Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, the Scarlet Pimpernel, or the 'Mistress Mary' songs used in this chapter. Those are from the musical version of 'The Secret Garden'. Oh, and I don't own the idea of the clock running backwards. That was basically inspired by my seventh grade teacher's clock.

Myotismon13: You're close. Very, very close. But not quite. Remember, Pegasus also wished that things had turned out differently. I can't give anything else away, so you'll just have to keep reading .-

Flowering Wolfsbane: Well, it's not gonna be exactly like the monkey's paw story. But it's similar in that the people in both stories have to be careful what they wish for.

CPegasus: Hey, the old man isn't completely evil. He's just doing his job, like the rest of us.

Death and Roses

"No -- stay.
I don't care what you've said or done.
Don't go away.
Not now when life has just begun...

She's gone,
this vision who was not quite real.
I must move on,
despite the pain. The pain will heal.
Oh Lord,
how could you let me love like this?
No one dies upon a kiss,
and only fools believe in bliss...

God, no!
I'm broken but I'm still alive.
And slowly,
I will feel my soul revive.
With time,
I'll find a way to right this wrong --
if it takes my whole life long

Lord, I'll fight my battles all alone,
but make me strong."

-"Prayer" from the musical "The Scarlet Pimpernel"

Pegasus stared out into the thin air for what seemed an eternity. His mind tried to process everything that he had heard, and yet he couldn't. He felt eerily numb.

Was that a dream? Was any of that conversation actually real? Or had Pegasus gone insane?

"Pegasus?"

Pegasus jumped about a full foot in the air when Cyndia's voice broke him out of his daze. He spun around to find her standing there, looking at him quizzically.

"Did you find whatever it was that you were looking for?"

Pegasus was confused for a second, until he realized that he had told Cyndia that he had gone looking for something when he went to visit the man with the cigar.

"Oh, um, yeah. I accidentally dropped my wallet over here."

"You got it back?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, good. The girls are riding a carousel they've got set up here, so I figured I'd come find you in the meanwhile."

Pegasus nodded numbly, as Cyndia led him over to the carousel where the girls where riding their plastic horses happily. As they rode around in circles, Pegasus slowly forgot the memory of seeing the man with the cigar. Instead, it was replaced with a memory of searching for a missing wallet, which seemed odd, since Pegasus didn't usually keep a wallet, preferring to keep his money in his pants pockets.

Slowly, he forgot that anything unusual had happened, and he felt better.

When Lily and Iris dismounted their horses, Cyndia went over to them, and Pegasus let his mind drift aimlessly. He suddenly felt very tired...

His thoughts became murky, as though a dense fog had settled over his mind, and he completely forgot where he was and what he was doing. He didn't hear or see anything, and he began to dream...

(Death and roses, love everlasting...)

Pegasus had returned to his dreamland, the dark room with no walls or ceiling or floor. It was becoming familiar now, inevitable...a common occurrence in his dreamworld.

A soft, pale light lit the center of the room, and there sat Cyndia, sitting cross-legged on the ground, with Iris and Lily sitting in her lap. Each of the two girls rested their head on Cyndia's shoulders as Cyndia sang a soft little lullaby. As she sang, Pegasus could barely make out the words as he stood there, watching them.

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
'Not so well,' she said
'See, the lily's dead.'
Pull it up, and out you go."

And with that, Pegasus's eldest daughter vanished quietly into thin air. Astonished, he saw that there was no longer two little girls sitting on Cyndia's lap, but one little girl and a dead lily flower. Its once-white petals were withered and brown, and its leaves curled into each other, dry and fragile.

Cyndia and Iris didn't seem to notice that Lily was missing, and Cyndia continued to sing as though nothing had happened, and the dead lily had been there all along. Iris continued listening to the lullaby quietly, eyelids drooping as though she were about to fall asleep in Cyndia's arms.

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
'Oh, it's dry,' she wailed
'See, the iris failed.'
Dig it up, and out you go."

And with that, Iris suffered the same fate as her sister, slowly disappearing in front of her parents' eyes. The dead lily was joined by a dead iris, its petals rotting away into sickly colors, and its leaves eaten away by unseen insects. Cyndia, although she seemed not to notice Iris's disappearance, had a sad look upon her face as she continued to sing, holding the two dead flowers in front of her.

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
'Oh, it's hot,' she cried
'See, my rose has died.'
Dig it up, and out you go."

And with that, the two flowers fell from Cyndia's vanishing hands. They were soon joined by a third flower, a black, withered rose. The dead bouquet lay there quietly as Pegasus stared at them, bewildered and confused.

(Death and roses, lover everlasting...)

Pegasus woke up suddenly as he heard an impatient knocking on his bedroom. He sat up straight, breathing heavily from the shock of a nightmare that he couldn't quite remember. He managed to calm himself down enough to call out, "Come in."

His door opened quietly, and in stepped a girl of about seventeen years old, with a pale face and long, raven-black hair. Pegasus immediately recognized her.

"Hello, Estella."

"Morning, sleepy brother. Mom and Dad sent me to wake you up, it's time for breakfast."

Pegasus glanced at his alarm clock, which read 8:02 AM. Pegasus turned to Estella and nodded, saying, "I'll be down there in a second."

As Estella made her way downstairs, Pegasus began to feel more awake and calm. He stood up and looked in the mirror, getting a full view of the massive amount of bed head he had sitting on his scalp. As he attempted to brush his hair into a recognizable shape, he glanced around his room via the mirror.

There were Yankees posters hanging all over his room, along with one giant sign proclaiming the schedule for the subway series between the Yankees and Mets in the World Series a few years ago. There were other things, too. There was a poster for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' that Cyndia had absolutely insisted that he hang up in his room. There was also a clock up on his wall that ran backwards (no one knew why) that had been from one of Pegasus's old teachers.

And yet, Pegasus felt somewhat out of place. This had been his room for all seventeen years of his life, but he suddenly felt as though this room were strange and unfamiliar. It was an odd feeling...In his mind, Pegasus tried to reassure himself. Of course this was his room. Some of the older Yankees posters were from when he and his family had lived in New York. The rest were collectibles that he had bought over the years. The 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' poster....who else would want him to hang that up other than Cyndia? Everyone knew what a horror movie fanatic she was.

Yes, it all made sense. He was just feeling odd today, that was all....he'd have to ignore it.......

(Death and roses, love everlasting....)

Somewhere, an Irish man puffed happily on a cigar, and his accented voice said softly:

"Th'final stage is set, an' the actors are in place. Now, all th'audience need do is watch the play unfold for th'finale..."

"Through the mist, your lover is beckoning
Comes that moment of reckoning
Faces change,
Even smiles grow strange,

And we all have so many faces
The real self often erases
Enticing lies flicker through our eyes

Feel the terror draw ever nearer
The more you stare in the mirror
But hold your own, face the wind alone"

-"The Riddle" from the musical "The Scarlet Pimpernel"