Spencer The Pilot Part III
Spencer The Pilot part III
by Spencer Hamilton on Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 6:28pm
Part III
We were in the sky, feeling like we were on that dragon from The Neverending Story, or the one played by Wayne Knight from Xiaolin Showdown. We could see beneath us, it looked like a map of the US. . I looked down at our lifeboat, amazed that this little rickety thing was here floating in the air as if it were a plane or something. The sky was lavender and I could see two figures in the sky, two moons. Those moons are kind of close I thought
“Don’t worry those moons are closer than they look but they are a safe enough distance away” Senegal said, looking at Will and I “We’ve got to get to a higher altitude. It’s going to strain you a little bit but if you can get through it, you’ll be acclimated to this place” He said. Acclimated…right, we have to get used to this place. It reminded me of how one guy I know would open the bag the fish was in and pour tank water in gradually so when the fish was let loose, it wouldn’t go into shock. We went higher, and a little higher after that. We felt our ears pop
“Have some of this” Will said, offering me a piece of gum “That’ll help out ears” He said as I chewed the gum. We went a little higher and at this point, we were breaking through clouds. I looked down and felt like I was inside of a pillow. It felt liberating, freeing, and just like I was a feather floating on the breeze. That’s when I noticed it was a bit cold.
“Couldn’t you have gotten us some hoodies or something back in the last reality?” I asked, rubbing my arms and holding myself tight
“It’ll be over soon” Senegal said as we started to ascend even higher, and when we did, the colors started to change, from white to a light grey “Something’s wrong” Senegal said, pulling out a globe like contraption and tossing it further up. We then ascended more and more, and the clouds got a little darker when we saw what looked like a whole city on massive clouds. People were walking on what I would call cloud shoes, many were white, some others were a little darker.
“Dark crowns” Senegal said as the orb came back down to him “The Twin Charmers!” He said, his eyes widening until they were as big as golf balls
“What are YOU doing with THEM?!!!” A voice called out, we looked up to see a man with light grey cloud shoes racing over to us, ready to draw his sword
“What’s wrong Durbin?” Senegal asked, perplexed as Durbin had jumped high ready to come down with his sword only to hit a force field
“How dare you protect the Twin Charmers?” Durbin demanded as he jumped back
“Twin Charmers?” Senegal asked, and like a bolt of lightning hit him “Oh no; they’ve done something to the crowns? Haven’t they?” Senegal asked
“What are the crowns? Isn’t it just a piece of gold or something?” Will asked, perplexed. I was about to say that but it hadn’t escaped my mouth. I looked around and the canoe had continued sailing toward a castle at a speed that was let’s say about 15 mph, a nice even pace as Durbin jumped in
“The crowns have been used to give wisdom and grace to the wearers, The Twin Charmers have used it to grant evil the power to rule”
“What are the crowns?” I asked, looking at Senegal
“Long ago Quirnius, our first king had defeated an evil dragon god, Ifon that terrorized this village, and after he defeated Ifon, he knew that if the people weren’t careful a king that had not known Quirnius would soon be as evil as Ifon was. So after his victory, he wished on his crown to the Lord Uzuk that all of his kingdoms and rulers under him would govern in wisdom, meekness, justice and goodness and hence these 12 crowns were given to him. The 13th was the King’s crown. The 12 provinces have different crowns for the cities, towns and villages” Senegal explained
“The Twin Charmers have found someone who is evil and who wants to assume The Kingship” Durbin explained “If they can corrupt that crown, it’s going to domino and I can’t have that, the people of this kingdom have fought hard against evil from the outside for it to defeat us from the inside”
“I think I can help, if we look like the Twin Charmers, we can crown him” Will said, mischievously
“Not with the King’s Crown!!” Durbin exclaimed, nearly jumping out of the boat.
“I’ll tell you when we get to the castle” Will said, watching Durbin’s face as the canoe made a smooth trail through the sky. We were in a place that had a decent amount of people, but they seemed to be heading back home. I could see some vehicles but there weren’t many of them, some used their sky shoes like skateboards and roller skates.
As we traveled through Sky Kingdom we had seen beautiful architecture, stuff you’d think was only in India and Morocco, we saw things that you would swear had been movie sets that just stayed there. Ornate buildings, beautiful sculptures, one of a woman who was bowed while Wisdom personified gave her a crown. Wisdom stood tall and was a haggard old woman that had a beauty in her smile that made your heart break. Her hand were rough but gentle, reminded me of Grandma’s Hands by Bill Withers. Her hair was combed back but really grey, her back hunched over to the point where you could possibly hear it crack if she bent any further. But this was something that I didn’t see much in my reality: The old generations reaching to the new to pass on things, wisdom, and centuries of knowledge that we never knew—and the younger generations accepting that wisdom and still thinking for themselves. How many people died with history still untold? I thought I want to be one that will pass down my loves, trials, hardships to my family.
“Ah…the castle!” Durbin said, with a look of excitement in his eyes “She’s beautiful!!!” He said. I looked up and saw something like a brilliant light as it shone off of the Castle, almost as if it were made of glass. It had beautiful topiaries before it and I could see a bridge that would retract in the event of an invasion.
“It’s good to be here. No war in over 3000 years” Senegal said, I wish we could go a day without hearing about a war in the House or Senate for once! 3,000 years. Such a long time, but then again one threat in 3000 years isn’t all that bad. Will and Durbin were talking but I didn’t pay much attention to them as I took in the pastoral nature of this place that existed a long time away from my own…or maybe side by side in a parallel reality like we’ve been thinking for years. I could imagine myself as an evil scientist with wild hair saying: Imagine the Possibilities with an evil laughter and lightning in the background. I shook that away as we coasted up to the castle.
“How do we get those cloud shoe things?” I asked as Durbin looked at me a few seconds from hopping out of the canoe
“Just hop out of the canoe” He said once we were at the gate
“Spencer, Will, come here” Senegal said “What’s the plan?”
“We take their place and I crown him” Will said
“That doesn’t sound like a plan”
“He’ll be the King of Fools when I’m finished with him” Will said, smiling broadly. I knew this had to be good.
Spencer and Will were in the castle, walking down with Durbin and Senegal side by side. Durbin looked disturbed as he walked, but politely tipped his head to those who offered greetings. It was like a small city in there with people milling around all over what was assumed to be the first floor. People were ornately dressed too, purples, greens, and the castle walls seemed to be carpeted or something, Will assumed it was to keep warm since castles were known to be drafty. Senegal walked in a regal manner, watchful of everyone and nodding to people as they passed.
“What do they call the Twin Charmers here?” Spencer asked
The Twin Charmers sat in a room with another noble.
“So what did you call us here for?” Darien, the Twin Charmer that looked like Will asked
“I wanted to make sure all things were in order for my coronation” Sebastian said, looking around at the colorful yet dark room. It was dark because of the energy in it.
“Sebastian, do you really think we’d slip our guard like this? Darien and I have been around this kingdom for many years” Kegan said, standing up deliberately, calculated circling Sebastian. Kegan, the Twin Charmer that looked like Spencer knew he had to make him squirm but not weasel out of this.
