A/N: Thanks again to my reviewers, whose reviews remind me to continue writing!
Thanks again for the inquiries into my health; I have in fact recovered, but the diagnosis is still unknown. I blame the other people in the dorm growing (unintentional) biology experiments in their rooms.
This chapter has a lot to do with necessity. I've tried to figure out how to best do the scenes, and some of them I will admit worked out better than others. But it's been a year on this saga, so it will have to come to an end soon.
I plan to get to 10 chapters, so bear with me. I'm not very good at dragging things out too long, so hopefully the next three chapters will excite.
Other than that, I hope you enjoy it! Please review if you like or dislike.
Alex walked into the castle, expecting to be ambushed by his doting parents. Slightly annoyed, he noticed that they had left for the night leaving him a note welcoming him home.
He walked up the steps to the library. He planned to find someone to give his story to- meanwhile he would use the information he had gleaned from Titania to go and find his mentor. He was going out with Wanda... And he needed to be left alone for a few days...
Instead, he'd be rescuing Puck. If everything went according to plan.
Alex walked right into something. Immediately Angela and Goliath stopped talking and looked at him gravely. Alex turned to his left and noticed that there was another person in the room- Warren, a.k.a. Angel. Angel looked at him curiously.
Alex immediately thought of the kiss. Had they been watching? Do they think this is some semi-normal human plot against those with wings?
"Uh...hi?" He said cautiously.
Goliath's eyes narrowed. "Did you enjoy our conversation on the skiffs earlier?" The gargoyle said, rather savagely.
Alex's blood froze. There was nothing like the anger of a gargoyle to completely kill your nerves. He thought quickly. "...Goliath... we didn't really talk at all on the skiff..."
Immediately, the tension broke. Angela beckoned him in. "I'm sorry we had to be like that..."
Goliath sighed. "We weren't sure if they planned on replacing you too."
"Replacing?"
Quickly, Angel recounted the entire happenings while they had been on Avalon. "We planted a tracking bug under Lex's belt buckle, hoping Proteus wouldn't figure it out-"
"Whoa, wait. You think Proteus is the one behind this?"
Angel balked a little. "Yes. That's who I saw take Brooklyn."
Alex became incredulous. "You really think Proteus could come up with all this? Proteus can't make clones. Seriously, this has Thailog-"
"Alex." Goliath said sternly. "We know Proteus is involved. We have no reason to believe that Thailog, Demona, or anyone else could be involved. We have to go with what we know."
Alex was fuming. This is exactly what Thailog wanted them to think! Alex looked at his winged companions and he saw it written all over their faces- they thought he was obsessing again. Angel had picked up as much from the few visits he had had with the clan in the past few months. Alex felt them bristle at the mere mention of Thailog, and he could hardly blame them. Alex had talked of nothing else ever since Puck was abducted. Alex knew there was no way he'd be able to get to Thailog alone- he had to involve the clan. But the way things were going, the clan and Angel were beginning to distrust him as if he were crazy.
That is was Thailog wanted. He wanted them to leave Alex out of their plans.
Like hell.
Alex sighed. "You know, what? You're probably right..." Alex said thoughtfully. He noticed Goliath looking at him suspiciously, so he knew he had to sell this right. "It's just, in the past few months, I've been searching for a break in finding him. When you told me what had happened, I couldn't help but get excited. But you are absolutely right. Our friends are in danger, and we need to go help them, going on what we know.
"I will tell you though, this subterfuge has trap written all over it."
He paused, hoping that they would buy it.
Angela's eyes softened, Goliath relaxed and Angel nodded. Angel continued: "Lex and I figured that much. We wanted to try and ambush the trap by figuring out where they had taken everyone else, but the trace we put on Lex stopped working when he was replaced."
"So we're left exactly where we started..." Angela said with a hint of hopelessness.
Alex's heart skipped a beat. "Did you try doing a back-trace on it by pinging it's data-ram?" Alex said, knowing that what he just said made no sense.
Angela and Goliath stared back with blank eyes. "Lex was always the technological one..." Goliath said dumbly.
Warren tilted his head at Alex. "What do you mean by that?"
