Prince of Penance

Chapter Five: Interrogations

If Gusto had thought he would be getting any sleep tonight unmolested he was wrong. His two worlds had collided, and the situation was spiralling out of his control. He knew his friends were under a spell, were being manipulated in order to get him, Gusto, alone with the twins, who walked into his bedroom, sure as all Gummi, and stood on either side of the door, just daring him to speak.

In his mind Gusto knew what was going to happen next. He had gone over this possibility in his mind for years.

"Strange that you didn't run away from us..." said Melli softly, her voice as soft and multi layered as he remembered it.

"Not a coward," said Gusto defiantly. "There are more important things than my skin. This is my home."

"Did you think we wouldn't figure it out? That we wouldn't realize you were still alive? Sure we found no sign of the island where the Council had placed you, but we know that the kraken is what has been draining your magic away all these years. It survives because YOU survive! It is YOUR creature, your creation!"

"Are you going to kill me?" Gusto asked, resigning himself to whatever unspeakable spells they planned to inflict upon him.

"No, we are not," Melli said. "We don't have the authority. And remember; the kraken is your worst nightmare, created by your own worst memories of monster tales and stories told to you as a child. In a way the kraken is a more potent and final punishment for you than any the council could ever give...It may be that you must be destroyed by the creature itself in order for the creature to die!"

"No you're wrong!"

"You lie to us?" Melli said. "You think to pretend that you can't control the creature?"

"I can't!" Gusto wailed, knowing that his family couldn't hear a word of this interaction. "I've tried! Don't you think I tried to have the kraken save me from the island? Don't you think I would have summoned it? I am not the one controlling it!"

"We shall see!"

Gusto was ready for it, and he didn't fight it, though the pain of their magic ripped through him like nothing he had ever felt before. It sent shock waves of energy through his spine to his tail and racked his body until he fell weak and anguished to the ground.

"I see..." Felli said, softly, his voice. "I can feel it, the faint thread between you and the creature, it is still there...But..."

"But he speaks the truth, brother. It is as we feared; there is another wizard controlling the creature. Prince Augustus is merely an energy vessel which the other wizard is feeding his power from."

"There was a Seal..." Gusto said, reliving a memory that he had long buried.

"A Seal?" both twins stood up straighter, astonished by this. "What Seal?"

"My Master created a pipe, a musical instrument, with which to summon the creature. He connected it to my magic, so that he could summon the creature himself, since I...wasn't very good at magic, and wasn't strong enough on my own...But the council took all my possessions from me when I was first captured. I'm just a peasant now. There's no power I have that can help you..."

"Save your death," Felli said thickly. "And that may not even be a help. This creature may have gained enough power now from its victims that it doesn't need a power source any longer."

"Maybe..." Gusto dropped his head in defeat. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I think we should wait until dawn and speak to your loving family," said Melli, uncharacteristically thinking of peasants before herself. "If you will not come with us willingly, then perhaps they will be able to convince you. Certainly they deserve your explanation as to why we are here."

"Yes, you're right, they do," Gusto laughed, but it was a weak laugh at best. "They've had a Prince in their midst all this time and didn't know it."

"A Crownless Prince. Your nephew now resides upon the throne, as it should be."

Gusto gave another weak chuckle, at best a smile, and then found himself, as if by some magical force, being put to bed.

"Pay you sleep well, My Prince," said Felli, with little remorse nor pity. "For tomorrow begins your hard and treacherous journey, you will live up to your responsibilities at last."

"At last...peace..."

"Sure, peace eventually...but first, a little reminider of just what unspeakable horrors you yourself are responsible for bringing upon the the people of Monteray!"

The nightmare was an old one, one often played through his head, but now it was fresh and with added fuel to the fire was many many more years of destruction at his hands that he had not been present to witness. The pain of watching his beloved mother die, sickened unto death from the grief of losing her husband and son in such a short expanse of time, the misery of the people of Monteray as they morned their dead, the fighting and struggles of brave Gummis who went to face the kraken, knowing they would die but wanting nothing more than to stop this creature who made so many of their loved ones suffer.


He fought against the dream, his screams dying down into helpless whimpers. He KNEW this dream, he understood! It should not hurt as it did! Could nothing, nobody free him from the horrors of this nightmare?


As if on cue his thoughts turned to Gruffi, their conversation, and the kisses they shared.

At once all nightmare was broken, and the twins were gone from his side, just a memory of the nightmares their magic had induced still lingering in the dark dust.



