Mr. Dove and the Pipes of Creation - The Final Chapters

[davedove]

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.”