Alex felt his stomach lurch. His bluff was being called. "Uh... It's something Lex taught me a while back." Believable. "I only question it because if Proteus knew there was a trace, he would probably use it to lead us into the trap, not block us from getting in." Even more believable. He must of inherited lying through his teeth from his father.
Goliath nodded in agreement. "That's very true. Alex, can you check it on Lex's computer?"
Alex tried to seem not so eager. "I...I think so. It might take me a minute to remember Lex's passwords." Alex could almost laugh. What Lex could program, Alex could always undo with magic.
He stepped over to the computer, noting Angel's continued look of confusion. Alex started typing random commands and infused the monitor with a little bit of magic to pull up the trace-prompt. He manged to figure out what it would look like if Lex's program really was working (which it was not) in case Angel knew what to look for. Alex knew he had succeeded when Angel gave a short gasp.
"You did it! Look, there is the trace... Lex is... approximately 20 miles from here in upstate New York."
Alex printed off the map with the tracer on it. He handed it to Goliath. "I'll help out in any way I can." He said, sincerely.
Goliath nodded. "Let's get out here."
Elisa was sleeping when she awoke to her cat hissing at something. She slowly reached for her gun and holster on her nightstand, and was rather dismayed to find that it was not there- she had left it in the living room. She opted for her lamp instead.
She tiptoed to her bedroom door and peeked out.
There stood a ghostly form of her father. A younger form of her father. And it was pleading with Cagney to shut up.
She opened her door and leaned against the door frame. "Hello, Coyote." She said, matter-of-factly, putting down the lamp on an end table.
Coyote looked up and smiled, giving Cagney the chance to pounce on the astral figure. The cat was rather surprised, however, when it fell right through the form of Coyote. Thoroughly displeased, Cagney ran off past Elisa, into her bedroom and under the bed to sulk.
Coyote laughed. Elisa scowled. "So I guess you aren't really here..." She said, impatiently.
Coyote smirked. "It's true. Oberon's gathering still has not ended, so I can't really leave yet."
"Geez, how long do those things go on for?" Elisa asked strolling right past the ghost in her living room, to the kitchen to get some milk.
Coyote-ghost sat down on her couch. "Oh, I don't know. Usually until something more interesting happens."
Elisa drank right out of the milk carton. In an afterthought, she poured some on a saucer walked back into her bedroom, putting it next to her bed. Cagney stared at it suspiciously before complying and coming out from hiding.
She turned back on Coyote. "So to what do I owe this 'encounter?'"
He leaned forward a little. "It concerns a little bet I made..."
Elisa rolled her eyes. "It. is. 2. 30. in. the. morning. Please come back when you have something more interesting for me to hear." She spun on her heals and was about to slam the bedroom door on her guest.
"Elisa, wait! Eons ago, now, the tricksters got fed up with Puck always getting picked for Oberon's assignments. Many of us were getting bad reputations in our own realms, but Puck had managed to maintain his as a harmless trickster. Loki especially was jealous by this, so he challenged Puck that he would never have any real effect on Avalon."
Elisa slowly let go of the door and walked into the living room. She sat on a chair opposite of Coyote, looking nonplussed, but also not hostile.
"Now telling any trickster, let alone Puck, that all their tricks would mean nothing in the end is quite a statement to be said. We immortals often have to keep each other busy with duels and challenges of this nature. However, this challenge was personal and Puck took great offense. So he called up all the tricksters to take part in seeing who would win."
"As interesting a story as this is, I really don't care about a bet-"
Coyote sighed. "But don't you see? The bet is to see whether Puck can change the future."
Elisa looked at Coyote, then rolled her eyes. She rolled her hand as if to say 'continue, go on.'
So he did. "Everyone said it could not be done. The future was ruled by fate, etc... In addition, the future that was in place was the best one we fay could hope for. Would Puck really have the guts to try and change what Oberon decreed as the best?
"Well, Puck has already won the bet. Way back when, the future we were seeing said that the Spanish Armada would defeat Queen Elizabeth. Yet somehow, SOMEHOW, Puck manipulated events a la butterfly effect (literally, I think) to cause the Armada to be wiped out by a massive storm. England became a world power, followed by the United States, etc. Puck managed to change all this without interfering at all. Had he, Oberon would not have wasted a second in dealing with Puck.
