Quarrel (part two)

Part one.

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            The Magical Kingdom…

            “Operation Albatross,” Nessah lamented. “What a terrible year 2011 was.”

            Nessah stood from the couch, shuffling over to the window. The baby was asleep in his arms. Nessah held him tenderly as he looked out the window, gazing into the forest outside of their home. Snow stood, and she drifted behind him sympathetically. She and Nessah both stared out the window, admiring the landscape.

            “Operation Albatross,” Nessah repeated reverently, “The day the capital burned. The day our ally turned against us, the day we felt the cold sting of betrayal. None felt it worse than our dear Writer. How scared she was. I remember clearly her fear, not for her own life, but for ours.”

            “I don’t remember seeing the capital burn,” Snow shook her head slowly, “It was just another day for me. I don’t understand.”

            Heroicits…

            “Eliz may be dense,” Rayon explained, “But sometimes, she has a moment that’s brilliantly clever. Operation Albatross was one of those. Sure, it was dumb to wage war with another Writer, and choose the capital as the battleground. But Elizabeth had a safety net. She always does.”

            “What was that?” Sara questioned.

            “A decoy,” Rayon grinned, “A marvelous decoy. She took an abandoned asteroid roughly the same size of our planet. With her Writer magic and some trickstering from Frg, they made it look exactly like the Magical World. It was far removed from the Magical World, in a distant galaxy, millions of light years away. That was the place she chose.”

            “That’s why everything seemed undisturbed to us,” Sara realized, “Because it was. The fight never came near the real Magical World.”

            “The final touch was Frg. Because our attackers were arriving from another Universe, they were depending on teleportation magicks to get them here,” Rayon continued, “Frg knows teleportation like no one else. He threw a wrench into their spells, redirecting them from the Magical World to the decoy. Then our Writer confronted them.”

            The Characters Hangout…

            “But if that was the case,” Harret asked, “Why do we still get all serious-faced when we talk about O.A? The capital didn’t really burn.”

            I had wandered outside, leaving my desk. I swung open the front doors of the Characters Hangout, emerging on the cliff that overlooked my beloved capital. Harret followed me at a trot.

            It was cold on the cliff. The wind whipped around us, sending a shower of multicolored leaves across the cliff. I hugged my arms tightly to my chest. Up to the edge of the cliff I walked, stopping a few feet away. The Hangout was behind me, and the capital before. From this tremendous height, I could see across the entire capital.

            I saw the gorgeous woodlands. The trees were flushing orange, red, and purple, and slowly shedding their leaves in preparation for winter. I saw the winding river, snaking through the forest gently. I could hear the animals, calling to one another and prancing around under the trees. I could hear the wolf humans, the natives of the capital, as they played and worked side by side. Destinian, the dragoness, was circling the village idly.

            “You see, Harret,” I told him softly, “I made it look real. So very, very real. And when my foe struck… she struck hard. I stood on this cliff, wearing my Kingdomish regalia, ready to fight… and as I stood here, I witnessed my creation burn.

            “I hadn’t known she was going to make the sun supernova! I just wanted an isolated battleground!” I bent, scooping Harret up in my arms. I held him to my chest, listening to his tiny heart beat in tune with mine. He snuggled into my sweatshirt with a contented sigh.

            “Now that I’ve got that out of my system,” I said, relaxing considerably. “I can go back to my original point.”

            “Can we also go back inside? It’s chilly out here.”

            I rolled my eyes and went back inside, carrying his furry butt along with me. Once back in the safety and warmth of my office, I put him back down on the floor. I fell into my chair with a plop, and it made a dying noise for the second time.

            “My companion characters, past and present, saw the effect Operation Albatross had on me,” I explained.

            “And we all knew who was to blame,” Harret scratched behind his ear rapidly, “But it was another Writer, not some first-class villain. None of us wanted to confront her, or the villain she’d brought.”

            “But that’s where you’re wrong,” I replied, “Back to my original point. My previous companion characters were all Kingdomish. They obeyed their leader. They did what they were told.”

            Heroicits…

            “But I am not Kingdomish,” Rayon said, “We’ve made that clear. I didn’t originate in the MK series. I was the intruder, the man who always interfered with people’s lives! Because of that, I was the only one unafraid to confront another Writer.

