The Ballad of Never After

As soon as Evangeline removes the stone, the clock stops ticking, and the inn becomes gray and cold. Jacks becomes his mean self again, and Evangeline wonders why her own feelings don’t fade as quickly. With the three stones, they return to Chaos’s palace, where Jacks tells Evangeline to stay until sunset. Though he doesn’t want the arch opened, he promised Chaos that he’d let him open it to get his helmet removed, and Jacks doesn’t want anything to happen to Evangeline before Chaos wakes for the night. Angry at the situation, Evangeline stalks away, saying, “Don’t worry, Jacks, I would never inconvenience you by dying” (302). She goes to her room, where the pain of the last few hours weighs her down. Unable to handle it, she opens the jar containing the mirth stone.

Though the immediate relief is bliss, Evangeline knows that it isn’t real and closes the jar, letting the pain back in. The day passes slowly, and she dozes, waking to find Apollo in her room. He’s contrite and gentle, and he kisses her, making Evangeline feel wanted and dulling the pain of Jacks’s dismissal. Apollo removes her cloak and starts to lower her dress off her shoulders, resting one hand on her chest and the other on her throat.