From the Waters of the West I Come

[The Count]

Finding a new chapter of yours has made me smile. And after the mid-afternoon I'm having with constant computer crashings, I needed a smile.

Thanks.

 

[RedPiggy]

Chapter 18

The crushing waves swirled around her. Thoughts could barely form. There was nothing but the darkness that inundated her with profound loneliness.

And yet she was standing upright, was she not?

Mizumi cracked open a swollen eye as much as she could without screaming in agony. Her chest and her legs were cold.

Too cold.

Filthy ice, gray from the waters of the lake, pressed her against a wall.

“Could it be, you are awake, my love?” an elderly voice called out with a chuckle.

Mizumi grunted.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” continued the male. “For a brief moment I thought you were my dear Queen. After all, you seem much more like her lately.”

Mizumi struggled to open her eyes. Before her stood her father, decked out in flowing black robes with a frilly collar. “Father,” she gurgled with hatred bubbling in her voice.

“ ‘It’s not true … it’s impossible’ … is that what you are going to tell me, John?”

“You have lost all your senses,” Mizumi grumbled in confusion.

Her father turned toward her. He bowed his head slightly and shrugged. “Apologies, my precious daughter. Having … dealt with … our wise and venerable Guardian of the River of Time, I find myself quite out of place every so often.”

Mizumi gasped. “You killed Ydra?”

Maldis nodded. “What can I say, my dear? She was so unpleasant, wasn’t she … always saying things to frustrate and anger you?” He paused and approached her, whispering into Mizumi’s ear, “Has she not mocked you for your quest to sleep with the King of the Universe? Has she not confirmed you are to destroy the universe itself? Without the rational flow of time she is out of a job. You were her biggest threat, not me.”

Mizumi spat in his face, a bloody smear dripping down his aged cheek. “You are the Lake of Moraine. To commit such heresy shall ruin us all!”

Maldis scoffed and walked toward the throne. “Heresy is a silly game played by humans, dear daughter,” he told her. Inhaling deeply, he nodded. “You cannot stay the hand of destiny. What is left unsaid is that you can be destiny!” Whipping around with a flourish, he added proudly, “Everyone has heard the tales the Gorgs chant, that the King of the Universe crowned one of their own and left him to rule the universe! What utterly pathetic creatures they be – but a vast reservoir of information, nonetheless! For the King had to have come to this lowly little planet in order to do such a stupid thing! The Crown is here somewhere! For centuries I have bided my time, and then when your mother swooned in my glorious presence, I realized the Underground is the perfect place to spread terrors throughout! I would spread my hunger throughout the universe, but I needed a key … a door … a singularity … something … to get me back!” He stopped and glanced out the window as the skies turned black with storm clouds swirling and churning overhead. “That toad was to give me all I desired and more. A creature so used to the depths of the scum of the world would surely know things such haughty faes would not.”

Mizumi chuckled. “She spurned you.”

Maldis sighed, shaking his head. “I would’ve thought such a frail, fickle thing as a toad, so vulnerable to poison and pollution, would beg me for mercy. To think of such … such hubris.”

Mizumi laughed despite her pain. “So difficult to find good help these days.” Frowning, she glared at her father. “So painful is the loss of loyalty.”

Maldis raised an eyebrow and slowly approached his daughter. “Indeed, but I am so very proud of you, my precious Mizumi. That you would torture your most loyal subject and kill your mother, absorbing them both, just to spite me … now that puts a certain warmth in my heart.”

“I am nothing like you!” she screeched.

He patted her on the head condescendingly. “You hunger, Mizumi. You always have. I have spread myself throughout this entire kingdom, but you … you I spared … because I sensed a true kinship in you. Your mother could never understand, though her girth suggested otherwise,” he added, chuckling. “The others, like Esker, have some of my powers, but you … you would consume the very universe if it suited you! You are not some trifling woman seeking favors from the celestial benefactor, this ‘King of the Universe’,” he said with some disdain. “You, my precious Mizumi, believe you should be one with him. You wish to consume him into your being! What else can this be but the presence of my heart within you?”

Mizumi’s eyes watered. “To what end?” she whispered softly.

Maldis caressed her flinching cheek. “To become destiny, what else? The universe itself cannot sustain me forever. I must be destiny. I must form universes on which to feed. The Eidelons in their stupidity sought mere Peacekeepers, puppets in law enforcement, but the King wanted more. He realized his might trumped them all. They betrayed power incarnate.” He laughed. “They shall see: we shall regain our stature and evolve beyond it and crush the universe, reforming it in our whims.” Quietly, he stroked her hair. “My presence is the Lake of Moraine, Mizumi. Before your very eyes, behold as my presence strikes fear into the entire planet, for water belongs to a cycle, and that cycle encircles the entire globe, those parts ruled by human and fae alike. Your final test, my loving future Cup, is to let the blood of the world spill into you … and then … and then I … finally … might drink my fill before the sun sets.”

