July 3rd 2016 The Eyrie, New York City, Neverland, 9:00 P.M EDT
Cora's spell, A-ranked by virtue of being fuelled by Zee, WAS able to tank the roots that tore through the energy barrier like paper, at least for the most part. The barrier started to weaken pretty much immediately, but it bought us some time.
Time which was important, because unlike the energy shield, Cora's was magic, and therefore permeable to allies, which meant I could get OUT.
"You'll be taking on Oberon like we planned." I said to Puck and Rumple as I spread my wings. "Let me go out first. Nothing he does will do much to hurt me in my true form. Once I've drawn attention lead the Gargoyles out, you hit Oberon while they harry the griffin riders. The soldiers can cover them from the battlements with shots through the shield."
Magic was so much more convenient than science, nothing of those pesky hard rules to follow. Waiting for their agreement, I leapt off the battlement, wings catching the air as I dove through the shield, building up speed and then pulling up hard when I'd gotten some distance, transforming myself into my hundred foot form.
I'd have liked to assume my full form, or even my second stage form of a thousand feet, but the Eyrie itself was only about twenty five hundred feet, a quarter of my full height, and I needed room to maneuver. The skyscraper had pretty clear airspace though, so in my hundred foot form I had room to move around and fight. Seeing the Queen of the Fairies frozen by my shift, I reared back and spouted a torrent of bad karma at her.
She flicked her fingers and two of the roots trying to squeeze the building snapped out, one to intercept the attack and the other to intercept me. The first actually worked, though the negative karma seeped into the root and seemed to damage the entire spell. The second root wrapped tightly around me…and then was subsequently shredded with a casual flex from my titanic musculature.
A single flap of my mighty wings dragged me up to Titania's level, and she glared at me hatefully. "Best!" She hissed. "Must you put yourself at odds with me? I seek only to raise the child as he should be raised!"
I snorted. "Not your call. Trust me, having powerful fae make long term decisions about your upbringing as a kid is actually pretty shitty. You can still back off you know."
Because I was supposed to drive her off, making her quit should end this. I was still flooding the weave with my power as we spoke, but I was almost done. I wanted to be past this fable and in the central area when my trap hit critical mass, not that I expected it to take much longer now that I was going all out.
With her root spell weakened, I saw that she was abandoning earth attacks. Titania, tall and blue skinned with long red hair, made an imposing picture as her hands wove through the air, creating another spell form as she worked her magic.
The chant this time tipped me off to what she was doing ahead of time, and I braced myself for the attack, creating subtle weaves of my own.
"A rumble of thunder paves the way, clouds blot out the rays of day, the rising wind begins to moan, to chill my foes to frozen bones." Her chant and weave seemed to overlap, amplifying the attack in a way I hadn't seen before, as if the somatic casting was adding another dimension to the three dimensional structure of the spellform. Her words picked up as she continued. "And in the bleakest depths of night, a cruel wind comes to douse the light, I summon forth the winds of death. Come now the icy JOTUN'S BREATH!"
Hands flung out, she cast the shifting spellform toward me, and the weaves of blue energy looped around each other, shifting and coalescing into a comet of grinding air rippling with the chill of ice so cold it would freeze the sun.
Clicking my claws, I casually tossed out a small object right over the comet and towards the Queen. As it passed in close, the comet shifted direction, following the object and banking a hard turn right at Titania. Her eyes went wide and she wove a quick spell, blinking across fifty yards or so to avoid the spell, which hit the object I'd thrown right where her head had been and exploded in a cataclysmic vortex of wind and ice.
She stared in horror as the spell warped the air and even the space around it, chunks of time and space themselves being torn apart by a colossal wind after being frozen by a cold beyond mortal ken.
I kind of wanted to whistle, but I realized I was a dragon and we don't really have lips, so I just clicked my tongue. "Ouch. That would've left a mark."
"You redirect my spells with base trickery?" She roared. "Have you no honor?"
I scoffed. "Not a shred. And also that was NOT base trickery. That was high level trickery. My karmic poppet is a complicated piece of magic thank you very much." This bitch. Trying to tell me how to fight. Unbelievable.
"Dragons are creatures of honor and dignity." She snarled. "They comport themselves with decorum and face their foes head on."
Laughing, I just shook my head. "Probably why most of us are dead. Like I'm going to tank a shot from a major god level opponent just to prove how tough I am. It wouldn't kill me, sure, but it would suck. Come on, aren't fae supposed to be all about trickery and subterfuge?"
"You speak of Mab's creatures." She said arrogantly. "My summer fae act as befits the children of light. We are masters of deceit when needed to infiltrate our enemies, but when we ride to war we act with decorum and austerity befitting our noble lineage."
I winced. Wow, no wonder mom hated her. I knew Mab was what mom had called herself in this world, probably to hide her influence in case anyone had checked up on her from our dimension. "Well, I'm not going to fight you like a moron because I'm strong, and chances are good you wouldn't beat me if I did. You can't win this, so why not just fuck off."
She smiled unpleasantly. "Perhaps I might not. But then, I'm not limited to fighting alone. Did you think my court is without its protectors?" Reaching into the satchel at her belt, she drew out a small golden trinket in the shape of a shield. On the shield was a slab of blue enamel, interrupted by the singular image of a golden bird made of flames.
[Appraisal function activated. Phoenix gate- A rank magical artifact. A powerful immortal being is bound inside this shield. Granting the bearer the power to shift through time and space, the breaking of the gate can release the beast inside, a transcendent creature of fire and fury.]
"Ah, shit." I said flatly. With a shout of effort Titania raised a hand and coalesced the entirety of her power into it before slamming it down on the shield, which shattered. The resulting explosion threw the Queen clear, and she was caught by one of her griffin riders, her skin wrinkled and sagging, and her hair bone white as she stared blankly from cataract riddled eyes.
