Given Emma's crimes? Precognative empathy that overrides what satisfaction she would feel in the moment.
Queen of the Lost and Forgotten
- Thread starter MrStarbuck
- Start date
Per-fe-ct!
Perfect. No time then I want to say "it could/should be different" like over fanfiction. Detail to detail.
Author, don't listen any critic, just continue.
Read on one breath, instawatched.
Things with uncommon destiny important for magic? So, museums as places of power?
And Faery moral. Love Faery moral. Goodly Folk doing them things as usual.
Perfect. No time then I want to say "it could/should be different" like over fanfiction. Detail to detail.
Author, don't listen any critic, just continue.
Read on one breath, instawatched.
Things with uncommon destiny important for magic? So, museums as places of power?
And Faery moral. Love Faery moral. Goodly Folk doing them things as usual.
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I wonder how Taylor is going to introduce a sense of wonder to the common person?
Perhaps a fae cafe?
From the street, looks like a classic diner, but on the inside, you're effectively in a holodeck.
There'd need to be real food, but, like prestidigitation, you can turn bread and water into bacon and eggs with baked beans on toast, or a deep fried peanut butter sandwich and a cup of coffee/milkshake.
You can play games with time, too; have a group meeting for lunch; they enter at different times, but arrive at their table in a group, leave their table in a group, but leave in time for work, regardless of how much time was experienced, experiencing lunch.
You could also state that trouble makers fall asleep, and get thrown out into a jail cell, rather than through the front door.
Hmm. Fae 'air' lines?
Perhaps a fae cafe?
From the street, looks like a classic diner, but on the inside, you're effectively in a holodeck.
There'd need to be real food, but, like prestidigitation, you can turn bread and water into bacon and eggs with baked beans on toast, or a deep fried peanut butter sandwich and a cup of coffee/milkshake.
You can play games with time, too; have a group meeting for lunch; they enter at different times, but arrive at their table in a group, leave their table in a group, but leave in time for work, regardless of how much time was experienced, experiencing lunch.
You could also state that trouble makers fall asleep, and get thrown out into a jail cell, rather than through the front door.
Hmm. Fae 'air' lines?
5. The Journey of a Thousand Miles
- Location
- Ohio
I was quite pleased with myself as I examined how my new vibrant red hair framed my face. I had to admit that with my natural curls the color looked better on my head than it ever did on Emma's. I gently ran a brush though my hair as I admired myself in the floor length mirror I had moved from my dad's room.
"Taylor!" Someone called distantly. I really wished Aegina was with me so that she and I could admire my new look as her skilled hands styled my hair.
"Taylor!" I heard someone yell and a loud thumping sound coming from the stair pulled me from my pleasant task.
"Dad!?" I yelped and allowed my mother's gifted hair color to return. I didn't even get a chance to properly get up from where I was sitting in front of the mirror when my door flew open.
"Taylor!" My dad's eyes shot around my room and quickly spotted me. We both paused awkwardly for a few moments.
"Oh, hi daddy…" I blushed, but quickly recovering I stood up. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in, I was busy."
"Is that the mirror from my room?"
"Yes." I answered, doing an adequate job of hiding my shame.
"Is this part of the whole fairy vanity thing?"
"Yes." I blushed.
"Alright, sorry for barging into your room, I just got concerned when you didn't answer." My dad tilted his head back and sighed. "Please don't get so distracted like that again, I only left because you said you would be safe without me. What if the house was attacked while you were staring into the mirror?"
"Well it would probably be just fine since the mirror is one of my best escapes." I answered, but I could feel a great deal of agitation in his emotions. "What's got you so worried, did something happen at work?"
"Ehh, yeah." My dad grunted as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "Looks like the gangs are moving faster than I expected. When I got to work, this was slipped under my office door. I don't know who put it there but I would bet good money that it's from the E88, and it has a number on it. I was just worried that something might happen here so I rushed back. Did anything important happen here?"
"No, nothing important happened here." I spoke the truth while still concealing some very important events that happened elsewhere. "You were only gone for like three hours."
What my dad didn't know was that I had a rather highly productive morning. Emma obviously didn't understand what she had agreed to, and I was too sickened by what she had become to tell her. Her pettiness and the disappointing amount of essence I had gotten from her made me want to order her to wander around in the Faewylds for a while. One of the main reasons why I didn't was because I felt doubly sorry for her, first; because she was traumatized because of the attack in the alley. Second, because as soon as she agreed to the deal she had given me a near absolute amount of control of her destiny; I could feel exactly how badly I had damaged her, and I felt bad because she reminded me of myself. She was withdrawn and uncertain, the only thing that was holding her together was the hope I granted her.
So taking some pity on her I decided to help her get out of the trouble she had gotten herself into when she and Sophia had shoved me into the locker. Oddly enough my punishment was actually going to help with the situation.
Now I still didn't feel confident manipulating free magic, however, there are a particular set of skills that fae possess, such as illusions, minor protections, and compulsions. Titania was an absolute master of these tricks and I inherited these talents.
It was very fitting that I used Emma's half of the charm necklace as my base for my plan involving Emma. Because of the little silver necklace's history as well as it's mirror twin the little necklaces became very important, and I was able to weave a complicated web of enchantments, glamors, and compulsions into it. A little enchantment to bolster her spirit, so she could better hide her fractured emotions. A solid glamor so that even cameras wouldn't be able to spot her altered hair color, as well as a strong compulsion that would make it feel like someone was walking on her grave if she even thought about failing her assigned task.
She seemed to be very grateful for the little token as it seemed to be a promise to her for more power later, she didn't like my plan of how she was going to avoid jail time. However, she eventually agreed that my plan was for the best. It wouldn't take much for her to play her part as despite my little enchantment she still felt like a worthless traitor.
So she was going to go down teary eyed and explain to her father that she had been doing soul searching since the incident with the locker and say that she felt so bad for what Sophia had talked her into. They would then go to the PRT and she would throw Shadow Stalker under the bus and take whatever plea deal that they offered. With the combination of if her acting was good enough and her lawyer father she was likely to get away with some community service and a few sessions of therapy.
I helped her go over her story several times before laying a temporary compulsion to help remember as well as keep her composure while being questioned. Normally I would have a harder time applying fae magic to a mortal but because of our deal she basically belonged to me.
I drew my mind back to the present, as dad was still fretting over the message. "Anyway you can see that I'm safe. May I see the letter?" I asked, holding out my hand expectantly.
He moved to give it to me before he pulled back. "Taylor I- you're not thinking about joining the E88 are you, because if you were I would be breaking my part of the deal."
"Dad, you don't have to worry about that. I know we're not as close as we should be, but please don't insult me by thinking I would be foolish enough to join Neo Nazis."
"Sorry, I just had to be sure, I could see you being angry because of who Sophia is." My dad apologized, while handing me the piece of paper. "These are dangerous people, if we ignore them we'll likely only have a few days before they try something else."
Looking over the message it was a simple handwritten note that said that a group of experienced parahumans would be interested in helping to explain certain little known rules about cape culture and the state of the city. It didn't have much on it beside that, it was meant as a sort of a friendly little reminder that his daughter was involved whether she liked it or not.
"Dad would you be alright if I handled this?"
"Taylor, I don't want you getting hurt. I wouldn't like this but if it's to keep you safe we can leave, we don't have to stay in this city." My dad stated as he searched my face.
"No dad, we're staying here." I said firmly. "Let me explain. This is where I grew up, it's the place where I became what I am now. That means that it's important, and besides fairyland my magic will be strongest here."
"I thought that you said you weren't confident in a straight up fight, that it would be best to run." He countered. "Since you are outed I just don't want to worry about- well Fleur didn't die too long ago."
"I said that I wasn't confident right now. I have to relearn how to use my magic, and when I say that I mean the flashy stuff like chucking around lightning bolts and such." I said as I relaxed a bit of my power and my hair started to ignore the pull of gravity. "Dad I'm powerful and I'm The Faerie Queen. I am so tightly bound to nature that summoning storms and tornadoes is well within my power. Besides, I don't have to destroy a city block in order to deter Kaiser and his ilk."
Dad took a few moments studying me, and I could feel that he was battling with himself. After a bit his stubborn jaw softened. "Can you promise me you'll stay safe?"
"No, I'm sorry."
He stepped forward and smoothed my hair down before giving me a hug. "Alright how can I help?"
I smiled and hugged my dad back all the tighter as the love and desire to see me safe radiated through me. "Well I think you're going to have to get used to some weird things I have planned, just do your best to go with the flow."
"Weird how?"
"Well I have a plan to keep us safe by partially hiding our house inside the Faywylds." I replied. "It should keep us safe from anyone wanting to sneak in and hurt us. The problem would be having friends over, and also I don't think you should eat anything I cook."
"Why can't I eat anything you make?" He pulled back looking at me skeptically.
"Well you could if you want to risk becoming the next Rip Van-Winkle and getting lost for a few decades." I answered.
"Wait, really?" He asked and I responded with a nod. "I think I'm beginning to understand what you meant that being insane helps with fae."
"Now you're getting it, speaking of which do we have a kiddy pool, or big tub to hold water in. I'm wanting to invite one of my subjects over." I asked.
My dad gave me an odd look before he responded. "I think we might have an old kiddy pool above the garage, but shouldn't the bathtub work?
"Too much iron." I shook my head. "Besides, it would be best to call her outside."
"Why's that?"
"Oh simply, this is our house." I answered. "Any magic is easier to perform in your own place of power, and harder for someone else. It's a subtle but powerful magic in its own right, humans often tap into it without even thinking. It's why home field advantage exists, or why you hear stories of 80 year olds beating home invaders to death."
"A magic that humans can use?" My dad asked a sparkle of interest in his chest. "So is it something I could do?"
I smiled, I liked his line of thinking, this was the mindset that I needed to encourage. "Yes, I think you could easily do it. If the situation occurs, you just have to focus your mind, think about what inside the house you wish to protect. Let your righteous anger fill your heart and you will find that you can move faster, hit harder and pain is easily ignored."
"Huh, that's magic?"
"Magic doesn't always have to be flashy." I shrugged. "Anyway, after I hide the house I don't think that you're going to need it, but it's still something to keep in mind. Right, so about that kiddy pool."
"Oh, yeah, I'll go get it. Let's hope it still holds water."
Luckily the flimsy plastic purple pool still held water, and it was a somewhat mild day for the middle of winter so we were able to fill it quickly with a hose.
"Naiad Aegina!" I called with a hand touching the surface. "As soon as it is convenient please come to me."
"That's it?" My dad asked as he skeptically looked at the unimpressive pool. "You just call the fairy that pulled you from the locker and gave you that dress?"
"Remember that I am her Queen. She should be here soon so it would be best to prepare for a guest."
"What do you mean?" Dad asked. "She's not staying here is she?"
"I'm not planning on it, I have too many things for her to do. However, there is a complex code of etiquette that fae adhere to. One of the most basic is guest rights. Since this is your house, and I'm not the lady of the house, it would be best if you prepared something simple for our guest to eat and drink. I can be something as simple as a glass of water and a slice of bread, but it will be good to make a better impression. Remember most fae enjoy sweet things."
"Something simple?" He muttered. "Would a glass of orange juice and powdered donut be good enough."
"That should work." I nodded. "You will be fine since you're my dad, but just for practicality be polite and try and avoid physical contact."
"Alright." My dad said as he moved around the kitchen pouring a small glass of orange juice and putting a mini powdered donut on a plate. As though on cue the kiddy pool erupted with water and standing in the middle was the petite fae, water glistening off of her form.
"Try not to stare." I grumbled as I saw my dad almost drop what he was carrying. Aegina wasn't wearing her natural kelp outfight. Instead she was wearing an old style, form fitting black dress that clashed beautifully with her light blue hair. It looked like its hem had recently been altered so that it ended right above her knees. What had likely had shocked my dad was that because she was currently soaking wet the dress clung to her in a way that left little to the imagination.
Stepping out of the pool, Aegina gave a slight shake and the water scattered off of her and left her in a slightly less scandalous condition. "Let her knock and, then welcome her in, introduce yourself and offer the refreshments." I coached.
My dad did an admirable job as after a knock on the back door he pulled it open and with only a little awkwardness did as I instructed. "Welcome in. My name is Daniel Hebert, why don't you come and sit. Please refresh yourself after your journey."
Aegina smiled brightly and I was annoyed as she showed my father a copious amount of cleavage as she deeply curtsied in the doorframe. "Your kindness is greatly appreciated, Lord Hebert, and I am honored to meet Her Majesty's sire. You may call me Aegina, I am your daughter's humble servant.
I decided to stay back as I observed how my dad handled the situation. I needed to know how well he would handle a fae who wasn't me.
"You have such a lovely house." Aegina complimented as she sat down and completed the guest rights by taking a bite of donut and chased it with a sip of orange juice. "There is so much warmth within this dwelling, it's just a shame that it has been lessened by recent sadness."
"Y-yes, um my wife died about two years ago." My dad faltered.
"Such a pity, truly the pain of a lost love is the most piercing of pains. An even greater pity that there is no one to soothe that pain." Aegina all but sparkled at my father.
It was when my father seemed at a loss of words when he blinked at her several times did I decide to intervene.
"Aegina." I said firmly.
"Yes your Majesty, how may I serve you." The blue haired fae stood and curtsied even deeper than she had for my dad.
"I would prefer that you not try to charm my father, or so help you charm him." I spoke, with the calm of a river that hid sharp rocks beneath its surface.
"Of course my queen." Aegina nodded stiffly before quickly recovering. "I meant no harm, I simply find it a shame that a man still so full of life is without a companion."
"Come, let's go to my room." I said heading to the stairs.
"Yes, your Majesty." She said as she dutifully followed.
Upon entering my room I turned and fixed her with an intense stare. I didn't want to discuss certain subjects in front of my father so it would be best to speak in private. Aegina had a certain glow about her and I suspected I knew where it came from. "Aegina, what did you do?"
"I'm not entirely certain what you are talking about my queen." The petite fae gave me an innocent smile. "I have been looking for your other subjects, as you so ordered."
"I'm entirely certain that you're quite certain what I am talking about. What have you been up to when you weren't looking for my other subjects?"
"Just some merrymaking, my queen." She answered, and I couldn't help but sigh. "I discovered this wonderful, if oddly named place called a nightclub. There were so many young people dancing to strange but energetic music."
"Someone took you home didn't they?" I asked.
"A lady shouldn't discuss such subjects." Aegina shyly held her cheeks but failed to summon a blush.
"I hope your partner hasn't lost anything they'd sorely miss." I muttered.
"I wouldn't think so your Majesty." Aegina answered and I could easily hear the stretched truth passing from her lips.
"Aegina what was the cost for your… company?"
"Oh nothing too dire. He just may find his passions blanched for several moons." She answered.
"Aegina." I sighed, knowing that I should have expected this. "We mustn't do those things anymore, times have changed."
"Times have most certainly changed." The naiad agreed. "Why some of the admires at the nightclub would simply move on to others if their first attempts did not guarner my attention."
"They were probably just trying for easier marks." I guessed, there would likely be many that would consider Aegina out of their league.
"It took much of the thrill out of the chase." Aegina huffed. "They were spoiled for choice. There were so many strumpets there that you could smell their desperate lust. I don't think I've ever seen something so salacious"
"The sensibilities of the mortals have taken a dramatic shift. The taboo of certain activities outside of wedlock has… well the scandal has become scandal- less. Gone are the days when only great bards could entice maidens for the price of a song." I explained which caused the fae to grumble and cross her arms under her bust.
"I thought something seemed amiss." She sighed, her voice ringing with disappointment.
