“I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.”
“Neither. Just a statement of fact,” Doc said.
“So we’re real,” Gloomly said. “You’re real.”
“The town is real,” Doc said. “The castle is not.”
“The town is real?”
“Yes,” Doc said. “She literally transported her world with her when she made this place. Up and transplanted her entire town, buildings, people, dogs and cats, the whole thing, right there. There’s a blank space in the real world where it should be.”
“Is that impressive, or is that scary?” the shadow-man said.
“Both,” Doc said. “She shouldn’t be able to do that. I can’t do that alone. But I think that’s where the dream magic comes into play. She had help.”
“The Vizier,” Gloomly said.
Doc nodded.
“Exactly.”
“We knew there was something wrong about him,” Gloomly said.
“Your instincts were…” Doc trailed off, then held up a hand. “Company. You should hide.”
“Hiding is literally my natural state. I’m a shadow.”
“Well, do your thing. Don’t get spotted.”
Gloomly melted into the darkest recesses of the cell, even his glowing eyes disappearing from view. Doc sat down lotus position in the center of the cell and waited, listening to the sound of metal armor clanking, and something else, a softer, lighter footfall.
A pair of faceless guards appeared at his cell door, eyes barely visible beneath their metal masks. They stood in silence for a moment before a third figure appeared, shorter, smaller, dressed in an impractically ornate dress of deep red.
“You’re our prisoner,” Queen Alice said.
Doc fought the urge to smile. Alice carried herself as one playing royalty, her shoulders back, neck tall, chin just slightly upturned. She wore goth-y black eye makeup and crimson lipstick as if to hide her age or identity, but her eyes, despite the regalia, the dark hair pulled back severely, the spikey tiara upon her brow, were those of a child.
“I am, your majesty,” Doc said, remaining seated.
“It’s customary to kneel before the queen, outlander,” one of the guards said in a gruff voice, but Alice held up a hand, silencing him.
“You’re not from here,” she said.
“I’m not,” Doc said. “But neither are you.”
“Insolent dog,” the other guard muttered, but again, Alice waved him off.
“I belong here,” she said. “I made this world.”
“That you did,” Doc said. “But you left a world behind when you built this place.”
“I don’t like that world,” she said. “It’s lonely and cruel.”
“I’m honestly not particularly proud of it myself,” Doc said. “But it’s ours, and it’s the only one most of us really ever get, so we have to make the most of it.”
“My Vizier says you’re dangerous,” Alice said.
Doc smiled warmly.
“Not to you. Nor this place you’ve built,” Doc said. “I’m here to bring a message to you from home.”
“Don’t call it that.”
“My apologies,” Doc said. “But your mother misses you. And your father is going to be okay.”
“My father,” Alice said, her voice trailing off. “Something happened to him.”
“He had a heart attack, but the doctors were able to help him,” Doc said.
“My mother wasn’t there,” Alice said.
“And she is sorry for that,” Doc said. “I spoke with her. She just wants to know you’re okay.”
Alice pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowing.
“I don’t know if I believe you,” she said.
“That’s understandable. I’m a stranger to you.”
“Any you’re a wizard,” Alice said. She leaned closer to the bars of the cell, her guards visibly tensing.
“I am,” Doc said. “And you are, too. I should have found you sooner, Alice. I’m sorry for that. I could have helped you more. I didn’t realize how far along you were.”
“I have help,” Alice said. “I don’t need a teacher.”
“My queen,” a familiar voice said loudly from the hall. A few heavy footfalls later, the Vizier emerged into view. “I wondered where you got off to.”
“We’ve never had a prisoner before,” Alice said. “I wanted to see him.”
The Vizier gave Doc a dark, malignant stare.
“Pay him no mind,” he said. “That’s why you have me, your highness. Let me take care of messy things like prisoners.”
Alice nodded passively, allowing herself to be led away. Doc didn’t miss her turn her eyes to him one last time though, a hard, assessing stare falling upon him before she disappeared.
Once their footfalls faded, Doc sighed.
“You can come out now,” he said.
Gloomly did not emerge from hiding, though his eyes opened up, two glowing spots in the darkness.
“She’s not well,” he said.
“I can’t tell if she’s mystically charmed or just tricked, but neither is good,” Doc said. “We’re going to have to get her away from that creature, whatever it is.”
“The Vizier isn’t a figment like me?” Gloomly said.
“No, he’s something else entirely,” Doc said. “You should go warn your friends. You can leave here unseen?”
“Have I not already told you my natural state is hiding? And the spell trapping you here seems to require a physical body to restrain.”
“I know, I know,” Doc said. “You get going. And keep an eye out for my allies. They’ll need your guidance when they get here.”
“How will I know it’s them?” Gloomly said.
“Trust me,” Doc said. The minute you meet them, there’ll be no mistake.”
Chapter 33: Mirror, mirror
Jane watched the others as they spread out across Kate’s hideout, sometimes brainstorming about their next step, sometimes just killing time. Billy was having a quiet conversation with Bedlam near the windows. They were both smiling, which Jane was glad to see. She was pulling for those two to figure things out. Titus, unexpectedly, engaged in a brief conversation with Natasha, something that made everyone more than a little uncomfortable, Kate glaring particularly hard at that situation. Not that she wasn’t glaring at everyone, including Emily as she bubble of floated herself lazily around the ceiling.
