Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She was running. It seemed like that's all she did anymore. Run from her feelings, run from other people, and most dangerously, the Ascendancy. They could never catch her. If they did it would spell her end. She didn't even want to think about what they did to people like her, but she knew it was a fate that none before her had ever come back from. She ducked behind some smoke stacks, stopping to catch her breath, and hoping the residual heat and smoke emitting from the pipes would hide her from what was chasing her. As she gulped air she couldn't help but think about the day she had first started running. It was easily the lowest point in her life.

It'd been years since they'd taken her father and sister. They had swooped in and picked them up while she had been out grocery shopping. The street was strangely silent as she approached the house, with only the dull drone of far off vehicles. She had cautiously approached the front door. It was dented and hanging from its hinges. She quietly hurried up the steps and opened the door to reveal a ransacked house, with pools of blood and the strong stench of smoke permeating everything. For all the silences that surrounded her, the scene screamed through her mind with the tale it told. She didn't even have time to mourn, she had to move fast if she wanted to survive, and thankfully her training her father had drummed into her took over. She had gathered a few things important to her that somehow escaped damage; like her electronic photo album. She grabbed the Taser, not that it would do much good against the sentries. They were electronic but insulated so well nothing could get through, but if she faced another person it could put them down; and depending on the size at least for a few minutes allowing her to get away.

She gathered a few other items, stowing them all in her bag. Lastly, she grabbed the sword her father had taught her to wield. Most people laughed at her when they saw it strapped to her side, mocked the use of such a primitive weapon. Which is exactly what her father had wanted to happen. The sword itself was diamond edged and forged from the strongest metals that could be found, made to slice through anything, including metal if there was enough force behind it. Hidden in the handle was a mechanism that sent a strong current running through it. If timed right it could short circuit an electronic device when plunged into its power supply, but it took time to recharge between jolts. It was keyed to her own genetic code, anyone not her who tried wield the weapon would receive a nasty shock indeed.

Once everything was packed she walked out the front door and she knew it would be for the last time. Her family was gone, sealed to a fate worse than death. They would never come back, she couldn't rescue them. She wasn't even strong enough to get revenge; the time for people like her was over. She briefly wondered how anyone had found out their secret, before she shut the door and set the house aflame. To her knowledge no one knew their true nature, but in this day and age she supposed it could have been any number of things; the most likely probably being a rare sunbeam had hit one of them. Ever since the Ascendancy began using the mechanical sentries as their muscle, the sky had become so overcast with smog the sun was usually a distant memory, never mind ever seeing the moon or stars. But on rare occasions when the sun managed to shine through, neither sister could resist the siren’s call, damn the danger. It had probably been the downfall of their life here. She had forced her thoughts away from that line of thinking, shoving it with the grief of losing her family for another time, when it was safe to mourn.

The smog had thickened considerably over the past years, as more and more of the machines were sent out to hunt. The irony of the situation had always amused her, the more machines they used, the denser the fog got, and the harder it was to find her people. Or maybe it was that there weren’t really many of them left. She had no idea why the Ascendancy hunted them with such ferocity, but they had so to near extinction. She herself didn’t know anyone else like her.

She had only ever seen pictures from old books, from the before time. When there were still trees and forests. Places were the black stain of the city hadn’t reached yet. Places were you could still see the moon and stars. None of them existed anymore. The planet was one big city, and the places that weren’t inhabited were wastelands. Soiled and tainted with the pollution of the Ascendancy’s colonization. She supposed it was for the best, the sun revealed their true nature, to a degree. She certainly couldn't pass as human in the sun's light. At least in the smog and grit of the city they appeared human. She wondered what would happen if the sky darkened into eternal night. That would be equally as disastrous. The dimness was really what was best.

As she hurried down the street away from her home she heard the sirens, a little taken back at how quickly they were to respond. But it would stand to reason they were watching the house, waiting for her to come to see if she possessed the same uniqueness her father and sister did. To use her too. She slipped into an alley and ducked among the crowd on the other end. She would make sure they didn't find her. And if they did, she would rather die than get into their hands.

With a sneeze she snapped back into the present, suddenly aware that her hiding spot was ineffective. The air seemed thick and soupy, she struggled to breathe, the smog not helping matters. She took off again. 'If I ever get my hands on him I'm going to melt the flesh off his bones, the bastard' she thought angrily. She couldn't believe he had ratted her out. On the day of their wedding no less. Randal, the man she had thought to marry, whom she thought would be a safe space, to help her feel not so alone, to help her rebuild a family, had found out her secret. And promptly turned her in. She had been a fool. It was only a stroke of luck that she had all her gear on her. He told her her life of running and being afraid was over, told her to throw out all her old stuff and he would take care of her. She didn't fully believe him, and was in the process of hiding everything on the roof of their building in the small storage shed up there. After all, she was in love, not senseless. Her family had been taken once, so she knew fairy tale endings didn't happen. It was on her way to the stairs that she felt the change in the air pressure. With her heightened senses she could smell the oil on them as they approached. She swung her pack on her back, grabbed her sword and darted up the stairs, bursting out the door onto the roof.

Living in the city all the houses and buildings were so close together, it was child's play to leap onto the fire escape next door. She quickly scrambled up the side. Once on top of the taller building she looked down, in time to see the apartment building quickly get surrounded. Not waiting to see what happened when they figured out she wasn't inside, she had took off over the roofs. She had been running for about twenty minutes when she heard the first sounds of pursuit. She put more speed into her stride, but it didn't seem to be helping. The sounds of the sentries were getting closer, but it was as if the air was dragging her down. Everything was getting blurry and it was like she hit an invisible barrier. It felt almost like a balloon, over inflated, thin but resistant nonetheless. The sounds kept getting closer; she could hear the whirls of the mechanisms, the groan of metal rubbing against itself. Not knowing what else to do, and frantic against the invisible force holding her back, she pulled out her sword and began hacking while still running. Behind her she heard a robotic voice blare "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE ASCENDANCY. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED MARIANNE FAYFIELDS, CITIZEN 2184. FURTHER RESISTANCE WILL RESULT IN YOUR TERMINATION. CONSIDER THIS YOUR FINAL WARNING"

It only made her struggle more. The next voice was one she knew well, and if she hadn't been fighting for her life she would have cut his head from his shoulders. "Buttercup, please, they just want to help, they can cure you! Make you normal! Then we can be together! Isn't that what you want? Please!!"

Marianne snarled, the invisible force was finally starting to give way. She felt a tear in it, beyond which she could see, oddly enough, trees. At least she thought they were trees, having only seen pictures before now. She didn't dwell on it. Whatever the heck was happening, whatever was on the other side, it had to be better than here. She turned, sheathing her sword, and yelled "You bastard! I'm not some disease to be eradicated! And I'm not some science experiment!! There's nothing wrong with me! You only did this for the bounty! Rot in hell you festering piece of shit!" As she ducked under into the invisible tear she felt a searing pain in her side, the sentry had fired, and only her turning had saved her from being shot full on in the gut. As she fell through the hole, she felt the barrier mend itself behind her, the last thing she saw as she faded into black was Randal rushing to where she had been, mercifully stuck on the other side. Then she remembered nothing.

__________________________________

Thang and Stuff were marching through the Dark Forest when they felt the air pressure change and heard a distinct POP sound. Curious as to what made the ruckus, they hurried over in the direction they heard it from. When they stumbled across a clearing, they were surprised to see the mushrooms clustered around something. The mushrooms never moved, it had to be something strange indeed for them to actually uproot themselves for a better look.

Stuff quickly shooed them away. What she saw rendered her speechless. It was a girl, she thought. It was hard to tell with her short, spikey hair. She was lying on her stomach, head turned to the side and arms clutching her middle even while passed out. Stuff could smell the blood seeping out a wound she guessed was on the girls’ side. She had the strangest looking sword strapped to her. Her clothes were most unusual, the pants were a dark blue and dense fabric, tucked into wicked looking black boots, of indeterminate material. They looked hard and shiny. Her shirt was a dark purple, and she was wearing the most unusual looking jacket, of dark black material that seemed to be similar to her boots. She had a bag thrown over her shoulder, but it too was of no fabric Stuff had ever seen before. Not that she had much to do with fabric or clothes, she reminded herself. Any goblin caught wearing such garments were mocked for trying to look like the fairies to the east of them. And while the kingdoms had an uneasy truce, no self-respecting goblin wanted to look like a fairy. She shook her head and focused back on the girl, a tiny sunbeam had filtered through the trees and hit her.

Even the meager light from that lone beam was enough to reveal something. Her hair turned dark purple, her skin so light a violet it almost looked pink, and it took on a shimmery quality. Something flickered but then as soon as it started it was over. The sunbeam lingered as if angry the transformation didn't last, before fading back into a shadow. There was briefly the smell of burnt flesh before it too faded away. It all happened so quickly Stuff wasn't even sure she saw anything at all.

Thang, uncharacteristically silent up until now, was much more certain. He gasped and ran up to the body of the girl, "Do you see that? We have to tell the king! Who knows what this thing is! And she's hurt! Oh we have to help!"

Stuff wasn't so sure that was a good idea. What if this was a trick from the fairies? Things were uneasy, it would be like them to try and sneak someone across the border, and who knew what this strange creature was capable of. Thang continued to chatter in her ear, but it wasn't until he told the mushrooms to fetch the king that she snapped out of it.

"Thang you idiot she could be dangerous! Brutus is close enough by that we can carry her, we'll put her in the dungeon until we can know for certain this isn't a trick."

Thang looked uncertain, "But what about her side wound? She doesn't have any wings, she can't be a fairy! And look at her ears! They are so tiny!" Stuff looked closer, and indeed the girl didn't have large ears. They were small and close to her head, and while they were still slightly pointed, they didn't have the true length that marked one as fae.

Stuff rolled her eyes, still unconvinced, "Fine, we'll get someone to look at her side to make sure she doesn't die until we can find out who she is and why she's here. Who knows why her ears are so small, but she could have had her wings ripped off, we still better be cautious"

Thang happily nodded as Brutus walked up, the mushrooms had been paying close attention and sent word. Stuff picked up the sword and the bag, as Brutus picked up the girl, and the three of them turned and headed back toward the castle.

___________________________________

Once they had deposited the girl into the dungeon, with her stuff on the far wall opposite the cell, they called for a healer. The old goblin grumbled at the disruption during her morning nap, but agreed to see the girl nonetheless. It seemed to take eons for the old woman to make her way down the stairs. So ancient her hair was white, her eyes going milky, and her skin was grey-green with age. She moved slowly, her joints swollen and twisted with age.

Brutus had deposited the girl on one of the mushrooms, laying her on her back. She hadn't moved once. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, they would have thought her dead.

Stuff, Thang, and Brutus all hung back. The King wasn't at the castle so they weren't even sure if he had heard of their strange arrival. He had been called away for some trespassing breach between the Forest and the Light Fields; which didn't bode well for what his temper would be when he returned.

The old goblin, Axylyx, clucked her tongue as she looked the girl over. She gently pried away her hands. Once their hold was broken they flopped down to the girl's sides. She gently lifted up the shirt before frowning. With surprising speed she spun on the audience of three. "What is the meaning of this?! You drag me down here, spewing nonsense about an injured nonfairy-fairy, claiming if I don't come immediately she is going to die, only to show me this thing and she doesn't have a fresh wound on her!"

Stuff sputtered and rushed forward, "What do you mean?! It's right there on her side! How are you miss....ing....it..." She trailed off. The girl’s side, the one she had been holding, was healed over. There was a faint ripple to her skin, like a burn long healed, but even that was fading right before her eyes. Stuff gulped and looked at the old goblin again, who was frowning slightly while watching ripples melt away. She reached out a long, gnarled hand and gently pressed into the girl's flesh. For the first time since they found her, she made a noise and winced, before once again going comatose. The only evidence of the injury now was the blood soaked into the girl's shirt.

Axylyx sighed. "I don't know what she is. I don't know where she is from. I don't know what's going on. What I do know is something is coming. This girl, whoever she is, is going to be a catalyst. Something's brewing, and however she got here, we should keep a close eye on her. You don't get to be as old as I am without learning a thing or two about coincidences." She started to stalk off, as much as her gnarled joints would let her. She stopped at the stairs and glared at the three goblins staring cautiously at the girl on the mushroom, as if she might explode at any moment. "And I wouldn't delay in alerting the King! He's going to want to see her!"

Her words snapped the three from their stupor, and Stuff urged Thang to go find the King. "You go Thang, you tell him about her" "But you know more than I do!" "Yes, but he likes you more" "Really? Okay then" and he hurried off.

Stuff sighed, He wasn't going to be happy about this.

Chapter Text

The first thing that Marianne noticed upon waking up was the pain in her side was almost gone, now it was just a dull ache that was lessening by the minute. The second thing was how deafening silent everything was. There were no whirls of machines, no hums of electricity, no dull roar of traffic in the street, and no murmur of crowds passing by. 'That's weird' she thought as she continued to lie down. She didn't want to move just yet. The last thing she remembered was getting shot in the side, before blacking out. Without moving she took stock of her body. She didn't know where she was, and didn't want to alert anyone she was awake before she was ready. Her legs seemed fine, her side was almost back to normal, and her arms seemed to be okay. Even her head was clear.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She could barely make out the ceiling in the flickering dark. 'Is...Is...is that WOOD?!' She sat up quickly, her shock making her forget to be cautious, wincing at the sudden lightheadedness the movement gave her. She peered around, eyes wide as she took in her surroundings. She was indeed in a room made of wood, down to the bars on her cell.

She rolled her eyes, 'figures I'd fall into some alternate dimension and wind up in jail before I even did anything' she smirked, 'fools put me in a wooden jail, of all the hare-brained...' she put her hands down, then followed them with her eyes. 'Am I on a mushroom? Where the hell am I?!' Despite her concern, she was relaxed. There was no technology here! Maybe she had escaped the Ascendancy; maybe she was safe from their clutches; maybe she could make a home here! If she ever got out of prison that is; and unless this was all a trick by the Ascendancy. Maybe she had been captured after all, and this is where they put their prisoners until they extinguished them. Maybe she wasn’t free. Maybe she was in a coma and dreaming all this. She snorted, ‘Of course I’m not; I’m in jail. If this were a coma or dream my side wouldn’t hurt and it’d be a lot more interesting....but just to be safe...' She tried opening the door to her cell with just her mind. 'Nope, definitely not a dream or coma' For the first time she noticed her sword and bag were missing.

She frowned as she peered around. Looking through the bars she saw her bag propped up against the far all, half in light cast from the...'lantern? Is that an honest-to-god LANTERN on the wall????' She shook her head again, as if trying to shake away what her eyes were telling her. 'What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?' She twisted back and forth, popping her back and stretching her arms overhead when she heard a throat being cleared.

Out of the shadows stepped a tall being. She somehow sensed it was male. From the way he bore himself she guessed he was in charge around here. She looked up. And up. And finally saw his face, but backlit as he was she couldn't make out any features. He was tall, with brownish scales. His shoulders were broad and tapered to a small waist, his limbs long. He was holding a metal staff with a pretty amber stone set in the top, that glowed from the lighting off the damn lanterns. His face, while still mostly in shadow, looked sharp. All of him looked sharp. He didn't have hair, instead there were more scales sticking up in imitation. Most unsettling was she could see he wings. Four of them, and lit from behind as they were she could see rainbow colors glinting off them. He didn't appear to be wearing any clothes, which she found even more upsetting. Her hand-to-hand combat was almost as good as her swordswoman skills, and she thought she stood a chance at least until she could locate her weapon. Unless he took to the air. Ach, her sword, where was it? She evilly hoped that someone had tried to swing it. ‘Serves them right for capturing an unconscious woman and throwing her in jail for no reason.

'Where the HELL am I???' Her inner voice screamed. She worked hard to keep her face neutral, not wanting to give anything away to this foreign creature. For the first time she felt a shiver of fear, maybe she wasn't better off here.

Bog eyed the strange girl. His day had been unusually eventful. There was the breach at the border, he had been so bored in his throne room that he went to see to it himself. Once on the scene the offender had fled, and he ordered the goblins to be more diligent in making sure all the primroses were chopped down and destroyed. He was about to return to his castle when he received word that the castle had a prisoner. A woman of undetermined genesis had seemingly fallen from the sky to land on his forest floor. Near death too. He had come back to the castle and demanded the full story from Stuff and Thang, not really believing a word of it. They were notoriously bad messengers. Lacking anything else to do he had come down here to question the girl, only to find her still unconscious.

He had been observing her prone form for the past hour. He had almost given up on her waking up soon when he heard the change to her breathing. He had slipped deeper into the shadows and waited. She had suddenly sat up and turned, and his eyes narrowed. She did indeed bear a strong resemblance to the fairies from the field. Her skin had the same soft peach undertones, but was much paler than the fairies; as if she had never seen the sun. Her skin also seemed to glow and flicker, but he dismissed that as a trick of the torches soft light. She wore clothes like they did, although hers were of a material and make that he had never seen before. Her eyes were large and quick, taking in everything rapidly. He couldn't really tell their color in this lighting, but compared to her skin they looked dark. And strangely she had rubbed something around them, making her eyes seem darker and her face gaunter. He could practically hear her taking stock of her situation, the slight changes in her expression giving her thoughts away. She went from incredulous, to annoyed, to flabbergasted, to smug, to annoyed, and a dozen others before finally setting on neutral.

He observed with interest that she really didn't have wings, which he felt would give him the advantage in a fight. She carried a sword; she most certainly knew how to wield it. Her ears were indeed small and close to her head, he could just barely make out their slight points through her short hair. That was another thing that puzzled him, most fairies wore their hair long, vain things that they were. But this creatures hair was sheared close to her skull, no two sections seemed to be the same length. It was all spikey and blunt, and he found the effect almost ....pleasing. She looked dangerous in her strange clothes, and that appealed to him. The fairies were all creatures of light; they liked their bright colors and soft angles. This girl in comparison was all hard edges and shadows. He frowned at his trail of thoughts. He needed to find out who she was and what the heck she was doing trespassing in his lands.

For what seemed like a long time they just stared at each other. Sizing the other up to determine what happened next; both feeling whoever spoke first would lose this standoff. Marianne, never one with an abundance of patience, quickly grew bored and decided she was sick of the silence, sick of the uncertainty, and that her best course of action was to keep this entity off balance.

She stood up and stretched again, arranging her features in a bored expression, "So...do you always visit your prisoners naked?" Bog stiffened and glanced down, before glaring angrily into the face of his captives smirk. He internally cursed himself, she spoke first, but her comment got a reaction. Point to her. He growled out, "Goblins donna wear clothes, unlike inferior species our exoskeletons protect our bodies. We have no need for yur (he raised one eyebrow) frivolous garments."

"Nice try, but I'm not falling for your reverse mind tricks to get me to take off my 'frivolous garments'.' Marianne's smirk widened when she heard him sputter. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting she thought she even saw a slight flush to his cheeks. He had the most delightful voice, rough with an accent that she had no idea of its origins and likely never would. She reflected briefly that she should be thankful they even spoke the same tongue in this place, wherever here was.

He shook off his embarrassment and took a step closer. "Who’re ye?" He demanded. Marianne regarded him thoughtfully, remembering all the cryptic warnings her father had given her about giving her name out to strange creatures. At the time she had thought him silly, after all, they were the strange creatures. Everyone else was human, or cyborg, they were the others the normal ones were warned about. But he had insisted that someday she would need the knowledge he was telling her, drilling it into her head during their sword practices. But truthfully, what was the harm in one monster giving their name to another? Her face hardened. She couldn't afford to take chances, here she could start anew, and if she gave her name to this male then it could be giving him some power over her. She didn’t want to start out with the lower hand.

"And why would I tell you my name? So you can use it against me?" He looked momentarily puzzled. "How would ah use it against ye?" Now it was her turn to look confused. "Don't play dumb with me; I know your kind use names as weapons!" His confusion deepened "Don't be foolish, what power be in yer name?" Marianne just looked at him stone faced. "Yer a Tough Girl, ain't ye?" Bog shook his head; he needed to take back control of the situation. He was the King here, and she was the prisoner, so why did it feel like she held all the power?

Before he could say anything else she demanded "And what is your name? Since those are just so innocent around here. And what are you??" Bog stretched up to his full height, "Ah em the Bog King, ruler of the Goblins" Marianne regarded him, "Is that a title or your name? I mean really, it is rather confusing. What should I even call you? Because it certainly won’t be ‘Your Highness.’ And a goblin? Really? Where am I that goblins exist??” Bog’s face got red again. He opened his mouth when she cut him off, “You know what, it doesn't matter, just let me out of this cell, give me my things, and I will be on my way. You forget you met me, I forget I met you, and we both go on to lead happy, separate lives"

Bog snorted, "Not until I figure out what ye are and how ye came to be here, ye could be dangerous. And since ye aren't forthcoming with answers, ye can sit in this cell until ah get ‘em!" He whirled around, starting to make a dramatic exit, but her voice froze him where he stood, "Well I just hate to disagree with a king, (her tone implied otherwise) but I would suggest letting me out. It's going to be very embarrassing for you when I escape, and at that point I'm going to have to stick around and terrorize you out of spite for holding me here when I didn't even do anything!"

Bog spun back around his pride clearly getting the better of him, "No one can escape! No one's ever done it before! Ye fairies aren't strong enough to lift the bars! And did it every occur to ye that you were found in mah lands, passed out and injured and my subjects brought ye here instead of letting ye die? Anything could have gotten ye in that state, ye ungrateful fairy!" His temper flared and he was shouting by the end of his rant, and it caused hers to as well.
"I AM NOT A FAIRY!"
"THEN WHAT 'RE YE??"
"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS IS WHAT I AM!!!"

Without either of them noticing it they had edged closer to one another during their yelling match. Marianne was clutching the bars to her prison and leaning through a gap. As Bog came more into the light Marianne could make out more of his features. His chin was a sharp as it had appeared in the shadows, his nose long and pointy as well, his face had a craggy quality to it that she found pleasing. She squashed the thought, a man was how she got into this mess and she'd be damned if she let this one get her into an even bigger one.

"I am the Goblin KING, and ye will stay in this cell until I get mah answers!" He glared down at her. She glared back up, "Will you at least give me my things? It'll be easier than having to track them down once I get out of here."

He scoffed at her, “why would ah give ye yer weapons? Ah’d haf to be mad. Besides, a wee thing like ye might hurt yeself swinging yur wee little sword. Ah think ah will put it somewhere safe, like on display in my throne room. Up high. So you can’t reach it.” Marianne’s face grew ruddy in anger and the temperature in the room rose a few degrees. Unnoticed by either of them the lantern flames flared brighter and got bigger, illuminating more of the room. “Don’t you dare keep my things from me. Don’t you dare touch my sword!”

As she had been talking Bog walked over to where her bag was. He set his scepter against the wall and leaned down. Guessing where he was going, Marianne shrieked “DON’T YOU DARE PICK THAT UP, THAT IS MY SWORD!!! DIDN’T YOUR MOTHER EVER TELL YOU TO RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE’S PROPERTY!?!?! KEEP YOUR GRUBBY GOBLIN HANDS OFF MY THINGS”

Bog smirked at her over his shoulder. He picked up the sword by its scabbard. He straightened up and turned back towards Marianne. “What, this? Maybe if ye tell me what ah want to know, ah wouldn’t put mah ‘grubby goblin hands’ all over it.” He studied her face, childishly enjoying the seething anger in her eyes. He was finally taking back control of the situation. “Well Tough Girl, are ye ready to give mah answers?”

Marianne was doing her best to maintain her expression into one of outrage. She knew if she kept this up he would unsheathe her sword. And once he did that…. She struggled really hard not to grin evilly. “Don’t you dare take that out of the scabbard. As it is, you haven’t done anything really unforgivable, so I’m willing to spare your life. But if you unsheathe my sword I’m going to have no choice but to make sure your last moments are painful and short.”

Bog gave her a smug look. He looked at the hilt and momentarily stopped to frown at it. It too was like nothing he had ever seen. He wondered yet again at the origins of his prisoner. He felt a touch of trepidation; goosebumps peppered his arms. He dismissed them; grasped the handle, and slowly drew the weapon. Holding it at arms’ length he admired it. The blade truly was a thing of beauty. It seemed to capture the light from the lanterns and reflect it back brighter. The edge was so sharp he didn’t even want to run a finger over it.

Looking back up at her he was surprised to find her face was no longer angry, but thoughtful. She was regarding him carefully; as if waiting for something to happen. Her unexpected reactions were really throwing him off. She was like nothing he had ever encountered before. All his subjects respected him, but he never really knew if it was because he was a fair ruler or if it was because they feared him. The denizens from the Fairy Fields feared him; they just cowered whenever he was around. Their King Dagda, on the few diplomatic meetings he had met the man, had barely concealed his revulsion at Bog. All his mother did was nag him and try to get him married off, but she was the exception not the rule. So his prisoner’s flippant attitude toward him was intriguing.

He decided to annoy her further by taking a few swings with her blade. The fighter in him noted how perfectly balanced it was. He was just getting the hang of it when the handle made a slight buzzing noise. He noted that the girl pressed herself against the bars with a triumphant smirk on her face before feeling excruciating pain travel up his arm and course through his body. As he felt himself going down he thought he heard her laughing.

