As the mortal world faces slow decay..., ...the faerie realm faces civil war.

[Stormy]

"Heh, I SO had no idea where you were from until you JUST confirmed it, Dotum-boy." A lie, of course, and for no reason besides further shaking the boy's confidence. Spectra had figured out where he was from awhile ago - Dotum was on the radar of a few militia she was in contact with, and a couple had seen fit to tip her off about them when they'd first started to gain momentum. Maybe she should pass the tip along to her less informed clients? ...Well, maybe if they'd pay for it. Anyways, it was the mask that gave Abri away, not his reaction to her words.

Spectra yawned and stretched, hoping to give the feathered-fae time to stew in his nerves, before she spoke in a lazy voice. "So, how do you want to do this? I was hoping we'd have a semi-pleasant chat and that you'd just leave after..." She'd never really expected that, despite her lack of hostility. "But I'm guessing your team won't be too happy with you if that happens. So; here's the deal. You leave now and I'll spread it through the grape vine that I fought over the human with some kid from Dotum who was very adamant about killing both him and me. I'll even say you almost got us. The group that gets the guy will brag, it'll get back to your bosses, you'll look like you gave it your all, we both go home happy."

Unless she'd misread this kid and he was one of those hard core, actually cares about his cause, types. Or if what'd she'd heard of Dotum was understated and trying wasn't good enough...well, whatever, there was always plan B if he didn't take the deal. " Or, you know, we really can have that fight and see how it turns out. Seems like such a hassle though...." Sigh. "Whatever we do, let's do it fast. He'll be back soon, and I don't want you here confusing him." Keeping her from confusing him, whatever...

“Which’ll it be babe?”

----------

Almost there… Yup, Jaeger was almost back to the area where he’d left the faeries. He really didn’t want to arrive as he had absolutely no good feelings regarding the pink haired girl or the next month.

-----------

A sharp intake of breath and widened black eyes were the only signs of pain Elly allowed herself when Subera’s claws dug in to the flesh of her back. The pain was there, and in a fairly large dose, but not quite enough that she couldn’t ignore it and jab backwards with the bottom end of her mallet’s staff. She hoped to connect with the other’s stomach and knock her wind out. She didn’t wait to find out if she’d been successful before flipping her weapon vertically so the business end of her hammer would deal a kind of uppercut to the beast-like fae’s jaw – provided she hadn’t dodged the first attack or had simply not dodged far enough to avoid the second as well.

[Mikoyasha]

Abri clenched his hands into pale, shaking fists. His main focus were his eyes, that was where his thoughts had immediately jumped when she spoke the word, “confirmed.” There was proof enough from what she had already seen, but if his glowing orbs changed colors, then it would be a dead giveaway as to who he was. Only a few Dotum cronies knew about the quirk, but it was enough to hurt.

The lanky boy then gave a small smile—he supposed it was a decent way to throw her off if she was unsure of herself, but the real reason he was smiling was because he wasn’t pleased with the ultimatum. To say he was scared witless would be an understatement. However, with this cover, it could be an opportune moment to duck and dive seemingly out of existence. The Dotum Organization wouldn’t even blink at his absence.

He carefully weighed his options. He did not want to give the faerie anymore leverage than she already had, which was too much. He clasped his hands behind his back. Do I want to fight her? he wondered. The thought rebounded around his cranium. The answer was no—not only was he weary, he was too cautious. There was no way he could fight without some source of impulse. He wasn’t in the mood for fighting for something that he didn’t even agree with.

Besides, he had her blood. If he needed to find her before long, he would be quite capable. He didn’t expect that it would come to that; first, he had to make sure she upheld her end of the bargain.

“I’m not fighting without a proper reason…” he remarked boldly, “So I’ll compromise—we’ll be on peaceful terms. However, about the boy… I don’t agree with you making him stay in this Land.” He unclasped his hands and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“You’re going to have to sacrifice something as well.”

----------

Dante heard a sickening thud. He watched in repulsed horror as the furry fae easily dodged the first dodge by throwing her back side as far from the attack as possible. She hadn’t been expecting that the official would stop before making contact, and suddenly shoot up towards her jaw.

It was rough to watch. His only consolation was that she had clawed her back up quite a bit. Subera had leaned into that shot when she dodged the first one. He closed his eye-shadowed eyes, and took a deep breath. Dante shook his blonde head and waited for the screaming that followed the pain of getting a broken jaw.

-----------

She shrieked. It was a beastly, monstrous, feral shriek that seemed to reverberate off of the nearby looming trees. She had felt the impact first, and the surprised shock of feeling her teeth smash into one another unwillingly. Her whole body shuddered with the rush of adrenaline, and all too soon, it started.

