At the heart of the Tangle, in the warm shadow of the King's Hall, lay the misty blue Forest of Gobbledygook.

The gentle streams gurgled and the gibbons whooped a haunting echo against the distant walls. Everything here was heavy with green and dew; sunlight filtered dim through the thick canopy and fog tendriled the flower-carpeted ground. Jellyfish cast eerie illumination as they quietly swam through the spaces between the trees. It is here, the folk say, that magic weaves into each breath and sound --

-- until it all went still.

The great sentinel bees that had for centuries stood guard at the entrance -- the buzz of their enormous wings a constant comfort within the Forest -- were now frozen, fallen statues of blind stone that riddled the path. The King's Door, always open and inviting as long as anyone could remember, was shut tight. The gibbons had all flown off.

"Come with me." Crow was the King's right-hand and most trusted advisor, known throughout the Tangle for his clever lies and quick fingers. Dark shining feathers molted behind him as he stepped nimbly along the flagstones between the beds of flowers.

Above them, dangling from the mossy branches, were shiny bells and long chimes, and colorful streamers made of delicate silk. There, at the center of it all, was a beautiful garden of succulents, and nestled among them -- the size of a tea saucer -- stood the frozen little form of Gobbledygook herself.

She had been turned to shining obsidian.

Gobbledygook stood on her hind legs, her stone wings spread in suspended preparation for flight, her eyes cast fiercely up toward the canopy and the Cobwebs beyond it. There was a tiny, perfect hole in her scaled chest, vacant and cold.

"No one heard anything," Crow explained, hopping into a tree to perch there, raining black feathers. His bright eyes blinked. "At least, no one who can hear now, heard anything when it happened. I suspect hearing something is precisely the reason they can't hear anything now. But who can say what they should have heard, or been listening for?" He scratched the back of his head, and he shook the feathers from between his fingers. "The bees hadn't left their posts, you see. They hadn't heard anything, unless they only heard it too late."

He peered up at the white tower, the King's Hall, that presided over the Tangle. "The King wanted to meet you here himself, but he's so distraught he's been in his room sobbing since it happened."

Crow leaned forward, his arms balanced on his knees. A few more feathers drifted to the ground as he grinned with a flash of a tooth. "So, then. What do you think happened?"

A heart in shadow; the absence of light, but a heart not in the absence of Life. That was her heart as she dispensed herself from the deepest and oldest of dark from the forest floor.

Wings lit like the eyes of the recently deceased, but not dulled like the glazed look of the rested dead. Those were her wings that fluttered softly, whispering her way towards the gathering.

A gown and gauntlets made of the finest stitches and steelery. Sharp and sharpened were those things she donned; they were the hue of the unlived, the colour of the moon turning her face for the final time. But they were not the tired shades of despair. That was her gown flowing and fine, gliding in rhythm with the voices formed from the Crossing. Those were her gauntlets glinting like intense intent; glinting like the knowledge and anxiety of the hunter and the hunted all at once.

And that face. Oh, but there was none. Only the mirrored Abyss you would see should you stare long enough into the hollow of her cowl. The dark therein was not made of shadow, nay and again nay, for shadow is the absence of light. The abyss... The Abyss is made of the absence of Life and that was her kind of dark afterall. Stare into the Abyss if you must, but know that it stares right back into you, darling.

"Hail to you Mr. Crow, plumage so fine and dark," a flowing curtsey and drawn out bow she gave, so respectful and yet so final at the same time, "'tis I, Lady Leaza, She of the Crossing, and I am here to hear what they have not heard. I am here to sate the desires of the Tangle. I am here to allay the fears of the near-Mortals and to aid the Ancients. I will find what the sentries and guardians did not hear."

A sharpened tip of a gauntleted finger, literally sliced the air as it pointed back in the direction of the Unicorn's Greenery. "That my sister, the Unicorn, Mother Ina'Raynjara, Queen of the Green Corridor, an Ancient no less, has been turned to stone, and, that all those others, the near-Mortals, escape DEATH by remaining hidden in their stone cocoons...? That is the reason I appear in this form, darling.

"This taken form where this 'Angel' may not claim you whilst this 'Angel' holds your very own head in this 'Angel's' lap as you weep like our own very King is quite tragic yet quite necessary all the same. I may not continue my duties proper as She of the Crossing so long as the perpetrator of these tragic events continues to thrive and continues to harbour the heart of-- I find I may not even speak her name proper, darling. Tragic. I find that I may only refer to her as: The Obsidian Idol."


Wings made of the Dead Lit Skies fluttered softly as she turned to face the Gobb-- the Obsidian Idol and, with nary a sound, she flew upon the whispered words of the dead towards the encased Ancient. The Lady then lay a gauntlet upon the cheek of said obsidian encased Ancient. A slow and gentle caress she gave then she turned back towards Crow.

"And so what do I think, darling...?" was there a hint of sardonic humour traipsing within that old, so very old voice of Lady Leaza? "I think that we start the search by questioning the one who sees all. The one who sees even what has not yet even been heard. Atop the great clock tower, at the tip of the spire. There he is. We must wake him. For he must have seen much of this tragic turn of events... oh, Mr. Crow you know of whom I speak, aye, darling?

None other than Mr. Standardly, the Marvellous One. Of sight and of insight he may guide us, no?"

Lily

Amongst the many legends, rumors and myths told by the many different creatures that live in the Tangle, there are a few ones that are remarkably similar. Those rumors often says that if you go to a certain part of the forest and start walking without any destiny, enough for you to get lost, you will be able to hear a very faint noise of small wings fluttering in the wind. That means that a fairy is watching you and if you pay enough attention, maybe you will even see a small, female silhouette in the corner of your eyes, but the second you turn your face to see what it was, it's no longer there.

But amongst those stories, maybe the most interesting version is the one that says that if you follow this noise, you will find yourself under a big and old tree surrounded by flowers. If you're lucky enough, when you get there, you will be able to hear a beautiful voice singing a beautiful song. Sit down on it's roots, close your eyes and appreciate it. If you do so, maybe, when the voice stops and you open your eyes again, you will see a small circlet of vines and flowers entangled into a complex, but extremely beautiful pattern on your lap, small enough to be used as a ring. If you were lucky enough to see it, do not throw it away, but instead, treasure it, because that means that you were blessed by a certain fairy that guards the forests in the Tangle.