“You certainly have a way of getting to the point Kegan” Sebastian said, keeping his eyes on Kegan as he circled him “I don’t care about what it is you’re trying to do, but if I can wrest control from my brother, with his goody two shoes beliefs on the lazy poor people who live off of the castle I don’t care what you want to do. Just make sure you’ve bewitched the crowns” Sebastian stepped back as Kegan went off to another section of the room and looked at a plant, then breathed on it slowly, deliberately. Within seconds, the vibrant plant had withered and died Kegan grabbed a leaf of the withered plant and ate it.
“We’ve taken care of everything, you just need to be crowned. Provided you are in your place, we will succeed” Darien said as Kegan started to
“Darien” Kegan said taking another leaf from the plant “I don’t know if this will get us what we need for sure” Kegan stared out the window at the beauty, then turned away “All the light, fluff, what crap” He said “I can’t wait til we return all this to the void” Kegan said “It was so fun there, until Degor created these Sky vermin. Creatures to fight and kill without restraint, now we’re kept in check, as bad guys when we were the good ones” Kegan said
“If you think Degor doesn’t know about this, you’re mistaken” Darien said, “He knew this moment and what we’d do, and I bet he’s plotting to stop it. Besides, plotting to bring destruction so we can be the saviors has been done before” Darien said, grabbing a little ball and playing with it. It reminded him of those Fushigi balls, Darien’s sleeves of the robe rotated around it as he played with the ball seeming to grow calm as he tried to steady a ball that would defy gravity
“I know it’s been done before, but I’ll be soon out of these restraints and get back to Molkor, I remember when Degor sent us here” Kegan said, biting a flower petal as he leaned against a wall post near the window where the flower vase was
“Molkor was a dump, but it was ours” Darien said “I guess he thought we were necessary for the Delegation of Duties” He said “We may as well make our place among these gullible Nimens while we’re here and Sebastian will help us open the portal and what’s best about it is that he doesn’t believe in the legends, which gives us a lot of power” Darien kept playing with the Fushigi ball and smiled as he pocketed it “We’ll get home soon, and Degor won’t be able to reach us there easily”
“But he will, and I’m not going to come back here without a fight” Kegan then smiled and dreamt of going back to Molkor. The sky was a smoky grey and that was the only place he’d known, and fought monsters that terrorized people. However, he was ready to throw another group of people into chaos in order to set things right there before heading to Molkor, he wasn’t a bad guy; he just wanted to go home and see those he missed. Kegan took in the grey sky and swirls of Lavendar that made it look like someone was cooking Lipokl soup in the heavens and smelled the sweet air, and felt the rock terrain under his feet as he would often run barefoot. It was a tradition of the Kimpok people that if you couldn’t run the terrain barefoot, you weren’t meant to be a Kimpok and were shunned. You had to be as tough as the land you ran on if you were to live on it, the elder told him as a young warlock. He had met Darien when he left the Kimpok people after a political dispute…rather they set out to assassinate him. After he had killed the elder that ordered him assassinated he imposed one simple rule: That he was their ruler and he would leave them and come back from time to time. No challenge was ever made to his rule, but he would somehow see that someone would, one day, when he was away. It wouldn’t bother him, he kept them fed, clothed, and always had been good to them. He smiled at the thought of being back where he was appreciated as his full self, but as a Vizier—an advisor to power, he felt as if he’d been confined to a box that was too small for him, and he would plot and do whatever he could to get out when the time was right. Now was the time
Darien had walked down a long hall; it was quiet, just what he needed. He knew Sebastian wasn’t the brightest tool in the deck, but bewitching those crowns would give them the necessary power to complete the legend and send them home. Darien had met Kegan during a raid on the village that Kegan ruled, and challenged Kegan when his Chieftain was killed, he got a lot of respect from Darien for it, but had been spared on one condition: That he become Kegan’s apprentice. It was an offer that he couldn’t refuse. At one time, Darien wanted to kill him, but that desire faded as Darien was treated more like a friend than an apprentice, though the teaching moments were brutal, he had become a better warlock on that note. Darien would never think of killing Kegan, unless he absolutely had to and Kegan wouldn’t go down without a good fight, Darien would be close to dead trying to do so. Darien lifted his hands as if to pray
“I need guidance, wisdom and strength Degor, don’t fail me please. I know there has to be a better way, if not, this way must be. I don’t like the thought of throwing people into chaos for my selfish benefit, but I want to go home” He dropped to his knees and sat there, looking into the fushigi ball as the blue and white orb comforted him
Durbin led the way, keeping the coast clear for them until he got cloaks for them and making sure that their faces were covered.
“They’re here, I can feel their presence” Durbin said
“I feel its dark but not evil, more like confused” Senegal said “What’s in it for them if they crown a bad king?” Senegal asked
“That’s the part we don’t know” Durbin said “They’re just—I don’t know” He said, looking behind him and seeing no one “Here, get into this closet. These are the robes of the Twin Charmers. They were wearing these ones when I saw them last. They keep exactly three copies of everything they wear”
“What makes you think they’re still wearing it?” Senegal asked closing his eyes “They are” He said
“If you can do that why couldn’t you have sensed the Cracken?” Spencer asked, smart alecky
“My abilities may differ depending on what reality I’m in”
Darien felt a presence, something like his own but calmer. Not as dark. He smiled
“I take it Uzuk and Degon are in on this” He said “Good to run into you old friends” Darien said standing up from the spot he’d been sitting since his urgent prayer
The King’s table prepared, Spencer and Will were in the kitchen. Senegal had changed their appearance slightly so that they wouldn’t be recognized as the Twin Charmers. Spencer remarked that they could use Senegal in movies in their reality.
“The pieces should be okay as far as showing your expressions” Senegal said “So what are you going to do?” He asked Will
“I’m figuring that we will tail the Twin Charmers and then rip off our disguises. That should freak them out and if possible we beat them up and take their places” Will said “Then when the King is crowned, I’ve had Durbin grab the crown and he’ll be the biggest fool this kingdom has ever seen” Will said, smiling
“I hope you know what you’re doing” Spencer said
“Hurry and keep those goblets full” Senegal said “Fooling the twin charmers will be interesting, especially since they’re not given to alcohol, I’ll be right behind you”
The night went off without a hitch, Spencer and Kegan locked eyes a few times but Spencer played it well as if he had no idea who he was, there was a time when Kegan thought he knew Spencer, but he made sure he lead him to believe that he was a lowly servant. Durbin watched carefully as he sat at the table with the knights that were seated and the many that stood a distance around the table but not too far from it. They had to be encircled twenty feet from the guests. Senegal felt a surge of power from the Twin Charmers as if they were ready to do battle when he was around, and that the other guests had been too busy drinking and eating to notice or care. Nieman didn’t really feel such things; they were often about doing the business that they’d been doing. The night was almost gone, and now the morning was coming—red, orange, blue hue spread itself across the sky as the moon decided to retire and give the sun some time to shine. The day of coronation was here.
Sebastian looked in the mirror and pictured himself with a crown on his head
Spencer looked at himself and smiled at Will
Kegan and Darien stood walking side by side, their strides matching.