Apparently even a fae couldn't tank a time based explosion without some backlash. Ignoring the now pretty much harmless fairy, I turned to take in the powerful beast she'd just unleashed.
The phoenix was…well, a giant bird made of fire. It wasn't hard to recognize it for what it was. A quick appraisal confirmed both its identity, and its place at the top of the A rank food chain. Much like dragons, phoenixes were uniquely powerful for their rank which meant this was going to fucking suck.
"Godsdamned fairies." I muttered to myself. "Even when they're weaker than me they pull off some crazy bullshit I have to deal with." I was going to take this frustration out on my moms ass when I got my hands on her. It was all her fault anyway.
Apparently that was all the thinking time I got, because the phoenix crowed out its defiance and dived right at me, ready to tear me apart.
When its claws struck me, I felt a tearing pain, and a sense of disorientation. Snarling, I reached for every strand of karma I had connected to me and yanked them taught. Rather than dragging any power or even beings to me, I dragged ME to them. All at once and in every direction, essentially anchoring myself to the spot.
I didn't know what time travel bullshit would do inside the fable and I had no desire to find out. Snapping my head out, I bit into the bird, inhaling hard as I sucked as much karma from it as possible. As a being of 'light magic' the phoenix was made of good karma, and as a dragon god of karmic devouring, its power was a particularly tasty snack.
The bird crowed again, this time in fear and confusion as I adjusted my bite and started to PULL with everything I had. I ate, and ate, and ate, and every drag into my endless maw shrank the bird, making it less of a threat, less of a power.
In contrast, my own strength was skyrocketing, and I used it to speed up the conversion of the weave for Neverland, diluting the magic my mother had used at an unprecedented rate.
I was still getting stronger, because the amount of power in myself and the weave were the same even if the composition changed. When I'd drained it enough, I reached up and wove a cage of golden threads around the guttering remnants of the beast, barely a C ranked entity at this point.
Titania had fucked up. Her super powerful guardian beast was made of my favorite snack, but she couldn't have been expected to know that.
Turning to where she'd been, I saw that while I was distracted, the griffin rider had carried her off. Oberon was hanging, impaled on a pair of dark metal spears, wrapped in chains of maroon smoke as my brother and Puck hung panting in the air nearby.
That…had been easier than expected. But then again, this whole scenario was a lose lose for Titania. Just a torture loop my mom had concocted. It made sense for her to go down easy, especially against someone like me. Shifting back to hybrid form, I stuffed the phoenix fragment into my pouch.
Grinning, I floated back down to the castle battlements, landing with a groan as I stretched expansively. "Ok, that actually kind of hurt." I grimaced down at the fucking claw gashes in my side, golden blood leaking from them. How long had it been since I was injured?
Xanatos rushed up. "You…you did it." He said cautiously. "But there's still more to be done. We need-"
"I don't care." I said pleasantly. "What you need. It doesn't interest me. I have a few things to take care of before I go, first of which is checking on Zatanna and making sure she's ok. Do you know-"
A door burst open, and Ruby came stumbling out. "Nicky!" She shouted as she caught sight of me. "Thank the gods. Something is wrong. Cora doesn't know what's happening but Zee is doing…something. She needs you."
My blood froze. I had no clue what was going on with Zee, other than some vague bullshit about an entity. Was she giving birth? What kind of magical pregnancy bullshit was this, it had been like an hour? It didn't matter. I'd find out when I got there. Maybe my karmic eye could give me a way to help. "Take me to her." I said. I just hoped we weren't too late.
July 3rd 2016 The Eyrie, New York City, Neverland, 10:00 P.M EDT
I reached the room in the lower levels of the castle where the girls were staying quickly enough, the others on my heels but not able to keep up. I left Rumple to deal with Oberon, my brother could hand the bastard over later. I had plans for the points I was going to get for him, but now wasn't the time for that.
"Zee!" I shouted as I burst into the room. "What the fuck is going on?" I was feeling…panic. It was strange, I'd felt fear since regaining my emotions, been afraid of things, and even seen what my real fears were in that damned fear hallucination. But now, here, standing at the precipice of losing my archon, I felt like I was suffocating.
Some people might have considered it a weakness to feel like I did. The old me might even have been one of them, but I never had. My attachment to my girls wasn't a weakness. It was a gift. Not for any sappy bullshit reasons that most people might guess, but because in gaining emotions I could truly ENJOY the things that belonged to me.
My love for my girls was a way of making my greed…matter. Of exalting in the sensation of owning things. But this was the other side of that coin. Those things that mattered so much could be lost. Could be TAKEN, and I wanted to scream and rage and burn this whole fucking castle because I couldn't kill the thing that was taking her.
Zee lay on the bed, surrounded by Fox, Ariel, Ruby, and Cora. Her body was in its archon form, but the usually purple eternity of her features was a glowing golden tapestry of light.
Stars were bursting, all over her body, like some kind of chain reaction in the facet of reality that was her archon's form. I whirled on Cora. "What the fuck is happening to her?" I snarled. The witch was supposed to be wise and shit. Why else would I have bonded her. She knew shit Rumple didn't.
On the face of it, they were close to equals, and having Cora didn't serve a purpose. Except that Rumple's power came from a fucking ancient dark legacy of evil demon sorcerers and Cora had reached the same peak through sheer effort. She was a genius, a magical Mozart, and there was a fucking reason people were afraid of her, so why the hell wasn't she FIXING this shit?
"She's dying." She said bluntly. "Or rather, something is killing her. Her body is trying to generate enough power to fuel…whatever is being created inside her. It's detonating those stars to generate power enough to fuel the process, and it's not enough. I tried to help but…" She gestured to herself. "It's like trying to fill an ocean with an eyedropper. I do magic. She IS magic."
