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Raistlin Reborn
By RaistlinofMetallica
The darkened room was white, trimmed in a pale pink that was just barely visible in the soft light cast by the smiling, moon-shaped lamp. All manner of stuffed creatures were scattered about the room, some on chairs and some on the floor, and a variety of dolls sat in a prim row on a white dresser. Toys lay on the ground where they had been discarded by their owner and a child-sized table was still set for tea, a stuffed unicorn sitting in one of the small chairs. Pieces of paper hung on the walls, decorated with everything from feathers and glittering dust to bright, waxy colours and child-sized handprints in lurid paint. A sequined tiara and strands of brightly coloured beads hung haphazardly off their perch on one of the supports of a small oval-shaped mirror, while a feathered pink boa draped over a nearby chair.
Illuminated by the soft light of the small lamp was a large, white four-poster bed, trimmed with pale pink paint. The translucent white curtains of the canopy were tied back to the bedposts with pink ribbons, revealing the slumbering form of a little girl, no less than three years of age. She was curled up under her white blankets and securely clutching her stuffed green dragon, completely unaware that she was being studied by a ghost.
“My, my, Takhisis... How the mighty have fallen!” he sneered contemptuously, looking down his nose at the sleeping child. “And, what an irony, all your fearsome, ill-gained glory has been exchanged for an empire of white lace and stuffed toys, far from your coveted Krynn.”
The little girl scrunched up her face and whimpered, hugging her stuffed dragon tighter.
“A powerless, little human girl – the very picture of innocence,” the ghost added and attempted to pick up a strand of her short brown hair, only to watch as it slid through his translucent golden fingers. “And the gods stuffed your soul inside.”
The little girl whimpered again, her eyes closed but moving rapidly.
He sighed, drawing back, and looked up at the childish artwork displayed on the walls. In scribbled, unsteady letters was the girl’s name. “Gabby,” he snorted derisively, “Such an undignified name.”
He did not see the little girl stir and sit up, but his attention quickly returned to her when she began to sniffle and cry. The ghost narrowed his eyes at her, raising an eyebrow critically. “Such an undignified action,” he murmured.
The little girl turned towards him, rubbing tears out of her eyes, and sniffed. She stared at him for a moment, her eyes going wide in undisguised curiosity. “Umm... Who are you?” she asked and pulled her stuffed dragon a little closer.
He stared back at the small child in shock. “You can see me, little one?”
“Uh-huh,” the girl replied, nodding. “And I’m not little. I’m three and a half!”
The ghost blinked, uncertain as to what to think about this development. Clearly, she could not only see him, but she could hear him as well. And, oddest of all, she wasn’t frightened of him in the least.
“I’m Gabby,” the little girl stated, quite matter-of-factly. She crinkled her nose and hid a little behind her stuffed dragon. “This is Mister Blue Bean – he’s a dragon.”
He suppressed a snort and smirked. Blue Bean, indeed: the stuffed toy bore a passing resemblance to Cyan Bloodbane, the insidious green dragon that had tormented Silvanesti.
“Umm...” the little girl managed, drawing his attention again. “What’s your name?”
“My name?” he repeated and, immediately, the little girl nodded in affirmation. “My name is Raistlin.”
“That’s a funny name,” she said, wrinkling up her nose again.
“It’s a good name for a wizard,” the ghost countered.
The little girl’s eyes went wide and saucer-like as she gasped in awe. Then, her eyes narrowed in thought. “Umm... But you don’t have a hat!”
“A hat?” he asked, failing to see what a hat had to do with magic.
“Mickey has a hat,” she explained and raised her arms, trying to form the shape above her own head while still holding the stuffed toy. “Like this!”
The ghost had never heard of this... Mickey person, but now he was aware that the wizard had apparently owned a pointed hat. “I don’t need a hat to do magic.”
“You must be like the big wizard! He makes magic with his hands like this!” the little girl exclaimed, clapping her hands and pulling them apart. “Whoosh! He was mad at Mickey, ‘cause Mickey was playing with the hat and he wasn’t supposed to.”
At that, he allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Funny, he could think of another wizard like this Mickey character, one that was still among the living as far as he was aware. “I see. I too can make magic with my hands.”
The little girl squealed with delight.
“If you do not desist, I will cast a spell on you,” the ghost told the girl. “And you will go back to sleep.”
“But... but,” she protested, her face falling. Tears rimmed her eyes and she sniffled miserably.
He rolled his eyes. “What is it?”
“...I’m scared,” the little girl whispered, once again retreating behind her stuffed dragon. “I had a bad dream.”
The ghost stared at her, unblinking. This was certainly... unexpected, to say the least. He had come to gloat over his former enemy, not mince words with a simpering child.
The door to the bedroom creaked open and a slightly dishevelled-looking woman poked her head in. “Gabby? Are you alright, baby? Did you have another bad dream?”
“I was talking with Raistlin, mommy,” the little girl replied, matter-of-factly.
The woman opened the door and quietly entered the room, worry and curiosity painted clearly on her features. “Raistlin?” she repeated aloud, approaching the bed.
“He’s a wizard!” the little girl chirped, smiling broadly. “He can do magic like the big wizard and Mickey!”
Her mother moved to sit on the bed, nodding absently.
“No! Not there, mommy! You’ll sit on him!” the little girl exclaimed.
The woman stopped instantly and, with a very bewildered expression on her face, looked at the spot where she had been about to sit. “He’s sitting right here, Gabby?”
“Uh-huh,” the little girl replied, nodding. “Don’t you see him?”
The ghost rolled his eyes, sighing. He knew very well that the girl’s mother could not see him. He was a ghost, a spirit just passing time before going back, and the living were typically ill-equipped to see his sort. He resumed watching the mother and daughter with detached interest.
“An imaginary friend,” the woman murmured under her breath, seeming relieved. She then knelt next to the bed and smiled at her daughter. “I can’t see him, baby...”
“Why?” the little girl asked.
“Ah... because grown-ups can’t see him,” the woman explained, hastily. “So, you have to let mommy and daddy know if we’re going to sit on him, just like you do when we’re about to sit on Mister Blue Bean, okay?”
“Oh,” the little girl said, in comprehension. “Okay.”
“That’s my baby girl,” the woman said with a warm smile and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Now, back to bed.”
“But...” the little girl started to whine again.
“No buts,” her mother stated firmly, tucking her daughter and the stuffed dragon in. “Besides, you have Blue Bean and your wizard friend to look out for you. They’ll be sure to chase away those bad dreams!”
The little girl appeared to think this through and, finally, settled down.
“Sweet dreams, baby girl,” her mother said and gave her another kiss on the forehead before leaving the room again, quietly closing the door behind her.
The little girl rolled over a little and looked up at him. “Raistlin?”
“What is it?” the ghost asked in response.
She blinked slowly, picking absently at her stuffed dragon’s ears. “Can you stay and make the bad dreams go away?”
He stared blankly at the small child for a moment. The absurdity of the situation was almost laughable: a former goddess asking the ghost of a wizard who had fought her in life to chase away her nightmares. Still, staying here was better than waiting for reincarnation in the general proximity of one very dead and very bored Tasslehoff Burrfoot. At least here, he could spend the rest of his wait in relative peace and quiet.
“Please?” the little girl pouted.
Finally, the ghost nodded and allowed a rare smile to cross his transparent features. “Go to sleep, little dragon. I will watch over your dreams.”
She smiled broadly at him in return, reassured, and snuggled under the bedcovers.
Yes, he decided: he would remain here until it was time for him to go back and see to it that Takhisis continued to sleep in peace.
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