Chapter 18: Look Inside
In which hope makes a return to the story.
Jack lay on the floor. He didn't know how long it had been. He could hear whispers from the others as they tried to comfort him, but his soul had formed a sort of barrier, sealing itself away. He was shuddering.
'Jack please,' Merida said, reaching out trying to feel for him. At last she finally found his shoulder. Jack whimpered and recoiled. Hiccup crawled over. 'Jack, stay with us,' he said. Rapunzel wrapped her cut hair around Jack's frail form. 'Come on,' she said, panicked, 'Flower gleam and glow, let your... power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine.' No matter how hard she tried however, her shaved hair remained drab brown.
'Help, someone, help us,' Rapunzel wept quietly. Merida, Hiccup and Rapunzel huddled around Jack's immobile form, partly for warmth, partly for security, but most importantly to reassure the devastated boy.
Pitch poured a measure of red liquid into two wine glasses. Taking one for himself, he gave the other to Mother Gothel. She took it delicately. 'So, with those four out of the way, our path to victory is clear?' she asked. 'Clear as crystal,' Pitch said. There was a small "chink" as their glasses met. 'To us,' they said.
Gothel took a sip.
Mor'du was lying in the corner of the room, chomping on something that was oozing blood all over the floor. The Red Death was lying in the centre of the cavern in the massive pile of tooth boxes. It had already eaten it's fill of cattle and was now snoozing gently.
Pitch smiled. At this moment, a vein pulsed in his neck. Blackness began to trickle up his arteries.
His world was dark. His life was dark. His soul was dark.
Jack hovered limply in the black clouds. They swirled around him, corroding away at his soul.
A little way off, Merida was clawing desperately through the clouds and getting nowhere.
Elsewhere, Hiccup was trapped in mid-air, unable to move due to his dismembered form.
Lastly, Rapunzel clutched herself to try and keep calm, not that it helped a lot.
'HELLO!' Merida tried to shout, but only an echo escaped her mouth, 'WHERE IS EVERYONE?!' 'MERIDA IS THAT YOU?!' It was Hiccup's voice. 'Hiccup?' echoed Rapunzel's voice.
'Hiccup, I'm going to throw my hair over to you. Try and grab hold.' Rapunzel held her severed hair and threw it through the black void. The brown trail of hair sailed towards Hiccup who reached out his arms. The hair wrapped around his wrists. With a tug, Rapunzel pulled Hiccup towards her.
With a slight thump, they collided. 'Hiccup, I'm going to tie my hair on your wrist.' 'What for?' 'I'm going to swing you towards Merida. When you get close enough, grab hold of her.' Hiccup nodded. Merida wouldn't be able to see the hair because she was blind.
Jack hovered crouched in the clouds.
Something moved in his heart. He opened his eyes. A tiny light, so infinitesimally small you couldn't tell if it was a light or a mere hallucination, was hovering in front of him. Slowly, Jack reached out. The light vanished.
A hand came out of nowhere and grasped his wrist. Jack looked up. Two empty eye sockets and a lot of red hair told him it was Merida. 'Who's that?' she asked, 'Jack, is that you?' Jack groaned to confirm. 'Oh thank god,' Merida said, grasping Jack closely to her. 'Hold tight.' Merida pulled sharply on something three times and suddenly they were tugged through the air. Slowly, out of the gloom, appeared Hiccup and Rapunzel. Reaching out, they grabbed onto Merida and Jack.
'Thank the gods,' Hiccup said. 'Thank?' Jack said. That startled them all, Jack hadn't spoken in quite a long time. 'What is there to be thankful of?' 'Be thankful that we're still alive and all together again.' Jack smiled weakly. 'Rapunzel,' he said, 'You really are the most ridiculously, innocent person I've ever known.' 'Not sure whether that's a complement or not.'
Hiccup pulled Jack close to him. He pulled open his eyes and inspected them. 'Jack, you're suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. If we don't do something he'll go into emotional detachment.' 'I didn't know you were so clever Hiccup,' Merida said. 'I study a lot.'
Merida held Jack's face and tilted it towards hers. 'Jack,' Merida said gently, 'Jack, can you hear me?' she asked. Jack gave no answer. 'PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER YOU TUMSHIE! COME ON, COME ON!' she screamed at him and she slapped him across the face. Jack's eyes snapped open. 'That's brave of you,' he said.
Suddenly, whispers filled their ears. Just as suddenly, four tiny specks of light appeared in mid-air before them. With a flash, the specks of light turned into four beautiful women. They were shining so brightly that somehow even Merida could see them.
The first one was slender and was wearing a thin, wispy, white dress. Her face was thin and pale, but absolutely flawless, curtained by long, platinum-blonde hair. Her eyes were lime green and her mouth was gently curved in a smile. She looked so beautifully pure.
The second was similar to the first, but over her dress she was wearing pale-gold light-armour. In one hand she was holding a quill, in the other she was holding a book. On her Copper hair, she was wearing a coronet of olive leaves. Her eyes were deep green and freckles lightly covered her face.
The third was slightly different to the first two. Her chestnut-brown hair flowed down her spine, right down to her waist. She was wearing silver heavy-armour and was holding a sword. Her eyes were pale blue and, like the second woman, was freckled.
