Scene 8: Mephistopheles 2

(Back at JACOB’s study)

 

(JACOB sits alone at his desk. Many bottles litter the desk, as well as the floor. A chalk board has been brought up to STAGE LEFT and has been filled by a drawing of the Tower being assaulted by an army of abhorrent creatures. The Tower stretches up past the chalkboard and onto old pieces of wood that have been strapped to the back of the chalkboard. EMILY is asleep on her bed, with moonlight shining through her window, striking her face. Just behind her is the figure of the RAVEN kneeling, whispering to her as she dreams. Many hours have passed since MICHAELs death, and these hours have taken their toll on JACOB. As he takes another drink, a single alarm goes off and JACOB throws his bottle at it)

 

 

JACOB: (JACOB speaks to the now dead alarm) Enough of that shit! Can’t you see I’ve had enough of your crying! Everyday all you do is whine! Well guess what? We’re all fucked just the same. It’s always the same here. In and out, over and over and nothing we do changes anything! How many times have we been here together, you and I? How many lifetimes have gone by while we sit and watch as the world goes right up to the brink, then BAM! We wake up once again. So why is it I can never seem to wake up? I’m so tired.

 

(JACOB begins to cry as he opens another bottle. Once he’s popped the top off, he raises the bottle in a toast toward the mirror. The mirror is in the same place it was from the previous scene, an error in the loop that JACOB does not notice. EMILY bolts awake in a panic, she looks around and sees the RAVEN hovering over her. Frightened she slowly makes her way out of her room and behind ELIZABETH’s mirror, trying to get to her father)

 

JACOB: Looks like I couldn’t find a way out of this mess after all, Elizabeth. Seems to me that I’ll be joining you very soon. You wouldn’t believe how tired a person can get before they break Elizabeth; how many years they can go without sleep. Real, proper sleep I mean. God, I’m so delirious I can almost see you.

 

(As JACOB speak, EMILY makes her way from behind the mirror until she is standing in front of it. She is visibly frightened)

 

EMILY: Daddy?

 

(JACOB immediately snaps out of his stupor, his full attention on EMILY, who he believes is ELIZABETH)

 

JACOB: What is it Elizabeth? Did you have another nightmare? 

 

EMILY: Yeah. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to happen again.

 

JACOB: Come here honey, you’re fine. It’s gonna be alright, ok? You can stay here with me while we calm down.

 

EMILY: But daddy, it’s here! It’s right here in my room!

 

JACOB: What is?

 

EMILY: The Raven!

 

JACOB: Elizabeth, you know the Raven isn’t real. It’s just a story meant to scare children.

 

EMILY: But daddy! It really is there. When it came it made the room go cold, and I could feel it as the moon moved across the sky. I can hear it calling to me daddy! It’s calling me home!

 

JACOB: But you are home silly. Here, let's just take a quick peek in your room and clear this whole mess up ok? Then we can sit down and relax until you feel ready to go back to sleep. Deal?

 

EMILY: (Hesitantly) Ok.

 

(JACOB and EMILY make their way into EMILY’s room while the RAVEN sneaks out. While JACOB and EMILY talk, the RAVEN places a small box and The Monster Slayer on JACOB’s desk before leaving)

 

JACOB: See Elizabeth, nothing’s in here. Just some of your toys. Here let's get these blinds closed, I think it may have been shadows scaring you. 

 

EMILY: But it really was here! 

 

(JACOB kneels in front of EMILY and gently grabs her arms)

 

JACOB: How many times do I have to tell you Elizabeth, the Raven isn’t real. The Raven hasn’t been alive since The Raven Wars over a thousand years ago. The Raven was human, and now it's gone forever. 

 

EMILY: But that wasn’t the Raven!

 

JACOB: Oh honey! (JACOB learns over and gives EMILY a brief hug) Even if the Raven was real, I’d make sure nothing bad would ever happen to you ok? I love you too much to let something happen to you.

 

EMILY: I love you too, dad.

