Best Served Cold

The Fox and the Lizard

Note: Only pure POV shift that I hope will happen here, because it is necessary. I currently cannot think of any other way to explain what’s going on, because, well, Arthur’s not in any kind of fit state at the moment… stop laughing Zim, you’re next. I also chose to shift tense to solidify the POV difference, hope it works? Call it an experiment. The characters do not belong to me, but to MysteryBen and Artsy.

…………………………………………

            Almost too late. He is weak, he is shattered, and he is not alone. I feel a second spirit within Arthur as I lower him to the ground. It can only be Lewis, but I have no time to sort the situation. Neither can I stop and explain to the poor, bewildered Vivi why one minute I’d been next to her in the van and the next she was on my back as I bounded across the desert.

            It will have to wait.

            I nudge Arthur’s body toward Vivi, swiping his forehead with my tongue before turning around, hackles raised.

            From the ledge above, a pair of green eyes regard me steadily. I know those eyes.

            His wings spread as he soars down toward me, touching down effortlessly between two spires. His eyes travel to the forms behind me, and back toward me. A leering grin stretches across his malformed features.

            “Mystery?” He questions derisively. “Our names are unpronounceable by any mortal creature and you accept the name Mystery? Here I thought you could not sink lower."

            “It is a matter of perspective who has sunk lower.” I reply coldly.

            “I would say it was the one who chose to be slavebound to humans as his punishment.” He sneers.

            “And I would say it is the one lurking in dark cavern corners growing colder and bitterer by the century. Or perhaps you prefer it, since you chose to be cave-bound rather than human-bound.” I return.

            He spits a glob of vile substance at my paw. “I would rather be a free cave-worm than a slave to walking clumps of dirt. Let me pass, and I will free you of your chains."

            I don’t move, every muscle in my body tense, every sense trained on him. I cannot let him touch Arthur. I will not. “I no longer seek freedom. I have found better.”

            He tilted his head back, laughing uproariously. “Then it is true! You have become nothing more than a pet, a domesticated animal, a child’s plaything.”

            The words slide off of me. He means to anger me, but he cannot understand. We are no longer the same. I have grown many tails since he and I ravaged mortal lives, and I understand so much more. His words have no power over me.

            “Your plan is spoiled,” I reason, “They are worthless to you now. Allow us to leave, and find another.”

            “No!” he roars, raking furrows in the cavern floor with his claws like the stone was butter. “They have denied me my freedom. Their lives are forfeit! Their souls mine! Leave now, and you may keep all your tails and the blue one, for the sake of our past.”

            “Must it come to this?” I ask, already knowing the answer. But it does not trouble me as it once might have. He harmed Arthur, I may not be able to save his mind even if I save his body. I cannot imagine what was done to him after he threw Vivi and I out of the house.