Senegal and Durbin looked at the crown and at each other, Senegal nods, he lifts the crown up as it shimmers in the light
Durbin goes down the hall with Spencer and Will who go into a room
Kegan and Darien continue walking side by side, strides matching
Sebastian sits anxiously, a scowl on his face
Senegal sits in Coronation Hall, where all the Kings since Quirnius have been crowned. Ornate, beautiful with all kinds of jewels, along with stain glass that depict the slaying of Ifon in detail, done so that all generations would know of the great evil that he had purged from the land, winning thousands of years of peace.
Sebastian looks out a window, revealing that he is opposite the coronation hall, looking at the stain glass “That’s some old bull!” He said, closing his window
Kegan and Darien walk down the hall, while Will and Spencer are walking opposite them. Kegan and Darien believe they recognize them, but continue walking up until Will and Spencer look back, connecting their eyes with Darien before walking into a large room.
Kegan and Darien look at one another and walk into the room, and see Will and Spencer whose backs are turned. Kegan goes to Spencer and turns him around
“Surprise!” Spencer says and hits him with a flower pot, Kegan stumbles “You!” Kegan says, surprised “I knew it!” Kegan deflects another blow Spencer has in his sleeve, Spencer uses that deflected blow to circle around Kegan and throw him across the room with the use of his leg
“We can’t let you crown Sebastian!” Spencer says as Darien is shocked by seeing Will, who begins circling him
“We won’t let you crown him” Will says to Darien
“What are you the Gatekeeper?” Darien asked “We knew Uzuk and Degon were going to do this”
“Enough talk, either you stay here while we do this or you get a beatdown” Will said, suddenly striking with a small cast iron skillet to Darien which he then blocked with his forearm
“If you stand in our way, prepare to be felled. We want to get home to Molkor, if there’s another way we would’ve found it!” Darien said, kicking will in the stomach making him fall over a table. Will grabbed something, it was snakelike and long whip like as well, grabbing Darien’s leg and with a yank, Darien was headed toward a post—boom! Unconscious!
“A little help here!!!” Spencer screamed out after blocking Kegan’s kick and pushing him back to the floor. Spencer then jumped up with a knee in the air to bring it down on Kegan’s rib cage and knock the wind out of him, not so as Kegan rolled over narrowly missed by Spencer’s knee. Will grabbed his snakelike whip and grabbed Kegan by the midsection and yanked away, making him spin pretty quickly, when he was out of the spin, Spencer punched him one good time, and the Twin Charmers were felled
“Senegal!” Spencer cried out, Senegal was outside the door in the event that they needed reinforcements. “Where is Molkor?” Senegal was puzzled
“It’s on the other side of this place. The gods have a few other realities that they send people to and from, mostly demigods. They must be from there”
“What’s so good about Molkor?” Spencer asked
“What’s so good about home?” Senegal asked
“He’s got a point. If it wasn’t that important, we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to get home ourselves” Will said “We’ve got a kingdom to save. Senegal, can you make sure they won’t get out of that room?” Will asked
“I can seal the room, but after that we have a half hour”
The Coronation Room, jewels all around, ornate rugs, a few nobles and about 50 knights all line the path that the crowner and the king are to take. The knights have their spears crossed at the top and as Will and Spencer, Durbin and Senegal followed by Sebastian. Durbin and Senegal take either side of Sebastian and Sebastian is the last to arrive at the front. Will grabs a piece of parchment and speaks the royal decree. Will’s voice echoed off of the high ceiling of the chamber. It was about 20-30 feet high and the hall must have been as big as a ranch house you’d expect to see in a country area
“And you shall now be King” Sebastian is anxious almost so anxious you can see him smiling a little. Will turns around and grabs a crown
“Of FOOLS!” Will slams the crown on his head and on it, you can see DUNCE on the crown “A king like you would be a disgrace!” Will says. The knights confused, they start looking at one another.
“You!” They hear as Darien and Kegan show up “Seize them!” The knights are still confused and start to murmur things like what just happened? What’s going on?
“YOU FOOLS!” Sebastian roars at Kegan and Darien “Molkor will be receive you…but you won’t be breathing!” Sebastian shrieked as he started sprouting wings, scaly and green, rough, he started growing, he seemed to be near the 10 foot mark now, and expanding. The knights by now were scrambling to get out of the room, but they were tripping over each other trying we could hear the clangs of their armor as they tried to shuffle over each other, it was like watching a bucket of crabs.
“Oh no, run for cover!!!” Spencer said, jumping and looking around for something that could serve as a shield. He needed something thick too, that could absorb the heat and not buckle under…was he really turning into a dragon? Spencer thought as he saw a blast of fire escape Sebastian’s nostrils and mouth.
“Plug him up” Will said, as Spencer grabbed something thick and heavy.
“What do you mean?” Spencer asked
“That fire’s gotta come from somewhere, if we plug him up he might explode” Will said as a blast of fire exploded near him “That might be our best chance” Will noticed as Darien bumped into him “Or—he is the King of Fools…we can use that” Will said. “Where’s that whip?” He asked as Darien looked at Will with nothing but disgust “Imposter!” He said, under his breath and pushed Will and Spencer away as a blast of fire hit them. Sebastian was situated high up so he could get his pick of the targets; he then swung his tail against an outer wall, which made sunlight stream in, it was pretty bright. Was this a strategy so they couldn’t see him?
“Well, he doesn’t seem all bad” Will said as Spencer fell on top of him
“The King of Fools has a master right?” Will said “Will, I have an idea”
“What?” Spencer said
“We’ll crown Durbin right now and Sebastian will be subject to him” Will said as Spencer smiled devilishly
“Where are the crowns?” Spencer said, running to avoid another blast from the Dragon
“Senegal?” Will screamed, trying to get his attention. Senegal extended his staff to shoot out an ice ball at the dragon. The Dragon doused it out as if it were…well…water. Will looked around and found the crown, which in the ensuing chaos poked out a little atop a small heap of rubble, it was scratched and didn’t look royal at all “Durbin, get over here!” Sebastian looked over at Will and then Durbin, saw the crown in Will’s hand and shot a breath of fire over Will’s way, Darien and Kegan moved quickly, jumping at eachother and spinning over to Will’s location as the fireball came, as it did, the fireball hit Sebastian in the gut, he squealed
“Now!” Kegan said to Durbin as he ran over and the two Twin Charmers bounced off the wall and grabbed Sebastian by the leg and threw him down onto the ground. Will crowned Durbin
“Now I declare you king” Will said, falling back as a fireball exploded into the side of the building he was standing on, covering him with bricks “Command him, he’s your fool!” Will said as the bricks came tumbling down, he ran a little bit but it seemed as if the bricks overtook him. Senegal and Durbin look at eachother in shock, Kegan and Darien look down at Sebastian and blast him with their hands, blue light comes from it
“Stop it!” Durbin shouts “Help me get him out” He says, running, he then trips and crawls his way over and in a hurry crawled over to him. Everyone in the room ran over to him and started taking bricks off of him. There weren’t many but they were heavy. Everyone paused and held their breaths as they saw Will’s face
Will was motionless, still
“No” Spencer said in disbelief, grabbing him from the rubble “No, we’re supposed to get back home together” He said, Spencer then opened Will’s mouth and found nothing in it, and continued to perform mouth to mouth. “Come on!” Spencer said, vehemently. Will was unresponsive “Come on!!!” Spencer yelled even louder and did mouth to mouth again as everyone watched in disbelief. Spencer could hardly believe it; they came this far only to return without his friend. This can’t be. Spencer’s gaze grew cold. Will coughed, sitting up and winced in pain.
