Author Note: …..real life, funerals and a New Orleans vacation can distract a writer from their craft….while sad and very real, sometimes these small diversions can play out in fiction in ways one didn't imagine. My muse is alive and kicking so sorry for the delay….Read on…..

Chapter12 – Revelations

T7S

Steven Hyde was speechless. He knew Leo was "out there" sometimes, but a carnival owner? Leo owned a few Fotohuts but an actual working carnival with security dwarves and shit? Leo walked over to his puzzled friend and put a hand on the corduroy covered shoulder. "Yeah man, I forgot to tell you about this."

Theo turned around and Eric recognized him. He pointed a finger and said, "Hey, I remember you! You decorated my basement."

Theo looked proud, "That, my man, was a work of art." Both cousins grinned, but Theo replied," Yeah... it was a job but after that little break we took it became a piece of art. Two inches. We kept everything the same but moved it two perfect inches to the left."

Leo looked proud, "Yeah, it was difficult but we did it. Too bad your dad couldn't see the beauty."

Eric grinned. At least he got his basement back! "I appreciated it man. Thanks." At least he could forget about the whole Donna and the promise ring necklace. His mother's attempts at a basement makeover were thwarted by a pair of stoners and their lack of attention. Eric reached out to shake Theo's hand. "Again dude. Thanks."

There was a slight cough that interrupted the happy reunion. All heads turned towards the lovely gypsy who was tapping the pointed toe of her boot. She smiled at Leo and scowled at Hyde who absently rubbed the hot spot on his neck.

Leo grinned and said, "Hang on Toots; I'll make introductions in a minute."

"Toots?" Tatiana's voice seemed to rise in octave at the inane moniker. Leo gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head. He looked at the Point Place gang and said, "Me and Toots go way back."

Tatiana felt a warm tingling from the hug and in her heart it was as if the key finally found the lock and opened the door. The king was back and she could breathe again.

-o-

Eli was like a puppy without his calm down medication. He was talking loud and looking for praise. Leo put an arm around the short cousin's shoulder and grinned, "So….where's Jack?"

Eli rolled his eyes. "He's….he's not stealing wallets! That's what he's not doing."

Eric was still wondering how Eli pick pocketed his wallet so easily. Hyde tried to ignore the freaky little spider monkey that was hopping back and forth between Theo and Leo. "So…who's Jack? Another cousin?"

Leo shook his head as the silk hat of Jack the Lad approached the group. The young teen smiled creepily and said, "What's up Pop?"

Theo laughed," Everyone…..this is Jack Daniels Chingwake. Leo's son."

Hyde staggered and Kelso said, "Whoa! Damn Leo we knew you had a son, but you've been hiding him in a carnival? Why couldn't I be your son? I love monkeys and midgets!"

Fez piped up, "and I love girls with hairy faces!"

The voice of reason, Eric interrupted. "Guys, remember that Leo also has a wife?"

The King of the carnival scratched his head, "Well, I don't really. There was this lady I hooked up with like….17 years ago and we got really wasted and I think I drank a whole bottle of Jack Daniels and….oops, nine months later we have a baby!"

Jackie said a silent "ew" and looked at the creepy kid. He did have Leo's eyes and chin but the rest of him must have resembled his mother. She asked, "So if you weren't married, then where's his mom?"

Jack grinned, "Me mother is living somewhere in Canada and probably doing it on the back of a horse with some Royal Mounted Policeman."

Fez sighed, "Aiyy…..doing it….on a horse…with a loose woman. I need to see more of the world."

Hyde frogged Fez in the arm. "That's not the point man, his mother abandoned him and he lives in a freaking carnival with dwarves and shit."

"And Edna abandoned you and you live in a basement with Eric's family." Kelso laughed, "Sounds like you and…." Hyde frogged Kelso in the shoulder, "Ow! Man you hit hard for a non-carnival orphan!"

A pinch burn on Hyde's nape was like being pricked with a needle. He locked eyes with Tatiana and she waggled a finger at him like he was a naughty boy. Somehow without saying a word he felt chastised. "Sorry Kelso. I was just thinking that Jack here and me we're like orphans. We're NOT orphans….just like it." Feeling a need for praise, Hyde looked back at the gypsy and she smiled. What a killer smile it was!

Theo made an exaggerated look at his watch and declared it was dinner time. "Why don't all of you join us for a meal and we'll tell you the parts of King Leo's history that you didn't know about."

Fez asked shyly, "Can Serena eat with us?"

Theo laughed loud and boisterously. "Of course!" The larger cousin led the way towards the traveler's trailers as Fez looked at Hyde and hissed, "What! If she turns her head sideways, her mouth looks just like a…."

Jackie kicked the foreigner in the shin," Don't be gross."

