Author's Note: Redid Chloe's backstory and then had to edit A Badly Broken Code accordingly. It should be up to date now. Also, I think ABBC might lean heavily toward Timmy/Chloe now based on how she got her fairies. And yes, Tootie will remain ignorant of the reason why for three years.
It does kind of make her look like a bitch for picking on Chloe, though.
Chapter Sixteen: Disintegration
"Who is he and how does he know who you are?" Tootie demanded once they were ensconced in her room again. She was pacing and had wished the room soundproof because her voice kept rising. Deborvak watched her impassively. Magdalene, still disguised as a dog, kept pace with her.
She rounded on Deborvak, who hadn't returned with her instantly. She put her hands on her hips and stared at him. Unperturbed, the half-fairy stared back. Tootie threw her hands up in the air and growled, resuming her pacing. Magdalene ceased following her and climbed onto Tootie's bed, where she curled into a ball and looked despondent.
"Well?" she snapped at both fairies. "Got any ideas?"
"Two days ago, an Unseelie tried to force a human into doing his bidding," Deborvak said. "A week before that, or so because my memory is somewhat foggy on this, an evil sorceress knocked me out and vowed to kill my daughters. We're not having a good month."
Tootie let out an aggravated sigh and then relented. He was right. They'd been through hell. It wasn't fair for her to jump on them. Still, what was up with Magdalene? Why was she looking like someone had just canceled Christmas?
"He knows who I am," Magdalene said dully. "He must be a fairy."
Deborvak glanced at her but gave her space. She sighed.
"And if he's a fairy, then he's here to keep an eye on me like Jorgen requested," she said. "It's the only answer. Jorgen doesn't trust me as far as he can throw a dragon. He's keeping me on a tight leash and hoping I'll slip up."
"Haven't you been punished long enough?" Tootie protested. "Your exile was only supposed to last one hundred years, not eight hundred!"
"He doesn't want me around children. He doesn't trust me. I never should have requested godparenting you. I was better off in exile," she said. She placed her head between her paws and closed her eyes. Tootie grimaced, stroking Magdalene's head. Magdalene started and Tootie blinked.
"What?" Tootie said.
"I'm a little affection-starved," Magdalene admitted, sheepish. "I went eight hundred years without being touched except by accident. It does things to you."
Tootie sat on the bed and drew Magdalene's head into her lap. Magdalene shivered and looked like she might burst into tears. Deborvak joined them and stroked her body; her tail wagged and he smiled. Petting her was oddly calming or maybe it was just that Tootie felt so awful for her. How could Jorgen have done this to her? Why would he make things worse? Give her hope and then take it away?
Magdalene sighed and then howled, a deep mournful sound that brought Tootie to tears. Deborvak looked uncomfortable too.
She'd never thought Jorgen fair, but this was cruel and unusual punishment. Surely Magdalene had suffered enough by extending her exile and losing her true love. He didn't need to continue to punish her, did he? Was what she'd done that terrible? But Cupid himself had sanctified it…
"I can't wish away another fairy, right?" Tootie said and Deborvak shook his head. She huffed. There had to be something else she could do. She couldn't stand seeing Magdalene so depressed. Magdalene had stood up for her and shown she cared for her; plus, her heart went out to her for what had happened with Nathaniel. She'd gone through so much and still wasn't safe.
It wasn't fair, either, that he'd recognized her and she hadn't recognized him. Surely Magdalene knew most of the fairies in Fairy World. There weren't any new ones, save for Foop and Poof. And the half-fairies didn't reside with the main population. Perhaps she should have let her teacher explain himself, but she'd been too freaked out over what had happened earlier.
Was it safe to bring Magdalene to school with her? If she didn't, would her teacher find another way to stalk her? Had that been why he'd wanted to speak with her before lunch? Tootie undid her pigtails and then redid them; she was agitated. The more she tried to calm down, the worse it got.
Trying to think of something to distract herself, she left her room and glanced at Vicky's door. It was locked, as per her usual. What was unusual, however, was she thought she heard crying from the other side. Tootie crept closer, pressing her ear against the door. It swung open abruptly and Vicky, eyes red, punched her in the face and turned on music up high.
