Try to Remember

Chapter 14: Interview.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Not mine, I don't make money of this.

—?M?—?M?—?M?—

Knet Nelson led Mysterion back into the tower, his ebony cane making a rhythmic click as it hit the floor every two and a half steps. They receded back through the hallway and emerged into a room Kenny had seen before, it was the first room he was invited into in the tower, only since he last saw it the mess that Klarion had caused seemed to have been repaired. The lounge come kitchen was left looking just as it had done when Kenny first set foot in it, old and regal, but refined and reserved all the same.

"So you managed to enter the tower without a key. Survived an energy blast from a lord of chaos, proceeded to get back up without a word of complaint. And you say you've never dabbled in the mystic arts?" Kent's voice was level, but twisted with slight amusement. But behind his eyes, Kenny could see a burning curiosity and suspicion.

Mysterion shrugged. "Never saw the need." Which was an answer far from the truth, but close enough depending on how you looked at things.

Sitting down at the dining table and gesturing for Mysterion to take the seat opposite him, Nelson set the Helmet of Fate upon the table next to him and continued casually. "I would've thought an entrepreneurial youngster like yourself would see the need for all the power he could get."

"There's two sides to every coin though, especially when it comes to magic." That, and he had Henrietta for any magical assistance he might need. Despite her grumbling, the goth girl had never refused to help him, either academically or mystically.

"That is true." Nelson mused appreciatively, before tilting his head and quietly suggesting. "It can be worth it though."

"Sometimes." Mysterion was quick to answer, fixing the old magician with an unreadable stare.

"… Also true…" Nodding his head absently, Nelson made a waving gesture to the side, whispering something under his breath. "Tea?" He asked Kenny, as a grey china teapot came drifting out of the kitchen cupboard to sit on the table, along with two mugs a pot of milk and a cup of sugar.

Mysterion nodded briefly, saying. "Little milk, no sugar."

"So Batman sent you?" Nelson asked, apparently making conversation. "The kids told me they'd also been sent by a Leaguer. How come you all weren't working together from the get go?"

That was a good question, Mysterion thought, one he'd have to put to the Bat himself. "I'll have to ask Batman that."

"Do you mind if I ask you some strange questions, Mysterion?" The Sorcerer's tone was tentative but calm, as he passed a mug of tea to the younger hero.

If he'd felt like being difficult, Kenny could've asked Nelson why he wanted his answers. But sensing what lay at the end of these questions might be quite illuminating, he agreed. "Ask away."

"Do you believe in fate?"

"Would you be offended if I said, not really…" There was a small silence, as both men simultaneously took a sip from their respective drinks.

"Not at all. Can't speak for this fella though." He tapped the helmet, which looked quite out of place on the dining table. "What do you believe in then?"

Kenny could say family, but that only applied to one part of his own. He had a less than stellar opinion of his parents. As for his brother, he only thought about him once every year, and even then it was with mixed feelings. There was only Karen, out of his whole messed up family unit whom he had always cared about. God? His relationship with religion was perhaps even worse than his relation to his family. Did he believe in any religion; of course not, not after what he'd seen. If anyone thought what he'd seen was a good argument for any existing religion, and not the existence of some horrific cosmic joke, then they were surely mad. But did he believe in a higher power, a creator? Possibly. If a universal creator did exist though, Kenny was certain of only one thing; it would not be something he could conceive of. Which left him with the thought; was there any union, or order he believed in…?

And as nebulous as his answer was, it was as good as he could give. So Kenny answered. "Justice."

"And what is justice to you?" Nelson questioned neutrally, his look and tone giving little away.

"It's about protecting. It's not about good or evil, or the law, or order. It's just doing what's right, what's fair. And sometimes that doesn't work out, sometimes it leads to stupid or bad things, but a lot of the time it works. And it's better than doing nothing." As he answered a myriad of memories tried to surface in Mysterion's mind, bubbling up and making themselves known. Little painful mistakes, some bigger than others, some much bigger. But none worth remembering right now.

Kent Nelson considered his answer for a while, taking intermittent sips of tea. Before he nodded, perhaps satisfied with the answer, and carried on to another question. "If Batman asked you to come here, i have a feeling you might've heard something like this before, but… Why carry a gun?"

