Chapter Twelve
MR. PO.
After ushering the Recruits off to their rooms, he met Eva in their usual spot on the second floor. With all the events so current, questions bobbing up in his head, it was so hard not to tiptoe to the first floor where he could eavesdrop on whatever conversation Mr. V and Ms. Scatter were having. He hoped that he was listening to her troubles rather than scolding her for her little outburst. Ever since this morning he noticed that Ashe Scatter was acting strange if not entirely different. She was a morning person, a never-ending sun in their dark and dismal world, however, lately he's felt a darkness swirling and blooming within her. Although he wouldn't mind seeing her let lose and be a touch more evil from time to time, he wasn't entirely sure if any of them were prepared for whatever darkness lay within her. Even the kindest people have some sort of darkness that they would rather forget.
When he arrived at their usual spot, a balcony that overlooked most if not the entire Anti-Realm, he watched his beautiful Eva barking orders to one of the butlers. Frederick, Eito recalled, was the butler to Adam Apple Poison and proved to be the best butler they had yet. "Make sure you tell the others to collect the field journals." Her arms were crossed and pinching the insides of her elbows. "Once they're all collected, take them upstairs and leave them on Ms. Scatter's desk."
"Yes ma'am." Frederick gave a nod and a polite bow before turning on his heel and leaving her presence. As Eito passed him, he gave a nod of acknowledgement before joining his beloved Eva out on the balcony. He had planned on walking out with his usual smile on his face to greet her, however, when he watched her pull out her cigarette case and lit one up his nose scrunched in disapproval.
"My, my, Eva, darling," he frowned as he walked out to her, "when was the last time you smoked?"
"Do not start with me, Eito." She grimaced as she watched the end of it burn a deep red as it shriveled. Although she held it in her hand, desperate to take a drag, she flicked it out before stubbing it on the balcony's stone railing. She snapped the case closed and stuffed it back into one of her coat pockets as she turned away from him. "I didn't taste it, just needed a whiff."
"It's the whiff that leads you to the puff." He sighed as he slid hid hand around her shoulders and held her close. She only pulled out cigarettes when she was terribly stressed to the point her hair threatened to turn gray; not that it mattered since she would dye it again soon. "What happened?"
"You can't stand there and tell me that what we just witnessed isn't eating you up inside." She scowled as she leaned into him. Her hand slid down his arm and intertwined their fingers together.
"Only with curiosity." He gave a half shrug as he rested his chin on the top of her magenta head. "It's too soon for us to ask them anything right now, though."
"I know." She groaned and slipped away from him and began to pace the length of the balcony. "I still want to know what is going on with Ashe, though."
"They will tell us when they're ready, Eva." He sighed and leaned against the railing. When Eva got this antsy, he knew it was better for her to move or do something to get most of the jitters out.
"She's been acting different lately." She paused and stared at the floor. "Ever since this morning things have been different."
"Eva –" He tried to call out to her to distract her, but she already started pacing again and completely tuned him out.
"She slept in, Eito." She turned around, her striped coat swirling about her like a cape. "Ashe never sleeps in!"
"Everyone's sleeping schedule changes occasionally." He hedged, hoping she would just drop it but being the lovely and obsessive woman that she was, Eva only continued.
"But her behavior!" She argued. "This morning in the Wardrobe room, you saw her, right? She was stiffer than a starched and ironed collar to a dress shirt!"
Eito merely held his tongue while he allowed her to continue to ramble. He knew that she was right, and she knew that she was right, however it was not their place to pry. All four of them had some sort of secret from the others, though Eito and Eva shared more between themselves. Ashe Scatter, though, held more secrets than most oceans down here in the Anti-Realm. Though she was supposed to be a villain, or a villain's assistant, she was kind, bright, and a little clumsy from time to time. There was a sharpness and a constant willingness in her work, no matter what she did, and she always completed her tasks sooner rather than later. There was hardly ever a time where she didn't have a smile on her face, though as of late, the closer this program got she did seem to grow more strained. . .
