Shadow of the Ravens

by D A Rice

  I shrugged. “My mind is always confused, Timekeeper. You’ve come to the wrong place.” I giggled, my head tilting from side to side.

  He watched me for a moment, then nodded once, straightening. “I have heard you made a new friend.” He changed the subject. I let him.

  I pace around him, taking the hat he’d set down and handing it off to one of my butterflies. “Alice is very amusing. She plays rough.”

  “So I have heard.” He paused, then faced me again, arms crossing his chest as he leaned back against one of my counters. “She is not from this world, Ren. Hers is a dark past. I feel she will only be a catalyst for you.”

  I laughed again, my hand coming to my chest. I no longer had the gauze bandages Chronos had wrapped around my wrists. The vines were stark compared to my skin, and the buds were closed. They bloomed in pain on a regular basis, but none more than when Alice was around.

  Chronos wasn’t wrong to be concerned, but I couldn’t promise him anything, not when I could feel my mind decaying around me.

  I tapped my chin, my eyes shifting to the ceiling. “Catalyst, sounds fun. Like tea stewed with my favorite herbs.” I waved a teacup into my hand, twirling once more. “Mmmh, good tea.”

  Chronos sighed warily, it sounded full of defeat. “Just… be careful, Hatter.”

  I waved his words away, and in the next moment, he was gone. I set my teacup down, my eyes burning as the grin dropped from my face. My hands clenched into fists with the pain that laced through them. I didn’t want to be careful. Careful meant I could have friends, having friends meant I would have to control myself.

  I didn’t want to control myself anymore.

  Not if I was going to hurt those I would come to care about. No, it was better for me to be the catalyst. I smiled, my gaze shifting up. It was time to have some fun.

  Interlude

  I’m pacing the study as Emma and Little C read in the chairs behind me. I’ve long since given up reading and taken to talking to the moments that surround us instead. Emma says nothing; she’s used to me, to how I work, even if she still doesn’t fully understand it.

  Little C pays me no mind. He’s lost in his own worlds, worried about what he hasn’t told me, worried we’re too late to save any of them.

  What he doesn’t know is we may not have to do anything. The moments have told me as much. I've yet to share the news.

  He thinks himself selfish for keeping these things from us, choosing us over another universe where he knows no one. It’s not like the Chronos Emma and I knew, yet I can’t help but love Little C all the more for trying to save us from saving everyone else for once.

  I’m not usually the one who wishes to save others. I usually just let things play out, but Chronos told Little C to tell me for a reason. He wants me to be a good example to this new child of Time.

  It’s a horrible thing to ask of me. We all know I’ve already failed that.

  But I’m still his uncle, and sometimes there’s a line you can’t cross. Now that I know about this bastard child of mine turning into a world of its own, one that consumes whole solar systems, well… I probably should do something about it.

  If I don’t, Emma will try on her own, and I’m not sure she’s mastered her powers enough to be able to pull something like this off.

  I've already been nudging people in the right direction, hoping to pull this Nightmare apart from the inside out. Everyone who comes against it though, seems to gain some of the Ravens that rotted my own madness from the inside out. Still, I have hope this Destroyer of Worlds problem will sort itself out for the most part.

  The Forgotten, however, is spreading like a cold, and I’m not sure I have a cure for it. It wasn’t me who cured myself, it wasn’t even Chronos, it was Time.

  “I think…” Little C starts, inhaling as he finally looks up from the book he’s reading. He looks older somehow, like this problem he’s been hiding has taken a few years off his childhood. “I think I need to speak with them.”

  Emma shuts her own book, watching Little C, her eye glowing gold as she evaluates what he’s said.

  I glance at her, an eyebrow raised. “First solo mission?” I smirk.

  “Perhaps,” she concedes softly. “Time seems to be in agreement, but Chronos, you’ll have to take the Guardian.” She waves towards the robot, who hums.

