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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 213 |
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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.)
NASTY & NASTIER CHARMIAN TOOK AN involuntary step back, sensing the others doing the same. Seeing the space where the traveling cave had been flashing blue like police lights had been strange enough, and she was grateful for Thomas's grasp on her wrist to keep her from running at it to find out what was going on; now, however, when the glowing walls abruptly pulled down and away and swirled toward Manabozho--Michibou?--and slid into his hands and feet, leaving just him, Turtle, and a very perplexed-looking Megissogwun standing there, she wasn't sure what to think. She blinked and in the sudden ensuing silence blurted out, "What the hell was that?" Ocryana, standing between her and Winter Born, straightened up almost to her full height. From the corner of her eye Charmian saw the sliver-thin line of power start glowing around Winter Born but she did nothing. "So?" Ocryana said. "Is that him?" Manabozho, Turtle, and Megissogwun all turned their heads to look at them. Turtle let out a squeal and started hopping up and down, the skin of the dead wolf she held flopping about in a grisly fashion; Charmian let out a breath of relief on seeing that she was all right. Manabozho let out a breath of his own and looked ready to sink into the ground in exhaustion, but she noticed that he did this only when Megissogwun wasn't looking. "What is this supposed to be?" Megissogwun demanded, his stare focusing on Ocryana--probably because she was now the tallest and most imposing looking of their group, Charmian assumed. Ocryana's ear flicked and she gave Charmian a look. "That's him," Charmian verified, and the demon snorted. "Not nearly as impressive as you made him out to be," she said. "Looks like he's on his last leg." "I assure you I am far from my last leg," Megissogwun said before Charmian could speak. "Yet this hardly explains what you are or what you're doing here or what any of this has to do with anything." "My, he's full of himself," Ocryana said. "Reminds me of someone I know." "Well, you got her here," Manabozho said, leaning his hands on his knees and taking another breath. "I have to admit I'm impressed. Though you could've warned me you'd come up with a stunt like this!" Charmian rolled her eyes. "Not MY fault you decided to take an extra-long nap! I see it did you some good, though. What was that you just did to the cave? Is it gone now?" "I 'took away his keys,' as your people would put it, and the wheels and whatnot along with them. It's not gone, it's just part of me now. And I think it's giving me indigestion. I might get rid of it later on." Charmian made a face. "Ew. Too much information, thank you very much." "Is this going to continue very long at all?" Megissogwun grated. "Chatty bunch, aren't they?" Ocryana agreed. "I have to admit it's rather sickening hanging about with them, not that it's much of a choice of mine." "HEY!" Charmian yelled, storming in front of her and clenching her fists. "NO smalltalk between the two of you! You're here to kill him or whatever, not ask him how the weather is, just in case you forgot!" "Kill me?" Now Megissogwun was the one to draw himself up, though it obviously hurt, judging by the wince on his face. "Kill me? That thing? This is the big surprise, the horrendous threat you all were holding back? For some reason I got the impression you were trying to dig out that strange woman...that 'Red Swan'...and get her here to defeat me, though Gitchi knows why you would even bother. I find myself terribly unimpressed." "Turns out she couldn't show up," Charmian shot back, "because the two of you know each other already. Yeah, that's right, she's exactly who she looks like," she said, at the confused expression on Megissogwun's face. "Surprised, huh? Didn't know she was strong enough to kick your ass or that she could do something like that? Well, get ready for a lot of surprises today. After all the crap that I know's gone wrong for you I don't see how you fail to get it yet." "Geezhigo-Quae?" Megissogwun said, as if he hadn't even heard half of what she'd said. "That girl in red is her? But...that makes no sense. One can't be two things at once. And that miserable wabano hardly has the power to keep someone like Geezhigo-Quae constrained.*" "One can be a lot of different things at once," Charmian said, "and I can tell from the look on his face that Manabozho probably told you that already. You really do have a thick skull, don't you. And Mishosha? He's hardly the one keeping her in check. You helped put her there, but Geezhigo-Quae is the one controlling her. She's a lot more powerful than even you think. You know, it kind of makes me wonder what you'd be like if you understood how such things work, but then again, why bother." She flicked her hand at Ocryana, who rose again from the crouch she'd fallen into. "You wanted a go at him, well, here it is. Get it over with. We have bigger things to do." "What?" Megissogwun shot out, eyes flashing. "You think to brush me off like nothing? Bigger things to do? There is anything at this moment--anything ever--that is possibly bigger than me--?" Manabozho rolled his eyes and got a disgusted look that at any other time would have been humorous. "You know, before you opened your mouth," Ocryana said, "I was about to agree in that this diminutive scrap--" tossing her head in Charmian's direction "--probably should have had her mouth slapped off her face ages ago, but now that you've spoken, I rather think you deserve the honor much more. 