Everyone stilled, and Talia yanked Auriana inside the closet. 'Finish packing this up. Iris, stay here with her. Roxy, come with me.'
'We're splitting up?' Iris asked nervously. 'Talia, I don't know if you've ever seen a horror movie, but…'
'Think about life, not fiction,' Talia interrupted. 'The second you're done, that box goes inside a crystal that goes inside Auriana's backpack, then you two join us. Don't leave anything behind. Iris, keep an ear out and cover her.'
Roxy crept out after Talia, the princess summoning a crystal knife in her hand and slipping it into her sleeve. Nobody that watched her sing and dance at the bar would ever guess the woman was so hardcore… Roxy quietly found herself wondering if her friend had ever actually killed anyone, being a warrior and all. And if she hadn't yet, would she give it a good go tonight?
'Hm…' Talia frowned down at the floor. It looked the same as before. No new tracks. So they weren't inside yet. Except…
'Auriana's steps are too small…' Talia whispered. 'She kicked up a tornado of dust. This was all resettled to throw us off guard.' Roxy saw Talia's hand reach for her knife. 'Game time, boys…'
The two girls barely dove out of the way as the ceiling caved in, almost crushing them as the house shook with violent tremors.
Roxy something living slam into her, smashing her hard into the wall before she even had time to react. She dropped to the floor, gasping, whilst a scream echoed through the building. Talia! Except…
She smirked at the sight of Ogron, evidently having tried to rush Talia, staggering back, his arm dripping as red as his hair.
'Ogron!' Anagan abandoned his post above Roxy, rushing to his leader. 'You okay?'
'Fine, just get the fairy! Gantlos and I will handle the princess of overconfidence.'
Talia smirked, tossing the knife in her hand. 'I'd like to see you try.' Ogron's attempts to attack from a distance were for naught as Talia dove behind the banister, before vaulting over the top and delivering a brutal kick to the wizard's chest.
'Ooh, in the chest again?' Talia slashed with her knife, managing to grab Ogron's wrist. 'Ouch.' She prepared to use Ogron as a sheath, but she was knocked off her feet a second later by the same quake that had shaken the house. A blonde quake, in a hat.
'Oh, good.' Talia tightened her grip on her knife, stomping down hard on Ogron's foot as she hurled the weapon straight for Gantlos's shoulder. She only drew a trickle of blood, but it was enough to allow her to bellow, 'Talia! Princess of Xeris!'
Meanwhile, Roxy had transformed the moment she could draw breath again, staying airborne to try and avoid Anagan's attacks. He couldn't fly, so at least she had that. And…zero other advantages.
'Wasp Sting!'
Anagan ducked, and all she stung was the floor.
'Wasp Sting! Mystic Talons! Any freakin' spell at all!'
'Heh.' Anagan shook his head at her frustration. 'You're cute.'
'No, kittens are cute,' Roxy snarled. 'This is painful! Bumblebee Barb!' She shoved off the wall, driving her spell into Anagan's shoulder. He hissed with pain, but rapidly threw her off.
'No…' he breathed, his shoulder sagging despite his attempts to look unperturbed. 'That was annoying.'
'Oh, good. Well if it's only annoying, you can take a few more! Bumblebee Barb!' Roxy's every attempt to land a hit came to naught, and she screamed with frustration, the attack falling away in her anger, leaving her bare fist to collide with Anagan's neck. She had a decent right hook, but she wasn't expecting to do much damage. Or any, really. So her mouth dropped open when Anagan actually screamed, falling to the floor, smoke rising from his neck, carrying the sickening scent of burned flesh.
'…What the literal f*#k?'
'Anagan!' Ogron broke away from the fight against Talia, rushing over. 'What did you do, fairy?!'
'Damned if I know!' It was sweet and all that Ogron was worried about his buddy, but Roxy didn't transform to have her heart warmed. 'Mystic Talons!'
Ogron threw out a hand, absorbing the attack, and a second later Roxy gasped with pain as her own spell slashed a deep gash in her leg.
Ogron ignored her in favour of bending down to check on Anagan, who was mumbling that he was okay as Ogron helped him up, gawking at the red seared across his teammate's skin.
'Crystal Gelacio!' Talia shouted, but Ogron threw up a shield around him and Anagan, allowing that to be crystallised, before being shattered a second later by Gantlos. Looked like Talia was right; they no longer had the element of surprise, and boy, did Roxy miss it.
It took everything in Iris not to start helping Auriana with the books. Every second just got creepier! She could hear shouting, feel tremors, but she only heard five distinct voices. There was a cockney twang missing, and the owner of the missing voice could be anywhere. He could be that bug over there. Iris backed away from the bug.
'Almost done…' Auriana muttered, reaching the last shelf.
'Good, hurry it up so we can get down there.'
'What…you aren't gonna hang around?'
Both women froze. Iris slowly turned, as though trapped in a horror movie, to see a horribly familiar man leaning in the doorway.
'Iris, Princess of Ephedia! Crystum Sabris!'
Duman shifted into a mouse as she brought her sword down, popping up into the form of a giant snake a second later and ensnaring her, choking the air from her panicked lungs.
'Iris!'
'Finish…packing…' Iris choked out. 'I…got…the sleazeball.'
'Ouch…' Duman hissed. 'I'd say that hurt, but I've been called worse.'
'I hope you've been stabbed worse!' Iris growled, flipping her sword over in her hand and slashing it across Duman's scales. She barely drew blood, but it was enough to startle him into losing his grip, letting her summon the first spell that sprung to mind.
'Crystal Lente!' Crystal shot up between her and Duman's coils, forcing him to let go.
'Oi!' Duman grimaced, gingerly touching his side where she'd sliced him. 'Okay, now I'm ticked off.'
'Well I'm absolutely fudging furious!' Iris's personal censorship of her intended expletive did nothing to dim the anger in the sentence as she threw the first spell she could think of. 'Crystal Offensio! Crystal Collidum! Crystal…Slucia! Crystal Mother fudging anything!'
'Oh, so we're yelling spell names then?' Duman asked, trying to hide how breathless he was from dodging the attacks. 'Okay then. Crystal fist!'
Iris staggered back as blood dripped from her nose, her eyes pricking with tears as she covered her face.
