Chapter Twenty-Five

When Darcy woke up, it was midnight. Her head hurt like hell, and she couldn't make sense of anything.

Sh'ed been unconscious. How did that happen?

Her sisters had been with her. The fairy, too. They'd been in some sort of woods, and then she got hit. On the head. How long since then?

And where was she?

The witch sat up, cringing at the various twinges of pain. She felt around her head for the wound, finally hitting upon it at the base of her skull. Lucky for her, the wound wasn't deep. More likely to cause pain and unconsciousness than mental effects.

As far as her disoriented senses could tell, she was still out on the Borreanian plains. The thick grass still scratched at her skin when she laid down, and the almost flat landscape left much to be desired. Though Darcy couldn't see the road, she hoped they weren't far away. Else they probably would've been lost.

Instinctively, Darcy glanced around for her sisters, eyes flashing in alarm. Standing up gave a new meaning to the word nausea, but she tried not to think about it. She took a few shaky steps, then snorted.

Icy and Stormy were laying in the grass, sprawled around a cold fireplace that hadn't been out for long. She hoped they'd been smart enough to erect shields if they were going to camp with a fire every night. Icy probably didn't care for the heat, but Stormy would've complained until they did it. Which was a total pain to do without wood. But it wasn't like Stormy cared.

It was exactly the sort of person Stormy was, to insist on something despite what everyone else wanted. Not that the other Trix were any better.

Without waking them, Darcy went on to circle the camp, when she noticed two things missing: their stuff, and the pixie. She paled, begin to search more desperately.

Darcy swore under her breath. If that stupid little twit had managed to do anything without-

"You're awake?"

The Trix whipped her head around, getting ready to jump down the throats of whatever intruder had found their hiding place.

It was the pixie, who seemed to regret speaking. She'd been crouched in the thickest patch of grass she could find, and still attached to Icy's left wrist.

"Where's our things?" Darcy hissed, trying to sound irritated. She glanced over at Icy, silently apologizing for her doubts.

The fairy looked at her like prey in a trap. Her limbs twitched, something most people wouldn't have seen in the lack of light.

"Where is it?" the witch asked again, moving over to where the little thief was sitting. The girl tried to stuff everything back in, but it was too late.

"Um, I-"

Snatching the Trix's belongings away from her, Darcy began to see red. Whether this came from her dizziness or anger was undetermined.

"What do you think you're doing?! Trying to get your weapons and-"

"No," the fairy whispered, curled into a ball. "I can't escape. I know that now." She shook her head, sitting up. "I found out about the spell on me. You put it there, to make sure I wouldn't run away."

"What?" Darcy blinked. "I never-" She stopped, remembering what she'd done. The girl couldn't leave them in any but two circumstances. One was arrival to the Witch's lair. The other was impossible.

The fairy handed her the rest of the bag's contents. Darcy tried to snatch them from her, but missed.

Embarrased, she held out the bag, waiting for the captive to drop them in. A second later, the pixie obliged.

"See? I'm not stealing anything."

"How do I know you aren't hiding an item?" Darcy argued.

Rileianna raised her hands in surrender. "Check it if you want. I have nothing or yours. Only you of mine."

Pausing, the Trix quickly sifted through all the contents, feeling for the weapons, map, water, food, and the amulet.

She found every item except the last. Though Darcy wouldn't have minded if they'd lost it forever, she knew Icy wouldn't feel the same way. If this pixie had it, she had to give it over.

"This isn't everything," she growled, whipping her head towards the small pixie.

The girl closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to act calm. "I can promise you: I have nothing. What are you looking for?"

Darcy narrowed her eyes, trying to decide if their captive was being truthful. "It's an old piece, worth nothing. If you stole the necklace, it wouldn't gain you a single coin even if you could run off and sell it. No one knows about it, either, so it would prove nothing of us catching you."

"The necklace? Icy's wearing it." The fairy had a perplexed expression on her face. "She certainly thinks it's worth something."

"It's important to her." Darcy fixed her sister with a hard stare. She had half a mind to storm over and wake her up right then.

"What is it for?" The fairy continued in her scratchy voice. "Why would you all carry it around if it doesn't mean anything?"

The pixie continued to pester her with questions, none of which Darcy had anything to say to.

