Chapter 16: Soul Hunters!

— Poof POV —

"Mama! Tim-me?" With hope in his voice, he asked Jorgen when he suddenly poofed into his grandmother's house. She had just served him breakfast, and Mama Cosma almost dropped the plate of scrambled eggs and toast in surprise.

"W-why Jorgen, such a surprise, so early in the morning. To what do we owe this unexpected visit?" Despite her attempt to smile, he sensed a hint of fear in his grandmother's demeanor. She was used to playing card games like bridge with Jorgen every week, so he never thought that his grandmother would be afraid of him.

Not seeing his mother and brother in the room caused his heart to sink with disappointment. He really thought that they would be home by now.

"No Mama? No, Tim-me?"

"Sorry Poof." Jorgen apologized. "Timmy's treatment is going to take a while longer."

"Noooo!" He couldn't help but express his disappointment, despite being aware that it wouldn't change anything.

"Is the poor boy going to be alright?" His grandmother asked, wringing her hands worriedly. "Did the examination go well…?"

"There's been a few complications with the revival magic." Jorgen's face was sour. "Where's Cosmo?"

"H-he's still sleeping? Is there a reason you need to speak to him? I can take a message if it's not important."

"I need to speak with him face to face." Jorgen hit his wand on the floor, and his father was forcefully poofed into the room.

"Ah…h-hi Jorgen…"

"Dada sick too?" He asked anxiously as he observed the black circles under his father's eyes and the pale look on his face. Jorgen raised a brow at the sorry state of his father.

"What happened to you?"

Cosmo nervously bit the nails on one hand and balled the other into a tight fist. "Is, uh... Timmy okay?" he asked, his voice tense. "Did you find anything wrong?""

Jorgen's tone was stern and pitiless as he replied, "Yes, actually, we did."

"Dada?" He asked, increasingly worried as his father turned several shades lighter and shook all over. It was like he had turned into a mound of green jelly.

"I…! Look! I know….his heart….I…! It wasn't…! I did not mean to—-! I—! It just—-happened! It was not on purpose!"

"Wait? You knew that magic had leaked into his heart!" Jorgen's jaw dropped, stunned, and then balled up his fist. "Why did you not say anything!"

"I...", his father looked unsure of how to respond. The revelation that magic had seeped into Timmy's heart left him wondering if it was a good or bad thing. Meanwhile, Jorgen expressed his disapproval with a tsking noise, which he usually made when he was angry or disgusted.

"Have you any idea what you could have caused by staying quiet!? What? Were you hoping it would go unnoticed? Do you even understand what could have happened!?"

"I…!"

"He did not mean to! You know, Cosmo, he's not the best with control or precision or accuracy or—well, most things, but he's a good boy and was really only trying to help." His grandmother held his father, patting him on the back. "He still saved Timmy's life, did he not? The boy's going to be ok, so, we can just look past this minor mistake, can't we?"

Poof was struggling to grasp the topic of discussion and longed for the presence of his mother or Timmy. Whenever he had questions, they were always patient and explained everything to him in a way that he could comprehend. Timmy, in particular, had a talent for breaking down complex concepts into simple terms that Poof could easily understand.

"Poof, poof?" He questioned, but he went ignored as Jorgen just continued to glower at his father.

"What's more important? Protecting yourself or your godchild!?"

"….." His father put his head down, ashamed. "…It was an accident…I never wanted Timmy to get hurt….I did something…unforgiveable…Timmy's soul…."

"Fortunately, when the magic leaked into his heart, the heart-soul got pushed out, so it was not contaminated. If it had been, his body would be marked with stigmata."

"B—but what if…his soul got…evaporated by the magic or something…?" His father shook, his voice choked up.

"If his soul had been destroyed, the stigmata would have left deep scars on his wrists, ankles and neck. There is not even a sign of bruising, so it seems it just got pushed out without getting touched by the magic."

"So, his soul is alright!" His grandmother looked at his father, relieved. "Do you hear that, Cosmo? You did not hurt the boy's soul!"

"…!" His father sniffled, wiping his eyes. "So…my magic did not destroy it…? And it did not get ruined…? It's alright?"

"It could have gotten damaged because of your silence!" Jorgen snarled. Poof had never seen him look so furious before, and it frightened him. He also did not know what they were talking about. He did not understand a word. What was a soul? What was stigmata? All he could understand was that his father had done something that might have hurt his brother.

"Those seizures he had were caused by his soul escaping, and then trying to get back in." Jorgen shook his head. "If it had gotten back inside of him, it would have been irrevocably damaged by the magic. Tell me, Cosmo, what happens if a human loses their heart-soul?"

"…." His father put his head down. "…..They can't reincarnate anymore and….they stop existing…"

"Poof! Poof!?" He cried out in alarm, understanding that much. "Tim-me!? Noooo….!"

"Shh, shh, there, there…" His grandmother was quick to go to his side and rock him in her arms. "Timmy's soul was not damaged, it was…just misplaced. He'll be fine, won't he?"

