Mythlands: THE HEIST

Convention of Cats 7: The Secret Revealed

The Secret Revealed

'So, thou art The Glass Cat?'

'I am indeed and you are Loki, god of ... mischief.'

'Aye. That description, twill do as well as any.'

'I am a big fan of mischief.'

'Enow. Speak thy piece Glass one, for Loki's curiousity may soon turn to boredom.'

The Glass Cat beamed. 'We are indeed kindred spirits. To business then. When first we all came to this land, I resolved to solve certain philosophical questions ... ones of existence and otherwise. To wit, the great question.'

'Thou speaks of the notion that we were but mere stories brought to life by the imaginings of the collective minds of the mortal sphere.'

'Oh indeed, it has been said.'

'A notion rife with half truths. We of the godly spheres existed for millennia in our own realms afore those same realms found themselves connected to these ... greater Mythlands. To suggest that regal Loki hath existed in fact for a mere seven decades is a gross insult. Mean thee to offer insult, cat?'

'Not at all,' replied Bungle smoothly. 'I daresay we of Oz had a similar experience, in that our realm entire was transported and only slowly did we realise that we had new neighbours and a new place in space and time. Other realms like Narnia reacted by shutting their borders. It was only later, when we started exploring and explore I did, more than most, that the notion of many independent denizens took root. Their transition was somewhat more of a shock, with surroundings new and strange. We, my lord were eased into the situation because our realms entire were transplanted.'

'Then you believe as I do that we were merely transported, not created from stories?'

'What I believe is irrelevant, but the empirical evidence suggests we might never truly know. But what does it matter my lord? We are here now and we recall our prior existence, whether it be true or not.'

'I did not allow this audience to speak of matters philosophical and of religious interest to some. The conversation begins to weary me.'

'Ah, then I shall proceed to my point. I merely raised that great question, to indicate that there are lesser but more fascinating questions that derive from debating the nature of our existence. These are the questions little explored, but of great interest to myself.'

'Such as?'

'Such as this: Putting aside concepts of reality, we were stories in the mortal realm and every story has an ending. One of the things that fascinated me was the fact that on our first day here, we here were past the end of those stories. I spent many years travelling and reading, meeting folk of fairy, fable, myth and legend. I heard their tales and I drew conclusions.'

'Speak on.'

'There are those who died in their tale's end and were returned to life in these realms. I know of a Little Match Girl who meets that description and others beside. Some seem bound to the written word that dictates their past - alas poor Cock Robin, twice murdered. Others yet have forged new lives under new circumstances ... certain aspects of the human world have bled through to us or been brought with more modern characters. Motor vehicles, airplanes, mobile phones ... it strikes me that this device we speak through, is based on that technology.'

'Aye tis so, but mixed with good old fashioned magiks of Asgard.'

'I suppose you also have the internet?'

Loki scowled. 'To a limited capacity, though such technology is by decree of Allfather Odin, not widespread within our lands.'

The Glass Cat nodded. 'Many realms have chosen to protect their traditions and cultures by restricting the new technologies. Others have fully embraced it. There is a new modernity that has of itself taken on legendary aspects, but more on that later. I return to my central question. I am sure you will find the supposition most compelling.'

'Proceed cat. Thou still hath Loki's attention.'

Bungle paused a moment to lick his right paw. 'If the end of the stories brought new life and resurrection, why are so many missing? Take Narnia for example ... evil was obliterated in the so called ultimate version of that land. The Aslanist state utterly vanquished the forces of Jadis, the White Witch of Narnia and to this day they remain gone. So do others from other tales ... there are exceptions of course my lord. Your good self for instance, you never went away because in the sagas you remained ... at least until the prophesied Ragnarok.'

Loki said nothing, so The Glass Cat continued.

'I asked myself these questions many decades ago and this led me to a stunning conclusion. These forces must be here somewhere, but they had never raised their head from that day to this. Why? Perhaps they had been put out of harms way. I followed this train of thought and researched other, less sentient items ... magic items. They too were conspicuous in their absence and I began to conceive of a notion... I followed the thread of my deductions and began to gather intelligence on those who would have most reason and ability to keep these things gone.'

The seated hologram of Loki was leaning forward now, a fact not unnoticed by Bungle.

'Finally one of my feline spies heard the mere whisper of a name, but it was confirmation enough. I have since sought greater intelligence throughout all the realms and have had cats far and wide, searching for any activity that indicated that it was real. Your machinations with the golden apple were a big red flag.'

'What?' breathed Loki. 'What dost thee think thou hast knowledge of?'

The Glass Cat smiled. 'I speak of course of The Vault of Myth!'

Loki said nothing for quite some time, but finally he nodded. 'We have much to discuss.'