 

JACOB: Come on, let's go back to my study and have some juice, ok?

 

EMILY: Yeah!

 

(The pair head back to JACOB’s desk and EMILY sits down. Once she is settled JACOB moves offstage in order to get EMILY’s drink. While he is gone EMILY shifts back into her sinister personality as the two talk)

 

JACOB: You know; I really shouldn’t be reading those histories to you at such a young age. They really seem to be getting to you.

 

EMILY: Oh, but I love them so much! Especially the more recent volumes that talk about the siege of the Talons. When they were free, they acted with such swift brutality! I wish I could have been there to witness it. Penelope was my favorite. Always so creative with how she 

 

JACOB: Elizabeth, that’s enough. You just had a nightmare; we don’t need you getting more riled up tonight. Especially with those stories (JACOB comes back onstage and walks over to his desk, sitting next to EMILY)

 

EMILY: Come on father! At least read me my favorite story!

 

JACOB: Elizabeth, please. I really don’t think this is a good idea.

 

EMILY: Pretty please!

JACOB: Alright, alright! I never could say no to you, could I. Alright, which story did you want to hear (JACOB pulls out a large book from below the desk, the title The Dark and Tragic History of the Raven Wars and Its Aftereffects)

 

EMILY: The one about the delusional man who thought he could use his powers to bring back the wife he murdered.

 

JACOB: Excuse me?

 

EMILY: I really liked the part where he used the souls of thousands of innocent children to do it! And he failed anyway!

 

JACOB: Elizabeth enough! I don’t want to hear about this again do you hear me?

 

EMILY: What’s wrong father? Did I hit a little too close to home?

 

JACOB: Why you little brat! We’re done! Get out! Ever since I took you in you’ve been nothing but a monst ….

 

(Before JACOB can finish, an alarm begins to go off, and then another, and another until JACOB finally realizes what's happening)

 

JACOB: Where am I? 

 

(JACOB looks around the room, stopping briefly at EMILY before looking at his watch. His face drops)

 

JACOB: Oh no. Oh no no no no no, please God no! This isn’t right. None of it is. You! (JACOB points at EMILY in anger) What have you done? Don’t you understand! We were so close to getting out of here. Where is he? Why isn’t M here yet? He’s hours late and its almost time!

 

EMILY: (EMILY laughs briefly) I’m sorry, I’m afraid your little friend didn’t want to play with you anymore. I suggested it was time to bring some of our other friends to come and play.

 

JACOB: Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve killed us all. Don’t you see it? (JACOB reaches out to grab EMILY but is stopped by MEPHISTOPHELES 2)

 

M2: Jacob, enough! After everything you’ve done in your life, to think you’d go back to harming helpless children so soon? 

 

(When EMILY sees who it is, she runs up to M2 and gives him a large hug)

 

EMILY: M!

 

M2: My queen! It’s been a long time since I’ve had the honor to be in your presence. Far too long.

 

EMILY: But hopefully it won't be the last time, after tonight that is.

 

M2: Everyone else is here as schedule, my queen. Penelope should be joining us after we leave here. She’s missed you terribly. (EMILY skips out of the study, and back into her room) And as for you Jacob! I’d have thought you learned your lesson while you were in here. I guess I was wrong.

 

JACOB: (Taken aback by M2’s appearance) Mephistopheles? Is that you?

 

M2: Some of us haven’t had the luxury of being in a timeless world like you Jacob.

 

JACOB: But you look so much older now, and, what’s happened to your face?

 

M2: You’ve been in here a long time, Jacob. Longer than I hoped it would take. But after tonight your imprisonment ends. It’s time Jacob. The horsemen have assembled, and I am here to claim the last rider.

 

JACOB: No! I will not go with you! There’s still time left for me M! 

 

M2: There is no more time! You’ve run out of time a thousand times over, and yet here you are clamoring for more! My younger counterpart couldn’t get it through your thick skull, so I have to be the one to do it. You’re done!

