I watched Mink and Gavin, quietly exchanging loving words. It twisted in my stomach like the turning of a drill. I wanted to smack them, end their happiness because I felt none for myself. And it ached.
I cleared my throat and Mink slowly pulled away from Gavin.
“You have been called here for a purpose other than to bring me joy,” Mink said softly. I swallowed back the bile rising in my throat. Could he get a little sappier? Entire forests had less sap in them than that for crying out loud....
Gavin looked at me and tried not to gape, failing, “He is the one? The Catalyst?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I sighed, “There’s this guy stuck in a mirror says he can help me. Wanna check it out for us?”
Gavin and Mink followed me as I lead them through the stone corridors to the Chamber of Daiven. The mirror waited in there, motionless. I wanted to smash it, break it, annihilate it because I knew what was in there. And I loathed him with all of my being.
The green pixie whizzed past my shoulder and examined the mirror, pressing some of the gems embedded in the wood frame while tracing the carved designs with his tiny, tiny fingers. He moved his hand over the reflective glass surface that rippled like water and revealed Daerin, glaring at Gavin.
“A pixie?” he sneered.
I grunted, “He’s here to help get you out, asshole, so quit being such a dick-wad and keep your mouth shut.”
Gavin smirked, “The Catalyst does not like you very much at all, does he?”
“No, he does not,” I said angrily. It royally pisses me off when people talk about me like I’m not in the room. Plus I’m just more irritable in general when I see that prick in the mirror.
“It’s a simple water-magic based binding spell,” Gavin said after a quiet minute, “A dance by a Childe of Valif trained in the Dances of Chibat would be able to disburse the magic holding him in the mirror.”
I just shrugged, “Can Mink do that?”
Gavin shook his head, “He’s not trained-”
“Yes I am,” Mink interrupted, “I went through the Chibatan Dance training rituals several years ago. I am more than skilled in the dance I would need to perform, if I am right in my knowledge of the Dances.
Frowning, Gavin, “I did not know that you had gone through the training.”
“We have been apart for quite a long time,” Mink replied sheepishly, almost ashamed. And I pitied them for a moment. They had known loneliness worse than mine.
“So do it,” said Daerin.
“Do it tomorrow,” I sighed, “I’m tired and I want to sleep. We can watch Mink do the Macarena in the morning.”
Daerin frowned, angry at me for blowing off something that was obviously dire to him. I didn’t care. He could go fuck himself. I left them, not even a look back. I could tell that Mink apologized to Daerin for my attitude and that pissed me of more. It was my attitude and he didn’t have the right to apologize for my behavior. Then I realized I was just getting pissed off at stupid little things that didn’t matter and I returned to the house and went to my room. Riki and Tink were in there.
“We felt a voice from Valif,” said Tink, “What has happened?”
“Mink suggested I call a Wood Pixie or whatever to help figure out how to get the guy out of the wooden mirror. So I called Gavin or whatever. He checked it out and Mink’s going to do some dance in the morning.”
Riki’s glow turned a fiery, angry red, “That pixie scum is here?”
“Take it up with him and Mink if it pisses you off,” I grumbled, taking off my cloths, “I’m going to sleep.” I collapsed into my bed and the world went black.
When I woke up in the morning, none of the sprites were in my room, a very odd occurrence. I figured they’d had enough of my shit and were sick of me or they just were off doing their own things.
I was so bored and I wanted to get away, so I looked around the barn for some mode of transportation after I showered and dressed in a pair of girl pants, a white belt, and a shirt that was actually two halves of two different t-shirts sewn together.
Leave it to my grandmother to have a freaking BMX bike in her barn. It was hidden under a pile of old canvases. I checked it out and it was in pretty good working order from what I could tell. Plus the key was in the ignition, so I started it up and went for a ride. I didn't know where I was going. I just got on a road and started riding. And it felt great.
