Work Text:
Except for a year when she had been a child, Mercedes Welch, daughter of a well-known computer scientist and mycologist, Robin Welch (known mostly and especially all around the world as the miracle worker who had saved the world with some kind of mushroom magic [Mercedes was not too fussed about the details since for a while now she had been rather tired of hearing about mushrooms for a few years now]) had lived in the beautiful city of Palanthas.
Usually every summer she spent at least a few weeks at her father’s girlfriend summer house in the south, every winter in Yule she visited her uncle’s family in Solace.
One summer when she was fifteen there was an exception to the usual arrangements, because it was her father and her uncle’s 40th birthday (on the same day, obviously, since they were twins) and Mercedes’s uncle was hosting a great big party and everyone were invited.
This really included a lot of people, many of whom she didn’t know. Mostly people at the party she was meandering unsociably through were uncle Cameron and aunt Tika’s friends. No one could recognise her sign language here, apart from her dad and her aunt
The place was really nice though, she thought. This was the first time she was here during summer. It was a hotel at the edge of the huge protected forest her dad had conjured ten years ago. The garden ended right where the forest began, and it was a huge garden too. There was a pool and a huge outdoor patio for restaurant diners closer to the hotel, but the gardens were green with meandering pathways surrounded by bushes and all sorts of garden-y things Mercedes wasn’t familiar with.
The place was called the Last Home Hotel. Mercedes was aware, at least a little bit, that it was a reference to a hotel her uncle and aunt had owned before. Except they hadn’t owned one, they’d had a small pub in the centre of the dead-end town Solace had used to be. Now it was a popular tourist attraction. Big Tree Tourism was big, apparently.
The other hotel had probably been one they’d had in their previous lives, Mercedes figured. She was aware that they all were living a second life, in some strange magic way, except for her. Her real mother, not the boring cow sitting under the shade next to her dad, but her real mother had tipped Mercedes off about the whole thing a few years ago. She was living a second life as well.
It was fucking annoying. No one talked to Mercedes about it except Yolanda, her birth mom. Mercedes was now counting the days until when someone would bother to tell her what was going on in the world.
The garden was nice to get lost into. She wondered if she’d find a hiding place here, how long would it take for someone to come find her. Would they notice if she went missing?
Mercedes had a pretty new dress. It was somewhere between green and turquoise, it worked with her brown complexion and black hair very well. Sometimes she was annoying that she had black hair, for the meek lame cow had black hair as well. Mercedes was sometimes mistaken for her daughter. Would be nice to get it bleached, when she’d get old enough.
The garden had other party guests taking refuge in its nooks and secret hideouts. There was gran, she was in a wheelchair, inspecting roses. She had a personal assistant, and they were talking boring adult stuff about rose gardening. Oh right, gran’s name was Rose, Mercedes thought. It had slipped her mind for some reason. Grandma Rose had hair that was streaks of white and grey all over.
”Henry, look, this is my grand-daughter Mercy. Isn’t she pretty?”
Mercedes shrugged and greeted Henry with all the enthusiasm of a 15-year-old with a strong speech impediment.
”Yeah, hi. Nice to meet you. Haven’t seen you before so I guess you’re the other brother’s daughter? I mean, not Caramon’s.”
”Yes, her father is doctor Welch. How are you, my little dear? What are you doing here in the bushes? The party is over there.”
What are you doing here yourself? Mercedes thought, and then remembered the reason. Her cousins were super loud and annoying, and they were all over the patio and the swimming pool. The oldest was Ottilia, who was ten years old, the least annoying of them. She apparently hadn’t lived another life in the past. Mercedes had looked into it by asking her about it last Yule, and she’d been totally confused. Anyhow, Ottilia was a kid, but less kid than the boys. There were Sturm and Tanin, who were doing cannonball jumps into the pool whenever no one was looking. And then there was the youngest, Palin, who had the same aura of being lame as Mercedes’s father’s girlfriend had. He was four years old, and was constantly trying to get Mercedes’s father’s attention.
”Your cousins, I see,” grandma Rose replied, as if she could read Mercedes’s mind. Mercy stepped back a little. This was a new development. ”Don’t be too concerned, my mind wanders sometimes and I speak whatever pops into my mind.”