'Anything possibly bigger than you'? Have you been stuck in a cave even longer than I've been?" "I hardly have time for such trivial things as this," Megissogwun said, his eyes--and his voice--returning moderately to normal. He held a hand up in Manabozho's direction. "You really should have kept that strange new form of yours, because otherwise, I still have a modicum of control you obviously weren't aware of." Turtle stomped one foot. "STOP using funny words!" "Control--?" Charmian blurted out; then, "Manabozho!" He seemed to get the gist of what she'd meant to say, as his foot moved a fraction of an inch and he flashed blue--but apparently it was more effort to transform than she'd thought, as he didn't get to before doubling over and letting out a retching noise. Turtle hopped back from him in surprise--"Papa?--you all right?"--then squealed and scurried away when what looked like giant insect legs abruptly sprouted from his back. Everyone else let out startled cries as well. Charmian had to shake off her revulsion to realize that the appendages weren't insect legs at all but seemed to be made of stone--breccia--the same substance as the erstwhile traveling cave. The stone appendages stretched out as long as the voyageurs' lake canoes, then curled back and wrapped around Manabozho as if to crush him; he let out a horrible wheeze and struggled, still breathing but obviously in trouble. Another pair of stone appendages shot from his chest and wrapped around the other way. "EUGH!!" Charmian cried, having to cover her face. "It's like Alien* or something!!" "It seems you haven't as much control over my cave when not in your Michibou form," Megissogwun said, hand still raised. "Pity. Taking someone's medicine works both ways, you realize." He clenched his fist and the stone appendages crushed around Manabozho so tight that his face went red and he let out a choking gasp, fighting against them harder--Charmian could tell he couldn't breathe anymore and threw up her hands to throw fire at the rock, not that she felt that would do much good, but she could hardly just stand and watch. One of the stone appendages--the one wrapped highest across Manabozho's chest--suddenly snapped and shattered into pieces so his breath shot out in a whoosh. Charmian dropped her hands in astonishment; she hadn't even called up fire yet, that she was aware of. One glance at the stone fragments showed her how they glittered like crystal, but that made no sense--they hadn't been crystal before. She let out a breath and blinked when she saw it plume out before her. Her skin prickled; it felt like the temperature had dropped fifty degrees. "Funny!" Augwak landed not far off to her side, shaking a fist at Megissogwun. "You're one to talk about taking someone's medicine! Remember what I told you myself? Practically the same thing you're saying now!* You really MUST have a head full of wood if you can't keep such things in mind!" He raised both hands and his mouth split in a grin that spread from ear to ear. "Now I have a stake in how you control things, too!" He flung his hands forward with a shrieking laugh and the remaining appendages protruding from Manabozho unwrapped from around him--Manabozho had time to blink and suck in a breath--then with a startled yell, he had to dig his feet into the ground to avoid being dragged along when the stone arms shot toward Megissogwun, ice now coating their tips, one jamming through his shoulder, one through his arm and one through his thigh. They came out the other side and slammed into the ground, impaling him there; Megissogwun was still conscious and aware, but his eyes went wide and a split second later his bellow split the air, making everyone wince and stumble at how loud it was. "What the hell is all this?!" Charmian shrieked. "Apparently he gains some small elemental powers from whoever attacks him using their own type of medicine," Moon Wolf said, grimacing and holding his hands to his ears; they had to fight to stay upright as the ground shook from Megissogwun's yell. "Seeing as the Pearl Feather stole his medicine, I take it that means he has a bit of power from him now. And seeing as Manabozho took some of Megissogwun's power--" "Holy cripes." Charmian peered over her arm to see how Manabozho fought against the tendrils of stone shooting out of him every which way now and attacking Megissogwun. "Augwak using Manabozho to attack Megissogwun! This is so freaking confusing!!" "Do you mind--?!" Manabozho yelled, grabbing onto one of the stone arms, his feet leaving gouges in the earth. "You don't see me pulling YOUR strings, do you--?" "I haven't a clue what strings you mean," Augwak replied, laughing gleefully and doing cartwheels around the struggling Megissogwun, "but I vowed I'd make this lout pay for what he did, and if that means using YOU to do it, then so be it! How about you dance, you miserable wretch?" He halted in front of Megissogwun and flung