Chương 52: Hush Now

The smitten suitor marched His Highness deeper into the palace gardens, pistol pressed firmly to his temple.

"Ouch." Cinderella gathered herself up from the grass, blinking her eyes back into focus. She touched her cheek where the fist had landed, then wiped a thread of blood from her nose.

"Well. That certainly was unexpected." Drizella came over and helped her to her feet.

"Come along then, let us follow," said Cinderella, and started after them calmly. She was awfully nonchalant for someone whose new love had just been marched off at gunpoint.

"You are not worried," Drizella said.

"Why?"

"Amélie is in love with the prince," said Cinderella with plain confidence.

"She said so herself. She is not going to shoot him, of course." Then her expression turned to something sad, "She is probably feeling lost, and confused. I saw her after the prince passed her by and walked to me. Her heart must have broken. It truly is tragic." So. Very. Tragic. Drizella thought.

"What's wrong?" Cinderella asked, noticing that Drizella lagged, limping, then noticing the wrapping on her thigh.

"Your leg..."

"It's fine," Drizella said. Cinderella looked worried a moment longer, then nodded, and they continued. She slowed her pace to match Drizella's, but it was enough — ahead, the prince seemed to have stopped walking and said something to Amélie.

"Hush, my prince," they heard her say.

"You must trust me now. You will understand later."

"I said that is far enough." The prince mustered what courage he had.

"Lower your pistol at once."

"You must forgive me, my prince," Amélie said in a small, soothing voice, "but it is necessary. You will see. Soon you will understand, we will—" Then she caught sight of Cinderella and Drizella.

"You there! Stop! Don't come near us! I... I will shoot him!"

"Cinderella!" called the prince. Cinderella walked calmly on until she was only a few paces away, and smiled warmly at them both.

"Amélie," she called, her voice warm.

"You love and care for the prince. I can see that. And that is why you need to stop now."

"Shut it, you cow! You don't understand anything!"

"Please," said Cinderella, still smiling gently.

"This is not the same prince you fell in love with. He doesn't know you. You are only frightening him."

"I am not scared," muttered the prince quickly under his breath.

"And what do you mean, not the same prince?"

"Hush, my prince," Amélie pressed a finger to her lips.

"I'll tell you everything soon." Then she turned back to Cinderella, and her face twisted.

"It could be the same prince, if it were not for your meddling, you shameless strumpet!"

"You are right," said Cinderella.

"Though if we are all being honest, he and I were together much earlier."

"I don't care about that!" barked Amélie.

"Right now, as you can plainly see, he is with me!" Cinderella was quiet a moment. Then, warm as ever: "Please, think it through. You are a beautiful, delicate, loving girl, I can see that clearly. You deserve someone who will love and adore you, nothing less. And a girl who charmed this prince could charm many more. Surely, surely you must see this cannot work."

"I don't want anyone else," Amélie said, in earnest.

"And it will work. I will... I will make it work somehow. I'll tell him everything, about every time we were together. I only need to remind him! I'll read to him from my journal. He will believe me. He will, eventually, you'll see. He loved me before. Nothing has changed. He only needs reminding, that is all." She looked at the prince, a teardrop at the corner of her eye.

"We were together five different cycles," she said, quieter now.

"Each time meant more than the last. The way we connected... we had something special." She stopped, and turned suddenly bashful.

"We were intimate, too. We even... bedded together, one night. Still unwed."

"You did?" asked Drizella.

"You did?" asked Cinderella.

"Do stop this nonsense!" said the prince, his voice a little shaky.

"I do not know you, miss, and you clearly have some... trouble with your mind. But this tomfoolery has gone far enough. I am warning you, release me at once!"

"Hush, my prince," she shushed him yet again, soothing.

"We just need to get far away from these people. I know just the place — calm and quiet, and there we will talk through everything." Cinderella and Amélie kept at it, the argument going back and forward, and Drizella got bored of it all. Standing still like this, doing nothing, she felt the pull to become an object again. No. She would not just stand here. She would resolve this situation herself.

She took a few slow steps back into the thicket, and as the three of them kept arguing, she circled around behind Amélie.

"So you see," Amélie was saying, "I was thinking of this cabin by the sea I know of. I'll cook him duck in orange sauce, which he is so fond of, while he tells me all about his stargazing—""Wait," said the prince.