Amongst the adventurous souls who risk purposely getting lost on that forest just to see if this rumor is true, there are only few who can say that they successfully found the tree, and even fewer who heard the voice. But almost every single one of them doesn't know that fairy's name, or even if they did, they soon forgot about it.

But when the heart of the Gobbledygook was stolen, the small fairy went silent. On that day, those who got lost had to find their own way out and nobody was able to hear her wings or even her voice if they went there. On that day, amidst the confusion, everyone forgot about the small fairy who lived in that forest...

---

Lily was sleeping peacefully amongst the flowers when it happened... Awakening with a gasp and a sharp pain in her chest, the smile that she usually had in her face was nowhere to be seen, instead giving place to a panicked expression as she felt that there was something wrong with the flow of magic. The small fairy was much more attuned to the magic flow than normal creatures who inhabited the Tangle, and so, the theft of the Heart of Gobbledygook had an tremendous impact on the small fairy.

As she looked around, there was something... lacking in the forest. It was almost like all the magic had stopped flowing through the forest. Even amongst so much green and so many flowers, everything felt just like an empty husk for Lily.

"The magic..." She mumbled to herself, still in disbelief with wide open eyes as she started flying around as fast as she could, zipping around from tree to tree, flower to flower, only to realize, that there was no more magic flowing through the forest...

Lily didn't know what to do. Her small heart was filled with fear and preoccupation... What would happen with the forest now? What could possibly have happened to do such thing to the magic flow? She could feel in her heart that something very bad happened, but she didn't know exactly why. With only fear and hopelessness in her heart, it took a few hours for Lily to recover herself from such a big shock but when she did, she went to the only place where someone would certainly know what was happening, to the very center of the forest, where surely the King or someone from his court could tell her what happened.

But much for her dismay, the first person she saw when she arrived there was Lady Leaza. Lily knew that she wasn't inherently bad, that she only did her job, but nevertheless, Lady Leaza still made Lily shiver... She was almost the complete opposite from Lily. While she protected the forest and loved life, protecting both plants, magical creatures or even saving those who became lost in the woods, Lady Leaza's duty was exactly the opposite. To take everything away when their time comes...

Lily watched silently as she talked with Crow, hiding her presence like she always did, flying around just in the very border of their field of vision, but when Lady Leaza lifted her hands with the tip of her gauntleted fingers literally cutting the air, Lily couldn't help but to inadvertently let out an exclamation after seeing such scary, gauntlet.

"Eek!" Lily gasped, flying away hurriedly behind a tree. It was almost like those gauntlets were made of the very aspect of death itself. It was something that Lily didn't liked... Not even one bit...

"'Eeek...'"

A slow roiling laugh escaped from within the cowl of Lady Leaza.

"Would you be so kind as to excuse me a moment or two, Mr. Crow...?"

The whispery wings of the 'angel' fluttered softly as the 'angel' slowly turned around and finally stopped once in the general direction of the hiding faerie.

"Is that how one chooses to greet those gathered here, darling...? Eek; for Mr. Crow, plumage so fine and dark? Eek; for our beloved 'Obsidian Idol,' cast in black stasis, posed without heart, poised to forever see infinity? And a final Eek; for me then. She of the Crossing. Lady Leaza, Sister Reaper? Is that how you choose to greet us then?"

Upon the hushed words of the dead she floated, weaving back and forth as she spoke. Sometimes towards the faerie and most times not, yet the dark of the cowl always seemed to be trained upon the diminutive fae, eyeless glare piercing through living matter as always.

"Or shall my darling just hide from us then...? A simple Eek and a turned cheek. Who could dare to do such things? Who could dare to be in such a way? Who, oh, who could it be-- ahhhhhh... wait. There is something familiar about this presence. Something about how such a word is formed. Out of surprise is it made? Or out of despair? Or is it made out of pure, plain and simple..."

Should the little faerie peek from behind the tree, she would not see the Angel of Death before her. Nay and again nay, for she would only see the Angel of Death if she looked over her shoulder--

"--disgust? Oh, look. Why it is none other than Ms. Lily... will wonders never cease...?"

The dark of the cowl was but the arms length of a faerie's arm away. From this distance, the little fae should be able to 'feel' the dark within that cowl. The absence of Life drew in and sucked away at the light that fell into the little flying fae's eyes.

Oh, Lady Leaza knew exactly who this little faerie was all right. How many times had this Lily thwarted the Lady's 'claims' by healing, caring for and nursing those half-dead back to health and thereby snatching away what was rightfully claimed by Lady Leaza. And to this day, the Lady's Sickles remained parched from thirst of severing those claimed tethers. And not once did Sister Reaper have a reason to confront the little claims-stealer. Until now.

"Hello, darling..."

For a thudding heartbeat or a thousand more did Lady Leaza's cowl remain so close to Lily, then the intense form of the 'angel' swooped backwards. A flowing curtsey and a drawn out bow she gave to Lily.

"We just never do get the proper opportunity to talk, now do we...? Let's be away from here then shall we, Ms. Lily? Please do join us yonder to gather and palaver. For you never know what else may slip out from the shadows, darling..."

That same roiling laugh escaped the black hollow of her cowl as she floated away, back towards Crow, gown rippling not from the breeze, but rippling from the sighs and songs of the dead.

Deep in the walls of the tangle Edgar tossed and turned in the dark. His dreams, usually solid as the rock which cocooned him, had been flaky as of late. He absolutely hated that. With a groan and a grumble he finally woke shaking away the flighty dreams and drawing strength in the solidity of the rock around him.

At first he paid no attention to the whispers, the raspy words that filtered through his mind, the rocks were always talking to him since no one else ever listened. He stuffed a piece of moldy cheese in his mouth, swallowed without tasting, and pulled on his worn clothing in a sort of auto-pilot. It wasn't until he was half out of the wall that the words filtered to his consciouness.

