#17 - Words That We Say

By Gary Dreslinski

Garrett Castle June 15, 1962

There was a soft tapping on his door, polite, but just hard enough that it would be wake him up. He’d always been a light sleeper, and he didn’t even have to wonder who would be knocking on his door in the middle of the night.

"Come in," he announced, shifting in bed to make room. His 8 year sister, Joanna, walked in, clutching her stuffed bear, Mr. Churchill. "That dream again?"

She nodded, "He’s in trouble."

"The Black Knight?"

She nodded again, firmly, "I think he’s going to die."

"I’m really sorry I told you that story about the castle… you know it’s just a legend right?"

She nodded. "But it’s true…"

He rolled his eyes and patted the other side of the bed, "Come on. You can sleep here tonight."

"Thanks Nate," she said, her dimples coming out when she smiled. She snuggled up tight against her brother, who wrapped his arm around her protectively. "You’re going to protect me right?"

He patted her back reassuringly, "That’s what brothers are for silly. Now we need to go to sleep…"

Joanna when he closed his eyes he could see her

when he closed his eyes, there was always a chance that she would be gone again there was always a chance that he wasn’t opening them again

there was always a chance

he held on to that, there was always a chance

"I have something important for you to do"

Brian Braddock had changed over the years, from first taking on the mantle of Captain Britain, to becoming the King of Overworld. But Sersi knew who he was, down deep inside. She could tell the quality of the man, the strength of his character. Dane didn’t like the way that she looked at him. He was a handsome, powerful man. Dane didn’t like the way she looked at him at all.

Brian didn’t seem to be addressing him at all, his eyes instead going to Sersi. Maybe it was just paranoia. Yeah, it had to be that. He led the Pendragons after all - if Brian were to send someone on a mission, it would the his right hand, not the girlfriend of his right hand.

They talked a bit about it. Dane was sure to ask some specific questions. It was a strange request after all. Besides, it forced Brian to keep his eyes, and attention, off of Sersi for a moment.

In the end, they left Overworld and went to Asgard, as Brian had asked. It had taken some doing, but the piece of wood had been obtained, and they were transported back to England, to keep it safe, until the time was right.

Dane licked his lips. They were dry. It was almost time. He could feel it.

there was always a chance

"I think he’s going to die"

Yggdrasil. The World Tree. The foundation of the universe.

Dane Whitman didn’t want to touch it. Much less take a cutting from it. But that was what he was there to do. The Valkyrior eyed him carefully. They had been given instructions not to interfere with what he was doing, but he could tell that they didn’t like it. They wanted to kill him. They wanted to tear him apart, and scatter whatever pieces of him were still recognizable to the winds. Obviously, he thought, he must have dated them all that one point…

He didn’t want to touch the tree. Much less take from it. But Brian had been clear. It was needed. A piece of wood that would make all the difference… that would change lives.

He looked over to Sersi. She smiled at him, while continuing to give the Valkyries a hard look that told them if they chose a fight over following orders they would find that messing with an Avenger came with a price.

It came with a price…

The Sword of Light cut into the World Tree… Dane could almost hear it scream.

The Valkyrior winced as one. It was screaming… the world was screaming… he was doing something very wrong…

he was following orders

Brian had told him

An energy came out of the tree… enveloping him for a moment, dropping him to his feet…

he almost lost his grip on the sword, but held it firm, muttering the name of the Lady of the Lake through his clenched teeth, muttered to through his pain…

At last it dispersed, and Dane found himself holding a piece of the Yggdrasil in his hand. Sersi was staring at him, a look of horror on her face.

It would be a while before he would know why, before he knew that there had been a price, that price being his youth. The cutting of a piece of the World Tree had cost him years off his lifespan.

He watched Sersi’s eyes start to drift from him… it had cost him so much…

it was almost time there was always a chance "I think he’s going to die"

He could hear his mother crying in the other room. He wanted to go to her. But he knew that he couldn’t. It was all his fault after all.

If he had never been born…

Dane kept playing with his toys, wondering what it would be like if he had never been born, wondering if everyone would be happy again. He wondered if he was still going to get hot dogs for lunch, or if his mom was going to stay in her room again, and forget.

His uncle Nate would be coming soon, she had told him that much. So things were going to be ok. Uncle Nate would make sure his mother was happy. Maybe they’d go back to England. Nate was always talking about England… maybe they’d all be happy there.

He could still taste Crystal’s lips on his own, even after she’d walked out the door. She was going back to he with Pietro, her estranged husband, the mutant named Quicksilver. If Pietro had walked through the door, Dane knew that he would have sliced him in two, fellow Avenger or not.

Another woman… another chance at happiness, gone.

