Chapter 16: The Cat Who Could Change Fate

SLAM went the dungeon door as Len was thrown in face-first. She screamed, as she got up and tugged at the bars.

"Don't try to struggle," the guard who had thrown her said. "You and your sister will be publicly executed tomorrow morning by drowning for crimes against the town... Do you hear me?!" He shouted. Len cowered away, crying. "Agh... these stupid children. You two don't understand, do you? You're not worth my time." The guard stormed off.

As the man left, Len could see the opposing cell, and saw Layla inside it. "Psst, hey," Layla whispered, looking at Len with a broken smile.

"Layla, we need to get out of here!" Len whispered. "Please, we need to run away!"

"We can't," Layla whispered back. "They won't let us out, Len."

"Well we can't give up!" Len shouted. "There has to be a way---!"

"Shut up, you---!" A voice in the next cell over shouted. He pounded on the thin wall separating them, and his loud punches quieted what he said next. Len squeaked in fear, and ran to the furthest side of the cell away from him.

"There's no way out," Layla said. "Unless---"

"I said shut up! Or I'll break out there and kill you and your stupid sister!" The man's voice shouted again. Layla grumbled.

"Close your mouth, you Galoomba-looking bastard!" Layla screamed at the top of her lungs. "Or I'll go over there and squash you!" The man shut his mouth, and didn't speak again for the rest of his time there.

"As I was saying," Layla continued. "I have a trick up my sleeve!" Layla pulled out a strange pendant from her sleeve. "Catch!" She threw it between the iron bars, and Len caught it. It was the first time she had ever caught anything Layla threw. She looked back at Layla. "I got it from that hole in the bushes North of town. The guy who gave it to me said it could grant wishes."

"Whoa, really?" Len asked.

"Think about your wish. It can only affect you, you can use it to save your life," Layla replied, confirming Len's wonder. "Be careful what you wish, you can only use it once until its power runs out."

"But... you should use it! It's yours!" Len cried. "I can't accept it!"

"I want to save you," Layla replied, frowning. "It's my responsibility as the older sister to protect you."

"Please, Layla!" Len shouted. "Please, take it back!"

"No," Layla muttered. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Len prepared to throw it back, but she stopped as soon as she shot her arm forward. She did not let go of the pendant. Instead, she held it close to her. She cried. She was so selfish... yet she didn't want to die. And if she did die, she would still have to know for the little time she had left that Layla would live the rest of her life in turmoil. She had to take it.

She discussed what she wanted her wish to be all night with Layla. Nobody seemed too bothered by what they were talking about. Maybe they didn't believe a word they said. Layla reminded her every time she wished for something silly that it should really be something to save Len's life. They talked to each other about other things too. Their lives, secrets, regrets, and how they didn't want to die.

"Goodnight, Len..." Layla yawned, after many hours of this conversation. "Be sure to do whatever you're going to do quickly."

"Goodnight, Layla..." Len yawned. "I love you, sis." Layla nodded.

"I love you too, Len," Layla replied. She collapsed onto the ground, and fell asleep.

But Len didn't sleep. She stayed up until the crack of dawn, thinking of what she could wish for. Until it hit her. A book she had read long ago with Layla. "Kitty Come Down". It was about a cat stuck in a tree, and it saw its fate to fall and die. Sometimes, cats don't land on their feet. It took steps to avoid this fate, and eventually got back to its family and lived happily ever after.

She knew what to do. She would turn into a cat. "I wish... to be the cat who could change fate." She whispered into the pendant. Then, she saw a flash of light. When it cleared, she felt a lot shorter. She looked to her hands, and they were now... black cat paws! The pendant was now on her neck. Just as it would stay for ages.

"Go!" Layla whispered, having woken up earlier. Len nodded, meowing at her. She ran out of the cell, and right into Layla's. She reached her paw out, and Layla took it. "Goodbye, Len..." Layla said, smiling. Len walked out, looking back at her sister. Len purred. It was all she could do. She couldn't speak.

Len then ran. She ran out of the dungeon, up the pipe that led out. She ran to what was once her house to get a few things out of the rubble. Keepsakes, really. A photo of her and Layla that luckily fit into the pendant. And her cloak that she used on rainy days. It always kept her warm.

When she ran out of the ruins of her house, she saw Layla by the ocean with their parents around her. A huge crowd was encompassing them. Layla turned around, and looked at Len, smiling with tears in her eyes. She did not say a word. Len looked into her eyes. Before she was turned around and her head forced into the water by their own parents.

