A few years had passed since the death of Trevor Broom and things had for the most part gone back to normal. Hellboy was constantly on Manning's bad side; Liz, Abe, and Rayea constantly had to calm the man down before he did something drastic.
Rayea was turning pages for Abe as he listened to music in his tank one afternoon when Manning walked in and slammed a folder against the side of Abe's tank, "Fish stick! We need to talk!"
"what has the little one done now?" Rayea asked Manning while Abe was getting out of the water.
"he keeps getting himself caught on camera and making my job harder."
"he is just tired of having to hide all the time, he wants to be able to go where he wants when he wants" Rayea explained as the three of them walked down the hall toward Hellboy's room.
"I'm medicated now because of him! I mean, well, this is an over the counter antacid but still," Manning argued as Abe looked at all the pictures.
Rayea pulled out a pouch and held it out to him, "here, mix some of this with your tea or coffee every day and you won't need those anymore."
Manning took the pouch and nodded, "thank you, at least one of you is being helpful."
Abe and Manning continued to talk about Hellboy as Rayea wandered away.
Golden leaves fell to the ground as Rayea walked into the council chamber.
"King Balor, I trust you have been well?" Rayea said as she walked to the elf king's throne.
"Lady Earth, it is lovely to see you again, what brings you to my council room?" King Balor questioned as he hugged the elder spirit.
"I know what your son has done, he killed a room full of humans by setting loose two crates full of tooth fairies." Rayea said in an 'I am not happy about this' tone.
"his hatred for humans has clouded his mind," King Balor went to say more but they were interrupted by the very subject of their discussion walking in.
"Prince Nuada" Rayea said as she stood beside the King.
"Lady Earth, I did not realize that you would be here," Nuada said as he bowed to both the Earth spirit and his father.
"you killed my children, why wouldn't I be here?" Rayea asked.
"humans are the reason why your children are dying! Those foul creatures do not deserve to be called the children of a great mother such as you."
"Nuada, I know you are upset by what humans have done in the past but the time for forgiveness has come and I will not let you continue killing so many people." She moved closer to him and lifted his chin to look in his eyes, "do you know what pain you cause me every time you kill one of them?"
"I'm doing this to save you! They are slowly killing the planet and if it dies, you die!" he said angrily.
Rayea smiled softly, "I know that you have your heart in the right place Nuada, but I cannot sit and watch you do this."
"forgive me Lady," Nuada bowed then turned away to speak with his father.
Rayea moved toward the door and, as she passed the troll named Mr. Wink, she placed a hand on his arm and smiled, "I do not blame you Mr. Wink."
The troll nodded and said something in his language before Rayea moved to where Nuala was standing, "your brother will start something that will not end well. Go to the Troll Market, I will find you and take you to a safe place."
Nuala nodded, "thank you Lady Earth."
Rayea smiled and glanced back at the King before leaving the elf council room.
The city of Bethmoora was a grand and beautiful city filled with fae of every kind and was ruled by the one-armed elf king, King Balor, and he was exactly who Rayea was going to see.
"Lady Earth! It is lovely to see you again" Balor said as he walked down the steps to greet her.
"King Balor, I just came to see how things are going" Rayea said as she hugged him then pulled back to see the two teenage elves behind him, "these must be your children, they've grown so much since the last time I saw them."
"yes, Nuada, Nuala, you remember Lady Earth?"
the two teenagers stepped forward and bowed to the Earth spirit. "welcome Lady Earth."
"you look so grown up now my little prince, and my sweet Nuala, such a beautiful young lady now" Rayea said as she placed a blue rose behind Nuala's ear. Nuala smiled and Rayea turned to the prince, "and don't think I don't have anything for you." She reached into the long sleeve of the white dress she wore and pulled out a silver dagger with vines wrapped around the hilt and traveling slightly up the blade.
"this is for you little prince, use it wisely."
Nuada took the dagger and looked it over before smiling and nodding, "thank you Lady Earth."
Rayea smiled again before she turned away and followed King Balor away from the teenage elves so they could discuss a few things.
Nuala watched her brother look after the Lady Earth with longing, "I know your feelings brother; do not be afraid to show them, Lady Earth is a beautiful spirit that many men probably fall for."
"I know and one day I will get her to love me."
When Rayea finally made it back to the BPRD Hellboy was making quite a bit of noise. "what are you complaining about now little one?"