He stood there, one leg sticking out of rock into the empty path of the Tangle beyond, listening as the gossip flowed to him. It didn't make a lot of sense. Shifting. Death. Slavery. Stone rises. What the hell did that mean. Stone didn't die or rise, it was stone, it's stability was its greatest virtue. And stone didn't have morals. What did it care for slavery? He puzzled over it for some time before giving up for now. There was one bit of information, however, that was plain as a granite slab, the heart of Gobblydegook was gone.

He had no idea how this was possible but it couldn't bode well for the Tangle. The heart of Gobblydegook was gone, the queen was fire and glass, at least according to the stone. And the living was joining the stone. None of that made any sense but it was important. He knew it was important, knowledge that must be gained, understanding that must be developed. He didn't have long, a few decades at most, before he would crumble into stone himself, and perhaps this knowledge was a worthy final quest. He would see what he could see.

“Well then George” he said to the tiny pebble on his shoulder “shall we go?” He spoke out loud to it, talking to it as one might a pet, or another human. The replies, if they weren't just all in his imagination, were silent.
“I know I know but its important.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Well then we still need to go. Standing about here does us no good.”

Edgar passed through the rock as if it were air, entering an open passage way with a groan.

“I'm too old for this shit” he grumbled as he shouldered his satchel and leaned heavily on his stone walking “stick”.

All around him the stone whispered and he whispered back. Change was not something stone liked or even understood. And yet it was coming, or it was already here. The Stone of the Tangle was eager to share with the one being who would listen. It was the most talkative stone he'd ever encountered. He had to find out what was going on, anything that turned stone into a gossipy fishwife should really be stopped. It was incredibly irritating.

Edgar shuffled his careful way towards the center of the Tangle, bones aching, body stiff. He took the direct route, passing through walls with a polite please and a thank you to the rock. Occasionally he picked up a particularly disgruntled rock or pebble and placed it someplace where it wouldn't get stepped on. People were so thoughtless. Had he encountered any he might have delivered a scathing scolding. Since he was alone in the pathways he just grumbled and he walked; grumbled about stupidity and thoughtlessness and how hideous the bright purple building he was passing looked.

No one noticed his approach, passing through the walls as he did without warning, and he stood, silent for a moment, his hand on a SeaLion, half fish half lion, that had been turned to stone. All was silent in his mind. Stone but not stone. Not dead but not living. It was downright creepy.

“What in the Mud god's holy swamp is going on here?” he demanded irritably, and very loudly, as he thumped and shuffled his way into the central clearing where others had gathered.

Lily

Scared? No!! Of course not!

...

Well... Maybe just a little bit.

Ok! Lily was scared! For a moment, she almost lost her breath when he saw Lady Leaza. She didn't expect to see her there... Her relationship with her was... complicated...

It wasn't like Lily was trying to be rude or anything... it was just that out of everyone Lily expected to see there, Lady Leaza surely wasn't one of them and honestly, she was exactly the opposite from Lily. Lily wouldn't be surprised if she tried to get her because Lily saved so many people and animals before, taking them from her. Maybe it would be best if she remained hidden, but Lady Leaza had obviously noticed that there was someone observing them due to Lily's exclamation...

Hiding would do no good. Especially not with what was happening right now. Besides that... she wasn't that scared. Only a little but surely she wouldn't let Lady Leaza know that! As she peeked around the tree to talk to her, she was surprised when she didn't see anyone there besides Crow. But when she turned her head again, much to her dismay, Lady Leaza was right behind her. Lily's heart almost skipped a beat, but she endured and instead of showing her reaction, she simply looked at Lady Leaza almost if she was confronting her. But as much as Lily wanted to show her that she wasn't afraid from her, the dark inside her cowl, the lifeless sensation was too much for a fairy such as Lily, who was deeply connected with magic and life.

It wasn't exactly fear, desperation, disgust not even repulse... While Lily surely felt a certain repulse for Lady Leaza due to her nature as an avatar of death and because she couldn't understand her nature, being completely the opposite from hers, what Lily truly felt when she nearby Lady Leaza couldn't be described by none of those words. It was like two magnets repelling themselves. Lily simply couldn't stand being too close from her. It was almost like Lady Leaza's aura was... sucking Lily's life or something like that. Lily herself didn't knew how to put it in words, but she didn't liked Lady Leaza. Even though it wasn't something personal, she still couldn't help but feel that way... Maybe it was the destiny telling her that an avatar of death and one of life should never get too close...

"Hello, darling..." Lily heard Lady Leaza saying, as she greeted her with a courtesy bow.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Lily said, showing Lady Leaza her tongue with a grimace before she flew away to where Crow was.

While it was obvious that Lily was on the defensive regarding Lady Leaza, other than the air of confrontation in her voice, if Lady Leaza paid enough attention, she would be able to feel at least part of how Lily felt due to her actions.

"We just never do get the proper opportunity to talk, now do we...? Let's be away from here then shall we, Ms. Lily? Please do join us yonder to gather and palaver. For you never know what else may slip out from the shadows, darling..." Lily heard her saying as she went towards Crow.

"An avatar of death and one of life. It's simply not meant to be."
"Our natures are too different." Lily said while still maintaining a safe distance from her, going to where Crow was as well.

But it was just at that moment that Lily realized what Lady Leaza meant by 'Obsidian Idol'... Looking up, she finally saw Lady Gobbledygook herself encased into a shell of pure obsidian with a hole where her heart should be. That vision left Lily in shock. Maybe even more than when she saw Lady Leaza a few moments ago.

"Oh no..." Lily said, nervously flying around the 'Obsidian Idol' covering her mouth with her hands. She could never have thought the situation was so terrible... Not even Edgar's loud arrival was enough to make her take her eyes off the obsidian statue.

How impressed was the Lady in this moment?

