Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 53 Everything Starts With Apples

SPOV

"I'm not going to argue with you." I mutter as he sets me carefully on my feet. "But how did we get from your Palace to the South Pacific?"

"Magic. Can you not smell it?"

I shake my head, no, I can smell Eric, the sea and a heady concoction of flowers.

After a moment he shrugs, bending down.

"What are you doing?"

"I am fairly certain your Great Grandfather has brought us here." He answers, removing his shoes and socks and rolling up his pant legs. "And since there is not a lot I can do about it, and I do not often get the chance, I am going to enjoy the beach."

"You're very calm about this."

"It may not seem like it." He chuckles, rolling up his shirt sleeves. "But since I met you my stores of fatalistic acceptance have become full to overflowing."

"You're right." I respond archly, kicking off my professional heels and shrugging out of my jacket. "It doesn't seem like it."

"Left or right?" He asks, offering me his hand and indicating the moonlit beach curving away from us in both directions.

NPOV

Fairies. Nosey malcontents. They know perfectly well why the portals between realms are closed but they cannot let things go. No, word has spread that some of us have been leaving Faerun and now they all want to do it. Much time has passed and I am considering whether or not to remove some of the restrictions but I do wish they would consider history when pushing me. I am an extremely stubborn man. They seemed to want time to formulate their next argument and since they had already made me late to meet my little ray I was happy to oblige them. I cannot leave them long however, they will become irritable and it is usually all downhill from there.

I pop onto the beach behind them, watching for a moment as the Viking points to the sky and explains the basics of navigation by the sun, moon and stars. Of course they know I'm here and turn toward me, not quite as displeased to see me as they were last night, but not exactly wreathed in welcoming smiles either. Ah well . . . .

"I am sorry I am late." I begin hastily, mindful of my wife's constant admonishments that politeness would make me seem like a normal person and not the social inadequate I actually am. "My meeting overran. In fact I must return to it fairly swiftly lest a fight break out."

My little ray looks confused.

"You wanted to see us. You said you would come to us." She reminds me.

"Yes. Well considering what we need to accomplish I thought we would better away from prying eyes. Besides, Fiji is a beautiful location, I thought you might enjoy it."

"I might have if I'd had a chance to change out of this suit." She says, gesturing to her heat crumpled appearance.

Ah. Aga said that Fiji would be perfect, she did not say anything about providing a bathing suit. I could, of course, provide one now but that would be awkward, I think . . . .

"You said we have more to discuss?" The Viking interrupts my wandering thoughts.

"Yes." I nod, focussing, time is short. Time is always short. "We do. Physics."

"Physics?" My little ray clarifies.

"Yes. More specifically the branch of physics that is Magic."

"Um?" She glances at the Viking who shrugs, equally perplexed and I sigh.

There is no easy way to explain this to the uninitiated, or in fact, the initiated, and so I have discovered over the years that getting right into and saving the whole 'Laws of Physics' lecture for later is the best way to go. Besides humans consume themselves with Quantum Mechanics and God Particles, the concept of real Magic is never going to occur to them. Which is probably just as well, there are a lot more of them than there are any of us . . . .

"You have Magic. There is much you need to know about it but tonight I would just like to start with the basics."

"Basics?"

"Apples." I confirm.

"Gravity?" She asks carefully.

"Not quite. I taught my children with apples, it was reasonably successful so I will use it with you, if you have no objections?"

"Niall." She sighs heavily. "How can I object when I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Then just work with me Great Granddaughter, we have to start somewhere and apples are as good a place as any."

"I don't see what any of this has to do with me . . . ." She mutters.

"You will." I promise. "So. Apples. There are several ways to 'magic' an apple. First and easiest. Hold out your hand."

She extends it warily, her vampire moving to stand behind her.

"It is always simpler to use the person's mind against them, this is a Magic whose mechanics you are already familiar with, you can probably already do most of this.

So, find an object that resembles an apple in size and shape, it does not have to be exact.

Then, move it to where it needs to go."

I pop the rock I spotted down the beach into her outstretched palm and she flinches but does not drop it.

