With the earth abandoned long ago, and Archernar, one of many new homes gifted to mankind by the Kelzen and Antlem, established, humanity resumes its ever-present pursuit of prosperity.
For some, such as the Damiano family, prosperity comes in the form of power and control. After the death of the patriarch, crime lord Jeremias Damiano, his children are scattered. The youngest, Stefano, is set to try and outrun the nightmarish secrets his father had kept hidden in the depths of their home. For that young man, now known as Stephen, fate has left him no choice but to throw in his lot with Cedric Fitzroy, a disquieting young entrepreneur
Stephen will soon come to find, however, that there are stranger things living in Archernar. Unlike earth, Archernar was never a planet solely for the human race. Kelzen, Antlem and stranger still the fabled Aeln will contest Stephen in his attempt to outrun his family, for the threat posed by his kinsman may be more dangerous still.
With the earth abandoned long ago, and Archernar, one of many new homes gifted to mankind by the Kelzen and Antlem, established, humanity resumes its ever-present pursuit of prosperity.
For some, such as the Damiano family, prosperity comes in the form of power and control. After the death of the patriarch, crime lord Jeremias Damiano, his children are scattered. The youngest, Stefano, is set to try and outrun the nightmarish secrets his father had kept hidden in the depths of their home. For that young man, now known as Stephen, fate has left him no choice but to throw in his lot with Cedric Fitzroy, a disquieting young entrepreneur
Stephen will soon come to find, however, that there are stranger things living in Archernar. Unlike earth, Archernar was never a planet solely for the human race. Kelzen, Antlem and stranger still the fabled Aeln will contest Stephen in his attempt to outrun his family, for the threat posed by his kinsman may be more dangerous still.
Planet : Achernar
Grand Antlem : Adahara
Grand Kelzen : Ladon(Deceased)
Country : Aiden
âWere those always here?â
Porifiro glanced up from his carving bench. Cedric had made his way to the back into the shop and appeared to be examining something under Porifiroâs second work table.
âWhat? Some tools fell back there?â Porifiro grumbled.
âNo, these lumpyâŚ..puppets,â Cedric said and pushed the table to the side. He stepped out of the way so Porifiro could see the pile of strange, lumpy white forms. They didnât look quite right.
âNah, those arenât mine,â Porifiro said with a shrug and turned back to his work.
Cedric narrowed his eyes and scowled at them, âDid yourâŚ.friendsâŚleave these here?â âMaybe,â Porifiro replied.
Cedric regarded the lumps with disdain before pushing the table back in front of them. They were probably meant to be used to smuggle something out of the back.
âThey could have made these look more like puppets,â he complained.
Porifiro shrugged again, âWho cares, no one will be coming back here anyway.â
Cedric glared over his shoulder. At his work bench, Porifiro was taking his time rounding a head made of wood to a smooth, pleasant shape. It was going to be bigger than the ones that sat on the edge of the small stage out front. Porifiro hadnât even finished dressing the smaller puppets before moving on to the next set.
Porifiro was a short and stout man with a dark tan from taking on odd jobs during the summer. He had never been quite able to grow full facial hair, so he never bothered to shave the whiskers he had along the bottom of his face. He never liked his hair. He kept it cut short, but even then his curls were aggressive, so Porifiro was never without his flat cap-even indoors.
He was quite unlike Cedric, who was lanky and pale. His hair was also a contrast to Porifiroâs dark curls, having well behaved, dirty blond hair. Cedricâs blue eyes were always wide open and coupled with his uncomfortably large smile, they painted the young man as a bit unstable. Cedric may have been aware of this, for he preferred to keep his smile as wide as possible when dealing with people he didnât particularly care for. It was effective intimidation.
As well as always having a smile, Cedric wore the same blue suit everyday. It was the only one he owned, after all, and he believed firmly in making a good first impression. Porifiroâs lack of organization was one of the growing list of things Cedric didnât appreciate about his new business partner. Most of the things on that list he was willing to forgive if only for admiration of Porifiroâs talent.
