Nocturnal Conversation

I found him strolling alone, besides the little water-channel where our hope floats, illuminated by the light of the match he had just used to light his cigarette.
Puppet Master (PM): Oh, its you
Me(LL) : What's up with you?
PM: I know what you're here for. The Rouge and Pan are really obvious kids - it would not do them well to keep their intentions so public always. But I'm afraid I'll be of no use: I do not hold the King or the Queen's strings, and they have none of mine. I don't even have the influence on a pawn.
LL: And when did I say that I had come for one of your puppets? You know I can handle them myself quite well. It's the Puppet Master I wanted to see.I seek not the strings, but the hands. It's not just your puppets you know well - they landed in your hands because you knew them, and everyone else, very well.
PM: And so do you. You don't need me for a gift you have yourself.
LL: No. I need you for the gift that only you have - helping people without expecting anything except respect. And the courage to take on any wrong.
PM: There are too many wrongs in the world, little one.
LL: And what's the use of us being here if don't strive to at least reduce the number? I may have wisdom and insight , but you have what I lack - courage with direction. Come on, it's us! Your friends, your fight. But lo! Have you been lamenting your losses? They never tend to show on your face.
PM: The face remains impassive, but you read the signs, do you not? I'm lamenting the loss of a devil - a devil who went away- a devil I shall miss very much. And a human in an angel's disguise - oh how I trusted the fallible! I should have known, known, known! I'm supposed to know them well- I always knew the devil would walk away one day, but I never knew that the one I thought as an angel would turn out so human. Odd, is it not? The evil brings me joy, and what's perceived as good by all the world gives me pain.
LL : You have fun with all the stuff that bad for you, what's new with that? You've been wounded by another puppet master : or rather, a bunch of them. So what? They've twisted some strings around, true. They're no longer the masters- merely some who had a job given to them, and in their opinion, they did it well. But what's left with us is plenty enough to get ahead. You know we couldn't go on without you.
PM: Oh yes you would. You would go on, with or without support, that's how a true warrior works. But I have no pretenses from you and your little group - I need you to move ahead as much as you need me. You know my sad bouts show only by not showing at all - I needed space, I've had it, and I'm pretty damn well now. And you didn't have to ask me whether or not I was with you- you know that I'm already. Where are the kids anyway?
LL : Away for some time, everyone is on a break. But all in touch.
PM: Bless your pointy little heads. What's the plan of attack?