Author's Note: I'm behind. I'm sorry. I still have personal crap going on and a lot of stress. Plus, another story is eating my attention.
Chapter Twenty: Red Wine
Remy stared at the wall he was supposed to miraculously destroy to reach another obstacle. Normally, he'd have his servants knock down the wall and watch their labors with a smirk. Nothing in his life demanded he strain himself. Physical endeavors were beyond him. Technically, this involved brain over brawn, but he hadn't used his brain too often either. How had he done it yesterday? He remembered being frustrated, pushed past his endurance, and then, a small hole had appeared, a hole he had expanded upon.
However, he wasn't pushed to the brink today. Yesterday, it had been sheer desperation. He couldn't afford to concede defeat and Doombringer had to have left Wanda for a reason.
"Wanda?" he called. "That is your name, isn't it?"
She didn't reply and he stared at the hole. Try as he might, he couldn't muster his resentment and anger.
The microphone clicked on. "Yes?"
"What do you think she's going to do to 'Dissimo? I mean, Juandissimo," he said. He was unable to quell his anxiety and his panic carried.
"Do you really want to think about that?" she said. He recognized the conciliatory tone and grimaced. Even if he wasn't her charge, she was still trying to protect him. He didn't need babying. Whirling to face the mirror he couldn't see, he glared at where he thought she was.
"Yes, I do," he said. "I can't succeed unless I have a reason."
"Cosmo escaped," she said. "He might be able to get help."
Remy sneered. "I've heard Dissimo talk about Cosmo. He won't be any help. He'll be lucky if someone doesn't run him over."
"Speculating on what might happen to Juandissimo isn't going to help," she said softly.
He smirked. "You'd tell Timmy if he wished it."
"I'd talk him out of it," she countered. "And I'm not allowed to help you."
"You're not being any help right now," he snapped. "In fact, you might as well not be there."
She groaned and the microphone clicked off. He shivered, chilled inside. Although he didn't particularly care for peasants and their godparents, whatever Doombringer had done to her might be replicated with Juandissimo. It was imperative he find out what she was capable of. All he had to draw upon were his own experiences. Doombringer had isolated him after snatching him, but hadn't done anything else.
"Is she doing anything to the others?" he said.
There was a longer silence this time, not as if Wanda were considering her words but, as if it taxed her to hit the mike button. No, Remy had to be imagining things. His parents, on the rare occasions he saw them, told him he had an overactive imagination. (This was usually related to "you're going to stay for dinner, right?"). Stiffening his upper lip, he glowered.
"I demand you answer me."
"You're not my godson."
He wasn't sure whether she wasn't replying because he wasn't Timmy or because she really didn't want to tell him. Scowling, he folded his arms across his chest.
"Help me without helping me or we'll both suffer," he said.
Another expectant pause and this time, she filled it. "Doombringer has a callous disregard for life. She thinks of people as tools. When you're done with a tool…."
Rage kindled. Panting, he stared at the hole he had created yesterday. It wasn't enough. He had the catalyst, but not the bonfire.
"Then am I Dissimo's tool or is he mine?" he said.
"You're a pawn," she said. "We all are."
Remy had always been powerless. He had masked it by acting like he was in control of everything, when greater forces dominated him. The greater forces kept him away from his parents. They kept him from receiving love except through Juandissimo. True, Remy had money, but what good was money when he didn't have real friends or companionship? What right did Doombringer have to change Fairy World's edict and keep Juandissimo to herself? What right did she have to manipulate them?
The rage burned hotter and he stared at the wall. He thought about what might have befallen Wanda. His parents treated people like they were tools too. Whenever someone ceased productivity, the company dropped them like hot coals. He had done the same thing, but the idea of someone using Juandissimo like that was abhorrent. The rage burned and he felt something he hadn't anticipated. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
He imagined Juandissimo shoved inside the small opening he had created and continually compressed until he was nothing. Then he imagined his parents telling him to discard his purple ferret and had to obey their rules even though they were never present to enforce them, and being stuck in school with no friends, no fairy godparent, and nothing redeemable left. Doombringer had taken the only thing of real value. His hands glowed and he shoved, picturing the wall indenting with his fury and loathing.
He pictured the room beyond the wall and using the plaster to attack Doombringer. Juandissimo wouldn't be behaving strangely like he had before he vanished and Remy was taken. He would be by his side, his beloved, his…Remy's throat constricted. A couple tears streaked his cheeks and Wanda made soothing noises, but he ignored her. He could feel pent up power, along with fear of the unknown and undesirable, and he needed to manipulate it.
Gritting his teeth, he shoved out again and his mind encountered resistance. It was like pushing a crumbling brick wall. With enough force, it should topple. However, the wall had repelled superior efforts and wouldn't break easily. Shaking now, he thrust out with his body, imagining a wave destroying the wall, and everything else faded away. It narrowed down to the wall and Juandissimo. Fear shot through him again and he simply mixed it with power and resentment. Focusing on fear was dangerous.
Nothing mattered but destroying the wall. His body ached and he concentrated, mentally flinging his essence at the wall and weakening the structure. Once he had found the single crack, he could wend the crack throughout the entire structure and bring it down. That was how his father dominated business. He located the weakest link and brought the company to its knees. Hate boiled in his chest and his throat burned. And he pushed, harder than he had focused on anything in his life, not stopping to think about Turner, Turner's godmother, or his imprisonment. It would be so satisfying once the damn wall came down.
