This took longer than I wanted it to.

Window to the Past

Chapter 12: Little Boys, Little Girls

Toby couldn't breathe.

How can he know that? Does he mean that town? The one where people died? Has he been there before? What does that mean if he's been there before? Has he killed people?! What does that mean?! Is he going to-

David fell to the floor, gasping for air. Once his lungs were adequately filled with oxygen, he looked up apologetically to the baffled face looking down at him.

Between coughs, he tried to force out some sort of explanation. "I don't think-" David paused to cough. The air he had gulped down had probably gone down the wrong pipe. "I don't think they were breathing..."

This did nothing to help Ash's confused expression.

"The person before me," David clarified. "They weren't breathing. It happens pretty often, actually. My name's David."

Again, Ash said nothing.

"Didn't, uh..." David was a bit taken aback by Ash's reaction. "Didn't Alice tell you? She told me she told you..."

Suddenly, Ash's face cleared up. "Oh, this is yer brain thing actin' up again, innit?" he asked.

David frowned. "It's not 'actin' up'. This is normal-" David paused. "Well, at least for me. Uh...what were we talking about before I switched?"

"I asked you if you'd seen a town near Niccola Forest," Ash reminded.

"A town?" David asked, perplexed. He looked up as if trying to remember, then shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."

"Really?" Ash's tone was doubtful.

David shrugged. "I didn't really see much of Niccola Fields, or whatever it's called. I, uh...surfaced right before we met Fey for the first time. The journal didn't mention anything about a town, so I don't think there was one. When I looked around, all I saw was fields."

"David," Ash's tone grew more serious. "If you were in that town, I need you to tell me."

"I don't remember any town," David reaffirmed, shaking his head. "I only remember-"

"Were you asked by someone not to tell?"

This caught David off guard. He only took a few moments to recover from the shock, then replied. "Look. I didn't see any towns. And none of the others mentioned a town either. If there was a town, I don't think we saw it."

Ash sighed, looking a bit annoyed. "David, if you were told not to tell anybody, it's okay. You can tell me."

"If I was told not to tell anybody," David countered indignantly, "why would you not be 'anyone'?"

"Because I was told not to tell anybody, too," Ash replied.

David's anger faltered, and he fell silent.

"That town," Ash continued. "The town where someone dies every night and every day. I was there, kid. At least, I think I was." Ash let out a mirthless laugh. "It's been such a long time I've started wonderin' whether I'd made the whole thing up."

"You..." David wasn't sure whether to keep up the façade or not. He decided to continue playing clueless. "What are you talking about? People die?"

Ash nodded solemnly. "A long time ago, when I was younger, I left Wyvern. I wanted t' find my future and all that. I ended up near Niccola Forest. I was tired and hungry, so when I saw that town I jumped at the prospect of food and sleep. I slept in an alley that first night. The next day, I went along with all these other people I didn't know to the city plaza. There, this man told us that the Mafia had struck again. And then he flopped a dead guy onto a chair.

"The next few days were a whirlwind of dyin' people and yellin' about whodunnit. A man named Colin decided that he was gonna help me out a bit. He told me how things worked; showed me the ropes. He...told me what all the roles were. Doctor, Mafia, Strongman...Sheriff." Ash seemed a lot older than he did a few minutes ago. He refused to look David in the eye. "I trusted Colin. And he trusted me. And then...

"He tried to kill me."

David, who didn't even realize he had been leaning forward, fell over. He quickly got back up and responded. "What!?"

Ash simply nodded. "Colin was part of the Mafia. He was one of the few people who were killin' people every night. If a Doctor hadn't come by, I'd've been done for. But...me and Colin didn't speak t' each other anymore. Though," he stopped and let out another humorless chuckle. "That's t' be expected, innit? You aren't going to talk to someone who just tried to kill you, right?...The Mafia won. They outnumbered us three to two. Liz and I - a different Liz, not the doctor - were the only innocents left. And...I escaped. I tried to. The Mayor caught me at the edge of the town as I was trying to leave...but all he said was not to tell anybody. And then I left."

David was silent. He felt like he should feel sad for Ash, because of what happened with Colin, but all he felt was confusion over whether to come clean or not. "You broke your promise," he said uncertainly. "To the Mayor. You told him you'd never tell anybody, but you told me."

"Son, you're the first person I've ever told. And I only did that because I was convinced you'd been there, too. But I suppose I could've been-"

"I was there," David said finally.

"What?"

"I was at that town," he repeated. David recounted what happened at the town to Ash. The paranoid lady, sleeping in the alley, the meeting, the near-death experience, and what the Mayor had said.

"You went through all this first hand?" Ash asked his voice sounding neither impressed nor condescending.

David shook his head no. "I read a lot of the stuff from the journal. The only thing I did was talk to the Mayor."

"So you reminded him of a little girl, huh?" Ash looked back at the kitchen as if he was wondering whether he should get something else to eat.

David nodded. "Do you know what he was talking about?"

"No," Ash shook his head. "I wasn't there a mite longer than I needed to be. I feared for my life - though I reckon you figure what that's like, eh, kid?"

"Why do you do that...?" David said with a slight scowl on his face.

"Do what?"

Deciding it wasn't worth it, David shook his head. "It's nothing..."

This sentence brought an awkward silence between the two, a stalemate made by a lack of subjects for either to talk about. This left Ash to get up from his chair to acquire something to snack on, which in turn left David to inspect the house around him. He hadn't gotten a very good look since the conversation started, and Ash's hunger pangs left a good opportunity.

The room was cold and dark, lit only by the windows on the outside walls. David realized the entire house was only one or two rooms wide. There was heat coming from behind him. His curiosity piqued, David leaned over the back of his splintered wooden chair, careful not to tip his low center of balance. He saw a small fireplace crackling comfortably behind him. David guessed that this might be the only source of heat in the entire house. This guess was reinforced by the fact that there was a cozy bed right next to the fireplace. Small objects were strewn on the floor in a seemingly random order, though they were few and far between enough to avoid giving off the vibe of a hoarder. The ceilings soared high above him, and yet they seemed restricted by the narrow dimensions of the walls. David could hear the whispered whistling of the frigid wind drifting by outside the ice-laced windows. Despite the warmth radiating behind him, David shivered at the thought of being outside. A sort of plastic smell came from the kitchen though David couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. He could remember smelling something similar in Facility-Wide...melted plastic, maybe? Shivering again, David gave in to his desires and quietly scooted the chair closer to the fire. He turned around, and for the first time, noticed a small red hat and whip hanging above the mantel.

"What're these?" he asked absently, not expecting any sort of answer.

Ash turned around to face whatever David had been talking about. "That? That's my Whip Ability. Equipment given to me by the pink legend 'imself."

"Oh," David said flatly. "I don't know what that means."

"You don't-" Ash sputtered, before continuing under his breath. "How much does this kid know, anyhow?" Walking up to the fireplace, Ash removed the hat and whip, holding them in each stub. "If you wear this hat and hold this whip at the same time, y' get somethin' called the Whip Ability. D'you know what an Ability is, at least?"

David simply shook his head no, earning a tired sigh from Ash.

"Aw, it's seven in the mornin'...this ain't no time for tutorials...Y'know what? I've done enough talkin' to last me the whole week. Go ask Liz if yer interested about what Abilities are. I haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

"O-okay," David said, just barely picking up on the subtle hint to leave. "Well, um...thanks for your help...?"

Ash laughed again. "I don't really think I helped you much there, son. You came here askin' about yer family. I can't say I helped you a ton."

"It's...it's okay," David said, thinking otherwise. He picked up his bag and journal, and headed out the door into the cold street. The door shut softly behind him before he realized he hadn't said goodbye, leaving the meeting on a rather sour note.

Well, that might've just ruined Alice's chances, David thought with a small smirk. This smirk was swept off his face with another cold gust of wind, revealing the cuts that Mia and Adrian had so generously donated. He wasn't exactly sure what to do now. Maybe he should go talk to Liz about those 'Abilities' things. Or maybe he should update his journal first.

But where's Liz? And who is Liz anyways? Man, having these memories being separate sucks.

"Ah, hello, Adrian, sir!"

Adrian? David thought, confused. He turned around to face whoever was speaking, and saw a dark green puffball on the other side of the street. Oh, Adrian. He's probably talked to this guy before.

"Uh...hi!" David said, feeling more than a bit awkward. "How are you?"

"I'm content, sir! Thank you for asking, sir!" the puffball replied.

Wait, when did he get so close to me? David thought, taking a step backward. "Um..."

"Are you feeling well, sir?" he asked. "Excuse me for saying so, but you seem out of sorts, sir."

"Just, uh..." David stuttered unsure of what to say. "Yeah, actually. I'm feeling sort of sick. Do you know where Liz is?"

"Liz?" he repeated quizzically. "You want to go see Liz? She isn't much of a doctor for common illnesses..."

"Really? What does she do?" David asked.

"Surgery, sir. Operations and the like."

"Uh...oh. Okay," David said quietly. Suddenly this 'Liz' character didn't sound so nice. "Who's the doctor, then?"

The dark green puffball smiled. "That would be me, sir. Or...I'm the closest thing to a doctor Wyvern has, barring Liz. Would you like me to help you, sir?"

"No, no. I'm good," David said carefully.

The puffball gave him a confused look. "But you said you were sick not a few moments ago, sir. Are you sure?"

"Yeah," David said quietly. Why did he even say he was sick? He was trapped in a lie. "I'm sure. But...I need a place to write."

"You're a writer, Adrian, sir?" he asked. "That's excellent! But...weren't you in the library just last night, sir? Do you not know the way?"

"I, uh...forget."

"Well then, I'll lead you there, if you'll follow me."

I stared at the blinking cursor on the laptop screen. I didn't even bother to look back. He'd be in that position on the desk, with his head in his hands. Maybe he'd be mumbling something.

"...Chaos?"

"...What?"

Instantly I turned back around. Chaos was looking at me from his desk, acting as he had from day one. I gawked at his...normalness. He stared at me for a while, then repeated his question. "...What?"

"You're not weird anymore."

"...What?"

"You're talking. You don't have your head in your hands. You aren't mumbling stuff."

"Oh, that," Chaos said, nodding slowly. "I was feeling sick. But I'm better now."

"...Sick?" I echoed dumbly.

"But I'm better now," Chaos repeated, before turning back to his desk to write in his notebook. "Ah...Multikirby-"

"I'm Cameron," I said.

He turned to me. "Yes, I know. You aren't Multikirby. But...Cameron. When I was writing for you during Canon Fodder, did you ever think I was going to make a mistake?"

"No. No, never. That's why I asked you to do it," I said. "Why?"

Chaos continued as if he didn't hear me. "And do you still think I have anything to do with bringing you here?"

This time I didn't come up with an answer right away. He'd struck a chord.

When I was twelve, I decided it'd be a good idea to write a collection of stories on Fanfiction. They were terrible and as full of cliches as Kinders are full of Surprises. But I thought they were good. I carried through until the end. They took three years. I finished the last story when I was fifteen. As soon as I submitted the last chapter...I came here. I was...warped or something...to this white place with only two tables and a laptop. And the strange thing was I recognized it. This was the place I'd made for Multikirby, my self-insert. And yes. I know. Self-insertion. I was twelve, okay? But the funny thing is I think that's part of why I came here.

I saw Chaos in the first few seconds of being here. He was the co-author and friend I'd made for Multikirby, and he mirrored my brother in real life. Chaos was his persona, and Multikirby was mine. And...when I saw Chaos in front of me, I didn't know what to think. I was so confused...and I yelled at him. I thought he brought me here. But now I'm not so sure.

I had to fill the role of Multikirby. In those stories (and in this one, I guess) Multikirby was me. He was me, sucked into the story. And he went back home when the story ended. So I figured if I wrote the stories the way he did, I'd go home in the end. And so I wrote. Of course, I'm fifteen now, so I had three years more writing experience than I had when I started. So I changed the stories. I made them more interesting. And I got more friendly with Chaos.

But I never said sorry.

"No, Chaos," I said quietly. "I don't think this was your fault."

Chaos nodded slightly, then went back to writing.

I did, too.

"We're in Linden's libarry now," David wrote. "Before I do the update thing can someone tell me why I have cuts and brooses all over my body?"

"That was me," Adrian confessed. "Those dang icy sidewalks are a XXXXX. And you met that Linden dude too? He's weird. Don't talk to him too long, he messes with your head or something."

"Adrian I swear you'd better stop swearing in front of David," Alice reprimanded him, angrily crossing out the taboo word.

"I had something to do with that, too," Mia added. "I kind of left Liz's place early in the morning and I didn't know the door locked behind you when you went outside. It was so cold out there. I was doing all these jumps and stuff just to stay warm. Liz talked to me and I rushed off to see Ash. I kind of forgot that icy stuff is slippery and I slipped and fell and then Adrian took control. I dunno, we kind of switch at crisis points or something, don't we?"

"I switched in after Adrian tried to kick Ash in the face," Toby stated. "I mean, I don't blame you. I don't know what the circumstances were about why you tried to kick him, but I'm sure that you were justified. But he ended up hitting me back. And then we went inside to talk. And then...he asked about the Mafia Town and I freaked out. I switched out, too."

"You people get excited too easily," Tristan quipped.

"He has a point. You all ought to be more careful when you're in control," Daphne wrote. "There are cuts and bruises, as David mentioned, and the rest of us have to deal with your mistakes."

"Shut up! I was the dude who got them, okay?" Adrian retaliated angrily. "I felt the pain, too, okay?! You're just complaining because you aren't the one who got 'em! If you were, I'd bet my life that we wouldn't hear a single word from you about it!"

"Um...Im gonna update now, OK?" David wrote. "So...I think I switched in after Toby, and Ash was talking about the mafia town. I told him I never heard of it before, and he ended up saying he's been there too. Aparenttly that's why he wanted to be Sherriff or something...? This guy named Colin tried to murder him after becoming his freind because he was Mafia. And then I just told him that we were there too since the Mayor told him not to tell anybody either. And then we talked for a bit more and I left. I met with Linden on the other side of the street (he called me Adrian) and he told me that Liz isn't a doctor. She's a sirjen. Doesnnt that mean she cuts people open and stuff? He told me he was the closest thing Wivern had to a doctor, baring Liz."

"You talked with Ash?" Daphne asked. "You didn't stumble over your words, did you, David? How is the relationship with Ash? Are you and he still friends, or did you develop some animosity? And what of this Linden? How are you on terms with him? Did you say anything that might offend him? If so, I might be able to mend any sort of rift you could have created."

"SHUT THE HECK UP!" David scrawled so heavily it ripped the page on multiple points. "I'M NOT A LITTLE KID! I'm as old as all of you are! Yes, I suck at spelling. Yes, I don't have as good a vocabullarie as you do! But I'm not helpless! And I don't care if I'm ripping the page! Why do you think I went up on those mountains anyway?! I wanted to show you guys I can take care of myself! I can do everthing you can because we have the same body. But NOOOO. All I hear is don't say that in front of David! Oh, don't do that, David, well take care of it! No, David, don't bother! Wait, David, you did what we were trying to do? You didnt screw up, did you? Oh, David, wow, good job, you ATE A SANDWICH. HAVE A PRIZE.

"I'M. NOT. A. BABY. I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF."

"David, that was highly uncalled for," Daphne scolded.

"Oh my GOD, Daph, listen to yourself!" Mia returned. "Listen to David! He's angry because he's being treated like a little kid! And you just did it again! Do you even take into account what anybody but you wants?!"

Alice stared down at the page, tears streaming from her eyes. These tears made small damp circles around where she wrote. "I'm sorry, David...I didn't know you felt like that. I'll...try to be better - Crap, I'm crying, that's going to leave streaks..."

"I think that was highly uncalled for, Daphne," Tristan wrote absently.

"I wasn't trying to be rude, I was simply stating my opinion," Daphne defended herself. "He ripped the page. He's welcome to tell us how he thinks we're treating him, but a tantrum is not the way to go about it."

"Daphne, that was kind of rude..." Toby wrote. "David feels like we're babying him. And I can't help but think that you're more concerned about the page being ripped than David's problem. I mean, I don't think you're a mean person, but you're being...kind of a..." Toby trailed off, unable to think of a good word.

"XXXXX." Adrian wrote simply.

"I'm doing this for me now," Alice replied, crossing out the word again. "I don't like reading swears. But seriously, Daphne. That was really rude. He's trying to tell us something that's bothering him, and you're brushing it aside."

"Do you just not care?" David asked caustically. "This isn't you're body, Daphne. We're sharing it. You're not better than the rest of us."

"THANK YOU!" Adrian wrote, drawing a starburst shape around the words. "Somebody said it! Get the shmeck off your high horse!"

"...I'm not on a high horse."

"You kind of are," Tristan countered.

"You act like some sort of third party," Mia stated. "You're pretending we're all little kids on the playground squabbling over something, and you're the wise person who comes over with a billowing cape of wiseness and a serene wise expression and waving her stubs around all wise-like and you say 'now, now, don't fight, tsk, tsk'. Well, news flash, Snow White, you're on our level! So stop acting all high and mighty, or stop talking!"

"I think you're trying to help," Toby said, choosing his words carefully. "But the way you put things is kind of condescending."

"...Well. If that's how you all feel, I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye."

"See, there you go again. Being all dramatic to

Adrian stopped dead in his tracks. Something was missing. It felt like there was a hole inside him, as if something had been removed

Oh, God in Heaven what the heck did they do.

"That wasn't very smart, was it?" Mabel wrote.