Dynamic Equilibrium
a Bones/Felarya crossover
Chapter 3: The Flesh of a Fairy
3-21-2013
by Greyman
Disclaimer: Bones and all related characters are the property of 20th Century Fox. Felarya is the creation and property of Karbo, and all associated characters are the property of their respective creators.
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The ride back to the Jeffersonian in Booth's SUV passed in awkward silence, the cold chill of Washington, D.C.'s night punctuating Booth and Brennan's lingering confusion. Remus didn't blame them. If they knew half the story about what awaited in Felarya, they would surely rethink everything, old debt or no. But withholding the truth was necessary. They needed Dr. Brennan and her team. Shandra, a fairy who swore off eating humans long ago, was killed not out of self-defense or for food, but for some other nefarious reason. Remus and Xanthe agreed with Temi: Shandra's pack needed justice. Then there was Negav, a political tinderbox because of the killings there. If the murderer wasn't found soon…..
At last, they reached the Jeffersonian. The four of them tepidly clambered out of the SUV. As they approached the building, Booth finally let his frustration break the silence. "I'm just not seeing it, Mr. Patstriker. This Felarya is some weird world where magic is LITERALLY in the ground itself, the land permeated with it. And yet there's no one there that can use it, wave some wand, and solve these murders for you?"
During his travels, Remus had come to Earth, and knew a little bit about the cultures and literature here. Indeed, from Booth's perspective, a hypothetical 'fantasy world' wouldn't need investigators like him or Brennan's analytical skills. It would be difficult trying to explain why these fourteen deaths were so unusual...and make sure they didn't refuse to help. "For now, let's just say no one's accustomed to seeing dead bodies, or know what to do with them," Remus said delicately.
"That…doesn't make any logical sense," said Dr. Brennan as the four strode through the Jeffersonian's halls. "Hopefully, this means that warfare is not endemic among the peoples of Felarya, and thus Ms. Fenderen needs seasoned investigators. But…you almost make it sound as if no one dies of disease or old age there."
Remus and Xanthe glanced at each other. "That…last part is not too far from the truth. Who knows, maybe you can help us explain why that is."
Finally, they reached the forensics lab, which was right where Temi said it would be. Essentially one big, eerily clean metal square raised high like a theater platform, but with several equally clean tables and a host of scientific instruments. In a strange way, to Remus, the whole setup felt…sacred. Like he and his friends were about to defile a holy site where miracles were performed on a daily basis. Even the nighttime gloom and the lack of activity did nothing to dispel this notion.
"But we need those miracles worked in Felarya," Remus muttered under his breath.
"There's something you and the fairy aren't telling us, Remus. You're dancing around the issue of what makes this other fairy's murder so unusual, and why no one in this magical interdimensional…thing knows how to solve it," spat Booth. Remus realized Temi and Jora were right. This Booth guy wasn't dumb muscle, but the shrewd mind that put the clues together. Subconsciously, Remus began walking faster, as if by putting distance between him and Booth, he could distance himself from his awkward questions. But in doing so, Remus stepped up into the forensic lab before the others…which only served to make Booth and Brennan more suspicious.
"How did…the alarms didn't go off!?" cried Brennan.
"Come to think of it, we haven't passed any security guards, and we didn't have to input any codes or anything," Booth added. Remus looked down and saw Booth's hand inch closer to his gun. This was not going as planned.
"Great. What else can complicate things?" Remus thought aloud. Right on cue, there was a sound that no one expected: a baby's cry.
"What in the…?" Booth began as everyone turned toward the sound. He and Brennan tensed up as a dark-skinned girl with cat ears and a tail stepped out from Dr. Saroyan's office, holding a baby.
"Hey Remus, I thought I heard you," said Calina, looking up into the forensics lab. "You're good with kids, right? Any chance you can get the little guy to shut…oh." Calina finally noticed Booth and Brennan, who stared in disbelief at the baby cradled in her arms.
"Booth…that's MICHAEL! Whoever's working with Remus and Xanthe…they've kidnapped Dr. Hodgins's son!" exclaimed Brennan. For someone supposed to be cold and detached, Remus couldn't help but notice the venom in her voice. Remus wondered if he sounded like that to Jora and Milly when going on one of his rants.
"That's it, I don't care what hocus-pocus la-la-land you folks hail from. You're all in my jurisdiction now, and assaulting an FBI agent AND kidnapping can get you all dropping the soap for your fairy queen for decades!" spat Booth, finally taking out his gun. Calina stared blankly at his weapon. Calina could jump out of harm's way, but that baby complicated things.
Thankfully, the baby's parents came at just the right time. "BOOTH! TEMPERANCE!" came another woman's voice. "Thank God you're here too! Some crazy chick kidnapped Michael and told us to meet here without breathing a word to anyone! I don't know how you pieced this one together so fast, but…"
"Michael's fine, Angela. We got Michael and the perp right here," said Booth.
Remus looked down from the lab to see this Angela, standing beside a man slightly shorter than her, who also sported short red hair and a beard. They were staring at Calina with unveiled contempt. "Ah, I bet you're the artist and the plant guy," Remus said to them, not sure why he was trying to sound nonchalant. Maybe it was because he'd faced far worse than an angry bloke with a gun. "Calina, you, Elia and Isham got the psychologist and the coroner, right?"
"They're here in the office. Any…special reason the agent guy is pointing a weapon at us?" asked Calina innocently.
"Hey, for a guy we were about to gang up on in a parking lot and who saw someone kidnap a coworker's kid, he's handling it pretty well," said Remus flatly. He made a mental note to have a long, looong talk with Calina. Hopefully, she'd be easier to reach than their mutual friend, Milly.
"Booth, just what the HELL is going on here!? What the hell do these people want!?" demanded Hodgins. "And what is up with those kitty ears? Wait, the ears, the dark skin…oh, she's from Egypt, isn't she? Oh, I bet this has something to do with the Ordo Templis Orientis, and…."
"Hodgins, please, let's obsess over conspiracy theories and illuminati AFTER we get our son back from the crazy mutant cat chick," snarled Angela. Angela turned to glare at Calina, no doubt ready to bum-rush the neko to get Michael back. But then, there was a bright flash of light right behind Angela and Hodgins. It was as if some sort of explosion went off behind them, and they crumpled to the ground, unconscious. When the light cleared, Remus saw Léa standing over them, clutching her staff.