"I will have to explain some details of modern society to you later, but I need you to remember that we must help these mortals. Our actions cannot cause them to revile magic like they once did, if that happens everything will be lost again." I said hoping that she hadn't done anything permanent to the club goers.
"Oh, of course your Majesty." Aegina's expression lit up with understanding before she curtsied deeply. "I eagerly await your wisdom on such matters."
"We will speak of this later. Please, tell me of your success in the task I charged you with."
"Oh, yes." Aegina said as her form seemed to stiffen slightly and I could feel the stress coming off of her. "I still intend to continue your assigned task, and at such an early date I must report that I have found two."
I paused for several heart beats while I processed the statement. "Two!?" I asked incredulously.
The petite naiad's response was instantaneous as she fell face down in supplication, her hair splaying out around her head. "Forgive me your Majesty! I tried, I tried, the wylds are so vast and there is so little left!"
Aegina's response shocked me for a moment, before I remember that she only really knew me as Titania, and I mostly wasn't the Fairy Queen she recalled. Still the truth behind her words range out desperately as to waylay my ire.
"Aegina get up." I ordered as I grabbed a hairbrush from my dresser. "Sit on the bed and face away from me."
"Y-yes my queen." The bluenette said as she walked to the bed like she was heading to her execution, her head hanging low as she didn't dare to look at me.
There was a slight quivering in Aegina's shoulders as I sat behind her. Titania was a true monarch both loved and feared, however from her memories I felt that she was often too swift in expressing her displeasure. I also planned to be loved and feared, but I would moderate when I expressed my ire.
As soon as I brought my brush down on her head, Aegina twitched with a gasp. She didn't dare speak as I could sense that she was readied for some punishment to blindside her.
"Tell me Aegina, beside your time spent refreshing yourself with merrymaking were you following my orders?" I asked as I brushed back some of the hair that had fallen in front of her face.
"Yes my queen."
"And were you trying your utmost to find my remaining subjects?"
"Of course my queen." Aegina answered firmly.
"Then please relax and let me enjoy your beauty, I am not angry at you."
"B-but I have accomplished so little. How-?"
"You cannot find what isn't there." I countered. "I was just shocked that my kingdom was in such a state of desperation."
"Her Majesty is too kind." Aegina whispered in awe.
"Your efforts freeing me from the locker has earned you some of my kindness." I said. "Continue to serve me as best you can and you may earn more."
"Yes, of course my queen!" She cheered and I could feel her radiating joy. I reminded myself that she too had been in a desperate state of near nonexistence and all of my subjects would likely need my care.
"So please, report what you did find." I asked as I ran the brush and my fingers through her soft wavy hair.
"So many of us are simply gone my queen, others are- not there, but some echoes remain." She reported.
"I had hoped that a good amount of dryads would be found." I muttered mostly to myself. Dryads were extremely tough fae since they were basically unkillable as long as they had a home tree to return to. "However, now that I think about it, only very old trees can house a dryad, and the trees would be truly ancient to have survived since magic began to weaken."
"Yes my queen, also I suspect the mortal's desire for large timber would have spelled ruin for many dryad since they would be unable to defend their home in weakened states."
"That sounds about right."
"I found one in the ruins of Wonderland, although I fear I do not know who it is as his very aura was so intimidating. I feared my ability to defend myself if he was perhaps violent from madness." She said shyly, as though fearing her caution would displease me.
"You were right to be cautious, Aegina. We are both still weak, and I would be a poor queen if I sent my subjects to their ends." I said and could feel another wave of joy from her.
Wonderland was a section of the Faewylds that was most closely connected to dreams. Because of that it was a land of madness. Many of the fae creatures that lived there often seesawed between radically different emotions from minute to minute. A fae being that was powerful enough to survive this long wasn't something I wanted Aegina to tangle with; I would have to look into it myself.
"Who else did you find?"
"Oh a naiad like me your Majesty, she's in worse shape than I was. She was only just able to tell her name; Loreley."
"If she was in that bad of shape, why did you leave her?!" I gasped.
"You only called me; my queen, I did not want to be rude and bring an uninvited guest." Aegina said meekly.
"Come we must be swift." I said, taking her hand and pulling her off the bed. My longer legs quickly padded down the stairs as I pulled a stumbling little fae behind me. We rushed past my dad who was sitting on the couch reading the paper.
"What's going on!?" He asked as I flung open the back door.
"Quickly, go get her!" I said as I took hold of the small fae's slim shoulders
"Yes, my qu-!" I didn't give chance to finish as I pushed her. I couldn't help the mischievous smile that appeared on my face as Aegina gracelessly belly flopped into the kiddy pool disappearing with a large splash.
"Taylor!" My dad called from the doorway. "What was that about?"
"Oh Aegina found another fae, but she was only just able to speak her name." I answered, but seeing his confused face I explained. "Names are important, if she's in that bad of shape she should be on the fairy equivalent of life support. Oh, and could you prepare another set of refreshments, since we will have another guest."
My dad just shook his head and closed the door. Less than a minute later the pool splashed when Aegina returned another figure beside her.
"This is Loreley?" I asked.
"Yes my queen."
I was very concerned about Loreley's health based on how she looked. She was a very leggy pale blond beauty, but the thing that drew the most of my attention was her unkempt appearance. Not looking your best was almost anathema to fairies, something had to be very wrong if you couldn't keep yourself looking excellent. Loreley's long blond hair was a tangled mess and the sleek white silks she wore were tattered and dirty. The most concerning was her golden eyes that were downcast as they vacantly stared at the ground.
Reaching out I took one of her hands and pulled her out of the kiddy pool. "Loreley?"
"... That is, my name…" She responded in a mutter, and I looked at Aegina as she timidly looked between us.
"You did well Aegina. I don't know if she would have lasted another day." I praised since it seemed the small fae was concerned I might be angry because she left Loreley alone.
Pulling Loreley into a hug I squeezed her tightly. I tried to coax some response out of her as I pressed her just shorter body to me. It seemed like Emma's petty joy would be of use as it would serve as the equivalent of soft food for a fae.
As I slowly gave the essence to Loreley I saw a spark of jealousy on Aegina's face in the corner of my eye. "Jealousy does not look good on your face Aegina."
"Her Majesty is too generous." She muttered.
"It is my generosity, and I will share it how I wish." I countered, as she looked away, not able to keep the jealousy completely off her face. "Oh, do look up. You have served well and if you continue to do so I will consider naming you my Lady in Waiting."
Aegina's face snapped up and her mismatched eyes were bright with excited hopeful yearning. "Your Majesty really!?"
A part of me still felt silly thinking about getting a Lady in Waiting, but just like normal royalty it was a coveted position. Historically Ladies in Waiting were basically glorified secretaries and maids, and it would be true for fairies as well. However, for a fae it would mean that my Lady in Waiting got to help take care of my appearance every day, and that was something extra highly desirable. It was hard not to get a big head when I knew I was so beautiful that beauticians would pay me to do my hair and put makeup on me. Aegina's desire to fill such a role was palpable.
"Where am I?" Loreley whispered at my shoulder. She still spoke like she was in a dream but at least she was aware enough to have a sense of self and location.
"You're safe. Loreley, do you know who I am?" I asked as I pulled myself back shifting my hair color to red.
The pale blond fae eyes looked a bit more focused as she studied me for a good half minute. Eventually a look of recognition appeared on her features. "My queen." Loreley said as she lowered herself in a curtsey while still in my arms.
"Come, let's get inside." I said turning and guiding her to my house. The door opened before I could have Loreley knock, as my dad held it open with a look of concern on his face. We stopped at the threshold and I gave my dad an expectant look as my hand made a circling motion, hoping he would get the message.
"Oh! Yeah, um. Please come in. My name is Daniel Hebert, why don't you sit and have some refreshments." My dad said after catching on.
"Yes, thank you Daniel Herbert." She curtsied speaking in a polite whisper. "I am Loreley."
Guiding Loreley to a chair she sat and began to eat and drink what my father had prepared. She moved slowly as though still in a daze.
"What's going on? Why do you have red hair." My dad asked as we stepped away watching the unkempt naiad.
I love my dad, but he was most certainly a good example of mortals; always asking the wrong questions. "It's easier for the fairies to recognize me from when I had red hair."
"When did you have red hair?"
"From when I was only Fairy Queen Titania, do try to keep up father." I answered and enjoyed his confusion.
"Wha-" He started but cut himself with a sighing grunt. "I'm going to go mad and this will all start to make sense won't it?"
"We can only hope." I smiled at him.
"So is everything alright?"
"Not really." I answered as Loreley slowly started to lick powdered sugar off of her fingers. "She likely will have to stay here so that she can recover. You don't mind if she uses the guest room do you?"
"It's fine with me." He nodded. "Can I get a bit more explanation later?"
"Oh, I guess you have earned that." I said and leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."
"Yeah well not how I expected my day to go, although having two strange beautiful women in my house isn't terrible; but whatever."
"With fae it's best to expect the unexpected. You'll probably still never be prepared but at least you won't be disappointed."
Loreley got up after finishing her golden eyes locking on to my dad. "Thank you for the food and drink Daniel Hebert. You have a lovely house, for any home that also houses my queen is as grand as a palace." She still spoke slowly and gave a proper curtsy now that I wasn't supporting her. I found myself annoyed again as the tears in Loreley's clothing gave my dad risque flashes of the skin underneath.
"Aegina, please take yourself and Loreley up to my room."
"Yes, of course your Majesty." She curtsied and took Loreley by the hand, guiding her upstairs.
"Please knock very very loudly if you need me. Loreley is going to need cleaning up, and while I will try to avoid it I might get distracted like I did earlier."
"Uh, right don't want to walk in on well- Taylor I just gotta make sure, but you're not into girls are you?" My dad questioned awkwardly.
I blushed bright enough to match my still red hair. Since I was mostly Taylor I still considered myself to be straight but I had plenty of foggy memories of Titania's many different activities with many different things
"Not really." I answered, and was very glad my tongue didn't cut me off. "It's just the problems I'm dealing with, you know; fae and beautiful things. I don't intend to do anything like- that."
"Right, sorry I just had to ask." He muttered. "Anyway you go have fun doing your queen stuff, I'm going to go prepare my shotgun for the boys I still have to worry about."
Fighting down my blush I headed to the upstairs bathroom to fill a plastic wash bucket and grab a washcloth. Aegina and Loreley were patiently waiting for me once I got back to my room. We spent the next several enjoyable hours helping each other with our appearances, all the while I explained the many changes in the world and with mortals.
"I still need to get an entirely new wardrobe." I grumbled as I helped Lorely into one of my many comfortable hoodies. She was still distant eyed and quiet, but at least she was a bit more active as she pulled out her now shimmering hip length hair.
"These clothes aren't the most flattering." Aegina cautiously agreed as she plucked at a stray thread at the bottom of her shortened dress.
"I can deal with that later. For now I will go deal with whoever you found in what is left of Wonderland, and-" I cut myself off when I spotted the handwritten note that I had left in my room.
"Aegina, how would you like to act as my emissary?" I asked.
"I would like that very much, your Majesty." She smiled and curtsied deeply. "Now that I better understand this modern world I feel I am better equipped to accomplish such a task."
"Taylor!" Someone called distantly. I really wished Aegina was with me so that she and I could admire my new look as her skilled hands styled my hair.
"Taylor!" I heard someone yell and a loud thumping sound coming from the stair pulled me from my pleasant task.
"Dad!?" I yelped and allowed my mother's gifted hair color to return. I didn't even get a chance to properly get up from where I was sitting in front of the mirror when my door flew open.
"Taylor!" My dad's eyes shot around my room and quickly spotted me. We both paused awkwardly for a few moments.
"Oh, hi daddy…" I blushed, but quickly recovering I stood up. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in, I was busy."
"Is that the mirror from my room?"
"Yes." I answered, doing an adequate job of hiding my shame.
"Is this part of the whole fairy vanity thing?"
"Yes." I blushed.
"Alright, sorry for barging into your room, I just got concerned when you didn't answer." My dad tilted his head back and sighed. "Please don't get so distracted like that again, I only left because you said you would be safe without me. What if the house was attacked while you were staring into the mirror?"
"Well it would probably be just fine since the mirror is one of my best escapes." I answered, but I could feel a great deal of agitation in his emotions. "What's got you so worried, did something happen at work?"
"Ehh, yeah." My dad grunted as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "Looks like the gangs are moving faster than I expected. When I got to work, this was slipped under my office door. I don't know who put it there but I would bet good money that it's from the E88, and it has a number on it. I was just worried that something might happen here so I rushed back. Did anything important happen here?"
"No, nothing important happened here." I spoke the truth while still concealing some very important events that happened elsewhere. "You were only gone for like three hours."
What my dad didn't know was that I had a rather highly productive morning. Emma obviously didn't understand what she had agreed to, and I was too sickened by what she had become to tell her. Her pettiness and the disappointing amount of essence I had gotten from her made me want to order her to wander around in the Faewylds for a while. One of the main reasons why I didn't was because I felt doubly sorry for her, first; because she was traumatized because of the attack in the alley. Second, because as soon as she agreed to the deal she had given me a near absolute amount of control of her destiny; I could feel exactly how badly I had damaged her, and I felt bad because she reminded me of myself. She was withdrawn and uncertain, the only thing that was holding her together was the hope I granted her.
So taking some pity on her I decided to help her get out of the trouble she had gotten herself into when she and Sophia had shoved me into the locker. Oddly enough my punishment was actually going to help with the situation.
Now I still didn't feel confident manipulating free magic, however, there are a particular set of skills that fae possess, such as illusions, minor protections, and compulsions. Titania was an absolute master of these tricks and I inherited these talents.
It was very fitting that I used Emma's half of the charm necklace as my base for my plan involving Emma. Because of the little silver necklace's history as well as it's mirror twin the little necklaces became very important, and I was able to weave a complicated web of enchantments, glamors, and compulsions into it. A little enchantment to bolster her spirit, so she could better hide her fractured emotions. A solid glamor so that even cameras wouldn't be able to spot her altered hair color, as well as a strong compulsion that would make it feel like someone was walking on her grave if she even thought about failing her assigned task.
She seemed to be very grateful for the little token as it seemed to be a promise to her for more power later, she didn't like my plan of how she was going to avoid jail time. However, she eventually agreed that my plan was for the best. It wouldn't take much for her to play her part as despite my little enchantment she still felt like a worthless traitor.
So she was going to go down teary eyed and explain to her father that she had been doing soul searching since the incident with the locker and say that she felt so bad for what Sophia had talked her into. They would then go to the PRT and she would throw Shadow Stalker under the bus and take whatever plea deal that they offered. With the combination of if her acting was good enough and her lawyer father she was likely to get away with some community service and a few sessions of therapy.
I helped her go over her story several times before laying a temporary compulsion to help remember as well as keep her composure while being questioned. Normally I would have a harder time applying fae magic to a mortal but because of our deal she basically belonged to me.
I drew my mind back to the present, as dad was still fretting over the message. "Anyway you can see that I'm safe. May I see the letter?" I asked, holding out my hand expectantly.
He moved to give it to me before he pulled back. "Taylor I- you're not thinking about joining the E88 are you, because if you were I would be breaking my part of the deal."
"Dad, you don't have to worry about that. I know we're not as close as we should be, but please don't insult me by thinking I would be foolish enough to join Neo Nazis."
"Sorry, I just had to be sure, I could see you being angry because of who Sophia is." My dad apologized, while handing me the piece of paper. "These are dangerous people, if we ignore them we'll likely only have a few days before they try something else."
Looking over the message it was a simple handwritten note that said that a group of experienced parahumans would be interested in helping to explain certain little known rules about cape culture and the state of the city. It didn't have much on it beside that, it was meant as a sort of a friendly little reminder that his daughter was involved whether she liked it or not.
