Chapter Twenty-three
MR. V
Of all the things to expect upon entering the Fantasia Realm, plummeting to the earth in the midst of rising angry billowing volcano smoke was not one of them. Chernabog had his wings spread out wide and gliding on the winds as he descended past the smoke clouds. Mr. V did his best to not scream, but he could not help but cough as the ash and smoke choked at his lungs. He hadn't smelled this much smoke since Dr. Facilier was put away. The wind screamed in his ears and his eyes were forced shut as the rising ashes stung his eyes. One had held onto his hat for dear life while the other clutched to his cane as a small form to ground himself. It was obvious that Chernabog had no qualms of Mr. V's benefit or life and would not save him. No matter how much he tried to tug at the shadows or even summon them to act as a pair of wings or even a parachute to lessen his fall, his tugs and summons went unheard.
The slew of curses that would have bellowed from his mouth was swallowed up and drowned out by a loud roar and his body was slammed into something furry. Whatever air was left in his lungs had been knocked out upon the impact as he held onto the dear life of whatever it was that caught him. He wasn't sure what got a hold of him, there was too much smoke for him to open his eyes, but whatever it was he was momentarily thankful that it was something to ground him. The smoke followed after them like a shadow until the furry beast broke through the smoke and into the slightly clearer air. He gasped and sputtled to get the cleaner air into his lungs and rubbed irritably at his eyes and forced his eyes open. His eyes watered and blurred his vision, but whatever had a hold of him was the size of a tiger and black all over. He blinked furiously, trying to clear up his vision when the sky around them started to clear up the further they got away from the smoke.
"You better hold on!" A prickly voice sounded as the beast looked over his shoulder. A familiar large green eye, pointed into a slit, watched Mr. V. "I'm diving now!"
Mr. V was thankful for the warning and dug his fingers into the long tendrils of fur as the large beast made its diving descent. No matter how much Mr. V wanted to keep his eyes open to see where he was going, he could not. The dive had not been as long as he had anticipated and though Mr. V had clung to the beast as commanded, he did not properly brace himself for the landing and was sent flying again through a trove of trees as the beast landed.
As if his body wasn't already aching from Chernabog's earlier abuses, it now screamed at him at the fresh beating the trees provided him. He rolled over with a groan, a cough as the clearer air tried to rush into his lungs, and a glare at everything around him as he sat up. For a place that was supposed to be filled with nature, Mr. V could only see red. He touched the back of his head to make sure he wasn't bleeding or had received a terrible head injury and was fine. The world spun a little as his brain tried to catch up with everything that had just happened, but the world around him was indefinitely red.
Mr. V sat in an entanglement of branches from burned and scorched trees and as he pulled himself to his feet, he saw why the world around him was burning red. It was practically all on fire. There were trees and the rest of everything else that made up nature being touched by fire gremlin things that ran around screaming with laughter as they caused chaos. A few of the little fire gremlins turned their gazes at Mr. V, evil grins and malicious orange eyes as they cackled and ran at him.
"What in the –" Mr. V had little chance to process what they were and that they were coming to attack him when the large black beast from before landed hard on the ground before him, fluffy black tail billowing unnaturally, and released a roar that shook the entire forest. The fire gremlin things ran off, yelping back to whence they came, and the black beast turned to glare at Mr. V. The black beast was a giant cat with horns sprouting from the top of his skull, claws enlarged and an insane mane of hair that was longer than a horse's tail.
"So nice of you to join us." He rolled his large green eyes, his nose wrinkled in agitation and his elongated teeth held a resting snarl there. "When Yen Sid sent Chernabog into the Anti-Realm, I was wondering if you were going to actually help or be a pitiful mess wallowing in grief."
No matter how large the cat before him was, Mr. V would always recognize that voice. "Varuo?"
"It's good to see that the fall didn't entirely damage what little of a brain you had in there." He snorted with a smirk as he stepped forward. "As much as I would really like to point out your ineloquence to this whole situation, I need to get you out of here."
"What?"
Varuo snapped with a hiss and bent his front legs. "Just get on."
