With a jolt, Skyler came back to herself with a gasp. She was once again in the small hospital room, holding the hands of her mother and her aunts.
It had all been a… what? A hallucination? A dream?
"What was.." She began shakily.
"A vision," Luna stated matter of factly. "The same one that we foresaw many years ago."
"One that we have tried our best to prevent," Phoebe said. "One that the only way we could combat with, was a halfling child who would be powerful enough to protect Oberon's heir and his family."
"One who could stop the half blood whelps from destroying everything on this isle of steel and stone," Selen added. "And expose the existence of those like us."
"One who would, ultimately, save Avalon," Phoebe finished.
"Me?" Skyler asked in disbelief. "But I have no powers."
"You have power," Luna said.
"And you are strong," Selene said.
"And you will be able to do what is necessary." Phoebe said, proudly.
"What is necessary?" Skyler asked dumbly. "What does that mean?"
The sisters dropped their hands, breaking the link, and began backing away from Skyler.
"You will know, when the time is right," Luna said.
"And you will have the strength to fight," Selene said.
"You will do what must be done," Phoebe said.
"Hurry now, the battle has begun," They chanted as one voice.
With those final words, they vanished.
"Seriously?" Skyler asked the empty room. Quietly, then at a near shout, "Seriously? You disappear from my life for six years, and when you show up again, you leave me with a stupid rhyme? What are you, the lost children of Dr. Seuss?"
Skyler reached out and kicked the small waste basket.
They couldn't even tell her what to do? Nooo… that would be too damned easy.
She was still trying to figure out what to do next, when the sound of voices in the hall outside her door reached her ears.
"Check every room," a male voice commanded. "They could be hiding anywhere."
Skyler frantically looked around the room for a place to hide. Not many places looked promising, but luckily, she was small and it wouldn't take much.
She ran over to the laundry bin in the corner. It was a large yellow canvas bag, meant to be able to be removed and taken away by the laundering facility in one piece and tied with the drawstring around the top of the bag.
Skyler grabbed the top layer of towels and bedding out of the sack, crawled in and arranged the soiled linens on top of her.
She stopped moving as she heard the door open, carefully monitoring her breathing so as to not give herself away.
There were bangs and clangs as the intruder searched the room. Soon enough, the person gave up, leaving the room. The heavy hinged door automatically closed behind them.
Skyler stayed where she was for a few more minutes to ensure that no one else was going to come through the door.
Finally, as the noise and voices drifted away into the silence, Skyler climbed out of the laundry receptacle. She padded to the door on silent, bare feet, and put her ear to the door to try to listen for voices.
There were none. Whoever had been looking had given up.
Skyler looked around the room in despair. The room had been trashed. Medical supplies and instruments were strewn across the room, entire cabinets had been emptied. The small closet had also been rummaged through, the few clothing articles that had survived the first attack on her were now mixed in with everything on the floor.
Carefully, Skyler picked through the items, and finally located her canvas slipon shoes. Once they were on her feet, Skyler exited the room.
The building was under attack again. Skyler looked at the windows, and realized that it was sometime in the later afternoon, but that the sun was still in the sky.
The Gargoyles wouldn't be able to help them, unless the humans were able to hold them off until the sun went down.
Skyler hurried to Dr. James' office, and quietly shut the door behind her. Grabbing the office phone from the desk, Skyler hid underneath and dialed the listed castle extension.
"Dr. James," Came Fox's voice. "I thought you were gone for the…"
"Fox," Skyler broke in urgently. "They're back. The halflings are back. They were just here on the medical floor, and I think they are on their way up."
"Skyler?" Fox asked, uncertainly. "How…?"
"Fox," Skyler said firmly. "You have to take the children. All of them. Take the children, and hide. Keep them safe."
"Okay," Fox said, amazingly calm in light of what was unfolding around them. "I will take care of the kids. Are you safe?"
"I woke up just before they came into my room, and hid. Now I am locked in Dr. James' office."
"I will send someone for you," She swore.
"Don't worry about me," Skyler insisted. "Get the kids out."
"Alright," Fox answered briskly. "Be safe."
The line went dead in Skyler's hands. Carefully, Skyler lowered her hand and set the handset on the ground beside her.
She was still trying to figure out what to do next when the office door opened with such force, that it hit the wall. Skyler tried to make herself as small as possible under the desk.
"She has to be somewhere," A familiar male voice said. "She was paralyzed from the waist down an hour ago when I looked in on her."
"Dr. James," Skyler said with relief.
The frantic movements in the office stopped. "Skyler?"
Slowly, Skyler unfolded herself, and crawled out from under the desk.
"Skyler," Dr. James said with obvious relief. "What is going on?"
"I woke up," She said awkwardly. "Someone was yelling in the hallway, and so I hid. When he left, I came in here to call the castle to warn them."
"Okay," Dr. James said. He held down a hand to help her to her feet. "Did you get a hold of someone up there?"
