This was inspired by a video I made a while back using Paint's "Harry Potter in 99 Seconds" with Disney characters that I thought fit best at the time. The idea of reimagining Harry Potter but with Disney kept growing in the back of my head after that. Finally, I sat down to type it all and see how it went. And since Disney is so big nowadays, there will be nods to certain things they own that I really enjoy as well and wanted to integrate into the world. I get Harry Potter isn't exactly adored nowadays thanks to J.K. Rowling coming out as a generally awful person, but I still love Harry and wanted to see if I could remove or fix a lot of the negative themes and stereotypes that wormed their way into the original books. I mean, The Owl House will be playing a huge part in this, so expect more LGBT+ love as the series progresses! While the stories will follow the plot of the books/films for the most part, there will be deviations throughout that keep it from being a carbon copy of them...but that would be getting into spoilers. =)
Anyone who's seen my other work might despair that I'll never finish this one, but don't worry - I already have most of the chapters written in advance. I'll be posting them every Sunday.
A word of warning before we start: This chapter has moments of a character going through anxiety, panic attacks, and depression.
Cass Hamada of Number 14 Montgomery Street, San Fransokyo, was content to say she was as perfectly ordinary as you could get, if you were inclined to ask. She was the last person on earth you'd expect to be involved in anything unusual or fantastical, because she simply didn't have the time for it.
Cass owned The Lucky Cat Café, a popular coffee shop and bakery that specialized in Japanese pastries, and lived in the apartment above it. She was fairly slender with large green eyes and short wavy auburn hair, and considered herself attractive for her age (which she made a habit to never divulge).
Cass had everything she ever wanted, except for three things: a good man, a cure for her stress-eating habit (her kitchen cabinets were stuffed with snacks that she knew wouldn't do her figure any favors, but she couldn't refuse them), and her brother, Tomeo. It felt like years since they last spoke. In fact, it had been years. After his wedding, Tomeo Hamada and his wife Maemi had slowly distanced themselves from Cass for reasons she could hardly fathom. The last time she heard from him, Maemi had given birth to a son, but she had never seen him. Only a photograph of them together on his wedding day existed to prove that Cass even had a brother. She tended to ignore the picture up on the wall; looking at it made her think, thinking made her depressed, being depressed made her unable to work, not working made her eat and…well, you get the idea. Keeping busy kept a roof over her head, her worries at bay, and her world turning.
When Cass Hamada woke on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the foggy weather outside to suggest that strange and marvelous things would soon be happening around her. Cass hummed along with the music piping from her clock radio as she popped her favorite black t-shirt over her head and dropped some bread slices in the toaster.
She didn't notice a ball of bright light flutter past her window.
At 6:30, she hurried down the side steps and outside to prep the café. It was when she stepped onto the street that the first in a long line of peculiar things she would witness that day caught her eye - an owl perched on the telephone wires. For a second, Cass didn't realize what she'd seen. Then she jerked her head up to look again. Sure enough, there was a rather small brown owl with amber eyes sitting right above her. Cass blinked. She didn't think owls even lived in San Fransokyo. The owl looked down on her, unblinking. It barely swayed in the light morning breeze. It was as if it were carved from wood. She peered closer. It was made of wood. Cass let out a sigh, feeling oddly relieved. Maybe this was one of those citywide art projects where she'd find similar owls hidden all over San Fransokyo in the weeks to come. Cass entered the café thinking aloud about a large order of red bean paste she hoped would arrive today, still feeling the owl's eyes on her back.
But as the café opened its doors and the first steady stream of customers trickled in, something else drove the thought of owls from her mind. While Cass served her hungry patrons, she couldn't help but notice there seemed to be more strangely dressed people than usual; people in cloaks and capes, exotic dresses, funny faces, even a few that looked more like animals than people. Cass normally didn't mind customers whose fashion sense strayed from the norm, self-expression and all that, but the number of folks appearing in such outlandish costumes all in one day…it put her on edge in a way she couldn't describe. Quite a few of them were huddled together, whispering excitedly.
