"les enchanteurs part two" by Caroline K. Bennett

Chapter 7

It was a wonderful, joyful time, and the four of them left the tavern laughing and cheering. Jacques laughed the loudest, which is only to be expected when one drinks ten of those humongous glasses of alcohol. He lumbered around and more than once stumbled into the beauty. When they were on the bridge that led to the road where the hotel was, Mimi looked up and was simply astounded by the way the moon hit the water. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen, and when she looked to the beautiful though practically asleep Monsieur Herbert next to her, she wrapped her arm around his, knowing she shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get to know him one-on-one.

“You two can go ahead..” Mimi said and smiled at Adele and Timothy. “Jacques and I thought we would stay and… watch the river for a while..”

Adele and Timothy stopped in their tracks and looked at each other nervously before looking back at Mimi.

“..Are you sure?” they said.

Mimi smiled.

“Yes. You guys can just.. Go ahead..” she said in her usual sweet way and playfully shooed them away.

Timothy looked at Mimi, an unreadable expression on his face, but the ballerina could tell that he was not very happy. Feeling a stab of guilt, she smiled and waved. Timothy looked down and motioned for Adele to follow him. Then the two were out of sight.

She could feel her heart beating slightly faster as she looked over to Jacques and realized that now they were alone. Monsieur Herbert was leaning on the side of the bridge with what looked to be great difficulty as Mimi walked over to him and stood with her elbows resting on the side of the bridge.

“..Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said softly.

At that, Jacques pushed himself up with a grunt so that he too was standing with his elbows on the side of the bridge. He nodded his head and mumbled something.

“Guesso..” he replied.

“Is there anything you want to say, Jacques?” Mimi said, her innocent blue eyes fixed on his slumped-over figure.

Monsieur Herbert stood up as straight as was possible for an inebriate and stood over the ballerina.

“Yeh,” he slurred, then pushed his lips to hers for almost a nanosecond before pulling them away. “Yurr pretty.”

Mimi smiled so widely that her eyes sparkled.

“Really?”

“Yeh..” he said.

With bright eyes Mimi looked at him, and as she did, he staggered forward and landed in her arms; it was obvious that he would have landed on the ground if they had not been there.

“Ooopss…” Jacques slurred and looked tiredly up at the beauty. “Sorry ‘bout that….”

Mimi sighed.

“Let’s go back to the hotel, shall we?” she said.

“Yeah.. Okay..” Jacques mumbled.

The two walked back, hand in hand, and all the while Mimi’s heart was on Cloud Nine, and Jacques head spinning from the amount of alcohol in his system. They made it back before too long, and instead of going their separate ways, Mimi led the intoxicated young man in front of her room, kissed him on the cheek, opened the door, and then proceeded to shriek.

Sitting around me on her bed were Adele and Timothy, both looking at Mimi as though they were two children who had just hurled chocolate all over the house only to be caught by their terrifying mother. I merely sat there, grinning a very feline grin at Mlle. Rubette.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAT!!!!!” I think it was the loudest I had ever heard Mimi shout.

“Calm down!! It’s not that bad!” Timothy shouted back as he leaped off of the bed and ran to her side.

“NOT THAT BAD?!!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!” she shouted.

Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that I had become… well… albino, so to speak.

“HE’S WHITE!!!!”

“I.. I.. I can explain!” he said hurriedly, shooting desperate glances over to Adele.

“Hey don’t look at me!” Adele cried defensively. “It was all his fault!”

Mimi looked at Timothy, and it was very difficult to explain her expression. Think extreme anger mixed with a desperate need for answers. Making a small noise of heavyheartedness, Mimi looked behind her to where Jacques was, only to find that he was now unconscious in a chair beside the door. After letting out a pitiful little cry of sadness, suddenly, she fixed a stony stare at Timothy.

“Tell me what happened.” she said quietly. “NOW.”

“Okay!.. I’ll tell you what happened.” he said, laughing nervously, which didn’t help to ease the tension building between the two them. “..Adele and I were just kidding around in your room, and I yelled ‘Abracadabra!’ and pointed my hand at Monsieur Collepette over there and Boom! What do ya know? He turned white!”

Timothy let out a weak little chuckle, and Mimi still glared at him.

“Actually, I rather like it.” a British voice said suddenly. “I’ll camouflage in with the snow now!”

Just then my heart about stopped. Did I just say that?? Mimi and Timothy froze and both of them turned around slowly and looked right at me. I looked up at Adele and she just smiled. I grinned slightly.

“..Well! This is an awkward situation, isn’t it?” the voice spoke felt so strange as it slid out from my lips. “I guess Monsieur Verdoux’s spell worked a bit more than we thought it would… Mimi? Timothy? Are you all alright?”

Mimi took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, then let out a deep sigh before collapsing onto the floor unconscious.

“Mimi? Mimi?! Oh God, I’ve killed the poor thing..” Timothy said and looked at me as he cradled the ballerina in his arms on the balcony.

I was busily pacing up and down the balcony, rubbing my cheek against her pink ballet slipper every once in a while. I looked up at Timothy suddenly, and remembered that now he was expecting me to reply to him. Slowly, I sauntered up and looked at her calm, serenely docile face, then glanced back up at Timothy.

“No.. her cheeks are pink.. She isn’t dead..” I said quietly and smiled felinely. “Just sleeping very peacefully. Excuse me.”

At that I slipped my tongue out from under my newly whitened lips and brushed it against her cheek. It wasn’t cold and wet, as some people may believe. I would compare it more to sandpaper than a wet cloth. Suddenly her eyes blinked slightly, and Mimi was suddenly conscious, though not quite extremely aware of her surroundings quite yet. She blinked her eyes, sleepily looked up at the person who was holding her, moved her gaze to me, and her eyes widened. Timothy looked at me too, and suddenly he gasped.

“..What’s wrong?” I asked.

“..Um…” he stammered. “You.. You..”

“What??” I asked.

There was a puddle of melted snow on the floor of the balcony, and I was able to check my reflection in it, and see my grayish black fur.

“..Oh..” I said.

Mimi woke up early the next morning, and ventured out to a café by herself in the light of dawn. She wore the hood of her cloak on her head even when she was inside, and sat alone at a table, sipping coffee, and giving off a vibe for others not to come near her. The beauty took this opportunity to reflect on the events that had happened the night before. Nothing had turned out the way she had wanted it to, and that thought hurt her to the point where she actually felt tears threatening to spill.

“What’s wrong, dearie?” a familiar voice asked in concern.

Mimi looked up and saw the unmistakable face of Madame Sarguette, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“..How did you know I would be here?” she said softly.

The old woman grinned.

“Yet another of my many secrets.” she said and cackled.

Mimi smiled politely.

“Enough of the formalities, dearie.” she said as she sat down across from the young ballerina. “You look sad. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing..” she said softly. “Nothing important, at least.. I’m simply tired..”

“You don’t have to lie to me.” she said quickly, almost cutting her off.

Mimi looked at her, as if silently pleading desperately for her to change the subject.

“Is it a boy?”

“What?” Mimi asked in surprise.

“That makes you look sad.” Madame continued. “If that’s the case, I’ll quickly have him out of your life.”

For a few moments, Mimi had no idea what to say. She merely looked at the woman with wide eyes.

“Still won’t tell me, I see..” Madame said finally. “Well then, I have something to tell you.”

She leaned forward and motioned for Mimi to do the same. The ballerina did, and when Madame spoke, her words were barely above a whisper.

“I know when Lucius is going to strike.”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“In a few weeks, there is going to be a grand masked ball at the palace in honor of the King and Queen’s 50^th wedding anniversary. It is going to be held in Paris, everyone in the French monarchy should be there, and if I know this character as well I believe I do, I have every reason to believe that you-know-who shall be there as well.

“I have arranged for four rooms at the Maison des Hommes Riches. You shall leave tonight, and once you are in the city you are to buy the most lavish clothes you can find for this event at the most expensive boutiques in the city.”

Mimi’s mouth opened slightly, and Madame smiled.

“You don’t think I would let my protégées be seen at the same place as the King and Queen of France without looking like legitimate nobles, do you?”

Mimi looked down at her ballerina dress humbly, and Madame chuckled.

“Anyway, it is critical that the four of you are at this ball. Have a good time, and enjoy yourselves, but be constantly on your guard for anything, and I mean anything suspicious. If you are around Lucius or his son, Makio, due to the vile nature that is such the contradiction of yours, you immediately feel ill, as if you have no appetite. Dizzy, as well. I hope you and the others know that already from the letter I wrote to you.”

At that, a question that had been plaguing her was finally answered.

“Madame..” she asked softly. “I have something for you..”

“Hmm? Well, show me if you’ve got something up that sleeve of yours.”

Mimi quickly went to the pocket of her cloak and dropped the letter onto the table. Madame snatched it swiftly off of the table and read it warily, hiding the paper with the sleeve of her cloak. She frowned strongly, then slipped it into her pocket without a word.

“I will try and see what it means.. You have my word.” the old woman said quietly, then looked to her left and right before smiling at the young beauty. “Now then, for the time being, all I want you and the others to be concerned with is looking legitimately wealthy at this ball.”

With one fluid movement of her right hand, she dropped a bag of money onto the table. Mimi’s eyes widened, and the old woman smiled.

“Now, I want you to spend that wealth for the sole purpose of buying the most dazzling clothes you can get your hands on. Is that clear?” she said, with a slight sparkle in her eye.

Mimi looked at her, simply amazed.

“Ye…yeah.. I mean yes.” she replied with a blink and a swallow.

Madame smiled again.

“Good. Well then!” she said, and stood, hand extended. “It was wonderful seeing you again and I hope everything that is making you sad just dissolves into thin air. I wish I could stay, but you know, I simply have to be going!”

Mimi looked up at her, smiled, and shook her head, despite being slightly confused. Within a few seconds Mme. was gone as fast as she had arrived.

************************

“Paris?!!!” Timothy said, a smile lighting up his very pale face.

Jacques and Adele didn’t say anything; what Timothy had said spoke for the rest of them, and they simply sat there, their mouths almost hanging open. A sparkling smile had lit up Mimi’s face, Jacques grinned and Adele did as well, though she was slightly confused.

“..What’s Paris?” she said softly, asking a question that was on the ballerina‘s mind as well.