There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted Gruffi with him by his side, no matter what tomorrow held. If only Gruffi felt the same! If only he were really just a simple peasant and all this painful tragedy passed!

If only...

-seperator-


Light. Morning dawned on Gruffi like a hammer to his brain. As if a bubble popped, the magic that had kept him sleeping through the night, while the ragged screams of his beloved friend had bent and twisted their way through his dreaming brain, was gone. He really hoped the others didn't know what he did. He could feel what the wizards had put Gusto through during the night. The nightmare washed over him and left tendrils of itself within his brain; somehow he had connected with Gusto last night. Somehow, Gusto had reached out to him from the torment of his nightmares to latch onto Gruffi as if for dear life.


He could tell. The magic was still there, and was entirely Gusto's.


So he really is a wizard...


Gruffi stretched and groaned, laughing ironically at the normal aches and pains that a cool fall morning could bring about. It was almost strange that this felt like morning, like a regular morning.


A knock at his door, and Grammi poked her head in, looking as if for all the world as if she were just as tired as he was, even though they all must have gotten a night's sleep.


"Ready for breakfast, and get this nonesense over with?"


"Yuh..."


"I for one don't trust those uppity bears. Whatever they say about Gusto I don't believe it."


"I think, I want to hear what Gusto has to say more than anything else," Gruffi admitted, pulling on his shirt.


Years with Grammi had prompted little embarassment from him at seeing him without his kit on. They were practically siblings, fostered together as they had been, though both different ages. She was like his big sister in many ways.


"Same here, and I want us all to have some food first, because who knows what'll happen, or what those two poncy buggers will do once the story is all out."


"Yeah..."


Gruffi didn't know what else to say. She had basically spoken it all.


The feeling in the dining room was rather subdued as they had breakfast. There was no sign of their two 'guests', and Cubbi for all the world looked like he understood something was wrong, but wasn't sure yet. Sunni was half in tears; she was so sick and tired from her cold that the spell they'd put on her to keep her sleeping had just stressed her body out even more. Grammi sword oaths as she souped them all up on a second dose of her medicine and served the oatmeal.


Gusto finally joined them for breakfast, and every inch of his body showed the tired strain and the agony of his nightmare plagued sleep. His eyes looked gray and sunken, his fur was tattered and he was layered with sweat. Grammi took one look at him and stuck a spoonful of her potion right into his mouth without a word.


"Sit, eat, drink tea...I swear I'm going to stick you in a hot tub and scrub every inch of your fur if you don't!"


Gruffi wanted nothing more at this moment than to go to him, to just hold him and remind him of their friendship, their lives, that he was a part of that no matter what.


But he wanted the answers to his questions, and he knew, somehow, that it wouldn't help them any if he showed any over arching signs of their newfound affection in front of the rest of their Gummi clan. So he muddled over his thoughts while he stirred his oatmeal, trying not to wince as Gusto crawled into his usual seat, withdrawing into himself and not touching a bite of his food.


"Eat!" Grammi declared. "Really, you'd starve yourself over a ruined painting of yours!"


So she didn't know about last night. Gruffi looked at Gusto squarely, and he looked back, and their eyes connected for a moment. Gruffi nodded, and Gusto, for some reason, looked even more morose than before.


"I'm sorry Grammi," he said, pushing down the tiredness. "I really think its cabin fever I've got. And not just those sniffles and coughing."


"Possibly. You could probably due with a bit of that thistle tea then, drink it down, we'll be stuck with dried nettles and that Barbic coffee for the rest of winter so enjoy the good stuff while it lasts!"


Gruffi smiled. At least something was normal; Grammi was thinking of winter, and being exceedingly prepared as she was, had already started a simmering batch of Gummi Berry juice.


Everything seemed to be getting back to normal. Until of course the two Bellas walked in, dressed immaculately and looking as if for all the world their dreams had been quite jovially pleasant. As soon as they entered the room, however, Grammi advanced upon them with a spoon.


"Do you see what your magicking did to my family?" She shouted at them, causing everyone in the room to wince. "Look at Sunni! She's sick enough as it is without your meddling!"


"Yes, and we appologize," Melli said formally, unlatching her robe, and taking a formal place at the head of the table, much to Gruffi's dismay right next to him, and on the other side of her sat her brother. "A magical spell such as that will often bring about headaches in the morning, but there could be no help for it. If we hadn't, what she would have experienced in her sleep could have been quite worse. It is quite cumbersome really, having to work magical spells over a large place such as this. I didn't realize it was quite as big as it was."