"Don't help me!" he screamed, uncertain whether she had spoken. "Don't-"
A magical backlash hit him, taking his breath away. Panting, he looked at his hands, where the purple glow ebbed and flowed. There was a doorway in the wall and it too glowed purple.
From another room, Wanda said, "…I didn't."
He looked up from his hands to the wall. It crumbled into white plaster.
"It's almost noon," Tootie said dispassionately.
"How the heck can you tell?" Timmy said.
"The way the sun moves across the floor," she said. "Haven't you ever heard of sundials?"
"No," he said. The stone wall Timmy was leaning against moved to produce bars and Doombringer appeared on the other side. He yelped, jumping to his feet and his eyes blazing defiance. Tootie stifled a sigh. She loved Timmy, and she admired his courage, but there were times when fighting didn't help.
"You remember Cosmo and Wanda, then," Doombringer said. Tootie jumped to her feet too and folded her arms across her chest.
"Not without a migraine," she retorted.
"There are ways around that," Doombringer said and smiled unpleasantly. "Whatever is hurriedly erased can always be recalled. A certain boy genius should better guard his portals."
The statement meant nothing to Tootie and Timmy's back was to her. He shivered and murmured, almost too low to hear, "Neutron…"
"I'm not saying it will be pleasant," she continued. She smiled cruelly. "Wouldn't you say the payoff is worth it? Now you'll remember whether anyone loved you."
Tootie's mouth dropped and she glowered. "I don't trust you."
"I know," she said, smirking. "But I need you alive. No matter how excruciating it might be, you'd survive. And the pain would only be temporary. The knowledge you were cheated would linger. Timmy stole your godparents, Tootie. They were yours and he stole them. He took the only thing that ever made you happy."
"I make her happy!" Timmy snapped.
Doombringer laughed. "You launch water balloons at her. You go out of your way to avoid her. You lock her in closets. You use her. At least she'd know I was using her. You manipulate her to help yourself. In fact, you might say I'm doing you a kindness, Tootie. I never pretended to like you first."
"That's not fair!" Timmy said.
"Life isn't fair," Doombringer answered. "Isn't that why you have godparents?"
"I'd never betray Timmy," she said.
"You'd never betray the boy who would gladly sell you out," Doombringer retorted. "Admit it, Tootie. You'll never mean anything to him. He wants Trixie Tang and you're second best."
Tootie's heart thudded. She loathed Doombringer and everything she had done. Yet Doombringer's words spoke to the vulnerabilities and fears she concealed, what she might have shared with her godparents.
"Aren't you ten times more miserable?" she said. "You have two parents who are afraid to show you affection. You have a sister who makes your life a living hell. The only outlet you have will never notice you. Isn't it time you took back what was yours?"
"I don't want to hurt Timmy…" she whimpered.
"You won't," she promised. "You'll help him. The more children I have, the easier it will br. No harm, no foul."
"Tootie, she's tricking you," Timmy said.
"Curious how he didn't speak before," she said. "Curious how he didn't defend himself, didn't tell you how you should trust him or that he doesn't hold Trixie Tang in high esteem."
"How do you know so much?" she said.
"When was the last time your mother tucked you in when Vicky was home?" Doombringer said. "When was the last time you heard 'I love you' with Vicky around? When was the last time you were truly happy without it crashing down upon you?"
"I…"
"You're lying!" Timmy snapped. "Okay, yeah, I used her, but to save Cosmo and Wanda. You know our godparents are our weak spots and you're exploiting them. And yeah, I'm in love with Trixie Tang, but I'm ten."
"He admits he favors her," Doombringer said. "You will never be anything in his eyes."
"Stop it," he snapped.
"At least, when you had Cosmo and Wanda, you were someone to them…" Doombringer whispered.
"Why do you need us so badly?" Tootie said sourly. "What's so important you can't get it yourself?"
"Magic is power. Thousands of years ago, Jorgen sealed away the true power and lied to every fairy in existence," she said and smiled insanely. "But I'm the wrong person to ask. If Wanda behaves, I'm sure she could tell you."
"What do you mean, 'if Wanda behaves'?" Timmy snapped. "What have you done to her?"
"Tootie, if you help me, I promise Wanda will stop suffering," Doombringer said. "Everything will be better. All you have to do is let me scan your memories and bring Cosmo and Wanda back."
"Yeah, right," she said hollowly.
"That's all for now," she said. "And look, it's noon. I'll let Timmy work on an exercise while you decide. Don't worry. He'll be fine."
She smiled widely and her teeth gleamed. "He'll be perfectly fine."
"Bullshit," Timmy muttered and, startled, Tootie gawked.
Doombringer crooned, "The child knows how to curse. Did you learn that from your little fairies?"
Timmy glared. "Go to hell."
"Oh and there's more!" she said and laughed. "How entertaining. I wonder if cursing at the obstacles will cause them to spontaneously dissipate."
Timmy's lower lip curled in disdain beneath his bucktooth and his glare looked lethal.
"Come, Timmy Turner," she said and reached out. The bars flickered, becoming transparent, and became opaque once Timmy was beside Doombringer.
"I'll see how wide your vocabulary truly is. Think on it, Tootie. Think of the one-time painful unlocking versus years of attempting with only fuzzy memories and nothing to show for it," Doombringer said. "Think about what it'd be like to remember having godparents who love and care for you. Think about how it'd be to be like Timmy and not on the outside, looking in."
"Think about what it was like to be happy."