Then she saw a few with swords in scabbards attached to their sides, and it struck her – these people were obviously here for a comic convention, yes, that was it. Cass was no stranger to the con scene; once every summer, her café hosted hordes of hungry convention-goers, many of which cosplayed as their favorite heroes and villains. Why, when she and Tomeo were younger –
Cass froze as memories tinged with sadness surged at her. She and her brother had such good times together before he left…
"Uh, Miss Hamada?" one of her employees asked. "Table ten's still waiting for their croissants."
Cass shook herself out of her daze. She couldn't get lost in the past, not now. The café needed her. She dropped off the croissants and continued her work, refusing to stop and think about why none of her cosplaying customers wore any badges or waved signed photos around.
In spite of the uptick in unusual clientele, the rest of Cass' morning passed by unremarkably. She baked several batches of melonpan, anpan, cornet and shu kurimu, paused only for a quick bathroom break, and even received some generous tips. She put an order in for a gelato display freezer, something that she'd been saving up for a long time. She went over a list of flavors she planned to feature along with some potential ones she wanted to experiment with – matcha and green tea were at the very top. She was in a fairly good mood until the afternoon. Once the lunch rush was done and Cass was ready for her own repast, she thought she'd be a little generous and support one of her fellow restaurateurs for a change. She called for one of the staff to take charge as she grabbed her purse and strolled out the door.
She hadn't given the people in funny costumes another thought until she saw more of them milling about in the streets. They still made her uneasy, but why she couldn't put her finger on it. Some greeted each other like old friends with hearty laughs and embraces, others huddled together whispering and giggling like schoolchildren sharing a dirty secret. It was one such group Cass passed by when she overheard a snatch of their conversation.
"That's right, the Hamadas –"
"Yes, their son, Hiro –"
Cass halted mid-step. It was a warm spring day, but she suddenly felt very cold. She looked back at the whisperers, ready to interrupt them with a single question, but thought better of it. Instead, she booked it down the block.
She slowed down after she put some distance between herself and the little group, and plucked her phone from her bag. She had just found Tomeo's number in the contact list when she changed her mind. Tomeo never picked up his phone, for one thing. She'd be silly to try again, thinking she'd get an answer this time. Besides, Hamada wasn't that unique of a name, the more she thought about it. There were plenty of people who had that name. There were probably plenty of people who also had a son named Hiro. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure her nephew was called Hiro. He might have been Hayao. Or Goro. Or Harry. But, she reasoned, there was no point in worrying on an empty stomach. And to her great relief, she had reached her destination.
Tony's was a quaint Italian restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere that sometimes bordered on the romantic. The food was delicious, and she got on swimmingly with Tony himself, despite them technically competing with each other for customers on a daily basis. The aroma of freshly cooked spaghetti and meatballs wafted through the air, making Cass' stomach growl with anticipation. She opened the door, her mind already set on her order – only to stop dead in the doorway.
The restaurant was filled with dogs – barking, slobbering, hungry dogs, and not a single human in sight. Bulldogs, Sheepdogs, Great Danes, Chihuahuas, Dalmatians, Basset Hounds, Bloodhounds, Scottish Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, mutts, even a wild-looking hairless canine, all barking madly and making a huge mess of food across the tables. Cass could only look on in shock. There was no way Tony in his right mind would allow this - but no, there was Tony himself in the middle of the chaos, happily serenading his four-legged customers with an accordion as they slurped spaghetti and scarfed down whole pizza slices.
Joe, Tony's head chef, popped his head out of the kitchen and noticed Cass standing there. "Hey, it's-a Miss Cassidy!" he said with a grin. "I don't-a suppose you'd be joining us for lunch in this doghouse, eh?"
"Uh, sorry, Joe," Cass stammered. "I…I think I'll be taking it to go this time."