  I snort, leaning over the back of Little C’s high-backed chair. A red star hovers nearby, pulsing, and my gaze can’t stop looking towards it. I tilt my head, my fingers coming up to graze it. It's not Little C's, I've already given that back to him.

  “Ren?” Emma says cautiously, an arm outstretched as if to stop me. She seems to think better of it though, because it drops back to her waist almost as fast as she raised it.

  The hand that isn’t reaching for the moment ruffles her hair beside me, but I don’t stop reaching for the moment until it’s in my palm. I study it curiously. “Interesting!” I laugh.

  I turn with the moment, my head tilting the other way.

  “What is it, Uncle?” Little C asks, leaning out over his chair.

  “A kindred spirit,” I say with a smile, excitement lacing my words.

  “Oh no…” Emma says warily, a hand coming to her brow.

  I laugh again. “No, no, Lady Time.” I kneel down, letting them see into the moment as I do. My hat shifts on my head as I adjust my legs, then drop the star.

  It explodes in red fractals, shining outward. I touch it, and it spins. Emma’s eyes widen and I smirk, touching a finger to her nose. She jerks back in surprise, and I stand, pointing. They both look where I tell them to, then gasp.

  My smile widens as my eyes burn with mischief. “Did you know what they call the Forgotten over there?” When no one responds, I giggle. “They call it a Conspiracy!”

  10

  “Poetry, and so relaxing too!” Alice leaned over her bat, her pigtails swaying with her movements as she assessed our bloody work.

  I twirled a knife in my hand with a giggle. “Card soldiers come to play!” I kick one, tilting my head at it. “Wasteful.” My eyes began to cool, the flowers closing on my wrists as I cracked my neck, my hat shifting on my head as I do. We were in the Queen of Hearts’ garden, a maze of green shrubs and red roses. I'm not sure how we ended up here, but I also didn't much care.

  I plopped onto one of the bodies, pulling out a teacup from my hat before twirling it back on my head. My knives were gone.

  Alice raised a petite eyebrow at me before straightening. “And where’s mine, Hatter?”

  I smirked, huffing out a laugh, before handing the cup over, making another appear in my opposite hand. She sat next to me, leaning her bat against her thigh. “I do enjoy a good cup of tea.”

  I saluted her, my grin turning wicked. “Only the best!”

  “To the King of Misplaced things!” She replied with a smirk of her own.

  I wasn’t sure how long she’d stay before she disappeared again. I wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t one more of my personalities either, but I enjoyed the company.

  I started a countdown in my head before speaking, “Red Queen, Red Queen, how long will you take?” The Ravens cawed and I giggled.

  “We took out half her royal guard,” Alice waved around us. “I’m going to guess she’ll be here…”

  “I want his head!” came a familiar screech from the palace just beyond us.

  “Right about now!” Alice finished, picking up her bat, setting her teacup down gently beside where it’d been and standing.

  I giggled, my head rolling back and forth. "She found her crown! Confetti for everyone!"

  Alice smiled, twirling her bat in her hands. "She's getting all sorts of presents today!" There was anticipation in her eyes, but that wasn't the only thing I saw.

  I took another sip, assessing her. “Not long now,” I noted.

  She looked down. “Ah, bloody hell. Right when it was about to get good too.” Her body was beginning to fade again, just as it always did b
efore it disappeared. She met my gaze, an emotion within hers I couldn’t place.

  I took another sip of my tea, then raised my cup. “Until next time, Alice.”

  Her jaw tightened, then she was gone.

  I stayed where I was as the thudding of boots surrounded me.

  “There you are, Hatter, with no Timekeeper to save you this time.” Callia grinned in triumph, but I ignored her, taking another sip of my tea. Her smile dropped as she waved her hand forward. Red glitter covered the top of her head, and I snorted a soft chuckle. “Take him to the dungeons, chain him up. We will take care of him after our meeting with my sister.”

  She twirled away with an indignant huff.

  I raised an eyebrow. None of the card soldiers moved. I nodded, raising my cup to them. “Can I at least finish my tea first?”