 

(M2 grabs JACOB’s wrist before dragging him towards the door. As JACOB falls to the floor, he uses his power to break free from M2’s grip. As this happens, the pair hit JACOB’s desk, knocking over the box sitting on it. As the box falls over, it opens spilling out a few cards. Before M2 can grab JACOB again, he notices the cards)

JACOB: Wait! Wait a moment please. I…. I want to make a deal with you M. For old times' sake. I want to make one last wager while I still have the time. 

 

M2: Ha! You wanna make a bet with me? Mephistopheles? I haven’t been bested since long before the Gods fell, and yet you think you could beat me as you are? Jacob, I want you to know that this will not end as you think it will. I’ve seen where your paths lead, and it isn’t back in her arms. 

 

JACOB: Mephistopheles, I’m begging you. For all the years we spent together, good and bad, please let me have this one chance. I promise that no matter what happens, I will accept the results. You have my word.

 

M2: Fine. 

 

(M2 begins to pick up the cards that had fallen to the floor, before putting them back in the box. He and JACOB down at opposite sides of the desk)

 

M2: Nice cards you have here; they are perfect for what we want to do.

 

JACOB: I’ve never seen them before in my life.

 

M2: (M2 laughs before continuing) Providence provides as always. These cards were crafted by the last great elven queen, Valencia during the goblin occupation of Mars in a reality far off from our own. She used them in order to enter a battle of wills that resulted in the death of the goblin king Zargnir. She crafted many magical items that still float among the worlds, but these cards were her last. And now we shall use them as she did

 

JACOB: A battle of wills? But I wanted to play for my freedom!

 

M2: I allow you a chance to escape, and you whine about the method that will be used? You’re lucky I’m going along with this foolery. I decide how we will play; you will decide what will be played for.

 

JACOB: I will play for my soul. If I win this game, I am free to leave, and you can’t follow me. None of you can follow me anymore. If I win, I am done with you forever. 

 

M2: And if I win, you will come with me and the child, without any disobedience. Trust me Jacob, it's better for both of us if you come willingly.

 

JACOB: I promised you that I would, and I mean it.

 

M2: Then we will begin. First off, I need our contract.

 

JACOB: I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. I lost it many years ago, and though I’ve tried to find it before, it remains lost to me.

 

M2: You were with me all those years, but you never learned anything did you? The contracts I make will always bring themselves to their owner when needed. Always. All you have to do is call it forth, and it will come. Trust me.

 

(JACOB closes his eyes for a moment and exhales. After another moment his eyes open and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small business card)

 

M2: It took me years, but once I figured out the right incantations my contracts will never truly leave who they belong to until that contract is fulfilled. Only the contractor and I have this connection with the contract, and only we can call it forth. I’ve come to think of them as my pets over the years. Too bad this is the last one.

 

JACOB: But why would you need something like this in the first place?

 

M2: With the types of irregular deals I used to make, it comes in handy to be able to call a contract at will. (M2 gives a small chuckle at this line that JACOB doesn’t catch) Now that we have the contract, the game is very simple. You will choose five cards from the deck. It doesn’t matter which five, and you can look at each of them before picking if you want.

 

(M2 spread the cards on the desk for JACOB, each of the face down. JACOB takes a few moments to flip through them, looking at the faces of some and just randomly selecting others. Once he has his five, he lays them down in front of M2. M2 takes the business card and twirls it around in his fingers a few times before it transforms to look like another card from the deck. Only the front of the card remains the same)

 

M2: Now I place the contract into the pile, and it's up to you to find it. You have three chances

 

JACOB: That’s it? But that’s easy! There’s no way I could lose!

 

M2: Some things are easier said than done, my son. Remember what the purpose of the game was?

 

JACOB: It’s a battle of wills.

 

M2: Exactly! And that game has already begun!

 

(The lights snap down, a single light up on Elizabeth, who holds the business card. JACOB is at the table, playing the game as they talk)

 

ELIZABETH: Jacob, please you have to listen to me! My death wasn’t your fault! You have to move on from me or else your obsession will consume you!

