Chapter 29: Proposition
As everyone looked down at Warren, Kendra rubbed her hand along his smooth, immobilized onyx face.
"Will he be all right?" asked Kendra.
"I don't know," replied the Fairy Queen. I'm not detecting any signs of life from Warren, be they positive or negative."
"Couldn't you use the Omega Star to fix him?" asked Seth.
"It's too risky," said the Fairy Queen. "For one thing, Warren may already be dead, in which case the Omega Star would be useless in stopping him. Or, if he is still alive, his soul has been consumed by darkness, in which case the Omega Star would be unable to restore him."
"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Clover.
"Clover, while I may be your queen, and while I may possess great power, I am by no means an expert in magical remedies. I think our best bet would be to let some experienced specialists look into this. Hopefully they will be able to find a solution to all this."
"But, what if they can't?" asked Raxtus.
"Then I'm afraid we might not be able to help Warren at all."
There was pause of complete silence, as everyone kept to themselves, pondering over Warren's fate.
"Is this it?" asked Seth.
"Well, we've stopped Matthew and Hespera," replied Bright. "And for that matter, Khaarupt as well. Looks like the threat we've been up against is no more."
"My goodness," said the Fairy Queen, looking at Seth. "With all the commotion that just went on, I must ask. Seth Sorenson. Why are you a... dragon?"
"It was a potion," replied Seth, looking over his body. "I tried to get an advantage against against Matthew and Hespera when they shrunk us, so..."
"They shrunk you?" asked the Fairy Queen. "What went on?"
"I think we've got quite a bit of catching up to do," said Bright. "But right now, our best option would be to return to Fablehaven. Where's the Translocator?"
"Uh, Warren had it last," said Kendra, looking at the bag that was strapped around Warren's neck. Like the rest of his possessions, the bag itself had turned to solid onyx.
"I can't get it open," said Clover, attempting to open the bag with her hands. Being made of solid crystal, the flap of the bag wouldn't budge.
"Let me try something," said the Fairy Queen, as she waved her hands over the bag. A few seconds later, the Translocator appeared in her hands.
"It's all right!" said Seth. "I thought for a second it would've been turned to onyx, because when Warren was turned to stone by Oblivion, he was holding the Translocator, and it turned to stone as well.
"I think that the Translocator was never in any danger," said Bright. "The dark power of Khaarupt couldn't have affected the Translocator, seeing as how it's an inanimate object with no free will, separate from Warren."
"Works for me," said Seth. "As long as it's still functional."
"Well, let's get back to Fablehaven first," said Bright. "See if the place is even still in one piece."
The Fairy Queen nodded, then twisted the Translocator. Everyone placed their hand onto the artifact, and Raxtus made sure to not only hold onto Warren, but to place one of his hands on the Translocator just in case he was still considered a passenger.
At that moment, everyone was pulled in to the Translocator, just before instantaneously emerging in the yard at Fablehaven.
Everyone looked around at their surroundings. The house was still in ruins, and a great number of the surrounding trees had been destroyed, with only a small few still standing.
"Where is everyone?" asked Geminus.
"They're probably out exploring," answered Bright.
"Guys?" asked a familiar voice from nearby.
The group was then drawn to a small tent that had been set up nearby, which they failed to notice at first. Having just emerged from within the tent was none other than Dale.
"Dale!" gasped Kendra, as she ran up to her cousin and gave him a firm hug.
"Kendra," said Dale assuredly, "is everybody all right?"
"We won!" blurted Seth with confidence. "We stopped Matthew and Hespera!"
Before Dale could say another word, Vanessa suddenly wandered out of the tent.
"Vanessa!" gasped Geminus, as she bolted over towards her hatchling, scooped her up into her arms and hugged her securely.
Raxtus walked up to Geminus and received Vanessa from her, then hugged his daughter as well. "I'm so glad you're safe."
"Hold on a second," said Dale. "Where's my brother? Where's Warren?"
Bright and Clover directed Dale's attention over to the onyx statue that they had brought with them. Dale's mouth dropped in horror.
"Dale," said Bright. "We're sorry. But something terrible happened."
Dale placed his hand on Warren's crystal cheek and rubbed it softly. "You can't... fix him?"
The Fairy Queen shook her head. "I really don't know."
Dale hugged Warren's immobile body and began to cry.
"We're not giving up on Warren," said Bright. "He's not dead. I hope."
"If only it were that easy," said Dale. "Seems like only yesterday he was still catatonic." Dale then wiped some tears from his eyes. "Please help him, fairies."
Once Dale got over mourning his brother, Kendra spoke up.
"Is this a safe spot on the preserve?" asked Kendra.
Dale nodded. "Stan called in some experts from the Knights of the Dawn, and they've managed to reinstate the magical boundaries throughout Fablehaven, so all the creatures have been forced to return to their proper homes. Since this is technically the yard, no hazardous creatures are allowed here."
"Where are the others?" asked Seth.
They're just out doing head counts on all the creatures. Making sure everyone is in check."
"Dale," said Kendra. "I thought Nero had Vanessa. How'd they ever get her back from him?"