Cass hurried back to the café with her doggy bag – food bag, tightly gripped in one hand, her heart thumping like she just ran a marathon. Was she losing her mind? She couldn't be the only person who saw everything going on for the madness that it was. She was so caught up in her anxiety that she quite literally bumped into a small parade of people in South American garb. Men in straw hats and striped shirts played instruments while ladies in voluminous colorful skirts laughed as they danced. The bag with Cass' lunch went flying into the crowd and was tossed among the celebrants like a beach ball at a concert. She tried to keep track of it, but her thoughts turned to whomever she collided with. "I'm sorry, I –"
It was a few seconds before Cass fully comprehended that the person she was talking to wasn't a person at all, but a rooster that stood up to her waist and was wearing a jacket, chaps, spurs, and a sombrero. Oblivious to her discomfort, the rooster enthusiastically shook her hand. "Eyyy, no need to be sorry, chica! Nothing could upset me today! La Maléfica is gone at last! All pretty ladies like you should be celebrating this día de felicidad! AAAAHH HAAAAA!"
The rooster fired a pair of pistols into the air with wild abandon. He hopped along waving his guns as he caught up with a dancing green parrot about the same height as him. None of the revelers batted an eye at this, even when the two birds began shamelessly flirting with the dancers. One of them, a dark-haired woman balancing a tray of cookies on her head, caught Cass' lunch and handed it back to her with a cookie and a warm smile. Then she hitched up her skirt and rejoined the parade. She and the entire street, even the buildings, and lampposts, swayed to the infectious Latin rhythm. Cass, however, was immune. She watched, still as a statue, as the party passed her by. Only when it faded from her sight and her hearing did her feet finally obey her thoughts and carry her back uphill.
She knew it. She had gone crazy.
As she stormed up to the corner of Number 14, the first thing she noticed – and it didn't improve her mood – was the owl she'd spotted that morning. Was it her imagination or did it move since she last saw it? It faced her as she came up the block. "Shoo!" Cass shouted and waved at it, trying to get it to stir.
It did not.
Half-furious and half-unnerved, Cass broke eye contact with the bird and hurried back into the café. She ran past the tables, behind the counter and into the break room where she flung her uneaten lunch into the fridge. Then she jammed an apron on and took over the counter as before. "You have a good break, Miss Hamada?" one of her employees asked her. Cass only smiled, perhaps a bit too tightly, and took the customer's change.
"Just keep working. Just keep working," she repeated in her head. "Just keep smiling and working. You can lose your sanity at the end of the day when everyone's gone home and no one can see you crumble like yesterday's crusts. Just. Keep. Working."
In Cass' haste to restart her routine, she failed to notice a woman partially hidden under a tattered red cloak sitting in a corner silently watching her, and, occasionally, the owl on the wires.
Miraculously, Cass made it to closing time without having a nervous breakdown. At roughly 9:30, she turned off the lights, locked the door, and trudged her way up the stairs. She resisted the urge to check if the owl was still there watching her. It wasn't worth getting electrocuted if the desire to get rid of it herself overtook her.
Cass usually enjoyed the tired feeling that came at the end of a long day's work. It meant she labored hard and well, and had earned a few hours of snacks, television, and maybe a relaxing bath before going to sleep. But Cass wasn't tired tonight. She was exhausted.
Electing to forego the bath and snacks, Cass flopped onto the couch, kicked off her shoes, and snuggled under a blanket. She turned on the TV, hoping the noise would stave off that creeping feeling of loneliness as she fell asleep. A weatherman was in the middle of his forecast.
"And some people as far as Orlando have reported not the rain showers I predicted early this week, but showers of fireworks! I'd say it's a little early for the Fourth of July, but all things considered, it's not the wildest phenomenon I've seen today. Some startling new footage from Greece reveals just what – or rather, who's been behind all those thunderstorms as of late. Can we get some pictures up, Ron?"