Dr. Brennan's eyes widened, but from fear or simple curiosity, Remus couldn't tell. "And who's this? How did she she…." Brennan began. But before Booth could turn and aim at Léa, she fired the same spell at the pair. Both were blasted back against the outer edge of the crime lab, and slid to the ground, unconscious.
Remus peered over the lab's edge, staring blankly at their still bodies. When he turned to Léa, though, his look was one of exasperation. "Really, Léa? Kidnapping the artist's newborn son wasn't enough? Now we blast Dr. Brennan herself and her partner into oblivion, right before they're dragged to Felarya? Not the best way to establish a working relationship."
"You know as well as I do that it would take too long to explain everything about Felarya to these Earth humans, and they'd never go willingly if we actually did," said Léa stiffly. "On top of that, having the coroner disable all the security is no guarantee we won't be noticed. We don't have the luxury of time."
Michael bawled again in Calina's arms. "Uhhhh, I'm with our stone-cold singer on this one. I mean, we've got to prep all this gear they use to solve crimes to go through that mirror, not just these six, right?" Calina asked delicately. Remus heard Xanthe mutter something under her breath, but he was staring at the crying baby. Then he glanced at Michael's unconscious parents. He knew all too well…the feeling that you failed someone who looked to you as a father….
Remus turned away and looked around the crime lab. Computers, microscopes, a plethora of tools that looked like they were for surgery…. Calina was right. The plan wasn't just to haul those six back to Felarya, but to swipe anything that wasn't nailed down.
And so, for the next few minutes, Remus and his friends got to work doing just that. Fortunately, Jora and Anna had compiled a list of everything they thought a forensic team would need to track a fairy killer, and Temi had a good idea where to find everything. They grabbed roll-around carts and started piling all sorts of stuff onto them. Every laptop computer they could find, every chemical Jora thought they would need….
"I still don't like it," Remus told Xanthe as they unplugged Dr. Hodgins's infrared spectrometer. "It feels like we're…I dunno, looting a temple or something. This place is practically their second home, right? This is where Jora's old friend does all her best work. Are we kidding ourselves? Is finding this killer worth tearing this place apart, and tearing Dr. Brennan away from all that…dragging her somewhere she's liable to get eaten?"
Xanthe sighed as she dropped the infrared spectrometer onto the cart. "I'd be lying if I said I was entirely comfortable with it," she said as she started unplugging the parts of the mass spectrometer. "But…I've accepted that without any hope of my wings healing, there's little I can do to protect people in Felarya anymore. And even as a fully-powered Crimson Maiden, I couldn't do the things Dr. Brennan does. No one in Felarya can. We need them, Remus. We need to make sure Felarya doesn't get any more dangerous than it has to be."
"So we just take whatever we feel we need?" Remus asked in a heavy tone. "Isn't that how predators back in Felarya feel? Isn't that what we tried to…explain to Milly was wrong?"
Xanthe stared back at Remus as she wheeled the mass spectrometer out of Hodgins's office, at a loss for words. Thankfully, Isham walked p outside the door to distract them. "Electrophoresis thingie, sodium dodecyl sulfate, PCR machine, micropipeters…OK, I think I've swiped everything Dr. Saroyan needs to do DNA and tox tests. You two got everything we need from this office?"
Xanthe looked to Remus, who could only shrug his shoulders. "We think so," Xanthe said at length. "Is everyone else ready to go?"
"Léa's levitated the six of them over to the mirror, and Elia and Calina have already wheeled the other carts over there, too," said Isham. "Let's not risk overstaying our welcome."
An uneasy silence lingered over the three of them as they wheeled the last bit of pilfered gear over to the Aztec exhibit. The haunted, abandoned feel of the museum at night didn't help anyone's mood. Remus noticed all the historical displays. The humans of this world certainly had an interesting history. But theirs was a world with no nagas, harpies and fairies to prey on them. Would Dr. Brennan be able to adapt to a world where humans were most certainly not on top?
Finally, they made it to the Aztec exhibit, where Léa, Calina and Elia were waiting. They had already begun sending equipment back to Felarya. Elia had just shoved a loaded cart up a ramp and through the obsidian mirror when she noticed them. "Oh, Isham, is that the last of their gear? Are we finally ready to go back?"
Isham took a look at everything he, Xanthe and Remus had wheeled in, then glanced at the unconscious forensic team, slumped against the far wall. "As ready as we'll ever be. We sent the signal through the mirror hours ago, so our pickup should be waiting at the Ur-Sagol gate." Isham never took his eyes off of Brennan and her team. "So we're really about to do it. Drag a bunch of unsuspecting humans to Felarya who are blissfully ignorant of the place, including a baby. Isn't it bad enough how many people get sucked there by accident?"
Clearly, Remus and Xanthe weren't the only ones with reservations. Strangely, Remus was the one who spoke up. "We don't have much choice, Isham. Negav needs to find a killer, a lot of our friends need to find a killer…and Jora's old friend finds killers."
"But in many ways, some of our friends back home could be called 'killers' themselves," Elia pointed out delicately.
Silence fell over them, each of them quietly acknowledging that arguing about it further would do no good. Things had already gone too far. Xanthe pushed the mass spectrometer's main unit through the mirror, just as Léa slung Angela over her shoulder. Without a word, she stepped up to the mirror and stepped through. Calina held onto Michael, who was still crying, as she slung her father over her shoulder and followed Léa.
Remus and Isham pushed their carts through the mirror just as Elia and Xanthe walked up, dragging the coroner and psychologist up to it. Doubt and guilt were etched on their faces as they then dragged them through the mirror.
"It's just us two, now," said Isham as he bent to pick up Dr. Brennan. It looked to be easy for him. For a guy who used to be a playwright, Isham was stronger than he looked. There was a lot about Isham that was enigmatic. He had known Milly longer, and their relationship was…complicated. What other surprises would Isham have for him?
Isham stepped through the mirror with Brennan, leaving Remus alone with Booth. "Leave the biggest bloke for me, thanks," he muttered dejectedly. Even worse, Booth was stirring. Remus had to get him through the mirror now, or risk another slugfest. He slung Booth's arm over his shoulder and hoisted him over to the mirror. Booth grunted, and Remus instinctively knew he was just awakening. "Hopefully you're less stubborn than you look, secret agent man. I strongly suggest you hang on and don't struggle, lest you get lost in some OTHER pocket between dimensions…."
