Also Titled: Someone Finally Tells Arthur the Plot
Arthur moaned softly as he woke up. He tried to reach up and clutch his head but he couldn't move his arms for some reason.
"Hey ugly, wake up!" a small voice said in his ear before some water was thrown on his face.
Arthur gasped in shock and blinked rapidly to dispel the water from his eyes. He looked to his side and saw several brownies watching him. Glancing up he could see it was nighttime. He then looked down and realized that he and Tino were tied down. He grunted and tried to break the twine holding him. This spooked the brownies and they jumped back.
A white haired brownie poked him with his spear, "Stand your ground you unawesome cowards! He's our prisoner."
Arthur looked over at Tino, who was awakening. "Where's the baby?!" he hissed.
A small light appeared in the trees, so faint that at first Arthur thought it was a star. A woman's voice echoed around the forest. "Bring the Nelwyns to me."
The dark haired brownie, the one who'd ridden the eagle and obviously the leader of the group, jumped onto Arthur's stomach and clapped his hands. "You heard her!" The rest of them began dragging Arthur and Tino across the forest floor. Now that he was closer, Arthur could see that the tiny menace was uncommonly clean and well dressed in his fur clothing and had a mole on his chin.
"What's going on?" Arthur demanded.
The brownie held up his staff threateningly, "Shut up or I'll break your nose!" He looked at them haughtily. "You are mine to toy with."
"Where did you get that baby?"
The brownie laughed, "I stole it from a stupid Daikini!"
The woman's voice returned, a bit more testily. "Roderich! Release the Nelwyns, and stop pestering them for goodness sake!"
"Uh oh," Roderich muttered. The brownies cut the ropes and Arthur scrambled to his feet. He glared at the brownies so fiercely that they ran for cover in the trees.
The light got bigger and brighter. Arthur squinted as a filmy mist surrounded them. "Welcome to my kingdom," the woman said, though Arthur and Tino still couldn't see her. Faeries appeared and circled around the Nelwyns' heads. One even kissed Arthur on the nose before zipping away.
The mist gathered into a single column then finally dispelled to reveal a tall, beautiful woman with wavy brown hair bedecked in pink flowers. A pearly white dress covered her tall frame and two wings could be seen on her back. She smiled at the Nelwyns and said, "I'm so happy to see you, Arthur Kirkland."
Arthur blinked in shock. "How do you know my name?" he asked.
"Lilli Zwingli told me."
Before Arthur could ask who Lilli Zwingli was the woman drifted to a large tree with a hollow trunk. Arthur gasped when he saw the baby lying at the base of the tree but restrained himself from running over and grabbing her. "Lilli? Lilli, Arthur is here," the woman cooed. Lilli turned her head and smiled at Arthur. Wait...
"But… she's just a baby," Arthur whispered in disbelief.
"She's very special. My Brownies have been searching for her ever since we heard she was born." The woman raised a hand to Arthur, "Lilli Zwingli has chosen you to be her guardian." As she spoke Lilli floated into the air and came to rest in Arthur's arms.
Arthur looked down at her. "Me?"
"Yes. She likes you," the woman laughed. "And Lilli Zwingli knows you have the courage to help us." Arthur watched the woman pull what looked to be a knotted stick out of her sleeve. "Take my wand to the sorcerer, Lukas Bondevik. He will guide you and Lilli Zwingli to the kingdom of Tir Asleen, where a good king and queen will look after her."
He was reaching for it when Arthur abruptly came to his senses. He shrank back in protest. "You need a warrior for a job like this. I'm nobody!" He looked back down at the infant. "Lilli, you don't want me!" Lilli just smiled and gurgled. Arthur tried his luck with the faerie queen, "Tell her! I'm short, even for a Nelwyn." The lady's face grew somber and she disappeared before his eyes.
"Hello?" Arthur called. The sudden descent of darkness made his vision blurry.
The faeries became agitated and flew off as their queen reappeared, even larger and more serious. "Lilli Zwingli must survive! She must fulfill her destiny and bring about the downfall of King Ivan, whose powers are growing like an evil plague. Unless he is stopped, Ivan will control the lives of your village, your children – everyone." Arthur bit his lip and tried to banish the thought of Peter and Michelle as slaves to a tyrant. The queen slowly backed away and left him with these words, "All creatures of good heart need your help, Arthur. The choice is yours." She faded away and the clearing darkened as the remaining faeries left. Arthur stared at the wand she'd left while Tino looked at his friend sympathetically but stayed quiet. What could he have said anyway?
Arthur was up early the next morning, pacing back and forth while thinking about his limited options. He finally came to a decision and shook Tino awake. "Hey, Tino. Wake up!" His friend sat up with a yawn and he continued, "It's time to go home."
Tino sat up straighter and smiled. "Home?" Arthur nodded. Tino laughed and ran to their packs. Arthur watched him quietly for a while,
"Listen, Tino. Tell Francine I love her-" Tino whipped around to stare at him. "-And I think of her every day."
Tino finally realized what he meant. "Arthur…"
"And tell her I'm not going to let anything happen to the baby."
His friend studied him. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
A nervous laugh escaped. "I hope so."
Tino pulled him into a hug, "Be careful," he urged. Arthur nodded clapped him on the back in farewell.
Arthur rolled his eyes as his two Brownie guides got into another argument. It was barely midday and he'd lost track of how many times they'd squabbled. Apparently the faerie queen had appointed the white haired brownie, whose name was Gilbert, and that annoying one from before, Roderich, to be his guides. Not only that but they were much faster that himself and they often complained about him being so slow. Hmph, why don't they try carrying Lilli through this blasted forest for a change, he thought angrily. He finally caught up to them when they stopped to argue on a log.
"I know zhe vay, Roderich!" Gilbert huffed.
"You alvays zhink you know zhe vay. I am zhe leader!" Roderich countered.
Arthur sighed and asked, "How long will it take to find Lukas?"
Gilbert grinned and hopped over a knot in the log, pointing to the mountain range ahead of them. "Not long. He's been exiled to an island just over zhose hills."
"He's what?!" Arthur gaped.
"Exiled. By zhe evil king Ivan!" Gilbert laughed wickedly at Arthur's shocked expression.
Roderich stomped over to the troublemaker. "Gilbert, you fool! He doesn't need to know everyzhing!"
The white haired Brownie pouted. "I didn't tell him everyzhing."
Roderich walked past him and waved him off. "You told him enough."
"Vhat did I say?"
"You mentioned the island, you mentioned the king-"
"So?" Gilbert countered
Arthur held up a hand, "Wait a minute!" They, of course, ignored him. Roderich lost his balance and fell off the log, taking Gilbert with him. Arthur towered over them and placed his hands on his hips."What do you mean? What are you saying, "mysterious island"?" He waved his hands and the wand sparked at the end. The Brownies leapt back in alarm and Roderich held up his hands .
"Don't play vith zhat vand! Zhe queen told you it had vast powers!" Gilbert nodded in agreement but Arthur snorted, she'd told him no such thing!
"Only a great sorcerer can use it, not a stupid peck like you!" Gilbert cackled again like it was the funniest thing in the world. Arthur growled; to be called a peck by creatures ten times smaller than him! Roderich smiled triumphantly and pointed in the direction they'd just gone. "Zhis vay."
Gilbert disagreed. "No, no, no. I don't zhink so." Roderich paused and tried another direction.
"Nope!" Gilbert hooted before pointing straight ahead. "Zhis vay!"
"Zhis vay?!" Roderich paused again before nodding and looking at Arthur. "Ve go zhis vay."
"That's vhat I said." Gilbert muttered about how some people had no sense of direction.
Arthur looked at Roderich doubtfully. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
The Brownie waved his concern aside. "Of course! Vith us as your guides no harm vill befall you."
Arthur had a feeling he would regret believing him.
The funniest thing about this, for me at least, is the fact that when I was writing this I totally forgot that Austria had a bad sense of direction. Yeah! It wasn't until Jywy edited this chapter and pointed it out to me that I realized just how serendipitous this was. Honestly, the only reason I had Austria and Prussia be Franjean and Rool was because they make a good comedy duo. *facedesk*
Anyway, we've finally reached our main quest! Huzzah!