“I’m okay” He then drew a breath and grimaced “I just got some bumps on my head”
Sebastian was on the ground…he had shrunk down to human form, but was in a dragon costume that bore close resemblance of what he was before. It was about twenty minutes since he’d fallen and Will was discovered, Durbin was the first thing he’d seen
“Sebastian” Durbin said, the crown on his head “I hereby appoint you as Jester, for you are the King of Fools” He said, smiling “You know the where the quarters are…they are currently your residence” Sebastian looked confused and saw the crown on Durbin’s head
“Yes your Majesty” He said, huffing as he got up
“Will?” Durbin asked, looking around for him “Why did you crown me?” He asked
“You did what was best for the people of your land. Even if you ran us into these two” Will said pointing to the Twin Charmers
“And you two” Durbin said “I have a mind to put you to death” He said
“We would accept our fate” They both said in unison
“We only wanted to get home, but we couldn’t let ourselves throw this kingdom into chaos without correcting it” Kegan said. Durbin hesitated as a small, but luminous light came down above all their heads.
“Do no such thing King Durbin” A gentle voice said, firmly “They will go home”
“Degor!” Kegan and Darien said
“We knew you would pass the test” Degor said, stepping foot in the courtyard, gently and with ease. “We knew you wouldn’t be able to go through with it, so we sent these two” He said, pointing to Spencer and Will. Senegal looked at Degor
“You bugger!” Senegal said, laughing
“Old friend!” Degor said “I see you’ve lost the inkwell for your pen. I’ve brought a bottle, but first, these two are due for Molkor, just not quite yet”
“Ok” Darien said “What do you need from us then?”
“To clean up this mess and help the king. Then I will take you both home. Durbin will be a fine king. That’s why I wanted you to crown him William” He said, crossing to a rock where he could sits
“Shhh! Don’t say that name out loud” Will said
“We all know that’s your real name” Spencer said, rolling his eyes
“So, Senegal. Here it is you can send them home. But not before the elders give you a royal…tail chewing”
“Yes sir” He said,
“No, not really. It all worked together, consider yourself pardoned” Degor said, handing him the bottle of ink.
“You two have a lot of adventures ahead of you. Together and apart” Degor said “I can see wealth around you, but not monetary wealth” He said, smiling “You both are special people”
Durbin, Spencer, Senegal and Will were sitting out in the courtyard observing the starry night and putting a marshmallow on a stick in a closed off section you could tell was used for this kind of thing. It had logs instead of chairs and
“It’s beautiful up here” Senegal said “I love it up here”
“Another kingdom saved” Will said, Sighing and putting a marshmallow on a stick so he could roast it “I think I had a good time, what about you Spencer?”
“Of course I did. I did things I never thought I’d be able to do. Senegal wasn’t really much help at times”
“I did what I could, besides you two proved pretty capable. I could use some assistants too”
“I don’t think I want to be flying across realities every day” Spencer said
“It’ll be good to go home and I gotta say this lavender sky is beautiful but don’t you guys have stars?” Will asked, coming off the log and laying on the ground
“We do, it gets darker like Earth’s in another hour or two” Senegal replied “It’ll be good to go to your reality for a while. I like it there”
“Let’s just hope we don’t come back when we’re supposed to be old men” Spencer said
“I don’t want to see myself old” Will replied, staring up
at the sky. Degor came up to us and sat on a log, Kegan and Darien came by
“Care if we join you?” Degor asked as Senegal slid over
“It’s good to see you old friend” Senegal said
“Who are you calling old?” Degor replied
“If the old man grunt fits” Senegal teased
“Can you let me in on something?” Will asked “Did you guys actually plan this whole thing for us to come here?”
“Yeah”
“I should punch you in the face” Spencer said as Will looked at him shocked
“I was gonna say that” Will said, chuckling through it
“It’s fine” Degor said “I know you’ll get over it” He grabbed a stick and a marshmallow “Besides you two have a lot ahead of you”
“I hope it’s not gonna be tonight” Will said, it was like he was a cat ready to strike
“No, you guys’ll return home tomorrow” Degor pulled the marshmallow back and grabbed the graham crackers and chocolate “I’ve always liked these” He sat back and ate the S’more
The morning was beautiful, flowers in bloom everything looked like it was supposed to. The clouds were now completely white instead of tinged with grey as they had been before, the castle wall where the Coronation—the private one at least—was now patched up thanks to Sebastian in his dragon form. The Twin Charmers made it to where he could resume his human form at his convenience but put a limit on his power. Spencer and Will flanked by Senegal were now outside in the outer courts of the castle and palace. The outer court was for everyone who wanted to be there, and it was amazingly beautiful, parks and orchards, it was like the palace extended for everyone. You couldn’t go too far without seeing people outside reading books and talking about philosophy, it was a place that seemed to resemble ancient Greece and Rome. Families with two Dads, Moms and one of each mingled with each other as their children played and they sipped lemonade. Spencer and Will looked out over the outer court and were amazed.
“This is a different world than where you come from” Senegal said
“Apparently, people here are civilized” Will said
“Wish my Dads and I could live here” Spencer said, wistfully “At least they have a great leader” Durbin knocked to let his presence be known
“Durbin!” Will said “Or should I say Your Highness?”
“I wouldn’t be the King without you” Durbin said “Call me whatever you want, I owe it to you”
“I only did what I felt was right” Will said
“Don’t downplay what you did” Durbin said “You and yours will always have a place here”
“Thank you. If we can get back here, we’d love to”
“I’d better go, we have the Coronation, and we need the King there for it” He said, exiting
Spencer and Will looked up at the sky as Senegal dipped his pen in the inkwell
“We’re not gonna be sent back to like—ya know, 40 years later right?” Spencer asked “I’ve changed enough diapers I don’t want to change the Dads”
“Don’t worry you’ll be right back where I met you and do yourself a favor and do the scan on your camera that should get things rolling” Senegal said as he nodded to Spencer and Will to step in
Spencer and Will were now back where they were, right before the time of the lovely adventure.
“It feels good to be home!” Spencer said as Will sat back on the bed and sighed.