Marianne doubled over laughing. She knew she should get up and escape, but it had been so priceless. Seeing him all cocky, play right into her hands, and then to swing the sword about. He heard the warning just seconds before the sword shocked him. AND HIS FACE!! She couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard. Even now the Bog King lay passed out on the ground, still twitching. Every few moments he even sparked. ‘Note to self: goblins are extreme conductors.’ She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard, and that thought strangely helped to sober her up. She didn't have time to laugh.
She got her laughter under control and stood up. She examined the door to her cell, and unable to locate a way to open it, she wondered if she ought to try and use her abilities. She dismissed the idea. She didn’t trust her control. Not when she hadn’t used them in years. And she didn’t think she even had any juice in her, it had been so long since she had been in the sun. She supposed she could try and kick her way through when she noticed the wheels near the ceiling. She gave an experimental tug, and the door came up a bit before slamming back down into the dirt.
She planted her feet wide and squatted, and heaved upward. At first she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to lift the heavy thing, but after a few moments the door slowly began to rise up. Using more upper body strength than she thought she had, she was able to raise the door up enough to slip underneath it. Not wanting it to slam into the ground alerting anyone of her escape, she slowly lowered it back down. Once done she turned around and dusted off her hands. She hummed a little tune as she made her way over to the crumpled form of the Bog King.
She chuckled seeing the little bit of drool coming out of the side of his mouth. His chest was slowly rising and falling so she knew he wasn’t dead. She bent down and grabbed her scabbard, securing it to her side as she studied the Bog King up close and in the light. He really was gangly. She wondered if his exoskeleton, as he had called it, itched. Briefly she wondered how his kind reproduced, because she couldn’t see any sex organs. She blushed at the thought and banished it, she had no business thinking about that. ‘Ugh focus on escaping Marianne, worry about other species sex life another time….like when you aren’t about to go on the lam in a strange land’
She bent down and looped her bag around her shoulder. A quick glance inside told her that no one had opened it, she amusedly thought it was because they wouldn’t know how to work a zipper, so had left it be. This wasn't exactly a modern place, and if none of them wore clothes... Lastly she squatted down to pry her sword from Bog’s hand. She frowned when it didn’t come easily. She got closer to him and set back on her heels.
As she got closer she could feel the heat off him, and it vaguely surprised her. Usually things were cold in comparison to her, and she wondered if the shock had cooked him a bit. She chastised herself for even caring. He had thrown her in prison and messed with her stuff. The other part of her mind brought up what he had said early, ‘And did it every occur to ye that you were found in mah lands, passed out and injured and my subjects brought ye here instead of letting ye die? Anything could have gotten ye in that state, ye ungrateful fairy!’
She sighed, he did have a point. Terrible execution, but she supposed the intentions weren’t entirely bad. As a stranger in this strange backwards land, she probably did stick out like a sore thumb. She gently pried his fingers off the hilt of her sword one by one, before carefully picking it up and sheathing it once it was free. She took another moment to study his face closer. In unconsciousness, his face was relaxed. He looked nothing like she had ever seen before. She was used to human or machines or the combination of both. His face was decidedly organic, and compelling. She sighed. Then got stern with herself 'LEAVE IT AND FIND AN EXIT!! MAYBE YOU CAN SEE THE SUN HERE!!' That thought snapped her out of her admiring stupor. She excitedly stood up and took off up the stairs, as quietly as her nerves would let her. If she was quick, she could get out before the Bog King woke up and raised an alarm. With that happy thought in mind, she slipped out of sight.

_________________________________________________________________________

Bog woke up with a groan. Everything hurt, like his whole body had fallen asleep. He was all pins and needles. It took a minute for memory to come back and once it did he jumped up quicker than he should have. He grabbed his head with one hand and his scepter for balance with the other. He turned toward the cell, which was harder to make out in the gloom. He turned back around, the lanterns were still lit, but he suddenly couldn't see as well as he had before going unconscious. Also it was colder in the dungeon than he remembered. He pulled a lantern off the wall and approached the cell, but he knew he would find it empty. He was getting ready to shout the alarm, when something on the bars caught his eye. He leaned closer and gulped. His mind was still jumbled from her infernal sword, but the back of his mind was trying to tell him something, screaming against his skull in words he couldn't quite make out yet. And to think, just a few short hours ago he had been bored, wanting something to happen. Now he feared he had too much excitement. Because where her hands had been, on two separate bars, were imprints. Scorch marks really. Where they had been resting; they had branded the bars.

Chapter Text

Marianne sat on the edge of the small alcove she had found on the top of the Bog King’s palace, deep in thought. It had been a month since she had escaped from the prison. Today was the first day it wasn’t raining. The chill that permeated the air in seemed to be lifting.
She could sense the sunrise was not far off, and from her height she was actually in a position where she could not only see it but she would actually be able to soak in the rays. The thought helped lift her spirits a little bit. Her first sunrise, she was pretty sure ever. She tried to stretch her memory back as far as it could go, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing one; had never seen a true dawn. A nervous shiver shot through her.

To calm herself she let her thoughts drift back to her time here, starting from when she first awoke. She snorted thinking of her “escape.” That first day she had been so sure she would be able to get out of here, find a place to regroup, get her bearing, and then restart her life. How naïve she’d been.

---Flashback—

Marianne was so frustrated she could cry. Or scream. Definitely hit something. Escape, which had seemed so easy, so within grasp, was now miles away. It had started when she ran up the stairs. The castle was eerily silent, and it agitated her already frayed nerves to not see someone. 'Where are the guards? Where are his subjects?' She tried to focus on the task at hand, but the silence was pressing in on her. She had to get out, at least into the open air.

She was used to being walled in by brick and metal, sounds bouncing back tenfold, ceramic tiles echoing her footsteps; monitors clicking, the quiet whoosh of automatic doors, the distant voices of other people. But this...wooden palace….tree?... (it was still so bizarre to even think the word)... was too quiet.
It absorbed sound, she could barely even hear her own light steps. True she was making an effort to be quiet, but it was still spooky. And to not see another soul? Downright eerie. The lanterns along the corridors were lit, so logically someone else had to be here. Unless the Bog King lit all his own torches. She snorted, she couldn’t imagine any king doing something so menial for himself.

It hadn't gotten any brighter the higher she went, and she held onto the vain hope that she had just been very deeply underground. But as she finally came across a window, her heart sank. Not only was it night (true, honest to god night), which meant no chance for sunshine, it was raining. And it was cold. Even winters in the city weren't this bad. The smog acted like a blanket holding heat from the factories close to the surface. What snow fell melted quickly, if it even made it to the ground. And there was no way she could go out in the rain.

Water she could handle. Dark she could handle. Hell, even cold she could handle, she usually didn’t even feel its effects, but cold and wet at once? With no idea how to find dry shelter? Suicide. Not to mention, in the pitch black she would shine like a beacon for everything malicious to find her. Literally. She was stuck.

She discarded the brief thought that she could roll in the mud the rain would make to hide her glow, but dismissed it quickly as it did nothing to solve her other two issues.
So distance was out. She couldn’t risk going out there and getting soaked and then freezing. She shuddered at the thought. She was in a long corridor with one door off to the side when she heard the first sounds of someone coming. They were breathing heavily and thumping something on the wall, pretty hard if it was actually making some noise. She stopped walking and strained her ears, and she could make out “…search everywhere. She couldn’t have gotten far. Send patrols outside….” The voice paused as if someone else was speaking, but she couldn’t make out what they said. Then the first voice roared, “AH DONNA CARE ITS COLD AN RAINY, DO AS YUR TOLD!!!” She smirked, Bog had finally woke up. He probably wasn’t pleased with the turn of events, and definitely wouldn’t want her to get away now. She supposed since she couldn’t leave this godforsaken place she would have to make good on her promise to torture him out of spite, at least until it stopped raining.

Now that she knew what to listen for, she could tell the Bog King was coming closer. A quick glance around showed her her only options were to turn around and try to find cover the way she came, or to take her chances and duck into the room off to the side. She knew the way back didn’t have much in the way of cover, so she decided to try the room. She quickly pushed open the door and shut it behind her, leaning up against it to catch her breath.

A few minutes later she heard someone come to a halt on the other side of the door, followed by muttering, “…she couldn’t av gotten far, not en this weather…they’ll catch her for sure…” Panicking Marianne looked around, realizing the chamber she was in, was in fact, the King’s chamber. It was too big and the bed too nice to be anyone else’s. The door started to push open when she heard someone call out “SIRE” and felt him pause on the other side. She could have kissed whoever it was. Not bothering to listen she scanned the large room for a place to hide.

‘Why doesn’t he wear clothes?? No closet to hide in…no changing wall to hide behind…’ Her gaze darted to the bed. There wasn’t enough room underneath to squeeze under, but the high canopy looked promising. Getting closer she tested the material experimentally with one hand. She frowned at it, not able to place what it was, but it seemed durable and thick. Before she could spare more thought on the matter the door started opening again.

Sending up a quick prayer to whatever deity might be listening, she leaped upward, rolling into the cradle of the cloth. She tried not to move, not to even breathe least he notice his bed canopy moving on its own accord as she listened to him entering the room. She heard him groan and move further away from the bed. Very, very carefully and slowly she rolled from her back to her front, and shimmied to the edge of the canopy. Peeking over the edge, she saw Bog on the other side of the chamber. He was facing a window to her side, his form in full profile.

She found herself admiring him again. He really was pretty tall, and he looked nothing like anything she had ever seen before. The people in her world were all short and rounded. The trends in modern robotics were more towards smooth flowing designs, with no edges. Everything was circular. It all looked the same and she hated it. It was another reminder of how different she looked, how different she was. She didn’t have any cyber enhancements, hadn’t wanted any. Probably couldn’t have gotten any if she had been so inclined. Her body heat was too high for normal ranges, and she didn’t even know what her DNA would show up as. Better to be natural and play it safe.

She turned her attention back to Bog. He was glaring out the window and she heard him muttering to himself “Where is she…fool…its rainy season…she could die out there…” Marianne was oddly touched that he was worrying about her life. Even if it was just because she was a puzzle to be solved and he thought she was an assassin sent to kill him. But if he was truly worried about her hurting someone, he wouldn’t care if she perished out in the rain or not she rationalized. Bog sighed, leaned his staff against the wall, blew out the lanterns in the room, and came over to bed. Marianne heard him climb in, snuff out the last light on his nightstand, and settle in for sleep.

She stayed frozen in place until she heard him stop moving around, and his breathing even out. Once she was sure he was asleep she carefully rolled back over to settle into a comfortable position as well. She had no idea if he was a light sleeper or not, so she decided staying put was her best option. She fell asleep thinking of all the ways she could harass the Bog King until the weather cleared enough for her to leave. She grinned evilly, her last thoughts happy before drifting to sleep.

She woke up the next day almost forgetting where she was. Before she moved around, she listened carefully. The chamber was quiet, so she gently rolled back to the side. Bog was gone, and so was his staff, she hoped that meant he was gone for the day. She stretched, gathered her things, and hopped down from the canopy. Going to the window she let out a frustrated curse seeing it was still raining. The clouds were so thick overhead the lightning was dim. She miserably thought, ‘This isn’t any better than the city. Ugh. I suppose the next order of business is to find a better place to bunker down…can’t keep sleeping in the King’s chamber.’
Marianne quietly approached the door, pressing her ear up against it. Not hearing anything from the other side she carefully pulled open the door and listened some more. Still not hearing anything she slipped into the hallway and set out to explore.

It took the better part of two days, but she finally combed every inch of the citadel and had its layout memorized. Since the ceilings were so high in most of the corridors and rooms, and goblins in general were so short, she was able to jump up and hold herself against the ceiling anytime someone approached and they never looked up. The first time it had happened two goblins were walking down a hallway and Marianne heard them approaching. They were bickering about something. When she heard mention of the patrols looking for the strange girl she knew it had to be herself. She was so focused on trying to hear fully what they were saying she forgot to hide. She realized her mistake when they were right about to turn a corner, and not knowing what else to do she sprang up and held herself against the ceiling; her legs pressing on one wall and her arms on another. She silently thanked her father and his insistence that she train every day, a practice that she had kept up religiously. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to hold herself for long.

As the two goblins walked under her they paused, and she was able to hear everything they said. She didn’t breathe for fear they would look up, but they never did. The smaller one with big teeth was saying, “You tell him they still haven’t found her, she’s gone! Vanished! We’ll never see her again” He was dramatically waving his hands around. The slightly larger one rolled her eyes “She couldn’t have vanished, she’s somewhere! And sire said we have to find her, so we keep looking. We only came inside to tell him there was no news, remember?” It put its hands on its back and groaned, leaning backwards to stretch out its spine. Marianne held her breathe, but the goblin had its eyes closed. It snapped up and told its companion, “let’s go, you can break the news to him.” The smaller one looked concerned, “why me?” As they set off again the larger one replied, “because he’ll appreciate me more from you.” “oh, okay!”
Marianne realized this was a great way to not only hide, but to learn a lot about the castle’s inhabitants. The next day, her third since the “escape” she learned that the Bog King’s mother was constantly trying to marry him off. She worried about her son dying alone, so every eligible woman she chanced upon she arranged for them to meet him. Bog hated this. He constantly avoided her for these reasons, and left the room as soon as she brought in yet another potential wife. And although he was clearly annoyed and angry, he never was mean or cruel, to his mom nor to the creatures she presented to him. She assumed they were girls. Some she couldn’t be sure of their species, let alone what sex they identified with.
Marianne found it amusing that he actually used her as an excuse to dodge his mother. She was exploring the many alcoves and cubbyholes in the throne room – half a day’s work in itself when she overheard a conversation between the two of them. The throne room was easily the biggest chamber in the castle, and the only one with a skylight. She glared at the rain still pounding away overhead before focusing on the conversation below, peering over the edge of the ledge.

“Bog! You need to hurry up and get married! I’m getting on in the years and would like some grandkids before I’m too old to enjoy them!”
“Mother, not this again. Ah really donna have time for this. Ah’m tryin to catch that foreign lass”

“Oooo you’re trying to catch a girl?? Well for crying out loud! Why didn’t you say so! When you do catch her, I want to meet her! It’s every mother’s right to meet their son’s special lady!”
Bog pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes, “Mother, she is NOT ma ‘special lady’ she is not ma ‘special’ anything. She is loose in ma lands and she could be a spy or assassin! We have to bring her in for questionin” He opened his eyes and glared at his mother.
His mom waved her arms “Oh pfft. Don’t give me that. A mother always knows. If you need me I’ll be in my room thinking up a good wedding themes” and she left the throne room whistling while Bog bristled on his throne. Marianne put a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggling. It was comforting to know that parents were parents no matter where you were from. Her own father had often pushed for her to find a husband.

It was on her fourth day that she actually met Bog’s mother. She had been in the hot springs that were in the lower levels. They had seemed deserted. She didn’t think the goblins were too concerned about hygiene so she decided it would be safe to wash her clothes and herself. She should have realized it wouldn’t be safe when she found some soap along the back of one of the larger pools, but she was so eager for a proper bath she wasn’t as alert as she should have been.
She had set down her bag and sword, taken off her boots, and was getting ready to take off the rest of her clothing when she heard a voice behind her.

“AHHA so you must be the girl my Bog has been looking for!”
Marianne panicked; she quickly scooped up her stuff and turned to run as the voice continued, “Slow down sweet pea! I mean you no harm.” Marianne turned around and faced the older goblin. She was short, with long red hair. Her horns were grinded down or cut off, which Marianne found curious. She also was the only other person she had seen around here that wore clothes. She wasn’t sure of the old woman’s motives, so she regarded her cautiously.

“Then what do you want?” Marianne asked cautiously.
“Why to get to know you of course! If you are going to marry my Bog then I think I should at least know everything about you! My name’s Griselda by the way. And don’t you own a comb? What are you doing down here? Bog said you were long gone by now! He has patrols out and everything!” She paused for a breath and actually took in the scene before her, “Oh you were getting ready for a bath! Great, I could use a soak too! It’s actually why I came down here, that cold makes my bones hurt, the warm water is so soothing! Well what are you doing there, there’s plenty of room for us both and we can have a nice girl talk while we soak!” She took off her dress and sank into the water with a happy sigh, looking at Marianne expectantly.

Marianne reeled with the onslaught of words. No wonder Bog was always crabby. The weight of his mother’s attention was crushing. But she decided that the older goblin wasn’t a threat, so she set her stuff back on the ground. Really she thought it was that she was just so desperate for a friend, for someone to talk to that she allowed herself to even entertain this idea. She decided to answer the most benign question thrown at her. “No I don’t own a comb.” Griselda opened her mouth to say something else when Marianne took off her jacket. Her dark purple shirt had short sleeves. She heard Griselda gasp, “OH MY GODS YOU’RE ON FIRE!! QUICK GET IN THE WATER”

And before she could explain, Marianne then had the great displeasure of being tackled into the water by a fully naked Griselda. She began to dunk Marianne who started choking and coughing up water. She tried to catch her breath to explain but Griselda could not be stopped. She kept plunging Marianna under the water, attempting to douse her arms.

Once Marianna was half drowned, she was finally able to grab a hold of Griselda and throw her off her (gently she thought), stand up, and scramble away. “STOP!!!!! I’M NOT ON FIRE!!!” Griselda was looking at her wide eyed from the other side of the pool, shocked that such a small person could throw her so far. Marianne continued to cough and hack up water, gasping for air, with her arms out in front of her to stop Griselda from coming any closer. “I’m not on fire” she repeated, “I just have some…markings…on my arms that make it look like I am! Think, have you ever seen purple or pink flames?!”

Griselda looked at her for what seemed like a very long time, before cautiously getting up and coming closer. Marianne held out her arms and let her look at them closely. Marianne’s left arm, around the wrist was very faint pink with orange undertones, and as you got higher up her arm, the colors got darker, with faint strokes of black the higher you looked before disappearing under her sleeve. Her right arm around the wrist started with soft purples and as you went higher on her arm it was streaked with black before the dark purple flames again went under her shirt. They were so realistic looking Griselda had been convinced she was aflame. She gingerly reached out a finger and touched Marianne’s arm, while Marianne reassured her, “See? Not on fire, just a really good illusion.”

Griselda’s still didn’t look convinced as the flames slowly rolled and flickered across Marianne’s skin. She kept subtly moving her arms, knowing that the torch light would help convince the goblin her eyes were playing tricks on her. Marianne found it amusing that no one suspected before now that it was real fire under her skin. So much for the ‘enlightened age of technology.’ She had never bothered to correct anyone when they assumed they were tattoos. But the older goblin had known within seconds that they weren’t fake.

After a few more moments Marianne cleared her throat, “so…are we going to bathe or what? I mean, I’m mostly clean from you almost drowning me but I’d like to wash with some soap” Griselda grinned up at the taller girl “okay doll” then walked back to the other side of the pool. She lowered herself into the water and sighed. Marianne wiggled out of the rest of her wet clothes. After scrubbing them a bit in a side pool (and thankful the purple was so dark it hid the blood stain), she hung them to dry and sank into the same pool as Griselda, but on the other side in case she tried to dunk her again.

Once Marianne settled she decided to try and get information, “I’m surprised no one came running with all that racket we were making.” Griselda laughed, “Oh honey, no one comes down this way, if you haven’t noticed I’m the only one around here that concerns themselves with regular bathes! Even my Bog usually just cleans himself in a basin or the river whenever he needs to. No, no one would be in this part of the castle unless sent here.” Marianne nodded. “Griselda…you know your son is looking for me right? Why haven’t you raised the alarm or tried to capture me yet?”

Griselda smiled at her, but the look was slightly devious.
“Are you kidding? This is the most fun my boy has had in years! He’s always so serious and steadfast. He might as well be sleep walking through life. That’s no way to live! Did you know he actually has forbidden love in the forest?? Love! Of all things. Then you fall from the sky and POOF! It’s all interesting and exciting! He’s waking up with a purpose. And it’s all because of you! So no, I’m not going to turn you in. In fact, I’ll help you. If you want, you can store your things in my room. No one would dare go in there, and Bog wouldn’t think to look there either. OH I can see his face when he finds out I’m aiding you!” Her laughter was infectious and soon Marianne was giggling too. Marianne didn’t have the heart to tell her that she had no interest in marrying her son, and would be gone as soon as the rain ended.

Which reminded her…Marianne bit her lip and asked, “Griselda, does it always rain here?” She braced herself for the worst: that this was a cold, rainy land that never saw the sun. Griselda shook her head, “definitely not sweet pea, you just dropped in during the rainy season. Between winter and late spring, instead of snow we get pelted with rain, rain, and more rain. We got about another month or so to go before this lets up. But when it does, wow! It’s almost overnight that everything starts growin back and it’s no longer so barren looking around here.” Marianne smiled in relief while Griselda waxed on the beauty of the forest in the spring. When she paused for a breath, Marianne decided to steer the conversation into something more interesting. Perhaps his mother would know the best way to torture Bog over the next few weeks.
“So…let me tell you my ideas I have for the next month to torment your son while evading recapture” Griselda cackled and leaned forward eagerly, in her eyes this was courtship with this weird girl playing hard to get. Marianne and Griselda began scheming of ways to plague Bog. Marianne had forgotten how nice it was to have a friend and found herself enjoying her time with Griselda immensely.

And with those startling thoughts, Marianne felt a lot better about the coming month, although she resigned herself to be here for that long, with an end date in sight and a friend, it didn’t seemed that long a wait

Chapter Text

—Present---

Marianne sighed miserably and pulled her knees to her chest, laying her head on them. ‘When did life get so complicated?’ She had started her time here with dreaming of nothing but getting away, and now she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to leave. The past month had been too much fun. She had grown fond of her existence here.

How would she provide for herself out there anyway? As far as she could tell the goblins didn’t have a marketplace. They didn’t seem to have a city. If they were going to have one, wouldn’t it surround their citadel? This place didn’t make any sort of logical sense to her. She didn’t know what was edible here in the wild. She didn’t know how to farm, she didn’t eat meat so she certainly couldn’t hunt. And how would she know what the game was around here? The goblins and like-creatures were all so varied, she didn’t want to kill someone and eat them by accident. She grew up in a city where nature was only pictures in books for crying out loud! How the hell could she be expected to know how to survive? Now that she had gotten to know some goblins she didn’t relish the idea of stealing from them either. She didn’t even know what other species were out there.
She knew she looked like the fairies, wherever they lived. She had been accused enough of being one to figure out that somewhere there were people that looked like her. But that didn’t mean she would fit in or like them. What if they were just as bad as the humans where she was from? She had figured out the goblins, and she liked them. They were familiar and she understood their actions. If the fairies were their tentative enemies, she may really not care for them.

Over the course of the last few weeks she had discovered a few things about this new place. She went over them again, hoping a list would help her come to a course of action. 1. There were no humans, at least not in this kingdom. Everything was goblin or bug, which led to. 2. She had shrunk. That or everything was to scale here. But she thought she would remember her father mentioning trees big enough to be buildings and flowers the height of street lamps. Her picture books as a child confirmed this, these things weren’t this big from her world. So why was everything so big here? Shrinking was the only logical explanation. 3. There was definitely no technology, no electricity. And worst of all, no running water. Thank god she had found the hot springs in the lower levels. Bathing regularly helped her feel more like herself, and she now had an unexpected ally in the Bog King’s mother, Griselda. Which lead to 4. The Bog King himself. He was the most fun person in the world (both worlds she reminded herself) to mess with. His face was so expressive and his reactions were hilarious! Growing up an only child, the poor guy had no idea what hit him. No defenses against her. His subjects feared him, so they certainly didn’t ambush him. And she felt herself, against her better judgement, growing fond of him.
She reminisced gleefully on the first successful pranks she had pulled off and the weeks that had followed.

—Flashback—

She had been in the castle just over a week before she decided to make her first move. Bog thought she was long gone by now and was still sending patrols out in vain to track her down. Only Griselda knew she was still here, and she had decided to help Marianne in her mission.

Bog had been approaching his bedchamber, groaning, after another long day of no news. He couldn’t even fly out looking for her, the rain was coming down too hard. He kept cursing her, cursing that damn TG (as he had taken to calling her, she had never given her name) or Tough Girl for eluding him (Marianne secretly found this nickname endearing). He was growing increasingly exasperated with his subjects. Marianne could often hear him yelling form her hiding spot in the throne room. She found she liked listening to the workings of the kingdom, and she was learning a lot about this place from her spying.

They couldn’t find hide or hair of her; no one could figure it out. She had effectively vanished. They lamented over the fact that she didn’t even leave footprints, which led them to believe that maybe she had some way of flying without wings. Others rationalized that the rain washed away her trail. Some said a bird had gotten her. The theories were endless. But none of them even guessed that she was still in the castle. So it made her movements in the castle all the easier.

She decided to start small with her first act; the warning shot as it were. At least with something she considered small.
After watching him for a week Marianne had Bog’s schedule roughly memorized. She knew she had time to steal a quick bite from the kitchens, take the items she needed, and stealthily made her way to the King’s bedroom Bog liked to take the long way back to his chambers after a rough day; she supposed walking helped cool off his short temper. She carefully set up her trap, put the note on his bed, before jumping into the canopy again. She tried smothering her giggling but couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t until she heard him stomping down the hall that she was able to get herself under control.

Marianne held her breathe as she heard him draw closer. The door was roughly pushed open. She heard the bucket fall, water hit the floor, and 5 seconds of stunned silence before the Bog King started roaring, “WHAT IS THIS?!? WHO PUT A BUCKET O’WATER O’RE MA DOOR?! STUFF! THANG!! OF ALL THE ….HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN…WHO WAS CARELESS ENOUGH TO LEAVE A BUCKET UP THERE AFTER CLEANING…” Marianne dissolved into giggles again as she heard him stomp away, cursing whoever did it and threatening disembowelment for whoever had put the bucket there. She felt a twinge of guilt that he was blaming the cleaning staff, but felt fairly confident that he wouldn’t actually do anything, and that he would find her note before he did.

