the wyrm's mask part 3

Stepping out into the light again left the pair bewildered about what to do now. The Great Primogen had said to go to the Professor in the Observatory, but neither of them quite knew how to get there. The two of them sat now, on the ledge of the hill the cavern was atop, and watched out at the park before them. The young one from before was still angrily trying to pop a balloon in the sky, and the lizard creature still continued to scribble away at a clipboard.

“That accomplished nothing.”

“I know… maybe she’s onto something, though. I don’t know how the Professor is going to know Ariel, but it’s worth a look. That is, if we knew where the Observatory even was.”

Zora didn’t reply, instead waggling her stick about. Whatever the Primogen had done to her, she could feel it. Without really thinking about it, the heat collected at the tip, and shot forth, startling both her and the scrappy girl, whose balloon-shaped target burst in a puff of flame.

“Hey!!”

“Wh-”

“Nice shot!” The girl hopped up to her rather suddenly. “You know, for a Changeling. Hey guys, come check it out!”

Out of the woodwork came four other children, including the pink-haired girl who had originally pointed her in this direction and looked surprised to see her again.

“Omigosh! You popped the balloon?! Rylie’s been trying to do that for days!!”

“Er… yeah, I did… listen, about that-”

“That is SO COOL!!”

“Thanks. Can I ask a question-”

“Guys!! We should let her into the Bombers!!”

“No!!” All four of the other girls shouted simultaneously. “No Changelings!!”

“But-”

“Not after last time. That little imp almost got us kicked out of the Observatory!”

“You know where that is? Okay listen, I need to get in there. I need to talk to the Professor. Can you tell me where it is? It’s important.”

“Well… to get there, you have to go through our clubhouse. Now, ordinarily I wouldn’t let you in, because you’re not a member. But since you were so on the mark, maybe we’ll tell you the passcode. But in order to do that, you have to find all of us in a game of hide and seek.”

“Is that it? No problem.”

“Good. All you have to do is catch all of us by dawn. If you can do that, we’ll tell you the password to get into our clubhouse! If you can’t, then, no dice friend. Sorry.”

“Fine. Deal. Let’s get on this.”

“Ready…? Go!”

The kids ran off in different directions, leaving the pair to themselves.

“Right. All we gotta do is find them all. No problem.”

“No problem at all. Even though they might have gone all over town.”

“Yeah, even though they might be anywhere.”

“In the town that we don’t know.”

“In the town that… we… Verity you’re not being any help at all.”

“I was just saying.”

“How about we don’t just say and actually get looking? The sun’s gone down already. Didn’t think we were out hunting the Primogen quite that long… I guess time goes faster when you’re occupied. Whatever. We have until dawn. That’s plenty of-”

She stopped talking as soon as she heard rustling, and giggling. Her large ears allowed her to easily trace the sound, leading her behind what must have been some form of odd playground. There, she found the pink-haired girl from before.

“Yahaha! You found me!!”

Zora squinted a moment. Something about that felt weird. “Yeah. I found you. I did it.”

Before she could utter more deadpan mock celebrations, the girl ran off again. After a brief pause to wonder just what it was about what she said that struck a chord, she started walking again. It was probably nothing.

Another walk about the town was in store for her, it seemed. As she passed archways and searched the corners of the town, she wondered if she wouldn’t get back her old leg strength and stamina by the end of these three days, even if she was stuck in the body of a small fox.

One by one, she located them, finding a couple asleep by the very end of the ordeal. By the time they reassembled in the park to the north, the sun was peeking over the horizon, leaving Zora somewhat boggled that she had managed to kill twelve hours alternating catching her breath and hunting down children. Then again, that was just the story of her life since all this started, wasn’t it?

“Alright, a deal’s a deal!” The obvious leader of the group proclaimed. “We’ll tell you the passcode to our clubhouse. But we’re only gonna tell you once, so you had better remember it.”