People underestimate the sheer joy one feels with complete and total freedom. That's what all of the wars are about, freedom. I think it was the first time in a decade or so that I felt amazing. Not just good, but really amazing. To me, that freedom is worth all of the fighting. What's the point of living without something worth fighting for, right?
I passed farms and animals and broken machinery just sitting in the middle of abandoned fields next to abandoned buildings and houses. It was a dead area, but it was beautiful in its own way. I must have been going for at least half an hour before I finally found a town, small as it may be. After desperately searching around the town for several minutes, I came upon the thing I missed the most, a record store. There were so many CDs that had come out that I wanted so much, but wasn't able to get. The new mewithoutYou, the new UnderOATH, the latest My Chemical Romance, the new Norma Jean, the new Chariot..... Oh, the things you miss being hidden away from modern civilization....
So I parked the bike up against the side of the building and went in. I walked down the aisles and tried to contain giddiness. Music is a huge escape for me. When you’ve got so many things going on inside you heart and your mind, it’s nice to just let go and listen to other people make something out of their own problems when you get the chance. I raided their “rock” section. What kind of music store has a “rock” section? I must have carried fifteen CDs up to the counter and just whipped out the credit card my parents gave to me “in case of emergencies.” They actually thought of it as keeping me from buying drugs. If I only have plastic and no cash, I can’t get drugs and they think they are good parents because of it. There are ways around everything.
“Can’t believe someone is actually buying these,” the man working the register muttered as he rung up the CDs, “These things usually just sit over there for months before I just send them back to the company. They just don’t sell around here.”
“What does sell?” I asked, not really caring.
The man just pointed at the humongous country section and went back to ringing up the CDs. I snorted.
“I can’t stand country music,” I mutter.
“You’re a rarity in these parts,” a guy behind the cashier said, carrying a box on one shoulder before setting it down on the ground.
“I like being unique,” I commented dryly.
The guy laughed then stood up and grinned at me. Oh, he was gorgeous. I gave him a little smirk, the closest I could come to a coy smile.
“What do you like?” I asked as he picked up a sheet of price stickers off of the counter. The cashier swiped my credit card.
The guy looked me up and down and grinned again, “You’re gonna make fun of me.”
“Probably,” I replied and he laughed. I instantly liked his laugh.
“My favorite is Dave Matthews Band.”
“Gross!” I exclaimed, “How could you possibly like that? I bet you’re a Jimmy Buffett fan, too.”
“Guilty.”
“Why?” I moaned jokingly, “Why would you ever do that to yourself? Doesn’t it hurt your ears and make you cringe in pain?”
The guy picked up one of the CDs I had bought, “Something tells me I would if I listened to this stuff. Still Remains? What kind of band name is that?”
“A good one,” I replied, “And they are a good band with actual depth and not just singing about floozies and booze.”
“Floozies?” he laughed.
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the guy who was handing me my card back then I asked, “Do you know if you have any Bright Eyes?”
“Spelled like it sounds?” he asked and I nodded.
“You like emo?!” laughed the guy. I glared at him.
“I tend to enjoy some Bright Eyes and some Death Cab from time to time.”
“We’ve got a few,” said the guy. He walked over to a shelf and I followed him. I found ten more CDs I wanted in 8 minutes. By that time, the guy was out putting CDs on the shelves.
“Do you like Cake?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied stiffly.
He smiled, “Well we agree on something. Do you like DMX?”
“Loathe him with a fiery passion.”
“We agree on something else.”
I turned to him and gave him a soft, sexy look that had a history of making luscious men beg to jump in bed with me, “Are you hitting on me?” I asked with false innocence. He smiled in an extremely sultry way.
“If I was, would you protest?”
“And what do you hope to gain from these advances?” I asked, sounding so different from myself.
He licked his upper lip and looked directly into my eyes, “What are you doing tonight?”
“I hope you aren’t asking me on a date,” I chuckle, mocking him, “Because I don’t do dating. It’s way overrated.”