When she couldn’t hear his yelling anymore, she rolled off the canopy and snuck out of his room, not wanting to be there when he realized it wasn’t one of his cleaning crew and decided to search his quarters. She quickly made her way to Griselda’s room suppressing giggles the whole way. When she got to the Queen Mother’s room she slipped inside and stopped trying to quiet herself. She fell over laughing once more, and looked up when the door burst open. But it was just Griselda coming in, laughing heartily herself. “Oh honey, it worked! He is so worked up! The poor goblins have no clue what happened! He’s so mad he can’t form full sentences! I finally pointed out that there was no way any of the cleaning crew would have a way to reach that high then left. I couldn’t hold it in anymore!” Both of them laughed until they were gasping for air.

There was a loud pounding at the door and, “MOTHER, OPEN UP! THIS WASN’T A RANDOM ACT, AH’M TARGETED AND YE MAY BE NEXT!” Marianne and Griselda shared a panicked look before Bog pounded on the door again. “Quick, into the wardrobe” Griselda hissed at Marianne. Not bothering to reply, Marianne dived into the large wooden thing just as Bog burst into the room. He quickly seized his mother and looked her over.

“Mother, have you noticed anything amiss in yer rooms? Anything changed, moved?” Once convinced she was unhurt, he began moving around. Inside the wardrobe Marianne stopped breathing. He was searching the room, looking into things, while firing the questions at his mom. “Bog would you calm down? I’m sure it was just a fluke, no one’s after me. If it really was an ‘attack’ I’m sure it wouldn’t have been water waiting for you, but someone with a blade.”

Bog paused in his searching and turned to her, “It wasn’t random, ah found this on ma bed.” He handed her a note that said, ‘I warned you. And it’s only going to escalate from here. xoxo TG’

Griselda completely ignored the point Bog was trying to make, “Aww Bog! Look she signed it with a lip print next to TG! What’s TG? That’s not her name”

Bog sighed, “Ah don’t know her name. Ah’ve been callin her TG…wait! How do you know that’s not her name?” Griselda ignored him and went on, “She’s sending you kisses through paper! You kids are so sweet!”

Marianne, who had been peeking between the gap in doors, quietly groaned and smacked her forehead with her hand. ‘Why oh why did I have to gloat? I could have let it go on as anonymous acts for a few weeks…but no…I wanted him to know it was me…ugh…and then the lip print…stupid (smack) stupid (smack) stupid (smack)’

Luckily the Bog King was too busy trying to get a straight answer out of his mother to notice the slight smacking sounds from the wardrobe.

“Mother! This is serious! What if she comes for ye? Who knows what that mad wench will do!”

“She won’t do anything to me sweetie. You’re the one who put her in prison. You come on too strong dear. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the dungeon wasn’t the best place to stash a lady you’re interested in? You kids these days don’t know how to court”

Bog looked ready to strangle the his mother. He was so frustrated he couldn’t form complete sentences. “AH AM NOT….SHE COULD BE DANGER…AH DON’T WANT…WE ARE NOT COURTING!!!” He threw up his hands and stormed out, in his anger completely forgetting why he went to his mother’s room in the first place.

From inside the wardrobe Marianne breathed out a sigh of relief. She waited a few moments to make sure he wasn’t coming back before emerging from her hiding place.

“Shew, that was a close one. Maybe leaving a note wasn’t the best idea.”

Griselda scoffed at her, “No honey it was a great idea! Now no one else will get in trouble. Although, he’s going to be looking for you in the castle now, combing it inch by inch, you’ll have to be more careful”

Marianne nodded. I’ll start keeping my sword on me. And I’ve got a pretty good idea where I can start keeping my stuff. If he’s convinced you’re under attack maybe in here isn’t the best place to keep my bag. I’ll just keep on the move”

Marianne hid in Griselda’s room in the wardrobe for the rest of the night and most of the following day, amusing herself with her Tech-all. She was grateful she had it in her bag the day she came here. She hadn’t unpacked the few items Randall had been okay with her keeping at their new place, wanting to wait until after they got back from celebrating. She steered her thoughts back to the movie she was quietly watching. Working herself up wouldn’t do anything productive and thinking about Randall was the quickest way to ignite her temper.

Griselda opened the door hours later, once night had fallen. She yawned hugely, “What you doing in here sweet pea?” She stopped froze for a moment staring at the screen Marianne held in her hands, “WHAT IS THAT?”

Marianne turned the screen toward her. “It’s a Tech-all. Umm it’s kind of hard to explain…it has all the music I listen to on it…a bunch of movies…photos of my family….it’s kind of an all-in-one for all the entertainment you’d need from my world…” she looked at Griselda’s lost face “Well you guys don’t have anything equivalent here…it’s like…ugh here just look. This is a ‘play’ called ‘The Princess Bride’ that was done in my world, it was recorded and I put it on this device to watch it whenever I wanted…see?”

Griselda gingerly took the screen from her in awe, “This is some strange magic…is this what people look like in your world? Can I borrow this??” Without waiting for an answer she shut the door to the wardrobe on Marianne and sat in her bed, spellbound by the movie.

Marianne opened the door and laughed. “I guess, don’t worry about it running out of power…it’s got an eternal battery in it, at least that’s what my dad told me. I’m going to go take a walk now that things have calmed down some” Griselda didn’t even look up as she left the room, Marianne wasn’t even sure she heard what she said.

Marianne stretched as she walked. She hadn’t realized how long she had been in that wardrobe until she walked past a window and saw how much darker it was outside. She was in there all day. She needed to train and work out all her pent up energy. Plus she needed to find something to eat.

Since it was so late there were skeletal patrols around the castle. She had memorized their routes days ago so she turned it into an exercise, running the long way to the kitchen while avoiding the odd goblin pair she came across. Leaping up and hanging from the ceiling were good workouts. Sometimes she made her way across the ceiling, seeing how quickly she get from one end of the hall to the other in this manner. She stopped in the larger rooms to do some sword exercises on the way too. ‘I miss sparing with someone so bad..I am so bored with patterns’ she bemoaned to herself.

On her way back she heard a noise in the library. Peeking through the gap in the doors she saw the Bog King sitting at an old table, covered in scrolls. He was currently pouring over one particularly old scroll, so long and so old the top was hanging off the edge of the table and brushing the floor. He was rubbing his eyes. She wondered what he was reading. He abruptly pushed the scroll away in disgust. Standing up he angrily swept his arm across the tables, scattering all the papers to the floor. Rather than picking them up, he grabbed his staff and stormed toward the door.

Jumping up and pushing herself flush against the roofing, Marianne had an idea. She had been cooped up for too long today. And she wanted a sparring partner. What greater opportunity would she get?

When he turned and was a little ahead of her (she didn’t want him to figure out how she got around the castle) she silently dropped down and followed him. Deciding to use her smaller size to her advantage, she waited until he got to a smaller corridor, before letting out a battle cry that would make a banshee swell with pride and leaping at him. Bog had just enough time to turn, startled, and raise his staff to block by instinct before she cut into him.

In the tight space Bog could do nothing but defend against the whirlwind attacking him. Marianne was relentless. The Bog King clearly knew how to wield his staff, but she had chosen her ambush spot well. She used her speed and smaller weapon expertly. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face, and she couldn’t resist taunting him, “Hmm how disappointing”

Bog was recovering from his shock and beginning to fight back, “what’s disappointing?”

Marianne landed a square hit on his staff so hard his arms vibrated, “I was expecting more” She said loftily while examining the fingers on her non sword bearing hand, while backing up a bit. Bog, finally getting his ground, assessed the situation. He couldn’t fly, the corridor was too tight. He couldn’t spin his staff much, again there wasn’t much room. His only choice was to try and use his strength to his advantage. He drew up to his full height and started bearing down on the small girl attacking him. “Ye ambushed me!”

“Ambush or no, a warrior should always be ready for attack! You’re soft Bog King” Bog was making headway using heavy hits; Marianne was retreating slightly. Knowing there was a huge open room behind her, she was going to have to make her escape quickly before Bog gained the advantage of his wings. Marianne’s eyes were glowing amber in the the gloom, and Bog could see them darting around calculating her next move. He saw the moment she realized what he was doing, “What’s the matter Tough Girl, scared ah’ll beat ye in a fair fight?”

Marianne laughed, “I’m glad you realize that it would take you the advantage of flight to be able to even get on my level” She maneuvered to the side, where she knew there was a slight gap between the wall and the ceiling a few feet behind her. She had been carefully burning such bolt holes in various points around the castle in case she needed to make a quick getaway. It would come in handy now. If she timed this right then she would be able to disappear without him seeing how.

“That is not what ah meant! If we get out of this corridor ah’ll show ye. Ye needed to fight me in this small space to even stand a chance it seems. How are you getting around the castle without being seen? What magic do you use?” He might as well ask while he had her here.

After a particularly heavy hit, Marianne went down on a knee and subtly grabbed some dirt with her free hand while using it to push her off the ground. “No magic, I’m just much, much cleverer than you and your minions” Bog, thinking he was gaining the upper hand, bore down on her. Marianne suddenly sprang up and threw the dirt in his face. Bog gasped and tried to rub his eyes while wildly swinging his staff to keep an attack at bay. Marianne took the opportunity to leap to the ceiling and shimmy through the small opening that wasn’t visible from the floor and yelled back, “I guess we’ll settle this next fight. Till then my delusional walking stick!”

When Bog could finally see, he glanced around. There was no sign of TG. He looked behind him, but it was all quiet there. He darted forward and peered around the room at the end, but there was no trace of her. For someone who claimed to not be magic, she was very good at disappearing without a trace. “Till next time Tough Girl” He muttered under his breath as he continued stalking toward his room. He wasn’t too concerned about finding her now. He knew she was in the castle and she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He could call his patrols back and send them to other things. Maybe do a better job of combing the castle for her.

Marianne listened to Bog stomp away towards his room. She grinned to herself. Yes, this was fun.

The day following was uneventful. Marianne didn’t want him to get used to frequent attacks. She used her time to gather strands of spider webs and began tying them across doorways and hallways she knew only he would walk down. She listened for the sounds of his curses throughout the day, and found they were a decent way to mark the time.

When Bog finally left the citadel in frustration (the crazy bastard actually went outside), she slipped into his room and short-sheeted his bed. She decided to relax in a hot bath for awhile, rewarding herself for a good days work. She snuck into Griselda’s room and took back her Tech-all, wanting to listen to music while she relaxed.

Her weakness was old, old music, at least 200 years, if not more. Currently she was re-obsessed with Bastille, and put them on as some soothing background noise. She washed her clothes and then soaked throughly for about half an hour while they dried. When she was all prunes she got out and put on her clean second set of undergarments, a dark purple lace bralette and matching bottoms. Her pants and shirts were still damp so she decided to pass the time by dancing.

She had no where to be anyway. It had been so long she since was able to, and it was always something she enjoyed, and naturally talented at. She supposed it was her nature though, her sister had been an excellent dancer too. But she didn’t want to do it here with the slippery floor, so she gathered up her things and headed to a big, dry room down the corridor. She figured that since it was on the same level as the springs that it would be just as deserted. Once at her destination she put down her things, hung up her clothes on a rock to dry, and turned up her music. She started belting out the lyrics along with the song and dancing around the room.

~Bog~
Unbeknownst to her, the Bog King couldn’t sleep. He had come back to the castle ready to sleep, and her little trick with his bed left his sheets in shreds and his temper boiling. ‘How in the blazes was she getting around?? How had no one seen her?? AND HOW DID SHE KNOW SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO TORMENT ME??’ The hidden strings she had placed around were extremely annoying. A small part of him was impressed. Not only did she escape like she claimed she would do, she was following through with her word in a very dastardly way. She wasn’t doing anything that would hurt anyone, but it was slowly driving him insane. The girl was creative.

He decided to take a walk around the lower part of the citadel to think, since it had been a long time since he had surveyed that part of his home and he knew hardly anyone went down that way. He didn’t want to deal with his subjects at the moment.

As he approached the area the hot springs were he heard a strange noises from one of the rooms. Not wanting to rush in, he slowly crept up where the source of the noise was. He peered around the corner and promptly dropped his staff in shock. It was TG. She was dancing - he assumed it was dancing, it was nothing like he had ever seen - around the room. It was the most beautiful, flowing, and hypnotic thing he had ever witnessed. The music was also like nothing he had ever heard before but it fit her, strange and wild and seeming to come from nowhere.

His jaw dropped open when he got a look at her arms. They appeared to be on fire, the left one a riot of light pinks and oranges that got darker the further up her arm, the right one light purples to dark streaked with black. The flames continued up her shoulders before coming to a stop on their respective shoulder blades. They framed her collar bones in the front of her torso before flowing over her shoulders and down. In the light off the lanterns they looked real. He was about to rush forward to help but then common sense kicked in. She wasn’t panicking, so he figured it was nothing to be worried about. As for the rest of her, she was emitting a soft glow, and he wondered how much of the light in the room was from her or the torches. The look on her face was pure rapture.

He gulped when he got a good look at what she was wearing, which was very little. Goblins typically didn’t wear clothes, besides his mother and her species. He knew the fairies did, had seen it on the few diplomatic meetings he had had with them. But in his experience they wore hard materials that mimicked exoskeletons and covered everything from head to toe. He had no idea fairies, (he still had no idea what she was and since she resembled them so much he was stuck. She was far too tall to be an elf, although her strange markings and abilities were a clue that still tickled the back of his mind, but his research had proven futile), he had no idea they were so smooth under all those garments. TG, while she didn’t wear the fake exoskeleton of the denizens of the Light Fields, she wore clothes that covered her just as completely. Not that they were bulky, but they definitely hid how lean and graceful her form was, even when she wasn’t moving.

He knew now was the time to ambush her, for a little payback. Not only was she not wearing her protective gear, she didn’t even have her sword on her. He could see the vile thing glinting innocently across the chamber where she had set it against the wall, next to her clothes. But he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt. She was clearly enjoying herself, and she just looked so happy, and he found he didn’t want her to stop. The music picked up and he slipped further into the shadows. She was singing along to the music. Bog froze, mesmerized. It was the loveliest thing he had ever witnessed. Her mood seemed to lift with the tempo, and the torches in the rooms flared brighter, almost keeping time to the beat. He observed it with interest. If they did this with all her strong emotions it was a convenient tell.

When the song was over she ended with a flourish, then started laughing. Bog took the opportunity to slowly grab his staff, and then retreat further the way he had come while keeping her in sight. If she did this regularly, then she was probably hiding out down here somewhere. He would find her again. But if she didn’t realize he was there maybe he could follow her to her hiding spot.
~End Bog~

Marianne, feeling refreshed and pleasantly sore from pushing herself so hard, put on her clothes. She turned off her Tech-all and tucked it into her pocket, glad the size of it was adjustable. She suddenly got goosebumps on her arms. She grabbed her sword and turned around quickly, scanning the area for any signs that she wasn’t alone. After a few minutes she slowly turned back around, deciding that staying here longer wasn’t a good idea.

Picking up her stuff she made her way out a different tunnel than the one she had entered in. The feeling of being watched hadn’t gone away yet, so she decided to do some evasive maneuvers she had mapped out in the lower levels. After a few turns and the use of a few bolt holes, she felt she wasn’t being followed any longer. She doubled back around and hid up high to try and get a look at who could have found her, but found nothing. She chalked it up to being paranoid, but made her way to her sleeping spot more alert than she normally was.

The next week fell into a somewhat of a routine. Marianne would do random acts of terror to make Bog’s days more miserable. She would sporadically surprise attack him, somehow always knowing when the most inopportune time would be. He would look for her every night in the large room; sometimes so furious he was sure he would strangle her, but could never bring himself to actually confront her when she was in the thrall of the music. Most nights she was clearly happy, her movements and the music wild and loud. But one night she was different. Melancholy. The music was slow. There weren’t any lyrics, just strange haunting instruments. Grief was etched into every line of her, every gesture, every movement.

This was the night he really stopped and thought about their situation. Here was this girl, who clearly wasn’t from anywhere close, he was beginning to suspect she wasn’t even of this world. She had no one. She wakes up after being grievously injured, imprisoned, and is immediately interrogated. She manages to escape, but doesn’t have anywhere to go. For the first time in a long time he found himself having empathy for someone else. She was alone. Utterly alone. And that was something he knew a lot about. Sure he was the Goblin King…but he was unique among goblins. Shunned for the way he looked, and kept at arms length out of fear and because he was king. Bog left early that night, deep in his own thoughts.

The next day started out as normal. Bog woke up, still consumed with his train of thought from the night before. He hadn’t slept well at all. He tossed and turned for hours, and when sleep finally did come his dreams were fragmented and bizarre. Not true nightmares, but definitely not pleasant. He was so lost in his own head that he forgot to be alert.

Marianne leaped out at him from around a corner and with a yell attacked. Bog was so far into his head that he didn’t block. Marianne, at the last moment turned her sword to the side and hit him with the flat of it rather than cut him in half. Bog dropped his staff and grabbed his side. He looked down at her and met Marianne’s horrified expression.
“OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BLOCK ARE YOU OKAY???” She sheathed her sword and rushed to his side. “Move your hands let me look at it”

Bog tied to move away from her, “NO, you just tried to kill me! Get away before I call the guards!”
Marianne wouldn’t be put off, “I always try to kill you! You’ve always blocked me before! What the hell is the matter with you! What were you doing that you didn’t hear me! I usually give you a warning! (she was trying to get closer to him as he kept dodging backwards) Move your hands, let me look!” Bog kept backing up until he was against the wall. His staff was too far away at this point to grab and fend her off, and his side hurt like hell. She had really packed some power into that swing.

She grabbed his arms and pulled, but he still resisted. Marianne stopped and met him glare for glare. “I’m not going away until you let me get a look at that, so you might as well stop resisting. And I haven’t really been trying to kill you…just…drive you a little crazy. But you were never supposed to be seriously hurt! Now move your arms before I move them for you”

Bog, realizing he either had to follow through on his threat to call the guards or let her look, huffed and moved his hands. “Fine. It’s just bruised…this is unnecessary.” Once his hands were out of the way Marianne got closer. She leaned down to get a look at his side and gently ran her hands over the area. There was only a slight cut from the edge of the blade, a miracle. If she hadn’t turned her blade he’d probably be in two pieces. She knew his side had to hurt like hell but he wasn’t complaining as she ran her fingers over it.

There was a slight give in his exoskeleton that she was sure probably wasn’t normal, but figured it would be fixed with the next molting. At least, she thought so, her exoskeleton anatomy was very limited. Realizing he wasn’t going to die, he was right about just having a deep bruise, she let out a sigh of relief. Now that she was sure he wasn’t at deaths door and hadn’t been holding his guts inside, she became fascinated with his scales. They were wonderfully rough, and lightly scratched the pads of her fingers in a most delicious way. For someone who’s mother was convinced he didn’t bathe regularly, he smelled heavenly. Fresh and wild somehow, like she imagined a forest. She unconsciously moved closer to get a better look at their design, fascinated with the way they moved with him.

She suddenly became aware of how close she had gotten to Bog and her hands had wandered too far away from the wound site to play it off as concern. Looking up she met his eyes and her breath caught. She had no idea they were that blue. Like a cloudless day. He was staring at her as if he had never seen anything quite like her before, but beyond that his face was unreadable.

Bog barely let himself breathe when TG got close to him. After trying to kill him, he was shocked when she put away her weapon and demanded to see the wound, admitting she had never really wanted to truly hurt him, just be a pain in his side. Mission success. Literally. She was carefully checking where she had hit him, so close he could feel her breathe on his side, her fingers lightly running over his scales. Wherever her fingers traced sent little waves of heat through him. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation. No one had ever been this tender towards him, and he had to stop himself from leaning into her touch. He opened his eyes to look down at her. ‘It’s only because you’re injured, she would never be this close by choice’ he reminded himself.

As if sensing his gaze on her, she turned her face up to his. Her eyes were that vivid amber, they were bright; so bright meeting his. They seemed to glow, and he thought he imagined they flickered a little bit. With a jolt he realized they were the same color as the amber on his staff.

“Are you satisfied that you haven’t ended me?” He asked breathlessly. Marianne, her gaze still locked with his, nodded, “Do you believe that I wasn’t trying to cause you serious harm?” It was Bog’s turn to nod.

For what seemed like eternity they just stared at each other. It was only when they heard someone coming that Marianne sprang away from him, blinking and looking away.
She twisted her hands nervously “Well I guess you really are okay after all…sorry again…next time I try to kill you I’ll do a better job of giving you fair warning so you can block better…or at all…(she turned to go) umm…byyyeee!” Marianne winced and turned back, “ugh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so cute..”

Bog, looking embarrassed himself, “No, cute, uh works for you” Marianne felt herself blushing. “Oh…thanks…” Bog stared at her face turning bright red, finding her adorable when flustered, even as his own face flushed. Horrified with how awkward she was being Marianne fled, using the hallway until she was out of sight, then ducked into a room and tried to calm her racing heart. ‘Oh shit am I in trouble’ she thought miserably.

It was only after she was out of sight that Bog realized he should have followed her or tried to stop her or something. He could have made peace and ended the whole thing. He groaned and put his head in his hands. He was just no good at this. Admitting he was wrong and talking to girls were both outside the realms of his talents. He didn’t know how to do either. The last time he was interested in someone it turned out horribly for him.

Maybe he would actually have the nerve to talk to her tonight.

Chapter Text

As the the first rays of the sun finally started to peak over the horizon, Marianne felt hopeful. Last night was the start of something new, and she was certain the rain finally halting it’s hellacious crusade and the coming dawn were signs as well. She had woken up really early, at first not realizing why. When the silence pressed in on her, she realized it was the lack of rain outside that roused her. She had quickly grabbed her sword and bag and went as high inside the citadel as she could. She had then resorted to jumping up the side of the castle until she had stumbled upon this alcove. In the last few moments before the sun rose, she considered the previous night, smiling to herself.

—flashback—

Marianne was flustered all day. She still felt guilty about hitting the Bog King, even though he was okay. Even though she had apologized. Even though she shouldn’t. Her mission for the past month was to torment him…not actively hurt him! If she was being truthful to herself, she was more guilty about her feelings toward him than actually feeling guilty about hurting him. ‘Ugh it is all so confusing!!’ She paced around an empty room as she thought. ‘I can’t develop feelings for someone like this. Isn’t this Stockholm Syndrome? Does it count if I’m not really a prisoner? Ugh what a cliche…but really…am I sure I even have feelings??’ She stopped at the thought.

‘Okay..a test…a test…how to see for real…I know! Ok…picture the Bog King…’ she closed her eyes and thought about the Bog King’s face, especially his sky blue orbs that had seemed to pierce her soul. They had enchanted her earlier. When she felt her expression softening and a smile form on her lips she cursed and resumed pacing. ‘Fuck, Ok so obviously I’m feeling something…I’ve been compromised…with feelings…when did this happen? When did I catch feelings??’ But she knew. It was their sparring. The banter. It was watching the way he ran his kingdom, how dignified he was. How fair. Sure he could be a little rough around the edges, but his subjects were goblins. They were naturally violent, and sometimes they needed a violent ruler. They respected strength more than anything. She had seen a few of the bigger ones try and eat some of the smaller ones. It was definitely survival of the fittest out here. ‘And Bog is the fittest…’ The saucey part of her mind whispered. She smacked her forehead at that line of thinking. It wasn’t helpful in the slightest.

She continued pacing for the better part of the morning. It was when her stomach grumbled that she realized she had skipped breakfast. She decided to take the stealthiest route through the castle that she had. She especially didn’t want to run into Griselda. She would be able to sense something was different. She was already pushing for the two of them to get married, if she told her she may have feelings for the Bog King, Griselda would somehow arrange for a wedding today for all she knew. And her feelings were so new and foreign to her, she wanted to be sure of them.

‘Ugh..what if he doesn’t feel the same?? I’m not a goblin…he clearly hates these fairies…I’m probably just a nuisance he’ll be happy to get rid of…’ The thought actually made her sad, which was infuriating. She should want to leave. But…realistically..she didn’t have anywhere to go. No true reason for leaving. ‘WHEN DID I BECOME ONE OF THESE GIRLS THAT OBSESSES OVER A GUY??’ She pounded her eyes with her fists. ‘I was never this…this…unsure before…why now?’ She knew though. It was because she had never truly cared if someone liked her or not.

The gift of distance and time had shown her she wasn’t in love with Randall. Looking back, she wasn’t even sure she had liked him. He was just a good-looking smooth talker that had made her a bunch of empty promises; which at the time she desperately wanted to believe. She had been tired of being alone and running and he had promised her a home and stability. Now she knew he was trying to get her in one place long enough for capture. One of her biggest regrets was not being able to melt the flesh from his bones with her bare hands.

But Bog, he wasn’t smooth. He could have had any one of the girls his mother threw at him; probably them all. Had he wanted he could have broken all of their hearts, with promises of a kingdom until he got what men typically want from women, before kicking them to the curb. But he obviously wasn’t like that. She had watched him around them, he was always awkwardly polite until he could make his escape. He didn’t make empty vows of love. He just wanted to be left alone.

The thought hit like a ton of bricks. She was utterly and completely alone. With feelings for a Goblin who probably wanted her gone as well. He enjoyed his solitude and peace. She was trouble wherever she went. She knew it was a matter of time before it followed her here. The impossibility of the situation took her breath away. She paused on the way to the kitchens to try and calm herself down.

She resumed her path once she got her heartbeat a little under control. ‘Thinking about all this isn’t going to do any good…’ Once in the kitchen she set about trying to find some thing that was edible but was not living at one time. It was hard in the goblin kingdom, they ate a pretty meaty diet. Plus they didn’t have a big selection of spices and she was getting sick of fire roasted vegetables. Maybe if she tried to make a stew it would jazz up her meals and take her mind off things.