Not having much of a choice, he did as commanded and hardly had a chance to settle himself on his back when he was already taking off and up again. He clung to the mane of hair on the body of the giant hellcat with one hand and held onto his hat with the other. "What is this place?"
"This is the Realm that Ashe practically destroyed." Varuo called over his shoulder as he bounced up to tree branches and flung them to the top of the remaining trees. The air was stiff again, still full of ashes and smoke, but Mr. V could see the burning red world was supposed to be a place of nature, but it was being quickly devoured by lava.
"What happened here?" He shook his head and could hardly believe that this was the work of his beloved assistant Ms. Scatter. "Did Scatter do this?"
"Not by herself." Varuo explained. "She's been fighting the demon that cursed her since we arrived."
"Fighting?" Mr. V turned his attention back to the hellcat he rode, however, Varuo kept his eyes forward as he raced forwards. "Curse? Does this have something to do with the alleged fiancé?"
"Astaroth." Varuo growled lowly in his throat, but Mr. V felt it all the way to this chest. "He came here under the pretenses of marrying Ashe, but it was all a plot to try to take control of the whole Realm."
"That's impossible." Mr. V shook his head in disbelief and scoured the horizon trying to see the telltale signs of a fighting Ms. Scatter. "No one can just come in and take control of a Realm like that!"
"Why not?" Varuo scoffed and glared over his shoulder. "You basically did."
Mr. V wanted to say something, to argue his point and prove that he was innocent of this allegation, however, there was little that could excuse his actions of getting rid of Dr. Facilier. He did it to free up some of the strains that were going on in the Realm; he did it to give the Recruits a chance of happiness to write their own stories; he did it to finally appease those on the Other Side and to settle what debts he could – regardless of why he did what he did he was the current ruler of the Anti-Realm because he had to get rid of Dr. Facilier.
"Regardless," Varuo rolled his eyes, "he used the engagement to Ashe as a way to bind himself to this Realm with a blood bond, however, she's not let him have his way."
"So I can see." Mr. V grimaced as he caught sight of a few burned bodies of humans or animals, he couldn't quite tell it was that grotesque.
"This is nothing compared to the first time." Varuo chimed in. "If you think this was bad, the Borders that kept the other parts of this Realm in order were also burned down and there were even more casualties."
Mr. V's ears burned at this news and his stomach churned in worry. Just looking at the world around him was enough to make him understand why Ms. Scatter was so shaken up about ever talking about the Realm she came from. He couldn't imagine what she felt, what went through her mind when all this happened the first time, and as much as he wanted to be sympathetic to her cause he knew it would never be enough.
"You have to realize, though, Valentino, Ashe never wanted to hurt her Realm like this." Varuo spoke up and broke Mr. V's unfocused thoughts. "She was never a fighter like this, but she became one to protect what she could."
"Where's Scatter now?" Mr. V craned his neck trying to find her, but there was no sign of her. There was a high-pitched screech as well as a fearsome roar that echoed off in the distance behind him as they collided together and made the Realm shake.
"She's in the volcano now," a growl buzzed his lips as he moved forward, "fighting Astaroth."
"What?" His head whipped around to the screeching and roars behind him desperately trying to find her through the smoke. Ms. Scatter fighting? It seemed highly unlikely. There was a crash, the earth shook, and the volcano bellowed with lava as more smoke and ash rose into the air.
"Look, I know this is a lot to take in and that you have a lot of questions." Varuo answered with a hiss. "I can't answer all of them, but Yen Sid can."
Just looking at the burning world around him, Mr. V knew that not all of his questions could be answered. There were more important things that took more precedence over his own interests. His questions could be answered later but doing something to help Scatter in all of this mattered more. Mr. V called loudly over a gush of wind that blew in his face. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You'll have to talk to Yen Sid." Varuo shook his head. "I have to land again, make sure you actually hold on this time."