"There's a new agent here from Washington, he did some kind of Voodoo trick on one of the dead tooth fairies and so now we're gunna go to the Troll Market." Hellboy explained to his confused mother.
"voodoo trick?" she questioned but Hellboy just shrugged and walked away.
"Mrs. Rayea! You must come meet Dr. Krauss, he is quite the genius if I do say so myself," Abe called as said spirit walked into the library.
"you must be the agent from Washington Hellboy is complaining about," Rayea smiled as she walked to the man in the strange metal suit.
"good evening Mrs. Rayea, I am Dr. Johann Krauss, you must be the Earth spirit that everyone tells me about and the one Agent Hellboy calls mother."
"it is lovely to meet you Dr. Krauss, now what is this I hear about going to the Troll Market?"
"the tooth fairy I managed to get some information out of mentioned being bought and sold in some kind of market so we are going to find the Troll Market to see if we can learn anything new." Johann explained.
Rayea nodded, "sounds like fun, I believe I shall come as well, it has been awhile since I've been there."
"you have been there before Mrs. Rayea?" Abe questioned.
"of course, in all my time being alive you honestly believe I haven't been to every market of the paranormal nature?" Rayea asked with a coy smile.
Two hours later they were setting up cameras and getting ready to enter the Troll Market, Rayea wearing a white cloak to cover her green skin. Even though the BPRD had been outed she did not quite feel comfortable walking around in the open public, not ever since the Professor had departed from this world.
"you know mom, you don't have to wear that cloak, people know about us," Hellboy said as he, Rayea, Abe, and Johann walked toward where Liz said there was a creature that could tell them where the entrance was.
Rayea nodded and smiled sadly, "I'm aware of that, I just have not been around many of my human children since your father died."
Hellboy was silent before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "it's okay mom, me and Abe'll take care of you."
After a few moments of arguing and then a fancy trick from Johann they entered the market. Rayea lowered her hood and every creature that was near her immediately fell to their knees. Cries of "My Lady!" and "Lady Earth!" were heard all around them as they walked forward into the market.
"what are they making such a fuss about?" Hellboy asked as more creatures continued bowing until Rayea knelt next to them and helped them up with kind smiles.
"Mrs. Rayea is the Earth spirit so of course everyone worships her since she controls the land on which they live," Abe answered in a matter of fact tone.
"be careful here little one, you never know who has decided to come to the market today" Rayea said before she wandered away with Abe.
The two of them walked through the crowded streets until they saw a hooded and cloaked figure coming down a set of stairs. They followed the figure into a store full of maps and charts. The shopkeeper met them at the door, "Lady Earth, is there something I can help you with?"
"no thank you Mapmaker, where is the Princess?" she questioned the creature in a low voice as Abe went walking past them.
"she is here and safe, Lady Earth will you keep her from harm?" the Mapmaker asked desperately.
"I will try my best" Rayea replied with a smile then went to where Abe was talking with Nuala.
"Lady Earth! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to appear. Nuada killed our father so I did as you told me and ran here." Nuala explained as she gripped Rayea's hands.
"you did good Nuala, right now I need you to come with us, Abraham and I will take you somewhere your brother can't get you."
"but My Lady…!"
"hush sweet child, nothing will happen to you as long as you are with me," Rayea reassured her calmly.
"My Lady, Princess, you must leave" the Mapmaker started but was cut off as the door was destroyed and Mr. Wink stepped inside the store.
"Princess, go with Mrs. Rayea, she'll take care of you" Abe said as he turned to distract the large troll.
"Abraham" Nuala started to say but was quickly ushered away by Rayea shortly before Abe was thrown through the window and into the street.
Rayea pulled Nuala away from where Abe was avoiding being hit by Mr. Wink until suddenly a bullet ricochet off the troll's metal hand. Everyone looked around to see Hellboy standing there lighting a fresh cigar in his mouth.
"Get out of here mom, I'll take care of this," Hellboy said and Rayea walked to him.
"please be careful" she kissed his cheek before she and Abe led the Princess away.
After a few moments of walking back toward the entrance to the market when Rayea cried out in pain and dropped to one knee.
"Lady Earth! Are you alright?" Nuala asked as she knelt down next to her.
"I'll be fine, come, we must leave before your brother comes" Rayea said as she stood up with a grimace.
Hellboy quickly caught up with them and they all quickly exited the market, Hellboy supporting Rayea to make sure she didn't fall over again.
There you go, the not so long awaited sequal to My Mother, Earth.
~NightStalker