense Marcaria.

Cast in the full moonlight, she could finally start to feel empty inside. It'd taken a full month for her to finally be able to truly disappear. Her head was tilted up toward the moon, eye closed lightly as she breathed in and out, concentrating on the feeling of nothingness.

She was very transparent, sparkling in the moonlight. She seemed so small and insignificant. "Oh, Lune.. Should I have protected those children? Should I have died? You should've kept me decaying and broken."

Her head slowly slipped down. "Good bye, cruel world.. May someone else bring you laughter… far better than I could ever do."

There was an audible thud behind her as she jumped in shock. Cast in silence for the last month of nights, she spun around and found Momus collapsed on the ground. For all of her pain, she found herself hovering over him in grief. "What's wrong?! What's happened?"

There was a delicate hand that waved in front of her. Nyx bore a sad gaze upon her face. "Poor little Spirit, look at how you've become. If I had known that you could fade, I would have stopped this from the beginning. No one should want to disappear."

Momus's hand slowly lifted and tried to reach for Marcaria only to slip into her abdomen and downward through her bent knees. She'd never seen that look upon his face, full of a pain that resonated with hers. He struggled to his knees.

She couldn't help it. "You look like trash."

His eyes met with hers with no familiar fire. All she saw was a haunting, piercing gaze. "I was wrong." Even his voice was nothing but pain. "I would rather be with you than be what I thought I was supposed to be. I didn't think I could change… that it would be helpful… I thought if I changed… I would disappear all the more faster.."

"But instead, you are…" Both hands came up to cup around her face, desperate to touch her. "My heartlessness has no boundaries.. I am truly a monster."

"Prank, you can't leave me… if you leave me, then all I will want is to be forgotten. To fade away. I am truly sorry.. That I allowed my own worries to consume me, that I thought only for me. I would rather lose my powers and become your follower than to live alone."

"How do I know that you mean it?" Her voice was faint. The moonlight was growing dimmer upon her. She was still disappearing as Momus struggled to convince her.

"I have never lied to you… I have always been honest.. You know that. If you know that, then you know that I am being honest now.."

"You said you loved me… that you couldn't be without me.. But you threw me away," Her gaze turned upward toward him, her face streaked in tears. "Because you were afraid of losing yourself? I was afraid of losing you and I did…like I have lost everything else… how can I live when everything I love leaves me? How can I bring joy and light and happiness in the spirit of tomfoolery, to bring laughter in the shadows when in the end, there is nothing for me? No one to laugh with me? No one to bring me light in my darkness… I only wanted that…to feel like I was truly loved…"

"I do love you! I do! I do! I swear that I do!" He became desperate, trying to grasp onto her. "I never wanted to lose you, Marcaria! I always wanted to make you happy, that you gave me that gift, that ability. Please, don't leave me. Don't…"

His hands once more slipped through. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked up to the Moon. "You can undo this! You can! You should! Please! Just do it!"

He reached out his hands to the moon. "You are more powerful than I, then my kind! We are nothing but words, stories, legends. We will fade but you live! Please… don't let her do this. You can stop this. You rose her, you gave her life again!"

The moonlight danced across the two as Momus found himself wilting. "Then, let it be that way…"

He moved carefully, wrapping his arms around her without touching her. His forehead rested just mere millimeters. His eyes closed slowly as his body turned to light. And that light slowly dimmed until his entire body was made of nothing but shadows. His eyes opened slowly, the color fading from his gaze to become black and void of everything that was cast in his eyes.

His eyes teared up as he refused to break her gaze. "You fade, I fade. If I cannot convince you to live, then I shall die here with you."

Her eyes widened just a tiny bit. Her hands slowly fisted against her knees. The pain that had been fading was growing again, stronger.

And yet, this time, she welcomed the feeling. She may have wanted her own destruction, but she never wanted his. Never wanted him or anyone to be unhappy, to be left alone. That was why she was chosen to be a spirit.