'Iris!' Auriana finally dropped the last book in the box, sealing it in crystal. 'Auriana! Princess of Volta!' She dropped the box into her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder and grabbing Iris's wrist.
'C'mon, Iris!'
'He's blocking the door…' Iris mumbled, wincing at the movement.
'In Volta, we have a saying. Any hole in the wall is a door.' What? What the heck did that mean? Just as Iris was about to verbally express her confusion, Auriana sent Duman staggering back with a pillar of crystal, before spinning on her heel and dragging Iris towards the window.
'Crystempactus!' Before Iris could even scream, they were jumping through a shower of glass, sliding towards Earth on Auriana's spontaneous Crystal Slucia spell.
The girls stumbled off and onto the soft earth, Iris readying her sword as Duman jumped after them. This was not gonna be easy…
Thank Gramorr her tracking beast had picked up the trail. Or else the twins would have lost the princesses and their fairy friend, all thanks to Mephisto 'needing' a donut. As soon as Praxina found a creative way to kill someone with a donut, she was using it on him.
'Oh, c'mon…' Mephisto whined as she tried yet again to step on his foot as they trudged through the forest. 'I was hungry, Prax…'
'Don't call me Prax; you don't get nickname privileges until Iris is a statue that I am taking a sledgehammer to.'
'Wait, so who do I get to shatter?'
'If you can manage it, I'd recommend yourself.'
As Mephisto drew a furious breath, Praxina froze. Was that…were those…battle sounds? Who were the princesses fighting? Each other? Darkness, she hoped it was each other…
'C'mon, Mephisto!' she snapped, running through the trees. 'Sounds like we're late to the party!'
'Fashionably late, I hope…'
'You're welcome to show up never and leave them and all the glory to-' Praxina stopped short, staring at the scene in front of her in utter bewilderment.
'…Whoa.' Mephisto's jaw dropped. 'What's that guy?'
Praxina had no idea. Auriana and Iris were locked in ferocious battle against a man that didn't seem to stay in the same body for longer than a few seconds, changing from bear to wolf to serpent to hawk, using each form to inflict more damage. Crystal spells were barely managing to keep him back, and Auriana's attempts to bind him and let Iris stab were pretty useless. After her own failings against the princesses, seeing them rendered so weak was simply beautiful.
As the wolf turned back into a man to launch a stream of dark energy, Praxina's eyes widened. She recognised that hair! He had been on the plane! So he'd been following the princesses too…sounded implausible, but felt true.
'Where's Talia and fairy Roxy?' Mephisto hissed, and she shoved him away.
'I don't know, idiot!'
The question was quickly answered as the ground shook with a violent quake, and Talia and Roxy went sent flying through the wall of the house. They'd be dead if not for the annoying endurance those dresses gave princesses. Apparently fairies had something similar, since Roxy was shakily getting to her feet and creating a shield right as a blonde natural disaster came charging out and clapped his hands, almost deafening everyone and knocking Roxy to the ground.
'Oi! Gantlos!' The changing man grimaced, absentmindedly slashing Iris's arm with his claws. 'Ya mind leaving at least a little of my hearing intact?'
'Sorry.' Praxina couldn't see why he'd apologise. That had been a majestic hit; if his teammate couldn't handle the noise, then he should hurry up and get out of the fight.
'Crystal Retrosum!' Talia shouted, but she rapidly had to hit the deck as Gantlos clapped again, sending her attack right back at her.
'Mystic Talons!' Roxy managed to land a hit while Gantlos was distracted by Talia's spell, but, despite now dripping blood, Gantlos seemed unconcerned, stomping his foot and cleaving the Earth under Roxy's feet in two, forcing the fairy up into the sky, where she was promptly seized by a huge creature with the head of a bird and the body of some sort of beige cat that threw her right into the house.
'Roxy!' Iris cried in a panic. 'Crystal Slucia!' Roxy slid to the ground on the crystal slide, and Talia had to run to intercept a bolt of dark magic, batting it away with her wand.
'Low blow, Ogron!'
'Calculated move.'
Praxina felt so utterly validated in her odd feeling when the redhead from the plane stepped out of the smoking hole in the house, energy dripping from his fingers as he stalked towards Talia.
'Haven't we already done this fight?' Talia summoned crystal under one of his feet, knocking him off-balance, allowing her to jump forwards and deliver a strong hit with her wand.
Ogron stumbled, but quickly recovered, grabbing Talia's wrist and lighting her up with dark energy.
'Talia! Crystempactus!'
Ogron staggered back, clutching his shoulder as Auriana caught Talia, helping the other princess find her balance, just in time for them both to be knocked to the ground by another quake.
'Crysta Tectus!' Auriana's shield barely held up under Gantlos's assault, and it was clear no help was coming from Iris, who was barely managing to avoid having her neck snapped by wolf jaws, whilst Roxy was dazed and woozy against the house. They were…losing. And badly.
'Wish I'd brought popcorn…' Mephisto muttered, his voice dripping with pleasure. 'This is quite the show.'
'I know…' Praxina oozed. 'Delicious.'
'Think we should jump in there?'
'No.' Praxina shook her head, thinking to the delightful background noise of the princesses getting pummelled. 'They're working as a unit; we'd disrupt them mid-battle. Besides, we don't know who they are, or what they want. But they could be useful…very, very useful. Gramorr might know more about them. For now, let's go.'
'Can we get snacks on this flight?'
'No, you idiot! We don't need to fight, so we can just teleport!'
'Oh. Right. …Can we get snacks anyway?'
Praxina elbowed Mephisto as they vanished, her gaze fixed on the breathtaking display of darkness and domination before her. They'd been late to this party, but next time, she'd be sure to know all the guests.
'Crystal Oblitero!' As anticipated, Gantlos blasted Talia's attack back at her, but she was ready. 'Crystal Lente! Auriana!'
Auriana leapt up, ensnaring Gantlos's wrist and yanking him forwards. Talia sprung forwards as he stumbled, bringing her wand up into his chest, closely followed by her knee.
'Crystal Latum!' Crystal burst from underneath Gantlos, knocking him onto his back. Talia dispelled her wand and summoned her spear, but before she could deal a blow, she was tackled to the ground. Instinctively, she kicked wildly, making contact with a chin and rolling away as soon as she was free.