 

[The Count]

*Reels from the chapter. That's heavy Doc.
Why do you say that? The earth's gravitational force has nothing to do with this situation.
Had to reread the bits to make sure I understood what's going on. I recognize some Farscape references, but why's Mizumi thinking of "John"? The n you go and explain Mizumi in a way that I think captures her essence, she hungers, to consume the entire universe just because of her whims of consumption. Er, are we doomed to suffer the wrath of a great flood? *Makes sure everyone's inside the floating hydrofoiled helicarrier castle, locking all the hatches and lower openings. *And since we don't want to die, we offer up a rubber chicken so you can work up an act for a traveling mock-Swedish show hosted by Olaf the Frog.

 

[RedPiggy]

Mizumi wasn't thinking of John. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. What Maldis is implying is that after killing Ydra, he's having trouble realizing where and when he is, hence he thought he was mocking John Crichton with a Star Wars reference. Apparently you don't just go killing the Guardian of the River of Time without some nasty side effects. And the castle isn't actually floating ... yet. It rests on the boulders, but the boulders are currently resting within the lake. Uh ... it won't stay that way, LOL.

 

[The Count]

Heh, figured one or the other was a little delirious, thinking they were talking to someone else in their vocalized diatripe.

, *accidentally spoiled a plotpoint. *Awaits whatever comes next for the ruler of Moraine.
*Gets drenched with rain cloud shower. Okay, I know that's a bad pun on the level of King Arfur's domain.

 

[RedPiggy]

Chapter 19

Mizumi groaned, feeling the crushing weight of the ice. Her father, Maldis, the Black Heron, the River that fed the Lake, the Cup of Moraine … he was revealed to be little more than a spurned child of a slave race from the stars. He was going to destroy Moraine and perhaps everything else with it. Even goblins were not so destructive. Her face reddened as she thought about the kingdom promised to her that she was about to lose, and she found herself crying. No mockery greeted her, as her father had retired to the highest tower to watch the world cower before him. She couldn’t even slump from sorrow, as the ice pinned her tightly to the castle walls.
Was that all she was? Was she little more than just the next vessel, a sacrifice to satiate hunger incarnate?

The throne room vanished in glittery light, dazzling the young princess. She found herself free of the ice, walking in a daze toward the lake of Moraine. How strange, she thought briefly, the castle is not here.
A robed figure rose from the shoreline, covered in mud. She could not see his face, but the voice was smooth as silk and as deep as a ram’s horn. “Quench thy thirst, Traveler,” he told her, revealing a crystal ball in his gloved hands, which warped into a small wooden goblet. “Take off thy icy dress and warm yourself with my robes.”

“Who are you?” Mizumi asked in wonder.
He chuckled. “You’re not much for small talk, are you, Traveler? I merely wish to be hospitable. Time has been reordered, space turned upside down. You wish, deep down, to be complete, but I cannot understand why one goes to so much trouble over such a little thing.”

“Am I doomed to destroy the universe?” Mizumi asked bluntly, tears in her eyes.
The robed figure turned from her. “How can I help when you cannot grasp the simplest things?” He whipped around, tossing the goblet to the ground. “I care not for your fears, Traveler, but for your DREAMS.”

Mizumi sobbed, turning from him in shame. “King of the Universe, I cannot stay the hand of destiny.”
The robed figure nodded. “Indeed, for what’s said is said, though one wonders if destiny is ever completely honest.”

“What do you mean?” she begged, getting on her knees. “How can I protect Moraine, nay the Underground, nay, the Universe?”
“Is that what you REALLY want?”

“Whatever evils I commit in the future I cannot undo. I tire of fearing such profound losses, for I am already filled with regret before I ever commit them.”
“But do you hope?”

“Yes.”
“Do you dream?”

“I shall dream whatever it takes, Your Majesty,” Mizumi offered, bowing her head and touching it to the shore.
The robed figure laughed and disappeared, his voice reverberating through the air. “Then confront your loss, Mizumi, for what one throws away, from what I hear, soon returns once more.”

 

[Twisted Tails]

Wow! This chapter is pretty amazing! Mizumi encounters with the King of the Universe. I can hear Jerry's Pa Gorg in this chapter.

I wonder what Mizumi is going to do next?

 

[The Count]

Er... You do know, if you've been reading, Pa Gorg isn't the king of the universe? That title is Jareth's. Just thought I'd help clarify for anyone else who might have the same confusion.

 

[Twisted Tails]

Er... You do know, if you've been reading, Pa Gorg isn't the king of the universe? That title is Jareth's. Just thought I'd help clarify for anyone else who might have the same confusion.

Ah yes, that Jareth is the robed figure who would be from the Labyrinth. My apologizes, Count!

 

[RedPiggy]

Yeah, this is a prequel. It takes place towards the end of the 7th century AD. Pa Gorg hasn't even been born yet. That will take another 3 centuries.