Fun fact: In early drafts of Pinocchio, Lampwick was supposed to join Pinocchio on his journeys after he transformed into a donkey.
Anyway, sorry for the long time between updates, yadda yadda... on a more important note: I got a job! yay! This means a) I get moneez! and b) my update schedule gets another rock thrown at it! :D (If I can even call it a schedule... hehe... sigh...)
Wendy finished tying her hair back into a simple ponytail, something at the back of her mind telling her this was how it was supposed to look. No fancy, intricate braids or plaits. Just simply tied back, like she had more important matters to tend to than her hair.
Pinocchio was asleep in his bed in the other room, Jiminy resting on his discarded hat. The whole house made Wendy smile, so cute and childish, full of whimsical clocks and puppets that made different sounds or faces.
It was a magical place...
When they'd arrived here, no one had been home. Not even Cleo, the fish Pinnochio's father had. Everything was locked up tight and dark.
Wendy opened the window, determined to let light and fresh air, when a dove landed on the sill...
The portal was alot nicer than the the last few Adam had travelled through.
Yen said that was because Genie had been using dangerously powerful magic, and had forbidden the Genie from ever using it again.
"You'll send everyone to the Wasteland!" Yen had cried, and then quickly changed the subject when Esmeralda had asked what that was. Adam was glad they were leaving for Italy, one so that he was actually doing something to get closer to Belle, and two because he coudn't take anymore of these denials for information. What was the point of being around an all-knowing being if he wouldn't share what he knew about?
They stepped through the mirror in the study to a dimly lit Italian village street, the morning sun just beginig to come up over the horizon.
"Stay close." He informed the others who nodded behind him.
The "Hunting Party", as Lumiere had jokingly claimed, currently consisted of Adam, Genie, Esmeralda, Phoebus, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Charming, and Aladdin. Mulan was still far to sick to travel and Wart had stayed behind to help care for her. Genie had been warned only to use small magic until they found Shedea, so as to not alert her of their presence.
Aladdin walked beside Adam quietly at first, rubbing his fingers absently against the dark blue sleeve of his shirt, the black cloak seeming to shield him from the outside world.
"So..." He finally said as they walked. Ever since Aladdin had awoken in that dungeon cell nothing had been the same. Everyone seemed to watch him closely, waiting for him to attack it seemed. He'd caught even Genie and Abu doing that. Which had hurt... alot. It didn't help that the light in his life had now disapeared with the psycho who'd dragged him worlds away from where he was supposed to be. Now he'd lost the trust of his friends?
"So..." Adam replied, not making eye contact with the Arabian man. He'd spent so long hating him it now seemed a little awkward they were working together.
"You sure Jasmine will be here?" Aladdin asked softly.
"Yes... but remember it's not Jasmine."
"Right, right... Listen about... all that other stuff... I never would have done it if I'd had control of-"
"I know, I know." Adam cut him off, "We, uh, understand. And stuff."
It was quiet for a second, before Aladdin said, "I really am sorry about that. If there's anything-"
"Don't... don't worry about. It's all right." Adam flustered, "Oh hold on. Genie?"
Genie poofed next to them, "Yes Cap-i-tan?!" He grinned.
"Are we headed in the right direction?"
Genie frowned before conjuring a map from his palm, quickly checking it.
"Yep!"
"Ok, scout ahead to the house and see if Shedea's there yet." Adam instructed.
"And be careful." Aladdin added a little awkwardly, feeling the need to say something to his best friend.
Genie nodded to Adam and threw a glance in Aladdin's direction before disapearing in a puff of blue smoke.
Aladdin sighed before hurrying to catch up with Adam, not trying to speak again.
Wendy made sure Pinocchio's pack was tied tightly for the third time before slidding on her own.
"If we're going to help your father Pinocchio we'll need a boat, and a map. Do you know where we might get that?" Wendy asked.
Pinocchio shook his head, Jiminy jumping to the top of his hat.
"It's a bad idea! Monstro is a whale of a whale! We'll all die for sure!"