That…was weird. Why was her sister crying? Jorgen had erased her memories of trying to rape Timmy. Had he also erased the memories of the Unseelie attacking her? Or was that still there? Why else would she be crying? Did she have another crush on someone who would never reciprocate?
Tootie rubbed her face, which was sore from where Vicky had hit her. She really needed to learn not to show any compassion toward her. It wasn't like Vicky ever reciprocated. (On the plus side, she was glad to know Magdalene had repudiated Vicky and accepted Tootie).
Magdalene and Deborvak were waiting back in her room and she locked the door behind her.
"Did you get any info on that guy earlier?" Tootie asked.
"Only that someone else has recognized him and Jorgen has put much so much glamour on him that it's impossible to figure out who he's supposed to be," he said, shaking his head.
"Why would Jorgen layer someone with that much glamour?" Magdalene mused. "Why doesn't he want me to recognize him?"
"Maybe he thinks he can be anonymous this way?" Deborvak suggested.
"What does it matter who he is, though?" Magdalene persisted. "It's not like he'd regard me favorably. It took this long for Cosmo and Wanda not to shoot me accusing glares and I was friends with them."
"If, as you say, it doesn't matter who he is, then why conceal his identity?" Deborvak said.
"Why indeed…" Magdalene said darkly.
Tootie frowned. "Um, well, look on the bright side. There's no more drama with Timmy."
Deborvak held up his wand and healed Tootie of the bruise Vicky had left. He frowned and then, slowly, nodded.
"Yeah, now we just have a whole new problem on our plate," he said, shaking his head. "Somehow, that doesn't make me feel much better."
"It's not your problem," Magdalene said, shaking her head too. "It's mine."
"Don't be ridiculous," he said and wrapped an arm around her. She'd shifted back to fairy form. "It's our problem. We're a team. And besides, you're sticking with us, so we have to share it."
Magdalene scowled, but she nodded. Tootie sighed, wondering if she ought to get back to her homework. It'd been piling up and she'd been so distracted by real life that school had taken a backseat. She didn't fancy receiving one of Crocker's fancy Super Fs, complete with their own little capes.
Glancing at her laptop, she opened it up and then grabbed her backpack. She might as well start her homework, since it was due tomorrow. Seeing her teacher ought to have jogged her memory. Ugh, why was everything always a mess here? At least this problem seemed relatively simple compared to what they'd gone through before. And Deborvak hadn't told her that she needed to pass some stupid test again.
What did normal fairies do to pass tests? They went to the Fairy Academy, right? She thought she remembered Wanda saying something about that. She guessed she wasn't allowed inside there, for fear she'd "contaminate" the others or something stupid. She didn't even know what another half-fairy from Fairy World was like. It wasn't like Jorgen had sanctioned her to visit Fairy World and check them out.
She drooped and scowled at herself. She needed to focus on her human half and do her homework. Whatever else awaited her could take a backseat.
Chloe Carmichael had already finished her homework and was looking something up on her computer Sunday afternoon. She was awaiting her parents' Skype call—they were off in the jungle rescuing the flightless booby and had left her alone because she was mature enough to handle herself. (This might or might not constitute child neglect, but Chloe thought she could take care of herself. She was, after all, mature for her age).
They were supposed to call at seven to check in. Chloe had prepared herself tofu casserole and settled in to wait. It was ten minutes to seven now. She looked to see whether any of her classmates had added her on Skype (they hadn't) and whether Timmy Turner might have, by any stretch of the imagination, appeared online. He'd agreed to take down her info, but that might've been more because he wanted her away from him than anything altruistic.
She sighed. They'd just moved to Dimmsdale and no one wanted to be her friend. She'd done everything she could think of to make people like her. Offering to do their homework, however, was where she'd draw the line because people had taken advantage of her in the past over it. Wasn't she attentive enough? Wasn't she caring enough? Generous enough? She didn't know. She thought she was a good person and other people acknowledged that. If that was the case, then why was she so alone?
Right on time, her parents materialized onscreen. They appeared to be deep in the Amazons and Chloe couldn't immediately peg their location. Both of her parents looked disheveled and were out of breath like they'd spent the day running from something. It must've been something very fast, too, because they were fit and ate healthy.
