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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Mar 14, 2021 13:21:47 GMT -5
So it's not exactly a secret organization ... This is a sect, which loves BB, which in turn has some kind of connection with time ... I wonder if the future can be changed (or if the past can be changed) changed). I'm sorry for Lemony, but I'm even more sorry for Beatrice Jr, who, like Anakin Skywalker, surrendered to an evil sect in the hope of meeting / saving loved ones.
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Black Ink
Mar 14, 2021 14:04:27 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Mar 14, 2021 14:04:27 GMT -5
I just realized that Daniel Handler can be in great danger.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 14, 2021 19:24:18 GMT -5
Please! Why are you doing this to me? It’s like you have reached right into my mind and written down all of my deepest thoughts and fantasies about ASOUE, even the ones I didn’t know I had! Yep. I have a machine that does it for me. So it's not exactly a secret organization ... This is a sect, which loves BB, which in turn has some kind of connection with time ... I wonder if the future can be changed (or if the past can be changed) changed). I'm sorry for Lemony, but I'm even more sorry for Beatrice Jr, who, like Anakin Skywalker, surrendered to an evil sect in the hope of meeting / saving loved ones. That is definitely my intention with Beatrice. The question is will her wishes be fulfilled. And what is Esme's motivation, @roxy22?
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 15, 2021 7:37:43 GMT -5
March 2nd 2021
It was late afternoon at Briny Beach. The weather has cold, torrid, and miserable, but nevertheless the beach was packed full of people. This was not to be unexpected, as down by the shoreline something strange had appeared overnight. There was a gigantic question mark, washed up on the surface of the sand.
'What is it?' Daniel asked Beatrice. They were sat at at table and chair outside a small building that severed refreshments and beverages on sunnier days, but as this was not one of them, they were the only people around. He could see the crowds of people milling about the question mark, though he was far away from then.
'As the beast grows its sheds it's skin?' she told him. 'It's unimportant.'
'Won't people wonder what it is?'
Beatrice smiled at him. 'People like to question the unknown, but they won't go to much effort to learn its true secrets.'
'You did though.' said Daniel
Beatrice sighed. 'I had no choice.'
'Everyone has a choice, to choose whether or not to do something.'
'No, not me. We're not free in what we do because we're not free in what we want.'
'And what do you want?'
'My family.' Beatrice took an aged leather notebook out of her pocket, with the image of a caduceus on its cover. '5 years ago I saw the vision of you and me standing there. I knew that that was what must happen, but I thought that would be enough. Everything in this book, it helped me to understand what I had to do, how to put everything into position, but it still hasn't told me how to get back to my family.'
'I don't understand.' said Daniel 'Where are your family?'
'The beast took them, many years ago. But it can give them back, I know it can. I thought this would be what it was all for, the things I've done, the sacrifices I've made. I thought this was the end, but I'm starting to fear this is only the beginning.'
Daniel thought things over in his mind. He had seen the past, Lemony as he had looked years ago, and Beatrice from apparently 5 years before. She had been holding a knife, her arms covered with blood. Beatrice had told him that he would find out what had happened to Lemony.
'I'm having a funny feeling' He told Beatrice 'That I know what happened to Lemony 5 years ago. You say that the Beast requires a sacrifice?'
He could see the sadness in Beatrices eyes as she spoke 'I had no choice.'
'You killed Lemony Snicket.'
The words hung in the air between them, no confirmation needed.
Beatrice looked through the pages of the notebook again, and after a while began to speak once more. 'The Beast requires a sacrifice to open the portal. The portal allows you to see both into the past and the future, and for the future and the past to see you. When Lemony died, I saw the past and my future. but it doesn't add up. The book says that...well, the sacrifice opens a kind of doorway in the beast, that one can walk through in the future.'
'And where does that doorway take you?'
'To the other side, the afterlife. I don't know exactly. But it didn't work. There was no doorway, nowhere to walk through. I don't understand what I'm supposed to do now.'
'Then you should just forget it.'
'Forget it??' Beatrice looked outraged. 'This is my life, Mr. Handler. And besides, soon we'll have another chance.' She showed Daniel the watch, the time indicating 11:42. 'It won't be long until we reach the 12th hour, and time will connect again.'
'And will there be any sacrifice? How many people have to die, Beatrice, before you give up?'
'I don't want anyone to die.'
'Then you need to stop.'
'I can't!' Beatrice rose from her seat and turned to walk away, but Daniel took her by the arm.