“Fine, go for it.” Zora had her doubts that she could remember it considering she seemed to have forgotten a good chunk of her life, but she had to try.

One by one, each child turned around to show a number on their shirts. Four, one, three, two, five. She mumbled this number to herself under her breath a few times.

“You got it?”

“I got it.”

“Good. Just tell that passcode to Matt, he’s the one standing in the alley in East Clock Town, and he’ll let you through so you can get into the hideout.”

“Sounds great, thanks.” Never before had Zora felt so much like she needed a nap, but here she was. “I’ll just go do that.”

The alleyway in question wasn’t a far walk from the little field, and true to the leader’s word, a young man sat outside it, looking bored and somewhat worried. She walked up to him and waved.

“Hey. Is something wrong?”

“Not really. I’ve just got a really bad feeling...”

“Don’t we all.”

“Do you have some business back here? I’m gonna need a passcode...”

“Uh? Four… one… three, two… five.”

“Oh… wow. They must have told you the passcode. Er… go on in, I guess.” The young man scooted aside quite readily, and off she went into the alleyway.

The alleyway was quick to lead down a set of stairs into what must have been some sort of cistern or sewer. Even the very sight of water to cross made her uncomfortable in a way she couldn’t explain, and she knew in the pit of her stomach that Verity wasn’t going to be able to get her across this. How to handle this, she thought. Maybe if she just sort of hopped, she wouldn’t be in the water long enough for it to hurt her.

Only one way to find out, she figured. With a short burst of strength, she hopped along the water quickly, determined not to stay inside. It didn’t take her very long to reach the other side, thankfully, and she gathered heat at the end of her stick to dry herself off with. Walking along the dry bricks across the water eventually led her to what the children must have meant by their clubhouse.

A few pots lay strewn about, and the floor and walls were covered in the scribbles of childrens’ chalk. A ladder upward was set in the middle of the back wall, and tied to it was a large balloon much like the one that she had popped to accidentally get herself this far, blocking her path up. Since the heat was already formed at the tip of the stick, she swung it in the direction of the balloon, releasing it as a sphere of fire into the air. Like before, it burst the balloon, and allowed her passage.

“Do you think we went the right way?”

Verity poked her tiny head out of the tunic. “We have to be, right? There’s no other paths down here.”

“I’m just saying, it’d be kind of a pisser if we came all this way and did all that and all we got out of it was some kids’ playhouse.”

“But they said the Observatory was this way.”

“I know they did, but… you know what? Fuck it. We’re just going to go.” She grabbed hold of the ladder and began to climb up.

Another hallway led to a small, round room, with stairs to one side. Various papers and strange objects sat strewn across storage crates – crystal growths in glass cases, stones and star charts, a whole globe covered in stars. And as Zora examined them, and as she peered up the stairs, she already felt a marvelous air to the whole place.

Coming up the stairs, she entered a domed room, decorated in ever-shifting, ever-moving space. Next to an extremely large telescope, there stood a woman in white robes, whose skin was paler than anybody Zora had seen yet in this strange place. Depending where she looked in the light, her eyes shifted from pale blue to light gray, and even to shades of lavender or pink. And perhaps the most striking feature about her was her shimmering hair, that looked white when she stood still, but refracted every color of the rainbow as she moved about.

“Ah, I see I have a very strange visitor, today...” The woman looked her up and down. “A Changeling…”

“Um, hello… I was pointed in this direction by the Great Primogen.”

“Were you, now? What an honor upon me. And what luck, you certainly have more manners than the imp that the local children allowed in here. What a horrible little gremlin...”

“Er… if you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”

“The little monster threatened to break all my instruments, steal my Moon’s Tear… terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Even now, they’re faffing about atop the Clock Tower… I’ve no idea how they even managed to get up there.”

“Wh- really?”

“Would you like to take a look?” The Professor stepped aside to allow her to peer into the telescope.

