You Know That One Kind Of Scene Where What's Visibly Going On Appears To Be One Thing, Especially From

You know that one kind of scene where what's visibly going on appears to be one thing, especially from the perspective of outsiders, but in reality, something entirely different is happening? TOTSMOV41 has one of those scenes, and I'm so excited for it, but it's not even close to the beginning of the story since it requires some significant set-up. I have it outlined, but it's going to be a long time until I write that one.

There's a misleading, but not entirely false, August Sader prophecy: "Agatha" "dies" for "a prince."

If anyone wants to guess what really happens, and comes close, or gives interesting guesses, I'll post a another excerpt, much shorter than the last, probably of some funny, Agatha-bickers-with-Rafal dialogue.

On a boys' night out, on a certain assignment, circa the early days of Fall, a bit after Midas' kidnapping and before Pan's arrival:

James: Well, I'm stymied, lads.

Midas: I second that.

Aladdin: Eh.

James: So, what do we do with it? [referring to the corpse of their murder victim]

Midas: [dully] What. You never got any murder practice in while you worked with Rhian? [mumbled as an aside,] I never trusted him. Too self-righteous but just doesn't strike me as right.

James: [He shrugs.] He wasn't always corrupt. But, I think I may have had a hand in that. Never got the chance to apologize to his brother either...

Midas: Neither of those two deserve an apology! What would Kyma do? Give it an honorable burial?

James: She'd never be in a situation like this with the likes of us.

Aladdin: She's too Good.

Midas: Huh.

James: What would Rhian do?

Midas: Treat us like pawns? Wait, no, that's Brother Evil. Rhian would give us a hypocritical lecture about "morality." He'd never get off his high horse and give up those holier-than-thou delusions of his, not for as long as he lives.

James: [musing] Come to think of it—I never did take well to his magic.

Aladdin: All I know is that we're pathetic. I bet this is something first-year Nevers would get as homework. Or, would it be called field-work? Or target practice?

James: Speak for yourself. [he needles drolly,] You sure you weren't placed in the wrong School?

Aladdin: Nah, 'course not. Besides, murder is against the School Rules. If it weren’t, I would’ve offed you a long time ago.

James: [snidely] Is it? Well that’s just a fine bucket of eels left out to rot in the midday sun, no less. Glad to be appreciated, Laddie.

[Aladdin scowls. Midas smirks and holds back a laugh.]

James: [thoughtfully] Now, what would Rafal do?

All three: [nodding sagely] Burn it.

James: And all the evidence.

⸻

Sometime after the favorite sandwich and broken leg lies that went uncorrected:

Rafal: My ears are burning.

Rhian: Liar.

Rafal: That was uncalled for!

Rhian: Apologies, force of habit. I do ever so wonder why that is. Well, students do gossip, you know. [He dismissed with a wave of his hand, and set down a letter-opener.] You're just overly paranoid, as always.

Rafal: [with suspicion] What do you mean?

Rhian: [while opening an envelope, spoken lightly] Probably, the boys are doing my assignment.

Rafal [narrowing his eyes]: What assignment?

Rhian: [smugly] That's for me to know and you to not find out. I'm not worried though. You're too blind to see what goes on around you in plain sight.

Rafal: Hmpth. We'll see about that. [He covertly tucks a ink-stained, rubber moth stamp into his pocket, and stalks off on his limp, meaning to leave their study by the window.]

Rhian: [calling after him, preciously, saccharinely] Is that a threat?

Rafal: [cryptically, without looking back] No. It's a vow.

⸻

Note:

Please let me know if anyone seems too out of character. I'm not actually that used to writing Midas yet.

Rafal would say that.

Also letter openers. This applies to letter openers too. Almost anything can be an instrument of murder if you stab hard enough.

““Anyone who thinks the pen is mightier than the sword has not been stabbed with both.””

— -Lemony Snicket, When Did You See Her Last?

After Vulcan's murder and Rafal's new School for Evil renovations:

Rhian: I can be very useful indeed! [He puffs up, trying to assert himself after Rafal had previously mocked him for being weak-willed and trying to negotiate with a man that looked like a drunken pirate.]

Rafal: [sarcastically, his words practically dripping with venom] You? Useful? Perish the thought! You shouldn't do a thing, my liege. You're too fragile.

Rhian: Oh, please! Spare me the mockery. I'm surprised you can even walk. You rely on flight all the time.

Rafal: Says the School Master who can't even button up his own robes without magic, much less dress himself. To think that you could meddle with the pen and can't handle buttons.

Rhian: [snaps back] That's not the point! You can barely comb your hair!

Rafal: [with eyes like daggers and a glint of amusement] I choose not to comb it that frequently. I have better things to do, unlike you with that prissy coiffure. Besides, I told you: you can barely dress yourself, and can't make a sandwich to save your life.

Rhian: Neither can you! I bet you couldn't even assemble a proper cucumber and herb butter sandwich!

Rafal: Well, at least I can murder to save my life, and oh, look, yours too. Isn't that just lovely? [now gritting his teeth]

Rhian: [He blushes and says flatly,] Thanks. I'm not going to throw myself at your feet in eternal gratitude, if that's what you were expecting.