The heaviness of such a gaze should wilt and wither any that slid past that gaze and interupt the Lady's trained sight upon Lily. Anything past half-dead that befell such a gaze would be rendered full-dead and the Lady would claim them. Lady Leaza, though victim to the truth that the faerie spoke, she as an Ancient would have to accept such truths. But as for how the faerie greeted the Ancient...? No single Ancient should just accept such disrespect. From anyone. Ever. And she was an Ancient, was this Lady Leazza.

And this near-Mortal Fae, Lily, chose her own emotion over proper and due respect. Unacceptable.

Oh, but the Lady was not impressed to say the very least, darling...

"Why, well I...! Are we so different, Miss Lily? How tragic, no...?"

True, they were too opposite in their views and ways. True, the Lady's motives here were not of the overbearingly altruistic kind. And yet finally, true, dire circumstances necessitated dire alliances. But. If the 'Angel of Death' says hello. You do not ignore such politeness. You reciprocate in kind.

And Lily made the mistake of not reciprocating with even the slightest hint of a proper greeting. Such disrespect. Unacceptable.

"But there is a lesson here, dear faerie. Are you ready to learn it then, dear faerie? This is a lesson that should cut you to the bone... and further, deeper past the succulent marrow of your Fae and Fair body, dear faerie..."

A single sickle emerged out of nothing but darkness, shadow and non-Life. This was but one of her twin Blades of the Unlived. If the sharpened bits of her fingertips could cut through the air that you breathe then despair should you see such blades... For these blades could cut through anything; body, heart, and even whim, fancy and other such thoughts from the soul. And so what of the unimitable and unique soul? Could such a Sickle made of Unlived Steel cut through a soul?

"Heed this lesson well.

"...Now hold still, darling..."

Well then. Lily was about to find out.



The Sickle was raised.

“What in the Mud god's holy swamp is going on here?”

The Sickle was returned.

Her dusky gown chased her movements as she twirled. A sudden and befitting pose she held as her gaze fell upon the newcomer. If the She of the Crossing could flash a smile.

"Hail to you, Mr. Edgar, so well-spoken and fine to the Stone," a flowing curtsey and drawn out bow she gave, so respectful and yet so final at the same time, "welcome to you, Ancient sir, he known to the near-Mortals as EDG, yet revered as The Rock Whisperer..."

Upon the sighs and songs of the dead she floated, Dead-lit wings flapping softly, gown flowing not from the near-Mortal breeze of the Tangle. Before him now, she reached out for one of his hands, then the other. Should he give both hands to her, the Lady would embrace her brother Ancient. And if such an act would transpire, the Tangle should react in kind. How long had it been since they had greeted one another in such a fashion?

"Mother Ina'Raynjara is turned to stone. Our sister Unicorn stands till eternity in her Greenery, Mr. Edgar. I am for certain than many other Ancients have received such a fate."

A small sigh. A gesture to the elegantly yet eternally posed being before them, "But look upon her. The-- the-- oh, but this Lady cannot even forge her proper name out loud, the time is so dire. How dreadful. I can only call her the 'Obsidian Idol.' But look, Ancient sir. See. Feel. Comprehend the gravity of her fate."

A gauntleted hand stroked the cheek of the ol' Rock Whisperer in sadness. In comfort. In despair.

"Mr. Edgar, her heart has been taken. Only the hollow of the pitiful and the lost remains in her chest. We must get it back, darling. We must...!"

A dramatic sway befell the elegant angel of Death as she swooned away from the embrace. Back towards Crow she now flew. But suddenly, oh so sudden, her cowl shifted, the dark within trained now upon Lily. The piercing nature of such a gaze was muted now. Perhaps Lily had learned a lesson, thought Sister Reaper now; a lesson that involved no swing nor swipe of an Unlived Steel Sickle no less.

The gaze that befell the faerie should the faerie fail to realize, or not, was one of pity. Lady Leaza hoped that Lily understood that no matter how twisted, how opposite, how different the ways and being of an Ancient, they, as Ancients, would always find a common ground no matter what. And pity if Lily did not see such things and learn how to find a common ground and properly greet not just one, but all Ancients.

All an Ancient ever wanted was just a little respect afterall.



And so she took pause now.

The commotion by the fallen spiderling was not what had upset her. No, she expected more to come calling, drawn by the cry of the king, drawn by the cry of despair or drawn by the crying of the Tangle herself. And yet still she stood there, the little fuzzy thing in her grasp. Eyes of the stitched-together-fiend searchng for her own eyes in the hollow of the dark that resided in her cowl.

This thing in her hand was inert and floppy; what threat could it pose to the Lady...? But its eyes. Oh, those beady, buttony eyes. Those eyes were unlived, true, but she could feel...

Well, for the first time in forever, literally forever, it dawned upon her. True, it was not alive and as such she may not claim it nor teach it a lesson for attempting to flop its way into her very own personal space with such disrespect but... for some reason it held within it some kind of existence. She could feel--

"--why, you silly stuffy thing... you have a soul...! Now who could have put that into you...?"

Lady Leaza would reach into the little stuffy bear, remove the lost soul, snap it in half with but a single hand, and down the broken shards just like candy-- but she stopped in time. She had no right to this soul.

For it was true that it had a soul, but it was not a lost soul. Only lost souls could the Lady claim in but an instant and within full right. But nay and again nay, it actually belonged to another. The one who put it there... This spiderling... But how could it have such tremendous power to put a soul into a silly stuffy thing...? And how many more silly stuffy things stuffed with souls were out there;all those that she had missed? How many counless millenia had this gone undetected to the Lady, She of the Crrossing, the angel of death...?

Such a prospect intrigued her like none other had in such a long time. And such a prospect shamed her like none other. How could she have let such a simple thing slip from her grasp?

But regardless, she turned her gaze towards this newcomer. Upon the whispers and willingness of the dead she floated on over to the spiderling. The smile he held she regarded then merely waved it off.

"And hail to you. Now then... You will refer to me as Lady Leaza. Now please introduce yourself."

Curt and rather arrogant, but at least she did say please. But as soon as introductions were complete something completely out of the ordinary (if 'ordinary' could be defined in this world) took place and the only the truly-true and truthfully perceptive would take note. No, it was not the fact that the Lady offered up the silly, stuffy bear back to the spiderling, nay.