"It used to house an entire clan," Gruffi said, not wanting Grammi to find out the REAL reason they had to be magically spelled to sleep. "But the plague came around, and the wars, we're all that's left."


"I see..." Felli crossed his legs arrogantly, and ignored the thistle tea. "Got any good coffee, my dear lady? I am in need of a good shot."


Grammi reluctantly poured him a mug, and minding her manners offered Melli some sweet cider in place of the tea she knew was turning to the lady's stomach.


Fancy people aren't used to our backwater recipes I suppose, their palatte is too delicate... Gruffi thought sarcastically.


"So then," Melli said out right. "A good breakfast, and then we can all have a talk about what's going to happen next. I'm sure as a family you want to discuss your options."


Gruffi perked.


"Options? As in, we have any choice?"


"Certainly YOU have a choice," Felli pointed out haughtily. "One way or another, we found what we've come here for..."


"You mean you found the bad guy?" Cubbi said, looking wide eyed and completely unware.


Gruffi, and most of the adults in the room winced.


"Well, yes and no," Melli said delicately. "We came expecting to find a powerful wizard that would hurt us as soon as look at us. Instead we've found a loving and caring family who is just a little uneducated as to who their friend really is."


"But we shall remedy that," Felli said. "Gusto, maybe you had better start..."


"I...yeah..." Gusto looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. "Maybe this isn't a good story for children."


"They're old enough to hear it," Melli stated. "And its better than leaving everyone in the dark."


"I suppose," Gusto sighed, and closed his eyes... "Well, to start with, I'm not really just Gusto. I'm actually, a...Prince. Prince Augustus the Third."


"A Prince?"


Gruffi had been told last night, of course, but the other Gummis stared. Gusto sighed and nodded his head, then ran a head through his hair.


"Go on," said Melli softly. "It'll get easier as you tell it. Perhaps we could help, with a little magic to show...just what you are saying..."


Gusto nodded, then launched into his story, as the twins began weaving a spell around them that would take them back...back in time.


"My troubles started over fifteen years ago..." He began. "I was a Prince, sure, but my older sister was married and her husband, Prince Jenka, held the throne...I remember the day she came to me...remember it as if it were only yesterday..."


---This is obviously a flashback, so there's no need to go into great detail about it. Italics is flashback, non-italics is not.---



"Brother?"

Augustus lifted his head from the scroll of parchment before him, wearied by the letter he had just recieved, and annoyed by his sister coming to him so late at night. If she weren't sleeping, then there was trouble brewing.


"Sweet sister, what ever could possibly bring you out of rest at so late an hour?"


"Hold it!" Cubbi jumped up. "Did you really talk like that?"


"Yes," Gusto blushed profusely. "There's a lot of ceremony in court, and a lot of 'thees' and 'thous'. It was in fashion back then to talk like a poet regardless of what class you were. Sort of annoying really..."


"That fashion has long passed," Melli admitted, grinning. "Go on..."


"Well, my brother, I..."


Augustus could not bare to see it. His sister was in great pain, he could tell.


"Sweeting, come here," Augustus put out his arms.


She fled forward into his arms weeping.


"He has done it at last," she sobbed into his shoulder, sparing no tears. "He has, taken me to his bed!"


Augustus jumped up from his chair, to catch her, and then pushed her from his shoulder too look at her head to toe.


"Show me..."


It was enough to make him weep, seeing all the old scars and signs of abuse. But the new bruises and finger marks on her body were enough to make him go spare with anger.


"Why? Why must he do this to you? And why is my father the King so ignorant to his dark designs? Why does the Council not DEAL with him!"


"Oh brother brother, what does it matter now! It doesn't matter now. What matters is you find me a wizard, a master wizard, fast. Find me one, for I must KNOW that I am pregnant! He must never touch my body again! Ever! If I am pregnant I may leave his rooms for good! Please, please brother, you must find me a wizard who can do this thing!"


"I'll find you one," Augustus declared hotly, feeling his own tears in his eyes burning like twin coals. 'I'll learn the magic myself if I have to and bring upon my vengeance for this villainy,' He added in thought. 'If only I could find the right spell!'


"I trust you my brother. I pray you are my only hope.