"Yes; once we're done with the magic-filter-cycle, we should be able to extract the magic from his heart once his body is strong enough, and replace the soul. Fortunately, we know it is inside Cosmo and Wanda's castle because it had tried to get back inside of Turner whilst he was there."

"But…! What if it left?" Cosmo looked scared.

"Not possible. Human souls are very weak against magic. It could get into your fish bowl by latching onto Timmy, but it could not penetrate the magic of your castle to escape. When a heart-soul currently does not possess an object, it takes on the form of a glowing butterfly. Wanda and I saw no such thing when we went to fairy world, so it stands to reason it's still in your castle."

"But…I did not see a butterfly…." His father looked afraid, and poof was getting confused again. Timmy was a human, not a butterfly…. and what was a soul? It sounded really important if a human would stop existing without it, and what did reincarnation mean?

"It cannot possess things made of magic and Wanda confirmed that the only thing besides his clothes Turner took with him was a bottle of medicine. Empty vessels are very appealing to souls, so it's likely hiding inside of that bottle and that was why no one spotted it."

"Poof, poof!" He demanded again, frustrated not to know what they were talking about. Timmy was way too big to fit inside his medicine bottle and besides, he hadn't been hiding. He had been in bed!

"Oh, well….you see Poof, humans differ from fairies. Their bodies don't last forever like ours do." His grandmother explained awkwardly. "Think of the human body as well…a toy. One soul lives in the brain and is like a microchip inside a doll that has the doll say and do the things it's programed to. The other soul in the heart is like the battery. It can be taken out and put inside another doll if it's current doll gets too damaged. When a human body stops working because it gets too old, or sick, or hurt, the heart-soul will get a new body and continue existing. That's what we call reincarnation."

That sounded really confusing; Poof knew humans aged very fast and healed really slow. Was that because they had a bunch of different bodies lined up to use? That sounded really strange. Where were the spare bodies kept? Did they get to choose which one? Why had Timmy never used any of his spare bodies? If he asked, would he show him where all his spare bodies were? He was sure that his mommy, or Timmy, would have been able to explain it much better, but his grandmother did have him understand at least why Jorgen was so angry with his daddy. Timmy couldn't use any of his spare bodies if he lost this heart-soul thing.

"Poof, poof, poof?"

"We can get it back using this." Jorgen held out what looked like a large coper ring the size of a frisbee with a complex pattern of silver threads woven through the center, resembling a spider's web. "It can catch souls; all we need to do is try to catch it within the threads."

"I'll…uh…g-go and do that…r-right now!" His father trembled, reaching out to take the ring.

"Poof, Poof!" He offered to help and looked to Jorgen to hand him a ring, too.

"I only have two, since these are forbidden objects and few exist," Jorgen refused. "You go with your father and make sure he does not botch this up!"

"Now, see here, Cosmo did not mean to have magic leak into the boy's heart. It was an accident; I mean, it's complex magic, and he never had to use it before." His grandmother got huffy and Jorgen cast her and then his father a look of disdain.

"Oh, did I not say? It was not a mistake he made in using the revival magic that had it leak into Turner's heart. It was because Timmy had a fatal heart condition that was about to kill him. Revival magic gets a little wonky when used on medical problems. That's why we don't use it to undo deaths from illnesses."

"Heart condition…?" Cosmo tilted his head, confused, looking stunned. "Timmy had….?"

"S-see Cosmo? It wasn't because you did something wrong while reviving him, it was an unavoidable hiccup!" His grandmother looked relieved as she exhaled a deep breath as she went back over to her father and gave him a hug. "I mean, who could have imagined he had a heart condition? He displayed no signs of one. You did absolutely nothing wrong."

"Not exactly." Jorgen gave his father a sour look. "Two years ago, when you restored youth to Timmy's body, you only did the outside. His organs were that of a 62-year-old. A heart condition that would only have become active in his old age became active at twelve. If he had not had that accident and revival magic had not fixed the problem, that hiccup of yours would have been responsible for the death of your godchild!"

"….I….I did not….? I…Timmy would have….I almost…?"

"Poof…poof….?" He looked at his father, who fell to the floor, too shocked to float. He was a baby, so he could not understand everything being said, but he knew that what he just heard was really bad.

Only Timmy's outside got young again? He had heard about how the fairy council had aged everyone on earth 50 years….so….Timmy, despite being a kid on the outside, had been left an old man inside because his father did something wrong when changing him back?

Timmy's heart had an illness because it had been old? The revival magic had done an awful job because his father had messed up?

His brother was too sick to play with him and had to leave with Mama for treatment because his daddy made a terrible mistake, and now something was wrong with Timmy's heart? He lost his soul because magic got inside of it?

….Everything had gone bad because of his daddy's mistake…?