  Pain exploded in the back of my head, causing me to jolt forward as I saw stars. I turned to the card soldier who’d pummeled me, my eyes narrowing. He took a step back, eyes widening in fear.

  “So… that’s a no then?” I threw a knife. It landed in the card soldier’s throat, who landed on his knees. I sighed, then stood, my eyes beginning to burn again. “This was so much more fun when Alice was here.” Two more knives appeared in my hands and I grinned. “Oh well…”

  Something was jabbed into my neck and I turned, flinging another knife. I didn’t see where it hit, though, the darkness had already begun to encroach on my vision, tunneling it. “Where’s my…. Tea…?”

  I collapsed to the ground.

  Interlude

  I don’t know the girl trapped within the moment, but she knows me, even if she doesn’t realize it yet. She’s got dark skin and curly hair on one side of her head. She’s trapped inside her mind, a problem I know intimately well.

  I want to hear her story, but this is not the time for that. Little C has his own version of this he’ll have to hear for himself, and reaching out to this one will take more concentration than I know how to give.

  Clapping my hands, the moment disappears, and I face the two Timekeepers, who blink from their stupor. “Any questions?” I ask with a smile.

  “Uh… just a few,” Emma says, waving her hands around the room. “When did you learn to do that?”

  “Just now! Pay attention!” I flick the side of her head. “But outside of that, this girl is a key we will use!”

  “I don’t feel the presence of that Nightmare as much now…” Little C states, rubbing his head, eyes confused.

  I point at him, grinning. “No, you don’t.” I spin around the room and laugh. “You had little to worry about! They found a way to destroy the Nightmare on their own, and we got to do a thing!” I wave my fingers around the three of us. “I believe it’s called bonding.” I sit on the arm of Little C’s chair, my smile widening with pride at my ingenuity.

  “So… it was resolved…?” Emma doesn’t know what to do with herself. “Without us? That is new.”

  “I wouldn’t say resolved… just temporarily disbanded.” I wave my fingers. “But the point is, now we are a team again.” I raise a fist in the air. “Hooray!”

  Emma rises, shaking her head. “You give me a headache, Ren.”

  Little C shakes his head next. “Why would Big Brother tell me to tell you, if it resolved itself?”

  I pat his head. “Because, Little One, I told you, it isn’t resolved. You have a solo mission, and I have my own path in this.” I glance toward where the star hovers. I tilt my head. “This will be quite fun!” I clap my hands. “What a family outing this will be!”

  “Indeed,” Emma states with a sigh.

  We all jolt at the same second, Time tensing around us. I stand, a knife flipping into my hand. Emma’s eye glows gold. “Who…” She walks out of the study.

  I motion to Little C to stay where he is, then follow her into the foyer. I’m greeted by a swing to the head, which I casually dodge with a bob and weave, flicking a knife around my knuckles.

  When I meet her gaze, she’s leaning on her bat, head tilted, smile lighting up her face. Her eyes are still blue, but her hair is black with ash blonde tips. She’s wearing fingerless gloves, one red and one blue. Otherwise, she’s wearing the same outfit from the last time I saw her.

  Emma stands stunned beside me, causing me to grin as I pat her shoulder. “I’m relieved you can see her, too!”

  Emma stutters in response and I step forward, arms out. “Alice! Good to know you’re not my imaginary friend after all!”

  “Same to you, Jojo. How long has it been?” She swings her bat up onto her shoulders, crossing her feet at the ankles.

  “Alice?” Emma finally gets out, pointing between the two of us. “You mean she’s real?”

  I glance back at the timekeeper with a grin. “Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are, Gladys.”

  Alice snorts, then holds out her hand to Emma. “My name is Sphynx Maellard.”

  It’s my turn to snort as I roll my eyes. “Alice sounds so much better though, don’t you think?” I ask Emma. She’s too stunned to reply, so I take her hand and place it in Alice’s. “I’m Emma, Lady of Time,” I say for her, winking.