 

JACOB: But I’m so close, give me the card and we can be together again! Once I’m free I can get the machine up and running again. Then I’ll find the real you and 

 

ELIZABETH: And then what? We’ll hold each other as the world falls apart? I need to stay here Jacob, and I need you to play your part in this. You are the only chance we have Jacob!

 

JACOB: No! The more I try to help, the more things die and decay around me! I’m done thinking about what the world needs, I just want to spend my last moments with you Elizabeth! You’re all I want, you’re all I need!

 

ELIZABETH: Jacob, I’m sorry but our work isn’t done. This is the last time we will see each other Jacob. I love you

 

(As she finishes, ELIZABETH rips the card and the light jumps to MICHAEL, also holding a business card)

 

MICHAEL: Even when I’m dead you are nothing but a disappointment! You run around looking for a way out of the messes you’ve made, but you can’t escape Jacob! You made this prison for yourself, and now you’ll reap its infinite rewards. At least now you won't be able to harm anyone else!

 

JACOB: Michael I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for you to die; I didn’t mean for any of this to 

 

MICHAEL: Do you think your intent matters now? What matters is what your actions have unleashed upon us all! First you took the children, then this worlds protector. You’ve done nothing but make sure this world was ready to burn when the Raven comes!

 

JACOB: Michael, please. Everything I did, I did to help everyone

MICHAEL: Everything you ever did; you did for yourself. And you did a damn fine job of masquerading your greed as charity. 

 

JACOB: Michael, please just give me the card and I can fix this.

 

MICHAEL: You are out of chances, Jacob. No matter what happens know that it was by your hand that the world burns!

 

(Once MICHAEL is finished, he rips the card and the light jumps to RALATHOR who holds a card)

 

RALATHOR: She was the only light strong enough to stay the darkness and you took her from them!

 

JACOB: It was a mistake; I didn’t know she would be there

 

RALATHOR: Without her Jacob, who will find and protect the children? Dark things are happening, graver than what you see before you and now the world is without a guide! Without the gunslingers to be there for them! All because you had to be born into this cursed realm, all because you had to weave yourself into the strands, and for what? To watch it burn?

 

JACOB: Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it! I promise you, but please give me that card! I want more than anything to save the world from them!

 

RALATHOR: If that was true you would have never opened the gateway to Elysium.

 

JACOB: Elysium? But I was never there? I was only ever at the Tower. I don’t know what you’re talking about!

 

RALATHOR: All power has a price, and you went through with it without a second thought. You did everything to break the scared laws of this realm, and now you still want to run from the consequences. Galerion would die before granting you his strength you pathetic child!

 

(As RALATHOR finishes he rips the final card. As the pieces fall to the ground lights come back up for the study as Jacob murmurs to himself in a frenzy. Elizabeth, Michael, and Ralathor dance around his seat, taunting him about his past mistakes. M2 laughs in his seat at the three wrong cards Jacob has pulled.)

 

M2: And with that, our game is done.

 

(M2’s words are enough to break Jacob from his mania)

 

JACOB: No! That’s impossible! The card was right here, I had it in my hands!

 

M2: If you did, it would be here.

 

JACOB: No, no you cheated. You cheated me!

 

(JACOB frantically goes through the three cards he gave M2, before turning over the other three cards. None of them is the business card.)

 

JACOB: What’s the meaning of this? I saw you place the card in the deck, so where the fuck is it? 

M2: It was a battle of wills remember? And mine won out. Didn’t you hear the part where I said the cards were magic? They morph and change along with the strength of the player picking, and as their will breaks so too does their chances of winning. One by one each card that could have been the winning draw made itself into a loss. You didn’t lose to me Jacob, you lost to yourself. Just like the rest of the world will

 

(JACOB collapses into his chair as the events of his life spin through his mind. After a few moments he looks up at M2)

 

JACOB: It was me the whole time wasn’t it? You always wanted me, but I never knew why until now. You didn’t care about my inventions at all. Never about the miracle machine. It was never about anything I built.