"But Jiminy I gotta save him! He's my father!" Pinocchio cried.
"And family is important!" Wendy chipped in.
"So you're willing to die at the bottom of the ocean huh? What happened to becoming a real boy?" Jiminy cried, pulling out every card he had to stop this ridiculous rescue mission.
"Oh honestly." Wendy huffed.
"And you! What kind of a care taker are you? Letting the kids you're in charge of go off to get himself killed!"
Wendy turned a bright shade of cherry red, "And what kind of a conscience are you to discourage him from helping people? That's what you're supposed to do right?"
"Well I guess it appears our roles have reversed, caretaker... and crazy fool!"
"How... dare you!" Wendy cried, "Ever since I woke up on that hill with you two telling me everything was fine all I've heard from that squeaky voice of yours is telling us what to do and what not to do. Well I've agreed with you all the way up until now! Now I'm saying you're wrong!"
"Shush!" Jiminy suddenelly cried.
"Don't you shush me! I let you speak and now-"
"No seriously, I thought I heard something." Jiminy said, all anger depleting as he hopped to the window. Outside the night's shadows were escaping the moring sun, all except for one...
Which suddenelly split into two...
When Genie reappeared he was dressed as a military officer, none of the othes picking up the reference so they stared at him for a second in confusion.
"The house was locked up tight, but it appears Yen's target and her little friend managed to pick the lock open. It looks like they're getting ready for some sort of trip."
Adam nodded, "Let's hurry then." And he broke into a run.
When there was a knock at the door Wendy's first instinct had been to push Pinocchio into the back room, planning to escape through a back window, convinced it was the Coachman back for Pinocchio. The image of Lampwick's horrific transformation playing over and over in her mind.
"Hey! Open up will ya? I'm hungry!" Lampwick's voice called from the otherside of the door.
"Lampwick!" Pinocchio cried, shimmying out of Wendy's grasp and running towards the door.
Lampwick!
He stood there in the doorway, completely human and smirking. He was just the same as before, right down to those beady eyes that analyzed Wendy in under five seconds. Like he instantly knew everything about her.
Before she even realised what she was doing, Wendy was hugging him tightly, small tears of relief and disbelief sliding down her face.
"I... I can't believe it's you! How?" She managed.
"I had a little help." Lampwick shrugged, and then he was joined by another form in the doorway. A tall, dark skinned woman with black haired plaits and facial tattoos that seemed to dance along her face.
Wendy felt something tremble in the fog of her mind, making her back up instinctively. An odd buzzing began in the back of her head...
"Who are you?" Jiminy chirped.
The woman smiled kindly, yet it still came off as creepy, "I'm here to collect what belongs to me." Her voice floated through Wendy's ears, making something in her whine and keen for attention. The air was sucked from her lungs...
"Wendy?" Was that Lampwick? Or Pinocchio? She couldn't tell them apart anymore... Maybe it was Jiminy... Maybe it was her?...
Wendy felt herself sway dangerously... then the pressure in her head broke. Like something had snapped and a sudden clarity washed over her.
Wendy looked up at the woman... Shedea. It had to be her. She could tell...
"Get out." Wendy snarled, pulling Pinocchio behind her.
"Wendy?" Lampwick questioned.
"It's the woman who sent me here... She's the reason I attacked the Blue Fairy in the caravan Pinocchio." Wendy said, making Jiminy and Pinocchio blink in surprise.
"We never-"
"I remember now. I remember walking into the caravan... I remember attacking the Blue Fairy... Oh I even remember being dragged up the hill right before everything made sense." Wendy said.
"Do you remember anything else?" Jiminy asked.
"No... not much. I do remember there was alot of pain." Wendy said weakly before turning to the monster in front of her, who was staring at her curiously, "And I remember it was you who caused it." Wendy said a little more roughly, "Get out!"
Lampwick turned to look at Shedea, "You brought 'er here?"
"Yes... she was a failure though." Shedea said, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorway, "I'm surprised the Blue Fairy wasn't able to remove all the traces of me. Oh well." Shedea waved her hand and suddenelly Wendy seized up, "I guess I get to learn a little bit about myself."