He watched Porifiro carve with great interest for a few moments before the man groaned, âWould you quit hovering over me?â
Cedric quickly shuffled out of the back room and towards the front of the tent. He was grateful that someone finally strung up the lights. Despite the fact the tent was yellow, it wasnât bright enough inside during the day. It wasnât cool enough either. Cedric decided to forgo another examination of the stage in favor for the outside. He threw the opening of the tent and was instantaneously rewarded with fresh air. It was a nice day, getting warmer, but summer wasnât quite here yet. This place was going to be insufferable by then. They would have to install fans inside. Cedric tugged his tie uncomfortably and considered negotiating later business hours. No one was going to want to be in that tent during the day, not unless there were a hundred fans.
One of the benefits of a stationary circus tent was less hassle with setting up. Cedric realized that they probably could just set up large fans around the edges of the tents pointing inwards. He rubbed his chin and pondered leaving the popcorn machines outside of the entrance flaps. The show area wasnât very large, he didnât want it to be crowded.
Cedric Fitzroy was brought into this little operation to take care of the finances, but he came to find his business partner, Porifiro Peti, needed a lot more help than that. The two were merely acquaintances prior when Cedric caught wind that the guy across the block from him was looking to hire. Cedric had been in between jobs at the moment and popped in on a whim.
It had turned out that Porifiro had been mulling over opening up a small theater for putting on puppet shows. He knew how to make them, but it had become apparent to Cedric after chatting with Porifiro for about thirty minutes that the man had no idea how to do anything other than that. He didnât even come across as an artist type at first glance, with his lidded eyes and gruff demeanor. The whole thing reeked of a scam and Cedric had almost walked out. Porifiro had hurriedly introduced a large wooden chest he claimed had been left to him by a late uncle. He had watched Cedric go over the homely contents of the chest nervously, hoping the sentimental slant would be enough to win Cedric back over.
Porifiro had, of course, removed the papers detailing the plans for a counterfeiting operation to be masked by the puppet theater. His uncle had worked out a good scheme, better than anything Porifiro could have come up with on his own. He counted it to his lucky stars that he was familiar with wood work. Ideally, he could get as few people involved as possible and walk away with more, but at the end of the day someone had to actually be working and that someone ended up being Cedric.
Fortunately for Porifiro, Cedric warmed up to the idea more and more as he was introduced to the puppets they would be working with. He even took initiative and managed to get them a space right off of the road leading out of town. The theater idea was traded in for a large yellow tent. It was too small to house an actual circus, but large enough to split into a show area and the business offices.
Unfortunately for Porifiro, Cedric was also not as dumb as he would have hoped. He knew The Flock once he saw them and grew suspicious. Most people could recognize The Flock in Umbarton, as it was close enough to their home turf of Huesmouth. They were Umbartonâs newly adopted mob family, although the majority of them were not related to their head. One was âadoptedâ into The Flock and given a black feather as a family token. Members of The Flock often wore their feathers in their hats, though it was also worn as a broach or decorated their sleeves.
The Flock were involved and Cedric was not keen on doing any sort of business with them, or rather, someone who was doing business with them. They kept coming around the back end of the tent and meeting with Porifiro in what they probably assumed was secret. Cedric didnât think they were stupid. Maybe they thought he was. Or maybe it didnât matter if he saw anything or not.
Thinking about it made Cedric cross and he wrestled with the idea of walking out on this plan every now and again. It was impossible. He was captivated by the puppets Porifiro made and he wanted to stick around. His thoughts touched back on the puppets for a moment, but Porifiro wasnât going to let him back in there. He sighed. He had nothing else to do there, but he hadnât planned on leaving for at least another hour. He would have to kill the rest of his time at the park.
Though his plans occasionally fell through, Cedric tried to keep everyday working on schedule. Free time didnât sit well with him. It was better for him if there was always something to do. The roses would be delivered a hour early.
Bradbury Memorial Park was a nice place. It was a descent sized lot dead center of of the main road. It was directly in between the theater and the bank. It was always in view of the public, so it was kept clean and tidy. Due to high visibility, it was often joked that the graveyard was the safest place in town.
Cedric came to visit Bradbury Memorial Park at least once every week, occasionally he managed to visit twice. He never came empty handed. Most of the time he had a large bouquet of roses but he once found himself in possession of a handful of cheaply made, plastic kazoos. He had proudly dispensed the kazoos, but found upon his next visit that two of the kazoos had disappeared. While it was possible they were taken by children, Cedric couldnât help but imagine someone mistook his offering for trash and threw it away. He knew better than to be too disappointed when the candy disappeared as well.