"Who're…what…REMUS!? Where's Bones!? Where's…." Booth spluttered. But Remus hurled both of them into the mirror. Booth didn't even have time to scream in surprise as they passed through solid volcanic rock. Remus held onto Booth with all his strength, refusing to let the poor bastard meet his end before even SETTING FOOT in Felarya. Bursts of bright light went off around them in between bouts of pitch blackness, as they were hurled across the gaps between worlds….
And then, finally, they were spat out the other side. Remus finally let Booth go as they tumbled across the stone platform in front of Ur-Sagol's dimensional gate. For a moment, they both lay on their backs, worn out by the bizarre experience, simply basking in the gentle sunlight coming down from whatever sun was now shining over Felarya. "Whew, welcome to Felarya, Agent Booth," Remus got out in between exhausted gasps. "Hope you survive the experience."
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Consciousness slowly but surely came back to Temperance Brennan. Being one who prided herself for swiftly bringing order to her chaotic thoughts, by the time her eyes fluttered open, everything was rushing back. Remus and Xanthe, this place called 'Felarya' where a fairy killer was on the loose, her old debt to Jora Fenderen…. And that girl with the staff…some sort of light shot out at her and Booth…was that some sort of magic?
Magic…I'll need a bit more concrete evidence before I can accept such a thing exists. Examining 'fairy' wings…wasn't quite enough, Temperance thought to herself. As she tried to sit up, several joints screaming in protest, she became dimly aware of…sunlight? "Wait a minute…have I been unconscious for half a day?" Temperance thought aloud. Then she realized it wasn't only sunlight she was feeling, but a stiff breeze…one that didn't carry a hint of car exhaust. Clearly, she had been taken far from the Jeffersonian. To some of the wilderness around the capital, perhaps? Or…was this Felarya for real?
Temperance finally sat up and looked around. She wasn't alone. Her friends were also just coming to, and it was with no small sense of indignation that Temperance saw some of their kidnappers fussing over them. All except that brown-haired girl with the staff. She strode away from everyone, staff raised as she looked upward, as if her kidnapping victims regaining consciousness was of no concern. Temperance briefly considered tackling the girl while her back was turned, but decided it was more prudent to figure out just where they were.
Looking up, Temperance saw what could only be described as a vertical stone ring, at least a hundred feet in diameter. She sat right where it jutted out from the ground, on some elaborate tiled platform, fixed to a wide stone ramp. For a moment, Temperance was overwhelmed by its breathtaking elegance, all its fine details. In all her time as an anthropologist, Temperance had never seen anything quite like it, on any scale.
"It's a dimensional gate, the one near Ur-Sagol," she heard Xanthe say, as if that would mean something to her. "We were lucky enough to find out it could connect to a big obsidian mirror in your museum. We…should be able to connect to it again without a problem, once you nab Shandra's killer for us."
"I don't know how you fairies handle things in this Felarya, but if you wanna get trained experts to do commission work, swiping a baby and then dragging them here by force isn't the way to go," spat Booth.
"Fairies? Felarya?" came Camille's grumbling voice. "Seeley, what's going on? Where are we? Hold on…that girl with the staff…."
"Get your paws or whatever OFF MY SON!" Temperance heard Hodgins bellowing a few yards away.
"Go on, take him!" spat the woman called Calina, the one with 'cat ears' that looked disturbingly real. "And here I thought all those Alsumi kids were a handful. I swear…."
"Is it too much to ask that no one makes too much noise until our pickup arrives?" said Léa, her calm voice in stark contrast to the emotional outbursts of Temperance's friends. "How to stay silent is a lesson you six need to learn quickly, if you wish to survive in Felarya."
"Survive in Fel-what?" demanded Sweets. "Dr. Brennan, who the hell is that? These people…do they know you? Do they want us to work for them or something? What's going on?"
"There's someone here in…their world…who I once met and I owe a debt. Apparently, she wants me to help track down whoever killed a certain…fairy," Temperance explained quickly, as if breezing through what she knew would make it sound less outlandish.
"OK Temp, Tinkerbell's extended family is sort of outside the FBI's jurisdiction," snorted Angela. "Now, why don't you tell us what's REALLY going on, and…."
A low rumble cut Angela off. Then there was another light tremor, this one closer. Their kidnappers stiffened, and Léa whirled in the direction of the sound. They relaxed, however, when Calina sniffed the air and said, "At ease, troops. They're friendlies."
"'Friendlies?'" repeated Camille, dubious. "What's that supposed to mean? What kind of person can make noise like that?"
"Someone who…looks like a slightly younger version of you, actually," said Xanthe sheepishly, who then turned to Temperance. "Brace yourself, doctor. You handled seeing my mangled wings, but…if you want to get anywhere in Felarya, you need to be able to handle what's coming next."
Temperance scowled at Xanthe, not sure what she meant by that. But another rumble made Temperance look up, and it was followed by the snapping of trees. Temperance stared over at the borders of the forest that surrounded this 'dimensional gate', and saw a couple trees that were at least a hundred feet tall creak and bend….
Meeting a fairy and being whisked away to what might be another world…that had already pushed Temperance's rational mind to the limit. Could this 'dimensional gate' do as Xanthe claimed? Her field was anthropology, not theoretical physics, so Temperance couldn't say. But what came out of that forest defied half the scientific principles she knew.
It was a dark-skinned woman…who stood at least a hundred feet tall!
The giantess spotted the crowd and made her way over to the gate. Some of Temperance's friends noticed her approach and began to panic. Temperance, however, was rooted to the spot. Not out of fear, but because such a thing COULD NOT EXIST, no matter what her eyes told her.
"Everyone just cool it," said Remus sternly in that strange Scottish accent. "Milly here…some of us have a complicated history with her, sure. But you have absolutely nothing to fear from her, trust us."
"Yeah, trust the whackbags that kidnapped us from D.C. and dumped us in the Village of the Giants…sure thing!" snapped Hodgins.
