The Amazing Stick Of Power Part Five
All was darkness. All was night.
I came to my senses, opened my eyes, and Sir Rius filled my vision.
All was Starkness, all was knight.
I had been hit by a rock, Alice told me, and had been out cold. On the
plus side, Rius had tea. As he put it on my bedside table, his long
dark hair blocked my vision, and Alice told me I should get back to
the quest.
All was dark tress, Alice was right.
I got up with a thumping headache. Rocks, apparently, do that to you.
I noted that in future I should limit my rocks the seaside type rather
than the swirling pit of oblivion type, and took the Patented Hero
Formula for getting over being hit in the head with a rock and still
being able to complete your quest, a sachet of which Rius happened to
have in his pocket.
Looking closer, I realised this wasn’t the knight I had seen this
morning, for one thing this one’s hair was longer, and it had no
mustache.
“You cannot be Sir Rius!” I exclaimed.
“You are correct. I have been sent, though this is really Sir Rius’
business. I am his brother, Sir James.” said Sir James.
“Sir James? What happened to all the knights with the funny names?”
“Funny names are all very well, Mill, but get a little dull if they
become major characters”
“And anyway, If your brother is Sir Rius, why aren’t you also Sir
Rius?”
“I am, but I’m known as Sir James because there can’t be two Sir
Rius’”
“There can only be one?”
“This isn’t Highlander, you know”
“Indeed I do, You can tell by the accents. So why are you here, Sir
James Rius?”
“I am here, Mr Stark, because I have been sent by the queen to
introduce you to Queen Alice, which I see now is too late.”
“Which reminds me” said Queen Alice, “Why didn’t your Queen meet me at
the gate?”
“Well, The queen is technically in charge of everything inside the
Kingdom, and she didn’t really want to reign on your parade.” replied
Sir James.
“Why are you here anyway, Alice?” asked Stark “Shouldn’t you be in
Wonderland?”
“I should, but Wonderland is getting a little strange.”
Both James and Stark looked at each other, and then – with careful
poker faces – at Queen Alice of Wonderland, who at one stage in her
career had been sixty feet tall, then less than six inches tall, in
the space of about a half hour.
“Stranger than usual” she replied. “Stranger than in all the years
I’ve been here. Wonderland is being infected with the same bleakness
that is affecting The Kingdom, and I’m here to help stop it.”
And here would be a good place in the narrative to do some exposition,
because whilst there is apparently no need to explain why Alice is
still in Wonderland despite having left at least twice, this is
exactly what I’m going to do. Sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
The problem with Wonderland, as Stark had discovered when he was
working for Alice, is that it is – as far as Alice is concerned – perfect. Or almost so. Nothing can really hurt Alice within Wonderland
(Anymore, at least) as it is a reflection of her own mind, Alice
though the looking-glass, as it were. Alice is a rarity in the Land of
Lore in that she is not only comparatively normal, but she’s also
real. Teenage years are tough, and when Real World Alice lost both her
parents in a fire, she retreated into the fantasy-land she had created
and – her imagination being strong – made real within the complex
bounds of such that fairyland demands. The Wonderland shortly after
the loss of her parents was an unpleasant place, and her travels
within it – within her own psyche – were her method of facing reality.
When she came out of Wonderland that third time it was to find herself
in a mental home – paid for by her sister – and into a real world that
neither cared nor reacted in quite the way that Wonderland did. Given
that choice, her retreat – now seemingly permanent – back into
Wonderland during her teenage years was little surprise, for a realm
where you rule and is completely and totally ruled by you is a
seducing thought to us all…
…a little deep, perhaps, for this tale, but background is always
required, and may even be useful, because you should always remember
that Fairyland is a reflection of this world, and so reflects the
shadows as well as the torches.
Stark awoke as mentioned above, and found himself in a guest room of
the Wonderland embassy in Knot, a building stylistically rendered in
stone and paint as a house of cards. Sir James and Alice were both to
accompany him on the journey for the stick, Sir James for his fighting
ability – he was equalled only by his brother on the field – and Alice
as her powers stretched for a way beyond the Wonderland borders. After
he accepted this – and it took a while – Stark, James and Alice headed
across the City to the offices of Robert Fleese, who operated a
solicitors practice with his partners Ebeneser Runn and Jacob DeEldey
and had been the Stark’s family law practice for generations. Fleese
gave Mill a key to the family vault – from back in the days when the
Starks could afford a vault – where they found the waders.
That, thought Stark, was easy.
The waders were magic, and so were in prime condition. Since they
couldn’t all fit in the waders, Stark was nominated to cross the lake.
There is a certain feeling you get when you attempt to step in a lake
which will dissolve you to nothingness whilst wearing a pair of
hundred year old waders worn by your great grandfather who went
missing shortly after inventing them.
This feeling is ‘Fear’ and was well represented by Mill Stark.
The lake wasn’t particularly deep, and after a half hour of wading he
reached the island in the centre, and in the centre of the island he
found some floating points of light.
The floating points of light were actually small people. There was an
old one, one with really nice soft hands, and one with a small flag
with red stripes on it.
“I’m on a quest for the future of the kingdom” Stark began. He didn’t
get a whole lot further, as the fairies fell about laughing.
It’s very difficult to look dignified whilst wearing waders and
introducing yourself as the savior of the universe, even harder than
doing so whilst wearing spandex, and Stark failed to manage it.
“Who are you?”
“We are the last of the stranded Fairies” said the one with the nice
hands. “And we will help you, for a price”
“Stranded Fairies?” asked Stark “And what sort of price? And what are
your names?”
“Fair questions” said the old fairy. “The price and the exposition you
will get in the next chapter. Our names, however, are as follows:”
The old one introduced herself as Fairy Nuff. The one with the nice
hands was obviously Fairy Liquid, and the one with the little red
striped flag – which also had stars on it, Stark noticed – introduced
herself as Fairy Lectorialsystem.
These were the stranded fairies, and we will learn more of their
wisdom later.
The content of this site is © Nicholas Avenell 2001-2006 (With a couple of exceptions, read the page)
Aquarion