Anagan straightened up, clutching his jaw, but Talia's eye was drawn to the dark burn seared onto his neck. Roxy had done that with…with a punch? It made no sense. But now wasn't the time to overthink.
'Crystal Oblitero!'
Anagan dodged, but he was slow, the attack nicking his ear. What the heck had Roxy done?
'Crystal-oof!'
'Crystal Oof?'
Talia growled at the smug voice of the man who'd just blasted her in the back. Coward.
'Sounds like an interesting spell. Tell me, Talia, what does it do?'
'Glad you asked, Ogron.' Talia summoned her knife again, staying down until the right moment. 'Crystal Oof gets me mad enough to send you to Klatznik!' She rolled onto her back, throwing her knife and managing to lodge it in his shoulder. She didn't wait for the cry of pain, hurling a hunk of crystal into Anagan and jumping to her feet, delivering a brutal round house kick to Ogron.
'Crystal-!' Ogron glanced up at her, his eyes hazy with pain and flickering with fear, and Retrosum wouldn't come. '-Gelacio!' He was sealed away for the second time, and Talia rapidly turned her attention to where Roxy was desperately trying to fend off Duman.
'Crystal Lente!'
Duman's serpentine striking was brought to a screeching halt as he slammed into a wall of crystal, and Talia grabbed his tail and whipped it around, slamming him into the ground. He shifted back, and she stared him down, breathing hard. Both sides were taking serious damage, and even her stellar endurance was starting to timidly request a respite. But she couldn't let up the assault.
Iris was thrown clear across the clearing by one of Gantlos's attacks, buying the blonde wizard time to rush to Ogron and free him from the crystal. Looked like they'd figured out a way to deal with those crystals without Crystal Solvenda. Fantastic.
'Talia…' Roxy whispered, stepping closer to Talia, shaking. 'I don't know if we can win this…'
'We have to.'
And how in Klatznick are we supposed to manage that?! Roxy still didn't know what Klatznick was, but she was really starting to enjoy the expletive. And boy did the situation call for it.
Gantlos and Duman were still going strong, Ogron had a knife in his shoulder, but he was somehow getting back up and fighting. She was willing to bet that dark aura he'd spread over the injury was some kind of numbing spell, and she made a mental note to ask Talia if she knew any of those. Because she could really use one…
The one bright side was that Anagan had apparently been downgraded from 'The Flash' to 'The Flash's friend that was fast enough that he could keep up if The Flash was going quite slowly, but wasn't really fast enough to be in the Justice League.' Of course, he was still not a regular guy, and his attacks weren't child's play to avoid, hence a number of Roxy's bruises, but they had to find the positives here. There had to be some advantages here. Right?
'Roxy, whatever you did to Anagan, do it again,' Talia gritted out, blasting at Duman in hawk form, trying to keep him away from Iris, who was slashing her sword at Gantlos. The blonde wizard grabbed the blade and it shattered in his grasp, and Iris's attempt at Crystal Oblitero were pretty pointless, while Auriana was attempting to cover her, her shields being turned against her more often than not.
'I don't know what I did to Anagan!' Roxy gasped out, flying up to avoid the wizard in question. How had she inflicted that burn? And how did she do it again?!
Twin screams rang out as Gantlos carved a gaping ravine in the ground, sending Iris and Auriana tumbling into the earth.
'Iris! Auriana!'
'We're okay!' Auriana called back. 'Iris has us!'
Roxy and Talia had to get to their friends, but, now no longer occupied with Iris and Auriana, Gantlos and Duman were free to converge on Talia and Roxy.
'Not so cocky now, are you?' Ogron smirked, and Talia snarled at him.
'Still confident enough to wipe that smirk off your face, arrogant glazril.' Roxy mentally noted the new insult; it sounded harsh.
'I truly doubt that.'
'Really? Had the skill to give you a new piercing, didn't I?'
Ogron's expression soured, and Talia smirked. 'Oh, look, I did wipe that smirk off your face.'
'And now Gantlos is going to wipe that smirk off yours!'
Talia cried out as Gantlos sent her flying backwards into the house, leaving her to try and drag herself back up.
'Talia!' Roxy felt panic truly set in as she found herself alone in front of the wizards. Talia was down. Iris and Auriana…
Iris began to climb out of the ravine, but Ogron followed Roxy's gaze and chuckled, blasting the princess with a stream of dark energy. Iris screamed, almost passing out. Auriana managed to drag her up and out of the chasm, but she too was waning under the assault.
'Crystarmum!' The shield was faltering. Iris and Auriana were going to be knocked back into the ravine! They could be killed! Roxy's fear started to morph, unfurling its wings from the chrysalis of panic into a butterfly, white hot with rage.
'Leave them alone!' she screamed, her voice hoarse with fury. When Ogron didn't let up, she felt her anger boil over. In a sudden rush, her body blazed, every nerve on fire.
Yes!
She's done it!
Attack!
Careful, young one!
She knows what she's doing! She's Morgana's!
Kill them!
Roxy, focus!
A million voices washed over her, and Roxy struggled to make sense of what was happening. Two voices stood out from the rest, clear and strong. One spoke with a calm, reassuring authority, the same voice that had guided her to transform. The second…
Yes! You have the power! Use it! Rip them apart! Beat them until the grass is crimson with their lifeblood! Roxy gasped at the pure venom in the voice, trying to escape the hatred, to run to the reassurance of her guide.
Nebula, calm yourself. She is new. Roxy, you must focus. The Circle - the ring on your finger. That is what you are accessing. This power can harm your enemies. You must guide it. You must concentrate. Roxy tried, tried to focus on the energy flowing through her, suspending her confusion to do whatever she had to to save her friends. Now that she could think a little, she could feel the ring on her finger, burning with an otherworldly heat. And a fury. A fury so strong she could barely cling to her own mind.
'Enough!' she bellowed, and Ogron backed up slightly, his eyes widening in fear as he saw the energy surrounding her. The ring on her finger.