"Aiiyyeee!" He yelped. Meanwhile, Kelso was tilting his head sideways and nodding in affirmation. Hyde closed his eyes at his loser friends. Damn that thing on his neck hurt!

Eric offered to help Tatiana close up her tent and she smiled at Temperance, "You are a wonderful young man." When her tiny hand touched his he felt a waterfall of emotions roil through him and it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Just something he had never experienced before.

She looked at him. "You are missing the Sun aren't you?"

Eric frowned, "Well, it has been snowing a lot…."

Tatiana only smiled. "Remember, stars twinkle just as brightly. Follow me Eric Forman; I have something waiting for you."

T7S

They ate dinner with their fingers and while normally Jackie would have been disgusted, the roasted pheasant was good and the bread was fresh and the fermented beer gave her a pleasant buzz. Even Eric looked good in the dim light of the lanterns in this gypsy camp!

Theo relinquished his seat at the head of the picnic table to the real King of the carnival and continued with the story. "….so while a pregnant Claudette and Leo were trekking through Canada, I took over the carnival and we have been in every state except Vermont."

Eli talked around a piece of meat in his mouth, "Theo hate's Vermont for some reason."

Jack picked up the story, "When I was just a wee lad, Pop here took too much of one of Tatiana's potions and we lost track of him for a while. Uncle Theo found him in Kansas where he bought something called a Foto Hut."

A slow grin dawned on Leo's face. "I remember that now!" He looked at Hyde, "That's how I got my money."

Theo corrected his cousin. "Leo always had money but his investment in the Foto Hut's was a little boon for our carnival. Over the years, he would put some money in the bank and we would add to it and it helps us with our travels."

Hyde frowned, "So when you left me that note…."

Leo closed his eyes in bliss as the spider monkey scratched his scalp. "Yeah, I think the potion had finally worn off and I remembered that I needed to check on Claudette and Jack." He opened his eyes, "But I did mean it man, Hyde you were….are a good kid."

Eli piped up, "…and I gave them the film." He pointed at Eric, "But you weren't there."

Eric rolled his eyes, "I know, I know! It was Pioneer Day and I was with my folks…"

Tatiana looked at Eric, "How is your mother?"

Jackie gasped and Eric glanced at his home co-worker with a what-the-hell expression on his face. He looked at Tatiana," How do you know about my mother's back?"

The fortune teller shrugged, "Such a pity, because she is a wonderful caring woman and yet her family takes all she does for granted. Are you tending to her now?"

Eric nodded but Tatiana wasn't convinced,"…to the best of your ability?"

Jackie's eyes caught a glint of rainbow colors dancing off Tatiana's quartz pendant. She could barely tear her gaze away but she added, "He is and he's working to help his dad."

Tatiana removed her necklace and lay the sparkling stone in Jackie's palm, "…and you are assisting just like I hoped you would. Keep this around your neck for safety little one. I like what I see as the both of you care for the Forman mother."

Hyde shook his head. How was it that this virtual stranger knew the goings on in Point Place when she had never met any of them? It boggled his mind and then he slapped the back of his neck as Tatiana glared at him.

"You doubt my abilities?"

"Colored me fucked!" Hyde thought. "How do you do that?"

Tatiana smiled, "I have a….shining…if you will. Also, it is in your best interest not to distrust me."

Theo clapped Hyde on the back, "Yeah, I once pissed Tatiana off and I had a boil on my neck the size of a basketball."

Serena clucked her tongue, "Now now, you don't know that it was Tatiana that caused it."

Hyde rubbed his neck. A boil? A big fucking pimple the size of a basketball? No way!

Tatiana only smiled and nodded her head. She turned to the rest of the group. "Does anyone else have questions?"

Kelso raised his hands. "Yeah! How come Leo don't have special powers?"

Tatiana replied,"Oh, but he does. Our King just doesn't know how to control them. His father was part Chinese but his mother was half Scottish and half Irish. Kynawas a daughter of the Dennard Clan of the Highland Scottish Travelers. Her name means love, affection, esteem and she was daughter of High King Borugh…King Leo comes from a blessed line of gypsies."

Leo puffed out his chest and proudly announced, "I'm a celebrity man! That's pretty heavy stuff."

Fez was impressed. "King Leo sounds like a lion's name. I'll bet you roar big."

Leo scratched his beard. "Don't know….never tried to! Now, let's eat cuz I have a feeling that Toots here has a special evening planned for us….right?"

Tatiana smiled and replied, "I have a splendid night planned."

It was a strange moment but Temperance, the Star, the Hanged Man and the Chariot all felt the ground tremble beneath their feet and yet Fez was unaffected.

Leo grinned and bit into his pheasant leg.

T7S

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