Sure enough, images and video recordings of a storm taken straight off social media replaced the weatherman. The lightning flashes revealed an enormous bearded man in a toga standing on the clouds and hurling the electric bolts across the sky.
"If eyewitnesses are to be believed, then what you are seeing is Zeus, the mythological Greek god of lightning and ruler of Mount Olympus, controlling this storm. The lightning bolts themselves hit some open plains and the Republican Party headquarters, so there are no major losses. Speaking of storms, we can some expect rain tonight, but don't worry; Zeus has no plans to thunder down upon us." The weatherman chuckled awkwardly. "Back to you, Herm."
"Thank you, Dean, for that "enlightening" report. For those of you just tuning in, our coverage of the unusual activity worldwide today continues. Despite the awe, excitement, and no small amount of astonishment these displays have inspired, we have yet to learn the cause for them. What you are about to see may come as a shock to some viewers, but our fact-checkers have assured us, and we, in turn, assure you, that this footage has not been altered or fabricated in any way, shape or form."
Cass sat frozen in her blanket as images that could only come from the most imaginative stories came to life on the screen before her:
Pirate ships blasting their cannons at each other on the seas.
Leprechauns throwing dances all over Ireland.
Monster sightings in Oregon.
Alien spottings in Hawaii.
Nannies flying about London.
The queen of Norway wielding ice magic.
Medieval kingdoms emerging from mists of time.
She hadn't gone mad after all. But she still felt very lost. What's more, none of events featured made any mention of Tomeo or his family.
"In addition, there have been reports that animals from mice to horses to house pets are revealing increased intelligence, far more than what we believed they were capable of – "
Herm paused, and then cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just received word that world leaders are currently gathering at the United Nations along with representatives of an emerging community of previously unknown royals, scholars and…did I hear that last one right? Uh, they are arriving to address and discuss the changes taking place. We take you live to our New York correspondent, Hannah Long."
The camera switched to a view of a red-haired woman holding a microphone standing outside the United Nations building. "Herm, as of this time, most of the global leaders have arrived on the scene and are entering the building. We have one of them with us now, the Duke of Weaselton –"
"WESELTON!" came an annoyed shout from offscreen.
"…Yes, Weselton," Hannah continued, "who wishes to share his thoughts on these events." The camera moved down to the Duke, a short-statured gentleman with a long nose. He smoothed down his toupee and blustered into the microphone:
"I for one, will not put up with this, this…unnatural abnormality! This treason! This sorcery! This –"
Cass shut off the television.
When the Duke said that one word, everything had clicked.
The next thing Cass knew, she was rummaging through her purse for her phone again. This time she hit the call button when she reached Tomeo's name. Her hand shook as she lifted the phone to her ear.
It rang…and rang…and rang…
And a voice came through the other end.
"Please leave a message with your name and number, and your call will be returned as soon as possible." BEEP.
"Hey Tomeo, it's Cass. You know, the sister you used to have but sort of forgot about? Heh, heh… uh, I'm just calling because there's some weird stuff going right now…fireworks…thunder gods…talking animals…and I just wanted to know if it had anything to do with, you know…you? I think I heard your name mentioned also and, um…"
Cass pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. This was not going like she had envisioned. It was time to lay it all down.
"I miss you, Tomeo. I don't know where you are or what you're doing, but I hope you're safe. It hasn't been easy wondering all this time, alone, with nothing to go on. I hope Maemi's all right, and I hope…I hope Hiro's well, too. Please call me back. I love you. Bye."
She hung up and placed the phone on the table. Cass had long ago given up hope that she'd hear from Tomeo again. Yet saying the very words she longed to tell him, even if he wasn't there to respond, left her feeling free, weightless…empty…drained.
