1For this chapter, T Alana M and Noll Daybreak also contributed. Thank you guys!
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Pardon, Benji, and the Story Moderator
It was Benjamin Nascent's twentieth birthday, the day a wizard got his full power. He peered out his window, looking for something strange. He already had strong power, but he could always have more. Power was important to him.
It seemed that with the influence of his newly gained power his wish for even more magic would be granted. That 'something strange' was in the form of a raven flying past his window. It held a chain in its mouth, and connected to that chain was a glowing ruby with six sides. Each side had a strange symbol engraved into its surface.
"Finally," Benjamin said. He had felt like an eternity had passed.
The last seven years had not been easy. From the moment he had tried out his first spell in the first minute of his thirteenth year of life, he had heard them - always whispered, sometimes not even expressed in words but in facial expressions, sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant, with different accompanying emotions - but always, inevitably present: the comparison to Eva. Eva who'd left their clan to live the way SHE wanted to. Without a word. Without a single thought of what she'd left behind to those who'd chosen to stay.
They thought he didn't hear them, but he did.
Actually his first kill was over his sister. Benjamin smiled as he recalled how it'd gone. It had been yet another milestone event for him: the first taking of life after his seventeenth birthday. He'd expected it to be harder, frankly. Not like that: a long-ish hunt to find her - blindly and foolishly happy with plodding Phil, not only mortal but thin and BALDING - a short stalk one dark evening, a fleeting look of wide-eyed surprise, a brief cry cut off abruptly by the silver-iron blade wreathed with incantations, delivered quickly and precisely between the ribs. Her long-unused magic had flared up at the last moment, but it was too late, too weak, too rusty from being buried in the mundaneness of her self-imposed exile. All she'd managed to give him was a star-shaped burn over his heart, long ago healed, though it throbbed unexpectedly sometimes.
It'd been so easy that it was a letdown. Of course, he now remembered that the fiancée's name was Mark, of all stupid things. Benjamin sighed, as he looked around his room.
He turned the ruby in his hand, committing every facet to memory. Fledgling wizards were supposed to wait for their mentors before activating the true extent of their powers, but his mentor had either died or deserted long ago. Either way, he never saw him again. Not that it mattered. He was more than competent enough to complete his training on his own.
He turned the gemstone in his hand, examining for the tenth time. Perhaps he had missed something the last nine times? Was there a hidden activation seal?
These things should come with an instruction manual.
He was started at the disgruntled thought. So unlike him, yet so like... Eva. Was this a side effect of his maturing magic, or were the voices growing so loud that they manifested themselves even when there was not even a remote resemblance in the situation to Eva?
That could be bad.
He approached his own thoughts as if they were another person's, cautiously, as one would approach an unknown beast. Very carefully, he slipped in a tiny memory of Eva into his mind. She'd had a friend. Some girl named...
Names, like everything else, have little importance to the dead.
Ava. That was her name. Maybe he could find her, or perhaps summon her. He gently coaxed his magic to focus on finding this Ava woman.
And like a nervous steed, his magic shied and skittered from the task. There was a barrier between it and Ava. A flash of intense animosity flared up, like something had bared fangs or swiped claws at him. Whatever was standing between him and Ava, it wasn't friendly ... or a pushover. Benjamin knew he could teleport near Ava, though. He used his magic and teleported himself to Ava's location. He turned and faced the barrier.
It appeared to be some kind of large sea creature, judging from its lack of limbs and the fins on its body. It was supporting itself vertically on its massive tail. The creature opened its mouth, revealing several sets of wicked sharp (and none too clean) teeth.
"I'm a shark. Now get the hell out of here before I chomp you."
Benjamin laughed. He flicked his finger and he saw the shark being flung back.
"Too easy," he said.
The shark flipped itself upright and scowled as far as something with a non-human face could scowl. "This is SO not in my job description," it remarked. Then it hollered over its shoulder, "Hey boss! This one's being difficult!"