Making sure to properly brace himself for the land this time, Mr. V clenched his thighs tightly against Varuo's back and pressed himself as flat as he could as air rushed past his ears. All the smoke that stung his nose, the ashes that stung his eyes, the aches his body had all seemed to disappear in a blink as Varuo passed through has strange invisible wall. Mr. V opened his eyes just enough to see that it wasn't an invisible wall so much as it was water at its purest state manipulated in just the right way to ring out the impurities of those who passed through them. His mouth fell open in awe as he watched the layers of dust and grime and ash be plucked away from his body and dispelled back outside the barrier.
Still distracted at the sight of the magic being performed, Mr. V's body was nearly thrown from Varuo again as he lurched to a stop. He hadn't even had a moment to get a look at where Varuo had taken him when Varuo rolled his shoulders and sent Mr. V toppling to the ground.
"Well done, Varuo." Chernabog crooned in approval, a slight chuckle on his lips as his yellow eyes peered down at Mr. V. "You brought the mortal here in one piece."
"He could have been here sooner had you just brought him here!" A feminine voice scolded as it stepped closer. As Mr. V got to his feet again, he locked eyes with a woman that was the embodiment of green. Her big eyes, her sclera, her glowing skin, her curled and billowing hair, even her swirling dress were all green as she stood beside Chernabog. Chernabog was the height that was easier for mortals to see and completely dwarfed the green woman who approached Mr. V with a hand outstretched.
"Are you all right?" Her voice was soft like a babbling brook and sounded far away even though she stood before him.
"I'm fine." He tried to smile, but he just couldn't quite muster it as he looked around. The small area in which they now resided was nothing but rich shades of green, pure crisp air, and a very strange sense of calm compared to the raging battle outside. Chernabog rolled his eyes at his reaction while Varuo shook his fur.
"Thank you, Varuo, you've done well." She smiled kindly at him and earned a smile wider than the Cheshire Cat as he allowed her to touch his large head. Her green eyes slowly turned back to Mr. V and she dipped her head in a soft nod of understanding. "You appear to be very rattled. Come, Master Yen Sid waits."
There was a slight sound of tinkling bells as she turned to lead the way, and flowers sprung from underfoot with each step that she took. Were it not for Varuo nudging his arm to encourage him to move, Mr. V would have remained planted to the spot gawking after the green magical woman. "Go with them, Yen Sid will answer any questions you have."
"You're not coming?" Mr. V quickly spun around, a small sense of worry burying in his stomach.
"I have to go to Ashe." He threw his head in the direction they had entered. "She's trying to save this miserable Realm again and she can't do it alone."
Leaving him with even more questions, Varuo hopped back through the magical wall of water and back out onto the battlefield. He watched the giant hellcat pounce through the air until he was completely out of sight. He hoped he would be able to bring Ms. Scatter home after all this and provide her some semblance of peace. . .
"Come mortal." Chernabog growled lowly behind him and startled him from his worries. "We should not keep the Keeper waiting."
Mr. V turned back, ready to say something but thought better of it with the warning look the great demon king gave him. Chernbog followed after Mr. V and ensured that he did not dawdle and gawk at everything he saw as he passed through a strange encampment outside a tall tower.
Druids, dryads, centaurs, minotaurs, satyrs, pixies, talking animals, walking trees, all things that made up fairy tales and childish tales to tell children a bedtime story walked and passed by one another in hushed whispers, soft mournful cries, and a few sad mournful songs. There were even a few humans huddled together in one corner of the encampment, all staring at the mythical creatures that roamed the encampment then shrinking back in terror as Chernabog passed.
Mr. V wanted to make a joke or say something to point out that Chernabog obviously did not have any fans here, however, the words escaped him as he saw the look of scorn on the demon king's face. Though poking fun at the demon king would momentarily make him feel better about the terrible day he was having, it would probably end up getting him killed before he even saw Scatter in this Realm. He kept his mouth shut as he continued the remainder of the walk under some glowing trees that almost seemed to guard the entrance of the tall tower. The small budding flowers guided them to where a green magical woman waited for them as she pushed open with all her might to open the doors; they didn't budge. With a growl, Chernabog passed Mr. V and opened the door with a single hand. The magical woman offered a nod of gratitude for Chernabog before turning and looking to Mr. V.