"Dad would you be alright if I handled this?"
"Taylor, I don't want you getting hurt. I wouldn't like this but if it's to keep you safe we can leave, we don't have to stay in this city." My dad stated as he searched my face.
"No dad, we're staying here." I said firmly. "Let me explain. This is where I grew up, it's the place where I became what I am now. That means that it's important, and besides fairyland my magic will be strongest here."
"I thought that you said you weren't confident in a straight up fight, that it would be best to run." He countered. "Since you are outed I just don't want to worry about- well Fleur didn't die too long ago."
"I said that I wasn't confident right now. I have to relearn how to use my magic, and when I say that I mean the flashy stuff like chucking around lightning bolts and such." I said as I relaxed a bit of my power and my hair started to ignore the pull of gravity. "Dad I'm powerful and I'm The Faerie Queen. I am so tightly bound to nature that summoning storms and tornadoes is well within my power. Besides, I don't have to destroy a city block in order to deter Kaiser and his ilk."
Dad took a few moments studying me, and I could feel that he was battling with himself. After a bit his stubborn jaw softened. "Can you promise me you'll stay safe?"
"No, I'm sorry."
He stepped forward and smoothed my hair down before giving me a hug. "Alright how can I help?"
I smiled and hugged my dad back all the tighter as the love and desire to see me safe radiated through me. "Well I think you're going to have to get used to some weird things I have planned, just do your best to go with the flow."
"Weird how?"
"Well I have a plan to keep us safe by partially hiding our house inside the Faywylds." I replied. "It should keep us safe from anyone wanting to sneak in and hurt us. The problem would be having friends over, and also I don't think you should eat anything I cook."
"Why can't I eat anything you make?" He pulled back looking at me skeptically.
"Well you could if you want to risk becoming the next Rip Van-Winkle and getting lost for a few decades." I answered.
"Wait, really?" He asked and I responded with a nod. "I think I'm beginning to understand what you meant that being insane helps with fae."
"Now you're getting it, speaking of which do we have a kiddy pool, or big tub to hold water in. I'm wanting to invite one of my subjects over." I asked.
My dad gave me an odd look before he responded. "I think we might have an old kiddy pool above the garage, but shouldn't the bathtub work?
"Too much iron." I shook my head. "Besides, it would be best to call her outside."
"Why's that?"
"Oh simply, this is our house." I answered. "Any magic is easier to perform in your own place of power, and harder for someone else. It's a subtle but powerful magic in its own right, humans often tap into it without even thinking. It's why home field advantage exists, or why you hear stories of 80 year olds beating home invaders to death."
"A magic that humans can use?" My dad asked a sparkle of interest in his chest. "So is it something I could do?"
I smiled, I liked his line of thinking, this was the mindset that I needed to encourage. "Yes, I think you could easily do it. If the situation occurs, you just have to focus your mind, think about what inside the house you wish to protect. Let your righteous anger fill your heart and you will find that you can move faster, hit harder and pain is easily ignored."
"Huh, that's magic?"
"Magic doesn't always have to be flashy." I shrugged. "Anyway, after I hide the house I don't think that you're going to need it, but it's still something to keep in mind. Right, so about that kiddy pool."
"Oh, yeah, I'll go get it. Let's hope it still holds water."
Luckily the flimsy plastic purple pool still held water, and it was a somewhat mild day for the middle of winter so we were able to fill it quickly with a hose.
"Naiad Aegina!" I called with a hand touching the surface. "As soon as it is convenient please come to me."
"That's it?" My dad asked as he skeptically looked at the unimpressive pool. "You just call the fairy that pulled you from the locker and gave you that dress?"
"Remember that I am her Queen. She should be here soon so it would be best to prepare for a guest."
"What do you mean?" Dad asked. "She's not staying here is she?"
"I'm not planning on it, I have too many things for her to do. However, there is a complex code of etiquette that fae adhere to. One of the most basic is guest rights. Since this is your house, and I'm not the lady of the house, it would be best if you prepared something simple for our guest to eat and drink. I can be something as simple as a glass of water and a slice of bread, but it will be good to make a better impression. Remember most fae enjoy sweet things."
"Something simple?" He muttered. "Would a glass of orange juice and powdered donut be good enough."
"That should work." I nodded. "You will be fine since you're my dad, but just for practicality be polite and try and avoid physical contact."
"Alright." My dad said as he moved around the kitchen pouring a small glass of orange juice and putting a mini powdered donut on a plate. As though on cue the kiddy pool erupted with water and standing in the middle was the petite fae, water glistening off of her form.
"Try not to stare." I grumbled as I saw my dad almost drop what he was carrying. Aegina wasn't wearing her natural kelp outfight. Instead she was wearing an old style, form fitting black dress that clashed beautifully with her light blue hair. It looked like its hem had recently been altered so that it ended right above her knees. What had likely had shocked my dad was that because she was currently soaking wet the dress clung to her in a way that left little to the imagination.
Stepping out of the pool, Aegina gave a slight shake and the water scattered off of her and left her in a slightly less scandalous condition. "Let her knock and, then welcome her in, introduce yourself and offer the refreshments." I coached.
My dad did an admirable job as after a knock on the back door he pulled it open and with only a little awkwardness did as I instructed. "Welcome in. My name is Daniel Hebert, why don't you come and sit. Please refresh yourself after your journey."
Aegina smiled brightly and I was annoyed as she showed my father a copious amount of cleavage as she deeply curtsied in the doorframe. "Your kindness is greatly appreciated, Lord Hebert, and I am honored to meet Her Majesty's sire. You may call me Aegina, I am your daughter's humble servant.
I decided to stay back as I observed how my dad handled the situation. I needed to know how well he would handle a fae who wasn't me.
"You have such a lovely house." Aegina complimented as she sat down and completed the guest rights by taking a bite of donut and chased it with a sip of orange juice. "There is so much warmth within this dwelling, it's just a shame that it has been lessened by recent sadness."
"Y-yes, um my wife died about two years ago." My dad faltered.
"Such a pity, truly the pain of a lost love is the most piercing of pains. An even greater pity that there is no one to soothe that pain." Aegina all but sparkled at my father.
It was when my father seemed at a loss of words when he blinked at her several times did I decide to intervene.
"Aegina." I said firmly.
"Yes your Majesty, how may I serve you." The blue haired fae stood and curtsied even deeper than she had for my dad.
"I would prefer that you not try to charm my father, or so help you charm him." I spoke, with the calm of a river that hid sharp rocks beneath its surface.
"Of course my queen." Aegina nodded stiffly before quickly recovering. "I meant no harm, I simply find it a shame that a man still so full of life is without a companion."
"Come, let's go to my room." I said heading to the stairs.
"Yes, your Majesty." She said as she dutifully followed.
Upon entering my room I turned and fixed her with an intense stare. I didn't want to discuss certain subjects in front of my father so it would be best to speak in private. Aegina had a certain glow about her and I suspected I knew where it came from. "Aegina, what did you do?"
"I'm not entirely certain what you are talking about my queen." The petite fae gave me an innocent smile. "I have been looking for your other subjects, as you so ordered."
"I'm entirely certain that you're quite certain what I am talking about. What have you been up to when you weren't looking for my other subjects?"
"Just some merrymaking, my queen." She answered, and I couldn't help but sigh. "I discovered this wonderful, if oddly named place called a nightclub. There were so many young people dancing to strange but energetic music."
"Someone took you home didn't they?" I asked.
"A lady shouldn't discuss such subjects." Aegina shyly held her cheeks but failed to summon a blush.
"I hope your partner hasn't lost anything they'd sorely miss." I muttered.
"I wouldn't think so your Majesty." Aegina answered and I could easily hear the stretched truth passing from her lips.
"Aegina what was the cost for your… company?"
"Oh nothing too dire. He just may find his passions blanched for several moons." She answered.
"Aegina." I sighed, knowing that I should have expected this. "We mustn't do those things anymore, times have changed."
"Times have most certainly changed." The naiad agreed. "Why some of the admires at the nightclub would simply move on to others if their first attempts did not guarner my attention."
"They were probably just trying for easier marks." I guessed, there would likely be many that would consider Aegina out of their league.
"It took much of the thrill out of the chase." Aegina huffed. "They were spoiled for choice. There were so many strumpets there that you could smell their desperate lust. I don't think I've ever seen something so salacious"
"The sensibilities of the mortals have taken a dramatic shift. The taboo of certain activities outside of wedlock has… well the scandal has become scandal- less. Gone are the days when only great bards could entice maidens for the price of a song." I explained which caused the fae to grumble and cross her arms under her bust.
"I thought something seemed amiss." She sighed, her voice ringing with disappointment.
"I will have to explain some details of modern society to you later, but I need you to remember that we must help these mortals. Our actions cannot cause them to revile magic like they once did, if that happens everything will be lost again." I said hoping that she hadn't done anything permanent to the club goers.
"Oh, of course your Majesty." Aegina's expression lit up with understanding before she curtsied deeply. "I eagerly await your wisdom on such matters."
"We will speak of this later. Please, tell me of your success in the task I charged you with."
"Oh, yes." Aegina said as her form seemed to stiffen slightly and I could feel the stress coming off of her. "I still intend to continue your assigned task, and at such an early date I must report that I have found two."
I paused for several heart beats while I processed the statement. "Two!?" I asked incredulously.
The petite naiad's response was instantaneous as she fell face down in supplication, her hair splaying out around her head. "Forgive me your Majesty! I tried, I tried, the wylds are so vast and there is so little left!"
Aegina's response shocked me for a moment, before I remember that she only really knew me as Titania, and I mostly wasn't the Fairy Queen she recalled. Still the truth behind her words range out desperately as to waylay my ire.
"Aegina get up." I ordered as I grabbed a hairbrush from my dresser. "Sit on the bed and face away from me."
"Y-yes my queen." The bluenette said as she walked to the bed like she was heading to her execution, her head hanging low as she didn't dare to look at me.
There was a slight quivering in Aegina's shoulders as I sat behind her. Titania was a true monarch both loved and feared, however from her memories I felt that she was often too swift in expressing her displeasure. I also planned to be loved and feared, but I would moderate when I expressed my ire.
As soon as I brought my brush down on her head, Aegina twitched with a gasp. She didn't dare speak as I could sense that she was readied for some punishment to blindside her.
"Tell me Aegina, beside your time spent refreshing yourself with merrymaking were you following my orders?" I asked as I brushed back some of the hair that had fallen in front of her face.
"Yes my queen."
"And were you trying your utmost to find my remaining subjects?"
"Of course my queen." Aegina answered firmly.
"Then please relax and let me enjoy your beauty, I am not angry at you."
"B-but I have accomplished so little. How-?"
"You cannot find what isn't there." I countered. "I was just shocked that my kingdom was in such a state of desperation."
"Her Majesty is too kind." Aegina whispered in awe.
"Your efforts freeing me from the locker has earned you some of my kindness." I said. "Continue to serve me as best you can and you may earn more."
"Yes, of course my queen!" She cheered and I could feel her radiating joy. I reminded myself that she too had been in a desperate state of near nonexistence and all of my subjects would likely need my care.
"So please, report what you did find." I asked as I ran the brush and my fingers through her soft wavy hair.
"So many of us are simply gone my queen, others are- not there, but some echoes remain." She reported.
"I had hoped that a good amount of dryads would be found." I muttered mostly to myself. Dryads were extremely tough fae since they were basically unkillable as long as they had a home tree to return to. "However, now that I think about it, only very old trees can house a dryad, and the trees would be truly ancient to have survived since magic began to weaken."
"Yes my queen, also I suspect the mortal's desire for large timber would have spelled ruin for many dryad since they would be unable to defend their home in weakened states."
"That sounds about right."
"I found one in the ruins of Wonderland, although I fear I do not know who it is as his very aura was so intimidating. I feared my ability to defend myself if he was perhaps violent from madness." She said shyly, as though fearing her caution would displease me.
"You were right to be cautious, Aegina. We are both still weak, and I would be a poor queen if I sent my subjects to their ends." I said and could feel another wave of joy from her.
Wonderland was a section of the Faewylds that was most closely connected to dreams. Because of that it was a land of madness. Many of the fae creatures that lived there often seesawed between radically different emotions from minute to minute. A fae being that was powerful enough to survive this long wasn't something I wanted Aegina to tangle with; I would have to look into it myself.
"Who else did you find?"
"Oh a naiad like me your Majesty, she's in worse shape than I was. She was only just able to tell her name; Loreley."
"If she was in that bad of shape, why did you leave her?!" I gasped.
"You only called me; my queen, I did not want to be rude and bring an uninvited guest." Aegina said meekly.
"Come we must be swift." I said, taking her hand and pulling her off the bed. My longer legs quickly padded down the stairs as I pulled a stumbling little fae behind me. We rushed past my dad who was sitting on the couch reading the paper.
"What's going on!?" He asked as I flung open the back door.
"Quickly, go get her!" I said as I took hold of the small fae's slim shoulders
"Yes, my qu-!" I didn't give chance to finish as I pushed her. I couldn't help the mischievous smile that appeared on my face as Aegina gracelessly belly flopped into the kiddy pool disappearing with a large splash.
"Taylor!" My dad called from the doorway. "What was that about?"
"Oh Aegina found another fae, but she was only just able to speak her name." I answered, but seeing his confused face I explained. "Names are important, if she's in that bad of shape she should be on the fairy equivalent of life support. Oh, and could you prepare another set of refreshments, since we will have another guest."
My dad just shook his head and closed the door. Less than a minute later the pool splashed when Aegina returned another figure beside her.
"This is Loreley?" I asked.
"Yes my queen."
I was very concerned about Loreley's health based on how she looked. She was a very leggy pale blond beauty, but the thing that drew the most of my attention was her unkempt appearance. Not looking your best was almost anathema to fairies, something had to be very wrong if you couldn't keep yourself looking excellent. Loreley's long blond hair was a tangled mess and the sleek white silks she wore were tattered and dirty. The most concerning was her golden eyes that were downcast as they vacantly stared at the ground.
Reaching out I took one of her hands and pulled her out of the kiddy pool. "Loreley?"
"... That is, my name…" She responded in a mutter, and I looked at Aegina as she timidly looked between us.
"You did well Aegina. I don't know if she would have lasted another day." I praised since it seemed the small fae was concerned I might be angry because she left Loreley alone.
Pulling Loreley into a hug I squeezed her tightly. I tried to coax some response out of her as I pressed her just shorter body to me. It seemed like Emma's petty joy would be of use as it would serve as the equivalent of soft food for a fae.
As I slowly gave the essence to Loreley I saw a spark of jealousy on Aegina's face in the corner of my eye. "Jealousy does not look good on your face Aegina."
"Her Majesty is too generous." She muttered.
"It is my generosity, and I will share it how I wish." I countered, as she looked away, not able to keep the jealousy completely off her face. "Oh, do look up. You have served well and if you continue to do so I will consider naming you my Lady in Waiting."
Aegina's face snapped up and her mismatched eyes were bright with excited hopeful yearning. "Your Majesty really!?"
A part of me still felt silly thinking about getting a Lady in Waiting, but just like normal royalty it was a coveted position. Historically Ladies in Waiting were basically glorified secretaries and maids, and it would be true for fairies as well. However, for a fae it would mean that my Lady in Waiting got to help take care of my appearance every day, and that was something extra highly desirable. It was hard not to get a big head when I knew I was so beautiful that beauticians would pay me to do my hair and put makeup on me. Aegina's desire to fill such a role was palpable.
"Where am I?" Loreley whispered at my shoulder. She still spoke like she was in a dream but at least she was aware enough to have a sense of self and location.
"You're safe. Loreley, do you know who I am?" I asked as I pulled myself back shifting my hair color to red.
