Author's Note: Man, it's been a while. I've been feeling inspired lately, so I decided to give this a whirl. I'm also going to try updating my other fics more often too. Wish me luck.
On a side note- I don't actually expect people to read or review this. I know it's not really popular and that's okay, because I'm not writing it for anyone but myself.
Critical Mass
Crisis point meant Deborvak was waiting in Jorgen's office for the head honcho to arrive. Anxiety had prompted him to take the tainted dragon egg with him, as well as fingering the threatening note he'd received earlier. Trying to look normal, he floated rather than stood. Almost no one stood in Fairy World—one would think their legs had broken. Grimacing, he touched the egg. It stirred, warm. Glancing down at it once more, he started when Jorgen appeared.
"You have been hiding things from me," Jorgen accused.
"Glad we're dispensing with the pleasantries," he commented. "No 'hi, how are you', 'good to see you'?"
"We are here," Jorgen snapped, "to discuss your training and why Tootie's mother knows about Cosmo and Wanda."
"Ah," he said and smiled weakly. "I thought it might be something like that."
Jorgen glowered and he was unimpressed. Instead, he examined the black dragon egg with its silver whorls along the surface. He ran his fingers over it, glanced at Jorgen, and went back to examining the egg. Jorgen moved closer and Deb looked up.
"Tootie's mother knows of their existence," he corrected. "He doesn't know whose godparents they are."
"It is your fault she knows!" he snapped.
"No, it's Juandissimo's fault," he replied, still cordial. "She knew Juandissimo was a fairy. She can recognize otherworldly creatures. This may be some sort of security breach. Or something you want to look into as an almighty being."
"Are you telling me what to do, puny fairy?" he snarled.
"I'm not a puny fairy," he replied. "I am a 'puny' half fairy, half dragon. Two, maybe you should have thought about that before you let all this happen. Or kept a tighter leash on Juandissimo."
"You do not tell me what to do!" Jorgen thundered and aimed his wand at him. A burst of white light shot out, but Deborvak disappeared. He reappeared in another location and his eyes blazed.
"Do you really think a temper tantrum is the most effective way to govern?" he shot back. "We have a problem. You admit there's a problem. Why don't you solve it instead of attacking my perceived insolence?"
Jorgen's eyes narrowed, but, after a moment, he nodded. "I don't like you."
"The feeling is mutual."
"You are hiding other things about your magic," he intoned. "I will overlook that...for now. Tootie's mother poses a threat."
"Tootie's mother needs to be spoken to," he said, shaking his head. "She poses no threat."
"She can see fairies! She can expose us!" he countered. "Simply because you are not at risk does not mean everyone else is safe too!"
Deborvak frowned, stroking the dragon egg. Inclining his head, he sent it away and back into his world. He twisted the light crystal on its chain around his neck.
"She'd never willingly expose fairies. She needs to be reminded that just because she can see them doesn't mean that she should tell anyone," he argued. "Also, since she's probably had this ability since she was a child, and no one's been reassigned yet, a reminder is probably sufficient."
Jorgen glared. He slammed his wand on the ground, the building shook, and dust flew off the ceiling. Nothing happened. Blinking, startled, Deb stared at the giant figurehead. Jorgen snarled, blasted the wall (there were only painted on doors, after all), and blasted the area around Deb. The spell split, burning two new holes in the wall but not touching him at all.
"We will try it your way," he said, and, in his tone of voice, it sounded like a threat. Jorgen glared at the younger fairy and, Deb, bowing slightly in a false sign of deference, disappeared. The teleportation, which he did without his wand, caused his surroundings to fade and be replaced by Tootie's bedroom.
Tootie was, at present, staring at his daughters. Vela was nervous and kept shifting into small animals, then being startled out of those forms. Aurelia, by contrast, appeared perfectly calm, excepting her glowers. A few weeks had passed since the discovery and, to minimize danger to her offspring, Vela had handed her daughter to the palace nursery. Bereft of her daughter, when Vela was in her elfin form, she cradled anything that vaguely infant shaped.
At the moment, Vela was cradling (and chewing on) Tootie's pillow. Aurelia poked her.
"Stop that," she chided. Surprised, Vela dropped the soggy pillow onto Tootie's bed.