'If you don't, then I'll have to stop you myself.' He could see the folded up map, sticking out of her coat pocket. He quickly grabbed it and pulled it free. 'Without this you won't be able to find the Beast.' He reached into his pocket and took out a lighter, and a few seconds later the map was in flames. He dropped it onto the ground, and the last of the flames were extinguished on the sand.
Beatrice smiled sadly at him. 'I'm sorry Mr. Handler, but that won't stop me. I only needed the map to convince you anyway. In a few hours the Beast will come to you anyway, and if I did need to find my way through the tunnels I can always do the same thing that Lemony did.'
'What is that?'
'Talk to a good cartographer.'
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Post by R. on Mar 16, 2021 6:11:39 GMT -5
This is just getting better and better.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 16, 2021 7:15:17 GMT -5
Thank you!
Forgive me if there are more typos than usual. I had my covid vaccine yesterday and my arm aches like hell. And the next chapter is a complicated brain potato like nothing we've had so far.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 16, 2021 7:42:06 GMT -5
February 28th 1981
'I have to go' said Jacques
'Go? Go where?' asked Quigley, confused
'There's been an incident in Paltryville that I need to investigate.' Jacques told him. 'I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I promise that I'll come back.'
'Well, I could come with you.'
Jacques shook his head. 'It wouldn't be safe. The people who burned down your house, I think they may be involved. I need to be sure that -' Jacques stopped mid-sentence, and looked at the book Quigley was reading. 'Where did you find this?'
'It was just in the library.' Quigley was intrigued by Jacques' interest. 'It's about marine life, I thought it might-'
Jacques pulled the book out of Quigleys hands. 'Did you parents ever say anything to you about the Great Unkown?'
Quigley shook his head in confusion.
'Good.' Said Jacques. 'Let's try and keep it that way. Promise me you won't try to find out anything more about it, no matter what happens in the future? Promise me?'
February 28th 1982
Quigley woke to the sound of waves, and the feeling of sand between his fingers. When he opened his eyes, the harsh morning sun blinded him temporarily, and he sat up. He was on a beach, that much was obvious. He could feel the waves slowly lapping up against his legs and taste the salt on his lips. He stood up, and looked around, and then he remembered.
There had been carnage around him. Fernald had tried to save them, but the eagles had overpowered him. His brother and sister had shouted his name at him, and he had shouted theirs back. Kit Snicket had tried to help him get away, but the bombinating had increased all around him until their was nothing left but inky blackness.
The beast had taken them.
He turned around, and could the city in the distance ahead of him. He took his commonplace book from his pocket, and began to think. He remembered the book he had read in Monty's house. He knew what he needed to do. He knew who he could get them back
February 28th 1984
The labyrinth of the unknowable tunnels under the city had kept bringing him back to this same place over the years, to a large doorway wrought out of iron. The door seemingly had no handle, no discernible way of opening it, yet it nevertheless was a door. In it's centre was cast the image of a caduceus; above that was the insignia of VFD; below both of those were the words 'Fortuna Juvat.'
He had been stood examining the door for a long time, as he had always did, when something new happened. The door suddenly opened with a tremendous creaking, and a woman stepped outside. He had not seen here for nearly three years, but he recognised her instantly.
'Hello Quigley' said Esme
'Esme Squalor??' He said, disbelieving.
'Indeed. We've been watching you for a long time, and you have been getting up to some very interesting things.'
'What are you doing? How are you even here?'
Esme smiled at him. 'I found my way here, as did you. But then navigation was always your skill. I see you've been working on a map.' She pointed to the large sheath of paper Quigley was holding in his hands. 'I want to make you an offer, Quigley. If you come with me, together we can work on the map together, and we can help each other. You want to find your family, and I want to find mine. Come with me, and you can know the truth.'
She held out her hand to Quigley, beckoning him forth.
February 28th 1995
Quigley was sat in one of the ornate wooden chairs of Fortuna Juvat, reading a copy of the same book he had begun all those years ago at Monty's house. The book's cover had an image of a beast in the shape of a question mark, encircling a caduceus. As he read, he consulted the aged leather notebook, cross-checking various references. He had waited for so many years, but soon it would all began. He would have to wait a while longer though.
February 28th 2002
Quigley Quagmire pulled out his commonplace book, and began to search through the pages until he found the relevant information. It had been so long since he had been without his map that he had almost gotten lost through the tunnels. And this time he was dealing with an unknown quantity.
He walked on for a while longer, his flashlight casting strange shadows in the darkness, but not before too long he could hear movement ahead of him.