She had heard the crack, but the pain was terrible. She wanted to rip her face off of her head. She wanted to do anything to take the extra weight off of the broken jaw. The furry animal suddenly felt how much the jaw really supported the whole face. She howled and clutched the sides of her head, not wanting to touch the quickly swelling lower jaw.

She dimly noted that she lost some teeth, but those would grow back within the month. Her whole being shook with desperation to make the pain go away. She stopped shouting as she dropped to the ground. It was only magnifying her the excruciating feeling.

Subera had a fleeting thought that she could poison herself and end the pain.

Her will to live was too dominant, her tolerance for pain seemed insignificant.

In a last minute attempt, she whipped out her tail, and wrapped it around the neck of the strong King’s Girl.

Subera was quickly fading out of consciousness.

[Stormy]

“Ahah, at this point it’s not me making him stay. They gate’ll be closed. There’s nothing you can do about his being here unless you kill him.” Of course, Spectra knew that the Dotum boy knew everything she was saying, but she thought it was a good idea to lay the facts out in front of him. Show him why whatever idea was stirring in his little head was stupid. “And I know a sweetheart like you doesn’t want to do that to some innocent human boy. He’s here, at least for the month. You can’t keep him with you for obvious reasons and none of us can have him just wandering around. Letting me have him is your only option. Sorry hun.”

And as far as Spectra knew it was. She did wonder though, what secret curtain number three was the deluded kid imagining? Curiosity got the best of her, despite her knowing she shouldn’t get him thinking of his own plan again. “Though, if there’s something you think I’m missing, please. Go ahead. Enlighten me. What do I have to ‘sacrifice’ and more importantly why? Because, let me level with ya homes, I don’t see it.”

The pink haired fae dropped the lazy tones she’d been using. The human would be back any second and she needed birdie-boy gone.

------

“Eh - ” A choked sound escaped the fae knight when she tried to speak. Her hands went up to try and pry off the tail immediately and she dropped her mallet. Given her magical strength and the beast-like faerie’s fading consciousness, she was able to loosen the hold enough that she could talk.

Truthfully, she should have been able to do more than that, but…well, this part of the fight was always hardest for Elly. Hearing her opponent’s scream, looking into her pained eyes…Of course, training had taken away any outward signs that either of these things bothered her, but it had never really made her numb. It might seem odd that one could rise to the position she had while still having an aversion to causing pain, but it really wasn’t a hindrance. Just because she didn’t like it didn’t mean she’d hesitate to do it. There were a million and one reasons Elly shouldn’t be a High Knight, actually…but it wasn’t the best time to review them.

The point was that she should be ripping the other’s tail off herself and going after her snap-happy friend by now, but she was going to try to reason with the fading enemy instead. “Listen, you know the Guard has a capture policy when at all possible. If you and your associate come with me, we can get a healer faerie to fix that.”

And then they’d be forced to miniaturize before being bottled, but it was better than the broken bone being jostled around while the photographer tried to carry her to safety…Though, for all Elly knew, they had a perfectly capable healer waiting with whatever militia they belonged to. And her ‘reasoning’ was probably giving the male enemy a pretty good opportunity to step in while she was weaponless…Maybe the aversion was a hindrance.

[Mikoyasha]

“What are you going to do with him?” he snapped heatedly. Abri couldn’t particularly understand why he was so interested in the boy’s well being. He felt a pang of pity for him, knowing that he was going to be trapped in a foreign world for a dragging month, where he was going to quickly become an enemy of several beings.

Abrifam shook his head. “No, I know that you don’t have his best interest at heart, either,” he scowled at her in repulsion. “What, do you have to make, some sort of quota or something?” He began to pace. He didn’t like to pace; it made him even more nervous.

“Though, if there’s something you think I’m missing, please. Go ahead. Enlighten me. What do I have to ‘sacrifice’ and more importantly why? Because, let me level with ya homes, I don’t see it.”

She spoke in a different manner than before, making him tense up. This girl was done playing games—she was ready to make a decision and he had to stall or say something rational very quickly.

“By sacrifice, I mean that I’m not going to be the only one with a choice to make…” his brain began to race. He didn’t want a fight, at all, but he feared that’s what his words were leading to. “How do I know you’re not going to do something twisted? No. I want to stick around for a little while.”

He blinked a thick drop of sweat off of his eyelid.

------

Subera soaked in every kind and logical word that the faerie spoke to her as she laid on the ground, writhing in agony. She heard her voice distantly, as she couldn’t focus, but she caught the gist. She knew that all the pain would end if only she could swallow her pride and her loyalty for the Queen just for a moment, and…

Her heart ached, she knew she wouldn’t be able to accept her offer. Her yearning to forfeit made her jaw want to clench, but she wouldn’t allow it. Her emotions were torn, and she battled each. She simply did not know what to do in her foggy state of mind.