The silence in the apartment was deafening. Cass turned the TV back on, but flipped through the channels until she found an old black and white French melodrama. She laid back and let the lush orchestral music wash over her. Cass' last comforting thought as her eyelids grew heavy was that maybe Tomeo would call her back this time. Maybe by tomorrow, things would all make sense once more and life would go on as it always had.
How very wrong she was.
Cass Hamada might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the owl outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It sat still as a statue, its eyes focused unblinkingly across the street. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed down the road, or when three kids in Halloween costumes sneaked past in a walking bathtub. In fact, it was nearly midnight when the owl moved at all.
Sparkles began to appear in the air, forming the shape of a man. He wore a tall, pointed hat, had a long white beard that came down to the hem of his sky-blue robes, and twinkling eyes beneath a pair of bushy eyebrows and spectacles. Within seconds, he fully materialized on the corner of Montgomery Avenue.
This man was a wizard, and his name was Merlin.
The little owl drew Merlin's attention with a small hoot. Merlin looked up and chuckled. "I might've known."
He took a careful look around, and then pulled from his sleeve a long wooden wand. Gently, he waved the wand at the streetlamps and whispered:
"Hockety pockety wockety wack
Abra abra dabra nack
Shrink in size, douse the lights
There's magic that must be done tonight
Higitus figitus migitus mum
Prestidigitonium!"
As he chanted his spell, the electric lights guttered and dimmed like a candle flame at the end of a wick until they had all gone out. Satisfied, Merlin tucked away his wand.
"I must say, I'm surprised to see you of all people here, Eda."
The woman in the old red cloak stepped out from behind the telephone pole as if she had been hiding there all along. She had a mane of tangled red hair with streaks of gray, gleaming golden eyes, a fang jutting down from her upper lip, and held a long staff. The wooden owl glided down from the branch, perched on top of the staff and folded its wings, becoming nothing more than a lifeless figurehead. The woman cocked her head and grinned.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"My dear Eda, there's only one witch I know of whose affinity for owls exceeds my own. Have you been here all day?"
"Pretty much," Eda shrugged, "though Owlbert did most of the spectating for me." Her eyes dropped down to the figurehead.
"Odd, I imagined someone like you would be off celebrating. I must have passed a dozen parties and festivals on my way here," Merlin said with a hint of amusement.
"Tell me about it. I haven't seen this much partying since the coven system was abolished. Now I know what I'm about to say is gonna make me sound like a hypocrite, but you'd think everyone would show a little more discretion. I get it, the Villains are defeated, curses and barriers are broken everywhere, and magic is literally in the air. But did everyone have to go public all at once? The ordinary folks wasted no time freaking out over it, I heard it on the news." She jerked her head at the apartment window. "You can bet the highfalutin saps like Weselton are gonna use every bit of their power to make us all miserable, just because the thought of something different from them puts their pants in a twist."
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Merlin said gently. "While I see where you're coming from, I can't really blame us for going overboard, now that we have something worth celebrating after these dark, unsure times."
"I suppose," said Eda, leaning on the pole and staring into space. "Hmph. Magic, finally out in the open on the same day the Villains and their mighty leader go poof – that's what people are saying."
"It would appear so," mused Merlin. He lifted his hat and removed a bowl of soft-serve ice cream balanced on the top of his head. "Would you care for some Dole Whip?"
"Some what?"
"Dole Whip. It's vanilla mixed with fresh pineapple, an island treat I find rather refreshing."
"Uh, no thanks," Eda murmured, as though she thought now wasn't the time for frozen desserts. "Anyway, even if the so-called Mistress of All Evil is gone –"
"My dear Edalyn," Merlin interrupted, "surely someone like you could call her by her true name?"
"Ugh, THANK you!" Eda cried. "I'm sick of all this "Mistress of All Evil" malarkey; for years I've had to play polite because people were too scared to say her true name: Maleficent."
"Indeed," Merlin agreed. "I've never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Maleficent's name."