Benjamin scowled. Who could be a boss of such a stupid creature? he thought. His question was answered when a man walked out.
"Why most everyone be so insufferable?" the man asked.
Benjamin eyes widened. " YOU! You're the one who bestows second chances," Benjamin said. Once again, the name escaped him.
"Pardon," said the man.
Perhaps he was hard of hearing. Benjamin repeated his sentence, trying to be louder yet not shout. The man did not look like someone you could shout at and stay alive afterwards.
"Arggh, my name is Pardon," he finally replied. "Imbecile!"
Benjamin glared at him. "Why do you have Ava guarded?" he demanded.
"Because the woman has messed up not just one but THREE of my second chances," was the reply.
"Well, I kind of need someone to teach me how to unlock my powers. Maybe you could tell me who my mentor is and I can find them and unlock my powers and leave you alone?" Benjamin just hoped that it wasn't Ava.
"It is indeed Ava who holds the key to your desire," said the strange man named Pardon, apparently reading his mind.
"Aww cheese and crackers!"
Benjamin thought for a brief second. "Wait, you're alone? So does that mean that your young henchman is gone?" Benjamin had just gained a new and wicked idea.
Pardon looked suspicious. "And which young henchman would you be referring to?" he asked.
"Wyntep," Benjamin said, still not quite certain of his own guess.
"Tell me," said Pardon. "Just how you know of this Wyntep. OR Ava for that matter." He took a couple of steps towards Benjamin. "In fact, I don't believe you've introduced yourself at all since you barged in here and roughed up my hench creature without cause."
"That's right, he's a dirty ol bully!" agreed the aggrieved shark.
"Oh, how rude of me. I am Cerin Nascent." Benjamin wasn't technically lying, it would be his name once he became a full wizard. He had the option to get a new name. Benjamin didn't sound sinister enough.
"That answers one of my questions - who you are. And the others? What have you to do with Ava and Wyntep... or me?"
"Well, my sister's ex-fiancée was Wyntep's brother and I found out he was missing through him. Also, my magic led me here to Ava. I have never met the woman before. She was my sister's friend," Benjamin replied.
"Wasn't Eva Nascent the second person you helped Wyntep undo the regret with?" the shark asked.
"I told you not to speak his name," Pardon said.
"So..." Benjamin had his eyes narrowed shrewdly. "I'm guessing Wyn-I mean the guy whose name you don't want to hear - this guy did something that really... made you angry? Or sad?"
"Yes," Pardon sullenly replied.
What happened to him? What did Ava do now?
Benjamin groaned. The voices were back and louder than before. Also, the star gem over his heart was burning.
A cold hand slipped over his heart and squeezed with a horrible realisation.
Could that voice... be Eva's?
Well done, brother. It took you long enough to figure it out.
"So, what do I need to do to free Ava, so I could get my full powers back?" Benjamin asked.
"Nothing, I won't be releasing her," Pardon said.
"Be reasonable."
"Do I look like a reasonable man?"
"Not really." Benjamin needed his full powers. "Well then, could you teach me how to get my full powers?"
"What is that phrase that you are so fond of repeating, hench creature?" Pardon asked, addressing the shark.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch?"
"The exact words to describe your situation, Mr. Nascent."
Benjamin barely kept his cool. "Fine, name your price."
Benjamin noticed a portal open and a very familiar blue-haired girl appeared out of it.
"Am I late to the party?" Pandora asked.
"I thought I'd seen you for the last time when I shoved you off a bottomless cliff," Benjamin said.
"Not so easy, sweetheart. I'm here with my master, Resent." Another man followed her out of the portal.
Pardon scowled. " Just what I didn't need," he said.
Pardon winced. "Why is it you two again?"
"Well, Pard, old buddy. One of my new assignments is here." He gestured towards Benjamin. "Cheated death and is hosting a ghost, quite scandalous."