The furry animal allowed her tail to fall from the neck of the enemy King’s girl. Seeing her weaponless only made her feel that her opponent was even more sincere.

She just couldn’t accept…

Her swollen jaw slackened slightly as Subera attempted to open her mouth and speak. She closed her eyes and felt her vocal chords begin to move when…
She heard a whirring? She cracked one eye open and looked around as best as she could without moving her body.

Brrrk. Brrrrrkrrr!

There was a brilliant flash of light, and saw darkness seep into the edges of her eyesight. She sighed miserably and allowed herself to quietly slip into reprieve.
The last thing she heard was a voice yell from the trees.

“Take her.”

[Stormy]

“Jeez, I’m not trying to be secretive, I’m a recruiter. I do actually sort of have a quota, and while his best interests might not be my goal, he is better off with me.” Spectra shook her head, seeing no reason why she should be wasting time explaining her business to this guy. She didn’t have any time left.

How did he know she wasn’t going to do anything twisted? He shouldn’t need to know. “Why do you even care? Your stubbornness stopped being cute a while ago.”

The floating disc started to hover up and down as Spectra’s annoyance grew.

-----

“Yeah, well, I’m glad for it. I really don’t want to be left alone with some demented raver.” Jaeger had taken his chain out from his bag and was now wearing it as a belt, for easy access. He’d done this while standing a ways away from the two fae and listening in on the last bit of their conversation. It was fairly safe to say he didn’t trust Spectra.

-----

Elly dove for her weapon when she saw the first flash. Shakily, she managed to stand with it, but as the pictures continued she found the mallet falling from her hands again. Unlike the last time, she wasn’t angry with photographer, just herself. It would have been dishonourable for him not to help his fallen comrade, and she should have gone after him instead of trying to talk to the beast-like one…

[Mikoyasha]

Abri had a million questions running through his mind, including: If she wasn't being secretive, why didn't she just tell him why he would be safer with her? Why would he be safer with her? Would he, himself, even be safe? Where would he go? Where would she go? Where would the human go?

And most importantly--Why did he care?

He continued to ponder that question. Perhaps it was because he had been forced to do wrong for so long... that he wanted to make recompense. Perhaps, properly away from the Dotum Organization, his justice had resurfaced. Who really knew the answer? The only thing he knew for sure was that he obviously did care, and so he was going to do something about it.

"Your stubborness stopped being cute awhile ago."

"I wasn't trying to be cute," Abri started lamely, "I was--"

"Yeah, well, I’m glad for it. I really don’t want to be left alone with some demented raver."

Abri's heart did a shocked backflip at the voice. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he was sure he went a couple of shades paler. It was like he was seeing a ghost. A human ghost. He shivered, but quickly straightened again.

"Oh... nice to see you again." Abrifam mused. "We were just arguing. Perhaps you can... discourage this lunatic?" he scratched his cheek with slight relief that turned into absolute anxiety that Spectra would indeed do something impulsive.

-------

"Hey, you," Dante spoke to the disoriented, yet extremely threatening faerie that stood on the ground. The blonde man was still in a tree, but he was in plain sight. He was aware that Subera had fully went unconscious; he had made sure of that.

"I forgot your name... did you even mention? Well, chances are I probably still won't remember it, so nevermind..." he shook his head. "That was quite an impressive fight. But look... I need you to take Subera and heal her up. Whether or not I will go with you... I have yet to decide. I respect your honor and empathy. Please take her and fix her up. I had to do it against her will, you see. She won't be happy to see me when she wakes up."

He scratched a bump on his leg. Darn it all, mosquitoes could fly that high?

"I'm going to have to flash you a few more times, so that you'll black out for just a little while, and I can go ahead and go... I'm not exactly 'reporting,' per se, but... you know, it's not good for more than one of us to be caught at a time. Did you know that mosquitoes could fly this high? Ugh, I hate them..."

He eyed the brave faerie from above, and smiled. That's the most that she was going to get from him, though. She had implied that he was a dishonorable cheat.

"Say cheese."

[Stormy]

“Yeah, you to, and I’ll certainly try.”

“Oh, it figures that they’re both impossible to deal with.” Spectra made a frustrated noise. Her more impulsive side was screaming at her to send her disc for the Dotum boy’s neck, but she managed to repress it. It wouldn’t do for the human to think her a murderer…

“Listen, human, let me put this as bluntly as I can – you don’t have options. You can’t wander around by yourself, you’re bound to meet someone who’s not fond of your kind, and as your new friend here mainly associates with such people…well you catch my drift. Now, this situation is annoying me, let’s go.”