'Leave them alone!' She channelled the power flowing through her into a stream of energy, managing to strike Ogron in the chest. He screamed, collapsing to the ground. While Anagan rushed to him, Gantlos and Duman attempted to attack. She knew a good spell for this. However, her hands moved almost without her realising, rising up and enveloping Gantlos and Duman in white energy. She felt a pleasure at their pain, but it wasn't hers. She just felt sick and confused, but someone was happy.
Yes! crowed the angry voice in her head. Yes, Roxy! Make them hurt! Increase the power!
Who are you?
No matter! Just attack! Ogron is down, use all you can summon!
All I have…? Some vague, hazy part of Roxy knew that would kill him. Knew that if she kept up this assault on Gantlos and Duman, she'd kill them. Why was she still hurting them? They were practically unconscious. This was sadistic! Stop! Roxy, stop! She tried mentally pleading with herself, but nothing came of it.
'Stop!' she screamed aloud, her eyes squeezing shut as the yelling reached fever pitch. 'Stop it! I don't want this!' She clutched her head, trying to block it all out. 'Enough! Enough!' She let out a shriek of distress, trying to keep her head.
'Roxy!' She felt a hand on her arm, pulling her down. 'Roxy, stop!'
'I…can't…' she moaned, still attacking with brutal, merciless force. 'Talia…make it stop…'
'Crystal Dormira!' Roxy felt a hand on her forehead, and a heartbeat later, it all went dark.
Talia watched Roxy's head loll, breathing a sigh of relief as the aura vanished from her friend. Gantlos and Duman dropped to the ground, breathing in ragged, laboured gasps, while Anagan managed to drag Ogron to his feet.
Talia winced as Ogron met her eyes. Roxy's attack had seared right through his shirt, leaving her able to see a huge, weeping burn seared into his flesh, the chest underneath trembling with weak breaths.
In quiet, cautious anticipation, she summoned her wand, holding it defensively as Ogron watched her. He shook his head, and all four wizards vanished in puffs of dark smoke. They couldn't have made it far, but that wasn't Talia's concern. No, her worry was reserved for the unconscious fairy resting on her lap, her expression twisted in discomfort.
'What in klatznick what that?!' Auriana demanded, helping a dizzy Iris stumble over. 'It was…it was…'
'Ridiculously powerful and incredibly sadistic,' Talia finished, frowning. 'And neither of those things are Roxy.' Her gaze caught on the glowing ring on Roxy's finger, and her eyes narrowed. 'I'm willing to bet that this is our culprit.' She slipped the ring off, wincing as she felt how hot it was. It had left a dark burn on Roxy's skin, and Talia had to suppress nervous thoughts of how Roxy was going to hide all this from her father.
'Let's get in the car,' Talia said decisively, carrying Roxy over and laying her in the backseat. 'Auriana, you still have the box?'
'Mhm.' Auriana slung her backpack off her shoulders, holding it out. 'It's all here. Hopefully it's a bag full of answers.'
'Good. Keep hold of it.'
The two girls helped Iris into the back seat with Roxy, and the young princess immediately fell asleep, her head resting on her best friend's shoulder.
Talia cast a last glance to the house as she transformed back to her civilian clothes and started the car. What had been a house was now a mess of gaping holes and brick dust, an empty shell of a life walked away from. The stage of a life held together by string and desperation.
'You know…' Auriana remarked as they made it back onto the open road, Talia driving a tad slower now it was dark, 'sometimes I forget.'
'Forget what?' Talia adjusted her mirrors, watching their battleground fade into just another story.
'That they're just…kids. Roxy and Iris, I mean. They weren't raised for this. They were raised to live their lives, not risk them.' Auriana's voice became a little choked, and she looked away. 'Did we do the right thing?'
'What?' Talia almost took her eyes off the road, narrowly missing a squirrel. And the cliff beyond the squirrel.
'We came to find Iris to save Ephedia,' Auriana murmured, trying to wrestle her hair out of her face. 'We came looking for a princess, for a warrior, for our saviour, but I don't think either of us ever thought that that wasn't what we'd find. She grew up here, with humans, with…normal. At least normal for Earth. And if we hadn't shown up, if we hadn't activated her powers…if we hadn't told her all this…she wouldn't be unconscious right now. She wouldn't be bruised and bleeding. Same for Roxy.'
'Roxy…Roxy wasn't planned,' Talia muttered, unable to fight the part of herself that was agreeing with Auriana.
'That doesn't change the fact she just…we don't even know what that was. They're kids, with no formal training, and we're trying to throw them into a war. I just…I forget that a lot.'
Talia didn't reply, focusing on the road.
Auriana smiled tiredly, letting out a quiet laugh. 'You know, we're not far from being kids ourselves. Growing up hidden with the scattered royals of Ephedia…hiding, planning…getting picked to come here…when was the last time you had your childhood?'
'…I was eight.' Talia didn't say any more. Auriana knew about the fall of Xeris, as much as anyone did. But that didn't mean Talia wanted to share the part she'd played.
'Seven.' Auriana smiled sadly. 'It was my sister Nora's birthday, actually. I was in the gardens, trying to perfect a dance I was going to do for her. She loved dancing… I wanted to practise inside, but my mother told me to go outside after the fifth broken vase. I finally got it right, then I heard yelling, smelled smoke, saw the fire, and all I could do was run. I don't know what happened to my family…only thirty Voltans made it out of the kingdom before Gramorr's regime started. And by then, there was no room for a childhood. Just…hiding.' Her smile was touched by a hint of warmth, and she gazed up at the stars. 'This…this time on Earth…it's been amazing. I've done things just because they were fun. I've tried foods just because I was curious. I've sung, and I've danced, and I've done magic to impress Roxy and Iris…I've laughed and smiled and relaxed, and become a different person. And I wish this new person could go back, and give seven-year-old me a big hug and say it doesn't get fixed, but it gets better. What's broken gets glued, and tears dry.'
'That's…really beautiful, Auriana.' Talia wondered if she'd talk to her younger self if she could. She doubted it. Her younger self needed reassurance life would get better, and Talia, while she could give that, had no idea if her future would get worse. She wouldn't dare give false hope.
What the heck happened? Roxy blinked awake slowly, groaning as she dragged herself to sit up. Everything ached…
'Morning.' Iris sat on the bed opposite her, hair hair freshly washed, most of the dark taint vanished from her skin. 'How are you feeling?'