The pale blond fae eyes looked a bit more focused as she studied me for a good half minute. Eventually a look of recognition appeared on her features. "My queen." Loreley said as she lowered herself in a curtsey while still in my arms.
"Come, let's get inside." I said turning and guiding her to my house. The door opened before I could have Loreley knock, as my dad held it open with a look of concern on his face. We stopped at the threshold and I gave my dad an expectant look as my hand made a circling motion, hoping he would get the message.
"Oh! Yeah, um. Please come in. My name is Daniel Hebert, why don't you sit and have some refreshments." My dad said after catching on.
"Yes, thank you Daniel Herbert." She curtsied speaking in a polite whisper. "I am Loreley."
Guiding Loreley to a chair she sat and began to eat and drink what my father had prepared. She moved slowly as though still in a daze.
"What's going on? Why do you have red hair." My dad asked as we stepped away watching the unkempt naiad.
I love my dad, but he was most certainly a good example of mortals; always asking the wrong questions. "It's easier for the fairies to recognize me from when I had red hair."
"When did you have red hair?"
"From when I was only Fairy Queen Titania, do try to keep up father." I answered and enjoyed his confusion.
"Wha-" He started but cut himself with a sighing grunt. "I'm going to go mad and this will all start to make sense won't it?"
"We can only hope." I smiled at him.
"So is everything alright?"
"Not really." I answered as Loreley slowly started to lick powdered sugar off of her fingers. "She likely will have to stay here so that she can recover. You don't mind if she uses the guest room do you?"
"It's fine with me." He nodded. "Can I get a bit more explanation later?"
"Oh, I guess you have earned that." I said and leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."
"Yeah well not how I expected my day to go, although having two strange beautiful women in my house isn't terrible; but whatever."
"With fae it's best to expect the unexpected. You'll probably still never be prepared but at least you won't be disappointed."
Loreley got up after finishing her golden eyes locking on to my dad. "Thank you for the food and drink Daniel Hebert. You have a lovely house, for any home that also houses my queen is as grand as a palace." She still spoke slowly and gave a proper curtsy now that I wasn't supporting her. I found myself annoyed again as the tears in Loreley's clothing gave my dad risque flashes of the skin underneath.
"Aegina, please take yourself and Loreley up to my room."
"Yes, of course your Majesty." She curtsied and took Loreley by the hand, guiding her upstairs.
"Please knock very very loudly if you need me. Loreley is going to need cleaning up, and while I will try to avoid it I might get distracted like I did earlier."
"Uh, right don't want to walk in on well- Taylor I just gotta make sure, but you're not into girls are you?" My dad questioned awkwardly.
I blushed bright enough to match my still red hair. Since I was mostly Taylor I still considered myself to be straight but I had plenty of foggy memories of Titania's many different activities with many different things
"Not really." I answered, and was very glad my tongue didn't cut me off. "It's just the problems I'm dealing with, you know; fae and beautiful things. I don't intend to do anything like- that."
"Right, sorry I just had to ask." He muttered. "Anyway you go have fun doing your queen stuff, I'm going to go prepare my shotgun for the boys I still have to worry about."
Fighting down my blush I headed to the upstairs bathroom to fill a plastic wash bucket and grab a washcloth. Aegina and Loreley were patiently waiting for me once I got back to my room. We spent the next several enjoyable hours helping each other with our appearances, all the while I explained the many changes in the world and with mortals.
"I still need to get an entirely new wardrobe." I grumbled as I helped Lorely into one of my many comfortable hoodies. She was still distant eyed and quiet, but at least she was a bit more active as she pulled out her now shimmering hip length hair.
"These clothes aren't the most flattering." Aegina cautiously agreed as she plucked at a stray thread at the bottom of her shortened dress.
"I can deal with that later. For now I will go deal with whoever you found in what is left of Wonderland, and-" I cut myself off when I spotted the handwritten note that I had left in my room.
"Aegina, how would you like to act as my emissary?" I asked.
"I would like that very much, your Majesty." She smiled and curtsied deeply. "Now that I better understand this modern world I feel I am better equipped to accomplish such a task."
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MrStarbuck - You have given us another good chapter. Keep up the good work.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
It is sad that a lot of thee fairies are no more, however that was to be expected. It will be interesting to see where the author will handle the reduced population of fairies in future chapters.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
It is sad that a lot of thee fairies are no more, however that was to be expected. It will be interesting to see where the author will handle the reduced population of fairies in future chapters.
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I wonder if Aegina is going to meet the Undersiders and thoroughly confuse Tattletale...
- Location
- Ohio
It wouldn't have been the Palanquin, just some random nightclub. That is not to say that Aegina won't go for some merry making there.
Yep, For those of you not immersed in the lore, the new naiad is based on The Loreley since I guess she was important enough to get The in front of her name. The Loreley is a naiad/siren/mermaid that would sing ships onto rocks at a certain section of the Rine river. There's an old poem and even a nice song about her.
Well it's either that I'd guess or the Loreley that works at Starbucks down the road from my apartment. The description of her matches up minus the white silk. She really works to much overtime.
Unless street drugs can now ask questions, I think you mean 'heroine'. Although with the Merchants, you never know.
Glad to see another story from you, I thoroughly enjoyed your SailorSaturn!Taylor, I think I'll like this one too!
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
Heroin doesn't ask, it makes demands.
6. T'was Brilling
- Location
- Ohio
It seemed that the life of a queen wasn't all sitting around being fanned by palm fronds and having grapes fed to you. After setting up a meeting with the capes that had left my father a message I sent Aegina off on her task while I did mine.
I had hoped that a place like Wonderland would have been in better conditions than the rest of the faewylds but it was nearly just as bad. Since it was so closely tied to dreams it had been one of the last holdouts, while other wyld locations had all but faded. However, even dreamland couldn't last when magic eventually became too weak.
It was my hope that with Titania's ritual this place would be the first to come alive again as mortals sent their unconscious minds here renewing this place with their hopes, desires and fears. Even lessened as it was Wonderland still was a place of madness and it was difficult for even me to navigate it.
I could sense the location of the malice that Aegina had told me about. The problem was how did I get there. Luckily I had Titania's centuries of experience in dealing with fae madness, also I was The Fairy Queen; the Faewylds were my lands, and as such they reacted to my desires.
"Oh let's see, which tree has a knot that is really a door handle?" I asked myself as I paced around several large trees. Just as I had suspected I found what I was looking for, finding the correct knot I pushed open a tree to reveal an impossible stone staircase leading down.
Confidently heading down into the dark tunnel I followed its passage before slowing as I felt gravity shifting sideways. "Of course." I smiled and continued, eventually I was standing on the ceiling as I enjoyed the odd sensation of everything above my shoulders, being pulled down, while the rest of me was pulled toward the ceiling; or floor, it really didn't matter. It was quite mad, and I'm sure I looked silly with my hair loosely hanging above me.
Eventually the tunnel took a turn and despite the negative connotations of lights at the ends of tunnels I headed towards the light. As I got closer the tunnel narrowed and I eventually had to crouch which corrected gravity's pull on my hair. Soon not even crouching helped as the tunnel became smaller and smaller. I paused for a moment to wrap my head around both what I was and where I was. I was a fairy in the Faewylds, my physics demanded size and mass meant next to nothing. Also since I didn't see any helpful bottles labeled 'Drink Me' it seems I had to sort myself out. With a quick focus of my will I shrunk myself down until I was likely a tenth of my normal size, but normal size was relevant since I was just the right size.
Half a minute later as I traveled down the small or normal tunnel I stepped out to a hedge maze. "Right." I said aloud. "I suppose I could just fly out of here, but that would likely only make me come out farther away then before. After all it's not the destination, it's the journey."
Wandering through the maze ignored the wisdom of following one wall until you found the exit. That idea wouldn't work in a place as mad as Wonderland, because after all what was a maze if not a place to get lost in?
Eventually I came to a clearing room inside of the maze where a quaint little round table was set up with several chairs around it. If Wonderland had any intelligent life; intelligent being arguable, this was sure to be where some whimsical happening would occur. As it was all the denizens of Wonderland were gone and the table and chairs looked like they were nearly falling apart.
However, out of the corner something caught my eye and I instantly knew what to do. Fluffing up my hair I walked nonchalantly towards the other edge of the clearing, doing my best to ignore the little silver flower whose petals followed me as I passed. It was the most magical thing I had yet seen in Wonderland, while everything else was greyed out the little flower shined brightly. Right as I passed by I could sense what was best described as a desperate call for me to not leave.
"Hmm?" I questioned. "Oh, aren't you a pretty flower."
The flower did nothing except maybe shimmer slightly. If talking with animals was odd, talking with plants was really abstract.
"Tell you what, I'll allow you the honor of decorating my hair if you help guide me to the exit." As stupid as I sounded this was the mad logic of Wonderland. A flower that grew in the maze would know it like the back of its leaves, and I just had to accept the madness to get to where I wanted. Eventually after enough time to think the flower nodded in a passing breeze and I carefully plucked it and set it in my hair.
If flowers could cry out in joy this particular flower did, because it was one of the luckiest flowers ever. Many people didn't know that like fairies, flowers are inherently vain, after all their purpose was to attract attention. This flower was lucky enough to adorn the head of The Fairy Queen, and it was ecstatic that my beauty would compliment its beauty, and visa-versa.
Setting off again the flower gave me almost imperceptible hints on where to go to reach the end of the maze. The flower completed its end of the deal and we exited much closer to where I wanted to go. There was an almost visible miasma coming from the area ahead, and the flower quivered from the oppressive aura that blew towards me.
"Oh don't go wilting on me now." I chastised. Turning my head sideways I glared through the nonsense and realized I could just fly the rest of the way. I also got a sort of tickle from Titania's memories as to who I was dealing with. "Besides, I know where we're going and who we'll meet when we get there. It's only a being of pure terror, how bad could it be?"
The flower didn't respond and I don't know if it passed out, or decided to give up on whatever limited sense of self it had.
Letting the scattered pieces of myself come to me my beautiful wings formed behind me and I might have squealed as I was almost overcome with joy as I took to the air. I was again struck by the complication of knowing how cool it was to fly and actually feeling how amazing it was. I was glad that I didn't embarrass myself while flying, since this was technically my first time in the air. However, even without practice flying was as natural to me as breathing.
Eventually after a short flight where I avoided some of the madder bent reality of Wonderland I landed near the heart of the beast's domain. Slowly but confidently I approached.
"Oh? you're approaching me? When others run; instead you're coming right to me?" A deep rumbling voice echoed out of the pit I was heading toward. A spike of fear shot through my as the air seemed to fill with a miasma of malice.
"I can't have a proper conversation without getting closer." I countered, ignoring the oppressive feeling coming from the pit.
"Oh ho! Well then you might as well come, I haven't had visitors for far too long." There was a scraping sound and a huge clawed hand, covered in black scales grasped the lip of the pit. Moments later an angular lizard-like head peered out from the edge. The creature's dark scales seemed to drink in the light and they allowed it's ivory teeth to stand out in even greater contrast; it was as though to only emphasize what would bring your doom. The thing that stood out the most was its eyes that seemed to blaze like windows into a furnace.
Bringing more of it's massive form out of the pit I stood straight back as I refused to be intimidated despite the nature of the beast. The rest of it's draconic form crawled out and curled up in front of its den. As it folded up its wings the monster fixed me with its burning gaze. "Hmmm, who are you?" It asked, speaking with a mouth that was surely able to swallow me in one easy bite.
"Don't you recognize me?" I asked coyly.
"Of course I recognize Me!" The beast scoffed and in one smooth motion plucked its own head off of it's neck, turning itself around and examining the rest of its body. "After all, Me is the only one I've been able to have a decent conversation with in the past century. That is until you come and boldly approach with threats of a proper conversation. So again I ask. Who are you?!"
"Oh, of course how silly of I." I said, I knew how this game was played. Shifting my hair into the vibrant red I had received from Emma. "How about now, am I easier to recognize?"
"The black beast moved its own head about looking at me from a few angles, before reattaching its head and examining me again. "Oh yes, Titan- no you're hardly, Titania." He growled after sniffing the air a few times.
"That is where I'm afraid you are both right and wrong." I countered earning a huff from the beast. The one lie that Fae can speak is a lie of ignorance. However, speaking such a lie is shameful, for it speaks of ignorance and uncunning. "For you see I am quite all that is left of Titania, so therefore I am all Titania; and more. Anyway, you know my name and I know yours. How are you Jabberwocky, I heard you lost your head but it is good to see that you've found it."
"Yes I've found it." He growled, his scales shivering as he knew I had taken the upperhand in our game. "Or, it found me, such an absolute nuisance; the Vorpal Blade is. So what brings you to my lair Queen Titania?"
"I came looking for you, and now that I've found you I am quite pleased to see that you are well. It's such a shame that there is so little of our kind left." I spoke the truth for The Jabberwocky was The Nightmare, much like I was The Queen. Sure, there were many other nightmares, but there were none as powerful as him. It was him that left you quivering in a cold sweat when you awoke gasping from your bed. His connection to the night terrors of mortals had to be one of the reasons why he still existed well past Wonderland's demise. "I am also here to secure your help."
"These past centuries have been unkind." The Jabberwock grumbled. "I've only been able to feed on the deepest dreamers. However, even if my meals have been slightly lesser of late I shall persist as long as dreamers dream. Although it seems the fears of those that make it here have been a bit repetitive lately."
The Jabberwocky's form dissolved into black smoke that coelesed into the towering shape of Behemoth, it's one red eye glaring down at me. After a few moments the copied Endbringer puffed into smoke only for Leviathan to appear seconds later. Eventually his form shifted till I was looking up at the empty uncaring eyes of the Simurgh.
"The mortals are under attack." I said a note of detest in my voice. "I performed a ritual to save us, but if the mortals fall then all will be for naught. The dreamers are in danger of never dreaming again."
Several long moments paused as the Jabberwocky looked at me in the false angel's form. Eventually he shifted back into his draconic shape. "I loathe a dream that ends too early. I trust that you have a plan."
"These Endbringer seemed to taint some of the myths of old, but they don't understand them. I intend to use the old legends and the mortal's stories to build up magic's strength. With magic's superior power we can counter the Endbringers." I explained and I saw the Jabberwocky's eyes blaze in interest. "I am offering you a chance to do battle, one monster with another. How would you like to remind the mortals what you are, do you want to give them reason to fear the darkness behind their eyelids?"
The Jabberwocky paused for a moment before he suddenly plucked his head off of neck. "Yes I know it's been a long time since last we followed orders, but she is the Queen." His black head spoke to its headless body.
"Yes, but even then we know how boring it's been."
"They do seem dangerous but that's half the fun, and they won't have the vorpal blade."
"Yes, yes seems I'm in agreement then." The Jabberwocky seemed to finish his conversation with himself as he put his head back where it belonged. He affixed me with a fiery look, smiling with a grin filled with sharp deadly teeth.
With a smooth motion of his long neck he bowed. "I am yours to command, my queen."
---------------------
Max Anders was relaxing as he sat back in his comfortable chair in his office at Medhall. Sipping at the two fingers of brandy he had poured himself he reflected on how things were going well for him.
He was the leader of the most powerful cape group in Brockton Bay, sure; Lung could claim to be the most powerful Cape but he didn't have the reach that Kaiser possessed. Not even the local Protectorate could stand against the might of the E88.
The past few months had seen a steady number of new recruits coming in to serve the empire, and the newest addition would be arriving any day now since his wife's due date was just days away.
He was pulled out of his pleasant thoughts as his personal phone rang, glancing at the caller ID all he saw was the number he memorized for Rune. "Hello, How did things go?"