"Daddy, you're back! We were just discussing…" she trailed off, staring. He tensed, shifting, unconsciously, into his elf form. Tootie gasped, he realized his mistake, and turned back into his fairy form. He jumped onto her bed to gain height. On her bed, he was taller than Tootie, since they were of a height on a level surface.
"Jorgen is permitting me to speak to your mother," he started and then stopped at Tootie's incomprehension. He shifted on the bed and glared at Vela. "You told her nothing."
"I was waiting for you…" she protested. "Why have you been in such a bad mood lately?"
Deborvak sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Normally, when he did this, his fingers slipped through and met no resistance. Lately he hadn't been brushing his hair or paying much attention to his appearance. As a result, it was tangled and he had to fight to extract his fingers. Vela's eyes widened and Aurelia nudged her.
"It seems there was another reason, beyond sheer selfishness, that Juandissimo chose your mother," he commented and gestured for Tootie to join him on the bed. She did, looking at the two girls. Vela was twirling a lock of hair around her index finger and shivering. Aurelia, haughty, was staring back, challenging Tootie. Nervous, Tootie focused her gaze upon Deb.
"What was it?" Tootie whispered. Any mention of her father made her tense, anxious and excited. He understood that hunger, but now was not the time.
"Your mother has what is called in some circles The Sight. She can perceive fairies and otherworldly beings, as a result of diluted blood. Very far back, in the medieval era, your many times removed grandmother was a fairy. Occasionally, such power resurfaces in slight traces."
"But…I'm confused," Tootie said, brow furrowed and lower lip underneath her upper. "Why is this bad news?" She pointed to Vela and Aurelia. "They've been freaking out all day. This is good news, isn't it?"
"Your mother knows about Cosmo and Wanda. My exposure and that of my daughters means very little in the long run. We don't belong to Fairy World and can't be punished the same way. However, if she can sense Cosmo and Wanda…" he trailed off. Tootie still looked baffled. Shaking his head, he conjured up Da Rules. Although the book didn't affect him, Jorgen had insisted he carry one. In his world, no one had issued guidelines on how to behave.
"They'd have to go away forever?" Tootie finished, reading the relevant section. He nodded, casting the book aside and back into the netherworld or pocket universe in which all magical items go when unneeded.
"Assuming she can connect the pink and green, plus purple, creatures to Timmy, yes," he answered.
"But I know about Timmy's godparents and they're still here," she pointed out. "Why should my mom knowing be any different?"
"That's where things get sketchy," he admitted. "Jorgen isn't sure how it will play out, and, as everyone in that world is fears capture and exploitation, his first reaction is to protect his flock. As far as reactions go, it's a reasonable assumption given prior experience. It does complicate matters."
He eyed her. "I have not been entirely honest with you. Nor have I been honest with my daughters. For the last two months, an evil sorceress has been attempting to court my favor."
Aurelia's jaw dropped and Vela yelped, causing Deb's bird cage to freeze over. Tootie, frowning still and bewildered, stared.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that for the past two weeks, in my world…an evil sorceress has tried to recruit me. For the past month, I've rebuffed her. She has started threatening people, namely my family."
There was silence. Vela's fists were clenched so tightly thin, sparkly blood trickles oozed down her wrists and onto the carpet.
"I hope you told Utah—"Aurelia started and Deb jerked his head.
"Utah? Isn't that a state?" Tootie asked, thoroughly baffled.
"Remember what I told you, about names having great power? Utah is short for something, but it's not a name you need to know," he said. "As Aurelia pointed out, however, I have another mistress. Due to the nature of the threats, and the evil sorceress already moving to attack creatures I am peripherally affiliated with…we have decided upon a course of action best suited for the situation."
"She won't come here, will she?" Tootie's eyes widened and she twisted the bed sheets.
"She will not," he confirmed. "However, this world could be considered a sanctum for my family, should things escalate. That is why we need to address the problem with your mother."
"Why didn't you tell me!" All three demanded.
"One, because you're a child with your own problems," he said, pointing at Tootie. "Two, because you are one of the people she specifically mentioned in her letter," here he pointed at Aurelia, "And three, because you have been having episodes lately and until we find a way to get you medicated, I didn't want to risk anything that could potentially upset your mental health."
The silence returned and he amused himself conjuring fire, then ice around it. The ice crystal, shaped as a diamond, managed to keep without melting despite the fire around it. Tootie gaped and he let the structure collapse, the fire disappearing into the air and the ice vaporizing.