"Eito," Eva snapped as she now stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Of course, darling." He threw on a sly smile and reached for her hand to draw her closer. The tiniest hint of blush flashed on her face as he kissed her knuckles and used the other hand to hook around the small of her back and keep her anchored in front of him. "No matter how concerned we are, though, it is not our place to do anything about it."
"You can't be serious." She pouted and tried to withdraw her hand, but he refused to release it from his grasp.
"Deathly serious, my darling." He smirked as he stood and held her closer to him. The blush that graced her cheeks deepened in color and his heart sang at the sight of his beautiful wife. "Right now, she needs to open up on her own terms. Just give her time."
"But – " Her hand went to his chest and he was sure she could feel how fast it beat for her because whatever else she had to say died in a squeak.
"Even if she decides to open up to Mr. V rather than us," he rested his forehead against hers and their glasses clattered together. "It will all be okay in the end."
He quickly swallowed whatever argument she had left in a kiss. Her hands slid up to his shoulders and her arms looped around his neck to deepen the kiss. Her lips met his in a quick and needy fashion that he couldn't help but smirk in the kiss at his small victory of distracting her. When he pulled away, he brushed her magenta bangs from her eyes and loved the sparkle in her eyes. "If I promise you that we will continue this." He spoke in a soft voice that commanded her attention to him. "Will you drop the issue and let her come to us when she's ready?"
Her lips puckered in a pout, there was an eagerness in her hold that was much stronger than her own determination and stubbornness. She gave a nod of agreement and he couldn't help but laugh at how adorable she was. "Don't get cocky." She huffed and grabbed him by his tie. "Just because you win this single battle does not mean you've won the war."
"Whatever you say, darling." He chuckled and met her for another kiss before leading her off to their bedroom. He knew that she would only allow him to distract her this way so much before she started digging of her own. He only hoped that Scatter would not only open up, but at least give some sort of explanation to Mr. V so he would inform them later of the incident.
MR.V
"Fantasia Realm?" Mr. V looked at her rather confused. The name sounded familiar, tasted familiar, but it all sounded like something made up entirely of fiction. Scatter crossed her arms and held them tightly across her chest, almost as if to make herself small enough to disappear, as she looked at him.
"It doesn't surprise me that you have never heard of it before," she scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "It is an ancient realm that only a few knew about to begin with, and that so many have forgotten. . . especially after I broke it."
Her hand slid up to her neck and clutched her amulet and she shut her eyes tightly. She looked so pained, like she would rather strangle herself with that necklace than tell him anything of what was going on through her head at the moment. He held his hat in his hands and tightly gripped the rimmed edge. What was he supposed to say? He knew he shouldn't harass her with questions, it would open up things she obviously wasn't ready to discuss, but between the flashes of gold in her eyes and now this grand reveal, he was genuinely concerned. "I'm sorry." The words came out as a whisper and he hated how weak they sounded.
She only offered him a sad smile as a small condolence. As her eyes glistened with water she began to speak. "The Fantasia Realm was the most unique and beautiful realm that I have ever been to." Mr. V watched her throat bob as she swallowed her emotions down. "I count myself lucky to say that it was my home; especially on the account of how many other realms that I have seen and had to live in for a certain amount of time."
She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, released it and her entire wardrobe changed in front of him. It happened so quick it was almost seamless. He wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to look away as her grey suit skirt outfit changed to her in a black off the shoulder fit and flare with a low V neck that went down just above her navel and had a slit that went all the way up to her thighs. She wore black pointed four-inch heels that made her hair taller and her hair fell around about her shoulders. Her glasses were no longer on her face and her eyes glowed that enchanting yellow. She stood still, but her power made the skirt of her dress flutter ever so gently about her.
He was glad he held his hat in his hands in front of him because the dress that she wore was very alluring and rather sexy; He was very glad he had his hat to hide behind. He did his best to only look her in the eye but was also trying to fixate his gaze firmly on the amulet that rested between her well rounded, yet petite cleavage.
Calm down Valentine. . . Now is not the time to be messing with the mood. . .
