It had only been a matter of time before Darcy came to his senses, the light of the sunset peeking shyly at the child through tattered curtains of a crumbling window. Cobblestone floors were cracked and weary from the years weighing down on them. He alone laid in the big, dusty bed covered only by a red fur blanket. Wrought with confusion and panic, the golden child was overcome with despair.
‘Oh!’ he cried, ‘Was it all a dream? I must have slept for years!’
Sobbing as tears wetted his cheeks, he whined out. Lifting his hands to his face in sadness he was surprised to find that only one met his eyes. Darcy followed the air to the end that stopped right before his left elbow. The poor child was shaken from shock.
‘Oh no, oh no! Time has taken away my arm, and my beloved friend with it! I have left everyone in the past with nothing to remember me by! How foolish I was!’
‘‘Foolish’ indeed! I have had enough of your nonsensical whining!’
Such an unnatural voice pulled Darcy from his hysteria, long enough to notice the little, white porcelain cup who stood on the corroded nightstand next to the dusty old bed.
He stood on two thin, black legs like sharply whittled twigs that disappeared into leather boots seemingly much too big for his size. Black arms were just as thin and covered by patched gloves that could have only belonged to a doll. The cup itself was tall and narrow as two haunting, red eyes like that of a cats’ fixated on the distraught child. Darcy could see a dark sludge that shone a beautiful red housed within the cup.
With his mouth in a terrible frown, the thing paced from one side of the gnawed nightstand to the other; it wobbled with each one of his footsteps.
‘You have only been here for a single night!’ he complained, ‘I should say, you were much more tolerable sleeping.’
‘You are a cup!’ Darcy could only blurt out, not believing his eyes in what he was seeing.
‘I am not! Do not tell me you have never heard of blackwells before.’
‘I have not!’
‘Well,’ the horrible thing lifted his arms in a bow, ‘now you have!’
‘I am much too young to be going mad.’ Darcy thought squarely to himself. Raising a thin brow, he questioned the blackwell, ‘What happened?’
‘You should know very well what happened!’ he snapped, a gloved finger pointing at the little boy, ‘you were clueless enough to get snagged in one of my snares, at the cost of your arm!’
It was Darcys’ turn to frown, as he cradled the remainder of his left arm, ‘That had been your snare? So it is your fault I am missing my hand!’
‘I was not the one who did not look where he had been going.’
‘And who are you?’
The cup turned silent, eyes darting away as he was hesitant to say a single word. His mouth parted to speak, revealing rows of serrated teeth accompanied with very long fangs- but he quickly closed it. When the blackwell finally spoke, he said,
‘Cuppy.’
‘‘Cuppy’? That is your name?’ A snicker came from the child, ‘quite a silly name for something as terrible as you.’
Clearly embarrassed, Cuppy snapped back, ‘I never planned to be a cup, but such are the circumstances.’ Red eyes narrowed as he looked at the boy from top to bottom, ‘Well, come on now, I do not suppose your name is much better.’
‘My name is Darcy Kingsly.’ the golden child proudly stated.
‘You do not look very kingly to me.’
‘I do not care what you think.’ Darcy huffed. He tossed the blanket off himself as he slid from the musty, old bed onto the stone floor; he took the red fur blanket with him.
‘It was nice meeting you- I think- but I must be getting back! I cannot imagine my friend has gone far, and I must find him!’
And with that the golden child hastily made his way out of the dirty room and onto a crumbling balcony overlooking a ballroom in shambles. Stone flooring and cobbled walls were overgrown with moss, dead grass, and leaves that filled the cracks. Chunks of the roof littered the ground as the light from the rising sun streamed through the holes creating a maze of sunbeams across the whole room. Abandoned decor and furniture were scarce from passing travelers and looters stealing away what seemed of most value. What did remain, were broken down and tossed haphazardly all along the ballroom floor.
There was a staircase that followed up, leading into the balcony as it wrapped along the furthest walls of the dilapidated manor. Darcy only stopped his marveling when Cuppy could be heard following behind the child as best as his little legs could, the ‘tap’ ‘tap’ ‘tap’ of his tiny boots on the stone floor getting briskly closer.
‘You would be repeating history, going out without any idea of where you are!’ He called out behind the boy, as Darcy was making his way down the wide staircase. After hearing what the blackwell had said, the child slumped down on the bottom of the stairs with his head in his only hand.
‘Oh how right you are!’ he wailed, ‘I do not know where I am, or how I even got to be here. I could not possibly venture out like this! What is there to do?’
Cuppy finally reached the poor boy, meeting him on the final step, ‘Well now,’ he started, ‘I would hope you figure something out soon before the day ends. Night in the Deep Wood is awfully dangerous… Though, I suppose you have learned that by now.’
Darcy stood suddenly, towering over the small blackwell next to him as he leaned over to glare down at the cup, ‘This was your doing, you know! If it was not for your snare, I would still have two hands to terrorize you with! And now that I am here, I am more lost than I had been before!’ he spat, ‘I would ask for your help, but I cannot imagine how useful you would be with how terribly small you are.’
Plainly insulted, Cuppy was taken aback by the boys’ words. The black sludge churned within its shell as he crossed his arms, ‘You underestimate me. If I could bring you here alone, I can take you right back!’
‘Then why not? If you take me back to where you found me, then surely I will be able to find my dear friend, and then we may go our separate ways. Is this a deal?’ Darcy proposed to the small figure; Cuppy only looked at him.
He reached out a hand towards the child to shake on it, and Darcy held the gloved palm between his finger and his thumb- as his hand was much too big.
They would travel together until the deal was done, and as Darcy stood before the entrance to the forgotten manor, the cup joined his side as the two left back into the trees.