"The dragon eggs were a ruse to attract my attention, although there is something similar going on in the world parallel to mine, perhaps to attract their emperor's attention," he said. "As things stand, however, we will deal with one problem at time. Your mother, by far, seems the lesser of two evils."
"If you're being threatened like that, why didn't you tell Jorgen?" Tootie asked.
Deb laughed. "Everyone in this world thinks Jorgen can handle any threat. It simply isn't true."
"Is that why you've been acting like this? Doing all these things?" Tootie pressed.
"You'll have to be more specific. I am afraid I no longer keep a diary of my life's events," he commented.
Groaning, the human girl flopped over backwards onto the bed. "Are you going to have to resign?"
"No, but I may have to be very careful for the next few weeks or months," he commented. "And until I know exactly what's going on, as tragic as I know this will be, Tootie…I need to suspend your training."
At her sitting upright, he continued.
"I'll still be your godfather, but the training you require on top of my subterfuge would leave me an open target for the sorceress. Using Fairy World's magic doesn't require tapping into any of mine."
"You're going to train with her?" Aurelia demanded.
"Aura, if she tainted the dragon eggs, then she needs to be examined. We've never seen anything that can affect unborn dragons like this," he said.
"She could kill you!" Aurelia snapped. "You absolutely cannot do this!"
"I don't have a choice," he said. "I already discussed this."
"With whom?" she snapped. "Not us! You didn't tell us!"
"Masha and Utah," he answered.
"Oh, of course, if you discussed it with Masha!" Aurelia cried, rolling her eyes. "Heaven help us! You told your girlfriend before us!"
Heat shimmered around her and the sun, through the window, appeared to grow brighter. This was an illusion, although the heat surrounding Aurelia was not. The room increased in temperature.
Tootie was starting to inch away. He hadn't meant to involve her in a family dispute. Any conflict made her uneasy and this was something she had no place in.
"We can discuss this later," he said.
"We can discuss this now," Aurelia countered. "I refuse to even entertain the idea that my father would work for someone like that!"
"I'm a grown man, well, fairy. You can't tell me what to do," he said. "And if I don't do this, she will come after you. I can't hide everyone in this world."
"Why not?" she cried. "Damn it, Dad, if she's capable of what you think she is, then…then…" She stopped, eyes filling with tears.
"Then what?" he pressed gently.
"Then she is a great evil you should not indulge! You have no place near her!" she exclaimed.
"And where I am before is a greater good?" he queried, smiling.
"She never threatened us! Dad, you simply cannot! I will not allow it!" she said. Tootie glanced at the window, perhaps trying to avoid looking at them, and Aurelia shoved the window open so hard that the glass cracked.
"It is not yours to allow," he reminded her.
At a loss, she looked around the room. Her lower lip was quivering, but she refused to give into it. Swallowing hard, taking deep steady breaths, she said, "I will not see that bitch anywhere near us."
"Don't worry," he said. "She's my problem, not yours."
"You are part of the 'us' I'm talking about!" she shot back.
"This isn't your choice to make, as I've said," he answered. "I am governed by a higher power."
"You and your damn duty!" she shouted. In a blazing light, she disappeared and scorched the carpet. Vela stared in her wake.
"Daddy…" she begged. "You can't!"
"Vela, my mind is already made up. Go after your sister or go bug one of the other fairies in Dimmsdale. I have to talk to Tootie and her mother," he said. Her lower lip trembled.
"Daddy…" she whimpered. She flung her arms around him and then vanished herself, in a spray of ice. He shivered, brushing off the ice. He used his magic to determine where they'd gone. Aurelia had returned home tell her boyfriend what was happening. Vela, crying, had reappeared to bother Poof, the nearest baby shaped object. If the situation weren't so dire, he'd laugh.
"Sorry," he said and forced a smile. "We're not usually so dramatic."
Tootie gaped. "Why don't you…ever tell me these things…" She bolted upright. "I'm supposed to be your goddaughter!"
"If you noticed," he remarked gently, "I kept Vela and Aurelia in the dark too. They reacted well, considering I had anticipated thrown objects and cursing."
"Who's Masha?" she grumbled, probably to change the topic rather than because she actually cared.
"As Aurelia said, she's my girlfriend. I've been dating her for, oh, about five months. Yes, around the time Vela was pregnant with Vorzheva. That sounds about right," he reasoned. "I'm bad with dates."