"Stan bartered with him. Didn't take too much convincing given that this is Nero of all trolls. See, Vanessa may be a dragon, but she's also just a baby. And I don't think Nero was too keen on babysitting Vanessa for years and years before she grows into an adult. So, Nero gave her back on account that Stan would pay him back with something bigger and better."
"Like what?" asked Kendra.
"I don't know. Maybe a larger, more mature dragon?"
"Oh no," said Raxtus. "I don't care what Stan told Nero. Neither Geminus nor myself are going back to Nero to take his place."
"I don't know what exactly it was that Stan promised him," said Dale. "But I wouldn't worry about it. Nero had no right abducting Vanessa in the first place."
"We should try to meet up with the others," said the Fairy Queen. "Any idea where they are?"
Dale shook his head. "They're out there, somewhere. I'd be with them too, except that I volunteered to stay behind to keep an eye on Vanessa."
"We gotta find them!" said Seth.
"Leave that to us," said Raxtus, as he and Geminus finally placed Vanessa back down on the ground. "We'll get their attention in no time. Come on, Geminus!"
Raxtus and Geminus assumed their take-off stances, began flapping their wings, then leaped up into the air, flying off into the distance.
"Why didn't they ask us to go with them?" asked Kendra.
"There's a quite a few people out there" replied Dale. "The more space they've got, the better."
Dale then looked over at Warren again. "You sure nothing could fix him? Not even the Omega Star?"
"Unless we can figure out the specifics of Warren's condition, the Omega Star still might not work," replied the Fairy Queen. But I'd do anything to help you, Dale. You've treated my subjects very well for years. We just need to do some research before we go venturing into this whole ordeal headfirst."
"I understand," said Dale.
Within only a few minutes, Raxtus and Geminus returned, now accompanied by Bracken in his unicorn form. Once they landed on the ground, Grandpa and Grandma got off of Bracken, Mrs. and Mrs. Sorenson got off Raxtus, while Lance, David and Trask got off of Geminus.
"Is everybody all right?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.
"Well, almost everybody," said Seth, directing everyone's attention to Warren.
"Oh lord," gasped Grandpa. "Normally, this is the point where I'd invite everybody inside, except that right now... there is no house to go inside of."
The Fairy Queen waved her hands around, causing a number of chairs, enough for everyone to sit in, to appear. As everyone sat down, Kendra melted right into her seat; she had not been able to sit down properly since they were at the airport in Cairo.
"Where are all the creatures?" asked Clover. "Where are all the fairies?"
"Most of the damage to Fablehaven occurred around the house," replied Grandpa. "The fairies that were here have relocated."
"Temporarily," replied Bracken. "They said they'll gladly come back once the garden is restored."
"Please," said Grandma. "Tell us about your side of the story."
Kendra, Seth, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all took turns relaying their escapade back to the others. From their airport stakeouts to their pyramid confrontation, the travelers made sure to mention everything they had been through. Once they got to the part where they were talking about Khaarupt, the story was stopped by Grandpa.
"I'm sorry, but while I've heard legends of upon legends of mystical creatures and entities, I've never heard of this... Khaarupt."
"Neither did we," said Kendra. "Even Warren hadn't."
"We truly had no idea what you were up against," said Trask. "I'm aware of the risks that we're always taking, but to unknowingly set you up against something so malicious, I'm sorry. I knew it was inevitable, but I couldn't fathom the danger that was actually at hand."
The group continue to explain how Khaarupt had taken over Warren, and how they were no match for him, even with Kendra's Fairyprime form, until the Fairy Queen arrived.
"Excuse me," said Grandma, but Kendra became Fairyprime back here at Fablehaven before she was captured by Matthew and Hespera. If you were able to sense her transformation in Egypt, why not here? We could've used you back then."
"When Matthew and Hespera ravaged the grounds of Fablehaven, they left a dark essence in their path. It shrouded any detection I could've received of Kendra assuming her Fairyprime form."
The group went on to conclude the rest of their story, stopping at the part where they explained how Kendra's rainbow eradicated Khaarupt from existence, leaving behind an onyx Warren.
Everyone looked over at Warren, who was being held in an upright position by Raxtus.
"I... will see what we can do about Warren," said the Fairy Queen, as she turned to face Grandpa. "Mr. Sorenson, if you now have things under control, I will now return to the Fairy Kingdom to assemble the five keepers of the instruments of eternal power. I won't be gone very long."
The Fairy Queen then raised her arms and vanished in a flash of light.
"Now what?" asked Seth.
"Well," said Grandma, "restoring Fablehaven by hand will be a very time consuming job. "I say we wait for the Fairy Queen to return so that we can fix everything using the Omega Star."
Several minutes later, the Fairy Queen returned, holding the Omega Star in her hands, and was accompanied by the five fairy keepers. The five keepers greeted everybody, while Bright and Bracken's sisters were pleased to see their siblings again.
"Wow," said Brook, gazing around, "this place has been... ravaged."
"It's been long enough," said the Fairy Queen, grasping the Omega Star firmly. "I wish to restore Fablehaven back to the way it was, before Matthew and Hespera arrived."