"Genie!"
"Right!"
Right away the door burst open, only for the group to find the house dark and empty.
"No!" Adam cried, punching the wall in anger.
"Hold on." Esmeralda took a few steps forward, getting a feel for the house, listening to every squeak and groan around her.
"What?" Aladdin asked, leaning against the wall.
"They aren't far off." Esmeralda said, "They must have just left."
"Do you know where?" Phoebus questioned, only to blush as Esmeralda pointed at an open window.
"It's still swinging, meaning it was recently thrown open." Esmeralda smiled, "Oh, and theres muddy footprints going in and out the door, maybe a childs. Very easy to spot."
Phoebus rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's cheekiness and ran out the door, followed by the others. The ran down twisting and turning streets, changing directions this way and that as they began to hear sounds of protest that were steadily getting louder.
"No Lampwick!" A girl's voice shrieked.
"Come on, I'll take back everything I said about you before." A twelve year old boys voice pleaded.
"No! She's the reason I couldn't remember anything."
"She says she was just desperate. Come on, Pinocchio wants to come."
"But Jiminy doesn't! And how can we just leave Pinocchio's father?! He'll die!" The girl was sounding near hysterical now.
Adam was the first to turn the corner, arriving to see a girl in a white shirt and a green didel arguing with a boy in a brown jacket and pants with a bowler perched on his head. Neither seemed to notice him, or the others as they slowed, and no one moved.
"I'm sure Shedea'll fix everything! She's so powerful! She changed me back-oi! What are you people doing here?!"
"Aladdin?!" Wendy cried, spying the black haired Arabian behind Adam, "What are you doing here?"
Aladdin looked at her confused, "Who... are you?"
Wendy gave him an incredulous look, her face slowly turning to one of fury as he slowly approached, "Wendy, remember? You... you guarded the door while she... she did those things to me." Wendy's voice began to choke up.
"Oh... Oh! Wendy I'm sorry, I... I was under a spell too." Aladdin said, kneeling in front of Wendy, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I didn't want to do those things but she made me."
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Cogsworth cried, he and Lumiere running after a retreating Lampwick, tackling him to the ground, "Well?"
"If Wendy doesn't want to come... fine. But I'm not missing out on the adventure of a life time!"
"Where is she?" Aladdin questioned, "Where's Jasmine?"
"Who?" Lampwick asked.
Feeling for the first time the true fury Aladdin had towards Shedea, he got up and crossed the distance towards Lampwick, kicking him out of Lumiere's and Cogsworth's hands and to the ground, "The woman that thing is possessing! Where is she?"
"Shedea? Not telling you." Lampwick laughed, "Unless..." He looked at Esmeralda, who quickly tensed, "Your friend there does me a favor."
Esmeralda huffed in disgust and reached for Phoebus' sword, enjoying Lampwick's yelp of surprised fear.
"How about instead we take you back to Yen's place? Use magical spells to force you to tell us?" Phoebus grinned wickedly, looping an arm around Esmeralda's waist and pulling her close.
"Oh... no that's allright." Lampwick said from under Aladdin's boot, "You don't have to do that."
"Aladdin?" A voice startled the group into looking farther down the alley, where a dark green didel wearing Arabian beauty appeared, looking confused. She hurried towards them, "Aladdin what's going on?"
"Jasmine?" Aladdin seemed to forget about the kid under him, releasing the confused Lampwick as he hurried towards Jasmine.
Her dark eyes glittered, like she was near tears, and her hair was coming loose from the plaits, swinging around her perfect unblemished face.
"Aladdin I'm so confused, where am I? What's going on?"
Aladdin pulled her close, "It's allright, it's allright, don't worry." He ran a hand through her silky hair, letting the last of the plaits go free.
"Aladdin..." Adam's voice didn't seem to reach Aladdin as he kissed his fiance's forehead.
"Oh I was so worried..." Aladdin sighed, "I thought I'd lost you."
"You could never lose me." Jasmine giggled, smiling.