She couldn't let others be in pain. Her hands came up to hold his face, his gaze dropping as his head dropped. His body fell forward as her arms clung around him, holding her to her breast. "All right. I believe you."

Her fingers dug into his back. "Just.. Don't leave me."

The moonlight slowly strengthened upon Marcaria as she buried her face into his neck, a sob breaking out. "Don't.. leave me."

"I won't.." His hand came up weakly to brush against her hair. They pulled away slightly. "Not ever."

"Well, isn't this a charming situation?" Zeus was visibly furious, angered beyond a melting point. "You and that stupid bitch.. And that fucking moon… You will feel my wrath, Momus. You are still a God and I can break you into itty bitty pieces!"

Nxy turned with rage. "You dare to attack my child?"

Zeus faltered only momentarily. "You dare to go against me? He will be punished!"

"Not this time," Nyx hissed. "He has done no wrong!"

"He goes against me! None are to do so, not even you! Stand aside or I will take you out first!"

Nyx was livid. "You have gone beyond your boundaries! All others have realized the truth but you insist on believing that you are all-powerful, that you are everything! But you, like I and everyone else, are just words!"

Zeus threw his bolts at quick succession, sending both Nyx and Eris fleeing. Momus couldn't get up, his body weak from the near month of apathy and suffering. Zeus reared up as Momus tried to cover Marcaria.

But it was Marcaria who covered Momus from the attack. She never let go as the barrage of bolts struck her.

He finally stopped, confident that he'd won. "Your pretty little trinket doesn't stand against me. I am the Almighty…"

He froze as Marcaria slowly pushed up. She turned slowly, limping but glaring. "You think you're all powerful? That you're some gift of the Heavens, made in the creation of perfection? That you can control every single thing?"

She pointed to him. "Well, guess what! You're controlled by the words of my world, the humanity who dreamt of your story, who wrote it and left it to be discovered. We control you! Not the other way around!"

She was wobbly as he moved to strike. He surged, bolts flying forward only to shatter against the moonlight casting a barrier over Marcaria. "You may think you're all powerful but are you, really? You are nothing compared to Lune! He gave up everything to become who he was, to become someone who watches and guides and protects! He that sees the good in people, who picks carefully to be the one to bring forth their destiny. We were all someone before but now, we're more."

She fell to her knees, exhausted. "I may look like a human, I may have been a human, but I'm something more, something more than you will ever be. I will never fade like you, I will not be forgotten, for Lune truly cares while you piss and moan if you don't get your way. You're nothing but a bully, a whining, cruel child who thinks that if he cannot have it, he'll take it regardless."

Her eye glared out. "You're done here. Leave!"

"You think you can make me?"

She staggered up. She focused her thoughts on Momus, not current but of him before. His small smiles, his tiny chuckle, little things that betrayed his humor, his spirit. His happiness that she had made, that she had made happen. That power within was hers alone and she used it for the first time in a way she'd never manage before.

Her arm arched in front of her, through a violent stream of focused power that sent Zeus more than flying but his body was crushed from the effects. He fell backwards, stunned that a single attack could best him.

He moved to his knees, calling upon more bolts. Her hand came up to the moon, the light beaming down to cast her in a glowing light, not unlike those incidents that Momus had shown. She was surrounded by Lune, as she remembered that same feeling as she had first been risen.

Protected. Loved. Cared for. Given a life, a purpose when her own had been cut so short. Her eye filled with tears as the moonlight strengthened around her and expelled itself, affecting no one else but Zeus. He was overcome in a foreign power, that consumed him as he did the only thing he could do. He fled back to Olympus, screaming with rage at his defeat.

Marcaria staggered, taking in a ragged breath as the moonlight once more danced upon her, soothing, warm, and safe. "Lune.. My first.. True friend.. Thank you for your help…"

She turned slowly, looking up with a small smile. "Thank you so much for never giving up on me."

Her smile was big and bright, her eye closed as she laughed and cried. Her form filled in swiftly, restoring herself to what she had been before.

