Chapter 3: The Great Forests

Titania knelt over the tree and placed both hands on it tenderly. Nuada stood but a pace away and watched. He felt grief for her as her face twisted in pain and she closed her eyes. She breathed harshly and began trembling as she moved her hands down to where Donovan's body had fallen earlier that day. Wink had been told to remove it and allow the other creatures to pay respect to him before his burial. Still, it was plain that Titania could feel his loss and she was sorrowing for the tree as well. There had not been any instances of destruction in the forest since her induction into the sisterhood as the Ostara. This was, of course, part of her existence and duties now, but being faced with such a horrible stain on what had been returned to innocent after her brush with death felt like dying all over again. She groaned and leaned forward, beginning to sob loudly. Nuada moved to kneel in front of her and took hold of her shoulders.

"It is passed, Titania, you must remember that," he said firmly. She sobbed and looked away, tears streaming down her pale cheeks as more of the tree's spirit departed. Nuada frowned and continued to hold her shoulders as firmly and comfortingly as he could. "There was nothing that could have protected them, Titania. This is what man does to the forests."

She shook her head firmly and gripped the remnants of the brittle bark on the tree. It crumpled into her hands like flesh and disappeared with a passing breeze. She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking directly into his. "She had lived for so long, but she wasn't ready to die," she whispered. "She was terrified . . . so frightened. She knew that Donovan was going to die with her."

"All trees possess a foresight into their own demise. It is part of what makes them strong and solemn," he explained. Titania loved knowledge and he hoped that giving her more information would deter her from any further vicarious trauma or mourning. She released her grip on the tree and gently placed her hands over his. He hid the trace of a smile that moved through him at feeling the tree's spirit and the earth's energy still lingering in her palms. He had been guided to her for this purpose, he had known it from the beginning . . . or at least fairly close to the beginning. "Did you see anything about the humans that were in the forest, Titania? That is what we must know. We must know who they are in order to destroy them before they destroy anything else."

"Hasn't there been enough destruction?" she suddenly shouted. Nuada winced a little at her words and looked at her in surprise. She squeezed her eyes closed another moment and shook her head before taking another deep breath. "I'm sorry, your majesty. This is not new, but this perspective is. I wish I could share this and at the same time I wish I could remove it from myself."

"Gifts are wonderful and terrible things, like so many of what we have on earth through magic. What is said of visions and dreams could be said of empathy, illusion, healing, and love," Nuada said soothingly. Titania nodded slowly, still looking entirely unsettled by the ordeal. Part of the prince turned king regretted having sullied her peaceful morning and, indeed, her peace within the forest itself. It would never be quite the same for her to be among the trees after feeling the death of one, but it was necessary. He was relieved that he was present for her first realization of this duty, but it pained him to see her grief all the same. Titania began to stand slowly and Nuada did the same, watching carefully to make sure that her footing would hold. "Do you feel anything else, see anything else?"

She breathed deeply and raised her eyes to meet his own. A chill moved through him as he noted that her eyes had changed from their usual emerald colour into an odd lavender that seemed to pulse as a cloud within her irises. Her eyes were glowing with a force of magic he had not yet seen in her. The gifts of the Ostara had been manifesting more and more over the past three years, but he had not seen them manifest to this magnitude this quickly. Titania was, after all, quite young and still had a humanity about her. He had not expected this kind of reaction from her for another decade or so. He reached out toward her carefully and she moved forward, walking past him. He watched and began to follow quickly. "A symbol," she muttered. "There was a symbol . . . Abe should see it."

(*)

"What? That's not possible!" Red exclaimed as Manning stood at the head of the conference table in front of him with a beige folder bearing bad news. "Isn't that what Meyers and his team are up there protecting us from?"

"They're observers, not really equipped to handle things like you do," Manning explained uneasily. Liz sat beside her husband, arms crossed firmly with an equally firm expression. She had grown even more austere as a mother toward the demon while trying to maintain a nurturing persona with their children. "We're going to need you and Krauss to go and check in with them and bring back whoever has settled in."

"They said it looked like an explosion had taken place near a settlement that looked like it was a Nazi lab that just disappeared the next day; are you sure you want to send Krauss in for something like that?" Red added.

"For that last time, agent Hellboy, I am Austrian and not a Nazi," the voice of the entity said defensively from the other side of the table. "And agent Meyers reported that the disturbance seems to have the same energy surrounding it that was present in your encounter with Grigory Rasputin. If that is true, then he will likely try to open the gate to the Ogdru Jahad once more."

"Actually, my feelings tell me that he may be more concerned with something a little different this time. He did summon Sammael during our last encounter which might bring him to the realms of Nergal more than the Gods of Chaos," Abe interjected. Nuala sat quietly beside him looking a little out of place while seated with Leopold watching the other trained agents intently. She had insisted since he had been old enough to walk and speak that he learn as much of the life he would lead as possible and insisted that he would lead his father's life as well. Nuada had tried to insist that the boy would be a member of court only, but the princess continued to assert that as the child of an agent for the bureau, he had a responsibility to learn the life of a trained agent first and then, should he decide that it was important . Leopold stared wide-eyed at the others and remained silent in his mother's arms. He was always fascinated by the interactions of the vast array of personalities here in such a sterile environment. Nuala felt him place a hand on her chest and he turned to lay against her. She shifted uncomfortably and grasped Abe's hand for reassurance. "We should begin research on Assyrio-Babylonian creatures to be prepared for anything he might be conjuring."

