Eclipse (chapter 2)

As they reached the castle’s library, the duchess and the samurai found the witch chatting with a short and round blue-skinned man with two robotic legs. Even though their conversation was lively, it was completely silent, as they communicated through hand signs.

When they noticed they weren’t alone, the blue man froze and his eyes widened while the redhead warmly greeted Jack like an old friend.

The blue man signed again, a surprised look on his face ; the witch replied to him in the same language, then spoke to the warrior in white :

“My friend would like you to sign his autograph book.”

Jack obliged, and the joy on the mute person’s face made him smile as well. He might still be stuck in the future, but the stories of his adventures gave the people of this world hope. Reaching the hearts of the inhabitants of the future Earth and becoming a symbol of courage and hope was without a doubt his greatest victory of all, for one simple, yet important reason :

Aku himself, despite all his powers, couldn’t destroy all hope. Not everywhere, not forever.

The blue man put his autograph book back in his pocket and signed something to the witch, a question probably. As she seemed to hesitate, her wife asked :

“What did he say?”

“He, hum, asked us how we know Jack.”

The duchess nodded and told the mute man it was a long and complicated story. He seemed to understand he wouldn’t get a more detailed explanation, as he didn’t insist. However (according to his red-haired friend’s translation), he asked whether the samurai was there just to visit his friends or for another reason.

“I was told of two duchesses working on time travel”, he explained.

“You’re early then. Much too early”, the witch told him. “We haven’t had any result yet. Sorry.”

“I understand”, Jack said. “By the way, I didn’t know you were also a duchess.”

“Well, since I married Claire I technically am”, she replied, showing off her ring, “but I’ve never cared much for that kind of title. I didn’t earn it or whatever.”

“Is that why it took you so long to get my title right?” her wife asked, remembering the beginning of their relationship.

“Oh, no, I used the wrong titles on purpose just to annoy you”, the witch laughed.

Then, she finally noticed the paper bag in Claire’s hand.

“What’s in this?” she asked.

“You’ll see that tomorrow”, the blonde replied. “Anyway, why not show Jack what we’ve been up to since last time?”



Most of the castle’s lower ground floor had been turned into some kind of hybrid between a computer laboratory and a wizard’s lair. Electronic parts, potions, prototypes of new devices and dusty books were scattered everywhere.

Against the opposite wall, a strange machine occupied half the room. Its numerous wires of varied colours were shaking faintly as the engine was producing a constant hum.

“My wife and I joined forces to create lots of stuff”, the witch explained. “The very first thing we made is this big baby over here. We took my original concept of magitech to a whole new level. We called this machine Brouillard. As long as she’s here, no-one can spy on us or on anyone in this village. No matter if they use magic or technology.”

So that is how they escaped Aku’s prying eye over the last four years, Jack thought.

“We plan to make more of them to give to rebel movements, but Brouillard was difficult to make so she’s also difficult to reproduce, so it’s gonna take some time”, the duchess explained.

“Also, we’ve been busy with lots of other projects”, her wife added.

She then told the man in white how they replaced her lost hearing aid with an implant (the samurai didn’t know what an implant was so the two women simply explained him it was a more permanent solution to the witch’s bad hearing), created their own brand of custom-made devices, and, more recently, gave the blue man a brand new pair of legs after he lost his original ones in a car accident.

“And now, while researching time travel, we’re working on a thing that will allow him to speak”, the redhead finished while her friend sat on a nearby stool.

Claire took in her hand one of the prototypes, some kind of metal necklace with a tiny speaker attached to it, a screwdriver in the other hand, fiddled with the device for a minute, then made the blue man try it on.

“Ok, now try to say something”, the duchess instructed.

Only a screeching sound came out of the speaker.

“That sounded awful”, the witch commented.

“Not as awful as your attempt at singing”, her wife added.

“…You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“And two hours later you’ll change your mind.”

The witch opened her mouth again, then closed it when she realised she couldn’t think of a witty reply.

The duchess tinkered with the prototype a bit more before asking the blue man to make another attempt at speaking.

“Hello?” a robotic voice said.

The two women slapped their raised palms together in celebration. Their blue friend was so excited by the possibility to finally be able to speak he couldn’t utter any more coherent word and therefore thanked them with a hug.

If the witch and the duchess were able to make such a miracle happen, maybe they could make more. Jack was certain that, given enough time, they would be able to send him back home.

Once the blue man was done thanking his friends, the redhead turned to the warrior :

“We might not be able to send you back in time yet, Jack, but we can offer you shelter.”

“Plus you’ll have a much better view of the eclipse here than you’d ever do in the city”, the blonde added.

“The eclipse?” the man in white repeated.

“Tomorrow’s solar eclipse, man! It’s like, the event of the century” the man who was no longer mute explained. “You won’t see another one any time soon! Actually, I guess Aku himself doesn’t wanna miss it either : his fortress teleported in this country ‘bout four days ago.”

“His fortress…What?” the witch stammered slightly, instinctively taking a step back towards Brouillard. “No-one told me about this…”

“I – I didn’t want you to worry… I’m sorry” the duchess apologised.

“Why would she be worried anyway?” the blue-skinned man asked. “What difference does it make where the fortress is?”

Only silence from the three other people in the room replied to him.

As the silence was getting more and more uncomfortable, a brief beeping sound made itself heard ; Claire produced a small cream-coloured rectangular device from her pocket and took a quick look at it.

“Oh, it’s just Helios”, she said, putting the device back in her pocket. “I’ll reply to him later.”

“Helios?” Jack asked.

“A friend”, the duchess and the blue man both replied at the same time.

The samurai doubted “Helios” was this man’s (whoever he was) real name, but who was he to judge?



Helios : Hello?

Helios : Are you here?

Helios : ???????

Raven Queen : Sorry for the late reply, we received the visit of an old friend today so I was a bit busy.

Helios : I see…

Raven Queen : Anyway how are you doin’?

Helios : I actually am doing fine! ‘Getting ready for tomorrow!

Raven Queen : For your rendez-vous with the moon?

Helios : If by “the moon”, you mean you, then yes. :3

Raven Queen : …What?

Helios : Surprise! I’ll go see the eclipse with you!

Raven : I don’t remember ever giving you my location code????

Helios : I didn’t need it to find you.

Raven Queen : That didn’t sound creepy at all! ^^”

Helios : I mean, Sky told me you were neighbours, so I didn’t need your location code to guess where you live.

Raven Queen : Oh. You should have said so from the beginning!

Helios : I’ll send you a message when I arrive in your village.

Raven Queen : Ok. We’ll all be there to welcome you. Anyway I should let my phone down for a minute, my wife just told me it’s dinner time. See you!

Helios : I can’t wait for tomorrow. :3