There is a vague sense of déjà vu as Xanthous stands before the Fairy Council's podiums. They circle around him in an array of colors, like a rainbow.

Only this time there is a seventh one, wedged between Tangerina's and Emerelda's. Supposedly-Other-Xanthous' eyes are narrowed as he glowers down at him. His podium shimmers yellow.

Is this all really necessary? Xanthous wonders. I mean, sure, I share the exact same name with one of them, and I also have no idea about this world's history. . .

Okay, yeah. Maybe-Maybe it's a little necessary. Just a little bit.

He notices that there are two empty chairs on the sides of the podiums. Who sits there?

He doesn't ask.

"Let's begin," Emerelda says, in that serious tone of hers. (Are the people who are supposed to sit in the chairs not important? But why have them here to begin with?) Her eyes carry that familiar stern expression, but there is no warm glow behind them. Instead, they glimmer coldy in the sunlight as she peers down at him.

Okay.

This is fine.

Everything's fine.

"First of all," Tangerina snaps, "who are you?" Emerelda shoots her a warning glare, and the orange fairy appears to gather herself into a more composed manner. The anger-is it anger? Fire, more like-does not leave her eyes.

"I-Xanthous, ma'am." His eyes flick towards the ground. "My name is Xanthous. . . Hayfield." He hesitates as he says his surname.

When he looks up again, he is met with expressions with varying degrees of 'bullshit' written into them. He can't really blame them, at any rate.

"I'm not lying," he insists. But how to prove it? He doesn't know. He shuffles his feet awkwardly.

(Maybe he should tell them about the Book of Sorcery? They have to know what it is, right?)

(Worth a shot.)

Xanthous sucks in a breath. "Look," he begins, "I don't-I don't know what's happening." Not anymore than you do at least. "All I know is that I recited some spell in the Book of Sorcery and found myself in a stranger's bedroom."

(Supposedly-Other-Xanthous can be considered a stranger, right? Maybe. He's going to consider him as one regardless.)

They gawk at him for a moment. He watches as Tangerina's, Skylene's, Emerelda's, and Supposedly-Other Xanthous' faces crumple into-disbelief? Fear? He doesn't know.

(He doesn't know a lot of things, actually. Namely, what the fuck is going on.)

"The Book of Sorcery?" Skylene echoes, voice wavering.

Ah. So they do know what it is.

"Yeah," he says, nodding. "You've heard of it?"

"Not for a very long time," Supposedly-Other-Xanthous says in a hushed voice. His hands are clenched tightly on the stand.

"So it exists then," Xanthous prompts. He gazes innocently at them. "I can use it to get home. You'd never have to see me again."

Emerelda's eyes narrow suspiciously at him.

"You could be there to watch me," he suggests, shifting nervously under her skeptical glare. "Just as, y'know, a precaution or something."

(He doesn't like this strange side of Emerelda's. She's never acted this cold to anyone, as far as he knows.)

She observes him intently, probably searching for any trace of treachery or whatever in him. After what feels like forever, she seems to deem him trustworthy, and nods, slowly. Her brow smoothens. "That sounds fair."

"Where does he stay, though?" Violetta asks in a soft, sweet voice. "I'm not sure if we have a suitable room for him."

"The castle might have made a new room for him," Tangerina considers aloud, doubt seeping into her voice.

Wow, that's very reassuring. Thanks.

0-0-0-0-0-0

There is, in fact, not another room.

Which really fucking sucks, if you ask him.

Because the very next thing one of them suggests is that he stays in Supposedly-Other-Xanthous' room until they can send him home, as it is the best suited room for him. Needless to say neither of them are all too thrilled about it.

Xanthous rearranges his cot for what seems like the millionth time, fully aware of the holes Supposedly-Other-Xanthous is staring into his back. He attempts to ignore it, but it's difficult to.

Xanthous doesn't turn around for a while, standing over the cot and messing with the pillows and sheets in silence. The sounds of fabric scraping against each other fills the room.

Eventually, he can not stand it anymore, and turns around, shooting a nasty glare at his counterpart. He flinches back in surprise.