“Like hell.” Jaeger bit back, nearly growling.

“Are you brain dead?” What part of that explanation had the mortal not understood?

The dirty-blond was not, in fact, brain dead. He understood the brightly dressed girl’s logic and had a horrible feeling that she was right and he should probably go with her at least for the time being…but his mouth worked faster than his brain sometimes. He didn’t like her, he didn’t like the way she was talking to him, he didn’t like being forced into anything and, well, he wasn’t going to be.

“No, but honestly, a world full of hostile beings possessing magic I don’t understand sounds infinitely more pleasant than another second of your b.s.” Just because he knew the logical thing to do didn’t mean he had to do it. He blamed the girl for his entrapment, he wasn’t going anywhere with her.

Strands of energy crackled around Spectra’s disc as her temper flared. Oh, if she wasn’t behind in her recruiting….

“You know what? Fine. Brave the Realm by yourself, see if you survive the week. I’ll be watching, and I’ll be there when you realize what an idiot you are.” She’d get the boy later. If she tried to talk to either him or the Dotum kid for much longer, she was going to hurt someone. She miniaturized and fluttered away without another word, vowing to return for the human another time. If he was still alive.

“I just did something stupid didn’t I?” When she was gone, Jaeger turned to the remaining faerie and shrugged.

----

Elly managed one last glare in the photographer’s direction before she blacked out. When she came to, he was gone.

She could feel her strength returning, and that was good at least. She could try and find out more about the male fae when she arrived back at head quarters – the knight now considered his capture her duty. That would come later though, for now she re-took her mallet in one hand and made her way over to the unconscious animalistic fae. Crouching down, she grabbed the taller girl around her waist and hoisted her over her shoulder. Elly considered how ridiculous it probably looked for only a moment before heading off towards the nearest of the Royal Guard’s bases.

When she was there a healer fixed up the enemy’s jaw while some others strapped her to a chair. There was some questioning to be done…Elly watched from the background, both because she needed the information and to make sure none of the interrogators got too ‘eager’. She always did this when she brought someone in, not willing to see anyone she’d captured tortured in any way. Not that it was common, but there’d been the odd incident….

[Mikoyasha]

The dark faerie felt emboldened by the blonde boy's resilience. He knew in his heart that he was doing something right. Unfortunately, that often meant that he would come to harm doing what he thought was 'right.' That's why he often didn't do it.

"Well, I'd say we both did something stupid," Abri muttered. "But I'm feeling pretty good about our options." Okay, that was a lie, but he had to do something to keep himself from chasing after the female faerie and beg her forgiveness.

"Here's what we have to avoid: the Dotum Organization." He shrugged his black clothed shoulders, and inhaled deeply. He exhaled. "There are a lot of other things that we have to avoid, but they're the main ones that I'm concerned about..."

He eyed the boy for a good while. "You were looking for revenge or something, weren't you? I don't know who did something bad to you... but whoever it was, we're trying to avoid them right now. Society in general we're trying to avoid. Alright?"

He began to pace.

Oh, how he hated pacing.

----------

Subera came to, and first thing she thought of was, I'm dead... She figured that was the only way that she could be absolved from the excruciating pain. She opened her eyes slowly, and flinched at the lights in the room. She went to stretch and found that she was tightly bound to the chair.

The second thing she thought was, death sucks... if you're strapped to chairs...

And the third, if the pretty boy's not here, I swear, I'm going to rip his throat out...

She surveyed her surroundings, and found that she was in a room with a few different faeries. She spotted her opponent in the room, so she knew that she wasn't in a safe enviornment. Her body tensed.

"Whatever you're going to do, I reccomend getting it over with. I don't expect that this is going to be a pleasant visit. Though, whoever got to my jaw... Thanks. I owe you one." She yawned. It felt good to be able to do that. "That means a pat on the back or something, by the way."

She was definitely in a good mood, what with her jaw being good as new, and her not being dead and what not. Hopefully it would last.

[Stormy]

“Heh, we’re avoiding society in general, but you feel good about our options?” Jaeger said dryly as he ran a tired hand through his hair. “Sure you do.”

“What’s the Dotum Organization anyways?” The human’s eyes followed the feathered faerie as he paced. He sort of wanted to tell the other to knock it off, but he didn’t want to sound ungrateful. If the male faerie left he’d be pretty screwed….Which he already thought he was. He hadn’t expected any aid.

