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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 198 |
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(DISCLAIMER: This part, and all parts hereafter, are works in progress (WIPs) and have not been proofread or checked for plot inconsistencies. I've decided to present them "as is" for now, as there is a significant amount of unfinished material; yet this story has been on hiatus for a long while, I've forgotten certain details, and I have no plans to resume work on it any time soon. Please keep in mind while reading that details may change in the future. Should you spot an inconsistency, however, please feel free to point it out to me for possible correction.)
HIDDEN PARTS "SHE LOOKS JUST like Geezhigo-Quae." Charmian felt the Stone Canoe jerk beneath her, and grasped its gunwale to keep from falling, even though the lake around them wasn't real--or at least, wasn't real in the way she knew real to be. What--? it blurted out, astonished. You mean--the--the Sky Mother? But--what could SHE have to do with the Red Swan--? "It makes sense...in a weird convoluted way I don't really get just yet." Charmian looked up at Chakenapok, who floated down nearer to them and alit upon the Canoe's prow. "Bear with me. First of all, she looks just like a Michinimakinong, and Geezhigo-Quae is their ancestor. Ishkode even said she's related to them. Yet she's never even heard of the Michinimakinong." Perhaps she's been separated from them for too long? the Stone Canoe suggested, though Charmian sensed the doubt in its voice and could tell it was merely playing devil's advocate. "She's been here since way before they even existed, based on what everybody's said," she countered. "But that's the least of it. Geezhigo-Quae herself said they look alike--at least, they dress alike. And the story told about the Red Swan is exactly the same as the one Geezhigo-Quae said happened to her--Megissogwun tried to carry her off when she was younger, and dressed in red like the Red Swan is, but she got away. According to Ishkode, after that, the Red Swan was trapped." She said that the Pearl Feather put her here, the Stone Canoe said. But he couldn't have, if he knew nothing of her back then, and if the Sky Mother got away. Is she not still in her Sky Tree? I don't understand. "She has no memory of anything before being imprisoned because she didn't exist before then," Charmian said. "The moment she was born, she was locked away. To keep the world safe, Ishkode said. I thought he was nuts, but..." She trailed off and bit her lip. "I know this all sounds way crazy..." "Keep going," Chakenapok said. "You think we haven't heard stranger?" "Well, it's crazy where I come from, at least. But I'm starting to think just about ANYTHING goes in this place! Remember that dream you had Tal Natha send me?" she asked him. "With my fountain. There was a little tree where my spirit stone should be, and it turned from blue--like the Sky Tree--to red--like the Red Swan--and then dark--like her spirit. You had it sent to me, so you obviously know what I'm talking about." "I tried to follow the Red Swan's thoughts," Chakenapok said, "and they led me straight to the Sky Mother. She seemed surprised to see me, I admit. I informed you of this merely because I knew there was a connection, but I had no idea what exactly it was." "All I can say for sure is even though everybody disagrees on who exactly they're talking about, and on what the outcome was, they keep saying the same basic thing," Charmian said. "Ishkode, Cutfoot, Geezhigo-Quae, Little Wind, the Red Swan herself...Megissogwun kidnapped a powerful manitou and regretted it. Cutfoot said this unknown manitou was never seen again. Ishkode said the Red Swan was locked away. Geezhigo-Quae said she escaped. The Red Swan said she doesn't remember where she came from, but that Megissogwun put her there. Little Wind said Megissogwun had no idea she was there. None of them were lying--they were all telling the truth as they learned it. And even though it sounds all over the place, they were all saying the exact same thing--it's just that they all only saw part of the picture." How can she be three different people? And have met three different fates? And how can Megissogwun be responsible for her imprisonment, yet not even know it? the Stone Canoe asked, confused. "Because there was only one person and one thing that really happened. Geezhigo-Quae has the first part of the story. She was the one Megissogwun kidnapped. The only one. She got away; Cutfoot was right in saying she was dreadfully powerful, but he loses the story after that." "If it was Geezhigo-Quae he went after, then it couldn't have been the Red Swan," Chakenapok said. "It wasn't, at least, not