Chain

In the next month or so Charlie and Rei built a tentative sort of peace between them. They were still master and servant, but now there was also a hint of friendship between them. And Charlie couldn't figure out why. It didn't make sense that she actually cared about the man who had enslaved her and forced her to take another person's life. But she did. The only explanation she could come up with, and it was a hesitant one, was in something her mother used to tell her.

"Love the sinner, Charlie, hate the sin," she had told her not long after she found out about her uncle's imperfections, the very ones that drove him into an early grave. "Your uncle made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime, but he was still your uncle. Yes, he was a different person than we all thought, but he was also the same person you loved. Don't hate him now, when he can't even redeem himself. And even if he were still alive, he would still be your uncle. No matter what he did wrong, he was always your uncle and he always loved you."

The situation with Rei was similar, as different as it was. Charlie despised what he did, she hated it. But when he was being himself, when he was just being Rei, he wasn't a terrible person. He was capable of caring, and of friendship.

Charlie sat in her clearing, trying desperately to suppress the urge to visit Rei for no reason. She didn't have a soul for him, and she didn't want to put him through hell, she just wanted to see him. And it confused her. Why do I want to see that... Rei, right now? Why do I want to see him so badly?

She fiddled with the ends of her copper hair, desperately searching for a distraction and finding none. With a sigh, she gave in. "Rei, Rei, Rei," she whispered into the trees.

She ignored the now familiar tug as it pulled her to him. "You rang, my dear Marioneta?"

"Charlie," she said. Then she covered her mouth with her hand, surprised. But it was too late. The name was out there, hanging in the air. Why'd I tell him? Why'd I give him my name? It was the only part of me he didn't have! She ran a hand through her hair.

Maybe that's why you told him? she answered herself. So that at least part of you was given to him willingly? Or maybe you just wanted him to know? To hear him whisper your true name the way he does the one he gave you?

But that's ridiculous! she argued.

Is it? she countered.

"Charlie? Who's that?" Rei asked, sincerely confused.

Here was her only chance to take back her mistake. "It's me." And she let it slide past, never to return again.

"Well, Charlene," she shrugged, already brushing away her full name, the one she never used. "Charlene Matherson. But I go by Charlie."

He stared at her a moment, socked. "You told me your name." It was both a statement and a question. Charlie nodded. "Why?!"

Charlie looked into his cold gray eyes and found that they had warmed considerably since the last time she had dared to meet them. "I don't know, Rei."

"Dylan," Rei said. "Dylan Jacobs. At least, I was until Master found me. Then he wouldn't even let me be Dylan. I was just 'Boy.'"

"Dylan?" she snickered. "Dylan Jacobs?"

"What? What's so funny."

"Nothing. It just... It's not what I expected."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever, Charlie."

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him, doing her best to suppress the giggle threatening to escape from her lips. Then, she felt the now familiar pull at her belly button, immediately sucking any joy she was feeling. She sighed. "See you later, Rei. Er, I mean Dylan." And then it went dark.

When she regained her eyesight it was still dark. As in, no lights were on in the room. But there was a faint glow behind her, casting an eerie shadow on the wall in front of her. The whole room had that eerie feel to it, not just the shadow. She turned to face the glow, figuring that was the computer. What she saw there made her jaw drop.

"You should have known better!" she cried, exposing herself. "I mean, you created the stupid email! Certainly you knew that you couldn't just ignore it!"

The old master turned to face her. "Hello, Pet."

"Seriously, why in god's name did you delete that email?"

The old man shrugged his spindly shoulders. "I created it. Surely it shouldn't count for me."

Charlie gaped at him a moment. "Well, sir, obviously it does."

He nodded. "Obviously."

He snapped his fingers and the two bound souls from last time came towards her. They grabbed her shoulders, one of them on either side and began dragging her out of the room. Charlie studied the old man's smug expression. Suddenly she began to smile. She held up a hand and the two souls stopped, waiting for what she had to say. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked, looking at the older of the two bound souls.

He paused, glancing at his partner, but she raised no objections. The soul shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"He bound you to help him, correct?" The two souls nodded. "But, based on what I know of him, I'm assuming he also bound you to never interfere with the business of the email. Am I correct?"

He nodded hesitantly. "Well, yeah. Master doesn't want the email disturbed, even if it is no longer his."

"So, which order will you follow? Because if you make me leave you are interfering with the business of the email, but if you don't, you aren't protecting your master. It is your choice in the end. Or, I suppose it is his. Which bond did he put more strength into?"

They just looked at Charlie. Their faces spelled out the confusion they were feeling. And then Charlie delivered her finishing blow. "Let me do what I am bound to do. Let me free, and then you can be free."

They hesitated just a moment more, and then they stepped aside. The old master protested, but his bound souls had already made their decision. No soul wants to be trapped on Earth. They want to move on, to where ever it is that souls go. But those that do get stuck here can't move on until their task is complete. Some are bound by themselves. Deep in their mortal hearts they wanted something so badly it reached into their soul, and it keeps them here. Charlie had met a few souls like that along the way. But these souls were not like that. They had the opportunity to move on and it was Master who kept them here. They would take whatever opportunity they could to escape him, as long as it didn't go against their binding. And this didn't.

Charlie was quick about taking him. She didn' want to be inside his head for too long. You see, she said to him in his own head. This is what you did to all those people. You cut their lives much shorter than they needed to be. Why? You value your own life. Why did theirs mean so very little to you?

He never got the chance to answer. She had his soul. She turned around to watch his two bound souls begin to fade. "Thank you," one whispered, and then they faded.

Charlie didn't bother to call Dylan/Rei. She knew it would be much quicker, and more comfortable, to walk. So walk she did. When she got to Rei's workshop she had to kick the door open. When Rei saw the soul in her arms his jaw dropped.

"Ch-Charlie! What is that?!"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Well, Rei, I think it's pretty obvious what it is, don't you? It's the old master, killed by his own creation. If that's not karma, I don't want to know what is."

Rei looked up into her eyes as she set the old man's soul at his feet. His cold gray eyes had gotten even warmer since the last time she had chanced to meet them. What's changing him? she thought to herself.

"I am Dylan now, Charlie. I gave you my name because I wanted you to use it. That's why you gave me yours, isn't it?" He knelt over the old man, waving a hand above him. He soon disappeared. Rei had decided to let him move on. His voice was shaking.

Meanwhile, Charlie's face was turning a deep red. She reached up and cupped her flaming cheeks, willing herself (rather unsuccessfully) to stop blushing. He didn't hear that argument in your head, Charlie. You're being ridiculous. He doesn't know!

Still, she kept blushing. "Yeah..." she whispered. Something in her tone made him look up and their eyes met again. His eyes searched hers. Charlie was the first to look away, her blush deepening further than she ever thought possible.

And then Dylan sighed, sinking down onto the floor. Charlie turned back to him, forgetting the blush on her cheeks. "Are you okay."

He laughed shakily. "I don't know. I don't know whether to rejoice or to be upset. I mean, I despised the man my whole life. He made life hell. But at the same time, he raised me. He brought me off the streets and gave me a home. He saved me, in a way."

Charlie sat next to him, laying a comforting hand on top of his. She didn't know what to say. She had never been good at comforting people, but in this type of situation she knew she was useless.

And yet, at least for the moment, her presence was enough.