"Uh, well." The youthful voice muttered uncertainly. "Weird, I guess. Yeah that would be the best way to describe it."
"Explain." Kaiser ordered.
"Well, you already know she got into contact with us and we got everything set up just like planned." Rune explained. "The thing is it wasn't Hebert that showed up."
"Who was it?"
"I don't really know. It was this blue haired girl that called herself Aegina, never seen her before. Anyway, she said that she was the emissary to-" Rune cut herself off for a moment. "I know this is going to sound stupid but she said she was the emissary to Her royal majesty Queen Titania of the Fae, also known as Taylor Hebert."
"What?"
"Yeah, I know but she was super serious about it." Rune responded, the incredulity easy to hear in her voice. "When I asked why Taylor didn't show up the girl laughed! She said that we weren't nearly important enough for the queen to show up herself, but that she was tasked to receive our message and relay it back to the queen."
"So what did you do?" Max questioned.
"Well I was a little on the back foot. I mean Hebert triggered like three days ago. Even if you ignore the nonsense about her being a queen, what sort of cape has minions that soon, or an emissary or whatever? Anyway, I still did what I was supposed to do and explained the unwritten rules and told her about how the PRT is doing nothing to help the city and how the Empire is the one place where people are actually safe. I don't know if she was really interested; she just listened and that was about it."
"Can you describe her?"
"Oh yeah sure. As I said blue hair, and I mean I think she actually had blue hair or it was the best dye job I have ever seen. She was also really pretty, I'm talking supermodel, some of the boys I had for backup were practically drooling by the time she left.
"You just let her leave?" Kaiser asked.
"No, I had some of our guys tail her." Rune reported. "I didn't see it but she just walked to the park about a block and a half away, it has a little fountain there and she hopped into the fountain and disappeared. So she's gotta be a cape herself."
The leader of the E88 paused. "Is there anything else she said or did she just listen then leave?"
"Well she didn't say much, but when she did she was this odd mix of belittling us and being polite at the same time. She said that if we wanted to talk to Hebert- well she didn't say that, she said talk to the queen that you; yourself would have to swear an oath of free negotiation and safe passage. I don't really know if the meeting went well enough that they might join us, but she said we could just call the Hebert's phone number if we wanted to talk. It's just- yeah as I said it was weird."
"Alright thank you." Max said and hung up the phone.
The leader of the E88 sat and pondered what he had just heard. Rune was right, things were weird. His moles inside the PRT had mentioned that Hebert might be a Trump as well as an unknown cape that fit the description of the emissary that met with Rune.
Taylor Hebert's trigger was quite public, but it was what was happening behind the scenes that was telling. He didn't have all the details but the Hebert's leaving the PRT HQ in a rush as well as a missing Ward told of something foul going on at the PRT. He didn't like the uncertainty but decided that he would just have to work around the missing puzzle pieces.
This most recent news just muddied the waters, especially considering who the girl's father was. Danny Hebert was not technically running the DWU, but he was in a rather keystone position. If there was another parahuman group that had the subtle backing of the union it could cause a shift of power in the city.
He had never been too concerned about the activities of the local Dock Worker Union branch; they were about as neutral as a business could get in Brockton Bay. They hired anyone as long as they were skilled enough and took any job as long as there was enough plausible deniability to keep the authorities off of their case. If you wanted a job done quick you went to them, since they had all of the appropriately licensed craftsmen. It didn't matter if you needed a panic room wired up or a questionable false wall built, they did the job with little questions asked.
He needed more information badly, but he held out hope. A subordinate, or allied group in that section of the city could yield the potential of pushing out the Merchants, or ABB; leaving the city almost completely in The Empire's control.
If Taylor Herbert wanted to play at being a queen, then he would happily humor her if she would align herself with his plans. Someone who thought themselves royalty would respect other royals, and he wasn't called Kaiser for nothing.
Max pondered the situation for several more minutes before his phone rang again. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was Krieg this time.
"What is it?" Max asked
"I just got a call from our man that's been checking on the Hebert's house. He just told me the house is gone." Krieg reported.
"What do you mean the house is gone?!"
I had hoped that a place like Wonderland would have been in better conditions than the rest of the faewylds but it was nearly just as bad. Since it was so closely tied to dreams it had been one of the last holdouts, while other wyld locations had all but faded. However, even dreamland couldn't last when magic eventually became too weak.
It was my hope that with Titania's ritual this place would be the first to come alive again as mortals sent their unconscious minds here renewing this place with their hopes, desires and fears. Even lessened as it was Wonderland still was a place of madness and it was difficult for even me to navigate it.
I could sense the location of the malice that Aegina had told me about. The problem was how did I get there. Luckily I had Titania's centuries of experience in dealing with fae madness, also I was The Fairy Queen; the Faewylds were my lands, and as such they reacted to my desires.
"Oh let's see, which tree has a knot that is really a door handle?" I asked myself as I paced around several large trees. Just as I had suspected I found what I was looking for, finding the correct knot I pushed open a tree to reveal an impossible stone staircase leading down.
Confidently heading down into the dark tunnel I followed its passage before slowing as I felt gravity shifting sideways. "Of course." I smiled and continued, eventually I was standing on the ceiling as I enjoyed the odd sensation of everything above my shoulders, being pulled down, while the rest of me was pulled toward the ceiling; or floor, it really didn't matter. It was quite mad, and I'm sure I looked silly with my hair loosely hanging above me.
Eventually the tunnel took a turn and despite the negative connotations of lights at the ends of tunnels I headed towards the light. As I got closer the tunnel narrowed and I eventually had to crouch which corrected gravity's pull on my hair. Soon not even crouching helped as the tunnel became smaller and smaller. I paused for a moment to wrap my head around both what I was and where I was. I was a fairy in the Faewylds, my physics demanded size and mass meant next to nothing. Also since I didn't see any helpful bottles labeled 'Drink Me' it seems I had to sort myself out. With a quick focus of my will I shrunk myself down until I was likely a tenth of my normal size, but normal size was relevant since I was just the right size.
Half a minute later as I traveled down the small or normal tunnel I stepped out to a hedge maze. "Right." I said aloud. "I suppose I could just fly out of here, but that would likely only make me come out farther away then before. After all it's not the destination, it's the journey."
Wandering through the maze ignored the wisdom of following one wall until you found the exit. That idea wouldn't work in a place as mad as Wonderland, because after all what was a maze if not a place to get lost in?
Eventually I came to a clearing room inside of the maze where a quaint little round table was set up with several chairs around it. If Wonderland had any intelligent life; intelligent being arguable, this was sure to be where some whimsical happening would occur. As it was all the denizens of Wonderland were gone and the table and chairs looked like they were nearly falling apart.
However, out of the corner something caught my eye and I instantly knew what to do. Fluffing up my hair I walked nonchalantly towards the other edge of the clearing, doing my best to ignore the little silver flower whose petals followed me as I passed. It was the most magical thing I had yet seen in Wonderland, while everything else was greyed out the little flower shined brightly. Right as I passed by I could sense what was best described as a desperate call for me to not leave.
"Hmm?" I questioned. "Oh, aren't you a pretty flower."
The flower did nothing except maybe shimmer slightly. If talking with animals was odd, talking with plants was really abstract.
"Tell you what, I'll allow you the honor of decorating my hair if you help guide me to the exit." As stupid as I sounded this was the mad logic of Wonderland. A flower that grew in the maze would know it like the back of its leaves, and I just had to accept the madness to get to where I wanted. Eventually after enough time to think the flower nodded in a passing breeze and I carefully plucked it and set it in my hair.
If flowers could cry out in joy this particular flower did, because it was one of the luckiest flowers ever. Many people didn't know that like fairies, flowers are inherently vain, after all their purpose was to attract attention. This flower was lucky enough to adorn the head of The Fairy Queen, and it was ecstatic that my beauty would compliment its beauty, and visa-versa.
Setting off again the flower gave me almost imperceptible hints on where to go to reach the end of the maze. The flower completed its end of the deal and we exited much closer to where I wanted to go. There was an almost visible miasma coming from the area ahead, and the flower quivered from the oppressive aura that blew towards me.
"Oh don't go wilting on me now." I chastised. Turning my head sideways I glared through the nonsense and realized I could just fly the rest of the way. I also got a sort of tickle from Titania's memories as to who I was dealing with. "Besides, I know where we're going and who we'll meet when we get there. It's only a being of pure terror, how bad could it be?"
The flower didn't respond and I don't know if it passed out, or decided to give up on whatever limited sense of self it had.
Letting the scattered pieces of myself come to me my beautiful wings formed behind me and I might have squealed as I was almost overcome with joy as I took to the air. I was again struck by the complication of knowing how cool it was to fly and actually feeling how amazing it was. I was glad that I didn't embarrass myself while flying, since this was technically my first time in the air. However, even without practice flying was as natural to me as breathing.
Eventually after a short flight where I avoided some of the madder bent reality of Wonderland I landed near the heart of the beast's domain. Slowly but confidently I approached.
"Oh? you're approaching me? When others run; instead you're coming right to me?" A deep rumbling voice echoed out of the pit I was heading toward. A spike of fear shot through my as the air seemed to fill with a miasma of malice.
"I can't have a proper conversation without getting closer." I countered, ignoring the oppressive feeling coming from the pit.
"Oh ho! Well then you might as well come, I haven't had visitors for far too long." There was a scraping sound and a huge clawed hand, covered in black scales grasped the lip of the pit. Moments later an angular lizard-like head peered out from the edge. The creature's dark scales seemed to drink in the light and they allowed it's ivory teeth to stand out in even greater contrast; it was as though to only emphasize what would bring your doom. The thing that stood out the most was its eyes that seemed to blaze like windows into a furnace.
Bringing more of it's massive form out of the pit I stood straight back as I refused to be intimidated despite the nature of the beast. The rest of it's draconic form crawled out and curled up in front of its den. As it folded up its wings the monster fixed me with its burning gaze. "Hmmm, who are you?" It asked, speaking with a mouth that was surely able to swallow me in one easy bite.
"Don't you recognize me?" I asked coyly.
"Of course I recognize Me!" The beast scoffed and in one smooth motion plucked its own head off of it's neck, turning itself around and examining the rest of its body. "After all, Me is the only one I've been able to have a decent conversation with in the past century. That is until you come and boldly approach with threats of a proper conversation. So again I ask. Who are you?!"
"Oh, of course how silly of I." I said, I knew how this game was played. Shifting my hair into the vibrant red I had received from Emma. "How about now, am I easier to recognize?"
"The black beast moved its own head about looking at me from a few angles, before reattaching its head and examining me again. "Oh yes, Titan- no you're hardly, Titania." He growled after sniffing the air a few times.
"That is where I'm afraid you are both right and wrong." I countered earning a huff from the beast. The one lie that Fae can speak is a lie of ignorance. However, speaking such a lie is shameful, for it speaks of ignorance and uncunning. "For you see I am quite all that is left of Titania, so therefore I am all Titania; and more. Anyway, you know my name and I know yours. How are you Jabberwocky, I heard you lost your head but it is good to see that you've found it."
"Yes I've found it." He growled, his scales shivering as he knew I had taken the upperhand in our game. "Or, it found me, such an absolute nuisance; the Vorpal Blade is. So what brings you to my lair Queen Titania?"
"I came looking for you, and now that I've found you I am quite pleased to see that you are well. It's such a shame that there is so little of our kind left." I spoke the truth for The Jabberwocky was The Nightmare, much like I was The Queen. Sure, there were many other nightmares, but there were none as powerful as him. It was him that left you quivering in a cold sweat when you awoke gasping from your bed. His connection to the night terrors of mortals had to be one of the reasons why he still existed well past Wonderland's demise. "I am also here to secure your help."
"These past centuries have been unkind." The Jabberwock grumbled. "I've only been able to feed on the deepest dreamers. However, even if my meals have been slightly lesser of late I shall persist as long as dreamers dream. Although it seems the fears of those that make it here have been a bit repetitive lately."
The Jabberwocky's form dissolved into black smoke that coelesed into the towering shape of Behemoth, it's one red eye glaring down at me. After a few moments the copied Endbringer puffed into smoke only for Leviathan to appear seconds later. Eventually his form shifted till I was looking up at the empty uncaring eyes of the Simurgh.
"The mortals are under attack." I said a note of detest in my voice. "I performed a ritual to save us, but if the mortals fall then all will be for naught. The dreamers are in danger of never dreaming again."
Several long moments paused as the Jabberwocky looked at me in the false angel's form. Eventually he shifted back into his draconic shape. "I loathe a dream that ends too early. I trust that you have a plan."
"These Endbringer seemed to taint some of the myths of old, but they don't understand them. I intend to use the old legends and the mortal's stories to build up magic's strength. With magic's superior power we can counter the Endbringers." I explained and I saw the Jabberwocky's eyes blaze in interest. "I am offering you a chance to do battle, one monster with another. How would you like to remind the mortals what you are, do you want to give them reason to fear the darkness behind their eyelids?"
The Jabberwocky paused for a moment before he suddenly plucked his head off of neck. "Yes I know it's been a long time since last we followed orders, but she is the Queen." His black head spoke to its headless body.
"Yes, but even then we know how boring it's been."
"They do seem dangerous but that's half the fun, and they won't have the vorpal blade."
"Yes, yes seems I'm in agreement then." The Jabberwocky seemed to finish his conversation with himself as he put his head back where it belonged. He affixed me with a fiery look, smiling with a grin filled with sharp deadly teeth.
With a smooth motion of his long neck he bowed. "I am yours to command, my queen."
---------------------
Max Anders was relaxing as he sat back in his comfortable chair in his office at Medhall. Sipping at the two fingers of brandy he had poured himself he reflected on how things were going well for him.
He was the leader of the most powerful cape group in Brockton Bay, sure; Lung could claim to be the most powerful Cape but he didn't have the reach that Kaiser possessed. Not even the local Protectorate could stand against the might of the E88.
The past few months had seen a steady number of new recruits coming in to serve the empire, and the newest addition would be arriving any day now since his wife's due date was just days away.
He was pulled out of his pleasant thoughts as his personal phone rang, glancing at the caller ID all he saw was the number he memorized for Rune. "Hello, How did things go?"
"Uh, well." The youthful voice muttered uncertainly. "Weird, I guess. Yeah that would be the best way to describe it."
"Explain." Kaiser ordered.
"Well, you already know she got into contact with us and we got everything set up just like planned." Rune explained. "The thing is it wasn't Hebert that showed up."
"Who was it?"
"I don't really know. It was this blue haired girl that called herself Aegina, never seen her before. Anyway, she said that she was the emissary to-" Rune cut herself off for a moment. "I know this is going to sound stupid but she said she was the emissary to Her royal majesty Queen Titania of the Fae, also known as Taylor Hebert."
"What?"
"Yeah, I know but she was super serious about it." Rune responded, the incredulity easy to hear in her voice. "When I asked why Taylor didn't show up the girl laughed! She said that we weren't nearly important enough for the queen to show up herself, but that she was tasked to receive our message and relay it back to the queen."
"So what did you do?" Max questioned.
"Well I was a little on the back foot. I mean Hebert triggered like three days ago. Even if you ignore the nonsense about her being a queen, what sort of cape has minions that soon, or an emissary or whatever? Anyway, I still did what I was supposed to do and explained the unwritten rules and told her about how the PRT is doing nothing to help the city and how the Empire is the one place where people are actually safe. I don't know if she was really interested; she just listened and that was about it."
"Can you describe her?"
"Oh yeah sure. As I said blue hair, and I mean I think she actually had blue hair or it was the best dye job I have ever seen. She was also really pretty, I'm talking supermodel, some of the boys I had for backup were practically drooling by the time she left.
"You just let her leave?" Kaiser asked.