“Wait, back up, you’re actually going to help me?” The surprise showed on Jae’s face as that thought sank in. They hadn’t exactly had a pleasant conversation before the pink haired fae showed up. Sure, once the hostilities had faded it had become strangely near-comfortable, but that didn’t change the fact that the other’s ‘family’ would apparently strongly disapprove of the other helping him… “You sure about that?”

-----

“Eheh.” The healer faerie, blonde and female with transparent light blue wings laughed in a clearly fake manner. “That would be me. And we’re not going to do anything to you besides question you and escort you to containment afterwards.”

“Now then, who are you and what faction do you report to?” A gruff voice came from one of those who had strapped the enemy down. Male, wingless, with paper white skin and black markings on his face.

Elly’s listened as the round of ‘good cop, bad cop’ began. She had a feeling that her previous adversary wasn’t going to fall for it….She also had a feeling like she was going to throw up. The healer faerie specialized in physical wounds and had treated those, but she’d been left with a growing feeling of nausea and light headedness. She’d assumed it had been after effects of the photographer’s camera, but after effects were supposed to fade with time not get worse.

The knight stumbled to the side slightly and grabbed hold of her mallet, which was leaning on the wall next to her, to steady herself. “What…?”

Her voice was too quiet for the interrogators to hear and they stayed focussed on Subera

[Mikoyasha]

Abri shot him a quick look after he called him out on his white lie about feeling good about his options. He took a deep breath, and rolled his shoulders back. Always were the more relaxed type... deep breaths... in... and out... Oh, what good is lying to yourself, you idiot?

"What's the Dotum Organization anyways? Wait... back up, you're actually going to help me?" The blonde human asked. "You sure about that?"

"No, I'm not sure. About anything. You're a human. I'm in an insane position right now. Your freaky girlfriend is probably going to be stalking us.... so no, I'm not sure." He wasn't sure about anything; he was rather nervous about everything... "Look, I'm not going to lie to you, even though you're a human. You've come this far, we're in a pretty messy situation. But I want to help get you through this..."

Abri scratched the back of head anxiously. "Don't you dare ask me why. I want to help. I'm going to help. I feel it's right." He shook his head slightly. "But don't start inquiring as to why, or I might get smart and change my mind."

He surveyed the boy for a good few seconds before answering his first question. "The Dotum Organization is a group of fury-fostering faeries. They're supremists in the sense that they think that you and your race--" he pointed demonstratively at him, "--are scum that deserve to wallow in the filth that you created for yourselves."

"To be blunt, they're an arrogant bunch of pigs who use fear to get their way. I must say in the King's defense that his ideals aren't as... 'radical.'" Abri stopped talking and looked cautiously over his shoulder. It felt good to let off some steam, but he was well aware that the D.O. had eyes everywhere.

"Here's what I'm going to do..." he glanced at the boy. "I think we're going to take you to the Queen's territory. I'm second cousins with a man named Dante. I think he'll be able to help get us somewhere relatively safe."

----------

Oh, so... delightful, Subera though, throwing a countering artificial slap-happy grin at the healer faerie. She liked her up until the point... well, she never liked her. She smelled liked the King's cuticles.... or what she imagined that would smell like.

"By 'question and escort me to containment,' I'm sure you mean brutally interrogating me and then... throwing me behind bars in representation of your King's lovely hospitality?" she couldn't help herself. Being with her enemies while her cowardly companion wasn't around just brought out the best in her.

“Now then, who are you and what faction do you report to?” asked a man. Subera turned her gaze to him--he had markings on his face. It annoyed her for some odd reason.

"Blunt, aren't you? Well..." the furry changeling cocked her head to the side. "Define... 'faction.'"

She loved to toy with these guys. Hopefully it was working, though her humor wasn't falling on deaf ears... she was amusing herself quite thoroughly. Her ears were quite acute, in fact--

"What...?"

Subera sobered and saw from the corner of her eye the King's Girl falter in countenance. She realized instantly what was wrong, and she planned on helping her... but she had to get her thoughts together first. If she could use the situation to help her esteemed opponent as well as escape, she was most definitely going to.

[Stormy]

Jaeger listened carefully to the faerie’s words, a serious expression on his face. He could understand. The other boy was helping based on what felt right emotionally, not logic, and he probably didn’t want the illogicalness of his decision pointed out through questioning. Jaeger felt suddenly guilty, especially after hearing about Dotum. He’d snorted when the other had explained the groups rational, but then he thought…This faerie was a part of that extreme group. He was going against it for him, some stupid human who’d charged recklessly into his world, who he’d only just met that night.

“You’re…you’re something else you know? A pretty brave guy, I mean.” Jaeger was fixing the feathered one with a serious, but grateful look. He whipped any dirt that might be on his hand off onto his jeans and held it out to him to hopefully shake. “I’m Jaeger, Jae if you prefer, and I think I owe you big time.”