She had put some vegetables in some water and set it over the fire. Chopping them and getting everything together took a lot less time and concentration than she thought it would. Tired of pacing the kitchen, she decided to try a little experiment with the fire, something she hadn’t done since she was very small; before her father had forbidden her from using her abilities. Holding out her left arm she concentrated. After a few tense moments, the fire changed colors; it was now a bright pink. Marianne clapped with glee and bounced a little where she stood.

She tried the other hand, it came easier and now the fire was a dark purple. The purple fire seemed to burn a little hotter than regular, and she found herself taking her jacket off in the stuffy room. Not that she minded the heat, but there was no reason to wear the bulky garment if she didn’t have to. Under the jacket she had on a top that Griselda had given her; originally it had been a long flowing thing that reached her knees. The plant it was made from - an honest to god plant, Griselda had called it Strobilanthes - was pretty and all (dark purple, her favorite color), but the top was too…too…too princessey. Long and like a dress. Not that there was anything wrong with dressing like a fairy princess, even a punk one, it just wasn’t her style. At all. Ever. She had never worn a dress. Probably because they were harder to run and fight in, but that’s besides the point.

So she had used her sword to cut the length off. She had intended to make a waist length tank top, but had cut a little too far. And crooked. Well really she had gotten carried away if she was being honest with herself. She had hung the top from a rock and then swung at it with her sword. It had been so much fun she did it a few more times before she realized how short it now was. The end result was a jagged crop top longer on the right side. She didn’t even feel bad; it looked awesome, even if one side of it fell just 2 inches below her left breast. The long side was on the right, ending about at her belly button. Which worked just fine, her sword was on the left.

After taking off her jacket she went to check on her stew. It was rapidly boiling. Lifting a large portion of it with a ladle to her mouth to try she was startled by a curious voice right next to her shoulder, “Does the purple fire make it taste different?” Marianne jumped, consequently spilling the boiling soup down her front. “JESUS FUCK!” She pulled the shirt away from herself, it didn’t hurt but the wet and chunks of vegetables were unpleasant. To her dismay it was Bog who had startled her. ‘How do I manage to be invisible for a month, and then he gets the jump on me??’

Bog looked horrified. He rushed to her and without any regard to personal space he started examine her midriff, crouching down low to peer at her “Ah em sorry! Are ye hurt? Ah thought ye heard me!” Marianne shook her head at the irony of it. A month of nothing, and in a day she hurts him, then he thinks he hurt her.

“I’m fine, but seriously make some noise when you enter a room! You could have given me a heart attack!” Bog wasn’t listening. He was examining Marianne’s stomach. “Seriously I’m fine” But Bog started running his fingers over her skin. “That stuff was boiling..how are ye not even burnt? What are ye?” Marianne swallowed awkwardly.
“Highly resistant to heat” Bog gave a startled laugh, “that is not what ah meant” The whole time he hadn’t stopped his fingers progress over her skin. It was sending little shivers through her, and raised goosebumps on her flesh. She stared at her stomach in shock, ‘well, that’s new. I don’t get chills….oh fuck it’s him isn’t it’ Bog noticed too, “What is this reaction! Yer skin is turning bumpy!” Marianne chuckled. She supposed with exoskeletons, gooseflesh wasn’t something he would have experience with.

“That’s normal, it just happens when you get umm chills” He turned his piercing gaze upward to her, “Are ye cold? Do ye need more clothes?” He looked around for her jacket. “No! I mean no…it’s not from the cold” She averted her gaze. “What causes this?” he inquired.
‘Oh this is so awkward…should I tell him it’s him? Let’s try a subtle hint…’
Marianne cleared her throat, set her shoulders, and looked in his eyes. She was never a coward, and this shy behavior would stop now. “Well…there are different kinds of chills….?” She had the resolve of a wet paper bag.
‘please get the hint please get the hint please get the hint’ she thought at him furiously.

Bog realized his hands were still wrapped around her. She was so tiny in comparison to him, his hands could easily span her waist. Somehow he never realized; maybe it was because she always seemed larger than life. “Oh, ah em making ye uncomfortable” His eyes turning guarded, he released her and stood up. Marianne strangely felt colder after he stepped back. Even if she was still on the fence about this, her body had no qualms with letting her know what it wanted.

“You aren’t bothering me. I’m actually kind of impressed you snuck up on me. And didn’t try to attack me back” She looked sharply at him as she realized this and put a hand on her sword “Unless you’ll lulling me into a false sense of security” Bog raised his hands up in the universal I-mean-no-harm position.
“Ah figured the kitchens would be deserted at this time of day. Ah did not realize this is when ye’d be here”
“Oh…well…want to share my stew?” She looked at the still boiling pot “SHIT!” Marianne rushed to stir it with her left hand, hoping it wasn’t ruined. Without thinking she put out her right and sucked the purple fire up into her right hand. It flowed up her arm before settling under the skin with the rest of the dark purple flames up on her shoulder. Bog watched with interest. He didn’t comment, figuring she would evade giving him a straight answer again. But a display of her power was giving him a healthy dose of respect. Not only was she an accomplished swordswoman, she clearly would be a formidable foe unarmed. If she could pull fire into her, it stood to reason she could shoot it out of her as well. He resisted reaching out and touching her shoulders, telling himself it was just because he was curious about what she would feel like, and not just an excuse to be close to her again.

Marianne, completely oblivious to this, happily hummed with pleasure. Not only was her creation not ruined, it tasted fantastic. Maybe purple flames did make food taste better. “Here, try this!” She turned and shoved the ladle in his face before she quickly pulled it back, “wait..this is probably like lava to you..here” and she actually blew on the soup to cool it a little.

Bog found himself rooted in place. Someone so powerful and borderline evil shouldn’t be so…adorable and thoughtful. Her rapid contradictory nature kept him guessing. Especially since he had experienced firsthand how vindictive she could be. It was hard to believe this happy, humming little creature was capable of the ire and mayhem she had stirred over the past month.

When the temperature was more normal (practically icy to her) she smiled at him and held it out again. Bog cautiously leaned down and took the mouthful of soup. His eyes lit up and he nodded his appreciation. Marianne laughed at him and playful hit his shoulder “Don’t act so surprised it’s good! sheesh!”

Bog tried to reassure her, “it’s not that! It’s just that…well I don’t see anything of substance in there. There’s no meat, how can just vegetables be this good?” Marianne rolled her eyes and turned back to the pot. “With seasonings you wanker.”
Bog curiously looked at the pot over her shoulder, “Why don’t you use meat?”
Marianne eyes were suddenly fierce as she looked back and up at him over her shoulder “Because as someone who has been hunted knowing her death awaiting her should she get caught, I refuse to put any other creature through that. I will never kill needlessly.”
Bog regarded her carefully, he had a feeling his response was important and he didn’t want to mess it up, “Who would be crazy enough to hunt you Tough Girl?” he asked incredulously.
Mariannes gaze softened and she laughed, “Flatterer” and bumped him with her hip. She turned back to the stove to ladle the soup into two bowls. When she turned back around Bog was still standing there, clearly wanting a better answer.

Marianne sighed “Where I come from, I wasn’t exactly welcome. Fae
creatures are seen as dangerous. We don’t abide by natural law, technology acts in weird ways around us. The ruling authorities blamed us for killing the world, and the masses bought it. When it really was the Ascendancy who ruined everything, but they held all the media and people love a scapegoat. They don’t want to believe the people ruling them are actively killing their planet”
Bog followed her to some stools by a counter. “What is the media?”
Marianne silently considered how to explain. She took a bite to buy some time. She didn’t have her Tech-all on her so it would be harder. “All the resources for information, like written word that is circulated, sung news, plays, it was even taught in schools. I guess enough sources were telling the masses so they believed it” She sadly took another bite.

Bog nodded, “Like a declaration from a monarch. Even if it’s false people believe it because they believe in the ruling authority.”
Marianne nodded at him. It was so surreal to actually have a conversation with him. He was a good listener and despite the cultural differences, he was insightful. Also he was catching on quick. She found herself liking him more. He was also dangerously easy to talk to. He answered her carefully, taking time to think about his questions and answers.

“Exactly. So I was hunted.” The next question she should have been expecting, but wasn’t. “What abou’ the other Fae? Didn’t ye have family? Why couldn’t ye fight back?”

Marianne hunched her shoulders and turned away. Bog realized he said something he shouldn’t and tried to take it back, “Ah didn’t mean anything by it, ye donna have ta answer”
Marianne shook her head and turned toward him slightly. She needed to talk about this, holding it in wasn’t doing any good. “There weren’t any others. It was just me and my dad and sister at the end…and it wasn’t enough. They were taken when I was out. As far as I know I was the last. We were hunted to extinction. They had too many soldiers specifically designed to capture and kill us. Impervious to my weapons and …abilities. I was weaker there, I didn’t access to…” she realized who she was talking to. She looked at Bog’s face and he was raptly staring at her. There wasn’t a trace of malice in him, he truly wanted to know. “…the sun, so I couldn’t do a lot. There’s things I’ve never done just because I didn’t have enough juice” She hung her head, “and I don’t have the best control. If you haven’t noticed, it’s very dependent on my temper” She glanced up at Bog, there was a wry twist to his lips. “Ah have noticed that”

She couldn’t help herself, she grinned at him. Bog gulped. She was so much more than he was expecting. The budding attraction he had felt yesterday had blossomed into something stronger. She was clever and caring, and despite losing everything and being shown only violence was still somehow kind. Her spirit made him breathless. He was staring into her eyes when he realized he had strong feelings for her. But she was a beauty, and from another world it seemed. She had knowledge and things he could never comprehend, what could he offer her? He was just a hideous goblin king. He glanced away, doing his best to mask his gloom.

Marianne watched Bog’s thoughts play over his face; recognizing her own. She had been carefully studying his body language, he definitely didn’t find her repulsive. She had seen him in enough interactions to know he wasn’t faking interest, nor did he normally get this physically close to people. She felt a surge of hope and decided to take a leap, “So Bog” He looked at her warily, “how about tonight instead of lurking in the shadows, you join me for the dance party?” Bog sputtered, almost choking on the mouthful of stew he had just taken. “How..how..How did ye know?”

Marianne laughed, “it wasn’t hard! You’re not exactly the stealthiest person, and your staff, the amber reflects light you boob! Not to mention, if it had been Griselda she would have joined me, and any other goblin would have sounded the alarm! Or foolishly tried to capture me” Bog shook his head, then “wait…how do you know my mother’s name?”

Marianne’s face turned guilty, “I uh, heard one of the other goblins call her that”
“No ye didn’t! They call her ‘Yer majesty’!”
Marianne’s expression turned even guiltier, “OKAY FINE! Your mom and I met like my second week here, she’s been helping me”
Bog’s face was turning interesting colors and his shoulder plates started rattling, “WHAT DO YE MEAN SHE’S BEEN HELPING YE?? YE WERE A CRIMINAL SHE SHOULD HAVE TURNED YE IN!”
Marianne answered hotly, “well if you ask me you should listen to her more, because she’s the only one with a cool head around here. She immediately knew I wasn’t a threat and treated me like a person!”

Bog calmed down some as the truth of her words hit him, at least his shoulders stopped rattling, even if his face was still funny colors, “but she’s supposed to be ma mother, on my side! Ah canna believe…” he looked at Marianne who was watching him expectedly, like waiting for a child to stop throwing a tantrum “oh bollocks. ah can believe it. That woman lives to torment me. It’s no wonder the two of ye get along so well”

Marianne grinned at him, “there you see? You just needed to come around. You’re mom is on your side by the way, if she really thought I was a threat she would have taken me out herself. Of that I have no doubt. As it is, she made a pretty good effort at drowning me” Bog made a noncommittal sound in reply. “Seriously Bog, she just wants you to be happy”

He glanced at her, “She tried to drown ye?” Marianne laughed (something she was doing more and more she realized) “Yes, I met her in the baths. She thought my arms were on fire and tried to put them out. Nearly killed me in the process before I could explain they aren’t a danger to me”

Using her story as an invitation, he leaned in to closely examine the appendages in question. “So they donna hurt?” Marianne held her breath at being so close to him. While he was looking at her shoulder, she studied his face. What in the beginning she had considered unique looking at somehow along the way turned alluring, then irresistible. The sharpness of it excited her. His barbed whiskers were cute. ‘there is something seriously wrong with me….’ She inwardly groaned. Even his crooked teeth were charming.

She realized she had been staring too much and not answered him when he glanced up at her, “Umm no they don’t hurt. Me. At all. They shouldn’t hurt you…you can touch them if you want” ‘I am so fucking awkward…I feel like a dumb teenager again…’ But Bog reached out a hand and lightly ran it from her shoulder down her arm and Marianne found she had to resist the urge to purr and lean into it. “Does it ever come out yer skin?”
Marianne shook her head, then stopped, and nodded.

“One time, when I was a lot younger, some older cyborgs from our neighborhood (he gave her a blank look) those are robot people…part human…part machine…I’ll show you later, anyway, they grabbed me and my sister Aurora when we were playing. I started kicking and screaming but they just laughed at me. When they grabbed her and she started crying, I lost it. The fire came out and burned their hands. They dropped me pretty quick, but I was raged out. I grabbed the metal parts of them and started heating it up, which in turn started burning their human parts and caused the machine to start short circuiting..I probably would have killed them if my sister hadn’t pulled me away. We went home and she told our dad, we moved that night. The next day, I went back because Aurora had forgotten her stuffed pig, and the house was destroyed. There were…slurs…awful words painted on the sides and threatening messages. After that, I worked really hard to learn to fight without using my abilities, I didn’t want anyone else to learn what we were.”
Bog was still running his hand over her arm. “Sounds like they deserved it.” Marianne nodded, “yes, but I put my whole family in jeopardy. I’m sure they turned us in too, we could have been killed then.” Marianne looked pensive, “Dad also told me later that we could throw fireballs, but I’ve never done it. Never had enough power.”

Bog gulped, “and ah know different flames do different things, what all do they do?” Marianne turned a sharp gaze on him, ‘Definitely too smart for his own good…and too easy to talk to… too late, I’m in it now. Exactly how did this truce come about anyway? My sword hitting him? Maybe I knocked some sense into him?’

“Well…different stuff like you said…and truthfully I don’t even know it all either. Dad wasn’t forthcoming with a lot of our abilities, because he didn’t want us tempted to use them.” She needed to veer this conversation elsewhere, if she talked about this too much she would start crying, and she really didn’t want that. She opted to blatantly change the subject.

“Anyway, back to the matter at hand, are you or are you not going to join me for the dance party? I’m thinking classic rock tonight, I know you’ll love it” Bog’s was clearly hesitant; but he didn’t want to push her to talk when she clearly didn’t want to. He pulled his hand back. Also he didn’t know how to dance. To buy some time he asked, “Why aren’t ye more upset that I was spying on yer dance parties?” She snorted, grateful he was going along with the topic change and asking questions she didn’t mind answering, “puh-lease. I’ve done nothing buy spy on you since I got here, it would be very hypocritical of me to be mad when turnabouts fair play.”

Bog shifted uncomfortably, “you spy on me?!” Marianne waved her hand dismissively, “not as much as you’re thinking but definitely more than a little. I didn’t spy on you doing anything embarrassing. Now answer the question” Bog was hardly comforted, but he had to give her an answer. She was relentless.

He knew how well she could move, he didn’t want to embarrass himself. There had to be a way to get out of this gracefully. But when he looked in her eyes and she was giving him this pleading looking, her eyes large and mouth pouty, he found himself agreeing, “aye, ah will join ye”

Marianne’s face lit up with the force of her smile. Her eyes shone amber, and she literally brightened. The room brightened with her. Bog suddenly found it hard to breathe, at that moment he realized he’d agree to anything just to see her look at him like that again. She clapped her hands and exclaimed, “I’m going to teach you how to power slide! Oh and play air guitar! It’s such a standard for dance parties!”

Marianne downed the last few bites of her bowl, “hey could you clean up? I’m going to go gather some things, thanks!” And she was gone before Bog could even answer.