"My name is Ashe Scatter, but, as you very well know, everyone here calls me Ms. Scatter because I'm so scatterbrained. . ." She gave herself an unnecessary formal introduction, but if this was what she needed to say to get herself going, Mr. V wasn't going to stop her. "I am from the Fantasia Realm and my Villain is Chernabog, the embodiment of evil and destruction, and the keeper of the Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice." His brow furrowed at the idea of a Villain controlling the weather of a Realm but said nothing as he continued to listen to her. "I destroyed my Realm in disobeying my Villain and falling for a trap of a man who bound our souls together in order to get his Happy Ending. I lost my very best friend. . ." She hiccupped and gave a bitter smile. "And now I serve this Castle here in the Anti-Realm with the rest of the Failed Staff."
"This is quite the introduction, Ms. Scatter," he cleared his throat and placed the hat back on his head. He hesitated to see if she had anything else to say, but when she stared at him expectantly, he continued his turn to speak. "But I would hardly call you or any of the other staff members' Failed Staff."
"But we are," she shook her head with that same sad smile. He hated that smile. It was the fakest he had seen her try to pull and it annoyed him. "You see, we are the staff who failed our missions in our original Realms. They were all some sort of henchman, assistant, secretary, or tool for a Villain in a world that they can no longer return to. Some received a lifetime of servitude to this Anti-World, while others are here out of their own regret. . ." She sniffled and stood with her head held high. "I on the other hand am here because I destroyed my entire Realm. . . Although we are not considered failures because we are just side characters, we are the Failed Staff."
"We are goin' to have to come up with a better name than that." He frowned and leaned forward on his cane. "I do not like the negative connotation of that particular title. I don't care how factual you or the others consider it to be, my staff will not put themselves in such a low position."
Ms. Scatter could only blink at him as if she could not believe the words that he had said. Mr. V's hand tightened on his cane as he stared at Scatter. How could she think that she failed anyone? Thanks to Dr. Facilier and all of the damage he caused, both emotional and mental, to a lot of the staff here in the Anti-Castle, it cast a dark cloud of depression over the entire castle and Mr. V hated it. Sure, he was a Villain doing his thing, but they were so understaffed for such a long time, it wasn't until Ms. Scatter came and was able to bring more people in that the castle finally became more manageable. Looking at Scatter in her current state, he could see just how exhausted she truly was after devoting so much time and effort to the crumbling castle. She took so much of the heat, so much of the anger from Dr. Facilier; She was much stronger than she looked, but still. . . Just how much baggage and burden was she willing to tether to her chain to the Anti-World?
She blamed herself for the loss of her Realm, which he could tell she did not want to discuss any further as she was beginning to droop; the last thing that he wanted to have to deal with was a depressed Ms. Scatter. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her, but she looked down. Her little hands were in fists and she shook as she clenched them. "I don't know your past, or any of the other's past very well," he hooked his finger under her chin and made her look at him. There was gold in her eyes, but he still continued. "But your past has never defined you to me, Ms. Scatter. You are the hardest worker here and I would never, nor would I allow anyone else, call you a failure. You're too important to me to be a failure."
Her yellow eyes widened at his words before the gold flickered from her eyes and they slowly went back to black and her cheeks pinkened. "M-M-Mr. V." She cleared her throat and took a step back. Her attire changed from her villainess outfit back to her gray pencil suit work outfit. "This sort of behavior is uncalled for and inappropriate for the workplace!"
"I beg your pardon?" he raised an eyebrow with a soft chuckle of disbelief. "I meant no offense, Ms. Scatter, I only spoke the truth."
Her cheeks deepened in shades of pink and the remaining gold in her eyes dissipated. "Regardless," she pushed those red glasses that had magically reappeared up onto her nose. "We have more important matters to discuss and to be worried about than my past."
"Very well," he sighed and casually placed his hand at the small of her back and guided her to the elevator. "Then let us return to our offices."
"Yes," she nodded and scribbled something down on her clipboard that magically reappeared in her arms. "We need to discuss the progress of the other Recruits."