"Puck was the obvious winner, but Loki could not let it stand. He furthered the bet, extending to Oberon's actual lineage.
"Now everyone already knew that Merlin wanted nothing to do with the throne, but there was talk that a new heir might be born. It would be raised on Avalon and succeed Oberon when the time came.
"Now, thanks to Puck (and the clan, we mustn't forget), Alexander was born and was not raised on Avalon. Again, bet won. But then things began to fall apart.
"The future that we had striven for in our entire existence with all of the races surviving until the end has disappeared. In it's place is a whole number of possible futures, most with the extinction of the humans, the gargoyles, and yes, even the fay."
Elisa's eyes danced. "How does it feel? To not know the future? To not know if you will live or die tomorrow? To not know if everything will work out okay?"
Now Coyote scowled. "I can understand a human's displeasure with not knowing the future. But also, I think many humans find comfort that they are not entirely responsible for their ultimate fate.
"Now, thanks to Puck, Loki, Oberon, or someone or something else, that is no longer the case."
Elisa sat there, tired, lonely, and depressed, and now her father's likeness was telling her that she was entirely responsible for her fate. "So what is the redeeming factor?"
Coyote's features became more grave. "Tonight, many things could change for the worse or the better. I want you, with your knowledge of what's at stake, to go and help Goliath with his quest."
Elisa laughed softly. "No pressure, right?"
Goliath, Angela, Angel, Alex, and Broadway (after updating and confirmation that he was in fact Broadway) flew towards the marked spot on the map Alex had manged to produce. They flew over downtown, the night life just getting started in some places. They happened to fly over Elisa's flat when Goliath stopped gliding in mid-air and attempted to hover over the apartment.
Angela looked back to see that Elisa was standing on her balcony in her signature red jacket, waiting to be picked up.
"What do you mean, gone?" Thailog growled into a receiver.
"They just disappeared! They are nowhere in the castle..."
Thailog crushed the receiver in his hand. Puck looked on with mute amusement.
"Thailog!" Screeched Proteus. "Thailog, they're here!"
"WHAT?" Thailog stood, throwing the receiver down on the ground. "Howcould they figure it out? Yousaid we would be impregnable!" He pointed a clawed finger at Puck's face.
Puck replied, "I really did wonder why you sent them to Avalon..."
Thailog snarled in rage. He snapped his fingers and there appeared both the clones and the true forms of Brooklyn, Hudson, Lexington and Bronx. He smiled in wicked way. "Despite all my planning," he addressed the medley of organisms before him, "we have unexpected visitors. Things will change a little. I suggest you start fighting, as when Goliath and company get here, they are most likely going to confuse who is who...giving the clones a chance to live."
Thailog grabbed Puck and ran off towards another part of the castle. Planting him there would make it so that little brother would have trouble finding him...
Goliath and company walked into the castle warily. Alex sensed the magic emanating from the walls, but he kept silent. Goliath felt uneasy, not only because the the noises they were following were that of a battle, but because Elisa was walking beside him as if nothing had happened between them.
Goliath looked at the raven-haired human beside him. How the odd circumstances had thrown them together. And how they had torn him apart.
Goliath was tired. Things were never working out anymore. Year after year, he missed the old life he had had back in medieval Scotland. But even then, when he thought of the one beside him...
It was always Elisa.
Demona was smart and beautiful, strong and courageous, but she just wasn't Elisa. Even in her younger years, Demona had a streak of darkness in her.
But not Elisa.
Why then was this so hard? Was he really dismissing her because he wanted her safety? Or was it... something else?
He dared to steal a glance at her. Despite it all, everything he had said and done to her, she stood beside him, comfortable and forgiving.
He knew the choice was already made.
Alex, of course, was oblivious to Goliath's inner dialogue. He anxiously started to feel around the castle for magic of some kind... any kind.
It was overwhelmingly Puck. That meant they were in the right place. It also meant that Puck was forced to do some magic that he did not have to do... had it not been for the misplaced intentions of Alex...had Alex been more intelli-
Alex shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts. He could think about that later.