 

M2: When we funded your project, we threw all of the money in the world at it. But for every dollar we gave, was another hour in your life. And you performed spectacularly.

 

JACOB: Oh God what have I done? Elizabeth, and the children, and the Tower, the Miracle Machine and the dead, all of it was me. My actions caused all of it. Every time I tried to do something good, instead 

 

M2: You only followed the path laid out to you since before the Creators finished weaving their Tapestry. And now you’re finally ready to come home Jacob. Come with me to meet your son

 

(JACOB pushes himself into his chair as much as he can, trying to make himself as small as possible. With a light whisper he says)

 

JACOB: No

 

M2: What did you say?

 

(JACOB takes one last desperate look at the table before he notices the Monster Slayer sitting just behind some bottles)

 

JACOB: I said no!

 

(JACOB throws himself at the gun and pulls it to his head)

 

JACOB: You may have won this game, but I refuse to let you puppeteer me anymore. I will not be your weapon; I will not be the Raven’s weapon. No Jacob will be anymore. With my death, dies the dreams of all monsters like you!

 

M2: Don’t you dare!

 

(As M2 speaks, JACOB pulls the trigger repeatedly, but as the empty chamber spins nothing happens)

 

M2: You ignorant fool! Do you know what you’ve done to yourself! After everything I’ve done to make sure you get out of here alive you go and blow it all away with some lousy toy!

 

(M2 takes a step toward JACOB)

 

JACOB: Stay back! It may not work on me, but it sure might on you!

 

M2: (M2 walks right up to the gun, the barrel just barely touching his forehead) Even if you were cursed enough to use that thing, you’d need something a hell of a lot stronger to kill me. Not even the gods could do such a thing. Now listen to me! You’re going to put that gun down, and you’re going to come with me. We are going to wait for Penelope to wake the Raven, and when she does, you’re going to submit to its control! No more playing around Jacob! I’m begging you. Do. Not. Do. This!

 

(JACOB takes a deep breath in and out)

 

JACOB: M, I’m sorry but I will not be the monster in your story.

 

(JACOB quickly lifts the gun back to his head and pulls the trigger and it fails again. Out of frustration, JACOB throws the Monster Slayer to the desk and drops to the floor)

 

JACOB: Why doesn’t it work! I’m the monster here! If I live everything dies, so why doesn’t it work! Just let it end please! I’m the monster, I’m the monster.

 

(M2 walks to JACOB as he hits the floor and throws him back to his feet. The anger is evident on his face, as is the sorrow and pain)

 

M2: It’s because you aren’t cursed enough to wield it, Jacob! Your soul is bound to this realm, you were always a part of it! You lived and loved here; you grew up with the rest of them. You could have come with me and finished your life on your terms. You could have let the Raven’s power roll through you instead of control you! We could have found Elizabeth together! We were meant to! But you never listen to anyone but yourself. I busted my ass off for you Jacob! I almost threw away my life for you! You were like my son, and you spit that back in my face! You were the only thing I ever fought her on, did you know that. Out of all the other lives I’ve ended and manipulated, all the worlds I’ve consumed, all of the curses and prophecies I put into motion, and it was you that I wanted to prevent! And not just all the Jacobs out there either. You were the one that made me weak! And now I have to watch you… I have to …. I can’t. You want to be cursed so badly Jacob? Fine! Tonight, you will relive the worst of your atrocities before they break away your mind. You will be trapped forever in a sea of guilt and desperation as the Raven’s talons dig their way into your heart and mind. You will the shell of the man you were supposed to be, and while you wallow away in your insanity the Raven will drive your body to the Tower, and you will watch as it burns away all of the things you have ever loved. That I promise.

 

(M2 throws JACOB to the ground before walking toward the door. JACOB is broken)

 

M2: To think that she would have grown up to be stronger than any of us. What a waste. (M2 pulls out a black rose and throws it to the floor) I’ll see you at the Tower.