"Yeah," Skyler said, handing him the headset. "But the line went dead."
"Damn," Dr. James said. "I'll call the police."
"What about the employees on the lower floors?" Skyler asked.
"Most are probably gone for the day," he responded, glancing at his watch.
"Most, but not all," Kiersten said, walking in to the office.
"I have an idea," Skyler said. "You two need to leave while you can."
"What if one of you needs medical attention?" Kiersten asked. "You needed us last time…" She took in the appearance of the young woman in front of her, "although you'd never know it from the look of you."
"Long story," Skyler said.
"And we don't have enough time to hear it right now," Dr. James said briskly. He dialed for 911 and began relaying information.
"I have an idea," Skyler said. "You both should get out now. If you can't leave, hide."
With that, she ran past the elevators and to the emergency stairs. Beside the stairwell, there was an emergency fire alarm pull. Skyler dove for it, and yanked the white lever down.
Instantly, alarms blared and the lights began to flash. A calm woman's voice began asking people to please exit through the stairwells to safety.
Skyler then made her way into the stairwell, and began the arduous task of going up the flights of stairs to the castle. She had done this a short while ago, in the vision, and she was terrified of what she was going to find at the top.
She hesitated a moment at the top, before slowly opening the door into the castle. Even though she was unable to see anyone, the sounds of fighting enveloped her. Shouting, screaming and weapons firing assaulted her ears and fired her determination to help.
"Okay, mom," she muttered to herself, choosing to go in the direction of the great hall. "Now would be a great time for you and your crazy sisters to make sense."
Sticking close to the walls, Skyler made her way slowly. One step at a time, prepared for an attack that could come from anywhere, she was finally able to see into the large room.
A pair of dark skinned, dark haired girls were fighting, hand to hand with Brooklyn. He was holding his own for the moment, but in a two against one fight, he was having to split his attention.
Skyler rushed forward, grabbed a heavy statuette, and switched her hold on it so that she was able to swing it easily. The heavy base connected with one of the girls' back, causing the girl to hit the floor.
The other girl whirled around angrily, taking her attention for a moment from the Gargoyle she had been fighting.
Her mistake.
Skyler was prepared to swing again, when Brooklyn brought his arms up from behind the girl, pinning her arms to her sides.
"Skyler!" He said, finally taking in the sight of the person who had helped him. "Thanks."
"Are you ok?" Skyler asked, a bit winded.
"I'm fine," He reassured her. "I'm just going to wrap things up with these two, and we can go help elsewhere."
Brooklyn dragged the squirming female over to a nearby displayed suit of armor. He tucked the girl under one arm like a football, wrenching the torso from the suit and shoving the girl into it. Using his strength, he pinched the tube around the girl so she would be out of commission, but unhurt.
The girl that Skyler had taken out didn't fare any better as Brooklyn tore strips of the metal off, and used them to bind the fallen fae's hands and feet.
"There," he said, making the motion as if he were dusting off his hands. He gave Skyler a startled look, as if just realizing who had helped him. "Are you okay? How…"
"I'll explain later," Skyler cut his questions off. "Where are the others?" She asked.
"All over," Brooklyn admitted. "They swarmed the castle, then split up so that we would have to split up too."
"They're after the kids," Skyler told him in a rush. "Go keep them safe, and I'll try to find the others."
Brooklyn looked unsure about leaving her, but in the end, he nodded. He hurried over to a small wooden chest on the fireplace mantle. Lifting the lid, he removed a small white earpiece. "Alright, but you wear this, and call us if you need help."
Skyler put in the earpiece, and was instantly assailed with the clamor of the battle around her. Voices, some familiar and some not, rang in her ear.
Skyler was trying to figure out where everyone was, and waved Brooklyn off.
Giving up, but keeping the earpiece in case she needed help, she tucked the small earpiece in her gown's tight neckline. If she got out of this, she was totally going to bring up the lack of pockets with her mother and aunts.
The shouts and fighting seemed to be coming from the courtyard more clearly than anywhere else, so Skyler headed out there.
The sky seemed full of Steel versions of the gargoyle clan as they flew around the castle firing down into the fighting.
The courtyard was littered with broken stone and a few more of the steel clan's broken husks.
Hudson was fighting an older male who was also armed with a sword. The metal on metal strikes ringing clearly over the rest of the fighting.
Goliath was taking on a pair of males, and like Brooklyn, he was holding his own.
A gunshot rang out in the night, and Skyler looked up to see Elisa struggling to keep a hold of her service weapon as an unknown woman was trying to take it from her.
Lexington dove from above, knocking the woman away long enough for Elisa to once more take control of the weapon.
A strong hand landed on Skyler's arm, making her jump in fright before she was forcibly turned to face the halfling behind her. If anything, she was more scared now.
She looked into the face of the young man who had almost beaten her to death.