It only occurred to her after looking through it that she had walked a long ways from town. Now, she could see outside the walls, looking on a massive field. To one side of the view, a tremendous snow-capped mountain, and to the other, a tangled-looking swamp. After taking a moment to observe the outside of the walls a little longer, she directed the telescope upward, to the top of the Clock Tower.

Sure enough, there were those piercing toxic eyes, staring at her through the lens as if they already knew she was there. The strange child, Ariel, sat atop the tower, alternating staring at her and staring directly upward. Looking into the eyes of that mask still deeply unsettled her, and she wished she had never seen it.

However, following their skyward gaze led to something far more alarming.

Above the tower, sat the moon. That much, Zora could tell. But, there were a few facts about the moon that she knew for certain. For one, it was not supposed to be that massive. It looked as if it could crash down upon the earth at any moment. For two, she was reasonably sure it wasn’t supposed to have a horrible, snarling face like a wolf’s face. And for three, she was definitely sure it wasn’t supposed to be split into a black side and a white side down the middle like it was two moons stapled together in the middle.

Most concerningly, out of the white side of the face, it looked as if a tear had dropped, and hurtled right toward the Observatory. Not long after that, a loud sound rattled the entire room. As she backed away from the telescope, she grimaced loudly as she allowed Verity to take her turn looking through. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it deep in her gut.

“Did you find the imp? And what was that sound outside?” The Professor asked, patting her on the shoulder a bit. “You look rather concerned.”

“Yeah, and also, are we just not gonna address the two-toned moon with a face that looks like it’s about to colony drop on us all?”

“There are… some things that we would all prefer didn’t need to be addressed. Trust, child… everybody sees the moon. We would all like not to think the worst.”

“Okay, so, denial. Cool.”

“Is it denial? Or is it mercy to allow the children to spend their days blissfully ignorant, to let the couple to be wed continue their preparations without the worry of their own deaths? Is it right to cause that sort of panic in the face of inevitability”

“I mean, I guess. Little shit was just sitting there. Staring at it.”

“Hm. Strange, indeed. But if there’s something you need of them, I’m afraid you’re out of luck, my dear. The Clock Tower only opens the door to its top once a year, at the eve of the Carnival of Time.”

“Well… when does that start?”

“It is… about six in the morning right now, so, I’d wager the doors will open at exactly midnight, just a little under two days from now.”

“Fuck.”

“Language!”

“Sorry. They stole something very important to me, you see, and I need to get it back from them. But if they’re up there...”

“The best course of action, I’d say, would be to wait, and confront them atop the tower, then.”

“Greeeaaaat...”

“In the meantime, might you check to see what that noise was for me? Just our luck if another Moon’s Tear decided to drop. If it is, you can go ahead and have it for your troubles.”

The Professor turned back to her study, but not before indicating to the door. Peering outside revealed a small crater just to the left, with a shimmering blue stone inside it. Zora leaned down and took it into her hands, sighing.

“Well at least I got a nice rock out of it. Let’s just go back to the hotel room.”

---

About an hour later, the Changeling and her dragon found themselves back in the in room that had, for some reason, been reserved for them. They weren’t likely to complain about it, of course, considering the sheer convenience, but it was still strange.

“Welp. It’s a waiting game.” Zora sighed, rubbing her head. “I hate waiting. I want to go back to normal and maybe somehow into my memories.”

“I’d like my brother back. So you know. This is ass.”

“What do we do for the next two days?”

“Get to know the town, I guess.”

“Honestly I think I got to know the town really intimately during the stupid Primogen hunt and playing with the brats. I just want to sit here and be bitter about how bad my legs hurt from all the walking. Why does this body have to be such a weenie? I miss being swole.”

“Swole?”

“Buff. Jacked. Muscular.”

“Oh.”

“What I’m saying is I need to rest here before the big showdown. I guess we have the time, but it’s really cutting it close with the creepy finger guy.”

“Tell me about it. If we fuck it up, he’ll be gone already.”