"Well, you're different, said Eda. "Ask anyone to name one of the greatest magic wielders of all time, and it comes down to either you or her. Besides, everyone knows that all the Villains – even Maleficent – were terrified of you."
"Lucky it's so dark right now. I haven't blushed this much since Miss Fauna complimented me on my new earmuffs."
Eda shot a sharp look at Merlin through the corner of her eye. "You know, those of us coming out are nothing next to the rumors flying around. Have you heard what everyone's been saying? About why she's disappeared? About what finally destroyed her?"
It seemed Eda had finally reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the reason why she and her familiar waited on a city corner all day, for neither she nor Owlbert had fixed Merlin with such a piercing stare before. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Merlin told her it was true. Merlin, however, was helping himself to another spoonful of Dole Whip and did not answer.
"What they're saying," she pressed on, "was that last night the Hamadas turned up at the base of Bald Mountain. Something was stirring there lately, something powerful, something…dark. Anyone with an ounce of magic could feel it growing. I know I did."
Eda shivered in spite of the warm spring air. Merlin nodded morosely in agreement. She continued.
"Whatever it was, the Hamadas hoped it would draw out some of Maleficent's forces and they could spring an ambush on them. Only…only they were walking right into a trap. They were attacked first, and not just by one of the goon squads, either. Maleficent herself was there, along with some of her right-hand witches and the most important Villains in her fold. And Tomeo and Maemi…now they're…they're…"
Merlin lowered his head. Eda gasped.
"No, I…I didn't want to believe it…" she choked out, her golden eyes brimming with tears. "I should have been there. I could have…"
Merlin patted her shoulder. "I know," he said wearily. "But, if I may paraphrase a wise old cricket, it's a very lovely thought, but not at all practical. Wondering what might have been only steals time away from the present, and the present is all we really have, Eda."
Eda nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "But that's not the end of it," her voice trembled as she went on. "They're saying Maleficent tried to kill their youngest son, Hiro. Don't ask me why they thought bringing him along was a good idea, he's still a baby, but the point is – she couldn't. She couldn't kill that little kid. No one knows why or how, but when she wasn't able to destroy Hiro, her powers broke, or backfired, or something – and that's why not only emshe's/em gone, but the rest of them are, too."
Merlin gravely nodded. Eda's jaw dropped.
"It's…it's true? After everything they've done, all the people they cursed, the lands they decimated…they're defeated all because she couldn't kill one baby? And all those heroes who threw themselves in harm's way thinking they were the ones destined to conquer them just for an infant to show them up…How is that even possible? How could he survive? It doesn't make any sense!"
"We can only guess," said Merlin. "If there is such an answer, I'd like to know myself. But, as is often the case," he continued as he removed a golden pocket watch from his robes and looked at it, "things will reveal themselves at the appropriate time."
"Speaking of, I don't suppose you could share why you're here right now?"
"I've come to bring Hiro Hamada to his aunt. She's the only family he has left now."
"Wait, you're dropping him off here?" Eda pointed at the café. "Look, Merl, I'll level with you. I've been hanging out here all day, and the lady who runs the place? She seems nice, but a bit too…well, I don't know how to put this, but I don't think she's ready to handle this kind of destiny, let alone raise a kid. If she were any more tightly strung, she'd snap in half."
"It will be the best place for him," Merlin said firmly. "And I must kindly ask you not to call me Merl. Now, his aunt will be able to explain everything to him once he is older. I've written her a letter."
"Whoah, whoah, whoah, hold up here!" Eda cried, pressing out her hands for him to stop. "A letter? A single, solitary letter? Forgive me if I'm overreacting here, but you're about to leave our world's messiah on the doorstep of his aunt, who, along with millions of other people, has just come to grips with our very existence, with nothing to elaborate on who he is, what he's done and it means for his future except A LETTER?!"
Merlin patiently waited as Eda paced frantically back and forth as she continued her rant.
