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  1. #41
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    Scene 104

    My mind raced as I tried to think my way out of this situation. I had been so accepting of the people that the Pleaters had sent to help me, that I had completely failed to notice a plant in my ranks.

    James led the way as the guards took me through the hallways, deeper into the castle of the Emperor of the North.

    “What are you going to do with me?” I asked him.

    “That is up to the Emperor. The Chancellor just wanted to have you eliminated, but I convinced the Emperor that I could bring you to him.” He chuckled. “The Emperor was intrigued with the man who was causing him so much trouble, escaping all the traps that had been set.”

    “I didn’t do it alone.”

    “Oh, no, you had a lot of help. I don’t know how you convinced so many to follow you on such an insane quest, but it did make my infiltration so much easier.”

    “No more insane than the Emperor’s quest to destroy all the worlds of existence.”

    “Oh, you just do not understand. We are not destroying them. The Emperor is making them better, perfect!”

    I shook my head in resignation. Obviously, James was part of the delusion and couldn’t be convinced otherwise.

    As we walked, the hallways had become more well-kept, more ornate. We were obviously getting closer to our destination.

    We approached a large, secure-looking door, with too large, very alert, very well-armed guards outside.

    “Inform the Emperor that I have brought him Mr. Dove,” James told the guards. “He has been expecting us.”

    “Yes, Minister!” the guard barked out and then turned to step inside the door.

    After only a few moments, he returned. “The Emperor is ready to receive you.”

    James entered the room and the guards led me in after him.

    “Emperor,” James declared, “I have brought you the man known as Mr. Dove!”

    “Yes, I can see,” said a very familiar voice. “Bring him closer.”

    After all I had seen recently, I should have expected something like this, but it still took me by surprise. The voice was so familiar, because it came from a very familiar person. Although the face was a bit younger and more weather-worn, it was a face I had seen many times before.

    It was a face I saw every time I looked into a mirror.

    “Hello, brother,” the Emperor of the North said to me.
    Last edited by davedove; 6th December 20 at 08:02 AM.
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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  3. #42
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    I'm going to try to get the rest soon. I've been getting distracted too much.

    Scene 105

    “So,” he said, “You’re the one who has been causing my troops so much trouble.”

    “I wish I didn’t have to. Your troops are making a real mess of things.”

    “A mess? Why, Mr. Dove, or may I call you David?”

    “David is fine.”

    “David,” he nodded. “And you may call me Daffyd. Since we are brothers, of a sort, we should be on familiar terms.”

    “If you wish.”

    He smiled. “David, what you call a mess is temporary. I am remaking all the worlds, refining them, making them better.”

    “How is what’s going on making things better?”

    “There is so much pain in the world, my brother, all the worlds. I want to take that all away.”

    “By destroying everything?”

    Another voice came from the shadows, a somewhat familiar voice. “He just doesn’t understand, my Emperor. He is too short-sighted. He thinks too small.”

    Daffyd chuckled. “Step out so he can see you Chancellor.”

    The man stepped from the shadows until I could see his features. The features were very familiar and I quickly figured out who he was.

    “You’re one of the Pleaters,” I said.

    The Chancellor smiled. “Indeed, I am Mr. Dove.”
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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  5. #43
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    Scene 106

    “So, you caused all this?”

    “Oh, no, Mr. Dove, the Emperor did all the work. I only made suggestions.”

    “He was quite helpful, David,” Daffyd said. “He told me about the Pipes and how I could use them to make my world better. He showed me how to find them, guided my every step. He was quite helpful.”

    “I imagine he was,” I said. “I can also imagine he was quite helpful in warning you about what I was doing, letting you know just what moves I made. I wondered how you could have such detailed information about me, how you were able to put so many obstacles in my path, but now I know. You had someone operating on the inside.”

    The Chancellor chuckled. “Oh, Mr. Dove, it was so easy just watching where my counterparts sent you and then just moving our own forces to intercept.”

    Daffyd looked at us both in confusion. “What is he talking about Chancellor?”

    “You are so innocent. You really thought I was having ‘visions’ to guide our actions. It was so easy to manipulate you.”

    “Chancellor?”

    The Chancellor now laughed out loud. “And you still don’t understand, how wonderful!”

    “What do you mean?”

    “It means he was using you Daffyd,” I said. “He needed you to fulfill his plans.”
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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  7. #44
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    I'm just dropping a note to keep the thread open. I came down with COVID a while back and just didn't feel like writing. I got through that without any problems, but am now in the middle of a change in household, so still haven't had the time to write.

    I will get some more written soon, I promise.
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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  9. #45
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    28th July 18
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    Battle Ground, IN USA
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    Thanks I enjoy reading it. Glad you got thru the Covid OK. Good luck with the move.
    Last edited by pofloyd1; 19th April 21 at 02:42 PM.