Titus broke away from his chat to join Jane by the kitchenette.
“We should consider trying to figure out who King Tears’ next target is,” he said. “Might help us get ahead of him.”
“Yeah,” Jane said. “Anything useful from Lady Grey?”
“I think she’s offering to train me a bit,” Titus said.
“And are you going to take her up on that?”
“I’m thinking no,” Titus said. “Between Leto and Doc I think I’ve got some good teachers who would not be looking for a way to sell my werewolf soul to a demon lord of the Nine Hells or something.”
“Are there nine hells?” Jane asked.
“I don’t know,” Titus said. “It’s an expression. I can’t remember if it’s something Doc said or if it’s something I read playing Dungeons and Dragons.”
“Emily would know,” Jane said.
“Emily would know what?” Emily yelled from the ceiling.
“Nothing,” Jane and Titus said simultaneously.
“Whatever,” Emily said, drifting away.
“Speaking of Doc,” Titus said. “Any word?”
“None,” Jane said. “He can reach me though. If he’s alive.”
“You don’t say that with a level of reassuring confidence,” Titus said.
Jane shrugged.
“He does what he does,” she said.
Kate strode over, stretching out her back and shoulders as she walked.
“We’ve got to do something,” she said. “I don’t care what it is. I can’t sit here waiting ar
ound for some monster attack. Titus, we can go hunting more of those Children of the Elder Star properties. See if we shake anything up.”
“I feel like splitting the team right now is dangerous,” Jane said.
“We’ve got the numbers,” Billy said, butting in.
“I’m with the Dancer,” Bedlam said. “There’s gotta be something we can hit.”
“I didn’t say it that way,” Kate said.
“But it was implied, Swan Lake,” Bedlam said. “I can tell what you’re thinking. You want to punch something. I’m right there with you.”
Kate stared, but didn’t deny the accusation.
“I suppose we wait for…” Jane said, before trailing off as a muffled voice emanated from her pocket.
“Did you butt-dial someone?” Billy said.
“Nobody butt-dials anyone anymore,” Emily said. “What are you, thirty? Butt-dialing is for old people.”
“Stop,” Jane said, wrestling the mirror Doc gave her from her pocket. She opened the protective cover to find Doc looking back at her, somewhere very dark.
“Good,” he said. “You’re there.”
“Where else would I be?” Jane said.
“Is that a mirror phone?” Emily said, dropping from the ceiling to look obtrusively over Jane’s shoulder.
Curious, both Dreamless and Natasha approached to listen in. Kate shot them both a killer glare. Neither got too close, but still stood near enough to listen.
“Well, I’m glad we established a backup plan,” Doc said.
“That looks like a dungeon,” Billy said.
“Doc, are you in a dungeon?” Emily asked.
“Yes, I’m in a dungeon,” Doc said. “I think I’m going to need backup. I found our missing magical savant, but there’s an entity here manipulating her. He… it? Seems familiar. Very skilled in dream magic, which makes me wonder if…”
“My passenger,” Lady Dreamless said.
“Who’s that?” Doc asked.
Jane sighed.
“That’s the other reason I’m glad you called,” Jane said. “Do you know someone called Lady Dreamless?”
Doc took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I’m just going to assume Natasha Grey had something to do with this.”
Natasha shook her head at Jane. Jane, smirking, turned the mirror around so Doc could look right at her.
“Hi, Silence,” she said.
“Hello, Natasha,” he replied. “Couldn’t just enjoy the trip back from the Dreamless Lands? Had to go wheeling and dealing?”
“I needed to pay my way, darling,” she said. “It was your dream queen over here who requested the deal.”
Jane turned the mirror to face Dreamless next.
“I just wanted to see your world for a little while, Doctor,” she said. “I was curious.”
Doc exhaled heavily.
“We’ll deal with all of that when I get back. You said something about a passenger?”
“Something slipped through from the Dreamless Lands when I made my journey,” the queen said. “My senses are different here. I didn’t know.”
“Well, I’m going to hazard a wild guess that I know where it is, even if we don’t know what it is,” Doc said. “Why are you both there? Where are you, anyway?”
Jane turned the mirror back to herself. Emily stuck her head into the frame and waved hello. Doc nonchalantly waved back.
“We ran into a complication,” Jane said.
Billy stuck his head into view next.
“A guy who can make zombies,” he said.
“And flesh golems,” Titus said, loud enough for Doc to hear him but not bothering to get in front of the mirror.
“King Tears is making a play in the power vacuum left by the Children of the Elder Star, darling,” Natasha said.
“Tears? I hate that guy.”
“Everyone hates that guy,” Natasha said.
“Okay, you know what? We’ll deal with King Tears after we get Westwick back on Earth,” Doc said. “Jane, you’ll have to go where the town disappeared and use the planar knife to open a gateway like we discussed.”
