Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

AN: And here's the next chapter...just a few more to go. Should I make a sequel?

And speaking of sequels...ICE AGE 5 IS COMING OUT...just rewatched the trailer yesterday. Hopefully there'll be more Shira/Diego in the movie than in the trailer. I looked up the characters, and I went: WAIT, PEACHES HAS A FIANCÉ?! What happened to Ethan or, more importantly, Louis?!

Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 20:
Manny looked up as the cells opened and they were lead out by emotionless Fae guards. Diego was standing there with his arms looking quite pale. A beautiful woman stood next to him, translucent wings fluttering nervously. Her expression was cool, but there was a nervousness in her movements.

"What happened?"

"This is Sylvia Reginald. She's a part of the Fae monarchy." Diego introduced absent-mindedly.

"Wait. Where's Dillon?" Granny asked, glaring at the lady. She knew exactly who Dillon was (what Dæmon-hunter didn't?) and could easily guess who the lady hovering in the air was. It wasn't very hard, exactly. Just take one look at her haughty expression and robes and you instantly knew you were talking to royalty.

"He's gone." Diego murmured. "We need to find him and get him back. Now."

"Why?" Sylvia demanded. "I've released your friends. You agreed to tell me."

"Chapulan was killed with White's life force. Dillon doesn't stand a chance if Chapulan is rising."

"Chapulan?" Granny whispered. "Gods above."

"Who's Chapulan?" Manny asked, frowning. The other two were still talking.

"He is merely following a lead. He's not going to combat Chapulan."

Granny looked at him. "Chapulan is an embodiment of magic. The Council tried, a long time ago, to create a being of magic. One that could work for them and get any rebellions or any traitors out. But it backfired, and Chapulan attacked them instead, destroying nearly a third of the Other world before Dante White tracked him down and slowed him, defeating him and imprisoning Chapulan with his own life."

"No." Diego corrected. "If he's following up on a lead, he is going to face Chapulan at some time."

"Chapulan," Sylvia said forcefully, "Was jailed by White, as you said. He has nothing to fear. Chapulan is locked up."

"Not anymore." Diego murmured. "Someone released him."

"Uh, Diego?" Ellie piped up. "What about your siblings?"

"What siblings?" Sylvia's head snapped to her.

Sensing Diego wasn't going to answer, Ellie answered timidly. "Uh, his siblings. They were captured by someone and held for ransom. If we don't hand Diego over in 72 hours, they'll kill his siblings. Uh, your majesty."

Sylvia's eyes sharpened as she glanced at Diego. "What game are you playing here, boy? Are you here to get my brother to help you or are you trying to save him?"

Diego rubbed his temples. "It's complicated. It just got a lot complicated. We need to get Dillon."

"But Diego, your family-"

"It doesn't matter." Diego snapped. "We have Sylvia."

"Excuse me?" Sylvia asked indignantly.

"You can track down my siblings. We've already established that they are somewhere in the Fae land, but we don't know where." Diego said, distracted. "You guys get my siblings. I need to go and find Dillon."

"Why?" Sylvia demanded. "You have stormed in here, told me my brother was going to die, and now you're demanding I help you find your siblings without justifiable cause. I have every right to keep you in prison."

"Unless you want your brother to die, you'll help me." Diego crossed his arms.

"You don't get to play that card." Sylvia snapped. "Your siblings can die for all I care. But if something happens to Dillon, the Fae monarchy collapses."

"No, the Fae monarchy collapses if both of you are dead without an heir. Which you don't have right now. I can get to Dillon. It'll be easier if I do it myself. You guys settle my siblings."

"But-"

"This is not up for discussion." Diego interrupted.

He gasped as he was slammed into the wall. Hard. And left to choke there as Sylvia approached menacingly. "You do not get to talk to me like that in my own palace, Witch. Dillon is my brother. Why should I trust his life to you, when you have given me no certifiable proof?"

"Dillon is family." Diego hissed.

"He is a Fae. He has no relations to a Witch, much less one like you."

"He is a White." Diego snapped. Sylvia paused for a moment, landing softly on her feet. Her eyes were wide, her mouth parted, struggling to form words. But none came out. Diego fell to the ground, and rubbed his head. Eventually, Sylvia regained her composure and fluttered up again.

"That's impossible. You lie. All the Whites were said to have been wiped out after Dhrym and Dhya White was killed. He had no surviving offspring. His daughter and grandchildren were killed. Dillon's not a White. He's part of the Fae monarchy. He is a Reginald."

Granny had tensed at the name 'Dhrym', but no one noticed much.