yet. The Red Swan didn't exist just yet. That's where Ishkode's part of the story gets mixed up. But he said she was imprisoned so the world would be safe, and he got that right." But...the Sky Mother ISN'T imprisoned! the Stone Canoe protested. "And this is the part of the story Geezhigo-Quae got mixed up," Charmian said. "Because even she probably doesn't know what happened--even though she's the one who did it! There's only one person, and one thing that happened, because she and the Red Swan are the same person. They're not just connected--they're the same." The Stone Canoe started shimmering. Charmian glanced down into it, perplexed, then gasped and jerked back when a new figure appeared in front of the sleeping Red Swan. She blinked in astonishment at the strange man now seated there; he was dressed in pale gray, necklaces of stones around his neck, and he gave her such a ferocious glare that she wondered how she could have offended him when they'd never even met. "How can you claim such foolish things?" he demanded, and she started again--his voice was the same as that of the Stone Canoe when it came in her head! Her stare flicked down and she sucked in a breath to see how his legs seemed to merge with the Canoe itself, as if he were growing out of it. "Take a look! She's here and the Sky Mother is--somewhere up THERE!" He waved skyward. "How can somebody be two different people--?" "Well--you are, aren't you?" Charmian blurted out without thinking. He opened his mouth, then shut it, looking confused; "You're a canoe and you're a person, apparently!" she added, now that the realization had sunk in. "Two different things." "That's different!" the Stone Canoe insisted. "I can change my shape--so what? Whether I'm a canoe or a person I'm still the same being. Even if I were to split into two rocks and go rolling in two directions, I'd still be the same being. What you're saying makes no sense." Charmian twisted around to look at Chakenapok, who was now seated cross-legged* upon the prow as if he'd always been there. "Well, you should know what I mean! You were two different people once, too!" He raised an eyebrow. "Not quite. Just because I was the Shell of Malsum doesn't mean we were the same being. There was my mind, and there was his, and we were both separate, not the same. The comparison doesn't fit." "Yeah, but what about the you who came out that one time--TWO times--when I went to your cave and met you in person for the first time*, and when your body disappeared? You were different. You acted different and everything. It's not quite the same thing, but you know what I'm talking about." She turned back to the Stone Canoe's human form. "I'm still just guessing. But I think it's like this." She held up her hands and her spirit stone glowed into view. The Stone Canoe leaned forward to squint at it. "What of it?" he asked. Charmian concentrated a bit harder. "See that?" she said; he frowned at the little misty bit of darkness* deep inside the crystal. "Don't freak out or anything, everybody has that in them. It's normal. It'd be weird not to have it. The only issue is when it gets so overpowering your spirit ends up looking like hers." She waved at the Red Swan. "You wonder how a good manitou can have a dark spirit. It's because she doesn't have any light in her. She's completely dark." "But she's not a dark manitou!" The Stone Canoe looked like he wanted to pull his hair out. "It's hard to explain! Give me a minute." Charmian took a breath. "She's dark but she's not a dark manitou. She's not somebody whose spirit went corrupt, or who was born with a corrupted spirit. This is the spirit she was always supposed to have because she's never known anything light. Dark doesn't mean bad, it just means the opposite of light. There's no real problem in her having a dark spirit, the problem is that she doesn't have any light in it whatsoever. She's cut off from that." She pointed to her own spirit stone, still glowing in her chest. "I knew somebody on the Island who tried something like this once. Imagine that I took this dark bit out and shut it away somewhere. What happens?" The Stone Canoe furrowed his brow. "Simple," Chakenapok answered for him. "Things go out of balance." Charmian nodded, relieved that she wasn't just pulling this out of thin air. "Exactly. It's not good to be all dark but you can't be all light either! Light loses its meaning without dark. That person I just mentioned on the Island--when he tried doing this to somebody, it didn't work. The two had to go back together. The same thing with Ocryana--she's this demon we imprisoned on the Island. Nathalit told me.* We needed to lock her away, to save the Island, but if you keep a part of something shoved away long enough, things get out of whack.