Chapter Eleven
Gabriel knew that Mist was waiting to say something, but he waited until all the others had left before he turned to her, still both outside the leisure centre. "What is it?"
"I know I haven't been awake for that long, but I'm pretty sure the world's a big place," Mist answered. "You've sent them to find two of my sisters, but they don't even know where they're going."
Gabriel looked away briefly. "I'm just doing what I'm told." And it annoyed him that he was still following daddy's orders even after all this time. He could try and blame it on the Winchesters, but a small part of him knew better.
"I've lost touch with my sisters," Mist said. "I have no idea what Titania meant about a bleeding tree, but I'm guessing she didn't mean actual blood."
"What else did Titania show you?"
"Only what you already know." Mist looked up and down the street and then back at him. "So what's the plan?"
"You have ice on your eyelashes." Gabriel reached out and touched a gentle finger to the ice, finding it was firmly attached. "Is that a conscious thing?"
Mist held very still, looking at him without blinking. "There's always a trace of ice on me. It's when it becomes more than a trace you need to start worrying about imprisoning me inside ice again."
It occurred to Gabriel that if he moved his fingers down, he'd be touching Mist's cheek. Instead, he brought his hand back. "So I've got to watch you and see where the ice is?"
"Or you could just watch me." Mist stepped backwards. "Where are we trying first? I assume the tree is probably inside a forest or something. We're going to have an awful lot of those to look through to try and find this tree."
"There are these things humans made called computers," Gabriel answered. "They're supposed to be really good for looking up information on. We might find something that way." He stepped closer to her. "Anything I need to look out for when it comes to you turning into some monster that wants to cause an ice age?"
"The more I use my powers, the faster I'll lose myself," Mist explained. "If I don't use my powers at all, I can keep my sanity for perhaps three months. How fast I decline depends on how much of my power I use; the strength of my magic." She turned to face him. "If it happens, you shouldn't wait until the last minute. You need your strength to stop Mab's plans, not in having to battle."
Gabriel reached out and closed his fingers around Mist's wrist. "That means you have to let me do the whole power thing. When Titania blood-bonded with you, did that do anything to speed it up?"
Mist shook her head. "I wasn't using any power at that point. It's just the use of my power which makes my decline even faster. Once we find my sisters, though, it should be easier." She looked down at Gabriel's hand, then up at him. "Are we going?"
Gabriel ported them into the library after making sure that there was no one around who might see their appearance. He let go of Mist's wrists and did a slow turn, noticing the shelves upon shelves of books. "I've never understood humans' fascination with books, enough to build whole buildings to contain them." He noticed some computers on desks and headed over to them, sitting down on one of the chairs.
"Do you even know how to use one of those?" Mist asked, walking over to stand behind him. "They look far too complicated."
"I know you were awake inside the ice – I made sure of it," Gabriel said, looking back over his shoulder at her. "Why are you so ignorant about these things?"
"It's not like I could hear everything. Most sound was muffled, unless someone was standing really close – and inside the fish tank, it was even worse." She sat down on one of the chairs next to Gabriel, watching as he typed. "How do you know how to use a computer anyway?" she asked.
"I've had to adapt," Gabriel replied. "I can get a lot of use out of what humans have come up with." He started typing. "So... It's pretty safe to say that Titania didn't mean a tree that was actually bleeding, since humans would be making a huge deal about that. So maybe we should take a look at trees who are 'bleeding' sap?" he suggested, using air quotes.
Mist frowned, touching a finger to her chin with a thoughtful look on her face. "If one of my sisters has bonded to a tree, it would bleed – it would be her blood – when someone tries to cut it down; to harm it."
Gabriel frowned, wondering just what they would be dealing with if Mist's sister was stuck inside a tree. In fact, out of the four of them, it was likely Mist was the only sane one. Was it possible they'd be insane and uncontrollable? But Gabriel had been shown the only possible way to free the three sisters. He knew it hadn't been a trick.
Though he also knew it probably wouldn't be long before Lucifer found out what was happening. There wouldn't be any way of staying out of the war this time – but Gabriel had made his decision; and even though he would have preferred their dad to step in and put a stop to the fighting, he was prepared to lift his sword again.
But Gabriel didn't want to dwell on that right now. He focused his attention on the computer, typing in several different things before he finally found a message board about a tree that seemed likely; one which had a whole group of humans part of a 'Friends of the Earth' club who had taken on the so-called duty of protecting it. Mother Nature nuts... Gabriel had never been particularly fond of them.
"You found something?"
"I don't know – maybe." Gabriel nodded to the screen. "This looks like it might be likely. It's not far from here, either, which makes sense. You and your sisters probably still have quite a bond; and it makes sense you wouldn't drift too far apart."
Mist just shook her head. "My sisters picked places close together, it's true. But you encased me in ice and dropped me into the ocean."
"It's not like you stayed stationary, though," Gabriel pointed out. "Your ice prison eventually made its way here. I bet you'd be able to tell if one of your sisters was inside that tree." He knew, maybe better than anyone, just what the bonds between sisters and brothers were.
"Maybe you're right," Mist answered. "I suppose it's worth a try anyway. Of course, then we have to worry about whether or not she's gone insane in there..."
Gabriel looked at her. "Guessing I'm not the only one concerned about that, right?"
"How can I not be worried about it? Titania didn't tell us any easy places they would be in. You might have to be prepared to incapacitate them." Mist hesitated before continuing, "No matter what it takes."
"Even if it means putting you back in ice?"
Mist was silent for several long moments and then finally reached a hand out to him. "You need to port us to the tree."
Gabriel nodded and interlaced his fingers with Mist, creating an illusion so that no one would see them when he ported them out of the library.
