AN: This will be the last chapter before the new movie comes out. See you all when we're all done screaming.

The Beginning

Walt shook his head as he watched his wife and mother attempt to sooth his frantic niece and nephews. He rolled all the possible kidnappers around in his mind, drying to determine who would have been able to use an iron cage without endangering themselves and who would have access to a teleportation artifact. And all he had to go on was scorch marks and the word 'Beginnt' carved into the wooden floor. AND he still had the matter of Nomura's mystery.

"Da," Jim grabbed his arm, „We have to find them fast! There's no telling what a teleportation like that could do to Tanta Jay or Baby."

„I know, Jim. I'm just trying to decide what would be faster…Mum! Can you do a location spell on either of them? Get us a country or even just a CONTINENT? Then we can narrow down where they could be."

Morgana bit her lip and nodded, "I can try."

"Don't hurt yourself," Walt insisted, "If it's going to hurt you we can find another way."

"I'm going to do it."

She handed Mary over and stood. Gold rings appeared around her feet. After just a moment the glow faded and she stumbled.

"Germany," she sat on the overturned sofa, "They're in Germany."

Walt steadied her and smiled, "That's great, Mum. Thank you. Ok. That narrows it down to two places. Die Straße Neu Beginnt, or Arcadia. You three? You'll be coming with Jim, Barbara, and I. We're going to get your parents. The rest of you, try and set this place to rights. You don't have to fix anything, just pick it up and put the furniture back. When you finish, head down to Trollmarket."

"Walt, small crucial detail," Barbara interrupted, "How are we going to get them BACK? Otto and Lenora's passports are upstairs and we don't have anything for Baby. And there is no way I am putting Lenora or Baby on the Gyer."

Walt deflated and started pacing. Seconds felt like hours while he thought. Then he rounded on his wife.

"Barbara, how far can you make a portal?"

"Um, maybe to England but that would be pushing it."

He nodded slowly, "Would you be able to go to New Jersey from Germany?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I'm thinking we take the Gyer there, have Blinky drive it back. Once we have everyone, you can take us to New Jersey. I have an old friend there and you can recharge at her place before we come back home. Is that alright?"

"THAT sounds like a plan. Let's go. Nomura? Would you mind-"

"Yeah yeah. I got the twins. You just bring everyone back in one piece."

Walt shot her a thumbs up as he led the others out the door.

"Where do we even start?" Mary gasped as they ran.

"Die Straße Neu Beginnt," Walt replied, "It's a magical community in south western Germany. A bit south of Munich. If they're there, someone will have noticed. Otto has a studio there and still has a lot of friends in the village."

"And enemies I'll wager," Barbara lifted an eyebrow.

"Certainly. If he has any magic enemies in Germany, that's where they'll be."

They stopped in the Library to grab Blinky, barely explaining the situation, and raced off to the Gyer Station. Barbara clutched her emergency bag to her chest. The cousins cling to each other. Walt didn't even blink in the forty seconds it took to reach Germany. Every stumbled and shook as they stepped off the Gyer.

"Any idea where to start looking?" Jim asked, rubbing his head.

"Otto's studio or on the outskirts of town. People are less likely to notice something strange happening there," Walt assured his son, "But we have to make it fast. We only have forty-five minutes until sunrise. If they're outside…"

Jim growled and shook his head. He stopped short, nearly running into a couple on the sidewalk.

"Sor-um-Es tut mir leid."

The dark haired woman giggled, displaying bright fangs. The troll at her side laughed loudly.

"It is ok, Youngling," she said with an accent thicker than even Otto's,"Stricklander! Are you und Otto bringing ze family to visit?"

"Not exactly," He bounced anxiously, "Have you and Victoria seen him or Lenora recently?"

They shook their heads before the Vampire spoke, "VVe haven't but vve only just got back from ze cabin. VVe have not been to ze atelier yet."

Walt nodded, "Thank you anyway. Atlas? Eli? I want you two to do a fly by over the town and make sure they're not on the outskirts. It's not a very big village. Smaller than Arcadia. Everyone else, follow me to Otto's studio."