"How... how did you know of—""Hush now. In time, we will—" But Drizella had already stepped out from behind a nearby tree. She came up quick and quiet behind Amélie, closed a strong grip over the pistol, and forced the barrel aside. Amélie tried to wrench the pistol back, and when that failed, swung her free fist at Drizella's face. Drizella tilted aside, caught the flying fist, and bent the arm back, folding Amélie down onto the ground. The pistol dropped from her fingers into the grass.

"Ahh!" Amélie cried out.

"My arm... Prince, no!" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The prince moved quickly to Cinderella. They hugged, then held hands, and he fussed with great concern over her bruised eye and nose, while she assured him it was not a life threatening condition. Amélie turned a hateful gaze up at Drizella from the ground.

"It's you! The stupid macaron servant!" She bucked and twisted against the hold, but Drizella's grip on her bent arm turned every struggle into her own pain.

"Calm yourself," Drizella said. Amélie tried to free herself one more time, then finally went still. Defeated.

"Drizella." Cinderella came over and laid a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't be harsh on her. Despite it all, I don't think she meant true harm." Drizella didn't respond. Cinderella and the prince took their leave. If Cinderella knew what she had done to Caroline and Josef, she probably wouldn't have left Amélie in her care. But she didn't know. And Amélie didn't know who she was, either. Drizella released her hold. Amélie didn't rush anywhere. She just sat there, hugging her crossed legs, looking down, defeated.

"He is... gone. My prince... we will never be together." Drizella didn't speak.

"It was silly," Amélie continued.

"Thinking about it now. Me, a princess?" She gave a small chuckle.

"A silly dream. But... it was nice, having that dream. I really believed it, you know. That I could be with him..." It was strange, but Amélie spoke to her almost companionably now. It seemed that, having accepted defeat, she no longer saw Drizella as an enemy. And as a consequence, Amélie did not think she was in any mortal danger at all.

"And where is that lousy Caroline anyway?" Amélie said.

"This is all her fault, for never expecting Cinderella to show her face! She swore I would have the prince as sure as daylight!"

"I know where Caroline is," said Drizella.

"Come." Drizella started walking, and Amélie got up slowly and followed.

"I shouldn't have done it," Amélie said in a small, meek voice as she trailed behind.

"Punching Cinderella. Kidnapping the prince. My pistol wasn't even loaded. I just... I didn't know what else to do." Amélie kept talking, about the prince, how they used to talk, and laugh, and kiss. Drizella didn't listen.

"Inside that arbor." Drizella gestured.

"I... thank you," Amélie said. She walked to the entrance, to where the inside came into view. And screamed her lungs out.

"No! Caroline!" Her voice broke, a hand pressed over her mouth.

"Joseph too. No!"

"But... how..." Her eyes were welling now, turning slowly toward Drizella." I t wa s m e." Drizella said in her hollow, wrong voice.

"I know who you are!" Amélie gasped, pale as bone.

"The dead time looper. You are her. Drizella!" She backed away, step after stumbling step, eyes streaming.

"No... stay away!" Drizella didn't want Amélie getting away. She was contemplating shooting her leg when two figures emerged from behind the large bushes—Juliette and James. Juliette crossed to the frightened Amélie in a few quick steps, caught her arm, twisted it behind her back, and laid a long knife against her neck. James just smile and looked smug.

"Oh no," Amélie cried.

"Oh please no. No, no. Don't kill me. I had nothing to do with anything. I don't know anything!"

"Stupid girl," said Juliette.

"Thought it all a fun game, with a ball and a prince. But really, you stepped into a bloody war, and right now your side is losing badly."

"No, no, no," Amélie whimpered on, barely words at all.

"Do shut it," said Juliette.

"You see, you are still part of the Julian group. And they have caused us great grievance." She explained it softly, the knife's point wandering as she spoke, temple, neck, chest.

"But that is nothing compared to what your people did to our Drizella here. Dead. Gone to hell. Look at her. See what is left. An empty, murderous puppet."

"I'm so sorry, please, I had nothing to do with it, please believe me. I will tell you... whatever you want to know!"

"But you just said you don't know anything!" Juliette barked at her.

"So really, what are you good for?"

"I... I... sorry!"

"We will let Drizella here decide your fate. She was wronged the most." Juliette looked into Drizella's empty eyes and recoiled slightly.