He slumped forward and put his head in his hands, ‘What did I just get myself into?’

~~~~~~~

Marianne spent the rest of the day getting things in order in secret after doing her normal sword exercises and workout routine. She definitely didn’t want to come across Griselda. Her room had been the most nerve-wracking part of the the day. She had to stealth in there and grab the Tech-all when Griselda went out. She hoped the older goblin wouldn’t miss it and come looking for it too soon. And now she knew that it wasn’t hopeless with the Bog King, she didn’t want Griselda to know there could be something there. If he didn’t want anything to do with her he would have said no, blown her off like all those other girls after all.

She had found a hidden cache of strawberries in the kitchen, she set them in a bowl on a table she had carried down. Also some water; even some ale. It smelled vile but he probably liked it. ‘This is looking so junior prom…oh well…at least he doesn’t know what junior prom is…maybe I’m trying too hard…’ But she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t been to a party in years and even if it was just goofing off dancing around, she wanted it to be an experience. Using her ability to change the colors of flames, she alternated the lanterns around the room in pinks and purples. The effect was cool, with alternating colors highlighting the chamber. Next she bathed and cleaned her top. She was rather fond of the tank top now. It was when she was applying her eye make up in a more extravagant manner than normal that she realized ‘I’m putting more effort into this dance party than I did my own wedding…’

Instead of having the teeth the reminder normally did, she could laugh at it. She had thought Randall was it, she was never more grateful to be wrong. Even if nothing happened with the Bog King…she would move on. There would be something else out there for her. The thought was bittersweet. She knew she had strong feelings for Bog…but realizing she could survive was comforting.

As she studied herself in her hand mirror, she grinned. ‘I’d fall in love with me’ then laughed at her silliness. Since she was ready earlier than anticipated, she went through some stretches. When he still hadn’t shown up, she opted for some 70s. Disco was mindless music, so she wouldn’t have to think. Plus the moves were fun. She was belting out the lyrics to “I Will Survive” when Bog stepped out from the shadows.

“If this is classic rock, ah do not think ah like it” He had clearly showered as well, and he was holding his staff nervously. Marianne smiled and skipped over to the Tech-all, which was located on the table next to the strawberries. “Nope, just some good ole disco. More on that later. I’m glad you came” she added the last part shyly, even after she resolved herself to be bold, she couldn’t help it.

Bog smiled back just as shyly. As he looked around the room he noted the torches with a twitch of the lips. He didn’t comment, but when his gaze fell on the table his mouth dropped open at the sight of the berries. “Are those….STRAWBERRIES?!” He quickly flew over to the table as well, and popped one into his mouth. He closed his eyes in bliss. Marianne giggled at his reaction. “For someone who dogs on vegetables, you sure like fruits”

“Strawberries are a gift from the the universe and are not in the same category as those vile things. They do not even belong in the same sentence” “You didn’t seem to mind those ‘vile things’ earlier.” Bog opened one eye, “that was different, ye clearly used magic to make them taste better.”
“I most certainly did nothing of the sort!” Bog nodded to the flames, “ye changed the regular fire into magical fire, are ye denying that?” He popped another berry into his mouth.

Marianne opened her mouth to argue, then shrugged. “You’re probably right, maybe the fire did have something to do with it.”
Bog almost choked, “You’re agreeing with me?” Marianne scowled at him, but without any heat to it, “Well when you’re right, why wouldn’t I? Maybe if you were right more, I’d agree with you more and it wouldn’t be such a shock when I do”

Bog shot her a look and she stuck her tongue out at him. He took in her more intricate eye color, and he could tell she had freshly washed as well. He gave her a hesitant smile. Marianne smiled back, “ok, time for some tunes. Put those berries down, it’s serious now” Bog reluctantly put down the bowl. Marianne picked up her Tech-all. Bog crowded her again to get a look at it. “What’s that?”

Marianne turned to show him, not realizing how close he had gotten. She looked up into his eyes and regrettably had to take a small step back to properly show him. Although she turned slightly so she didn’t have to move too far away. “It’s a device that plays my media…songs…movies or rather, ‘plays’, it has a database on it…pictu…portraits of my family.” She glanced up at him, his was extremely interested in the little device, “I can show you more later, but for now…we dance!”

She hit play and at once AC/DC, “You Shook Me All Night Long” started blaring. Marianne gave Bog a playful grin and once the music kicked in started lip syncing and playing air guitar. Bog stood there stunned, he literally had no idea what to do. Marianne took pity on him, “Come on, like this!” She took his staff and started to lean it up against the table, “On second thought…here” She turned the staff around and put the amber close to his body, and the shaft sticking out far to the left side. She positioned a hand on the end, and then made him move his right up and down over the stone “Like this! Pretend it’s a guitar!”
Bog had never felt so foolish in his life, but she was doing the exact same thing as him, minus the staff. She was also running around doing air kicks. She was laughing and smiling, and he found himself wanting to join. She turned to him and “YEA YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG” And ran toward him, then fell down on her knees and slid the rest of the way to where he was; while leaning back while still playing her air guitar.

She popped up, “now that was a power slide” Her smile was so infectious Bog couldn’t help but grin back. It succeeded in breaking the ice, and when the song ended and flowed into the next one, they didn’t notice. After a few more, they stopped for some drinks.

Marianne laughed as she picked up a glass of water. Bog went for one too, but when he saw the goblin ale he opted for that. After a long drink he pulled a face, “Where did ye get this muck?” Marianne shrugged, “from the kitchens, it smelled foul but I figured you would like it.”

Bog put down the container. “Ah will be right back” and he zipped from the room. After a short time he came back, and Marianne let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Under one arm he had a small barrel of what she presumed would be more ale. In the other hand he had a bottle of what she guessed would be wine.

He held it out to her shyly, “Every winter and summer solstice we meet with the fairy kingdom and trade some of our finest ale for some of their finest wine. It’s supposed to be a nice tradition, but neither kingdom can stomach the other’s brew; so it’s mostly out of spite. We drink and toast each other with the beverage from the opposite kingdom for continued peace. We have to pretend to like it. Their’s is too damn sweet. We have a bunch of these bottles lying around, but ah thought ye might like it since ye follow their diet”

Marianne was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness. No one besides her sister had ever considered her feelings before. Her father had did what he felt was best for their survival, not caring if it upset his daughters or not. Randall certainly hadn’t given two shits about her. Alarmingly she felt her eyes getting moist, so before Bog saw she threw herself at him and gave him a hug. Bog immediately stiffened, not knowing what to do with the blatant display of affection. No one hugged him, he typically didn’t like anyone being close to him; but he rather liked her arms around him. Seeing as he had a small barrel under one arm, and a bottle of wine in the other, he couldn’t do more than awkwardly pat her back with the wine. Marianne released him regretfully after a few moments, and took the wine.

She uncorked the bottle and debated using a cup. Since she was the only one drinking it, she just took a swig directly from the bottle. She smiled and smacked her lips. It was just as sweet as he had said, and tasted like nothing she had had before. Alcohol in her world was flavorless and strong, meant to be quickly consumed to get you drunk fast. This wine was clearly meant to be savored.

Bog nodded toward the bottle, “Ah believe that is elderflower wine. The flowers bloom once a year for a brief time. It’s supposed to be one of their rare delicacies” Marianne hummed happily, “it’s great! Thank you. I haven’t been good and drunk in awhile”

Bog blushed at her gratitude. As he poured himself some ale he couldn’t help but wonder at the turn of events. A few days ago they were pseudo enemies, now he would tentatively call them friends. She had actually opened up to him a little bit, even if he still didn’t know her name. He wondered what it would take to have her tell him.

After she had drank about a third of the bottle, and he had had more than a few cups of his own ale, they started dancing again. Every couple of songs they would stop for a drink break. It was after a few drink breaks that Marianne realized she may no longer be sober. She also realized that maybe Bog wasn’t as well. She was in the mood to slow it down, so she discreetly changed the music. The booze was making her bolder. She was at that perfect place where she didn’t care about consequences, but wasn’t sloppy.

“Bog, do you know how to slow dance?” Bog glanced over at her over the rim of his cup, “Ye mean waltz?” Marianne giggled (oh yes, she was feeling the wine) “Kind of, let’s try! I’ve never waltzed before” Bog’s staff had long been abandoned, he put his cup down when Marianne grabbed his arms. She put one around her waist and held the in her right hand. She looked up at him expectantly. Bog looked frozen.

Marianne nudged him, “Bog, come on. Lead. I don’t know what I’m doing” Bog shook his head and started. The height difference and drunkenness did nothing for their grace. Bog was surprisingly good at waltzing, but having never formally danced with someone else, Marianne had no idea what to do with her feet. “Count the steps TG…no count them…in fours…fours! Oh bloody hell” Marianne just kept giggling, and when Bog picked her up (the alcohol had definitely made him bold, he would have never dared this otherwise) and just glided around the dance floor with her. She threw her head back and laughed when he gently took to the air.

“This is great! And much easier!” Marianne wiggled in his arms to get closer, and laid her head on is shoulder. She sighed happily. His shoulder plates were rough and abraded her cheek, but she was beyond caring. Her plan seemed to have worked. She looked down “Oh we’re flying! This is so cool.” She peered around “You know, I am very jealous of your wings. They are so pretty, but why do they have tears in them?” Bog blushed at the compliment. “Yer the only one to think so” Marianne looked at him quizzically. Bog swallowed “Ah em the only goblin to have them, the whispers are ah’em part fairy…it’s not somethin’ that endears ye to ma subjects. Ah had to fight a lot when ah first took tha throne. Eventually there was no one left to challenge ma right ta rule”

Marianne nodded as if she understood, “people suck no matter what species. Different is bad, fire is scary, Thomas Edison was a witch. Blah blah blah. I still like them” Marianne looked into his eyes and smiled. “I like you too. You’re not so bad when you’re not trying to interrogate me” Bog stopped moving and smiled back. He had no idea who this witch was she spoke of, but he knew she was trying to give him a compliment. They slowly floated back down. “Yer not so bad when yer not tormenting me” Marianne giggled. “Well, I think we are at a truce now. And your mom said it’s going to stop raining any time now, so soon you’ll be rid of me” She side eyed him to see how he would take the news.

Bog looked dismayed, and unconsciously tightened his grip on her “Ye…ye donna have to go if ye donna want to. Ye could stay en ma kingdom.” Then in a small voice, “Ah’d like ye to stay” Marianne flushed with pleasure, “Really? Thank God, because I did not want to leave. I’ve grown found of you, you big walking stick” Bog looked at her, then deliberately stuck his tongue out at her in mimic of what she had done earlier. She laughed and hugged him tighter.

She looked up at him and their eyes locked. She slowly leaned her face toward him, and stopped. Looking up at him, she waited. She wasn’t going to push him into something he didn’t want to do. At first Bog didn’t realize what she was doing, when he saw the hurt in her eyes and her start to pull away, it clicked. Before he could think about it, he quickly ducked his head and pressed his lips to hers. Marianne kissed back in relief.

After a few moments she gently brushed her tongue along his bottom lip. Realizing what she meant he parted his lips and the kiss grew more heated. He pulled her into him tighter, but it still wasn’t enough. Marianne grew frustrated and hoped up a little and wrapped her legs around his waist at the same time Bog went to lift her up. The result was they Bog fell back and crashed to the ground while holding Marianne to him.

The fall sobered them both up. ‘I hope he’s not just into me because of the booze…maybe call a retreat and see if he still feels this way tomorrow…’ Marianne groaned and stood up, she reached out a hand to Bog, who took it to be polite. He was not expecting it when she tugged and yanked him up. He looked at her with raised brows, Marianne grinned sheepishly, “Sorry, I forget my strength”

“Well…” Marianne was jittery, she bumped her fists against her legs “I think I’m going to turn in, I want to continue this but…not when we’ve been drinking.”
To hide his relief that she hadn’t suddenly changed her mind, picked up his staff. He nodded while fiddling with it “Aye that makes sense. Ah donna want ye to regret this in the mornin’ either TG” Marianne stopped fidgeting and went over to him, she laid her hand on his, “Marianne” Bog blinked at her, “My name is Marianne, and I know I won’t regret this in the morning” She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss over his cheek, then quickly left the room. Bog smiled and touched his cheek. Her name was as beautiful as she was.

—present—

Marianne sucked in a breath. The sky began to lighten, and before her eyes the dark of the night began to be replaced by a soft glow. Gentle pinks and oranges arced up from where the sun was coming and made their way across the sky. Wide eyed Marianne took it all in. And when the faint pinks became a more vibrant riot of darker pinks and oranges, tears began coursing down her face.

‘Aurora, oh my god...’ The colors of dawn, the lighting up the sky, were the exact colors of her sister’s flames. She looked down at her left arm, before slowly raising it to look at it against the atmosphere. A perfect match. Raising her arm put it directly in the suns rays, and she gasped as she felt her hand absorbing them. Her arm began to glow, and the fire tattoo began moving in earnest; rolling and flickering across her skin. Gentle warmth flooded her body, filling in all the dark spaces she kept inside. She suddenly felt better than she had in years; like a giant stone had been lifted from her heart.

She gaped at her arm. She had no idea this would happen; having never been in the true, unfiltered sun before. The sun kept filling her up, and she stood up straight and raised the limb higher, greedy for as much of it’s power and warmth as she could get. Soon it became too much, and she yanked her hand back down and ducked behind a slight wall, out of the sun’s light. The flames on her left arm continued to blaze and dance across her skin.

In that moment it was like she could feel her sister there with her again, feel her surrounding her. Like a giant love letter painted across the sky that went directly to her heart. Marianne began crying in earnest, the trickle of tears turning into a flood, sobs wracking her body. She slumped back down onto the natural bench, wrapped her arms around herself and began rocking back and forth. She started whispering softly, “oh sis, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. You and dad, I’m sure it was my fault. I wasn’t careful enough. I should have been there to help you fight. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. I wasn’t there when you needed me, and now you’re gone forever. I wish I had been there, I wish I had been with you. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been alone. Maybe you wouldn’t have been taken from me. Aurora, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry….” She hunched down further, gasping for air between her sobs while holding herself tighter to keep from shattering into a million pieces.

From the side she heard a cough. She looked up and over to see Bog. ‘Of fucking course he would be here’ she thought weakly. But she didn’t have the energy to ask him to leave, didn’t have it in her in that moment to do anything but hold herself together. She realized she didn’t want to be alone, but didn’t know how to ask him to stay.

Taking a deep shuddering breath she said “Please.” She wiped her right arm pitifully across her eyes, while hunched over with her left tucked against her body.
Bog was shocked when he stumbled upon Marianne. He wasn’t expecting to come across her so soon, especially not up here. He had woken up to the lightening sky and a change in the air and couldn’t resist going outside for the first time in a month. Last night had made him giddy and he wanted to watch the sunrise. He was flying towards the sky when he heard crying. Confused and wanting to investigate further, he found a small alcove he previously had no idea was there. In front of it was about a 20 foot platform. Unless you approached from the angle he was, you wouldn’t be able to see it, it walled in on three sides by the rest of his castle. He wondered vaguely how she had even gotten up here before focusing on the source of the sound.

Marianne was definitely crying. He felt uncomfortable, and didn’t know what to do. She was hunched down rocking back and forth and he could barely hear her talking. She seemed to apologizing to Aurora. Looking around he didn’t see anyone else. He couldn’t leave her like that…but he wasn’t any good at this!

As he got closer he gulped. What he thought was the natural light, wasn’t really reaching her. She was glowing brighter than she had before. And as he got a good look at her left arm he almost lost his nerve. Her arm…oh gods her arm…. while the strange flame markings had always appeared to move before, he had always dismissed it as a trick of the light. He knew there was fire under her skin, but it was easy to convince himself it wasn’t real, just moved as a trick of the light, despite seeing firsthand how real it was. Her arm appeared to be on fire, the pinks and oranges making blazing patterns across the appendage, roaring as merrily as any bonfire he had ever seen. There was no denying it was real now. And even though she had told him herself it was mostly harmless, it was still intimidating.

But he looked at her face again, which was watching him for his reaction, and was so miserable he gathered his courage and came closer to her, before sitting down next to her with about an arm’s space between them. They sat in silence. He didn’t know what to do after this moment; having surprised himself with his boldness to even be near her. He waited for her to talk, figuring she would if she wanted to. Or maybe she would attack him again. He never knew. Maybe last night had meant nothing to her after all.

After a few moments Marianne felt she couldn’t be silent anymore. She had been here a month. The Bog King had unknowingly given her food and shelter. Somewhere over the month she had developed some deep affection for him. He was fun to spare with. He was a good ruler. He cared deeply for his mother, despite her attempts to marry him off. She felt she owed him some explanation, especially since she had decided to stick around.

“I’m not really sure how I got here. I was…I was running from the…Ascendancy…who were trying to capture me to…kill me…or something…I hadn’t done anything, but they wanted to get rid of everyone like me…all the Fae…specifically us Vestai…”

Bog sucked in a breath. He didn’t want to interrupt but he had heard tell of the Vestai through legends. Now that he knew what she was, he knew exactly where the scroll he had been looking for was. Supposedly they were all gone from this world. If Marianne was really one, he didn’t know what that would mean. He focused back on her.

“...So they were in pursuit, and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I was running…I was always running there…trying to stay ahead of them…they had never caught up with me before but that day was different…I thought I had a good enough lead, but then it was like something was weighing me down. I didn’t know what else to do so, they were getting so close…so I pulled out my sword and just started hacking at the air around me…eventually it someone gave way…and I was shot…” She touched her side “…and I fell through. The next thing I knew I woke up on a mushroom, healed.” Marianne frowned, “in your dungeon.”

Bog had the decency to look sheepish. Before he could say anything she continued on.
“So I can’t answer any questions about how I got here, because I don’t really know. I don’t think I could do it again. My world is so different from yours…the only thing I can figure is I’m from an alternate universe…it’s a horrible place” Her voice caught on the last part, and she started crying again.

Bog digested this new information. As implausible as it was…he believed her. She had no reason to lie. And she had been here a month, if she really was an assassin she would have killed him and have been gone. He personally could attest to how devious and sly she was. How easily she went around unnoticed in the castle. His curiosity got the better of him. “An’ Aurora? Yer family?”

If it was possible she visibly got sadder. He immediately regretted asking her. “Never mind” But she shook her head. “No it’s okay…Aurora was my sister, as I said before.”

Now that she was talking, Marianne didn’t seem able to stop. “Aurora…she was my baby sister, but not by much. We were twins, fraternal ones. Did you know we were born holding hands?” Bog gave her an incredulous look, “you guys probably don’t have C-sections here…it’s when they have to cut open the mother’s stomach and remove the baby that way. I didn’t want to come. They pulled me out first, and I was holding Aurora’s hand. They were afraid to try and make me leg go, so they pulled her out before trying. She was born just seconds after me, but she was always my baby sister. So close we accidentally shared some of our powers with each other in the womb.”

She flexed her left arm “My left was holding her right, her arms were opposite mine. Dad couldn’t believe it, he had no idea we could do that. That’s why I can heal myself, that was one of her gifts, not mine. She was the dawn. Her fire is pinks and orange” Marianne looked up at the sky before going on, the colors helping her calm. “She was unconditional love and compassion. She was understanding and nurturing.” A faint smile spread across her face as she went on, “She was passion and purity and honesty. She was the sweetest, most thoughtful, and caring person I had ever known. She had the most gentle, loving energy. She was kind. She was hope. She had this way of making you feel like everything will be okay. Just being around her was comforting, like problems didn’t matter, it was going to turn out all right. She had a healing presence.”

Her smile vanished. “I was out getting groceries one day, I came back to a ransacked house. Blood was everywhere. They were gone. I knew there was nothing I could do except get my things and get out of there. The Ascendancy almost caught me that day, but I managed to escape. My arm was more lively then…I knew Aurora had died when it…when….it stopped moving. The fire dimmed the next day. I cried for weeks” Tears stared coursing down her face again.

Not knowing what else to say, he told her, “I’m sorry Marianne, I’m so sorry for your loss”
Bog moved closer. He hesitantly put a hand on her arm. She moved closer to him, pulling his arm around her shoulders and leaning into his side. He froze for a moment then relaxed into the embrace. She didn’t burn him as he feared. The fire seemed trapped under her skin still. He found her heat felt nice.

“The worst was there was nothing I could do. If I had tried to get them, I would have died with them. I was so alone…I had no one. I lived on the streets for awhile. Stole to get by…that’s how I’m so stealthy. A caught thief is a dead one…then there were the close calls. I had to do some…terrible things to survive.” She swallowed hard then continued softly, “I’ve killed before….” She fell silent and they both just sat for a few minutes then she spoke again, pulling back to look at him, “If you don’t want me here anymore I understand. A lot of people wouldn’t want a thief and murderer taking up residence in their homes. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted nothing to do with me…” she attempted a weak joke, “I won’t even break anything if you ask me to leave.” Bog looked down at her, eyes clear and earnest, “Marianne, (she shivered with pleasure at him using her real name for once) ah have no doubt ye didn’t kill unless it was necessary. Ah em not going ta blame ye for doin’ what yer needed to to survive. If ye still want ta stay, ah’d like ye to”

Marianne gave him a genuine smile before settling back against his side, snuggling close.
Both of them stared at the sunrise as it gradually moved into full day.

Chapter Text

Marianne was letting her mind wander watching the sun come up. She didn’t feel sick after spilling her guts to Bog like she thought she would. She actually felt a bit relieved. It was nice to get it out, which was strange, she spent her life keeping everything to herself. Her eyes went to her arms and she frowned. Her left, the fire was moving like a real fire would. Her right, was still mostly dormant. ‘What in the world…why wouldn’t they be equal…’ She glanced at the rays of the sun, quickly almost reaching where she was sitting. She looked at her arms again, and without warning threw herself behind a wall.

Bog, who had also let his mind wander, sat up straight and grabbed his staff, looking around for the danger. “What is it??” He looked over to see Marianne pressing herself into the little cubby to avoid the sun, “What are ye doing?? Ye’ve been waiting for ta sun for a month!!” Marianne looked at him with wide eyes, “Bog, I need you to go get a thick blanket and bring it back up here as fast as you can. You’re going to have to wrap me in it and take me to a place away from everything.”

Bog looked perplexed, “why?” Marianne sighed impatiently, “I’ve never been in the direct sun before without a layer of smog filtering and weakening it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Your castle is made of wood! What if I erupt into flames! (She gestured to her arm) There’s no time to argue, go get me a blanket and get back here” Bog flew off at top speed. Marianne pressed herself closer to the wall. She watched the rays get closer. She stared, transfixed. As she stared she felt drawn towards it. She felt herself reaching out a hand, unable to stop herself, and just as she was about to stick her hand into the light, a blanket smothered her.

In one quick motion Bog scooped her up and bundled her, then took off. His staff was digging slightly into her side. Marianne squeaked from inside the blanket. She recognized it as one off of his own bed. From the bundle, her voice terribly muffled, “Some warning would have been nice you know”

She heard Bog’s voice from somewhere near her head, “Ah did warn ye, ah called yer name, ye ignored me. Ah could see ye weren’t in a state to hear me, so ah just grabbed ye” Marianne burrowed deeper in the blanket. If that was true, she was truly worried. Then she remembered something. She cleared her throat, “hey Bog?” No answer. “Bog? BOG!” “Wha! We’re almost there!” Marianne sighed. She’d tell him when they landed she supposed. She finished the trip holding still. She didn’t want to wiggle out of his grasp by accident. She didn’t know how strong her healing power would be, and she didn’t want to chance it not working on bones.

Finally she felt Bog start to descend. He gently set her down on her feet. He started to pull the blanket but Marianne held onto it. “STOP! Back away, I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t know what will happen” Bog stopped pulling the blanket but didn’t move away, “haven’t ye been in the sun at all before?” Marianne moved it around, she could feel the sun through the blanket and had to resist throwing the thing from her and basking in it. Opening the smallest opening she could and turning away from it’s rays, she answered, “yes, but not pure sunlight. And especially not somewhere were there was so much magic in the world. I don’t know how my body is going to react! Please, back away!” Bog was hesitant, but did as she asked.

Marianne paused when something else occurred to her. “Hey umm Bog?” He came closer, thinking she changed her mind, “What?” “Just…when I take this off and get into the light…I’m going to look different. How I looked before…it’s a glamour of sorts…anyway…the sunlight reveals my true form…so be prepared for that…and if you find it ugly….keep it to yourself or I’ll have to burn you or something” She mumbled and turned her head away.

He could tell she was digging the toe of her boot into the ground through the blanket. She felt him put his hands on her shoulders and his mouth appeared in front of the blanket opening, “Marianne, there is nothin ye could do to make ye unattractive to me. Ah em sure yer true form is just as lovely as yer glamour” Marianne made a noise like she wasn’t convinced. Truthfully she didn’t even fully remember what her true form looked like, it had been so long since she had been able to see it in a mirror. Whenever the rare sunbeam had happened before, her and Aurora had lounged in them like cats until they disappeared. She knew her sister’s skin had turned light pinky-orange, and her hair a dark pink. It had made the blue of her eyes even more vivid. The effect was lovely on her sister; but Aurora was the pretty one. Marianne could never pull off soft and pretty, just tough and striking.

With a deep breath she pulled the blanket tighter around her for a few brief seconds, then threw it off. The sun hit her full force and she waited.

Nothing happened. She looked at Bog, who was a good 20 feet away, watching her carefully. She felt something racing up her spine. She looked at her hands and watched as the color changed, from the pale alabaster it had been for so long to a very light lilac, bordering on pink. She felt her scalp tingling and knew her hair had changed to the dark purple. Her eyes she knew would be pure amber now, not the in-between shade that could be brown or it could be amber in the right light. It wasn’t the most dramatic of changes, her form didn’t shift, just her coloring, but she knew it was unusual.

Beyond that, still nothing. She frowned at her right arm, the purple fire still moved lazily, unconcerned with the natural sunlight hitting her. Her right continued to blaze merrily. She held them out to compare. She had been expecting something similar to when her left arm awoke.

She did feel energized, awake and alert, like she hadn’t realized how tired she was before now. She felt like she could run a marathon, burn down a forest, and still have the energy to fight off an army. But there was no explosion, no nothing. No blazing sensations rushing through her veins like she had with the dawn. “Well that was a bit anticlimactic” She jumped a little at Bog’s sudden closeness. She had forgotten he was there in her confusion. She looked up at him,

“I know! I guess after earlier I thought I would do something but this is just weird. I mean, I feel great. Better than I have ever felt in my life, but …I was expecting more. I mean, look at this arm! It’s doing nothing! Meanwhile, this one is going nuts!” She held them up for him to inspect. Bog peered at them closely then shrugged as if it was obvious, “If ye said yer sister was the dawn, what time of day are ye?” Marianne opened and closed her mouth like a fish. It had never occurred to her before. She honestly hadn’t put much thought into it. “Oh duh! You’re right…we are different times of day! Different types of light! Why didn’t I think of that?? You’re so clever” She beamed up at him.

Bog, now that he was close, gulped and gave her a good looking over. Her skin was different, and shimmery. It made her look more mysterious. And the dark purple brought out her eyes, which were now a solid amber. He was wrong, he had thought her lovely before, now she was breathtaking. She had always looked different, but in a Seelie way. Now she was ethereal, otherworldly. “Well” Marianne noticed how he had been looking at her, “What do you think? deal breaker? Or it suits?” Bog swallowed audibly, he had been looking at her midriff and brought his eyes up to hers. She quirked a brow. “It …ahhhhh…it definitely suits. It makes ye look more…” he blushed deeply, “well it makes ye look less…like a fairy…an…more like a fae”

Marianne pursed her lips, “And that’s a good thing? Come on Bog! I haven’t seen what I look like like this in years! I need some feedback!” She wasn’t letting him off easy. Bog looked away, “Ye’re verra becoming. Ah dinna think anything could make ye prettier. Ah was wrong.” And he frowned.
Marianne eyed him, “You don’t have to sound so glum about it. I will eventually get out of the sun and go back to being ugly again.” She put a hand on his arm consolingly. “It will be okay” Bog snapped his head around to her mock serious face. “That is not what ah meant!” Marianne carried on, “No it’s okay, I understand that you think I’m less attractive in my natural state. I guess I can try to limit myself to the shadows for your sake…” She put the back of her hand against her forehead dramatically.

“Ye are the most frustratin’ girl ah have ever met!” He threw up his hands and then grabbed Marianne by the shoulders. He stooped down a little to look her square in the eyes. “Marianne, ye are the loveliest creature ah have ever laid eyes on. Ye canna believe there is anyway ah would ever want ye to hide yerself from me…ah just canna help but wonder why ye would want ta be with…..someone as hideous as ah em.” Her eyes went from wide at his admission to angry. Her brows snapped down. She scowled into his face. “Listen here you skinny pinecone, because I am going to say this once now, and knowing you, probably again later; but maybe if you listen I won’t have to repeat myself too much. I happen to think you are very attractive and not the least bit hideous at all. Not to mention you got a lot else going on for you beyond your physical appeal, which again, I happen to love. Now I get that maybe you don’t believe me and this is going to be a long road to get it through your unbelievably thick skull, but every time you bring this up, I’m going to hit you”

And then she punched him in the chest. Hard. “For being foolish. But I’ll also make it up to you” And then she tackled him in a kiss. Bog was caught off guard rubbing the spot on his chest where she hit him, but scrambled to grab her as he fell back. He smiled into her lips as they met his; landing on his back with her on top of him. She giggled into his mouth before kissing him in earnest.

Eventually they broke apart to breathe. Marianne rolled off of Bog to lay on her back too and started up at the sky. She sighed happily. In the suns rays, next to Bog, she felt peaceful. She felt the dark coil she had carried for so long start to unwind even more. It was better than a hot bath. She didn’t even realize she felt so relaxed as she started to dose off. After what could have been 5 minutes or fifty years (she really couldn’t tell with naps) she felt herself being shaken awake. She opened her eyes and yawned. “Ugh I don’t know if I feel refreshed or like I crawled from my grave” By the sun’s position it was just after noon. Marianne stretched and sat up. “Did you fall asleep too?” “No, Ah stayed awake to make sure nothing snuck up on ye”

Marianne rolled her eyes as Bog peered at her closely. But then she remembered she’d already been taken hostage while unconscious one time in this world, so it wasn’t completely off base to worry. From being out in the sun so long her skin had picked up more pigment; it was now a darker lilac. “Marianne, we need to get out of here. We aren’t exactly in my kingdom, we need to head back” Marianne gave him a confused look. “Then where are we? Why did we leave your kingdom?” Bog glanced around, “Because ma kingdom is the Dark Forest, there is no open areas where ye could be in the sun. An ye said ye could be dangerous…ah dinna want ye to start a brush fire on accident”

Marianne grinned up at him. “How perfectly sneaky of you. So where are we?”

Bog fiddled with his staff, “The Fairy Kingdom. In a small meadow on the Southeastern most corner. No one ever comes here because it’s surrounded on three sides by trees. While technically it is in the Fairy Kingdom, it’s kind of considered no man’s land due to it’s proximity to the trees.”

Marianne glanced around, then looked back at Bog. “If there’s no one here, and you said no one ever comes here…what’s the harm in hanging out longer?” She turned puppy dog eyes up at Bog. “At least until moonrise? You can play hooky for a day can’t you?” Bog gave her a puzzled look. “Hooky?”

“You know, hooky. Ditch your responsibilities, hide out and hang with me. I’m assuming you’ve never done it so you are definitely long overdue for a day off” Bog looked slightly offended, “Kings donna take days off!” Marianne snorted, “Sure they do. All the time. History is rife with kings who did nothing but take time off and delight in the pleasures of their kingdoms” Bog raised an eyebrow “Good kings?” Marianne squirmed under his piercing look. “Well…maybe not the ones who took days off all the time, but one every now and then couldn’t possibly be bad.” She amped up her puppy dog eyes with pouty lips.

Bog groaned and pressed his eyes with one hand, “Ah em the Goblin King. Ah em vicious an’ cruel. Feared across two kingdoms! How am ah undone with a simple look?” Marianne squealed and threw her arms around him. “Because you have no natural defenses to my feminine wiles.” Bog relaxed into her embrace as he felt his face turn bright red. He chuckled a bit. “Ah suppose that is true. By the way did ye know ye are darker now?”

Marianne pulled back and looked at her arms, then shook her head and pulled up her shirt a bit, “What do you mean?” “Yer skin, it’s not light purple anymore. It’s darker.”

Marianne inspected her stomach, “huh, it is…weird….I didn’t know it would do that…does it look okay?” Bog groaned, “O’ course it does. But it makes ye look even moar different. Ah donna think anyone would recognize ye.” Marianne shrugged, “Since I know so many people here anyway? Although good to know I look so different this way that if I keep it secret I could probably commit heinous crimes and get away with it” Bog snorted, “at least so long as ye stayed out of the sun” Marianne nodded, “Which wouldn’t be that hard to do in the Dark Forest remember? A disguise would come in handy” “Aye, but what heinous acts would ye be committing?” Marianne shrugged again, before grinning evilly at him. “Who knows, but it comes up shockingly often that I have to make someone’s life miserable.”

Bog gave her a crooked smile that made her stomach flutter, “But aren’t ye so glad that it does?” Marianne laughed, “I will admit, appealing to my vindictive nature did pay off for you.” Her hand idly went to her waist to where her sword was and she had a thought, “Hey, since we’ve established that you are playing hooky with me today, why don’t we try sparing? You know…out in the open where you might actually have a fair chance against me?” Bog gave her a look. Marianne raised her brows, “hey those are you words and not mine, so excuse me for repeating what you freely admitted.”

Before she even finished her sentence Bog had stood up and marched over a few paces idly twirling his staff. He turned to face her, “Are ye ready Tough Girl?” Marianne grinned and bounded up and drew her sword, “Bring it on pinecone!”

Bog anticipating that she would make the first move, rushed her. Marianne was caught off guard but got her sword up in time to block. Bog stayed on the offensive, not giving Marianne time to counter attack. He was a whirlwind, using both ends to strike at her. Marianne kept both hands on her sword hilt to absorb the shock from his powerful hits.

After a few minutes of him on the offense, he forgot to account for how small and quick she was. After the last blow when he swung his staff upward (he was getting cocky and going for a finishing blow), she dived down and rolled through his legs. Before she could pop up and swipe at his back, Bog took to the air and paused for a minute, “I knew it was a matter of time before you pushed your advantage!” Marianne called as she got in a lower fighting stance, switching her sword grip from two hands to just the right, and called some fire into her left hand. “Time to use mine!” She gave him a cheshire cat smile before trying to launch the fire at him.

Bog’s eyes widened for a moment before narrowing in concentration. When her first shot went wide he laughed, “Ye sure ye want ta call tha’ an advantage?” Marianne glared at him and tried again. This one barely missed him and Bog stopped laughing; Marianne smirked. “Say something else, I dare you” And she idly tossed the ball of fire up in the air before catching it. “Ye’ll need to work on yer aim Tough Girl, try an’ hit a moving target!” She squeaked and threw another fireball that went wide before diving to the left to avoid his swing. She sprang up quickly and thrust at him. Bog blocked before counterstriking. Marianne dodged. And Bog flew up again.

For awhile they fought like this, her throwing fireballs that didn't get really near him, and him trying to drive her around the meadow to tire her out.

He rose higher in the air to get more force behind his next attack and Marianne decided it was time to take the fight to him. She took a brief running start and launched herself into the air as Bog started to descend. Her sudden approach startled him so much he fumbled in the air, and she hit him hard enough to knock him out of it. He landed on the ground with a thud. She sheathed her sword as she landed, and rushed over to his side to make sure he was okay. He rolled onto his back and groaned, “Ugh ah thought ye said ye couldna fly?”
“I can’t! But I can jump like a mother fucker! How do you think I got to the top of your castle! Are you okay??” She started running her hands over him, checking for injuries, “Why are you always getting hurt when we spar??”

Bog sat up and rubbed his head, “Ah’ll live Tough Girl, an’ ah will not underestimate ye again” Marianne smiled at that, “why in the hell did you keep doing it after the first time?” Bog shook his head and looked at her, “Because most of the foes around here are verra predictable. Ah need ta remember ye are full o’surprises” Marianne scooted closer to him. “Here, lay down and rest a bit at least.” Bog grumbled and stood up instead, “Ah em fine. Let’s go again.” Marianne shook her head, “No way, you hit the ground pretty hard.”

Bog growled, “Ah em not so easily broken! Ah em not so fragile as ye think. It’s mostly my pride that takes a beating around ye” Marianne snorted, “Well then if it’s truly just your pride it can do with a little beating. You’re prides gotten you into a lot of trouble this past month.” Bog rolled his eyes and blew air through his lips, “Ye mean YE’VE caused me a lot of trouble this past month.”

Marianne chuckled, “I think you mean I’ve caused a lot of justifiable trouble for you this past month. Totally different. And if you are looking for an apology, you’re going to be waiting awhile. That was some of my best work! I’m very proud of it. And you definitely brought it on yourself.”

Bog stood up and grabbed his staff. Marianne could sense he was getting ready to really dig in his heels, so she decided to try a different approach; giving him the side-eye she said, “Ok, fine, don’t rest. Why don’t you help me with my aim then? If I’m going to use this fire power for real in a fight, I need to be able to hit something.”

Bog straightened and narrowed his eyes at her. He looked into her too-open face but decided to let himself be talked into it. “Fine TG. Ah will go find some things to use as targets” He abruptly zoomed off toward the forest to pick up some things that could be used. Marianne sighed. At least he was going along with it, even if he was miffed she was coddling him. She couldn’t help it, he might still not believe that she could seriously hurt him, despite numerous examples of otherwise, but she knew she could. Maybe after this last time he really would stop underestimating her.

She was practicing juggling pink fireballs when Bog came back. He was holding numerous objects in his hands, and his mouth no longer had a hard set to it. He stopped a few feet from her and watched her. His mouth twitched in amusement. Spurred on by his amusement she started tossing the balls higher and higher and catching them behind her back. She started spinning and making exaggerated movements, and went faster and faster before ending with a flourish and a bow. When she turned back to Bog; he no longer had a hint of a smile on his face, but a full blown grin. Marianne smiled back, glad that he had gotten over his bout of grumpiness.

“Okay, so what do you have for target practice?” Bog looked down at his arms, he had seemingly forgot he was holding items while enthralled with watching her. “Ah got a few things. Ah figured we could start wit’ stationary objects an’ when ye got better at hitting them ah could throw some in the air for ye.”

Marianne nodded. “Not a bad plan. Hopefully I’m not too embarrassingly bad at this. Before today I’ve never done it before. Bog tried to keep the smile off his face, “Ah dinna notice” Marianne laughed, “Flatterer. I’ll go over here and you set those up…what…you think 20 paces?” Bog nodded and went a distance away. He stuck some branches into the ground, and very carefully perched a seed on one, a rock on another, and on the third he simply pierced a leaf to it. He fluttered back to where she was, but a few yards away, “Okay Tough Girl, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Marianne, nodded and got into a solid stance, grounding her feet in a comfortable position. She held out her left arm, palm up, and called fire into it. It immediately came to life, flaring cheerfully a few inches above her palm. She squared her shoulders and took aim with her left hand, holding her right behind her back. She pulled back her arm and threw. The fireball came close to hitting the left target, the one with the seed, but still missed. She twisted her lips and called more. The more she threw, the closer she got; until finally she hit it. Marianne was so excited she clapped her hands. Bog wasn’t so easily impressed, “See if ye can hit it twice in a row. Once is a fluke” Marianne stuck her tongue out at him, “Spoil sport” She called up more fire and threw again, this time hitting the rock. The wood around it smoked a little bit but didn’t catch fire. Bog was also looking at the spot where the fire had hit “Good ta know ah won’t immediately go up in flames if ye’d managed ta hit me”

Marianne looked startled, she hadn’t even considered that when she threw a fireball at him. She was used to being able to burn things at close range, but here with the direct sun making her stronger, she could do a lot of damage. She had been reckless. She hung her head, “I’m sorry Bog. I didn’t even consider that when I threw one at you earlier. I won’t use them in sparing with you next time.” Bog shook his head, “No ye need to get used to using them in a fight. Besides, ah em not flammable in ma exoskeleton. It’s those garments o’ yers ah em worried about. What if they catch fire?”

Marianne shrugged. “Wouldn’t hurt me, I guess I haven’t thought about it though…” She thought back to the times when she’d heated her skin and when she’d actually fallen (truthfully jumped) into fires when she was younger. “But you know, I don’t think it would matter, I think by being on me my ‘magic’ or whatever recognizes it as part of my body and leaves it be? Either way, worst case scenario I end up naked. Which, I look good naked so that’s not the end of the world”

Bog blushed deeply at her flippant nature towards nudity and glanced away. Goblins didn’t much care, sans his mother’s breed. But he knew nudity was a big deal to the fairies and elves of the neighboring kingdom, and usually only shared between mated pairs. Marianne noticed his discomfort and gave him a sly smile. “Good thing it’s only you and me around though, while I do look good, I don’t know if I want everyone in the kingdom to get an eyeful of what I got going on.” She blew him a kiss and winked lecherously at him. Bog flushed brighter and Marianne decided to go easy on him. “Ok, so I did it twice, let’s see how many in a row I can do”

Now that she got the hang of it, she was able to hit the targets every time. Deciding to switch it up, Bog started gently tossing pebbles into the air for her to try and hit. At first it was the same as the sticks, she missed by a lot. But after about 15 throws, she was able to hit one. She didn’t clap again, but she did smirk when he tossed another one in rapid session and she was able to hit it. Bog started tossing them faster and further away, and soon Marianne was able to hit one every time, no matter where it was.

When it was clear she had gotten the hang of it, it was almost twilight, Bog stopped and turned back to the branches in the ground. The leaf was burnt to char, but the rock and the seed were still holding up. “Alright, now try yer other hand.” Marianne nodded.

She held out her right hand palm up and tried calling fire to it. Her dominate hand wasn’t so easy. She frowned down at at and concentrated. Some sweat appeared on her brow and she gritted her teeth. Right before she was going yell in frustration, a dark purple fireball appeared. It was not as cheerful as it’s counterpart, but rather lazily moving, much like her arm. She narrowed her eyes at it then shrugged. She figured she would get better with practice. And maybe whenever her arm woke up, it would be easier and the fireball would wake up too. She certainly had no trouble changing the nature of fire or pulling it into herself once she had. And she had her left arm, she didn’t think her right would be so different.

She drew back her arm and threw. Much to her glee she hit the rock first try. She threw up her arm in victory “would you look at that! Righty for life! Dominate hand all the way!” She looked at Bog but he was studying the stick still. She looked too and her eyes widened when she saw the fireball still stuck to the rock, apparently waiting for something. “Well that’s odd…” Bog made a move to get closer the same time she had a bad feeling, “Bog don’t!” and before he knew what was happening she had sprinted over (he had no idea she could even move that fast) and tackled him to the ground just as

BOOM!

Marianne covered him as best she could, and felt the fire just brush past her clothes, ruffling them slightly. It seemed purple fire was some sort of grenade. She waited a few seconds to sit up, and when she did she turned back to where the sticks had been. All that was there was a small smoking crater. Bog sat up just as the rock fell back down to Earth with a thump a few feet from where the crater was now. He was covered in ash from being so close to the blast, but otherwise appeared unharmed. She knew she was probably equally as dirty.

“Well tha’ was certainly unexpected” Marianne laughed weakly at his gift for understatement. “You can say that again” She shakily got to her feet, “I had no idea that would even happen. Good thing I didn’t try to hit you with that one in a fight, eh?” Bog coughed and nodded, swiping his hand in front of his face to flutter away some of the ash. “This time, lets stand why back and I’ll shoot something not so dangerous as a rock” Bog gave her a look, “Are ye sure ye want to try again? We’ve been doing this for awhile now, aren’t ye hungry or getting tired? An’ it’s getting dark” Marianne thought about it, “Actually…no. I feel great. Maybe a little tired, but definitely not hungry” She glanced up at the quickly sun, “Maybe it’s another perk of the sunlight. But I want to hang out a bit more, this open space is a balm to my soul. Get some branches on the way back and I’ll set the tips on fire for some light” Bog agreed to this, “well ah em hungry. Ah need to go get something. Do ye want to come with me or wait here?”

Marianne looked around, “I’ll wait here. With what I can do, anything that would attack me would have to be foolish with a serious death wish to.” Bog laughed, “That is certainly true” and surprising himself he flew over to her. He looked her in the eyes, but lost his nerve to kiss her, still not believing this beautiful creature wanted him. He tenderly stroked his hand down her cheek, brushing off some of the ash, “Be safe Tough Girl, ah’ll be right back.”

Had she been paying closer attention to her surroundings and not mooning over Bog (and the touch that sent shivers down her spine) she would have spotted the flash of red as a certain short elf ducked behind some brush and took off in the opposite direction.

Sunny didn’t know what to think. The Bog King was technically in their land, training some strange woman. If the Fairy King knew he could declare war on the Dark Forest; which he had been itching to do. Sunny was inclined to not tell him. But then there was the matter of the strange lady. She was purple, which considering Plum was blue, he guessed wasn’t really a big deal. But she was just so different from a sprite, she couldn’t possibly be one. Her clothes were weird, her hair was dark and didn’t stick straight up like a sprite or an elf’s tended to. She had legs instead of the tail thing Plum had going on. And she threw fire. Seemingly out of her hand. This was definitely not something he could keep to himself. If she commanded an element….the King needed to know. Maybe the Dark Forest had heard the whispers of war and was planning on attacking the Fairy Kingdom in a preemptive strike. He had to warn them. But he didn’t want to get caught, so he had hunkered down and waited for a chance to scurry away, which came in the form of the Bog King darting off toward the Dark Forest and the Purple Woman watching him go. He almost missed it because he could have sworn the Bog King was going to kiss her, before instead wiping his hand down her face. Sunny shrugged, thinking it was a trick of the twilight, ran the other way and was quickly out of sight.

Chapter Text

Once Bog was gone Marianne looked around. She walked over to inspect the crater. It was still slightly smoking. Looking at it, she was strangely proud of how much damage she was capable of. And that was just a tiny little fireball, about the size of an orange. Imagine what a bigger one could do!

She inexplicably felt a surge of anger. If she had come into this power sooner, if her dad had been willing to talk about their abilities, they may have stood more of a chance against the Ascendency. They might still be alive. Logic whispered the lack of access to the sun was the reason, but she was still angry nonetheless. He always stressed defense, running and hiding, and never gave them any keys to honing their powers; not even hints about what either of them could do. The rational part of her brain argued that Aurora wasn’t built for conflict, she could fight, but hated it. She was upset for days after if she hurt someone. She had mastered evasion, but had never gotten the hang of offense. But Marianne wasn’t in the mood for reason.

She kicked the rock, suddenly in a sour mood, but all that did was hurt her toes, even through her boot. The rock rolled over a few times before settling on the grass again. Marianne hopped up and down on one foot while holding the other in her hands. “Stupid fucking rock” Cursing at it made her feel better, but she really wanted to blow the thing up again. Deciding there was no harm in trying some more, and it might actually be safer with Bog gone, she backed up and stuck out her arm. She wanted to try a smaller one at first, to see how powerful that would be. She called up a fire ball -it was still hard, but a tiny bit easier the second time around- about the size of a shooter marble. She softy lobbed it at the rock and took a few more paces back to observe. She counted the seconds to see how long it took to explode. At the 6 second mark it went off. The explosion was much smaller and quieter than the first time, but had a pretty big impact.

There was a little hole in the ground, and the rock was launched 6 feet. She decided to try again with a little bit larger one. This one was about the size of a walnut. It made a slight crater in the ground and the rock was once again launched. She did this a few more times with slightly larger and larger fireballs. When the rock was almost out of the clearing she went to pick it up to move it back to the center but it crumbled in her hand. She tried to be annoyed but was just so proud of her handiwork; it was very satisfying to have destroyed it. She kept crumbling it until all that was left was a tiny little pebble. She pocketed it for sentimental reasons. With the rock gone so was her anger.

While she had been practicing the sun had dipped even deeper in the sky. It was setting now, the sky filled with pink and oranges again. They weren’t as soft as the dawn, but were still beautiful nonetheless. She felt a rush of nerves at the thought of her first twilight. For the first time she noticed the moon was out; it hung heavy and full in the sky. It was neat but kind of faint and it soon went behind some clouds. The riot of colors around the setting sun was much more interesting. Bog still wasn’t back yet. She lay down on the blanket Bog had brought her in a few feet next to her crater to watch the color changes above her.

