The True Tenth
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Warehouse 13/The Tenth Kingdom (AU)
Pairing: Mainly Myka/Helena
Summary: Another crisis hits the Nine Kingdoms as a new prophecy involving Myka Bering and Helena Wells comes to light. With new friends, new fairytales and an old flame, it is up to them whether they want to fullfill a prophecy or create their own destiny.
Disclaimer: Tenth Kingdom belongs to I think ABC/Hallmark channel, and Warehouse 13 belongs to SyFy network. I am not making any money from this fic.
Spoilers: All of Warehouse 13 Season 2 and all of The Tenth Kingdom would be helpful, but I will do my best to explain everything so that it won't be necessary to watch the movie. I have also used details from the book as well.
AN: This story is for hoshinekoyasha since I promised her a fic for her birthday forever and a half ago and didn't deliver. (Bad Llama!)
This story is set 30 years after the movie's timeline, and about 6 weeks after Reset. The Tenth Kingdom is a really long movie, so make sure you set enough time aside.
Before I begin let me just say how excited I am to FINALLY be able to post the start of this bad boy. I have been sitting on my hands for this story since I started doing the notes for it, and it just got worse after hewaech1229 made me this AWESOME video. (THANK YOU SO MUCH.)
Prologue - The Lone Cottage
She looked down at her pocket watch as she lifted her foot, her knee almost hitting her chest as she waded through the murky swamp puddles. It was nearing high noon, not that anyone could ever tell with the trees covering the skies above, and the mist being so thick it could almost be swimmed in. Behind her, two carts slowly moved along, her man-slaves humming out a mantra in sync as they went along. The mantra was for strength, and it drowned out the calls from the swamp to eat the mushrooms or drink the water, a move that would mean certain death for herself and her party. It made it easier to fight the drowsiness the swamp caused in people, and it saved all of their lives. Though she wasn't by any means immune to the calls of the swampland, she knew she would continue to fight it, for she knew her destiny. She was meant to travel the unmade paths to where she was going, with one of her father's many enchanted axes in her hand and a lethal bow with arrows strapped to her back. Each and every step she took, each time she took her foot from the muddy ground and stepped forward, she got closer to the one thing she wanted since she learned everything.
Up ahead, she saw what she had traveled for almost a month for; a cabin stood (the only real structure within the swamp) made from vine and moss and old rotting wood, held together by mud and magic. She walked towards the door with her father's axe at the ready. When she got to the door however, it clicked and slowly swung open with a small, creaking sound. She tilted her head slightly in alarm and confusion. Through the crack the door made, she saw the soft glow of lamp light, and possibly there was a fire going as well. Someone was there, despite what all she had been told. The cottage was supposed to be abandoned, as it had been for the past 30 years. Who could possibly be there now? She raised her axe. It would always hit its mark once she swung, and she was grateful for that, as she wasn't the type to wield weapons until recently.
Silently, she walked inside, signaling to her slaves to stay where they were and to keep quiet, even though she was certain that their chanting had already greeted whomever was inside. The cottage really did look inviting, and if it wasn't for the fact that no one was supposed to even be there at that time - not even she herself should have been there, really - she would have felt that way. Still, she readied herself to swing. On the table was a basket of bread, its aroma still in the air. Whomever was there made themselves at home, for the bread was freshly baked. On the stove was a pot of water that still seemed to bubble slightly. They were still there, she knew it. She turned frantically now, worried that she might be attacked by someone who wanted to protect this space, but there was nothing there. Suddenly, she heard movement, and she walked closer towards one of the walls. There was a pile of blankets and what appeared to be a cloak there on the floor along the back wall of this small cottage. It took a moment for her to realize that there was a figure underneath all of it, so still were they. She stepped forward, the toe of her boot inching closer to the body.
"Don't," the figure said, their voice thick and sleepy.
She took a step back, startled. She hadn't expected this, not at all. She called to her slaves to come inside. They obeyed. They were magically bound to her will, and had no other choice. They carried in the two large boxes they had brought all this way in the wagons. Then she looked back at the pile of blankets and said, "You're early."
"Perhaps. Or maybe you're late," the figure replied.
"This is perfect. I am glad to see you," she said as if the figure hadn't just accused her of something. The figure only grunted. "Have you been in the basement?"
"Of course I have," the figure replied as if her question was a stupid one.
"So she's still there."
"Yes, she's still here."
She sighed with relief. Everything was going as planned.
"Do you have it?" the figure asked.
"Of course I do," she said in return, her voice the same as the figure's had been just a moment before.
"I deserved that," the figure said with a dry chuckle. "There's nothing more we can do now. There's bread, and water for tea."
At her look, the figure only chuckled again. "I'll leave you to rest," she said after a moment of silence. She walked over to the table and cut herself a slice of bread. Then she reached into her own cloak, where a pouch was tied to her waist. Thinking quickly and then shaking her worrisome thoughts away, she reached inside the pouch, grabbed a handful of the golden powder within, and blew it in the direction of her slaves. She watched with a sense of glee as the magic powder worked, and the three men withered and twisted as their bones shifted and shrunk. Before her now were not men, but the mice she had taken from her Kingdom's largest pumpkin patch. "My lovelies, come to me. Eat your fill of this bread." The mice did as they were told, their small brown and speckled bodies inching towards her hand as she held it out to them on the floor. Once they scurried to her gloved hand, she brought them to the table and to their meal.
As she watched the mice, her mind began to wander. Of course, it went back to where it all began for her, and she smiled, remembering all she'd learned in the years since leaving the woods. She closed the pouch of her magic powder, a powder she had designed in her time of learning magic, a powder she hadn't known until a month ago actually worked. As she brought her dark grey cloak down off of her head and slowly became a little more comfortable in this space, she could feel the figure's eyes on her, watching her as they often did since she'd met them. She ignored it, and her mind went back to what she needed to do next. There had to be a way to get to that prophecy. It mentioned her and the figure, as in part it was about them. If she knew what it said in full, she could know for certain how to complete it faster. After all, knowledge was power, and power was what she wanted, what she would soon have, and the Kingdoms - including the Tenth, the largest of them all - would be hers...