"She'll never be able to fully understand it. He'll be famous – a legend – an icon! There'll be stories, tv shows, movies, musicals – hell, even fanfics written all about him! And it won't stop there. Rides, parades, look-alike meet-and-greets in theme parks and tourist traps. I wouldn't be surprised if today was officially declared "Hiro Hamada Day" years from now. There won't be a child in the world who doesn't know his name!"
"Exactly!" cried Merlin, half-exasperated. He frowned at Eda through his spectacles. "All that fame and glory nonsense is no good for anyone, let alone a child! Imagine him, famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he cannot even remember! He'll be far better off growing up away from all of that as an ordinary boy with a simple, average childhood until he is ready for it."
Eda opened her mouth, changed her mind, and said, "Yeah, you've got a point there, old man. But how exactly is he getting here?"
Merlin studied his watch again. "Hmm, Ralph should be arriving with him any moment now."
"Ralph? You really think it's a good idea trusting Ralph with something as important as this? Don't get me wrong, he's a sweet guy and all, but he's not exactly the most responsible fella. Remember the cy-bug incident?"
"I couldn't forget if I tried," Merlin chuckled. "Regardless, Eda, I'd trust Ralph with my life."
"I'm not saying he's untrustworthy," Eda continued. "I'm just – do you hear something?"
Merlin blinked and turned his head toward the sound Eda referred to. It was a distant yell growing louder by the second, and the source was heading straight for them.
A giant of a man in rustic red overalls was barreling through the air on a collision course for Montgomery Avenue. Under one arm he carried what looked like a metal crate. In the other he held a bundle of blankets close to his massive chest.
"Yep, that's Ralph all right," Eda muttered with an air of worry. "And if we don't save him, we're all toast!"
Merlin took out his wand again. "Concentrate, Eda! The spell I have in mind should be enough, but only if we work together." Eda spun her staff in her hand, building up magical energy around her and Merlin. Merlin waved his own wand and spoke the incantation:
"Higitus figitus, soft and slow,
Soften the blow,
Softly, WHOOOAAAH!"
The spell flew from the staff and wand and hit the pavement just as Ralph did. Instead of leaving a concrete crater, Ralph plowed through the street, feathers flying in his wake as if he had crashed into the world's biggest pillow. He finally came to a halt several yards away.
Merlin casually checked his watch again. "Ah, right on time, Ralph, give or take a few seconds." He reached out a hand and helped Ralph up to the sidewalk. "No problems, I trust?"
"Apart from that spectacular landing?" Eda sarcastically added.
Ralph spit out some feathers and brushed himself off with his free hand. "No sir, Eda, Merlin. The little guy fell asleep as we were crossing the Caribbean. It's a wonder the noise from Tortuga didn't wake him."
"It's a wonder your yelling didn't wake him and half the street!" said Eda.
"Hey come on, you know it's not easy to fly when you're running low on pixie dust. Especially when you keep thinking of…" Ralph's eyes glistened.
Eda felt a little guilty over chewing him out. "Well, at least you both made it here in one piece."
Merlin waved his wand again, and the street filled itself back up. This had the bonus of bringing the metallic red box up to their level. Eda noticed it and raised an eyebrow.
"What's in the box, Ralph?"
"Dunno. It was the only thing there left intact. I figured maybe it could give us some answers, but heck if I know how to open it."
Merlin adjusted his spectacles and studied the box closely. "I see…this is a very sophisticated piece of technology. Its outer casing is a part of the very thing it's withholding from us. And those characters near the bottom; if my Japanese isn't off, they translate to…Yes, exactly as I suspected. There's only one thing to do."
Eda and Ralph leaned forward in anticipation.
"Ralph, could please place it on the step next to little Hiro?"
Eda facepalmed. "I don't know what's worse; the letter thing, or leaving an unidentified techno box out in the open with a helpless infant."
Merlin fixed her with a glare.