Natasha shuddered.
“I will never trust one of those again after what you did,” she said.
“Who should come over?” Jane said.
“Everyone,” Doc said. “Alice Lapine is incredibly powerful. She’s able to create constructs to act as soldiers and guards. Anything that looks like it walked out of a Renaissance Faire is not alive.”
“So we can hit those guys,” Bedlam said.
“Yes, you can hit those guys,” Doc said. “Hi, Bedlam.”
“Hey,” she replied.
“Anything we shouldn’t hit?” Kate said.
“Anyone who looks like they’re from the town itself,” Doc said. “Alice basically picked up and moved all of Westwick, including its residents. And this place is infected with nightmare energy. Lots of scared people who don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Don’t hit people in blue jeans. Hit people in pantaloons,” Kate said. “Got it.”
“Also if you see an armored teddy bear riding on a unicorn with a pixie, they’re on your side.”
The entire room went silent for what felt like an eternity.
“You okay, Doc? Get hit on the head?” Billy said.
“Just… y’know, just trust me on that one,” Doc said.
“Teddy bear, unicorn, pixie,” Billy said. “Keen.”
“Anything else we should know before we head in there, Doc?” Titus asked.
Doc nodded slowly.
“This place is powered on dreams, and nightmares,” Doc said. “Be prepared for strangeness. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.”
Chapter 34: Questioning authority
Alice Lapine sat on her throne, adorned in a regal red dress, and pondered pensively.
She felt as though something wasn’t quite right in her kingdom, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. At first she thought perhaps the land needed some readjusting, so she called for a map of her lands and, tracing a finger over different geographical areas, created mountains and forests, a massive, placid lake in the shape of a footprint to the north. She could see the horizon from her throne room, and it wasn’t hard to spot the new mountain range rising up from the earth in the distance like teeth.
But creating new places in her realm did not lift the weight in her heart, or the itch at the back of her mind.
The Vizier happened upon her during this mood, as he so often did, knowing just when she most needed his advice. He took a knee below the dais where her throne stood, but she waved off the formality.
“You look worried, my queen,” he said, eyes twinkling.
“That man in our dungeon,” Alice said. “Who is he?”
“Just a trespasser, your highness. Nothing to be concerned about.”
“Are you sure?”
The Vizier carefully approached, slowly and respectfully climbing the stairs to join her.
“He’s very lost, and should not be here,’ he said softly. “Let me worry about him. I’ll keep your kingdom safe. It’s why you have me here, is it not?’
“Thank you, Vizier,” she said, feeling a bit fuzzy headed, as if she had a cold coming on. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I live to serve,” the man said, smiling warmly.
Alice scrunched up her nose, squinting in thought, then turned to him.
“He said something about my mother,” she said.
“Perhaps you misheard him,” the Vizier said.
“No,” she said. “He definitely said something about my mother.”
“That troubles you?”
“I’m having trouble remembering my mother,” Alice said.
“Perhaps that’s for the best,” the Vizier said. “The mind thankfully hides bad memories.”
“Should I have bad memories of my mother?” Alice said.
“I don
’t know,” the Vizier said. “I’m afraid we never met.”
Alice nodded, sitting back calmly on her throne. But in her mind, her thoughts raced, scrambling to find some semblance of a memory, something to latch onto that might tell her who her mother was.
She remembered something else, though, just a glimmer, a passing thought. A man, the sight of whom made her heart swell, falling over, clutching his chest. Right lights flashing. Men and women wearing rubber gloves leaping to help.
“Did you ever meet my father?” Alice asked.
“I’m afraid I did not,” the Vizier said. “He passed away before I came to court, sadly.”
“Yes,” Alice said, hesitation in her tone. “Sadly. I think you might have liked him.”
“I’m sure I would have, your highness.”
Alice stared dazedly at the guards who stood at the ready throughout the throne room, finding herself almost hypnotized by the echoing emptiness of the hall.
“There’s so many things I don’t remember, Vizier,” she said. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s the cost of your great magic, my queen,” The Vizier said reassuringly. “The power alters your memories, erases things. This is your burden to bear, but it enables you to keep your entire kingdom safe.”
“Is this also why I can’t leave the palace?”” she asked.
“Sadly, yes,” the Vizier said. “This palace is protected against a great many evils that wish to do you harm. You’re safe here, but we can’t protect you out in the world.”
“Maybe someday I can leave?”
“Of course,” the Vizier said. “It is your kingdom after all. You should walk through it someday.”
Alice nodded. The Vizier bowed, and began walking down the steps away from her.
“What will happen to the man in the dungeon?” she asked, trying to mask the intensity of her curiosity.
“Let me worry about that,” the Vizier said. “After all, only you have the power to build the rest of your kingdom. Leave the mundane tasks like prisoners to someone who cannot shape the world as you do.”
The Vizier left Alice to look over maps and raise more mountains. But she did not set out to work just yet. Instead, she kept turning the stranger’s words over and over in her mind.
Your mother misses you. And your father is going to be okay.
The Indestructibles (Book 5): The Crimson Child Page 16