Mercedes gestured with sign language. Grandmother, do you know magic?
”Well, what is knowing… I do not command it as much as it commands me, most often, I fear. Don’t be too hard on your small cousin. Don’t plot things you can’t... undo.”
Just then, grandmother Rose fell asleep in her wheelchair.
Mercedes frowned.
”Don’t worry, she does this all the time,” Henry said. Mercedes nodded. Actually, sometimes her own father fell asleep at odd times of day, seemingly out of no reason. After he did something unusual, usually. ”So you’re Mercy. Nice name.”
Mercy shrugged and continued past them on the lane, deeper into the gardens.
It got dark so close next to the vallenwood trees, they were huge and their leaves blocked the sun. The types of bushes and flowers that survived in their shadow here were different from the pretty ones that florished in direct sunlight. Odd, dark plants.
Here Mercedes found the second unexpected loiterer who had escaped the party. Some teenager, maybe some kid of one of her uncle’s friends, at least a few years older than Mercy, also someone pretty close to her age, which was somewhat great. He had a navy polo shirt with white stripes, black hair, and was sitting on a bench in the manner of a bored teenager who was suffering greatly by being at a place where he had been dragged obviously against his wishes, and where he didn’t feel comfortable.
Mercedes waved, which was a minimal gesture. A cool little expression, not a frantic, energetic one that would have given her up as lame.
The strange teen gave her a look that might have been worried, embarrassed, or just cool. It was hard to say, but it didn’t seem hostile. Mercedes stopped in front of the guy.
”Hi?” he asked.
Mercedes waved again. She took out her phone and wrote in the notes app her name and that she didn’t speak, then showed it to the older teen.
”Oh. Nice to meet you, I guess, Mercedes. My name is Steel.”
Cool name, Mercedes typed.
”Thanks.”
Mercedes sat down at a respectful distance on the bench, and typed: Why are you here?
”Uh. My mom kind-of made me come.”
Figures, Mercedes thought. But maybe this Steel would make for less boring company than the kids and the adults.
Who’s your mom?
”Her name’s Sarah Dunstan.”
No one Mercedes knew.
They chatted for a while. Mercedes learned that Steel was into old school fencing, which was pretty odd, but cool. He had graduated in spring, and was heading to uni in the fall. They got into a pretty fun conversation about hip turnout, in fact. Important for dancers as well as fencers. Steel asked her which universities she was going to apply to, and it was pretty easy for her to answer, since they were all performing arts ones. She’d picked them already two years ago.
”They’re all in Palanthas,” Steel noted. Mercedes nodded. ”I’m from Palanthas,” he said.
Kind of weird. If they both knew uncle Caramon, how come they didn’t know each other, if they lived in the same city? Mercedes said nothing, but nodded along.
”We should, I don’t know, get back to the party. It’s getting kind-of late. Maybe they’ve got the cake out.”
I hope the kids have stopped screaming and running into the pool.
Steel laughed a little. ”Yeah. It’s a bit weird seeing them this young.”
So Steel knew Mercedes’s cousins from before, she thought.
”Palin especially, but he’ll get better with age.”
Ew, gross, Mercedes thought. Steel likes Palin. This severely subtracted his cool points.
They joined the main party again. The sun was much lower, it was soon going to be hiding behind the trees and the buildings surrounding the garden. Mercedes took the shawl she’d been trailing behind her, hanging from the chain of her purse all day, and wrapped it around her bare arms.
It was a curious thing, she noticed, when they stepped out into the open. A few people stared at them, they were completely still. Not frozen, but Mercedes and Steel had their attention completely. Heads and eyes moved subtly, following their crossing of the small lawn towards the patio. Mercedes’s dad, Dalamar, and Claire were so in synch it looked like it was practiced choreography, especially the way they all were sat right next to each other, but there was also uncle Cameron, and Tas, and Tanis who paid way too much attention at Mercedes and Steel.
”There go the evil children,” Mercedes heard Dalamar say, after they’d passed. Evil?
”Steel?” uncle Cameron called, ”would you mind coming over for a moment?”
It was an invitation also to depart from Mercedes’s company. She kind-of wanted to go kick Palin into the swimming pool out of frustration for having been ditched, when she heard her dad call her by her name. And to him she went, obediently, even if sluggishly.
