Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Twenty-Four

After a surprising number of warm days in a row, Jack had taken refuge in the solarium. It was cooler there, due to all the falling water, and the deep shadows under the trees offered respite from the sun beating in through the windows. It had changed even more since the last time he'd come, with flocks of birds flying overhead and the glass arching so high that it no longer felt like being inside. It was a forest in a room.

Jack sometimes wondered why it had changed so dramatically, but suspected it had something to do with Michael. As Elliot would tell his stories about the great forests, Michael would lay back, his eyes dark and fey, and the grasses would curl around him, bursting into flower or going to seed. Before Michael, or Elliot for that matter, the room had been quaint, little more than a sun porch. He remembered a small window seat where he had laid to read one day. Now, when Michael walked by, the plants all seemed to turn towards him, reaching out for his touch, and the walls would move outward to delay his leaving.

Elliot and Michael loved the solarium. More often than not they would be swimming in the large fountain, or laying in hammocks and talking. Elliot was able to remember quite a lot from before he came, and his stories about his travels were almost too strange to believe. He mainly talked about the forest, though. He had come from a place where a great city was nestled in the heart of the mountains and had spent most of his time wandering far from the edges of civilization, meeting strange creatures and finding secret places nestled in the valleys.

Today, however, the solarium was empty. Even the birds had gone and only a quiet breeze was left to rustle the leaves. Jack had spent the morning dozing in a hammock by the river, trailing his fingers in the water and watching small fish circle curiously. Early in the afternoon, when the sun was at its highest peak, Jack finally heard Elliot coming, crunching loudly over fallen leaves and twigs.

He was even bigger than usual, and when he saw Jack he stopped abruptly, looking at him from under his brows. "Oh... Who're you?" he said.

Jack stared for a moment. "I'm Jack..." he said, "What do you mean? You know who I am."

"Do I?" Elliot asked. He shook his head. "This seems like the helm, but I've never seen it quite so..." He looked around and shugged, "Leafy?"

Jack laughed. "This is your first day back isn't it?"

"Oh! Oh, good! I was really hoping I was back," Elliot said. "It's been a long, long time. I've had a lot of searchin' to do."

Suddenly, a colorful swarm of butterflies appeared around them, their wings sparkling transparently like opals in the sunbeams.

"Michael!" Elliot yelled, and jumped around looking for him. "Michael! I would know those butterflies anywhere! Where is he?"

Michael walked up, curious, and Elliot grabbed him around the waist and lifted him into the air, spinning in circles. "Michael! I'm so glad you're still here! Do you remember me? It's, Elliot!"

Michael laughed, though he had to gasp it out as he could hardly breathe. "Put me down you oaf, of course I remember you, you've been here for ages already! You're always thinking in your own time..."

Elliot set Michael down and he wobbled on his legs a bit.

"I haven't seen you like this for a while," Elliot said. "Things are always changing." His face turned serious. "I made a mistake, though," he said, "I'm not going to be here very long."

"You did it again didn't you?" Michael's face fell. "Every time you come. Oh well, we'll have to hope for the most time we can get."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Every time I've come in the past, I always accidentally leave right away," Elliot said. "It's rather difficult for me to get here. I'm always going through these bizarre places. Sometimes I can't tell if it's the helm or not. This time I appeared right in the entrance hall, and I walked out the door without thinking. I feel kinda stupid now." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around.

"Do you know how long it is?" Michael asked. He sounded cheerful, but Jack could hear a note of sadness in his voice. Jack understood, he'd come to take Elliot for granted, even though he'd only been here for a short time.

"Longer this time, I think. It's still a little ways off. I can feel it out there, though."

Michael sat down. "In that case, let's not worry about it. Since you're new we won't ask for any stories today since we've probably heard half of them already."

They all sat under the trees for a while, and Michael talked to Elliot about the helm. Elliot went on for a while about an old room Jack had never seen full of musical instruments, but Michael said it was probably too far away to reach it at this point. Jack remembered his long walk with Daerk on that first night and wondered if this had something to do with him. He hoped not.

"You know, you look a bit strange like this." Elliot said to Michael.

"I look strange?" Michael asked. "How so?"

"Your ears are all funny," Elliot said. "And your eyes...or maybe, they're not funny, which looks funny." Elliot laughed. "You're like a person."

As Michael and Elliot talked, Jack pulled out Daerk's book and scanned the pages. The poetry was always different, but it felt familiar to him, now. As if it was telling him things. Elliot saw the book and did a double take.

"Oh, hey, that's Wynne's old notebook isn't it?" he said.

"Wynne's?" Jack asked. "But Daerk gave it to me."

"That makes sense. I gave it to Daerk before I left last time. Wynne gave it to me when I asked her to teach me how to make things like she does. I think she wrote it herself."

Jack looked at the little book. "People keep saying it taught them things, but I don't really understand. It's always full of poetry when I read it."

"Ah, well, that's the point, isn't it? You can't teach people how to be creative, you can only inspire them to it."

"Can I see it?" Michael asked. "I remember you looking through this all the time, Elliot, but I don't think I ever read it."

Michael was quiet for a while as he read. Jack and Elliot started chatting, but it soon became apparent that something was happening. Michael's eyes were wild, and a look of fierce joy spread over his face. His arms were full of goosebumps and a light wind had picked up around them, setting the leaves to whispering.

"Michael?" Elliot asked quietly. "Michael, what's wrong?"

Michael look up at them and he had tears in his eyes. "Wrong? Wrong? How could anything ever be wrong again?!" He leapt to his feet, and his robes swirled around him. The wind picked up even more and the light dimmed. He had a glow around his eyes and arms, like his happiness couldn't be contained within his small frame and it was escaping in great flares of joyful light.

"I never knew! I never realized how free we really are! Look! We can do anything!" He waived a hand and the glass of the dome above them shattered into a million glittering shards, turning slowly as they fell and dissolved into snow. The wind blew harder and seemed to come swirling from all directions, causing the trees around them to crack and fall away. The lattice of dome began to glow red hot, curling and melting until it ran into the water, billowing with steam. The air turned blue, and then the light shifted and Jack saw new colors he couldn't comprehend. Reality twisted into new shapes. The helm disappeared into ash and the world turned to void beneath their feet.

"We are free to live," Michael said, his voice a song in uncountable octaves, a texture of sound weaving in and out of understanding. "We are free to create what we will, and be what we want! We are free to think nothing, or everything, and walk the edges of reality, taking it apart with a wish!"

Suddenly, there was a sound like a bullwhip and the smell of lightning. They were sitting back in the solarium, under a tree, and the birds were chirping as if nothing had happened.

Wynne was standing there beside them. "It's not time for that, yet, Michael."

He smiled merrily. "Oh, I know. Your writing is very clear, I didn't miss anything."

"That doesn't mean you can't continue as you were though," she said. "You'll need to relax, it's a lot harder out there on your own. You won't be destroying next time."

Michael nodded soberly, and Wynne walked away.

"What happened?" Elliot asked.

"I think I discovered my true nature," Michael said handing the small book back to Jack.

Jack took it gingerly.