FicWad

Supporting Character Disclaimers: Zorro belongs to.... well, I don't know, actually. He was originally created by Johnstone McCulley, if that's any help. He's not mine, anyway.

Other influences: The Princess Bride.





Ringo and John looked down at their two comatose friends. Paul had passed out moments after George had, and two of the eunuchs had been kind enough to carry them back to their rooms. In addition to the four bedrooms they had been provided with, three fold-away cots had been included, and two of these had been set up in the central living area. It was a comfortable room, although apparently it had the same variable size and layout as the rest of the castle had. This, however, was the first time they had seen evidence of it in their own living area.



"We've got to get out of here," Ringo said quietly.



"Yeah," John agreed. "Before they go mad."



There was a thud in the kitchen. John and Ringo exchanged looks, and went to investigate. Neither of them had really thought about secret panels before, but it wouldn't surprise them if they were there. Since the Mistress had allowed them far more freedom than their fans usually gave them, they hadn't felt the need to look for ways of getting about without being seen.



It was Ahme. She looked wild-eyed and half-insane, and both men wondered what had happened to her. "Kahili protect me," she whimpered. "This place it is the place of evil spirits."



"Ahme? What did you see?"



"I saw a portal to nothingness open up," she said, allowing Ringo to help her to her feet. "I saw it swallow a man. I saw a terrible she-devil wield a whip of a thousand lashes."



John and Ringo exchanged more looks, and John could see that Ringo's eyebrow had gone up. John wondered how he had managed it, since he'd always wanted to be able to raise one eyebrow instead of two. She must have witnessed the execution.



"You saw the execution?" Ringo asked gently.



"Yes, I did. This place, it is a portal to hell."



John caught Ringo's eye. "I wonder what George saw that got the Mistress so upset," he wondered.



"Whatever it was, it must have been pretty terrible."



"Didn't you see?" Ahme exclaimed. "Didn't you see what was in the hole?"



John shook his head. "No, we were too far away."



"This place sits on nothingness!" she exclaimed. "The nothingness swallows you up, and reduces you to its nature!"



They decided to take her back out into the living room. Perhaps she would make more sense out there, John thought, because she was talking gibberish. Unfortunately, the gibberish she spoke was not of something she had imagined. It was real.



The Mistress was there waiting for them. She eyed Ahme, who gave a wail of terror and cowered at her feet. "Guards," she said to the eunuchs who accompanied her. "Take her to the dungeon and put her in the cell next to Major Carter."



John and Ringo just stood there and watched as the eunuchs dragged Ahme away. They knew she would not be harmed. In their (admittedly limited) experience, if the Mistress was going to do damage to a person, she said so loudly and clearly.



The Mistress turned to look down at George and Ringo. She sighed. "It's always the spiritually minded ones who can't cope with reality," she told them. Then, she frowned and took a closer look at George's face. "What's going on here," she demanded.



John and Ringo exchanged worried looks. Neither of them had done anything, or been up to anything. In passing, John noticed that Ringo's eyebrow was still raised. Or possibly... He looked again. There was something strange going on with Ringo's eyebrow.



The Mistress turned to face them. She, too, looked closely at Ringo's eyebrow. "Something is going on here," she declared. She began to pace back and forth across the room. She sighed. "It's no good. I shall have to consult with my sisters. Perhaps one of them will know what has happened to the four of you."



"What do you mean?" John asked, his worry level increasing with every passing second.



"You have Ringo's lips," she told him. "And Ringo has Paul's eyebrows. In fact, each of you is starting to look more and more like the other three." She slapped her thigh with her ever present whip. John noticed with some relief that it was not the cat-o-nine tails she had used on Daniel. "Do not leave this wing of the castle," she warned them. "The ballroom and its attendant rooms are more heavily shielded against what lies beneath than the other parts of the castle. You are much better protected here. George might be able to tell you more, when he wakes up."



She spun around, and left the room. As she did, John found himself wondering what her name was. He shook himself. That was Paul's worry, not his. As far as he was concerned, she was The Mistress. That was her identity.



"But it's not a name, is it?" Ringo said aloud, apparently in response to his thoughts. "It's a job description. What's her name?" He stared at John, the curiosity in the question giving way to shock. "What is going on here?" he asked.



There was a groan from the cots, and they turned to see that Paul was waking up. "Uh, why do I keep dreaming about a glowing blue grid?" he asked groggily.



They stared at him.



"John, you're turning into Ringo," Paul added. "Stop it!"



They stared at him some more.



The peculiar curve to Paul's eyebrow, giving him a perpetual look of bemusement, had lowered. For some reason, his sideburns had also thickened, and his face looked decidedly thinner.



Unnoticed, George had also woken up. He looked around at them all. "We're merging," he said, his words echoing around the well-carpeted room. "We're becoming one person."



John blinked, and frowned. "That's not an echo!" he said. "I...I can't have..."



"Oh, god," Paul said. "We're hearing each other's thoughts! What do we do now?"



"Wait for the Mistress," George suggested practically. "She seems to know what's going on."



Paul looked as though he was about to start panicking. "But what happens in the meantime?" he asked. "And what if she can't sort us out?"



This time it was John who got the burst of calm practicality. "I don't know," he said, "but panicking isn't going to help."



There was a knock at the door, and somebody new entered. He was dressed entirely in black, wore a mask and a sombrero, and had a sword buckled at his waist. "Having troubles?" he enquired politely.



They spun around in surprise. "Yeah," Ringo said. "But how did you find out?"



"Oh, news travels fast around here," the newcomer replied lightly. "I am Don Diego de la Vega. The Mistress asked me to come and talk to you."



The quartet blinked at him. Then they looked at each other. "Strange," they all thought. "Why's he wearing a mask?"



"Um, excuse me," said John, "But why are you wearing a mask? Was your face burned by acid?"



"Oh, they're terribly comfortable. I expect everybody will be wearing them next season."



Four jaws dropped. George had to bend down and pick his up off the floor before reattaching it to his face.



"The Mistress told me you had seen the Decay," he added. "I didn't know anything about cyberspace before I was brought here either, so she thought I might be able to help."



"Cyberspace?" George asked. "What's that?"



"Cyberspace is what makes up our world. You see...."



For the next hour, Don Diego explained all about computers, the evolution of the internet, and how it related to reality. That lead to a discussion on metaphysics between Diego and George, who apparently hadn't blended with the other three to the extent where they could share his interest and understanding of events. John wandered off to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. In any event, the conversation seemed to be getting George calmed down - something which was having a soothing effect on the other three.



As he sipped his tea, he thought that things seemed to be getting better. They had always been regarded as four parts of a whole. Now, they could read each others' minds. That would definitely make the music better.



Perhaps their blending would be a good thing.



Suddenly feeling as though he needed to be closer to the others, he returned to the central living area.