his arms upward. "Go on and dance for the mighty Augwak!" A particularly nasty laugh, and a moment later the stone appendages yanked themselves upwards, dragging Megissogwun with them and jerking him from side to side. Both he and Manabozho grabbed onto the nearest tentacle of stone protruding from them and fought with it futilely. "GOD this is disgusting!!" Charmian whirled to Ocryana and Winter Born, the latter of whom jumped a little. "Go on and FIX this! That's what you're here for, isn't it?" "I rather thought you were enjoying it," Ocryana said. "Maybe he can beat him--?" Winter Born added hopefully. Manabozho at last raised his hand and chopped into one of the appendages, shattering it; he repeated this with several of the bigger ones, then started glowing blue--not completely, as Michibou, but it must have been enough, as with a shudder he jerked back and the remaining stone arms fell loose, pulling out of him and hitting the ground. He did a backflip away from them and returned to normal, shaking himself off as if he'd just fallen in a pile of manure. "Enough of this junk! I'm fine enough with my OWN medicine!" "Works for me!" Augwak exclaimed, doing a flip and then jerking his hand at the air. The pieces of stone rose and hurled back toward Megissogwun; he snarled and swung his arm back to bat them away, then doubled over just as Manabozho had, shuddering. Charmian thought that perhaps he was trying to separate the cave's medicine from his own, until she noticed how it wasn't pulling loose from him. Instead, it started glowing again, then the stone arms re-formed and shot around him in a coil, holding him tight. Augwak blinked and halted, balancing on one hand. "Huh--?" "Now what--?" Charmian said in exasperation, throwing up her own hands. Megissogwun grasped onto one of the stone coils, digging his fingers in until it crushed; the other stone arms started falling apart with it until nothing but rubble was left at his feet. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, seeming quite pained. Something--a vague thought of the Fairy Arch--sparked in Charmian's head and she gestured wildly at Manabozho. "'Bozho! The rubble! Take it back!" "What?" he cried. "I just got RID of that nasty stuff--!" "Just DO it, okay?! I doubt he wants it anymore!" Manabozho let out an awful growling sound but did as he was told, making a come here gesture at the piles of rocks. They juddered and then went rolling toward him; he glowed and they merged into his feet, though he did give Charmian a very dirty look as they did so. Megissogwun lifted his head to glare back at the rest of them, eyes glowing baleful blue; he had a hand pressed to his middle. Blood streamed freely from the three gashes the stone had left in him but he didn't seem to notice. "Pathetic...diminutive...excuse for medicine," he panted. "Apparently...you haven't learned your lesson just yet, either." "Oh, there was no lesson I had to learn," Mishosha said; Charmian looked at him to see that he was holding one of his medicine dolls, his thumbnail digging into its middle. "It seems you're the one who forgets what behavior is fitting for manitous. I thought you could use some reminding." He pressed another long, jagged fingernail to the doll's head and made a screwing motion; Charmian winced, and Megissogwun hunched forward with a horrible grimace--his hand twitched but he refused to put it to his head, instead baring his teeth at the wabano. "I refuse...to stand here and be knocked about by humans and not-manitous! By now I'm fully willing to die--can any of you claim the same thing--?" As he spoke he managed to draw himself up to his full height, and must have drawn on some hidden reserve of energy, for Charmian felt the blood drain from her face when she saw the billow of medicine surrounding him--where could it possibly have come from? He'd seemed just about beaten mere moments ago. "You detest fighting humans so much?" she heard Ocryana call out. "And paltry Wendigoes and halflings? I'll have you know that I was manitou once--fullblooded and powerful--created by Gitchi Manitou himself. Seeing as everyone here seems too timid or too weak to take up your challenge, I suppose I'm the best you get. I hope you enjoy it, because I fully intend on leaving nothing of you behind when I'm done." Megissogwun let out a wheezing noise that might have been a laugh. "You? What makes you think I have any interest in fighting a nobody? Even if you somehow stood a chance. Stop wasting my time and crawl back into whatever hole you came out from." Ocryana's eyes glittered and both Charmian and Winter Born slowly stepped back from her. "As it turns out, that hole is the reason why I'm here. I assume you know all about humiliating defeats and that itch one gets after being out for so long. Yes, I see it right there." Megissogwun's eyes had darkened and glinted blue. "Perhaps you were locked in a cave, perhaps not, but you know all about that itch. I've been cooped up longer than I care to admit and now I'm itching to get it out of my system, and I'm rather fresh to all this, unlike you. So already I have an advantage." "Barely," Megissogwun grated. "There's something else you're not aware of, I take it. I was told these little brats want you taken care of seeing as you're set on destroying their poor precious