“...He still gives me the jibblies.”

“Me too.”

“Listen, if you still think you need to be acquainted with things, feel free. You know where to find me. Here, in this bed, probably not asleep but definitely wishing my legs weren’t throbbing.”

“I think I’ll do that, yeah.”

Verity skittered underneath the doorframe, leaving the Changeling to glare down at herself angrily. Stupid pansy furry body. Ugh. Still, now was a good time to rest, and far be it from her not to take advantage of that, even if she didn’t sleep, necessarily.

Hours passed.

As she lay there, her mind filled with hazy images of dark things, things that drew powerful emotion from her despite not having any idea what or who they were. Faces she should have recognized, places she swore she knew. When more skittering under the doorframe signified the return of her companion, she felt no more rested than when she had left.

“Hey champ. I brought you dinner.”

“Ugh… how long has it been?”

“It’s sundown.”

“Goddamn… I think I actually slept for once.”

“You look like you’ve been hit by a few dozen cows.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a train.”

“A what?”

“It’s a metaphor.”

“If you say so.”

“Here, eat something and we can go sit in town a while. Watch the construction workers build the festival pillar and figure out how to get up to the top of the Clock Tower, maybe?”

“Sure thing. Hey, that makes me think, though… where’d you get the money for food?”

“I found some in the grass. Here, you take some too, just in case.”

“That’s… stupidly convenient.” Zora held out her hand, and the little dragon dropped some small, green and blue crystals into her hand. They felt light as air, and thrummed with faint magic power, but it was still weird to believe that this was money. This really was a strange and different world.

After a brief, simple meal, she rolled herself off of the bed and dusted herself off. She’d have to wash this outfit once she figured out what was going on. Two days was way too long to wear one outfit. Three was right out. But she supposed it didn’t matter now, as she followed a diminutive flying reptile outside into a town ripped right from her latest Dungeons and Dragons campaign. She didn’t even quite recall what that was, but the metaphor felt right.

The pair settled beneath a seemingly-abandoned cart, and watched the builders go. They couldn’t help but note how they seemed to keep watching skyward, and it brought to mind the conundrum the Professor had stated. Was it better to spend your last days afraid and fleeing, or to stand in the face of danger and carry on like nothing was wrong?

“...If you had to face down the inevitable, how would you handle it?” Zora finally asked.

“I don’t know.” Verity shook her head. “If I knew it was the end, maybe I would spend my time trying to make people happy. I always wanted to be an architect, maybe I would try to design the grandest building known to every race.”

“Mmmm.”

“...How about you?”

“I think, I would spend my last days as a traveling musician. Try to keep the spirits up, and try to write the most jamminest rock solo ever.”

“That’s a good plan, I think.”

The pair’s heads turned at the sound of footsteps behind them, and looked up at a strange, alien-looking woman of bright blue skin and electric magenta eyes. She tapped her lizard-like feet in impatience as she stared them down.

“Excuse me just a second. This here, is my spot. Goblin Fruit included.”

“Er, what?” Zora only now noticed the strange-looking, flowering plant beside them. “Oh… sorry.”

“It’s fine. Not like it matters. Festival hasn’t even started yet and I’m already sold out of my wares. I might like to go back home to the Freehold Swamp, but… well, I simply can’t go home without some kind of treasure for my best friend. I’d hate to disappoint her.”

“I get that, yeah.”

“I’d wager I might give up my spot for something suitably glittery. Maybe even my Goblin Fruit too.”

“I have a question. What’s a Goblin Fruit?”

“Oh, my goodness, you must be a traveler. A Goblin Fruit is a special sort of fruit that magically charges you should you eat enough of them. Strange things. The sort that grow in this land are especially good at sending you hurtling into the air. I’d wager that you could even get up to the door to the Clock Tower with one.”

“...You don’t say? In that case, I have just the deal for you. You see...” Zora pulled the Moon’s Tear from within her tunic. “I have this lovely thing right here, and it could be yours if you’d be willing to trade for this spot.”