~~~

While gone Bog had tried to move as quickly as he could. In his attempts at stealth didn’t go so well. He was on his way to the kitchens when he was waylaid by some goblins over a dispute. He did his best to reign in his temper, but he was a lot shorter with them than he should have been. He didn’t even fully listen to their squabble, just yelled until they were cowled then flew away. He quickly grabbed something to eat and he was finally on his way back; it was definitely later than he anticipated. The sun was almost fully set and soon it would be moonrise. As the sun dipped fully under the horizon, Bog felt a chill go down his spine. He looked up and the moon had come out from behind the clouds. His feeling of trepidation grew. He pushed himself to the limits, trying to get back to the meadow as quickly as he could. When he finally burst from the trees he stopped, briefly not understanding what he was seeing. But when Marianne let out a blood curdling scream he didn’t care about the danger, he rushed over to her.

__

Once the sun had completely gone down, Marianne sat up, enthralled with the sky. The stars were dazzling, much brighter than she would have ever imagined possible. The sky behind them was a beautiful shivaree of purples. From faint lights to the deep purples that dominated her shoulder. She stood up in an attempt to get closer, awed by the beauty. She had heard the old timers, the people who had early on became part cyborg and extended their lives by decades, wax on about the moon and the night sky. But no one had ever mentioned the stars, and how they stole your breathe. The galaxy made her feel very small and very important at the same time. She was kindred to the stars, their closest sister gave her life.

While she was turned away, the clouds moved. Marianne looked down when she felt tingling race across her skin. Her limbs were bathed in bright light, and she turned to see the source. When her eyes fell on the moon she froze, and her mouth dropped open. ‘Okay, now I get it’ was all she had time to think before the tingling grew stronger, and kept going into discomfort. She found she couldn’t move, she was spellbound by the moon. She heard whispering, but her instincts told her no one else was around. Slowly it grew louder and louder, and soon the whispers were roars in her ears. She clapped her hands over them, but it didn’t help. She realized that the noise was inside her own head and her eyes grew wider in horror. She felt rather than saw her purple fire leave her skin, and slowly start to cover her whole body. What was once a lazy flicker had now turned into a roaring blaze. For the first time in her life she felt was it was like to feel like she was burning. She gritted her teeth so hard they creaked.

The things she was hearing made her ill; It was too much. Loudest of all was the things about her. The moon had been waiting. She was marked with twilight, and purple was the color of power, and secrets. For what held more power over all than the secrets that they kept? Her father knew she was what the Ascendency was looking for, and had hidden his girls away. He was Noon and their mother was the Midnight Sun, their girls were destined to be the most powerful Vestai. Two sides to the coin, peace and battle. The Ascendency wanted to drain their raw power for their own ends. All this and more was shrieking around Marianne’s skull. The pain of it was too much, and tears leaked from her eyes. She fell to her knees, still staring at the moon, working her mouth in a silent scream. The roar of the fire surrounding her drowned out any outside noise. She was lost in her head.

Her back bowed, and the voices slightly abated, but the fire coursing over her intensified. It was fully waking up, and not having grown with her power, her body was fighting to accept it. She was finally able to let out a scream, and rocked back further. She faintly heard a voice cutting through the barrage of flames. Icy fear rushed through her veins, she knew what the purple fire could do. She tried to force it up, not wanting to accidentally hurt Bog. Ever so slowly, the fire began to move away from her, and up into a mushroom cloud over her head. In her peripheral vision she could see it wasn’t high enough, so she kept struggling. Sweat poured off her forehead in effort, plastering her hair to her face.

She still couldn’t move, still transfixed by the moon, on her knees with her hands over her ears. But the fire was moving away, with a thin column connecting it to her. The beams hitting her kept filling her up, and if she could have looked she would have seen that the fire was still under her skin, and spread to cover most of her body. She was full of power and giving off light like a beacon.

Once the fire was high enough that he could stand getting closer, Bog flew to Marianne’s side. The flames surrounding her had kept him back. He went to grab her when she moved for the first time since he had come back to the clearing. She jerked away from him and turned her luminous eyes on him. He gulped looking into them, they were glowing and flicking as if backlight by flames, and the sight was unsettling. “NO don’t!” Marianne instinctively knew that if he touched her at this moment she would learn everything about him, all the things he kept hidden. She didn’t want to violate him like that, not even accidentally. Bog paused briefly but the state of her had him reaching for her again. “Marianne let me help! We need to get ye outta the light!”

Marianne shook her head and wailed, “If you touch me, I’ll learn all your secrets! Every thing you don’t want me to know, I’ll see!” Bog paused again, eyes still locked with hers. Behind the pain he saw genuine panic, and concern for him. She didn’t want him to give away himself to save her. He took a deep swallow “Marianne, I donna care! Ah know yer secrets, ah want ye to know mine as well! If ye donna want me ta, ah won’t. But let me help!”

Marianne didn’t have to think about it, if he was so sure he was ready, she nodded. Another wave hit her and she spasmed forward this time. Finally hiding her face from the light hitting her. She scrunched her eyes shut at once. She found it helped a small amount. Bog scooped Marianne up with one arm, and once she was off it, grabbed the blanket in the other, hoping that hiding her from the moon’s light would be enough. Against the onslaught of Bog’s innermost thoughts, she was able to get out “Once you cover me, we have about six seconds to get as far from the fire cloud as we can before it blows…I don’t know how bad it will be, but I’ve got it as high as I can get it” Bog glanced up and felt the blood leave his face. He remembered the damage the tiny little fireball she had thrown earlier had done, the monster size of the one in the sky would undoubtable level fields. It looked to be about a mile up, but the percussion blast alone might flatten some trees.

He winced at how visible the thing was. Undoubtably the Fairy Kingdom had seen it and was on it’s way to investigate. And as if on cue he heard the drone of the Elf bee drones approaching. He allowed himself a savage smile at what would happen when they got to the clearing and were close to the blast.

He started zooming away, holding Marianne in one arm, and shaking out the blanket to cover her with the other. When they were on the edge of the clearing, he covered her, and flew as fast as his wings would allow him. The effort made his back ache, and he knew he would be sore the next day. He had heard the drones enter the clearing and stop, probably watching the fire in the sky. Marianne was counting thousands under her breath, which he supposed was how she counted the seconds where she was from. When she got to five, he ducked behind an outcropping of rocks, praying they were far enough away to be safe. He closed his eyes and tucked his face next to Marianne’s, on the other side of the blanket.

Even though he was landed and behind cover, the explosion still shook him. He stumbled a bit, before painfully stumbling back into the rock. Even with his eyes closed and in the blanket, he was seeing spots from the light generated by the blast. His ears ached and echoed after the loud boom. He heard screams and trees felling. His own subjects would have hidden at the first sign at the ball of light in the sky, but the Elf Scouts were probably dead, or at the very least their ear drums blown out and injured.

Marianne was now limp in his arms. He had thought he knew fear before, but her unmoving body sent him into a panic. He shook his head and took off toward the castle again; flying shakily. Clutching her tightly to him and whispering reassurances. He didn’t even fully know what he was saying. Once he reached the castle he flew directly into his bedroom window. He gently laid Marianne on his bed and pulled the blanket away. She was covered in sweat, but shivering. She was unconscious. He was at a loss as to what to do, so he just started bellowing for Axylyx.

He sat on the bed and gathered her in his arms, rocking her slightly “come on Tough Girl, ah know ye can beat this..” he kept murmuring encouragements to her, whether for his comfort or hers he didn’t know. When Axylyx finally came in the room he gave her a stormy look. She barely glanced at him before focusing on Marianne. “Don’t start with me Bog King” and Bog abruptly shut his mouth. She frowned at the passed out form of Marianne “Ach, this girl again. I knew she’d be trouble. Let me guess, she’s responsible for the commotion outside? Woke me from a dead sleep. Terribly rude too. Disrupting people’s evenings like that.” She clucked her tongue as she examined her. Bog gritted his teeth to keep his comments to himself. He knew the old goblin was just grouchy.

When she cocked her head quizzically and leaned down to audibly sniff Marianne he felt some slight concern. She turned her milky eyes to him “What is she?” Bog tensed, not wanting to give away Marianne’s secrets, but this could mean her life or death. Axylyx somehow managed to rap him on his head with her knuckles “Well? I’m waiting” Bog winced “A Vestai” The old goblin nodded, as if her suspicions were confirmed. “Well there’s nothing I can do.” And she turned to go. Bog sputtered “WHAT?!” Axylyx turned back to scowl at him. “She’s not hurt, and she’s not dying! At least she shouldn’t be. Her body is getting used to her full power being unlocked! Until her power settles and she takes control, there’s nothing anyone can do! This is an internal battle” She turned to go again but stopped at the door, “Did the moon or the sun cause this?”

Bog eyed Axylyx warily. She knew more than she was letting on. “The moon” The small goblin nodded. She turned her head slightly and the light from a lantern caught her eyes, they shone pure white, and Bog felt a chill go down his spine. “Come morning, put her in the sun” and left without another word. Once she was gone, Bog let out the snarl he had been holding back. But he had to trust the old bitty. She was very old, and supposed to be very wise, with rumors of being a seer. When her eyes seemed to glow white he believed it.

With nothing to do but wait until the night was over, Bog settled back into his bed, with his back up against the wall, and Marianne still in his lap. She looked feverish, but he knew she was a creature of fire. He gently took off her jacket, not knowing what else to do. She was still in the purple short shirt, and he frowned at her stomach. It was covered in purple fire. He lifted her shirt up a little, and the fire continued up. Not wanting to do something improper, he lifted up one of the hems of her pants. The fire was everywhere. He didn’t know what to make of it. He settled back again for a long night.

____

Marianne was in hell. It felt like acid was flowing through her veins. And for the first time in her life she understood what it was like to feel too hot, like she was being burned alive. The overload of information kept her head spinning. She kept getting random flashes of knowledge about herself, her sister, and her parents. But loudest of all were Bog’s secrets. It was very disorientating to try and get the flames under control, when being constantly interrupted with flashes of his past. There was so much about Bog she never would have guessed, even with the few things he had told her. She finally decided to stop resisting and watched what her mind was trying to show her.

The events unfolded like a movie. She saw how he was as a child, sweet and shy, but shunned by the other goblin children for his wings and how different he looked. Even though he was their prince, they were cruel to him. He was lonely. His father was his best friend, when he wasn’t too busy running the kingdom. He taught Bog everything, wanting him to be the best ruler he could. However, he didn’t have much time for the boy. But tragedy struck when Bog was barely of age; his father died.

He had to take the throne when he was not more than a teenager. His rule was constantly challenged, and he had to fight to keep his throne. For a long time his mother was his only confident, battling her own grief but ruthless in helping her son keep the throne.

Bog had been lonelier than ever. The person he was closest to was no more. In her head Marianne wept for him. No wonder he was nonplussed on how to let loose and have fun. He had never learned.

Worst for her was what happened next. There was a goblin lady who was kind to Bog. He quickly became infatuated with her, imagining that she fancied him in his desperation for a companion of any kind. But the goblin was only ever polite, and Bog, blinded by his feelings, sought out a Sprite. This Plum made him a Love Potion, and Marianne felt disgusted for the first time. Such a potion would make anyone believe they were in love with the first person they saw after dusted. As much as Marianne loathed the idea, she had to know how this played out. It could very well make or break her feelings for the Bog King.

She watched as the Love Potion didn’t work, the young goblin screamed and fled once she realized what Bog had done. She escaped in the night, never to be seen again. Her reaction was a wakeup call to Bog. He felt ashamed of what he had done, and beyond foolish. It was the lowest he had felt since his dad died. His pride got the best of him and he outlawed love in the Dark Forest. He resigned himself to a lifetime of loneliness, believing himself too ugly and different to love. He also exiled the Sugar Plum Fairy for making the potion, forbidding her to ever speak of what happened, and she fled to the Light Fields for sanctuary.

Marianne couldn’t help but feel relieved. She had done some stupid things in the name of love too. But Bog seemed to be really remorseful of his actions, socially exiling himself for life. Over time he turned bitter and more prideful. His heavy hand earned him the respect of his subjects, and just seemed to encourage him to be harder and keep people out more. Even his mother. She pushed woman after woman at him, hating seeing her son so sad and alone, even if he wouldn’t admit it to anyone; not even himself. But he was so adverse to love he wouldn’t even entertain the thought.