Timothy and Jacques both stared at her, dumbfounded. Suddenly, as if quoting a monologue from a play, Timothy jumped forward and threw his hand into the air.

“The city of lights! The most wonderful place in the whole world! The epicenter of beauty, style, fashion, music, and art! Ah, Adele, once you’ve been to Paree, your whole perspective of the planet changes!”

“You ever been, Verdoux?” Jacques said smugly and smirked, standing with his arms folded across his chest.

Timothy whipped his head around and glared at Monsieur Herbert.

“Of course I have! What about you?”

Jacques closed his eyes and nodded.

“Yes. Great place.” he looked over at Adele and smiled. “You’ll love it.”

At that Adele beamed, her eyes giving off an almost juvenile twinkle.

“I hope so…” she said softly.

Mimi opened the sack of money that Madame Sarguette had given her, and saw something different among the thousands of francs in the bag. Sitting neatly on top of them were four train tickets. The beauty picked them up and examined them, then looked at the three other enchanteurs.

“Well, I suppose we should pack our things and head out.” she said and smiled. “It says here that we are to be at the train station in four hours.”

“Four hours!” Timothy echoed. “Good lord, we must get a move on then!”

With that, everyone separated into their respective room, packed their sparse belongings, and headed out to the train station.

Chapter 8

They were an unlikely pair to be standing in front of a masked ball. One was tall, muscular, with blonde hair slicked back and light blue eyes that didn’t even glance at the girls that stared at him as they entered. The other was a fidgeting mess with untamed curly black hair and green eyes that had fixed themselves on a spot in the night sky. Both were dressed in the same formal attire, though the taller seemed more comfortable in it. He looked to his companion.

“Verdoux, you’re shaking..”

“I know. I’m nervous. I don’t know why your aren’t.”

“I don’t know how to be nervous.”

Timothy opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly two figures were walking towards them. One was Adele, who wore a form-fitting scarlet ball gown with a flowing satin skirt, silk ribbons that were sleeves, and to top it off, a diamond necklace and diamond earrings. Her rather short black hair was pulled back tightly, and short black ringlets barely touched the nape of her neck. The moonlight hit her face in a way that showed the subtle hint of rose on her lips.

Mimi was the one who followed behind, a vision in a silky white gown that was so long her shoes were unable to be seen. Her chocolate hair was pulled up, and a diamond tiara was nestled on her head, seemingly having been wrapped around her hair, which spilled down her bare back in curls. When she walked into the moonlight, one could see the silk roses that had been delicately sewn into her dress, and it was also apparent that she too was wearing the rosy paint on her lips. Timothy nodded in greeting to both of them.

“Hello, Snow White. Cinderella.”

“What took you so long, anyway?” Jacques asked.

Adele slipped her arm around Jacques’s and kissed his cheek.

“I’ve never been to a ball before! I have to look nice, don’t I?”

A smile slowly crept its way across Jacques’s face, and he nodded to Timothy and Mimi, whose eyes were gazing longingly at the blonde young man.

“Let’s get this over with.” Jacques said and walked into the ball.

Timothy and Mimi exchanged glances, then she slipped her arm around his and they entered.

The ballroom was stunning, to say the least. It was a creamy white, grandiose vision, complete with doors everywhere that led to balconies and a diamond chandelier that hung over the heads of all those who danced. The women were dressed in rich silk dresses of plum, royal blue, turquoise, and crimson. The men were their accessories, and they twirled the girls around and held them in their arms like they were fragile jewels and would shatter if dropped. The fact that it was a masked ball only made the people look more ethereal, with surreal white masks that ranged everywhere from a peacock to a lion.

“It’s going to be impossible to find him in here.. If he has even shown his face.” Mimi whispered to Timothy.

“Madame said that when you’re near him, your stomach turns in knots and you lose your appetite.” he replied.

“Well, I’m feel fine. What about you?”

“I’m okay.”

They were silent then, Mimi looking in awe at her magnificent surroundings, and Timothy wishing he was somewhere else. The beauty looked at him.

“Not much else to do.” she said and smiled softly. “Would you like to dance?”

Timothy’s eyes went wide and he looked at Mimi nervously.

“..I can’t dance..” he said.

“Neither can I.” she lied and smiled, taking his hand. “Come on.”

Mimi pulled Timothy against his will to an empty section of the dance floor, slipped her hand in his, and started dancing. Suddenly she winced.

“I told you I couldn’t dance!” Timothy said defensively.

“I know, I know.. It’s okay..” she replied and laughed. “Want me to teach you?”

Timothy frowned, his pride refusing to let anyone, much less Mimi, teach him, but he nodded reluctantly.

“Sure..”

Mimi grinned and took his hand. After a few blunders on the dance floor, the two were soon gliding across the floor, thanks to the ballerina. Timothy really was a very good dancer; he just needed a little coaxing. Pretty soon he was dipping her so low to the ground that it almost looked like he would drop her and she would break like a porcelain doll. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, and she turned to face Timothy.

“Put your hand here.” she said and put his hand gently on her waist, then she took his other and grinned.

She closed her eyes and after a moment lifted her leg up until her foot was barely touching her head. Her gown followed with it, sliding down her leg and revealed a pearly white, high-heeled slipper with diamond studs lining the toe area. Mimi gently put her hand on the bottom of the dress, preventing anything from being seen that was not supposed to. Dumbfounded, Timothy’s jaw dropped.

“Good lord! Where’d you learn how to do that?” he asked.

Mimi laughed softly, winked, put her leg down, and placed Timothy’s hand on her back. After smiling once more at him, she dipped herself to the ground, her arm stretched out gracefully, like a ballerina. Once she was upright again, she took his right hand, stood so that her right cheek was barely touching his, and the two of them glided across the dance floor to the minuet that had just started. All the while, Timothy was laughing in disbelief.

“Well I guess I have quite a lot more to learn about Mam’selle Mim.” he said. “What kind of shoes are you wearing anyway? Ballet slippers?”

Mimi smiled.

Meanwhile, Adele and Jacques were having a wonderful time. Adele felt beautiful and was enjoying every minute of it, while Jacques was simply ecstatic to be there with her. They danced across the dance floor for about an hour at first, whirling around like a red and black blur. After a while of dancing, the two simply became exhausted.

“Would you like to go out onto a balcony?” Jacques asked.

Adele smiled.

“Alright.” she replied.

With that, she took his arm, and swept flourishingly across the floor, not unlike a proud debutante. Jacques smiled at her and simply led her to a balcony. The moon shone high above the velvety black sky, and thousands of stars beamed majestically, like diamonds on black silk. The princess and her suitor walked across the marble floor and over to the very edge, where a creamy white balustrade stood firmly, overlooking a beautiful snow covered landscape. Adele gazed at it, observing a small wooden cottage that looked like a dollhouse from where it was standing. For a moment she dreamt of living in that little house, sitting by a huge, warm fire, watching children running around the floor of the safe little place, looking over at her husband...

Suddenly Adele jolted back to reality and found that she was looking into Jacques’s eyes. There was something different about them, something very obvious, and yet incredibly subtle at the same time. She was also suddenly very aware of the strange, pleasant warmth on her gloved hand, and when she looked over, she saw Monsieur Herbert’s hand on her own. She looked up at him and smiled.

“..You know, you really look… wonderful…” he said.

Adele smiled modestly.

“..Thank you..” she said when no other words would come to her, then turned and looked back out, this time at the stars. “It’s really beautiful out here, isn’t-”

Before she could finish, she found that their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching. Suddenly Jacques kissed her quickly on the lips and pulled away, looking affectionately at her, as if asking for permission. Adele looked at him with wide eyes, having never been kissed before that moment in all eighteen years of her life. The most she knew about the simple action was what she had heard from the many stories her mother had told her when she was a child.

“Adele?” Jacques asked quietly. “Are you alright?”

“..I’m fine..” Adele replied and smiled, looking into his eyes. “..That’s just never happened to me before..”

Jacques laughed softly, never breaking her gaze.

“..What did you think of it?” he said.

Adele looked at him coyly and smiled so that only her top teeth showed.

“..I liked it.” she answered and smiled.

The two of them laughed softly and resumed their kiss. It was perfectly innocent, and perfectly sweet, which was exactly how he thought of her. Slowly, Monsieur Herbert wrapped his arms around her waist, gently bringing her closer to him. As Adele felt this, she slid her arms over his shoulders. A flash of light suddenly caught Jacques’s eye, and he opened them and broke away from the kiss.

“Adele.” he said. “Look..”

Adele looked up and her breath caught in her chest. Across the night sky shot thousands of stars with glittering gold sparks following from them. The Ellebithian tensed up, having never seen such a thing before. Jacques soothingly put a hand on her back, and she instantly put her hand on his chest.

“Shh.. It’s okay.. It’s not going to hurt you or anything. Meteor shower. I think that‘s what they call it..” he said and smiled, laughter present in his voice.

Adele blinked and smiled, feeling safe in his arms.

“..It’s beautiful, isn’t it..” she said.

“Yeah..” Jacques replied softly, and kissed her forehead before looking up at the beautiful spectacle going on before them.

************************

Timothy and Mimi danced for quite a while, but eventually they stopped and looked at each other for a moment.

“Maybe if we’re going to find Lucius or Makio or whoever it is, we should cover more ground and split up..” he said hesitantly.

The beauty paused, knowing he was right, but not particularly wanting their time together to end.

“..You’re right.” she looked up at him and smiled.

Timothy smiled back, then turned and slowly walked away. Mimi watched him, an air of sadness in her eyes. Suddenly she shook her head and looked around for another partner.

“May I have this dance?” an unfamiliar voice said.

The beauty looked to her left. Standing before her was a darkly handsome young man with black hair and dull black eyes. He was dressed in a very stylish suit and was holding his hand out to her. Mimi smiled and nodded, but the moment she took his hand, a strange feeling overtook her. She found herself feeling extremely dizzy and fought to keep her knees from shaking. The person did not notice, however, and danced with her without so much as even asking what her name was.

The two of them quietly danced for a while, but it wasn’t like dancing with Timothy. It was impersonal, and it almost seemed like this person felt like he was being forced to dance with her. The uneasy feeling in her stomach increased, and Mimi soon had to break away, running toward the glass door that led to the palace’s balcony. When she reached that point, she turned around coyly, smiled at her dance partner, and beckoned him toward her with her index finger before walking out onto the balcony.