"Isn't that right, Benji?" Pandora asked.
"I hate you profoundly. Pardon, there wouldn't happen to be a bottomless cliff nearby, would there?" he asked.
"I could chomp her for you," offered the shark.
"That works," Benjamin replied.
Pardon had seemed to regained his composure. " What the heck do you mean now, Resent?" He asked. Under his breath he muttered, "I knew I should have banned those two for 50,000 words when we made the bet a few stories ago."
Be careful, brother. These two are more slippery than a bar of soap in a rain shower. Trust Pardon.
Benjamin knew not to trust Pandora. He had dated her for three years and she left him for the next hot and rising wizard, who mysteriously 'died' later. Benjamin had made sure he was dead. Pandora was making him more frustrated. It looked like the ruby shaped gem was reacting to his anger. Benjamin felt strangely taller now. But he also had absolutely no idea what to do next.
What now, Eva? he asked silently.
Why should I help you? came the answer. You murdered me in cold blood.
Because we're family.
A ghostly chuckle tickled his thoughts. I would have done the same if I were as ambitious as you, brat.
Nobody else could hear the voice, he hoped. Especially the murder part.
And so what do you think you should do? The voice was taunting, smug, gloating over his predicament.
Idon't know, because these two are psychotic, Benjamin replied mentally.
A cackle echoed across his consciousness.
Benjamin was beyond angry, he was infuriated.
"Look, I'm here for answers. And if I don't find any here, I'm off!" he declared.
"Well, then, take a seat," Resent said, as he tossed a chair towards Benjamin.
Pardon and the shark were already standing together, as were Resent and Pandora. It looked like an invisible line had been drawn between the two parties. Benjamin felt that he was being made to choose in some way.
Benjamin went towards Pardon and the shark. They had what he needed and what he wanted, the key to unlocking his true power.
"And so it begins again," Pardon said softly. "Regret and retribution. Redemption and damnation. The two sides of the same coin."
Resent smiled at his words. "Aye." He began reciting, punctuating each word in the list with a punch into his own fist. "Do over. Repair. Correct. Undo."
"What the hell are you two babbling about?" Benjamin asked. He finally noticed that there was a third path. At the end of it was a woman holding a doll.
"There is always a third choice, Benjamin," the woman said. " My name is Grace, but most know me as Gracie."
"I need a who's who cheat sheet," Benjamin muttered. "Where do all these people keep popping out from?"
A cheat sheet appeared in front of him, indicating who everyone was. It also mentioned the recently deceased Wyntep, the name of the shark being Killer Jaws and Pandora's real name being Megan.
"I was being sarcastic, but it does help," he murmured. "So, uh, Grace-Gracie," he began, turning to the woman with a doll that looked like Ava. "You don't seem to be on the cast list."
"Neither are Pardon and Resent. What exactly is your point?" she asked.
"Yeah, what's the point?" The doll asked.
Oh, yeah, Ava is a doll. Slipped my mind.
"NOW you tell me,'he shot back at the voice in his head.
Makes it more interesting, no? Besides, I figure it's payback time for what you did to me.
"Well, now, don't you want the doll?" Gracie asked. She was taunting him.
"Yes," Benjamin replied. He wanted the key to his power more than anything.
"Come and get it then!" said Gracie in a sing-song voice while waving the doll provocatively.
Benjamin stretched out his hands to grab the doll, but he was suddenly frozen in place by lumps of darkness attaching his ankles to the ground.
"And just who gave you the authority to hand it over?" Pardon demanded.
"You know, the usual suspects," Gracie replied, smirking.
Resent made a little bow and Pandora curtsied. "At your service," they both said together.
"I really hate those two," Pardon muttered. Benjamin needed the doll, but he didn't trust those two. But he didn't know if he could trust Pardon either, in spite of what his sister's voice had told him.
I see you are in a sticky situation.
