With a stern glare from the red-eyed witch, both teens were scared out of Finn's room and ushered down the stairs. The manor was now consumed in shadows and grey cobblestones; the furniture sharp and dripping in red velvet. There was no sign of Finn's animal companions, leaving the manor lifeless and eerie. Finn arms were wrapped around Harv's in a vice grip as they climbed down the stairs. The pale witch was fuming, but neither of them had any answers for her. Last time she was this angry, she'd tried to kill Harv.

"To try to maintain an illusion this large takes a lot of concentration; that's why certain things are slipping." She threw open a mahogany wardrobe, there was a collection of staffs neatly arranged, everything seemed to be in place. "If you know what to look for, the flaws are easy to spot." The staffs didn't look quite right to Finn, the wood grain was almost hazy and the shapes of the stones were a little off. All except one. A twisted five foot staff with a blue star crystal. Leenan picked it up and held it up to the light with a grin. "Like leaving a counterfeit in place of my illusion staff." She turned and gave them a good look at the staff. "It was made to materialize people's desires, but in inexperienced hands, it'll manifest anything that comes to mind. I can only assume whomever has it is fairly immature to make a place this rooted in dream logic. When I get my hands on them-"

"We'll get the staff back." Finn interjected. "If people see you with the staff, they'll assume this was all your doing." The witch smiled sweetly at her 'daughter'. "We wouldn't want people getting the wrong idea."

"That's awfully considerate of you dear, but I'm the only one who knows how to control it." She ruffled his blond curls. "If someone with an active imagination like you picks it up, well, it'll just prolong the problem. Besides, this isn't your problem to fix, it's his." Harv withered under her glare. "You had one job while I was gone; make sure no one went into my study."

"I don't-" He felt the words die in his throat as she stood at her full height.

"Remember. I know." The witch rubbed her temples. "Anything that doesn't fit gets altered or erased, that's how the spell works. Clearly, this person isn't conscious of this, or they'd have done a better job making sure our memories of the past lined up each others. You need to get your hands on the staff before breaking the spell. The last thing we need is for the staff to decide it's too much effort to keep you under it's control and boot you from the illusion altogether."

Harv was eerily reminded of the illusion meadow he'd woken up in months prior, how the ground had ripped apart beneath his feet the moment he thought Finn had been nearby. Would escaping this illusion throw them back to reality or into a deeper slumber? Either way, that had to be where the rest of the townspeople had gone. Far enough away to be unable to find the staff and return it to it's proper owner.

"So we just have to get the staff back without touching it." Harv concluded. "That shouldn't be too hard if they have to be holding it to cast the spell."

"Not 'we'." Leenan closed her claw-like hand and pulled on the air. Finn slid out of Harv's reach and into his mother's leg. Her other hand wrapped firmly around Finn's shoulder. "My baby isn't allowed anywhere near that thing for a reason."

"Mother!" Finn exclaimed, offended and mortified all at once. Leenan instead handed Harv the fake staff.

"Exchange the real staff for this one. Maybe this way, you won't forget what you're supposed to be doing the second you leave my sight. I will decide your punishment after you bring back my staff in one piece."

"Yes mam." Harv gripped the phony staff without making eye contact.

"Now get out of my sight before I change my mind." She dug her nails into Finn's shoulder when he tried to follow Harv out the door. "Sweet pea, I know your worried, but you need to stay here where it's safe. Even if that simpleton touches the staff, his head's so empty I'll be able to find it immediately. You'll be-" Finn wrenched his shoulder from his mother's grip. "...fine."

"So that's you're plan is it? Send Harvey out as bait and then what? Hope the person who stole the staff has a change of heart?" Finn looked through his mother's study. Where had the crystal ball gone? If he knew where Harv had run off to, maybe he could send a few of his birds after him, just to keep tabs on him. At this rate, he'd never be able to find what he was looking for in this neatly organized study.

"Finn, don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"

Sending Harv by himself to confront some villain wielding a mind controlling wand. It didn't sit well in Finn's stomach. He was reminded of the smell of gun powder, hot breath against his neck, and an angelic demon with a single pink horn.

A unicorn's horn.

What if Harv didn't come back?

"Kind people don't steal magical artifacts, and they certainly don't steal them to do kind things." He ran into the foyer to get his coat; pjamas or no he needed to catch up to Harv before-

before...

Mother was coming up the steps in a hurry. Finn had picked out a purple mink coat and stared at it.

"Finn!" Leenan saw her daughter standing at the coat rack transfixed with a puzzled expression on her face. Her eyes fadinging in between their usual amethyst and an eerie blue hue. "Darling, why don't you lay down and rest?" Finn looked up at her with a start.

"No, I... I have to go see Harv..." Finn looked back at the coat and took it off the rack slowly.

"Yes, but he's busy right now." Leenan gently took the coat and put it back on the rack, then nudged Finn in the directions of the stairs. "If you're not in your room, how is supposed to find you?"

"I suppose..."

"Come on now, off you go." She ushered the blonde up to her bedroom at the top of the tower. Finn gave one last puzzled look at her mother with a confused frown as the wooden door swung shut. "This is for your own good dearest."

Click.

Finn ran up to the door and jiggled the handle.

Locked.

"Mother! Open the door!" Finn banged on the door but it was no use. "MOTHER!" Leenan cringed at the ear piercing shrieks coming from inside. "You were just lying about some stealing something to get him to go away! You always ruin everything!" She threw her weight against the door, and that failing, an ornate stool from her boudoir.

"You keep that up with that attitude and you'll be in trouble for real!" Leenan huffed. "Of all the ungrateful- You'll be thanking me this later. Well, you will if you remember any of this." She shook her head and descended down the steps leaving Finn to fume in her room. Finn's floor was covered utterly trashed, having tried everything she could to get the blasted door open. What was there left to do but weep into her downy pillows and hope someone would come rescue her? Maybe hum a few bars out the open window and hope some traveler could hear her nearby?

Amongst the overturned furniture, a single pearl ring shone brighter than anything in the room.

Of course! Rhodri was the king now. If she told him what was going on, he could rally everyone in the kingdom to come to their aid, and then Harvey would be able to come back from... Well from whatever fools errand mother sent him on. Surely he'd be able to overlook some petty disagreement to help his own brother. After all, Rhodri was a kind and wise king; the greatest in the world. She just had to get to the palace.

Finn pulled her dresses with long trains and bed sheets into a pile and started to fashion them into a rope.

The problem with trying to find who had stolen the staff was, well, everyone said it wasn't them. No one confessed to recognizing the staff, no matter how recently they had seen the genuine artifact, and there had been no witnesses to the theft. As far as everyone was concerned, Harv was toting around a very pretty piece of glass mounted on a stick. Though, they did seem overly enthusiastic about his phony treasure. In fact, everyone seemed to constantly remind him of how hard he worked and what a good older brother he was. Truly odd since mere weeks ago the only thing on everyone's minds was welcoming the new king.

He sat down atop on of the hills at the edge of town after a long afternoon of going door to door. The clouds rolled by some stilted like a rock dragged across the dirt and others were rippling like bubbles in a stream. It reminded him of a miss match of different paintings from the walls of the church. The goats were all starting to look the same as the munched on grass in the midday sun. Equal parts picturesque and uncanny.

Try as he might, he couldn't think of what any of it meant. If the thief really was a child, there was a chance Leenan would curse them with the same vindictiveness she had towards him. He didn't want a hand in harming a child. In fact, they had a better chance of waiting for them to tire of the whole thing and move onto the next. That's what worked best with his brothers anyway. Though the witch might not have the patience for such a tactic or risk letting the staff fall into the wrong hands.

It just wasn't fair!

Without a clear enemy to fight, he was just wandering around in circles, literally. It wasn't even his fault the thing got stolen in the first place! She was the one who left Finn all alone in her castle for days. He was really starting to feel silly walking around town with this thing and didn't really understand why this meant he couldn't keep Finn close by. It would be so much easier for them to just walk out of range of the illusion and find the staff from the outside.

But, there were certain rules you just couldn't break, and never walking away from the quest was one of them.

The palace was the last place he'd be able to check. If that failed, he'd just have to do things his way, and try to get them out of the illusion himself.

When Finn arrived at the royal palace, the place was bustling with activity. Maids, all similar in appearance were throwing up decorations in purple and gold. Rhodri was talking to some man in a tuxedo who smiled and nodded anytime he pointed at something. Rhodri turned and beamed at her, dressed head to toe in a light blue robes that matched his staff.

"Oh good, you made it!" He snapped his fingers and one of the maids dropped everything to get Finn's measurements again. "I figured out what was missing. All those fancy rich people hold huge parties to announce when they're getting hitched. That's why it doesn't feel official yet." The engagement, how could she forget? This whole time she'd been fussing with the state of the house for boring old visitors when she should have been making wedding preparations. They hadn't even set a date yet, and everyone in the kingdom would be there, including Harv... "Woah, hey, what's the matter?"

She was trying not to cry. Really, what good would crying do at a time like this? Everything was all wrong. She had been doing something else before she came here, something important. Her life wasn't supposed to revolve around someone else's wedding. It was supposed to be full of adventure and singing and where was Harv when you really needed him? How could he just run off without trying to get her out of that damn tower first. She came her for a reason.

What was the reason?

"You're not wearing the engagement ring..." Rhodri's hand tightened around the staff. "Was there something wrong with the gem? I can always get you a different ring." Finn hesitated, no the ring wasn't the problem, women all across Austria would be envious of such a ring. All the gifts she had gotten were perfectly adequate in fact, they just weren't coming from an unwanted suitor. It was hard to think of a way to put that into words without hurting his feelings; but the well had run dry. Her mind was a fog. He took her hand, now looking at the ground. "...you don't have to force yourself to like me." The staff he was holding dimmed a little and Finn felt him give her hand a squeeze. "I see how those stuffy nobles act, I- I don't want to be like that. Even if you don't love me, I think we could really be happy. I can pass laws to legalize witch craft, I can bribe any noble who gets in our way, I'd do anything to keep you safe. Isn't that what you really want?" Finn pulled away slowly.

"...no..." What did she really want? This was a rich town where everyone loved her and wanted her to be queen. She should want for nothing. "I don't care if it's more dangerous, I want... I want to live with Harvey." The light from the staff was almost blinding. It was reacting to what they were saying...

"WHY!? He doesn't like you at all!" Rhodri shook his head. "All he does is complain about how annoying you are and avoid you. He treats you worse than our goats!"

"That's not true." Even if he did wrap goats up in his arms and carry them around like they were precious things. He talked about them a bunch too. Maybe even gave one a smooch on it's greasy little forehead. Good gracious, did she really rank lower than livestock? That couldn't be right. Rhodri sighed, he was looking at her with pity.

"Just because he's nicer to you than the jerks at the palace doesn't mean he actually likes you." Finn turned away. This had to be some kind of trick. Harv would do anything for her. "He's nice to everyone." He'd do anything for anyone. Even, say, help a vicious killer out of the kindness of his bumbling heart. Finn looked at the blond reflected in the shiney marble floors. The image of a pitiful weeping maiden looking back.

"You said you'd do anything to help me, right?" Finn asked quietly.

"Of course."

"Then give me my mother's staff."

"What? Why?"

"Rhodri, mother will not be merciful if she finds out you took it and she is looking for it. I won't even tell her it was you who took it. But, you wanting me to be happy here is what's ruining the illusion." Finn sighed. "We can't both get what we want." He held out his hand, but Rhodri hugged it protectively.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Rhodri-" The door's to the palace swung wide open as Harv walked in. He briefly marveled at the dozens of maids bustling about, before realizing what was unfolding. Rhodri, trying to keep the staff away from Finn's outstretched hands. "Wait, don't touch that!" The two turned to him as he ran around the staff.

"What are you doing here?" Rhodri pointed at the fake staff. "What's that?" Harv paused, looked up at the staff and back at them before smiling at Finn.

"You don't want that one Finn, you want this staff, it's better." Finn face contorted into an undignified look of outrage and confusion.

"No it's not." Rhodri tried to get between the two.

"Yeah it is. This one came from the witch's house." Harv tried to over exaggerate the words, hoping Finn would catch on. "It's newer and, uh, more powerful. You don't want that old staff, do you Finn."

"I-" Finn looked back and forth between two expectant faces. He didn't have siblings of his own and he wasn't exactly sure how Harv was able to do this kind of thing so easily. Was he supposed to play along with Harv? But, he wanted the real staff, not an excuse Rhodri could use not to hand it over. "Of course I want the new one. Then Rhodri and I could match. You're so thoughtful Harvey." Was that not the angle he was supposed to take? They both looked disappointed. "I'll make sure to treasure it?"

"I'll take the new staff." Rhodri handed his staff toward Finn. "I'll take the new one." Just before Finn could grab it, Harv kicked it, where it skidded across the floor. "What was that for?"

"Oops." Harv shrugged and quickly handed the fake staff to Rhodri. "Finn, wait!"

Finn had walked over to the magical artifact. Even out of someone's direct hand, it was still trying to maintain the illusion. It was actually quite easy to manage once you knew how to turn it off. He could see Harv running to catch up, to put everything back the way it should be.

"Not yet." Finn picked up the staff and the fairy tale castle crumbled all around them.

It was hard to explain to Harv exactly how the staff worked, since, it seemed to work different for everyone. It liked to latch onto the strongest desire the person held at the time, whatever day dream would keep the fiercely guarding the stone. And that failing, it would latch onto fear. When Finn had touched the staff when he was five, it had been horrible.

He had wanted a place to play that was safe, free of the unicorn that had attacked him years prior. Instead, it showed him this distorted version of the unicorn that lived in his nightmares attacking him again, and again Finn surviving. Then his attacker would get maimed somehow, as Finn hadn't quite understood the concept of death yet, but that was the sort of thing that happened in stories before the monster went away. Only, Finn had an active imagination. So after one scene played out, the scene would role back and play out a slightly different version.

Finn wanted to live.

Finn wanted the monster gone.

And the staff tried to give that to him again and again.

So this time, when the staff cycled through Finn's daydreams and fears, it had a wider variety to choose from. They were shown to him in rapid succession, as the magic tried to find which one would stick. But it was easier to block out the noise and the sights and focus on what he needed to do.

A forest slowly materialized, first like lines on parchment, then cell shaded and darkened so that they were protected by a ring of dense trees. The sky would be overcast, slightly drizzling, the perfect weather for if you got stuck outside for a long period of time. Finn tried to picture something as close to realistic as he could, but he couldn't ignore the bold outlines around his frame or how his shadow was a collection of tightly knit dots. The staff wouldn't let him forget this was fake.

He was alone, with Harv, now more aware then ever that there was no hidden danger lurking in the forest anymore.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Harv asked. He didn't remember anything of course. This thing loved to feed off of people's wants without leaving anything behind. The poet's blouse was a nice touch; he always thought Harv would look better in something more light and tailored.

"You want to be my friend, don't you?" Finn gripped the staff. Just once, he only needed to hear it once, then he'd turn the damn thing off.

"Of course." Harv laughed. "Come on Finn, what's this really about?"

"..." Finn bit his lip. "I've had a sickish feeling ever since I started noticing illusion magic was involved that... That once the illusion goes away, you're going to stop liking me." He could see Harv hesitate, then look a little sad. It was hard to tell how much of the magic was tampering with his behavior, his eyes were always a pale blue.

"Finn, I wish you didn't think of me like that." Harv took a tentative step towards him. "You know I'd never abandon you."

"I know. I know it's a selfish thing to say, that's why I don't say it. I try not to, anyway." Finn tried to concentrate. "But, I don't want you to just follow me, or be kind out of obligation, I want you to like me. This was the closest I felt that it was real, that you wanted me around, I don't want that to go away." Harv was touching his shoulder now, he'd need to let go soon.

"I don't think that's possible."

"Can you please say it, just once."

"I like you Finn." Finn turned off the staff before it could show him anything else. As long as they could get it back to his mother without anyone seeing, it'd be like it never happened.