I blinked at that. "Wait…that's it?" I stepped closer to her, grabbing her hand in mine, and tried to push some power in. Nothing happened. I knew I could infuse her with energy through sex, but realistically that wasn't going work right now. I tried looking at her through my karmic sight, and almost passed out as whatever the fuck was happening flooded my mind with power and complexity I'd never imagined.
As a last resort, I reached down to the bond between us, through the Brand. It was made for power transfer, that's where points came from, so if I could take, I could give. Luckily, I had plenty to give. I had a metric fuck ton of power coursing through me from the Phoenix, and while trading it back and forth with the weave helped me convert it, the actual balance of my power never diminished.
Once I found the bond, I grinned, took hold of the power that was filling me, and SHOVED it into Zatanna with all the subtlety of a herd of bulls in a glass blowing workshop.
Her head flew back and Zee screamed. It was loud enough that it caused physical damage to the weaker people close by, and Ruby had to catch Fox as she staggered. I didn't have time to care about that though, because as the flame erupted from her mouth and eyes, I was relieved to see the gold start to fade from her skin.
Unlike an actual dimension, Zatanna's archon body was a living thing, it repaired itself, and without needed to cannibalize her own power the stars inside her began to recede, condensing again back into their original shimmering form.
One by one, the supernovas painting her body faded as the energy of the Phoenix was funneled into the heart of her problem, the one supernova still existing in her core, over her womb. Well…supernova wasn't really accurate. Given the size of the other star explosions relative to her body, the one over her womb was on a totally different scale.
A hypernova, rather, one of the most devastating phenomena in creation. Unlike the golden radiance of the others, this one was blue as a summer sky, and as I fed in the Phoenix power, I felt it drain into the explosion like I was pouring a bucket of water down a bottomless well. More and more and more power was siphoned off, strengthening whatever was being created.
I was VERY confused as to what was happening. I was pretty sure Zee was having a kid, but like…not in any way I'd seen before.
Finally, I ran out of power, at least the borrowed stuff. I was prepared to funnel in my own but…nothing happened once it stopped. Apparently she'd reached some kind of equilibrium. The flames receded from her eyes and she slumped to the bed, panting weakly as she wheezed out her exhaustion.
As I watched, the hypernova continued to get brighter, but as it did, it condensed. The radius of the explosion on her stomach receded, compacting from a blazing vortex the size of a small dinner plate to a single sphere of power so bright I could barely look at it.
Right before our eyes, the seed began to rise, passing through her skin and out of her midsection seamlessly until there was a blazing sphere of power floating above her. The sphere started to change, altering until it took the shape of a small human. A very small human, like a five year old girl or something just to scale. I blinked in confusion, appraising the being.
[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Sindella Lord- A ranked cosmic pixie. The seed of a cosmos, this infant power of creation is the foundation upon which a universe will be built. A merging of the power of creation, magic, and karma, Sindella will grow in power as she ages, and will eventually become the embodiment of an entire universe.]
I blinked in shock, staring at the tiny floating person in front of me. As she opened her eyes, as purple as her mothers (or one of them I guessed, gods the girls were going to be pissed Tink had helped create the first kid) her face split into a wide smile. "Papa!" She threw herself at me, and midair shifted from a small floating pixie to a regular sized little girl, wearing a purple dress and with a crown of purple flowers in her midnight hair.
Catching her, I stared down in shock as she snuggled against me. "Ok…I'm very confused." I said helplessly. "Cora, any ideas?" I informed her of the appraisal, mostly because Zee was out cold and I didn't have my normal encyclopedia of magic shit.
She listened thoughtfully, then nodded. "I think I understand. Universes are…complex. World's vary, but they usually consist of three things. Body, mind, and soul. I know you don't expect worlds to have any of those things, but they do. In most matter is the body, magic is the mind, and destiny is the soul."
I nodded, understanding her point. "So when I fu-" I looked down at the small child cuddling into my chest. "When Zee and Tink and I were…together, we contributed those things. Zee was the magic, I was the soul though my karma, and Tink was…matter? That doesn't make sense though."
"It does." She disagreed. "Because fairies are beings of pure creation. They make the ethereal into the physical."
I blew out a breath, looking over at Tink, who was staring at…our daughter, with awe. "So why the issues with the…birth." I said, not having another word. "And why did this just happen, pregnancy is usually something I control."
She shrugged. "To the latter question I have no answer. If I had to guess this wasn't really conception. More of an act of high creation, and thus beyond the power of whatever allows you to control impregnation with your partners. For the former…well, I have a guess. I suspect that Tinkerbell's weakness is to blame."
Tink flinched. "What? What does that even mean?" She shot me a pleading look. "I promise I didn't do anything to hurt Zatanna."
"She didn't." Assured Cora. "That isn't what I meant. The creation of a universe is a delicate thing. It requires equivalent amounts of all forces. You and Zatanna are staggeringly powerful, while Tinkerbell…isn't. The child's creation was unbalanced, and Zatanna's body was cannibalizing itself to protect her." I winced, not wanting my daughter to hear that kind of talk.
Sindella, for her part (apparently the universe named my baby after her grandmother, weird but whatever, at least it was the sane one) had fallen asleep against my chest, and looking down at her I felt…strange. I knew what love was like, felt it for my girls and for my dad, but this was different.
She was like…me. Or not me but also me. I loved her like I loved myself. Like a limb or an organ. I swallowed hard as I took in her features, my nose, Zee's eyes, Tink's mouth and jaw. She was perfect. I wanted to squeeze her even tighter, growl at anything that got close, but she was sleeping and I wouldn't wake her. I'd take this conversation elsewhere. Stepping forward, I set her down in the crook of her mother's arm, and Zee pulled her close, even unconscious.
After making sure they were both alright, I turned to the others. "Cora we'll talk in the other room, Ruby, watch them." My wolf was staring adoringly at the tiny angel Zee was holding, and she nodded absently as I left. I smiled to myself, I wouldn't need to worry about Sindella or Zee for the moment.