"No, I had some of our guys tail her." Rune reported. "I didn't see it but she just walked to the park about a block and a half away, it has a little fountain there and she hopped into the fountain and disappeared. So she's gotta be a cape herself."
The leader of the E88 paused. "Is there anything else she said or did she just listen then leave?"
"Well she didn't say much, but when she did she was this odd mix of belittling us and being polite at the same time. She said that if we wanted to talk to Hebert- well she didn't say that, she said talk to the queen that you; yourself would have to swear an oath of free negotiation and safe passage. I don't really know if the meeting went well enough that they might join us, but she said we could just call the Hebert's phone number if we wanted to talk. It's just- yeah as I said it was weird."
"Alright thank you." Max said and hung up the phone.
The leader of the E88 sat and pondered what he had just heard. Rune was right, things were weird. His moles inside the PRT had mentioned that Hebert might be a Trump as well as an unknown cape that fit the description of the emissary that met with Rune.
Taylor Hebert's trigger was quite public, but it was what was happening behind the scenes that was telling. He didn't have all the details but the Hebert's leaving the PRT HQ in a rush as well as a missing Ward told of something foul going on at the PRT. He didn't like the uncertainty but decided that he would just have to work around the missing puzzle pieces.
This most recent news just muddied the waters, especially considering who the girl's father was. Danny Hebert was not technically running the DWU, but he was in a rather keystone position. If there was another parahuman group that had the subtle backing of the union it could cause a shift of power in the city.
He had never been too concerned about the activities of the local Dock Worker Union branch; they were about as neutral as a business could get in Brockton Bay. They hired anyone as long as they were skilled enough and took any job as long as there was enough plausible deniability to keep the authorities off of their case. If you wanted a job done quick you went to them, since they had all of the appropriately licensed craftsmen. It didn't matter if you needed a panic room wired up or a questionable false wall built, they did the job with little questions asked.
He needed more information badly, but he held out hope. A subordinate, or allied group in that section of the city could yield the potential of pushing out the Merchants, or ABB; leaving the city almost completely in The Empire's control.
If Taylor Herbert wanted to play at being a queen, then he would happily humor her if she would align herself with his plans. Someone who thought themselves royalty would respect other royals, and he wasn't called Kaiser for nothing.
Max pondered the situation for several more minutes before his phone rang again. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was Krieg this time.
"What is it?" Max asked
"I just got a call from our man that's been checking on the Hebert's house. He just told me the house is gone." Krieg reported.
"What do you mean the house is gone?!"
You have given us another good chapter. Keep up the good work.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
I am thoroughly impressed by the respect and care that you have shown the source materials you are drawing inspiration from.
Your description of the Jabberwock bears a strong resemblance to Beasts from Onyx Path's Chronicles of Darkness Beast: the Primordial game line, which I thought is a clever way interpreting the Jabberwock.
The ending involving E88 interesting and i am curious to see where you go with that plot thread. The concluding bit with the Hebert house took a little bit of before I realize you had actually foreshadowed it.
I wonder how the PRT will react to the house's disappearance, because if Max has eyes on it then you know the PRT also has eyes on it.
I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
I am thoroughly impressed by the respect and care that you have shown the source materials you are drawing inspiration from.
Your description of the Jabberwock bears a strong resemblance to Beasts from Onyx Path's Chronicles of Darkness Beast: the Primordial game line, which I thought is a clever way interpreting the Jabberwock.
The ending involving E88 interesting and i am curious to see where you go with that plot thread. The concluding bit with the Hebert house took a little bit of before I realize you had actually foreshadowed it.
I wonder how the PRT will react to the house's disappearance, because if Max has eyes on it then you know the PRT also has eyes on it.
- Location
- England
Check for giant chicken claw prints.
Yes, the Hebert house becoming a Dancing Hut is what I would like the explanation to house disappearing to be as it demonstrates that weird magical accidents are still possible even with magic as weak as it is at this point in the story. It would also fit nicely into Taylor's quest to use old stories and legends to strengthen magic.
Garreon
Paldean Top Champion
- Location
- Mesagoza, Paldea
Yeah, you are called Kaiser for nothing. Its just a codename, the only royalty present in Brockton rn is Taylor Hebert....and she is about to step on you like the ant you are Max.
Also, what is funnier, since the Jabberwocky just pledged his allegiance to Taytania....well there is nothing that anyone can do to her now if they dont want an inmortal dragon to roast them.
Remember, the only thing that can hurt or kill the Jabberwocky is the Vorpal Blade. As long as no one finds it or Tay keeps it under lock and key, he is inmortal and invulnerable, he basically out brutes Alexandria, Crawler and Lung.
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Kagemoto
I stand against the Infinite Horizon
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high.
I absolutely loved the twisty backhand fae talk segment, a shame it wasn't longer (other than that little moment where Rune implied she got the polite backhand talk as well, honestly shocked she didn't break any fae rules ngl), I've always liked it when Fae talked like that.
That said though, with Jabbywabby the embodiment of Nightmares/The strongest Nightmare apparently (wonder what happened to the boogeyman?) that means he is also at least aware of all the Major threats on Bet, which probably includes Contessa, depending on if he pays attention to the nightmares of people.
That said though, with Jabbywabby the embodiment of Nightmares/The strongest Nightmare apparently (wonder what happened to the boogeyman?) that means he is also at least aware of all the Major threats on Bet, which probably includes Contessa, depending on if he pays attention to the nightmares of people.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
Brokton Bay
magic
staring
wordings
, but
Barnes
disgusting
Glory Girl
7. Let the Games Begin
- Location
- Ohio
"Alright it's done." I said as I finished the minor ritual to hide the house.
"That's it?" My dad questioned. He let go of my hands and started to look around the back yard for any out of place. "It doesn't look any different."
"Looks can be deceiving." I countered with a shrug as I got to my feet and brushed myself off. "Unless they're either a fairy or have a right to be here nobody should be able to set foot on your property, although a drunk person might be able to stumble in."
"I'm still not sure I understand, I know you said you could hide the house inside fairyland but what does that actually mean?" My dad questioned as he also got up. I know it had something to do with if I completely owned the house and lot, but what does being in fairyland actually do?"
"I had to know if you owned everything outright and didn't have a mortgage on it. The house needs to be completely yours so that you have a right to make it your domain. There's a difference between owning something on paper and enforcing that claim by magic. In magic, details like that are important." I tried my best to explain the overall concept without confusing him.
"Details like me agreeing to another deal where you can stay at the house free of charge and in return you help protect my domain?" He asked as we made our way back inside.
"Yes, just because this is my house, the entirety of the house and land is your domain." I explained as I could feel my dad slowly understanding. "Since I have been given the right to help protect it I can partially hide it in fairyland, my domain."
"So if it's hidden what will people see when they look at us?" My dad asked as he walked past Loreley who was passively watching a nature documentary. Looking out the front window he looked out. "Cause from here everything looks normal."
"Well what others will see is hard to say, because the Faewylds is such a silly place it could change depending on the person or the hour or moon cycle. Sometimes our house will be there but someone looking for it won't recognize it, or their eyes will simply pass over it. Sometimes the entire lot might be missing like it was never there, and still other times the lot will be there but it will be a random section of Fairyland. It could look like a forest, or desert or whatever." I explained.
"What if someone walked onto the land when it was a forest, would they walk into our invisible house?"
"Oh, well I should explain better, I mean to say that it would look like a forest because it actually would be a forest. Because of the layered realities the forest part would be mostly in the normal world and the house would be mostly in the Faewylds. You might even sense that someone is trespassing in your domain, if that happens you should let them leave before you go outside the house."
"What if they don't simply leave because they are waiting for us." My dad asked as it seemed he was wrapping his mind around the concept.
"If they don't leave either let me handle it or yell out the window to get off of your lawn." I said. "If you leave the house the balance of realities will shift and they are likely to get lost inside the Faewylds. Although I guess you could just leave and let them handle the consequences of trespassing in your domain."
"I actually kinda like the sound of that." My dad said with a vindictive grin on his face, and something inside me was proud.
"Are you going to work tomorrow?" I asked.
"No, I need to see the lawyer again, I'm suing Winslow." My dad shook his head and growled. "I send you off to school and they're supposed to keep you safe, and they basically did the opposite of their jobs. Even if it ended up alright in the end, I'm not letting them get away with neglecting you like that."
"You have fun with that, I need to fae proof the house for Loreley." I said looking over at the blond naiad who seemed to be looking into space through the television.
"Fae proof?"
"Kinda like baby proof." I answered. "I need to remove all the bare iron and steel, even the painted steel isn't great."
"Alright, if you need help just ask." My dad said as he walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
"Loreley." I called to the blank faced fae. "Do you need anything?"
It took her a good five seconds before she responded. "There's music." She whispered.
I walked over and the nature documentary had some classical music playing in the background behind the commentary. "Do you want to hear some more music?"
"Yes." She blinked a few times and looked over at me with a faint sparkle in her golden eyes. "Please my queen."
I looked through our selections of movies and found a slightly dusty copy of Fantasia that I suspected that Loreley would enjoy. While I was helping her rebuild herself it seemed that there was still a little left of the siren of legend.
As I pushed play I heard a faint splash from the backyard. Looking out it seemed like there wasn't anything that was until I saw something bobbing on the water's surface in the little pool. Opening my back door I skipped out and saw what Aegina had left for me. A little bottle stoppered with a cork floated languishly, inside was a little water that sang with Aegina's magic. "A message in a bottle." I laughed as I picked up the bottle and went back inside.
It took me a little effort to remove the cork but I eventually got it off and drank the contents of the bottle in one swig. It tasted like a draught of particularly refreshing water but the contents were a copy of Aegina's recollection of the meeting.
"It seems you were right about the E88 leaving you the message." I said poking my head into the downstairs office.
"Oh yeah?" My dad questioned as he looked up from our near dinosaur computer.
"I sent Aegina to meet them as my emissary, Rune was there and she explained something about Unwritten Rules for capes." I said and looked over my dad's shoulder to see he was looking at a large wall of text about laws.
"I think I've heard about some of that, isn't that why Kaiser killed the guy that killed Fleur?"
"That's part of it, mostly it's a set of guidelines to keep cape fights from becoming too lethal as well as respecting secret identities so that capes don't have to worry about their homes and family."
"But you don't have a secret identity." My dad said, looking over at me.
"There was also a rule about not going after a cape's family, so while I have hidden the house you shouldn't be attacked while at work." I shrugged. "Not that I put much stock in it, but I'll play along for as long as it's convenient."
Just as I was about to go and fae proof the house the telephone at the edge of the desk rang.
"Hebert residence." I answered as the phone was just outside of my dad's reach.
"Miss Hebert, This is Deputy Director Rennick are you alright?" The man on the other end of the phone questioned in a bit of a rushed tone. I put a finger to my lips to quiet my dad before pushing the speaker button on the phone.
"Everythings perfectly fine, we're all fine here; thank you. How are you?" I answered, earning a grin from my dad.
"Uh- I'm fine thanks for asking." He replied, my response throwing off the authoritarian tone he was speaking in. "It's just, your house has gone missing."
"Has it?" I questioned keeping my voice as sincere as possible. "Since I'm currently in it, it seems like it's not missing. Are you saying that you've lost where my house is? That seems a bit embarrassing."
"Miss Hebert, what happened to your house? Where is it." The Deputy Director asked with a sigh.
"That would be counterproductive, now wouldn't it." I responded.
"I'm not sure I understand."
"It's hidden, and you don't simply tell others where it's been hidden." I answered nonchalantly.
"Miss Herbert, is your father there?"
"I've been listening the entire time, what do you want" My father spoke up gruffly.
"Mr. Hebert, I don't want to sound rude, but your daughter can't simply use her powers like this. After all she's a new cape with untested powers, we don't know any potential side effects that her powers might cause." Renick started but I cut him off before he could get going.
"That's funny because you certainly sound rude. I know exactly what my powers can do. Just because I didn't complete your testing doesn't make the PRT arbiters of what I can do." I said succinctly. A part of me bristled at the poorly disguised condescending tone that I was being spoken to. The PRT should be grateful that I wasn't summoning up hurricanes because I wanted to do something cool.
"I'm not accusing you of wrongdoing, it's just that many cape powers have odd unforeseen side effects, and it is our job here at the PRT to help protect the public from such things." The Deputy Director countered.
"So you want to ask questions and make sure that my powers didn't tear a hole in time and space." I responded, then an idea popped into my head. "Tell you what, I could answer some of your questions if there were something in it for me."
"Miss Hebert." The man on the other side of the phone began before I cut him off.
"No, no. Let me explain. You see I've been cooped up inside for several days, and because of my changes I am in need of a new wardrobe. I can't go out with my father to protect me because he is going to be busy suing Winslow school district because of their involvement in my trigger. If it is agreeable I could do a walk along with one of the Protectorate patrols along the boardwalk. They can be in the area while I shop. I might need someone to deal with the crowds, but I will answer some of your questions and perhaps some questions from the locals as to why I am being escorted by heroes."
"And what would you be telling the locals, Miss Hebert?" Renick asked, suspicion ringing through his tone.
"Oh, nothing unkind. I would say that I am considering joining the Wards, after my sadly public trigger. I would also speak highly of your organization about how you've kindly provided me a stipend so that I can buy some new clothes." I kept my tone sickenly sweet and sincere as I spoke. I was in control here and it was the PRT that would have to play by my rules if they wanted anything. Afterall I was being kind, and their cooperation should be something they should gladly give. "Also, remember that girl with the blue hair that pulled me from the locker, I can arrange that she joins me. Although now that I think about it she too is in need of clothes. It would be most kind of you to help us out in our vulnerable condition."
"You weren't very forthcoming with information about her before, it would be nice to know about her." The Deputy Director grumbled.
"Oh, her name is Aegina. I had her go meet some capes that left a message at my dad's work." I smiled as my dad gave me a cautious look. "Turns out they were the E88, but they just explained the unwritten rules, and talked about how everybody but them were incompetent."
"Miss Hebert! The E88 is extremely dangerous! It was very foolish for you to contact an unknown cape group!" Renick yelled.
"I know they're dangerous, that's why I sent someone else." I countered
"Regardless, it would have been nice to know about these unwritten rules before we left the PRT HQ." My dad growled angrily, but his expression did not match his tone. "Now she's given you something to think about, I am going to be busy with legal work. It would be nice if you could finish your investigation regarding my daughter, see if there's some other organization that needs to be sued for what happened to her. Have a good evening."
"You can just call us back when you've figured out how to set everything up, thank you!" I said cheerfully before hanging up.
Turning to my father I couldn't help the grin that tugged at my lips. "That was fun; think it'll work?"
"It might." He grinned back. "I didn't know you were good at negotiations."
"I sorta wasn't until recently." I shrugged. "Regardless, your inputs helped."
"I'm just doing my part of the deal." He said as he patted my shoulder. "I'm sure they're dying of curiosity, and you've shown them that you don't need them. Their position of power is slipping. Although I noticed that you didn't mention anything about Loreley."
"They don't need to know about her just yet, besides she's not in any condition to be going out." I shrugged.
I was distracted when I suddenly heard a quiet sniffling coming from the living room. Fantasia was still playing on the TV, but what shocked me was the shine in Loreley's eyes. I gasped aloud as I saw one fall from her eyelash and start to run down her cheek. I frantically looked around for a container before I remembered that I had the glass bottle Aegina had put her message in. I carefully moved in towards the crying naiad and smoothly scooped up her tears.
"Loreley, are you alright?" I asked quietly as the music from the movie played.
"The music is so beautiful." She muttered in a whisper as she listened.
"Is something wrong?" My dad asked after he left the office after he heard me gasp. I held up a finger for him to wait as I scoop as much of Loreley's tears as I could.
