Feargus

  Days Until it Happens: 8

  Crew Placement:

  Road to Leberecht ? Alex, Rhian, Michael

  Defector’s Lair ? Rhydian, Strauss

  Palisade ? Bells

  Man-cave ? Zack

  Jaska ? Adeline, Everleigh

  ??? ? Sebastian

  The problem with looking for Sebastian, was that he could glamour his appearance. Every face I saw in the village, I scrutinized for signs of deception. But why would Sebastian be hiding out in Oskari? It was risky. He seemed interested in the debauchery parties at the Jaskar, so I wondered if he was masking in the city, but then—that’d be too close to Everleigh, wouldn’t it? I knew he hadn’t left the territory, because she could still feel him. He wasn’t dead for the same reason. Maybe he was hiding in his music note, and was just choosing not to answer my whistle.

  For the first time since arriving in Amalia, I was stumped. I’d been bested by a foxy son-of-a-gun with more than a thousand years of hiding experience. At the cabin, I put the basket V and I made together on the nightstand, had a short nap, changed my clothes, and left to see Zacharias at the man-cave.

  “What do you mean you’ve lost Sebastian? Do you understand how much danger he’s in? How much he’s risked by helping your friends? Nobody can know he’s here. Nobody, Feargus Finlay.”

  “I care about Sebastian, too. I wouldn't do anything to put him in more danger. But you know him better than anyone.”

  “I haven’t known my brother in over eight hundred years. But if he’s missing, it’s because he doesn’t want to be found. Things get complicated, he runs off and does uncomplicated things elsewhere. Conversely, I hide in a box. We all have our ways of coping.”

  “So no idea then?”

  Zacharias shrugged, tapping his way over to the piano bench. He sat and tinkered on a few keys. “Not a clue.”

  “How are you settling in?”

  “Well I’d ask you to move in with me, but it wouldn’t be convenient for you.”

  “Miss me that much already?”

  Zacharias shrugged again, playing another experimental scale. He was surlier than usual that day.

  I had a sit on the couch. “Hey Zack—why did you wake up?”

  He regarded me a moment, expressionless. “We had a bet.”

  “Not for them,” I said. “For me. I can’t have been the first Partisan to stumble on your casket.”

  Zack played a few more notes. “I wonder why Matilda arranged a piano specifically. Not that I’m complaining.”

  “No, you’re just changing the subject.”

  Zacharias glanced over toward me briefly. “I hope you’re not after some chosen one narrative, when in reality, you’re the first person to have found me since I’d stopped feeling my son. Until then, I'd believed he was safe with Avis, and I had to know what happened to him.”

  Folks, just to recap: prior to the Zack Nap, Jakob was being held behind the keyhole in the mountain while they sought to cure him. Not ideal by any means, but he was being looked after, and his parents visited him frequently. It wasn't until after the Zack Nap that Avis really spiralled.

  “That would have been something like fifteen years ago," I said. "Why not just wake up and leave?”

  “All I knew of the world after four hundred years was that there was still the likes of Lidia Roska running amok, everything else a reminder of my failures. Every time I’d think about leaving, I’d panic and go back to sleep.”

  “So I was an opportunity.”

  “Well, I was afraid to face the world alone, but would I have stepped out to face it with just anybody? I don’t know. Besides, wasn’t I another task to you? Am I not still?”

  I smiled and laid myself down on the couch. “I guess we’re even then.”

  Zack tapped a few more notes. “I guess we are.”

  “Play me a song before I leave to find your brother?”

  “Any time, Feargus Finlay.”

  Zack played what he said was his and Sebastian’s 1056th song: The Miniature Masquerade.

  It was incredible.