Len felt her soul leave her. Leaving her truly monochrome. She had lost faith in humanity. As she ran to the shore they had been by the day before, she had so many thoughts running through her mind. Why would anybody do this? Why were the living so corrupt in their ways and thoughts? Why were good people the minority?

Len reached the shore, and saw something peculiar in the sand. She walked up to it. It was a kind of... horn. She walked up to it. She reached for it. She felt her paws turn to fingers, and she held it up. She could only think to blow into it. A swansong for her life up to this point. She could hear the words that could possibly accompany the song in her mind.

Alas, my love you do me wrong. To cast me off discourteously, for I have loved you so long. Delighting in your company.

She felt such vengeful passion as she blew into it. She was playing this song to mother fate. Why would she do this to Layla? Unbeknownst to her, ice came out of the horn. It was her hatred for humanity that drove her to accidentally use her powers. The horn grew large, and rather heavy. It was only when Len dropped it that she noticed the now wintery panorama around her. She had done this. She had frozen the land and everyone in it. The only thing keeping her from freezing was the warmth of her cloak. It was a magic one, that she had gotten from a traveling merchant years ago. All those people... the ones who had killed Layla. Her parents. Her home. It was gone.

She decided, it was better off lost.

This was the event that would later become known as the Ice Age, and the creation of the Snow World. After noticing this, Len ran far without the horn, leaving it for someone else to find someday. She ran far away into the frozen ocean. Until she found a clear pipe. She could use it to get out of there. She would never have to look back on this place again.

When she emerged from the pipe, she found herself in a black room. There was a man there, in front of her. He was old, with very many wrinkles. He had no hair on his head, only in his very long beard. He was as short as her, and had a very big round nose. "Who are you?" Len asked.

"I..." the man said, in a strange voice. "I... am the lord."

"The lord?" Len asked. "We don't believe in religion where I come from."

"I am not the lord the people below us celebrate and worship," the man stated. "I am not God. I am simply a very old man who has existed since the beginning of time. And the time before that. And the time before that. I have seen it start, and I have seen it end over and over. And I am sick of it."

"Why am I here?" Len asked.

"You are here because you chose to be here," the lord said.

"No, you brought me here," Len replied. "You have to have. The sailors who explored all of the Sprixie Kingdom never said anything about a pipe at sea. You put it there to lure me in. Are you going to punish my soul, perhaps?" Len asked. "For what I did to those people? I thrust the cold hands of death upon them. Surely you must want to damn my soul for that."

"I do not have any opinion on that," the lord replied. "Even if I did, I do not have the powers that you think I do. As said, I am just a simple old man. Waiting for the end of eternity so my soul can be set free. Unless..." He held a wrinkly finger up at Len. "How would you feel about me granting you eternal life, and great super powers?"

Len thought the deal over in her mind. "What's the catch?" She asked. The lord retracted his finger, and then smiled wide. He had no teeth, only rotting gums.

"Aha!" He exclaimed. "You are a smart one, aren't you? Ohh, mamma mia..." He groaned. He then laughed. "The catch is, that you must watch over the many existences of every being you give this jewelry to." Len felt herself weighed down by a mountain of jewelry.

The lord spoke again. "I apologize for the small number of knick-knacks and doo-dads. I have used so much of this infinite treasure for one thing. Spectating. I have not only seen it end and start, in that order, but I have seen everything in between. Every second, of every day, from every little atom of that planet's perspective. I saw Adam and Eve eat the fruit, I saw the flood that inspired Noah's Ark, I have seen the countless wars. I have seen the famines. Only relatively rarely do I see acts of true kindness and good in the world without ulterior motives, though I suppose it does exist. It's important to remember that, and to treat those who practice morality well." The lord paused.

"Whoever you give these to will become immortal, until you cease the contract with them, or lose your role as the spectator," the lord stated. "Only use these on your absolute favorite people. For even if you cease the contract, you will never be able to get these items back. Now... do you accept?"

Len thought this through. "Will I be able to bring back my sister?" She asked.

"No," the lord said. "You cannot bring back the already deceased."

Len thought of her greatest desire, beyond that. To find out... why? Why would this happen? "Will I be able to use these treasures to conduct an experiment on humanity?" She asked.

"I... suppose..." the lord answered.

"Then I accept," Len said. "I will take on your role as the lord."

"Thank you," the lord said, opening his eyes. They were deep dark blue. He disappeared bit by bit, until he was no more.