'Like hell…' Roxy rubbed her temples, trying to block out the echoes of screams and shouts from last…night? Was it last night? How long had she been out?
She flopped backwards onto the bed, squeezing her eyes shut. 'What happened?'
'That ring you put on let you best the wizards, but you…you lost control,' Iris explained gently, offering Roxy a glass of water. 'Talia had to knock you out with a spell before you killed someone.'
Roxy winced. Now she remembered, and she wished she didn't.
'There were so many voices…' she whispered as she sipped the water. 'All of them yelling…some were excited, some were afraid, some were greeting me, and some…' She swallowed hard, remembering some of the things those voices had been telling her to do to the wizards. 'Some weren't so positive.'
'Sounds like a psychic link,' Talia said, coming into the hotel room and sitting down on the end of Roxy's bed. 'The ring must have acted as a medium of some kind. But to whom…?'
'The books!' Roxy says bolt upright. 'The books! They might say! Where are they- did we save them all?'
'In the backpack,' Auriana chirped, slipping in through the door. 'But first, waffles!' She plonked two trays of breakfast down on the beds, grinning excitedly. 'I got everything on mine! And Talia just has dark chocolate, because she's boring and doesn't understand what 'unlimited toppings' means.'
'I don't have to want all the toppings,' Talia replied irritably. 'If someone presented you with the option for unlimited nuclear waste, would you try every kind of nuclear waste?'
'Of course not,' Auriana mumbled through a mouthful of waffle. 'Nuclear waste doesn't come with syrup. Add some cinnamon sugar and then we can talk.'
Roxy absentmindedly nibbled on a waffle, knowing she was hungry but far too distracted to wonder about the rather interesting topping combination Auriana had brought her. Tasted like peanut butter and lemon, but it was food, so, whatever.
'Here we go!' Auriana pulled a lump of crystal out of her backpack, tapping it twice to free the dwindle box. 'You should open this. But un-waffle your fingers first.'
Roxy wiped her fingers on her pyjamas, unconcerned with etiquette when answers were at her fingertips.
The lid creaked as she opened it, and she traced the tiny spines inside. What did she read first? There were over a hundred books in here…
Her hand drew near a thick leather tome, and she plucked it from the box, gasping as it suddenly grew to a behemoth of a book.
'A History of Tir Na N'og…' Iris read, looking over her shoulder. 'Tir Na N'og…that sound familiar?'
'Think it's an Irish legend,' Roxy murmured, bracing herself to open the book. Years of dust poofed up from the yellowed pages, settling over Roxy in a soft snowstorm.
'Tir Na N'og is the ancient seat of fairy power, the island from where fairies rule the planet.' What? Ruled the planet? When the heck was this? Fairies never ruled the planet. Right?
'Your world was ruled by fairies?' Talia asked, confused.
'Not that I knew of…' Roxy skimmed through the text, her brow furrowing. 'It says here that fairies are the guardians of Earth. The keepers of the forces of nature. The…Major Fairies…they're the keepers of Nature…the Frozen Poles…the Oceans…they protect the planet and keep it in balance.' Roxy read on, learning that this Tir Na N'og place was an island off the coast of Ireland, kept apart from the human world by a magical barrier.
The text soon morphed into history, into tales of battles fought and alliances forged, of wars lost and bonds broken, until a fairy queen sat upon the throne, ruling over all of Earth. Areas of Earth were overseen by fairy nobles, most notably the Major Fairies. This was all…weird. Fairies had never ruled Earth; that would've made the history books. Roxy was certain.
'Roxy…' Auriana started, flicking through a small purple volume. 'I think you wanna read this. It mentions the wizards.'
Roxy seized the volume, forgoing political history in favour of a chance to learn more about the wizards that had thrust themselves into her life.
The cover was blank, but the first page held an inscription.
'An Account of the Circle Wars, recorded by Miyumi Miora, keeper of the Tir Na N'og archives'…' Roxy read aloud. 'The Circle Wars?'
Auriana shrugged. 'They're the Wizards of the Black Circle. Must be named after them.'
Roxy turned to the first page, reading the beautiful, looping script. 'Greetings, dear reader. I am Miyumi Miora, archivist of Tir Na N'og. It is my responsibility to record and preserve our glorious history, and today something occurred which I found noteworthy enough to record. Though I rather doubt that my choice of book was apt, as it contains far too many pages to describe what shall almost certainly be rectified within a few days, if not before.
'A fairy patrol was attacked yesterday by four men - barely out of being boys. They should not possess such power as they did, but the guard captain swears on her wings that one, a redhead they called Ogron, seemingly their leader, boasted the ability to absorb their magic and turn it on them. Details are fairly lacking as to the others, but one was a living earthquake, one moved as the wind, and one is whispered to have been a formless. Our queen's face rather soured at the last revelation. I, personally, have never seen any evidence to the old stories of these beings, but the tales were enough to leave a shiver in my spine at the thought of one.
'Their intent was not explicitly stated, but Harebell, one of the soldiers on patrol, claims they attempted to steal her wings. This seems unlikely, as to steal a fairy's wings would be quite impossible, but she asserts that this is true.
'Today, to our great surprise, they returned, and Harebell was proven correct. They were trying to steal wings. And the managed it, to a degree. Harebell's wings had lost almost all their lustre, and would barely lift her off the ground when she returned home, her patrol almost carrying her. The wizards - as this is what they must be - possessed some sort of weapon that allowed them to drain most of her magic. I doubt you shall believe me, dear reader, but…Harebell's wings were…detaching. They were edging away from her back. I did not believe this possible, but now…now I am not so sure.
'Queen Morgana is fairly unconcerned. They are mere wizards; how can they hope to stand against our power? Nebula laughed at the suggestion they might be a threat. She believes them not even worth execution. In her words, the removal of magic, a few years in the dungeons and a good beating should cure them of whatever foolish notions they hold. I must confess that this seemed rather a harsh remedy, but Nebula, as Fairy of Peace, shall strive to restore peace by whatever means are necessary.