"Cosmo, honey….I'm sure that kind of mistake can happen to anyone! Anyway, it's Wanda who ought to have noticed, with how she always plays that nonsensical game with him—"

"No, Mama. Don't blame Wanda. It's my fault. It's all on me! I…I did not just let Timmy get hurt, I made him sick, and he's suffering now and….aaaah…I really messed up!"

"Dada…." He called out to his father seeing that he looked ready to cry.

"Yes, yes, you did mess up!" Jorgen growled. "Do you have any idea how dangerous Fey world is? If Turner ends up as one of the Kinder…! You don't even want to know the punishment I'll have in store for you!"

Poof did not know what Fey World was or what a Kinder was, but if Jorgen said it was dangerous, then they were probably bad things.

"Poof, Poof?" He asked, looking from his grandmother to Jorgen to explain what those things were to him.

"Ah, well….it's complicated, but the Fey are just—a type of very strong fairy." His grandmother spoke without making eye contact, her voice getting a few decimals higher. "You'll take all about them in school once you're older."

"Poof!" He did not want to wait until he was older to know. He was worried now! His big brother was in danger now!

"The Fey have inexhaustible magic; 100 fairies using all their power could not defeat even one Fey. Some Fey are worst then others, but even the most amiable amongst them have a fondness for human children and will often try to keep them as pets." Jorgen explained in more detail.

"…Tim-me?"

"I explained how to keep him safe to Wanda; hopefully she'll be more attentive than Cosmo was."

"…." His father lowered his head, ashamed, and then, after a few moments, peered up at Jorgen timidly. "The treatment…. did it hurt…? Are Wanda and Timmy alright?"

"The treatment is very painful. It was very hard on both of them." Jorgen was curt. "They suffered."

His father sighed, looking miserable. "He's going to be weak, sick and having to go through painful things all because I was stupid…Timmy must hate me…."

"Tim-me never!" He denied, shocked his daddy would think such a thing. "Say sorry, Tim-me forgive you!"

Jorgen rolled his eyes and then pointed his big wand at his grandmother's television. A recorded video came on showing his mother and Timmy.

"Hi Poof! Hi Cosmo! Hope you're doing well. I just finished my first treatment here in Fey world. It was painful, but…I'm feeling much better now." Timmy was sitting on a big pink fluffy bed, wearing a cosy pink robe. He was smiling, but it was fragile and his eyes were a little puffy, but he did not seem mad or sad.

"Timmy was a really brave little boy. The treatment was hard on him, but he did his very best." His mommy gave his big brother a hug and smiled as she gazed out at them from the television. It almost felt like she was looking right at him instead of at a camera. "He's doing much better now, but because his condition is a little worst then we thought, we're going to need to stay in Fey World for a few days."

"I'm sorry Poof, I know you were looking forward to playing lots." Timmy apologized to him with a gentle smile. "But I promise when I get back we'll play tons!"

"Poof, if you're a good boy while we're gone, when your big brother and I come back, we'll do something special."

"Cosmo, I hope you're not still feeling bad about things…"

"We'll be home soon."

"We miss you both! We'll see you soon!" Timmy gave the camera a wide smile, waving both of his hands. Poof mimicked the gesture even though he knew his big brother couldn't see him. His poor big brother was sick and hurting, but he wasn't mad at all.

"See, dada, Tim-me not mad," He told his father who burst into tears, burying his face in his hands.

"There, there." His grandmother rubbed his daddy on the back. "See? Everything is going to be fine."

"You have 30 minutes to pull yourself together. Meet me at your castle so we can retrieve Timmy's soul and you better not be late!" Jorgen had no sympathy as he poofed out of the room.

"Dada…" He floated over to his father, worried, as Cosmo just sat on the floor in front of the TV that was still paused on Timmy and Wanda's face.

"Cosmo, dearie, it's all going to be ok. I told you, did I not? Your father, Nova, is taking care of everything. The boy will survive, and your teensy mistake will eventually become water under the bridge."

"…. but Timmy's heart is…." His father mumbled, his shoulders slumped as he picked up the copper ring Jorgen had left with them. "…His soul…. can't…."

"Don't you fret!" His grandmother repeated, rubbing his father on the back. "It will be ok. Nova will know what to do."

"Nova? Grandpa?" He tilted his head, confused. He had never heard of the man before.

"Nova, my husband, well, I suppose we are separated due to…circumstances." His grandmother looked at the ceiling awkwardly, but she still had a bit of a smile on her face. "A kind man. Very honor and duty bound, he is…but, he's one of the Fey now and cannot come to fairy world. Oh, but we exchange plenty of letters, and he tells me all the good he's done to help so many children. He'll help your god brother too, so don't you worry your little head either dearie."

"Poof…" He was still confused, and he understood little what was going on, but he did know one thing. His big brother needed them. "Dada, let's go help Tim-me!"

"R-right…. your right." His father got off the floor, and looked apologetically at the television, putting a hand over Tv Timmy's palm. "I…I need to do what I can to make things right….after all, I'm the one who caused all this…"

"Help Tim-me together!" He wanted to support his depressed looking father the best he could; he did not like seeing his father sad. His dad gave him a weak smile and nodded softly.