* The Island was actually weakened because of this. Cripes, it was the same thing with Chakenapok! The only reason he had so much power was because it was given up by people who didn't want to see it in themselves. If I took this little dark bit out and hid it away somewhere, chances are it'd get really big and ugly and dangerous. Well, look what's happening to her." They all looked at the Red Swan, her head drooping forward. "She's getting so big and ugly and dangerous, she's starting to wake up and take on a life of her own." "But..." The Stone Canoe stared at her for a moment. "That means that she's that dark bit...that dark bit of the Sky Mother? So that's why there's no light to her, yet she's not a dark manitou?" When Charmian nodded again he said, "But why would Geezhigo-Quae do something like this if it's so dangerous? Why would she even do it in the first place? If you say everybody has such a thing in them, nobody else is taking it out..." "I don't think she even knew she was doing it, at least not consciously," Charmian said. "I figure she's smart enough to know how it would end up! But she was probably worried, on some level, that the dark bit of her might become overwhelming, so it was best to lock it away--like we locked away Ocryana--to keep it contained. At least for a while. Maybe she just got so used to things being this way that she simply forgot. I don't know. Maybe it happens." "Someone would only do something like this if they had a reason to suspect it would become overwhelming," the Stone Canoe persisted. "Like I said, most of us never do that. What changed the circumstances for her?" He fell silent, then said, "It was Megissogwun, wasn't it?" "That's the only thing I can think of," Charmian said. "When he went after her--when he tried to kidnap Geezhigo-Quae--it set something off--Cutfoot, Ishkode, Little Wind, they all said it, her power was immense--and the Red Swan was born." They all fell silent and stared at her in the bobbing Canoe. "Geezhigo-Quae must've been afraid that she would lose control somehow, so locked her away and forgot about her. That's why everyone says she has to remain trapped. If even Geezhigo can't keep control of her, who could?" "Megissogwun could," Chakenapok said mildly. "At the very least, he could try. So where does this leave things? Now that we know what she is, how does that change anything?" "It might explain why she's waking up, at least," Charmian murmured, leaning to the side and peering again at the Red Swan's slivered eyes. "All this crap with Megissogwun's got Geezhigo-Quae all rattled--well, since they're the same, of course it'd get to the Red Swan too! But that's just what I was wondering. If Geezhigo doesn't think she can control her, that probably means she's strong enough to face him. I just don't know how to get through to her, now that she's doing this." "Well, you do have one more means of approach," Chakenapok said. Charmian glanced up at him. "I do? What?" "Who else knows her so well? I'm speaking of that atrocious wabano in your company. He's the one who's been watching over her all these years; I take it he probably knows what's going on." Charmian's face blanched. "Mishosha?" "You honestly think he'd be any help?" the Stone Canoe scoffed. He crossed his arms. "Go ahead and try! I'm surprised you haven't learned yet." She gave him a glare. "Buzz off, rocks-for-brains! I already KNOW what a stupid idea it is!" Back to Chakenapok. "Like he said! What makes you think he'd be any help?" "He's already helped you out, hasn't he?" Chakenapok pursed his lips, looking vaguely annoyed. "I thought circumstances had changed and now he had every reason to see the Pearl Feather fail. If it takes him giving up whatver he knows on the Red Swan to do this, then I'm betting he will. But..." He drifted upward, still cross legged*, and turned so that his back was to them and he hovered over the Canoe. "That's just my suggestion and you can take it or leave it." Charmian looked at the Stone Canoe once more. "He might be right," she said reluctantly; he scowled, then shimmered and sank down through the bottom of the Canoe as if disappearing into the lake itself; a moment later it was just the Red Swan and herself sitting there. She shook herself a bit to try to get rid of the eerie feeling. "I know he's pretty much kept the two of you prisoner for countless years--" she started. And has little chance of changing that now! the Canoe cut in, starting to move. Go ahead and try if you must. But don't be too surprised if he doesn't help, or, more likely, if he says he will and then ends up tricking YOU instead. Well, I can't really blame him for feeling that way! Charmian thought, saying nothing. "I guess I'll go and talk to him then," she said, "seeing as this is getting me nowhere right now." She shut her eyes and sat back in the Canoe's prow. "You two stay nearby just in case," she murmured, even though there was little point to it, where else would they go?