--End flashback---

"At that time I was aprenticed to a Master Magician to learn reading and statesmanship. I had no clue at the time he was a Dark wizard, practicing the evilest magic. He convinced me that with the right spell I could summon a creature that would destroy Jenka. What really happened was that this master wizard wanted power, and wanted to have control over Monteray, and would use the monster we summoned to...to hold the island hostage to his will and his whims. I was ignorant to a point..."


"To a point?" Melli said archly.


Gusto stirred his porrige, and pushed the bowl away from him helplessly.


"I wanted Jenka dead. I wanted him to suffer the way my sister sufferred. I didn't care about what my Master did to Monteray. I didn't care as long as my family had revenge. So so I let him do it; I kidnapped Prince Jenka, and let my Master summon the beast, my worst nightmares in physical form. He...he summoned the kraken."


A moment of silence followed this.


"Oh Gusto you didn't," Zummi said, putting his hands to his cheeks. "Tell me you didn't."


"Well, technically it isn't the true kraken of legend," said Melli pointedly. "The spell, the magic that the Master wizard used, summoned forth only Augustus' own nightmares into physical form. Everyone has something they are most afraid of, for Augustus its being swallowed alive by a sea monster, such as the kraken."


"I...yeah, it is just my fears..." Gusto said, gulping. "That thing is tied to me...But...I didn't get away with it."


"No, Jenka's kin discovered you had fed their bother to the monster..." Melli said, "And sent an army after both of you."


Gusto leaned back in his chair crossing his arms.


"I remember my Master, who wouldn't let them catch me. He gave me the books, the magical artifacts, and had me make a run for it, while he fought them off with magic. Then he flung himself into the sea, hoping to escape on the kraken's back, rather than be taken prisoner, and my own monster ate him; he was no longer able to control it."


"Because he accidentally returned control of it to you..."


"He gave me the flute he used to summon the creature. But that was taken from me when Jenka's clan finally tracked me down and captured me. They locked me in a tower and I awaited my trial."


"And how did you finally escape that tower?" Felli questioned. "That is one question that still plagues the Council to this day."


Gusto lowered his head.


"My mother..."


"Ah, yes...I see how it all fits together now."


"Yes," Gusto nodded. "She paid a sailer for the use of his boat, provided me with food and provisions and snuck me out of Monteray."


"All the while your sister pleading with the Council to spare your life!"


"And they did. I crashed on that island, so long ago, and they trapped me there, a physical and magical barrier preventing me from escaping unless somebody else came and rescued me."


"That someone was us," Gruffi said, looking over at Tummi. "Which answers my questions about how you got to be crashed upon the island when you said you'd only gone there to paint."


"Sorry I lied to you Gruffi," Gusto said, sounding more miserable than ever. "After twelve years alone with only Artie to keep me company, I was afraid you would hate me if you knew the real truth. I'm just...a coward," he buried his face into his hands. "I've killed people and caused nothing but pain and I deserve whatever I get!"


"You will, believe me," Felli said coldly. "The Council has plans for your punishment, I'm sure, they've been waiting for this momoent for fifteen years."


Silence followed this pronouncment. Sunni was hugging Grammi and crying softly. The rest of the family stood there, confused, and feeling just a little betrayed by Gusto's story. Gruffi stood up, pushing his chair from the table and coughed.


"I don't believe it. I don't believe it."


Gusto seemed to withdraw into himself, but Gruffi raised his hands.


"I don't believe he should be made to suffer anymore. By the Great Gummies its been fifteen years! I don't believe Gusto is this horrible person you say he is. I've seen the good in him, the kindness. Whatever is in his past, its passed and he's a different person now. I won't let him suffer anymore. What your asking isn't right."


"He's risked his life for this family more times than I can count on my hands," Grammi said. "Whenever we're attacked by ogres, or whatever crisis he's been there. Gusto is a good Gummi bear! I don't believe it either, and its horrible yes what he did, but twelve years is a long time to be stuck on an island for it."


"Yes, its true his monster is a dangerous creature," Zummi suddenly said, adjusting his glasses. "No doubt its pilled many keople, er killed many people. But what I've studied of magic, and what I read, is that no wizard is directly responsible for a spell that gets out of their control through the fault of another. We can't point fingers and lay blame in a crisis. The only thing a responsible wizard can do is try to reverse the problem any way he can."


"Yes, that's right..." Gusto said, finally sounding more like himself than he had all morning. "I can't take back everything horrible that the kraken has done, and I can't bring back the dead, but I can try and stop it before it does any more damage, and try to face it...if its possible..."