This far corner was probably the most uncool part of the party, which was probably why most other guests avoided it. The armed bodyguards also were kind of a bummer. The last discussion they’d had here before Mercedes took off was when uncle Cameron had been over, Claire and him had been talking with dad about climate impact of concrete versus wood and stone, and Dalamar had been talking something about middle age stone masonry in South-East Krynn oh my gods could these people be any more boooring.
She stood in front of the three of them, waiting to hear it. It had been implied in the tone of her father’s voice.
What did you do with Steel? he asked.
Nothing, we just talked about fencing and dancing, and schools in Palanthas, Mercedes replied. Who is Sarah Dunstan, did you know she lives in Palanthas? Is she some friend of uncle’s?
Her dad looked a bit clueless for a second, which was unusual, and he actually had to text someone (probably uncle Cameron? The Dunstans were his guests after all) in the middle.
Steel is your cousin, he told her.
This was entirely unexpected.
How? Sarah Dunstan isn’t your sister, is she?
No, Steel’s real mother is your aunt Catherine. Sarah adopted him.
Aunt Catherine of whom we never talk about, Mercedes thought.
Then Steel appeared by her side.
”Sorry, I didn’t mean to get Mercedes into any trouble. Hello. Everyone.”
”Steel, it’s so nice to put a face to the voice. How are you?” Claire asked.
”I should think alright. I got into a fine university. A bit… different than my previous one.”
”A military school?” Claire asked, toying with her sunglasses, she looked a bit nervous.
”Yes, your worship. In Palanthas.”
Mercedes noted that Steel was doing his best to not look at Dalamar at all, like he wasn’t even there. Curious.
Also, what the eff. Your worship? Like in that ballet, with the main characters eerily like her father and Claire, except they had different names?
I’m going to go talk to grandma, Mercedes signed.
She already left.
Then I’ll go talk to aunt Tika. She left, feeling annoyed. It was like everyone was in on something and they were excluding here. Not like, but exactly that.
Her aunt was not in sight, but her uncle was. She texted on her noteapp to him, asking where Tika was.
”She’s gone put the kids to bed. Might be a while. What’s up?”
Happy birthday, she wrote.
He took her in a big bear hug and lifted her up for a moment before putting her back down.
”Thanks. Nice of you to remember,” he said, and laughed at his own lame joke.
Where did Steel come from? What happened to her real mom? Why did she just call Claire ”your worship?” Mercedes texted.
Cameron whistled and glanced across the yard at where Steel was talking with Claire and Mercedes’s father.
”Yeah well, your aunt Catherine is dead. She met an early death. It’s a bit of an adult topic, we’ll let you know when you’re older But family is family, and I thought it would be nice to have Steel here, I keep in touch with him. Kind of underestimated how weird it would get with those two… I mean. Anyhow, he’s a decent lad. Don’t worry about it. And his dad was great, one of our best friends.”
What was his name? I could maybe look him up.
”Yeahhh maybe we’ll get back to that later. Ok, baby bunny?”
Foiled again.
”So, whocha get your old man for his big 40th?”
Mercedes sighed. She thought the gift had been shit. She really didn’t know what to her dad. She’d looked online and all the ideas there were so not him. A lot of them Mercy figured would have appealed to her uncle instead. Like the funny t-shirts and personalised mugs. Anyhow, her gift to her dad was left home, no point in bringing it aaaall the way over, and then taking it aaaall the way back.
It’s a board game.
”He does love his games,” uncle Cameron said jovially, and patted Mercedes on her shoulder. ”Let’s go get you some cake.” He walked her over to the buffet. This was no fine dining event.
Claire got a star named after him. It’s recorded officially in the international astronomy organisation.
”Ah, pretty fancy. But she is just like that, pretty and fancy.”
I’m not really supposed to eat cake.
”Well, then, have a fruit instead. You’re running about here awfully thin. You were a cute chubby thing just ten years ago.”
But I’m supposed to be awful thin.
”Supposed to be? Or want to be?”
Mercedes shrugged. She took some slices of pineapple and mango onto her plate. And a bottle of sparkling water from a cooler.