"Dillon is a White." Diego hissed. "I don't care what you think, but he is. I am a White. He's family, and Whites don't leave anyone behind." He approached Sylvia. "So you can help me get my siblings back while I get your brother back, or you'll have innocent blood on your hands. And I know for one that Dillon will never look at you the same way if he does."

Sylvia stopped. This boy knew her too well. She would do anything for Dillon. "What do you want me to do?" She snarled.

"Locate my siblings and get them here safely. I'm going to find Dillon and hopefully get him back here. If he has found Chapulan, we're all dead."

"You better get my brother back." Sylvia warned.

Diego gave her a pale smile. He opened a swirling green portal, and stepped forward.

Granny walked to him, her expression solemn. "You better come back alive, with or without that crazy Fae, or else there'll be all sorts of hell to pay."

Diego managed another shaky smile. "So you do care."

And with that, he turned and sprinted forward, leaping straight into the portal without turning back.

"Why didn't he just do that earlier?" Sid wondered.

Sylvia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Where were you?"

"Witches' land." Granny answered. "All sorts of powers were blocked there. And if you use magic in the Medians' land, you'd only risk attracting unwanted attention to yourself. And he didn't have time to get us all out of the borders of the Fae land before we were captured."

Sylvia nodded. "Now, let's go and find your friends, shall we?"

Diana blinked as bright light filled her vision. The outside of the room they had been kept in was filled with white fluorescent lights that flickered. That was strange. It was empty. Looking behind her and keeping a tight grip on Mia's hand, she led the group down the long corridor, muscles tense and ready to use her powers at moment's notice.

She kept her footsteps quiet despite wearing high heels. She needed to get out of here and find Di. If something bad happened to him…she didn't know what she was going to do. At the back of her head, her mind reminded her of Derek, and how she couldn't find anything about him. She quickly shook it off. She had to focus on the task at hand.

Diana frowned as she continued making her way down the corridor. Her eyes caught sight of a door at the end of the hallway. Shrugging and deciding that it was the best route, she looked at Mia to confirm once more.

Mia nodded at her, gripping onto Diana's hand tightly. Diana took that positively, and placed her hand on the knob. She opened it, revealing yet another corridor. That was strange. The corridor looked eerily familiar to the one they had just taken. Diana continued on like this for several more corridors before realising why there was no one around.

They couldn't get out - all the corridors were the same, and it was a roundabout. The way to get out of here was to get a portal out of here…but how were they going to do that?

She looked at her siblings. One young Witch, two Elves, one Pixie, three former Seers, two Dæmon-hunters…this wasn't very positive. Her eyes landed on Jessica, the Witch.

"Jessica, I need for you to make a portal and get us out of here."

Jessica frowned, backing away. "Diana, I've never made that sort of thing before. Only Diego can do that."

Diana growled. "Look, Jessica, we're stuck here unless we get a portal out of here. We're in the Other world - the only way to get out is to use magic. They must've thought that you couldn't be of any help, but you have to be. Austin will help you." she nodded at the Pixie.

Austin nodded, looking nervous. "Sure."

As a Pixie, Austin had the ability to enhance or downgrade the ability of another Other worlder.

Jessica took a deep breath. "Okay."

And she closed her eyes and focused, her hands glowing a bright red.

Stefan had no idea what possessed him to head for the Fae land that one day. Buck had left about a week ago to the Council meeting and hadn't returned yet. Stefan had no idea where Buck was, and was generally concerned for him. There wasn't anyone who could replace Buck.

And since Buck was Dillon's close friend, maybe the Faes would know where the Elf ambassador had left. But why he decided to go that day of all days was surprising, especially considering the amount of work that he had to do. It was as if someone was controlling him, taking ahold of his body and forcing him to go to the Fae land. Stefan was pretty sure that it wasn't the Faes. He had been possessed by a Fae before, and he knew how it felt.

He straightened up, and continued to make his way to the border. The Elves' land barely touched the Fae's land. Stefan found several guards patrolling, and nodded politely at them. The Faes' eyes narrowed at him, and he felt a probing in his mind - gentle, but insistent. He gladly allowed them the information, knowing that they would let him in when they found out his reason.

The Faes nodded in return and continued on their patrol as Stefan conjured up a thick vine and sat on it. Because most of the Fae land was grasslands, it was convenient for Elves to travel to and fro quickly. Stefan enjoyed the wind on his face - until it ended as a bright red portal appeared. He nearly fell off the vine, but kept his balance.

He quickly got into a battle stance in case the people were dangerous.