"Come, Master Yen Sid is waiting for you." She called to him before stepping inside. Walking fast so Chernabog would not squash him, Mr. V hustled inside the tall tower. Once the door shut behind him the lights went dim and the whole tower seemed to come aglow as candles floating midair by the windows, climbing plants along the walls were homes to small fairies, and magical crystals like shattered glass pieces floated overhead. A walking broom swept the stairs and a walking mop mopped the floor off in the far corner before picking up its dustpan and disappearing behind a creaky door.
His mouth was open in awe at the things he saw around him as Mr. V ascended the stairs behind the green magical woman with Chernabog following close behind. The fairies tinkled like bells as they flitted up to Mr. V to look him over before Chernabog growled to scare them off. The frightened fairies found refuge in the green woman's hair and she let out a laugh that was as airy as a bell as the fairies played in her hair. The greenery seemed to flourish and grow stronger as she passed and were it not for a strange pale blue mist that crept down the walls, the climbing plants would surely take over the tower. The higher they climbed Mr. V noticed that a blue mist slithered down from the top of the stairs.
"Just who is this Yen Sid?" He asked aloud, his mind hardly able to keep up with what he saw.
The green woman chimed happily as she twirled in a circle and began to float. "Master Yen Sid is the Keeper of this Realm."
"I've been told that." Mr. V nodded his head, hoping to encourage her to elaborate. "But what exactly does he do?"
"He keeps things in order, mortal." Chernabog groused behind him, his tail flicking irritably. "He is a sorcerer of many talents and powers that are more powerful than your ability to manipulate the shadows."
"Okay, that's still pretty vague." Mr. V laughed lightly, his smile becoming trained. "Anything else you can tell me? Anything that's not so vague?"
"He is a sorcerer and the Keeper of this Realm," Chernabog growled, his patience becoming thinner each time he had to repeat himself, "what more do you need to know?"
"Nothing, I suppose." He clipped and bit his tongue. It was obvious that neither of the parties that escorted him up the miles of spiraling stairs would answer him. He would have no choice but to ask the sorcerer himself.
"Master Yen Sid knows all." The green woman hummed as she smiled encouragingly. "Master Yen Sid sees all, and Master Yen Sid can answer all of your questions."
Mr. V felt probed to ask if the sorcerer was the god of this Realm but thought better of it as the blue mists became thicker and became difficult to see through. Were it not for the fairies in the green woman's hair, Mr. V was sure that he would have lost his way or even his footing on the tiny steps. He barely fit half his foot on the tiny steps, he had no earthly idea how Chernabog was climbing these stairs. Despite the fact that Mr. V held onto the railing and he knew that they were climbing stairs, the blue mists made his mind feel foggy and very disoriented. A growl behind him made him jump and realize that he had stopped moving until a clawed hand shoved him forward.
"Keep moving mortal." The clawed hand stayed at his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. "We're nearly there. Do not be distracted now."
"Distracted?" Mr. V asked, eyes searching for something to be distracted by, but all he saw was blue mists. Though he was far from being in Chernabog's favor, the demon king kept his claw on Mr. V's shoulder for the entirety of the way through the mist as they came to the top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, the mists dissipated enough where Mr. V could see clearly again and saw that the green woman waited outside a door, whispering in tiny giggles as she spoke through the tiny crack of the door.
Mr. V wasn't sure how they had managed it in such a short time, perhaps it was the mists or the haze he was under while walking through the mists, but they were now at the top of the tower. As Mr. V's foot pressed against the top step, the door slowly creaked open, the mists went from thick clouds to thinning trickles and the green woman slipped inside. With little else to do and no questions to ask, both Mr. V and Chernabog stepped past the threshold of the door and stepped into a large office room.