“I’m hungry” Spencer said as Will sat up and went along with him
“We should write about it” Will said, getting to the door
“Who’s gonna write it?” Spencer asked “I’ve written enough, it’s about time you do something” He added heading down the stairs
“Yeah, I help save a kingdom and you treat me like a Pauper. Nice”
“I’m hungry, let’s go eat. If you drank up all the Yoo Hoo’s I’m gonna make a knuckle sandwich”
As they sit down in the kitchen, across the way, on a roof where they can see partially from their vantage point. A witch cackles evilly and watches them munch on their sandwiches
We were in the sky, feeling like we were on that dragon from The Neverending Story, or the one played by Wayne Knight from Xiaolin Showdown. We could see beneath us, it looked like a map of the US. . I looked down at our lifeboat, amazed that this little rickety thing was here floating in the air as if it were a plane or something. The sky was lavender and I could see two figures in the sky, two moons. Those moons are kind of close I thought
“Don’t worry those moons are closer than they look but they are a safe enough distance away” Senegal said, looking at Will and I “We’ve got to get to a higher altitude. It’s going to strain you a little bit but if you can get through it, you’ll be acclimated to this place” He said. Acclimated…right, we have to get used to this place. It reminded me of how one guy I know would open the bag the fish was in and pour tank water in gradually so when the fish was let loose, it wouldn’t go into shock. We went higher, and a little higher after that. We felt our ears pop
“Have some of this” Will said, offering me a piece of gum “That’ll help out ears” He said as I chewed the gum. We went a little higher and at this point, we were breaking through clouds. I looked down and felt like I was inside of a pillow. It felt liberating, freeing, and just like I was a feather floating on the breeze. That’s when I noticed it was a bit cold.
“Couldn’t you have gotten us some hoodies or something back in the last reality?” I asked, rubbing my arms and holding myself tight
“It’ll be over soon” Senegal said as we started to ascend even higher, and when we did, the colors started to change, from white to a light grey “Something’s wrong” Senegal said, pulling out a globe like contraption and tossing it further up. We then ascended more and more, and the clouds got a little darker when we saw what looked like a whole city on massive clouds. People were walking on what I would call cloud shoes, many were white, some others were a little darker.
“Dark crowns” Senegal said as the orb came back down to him “The Twin Charmers!” He said, his eyes widening until they were as big as golf balls
“What are YOU doing with THEM?!!!” A voice called out, we looked up to see a man with light grey cloud shoes racing over to us, ready to draw his sword
“What’s wrong Durbin?” Senegal asked, perplexed as Durbin had jumped high ready to come down with his sword only to hit a force field
“How dare you protect the Twin Charmers?” Durbin demanded as he jumped back
“Twin Charmers?” Senegal asked, and like a bolt of lightning hit him “Oh no; they’ve done something to the crowns? Haven’t they?” Senegal asked
“What are the crowns? Isn’t it just a piece of gold or something?” Will asked, perplexed. I was about to say that but it hadn’t escaped my mouth. I looked around and the canoe had continued sailing toward a castle at a speed that was let’s say about 15 mph, a nice even pace as Durbin jumped in
“The crowns have been used to give wisdom and grace to the wearers, The Twin Charmers have used it to grant evil the power to rule”
“What are the crowns?” I asked, looking at Senegal
“Long ago Quirnius, our first king had defeated an evil dragon god, Ifon that terrorized this village, and after he defeated Ifon, he knew that if the people weren’t careful a king that had not known Quirnius would soon be as evil as Ifon was. So after his victory, he wished on his crown to the Lord Uzuk that all of his kingdoms and rulers under him would govern in wisdom, meekness, justice and goodness and hence these 12 crowns were given to him. The 13th was the King’s crown. The 12 provinces have different crowns for the cities, towns and villages” Senegal explained
“The Twin Charmers have found someone who is evil and who wants to assume The Kingship” Durbin explained “If they can corrupt that crown, it’s going to domino and I can’t have that, the people of this kingdom have fought hard against evil from the outside for it to defeat us from the inside”
“I think I can help, if we look like the Twin Charmers, we can crown him” Will said, mischievously
“Not with the King’s Crown!!” Durbin exclaimed, nearly jumping out of the boat.
“I’ll tell you when we get to the castle” Will said, watching Durbin’s face as the canoe made a smooth trail through the sky. We were in a place that had a decent amount of people, but they seemed to be heading back home. I could see some vehicles but there weren’t many of them, some used their sky shoes like skateboards and roller skates.
As we traveled through Sky Kingdom we had seen beautiful architecture, stuff you’d think was only in India and Morocco, we saw things that you would swear had been movie sets that just stayed there. Ornate buildings, beautiful sculptures, one of a woman who was bowed while Wisdom personified gave her a crown. Wisdom stood tall and was a haggard old woman that had a beauty in her smile that made your heart break. Her hand were rough but gentle, reminded me of Grandma’s Hands by Bill Withers. Her hair was combed back but really grey, her back hunched over to the point where you could possibly hear it crack if she bent any further. But this was something that I didn’t see much in my reality: The old generations reaching to the new to pass on things, wisdom, and centuries of knowledge that we never knew—and the younger generations accepting that wisdom and still thinking for themselves. How many people died with history still untold? I thought I want to be one that will pass down my loves, trials, hardships to my family.
“Ah…the castle!” Durbin said, with a look of excitement in his eyes “She’s beautiful!!!” He said. I looked up and saw something like a brilliant light as it shone off of the Castle, almost as if it were made of glass. It had beautiful topiaries before it and I could see a bridge that would retract in the event of an invasion.
“It’s good to be here. No war in over 3000 years” Senegal said, I wish we could go a day without hearing about a war in the House or Senate for once! 3,000 years. Such a long time, but then again one threat in 3000 years isn’t all that bad. Will and Durbin were talking but I didn’t pay much attention to them as I took in the pastoral nature of this place that existed a long time away from my own…or maybe side by side in a parallel reality like we’ve been thinking for years. I could imagine myself as an evil scientist with wild hair saying: Imagine the Possibilities with an evil laughter and lightning in the background. I shook that away as we coasted up to the castle.
“How do we get those cloud shoe things?” I asked as Durbin looked at me a few seconds from hopping out of the canoe
“Just hop out of the canoe” He said once we were at the gate
“Spencer, Will, come here” Senegal said “What’s the plan?”
“We take their place and I crown him” Will said
“That doesn’t sound like a plan”
“He’ll be the King of Fools when I’m finished with him” Will said, smiling broadly. I knew this had to be good.
Spencer and Will were in the castle, walking down with Durbin and Senegal side by side. Durbin looked disturbed as he walked, but politely tipped his head to those who offered greetings. It was like a small city in there with people milling around all over what was assumed to be the first floor. People were ornately dressed too, purples, greens, and the castle walls seemed to be carpeted or something, Will assumed it was to keep warm since castles were known to be drafty. Senegal walked in a regal manner, watchful of everyone and nodding to people as they passed.
“What do they call the Twin Charmers here?” Spencer asked
The Twin Charmers sat in a room with another noble.
“So what did you call us here for?” Darien, the Twin Charmer that looked like Will asked
“I wanted to make sure all things were in order for my coronation” Sebastian said, looking around at the colorful yet dark room. It was dark because of the energy in it.
“Sebastian, do you really think we’d slip our guard like this? Darien and I have been around this kingdom for many years” Kegan said, standing up deliberately, calculated circling Sebastian. Kegan, the Twin Charmer that looked like Spencer knew he had to make him squirm but not weasel out of this.
“You certainly have a way of getting to the point Kegan” Sebastian said, keeping his eyes on Kegan as he circled him “I don’t care about what it is you’re trying to do, but if I can wrest control from my brother, with his goody two shoes beliefs on the lazy poor people who live off of the castle I don’t care what you want to do. Just make sure you’ve bewitched the crowns” Sebastian stepped back as Kegan went off to another section of the room and looked at a plant, then breathed on it slowly, deliberately. Within seconds, the vibrant plant had withered and died Kegan grabbed a leaf of the withered plant and ate it.
“We’ve taken care of everything, you just need to be crowned. Provided you are in your place, we will succeed” Darien said as Kegan started to
“Darien” Kegan said taking another leaf from the plant “I don’t know if this will get us what we need for sure” Kegan stared out the window at the beauty, then turned away “All the light, fluff, what crap” He said “I can’t wait til we return all this to the void” Kegan said “It was so fun there, until Degor created these Sky vermin. Creatures to fight and kill without restraint, now we’re kept in check, as bad guys when we were the good ones” Kegan said
“If you think Degor doesn’t know about this, you’re mistaken” Darien said, “He knew this moment and what we’d do, and I bet he’s plotting to stop it. Besides, plotting to bring destruction so we can be the saviors has been done before” Darien said, grabbing a little ball and playing with it. It reminded him of those Fushigi balls, Darien’s sleeves of the robe rotated around it as he played with the ball seeming to grow calm as he tried to steady a ball that would defy gravity
“I know it’s been done before, but I’ll be soon out of these restraints and get back to Molkor, I remember when Degor sent us here” Kegan said, biting a flower petal as he leaned against a wall post near the window where the flower vase was
“Molkor was a dump, but it was ours” Darien said “I guess he thought we were necessary for the Delegation of Duties” He said “We may as well make our place among these gullible Nimens while we’re here and Sebastian will help us open the portal and what’s best about it is that he doesn’t believe in the legends, which gives us a lot of power” Darien kept playing with the Fushigi ball and smiled as he pocketed it “We’ll get home soon, and Degor won’t be able to reach us there easily”
“But he will, and I’m not going to come back here without a fight” Kegan then smiled and dreamt of going back to Molkor. The sky was a smoky grey and that was the only place he’d known, and fought monsters that terrorized people. However, he was ready to throw another group of people into chaos in order to set things right there before heading to Molkor, he wasn’t a bad guy; he just wanted to go home and see those he missed. Kegan took in the grey sky and swirls of Lavendar that made it look like someone was cooking Lipokl soup in the heavens and smelled the sweet air, and felt the rock terrain under his feet as he would often run barefoot. It was a tradition of the Kimpok people that if you couldn’t run the terrain barefoot, you weren’t meant to be a Kimpok and were shunned. You had to be as tough as the land you ran on if you were to live on it, the elder told him as a young warlock. He had met Darien when he left the Kimpok people after a political dispute…rather they set out to assassinate him. After he had killed the elder that ordered him assassinated he imposed one simple rule: That he was their ruler and he would leave them and come back from time to time. No challenge was ever made to his rule, but he would somehow see that someone would, one day, when he was away. It wouldn’t bother him, he kept them fed, clothed, and always had been good to them. He smiled at the thought of being back where he was appreciated as his full self, but as a Vizier—an advisor to power, he felt as if he’d been confined to a box that was too small for him, and he would plot and do whatever he could to get out when the time was right. Now was the time
Darien had walked down a long hall; it was quiet, just what he needed. He knew Sebastian wasn’t the brightest tool in the deck, but bewitching those crowns would give them the necessary power to complete the legend and send them home. Darien had met Kegan during a raid on the village that Kegan ruled, and challenged Kegan when his Chieftain was killed, he got a lot of respect from Darien for it, but had been spared on one condition: That he become Kegan’s apprentice. It was an offer that he couldn’t refuse. At one time, Darien wanted to kill him, but that desire faded as Darien was treated more like a friend than an apprentice, though the teaching moments were brutal, he had become a better warlock on that note. Darien would never think of killing Kegan, unless he absolutely had to and Kegan wouldn’t go down without a good fight, Darien would be close to dead trying to do so. Darien lifted his hands as if to pray
“I need guidance, wisdom and strength Degor, don’t fail me please. I know there has to be a better way, if not, this way must be. I don’t like the thought of throwing people into chaos for my selfish benefit, but I want to go home” He dropped to his knees and sat there, looking into the fushigi ball as the blue and white orb comforted him
Durbin led the way, keeping the coast clear for them until he got cloaks for them and making sure that their faces were covered.
“They’re here, I can feel their presence” Durbin said
“I feel its dark but not evil, more like confused” Senegal said “What’s in it for them if they crown a bad king?” Senegal asked
“That’s the part we don’t know” Durbin said “They’re just—I don’t know” He said, looking behind him and seeing no one “Here, get into this closet. These are the robes of the Twin Charmers. They were wearing these ones when I saw them last. They keep exactly three copies of everything they wear”
“What makes you think they’re still wearing it?” Senegal asked closing his eyes “They are” He said
“If you can do that why couldn’t you have sensed the Cracken?” Spencer asked, smart alecky
“My abilities may differ depending on what reality I’m in”
Darien felt a presence, something like his own but calmer. Not as dark. He smiled
“I take it Uzuk and Degon are in on this” He said “Good to run into you old friends” Darien said standing up from the spot he’d been sitting since his urgent prayer
The King’s table prepared, Spencer and Will were in the kitchen. Senegal had changed their appearance slightly so that they wouldn’t be recognized as the Twin Charmers. Spencer remarked that they could use Senegal in movies in their reality.
“The pieces should be okay as far as showing your expressions” Senegal said “So what are you going to do?” He asked Will
“I’m figuring that we will tail the Twin Charmers and then rip off our disguises. That should freak them out and if possible we beat them up and take their places” Will said “Then when the King is crowned, I’ve had Durbin grab the crown and he’ll be the biggest fool this kingdom has ever seen” Will said, smiling
“I hope you know what you’re doing” Spencer said
“Hurry and keep those goblets full” Senegal said “Fooling the twin charmers will be interesting, especially since they’re not given to alcohol, I’ll be right behind you”
The night went off without a hitch, Spencer and Kegan locked eyes a few times but Spencer played it well as if he had no idea who he was, there was a time when Kegan thought he knew Spencer, but he made sure he lead him to believe that he was a lowly servant. Durbin watched carefully as he sat at the table with the knights that were seated and the many that stood a distance around the table but not too far from it. They had to be encircled twenty feet from the guests. Senegal felt a surge of power from the Twin Charmers as if they were ready to do battle when he was around, and that the other guests had been too busy drinking and eating to notice or care. Nieman didn’t really feel such things; they were often about doing the business that they’d been doing. The night was almost gone, and now the morning was coming—red, orange, blue hue spread itself across the sky as the moon decided to retire and give the sun some time to shine. The day of coronation was here.
Sebastian looked in the mirror and pictured himself with a crown on his head
Spencer looked at himself and smiled at Will
Kegan and Darien stood walking side by side, their strides matching.
Senegal and Durbin looked at the crown and at each other, Senegal nods, he lifts the crown up as it shimmers in the light
Durbin goes down the hall with Spencer and Will who go into a room
Kegan and Darien continue walking side by side, strides matching
Sebastian sits anxiously, a scowl on his face
Senegal sits in Coronation Hall, where all the Kings since Quirnius have been crowned. Ornate, beautiful with all kinds of jewels, along with stain glass that depict the slaying of Ifon in detail, done so that all generations would know of the great evil that he had purged from the land, winning thousands of years of peace.
Sebastian looks out a window, revealing that he is opposite the coronation hall, looking at the stain glass “That’s some old bull!” He said, closing his window
Kegan and Darien walk down the hall, while Will and Spencer are walking opposite them. Kegan and Darien believe they recognize them, but continue walking up until Will and Spencer look back, connecting their eyes with Darien before walking into a large room.
Kegan and Darien look at one another and walk into the room, and see Will and Spencer whose backs are turned. Kegan goes to Spencer and turns him around
“Surprise!” Spencer says and hits him with a flower pot, Kegan stumbles “You!” Kegan says, surprised “I knew it!” Kegan deflects another blow Spencer has in his sleeve, Spencer uses that deflected blow to circle around Kegan and throw him across the room with the use of his leg
“We can’t let you crown Sebastian!” Spencer says as Darien is shocked by seeing Will, who begins circling him
“We won’t let you crown him” Will says to Darien
“What are you the Gatekeeper?” Darien asked “We knew Uzuk and Degon were going to do this”
“Enough talk, either you stay here while we do this or you get a beatdown” Will said, suddenly striking with a small cast iron skillet to Darien which he then blocked with his forearm
“If you stand in our way, prepare to be felled. We want to get home to Molkor, if there’s another way we would’ve found it!” Darien said, kicking will in the stomach making him fall over a table. Will grabbed something, it was snakelike and long whip like as well, grabbing Darien’s leg and with a yank, Darien was headed toward a post—boom! Unconscious!
“A little help here!!!” Spencer screamed out after blocking Kegan’s kick and pushing him back to the floor. Spencer then jumped up with a knee in the air to bring it down on Kegan’s rib cage and knock the wind out of him, not so as Kegan rolled over narrowly missed by Spencer’s knee. Will grabbed his snakelike whip and grabbed Kegan by the midsection and yanked away, making him spin pretty quickly, when he was out of the spin, Spencer punched him one good time, and the Twin Charmers were felled
“Senegal!” Spencer cried out, Senegal was outside the door in the event that they needed reinforcements. “Where is Molkor?” Senegal was puzzled
“It’s on the other side of this place. The gods have a few other realities that they send people to and from, mostly demigods. They must be from there”
“What’s so good about Molkor?” Spencer asked
“What’s so good about home?” Senegal asked
“He’s got a point. If it wasn’t that important, we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to get home ourselves” Will said “We’ve got a kingdom to save. Senegal, can you make sure they won’t get out of that room?” Will asked
“I can seal the room, but after that we have a half hour”
The Coronation Room, jewels all around, ornate rugs, a few nobles and about 50 knights all line the path that the crowner and the king are to take. The knights have their spears crossed at the top and as Will and Spencer, Durbin and Senegal followed by Sebastian. Durbin and Senegal take either side of Sebastian and Sebastian is the last to arrive at the front. Will grabs a piece of parchment and speaks the royal decree. Will’s voice echoed off of the high ceiling of the chamber. It was about 20-30 feet high and the hall must have been as big as a ranch house you’d expect to see in a country area
“And you shall now be King” Sebastian is anxious almost so anxious you can see him smiling a little. Will turns around and grabs a crown
“Of FOOLS!” Will slams the crown on his head and on it, you can see DUNCE on the crown “A king like you would be a disgrace!” Will says. The knights confused, they start looking at one another.
“You!” They hear as Darien and Kegan show up “Seize them!” The knights are still confused and start to murmur things like what just happened? What’s going on?
“YOU FOOLS!” Sebastian roars at Kegan and Darien “Molkor will be receive you…but you won’t be breathing!” Sebastian shrieked as he started sprouting wings, scaly and green, rough, he started growing, he seemed to be near the 10 foot mark now, and expanding. The knights by now were scrambling to get out of the room, but they were tripping over each other trying we could hear the clangs of their armor as they tried to shuffle over each other, it was like watching a bucket of crabs.
“Oh no, run for cover!!!” Spencer said, jumping and looking around for something that could serve as a shield. He needed something thick too, that could absorb the heat and not buckle under…was he really turning into a dragon? Spencer thought as he saw a blast of fire escape Sebastian’s nostrils and mouth.
“Plug him up” Will said, as Spencer grabbed something thick and heavy.
“What do you mean?” Spencer asked
“That fire’s gotta come from somewhere, if we plug him up he might explode” Will said as a blast of fire exploded near him “That might be our best chance” Will noticed as Darien bumped into him “Or—he is the King of Fools…we can use that” Will said. “Where’s that whip?” He asked as Darien looked at Will with nothing but disgust “Imposter!” He said, under his breath and pushed Will and Spencer away as a blast of fire hit them. Sebastian was situated high up so he could get his pick of the targets; he then swung his tail against an outer wall, which made sunlight stream in, it was pretty bright. Was this a strategy so they couldn’t see him?
“Well, he doesn’t seem all bad” Will said as Spencer fell on top of him
“The King of Fools has a master right?” Will said “Will, I have an idea”
“What?” Spencer said
“We’ll crown Durbin right now and Sebastian will be subject to him” Will said as Spencer smiled devilishly
“Where are the crowns?” Spencer said, running to avoid another blast from the Dragon
“Senegal?” Will screamed, trying to get his attention. Senegal extended his staff to shoot out an ice ball at the dragon. The Dragon doused it out as if it were…well…water. Will looked around and found the crown, which in the ensuing chaos poked out a little atop a small heap of rubble, it was scratched and didn’t look royal at all “Durbin, get over here!” Sebastian looked over at Will and then Durbin, saw the crown in Will’s hand and shot a breath of fire over Will’s way, Darien and Kegan moved quickly, jumping at eachother and spinning over to Will’s location as the fireball came, as it did, the fireball hit Sebastian in the gut, he squealed
“Now!” Kegan said to Durbin as he ran over and the two Twin Charmers bounced off the wall and grabbed Sebastian by the leg and threw him down onto the ground. Will crowned Durbin
“Now I declare you king” Will said, falling back as a fireball exploded into the side of the building he was standing on, covering him with bricks “Command him, he’s your fool!” Will said as the bricks came tumbling down, he ran a little bit but it seemed as if the bricks overtook him. Senegal and Durbin look at eachother in shock, Kegan and Darien look down at Sebastian and blast him with their hands, blue light comes from it
“Stop it!” Durbin shouts “Help me get him out” He says, running, he then trips and crawls his way over and in a hurry crawled over to him. Everyone in the room ran over to him and started taking bricks off of him. There weren’t many but they were heavy. Everyone paused and held their breaths as they saw Will’s face
Will was motionless, still
“No” Spencer said in disbelief, grabbing him from the rubble “No, we’re supposed to get back home together” He said, Spencer then opened Will’s mouth and found nothing in it, and continued to perform mouth to mouth. “Come on!” Spencer said, vehemently. Will was unresponsive “Come on!!!” Spencer yelled even louder and did mouth to mouth again as everyone watched in disbelief. Spencer could hardly believe it; they came this far only to return without his friend. This can’t be. Spencer’s gaze grew cold. Will coughed, sitting up and winced in pain.
“I’m okay” He then drew a breath and grimaced “I just got some bumps on my head”
Sebastian was on the ground…he had shrunk down to human form, but was in a dragon costume that bore close resemblance of what he was before. It was about twenty minutes since he’d fallen and Will was discovered, Durbin was the first thing he’d seen
“Sebastian” Durbin said, the crown on his head “I hereby appoint you as Jester, for you are the King of Fools” He said, smiling “You know the where the quarters are…they are currently your residence” Sebastian looked confused and saw the crown on Durbin’s head
“Yes your Majesty” He said, huffing as he got up
“Will?” Durbin asked, looking around for him “Why did you crown me?” He asked
“You did what was best for the people of your land. Even if you ran us into these two” Will said pointing to the Twin Charmers
“And you two” Durbin said “I have a mind to put you to death” He said
“We would accept our fate” They both said in unison
“We only wanted to get home, but we couldn’t let ourselves throw this kingdom into chaos without correcting it” Kegan said. Durbin hesitated as a small, but luminous light came down above all their heads.
“Do no such thing King Durbin” A gentle voice said, firmly “They will go home”
“Degor!” Kegan and Darien said
“We knew you would pass the test” Degor said, stepping foot in the courtyard, gently and with ease. “We knew you wouldn’t be able to go through with it, so we sent these two” He said, pointing to Spencer and Will. Senegal looked at Degor
“You bugger!” Senegal said, laughing
“Old friend!” Degor said “I see you’ve lost the inkwell for your pen. I’ve brought a bottle, but first, these two are due for Molkor, just not quite yet”
“Ok” Darien said “What do you need from us then?”
“To clean up this mess and help the king. Then I will take you both home. Durbin will be a fine king. That’s why I wanted you to crown him William” He said, crossing to a rock where he could sits
“Shhh! Don’t say that name out loud” Will said
“We all know that’s your real name” Spencer said, rolling his eyes
“So, Senegal. Here it is you can send them home. But not before the elders give you a royal…tail chewing”
“Yes sir” He said,
“No, not really. It all worked together, consider yourself pardoned” Degor said, handing him the bottle of ink.
“You two have a lot of adventures ahead of you. Together and apart” Degor said “I can see wealth around you, but not monetary wealth” He said, smiling “You both are special people”
Durbin, Spencer, Senegal and Will were sitting out in the courtyard observing the starry night and putting a marshmallow on a stick in a closed off section you could tell was used for this kind of thing. It had logs instead of chairs and
“It’s beautiful up here” Senegal said “I love it up here”
“Another kingdom saved” Will said, Sighing and putting a marshmallow on a stick so he could roast it “I think I had a good time, what about you Spencer?”
“Of course I did. I did things I never thought I’d be able to do. Senegal wasn’t really much help at times”
“I did what I could, besides you two proved pretty capable. I could use some assistants too”
“I don’t think I want to be flying across realities every day” Spencer said
“It’ll be good to go home and I gotta say this lavender sky is beautiful but don’t you guys have stars?” Will asked, coming off the log and laying on the ground
“We do, it gets darker like Earth’s in another hour or two” Senegal replied “It’ll be good to go to your reality for a while. I like it there”
“Let’s just hope we don’t come back when we’re supposed to be old men” Spencer said
“I don’t want to see myself old” Will replied, staring up
at the sky. Degor came up to us and sat on a log, Kegan and Darien came by
“Care if we join you?” Degor asked as Senegal slid over
“It’s good to see you old friend” Senegal said
“Who are you calling old?” Degor replied
“If the old man grunt fits” Senegal teased
“Can you let me in on something?” Will asked “Did you guys actually plan this whole thing for us to come here?”
“Yeah”
“I should punch you in the face” Spencer said as Will looked at him shocked
“I was gonna say that” Will said, chuckling through it
“It’s fine” Degor said “I know you’ll get over it” He grabbed a stick and a marshmallow “Besides you two have a lot ahead of you”
“I hope it’s not gonna be tonight” Will said, it was like he was a cat ready to strike
“No, you guys’ll return home tomorrow” Degor pulled the marshmallow back and grabbed the graham crackers and chocolate “I’ve always liked these” He sat back and ate the S’more
The morning was beautiful, flowers in bloom everything looked like it was supposed to. The clouds were now completely white instead of tinged with grey as they had been before, the castle wall where the Coronation—the private one at least—was now patched up thanks to Sebastian in his dragon form. The Twin Charmers made it to where he could resume his human form at his convenience but put a limit on his power. Spencer and Will flanked by Senegal were now outside in the outer courts of the castle and palace. The outer court was for everyone who wanted to be there, and it was amazingly beautiful, parks and orchards, it was like the palace extended for everyone. You couldn’t go too far without seeing people outside reading books and talking about philosophy, it was a place that seemed to resemble ancient Greece and Rome. Families with two Dads, Moms and one of each mingled with each other as their children played and they sipped lemonade. Spencer and Will looked out over the outer court and were amazed.
“This is a different world than where you come from” Senegal said
“Apparently, people here are civilized” Will said
“Wish my Dads and I could live here” Spencer said, wistfully “At least they have a great leader” Durbin knocked to let his presence be known
“Durbin!” Will said “Or should I say Your Highness?”
“I wouldn’t be the King without you” Durbin said “Call me whatever you want, I owe it to you”
“I only did what I felt was right” Will said
“Don’t downplay what you did” Durbin said “You and yours will always have a place here”
“Thank you. If we can get back here, we’d love to”
“I’d better go, we have the Coronation, and we need the King there for it” He said, exiting
Spencer and Will looked up at the sky as Senegal dipped his pen in the inkwell
“We’re not gonna be sent back to like—ya know, 40 years later right?” Spencer asked “I’ve changed enough diapers I don’t want to change the Dads”
“Don’t worry you’ll be right back where I met you and do yourself a favor and do the scan on your camera that should get things rolling” Senegal said as he nodded to Spencer and Will to step in
Spencer and Will were now back where they were, right before the time of the lovely adventure.
“It feels good to be home!” Spencer said as Will sat back on the bed and sighed.
“I’m hungry” Spencer said as Will sat up and went along with him
“We should write about it” Will said, getting to the door
“Who’s gonna write it?” Spencer asked “I’ve written enough, it’s about time you do something” He added heading down the stairs
“Yeah, I help save a kingdom and you treat me like a Pauper. Nice”
“I’m hungry, let’s go eat. If you drank up all the Yoo Hoo’s I’m gonna make a knuckle sandwich”
As they sit down in the kitchen, across the way, on a roof where they can see partially from their vantage point. A witch cackles evilly and watches them munch on their sandwiches
Comments
Post a Comment