"Aladdin look out!" Esmeralda screamed and something hard struck his back.
The next thing he knew Aladdin was on the ground as Jasmine was pulled off of him and held to the cobbelstones by Adam. Black lightning surrounded them as Shedea emerged.
"Well that just wasn't fair." She laughed as a knife dematerialized in her hand.
Aladdin sat up, rubbing the welt on his back and looking behind him to see Esmeralda's thick gold bracelet lying close by. Esmeralda grinned sheepishly as she picked it up.
"It was the only thing I had." She shrugged, sliding the jewelery back on.
"Thanks." Aladdin smiled gratefully, turning just in time to see Adam get thrown off of Shedea, a few new gray streaks riding down his hair. He landed a few feet away, hitting the wall and landing painfully on his arm.
"Augh!"
"Sire!" Lumiere and Cogsworth cried.
"Get that kid out of here." Adam struggled, "Get both of them out of here." Slowly he stood up, drawing his sword. From far off he could hear Wendy shriek in horror and Lampwick begin yelling something but he was still to dazed to make out the actual words as both he and Wendy were dragged around the corner by Cogsworth and Lumiere.
Shedea was back on her feet, hair waving to and fro like the wind had caught it when there was none. Her eyes had returned to a blank white and the black line raced along her skin as she laughed at Aladdin attempting to fight her.
"You wont hurt your dear Jasmine will you?"
The others attempted attacks of their own but she just blew them back like she had Adam, only letting Aladdin come near so she could taunt him.
"Jasmine didn't want to do it you know, let me in. She just figured it was the only way to be near you again. And then I left you to rot in that cell. If she'd been concious she would have been screaming bloody murder I'm sure. Or sobbing." Shedea easily deflected a swipe at her side from Charming before sending him into a stack of wooden crates and casting a bottle to entrap the Genie for the fourth time, "Do you think she cried much while you were with me. While you kissed me?"
With an outraged cry Aladdin threw his weapon at the unsuspecting Shedea, who only deflected it after the tip of the sword knicked her forehead. A slow stream of blood began to run down Shedea's face and Aladdin stared in horror.
"Jasmine... oh no..."
"That's right, can't hurt Jasmine can you?" Shedea snarled angrily, throwing a line in Aladdin's direction.
From out of nowhere Phoebus cut the line in two as it flew, sending them spiraling uselessly to the ground. Genie zapped them with his own magic, detroying them easily.
Adam smirked, "Give up Shedea, maybe we wont kill you if you do."
"Oh now why would I do that? You expect me to lead you to Belle?"
Adam's smirked withered and died on his lips, cold steel filling his eyes, "I do. And you will if you want to live." He raised his sword again but something attacked his arm, sending the sword to the ground as he cried out.
A line had snaked it's way down Shedea's leg, across the ground, and up Adam's body to wrap around his arm, begining to slowly crush it as he screamed in agony.
Shedea smirked, "Such promises. Here's the deal Auburn Haired man, I get to walk away and you get to keep your arm." She slowly began to prance towards Adam, "I'd take it. Apparantly having a disfigurment is a bad thing for a Disney cartoon. Just ask Quasi, unless you've executed him already."
Esmeralda snarled in anger but Phoebus held her back.
Everyone watched in still horror, afraid that if they moved they'd cause Adam to lose his arm.
"Well Adam? How about it? Live to fight another day?"
The pain was unbearable, Adam could feel the bones snap and the blood was dripping down his arm.
"It's so much fun to watch you squirm Adam. That angry look suits you in whatever form you're in." Shedea laughed, trailing her fingers along Adam's face, letting the nails dig into his skin, "I wonder how Belle will react when she sees her shining Prince is now missing an arm to hold her with-"
BANG! From seemingly out of nowhere Aladdin appeared where Shedea had been as she crumpled to the cobbelstones.
With her unconcious, the lines seemed to lose their power. They stilled on her skin and the one around Adam's arm relaxed. Adam groaned in agony, leaning forward to hold the injured limb to his chest.
Genie conjured a stretcher, tying Shedea to it with chains. Then he motioned forward to help Adam who just waved him off with his good arm.
"Don't touch me!" He hissed, "Just... just don't!"
"Adam come on, you need help." Phoebus said.
"Sire!" Lumiere and Cogsworth reappeared, hearing a lack of fighting between their enemies and friends. The children trailed close behind them, Wendy apprehensive and Lampwick angry. Lumiere pushed his and Cogsworth's way to the front, gently placing a hand on Adam's shoulder.
"Sire please stand up." Cogsworth pulled Adam to his feet as he screamed in pain and the two pushed him in the direction of the street.
"Sometimes you just need to be rough." Lumiere shrugged as the others followed. Esmeralda smirked and Phoebus rolled his eyes.
"Hey!" Lampwick called as Wendy hurried after them, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Home!" Wendy called dramatically, leaving Lampwick to stare depressedly after her in the alleyway.
Yen was waiting for them when they got back through the mirror, a slew of magicians and fairies at the ready. Most looked to fragile or kindly to fight, until they pointed their wands at the glowing mirror in aggressive stances.
"Get ready." Yen's voice reverberated around the stone room, scaring some of the more timid magicians and fairies.
The group appeared in a burst of blue light, Adam at the forefront and Cogsworth supporting him. Phoebus and Esmeralda dragged the feet of the floating stretcher through and Genie the head. Charming and Wendy appeared next, Wendy looking around amazed while Charming searched the room for Wart. Lumiere and Aladdin ran in last, the portal collapsing behind them.
Adam collapsed the moment he was through. He was seeing spots and his shirt was stained bright red. His arm was killing him! Lumiere and Cogsworth fretted over him, trying to get him to stand up but the pain had fried his nerves, he was begining to lose his grip...
"Blue, take Adam to his room and try to heal him," Yen instructed. The Blue Fairy nodded and waved her wand, disappearing with Adam, Lumiere, and Cogsworth like dust particles in the wind.
Yen turned to Phoebus, "The chamber downstairs has been prepared for our... guest," He nodded at a still unconcious Shedea, "You might want to hurry."
Phoebus nodded and allowed three short, older fairies in red, green, and blue whisk him, Charming, and Aladdin away.
Yen looked around, spying Wendy standing beside Esmeralda and an animatedly chattering Wart. The moment the young girl noticed he was looking in their direction she scurried to his side.
"Sir," Wendy began tentatively, "There's one favor I'd like to ask of you."
"Not... fair!... Not... fair!...
"Do you not like me?..." The reptalian voice was whispering over the endless mantra of Not...fair!
Belle squeaked as she felt something tight twist around her body. It was black and dark and nothing made sense. At times she was standing, at times she was lying in a black abyss... She felt cold stone hit her body or warm air surround her like a blanket...
"You should like me... I want you to like me..." The voice said, a razor-like edge to it.
Belle couldn't speak, whatever was binding her body was twisting into her mouth... wrapping down her throat... grasping her heart!
Then something was shaking her... dragging her through the misty darkness... pulling her up...
"Belle come on!" Yao's scratchy voice dragged Belle awake.
"W-what?" She looked up blearily to see the morning sun shining down on her.
"Time ta go." Yao said, helping her up.
"Thank you, okay I'm coming." Belle leaned down to roll up her pallet, quickly saddling up with the others to follow Ling, who was the only one who really knew where this Madame Ko was.
"It's about a day's ride," He said, looking over the map as they rode, "We'll stop at the inn when we get there and we can talk to her tommorow."
Shang glanced back at Belle, who was talking to Chien-Po, both smiling and laughing at something he'd said. But Shang kept getting reminded of that manic look in her white eyes as she attacked the ancestors. He mentally shook himself and turned back to face the path infront of them.
What was important was finding Mulan... He just had to focus.
Pinocchio tore down the now darkening village streets, tears streaming down his face and his hands clutched tightly to his chest.
"Wendy?" He called desperatly, "Wendy where are you?!"
Little did he know something was watching him from the shadows...
Don't worry, we'll see Lampwick again...