This one was easy for Kenny to answer, and he did so with a small amount of sarcastic bite. "Because some of us don't have the time, money or good fortune to come up with an alternative. Mr. Magic Hat."

Nelson did not chuckle, instead moving swiftly to his next question. "You ever done something you really regret?"

"Hasn't everybody?"

"What happened?"

Kenny paused for a short time, dwelling on all his numerous regrets. But there was only one that rose up in this case, as it always tended to do. Flashes of a dark alleyway, cold concrete, blood streaked across the once spotless snow, a figure laying there, groans of pain, a word, a name, a question. 'Kenny?'

Mysterion answered, his tone low and contemplative. "… I did something stupid once. It ended up getting someone killed…"

The next question came out of nowhere, Nelson took a moment to assess Kenny's answer and reaction, and then just seemed to continue on. Evaluating him. "Do you think the universe exists in order, or in chaos?"

Happy to leave that memory behind, Kenny turned his focus to his answer, voicing thoughts he'd rarely had the time to talk about. "I think it exists in chaos. But I think you'll get a different answer depending on who or what you ask, so if your real question is 'is this existence one of order, or of chaos' then the answer would be both and neither."

"What is on your mind, right now."

Kenny drained the last dregs of his tea, and shot back. "I'm wondering what these questions are leading up to. I'm wondering why the helmet of fate is sat on a dining table between us like some kinda weird salt shaker. And I'm wondering when this is gonna wrap up because it's getting pretty late."

Nelson glanced at his wristwatch, eyebrows raising slightly. Nevertheless, he replied in the same straightforward manner he'd been speaking in for the majority of this interview. "To answer you simply; these questions are leading up to one particular question. One very important question. One I'm not sure I want to ask you, given that i know almost nothing about you. But one that needs to be asked, sooner or later, to someone. The fact that this question is mine to ask at all, is something I'm quite grateful for, and I myself am worried how long that window of fate will be open to me for."

"So what is this final question?" Mysterion dared to ask, his eyes drifting from the old man to the golden helm of Nabu, which was sat between them, the centrepiece casting it's shadow across the dark wood tabletop.

"… Not yet, a few more." Nelson was speaking slowly, his voice dark and intense, resonating with some ethereal history.

To which Kenny could only say. "Alright."

The next set of questions and answers came in rapid succession. "Does Batman trust you?"

"No." A shake of the head.

"Do you trust Batman?"

"No." Another shake in the negative.

"Do you trust me?"

A slight angling of the head in consideration, but an answer just as quick as the last. "More than I trust Batman."

"Why is that?"

"I can see your face." The answer seemed to slap Nelson out of whatever strange trance he'd slipped into, and the old wizard gave Mysterion a pleasant smile. Until Kenny added. "Also you're not an asshole."

"Language." The old fashioned gentleman admonished. "But thank you, I'll relish that compliment… How long have you called yourself Mysterion?"

"Since I was twelve." Though it seemed longer.

Nelson's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Twelve? Well I never… What's changed since then?"

"A lot." There were those memories again, whispers from his childhood, this time both good and bad. Change wasn't always for the better, and that didn't always mean skeletons left behind him, locked away out of sight. Sometimes it meant tear stained cheeks, a warm embrace, a bitter laugh, the kind of joker only old friends can share. Lots of things had changed, and he'd left a lot behind. It was often that he wondered if it had been for the better, if it would be for ever that he left those things behind. "A lot has changed… But I don't feel any different."

"… Would you become Doctor Fate."

"What?" Was Kenny's stale, stunned reply. He'd been expecting some mystic offer, but nothing quite so blunt, quite so sudden. "You want me to be Dr. Fate?"

"I believe you have the potential, and Fate has set his sights on you. Says you've got the right aura, and something else that he's not quite sure about. Funny that, for Fate not to know… I don't think he likes it much." Nelson tapped the golden bell with a hand, regarding it with a sardonic smile.

Brow creasing in confusion and irritable realisation, Kenny pressed. "So what then? Fate wants to try me on? He can stick it up his ass."

"Language. Kids these days…" There was little conviction in his reprimand now, but Nelson continued on to answer delicately. "It's not like that, not really. He wants to meet you."