Her head dropped to Momus, who looked up at her tiredly. She found herself talking softly. "You look like crap, Mo."

"Yea, well, I feel like shit so it all fits." Momus attempted to push up but had no energy for it. "I feel stranger."

The moon gently beamed upon him. "Ahh.. That's right. I gave it all up.."

He turned his head slightly away and upward. He seemed to be listening. "Great, I still have my abilities. Sadly, I can't do a thing until I have the energy to just move."

Eris tapped her chin and then offered her brother a red apple.

He glared at her.

"It's a -red- apple! Not golden! There's no strife to be had with this. It's going to make you feel better."

"Mother?"

Nyx sighed as she took the red apple and took a generous bite. "There, it's good."

Momus scarfed it down, eating everything, right down to the core. He blinked as light slowly filled around him as he stood up.

His form changed to that of what he looked like before, clean, nearly well-kept, and at the right spot. He smiled slowly at Marcaria. "Come, let's go home."

Marcaria held up a finger. "Hold that thought."

She reared over the cliff, heaving as once in a more physical form, she felt utterly sick to her system. She didn't even think she had anything in her stomach, having not touched a bit of food in the near-month of wandering.

"Oh, I feel sicker than a dog.." She pulled back only to once more push forward to heave.

"Maybe you need something to eat," Eris offered Marcaria a red apple and watched the other girl turned entirely green. "Oh, well, maybe not this."

Eris winced as Marcaria heaved on a now empty stomach.

"I should get her something to eat," Momus muttered and disappeared into a shadow.

"Oh, it hurts.." Marcaria was moaning as a warm wind picked up, a new figure coming from the swirling gust. She stepped lightly, clad in a green toga, with her long, dark brown hair piled upon her head gracefully, and bore a lion's mane around her shoulders that was attached to a long cloak of gold.

"Rhea?" Nyx was stunned. "What in the world of Hades are you doing here?"

Eris pranced around her. "Oh, it's so nice to see you!"

Rhea smiled as she walked past them and settled down to Marcaria. She pulled from her robes a wine glass. "Drink this."

Marcaria wasn't all that sure but the trusting gaze made her rethink her worry. She took it and swallowed only a small amount. Her stomach settled in seconds as she sighed in relief.

"Guess that's what happens when I don't eat… for a month."

"Oh, my dear child, it wasn't for hunger that you became sick. You should have been sick in the month before but due to situations, things had been stalled."

"Stalled? For what?"

Marcaria stood up and looked up at the moon with surprise. In the seconds he spoke to her, the whiter she got.

"I'm… going… to… kill.." Her fury was rabid as she spun on her heels. "We haven't even talked about it!"

She took a step and the world spun as she crumbled. Now her stomach was reminding her that she had a lack of sustenance and she was paying the price for it. "I'll have that apple please."

Eris handed it to her as Marcaria scarfed it down. "More please."

She'd finish two more apples as Momus appeared, carrying a very big turkey sandwich, complete with lettuce, tomato, and cheese, piled in several interlacing layers. "I think it's the best sandwich I've ever…"

He froze at her glare. "Already? Look, I'm more than willing to make up, you can beat me up, tear me to pieces, anything you want to do to me, I will willingly take."

He was endearing, soothing, and fully honest. She could see it in his face and eyes and wilted. "Oh, I couldn't be mad at you…"

"Really?" Eris muttered as the two ignored her. Rhea moved to stand closer to the two as Momus took note of her.

"Mother Rhea? What are you doing here? Especially out of Olympus."

"For your trinket."

"That's it, who came up with that? I want to know once and for all! Why do you all insist of calling me 'pretty trinket'? I'm a living person!"

"What? Is there something wrong with her?"

"There was, not anymore." Rhea walked to stand behind Marcaria, who was watching her warily. Rhea put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "There will be a demi-god born."

Marcaria whirled around. "Hey! You don't get to tell him that! That's my job!"

