A/N: Hello again! Wow, thanks for all the great responses, ms. halley bom-
bally (that penname sounds familiar, how'd you come up w/ it?), EvilSpirit
(wow, thanks a lot for all the pairing suggestions), Neo (to be frank,
don't count on it), and chrysgurl. Look, I figured out a title all on my
own- well, not ENTIRELY on my own, but SHE knows she helped just like I
know she reviewed ^^. Anyways, again, I'm still not positive on a pairing,
though I doubt it'll be Artemis/anybody, frankly because I don't wanna open
THAT can of worms, i.e "What the hell would Artemis be like in love??" No
thanks. I'm surprised nobody suggested Butler/anybody. What, kick ass
bodyguards don't need love too? Well, I beg to differ. Keep the lovely
reviews a-comin'!
Oh, and before I forget again, stuff in between these those pointy parentheses are thoughts.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
Aldonza finagled her way out of her seat belt and sprang a good five feet from the car the second June hit the brake. Tilting her face to the sun, she twirled until her light, cotton dress puffed out like a bell and the beads that held dozen or so tiny braids in her hair stood on end. Freedom. Thomas and June watched the girl with happy smiles, mistaking her relief for joy at their arrival.
"C'mon, sweetheart," Thomas said after a moment, "We're meeting everyone by the stream." The mature pair began walking across the field in which they'd parked.
Aldonza abruptly stopped spinning and ran to join Thomas and June, "That's where we're meeting? Yes! I love it when we meet there!" She skipped, jogged, and bounced alongside her parents half out of elation of her emancipation from the car and half what Thomas and June had assumed earlier. Aldonza felt if she were any happier she'd simply float off the ground.
Every year on the first warm day of spring the Morgans made the hour and a half trek into the bowels of the near-by nature preserve to celebrate the end of winter, as was the custom for Wiccans. Thomas, June, and several friends from their younger days had stumbled on the little-practiced religion in the sixties and had adhered to its teachings ever since. This meant home-schooling, a vegan diet, and hand-made clothes for little Aldonza. However, the young girl hadn't withered in this isolated upbringing, quite the opposite, actually. She had developed a deep appreciation for all living things and a will of iron. As a result of having nearly no contact with the inflexible, unimagininative outside world, she had very little reason to believe that she couldn't do anything she set her mind to. A blessing and a curse, at times.
"See, Sun?" she called down to the young boy at the base of the towering tree, "Told ya' I could climb up here! But you wouldn't believe me, oh noooo! Pay the man!"
The boy scowled up at the tiny form nearly lost in the highest branches of the tree before turning to the boy identical to him (except he was smiling) and thrusting a quarter into the other's outstretched palm.
"Okay, Allie!" cried the happier of the pair, "We win! Come on down!"
Aldonza was silent a moment, gazing out over the landscape of green the tree's height afforded her, "Nah, Stars, I'll come down later," she replied absently.
"Suit yourself!" Stars said and turned to his twin, "That girl's nuts- "
"She's gonna miss the bonfire," Sun finished. The pair shrugged simultaneously and dashed into the underbrush.
The twins didn't understand what kept Aldonza in the tree's embrace. In all honesty, Aldonza herself didn't much understand it. It was an irresistible peace that drew her, the complete opposite of how she felt in the car. A serenity that enveloped her like a blanket. It was even better if a stream was near, for reasons unfathomable to her. She nestled into the crook of the tree's branches, ignoring the weird lumps on her shoulder blades scraping against the bark, and slipped easily into a light nap. She was undisturbed by the subtle slanting of her eyes or the slight lengthening and narrowing of her fingers.
* ( * ( * ( *
Holly's boots made stern, heel-toe beats on the floor of Foaly's office as she strode up the line of fairies that made up her rescue team. she told herself, trying very hard not to lose it on the lot of them, Caesar smiled at her happily as she passed him, completely unfazed by her repeated death glares the other two fairies, the indispensable Grub Trouble, and one she didn't quite recognize but had little doubt was quite irritating, quailed under. The only other officer who didn't look faint was Chix Verbil at the line's end, he looked positively poised.