Trees surrounded her parents and they appeared to be in a clearing with bushes in front and behind them. Her mother had put the laptop on a stump.
"Chloe, darling, we won't be on for very long," her mother gushed.
"We're on the run from a huge predator, but don't worry, sweetie," her father said. "We'll be home for dinner tomorrow!"
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, anxious. She glanced at her Skype contact list again and Timmy popped up. As soon as she clicked open his window, he went on away. She fought a groan.
Something moved in the corner of the camera and Chloe had a glimpse of huge, hairy legs. The thing was easily ten feet tall and her heart dropped into her stomach. Venomous fangs clicked and oozed poison.
Her heart thudded. It wasn't the first time her parents had faced down danger in the jungle, but they appeared defenseless. Maybe it'd been too much to carry a weapon and flee. She almost wished they'd waited to call her so that she'd know they'd be safe. Oh…she was so anxious she didn't know what to do with herself.
"Mom! Dad!" she cried. "Behind you!"
Her parents whirled as if in slow motion. Her mother picked up the laptop and ran, with her father fighting off the giant spider to buy her time. Her footsteps pounded on the earthen floor and Chloe glimpsed trees and branches flying. However, she could still see her father in the far corner of the webcam. Her father punched the spider to no effect and she could've sworn the spider yawned at him before moving, lightning fast, to strike him with its mandibles. A quick swipe and his arm turned purple, the poison working fast. Chloe's head spun.
"Dad!" she cried. His head jerked and her mother halted, dropping the laptop. It didn't break but landed at an odd angle on the ground. It was lopsided, from what Chloe could tell.
"Not my husband!" Chloe's mother snapped and produced a scythe, which she wielded ferociously. From where she wasn't sure, but then again, they appeared to still be carrying their backpacks. Chloe had to crane to see what was going on. Her heart pounded and she gripped her mouse hard enough for it to creak.
The spider picked her father up like he weighed nothing and Chloe's mother responded by stabbing it in the abdomen. Thousands of tiny spiders flew out and she heard a horrifying scream.
She couldn't see what was going on from this angle, beyond her mother's feet deftly moving back and forth. The spider swung down low as if it knew it had an audience, and her mother caught it in the eye. In response, the spider paused, snatched her father into its mouth, and then bit down. For one horrible minute, there was blood, screaming, and other fluids Chloe would sooner not identify. All three of them were screaming, the cries echoing in her mind. She was shaking now, biting the inside of her cheek. She could taste blood.
Then, abruptly, one scream faded out. Her father fell to pieces to the forest floor.
He'd been divided along his waist so that everything above his waist had landed a few feet away from the rest of him. Blood soaked the earth and Chloe screamed, unable to get the image of her father bisected out of her mind. It felt like it was permanently burned into her retinas. She almost expected her father to recover, pull himself together, and fight again. But his eyes were staring sightlessly ahead, his mouth stuck in a rictus of agony.
The spider died a minute afterward, but it was too late. Her mother was sobbing, flinging herself down onto her husband's body, and that was enough for her.
Chloe shut the laptop and threw up. She was shaking so badly now that she'd bitten her lip and she managed to put the laptop down on the desk. Crawling toward her bed, she climbed up and then flung herself down. Then great, wrenching sobs consumed her and she curled into a ball. She moved over to the side of her bed to throw up again, and then dry heave until there was nothing left in her system.
Feeling weak as a newborn kitten, she clung to the bed. Her head spun and, try as she might, she couldn't chase away the last few minutes. Her mouth tasted awful, but she didn't have the strength to move to her bathroom to clean it out. She was shaking badly and hyperventilating, curling back into a ball so that she could hug herself. There was no one else to comfort her, after all. She had no friends, not even an acquaintance. She could call Timmy Turner, she supposed, but he probably wouldn't answer.
She remained in a ball, unable to move or even contemplate it, until the next morning.
The next morning, she woke up with her alarm clock, shut it off, and returned to her ball. She wasn't going to school. It'd ruin her perfect attendance record, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered. Her father had been murdered in front of her. Yes, it'd been over Skype, but that made it no less traumatizing. She didn't know what to do. She did nothing.