Benjamin groaned at his sister's hopelessly clichéd remark. It didn't even fit the situation.
"What. Do. I. Need. To. Do" he grated through clenched teeth, "to get my hands on that damned doll?" He didn't address the question to anyone in particular, because he didn't know who was the one actually in control of everything.
"I am not giving it up. That doll has caused me much grief," Pardon replied.
Gracie was playing with a yo-yo. Benjamin had had enough. It was one thing to be stuck in tar, it was another to be taunted. He screamed and the whole room shook. That was always his fail-safe, it was always his last resort. Hopefully, they all had decent hearing.
Pardon winced. KJ didn't know what was going on since he didn't have ears, technically. Gracie just continued yo-yoing with a bored look.
"Temper, temper, Benji-Wenji," cooed Pandora, whereas Resent put his head to one side and shook a lump of something black out of his ear.
The doll began levitating and flying across the room towards Benjamin.
"STOP HIM!" Pardon screamed.
It wasn't clear which of the other two hims he wanted stopped, or even if there was another him who hadn't been introduced yet. But it didn't work because Ava landed in Benjamin's hands.
"Now teach me how to unlock my full power," Benjamin said.
"I'll do it tomorrow," Ava replied.
Benjamin produced a fireball in his hand. "How about now, or you get all warm and toasty?" Benjamin said, as he brought the fireball closer to her.
Burn her, burn her, Eva shouted.
Benjamin shrugged. "If you insist," he said, and threw the fireball at Pandora, who disappeared into a pile of ashes with a cut-off shriek.
That's not who I meant, Eva said. Benjamin stared at Ava.
'I know' thought Benjamin with a smirk. 'I'd been wanting to do that since I saw her lying face.'
"Now you, do your thing!" he said to the doll. "Or you're next!"
"Well, you see, I can't." Ava said. As Benjamin generated another fireball, she hurried to add, "Being a doll and all."
"That can be fixed," Benjamin said.
'I don't need this doll no more, what I need is a mentor, even if she's a bit of a whore,'he thought.
Benjamin heard Eva laugh in his mind. Hey, that rhymed!
Benjamin found himself laughing as well. 'It did, didn't it?' He felt an unfamiliar twinge of affection for his sister.
"Well, it feels good to be human, I'm sure," Ava said. "You can laugh, you can cry, you can rhyme, you can... I don't know, unlock powers, maybe?"
Pardon interrupted them again. "That you SHALL NOT do!" he thundered. He was apparently able to hear all their conversations, silent or otherwise.
At the same time, Resent said, a little less thunderously but no less enthusiastically, "Just do it now!"
Benjamin stopped and stared at Pardon. " How about I make a deal with you?"
"No deal, you will not make her human," Pardon said.
"How about if I could bring him back to life?" Benjamin asked.
Pardon crossed his arms. "Bring WHO back to life?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"Hey, don't ignore me, ok, I interrupted you too!" yelled Resent.
Don't make promises you can't keep, little brother... On second thought, go right ahead. I'd love to see you fall on your face.
Benjamin felt like his head was being sawn in three. Who should he pay attention to? He decided to ignore Resent.
Darling sister, I don't make promises I can't keep. There is a spell that brings people back to life and one that brings back people from ceasing to exist. The reason you don't know about them is because they are strictly forbidden. I have already used one to bring our father back from the dead and it works flawlessly, draining on the energy, but otherwise fine, Benjamin thought.
"Wyntep," Benjamin, pointing at Pardon to show that the answer was for him.
"IMPOSSIBLE! IMPROBABLE! DON'T TRY TO FOOL ME, BOY!" Pardon shouted.
"Yeah, and don't you ignore me either," added Resent.
"No one cares about you." Benjamin sighed. It looked like he might be here for a while.
"KJ," said Pardon with a gleam in his eye. "You look like you're not occupied."
"Nope," replied the shark. "What would you like me to do, boss? I can chomp someone. Anyone. I just sharpened my teeth."
