Flipside: An Unusual Friend
William always looked forward to when his father came from book trades. It meant new material he could dive into and enjoy. Something to help pass the time whenever he had an asthma episode or something he could do while Jack was busy with schoolwork and couldn’t play with him.
I wonder if he got some magic trick books this time.
William was bouncing on the balls of his feet as his father came in through the front door, a huge amount of books in his arms and hand bag.
“Welcome home, Father!” William said, hugging his father’s leg. “Did you have a fun time at the trade?”
Milo smiled down at his son. He would’ve patted his head like he usually did if it weren’t for the amount books that were currently in his hands.
“Sure did. Got some rare ones this time, including some with Celtic legends.”
William’s eyes lit up at this.
“Something we can read together before bed?”
“I’ll have to double check the contents but I most certainly have some that qualify.”
“Yay!”
Milo chuckled before heading into his study, William following close behind. He set the books down by his desk, sighing in relief.
“Got a lot more than I was expecting.” He smiled. “Worth it though.”
He looked to his son, seeing his bright green eyes full of wonder.
“You can have one book while I get these all organized.” Milo ruffled his hair. “Till I do they will be off limits.”
“Okay!” William grinned, looking through the books.
He looked through at each one carefully. All seemed interesting. He wasn’t sure if he could just settle for one but he knew no matter of sad faces would change his father’s mind. His eyes were soon caught by one that didn’t have a title at all written anywhere on the spine or the cover.
The book was grey in color with black binding and on the front, was a big red “M” and… that was it. William picked it up, noting it looked a little on the older side.
“What’s this one, Father?” He asked, holding it up for Milo to see.
Milo looked at it, putting a hand to his chin.
“Oh yeah, funny story with that one. The person who gave it to me said they found it randomly in their shop one day. They weren’t really sure what to do it with it and wanted to get rid of it since it was taking up space so they gave it to me for free. Didn’t say what the contents were though.”
“Maybe I could look through it? If it’s anything bad I’ll just shut it right away.”
Milo hummed in thought before taking the book for a moment. He flipped through it quickly, seeing images of creatures that seemed other worldly.
Must be one of those fact books on fantasy creatures that are really gaining traction these days.
He closed it handing it back to William, seeing no harm.
“Let me know what you find.” Milo smiled.
“Okay!” William grinned before running off to his room.
He plopped down on his bed, holding his toy rabbit close to him.
“Okay, Judy. Let’s see what this book has.”
He made the toy nod its head before opening the book.
Inside… William wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was not a lick of English in the book. Some weird scrawl like markings of another language he had never seen before in his life. He kept flipping through, trying to see if there was any. He could see pictures of creatures but he had no idea what they were.
They look really creepy… Especially those completely blacked out ones. They look like they’re gonna jump out at any second.
He decided to flip to the beginning of the book, hoping for some kind of title page. What he found looked like a list of names under one big one that was in English.
“Maxwell…?” He said out loud. “Who’s Maxwell?”
Is that what the “M” on the book stands for?
“The traitor. That’s who he is.”
William jumped, looking up from his book, noticing the room had gone dark. His eyes widened in alarm at the creatures that were now hanging around the walls, looking at him with hungry glares. They looked exactly like the blacked out creatures in the book.
“T-Traitor?” William gulped, backing up as much as possible. “W-What do you mean?”
One of the creatures sneered.
“He dared to disobey commands. All because he was growing soft for… Bleck! A human and his family! We thought we got it all out of him the day we killed his brother but no…”
William was trembling.
“I-I don’t understand…”
This is gotta be a dream. Gotta be a dream. Or… a… a nightmare…
The creatures all grinned at him, laughing, amused at his fear.
“We don’t expect you to understand, child. We’re just here because we can be… and you also have that book… So… No apologies for what we’re about to do.”
They all lunged for William, the boy covering himself, letting out a shriek.
“FATHER!!”
A loud choruses of shrieks were heard before everything went silent. William was shaking, not wanting to look. He was expecting pain but it never came. He waited another moment before looking up, eyes widening in shock.
In front of him was a new creature. It was humanoid in appearance but it was no human, that was for sure. It was black all over, had claw like feet and hands and a tail. Its hair had a flow to it as well, like a flame. It was tall too, probably as tall as Milo if not taller. The only articles of clothing it seemed to have was a crown and a long flowing grey cloak.
William swallowed hard as the creature looked to him with its glowing white and grey eyes. He whimpered, backing away.