The hours passed and still, she remained there. She hadn't showered, flossed, or brushed her teeth. She hadn't changed out of her nightgown. She also hadn't eaten and her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. She wasn't hungry, despite what her body was telling her. She didn't think she'd ever be hungry again.
There were numerous appointments she'd missed and voicemails on her phone that she ignored. Hell, even Crocker had left a voicemail asking where she was. She stared, numb, at her phone. Her legs and arms ached from holding the same position for so long. She'd been locked in the fetal position since last night.
"Chloe Carmichael," a deep, masculine voice intoned. She started, wondering how someone had gotten into her bedroom. Reluctantly, she lifted her head to discover a musclebound man with a crown above his head staring at her. His head touched the ceiling and he carried a giant wand. Chloe stared, uncomprehending.
"Er…" he seemed at a loss. This probably wasn't the typical reaction. Her head pounded from crying so hard and she was dehydrated from vomiting and from crying.
"Do you need a minute?" he asked.
Disbelieving, too stunned to react, she gawked. He frowned, sitting on the bed beside her. "This isn't how things normally go. Usually, I tell you that you have fairy godparents, you get all excited, you make wishes, and then I explain the circumstances. But…you seem to be another special case."
He shook his head. "First Tootie and now you. And I haven't even told Timmy Turner what's going on yet. This wasn't supposed to happen."
His words made no sense. They washed over her and she shut her eyes. If she closed her eyes hard enough and pretended, maybe this would all be a horrible nightmare.
"I am not going anywhere. My name is Jorgen Von Strangle and I am the boss of Fairy World, as well as the enforcer of Da Rules. My job is to assign fairies to godchildren who are in need. You are about to receive your own fairy godparents!"
Chloe said nothing.
"This is the part where you cheer," he informed her. She remained mute. She wanted to vomit again, but there was nothing in her system. Her phone was ringing and it was her mother calling. Right now, she didn't have the strength to answer it. That call went to voicemail too.
"They're not technically all yours. We are having a shortage in Fairy World and you have to share your godparents with Turner," he continued, undaunted by her lack of response. "And, here they are now—Cosmo and Wanda!"
Lights flashed from behind her eyelids.
"I'm Cosmo!"
"And I'm Wanda!"
"And we're…your fairy godparents!"
She heard something pop and her breath hitched on a sob. Her eyes were forced open and she saw a pink haired fairy and a green haired fairy staring at her.
"Poor dear, I think she's in shock," the pink fairy said. Chloe figured her name was probably 'Wanda'.
"It's not every day you get fairy godparents!" Cosmo replied.
"That's not what I meant," Wanda remarked. She swooped down to the bed and gathered Chloe into her arms. "It's okay, hon. We're here for you."
Cosmo waved his wand and Chloe's regular clothes popped onto her body. Wanda shifted to move away and Chloe clung to her. She was shaking again and biting back a cry of despair. While she doubted she could produce enough water for tears, she was suddenly, within the numbness that had descended upon her, terrified these two might desert her.
"Cosmo! Wanda!" Timmy's voice echoed and they sighed.
"We will be back soon," Jorgen informed her and then all three vanished, leaving Chloe bereft. She didn't have the energy to move, although she resented Timmy a little for taking them back. Didn't her need exceed his right now?
"Where have you been?" Timmy demanded. "And…why do you guys look like someone just ran over a puppy?"
"Sport, we have some bad news," Wanda said.
"Does it involve Jorgen for some reason?" he asked, staring at Fairy World's head. "Because I'm kinda confused."
While he hadn't had an unusual day at school, just the normal problems, he'd been looking forward to playing around with his godparents today after school. Then he'd come home to discover them missing. And now they were here with Jorgen? What gives?
"There is a fairy shortage in Fairy World," Jorgen began. "Too many children and not enough fairy godparents to go around. That is why Tootie's godfather is not from Fairy World."
"I know," Timmy groused. "I don't care. What does this have to do with Cosmo and Wanda?"
"To help accommodate Fairy World's problem…and because this is an emergency…" Jorgen said, "children must begin sharing their fairies with other children."