Today he had roses and he briskly made his route among the graves. He stopped at ten graves and set a single rose down for them. Thankfully he was the only one there at the moment. It was always awkward when he bumped into families there. It had been ten years and he doubted any of them recognized him. To them, he was just a stranger leaving flowers for their children. He only bothered to remind them once before opting to quietly wait for them to leave before delivering his presents to the graves. He felt that his presence served as an unpleasant reminder anyway. He might as well do them a favor and keep out of their way.
A traffic accident had ended in their entire school bus rolling off the road and into the canal. The class had been taking a field trip to the circus that day. Nine children and the bus driver were lost, but somehow, Cedric managed to escape the sinking bus alive. He had been the only one.
Finishing his route, he finally came to a stop before his grandmotherâs grave and surrendered the rest of the roses. The corners of his smile twitched as the ghost of a laugh passed over him. He likened himself unto a delivery man. He set the bouquet neatly top her grave and finished his chore with a loud clap of his hands. âThere! A little early, but no harm done!â
Having finished passing out his gifts, Cedric returned to one of the smaller graves with the name Sawyer Jensen on it and he began to speak, âYou should see the puppets that were finished today. They have the funniest little hats! Porifiro paints their clothes onto them, but I wonder if we can not have little clothes made for them instead.â He gave a pause, as if waiting for a response, and then continued, âThere were some lumpy ones in the back-they werenât at all like the other ones he made. Actually-I donât think they were even made of wood. To be honest, I suspect they are just cases to hide something in.â Cedric came dangerously close to frowning.
âItâs rather shameful, isnât it? Iâm sure you would be appalled to see me in a business like this,â his voice rose again and his eyes widened, âBut if you could just see those darling little puppets Iâm sure all would be forgiven! I think we really can make something worth while out of this!â
Before he could carry on, Cedric heard a noise and quickly glanced behind him. Once again his smile wavered as four young men stepped onto the lot. He could see the feathers pinned to the sleeves of three of their coats. The other had three feathers pinned to his left coat pocket. Cedric assumed this meant he was someone of significance to The Flock. Two of them were hauling a large wreath and the other two were engrossed in whatever they were saying.
The man with three feathers, was in fact, quite significant to The Flock. He was the leader of the Umbarton branch. Eliezer was the middle child of the three Damiano brothers, with his oldest brother leading The Flock in Huesmouth. Two of the three sons of Damiano had come into leadership much sooner than planned thanks to the untimely death of their father. While his older brother remained in Huesmouth, Eliezer decided to spread his wings and had a small faction of The Flock roost in the neighboring city.
Eliezer, Albert and Bernard had been trying to console Finley for the better half of that morning. Finely was beside himself, insisting that if he hadnât had been fighting with his Aunt Thurma for the better part of three weeks, he would have been notified of his cousinâs funeral. It had come as a nasty shock to him when he was suddenly berated by his other relatives out of the blue for not attending, particularly when he had been so close to his cousin.
âIt wasnât right-it wasnât right at all!â Finley cried.
âWay outta line,â Albert agreed.
âThurmaâs gone completely nuts, even my dad agrees, and heâs always taking her side!â
Bernard commented, âI didnât know you had family all the way out here. Why wasnât Duncan back at Huesmouth?â
âHe was always going on about being an artist,â Finley explained miserably, âSaid that had good programs out here.â
âAn artist? You kidding?â
âHe had talent!â Finley snapped, âYou donât know! You never seen any of his work!â
Eliezer said nothing, but nodded gravely as he listened. Finley took notice as he wiped his nose. The boss was having family troubles as well. Finley didnât dare to bring it up, even to offer condolences.The four men quickly arrived at the relatively fresh grave and bestowed the wreath upon it. They stood shoulder to shoulder and gave solemn respects to the dearly departed, Finley sniffing loudly.
Cedric observed the scene with quiet contempt. He wondered who the grave could have belonged to for a moment. He then decided it would be unwise to be caught staring. He turned away and began a quick jot towards the gate.