The night sky was clear and full of stars as Mimi walked out, her shoes making a quiet click on the white marble floor. She turned when she heard the door open and the young man walk out. In the pale glow of the moonlight, he appeared even more darkly handsome than before. She smiled and felt the feeling in her gut worsen.

“I’m so sorry..” he said. “I didn’t get your name..”

“Uh.. I’m called Serenity..” she said. “..Serenity.. Chaste.”

“Ah.. Lovely name..” he said and smiled, leaning in towards her.

“They call me Makio.”

Mimi looked at him, eyes wide. Before she had any time to react, she felt his hand strike her across the face. She yelped and fell to the ground in pain, scrambling to get up. Assuming that he had no idea who she was, Mimi simply looked up at him in surprise and terror, though in her head she was nervously planning out what she should do. Suddenly the beauty remembered what Sarguette had said: don’t fight him where humans may see. She ran to the ledge of the balcony, looked down, and gasped. The distance from there to the ground was painfully high. Suddenly she shrieked as Makio grabbed her by the neck.

“Thinking you could get away from me, you wretched thing?” he hissed into her ear and chuckled sinisterly. “It’s quite a ways down. If you jump, you’ll die. If you stay here, you’ll die. Tough decision, huh?”

Mimi soon realized that too her terror the nails on Makio’s fingers were growing longer by the moment, inching closer to her vulnerable throat with every passing second. With strength she wasn’t even aware of having, Mimi tore loose from his grip and jumped, leaving her fate in God’s hands and praying desperately that a miracle would happen. She clenched her eyes shut, anticipating her death at any moment.

When she opened them, she saw Makio standing in the snow and felt the sensation of falling slowly start to leave her. At first she thought she was dying and lifting up to heaven, but as she looked to her left and her right, she saw a grandiose glass wing on each side. They were glorious wings, clear and transparent, like those of a magnificent eagle. Mimi looked up, closed her eyes and thanked the heavens before asking the wings to set her onto the ground. As she landed, her eyes fixed on a Makio who had been completely caught-off-guard.

“Seems there are more magicians in France than I had thought..” he hissed to himself.

As Mimi landed on the ground, her hand gently touched one of the wings and she realized that it was freezing cold. It was then that she came to the conclusion that her wings were not made of glass, but rather: ice. She gripped her hand tightly around a feather. With a hard, quick tug, Mimi winced as she yanked out the icy feather.

Her heart began to pound as Makio starting running toward her with only one intention: to kill her. In a split second he tackled her to the ground and the wings shattered into pieces, cutting them both rather badly and tearing their clothes. Mimi gripped the ice feather in her hand still as she kicked at him and he clawed at her, threatening to kill her with each scratch. After an intense struggle, Mimi finally gave him a kick with such strength that he landed hard on his back, stunned for a moment.

Mimi hollered a battle cry, and, taking advantage of the moment, cracked the ice feather in half, creating what was more of a frozen dagger than half of a feather. She threw the rounded half onto the ground just as Makio leapt on top of her again and knocked her to the ground, the dagger still intact.

The nail on Makio’s ring finger grew as long as rapier within a moment, and if Mimi had grabbed his wrist a second later, it would have gone straight through her throat. Terror threatened to choke her, and for a few extremely long seconds, the two of them stared at each other, and Mimi found herself looking into the eyes of the most evil person she had ever met. A split second later he broke free of her grip and sliced at her. After ducking instinctively, the ballerina, with all the strength she had inside of her, drove the icy dagger into Makio’s chest and shoved him off of herself.

Then, time almost stopped moving.

“Mimi!!” a familiar group of voices called.

The ballerina looked down to where the man lay, and saw that the blade of ice had gone straight through him, and that crimson blood now stained his suit. Her breaths became short and raspy at the thought that she had just killed someone. Slowly, with wide, frightened eyes, Mimi turned and looked at the three: Adele, Jacques, and Timothy, dressed in formal elegance. She was now the visual antithesis of them; her dress was ripped, hair coming undone, scratches all over her arms, but she was still beautiful. Mimi simply stared at them for a time that seemed like forever, then collapsed into the snow.

The first one to arrive at her side was Timothy.

“Mimi!” he cried and picked her up into his arms.

The second one was Adele.

“Oh dear lord..” she stammered as she turned and looked at the body, the ice blade that was sticking out of it, then the unconscious girl in Timothy’s arms. “..She did… that?”

In a split second Makio flipped himself onto his stomach and shrieked horrifically before firing three balls of black power straight at them. All three shouted and instantly Adele reacted by shooting a ball of lightning at him. Jacques threw his hand out over it, and with a tingling sensation he felt wind propel out of his hand and hurl the lightning at the insane creature until he screeched and collapsed onto the ground, dead. Timothy watched, cradling Mimi’s head on his shoulder, as Jacques and Adele approached him. “We need to get her to a hospital. NOW.” Jacques said.

The ballerina lay asleep in the hospital bed for days on end. There were moments when we feared that she had met her death, and then suddenly, her chest would gently rise and fall again. It was one of the more frightening moments we would have to experience. Out of all of them, Timothy was the one who stayed with her the longest. He sat at her bedside night and day with weary eyes, waiting for her to awaken. It was almost heartbreaking, seeing him just sitting over her and looking at her calm, serene and sleeping face. Adele and Jacques came very often as well, worrying endlessly about the both of them. Practically the only time the two of them left the hospital was to go and bring food to them.

On one solemn day, as she was exploring a local café, Adele was met with an unexpected visitor. She was standing in front of a basket of pastries and trying to decide which ones to bring to Timothy and Mimi. The Ellebithian was deep in thought over the supposedly simple task of picking out food when she heard the voice.

“..Adele?” it was meek, as though unsure if it was really her.

Mademoiselle du Maure’s train of thought was abruptly interrupted at the voice, and she slowly turned around and examined the person in front of her with wide eyes. The voice belonged to a man with pale skin just like hers, only it was slightly gnarled from age. He had whitish yellow hair, bags under his eyes, and looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Adele’s eyes went even wider with disbelief, and tears instantly sprang to them.

It was Claude.

Chapter 9

Adele said nothing for quite a while. After staring at him in disbelief for about ten minutes, she whispered her uncle’s name. The man nodded and smiled, and she could see tears starting to creep their way to his eyes as well. Goosebumps ran up Adele’s arms, and, after an awkward few seconds when she debated whether or not she was dreaming, the Ellebithian ran into her uncle’s embrace and felt him kiss her cheek.

“I thought I would never see you again..” she whispered, her voice heaving with sobs.

“And I you….” he replied and then put his hands on her shoulders, wanting to get a good look at her. He smiled. “My God… you look beautiful..”

Adele laughed, and as she did, the tears fell out of her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

“I have so much to talk to you about..” she said, then looked over for a table. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Oh no.. I have yet to get used to all these new foods and drinks.. But I would love to sit.” he replied and smiled.

They scanned the café together, and eventually found a small, private table for two placed in a corner next to a window. As they sat, Claude smiled at Adele.

“So, tell me everything about what has happened to you since I last saw you..”

Adele smiled and brushed a stray curl of hair out of her face. She told her uncle everything that had happened since they last saw one another. She told of how she met all the other enchanteurs, how she had realized she had powers that no one else in the world

possessed, and when she told him about Jacques, he smiled, but there was a hint of sadness present in it.

“Wow, Adele.. The only other times I’ve seen you this happy are when you talk about your mother…” he said, his face involuntarily twisting into a frown, though

he fought to keep it in a smile. Adele put her hand on his.

“Claude.. I promise you that my mother loved you dearly. I bet she’s looking down on us now..” she said softly.

When her uncle looked up at her, there were tears in his eyes.

“Adele… this is not about Nikisha.. It is about you..” he said softly.

At that Adele was confused.

“What do you mean?”

“..Lucius abdicated his position a few days ago, and now basically Ellebithia is in a state of anarchy. Since we need leadership from someone, and you are a blood relative of the former king of our country…” he trailed off, and Adele’s heart practically stopped

beating as she looked at her uncle.

“You mean.. you want… me… to rule Ellebithia?” she said, completely incredulous.

“Yes, Adele..” said Claude. “Yes..”

For a few minutes it appeared that she was about to say something, but no words escaped her lips.

“Claude…” she said and paused again. “..Do you honestly think I could lead Ellebithia? Isn’t there somebody more qualified-”

“There is no one more directly related to King Amnibalk than you, darling… and in my honest opinion, I don’t think anyone could steer the country better than you could. There is a fire in you; a love for our country and the people in it.. Your grandfather had that as well… However, if you do not feel you can handle the position of queen..”

Queen? The word was foreign to her, especially when used to describe herself. It almost made her jaw drop to hear it.

“Then the kingdom will be held in a continual state of anarchy. There will be no government, which may lead to a violent rebellion. I must warn you, though, it is a dangerous thing to leave thousands of weary, hurt, and heartbroken Ellebithians on their own.”

Adele had no idea what to say for the longest time.

“..Do you think I could.. handle it?” she said.

“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind. You are the best person for the job.”

For another few minutes, she was quiet.

“..Claude…” she said, hesitating as her mind searched for just the right words. “..for the time being.. I do not accept the position, nor deny it. Are you still living in Ellebithia?”

“I am. I came here to find you..”

“How did you know where to look?”

Claude shrugged and grinned, the wrinkles around his face causing him to look even more mischievous.

“Instinct, I suppose.. You’re not the only one who has magic senses, you know..”

Adele smiled.

“I need a few days to make my decision.. Go back to Ellebithia, and be the..” her mind desperately searched for a proper word. “Surrogate leader to Ellebithia..”

“How long do you think you’ll need?” he asked. “I don’t know.. How long can the country wait for a reply from its would-be leader?”

“..I would say perhaps… four days at the most..”

Adele bit her lip. Four days seemed like a good amount of time, but it was also a very difficult decision. Finally, she came to her conclusion.

“..Claude, I think I’ll need that much time. Meet me here at the same time in four days, and I will have made my decision.”

“Alright.. In that case, I must be off.. It was great to see you again, Adele..” With that he kissed her cheek, and after an exchange of goodbyes, Claude was gone.

Adele stood on the balcony of her room at the Maison des Hommes Riches for hours, contemplating the most difficult decision of her life. She was torn between two things she loved more deeply than anything in the world; her country, and les enchanteurs. Could she really just leave them? Could she really desert Mimi? Timothy? And worst of all, the object of her affection, Jacques? On the other hand, could she really just let her country go to rot with no leadership whatsoever?