little Island. Well isn't that interesting? Yet another thing we have in common. I tried doing that Island in ages ago. I didn't quite make it, but that's why I ended up in that hole and why I'm itching so much right now." She flared her wings out to the sides, sinking into a crouch and giving him an oily smile. "So perhaps that's two advantages?" Megissogwun's scowl started to shift into a frown. "You?" he said. "Tried to destroy the Island? And shut away for it?" His stare moved toward Charmian and Winter Born. "You have a very strange way of trying to save your Island, children. Seeing as she is not a manitou anymore, what makes you think she's constrained to help you?" "You're one to talk," Charmian snapped. "As I already said, that's a rule for lesser manitous, of which this being was obviously one." The glow of medicine around him dimmed and withdrew back into him somewhat. "For the briefest moment, I admit--seeing as I'm about to kill all of you and none will remain to repeat my words--that I was concerned. But now that I see what manner of inferior not-manitou I face--" It was a surge in Winter Born's power that Charmian felt first--then Megissogwun's head spun to the side and he spun along right after it, staggering and falling hard to one knee with a thud that made the ground shudder. Ocryana landed several yards away; when Megissogwun turned his head, Charmian saw the ugly welt forming across his cheek, and remembered just how nasty and whiplike Ocryana's tail could be. "I didn't even see her," she whispered. "Why the heck is everybody so fast all of a sudden--?" "I couldn't stop her in time," Winter Born lamented, but Charmian waved a hand at her. "No worry. I think now we let her do what she wants." Megissogwun slowly pushed himself back up and turned around, eyes wary. That in itself was something, Charmian realized. He and Ocryana stared at each other again for a moment as if sizing each other up. "You," Ocryana hissed, "will learn to watch your tongue when speaking to a real manitou. My form might be changed, and my medicine might be different, but I'm not. I know your type all too well, and though you might be powerful on some level, there's so much of you that's weak that rules that all out." Megissogwun's frown deepened. "And what manner of creature were you that despite your past, they bring you here to face me? And you go along with it? Created by Gitchi Manitou himself? You have every reason to want them destroyed just as I do, do you not?" The others glanced at Charmian when she pulled on her hair and whisper-hissed, "They weren't supposed to talk and bond with each other and stuff!!" "I believe I have much more reason to want them destroyed, but I'm hardly here to compare my woes with yours," Ocryana said. "You're supposed to know so much about the Island? There seem to be some gaps in your understanding. If that Island goes, then I go with it, such is the connection Gitchi Manitou created in my kind. I see from the look on your face you believe this is the reason I plan to kill you, but you're wrong. I couldn't care less if that Island died and I went with it, obviously. I'm just sick and tired of being cooped up and want to sharpen my claws on something, and seeing as the deal I struck names you as that something, well, there you go." "Your mind is obviously not well," Megissogwun said, "if that's your only reason for helping these beings." "You are SO one to talk!!" Charmian forgot herself, storming forward before Moon Wolf or Thomas could grab her and shaking a fist at him. "What's YOUR big important reason? Somebody turned you down! Said they didn't like you! Oh boo-FRICKIN'-hoo! You know what I've learned in all this time I've been fighting off demons and monsters and bad spirits and stuff just to help that Island--? You're all a bunch of FRIGGING BABIES! And you're the biggest one of all! Ocryana was pissed off because she was locked up so long and went nuts, Chakenapok was pissed off because somebody killed him, that's all understandable, maybe, but YOU?--oh wah, nobody likes you! Ever stop to think why? No, you'll just kick your feet and squall about it. Wah wah WAH!" "What part of the plan is this supposed to be--?" Lieutenant Barrington whispered to the others. "Charmian--?" Winter Born asked, furrowing her brow. Even Ocryana had turned her head to stare at her; Charmian pointed at Megissogwun and spoke to her as if tattling to an older sibling. "You want to know why we're all here and what started this--? A woman turned him down. That's right! A woman! Not just a woman but a manitou a LOT more powerful than he is! And he goes and destroys an Island over it. Boo-hoo. I'm taking my toys and going home. And guess what, somebody else makes him look bad and he's still not over it." "You honestly think I care about all this?" Ocryana said mildly. "No, but it's background, it's context, so shut up a minute. I keep hoping MAYBE something will get through that immensely thick skull of his but I wonder why I try? Some people don't learn. Chakenapok learned. Augwak and Mishosha learned. Even you learned a little but for CRIPES' SAKES I think it's just IMPOSSIBLE for him!" She shook her fist at Megissogwun again. "I don't think there's any redeeming value whatsoever in keeping you around. Kabeyun messed up but we won't! They