Elements of Glory: The Princess of Nothing

’Make sure they understand it all, Thulinon… don’t just tell it to them, teach it to them…’

-Thaddeus to Thulinon, before he was brought in to teach John and Samantha

Thulinon led John and Samantha into a part of the mansion they’d never seen before. They hurried up the spiral staircase of a little-used tower, following him up to a thick door of rough brown wood, which he opened and walked through. Beyond the door was a dim chamber, filled with shelves of jars and bottles, some holding strange dead things surrounded by green or gold liquid. The room smelled dusty and musty with a touch of formaldehyde. There were windows in the room, but all of them were shuttered, except one. The single window was only half open, letting in a long shaft of light that fell on a large, old-fashioned, oak desk that was covered in parchment and silver trinkets. There was one big chair behind the desk, and two smaller, less ostentatious, ones in front of it.

‘Sit,’ Thulinon commanded, and took a seat in the big chair behind the desk that was finished in red velvet, with gold trimming and carved lion-head arms.

John and Samantha sat down in the smaller, creaky, wooden chairs. John was feeling fully nervous and uncomfortable, but Samantha sat back in her chair, arms folded, staring at Thulinon in a way that suggested to him that she wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

That’s okay, Samantha, I’ll be scared enough for both of us, John thought miserably.

Thulinon stared harshly at Samantha for a long moment, but then glanced at John, making the boy shiver. When Thulinon spoke, his voice was deep and smooth, like it had been when John and Samantha first met him.

‘Your lives are about to change,’ the robed man said grimly.

‘Wh-’

Thulinon went on, not allowing Samantha to interrupt.

’You, like all the others who’ve passed through this orphanage, are not from this world. You are from a place called Other-realm. It is a world in reality – another… Universe… if you will.’ Thulinon laced his long pale fingers in front of him and went on, ’Twenty-two cycles ago, all one hundred and ten of you were gathered by an evil Wasgician. He used your combined powers for terrible evil deeds... Following his dark purpose, you were all scattered, hidden. You were gathered into this world, kept protected and safe.’

John stared at Thulinon in dismay. He knew it couldn’t be true. It was too silly. Yet the greasy-haired man spoke with such conviction... could it be anything but the truth?

‘When you were brought here,’ Thulinon continued, ’the lot of you had reverted into your initial cocoon stage… you see, after the evil Wasgician used your powers toward his own end, you, all of you, for lack of a better term, died.’

‘Now I know you’re full of-’

Thulinon held up a finger to Samantha. ‘You may voice all of your concerns and disbelief when I’m done. For now, dear girl, I would ask, please, let me finish.’

Samantha blinked at Thulinon. John was startled that he’d actually managed to leave his friend at a loss for words.

Lacing his fingers together once more, Thulinon continued, ’You needed to restore and reclaim yourselves, you see. Some of your brothers and sisters broke from their cocoons quickly. Reggie was the first. All of you left your cocoons as babies, and grew up as normal children.’ Thulinon nodded to John and Samantha. ’You two were the last to be... re-born.’

John and Samantha stared at Thulinon. They blinked in disbelief.

Samantha said, ’You don’t really expect us to believe that, do you?’ She spoke it half-boldly, and seemed a little warier now, as she spoke to Thulinon.

’Yes, I do,’ Thulinon replied without even the slightest hesitation, ’because it’s true.’ He looked down, opened a drawer in his desk, and withdrew two crystal orbs. He set them down on the desk in front of John and Samantha. ’Cocoon is just a term so that you’ll understand. These are actually more than that. They’re refuges, homes, and there are now one hundred and ten of these in this world, and one hundred and ten in Other-realm. With the right kind of Gemgic on the other end, any one of you will be drawn back into this, and brought through an identical one in Other-realm.’

John stared at the orb. It wasn’t much bigger than a throw-ball, smooth, pearly… it was actually kind of beautiful, but he couldn’t ever imagine being crammed inside of it.

‘What form you will take when you are released in Other-realm is anyone’s guess,’ Thulinon said, snapping his fingers and drawing John’s attention away from the ball, and back to his narrow pale face. ’But one thing is sure. Once you pass back through, what little protection you have left – from just being in this realm – will be gone. You will be on your own, at the whim of whoever pulls you through. Now that the main porthole is open again, this could happen at any moment. Therefore, we have no more time to waste. I must teach you both everything I can, as quickly as I can.’

’Teach us what?’ John asked in dismay.

‘How to protect yourselves from evil, and how to harness your powers,’ Thulinon explained as if it were simple common sense. ’You see, in Other-realm, you and those like you are called Elements of Glory. You were once the most powerful beings in that realm, until evil crept into the Eight Kingdoms of the North, and you lost your place, and the Great Council fell. Then you were scattered, and people worked to use your power to their own ends. For many cycles this went on. All of you scattered, running for your lives, until Ratikgurr and his evil of twenty-two cycles ago… and now, here we are.’

The tower room fell deathly silent. John and Samantha stared at Thulinon like he was from another planet.

Thulinon glared back, stony-faced.

’This is insane!’ Samantha finally cried, standing up. She turned away, running her fingers through her thick blonde hair. Finally, she spun back to Thulinon. ’You’re insane!’

’You need more convincing? Maybe this will help… now that you’re fourteen you should both be seeing them anyway, but…’ Thulinon looked around the room, and then he let his eyes focus on the top of a jar-filled shelf across the way. ‘Wuzzul, Whirligig, show yourselves!’

‘We am scared,’ a funny voice said from the top of the shelf. It was almost like a child’s voice, cute in its way, high-pitched and a little nasally. John and Samantha stared toward the shelf. They saw nothing – only the glass jugs and bottles.