He could hear his mother crying in the other room. It was almost time there was always a chance "he’s going to die"

DANE

The Lady of Lake stood before him. He stared at her for a moment, wondering why he had never noticed before how much she looked like his mother. Maybe that was just the image she was projecting to him, to make it easier for him to comprehend who and what she was. A maternal figure, so she used the image he would associate. It made sense, but he had never really stopped to think about it before.

YOU MUST NOT DO THAT

"Do what?"

HOLD THE TRANSFORMATION. THERE IS TOO MUCH STRAIN OF THE MAGICKS, ON YOUR BODY

He was going to say something in his defense. But he stopped himself. There really was no defense. He had been turned into an old man. When he called on the power of Avalon, arming himself as the Black Knight, defender of the realm, he became a young man again. It was just so easy to justify staying like that. Young, handsome, vital. After all, the world behind the Black Mass Barrier had become so unpredictable, so dangerous. If something were to happen, he might not have time to call out "Avalon" and become the Black Knight. It was just easier to stay him…

YOU MUST NOT DO THAT AGAIN. IF I DID NOT INTERVENE, YOU WOULD HAVE DIED

Dane felt the pain in his chest again, touching the amulet around his neck. It would be so easy to stop the pain, all he had to do was to call on the power of Avalon. All he had to do was to become young again.

YOU WILL DIE

"I think he’s going to die" Dane heard the voice again, the one he heard in his dreams. It was his mother’s voice, from when she was a girl. He never asked her about it, or any of the other times he saw her in his dreams. He hadn’t really understood them back then, and when he did, it was far too late to ask questions.

The world hiccuped, just for a moment. A storm was raging in Eastern Europe, tearing things apart, changing the "way things worked". Something passed through the walls between the worlds, something passed through the Black Mass Barrier and into a world transformed. He took a long look around, and sniffed the air, searching for his prey. It was no where around… he grunted. Sooner or later he would pick up the scent again. Then he could kill them. Until then Mastodon examined his new surroundings, grateful that he was able to do that again. There had been a point that Timothy Halloran, the young man inside the monster, had lost control during the transformation. It was like when the Hulk, in the comics, changed. He would just attack, attack and eat whatever or whoever happened to be in his path.

That was one thing they never talked about with the Hulk. Maybe they just didn’t like discussing it.

He stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next. Clearly he was someplace else. Where? He had no idea. Why? He couldn’t get himself to care all that much. He was someplace new, which meant that those things really didn’t matter. So he chose to jump left. Wherever he came down, well… that would be somewhere new as well. Which suited him just fine.

I HAVE NEED OF YOU.

"What do you need?"

FOR YOU TO BE THERE WHEN I CALL. I DO NOT NEED A DEAD MAN

"Can you return my youth then? I’m not much use in my current condition."

YOU ARE AS YOU SHALL BE. I WILL NOT INTERFERE THERE.

"But…"

YOU WILL SERVE WHEN I CALL. YOU WILL NOT FALTER IN THIS.

Dane stared at her for a moment, wanting to speak his mind about what he thought of orders. But this was the Lady of the Lake. He had left her service once before, and swore never to do again. He wouldn’t risk losing her again…

YOU ARE AS YOU NEED TO BE. REMEMBER THIS.

He nodded.

YOU WILL SEE HER SOON. SHE WILL LIE.

"Who?"

The Lady did not answer, but rather stared at him sadly, and vanished from his view.

Dane Whitman knew that he wasn’t on the floor where he had fallen. He was flat on his back, but it was much higher, much softer than he remembered it being. He turned his head, expecting it to hurt. He wasn’t disappointed. Still, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. He looked down at his hands, they weren’t gloved, they weren’t young.

He was in a bed. Somewhere. He sat up, to better get his bearings. His hand went to his head, "too quick" he chastised himself. Still, it was better to be too quick than too slow.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up." A woman said from the corner. He looked over as Sersi got up out of the recliner and walked to him.

He flashed her a smile, "It takes more than that to take me down. You should know that."

She smiled back. "I wanted to make sure you were alright."

He reached out for her hand, "Now I am. I was so worried about you."

She didn’t reach back. He withdrew his hand in silence. She stood beside him for a moment, as if trying to come up with the words. "I’m glad you’re alright." She told him, "But it’s over."

"What is?" he asked, with an edge in his voice. Something was going on here that he didn’t understand.

"Me - you - us. I don’t think it’s working out. I think we need to take a step back and see who we are, what we want out of life. I guarantee that when you do that, you’re going to see that it’s for the best."

"What are you talking about?"

"I still want to be your friend Dane. You’re very special to me, and I don’t want to lose that."

Dane stared at her blankly. The words just wouldn’t form themselves on his lips.

"I really think that…"

Sersi stopped in mid-sentence, staring over Dane’s shoulder. He half-turned, assuming that it was the other shoe, about to drop on his head.

Roma, daughter of Merlin, stood in the doorway, her white robes cascading down to the floor.

"I trust that the two of you can work together long enough to save the universe."

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