Chapter 11: Consequences
Seth had curled up into a ball, and was nestled against the lamp upon the far corner of the desk. Although he had not fallen asleep, he had exhausted himself from his voyage. He needed rest, and with no way to immediately contact Kendra or Warren, did not know how to continue beyond simply waiting for several hours.
Over on the other end of the desk, Seth could see Lance and David curled up together. He envied them. Now that Zavarok had been freed from David, the two boys could truly embrace in their own brotherly love. Seth couldn't help but admit he was jealous. He was a lone shadow charmer in world full of good-hearted mortals and fairies alike.
Not too far from Lance and David was Raxtus. He too was alone. Seth thought to himself. He wanted to think of himself as a friend of Raxtus, but after today, he could hardly be considered anything but. He felt terrible, forcibly using Raxtus to fulfill his own desires. Seth meant well, but it was possible things had become far worse than they should've been due to his meddling.
Just then, the four rats were startled by the sound of the doorknob being jostled.
"Get up!" exclaimed Seth. "Somebody's coming!"
Seth looked up and saw that the computer was still turned on, and that whomever entered the office was very likely to find them.
"They're taking their sweet time getting the door open," said David, pointing out that the doorknob continued to rustle.
"Is it Warren?" asked Lance.
"Could be a thief," said Seth, staring at the door. "When he comes through the door, you can ask him."
They then heard a click sound, and the door swung open. Standing on the other side, were Kendra, Warren and Geminus, having assumed her fairy form.
"Seth?" asked Warren, surveying the room.
"Geminus claimed to have sensed them in here," said Kendra.
The four rats got up and walked to the front of the desk, where they stood up on their hind legs.
"Seth?" asked Kendra, looking down at the rats. "Seth" held up his paw.
"This has to be them," said Geminus, flying over to Raxtus. "This rat is my Raxtus."
"You guys can't speak to us, can you?" asked Warren. The rats shook their heads in response.
"I just want to know how this happened," said Kendra. "We should turn them back to normal."
"I don't know if that's possible right now," said Warren. "Geminus and Ariel only possess so much power. We've been instructed to bring them back to Fablehaven, where transformation magic can be performed more readily."
Warren produced a small pouch from his bag. "It's not much, but you guys'll have to travel around in this on the way back."
Warren placed the pouch sideways upon the desktop, prompting the rats to crawl inside. It was dank inside the pouch, which Seth assumed was made of felt upon feeling it firsthand. Seth felt as Warren picked up the pouch, causing him and the other rats to sway together in unison as it moved around.
The top of the pouch had been left open, allowing the passengers to look out, should they choose to stare directly upwards. Soon Warren began to move, and the rats all looked up out of curiosity. Although Seth was unable to see what was going on, he sensed that Kendra and Warren cleaned up the office as best they could.
They watched as Warren made his way out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Soon, they entered a stairwell, and could feel the movement Warren made with every step he took, as well as when he turned around to the next flight of stairs.
Moments later, they emerged onto the roof of the building. "All right, Geminus," said Kendra. "You can turn back into a dragon now."
"Okay," said Geminus, as she fluttered down to the floor before Kendra and Warren. She then spurted up in size, transforming back into her pink dragon form. Warren and Kendra then climbed onto Geminus' back, and the dragon took flight, soaring off through the city.
As they were unable to communicate with the others, the four rats waited persistently inside the pouch, all scrunched together due to their limited confinement. Time passed slowly, and without a clock of some nature to keep track of anything, Seth had no idea how much time had truly passed, or how much actually remained.
After a lengthy wait, Seth could feel Geminus descending down through the sky. Soon, she landed on the ground, coming to a complete stop. Seth could now sense Warren carrying the pouch around, but had no idea where he was taking him.
"Here they are," said Warren, lowering the pouch down to ground, urging the rats to climb out. As Seth crawled out of the bag, he stepped between several blades of grass, which were now practically as tall as he was, at least when he stood on all fours.
Seth looked up through the grass. He was back home at Fablehaven! And standing before him were the rest of his family and friends! He was safe!
"That's Seth?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, pointing down to the rat that was actually Raxtus.
"No, thankfully," said Geminus. "Although at this point, it wouldn't really make much difference."
"Please," said Kendra, facing Bright and Clover. "Please turn them back to normal."
"Of course," said Bright, as she and Clover stood before the four rats, towering over them in comparison. The two fairy angels held out their hands, all their fingers spread out. Magical sparkles, rainbow-colored ones from Bright, green from Clover, emitted from the undersides of their hands, flowing over the four rats like snowflakes.
Almost instantly, Raxtus began to glow in a rainbow-like aura of colors. He quickly backed away from the other rats, but suddenly ballooned back into being a dragon. He let out a sigh in relief.
A few seconds later, Lance and David shot up into their human forms at roughly the same time. They too examined their bodies and were relieved to see the results.
Meanwhile, Seth, still a rat, could feel fairy magic surging through his body. He had now been engulfed in the fairies' sparkles, but they didn't seem to having any effect on him.
"What's wrong with Seth?" asked Mr. Sorenson.
"We're trying," said Clover hesitantly. "Let's give it some more force!"
Everyone watched as Bright and Clover's magic flowed out at a faster pace. Finally, Seth began to grow back into his human form as well. His proper self once again, he let out a guilty smile.
"I don't get it," said Clover, staring at her hands. "Why did Seth take so much longer?"
"Must be his shadow charmer prowess conflicting with our light magic." said Bright. "It'd explain why Raxtus regressed so quickly, because he's a fairy dragon."
"SETH ANDREW SORENSON," said Mrs. Sorenson, a fierce frown etched upon her face. "WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?"
"Oh boy," said Raxtus, snarling in Seth's direction. "Where do I begin?"
"I think we need to have a little talk," said Grandpa. "But before we get started with that, have you boys eaten lately?"
"We split a chocolate bar a while ago," said Seth. "But we could really go for a proper dinner."
"Me too!" snapped Raxtus. "I'm starving!"
"Poor thing," said Bright, as she used her magic to conjure up a small pile of linked sausages before Raxtus. The fairy dragon immediately dove right into the pile.
"Come inside," said Grandpa, directing everyone inside and into the living room, where they all seated themselves. "Now please. First tell us about that note. David has a demon residing within him?"
"Well, not anymore," said David. "He's out of me, now."
"And not just any demon," continued Grandpa. "But Zavarok. The twin brother of Navarog?"
David gulped. "Yeah."
"I've never even heard of this Zavarok before in my life." said Grandma. "I wouldn't just trust some random demon, ever! Especially if he claims to be Navarog's twin of all things! How stupid can you get?"
"Would you please listen to me?" exclaimed David.
"As far as I'm concerned..." began Grandpa.
Kendra blew a loud whistle with her fingers, prompting everyone to stop talking. "Okay, we're not going to get anywhere by yelling at each other," she said. "I'm not keen on this whole situation myself, but we should at least let the boys explain themselves. Once they're done, then we can bombard them with questions. David let's start with you. What's the deal with Zavarok?"
David proceeded to explain the story he had told Seth the previous night, in how Zavarok was Navarog's twin, but was actually a good-hearted demon.
"A good-hearted demon?" asked Bright. "There's no such thing. That demon is a liar. They all are."
"Bright, please let him finish," said Kendra. "Let's hear him out."
"Look, I don't know what the deal with Zavarok is, but he claims to be a good demon," said David. "I'm not that familiar with demons all that much myself, but that's what he's told me."
David then explained how Zavarok had possessed him, and mentioned how he still had control over his own body, even with a demon residing in it. He also explained that he didn't know of a solution to his problem, and was afraid to ask for help, thinking he, and possibly Zavarok, might be heavily punished for something wasn't even his fault in the first place. He then went on to explain how he overheard of Seth being a shadow charmer, as well as the Omega Star and figured that they might be a solution to his problem.
"I figured that if I could trust anyone with my demon problem, it would be someone with a connection to demons. And maybe, just maybe, he could use the Omega Star to help Zavarok."
"I think I've heard enough," said Grandpa. "As for you, Seth. Tell us about your little excursion today."
"Well, this whole thing took me by surprise," said Seth. "I didn't know about any of this until David told me last night. I was shocked, believe me. But I wanted to help him. I don't know why, but something just came over me. I believed his story, and could relate to being possessed by a demon myself. I too was unsure if the rest of you would be willing to help, or if you'd oppose us in some way."
"So how'd you rope poor Raxtus into all of this?" asked Grandma.
Seth made a big swallow. I assumed that no one would help us if I asked properly, so I had Umbriel place an enchantment on him, to make him obey me. It was only going to last for a little while."
"You did what?" exclaimed Warren, crossing his arms.
"I didn't know what else to do," said Seth. "It was the easiest way of getting around I could think of."
"Is that all you see Raxtus as?" asked Kendra. "A chauffeur?"
"No!" cried Seth. "But how else were we supposed to get around. I took control of Raxtus and visited the Singing Sisters, and-"
"The Singing Sisters?" asked Grandpa. "Are you out of your mind? You still owe then a favor! I mean, they could've killed you, just showing up like that unannounced!"
"Well, Zavarok is the one who struck a deal with them," said Seth. "Not David or any of us. They're his problem now, not ours. Anyway, the Singing sisters pointed us to a witch who was capable of extracting Zavarok from David."
"What witch?" asked Grandpa sternly.
"She lived underneath Manhattan," replied Seth. "We got to her through a subway tunnel. She was tied up like Muriel used to be. Said her name was Hespera-"
"Hespera?" gasped Grandpa, his jaw dropped in awe. "Are you even remotely aware who Hespera is?"
Seth shook his head.
"Hespera was one of the founding members of the Society of the Evening Star," said Grandma.
Seth, Lance and David all gasped in awe. "Well..." muttered Seth, "how were we supposed to know?"
"Well, it's not like we expected you to find out about her under these circumstances," said Grandpa.
"Hold on," said Warren, raising his hand. "Hespera's an enemy, right? Said to be buried away underneath an island eons ago. Well, since they found her, what's to stop us from going back and dealing with her ourselves?"
"Hespera is said to be bound by a knotted rope," said Grandpa. "Like Muriel. And she should still be if Seth and the others found her."
"And let me guess," added Grandma. "You boys used up one of Hespera's knots so that she could extract Zavarok for you?"
The boys all nodded. "Well, at least it worked," chimed in David.
"Then tell us," said Grandpa. "Why had the four of you been transmogrified into rats all of a sudden? Was this Hespera's doing?"
Seth nodded, "She tricked us. See, her rope had several fake knots that she added to it. The one David blew on was her last real knot. So then she managed to turn us into rats because she'd been set free..."
"YOU DID WHAT?" shrieked Grandpa, hyperventilating in distraught.
"It was an accident!" exclaimed Seth. "We didn't know..."
"Hespera was a founder of the Society of the Evening Star. Her main desire is to take over the world!"
"She didn't seem so tough," said Lance. "What's she gonna do? Run around and start turning people into rats? Someone with a gun could just shoot her."
Grandpa sighed. "She may have been weak when you initially freed her. But a witch is nothing to scoff at. If she'd been in top form, Hespera could've done things so dreadfully unimaginable, being transformed into a rat would seem like a blessing."
"So what do we do about Hespera?" asked Seth. "After she was done with us, she just took off."
"What about Zavarok?" asked Grandpa. "You told me he had been freed from David. Then what happened to him?"
"I don't know," said Seth. "Once we got turned into rats, he just seemed to vanish. I think he followed Hespera when she left."
"Great," muttered Tanu. "Just great. "You boys just mistakenly freed a notorious, exiled witch, lost track of her, and let her run off with some demon who could very well be Navarog's equal?"
Seth stuttered. "N-n-n-not on purpose. You think I'm proud of what happened? It was scary, and dangerous, and-"
"Stupid," interrupted Kendra.
"Look, things started off okay," blurted Seth. "I managed to get us to the Singing Sisters and learned about Hespera with no problems! It wasn't until the witch tricked us with those fake knots that we screwed up!"
"Seth," said Grandpa. "In a way, you're quite intelligent. But in another way, you've also proven yourself to be rather naïve. I know that your heart is in the right place, but what you did, regardless of the outcome, was foolish. You could've been killed! And let's not forget about poor Raxtus. Why would you brainwash such a loyal friend of the family for your own selfish needs?"
"Look, we didn't know what to do!" cried Seth. "Going to you guys seemed out of the question!"
"It would've been far safer than releasing a forsaken witch and a draconic deity into the world! We would've done whatever we could've to safely extract Zavarok from David. No need to get the fairies involved with such a thing except as a last resort!"
"What would you have done with Zavarok?" asked David.
"I... don't know," replied Grandpa. "If he really is the good-natured demon you insist he is, it would be something else."
"So, what are we going to do about Hespera and Zavarok now?" asked Seth.
"You," said Grandpa, "are grounded! You're not going anywhere! You've broken our trust and caused enough trouble as it is! You are not to leave this house! Understood?"
"But, well," muttered Seth anxiously.
"And to make sure you don't go sneaking off again, we'll appoint fairies to keep an eye on you at all times. In shifts, since they cannot stay inside from dusk 'til dawn."
Seth slowly smacked his forehead. He had his reasoning, but knew that the others had worked him into a corner, and that he couldn't think of a plausible way out.
"What about Lance and David?" asked Kendra. "Where exactly do they fall in to all of this?"
Grandpa turned to face the two brothers, who were sitting together on a couch. "I don't know," he said. "Lance, I've known is trustworthy. But David, I'm not familiar with."
"Well, we're fairly certain that their parents are good folks," said Warren. "But the mystery here, is David himself."
"The Singing Sisters assured us that he was good!" exclaimed Lance. "Look, I know David better than anyone else here. The whole story about Zavarok possessing him just has to be true! Look, you guys saved my life before! I'd never do anything dishonest in return! Will you please understand that Zavarok is a separate entity from David, regardless of whether they're together or not?"
"This whole ordeal has been a pretty tough pill to swallow," noted Grandma. "I think some closer examination on David might be necessary, if only to verify that he doesn't have any hidden, dark essence within him."
"As for Seth," said Grandpa, "even though his exploits may have been performed in the name of good, he still broke many rules, and ultimately freed a witch and a demon. I'm afraid that his punishment will still be ensured. Seth, you are to head to your room immediately, and to remain there for the time being. You will come out only for meals, exercise, and to use the bathroom. Understood?"
Seth sighed. "Yes."
"Good," said Grandpa, as Seth headed upstairs. "Now, go to your room. Bright, Clover, you two elect some fairies to keep watch on Seth in shifts. He needs to be watched twenty-four seven."
"Will do," said Bright, as she and Clover nodded in agreement.