Author's Note: Time jumps back and forth here. I'd forgotten morning had started at the end of the last chapter, so consider everything except the last scene to be set the night before. Also, Anti Cosmo/Wanda vibes big time, because I ship that. Surprised? No, I didn't think so.

One last thing- finals are coming up and I'm also having a lot of personal problems. Updates may disappear for a while.

Chapter Eighteen: The Light! It Burns!

The light seared him and burned him to the core. Within him or perhaps without, Cosmo couldn't tell, the being screamed in agony and Cosmo rolled all over on his belly like a dog to rid himself of the horrible, terrible light. Tears sprang to his eyes and he sobbed, no more in control of his body than a seashell being swept out by the waves. Chest heaving, he clutched the useless wands and waited for his body to explode. It certainly felt like it was going to. His heart would probably launch itself out of his body and-

"Cosmo."

Wow, he didn't normally think in a deep, muscular voice, but now he'd have to start narrating like that. His chest was on fire and he thought he might die and maybe death would be preferable to feeling like a human torch. He missed Wanda and Timmy, though.

"Cosmo, I am starting to lose patience."

That voice sounded really familiar. He ought to recognize it, but nothing was coming to mind. Who could it be? Who did he know with a deep, muscular voice and a short fuse? Timmy's dad? No, that didn't sound right. Big Daddy could be it, but there was a shadow looming over Cosmo, and not the shadow that had clung to him before.

"Cosmo," the voice growled. Cosmo curled into a ball and whined piteously.

"Cosmo!" the snarl was enough to send birds flying and a few people cowering nearby. It also reminded him of something and he opened his eyes, which were watering and felt like they might melt out of his skull.

"Do I know you?" Cosmo murmured.

"Did you take a knock on the head while you were on Earth?" the voice snapped. "Or are you stupider than usual?"

"Um, both?" Cosmo replied. "But, seriously, who are you?"

A large hand swooped up and seized Cosmo by the scruff of his neck like he weighed nothing. True, he did weigh nothing, since he was a fairy, but it was disconcerting to be on the ground one minute and then in the air another. Also, his vision was wavering in and out and it was like a disembodied hand. Cosmo screamed. A disembodied hand was freaky. He remembered when Timmy had wished everything was real and scary and-

"Cosmo!" the voice roared, his body reverberating with his voice and his teeth rattling. The being shivered and slipped inside, hiding itself from whomever it was. So the being hadn't gone, unless 'going into hiding' counted as vanishing. Cosmo gulped.

"Where is Wanda?" he snapped.

"I don't know…" Cosmo groaned. "Where am I, anyway?"

The person or fairy, whoever it was, their grip tightened on Cosmo's neck and white hot magic glowed close to his face. Whimpering, Cosmo clutched the wands tighter and swallowed convulsively. Shivers wracked him and he wished for Wanda and Timmy fiercer than ever. The person huffed and pried his eyes open. Cosmo's vision swam and he only saw a male with a chiseled face, a strong protruding chin, and grey hair for a few seconds before his eyes closed again.

"You are in Fairy World. And you have been tainted," he said. He groaned. "Why do I bother? You don't understand what I'm saying anyway."

Cosmo shook his head and he tossed Cosmo up in the air like a ball and then caught him flat in his palm.

"I will take you to the doctor to find out if it's contagious and then I will take you to be purified," he said and grimaced. "Perhaps it is only contagious to other idiots. We can only hope."

Juandissimo was shaking by the time he finally collapsed in Brightsburg. He knew the escape wouldn't last for long and Doombringer would find him soon enough. Although he could use his wand to transport himself anywhere, attacking the half-breed had cost him a lot of power. His wand worked, although Cosmo's no longer did, but it would run out of power unless Juandissimo relied on an alternate source. Fairy World was closed off to him while he served under Doombringer and the alternate source of power was so unpleasant it made him shudder to think about.

In the olden times, fairy and elves (then called liosalfar or the Child of Oberon) used to feed off human emotions. The half-breeds and the anti-fairies could feed off negative emotions, like hate and anger, and the stronger it built, the more their power grew. Good fairies could feed off pleasant emotions, which was why they wanted to make children happy. It was a symbiotic relationship. However, after humanity's pain had grown to a certain level, the ability to seize the magic had shifted and magic without a wand had become tainted, only the evil emotions left to drawn upon. If Juandissimo ran out of power, he'd risk drawing the evil magic in and corrupting himself, like Cosmo had.

Juandissimo sighed. There was a figure lurking outside his vision and glass gleamed off a reflection in a puddle. In dog form, he rested his head upon his paws and shut his eyes. For the meanwhile, he'd try to sleep and hope Doombringer was distracted. He'd have to return, or his loved ones would suffer, but right now, telling her Cosmo had escaped would only make matters worse. (What would make matters better, anyway? Nothing worked with her).

Exhaustion paved the way to sleep better than any lullaby and Juandissimo allowed himself to drift into a wary sleep. Enemies were everywhere and he couldn't afford to sleep deeper.

Contrary to popular belief, anti fairies didn't like half breeds either. Anti Cosmo and Anti Wanda were sniffing around Dimmsdale and trying to stay below Jorgen's radar. It was easier than they thought because Jorgen was distracted by another child of Timmy's caliber making mischief. Besides, they preferred to stick what they knew best and Anti Cosmo still wanted Timmy as his godchild. Timmy had a great propensity for chaos and destruction which appealed to Anti Cosmo's sensibilities. And, well…Wanda would probably stick around even if Anti Cosmo seized godparenting responsibilities. Anti Cosmo grinned. He favored Wanda over Anti Wanda, but he had no intention of showing her so soon.

The sheer amount of half breeds hanging around town set Anti Cosmo's teeth on edge. They were like vultures, sniffing out the errant magic the anti fairies couldn't touch. Everywhere Anti Cosmo and Anti Wanda went, they encountered one. Thankfully, none of them were brave enough to confront the anti fairies, but it was growing very irritating to spend a nighttime stroll running into magical dregs.

They weren't allowed in Fairy World. Anti fairies could live there and had even built a city separate from the light-sided fairies, but half breeds were banned. This led to them being bitter and resentful. They weren't allowed to possess a wand either, because Fairy World and its denizens were of the opinion half breeds were dangerous and best left alone. Anti Cosmo smirked. Say what you want about fairies being good and kind, they still had their prejudices.

"What are we lookin' for, anyway?" Anti Wanda drawled and Anti Cosmo hissed, drawn out of his inner monologue.

"Something is amiss in Dimmsdale," he replied. They were disguised as bloodhounds with their noses to the ground. At least, Anti Cosmo's nose was to the ground. Anti Wanda was sniffing leftover food from Italian restaurant and veered off in that direction. Anti Cosmo stifled a growl.

"Does it go with garlic bread?" Anti Wanda said. Anti Cosmo refrained from banging his head into the wall.

"No, my dear," he said and rolled his eyes. "It goes with all the fairies in Dimmsdale, particularly our counterparts."

"Oh," Anti Wanda said. Her tail twitched and she launched herself after the dumpster. Anti Cosmo stood and waited for her. It was a shame anti fairies were required to marry each other and intermarriage was frowned upon. Another example of Fairy World's rank prejudice. For almost ten thousand years, he'd been chained to an idiot because Wanda was. He loved her, because if he truly hated her he'd have ridded himself of her long ago, but it was tolerance rather than passion.

"Then what's the point?" Anti Wanda called, her voice muffled through the steel.

"The point, my dear, is that if something truly awful is going on, we want in on it," he said.

Wanda awoke with a sharp cry and looked around her. Doombringer was standing over the net and her body ceased feeling like it wanted to expel her. Too weak to do much more than look up at her captor, she relaxed her body against the tight ropes and winced at the net. When she got out of here, she was burning every single butterfly net she laid her hands on.

"Juandissimo's not back yet," she said. "It's morning. I don't suppose you know where he is."

Wanda didn't have enough energy to be snarky. "No."

"Hmm," Doombringer said. "You're going to need more energy than that in order to pass the trials I've set for you."

She blinked and Doombringer hauled her out with another butterfly net. Dropping her onto the floor, Wanda rested for a second. Strength ebbed back into her and she craned her neck to stare around the room. There wasn't much to look at. The butterfly net was part of an indentation in the floor and aside from the hole and the door, the room was barren.

"How do you feel about Remy Buxaplenty?"

Wanda shook her head.

"You don't know him? I doubt that," she scoffed. "I know more than you think, Wanda."

She knew her name. That was already too much. Wanda looked askance and missed Cosmo, Timmy, and her wand, in that order. She'd even settle for a marriage joke with Cosmo beside her and her wand in her hand.

"You know him," she said. "And if you don't, you will. I'm allowing you a rare treat- you can watch me challenge Remy and see how I reward him for doing well. If you find it to your liking, you'll finally agree to help me. If you don't…I have a little idea about how Fairy World wipes memories thanks to listening in on Timmy and Tootie this morning. I'd like to test my theory."

She grinned and Wanda shuddered, cold all over.

"Although first, I suppose I should feed you," she said in a derisive tone, as if feeding Wanda was hardly necessary. "And then we can go to work."