His quick movement did not go unnoticed and he heard one of the men behind him comment, âIsnât that Peti?â
The sound caused Cedric to jump slightly and quicken his pace further.
âNo, Peti is the short one! Heâs a lot fatter too!â
âYeah, but Iâve seen that guy somewhere before.â
âYeah, doesnât he hang around that tent too?â
âI donât remember his name.â
âHeâs just the pencil pusher, relax.â
âIf heâs part of the operation, why havenât we heard about him yet? Petiâs tryna pull a fast one on us?â
âHeâs not involved,â Eliezer finally said, âHe works the front desk. He stays out of the loop and we donât have to pay him.â
âSo he doesnât know whatâs going on?â
âNo.â
âSo why was he here then?â
âWhy do you think? Itâs a graveyard, idiot!â
Eliezer turned to Finley and slapped his hand on his shoulder. âYou ready to go?â he asked.
Finley nodded, sniffing again.
âYeah, we still got to meet Jim and the other old birds and tell them off,â Bernard recalled.
âKindly decline their offer,â Eliezer corrected him.
âYou sure about this? They were your paâs best,â Finley asked.
âIâm sure. Weâre going to start from rock bottom here and what I make of this city, I do on my own. I donât need any of my old manâs help,â Eliezer said firmly.
Bernard noticed that Albert was falling behind and called to him. Albert was watching the back gate from over his shoulder.
âHey, Iâm not so sure about that guy,â he commented as he rejoined the others.
âHe stays out of the loop,â Bernard replied, âDrop it.â
Albert kept quiet, but didnât put Cedric from his mind. Porifiro was a weasel, that was apparent upon first meeting him. He had a sleazy smile and a look in his eye that rubbed Albert the wrong way. The thought of Porifiro keeping secrets from The Flock, any at all, didnât set with him. He decided he would be keeping his eyes on the man in the blue suit.
The Fitzroy Puppet Theatre by Megan Chelette centers around Cedric Fitzroy and his partner Porifiro Peti who run a puppet theatre out of a bright yellow tent in the middle of the woods. Porifiro doubles as a puppet maker and a money launderer for the local mob called the Flockâunbeknownst to Cedric. As Cedric, a slender man in a blue suit with an unsettling âHereâs Johnnyâ smile and a penchant for business, attempts to build his show, he employs various cast-offs and undesirables to work at his theatre.Â
Among these undesirables are Stephen, Michelle, and Adeline. Stephen, destitute and quite possibly drunk or in witness protection, magically appears in the woods behind the tent one day. With nowhere else to go, he signs on to work and live at the theatre. Michelle, meanwhile, has decided to finally give up her life as a circus acrobat and work at Fitzroyâs theatre while also raising her pre-teen niece, Adeline.Â
The Fitzroy Puppet Theatre oozes a mysterious and quirky mood, akin to Twin Peaks. The story takes place on the planet Archernar in the country Aiden sometime in the future after humans developed space travel and abandoned earth. Despite being on another planet, the environment feels so inherently human that it could just as easily be a mob-run city in New Jersey.
But the Kelzen, Antlem, and Aeln also occupy this world, each with their magical peculiarities. Here one can also find coffee-drinking dogs with human hands and hermits who live in vanishing cabins. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Nestled within all the strangeness comes humanityâs normalcy. Humans are still helpless, depraved, and prejudiced. Despite the Antlem and Kelzen saving humanity, they are not lauded as humanity's heroes. In fact, they prefer to disguise themselves as humans.
Moreover, Chelette discusses privacy and obscuring the truth within our hearts from others. Porifiro insists he needs a door for his workshop, as it is frequently invaded by Stephen and Adeline. But like the Kelzen and Antlem, humans are also adept at disguise. Chelette explores the themes of belonging and unwantedness as the protagonists work through trauma.
The biggest knock against this work is the number of typos and grammatical errors. However, it does not detract from the overall quality of the work. The Fitzroy Puppet Theatre mashes fantasy and magical realism as real lifeâs mundane tones bleed into the supernatural. For those who enjoy new worlds, hunts for missing persons, personal tragedy, and mysterious puppets, this attraction is worth the price of admission.Â
Three out of five stars.