Walls of ancient stone lined to the brim with bookcases of ancient texts and scripts and scrolls encased them in the office. The wooden floors creaked under the weight of the strange guests as they walked up to the desk that sat in the center of the room. The aforementioned sorcerer was not yet present and both Chernabog and the green woman found corners of the room to sit in while Mr. V turned in a circle to take in the room. Over where Chernabog sat on the left of the room was a stone fireplace with a cast iron kettle simmering with water warming the circular room. Where the green woman hummed a song with the fairies in her hair was a balcony behind French doors with Dutch framed windows on either side of it with strange blue potted poppy flowers resting in the windowsills. Mr. V noticed that a strange sort of dust hovered over the flowers while a slithering trail of magic helped to guide the dust from the blue poppies up to the ceiling, around the perimeter of the room, around the doorway to where it trickled down to the floor and crawled out the cracks.
The dangerous beauty that magic was, one so alluring and yet lethal in just the tiniest of puffs made his nose wrinkled upon seeing the flowers and realized those were the cause of the strange mists that led the way up to the sorcerer's office. His stomach twisted slightly at the displeasure of being disoriented under their foggy spell and left a foul taste in his mouth as he turned his gaze away from the blue poppies. Other than the large desk in the center of the room and a small alchemy table wedged between some of the bookcases next to another door on the far right, there was nothing of real interest to look at. He turned one full circle and by the time his eyes rested at the desk again, a large wrinkled man with thick bushy brows of knowledge, glaring eyes full of wisdom, and a long beard that seemed to be the home of other magical substances dressed in blue robes that trailed the floor sat in high backed chair with a smile of intrigue on his face as he watched Mr. V.
Mr. V did not miss the tall pointed blue hat that had stars and moons that spiraled incessantly as if in their own galaxy atop his head. It was obvious that the man before him was indeed a sorcerer of many crafts and was not one to be taken lightly.
"Welcome, I am the one they call Yen Sid." The sorcerer's voice rumbled with the power of thunder and a roaring sea and smirked with the pride that he could command them. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Valentino."
"It would appear that the pleasure is mine, sorcerer." Mr. V tipped his hat off to the sorcerer and placed his hands on his cane. His eyes wary of what he saw, his head still a little dazed from the fog it was under and was not ready to trust such a powerful sorcerer. "I take it you're the cause of the speedy trip up your stairs?"
"You'll have to forgive me." He chuckled wryly, knowingly and placed his hands atop the desk, his fingers lacing together. "I am not accustomed to having many visitors, especially one as rare as one that I have invited to my tower. Most visitors that climb my tower get lost in the mists for their . . . murderous reasons for seeking me out."
Mr. V's mind flickered to the broom and the mop cleaning up upon their arrival and hoped that such a murderous visitor had not ruined any good intentions the sorcerer had before his arrival.
"I assure you, good sorcerer," his throat felt dry and his smile forced as he tried to be pleasant enough, "I am not here with murderous reasons for you."
"Worry not, Mr. Valentino." Master Yen Sid chuckled, a dark smile rested on the sorcerer's face, as if he could read his thoughts, and brought his hands up to his mouth. "I know that you're not here to kill me, if you were you would have been dead by now. You matter and reason for coming here is entirely different from what anyone else has come to me for."
His brow twitched and Mr. V had to fight the temptation of summoning a shadow to be close at hand for his own protection. "Is that so?"
Though the mists hadn't killed him he was certain that this sorcerer would if he should show any signs of malicious thoughts. Mr. V was certain the sorcerer only wanted to entertain this idea of a visitor and would have no qualms about how he left his tower if things did not go his way. For now, Mr. V would have to be on his best behavior, if only for Ms. Scatter's sake.
"Why don't you take a seat and we can discuss the matters of your arrival over tea." Yen Sid rolled his fingers atop his knuckles and a chair appeared with a puff of blue smoke beside Mr. V in front of the desk. Mr. V eyed the royal blue fabricated chair before giving a curt nod and taking his seat.
"Thank you." He coughed wryly and crossed his foot over his knee and sat back in the chair. The chair was just short enough where the sorcerer sat high enough to look down his nose at the man before him and Mr. V bit back a grimace.
"How would you like your tea?" Yen Sid asked as he placed his hands back on the desk, his eyes unmoving and unblinking from the man before him.