The fourth and final one was wearing thin, pale blue robes. Her hair was long and pure white, so white it seemed to give a luminescent glow. She was holding a large, white and black, checkered blanket. Her eyes were blue, an icy blue and her feet were bare.
'Well done,' said the first, 'Even now you haven't given up.' 'What?' Jack said, 'What do you mean?' 'If you had all truly given up,' said the second, 'We couldn't be here and here we are.' 'Who are you are you all?' Rapunzel asked. The third spoke.
'We are your centres.'
Jack's jaw dropped.
'Here's a question,' said the first woman, 'Which I put to you and to you alone Rapunzel. What is the purest thing a human can know, but can never remember?' Rapunzel hesitated. She wasn't the best at riddles, but she decided to have a go.
What was pure?
Water? No, water wasn't really that pure if it was high in calcium. Fire might be the answer. Fire was very pure because it burned impurities off, although when she thought about it, it wasn't exactly pure in an environmental way with all the smoke and ash it makes.
Then a thought occurred to her. A new born baby, not tainted by the evils in any way, was perhaps the most pure thing of all. Everyone could know this kind of purity, but they would never remember it because they would be too young. There was a term for that kind of purity.
'Innocence,' Rapunzel said. 'Correct,' said Innocence. Her hair suddenly flashed and cascaded around her head like the rays of the sun. Rapunzel suddenly gasped. There was a sudden glow and a rush of gold. Glittering, glowing gold rushed out of Rapunzel's head and flowed down her shoulders.
The second woman stepped forward. 'Hiccup, this question I put to you. Some will use me, while others will not, some have remembered, while others have forgot. For profit or gain, I'm used expertly, I can't be picked off the ground or tossed into the sea. Gained only from patience and time, can you unravel my rhyme?'
Hiccup bit his lip and began to think. This riddle sounded tough, but Hiccup was sure that with a bit of time and patience he could figure it through. He started to think.
"Some will use me, others will not, some have remembered, while others have forgot." Maybe it was something psychological. Something that not all people would use, so it would depend on the personality of the person in question.
"For profit or gain, I'm used expertly." "Gained only from patience and time." So it would be something you gathered over a lifetime. Something psychological you gather over a lifetime and that some people use and others don't. Wisdom? Wait, "For profit or gain..." Wisdom wasn't used for gain or profit, it was usually used to help others.
Then it started to click together. Maybe... 'Is the answer "Knowledge"?'
'Correct,' said Knowledge. Her armour suddenly started shining in it's own light and her copper hair flowed around her head like water. The olive leaf coronet on her head began to bloom. She lifted her arms and the quill and book in her hands began to shine.
Suddenly, the stumps of Hiccup's fingers and ankles began to glow. The fog of light began to take faint shapes at each point it had appeared.
The third woman turned to Merida. 'Bold is the first; true is the second; playful is the third; clever is the fourth; forceful is the fifth,' she said.
Fortunately, Merida had already heard of riddles like this. This one was trying to catch her out, but Merida knew what to do and ran it through her head. "Bold is the first, true is the second, playful is the third, clever is the fourth, forceful is the fifth."
'The answer is brave, isn't it,' Merida said. 'Correct,' said Brave. Her long, chestnut hair burst up in a stream behind her and flowed like a river. Her armour gleamed in it's own luminescent aura as her sword became a shaft of light. At the same time, Merida's empty eye sockets filled with solid light.
Then Innocence, Knowledge, Brave and the unknown centre all turned to look at Jack. The final centre stepped forward and at last, she spoke.
'You already know the answer.'
Yes he did, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to say it. The word lay trapped down within his throat. He lacked the energy and the inclination to speak the word. He shook his head.
He felt a warm pressure on his hand. Looking up, he saw Rapunzel had placed her hand on his. 'Come on Jack. Just one word, you can say it.' Hiccup placed his ghostly hand on top of Rapunzel's. 'Just trust yourself. Remember how you were like before.' Merida placed her hand on top of Hiccup's. 'Jack,' she said in a voice that was softer than over before, 'I know you can do it.'
She kissed him, and Jack spoke the word, 'Fun.'
'Correct,' said Fun. She started shining bright and her thin, pale blue robes started billowing. Her hair now actually started to give a luminescent glow. The checkered blanket she was holding started glimmering.
Jack gasped. His back arched. His eyes were closed. Everyone stared at him. He opened his eyes and smiled. 'THE BOY IN BLUE IS BACK!' he laughed.
Suddenly, Innocence, Knowledge, Brave and Fun started shining brighter and brighter. 'Believe in yourselves,' said Innocence, 'It is your destiny to defeat Lord Pitch.' 'But the greatest challenge will come from Azrael,' said Knowledge. 'But now that you have finally awakened your true centres your souls are resonating together,' said Brave. 'Take care of yourselves and good luck,' said Fun.
'Resonance?' Merida said. The light bleached out the world. 'WAIT! WHO'S AZRAEL?' Hiccup yelled, but the centres had returned to their hosts.
Rapunzel, Hiccup, Merida and Jack burst out of their dream trance and back into the waking world. Instantly, they each sat bolt-upright.
Rapunzel reached around her head and grasped the locks of her hair: golden and renewed. Hiccup's hands and feet were back. Merida could see again. Jack, fully clothed once again, got to his feet. 'Let's get out of here,' he said, and with all the power of the souls rushing through his veins... he kicked in the door.