"This must belong to you... Take it..."

And no it was not the fact that she offered up the silly, stuffy bear without making a bargain for such a disrespectful gesture towards her. Honestly, but who dares to just flop up against the Ancient Sister Reaper without permission and not expect to come away unscathed. But nay it was not that.

_{"What is its name, darling...?"}

No, only the truly-true and truthfully perceptive would note that after asking that question, the Lady Leaza had smiled. But not just any smile. It was a smile of delight hidden within the dark of the absence of Life therein. It was a smile of delight that was much unlike any one that an Ancient should make. Nay.

It was a smile of delight that only a near-Mortal could make.

“Fah!” said Edgar gruffly as Leaza moved away towards the spiderling who had descended abruptly upon the gathering.

He'd only had time to give a gentle squeeze to her slender hands, and he was somewhat uncomfortable at the touch. His own hands, gnarled and rough, were as hard and dry as the rocks he loved. Its not that he was ashamed of his own body, far from it, he was far too old for that nonsense. He'd walk around naked if the sight wouldn't terrify everyone. He was just uncomfortable with people knowing how close to the stone he himself was. He hadn't much time left in this world, at least not as stone reckoned time, and he didn't mind that part. He was always tired these days anyway, he just wanted one big discovery before the time came. What burdened his mind was that he had no idea what would happen to him when that time came. He had noticed his body growing heavier, his bones instead of growing weak were growing heavy and ossified. His skin was vaguely gritty, dry and hard, oddly so as when most humans aged their skin grew pale and thin. Would he just turn to stone one day or maybe he would never wake up from his slumber and just dissolve into the wall? He didn't know and he didn't want to. And Lady Leaza was one of the few beings who might have that answer. He hoped she would never tell him.

“No need to be so nice about it dear Lady” said Edgar burying his discomfort as Leaza moved off. “You and I both know no one reveres me, at most they tolerate me. Usually they are just to afraid to contradict me. They smile and nod and say nothing hoping I'll go away soon. But I've fooled them; I'm not gone yet. And this” he gestured at the stone statuary around him “will make a damn good story to bore them with. If I'm really really lucky they will get so bored they will just do what I tell them to just to shut me up.”

He cackled to himself imagining his next lecture.

“You should come to the next lecture, Lady Leaza, it's sure to be a good one.”

With that he turned and moved heavily around the statues running a hand tenderly along the cold stone surfaces. The touch of his mind, and the touch of his hands, invoked no response in the stone. Between stone that was too chatty and stone that was nothing he was feeling a bit irritable. More so than normal. It was the mental equivalent of having gravel in your butt crack. He was close to the stone, but not -that- close to the stone.

“They aren't dead you know” he said without preamble. “I mean they aren't alive.” He shook his head trying to figure out how to explain his thoughts. “What I really mean to say is that they aren't stone. Not as I know stone. They are somehow both more and less. You really should have someone dust them regularly though; shows respect.” He polished a bit of the unicorn's mane absently asking the grit and dirt politely to remove itself; it complied sticking instead to Edgar's clothing and joining the army of dirt already gathered there. “Plus the grit finds the statues uncomfortable, apparently they are too bubbly.” He frowned briefly at that description. What the hell was bubbly rock?

“There are answers to be had here and there, if we make sure to ask the right questions. There is much to do and undo.”

Pulling his staff close to his body he turned his back on the cold stone statues and looked around, his eyes sharp intense. This was going to big, he could feel it in the earth below and the stone within.

“Well?” he asked slightly impatiently “where and when do we start? I don't have all of time you know, could drop dead at any moment. I'm old, I hear it happens to old people all the time.”

Lily

Lily was indeed shocked with what happened with Gobbledygook, but when Leaza started talking again she couldn't ignore her any longer. Even though she wasn't welcome in a sanctuary of life, she was acting in such a high and mighty manner that it simply irritated Lily. Did she think she could do whatever she wanted on that place? Even though she was the avatar of death itself, her influence wasn't infinite.

"But there is a lesson here, dear faerie. Are you ready to learn it then, dear faerie? This is a lesson that should cut you to the bone... and further, deeper past the succulent marrow of your Fae and Fair body, dear faerie..." Lady Leaza said, as a sickle as dreadful and terrible as Leaza herself appeared on her hand. Even though Lily disliked Leaza, she could still... tolerate her presence, but that was going too far.

"Heed this lesson well.

"...Now hold still, darling..." Lady Leaza said again, raising her sickle.

"The presence of an avatar of death is not welcome in a sanctuary of life, Leaza!" Lily said, quickly flying up, much faster than Leaza as a powder with a faint green coloration came out of her wings quickly spreading in a cloud in a big area below her, being careful for the cloud to not affect anyone but Lady Leaza herself.

"Do not disrespect this sanctuary of life, Leaza. Your influence has limits. You can't do whatever you want!" Lily said, looking down as she zipped through the air, stopping just above Leaza.

"We are not in your realm, Leaza. Gobbledygook wouldn't be happy to see that if she wasn't on that state..." Lily said, pointing towards the obsidian statue.

While Lily obviously couldn't hurt Leaza or even anything stronger than a human, she was more than capable of incapacitating them, be it with the magic paralyzing spores coming out of her wings or with her enchanted voice. She would do whatever she needed to do to defend the forest and Gobbledygook's body. Even if she had to face an ancient.

But luckily, new arrivals made Leaza stop herself. Before that, Lily's feelings towards Leaza were purely due to her nature as an avatar of life and her being exactly the opposite, but after that, she saw Leaza as a threat. Lily couldn't even begin to think what she could possibly do if someone let her roam around freely, without anyone telling her that the sanctuary they were wasn't her domain for her to do whatever she wanted.

Quickly flying around the area, she used her wings to disperse the paralyzing spores in the air, so it wouldn't affect anyone. She probably had anticipated herself, but she couldn't trust Leaza... Not even one bit...