'The situation has worsened, dear reader. Morgana has ceased to remain so unconcerned. Two fairies lost their wings today. And, what is worse is that their companions describe a vortex in the sky that swallowed them up, summoned by those same four wizards. Nebula's stance on them has changed, and she now anticipates the day her blade shall meet their necks. We are all in a panic, fearful that our wings could likewise be ripped from us. However, Morgana rapidly commanded calm, guiding us all to keep our heads. She assures us that these villains shall be brought to punishment for their crimes, warning all against attacking this world's guardians. I hope I am not a fool to believe her.
'In light of these events, Queen Morgana convened every important noble, along with the Major Fairies. I do believe Merliah was rather irritated at being dragged from Atlantis to discuss concerns of the surface, but the situation was too important to fear offence. Several more wings have been lost, and fairies sucked away to a place none of us know. We do not even know if it is in life or death, and we all quietly fear such developments. A great many ideas were pitched, but the question we must ask is how we even find these wizards. They appear only to attack, and when they do, they take on small groups. Morgana has issued an edict to all human villages, telling them that if they see these criminals, they are to report them at once, to be interrogated and punished.
'Something most disturbing has occurred. When visiting a village whose protector has been captured, along with most of her fairies, the villagers, though they knew of Tir Na N'og, could not recall ever having had a guardian, ever having a ruler. As far as they were aware, they had been running their village on their own their entire lives, and any attempt to correct this was met with polite, quietly fearful nods that spoke of disbelief. They truly do not remember Hessa's rule. I, and most others, believe this means that, once a fairy passes through the vortex, her memory is erased from the minds of mortals. The truly curious thing is that they recognised Hessa when shown a picture. They recalled her face, but could not recall her magic, her fairy nature. Her magic was erased from their minds and lives. I do not know why this would be the case, but it is concerning. If humans forget enough fairies, they will not place so much faith in us. Their faith strengthens us, builds our magic, and as we lose numbers, we cannot afford to lose power as well.
'We finally know what to call our enemies. The Wizards of the Black Circle. They posses an artefact, a twisted breach of the laws of nature. The Black Circle. It is truly one of our own White Circles, a gate to our realm and source of light and power, through which a great deal of humanity's faith can be felt. How they twisted this one, we do not know, but it is how they steal our wings. Two days ago, they grew bolder. They attacked Lady Diana's stronghold, and almost seized her wings, getting away with the power of twenty of her fairies. With each fairy they capture, they become stronger. We have learned their names now. Ogron, who possesses the ability to absorb magic. He is the one to summon the Black Circle. Gantlos, who can create quakes and deadly seismic waves. He has been described as a living natural disaster, and I should shake to face him. Anagan moves too fast to be seen, tearing out wings before you even know he is near. And Duman is truly a formless. A shapeshifter, to be correct. He can be anything, anyone. Many fairies bear injuries from his teeth and claws. This is teetering on the brink of war, and many wonder why it has not been declared as such.
'This is war. Morgana declared it this morning. We are at war. Nebula is quite certain we shall be victorious, and those wizards shall serve as nothing more than a warning, but most do not share her confidence. I fear for the future…
'Today's events…I know not whether they are good or bad. Perhaps they simply fit into the strange in-between where many things in life reside. The wizards attacked Aurora's frozen tower, but we were more prepared. Nebula led a small army against them, and they found themselves outmatched. I am most glad. They should learn their place, and it is not above us. They still managed to capture six fairies, but their leader was struck by Nebula in the battle, and brought into captivity. Morgana attempted to determine how they forged their Black Circle, what they want, but all he would tell he was that our reign is over. No more. Nebula has her own plans for how to pull his secrets from him, but Morgana is hesitant to give her freedom to do as she pleases with the prisoner. It has been over a year since the start of this war, and…Nebula is changing. She has always been harsh, always been prone to violence, but she has an anger in her, a thirst for victory. She has come to thrive on the fight, to live off the adrenaline of battle. Her harmony is less and less balanced by the day, and her mind follows suit. I truly doubt the prisoner would survive, left alone with her.
'We should have let Nebula kill him. Ogron's followers came for him. We were so stupid…he brought with him a beacon, a spell to guide the others to him. This entire thing was a trap, and I feel such a fool for not seeing it! We lost a great many fairies today, and the rest have been forced to flee. They were swift and brutal. I almost lost my own wings, and our queen…a great hunk of her power was torn from her. She is shaken to her very core, and, while Nebula is screaming that we must strike back, Morgana is simply trying to hide. Nebula has branded her a coward, but her insult was not punished. Morgana is too scared, scared to lose her wings and face the fate of so many of her subjects. But she must stand strong, must guide us through these dark times. We need her, even as we fade from humanity's minds, even from their history books.
'We are adrift. Lost in the sea of war with no captain at the helm. Morgana…has fled. Left us when we needed her most. Her fear of losing her wings has driven her far deeper into hiding than we can follow. Nebula is seething, while several other fairies have followed Morgana's lead and fled. Sibylla believes Morgana is in the human world, but she refused to elaborate when Nebula demanded answers. We are scattered, queenless, and rapidly becoming powerless. Even as we hide, the wizards will pick us off. They have destroyed almost every White Circle, and one of the few left, Morgana took with her when she fled. It is one of the few things to harm the wizards, and she must have sought to protect herself. I doubt this account shall contain many more entries. The wizards may find us soon, and I am no fighter. I shall not be able to hold my own.'
Roxy looked up from the book, her voice shaking. 'That's all there is.'
'They must have found her…' Iris whispered.
'And all the others!' Talia spat furiously. 'These wizards are just like Gramorr! Tyrants and oppressors! Picking off the few like cowards! I should have killed Ogron when I had the chance.'
'Talia…' Auriana murmured, taking her friend's hand. 'Chill.'
'Sorry.' Talia took a deep breath. 'But also, that queen! Morgana! She abandoned her people to hide! Such cowardice is unacceptable from a queen! From anyone!'
Roxy nodded, but she was lost in a haze. Fairies had been the rulers of Earth? The wizards had erased them from history? When…when was all this? There were no dates in the book. It could have been any time! If humans forgot fairies, then this could have been last week! And, most of all…how was she a fairy? She hadn't lived through any of this. How was she one of them?