'Hello' he called out to the darkness.
'Hello?' came a reply, and Quigley waved the torch around and until he found what he had been looking for.
'Hello Lemony' said Quigley. 'Do you recognise me.'
Lemony nodded solemnly. 'You were there. You were working with Esme. What do you want with me?'
'I want to help you. You're trying to find them, aren't you? The Baudelaires, I mean.'
Lemony nodded his head again.
'Well, I want to find them too, and my siblings as well. I want us to work together.'
February 28th 2003
Quigley pushed aside the hidden stone at the side of the tunnel, and entered the numbers 6 6 7. A moment later, the huge iron door began to creak slowly open, and he walked into the headquarters.
Esme was waiting for him in her study, sat in the jaws of the wooden beast.
'Well?' said Esme
'He trusts me. We've begun working on the map. Everything is falling into place.'
March 2nd 2016
'I know you're awake' he told her.
Beatrice jerked up and opened her eyes. 'So are you.' she told him.
'She wishes to speak to you.' Quigley said, holding his hand out to her. 'Will you accompany me?'
'I suppose.' said Beatrice, and he led her to Esme's study. The Pendulum had stopped swinging after the union, and Quigley was concerned it would not move again. He rapped his knuckles on the door, and a moment later it slid open.
'Are you not coming with me?' she asked him.
'It's not my place.' Quigley said, as the door shut behind her.
February 28th 2017
Quigley found the doorway to the headquarters wide open. He quickly ran through into the main chamber, and was shocked to see various people pulling the room apart. Bookshelves were being ripped off the walls, the wooden ornaments in the beast's likeness smashed to pieces. Abel was standing in the centre, at the middle of the destruction.
'Abel!' Quigley called. 'What on earth is going on??'
'It's over, Quagmire.' said Abel. 'You know it in your heart, but you won't admit it.'
'How can you think that?'
'How?? Don't be ridiculous. Esme's gone, and she's never coming back. The pendulum has been frozen for almost a year. The dream is over, there is no paradise.'
Quigley walked over to Abel and stared him directly in the face. 'Abel. You were named after the first, but that is all you share with him. Esme will return to us, as it is written. I have faith in the future, faith I have never believed you to have. Perhaps there is no paradise for you, but there will be, for those who truly believe.
February 28th 2021
'Daniel must find the map. It is the only way he will believe that he can learn the truth, when we know that he will never find it.'
'I understand' said Beatrice. 'But....are you sure about everything? Must he have to die as well?'
'The beast require a sacrifice Miss. Baudelaire. I hope you won't make the same mistakes your mother did.' Quigley reached into his pocket and took out the golden pocket watch and handed it to Beatrice. The time was 10:00. 'I will see you again, at the Twelfth hour.' He rose to leave the table in the cafe, but Beatrice took hold of his hand.
'What do I if something goes wrong.'
'You better hope it doesn't. We have to get in and out as quickly as possible. In 3 days all that will be left of this city is Black Ink.'
February 28th 2051
Underneath the ruins of the city, deep underground, far below the sewers and the hidden tunnels, there lays the former headquarters of a secret institution known as Fortuna Juvat. The headquarters, much like the city above it, are now mostly empty, except for one. Quigley Quagmire was sat in an old wooden chair, carved in the likeness of the Bombinating Beast, fashioned so that it seemed like he was sat in the gaping jaws of the Beast. He was reading a book that he had once read when he was a child, about the histories and legends of the Bombinating Beast. The book's cover had an image of a beast in the shape of a question mark, encircling a caduceus, and it was entitled 'Audentes Fortuna Juvat’. He closed the book, and placed it on the table in front of him. He reached into his pocket, and took out an item and held it in each hand. In the left, he held a small ankh with the numbers '667' carved into the bottom. In the right, he held a golden pocket watch. The watch had not worked for many years, and he doubted it ever would again.
He had devoted his life to finding the truth, but somehow the truth had always seemed to avoid him. Perhaps there was no paradise, he thought. As his last breath came to him, he realised that the only truth was the unknown.
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Post by R. on Mar 16, 2021 7:48:54 GMT -5
Huh?
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Post by R. on Mar 16, 2021 7:58:38 GMT -5
Also, is this the end?
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 16, 2021 8:06:24 GMT -5
Is that a good huh or a bad huh? It's far from being all over. The story will not finish till March 28th
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Post by R. on Mar 16, 2021 8:07:18 GMT -5
A good-but-confused huh.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 16, 2021 16:30:34 GMT -5
Well, hopefully this chapter is good-but-confusing!