“It’s beautiful! That shine, that color! She’ll love it! It’s a deal.” Without waiting, the blue Changeling swiped the gem from Zora’s hands and placed in them a yellowing piece of paper. “Here, take the deed to my lot. It’ll be in high demand among other changelings with a fruit bush as healthy as this! I’m headed home! Don’t worry Subi, I’ll be there before you know it!” She swiped an odd-looking fruit from the plant beside them, and ate it swiftly. The pair watched as this strange women took a flying leap over the city walls and was gone.

“...Well, that happened.” Verity deadpanned.

“Tell me about it. But… at least we know how to get up there. There’s that.”

“Yeah. Now all we do is… wait, I guess. There’s been no sign of them since we looked at them this morning. I think they might still be up there.”

“That means they’re in one spot when we charge the tower.”

“I guess that’s true.”

--

One day and a few hours later, the two of them emerged from their inn room, looking refreshed and determined.

“Well, no time like the present.”

“We’re coming for you Ariel. Gonna save my brother.”

“And get back my guitar!”

“And get back your guitar! But, one thing though.”

“What?”

“Where is everyone?”

Now that Zora looked around, it was true. No one was left here, after they had spent all their time idling in their room and trading stories, or at least what few stories Zora could remember about herself. She jolted as the ground suddenly quaked under her feet.

“Ooooh, that’s not good.”

“That’s really not good...”

They rushed outside and stopped dead in their tracks as they witnessed the utterly abandoned town and saw the blood red staining the sky. Even the smallest look upward saw the moon far too near for comfort in the sky. In the faint distance, more rumbling, or the crying of a child that couldn’t escape the city walls. But most importantly, they heard rattling coming from the direction of the Clock Tower, and rushed there as fast as they could.

Already, the door had opened. The wooden slats blocking the way to the ceiling fell away one by one, creating a set of stairs to a platform at the top of the tower. In perhaps an ironic twist, a stab in the gut, the opening of the tower was accompanied by bright, colorful fireworks.

“Fuck.”

“Double fuck. How’d that weirdo say this works again?”

“I think she said you just eat one of the fruits. Right?”

“Worth a shot...” Zora rushed down the steps to the little pavilion they had sat under before, and grabbed a fruit off of the plant. Cramming the whole thing into her mouth met her with soft, supple skin and an incredibly sour taste, the likes of which she nearly spat out on the spot if the situation weren’t so dire. If she was going to die, she wanted to at least die in her proper form. The sales-thing couldn’t deny her that.

Soon after swallowing, she could feel the muscles in her legs bolster, and coil tightly, a feeling of strength she hadn’t been allowed to have in over three days now. She turned herself toward the Clock Tower, and crouched down.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Take it away, captain.”

She felt herself sail further than she perhaps ever had as she kicked off the ground and into the air. At the apex of her jump, she swore she would hit her head on the moon, and landing on the platform near the stairs was surprisingly gentle for how far she had gone. When she stood up straight again, she swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

“Let’s do this.”

The stairs upward were far more simple than she had perhaps expected them to be. Nothing more than a straight climb upward, but with the power the Goblin Fruit had infused into her legs, it was very much a simple task. When they arrived at the top, they stood on the vividly painted face of the tremendous clock, which by some mechanical doohickey, had lifted itself to the top and become a platform.

They didn’t really have much opportunity to ponder how it worked, though, because immediately their attention was drawn to the floating child with a dragon in one fist and the candy-red guitar in the other. Slowly, their head turned far more than it should have, followed soon by the rest of their body, staring the two down with those horrible toxic eyes. The little dragon squeaked, seeing his sister there.

“Verity!!”

“Aha! Harry! We’ve been looking for you two!” The strain in Verity’s voice to hold back violent impulses could already be heard. “Ariel! How about you give that mask back now? Please?”

No answer.

“Are you listening to me?!”

“Ha… hahaha...” The other drake mumbled, “Swamp… Mountain… Ocean… Canyon… there’s… four! Four there. They need to be here. Bring them here! The moon… the moon!!! Ha...”

“Don’t speak out of line!!” The child hissed, smacking him and throwing him down to the platform below.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO MY BROTHER?!” Verity roared, digging her sharp claws into her companion’s shoulder and drawing a small trickle of blood. “Do you honestly think you can still be our friend after that?! After all this?!!”

Strangely, the serpent’s face on the mask almost seemed to smile, hearing her outburst of rage. “Whatever. Even if they came now, there’s no stopping me. Just look… look up. If it’s something that can be stopped, just try to stop it. The Apocalypse is here!”

With a sharp, spine-chilling screech, black bolts of grease and ink and hate came spilling out of the ground around them, spiraling upward and latching onto the face of the moon with claws of acid and uranium and broken glass. Those claws dragged it downward, eliciting the greatest tremor the pair had felt yet.

The mere sight of this caused something in the pit of Zora’s stomach to well up with anger. She knew she couldn’t do much, but there was one thing she knew she could do. The heat gathering at the end of her stick turned into a sphere of pure flame, and with every ounce of strength her somewhat noodly arms could muster, she swung it and released it at the masked child.

The sudden pain and the jolt from the heat forced Ariel to let go of the bright red guitar, which Zora dove for and just barely caught before it managed to hit the ground. Once it was in her hands, she felt something stir within her. The neck was well-worn with her own fingerprints, the strings hand-tuned. As she held it close to her, suddenly, something broke through the dam blocking her memory.

~

“Poppet? Are you awake? We have something to give you, your sister and I.”

“Mmhhh…? What is it, Jackdaw...”

“Come now, wake up. I think you’ll love it.”

She sat up in bed, rearranging her fluffy cinnabar hair, and blinked blearily at the man in her doorframe, with his long burnt-umber ponytail and soft dark chocolate eyes, who adjusted a bright purple tie of her choosing underneath a suit vest. She shuffled out of bed and pressed closely against her beloved husband, who guided her out into the living room where her twin sister sat.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Good to see you’ve slept for once.” The other girl laughed, only cackling harder as her raven-black hair was ruffled. “We have a present for you. Happy birthday, sister.”

She was handed a well-worn Stratacaster, one that she knew every wear-mark of. But today, it was different from the last time she had been able to find it. The worn-out neck had been polished and repaired and the strings, once frayed and early ready to break, had been totally replaced. The solid body of the instrument had been carefully painted with swirling red designs and imprinted with the image of a candy apple colored gear.

“It’s… beautiful. Is this where it’s been for the last week?”

“We wanted to surprise you, love.”

“Yeah, we knew you were worried that it was going to wear out, so we went and got it fixed up for you.”

“I… love it. I absolutely love it.”

“We thought you might, love. Why don’t you try out your new strings for us?”

“I’d be absolutely honored.” After a bit of careful tuning, she began to strum out a simple melody, from a game she had played once…

~

“...Jackdaw… Anya...”

“What are you doing lost in your head like this?! We need to do something! Please! If there’s anyone listening, we need more time! Just a little more..!!”

Zora barely paid attention to Verity’s distress, instead beginning to strum the same melody she had stuck in her head, as the memories of her beloved husband and her twin sister rushed back into her head. Who they were, what they looked like, what they meant to her. One two, three. One two, three. One two three, four, one two three, one, one two three.

The world began to fade away into a bright whiteness as she continued to play. First the masked child disappeared, then the second little dragon, then the moon, then the Clock Tower itself into the vast whiteness. Her pockets grew less heavy with the crystals Verity had given her yesterday, but she barely noticed as she strummed out the song playing in her heart.

She didn’t know if this was the feeling of dying, if the Apocalypse had truly come. But she knew that whatever was happening, she had to keep playing until the end.