Tales of the Disneyverse

Return to Devastation

            While Genevieve had been away for nearly a whole hour, Russell spent all that time in the tower pondering on the life of the person she used to be – Sean Thomas. There was so much that he wanted to know after finding the photos of his wife and daughter in Genevieve's locket. He even resorted asking Archimedes questions about him – annoying the already-grumpy owl with questions about a person he had not even known about any more than Russell did.

            "But you've got to know something." Russell said. "You can talk!"  

            "What on earth does me having the ability to talk have anything to do with this?" Archimedes inquired.  

            "Well...because...you're a sorcerer...aren't you?"  

            Archimedes' feathers ruffled; he was clearly offended. "I am not a sorcerer! I am just a mildly ordinary owl, gifted with the ability of speech because of Merlin! I'm no more sorcerer than you are, boy!"  

            Russell innocently shrugged. "It's still pretty cool that you can talk without a collar."  

            Archimedes nearly jumped from his perch upon hearing that one little detail from Russell. "Wh-What? What's that you said? What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean 'without a collar'?"  

            "My new friend Dug. He's a dog that I met when Mr. Fredricksen and I were in South America, and he has a special collar that lets him talk through his brain. It's really—"  

            "Ridiculous!" Archimedes blurted out in retort. "You're worse than Merlin! Y-Y-You're making the whole thing up!"  

            "I'm not!" Russell defensively exclaimed. "I'm telling the truth!" At the corner of his eye, he spotted Genevieve reentering the room with Merlin and Wart following her. As soon as he saw her, he pointed to Archimedes and requested, "Tell him that Dug and his special collar really exist."  

            Genevieve took a glance at Archimedes, seeing the way he crossed his wings in front of him with a revolted look. Smirking, she told Russell, "Oh, don't listen to anything he says, Russell. Let the stubborn old owl live in ignorance."  

            Archimedes scoffed at her insulting words. "Ignorance is bliss."  

            "Not when it comes from you." Merlin remarked.  

            Genevieve and Russell both giggled from Merlin's riff on the old owl. In her moment of entertainment, Genevieve noticed that her locket had been pried open in Russell's hands. The smile on her face faded when she asked him, "You opened my locket?"  

            Russell saw that she had addressed him on it, and his own smile disappeared when he realized that she had caught him. He noticed the look of surprise in her face and became numb by it, feeling as if his own mother had caught him doing something without her permission. He felt guilty and had no choice but to admit to the truth: "I-I'm sorry. I only opened it because I wanted to know what was in it. I'm didn't mean to..."  

            He stopped once Genevieve began to chuckle at him – the smile on her face returning. She playfully rubbed the confused Russell's head, pulling his bright yellow cap over his eyes in the process. "It's okay, sweetie," she told him.  

            Pulling his cap back up above his eyes, Russell looked at her, still puzzled. "Y-You aren't mad at me?"  

            "Not at all." Genevieve remarked. "I'm actually rather pleased to see you've taken so much interest in my old past."