Disclaimer: I don't own any of it… sadly…

Chapter Two

Fiona and Carey landed hard on their backs.

"Uugh..." Carey rolled onto his side.

"Where are we?" Fi sat up, putting a hand to her head. She blinked as if to make sure she was truly seeing what she thought she was. It was pitch black, yet she could see herself and Carey clearly.

"I was hoping you could tell me that," Carey mumbled, still trying to regain his senses. "This place.. it's almost like we're floating in space."

"Since when does space have a hard floor to land on? And oxygen?"

"Good point," he staggered to his feet.

"Well hello, Little Duck!" the disembodied voice echoed throughout the space around them.

It took a moment, but the familiarity of the nickname soon brought the unpleasant memories to the surface. She spun around, looking for the source of the voice. "Alright, Bricriu. What did you do this time? Why did you bring us here?"

A human figure appeared, walking from the shadows into the light. He was a short man with fiery red hair and freckles, clad in vintage clothing that might have been worn by an Irish peasant long ago. The man walked forward and stopped a few feet away.

"It sure took ye long enough to get here Little Duck," the man smiled, revealing a set of pearly white teeth.

"Is that you, Bricriu?" Fi looked the man over, disbelief apparent in her expression. The ball of light with an Irish accent she could handle, but to see him as a human felt surreal.

"Aye. 'Tis," he smiled wider this time, then held out his arms in a showy manner. "Like the look? I'm quite fond if it me'self."

"Wait, you know this guy?" Carey had finally brought himself to his feet and was giving the both of them a strange look.

"Yeah," Fi frowned. "Unfortunately."

"Sorry, lass. No time for small talk," Bricriu interrupted.

"Where are we and why did you bring us here?" asked Fi.

"I didn't bring ye here Little Duck," Bricriu walked closer, his arms folded behind his back.

"Well then who did?" Carey asked

Bricriu turned towards Carey as if seeing him for the first time, "Aah...'tis your friend Carey Bell. If I'm not me'staken."

"How did you-" Carey started.

"Your ring m'dear," he continued, ignoring Carey's inquiry. " 'tis that which brought you here, I had none ta' do with it. I'm merely your welcome party."

"My ring?" she echoed, turning her attention to her left thumb where it now resided. "But how?"

"I see you've hurt your hand m'dear," Bricriu reached for her right hand to closer inspect the wound, "From your ring I s'pose."

Fi narrowed her eyes at him. "Would you please stop rambling and start making sense?"

"Ye had it on the wrong hand, Little Duck," he smiled. "The only way you could make full use of your power is ta' have it on the thumb of your left hand."

"Power? What in the world are you talking about?"

"My dear, dear, Fiona," Bricriu laughed. "Ye may be beautiful, but you're not too bright are ye?"

Fiona frowned. Exactly which part of this was supposed to be making sense?

"Did your Da' not tell ye last nite like'n he was s'pposed to?" he sighed. "We need you m'dear. You are the power of good's one last hope in the mortal world."

"Since when have you ever been one of the good guy's, Bricriu?" Fi narrowed her eyes.

"I always 'ave been! Ye foolish mortals and your legends always make us Spunkies out ta' be the bad guy's! If ye'd been payin' attention ye would have noticed that even though we are a tad mischievous from time ta' time, we do have a good heart deep down! Besides, we only cause trouble ta' keep our marks from getting inta' even bigger trouble."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Fi argued.

"If we Spunkies weren't around ta' do our jobs, there would be a lot more problems in this fine world, believe me."

Bricriu began to pace. "Up until now the spirits and entities you've encountered have been nothing. The lowest powers on the scale. But the forces of evil in the spirit world, they've realized how important ye are child. From now on you're... how do ye humans say?... In the big leagues now," he said. "In order ta' give ye a fightin' chance, the empress herself has granted ye, a mortal, powers. Consider it a gift! Someday it could save your life."

Fi looked downward attempting to process this new bit of information.

Bricriu turned his attention to Carey, "They warned me that ye might follow the lass here."

Carey eyed Bricriu warily.

"I sense yer doubts lad, but they aren't well founded. While I mighta' caused some trouble for Fiona in the past, I can assure ye it was only ta' protect her," Bricriu explained.

Carey's gaze softened slightly, but his distrust was still obvious

"Aye, they warned me," Bricriu nodded. "And I was told that you would be the one ta' help keep her safe until she was needed."

"Keep her safe?"

"Aye. In a sense, you'll be her guardian. "'Tis your duty though, lad, ta' help her along while she's learnin'."

"How can I help her if I don't know what it is she's supposed to learn?"

Bricriu rolled his eyes, "Listen, lad, you're supposed ta' protect her not be her bloody tutor. No matter what trouble the lass finds herself in, it will be your job ta' bail her out! Her powers won't affect ye unless she intends for them to, so you'll always be able ta' help Fi clean up after the mess she makes. And trust me, beginners are always a findin' themselves in trouble."

Carey and Fi exchanged a slightly confused glance.

"So lemme get this straight," Fi started, attempting to sort out this new information. "I've got special powers, because some emperor – "

"Empress," Bricriu corrected.

"Some empress thought I could help her fight for the side of good."

"Right."

"My powers don't affect Carey."

"Right."

"And he's supposed to protect me?"

"Right."

"You do realize how crazy all this sounds, don't you?"

Carey cleared his throat. "Uhm, Fi? Generally speaking I'm usually pretty skeptical about this kind of stuff… but considering the fact that we just disappeared in a flash of light, got sucked inside some other dimension, and are talking to a four foot tall Irish guy… exactly where do we draw the line to say what's crazy?"

Fi was quiet a moment. "Good point."

"We don't have much longer now, Little Duck so here's the last of it. I'll check in with ye from time ta' time in order ta' make sure you're doin' alright, but ye ought ta' know that there's something of a 'hand's off' rule regarding beginners. I can give ye suggestions, but I can't help ye in any other way. That's what Carey's for… But before I go, did ye 'ave any questions?"

"Just one," she said. "Why my left hand?

"Aye… long story. Has ta' do with the fact that you're a lass, and the left side of your body is more powerful than yer right. For men it's the opposite. I could explain, but it would take too long. Look it up yourself, ye seem to be good at that," Bricriu turned his gaze skyward in the same manner as her father had the night before. "They've found us. We're out of time lass! Remember what I've told ya'! So long for now!"

The light which had once illuminated Carey and Fiona began to fade. Fi reached for Carey's hand before the light was gone, realizing that it was how he had made it there in the first place, and the two soon felt themselves falling once again.