Rafal: I wasn't. No one ever does these days. [He sighs.]

Rhian: Don't worry. I'm sure you can still strike fear into the hearts of the students, brother. You've got everything locked down and under control, one thing's for sure.

Rafal: [He smiles resolutely.] And I intend to keep things that way.

Marialena: [pops out of nowhere] Don't be too sure about that!

Both Rhian and Rafal: Get out!

“The nerve of some Evers, Master!” harrumphed the former Dean Humburg. “Can you imagine thinking yourself above murder?”

“No,” said Rafal, his throat parched. “What dull existences they must lead.”

This is not a fic-related excerpt. It's just a random dialogue exchange, if anyone is wondering. Some variation of it might make its way into a WIP, but no guarantees.

Rafal is the King of the Golden Mountain

"The King of the Golden Mountain" is such a Never fairy tale, and a canonical one at that (not in SGE, I mean classic, fairy-tale canon). Since the protagonist becomes royalty, he's probably an Ever, even if he uses violent means to reach his end. So, maybe Good is only Good relatively speaking in this tale. At first, the king does try for the peaceful solution, and some Good fairy tales do end in gruesome punishment for the villains. However, a mass of people standing in the way of you getting your throne back aren't all exactly villains, which is why I'm insinuating that the seemingly Ever king is probably a Never king at heart.

The protagonist reminds me of Rafal immensely, in terms of his reactions and everything. The tale is brutal, and it's basically a revenge-fantasy story, which seems odd considering how most of the Brothers Grimm stories, or the better-known ones, at least, have fairly "happy" endings. This one just reeks of bloodlust and victory and smug satisfaction. Like, seriously, it's insane. And, you'd think that by the title, it'd be more Midas-like, but no, I'd say it's Rafal-like. Really.

The poor, suffering king is just deservedly unhinged at this point, like how Rafal should have gotten his proper, very plausible villain arc. I'm still bitter over the Fall identity-swap plot twist! Rafal deserved real vengeance! Especially after he slaved away for Rhian, to fix mess after mess, problem after problem. By the Storian, can't he just get a break! I suppose that, at best, he could be in Purgatory. He was never truly Good enough for Heaven because I don't think a sudden turn realistically can make up for a lifetime of Evil deeds.

Also, this is a tale where practically everyone's beheaded, so just a little advance notice.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from the ending section:

When he was near his palace, he heard sounds of joy, and fiddles, and flutes, and the people told him that his wife was celebrating her wedding with another. Then he fell into a rage, and said, "False woman, she betrayed and deserted me whilst I was asleep!" So he put on his cloak, and unseen by all went into the palace. When he entered the dining-hall a great table was spread with delicious food, and the guests were eating and drinking, and laughing, and jesting. She sat on a royal seat in the midst of them in splendid apparel, with a crown on her head. He placed himself behind her, and no one saw him. When she put a piece of meat on a plate for herself, he took it away and ate it, and when she poured out a glass of wine for herself, he took it away and drank it. She was always helping herself to something, and yet she never got anything, for plate and glass disappeared immediately. Then dismayed and ashamed, she arose and went to her chamber and wept, but he followed her there. She said, "Has the devil power over me, or did my deliverer never come?" Then he struck her in the face, and said, "Did thy deliverer never come? It is he who has thee in his power, thou traitor. Have I deserved this from thee?" Then he made himself visible, went into the hall, and cried, "The wedding is at an end, the true King has returned." The kings, princes, and councillors who were assembled there, ridiculed and mocked him, but he did not trouble to answer them, and said, "Will you go away, or not?" On this they tried to seize him and pressed upon him, but he drew his sword and said, "All heads off but mine," and all the heads rolled on the ground, and he alone was master, and once more King of the Golden Mountain.

The ending is just so vicariously satisfying! I'm hoping someone will see what I mean because it can't just be me who sees the likeness. This protagonist has his petty, chaotic fun, and is mischievous, like Fala's presence at the Circus. And, he suffered at the hands of various men, for his princess, later his wife, a supposed True Love (the cheater!), just like Rafal sacrificed and went through so much physical pain for Rhian, his True Love and the equivalent of the wife in this story. And, Rafal was almost imprisoned with a life-sentence, and was overthrown by Vulcan just like this king was replaced by another, a false hero. After all that he did for Rhian! The injustice! Besides, it feels like a very Rafal thing to cleverly fleece people out of their belongings, even if it seems somewhat accidental in nature in this particular tale. (This happened earlier in the tale, before this scene. And, the wife didn't completely deserve death, I'll admit. The king himself also erred at times, so they're both at fault.)

Side note from while I was writing this: this has got to be the best, most fitting typo I have ever made: "overthrone" instead of "overthrown," and yet, it still applies to tyranny and thrones! Haha!

If you want to read the entire tale, here's one source from which the excerpt came:

And the Wikipedia page for further analysis/a shorthand summary:

en.wikipedia.org

The King of the Golden Mountain - Wikipedia

If anyone is interested in reading about another fairy tale parallel to the prequels, here's a link to an old "Faithful John" post of mine.