June 2015
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Things are starting to get interesting . . .
FOP doesn't belong to me.
Wanda blinked quickly, her head spinning. Anti-fairy magic was the polar opposite of fairy magic, and being suddenly transported by it left her quite disoriented. Small hands were clutching her arm, shaking her urgently.
"Mama-Wanda, Mama-Wanda!" a voice called worriedly, and it took the pink haired fairy a few seconds to recognize it as her goddaughter, Tabby. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Wanda replied as she put a hand to her forehead. Her mind was still reeling, and she shook her head slightly in a vain attempt to clear it. "Just a little dizzy. I'll be okay—"
She was cut off suddenly when two hands roughly grabbed her shirt and lifted her clear off the ground. The sudden movement did nothing to help her already spinning head, and she uttered a soft groan.
"What have you done?" a voice demanded, it's tone edged with worry. "WHERE IS MY WIFE?"
This voice sounded both familiar and strange to Wanda. It sounded like Cosmo, but there was something different about it that the pink haired fairy couldn't put her finger on. She clamped her eyes shut tightly and gave her head one more stern shake, hoping to regain some balance. Her head did clear somewhat, allowing her to remember what had happened, and she opened her eyes wide.
"Get your hands off me!" she hissed, slapping Anti-Cosmo's fists from her blouse. She fell backwards, stumbling slightly on her feet. The anti-fairy continued to glare at her, his brow furrowed deeply in his anger.
"Where is my wife?" he growled through gritted teeth.
Wanda smiled. "Probably on her way back to the Anti-Fairy Prison by now," she said pleasantly, making the dark fairy before her clench his hands into tight fists. "Why don't you do yourself a favor and turn yourself in so you can be with her?"
Anti-Cosmo growled, deep within his throat. "How DARE you . . ." he hissed.
Wanda uttered a short laugh. "ME?" she cried, patting her back pockets. "YOU'RE the one who kidnapped Tabby in the first place and started this whole mess!"
Her eyes flicked quickly to the floor and scanned the area around them. Anti-Cosmo noticed her searches and smiled smugly.
"Looking for this?" he asked quietly, pulling the pink haired fairy's wand from his jacket pocket and dangling it between his thumb and forefinger. "It would seem that you are unarmed and defenseless, would it not?"
It was Wanda's turn to growl. "For now," she said quietly, pushing Tabby behind her. "But if you do anything to us—"
"Oh, please," Anti-Cosmo said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he returned the stolen wand to his pocket. "What do you take me for, a common thug? I have no intention of harming either of you."
"Then let us go," his wife's duplicate said with a smirk. The anti-fairy uttered a soft laugh as he turned and began floating away.
"Oh, Wanda," he called over his shoulder. "You silly woman, you know I can't do that. I need you." Wanda frowned.
"For what?"
Anti-Cosmo paused, and turned to offer her a sly smile.
"Collateral," he said before turning and floating into the shadows.
~X~X~X~
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Jorgen bellowed once more, causing the already cringing Anti-Wanda to crawl even further into the corner of the interrogation room. Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks as her body ached from his last attack.
"I DON'T KNOW!" she cried for the fifth time. Or was it the sixth? Tenth? After so many jolts from Jorgen's wand, she was having trouble keeping track. The Head Fairy leveled his weapon at her once again, delivering another powerful bolt of electricity upon her. The anti-fairy screamed shrilly.
"You can make this easier on yourself," Jorgen said as he went to one knee before her. "Just tell me where your husband took the girl and fairy."
Anti-Wanda shook her head, her body trembling with muted sobs.
"I-I don't know where they are!" she told him in a cracked voice. "Honest!" Jorgen frowned as he stood.
"WHY MUST YOU TEST MY PATIENCE?" he boomed, zapping the cowering anti-fairy once more. Anti-Wanda arched her back, her pain-filled shrieks bouncing off the padded walls.
"S-sir, I think she's telling the truth," a fairy soldier said shakily. He was fairly new to the academy and had never seen such torture before. Jorgen turned to him, pegging the new recruit with a dark look. A satisfied smile curled the Head Fairy's lips when the soldier backed away nervously.
The very muscular fairy was in a particularly bad mood at the moment, and filling others with terror was the only way to perk his spirits.
"Fine," the large fairy muttered as he turned and stormed through the door. "Gather the Anti-Fairy Experts. I want those three found immediately."