Sticking her tongue out to Leaza with a grimace and a penetrating stare as she finished, she flew closer to the spiderling, who introduced himself as Ozzy and Edgar, whom Lily already knew. Well... she often saw him speaking with his rocks near the forest but she never spoke with him before...

"Sorry for that! Are you two ok? You can move, right? I hope I wasn't careless enough to affect you guys with it..." She said, obviously referring to the weird powder with a faint green coloration in the air which now it was almost entirely gone, thanks to Lily flying around to disperse it.

"Ozzy, right?" Lily asked, flying around the spiderling, looking at him with curious eyes.
"I'm Lily! Pleased to meet you! It's the first time I've seen a spiderling this close!" She said with a giggle, forgetting about Leaza and the tense situation that happened in the blink of an eye.

When she saw Ozzy putting a hat on Gobbledygook, she gave a sad smile, bowing to him.
"Thanks... She would probably have laughed and liked it if she was... awake..." Lily said, not entirely sure if she should use the word awake or alive, but not wanting to use the later.

She was about to go to Edgar to talk to him when she heard him talking about the obsidian stone that once was Gobbledygook. The few words he said were enough to put a smile to her face. 'They aren't dead...' Those words made Lily so much happier and relieved... Gobbledygook could still be saved then, right? If there was anyone who understood about rocks, it was Edgar!

"Mr. Edgar! So you do know how to bring Gobbledygook back? She isn't dead... right? You said it yourself! Then she can indeed be brought back!" Lily said in a torrent of words, flying around him.

"I sometimes see you and your rocks from inside the forest! But I've never spoken to you... You always seen to be so concentrated talking with them... I wonder what kind of stories they tell... Maybe they know the trees, flowers and plants as well? They do say some interesting things too!! I wish I could speak with rocks as well..." Lily said, obviously much more happier after hearing that Gobbledygook wasn't dead.

Even though some people would consider it to be annoying, it was simply in Lily's nature to be happy like that and forget about bad things in a fraction of a second. At that point, she was almost completely ignoring Leaza.

A flurry of dark feathers glistened down, spinning, into the succulent patch at their feet.

Crow peeked out from behind the trunk of his tree, where he'd been hiding since the surprise arrival of a many-legged monster from the sky. His eyes had narrowed to bright slits; his talons emerged and tapped a nervous rhythm on the bark.

At Ozzy's crash site, several flowering and bulbous succulents had cracked and broken, their tiny barbs caught with bits of fuzz and yarn; their brilliant purple sap oozed and dripped and stained Ozzy's dropped knittings. Gobbledygook would be horrified, thought Crow.

He did not notice that a few of the crushed succulents -- those which grew directly in front of the frozen Gobbledygook -- had not at all been touched by Ozzy or his fall. Their sap had already dried and crusted, the broken edges browned and the flowers wilted. There was a little hole dug among them, as round as a silver dollar, that led down into a snaking little tunnel through the soil and roots. But surely not a one of them would notice something as inconspicuous as this. Crow himself did not notice it at all, for he was far too busy gnashing at Ozzy for his carelessness.

Crow opened his toothy mouth with the intention of spitting some insult or another at the many-legged atrocity -- but he changed his mind at the fashionable basket-hat, which suited Gobbledygook very well if he had to admit. Perhaps he might withhold his judgment for now.

ECG might feel something within the rock begin to hum in reaction to the hat. It was a small emotion of sadness and hope -- but no true communication could be possible. It was, at least, a very definite reaction within the stone to something that had happened outside it.

A fangy grin spread on Crow's dark face. Feathers spun to the ground.

"The heart of Gobbledygook has been stolen," he reiterated the notice on the flyers that had been stuck in every doorjamb and mail slot in the Tangle. "The mystery is completely unsolved. I'll tell you, then," he turned to Leaza and gave her a deep bow, "Your Magnificence, I'll tell you what I've deduced so far -- I who know this forest best." He cleared his throat and clambered a few paces along the branch; the leaves rustled and shook.

"The guards are always buzzing high and low -- they guard the Cobwebs as well as the ground and everything between. Nothing gets past their watch, and this is the only entrance. But if you look closely at their statues, none of them seem alarmed. None of them had drawn their weapons. Isn't this curious, if people began turning to stone after the heart was stolen?"

He perched again on a branch that was a bit more precarious, and he scanned their faces as if he expected one of them to look away guiltily. "Gobbledygook is known to sleep soundly throughout the night -- but she was certainly awake at the time of the theft. You can see plainly that she was looking up ... at what, or whom? If nothing amiss can get through the entrance without alarming the guards, and the whole of the Tangle was asleep, what could she have been looking at? Why didn't she run or fight? She is far more powerful than even the ancients." He offered another bow to Leaza, which caused the branch to waver. He caught his balance quickly.

"Of all the people -- besides myself and the King -- who are permitted to enter the forest at night, only two have not turned to stone: they are the Blue Hare and Jackdaw the custodian. But surely they could have nothing to do with this fiendish act."

The grin remained.

_{“Her name is Ribbit…”}

She loomed large over the spiderling, eyeless gaze piercing its entire being as it had taken back its soul-filled, stitched together, and tasty monstrosity. A slight tilt of her head she had taken as the spiderling’s gaze swept over the Lady’s imposing and incredible form; much awe held in its shiny, shiny eyes.

Now this was the proper greeting fit for an ancient. Reverence pure and simple.

The spiderling had done all the right things. Polite. Respectful. Demure in her presence. Eyes lowered, yet voice as even as possible. Humble to be certain. This awkward and rhyming weakling even had the audacity to even call her by what she demanded and then some. It had referred to her as: She of the Crossing. Quaint it had not referred to her as the ‘Angel of Death,’ yet surprisingly satisfactory. But best of all it had given her an offering. Oooooohhhh… but how ever did this little creature know her so well, darling…?