"Yeah, ok…let's go…Mama, thanks…."

"Of course! Now you come back and tell me how everything goes. Don't leave me worrying about you." His grandmother gave his father a kiss on the forehead and him a kiss on the cheek. "You be a good boy and help your father, alright?"

"Poof! Poof!"

"Come on, Poof…let's go help your big brother…." His father held the new wand he had gotten assigned to him in his hand tightly. "I've…got to make Timmy alright again…I can't leave him broken like this…."

"Poof, poof!" He hugged his father, wanting to encourage him and make him feel better.

"Yeah Poof, your Mama's doing her part. We got to do ours too…ok, let's get back home and find that butterfly!"

"Poof!" He was going to do his best to help his big brother, but he was also excited to see what a 'soul' was, too.

—Timmy POV—

…Mm? What's this…?

Timmy looked around himself. He was inside his godparents' castle. Inside the bedroom, Wanda had poofed up for him. He remembered playing lots with Wanda, and then getting sleepy. She had tucked him in to that big fluffy bed and had told him stories to help him fall asleep. She had told him funny anecdotes from her days at the fairy academy. He distinctively remembered nodding off during a tale about how Cosmo had failed to poof up a toy fire truck and poofed up a fire duck instead—apparently…it was a duck that breathed fire, which actually sounded like it would be a hilarious thing to leave on Crocker's front step.

However, Timmy set aside that idea for later and instead pondered why he found himself in a different place from where he had fallen asleep. The memories of his experiences in Fey world were still too vivid to even entertain the possibility of it all being a mere dream. As for his current situation, he knew it couldn't be a dream either, since he had given up his dreams to Nova.

As he walked around the bedroom, confusion clouded his mind. When he tried to grasp the doorknob, his hand passed through it. A chill ran down his spine, and he feared another nightmare like last time. In a moment of desperation, he glanced towards the small mirror in the room. There, he realized with a sense of unease that he had no reflection. At least there was no monster to accompany this eerie discovery.

As he felt tired, he attempted to sit on the bed. However, to his surprise, his body phased through it as though he were made of mist. Although it didn't cause any pain, the sensation of watching a solid object pass through his torso was incredibly creepy. Consequently, he scrambled to his feet and backed away from the bed.

….

"If I pass through solid objects…shouldn't my feet be going through the floor….?" He wondered, looking down at his feet as though they could answer this bit of illogicality. The sound of heavy footsteps and voices interrupted his attempts at coming up with an explanation.

"Ok, so we figure that his soul must be inside his medicine bottle." Jorgen's voice boomed in the hallway.

"So do we just hit the bottle with this ring-thing and that's it…?"

"The ring will force it out of hiding, but we must make sure to hit it with the web portion so it'll be trapped."

"Won't that hurt it?"

"No; souls can't suffer from physical damage, now shhh!" Jorgen, who was ironically the loudest, called for silence and the door opened.

"Guys!" He waved his arms, trying to call out to them, but they did not see him. He turned and watched them all head over to his medicine. It was embarrassing to see everyone crowded around his ADHD medication.

He had to take a tablet every morning, midday, and evening. As he was forgetful, Wanda had the responsibility of ensuring that he took his pills properly. However, it was a little tricky because he had to take that awful-tasting medicine Jorgen had given him. Wanda had to wait to make sure he wasn't going to throw up the excess magic gunk before giving him the pills.

Because of his parents' negligence in buying his medication or trying to replace them with placebos, Wanda kept some pills as a backup. Instead of opening his medication bottle, he had been using her backup pills. The thought of his soul being in the bottle was freaky, but it was almost comical to watch Jorgen, Poof, and Cosmo approach his pill bottle with caution. In their hands, Jorgen and Cosmo held strange copper rings with silver spider webs spun through the middle.

Although he missed Cosmo and Poof and longed to be near them, the rings they held strangely made him feel anxious. As they approached, he found himself backing away from them, despite his desires. Those rings…he found himself fearing them on an instinctual level, like how a mouse automatically knew that a cat was dangerous.

"…It looks just like a normal bottle." Cosmo commented, looking doubtful.

"Poof, poof…"

Jorgen raised the copper ring, preparing to strike the pill bottle. Timmy was watching with curiosity when he suddenly noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face the mirror and saw the monster from his nightmare, a twisted version of himself, staring back at him. The sight made him gasp and take several steps back. Meanwhile, his doppelganger looked at Cosmo, who was standing closest to the mirror, holding the copper ring. The terror on the double's face was palpable.

Smash!

The mirror shattered into countless shards of glass that flew outwards, causing Jorgen, Cosmo, and Poof to recoil in surprise. Simultaneously, the pill bottle toppled over, causing its top to pop off.

As Jorgen exclaimed, "It's escaping!" he made a frantic attempt to swipe the ring towards the blurry object. Unfortunately, his reaction time was too slow to catch the small, agile creature.