It was strange how she completely flipped, as quick of a snap, back into her usual self as they walked to the elevator. She rambled on about how they were all succeeding in their program, how they had certain areas that they needed to improve on, and that hopefully they would see the light of things and would realize their Villains' plot; even though it was way too far to tell since they were all just starting off. All the while she rambled, Mr. V could not help but notice how cute she was as she did so. It was quirky and odd and not something very many people would be interested in, but she was so passionate about it. She was so passionate about the Recruits all succeeding. Yes, she was most definitely not a failure. He also could not help but feel slightly relieved that she did not appear to be as upset as she was a few moments ago. A smile crept on his face as they entered their offices and she continued to ramble on. A stack of journals all rested on her desk. They must be the field journals. She merely walked over to her desk, slapped her clipboard on the desk, and fell back in her rolling chair and rolled back a foot. She scooted back to the desk and sorted through the field journals rather quickly.
"As agreed upon," she spoke as she separated the stack into two even stacks. "You and Mr. Po shall look over the boys while Ms. Villa and I shall look over the girls."
"You make it sound as if we're their parents or teachers or something," he snorted as he casually took the five field journals from him.
"In a way we are," she rolled around to her filing cabinets and dug around in her confiscated drawer. "Since we have to do our best to guide them into making their own choices and not doing whatever their Villains in their past lives want, we are their teachers of sorts."
"Not what I signed up for," he grunted and tucked the journals underneath his arm. He thought about calling Mr. Po and Ms. Villa in to actually help with the first batch of these, however, after the little show that Ms. Scatter put on downstairs, he really didn't want them harassing her with questions just yet. It would only hinder the workflow and would give him a headache. He let out a sigh as he turned to go to his office, "Well, I might as well get started on these."
"Mr. V," she held out a round circle to him. "You should take this with you."
It was his magical coaster and he couldn't help but smile at her. His hand easily slid over hers, and while he took it, he also brushed his fingers on the back of her hand. He winked at her and she rolled her brown eyes in response, "I knew you'd come around."
"Don't push it." She easily slid her hand away from his and firmly grasped the edge of her desk. "I only gave it back because in a rather odd and unexpected way, you earned it. Don't ruin it so soon. I will take it back if I find you drinking coffee before I go to bed."
"Yes ma'am," he chuckled with a salute and sauntered off to his own office. "I will make sure not to make the same mistake twice."
"See that you do." She turned to her own work and a typewriter appeared on her desk. The keys immediately began to start clicking at a rapid speed, and Mr. V took his leave and returned to his own office.
He twirled his cane as he walked down the long hall, humming a fun little diddy as he walked to his desk. He dropped the field journals onto his desk and summoned his favorite coffee mug. The percolator began to boil, and Mr. V prepared his desk so that he could enjoy at least one cup of coffee while he went over the field journals. As he glanced over them and immediately realized that he should have color coated them and not just gone with the generic black leather ones.
He grabbed the first one and did not have to read too far into the journal to know that it was Adam Apple Poison's journal. It was neat and precise, had bullet points and goals, had checkmarks of goals that were achieved and notes of goals that had yet to be achieved, and he even had side notes and reminders of stuff to do lately. With a nod of approval, he snapped his fingers and a pair of skeleton hands appeared in a small puff of smoke and began to type on the typewriter. This would put all of his information and details into the permanent magic records.
The next one had little to nothing in it. A sigh escaped him as he saw that Jack had at least written his name and had a bunch of lines marked on the lines, as if he was keeping track of something. Other than the date that was in Wonderland it was just the tick marks and a few off faded orangey splatters.
"Well, this isn't very helpful." He grunted and snapped his fingers again. Another pair of skeleton hands appeared and scribbled with a quill to record his odd tick marks.
The third journal had splotchy marks as if the pen that he had used wouldn't stick to the pages, and the pages looked as though they had been submerged in water. Definitely Joe's book. What he could read that had not been water smudged was a rather private journal about the little mermaid Ariel. . .Something about her being both annoying and adorable and how this whole mission thing was rather complicated.
"Very interesting," he mused and snapped his fingers again. A third pair of skeleton hands appeared, to the ruined journal book, and disappeared to return the book to its owner. There were just some things that he did not want to waste his time reading.
