"Inventing the Future"

"Chapter 35: Wise Owl"

Jaming and Meredith stepped out of the inn with no clear plans for the day. Meredith was all for visiting Lin's house alone and trying to smooth things over, but Jaming just wanted a few moments to figure things out. There was simply too much going on; Lin had seen him, had nearly plunged to her death, had attacked him after he pulled her to safety, and now he learned that Meredith was pregnant. When would he get a moment to breathe?

As he saw a large owl sitting on the iron fence around a nearby building, he realized that the answer was 'not yet'.

Meredith spotted Argo just as Jaming did, and they both instinctively stopped in their tracks.

The bird had clearly been staking out the inn, waiting for them to emerge. As soon as he caught their eyes, he fluffed his feathers and called out to them. "It's about time you two got up. I thought it was my kind that slept during the day. I want a word with you, young man."

Jaming lowered his eyes like a guilty child, then caught himself doing that and put on his poker face. He took Meredith's hand, and the two of them began to approach until Argo shook his head. "Just you, if you don't mind."

Meredith didn't seem to like that at all, and she folded her arms. "No girls allowed?"

"You weren't on the warship, I presume, unless you were below deck. Were you?" Argo turned his head and looked piercingly at her.

She hesitated, and Jaming realized that she was thinking about lying and saying that she had been. He shook his head. She had told him that she would take it with him, but he couldn't let her incriminate herself when she was completely innocent. As it turned out, though, he didn't have to speak. She finally gave a reluctant reply. "No."

"She and I didn't meet until later on," Jaming explained, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Argo noticed this, saw the way she leaned into the embrace, and he rustled his wings a bit. "So, you two are a bonded pair, then? Hm. Well, all right. Then this is for your ears, too. But let us get out of this dreadful sun. It hurts my eyes."

"Of course," Jaming agreed. "Where to?"

"Come to the house," Argo hopped down from the fence and walked with a rather pigeon-toed gait to the edge of the plateau. "We have much to talk about."

And with that, Argo spread his wings and gracefully took to the air. Jaming watched him go, then shut his eyes. "Meredith...I don't think you're going to like what you're probably about to hear in that house."

She looked at him and slipped her arm around his waist. His stress was plainly visible in the frown lines between his eyebrows and at the corners of his mouth, and there was little she could do to lessen his burden. "This could be a good thing, though."

"I don't see how," he said morosely as they headed for the bridge. "He probably just wants to avoid making a public scene. And he might have a go at you; I don't want that. Especially not now, with a baby on the way..."

"Pff!" Meredith snorted, crossing the bridge behind him. "I'm pregnant; I'm not made of glass. And I don't think that's what he has in mind. The body language was all wrong for that. If he does, I can take it."

Jaming said nothing. He wasn't as confident as she was that everything would be all right, but he was glad she was with him, and he wouldn't have to go in there alone. All the same, he wished that they had never come!

They arrived at the house to find that Argo was nowhere in sight, but one of the windows was open. That must have been how the owl had gotten out, unless he was able to use his feet as hands and turn a doorknob. Jaming neither knew nor cared, and since they were expected, he simply opened the door and let himself and Meredith into the house. As he expected, Argo was already inside, sitting on his perch.

"Well...here we are," Jaming shut the door behind them and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Before you say anything, I want you to know she had nothing to do with anything that happened at the Lighthouse. I'm...I'm asking you not to accuse her by association."

Argo flapped his wings impatiently and shook his head. "Hoo! Don't be a nincompoop. I brought you here because of last night. I know your crimes, at least some of them, and I know that Lin didn't see this other one...I'm sorry, what was your name, young lady?"

"It's Meredith," She told him, discreetly giving Jaming's hand an encouraging squeeze. The poor man looked miserable!

"Meredith, yes. I shall try to remember. Jaming is easier to recall. Now, as I was saying," Argo pointed with one of his wings at a small table with two chairs in one corner of the room. "Please, be seated."

Jaming pulled out Meredith's chair for her, then sat down after she did. He was confused now, but he wasn't about to admit it. Why wasn't Argo yelling or attacking? It made no sense!

"Lin cried herself to sleep last night, you know." Argo's voice hardened now. It seemed that Jaming wasn't off the hook after all. "I tried to persuade her to forgo training today, but she insisted that she needed to go to the Lighthouse, today of all days. You tried to destroy the Moon Crystal, and when Crest rose up in defense of it, your ship ended his life instead. You could have taken Lin's life. You have a lot to answer for, Jaming."

Jaming felt a slow wave of nausea, and he couldn't think of a single thing to say, nor could he look at either Meredith or Argo.

"What I don't understand is why you're here now. Lin told me that you kept her from falling off the cliff last night, and that you wouldn't tell her why. Perhaps you will tell me." Argo waited expectantly.

"I..." Jaming took off his monocle and began to play with it. Long moments passed, and he simply couldn't find his voice.

Meredith watched him struggle with his answer, and she spoke up instead. "He's not with Emperor Griffon anymore."