He cried out as he suddenly felt a forceful tug that yanked him out of the room. It was as if an invisible leash was pulling him along, propelling him through the hall at an incredible speed. The force was so intense that he was certain his bones would have shattered from the g-force if he had been in his physical body.

As he was being dragged along, his eyes roamed about frantically until they finally settled on the source of the force. It was a butterfly, so small that it could fit on the tip of his pinkie finger. Yet, it was not just any butterfly - it was completely transparent, save for a glimmering radiance that surrounded it, akin to that of a light.

As he gazed at his soul, he was taken aback. "So...that's my soul," he muttered, his mind still reeling. He couldn't help but notice its unexpected beauty. "It's surprisingly...very pretty," he whispered to himself, in awe of what he saw.

As they abruptly halted, he felt a jolt that almost made him lose his balance. Glancing around, he immediately recognized the room as the one Wanda had brought him to for story time on his initial night here. A small butterfly flitted towards a shelf and perched on it.

As its form flickered between butterfly and human, he glimpsed his broken self. The once-frightening figure now appeared docile and sad, swinging its feet…well, foot, with a putout expression.

"….Um….hello….?" Although he was cautious about interacting with it due to what had happened before, knowing that it wasn't a monster and was actually a part of him made it less scary.

Wanda had explained to him that this was his Heart-Soul. It had lived many lives as different people and would continue to do so even after his current one ended. His heart-soul would be born, die, and be reborn again and again.

Timmy had never been religious, and his parents had never taken him to church. He had never seen them pray, and he had never really thought about death or what came after it. To be honest, he had never cared much about it. He had liked to believe that there was something cool after it was all over, but he had never had strong thoughts about what it was. Perhaps that was why Wanda's explanation of souls and the afterlife was easier for him to accept.

He felt relieved that he had not held onto any strong convictions. Otherwise, he might not have reacted well to the sight of one half of his soul resting atop a bookshelf.

His heart-soul ignored him and kept staring at the door with an anxious, troubled expression. He could barely believe that this frightened creature had torn into him so savagely. His broken neck had his head tilted at an awkward angle, making him seem even more pitiful as he wore such a frightened face.

"…Your scared of those rings, huh? I know I don't like them either." He continued speaking, tying not to think of the horrible nightmare where he had tried to tear open his chest. "But…Jorgen, Cosmo and Poof…they wouldn't hurt us."

"…."

"….Right, the mind-soul is the one who has all the memories and personality…" He tried to smile at his non reactive other self. "So I guess you wouldn't know that. In your perspective, they're just a bunch of people with scary rings that want to catch you."

He assumed those rings were for catching souls, anyway. Was all this really going on right now? Well, it could not be a dream, because of the contract he signed with Nova. Maybe he was seeing this because of his connection with his soul…?

"I know…" He placed his hands over his chest. "Your scared and you want back in here, that's why you did that to me last time? It hurt, and it was scary, but I guess to you, being out here is the scary thing…but you can't go back inside yet. There's still some magic in there. Don't worry, they'll get it out and then you can go home." He tried to speak to his other self reassuringly. "But, for that you need to let yourself get caught, ok?"

His heart-soul looked down at him, silently stared, and then reached out his left hand. He felt himself being lifted into the air, and it was not without some nervousness that he was suddenly sat beside his other half. He tensed as he was hugged. It was a weird hug, considering that part of the right arm was torn off, but it was a solid one; as if they weren't both transparent, though it was cold…icy cold.

There was no aggression this time. His heart-soul did not even look at his chest, rather he just clung to him like a frightened child. Perhaps the first time hadn't even been an 'attack', rather than his heart-soul just being desperate to go back 'home.'

"….Hurt me…" His heart-soul whimpered in a child-like way.

"They don't want to hurt you." He told him, finding this whole thing really strange. How many people could say that they cuddled and spoke with their own soul? His heart-soul did not say anything else but remained clinging to him tight.

Then…

"Why would Timmy be in here?" He heard Cosmo's voice as the door opened a crack. His heart-soul tensed, his grip on him tightening as Cosmo and Poof came into the room. His godfather was holding the copper ring out in front of himself like a shield—-though it seemed to operate more like a flyswatter.

"Poof, poof!" Poof explained that they had come here with Wanda.

"I know they did…." His godfather looked around himself, frowning. "But…would Timmy's soul really be drawn to this room? It's a little childish….but then again, Timmy has been acting more and more childish lately."

"Poof, poof!"

"I'm not picking on him; I'm just saying it's like he's growing-down instead of growing-up…"

"Poof!"

"I know, I know, things have been hard on Timmy, but…if Wanda keeps coddling him, he won't be able to handle things once he's grown up."

Feeling a little dejected, he put his head down. He was aware that Cosmo despised the baby game and that he and Wanda had started to argue about it. Although he already knew Cosmo's feelings, it still hurt to hear them directly.

It was painful for him to admit that Cosmo was in the right. He had grown reliant on Wanda's compassion and unwavering love, finding comfort in her presence during tough times. She would console him when he was upset and hold him close when he was sad. He enjoyed being turned into a baby, as it allowed him to forget about his worries and bask in the warmth of her maternal affection. He couldn't resist the feeling it gave him, even after hearing what Cosmo had to say. However, he couldn't ignore the fact that a twelve-year-old wanting to be treated like a baby was unusual, even weird.

"Poof, poof." His god brother scolded, jumping to his defense.

"Yes, yes, I know Poof….Timmy's human mommy doesn't give him warm hugs, and it's very nice that you don't mind sharing your mommy with him, but…."

"Poof, poof!"

He smiled, touched by how resolute his little god brother was about how there was 'enough mommy love' for the two of them. Cosmo just sighed, knowing Poof wouldn't understand the point he was trying to make.

He understood what Cosmo was trying to say, but…his godfather just did not understand how painful things were for him. Cosmo was a lot fun, good at games and could make him laugh, but…sensitivity and empathy were not in his skill set.

"….Hurt me…..hurt me…!" His heart-soul cried out, his voice hitting a high pitch as he dug his fingers into his shoulders, staring down at Cosmo in terror. He stared at the ring in his godfather's hands….and felt a sense of dread at the sight of it, even though he knew that it wasn't to hurt him. Seeing it held like that….it made him shiver and unwittingly he held onto his heart-soul tighter, unable to hide his own fear of it.

"He doesn't want to hurt you….he just needs to take you to Fey world so they can make us better…." He told himself, but his voice was shaking—that ring—! It…..it was….scary….

"No, no, no, no!" His heart-soul screeched, holding onto his head, as though trying to hide. His body glowed, and the books on the shelf behind them began to fall. They phased through him, not hurting him, but down below….

"Poof! Cosmo!" He cried out, but it was not his voice that made them look up but the shadow of the books falling towards them.

"Poof, poof!" His little god brother pointed towards his heart-soul, which was once more in the form of a butterfly. It zipped between the books, using them as a shield as it fled, the invisible leash that connected them dragging him along.

"Wait—! Please, I know it's scary, but—-!" He tried to reason with his other half, but he kept flying in a panic. Zooming aimlessly down hallways and through doors and walls as it tried to escape.

It finally settled down inside of Poof's bedroom; hiding amongst a bunch of stuffed toys.

"You shouldn't have done that." He scolded. "What if you hurt Poof with all those books? He's just a baby! If one of them had hit him, he would've cried!"

His heart-soul just stared at the bedroom door, trembling and sniffling. He sighed. Maybe it was a sign that he was too immature if his soul was acting like an infant…

He tensed along with his other self as the door opened and Jorgen wandered in. The large fairy looked around, scanning the room closely.

"Jorgen!" He waved his arms, trying to catch his attention, but no dice. The large fairy did not seem to notice him, even as he passed close to the stuffed animals.

"….." His other self waited until he was in the large fairy's blind spot and then rushed from the room, taking him along for the ride once more. Perhaps Jorgen had noticed the glow of his soul's butterfly form and took chase; at this moment, Poof and Cosmo were coming down the same hall and stopped short in surprise and readied the ring.

"Don't let him get away!" Jorgen instructed; they were trapped now between both soul-hunting parties—it seemed his heart-soul was stuck…or….

A loud screech in his own voice defended him, but it had not come from him, but from his heart-soul's butterfly, which flapped its wings really hard; the screech was at such a pitch that the lamps that lit the hall all shattered at once and the shards of glass flew like weapons towards the trio.

"STOP IT!" He shouted at the butterfly, who used their attempts to shield themselves from the glass to zoom off into a nearby room. At this point, it seemed that his heart-soul had worn its self out and could barely flutter, instead limply falling onto the floor, remaining in butterfly form now.

"You could have hurt them!" He told him angrily as he marched over to where the butterfly lay, exhausted, limp on the floor; a soft crying voice echoing around it. "Look, I know you're afraid, but you can't hurt the people trying to help you!"

It was now that Timmy took a good look at the room his heart-soul had fled to…

"Ok…apparently they have a fun-house mirror room…ok, weird design choice…." He gulped; he had no reflection, but the butterfly on the floor was reflecting his broken-human form. "….Uh oh…this can't be good…"

The door opened; his heart-soul had weakened its self and had not flown quickly enough in its last escape attempt so the room it had fled to had been spotted. Timmy almost felt sorry for it, as its wings fluttered weakly, but had no strength to get off the floor. Jorgen, Cosmo, and Poof were all here, together, ready with the rings to catch his stubborn soul.

"…A fun-house mirror room, really?" Jorgen raised a brow and his godfather held up his hands defensively.

"I made it for Wanda when we first got married; she loves amusement parks! We had our first kiss in a fun house!"

'Aww, that's sweet.' He found himself thinking, but shook his head. This wasn't the time to get distracted. He had learned by now that his heart-soul and mirrors did not go together well. It was true his soul was weak now, but he still felt that it was a bad idea for them to be in here with it. He ran over to them, trying his best to get their attention, but he could not touch them nor have his voice reach.

….Or rather, his voice did reach them, but it wasn't he who was talking.

'Hurt….hurt me…..hurt…..hurts….hurt me….scared….scared…hurt me….why? Why…..? Hurt me….why? Scared….scared….hurt….scary….cold….cold….! Hurt….hurt….! Hurts….! Hurt me…..! Why….? Why….? Cold….scary….hurts….!" His voice, accompanied by continuous gut-wrenching sobs, seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere, reverberating off the walls and the floor. The trio grouped together, unnerved, as the door they had left opened behind them slammed shut and the temperature in the room plummeted.

"Poof, poof!" Poof pointed towards the butterfly, and Jorgen took the first step forward with the ring.

"Ok, while it's exhausted, let's go from either side so it can't flee, Cosmo…..Cosmo?"

But his godfather did not budge it seemed that he had noticed the horrifying reflections being shown by the mirror and had frozen in shock at the sight of them. Jorgen followed his gaze and shuddered.

"Ok... I'll admit, this is almost as creepy as the time I saw a clown at a funeral." Jorgen remarked; if Timmy could speak, he'd want to ask for details about that.

"Tim-me…? Tim-me….hurt…!" Poof sniffled, looking at the mirrors. He wished he could cover his god brother's eyes. He did not want him to see him looking like this.

"Cosmo, get a grip…we need to catch it while it's tired." Jorgen grabbed Cosmo's shoulder and his godfather reluctantly took a few steps forward. Several dozen smacking noises struck the glass of the mirrors with jarring force and Timmy himself recoiled with a cry as he saw bloody prints, all made from his missing right hand, marring the glass.

"….Forget funhouse! This is more like a haunted house!" Jorgen remarked, startled by the noise and the blood, but what came next…did far more than startle the onlookers. His butterfly disappeared from the center of the room and all at once, the reflections in the mirror began to move; crawling towards the glass in disjointed movements, the sound of his voice crying and repetitions of being hurt, scared, and cold became so loud that it hurt their ears.

"—And now we're in a horror movie!" Jorgen recoiled while Poof whimpered, covering his eyes.

"Poof! Poof!"

"Guys, get out, please!" He begged them, and Jorgen seemed to realize that escape was the best option but when he tried to open the door, it would not budge.

"Poof, POOF!" His little god brother shrieked as the reflections crawled out of the mirrors; each one of them distorted from the shape of the fun-house mirror, some big, some small, some bone-thin, while others were short and chunky….all of them with shambling broken bodies, crawling along the floor in shuddering, painful movements…

He cried out, covering his eyes! No more! He could not take this! This….could not be him! These things weren't him! It wasn't him—!

"NOOOO!" He screamed, unable to bear anymore of this horror.

"Timmy, shhh….Timmy, it's ok sweetie, it's ok…." Wanda was holding him in her arms. He blinked a few times, confused. He was in the soft pink bed he had fallen asleep in. Nova, who was in his pajamas along with Piper, who was in clad in a thin and immodest negligee, stood over him with curious, concerned expressions.

He broke into sobs, his voice hitching as he clung to Wanda. His right wrist was aching, but he was in too much distress to look.

"Ok kiddo, calm down. We're here, it's ok." Piper patted him on the back after letting him cry in Wanda's arms for a few moments longer.

"Poor, sweet child…." Nova gently stroked his aching wrist. "What has happened?"

"Timmy, tell us, what's wrong?"

He shook his head; there was no time to explain things, not when Cosmo and Poof were in trouble, even Jorgen was in danger. He gazed up at his godmother, desperate. "You got to go to your castle and help them! Poof, Cosmo and Jorgen, my heart-soul has them trapped inside the fun-house room and he's going to hurt them!"

—Jorgen POV—

As nightmare versions of Timmy crawled towards him, he swatted at them, but they kept reappearing elsewhere. Some of them tried to climb up his leg, while others grabbed at him with a hand that sent stabs of cold-induced agony through his nerves. He couldn't believe what he was experiencing; it didn't seem possible for a human soul to be capable of this.

As he climbed, one of the creatures held on tightly to his back, despite having only one arm. In an attempt to dislodge it, he smacked his back against the wall, accidentally breaking one of the mirrors. Suddenly, he noticed that one of the broken creatures shuddered and disappeared into thin air.

"Aha! Break the mirrors, that's how to get rid of them!" He shouted instructions to his two companions.

"Poof, Poof!" The baby fairy boasted about his experience in dealing with mirror monsters and started hitting every mirror with his rattle. Although he wished he could simply blast them with his wand, he knew that glass reflected magic. However, if he aimed correctly, he could make the ratcheting blasts hit other mirrors. As he aimed his wand at a mirror and let his magic bounce off of it, the Timmys who were holding him became hostile. They seemed to sense what he was attempting to do and started using their fingernails and teeth.

"Ouch! Those ridiculously huge teeth really pack a pun—-argh! Stop it!" In an effort to avoid looking like Swiss cheese, he had to cease his mirror-blasting and focus on fending off the Timmy-things clinging to him.

Fortunately, Poof's small size and ability to fly high allowed him to stay out of reach as he flew around and smacked each mirror.

"Not Tim-me! Go away!"

"That's it Poof! Keep it up!As he stomped on one of the nightmare versions of Turner, a feeling of pity washed over him. It was heartbreaking to see what the poor boy had looked like when he died. The right foot and arm were probably sliced off by the chainsaw, and there were various small punctures from assorted sharp objects. The broken, dislocated bones from the fall were also evident. However, it was the neck injury that had ultimately killed him.

Despite his efforts to look away, he found himself staring at the fist-sized hole in his chest. He was certain Turner had not been injured there; there was no mention of healing magic being used on his chest in the report. Moreover, he reasoned, if such a wound had existed, he would not have been able to be revived with such extensive damage to his heart.

Perhaps it appeared that way because something was his soul was missing? Or maybe because it was his diseased heart that had caused the revival magic to go awry? Whatever the reason…it was a tragic sight and not one he'd forget anytime soon.

"These are just copies his Heart-soul is using to distract us!" How it did that, he'd figure out later. "We got to find the real one, so keep breaking mirrors!"

As he sent out another blast, the sound of it ratcheting three times echoed through the room, causing three mirrors to shatter. Poof, impressed by his display, decided to copy him, and did a pretty good job at it. His shooting abilities seemed to be inherited from Wanda.

After all the mirrors were finally broken, there was only one voice left. There was also one set of tears and one pitiful heap of a boy left. This was the true heart- soul of the boy who had tried to hide among the reflections.

"Cosmo!" He called out, freezing along with Poof.

"Dada?"

Cosmo sat on the floor, not fighting but allowing the terrifying yet melancholic creature to cling tightly to him. The creature's grip was so tight that Cosmo's spine bent from the strain. The green fairy's breath came out in mist, and frost had formed on his hair and clothes. Despite the painful, cold death-grip, Cosmo simply returned it with a hug, his hands red with frostbite.

— Cosmo's POV —

"I'm sorry Timmy," Cosmo whispered, his voice choked with emotion. He could feel the specter's grip tightening on him, but he forced himself to ignore the pain. He reached out and patted the boy's hair, the soft strands brushing against his fingertips. The room was dark, and the only light came from the soft glow that surrounded the heart-soul, its light casting eerie shadows across the walls.

Timmy whimpered, his small body trembling in Cosmo's embrace. He could feel the boy's broken bones shifting beneath his skin. His own bones felt like they could break with how tight he was being held, but it was the pain he felt in his heart that brought tears to his eyes. "I did not want you to get hurt," he continued, his words barely audible above the sound of Timmy's sobs. "You're all broken because of me."

He hugged the boy tighter, trying to comfort him. He could smell the sickly sweet scent of blood in the air, and he knew Timmy was in pain. His arms that were painfully squeezing him, were trembling with fear. "It's okay, Timmy," he said softly. "Don't be scared. Don't cry. We're going to fix you, okay? It's okay. I'm so, so sorry you ended up like this. I'm a stupid godfather."

"Cosmo!" Jorgen gripped the soul ring and inched closer; but he gave him a look that made him stop. This was all his fault. He had to be the one to take care of it…Timmy was like this because of him.

As Cosmo picked up the ring from the floor, he remembered the moment when the soul had latched onto him. He had known it was the real Timmy, and he hadn't fought back. He couldn't bring himself to do it because the boy was so scared and sad. Timmy was like this because of him. All he wanted was to hug him and apologize, but he couldn't hold him forever, he had to catch him. It was the only way to help him. He gave the pitiful heart-soul a reassuring squeeze and a kiss on the top of his head before using the ring to capture it. He let a few tears fall down his face as Timmy's form disappeared.

The temperature in the room immediately went back to normal and the door that would not budge swung open. The voices and the crying stopped only to be replaced by a gentling tinkling noise, like a small bell. In the center of the soul-catcher, an impossibly small butterfly bearing no color expect for a gentle glow, fluttered desperately to escape the silver webs which shone and the ring transformed its self into a cage.

"Poof, Poof…Tim-me…?" Poof went up to the cage in wonderment, staring at the soul in fascination, but Jorgen seemed to be staring at it horror-stricken.

"Jorgen, what's wrong?" He asked nervously, hugging the cage close. The tiny transparent butterfly was lying on the bottom of the cage, not moving. "Is…Timmy alright? Please….tell me he's alright!"

Jorgen shook his head slowly, his expression full of dread. "No…I'm afraid that something is seriously wrong with Timmy Turner's soul."