When we stepped into a side room in Fox's apartments I exhaled slowly. "So, to clarify your earlier statement. The balance was off for her conception. Funnelling power into Zee helped somehow? Does the fact that it was power from the Phoenix matter?"
She blinked in surprise. "Immensely. Phoenixes are beings of pure creation. The power was perfectly suited to rebalancing the energies." She glanced back at the room. "Potentially TOO suited, actually, which is most likely why she's already outwardly a five year old. The excess physical energy must have pushed her growth forward a bit. Luckily there wasn't enough of it to make her an adult."
I winced. I couldn't imagine being a baby in a full grown adults body. That sounded hellish. Sindella, luckily, was only a few years too advanced. She'd still get her whole childhood. That made me wince for a whole other reason. She could talk, which was a good sign, or at least say one word, but she was essentially a baby with as much power as…well, me.
Or at least an A ranker. Which was mindblowing. Would she reach S rank when she was fully grown? I had so many questions, and so few answers. But for now…for now I was tired. I walked back into the room, pulled a chair from my pouch and slumped into it. Making sure Zee and Sindella were safe, I settled in, closed my eyes, and went to sleep. There would be time to figure everything out tomorrow.
July 4th 2016 The Eyrie, New York City, Neverland, 6:00 A.M EDT
I woke with a groan at the sensation of someone poking me in the cheek. Opening my eyes, I saw a smiling little girl in a purple dress with purple flowers in her hair. She was floating off the ground, a pair of gossamer wings flickering behind her as she beamed at me. "Why?" I asked tiredly.
Another voice cut through my drowsiness, or rather, a familiar laugh. "Sindella I told you not to wake him?" My eyes drifted to the side where Zee was sitting up in bed, back in human form and looking tired but happy.
"Well now." I said with a grin. "If it isn't my laziest girl. We were out there mixing it up with Oberon and co and you were down here taking a nap."
She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky she's here, or I'd be giving you a piece of my mind." Her eyes settled on the floating girl. "Sindella, come sit with mommy." The little girl pouted, but obediently floated back over and snuggled up to Zee's side. My archon smiled wanly. "I heard all about what you did. Thanks."
I shrugged. "Kind of my fault to begin with." I looked at the peacefully smiling girl, and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Did you get…is she…like us?" She asked cautiously. It took me a second to get what she meant, but I shook my head immediately once I had, the very idea of my daughter having a Greed System Brand on her was disgusting to me. Even knowing you could Brand someone just by having them agree like I had Tink, the idea was nauseating.
"No." I said flatly. "And she never will be. You all made a conscious choice as adults. Part of that was to get stronger, but Sindella won't ever need that anyway. She's going to be stronger than me when she grows up, or at least than I am right now. No Brands, not for my kids. Not ever." I had to fight to keep a growl out of my voice.
The more I learned about the Greed System the less I wanted it near my children. My girls could take care of themselves, and I'd make sure to set things right. I had a plan for that, but the idea of having full command of my kids made me sick. Zee knew that, I think, knew me well enough to know I didn't support the idea of binding a Lord. I hadn't extended the offer to my dad, after all.
One could make a case that this made me a hypocrite, given my Brand on Emma and plans for my mom, but this was different. I wasn't sure why but it was. Nobody was going to put a leash on my daughter, and if they tried I'd fucking murder them.
She watched my face as all this went through my head, and then her own broke into a wide, satisfied smile. "So." She said cheerfully. "I love the name, you picked it because of my mom?"
"I didn't pick it." I shrugged. "Maybe you did, or maybe the universe, who knows? Regardless, that was her name when she was born, back when I first appraised her. Speaking of her birth…you talk to Tink about all this?"
That was the part that was going to go over poorly back home. Amy was NOT going to be happy some new girl got the first baby. She'd made peace with Whisper and Dinah, but she was supposed to be next. Knowing I'd knocked up Zee with a bratty fairy condom and already had a five year old was going to be…poorly received.
At least from me. I had no doubt every one of my girls would absolutely melt the second they saw Sindella, the scavengers. This was going to be like my damned dog all over again.
"I did." She said with a chuckle. "She's…fairies don't really have kids. At least not traditionally. Fairies are born from eggs and hatched in a big group. They can be elevated to that status by certain spells though. Anyway, because of that, Tinkerbell didn't think she could ever have a baby, not to mention Sindella is…special."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's an understatement. Given how fairies are about magic I'm guessing she's like their version of a messiah."
"Pretty much." Zee said as she conjured a comb and started slowly combing out Sindella's hair. "So…what does this mean for us? Like the group I mean? No way you can bring her with you to face Tsaritsa."
I snorted. "Obviously. Or you. She's way too powerful to leave unprotected. She needs an A ranker with her, so I'm sending all of you to the Cave of Wonders. It's only openable by me now, and it's in another dimension, so there's nowhere safer. You don't have to leave right away, of course, I'm still working on setting up the trap."
And I'd need it. My mother was crazy, sadistic, and vicious, but she wasn't stupid. She had to have some sort of counter for me if she was sitting around. I wasn't sure if she planned to ambush me or had some magic artifact or what, but the weave I was going to use to trap her was an ace I needed up my sleeve.
She frowned, but nodded. "Ok, just be careful ok? Your mother was considered a Boogeyman by the entire fae race. Don't make the mistake of thinking she's no threat just because she's only B rank."
"I won't." I affirmed. "Especially given the whole Titania thing. She proved that the rules aren't a hard and fast thing. There are ways to cheat."
I looked down at my daughter, who was snatching at some sort of purple energy butterfly Zee had conjured to keep her entertained. I knelt down. "Hey there kid." I said awkwardly. "You having fun with mommy?"
She blinked at me before nodding quickly, causing Zee to curse and glare since she had her hands in the girl's hair. "Ouch." Said Sindella. "Mommy be careful." It was clear that despite her lack of verbosity she could and did understand and talk. "Papa, are you going away?": She sounded worried.