"What problem," he demands angrily, "do you have with me?" He grits his teeth, pressing his fingernails hard against his palm. He feels his body-his hands especially-begin to gradually heat up. "I have done nothing to you, and all you've done is treat me like a piece of shit."

(Regret begins to bleed into his gut, but he's much too angry at this point to care.)

"Because what? I didn't go through what you did? You see me as a threat? I don't want to be here, okay? I just want to go home!"

Smoke curls from his hands, rising into the air. Supposedly-Other-Xanthous shoots them an alarmed look.

"Listen," he begins, slowly, in a sort of pacifying voice, "maybe you should-"

"Shut up!" Xanthous screams, clapping his hands over his ears. "Shut the FUCK up!"

And flames burst to life all along his body.

His counterpart gives him a bit of a pained look, as though he'd been expecting it. "Okay. I know you're, ah, furious with me at the moment, but I'm going to have to ask you to take a deep breath and calm down."

Xanthous takes a step back, his hands trembling, and he lowers them, staring in horror at the flames dancing along his body.

"I know this is a bit of a shock," Supposedly-Other-Xanthous continues, "but don't worry. Just calm down. The fire will go away."

The last thing Xanthous wants to do now is listen to his counterpart, but, with no other idea, he sucks in a breath, and releases it. He does this a couple more times, and, true to his word, the flames slowly die down, until they're nothing.

"Aw shit," Xanthous grumbles, peering down at his scorched clothes. They're riddled with dark holes and thinning in certain areas, and a rather unpleasant burning scent emits from them. "These are-I don't have any extra clothes."

His counterpart eyes his clothes. "You don't have any fire-proof clothes?"

"No."

Supposedly-Other-Xanthous nods thoughtfully. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

There's still a little anger simmering inside of him, but Xanthous really thinks he should get some fire-proof clothes if he's going to spontaneously burst into flames randomly, so he shrugs, and says "Okay."

His counterpart flicks his hand, and Xanthous' clothes begin to mend, the holes knitting themselves together and returning to its pristine form.

(What a useful spell. He may need to learn it for future reference.)

Supposedly-Other-Xanthous begins to head out, gesturing for Xanthous to follow him.

They come across Tangerina first.

"Xanthous," she greets them. "Both of you, I suppose," she adds as an afterthought.

Okay, wow. Thank you very much, you fucking asshat.

"We were just discussing if it were possible to enchant his clothes to be fire-proof," Supposedly-Other-Xanthous says.

Not really, Xanthous thinks. Close enough, I guess.

"Probably," Tangerina says. "I'll look and see if there's a spell for it."

"Great-"

There's a flash of light, momentarily blinding Xanthous, and, if Tangerina's yelp is any indication, she also has been blinded by it.

He blinks, colored spots dancing in his vision. Where his counterpart had been standing only seconds before, there is nothing. They gawk at it, and Tangerina's face seems to pale. Xanthous makes a face.

"Oh, that's not good-"

0-0-0-0-0-0

He's not sure when he'd closed his eyes, but they are, and he feels kind of sick.

Xanthous stands there for a moment, in an inky black sea, orienting himself. When the feeling in his gut disappears, he pries them open, slowly, and takes in his surroundings.

He finds that he's in the library, which, on its own, is pretty strange. The rest of the Fairy Council (including Lucy. How peculiar) ogles at him, their eyes wide with shock. Lucy carries-

Is that the Book of Sorcery.

Lucy, what are you DOING.

After a moment, Emerelda slowly cranes her neck to face her, her face comically blank. "You fucked up."

"I fucked up," Lucy agrees, her eyes not once straying from his face.

Tangerina throws her hands up, turning away from him. "I knew it. We should have waited."

"Excuse me," he cuts in. "But what's going on?" He stares Lucy in the eye and frowns. "I thought you were in Camelot with Merlin."

Violetta gives him a kind, pitying look. Before she can say anything, however, Lucy sucks in a breath, strains for a fake-looking smile, and says, "Buckle up, motherfucker. You're in for a fucking ride."

0-0-0-0-0-0

Yeah sorry for disappearing for like two months I was kinda taking a break from writing lol

Also I feel like after this chapter my writing kinda went splat so I'm gonna try and edit some things so yeah