The Book of Masks (Vol. 5)

Two Mikos for the Price of One

Previously: "A Metamorphosis" 

You leave Miko's room without touching anything. They said that you had to trust them. There's probably no better way to demonstrate that trust than to throw yourself on their mercy when something like this happens.

But that doesn't mean you have to be stupid about it. You tape a note to the front door, asking Kali to come find you in your bedroom when she gets home. "By yourself, please," you add at the end. You then retreat to your room, close the door and lay on the bed, trying to nap. You don't fall asleep, but you're so exhausted with worry that you do fade in and out of consciousness.

So you're muzzy-headed when you hear a soft knock. "You wanted to see me, child?" Kali says through the door.

"Yeah. Uh, yeah," you repeat, trying to lower the timbre of your voice. You sit up and rub some life back into your face. "Come in." You cover your face with your hands. Let her see your hair first, and then slowly show her the rest.

You hear the door open. There's a pause, and then it shuts again. You peer out through your fingers, take a deep breath, and lower your hands. Kali stares at you a moment. And then her eyebrows arch and her lips compress. "I don't know what happened, Kali," you moan. "I woke up like this. And I've been freaked out about it all day."

"For heaven's sake, child, why didn't you call me?" she says, and her voice cuts the air sharply. "I left you my number. I certainly think this qualifies as an emergency."

You swallow and hang your head. She's right. "I told you, I freaked out. I'm sorry. I guess I haven't been thinking clearly."

"Mm. Whose head exactly have you been thinking with?"

"Mine." You look up sharply. "It's just the look. I don't have anything here." You put a finger to your temple. And then, impulsively, you cock your thumb, pull the trigger, and flop onto your side.

"It might have been better if you had. So what have you been doing all day?"

"Freaking out, I said. I thought about running away." You shrug. "I didn't."

She sniffs. "I'll have to speak to Miko. Privately." She puts her hand on the knob.

"Hide her sword first?"

"Pshaw. You're not the only one in trouble, child," she says, and leaves.

* * * * *

"It's your own fault," Kali says sharply.

"My fault?" Miko screeches. "I'm not the one who--"

"It takes two to make a tangle like this. Will's not in control of himself--as someone of my acquaintance has said already--and I won't have you putting the blame on him."

"It's that damn book," Miko snarls, and her lips peel back from her teeth as she glares at you. "He's got it in his bones now. We'll have to cut it out of him." Her eyes glitter, but then she quails a little. "I'd do it myself, but it would be too weird."

"No one is cutting anyone, not under my roof." Kali crosses her legs and kicks at the air. "Until we find a solution, you're just going to have to live with yourself. In several senses of the phrase."

You're in the living room. The air prickles with electricity. You're grateful for Kali's support, but you know it's not something you can count on. "Believe me, I'd change back in a heartbeat if I knew how to," you say.

"Maybe you just don't want to," Miko snarls.

"Give me an incentive!"

"Don't tempt me!" She comes half out of her seat, but Kali restrains her, and she sits back down with a muttered oath.

"Miko's right about one thing," Kali says. "You and the Libra are now entangled. I confirmed that the first night you were here, so I'll accept a considerable share of the blame for this mess as well. Though I did tell you to be careful around the child," she adds, and casts a sidelong glare at her colleague.

"Well, maybe you could have told me something too," you say in a trembling voice. That gets you a sharp look from her as well, and you glance away. "I'm sorry, Kali. But I'm still freaked out and I want to know--"

"Why are you freaked out, you little shit," Miko demands. "You told us you went around pretending to be a girl while you were--"

"I knew what I was doing then, and yeah, I was wrong to!" you shout back. "I don't know what this is--" You thrust out your arms. "And if I knew what it was I'd change back and wouldn't change back again!"

"There is too much distemper in this room," Kali declares. "Miko, your presence was required, but it is no longer helpful. Kindly retire until I summon you again."

"Who left you in charge?"