"You won't have to face it alone," Gruffi said. "No matter what you decide, we're coming with you. And we'll be there with you to tell the Council what we think of you, We're your family now and we won't let them feed you to any monster."


"I can't ask you to come with me..." Gusto said in a pained voice.


"Then don't, we're coming anyway whether you want us to or not," Gruffi responded, smirking in his usual way. "You're stuck with us kid."


"Thats right!" said Grammi. "We're family!"


A chorus of agreement went around the room, Sunni was so happy to have actually known a Prince in person that she forgot immediately anything horrible that had Gusto had spoken. Cubbi wanted to go fight the monster himself.


"Well then," Melli said. "I think my brother and I can guarantee that the Council will be willing to hear your pleas..."


"W-why is that?" Gusto said, suddenly sounding suspicious.


"We are the Council," Felli put his hands to his sides in irony. "Or part of it anyway."


"I don't...understand..."


The twin bears looked at one another briefly, nodded, then raised their hands. At once Gruffi knew what was going on; the two Gummi bears were dropping their disguises, and their real selves were revealed. These were not young brash aristocratic bears with poncy outfits and fanciful jewels. These were wizards in their own right, an elderly male and female wizened and powerful. Their eyes held no malice now, but apologetic acceptance and more warmth than they had given in the entire time they had been here.


"Councillor Numa!!" Gusto said in sudden fear, falling out of his chair. "Councillor Venti!"


"That's right," said the lady bear, Numa, who brushed back her hair a little. "Forgive us for the deception, but it was necessary. We would never have gotten as close to the truth of who you are if we had come here as ourselves. So we came as a few of your old friends from Court, though I say you didn't take as much a liking to us when you saw us as we thought you would."


"I...I should have known," Gusto laughed, his voice fluttering with fear and edginess. "My old friends from court were never as good at magic either...I thought, I really thought they'd become Master wizards..."


"Poor Felli would be so offended to see how I've been using his face," Venti said softly, pulling his robes around him. "But we have all the information we need now. We've seen the caring of your family, and seen to it that you understand the full capacity of what you're responsibilities are now to the people of Monteray. And it may have been unpleasant for you, but we think it has been more helpful to you to see the more unpleasant side of the Council. We have been, for want of a better term, the least unpleasant a reaction as you may find when you return to Court. There are litterally whole families of Gummies that want your head, rich and poor alike."


"I'm...prepared for my responsibilities," Gusto said, and Gruffi knew how much Gusto hated that word. "So now what do I do?"


"Well every one of you is still quite under the weather, so I think its best we wait until this sickness has passed over your family before we head back to Monteray. Its a long journey."


"Its a good thing I'm making up some Gummi berry juice now," Grammi said smartly. "If we aren't going to be here for the winter, we'll have plenty on stock to take with us and some waiting for us when we get back."


"I can't wait!" Sunni said, suddenly alarming Gruffi. "Parties and costumes and balls!"


"And boys?" Gruffi suggested with a smirk, causing Sunni to blush pointedly. "Yeah, don't be ashamed kiddo, we know you've been waiting for an opportunity like this to meet other Gummis for a long time."


Sunni just giggled, and then started babbling on about all the things she had to do, pack, fix her dresses, but of course she was immediately dragged off to the kitchen by Grammi.


"First things first, Gummi Berry juice."


"Aww Grammi!"


"Sounds like she's back to normal," Gruffi said, and massaged his aching temples.


"We won't bother your family further," said Venti rising. "We'll be returning to our ship to make preparations, and await your arrival at Botanon Bay within a fortnight. You should have that on map, should you not?"


"Sure we do," Zummi said. "But your more than welcome to stay with us..."


"Well yes, of course," said Numa primly. "But this too, is also a part of our test of Gusto's honesty. A fortnight is a very long time, he could inconveniently dissappear between now and then..."


"I won't," Gusto declared firmly. "You have my word."


"We shall see," Numa stated gently. "We shall see."


Gruffi had a feeling, from the look in Gusto's eyes, that they would.


----Bleh, this didn't turn out quite as good as I wanted it to, but at least they're on their way. I probably will come back and redo the entire explanation of Gusto and take out the flashback sequence, but I'm not sure how to word everything, so it may have to wait until I have a better idea of what the new Gummi characters are going to be like. I'll let everyone know when I've edited this chapter, and sorry about that!