"With honey if you have it." His fingers clenched then released at the handle of his cane as the sorcerer rose from his seat and shuffled over to the stone fireplace. Mr. V was not accustomed to being the one treated as a guest as he was almost always the host of any given situation. It was easier to avoid being poisoned or given some sort of truth serum to expose his uncensored thoughts and break away his charismatic mold. It would seem, however, that he had little choice in the matter. Then again, if the sorcerer had wanted him dead, he highly doubted he'd be sitting here now.
With a wave of his hand the cast iron kettle rose from its prong and a teapot from atop the mantle floated down to receive the warmed water. There was a snap of fingers and the teapot followed by the teacups and saucers, teaspoons, and a small square jar of honey floated over to the desk.
"I hope that bergamot earl grey suits your tastes." The sorcerer sighed as he eased himself back into his seat. "It's a little more robust than a plain earl grey and it pairs amazingly with Veta's wildflower honey."
"Veta?" His brow furrowed slightly and glanced at the green woman cooing over the fairies in her hair.
"Veta is the Sprite of Spring." Yen Sid nodded his head. "She helps move the budding seasons in this Realm along while Chernabog over there brings the rough terrain of the autumn and winters. They both do their jobs amazingly, I only wished they got along better than they did."
Chernabog grunted and said something under his breath in his demon tongue and Sprite snipped something back and stuck her tongue out at the demon king before crossing her arms and looking outside again. Yen Sid merely rolled his eyes and shook his head as he poured two cups of tea. Though it was a quaint scene to see these deities sitting so calmly in the same room together, Mr. V still had plenty of questions to ask and felt as though he had a limited time to ask them and did not want to waste the opportunity while the others wanted to pretend and play house. Yen Sid, on the other hand, did not seem to be bothered with time as he slowly added two twirls of honey to both cups before sliding one over to Mr. V.
"I take it you have questions."
"I do," he admitted as he accepted the cup from him. "I've been told you know all things, so I'm unsure what would be the best question to ask."
"With the immortal life that I am privileged and cursed to live, I have come to learn and to master many things. Though I know many things, there are some things still left in this lifetime that I've yet to come to know. Which I suppose is a good thing there's eternity to give me plenty of time to learn more things." Yen Sid chuckled as he took a sip from his cup. "However, the manner in which you are here, well, I can assume that can only be to find out about Ms. Ashe Scatter, as you call her, whereabouts."
Mr. V nodded curtly and curled his fingers around the handle of the cup but did not sup yet. Though the man wanted to be humble it was evident that he knew more than he was willing to let on.
"Am I to presume that she was. . . changing while in your Realm?" Yen Sid hedged carefully as he looked over the rim of his cup again. "Perhaps by her attitude or physical appearance?"
"Yes sir." He nodded again and held the cup in his hand, but still could not bring himself to sup yet. He didn't like the feeling that he was the only one in the room out of the loop and desperately tried to maintain his composure. He wanted to keep the little information to himself, but he knew that if he were going to get any answers about what was going on, he would have to give a little to receive a little. "Temper flares here and there, and her eyes would change to gold."
"It is as I feared, no, worse than that. . . " His nose wrinkled and his brow became aggrieved in thought as he set his cup down on its saucer. "I assume that you are aware that Ms. Ashe Scatter was not originally an occupant of the Anti-Realm?"
"Yes sir." Mr. V nodded and looked down into the brown liquid that waited to be drunk. "Within the last few weeks of her stay in the Anti-Realm her actions became strange and her already secret private life was losing its secrecy and things started leaking out."
"Prying eyes and prying minds tend to let secrets leak out." Yen Sid gave him a pointed look as he hid his frown behind his hands. "No matter how great the curiosity, there are always repercussions to actions, even if not intentional, Mr. Valentino."
He gritted his teeth and glared down into his tea, "So I have come to find out."
"Do not blame yourself so harshly, Mr. Valentino." Yen Sid spoke softly, a hint of kindness in his voice. "It was not entirely your fault so much as it was the fate of this Realm and the consequences of Ms. Ashe Scatter's previous choices she made when she resided here. It was bound to happen sooner or later when the right person allowed their curiosity to grow too great."