"Tell me this is NOT MY team, Foaly, NOW."
"Afraid I can't do that, Captain Short, because they are all yours." The centaur didn't even bother turning from his plasma screen to deliver the bad news. The lovely high Holly had been enjoying the past three days rapidly deflated into a black ball of grief.
"Aw, Holly-" Chix said with a nauseating half-smile.
"Captain Short!!" the superior officer screeched.
Thankfully Chix got some form of her message, "Yes, Captain Short! Uh, well, don't feel too bad, it could be worse..."
"Exactly how could it be worse, Private?-"
"Uh," Chix interjected quite bravely, "That's Sergeant now, I got promoted!" He offered her an almost Caesar-like smile, if it weren't for all the arrogance.
Holly hissed the rest of her tirade, "I think I'm getting command of a well-trained, professional rescue team, and what do I get? Root drags the bottom of the LEP Ocean for the greenest, most irritating fairies he can find!"
"Ouch," Grub murmured, and then mumbled something about a complaint.
Holly stood rigid, her eyes squeezed shut and her fists clenching and unclenching, before turning on her heel to Foaly, who'd turned away from his beloved network to watch Holly's most entertaining meltdown. He barely managed to look frightened as she loosed a searing gaze on him.
"Root said you had information to give us," she ground out.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, one sec," Foaly pulled up the screen concerning the changeling rescue, "Okay, subject is a one Morgan, Aldonza, age 160, lives in Virginia with her so-called folks Thomas and June. Home-schooled her whole life, Mud parents are strict hippies who live in almost complete self- sufficiency on the edge of the state's largest nature preserve. You guys don't have a lot of time, spell's wearing off quicker then predicted, but I'm sure Root told you all of that-"
"I'm afraid not," Holly interrupted, wide-eyed, "What do you mean 'the spell's wearing off'? How can it wear off?"
Foaly sighed tiredly, "Trust Julius to slack off on the only details that count... Okay, back in the old days, not many Mud kids lived into adulthood, right? Well, when one was taken, a spell was put on the changeling so it looked human. But the spell wasn't made to last, since the fairies that took the Mud kid figured it was pretty good odds the changeling would die in a few years anyhow. So, as the changeling grew, he or she outgrew the spell. Kid lived long enough; you'd find one very confused family looking at an equally confused fairy who used to be a relative. And that's not even going into the fact that fairies can't survive on the surface for long periods of time anymore-"
"What?" Holly asked incredulously. Her look was mirrored by the rest of the team.
"Seriously, Root didn't tell you this?" He didn't bother waiting for a response, Holly's look was enough, "Here we go, the People will probably never coexist with the humans like they did in the old days. Why not? Because we can't live on the surface anymore. Why not? Because of all the pollution, ozone depletion, acid rain, the list goes on and on, but it all amounts to the fact that it just isn't the same Earth that it was back then. So you'd better get that changeling down here where she'll be safe, before her disguise completely disappears, or the consequences could be serious."
The five team members looked stricken, but Foaly barreled on without pause, "It's a good thing she lives near a forest, or she wouldn't have made it this far. Another bit of luck is she's a sprite, if any kind of fairy was chosen to try to have a normal life on the surface, it'd be them. They can resist all the poisons floating around up there for the longest." Chix managed a smug look; Holly wouldn't expect any less of him.
"So give us a figure, Foaly, how much time do we have?" Holly was growing very tired of bad news.
"I'd say a week, maybe week and a half tops before the spell is in ribbons and her cover's blown," the centaur handed her the information he'd printed out.
"Any particular dangers we should know about?"
"Well, I'd guess whatever sick bunch made the switch in the first place. They probably won't be too happy having you all take away their Mud pet."
"Got it," she turned wearily to her team, "Okay. Well, move out, I guess."
And thus began the less than auspicious beginning of the first changeling rescue mission in two centuries.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
A/N: Ah, nothing satisfies quite like plot development. Except maybe reviews... Just something to think about as you digest my lovely offering of a chapter. Any of it seem implausible? Well, it's really a shame then that I don't care. Hm, I think I've been watching too much Scrubs.
Oh, and before I forget again, stuff in between these those pointy parentheses are thoughts.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
Aldonza finagled her way out of her seat belt and sprang a good five feet from the car the second June hit the brake. Tilting her face to the sun, she twirled until her light, cotton dress puffed out like a bell and the beads that held dozen or so tiny braids in her hair stood on end. Freedom. Thomas and June watched the girl with happy smiles, mistaking her relief for joy at their arrival.
"C'mon, sweetheart," Thomas said after a moment, "We're meeting everyone by the stream." The mature pair began walking across the field in which they'd parked.
Aldonza abruptly stopped spinning and ran to join Thomas and June, "That's where we're meeting? Yes! I love it when we meet there!" She skipped, jogged, and bounced alongside her parents half out of elation of her emancipation from the car and half what Thomas and June had assumed earlier. Aldonza felt if she were any happier she'd simply float off the ground.
Every year on the first warm day of spring the Morgans made the hour and a half trek into the bowels of the near-by nature preserve to celebrate the end of winter, as was the custom for Wiccans. Thomas, June, and several friends from their younger days had stumbled on the little-practiced religion in the sixties and had adhered to its teachings ever since. This meant home-schooling, a vegan diet, and hand-made clothes for little Aldonza. However, the young girl hadn't withered in this isolated upbringing, quite the opposite, actually. She had developed a deep appreciation for all living things and a will of iron. As a result of having nearly no contact with the inflexible, unimagininative outside world, she had very little reason to believe that she couldn't do anything she set her mind to. A blessing and a curse, at times.
"See, Sun?" she called down to the young boy at the base of the towering tree, "Told ya' I could climb up here! But you wouldn't believe me, oh noooo! Pay the man!"
The boy scowled up at the tiny form nearly lost in the highest branches of the tree before turning to the boy identical to him (except he was smiling) and thrusting a quarter into the other's outstretched palm.
"Okay, Allie!" cried the happier of the pair, "We win! Come on down!"
Aldonza was silent a moment, gazing out over the landscape of green the tree's height afforded her, "Nah, Stars, I'll come down later," she replied absently.
"Suit yourself!" Stars said and turned to his twin, "That girl's nuts- "
"She's gonna miss the bonfire," Sun finished. The pair shrugged simultaneously and dashed into the underbrush.
The twins didn't understand what kept Aldonza in the tree's embrace. In all honesty, Aldonza herself didn't much understand it. It was an irresistible peace that drew her, the complete opposite of how she felt in the car. A serenity that enveloped her like a blanket. It was even better if a stream was near, for reasons unfathomable to her. She nestled into the crook of the tree's branches, ignoring the weird lumps on her shoulder blades scraping against the bark, and slipped easily into a light nap. She was undisturbed by the subtle slanting of her eyes or the slight lengthening and narrowing of her fingers.
* ( * ( * ( *
Holly's boots made stern, heel-toe beats on the floor of Foaly's office as she strode up the line of fairies that made up her rescue team. she told herself, trying very hard not to lose it on the lot of them, Caesar smiled at her happily as she passed him, completely unfazed by her repeated death glares the other two fairies, the indispensable Grub Trouble, and one she didn't quite recognize but had little doubt was quite irritating, quailed under. The only other officer who didn't look faint was Chix Verbil at the line's end, he looked positively poised.
"Tell me this is NOT MY team, Foaly, NOW."
"Afraid I can't do that, Captain Short, because they are all yours." The centaur didn't even bother turning from his plasma screen to deliver the bad news. The lovely high Holly had been enjoying the past three days rapidly deflated into a black ball of grief.
"Aw, Holly-" Chix said with a nauseating half-smile.
"Captain Short!!" the superior officer screeched.
Thankfully Chix got some form of her message, "Yes, Captain Short! Uh, well, don't feel too bad, it could be worse..."
"Exactly how could it be worse, Private?-"
"Uh," Chix interjected quite bravely, "That's Sergeant now, I got promoted!" He offered her an almost Caesar-like smile, if it weren't for all the arrogance.
Holly hissed the rest of her tirade, "I think I'm getting command of a well-trained, professional rescue team, and what do I get? Root drags the bottom of the LEP Ocean for the greenest, most irritating fairies he can find!"
"Ouch," Grub murmured, and then mumbled something about a complaint.
Holly stood rigid, her eyes squeezed shut and her fists clenching and unclenching, before turning on her heel to Foaly, who'd turned away from his beloved network to watch Holly's most entertaining meltdown. He barely managed to look frightened as she loosed a searing gaze on him.
"Root said you had information to give us," she ground out.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, one sec," Foaly pulled up the screen concerning the changeling rescue, "Okay, subject is a one Morgan, Aldonza, age 160, lives in Virginia with her so-called folks Thomas and June. Home-schooled her whole life, Mud parents are strict hippies who live in almost complete self- sufficiency on the edge of the state's largest nature preserve. You guys don't have a lot of time, spell's wearing off quicker then predicted, but I'm sure Root told you all of that-"
"I'm afraid not," Holly interrupted, wide-eyed, "What do you mean 'the spell's wearing off'? How can it wear off?"
Foaly sighed tiredly, "Trust Julius to slack off on the only details that count... Okay, back in the old days, not many Mud kids lived into adulthood, right? Well, when one was taken, a spell was put on the changeling so it looked human. But the spell wasn't made to last, since the fairies that took the Mud kid figured it was pretty good odds the changeling would die in a few years anyhow. So, as the changeling grew, he or she outgrew the spell. Kid lived long enough; you'd find one very confused family looking at an equally confused fairy who used to be a relative. And that's not even going into the fact that fairies can't survive on the surface for long periods of time anymore-"
"What?" Holly asked incredulously. Her look was mirrored by the rest of the team.
"Seriously, Root didn't tell you this?" He didn't bother waiting for a response, Holly's look was enough, "Here we go, the People will probably never coexist with the humans like they did in the old days. Why not? Because we can't live on the surface anymore. Why not? Because of all the pollution, ozone depletion, acid rain, the list goes on and on, but it all amounts to the fact that it just isn't the same Earth that it was back then. So you'd better get that changeling down here where she'll be safe, before her disguise completely disappears, or the consequences could be serious."
The five team members looked stricken, but Foaly barreled on without pause, "It's a good thing she lives near a forest, or she wouldn't have made it this far. Another bit of luck is she's a sprite, if any kind of fairy was chosen to try to have a normal life on the surface, it'd be them. They can resist all the poisons floating around up there for the longest." Chix managed a smug look; Holly wouldn't expect any less of him.
"So give us a figure, Foaly, how much time do we have?" Holly was growing very tired of bad news.
"I'd say a week, maybe week and a half tops before the spell is in ribbons and her cover's blown," the centaur handed her the information he'd printed out.
"Any particular dangers we should know about?"
"Well, I'd guess whatever sick bunch made the switch in the first place. They probably won't be too happy having you all take away their Mud pet."
"Got it," she turned wearily to her team, "Okay. Well, move out, I guess."
And thus began the less than auspicious beginning of the first changeling rescue mission in two centuries.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
A/N: Ah, nothing satisfies quite like plot development. Except maybe reviews... Just something to think about as you digest my lovely offering of a chapter. Any of it seem implausible? Well, it's really a shame then that I don't care. Hm, I think I've been watching too much Scrubs.