sultal's note: I had a request. And I cannot put it in this story, but for a Christmas present, would all of you Taking Fantasia readers like a little "pre story" of how Wendy and Jim met? I actually have it written on paper somewhere, and I could develop it into a 6-ish chapter short story. Let me know. It's kinda cute.
keep writing.
Chapter 92: The Map
The snow was pink. It gleamed in the sunset like an open wound.
Jim ran across it.
In three steps, Jim stopped. The snow was knee deep, and pushed against him. Without care, Jim took the snow in his bare hands.
And he started to dig.
And dig.
And dig.
And dig.
Hours turned the snow different colors; orange, magenta, violet, and blue. Painstakingly, the sun crawled to the horizon as Jim searched for the map.
It had to be here.
Systematic as an archeological dig, Jim scraped through the snow.
Pan had the map. Pan said he remembered having it last at the War Games, at the finish line, when Wendy ripped out his soul.
Fingers frozen in wet fists, Jim punched and pushed until his knuckles hit earth. Panting through countless disappointments, he plowed through another row.
It had to be here!
Evening shortened. Shadows lengthened. Light dimmed. Darkness strengthened. And Jim had not found the map.
"No!"
Shoulders burning and back aching, Jim heaved. Breaking from his logical route, Jim thrashed into the untouched snow.
"Damn it!" Skin scraped from his knuckles, but Jim could not feel the sting. Numbed, he clawed like a wild animal until every breath had gone.
Jim slumped. Helplessly, he glared at the breadth of pure, white snow glistening like sugar.
"Damn it." he whispered as B.E.N. and Morph timidly approached. Closing his eyes, Jim shivered as the cold soaked through his skin. "The field. It's too big. I can't recognize anything under the snow." Defeated, Jim pressed his frozen hands against his chest. "Damn it."
"Bummer!" B.E.N. said, plopping beside Jim. Unhelpfully, he tapped the compass on his bronze frame. "It's too bad we're not looking for a machine or part of the Underworld infrastructure. Boy o' boy let me tell you if whatever you're looking for was metal or mechanical I'd have that thingy-ma-bobber bio-electronic-navigated lickety-spli – "
"—What?"
Jim turned like a whip. "What did you say?" he demanded, taking B.E.N.'s head. "You can find…oh...OH...Oh holy…shit…."
B.E.N.'s eyes pixilated nervously as Jim remembered.
In the Underworld…B.E.N had said he was a navigator. Jim had asked him to find Wendy. B.E.N. had refused, admitting that since Wendy was neither a machine or part of the Underworld infrastructure…
"Shit!" Jim hollered, seizing the robot. "B.E.N.!"
"What?" squealed B.E.N. as Jim swung him to his feet. "What Jimmy? WHAT?"
"The map!" Jim yelled. Excitement roared through him like an engine. "It's an orb! A metal orb! Find it! Fast!"
B.E.N. gleamed. "Me? Me? You want me to bio electronic navigate?"
"I don't give a damn how you do it, just find the map!"
"Aye, aye Captain Jimmy!" B.E.N. saluted, diving head first into the snow. The snowflakes radiated blue and green as B.E.N.'s navigational systems charged through the metallic gradient of the earth. "Map, map here we come! Come out, come out wherever you – "
"—There!"
Jim ran. B.E.N.'s energy aura converged, swarming into a single spot beneath the snow. Jim charged. The snow radiated with energy as he approached, Morph zipping behind.
Jim fell to his knees. Hope revived, he dug.
And dug.
And dug!
And dug!
And dug!
"Yes!"
Heart sparkling in triumph, Jim held up Billy Bone's map. The intricate grooves gleamed in the starlight, reflecting Jim's smile.
"Yes!" Jim repeated, turning in the snow. "Yes! Yes! B.E.N.! You did it! The map! The map! I've got the map!"
"Fine work, Jimbo." A voice laughed in his ear. "Fine work indeed."
Jim turned.
A red eye opened.
And then, Long John Silver's mechanical fist opened from the darkness.
And took Billy Bone's map.
Jim's exultance boiled into hate. And then to fear. Instincts screaming, Jim searched the darkness. Surrounded. He was surrounded. Pirates – alien and human – closed on him like wolves.
Jim waited one second to look at the map.
Then he moved.
Sprinting with all his might, Jim darted for an opening. He charged, lifted his knees and ran for the forest.
For a second he was free.
But the second he breathed, believing he had escaped, Jim lurched backwards. Neck whipping and shoulders stretching in their sockets, he fell back as the pirates yanked his arms.
Lashing and biting, Jim fought. B.E.N. and Morph shrieked as Jim writhed against the pirates, volleying between capture and escape.
The map glowed. Silver smiled, gazing over the metal curve as Jim was slowly defeated.
The boy suffered in his youth but fought like a man, spitting the impossible odds in the eye.
Victoriously, Silver tossed the map. He sauntered forward. He'd taught him good. Too good.
"Ye just like me Jimbo." Silver lowered to Jim's gaze, unabashed to his pride. Smirking he held the magical map beneath the boy's nose. "Ye hates to lose."
Jim growled. Hatred burned between he and Silver, intensely as a flame.
It was unnerving. But Silver, smug in his triumph, disregarded his alarm. Turning from Jim's gaze, he opened Billy Bone's map.
Or…tried to.
"What the—?"
The map did not open. He pulled. Nothing. He twisted. Nothing. He probed. Nothing. He viced. Nothing. He electrified. Nothing. He torched. Nothing.
Mechanical arm shaking, Silver cursed. "What the Devil's the – "
Nothing.
The map was locked.
Burning in frustration, Silver squeezed the map.
No. He was too close. Too close!
Silver seethed.
Then, he saw Jim.
The boy was bent, bowed helplessly into submission by the pirates that held him.
But he was staring at Silver.
And he was smiling.
They made eye contact.
Mockingly, Jim shook his head.
Silver's eye burned.
"Open it!" he commanded, thrusting the map at Jim's chest and a blaster at his face.
Jim staggered. The map hit his sternum, knocking his heart out of beat. Angrily, Jim glared into Silver's red eye.
"Open it!" Silver repeated. He cocked the blaster. "Now!"
Jim curled a lip. His glare cut into his face.
He did not open the map. He did not even try. Even if he knew how, Jim would rather die.
Silver's arm shook. The blaster glowed, painting Jim's scowl blood red.
Then, the blaster lowered. As his mechanical gears revolved into a hand, Silver held out his arm.
Whoosh. Facilier's shadow sliced over Jim's head. The shadow heckled as it swirled over the cyborg.
Then, opening its mouth, Facilier's shadow vomited something into Silver's outstretched hand.
Jim's heart stopped.
Wendy's blue ribbon.
Silver snarled the ribbon between his metal fingers. Unsympathetically, he displayed it to Jim.
"I'd get busy."
Jim stepped forward. The pirates yanked him back. "What have you done to her? I swear if you've hurt Wen – "
"Open it." Silver repeated, squeezing the ribbon. "Now."
The message was clear.
Open the map. Or Wendy...
Jim could not breath. He understood the weight of his decision. Fantasia's future was poised for beheading. All it needed…was an executioner. All it needed...was for the right magic to fall into the wrong hands.
Jim closed his eyes. The map vibrated beneath his fingers.
He couldn't. How could he? How could give Silver the key to the Wishing Star? How could he open the map? Damn Fantasia?
But...Wendy...
Jim almost smiled.
Somewhere, lost in his rotting soul, was a happy thought. A smudge of hope, rekindled more and more by Ariel, but glimmered always by the memory of the little girl that, once upon a time, had told him not to cry.
She was small and defenseless. Delicate and innocent. Simple and kind. Willing to share his agony. And call him…her best friend.
Jim looked at Silver.
Without blinking, Jim moved. Without thinking, his fingers danced over the map. In a string of few, elegant motions he aligned the metallic grooves.
And…
...with a twist...
…unlocked the map.
Luminescent lines spiraled from the metallic orb, arranging into glittering quadrants and endless dimensions. The charts and grids stretched across the snow and into the sky, building compilations of space and stars.
And in the center, throbbing over the snow…
…was the route to the Wishing Star.
"Oh, the powers that be. Would you look?" Silver extended a glittering finger to the luminescent map. At his touch, the map swelled, rushing through lightyears of outer space.
Silver's smile would have brightened a black hole.
His dream…was close. So close.
And no one was going to stop him now.
Transfixed, Silver barked over his shoulder. "Tie him up." He ordered, jabbing a thumb towards Jim. "And leave him till we – what?"
The luminescent coordinates scattered, flickering like fireflies between Silver's fingers. Desperately, Silver grasped the air. But the glowing lights fled back into the metal orb.
Jim looked up.
"You want the map?"
Jim turned the metal orb, allowing the starlight to highlight the impossible combinations.
Eye on Wendy's blue ribbon, Jim gave his ultimatum. "Then you're taking me too."
Silver's eye burned red. Then, it turned gold.
Unable to deny his pride, Silver closed a fist around Jim's throat.
"We'll take him te Hook."