“D-Don’t hurt me…”
The creature frowned at this, kneeling to his level.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” it said, giving as gentle of a look as it could. “Would seem wrong to hurt you after saving you from those nightmare monsters.”
William gave a surprised look.
“You… You stopped them?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t be right for them to hurt an innocent child like yourself.” The creature reached a claw hand forward. “I promise, I’m not here to cause you any harm.”
William hestated before placing his hand in the creature’s.
“T-Thank you I guess… Who are you?”
The creature gave a small bow.
“Maxwell. The traitor those monsters mentioned.”
William’s eyes got wide.
“Are you the same Maxwell of this book?” He asked.
“I am.” He frowned. “I’m sorry they wanted to hurt you for finding the book. I really didn't mean for that to happen. Though… I have to thank you for opening it. I never thought I was going to get out of there.”
“You… were stuck in here?” William held up the book.
“Yes… Some traitor sealed me in there when they usurped me from the throne.” Maxwell hissed a bit. “He had an idea that he could make a better king than me.”
William’s eyes filled with wonder.
“You’re a king?”
“Was…” Maxwell sighed, sitting down. “Sadly, that title no longer belongs to me. It belongs to someone else.” He lowered his head. “Not sure if it’s the same person who overthrew me but… who ever they are I don’t envy them. Being king isn’t exactly really being king.”
“How do you mean?”
Maxwell looked at William carefully. He shook his head, patting William’s head.
“That is something I don’t think I could bear to tell someone as young as you. To be honest without giving details, you’re more of a slave rather than a ruler.”
“Oh…” William frowned. “That sounds awful.”
“It is…” Maxwell sighed. “Not sure what I’ll do now… Doubt I can go home. I won’t be welcomed there, as evidenced by the nightmare monsters and I’m sure my people would also not be happy to me either…”
“So you have nowhere to go?”
“Not really… and I am bound to the book. Can’t go too far from it. It’s a ball and chain for me…” Maxwell ran a hand through his flame like hair. “I guess… I'll just spend the rest of my days in it.”
William hummed in thought before speaking up.
“What if you didn’t have to?”
“Hm?”
William gave an innocent look.
“You seem really nice… Maybe… you could stay with us.”
Maxwell was taken aback by this.
“Pardon?”
“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to but I think it would be fun to have another person around. My father, mother and brother are busy a lot and those nightmare creatures might come back. I think I’d feel better if you were here. So… if you want.”
Maxwell thought it over.
He has a point. The nightmare monsters are not known to give up after one attack… and…
He looked at William, warmth and nostalgia coming over him at the innocence he could see in the boy’s eyes.
He has the same kind of look in his eyes Lux always had…
Maxwell thought about it for another moment before extending a hand.
“I probably won’t make myself known to your other family members but… I wouldn’t mind acting as a guard for you against the nightmare monsters. And… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a new home… so… under your terms and my own, I shall remain here. Do we have a deal?”
William nodded, taking his hand, giving a shake.
“We sure do Mr. Maxwell! Oh! Before I forget, my name is William. William Carter!”
“William eh? Nice name.” Maxwell chuckled, making himself comfortable on the bed, his tail swishing in amusement. “So… what would you like to do first?”
William hummed in thought.
“Hm… You ever go digging for crystals?”
“Digging… for crystals?”
“Ahuh! It’s really fun! Oh! And we can swipe some of Mother’s snacks before we do. She made some really yummy cookies!”
“I… guess we could do that.”
“Yay! Come on then!” He picked up the book. “I mean, might wanna make yourself invisible or something but follow me!”
William hurried down the hall, Maxwell following after him, making himself invisible to others. He wasn’t really sure what to make of this new situation but… maybe it wouldn’t be all bad.
I don’t have to serve anyone anymore save this little boy but… he’s not going to torture me like They did… and… I can’t let Them get him either…
Maxwell smiled to himself, nodding.
I’ll do just that then… To make up for all I did.
oooooo
So I decided I wanted to throw my hat into the ring with writing snippets and well here we are. I don’t plan on doing an epic with Flipside but snippets sounded like a whole lot of fun as a means of telling some parts of this AU. So, to kick it off, the meeting of Maxwell and a very very young William Carter. Quite different from how they met in the canon eh?
Maxwell, protect this boy with your life. He is too pure and needs to be protected at all costs. Capiche?
See ya next time~