Momus was grinning like a fool as Marcaria zoomed in on him. He tried his best to look stern but unexpectedly, she was engulfed in his arms as he practically danced around.

Rhea spoke softly to Nyx. "Almighty Father will not be done. His wrath knows no bounds and he is consumed with his power."

"I know." Nyx was livid. "He usually fears me but his greed is overpowering him. Even Hera has her jealousy strengthened by his attitude, making them a fearsome team. What can we do to protect these two?"

"The Man in the Moon will do what he can. The trinket will be unable to do anything until she bears the son."

"Son?" Momus spun around eagerly. "A son! Yes!"

Marcaria was beating against him. "What if it was a girl? Or a hermaphrodite?"

"That'll be fine too."

"Seriously?" Marcaria was skeptical.

"Take her home, Momus. You both need to rest."

"As you say, Mother. Thank you, Mother Rhea." He disappeared into a shadow, puling Marcaria with him.

Marcaria was scarfing down the sandwich he made as he opened the door to the home. He had to wait a moment as she polished off the sandwich and was licking her fingers eagerly.

"Still hungry!" She informed him as she trailed after him into the kitchen. She didn't bother waiting for another sandwich as she pulled out random things from the fridge and began to munch. It took some time before she was full as she sat at the table, sated.

Momus was looking out the window as she eyed him. She stood up with some difficulty. Marcaria was wiped out and started to head out of the kitchen, aware of Momus at her heels, following close enough to be mere inches from her.

She was nearing her bedroom as he began to softly repeat. "Keep going, keep going, keep going.."

"You do that every time." She looked over her shoulder. "It's not fair that you look great already and I still look like crap."

"We'll shower."

"I'll shower, you stay out!"

"But.."

"Give me space for a while, Momus." She snapped and hurried into the master bathroom with a growl.

She took her time bathing and by the time she was finished, she was exhausted. She dressed weakly and made her way back into the bedroom. "I'm so tired."

"Yea?"

She looked to Momus. "Yea… I guess I did push myself to the limit." She avoided his gaze as she started for the far side of the bed.

She was quickly encircled in his arms, a light hug as his head buried into her wet hair. "Come to bed," His voice was hoarse as he lifted her and settled the two of them in the near center.

Momus had wrapped himself as closely to Marcaria as possible, unable to not touch her. She lay on her side, away from him as his hand rubbed against her side before going to stroke her stomach.

Marcaria was red-faced. "Have we made up?"

"Not by a long shot. You still need to kick my sorry ass to Timbuktu."

"Momus.."

"There's nothing I can do that can truly make up for my stupidity and selfishness." His voice was gentle. "And I don't expect you to forgive me for, like, ever. Just let me take care of you and win you back over. I swear I will be a far better man that I had ever been."

"And you won't use your godly power of persuasion?"

"Like that ever worked."

She giggled and then yawned widely. Her head buried into the pillow, eyelids growing heavy.

"Mo.."

"Hmm?"

"What's going to happen now?"

"What do you mean? What about the whole ass kicking?"

"No.." Her hand rested on his against her stomach. "This."

"Anything you want. I can make you anything to eat, drink, make up the nursery, maybe a fighting room… don't really know what the boy will do when he first comes out, after all."

Marcaria shifted and moved to roll over to face him with a frown.

"Sometimes baby Gods do something," Momus said slowly. "I'm just saying. It'll all over our mythology."

She glared at him. "He's going to act like a baby!"

"Anything you want, honey."

"Don't placate me!"

"I won't! I'm sorry!"

She growled and began to beat him with a pillow.

"Whoa, fierce mama! Take it easy there, tigress, got to take care of yourself!"

"Take care of this!"

Under the pillage of the pillow hits, Momus was just laughing in relief as he managed to finally hug her down. "Never letting you go. Never being that stupid, that moronic, that much of a fucking ass."

He kissed her cheek as she was still wiggling furiously against him. "Go to sleep, love. You can beat me up tomorrow. I know you're tired."

"Fine but this isn't over."