Rather lightened up now, the Lady had worked the offering through her gauntlets with strange and eiery dexterity and care so as to not shred the offering with a single razor fingertip. Even after the full inspection, Lady Leaza had no idea what the thing was even supposed to be. This did not look like a killing implementation, but one thing of it she knew for certain; it had a power to it. Faint as it was, it was still sooooooooo familiar and yet, She of the Crossing had no inkling of what that power was. Sooooooo familiar… and such an offering. Intriguing…

And then the coup de grace of the interaction; the spiderling had politely excused itself from her magnificent presence, and, graciously bowed at her poignant grace. If the faceless cowl could reveal the mouth-gaped-open expression of the Ancient.

“And a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Mr. Ozzy Strings…” a flowing curtsey and drawn out bow she gave, so respectful and yet so final at the same time.

Pity it had wandered off so soon. The Lady Leaza was utterly flattered and in such a state, she would be ripe to place an easy-breezy bargain. If there was a flaw in this Ancient, abyssal-hardened diamond, little did the spiderling know, it had been exposed. Oh but alas, the most opportune moment would pass but quick.



The Rock Whisperer had been so gracious in his response to She of the Crossing, as was expected and desired by She of the Crossing herself. Oh, but she knew he would down play what the near-Mortals here thought of him, but at least he did know that there was some semblance of respect for him. But true enough, rock did not get enough attention.

Leaza herself did glean much information about rock and its killing prowess through all those long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, loooooooooooooong, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong lectures Edgar had hosted over time. And it would be a lie to say that the Lady did not realize the sheer amount of time it took to stay seated and listen to The Rock Whisperer’s lectures, but this realization gave the ‘Angel of Death’ nuance and the need to change. Because of the time devoted to endure such lectures, Lady Leaza had to recruit minions to do her work in her stead. This would account for all the ‘near-death experiences’ or ‘beyond the grave’ experiences so many had been through over time. Had she been the one at hand, those experiences would never exist; She of the Crossing would never be so sloppy.

And so she had nodded at the offer to sit in on one of the Ancient male’s long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, loooooooooooooong, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong lectures once more. As he had inspected the statues she had interacted with the spiderling. And once he made certain of what she had suspected all along about the statues, the utterly flattered state of being she suffered from ceased to be instantaneously.

“Not dead, not alive…they aren’t stone… somehow both more and less…” she had muttered back the words Edgar had spoken. Those that had been turned to stone were truly cheating death. “then we shall alleviate them from this state of ‘bubbly rock’ then shall we, darling…?”

In a state of Bubbly rock. Even the terms mocked Death itself. She of the Crossing would not have it.



Lily had assumed too much to speak to Lady Leaza in such a manner. Who was this little fae to tell an Ancient where an Ancient was or was not welcome? Who was this little fae to tell an Ancient what disrespect was and assume what kind of influence the ‘Avatar of Death’ held anywhere in the Tangle. And ‘Avatar…?’ That was a new one. Quaintly quaint, darling... Oh and but who was this little fae to say what or what not would make the Gobb—the Obsidian Idol happy…? Did the little fae know such answers to things that it could never fathom nor did it even matter to it in the very, very, very basic of base reasons?

Oh, and then the spores. Did this little fae have any clue? Did it not know it was simply outclassed just like an insignificant fly versus an illustrious dragon. A simple wave of her hand sliced the very air around her, sparing her of being touched by those mere green motes of insignificance. Spores of paralysis were they? The Lady had no time for trivial near-Mortal tricks.

And it was here where she should have noticed the miniature hole neath the spot where the miniature Gobb-the Obsidian Idol was perched for obsidian eternity. But no, she did not notice such a clue, for just like Crow, she too was distracted by something other than flattery for once. Lady Leaza was actually annoyed. The eyeless gaze from the pitch of her cowl followed the fair fae as it flitted on over to the others. A bit too sweet. A bit too alive. Oh, how much desire oozed from She of the Crossing as she evaluated the half-deadness of little spry Lily? Oh you just wait and see… just you wait and see, darling…



It was here where Mr. Crow broke the Angel of Death’s… well… as redundant as it was, it was still the Angel of Death’s drop-dead, deadly, deathly glare that had been broken. Lady Leaza turned upon hearing her noted as ‘Magnificence…’ Oh but such a term to wrap her presence with…!

With several nods, and a taloned gauntlet tapping at where a chin should be in that abysally black space in her cowl, the Lady listened in. True, only a few should be permitted here at night, and true, there may be those who were ignorant, and aye, those who would help orchestrate such tragedy and chaos. But the two names Mr. Crow tossed out there seemed to be neither ignorant nor capable of orchestrating such tragedy and chaos by their lonesomes.

“Aye then, Mr. Crow, plumage so dark and fine,” she said at once with some finality to her voice, “we shall take to the presence of these two: Hare and Jackdaw. Interview one right after the other, shall we. For if in fact they are collaborators to this… this unprecedented ‘event’ then they shall not have time to corroborate their alleged stories then once spoken to in quick succession.

I do however have my doubts to they as suspects… but as much as I doubt, they too may find us as suspicious and hold us as suspects as well. SO!”

In a not so unobvious fashion she, motioned over to where the flitting spry fae was located and not very inconspicuously pointed at the flitting spry fae, “So. Perhaps then the more insignificant of you could start by flitting about and finding more clues as to what happened here? You see, the less significant the near-Mortal, the more they will notice the insignificant things that may actually turn up to be rather significant clues.

“So basically what the Lady is saying is: make use of our time and be thorough in our immediate investigation before the more significant of us interview Blue Hare and the Custodian. How do we fancy that course of action, darlings? Aye. Brilliant. I thought so. Very well. Make it so then… so says the Lady…”

Lily

When Crow started speaking again, everything on Lily's mind disappeared as her eyes once more filled with sorrow. Forgetting the rude, heartless and arrogant Leaza and even the paralyzing magic she casted she instead flew nearby Gobbledygook once more. Gobbledygook was there, in a statue and when Crow said that she was awake when her heart was stolen Lily could only imagine how lonely and terrified she should have been at the moment the theft happened. Leaza didn't seem to care at all about that, seen by her attitude and lack of any kind of preoccupation regarding Gobbledygook's state, going as far as calling her an 'Obsidian Idol' instead of her name... That bit was getting on her nerves, just like... well... pretty much everything about Leaza. Honestly, Leaza did sound incredibly suspicious for Lily. Talking like that, it was almost like if she was... satisfied or even happy with what just happened...