"No, it's just- Naiad tears are extremely magical. Give me a minute." I said as Loreley listened to the wondrous music, her tears slowly leaking from her eyes.
After several minutes it seemed that she had stopped crying and I studied the wondrous liquid I held inside the little bottle. It held so much magical power inside its unassuming form. I contemplated what I could do with the sparking liquid. Eventually I decided, breathing into the little bottle I deposited some of the more precious essence that I had received from Emma. I was loath to give it away but this was needed as I took the bottle and tilted Loreley's chin up.
"Drink." I commanded as the Naiad drank the small dose of her own tears.
"What are you doing?" My dad asked from behind the couch.
"As I said, Naiad tears are extremely magical, she will be able to use them to rebuild herself from the near nothingness that she was." I answered, making sure my subject imbibed all of the magical liquid. "There's still so little of her left, this will help her recover."
"But they're her own tears, wouldn't it just put back what she cried out?" My dad asked.
"You're thinking of it like a- well you're using common sense, and while that works for most stuff magic doesn't often make sense. The first law of thermodynamics, you know the one that says energy cannot be created or destroyed; well that isn't the case for magic." I thought a bit as to try and explain how something as seemingly mundane as a woman crying created extremely potent magic. "Oftentimes it's little things that combine in an important way that it acts as a force multiplier. Music has a little magic in it, and her crying in joy also has magical potential. However since she's a water fae it boosted the small magic. Maybe it's like taking 1+1 doing math wrong and saying it's 11; and yet it's correct."
My dad scratched his head as it was clear he couldn't really understand. I didn't know if I was explaining it right, magic was just magic. Even the 1+1 makes 11 was understating it because Lorely had taken 1+1 and created 1,000.
"Alright, I hope it works out." My dad muttered and went back into the office.
I sat down beside Loreley and held her hand as we continued to watch. I tried to feel what the magical medic was doing. Whatever was happening was subtle and I almost feared that nothing was happening. It was during the dance of the sugar plum fairy that I smiled. It was during that song that Loreley began humming.
-----------------
"Damn that girl!" Emily Piggot snarled as she smacked her hand on her desk. She had just spent the last half minute stewing over the latest information about Taylor Hebert. The other person in the room looked uncomfortable because of her outburst.
"Add social Thinker to the list of known powers we have on her." Piggot growled and pointed at her Deputy Director. "She shouldn't be able to casually negotiate like that, not when all reports we have on her say that she was an awkward introvert. A girl like that doesn't kindly demand things from us while making subtle threats if we don't comply."
Watchdog had been distinctively unhelpful with their analysis. They did seem to agree that her powers couldn't be simply classified as a Trump and leave it at that. Since it didn't seem like she was granting herself or switching around powers she wasn't a Trump. If she wasn't a Trump there had to be a limit to what she could do even if it seemed extremely versatile so far.
"Is there anything else, or any thoughts about this?" She asked, looking at her second.
"She hasn't done anything overtly illegal. Armsmaster went to the last known location of the Hebert residence. He couldn't detect any radiation or odd energy signatures, and he put a discrete camera and sensor up on the light pole across the street. He thinks that the house is still there in some form of folded space.
"Do you think Vista could deal with it if needed?" Piggot asked.
"I don't know. We could have her check, but the Wards don't usually patrol that far out, and at this time I feel it would be unwise to antagonize Miss Hebert." Renick said.
Piggot gave him a sour look, but she was sensible enough not to ignore advice. "Go on." Piggot said.
"I reviewed all the information that we have on Miss Hebert again and I feel like we've been handling the situation incorrectly. Since she wasn't violent and expressed interest in the Wards we've treating her as any other brash teenage cape, instead of a walking unknown that she is." Renick started slowly building up his answer. "Watchdog couldn't give us what class of Parahuman she is, and rated her simply at a threat level of 7. Dangerous certainly but we already have half a dozen capes at that level or above in the city. However, I feel that until proven otherwise Miss Hebert should be treated as a threat level 9+."
"That's at the threat level of the Triumvirate." Piggot scoffed.
"Hear me out." He started. "So let's ignore the stuff about her being a fairy. Also let's assume that she's telling the truth about her not being able to lie, we've seen odd power interactions before. So she won't join the Ward because the standard contract is designed so that we can control young capes, but if she's that powerful it should be a question of containment rather than control."
"Seems a bit of a stretch, why are you so cautious?" Piggot questioned.
"Everytime we interact with her she's pulling out new powers, and she hasn't used her flora-kinetic powers again. I feel that she's holding back especially since she has been interacting with everyone with what seems like overconfidence." The Deputy Director explained. "We just don't know how powerful she is, and then there is her servant that she mentioned. Is it another cape? A projection? We simply don't know. There are just so many things that we don't know, I don't want to be stumbling around in the dark and step on a landmine."
Piggot sighed as she thought of her second's advice. Her knee jerk reaction was the desire to find something that she could nail Hebert to the wall with but now that she thought about it that was likely the worst option they could take.
"Do we have any more information about the meeting with the E88 that Hebert mentioned?" Piggot sighed.
"One of our moles simply said rumors were being spread among the unpowered members about a new blue haired cape that met with Rune, and that she disappeared in a fountain. That matches the description of cape from Winslow." Renick answered.
Piggot pondered her options for a few moments until she got an idea that she liked, and she really liked it. She felt the need to distance herself from Miss Hebert because the entire situation aggravated her to the point that some might consider it as being overly biased; so why not let someone else deal with it. She had kept Glen Chambers away from Brockton Bay with assurances that things were being handled but he had been constantly leaving messages with her secretary and asking about updates on the situation. If he wanted her in the Wards so badly he could deal with seducing Miss Hebert into the PRT's control.
--------------
Tattletale was rubbing at her eyes as she laid on her bed at the Undersider's hideout. Over the course of the day she had been slowly building up a Thinker headache because of all the minor use of her powers.
Coil had somehow gotten his fangs into the edgy vigilante Shadow Stalker. The former hero had been on the run from her former employers when Coil had 'luckily' found her and offered her sanctuary. So until informed otherwise Shadow Stalker was the Undersiders' problem which really meant she was Tattletale's problem.
Lisa's powers told her that Coil planned on using the vigilante to deal a major PR blow to the local PRT but for now she was a sudo member of the Undersiders. Shadow Stalker had made it clear that she wasn't going to take part in any petty thievery or harming civilians, the only thing she did agree to was coming when they hit gang controlled businesses. Seems that she wanted to craft herself into an anti-hero. Lisa saw about twelve different ways that could blow up in her face but decided against pushing too many buttons.
During her time with the Undersiders she had been an absolute bitch, more so than Bitch. It was odd seeing Sophia and Rachael interact, each wanting to prove themselves the alpha female while somewhat respecting the strength of the other. If they weren't on the edge of trying to kill each other they might be able to become friends. Alec being his sociopathic self didn't care as long as Sophia wasn't messing with him, although he did hit the nail on the head when he suggested that she needed to de-stress herself and suggestively said he was willing to help work through her daddy issues.
Brian and Shadow Stalker were actually the worst. Brian being the leader didn't like her because she wasn't a team player. It was only because the Boss had organized Shadow Stalker's addition that he was forced to keep her. Sophia's issues with Brian almost made her decide to leave despite her desperate situation. There was an odd power interaction between their powers that made Stalker's breaker form move slowly; like it was moving through molasses, and for some reason Sophia took it personally. She couldn't stand that something would make her or her power weaker. It took far too much effort to keep her in line.
Luckily it was rather easy to manipulate her, to be fair manipulating each member of the Undersiders wasn't hard. For Brian all you had to do was make a well reasoned argument, and it was almost a guarantee if she could tie in how it would eventually help accomplish his goal for his sister. For Alec she just needed to overcome his laziness with something that interested him enough, a large amount of money often worked. Anything that would help dogs or allow Rachael to better help dogs was reason enough for Bitch. To manipulate Shadow Stalker all she needed to do was predict what counterproductive activity she was planning and then sarcastically state it and she would do the opposite to prove you wrong. She had stopped the girl from leaving by simply saying. "Oh don't go storming off in a cloud of edgy vigilante angst."
Keeping their group together was becoming a chore that gave her both a normal headache as well as a Thinker headache. It would have been better if Coil had stashed Sophia somewhere else. Sure she was a good fighter and her skill with a crossbow offered a decent ranged threat, but she didn't synergize well with the rest of the team.
Her phone ringing made her sit up, looking at her phone she recognized the number as one of several Coil used when contacting her.
"Hey Boss, what's up?" Tattletale spoke in a cheery tone to hide her annoyance with both her team and Coil.
"Anything new to report about the latest member of your team." Coil asked.
Doesn't care about Sophia not fitting in, expects me to make it work. Her power informed her.
"Not really, she's still being a pain." Tattletale answered.
"I've ordered some gear for her that will help show why she is better off where she is." The megalomaniac on the other side of the phone said.
Unlikely to be Tinkertech, more likely to be a better crossbow, or Bolts with dangerous or hard to acquire heads.
"Well anything that makes her less bitchy would help." She scoffed.
"I have a task specifically for you. The cape responsible for Winslow is going to be shopping at the Boardwalk in the near future, she will be with a Protectorate patrol nearby as escort. I will need you to find out everything you can about her and another cape that is going to be joining her."
Knows next to nothing about the other cape, PRT doesn't know so he doesn't know.
Wants to use Winslow cape as a tool to hit PRT politically.
Wants to use Winslow cape and Shadow Stalker combined to discredit the PRT.
Shadow Stalker fleeing PRT soon after Winslow even; Shadow Stalker caused Winslow Cape Trigger.
Tattletale cut off her power before it went on a tangent. She already knew that Sophia caused Taylor Hebert to trigger it was a little odd whenever she dealt with Shadow Stalker her power seemed to repeat information specifically about Winslow. It made her think there was something strange about Hebert's trigger.
"That is all." Coil said before hanging up.
Tattletale contemptuously tossed her phone back on her bedside table and fell back to the bed. She was so close to unraveling Coil's power she could taste it. It was obviously some Thinker power, but exactly what kind still eluded her. She felt that she needed one last puzzle piece and she would know. Once she knew she would be able to work around his power and take revenge. Nobody threatened her and got away with it, not when they were dealing with someone that put Sherlock Holms to shame.
"That's it?" My dad questioned. He let go of my hands and started to look around the back yard for any out of place. "It doesn't look any different."
"Looks can be deceiving." I countered with a shrug as I got to my feet and brushed myself off. "Unless they're either a fairy or have a right to be here nobody should be able to set foot on your property, although a drunk person might be able to stumble in."
"I'm still not sure I understand, I know you said you could hide the house inside fairyland but what does that actually mean?" My dad questioned as he also got up. I know it had something to do with if I completely owned the house and lot, but what does being in fairyland actually do?"
"I had to know if you owned everything outright and didn't have a mortgage on it. The house needs to be completely yours so that you have a right to make it your domain. There's a difference between owning something on paper and enforcing that claim by magic. In magic, details like that are important." I tried my best to explain the overall concept without confusing him.
"Details like me agreeing to another deal where you can stay at the house free of charge and in return you help protect my domain?" He asked as we made our way back inside.
"Yes, just because this is my house, the entirety of the house and land is your domain." I explained as I could feel my dad slowly understanding. "Since I have been given the right to help protect it I can partially hide it in fairyland, my domain."
"So if it's hidden what will people see when they look at us?" My dad asked as he walked past Loreley who was passively watching a nature documentary. Looking out the front window he looked out. "Cause from here everything looks normal."
"Well what others will see is hard to say, because the Faewylds is such a silly place it could change depending on the person or the hour or moon cycle. Sometimes our house will be there but someone looking for it won't recognize it, or their eyes will simply pass over it. Sometimes the entire lot might be missing like it was never there, and still other times the lot will be there but it will be a random section of Fairyland. It could look like a forest, or desert or whatever." I explained.
"What if someone walked onto the land when it was a forest, would they walk into our invisible house?"
"Oh, well I should explain better, I mean to say that it would look like a forest because it actually would be a forest. Because of the layered realities the forest part would be mostly in the normal world and the house would be mostly in the Faewylds. You might even sense that someone is trespassing in your domain, if that happens you should let them leave before you go outside the house."
"What if they don't simply leave because they are waiting for us." My dad asked as it seemed he was wrapping his mind around the concept.
"If they don't leave either let me handle it or yell out the window to get off of your lawn." I said. "If you leave the house the balance of realities will shift and they are likely to get lost inside the Faewylds. Although I guess you could just leave and let them handle the consequences of trespassing in your domain."
"I actually kinda like the sound of that." My dad said with a vindictive grin on his face, and something inside me was proud.
"Are you going to work tomorrow?" I asked.
"No, I need to see the lawyer again, I'm suing Winslow." My dad shook his head and growled. "I send you off to school and they're supposed to keep you safe, and they basically did the opposite of their jobs. Even if it ended up alright in the end, I'm not letting them get away with neglecting you like that."
"You have fun with that, I need to fae proof the house for Loreley." I said looking over at the blond naiad who seemed to be looking into space through the television.
"Fae proof?"
"Kinda like baby proof." I answered. "I need to remove all the bare iron and steel, even the painted steel isn't great."
"Alright, if you need help just ask." My dad said as he walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
"Loreley." I called to the blank faced fae. "Do you need anything?"
It took her a good five seconds before she responded. "There's music." She whispered.
I walked over and the nature documentary had some classical music playing in the background behind the commentary. "Do you want to hear some more music?"
"Yes." She blinked a few times and looked over at me with a faint sparkle in her golden eyes. "Please my queen."
I looked through our selections of movies and found a slightly dusty copy of Fantasia that I suspected that Loreley would enjoy. While I was helping her rebuild herself it seemed that there was still a little left of the siren of legend.
As I pushed play I heard a faint splash from the backyard. Looking out it seemed like there wasn't anything that was until I saw something bobbing on the water's surface in the little pool. Opening my back door I skipped out and saw what Aegina had left for me. A little bottle stoppered with a cork floated languishly, inside was a little water that sang with Aegina's magic. "A message in a bottle." I laughed as I picked up the bottle and went back inside.
It took me a little effort to remove the cork but I eventually got it off and drank the contents of the bottle in one swig. It tasted like a draught of particularly refreshing water but the contents were a copy of Aegina's recollection of the meeting.
"It seems you were right about the E88 leaving you the message." I said poking my head into the downstairs office.
"Oh yeah?" My dad questioned as he looked up from our near dinosaur computer.
"I sent Aegina to meet them as my emissary, Rune was there and she explained something about Unwritten Rules for capes." I said and looked over my dad's shoulder to see he was looking at a large wall of text about laws.
"I think I've heard about some of that, isn't that why Kaiser killed the guy that killed Fleur?"
"That's part of it, mostly it's a set of guidelines to keep cape fights from becoming too lethal as well as respecting secret identities so that capes don't have to worry about their homes and family."
"But you don't have a secret identity." My dad said, looking over at me.
"There was also a rule about not going after a cape's family, so while I have hidden the house you shouldn't be attacked while at work." I shrugged. "Not that I put much stock in it, but I'll play along for as long as it's convenient."
Just as I was about to go and fae proof the house the telephone at the edge of the desk rang.
"Hebert residence." I answered as the phone was just outside of my dad's reach.
"Miss Hebert, This is Deputy Director Rennick are you alright?" The man on the other end of the phone questioned in a bit of a rushed tone. I put a finger to my lips to quiet my dad before pushing the speaker button on the phone.
"Everythings perfectly fine, we're all fine here; thank you. How are you?" I answered, earning a grin from my dad.
"Uh- I'm fine thanks for asking." He replied, my response throwing off the authoritarian tone he was speaking in. "It's just, your house has gone missing."