"Got a few things to take care of pumpkin." I said reassuringly. "You and mommy are going to go play in my favorite place for a while." I reached into my bag and pulled out a handful of gold. "You know what this is?"
She squealed in glee, snatching the coins. "Pretty!" She practically sang. She was all but nuzzling the gold.
Zee rolled her eyes. "Well if you needed proof she was yours that would be it. I'm sure she'll love the cave. I assume you'll be catching your mom and coming to get us immediately?" She said suspiciously.
"However long that takes." I smiled. "I have a general idea of how this will go, but I doubt it'll be quick."
That got another eye roll. She knew what I meant, even if I wouldn't say it in front of the kid. "Anyway, time to get up girls. I imagine Fox isn't super pleased we've been bogarting her guest room all night."
I stood and stretched, heading out of the side room and into the main apartments. Ruby, Cora, Tink, Ariel, Ariel's griffin, Fox, and Alex were all outside, sitting at a table I hadn't seen before, tucking into a big breakfast. Zee was getting changed (not that it took long with magic) but I was starved, so I plopped down in a chair and shot Fox a hopeful smile.
Rolling her eyes, the red haired daughter of Titania gestured at the food and I attacked the dishes, snagging a plate and then piling breakfast on it. Muffins, sausages, pancakes, hash browns, corned beef hash, french toast, I took a bit of everything, and by the time I finished I had to grab another plate and the food was still piled high.
I slathered the whole thing in syrup (the real maple stuff not the preservative shit from the grocery store) and started hacking away at it like I was dismembering a stubborn knight.
"Lovely." Said Zee as she walked in, Sindella on her hip. "Because those are the table manners I want our daughter to learn."
I shrugged. "Sorry." I said, my words muffled by the food filling my mouth as I talked. I grinned at them both, making sure to show off that I was mid chew. Sindella burst into giggles and Zee just huffed, she knew I wasn't one to listen when bitched at anyway though, so she didn't get annoyed, just chuckled a bit.
Setting our daughter down at the table, she nodded to everyone, who all greeted her warmly before ignore her to fuss over the kid, who promptly ignored THEM so she could start scarfing down a bunch of cheese blintzes, I'd never been so proud.
Sadly, the family breakfast couldn't last. "Ok, Tinkerbell, you and I need to talk. I have something in mind for you. It'll help you with Sindella I think, make you two a bit more in sync." I'd planned the Phoenix fragment for Cora, but given Sindella's birth and the role it's power played in the process I thought Tink was a better fit. She was C rank too, and adding the fragment would bring her up to B.
Her eyes went wide, and she shot Zee and the kid a look. I could see longing in there. While Tink had contributed to Sindella's creation, it was a relatively smaller portion. Zee and I had been the ones whose power had fuelled things, and the Phoenix picked up the slack. Sindella was…connected, to the two of us, in a visceral way.
Tinkerbell didn't have that same connection, I mean it was there, just not strong. It was why Sindella's features were closer to a mix of Zee and I thank the three of us. Tink was in there, but her influence was minor.
The Phoenix though, that was what made up the remainder of Tink's portion of Sindella's…I guess DNA? If she got that fragment she'd have a one third connection to our daughter, just like both of us did. I could see in her face how much she wanted that. Zee clearly could too, because she shot me an encouraging smile as I stood up and gestured for Tink to follow me.
Once we were out, I gestured for her to come with me. "This is a B ranked merge." I said in explanation. "And I happen to have a source of power to use for that upstairs, so I need to stop and take custody of Oberon."
She looked poleaxed. "Ob- you subdued the KING?" She squeaked in shock. "I know you said you could, but I didn't think…"
"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome." I said cheerfully. "But it was Rumple and Puck who bagged the big man. I was bust kicking Titania's teeth in and eating her fried chicken." The fairy girl flinched at the description of her court's guardian beast being referred to in such a manner, but to be fair, it was pretty much true for me.
We walked for a while, me using my threads to find Rumple, and when we arrived, we found he and Puck standing in front of a cramped iron cell. When he saw me coming my brother raised a brow. "Everything alright?"
"Fine." I said with a wave. "Just some magic shit." I liked my brother, I even respected him somewhat. I did NOT trust him. Especially not with my kid the fledgeling universe. Zee was tough enough to keep him in line if he tried shit, but they'd be leaving for the cave soon, and it seemed easier just to not mention it.
Shrugging, he gestured us over to the bars to look in at an exhausted and wheezing Oberon, and I smiled. Glancing at Tinkerbell, I gestured to him. "Take a good look. Because by the time I'm done, you're going to be stronger than he is." I swear she almost started squealing in joy on the spot.
July 4th 2016 The Eyrie, New York City, Neverland, 7:00 A.M EDT
Oberon looked surprisingly unruffled by his captivity, at least in terms of the emotional impact. He was obviously in pain, but he didn't seem upset or scared, just…placid. I nodded to him as I stepped into view. "Oby." I said with a wave. "Shouldn't have come back here man, rookie mistake."
"Where my Queen orders, so do I go." He intoned calmly. "I informed her of my feelings on this, she chose not to take them into account."
I shrugged. "Probably counting on her fried chicken friend to save her bacon if needed. Sadly for her, she brought the WORST opponent for me. The Phoenix was one of the most dangerous creatures I've ever seen besides myself, and it was also basically made of candy as far as I'm concerned."
He looked…confused by that. Hazy. Not like he couldn't understand, but like his brain was trying to throw off some kind of fog. I smiled at him. "Are you waking up?" I asked in surprise. "I mean, obviously not completely or you'd be gone, but you seem to be fighting through it."
If anyone could, it would be him, I suspected. He'd known mom back in the day, they'd been together. She was obviously stronger, especially with Neverland helping, but fairies were tricksy fuckers. He made a loud noise, something like a wounded animal moaning, and then slammed his head forward into the bars.