'I don't understand…' she whispered. 'How…how am I one of them?' Something was niggling at her brain, but it wouldn't click yet. She was spinning… 'Nebula…' she murmured, recalling the name. 'The warrior that wanted to kill the wizards…she…she was in my head when I used the Circle. She told me to kill them, to hurt them…and then I did…someone called her Nebula…'
'Nebula was speaking to you?' Talia frowned. 'Those voices…do you guys think…they could be the fairies?'
'But how?' Iris asked, flicking through another book. 'Does that mean the wizards didn't…' She trailed off, her face draining of all colour as she uttered what had to be the first harsh expletive Roxy had ever heard her say.
'Iris? Iris, what is it?'
Iris didn't reply, just holding out the book with shaking hands. Roxy took it, and promptly dropped it, dramatically overshadowing Iris's linguistic faux pas with a long stream of language that would have had sailors wincing.
'What?' Talia demanded, seizing the book. 'What is it?!' She skimmed the page, her expression bewildered. 'Queen Morgana. The queen? I don't understand.'
'Th-th-th-that's…that's not the queen…' Roxy whispered, the room warping around her. 'That's…that's… Talia…that's…my…my mom.'
Everything hurt… How the hell had Roxy done that? How did she find a White Circle? How did something so easy go so wrong? How was he still lying on the bed of the motel Anagan had found, groaning and whimpering every time Anagan tried to clean the burn on his chest? He wasn't this pathetic. He tried to sit up, but the movement was like shoving his chest into broken glass, and he whimpered and fell back.
'Stay still,' Anagan muttered, his expression tight with pain from his own burn as he tended to Ogron.
'You're hurt too…' Ogron gasped out, gripping the sheets under him. 'See to yourself, I'm fine…' He writhed under Anagan's touch, rendering his assertions utterly pointless as his lungs battled his pain to continue their life's work to draw air into his body.
'No, you're not.'
Ogron let Anagan tend to him in relative silence, trying to comprehend what this all meant. They thought they'd destroyed every White Circle! If Roxy had one, she could shatter the barrier. She could bring them all back. And if they returned…he and his friends were dead.
'Okay, you're done.'
Ogron reached for his shirt, but Anagan swatted his hand away. 'Leave it. Don't move for a while and just get some rest.'
'She has the Circle, Anagan! I can't rest, I have to plan, and think, and research-'
Anagan gave him such a stern look that he shut up and rolled over, pulling the blanket up over his chest so he wouldn't be stuck seeing the mass of gauze covering the mess of charred flesh. Magic sped up healing, but still…this was going to leave a scar, and a pretty bad one.
From his curled up position, he could see where Duman and Gantlos were limp on their beds, their breathing shallow and their skin charred from Roxy's spell. The burns weren't as severe as Ogron's, and some magic should ensure no scarring, but they were spread everywhere, rendering the two's unconscious states a true mercy.
Anagan applied spell after spell until the marks began to fade, and he staggered on his feet, collapsing onto the couch, gingerly pressing a spell against his own burn.
'You need rest too,' Ogron murmured. He tried to push himself upright, but the wound in his shoulder warned him against it.
'I know.' Anagan curled up on the couch, too exhausted to stagger across the room to his bed. 'I know…'
'We're stuck here a few days, aren't we?'
'We're certainly not flying in this state.' They wouldn't be fighting in this state either. Who knew how much time their injuries were affording their enemies? Surely not time enough to actually find Tir Na N'og. And certainly not enough time to free the fairies. …Right?
Wizards? Ogron? Gantlos? A man who could turn into animals? Gramorr was quite certain Praxina and Mephisto had hit their heads. Honestly. Wasting his time with this nonsense.
'What do you say, Banes?' he murmured as the twins bickered over who got to share the details. 'Shall I just feed them to you and be done with it?'
Banes glanced up, giving his master a slow, lazy blink, as though to say he'd rather eat a mountain slug than so much as sniff the balls of immaturity Gramorr had entrusted with his bidding.
'Fair enough.' He finally lost all patience and snarled, 'Praxina. Tell me what it is you wish to convey before I feed you both to whatever can mange to choke you down.'
Praxina paled, shoving Mephisto aside and clearing her throat. 'Ahem…yes. Well, your evil malevolence, we followed the princesses to California. Mephisto delayed us at the sky travel port, but my beast managed to track them. But when we arrived, they were already fighting these four guys! They had magic, but it wasn't Ephedian. There was no crystal in sight! They must be from Earth.'
'They're not fairies, either,' Mephisto added. 'I know that because I know all about fairies now. By the way, my Lord, might we be able to procure some goblins?'
Gramorr ignored Mephisto, fixing his attention on Praxina. 'And I am supposed to care about this?'
'Well, yes. Look, they were slamming the princesses! They could be very useful, my Lord.'
Gramorr sat back, tapping his fingers as he thought it over. They did sound powerful, but he knew nothing of these men. But their very existence intrigued him. Earth was supposed to be devoid of magic. That was why the Queen had sent her daughter there, after all. No magic. Nothing to activate her powers before their time. But so far the twins had found five beings with magic that appeared to hail from Earth. Interesting…
He rose from his throne, pacing back and forth as he tuned out the twins and their arguments. There was an obvious answer here.
He left the twins behind, striding through his palace and prison to reach the library. The books, all magical, shied away from his touch, fearful of their oppressor, but he had no time to care for the emotions of paper and leather.
'Earth…' he muttered. 'Earth, Earth, Earth…' He glanced up to see a book gradually edging back on the shelf, and he spun to it, wrenching it from its escape. 'You! You know what I seek?' He didn't wait for an answer, tearing it open and scanning the text. The entire account was…questionable, at best. Few Ephedians had been to Earth, but this one had recorded tales of winged women felled by a band of wizards in possession of some artefact that had apparently been their namesake.
'Wizards of the Black Circle…' He laughed softly. Talia and Auriana had sought Iris, their hands already full with protecting the heir to the throne, and they'd somehow managed to find themselves another hunted charge. Quite amusing…but… This story. This account of the fairies. Of the wizards. Ascertaining their likely motivations, somehow, Gramorr doubted that these four would willingly pledge themselves to him.