A chill breeze blew her black curls, and she held her black cloak close to her. Suddenly her she felt something irritating her eye, and when she brought her hand up to scratch it, she noticed tears on her hand. Either way, she realized, she would be heartbroken..

“Adele?”

She turned and saw Jacques standing at the doorway with a concerned look in his eyes.

“You’ve been standing out here for hours.. Is everything okay?”

What would happen if she told him? Would he think she was crazy? Would he think she was making it up? When she failed to say anything, Jacques walked over to her

and wrapped his arms around her. Adele put her head on his shoulder, and she suddenly realized that her tears were staining his shirt. She also realized that she was sobbing. Jacques, upon hearing this, kissed her cheek.

“Adele… tell me…” he said.

“..I..I..”

“Yes?”

“…I can’t…” she said, and, in a motion that hurt her ten thousand times more than it hurt Jacques, pushed away from him and walked into the room. Jacques stood on the balcony,

confused, and slightly heartbroken.

**************

The hospital room was almost totally silent, with the exception of Mimi’s soft breathing being the only sound present. Timothy never took his eyes away from her, and they never lost the worrisome gaze that dominated them. He barely even moved, except that he would sometimes gently stroke her pale cheeks and dark hair with his hand.

I sat in a chair next to the bed, the silent observer as usual. I lost count of how much time passed while he intently watched her, but after a while the hours caught up with Monsieur Verdoux and he lay his head on her stomach and fell asleep.

I can honestly say I have never seen a more innocent scene than the two of them with such peaceful expressions on their faces. It was really quite beautiful. After almost an hour, I realized that her eyes had slowly fluttered open, and for a few silent moments they gazed at Timothy as Mimi awakened from her somnolent state.

A smile spread across her lovely face, and she slowly brought her hand to his face and moved his wild black hair to catch a glimpse of his sleeping visage. Her soft touch awakened him, and as he slowly moved from where he had been sleeping, their eyes met, and she smiled at him.

“Good morning.” she said.

“..You’re awake!” he said and grinned happily.

“Yes..” she replied.

For two blissfully long moments they simply gazed at each other in silence.

“How do you feel?” he softly asked.

“..Wonderful..”

Timothy smiled and moved so that he was sitting straight up and facing her. It may have been a trick of my eyes, but I almost could have sworn that Timothy’s face was ever so slowly moving closer to hers…

“Timothy? How is she doing?” Jacques’s voice interrupted the quiet as he opened the door and walked in.

Both of them looked up, and the smile on Mimi’s face widened at the sight of Jacques.

“Mimi! You’re awake!” he said in elation, then looked to Timothy. “How long has she been up?”

“Umm I honestly couldn’t tell you.. I kind of lost track of time..” he replied honestly. “Where’s Adele?”

“Back at the hotel room.” Jacques said with a mild amount of hesitation. “We had been walking around the town and she needed a rest. She’ll be here soon..”

Almost instantly after he said the words, the door flew open and there was Adele, looking rather harried in a new raven black cloak with snowflakes frosting her black hair. She looked intensely at the ballerina for a few seconds, the realization that she was conscious slowly sinking in.

“Mimi!” she said and took a seat right next to Timothy on the bed, almost pretending not to see Jacques. “You’re all right!”

The beauty smiled sweetly.

“Yes, I am..” she said simply before tilting her head and examining Adele’s face. “Are you all right, dear? You look very troubled..”

“Who cares about me?” she said quickly. “How do you feel? Are you in any pain? Do you have any idea what you did?”

Mimi laughed slightly, then took a moment to collect her thoughts before answering all the questions.

“Well.. To be honest, I ache a teensy bit, but other than that I feel fine..” she paused again. “And as for what happened.. I only remember vague details of it… such as being terrified out of my wits..”

Mimi looked at all of them, her blue eyes wide and innocent as they had ever been.

“..Did he live?” she whispered.

“No..” Jacques said. “He was hairs away from death after the wound you sent him, and he even tried to kill us in those final moments..”

“But Jacques blew a lightning ball of mine at him. Makio died instantly.” Adele said.

The ballerina smiled at both of them.

“..Thank you..”

“I’ve got an idea.” Jacques said suddenly. “How about once you’re up and about again, we all go out to a tavern and celebrate that Makio’s gone!”

Adele and Timothy were silent, allowing Mimi to make the decision by herself.

“Oh Jacques that’s a wonderful idea!” she said and smiled.

And so it was decided.

Chapter 10

The tavern was moderately full on the winter evening. The four enchanters (and their feline whom they had politely given a chair to lounge in) were seated around the largest table they could find, with the most food any of them had ever seen. They had destroyed a vicious evil, which called for one of the most extravagant feast in history (at least, the largest meal ever eaten in a tavern.)

As usual, Jacques had consumed the most alcohol out of all of them, which was rather unfortunate for Monsieur Verdoux, who was sitting next to him. When Monsieur Herbert grew inebriated, he often would burst into anecdotes that only he seemed to find hilarious, and whenever he reached the punch line, he would laugh raucously and slap either his knee or the back of the person next to him. Timothy, sadly, was that night’s slap victim. There would be some spontaneous moments, however, when Jacques would fall out of his usual rowdy character and simply gaze at Adele, who quietly sat staring out the window or at the floor, and kept her short black hair in her face so as not to be able to see him.

Meanwhile, Mimi was anxious all through the meal. That morning she had decided that tonight would be the perfect time to express her feelings for Jacques. The only setback was that she had simply no idea how she would go about doing this. Therefore, she sat awaiting the perfect moment when he was alone and all was quiet and romantic, and her nerves were on the edge. At the end of the meal, the four of them split up and went about their personal businesses in the tavern. The ballerina went for a walk out in the snowy countryside to try and ease her nerves before the big moment.

France was breathtaking to behold in the wintertime. The snow painted everything a beautiful, pure shade of white, and the cold temperatures transformed the lakes and rivers into tranquilly still glass. As the beauty walked, she came upon such a frozen mirror, and decided to perfect any flaws in her appearance in the icy glass. After brushing absolutely any stray hairs out of her face and making sure that there were no stains on her dress, she sighed softly, wrapped her cloak around her, and proceeded back to the tavern, where she spotted Jacques almost instantly.

He was sitting at the bar, his great head hovering over a glass of beer. Mimi walked over to him, her heart pounding from merely looking at him. She took a deep breath, fixed her gaze upon Monsieur Herbert, then calmly took a seat at a stool next to him. He didn’t move.

“Hello, Jacques..” she said softly.

Jacques muttered something in reply, then lifted his head up and looked at her. A half smile crossed his face.

“What brings you here, Mim?” he asked.

Mimi dreamily blinked her eyes as he called her by the one-syllable nickname he had created for her. She didn’t like it very much, but if he was calling her by it, she didn’t mind in the least.

“I wanted to talk to you..” she said shyly as she opened her eyes, a rosy blush touching her cheek. “In private. You don’t mind, do you?”

Jacques shrugged, his brilliant blue eyes fixing on a spot ahead.

“What in your opinion is private?” he asked.

“..Oh, I don’t know.. Maybe....” her gaze scoured the tavern desperately, but she could not find a place suitable to talk to Jacques, so she simply added, “Here is fine..”

Jacques frowned and looked at Mimi with that look that she hated from him; like she was completely out of her mind. Mimi sighed and bit her lip, her cheeks turning bright red from embarrassment.

“Um.. alright..” he said, confused. “So anyway, what did you want to talk about?”

Mimi suddenly smiled giddily and looked at him.

“Well.. I thought you were wonderful the other day.. It took a lot of skill to bring down Makio, and I’m very impressed at how you did it.” she said.

Jacques looked at her, as if he was expecting her to say something else other than what she had.

“And...?” he said, causing Mimi’s cheeks to flare up even more.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then slowly leaned over towards him, hoping to press her lips to his in a hopelessly romantic kiss. However, much to Mimi’s dismay, Jacques turned away and coughed when her lips were but a few inches away from his.

“Mimi..” he said, looking at her. “Forgive me, but... I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.. You see.. my heart is promised to another..”

Mimi quickly backed up at the words, looking at Jacques with a look of surprise and trying to conceal her heartbreak.

“Oh..” she said quietly, then let out a quiet half-chuckle. “Well then, I guess that makes me look a bit foolish, doesn’t it?”

“Well...” Jacques shrugged as he trailed off. “I don’t want to hurt you, Mim, believe me, but I just... don’t feel the same way about you..”

“I see..” Mimi said softly, then looked to him. “We’re still friends, are we not? I mean.. our relationship is not going to become awkward after this, is it?”

“Oh no, no..” Jacques said. “Of course not...”

Suddenly he looked around, his eyes meeting Mimi’s one more time.

“I’m sorry Mimi, but I have to go.. I’ll see you soon..”

And with that, Jacques was gone, leaving Mimi alone with her sorrows. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed softly, fighting back the irritating tears that were welling up in her eyes. Slowly she stood and, trying not to look totally and completely heartbroken, started walking out of the tavern and outside in the snowy moonlight. Something caught her eye before she left, though. It was the scene of Jacques and Adele. Jacques had made his way over to her table, and now the two were celebrating the defeat of Makio with... a kiss.....

Mimi took a deep breath, trying to retain what was left of her dignity for as long as possible, and pulled her cloak on, shutting the golden clasp on it as she made her way outside, tears stinging her blue eyes. She pushed the door open and took a moment to observe the wonders of the city now covered with a layer of new-fallen snow. There were two benches placed on opposite sides of the tavern door, and Mimi took a seat on one, wrapping her cloak around herself and not noticing the person on the other bench.

She sighed again, this time heavier, as the tears started to choke her and then began to spill down her face. She closed her eyes, almost unable to withstand the pain her heart was going through at that moment. The cold air bit at her tears, threatening to freeze the teardrops on her face. Mimi soon realized that the night air was not as quiet as she had thought it was. Someone was whistling, and as she listened to it, her soft sobbing ceased, and she soon recognized the tune as the finale of the ballet Swan Lake. She looked over in the direction of the whistling, and saw a skinny young man dressed head to toe in black, with a pale face and curly black hair. Her eyes widened.

“Timothy!”