To his astonishment, twelve children and three adults came stumbling through the portal. One of them looked up at him, clutching at the hand of a young girl. Her eyes widened and she dropped into a hasty bow.

"Lord Stefan!"

Stefan tilted his head. He didn't recognise the woman, and he was fairly certain that she was from the Mortal world. But she was an Elf. Hm. Interesting. "You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"I am Diana, my lord." Diana looked around hesitantly. "Are we…are we in the Fae's land?"

Stefan pursed his lips, and then realised that there was no harm telling them. They didn't seem to want to harm him. And even if they tried to attack him, he could probably take them on. He quickly calculated the odds. One Witch, three Elves, one Pixie, one Median, three that must have been former seers, and two Daæmon-hunters that didn't seem to have any equipment on them. "Yes, we are."

Diana frowned. "Dammit."

"What is it?" Stefan asked. Regardless of whether or not they were rogue, which he didn't know yet, he was concerned at the fact that twelve children were wandering around looking as haggard as the three adults.

Diana looked up. "My siblings and I were captured not too long ago. My brother and his friends were out searching for us. I don't know where he is, and I need to know where he is. The people that kidnapped us are looking to hurt him."

Stefan considered this quickly. All he could sense here was a kindred spirit that cared for her brother. And he was a good judge of character, as he had been told. "Perhaps…perhaps I could lead you to the Fae palace and see if we can get someone to try and locate your brother?"

Diana's eyes brightened. "That would be a lot of help, my lord."

Stefan smiled. "Then by all means," he quickly grew up several vines which folded itself into a solid-looking stood perched on vines. Diana piggybacked the youngest child, and climbed up. Seeing her climb, the others reluctantly followed, looking grew another vine for himself. He got onto it, and then moved both of the plants quickly towards the general direction of the Fae palace.

Many Faes turned to look, staring at the Elf King and the odd bunch that was on the vines, but turned around just at quickly. They were all too familiar with their own monarchs' odd habits to think too much about this.

Stefan slowed down as they were near the palace. The sheer splendour of the palace above never ceased to take his breath away. His own palace, on the contrary, was all made of curling vines that looked beautiful at all seasons. But it contrasted sharply with the metallic and windy Fae palace. The guards halted them and floated down in front of them. Again, Stefan felt the familiar probing in his mind, and allowed it. He had nothing to hide.

He turned, noticing several worried looks from the children. This must be the first time that they had ever experienced a search of the mind from the Fae. The Dæmon-hunters looked weary, but said nothing.

Just at that moment, his eye caught someone leaving, fluttering in the air above them. The Fae had long dark hair that was artfully styled in a messy bun, along with beautiful silk robes and a set of translucent wings he would recognise anywhere. He called out. "Sylvia!" The Fae didn't seem to have heard him, so he called again. "Sylvia!"

Sylvia turned to look down, eyes wide in surprise at the unusual group. Her eyes narrowed, before she beckoned to someone from a ledge, and floated them down carefully. The moment they landed - an unusual group indeed, Stefan thought, to match his own messy group - a grey-haired girl sprinted forward and tackled an older lady.

"Mom!"

A man rushed out to follow her. "Melanie." Hm…her husband.

Melanie smiled at the two of them as Manny quickly got over to hug his mother as well.

Diana frowned when she noticed the group. "Guys, where's Di?"

Shira looked up at her. "Don't know. He went after Dillon in a portal."

"Dillon?" Diana frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Dillon Reginald?"

She got several nods.

"Since when was he on first-name basis with the Prince of the Fae Monarchy?"

"Exactly what I want to know." Sylvia nodded. She noted the resemblance of the lady to the boy that had run out into a portal mere minutes ago. They both had the same light brown hair, same tanned skin and features, but her eyes were a sky blue instead of the startling green she saw in Diego. "Are you his sister?"

"Yes." Diana nodded. Both women looked at each other carefully. Sylvia knew that they both shared a kindred spirit - both had younger brothers, that apparently liked to do reckless things and knew about each other but without their sisters' knowledge.

"He was going after Dillon, who was following up on some leads."

Diana frowned. Now that sounded completely like her brother. If only she knew why he knew the Fae Prince. Stefan was standing at the corner, looking bemused.

"Actually, Sylvia, that was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yes?" Sylvia asked, turning. Diana wondered if there was some sort of relationship between them. They had good chemistry.

"Buck vanished not too long after the last Council meeting. I was wondering if you or your brother had heard from him?"

"He must be with Dillon." Sylvia groaned. "Speaking of the Council, I don't even know why they would send Dillon and Buck on a lead like that."

"That was because they didn't." Shira said bluntly.

