Chapter 7

As the winds died down, it was finally time to rest. Evander was making his rounds, but the Golden Moon had sunk so deep into his blood that it hurt to almost stand. He had absorbed a lot.

"Evander? Evander, are you alright?" Colossus asked, now walking near him.

"I am fine, but I need you to keep an eye on everyone for an hour or so," he said, now leaning on a nearby beam.

"You're not fine. The Golden Moon is sinking deeper and deeper into your system. It's almost at its full power in a few days or so!" Colossus said.

"I understand that…,"

"And?"

"And what?"

"And what are you going to do about it, Evander?"

"I am going to make sure you all are away from me to ensure I can keep you all safe," came the calm reply.

"Evander, we won't let you go through this alone," Colossus said.

"We will see…but you all have to be safe. It is my upmost concern," Evander said, now sniffing the air. "I still feel the presence of someone here that shouldn't be. This energy is strong."

"What is it?" Colossus asked.

"I am unsure. But it is strange and somewhat familiar," Evander said. "And I will get to the bottom of this."

As the two talked above deck, Adeline was slowly catching a chill. And it was no wonder; they had been through many realms the past few days.

"Feeling ill, my dear?" A deep voice asked.

"Yeah, I…," she let out a shout as she turned and saw the cat leaning back and grinning at her. "You can talk?!"

"Of course," came the croon.

"How come all this time you said nothing?!" She said in surprise.

"Because you needed time to get adjusted to me," the cat crooned, now leaning back and stretching.

"W-Who are you?!" She asked, now getting closer to him.

"I am someone that you cannot seem to identify," came the riddled response.

"Now enough with the riddles," she said, now getting frustrated.

"Oh come now~ who do you know that would protect you and be with you this long," the cat said.

"I don't know anyone who would but my troupe and Evander," she huffed.

"Oh there is someone else, young one," the cat purred, now approaching her. Adeline shook her head in confusion and leaned back.

"I still don't know who you are talking about," she said softly.

"Oh but there are many that want to be in your world, Adeline~," the voice purred. The cat turned around and then sat up. Adeline let out a shout of horror as Oberon himself shifted from the cat-like body into his muscular kingly physique along, with a bejeweled shirt and form fitting pants. "Is that better?"

"YOU?! EVANDER! EVANDER!" She screamed, now trying to move but she felt herself now stick to the bed!

"I'm afraid he can't hear you…this room is soundproof and you are now under my power due to that scratch I made on your jewel," he smirked.

"Leave me alone!" She growled, now trying to stand up.

"Oh come now~ you should just stop trying to resist me. After all, you are harming Evander," Oberon said with a devious smile. That made Adeline stop in her tracks and stare at him.

"W-What are you talking about?" She growled out.

"By you being in 'danger,' Evander won't rest himself for the golden moon. It is fastly approaching and his strength is failing him," Oberon continued. "If he doesn't rest soon, he may go into a coma and it would be all. Your. Fault."

"What?! He needs to rest! I didn't mean to make him work so hard!" She protested.

"Oh, but he is…he is working hard on protecting you and refusing to let himself rest," Oberon said, now feigning concern. "Pity. He definitely needs help."

"But you are the reason why he is working so hard!" Adeline snapped.

"Ah, but think about this. Suppose you do 'tell' him that I'm here. I will only keep coming back until I get what I want; I can handle the golden moon better than Evander can and I can help him if I need to," he smirked, now laying back and playing with her hair.

"S-Stop that," she said, now looking away. She then felt tears brimming her eyes; she couldn't escape Oberon and now Evander was in trouble because of her.

"Adeline~," came the gentle coo. He then sat up and pulled her to him. Since she was literally paralyzed in place due to his power, she could only squeal in frustration.

"LET GO OF ME!" She snapped.

"Relax~," he said, now gently scratching her scalp. She then tried to move her head away, but the persistent scalp scratches and shoulder rubs persisted. "Oh baby, you're so tense~"

"I-I'm not your…baby…." She said angrily.

"Of course you are; you have been fighting me too hard. Am I not handsome?" He said, now making her look at him.

"Y-You're…," she said, now feeling him lift her chin and look at him harder.

"Am I not exactly what you want for a mate?" He smiled, now leaning in.

"S-Stop, I can't marry you," she said, now trying to look away.

"Of course you don't have to marry me, Adeline~, you will just be part of my harem," Oberon said, his red eyes glowing. "I always get what I want my dear and I want you…,"

"I-I can't! I am part of this family and…,"

"And if you want to 'save' Evander…you will agree to come with me," he said, now pulling her closer. "You may kill him if he does not rest…,"

Adeline then hung her head more; it seemed to be no escape from this predicament. She then looked at the titan angrily.

"Why didn't you just kidnap me when you had the chance?! With those skeletons?!" She said.

"Because I wanted to let you make a choice for yourself. I have been watching you since your troupe passed through the Amazon realm; I just needed the correct time," he chuckled.

"And if I say 'no', what will you do?!" She huffed.

"Oh my…then I guess your precious Evander will die," Oberon laughed evilly.

"STOP THAT!" She growled out.

"Then choose, Adeline…," Oberon said, now shifting back into his cat-like form. "And if you try to tell the others who I am, I will make it appear as if you are mad."

"WHAT?!"

"Yes…if you do that, I will give the impression that I cannot speak and that I am simply a normal feline. In addition, you will also be in trouble because you were not allowed to bring me on this ship," he smirked, now showing his fangs.

"You're so annoying! I can't stand you right now!" She said, now turning away as she felt him let her go from his power.

"You will learn to love me; I am to be your king after all…," he said confidently.

"But Lauhin is the rightful king for…," she said.

"Do NOT say that name in my presence! Lauhin is only the king of his realm! I refuse to be beneath him!" Oberon said.

"Well he will help us if he knows we are in trouble," Adeline said confidently, but gasped as he grabbed her jaw with his paw.

"Do not be so confident; he is on a mission that is galaxies from here and will never be back in time for the golden night. Now…you have three moons to make up your mind, Adeline…," Oberon said, now letting her go and then disappearing into thin air.

Adeline then hugged herself and let a few tears fall. What was she going to do?! She was trapped and Oberon was going to take her if she didn't get help.

"What am I going to do now?!" She whispered to herself. "I can't beat this. I wish I could have help from Octavius, Loki, or…,"

She then gasped as she heard a deep chuckle surround her around the room and then she saw deep yellow eyes manifest on the wall. "Well now…hello there, Adeline~," came the amused voice. Adeline's gasp got caught as she saw Loki's face appear on the wall.

Silence.

"What is the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He smirked, now sticking his tongue out and letting is slither near her face.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK! STOP!" She said, now falling back and finally letting a few tears fall in frustration. It had been a rough evening. Now seeing the tears, Loki's face appeared and turned from amusement to concern as he saw she was truly in distress. He then closed his eyes and whisked her to his cave; the same cave she was in before. "What happened?!"

"You're back in my cave," Loki replied, now seeing her sit on a mossy rock. "Now then…what is the matter?"

"Loki, I'm really in trouble," she said, now looking at the large beast.

"What is wrong? Didn't I just save you from the Gashadokuros?" He asked, now looking at her more intently.

"I know but there is something else wrong. Oberon, the fairy king, wants me to live in his harem and I need to get away from him," she said. "But if I don't go with him, Evander won't get the rest he needs to survive the golden moon!"

"I see…yes, the golden moon does cause some concern," Loki said, now stretching and turning back into his dinosaur form. Adeline only watched him carefully and then saw him turn to her and eye her carefully. "For my assistance, you and I will need to make a deal Adeline~."

"What deal?" She asked, now sounding exhausted.

"Are you well?" He asked, now seeing her become more and more out of it.

"I'm fine…," she said, now looking weaker.

"You are not well; something is wrong," Loki said, now letting his tail pick her up and bring her closer. But Adeline was starting to not feel well due to all of the excitement and the hot and cold temperatures.

"Loki, don't worry about me…I will do whatever you want me to do…just help me escape Oberon and help me with Evander! Please…," she pleaded, now leaning weakly on his tail.

"Your wish is my command," Loki said, now teleporting her back to the ship and near her bed. "Adeline, until I return, do not leave the ship. Only from here can we discuss a plan."

"I understand," she whispered, now sitting back on her bed. Loki looked at her in concern; maybe Adeline needed to be in a safer place from all of this…from Cirque Mystique and Oberon? As he was thinking, Adeline slowly began to fall asleep. But he noticed that she began to get a fever and she began to whine in pain.

"Do not worry, beautiful; we will take care of this," Loki said, now using his tail to cover her with a blanket and then he disappeared to put his plan into action.

Meanwhile in the ship…

Evander walked through the ship as he sipped some hot tea; he made sure that all of his performers were settling down for the night.

"Everyone seems alright for the night," he said, now sniffing the air.

"Everything alright?" Shell asked, now seeing Evander sweating a bit as well.

"Everything is fine; we are making another trip into the Griffin Realm one more time for the Golden Moon. They said we could stay there before we head to the other side of the galaxy; we will be visiting the shooting star realm later."

"I meant are you alright?" She asked.

"I am fine," he said, now sniffing the air again. "Someone is ill. I need to find out who."

Shell nodded and watched as Evander disappeared down the hallway. But as he began to walk, he sensed that the ill energy was coming from Adeline's room.

"Adeline…," he said to himself, now hurrying and knocking on the door. "Adeline?"

"Evander…I'm in here," she said weakly. As he opened the door gently, he saw her feverishly wrapped in a blanket.

"Adeline…you're ill, young one. This must have been from that freezing skeleton realm," he said, now pulling her to him and tightening the blanket. She then noticed he looked very exhausted himself.

"Evander?" She asked.

"Yes, young one?"

"You need help too."

"I am fine; rest here…I will get you some soup," he said, now gently placing her down and going to get her some soothing liquid.

But in the fairy realm, Oberon was talking to his advisors when he heard Adeline groan from his crystal ball. He turned and glanced at the ball and his eyes widened.

"My precious is ill?" He said, now looking at Adeline's ill form.

"Your precious?!" His queen huffed.

"Oh you know what I mean my dear. But the young one is ill; I am going for her." Oberon said.

"But my love, Evander will catch you in a heartbeat!" she said.

"It does not matter; he will need to go rest soon and if he doesn't he will certainly be no match for me," Oberon laughed, now teleporting to Adeline's room. Hearing the sound, Adeline weakly lifted her head and she gasped as Oberon slowly walked over to her. He then picked her up and cuddled her to his chest.

"You will be just fine as you recuperate in my realm," he said, now kissing her right on her jewel. But at that moment they heard the door burst open!

"OBERON! I should have known you were near! PUT HER DOWN NOW!" Evander shouted angrily, now dropping the soup bowl and letting his hands form powerful energy balls.

"I am sorry, Evander, but she belongs to me now. But look on the positive side; you can 'rest' hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Oberon laughed evilly, now letting his eyes glow red and he vanished from sight as Evander ran to stop him!

"NO!" Evander shouted. "Come back and face me you coward!"

But just as he vanished, Loki appeared due to feeling Adeline's distress. "What happened here?!" Loki said, now appearing a few minutes after Oberon left.

"Loki?! What on Earth are you doing here?!" Evander said angrily.

"I have business with Adeline; she told me about Oberon and how she needed help," Loki said. He then explained the whole incident to Evander and about how Adeline felt. After a few minutes of explaining, Evander nodded and looked at Loki intently.

"Loki…I need to rest, that is true. But Adeline is ill and now in the hands of the greatest threat of the realms. I need to go after her," Evander said.

"Evander…without the proper rest, you could go into a coma," Loki warned.

"I know, but we need to form a plan. I can handle Oberon, but I need you to keep my troupe at bay so they will be safe!" Evander said.

"I will. But when you arrive, I will focus on getting to Adeline as you focus on Oberon," Loki said.

"Yes, and no matter what happens…when you get her, get out of the realm," Evander said seriously.

"Evander….she won't want to leave without you," Loki said.

"You heard me. No matter the circumstances…get her to safety…no matter what…." Evander said, now eyeing Loki carefully. "And make sure she gets back to the troupe safely."

Loki nodded, but he felt like Evander was not telling him everything. Once Evander turned to leave and tell the rest of the group, Loki grew thoughtful.

"It's time to summon the secret weapon…," Loki thought, now growing thoughtful. "I just hope he will hear me."

guestsurprise's words: Oh dear! Adeline is ill and Evander is going to rescue her, along with Loki! What will happen next?!

To guestsurprise: Holy cow! The cat was Oberon?! Man, that's a twist I didn't expect. I hope Loki and whatever he just summoned can reach Adeline in time and that Evander can take care of Oberon. I think I speak for everyone when I say we're on the edge of our seats. :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418