The figure turned its head toward her, and a familiar voice came out of it.

“Mimi! Good God, what are you doing out here?”

“I should ask you the same question!” she said and almost laughed, despite her sadness.

“Ah, well, I’m not really a big tavern fan. The whole scenario of being crammed against a bunch of people you don’t even know was never very appealing to me.” he said, smiled, then looked at her. “Your turn. Why are you out here?”

Mimi looked down at her shivering hands, then back to Timothy, whose eyes widened.

“..You’ve been crying..”

Mimi sighed, another tear spilling down her moonlit face, and soon Timothy was sitting next to her, a concerned look in his bright green eyes.

“It’s nothing really.. I’m just a little heartbroken..”

“Heartbroken? Why on earth are you heartbroken? We defeated Makio! He’s dead! This is supposed to be a celebration! And me, I’m celebrating by sitting out here and freezing my ass off!” he said as a grin spread over his face, then vanished when it did not succeed to brighten her spirits. “Come on, Mim, why are you looking like that?”

“...Who came up with that nickname for me, Timothy..?”

“What? Gawd, I don’t know.. Jacques did, I think.. Why?”

Mimi sniffled, then looked at Timothy.

“..He’s horrible, isn’t he, Timothy....? I became infatuated with him, and it turns out that he’s nothing but an arrogant, conceited, mean fool...”

“Come on now, I coulda told you that! Every word Jacques Herbert has ever said to me has been mean! That guy’s mean to everyone! Except Adele, but what can we do about that?”

“Oh Timothy...” she whispered as she lay her head on his shoulder, letting out a soft sob.

Timothy sighed and wrapped a comforting arm around Mimi and gently placed his cheek on the top of her head.

“It’s okay, Mimi...” he softly said, then was silent. He found himself terrible at consoling people, and decided that the best he could do was to try and keep her warm on that cold February night.

**************

It was in the latest hours of the morning, and Timothy was walking alone, his head pushing against the wind. His face was solemn, expressionless, and he walked with a quiet air of sadness about him. The snow thrust itself upon him, and the cold forced him to wrap his black cloak around him. His mind was blank, yet at the same time, bustling around one single subject..

“Why if it isn’t Timothy Verdoux, as I live and breathe!”

He turned and stared in disbelief at none other than Madame Ronage. She was a shadow of her former self, dressed in practically the same attire as Monsieur. Her brown hair had been cut short, and though it had only been a few months since they had last sen one another, she looked ages older.

“..Aye.. That it is..” he said softly and proceeded on his way.

“What are you doing here in the heart of France?” she asked. Her voice was different; slightly raspier. Timothy realized that she wanted to hold a conversation with her and stopped in his tracks before slowly turning to face his former employer.

“I might ask you the same question.” he said plainly. “I thought I’d never see you again. Last I saw you, you hated me. How can time change that?”

“Timothy.. Last you saw me, I was a different person…” Madame said, a brief wave of bitterness flashing over her eyes. “..I was arrogant, ignorant, naïve…a dreamer, if you will..”

“Heh..” Timothy snorted curtly.

“I wanted to be a famous Parisian playwright.. A star… But that was not to be..” she whispered. “..You have every right to hate me.”

At that moment something extraordinary happened; Timothy softened.

“..I don’t hate you.” he said slowly. “..You locked me out of your life.”

Madame looked up, and there were tears in her eyes.

“Oh Madame Ronage, don’t cry..”

“It’s Mademoiselle.” she said. “Mademoiselle du Fils..”

“Oh..” Timothy said. “..I’m sorry..”

Suddenly pride got the better of her, and she quickly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak.

“Anyway, what is it that depresses you so, Tim?” she said as if nothing had happened.

“My heart, if you truly want to know.” he said after a pause.

“The heart, eh? Girls are fickle creatures, are they not?”

“Yeah, tell me about it..” he said and laughed bitterly.

“Well, if you wish to tell me the story, by all means be my guest, but if not, just remember that someone is always here and ready to lend a listening ear.”

“..Thank you, Madame- err, Mam‘selle..”

The woman suddenly beamed a smile so warm it almost soothed Timothy’s aches.

“Do you love her?” she asked.

Timothy looked down at the ground, giving the snow an opportunity to dance upon his raven black hair. He stood silently like that for a very long time, then looked up at Madame and sighed, tears threatening to erase all traces of dignity from him.

“..Yes..” he said finally. “Yes, I do..”

Madame smiled again.

“Then you are the luckiest man alive.” she said simply.

***********

Adele barely received a wink of sleep that night, and when morning finally came she briefly left the hotel to go for a walk through Paris. She kept her head down, and pulled her cloak tightly around her. Needless to say, she was feeling horrible. For those who have never been torn apart by a difficult decision, it is almost impossible to express the pain felt in poor Adele’s heart. Freezing tears slid down her face, for she knew that she would not be able to handle life if Jacques was not there.. But what of Ellebithia..?

She walked for so long a time that her legs began to feel numb, and when that occurred she leaned next to a building to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, wishing that for a moment that her mind would leave her alone.. She sighed painfully and ran a hand through her short black curls, her chest heaving with sobs. After a while, she realized that she needed to tell Jacques everything about her life and what happened, and after taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off of the little shop and began walking down the way to the hotel.

KABOOM!!!!

An earth-shattering sound almost made Adele jump out of her skin, and she turned around to see that the building she had been leaning on moments before had exploded into flames. The doors (or what was left of them at least) were thrown open and civilians poured out into the streets, wailing and shrieking. Adele’s jaw dropped, and without a moment’s more notice she was there, in the thick of it, trying to find out what happened and help anyone in need.

“Oh my God, why would anyone want to blow up a patisserie?!?!” she heard one of the victims scream.

As she tried to gain a trace of information as to what exactly happened, the doors were pushed open again, and standing there in the middle of the flaming inferno was a man, dressed head to toe in black, wearing a white Harlequin mask with no expression and hollow eyes. As Adele stared at him, the civilians grew furious.

“Eet was heem!!!! Zat bastard blew up my shop!!! Zumbody keel heem!!!”

Adele’s eyes widened and she walked boldly over to the masked man.

“How could you!!! Who do you think you are destroying someone’s property like that?! My God!! Someone could have died!!”

“And who is to say they did not..” the figure said eerily and Adele could have sworn that the mask was smirking at her.

Appalled and outraged, Adele threw her hand onto the man’s mask and sent a volt of electric energy through it. The figure howled in pain, grabbed Adele’s wrist and shoved it away. In horror the young Ellebithian watched a as single drop of blood trickled out from the eyehole in the mask. The man put a gloved hand to his face, wiped the blood away, stared at it, then stared with his hollow eyes at Adele before grabbing her neck with the speed of light. Adele gasped as he lifted her a few inches off of the ground, staring into her eyes.

“..You will rue the day you screwed with Apathius..” he hissed, then gasped in realization. “..You’re one of them, aren’t you? ..I see things perfectly now… wait until I tell him… heh heh..”

Just before Adele was about to lose consciousness, Apathius hurled her to the ground. She groaned weakly.

“Believe me.. I shall see you soon..”

A sinister chuckle escaped his lips as he walked away.

“Bastard!!!” Adele shrieked.

The figure stopped dead in his tracks and faced Adele slowly. He cocked his head to the side, and a vile smile spread over the face of the mask.

“Good day to you too..” he said and vanished suddenly, leaving both Adele and the civilians confused and frightened.

Chapter 11

The Ellebithian stayed in her room for the rest of the morning, accomplishing little than what seemed to be her activities of choice; standing on the balcony, feeling the wind through her hair, gazing at the tree where Vxohha used to stand, and pondering over that terrible decision. In the midst of her meditation, there came a sharp pounding on her door. She turned toward the noise, a frown firmly drawn on her face.

“Open the door, Adele.” a man’s voice said. “It’s me.”

She felt her throat tighten as she heard his voice, and tears threatening to water her face. The youth did not move, and her heart sank as she heard his frustrated sigh.

“Adele, please…Tell me what’s wrong..”

She looked down at her feet, then back at the countryside, and then a single tear slid down her cheek.

“..The door is open..” she said.

As soon as she said it, the door flew open and Jacques stood there, a wild look in his eyes; a mix of desperation, frustration, and longing. Once he saw her standing on the balcony, nothing short of a crowbar could have made him depart from her side.

“Adele, I’m not leaving until you tell me exactly what’s bothering you..”

“You’re crazy..”

“Am I?” he said.

“Yes! You worry endlessly about me when you have a wonderful life of your own! Why can’t you just let me be alone?”

“Because!”

“Because what, Jacques? What?” she snapped.

Monsieur Herbert looked at her and bit his lip, as if what he was about to say hurt him.

“..Because I love you..”

Adele simply stared at him, her mouth half open.

“..Really?”

“Yeah, really..” Jacques said, unable to make eye contact. “You’re the only thing that makes me happy, and when you’re not happy, how do you think that makes me feel? How do you think I felt when you pulled away from my kiss last night? I love you, Adele, and if hearing that is what it takes to make you feel better, believe me, I’ll sing it on the rooftops every day for the rest of my life..”

Adele turned and gazed at him. Tears were streaming down her face at this point, but that was the least of her problems. She took a step closer to him, and softly pressed her lips to his.

“Oh Jacques..” she whispered. “..I love you too..”

“Then tell me what’s bothering you.”

With a painful sigh, she looked into his eyes.

“..You’re going to have to sit down.. It’ll take a while..”

“I have all the time in the world.”

****************

When the ballerina awoke that morning the snow poured from the sky in huge cotton puffs. The sight inspired something in her, and she was compelled to hop from the bed (which I did not particularly approve of, since I was sleeping on it,) throw on her cloak, and go outside in it. Snowflakes gently dotted her hair, making her appear even more angelic than she usually did.

The ballerina took a few delicate steps onto the snowy ground, then, after making sure that no one was there to see her, she began to dance in the lovely white. She spun around in it, slowly losing whatever inhibitions she had up until that point. The snow danced with her, and it was a beautiful sight that lasted only a moment, but seemed to be played in a time that was twice as slow as life.

“Why, if it isn’t our very own fairy ballerina!”

Mimi gasped at the voice and turned to see Monsieur Verdoux, who had a grin so wide it could be seen a mile away. She blushed deeply.

“..I was just inspired..” she muttered.

“No, don’t be embarrassed.” he said, and began walking towards her.