"Tomeo and Maemi were no slouches when it came to the art of technology. Magic is a simple solution for anyone who wields it, but for the rest of the world, science is the key. I've studied it to a great extent myself, you know. There's nothing that can't be explained or built without sound scientific understanding. Whatever the Hamadas crafted, it was meant to withstand magic in a way that ordinary humans could understand and utilize – or, perhaps, it was meant for Hiro. Either way, I see no reason why it should be parted from him."
Ralph nodded in agreement. He carefully handed his bundle over to Merlin, and lugged the box to the café step.
Merlin unwrapped the cloth to reveal a small baby boy with a tuft of jet-black hair, fast asleep. Cautiously, Merlin slid the blanket further down until the child's right arm was exposed; a criss-cross of jagged scars, resembling a tangle of thorny briars, marked him from his wrist to his elbow. A black mark like a stone embedded in his skin stood at the base of the scars.
"So that's where Maleficent…couldn't you do something to fix it, Merlin?" Eda asked.
"Even if I could, I wouldn't," Merlin replied. "Scars can come in handy. I have one myself on my left knee that is a perfect map of Marceline, Missouri. Well, we'd best get it over with."
"Could I – could I say goodbye to him first, sir?" asked Ralph. Merlin placed little Hiro in Ralph's enormous arms. Ralph gazed at the child. "Hey kid," he murmured to him, "you hang in there. You've got friends, even if you don't know it yet. You're gonna be amazing, and we'll be there for you, even if…"
He paused, feeling very self-conscious.
"Sorry, it's just…Maemi and Tomeo gone, and Hiro having to grow up here without his parents…"
Merlin gave him a gentle smile. "There, there, Ralph. Goodbye doesn't have to last forever, you know."
Ralph smiled through his tears, and returned Hiro to Merlin. Merlin carefully laid the child on the step, took a letter from his sleeve, and tucked it in the boy's blankets. For a full minute, the witch, wizard, and giant stared at the bundle. Eda gripped her staff tightly, Ralph blinked furiously, and the twinkle usually present in Merlin's eyes seemed to have gone out.
"Well," Merlin said finally, "that's that. We've no more business here. We might as well go and join the celebrations."
"Uh, mind if I come with you, Merlin?" Ralph asked shyly. "I'm all out of pixie dust."
"Of course, Ralph. I'd be happy to have your company. And you, Eda?"
"No thanks," Eda demurred. "I think I'll check in on my sister first. Seeing the look on Lilith's face when I fly up to her doorstep without an invisibility spell is just the thing I need to cheer up right now." She climbed onto her staff. Owlbert's wings flapped open, and in moments, Eda was lifted into the air. It wasn't long before she disappeared over the San Fransokyo rooftops.
Ralph and Merlin made their way up the street. Merlin stopped on the street corner and took out his wand again. He tapped the nearest lamppost four times, and all the lights popped back on down the block one by one. The sorcerer could make out the tiny bundle dwarfed by the red box on the doorstep of the Lucky Cat Café.
"Good luck, Hiro," he murmured. And with a turn of his heel, he and Ralph were gone.
A breeze rustled the telephone lines of Montgomery Avenue, the last place you'd expect marvelous things to happen. Hiro Hamada rolled over in his blankets without waking. His tiny hands closed around the envelope beside him and he slept on, unaware that he was special, unaware that he was famous, unaware that he would be awoken in a few hours' time by his Aunt Cass' scream as she went to open the café, nor that he would spend the next several years raised to be as ordinary as she was. He couldn't know that at this very moment, men, women, animals, fairies, pirates, witches, kings, queens, princesses, princes, chiefs, mermaids, dragons, and countless fantastic and magical beings around the world were meeting to celebrate and raise their glasses to him:
"To Hiro Hamada – The One Who Conquered Them All."
If you like what I've got so far, please leave a review. I'd love to know what you think and it's always encouraging!
Next Chapter: The Runaway Droid