Addie LaRue Retelling Oneshot

Retelling of Addie LaRue

A Deal With a Different Devil

January 13, 1691

The world is wide and vast. Or so I'm told. Villon-Sur-Sarthe, France is the only place I've been. I've learned all there is to know in our little town. The meadows and rivers are beautiful, but that's all Villon-sur-Sarthe has to offer. I want to see the markets in Le Man, Paris's Seine, and all the places I've never even heard of.

Today is a rare eventful day, especially for winter. The Dépasseur are visiting our town. I've learned from the town gossip that the Dépasseur come to town, and leave mysteriously.

Now, I'm walking down the gravel path. Other people are coming out of their homes into the cold. All to see what the Dépasseur have to say. At the bottom of the path, there's a white tent. When I get close enough to the tent I see inside most citizens of Villon talking to men and women in black suits and dresses. The clothing of the Dépasseur is much finer than anything I or anyone else in town owns. As I stroll into the tent I wonder where they got the clothing.

"Hello, Madame," one of the men in black says from behind me.

I jump and whip around.

"I'm sorry if I have frightened you," he says.

"Oh, that is okay," I respond as I extend my hand. "Hello, I'm Adeline."

"My name is Luc," he says.

Rather strangely, when he returns my shake his hands are freezing, and his grip is hard as steel. It almost feels like something cut my hand. I take my hand away, but there's no mark or blood. Maybe foreigners have different etiquette.

"What do you want from your life, Adeline?" Luc says, interrupting my thoughts.

I feel compelled to speak honestly, "I want to escape my parents' expectations and the villages. I don't want to settle. I need to explore, everywhere and everything I can."

"That is a good dream. Now, what if I tell you I can make your dream a reality."

"I wish it was possible, but you cannot."

"Oh, but I can, have fun!"

Suddenly, the white tent and Luc fade away. I'm surrounded by incredibly tall buildings. Pedestrians rush past me. As I search my surroundings I see a sign reading: Paris.

That cannot be possible. I was just talking to Luc in Villon. Paris is at least a day on a horse away. I must be dreaming or hallucinating, right?

I think as long as I'm in this Paris hallucination I might as well enjoy it. Even on this little street, there's more to see than in all of Villon. I decide to start at the cafe L'irreel across the street. A bell rings as I open the door.

I am greeted by the face of Luc. "Welcome, Adeline. Follow me." Dumbstruck, I follow him to a small table. "Please sit. This is my favorite place in Paris. The gold reminds me of the story of Rumpelstiltskin," he says.

The restaurant truly is beautiful. Gold is everywhere. The tables, chairs, dishes, candlesticks, and so much more are polished gold. I do not remember why the gold would remind him of Rumpelstiltskin. And as if he knows this he smiles in amusement.

Once I get enough sense to talk I ask, "Ho-how did you get here? How did I? Am I hallucinating you too?

"Adeline how would you hallucinate Paris if you have never been here, and don't know what it looks like," Luc replies.

"But, how did I get to Paris then?"

"I thought I told you, I can make impossible things happen. I can even grant your wish. Of course, though, there is a price."

I suspect he isn't lying. I could actually be free from Villon and see the world. "What do you want?"

"Your brain. I will give you a decade of freedom for you to give your brain to me freely." He says this in a resolute manner, like making a deal with the price of a brain is completely normal.

"Are you serious? Why would you want my brain?"

"I am serious, and the reasons I need your brain are irrelevant to you."

"Okay, but how would I know you would keep your side of the deal? Also, if you wanted my brain so badly could you not just take it."

"The parameters of me needing your brain requires you to give it away in a binding deal. If I do not hold up my side I cannot claim your brain. I swear on the Dépasseur code, we make promises sincerely."

If I make this deal what is the worst that happens? I have a feeling the Dépasseur take their code seriously. This is my only chance for a life I want to live.

Just to be sure I am not being swindled I say, "Recite the terms and your promise."

"I, Luc, swear on the Dépasseur code that I will give you freedom from Villon and aid your exploration of the world. In return, I will take your brain in ten years' time." He extends his hand. "Deal?"

I muster my courage and take his cold hand, "Deal."

January 13, 1696

I see Luc once a year. Every January 13th, the anniversary of our deal, he comes and moves me to a different city. This year I have been in Athens.

Luc has kept up his deal, and I have no regrets. My life in Villon is incomparable to the joy and excitement of Paris, London, Berlin, and Alexandria.

Today, I went to the bank of the Ilissos to wait for Luc. The river is scenic with it cutting through the streets of Athens. Stone arch bridges cross the lake adding a majestic effect.

"Happy anniversary," Luc says behind my back. He has an uncanny ability to sneak up on me.

"Geia Luc," I say.

"I have a special gift for you this year."

I raise my eyebrows in questioning and ask, "and what is the gift?"

"Knowledge," he says as he comes to sit next to me. "Have you ever wondered how I made this possible? Why I can move you from one city to another in a blink of an eye?"

"Of course I have. But I never thought you would answer my questions."

"Well, now I am answering them. Do you remember when I first shook your hand back in Villon?"

"Yes, why?"

"When I shook your hand a tiny piece of machinery entered your hand. This allows you to see anything I tell the machinery to show you. All the people you have met are machinery too. They do have thoughts and emotions just like you though. I am one of the machines."

This is so much to comprehend at once that I first think Luc is lying. The way he's looking at me though tells me otherwise. "So, none of this is real, including you?" I say with a harsh tone.

Luc looks like someone just slapped him. "This is real and so am I. We are just not in the earth version of Rome, and I am just not human. Adeline, I understand why you are upset, but you are getting the same experience. See you next year."

Now, I am in a completely different city. Stone buildings are littered across the city. A circular structure dominates the city. I have heard of this city, it is Rome and the building is the Colosseum.

It does not matter where I am now. None of it is the actual city. Just some machine knowledge of it. Luc words still ring in my head. Does it make a difference if this is the earth version of Rome? And the people aren't human, but they think and feel. If I enjoy this version of reality, why should I care how it has been created? Besides there is nothing to be done about it, a deal has been made. So, I will happily live my five years with the machines. Vivamus, moriendum est.