"What will it be?" Drizella noticed that for all the little emotion the puppet had, when it did feel something lately, it was mostly violent things. As if, slowly, something dark was taking up residence in her emptiness—something that wanted to hurt people. But as Amélie's luck would have it, Drizella didn't want to kill her. In fact, when Amélie punched Cinderella and put a pistol to the prince's temple, it made Drizella like her. Well, not like exactly.

But any killing urge had vanished—and for the puppet, that was something.

"Release her," said Drizella, and Juliette did. Drizella walked slowly toward Amélie. She shrank back a step, eyes welling again.

"What...?"

"I need your help," said Drizella.

"Anything! So... please..." She wiped her tears, but new ones came right behind.

"But before that, I have something to do," Drizella said.

"You will wait for me here." Amélie wiped her tears again and nodded. And Drizella took off.

"Wait," Juliette called after her.

"Do we need to guard her? Tie her, or something?" Drizella ignored her. It didn't matter. She didn't think Amélie would run. The girl was far too frightened of her to dare cross her now. Drizella needed to find Cinderella. After today, she would probably never see her again. It was time to say farewell. She searched the garden paths a while, until she spotted Cinderella and the prince sitting at the fountain's rim, deep in some long and serious talk.

Cinderella probably felt the need to explain everything about the time loop, so he would understand what had happened tonight. It was a hard thing to explain. Drizella went over to them and stood quietly. The prince rose and bowed slightly.

"I want to thank you," he said.

"Cinderella told me what you did for her. For us. We are truly in your debt." Drizella said nothing.

"I will leave you two to speak," the prince said. He nodded to Cinderella, who smiled warmly at him, then headed back toward the palace. Cinderella smiled at Drizella and gestured for her to come sit beside her. Drizella came and sat.

"So, how is Amélie?" Cinderella asked.

"Fine," Drizella said.

"I didn't—" kill her "—she will be helping me with a few matters."

"That's good," said Cinderella, with a small tilt of her head.

"Did you... want to talk about something?"

"I'll be going soon," Drizella said.

"Then... this body will die. And I will probably never see you again." Cinderella's face fell.

"You... oh, but why? I mean, I read about it all in the journal, but I still wondered. If the loop ends and your body remains, couldn't you stay? I know you don't... feel much, but maybe you could learn it again? Get better, little by little? I could help you. I'd read to you, and talk with you, and..."

"Cinderella."

"... and even if it took years, I wouldn't mind, I truly wouldn't..." Drizella tried her hardest, to talk normal, to gather up what remained of the soul shard and be present, one last time.

"There's less of me in this body every day," she said.

"I can feel it. And I think... it is being replaced by something else. Something scary. In weeks from now, at most, nothing of Drizella will remain." Tears were sliding down Cinderella face now.

"But this is not the real Drizella," she said.

"The real me is in hell, and it's not so bad. I have a life there. There, I eat mushroom soup, and get scolded for wandering off, and teach card games to a talking skeleton, and recite Fifi stories to a much too young girl. I have friends there. When this puppet lies down for the last time, it will be a good thing for me." Cinderella's grip tightened around her hand. She didn't bother wiping her own tears, letting them flow free. She nodded.

"I'll have so many things to tell you..." Cinderella said in a low voice.

"And if I... someday become queen..."

"There are ways to talk between the worlds," Drizella said.

"Remember the letter you sent for me. And the Thomas Thomas can speak with the high demon through those skeleton dolls. So someday, maybe, I will be able to talk to you."

"I'll wait for that," Cinderella said, visibly encouraged. That was it. There wasn't anything left to say.

"Goodbye," said Drizella. Then Cinderella did something weird. She leaned in and kissed Drizella on the lips. Drizella didn't understand why, but suddenly she felt again, and weirdly enough, of all things, it was a feeling of regret. Drizella got up, and without a word, turned and walked back. There would be no more Cinderella in her life — but that was coming anyway. She had died, after all. Still, she felt clear, obvious, human sadness. It was the closest thing to pain this body had ever felt.

But there was still work left to do. She headed back to the arbor where she had left Amélie. Amélie was still waiting for her. That said, she was also tied up. Drizella walked over and untied her.

"Th... thank you," Amélie murmured as the rope came away.

"What do we do now?"

"Go to that tool shed," Drizella pointed.

"Get a shovel. Then we are going to Boulogne."

"Boulogne... the town?" asked Amélie.

"What for?"

"I need you to dig me a grave."