Author's Note: Sorry to trickle out the updates. Work left me unwilling to write and I was avoiding this for a while.
Please read and review! And yes, this gets darker.
Chapter Four : The Number of the Beast
"Heel, Wanda," Doombringer said. "We have work to do."
She yanked on the leash and Wanda couldn't stand. Again, she yanked and cut off her air supply. Juandissimo growled and lunged forward, in time for Doombringer to bring out the quartz crystal. Power emanated from it and suddenly, the air was filled with cloying, choking darkness like a bitter aftertaste in the back of the threat except with an additional hundred pound weight on the chest too. Timmy's head spun and he collapsed against Cosmo, panting and whining Wanda's name in between gasps.
"Heel, Juandissimo," Doombringer growled. "Down, boy."
Faced with overwhelming magic, Timmy didn't know how anyone could move, let alone struggle. Nonetheless, Juandissimo swayed back and forth, draped protectively over Wanda.
"There are other faeries in Dimmsdale," Doombringer snapped. "I could kill her. Is that what you want? Keep misbehaving, Juandissimo, and I will."
"You swore to me-"
"There are other faeries," Doombringer repeated. "She's merely a vessel. The best possible vessel I could find, but there are others."
The pressure lessened and Timmy tucked his head in between his knees to stop the room from spinning. Cosmo continued to whine, pressing his head against the bars. Aside from breathing and Cosmo's whining, along with the constant drip, he heard nothing.
"I do not care for the other 'vessels'," Juandissimo said. His voice shook. "You cannot control me forever and if you…if you continue…"
Ms. Doombringer released the leash and Wanda gasped, her first few breaths turning into a violent spasm. Juandissimo growled and Cosmo battered the bars with his head. Doombringer rounded on him and he whined, backing up into Timmy. His hackles were up, but he was shaking from head to toe. If Doombringer could do that to Wanda, she could do the same to Cosmo. Cosmo was, at heart, a coward, after all.
"As entertaining as this is, it's wasting time," Doombringer said. She stroked her chin. "I wonder how desperate the situation would have to be before you revealed your true powers.'
"They'll never help you," Timmy snapped. "Let us go or else."
"Or else what?" Doombringer countered. "You're a ten year old child. I could break you like that."
She snapped her fingers and Cosmo and Wanda growled, the latter in between gasps. Juandissimo nudged her and helped her to her feet. Timmy stared at Juandissimo and tried not to think about what automatically came to mind. There was a time to think and a time to avoid thinking. He preferred avoiding thinking, and besides, if he stopped to think about what was going on, he might miss something.
"I believe, before I arrived, you were about to tell Timmy a story, Cosmo," Doombringer said and Cosmo stared at her.
"I was?" he said.
"You faeries have such long and interesting histories," she said. "It was something to do with not using your wands to do magic."
"It was?" Cosmo said. Wanda hissed and Doombringer tightened her leash. The hiss turned into a painful yelp.
"Oh, don't worry," she said and her eyes glittered. "I already know more than you think about faeries, probably more than you even realize."
Cosmo's eyes locked onto Wanda's and a silent communication passed between them. Timmy folded his arms across his chest and glared at Doombringer.
"And I suppose in typical villain fashion, you'll bore us with it," he said.
"No, in typical villain fashion, I'll tell you to stay out of my way or you'll get hurt," she said and drove her heel into Wanda's back. Wanda screamed and collapsed. Cosmo and Juandissimo were up in arms, Juandissimo springing to attack. Doombringer removed the crystal and Cosmo averted his gaze; it sent out black waves and his and Wanda's normally bright auras flickered. Pressure returned, mounting and making him feel like it was almost impossible to breathe.
"Just like that," she said. She glared at Cosmo. "While I can't compel you to continue the story and possibly edify me, I can do the next best thing. I can see how much pressure she can endure before she either breaks or fights back."
She dragged Wanda along the floor and, to Timmy's immense relief, nothing looked broken. Still, his heart clenched painfully.
"You're not going to get away with this," he said.
"Spare me," she said. Juandissimo propped Wanda up and she leaned heavily on him to walk out. In passing, she glanced once more at Cosmo and Timmy.
"Don't say anything stupid," she said, breathing heavily. "She's watching us, you know."
They walked away and Timmy wanted to rage and to strike out against the elements. He glanced at Cosmo, who had his head on his paws and was whining softly. He had to think of a way out of there. Cosmo and Doombringer had both mentioned using magic without wands, which, until now, he'd thought impossible. Every time his faeries lost their wands, they'd been completely at the mercy of the situation.
"If you can do magic without your wands, how come you can't just break out of here?" he said.
Cosmo merely stared dully at him. His eyes were glassy with pain and he, with great effort, plopped down at Timmy's feet. Timmy sat back down again and Cosmo's head plopped into his lap. His tongue lolled out and Timmy stroked his head. There was nothing to do but sit and wait until Cosmo healed enough to be useful. The bars had disappeared, leaving them in pitch blackness aside from his godfather's green glow, and he knew, without proper tools or any sort of magic, they were powerless.
He had no idea where they were, aside from underground. They might not even be in Dimmsdale. Clearly, they weren't under a giant butterfly net, so faerie magic could work, if only they had their wands. Or another way to do it. But here, Timmy ran out of ideas. He could imagine escaping and attacking Doombringer, but how? With what? And how the heck could he even manage with Cosmo so badly out of commission and Wanda taken away?
"You said Wanda used magic without her wand," he said, uncertain Cosmo would respond. "How?"
Water dripped and the silence wore on him. He thought Cosmo wasn't going to reply at first. His sides heaved and Timmy was once again aware of his missing tail.
"I don't know," he said. "She never told me."
"But you sunk Atlantis, set off Pompeii and-"
"With my wand," he answered dully. "Wanda's the smart one. If there's a way to do magic without your wand, she'd know it."
"If she can do it, so can you," he replied stubbornly. "You just need to concentrate."
Cosmo didn't respond. The water dripping became the only noise for an unmeasured amount of time. He thought perhaps Cosmo had passed out on his lap again. At least, in sleep, he healed faster. The tail stub appeared and whatever function the tail had when Cosmo was fey, it must have been important enough to return in wolf form. Cosmo fidgeted, growing warm, a sensation Timmy considered welcome with the cell's temperature dropping. Was it nightfall? He couldn't tell.
"Timmy," Cosmo said suddenly and Timmy jumped.
"What?" he said.
"I'm hungry," he whined. "Where are we?"
"Doombringer captured us," he scoffed. "Don't you remember?"
"Oh…" he said. A brilliant flash temporarily blinded him and he heard Cosmo eating before his eyes adjusted again. Cosmo had conjured up a small grilled steak for himself and a bowl of fruit for Timmy.
"I don't eat fruit normally," he scoffed. Cosmo, scarfing down the steak, didn't answer, unless you counted smacking noises as replies.
"Wait…you did that without your wand," he said.
"Yeah, we can do little things without our wands," Cosmo said. He sounded much better and his tail had almost completely reformed. It was missing its tip; the other wounds were closing and he wasn't bleeding anymore. The trade off was he was still unnaturally hot, a mini furnace, and Timmy's legs were sweating beneath the black denim. He pushed Cosmo's head off and unperturbed the faerie continued chowing down happily.
"Like tunnel us out?" Timmy said.
"I don't think so," he said.
"Was this what Doombringer was talking about?"he wondered aloud.
"Not unless she wants Wanda to make her a soufflé," Cosmo answered.
"As you might imagine, I'm quite fond of torture," Doombringer said. "As you also might imagine, this particular step required sedating Juandissimo so he wouldn't interfere. Ten thousand years and he's still pining for you? Pathetic."
Wanda was in wolf form still, a form she considered more and more odious as time passed, and strapped down to the original table. She didn't know what Doombringer thought she'd accomplish. Wanda would never speak under torture, and the other thing she'd referenced had been a fluke. She couldn't tap into the ley lines at will. For all she knew, that was a one-shot deal. Jorgen had never mentioned they could do magic without them, and she thought she remembered an old pact saying they couldn't use magic without their wands without invoking a terrible cost. Whatever the cost was, she hadn't incurred it saving Cosmo that time, but it had left her feeling rotten to the core. Two days afterward, she'd been sick to her stomach still and unable to eat, barely able to sleep, and feeling thoroughly wretched.
"I know you won't blab," she said. "I know you're a Mafia Princess and unlikely to blather on about things because you know how the mob operates."
Wanda shuddered. She really didn't like how much intel this woman had on them. She must have spent eons monitoring Timmy. Her stomach clenched.
"However, I know something you don't know," Doombringer said. "But I'll leave that for you to figure out. Or not. By the time I've accomplished my goal, you'll be too busy recovering to realize what I learned."
"And you're going to do this to all the faeries in Dimmsdale?" Wanda said. Doombringer's eyes widened, surprised she'd spoken, but didn't comment on it.
"Not all of them," she said. "Not all of them have your potential. I'll have to see who breaks, who dies, and work from there
"Cosmo started to tell your godson a very interesting story," Doombringer said in a mock pleasant tone. "About a time when you used magic without your wand. I don't suppose you'll save me a lot of trouble and repeat it?"
"No."
"It's a shame," Doombringer said and brought a whip slashing down into Wanda's midsection. "It really would have saved you a lot of trouble too. And pain."
The whip ripped open her tender flesh and she bit back a scream. Doombringer smiled, taking out a large hatchet knife and gouging out the wound until it covered her entire stomach. Faerie blood sparkled and Wanda could see her innards. She thought she might be sick.
"I love how faerie blood sparkles," Doombringer said. "Everything about you is so magical. It makes me wonder why obviously magical creatures are so limited."
Doombringer hacked off Wanda's tail and Wanda screamed, tears streaming down her face. She'd felt the bone snap and then break off and the ensuing blood rush, both from her stomach and now her tail. Shudders wracked her and she knew Cosmo would be babbling like an idiot at this point to stop it. But behind the misery and terror, there were faint stirrings of anger. This woman thought she could push her around. She would be sorry.
"I know you won't die of blood loss," Doombringer said. "You're healing yourself right now."
She poked her finger into Wanda's stomach and touched one of the magical sparks. It sent a corresponding electrical surge through her and she yelped, flinching away from it.
"Was Cosmo this badly hurt when you did it? Was he on the brink of death? Tell me."
"No!" she said defiantly, panting and glaring at her. She tossed her head, which was now sodden with sweat. Doombringer smirked and brought the knife down on her right arm, sawing at it to sever it from her body. Wanda saw a dark ball in her mind's eye and couldn't touch it, was still so afraid of the aftereffects of delving into this magic, she was immobilized.
"I won't kill you. Or will I?" she said. Then she touched the slick blade to Wanda's throat and she roared, shoving with the black force in her mind and driving the woman back. She couldn't think; hatred had consumed her. She also knew, with the part of her mind left for reasoning, that if she was going to practice this on her, she'd do worse to Cosmo and Timmy. A dark glow touched her pink aura.
Doombringer was stunned for a moment and Wanda panted, trying to heal herself and think of the next plan for attack. The wounds ceased to matter; fury had formed a tight hard ball in her chest and she saw darkness everywhere. And if it was her only ally, she'd use it.