"Is that so?"

Jaming put his monocle back on after wiping off the fingerprints, and mumbled, "Lin was going to fall, and I didn't have time to think. I just reacted. I...I'm sorry. For everything I've done, I'm sorry." Argo said nothing, and Jaming realized that a more detailed explanation was expected. He sighed and folded his hands on the table. "How I ended up working for Griffon is a long story, but the fact of the matter is, I was under orders to destroy the Moon Crystal. I didn't expect anyone to be in that Lighthouse, but...back then, I spent a lot of time ignoring my conscience, and yes, I did fire on the Lighthouse."

It was strange. One would expect that telling this story would get easier every time, but revisiting his crimes was like pressing one's tongue against a bad tooth to see if it still hurt. Of course it did! Jaming looked up as Meredith covered his folded hands with her own, and he drew strength from that. "I won't make any excuses for myself. I've hurt a lot of people, and I don't expect or deserve forgiveness. I...I'm an inventor who got involved with the wrong sort of people, and...and now I'm...I'm trying to make amends for the terrible things I've done. That's why I'm here."

Off came the monocle once more, and he rubbed his face as he fought back the tears.

"Hm..." Argo looked thoughtfully at the remorseful blue human, then turned to the human's mate. "And you will vouch for him, then?"

"Of course," Meredith replied, rubbing Jaming's shoulder before looking over at Argo. "He's told me everything already, so none of this is a surprise. And he's told me some other things as well. The truth is, Gaspard, another one of Griffon's men, came to him when he was in a particularly low place and told him that if he joined them, people wouldn't look down on him anymore, and his inventions would lead him to greatness. By the time he realized he had made a mistake, it was too late to turn back. He felt that he had no choice."

Argo mulled this over for a bit, and as he did so, he watched Jaming for signs of deception. Jaming had every opportunity to refuse to explain himself, and to go right back out that door. Instead, he had confessed without trying to make himself look good. Argo wanted to continue to be angry at him, but as he tried to imagine what it was like to live with such terrible guilt, compassion began to take the place of anger. "I can't speak for Lin, of course. And nothing in this world can bring Crest back to us. Not even holding a grudge against you. You have my forgiveness."

Whatever Jaming was expecting Argo to say, it wasn't that! He looked up at the owl for the first time since he had begun to speak, and when he found his voice again he put his monocle back on. "Thank you..."

"Now," Argo shifted a bit on his perch, "why are you here?"

"Ahem...well, we have a friend who needs some help. She, um...she came to me, and I don't know what to do. You see, she used to be a painting. Magic was used to bring her to life, and now she wants to return to the canvas. I know how that sounds..." Jaming actually blushed; the story was pretty far-fetched!

"Hoo! Like the ones that artist who lives here paints? What was his name? Parn, wasn't it?"

Meredith sat up a little straighter in her surprise. "You mean, you know him?"

"Certainly! He's painted some beautiful pieces. That still life on the wall is one of his," Argo nodded to a rather nondescript portrait of a ceramic bowl filled with apples. "He's been boasting that he plans to bring one of his creations to life, if he could just get it right. The villagers think he's rather eccentric."

"What?" Jaming looked from the painting back to Argo. "You mean he's going to do it again? Doesn't he realize what he's doing?"

Argo turned sharply back to Jaming and flared his wings. "What do you mean 'again'? You mean this young woman you speak of is one of his?"

Both of them bristled a little at Argo's choice of words, and Meredith said rather coldly, "Julia belongs to herself. It's not her fault Parn decided to play God."

"Please, don't take offense," Argo implored, "I meant to ask if she was from one of the portraits he's done."

"Oh," Meredith rubbed the back of her neck. "Yes, she is."

"The trouble is," Jaming continued, "the gold paint that was used to bring her out of the painting is...Well, it's unusual. I can't make heads or tails of it, and I don't even know if it's possible to return her to the painting. Also, there are the moral implications to contend with..."

"Moral?" Argo blinked. "How so?"

"Well, Julia claims that there is another world on her side of the canvas, but I don't know if I believe it. If there isn't, then I don't know if I should carry out her wishes." He scratched his cheek. "I simply don't have the answers. And I thought...Well, the plan was, I would find out where Crest's apprentice could be found. Having done that, I would tell Meredith, and she would go and ask about the paint. Then we would leave, and Lin would be none the wiser. She...she was never supposed to actually see me. That was all an accident."

Meredith chimed in, "I don't think Parn meant any harm, but he's caused Julia a great deal of it. To be honest, for selfish reasons, I half hope it can't be done. She's a good friend of mine."

"I don't know her nearly as well as Meredith does, but I made a promise. I know it's a long shot, because Lin is still quite young, but we thought she might know something, or have a book referring to the paint, or...anything, really."

"Quite an elaborate deception you had planned," Argo remarked, looking rather sleepy now that noon was approaching. "Though I can certainly see now why it was necessary. My, my, what a pickle. Hoo!"

Jaming nodded. "Indeed, it is."