Chapter Fifteen

Out of the Frying Pan . . .

  the Victorian living room we had just seen 01 in. All thoughts on Timtallagay, my mind screamed.

"FREEZE" I yelled at them. "Don't move!"

"OK" TimT said, "why?" S/he looked a little green around the edges. TimT's eyes started to glow, with that weird red sparkle.

"You're on the Threshold of the Logrus, don't move, don't do anything, don't activate anything. TimT don't move!"

Timtallagay began to smile beauifically.

On the wall was a picture of Lothos, smiling, and it began to chuckle. "Welcome to the beginning."

I was totally positive that this would NOT be a good experience for Timtallagay, who was beaming happily at the window.

While they were all frozen, I grabbed my trumps. I had to get, at least, TimT OUT of there.

I shuffled through the mostly me deck, and pulled out my only hope in this case. Once again, Uncle Suhuy. The card grew cold quickly, and I reached for him.

I felt the trump contact grow solid, and Uncle Suhuy came into focus in front of me.

"Suhuy, can you pull them out of here, please? Oh, please?"

"No I can't yank them out, they're at the first step. They have to choose, just like you chose."

Pointing at Timtallagay, I tried again, "Can you pull HIM out?"

"No" Suhuy said flatly.

"No?" I squeaked back.

"If you hold him here for.....5 minutes, I can get someone who can" Suhuy told me.

"I'll do my best" I assured him. I broke the trump contact quickly and turned to re-regard Timtallagay. TimT was utterly facinated by the colors and light in the window, and had a look that was scaring me to death .

Angling myself into his/her line of vision, I tried a weak smile. "Can we talk?" I asked it.

S/he glanced at me, barely interested.

"I would really, really appreciate it, if you would, just for a moment, explain to me your theory on color" I told TimT.

"What?" TimT said, vaguely distracted.

"Your theory" I pressed. "Remember your theory on how colors and how far you are from Amber, and how color can determine it? I'm so facinated with your theory, I really want to hear the whole thing, in as much detail as you can supply." It was really hard to say that with a straight face, and the rest of the group, 01 included, were snickering and laughing behind me, making it far worse.

Now distracted from the window, Timtallagay gazed at me "Hmmm?"

"Timtallagay" I called "this is a happy wonderful place, I know. Can we sit down right here and have you describe your theory on color to me? I'm so interested."

"I thought you said I was supposed to freeze" Timtallagay said slowly. "Can I move now?"

"We can sit. Just sit, sit, sit down" I said to it, trying to guide it to the floor.

"Sit down. Sit down. Sit, please, sit down" Distracted by wanting to talk about his/her beloved theory, I managed to guide TimT to the floor with me.

"I wouldn't mind hearing it" Injarda-o piped up as TimT looked over his/her shoulder at the window again.

I continued my mantra "Sit down, sit down. Let's ALL sit down now and be friendly" I finished up.

"The window has such color..." s/he started.

"But you know" I addressed him/her "you never did tell me exactly how you can tell where a person is from by the intensity of color."

Annoyed, and trying to gaze out the window, TimT said "I haven't proved that yet..."

"But" I broke in "you haven't explained the theory to me, I'd love to know..."

Timtallagay pulled out the color wheel and began running me through the test. S/he explained that by tracking that s/he hoped to prove there was a correlation between color and hue and location in shadow.

I took my time going through the 50 question test. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Tekvar wander about, and finally flop on the sofa.

"Tekvar, don't move around a lot" I warned him, although by now I was fairly sure that just moving about the room was relatively safe.

In the mirror over the fireplace, developed an unnerving reflection of Timtallagay and I, copied in endless variation. It was very unnerving. Hundreds of thousands of copies of someone giving someone else the color test, off into infinity, in infinite variations. As they receded into the distance some of the far away ones appeared to be bloody. The picture of Lothos laughed.

There was a trump contact from Suhuy.

"Hold on" Suhuy told me. Suhuy was there, and another presence with him, that I quickly recognized as Dworkin. I sighed. After the trump call of Merlin AND Random, I shouldn't be too unnerved to have Suhuy AND Dworkin, but this was far more scary.