--and after a moment or so she opened her eyes again and blinked blearily a few times. She had a good sideways view of the ground passing by, grass, grass, and more grass. Mani's fur was brushing against her face. She rubbed at one eye, stifling a yawn as she pushed herself upright. A face popped up right in front of her. "Did you talk to the funny red lady--?" Charmian screamed and jerked back--then screamed again when another scream came from right behind her--then screamed a third time when weird ululations responded from the direction of Mani's antlers. The manitou halted immediately and tossed his head with a startled whistle and the loons went flying, flapping their wings in a panic as they bobbed awkwardly through the air. Marten landed upside-down in Charmian's lap; her scream cut off when she found that she could barely breathe, and she realized that it was Winter Born's arms wrapped around her waist as tight as any bearhug. "WHAT THE HELL!!" Charmian shrieked. "WHY'S EVERYBODY SLEEPING ON ME?!" "Jeez!" Marten exclaimed, popping back up and straightening himself out with a foul look. "We just wanted to make sure you didn't fall off or anything! And to say hi when you woke up!" "I didn't mean to scream so loud, Charmian!" Winter Born said from behind her. "It's just, well, I kind of dozed off too, and you yelled so loud I thought something was wrong..." "O-ho!" one of the loons said as they came flapping back down to land on Mani's antlers. "Say what they will, we were just seeking a decent place to crash! O-ho!" Charmian glanced down to her right. Thomas was walking there. "I offered to make sure you wouldn't fall off," he said, "but these two geniuses said you'd find that embarrassing!" Charmian's face went scarlet. "Yeah, just like that!" Marten agreed; she grabbed him and stuffed him in Winter Born's lap. "What's happened since I left?" she asked. "Nothing much. Though the GeeBee says he felt something coming from over there." Thomas gestured eastward, in the direction they were headed. Charmian frowned. "Ask him yourself if you want." Pakwa drifted down into view as if swimming through the air. "Hard to believe," he said, "but making it hard for that giant louse." "Who's making it hard?" Charmian asked, confused. Pakwa waved. "Augwak. Who else?" He started drifting upward again but she caught his ankle before he could go too far. "Apparently stalling him," he added. "Can feel a great deal of Wendigo medicine being tossed about, and giant louse's medicine is weak." "Augwak's stalling him?" Charmian put a hand to her head. "But...I thought he just bailed out on us! He has no reason to help anymore. What's the deal?" "Do you really want to ask?" Thomas said, exasperated. "Who cares why he's doing it? As long as it's helping us out. And sitting around asking why doesn't exactly speed us up any." Charmian bit the inside of her mouth, feeling a mixture of annoyance and agreement. "Fine," she said curtly. "But I have to talk privately with someone while we keep moving." She climbed down from Mani's back and started making her way toward the back of the group. Several of the others glanced at her, evidently thinking perhaps they were the ones she wanted to talk to, but she ignored them. Little Wind walked at the edge of the group, clasping his little fireball; he looked at her as well, and she glanced around for Mishosha but didn't see him. That was worrisome. She turned back to Little Wind. "Where..." A glow fell over her shoulders and she glanced at the ground now, seeing her shadow. She whirled around and yelped, falling over; "Don't do that!" she yelled, tossing a small fireball at the large one that hovered before her. Of course it harmlessly bounced off and evaporated into sparks, but she was just so irritated today. Traveling as such has its limits and uses up a great deal of energy, the fireball said, but it beats walking about for endless ages on two feet. There was something you wanted? "First off," Charmian groused, pushing herself up, "turn back into a PERSON please so we can talk properly! I'm not going to stand here talking to a ball of gas." The fireball shimmered and rippled and started to change shape. She tapped her foot impatiently as Mishosha emerged, dusting at his sleeves before tucking his hands into them and giving her a neutral look. "Well, I take it you're finally starting to understand things, albeit in a very limited fashion," he said. "Amazing how long it takes you humans to learn." "Oh, bla, bla, bla," Charmian retorted. "You're human too, remember! And what's all this learning crap? I came over here to talk to you about something--" He rolled his eyes--she was really starting to hate that gesture. "And why else the reason that you decide to doze off in the middle of things? You were so perplexed about what on earth that Red Swan might be, that you wondered if perhaps she could get you out of this mess. Well, are you getting your answer just yet?" Charmian started. Her face went pale, then flushed again immediately afterward. "You're so smart, YOU tell me!" "I take it that means you haven't learned it all yet," Mishosha said. When she clenched her fists he sighed. "Haven't I already said I know all about you and your tiny little Island?* It doesn't take much to learn such things, when you're as powerful as I am. That mewling demon you locked away, that miserable lost spirit you eradicated--you learned your lesson both those times, but it doesn't seem to stick." "Ocryana and Chakenapok?" Charmian said, furrowing her brow. "What the heck do they have to do with this?" "Simple, little girl. Aside from you being the one to fend them off, what do they have in common? When you figure that out then MAYBE there'll be some tiny guttering spark in that head of yours." Charmian ground her teeth but forced herself not to retort--she was trying to get information out of him, after all. "They both wanted to destroy the Island," she said, but trailed off when Mishosha shimmered and shifted back into a fireball. Perhaps I was too hasty in thinking you're capable of intelligent thought, he said. Charmian's fingers dug into her palms. "STUFF it, gasbag!! I learn just fine! I figured out where the Red Swan came from, at least! A lot more than YOU ever thought I'd do! Though why YOU'RE the one keeping her locked up, I--" Wait a minute! Locked up! I already DID figure this out just five minutes ago! So why am I so dense--? "What Ocryana and Chakenapok and the Red Swan have in common?" she said aloud, drawing the fireball's attention. "They were all parts that nobody wanted to see and so they were locked away and forgotten about. I already know that, even if I don't understand it completely. So what's the deal with your attitude? I figured it out just fine!" For the third time--at the very least, the fireball said. You supposedly learned this when you locked up that demon--then again with the lost spirit--and now it takes you THIS long to figure out what she is? When the answer's been right inside you the entire time? You might talk a good game* but you can't seem to retain your lessons that well. She shook her fist at it. "Stop being such a--ahm--stupid gasbag!!" She pulled at her hair--talking to a ball of flames wasn't as easy as it seemed. "I didn't come here to be insulted!" So where do you usually go to be insulted...? asked Mishosha. She picked up a hunk of dirt and threw it at him; it struck the fireball's surface and puffed into oblivion. "What I WANT to know is how the heck we get through to her so we can ask her for help!" she snapped. "That's not so damn hard to work your brain around, is it?" You seem to get through to her just fine. Why lower yourself to asking for a wabano's help? "Because she's only helpful when she's ASLEEP, but she's WAKING UP now, and that kind of tosses a wrench* into things, doesn't it!" I'm fairly certain you've figured out why that is, too. If you want to talk to her so badly then get into her head and get into her dream. She'll be no use to you awake, as you've seen. Truthfully...she'd be no use to any of us, awake... I already TRIED going to her, Charmian wanted to say, but racked her brain nonetheless. Obviously every time she'd been talking to the Red Swan it had taken place in a dream; so did he mean a dream within a dream? Her head was starting to hurt. Something like that, Mishosha cut in, but as for HOW you do it, you already have the answer; what was that other idiot wabano teaching you all that time if not something useful like this? "Shut up! You think you could try talking to somebody without being so pissy all the damn time! The answer I just got was that the Red Swan and Geezhigo-Quae are connected--duh. Figured that out ages ago. Don't see how that helps me get in her head any!" You claimed it yourself. They're both the same. If you want to "get in her head," whose head do you get into? Charmian blinked and her mouth snapped shut. She stared at the fireball for a split second, then whirled around. Chakenapok! Big BIG favor! Namely, Mainlander? I need you to try to patch me through to somebody, Charmian thought, shutting her eyes. I'm not sure you can do it, but it stands to reason you should, though it might be kind of sticky... Who would this person be? Charmian let out a sharp breath. I need you to get me through to Geezhigo-Quae! |