Future Warnings from Midnight

Chapter Twenty: Lute of Fate, Cracked Apple

Feathers... Newegg... They had names. They had names. They were people. What am I doing? Shannon stared straight ahead.

She stepped quietly through the hallway. Her black dress dragged upon the floor. Her mirror entrance back to her dorm was in utter ruin. The witch ran her ran along the cracks of the reflection. The essences of the clown and the fake princess were trapped as floating orbs among the dimly lit hallway. The faded and ghostly starry plane that was among the Unknown's realm was hauntingly lonely. Shannon stared at her messed up dorm image. All of her belongings were still in place. No trace of any mishap. The detective and another officer popped in the image. They were searching for any trace of the missing girl. Shannon turned away from the reflection.

The essence of the clown had been needed to stabilize the Unknown against the travel between the Real and the Dawn of Dreams. The fake princess was needed to gain access to the inner chambers of the Yena kingdom. Of course, Shannon had reasoned that they could bypass everything with the power of the Unknown. The Unknown had answered that it was weak. It needed more power. It needed to gain essence. It would balance everything out once the task was completed. It reasoned that no one was really dead. All of their essence had been saved at the spiritual level.

Shannon flicked her hand at the reflection of her old dorm. The image flickered back to herself. She hardly knew the witch looking back at her. Oh she had only separated a few mortals from their bodies. Their spirits were safe. And the others? Well... Shannon paused as she thought about the woods. Her fingers twitched. She sent three innocent people into the Other World. She had not killed them. They were perfectly unharmed. She did not hurt them. She did not kill them.

Their names were Gin, Fred, Edgar ... Shannon bite her lip. I haven't done anything that no one else wouldn't have done. I mean I just sent a few people away. I freed a few people. We will restore everything... It is for the better good. Right. Right?

The Unknown called out from down the hallways. Its voices sounded of many different people. It was a chorus of sound. The shadowy thing drifted down the hallway like a blob. Shannon turned to face the mass of mists. It lingered at the full height of the strange hallway. It sighed a great deal. Shannon held her eyes straight at the oddity. It was sometimes this way and sometimes that way. It was hard to describe. The Unknown held out the Glass Apple and the lute. It cheered, Come along we have much to do. There is no room for remorse now. We will do right. We need the twins.

Shannon held out her hand. The witch nodded her head. It placed the Glass Apple into the witch's hand. The Unknown moved to lead the witch back to the casting circle. The ritual was nearly complete.

...

The Junk Shop was getting overcrowded. There has been the sudden appearance of the three strangers. The jaded way of life Drake had lead to many different ideas when he was younger. He fought with much issues of who and what he had been. He now lived to gain his life. He had chosen to leave the palace for the clowns for freedom. Drake could not help but yern for freedom. He made his deal with the Scarred Man. Regret was not the word to label Drake's choice. No, the boy had a different feeling. He studied the strangers before him. The name they said was not his own. He rejected it. It did not even come to his ears.

The Scarred Man held his ward by the shoulder and shielded him. The group stood still and approached the Scarred Man. Two of the strangers appeared to be twins. The first of the twins in worn clothing bowed to the Scarred Man and the others. He held a lantern in his hand and his other rested proudly upon his chest. He declared, "We have been sent by Sir Sytx and Lady Murete to work with the Scarred Man and our cousin, Princess A-, or as you know him, Drake. My name is Duke Fred of Upland Yena. This is my brother Duke Edgar of Upland Yena. The other fine gentleman with us is Lord Gin, royal advisor to the king of Yena."