"What?" Both monarchs turned to her, confused.

"The Council is corrupt." Shira stated, ignoring the horrified looks. "Diego and I talked about it. Apparently, they're responsible for Dhrym White, Dhya White and Frederick Mason's death. They covered it up. And now they have something to do with Solomon Chapulan, who I'm guessing was who Diego was talking about before."

"The Council?" Sylvia asked faintly. "What?"

"The Council killed Frederick?" Granny asked, fist tightening in rage.

Shira nodded. "Diego and I went over several past dates, the dates from their mortal files that indicated the day they disappeared and were presumed date, and the dates that the Median of the Council filed publicly. We're not a hundred percent sure yet, but we think the Council had something to do with their disappearance, especially after Di found out that Dhrym and Dhya had been in the Witches' Land when they died."

"What was grandpa doing there?" Sid asked.

Granny looked up. "Frederick had said that he was going out with Dhrym. He promised it was the last one, as they usually got into all sorts of trouble. I thought it would be okay, since Dhrym had told me they were just checking some intel out at some mortal base. In and out. Like they always did. But Frederick didn't come back."

"You filed a missing persons report?" Melanie asked.

"I had to. But I knew that if it concerned the Other world, it was useless."

"Indeed." Stefan acknowledged. "Question is - how did those two die?"

"Dhrym was my grandfather." Diana said. "Dhya was my great-aunt. My grandmother often told me that those two were always against the Council, and often found out lots of scandals the Council tried to hide. I didn't understand it when I was younger, but I do now." Diana's eyes widened. "Yes. I remember now. They must have found something about the Council that the Council didn't want to have found out."

"How do we find out though?" Granny demanded.

"We need to wait for Di. He seems to be the only one who knows what's going on." Diana said. "Where did he say he was going again?"

"He was going to get Dillon." Sylvia said. "Said that Dillon was going to die if he didn't get back. He seemed quite shaken."

"You were right to listen to him." Diana nodded, eyes dark. "The last time he told me someone was going to die…"

"What? What're you talking about?" Ally, another one of her half-siblings, asked.

Diana turned, almost as if just remembering they were there. "We have to get you guys home. You don't tell dad a word of this, understand?"

"But we want to help!"

"Too bad." Diana looked at the two rulers. "Your majesty, would you?"

"Of course." Sylvia nodded. She waved at a passing Fae. "Do you mind leading these twelve to one of the upper portals?"

"Of course, your majesty." The Fae bowed low and then gathered the twelve up despite their protests, leading them inside the palace. "Follow me."

As soon as the twelve disappeared, the rest rounded on Diana. "Continue."

"Diego has always had this sixth sense, where he can always tell someone he's close to when they're going to die. Usually, only when it's a huge event. Like how there were a chain of my family's deaths in a year. It started with my brother and then ended with my mother's. I listened to him and avoided my death." Diana sighed. "It would only work as long as the person believed him and listened."

"How about you come in?" Sylvia asked, startling as she realised they had been standing out in the open for several minutes. "Follow me. We can find some place to sit and we can try to figure out more about this Council business."

Dillon put a finger to his lips. Buck, who was right behind him, nodded. Dillon concentrated on the minds of the two guards just around the corner, and nodded when he saw them collapse to the ground. Having telepathic abilities really came in handy when you needed to sneak around. He flew towards them - they seemed to have been guarding something.

He was right.

Large heavy bars covered a large dark area, which resembled something like a pit prison, with enough area between the top of the pit and the bars. He peered into the cell, careful not to get caught up in it. Buck followed, cautiously prodding the two unconscious guards with his foot. He shrugged, and moved beside Dillon. Dillon's bright green eyes scanned the area - nothing. They stayed silent for several minutes, the only sound being the two's breathing and the soft hum of Dillon's wings.

"You see anything, Buck?"

The Elf shook his head. "Do you?"

"No." Dillon frowned. This was wrong. He was so certain that Chapulan was here - after tracing his footsteps back left from those that had freed Chapulan from his cell, and he could sense a large amount of magic energy here…how could Chapulan not be here? He closed his eyes, but suddenly heard a "look out!" from Buck, and turned, throwing himself to the ground.

Someone dropped from above him, landing neatly on all fours. Dillon turned, ready to act. His eyes widened as he realised who it was. He quickly waved a hand, sweeping Buck's knife aside from where the Elf had been ready to strike. Buck scowled. "What're you doing, Dillon?!"

"He's a friend." Dillon stated. His frown turned confused. "What's wrong, Diego?"

Diego looked at him, eyes large and haunted, face pale. "I know where Chapulan is."