She looked at him quizzically, and he held out his hand.

“May I?”

Surprised, the beauty smiled and nodded, and slipped her hand in his own. Once again, time slowed down considerably for the both of them as they danced, neither wanting the moment to ever end. Finally, an idea popped into Mimi’s head, and she smiled.

“Lift me up..” she whispered into Timothy’s ear.

“What?”

“You heard me..” she said, laughing. “Put your hands on my waist, and lift me up. That’s what dancers usually do at the end of a ballet.”

Timothy froze, still confused. She sighed in mock frustration.

“Fine, I’ll do it for you if you won’t.”

With that she put his hands around her waist. The action rather surprised both of them, even Mimi, and they simply looked at each other for a moment. Then Mimi smiled, breaking the tension. Timothy laughed, and then with most of his strength he held her up towards the heavens. The ballerina held both her hands over her head in a very graceful position, and pointed her eyes towards the sky, a dreamy smile on her face. Suddenly, unexpectedly, Timothy dropped her momentarily, and caught her in his arms the next second. Mimi shrieked and threw her arms around his neck, laughing. Once the laughter subsided, however, there was another silence, during which they gazed into each other’s eyes again.

“…Monsieur Collepette!” she said suddenly. “My word, I.. I forgot to feed him!”

“Oh.. Well, he mustn’t go hungry!” Timothy stated.

At that he placed Mimi’s feet on the ground, and during the last second that his arms were around her waist, they stared at each other again. This time it was even shorter for Mimi turned her head and walked quickly away, stammering something along the lines of ‘We should do this again some other time’ before making her way back into the hotel room.

Once the beauty was safely inside, she locked the door to her room and leaned against it, staring with wide, melancholy eyes at me, her faithful feline companion.

“My God, what am I doing..?”

I did not reply, for, unfortunately, after my fur returned to its original color, somehow my voice vanished, all except for mews.

*********************

Meanwhile, Adele had taken the time to tell Jacques everything about the story of her life in Ellebithia, including everything from how she nearly killed Lucius to the reunion with Claude and the heart wrenching decision she was now faced with. Monsieur Herbert believed every word of it. Though some aspects of it were rather farfetched, Adele told it with such sincerity that it made it impossible for the young man to think it was anything but true.

“So that’s it…That’s why I’m not as up to speed on things that you might find really simple.. And that’s why I couldn’t tell anyone until now..” Adele said softly, and took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Which brings us to today, where I’m forced to decide between the country I love…and my best friends.”

The look in her eyes was so sad and heartbroken, that Jacques couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her in a warm embrace.

“Oh, Jacques.. I wouldn’t know how I could live without you…” she whispered.

They stood there for a moment, and Jacques soon came to a decision of his own.

“..Who said you would have to?”

Adele sighed.

“Jacques, a human being can’t survive in Ellebithia.. The conditions are just too much to bear.. You’d die in less than a year if you never came up for sunlight.”

“I don’t care..” he said softly. “I’d die sooner if you were gone.”

“Oh Jacques..” she stammered, tears choking her and spilling from her eyes. She kissed him, and he held her closer than ever before, as if it hurt him to leave her.

And that very moment, Adele made her decision.

Chapter 12

She had no idea how she managed to find that library from which she had entered the outside world for the first time all those weeks ago; one can only assume that it was her instinct, something deep within her heart, that acted as a compass rose on her way back to Ellebithia.

Once she was in the library, there still remained the question of how exactly she had passed from her world into the one above ground. She looked around, posing as someone desperately searching for a book, and unaware of the strange looks she was receiving due to her masculine attire of knickers and a white button-down. That is, until someone asked,

“May I help you, Monsieur?”

“Monsieur?!” she replied, indignantly. “I’m every bit a woman, thank you very much!”

“Oh, excuse me!” the librarian replied, then, embarrassed, slipped from the young Ellebithian’s sight.

Adele furiously muttered a few curse words under her breath, then continued in her search for a novel that did not exist. She looked through the titles in an attempt to find a clue as to how to enter her former world. There was apparently no way to return, and just as the Ellebithian was about to give up, her eyes fell upon a novel that peaked her interest immensely, and she reached for it.

At that very moment a flash of light burst from the bookcase, enveloping Adele and anything within two feet of her. The Ellebithian started and fell backwards, landing on her back painfully. Instantly she fell unconscious.

“Look, Neswop! Whadya think of that thing?”

“I dunno.. It’s dressed real funny! Do ya think it’s a alien?”

“Nah, aliens don’t got ears like us!”

“How the heck’d you know? Yer just a kid!”

“Hey shut up! I know more’n you do anyhow!”

“You wanna start somethin’?”

“Shaddap! It’s movin!”

Adele slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw when they became accustomed to the darkness of her new surroundings was a pair of boys, both with white skin, black eyes and closely cropped black hair, and high, almost elfin ears. They were standing over her and staring with a look of awe that can only be present in a child. A sigh of disorientation escaped from her lips.

“..Where am I?” she said.

“Omigod! It’s talking!”

“A course it’s talking you moron! It ain’t no alien!”

“It’s movin’ too!”

One of the boys punched the other hard in the arm as Adele sat up and looked about her surroundings. As her mind cleared, she realized that the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of the rather large room she was sitting in were all made of dirt. She looked at the two boys.

“..Who are you?”

“Children of the dirt!” the younger boy said and grinned a wide smile that was missing two front teeth.

“Shaddap!” the older one said and pushed him out of the way. “I’m Jix, and that idjit over there is Neswop. Who are you?”

“My name is Adele.” she said, slowly regaining her senses. “Pleased to meet you both.”

She extended her hand, and the boys looked at it in confusion. Adele laughed and put her hand back down. She slowly stood up and looked around, and the boys gasped.

“Gawd, she’s tall!” Neswop said in amazement.

“Nah, yer just teeny.” Jix replied.

“Do you two know a man named Claude du Maure?”

“Who wants him?” a voice spoke that belonged to someone Adele could not see. She turned around to see a grandmotherly old woman with hard eyes staring back at her.

It took Adele a while to answer. She finally took a deep breath and said simply,

“His niece.”

The old woman’s eyes widened.

“..You are Adele?”

**************

Mimi woke up from her nap with a deep pain in her heart. She had been dreaming of his face all through her slumber, and waking up to the terrible truth of reality was almost more than she could bear. She sat up and looked out at her balcony, where a light snowfall was drifting, slowly painting the world white. I could clearly see the tears staining her beautiful pale face, and I mewed, which drew her attention to me.

“Oh, M’sieur Collepette..” she said and sighed. “..Why did things happen like this?”

There was a sharp knocking at the door that almost distracted her from her sadness. The ballerina stood up and walked gracefully to the door before opening it.

“Madame Sarguette!”

“Good day, my darling.” she said. “I desperately need to talk to you. May I come in?”

“Umm.. Why yes, but I can’t say where any of the others are, so-”

“Mimi,” she said. “I desperately need to talk to you.”

“Oh..” the ballerina said softly. “Well, would you like to sit down?”

The old woman slowly looked around the room.

“..I have never preferred sitting, but you may if you like.”

And so the ballerina took a seat on the bed.

“What did you want to talk to me about, Madame?”

“I was summoned to the palace the other day.”

Her eyes widened.

“You.. Did you meet the king?” she asked.

Madame smirked softly.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” she said. “But it would be more fitting if I were to explain something to you first.

“Before I sent you and the other three to the ball at the palace, I warned the king that something dangerous to the security of the royal family may occur on that night. Do you remember the note that Lucius sent you?”

“..Unfortunately.” Mimi said softly.

“Where is it?”

The ballerina looked in the direction of a chair where her cloak had been thrown upon. Quickly the old woman walked over and dug through the pockets of the cloak until she found the note, hurriedly opened it, and read the contents.

“A-ha!” she cackled. “I was correct!”

Madame put the note on Mimi’s lap.

“I want you and the others to try and decode this note before I see you next. As I was saying,” she continued, “The king told me that, skeptical as he was, the ball was open to all people, and that if my ‘apprentices’ (imagine the look he would have given me if I had referred to you as ‘chosen ones’) were to save the castle from any danger, they would be more than welcome as residents of the castle. And so, my dear, since you did in fact save the palace from the despair that Makio would have brought, you, Timothy, Adele, and Jacques, are now invited to live in the castle and protect it from evildoers that may try to overthrow it.”

“So.. We are going to… live in the castle?!?!”

Madame nodded, a wry smile on her face. Mimi couldn’t prevent a squeal from escaping her lips, and I almost could not resist mewing in excitement. I walked over to my ballerina, and gently settled myself onto her lap. Mimi gently caressed my head, and I purred emphatically.

“But Madame Sarguette, if that is news regarding all of us, why did you desperately need to speak to me?”

“Well, to be honest, I wanted you to be the first to hear the news.” she said. “I love all of my chosen ones, but you were the first I found.. I am not saying I favor you over all of them, for I do not. However, I know that you will repeat my words to them with little or no exaggeration. That is why I tell you these things first.”

Mimi was silent, but a smile was on her face that made it obvious of the honor she felt. After a moment, Madame continued, a smile on her face as well.

“That, and the fact that you risked your very life to stop that brute Makio.”

“Yes.. But I did not kill him.. Jacques and Adele did, or so I’ve heard..”

“Jacques and Adele used their magic to blow a ball of lightning toward the beast, but it would have taken quite a bit more than that if you had not pierced through him with your ice dagger.”

“Madame.. Where was Timothy during all of this?”

“By your side, holding you in his arms.”

“..Oh..” Mimi replied.

A warm smile lit up Madame’s face once more.

“I will leave you now, Mimi. Go and tell the others what I have said, for in three days I shall send for three carriages; one for two people, and the last one for your bags. I won’t be at the castle until after the first few days of your stay. Good day, Mimi.”

“Good day, Madame Sarguette..”

And with that, the mysterious old woman was out of the door as quickly as she had arrived. The ballerina shut the door behind her, then looked toward my direction and sighed.

Her eyes moved toward the window, where the snowfall drifted beautifully onto the ground below. Slowly, the ballerina tiptoed to the window, her eyes mesmerized by the snow. Her eyes eventually became transfixed on one particular flake, and she focused on it as it drifted closer and closer to the ground, until it landed upon Monsieur Verdoux’s boot. The figure in black sat there and watched the snow, just as she did, and she could see a peculiar look of sadness that was uncommon for Timothy. As she watched her friend, she felt a warmth blossom in her heart, and she smiled softly.