            “In the months that followed Operation Albatross, I spent a lot of time with Elizabeth. I tried to help her recover from the images that were seared into her brain, the images of her home burning. She was in shock.

            Last Stand happened about a year after Operation Albatross did. I lost my left arm,” Rayon looked to his left, shifting the metal replacement back and forth, “After condemning my own father to death and losing one of my limbs, nothing scared me. Nothing. Except…”

            “Except what would happen if our Writer continued into darkness,” Sara said softly. Rayon nodded.

            The Magical Kingdom…

            “Our Writer withdrew from the battle with a letter,” Nessah continued, “But it wasn’t enough. The war had not been won. Our home was still in jeopardy, and how it distressed her. But what could we do?

            “It was 2012, by that point. We were heading into winter again. The previous winter had done such damage to our sun-loving Writer. Could she take more months of darkness, still reeling from the events of Operation Albatross?”

            Heroicits…

            “I did my research,” Rayon said, “I looked in the other Writer’s stories. I looked for a weakness, something that would render the villain defenseless. I needed something that would stop her for good. And I found it.

            “I found a single word, hidden in a single paragraph. It was a powerful spell. In fact, this same villain once tried to use it on Elizabeth in a previous adventure. When I found the spell, I knew it was what I was looking for.

            None of Elizabeth’s tactics- save the decoy planet- were working. So, I decided to use the villain’s own tricks against her.”

            “And?”

            “Elizabeth called up the offending Writer, and was prepared to attack with the word. At the last second, though, she remembered her overwhelming feelings from the original fight. She stopped, unable to continue. She needed help.”

            The Magical Kingdom…

            “It’s against the Rules to confront other Writers, and to interfere in their stories!” Nessah protested, “Especially in matters of life or death!”

            Heroicits…

            “I stood,” Rayon jumped to his feet. He paced the room energetically, his fists balled, “And I said to the villain, ‘It’s your own poison. Do you have the antidote?’”

            “And then?” Sara asked.

            “I uttered the single word spell,” Rayon’s arms fell limply to his sides, “She dissolved into sand and died, leaving the other Writer villainless.” He turned to face Sara, “And leaving us free.”

            The Magical Kingdom…

            “He saved us,” Nessah handed the baby back to Snow. “Rayon is not a Kingdomish man, but he was the one who stood up for the kingdom that had been burned. Our foe could’ve killed him before he had a chance to recite the spell. He knew that. He doesn’t even live here, but he fought for us anyway! And he won! What in the sixteen kingdoms possessed him to do such a thing?”

            Nessah turned from the window. Snow was smiling gently as she rocked the baby back and forth. She snuggled up to Nessah.

            “Mo ghile mear,” Snow said softly, “He cared.”

            The Characters Hangout…

            “Shortly after all that happened,” I explained, to both Frg and Harret this time. Frg had come in with a frying pan, hoping Muse would throw more eggs. He said he wanted an omelet. I told him to remember the oregano.

             “Snow had her twins, Dariano and Christopher,” I continued, once Frg had died laughing, “Suddenly, she needed Nessah at home. The job of companion character is a demanding one.”

            “That’s for sure,” Frg came back to life, “You’re always running up to the Hangout to make sure the Writer isn’t ending the world with her shenanigans.”

            I deadpanned at him, “When you were companion character, we didn’t even have the Hangout.”

            Frg thought about this. He suddenly sprouted a long, white beard, and a pair of tiny spectacles. He stooped over a cane as he bellowed, “BACK IN MY DAY…”

            “Nessah passed the baton to Rayon,” I said, ignoring Frg. “It was almost a bad idea. Do you remember how much Rayon and I used to fight?”

            Harret suddenly had a clipboard and a lab coat. He checked something off, “Yes, yes. It seems you’re both type A personalities, and equally loud and rowdy... I wouldn’t recommend combining you. Something might blow up.”

            I deadpanned, “Stuff only blows up when you two get bored.”

            “AND THAAAAT’S THE GOSPEL TRUUUUTH!” Frg sang, using his cane as a microphone.

            “It’s also true,” I spun in my chair a few times, back and forth in a gentle arc. “Every new Heroicits chapter does steal the fire from the MK chapters. I can only write so much in a given week, especially with Seminary. My juice runs out. I get tired. I’m human. I can’t go on forever.”