Flying around Gobbledygook once more, she looked at her. Looking up, just like Crow said... But what exactly was she looking at when the theft happened? That question, now that Crow brought it up, was hanging on Lily's head. Two names Crow mentioned. Two suspects who surely couldn't have been responsible for that horrendous act. Jackdaw and the Blue Hare.

"That gets us back to where we started... Honestly... I also don't think the Blue Hare or Jackdaw could be responsible for such horrendous act..." Lily replied, going back to where Crow was.

But once again, Leaza didn't seem to e able to read the mood. Even though Lily was trying to ignore Leaza, her following words, calling her insignificant and pointing her finger at her made Lily really mad.

"Leaza... you asked me to refer to you as lady, right? All I see is an arrogant woman who doesn't respect anyone but herself. Look what happened with poor Gobbledygook, and you're there... almost looking satisfied with all this. Show some respect or decorum! You're being the petty and insignificant one here. Stop acting like you're the most important thing here and try to actually do something! If you can't offer any useful advice, or if you can't do so without being polite, it would be best if you simply said nothing... Or better yet, go away." Lily said, flying almost in Leaza's face.

"You are not in your domain, Leaza. You are not an authority here. In the realm of death, I may be insignificant. But here, I'm far more important than you, Leaza. Surrounded by life, feeling the flow of the forest itself, I'm more 'significant' than you." Lily said, looking at her with fiery eyes.

"You want to kill me? Go ahead. Kill me. You would be happy to do so, wouldn't you? After all... You do seem to be... unusually ok with what happened with Gobbledygook... Going as far as calling her a thing..." Lily said, irritated.

"So says Lily: you shouldn't underestimate the nature and the power of life, Leaza, the ignorant and arrogant one. You would be surprised to know what it's capable of." Lily said, mocking the way Leaza spoke a while ago.

"Even if you kill me, another one will rise to my place. The forest will still live no matter what you do. Not even you can extinguish the abundant life and energy it has. There is only one thing that can... And it just happened. And you really don't seem to care at all, do you? But unfortunately, for you, this problem doesn't affect just my forest, but your realm as well, isn't that right? Oh, blind and deaf Leaza, unable to see anything past her own self." Lily said, showing her tongue to Leaza, flying nearby Gobbledygook once more.

Edgar listened to Crow with growing impatience. The creature was too flighty in general, but now things were worse. He looked around and about and clacked and shuffled and hopped and in general drove Edgar a little crazy. He finally shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at Crow; sadly it did nothing for listening to his speech or hearing him hop about in the tree. Edgar didn't blame Crow; things were all askew in the Tangle now, but that didn't stop him from wincing. It only got worse when the Lily added on. Edgar felt this way about most things that flew, they had no solidity or grounding. Their speech, their thought patterns, even their movement was, to him, too unsettled to actually accomplish anything. Lily was a prime example, flying about like a maniac and ranting at a woman who likely didn't give a mouse fart about the Farie's righteous indignation.

“Yes lets all squabble like human children. That always proves effective.” he grumbled to no one in particular and then proceeded to pay no attention to whatever else was being said.

He walked around talking absently to the small pebble on his shoulder as he did so. For those who couldn't hear the rock reply it was a very odd sort of conversation...

“Yes I can see that for myself”
“Of course I can see it's not there, what do you think we are here to do?”
“No, Others are missing too.”

He walked around Gobblydegook a little more looking closer at her and the ground around and then peering intently into the cavity that once held her heart. Indeed he held his eye so close it was a wonder he could actually see anything inside. He suddenly grabbed his stone staff in both hands, lifted it over his head, and swung it hard toward Gobbldygook, looking for all the world like he intended to shatter the petrified queen. He stopped a hair's breadth away and shook his head.

“Well if that had been true that should have done it.”
“No I can't”
“Well take a look for yourself!”

His tone had gotten more and more annoyed and irritated he picked the pebble up and set it on the lip of the hole, looking for all the world like he was holding the pebble there so it could see too.

He suddenly turned towards Lily and Leaza interrupting them before Leaza could respond to the little fairie's tirade.

“Shut up!” he snapped. “I can barely hear George speak, and that is quite a feat since he's talking directly into my mind.”

He snapped around on his heel to look at the others, a lecture already forming on the tip of his tongue.

“It is stupid not to suspect someone because you don't want to suspect them, and it is stupid to suspect someone just because you don't like them. Anyone here could be the culprit, particularly me since few can understand the stone. And even I can't fully imagine what it would be like to have the power to meld another with stone, I suppose I would try to meld myself first since I'm the only one who really enjoys talking with the rock these days. Of course if any one of you bothered to listen it's not a difficult feat to understand the rock around you. At least not for anyone who has a brain not made of feathers and air. You live in a world of stone, above beside and below you, yet you cannot be bothered to learn about it or how it lives with you. There is so much understanding to be had if anyone would bothered to work for it. But just like the youth these days no one wants to put for the effort. You don't even care who you damage as you clump about, you break rocks willy-nilly when they are in your way to carve the damn tunnels when a simple request and the rocks would likely move out of your way. You track dirt over everything like it doesn't have any feelings, you might as well pour raw sewage on a person, see how they enjoy it. Nobody cares for the stone these days, wouldn't surprise me one bit if soon the stone does not care for you.”

He stopped abruptly and realized he had been going off on a tangent lecture.

“Bah, I forgot what I was going to say.”

He started to stomp off and then turned back and grabbed George from the cavity in Gobblydegook's chest. He didn't want to leave his friend behind. It was that movement that reminded him of what he wanted to ask.

“We shall of course go speak with Blue Hare and Jackdaw, and in the most expedient manner. But I wonder....tell me Crow...is it at all possible that the queen's heart simply ran off?” He pointed at the hole in the ground as he asked. “You have mentioned what you have seen, what about what you haven't seen? Namely is there such a similar lack of dirt and earth below the other petrified denizens?”