“Timothy…” she whispered.

Suddenly memories came flooding back to her; memories of Jacques, of how she had felt for him, and of how he had crushed her heart in his hand.

“..But this feels different somehow..” she whispered to herself and looked in my direction. I decided to play the part of adorable feline and rolled over on the bed. She laughed, then looked back down at Monsieur Verdoux, the warm smile slowly spreading on her face again.

“Oh, Timothy..” she said softly.

Claude was thrilled to see Adele, and vice versa. The old woman had led her to his house, and Mademoiselle du Maure had been left amazed at the wonderful new condition it was in. The economy, not to mention nearly all aspects of society in general, had begun to flourish after Lucius’s abdication, and this was made evident to Adele as she observed Claude’s home. What once was little more than two beds, a table, and chairs, now possessed an almost sturdy wooden bookshelf (which only contained works by John Locke,) and an equally shabby cabinet constructed out of birch wood that held plates, glasses, and utensils made entirely of clay. Though they were not much to behold, tears of joy sprang to Adele’s eyes as she sat with her “uncle” at the old table, for the furniture was a sign of what tomorrow may bring.

“And how have you been, my Della?” he asked.

At the use of her mother’s pet name for her, Adele’s heart warmed, but she did not forget the purpose of her visit.

“Actually, I have had no time to think about how I was feeling. Only about my decision.. But first, let me say how happy I am to see my country slowly coming back to life..”

“Oh Adele.. Your mother would be so proud.” Claude said jubilantly. “Life is booming here! The abandoned brokins have been transformed into schools, shops, and even hotels.. We have even discovered different plants whose roots can be eaten. There is also a group of volunteers who make occasional trips above ground to bring us food to live on.. It’s so wonderful, Adele..”

The look in his eyes provided proof of how true this was. Adele felt her heart ache.

“..but that is not why you are here..” he added, his smile slowly fading. “Tell me, Adele.. What is your decision?”

She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before answering.

“Claude.. I have thought this out as carefully as I possibly could, and there are matters above ground that I need to attend to before I can permanently return to Ellebithia..” she kept unwavering eye contact with him as she spoke. “Therefore, until my return (the date of which is indefinite as of right now,) I shall leave you in charge of Ellebithia… I trust you as its surrogate king.

“When I return to Ellebithia, it shall be for life, but I would not be able to bear it without a certain human. This human being knows what the fatal consequences would be of his inhabiting our country, and he has agreed to come with me nonetheless..”

Emotions suddenly overwhelmed her and caught her off guard, and she was forced to look down. Claude put his hand over hears. She looked into his eyes and saw the comforting warmth of understanding.

“I see that in your stay above ground you have learned about love..” he said quietly.

She nodded, blinking back tears.

“My God, Adele…” he whispered. “It is simply uncanny how you resemble Nikisha..”

“..That’s a kind thing for you to say..”

“It’s only the truth.. You are exactly like her, not only physically, but also in the way you reason.. There is a fire in your heart; a passion… that I have only seen one other person possess..”

“..Do you think my mother is happy now?”

“I do not doubt it for a second. In fact, I’ll bet she is watching you right now and bragging to the angels what a wonderful girl she raised..”

Adele looked at Claude and smiled.

“You are beautiful..” she said, and embraced him. “And in case you ever forgot, I love you.”

“How could I forget?” he said and chuckled.

After her conversation with Claude, the Ellebithian slowly walked out of her native country, and through the door from which she had escaped in a time that seemed so long ago and distant, though it may have only been weeks ago. Adele took the time to reflect on her life; everything from her childhood years with her mother, to a time when she had been forced to grow up quickly with Claude, to a time where the ungodly standards of living were too much for her and she must save her homeland or die trying, to a happier present-day, with the loves of her life, les enchanteurs. Mademoiselle du Maure returned to the world above ground as a new, wiser person, and upon seeing Jacques again, she flung herself into his loving arms and kissed him.

Chapter 13

One morning a few days later, my feline instincts got the better of me, and I simply couldn’t resist making laps around the hotel, especially since we would not be staying there much longer. Mimi was packing all of her belongings into a brown suitcase, and in the midst of all that she had forgotten to shut the door to her room. Needless to say, this gave me the opportunity to sneak out that I had so longed for.

I swept through the narrow hallways of the Maison des Hommes Riches, down the staircases, and through the lobby, until I was suddenly outside. That was when I first laid eyes on the carriages; two glorious sights of dark blue, with seats made from silk dyed in the deepest violet hues, propped up on two large silver wheels. There were two young men in formalwear who stood next to the beautiful creatures, waiting for their customers to arrive. For a few moments, I was dumbfounded at the sight, but then I quickly turned and raced through the building, searching for my beauty.

Mimi was leaving her room when I found her, accompanied by Adele. The two were laughing at something that I had missed, and when the Ellebithian saw me she smiled and cooed.

“Why hello there, Monsieur Collepette!”

I mewed, which caused both of them to giggle in delight and remark on how intelligent I was. The ballerina was dressed in a soft pink dress made of silk, with her velvet cloak keeping her warm. Adele was dressed similarly, and I was shocked to notice that she was wearing a gown, and not men’s clothing. Suddenly there was the harsh sound of footsteps pounding down the hallway.

“Come on girls. I bet the carriages are here.” Jacques said as he joined them.

“We were waiting for you!” Adele said. “How long does it take you to change from your street clothes to something nice?”

“Ask Verdoux. He’s still in his room.” he replied as he slipped his arm around Adele’s shoulder, then paused, his eyes on Mimi, as if he was afraid of how she might react.

The ballerina sighed quietly, hating every second of this awkward silence. The sound of a door closing and footsteps shuffling down the hallway shifted the attention from her to Timothy, who walked with his head down and his black top hat facing the rest of them. He was dressed in his favorite outfit, which was the one that she had met him in; his black vest, white dress shirt, black trousers and the enormous black boots that they were tucked into. Mimi watched as he made his way over and stood next to her, and she felt something in her stomach that she had never experienced around Timothy before; butterflies.

“Gawd, Verdoux, it’s about time!” Jacques said boisterously. “What were you doing in there?”

“Jacques, leave him alone.. He’s here. That’s the important thing.” Adele said and smiled. “Anyway, let’s go!”

Unfortunately, Mimi’s hands were full of luggage, so she was unable to carry me. I ran closely behind her, being careful not to trip any of the other enchanters. Once they exited the hotel and saw what they were to be escorted to the palace in, they all let out a collective gasp, and the girls even let out a quiet squeal. Jacques, though extremely thrilled about the carriages, put on a façade of indifference as he glanced at Timothy.

“So, how should we split up?” Monsieur Herbert asked.

I noticed right then that he was gazing at Adele, his look pleading. She smiled, walked over to him, and wrapped her arm around his.

“Mind if I sit with you?” she asked sweetly.

Jacques smiled contentedly, then looked with disinterest towards Mimi and Timothy.

“Do you guys mind riding with each other?”

Mimi looked at Timothy, and her eyes met his bright green ones that were, like Jacques, putting on a charade of indifference. He shrugged.

“Why not?”

And so it was decided. The four of them boarded onto the carriages, and I hopped in after Mimi and sat on her lap after she was all situated. After a few minutes the sound of a horse neighing was followed by the slow lurch of the carriage, and we were officially on our way to the palace.

Mimi and Timothy sat in silence for what seemed like ages. The young ballerina was horrified to realize that she could think of nothing to say to him. Judging by the brooding scowl on Monsieur Verdoux’s face, nothing may have been the wisest thing to say. Finally, when she thought the silence was practically unbearable, they spoke simultaneously.

“Is anything wrong?” they said and both let out a startled laugh.

“Why would you ask me? I’m not the one sitting there with a scowl on my face!” Mimi said.

“Well SOMETHING had to be said! My God I’ve never known a louder silence in all my days!”

After laughing again, Mimi looked out the window at the French landscape. Just then an idea popped into her mind. She would comment about how lovely the countryside appeared, covered in the pure snow. If he replied with something along the lines of “Well, it’s not as lovely as you,” she would know if he felt the same. After pondering over this for a moment, she took a deep breath and said,

“Isn’t it beautiful outside?”

Waiting for his reply seemed to take an eternity. Finally he answered back with,

“I guess so, if you really like white stuff everywhere.”

The reply was obviously not what Mimi had expected to hear, and she couldn’t repress a disappointed sigh. Timothy looked at her, confused.

“What?” he asked, then looked at her with a look of understanding. “Oh.. I see what you’re doing..”

Her head snapped in his direction.

“Oh really? And what exactly do you think I’m doing?” she asked.

“Oh, the snow is sooo beautiful! Sigh..” he spoke in a mocking falsetto voice. “It’s so obvious! You’re thinking about Jacques!”

Her cheeks flared until his last words, then she turned and looked at him with enormous blue eyes.

“..What?” she asked.

“Oh don’t look at me all doey-eyed like that. I know you’re still crazy over him. You don’t need to deny it.”

Mimi looked at her hands again, but this time it was a sigh of relief. Timothy glanced at her, then, feeling rather guilty at what he had just done and thinking the sigh was one of heartbreak, put his hand gently on hers. At that she looked up, and their eyes met.

KABOOM!!!

An enormous flash of light crashed from the sky, encircling both carriages for a brief moment. The lightning scared the horses so badly that they somehow broke free of their reins and ran off into the white horizon, causing both drivers to desert the carriages and chase after them. The eerie knowledge that they were now alone became terribly present, and as the ballerina looked out the window, she gasped as a thin, smoky white mist passed by the glass and shifted itself into the shape of a dragon.

“What is it?!” Timothy asked, trying his absolute hardest not to panic.

The twisting of his stomach and the terror-stricken look in her eyes was enough of an answer. It was him.

Before Mimi could describe to Timothy what she had just seen, a force with the strength of an earthquake shook the ground beneath them, growing more in intensity by the second. Timothy’s grip on Mimi’s hand grew tighter, and she wanted more than anything to be in his arms at that moment.

Suddenly there was another blinding flash of white light. In the moments before I fell unconscious, the glass in the windows shattered, both of them shouted, and Timothy threw himself onto Mimi and myself.