“So what do you do?” he asked, frowning a little.
“Depends. Will your clothes be on your body or on my floor?”
He grinned and stuck out his hand, “My name is Liam.”
“I’m Sebastian,” I replied, wondering if I was going to get any today or not. Who’d have guessed I’d find another queer in the middle of nowhere?
Liam grinned with his whole face, something I found very cute, “Well, Sebastian, if you aren’t doing anything tonight, I’d very much like to spend some quality time with you.”
I wrote the address of Grandma Claire’s farm on the back of his hand and told him to come by sometime later, after dinner, and I’d see if I wasn’t busy. I bought a few more CDs then I left.
I felt fuzzy inside as I made my way back to that disgusting farm. I was gonna get laid tonight and that was always a good feeling. I hadn’t gotten any in so long… Plus Liam was quite a looker so lucky me.
When I got back to the farm, I propped the bike against the house and entered into the kitchen, putting my bag down on the table. It was so weird being here all alone, but it was better than having Frankie around trying not to stare at me all of the time. Even thought there was all of this freaky weird stuff going on…
Mink and Gavin stared up at me from where they were sitting on the salt and pepper shakers on the table as I started rooting through the fridge. There were a bunch of casseroles that I didn’t want to eat, so I made myself a sandwich.
“Are you ready to release Daerin?” asked Mink, trying to sound like he had authority, but just sounding really cute. I shrugged around a mouthful of sandwich.
“It would only take about fifteen earth minutes,” said Gavin. I really didn’t care, but those silly guys just kept talking.
They watched me as I finished my sandwich. Riki flew in for a moment, glared at Gavin and Mink, and then flew away again. As I chewed and swallowed, I pulled a jug of cranberry juice out of the fridge and chugged about half of it then wiped my mouth on my shoulder and put the jug back in the fridge.
“Ok, what do we have to do?”
“Hang on,” said Mink, “I need a bowl of water to prepare.
I got a bowl out of the cabinet and filled it with room temperature water and set it on the table next to Mink. He stepped into the bowl and submersed himself in the water. It glowed blue and when he stepped out he was wearing what looked to be a royal blue loin cloth and he had tiny black ribbons wrapped around his arms and legs, crisscrossing and intertwining in elaborate patterns. His silver makings were darker silver and they had grown. And spread to cover more skin.
“Let’s go,” he said quietly. I followed them to the shed and down into the Room of Daiven. This going around below and above ground was getting exhausting.
“The Catalyst returns,” said Daerin as they entered, “I am so lucky to be graced with such a beautiful young lady’s presence.”
“Shove it,” I snapped. “Mink is going to do the dancing thing and get you out of that blasted mirror. Then you are going to tell me everything that I need to know and go back to wherever the hell it is that you belong. Got it?”
“Of course, princess, what ever you want is my desire.” I sneered at him as Mink stood on the podium. He curled into a tiny ball and started mumbling tiny words that I could understand even if I could have heard them. Daerin stared at Mink and didn’t move. He was completely silent, the way I liked him.
Mink began to move, turning kicking spinning in a strange, yet beautiful dance. I stared as water flew around him feet, springing from the stones beneath him. The water congealed into a sort of wave and languidly moved toward the mirror like some sort of cautious serpent. It emitted a pale blue light, deepening when it made contact with the mirror. It slowly coated the mirror in a gelatinous layer while Mink kept dancing dancing dancing. It was beautiful, the sharpness of his movements and the fluidity of his kicks and spins.
Slowly the layer around the mirror began melting away, the layer separating Daerin from the rest of us moving with it. Mink’s dance slowed and came to a close as the layer fully hit the ground and suddenly disappeared as Daerin fell out of the mirror and smacked the ground.
“Whoa,” I muttered, “Well, that’s done. I’m going to check my e-mail.”
They stared at my back as I walked away.
To Be Continued...