Chapter Eight: Et Tu, Timmy Turner?

Timmy awoke with his senses tingling, a sensation he only received when his godparents were in the fish tank near him. Blinking, he stretched and glanced at the tank, where two fish yawned and stared back at him. He didn't smile at them. A scowl curved his lips instead.

"Hey," Wanda said weakly, shifting into her normal form. "Did you sleep well, sport?"

"Where are my parents?" Timmy said and shot an accusatory glance at Wanda.

"Your parents this, your parents that. You'd think you'd be happy to see us, but no!" Cosmo, transforming into his regular state, snapped. Timmy's eyes lingered on the corner of the room where his parents had been and usually happened to be every morning when he woke up. Now they were gone, and Cosmo and Wanda were here in their stead.

"What did you do to them?"

"Oh, here he goes with the accusations!" Cosmo groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Go on; blame us a little more for things that aren't our fault."

"Cosmo!" Wanda snapped. "Sorry, sweetie."

"Well, if my parents aren't here, then I have no reason to stay," Timmy retorted and jumped out of bed. Wanda scowled.

"We need to talk," she said.

"I'm not listening," he snapped. "I'm not in the mood for another lecture, Wanda."

Wanda stiffened. "We're only doing this for your own good."

"Whatever," Timmy said. "No parents, no Timmy. I'm out."

"We are not going to be used against our son," Mr. Turner said. The two ghosts floated side by side in Lorenzo's kitchen. It was never actually used for food, but it served its purpose nonetheless as their customary meeting room. Lorenzo leaned against the table and his hair brushed against his back. Timmy's parents stood in front of the window and their opaqueness had increased.

"I don't see that you have much choice," The Other said. "I brought you into being. I can send you right back where you came from." His eyes gleamed.

"Let us not forget how 'we' ended up in this predicament."

Mr. and Mrs. Turner glared and folded their arms across their chests.

"You're still alive," Mrs. Turner said. "What do you need us for?"

The Other smiled mirthlessly. "Bait."

"We won't let you hurt our son!" Mrs. Turner said.

"Ah, but you already have," The Other said. "And you're going to continue to help, unless you want to see your son dead. Do you want to see him dead? Do you?"

Timmy's parents hung their heads and The Other smiled.

"I'm glad we have an understanding."

Befuddling Miss Waxelplax proved easier than ever now; he'd quickly risen up the ranks from a lunch man to an assistant principal, with more than a few spiked concoctions. It was amazing what sort of things could be accomplished with the right placed potions. He had his own office from which to plot, and now, the freedom to move about the school as he chose. Whatever paperwork he didn't want to do he relegated to a secretary, and, today, he had decided he deserved the sole privilege of observing teacher lesson plans. Normally, this would go to the head of department, but no one objected. Then again, no one really wanted the job.

Truth be told, had the teacher in question not been...interesting...Lorenzo wouldn't have wanted it either.

Crocker was nervous. Timmy watched him jump around the classroom and he glanced down at his notebook, where he had begun to doodle Cosmo and Wanda. Their forms remained lifeless, however, and their eyes blank and vacant. His doodling hadn't summoned them there. His subconscious mind might have wanted them, but his conscious one didn't.

The door opened and Crocker started. He wasn't the only one. Timmy tensed, glancing down at his notebook, and Cosmo suddenly winked at him. Timmy relaxed, staring at his godparents, and then at Wanda in particular, who had stiffened like a deer suddenly aware of a predator. They couldn't speak, not this close to their two enemies, but Timmy knew they could hear everything. A little speech bubble appeared over Wanda's head.

"You called us?"

"I wasn't thinking," he wrote back. Wanda's eyes narrowed, but the faeries remained. Timmy saw, for the first time, physical evidence of telepathy between the two. Little dots, which looked like compacted words, flew between the duo and then disappeared, as if Timmy had erased them. Wanda's gaze darted around on the picture as if she could, by will alone, make herself 3D. But she didn't dare change her position in the room, so close to The Other.

"You're early, I see," Crocker said and laughed nervously. He dropped the chalk and it split in half.

"I believe punctuality to be crucial," The Other said and selected the empty seat beside Timmy. Cosmo and Wanda vanished and The Other's eyes roved over the now empty page. But Timmy sensed they hadn't disappeared entirely. He tried not to glance backward, where Cosmo and Wanda were now part of the blinds.

"That doesn't count against me, does it?" Crocker kept laughing, on the verge of hysteria. The Other rolled his eyes.

((Why did you apologize?)) The Other asked.

((I didn't mean what I said. Something just...came over me. It's like I can't always control myself when I'm around them.))

At the chalkboard, Crocker had begun rambling about faeries. The Other rolled his eyes and wrote "clearly delusional" atop the page. He craned his neck to stare at the window blinds, but Cosmo and Wanda must have been directly behind him, because he didn't see them. He pursed his lips.

((Cosmo and Wanda have been a thorn in your side for some time, haven't they?))

Timmy stiffened. On the one hand, he was right. Conversely, this was Lorenzo, who had been his damnation for months now. He was unwilling to admit the point and balled his fists.

((They don't understand your devotion to your parents. They don't understand what it's like to have lost them and regained them. They want to keep you all to themselves, because they can't stand to see you with someone else. They're jealous, Timmy.))

His own words thrown back at him again. Timmy fidgeted.

((Did she beg for your forgiveness?))

((Huh?))

((Women are wily. They say one thing and mean another. Wanda might be chastising you on one hand, but on the other, she might have another hidden agenda. You can't trust her.))

((...but...)) Try as he might, he couldn't think of a decent counterargument.

((She's trying to keep you from your parents. Think on it. Who has always been the brains in the act? Who instigated the desire to change places with your godparents in the first place? Who has always been nagging at you, trying to squash you down, and force you to conform to her way of thinking? Who keeps going after you even when you told her you didn't want her opinion?))

((...but...but...Wanda...)) He couldn't lie mind to mind. The Other smiled.

((I know you have your misgivings, but let me allay your fears. Meet me after school in the axillary training room and we'll discuss this further.))

((The last time I met you alone, you almost raped me,)) Timmy snapped.

((Ah, but this time will be different. I promise you I will not lay a hand on you tonight.))

You couldn't lie mind to mind. Timmy hesitated and then, feeling almost as if he were invoking an irrevocable oath, said, ((I'll be there.))

((Good.))

Chemistry was a bust. Her teacher had a migraine again, decreed the students should complete busy work, and assigned two helper students in case the others had questions. Tootie had slipped out quietly, under the pretense of using the bathroom, and removed a small tape recorder she had on her. She knew tape recorders were antiquated by today's standards, but she hadn't exactly had all the time in the world to go shopping. Besides, it served its purpose.

She turned the tape recorder over in her hands. At least on one account she'd been truthful. In the bathroom, she stood, toying with the machine, and realized, eyes widening, that this wasn't her tape recorder. Not only that, but it wasn't an ordinary one. Carved in the underside were Cosmo's and Wanda's initials. Just when had Timmy owned a faerie recorder?

She stared at the tape, which she had assumed to be fresh. There was an hour recording on it, and she had no idea what was on it. What Timmy had recorded? He wasn't the type to take notes or dictations. And if this was a magical recorder, what else had it picked up?

An hour...she chewed the inside of her lip.

Vicky couldn't stick to one particular channel. Instead, she flicked the remote at the TV over and over again, her stomach turning with every new channel. TV should be a soothing balm to her concerns, but she couldn't dislodge her problems so easily today. Hugging her knees to her chest, she hoped that maybe, just maybe, TV would suddenly envelope her in its warming glow and prompt her to forget this unease.

Cosmo and Wanda had discretely followed Timmy throughout the day, but Cosmo's lingering discomfort prompted Wanda to return home for a bit. How strange, to conceive of the tree house as home when its owner had resolutely shoved them out of their life. Still, she didn't like how pale her husband had grown, like he was having one of his hunches except accompanied by a migraine.

The magical imbalance in Dimmsdale grew stronger.

"What's the matter, sugar?" Wanda asked as they sat together on the bed. She drew Cosmo into her arms and stroked his hair.

Cosmo stared ahead, at nothing. "I don't know..."

Timmy was late. Lorenzo paced back and forth and then lunged at the door when it opened. Timmy took the stairs cautiously, scanning the area around him. His steps made the stairs creak and The Other smiled. From Timmy's vantage point, the child could see a medium sized room equipped with blue padding along the walls and floor, and, positioned at the back, two practice dummies. Along the far wall were dulled swords for fighting, bows and arrows, fencing gear, and a wooden box, its contents indiscernible without opening it. A single window, dusty and permanently stuck open, let in scant sunlight. Overhead bulbs provided the rest of the light and Timmy faltered, standing at the stairs' base and staring at The Other. The Other smiled.

"What are you waiting for?" The Other said. Timmy headed further into the room and failed to close the door behind him. Frowning, The Other drew him away from the doorway and into the room itself. At the moment, the stairs were hidden to them.

"All right, dude, I'm here. What did you want to talk to me about?"

The Other indicated a sandwich platter he had prepared for Timmy. It turned out the cooks could produce decent fare if their lives depended on it. He had situated the sandwich platter atop a small table, along with a large soda bottle and a cup. The Other had no need of such things. He never ate or drank. Instead, he drew his power solely from magic, and the ley lines around Dimmsdale. Dimmsdale had been a fount of faerie magic for so long, it had residual traces for The Other to tap into.

"No thank you," Timmy remarked coolly. The Other turned, extending his mental abilities to discover any potential enemies lying in wake. He had a faint blip on the radar, but it wasn't outputting enough energy to be a faerie. He ignored it for the time being. If it were Tootie, she could serve as messenger to the others. If it were someone less important, he'd murder them. It didn't matter at the moment.

"Are you sure I can't tempt you?" The Other asked and Timmy scowled, shaking his head.

"Very well, then," he said. "I'm sure you've noticed your parents growing more substantial over the past few weeks."

"Yeah...but I thought I was imagining things," Timmy said. The Other sprawled onto the floor and, surprised, Timmy copied him. The Other admired his locks, the way they framed his face, and his breath caught in his throat. He thought he could stare at Timmy for hours and not grow bored. Then he stopped himself. He wouldn't permit himself to grow obsessed with his sire the way others had. It was detrimental to his plans.

"You weren't," The Other affirmed. "In fact, the more you abjure Cosmo and Wanda, the stronger they become."

"Okay..." Timmy said. "What does 'abjure' mean?"

"It means to renounce, to declaim, to repudiate," The Other said and scowled. Timmy had a vacant look on his face. He hissed between clenched teeth. "Oh, honestly, don't they teach you anything at that wretched school?"

"How did you get to be so smart?" Timmy said and Lorenzo shrugged.

"I simply came into being possessing a superior intellect," he said. "Returning to my prior point, however- your parents have grown more substantial. This is due to you refusing to listen to Cosmo and Wanda."

"Wait, so the more I reject Cosmo and Wanda, the more real my parents become?" Timmy said.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. You know what must be done, then?"

Timmy's vacant expression returned. The Other refrained from slapping a palm to his forehead. There was truth in the adage- you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. He continued slowly, knowing if he jumped to the conclusion, Timmy might refuse him.

"In order to facilitate- that means to help bring into being- your parents' full restoration into life, Cosmo and Wanda must be sacrificed," The Other said. The words weren't exactly how he wanted to phrase it, but he had to ease Timmy into the concept.

"What do you mean?" Timmy said. "Cosmo and Wanda are..."

"In the way," he replied. "The more you push them away, the more you hurt them, the stronger and more complete your parents grow. And, in order to complete the master step, you must commit but one minor infraction."

Timmy looked puzzled, but, rare enough for him, contemplative. "What is it?"

"You have to cut yourself off from them for good," he said. "Remove all their tethers to you, and to life itself."

"...'to life itself'?" Timmy repeated. "What do you mean?" His eyes widened.

"You have to eliminate them," Lorenzo said. "You, and you alone, hold the power to do this. You are the key to bringing your parents back, but only by destroying Cosmo and Wanda can you-"

"You want me to murder my godparents," Timmy said. He stared at him like he were a madman, but The Other could feel leniency, a push in the right direction which might be able to encourage Timmy to join him. He followed it and manipulated forces within his mind. He let himself recall his shared memories with his sire.

"Are you crazy?" Timmy sputtered. "Murder Cosmo and Wanda?"

"But, Timmy, what have they really done for you?" The Other said and began to send him images, fragments of memories, reminders of what Cosmo and Wanda were capable of. He showed him how callous his godparents could be toward him, how they had often disregarded him in favor of their own selfish demands, particularly plied him with memories of this summer by digging through his sire's mind, and added in a few extra insinuations. He implied Cosmo and Wanda had always lied to him and kept their own counsel, had never wanted his parents returned because they wanted Timmy all for themselves. He added to the poisonous mix Timmy had already engendered, suffusing him with ill will toward his godparents. He reminded Timmy it had been through his godparents The Other had been able to rise, and harm those he loved, but he downplayed how much he'd hurt Timmy.

Instead, he focused on how Cosmo and Wanda had subjugated him, how they had been unable to do what had to be done with him, and how, of all people, only The Other comprehended his sorrow. How The Other was truly remorseful for what he had done, because he understood its impact on Timmy, and only wished to help him. He showed him, bending the truth, that he only had his best intentions at heart, and how he had helped his parents gain their forms. He had raised them from the dead because he realized he had done wrong, and wanted to help Timmy be happy again. Timmy was confused, he was hurt by Cosmo and Wanda continually telling him to avoid his parents when they were all he'd ever wanted, and he just wanted to be a child again.

The Other could help him again. He only had to make a little switch. Just a little cut.

Timmy stared up at him and he wanted to hope, he wanted to believe so badly that The Other had changed. More than anything, he longed for his parents back. The Other didn't think Timmy truly realized what it was he asked of him, but that was all right. Once he had enough energy, he'd be able to befuddle Timmy's mind and mold him into a perfect killer.

"What do you say?" The Other asked. "Just a little cut, Timmy. Then you'll have your parents back and everything will be right with the world."

"You're really on my side?" Timmy said, dubious but siding with his anti faerie. "You'll help me?"

"Of course," The Other said. "Would I lie?"

"Yes!" Tootie snapped and The Other and Timmy whirled, turning to gawk at the stairs. Tootie stood there, fists balled, glaring out at them with fury written in every line of her face. "He's insane, damn you! How can you trust a madman? How can you even think of killing Cosmo and Wanda?"

"Without them...I can get my parents back..." Timmy said. Lorenzo knew he was still trying to figure out a way around this, to keep Cosmo and Wanda without killing them, but that was all right. He was cottoning on.

((Timmy, listen to me! Please, tell me you won't do this. Tell me you love Cosmo and Wanda.))

Lorenzo spied a strange bulge in her skirt. The tape clicked and he moved quickly, dashing to the stairs. Tootie fled backward, ascending the stairs. Growing irritated, he took the stairs two at a time and barricaded the door. He could feel Tootie's fear, longed to feed off it, but could only truly feed off his sire.

"Give me the tape," he snarled.

"No," she said. "Timmy, how could you listen to him!"

Timmy, notoriously slow, hadn't reached the stairway yet. The Other glared and reached into her skirt to grab the tape recorder. She kicked him in the groin and sent him flying backward. He caught himself on the banister and reeled, falling onto the mat and clutching himself. Timmy stared at his anti faerie, and then at Tootie, receding in the distance.

"I told you..." The Other wheezed. "Women lie....why else would she...hide herself like that?"

Tootie ran as fast as she could, as hard as she could, until her legs crumpled under her. Then, cradling the tape recorder to her like a precious jewel, she stared up at the sky. She was on the middle school's far grounds, near the street, and could hear the cars rushing by. She was to the far right of the baseball diamond, but there was no practice today. Her chest burned and her legs felt weak. More than that, however, she was so stunned she could barely think straight.

"Cosmo! Wanda! Cal!" she cried. She laid back on the grass and worked to recover her breath. A couple minutes passed and she wondered whether Cosmo and Wanda would answer her call, when she was not their godchild.

Cal appeared first, floating above her and then switching to float outside down to stare at her. "Tootie, what's wrong?"

Cosmo and Wanda appeared next, confused.

"You called us?" Wanda said.

"We thought..." Cosmo frowned. "Timmy's not with you."

"You need to listen to this," she said, and, fumbling, removed the tape recorder. Listening to it again was horrifying, but worse than that, the way Cosmo and Wanda plummeted out of the air and stared, like zombies, ahead of them. Cal inclined his head at them, his display of anxiety, and Wanda held Cosmo so tightly she left red fingernail marks on his face.

A faint shimmer covered the air and colors oscillated from the tape recorder to the faeries. Wanda snarled, hands balled, and released Cosmo.

"Depraved, craven liar!" she screamed."How could he deceive Timmy like that!"

"I don't understand..." Tootie said.

"We'll explain to you once Wanda's over her homicidal rage," Cosmo said and stepped a couple paces away from his wife. "Scary."

The tape finished at long last and Wanda swore. Cosmo flinched and Cal grimaced. Such impropriety never sat well with him.

"We received mental images of what The Other told Timmy," Wanda said, inhaling and exhaling shakily. "He's bamboozled our godson well."

"What are we going to do?" Tootie asked.

Wanda sighed, aggravated. "Hope there's a way to undo The Other's teachings before it's too late."