"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. I'm not sharing my fairies," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "And even if I was, who am I supposed to be sharing them with? There's no one here that's miserable enough for fairies."
"That is where you are wrong, puny Timmy Turner," he said and then sighed. "I'm afraid that because of the direness of the situation, and because of its suddenness, we did not have time to make the matter clearer or prepare you for it."
"Enough with the suspense," he snapped. "Who am I sharing or not sharing my fairies with?"
"Chloe Carmichael."
"What? Since when does she merit fairies?" he scoffed. "She's all happy and chipper and everyone loves her and she gets the best grades and she's such a pain in the butt."
"I am not supposed to tell you this because it is classified information, but there is a reason we had to skip her to the top of the line and not wait for an available fairy," Jorgen said.
"And that reason is? She wasn't in school today—probably too busy receiving a medal for her bravery in rescuing a cat from a tree," he scoffed.
"Her father was killed last night," Jorgen said.
The words fell like lead balloons into the room. Timmy's jaw dropped. For once, he had no sarcastic reply. He was stunned. He knew no one whose parent had died recently and the words he scrambled for felt inadequate.
"I…I'm sorry," he said, the stirrings of guilt nudging him.
"She was on Skype with him at the time. That is why she has been assigned Cosmo and Wanda. You will be a good godbrother to her, Timmy Turner, or I will take Cosmo and Wanda away from you," he warned.
"She watched her father getting murdered?" Timmy gasped.
"Yes," Jorgen said gravely.
"Guys, I wish we were at Chloe's house!" he said and when Cosmo and Wanda held up their wands, they reappeared in Chloe's bedroom. Jorgen was gone, having delivered the news and his ultimatum. Timmy didn't think he'd ever be nasty to Chloe, not under these circumstances. It'd take someone truly heartless to give her a hard time after this.
"So, uh, hey," he said. He sat beside her on the bed. "Are you okay? Wait, no, dumb question. Did you wanna talk?"
Chloe stared at him like a deer in the headlights.
"It may take her a while to recover from this," Wanda said. "She may not speak for a few days."
"We don't know," Cosmo added. "We've never had a godchild like this before."
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, feeling impotent. He'd brushed her off a few days ago, and felt like shit for it now. Plus, he'd gotten on Skype and then placed himself on 'away' when he'd seen her online. Maybe that'd been when her father had been attacked. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. He'd dropped the ball on this one.
Chloe shook her head. He wasn't sure the words had penetrated. Her eyes were glassy and her expression dull.
"Maybe I should go?" he asked, looking at Cosmo and Wanda for cues. They shrugged, just as lost as he was. Wanda landed on the bed and drew Chloe into her arms. She whispered something in the girl's ear and Chloe said nothing, just shifted closer to her. Timmy felt almost like he was intruding.
"Uh, your phone is ringing."
It was shaking on the bedside table and Timmy answered it.
"Hello, Timmy Turner speaking. This is Chloe Carmichael's phone."
He supposed answering her phone was the least he could do for her because she seemed to be in a state of extreme shock. Cosmo had joined the embrace and they were rocking her back and forth. Timmy's throat was tight. He almost felt like he ought to be a part of that and show his support for her.
"Um…well…she's not really speaking right now…who's calling? Oh. You're her mom."
Chloe froze and then, silently, stretched out her arm for the cell. Timmy handed it over with misgivings. The fairies still held her tightly, as though she might break otherwise. Maybe she would. Maybe she'd shatter into pieces. He didn't know. It surprised him how badly he felt for her. Yes, he'd felt bad for Tootie in the past, but this was way worse.
"Okay," Chloe said after a minute. Her voice was ragged and hoarse. "Okay. I'll see you in a week, then."
"What the fuck?" Timmy snapped, forgetting himself. "Who abandons their daughter when she needs them most?"
"Mom has to sort out some things with the government and arrange for my father's funeral," Chloe said in a monotone. "It'll take a week. She doesn't want to leave me alone, but she has no choice. I'll be okay."
"No, you won't," he objected.
"We're not going anywhere," Cosmo and Wanda said. They stroked her cheeks and Wanda kissed her forehead.
"If they're not, then neither am I," he vowed.