The fourth journal had pretty curly writing with unique flourishes and extra details in it. Doodles of patterns, fabrics, and fashion ideas littered the edges of the pages. Everything was listed as a sort of grocery or shopping list. There were three check marks in the margins, from what he assumed were accomplished missions, but the rest were left blank or were crossed out. He slid the journal over to the typing hand just as it closed the only other one that it had been able to type up.
The last journal was most definitely Malfie's, however, it was written in Faerrie script. The entire first four pages, which were more than Adam's, were covered in the ancient and foreign language of Faerrie script. Mr. V could not help but rub his eyes as he tried to see what he remembered from the few books they had on Faerrie language in their library; he didn't remember hardly anything. He recognized maybe two symbols, but there was no way he could actually read the text. With another sigh he snapped his fingers again and the shadow of a man appeared. He had pale glowing yellow eyes and wispy clothes that dissipated around him as he stood.
"Do me a favor and translate this for me," he pinched the bridge of his nose and handed the journal over to the shadow. "Also, find me the translation book for this so I don't have to call on you too often."
It bowed deeply and crept over to its dark corner where it pulled three books from the shelves that lined the walls, sat down, and began to translate and transcribe. Mr. V rolled his neck before he stood and went over to the percolator and brought it over to his desk. He would have easily just used magic to bring it over to him, but he had already used too much magic with the skeleton hands and shadow that he was slowly and surely getting the early making of a migraine. He poured the coffee into his cup and took a long drag of the coffee before leaning back in his chair. A small smile crept on his face as the aching in the head subsided a bit. However, he could not remain idle for long. There was too much work to do. However, before he could continue the files, he needed to gather the information from Ms. Scatter.
He could have easily just gotten up, walked over to her office and received them from her, but he just sat down and he did not want to get up so soon. He pressed the phone on the intercom, "Ms. Scatter, how are you coming along with those journals?"
"I just finished translating and copying the girls," she responded, "Mr. V. Would you like me to bring them over now?"
"Yes please." The intercom clicked off and he heard her heels coming down the hall before she even entered his office. With her clipboard in hand she scribbled something down, like she always did, before she deposited the journals off to him and stacked the note she just scribbled on top.
"The order goes to Jane Hock, Shade Hades, Veil, Farja, and Jamilia Scar," she grimaced on the last one. "I will have to talk to Jamilia about how she writes things and to make sure that she is writing it out and not the monkeys. . ."
"How do you know monkeys were writing in it?"
"There were feces," her nose flinched and her eye twitched, "in the crook of the pages. I will be discussing the proper book etiquette and proper writing script. I had to save her for last because of the translation. . ."
"I had to send Malfie's off to be translated.'' She raised her eyebrow at him. "He writes in ancient Faerrie script."
"Oh." She blinked rather surprised. "You should have just asked me; I am very well-spoken in Faerrie script. It is my second language."
Mr. V now blinked in surprise at her. There was quite a bit of her past that he was itching to learn, but she would come clean to him, one day, about it; he hoped she would anyway.
"Well that is good to know for in the future," He set the journals on the desk in front of him and looked at the journals. "You know Greek, French, Spanish, and Arabian as well?"
"Of course," she laughed with a soft scoff in her voice. "I was a secretary to the other Villains, I had to learn their native tongue and languages."
"Just how many languages do you speak?" He organized the journals on his desk in the order that she directed him to do so.
"Well, Demonic is my first language," she cleared her throat with a slight flush to her cheeks and used her fingers to list the languages off. "Then there is Faerrie, Beast, Greek, German, Spanish, French, Gillian, Arabian, and English." She held up all ten fingers at him. "So, in total, ten."
"Where in all of the Realms did you learn Demonic and Faerrie?" his jaw almost dropped. Since he came from the bayou from all of his Cajun cousins, it was no surprise that French was half of his first language, however, finding anyone who could speak ten languages was impressive. The Demonic and Faerrie, however, was quite a mystery. They rode in the dead language wagon along with Latin. Though it is the base and foundation for so many languages, it was one that was rarely used.
"Like I said,'' her hands went behind her back and she flushed as her chin dropped. "Demonic is my first, and Faerrie is my second. . ."
"But where did you learn them?"
