I take a quick look to make sure there are no Lieutenants around to hear, then say in a sing-songy little girl voice, "I'm playing dress-up, ma'am. Do you like it?" I give a little twirl in my Punk Rock Girl outfit. Then, softer, "I'm Benny Marks. Can you get me to your King?"
The Blind Knight drops to a knee, to get "eye level" to you. She cocks her head a little in a dramatic fashion, and says in a quiet, sing-song voice, "Such an odd name for a cutie like you. I'm Lady Madalena. I know our king would love to see you." She stands back up, gives a merchant a nod, then turns to head down an alley away from the bazaar, looking back for you to follow.
As you start to head off, you catch, out of the corner of your eye, someone with alabaster skin and stark white hair, moving through the crowds. Just a glimpse.
I crane my head, but continue to follow Madalena. Is it Bianca? I need to get to the Wax King, and Bianca can take care of herself, I think... But... No, I'm following the Blind Knight.
It sure looks like Bianca. She looks better. At least, not doubled over in pain. She's wearing a loose-fitting blouse and a pair of over-sized shorts, they look stolen, not at all suited for her. She's intently following someone, a girl about her age. Possibly a Lady in Hating? If so, she's not in uniform, the other girl. So, she's probably not a Lady in Hating.
"Benny Marks? Are you alright?" Lady Madalena says ahead of you. Her tone is patient and concerned. It seems to be her way.
"Did you see your friend Bianca?" Lady Madalena asks with curiosity. Her tone doesn't sound like she's perturbed, or surprised. "Yes, she stalks the market now, trading for sustenance. She's asked after you, even approached me. She told me she sent you to the King."
"She did. I'm glad she's okay... I'll catch up with her later, but for now I would love to get to the Wax King. I vanished on him without any warning, and we were in the middle of something at the time." I give Madalena a smile and keep walking, scooting past an otherwise unremarkable man with the largest ears I've ever seen.
"She's eating people." Lady Madalena says without humor. "I confirmed it in market with that vendor. Hunting them, and eating their dreams. Which, in this place, destroys them." She continues walking with you, looking at you from time to time, the candle-eyes guttering and fluttering as she does.
Lady Madalena's brows crease a little as she considers your question. She stops at the end of the alley and bends down to pull up a sewer cover, then takes the ladder down. This is not the way you took before.
The innards of this tunnel are extremely warm. Sweat forms at the back of your neck as you glance about. There is no wax here, you notice. It's hot enough to melt it over time. The place is lit a dull red, but the colors seem to emanate from the walls. "The rules of the District are written and enforced by the Nightmares here, Benny Marks. Awake like you are the only beings with... choices."
She seems not at all annoyed at this proclamation, merely stating "what is". She continues walking down the tunnel, pausing only if you pause. "What awake have you met so far, Benny Marks?"
Sweat oozes down under my collar, beads on my forehead.
Bianca is a predator - I knew that, and ignored it when I could. I think back to "Benny" at Mother When's school. Would she have been in that room, taunting "me," if she hadn't been expelled? "There's something different about Bianca, though, isn't there? She's already made choices... chose me, and her ties to Mother When have been cut."
I let the little girl look drop away and am once again a lost-looking teenager with bags under the bags under his Steve Buscemi eyes.
"The Wax King was about to introduce me to someone when I flipped back to the other world. Aside from that... I don't think I've met another Awake. What do Awake generally do here? Just try to survive? Do they get... jobs? Is the Wax King Awake? He doesn't seem like a Nightmare, like Mother When."
As you continue moving through the tunnel, which is dry and hot like a sauna, Lady Madalena pulls the coif off of her head with a smooth, practiced gesture. Her head is shaved and covered with what looks like the brown marks from hindi tattoos, in odd symbols and sigils. You notice that her eyes are dripping wax, dribbling out like white tears. "Did she choose you, Benny Marks? Or did she tell you this because she knew you wouldn't accept that you chose her? Did Mother When cut those ties... or did you?" She seems fixed on who has choices and who does not.