The Omega Star shimmered brilliantly, engulfing the whole area in a blinding flash of multicolored light. Once the light faded away, everyone looked around at what had changed.
Fablehaven was now back to normal. It appeared to be completely unscathed. The house was standing, the garden now looked like a garden again, and all the trees and bushes, from what everyone could see, were full and luscious, despite the late autumn weather that all of New England was currently experiencing.
"Is it all better now?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.
"I imagine so," said the Fairy Queen. "Although it may not fulfill every wish, the ones it does do are always done right."
"It feels like something is missing," said Tiara. "Different from when I was last at Fablehaven."
"The fairies," said Dale. "Even though Fablehaven has been seemingly restored, most of the fairies are still out and about."
"Allow me to remedy that," said the Fairy Queen, looking down at the Omega Star. "I wish for all the fairies that have scattered around Fablehaven to return to this very spot."
Suddenly, a small fairy appeared in a flash of light near the Fairy Queen. It was followed by the arrival of several more fairies, all of whom appeared in the same fashion in quick succession. Within just seconds, dozens upon dozens of fairies kept appearing, finally stopping once their total had gone over one hundred by a fair bit.
Appearing to look somewhat confused, the small fairies all looked around in distress. However, the moment they noticed the Fairy Queen, each and every last small fairy flew down to the ground and bowed before their Queen.
"My children," said the Fairy Queen. "All of you. My family. My daughters."
Bracken proceeded to clear his throat.
"And son. Let it be known that Fablehaven has gone back to the way it was. And while it was restored through the power of the Omega Star, a proper congratulations is in order for the Knights of the Dawn. For you see, they did not have access to the Omega Star, and overcame the odds against two very powerful sorcerers. I apologize for not being able to have helped them before this whole ordeal blew over. I am also sorry for what has happened to experienced Knight of the Dawn Warren Burgess. As you can see, he has been reduced to an onyx statue during this debacle.
The fairies turned their attention over towards Warren, gazing at him in awe.
"How... peculiar," said Brillia, walking over towards Warren. "I am detecting a bleak, yet positive energy emitting from Warren's body. "Something's still going on inside of him. He isn't dead."
"Then heal him," said Kendra. "Please!"
"All right," said the Fairy Queen. "I wish that Warren was back to normal."
The Omega Star didn't respond.
"What's going on?" asked Clover. "Why didn't it work?"
"I don't know," said Brillia. "It's almost as though he's dead. But if he was dead dead, I wouldn't have been able to sense any energy from him."
"Well, what do you propose we do with him?" asked Bravia. "If the Omega Star couldn't save him, what can?"
"We should take Warren with us back to the Fairy Kingdom,"said Brillia. "Maybe there we can evaluate his condition more thoroughly and reach a conclusion."
"I'm sorry," said Seth, hanging his head down low. "This whole thing... is my fault. I just wanted to help Zavarok. And, while he never actually did anything evil himself, look where it got us... Now I'm a dragon and..."
"I should really fix that already," said the Fairy Queen. "I wish that Seth would turn back into a human being."
Everyone watched in awe as Seth started to transmogrify back into his human body. His claws turned back into hands, his talons into shoes, while his snout retreated back into his face. Lastly, his horns, wings and tail melted back into his body.
"You're back!" cried Mrs. Sorenson, hugging her son.
"Mom," said Seth, "being a dragon wasn't that bad. But, about Zavarok. All of this happened because of him. He's a demon... and I know he claims to be good..."
"Wait a minute," said Bright. "When Kendra destroyed Khaarupt with that rainbow, Matthew and Hespera vanished along with him. But Warren's body remained, and Brillia claims that there's still some trace of life within it."
"What does this have to do with anything?" asked Opal.
"Warren survived, because deep down inside, he wasn't a dark being by nature like the others. So, if Zavarok were to survive an onslaught of light energy, it might prove that he is not a bad guy after all."
"But he's still a demon," said David. "Even if he means no harm. He'll be finished."
"And a moot point at that," said Grandma. "From what Seth told us, Zavarok is dead and in the Netherworld."
"That's not fair," said Seth. "He only died because... because..."
"You claimed it was Umbriel's presence that did him in after he had already been weakened," said Grandpa. "Unable to survive in this world, his decaying soul was pulled through to the Netherworld. As he was clinging on to you as a dragon, you were dragged in with him, despite not being dead yourself."
"Well, I made it out," said Seth.
"Yes, but we've theorized that it was because A: You're not a demon, and B: you weren't really dead."
"Is there a chance Zavarok survived?" asked Seth. "If he was trying to stay alive using my life force, then got pulled in to the Netherworld by accident?"
"It's unlikely," said the Fairy Queen. "Although, given what happened with you, it's possible he didn't truly die."
"Then, could you consider giving Zavarok another chance?" asked Seth.
"What are you saying?" asked the Fairy Queen.
"I have a proposition. Attempt to recall Zavarok from the netherworld. If it works, and he can prove that he's not evil, maybe pass a test, then we'll help him. If not, he can be sent back to the Netherworld and we'll never have to worry about him again."
Everybody then looked at Seth as though he were crazy.