"I've already told you that I'm from the ancient and lost Realm Fantasia," there was a coldness in those black eyes. "Those were the two primary languages there. . ."
"Oh. . ." He should have known that, but since the Fantasia Realm was one of the more ancient Realms, he never thought of their native languages. Just the thought of her being from the Fantasia Realm brought about so many questions, not just one or two, but all the questions. But now was not the time to ask any of his questions, now was the time to finish the journal and file entries. "Well, thank you for this, Ms. Scatter." He cleared his throat and ignored her obvious surprise on her face. "You are free to retire for the evening."
"Then. . ." She hesitated and glared at the coffee cup on his desk. "I shall see you in the morning?"
"But of course, Ms. Scatter." His grin was toothy, and she narrowed her eyes.
"I will send Varuo up here to check on you before I go to bed." She crossed her arms. Her fingers rolled on her arm and her foot gently tapped. "I have no problem confiscating your coaster again."
"I assure you, Ms. Scatter," he coughed and cleared the worrisome tickle in his throat. "There will be no need for that. . ."
"Good," a small smirk appeared on her face. "Then I shall see you in the morning, Mr. V."
Without another word she turned on her heel and rather happily, almost in a skip, walked out of his office to turn in early for the night. "That woman may just be the death of me. . ." he sighed and began to filter through the girls' journals. Thankfully Ms. Scatter already had them in the proper order as well as made copies of them. All he had to do now was read them over and type them all up. Jane Hook's handwriting was jagged, as if she wrote with a fishhook or fishbone, and other than a map she had sketched out of Neverland with precise landmarks popping up on the pages, she had very little writing. It started off with Day 1, Mission: Capture Gus, Get Answers. "Very interesting, she has already set sights on someone," he murmured as he set the book aside and picked up the next one.
Shade Hades wrote entirely and neatly and orderly in Greek, which thankfully Ms. Scatter already translated with a folded page for him to read over. It mostly consisted of death tolls and hero names. She seemed hellbent on finding herself a hero from the Underworld. "Peculiar, especially from her," he smirked and set it aside.
Veil's writing was as light and as faint as her voice. You could hear her when the room was quiet, but unless she rang her little bell to get everyone's attention, there would be nothing learned from her. Her writing was faint, as if she had to be careful what she wrote. There was a score of names, gypsy names. Some were marked out, others circled, and one had hearts beside it. "Lord Claud Frollo and the rest of the church is not going to like this," he tutted with a smile and set it aside.
Farja had written so little on her page, but it looked to be a new spell that she was working on with Jafar. No names of heroes or princesses, just a simple spell. Perhaps she just forgot to write anything down, she was rather airheaded after all. He flipped the pages just to make sure before setting it in the pile with the others and moving onto the next one. Just as Ms. Scatter had foretold him, Jamilia Scar's journal reeked of feces. He did not bother to try to open it again because he had already seen the tears in the book and the smell was so horrendous that he would have to get her another one. Ms. Scatter would undoubtedly need to go over book etiquette with her because this was totally unacceptable.
Huffing, he opened the compartment that opened up to the typewriter that lay within his desk. The set of typing hands finally disappeared, and he felt a little better now that they had fulfilled their job. He adjusted the paper, tightened the ribbon, pressed down on a few of the keys, and began to type:
After the first day of the Recruits being on their own missions, the males have so far shown little to no improvement in which path they will take. It is still so early in the story to tell, but some of them were already setting themselves up for success while the others were setting themselves up for failure. They could have either a Happy or a Bad Ending; but the goal is to have them all have their own Happy Ending.
The ones who have any sort of improvement:
Adam Apple Poison
Eight Foot Joe.
The others are still a work in progress and seem very immature. Perhaps as their stories progress, something will come of them. It is still far too soon to tell, but there is hope for all of them as of yet.
His eyes skimmed over the words on the page before he slid the slot back into place and continued writing. He took a quick sip of coffee and his hands went into autopilot as they wrote the night away. . .
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading, hope you're enjoying the story so far!
Please remember to leave a comment or a review and tell me what you think about what you've read.
Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!
Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter