Master of Puppets - Chapter I: Broken Strings

Master of Puppets
Chapter I: Broken Strings

All I wanted was a little time to myself, to relax and enjoy my pudding. My delicious, heavily salted chocolate pudding. Don't judge my methods. You don't know me.

And yet here we are. Star sits in that chair trying to pump me for information, as though we haven't played this game a hundred times before. I always win, except when I lose, but I win those too. Either way, I still enjoy playing.

"Okay Glossaryck, here's what's goin' down. I need help, but I don't have time for any of your weird riddles." She's got that look, like she really thinks she can intimidate me into doing what she wants. Good luck with that. "I am going to ask you a question, and you are going to answer it. Okay?"

I'd think she would've learned by now. "Okay..."

"I think the reason I can't find my mom is because something happened to her when we went to the magic dimension." Well... will wonders never cease. She's actually been paying attention. "But I can hardly remember what even happened there. What did the magic do to my mom?"

I'd be more inclined to give her a straight answer if she hadn't interrupted my pudding time. Oh, who am I kidding? I still wouldn't. "You're asking the wrong question. The REAL question is, what were you doing in the magic dimension at all? That was your first mistake." She still doesn't understand. That place - "place" isn't even the right word, really, but nevermind - isn't meant for mortals. The Firstborn would've done her job and removed Moon. Everything would've worked out, if only Star had left well enough alone.

"What are you talking about? I HAD to go there to find my mom! Just like I HAD to go there to defeat Toffee!" It's impressive how she can be so confident and so wrong.

"Maybe that was a mistake too." On second thought, maybe I have her mistakes out of order. As many as Star makes, I sort of lost track.

"Huh?" Of course she's confused. She's been paying attention, but not close enough. She just shakes her head and leaves, scratching her head and mumbling, trying to make sense of what I told her. I doubt she'll be able to.

I can't blame her for being upset. They're legitimate questions. I wish I could give her any legitimate answers.

I shove my pudding cup to the side. I've lost my appetite.

It's not that I like keeping Star or anyone else in the dark. It's just that they don't know what I know. Sometimes I don't even know what I know, and I'm the one who knows it.

She has no idea what she did that day. Star was never supposed to actually KILL Toffee. He's a threat, to be sure, but one that I've gotten good at containing over the past few thousand years. Star was supposed to beat the Lizard within an inch of his life, and send him packing for another few centuries while he waited to recover, just like Eclipsa did. But Star surprised me again.

I wish she'd stop doing that. I HATE surprises.

Under just about any other circumstances, I'd be glad to finally get rid of The Lizard. He's been looking for a way to disrupt magic since the first conflict between monsters and Mewmans, trying to strip the Mewmans of their advantage, all for his petty little revenge scheme against people who have been dead for thousands of years. I'm not sure even he knew how close he came to his goal this time... even if it would've been a Pyrrhic victory, what with the corruption of magic eventually unraveling the very fabric of the universe. So there's that.

I wonder if Toffee knew how true his last words were. Maybe it was a last, desparate act of defiance... or maybe he understood the storm that would be unleashed by his death. If anyone could've known what was about to happen, it would've been him. He was right about one thing. Maybe he didn't win in quite the way he planned, but we didn't win either. Everything went off script, and nobody else has figured it out yet. In the end, he finally got one over on me. And all it cost him was his life.

Had things gone according to plan, Moon would've eventually died of natural causes after living to a ripe old age. That may still be her fate, it's hard to tell at this point, but it doesn't matter. As long as some small part of Toffee survived, the pact with Eclipsa would have been nullified on Moon's death, and the Queen of Darkness would've remained frozen. But Toffee went out first. The universe is better off without him, but I question whether it will be worth the cost. Eclipsa and I have an understanding, but that doesn't extend to Globgor. She may say he's reformed. She may believe it. I can't take that risk.

It may not even matter if he's reformed. The Commission had him locked up for a different reason. What makes Globgor dangerous isn't WHO he is, it's WHAT he is. It's... complicated. Eclipsa is right about that much. And so, I tried to maneuver events so Globgor would stay imprisoned. But if Eclipsa has her way, he's going to recover.

I'd like to say I'm doing all this for their own good. That all my schemes are part of some grand plan to help and protect the innocent, or at least the people I care about. But that would be a lie. I'm not a "good person", whatever that means. I don't do this because I'm a Mewmanitarian. I don't have those kinds of feelings. I have a job, and my job is is bigger than any person or kingdom. Beings like Globgor who threaten the stability of magic are simply part of my job description.

I've tried explaining my plans to mortals, but they never understand. These are beings who can only see time as a straight line. Who can't understand that their lives are both completely predetermined and absolutely free. That all possibilities in the past, present and future are true and real... until they aren't. Well, after the first few aeons, I gave up on trying to explain all that.

And that's the EASY part. What would I say to my old student? That in pulling off one of the greatest magical accomplishments in several centuries by killing Toffee, doing exactly what she thought I wanted her to do, she set events into motion that will endanger everything she holds dear? That because of her own strength and desire to protect others, she's made the road ahead infinitely harder for herself and everyone around her? That Eclipsa, the woman she trusted enough to put back on the throne, could be the beginning of the end for us all? And people wonder why I treat them like puppets. It's for their own good.

Don't judge my methods. You don't know me.

Oh yes, I thought about telling Star the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But she has a hard enough time with basic metaphors, much less the consequences of pulling the wrong thread in the tapestry of fate, much less STILL the true nature of our reality. She'd just think I was playing games again. And I wouldn't want to make a liar out of her. So I go on pulling the strings, as everyone expects. I don't actually mind all that much. Like I said, I don't keep people in the dark because it's fun for me, but I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy seeing a plan come together.

I can't say I'm enjoying myself right now.

It's not like I've never had unexpected complications before, but I've always been able to think of something. There's always been a plan B. I usually go up to at least plan Q. Now, for the first time in as long as I can remember... even I don't know how this all turns out. Star set us on a road I didn't predict. There are so many twists and turns on the path now, and all of them lead to catastrophe. The fate of the universe is balanced on the edge of a razor. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't know how to recover. I can't see the way forward. If I can't fix it, there's really only one thing to do, and I don't like it. I'm going to have to trust someone else to fix things. As fate would have it, the best candidate is the very someone else who Starred things up in the first place.

Lucky us. Our last, best hope is a hyperactive, reckless, arrogant, impatient, irresponsible teenage girl.

And I have never been more proud of one of my students.

All mortals have the gift of freedom. Well, except when they don't. As always, it's complicated. But once every few generations, I meet someone that the strings of fate just can't seem to hold. They take those strands and weave them into a new tapestry, one of their own making. I can only see the roads that are possible, but people like Star can see possibilities that don't even exist yet. Star will make her own path, and where she leads, destiny will follow.

The universe is in good hands.