It wasn’t until Marianne crashed into his life that things changed. She saw herself how he saw her. Mysterious and different. She looked fragile and delicate, but she was tough as nails. And resourceful. She didn’t cow under his anger like his subjects; but went toe to toe with him. That first night in the dungeon had him reeling, and he felt like he hadn’t regained his footing since. She was like nothing he had ever encountered, and Marianne felt flattered at his thoughts about her; some of her jealousy at the young goblinesss faded.

She saw all their interactions from his perspective, and felt his feelings for her. He was terrified that she didn’t return them, even when she reassured him or showed him. He was half convinced that it was all a dream, that she would realize he was ugly and not worth her time. She would move on and leave him more alone than ever, worse because it was just after he began to let himself to hope he had found someone to share his life with.

He also knew something about Vestai. There were some scrolls he remembered reading in the library, but had been unable to locate. He had been searching for them since the dungeon, at first trying to find her weakness, then because he was curious, and hoping he could share them with her, because he could tell it bothered her not knowing much about her powers or people. She was touched.

It was definitely giving her things to think about, and focusing on his secrets had actually taken her mind off the burning. But now that she knew everything, she was back to her own suffering. The acid had receded some, but was still coursing through her veins. She vaguely noticed that the only area unaffected was her left arm.

She tried to fight her way to consciousness, but the fire was blocking her. Not knowing what else to do, and more exhausted than she had ever been in her life, she let the fire take her, and finally, truly passed out.

_________

It wasn’t long after Axylyx had left, Bog started to doze off. He was abruptly awoken by someone barging into his room. He snarled, but when he met his mother’s concerned face, he dropped the act. 

“What happened?” Bog, refusing to put down Marianne for anything, jerked his head for his mother to come closer so he could tell her quietly. In hushed tones he relayed what happened. His mother’s face went from hard worry, to wonderment as she stared down at the girl in her son’s arms. She shook her head, “Who would have thought…a Vestai in our time…” Bog unconsciously tightened his grip on Marianne, “You know of them too? You’ve read the scrolls?” Griselda nodded. “My mother used to tell me stories about them. Strangely powerful beings, they each represented a different time of day, and when they were born/reborn it was a reflection of the state of the world. It was a very long time ago, I don’t remember much beyond that sweetie. I’m not sure what scrolls you are talking about though”

Bog slumped backward again. But his mother had given him some things to mull over. She left soon after making sure there wasn’t anything she could do to help Marianne, but returned briefly with some water and something to eat for Bog. She retreated again. Bog figured morning was still several hours off, and after a few sips and a couple bites, he leaned back to sleep. He woke up when the sky was beginning to lighten. He carefully gathered Marianne close in his arms again and gently flew up to the hidden alcove where he had stumbled on Marianne only the day before. He could scarcely wrap his mind around all that had happened in the past few hours.
He sat on the makeshift bench and waited for the sun to rise.

_____

Marianne had woken up still trapped in her own mind. She internally sighed. At least she was finally used to the heat, but it was still very old to not be able to move. She decided it was time to fight back. She concentrated on the energy flowing through her. Maybe if she forced the fire back to her arm where it was supposed to be, it would calm down and she could wake up. She tried to ‘grab’ the power with her mind and force it down. It was wily and hard to get a grip on though. Overtime she thought she had it, a small tendril would escape her grasp, she would lose her focus, and have to start all over.

She growled, and forced her will on the flames. This time, once they were in her mental grip and stayed. She slowly started pushing and pulling it all into her right arm. Slowly and surely, she got her power under control. It was sinking into her arm again. Once it was all back to where it was supposed to be, she felt a rush of pride. She had done it! At that moment she felt soothing warmth wash over her, and it startled her into opening her eyes. She was blinking up into Bog’s concerned face, which was very close to hers. She shook her head and pulled back a bit, raising one hand to rub her eyes.

“Where am I?” A relief so profound it would have brought him to his knees had he not been sitting went through Bog. She was awake! The sun had worked! “Ah brought ye to the top of ma castle to wake ye” Marianne looked around, she tried to sit up, but found that she was pretty weak. She groaned and let herself fall back into his arms, “Why did you think I would wake up up here?”

In an entirely too fast movement for Marianne’s tastes, Bog crushed her to his chest “Ah em so glad you’re okay! After I grabbed ye from the meadow, ye were feverish and unconscious! Nothing ah did could rouse ye! But yer okay!” He squeezed her tighter. Marianne gasped out, “Bog, air!” He relaxed his hold a minute amount, “Ah was so worried ah had lost ye” He buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Marianne was flattered, and again struck by the force of her feelings for Bog. “Bog, I will always come back to you, you goon” And she pushed him back to give him a sweet smile and felt her expression soften. She knew what she had to say next, after everything he deserved to hear it, “I love you.”

Bog’s mouth opened and closed. Shock was written all over his features. He had hoped she had developed feelings for him, and wasn’t just using him to amuse herself. But to actually hear her say it, was bliss.

Marianne’s smile gave way to her scrunching up her face. “Bog, this is normally where you say you love me too, or ‘thanks, but no thanks crazy lady, I do not reciprocate your feelings of ardor’.” She started squirming in his arms. It was enough to snap Bog out of his shock and clutch her too him again. “Ah love ye too Tough Girl”

“Bog, air!” He pulled back, laughing, and kissed her breathless anyway.
She abruptly felt them leave the bench and the next thing she knew she was gently laid down in Bog’s bed. Marianne looked around and blushed, “Uh Bog, I do love you and all, but your bed? I haven’t even bathed in so long and I’m covered in dirt and sweat. We can’t fool around now” Bog’s face flushed, “No! That’s not why ah brought ye in here! Ah donna want to do that! Ah mean ah do want to an all” His face got brighter, which she wouldn’t have thought possible “Ah mean…someday! That’s not today! Or right now! Ah just thought ye needed time ta recover!” Marianne giggled, “Oh, well that make sense. But really, I’m feeling much better now. I need to train anyway, I hate…”

“YE ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT” Marianne looked up in his face, startled. “Ye were in a coma last night, there will be no training today! Ah have decided ta play hooky again with ye, and let ye show me these ‘movies’ ye keep talking about. But yet absolutely will not be doin’ anything physical!” Marianne considered telling him where he could put his restrictions on what she did, but his worry about her was so endearing, and she really was in a coma last night, so she let it be.

“Can I at least go get my Tech-all? Or is walking forbidden too? I also need to wash up” Bog considered it. “Ye go wash up, ah will get yer Tech thing and meet ye back here.” Marianne started to stand up up, when she felt Bog grab her into another hug “Ah really am glad ye are okay” and he gave her a soft kiss above the ear, and was gone. Marianne smiled to herself and touched the spot he had kissed.

A warm bath made her feel legions better. She washed her clothes and changed into a clean pair so the others could dry. She was making her way back to Bog’s room, walking normally felt weird. She was used to sneaking around. Even leaving her sword in Bog’s room felt unnatural. Like she was walking around naked. She didn’t think anything of it until she turned a corner and was abruptly tackled by two beings. “Ah ha! We finally caught you! Let’s take her to the King!” The small goblins, the one who looked like a fish with large teeth, and the other green one with the fan ears, Stuff and Thang if memory served, had her in their clutches and were carrying her.

They weren’t hurting her, and she honestly didn’t feel like fighting them off. Bog had been right, she was tired. They were carrying her to Bog anyway, so she let them. “I believe he’s in his bedroom guys, not the throne room” Thang answered dopily “Thank you!” and they altered their course a bit. Very shortly they were at the Bog King’s door. Stuff whispered “you knock, he likes you more” Marianne was looking forward to seeing how this would pan out.

Thang knocked and called, “Sire! We have the girl!” The door flew open open. Bog took in the sight before him, Stuff and Thang holding Marianne above their heads, who was cheerfully waving at him. Bog felt his blood pressure rising; he could guess what had happened. With everything that was going on, he had neglected to tell his subjects that Marianne was no longer public enemy number one.

Bog drew in a deep breath, probably to yell, but Marianne cut in smoothly “thanks guys, I appreciate you taking the time to deposit me here!” She gently wiggled out of their grasps, which wasn’t hard considering they were both watching the Bog King, clearly worried about his reaction. Marianne stepped up to Bog, and rose up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek “Now tell the nice goblins that we are courting and I’m no longer to be captured, and have them spread the word” She patted the same cheek, winked at Stuff and Thang, and went into the Bog King’s chamber.

Stuff and Thang watched wide-eyed during the whole exchange, and once Marianne was out of sight, turned their faces to Bog. He was staring dreamily after his lady, but when he realized they were waiting for him to say something, he snarled at them “Well, ye heard her!” And then slammed the door.

Marianne walked over to the bed, and picked up her Tech-All. As usual after a few days of not messing with it, it shocked her. “Ouch! Ugh this thing, I swear it has a mind of it’s own and gets pissy when I haven’t used it in awhile” She hopped on the bed, “So, what kind of movie are you in the mood to watch? Romance? Action? Comedy? Sci-Fi?” Bog just looked lost.

“Okay, I’ll pick…let’s go with one of my favorites, It’s pretty old but I think it holds up” As she was speaking she was clicking through her library and setting up the Tech-All to project the movie onto one of the hangings on the side of the bed.

Soon Jurassic Park was playing. Marianne kept peeking glances at Bog, who was quickly enthralled once the dinosaurs were on the screen. At the end he gave her a wide eyed look “Are these real?? Did this happen??” Marianne couldn’t help but laugh. “The dinosaurs walked the world I came from millions of years ago. They never lived the same time as people. The movie is fiction, not real” Bog appeared flabbergasted “mill…millions?” Marianne nodded, “my world was very old.” Bog could only shake his head in awe. During the 3rd movie in the series Marianne passed out. It was during this movie that a goblin messenger approached the King’s chamber with an urgent message. “Sire, An envoy from the Fairy Kingdom has arrived. The Fairy King requests an immediate audience with you, it’s about the explosion in the clearing.”

Bog sighed and glanced toward his bed, not wanting to leave Marianne, but definitely not wanting to wake her and risk her coming with him in her recovering state. He quietly gathered his staff and stationed a goblin at his door to give her a message when she woke. He wasn’t worried, and definitely didn’t think he would need to take a full guard with him. He figured this would be a brief conference, and wanting to move quickly, he didn’t want a full guard slowing him down anyway. One or two times in the past when something had happened he had met with the Ruler of the neighboring Kingdom to discuss the disaster, so this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He was confident there was no way the Fairy King could know he had anything to do with the explosion.

_________

Of course when he got to the meeting spot, and noticed the Legion of Fairy Guards it was another matter. He was willing to admit he may have misjudged the situation. He confidently marched up to the meeting line between the two Kingdom’s and met the Fairy King gaze for gaze.

The Fairy King’s green eyes glittered angrily, “What did you do in my Kingdom?” Bog kept his cool, with just him and Brutus and a few smaller goblins, he didn’t want this to escalate, especially since his wings were still sore from the strain the day before, “Ah dinna do anything in yer kingdom” He reminded himself that truthfully he hadn’t, but he wasn’t about to give up Marianne to these vile things. The short monarch angrily leaned forward in his ridiculous chair he insisted his guards carry him in, “I know you had something to do with the explosion last night! An elf scout saw you and some mystery woman playing with fire! It could only be you! There aren’t any other” He gave Bog a disgusted look “creatures (the word was clearly an insult off his tongue) matching your description. This is an declaration of war!”

Bog shrugged “Yer scout must be mistaken. Ah have no mastery of fire, and ah was just as confused at the explosion as ye were. Ah was going to see if ye knew what caused it. ”

The Fairy King leaned back in his chair. He made a gesture to his knights. “Then you leave me no choice. If you can’t be bothered telling me the truth, I am going to take you prisoner for acts of war against my Kingdom on my land! Seize him!” Bog didn’t think, just reacted. He took to the air to fight. But the fairy guards could fly too, and they were many where his guard was few. He was also not at his 100%.

The smallest goblin that had followed him slipped away, unnoticed in the Kings’ spat, and sped off towards the forest. The skirmish lasted a long time, with the small band of goblins fighting bravely, but once Brutus took a spear to side and went down, the smaller ones were overtaken quickly, and Bog was overwhelmed. He went down swinging, but when a blow to the side of the head came seemingly out of nowhere, he fell into unconsciousness.

The Fairy King finally came down off his roving throne, and cautiously approached Bog. He nudged his side with his toe. Looking at his troops, he saw quite a few of them had been taken out by the goblins. He sneered “Leave the goblins to their fate. Bind their King. Once he’s in my dungeon, taking their castle will be easy. And this Fire Woman, she is probably his prisoner, if she really exists. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” He gestured to his men, climbed back in his chair, and left.

______

Marianne woke alone in the bed. She pouted, but figured Bog had some kingly duties to attend to. She let her mind wander.

She eventually thought of Randall, as she had been doing lately when she was bored. It was an annoying habit she intended to break. But comparing him to Bog, and she was thankful she was no longer with him. She glanced around Bog’s chambers, marveling at how they were complete opposites. Randall loved luxury, had wanted only the best, often at the expense of necessities like food. He had justified it by saying he wanted them to stay trim, and excess food made you fat. (she cringed at how she had ever gone along with this behavior) Bog’s chambers were void of decorations, everything in them served a purpose. Randall hadn’t approved of her training, Bog loved sparing with her. Randall had freaked out when he found out about her powers, Bog embraced it and was helping to nurture it; seemingly more curious than she was. Randall, the beautiful coward who had betrayed her at the first opportunity, and Bog, the fearsome King who was turning out to be her greatest ally.

She thought about his past, and how he had been as lonely as she had. Worse, because at least she had her sister. He was still shy with physical contact. When she went for it he always froze up before letting himself relax. She knew everything about him, she reckoned it was only fair to tell him about her past almost-husband.
She decided to go looking for him. When she got to the door, a goblin was dozing leaning against the wall. She nudged him awake, hoping the news had spread that she was no longer to be captured upon sight. The goblin jerked to attention. “Lady Marianne! King Bog has stationed me here to tell you, he received a Royal Request for Council from the Fairy Kingdom. He asked that I convey to you not to worry, he will return shortly” Marianne nodded, “Did he take a guard with him?” The smaller goblin thought about it, “He took a few, Brutus and a couple smaller goblins, but he wanted to be there and back quickly so he didn’t take a full unit”

Marianne felt a brief stab of unease at the thought of Bog going to confer with the Fairy King with so few guards. She reminded herself that he had ruled for many years, and knew what he was doing. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of trepidation she had. She decided a long walk around the castle might clear her head and calm her nerves.

When she was down in the lower levels, making her way to the kitchens for a bite, she heard someone coming, out of instinct she jumped up and pressed herself against the ceiling. What came around the corner stunned her so much she almost dropped herself. ‘And here’s fucking trouble…’ Her bad feeling dropped like a stone in her belly and grew.

It was what she assumed was a fairy, since it looked like her. Now that she had seen one up close, no wonder everyone was convinced she was of their kind and had her wings ripped off. Speaking of wings, he had huge, glittery brown moth ones sprouting from his back. They dragged behind him as he crouch walked. He was wearing brown-gold armor that had a leaf pattern. His hair was brown. He clearly didn’t belong as he was trying to stealthily walk, but his armor was too bulky. With every step he clanked. She had been accused of being a fairy spy and assassin enough to know that any fairy caught sneaking around the Bog King’s castle was up to no good and definitely there without permission.

And just so happened to be in the castle the same day Bog goes on a Royal Mission thingy? Something was up.

But what should she do? Follow him? What if he attacked someone on sight? His target could only be one of the royals; she had searched the dungeons extensively for other prisoners, but they were empty. This clearly wasn’t a rescue mission. Was he assassin or spy? Marianne decided she didn’t want to wait to find out. But raise the alarm or take care of it herself? Raising the alarm may give him time to get away, and she didn’t want that. Not to mention the goblins were flightless, they might not even be able to catch him. Really her only course of action was to capture him herself, interrogate him and find out his motives, then go from there. If nothing else this was a welcome distraction from her mindless worry. At least if she got frustrated with him she could punch. Punching her feelings were a lot harder.

As she followed him she couldn’t help but be annoyed at how bad at it he was. He was not only loud, he crept down the middle of the hallways. He didn’t even try to use the sides for cover. His helmet limited his field of vision and muffled his ears, so he probably couldn’t hear well. This was someone who clearly wasn’t used to having to hide, so why was he sent here? What idiot would use this person as their recon? Her opinion of the fairies plummeted. She followed him just until he was getting ready to pass by some long abandoned rooms when she made her move. She swiftly dropped and pushed him through a door, shutting it behind her and slamming him up against the wall. She held his arms behind his back and pushed his face into the wood.

It all happened so quickly that he didn’t even have time to react, although he did let out a squeak when he hit the wall. “Who are you?” Marianne growled as she held him in place. He struggled, but couldn’t get leverage. She could tell he was clearly using all his strength to try and escape her hold, but he couldn’t even get her to budge. ‘Holy shit no wonder Bog was convinced I couldn’t get out of that cell. This is just …sad.’

She pulled him back and slammed him into the wall again for good measure, “Who are you and why are you trespassing in the Dark Forest??”

The fairy, seeming to come to the realization that he couldn’t escape, because marginally cooperative. “My name is Pel”
“Good boy…now answer the second part. Why are you here??”
He pressed his lips together. Marianne sighed, “Tell me, I don’t want to have to hurt you”
He seemed to have found his courage, “Do your worst goblin! I’ll never betray the King!”
Marianne was getting very tired of this. No wonder Bog had lost his temper with her when she wouldn’t give up information. But then again, her only crime was being passed out in the wrong place. The thought of this person, who had obviously been up to something, hurting Griselda, or worse, Bog made her blood boil. And when her temper flared, so did the temperature. The room rose a few degrees. Pel started sweating.
“Now listen here you, I am not having the best day, and you have disrupted my quest for breakfast…” “OH MY GOD DON’T EAT ME!!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, I don’t want to eat you, you fucking dolt.”
She makeshift bound his arms behind him with some spider web she still had on her from tormenting Bog. From his shoulders down to his hands he couldn’t move them. Once that was done she spun him around. She would later concede that this was probably a bad idea and she should have played off being a goblin.

Upon seeing her, all the color drained from Pel’s face. His eyes got huge, “…no…no…how can this be…this is impossible….YOU’RE DEAD…I WATCHED YOU DIE!!” And then he fainted.

Marianne let him drop to the ground, utterly confused. ‘Of course I’m not dead. I’ve never seen this prat before in my life…what the fucking fuck’ She tapped her foot, thinking. Finally she decided to put him in the dungeon. Something wasn’t right here, she needed answers. She stuck her head out the door, and seeing the hallway was still deserted, she threw the unconscious fairy over her shoulder and started off towards the dungeons. The irony of the situation was not lost on her.

She threw him in her old cell, and slammed the door, still pissed with the whole situation. The hanger was really setting in, and combined with her worry it was making her downright unpleasant. Marianne quickly made her way from the dungeons. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Griselda that she had captured someone and was using the jail or see if she could figure out what was going on herself. She had zero reference for what to do next. She wanted answers; and either way she was going to get them.. ‘Maybe I can pretend to be a ghost and get him to spill his guts…’ She felt the thought had merit. Maybe stewing in the dungeons would soften him up a bit. ‘I could manipulate the lights…let my aura show….do they even have ghosts here? Better play off as a vengeful spirit’

She was so in her head she didn’t realize she was already at the kitchens and ran smack into someone. ‘Great, just what I needed’

She realized immediately who the someone was when Griselda screamed, “Doll!” and wrapped her arms around her. “Morning Griselda” Marianne said from somewhere in Griselda’s hair.
“What are you up to today sweet pea? More of stealing time my Bog?”

Marianne made a snap decision. Griselda had proven to be a steadfast ally. And she loved her son more than anything. Plus, she served as Queen before so surely she knew how to handle this situation?

“Umm Griselda…look I have something I want to talk to you about..”
“YOU GUYS FINALLY GOT TOGETHER! I KNEW IT! I AM GOING TO BE A GRAND…”
Marianne put her hand over Griselda’s mouth. She had expected this. Maybe not Griselda’s volume, but she should have; that was on her. “No! No! Griselda, this is serious! I caught a fairy and threw him in the dungeon!”

Griselda went very still. A very subtle ripple went through the short goblin, but the effects were astronomical. She went from being open and friendly, to fierce and scary. There was steel in her eyes not present a moment ago, and the slight up turn of her lips was still there, but there was nothing friendly about it.

“Which dungeon” She growled but didn’t wait for an answer before starting marching off in that direction. Marianne found she had a hard time holding her back. “Griselda, please, listen to me for a moment, he took one look at my face and told me I was supposed to be dead. I have never met him before, I’ve only been in your world a month. I need answers. How did he recognize my face??”

Griselda stopped and looked at Marianne thoughtfully. She looked unsure about something. “Griselda…tell me what you know.”
“I don’t know sweat pea, but it’s possible you look like someone they knew in the fairy kingdom…?” Marianne didn’t budge. “Griselda he said he watched me die.” Griselda sighed and looked into her eyes. “Doll, I really don’t know. The only one who can answer that is the fairy. Let’s go ask him.”

Marianne shook her head. “He fainted. We have time. I also tried asking him a few questions before locking him away…he wasn’t talking. But I have an idea…if he thinks I’m this dead girl then maybe I can scare him into talking. Do you guys have spirits or the like in your world?” Griselda screwed up her face in thought “I think the fairies do, when you die you are supposed to get reborn as a part of nature, but sometimes if someone was wronged, they stay on as a presence to seek vengeance.”

Marianne nodded. “Well, then it’s time this vengeful spirit got retribution. I don’t like this Griselda, Bog went to meet with the Fairy King, the same time this spy is caught creeping around the castle. I have a bad feeling about this’

Griselda’s face was grim “Me too doll, me too”

Chapter Text

Marianne gritted her teeth. She didn’t relish the thought of doing what she was about to do, but she was worried about Bog. And she would do anything for him. Scaring the truth out of this fairy would be far more favorable than touching him and trying to learn his secrets that way. She wasn’t comfortable digging through Bogs head, no matter what he said. She was going over her game plan, laying in Bog’s bed, hoping being surrounded by his smell and things would help calm her down and focus her. She was going to wait until night to make her move. She didn’t want the off chance that some light would make it’s way down and shatter her illusion.

But being in Bog’s room alone just reminded her that he wasn’t there.

She zoned out while watching movies on her Tech-all, and later couldn’t remember what movies she even sat through. Her head was so loud, she kept getting flashes of information that she absorbed the night under the moon, but couldn’t process at the time. Both secrets of her past and tiny thoughts that Bog had would randomly streak across her consciousness, and she would ponder what it meant, before the next one came. Her mind alternated between this and putting all her loss on replay. If something happened to Bog, she didn’t know how she would handle it. The one thing she did know, it would be the last things that those fairies ever did. Eventually it was moonrise.

Quickly stealing into the dungeon, she saw that Pel was awake, and attempting to roll and sit up on the mushroom, but without the use of his arms was having a hard time of it. Since his wings were trapped under his bound arms, they weren’t any help. She figured now was time, so she went up to Griselda’s room to borrow another of her outfits. The fairy prat would never buy it if she wore her regular clothes, she needed to make sure she looked as much like this dead fairy as she was able to.

Griselda was more than happy to assist her, finding another garment made out of a flower. This one she said was a Ligularia, and was a deep pink. It felt weird wearing a dress, but she sucked it up for Bog. The oddest part of it was feeling a breeze around her legs. She normally didn’t bother with shorts, the less skin she showed the safer she was in her home world, and the sensation took some getting used to.

Griselda had her wipe her face clean, since fairies didn’t normally bother with make-up. Being naturally beautiful was a point of pride for them, so they left their faces unadorned. She also borrowed Griselda’s comb to try and tame the wild bush that was her hair. Fairies traditionally had long hair, but she wasn’t willing to try and make a wig to mimic flowing locks. She left her feet bare, Goblins never wore shoes and her boots were obviously alien.

When Griselda put her in front of her mirror, it took her a minute to realize that’s what it was. She didn’t recognize herself. Her hair was (mostly) flat. Without the make up she looked softer, younger. The dress was a little shorter than she would have liked for her first dress, hitting her a little above the knees - she assumed it had been Griselda’s when she was a girl, as it was too small to fit the shorter Goblins frame now. Thankfully she had eventually found a pair of brown leggings that would fit her to go under the dress. It was still a little baggy, but would do. Most importantly, it had a high collar and long sleeves. Her flames would be hidden.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about the stranger staring back at her. She wasn’t herself; she was used to being hard angles and dark, the girl staring back at her was soft and light. Even her eyes appeared lighter. It was startling to realize how alike her and Aurora had looked, a thought that brought tears to her eyes. She worked very hard not to cry, focusing on what was coming next.

After a long moment she turned to Griselda and nodded “Okay, I’m ready” Griselda looked grim as well, but nodded back “I’m going with you” Marianne shook her head, “It’s better if I do this alone to scare him, if he sees another soul he may not be willing to speak” Griselda’s mouth set in a mulish line “I’ll at least hide around the corner and listen. I won’t peek in, but it’s my boy at stake. Besides, I need to be there in case something goes wrong”

Marianne considered arguing, but figured another set of ears couldn’t hurt, and she trusted Griselda to keep her promise about staying out of sight. And to step in if something happened.

Once they got to the lower levels Marianne slowed. Her footfalls were silent without her boots anyway, but she needed to do some mood lighting if this was going to work. Around the stairwell she slowly creeped until she was just out of the line of light for the lanterns in the dungeon.