-------

“We promise your confinement will be comfortable- ” The healer fae wasn’t a very good liar.

The male fae slammed his hands down on the arms of the beastlike faerie’s chair, cutting off whatever his more gentle partner was going to say. “Listen, don’t waste our time playing games. Just answer the questions and this interrogation won’t have to get brutal, as you put it.”

He was practically growling.

“Krauser…” Elly’s voice held a definite tone of warning. The fae with the marked face was one of the interrogators that she knew did occasionally get physical with captives.

He shot a glare over his shoulder, but turned back to the prisoner in time to miss the knight nearly fainting. Elly caught herself on the wall and was using it to stay up, but the whole room was spinning. She was seeing two of everyone and had to close her eyes in an attempt to fight off the headache…but the room kept on spinning even while her eyes were shut. She was too disoriented to call for help.

[Mikoyasha]

"Ahh..." Abrifam cursed himself for turning slightly pink at the compliment. It was the last thing he was expecting. He was relatively used to being put down, being from the Dotum Organization and what not. Brave? That was certainly an adjective he wasn't used to being described with. In fact, he was constantly reminded how cowardly he was, and in fact, that he was a terrible representation of their organization and the King.

"Well... let's just say that I appreciate that statement, umm... Jaegar..." He clasped hands with the human and felt a jolt through his body. He wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline or if it had something to do with the fact that the blonde boy was human...

"I'm..." as he stood there, he realized suddenly that disastrous situations could come if anyone overheard him saying his name, especially the annoying, stalker one. He felt disconcerted when he thought of lying to the boy... it just wasn't the right foot to start out on. He decided on a portion of the truth; or a portion of his name, rather. "I'm Fam. It's a nickname. New."

He winked at Jae, feeling more confident by the moment. There were many people whose names contained those three letters; they were popular in the Dotum, particularly with the "bloodline fanatics," who were obsessed with conservatism and lineage. The man who docked the Puma mask in the D.O. had a name with those three letters... he shuddered thinking about him, so he didn't.

If we can think our way through problems like this... Abri thought, consoling himself, we should be able to manage...

"We're going to start off heading to a garden that's close to Dante's house. I don't want to head directly there, just in case we lead danger there. I have 'means' of contacting him once we arrive at that point..." he bit his pale pink bottom lip before taking the first step.

--------

Oh, dear... Subera thought bitterly, as she watched the King's Girl stumble around. Lucky I have a fondness for you...

"Oh ho? You're name is Krauser? I'll make sure to think of it next time a have an itch on my butt." Subera loved tormenting him. "But, by the way... your comrade is over there dying, because of something that happened while she was apprehending me. Hm... I reckon you check that out before she gets seriously ill."

She examined her fingernails as best she could from her bonded position. "Or? Proposition? You could release me, I can take her somewhere where I know she'll fully recover, and we can all live happily ever after. Deal? She would've died if I hadn't brought it to your awareness, don't you think?"

-------

Dante stowed his camera away inside of his handy pouch draped around his slender hips. He knew he had to go locate Subera... the stupid animal had wounded his pride and vanity. Nonetheless, it was his duty as her partner to rescue her...

How troublesome things became...

How am I to go about rescuing her, anyway? Everything, including my BRAIN, tells me not to concern myself with it... ugh!

He opted to think about it "on the way." Though he didn't know which way he was going, he narrowed it down to two places: The King's Palace and his humble abode.

His home was considerably more out of the way, but it was hidden, and it had many images and notes of stake-outs he had taken on absent-minded order of the Queen. He knew his way around King's territory pretty well because of that, despite having family members on that side. Either way was taking risks, but on both sides, the risk was not too great. He would decide when he drew nearer.

[Stormy]

Jaeger shook his head and chuckled at the new ‘nickname’, finding dark humour in the degree of caution they were forced to proceed with. He was vaguely disappointed that he wouldn’t get to know ‘Fam’s real name, but he understood that it was a difficult situation for the other. It sucked for him that he was going to be trapped in the strange Fae realm and be in near constant danger, sure, but it was fairly easy for Jae to say ‘well, I was an idiot, and now I’m going to deal with it’. For Fam things wouldn’t be as simple as just making it through the month – the choices he was making might really negatively affect the bigger picture of his life. Jae made a silent promise right then that he was going to make things up to the faerie boy, repay him somehow. How? He had no idea, but he’d figure something out.

“Okay then, lead on ‘Fam’.” The human didn’t question what his new ally meant by ‘means’ – he’d seen enough weird stuff for the time being, he’d could wait to find out. He fell in step with the other and couldn’t restrain from commenting. “That was a really girly wink, by the way.”

------------

A small pink glow was twisting and turning it’s way through the trees a good ways from where she had left two of the most infuriating boys she’d had the displeasure to meet. Both of them were too stubborn for their own goods. The D.O kid would realize soon enough that he was much better off ditching the human and if he didn’t Spectra was sure his family would make him regret it. Hopefully whichever was going to happen, it would happen soon and the human would be left alone. He wouldn’t last a week by himself in the faerie realm and he’d be calling for her in no time…Not that she’d hear him right away, but she had her ways of finding out a bit after the fact.

Spectra had left her C.D with the boys, though they probably hadn’t noticed. It was floating silently, concealed by nearby trees. In a few hours she’d call it back to her and have it play back what it had ‘heard’.

-------------

At the beast fae’s words the healer took on a panicked expression and ran over to the disoriented knight, helping to steady her. “What did you do to her!?”

“She’s not going to tell us, it’s her only leverage.” Krauser only glanced briefly back at Elly and the healer before resuming the dirty look he’d been giving their prisoner. “It doesn’t matter anyways, if you can’t fix her up then we’ll call someone from the bigger base to the east. In the mean time at least we don’t have to deal with little miss by the book’s preaching. Now,” The interrogator smirked in a threatening manner and leaned into the furred one’s personal space. “Who the hell do you work for, bitch?”

“We can’t wait that long! Healing isn’t as simple as waving one’s hand – you have to know exactly what’s wrong to fix it. If she won’t tell us what it is then we have no choice –“

“Don’t give me that b.s Flonne, and don’t interrupt again.” Krauser had been all set to start a very bad-ass line of questioning and the healer had totally ruined the effect. “Letting a prisoner go just isn’t an option, and I’m sure Elly over there will agree. That girl’d follow protocol to the grave if she had to.”

“No.” Both Flonne and Krauser’s gazes found the face of the wobbly high knight. Elly had stepped away from Flonne and was now using her mallet to help herself stand. The room was still spinning and she was starting to feel an odd ache in random muscles, but she would not be bested by illness. “There would be no honour in that. I,” She had to pause to regain her balance. “I can not perform my duties if I succumb to sickness, and duty is my first priority.” Slightly glazed black eyes found those of her worthy adversary. “Deal.”

Krauser didn’t seem pleased with that, but settled for knocking over a small table and storming out. Oh, he probably could have continued despite Elly being higher ranked than he, but the girl seemed to be on one of the High Baron’s good sides. There’d probably be hell to pay if she died and it was avoidable. Flonne simply nodded and mustered up an awkward fake smile as she undid the animalistic faerie’s restraints.

[Mikoyasha]

Abri decided, for the sake of his pride, to ignore the remark about his wink. He instead, spun on his heel, and walked a couple of steps. He held his scythe firmly, and jabbed it into the ground. He twisted it and applied downward force until the weapon was able to stand straight up from the ground.

“Ah, just a moment now….” Abrifam caressed the blade as if were his childhood. Stroking the broadside, the scythe began to shake. He removed his pale fingers, and the elongated handle of the weapon began to bend and flex. It turned like it was looking around for something—then it stopped and stiffened. The blade was pointing in a new direction.

“Okay, north, it is.” He turned to the blond teenager behind him, “interesting thing, magic, yes?”

With a grunt, Abrifam yanked it out of the ground. “We’re going to a sort of… open space near some woods… eh, it’s not to far off from Dante’s house either….”

He lowered his voice intending for only Jae to hear, “I suppose we’ll head there quickly, and head off quickly—it depends on if he’s not there or not, so…”

“But anyway, magic!” the volume of his voice increased. “It’s a rather obscure art. Because there’s no set form—or at least set form that’s widely acknowledged—it’s a very difficult thing to comprehend. Kind of have to have it shoved down your throat, know what I mean? I mean we have things like healer faeries, agricultural faeries, et cetera… but that’s just what we do know, which compared to some older fae, is really quite juvenile…”

He continued to ramble, pushing away the thoughts of paranoia, feeling the hair erecting on his neck, hearing things that could be anything…

Or anyone…

------

Dante opened the door to his small house in the middle of the woods—it was a quaint hut, but he never spent any time in it. It was small and inconveniently located—so it was more like a quaint office.

It was one room with an unused bed and photos, maps, notes, speculations, missions, notes, objectives, assumptions tacked all over the walls. Public enemies hung above his small, made bed. Forlorn and unfocused images of suspects frowned over his pitiful desk. It had the air of a home.

The only reason it wasn’t was because it was too risky to stay in one place for too long. Anything in this hut was able to be discarded—and a lot of it was written in code (save for the maps, which were only maps of enemy territory anyway) that were just meant to jog his memory—or remind him of something else entirely.