Milly was now standing beside the gate, and while their kidnappers seemed unperturbed, Temperance's friends were warily retreating to the other side of the platform, never taking their eyes off of her. "Bones, get away from her!" Booth demanded. But Temperance simply could not move. Her mind still refused to register Milly as for real.
The giantess slowly knelt down, flashing what she probably hoped was a reassuring smile. "So…you must be Dr. Temperance Brennan, Jora's old friend. It's nice to meet you. I'm Milly, and I'm going to help get you all someplace safe."
Hardly any of that registered in Temperance's mind. She was still staring dumbly up at Milly's billboard-sized face, her kind words having no effect. "Y-Y-You c-can't exist, you-you're…impossible…."
Milly's head tilted to the side, a confused look on her face. "Uhhh, excuse me? What do you mean by that?"
"A-An organism with h-human physiology…can't possibly have that much height and m-mass!" stammered Temperance. "The Square-Cube Law…you should be keeling over from heat-stroke if you live in that jungle, assuming that your bones simply don't shatter from being forced to support all your mass!"
Milly stared down at Temperance for a moment, looking bemused. Then she let out a light chuckle. "I've heard about this Square-Cube Law before. I'm not quite sure why it never applies to predators like me here in Felarya. Jora's not too far behind, so maybe we can ask her."
"Uhhh, Temp, think it might be a good idea to back away from Cam's freaky giant clone?" asked Angela delicately.
"And this Jora Fenderen…where the hell is she?" demanded Booth.
Temperance was dimly aware of more rumbling right before another booming voice rang out. "Right up here, Dr. Brennan," said a familiar voice. Temperance tilted her head to look past Milly's huge face and noticed there was ANOTHER giantess standing right behind her. Only this one…looked just like her old acquaintance from Germany! She lacked her lab coat, only wearing her green top and skirt, and her expression lacked that youthful eagerness Temperance remembered from their run-in years ago. But this was unmistakably Jora…only she had ballooned to this Milly's height!
"THIS is Jora Fenderen?" cried Booth incredulously. "Somehow Bones, if you were all chummy with Nancy Archer's little sister, I think it would've been in the papers…."
Temperance only half-heard Booth, too transfixed by the sight of TWO impossibly tall women, one of which once had to look UP at her! "J-J-Jora? Y-You can't be Jora…how it is possible to grow to such a height!?"
Jora had knelt down beside Milly, and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still working that out. One minute I'm back at Folandor Laboratories, working out an algorithm that'll unlock whatever secrets this artifact had. Then I wake up here, after packing on quite a few metric tons."
"So all these years…you've been here?" asked Temperance, dubiousness oozing from her. "And how come you can speak perfect English now? You didn't speak a word of English when we met that night at the University of Cologne."
Shrugging her shoulders again, Jora said, "It's another one of those things about Felarya, just like how folks like me aren't crushed by their sheer mass. Spoken languages are understood by everyone, magically translated somehow. I honestly have no clue how it works."
Jora's lackadaisical attitude was bringing Temperance out of her confused stupor. Jora was offering very little in the way of concrete data, yet she expected her to simply help track a killer on her say-so, after having them dragged to this Felarya against their will? Old debt or not, this was pushing it.
Milly must have sensed Temperance's growing reluctance. "Dr. Brennan, please, I know how strange this must all seem. I've…met humans from your world transported here by accident…." There was a pause. Temperance knew Milly was choosing her words carefully, but why? "But as you can see, even those who've lived in Felarya a long time…some things escape our understanding. A-A-And getting clues from a dead body…none of us can do that. You're…the only one any of us know of that can."
Temperance looked back at all her friends dragged to this alien world with her, and at all the equipment pilfered from the Jeffersonian. "But you've obviously realized that my expertise alone is never enough to solve murder cases. And that I need a multitude of sophisticated diagnostic equipment to do it," said Temperance, a caustic bite to her voice. Temperance wanted to laugh to herself. Why was she talking so defiantly to two women who could swat her like a mosquito?
"Dr. Brennan, again, I'm really sorry we had to drag you halfway across the multiverse. But there's things going on here that would take a while to explain," said Jora. "It's not just one fairy. We think her murder is connected to a slew of human deaths in Negav, a city that's fixing to rip itself apart as a result. As for Shandra herself, we're sure you won't object to getting justice for her, since she never, uhhh…n-n-never…."
Temperance raised an eyebrow, feeling daring again. There was definitely something these two were holding back, and she wasn't agreeing to anything until they confessed what it was. "Both of you are afraid to admit something. Considering both of you are at least eighteen times our size and completely unencumbered by your sheer bulk, it's clearly something significant, and most likely something that would make us even more reluctant. And I think I speak for all of us when I say we're not going anywhere until you tell us what it is."
"And who says you don't have a knack for psychology, Dr. Brennan?" added Sweets, finally finding his voice.
"Both of you, actually," quipped Angela.
Jora's reluctance was a palpable thing, and Milly let out a deep sigh. "I suppose there's no getting around it," said Milly, sounding defeated. "Felarya is notoriously inhospitable to humans. So sorry to be blunt, but you actually do want us to get you out of the open, because…."
Milly was cut off by a cheerful, singsong voice. Judging by the volume intensity, it had to be another giant being. "Hey Milly, Jora! We hit the jackpot, as some humans say! Guess how many just landed in the traps I set up!?"
Once again, bewilderment took hold of Temperance. Craning her neck up even further, she saw what looked like a HUGE fairy! One with odd, pinkish skin, undamaged butterfly-style wings, a dazzling array of body art, teal hair, and…antlers growing out of her head!?
Seeing a fairy towering over a hundred feet tall, at this point, was something Temperance could live with. She prided herself on her ability to quickly adapt. But what she doubted ANYONE could numb themselves to was what this giant fairy DID in front of them. In one hand, she was clutching a group of struggling, pleading people, and one by one she was popping them into her mouth…and swallowing them alive!
Once again, Temperance was rooted to the spot, numb with shock and disbelief. Judging by the reactions she heard from those behind her, however, Temperance realized she was handling it better than her friends. Angela, Sweets and Camille screamed, and she heard Booth draw his weapon, for all the good it would do. Their kidnappers' reactions were more muted. Many of them simply grumbled, and Xanthe muttered, "Really, Melany. Really!?"