"Please chomp Resent and Gracie out of this story. This is between me and Cerin," Pardon replied.
"NO PROBLEM!" KJ shouted in glee and in less time than it takes for a girl to change her mind about what lipstick shade to wear, Resent and Gracie were out of the picture.
"Now, boy, you are going to tell me the truth! If and only if you could bring Wyntep back to life, which I doubt, you can have the doll and you have ten minutes to do it. If you are lying, the shark will chomp you," Pardon said.
I can do this, but I need a sacrifice of sorts and he just killed my two options, hopefully the shark isn't important to him, Benjamin thought.
"Um... Can I borrow your shark?" he asked.
"Yes, I never did care for him," Pardon said.
Benjamin smiled with relief. At last, something was going his way.
He took out the ruby. It was already pulsing with an intermittent light. He began the words of the incantation. The syllables slid liquidly off his tongue. Pardon narrowed his eyes with interest as the air began to buzz. A young male was starting to form, head downwards.
Sometimes power does work, doubtful one, Benjamin thought.
The young man was lean but not scrawny, with a mass of red curls that would put Little Orphan Annie to shame. Along with them he had a milky-pale complexion, freckles in plenty and piercing green eyes, as people with such fiery hair are wont to. His not-inconsiderable height was swathed in a long coat of midnight blue, from under which a fairly clean white shirt peeked. As he took final shape, it was revealed that the ensemble was completed with rather stylish ankle boots with pointy toes.
Benjamin wished he had a picture of Wyntep. He wasn't quite sure what to think or do.
Pardon peered at the young man. A pair of spectacles appeared obligingly on the end of his slightly hooked nose.
"Is that... you?" he whispered incredulously, "Idiot?"
Benjamin permitted himself a small smile of relief. Perhaps he didn't need a picture after all.
"I think so," Wyntep replied.
Benjamin sighed and stared at the ruby. It had stopped glowing and instead he was the one glowing now. Benjamin realized he had finally obtained his true power.
"Seriously? I am still stuck as a doll. He didn't even need me," Ava muttered.
Well, dear brother, I believe you learned something, Eva said. Benjamin wished he hadn't killed his sister, but the only way to bring her back to life was to make a sacrifice. He looked over at Ava.
"I never needed you. Did I? So, I believe your time is up," Benjamin said. He started to mutter a very similar but slightly different enchantment (because his sister hadn't faded out of existence). The ruby once again started to glow.
STOP EVERYTHING! Everyone on the scene, and indeed the entire scene, was suddenly frozen in place.
A nondescript person of indeterminate age, ethnicity and gender stepped through a rift in the story fabric. He or she took a moment to shake a foot loose, muttering, "Pesky fourth wall... always sticking to stuff!" and then marched up to Benjamin and announced, "You haven't paid the sacrifice for Wyntep yet, so you can't play another turn." The person then wriggled back out through the rift, exposing the words on the back of his or her shirt: STORY MODERATOR.
"Just great, someone new. So you just froze the story to tell me that news, so ummm, do you remember the price of breaking the fourth wall?" Benjamin asked. All the unfinished stories' characters (dead and alive) started to flood in.
"Where did they come from?" The STORY MODERATOR asked.
"The broken fourth wall, as I was saying, I wouldn't do that." Benjamin flicked the person back. " NOW GET OUT!"
"Sorrrrrrry..." said the STORY MODERATOR as he or she disappeared.
Pardon glared at Benjamin even though it wasn't his fault. A flick of his fingers, and all the extra people disappeared.
Benjamin sacrificed KJ as the price of Wyntep's rebirth. He figured that everyone knew that, but that stupid person apparently did not. He stared at Ava. The first price has been paid. He could bring his sister back and he once again muttered the enchantment for his sister to come back.
"It was nice knowing you," said Ava as she dissolved into nothingness.