I’m going mad, that’s what it is! I’m going mad! Hearing voices, that’s one of the first things they say! Oh, blast, I don’t want to go crazy!

‘They am different than before,’ another voice said, this one small and squeaky like the first.

’You are, nevertheless, their protectors, and they need your help, now more than ever,’ Thulinon said evenly.

‘Me can protect them invisible like all them cycles before,’ the first voice said defiantly.

‘Me can too,’ the other voice agreed.

’Them don’t even believe in us,’ the first voice pouted.

’Them don’t even believe in anything,’ the second voice sniffled, and truly sounded like whoever owned the voice had started crying.

’What in the poop is going on?’ John demanded, feeling his hands shaking.

’Wuzzul! Whirligig! That is enough playing around! You two know your duty,’ Thulinon growled, sounding impatient.

‘Wanna guard invisible!’ the first voice complained.

’NOW!’ Thulinon roared.

There was chattering in a language John didn’t understand, and then, two furry things, about half a metron tall, jumped down from the top of the shelf, becoming visible and landing on large, furry, feet. Both creatures were plump, and one was covered in golden fur, while the other was midnight black. The creatures had cute faces and little button noses. The blonde one wore a little vest and slacks, and had large beaver-like teeth.

The black one had big ears sticking out the side of his head, and a long, panther-like, tale. Both of the creatures stared up at John and Samantha, with large, blue eyes, and gave them small, nervous, smiles.

’WHOW!’ Samantha yelped suddenly, jumping back and running her hands through her hair again. ‘What in the world?’

‘Me am, Wuzzul,’ the blonde creature said, pointing at himself.

‘Me am Whirligig,’ the other offered, bowing. He looked up at John. ‘Me am you Protector.’ He smiled a crooked, uncomfortable, smile.

’And me am you protector, Samantha,’ Wuzzul said, nodding to the girl.

Samantha looked at Thulinon, wide-eyed. ‘This is a trick, right! Some kind of animatronics…’ She looked back at Wuzzul and Whirligig, and her face fell into disbelief. ’Really, really, really good animatronics.’ Samantha’s tone told John she didn’t even believe what she was saying.

‘No,’ Thulinon replied, drawing Samantha’s eye, ’this is really, really, really, real.’

John looked at Thulinon and felt suddenly a little excited. ‘Reggie,’ he said, suddenly, ’he pointed at something… I couldn’t see it… it was one of these?’

Thulinon nodded. ’All of the Elements of Glory have one. The Dooys are your protectors and friends… old Gemgic powered types from Other-Realm called them familiars. They’ve been with you ever since your first life. Now that you’ve seen Wuzzul and Whirligig, you’ll see all of the others. Also, if you want them to, they can tell you about who you were then… I mean, in your life before. They’ve been watching all of you for the last twenty-two cycles, even when you were in your cocoons. They have Gemgic special to their own kind, and can transport to Other-realm, even without the porthole. They’re the ones who brought you all here.’

Thulinon looked at Wuzzul and Whirligig, smiling softly – something that looked, somehow, wrong on his face. ‘These two spent many cycles just sitting by your crystal orbs, waiting for you to emerge. Then – because you weren’t of age yet – they hid, invisible, watching you and protecting you every day of your lives. They’ll continue from now on…’ Thulinon’s face fell. He looked truly sad and worried. ’Though I fear the dangers you will face might be too much for even their powers.’

Wonderful, just find out that I have super powers, and a little side-kick, learn they’re powerful in their own right, and then get slapped down with the fact that even they might not be able to protect me… Great, wonderful! I love it.

Samantha let out a sigh and flopped down in her chair again. ’This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening,’ she told herself.

‘Reggie took it a little worse than you, Samantha,’ Thulinon explained grimly. ’I warn you about hanging on to this world too much, it is not your home. You are only here temporarily... that’s the way it was always going to be.’

‘Are you saying, no matter what, one way or another we’re going back to this… what did you call it…?’

‘Other-realm,’ Thulinon said to John. ’Yes, that’s true… you have work to do there. Evil wants the Elements of Glory… but good needs them.’

Wuzzul walked around to Samantha and looked up at her, giving a weak smile. ‘Me am glad you’re seeing me again, Samantha,’ he said. ‘Me missed my friend.’

Samantha stared at Wuzzul for a long time. Then she gave a very small smile, which was part acceptance, part kindness. ‘Were we very good friends?’ she asked.

Wuzzul grinned. ‘Mmm-mmm,’ he said excitedly.

Samantha grinned back at him and then leaned forward, scratching his furry cheek. ‘You’re kind of cute, you know.’

John looked down when he felt a tugging on his trouser leg. He saw Whirligig holding his tail in one hand, tugging on John’s trousers with the other. He stared up at John, wide-eyed. ‘Am me cute too?’ he asked, eagerly.

John chuckled genuinely. ‘Yeah,’ he said, leaning forward and patting the little guy on the head.

‘Right,’ Thulinon spoke up, his voice stern as usual, ’now, let’s get down to business. There is much you need to learn, and I don’t know how much time you have to learn it in. No doubt, even now, forces are moving in Other-realm. So, look lively, and listen carefully.’

As Thulinon began explaining about Other-realm and the powers that John, Samantha, and all the other orphans could harness, Wuzzul climbed up onto Samantha’s lap, and Whirligig onto John’s. They sat there, holding onto their big plumb and grape-sized toes, listening attentively and adding things when they felt it prudent.

There was so much to learn, and their sessions continued on through the day and into the evening. John felt like his head was spinning with all the information he was learning, but, at the same time, it all seemed to find places in his mind, as if it fit perfectly, as if, though he was just learning it, he’d always known it. It all felt so right. He wondered, as he was taught, what was happening in Other-realm, and when he would get to see it…

…Again…