The Mortal And The Wicked-- ONC 2023

Chapter 3; A tale within a tale

The walk from Agnes's garden party was one spent in quiet contemplation.

In part, her thoughts drifted once more to the Baron-- his face an ever-present fixture in her mind. Yet another part of her still wondered of the nature of the carnival, and as she walked through the streets of her town she was reminded of it at every glance.

Indeed, the carnival did not announce its arrival as any normal attraction would; there were no fliers, nor those who stood upon street corners and spoke of its existence. Yet nevertheless, everyone knew when the carnival was to pass through Hawthorn Vale.

The whispers and rumors began, old tales from the previous year brought up once more to any ear that might listen. And though none mentioned it aloud, there was a distinct shift within the autumn air, as though the magic somehow hung heavier. A distant hum that grew till it crackled in the sky, its song near constant within their ears.

And that was how they knew.

Indeed, even now as Lucy walked through the town she had grown up within she could hear the stories-- though none were perhaps so bold in their telling as a small puppet theater, set up in the midst of the market square and already surrounded by a gaggle of children.

It caught her attention immediately; a wooden box painted a deep blue with stars and spirals of gold, the window where the puppets danced framed by black velvet curtains. And though the day was quickly waning away and she knew her grandmother expected her, she could not help but stand and watch for but a moment as a new story began.

"Long ago," she heard the narrator say, "Before the world had seen a hundred sunrises, a god fell in love with a mortal."

Upon the stages before the black curtain, two wooden puppets sprung up suddenly. Suspended by strings, they were made in a rather rudimentary fashion yet each holding their own charm in distinct features.

One was nearly featureless, painted entirely in gold-- perhaps garnering to it an ethereal quality--while the other wore plain clothes as any person might. Something human.

Stepping closer, Lucy fixed her gaze upon them, perhaps more enraptured by the tale than the children were as the storyteller went on.

"Their love was something beautiful. Yet the world is oftentimes cruel and unjust, and in a sudden tragedy the mortal was ripped from the god's arms by Death."

Now the two puppets were pulled to stand opposite one another, a silver gate springing up between them. And though nothing within their painted expressions could have changed, Lucy could have sworn she saw a slight frown upon their lips where smiles had once been. "Great was the god's grief, and in desperation he pleaded with Death to allow him to see his lover one final time."

Another puppet appeared upon the stage; a figure with a pale face that stood before the golden god, its eyes little more than two black pits painted on a wooden skull, its body wrapped in dark cloth the color of midnight.

"Death thereupon took compassion on the god, yet they knew that not even a god could pass into the world of the dead. Thus, with the aide of the god of Life, the two created something that wasn't truly dead, nor truly alive, but rather something in between. Something magical."

The scene once again changed flawlessly, as though the stage morphed by a magic of its own, and this time Lucy saw a very familiar sight indeed; a row of colorful tents, embroidered with intricate designs in countless threads of silver.

The sight of it made her blood run cold.

"It was a gateway formed in the mist between worlds where lovers might once again meet for a single night. Taking the form of a carnival, it served as a place where the two came together once more."

Amidst the tents the two puppets embraced, the dark sky above them changing now to a sky full of stars, the pale face of the moon gazing down upon them. And though it appeared to be a tender scene, Lucy could not help but feel a sense of dread descend upon her as the story continued.

"Yet so torn by the grief of knowing that as the night ended they would not see their lover again till the following year, the god of Life became treacherous-- breaking the sacred promise they had made with Death. For with every ounce of magic that the minor god had, he formed three keys that would open the gates that stood between the dead and the living, and pulled their lover through. And in their betrayal they opened the gateway..." Upon the stage the silver gates trembled, crashing down with a clatter that made the children jump. And though the two figures seemed for a moment to be running beyond the gates, their steps halted when a third figure sprang up before them-- its face a mask of white bone, surrounded by the dark folds of its hood. "Yet Death became furious-- for in their desperate love the god had broken the laws of nature. They were no longer fit for their power, and thus they were punished."

Once more the tents appeared, the figure of the god standing among them-- though this time their golden robes were tarnished to something dark, their features obscured by a mask in the shape of a raven's face.

The smaller figure was nowhere to be seen, and Lucy felt a shudder run through her as she wondered what had happened to the poor lover who had dared to fall in love with a god.

"Their lover taken from them yet again, the god was stripped of much of their power and cast down into the carnival. Yet though they remained trapped in the world of their own making, their defiance never died away. And with what little magic still ran within their veins they kept the carnival alive for all lovers torn apart by death. For they recalled such agony, and to this night once a year lovers may be reunited beyond those silver gates."

This then, seemed to be the end of the tale-- yet just as Lucy turned to walk away, she heard the story teller speak a final line that gave her pause, her breath seeming to catch in her throat.

"But the legend holds something more; for many say that the keys to open such gates still remain hidden within the carnival, and that those who's love is pure and right might play the carnival master's game to prove so. In this, they might win the keys and allow their lover to walk once more into the world of the living..."

The curtains closed then and the children around the stage began to applaud, though Lucy hardly noticed them above the pounding of her own heart within her ears. The haunting tale of the carnival echoing in her mind as she finally returned home

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