"But, Timmy, what about your parents?" Wanda pointed out.
"I wish for a Timmy-bot!" he said. They raised their wands and, with that settled, they all snuggled Chloe on the bed. She seemed like she was struggling not to cry again. She pressed her face against Timmy's neck and clung to him, as well as to her godparents.
"Thanks," she said. "I owe you."
"Don't mention it," he said and then frowned. "Literally, don't mention it. Or tell anyone else that you have Cosmo and Wanda, or they'll have to go away forever."
Chloe winced. He was guessing that they were the only thing keeping her sane right now. After a moment, she nodded and closed her eyes.
"And hey, what are godbrothers for?" he asked. He could be generous. It wouldn't kill him. Besides…she needed Cosmo and Wanda far more than he did right now. How bad was his life compared to hers? At least she wasn't judging him.
"But, uh, if you're looking to pay me back, letting me copy your homework might be a good first step," he said.
Though she didn't laugh, her lips twitched toward a very small smile. "I'd normally reprimand you for copying someone's homework, but…I'll let it slide this time."
"And maybe my grades will stop their downward slide."
"You're really not going to go anywhere?" she asked urgently.
"Nope," he said. "You're stuck with us."
"Until death do us part," Cosmo said. "Wait, that sounds familiar."
"Those are wedding vows, you idiot," Wanda said, but there was no scorn in her voice. "And maybe the wrong words right now."
"Oh…right. I'm sorry."
"I don't know if I'm still dreaming, but…if I am…I'm glad you're here," she whispered. "I just wish I could wake up and everything would be back to normal."
"We can't grant those kind of wishes, sweetie," Wanda said.
"I figured…" Chloe whispered. "But it was worth a shot."
Tootie was wary when she stepped into class the next day. Chloe was back, much to her displeasure, and, to her severe irritation, Timmy was sticking close to her. On guard, Tootie clutched Magdalene, Deborvak, and Masha to her chest. They had disguised themselves as textbooks and notebooks. Magdalene, on top, craned to see her teacher, Mr. Schade. When she settled in her seat, Tootie fixed her teacher a suspicious look. She wasn't going to let him get away with bullying her, because heaven knew she had enough of that at home. (Plus, it was bad enough to see that Chloe was sitting beside Timmy and they seemed more attached now for some unfathomable reason).
"Good to see you're feeling better, Chloe," Mr. Schade said. Chloe nodded and thanked him for his concern. If her voice quivered, she didn't show the weakness. Tootie huffed and placed her fairies on the desk.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow your notes, Tootie," Mr. Schade said and, before she had a chance to object, he'd seized Magdalene. She jumped to her feet.
"What's wrong with my notes?" she demanded. She couldn't make a scene about what had happened yesterday without drawing unwanted attention to herself, but she could object to his sudden confiscation.
"They appear to have a face on them," he remarked. Timmy, Tootie, and Chloe blanched. Chloe? Tootie shot her a shrewd look which the blonde girl ignored.
"I got bored and doodled it," she said. "Sorry. Can I have it back now?"
"In a minute," he said. "I'll be right back."
There was only so much she could argue with him without it being construed as rude. Reluctantly, she sat back down and watched him disappear with Magdalene. Uneasy now, she glanced back at Timmy and Chloe.
"What's up with you two? Why are you buddy-buddy all of a sudden?" she asked, scowling.
"Something came up," Timmy said. He seemed to be daring her to contradict him. Jealousy swarmed and settled, hot and prickly, in her chest. Chloe had barely been here a week and already she was muscling in on Timmy? It wasn't fair, damn it. Why was it everyone else got a shot at him but her? Chloe was prettier. Chloe was smarter. She'd already captured his attention. Yet again, Tootie went unnoticed.
"And you expect me to believe that?" she snapped. "That you decided out of nowhere to become besties?"
"It's complicated," he replied. Behind them, the other students had broken into chatter as well. Tootie heard Chester bragging about some big boss he'd beaten the other day and A.J. adding commentary while Sanjay and Elmer cheered. Trixie Tang was holding court in the back of the room with Veronica, Tad, and Chad. Tootie felt like such an outcast.
"Explain it to me," she said coldly.
Timmy exchanged a glance with Chloe as if he were asking her permission to tell Tootie. Tootie exploded.
"Fine, don't tell me," she snarled. "I don't need to know. I only saved your ass last week. This is how you repay me? By shacking up with the new girl? Whatever."
"I told you," Timmy snapped, reddening, but whether in anger or embarrassment, she didn't know. "Something came up. Chloe needs a friend right now."
"Of course she does," Tootie growled. "Because Miss Perfect needs to win the world over. Now she's got you under her sway too. You wouldn't have even given her a second glance yesterday."
"For God's sake, her father— "
But that was as far as Timmy got. Mr. Schade re-entered the room and looked pale. He placed Magdalene back on Tootie's desk and started the lecture. As the bell hadn't rung yet, the students exchanged confused glances. Tootie was still bristling. Chloe's father what? Had decided to adopt Timmy? Her parents were probably more awesome than his and better than Tootie's.
She vowed she was going to loathe that girl forever. She was never going to give her an inch. And if Chloe didn't like it, she could stick it where the sun didn't shine. She hated Chloe Carmichael and she didn't care who knew it.
Deborvak decided it was time for him to do some sleuthing. Therefore, when Chloe excused herself to go to the bathroom, he popped up on her while she was washing her hands. She yelped, jumping back, and he smiled, chagrined.
"Sorry, but I thought this was the best place to get some privacy," he apologized. "What's going on? You weren't absent yesterday for no reason. And you didn't have Cosmo and Wanda around you two days ago, either."
"You noticed that, huh?" she said quietly. Naturally, he had. He wouldn't have approached her otherwise. She seemed subdued, not her usual chipper, effervescent self. Misery clung to her, which Tootie had either not noticed or ignored. It saturated her aura and, to Deborvak's Spirit senses, acute to mood changes, it was amplified. He could taste her anguish in the back of his throat.
"You okay?" he said. "Don't worry. I won't tell Tootie anything you say. You have my word."
"Who are you?" she asked. Deborvak held up his wand to barricade the door in case anyone wandered in.
"My name's Deborvak. You can call me 'Deb' if we ever have another occasion to talk," he said. He held out his hand and she shook it. "So, clearly, something changed from Monday to today. Would I be prying if I asked what that was?"
Chloe hugged herself and Deborvak knew he could peek at without her permission, but he didn't want to hurt her. Utah had not taught him any methods of gleaning mental information without harming someone and Chloe was in enough pain as it was. If Tootie hadn't been hell bent on hating the poor girl, she might have noticed a kindred spirit.
"I would be," he said softly. "I'm sorry. Whatever's going on, hang in there. Cosmo and Wanda are good fairies and Timmy can be halfway decent when he wants to be. You're in good company."
Chloe swallowed hard and shook her head. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and his heart went out to her. He hugged her and she, after a second or two of misgiving, hugged him back. This close, her agony was almost overwhelming. She seemed close to sobbing and the only thing he could think of, the only thing that might help, would be to take her pain away. He could Numb her. He wasn't sure how Cosmo and Wanda would feel about him doing that, though. She belonged to them, not him. It might be interfering.
There was another way. He could siphon some of it off and take it in himself. It wasn't a perfect solution and it would hurt more than Numbing, but it'd be less noticeable. Cosmo and Wanda were less likely to get on his case. Plus, it might permit Chloe to make it through the school day without bursting into tears and hiding somewhere.
Closing his eyes, he located the dark blue waves roiling in her mind and drew it to himself. He hated being near miserable people because his Spirit inheritance could feed off it and drain people. Utah loved it—she relished amplifying others' misery and thrived off unhappiness. For Deborvak, it would just make him morose. It would be worth it, though, for this poor kid.
When he released her, the tears had vanished and while he couldn't describe her as happy, she looked significantly less prone to breaking to pieces.
"I don't know what you did, but thank you," she whispered. He held up his wand and she walked out of the bathroom. Once she was gone, he slumped to the floor. Shit. His head was spinning and he felt like bawling. Judging from Timmy's blurted confession and Chloe's state, he figured something had happened to her father. Either he was gravely injured or he was dead. Deb would bank on the latter, but he wasn't going to tell Tootie that. This was Chloe's cross to bear, not his.
It did explain a lot, though. Timmy was sticking close to Chloe both because he shared godparents with her now and because Chloe couldn't be trusted by herself.
With that mystery solved, it brought up the remaining problem. What was up with the teacher and Magdalene? Why had Mr. Schade, who was oozing faerie glamour, captured Magdalene and then returned so morose?
This bore investigating too. He popped up on Mr. Schade while he was eating lunch by himself in the classroom. Since he knew the man could detect fairies and had magic, he could risk exposing himself.
"Seems kinda lonely, don't you think?" Deborvak commented, appearing in his elfin form in front of the desk. "Why don't you eat with the other teachers? Crocker, I can understand. No one wants to eat with Crocker. But they can't all be horrible human beings."
"You want to know why I took the notebook?" he replied.
"Give me more credit than that," he scoffed. Chloe's misery pounded at him. His chest was tight and heavy. He fought the urge to rub it. What he should've done was to go to ground and bury the pain in the earth. Unfortunately, her anguish was so powerful it might knock out a few trees and injure some animals. Poor kid.
"I'm not glamoured because I want to be," he said.
"Nobody's anything today because they want to be," he replied. That wasn't true. In the grand scheme of things, he was miserable precisely because he'd chosen to be.
"I tried ripping the glamour off, but it won't go. No matter what I did, I couldn't make Magdalene see me for who I am."
"And you'd want to do that why?"
"Because I'm not Mr. Schade. I'm Nathaniel Bernhardt."
The pronouncement met with less fanfare than the man might've expected. Deborvak stared at him uncomprehendingly. The name ought to ring a bell, but he couldn't recall it.
"I'm Magdalene's former godson, the one she went into exile over?" he continued. "The one she thinks is dead?"
"Ah. And Jorgen put the glamour on you so Magdalene wouldn't recognize you."
"He wants her to figure out who I am without visual clues, but the Bond isn't cooperating," he said and buried his face in his hands. "Magdalene thinks I'm an investigator out to punish her further for her transgressions. She won't trust me."
"Humor me. Why are you here, if it's not for that?" He propped himself up on Nathaniel's desk. Now that he knew who he was dealing with, he felt better. Not much, mind you, but a little. He rubbed his chest.
"Jorgen is letting us reunite, but only if she can figure out who I am without assistance. Without my telling her. Or, apparently, you, because I doubt you'll be able to stammer out who you are either. There's a spell over my identity."
Deborvak shook his head. He was tempted to say Jorgen was a rat bastard, but the truth was, he was conflicted about him now. Yes, he did cruel and unnecessary things, but he'd also offered Deborvak's family sanctuary in Fairy World and separated him from an abusive relationship. He owed Jorgen a debt of gratitude.
"Anything else I can do to help you?"
"Just…just tell her I'm not a threat, okay?" he said. "Man, this is harder than I thought it would be. You can't exactly woo an inanimate object."
"People do," he teased, but his heart wasn't in it. "But it's generally frowned on in polite society."
"Put in a good word for me, okay?" he pleaded.
"Can do," he said. "Buck up, Nathan. At least you're near her again, right? That's more than you've had. Also, might I say you're remarkably well preserved for being what? Over eight hundred years old?"
"I'm fairy now," he muttered. "That's why."
"And Jorgen took exception to it and your relationship and…ah, I see. Okay. I'll do what I can, but I can't promise any miracles."
"Thanks," he said. He frowned. "By any chance, did you talk to Chloe?"
"Worried about her too? I won't tell you anything, but just be nice to her. She's going through a rough time right now."
"I could ask Cosmo and Wanda, but they'd probably jump out of their skins," he said, shaking his head. "Just like Tootie did."
"Hey, man, everyone needs a good shake-up occasionally. But, uh, considering the circumstances, no, I wouldn't recommend it."
"You'd better go off to Tootie," he said.
"Yeah, before she blows a gasket at Chloe," he said and scoffed. "I understand why she's bugging, but she might want to let this go. Fat chance of that, though."
He shook his head too. Well, he might as well see what he could work with.