It's a clear and ordinary night when Arjun dies.
Arjun tells the reaper to go !@#$ himself, and floats off towards the art garage and the painting he has yet to finish.
Grim spares a second to admire Arjun's boldness, then snatches away the soul quickly, without mercy.
Mittens jolts awake, gasping and panicked. Somehow, she knows death has visited her home.
Mittens makes the bed her father left unmade. For the most part, she shoulders this grief alone. No one else in town misses the rude, unpredictable Arjun Archer—aside from possibly Thalia Verona, who does not visit.
The cats look around the house for Arjun sometimes, as does the toddler, but Mittens doesn't really discuss the issue with them. Of course.
It's awfully familiar, she thinks, watching Snowberry peek into each room one by one.
And the old man isn't in any of them.
How puzzling and annoying that must be, for a cat.
She has Arjun's urn placed on the Archers' museum property, close to his parents.
Percival's birthday arrives, and it's just him and his mother with a cake.
This is Percy's first experience with cake, and he is nearly catatonic with the sugar-shock of how delicious it is.
He has his mother's eyes, but it's hard to overlook how much he resembles his father.
Very soon, Mittens decides she must find and speak with Pauline.
No one knows where Pauline lives. Only that she runs the consignment store... sometimes.
Ah. That was easy.
Being psychic, Pauline already knows the questions, even if she doesn't know the answers.
So she politely agrees to take this upstairs.
The fitting room above the consignment shop smells like dust.
Mittens's concern is, well, those ears. Percival's.
"Reginald's mother, Zelda, wouldn't allow him to go anywhere without a hat. She felt the ears would betray his true nature, to anyone who was truly threatening. That's got me worried now."
Pauline taps a finger to her own forehead. "That's not exactly what you remember."
Mittens glares. "Um. What?"
Pauline closes her eyes. "You're thinking about the things he told you. I can examine your memories more clearly than you can... it's... a strange gift. Was difficult to master, but one doesn't forget the method."
"Okay?"
"You're in your late grandmother's bedroom.. ...which is your own room now, I know, focus please."
Mittens stiffens in her chair.
Pauline continues. "He's asked you to look at his ears. He's trying to prove to you, that he's different. Not entirely normal. He's telling you his mother seems to fear some danger, a more malevolent presence than she, and would prefer it if he didn't reveal his supernatural nature to just anyone."
"I guess that is what he said. Now that you phrase it like that." Mittens fidgets, pressing her palms to her knees.
"Zelda sensed the... ..." she grimaces, hesitating to use its Simlish name, "...unicorn. That's all. And it's gone now. Nothing to worry about, now."
"But you didn't sense it!? And that's hardly the only odd thing about this town! There's Vera Shore, and Kirette..."
"They are harmless. As for the unicorn, I had no reason to suspect activity from the gate. The gates were dormant for so long. When I accepted the role as guardian, this one was reactivated, but it's been silent until now."
"Whom did you accept this role from? And who's to say more monsters won't come pouring out?"
"I'm to say. I'm keeping a watch of it. It's my role. The entire reason I'm to stay here, until..." She pauses. This information is sensitive. But if anyone deserves to make use of it, it's Mittens. "Until I'm dead. That will break the spell keeping that place charged."
"Why was it charged at all?"
Pauline shrugs dismissively. "Desperate times. A ritual had to be done. Some older vampires knew how it was to be performed, but they need someone of a certain... background. Or it wouldn't work."
"Why? Why are elves important at all? Why did my husband have to die for being a tiny bit of one?!"
"I wish I had an answer. Much knowledge of the early magic has been lost."
Mittens stares at the floor. A murderous thought does cross her mind. Get rid of the psychic woman, and so get rid of the gate a unicorn used to break into this quiet town and destroy Mittens's life. But it's an intellectual calculation, devoid of the rage it would require to kill. She knows she should be angry, and a small part of her desperately tries to be, but all she can feel right now is concern for her son. "You're certain you've got a handle on this?"
Pauline wrings her hands together. "Of course. Nothing will get through again."
"You understand I do feel bad, about the whole thing."
"I don't care how you feel," Mittens snarls. "I just want to know! I'm a parent now. And when Reg was alive, I thought... well I didn't think there was anything to be afraid of, but even if I had, for a second, I was sure he could handle it. But he couldn't! What chance would I have?"
Pauline sighs. "This worrying doesn't suit you. It'll fade, with time."
...She does her best thinking, when she's pissed off.
...This is it. The reversal of the tampering.
War Machine is "cured". The blue spots are gone.
When they ask for her cat, the scientist in Mittens is tempted to comply, to do anything it takes to prove the legitimacy of the cure. But in the end she doesn't want to part with the trusting little feline, and only sends a few tissue samples, as well as a public release of the formula. Let other scientists replicate the work. That's how these things are done, after all. It's wrong until a billion tests prove otherwise. And perhaps someday this will be safe for humans.
It's nice to see a bunch of other geniuses talking about one's work.
Mittens finally has a sense of validation. And it is incredible.
She thought she'd never have it. The best she could hope for was for her research to pave the way for some brighter, more driven mind to unlock the secrets of the universe.
But Mittens's discovery is only a small blip in the newspaper. Most people are more concerned about the fashion faux pas of appearing in the grocery store in one's pajama pants, and whether or not listening to pop music is responsible for this degradation of culture.
As time passes, Mittens takes Pauline at her word, and worries less.
Her little son reminds her how to laugh.
Still, she keeps a close eye on him.
________________________________________________
Etc.: And Arjun dies without ever getting his comeuppance.
My only sadness is not having more red paintings.