"Masha is…?"
"A dragon," he finished. "You may meet her, you may not. It all depends on how things go. Speaking of that, I really must speak with your mother."
"She's at work," Tootie said dully. She was staring at him as if she'd never seen him before. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Positive," he replied, attempting a grin. "She's only a human. The worst she could do to me is hit me with a flyswatter."
"That isn't-"
"What you meant, I know," he answered. "I'll see what I can do, Tootie. That's all anyone can ever really ask."
Not wanting to discuss the matter further, particularly in light of his daughter's reactions (he winced at Aurelia's burning the carpet), he went off in search of Tootie's mother.
Trying to ignore the problems loaded on her, Tootie ventured downstairs. There another problem awaited her, one with an evil grin and a pile of garbage. Vicky had dragged five huge garbage bags and piled then dumped them by the living room couch. She had heard Tootie's descent and beamed, in a way that told Tootie it was far too late to hurry back up the stairs. Her stomach clenched.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Vicky called. "I have some garbage for you."
"You are some garbage," Tootie muttered.
"What was that?" she shrieked. She held a switchblade. Tootie gulped.
"Nothing, nothing," she responded, louder.
"I've been thinking," Vicky said. Tootie bit her lip to keep from retorting "that's new". Advancing, tossing the switchblade from hand to hand, she stopped in front of her younger sister. "You love Turner. You spend a lot of time dealing with his garbage. So I thought you and the garbage could get better acquainted."
Tootie did not like where this was going. She dashed to the stairs and Vicky seized her around the middle. The switchblade, its edge tucked in, pressed against her stomach in Vicky's right hand. Tootie trembled, imagining Vicky on fire like Deborvak had conjured the diamond. She sniffed, thinking she smelled burning...
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Vicky demanded and flung her at the garbage bags. "Freak! You're just like Turner with his goldfish. You spend all day talking to that stupid parrot of yours."
Tootie scrambled and the bags slid beneath her. The tops fell away and she landed, face first, into a pile of garbage. Groaning, rolling over, she found herself pressed against the floor. Vicky slammed her foot into Tootie's stomach hard enough to take her breath away, and then, still standing on her sister, grabbed a small trash bin to the couch's right. She emptied its contents on Tootie's face.
"Now you're garbage just like him!" Vicky crooned.
Tootie fought back sobs. Her vision blurred and Vicky smacked her in the face with a putrid banana peel. The older girl cackled, upending another bag. More garbage rained, filling Tootie's nostrils, coating her hair, and landing in her mouth. Gagging, spitting liberally, and wiping her face with hands that were only marginally cleaner, she cried. Vicky laughed, sprinkling wrappers on her head.
"Clean that up!" she ordered. Laughing, she walked out of the room. Tootie sobbed and worked on controlling herself. Deborvak had told her she needed to center herself, and she couldn't do that in this condition. Then again, Deborvak had told her a lot of things, but he wasn't here, was he?
Rising from the mess proved harder than she'd anticipated. For one thing, rotten peels and molding material had no traction and her shoes were greasy. As she struggled to stand, she cursed everything. It wasn't until she realized that she'd spoken aloud that a familiar figure reappeared, cocking his head.
"You've been practicing," he said approvingly. "Though you really have to enunciate that last one. It has to come from the gut."
"You're always taunting me!" she accused. "You never help!"
Deborvak waved his wand and the garbage disappeared. "I was off, right now, to hunt for your mother when you called. That woman is surprisingly hard to find."
"Why don't you just use your 'I'm better than all the faeries in Fairy World' magic to find her?" she spat. He waved his wand again and a clean outfit appeared, a duplicate of her old one. Rather than snap back which she had expected, he looked contemplative.
"My magic doesn't work that way."
"Then what way does it work, other than to make you stuck up?" she countered.
"You're not angry at me, you're angry at the situation," he replied. "As for how it works—I've never actually tracked someone with as little magic as her. I tried using Fairy World's wand to look and I can't. It's like someone is concealing her."
"Juandissimo?" she asked.
"I had a thought," he continued, ignoring her question. "Your many times over grandmother was a fairy, yes?"
"Yeah, so?" she huffed.
"Fairies are immortal."
"What does that have to do with my mom?" she huffed.