Jim and Eli took flight and flew in opposite directions. Walt led the rest of the fm

family through the small town. They stopped outside a small, tidy piano studio.

"Yeah, that's Papa's," Mary smiled wanly.

Toby nodded. Walt chuckled and forced open the door. The studio was just as clean on the inside as it was on the outside. It was also deserted.

"Damn it!" Walt snarled.

"Walt, take a deep breath. We will find them," Barbara dragged him outside, "But to do that you need to calm down. And you scare the kids when you panic."

Walt took a deep shaking breath and nodded, "I'm sorry, Barbara. I just…If we don't find them before sunrise…"

"I know."

Eli and Jim landed beside them, "We're assuming that it's an enemy of Papa because they took them to Germany. But what if it's…Roland's girl? The one he's controlling. What if she brought them to Germany so we'd waste time looking in the places Papa's enemies would go?"

"Roland's puppet?" Walt furrowed his eyebrows and fished around in his jacket pocket.

'That's worse,' Toby signed, 'You do see how that's worse, right? Where on earth would he take them?'

Walt looked at the contact case in his hand. It hit him with the full force of an angry stalkling.

"They're in Arcasia!"

"How do you know?" Mary asked as they started running once more.

"Because it's where Otto was born. Where the Polymorph Project began."

LLB

Otto finished putting away the laundry and sat beside his wife. Lenora hummed as he began rubbing her shoulders. A knock at the door made them both turn.

"Did the kids forget their keys?" Lenora sat up.

"I don't Zink so…" Otto kissed her and made his way over.

A young woman with long black hair and dark sunglasses stood on the stoop. She kept her head down

"Hallo. Can I help you?"

The girl mumbled and shuffled her feet, " I-I just… Do you recognize me?"

"Recog-Oh! You're ze girl from outside HexTech!" A grin split his face, "So you got avay alright. Good."

She grumbled and shuffled her feet again, "Do you recognize me?"

His smile slipped away, "I'm sorry?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know. VVere you vone of my students?"

The girl shook and pulled off her glasses, "Recognize me NOW?"

Otto's blood ran cold and he slammed the door, "Lenora! Run!"

He heard the door break behind him. With a jolt, the German polymorph woke up. Any hope that it had all been some horrible nightmare was dashed as he hit his forehead against the bars of the iron cage.

"Lenora? Lenora!"

His wife was curled up beside him, grimace painted over her face. He scrambled to his knees and gently sat her up.

"Lenora? Zaubermause? Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and nodded before looking up at him, "I-I'm fine. Whatever that was hurt though."

Otto growled and nuzzled her hair gently.

"I'll be honest, I expected you two to put up much more of a fight."

"Elizabeth," Otto snarled, "I recognize you NOW. How long have you been Roland's puppet?"

They both turned and saw the girl sitting by a fire. The ruins of a stone house sat behind her. Otto snarled and held Lenora closer.

"Where's Eli?"

"The brat?" She sneered, "Oh, he's not interested in that one."

"Zen vvhat IS he interested in?" Otto demanded, "And vvhat has he promised you?"

"Revenge! He gave me the power for my revenge and all I had to do was find and return his 'Goddess Bride'."

Lenora wrinkled her nose and tightened her grip on Otto's arm. Elizabeth chuckled darkly and paced before them, slowly peeling off her leather gloves.

"Imagine our surprise when we discovered you had married each other. He told me then that I was to collect both of you at once. He wanted HIS way with you both. It wasn't until just after the Eternal Night that he told me I could take my revenge and then bring the fairy to him. And that works better for me."

"VVe get it. You vvant revenge against me. Zen vvhy not let Lenora go? You have ze power you need to do it."

The other polymorph cackled and stopped pacing, "Are you joking? Do you not know how this works? HE SEES EVERYTHING! He'll take my power if I betray him. I have to do what he wants to get what I want. And I want you to pay for what you did to me."

"And what DID he do to you?" Lenora's grip on her husband's arm tightened once more.

"He left me to die! To ROT in that facility for decades! Even when it collapsed on top of me, he never even bothered to look."

"I have no idea vvhat you are talking about!" His hair stood on end and his ears folded back, "I didn't even know you existed until you arrived vviz ze eye stone. Und I vvould never leave someone for dead. Not if I could help it."

She growled and threw her gloves to the ground, turning her back to them, "Then it's a good thing I found you before your kids found you the truth. If you forgot me, then it's only a matter of time before you forget them as well."

"Wait!" Lenora grit her teeth, "You said he's not interested in Eli. Then what do our kids have to do with any of this? They're just CHILDREN."

Elizabeth whipped around, grabbing the iron bars and getting as close to them as possible, "I WAS JUST A CHILD!"

"Oh, God…"

The second she grabbed the bars she changed. She was nearly seven feet tall, her stone skin was pink and lilac. Her long ears were folded down her back on either side of her lilac spines. Her clouded eyes cleared. The wrath on her face melted away, replaced with abject terror. She stumbled back and, shifting back to her human form, scrambled away.

Lenora shook as she looked back up at her husband, "Otto? Was that…She looked like…"

"Baby Schwester?"

LLB

"Da? Da! What's going on? What's the 'Polymorph Project'?"

"I can't explain it all right now, Young Atlas," Walt led the charge out of the Gyer Station, "I can say it was an experiment that started about ten years after I found your Onkel Otto. Comparing the development of two different polymorphs in two different situations."

They ran across the village and didn't stop until they reached a familiar looking building.

"Omni Reach?" Eli looked at his uncle, "So you do think it's an enemy of Papa?"

"Yes. But I. Believe Roland is controlling her. I'll explain it all later. Right now," he tossed the young fairy a set of car keys, "Take the car that's in the garage. Eli, you drive. Follow the dirt road out of town until you come to a foot bridge. Cross it and they may be at the edge of the forest. Barbara, Atlas, you two stay here and help me search the base. Whoever finds them first will call the rest. We have thirty minutes. Go!"

No one needed telling twice. The three teens ran so hard they actually slammed into the side of the SUV before scrambling in and taking off down the dirt road.

"What side of the road do they drive in here?" Eli asked.

"It doesn't matter," Mary insisted, "There's no one on this road."

"We'll never make it in time if I get pulled over! AND I left my driver's license at home."

"We won't get pulled over and, if one of the cameras gets us, we won't get the ticket because this isn't our car…That sounds bad when I say it like that…TB! What kind of blankets do we have in this thing?"

"Why would there be blankets in here?!" Eli's voice cracked as he shouted.

"Because we're in rural Germany and God only knows how much snow they get here. Changlings are prepared for everything. TB?"

'Three sleeping bags, two blankets, two pillows.'

"Cool. Unzip two of the sleeping bags and zip them together. We're gonna be cutting it close."

LLB

Tears rolled down Lenora's cheeks as she pushed herself away from Otto and reached through the bars of the cage. The hands and wrists were burned by the iron but that didn't stop her. Otto couldn't trear his eyes away from the glow beginning to rise over the mountains.

"No…" She whimpered, "Nononono!"

"Lenora-"

"Work! Please!"

"Lenora," Otto pulled her back and into his arms, "Stop. You're going to hurt yourself. Neizer of us can use our powers in here und VVe can't stop ze sun from coming up."

"But I can't just let you die!"

"Sh. It's going to be alright," he wiped her tears with his thumb, "Walt und ze ozers vvill be here soon. You're going to be alright."

"Forget me! I'm not the one that'll die when the sun rises! For ONCE worry about yourself!" She latched back into his arm with a vice like grip, "I can't do this without you! Our kids need out! I need you! And-And Eliza! She-"

Otto kissed her gently even as he let her go. He didn't want her trapped in his embrace once the sun came up. When he leaned back Lenora lay her forehead against his chest, sobs wracking her whole body. She could feel the warm sun on her back. The drumming of footsteps hit her ears.

"Mama! Pa-Papa?"

LLB

German Translations

atelier- Studio