Sing To Me Your Darkest Secrets
Part III
Chapter 8:
You Know it Starts Here
"I don't like leaving them in there." Don said, looking up to the big white house, now - just that, a house. No more were the banners that flew overhead like flags marking the castle a Fae stronghold. He had been disenchanted, the sword removed from his possession for his own good.
In the bowels of the house, where it appeared the normal populace weren't permitted to go, Leo and Raph lay immobile. Here, without the faerie magic to make it the castle beyond the disbelieving eyes of the common people - the mundanes - the antique antebellum home appeared unsafe on the upper two stories.
"Come on, bro." Mikey clapped Don on the shoulder. "You heard what Dex said. We can't stay inside. For faeries only lest we go totally insane. You could go all mad scientist with that much magic pumping through your nerdy veins."
"But Leo and -"
"No. No buts." Cagney brushed passed Don and peeked over her shoulder at him with a playful little smile. Her voice was just as playful as her smile. "Is that the only word you know? No? If so we'll have to give you a whole new vocabulary Mr. Donnie."
Don's heart fluttered at the blonde's smile pointed at him. She was smart, that was the hook. She seemed to know what he knew about Chemistry and Math though her understanding of Physics was a little lackluster, but somehow she understood the bridge of science to magic too. That was something even April didn't have. "No." He fumbled with the word. "I know other words."
She and Mikey exchanged grins. "Could'a fooled me." his brother teased, as he'd answered with the very words she'd indicated was the only one he knew.
"It's okay Mikey, I'll help you teach him what's possible. That is," she turned her words on Don, "if you think you can keep up." she issued the challenge directly to Don, but she softened as if understanding his worry. "Your brothers will be fine in there. Alena will take good care of them. She's stronger than she appears to be. I know that scrawny frame and hollow cheeked boney look can be deceiving. They're safe because they're not aware where they are. They don't know they're in a faerie freehold.
"In fact, they may be even safer than any fae because the nature of their illness is directly attached to very place where magic is born." she reached up and tapped on Don's temple. "In the mind. The dreams and fantasies of everyone. If you're too logical minded to dream crazy things - surely you have fantasies. And from what I know of you, you have a pretty wild imagination. That underwater breathing contraption you thought up, that you told me about, no bigger than - what? - a lighter. Or what about the jet packs with stabilizing boosters. I wouldn't have thought of the boosters and I've seen rockets take to the sky from right here. The space shuttle used to trail the sky right there when they still launched from Kennedy Space Center." she pointed over a clump of trees. "Yes Don, you have quite an imagination. It's just not in the vein of the fae."
"Wait...you made jet packs and didn't tell me about it?" Mikey was suddenly both thrilled and affronted. "Uncool." he shook his head, disappointed, at Don.
"They're not ready yet!" Don immediately defended. "I just have the blueprint and some beta prototypes. Not ready for use or anything. I've been too busy working on the submarine. I want it to be functional before I start working on anything new."
"Like that'll happen. Every shiny thing that passes distracts you. I want my jet pack." Mikey moaned.
"Little bit of an identity crisis, huh? Shouldn't you be Leonardo?" Cagney jabbed Don lightly under his arm, between his plastron and carapace as if she knew the exact spot to touch to elicit a grin-and-squirm-away response. "He was the inventor of the Renaissance, yeah? Notorious for never finishing projects." She poked again. This time he caught her hand before she could actually touch the soft, virgin skin hidden on his sides.
"You really are a ninja." she grinned, impressed, and pulled her hand free of his grasp.
"Are you really a doctor?" he challenged.
"I don't know. Why don't you jump out of that tree over there and break a leg. We'll see how fast I can set it." Cagney taunted right back in jest, arching a blonde eyebrow. Don always thought Renet was pretty because of her blonde hair, even if it was hidden half the time under her ridiculous head unit. Cagney blended the two favored things of the two girls he'd found appealing, for completely different reasons, in the past. He couldn't handle Renet's vapid and senseless way; but April was, though pretty, not what he favored in color. And, Cagney claimed to be a visiugo turtle to boot.
"Are you sure it's safe out here? Will anyone see us?" Don felt suddenly exposed out in the open.
Cagney looked up to the darkening sky. "I'm sure. The park closed an hour ago. No one's left but the rangers. And trust me when I say they've seen their fair share of humanoid turtles. Humanoid anything that lives in these woods. It's mating season after all and my people are...well, not shy; that's for sure."
"Wait...your people? What people? What humanoid turtles? Where? Us?" Mikey's dumbfounded voice echoed and Cagney merely smiled at him.