"Has it?" I questioned keeping my voice as sincere as possible. "Since I'm currently in it, it seems like it's not missing. Are you saying that you've lost where my house is? That seems a bit embarrassing."
"Miss Hebert, what happened to your house? Where is it." The Deputy Director asked with a sigh.
"That would be counterproductive, now wouldn't it." I responded.
"I'm not sure I understand."
"It's hidden, and you don't simply tell others where it's been hidden." I answered nonchalantly.
"Miss Herbert, is your father there?"
"I've been listening the entire time, what do you want" My father spoke up gruffly.
"Mr. Hebert, I don't want to sound rude, but your daughter can't simply use her powers like this. After all she's a new cape with untested powers, we don't know any potential side effects that her powers might cause." Renick started but I cut him off before he could get going.
"That's funny because you certainly sound rude. I know exactly what my powers can do. Just because I didn't complete your testing doesn't make the PRT arbiters of what I can do." I said succinctly. A part of me bristled at the poorly disguised condescending tone that I was being spoken to. The PRT should be grateful that I wasn't summoning up hurricanes because I wanted to do something cool.
"I'm not accusing you of wrongdoing, it's just that many cape powers have odd unforeseen side effects, and it is our job here at the PRT to help protect the public from such things." The Deputy Director countered.
"So you want to ask questions and make sure that my powers didn't tear a hole in time and space." I responded, then an idea popped into my head. "Tell you what, I could answer some of your questions if there were something in it for me."
"Miss Hebert." The man on the other side of the phone began before I cut him off.
"No, no. Let me explain. You see I've been cooped up inside for several days, and because of my changes I am in need of a new wardrobe. I can't go out with my father to protect me because he is going to be busy suing Winslow school district because of their involvement in my trigger. If it is agreeable I could do a walk along with one of the Protectorate patrols along the boardwalk. They can be in the area while I shop. I might need someone to deal with the crowds, but I will answer some of your questions and perhaps some questions from the locals as to why I am being escorted by heroes."
"And what would you be telling the locals, Miss Hebert?" Renick asked, suspicion ringing through his tone.
"Oh, nothing unkind. I would say that I am considering joining the Wards, after my sadly public trigger. I would also speak highly of your organization about how you've kindly provided me a stipend so that I can buy some new clothes." I kept my tone sickenly sweet and sincere as I spoke. I was in control here and it was the PRT that would have to play by my rules if they wanted anything. Afterall I was being kind, and their cooperation should be something they should gladly give. "Also, remember that girl with the blue hair that pulled me from the locker, I can arrange that she joins me. Although now that I think about it she too is in need of clothes. It would be most kind of you to help us out in our vulnerable condition."
"You weren't very forthcoming with information about her before, it would be nice to know about her." The Deputy Director grumbled.
"Oh, her name is Aegina. I had her go meet some capes that left a message at my dad's work." I smiled as my dad gave me a cautious look. "Turns out they were the E88, but they just explained the unwritten rules, and talked about how everybody but them were incompetent."
"Miss Hebert! The E88 is extremely dangerous! It was very foolish for you to contact an unknown cape group!" Renick yelled.
"I know they're dangerous, that's why I sent someone else." I countered
"Regardless, it would have been nice to know about these unwritten rules before we left the PRT HQ." My dad growled angrily, but his expression did not match his tone. "Now she's given you something to think about, I am going to be busy with legal work. It would be nice if you could finish your investigation regarding my daughter, see if there's some other organization that needs to be sued for what happened to her. Have a good evening."
"You can just call us back when you've figured out how to set everything up, thank you!" I said cheerfully before hanging up.
Turning to my father I couldn't help the grin that tugged at my lips. "That was fun; think it'll work?"
"It might." He grinned back. "I didn't know you were good at negotiations."
"I sorta wasn't until recently." I shrugged. "Regardless, your inputs helped."
"I'm just doing my part of the deal." He said as he patted my shoulder. "I'm sure they're dying of curiosity, and you've shown them that you don't need them. Their position of power is slipping. Although I noticed that you didn't mention anything about Loreley."
"They don't need to know about her just yet, besides she's not in any condition to be going out." I shrugged.
I was distracted when I suddenly heard a quiet sniffling coming from the living room. Fantasia was still playing on the TV, but what shocked me was the shine in Loreley's eyes. I gasped aloud as I saw one fall from her eyelash and start to run down her cheek. I frantically looked around for a container before I remembered that I had the glass bottle Aegina had put her message in. I carefully moved in towards the crying naiad and smoothly scooped up her tears.
"Loreley, are you alright?" I asked quietly as the music from the movie played.
"The music is so beautiful." She muttered in a whisper as she listened.
"Is something wrong?" My dad asked after he left the office after he heard me gasp. I held up a finger for him to wait as I scoop as much of Loreley's tears as I could.
"No, it's just- Naiad tears are extremely magical. Give me a minute." I said as Loreley listened to the wondrous music, her tears slowly leaking from her eyes.
After several minutes it seemed that she had stopped crying and I studied the wondrous liquid I held inside the little bottle. It held so much magical power inside its unassuming form. I contemplated what I could do with the sparking liquid. Eventually I decided, breathing into the little bottle I deposited some of the more precious essence that I had received from Emma. I was loath to give it away but this was needed as I took the bottle and tilted Loreley's chin up.
"Drink." I commanded as the Naiad drank the small dose of her own tears.
"What are you doing?" My dad asked from behind the couch.
"As I said, Naiad tears are extremely magical, she will be able to use them to rebuild herself from the near nothingness that she was." I answered, making sure my subject imbibed all of the magical liquid. "There's still so little of her left, this will help her recover."
"But they're her own tears, wouldn't it just put back what she cried out?" My dad asked.
"You're thinking of it like a- well you're using common sense, and while that works for most stuff magic doesn't often make sense. The first law of thermodynamics, you know the one that says energy cannot be created or destroyed; well that isn't the case for magic." I thought a bit as to try and explain how something as seemingly mundane as a woman crying created extremely potent magic. "Oftentimes it's little things that combine in an important way that it acts as a force multiplier. Music has a little magic in it, and her crying in joy also has magical potential. However since she's a water fae it boosted the small magic. Maybe it's like taking 1+1 doing math wrong and saying it's 11; and yet it's correct."
My dad scratched his head as it was clear he couldn't really understand. I didn't know if I was explaining it right, magic was just magic. Even the 1+1 makes 11 was understating it because Lorely had taken 1+1 and created 1,000.
"Alright, I hope it works out." My dad muttered and went back into the office.
I sat down beside Loreley and held her hand as we continued to watch. I tried to feel what the magical medic was doing. Whatever was happening was subtle and I almost feared that nothing was happening. It was during the dance of the sugar plum fairy that I smiled. It was during that song that Loreley began humming.
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"Damn that girl!" Emily Piggot snarled as she smacked her hand on her desk. She had just spent the last half minute stewing over the latest information about Taylor Hebert. The other person in the room looked uncomfortable because of her outburst.
"Add social Thinker to the list of known powers we have on her." Piggot growled and pointed at her Deputy Director. "She shouldn't be able to casually negotiate like that, not when all reports we have on her say that she was an awkward introvert. A girl like that doesn't kindly demand things from us while making subtle threats if we don't comply."
Watchdog had been distinctively unhelpful with their analysis. They did seem to agree that her powers couldn't be simply classified as a Trump and leave it at that. Since it didn't seem like she was granting herself or switching around powers she wasn't a Trump. If she wasn't a Trump there had to be a limit to what she could do even if it seemed extremely versatile so far.
"Is there anything else, or any thoughts about this?" She asked, looking at her second.
"She hasn't done anything overtly illegal. Armsmaster went to the last known location of the Hebert residence. He couldn't detect any radiation or odd energy signatures, and he put a discrete camera and sensor up on the light pole across the street. He thinks that the house is still there in some form of folded space.
"Do you think Vista could deal with it if needed?" Piggot asked.
"I don't know. We could have her check, but the Wards don't usually patrol that far out, and at this time I feel it would be unwise to antagonize Miss Hebert." Renick said.
Piggot gave him a sour look, but she was sensible enough not to ignore advice. "Go on." Piggot said.
"I reviewed all the information that we have on Miss Hebert again and I feel like we've been handling the situation incorrectly. Since she wasn't violent and expressed interest in the Wards we've treating her as any other brash teenage cape, instead of a walking unknown that she is." Renick started slowly building up his answer. "Watchdog couldn't give us what class of Parahuman she is, and rated her simply at a threat level of 7. Dangerous certainly but we already have half a dozen capes at that level or above in the city. However, I feel that until proven otherwise Miss Hebert should be treated as a threat level 9+."
"That's at the threat level of the Triumvirate." Piggot scoffed.
"Hear me out." He started. "So let's ignore the stuff about her being a fairy. Also let's assume that she's telling the truth about her not being able to lie, we've seen odd power interactions before. So she won't join the Ward because the standard contract is designed so that we can control young capes, but if she's that powerful it should be a question of containment rather than control."
"Seems a bit of a stretch, why are you so cautious?" Piggot questioned.
"Everytime we interact with her she's pulling out new powers, and she hasn't used her flora-kinetic powers again. I feel that she's holding back especially since she has been interacting with everyone with what seems like overconfidence." The Deputy Director explained. "We just don't know how powerful she is, and then there is her servant that she mentioned. Is it another cape? A projection? We simply don't know. There are just so many things that we don't know, I don't want to be stumbling around in the dark and step on a landmine."
Piggot sighed as she thought of her second's advice. Her knee jerk reaction was the desire to find something that she could nail Hebert to the wall with but now that she thought about it that was likely the worst option they could take.
"Do we have any more information about the meeting with the E88 that Hebert mentioned?" Piggot sighed.
"One of our moles simply said rumors were being spread among the unpowered members about a new blue haired cape that met with Rune, and that she disappeared in a fountain. That matches the description of cape from Winslow." Renick answered.
Piggot pondered her options for a few moments until she got an idea that she liked, and she really liked it. She felt the need to distance herself from Miss Hebert because the entire situation aggravated her to the point that some might consider it as being overly biased; so why not let someone else deal with it. She had kept Glen Chambers away from Brockton Bay with assurances that things were being handled but he had been constantly leaving messages with her secretary and asking about updates on the situation. If he wanted her in the Wards so badly he could deal with seducing Miss Hebert into the PRT's control.
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Tattletale was rubbing at her eyes as she laid on her bed at the Undersider's hideout. Over the course of the day she had been slowly building up a Thinker headache because of all the minor use of her powers.
Coil had somehow gotten his fangs into the edgy vigilante Shadow Stalker. The former hero had been on the run from her former employers when Coil had 'luckily' found her and offered her sanctuary. So until informed otherwise Shadow Stalker was the Undersiders' problem which really meant she was Tattletale's problem.
Lisa's powers told her that Coil planned on using the vigilante to deal a major PR blow to the local PRT but for now she was a sudo member of the Undersiders. Shadow Stalker had made it clear that she wasn't going to take part in any petty thievery or harming civilians, the only thing she did agree to was coming when they hit gang controlled businesses. Seems that she wanted to craft herself into an anti-hero. Lisa saw about twelve different ways that could blow up in her face but decided against pushing too many buttons.
During her time with the Undersiders she had been an absolute bitch, more so than Bitch. It was odd seeing Sophia and Rachael interact, each wanting to prove themselves the alpha female while somewhat respecting the strength of the other. If they weren't on the edge of trying to kill each other they might be able to become friends. Alec being his sociopathic self didn't care as long as Sophia wasn't messing with him, although he did hit the nail on the head when he suggested that she needed to de-stress herself and suggestively said he was willing to help work through her daddy issues.
Brian and Shadow Stalker were actually the worst. Brian being the leader didn't like her because she wasn't a team player. It was only because the Boss had organized Shadow Stalker's addition that he was forced to keep her. Sophia's issues with Brian almost made her decide to leave despite her desperate situation. There was an odd power interaction between their powers that made Stalker's breaker form move slowly; like it was moving through molasses, and for some reason Sophia took it personally. She couldn't stand that something would make her or her power weaker. It took far too much effort to keep her in line.
Luckily it was rather easy to manipulate her, to be fair manipulating each member of the Undersiders wasn't hard. For Brian all you had to do was make a well reasoned argument, and it was almost a guarantee if she could tie in how it would eventually help accomplish his goal for his sister. For Alec she just needed to overcome his laziness with something that interested him enough, a large amount of money often worked. Anything that would help dogs or allow Rachael to better help dogs was reason enough for Bitch. To manipulate Shadow Stalker all she needed to do was predict what counterproductive activity she was planning and then sarcastically state it and she would do the opposite to prove you wrong. She had stopped the girl from leaving by simply saying. "Oh don't go storming off in a cloud of edgy vigilante angst."
Keeping their group together was becoming a chore that gave her both a normal headache as well as a Thinker headache. It would have been better if Coil had stashed Sophia somewhere else. Sure she was a good fighter and her skill with a crossbow offered a decent ranged threat, but she didn't synergize well with the rest of the team.
Her phone ringing made her sit up, looking at her phone she recognized the number as one of several Coil used when contacting her.
"Hey Boss, what's up?" Tattletale spoke in a cheery tone to hide her annoyance with both her team and Coil.
"Anything new to report about the latest member of your team." Coil asked.
Doesn't care about Sophia not fitting in, expects me to make it work. Her power informed her.
"Not really, she's still being a pain." Tattletale answered.
"I've ordered some gear for her that will help show why she is better off where she is." The megalomaniac on the other side of the phone said.
Unlikely to be Tinkertech, more likely to be a better crossbow, or Bolts with dangerous or hard to acquire heads.
"Well anything that makes her less bitchy would help." She scoffed.
"I have a task specifically for you. The cape responsible for Winslow is going to be shopping at the Boardwalk in the near future, she will be with a Protectorate patrol nearby as escort. I will need you to find out everything you can about her and another cape that is going to be joining her."
Knows next to nothing about the other cape, PRT doesn't know so he doesn't know.
Wants to use Winslow cape as a tool to hit PRT politically.
Wants to use Winslow cape and Shadow Stalker combined to discredit the PRT.
Shadow Stalker fleeing PRT soon after Winslow even; Shadow Stalker caused Winslow Cape Trigger.
Tattletale cut off her power before it went on a tangent. She already knew that Sophia caused Taylor Hebert to trigger it was a little odd whenever she dealt with Shadow Stalker her power seemed to repeat information specifically about Winslow. It made her think there was something strange about Hebert's trigger.
"That is all." Coil said before hanging up.
Tattletale contemptuously tossed her phone back on her bedside table and fell back to the bed. She was so close to unraveling Coil's power she could taste it. It was obviously some Thinker power, but exactly what kind still eluded her. She felt that she needed one last puzzle piece and she would know. Once she knew she would be able to work around his power and take revenge. Nobody threatened her and got away with it, not when they were dealing with someone that put Sherlock Holms to shame.
Its good the house is hidden its already doing its job by hiding it from one of the four gangs in BB.
Also you can't use your powers unless we find out how they work, aka we'd have a iron prison made for you until you agree to work for us until the sun dies.
Funny how they never want you to ask how their powers work but they're always up in your business.
Don't give them names either Taylor everything should be classified.
Also you can't use your powers unless we find out how they work, aka we'd have a iron prison made for you until you agree to work for us until the sun dies.
Funny how they never want you to ask how their powers work but they're always up in your business.
Don't give them names either Taylor everything should be classified.
@MrStarbuck - You have given us another good chapter. Keep up the good work. I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
I am constantly reminded of tabletop role-playing game Changeling: the Lost when reading this story.
I am constantly reminded of tabletop role-playing game Changeling: the Lost when reading this story.