  Alice huffs out a laugh, retracting her hand. “You haven’t changed, I see.” She glances around, an eyebrow raising at the robot. “Everything else has, however. It appears I have many things to catch up on.”

  “Indeed, you do!” I clap once, then hand her a cup of tea.

  “Ah! Perfect!” she says before taking a sip.

  Emma looks as if she’s about to stop her, then thinks better of it, instead saying, “to what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “Right, I need your help. It seems I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a pickle on the other side.” She takes another sip and shivers. “Excellent brew, as always," she says to me with a nod.

  I bow, and Emma steps forward. “What do you mean, the other side?”

  Alice shrugs, then meets Emma’s gaze. “The other side of my life, Lady Time. You see, if I don’t get help, and soon, they’re likely going to kill me.”

  My eyes widen and I laugh. I look at Emma, whose eye is glowing even as her jaw tenses. She's assessing Alice's timeline, and doesn't like what she sees. “Double trouble!” I jump up and down excitedly. “Two problems and not enough solutions!”

  Emma groans. She already knows what I’m going to say. Alice raises an amused eyebrow as I look towards her, tilting my head. “Family bonding!”

  “Can we not bond as a family without a world being in peril? Just once?” Emma asks no one in particular, hands on her hips.

  I laugh, patting her shoulder in mock consolation as I shake my head. “No.”

  I crack my knuckles as Little C peeks his head out of the study and wink at him. We’re going to be okay. I know it now. I've finally found the light at the end of my tunnel. I'll still grieve and rage, but Chronos has showed me he's still there within Time.

  And, for some reason, he's forgiven me.

  But for now, I can feel the sadness lift, even if just a little, because we’re together again. We're a family. We’d been apart for so long, fighting our own battles, but now we have something to fight for as the mad little clan we've become.

  Chronos cared about all of his worlds. I care about him.

  The Red Queen Callia had taken me to her dungeon that day, chaining me to the walls before she broke Time, and Chronos even more. He’d come to me, pulling me out of stopped Time in order to help him, more out of instinct than anything else. He’d thought me mad at him, but I never was.

  I just didn’t know how else to protect him from myself.

  In the end, I don’t regret joining him that day, with Emma at his side. I don’t regret the journey we took to find out who I was. Every moment I seized while with him, I hold close to my shadowed heart.

  It’s because of him that I will save these worlds he loved so much. He was their caretaker for so long, before giving that over to Emma.

  And while she is great and will be ama
zing as a Timekeeper in the years to come, there are some things even she can’t do alone. Chronos would never forgive me if I let her.

  So, in that room, with Alice watching, I pull Emma into a hug, whispering into her ear a promise, and an apology. Then I walk away from her, past Little C. I pat his head and skip into the kitchen.

  I’ll save the worlds again, but I won’t do it without tea.

  Epilogue

  I sit on the stone wall that surrounds the Fortress of Time, one leg raised, one leg swinging off the side as I stare out across the Chess Valley. The tea in my hands is still warm as I nurse it, sipping it slowly as I let its effects take me.

  When she sits beside me, it’s silent, but I sense her presence nonetheless. I don’t move from where I am, except maybe to take another sip.

  Golden sand drifts between us, mending a rift that’s been there for far too long.

  We say nothing for a moment, each of us stuck inside our own minds. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but there’s a peace here we haven’t known in what feels like ages.

  She sucks in a breath to speak first, but I pull out the hat I’d taken from my shop before she can, presenting it to her without looking her way.

  I’ve added roses to its base, red with golden leaves, and gears. There’s no strap or anything; it’ll hold to her head on its own. That’s the beauty of imagination-based hats, and I’ve made sure that this is not one of the corrupted ones.

  She hesitates only a moment before she takes it from me.

  I jolt with the moment seized and grin, finally glancing over at her. “Those gears are not just any gears, you know…”

  Her fingers caress the gears of which I speak and tears brim her eyes, making them shine as she smiles gently. “Chronos,” she whispers.