She really should punish the fairy. If Darcy hadn't caught her, the brat probably would've tried to filch her weapons. Once she had a weapon, she could've come after her and her idiot sisters while they slept. It wouldn't stop the spell, but there was no way the fairy knew that. She may not have had the guts for murder before, but they'd given her plenty reason to become desperate, and desperation did things to people.

But for some reason, Darcy had no desire to do that. Even if she tried to kill them, they would've deserved it. They would've led her to that choice, and if her sisters were going to provide the perfect opportunity for it...

All in all, she couldn't blame her. She didn't even want to anymore.

"What happened to me?" The witch asked, cutting the pixie off. "Why was I unconscious?"

The fairy paused, then launched into a long story involving a gang of bounty hunters. Icy and Stormy had apparently managed to defeat them in battle, and the obnoxious scum had tried to leave with the fairy and all their items, which backfired and caused them to flee. Since then, they'd been moving towards the capital as fast as possible, convinced they had to leave Borreania even sooner than planned. According to the captive's tale, they'd also received word of the country erecting a barrier, effectively keeping anyone from entering or leaving the planet, something her sisters still had no idea what to do about.

"At this point, even I want to get out of here." Rileianna finished. "Maybe they'll finally figure out who actually killed the prince. I'd still end up in prison, sure, but I like that idea better than whatever you all are planning."

Trust me, you aren't alone.

"Hm," Darcy hummed, pondering the events of the last three days. She'd ask her sisters to confirm the details in the morning.

It made her wonder: if she'd been out that long, shouldn't she be suffering a more permanent injury?

Well, she did feel different. Maybe not injured, but... strange. She was feeling things she hadn't felt in years. It'd been so long, she didn't even know what to call it. Could it be...

No. Darcy removed the idea from her head. She'd been hit pretty hard, but that didn't have to mean anything. She'd walked out of worse situations, each time just fine in the long run.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"No," the witch replied automatically, then changed her mind. "Why, what is it?"

The fairy blinked in the dark night, possibly not aware of how clearly Darcy could see her. "Um, why do you all... do the things you do? What's the point of ruling the dimension if you destroy everything in the process?"

Darcy tilted her head. What could she say that would reveal the least? She supposed she could simply not answer the question. She had no obligations to tell the fairy. It'd be just like the interrogation cops, even if the dimension had eventually stopped sending the Trix to those things.

But how satisfying would that be? The fairy would just keep bothering her, and Darcy would have to explain to her sisters how she'd left them asleep in favor of chatting with a captive pixie. She didn't think she'd have an explanation for that.

And it wasn't like she could tell the truth. How would anyone see the Trix as a threat? No one liked getting bossed around by pawns.

"I'm sure I knew the answer once, but not anymore. We're kinda trying to get out of that." Darcy settled on being vague, sweeping memories, details, and scars under the rug like a bit of dirt.

The fairy studied her captor silently, light eyes barely visible against the dilated pupils. It was obvious the girl didn't believe her.

But that didn't matter. Why should Darcy care what a pixie bitch thought of her?

"Go to sleep," she commanded. "Dawn'll be here soon. You said my sisters want to move fast?"

A/Ns: PTV Speaks: Hello world. I'm sorry about the delays in getting this chapter up. Not going to make any excuses here, other than the fact that feet got dragged on the creation of this chapter, and I put it together in the last two days.

Yes, this is supposed to be SME's chapter, but I'm the one who ended up writing it. She made no contributions to the creation of this part of the story, and has nothing to say on the matter. We're still co-writing as of now, and will for the duration of this story, but that could change for the sequels. Only time will tell.

Even though it was late, I hope you all still enjoyed the chapter. I don't feel as though it was very good, but if SME agrees to help make it better, we'll edit it.

Hey, how about this: Chapter Twenty Six will go up next week, to make up for lost time. I can write chapters quickly, even with the holidays going on.

Speaking of, today's the first day of winter break for me. Happy Holidays everyone!

That's all I really wanted to say here, and since SME's got nothing...

Thanks for tuning in, please review, and I'll see you on the far side!

EDIT: Okay, I'm not posting another chapter the 26th. Sorry, but Christmas is a time for spending with family, and the nest chapter's a big sucker. I'm gonna have to spend a good amount of time on this one. So, Chapter Twenty-Six will be up January 2nd. Sorry to get people's hopes up.