  Before leaving Zacharias’s man-cave, I asked if I could use the typewriter for a bit of brainstorming. The Writer had made sure it was fully loaded before she left the place to Zacharias. I’d never used one before myself, and my typing was embarrassingly slow, but for some reason it helped me think better. Here’s what I wrote:

  

  PLACES SEBASTIAN ISN'T:

  Oskari

  The Drop

  The estate

  The old theatre

  The old schoolhouse

  Any of the six music notes

  PLACES SEBASTIAN MOST LIKELY ISN'T:

  Camping in the wilderness

  Leberecht

  Verena

  Jaska

  SO IS SEBASTIAN...

  …in Istok?

  “Does Istok have any significance to you or Sebastian?” I asked.

  “It was once called Amsteg, and we once lived there.”

  I knew Amsteg was Istok, but at the time, I hadn’t known it was home for the brothers.

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  “We were born in what’s essentially Verena,” Zacharias continued, “and we spent most of our youth and young adulthood on the road. When Avis and I got married, we built our estate in Amsteg. Sebastian lived with us.”

  “You’re really just going to sit here while your brother might be in town a few leagues away?”

  “And isn’t your sister in a wagon but a few more leagues in the other direction? When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Not eight hundred and twenty four years ago, that’s for sure.”

  As you might remember from The Second One, Sebastian, as Vincent, told the others he’d been in Istok following the events in Oskari, enjoying a bit of notoriety and the perks of being a Partisan. He then proceeded to tell everybody he, Vincent, was actually Sebastian Vonsinfonie. You might also remember I was sitting in a wagon with him, Strauss, and Adeline when that happened. Well, let’s see how much of Sebastian’s story was true, shall we?

  The last few times I’d gone to the Bountiful Blessing, it hadn’t been busy at all. But it was bustling that day. Ursula, the owner, had some sad news about her husband, though. He’d recently passed in his sleep. Their relationship was strained, and I’d be lying if I said she didn’t look a few years younger. But she seemed sad, too.

  Other than that, Ursula said life was looking up in Istok. You might remember from The First One, Lidia’s minions had seeded their way through the town, and many of the villagers had been showing signs of illness or madness.

  “It’s a miracle,” she said. “Just yesterday another two recovered. I’ve never been religious, but after those Partisans came through here, Palisade sent us a new priest. We haven’t had one since—,” Ursula grabbed the attention of an older chap at a nearby table, “—what was his name?”

  “Father Bach.”

  “That’s it.” Ursula nodded, and the gentleman went back to his lunch.

  “I didn’t see a church in town,” I noted.

  “There isn’t one—never has been. The clergy have always operated out of a home on the north side. This new fellow has his work cut out for him getting the place back up to snuff, though.”

  “Does he hold dusk sermon?”

  “No, no—and that’s what I find so refreshing. He’s just been here, helping. We really can’t thank Palisade enough.”

  There were a few agreeable murmurs from those around us.

  “And you said the house was on the north side?”

  “Yeah, a stone cottage beyond the wheat fields.”

  I thanked her and ordered the stew.

  Ursula made a mean stew.

  I knocked on the cottage door, and after twenty-two seconds and a hesitation at the door handle, an Amali Partisan answered. He was a humble looking chap with a tanned, olive skin tone. His shoulders slouched inside his blue robes when he saw me, but he waved me inside and closed the door.

  “Feargus Finlay,” Sebastian said.

  I saw him as he was then: pale skin, pale eyes, pale hair perfectly coiffed. He wore the same dark blue suit I’d seen him in at the theatre.

  “Sebastian Vonsinfonie,” I answered.

  He gasped. “No more with the food-related problem?”

  “All fixed.”

  We hugged in celebration and moved to the ratty armchairs by the fire.

  “How? And how did you find me?” he asked.

  “I’m a genius,” I said. “I’d also already checked everywhere else.”

  Sebastian laughed. “Well, tell me, my friend: how did things resolve in Oskari?”

  “All according to plan, except…”

  “Except…?”

  I relayed what happened to Strauss and Michael, and like I had done with Zacharias, I asked if there was any way he could help him with his medical situation. But Sebastian admitted he didn’t have any experience with failed turnings, and even besides, he didn’t think it was something that happened often. They usually just died.