have a name for people like you. Dinosaurs. You don't adapt, you disappear. The end. Maybe you'll get a tiny spark of enlightenment in the Spirit Land, maybe not, I honestly don't care anymore. And oh yeah, you suck." "You are quite done now?" Megissogwun said. "Because if anyone here sounds like a bawling baby, I rather think it's you." Charmian felt as if her face were about to catch on fire, the blood surged up into it so quickly. Ocryana started laughing; Charmian's breath whooshed out of her as Stick-In-The-Dirt scuttled forward to grasp her arm and pull her back. "See that lovely color she turns?" the demon said to Megissogwun. "That means you've gotten on her bad side. I recall I made her turn that color a few times myself." "I really do not care what any of you might have done," Megissogwun said. "Though you seem to have a bit more sense than most in seeing how foolish they all are. I have no reason to let any of you live, but then again, I have no reason to kill you just yet." "Oh?" Ocryana's oily smile returned. "What, you plan to ask me to join you or some such nonsense?" "On the contrary. I have no need for an inferior creature like you, but I imagine you'd pose no threat if left alive. I also imagine at least a few beings will remain once I'm through with my plans, simply because they have stayed out of my way, so if you wish to be among them, you'd best leave now." A brief silence; Ocryana's smile had faded into an odd look that Charmian couldn't describe, as if she were very carefully deciding what to say in response. "I take it that's your mindless way of granting me some sort of reprieve, limited as it is." "He doesn't mean it," Charmian snapped. "I've seen what he means by a 'reprieve' when it comes to other people, once they piss him off enough--!" Again Winter Born's power surged; Charmian had the sense of mind to brace herself before being jarred so violently that she could have sworn her skull rattled. She blinked the stars away from her eyes, then had to blink again since the situation she found herself in was so bizarre. Winter Born stood just in front of her, the aurora borealis* of power flowing in a sort of shield or wall between the two of them, but there was also fire licking at the wall of medicine. Charmian looked up and over her shoulder; Moon Wolf was grasping her arm now, his hand raised. The three of them were almost sandwiched together and the heat from the fire and the sensation of the medicine being so close made her start to sweat uncomfortably. She jumped a little to notice that Ocryana was directly in front of Winter Born, her nose so close that if it weren't for the barrier Charmian could have reached out and touched her. Her eyes glittered, even through the roiling glow. "Well." Off to the side, Manabozho crossed his arms and looked skyward with a sigh. "I see I'm not needed anymore..." "If you think, for some reason," Ocryana whispered, deadly quiet, "that I'm incapable of speaking for myself, and thinking for myself, perhaps you should ask this little girl to draw back, and let me finish you off before going at this other creature. Otherwise..." She craned her neck forward, and Charmian swallowed and shivered when her muzzle and eyes and the tips of her ears protruded through the barrier of Winter Born's medicine and Moon Wolf's fire as if they weren't even there. "Otherwise...perhaps shut your mouth and let me finish." Charmian could feel how the other two strained to hold her back, and realized just what sort of strength or determination--or sheer madness--must be required just for her to poke her head through the barrier. She could only nod, seeing as her voice had vanished. Ocryana gave her slithery smile--only now could Charmian see a trace of her own strain in how her muscles twitched when she did so--"That's a good little girl"--and pulled her head back. The fire vanished and Winter Born took in a shaky breath, her medicine drawing back into herself; Charmian was grateful for Moon Wolf's grip on her arm as her legs felt ready to turn to water as Ocryana turned to look toward Megissogwun again. "As I was saying, before getting interrupted by this child," she said, "unless I'm wrong, it sounds like you're offering some sort of limited pity on me and telling me to turn tail and run so I might live--at least a tiny bit longer--while these others die. And you know, it's tempting." Charmian felt her heart clench. "Especially since I have almost as little reason to see any of them live as you do, deal or no deal. Maybe I would have even decided to take you up on it, just out of spite." "That would be the intelligent thing to do," Megissogwun said. "Just one small thing," Ocryana said. "You had to open your mouth and state how harmless I would be, how inferior and whatnot, and though this little brat might consider it childish, I find that attitude intolerable--at least, I can hardly let it go without some sort of rejoinder." "You are offended?" Megissogwun said, and gave a light snort. "It seems I overestimated your intelligence." "Like they've been saying--you are one to talk," Ocryana replied, and it was only because Charmian was looking right at her that she just barely saw it this time--a flurry of motion--before her tail again slammed into Megissogwun's head, spinning him about and knocking him down. |