Jora and Milly, likewise, looked horribly uncomfortable. Jora had facepalmed, while Milly's eyes went wide. Disgust was not etched in Milly's features, however, but merely disbelief. As if Melany had simply done this at the worst possible moment. Rooted to the spot, Milly whispered through gritted teeth. "Melany, please, put the rest of the humans down and walk away. Just…walk away."
Melany's deceptively friendly face turned to look down at the gate platform. Her expression brightened even more. "Oh, these must be those humans that can figure out stuff from dead bodies! My, they look tasty too!"
Now it was Milly who facepalmed, while Jora repeatedly smacked her forehead against the ground, making tremors that finally knocked Temperance off her feet.
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Jora knew convincing Dr. Brennan and her team wouldn't be easy, but Melany's atrocious timing made things infinitely more awkward. Those who came to Felarya despite knowing the dangers…they have it coming. But humans dragged into Felarya on purpose…it wasn't too much to ask that they SLOWLY get eased into things, right?
Though she didn't consider herself a violent person, Jora wanted nothing more than to pulp Melany right then and there. But that was out of the question, because one, Brennan's team witnessing a monster movie smackdown would undoubtedly make things even worse. And two, they needed Melany to carry all of the, well, 'borrowed' equipment back to the Giant Tree, along with dropping off the Safe Harbor residents. Best friend or not, Jade wouldn't look too kindly on losing four of her people on Jora's watch.
Melany departed almost as soon as she appeared, but Jora and Milly still had to convince their…'guests' that they shouldn't march right back through the gate and go home. Dr. Brennan, as Jora expected, was open to reason, though Jora really had to rack her brains to come up with suitable answers to Brennan's razor-sharp rejoinders. Bargaining with humans…wasn't exactly a skill she practiced these days. Jora laughed inwardly at the irony. All this time adapting to life as a Felaryan predator, and still she had to kiss up to the intellectual elite from back home. In a way, this one human who owed her…actually had all the power. Exactly what has changed for me? Jora wondered.
So after many agonizing minutes, Jora convinced Dr. Brennan to at least LOOK at Shandra's corpse, and then she could decide what to do next. For a while, the only other human willing to go along with Brennan was this Agent Booth. Still, he never lowered his gun until they were underway. Guns couldn't kill her, but Jora wanted to avoid getting shot in the eye. It would sting like mad for hours.
And then it was a chore just to get these humans to hitch a ride on them! As if they could keep up on the way to the tree with Shandra's dead body…let alone survive the trip! But eventually, they were underway. Angela, Hodgins and their son rode on Milly's shoulder, along with Sweets, while Jora carried Booth, Brennan and Camille on hers.
The humans more or less resigned themselves to the weird turn of events, and as Temi predicted, they thankfully seemed willing to go along with what Brennan wanted…to a point. Jora made a mental note not to push any of them too hard. She was certain Milly was thinking the same thing, considering those first few days with Isham.
Awkward silence hung over them all as Jora and Milly moved through Tolmeshal Forest, which suited Jora just fine. All the better for listening for the innumerable dangers in Felarya: kensha beasts, tonorions, Malika….
It was too good to last, however. Jora heard Sweets speak more sternly than would be expected of the meek-looking psychologist. "So Milly, I couldn't help but notice your expression back there when Melany showed up."
Jora saw Milly's eyes widen a little. "You got me, Dr. Sweets. I have no idea what Melany was thinking, but then again, fairy logic tends to be elusive…."
"But your expression, it was one of embarrassment, not horror," Sweets pointed out. "Almost as if…you're fine with 'predators' in this world eating sapient beings, but got caught off-guard by the timing."
Jora didn't like where this was going. This young doctor was too clever for his own good.
Milly sighed. "No wonder Temi thought Dr. Brennan would need you."
"So, do you….'yknow, do that too?" asked Hodgins delicately. Jora had a mental image of the botanist holding Michael a little tighter.
After another long sigh, Milly finally said. "Yes, but nowhere near as much as I used to. If you see Remus or Isham again, feel free to ask them yourself, if you think I'm lying."
Milly figured that would settle it, knowing her. Still, Sweets pressed on. "So, these eating habits…you're comfortable with them. I would guess that it's a practice you've done since you were young, and thus see no problem with it. Desensitization."
Yeah, this kid is good, thought Jora. Now be smart and put that analytical mind to use solving Shandra's murder instead.
"You could say that. For me, it was never anything…complicated," said Milly. "Then Isham came along, and then Remus had me…look at things from another perspective. So these days, I make use of a garden, use tricks Jade taught me to catch other prey…. Look, the point is…."
"The point is that there's no point proselytizing to Milly," Jora cut in. "Milly was always fine with how she carved out a place in Felarya's ecosystem, but humans she's known a lot longer and much better convinced her to switch up her dietary habits. That's as much as Milly is willing to change. So just…leave it at that…."
"Wow, touch a nerve, maybe? That was some spirited defense," said Booth dryly.
Jora then realized her blunder. Before, these humans would naturally assume she abstained from eating their kind, since she was once one of them. Now, they were suspicious. "It's just…having close friends who've helped me get preached to…it gets old fast," said Jora quickly.
Hang on a minute. Why am I so worried about what they all think of me? Jora wondered. The obvious answer was their willingness to take this case if they knew the truth about her. But was there more to it than that? The thought of Dr. Brennan learning of her own hunting habits…it suddenly made Jora feel uncomfortable. But why should it!? This was something I settled long ago. Dr. Brennan and her team…they can't judge Milly and they ESPECIALLY can't judge me! Can they honestly say they wouldn't have made the decisions I made, if one of them had activated that artifact!?
Thankfully, Jora had the perfect way to change the subject. They were coming up to a familiar tree with canopies of thick leaves, the perfect place to hide something from watchful eyes. "At any rate, we're at the murder scene. Sweets, I hope you're just as good as getting clues from dead predators as you are live ones."
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Temperance stayed quiet the whole trip. Mere words would fail to convey how absurd she found this whole situation. What was there to say when an old acquaintance of yours asked for help…but she's become a gargantuan monster and now lives in some unfathomable fantasy world? Yes, fantasy…there was no other way to describe a place where 100-foot tall humanoid beings could EXIST, let alone MOVE. Temperance thought nothing could break her, not after learning the truth about her father and thwarting the Gravedigger at every turn. But an hour in this Felarya nearly turned her mind inside-out.
