Chapter Nine: Mr. Err
Three Months Earlier
In a darkly lit room, a tall man with dark hair highlighted with the slightest grey paced back and forth. This was Mr. Err, a man who had made himself well hidden from the government of Zenith. He had hacked the system, wiping every piece of information there was about his identity so that he would not be found out. Even if Tecna did manage to escape and tell someone about what he'd done to her, they'd never be able to get the evidence to back up her claims. He had it all figured out. But now, she had disappeared, and he had no idea where she'd gone. In the distance, a newscaster could be heard on a holographic projector screen.
"Breaking news." A woman on the screen announced, "The long-breached portal to the Omega Dimension located on Andros' far island has now been sealed. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of a young fairy's life. The fairy in question could not be identified; but witnesses of the event described her as possibly Zenithian due to her pink hair colour and distinct fairy form. The royal family of Andros do not have any leads as to the identity of the savior; however they did say that if it weren't for her brave sacrifice, the Magical Dimension would be no more. It is unclear if the fairy's body is located in the Omega Dimension or stuck within the vortex. Regardless, the entire universe is in debt to her."
Listening intently to the newscast, Mr. Err looked wondrously at the screen. No footage had been taken of the event, but he knew the identity of the fairy that the universe was praising. A cruel smirk spread across his face as he scratched his chin in deep ponderance.
"So, Tecna thought she could escape me by committing suicide, and by such a brave and selfless act I might add." He said quietly to himself, "Well, she got what she deserved, she was useless to me anyway." That wasn't all true, Mr. Err knew he had full control over her, he could make her do anything he wanted. She just had too many outside influences posing a threat to his control, but now he believed she was no more. His perfect little plaything, gone. Just as he was about to turn off the holographic television, a detection signal on a black remote control began to beep. He snapped his head towards the sound and noticed that the remote's location feature had been activated.
"Interesting," Mr. Err pondered, "If the collar has been activated, that means Tecna could still be alive. And I could find her whereabouts." He took the remote and connected it to his wireless network. Then, he was able to get the coordinates of where the collar was. The last time he had used it on Tecna was only a few days ago, ever since then, she had escaped. Someone had to be tampering with the collar to get the locator to activate, so Mr. Err hoped it was still around the unsuspecting fairy's neck.
"Mmm," Another wicked grin crossed his face once he found the location of the collar, "The Alfea Transition Institute. Where fairies victimized by traumatic events have the care and support to get their lives back. So that's where you are." There was no way he would be able to get her back this soon, it would be too suspicious. He had to formulate a plan, a well thought out subversion that would convince the faculty to let Tecna back in his hands. But then what would he do? She would know about the outside world and what it could offer her, and he would lose all his control.
"I'll buy my time, for now." He thought to himself as he began to formulate his plan to get Tecna back into his clutches and under his control once again.
Present Day
The next morning, Tecna opened her eyes slowly to see the face of the man that she had entrusted with her deepest, darkest secrets. Timmy had fallen asleep slouched over her bed, grasping her hand tightly. But now, he was looking down at her as a gentle smile spread across his face as he watched her wake.
"Timmy? You stayed with me the whole night?" She asked him, her voice soft from sleep,
"Of course I did." He said just as softly, "I wasn't going to leave you in the state you were in. But Tecna, I… I have to tell Mrs. Faragonda everything that you told me." Timmy couldn't lie to Tecna and go behind her back, he had to let Tecna know what he had to do.
"Please don't Timmy…, now that I'm with you, I don't want to have to think about it anymore." Tecna pleaded, "Please…, don't tell anyone."
"I know you're terrified, and that is exactly why I need to tell Mrs. Faragonda. So that we know what we could be up against and we can protect you. If I tell her, you won't have to think about it anymore because we're here for you. Remember Tecna, you'll never be alone again." As Timmy said those words, Tecna looked up at him quizzically.
"The words to that song…, but I thought you said you couldn't sing and that Musa helped you?" She asked him.
"I can't," He told her, "Musa gave me magical powder so that I could have the singing voice whenever I needed it. And I knew you needed it last night, so I had to sing to you."
"It's not your voice that's important, it's the fact that you wanted to sing to me in the first place. The song is so beautiful, thank you for every time you sing it to me." Tecna said with a deep, dreamy sigh. With Timmy, she could know what it felt like to be at peace. It felt magical.
"Any time you need." He reassured her quietly, "Get some more rest, I'm going to report to Mrs. Faragonda and get some breakfast, and then I'll come back with yours. Will you be okay by yourself?"
"I'll be fine Timmy." Tecna reassured him in just as quiet of a voice, lowering her head back down to her pillow.
"Are you sure?" He pressed, worry evident in his tone.
"I'm positive." She continued to assure him with a small smile. Then, he reached out, and tightened his grasp on her hand.
"Okay," He heaved a sigh, "but you have my cellphone number if you need me." Tecna nodded before closing her eyes again. Last night's events had truly taken their toll on her. Timmy looked down at her longingly for a moment, he wished to kiss her, but he couldn't. He mustn't, even though his job was to heal her, he could not have her. Not like Helia could have Flora and Brandon could have Stella. Tecna was in a whole different set of circumstances, all she deserved was to be free to decide what she wanted. To Timmy, that meant she would be no one's possession.
After Timmy gathered up the strength to leave, he walked down towards Mrs. Faragonda's office. As he approached the door, he heaved a breath before knocking. Behind the door, he heard the elderly woman give him permission to enter, and he slowly came in and sat in front of the desk. Mrs. Faragonda was organizing some papers on a few of the other fairies when he had entered, and her expression changed to concern when she saw the look on his face.
"Mrs. Faragonda, Tecna told me everything. I know why she was in such critical condition when you found her, I know why she was hiding and why she refused to eat." He began hastily.
"I'm glad to see you've made more progress than any of the others I've assigned to her. So, what did she tell you?" Mrs. Faragonda asked Timmy, and he took a deep, shaky breath before continuing.
"Tecna told me that a man named Mr. Err has been holding her under his control ever since she can remember. She said he's killed her parents and has used her to do some kind of coding project. The collar was meant to be a method of punishment if she ever showed the slightest bit of emotion. And the worst part of all of this is that Tecna's sacrifice to close the Omega portal was indeed a suicide attempt, and everything after that too! Tecna didn't think anyone cared that she ate, she was too scared to be punished to show fear, and she considered herself a disgrace who should've died!" Timmy explained in one endless spree of rambling, "We have to find this Mr. Err and arrest him or… something! Tecna will never be free with him still out there!"
"Timmy, calm down." Mrs. Faragonda advised him, "It sounds to me like you are getting too attached to Tecna, and your personal involvement in her case is getting in the way of your actual job." At this, the ginger-haired man froze. It was then that his thoughts had been confirmed, it was true that he had, indeed, fallen in love with her. But that didn't matter, in fact, it gave Timmy more incentive to help Tecna find her freedom.
"No, I haven't." He protested, but he knew that was a lie, "I just know that Tecna won't be safe to make a life for herself with that psychotic fu-!" He was about to say something that he would regret when she raised her hand to stop him.
"I think it'd be wise for you to take some time to yourself." Mrs. Faragonda urged him, "You are obviously too close to the situation. In the meantime, I will look into this 'Mr. Err' that Tecna has spoken of. However, if he is as conniving as she tells you he is, he may have found a way to cover his tracks."
"There has to be a way to find him." Timmy pressed with great desperation in his voice, "We can't let Tecna out on her own until he is put to justice. Please, please say you won't let Tecna get into the wrong hands."
"I will do my absolute best, Timmy." Mrs. Faragonda assured him, "But I don't know what to expect until I have more information."
"Please don't take me off Tecna's case. I know I'm too involved, but I'm scared that Tecna could relapse if I leave her." He finally confessed, "Or even worse, he could even take her back to where she used to be without us even knowing it!"
"I have no intention of doing that. Tecna won't trust anybody else but you at this point and if she can trust you this much, she'll feel confident enough to tell you more about Mr. Err." Mrs. Faragonda continued to reassure him, "But remember that your only duties are to supervise her meals and assist her at night, that is it."
"Thank you." Timmy breathed, then he dismissed himself to the workers' cafeteria to meet Helia and Brandon. He didn't care that he had been going beyond his duties for weeks now, and since he and Tecna had been spending so much time together, it was no wonder he developed these strong feelings for her. That didn't matter, none of it did. For now, Timmy would leave tracking down Mr. Err to the higher ups at this institute, as for his time with Tecna, he had another idea in mind.
Timmy sat silently at the far table in the workers' cafeteria as he continued watching his cellphone, waiting intently for a call from Tecna. He barely touched his eggs and toast, and slowly sipped away at his coffee. Suddenly, his thoughts were broken when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder, which caused him to jump slightly.
"Dude, relax. It's us." Brandon said, "You look worse than yesterday. Did you manage to find out what you needed to know about Tecna?"
"Brandon…," Timmy breathed, "it's worse than anything I could've ever imagined."
"You don't need to tell us anything, Tecna told you in the strictest confidence. Although you should go straight to Mrs. Faragonda if you haven't already." Helia told him.
"I did." Timmy assured Helia, then turned his attention back to Brandon, "Hey Brandon, I need you and Stella to help me."
"What's that?"
"I need you to teach me how to dance?" Timmy continued, "And I need Stella's fashion expertise to make a dress for Tecna."
"You want to take her on a date?" Helia pressed, making Timmy's cheeks tint with a slight pink, but he suddenly brushed it off.
"Tecna has never attended a school dance, I think she deserves somewhat of the experience." He clarified.
"We can all work on this together." Helia chimed in, "And you can make it extra special, with a candlelit spaghetti dinner."
"Stella would consider that 'the ultimate in romance.'" Brandon added with a knowing grin, However, Timmy only wanted to give Tecna the dance experience that she never got, but he didn't mind the idea of making the dinner just as special. He smiled at the idea as Brandon patted him playfully on the back. During breakfast, the three friends discussed the details for this exciting night.