"The moving part you will need to learn.

Then, enter the minds of anyone you want to see the apple and make them see it, smell it, and if necessary, feel it."

Her eyes widen in surprise as the wave worn rock morphs into an apple.

"However." I caution as she lifts it to her face to sniff it. "It is still a rock. If you bite into it you will probably break your teeth."

She drops it, it hits the sand at her feet with a soft thud, a small rock again as I remove the Magic from their minds.

"The second method is also relatively straightforward, once you can move things. For this you simply summon the object to where you want it to go. Remember physics, you cannot create something out of nothing. You will need to know exactly where the object is that you want. Hold out your hand again."

Smiling slightly she complies.

"Now then. There was an apple on my breakfast platter his morning, I put it to one side for later, so I know exactly where it is."

I summon it into her palm.

"And now it is here."

Once again she lifts it closer to her face to sniff it.

"This is a real apple, you could eat it, but I would rather you did not, I am saving it for supper."

She giggles as I pop it back to my chambers.

"The third method is the hardest."

I pop the rock back into her still open palm.

"With Magic you can change the rock into an apple. A real one that can be eaten without endangering your teeth. This method requires the most Magic and knowledge of both the atomic pattern of the rock and the atomic pattern of the apple you wish to create."

She blinks at me.

"If you know." I continue, watching her watch her palm. "Then you can simply use your Magic to change it."

Voila! Perfect apple.

"How?" The Viking asks.

"Everything is made out of the same building blocks, molecules, atoms." Ah science, got to love a bit of science. "If you possess Magic and you know the patterns you can simply re-arrange them. You will notice this is a little bigger than an apple would normally be, that is because the rock contains more matter than is required to create an apple. You can also learn to pare away the matter you do not need, but that is considerably more advanced."

"Fascinating." The Viking murmurs, smiling at me over Sookie's shoulder.

"Brilliant." She huffs. "I didn't even finish High School, how am I going to be able to do that?"

"When was the last time you forgot something?" I ask her with a smile.

"I can't remember." She admits and the Viking chuckles, resting one of his hands on her hip.

"Think back to the night your vampire rescued you from Bill."

She shudders but does as I ask.

"Have you forgotten anything?"

"No. Well, I guess I have but it doesn't feel like it."

"Can you remember the feel of the air as Eric's sword cut through Bill's neck? Can you remember the exact formation of the droplets of blood as they hung in the air?"

"Ew." She grumbles. "Yes."

"Perfect recall." I smirk. "A human would not notice those details, let alone be able to remember them."

"You've lost me." She sighs.

"I am not a particle physicist." I point out. "I am just old, with a terribly good memory. Here . . . ."

I transfer the atomic pattern of a perfectly ripe Braeburn apple into her mind, along with the pattern for the paperweight I have noticed on the Viking's silly desk.

"Now you can practise."

"When did you 'learn' the atomic pattern of Eric's paperweight?" She asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Magic and years of said practise."

"How many years?"

"In your terms? About five and a half thousand."

She closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head as if to clear it.

"I need to sit down." She whispers when she opens them again.

Showing off I pop one of the ornate chairs from Eric's office onto the beach, smiling as Eric settles her into it.

His cell rings.

"Eric." His child snarls. "First you and Sookie disappear, which was bad enough, then, an overbearing Fairy 'popped' in to tell us where you'd gone and why. And now one of the pesky little critters has 'popped' away the chair I was sitting on. I am of a mind to sink my fangs into the culprit."

"Please tell your child I am sorry." I chuckle. "And inform her that Ortel is not overbearing, merely used to being obeyed."

"Pam. Not now." The Viking hisses.

"Fine." She snaps. "Is everything okay?"

"All is well, we will be home soon."

"Humph."

Smiling he stows his cell back in his pocket.

Sookie's own smile is short lived, such a serious little ray tonight.

"This is all very well." She sighs. "But I don't know how to do any of this stuff, I'm not even a proper fairy."

"Yes." I tell her firmly. "You are. The blood that runs in your veins is immaterial. You possess the essential spark and that makes you Fae. There is no avoiding it any longer."

She narrows her eyes at me again.

"Did you or did you not glow this evening?"

"I may have." She huffs.

"When?" Eric demands. "What happened? Why? Were you hurt, in danger?"

She reaches out to wrap her fingers with his, calming him immediately.

"It was nothing." She assures him, scowling at me. "Felipe was making me angry, I didn't even notice until Thalia pointed it out. It didn't hurt and I managed to channel some of your 'fatalistic acceptance' until it went away."

"Why did you not tell me?" He growls.

"I don't believe you gave me the opportunity." She murmurs, looking up at him through her eyelashes, effectively skewering him to the spot.

I can almost see the anger and worry flush out of him and evaporate into the air around us. It reminds me so much of how Eildith used to twist me around her little finger, the vixen, that I sigh out loud, aware that a far from regal smile is threatening to split my face in two. Lucky, lucky, Viking.

Alright, lovers can be very self-absorbed and this moment is dragging on, I still have irritated Fairies waiting for me at my Palace.

"Ahem."

Now it's the Viking's turn to scowl at me while my little ray blushes and mutters an apology.

"So." I begin. "Glowing. Fairies glow for any number of reasons. Some of which you will frankly, ahem, just have to work out for yourselves. However, it is a direct manifestation of your Magic, your spark, one of the purest forms of energy in the universe, and it is most easily brought on by heightened emotion, anger or fear for example.

Once it begins to manifest it can be a little wild and out of control, as you can imagine if triggered by emotions. It is not difficult to learn to control it, nor to direct it to your will, it just requires conscious effort."

"But . . . ."

"Is there a light inside you?"

"Um." She looks embarrassed.

I raise my eyebrow.

"Well, Eric, our bond . . . ."

"Ah. That makes sense. Fairies and vampire do not blood bond as a rule, the results can be a little unpredictable."

"Can we conduct this conversation in a language the vampire can understand?" The Viking asks with another scowl.

She sighs and squeezes his hand.

"When we exchanged blood the first time, after I went to sleep, it felt like you were creeping through me, like your blood was seeping into every cell. I was terrified but I couldn't wake up." She swallows and the Viking looks horrified. "There was a bright light and I don't remember anything else, in the morning it was gone. But when you woke up it ripped through me again and I passed out."

"You did not tell me all of this." He objects.

"No? Really?" She snarks. "We weren't exactly on friendly terms Eric and if you remember I thought you knew it would happen and just hadn't bothered to tell me."

"If we might continue?" I suggest, waiting makes irritable Fairies foolish and I have no desire to whip my sword out when I get home. I am supposed to look after my people, not behead them in a fit of pique because these two have trouble communicating.

"Sorry. Um. So afterwards there was always this light inside me, Eric. And then, when we bonded the second time." She shoots him a glare and he raises an unapologetic eyebrow. "It changed, it's sort of right through me, ingrained in every cell."

"Anything similar?" I ask the Viking.

"No light. And though I am aware of her all the time I believe the only difference to a normal blood bond is that she can open, close or mute it at will."

"And nothing has changed, recently?"

He shakes his head. The liar.

"Anyway. I think the light is your essential spark Sookie, the Viking's blood magic must have ignited it when you bonded. They may have even melded though I have no idea what the result would be, you can read and manipulate vampire minds now, yes?"

She would have learnt to do that eventually anyway but his blood may have aided the process.

She nods. "All except Eric."

"You have heard me though." He points out. "Even before we bonded."

"Snatches." She confirms. "And not very often."

I do not think that is relevant, I think that was more a case of him being her soul stalker, no one can hide from the inevitable forever, not even her, and how she has tried . . . .

"Hm. I think you could hear him if you wanted to. It is probably just a mental shield you are not aware of erecting. A defence mechanism."

Ah. I can see by the stricken look on her face that she understands my thinking and I sigh again. Very well. If she is not ready to find out then I will not force the issue. I may poke at it a little though, if the opportunity presents itself . . . .

"Have you ever tried to do anything with the light?" I ask instead.

"Not really, just to get Eric's attention."

He grimaces and she laughs.

"I imagine that was highly effective?" I ask him, hiding my smile.

"Extremely." He huffs, remembering.

"Is it there now?" I ask her.

"Yes."

"Alright. Let us try to do something with it. Northman, I apologise, if her spark is entwined with your blood magic you may be affected by this."

He nods in understanding

"No." Sookie objects.

"He will be quite safe." I assure her. "I will intercede before any harm can befall him."

"I don't want magic anyway." She says, eyeing me with distaste.

"You already have it." I point out. "You should learn to control it lest you inadvertently flash fry someone important to you."

"Flash fry?" She squeaks.

"Fairies like to dismember vampire with their swords." The Viking informs her seriously. "But I have seen many simply go up like roman candles."

"Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea." She intones, bowing her head.

"Quite." I add. "I am sorry Sookie. You are what you are."

"It won't hurt Eric?"

"No."

"You sound confident, I thought you said you didn't really understand what affect our bond might have?"

"I do not fully. But I understand the mechanics of both the essential spark and blood magic, how do you think I was able to make Newlin vampire? We can probably separate the two if they are melded but I will not know until you attempt to use your spark"

"Sookie." The Viking's voice is quiet but compelling and she transfers her full attention to him. "Your magic can protect you when I cannot. I would prefer that you learn to use it. I trust your Great Grandfather on this."

"You do." It's a statement not a question, they are more attuned to each other tonight.

"Alright." She returns her attention to me. "But if he's hurt you're the first person I'm going to flash fry."

I do not doubt her. Wielding Magic is little more than an act of will for Fairy and her will is rolling off her in waves.

"Should I stand up or something?"

"You may as well."

She stands and reluctantly releases the Viking's hand, moving a few feet away from him, as if that would protect him. My poor little ray has no idea what she's capable of.

"Relax." I suggest.

She snorts.

"Focus on the light."

She nods.

"Can you tell your light from Eric's?"

"No, it's all him."

"Are you sure?" I prompt. "Now that you know you have your own light inside you? Look a little deeper . . . ."

"Oh." She says softly and I give her a few moments to explore what she's found.

"Explain it to me." I urge, quietly pleased that opportunity often presents itself quickly to the prepared . . . .

"Um. Well, it always felt to me like his light was sticking to my cells, like cotton candy, but it isn't really. Mine's there, underneath it, kind of . . . . oh . . . . holding it in place."

"Can you let him go?" I ask, ignoring both their reactions to my question.

"N-no."

"Actually try Sookie." I chuckle, guessing what will happen.

"I don't . . . ."

"He cannot hear us Sookie." I assure her. "He thinks we are just standing here in silence, staring at each other."

"I don't want to let him go." She whispers, false understanding blooming. "I didn't realise I was holding onto him but now I do I'm frightened to let go, I'll lose him, whatever of him I have . . . ."

"Try." I insist, cruel to be kind. "Do you want to hold onto something that does not belong to you?"

"No." Her voice is choked.

"Then try."

She hesitates, staring at me, torn, suddenly convinced that she, her unknown nature, is the reason he is here with her. So little confidence, if she is waiting for him to draw her a picture she is going to be, well, waiting a long time. He and I are very similar.

"You know you have to try Sookie." My voice is gentler now, but no less firm.

I feel a little guilty as her spirits pool in the sand beneath her feet. But my heart also swells with pride as she screws her eyes shut and tries, very hard, to do what she considers the right thing.

"It is not working is it?" I confirm for her.

"No."

"Why not?"

She does not answer. Stars! Such a refusal to see, a soul's habits are very hard to break.

"Why not?" I press.

"He won't let go."

There, that was not so hard, was it?

"That is your bond Sookie. It is not something that one of you has done to the other and it is no longer a blood bond. There is much more I should explain but we do not have time tonight. Just trust that the Magic binding you has been mutually forged."

She wants to argue with me, but when her eyes open they automatically fasten on her vampire and, after a pause, she turns back to me with a brief nod.

"Alright." I continue, rubbing my hands together briskly and releasing him to re-join reality. "Now we know which bit is him and which bit is you, shall we fry something?"