I woke up to the sound of rushing water, and a low squawking sound that must have belonged to a bird, but was nothing that I had ever heard before. When I opened my eyes, I realized that my view was from under the carriage seats. I was wrapped up in Mimi’s arms, and when I moved my head to see her face, she gently stroked my head. I purred, having missed her caresses.

Timothy was lying adjacent to us, and was unconscious somehow. The ballerina’s eyes were fixed on his sleeping figure, and I could see that amidst all the fear and panic, there was a warm spark of tenderness in her eyes. When I mewed, Timothy stirred.

“Tim..” she whispered. “Wake up. Timothy!”

Suddenly there was a sharp banging on the carriage door.

“Mim! Timothy! Are you two all right?” Jacques voice shouted.

“Y-yes!” Mimi replied shakily. “..At least, I think so!”

Jacques threw open the door and picked up a muttering Timothy in his arms. There were quite a few cuts on the young man’s face, he observed. The young man’s eyes fluttered open as Jacques tried to put him on his feet. For a few minutes, as he regained consciousness, Timothy babbled a string of nonstop ramblings.

“..Sheesh Bernard everyone knows yer the star.. Mercutio’s just there fer some comic relief….. Jacques? Adele?”

He took a look around at his surroundings. He was in a wide, grassy field, and it was pouring down rain. To all 360 degrees of the clearing were trees that almost scratched the gray sky. They were trees that curled and jutted, and that were like no trees any of them had ever laid eyes on before. Over the sounds of falling rain, one could hear squawks and crows that were unlike any on Earth. When Timothy had taken it all in, he turned, slowly regarded Adele, Jacques, and Mimi (who was wearing the same shocked expression as himself,) and asked the one question on everyone’s mind.

“..Where the hell are we?”

They resided in one of the carriages for about a half an hour, trying to discover where they were and how it was that they had gotten there. Only one answer stuck out in their minds.

“Lucius.” Jacques said, an air of detest present in his voice. “He probably sent us off to some far-off corner of the planet! The bastard!”

“So what will we do?” Mimi asked softly.

“Well, first off… uh… we should probably..” Jacques started.

“Set this as our campsite.” Adele added.

“Yeah! Then we could-”

“Appoint someone to try and find food, since we can’t starve, obviously..” Mimi said.

“Yeah! Okay, then we could have someone guard the campsite,” Jacques continued.

“And we could get someone to try and come into contact with Madame Sarguette.”

“Yeah.. Okay, Verdoux, why don’t you do that, since you’re the one talking about it.”

Timothy repressed a groan, for he was curious as to where they were, and wanted to go exploring. Jacques continued.

“Then someone else could try and find a town or something. I’ll do that. Adele, you can go and try to find food, and Mimi, you’ll guard the site.”

When all was said and done, Adele and Jacques left the carriage and went off on their journey, leaving Mimi and Timothy little more than a farewell and a promise that they would return before too long.

Chapter 14

An awkward silence hung in the air, and in an attempt to ignore it, Mimi dangled her feet out of the door and softly whistled the finale from Swan Lake. Timothy hopped out of the carriage and walked around until he was standing next to her foot.

“My God..” he muttered. “I just assumed that everybody knew how to whistle..”

Mimi glared at him with mock offense, and he turned his back to her. An idea popped into her mind just then, and as she lifted her hand in his direction, she closed her eyes and thought of something round, white, and cold..

Her eyes opened just as she saw a snowball propel from her hand and hit Timothy squarely on the shoulder. He turned, perplexed, and after regarding the snow with some confusion, looked at the ballerina, who was grinning innocently. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully, then looked up at the gray sky and pointed the palm of his hand towards it.

“People who live in ice houses shouldn’t throw fire, Snow Queen..” he said slyly.

Mimi’s heart secretly lit up at the affectionate nickname, and as she smiled she continued the banter.

“That makes no sense. Why would anyone live in a-”

Her words were interrupted by the noise as Timothy shot an enormous inferno of flame into the sky. Mimi shrieked in surprise and I immediately sought shelter underneath the seat. The intensity of the blast knocked Timothy off balance, and he landed with grunt on his back.

“My God, Timothy, are you TRYING to burn the forest down?!” Mimi shouted as she ran to his side.

As Monsieur Verdoux slowly sat up, rubbing his head in pain, a hideously loud squawk pierced their ears.

“Good Lord!” Mimi cried as she looked up at the sky. In a few seconds she shoved Timothy to the left a few feet.

The ballerina watched in awe as an enormous cooked bird fell out of the sky and crashed onto the ground. Timothy groaned and slowly sat up as he rubbed his head. When he saw the animal, his eyes went so wide I thought they were too big for their sockets.

“Holy crap!” he shouted.

“Why did you do that?!” she shouted back.

“Well I had to find SOME way to get Mme. to find us! What better way than smoke signals?”

In utter disbelief, Mimi found herself laughing.

“And hey, look on the bright side!” Timothy continued. “Now we have some food to eat! I hope they like theirs well done..”

At that they both laughed, and Mimi put her hand on Timothy’s face and playfully pushed him back onto the ground.

While Mimi and Timothy had accidentally found dinner, Adele was having close to no luck with scrounging up food. She had prowled through the forest, looking for anything that seemed to be the slightest bit edible, but to no avail. Wherever Lucius had put them, there were no fruits that seemed nontoxic, much less edible. For one thing, they were all colored sickening shades of brown, gray, white, or black, and were in shapes that ranged everywhere from pentagons to hexagons to octagons. The Ellebithian was about to return to the home site, when suddenly a figure reached out from the bushes and covered her eyes with their hands. Adele shrieked.

“Calm down! It’s just me!”

The figure spun her around and kissed her quickly on the lips. Adele affectionately punched Jacques in the arm.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she asked in pretend anger.

“I gave up looking for civilization a while ago. Isn’t it romantic here? No one here except the knight in his shining armor and his queen..” he said coyly, in an attempt to change the subject.

Adele narrowed her eyes, but, try though she might, it was almost impossible to stay angry at Jacques. He flashed her that smile that could charm the coldest of hearts, then gave her another quick peck on the lips. Adele smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, and Jacques put his hands on her waist and twirled her around, almost as though they were dancing to an unheard symphony. The Ellebithian slipped out of his grasp soon, and as they walked through the forest, he slipped his arm around her shoulder.

“Well, my queen, what do you say we find the other enchanteurs?” he asked suavely.

Adele smiled.

“That sounds like a plan, I suppose.” she replied.

They continued with a light, easy banter for a while longer, but suddenly Adele froze in her tracks, eyes wide in horror and perhaps even disgust.

“Adele? What is it? Adele!”

“Shh!” Adele hissed. “..Look…in front of us..”

Confused, Monsieur Herbert obeyed, and laid his eyes on the sight before him. A hideous beast that vaguely resembled a warthog was attacking another creature who was utterly defenseless. The predator was enormous, with matted wet black hair and huge gray tusks that protruded past its great wet snout. It had watery yellow eyes that, unlike a warthog, were wide and beady; catlike. When at last it had pinned down its prey, the beast opened its mouth wide, revealing a row of glistening and razor sharp teeth, and roared horrifically. Adele gasped.

“My God, Jacques..” she whispered, terrified. “What do we do?!”

The Ellebithian had to whisper over the terrified shrieks and whimpers of the poor animal that the great brute was eating alive. Adele shuddered, and started to dart forward to help rescue the animal, but Jacques grabbed her wrist. Right at that moment, the hog growled and turned its glaring eyes onto the two of them.
“..Don’t.. move..” Jacques hissed.

The animal kept an intense, unblinking stare on Adele and Jacques for a minute that would not end, then returned to devouring the poor creature. Tears were spilling down Adele’s face as she looked at Jacques.

“We need to stay low..” he whispered, and motioned to a small plateau. “Let’s lean against this, and, for both our lives, don’t move…”

Though furious with Jacques for treating her like a child, Adele obeyed her love’s wishes, and they silently leaned back against the plateau, watching as the beast finished his meal. The poor Ellebithian could not stand it any longer, and looked at the ground, biting her lip.

Why..

she thought, Why must the cowardly feed off of those weaker than themselves..

It was soon made apparent by the terrible silence that followed that the beast was finished, yet remained famished. He turned his brute eyes towards them, and they froze in terror. No amount of stillness, however, could deter the beast from an appealing new scent; human. The animal sauntered over to Adele and Jacques, conning them into thinking he was a slow moving creature, until they would try to escape..

After approximately ten seconds, he was close enough so that they could feel his sickening hot breath on their faces. He brought his carnivorous snout to Adele, taking in her scent. She was pleasant, he inferred, but not mouthwatering.. Not like the one next to her.. The beast turned his snout towards Jacques.

As he took in the scent, Adele watched, her eyes fixed on the hideous animal. She sat unmoving, but boiling with rage. In that poor animal, she had seen her mother, Ellebithia, and even herself.. In the beast she saw none other than him. In an instant, the monster opened his mouth and lunged for Jacques neck.

“NO!!!” Adele shrieked and shot her hand out in front of the animal. A ball of lightning shot from her fingertips and smacked the animal, electrifying him instantly.

The resulting shriek could have shattered glass as the vicious beast took in his final breaths. Adele leaped to her feet and glared up at the sky, hot tears of rage pouring down her pale cheeks. At that moment a flood of memories came rushing back to her: of seeing her mother dead at the hands of Lucius’s henchmen, of the brokins and the inhuman abuse that beautiful women had had to be put through, and of Ellebithia, who had been ravaged by the darkness of the great lizard. She hurled her fists at the gray clouds and shouted at the top of her lungs.

“All my life has been spent watching beasts attacking the innocent!!!” she screamed. “People whose souls are more beautiful than the color of the sky as the sun sets, ripped apart by savage cowards who destroy to give their lives a sense of meaning!!! Whose light was put out by the black hand of death!!!! The damn beasts crush spirit and hope as if the two were worthless bugs that had stung them!!! I am SICK of seeing the good fall because of some evil savage!!!!”

She looked down at that point, and her chest heaved breathlessly. She stared at Jacques, who stared in awe at the emotional catharsis in which his beloved was undergoing. The gaze in Adele’s eyes revealed the war of emotions waging on within her; a battle between desperation, heartbreak, sadness, and rage.

“..As long as there is breath in my body…” she said hoarsely. “I will NEVER rest until the good prevail..”