Beside Benjamin, a womanly shape began to appear. Benjamin smiled once again. Maybe he didn't need power as badly as he thought.
The woman was shapely, blond like Benjamin but with startlingly pale blue eyes in contrast to his dark brown ones. She was dressed simply in a black dress that covered her arms and had a hem that reached the floor. Benjamin noted that she hadn't aged since he killed her, which made her appear about the same age as he was now. He also noticed something else.
The man named Wyntep was staring at his sister with an expression that can only be described as 'moonstruck'. Benjamin sighed, as he knew the effect. It was one of the family's many blessing and curses. Benjamin looked down and saw that the amulet had changed colours. The stone was now a greenish-blue.
"That's strange," he muttered.
Wyntep stepped up to the almost complete Eva (only her shoes were still fuzzy). "It's been a long time, Miss Nascent," he said, tentatively holding out one hand.
Eva didn't take the proffered hand, but she did enfold Wyntep in a hug. "I missed you!"
"As did I," Wyntep said tenderly.
Benjamin gagged. "This is way too emotional for me," he said. Benjamin stared at Pardon, suddenly remembering something important. His first instructor had told him to give the man who granted second chances a note if he ever met him. He fished it out of his pocket and walked up to Pardon.
"This is addressed to you," he said.
Pardon took the note but did not read it immediately. "I should have known. You're one of Midnight's."
Benjamin had forgotten his mentor's name, but Midnight seemed right. "I guess so," he said.
Pardon sighed. "I know that it was too good to be true."
He got three sets of puzzled eyes trained on him. He shrugged. "Midnight said he wasn't going to litter the world with any more whelps of his. And when he disappeared, I thought it might actually be true."
He gave Benjamin a baleful glare. "You reek of Midnight's magic."
"Midnight's magic?" Benjamin asked, not quite sure what Pardon meant.
"That sounds familiar," Wyntep said.
"The magic of chaos," Pardon elaborated grimly.
"Oh, my dark magic!" Benjamin said, finally understanding who Midnight was.
"Yes," Pardon replied, "you are, unfortunately, absolutely right."
"So... let me try to get this right," Benjamin said. "My magic is by nature dark?"
"Correct," Pardon replied.
"So, I was always going to be evil?" Benjamin asked.
He felt a hand on his elbow. It was his sister's. "Not YOU, Benjamin," she said softly. "But your magic."
She wriggled her other hand out of Wyntep's grasp and took both of Benjamin's. "That's why I ran away. Because I didn't want the darkness to consume me. And when they made you the vessel instead..." She stopped and smiled sadly before continuing, "I was too late. You killed me first."
"So you were protecting me?" Benjamin asked. There was a little jiggle of guilt in his heart.
"Yes, the star was a little safe keep from the full darkness of the magic," Eva said.
"The one near my heart?" Benjamin asked, remembering the scar.
She nodded and put a hand out towards his heart. "May I?"
"Yes," Benjamin said. She removed his shirt before he could blink and touched the scar on his chest.
He felt a warm spot over his heart, but nothing more uncomfortable than that. The skin of his chest began to glow, and bulge, and finally split open for something to emerge from it: a stone, identical to his ruby.
The stone hovered for a moment before falling into Eva's open palm. She brought it back towards herself, and placed her hand over her own heart. The stone seemed to skip, and disappeared.
Eva smiled. There was a glowing spot on her chest that faded together with the one on Benjamin's.
"That's how you could hear me," she explained. "Because I was IN you."
"That was... " Benjamin whispered. "...your..."
"My heart."
"But how?" Benjamin asked.
"You should know the answer to that, brother," Eva said.
She was right. He did. But he didn't want to admit it right there and then. He squared his shoulders. "So what now?" he asked defiantly. "Are you going to SAVE me again from my magic?"
"No, you did that yourself. Three selfless acts. Reviving me, closing the fourth wall and destroying another person with dark magic," Eva replied.