'Still, Banes…' he muttered, running his fingers through the smoke of his familiar's fur, 'can't hurt to have Praxina keep an eye on them…'
'Dad?' Roxy called nervously, stepping into the quiet house. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. What she was supposed to do. Her dad had married a fairy. Had he known she was a fairy? He sure didn't now, not if the book was to be believed. Should she tell him? Shatter his world? Tell him his wife had been royalty? Magical? Kind of a coward? She'd abandoned her own people to hide. Here, among humans. The thought couldn't help but make Roxy wonder if she and her dad had been a way to hide more effectively. She didn't know what to think anymore. Frankly, she'd rather appreciate the idea of switching her brain off for a while. Hence her plans to spend a good few hours watching otter videos on YouTube. Yes, sometimes destined heroes watched stupid internet videos. What, they can't exactly just sit around and brood all day.
'Butterfly!' Her dad rushed in scooping her up in a bear hug. 'Oh, I missed you so much! How was the talk?'
'Great!' Auriana had thankfully found a video someone had posted of Roxy's cover story, and she'd watched it on the way back, making sure she was ready to answer any questions to keep her dad from realising that she'd spent the latter two days of her trip reading fairy history books and passing out in the hotel.
'Did you meet Miriam Gates?'
'No.' Roxy put on a disappointed expression, shaking her head. 'I tried, but she was swamped. It's okay, I'm sure she'll come here at some point. But Auriana saw Hollywood!' That was true. Auriana had seen Hollywood when they'd driven through it to find a pharmacy.
'Oh, well, that's nice. She see the Walk of Fame? Run into Julia Roberts? I hope you gave her my number if you did.'
'Should I be worried?' Yumiko, Roxy's dad's girlfriend of five years walked into the kitchen, a smiley, stark reminder that Roxy's dad had moved on. Had finally been able to get past the woman that had at least seemingly left him and their daughter, and found a life.
'Hey, Roxy.' Yumiko gave Roxy a quick hug, her eyes filled with curious expectation. 'So, how was LA?'
'Smoggy,' Roxy replied with a shrug. 'East Coast vs West Coast? Gotta be East Coast.'
'Well, as a Tallahassee girl, no way will you find me arguing with that. You wanna get changed? I was gonna make a special dinner to celebrate you being home, but Klaus and I haven't figured out if we're at a stage in our relationship yet where he'll forgive me for burning down his kitchen, so we were gonna get Thai. Only if you're not too tired, of course!'
'Thai sounds great,' Roxy replied, though internally she just wanted to lie on her bed and scream. But she was also hungry, and she'd eaten all her bedroom snacks. Apparently vision dreams made a girl really hungry. 'I'll be down in a minute.'
As soon as she was inside her room, she sank to the floor, yanking the two books out of her backpack. She put Miyumi's account aside, opening the record of all Tir Na N'og's queens and caressing the delicate ink drawing of her mom. Queen Morgana…Morgan…no wonder her mind had been telling her something was strange. Her mom had dropped a single letter from her name, and somehow she'd hidden among humans. And now… It seemed strange, but…the voice…the person speaking to her…her voice was so familiar…could it be her mom? Was her mom guiding her? Telling her what to do? Where to go? Seemed kinda presumptuous for a woman who'd been gone for so long, but…had she even left by choice? She'd told Roxy and her dad that she was leaving for a seminar for two weeks, and she'd be back in time for Roxy's school play. Roxy hadn't made it to the play. She'd spent the night at her friend's house, waiting for her dad to get back from the police station. It had seemed like a missing persons case, until the police had found her passport gone, despite the 'seminar' being in Wisconsin. Too much money to seem reasonable was gone, and she'd packed for longer than two weeks. Also, her seminar didn't exist. The police had branded it a willing abandonment, and Roxy's dad, despite yelling at them that his wife was missing, and that she'd never do such a thing, had eventually accepted it. They'd upped sticks and left her memory behind, but now nothing made sense anymore. Had her mom chosen to leave them? Had she had to hide somewhere else? Had the wizards captured her? She must have had contact with a fairy again, or found one of their hiding places, since she'd had Miyumi's journal. Why had she had all those books? Why keep them hidden like that if she was trying to hide? Was she planning to show Roxy? If she'd been trying to escape the wizards, why hadn't she taken Roxy with her? Had she known her daughter would one day grow a pair of wings just like hers?
Her phone buzzed, and she fumbled to answer, Iris's face filling the screen.
'Hey, I just wanted to check you were okay. Your dad believed everything?'
'Mhm.' Roxy sighed, guilt washing over her at the reminder that she'd lied to her dad more over the last few days than in her entire life. 'Hook, line and shitty daughter.'
'Roxy…' Iris's eyes filled with concern. 'I know this is hard. But don't say that.'
'Do you think we should just tell them?' Roxy asked, playing with the string on her hoodie. 'Just…let them in?'
'We'd probably give them a heart attack. But…maybe, yeah. I just don't know how. Aunt Ellen would be so worried…she might ask me to stop. Or ask Talia and Auriana to leave.' Roxy doubted that; Iris's aunt was a sweetheart. But still, the point stood.
'So we just handle this on our own?'
'We're not on our own. We have Talia, and we have Auriana.' Iris gave her her best reassuring smile. 'Roxy. We can handle this. I don't know how yet, but we can.'
'…Are you doing that thing where you're freaking out even more than me, but you pretend to be calm and perfect so I feel better?'
Iris looked away. 'Bad connection, gotta go.'
Roxy laughed, waving as she hung up the phone. 'Bye, Iris.'
She watched the screen go black, leaning back against the door. She wasn't even sure how her dad would take the knowledge that magic was real. Would he be able to believe in fairies? Miyumi's journal flashed into her mind, and she remembered. Humans' belief made fairies stronger. Made the White Circle stronger. Should they try and restore humanity's faith in the fairies? Would that help defeat the wizards? But, if the power came through the Circle…
Roxy broke out in a sweat even thinking about the ring. The loss of control. The screaming in her head. The screaming of the wizards as she'd caused pain she didn't choose. No! No, she wouldn't go near the Circle. Not again. It was safe with Talia. But what if it could stop the wizards? Truly stop them? Every book they'd slogged through had said the wizards' weakness was the White Circle. If Roxy donned it again, she knew she could stop them. But…there was no grey area. She put that ring on, she'd kill them. And she just didn't know if she was ready to have that much blood on her hands.