"Yes, sir," a soldier said immediately, then paused slightly. "But what about the anti-fairy? Shouldn't we—"
"She's not going anywhere," Jorgen said, his pace never slowing. "She has no wand and that room is reinforced with three powerful enchantments. No one can poof into or out of there. NO ONE." His soldiers nodded, and quickly followed the Head Fairy out of the building.
No one noticed the little green haired fairy standing in front of the two-way mirror of the interrogation room. He had witnessed the entire scene—cringing with every shot Jorgen had fired and wincing at every pain-filled cry Anti-Wanda had uttered. Yes, she was an anti-fairy, but Cosmo felt sorry for her, having been on the receiving end of Jorgen's attacks himself. But to be zapped that many times, in rapid succession? Cosmo shuddered. That was pretty awful.
Cosmo stood where he was for another moment, watching through the special mirror as the dark duplicate of his wife sobbed quietly in the corner. Her body shuddered, and thin tendrils of smoke drifted up from her skin.
She was an anti-fairy, the embodiment of bad luck and dark magic. But Cosmo's heart went out to her just the same. She looked so sad and alone.
Taking a quick glance around him, Cosmo slowly moved to the door of the interrogation room. Once he had assured himself he was alone, he carefully opened it and quietly moved inside, closing the large door behind him.
"Hey," he called softly as he knelt before the sobbing anti-fairy. "A-are you okay?"
He almost kicked himself. Of course she wasn't 'okay'. You don't suffer through that many attacks from Jorgen Von Strangle and just come out 'okay' at the end. But luckily, anti-fairies were just as fast healers as fairies were, and Cosmo noted that Anti-Wanda's skin was already beginning to heal itself. She wasn't smoking anymore, and the dark, charred patches of skin were starting to flake off, revealing healthy blue skin beneath.
"Do you want some water?" he asked gently, leaning slightly closer. She may have been in pain and scared, but she was still an anti-fairy and Cosmo was trying not to take any chances. He wasn't exactly sure what she could—or would—do.
Anti-Wanda nodded as her sobs began to taper off, and sniffled as she pulled herself into a more upright sitting position. The pain in her body was slowly dissipating, and she was struggling to get herself more under control. Cosmo nodded back to her, and hurried to the water cooler in the hallway outside for her drink.
"Here you go," he said softly as he offered her the paper cup. Anti-Wanda took it shyly, grateful for his kindness.
"Thanks," she said quietly. As she sipped the cool water, she gave him a confused look. "Don't you hate me, too?"
Cosmo jerked back slightly, surprised by the question. His automatic reaction was to tell her that of course he did—she was an anti-fairy, fairies were SUPPOSED to hate them. But instead, he cocked his head to the side as he thought. DID he hate her? He didn't think so. He didn't think he hated anyone—well, except for Juandissimo, and that was different—so it was kind of hard to say. 'Hate' was such a strong word, especially for someone he didn't even really know.
He shrugged. "I don't think so," he said slowly, looking confused himself. "Do you hate me?" Anti-Wanda sat quietly for a moment, presumably running the same line of thought through her mind. Finally she shook her head.
"No," she said quietly, staring at the paper water cup in her hands. "I guess not."
The two sat in silence for a while, Anti-Wanda staring at the paper cup, and Cosmo watching her. His mind was a whirlwind of questions—what to do, where was Wanda and Tabby, did this anti-fairy really know and wasn't telling—and he struggled to keep them from popping out of his mouth. He had the feeling that Anti-Wanda might talk to him, but he was worried about bombarding her with too much, too quickly. He was dying to find out what she knew about this whole situation, but forced himself to keep his mouth shut for now. She was still vulnerable, and he did not want her to feel like she had traded one interrogator for another.
"Do you like being a godparent?" Anti-Wanda asked suddenly, her voice soft and quiet. Cosmo nodded slightly.
"Yeah," he said, his voice just as soft. "I do." The anti-fairy nodded without looking at him.
"Thought so," she whispered softly.
The silence returned, pounding heavily in their ears. Anti-Wanda had finished her water and now nervously fingered the paper cup, tearing it apart, one tiny piece at a time. Cosmo watched her for a few minutes, before summoning the courage to ask the one question that kept bobbing to the front of his mind.
"Why did Anti-Cosmo take Tabby?"
Anti-Wanda looked up at him, apparently startled by the question. Seeing her this close up, Cosmo was taken aback by how identical the anti-fairy looked to his wife. It was strange, to say the least, and it didn't help that Anti-Wanda's eyes were the exact same shade of pink as Wanda's. But while Wanda's eyes usually exuded love and happiness, Anti-Wanda's now shone with sorrow and regret.
"Because of me," she whispered harshly, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks.
Before Cosmo had a chance to reply, the door burst open and six fairy soldiers filed in, the leader carrying a heavy chain with shackles.
"Time to go, anti-fairy," he said before clacking the shackles closed on Anti-Wanda's wrists and ankles.
~X~X~X~
"How long are you going to keep us here?" Wanda called up to Anti-Cosmo. They were in an obviously abandoned warehouse on earth—somewhere—and the anti-fairy had been staring out a high window for the past hour. Wanda would have never even known he was there except for the moonlight spilling onto his face, illuminating it with a soft glow.
"Until I decide it's time to leave," the dark fairy replied, never turning to her. "Please do not disturb me. I'm thinking."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Funny," she said as she sat down next to Tabby. "Looks to me like you're just staring out into space. And I know that look, I'm married to Cosmo, remember!"
He turned to her with a scowl. "And I'm married to Anti-Wanda, a woman who's not as sassy!"
Wanda jumped to her feet with a growl. "Come down here and say that!" she shouted, her hands clenched into tight fists. "I'll take you down even without magic!"
"Oh, I'd like to see you try!" Anti-Cosmo snapped as he quickly flew down to face the angry fairy. The two glared heatedly at each other for a moment before a small hand appeared on each of their bellies, pushing them apart.
"No fighting!" Tabby said angrily. "Mama! Uncle Acie! No fighting! Stop it!"
The two adversaries looked down at the little referee for a few seconds before looking back at each other. They each issued an annoyed grunt before reluctantly turning away. Anti-Cosmo flew back to his spot before the window, and Wanda flopped herself down cross-legged on the floor.
"Don't you worry, Tabby," she said as the little girl sat next to her. "Jorgen will find us and then your 'Uncle Ace' will get what he deserves!"
The pink haired fairy was still glaring at Anti-Cosmo, her brow furrowed deeply. Tabby looked at her godmother questioningly. She had never heard the usually loving fairy talk so venomously about someone. It was kind of scary.
"Why are you being so mean?" the little girl asked, drawing a surprised look from her godmother.
"Tabby, HE'S the reason we're here, remember?" the fairy said, careful to keep her voice soft. "We're far away from Cosmo and home and he's just floating up there, staring out the window! Aren't you mad at him for taking you so far away from your home?"
Tabby looked up and studied the anti-fairy for a moment before turning back to her godmother.
"He looks sad," she said simply, getting to her feet. "And you shouldn't be mean to someone who's sad."
Without giving Wanda a chance to respond, Tabby walked toward the floating anti-fairy.
"Hi!" she called, giving him a little wave. Anti-Cosmo looked down at the little girl before glancing over at Wanda, who was still sitting cross-legged and watching them.
"You should go back to your godmother," he said, his focus returning to the window.
"Can I come up?" Tabby asked instead, pointing to the tower of decaying wooden crates piled against the wall.
Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed. "I highly doubt these would hold your weight," he said, gesturing to the crates. "They're quite old and rotten." Glancing down, Anti-Cosmo discovered that the little girl was already halfway up the stack. He uttered a heavy sigh as he rolled his eyes again. "Of course, I suppose it's a moot point considering you're coming up anyway."
"Hi!" Tabby said again as she reached the top. The stack swayed slightly beneath her, and she shifted her weight accordingly to stay upright.
"Hello," Anti-Cosmo replied raising an eyebrow. "Is there something I can do for you?"
The little girl shrugged. "I just wanted to see what you were looking at," she said, grasping the windowsill and pulling herself up on her tiptoes to peer through the dirty glass. "Whatcha looking at?"
"Nothing," the anti-fairy replied, casting his gaze through the window again.
Tabby uttered a soft laugh. "Well, that's boring. If you're gonna look through a window, you should at least look at something!"
Anti-Cosmo looked at the child for a moment before facing front again. Tabby glanced sideways at him, not moving her head. They remained that way for a few minutes, staring out the window at nothing and thinking their own thoughts.
On the floor, Wanda watched. She really didn't understand why Tabby insisted on interacting with Anti-Cosmo, and the fact that she was so high up on what was obviously unsafe crates unnerved her. What if she fell? Would Wanda be able to get to her in time?
As though the fairy had willed it to happen, the crates suddenly shifted beneath Tabby's feet and she slipped slightly, waving her arms for balance. Wanda gasped and leapt off the floor, preparing to fly as fast as she could to catch the little girl before she fell completely, when Anti-Cosmo shot a hand out and grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her steady.
Wanda's mouth dropped open. Anti-Cosmo, the evil anti-fairy genius, had just SAVED a little girl from falling? That couldn't be what she had just seen, could it?
"You should really get down, Tabby," she heard him tell the little girl, his voice strangely gentle. "You're going to get hurt."
"Are you sad because you miss your wife?" Tabby asked quietly, and Wanda unconsciously floated closer to hear the answer. Anti-Cosmo looked at the little girl for a moment, before turning back to stare out the window. When he finally replied, his voice was strained and soft.
"Yes."
Confusion and disbelief battled inside Wanda's mind. Could she really allow herself to believe that Anti-Cosmo was different? That he wasn't the same evil genius who had taken such delight in throwing the entire earth into complete chaos? That somehow he was actually capable of caring for others? Technically, even though he had kidnapped Tabby, he hadn't harmed her at all. On the contrary, he had actually kept her from harm just a moment ago. Wanda didn't think he had done it for ulterior motives—he hadn't seemed to be showing off—it looked like it he had grabbed Tabby out of unthinking reflex.
So what did all this mean?
"Do you want me to wish her here?" Tabby was saying, giving Anti-Cosmo's pantleg a gentle tug. "I will if you want me to." The anti-fairy smiled—actually smiled—at the little girl, and patted her head.
"It's quite all right, my dear," he said, his voice soft. "I already know where she is and, unfortunately, you cannot simply wish her free."
"Oh," Tabby said, lowering her head. "Sorry, Uncle Ace." Anti-Cosmo gave the girl another shockingly genuine smile.
"It's all right, sweetheart," he said, drawing another shocked look from Wanda. "I'll figure out a way to free her. Go on and get down now, okay? I think your Mama-Wanda is worried about you."
Tabby nodded and began making her way down the stack as Anti-Cosmo floated down to where Wanda was standing. His arms were crossed and he looked ready for a verbal onslaught.
"Judging by the look of utter shock on your face, I assume you heard everything? Fine, yes, I admit it. I love my wife unconditionally and am terrified that the muscle-head of a superior of yours has harmed her. And you are correct, by now she is probably back in Anti-Fairy Prison, most likely under heavy guard in case I appear to free her. Which I will. Being free is a hollow victory if my beloved Anti-Wanda is not beside me to enjoy it."
Before Wanda could respond, a loud cracking emanated from the stack of decayed crates behind him. Tabby uttered a surprised "OH!" before the stack collapsed beneath her, sending her tumbling in a cloud of splinters and dust. Anti-Cosmo raised his wand before Wanda even knew he was moving, immediately poofing Tabby out of danger and to the spot right between himself and Wanda.
"Wow," Tabby said, smiling slightly and shaking the dust and bits of wood from her hair. "That was neat!"
"Are you all right, sweetie?" Wanda asked worriedly, taking Tabby's face into her hands and examining for cuts. The little girl looked back, confused.
"I'm fine," she said in a 'what's-the-matter-with-you' tone of voice. When Wanda continued to examine the girl for injury, Tabby uttered an annoyed sigh and shook herself out of the fairy's hands. "Wanda, I'm fine! Yeesh!"
"Spirited child," Anti-Cosmo said with a small smirk. Wanda looked up at him sharply, causing the smirk to transform into a sneer. The look on his face told her that he was ready and waiting for her next insult.
"Thank you," she said instead, and kept from sneering herself through intense concentration. He may have been Anti-Cosmo, and she may not like him very much, but he had also kept her goddaughter from getting hurt. Twice, in fact. "Thank you for keeping her safe."
The sneer on Anti-Cosmo's face slipped away, leaving shock in its stead. He hadn't expected that. Slowly the shocked expression changed, this time to one of confusion. Apparently, even HE was confused by his actions.
"I'm hungry," Tabby said suddenly, making Anti-Cosmo jump slightly. He and Wanda glanced down at the little girl before looking back at each other. Wanda offered him a slight shrug.
"Don't look at me," she said, perching her hands on her hips. "You're the one with the magic."
With a sigh and an eye roll, Anti-Cosmo raised his wand.