"Destroying someone was something good?" Benjamin asked in confusion.
"When that someone is Pandora, then yes," Eva replied.
"I can't believe she is finally dead," Wyntep said.
"So... I'm saved?" Benjamin asked again. He was rather upset that he seemed to be missing the plot and had to have EVERYTHING explained to him.
" Well, relatively yes. You just had to get your full power first," Eva said.
" It would be nice to do it quickly before he appears," Pardon said. A puff of smoke appeared and a man dressed in a black fedora, a black trench coat, jacket, shirt, jeans and sneakers stepped out of it.
"You won't be getting rid of my magic so quickly, " the man said.
"Midnight," Eva snarled.
"Sir!" Benjamin exclaimed at the same time.
And "The only person I dislike even more than Resent," sighed Pardon at the same moment. Benjamin looked at Midnight. He had caused that auto-response in him, but how?
"Cerin, dear, I need to talk with your darling sister, so please go do whatever you want," Midnight said.
"Don't come near me," Eva said, as she summoned her garden shears.
Wyntep didn't have that advantage of the ability to summon household implements, but he stood behind Eva and tried to look supportive (of Eva) and threatening (towards Midnight) at the same time. It looked so ridiculous that Benjamin laughed.
Midnight cringed. "Boy, what are you playing at?" he asked.
Wyntep looked confused. " What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Not you, him!" Midnight snapped in exasperation.
Wyntep looked at Pardon, because Benjamin wasn't doing anything else except laughing. But Pardon was just standing there, massaging the area between his eyebrows and wearing a longsuffering expression of 'here we go again'.
"You might want to make your sentences less obscure," he suggested to the man named Midnight. "Less pronouns, more content words," he added helpfully.
"Nothing, I think," Benjamin said, still laughing.
"Pardon, is his weakness laughter?" Wyntep asked, confused.
"It just might be," Pardon said. "Or it might be that this insufferable fool is such a clown that one can't help but laugh at him."
Benjamin finally calmed down. "What do you want with my sister?" he asked Midnight, and uncontrollably had to add in "Sir" at the end.
"Well, let's just say we have some unfinished business. Too bad my last crony failed. Poor Brayden, he was such a stupid man," Midnight said.
"Hey, that's my brother," Wyntep said.
"Don't you just love how he dodges the question?" Pardon muttered.
"I'm waiting," Benjamin said.
"So am I," Eva chipped in.
"Er, me too," Wyntep chimed in, determined not to be left out of anything.
"Why to make her what she was destined to be, just like you and Ava. A person of dark magic. There is no escaping fate," Midnight said.
"Pardon, isn't this the part where someone who is named Fate comes in or something?" Wyntep asked.
Wyntep brightened. "She should be here at any minute," he said. "She's the most dependable person I know."
A woman walked onto the scene. She had black hair, yellow eyes, was wearing a green dress and sweatpants that had the word Fate written across the butt in glittery letters. She was holding a blue clutch purse.
"Fate will always find you," she declared. "And you should know that best, Midnight." She fished a tablet out of the purse. It had a green back cover that was emblazoned with the same glittery letters as her sweatpants.
"Let's see," she said, flicking rapidly with her fingers across the tablet's touch screen. "You were supposed to not summon any more minions and die tomorrow." She frowned at Midnight. "Defying me isn't a good idea. So, Midnight, what do you have to say for yourself?" she asked.
"I lie because I'm evil," Midnight said. "I can't help it, I was born that way."
"That is no excuse," Fate said severely, as she took her clutch in her hand and smacked it in Midnight's face. Benjamin, Wyntep and Eva laughed at that, and even Pardon cracked a smile.
"Stop doing that," Midnight yelled at the other three.
"Well?" Fate asked, fingers poised over the tablet again.
"Well, what?" Midnight snapped sulkily.
"Will you go quietly to what is fated for you?"
"Never!" Midnight declared.