For that first hour, all Temperance had to cling to was this all involved a murder. THAT was something she could handle. Death was her specialty. And in a world with a vast, complicated food web, where predation that left no corpses was the norm, her familiarity with death was invaluable.
She could just solve this case like any other. Right?
That was what Temperance kept telling herself, and almost didn't hear when Jora said they had arrived. Looking ahead, Temperance saw Jora was approaching a tree so huge, its lowest-lying branch was level with the giantesses' shoulders. "This is where you all get off," said Jora, getting her shoulders as close as possible, so they could jump off. "Your murder victim…is just beyond that thick cover of leaves."
Temperance remained silent as she jumped down. Her hand touched the bark as she steadied herself. The bark felt as it should: dry, rough and solid. So some things could be counted on this mad world. Still, Temperance hesitated, her willingness to examine the corpse suddenly ebbing. Then, a cheerful voice rang out from behind the leafy curtain. "Oh come on, it's not like this tree is really a dryad or anything! It's safe to come over!"
Not wanting to think about what 'dryad' would mean in Felarya, Temperance took the plunge and stepped through the leaves. On the other side there stood a fairy at her height, this one in clothes that made her look like some amateur archaeologist. "So, you're this 'anthropologist' everyone keeps talking about! The name's Subeta, by the way." In a flash, the orange-haired fairy grabbed her hand and shook it. Temperance just stared dumbly at Subeta's glove.
"Careful, Subeta. I suggest you keep back. You can never predict how humans will react to fairies when they're confused and scared. Shandra's fate is probably further proof." The voice was high-pitched like the other two fairies Temperance met, but with a frosty edge. Looking past Subeta, Temperance saw another fairy approach, this one naked with brown spots lining her arms and legs. Ice-blue eyes glowered at Temperance from under a curtain of brown, bushy hair. "So, you're the one who can get dead bodies to cough up their secrets," said the other fairy. "You don't seem like anything special. I've seen hundreds of humans just like you wind up in Felarya, and almost all of them met the same fate."
As more of Temperance's friends walked through the leaves and into the murder scene, Jora muttered from beyond it. "Oh great, I had no idea Lily was one of the fairies looking after the crime scene. Dr. Brennan, just…ignore her. She's like that with EVERY human."
"Ohhhhhhh no, I won't be brushed aside so easily," spat Lily as she stormed toward Temperance. Temperance heard Booth draw his gun again, but Lily ignored him. Lily shoved Subeta aside and grabbed Temperance's arm. She suddenly felt queasy from Lily's touch. "No one is poking and prodding Shandra's body until I'm certain that…."
Maybe Lily's iciness was the ice water in the face that Temperance needed, maybe it was just Lily being threatening. But whatever the reason, Lily helped snap Temperance out of her mental stupor. Temperance grabbed Lily's wrist and pried her hand off, then twisted her hips to launch a side kick into her ribs. Before Lily could even finish her scream, Temperance twirled around and sunk her elbow into Lily's gut, and followed up by smashing the back of her fist into Lily's nose.
As Lily crumpled onto the branch, clutching her nose and her chest, Subeta looked down at her and smirked. "Wow, Lily. Guess you needed to take your own advice."
"OK, we're an hour into our stint into a lethal fantasy world, and Dr. Brennan managed to royally piss off only ONE potentially dangerous local. We're rollin' along just fine," said Camille sarcastically.
Then came a third voice that sounded like it belonged to another fairy. Subeta sounded cheery, Lily sounded frosty, but this one…had a serious edge to it, yet there was unmistakable mischievousness below the surface. "Yes, Lily is quite the standoffish one. Given her…past experiences with humanity, it's not wholly unjustified. Still, I hope she understands the importance of having you six…errr, I mean seven here. Aw, what a cute baby…."
Tearing her eyes from the fairy she floored, Temperance saw a fairy their size with butterfly-style wings like Melany's, and whose body was also adorned with odd markings. Tiger stripes went up and down her arms and legs. The fairy's antennae twitched and her long, purplish hair flowed as she walked toward them.
"And you are?" Booth asked nervously, but he was eyeing Lily as she stood back up, who glared at Temperance indignantly.
The new fairy walked over to Temperance. Temperance was on her guard, in case she pulled anything, but somehow she moved swiftly enough to sidle up and throw an arm around her shoulder. "Hopefully not the only one here who wants more from you than figuring out who killed Shandra, Dr. Brennan," said the fairy brightly.
After Temperance got over her shock, she was about to flip the fairy and knock her on her naked ass. But she obviously sensed what was coming, and swiftly moved out of reach. "Oh, silly me. How quickly I forget about humans and their personal space," said the fairy. "As Lily will no doubt tell you, I'm quite fond of humans, just…not in the way most fairies are. But even after spending decades with them and learning…well, I guess it truly is impossible to know everything."
"OK, not to be rude, but this has been a weird day for everyone involved, obviously," said Booth. He had lowered his gun, but Temperance could tell by his tensed muscles that he hadn't exactly backed down. "Again, just…who are you, now?"
The fairy chuckled. "Again, that stubborn knowledge gap when it comes to human mannerisms. Do forgive me. My name is Exona," she said with a bow. "Shandra was a good friend of mine, and I wish to help in any way I can."
Temperance stared at Exona for a moment. At least here was fairy that didn't see them as food (or so she claimed), but she seemed far more interested in learning about humans and how she solved murders than learning who killed her friend. But her lust for knowledge, living for the pursuit of it…I guess I'm not so different.
Lily was back on her feet, looking thunderous, but Exona turned and narrowed her eyes at her while smiling. That seemed to get Lily to back off. Silence lingered for a few seconds, but then Camille spoke up. "Not to interrupt what I'm sure will be a long lasting friendship, but…any chance we can look the dead fairy and get out of here?"
Exona chuckled again. "Right to the heart of the matter. What's the human word? Workaholic?" quipped Exona. She stepped aside and pointed to a smaller branch several yards away, jutting upwards. Temperance instantly saw the decaying body slumped against it. Again, it struck her how the only thing familiar in this insane world Jora dragged them into was a decaying corpse. It wasn't until Temperance stood right over it did she realize, however, it was unlike any body she'd ever examined. The wings were still attached, dull and chalky, whereas once their sheen could've been spotted a long way off.