"Visiugo, Mikey," Don said. "Turtle visiugo. Like Cagney."
"And fox, and raccoon, and squirrels, and birds, and even fish - mermaids by ancient sailor tales. It's spring, this place is rife with magic folk. This is a sanctuary. Native species call this home and use it as such. The equinox is coming and that means frivolity. I'm surprised spring doesn't effect you. Are you that disciplined, ninja master?"
"No." Don commented swiftly, but blushed hot on the heels of his word unsure if it was embarrassing or the correct response. He went on to cover the possible folly, "Leo, maybe. But the rest of us...not so much. We just," Don blushed slightly and hesitated. It was a minute too long too as Mikey pitched in for him.
"Well we're sort of short on the women-folk if you haven't noticed." Mikey held his hands up and shrugged and then giggled in a way that only Mikey could make manly. "We make due with what we got." Don glanced at his brother, horrified at what he was alluding to and he was sure Cagney would interpret from it.
"Well, I was a little hung up on your brother's use of that only word he knows again but I appreciate your explanation Michelangelo. Though it wasn't necessary. I could have figured it out. But, you know, medically speaking, I'm glad you're...healthy." She winked at him. She wasn't offended or disgusted. On the contrary Cagney seemed amused by them and Mikey was pleased with himself in that moment as evident by his squared shoulders.
Well, she seemed amused by Mikey, Don thought.
"WAIT! You're a TURTLE VISIUGO!" Mikey suddenly exclaimed, as the former portion of their conversation dawned on him and hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest. "Can I SEE?"
Don groaned. Part of what got to him was that he'd had the same reaction, he just managed to keep it from bubbling over like Mikey's high pitched squeal of excitement. Where Don had the sense to censor himself, Mikey was far from tactful in his desires.
Cagney looked to him, as if he was dying, but reach out and playfully patted his cheek with sympathetic smile. "Oh, honey. Can't you take me to dinner first? A lady isn't supposed to show her shell before the first date." she taunted in an off color and completely teasing rib. Mikey laughed all the same.
"Hey Cagney, will you go out with me just so I can see...well, ya know?" Mikey immediately asked, going right along with her joke. Don didn't seem to think it was too funny, but Cagney laughed, prompting Mikey to go on. Don groaned. "No, it'll be totally awesome! I can't really take you out-out but I'm a pretty killer cook. Not like kill-you cook but killer in that awesome, this is delicious! way. And there's that whole have to come to New York to date thing that we could totally do. Long distance and all that. We could make it work! Or ya know, you could just show me now and save the phone bills." he beamed.
"Mikey!" Don chided sharply. "It's invasive."
"No, it's really not. I'm more comfortable in that body. I'm just teasing you both." she told done in a more serious mode. "And it would be slightly awkward to strip off all my clothes right here since - well - you two aren'tvisiugo. And its sort of like the Hulk-my shell doesn't quite fit a small. From the way I see you both and your behaviors, human nudity to you isn't a common and natural thing. You've been branded with humanity's values and therefore it would be taboo." She shrugged. "I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."
Don and Mikey both stared at her, neither could say what the other was thinking, though they both seemed to have the same knee - DO IT! I'd love to see, particularly if you're comfortable doing it - reaction.Don realized, before Mikey, that was exactly what she meant; for them nudity was taboo, for her people (by the way she described it), it seemed perhaps natural. Of course, Don also considered how naked both he and his brother were by human standards, it must not be that much different for her.
Their mouths seemed to be filled with cotton and just as dry, unable to summon words. It only got awkward as the silence seemed to drag on for several long moments.
"See." She said soberly.
"No!" Don and Mikey both echoed the same word at the same time. Both were concerned they'd offended her and that she might abandon them. They could learn a lot from her. Though she was a turtle, or so she said, she already differentiated them from her kind. Neither could be sure if that was a bad thing or not. But they were both sure they didn't want to lose her company yet.
"What," Don hesitated after he immediately tried to cover the awkwardness of the situation, "he means is, what we mean is, we're just curious. We've never met anyone similar to us before. Not anyone remotely like anything we understand or know. At least not on this world."
"Well you need to broaden your local horizons." Cagney leaned forward, challenging him once more, but this time with a kind smile. "This world? You said 'this world'. Does that mean there are other ones? Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you as well."
"I'm the Battle Nexus Champion." Mikey declared proudly and both Don and Cagney looked at him, as if he'd interrupted. When their eyes remained on him, he sheepishly added, "Not...really...ya know local or anything. It's...uh...never mind."
Cagney snickered and peeked at Don before flicking her thumb in Mikey's direction. "This one, he's a show off; isn't he?"