 

(As M2 leaves, a storm erupts from outside as an alarm begins to go off. The lights start to flicker as MICHAEL and RALATHOR move the mirror to just behind EMILY’s room. Other alarms go off, one after another. The Raven walks out of the mirror, entering EMILY’s room. As JACOB begins to stand, the Raven kneels to EMILY and whispers to her. As the RAVEN speaks to ELIZABETH, MICHAEL, RALATHOR, M1 and M2 begin to dance around EMILY’s room, stomping and clawing at her, horrific animalistic sounds escaping their mouths. As this SYMPHONY builds, their cries and the alarms only get louder drawing the attention of JACOB who’s first instinct is to grab the Monster Slayer. As the SYMPHONY reaches its apex EMILY bolts awake and screams, causing JACOB to take aim at her room)

 

JACOB: Elizabeth?

 

(EMILY screams three times, each scream bringing her cries closer to that of the RAVEN. On the fourth scream, only a raven can be heard as all light goes out in her room. JACOB slowly makes his way to EMILY’s room as the Raven approaches EMILY. It grabs her hand as she begins to stand up to follow it back through the mirror. The RAVEN and EMILY are almost to the mirror when JACOB is finally at EMILY’s door. For the first time he can see the RAVEN, who stands between JACOB and EMILY)

 

JACOB: I won’t let you take her away from me again!

 

(The RAVEN turns to face JACOB before slowly making its way toward him. As the RAVEN approaches JACOB takes a deep breath and begins to recite the Galerion’s blessing)

 

JACOB: Hear my cry, all you cursed children of the realms, for we are the monsters born to kill monsters. 

 

(As JACOB speaks, the souls of the dead come to give JACOB their strength. Among them are ELIZABETH, MICHAEL and RALATHOR)

 

ELIZABETH: In our dark hearts burns a fire of passion and love so strong that we can’t help but to fight for what we think is right, no matter what the morals of men dictate. 

 

MICHAEL: Cursed are we, who cling not to the strands of fate and time and flesh, but to the strands only defined by the whims of our hearts. 

 

RALATHOR: We are cursed because we are not bound by the same forms that they are, and because of that we are all but monsters in their hearts. Yet, we are cursed to yearn for their protection all the same. 

 

ELIZABETH/ JACOB/ MICHAEL/ RALATHOR: Hear me, you cursed children of the damned who fell from grace at the council of councils! Hear me and take strength in my words! Though cursed we may be, our love is our strength, and together as one we cannot falter. Hear me, lost children of the realms, and speak my words! I am the darkness in the heart of men, the crippling influence that blackens even the strongest of light, and although I may be weak in the face of destiny 

 

JACOB: I am the Slayer of Monsters!

 

(Blackout. After a moment, a single gunshot. EMILY screams, her death cries morphing into those of a demonic beast. As they fade, the lights come up slowly revealing only the RAVEN’s cloak laying on a small body. JACOB moves slowly toward the body, picking it up. His face is expressionless as he moves the body from EMILY’s room and into the study. The storm grows in the background as JACOB places the body into the desk. He looks at the body for a moment)

 

JACOB: I just wanted to share my miracles with the world. To share them with you. To live and grow old as the world became a better place, one without pain and death and despair. There’s so much anger in the world, and now I can see what I must do.

 

(JACOB peels back the RAVEN’s cloak revealing ELIZABETH’s corpse, but he is calm)

 

JACOB: I will burn away the layers of the Tapestry to find you, my love. I was such a fool to think a physical object would have the power to bring you back to me. It was never the machines I built that allowed me to travel through the infinite, it was my own flesh. I am the miracle machine, and tonight I will bestow up the world all of my love and passion. We will be the end of pain, Elizabeth. And once the Raven has washed away the tears of the Earth, we will be together again.

 

(JACOB places the RAVEN’s cloak on himself, and looks up at the audience)

 

JACOB: But first we must ride for the Tower and perform one last miracle.

 

(JACOB slowly makes this way from his study and into EMILY’s room. As he approaches the mirror, he takes one final look around the room, before crossing into the mirror)