You discuss that the Wax King was set to introduce you to another Awake, and she nods, "Ah yes, he must mean Scribbler. He's an interesting fellow." She walks on, now pulling her shirt out a bit from here it was stuffed into her jeans, "What do Awake do? The weaker ones, the ignorant ones, die. They are consumed and fade away. The more powerful ones, they often become new Nightmares. Or they ally with our liege."
As you reach a cavern ahead, and the entrance across the mire and muck of what might be a subterranean moat that leads to the Wax King's territory, she looks to you, her candle-eyes more wick that candle, "I have heard legends that the Wax King was once Awake. I do not know the truth of it. I have never dared to ask him."
Madalena has serious insight for someone without free will. I don't answer her questions, but I do file them away. "Scribbler is interesting... how?"
I am not going to die, not going to fade away, not going to become a Nightmare. I am not. If the only option is an alliance, well, I've already agreed to that. I will keep my eyes open, learn from the King, from the other Awake. I will fight Mother When, and fight to keep myself... myself. I told Eileen the only way out was through. That starts. Now.
As Lady Madalena wades through the muck which comes up just past her knees, she replaces her coif, stuffs her shirt back in. "He draws things that come to life. His art skills are not the best, so he is surrounded by the most odd little creatures." She grins a little, as if she thinks it's cute or something.
"Do you wish to meet him after you speak with the King?"
"At least half," Lady Madalena agrees. She continues slushing on, and you follow, I assume. Then, thankfully, you both step out of the muck onto the waxy steps leading into the Wax Castle.
It does look quite like a castle from this approach, with candle parapets and waxy walls of a marbled blue. You pass numerous Smothered Folk on your way through a courtyard, see a few more Blind Knights as well. Inside the main hall things are more familiar, your legs are still dripping slightly when you come into the Wax King's audience chamber.
"Benjamin!" the old man says brightly, ignoring the supplicants who had his attention up to the point. The supplicants, who look like ordinary folk... well, ordinary folk from a Dickens novel, but they aren't covered in wax, at least, they quieten respectfully. The Wax King shoos them away and beckons you near, "That was quite a shock, the ground swallowing you whole like that. Where did it take you, my good man? Come closer."
I walk to the Wax King, respectfully. His strangeness doesn't bother me now... maybe I've just become numb, maybe it's because I took on his "look," but I can just take him as he is. I bow, not too deep. "Your Majesty. I was suddenly back, in the... Slumbering World? Home. I had no intention to go."
My bones ache, my joints feel loose, my eyes are like sandpaper, my throat is dry. Regardless, I stand there, at something like parade rest, waiting for him to continue.
The Wax King rises from his throne, comes down two steps off the dais until he's level with you. "The City... expelled you?" He cackles dry laughter, "Damnation, son! You must be more powerful than anyone knew." He pats your arm.
The old man's eyes look you over, his perception clear, "You look... unwell."
I give the Wax King a frank look, letting him see what's behind the bags and the sweating, pale skin. Yes, I am unwell. Powerful, though? That sounds good. "Your Majesty, you offered me a purpose, an opportunity. How do I... fulfill... that purpose?"
The supplicants from earlier have exited the chamber, leaving you alone with the Wax King and Lady Madalena. The smell of the wax is pervasive here, a mix of sickly sweet aromas, like a Yankee Candle Shop.
"Perhaps, Benjamin, you should rest." the Wax King says. "Within my domain, you can sleep. It is the only safe place in the City, the only place where you can do this..."
Lady Madalena interjects, "My liege! He would be useless to you!"
The Wax King shakes his head lightly, looking to you, "It would take some time, Benjamin, before you regain your strength. We can hold the attack on Mother When until you are ready."
"My liege, we need to move on Mother When while we have the advantage!" Madalena says with urgency. "If she suspects the attack, she'll ally with the other Nightmares. A pax between them could doom us all."