"Why must you all be so difficult? Don't say I didn't warn you," Fate said, sounding amazingly like Pardon for a moment. She flicked the touch screen, and Midnight immediately died the way he was supposed to, in triple fast-forward.
The assembled audience released a collective "Whoa..." of awe.
"Oh, and you four shouldn't be getting comfy anytime soon," Fate added, addressing Eva, Benjamin, Pardon and Wyntep. "Since you all broke rules of Fate."
"Ok, ok, I admit it," Eva said. "I was fated to die and I came back to life. But I didn't do it on purpose!"
"I suppose I was fated to be evil and I'm... er, not evil," Benjamin said uncertainly.
"What did I do?" Wyntep asked indignantly. "Everything that's happened so far was done to me by someone else!"
Pardon just went, "Fate, sweet Fate, you know I'm exempted from your rules, don't you?"
"Of course, Pardon, I know that perfectly well," Fate said. She shrugged. "Well, Eva is excused, I suppose - you didn't exactly ASK to be resurrected. Benjamin's paid up by helping to kill Pandora, the bane of my existence." She grimaced. "Writing her death was like trying to make a pig eat bacon, in short, she was always one step ahead of me."
"As for YOU..." Fate pointed at Wyntep and paused for a long time. Benjamin and Eva took a step away from Wyntep. It was only sensible, since he was now the only one in danger from Fate.
Wyntep sighed and resigned himself to dying and/or not existing once again.
"Young Wyntep, your fate is so far astray that I believe that you also have a pass," Fate said. "For now," she finished, as Wyntep readjusted his mental state yet again to NOT dying and/or not existing.
"One more slip-up from any of you three and it's curtains for all of you," Fate said, authoritatively.
"Tea, my dear?" Pardon asked, offering her a steaming mug. "Lemon, no sugar, as you prefer it."
"I never need sugar when I have your sweet-talk to listen to," Fate said with a smile. "I missed you, you horrible troublemaker."
"As did I, my dear, as did I."
Benjamin started to ask a question but Wyntep cut him off. " It is better not to ask, he knows EVERYONE," Wyntep said.
"At least it looks like nothing more could go w-," Benjamin started to say.
"Don't say it!" Eva and Wyntep cried together. "Whenever someone says it, the worst happens," Eva elaborated.
Benjamin closed his eyes for a moment. "Fine. I'll pretend none of this ever happened."
When he opened his eyes, he was alone in his room. Around his neck, the star-shaped jewel glowed gently, pulsating with the power that he now felt flowing inside him.
"Did I... dream all of that?" he wondered out loud. He cared if he did, strangely. Maybe he was going crazy or maybe that was the test his sister kept mentioning to him. His living sister who just entered the room.
Isn't she dead? Benjamin thought.
"For the first few seconds, your illusionary memories and the real ones will diverge. I'll be back in a bit," Eva said.
She left the room again.
Benjamin cradled his very-heavy head in his arms. This isn't possible. I know I killed her.
Nothing made sense in his mind. Maybe everything I thought happened was an illusion, just maybe.
There was a touch on his shoulder. "Where have you moved the booze since I last died?" Eva asked, two wine glasses in her other hand.
Benjamin looked at her with teary eyes. I did kill her. "I'm sorry, Eva."
She laughed. "Yes, you should be sorry for hiding the booze. I'm absolutely DYING for a drink."
He shook his head and took her free hand in his. "That isn't what I meant. I'm sorry... for... everything."
Eva put down the glasses because she had started shaking.
"Forgive me?" Benjamin pleaded.
She sighed. "That's hard to do, Benji. You took my life, AND the life of the man I was going to be happy with. And then you brought me back. To this. No future. No husband. No powers even - you've taken all there is."
"I know, but could you at least try?" Benjamin asked. "For me?"
Eva was silent for a good five minutes. And then she ruffled her brother's hair. "I could make a start if you find me that booze."
THE END.