One, two, three strikes, and she was out. His eyes cleared as he raised his head. "Tsaritsa." He said simply.
"Give the man a kewpie doll." I grinned. "Impressively done. I thought you guys called her Mab though? Oh well, doesn't matter. I'm hear to break this fable and move on, you'll be free soon enough."
He sighed. "Appreciation." He said carefully. Fae don't say thank you, it implies debt, and fairy culture is built around using debts and favors to fuck people in the ass. "If there were some way I might aid you in your quest, I would suppose your future actions might imply a sort of symmetry to such an arrangement."
Which was fairy for 'I want that bitch to suffer, want some help?'. "Well you know her best. What's your suggestion for beating her?"
Eyes locked on me intensely, he took a minute to answer. "When I deposed her, I referred to knowledge I'd been able to glean from her past. Tsaritsa is a prideful creature. Not in the way most are, she'll do what she needs to do regardless of what reputation it might gain her, but her pride in her own cleverness is legendary."
"So she's overconfident?" I said skeptically. "Because that isn't exactly a news flash to me. Not sure how it helps."
He shook his head. "Not what I meant. Tsaritsa is canny and knows when she's beaten, she'll slip away from most any trap…her instinct in bad situations is to retreat. The sole exception to this rule is simple. She can't resist a direct challenge to her authority. She won't ever flee from a battle where she feels her capability is questioned."
I frowned. "That doesn't sound like her. Sure she threatens and puffs up, but she never seemed to need validation."
"That's where difficulty begins." He said ruefully. "She doesn't care for the opinions of others for the most part. Making her feel her pride is being threatened is far from simple."
Based on what he hadn't said, this little tidbit was how they'd beaten her back home, and how he'd overthrown her here. It could be useful and I filed it away. I spent the next few minutes talking to him, gathering as much information on her as I could, and as we talked, my plan clarified itself.
I'd been planning things in general terms, run in, snap the trap and hope it allowed me to Brand her. But that didn't take into account more than a few things.
First off, while I could wait until I overloaded the weave and then go in and spring my trap, she would undoubtedly be suspicious. She was every bit as squirrely as he said, and if she got wind of what was coming she might bolt. It would be obnoxious to catch her, even with Ruby's powers. She had plenty of experience disappearing.
My best bet there was to wait and unbalance the weave after I was already in mid battle, taking her by surprise. That led to my second issue, how to get her to actually fight me in the first place. If she thought I wanted her dead she'd bail first thing.
Which meant I needed to give her a reason to stay. A reason she'd believe, a reason that she'd see as a challenge without feeling endangered by it.
I knew how to do it too. My mom knew two things about me. I held a grudge and I liked to fuck. She'd had eyes back home besides me, I was sure of it. Chances were good she knew about Lilith, which meant it was more than believable if I challenged her to a fight with that chalk white fairy ass on the line.
In fact, I didn't think she could resist trying to beat me at my own game. Knowing how pissed she'd been before when I shattered the fragment of her, she wouldn't be able to resist luring me in and then turning the tables on me.
She probably already had a bunch of tricks up her sleeve waiting for me. If not for my unique karmic interactions and how they would affect the weave, I might actually be worried. She HAD beaten the entire fae race into submission for centuries.
So that was the plan. After I got the girls in the cave and upgraded Tink, I'd head in and challenge her to a battle. If she won I'd be all hers, and if I won that ass would be all mine.
Thanking Oberon, I double checked my points, confirming that yes, he did count as mine, which meant I got the points I needed to upgrade Tinkerbell. I was trying to stay over five billion, so offsetting my newest B rank expenditure was convenient.
"Alright, so lets talk about your future." I said as I led Tink away from the holding cell and into an empty room.
Tink smiled mischievously. "Are you going to make me earn it? I promise I'll be as good or bad as you want me to be. I'll show you how useful it'll be to give me more power." Her eyes were smouldering as she stepped closer.
"Love the energy." I grinned. "But that isn't what I meant. You can pay me back later, for now we need to decide what exactly you want to focus on."
Reaching into my pouch, I withdrew a golden cage containing a small fiery bird. The C ranked phoenix fragment. "This is extremely compatible with you, and we've already discussed you wanting to deepen your bond with Sindella. But the Phoenix is a complex being, and there are many paths you can focus on."
Her eyes were glued to the fragment. "It's…beautiful. What kind of options do I have?"
"The way I see it, there are four. First is rebirth, defensive and automatic. Making yourself impossible to kill would be useful." It was one of the most obvious Phoenix aspects and probably the one I'd have gone with myself.
She seemed intrigued. "So I would never lose my wings again. That does sound nice."
"Sure." I agreed. "But I can keep you from losing your wings, and return them if you do. The second aspect would be renewal, similar to rebirth, except you would be healing others. Phoenix tears repair damage."
Her eyes lit up. "I could heal Sindella if she got hurt. Or you or Zatanna."
"True." I said with a nod. "Or you could go for mobility. Time travel is one of the Phoenix's powers." At least it was here for some weird reason. I'd never heard that before but it would probably be useful.
This one, honestly, I was dubious about. Time travel sounded overpowered, but honestly I could just make a single use time machine for way cheaper, and I already had Ruby's tracking and Ariel's portals to move through space. I just didn't really care enough about the past to want to go back. I mostly lived in the moment.
"And finally, destruction." I said, wincing as I remembered the damage those claws had done before I'd had my snack. "Offensive power, and you'd be…up there." The Phoenix had been able to hurt ME. It was a beast at the top of A rank just like I was. Its offense was understandably insane.
She seemed to think on it for a bit. "Could you do more than one of them? Like if I wanted rebirth AND renewal?"