  “Not all can be helped,” he said.

  “Same with the locals here?”

  “Unfortunately, but I’ll continue to do what I can.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? You know, Feargus Finlay, when I promised myself I’d return to Amalia to check on Everleigh, I expected her to say she’d had enough of this warped wonderland, pack up her things, and come home with me. I’d never intended to stay long enough to look, to remember why I swore I’d never return. But she’s built a life, hasn’t she?”

  “I don’t want to speak for Everleigh, mate. But you know she misses you. And your brother does, too.”

  “I’m not sure if I’ve made this clear, but I never want to see my brother again.”

  “He’s struggling.”

  “As he should be.”

  This coming from a chap who preached peace and love, risked exposure and his life helping our friends, tended to a town full of sick people, and yet couldn’t find a drop of compassion for his own brother. Then again, I reckoned from Sebastian's perspective, he wouldn’t have had to do any of that if it weren’t for Zacharias. Then again, he'd be dead if it weren't for Zacharias. They both might be. And Avis and Jakob, too, probably. And none of us would have ever existed. Aye, it was a thousand years of complicated.

  I fished around in my bag for something to eat, but I’d reached a new low and found myself fresh out of snacks. “When you learned I’d been in contact with Zack, the first thing you asked was how he was.”

  “And you started talking about pie. What’s your point?”

  “Mate, he’s trying. Like, really trying.”

  Sebastian rested back against the chair, crossing his arms and his leg. He shook his head.

  I leaned forward on my thighs. Zacharias had once told me Sebastian and Avis were once close, so I tried a different approach. “Avis needs your help.”

  Sebastian flinched at the mention of his sister-in-law’s name. “Oh, I’m quite certain she needs help, but it’s not mine. And unless you’ve come to speak to me about anything other than my impossible family, please leave me to my peaceful and purposeful anonymity.”

  He reminded me so much of Zacharias when I’d first awakened him from his nap, and I wasn’t keen on starting that process all over again. But that’s not why I conceded. I conceded because Sebastian really was doing good in Istok, and as long as I knew where he was, I reckoned that would be enough to keep Everleigh off my case.

  I made my way to the door, sparing one last look back at Sebastian. For the first time since having my brain fixed, I wished I still had my food-related problem. At least then I didn’t have to lie to everyone—well, not as much, anyhow—and at least my thoughts were protected. Zacharias might have been right about that, too. Maybe we were all safer when I had the food-related problem. Now I didn’t even have snacks.

  The reason I say all this, is because before I left, Sebastian gave me a look that screamed, “You never saw me,” and I gave him one that screamed the same right back. And mates, let me tell you: the minute I was far enough out of Istok’s earshot, that’s exactly what I did.

  Four, seven, nine seconds, and as loudly as I could.

  

  Date Night With Ivana - Entry Log #2

  “You can try it in two days.”

  “But what if I want to try it now?”

  “Jack, you really don’t.”

  “Do you find it hard being around all the food and drink you can’t enjoy?”

  “Half the time I’d forget to feed myself when I was alive.”

  “Too busy trying and failing to learn how to whistle?”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “So, V—how old are you, anyhow?”

  “You know how old I am.”

  “Not now.”

  “Thirty-two.”

  “That’s not bad, then—only eleven years between us.”

  “Jack…”

  “What?”

  “I’ve seen at least twenty generations live and die in this village, and one day, relatively soon, you’re going to die, too, and I’ll still be here asking people if they’re hungry or thirsty.”

  “…You wouldn’t want me around forever, anyhow.”

  “Well, I don’t know. You’re pretty cute.”

  “…I am.”

  “And you’re kind of funny.”

  “…I can be.”

  “And you like my cookies.”

  “…I really do.”

  “So, if you’re not careful, I might marry, fuck, and kill you.”

  “You know, V, I couldn’t think of a better way to go.”