"I failed her," said Balthazar.

Back at the Arcana Cabana Dave looked at his Master and father pityingly. He held an ice pack against his head and Becky rested his hand on her shoulder.

"There was nothing you could have done," he said.

"I could have done everything," snapped Balthazar, "Now she's gone. And let's take a look at our situation. They have the Rising. They have Veronica. They have your ring. Can you do magic without your ring? Can you Dave?"

Dave looked away, ashamed. He had tried as soon as he found out it was gone. It had been the first time in ten years when he hadn't been able to perform magic.

"I didn't think so," said Balthazar, "Damn it!"

He pounded his fist on the table. From underneath it Tank yelped and started whimpering. Dave jumped back, as did Becky. Balthazar sighed.

"I'm sorry Dave," He said, cradling his head in his hands, "I shouldn't have done that. I…she's gone again."

He nodded, though he couldn't even begin to understand what Balthazar was feeling. He'd waited centuries to have Veronica back. Now she had been taken from him again. And unlike before, he didn't have any clear way to get her back. It wasn't a matter of waiting anymore. It was a matter of fervent and hopeless prayer.

"I'm sure she's fighting her Dave," Balthazar said, "It's not in Veronica's nature to give up. But she thought that we'd be able to save her if given time. That's why she did it; not because she's some martyr. Because she was depending on us, on me."

"It's alright," said Dave in what he hoped was a soothing tone, "I know it looks bad, but we'll get her back."

"Dave, Morgana's taken over her by now," he said, "It's going to take some sort of miracle for us to even get near them."

"I know where they're going to be though," Dave said, "They had a map of Battery Park. It looked like they were planning on doing the Rising there."

Balthazar took his head out of his hands. He got up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Dave.

"To stop Morgana," Balthazar said, pausing at the door.

"Well then I'm coming with you!" Dave said, getting out of his seat and striding up to where Balthazar stood.

"You don't have any magic Dave," said Balthazar, giving him a sad smile, "You won't last a minute."

He put both of his hands on Dave's shoulders.

"I'm not telling you this to express disapproval," he said, "But I've lost one person I care about tonight. I'm not losing another."

Dave stared at him and swallowed. Balthazar gave a side glance at Becky. With that same sad smile from earlier he said;

"No one knows how much time we have to spend with the people we love. Make the most of yours Dave."

Without another word Balthazar turned on his heel. Dave watched him leave the room before closing his eyes tightly. Becky walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. Gratefully he leaned into the comforting warmth and contact that she offered. She rested her head on his neck and kissed the side of his jaw.

"It's going to be alright," she said.

"No, it won't," said Dave, "I was their one hope. And now I can't do magic anymore. I've depended on it to make me someone all these years and now…now I'm not anything!"

"Dave," Becky said, turning him in her arms and facing him, "You have never been nothing. Even before you showed me faeries you gave me your friendship. The way Balthazar tells it you were brave enough to stand up to Horvath when you were only ten. You've always been something. You're kind and gentle, a genius at physics, and… and…"

She swallowed.

"And the man I love," she said.

He leaned down and gave her a fierce kiss. Dave held her tighter, feeling the world crashing down around him. If nothing else he wanted to end this night, perhaps his last night on earth, with her in his arms and the taste of her on his tongue. Her lip gloss was sweet and smooth, feeling perfect with her soft lips.

They parted, panting but still holding her close to him.

"I love you too Becky," he said, "I…"

He trailed off, something tickling his brain.

"Becky, your lip gloss," said Dave.

She frowned.

"What about it?"

"It's cherry," he said, "The same cherry you used on the day I showed you my…my Tesla Coils."

A thought occurred to him and he stood up straighter.

"I know how to beat Horvath," he said, "No magic."

.

.

.

Drake looked up at the positioned satellite above him. He generally liked high places; they were always the set of his most interesting performances. If not for the what he was doing then he knew he'd enjoy himself immensely. He'd been set to get the satellites ready for the Rising. Horvath had checked him and set him to guarding them, making sure that nothing went wrong.

Horvath, of course, took it for granted that Drake was a willing slave. He thought he was another mindless Morganian drone. However, Drake had once been a Merlinian. True enough he'd been trained by a poor Merlinian. Now that he'd seen what real Morganians were like though, he felt like he fit more with the poor Merlinians than poor Morganians.

He sat down and took his old Incantus out of his pocket. In recent years he'd had few uses for it. As soon as he'd made his switch to Morganian the spells had changed a little bit. However, it seemed to be the same other than that. So he hadn't really read it, preferring to go with what felt right. Now though, now he felt that he should probably do some reading.