"Sure." I shrugged. "Less focus means less power in each aspect, but rebirth and renewal reinforce each other, so that combo would probably be pretty effective at both. I take it that's what you want?"
I'd say she'd have about eighty percent of each aspect with that combination, at least compared to what she'd get if she specialized. That was probably the best combination she could manage with the aspects I'd offered. She seemed excited by the possibility and nodded happily. "Yes! I want to be able to heal as well as endure."
I could respect that. I held up the cage. "Alright, are you ready?" She nodded and I took a deep breath and triggered the merge.
My points drained away, Five billion ten million left, I still had the C rank windfall from Ariel's griffin to play around with. As I watched, Tink dissolved into energy, as did the Phoenix and the cage. I saw them swirl together, the magic of each mixing to create something new, and before my eyes the lights faded revealing Tinkerbell in all her glory, but…diffierent.
She was still blonde, her hair the gold of the sun on the water, and her body was still curvy, but that's where the similarities ended. She was wearing red now, a tight short dress wrapped around her pale body.
Along her limbs and around her neck red tattoos of Phoenix's in flight twined and soared, making her look almost like a warrior goddess. From her back a pair of feathered wings extended, each pinion made of concentrated fire, and her formerly blue eyes had turned bright red.
[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Tinkerbell- B ranked Child of the Phoenix. Formerly a light fae, Tinkerbell has shed her mortality. An embodiment of rebirth, Tinkerbell is nigh unkillable, and her energies can mend nearly any wound]
I'd expected her to be an actual Phoenix, as I'd been a dragon at B rank, but it seemed there were steps that needed to be taken first. Still, she was powerful, and the abilities she'd picked would be damned useful.
Staring up at her eyes, I saw tears of liquid flame pouring down her cheeks, and I raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"
She put a hand to her chest, smiling beatifically. "I feel her. Sindella. I can feel our connection. She's…amazing."
That made me smile. "Of course she is. She's ours. Now, let's go get the others. I'm going to open the cave of wonders. You'll all be safe there while Rumple and I do what needs doing," I felt better about the strategy knowing they'd have a healer on hand.
Smiling she offered her arm, which I took, and we headed out to meet back up with everyone else. Once I got them settled, Rumple and I would move on to the core of the island, and he'd handle Pan while I finally got my first face to face with mommy dearest. I couldn't help but grin. It was going to be a hell of a reunion.
July 4th 2016 Neverland, 10:00 A.M EDT
Getting the girls to enter the cave was harder than expected. Sindella, shockingly, wasn't the one causing problems, Ariel threw a huge fit about leaving, and Ruby looked about ready to join her. Zee, ever the reasonable one, intervened, and I was glad I didn't have to use the Brands to make them go.
After saying our goodbyes and promising to pick them up when I was done., Rumble and I headed for the edge of town, where my karmic vision told me we'd find the exit to this place. Once arriving, we walked right out of New York and ended up…
"Where the fuck is THIS supposed to be?" I asked as we emerged. "Is this another Fable? Because I'm gonna be pissed if so."
Rumple shook his head. "No. I recognize this place. We're in Neverland. The real Neverland."
"This is it?" I asked incredulously. "This is such a letdown. It's just trees. They're not even magic trees. I assumed the Fables were hiding like…a magic forest or something. This is just a bunch of pine. What a letdown." I glanced at him. "For what I'm sure are obvious reasons we're going to split up here. Unless you think Pan will be with her?"
Rumple snorted. "Never. My father is a coward. He'll be as far from her as possible." Pointing off into the distance, he drew my attention to a giant stone skull on an island. "He'll be there. I've done my research on this place. That's the center of Neverlands magic."
"It was." I said slowly. "When we prevented him from taking the kid, he panicked I think. Otherwise he wouldn't have been stupid enough to let her weave her magic through a place like this. But you go ahead. Deal with your old man. You sure you don't need any help?" I could admit to worrying a bit. Rumple and I had been through a lot here.
He just shook his head, grinning unpleasantly. "No, Dearie. I don't need any help for this. It's been a long time calling."
I nodded, clapping him on the back. "Good luck then, brother mine. Don't die, or I'm totally gonna bang your girl." At his glare, I just grinned. "What, it's incentive. Can you think of anything you want to have happen less than that?"
Laughing, I turned and headed deeper into the island. He knew where to go and so did I. I could hear his muttering as I walked away.
Walking deep into the woods, I crossed through a few clearings, before finally coming to one that was occupied. In the center of the place, a red haired, white skinned woman with familiar features sat at a table sipping a cup of tea.
I entered the clearing, walking about ten feet and stopping, smiling at her as she drank. In front of me, about two dozen spells twisted and woven into a tapestry of dangerous magic stretched around her like a cocoon. I sensed I shouldn't have been able to see them, but most of the magic on this island was filled with my power.
I continued the exchange, and calculated I had about ten minutes before the tables turned. I could work with that.
"Well if it isn't my brutish offspring." She said mildly, looking up at me with a smile. "Won't you sit down?"
I grinned at her. "Nah, I don't feel like sitting, and by the time I'm done, neither will you. At least, unless you run away. I suppose you could flee from me again like last time. It would be fun to see it again, I could write a book about it, publish it back home. Do you have any title preferences, Tsaritsa the coward sounds good."
Raising an eyebrow, she just clicked her tongue. "Is this how you talk to all those women you rut? You're…what? Establishing dominance? Because we both know that's what you really want. My poor insecure Nicky, doesn't know how feelings work. Mommy doesn't love you, so you have to fuck some affection into her."
She chuckled acidly. "And what if I say no? I know your code, dear boy, you won't take me without permission. You don't enjoy forcing yourself on a woman."
"That's true." I said carelessly. "But I won't need to, will I? Because deep down, you want to know if I can really conquer you. How long were you in my head, mom? How many women did you watch me fuck into submission? I wonder if you ever conquered anyone so thoroughly. Was your tyranny really so effective? None of my girls would ever overthrow me."