"Be grateful for the little things. Our next job involves the weird, perverted stuff Frodo hid under his bed in the Shire, but at least the dead body is in less pieces than our last one," said Angela.
"I don't know what that means." Exona had said it the exact same time at Temperance, and they both stared at each other awkwardly.
"So…how long ago was…the victim found?" asked Booth, his eagerness to get to work also palpable.
Temperance could feel Lily's eyes boring into their backs. "I found Shandra about five days ago. That's when Jora got the idea to schlep the lot of you here."
"Only five days to find the best crimesolving team in all the universe, and send out a gang of kidnappers across it to grab them? Industrious big buggers, aren't you?" jabbed Hodgins.
Temperance paid them no mind, instead focusing on the dead fairy in front of her. If not for the wings and the drooping antennae, it would have been indistinguishable from any corpse she had examined in the past. But the victim not being human didn't matter. At that moment. Tempereance doubt it would have even mattered if this fairy abstained from eating her kind, as everyone claimed.
Temperance's life was one based upon evaluating cold hard evidence, and putting absolute trust in her own intellect. No jumping to conclusions, no banking on instinct. Yet every time Temperance was faced with another dead body, it sparked something inside her. Whenever a body was found like this, Temperance sensed the deceased had secrets that had to be told. The sciences were how she deciphered those secrets, but something inside her always drove Temperance to apply them…
And Temperance couldn't recall the last time that feeling was as strong as when she knelt before this fairy.
"Dr. Brennan," she heard Camille say. Looking up, Temperance saw her offering a box of rubber gloves, something she held onto while Melany took everything else to this 'Giant Tree'. Temperance stared at the box for a moment, then, after making her decision, ripped it open to take out a pair.
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Lily didn't know what hurt more: her ribs, her gut, her nose…or her pride. To think a human could catch her flatfooted like that! Oh, this Temperance Brennan would be sprouting leaves by now if everyone didn't insist they needed her so bad. Still, if any of these humans pushed her too far….
Another thing that vexed her was how amicable Exona was toward these humans. They knew nothing about fairies, or Felarya in general…could any of them be trusted to not try anything stupid while they were their size, the moment their backs were turned? This one called Booth hadn't hesitated to draw his weapon. Yet Exona seemed ready to invite these buggers to stay at her haunt in Kortiki Town!
Lily had been glaring at Exona so long, she failed to notice Brennan kneeling beside Shandra. The dark-skinned human, the one who looked eerily like Milly…she offered Brennan a box with these weird blue gloves….
Lily wasn't sure how she knew, but when Temperance Brennan put on those gloves and started running her hands over Shandra's remains, Lily realized a line was crossed. There was no turning back for this human. For better or worse, the humans just threw in with them.
"Judging from the width of pelvic girdle and the shape of the mandible, the victim is definitely female. If the victim were human, the facial bones would indicate some Caucasian features," Brennan said to no one in particular. This human's cold, methodical way of doing things was infuriating Lily all over again. This was a fellow fairy, and this human was rambling about Shandra as if she were just another archaeological find! Lily's ire rose even more when Brennan ran hands over the exposed ribs, then pried Shandra's mouth open. Some maggots crawled out onto Brennan's fingers, but she shoved them back inside, unperturbed. "Odd…I'm having a little trouble narrowing down age from the victim's dentition and level of fusion of the manubrium."
Lily snorted, ready to…oh, what was the term these humans used? 'School' this Dr. Brennan about how things in Felarya worked? But Exona beat Lily to it. "That may have to do with Felarya's affect on certain living things. Did…no one explain how Felarya's magic affects the immune systems of some animals?"
"Well, Bones was a little too hung up on the how-can-hundred-foot-behemoths-not-get-crushed-by-their-weight thing to ask," said Booth delicately.
Exona smiled and nodded. "We…can get into that later. But for now, it's important to know that the ambient magic in Felarya's soil affects certain beings. In essence, enhancing their immune systems. Injuries like broken bones and lacerations heal at a faster rate in Felarya, and even faster if you're touching the ground. It's one of the few things here that can entice humans. This also makes most animals more or less immortal."
These 'Jeffersonians' were taken aback by that, as if rethinking their reluctance to take this 'case'. Lily snorted again. Dangle some shiny object in front of humans, appeal to their greed, and they'll always dance.
Booth rubbed his lower back. "So…if I stick around here, my back problems may just…fix themselves?"
"And what about my pregnancy?" Brennan asked, suddenly sounding concerned. "How will this affect our child?"
"Well, unless you get run through by a tonorion, I don't think you have anything to worry about," said Exona. "In fact, the longer you stay here, and not get eaten, the better health your baby will have upon being born."
"The ultimate prenatal care, just from sitting around converting oxygen to carbon dioxide. Where was this sweet deal during my pregnancy?" Angela sniped.
Brennan turned back to Shandra's corpse. "But in the meantime, it makes determining the victim's age far too complicated. And somehow, I doubt fairies keep dental records, or use any surgical implants we can track through serial numbers."
What's this human blabbing about!? This HAS to be Shandra! Lily fumed inwardly. She told herself she shouldn't be surprised. Humans could be insufferably fastidious about certain things, and identifying people beyond any doubt obviously was one of them.
While Lily racked her brains for something to satisfy Brennan's curiosity and get the anthropologist to move on, Angela spoke up. "This is where I come in. After piecing together that violinist's face after it was introduced to a train, I'm due for a facial reconstruction I can breeze through."
Lily stared at Angela. "A…'facial reconstruction?'" she repeated dubiously.
"Yeah, Sunshine. It's what I do. Of course, without the Angelatron, I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. But if I can't do a sketch of the victim's face with so much muscle still intact…I'll eat my husband," said Angela.
"Yeah, well…HEY!" cried Hodgins.
Booth clasped his hands together. "OK, now we're getting things moving," he said, eager to change the subject. "So, who's up next?"
Camille and Hodgins knelt down beside Brennan. "Good thing this weird immune-boosting aura doesn't work AFTER death," mused Camille. "Judging from tissue decomp, and given how this body was isolated from larger carrion eaters and mostly insulated…I'd estimate time of death to be nine to eleven days ago."