"Then you put it on and we can talk. Or he should've done it when that ginger kid had the helmet on." Kenny naturally did not like the idea of someone taking over his body like Fate seemed to have done with Wally. But Nelson tried his best to calm him.

"It doesn't sound like he wants this conversation to be between anyone other than him and you… Make of that what you will." Mysterion did however detect a mild note of caution in the old man's voice, which didn't do anything to reassure him.

"If I put that on, there's no guarantee it's coming off is there?" The suggestion was beginning to anger him, and Kenny stood up from the table, pointing at the helmet accusingly.

"…" Nelson's lack of reply, was itself a clear and obvious answer.

There was something else in his look though, that made Kenny connect another dot in his mind. "You want someone to put it on don't you?"

Nelson looked pained now, and when he eventually answer, Kenny saw that there was a sad resignation in him that at least cool his flared anger. "… The world needs Dr. Fate."

Not being angry however, did not mean he wasn't bitter with the old magician. "For all your fear and worry, you're still just as eager as Fate to dump it on someone else."

"It's more complicated than what we want." Fire ignited in the old man then, the straying embers of an aged hero still flickering for his duty.

But Kenny was having none of his indignant sense of duty. He'd seen adult heroes become wrapped up in their own crap before, a certain Captain came to mind. "… I get it. Is it a blessing, is it a curse, that old steaming pile of bullshit."

"Langu-" Nelson started, but Mysterion cut him off sharp. "Fuck it." With deft hands Kenny took the helmet up, and turned it so he and the helm were face to face. With narrowed eyes, Kenny spoke directly to the eyes of the artefact. "Let's get one thing straight, tin can. If I don't walk out of this here tonight, with my own mind. Then you best never take me off, because if you do, I will bury you where no light can ever touch you again… Now let's try you on for size."

"No, kid, wait-" But if Nelson was having any second thoughts they were not strong enough to cause him to do anything, as Kenny swept back his hood, lifted the golden bell over his head and slid it down over his half-masked skull.

For a moment all was quiet.

"… Something supposed to happen here?" Kenny's voice reverberated inside the helmet, muffled confusion echoing around the golden helm.

"Ah…" Kent Nelson was stood stock still, eyes fixed in perplexed uncertainty on Mysterion who still stood in front of him, all himself, not a trace of Fate about him. The gold of the helmet casting a stark contrast against the darker purple and grey hues of his costume. "That's unexpected…"

Strangely, Kenny removed the helmet, and turned it over in his hands. He was, in truth, a little let down. He wasn't exactly eager to have his body controlled, but it would have been one hell of an interesting experiment. It had been reckless, yes, but nothing ventured led to nothing gained. "That ever happen before?" He asked Nelson, proffering the helmet to him.

"… No…" Lost for words, the sorcerer supreme took the artefact back and stared at it like he was holding a bomb that was meant to explode. "No, I can rightly say it hasn't… If I could have a moment, I just need to talk with Fate." Nelson closed his eyes and Kenny could almost see some sort of link between him and the helmet, strong, vibrant, golden. Such was this bond, that Kenny wasn't entirely sure if it was something he was meant to see or not, whether it was a tangible magical connection, or it was somethingg his attuned sixth eldritch sense had picked up. When the old man opened his eyes again his face was stern, thoughtful, but somehow a little hopeful.

With a smile on his face, Nelson now addressed Kenny in the friendly grandfatherly tone he'd spoken with when they'd first met. "Hate to take up more of your time, kid. I'm sure you've got better things to do than hang out with an old timer like me, but I need to head over to the League for a time and talk with some people. I'd like it if you came with me?"

Looking between the old man and the helmet of Fate, Mysterion sighed heavily. "Thing is… I don't have anything better to do. Lead the way. Old timer." After all, he'd had longer nights than this.

—?M?—?M?—?M?-

A/N: This one took a long time, mainly because I've been very busy lately. My day to day is kind of creatively exhausting too, so as a result I don't have the healthiest writing habits. But regardless, I'm quite happy with how this chapter turned out, dialogue-wise at least.

Favourite, follow and/or review at your leisure. And again, thanks for reading.

-Faff