  10. #46
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    Take your time - I have not got over the shock of Chancellor Pleater yet.
    I suppose that is the same as Grand Vizir but without the turban with the point on top.

    Anne the Pleater
    I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."
    -- The Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine, The Kilt & How to Wear It, 1901.

  11. #47
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    Scene 107

    The confusion on Daffyd’s face was obvious. “But he was just helping me to make things better.”

    That was too much for me. “Better? People are being killed out there!”

    “Killed? How can that be? I was trying to eliminate pain, get rid of suffering.”

    “You haven’t seen it! I have! So many have gone to their death because of what you’ve done. So many whose only crime was to help me stop this destruction.”

    “But, but, I was only trying to fix it, so that no one would ever have to feel the pain I do! No one will ever have to face the loss!”

    That made me pause a bit. “What do you mean?”

    “You just don’t know what I have suffered. Have you ever had everything you cared about, everything you loved ripped from your life? No one should have to suffer through what I have, and no one ever will again.”

    “But people are suffering, Daffyd. Men, women, children…”

    “Children?” he asked with an anguished expression.

    “Yes, children! Thousands or more, who will never reach adulthood, never have the chance to live their lives, because of what you’re doing?”

    Daffyd looked to the Chancellor. “Chancellor?”

    The Chancellor only sneered in derision. “Oh, be quiet, you fool! Of course, children are dying.”

    “But you said that wouldn’t happen. I trusted your advice.”

    “He lied to you,” I told him. “He used you. He needed someone to put his plan into action and you fit the bill.”

    The Chancellor laughed. “And it was so easy. You were so quick to accept everything I told you.”

    “But why?” Daffyd asked.

    “Because he needed a pawn,” I said. “Because he couldn’t do it himself. Isn’t that right, Chancellor?”

    The Chancellor gave me an appraising look. “Why don’t you explain it to us, Mr. Dove?”

    “I’ve been thinking about that and I believe I know the answer. It’s the same reason your counterparts recruited me and why they went looking for the others who helped me. You had to find someone to do your dirty work, because you can’t do it yourself. You have to work through others, don’t you?”

    The Chancellor smiled. “I definitely see now why my siblings came to you. You are correct. We are not allowed. No, we are not physically capable of directly operating to change things. All we can do is guide others and get them to take the necessary actions to safeguard the different realms of existence. That is indeed why I gave young Daffyd here the push to seek out and use the Pipes.”

    “But, why? Why are you doing all this?”

    The Chancellor threw up his hands. “You have no idea what my life is like, constantly watching, never able to directly affect what is plainly wrong, even when it’s right in front of me. I have to somehow convince others to do it for me. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have to work through fools like this one?” He gestured to Daffyd.

    Daffyd gasped at the insult. “Chancellor?”

    “Oh, shut up, you naïve fool! I’m done with you! You moved my plan forward, but now I have just the tool I need, someone versed in manipulating reality.”

    A chill ran through me as the Chancellor looked at me. “I have you, Mister Dove.”
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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  13. #48
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    Just a quick bump to keep the thread active. I really need to get back to work on this.
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

  14. #49
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    Yes please.
    " Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the adherence of idle minds and minor tyrants". Field Marshal Lord Slim.

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  16. #50
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    Scene 108

    “And why in all the worlds would you think I would ever help you?” I asked.

    “Think about it, Mr. Dove,” he answered. “You could eliminate all hunger, all pain, all death. You could make all of creation a paradise.”

    His words did tempt me. I went over to the throne and picked up the Pipes.

    “Yes, think about it,” said the Chancellor. “You hold the power of creation in your hands. No one could stop you from doing whatever you want.”

    Daffyd looked on in understanding. “No, David, he’s trying to trick you just as he did me!”

    “Shut up, you fool!” the Chancellor commanded.

    Another voice then entered the chamber. “Mr. Dove, listen to your counterpart. Mortal man was never meant to hold the power you now hold,” said my world’s Ms. Pleater. I looked over and saw she was surrounded by Pleaters.

    The Chancellor laughed. “It’s too late! He knows the truth. I don’t care how many of you have come. You can’t act directly, any more than I can.”

    “Mr. Dove, David, consider what you’re doing,” Ms. Pleater pleaded. “You’ve come so far to stop him. You can’t succumb now.”

    I looked between Ms. Pleater and the Chancellor. “No, he’s right. I can play the Pipes. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I went through all those trials, learned to bend reality around me. I’m the perfect person to play them.”

    I placed my mouth on the blowstick and began to play.
    We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. - Japanese Proverb

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