The group came to the room where the scuffle was obviously coming from. Goliath carefully looked around the corner at the battle.
His eyes grew wide at what he saw.
The clones were flawless from ear-tip to claw, facial expressions- everything. He could not tell the difference. He wondered how even Thailog had kept them straight. Oh wait-
"Alex, can you turn into Thailog for a moment?" Goliath said with a wry smirk.
Alex looked shocked then smirked back. "Way ahead of you."
Goliath walked into the throne room. "STOP THIS IMMEDITELY!" All heads turned towards the voice. One of the Brooklyn's decided to give his counterpart one last punch to the proboscis.
"We have captured Thailog, so the end is near..." Everyone in the room smiled and cheered. Goliath found that annoying.
Angela and Angel brought out 'Thailog' in chains. "Release me you imbeciles!" He shouted.
Goliath wanted to laugh, but held his tongue valiantly. "So... which is which, Thailog?" He asked.
'Thailog' rolled his eyes. "Like I would just tell you, 'father.'"
Goliath looked back at 'Thailog.' This wasn't part of the original plan. Why was Alex improvising?
Angela got the hint. She pulled the chains around 'Thailog's' neck to make like she was choking him. 'Thailog' made a good show of coughing and sputtering. "Okay, fine."
"I command the clones to stand over there," he said, pointing to the corner.
One of the Brooklyns, a Broadway, a Lexington, a Bronx and a Hudson stepped to the indicated corner. Goliath smiled proudly. Looking happily at his clan-mates he threw them some chains. "Kindly tie them up." They laughed and were happy to do so, if with a little bit more force than was necessary.
Once they were reprimanded, Alex turned back into his half-fay self, much to the chagrin of the fooled clones. Just then, as all super-villain hide-outs are wont to do, the defense system in the castle acted up, sending out robots, lasers and the like to apprehend the intruders.
Goliath craned his head backwards to yell to Angel, "You should get out while you still can." At the look of rebellion in Angel's face, Goliath added, "We might need some help from the outside..."
Angel nodded and took off. Goliath took stock of his clan, together again. And it included Elisa. But then he noticed-
His reverie was shot down by a laser that grazed his ear. He promptly grabbed the nearest piece of furniture, in this case a chair, and flung it at the source. As the flying piece of wood sailed through the air, he remembered what he had noticed.
Alex was gone.
Alex ran down the hallways, avoiding defense mechanisms from trap doors to constricting walls. One particular little diddy managed to enclose him in a metal net and send him plummeting through a ice cold vat of water. He barely escaped that one, since the metal repelled his magic.
He crawled out of the gauntlet, sopping wet, but his grail at hand. He knew Puck was close.
Thailog had just set off the defense systems when he heard Proteus slinking into the control room. "WHAT do you want?" He spat, nearly tearing apart the creature in front of him.
Proteus cringed only a moment before folding his arms in a smug way. "I have a proposition for you..."
"You're out of luck. I am about to go kill Puck now."
"Nononono, not that," Proteus said as carefully as he could. "This has nothing to do with that..."
Alex walked in to see Puck chained to a chair in the middle of the room.
The moment froze in time for Alex. He could remember everything from that one moment and give it in exact detail.
He had, after all, thought of nothing else for months.
Puck's hair was cut like Owen's, but it still was white. His clothes were dark, nothing like the livery he would wear as a child of Oberon. He sat there, looking older than he ever had, but also just as mysteriously fairy-like. He was looking down at his chained hands that obviously held him captive, and he had yet to notice Alex's presence.
Then he noticed Alex. His piercing blue eyes bored holes into Alex's.
Puck smiled weakly. "Took you long enough."
Alex choked on a cry of happiness as he ran up to his mentor.
But then the shadowy figure that had stood behind Puck the whole time came out into the light.
Puck was just as surprised as Alex was and looked in confusion at the leering clone beside him.
Thailog pulled out large syringe filled with a silver-metallic liquid.
"Liquid Iron." He said simply to Puck, but mostly to Alex.
He grabbed Puck's arm, and just as the fay in his grasp tensed, he stabbed it into his arm. Pain contorted in the fay's face as Alex cried out in horror.
Unable to move, the Puck shivered then fell limp.