The boring people had downed at least one bottle of sparkling wine during the course of the afternoon. Dalamar was opening number two when Mercedes flopped on her seat at the table next to her dad. There was a pop, and in a minute, the sound of glasses clinking.
Mercedes felt almost left out, but to her surprise, Dalamar poured her a third of a glass of the stuff. She tasted it instantly, before dad could say no. This was the first time she was trying this kind of wine. Bleh, but it was so dry – how could adults drink whole bottles of it?
”Not to our liking, we see,” he noted.
Mercedes shook her head and got rid of the taste of it with a piece of fruit.
Garden lights were turning on one by one all around. It was actually getting almost dark now.
Mercedes spied Steel talking with Tanis far away, before he made his exit into the hotel. Maybe her cousin was already leaving. A bit sad, since she’d kind-of wanted to get his phone number. Maybe see him sometime in Palanthas. Even if he liked Palin, he had a kind of a cool vibe to him, and didn’t seem to detest Mercedes, and she did not have a great many friends. At least outside the ballet school.
Why did Dalamar call me evil? Mercedes signed to her dad.
He thought he was being amusing. And has had too much wine.
Mercedes was not convinced. Am I though? Is Steel?
He just shook his head and stole a piece of pineapple from her plate.
”Claire. Mercedes here would like to hear if she can be thought of, philosophically, as evil. As I know you have spent a great deal of time, possibly longer than any three of us with the subject, on the nature of evil, any thoughts?”
Dad’s girlfriend was a little tipsy and giggled. Annoying. ”Oh no, she heard you,” she directed the comment at Dalamar, who feigned innocence. ”No, Mercy. Of course you are not evil. Our friend here was just… commenting on something else.”
Another strange inside joke. Mercedes was almost used to them by now. She quickly finished her dessert.
Can I go? Am I done? There was like one cool person here, and he already left.
Let’s go take a walk.
Dad took her to a place where she’d never been before, that she remembered. It was possible she’d been here as a kid, but had no memory of it. There was a lake not super far away from the hotel, and they walked there through the magic woods in the light of dad’s phone.
The view was really beautiful, actually, with the moons rising, and reflecting off the surface of the lake. There was a sandy beach there too, some ways forward, but it was occupied, probably by local teenagers from Solace.
Is something wrong? Dad asked her, and Mercedes shrugged. Not exactly. It was hard to put into words, this vague inkling she had that there was something going on, but which couldn’t be put into words.
People say weird things to me, or about me. Or about my cousins, she told him.
”Mmhm,” he mused, and continued. In a few years it’ll make more sense. How was your uncle’s party so far?
So boring, it’s just kids and adults. I wanted to talk to aunt but she’s with her stupid kids every second.
Stupid kids?
They’re so noisy and annoying.
It was kinda nice, walking around this place. There was nowhere as peaceful as this in all of Palanthas, even with the sound of partying coming from the sandy beach. Mercedes felt all her irritation melt away.
You can go up to your room if you want, he suggested, if you don’t find the company to your liking.
I could get another stack of fruit and binge something on the tv.
Won’t you feel left out, all alone?
Dad. I feel left out all the time. I’m pretty used to it.
Oh shit. That was the wrong thing to say. He didn’t like that.
After he recovered from whatever that was, her dad told Mercedes: Maybe not go up to your room after all. Cameron is probably just about to have his intolerable DJ step up. You should at least get a dance in. It’ll make you feel better.
And it was like, he wasn’t wrong, Mercedes thought later, after she’d been on the dance floor, the undeniable queen of it even at fifteen (having danced for ten years straight), and walking up to her own hotel room with her shoes in her hands. It kinda reminded her of what it had been like, when she’d been really small. It had been her and dad all the time. She’d never felt like an outsider back then.
”Remember to hydrate!” Mercedes heard Claire holler from the other side of the corridor, as she was trying to find her key card in her tiny clutch of a handbag. Her shawl was probably somewhere within the bounds of the hotel, but definitely not on her.
It was a pretty alright hotel room. She was sooo tired, and she’d tried another glass of the sparkling wine after dancing, and it had gone straight into her head.
Perhaps it was the alcohol, and lack of water, that made her fish her phone out of her clutch in the dark while she was getting ready for bed. She texted her mom: Am I evil?
And it didn’t take five minutes for her to respond with:
Oh definitely :)