"You have no idea." Don retorted in a deadpan while Mikey offered up a shrug.
"There you are." All three turned to see Dex having just come from the house on the hill. His steps were determined as he came down the hill. "There's a problem."
Don stood up a little straighter in his spot and Mikey moved a few feet closer. Gone was the fun-loving conversation and reality sunk in. Their brothers were in a far more dangerous place and Mikey and Don both were concerned.
"What do you mean?" Don asked.
"Well it seems to me the cause of this curse is simple and still very in tact. Even if they come back, your brother will still belong to Kenshin. He can be right as rain, healthy and perfect - which is what this little excursion in the Dreaming is doing for him - one can't leave the Dreaming without being changed."
Mikey had chirped - "if?" - while Don frowned for a moment, "But I thought the curse was broken...his body is fine, that is what Joey's blood did. It broke the curse, because she was the last one to share blood with Elisa. If its not Joey's blood that can save him, Raph will..."
"Die?" Dex concluded in an oddly cheerful tone, "Oh heavens no, no. Not from this, anyhow. The curse was lifted, yes...in some ways. His body is recovering by the way of the Dreaming and Joey's magic, its the only way to cleanse him from the curse Elisa bestowed. But his body still belongs to that vampire. He did make a deal, from what I've been told. And as long as that deal is in place, he will not be himself...he does not belong to himself, you see? I'm going to go...talk to the beast and see if an arrangement can't be made." the teenage king arched an eyebrow mischievously at the lot of them. He was oddly calm but almost playfully amused.
"Dex, Kenshin is usually in New York - or Japan. He doesn't come this far south to Bastien's territory. It would cause a war." Cagney said matter-of-factly with a furrow of her brow.
"I know. That's why I plan to go to him." Dex's voice rose a notch to something definitely playful.
"Dex," Don stepped forward. There were logistics that he could see being an issue. The king was a teenager and had no means to travel over a thousand miles, perhaps more. He might be a fae but he was still wrapped up in humanity which limited him in many ways. He felt five delicate fingers on his arm, there were clearly not Mikey's rough and calloused hand.
He dipped his head down to see Cagney's pale hand on the thick of his forearm. He let his eyes alone rise, following her hand, up her arm, to her face. She gently shook her head, silently asking him not to argue as she could tell his initial use of the king's name was tentative, ready for debate.
"I'm sure that Raph's brothers would be grateful for any support you can give, Dex." Cagney said.
Dex nodded brightly and turned, "'Tis always my pleasure, Cagney." He disappeared back up the hill with a wink and a little bounce to his step that seemed not to fit the severity of the situation.
"Are you out of your mind? He's a kid and Kenshin is probably twenty times his age. He's the sort of person that will hop the next greyhound to the city, no matter how dangerous. He doesn't even seem to be aware of what he's going up against! It's not a nice, Cagney. Raph is our brother, it should be use looking for help" Don warned her.
"There you go again." She frowned and sighed, leaning back on her hip. "He needed our belief in him, without it, he won't succeed. It's what makes him strong and Don, he's the strongest fae there is. If anyone can negotiate for your brother's safe release - it's him. Maybe its you who doesn't know what Raph is up against."
It was still hard for Don to swallow, the idea that someone so young could be so influential and have that sort of power. There was a time where he and his brothers were young with seemingly all the power in the world, but even then Don knew they couldn't move the earth. What Dex wanted to do, to release Raph from the hands of a very powerful and deadly vampire, seemed to be impossible. This was not simply just a fight, but destroying a contract forever binding. He had seen so many things of this world and the one thing he could deduce was that, at the end of the day, the trickery of a vampire was far more complex than it seemed. Elisa had had control over Raph first, with her curse, and now Kenshin because of his brother's folly-enough that it was the reason for his danger now.
Even still, there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that said Cagney was right, and he must trust in that. He must trust in magic, he must trust that the only way to destroy something so magic was to use magic in the first place. If Dex was the strongest fae their was, perhaps he was truly the only one who could win Raph his freedom. They had tried everything...what was another attempt? This most certainly couldn't get any worse than they already were. It was then that Don gave his hope and trust, his faith, to Dex if it meant Raph would be free. And it was that belief that Dex needed most.
Don opened his mouth to ask Cagney if they could help the king. Before he could, however, Dex's voice rang back from somewhere far ahead. Not that Don had even spoken.
"Oh..." his voice carried pleasant and amused, "I go alone."
Don's heart stopped for just a second. Dex was special in ways he could not explain or understand, he knew it. He only hoped trusting him wouldn't be a mistake.