Quigleys place in the story is interesting. I decided to focus on him with a unique chapter like this because although his role is important he is not quite central enough to the plot to dedicate huge swathes of time to. I could potentially have turned each one of those segments into a whole chapter, but it would have been too drawn out. Conversely, to not cover these events at all would have left too many gaps. I'm happy with the way it turned out, and its definitely a unique experiment.
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Post by counto on Mar 16, 2021 18:21:10 GMT -5
Dang M, you really are giving me a run for my money with this timeline of yours. Also I love how you put the Abel and Cain reference in there
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Post by Dante on Mar 17, 2021 6:03:26 GMT -5
I finally had time to catch up. Hopefully I can follow the story on a more or less daily basis now.
It's an interesting piece; one of the more ambitious Lemony Snicket fanfics I can think of, in that it firmly embraces the board and the playing pieces Snicket provides but determinedly employs them in unique configurations. I'm particularly impressed with your use of the Bombinating Beast and the Great Unknown; usually I hate to see them conflated, but in this case you preserve the mystery by reconfiguring them as something transcendent - and as something identifiable with death, which has always been my position. I like what you do with the pocket watch, the way the flow of time exists for us as readers rather than for the characters; I don't know if you ever read The Collaborative Calamity, but my later chapters employ a similar device.
I've been more or less able to put together what's been happening so far, but as to where you're taking us, I can't imagine. I'm sure it will be worth the trip, though.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Mar 17, 2021 7:00:41 GMT -5
March 2nd 1981
'The watch is fascinating,' said Kit. 'To understand its complexities one has to know the end result, and the end result is so far away from us.'
'And how far away we going?' smiled Ellington. 'We've been walking for hours.'
'I know it can sometimes seem like this labyrinth has no end, but it does, I can promise you. I've spent many years studying these tunnels, and I believe I may finally be close to unlocking the secrets buried within.' Kit checked the time on the watch. It was 11:52.
'Where did you get it?' said Ellington, indicating the watch.
'I did not take it from Fortuna Juvat. That was Beatrice Baudelaire.'
'Ah' Ellington grimaced. 'Lemonys sweetheart.'
'She stole it from Esme, and she died for it. We have manage to create an illusion that it is hidden elsewhere, inside a tea set, but I worry about how long we can keep that mcguffin afloat. In the meantime, I am trying to complete the work as quickly as possible.'
'And what do you hope to do when you find the Beast? Talk to it? Adopt it?' Ellington was almost laughing as we spoke.
'I hope to bring back the dead.'
Ellington laughed truly this time. 'And why would you want to do that?'
'I would have thought for the same reason as you. We have both lost out parents to the great unknown. If there is a chance to bring them back then I want to see if it can work.'
Ellington shook her head. 'It won't work. You can't'
'I want to try, for my daughters sake as much as my own.' Kit reached down and touched her stomach. 'So what do you want to do then? Why were you down here Ellington?'
There was a silence for a moment, and Ellington considered her answer. 'I'm going to destroy the Beast, once and for all. Before it can take any more lives.'
Kit sighed. 'It cannot be destroyed. I thought you would have known that by now.'
'I want to try. For my sake as much as anyone else. That thing took my father, and I can never get him back. It's all your bothers fault. I never should have trusted him, look what a mess he's made of VFD, of Beatrice. He can't even keep her kids safe. Hes a coward and a failure.'
'Stop it.' said Kit, crossly. 'Lemony Snicket is a good man, and he's my brother. I know you hate him, and I understand why, but you shouldn't think of him like that. There may come a time when he is the only person left whom you will be able to turn to, and if you do then I know he would be there for you.'
Ellington raised an eyebrow. 'If he's still, alive that is.'
'Well, all the same, even if you could destroy the beast I could not let you. It is good that I found you, I think perhaps we could help each other learn the truth of everything.'
They had reached what seemed like a dead end, but Kit knelt down and opened a small hatchway in the ground, filled with water. She slowly dropped into the water, until just her head remained above the ground. ‘This is the part where I need you to trust me’
'Why should I trust you? I don't think you even know what you're doing.'
'Not enough.' Kit admitted. 'I thought I had more time.'
'Why does everyone say that?' said Ellington. '"To have time." How can we say that, when it's time that has us?'
'If you come with me' said Kit, 'Then you will learn that that is truer than you could possibly imagine.'
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