"Maybe nothing," he said. "But don't you think it's odd that Jorgen has no idea where your ancestor is? Or even knew about you until Juandissimo reintroduced fairy blood into your family line?"
Tootie was unwilling to follow his train of thought. Scowling, still smelling garbage although Deborvak had cleaned herself and the living room, she plopped onto the now shampooed couch. "No. I don't."
"Don't be difficult," he scolded. "Your, we'll call her your grandmother for the sake of sanity, grandmother has hidden the rest of the family from magical prying. So no one is traceable, except perhaps Vicky."
"Why Vicky?" she inquired.
"The effect vanished with Vicky's generation," he said, shrugging. "Perhaps the blood was so diluted it no longer made a difference. More likely, your grandmother saw Vicky could prove a threat and removed the spell from her in particular."
"Yeah, right," Tootie scoffed.
"She almost killed Cosmo and Wanda out of aggression," Deb reminded her. "It's necessary to be able to track her. Any ancestors similar to her, too, would be cause for suspicion."
"You really think she's still around?" Tootie asked, skeptical.
"It's harder than you think to kill a fairy, particularly one powerful enough to elude the strongest creature in her universe," he said. "Unfortunately, if Jorgen can't find her, chances are good I won't be able to either."
He frowned. "However, she may drop by anyway, now that you're being trained."
"Great, more things that can go wrong," she grumbled. He smiled and hugged her.
"Think of it as more opportunities to meet relatives. Besides, Jorgen is only as powerful as he is because he wields Fairy World's whole power. He can track people by their connection to it. If your grandmother has gone off the grid…"
"Are you going to wait for my mom to get home?" she interrupted.
"I don't see that I have much choice," he confessed. "I can, however, make Vicky's life miserable in the interim."
"I wish you would," she grumbled. He hugged her, bowed, and disappeared. Sighing, she headed back upstairs and locked the door. Homework would be a welcome distraction. Compared to everything else in her life, it was positively mundane.
Magdalene was small and unnoticeable. Using Dimmsdale's ley lines had permanently dyed her hair whitish purple—white with a touch of purple. Unable to change her clothes the 'normal' way, she had settled for bartering with the Unseelie Court to receive what she needed. The Seelie Court, naturally, had dissolved into Fairy World's realm. For that alone, she almost wished she could go back.
She had discarded her crown long ago and while she retained her wand, it was a useless keepsake. Using it would alert Jorgen and she had no desire to meet that meddlesome fairy ever again. True, he had declared her sentence would only last a hundred years and she'd been in exile for nearly six hundred, so she could go home, perhaps. However, she doubted he'd keep his promise.
Although Nathaniel had died centuries ago, she had never stopped mourning him. Jorgen had taken away everything else from that marriage, what time had not stolen. Her beloved children lived in an area she could never reach and she was adrift, anchoring herself to her descendants to keep her sanity.
She stayed away from fairy godparents and anyone that could potentially recognize her. A powerful spell kept others from seeking her descendants, as well as her, out and it had worked for centuries. That was, it had worked until Juandissimo had managed to locate the one descendant with any real magical power. She still didn't know how he'd done it—lucky guess, she supposed.
Now she had Tootie to consider. Fairy World had appointed her a godfather/trainer, but he didn't concern her. Tootie represented the half fairy daughter Jorgen had seized and locked away from her. Through Tootie, she could reclaim at least one thing denied her.
Invisible, she stared through the window. Tootie was figuring out mathematical equations and scowling at the textbook. When she'd met Nathaniel, women could barely hope to learn to read and write, let alone attend school. Magdalene smiled, pressing her hand against class. Not now, not yet, but the time would come.
Perhaps she need not introduce herself at all. With her fairy godfather apparently occupied, she wouldn't have to worry about the girl's protection. Jorgen might be tracking her, but she doubted it. If he was, once she fell under Magdalene's spell, he would no longer be able to find him.
Yes, she liked that idea. Tootie would be untraceable and finally, Jorgen would lose.
A purple haired girl appeared in Tootie's room and pointed at the textbook. Like Tootie's godfather, she had a hint of otherworldliness about her. Magdalene sneered—also like Tootie's godfather, she appeared to be a mutt. She turned from the window and started thinking. As long as her godfather and his relatives appeared around Tootie, she would be shielded. They couldn't stay forever, however. And once they left…