Ch. 11: THE SHADOW REALM

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May 11, 1997
Nightfall
Castle Wyvern

Owen was waiting for Goliath with Alex in his arms when he woke up the next night.

"You are lucky the Xanatoses are away for the evening, otherwise I would leave you to explain to them what we are attempting to do with their son tonight."

"Will it endanger the child?" Goliath asked.

"No more than the rest of us. I suggest you have your clan on standby in case we have unexpected company to contend with," Owen explained. "But you should know that at the first sign of danger, I will flee with the child, understood?"

"Understood," Goliath agreed.

"Then, let us begin. Meet me in the nursery in a few minutes."

Goliath nodded, though he felt a tremendous amount of trepidation to attempt this.

What if they unwittingly unleashed some horror upon the world from this dark, nether realm? Would Elisa think it was worth it to bring her cat back if it possibly risked the lives of others?

He wasn't sure, but it was his carelessness that put them in this situation, and he needed to correct it. He couldn't bear to see Elisa upset if he could help it.

He gathered his clan and apprised them of what was happening, and although some concerns were raised, they all agreed to help.

As first line of defense, he had Coldfire and Coldstone stationed directly outside the nursery, with Brooklyn, Katana, and Fu-Dog stationed on one end of the hallway, and Angela, Broadway and Bronx on the other. Hudson, Lexington, and Nashville were on standby in the great hall. Goliath suggested Nashville and the others take Egwardo as well, but Katana let him know that on no uncertain terms would the egg leave her sight.

She was wielding both her katana and wakizashi at the time, and Goliath decided it was definitely not worth arguing over.

Once everything was set up, Goliath met Alex and Owen, now in his true form as Puck, in the nursery as he attempted to "teach" Alex how to open a way to the realm where Cagney was trapped.

"If Alex sent a cat to this other realm, what is preventing him from doing the same with any of the rest of us?" Goliath asked, voicing a concern he'd had since he first learned of what happened.

"Absolutely nothing," Puck replied with glee. "Can you imagine him as a teenager? 'Alex, go to your room!'" Puck said, his voice sounding exactly like David Xanatos. Then he switched to a pubescent male voice. "'No, Dad! You go to your room! Zap!'"

Goliath scowled.

"Obviously, I have my work cut out for me," Puck said, and the grin fell off his face.

Goliath sighed a low rumble as he looked upon the infant that had caused them so much trouble, and not just this weekend. What chaos would this child bring to their lives in the future, he wondered?

Puck set Alex down on the ground. The young child was just starting to take his first steps, and he toddled momentarily before he sat down heavily on his diaper-padded bottom.

"Alright, kid. Time to do your stuff. Open up a way," Puck ordered as he crossed his legs and floated above the ground in front of his charge.

Alex clapped his hands together and laughed, but nothing happened.

Puck looked towards Goliath and then back towards the baby.

"Hmm, maybe he just needs a little warm up," then sotto voce he said to Alex, "Come on kid, you're making me look like a hack."

Alex babbled and waved his hands, and his teddy bear flew across the room and into his hands.

"Ok, you have your bear now. Open a way, kid," Puck said.

Alex screwed up his face as if he was concentrating, but nothing happened, and he pouted.

Puck furrowed his brow.

"Come on, Alex, just do what you did before to the kitty."

"Kitty!" Alex exclaimed, and he waved his hand, but again nothing happened, and the pout got bigger.

"He does not recall exactly how he did it," Puck said to Goliath.

"Then what do we do?" Goliath asked exasperated.

Puck stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Soul transference. Alex has the ability, but not the cognizance to remember cause and effect. We need a bigger brain."

Goliath sighed.

"Then I shall do it."

Puck burst into laughter that lasted several moments, and the gargoyle leader scowled darkly as he realized he was being made fun of.

"Oh, that was a good one, Goliath. Thank you, I needed that," the trickster sighed as he wiped tears from his eyes.

Goliath growled and folded his arms across his chest.

"Alex has never occupied your body, it would take him too long to acclimate. Lex already has a bit of a rapport with the child, perhaps we can use him?" Puck suggested.

Goliath growled nearly infrasonicly, he did not want anyone else dragged into this, but what other option did they have?

He went to the young gargoyle out in the great hall, waiting with Hudson and Nasvhille to see if they were called up to join the fight. Goliath pulled Lexington aside and explained the situation.

"This is your choice, Lex. I will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do, nor will I hold it against you if you choose not to."

"I want to help. For Elisa," Lex said thrusting his chin out and standing taller.

Goliath put a hand on his shoulder gratefully.

Back in the nursery, Puck performed the soul transference spell.

After blinking a few times, Lex smiled at Puck and said, "Kitty. Bring kitty back."

"That's right, Alex. We need you to bring the kitty back."

Puck turned to Goliath.

"When he opens the way, call for Cagney immediately. We want the way to be open for as little time as possible or we run a greater risk of something bad happening."

Goliath nodded.

"OK, Alex, I need you to remember what you did when you sent the kitty away."

The Alex-possessed Lexington screwed up his face in concentration, and he waved his hand. A bright line, like a crack in the very air appeared in front of him.

"That's it, kid! You're doing it!" Puck cheered, the baby inhabited by Lexington in his arms.

Alex/Lex concentrated harder, and the line grew longer and wider.

"Keep going! Just a little more!"

The crack widened to the size of a large serving platter. Just large enough for a cat to get through.

Goliath crouched down next to Lexington and peered inside the rift. The realm inside was dark, but he could swear he saw shapes, twisting and turning, moving about in the darkness beyond.

"I recommend you don't look too closely. The eyes are the window to the soul, and you don't want something looking in on you and hitching a ride out," Puck warned.

Goliath reared back, then he glanced obliquely back at the rift, avoiding looking into it directly.

"Cagney!" Goliath called out.

There was no response.

"Cagney!" Goliath called again, worry for the cat creeping into his voice. "Perhaps I should go in after him?"

"No!" Puck all but shrieked. "That would be the worst thing you could possibly—"

A small dark shape shot out from the opening. It tore about the room, screeching and yowling like its tail was on fire.

"It's Cagney!" Goliath said and Puck tapped Alex/Lex on the shoulder.

"Close it!" he shouted.

The possessed gargoyle waved a hand and the way closed with an audible pop!

The small gray cat dashed crazily about the room, then there was a flash of green light that momentarily blinded them all. When Goliath was able to see again, he found the poor cat cowering and shaking in a corner.

"Shh, shh, shh," Goliath said in a calm tone as he slowly approached Cagney. He scooped him up in his arms, and the poor thing trembled like a leaf.

"You're safe now, Cagney," Goliath said as he stroked the cat and attempted to comfort him. Then he turned back to Puck.

"What was that?" he asked, referring to the strange fae light they had seen.

The trickster said nothing. His face was drawn, his brow furrowed with thought, and then his eyes grew wide with absolute horror as he gazed past Goliath and to the doorway of the nursery.

"What have you done?" a cold feminine voice said from behind them.

Goliath turned around to see Titania, the Queen of Avalon and the Third Race, standing in the doorway.

"My Queen!" Puck said, startled and frightened to find his Lady standing there.

"Gran-gran!" Lexington cried out gleefully and clapped his hands at the appearance of his grandmother.

Titania stared oddly at the olive-green gargoyle.

"Halt! Go no further!" Coldstone called out, and he aimed his arm and pop-up blaster at the fae queen.

She turned towards the cyborg and waved her hand. He froze mid stride. Then she turned and did the same to Coldfire who was coming up from behind.

Then she turned to Goliath and Puck, her eyes blazed with fury.

"What have you done?" she said again, her voice was glacial, but it had gone an octave higher from the fear within it.

Then she looked away momentarily as if she was listening to someone speak in another room. When she turned her gaze back on them, her eyes were cold, hard, and enraged.

Then she disappeared.

Coldstone and Coldfire, released suddenly from the enchantment that held them in place, nearly crashed together.

Brooklyn and Katana charged into the room behind them, blaster and swords drawn and ready, followed shortly by Angela, Broadway and the beasts.

"That was Titania!" Angela said incredulously.

"What was she doing here?" Brooklyn asked.

Goliath and Puck just stood there in shock.

"Where Gran-gran go?" Lexington asked and pouted sadly.

"What just happened?" Goliath said to Puck.

"I think that boon you owe me just got a whole lot bigger," the trickster replied, his tone grave.

Cagney shook in Goliath's arms, his claws dug painfully into his flesh, but he ignored it. There were far more concerning things to worry about at the moment.

...

...

The Weird Sisters burst into the courtroom where Oberon sat brooding upon his throne.

"Lord Oberon!" Luna said, her voice nearly hysterical.

"The prison has been breached!" Selene cried.

"Your mother is free!" Phoebe said, her voice rising with terror.

Oberon lifted his head up off his fist, and his bored expression slid into one of fear.

"But that is impossible. Only I or Titania can open the way. Merlin is still imprisoned, and—" his eyes grew wide.

"Titania!" he bellowed.

He waited a minute.

"TITANIA!" he shouted louder, and she appeared suddenly beside him.

"Yes, husband?" she said coolly.

"Our son and daughter. Where are they? What have they done?" Oberon bellowed.

"Neither of them have spoken a word to me since you stripped them of their powers and banished them," Titania said bitterly. "But I check in on them from time to time."

"And?"

"They live quiet lives amongst the mortals. Nothing unusual to report."

"What about your other progeny?"

"What of them, husband?" Titania said, her face neutral.

Oberon stood up slowly and loomed over his wife.

"What. Have. They. Done?" he said through clenched teeth.

Titania's eyes darted back and forth between his, but she said nothing.

"I will not compel you like the others, but if you do not tell me, I—"

"Alex…is more powerful than we anticipated," Titania said. Her voice full of awe but also fear, and not just for her grandson. "He opened a way into the World Between."

"A way? Into the World Between?" Oberon arched a brow in disbelief, and his blood ran cold as ice.

"My Lord…" Titania said, her voice trembling. "Queen Mab is free once more."

...

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Once Lexington and Alexander were returned to their original bodies, Goliath called up Matt and scheduled to meet him at Elisa's apartment so he could return Cagney to his home. The cat had calmed down since his ordeal, but he was still a little jumpy and frightened. Goliath knew he would be happier back at home where things were familiar to him.

After he knew Cagney was secure at home, he returned to the castle and took his place on the tower for the day. He heard footsteps on the stairwell and turned to see Puck once more in his human guise.

Xanatos's assistant approached the ring of crenellations around the tower and leaned between two of the merlons.

"I'm calling in my boon," Owen said as he gazed out upon the city below.

"Already?" Goliath asked, surprised. He figured Puck would want to carry that favor around for a while until he found something choice enough to call it in.

"You must protect Alex. With your life, if you must," Owen said solemnly.

"I already protect the lad—"

"No," Owen cut him off forcefully. "There will be…forces in the years to come who will wish him great harm. You must guard him, protect him. He must come of age."

"I am unsure—"

"That is my boon," Owen snapped. "Do not go back on your word, gargoyle."

Goliath paused at the wooden man's outburst. It was very unlike him, or Puck for that matter.

"I will protect him," he said hesitantly.

"Swear it. On your life."

"I swear to protect him. On my life," Goliath vowed.

Owen sighed as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, then he straightened himself and nodded briskly once.

"Then the terms of our pact have been met. Good day, Goliath,"

"Uh…Good day," Goliath replied, feeling extremely disconcerted.

He watched Owen walk down the stairs with trepidation, as if the weight he had shook off had landed on Goliath's shoulders. The weight of it felt enormous, significant, like it held the potential of altering many lives, but his most of all, and he shuddered with the sense of fear and foreboding that accompanied it.

...

...

When Goliath awoke the next night, David Xanatos was waiting for him.

"My, how the tables have turned, Goliath," the billionaire said, his voice low in a threatening manner.

Goliath stepped off his perch and approached the man.

"How so?" he asked warily.

"Did you think anything goes unnoticed by me in my own home?" Xanatos said in that same deceptively calm way. "Especially when it involves my son?"

Goliath eyed Xanatos cautiously like he was a venomous snake waiting to strike.

"You are lucky it's me coming to speak with you and not Fox, by the way."

"Xanatos, let me explain–"

"You endangered my son over a cat! A fucking cat!" he exploded with rage.

Goliath had never seen Xanatos lose his cool before. He was always calm under pressure to an almost maddening extent, and he was stunned into silence momentarily.

"I have given you and your clan free reign over the castle. I owed you, and I will honor that debt, but if you ever endanger my son again, I won't bother to warn you; I will show up at noon with a sledge hammer."

The two glared angrily at each other for a tense heartbeat.

"I do not handle threats well, Xanatos," Goliath growled.

"I am not threatening. I'm warning, and you're lucky I'm giving you that much." Xanatos said, his tone was cold and as sharp as steel.

He took a breath and released it and some of his visible anger went with it.

"Put yourself in my shoes, Goliath. You're a parent. Imagine if I endangered Angela."

"You have endangered her before," Goliath growled. "And if you ever do again, I'll end you,"

"Then we understand each other. Good." He took a deep breath and straightened his bespoke suit.

"Elisa left a message for you, by the way. She won't be returning today as expected. Something came up," Xanatos said, his voice had returned to its normal business-like tone.

"What?" Goliath said, concerned and reeling from the sudden change of subject.

"I don't know the details. She left a number where she can be reached with Owen."

Goliath nodded, and Xanatos turned to leave.

"Xanatos…" Goliath said and the man looked back over his shoulder at him. "Your son is terrifyingly powerful. He's dangerous, and he's still just an infant."

"When it comes to worrying about my son, leave that up to me and Fox," Xanatos snapped.

Goliath's eyes flashed. Alex could present a potential danger to his clan, and as far as he was concerned, that made him his business…along with the vow he had made Puck.

"What is the saying, Xanatos? Power tends to corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely?"

Xanatos narrowed his eyes at Goliath.

"Then he'll be in good company," he said acidically, and he left by the trapdoor and walked down the winding steps of the spiral stone staircase. He had managed to keep the majority of his emotions off his face as he spoke to Goliath, aside from the one outburst, but as he descended from the tower, his mask slipped, revealing the fear he felt. Fear for his son, what could happen to him, what he could do, but most of all…

What he could become.

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Happy Halloween! Thanks for reading! Be safe!