"Fate?" Mr. V looked up, his brow pinched with confusion, as he set the teacup on the desk. "I don't understand. What does fate have to do with anythin' about Scatter coming back here?"
"Why don't you taste your tea and I shall give you a glimpse of her history?" One bushy brow rose as he glanced at the teacup then to Mr. V. "It is a short tale, but one that will prove beneficial to your understanding for her life of such deep secrecy."
Yen Sid took a sip from his own cup, as if to encourage Mr. V, and much to his chagrin he partook in sipping his tea. It wasn't anything particular in flavor, a little bolder for sure, a little stronger maybe, but there wasn't anything particularly special about the tea. After being a man of coffee and stronger forms of caffeine, though, he was not likely to be one to appreciate such a tea as this. As he pulled back from his tea to look up at Yen Sid, Mr. V found that they were no longer in his office.
All around him were dark stone, full of holes that dissolved any light from passing through them, a pale gray mist that blurred any true construct of time, and twinkling pale lights from roaming fairies in the distance only assured Mr. V that he was still in the Fantasia Realm. His eyes shot wide open, a sense of panic sunk within him as he looked around in the unfamiliar cave in which they stood until Yen Sid placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Calm yourself, Mr. Valentino." He chided gently. "We are still in my office, but we are just taking a small trip into the past."
"No, no, no, no, no, not time travel." He shrugged the hand off his shoulder and Yen Sid looked as though he wanted to laugh at the Shadowman. Too many things happened when people messed with the past, sure it altered the future, but one could never be too careful with how drastically they could change it. Even though he was sending the Recruits to alter the Villains stories, it was more of an alternate timeline rather than the permanent one that has been concreted over time. "I know better than to try messing with things in the past!"
"Fret not, Mr. Valentino." A smirk crawled on the sorcerer's face. "We are simply in a memory of mine, no time altering events to worry about."
"R-Right." He huffed and adjusted his coat as he looked around. "Then, where are we?"
"We are currently standing in the place that Ashe Scatter spent most of her time in this Realm." Yen Sid stood taller and placed his hands behind his back to make himself stand straighter.
Mr. V frowned and looked around the cave they stood in, there was a luxurious bed with down feather pillows, silk sheets, and even a curtain that went around her bed posts, but the room was lifeless and felt more like a cage then a room she lived in. It was vastly different from the way Ms. Scatter kept her room in the Anti-Castle, full of color, white especially, and open spaced as she could allow it. It was no wonder her decorations were always so adverse to the ones of villains if she lived in a cave her whole life.
As he turned his attention to the sorcerer, he saw that Master Yen Sid was staring sadly out the window. There was no significance to the window other than that it overlooked the whole forest just at the foot of the volcano they stood in. There was obviously something more that happened here, something he was going to have to drag out from the old sorcerer since he did not seem too inclined to just blatantly tell him what he wished to know. He cocked a brow at the sorcerer, "What happened here?"
"In this room, nothing of true importance." The sorcerer kept his eyes focused on whatever it was going on outside the window. "However, this is where I stood on the day the firebird was both born and torn asunder."
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.
I know this story has been on hiatus forever, and I profusely apologize for it. The story and I just couldn't agree on anything until we worked out a few plot holes and kinks in the redrafted outline for this story. For those of you who have been waiting on me to update, I promise I will and then I shall get to writing the other stories for the other Recruits.
The original plan was to write the other Recruits' stories alongside this and include snippets from each so everyone could see a bit of personality, all the characters involved in the stories, and the way the Villains were to be per story, however, as the first two stories were 40 chapters, I highly doubt I could get the other eight done that quickly to finish this story. So, I've drafted a few outlines for the others, and have chosen to move forward and finish this story first.
As we come to the end of 2021 I want to wish all of my readers many Happy Holidays and well wishes for the New Year of 2022. I hope it is better for all of us.
Please remember to leave a comment or a review, and if you'd like to leave a critique or a well wishing, please send me a message. I always like hearing what my readers have to say about my works and want to use what I can to improve my writing.
Thanks so much for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned!
Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter.