The Tower
Az waved her hand over the seeing globe and the image of Wyatt and DG vanished.
"Just like us," she murmured, reaching across the table and taking Archie's hand in hers. He raised it to his lips and kissed it.
"But I'm not as stubborn as Wyatt with the memory of an ex-wife I loved. That's going to be the stumbling block, Dellia. We don't know how strong the hold Ozmalita had on his heart was in either of his lives."
"But at least she'll get to see Daddy." Az smiled wistfully. "He would be so happy we're together. He always liked you."
"This is a dangerous game you're playing Dellia, pretending to cooperate with that bitch."
"I have to. The emerald has to be in her hands during the eclipse."
"DG stil doesn't know when you're in control and when she is."
"She doesn't have to. She's seen enough that it should start making her want to come and free me. She'll learn everything she needs to know in Finaqua."
Archie gasped. "Lavinia's sending her back THERE? Is she out of her mind?"
"She has to know what she's up against."
They heard noise outside the chamber. Archie pressed a finger to Az's lips and opened the door to see Zero marching down the hall with a small company. Archie snapped his fingers as Elmer passed him and crooked his finger. Elmer crept into the room and shut the door.
"Zero got a tip. DG's in a bar in the Realm of the Unwanted."
"Dammit!" Archie cursed. "We'll never get there in time to intercept her!"
"You won't have to," Az said softly, the seeing globe in her hands. "Daddy will take care of her and Zero's path will take him right through a resistance stronghold. Jeb Cain's stronghold!"
Archie smirked. "More like you're compelling them to take the path through the stronghold."
"I don't enjoy using her powers but they do prove useful once in a while."
"Elmer, go to Jeb Cain's stronghold. You know the layout of this castle and can get Jeb's forces in. Tell them...tell them the Cricket is flying again. Jeb should remember my old code." Archie commanded.
"Yes...Commander Ozopov." Elmer saluted with a smile before Az teleported him out
Archie walked up to the mirror, stroking the beard that had just begun to grow back in along with his mustache. "I need to be him...one last time."
The Realm of the Unwanted
Wyatt had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach the moment they walked into the bar. He held DG back as she started forward.
"I don't like the looks of this place. Why don't you guys wait outside. I'll cut the deal myself," he said.
"No, I think we should stick together," DG insisted.
I am not leaving you alone in here. If something happens you'll need help.
"I feel...very safe with you guys."
Especially you.
"Really? I don't." Glitch said.
"You! Sit and stay!" Wyatt ordered Toto. He sat under one of the tables.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Airofday said as she appeared from behind a corner. Wyatt reached for his pistol and the other patrons of the bar jumped out of their seats and fled for the nearest exit.
"Where can we find the Seeker?" DG asked her.
"I'm here," a man with long blond hair and a mustache said as he appeared from behind another doorway.
"We were told you know how to find Ahamo."
"Show me your palm," the Seeeker demanded.
"What for?" Wyatt asked suspiciously. He didn't like the looks of this guy, not one bit. He kept his hand on the butt of his pistol.
"You want my help or not?"
"It's okay." DG gently pushed down on Wyatt's arm.
Like hell it is kiddo. I don't like this guy. We need to get the hell out of here.
DG stepped up to the man and held up her unmarked palm. The Seeker stared hard at her.
"The other one," he commanded.
She held up her marked palm.
"Now!" they heard Airofday shout and some rough looking men appeared from hiding places bearing nets.
"We had a deal," the Seeker growled.
I knew it! Wyatt thought frantically.
A trap. Walked right into a damned trap!
Suddenly the bar went dark and before the lights went out the Seeker grabbed DG and started carrying her out as Airofday's henchmen attacked. Glitch and Wyatt called on their inner dragons and fought back until a thick net dropped down on them.
"I can't see...DG!" Wyatt howled. "DG!"
"Well...fancy meeting you here." he heard a familiar voice say as the net was lifted up and he found himself staring at his nemesis.
"Zero!" he spit.
"Been awhile, hasn't it?" the other man asked with a sneer.
"Not long enough for me! What did you do with DG you son of a bitch?"
"I don't have her but we will...soon enough." he added. "Get them ready for transport back to the Tower," Zero commanded his troops and they dragged Wyatt and his companions outside.
Over my dead body!
"Yeah, that's right, abuse the guy with the zipperhead!" Glitch yelled at one of them as they chained him and his friends to a large log. The leader took Wyatt's hat and put it on his head.
"It amazes me that you once influenced the queen," Wyatt grumbled.
"I know. Me too. Bet she wouldn't be very proud of me right now though. Being empty headed enough to led her daughter walk right into a trap."
"Yeah, you and me both." Wyatt thought sadly.
Some guardian I am. I can't even protect this world's most valuable treasure from a group of lowlifes.
"Hey look, look," Glitch cried and pointed at Toto who was a few feet away from them. "Hey Toto, come on. Show these Longcoats what you're really made of."
The dog scurried away.
"He just did!" Wyatt said with disgust as he tried to free his arms from the chains but they wouldn't budge.
Yellow bellied, worthless sack of shit. When I get my hands on you I'll neuter your ass before I put a bullet in it.
The only bright side to their situation was that the bitch Airofday was going to get her just desserts...a bullet in the head now that she'd served her purpose.
Zero approached Wyatt with the silver pistol in his hand. "At least I'll have a souvenir to remember you by." He would add it to his collection of trophies that grew day by day.
"Why don't you unshackle me? I'll teach you how to use it," Wyatt said sarcastically.
Zero cackled. "You surprise me Cain. Not a lot of men make it out of the iron suit with their sense of humor intact. Let's see how funny you are when you're hanging from the gallows in Central City square. Let's go!"
I'll be having the last laugh when you and your bitch sorceress cower before the heart of the OZ. You're no match for her and you know it! Neither is your little errand boy the Seeker. If he laid one hand on her...
How are you supposed to help her when you can't help yourself at the moment?
Just have to think.
Well you'd better think fast because the longer she's with that guy, the more time he has to...
He touches her and I'll kill him! She doesn't belong to him!
Then I suggest you find a way to get loose and find her before he decides to make her his permanent bed partner. You have abilities beyond those of a mortal male...use them!
Abilities that once again deserted him when he needed them the most. He tried calling on his dragon's spirit but there was nothing there. He wished he had his sword. His sword's blade had been powerful enough to cut through anything but where was it now? Back at that small farmhouse in his wife's grave? Locked in a tin suit with his son...or did that son of a bitch Zero have it?
"...Put me down!" DG was screaming as the man called the Seeker put her over the back of a horse
"I'm sorry about this," he said as he sprayed something in her face. She lapsed into unconsciousness.
Tyler Bennett, known to everyone in the OZ as 'Ahamo' or 'The Seeker' gazed down at his daughter and smiled with pride. She'd grown into a woman as beautiful as her mother and he was certain she had Lavinia's temper to go along with it.
Wyatt Cain has his hands full with her, he thought. They'd only been in each other's company for a few minutes but Tyler already knew he and his wife had misjudged the ex-Tin Man. Although their bond wasn't complete yet, Wyatt was fiercely protective of her and would without a doubt kill anyone who threatened her when he got a chance.
He on the other hand wanted to kill that bitch Airofday. He should've known she'd double cross him. She would sell her own mother for money and so would anyone else in the Realm of the Unwanted. Tyler fit in well there over the years because it reminded him of his own neighborhood in Kansas. Had he not become a successful balloonist, he probably would have joined the gang he used to run errands for when he was a youth. It wasn't the most honorable job but it kept him and his mother out of poverty.
He hadn't told Lavinia about his unsavory past. He left it behind the moment he crossed over to the OZ and buried it deeper once they married and had their daughters. He still mourned the loss of their Azkadellia and missed Lavinia so much it hurt but now that their younger daughter was back and she was reunited with her bondmate, there was still a chance for their family and the OZ.
He rode out into the forest where he lived underground. It was more primitive than the farmhouse in Kansas and it served its purpose. He'd lived there undetected for while he waited for Hank and Emily to bring DG back to the OZ and to him. He wondered what happened to them or Elmer Gulch.
While DG slept he searched until he found the compass that would lead them to the Gale Crypt and the emerald. The compass would only obey DG's commands. All he needed to do was get her there and for this they needed his old balloon, still in good condition after all those years. When he walked into his makeshift living room his daughter was waiting for him, eyes blazing and a broom in her hand.
"Going somewhere?" he asked.
"What have you done with my friends?" DG demanded as she held the broom up and pointed it at her captor. Touch me and you die, pervert!
"Last I saw of them they were putting up a good fight."
"Oh, so you only got a quarter of the bounty."
"I didn't take you for the money."
"Where I come from freaks like you drive vans!" Dirty old man! They kidnap you and rape you...or worse...
He chuckled. "DG, you don't understand so just calm yourself."
What don't I understand? You're a dirty old man who took me so you can have some fun but let me tell you something buster. You touch me and I'll give you the Lorena Bobbit special...cut the damn thing right off!
"Calm myself!"
"I'm not a kidnapper."
"Okay so take me to my friends, Seeker!"
"I only call myself Seeker so others in the realm will come to me when they went to find Ahamo."
"What?" she gasped. No, it couldn't be!
"It was your mother's idea."
"What do you know about my mother?"
"Oh I know you look just like her. You get your passion and your grit from her." He walked over to a small table where two little dolls with magic glowing on their hands sat. "Your artistic ability from me..."
DG reeled as she remembered how she and Azkadellia made those dolls for their father as children. "You're my father?"
"Yes, DG. The one your mother calls Ahamo. I have been dreaming of this day, seeing you again..."
"Okay, so you've seen me. So give me whatever it is my mother sent me here for and I'll be leaving your...teepee," she said nervously.
"Like it or not DG, I'm your father," he said with a smile.
"No, no. I had a real father. He was a robot. He was there for me but he was a good guy." She swung the broom and smacked him with it. "That's for kidnapping me!" She hit him again. "And that's for abandoning my mother!" She hit him in the stomach. "And that's for being a complete bastard!"
"Stop, DG! Stop!" Tyler commanded as he grabbed the broom. "Everything you think you know you don't. Now let me explain."
She slapped his hand. "Explain what?" she said through gritted teeth.
"Oh you're a pistol, I'll give you that much. Just like your mother. Just as lovely too."
Oh, please. Flattery will get you nowhere.
"Don't play that fake lovey dovey part with me I don't buy it for one second!"
Been played before so I know the rules asshole!
"My feelings are as real as they get DG," he said as he handed her what looked like a compass. "Come on. It's from your mother."
"It's from my mother?" DG asked softly. She grabbed it out of his hand and sat down. "What is it?"
"It'll lead you to the Grey Gale and the emerald. DG," he began as he kneeled beside her. "I know this is a lot for you to handle right now but all I ask is that you open your heart and trust me. Can you? We have a long way to go and not much time."
"But I can't go anywhere without my friends!" she protested.
"DG the eclipse is almost here and you're the OZ's only hope. Now your friends understand how important this mission is. Ask yourself: what would they want you to do?"
In her mind she could almost hear Cain's voice.
You have to find the emerald and end this, kiddo.
Without you?
You have no other choice.
I'll miss all of you but I'll miss you the most Cain...I'll always wonder what we could've been...
Maybe there's a chance he's still alive. You can't give up hope of that Deege. He's been down before but he always gets back up. Find the emerald first and then look for him. He'd be pissed if you didn't.
That he would.
Her mind made up, she followed her father out of his hiding place and into the woods unaware that the witch was watching them from a distance, a sly smile on her face. The cries of her minions were growing stronger as the time for the eclipse approached.
Have patience, my precious pets. Soon I'll have the key and you'll be free again. We'll all be free.
Resistance Stronghold
Zero marched his prisoners into the woods. They came across a group of people who were trying to turn a wagon that was lying on its side. "Get this out of our way!" he ordered.
One of the men had his face concealed with a grey cloak. He stood up with a bucket of water in his hands. "Sorry."
"Now!" Zero yelled.
"Would you and your troops like a drink of water?" the young man asked. Zero kicked the bucket out of his hands and the attack began. One of the Longcoats was thrown from his horse as a poison dart was shot at him. Another was unseated when he was struck by a barrel on a rope. The cloaked man and a companion yanked Zero off his horse and began punching him. The woman struck one of the Longcoats with a long stick.
Just like us folks from Elba, Wyatt thought with pride. Use whatever you got laying around. He and his fellow prisoners rushed one of the Longcoats and knocked him down while still chained to the log and crushed another one against a tree. The cloaked man jumped in front of them.
"Father?" Jeb asked as he removed his cloak.
"Son?" Wyatt stared at the young man and could see traces of himself and Adora in his features.
"Ambrose!" the woman screamed and threw her arms around a shocked Glitch. He gazed at her face and smiled with tears in his eyes as he remember the baby sister he loved so much.
"Xennie?"
Jeb simply stared at his father, unable to believe he was actually seeing him. "Get them loose," he ordered his men. In a few minutes they had Wyatt and the others freed from the log. Xenia still held her brother tightly. "And take that piece of shit back to the camp," he said indicating Zero.
"I knew you were alive...I just knew it," Xenia sobbed.
"I've missed you Xennie," Glitch said softly.
"Glitch?" Wyatt asked with a grin on his face.
"Get your head out of the gutter Tin Man. She's my baby sister! Xenia, this grump is Wyatt Cain and that's Raw," he said, indicating the viewer.
"I know who they are." She walked over to where Wyatt and Jeb were standing. They seemed uneasy in each other's presence. "Oh for Ozma's sake Jeb, are you just going to stand there like a damned tin suit?" she snapped.
Wyatt glanced over at the furious redhead thinking how much she acted and sounded like DG. If she was his son's woman, then he had his hands full. He smiled. "You remind me of someone else who likes to chase people with sticks."
"My sword is back at the camp otherwise he'd be missing a head!" she snarled. "And your son is quickly pissing me off. After all the time we spent looking for you he just stands there!"
"Xenia!" Jeb growled. "I'm sorry Father. It's just that...I..."
"It's all right," Wyatt said softly to calm his son, sensing the dragon's rage burning in him.
"Let's head back to camp. Gather up the wounded," Jeb said to two of the men. Wyatt walked beside his son while Xenia stayed a distance behind with her brother.
"Does he know?" Xenia asked him. Glitch shook his head.
"His memory is still partially locked and DG has been kidnapped."
Xenia paled. "By whom?"
"We don't know. Why are you here?"
"I'm protecting the East Gate," she answered.
"Cain's kid?!
He's the fourth?"
"You shouldn't be surprised Ambrose. He's the great grandson of Alana Kantrine herself and we both know the four Gates had to be bound by light, love and blood. That's what will make the seal they create unbreakable."
"Does he know he's the fourth?"
"Yes but his powers are partially locked like his father's."
Once they were at the camp Wyatt felt a chill run down his spine when he spotted a tin suit. "What's that doing here?"
"I keep it to remind me. To remind everyone what we're fighting for," Jeb answered. As he was about to walk away he felt his father's hand on his shoulder.
"You know I uhhh...I thought you were dead."
"They told Mother and I you were dead. If I knew you were still alive I would have risked everything, crossed enemy lines to come get you. You know that, don't you."
"Yeah, I do."
"Excuse me sir. Sargeant Malcom is asking for a moment."
"Sir? You uh, you running things around here?" Wyatt asked his son with a smile.
"It just worked out like that."
"I'm proud of you, son." Wyatt embraced his son but the boy still seemed distant. "Hey. You all right?"
"Sure," he said as he walked away.
It took every ounce of strength Wyatt had not to cry.
I'm a stranger to him. I've lost my boy all over again.
He waited until he was away from everyone before he allowed his tears to fall.
He heard footsteps behind him and saw Raw. The viewer touched his shoulder. This time Wyatt didn't ask him to go away.
"No need for Tin Man to cry. Your son loves you."
"No he doesn't. He's...he's just like me when I came out of that damned suit...cold...distant." Wyatt said sadly. "They may as well have locked him in one too."
"Young Cain fights in your honor. Shows love that way."
"I don't know what to do. How to reach him..."
"Spend time with son then you won't be stranger to him."
"This damned war. It's taken everything from all of us."
"We find DG, stop war and Tin Man can have family again."
"It's too much to hope for."
"Tin Man not alone. Tin Man have Glitch, Raw and DG to help son see the good man his father is."
Wyatt smiled through his tears. "You're all right fuzzball."
"Raw Tin Man's friend. What friends are for." The viewer patted his back and for the first time since he and his son had been reunited, Wyatt felt calm.
After his briefing, Jeb sought out Xenia. She was in another tent with her brother. She stood up and glared at him. "You are an ass!" she hissed.
"What?"
"That man is your father and you're treating him like he's a stranger."
"In a way, he kinda is..."
"That doesn't matter!" she yelled. "You know what he is! His heart is in a fragile state as it is and the last thing we need is for you to make things worse by shutting him out. I should cut your heart out!"
"Xennie, stop. Fighting isn't going to solve anything," Glitch spoke up.
"You're right. We have to try to help Wyatt recover his memories."
"We can't. DG has to do it."
"We may be able to recover some of them, specifically his Talon abilities. Jeb, give me your father's sword."
Jeb lifted the mattress of his cot and handed Xenia Wyatt's Katana sword. She removed it from its sheath and held it up, the silver blade shining brightly.
"Xennie, is that the sword of the first Tin Man?"
"Yes, Ambrose. And the chalice made from Dorothy Gale's slippers." She reached into a backpack and brought out a silver chalice. "Watch." She set the chalice down on the table. The sword flew out of her hand and they heard the clash of metal as the blade's tip struck the center of the elegantly designed cup and was held there. They heard footsteps outside and Wyatt entered the tent. Xenia, Glitch and Jeb kneeled and began to speak in unison.
"The blade finds its resting place
In the chalice's loving embrace
Awaiting the Grand Master to answer its call
To reawaken the dragon once and for all!"
Wyatt grabbed the hilt of the sword and removed it from the chalice and held it up, feeling the spirit of the dragon flowing through him again as he touched the blade. He gazed down at his son, Xenia and Glitch. "Rise, my apprentices." he said softly. The three younger people stood up. "I've found one of the Guardians. I have given my word that I'd defend her until my last breath. Will you make the same pledge?"
"You have our word, Master," the said in unison. "For our word as Talons is our bond."
Wyatt sighed as he returned his sword to its sheath. "She was kidnapped in the Realm of the Unwanted, apparently as part of a setup by Zero and that bitch Airofday."
"Then he better talk if he knows what's good for him," Jeb growled.
"Glitch, go get Raw. We'll need him to read Zero because he sure as hell won't volunteer any information," Wyatt grumbled.
"We need to know more about the machine too," Jeb added. "And believe me...if he lies...we'll know."
Wyatt was beginning to suspect that his son had a cruel streak in him and it made him feel uneasy. His mother and I didn't raise him like that. We taught him never to stoop to their low level. Did the best of him die with her too?
It was highly likely that it would lead to more conflicts between them but he couldn't let his son turn into the same cold heartless bastard he'd been when he first got out of the damned suit.
Being alone in a hot air balloon DG the opportunity to learn more about her father. He told her his real name was Tyler Bennett and that he'd grown up in Kansas like she did. As he recalled how he met her mother, he was smiling.
"When I took off from the Nebraska State Fair I got caught in a freak storm and somehow slipped over to this side. It was a rough crossing but when the clouds cleared I was hoving over this crystal blue lake and the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen."
"My mother?" DG asked with a smile.
"From that day on I was hers. We married, had two beautiful daughters. The perfect life."
"Until I mess it all up by letting the old witch escape."
"Your mother and I would have given anything to keep that memory hidden from you."
"No. I have to know."
"When Bastinda...killed you...when your mother gave you a second life we both knew something drastic had to be done both for the OZ and for you. That's why I took you to the other side, brought you to that tiny farmhouse."
"Why didn't you stay?"
"My job was here. To protect the secret of the emerald and prepare for your return."
"So all that time you and my mother could never be together?" The compass began to make noise. "There!" she cried.
"We'll be together again," he said softly.
"I hope so and I hope I'll see my friends again. I miss them all but...I miss Wyatt the most."
"Which one is Wyatt and why would you miss him the most?" he asked, hoping his daughter wouldn't sense that he already knew the answers to his own questions.
"He's ummm...he's the one who looks like an old west gunslinger and it may sound strange but...I think I'm in love with him."
"I noticed that he's very protective of you."
"He is and for the love part...it may sound crazy because...well...he has to be around your age."
"He looks a little younger than me and there is a ten year age difference between your mother and me so it's not so crazy. Why aren't you sure how you feel about him?"
"He's giving me mixed signals. A lot of times when he looks at me I feel like I can't breathe. He's barely touched me but when he does, I feel like...I know...I know...I should be having a talk like this with Mother."
"I'm still your father and its my job to know about any man who has an interest in my daughter. It sounds to me like he feels the same way about you."
"He runs hot and cold. When I get too close he freezes me out. I understand he probably isn't over his wife and a part of me thinks he'll never get over her."
"Your mother always used to say that love was the strongest magic of all. He might just need a little time and so do you to know for sure if you do love him."
"Thank you...Dad." she said as she embraced him.
All of Raw's efforts to read Zero had proven futile. Bastinda shielded his memories with her magic just as Lavinia had with DG's. They had his arms bound behind his back using a makeshift stockade.
"I'll make this easy for you if you tell us everything you know about the machine," Jeb said in a soft but firm voice. Zero glared at him and spit in his face.
Wrong move asshole.
Jeb wiped his face and stood up. "Bring it in," he commanded.
"What do you got there?" Zero chuckled. The kid was as stupid as the bastard who spawned him.
Wouldn't you like to know? Jeb grinned at him.
Hearing what sounded like knives suddenly made Zero nervous. "W...What is that? What ummm what are you doing?"
Want to see you squirm like a worm on a hook. "Hold his fingers."
Zero started screaming. Although Wyatt had always thought of seeing his mortal enemy at his mercy, he knew what his son was doing was wrong.
"Not the fingers!"
"Shut up!" Jeb yelled.
"I'll tell you what you anything you want to know."
"It's too late!"
"I'll talk!"
"Son, let him talk," Wyatt said. "Talk!" he ordered his nemesis.
"The machine forms an intense beam of light. Focuses the power of the emerald on the eclipse. Locks the two suns behind the moon. It'll bring darkness to the OZ forever."
"Damn thing's the anti-sun seeder." Glitch said angrily.
"Sun seeder?" Jeb asked.
"Was a little do hickey I designed to slow the suns and extend the growing season."
"How do we shut it down?" Jeb demanded of Zero.
"Ask him," he said indicating Glitch.
Glitch insisted he didn't know.
"Part of you does...Ambrose."
Jeb explained that it was Glitch's brain that was running the machine and where to find it. After Zero had told them everything they wanted to know Jeb showed him what he'd been threatening to cut his fingers off with...two spoons. He then walked over to the table where Zero's sword lay and unsheathed it. The expression on his face was cold, dark...terrifying as he pressed the blade against Zero's throat.
"Jeb, what are you doing?" Wyatt asked fearfully. That's not my son...it's a monster. I can't let him do this...
"Job's not done yet," Jeb declared in an icy voice. "Now I can finally finish this."
"Not like this," his father pleaded as he pulled his son back. "Put it away!"
"This is the guy who killed Mother. He destroyed your life and mine and you want to let him live!"
"He deserves to die."
"Yeah!"
"I won't deny that."
"Then what?"
"Killing him won't bring back your mother. And it won't honor her memory either."
For a moment father and son stared into each other's eyes, engaged in silent clash of wills. One thought he'd lost his heart forever and was just finding it again, the other's heart was turning as hard as stone. Jeb stormed away from his father, thrusting the blade of the sword into the ground.
Sleep proved difficult for Wyatt that night. He and his son were barely speaking and he was plagued by nightmares of Adora. He woke up and went into the tent where Zero was still imprisoned and broke him out of the stockade.
"We're going for a walk. Stand up!" Wyatt ordered as he pulled his pistol out of its holster.
"Can't let your kid take the glory, eh?" Zero sneered.
"Shut up and get moving!" Wyatt hissed. He led him down to the empty tin suit and shoved him inside, slamming it shut.
"Let me out you son of a bitch!" Zero screamed.
"After a few days in there, you're going to wish for death. Now you'll find out exactly what kind of hell I went through in there for eight years only there's no one left who cares about you enough to plead for your release. Think about that. I'm done with you and done letting what you did to me make me push everyone who tries to care about me away." He spun on his heels and walked away. Zero was saying something but he didn't hear it. The only sound he heard was his own heart beating stronger than it had in years.
It's because of her, he thought. I owe that kid more than I can ever repay her. I have to find her. There's so much I have to tell her.
Tell her what? That she helped you find your heart again?
That she is my heart...
He stopped in his tracks, feeling as if he'd been struck by a lightning bolt and started shaking his head violently. "No...not like that! She can't be. We can't be..."
Why not?
She's bound to someone else.
Bonds are meant to be broken.
There's always a price.
Sometimes the price is worth the reward especially when love is the reward.
Not this time. Not with her. What kind of life would we have? I'm twice her age and have enough issues to fill at least three Central Cities. All I'd do is break her heart. She deserves someone who can devote himself entirely to her and that's not me.
It could be if you tried.
I can be her guardian and her friend but nothing more. It wouldn't work.
He lay down in front of a tall tree and pulled his hat down over his face. He drifted off to sleep but this time instead of being haunted by Adora, he was now being haunted by DG, trapped in a cold dark place and screaming his name. A hard kick to his leg woke him out of his slumber early the next morning. He raised his hat and gazed into his son's furious face.
"What did you do?" Jeb demanded angrily
Wyatt got up and led his son down to where Zero was locked in the suit. "If we stop Azkadellia we'll be back for him in a few days. If not, he's going to be there a long time. I hope that's justice enough for you."
"It's not my first choice but Mother would approve."
Wyatt pressed his hand against the boy's heart. "If you don't have heart, you have nothing," he said softly. The trouble was, he feared he was losing part of his again by losing his son and the young woman who helped reunite them without even trying to.
"I can't think of a more fitting punishment," they heard a voice say and spun around, their mouths agape. "Close your mouths boys or you'll start catching flies...or crickets."
"Commander Ozopov! I thought you were dead." Wyatt exclaimed.
"Everyone said the same about you from what I've heard."
"Where the hell have you been, Jiminy?"
"The Other Side and it's Archie now."
"Oh yeah? Doing what?"
"Protecting the Strogoff heir," Archie replied. "But now I'm back and I'm getting my wife back and I need your help to do it. I'm conserving my magic because I need to be at full strength when we take that tower and stop Bastinda from locking that eclipse in the sky."
"The OZ can't survive without sunlight."
"Oh, she's gonna do much worse than that Wyatt. She's opening the gates of Ephesis itself."
"J...Jiminy Crickets!" Elmer exclaimed when he joined them. Archie glared at him.
"What'd I tell you about using that expression around me, Gulch?" he barked.
Jeb threw back his head and started laughing. "I remember how you used to get riled up every time you heard us use it."
"Yes well, I don't like it," Archie huffed. "And you Ozians never would've heard it if Dorothy Gale never came here. She used it all the time. I hope to tell her modern version doesn't or I'll be having a talk with her."
"Wait...what? What are you talking about Jiminy?" Wyatt asked him.
"Dorothia, Wyatt. She's Dorothy Gale reborn."
"Jimi..."
"Don't say it, Gulch! And would everyone please stop saying Azkadellia is to blame for all this because she's not. It's Bastinda."
"She's fghting her, isn't she?" Wyatt asked him.
"But she can't do it alone. She needs me...and DG. You get DG to that Tower and destroy Bastinda's army. Leave the witch and the eclipse to us."
"If we can find her."
"Where is Toto? I didn't see him with you?"
"Tucked tail and ran, the bastard."
"Is that right?" Archie's eyes narrowed to slits. "He can't run anywhere I won't be able to find him. Come on, Elmer! We're going dog catching!"
He took off his leather jacket and ubuttoned his shirt."Pallux, Perika!" he called out. The mobat demons flew off his chest and bowed. "Dalmatian forms please," he instructed.
Before Wyatt and Jeb's astonished eyes two dogs now stood in front of the former Ozian army commander.
"Wyatt has Toto's scent. Pick it up and find him!" he ordered.
The dogs sniffed Wyatt's hands and barked several times before they took off into the woods with their master and his companion in pursuit. Wyatt stared after him, smiling and put his arms around Jeb's shoulders.
"The cricket's flying again son. We might win this war after all."
DG and Tyler reached their destination late in the afternoon. At first she couldn't see anything but as she got closer two emerald green doors appeared in front of her. She held up her marked palm and it began to glow. The double doors opened and she and Tyler entered what appeared to be a monument.
"Your mother told me about this place but I never dreamed it would be so beautiful."
"Who's buried here?"
"The ones whose blood runs through your veins. The royal succession that leads to you." He led her over to a set of white double doors. "The oldest rests here. She was your greatest great grandmother. The original slipper. The first to make it over to the OZ from the other side."
DG looked up at the gold plaque that read: DOROTHY GALE.
"Dorothy Gale." DG read aloud.
"You were named in her honor."
The emerald is guarded by the Grey Gale," she recited and held up her palm again to open the doors. As she walked inside she looked back at her father.
"This you must do alone," he said and stepped back. She continued on and found herself in a black and white version of her farmhouse. She heard footsteps behind her and faced a young girl about twelve years old...her ancestress...the legendary Dorothy Gale still wearing the silver slippers that had been given to her by the good witch of the North.
"I've been waiting for you," Dorothy said.
"You're Dorothy?"
Dorothy handed the emerald to her. "The emerald of the eclipse is in your hands now and the darkness must be returned to its prison."
"How?"
"The prison's lock can only be created by bond of the heart and soul of the OZ in light and love. The seal Nicolai and I created was not strong enough and that is how it escaped this time. You must find your other half and consummate your bond. Only then will your seal lock the prison forever."
She waved her hand and DG could see an image of an older Dorothy and a man she recognized as Prince Nicolai. They were standing in the cave where she and Azkadellia found the witch.
"In this prison the darkness do we bind
Lock it away forever for no soul to find," Dorothy and Nicolai were chanting as they stood face to face and held hands, light flowing through them and into the earth. A mist made of black vines tipped with sharp thorns appeared between them and DG could hear a demented laugh.
"I will be free from this prison like before
My victory you have taken but I will have another
Gale sister will turn against sister and Gale brother will turn against brother
Until your bloodline exists no more!"
"How will I find my other half?" she asked. Dorothy faded away. "Well, some help you are!" she cried. The precious emerald in her hand, she and Tyler exited the crypt.
"It won't be long before the eclipse, we have to hurry" Tyler reminded her. "DG, you're everything I hoped you'd be. I am so proud of you."
"I'm so proud of you. My little girl," the witch mocked from behind them. "You're everything I hoped you'd be. Daddy, you old romantic." She waved her hand and Tyler shrunk to the size of a pencil. He floated into her hand. "Daddy. I've missed you so much." She snickered and slapped her hands together. He vanished.
"What did you do with him?" DG cried.
"He's quite comfortable." She held out her hand. "You have something for me. C'mon, want to share your shiny new trinket with your big sister. "
"No. You're not my sister."
The witch pushed with her magic, forcing the emerald to float to her hand. "It doesn't look like much, does it? But it has so much power," she whispered.
"Green's not your color," DG countered as she tried to grab it back. The witch shot a ball of magic that took DG's breath away.
"I thought you were dead, little sister. Buried in the ground all these years."
"You're not... DG coughed.
"No, it's where you belonged. You look good in marble. Green marble."
DG found herself locked inside a sarcophagus. Terrified, she screamed and began pounding at it with her fists.
"Help! Someone help me! Wyatt!"
He can't hear you.
"I'm scared...I don't know what to do. I don't want to die again..." DG whispered fearfully. She closed her eyes and the tears fell down her cheeks as she thought about all the loved ones she'd leave behind. Glitch, Raw, her parents, Az and Wyatt. Now she understood how he felt being locked away all those years, yet he'd managed to call out to her to tell her how to find him and set him free. Could she do the same?
Find my prison and release me Wyatt, she chanted and pushed with her light, willing it to travel across the distance to the one person who could help her. I love you...
There was no sense denying it any longer. She was in love with Wyatt Cain. He was at least twenty years her senior, widowed and pissed off at the world but he'd been at her side through some of the best and worst parts of this journey and once she got him alone she was going to tell him just how much she loved him.
She couldn't really be sure when it started. Some part of her thought it was once they'd been smuggled into Central City and he decided to abandon her to go after Zero only to return or was it when he came to rescue her at the Tower when she thought he was dead? She held onto him longer than she should have then. Was it when she broke down after seeing what Glitch suffered in order to try to keep the sun seeder plans from the witch or after the pep talk he'd given her once she realized she was to blame for this whole mess in the first place? Or was it in the alley when she'd waited for him to kiss her? As her emotions took control of her, her light pushed against the lock on her memories forged by Lavinia's magic. It shattered, taking her inside them and allowing her at last to see the truth that had been concealed from her for so long. Her spirit left her body and journeyed with its unseen guide through her memories.
"Come Deege," it said softly, sounding somewhat familiar to her. "See at last what your heart was forced to conceal but longs to reveal..."
She saw herself as a child being held in Wyatt's arms, her small hand pressed against his heart, the light flowing out of her into him and speaking to him in his mind, sounding just as she did now.
Have courage for the task at hand will be hard
This half of our heart you must now guard
The other half lives inside of you
And to both you must always be true
Divided we will fall
As one we form an impenetrable wall
Bound by light and love will we be
One heart forever to protect the OZ.
Her memories took her back to the day the witch first killed her only this time she was seeing Wyatt in the room with her, the two of them combining their light to try to fight back only finding it not strong enough. She was taken to Wyatt's room in he Mystic Man's mansion, watching him endure her pain as if it were his own and hearing the Mystic Man instructing him on what to do.
What's happening, Wyatt?
The kid...she's killing her!
Who is killing who?
The kid's sister is killing her.
Her sister? That's impossible.
She's using dark magic on the girl to strangle her and I can feel it! There's another presence in the room with us, one stronger than any of us. I can't fight it off. I'm trying but whatever it is, its blocking me.
Concentrate on DG Wyatt and try. If one of you dies so does the other. Give her the will to fight!
I'm trying!
Try harder dammit!
"S...She's dying. Can't help her. Dark magic is too strong."
"Wyatt, listen to me. No, I want you to open your eyes and listen to me! You have your wife and your son, my godson. They need you."
"Don't know what to do."
"Wyatt, it's a bonding spell! You'll follow the princess to her grave unless you break it now."
"You...told me not to."
"I know I did son and you tried to use it to save her but it wasn't strong enough. Let her go. For the sake of Adora and your son, let her go."
"I don't know how."
"Look in your heart. The answers are always in your heart."
She saw the sadness on his face as he spoke the words that would separate them and it brought her to tears, her heart filled with a sorrow that not even her guide could soothe.
"It is with regret I that now undo
This bond to make one heart from two
The future now is impossible to see
For with a severed heart comes a severed memory.
Myself I can never forgive
For the sacrifice I have made for us to live
Soon a storm will take you away
And through a storm we will be reunited one day
Then at last we can redo
This bond to make one heart from two
And only then will we be
One heart forever to protect the OZ."
"Oh Wyatt, what did he make you do?" DG asked through her tears. It was her guide who answered.
"The punishment is severe for those who defy the will of the OZ
A heart bond of our choosing is one that is meant for eternity
Should this bond be broken by human device
Everything it holds most dear it will be made to sacrifice
The rivers of its memory will flow with the image of spilled blood
Until the dams burst and they become a raging flood
If one day the lost half of its heart returns to reclaim
The one who has forgotten it, through love shall it be relieved from its pain."
"Oh God," she moaned. "His wife...his son! They're dead because of me! It is my fault. I've taken everything away from him...everything! I'm the one who needs his forgiveness!"
"The fault was his tutor's not his or yours, Deege. Because Wyatt was the stronger of the two of you, he would have lived longer...a few hours. You had already been brought back to life so the bond held."
"Until he broke it. He suffered so much. All those years locked away alone..."
"He did not spend the entire eight years alone, Deege. Come with me and I'll show you." Her guide took her to their reunion when she was just sixteen. She couldn't help laughing as she watched her past self interact with his dragon spirit in almost the same way she interacted with him now.
"How could he stand me at that age? I was so immature."
"Yet even with a lack of maturity you knew he was a comforting presence in your dreams and gave him a brief escape from his prison. Unfortunately when his dragon spirit awoke, the witch sensed it and wanted to find out the cause."
A chill ran down her spine, knowing what was coming next. "Oh, no...no!" she screamed, body shaking withy rage while she watched the witch shove what looked like a probe into his heart while Lylo tried reading him. "Y...You bitch! I'll kill you. I swear to God I'll kill you! Make it stop," she pleaded with her guide. "Please...don't let her hurt him anymore..."
"I can't stop what has already been done."
"It was only one meeting and he had to endure all of that."
"No Deege, it was not the last time he came to you. You've already unlocked part of your memory of what happened to you after the prom but this is the truth that has been taken from you by all the medicines you were given."
She could see the two of them sitting on the porch of what she now knew was Wyatt's cottage, locked in a passionate embrace and sharing their first kiss, finally admitting their love for each other after so long only to have the witch tear him away from her again and continue to torture him until he shut his body down.
"You have to go now! If you stay she'll find a way to unlock my heart's memories and track you."
"I can't leave you now! Not now that we..."
"D...Dottie, please. She's already taken Adora and my son away from me. I can't lose you too."
"Wyatt, please don't leave me. I love you..."
"Find my prison and release me..."
"I'll find your prison and free you Wyatt, I promise...We'll be together again soon my darling..."
She was taken back to her old bedroom back in the Northern Island palace and saw the witch standing over her bed with her hands pressed down on the mattress reciting a spell.
"In this bed I give birth to a curse of pain
On the hearts of Dorothia Gale and Wyatt Cain
I call upon all the darkness to heed my will
Cast upon their hearts a bitter chill
Destined mates you will no longer be
For you will not have that memory
When in love you try to fall
Wrap around your hearts a icy wall
Hateful words you will speak until your last breaths
For broken hearts shall be your deaths
Here I will at last claim my final victory
And permanent darkness will come to the OZ!"
"We'll see about that bitch!" DG screamed to the empty room. "He may not remember us but when he does, the two of us are going to send you back to hell where you belong!"
"DG," she heard a familiar voice whisper and turned to see her sister standing in the room in shadow form. She looked different. Instead of the leather suits and elaborate hairstyles, this version of her sister wore a simple white satin gown with her long black hair hanging loose around her shoulders.
"Az? You're the one who has been guiding me through my memories?"
"Yes."
"But...how are you able to come to me now?"
"There are times when I am able to take control of my soul and body but it is mostly at night while she sleeps. Just as Wyatt was able to escape his prison through your dreams. I've been fighting her since the day she took control. You have to stop her Deege. The emerald cannot be held by anyone other than me. We will need it for the final battle."
"The eclipse?"
"No. It is only the beginning. You have to release me from her grip and we must fight the final battle along with those whom we are bonded to."
"How do I break the curse on Wyatt and me?"
Azkadellia smiled and glanced over at the bed. She waved her hand and two symbols appeared in the center of the mattress. One was a Katana sword and the other was a chalice.
"In this bed was born a curse to make the hearts cold
Of destined heartmates, you are young, he is old
In his heart lies the truth you seek
Heed not the angry words you hear him speak
You are his fire and he is yours
Your kiss and your touch will shatter all his icy doors
You are the chalice, the darkness has chilled the waters of your desire
He is the blade, only he can make them flow with passion's fire.
To this bed you must return
Yourself you must give to him to make a single flame burn
A single flame burning with love will shatter the final wall of cold
And join forever the hearts of destined mates, one young and one old
From your love a child there will be
To continue the bloodline that will forever protect the OZ."
"Remember DG, restore his memories and consummate your bond at the curse's point of origin. It is the only way to break it! For now, you need to free yourself, find Wyatt and release me from the witch!" Azkadellia instructed before she vanished.
The witch stood on the balcony of the tower gazing out at the dark sky. Vy-Sor approached her with a box in his hands. Encased inside a pendant that she would wear around her neck was the prized symbol of the North Gate, the emerald.
"History is about to be repeated. And this time I'll get it right," she vowed.
You will fail as before! she heard Azkadellia's enraged voice scream out. The emerald belongs to me and me alone.
Who will stop me silly girl? Your sister? The Tin Man? One of them is locked in her coffin and the other my destroyer will finish off as he should have years ago.
You underestimate my sister and her Tin Man, bitch. You think your curse will break them? Think again! We four guardians will unite and bind you in a prison you'll never escape from!
Your fourth is lost.
We'll see.
Toto, who had been following Tyler and DG as best he could in his dog form, finally reached the locked doors of the Gale Crypt. He picked up DG's scent inside. She was trapped inside but he could not help her. Only those of the Gale bloodline could access the crypt. He ran as fast as his canine legs could carry him in search of Wyatt Cain until he was confronted by two Dalmatians. The larger dogs snarled at him and he backpedaled in fear until he felt his backside brush against a pair of leather boots.
"Pongo, Perika, stand down."
Commander Ozopov! But...but he's DEAD!
"I'm very much alive Toto and I want an explanation. Why did you run when the Longcoats came to the bar?" Archie demanded.
Ahamo took DG. I was tracking them.
Archie breathed a sigh of relief. "Well at least that part's going according to plan."
DG is trapped inside the Grey Gale. We need to get her out.
"We can't. Bastinda sealed the doors with a lock on DG can break and she needs an emotion strong enough to do it. Love and the only person that can inspire that is back at a resistance stronghold not far from here. Go get Wyatt Cain and bring him here and I swear to Lurline if you double cross us I'm stripping you of your shapeshifting ability and locking you in a tin suit for the rest of your life!"
There's the Commander Ozopov I remember. Ozmalita choose Azkadellia's bondmate well. She is taking back control more isn't she?
"Mostly at night. She feels safer at night."
You make your bond stronger every night you spend with her, Jiminy. One more night.
"Go. Find Wyatt and hurry! We're running out of time."
Wyatt was determined to find DG even if he had to tear the entire Realm of the Unwanted apart to do it. Then when he got his hands on the so-called Seeker he was going to tear him apart if the bastard did anything to her.
"Are you sure you trying to find DG is the right thing?" his son asked him. He'd disappointed the boy by how he'd handled Zero but DG had been his responsibility since she left him out of the suit and she needed him..as a friend and nothing more, he reminded himself. "She's alive. I know she is. Someone in the realm has to know how to find this Seeker. You heard what Jiminy said. DG is the key to bringing the witch down."
"Well goddess willing I'll see you at the tower," Jeb said aloud.
Be careful, he warned his father in his mind. I don't want to lose you again.
Father and son gazed at each other.
You and DG are the most important things in my life now, Jeb.
Jeb wrapped his arms around Wyatt and held him tightly for the first time since he was a child.
I love you, Dad.
I love you too, son.
I can just imagine what Granddad would be saying now. 'What's all that huggin' for? 'We Cains ain't huggers now cut that shit out!'
Yeah, that'd be something he'd say all right. Never liked it, even when your mom and Aunt Mari tried to do it. DG's the hugging type too. I kinda acted like your granddad when she first hugged me.
"Thank you," Jeb said softly as they separated, both of them smiling. "Okay, let's move it, men! We don't have much time."
Wyatt sighed with relief. He'd been terrified his unwillingness to kill Zero had severed his ties with his son completely but despite that one lapse in judgment his son still loved him. Once this damned war was over, he was going to spend more time with his boy. He lost enough time with him already.
Lavinia was free from her prison for the first time but it was merely for torture. The witch entered the room, her hand covering something dangling from her neck.
"Oh, don't you look pretty," she said sarcastically. "Good thing because I brought you a date," she said as her guards escorted Tyler into the room. Seeing her husband again after so many years apart shattered the older queen's self control. Husband and wife kissed passionately.
"Enough!" the witch hissed, removing her hand and allowing Lavinia to gaze upon her emerald prize. "Do you know how long I have waited to see that look on your face? No phony smile. No brave front. Just pure and utter shock. Probably the only honest gift you've ever given me, Mother!"
"I am not your mother!"
"Our daughter is really gone?" Tyler asked.
"Both of your daughters are gone."
"DG is dead?"
"Your little girl's quest is ended as your royal line ends today. In darkness, permanent darkness," the witch announced triumphantly. "They do not leave this room," she ordered the guards as she left the room and went out to the balcony to wait for the eclipse to begin.
Toto finally picked up Wyatt's scent in the woods. The first people he encountered were Glitch and Raw. Once Wyatt was with them he shifted back to his human form.
"I can take you to DG. I know where she is. She's in trouble."
"How do we know you're not lying to us again?" Wyatt asked.
Raw approached the shapeshifter and placed his hand over Toto's heart. "Speak truth," he confirmed.
"All right, where is she?"
"She's a long ways away and we'd better hurry."
"Hurry, how?" Glitch asked. They heard a flock of horses in the distance.
"Does that answer your question?" Wyatt asked as he approached their riders. "You mind if we borrow these?"
"Not at all, sir."
"Much obliged. Lead us to DG pooch, but mark my words...I find out you're lying and I'm puttin' you down. Understood?"
"Yes, Mr. Cain." He shifted back into a dog and raced off toward the crypt opening a mind connection with Wyatt having sensed that he'd finally regained his mind speech ability.
She's trapped in the Gale crypt.
Why didn't you let her out!
I can't. The crypt can only be opened by one of their own or the Talon Grand Master...and that's you now.
What if it doesn't open for me?
It will open for you once it recognizes you.
I hope to hell you're right, pooch.
DG was once again back in the sarcophagus, hearing her father and Toto coaching her how to make her light obey her commands. She closed her eyes again and pushed out with her light, undoing the screws securing the coffin closed. Using her marked palm, she moved the lid aside and jumped out.
After so many years of searching she'd finally found her home and along with it her heart in Wyatt Cain but before they could be together again she had to save the other person she held even closer to her heart, her sister and best friend. She ran out of the crypt and could see Toto running toward her. How had he been able to find her? "Toto?" she asked. He barked affirmitively. She looked up again and saw a group of riders coming toward her, a man with a familiar grey fedora hat leading the pack on a white horse.
Wyatt, you found me. I knew you would,
she thought breathlessly. It was as if she'd woken up in her ultimate fantasy...the hero on a white steed coming to her rescue and sweeping her off her feet. Her heart was pouding so fiercely she was terrified it would burst out of her chest. He quickly dismounted and hurried toward her.
"You okay?" he asked worriedly.
I'm fine now that you're here...I do love you.
The only thing she was able to do was hold out her arms to him.
"DG," he said softly as he and Raw embraced her.
"Do you have the emerald?" he asked pulling her out of her romantic reverie. She shook her head sadly. "Where is it?"
"She's got it Cain," she mumbled. Raw began to gesture worriedly.
Wyatt gazed up at the sky, the twin suns edging closer to the moon. "Okay come on, let's go. We don't have much time."
They raced back to the horses.
"You wanna ride with me, Deege?" Glitch asked.
"Ummm, if it's okay with you I'll ride with Mr. Cain."
And right then, even though it seemed like the world as they knew it was about to be turned on its head, the only place she wanted to be was with the man she loved. Wyatt mounted the white horse and pulled DG up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Hold on tight, kid."
As they raced through the woods, there were so many thoughts swirling in DG's mind. She thought of her parents, the sister she'd loved and lost, her new friends and lover...if he'd have her again and wondered how it was going to be possible for them all to survive this new storm that was coming.