Her hands slammed down on the table, angrily enough to slosh the last of the tea from the cup. "You know NOTHING!" She hissed. "I was a QUEEN. Not some whore who conquered others with flesh. You're weak and simple."
I shrugged. "So we try it both ways. We can battle, and you can use all your little tricks on me. And when I walk right through them, I'm going to give you the fucking you've needed after all this time. Not because I want your love, I could care less. But because I want to see that haughty mouth squealing like the whore you claim you aren't."
"And the truth comes out." She cackled. "You came all this way to get back inside me. My stupid needy little dragon." Standing, she let her chair tip back, holding out her arms. "Fine then. I'll give you permission you want. Conquer me and you can have the prize you've always wanted. Use my cunt as you wish until you've 'broken me'." She turned, showing off a plush behind, bigger than I remembered. "Or perhaps my rear end would suit you better. I know how much you enjoy a fat ass. Whichever hole you'd like, you need only put me down and take it."
In most situations this would be stupid. She was baiting me, but she couldn't handle me, and she might as well pull up her dress and spread for me. Of course, this wasn't most situations. She'd know I was coming, and the tapestry of nasty spells and curses she'd women was enough to injure or possibly even kill me if I walked into it.
Which was why I hadn't obviously. The spells she wove were stitched into the island's magic, which was filled with MY magic, and there was no way that she could work with all that power at this point without me knowing, not that she knew that.
But I wasn't QUITE ready yet. I was going slow so she didn't notice, and the moment to turn the tables hadn't come. So I needed to stall.
Luckily I'd inherited my propensity for gloating from her. So all I had to do was point her at a subject where she could preen and brag for a bit. "There's one thing I need to know." I said in a tight voice. "How many? I know about Rumple, but there must be more even back home. How many siblings do I have? And how did you even have them locked up in the mirror."
She giggled. "It was simple. Perverting a few summonings let me infuse shards of myself into other forms. Like the one I left in you. I've been dozens of women. Pretty little Sarah was a fun one. Max did so love being challenged. But I was others. Sometimes I stayed and raised the child, sometimes I drowned the damned thing when it turned out useless."
I nodded. "Yeah that sounds like you. Are any of them still alive?"
"Hoping for more sisters to fuck?" She sneered. "I know that's the closest you can get to familial love. Even if you defeat me and claim my cunt I won't care about you, Nicholas. You can't make me."
I grinned arrogantly. "In fact, I can. I won't just make you care about me. By the time I'm done you won't care about anything else. Not because I crave your affection, or because I want your love, but because you fucking OWE me. You toyed with my life for years, and you're going to pay me back with that fat fairy ass."
Keeping my eyes on hers, I decided to be honest with her, just a bit, before this was over. "Because I AM your son. And I'm as petty and spiteful as you ever were. I know how proud you are, how much you love to think of yourself as clever and powerful. I'm going to take it. I'm going to melt that devious brain out your ears. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be ashamed to look in the mirrors that used to hold you."
"Is that so?" She said in amusement. "That's it? You think a few orgasms will shame me into being a good girl?"
I smirked. "No. But they don't need to. Because I'll control you utterly. You know what I am. What I carry. You probably think you'd never give in, but I know you will. The thing you value most is the freedom you worked so hard for. And I'm going to fuck you until you give it up for me forever. You're going to accept my Brand and become mine."
"That's not going to happen." She said, but I could hear a bit of unease in her voice. "Now stop talking and come fight me."
My laugh was cold. "So impatient. I'm not done. When I finish with you all your plans and schemes will be over. Oh, you'll still plot and manipulate, but you won't be trying to escape. Your body will need me so badly you'd never dream of it. All of your plans, all your machinations, will be to accomplish one goal. To fill the dripping, hungry cunt I've tamed. You'll never think of anything else, always crave more. The terrifying fairy queen will be nothing but a desperate mewling bitch."
I could feel the power in the weave of the island building, I was in the home stretch, but I needed to keep her distracted for a bit longer.
Luckily, implying I was going to bimbofy her was doing the trick. "I'm not one of your weak willed little whores Nicholas. You think a few pokes between my thighs will break a will so strong it endured untold millennia trapped in that mirror hell?"
"You do." I said smugly. "Or you worry they will. It's why you're so defensive. Because you know the same thing I do. Pain and torment are easier to ignore than pleasure. Part of you wants it already don't you. You're hoping I crush you easily so I can fill that aching hole. How long has it been since you've taken a man in the flesh. Since you've been filled so full you can barely breathe."
Her eyes locked on mine, and they looked torn between hate and lust. "I don't need it!" She hissed. "You think thats what I've missed all the centuries? Cock? That all I need is a good fucking to put me straight."
"I think there are a lot of ways to create an agent." I said with a grin. "Brainwashing, blackmail, coercion, but you picked the one that let you lay on your back and revel in pleasure. You need to fuck so bad you can taste it. You're terrified, because you're gagging for it, and you know I'm going to break you just as easily as I claim.
She opened her mouth to snap back, but my power finally pushed past the equalizing line, and there was a snap. Her head jerked up, looking around as I echoed it with a snap of my own fingers. The golden lines of power crisscrossing the island tore free as as I twisted and pulled, and they snapped inwards like a rubber band.
The spells that had been meant to destroy me warped and twisted as they pulled inward, and the webwork of golden lines slammed into her, burning away the dress she wore and leaving her standing naked, bound in gold from head to naked toe, stripped of all power and unable to do anything but stare.
Reaching down, I unbuttoned my pants, pulling them down slowly. "Oh, whoops. Guess you couldn't hold out for too long. Luckily for you I didn't inherit that disappointing lack of stamina." I grinned manically at her. "Don't worry mom, my side of our reunion is going to last so much longer. Now, why don't we get started with that bonding? We have so much catching up to do."
As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys.