To influence one as powerful as a Councilor was truly something to be celebrated. Lady Bane was no fool. The Gummadoon Councilors did not achieve such a rank by being vulnerable to suggestion yet she had done it. If anything, it had been surprisingly simple. Emotions truly were the Achilles' Heel for these gummies. Anger, fear, sadness…all so easy to tap into and utilize. Had she been less aware, she would have pursued the Councilor further but no. No, she could not give away her position so easily. She had a vital player in her hands, this dead gummi.

Well, perhaps a better term was a meat puppet because the body was hardly dead. It simply possessed no soul, save what she desired! Oh, yes, once she found the proper opportunity to introduce it, she would break them, break them all!

"You will squander your best chance."

Freezing in her victory pace, Lady Bane felt an emotion she did not feel very often.

Fear

She had heard the voice before, when she was in the bath, and later as she ventured down her halls. However, there was a distinct difference. There, it had been confined to her mind, a simple telepathic communication, though not of her own desire. It had echoed through her mind, like an unwanted song but it had been contained. It had been isolated to her and oddly enough, that had given her a sense of security. After all, telepathic powers were fairly easy to do, if one knew magic as this one did. But as she glanced around, she saw her troggles looking back and forth and the ears of her gummi puppet had moved in reaction to sound waves.

The voice was very clearly spoken aloud. Yet there existed no source, nothing from which that sound could have emitted from. Yet, all the same, it was there, in all its ice cold glory.

The same horrendous cold and heartless tone that could freeze grown men in their tracks and send them running back to their own kingdoms, out of fear of their own lives.

The same merciless tone that had laughed as it crushed too many lives under its foot, more than even Lady Bane cared to recall. Rushing from the room, Lady Bane let the door slam behind her even as her troggles covered their ears at the bone chilling laugh that echoed through the room.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Tavi's Room

"So…that's what you know right now?" Martinni spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, like speaking any louder would send the cruel gummi plowing through the closet doors. Tavi nodded, her golden streaks alight a bit in the darkness of the room. She had turned on her lamp a while ago but she did not dare turn it too high, lest her aunt or someone else come to investigate the light. It certainly did not help the overall spooked mood of all involved. They had caught their new allies up to date with what they had learned, though in abridged form.

Corvi could not have reread those passages if he had wanted to. Besides that fact, they would not have asked him to. It was hard enough hearing it once and for Flynn, Toni and Martinni, it was bad enough hearing it second hand. Corvi took a shaky breath and when he spoke; his voice crackled some, something that had been happening more and more. He was not about to cry in front of the younger boys though (although this type of swaying of his voice did not feel like the usual emotion-ridden choke). Taking a breath to steady his voice, he replied, "It isn't much but at least we know what we're dealing with, more or less."

Toni frowned, "Yeah, a complete crazy—"

Corvi eyed him and Toni stuck out his tongue "Well, what would YOU call her?"

Without a response, Corvi replied "That isn't the point. The point is we nee-"

Martinni interrupted "Corvi? Are you okay?"

Jerking his head up to look at the closest cub to his own age (only about two and half years younger) Corvi appeared taken aback for a brief moment, "Well as I can be, why?"

Flynn eyeballed him, curiously "You just sound like you're gonna cry. Was it that disturbing? What you read I mean…"

Corvi blinked. Yes, it was disturbing and scary and horrible but he didn't feel like crying. He felt like burying his face, maybe throwing up again but not crying. Yet as he looked around the room, they were all giving him similar looks. Geez, did he sound that bad? First his two brothers and now all of them! He did NOT need everyone bringing his scratchy throat to his attention. He was well aware of it. Last thing he needed now was all of them staring. Well, all but Cubbi and Tavi. They looked guilty, like this was their fault.

Cursing whatever allergen was currently affecting his voice, Corvi tried to divert attention back to the issue at hand, "Look, we've gone through the trial, painstakingly. If you guys are willing, there is a little left. I am willing to translate it but just once. Clear?"

The group of cubs nodded feverishly, all of them suddenly feeling heavy and frightened. There was no storm outside but there might as well have been. The very atmosphere seemed to dictate storms, winds, darkness and a feeling of suffocation. Cubbi eyed Corvi a moment, saying "Sorry we can't help translate, Corvi."

The teenager managed a small smile, though it was forced. "Old Gummi is hard, Cubbi. Even if you were all already learning, you wouldn't be good enough yet to translate." He felt a bit of a relief for a moment, actually getting a surge of pride at what his mother had managed to teach him. Old Gummi was a dying language. Granted, the knights and counselors knew it but they knew like most gummies knew Latin: with much concentration and research. Old Gummi, as well as Latin and French, flowed from Corvi's tongue just as readily as Common. His brother Morri had the same talent, if in lesser spades and without a lot of the accent, except on select words. For some reason, this gave a sense of strength to his worn spirit. "Old Gummi is tricky, but maybe I can teach you all a few words sometime."

For a moment, just a brief moment, Corvi allowed himself a simple image. There was no threat of Emi, of losing his brothers, of keeping all these secrets. Instead, he saw himself as he had been simply months ago: wrestling with the squires, following Blastus on patrol, reading with some of the magihistorians. He now saw himself showing some of these boys the gifts of his mother, the secret of her mother tongue. It made such a pleasant thought, a peaceful and calming thought…

Forcing his eyes back to the book, despite how he longed to remain in that pleasant moment even if it was false, he turned the page, closed his eyes a moment and a shaky breath before reading in common: "With her confession, along with the gathered evidence, eyewitness reports and reports of the battle to obtain her surrender from Sirs Plucki, Gumlittle and Blastus of Gummadoon, Emi Gummi's guilt was assured and her sentence passed. Given the severity of her crimes, the safety of the entirety of the world, not just fellow gummies was needed to be assured. However, gummies are a merciful race, we do not kill needlessly and despite the horrific accounts of her crimes, death would only add another soul to the list."

Taking a breath, Corvi paused, clearing his throat when he felt that waver again. He needed to ask Blastus or one of the medics for something for that. "A council was called of gummies from multiple cities, including Magician Destini Gummi of Gummadoon, Carpenter Lumina Gummi of Gummi Glen, Inventor Aadi Gummi of Ursalia, and Healer Sanjuna Gummi of Gummerset to discover an appropriate fate. Upon a debate of multiple days, they opted that a lengthy imprisonment would be appropriate until the means to heal her spirit was discovered."

Corvi lost track of how much he read after that; it was a great bit of detail on the types of magic considered, why one was better than the other but nothing specific on how they worked nor how they were cast. They didn't even go into detail on what type of confinement though it did appear that Daffodi of Gummi Glen and her family had a strong hand in helping prepare it. It was rare, even for gummies, to combine magic with every day things unless it was absolutely necessary. It was draining. All that the group of boys did manage to get from it was that the spells were immensely complex, requiring the wizards of all four gummi cities to cast! Each gummi city, at least back then, had at least 5 wizards so that meant it was a spell beyond a master spell…requiring 20 wizards! 20! Plus, the very idea of a spell beyond a master spell..

As far as Corvi knew, only four of them existed and they were deemed usually too extreme to address. Truth be told, they were spells that didn't really have a name per say. There were usual spells, advanced spells, and master spells and then…these four. To put it in context, the spell the five magicians of Gummadoon cast to banish it to the time stream was only a master spell. It didn't touch the level of this confining spell…

"20 wizards?" Toni spat out what they were all thinking. "Do we even have magic that strong?"

Tavi bit her lower lip. "I think we do. I think. Auntie never talks about it but I…" she sighed and shook her head. "Maybe it's just a stupid feeling but Destini did tell me that I would learn things. That's somethin' I'm almost certain of. That we have a lot more power than we think we do." She almost found herself talking about what had happened with Toni's mother but stopped herself. Toni was still sensitive on the topic (and understandably so) and aside from that, the fact that both her aunt and Berrybottom had come to confront her on it told her that such a thing was nearly unheard of. She didn't entirely know what to make of it herself.

"Well, our magic and technology was a key thing that made the stupid human-gummi wars to start with, right?" Cubbi cut in, his eyes deeply focused. If there was one thing he understood it was that the greed of humans had deeply contributed to the wars. Gruffi and Zummi had made sure that was deeply imbedded in his mind. That was one reason that Gruffi was so rightly stunned by the friendship offered them by Cavin and Calla. How could the same race that had been so locked on greed and conquest generate two people so devoid of it?

The group of boys looked at Corvi, "It was, right Corvi?" Asked Flynn. "I mean, you were there, right?" Cubbi stared then remembered, of course, the dimensional traveling of Gummadoon. That would have meant Corvi was around. Right, he had also said he remembered when they were fighting Emi. Geez, dimensional and time spells were really confusing. All the same, he looked to Corvi and with a new light. So Corvi had lived through the first Gummi-Human Wars and then the second Great War that they had just survived? Gum, no wonder he acted like a little adult at times. It reminded Cubbi of Buddi in some ways. When he and Sunni had mentioned the way Buddi could be so "adult-like" sometimes to Ursa, as an offhand comment, when they had been living in Ursalia, her response had been that "the winds of life can keep you young or age you quickly." Cubbi was finally starting to understand what she had meant.

Sighing and running a hand through his long blond hair, Corvi breathed, "It was a mix of a lot of things, guys, like war always is. But yeah, that was a major driving point. Emi was another."

Toni stared, "So…Emi started the Gummi-Human Wars?"

Shrugging, the teenager replied, "I only know what I heard the adults discussing. It sounded that she might have had some kind of hand in it."

Silence and not the good kind. The kind of silence that makes you uncomfortable and look for distraction from your own thoughts. It had been one thing to hear of all the horrific things she had done on her own. Hearing about all those gummies, and humans as well, dying, just for her own selfish ambition was unsettling enough. However, now, there was another factor poured in the equation: that Emi had contributed, significantly, to the break down of Gummi Human relations and created the war that sent their ancestors fleeing, Gummadoon disappearing into the time stream and the overall near decimation of their entire race. It made them all feel sick.

Finally, after quite a while of sorting through the statements of pleading from the other gummies towards Emi, they reached the final portion. Clearing his throat to try and still the wavy tone, Corvi read "Daffodi Gummi suggested Gummi Glen as a means of supporting her prison, as it was believed her place of origin might have some influence on healing her heart—"

"BOYS!" The squires jumped at the sudden shout of Gumlittle's unmistakable voice. Luckily, as they all looked around, they realized the voice had come from a good ways down the halls. Jumping to his feet, Toni ran to look out the window as they all realized with horrible abruptness that some light was filtering through the glass. How long had they been here? How long had it taken for them to be caught up with the trial? How long had they been sitting here? It was a bit past midnight when they came in here and it was already morning? They had purposely been trying to keep from being caught.

"I'sau'ta!" Corvi cursed under his breath as he slammed the book shut, pausing long enough to point at the other boys, "THAT word you don't need to know."

Managing not to panic, Cubbi grabbed Corvi's arm as he went to stand up, "Wait a minute, maybe this is a good thing."

The other squires promptly regarded him as if he had grown two additional heads. Though Cubbi felt a tad embarrassed, he continued, eyeing Tavi, "You said yourself Tavi, that we need to get the adults to hear us out about this right?" he tapped the book in Corvi's hand.

Tavi nodded, "We need it. It's gettin' more and more serious." Cubbi eyed her, taking into account the gravity of her voice more than anything. She had spoken about her aunt being tense and obviously frightened about this Emi, all from info that they were currently denied. It was so frustrating! They would help! They would! They could, if they were just given the chance. It was getting to the point where they had to make themselves be taken seriously. Surely, the knights would listen right? Sure, they had been told to leave Emi's topic be more than once but if they explained themselves…

"So, let's tell the knights." Silence, then finally Martinni answered "Well, I guess we could.."

Toni scoffed "Great, and how many rules did you three break getting this book?"

Tavi scowled "None, thank you very much. We TRIED doing it the better way but my aunt and the council isn't listening to us." Frowning, she had to admit she was hurt about that. Her aunt usually was so open and accepting. Granted, she knew she was frightened and she was very much convinced that her aunt's latest escapade was the result of outside influence. While that lessened the sting a bit, the resulting emotion was a fear and realization that because of her aunt's magical connection and position, she might not have been able to help her, even if she were able and willing to. Cubbi was right; they had to get someone to listen and if the council was out of the question…

"Besides," Flynn broke in, "Weren't they just saying the other day about how important it was to communicate and that we are a team?"

Cubbi frowned deeply "Yeah, plus they know some things. Look how many times they were mentioned. I bet they have all the rest of the info we need, we just have to put all of our information together!" He frowned again, scrunching up his face in thought, "Plus…they have a right to know she's gonna come after them."

Toni eyed Cubbi skeptically, "You think they don't know that? Says here in the trial that they were there when she made all those threats!"

Cubbi locked eyes with Toni, "I know that. I also know adults act really weird when they get scared. I've seen it." He looked at each of his friends in turn, "Am I right?"

There was quiet a moment before, one after another, they nodded. It was true. Adults seemed to suddenly become overprotective or cranky or in some cases, completely distant. Martinni had seen his sister become cold, almost absent for the first two months after their parents passed away. She had pulled her way through it and apologized to him in turn, saying she should not have taken her fear out on him. Martin remembered distinctly wondering how silence equaled fear. When he was afraid, he was not shy about telling someone, about running to someone, seeking the comfort of their presence. But then….the Gummadoon knights. Who did they have to go to? The sudden realization made Martinni look at their mentors' behavior in a whole new light, as well as their own. They were the knights of Gummadoon. The protectors of the city. Not only that but they were beyond simply the city's protectors, they were the ultimate of the protectors, the best of the best, the highest ranked. Who did they have to go to? Granted, they worked with the council but that was different than having someone you could go to when you needed reassurance, when you needed fear cast away. Like the knights did for them all the time.

Like three weeks ago, when he had taken off running because some stupid bee refused to leave him alone. He'd always detested bees and one frequently deciding to try and nest in his hair was enough to get his nerve on hair trigger, resulting in him rushing off the training field, screaming like he was being murdered. Ramsei had rolled his eyes but Gumlittle had laughed but he had not teased, nor had he tolerated any teasing. Plus, he chased the bee off and helped him to relax, though he did ask, "Need to help calm that phobia, Martin." Not accusing, not yelling, simply factual. He had not rejected him pressing into his shoulder for some form of protection though.

Similarly to Martinni, their youngest member, Flynn found himself pondering Cubbi's words. Adults did act weird when they were scared. They couldn't just break down crying…that would be really weird. After all, they were always the ones comforting THEM. There was just a few weeks ago, when the youngest squire had climbed up the trees in the courtyard, trying to dislodge a lost toy from its highest branches. He had lost his balance and plunged to the ground with a hideous screech only to land in Sir Blastus' awaiting arms and slightly chastising tone about knowing when to ask for help. But, just like Gumlittle, he had not protested when Flynn had clung to him tightly a moment before making his way to the ground and the elder knight had ruffled his hair before dislodging their toy with his staff.

Toni frowned. For all his outward appearance of wanting to keep this secret, he wanted the adults to tell them what to do. Gumlittle could always take any situation and make it better. Gum, look at the crap he had just recently been through and yet the elder gummi had yet to leave his side, had yet to be absent when he had needed him. Though Toni was utterly humiliated by all the things he could not do, Gumlittle was careful that his delicate pride was not damaged any further, including being there when those horrible memories came in the darkness of the night. Never asking, but always encouraging should Toni wish to speak, he would hold the boy tightly in his arms.

Biting his lip in memory, Toni still was haunted by some dark unseen figure killing his dear mentor. Coldness settled over his heart; was that Emi, in some way, threatening? Sending out her dark presence?

Cubbi had only been with Gummadoon for a few months but already they were so dear to him. Especially Plucki. Though he was still learning a lot about their ways, as well as about Plucki, he knew enough to know he was dear to his heart. Plucki had yet to steer him wrong. The Captain was firm but fair. He was determined at keeping others safe but he was also one who would listen, that much Cubbi was sure of. In fact, most adults were when you really got down to it. You just had to know the right way to get their attention, to get them to realize you were just as serious as they were. Plus, he had to admit that the brief reaction he had seen from Plucki regarding Emi… He wanted to protect him, as silly as that sounded. He needed to protect him. He would do no less for him.

Corvi locked eyes with Cubbi. Oddly enough, this young cub didn't seem to fully comprehend of the kind of danger they were facing. No, perhaps that was being unfair. Very few could truly comprehend the danger and horror Emi had brought with her. Truth be told, Corvi did remember more than he let on, though he tried to force the memories from his mind. He had been honest when he said the adults had tried to keep him out of the loop.

Still, when your father was a knight and you were training to be one yourself, it was hard to stop some news from reaching your ears. He remembered distinctly some of the events this damned journal had reawakened: The decimation of Bera; Blastus had taken him there once, when he had been a young page. It had been rich with cubs, with lots of fun tunnels and plains to run and jump about in. In fact, there were so many cubs that the adults tended to take a communal rearing tactic, with any adult taking charge of any given cub. Blastus had chatted with the adult magihistorians and some of the kitchen folk about trade and news while he had laughed and wrestled with more cubs than he could recall the names of.

Fighting a sudden urge of tears, he felt guilty of that. Was that all their clan had been reduced to? To be forever known as the clan of Bera, lost amid Emi's rage? That was not right, it was not right! Were they to follow? Him? His brothers? His friends? His Blastus? Narrowing his eyes in new found resolve, he made a silent vow to his own heart: by his own breath, none of his loved ones would fall to Emi, none of them! If Fate deemed someone to be taken, it would him, not them. He had taken a vow of courage and honor when he became a page, as all potential trainees did but suddenly, it carried so much more meaning, so much more weight. As he realized in a rush of memories of old: the tales of cities falling, his father whispering to his mother in the dark of night of the danger slowly creeping closer to their major cities, of the parents of Sir Ecri and Sir Yaci slain in two different circumstances (one in battle, one helping rush cubs to safety from a coming battle), of the news of an attack on Ursalia and Blastus rushing off after his brothers, of sneaking out after his father when he went to fight a battle… He grabbed his head, suddenly as a surge of immense fear rushed over his heart, enough to send his memories to a dead halt. It was like he had hit a blockade. It caused a surge of fear and pain unlike he had felt before to clutch at his heart though and that paused him. It made him all the more uneasy, as any mysterious emotion will do to the soul. He frowned, tried to push past that. He remembered following his father onto the battlefield…and that he saw his father dead on the field. But, as to what happened or everything in between, that was all black. He frowned deeply, frustrated but the heart wrenching memory of his father's death also helped cement the present. Despite how stressed he already was on the issue of his mother and brothers, they HAD to take charge here. They just had to.

"Boys!" It was Sir Plucki calling this time, "Boys, report to the main sitting room, promptly!" His voice was stern but not angry. At least, they hoped it was just sternness. The group of boys glanced at one another, more than a bit nervous. They had not been sneaking around, not in the least but they DID want to help. Anyway that they were able to. What if the adults didn't want them involved? They knew all too well that they would just continue to be involved anyway, even if it meant disobeying their teachers. They had never had to do that before, ever. It made them feel bad just thinking about but then, in the same moment, they dreaded their precious mentors being killed even more.

With a nod of encouragement from Tavi, Cubbi took the book from Corvi and with a heavy step, the group headed toward the sitting room. As they made their way down the stairs as a group, Cubbi paused and turned, regarding the pink gummi girl at the top of the stairs, "Are you gonna come with us, Tavi?"

The young magician shook her head, "No. I'm gonna go talk to my aunt again. You guys gotta make the knights listen. So I gotta make my aunt listen." With a simple nod of acknowledgement, Cubbi rejoined his comrades in responding to their Captain's command.

OOOOOOO

Gummadoon Council

Chamber Berrybottom had yet to leave Wooddale's side, keeping a comforting arm around her shoulders. Aside from being his fellow gummi and councilor, she was also a dear friend to him, nearly like a sister. Her distress was heart wrenching to him but in her typical fashion, despite her guilty feelings regarding her interaction with young Tavi, she demanded that her fellow councilors be alerted. She was not a naïve fool. While being gummi, she tended to not possess nearly the amount of hubris that humans did, she was also well aware of her own abilities. She and Berrybottom were the oldest of the council, by far, and thus had the most experience. Several would also argue that Wooddale and Berrybottom tied for the rawest talent. The fact that Wooddale had been influenced from afar, even if it was only minimally was deeply disturbing. The fact that they could not pinpoint if it had been Emi or Lady Bane was even more disturbing. All of the current council remembered all too well the trials and horrors that followed Emi's capture but none of them had been present when she was sentenced, despite three of them being council members. That had been left to their eldest members, all now gone. Most importantly, Destini had been knee-deep involved in the trials, the punishment. She had been careful to involve as few people as possible, to reduce the pain of having to go against one of their own kind but now, in hindsight, it was damaging to them. Exactly what limits did Emi's prison have? COULD she have touched Wooddale, even remotely?

"Wooddale?" Takinga breath to steady herself, she faced her fellow councilors. "I was able to catch it…"

"It was NOT you." Spinwillow tried to assure her, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "You know that young Tavi does not blame you."

"The poor dear is probably a mess of emotions," Wooddale responded. "I am supposed to support her, as both a mentor and as an aunt." "Which is why I'm not mad, Auntie." A new voice cut into the cloud of tension, making the group of adults turn. Little Tavi stood at the doorway, smiling a faint but still reassuring smile, reminiscent of her mother's, Wooddale's departed younger sister. It was easy to get caught up in the horrors of the present day and forget how not so long it had been since Wooddale had buried her younger sister. And her brother-in-law and nephew. Little Tavi was truly all she had left. Magic was sensitive to emotion, especially powerful emotions. Stress tended to just make this worse.

"Tavi.." Wooddale began but the young girl had already trotted in and thrown her arms around her aunt. The councilor responded in kind squeezing her tight into her chest, wanting to take her into her heart and shield her from all these horrific goings-ons. "Forgive me, dear child."

"Nothin' you did, Auntie." She assured the elder woman though it did feel good to get an apology, even if she knew it was not her aunt's fault. She shifted her attention to the daunting emotion she could almost smell coming off her relative. "You can't do that, Auntie, as much as you want to." Tavi spoke out simply, her voice level. She knew her aunt hadn't said anything about protection, or things like that but she could feel the desperation in her aunt's embrace. It was one she had used once, when she had clung to her father before he would rush out to battle and yes, later her brother right before he dashed for the final time to the field. It was a hold that anyone could recognize. The raw strength and worry in a simple embrace, combined with an energy that flowed off her aunt as readily as her breaths. "That's why I needa talk to you."

Pausing, she drew away from her aunt and addressed the whole of the council, "Rather you like it or not, Emi's presence is here. I don't plan to lose to it but you HAVE to listen to me. The knights are listening to the boys. We've…discovered some things."

Wooddale's eyes grew wide, "Please, child, don't tell me you went snooping about…"

"Not snooping." She protested. "I went exploring and looking for answers. I didn't go anywhere I wasn't allowed. I mean, yeah, I did summon Destini—"

Spinwillow leapt up, "Dear Gum, you summoned the spirit of Destini, young one?"

When Tavi gave a simple nod, they continued, with Flurryfeather chiming in, "Such a task is a daunting one child! It takes years of practice, dedicated practice!"

They protested, "To cast it wrong can damage both user and spirit!"

Berrybottom raised a hand, asking for quiet, "Yet, she managed it."

Tavi pulled back from her aunt, saying, "I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I had to, you know that Auntie, right?" The Councilor eyed her young niece, feeling again, the wash of immersive power pretty much flowing off her. Every word she spoke echoed with magical prowess that most trained for their entire lives and never achieved. Yet, it illuminated from her young relative with such natural energy, as if so much power was readily available, with little to no strain on her.

Suddenly, Wooddale was reminded, again, that her niece had been with them when they had reverted Sir Blastus both to child form and back to adulthood. While she had fallen asleep following it, her magical ability had not faltered in the least. Now, she had summoned the spirit of one of their lost ones, not an easy feat, and she spoke of it as if it had been a simple fire lighting spell. Such a spell would have rendered any of them nearly incomprehensible as they lay on their beds. Then, there was the issue of Toni's mother, Karleni. How had her niece had the ability to pull a lost soul away from the abyss so effortlessly? Rather abruptly, Wooddale came to the realization that her niece, despite her young age, easily outranked the entire room in magical ability. It very nearly was an aura that they could see. Eyeing her young charge a bit more, Wooddale could nearly see a faint golden hue that surrounded her, not unlike the hues that they generated when doing any form of magic. Her niece was saturated in it , she forced herself to remain calm, for everyone's sake, and took a steadying breath as she replied to her dear child, "I know you would not, dear child."

Tavi took a shuddery breath of her own, saying, "Auntie…" she shook her head and addressed the whole of the council, though her voice wavered somewhat. "I know you don't want us all involved, because of her…" she narrowed her eyes, "But we're involved anyway. We GONNA be involved anyway, whether you say we can be or not. I've see her, heard her." Admitting it, out loud to someone other than her aunt seemed to take a huge weight from her chest despite the stifled gasps and 'Oh Gum's she heard. She knew her aunt had probably told Berrybottom and some of the other council members but somehow hearing it directly from her made it all the worse. Perhaps it was more because they knew Wooddale would have only given her limited information. For her to state she knew exactly who was contacting her…well, it was petrifying to be frank.

When Tavi spoke again, her voice had an eerie echo to it, as her emotions sent her magic into a near frenzy. She knew it was visibly noticeable by the way the adults' eyes widened and the way her hair suddenly whipped into her face. Taking another shaky breath, she closed her eyes, focusing. It took a lot of her strength to keep it in check. "If we're gonna be able to protect everything and everyone that is special to us…you have to listen to me…"

Looking up, near tears, she begged, "Please…"

OOOOOOOOOO

Gummadoon Sitting Room

It was a deep sigh of relief when the boys filed back in through the door after Plucki's third command. It was rare for them to take longer than one command, Gumlittle mused. All the same though, it was reassuring to see all of them alive and well. One might think them paranoid but given the type of threat that was practically at their door, one could hardly blame them. It would have been one thing to find one or even two of them gone, as it was not unusual for them to rise early or go to seek a drink or go to the bathroom but to find all of them gone, save for the two slumbering brothers of Corvi, was nerve-wracking.

Still, they were unprepared for the solemn faces that greeted them as they walked into the room. The boys look nervous, as if they had been caught stealing or some other heinous crime. Martinni and Flynn stood silent as statues as Corvi stood behind them and Toni and Cubbi were walking slowly. Cubbi had a large book pressed deep into his chest but had his eyes directed at the floor. The very atmosphere was cold and friendless which was an unacceptable response to the knights. Despite what type of information or punishment they were deemed to spread, no matter what situation, it was to be delivered with understanding. Fear was not to be an option; their trainees were supposed to be able to come ot them with anything.

Blastus offered the boys a smile. "You just frightened us, mes amis." He attempted, "we are not used to all of you vanishin—"

"What happened with Emi Gummi?" Toni interrupted. Deep silence followed and the knights heaved deep sighs. Their fears were to be realized it seemed.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Plucki remarked, "Is that the reasoning behind this disappearing act, my lads?" he inquired though not accusingly. He did give Corvi a look, as he thought the lad had understood the seriousness of their talk earlier but Corvi would not meet his eyes. The whole of the boys seemed spooked and unnerved and he seriously doubted that anything they had to tell them would set aside such fears. All the same, he would not insult them but trying to push aside a topic that was obviously on all of their minds and quite heavily at that. Plus, this WAS what he and his brothers had been discussing.

Martinni answered "We know you were there, Captain." He said softly, trying to remain as polite as possible.

"We…"

Toni interrupted again, "We're sick of people tiptoeing around the topic. Tell us, already."

Plucki eyed his two brothers who gave a soft nod and Gumlittle spoke to Toni, "Patience, Sport. We won't discuss it here, not with little ears." He gestured to the still slumbering brothers on the couch, "Let's go to your office, Plucki and settle this issue."

Without another word, the group made their way down the hall and into those large oak doors. Even Corvi looked uncomfortable but each of the cubs found a spot to sit or stand. Cubbi stayed quiet throughout the whole thing which was more than enough to make Plucki unnerved. He had learned long ago that such a child as Cubbi was never still or quiet. All the same, as they closed the door behind them, the three Gummadoon knights took their stance in front of Plucki's desk, suddenly seeming much taller, much sterner and much older.

"We did not mean to keep you in the dark, mes amis," Blastus began "Not without good reason at any rate."

"We're sure some dark tales have met your ears. We heard the same horrific stories as children." Gumlittle added, "You cannot hold it against us for trying to spare you from it."

"But things are different now." Cubbi finally spoke. "You can't keep these things secret when they're happenin'." He protested, still clutching the book like a shield. "Emi's still alive."

"Yes," Plucki admitted, "She is."

Toni eyed his captain, "And she isn't exactly being quiet."

Gumlittle set his stern eyes on the boy, "Toni, you aren't talking like someone whose ears have merely heard rumors." Quiet, then silence as the group of boys exchanged uneasy looks.

Plucki folded his arms, fear of what might have met their ears and WHY such things were being shown to them throbbing his every thought. "Boys, we are willing to be clean with you, as you have requested of us and because you are right in that we cannot keep such secrets in this type of scenario," he paused and eyed Cubbi in particular. "But, you must also be clean with US about what you have heard and under what means you even dared to pursue it!"

Quiet again for a long moment before Cubbi stated "Tavi." Plucki settled his eyes on his squire and gestured him forward as no other was speaking, "What of Tavi, my young knight?"

Getting a bit of bravery from that title, Cubbi locked eyes with his Captain. "She hears her, sees her." Taking a breath, Cubbi opted to go the route of removing a bandage, to just get everything out in the open, "That was the first clue. I wanted to help her. She was scared and I wanted to make sure that nothing else happened. Then Tavi contacted Destini to try and get us some more info and she said to seek out her old mentor, then, the issue with Toni…" he took a breath but felt better as Toni nudged him to go on, "and we knew something weird had to be going on because Toni would never do that kind of stuff and his mom would never be that mean so we figured it had to be something magical so we tried to get more information. We were hopin' maybe we could help find out what was allowing all this stuff to happen so we could fix it and stop anymore bad stuff…and Tavi found this book."

At that, the cub held the old relic out to his mentor who took it with gentle hands. He flipped through it, with his brothers looking over his shoulders. Given how abruptly they had stopped, the magical words were still deeply engraved in the pages. Cubbi went on, looking at his fingers as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, "We…we don't want anything to happen to you."

"Any of you," Flynn managed, "She's gonna come after you again if she gets out."

"She even says so." Martinni added, "In plain black and white, she names you all as her first target and if she is already doing all this bad stuff how long until she breaks out completely? We have to stop that from happening!"

"Boys," Plucki's voice was strained but also very deeply touched, "how much of this book have you read?" He was astounded, and pleased by this find. How valuable! What luck! There were dozens of other answers this book could provide! There was no mistake on that. However, just from the little bit he had skimmed, it had such horrific images. Such horrible messages…how much had their young lads absorbed? They had spoken of specific events that only a deep investigation of this journal could have provided. How much of her horrors were they aware of?

Blastus chimed in "And how, I might add. It's all in Old Gummi. It's tres valuable, make no mistake boys but—"

The group of boys looked towards one another again, nervously then to Corvi who had been silent this entire time. Locking eyes with his mentor, he responded, with perfect pronunciation, "Emi Gummi is not the only one who knows Old Gummi. Whether you like it or not, Sir Blastus, Sir Plucki, Sir Gumlittle, we're involved now. A knight's duty is to protect. Including each other."