"Charles did," Kali snaps, and her flat declaration draws a gasp from Miko. "He was quite clear, and if you doubt my word you can talk to him yourself. Or we can discuss it later, when you're feeling more like yourself."

"Fine. You can practice your speech on this one!" Miko leaps to her feet and strides from the room. Her door slams with a resounding crash.

Kali presses her palms together and says nothing. You feel the need to speak. "Kali, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have-- I'll talk to her."

"Don't. Not at the moment, and not tonight. Miko is angry because she knows she is partly to blame--"

"And I am too?" You clear your throat and change the tenor. "And I am too. So I need to apologize--"

"You are not to blame for anything about this mess. You are a ... a situation that needs careful handling, and you are a situation because of actions that you are responsible for." She seems to weigh her next words carefully. "And, over the long haul--a very long haul--you will have to make ... rectifications. Your being here is part of that process. Perhaps. But this ... Now ... This is something you must suffer with patience and humility, not a sense of guilt." And then, to your immense stupefaction, she throws her head back and smiles widely. "Oh, but it is remarkable, though!"

"What?!" You shudder at the very Miko-like shriek you've made.

"If it had been anyone else, child, even myself-- Oh, but that wouldn't have happened. But if you had ... metamorphosed ... into any other form, we would not be suffering this fraught atmosphere. Really, in and of itself, this is no more significant than any of the other prodigies you have displayed."

That word again: prodigies. "I don't think I like having these 'prodigies'."

"You have them, and you are going to have to live with them. They suit you, and it is becoming clearer and clearer that you are suited for them."

"Oh, Kali," you cry. "I told you nothing surprises me any more. But that doesn't mean I like them."

"You're not used to them. That is partly a matter of this advanced age at which you manifest them. Frank and Joe--and myself, and most of the others of our company--were quite young when we became aware of what we had in store. The world, and everything in it, are quite new to ourselves when we are only seven or eight, or even ten years old. You are already used to it, largely, so anything like this comes as a shock. Joe may have told you some things, and he may have even shown you some of the things he is capable of. But it is quite another to confront your own gifts in the flesh, as it were."

"It seemed normal, somehow, when Frank and Joe were doing them," you grumble.

"Indeed. They wear them well. You'll wear your own with as much ease, child, if you study, and are diligent, and allow us to guide and temper you."

"Wear them," you echo, and can't quite bring yourself to touch yourself. "Wear them, like this?"

"Indeed. The first order of business is finding a way of changing you into some other form." She chews a fingernail and looks at you appraisingly. "I suppose I could try kissing you, as Miko did, and see if you shift into my form."

You cringe, and then redden. "I'm sorry. I don't want it to seem like I find that disgusting."

"No, you merely find it mortifying. It's quite a different emotion. I confess I would have to swallow my own mortification. At the moment I do not much feel like kissing Miko Toyotomi." You only sigh at her jest. "Besides, I doubt it would work. I'm fairly certain this has peculiarly to do with her. She is a catalytic agent--that is her role in our little three-person schoolhouse--and I doubt I'd have the same effect on you."

You pick at the arm chair. (You have Miko's sharp fingernails.) "You said I was entangled with the book. The Libra. Can you explain that to me?"

"You already told me about it yourself. You have passed through it twice, and the first time you said you absorbed its elements into your own being. The things the book is capable of doing, you yourself are now capable of doing."

"Jesus!"

"Pray do not use that name in that way again, child. We are not all of us of the Church, and we are not required to be. But the invocation of such powers is not to be made lightly. But yes, when I examined you that first night, I confirmed that you carry the sigils within you. You are the Libra Personae made flesh."

Your eyes widen in horror.

"Miko knows that too, of course, and she is under strict orders to let you be."

So that's what she meant about "cutting it out" of you.

Kali talks a lot more with you before letting you retire for the night. She stays up.

On your way to your room, you have to pass Miko's door.

Next: "The Stars in Their Courses" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 5)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 5)"