//------------------------------// // Chapter XII - Between Two Worlds // Story: The Monster and the Crystal Prince // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// Tempo was almost surprised he didn’t immediately go into a hysterical panic at Crystal Barrier’s proclamation. He took a few deep breaths and carefully measured the possibilities. ‘You are sure?’ he asked as calmly as he could. ‘One of the Guards saw him go into the armor room and left before he did’ Crystal Barrier explained. ‘When we all sat down to dinner, he wasn’t there with us. We checked all the usual positions and all over the first floor, but he wasn’t anywhere.’ ‘Have you checked the entire castle? Douglas has a key; he can access any floor he wants.’ ‘We have not checked the second and third floors.’ ‘Take the rest of the Guard and search those floors. I’ll follow behind shortly.’ ‘Yes, your majesty.’ ‘Check every room and every hall. We need to find Douglas, especially if he’s thinking about leaving the Crystal Empire.’ Crystal Barrier looked even more shocked than he did upon entering the room. ‘What... wh-why would he even be thinking of that?’ ‘I don’t know. But go, and quickly.’ Crystal Barrier nodded and ran out of the room. Tempo himself unfurled his wings and shot out of the suite into the night sky. He quickly flew out and over the city streets until he’d reached the edge of the town. He circled the town three times, searching down each and every street until he was sure he couldn’t see Douglas. The worry returned to Prince Tempo as he flew back towards the Palace. He dove for the base of the Palace and entered the lift; he went up past the first floor and went to the second where he saw the Guard working, combing over each and every room for Douglas. ‘Crystal Barrier,’ Tempo called out, walking down the hall. ‘How are things going?’ ‘We’ve searched almost every room on this floor,’ Crystal Barrier replied as he approached Tempo. ‘Some of us have started searching the third floor, as well, but nothing’s come up.’ ‘Stay here with me, Emerald Green, and Sapphire. Tell the rest of the Guard to go to the third floor.’ ‘Yes, your majesty.’ Tempo began searching all the rooms himself. He searched under desks, within cabinets, behind doors, everywhere he could think of within each and every room. The evening went on and on and on as Tempo and the Guard searched every room in the Palace. Finally, as the clock neared midnight, a shout came up from Emerald. ‘Prince Tempo!’ he called out. ‘Prince Tempo, come here!’ Tempo went out of the room he was in and galloped down to where he heard Emerald’s cries coming from. He wasn’t surprised when he finally found Emerald in the mirror room, pointing to the mirror. Horror crossed Tempo’s face. He’s gone into the mirror... He tried to go back... Tempo was thankful when he heard the snoring coming from behind the mirror before he had a chance to react. He merely whispered an aside to Crystal Barrier telling him to get the rest of the Guard and tell them that Douglas was safe and sound within the Palace hiding in the mirror room. Crystal Barrier nodded and galloped off. Tempo walked quietly around the mirror and looked at Douglas sprawled out on the floor behind the mirror. He was asleep on the floor of the room with the mirror portal in it, just behind the mirror so that no one had seem him previously. He must have been kneeling at some point, as he had slumped forward still partially bent over with his arms extended out on his sides. Douglas didn’t wake up until the rumble of the other Guard coming towards the room caused the floor to shake and the hall to echo around him. He opened his eyes and groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head where he felt a slight soreness. It wasn’t until the last feelings of drowsiness had left him a short while later that he got up and walked around the mirror. Douglas halted and froze in his tracks. Standing just inside the doorway was Prince Tempo, surrounded by the other eleven Palace Guards. All of them were looking at him with varying expressions; some confused, some excited, others relieved. Tempo himself seemed to have a mixture of all three and then some. ‘...is there something I’ve missed?’ Douglas asked. ‘Douglas!’ Prince Tempo suddenly shouted, causing Douglas and the rest of the Guards to jump. ‘Don’t ever make me scared like that again!’ ‘Wait, wait, wait, what’s the matter?’ ‘You weren’t at dinner this evening,’ Crystal Barrier said. ‘You went into the armor room and suddenly disappeared. No one knew where you went off to, and we thought you disappeared.’ ‘We’ve been spending the last few hours scouring the Palace for you,’ Emerald Green added. ‘It’s nearly midnight.’ ‘I almost considered calling the nurses to see if you were okay,’ Tempo said. ‘We found you just sprawled out on the floor here.’ ‘I’m fine,’ Douglas said. ‘Really, I am. I came up here to think. It seemed the best place to do so since the main workers had clocked out and it was silent. I must have just fallen asleep on the floor.’ Nine of the guard were satisfied with the arrangement and walked off with comments of scouring the kitchens for food, seeing as dinner was now six hours late. Crystal Barrier, Emerald Green, and Tempo remained, all staring at Douglas and blocking his way out. ‘Guess we’d better go, huh?’ Douglas asked. ‘I don’t think I’ve eaten for a while either.’ ‘Not until I know why you retreated here,’ Tempo said firmly. ‘You’ve scared me and the other Guard out of our wits.’ ‘I told you already. I was thinking.’ ‘But why this room?’ Crystal Barrier asked. ‘There’s a number of parlors on this floor and even spare or empty parlors on the first floor you could have chosen, and yet you came here.’ ‘It was quiet and I was by myself. I must have chosen correctly if you’ve been searching for me long enough to have slept a few hours on the floor.’ ‘Douglas, you had us all worried!’ Tempo cried out as though he was whining, glaring at Douglas. Douglas could see the slightest trace of tears in Tempo’s eyes again, guessing the stress of the last few days was finally hitting him hard. ‘Some of us thought you might have even gone out into the wastes!’ ‘You mean into the snow?’ Douglas asked disbelievingly. ‘Look, I’ve had some weird thoughts lately, but nothing crazy enough to put my life in danger.’ Emerald Green turned towards Tempo. ‘He’s right, your majesty. I don’t think he’s the type to do that.’ ‘I’m too grateful for the second chance I’ve gotten,’ Douglas commented. ‘I wouldn’t throw it away that easily.’ Tempo paused and seemed to consider this for a while before nodding. Douglas expected to be let go and to head off to dinner with the rest of the Guard, but Tempo suddenly spoke up again: ‘Can you two please leave me and Douglas alone for a minute? We’ll be down shortly.’ Crystal Barrier and Emerald Green nodded and bowed respectfully and left the room. Douglas remained standing next to the mirror and Tempo still stood in front of the door and stare at him, constantly checking him over as though still unsure if he really was okay like he said he was. Douglas could see the handsome face was drooping, though wrinkles as though from stress still remained and his eyes seemed to barely stay open. He looked tiredly at Douglas, who could hear him breathing in deeply as though trying to compose himself. His earlier outbreak suggested via anger, but there was something else in the shimmering purple eyes, some fear or anxiety of his own. For a long time, Douglas heard nothing from the Prince except for the sound of his breathing. He felt uncomfortable with the Prince just staring at him without any sign as to his emotion and longed to hide himself, even perhaps behind the mirror again. More than that, he wanted to go away from that room, yet he knew the prince would remain firm and unmoving. After a while, Tempo sighed. ‘Why were you in this room? Of all the rooms in this palace, why here?’ Douglas shrugged. ‘If I do not belong here, then where do I belong?’ Tempo strained to speak. ‘But you do belong here,’ he pleaded. ‘You have friends. You have those that respect you. You have a life. A life that was not granted to you where you came from. And your kind were originally from here.’ Douglas shook his head. His voice was soft, but it echoed around the room. ‘Originally, perhaps. But now, I am the only one. There is no other here like me. I belong here no longer.’ Tempo looked from Douglas to the mirror, his first sign of movement for the past few minutes. ‘What were you thinking about?’ Douglas looked towards the mirror and ran a hand along the metallic surface, fingers tracing the red stones that graced the front. ‘What would happen if I were to just step through,’ he said. He touched the surface of the mirror, not passing through it but causing a rippling sensation on the translucent surface. ‘Where would I go, what would I be?’ He let his hand slide off the mirror. ‘And why can’t I bring myself to do it? It would be so easy to just... step through and see where I end up.’ Tempo’s expression was now one of shock. He took a tentative step forward towards Douglas. ‘Did you find any answers?’ ‘No.’ Douglas looked over to Tempo. ‘Because while the other questions appeared in my mind, I don’t think I can answer those without solving the last of them.’ ‘You want to leave… but something’s holding you back. But why do you want to leave?’ ‘Perhaps I’ve never been comfortable here. Perhaps I’m sick of the strange looks. Perhaps… perhaps I still think of wanting to go back and show them what happened.’ Tempo’s face softened, but his voice hardened. ‘It does not do well to dwell on revenge, Douglas,’ he said. ‘There is a saying that someone looking for revenge must first dig two graves.’ ‘Mine was already dug,’ Douglas replied, voice matching the prince’s. ‘I want to rise out and show them I’m not dead.’ Tempo looked with a sort of fear and repulsion at Douglas, the first time that particular expression had come from the handsome face. ‘Perhaps you really are a monster.’ ‘Don’t you call me a “monster”!’ Douglas shouted. ‘You don’t know me! You’ve been trying to get me out of my shell for a while now, and I understand that. But don’t act like you know everything about me!’ ‘Hear me out,’ the Prince said, taking a step backwards from Douglas. ‘I am sure that deep down you aren’t a monster. But, your old life… it has molded you into one. You hold on to grudges that perhaps they have long forgotten. You were a name on a page, and as soon as you were thrown through that mirror, you were erased.’ ‘You talk as if I don’t exist,’ Douglas growled. ‘As though I’m nothing!’ ‘I don’t think you do exist back there, anymore.’ Douglas looked at the mirror. ‘What would you know?’ he spat. ‘You sit in this palace and have mantras that emphasize friendship and love and happiness. You spend the majority of your time socializing with your citizens and displaying generosity and care.’ Douglas turned back to Tempo. He pulled off his shirt and let Tempo see his entire body, the cuts and scrapes and holes that still remained, watching with a sort of sick delight at the prince's revulsion. ‘But I came here with burns on my body and bullets through my chest and arms. Where I came from, things are a bit different. Where I once lived, things couldn’t be solved through kindness and becoming friends. It was solved through power.’ He walked to the front of the mirror and knelt down in front of it. ‘I have gained power in my time here. I have gone from a simple man who stood meekly down to one who now knows the truth. With this power, I could show them their entire system is nothing but a bunch of lies!’ Douglas felt his body slump forward and he put his hands out on the ground to support himself. ‘…so why can’t I? Why can’t I just go through that portal, go back to where I once came from, and do it? Is it because of not knowing where I’d go? Is it not knowing who I would become?’ Douglas shook his head. His previous ranting and the lateness of the hour had made him tired, and he found his voice rising to barely more than a whisper. ‘No. It is because something here is holding me back. Something that I cannot explain. I could step through that mirror right here and now… and yet for every step I would take, I would turn around and take that many steps back. And I would be no further from where I began.’ Tempo, who had been frozen and completely silent during Douglas’ tirade, finally found the strength to move again, taking a few steps towards Douglas. ‘What holds you back?’ ‘I don’t know. But every time I pass this floor, I feel a pull. As though I get sick just thinking about it. I know not its source, nor its meaning.’ Douglas gathered his shirt, put it on him, and brought himself wearily to his feet. ‘And frankly, it feels like it takes too much strength to ponder it.’ Douglas turned around and saw the alicorn standing a few steps away from him. Whatever anger was in his eyes had vanished, and his expression matched the tiredness that Douglas felt. If he had been ready to burst out against Douglas before, it was as though all the fight that was in him had receded. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a sigh as he shook his head and let it fall wearily to face the ground. Douglas, perhaps realizing that the alicorn was no longer in his way, walked around Tempo and down the hallway towards the staircase. ‘Douglas.’ Douglas turned around. The alicorn was walking towards him, but he stopped a few feet away as though he was still afraid to approach him. ‘I don’t claim to know everything about you,’ Prince Tempo said. ‘And I think that, if I were to try, I still wouldn’t know everything about you and who you are.’ ‘Then why do you try?’ Douglas asked. ‘Why do you put so much effort into learning about me and who I am and what makes me tick?’ ‘Because I can see you are torn,’ Tempo said. ‘And in more ways than one. You are torn in your mind whether to stay or go, torn in your soul whether you belong here or not, and torn in your heart whether or not to trust me.’ ‘Quit the philosophy and get to the point.’ ‘Remember what I told you the first day? I’ve been repeating it over and over again: Vires amicitiae et virtutis amor. With friendship comes strength, and with love comes power. You have gained strength again and gained power you didn’t have because you have been here and allowed yourself to open up. That is what I’ve been trying to do.’ Douglas eyed the Prince strangely. There was an odd sort of logic to what the Prince said, but he still didn’t like where he was going. ‘You’ve gone through some terrible things back there,’ Tempo said. ‘I don’t want you to go through that again. I don’t know the extent of which you faced, but I’m sure that if you go back there, you won’t be so lucky as you are.’ Douglas found it strange the Prince’s logic suddenly became so cold, but resigned himself to thinking the Prince had a point. ‘So, then... what do you expect me to do?’ ‘You belong here,’ Tempo said. ‘For some reason, instead of falling into whatever pit you would have died in, you came here. You’ve been given a second chance at life. Take it. And let us try to help you realize you are in a better place than you were before.’ Douglas sighed and dropped his head. ‘Now, go ahead and go eat. You may take the time while I am in my office tomorrow morning to rest, if you wish.’ Douglas searched the eyes, but they said nothing. Neither did the expression on the Prince’s face. ‘Thank you,’ Douglas said, though not entirely enthusiastically nor entirely sure if he really was thankful. He walked off down the stairs, leaving the Prince alone in the hallway. Despite Tempo’s allowance for him to sleep late, Douglas got up along with all the other members of the Guard. As they got ready in the morning, they all expressed relief at seeing their friend and comrade back. Douglas exchanged weak replied, though they all excused him for the response due to the late night that no one had been expecting. Douglas and Tempo had come down to dinner only ten minutes after the rest of the Guard. Everyone ate quietly and unhurriedly, then left for the rooms and immediately went to bed without the usual hubbub in the common room. Even Douglas managed to fall asleep soon after arrival, though he had an extra cup of coffee when they went off to breakfast. The cooks brought extra coffee, eggs, and toast, and the Guard and Tempo all seemed to take more than normal. The normal pleasantries were dispensed and a few jobs talked over but hardly anyone seemed to be in the mood to talk. When it came time for everyone to take their posts, they all got up and left quietly until Douglas and Tempo were the only ones left. Without a word, Douglas followed him and they headed out of the dining room and through the Palace to the throne room. Douglas assumed his position outside Tempo’s office, the alicorn went inside and shut the door, and the throne room fell into silence. Douglas didn’t mind the quiet. He was tired from the events of the last few weeks, and it gave him a time to rest. He still needed to be alert, of course, but for the most part guarding the prince in his office was a relatively simple job. He was left alone with his thoughts. It struck Douglas how remarkably similar to his first day that this day was. It wouldn’t have struck him on any other situation, but just as he had started to know the Crystal Prince he had become withdrawn. They may as well have been on the same terms as they had been on Douglas’ first day of Palace work. There came a knock at the door. Adjusting the grip of the shield in his hand, Douglas walked over to the door and opened it. Standing at the entrance was Gleaming Shield, dressed in full armor. ‘Captain Gleaming Shield,’ Douglas said, saluting. ‘Lieutenant Douglas,’ Gleaming Shield saluted in return. ‘Is there anyone speaking with Prince Tempo at the moment?’ ‘No. He’s currently alone in his office. Do you wish to speak with him?’ ‘Yes.’ Gleaming Shield was silent for a moment, hoof tracing circles on the crystal floor. ‘I wish for it to be a private matter. Douglas nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am. Please wait out here.’ Gleaming Shield nodded and Douglas closed the door. He walked across the throne room and knocked on the door. After waiting for a short while, he opened the door to see Tempo staring out the window. ‘Your Majesty,’ Douglas called gently. ‘Captain Gleaming Shield is here to see you, sir. She wishes to discuss matters involving my adjustment as well as general guard information.’ Tempo nodded. ‘Very well. Send her in. And Douglas?’ ‘Yes…?’ Tempo turned around and smiled sadly. ‘No formalities.’ Douglas nodded; he’d forgotten about Tempo’s insistence of not using formal titles even at work. Tempo kept the door open as he walked across the throne room and opened the door. ‘Prince Tempo will see you in his office.’ Gleaming Shield nodded and followed Douglas across the throne room. She smiled plaintively. ‘Still maintaining your professionalism, I see.’ ‘Don’t get too excited,’ Douglas responded quietly, having a vague sense of déjà vu. ‘This day is not over quite yet.’ Douglas walked into the room and showed the mare in. ‘Captain Gleaming Shield.’ Tempo turned around from his position at the window. ‘Do you wish to stay?’ Douglas shook his head. ‘She wished for it to be private. I will give her that privacy, if you wish.’ Tempo nodded, but didn’t say anything. Douglas left the room. The door shut behind him. The room returned to silence. Not even Douglas’ thoughts spoke out in the quiet. There was a loud banging from inside the room. Gleaming Shield sounded as though she was shouting angrily, but he could not figure out what it was. Douglas whirled around towards the door and opened it, spear at the ready. ‘What’s going on!?’ Douglas shouted, assuming a defensive stance. Prince Tempo looked up from his glaring at Gleaming Shield, his mane appearing frazzled and wild. The mare herself appeared unperturbed, but Douglas could see the way her muscles were tensed as though ready to spring. Tempo took a few seconds of heavy breathing before he spoke. ‘I appreciate your quick response. Please, stay here. I want your input.’ Douglas shrugged. ‘I don’t think I can.’ ‘Why?’ Tempo’s voice was stern but his eyes were pleading. ‘I can’t explain. I have no knowledge of the situation, but if it is what I think it might be, then I want no part of it.’ ‘Let him leave,’ Gleaming Shield spoke up. ‘If you wish, you may bring him up to speed later.’ Douglas took a tentative step backwards before Tempo even gave his response. ‘Very well.’ Douglas nodded and beat a hasty retreat from the room, slamming the door before Tempo could change his mind. Not that he felt that the Prince would change his own mind. Rather that the actions – the pleading of his voice, the way he looked so desperately at Douglas, a curiosity at the source of his frustrations – would change Douglas’ mind and require him to stay. Douglas was surprised he didn’t leave the throne room, or even the Crystal Palace. Once he retreated from the room, he went right back to his position and stayed there. What seemed like hours later, Gleaming Shield left the room. Douglas walked alongside her to the entrance of the throne room and opened the door for her. Gleaming Shield looked back with something of a sad smile. ‘I tried,’ she said simply. It was then that Douglas understood.