"He can get him out" Suhuy told me.

"Am I going to explode?" I wondered out loud.

"If you don't touch him things might" Suhuy said mildly. "You must touch Timtallagay." I reached out suddenly and grabbed TimT.

Suhuy and Dworkin reached out together, grabbed us and pulled. I found myself in Suhuy's study, by the pool.

Suhuy turned on me. "Have you brought enough today? Or do you have MORE showing up?"

I withered under his glare. "Should I pull them out of there? What should I do with them?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

Suhuy sighed. "You've told them where they are?"

I nodded miserably.

"Give them the choice. I'm sick of pulling people out - it's draining."

"I gave them the coice, what if they don't want to?" I asked him.

"Tell them to jump into the fireplace" he said. "Here. Talk to them" Suhuy handed me a trump of the room they were in.

I opened up the trump and told them "Folks. Walk through the fireplace if you don't want to go through what you're standing on. You're standing at the edge of the Logrus. If you don't want to go through it, jump into the fireplace."

"Fine" said Injarda-o, and left the room.

Gwen considered for a moment. Tekvar was asking what the Logrus was, and what was going on. Gwen advised him to leave, that it was dangerous to try it and that SHE was leaving. Then, she left.

This left Tekvar alone in the Victorian sitting room. And Lothos chimed in.

"What is this thing?" Tekvar asked.

"Do you understand what the pattern and the logrus are?"I asked him.

"It's a long, long story, and you're at the threshold of a good place" Lothos said dramatically.

"Yes, it's a good place, but also a dangerous one" I warned.

"The secret, that most people don't realize, is that you have to get halfway through, and then jump to the left" Lothos continued.

"That is not true" I told Tekvar.

"And then do a step to the right" Lothos began hum-singing a strange little tune.

"Tekvar if you step on that, and you are not absolutely certain that one of your parents is in the lineage of Chaos, and that you are not ready, you are going to blow up into a million pieces" I tried to convince him this was a really big step.

"Life is uncertain, the universe if full of chances" Lothos sighed.

"Tekvar, I'll be glad to explain it to you, teach you and bring you back here another time, but I think now you should leave" I offered, desperate to sway him before Lothos convinced him to commit suicide.

"I think she actually would. I think she'd take her time, sit down, and tell you every little excruciating detail, but you need to get that power now. Have it now! Be the master of your own world" Lothos exhuberated.

"But what exactly happens if you do it?" Tekvar asked. He didn't know enough about this to be put in this position.

"If you do it right, you'll go insane for a few days and then have control over the Logrus, if you do it wrong you'll die" I told him.

"And this can all be yours for the low introductory price of $34.95" Lothos added. Insane does not even begin to describe it I realized.

"Geesh, it's definately too expensive for me" Tekvar commented in response to Lothos. I began wondering just how sane Tekvar was himself.

"But there's no guarentee" Tekvar noted.

"No, to be honest" Lothos said "it is a very dangerous undertaking, and unless you are totally committed to it, you will die." Lothos smirked as he told Tekvar this.

"He's finally said something true" I commented dryly.

"I always say something true" retorted Lothos.

"Now I have a question for you" Lothos said to Tekvar, his voice turning sibilant. "What is it you really want? What have you wanted more than anything?"

"Well..." Tekvar said.

"Cause I can give it to you" Lothos hissed.

"Tekvar" I tried again "I'll be happy to bring you back to the place where you're standing and let you make the choice again, but I suggest you come talk to me, you're not in a good place right now, with too little information to work off of. I'll bring you back, if that's what you want."

"I think....what is your name again?" Lothos asked me.

"Mud" I told him.

"Mud, I think you and Mr. S need to mind your own business" Lothos said directly to me.

From somewhere behind me, Suhuy shut down the trump contact. I thought he might. Hopefully he gave me some degree of credit for trying to save Tekvar from Lothos' attentions. Then again, he probably thought I was insane.