Still summoning up every conversation I've heard with a king in every movie ever, "Your Majesty, if you command me to sleep, I will, but Lady Madalena has a point. I think I'm stronger when I'm closest to failing. I'll sleep when I'm dead, or when Mother When is done."
Comments
As you start to head off, you catch, out of the corner of your eye, someone with alabaster skin and stark white hair, moving through the crowds. Just a glimpse.
"Benny Marks? Are you alright?" Lady Madalena says ahead of you. Her tone is patient and concerned. It seems to be her way.
The innards of this tunnel are extremely warm. Sweat forms at the back of your neck as you glance about. There is no wax here, you notice. It's hot enough to melt it over time. The place is lit a dull red, but the colors seem to emanate from the walls. "The rules of the District are written and enforced by the Nightmares here, Benny Marks. Awake like you are the only beings with... choices."
She seems not at all annoyed at this proclamation, merely stating "what is". She continues walking down the tunnel, pausing only if you pause. "What awake have you met so far, Benny Marks?"
Bianca is a predator - I knew that, and ignored it when I could. I think back to "Benny" at Mother When's school. Would she have been in that room, taunting "me," if she hadn't been expelled? "There's something different about Bianca, though, isn't there? She's already made choices... chose me, and her ties to Mother When have been cut."
I let the little girl look drop away and am once again a lost-looking teenager with bags under the bags under his Steve Buscemi eyes.
"The Wax King was about to introduce me to someone when I flipped back to the other world. Aside from that... I don't think I've met another Awake. What do Awake generally do here? Just try to survive? Do they get... jobs? Is the Wax King Awake? He doesn't seem like a Nightmare, like Mother When."
You discuss that the Wax King was set to introduce you to another Awake, and she nods, "Ah yes, he must mean Scribbler. He's an interesting fellow." She walks on, now pulling her shirt out a bit from here it was stuffed into her jeans, "What do Awake do? The weaker ones, the ignorant ones, die. They are consumed and fade away. The more powerful ones, they often become new Nightmares. Or they ally with our liege."
As you reach a cavern ahead, and the entrance across the mire and muck of what might be a subterranean moat that leads to the Wax King's territory, she looks to you, her candle-eyes more wick that candle, "I have heard legends that the Wax King was once Awake. I do not know the truth of it. I have never dared to ask him."
I am not going to die, not going to fade away, not going to become a Nightmare. I am not. If the only option is an alliance, well, I've already agreed to that. I will keep my eyes open, learn from the King, from the other Awake. I will fight Mother When, and fight to keep myself... myself. I told Eileen the only way out was through. That starts. Now.
"Do you wish to meet him after you speak with the King?"
It does look quite like a castle from this approach, with candle parapets and waxy walls of a marbled blue. You pass numerous Smothered Folk on your way through a courtyard, see a few more Blind Knights as well. Inside the main hall things are more familiar, your legs are still dripping slightly when you come into the Wax King's audience chamber.
"Benjamin!" the old man says brightly, ignoring the supplicants who had his attention up to the point. The supplicants, who look like ordinary folk... well, ordinary folk from a Dickens novel, but they aren't covered in wax, at least, they quieten respectfully. The Wax King shoos them away and beckons you near, "That was quite a shock, the ground swallowing you whole like that. Where did it take you, my good man? Come closer."
My bones ache, my joints feel loose, my eyes are like sandpaper, my throat is dry. Regardless, I stand there, at something like parade rest, waiting for him to continue.
The old man's eyes look you over, his perception clear, "You look... unwell."
"Perhaps, Benjamin, you should rest." the Wax King says. "Within my domain, you can sleep. It is the only safe place in the City, the only place where you can do this..."
Lady Madalena interjects, "My liege! He would be useless to you!"
The Wax King shakes his head lightly, looking to you, "It would take some time, Benjamin, before you regain your strength. We can hold the attack on Mother When until you are ready."
"My liege, we need to move on Mother When while we have the advantage!" Madalena says with urgency. "If she suspects the attack, she'll ally with the other Nightmares. A pax between them could doom us all."
--END SCENE--