Heroes of Dreamland, Book 6: Kirby and the Fountain's Fate (OLD)

~Present Time~ Giving Up Shards, Swords, and Secrets

Clerk's POV:

The Lor Starcutter's lower deck makes for a good place to anxiously pace. That's what I'm doing here right now, in fact. Up the hall and down the hall, past the sitting room, bunk rooms, and kitchen one way, past them all the other way. It's getting to be the middle of the night now, and nobody's come back yet. Sure, I know that they're all probably just staying in more comfortable lodging at the castle, but being here alone with a chunk of a Dark artifact in my pocket is nowhere near enjoyable.

The clock in the sitting room tolls midnight, telling me that I really need to get to bed and try to sleep, but I just can't relax. I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, someone will sneak up to me and steal the shard of Master Crown. Of course, whatever Solar's going to do with it is probably a thousand times worse than what any random Dreamlander would do, but I'm still not excited about just anyone running off with it.

Hoping for the umpteenth time tonight to find something to take my mind off of the current events, I go into the sitting room and rifle through the books on the shelf, trying to find one that I haven't read yet that looks interesting. Just like every other time tonight, nothing seems able to grab my attention well enough, and so I leave the sitting room with another heavy sigh. Just a second later, the lights go out like they did early yesterday afternoon, making me gulp and frightfully wrap my fist around the Master Crown shard in my pocket.

Just like last time, I can hear the sound of candles whooshing into being 'lit' on the piano behind me. "Clerk boy. I thought I'd come and see if ye'd made any progress. Obviously I have no hope that ye have found it already; ye are far too pathetic of a fool for that, but perhaps ye have narrowed down the places it could be?"

Even though every instinct I have tells me to lie, I know that he'd be able to see right through it, so it'd be pointless anyway. And so, with hands shaking like they have been pretty much continuously for the past eleven-plus hours, I pull the shard out of my pocket and hold it out to the side so he can see it without my having to turn around and look at the traitor.

"So ye have somehow found it. Good show, boy. Perhaps ye are not quite as useless as thee look," he chuckles. "Bring it to me, boy."

Swallowing nervously yet again, I turn slowly around and walk over to him, holding it out to him without looking up at him. Even if I never see him again for a thousand years, it'll still be way too soon when I do.

He snatches it out of my hand greedily and spins away to inspect it. "Yes, yes... This will do quite nicely. Good show indeed, my spineless servant. I suppose I should keep up my end of the deal."

Nodding firmly, er, somewhat firmly, anyway, I agree, "You said you'd bring Sakura back safely, from wherever it is you've sent her."

Chuckling, he disagrees, "Where I sent her? Oh, no, no, boy, I didn't send her anywhere. Another friend of hers did that, and quite lousily and too speedily too, for that matter. That friend wanted her to be gone for no time at all and yet forever, but in actuality, she's been gone forever and yet no time at all."

Ignoring my confusion, he goes on as he turns the shard back and forth in his hands, "Our strange friend of many faces and names should be back very soon of her own accord. I simply won't interfere with her return like I would have otherwise. It matters not, one way or another... Wherever she was, she is returning to nothing more than her doom, her friends' doom, thy doom, Dreamland's doom... Oh, I'd even go so far as to say it will be the Galaxy's doom."

"What's your plan? What do you want a chunk of the Master Crown for anyway?" I demand, trying to sound brave. Yeah, I know I've been a coward this whole episode, but I still can try to make up for it at least a little bit. "It's not like you can do much of anything with just that, right?"