            “Unless you’re mad.”

            I shoved Frg head-first into a garbage compactor. Harret clapped lightly.

            “But, the thing is,” I said, “No matter what other projects I begin and end, I will always remember my roots. The Magical Kingdom is where it all began, and I love you so. I’ve fought hard to protect you from outside forces. Heroicits, too! I love them just as much. And I know I cannot have one without the other, no matter how much they bicker and fight. When our world is burning, we know how to defend it. And we do, as a team.”

            “And we have sixteen novels to prove it,” Frg said, flapping around one of my NaNoWriMo projects.

            “Hey! Hey hey!” Harret yipped. He was at the bay window, staring off into the courtyard, “I just heard a portal open! I think it was Heroicits!”

            Frg and I rushed to join him at the window. We looked out earnestly. Sure enough, Rayon emerged from the hallway. He was moving at a pretty slow pace, and didn’t see the three jokers who were staring at him from the big, bay window. He began to cross the courtyard, towards the office stairs.

            At the same time, the big front doors of the Hangout swung open. There was Nessah. He’d skipped the portals, and just walked up the mountain along the path. Upon hearing the door open, Rayon turned to see who was coming in. Nessah looked up, and they made eye contact at the same moment.

            “Rayon,” Nessah said. He stepped fully into the Hangout, closing the door behind him. Rayon tensed a little.

            I heard munching, and looked down. Harret and Frg were sharing a bag of popcorn.

            “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” Frg chanted. Harret waved a foam finger around. I rolled my eyes.

            “I’m so ready for round two,” Rayon said, falling into a fighting stance. He rocked back and forth on his knees, “You caught me off guard the first time around, but now I’m prepared.”

            Nessah’s shoulders lowered, and he spread his hands wide on either side of him, “I’m sorry.”

            Rayon obviously hadn’t been ready for that. He reeled like he’d been struck, staring at Nessah with wild confusion. Nessah advanced a little, sincerity on his face. Rayon stared at him blankly.

            “Come again?”

            “I’m sorry,” Nessah repeated, “I shouldn’t have hit you. We’re not enemies, Rayon. In fact, we’re more alike than I ever imagined.”

            Rayon realized he really meant it. He visibly relaxed, looking relieved. “I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

            Nessah perked up, “Yeah?”

            “There are so many people out to get me,” Rayon said, “I don’t need to anger the Kingdomish too. I mean, you guys are tough. And your chapters? Hilarious! I love a good MK chapter.”

            “You guys have such great villains,” Nessah responded, “They send chills down my spine. And that plot with Donn Rab? I never saw that coming.”

            “Good gracious,” I said, stunned. “They’re… they’re… complimenting each other!”

            Harret whipped out a radio, “We have a code red, I repeat, code red. The males are bonding in a nonviolent way!”

            I looked at Frg. He said nothing, only held up a giant banner that read ‘BROMANCE’. I tore it down quickly as Frg and Harret descended into hooting.

            “Hey, there’s a bunch of ogres invading the west Heroicits border,” Rayon said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, “Shall we deliver them a sound beating?”

            “Aye!” Nessah pumped his fists into the air, “They won’t know what hit them!”

            They began to charge away, but were stopped suddenly. We all heard Snow’s voice echo throughout the Hangout angrily.

            “What?!” she demanded. I jumped. Harret bounced. Frg shot off into space.

            Rayon stared off down the hallway, where the sound had come from. Nessah tensed visibly. Snow came stomping down the hallway, emerging in the courtyard. Sara trailed behind her, distressed.

            “Nessah, Rayon, talk some sense into this woman!” Snow exclaimed, “She doesn’t like my Kingdomish stew!”

            “It doesn’t have the right blend of flavor, that’s all,” Sara protested, “It tastes like an odd combination of pudding and bacon. Perhaps pudding and cookies would’ve been better?”

            “Sara!” Snow exclaimed, “That’s not how it’s done!”

            They descended into bickering. Rayon and Nessah exchanged the same look, and then they both started snorting. They turned and, together, went off towards the portal room.

            “Can you believe those two?” Nessah asked Rayon, “Listen to them fighting.”

            Rayon scoffed, “I don’t know who does that.”

The end.