Hodgins snapped on some gloves. "But don't forget, we're on some alien world. There's so many variables we don't know about. What's the average humidity here? What's acceleration due to gravity? What sort of new microorganisms will be involved in decomp? What kind of awesome new bugs are just waiting to be…."
"Just figure out how your new bug friends can give us time of death, will you?" snapped Booth.
Hodgins ignored Booth as he ran his fingers through Shandra's stringy, clumpy hair. It was getting harder for Lily to just watch as these humans poked and prodded all that remained of her friend. "There's probably an assload of pollen and insect parts I can isolate just from her hair," he said at length. "But like I said, the problem is that I have no data whatsoever on the flora and fauna of this world. I got nothing to cross-reference any findings with."
"That can be fixed," said Exona brightly. "Again, I'd like to help in any way I can. I guess I could be the most use as a liaison between you six and any friendly predators, especially the fairies. I could organize a whole squad of fairies to scour all of Felaryaand collect samples of anything you need."
"Soil samples, water samples, pollen samples…and that's just the beginning," said Brennan absentmindedly. She was still touching at staring at all the places where the flesh rotted off, exposing bone. Lily wondered just what Brennan hoped to find.
"I'm sure we can round up enough fairies for the job. I'm sure they'll all be willing to lend a hand." Exona glanced over at Lily and flashed a teasing, wry smile. Lily could only glower back at her.
"That won't help me much. I'd need a database of all the common toxins and drugs used in Felarya, along with a database to compare any DNA results I get," said Camille. "My only consolation is that most of the organs are intact, and I'll have no shortage of tissue to work with."
"Long story short, all the squinty stuff is gonna take a bit longer to make sense of. Fine," Booth cut in. "In the meantime, let's try to figure out some other things." He looked over to Lily. "Did it seem like Shandra was having any trouble lately? Did she mention having problems with anyone? Anyone who would want to hurt her, anyone maybe mad enough to kill?"
"Of course not!" snapped Lily. "Shandra could never hurt anyone, not even humans! That's part of the reason she never eats your kind!"
"But if she had human friends, she probably wouldn't tell you about them, knowing your reaction," said the skinny, boyish human Lily heard was called Sweets. Lily had to smirk at the irony in that name. "Given how vast everyone says Felarya is, and how you fairies seem to go off on your own often, it's possible she had human contacts no one knew about."
"Which makes our chances of finding a fairy killer even more remote, which were already slim, considering there's a good chance he was eaten already. Joy," added Camille.
Booth kept his gaze fixed on Lily, but then turned to Sweets. "So, got anything else for us?"
"We already know this stretch of the forest was one of Shandra's getaway spots. The fact that she even came here would signify a great deal of distress on her part," said Sweets. "But I don't have enough data to work with. The other murders in this Negav…we know too little about those. And I need to be able to put myself in the victim's mindset, but…I-I-I was never trained to think like someone who's not even human, let alone someone with the potential to EAT humans. And I doubt there are any resources on fairy psychology." Sweets occasionally cast glances at Lily, looking apologetic. Lily wasn't sure what to make of that, but somehow, she couldn't get as irate at Sweets as with the others.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Dr. Sweets," said Exona.
"There…are publications on fairy psychology?" asked Sweets.
Exona smiled. "Better. I know someone who's a living repository of anything related to fairies: Mezzus."
"Has anyone noticed a puncture mark near the proximal end of the victim's lower left…wing?" Brennan suddenly asked. It obviously took effort to get that last word out. Everyone stepped closer to Shandra's body, and sure enough, there was a slit right where Brennan had indicated.
"Hmmm, this could be how Shandra was incapacitated," said Exona.
"By not being able to fly?" asked Hodgins.
Lily sighed. "I guess you humans will find out eventually: a fairy's biggest weakness is the wings. If those get injured, our ability to harness magic is impaired, and forget shifting sizes."
"With my limited knowledge, it's impossible for me to tell if this injury was sustained perimortem or postmortem," Brennan went on. At least she admitted she didn't know everything. "I also see no evidence of defensive wounds along the ulnar lengths, but I'll need to examine the remains more closely to rule out defensive wounds on other sites."
"So…where are we transporting the body, and more importantly, how?" asked Booth. "We'd have to remove this whole damn branch, which is the length of a hockey rink."
"And…we haven't exactly decided if we all want to stay in the creepy fantasy universe with giant man-eating ladies, have we?" Camille added.
"Security won't be an issue. At the Giant Tree, there's a plethora of predators who can easily protect all of you. Even the most notorious predator in Felarya is there, and she'd lay down her life without a second thought," said Exona. Unsurprisingly, that did little to assuage the humans' anxieties.
"And, well…I'm up for identifying a slew of new fungus and insect species," said Hodgins. "If this place is half as bizarre as everyone says it is, the papers I could write…."
OK, so money and power isn't ALL that motivates these humans, Lily noted.
"And I wouldn't mind staying long enough to see if this voodoo dirt aura really DOES fix bad backs," said Booth. "But there's still the problem of getting this whole branch off this tree and transporting it to this giant one…."
Up until now, Subeta had stayed quiet. But that instantly changed. "Oh, that'll be easy!" Subeta flew off the branch. Then, right before the humans' astonished eyes, she swelled to her maximum size.
Brennan, in particular, looked horrified. Not because Subeta could now easily gobble them all up, but just from the act of size-shifting itself. No doubt it defied everything Brennan thought she knew. Get used to it fast, Dr. Brennan, or you won't be much use to anyone here, human or fairy, Lily thought to herself.
As if that weren't enough, Subeta raised her left arm, and slashed the air with her gloved hand. At once, the branch was severed from the tree, as if a giant, invisible sword had sliced it off. All the humans yelped as the branch began to fall, but Subeta caught it and flew up, heading back toward the Giant Tree.
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Felarya character credits:
Crisis, Anna Demorah, Temi, Léa, Lily, Belletia, Melany, and Subeta belong to Karbo
Milly, Isham, Elia, Calina and Pal Sebrit belong to FrenchSnack
Jora belongs to Ravana3K
Remus vir Patstriker and Xanthe belong to NickInAmerica
Katrika belongs to Zoekin3
Milia Moonlieth belongs to vaderaz
Exona, General Garrardo and Shandra belong to yours truly, Grey-X