He waved a hand at his modest lamp on the mahogany desk and it flickered to life. Sighing, he took the camera from around his neck and placed it on the desk. His painted nails pulled a tab open. Dante tugged at a desk drawer and it refused to budge; that was good. He slid his finger along the flat surface, making invisible symbols with his finger. He heard a subtle click.

“Bravo,” he purred, opened it smoothly, and took out one of several vials of luminescent green liquid. He closed the drawer and it automatically locked. He placed the vial casually into the hole where he’d pulled the tab. Immediately the camera began turning different neon colors—bright pink, green, electric blue… he was grateful that it didn’t make abrasive sounds while it Energized.

“Okay, Dante, what’re you looking for…” he scrutinized his wall. On the map, there were multiple red dots, pin pointing where different factions converged or where messages were delivered. It was disappointing he had so few solid places though. If he’d thought to get some of Subera’s blood, he could’ve requested help from his cousin.

“Where would they take a bestial hostage—?”

He felt fingers wrap around his throat like livid snakes, and his hands automatically flew up to the hand of his hostage.

“Oh, Dante, how good to see you again,” came a smooth and extremely calm voice. “I’ve been… requesting your presence, you see, and you just absolutely refuse to do things the easy way…”

“The easy way for you involves—”

“No, no, no, shhhh… shhh… do not talk so much, and this will be quick.”

Dante panicked, and as a last minute thought, clenched his tongue with his teeth and bit down hard. Blood spurted from his tongue and seeped down his throat. He coughed.

“See? I told you to cooperate, let’s put you down for a nap, now.”

Dante coughed and deliberately coughed blood onto the desk and the floor and anywhere else there had to be—!
-----
Everything had happened in a satisfying blur. Soon she had Elly’s arm around her shoulders, whether she wanted her to or not. She was being nice enough (or she thought) by not sweeping Elly off her feet, onto her back, and leaping elsewhere.

“She’ll return safely,” Subera told Flonne before exiting and leaping up to the nearest tree branch. It was a bit harder with extra body weight, and she couldn’t imagine it was very comfortable or bearable for the faerie she’d grown very fond of.

“This would be a lot easier if I carried you some other way,” Subera commented absently, knowing that Elly would grunt or pass out if she was sanctioning it. Her thoughts were mainly elsewhere… the poison had gotten too far along; she hadn’t planned on passing out. The only one who had the immediate antidote was someone from the dreaded, enemy organization. The Dotum Organization—she’d been raised by someone from there, who’d had the antidote since her childhood and power development…

There was no other option—she’d given her word.

[Stormy]

Jaegar watched in silence as the faerie boy did…something…with his scythe. The sceptical side of him (which he still apparently valued, despite having half believed in faeries for years) wanted to question what exactly ‘Fam’ was doing, but that wouldn’t really be in line with his decision to trust the other. Besides, he probably wouldn’t understand anyways. Shaking his head in puzzlement, he listened to Fam’s words.

“Right.” Jae nodded in understanding of the plan. That was where his understanding stopped though. Fam was suddenly very…ramble-y. Was he trying to bore away anyone who might be listening in on them? Sure, Jae found himself interested against his will, but it would be an onslaught of common knowledge for any fae spies. It would be like him listening to ‘and that glowy thing up there is the ‘sun’, but at night there’s a different glowy thing that we call the ‘moon’. They are in no way the same thing, but they are both glowy’…and so on. Or was he just filling the silence to calm his own nerves?

Well, whatever Fam’s reasons for rambling – if it was a tactic or he just liked to ramble – Jae was taking mental notes. He really didn’t know anything about this world, so any information would be a positive. He wanted to try and be as little of a burden on his new ally as possible.

“You say there are different kinds of faeries…what kind are you?” Jaegar immediate mentally berated himself. Answering that question might help someone narrow down the masked boy’s identity. “If it’s safe to say, I mean.”

-----

Elly’s thoughts were becoming increasingly hard to form as unconsciousness tried to take her. She fought it off as best she could, forcing herself to maintain as much awareness as she could. They were on the move, her arm was over the beast-like fae’s shoulder…Elly still didn’t know her name. She made a mental note to ask again later.

She kept track of the direction as long as she could, though she didn’t think her assumptions were very accurate. She hated the fogginess that had wormed its way inside her, both her muscles and her brain. She hated feeling helpless. She disliked having left her mallet behind, though she knew she wouldn’t have been able to keep hold of it long and it would have slowed her helpful adversary down considerably.

“Where are we going?" Her voice sounded weaker than she would have liked.