"We're not even sure if Rasputin was the one Meyer's saw. It was through binoculars and at a great distance in a snowstorm," Manning corrected. "We're just going to send you two up there to check things over and make sure that nothing horrible is on the horizon for us."

"There is always something horrible on the horizon for us," Liz muttered unhappily. She turned and looked at Red then smiled. "That's why we've got the big guns on hand."

"There will be no weapons that can be used against anyone in the service of Nergal or his minions," Nuala said softly. Abe turned and looked at her with concern. She pulled her hand away, not wanting him to see her deeper fears as they surfaced in her mind. Abe frowned. "I do not foresee that kind of evil rising against us any time soon."

"Well, no offense, but you're not exactly entitled to give pertinent information about, well, anything for the time being," Manning corrected, still a little peeved for having the she-elf and her child at the bureau without proper paperwork or limitations put on them to keep them out of meetings. Abe shot him the most angry look he could manage as Nuala lowered her head. Leopold placed a hand on her cheek and whispered something to her. Manning ignored the child's voice, oddly resonant in the room. "You two will leave at 0800 hours. Comprende'?"

"I'm telling you, this is a waste of time," Red muttered.

"And I think we would do well to explore all possibilities for the time being," Krauss corrected. "Be ready to disembark first thing in the morning."

"Perfect," Red groaned. Liz placed her hand gently on his arm as they stood to leave. He put his arm around her and softly patted her side. "At least there's still a few hours before lift-off."

"Are, Red, there are a few hours left," Abe said half to himself as he took Nuala's hand gently. Leopold looked up at his father as Nuala rose. "Come, Nuala. You look troubled."

"Are you going with them, Abraham?" she asked. Her eyes moved nervously to and fro as she waited for the answer. Leopold shared his mother's concern, but seemed to harbor a little more excitement in his enormous eyes.

"I cannot handle those temperatures. Red and Dr. Krauss will be on their own this time, I'm afraid," he replied. Nuala gave a soft sigh of relief and gripped his hand a little more tightly. Abe smiled, enjoying the she-elf's presence now more than ever. The thought of losing her to a war with evil that was beyond her people was mortifying. She still seemed a little distant; even with Leopold safely cradled in both arms she appeared as timid as the day they had met after being reminded of the presence of creatures like Rasputin. This time Nuala was afraid of something very dark and very real, more dark and perhaps more real than her brother. He led the way back to the library. There were questions that needed answering and perhaps that would soothe them both. He watched the princess find her way to the bookshelf filled with the tomes of the greater English poets. He gazed in silent adoration as her delicate, pale hands selected a large, green volume containing the works of Browning. Leopold lovingly stroked the cover and then turned back to his mother muttering 'maeie mauat, maeie(i)'. She looked at Leopold a little unhappily.

"Why do you not say 'peace' or 'calm' if that is what you mean, little one?" Nuala asked her son. Leopold frowned at her and suddenly dropped his head against her chest, continuing to mutter the strange words. She sighed heavily and set the book on her lap in front of him as she looked up at Abraham. "This phase is not as short lived as Dr. Krauss predicted. I worry that he will never learn another tongue as long as he lives."

After the boy had expressed a curiosity for the new language (following an instance of spending quality time with the twins and Uncle Red), Abraham had taught his son a little of the Naa'vi(ii) tongue only to find that the boy would speak nothing else in the coming months. Leopold had searched all the materials his father had acquired on the subject and, possessing a similar gift to his father's, took to the words and manner of speaking like a fish to water or rather like a fish to an elf. The boy seemed to have an affection for the language that Abe could not quite understand and it was growing a little irritating for the princess to be unable to communicate at all times with the boy. Dr. Krauss had proposed that this was a developmental phase and that Leopold might have identified with the Naa'vi because they were the only beings he had ever seen that looked vaguely like his father. The Nuala hadn't chastised Red for the viewing of the film(iii) when she and Liz had spent some time speaking quietly in the library while he watched all three children including his own, but she did harbor a tiny measure of resentment for it after its lasting effect on her son.

"Well, he's still quite young and he is exposed to literature and languages from many regions," Abe said reassuringly.

Nuala sighed and kissed the boy's head tenderly Abe lovingly touched the blonde halo on his son's head with one hand and the pale hair on his wife's. She smiled peacefully at him, relieved no matter what to be in the presence of someone so strong in body and mind. He smiled back and watched her fluidly open the book and flip past a few pages, her fingers grazing the edge of each poem as if dancing with the lyrics. He marveled at the lyrical quality in her voice as she recited to Leopold. The boy sighed, smiled, and closed his eyes as he rested against his mother. Abe felt truly warmed by this sight and the feel of them both. Red was right, he was in love. He knelt beside them, calculating exactly how much time he had left before he had to return to water for a short time. Questions could be asked and answered later. Now, it was time for more pleasant things.

(i "Maeie mauat, maeie" pronounced mah-way-uh mah-what, mah-way-uh. Naa'vi: 'be calm, mother, be calm'.

ii Naa'vi: race of individuals indigenous to Planet Pandora known for appearing tall, blue, and muscular.

iii AVATAR)