Marianne was around the corner from the Dungeon, she used her hand mirror to peek in. Pel was still sitting facing away from the stairwell. She decided to change the lights one by one for maximum spooky effect. She ducked back around and closed her eyes, "feeling" for the fires in the next room. She found the first one and concentrated, and "felt" it become a medium purple. She figured too light and it wouldn't be shadowy enough. Too dark and it'd be too shadowy.

Once the first one was done, she slowly spread outward. When she heard a panicky "who's there??" She knew it was working. For the next part of her plan, she wanted to crawl in across the ceiling. Her and Aurora had watched a scary movie when they were younger where the spirit did that and they had both had nightmares for weeks.

Luckily the rough wood walls and ceiling had plenty of hidden handholds. She didn't bother trying to be quiet, figuring the noise would alert him to her presence and be all the more startling.

Once she was on the ceiling she carefully made her way into the room, purposely scratching her away along the ceiling; making her movements jerky and unnatural in case he happened to look up. It was lucky she was so slender, at the top of the bars she had to squeeze through near the wheel. Had she been any bigger and it would have never have worked. Once she was in the cell, he finally looked up. He screamed and tried to scramble back, and in his panic had fallen off the mushroom from his sitting position.

Pel looked up from the ground and saw her scurrying across the ceiling and screamed some more. Marianne dropped down onto the mushroom, and started toward him. Once she landed she saw he was trying to inch away.

She slipped off the mushroom and was mildly impressed at how quickly he could inchworm it across the floor. Making her voice breathy and what she hoped was spooky, “Pel…do you know why I’m here?” He resolutely ignored her and kept crawling, until he eventually ran out of cell. He rolled over and pressed his back as much into the wall as he could on his side on the ground. His eyes were squeezed shut.

When she got closer she could hear him mumbling to himself “it’s not real it’s not real it’s not real.” She regarded him thoughtfully. Even though he couldn’t see her, she wanted to keep up her spirit act for as long as she could. Imagining herself as air she moved slowly down to eye level. The purple fire had deepened the shadows and gave his skin a sickly pale purple cast, so she knew hers was as well. She hoped in his panicked state he wouldn’t connect the dots.

“Pel…I am very real” He shut his eyes tighter and started shaking his head. “Pel, look at me…” She made her voice even more pleading “Pel…” As if he couldn’t help himself his eyes shot open; they almost bugged out of his head. “Wh…wh….why aa-re you he-he-here” Marianne kept her face neutral, and considered how she wanted to play this. She decided vengeful; she had to play to her strengths. Taking a leap of faith, suddenly contorted her face in anger. She thought of Bog, and the lights flared in response to her emotions, “you know how I died and you dare ask me that?” Pel flinched back, his head thudding against the wood behind him.

He started sobbing, “It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t want to go through with it, but he made me! I couldn’t stop him! I was just following orders! Why didn’t you listen?! It wasn’t me! He did it!” Keeping her eyes steely she let him babble. Whoever it was that she looked like, it was looking more and more like the poor girl had been murdered and wasn’t the victim of a tragic accident he had witnessed. Any sympathy she may have been feeling for the fairy plummeted.

“Quiet” His mouth snapped shut. “You’ll deal with the consequences of your actions another time. I’m not here for me, I’ve been sent back to prevent a war. More unnecessary deaths. What are your King’s intentions for the Bog King?” The fairy looked at her with wide eyes, tear tracks making clean lines in the dirt smudged on his face, before his eyes darted away. “He wants the Dark Forest. The explosion in the sky last night, it spooked him. He thinks the Bog King is developing a new weapon to attack him first. He’s been looking for an excuse to start a conflict, and thinks this is the perfect opportunity. Before he masters whatever it is he has. It was reported that the Bog King was in that meadow with a mystery woman, who could control fire. The King wants to get his hands on that woman and use her to warmonger for him, until he rules both kingdoms.” He took a deep breath. Marianne’s voice was ice, “And the Bog King plays into this how?”
“He lured the Bog King to a emergency meeting, but it was really a set up. He’s going to kidnap him, and use him as leverage to make the goblins surrender.”

Marianne’s worry, guilt, and anger started to war within her. Worry about Bog’s safety, guilt that this was all her fault, and anger that someone would be so stupid. With her emotions the temperature in the room soared. How would starting a war with someone who has such a powerful ally that could control fire be any sort of good plan? Could shatter the sky? Her opinion of the Fairy King also dropped. “That doesn’t answer why are you here?”

Pel started sweating. “He wanted me to scout the castle, look for weaknesses. And if I happened upon the woman, try and convince her to join us or kidnap her too”

Marianne’s vision was turning red. The temperature in the room was reaching visibly uncomfortable levels for Pel. “You said he was planning on using the Bog King as leverage, how?” Pel gulped and attempted to wipe his face on his armor, but yelped when his face touched the warming metal. Marianne took a deep breath and tried to get the heat under control. Accidentally killing this fool wasn’t something she wanted to do. Maybe after she was done getting information out of him….she let that thought go. Killing in cold blood wasn’t her style.

“In two weeks’ time he’s going to storm the castle, and try and get all the goblins to surrender…then once they do…even if they don’t…he plans to behead the Bog King in front of them. As a threat and a warning….” He trailed off when he looked in her face, and all the blood drained from his. Marianne couldn’t help it, her arms burst into flames, and the sudden heat had Pel flinching back again. She grabbed ahold of his armor and lifted him up “what did you just say?? He’s going to kill the Bog King??”

Pel began squirming and screaming, but Marianne was lost to her anger, and blind to his pain, even as his skin began blistering from the flames. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S GOING TO MURDER THE BOG KING?!” It wasn’t until she felt someone douse her in a bucket of water that she abruptly dropped the fairy, who preceded to frantically try and get as far away from her as he could.

She coughed through the steam as she rounded on Griselda, who had another bucket at the ready, the previously dumped one laying at her feet, a large goblin that bore a striking resemblance to Brutus behind her with another, larger one. “Sorry Doll, but this is for your own good. You’d feel awful if you killed him” Marianne shook the water out of her eyes. “Doubtful. Didn’t you hear what the Fairy King plans to do??” She was half tempted to shake the older goblin for her calmness.

“Yes, and that’s why you’re going with him. Pretend that he convinced you and you’re going back to the Fairy kingdom! Then, when you get there, unleash hell and rescue my Bog! Go nuclear on their asses!” Marianne absently grinned, the water effectively dousing her anger as much as her flames. Clearly all the movies Griselda had been watching had rubbed off on her, she was even picking up the old lingo.

She regarded Griselda, “You think that would work? Instead of me marching over there and confronting him face on? I could blow him to high heaven if he doesn’t give me back Bog”
Marianne was tired of sulking in the shadows, she finally had enough firepower to confront her enemies head on, and she wanted to exercise that power. For them taking her Bog, and to make it very clear that this should never, ever be tried again. She was now a creature with which one does not fuck and it was time that people took notice.

Griselda shook her head. “Use your head! What if you get there and he hurts Bog to control you? Manipulate you? What if you blow him up on accident? You have to get him out before you raze it to the ground!” Marianne sighed, Griselda made some valid points. “You’re right, but it’s just so tempting. I want him back. This whole thing is my fault, it was my explosion in the clearing that started this all, and he went to face the other King without me and got captured! If I never would have come here his life wouldn’t be in danger ri-”

Griselda cut her off. “Nonsense sweat pea. The Fairy King has been looking for a reason to start a war for awhile, you heard this one here” - she gestured a thumb towards Pel, who was whimpering in a corner, his eyes darting back and forth between Griselda and Marianne - “he’s been itching to. You were just an opportunity to ends he had his mind set on for a long time. It would have happened whether you were here or not. As for my son being foolish, that’s on him. He may not have even been captured. He usually takes the long way back to check up on his subjects after an emergency meeting” She shrugged. Marianne wasn’t sold, but blaming herself wasn’t beneficial right now. She didn’t mention that Bog would be back by now if nothing had happened to him; it made her sound conceded that she was sure he would have rushed back to her side, especially over his duty to his people.

“How are you so calm about all this?” Griselda shrugged again. “Because I know my Bog, he’s a survivor. And I know you, you’re a fighter. If he was captured, you won’t rest until you have him back or that Kingdom is nothing but falling ashes around you. Maybe both. I honestly almost feel bad for that fool of a Fairy monarch. And, he won’t kill Bog for two weeks even if he is captured. We have time to do this properly.”

Marianne turned back to the fairy, not wanting Griselda to see the frustration on her face. She had so much faith in her! So much faith that this fairy wasn’t lying to them, and Bog wasn’t on his way to the chopping block already; that he wasn’t in the hands of his enemies. Would Griselda still have this faith if she knew Marianne had already lost everyone else she cared about? That she was the reason they were all dead? She hadn’t been able to fight for them? How ashamed she was that she let them die? She still couldn’t bring herself to admit it to the older goblin. Griselda’s calm dismissal of her worries and confidence in her was unnerving, but she liked it and didn’t want to do anything to change her opinion. She wanted to be the Marianne that Griselda thought she was.

Luckily Pel was a welcome distraction. He seemed to have gotten over his fear and now his lips were moving soundlessly as he listened to their plans to storm the Fairy Kingdom. He turned his gaze to Marianne and his eyes narrowed. She felt a twinge of guilt when she saw the second degree burns on his face, but squashed it down. He didn’t deserve it. He snarled, “What are you? Why don’t you have wings? What are you doing here?” Marianne rolled her eyes, “It’s complicated. And about time you started catching on. Are all fairies as dense as you or am I just lucky?” Now that he realized she wasn’t a spirit, he seemed to have found his courage. “You’re not the dead princess! Just an imposter!”

Marianne sat back on the mushroom, hard. “Princess? You killed a princess?? Oh my God! I look like a dead princess…this is never going to work!” She looked at Griselda. “Did you know?? Did you recognize my face? You were the queen before Bog took over, you had to have met the Fairy Royal Family! Why didn’t you tell me!” Her face paled, “Why didn’t Bog tell me??” Griselda met her gaze calmly.

“Dear, you have to realize. It’s been YEARS since I was queen. Years more that I last saw the Fairy King, and years on top of that that I even saw the princess. Our kingdoms don’t fraternize! They stay on their side, we stay on ours. We are cordial, but aren’t friendly. Once when the girl was small her father brought her to a meeting, but like I said, she was a girl then. I would have never have even thought to guess that you two looked alike. And really, all fairies look alike after awhile. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” she waved her hand vaguely at Pel and shrugged yet again; Marianne wanted to throttle her. Pel watched silently with his brows drawn, soaking in as much information as he could.

Marianne settled for slumping forward with her head in her hands and screamed into them, then said, “Great, so I’m going to march over there, pretending I’m on their side, get there, and what? Hide my face behind something? Wear a mask? And who’s to say that one (she gestured to Pel) is even going to go along with it? He’ll turn me in first chance he gets! He killed a princess, he can’t be trusted!” Griselda put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Don’t your kind change colors in the sun? Can’t you just..change your color? I don’t think he’d look past your skin and if you move fast….” Marianne’s head shot up “How did you know that?”

Griselda rolled her eyes, opened her mouth to answer, glanced at Pel, and gestured for Marianne to retreat with her to the stairs, and gestured to Brutus’ twin to keep an eye on the fairy. He advanced menacingly, and Pel shrank back. Marianne glared at Griselda, waiting on her to answer “Because Bog told me. And there are old stories, my mother used to tell me some when I was just a child, about the Vestai. Now get it together, we need to figure out a way to get that fairy to go along with this plan.” Marianne refused to be sidetracked, “What else do you know about me?” Griselda exhaled sharply, scrunched her face up in thought “just what you are, that you can color change, and that a Vestai hasn’t been seen in our world for hundreds of years. I thought you were a myth. Supposed to be fantastically powerful, catalyst for change, blah blah blah. Now will you focus? Bog. The fairy. How do we get him to cooperate?”

Marianne narrowed her eyes “We may not even need to, maybe Bog escaped the ambush”, but turned and regarded that part of the room with Pel thoughtfully anyway. She held up her left hand and called some fire to it “Gentle persuasion?” with a brow quirked. Griselda turned to look at Pel’s direction as well, pursing her lips. Before either could say anything, Pel called from around the large goblin “I won’t help you! Whatever you want, I won’t do it! I won’t betray the king!” Marianne rolled her eyes and moved to the side, so she could glare at him around the mass of goblin muscle. “Are you fucking kidding me? After you helped murder the princess, you’re going to claim you’re loyal to the King? Explain to me how that adds up!” He met her eyes squarely “Do what you will false spirit, but I won’t help you!” And Pel snapped his mouth shut and glared at her.

Marianne had reached her limit. She didn’t like it, but there was another way to get information out of him, “THAT’S IT! I’M SICK OF THIS” And she marched right over to him. His eyes went wide and he shrank back, but didn’t say anything. Marianne stooped down and looked him in the eyes “You’ve forced my hand…literally” and she reached out gently towards him. She paused a moment before making contact, took a deep breath (did she really want to do this? Know everything about him? Her head was so loud already….But this was for Bog), and gently pressed her finger into his temple. Nothing happened, she frowned. She took her finger away, and poked him again. Still nothing. She laid her palm flat against his face, and still nothing. Pel's face had gone from fearful to confused. He rolled his eyes up to look at the muscly brute, who looked equally as stumped, and behind him to Griselda, who just looked thoughtful.

“Are you fucking kidding me?? When I need it to work it doesn’t! When I’d like it not to, it does!” She stood and threw her hands up. “This whole thing is so screwed up!” She looked at Griselda, “Gentle persuasion time?” But she shook her head, and gestured for her to come back to her. “We were foolish to discuss this here, he may know too much already. But it’s best not to display any more around him, who knows what the fairies know about the situation. And besides, we don’t even know for sure if he managed to capture Bog! We could all be worried for nothing!”

As she was speaking, as if the universe itself had a personal vendetta to spite her, a small goblin ran into the room, gasping and bent over, hands on it’s knees “Your majesty!” It squeaked out between giant gulps of air. Marianne looked at Griselda “More good news, I’m sure” Griselda shot her a look and went to the small creature. “What is it?”

“The meeting! *gasp gasp* it was *gasp gasp* a trap *gasp* they attacked *gasp gasp* I slipped away” Marianne hurried over, “and the others?” The smaller goblin looked up briefly, and shook it’s head before hunching back over. “There were so *gasp* many! Last I saw of *gasp* them they were *gasp* overwhelmed!” And then the poor thing fell on the ground gasping for breath.

Marianne stared at the small goblin in shock for a brief moment. And just like that, she knew what she had to do. She straightened her spine, squared her shoulders, and looked at everyone in the room. And in a voice she didn’t realize she had, one that left no room for argument, “Okay, this is how this is going to go down.” She pointed to herself, “I’m going to go change, get on my gear, and march over to the Fairy Kingdom and give them a what for. I’ll wear a mask” she pointed to Griselda, “You are going to rule in Bog’s place, keep the peace, make sure no one is hysterical and makes bad decisions, like bring the army to the fairy king’s gate. That will up the execution date and we don’t want that” She pointed to Brutus’ twin “You are going to fortify the castle, in case I am unsuccessful, prepare for a siege. Booby traps, more armor, more whatever, just do it. Prepare for the worst” And lastly she turned to Pel “While you, you glorified butterfly, are going to escort me to the Fairy Castle, and get me an audience with the King. If you don’t….” She trailed off and looked at her right hand, calling a small, dark purple fireball. Pel’s face was now the color of sour milk “I will make you eat this. And you should know, this is what it does once I’m not holding it anymore” And she idly tossed it into the air, and it landed on the mushroom in the middle of the room where no one was, and stepped back. For six seconds nothing happened, and then the room was shattered with an explosion. Everyone except Marianne startled back. They all gaped at the black, smoldering ruins of the mushroom. “And that was just a little one” she said with a predators grin. And Marianne marched out of the dungeon, ignoring their astonished faces.

Chapter Text

Marianne was not happy. She was over the whole situation. She marched up to Bog’s room, it was time to go medievil on their medieval asses. She yanked off the ridiculous fairy princess outfit. Because that’s what that poor girl was, a fucking princess. Nothing was ever easy. She sighed heavily, her life was just always going to be complicated. She angrily pulled on her pants and boots. She laced her boots tight and double knotted them. She pulled on her shirt and jacket, and used her hand mirror to darken her eyes, making a thick, solid band from temple to temple, across the bridge of her nose, and smudged it all the way up to her hairline, feeling like some extra intimidation factor couldn’t hurt. Plus she didn’t have a cloth mask. She strapped her sword to her side, slipped her taser in her inside pocket of her jacket. She had honestly forgotten that she had brought it, and found it rummaging in her bag for her mirror. Remembering the effect her sword had on Bog decided to bring it along, hoping fairies would be just as susceptible to electric shock as he had been.

She picked up her Tech-all and reduced it down until it was the size of an ear bud, putting it in and started her angry female rock playlist. She was going to make sure she had something with her to distract her on the long walk to the Fairy Castle, knowing if she had to listen to Pel the whole time she would probably end up killing him herself anyway. On her way back down to the dungeon, she stopped by the goblin’s armory and stuck an extra knife in each boot. Standing up, her last act to prepare herself was to reach up and ruffle her hair out of it’s smoothed state. She needed to look wild and dangerous, wanted these fairies to know exactly who they were messing with. She may have not been of this world, but she belonged here, in the Dark Forest with Bog, and she was not some polished princess they had let die.

When she got back to the dungeon, she was unsurprised to see Pel still staring wordlessly at the mushroom remains in the center of his cell. She was surprised to see Griselda conferring with a small gathering of goblins. Her stomping footsteps alerted the others to her presence. Griselda’s conversation stopped and she looked up to meet Marianne’s eyes with a mulish set to her mouth. Her eyes widened briefly taking in her appearance, but narrowed and she gave a slight nod to indicate her approval. Her small conclave of goblins were eyeing Marianne warily. Word had spread fast about their King’s Paramour, and they were curious about the wingless being who had captured their King’s affection, especially since he had always been so steadfast in his anti-love crusade. Even more so because just a few days before, he had been obsessed with capturing her for questioning, claiming she was an enemy.

A tiny knot of worry she didn’t know she had eased when Marianne saw Griselda’s approval suddenly mirrored on the faces of the goblins around her. If she ever got her Bog back, they did have a future. They were willing to accept her as Bog’s lady (she still had no idea what to call herself. Girlfriend seemed too juvenile, and all the old timey words like “consort” made her feel some secret to be hidden in shadows). Now all she had to do was get him back. They could figure out what exactly they were together. She briefly touched her ear and said “Pause”.

Marianne squared her shoulders, “What’s this?” she asked, gesturing to the group. At the sound of her voice Pel had flinched back. Marianne ignored him. Griselda stepped forward. “I know you are getting ready to leave, but hear me out. You can’t fly. It’s a few days to the Fairy Castle by ground, heck it’s almost a full day to the border alone! You’ll need scouts and a small party with you.” Marianne opened her mouth to argue, but Griselda plowed on, not giving her a chance to speak, “You don’t know the way, you don’t even know how to forage for food! What if that one (she gestured to Pel) purposely leads you in the wrong direction? Gives you obviously false information? You need a few goblins with you. Some of them have done rotations on the border patrol, they have studied the enemy. They can provide you with more information. What if you run into a fairy patrol? Do you plan to fight them off single-handedly?”

Marianne blinked at the rapid onslaught of information; but knew she was right. “Fine, but I’m in charge. I will ask questions and take your opinions into consideration, but I make the decisions.” The goblins nodded. Marianne wasn’t sure if she was relieved or nervous to see Stuff and Thang had somehow gotten themselves included with their small rescue party. She knew them best, but had never spent a significant amount of time with them. She hoped that their lack of ability to catch her when she was right under their noses wasn’t a commentary on how this trip was going to go.

“Well if you are ready, I want to set out immediately. Grab the prisoner and let’s go.” She turned and marched out of the room to the main gate, not bothering to see if they were following. If she was the leader, she needed to lead, and show them that she expected them to follow. But once at the entrance she paused, she heard the goblins following behind her. She turned to the small scout that had run into the room to tell them about the king-napping. He seemed to finally have caught his breath and ready to go again.

The unlikely party set off. Marianne struggled to hide her nerves. She was determined to at least make the location where the king-napping happened. Walking through the Dark Forest was uneventful. She didn’t really expect any of the other residence to do anything, especially when she was surrounded by a motley crew of goblins, dragging a fairy along with them. She did make one brief stop near a spiderweb, insisting on cutting it down and coiling the rope, slipping it into her bag. The stuff was bloody handy, and you never knew when you would need a rope. It had proved very useful in the past month. She smiled slightly when she remembered Bog’s bellows whenever he blundered into the stuff. She missed him.

She glanced back at the fairy. He was stumbling along and walking like his feet were sore. Probably not used to walking so much. Despite everything, she felt slightly guilty about burning him. It seemed the control she had worked her whole life to get was slipping. Or maybe it was because her powers were stronger than they had ever been before. Something about this place brought out her temper in a way it never had back home. She dropped back to talk to the fairy, hoping to gain a little more insight into what she was walking into. But when she got even with the fairy, he squeaked and moved away from her.

She just walked for awhile, letting him get used to her presence. She would idly make comments about the scenery, just to get him used to the sound of her voice when it wasn’t attacking him, she noticed how tired he looked. And then realized how tired she was. She sighed. The long night had caught up to her. They were both up all night, along with most of the other goblins. Word had spread she was interrogating the fairy, and that group of goblins had assembled suspiciously fast when she had gone to change. She decided once they made it to the border they would take a brief rest. The fairy fields were too open for her to rest comfortably. When Pel finally stopped walking as far away from her as his restraints would allow, she knew it was time for her to be able to ask her questions.

“So Pel…the goblins haven’t really said much about it, but I’d like to hear it from the horses mouth…” she trailed off at his blank expression. “…okay maybe you don’t have horses here…I want to hear it from the other side, why do the two kingdoms not get along?” Pel gave her an incredulous look “Because they are disgusting!” Marianne blinked at him, flabbergasted that that was the reason. The whole tension and dishonesty and KING-NAPPING was because the fairies found the goblins repulsive?? How vain and shallow and ridiculous can one species be??

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding her voice, along with it’s volume, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS BECAUSE THEY ARE DISGUSTING!!” Pel shrank back, clearly remembering the last time she got angry and raised her voice. But when she kept looking forward and didn’t grab him, he went on, “Well it’s not just their looks, although those are repulsive (he didn’t seem to notice the looks the goblins cast him, as Marianne began to really see that he didn’t register their presence, thinking they were so below him.) it’s their whole lifestyle. They are violent and cruel. They like the dark and the muck. They choose their ruler based on who is the strongest contender. Sure the Bog King semi-inherited the throne from his father, but how many of his subjects did he have to fight to the death to keep it? If he lost even one, he would have been killed and they would have claimed the throne. The fights were so brutal we heard about them all the way in the Light Fields! They’re savages. And how long before that savagery spread to our Kingdom?”

Marianne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But she didn’t give up hope that she could reason with him. If he was open to it, maybe their would be others in his Kingdom open to reason as well. “So just because they look, act, and live differently than you, that makes it okay to attack? To kidnap their king? Plot their downfall? What would you even do with their land once you claimed it since you hate it so much?”

Pel shrugged, “the king will figure it out. Maybe he’ll clear the trees, expand the fields” Marianne stopped herself from throttling the fairy. She had to keep cool and logical to get him on her side. She just couldn’t believe that all this was for such shallow reasons. It was the Fae hunt from her own world all over again. Why couldn’t people just accept that sometimes others were different, and that’s okay? There was space enough for them all. This world was lush and alive. It just made no sense. Resources weren’t scarce enough to justify a squabble here.

“But that’s no reason at all! You can’t just start a war with an entire race just because you don’t like they way they live! ESPECIALLY IF THEY AREN’T THREATENING YOU!!” Pel shook his head and looked at her patronizingly, “you may look like us, but you definitely don’t think like us” Once again Marianne barely stopped herself from throttling him, he kept going. “Our intelligence suggested he was amassing a force to get ready to launch an attack. This way we have the upper hand”

Marianne snorted, “I’m assuming you’re using the word ‘intelligence’ loosely here, because your source couldn’t be more wrong. The Bog King has no interest in your kingdom, beyond keeping peace and staying out of it.”
Pel gave her a searching look, “Are you sure? Then what about the unusual goblin actives? What about the Purple lady? His new ally?” Marianne snorted again. Conveniently a sunbeam was coming up. She quickened her steps and got under it. The transformation was immediate. Pel gasped, “you’re her!” Marianne rolled her eyes. Intelligence indeed. “Yes, I am. And Bog didn’t ‘recruit’ (she hoped they understood air quotes here) me to launch an attack on the Fairy Kingdom.” She started walking again, and Marianne didn’t even notice all the goblin’s eyeing her warily. Pel’s eyes were about bugged out of his head, “What are you? What were you doing in the Fairy Kingdom?” Marianne waved her hand “that’s not important, what’s important is THE BOG KING NEVER HAD ANY PLANS TO ATTACK and you CAN’T ATTACK ANOTHER KINGDOM JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T AGREE WITH HOW THEY LIVE IF IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!!”

Pel shook his head stubbornly, “We can bring them a more peaceful life under our laws. And besides, what has he been doing? What were you doing in that field? All those scouts caught in the blast” Marianne bit her cheek. She thought she was starting to get through to him, so she chanced a little honesty, and she felt guilty about the scouts, “Practicing.” Her expression turned wistful, “Bog thought it was abandoned and no one would be around. It was my fault, I asked him to take me somewhere no one would be in danger, he thought it would be best there….” Marianne lasted into silence, it was heavy in the air between them.

Pel didn’t know what to say. He didn’t fully believe everything she told him, but she was starting to make sense. And she was the Purple Lady, she would know if there was or was not an attack, seeing how sources said she was intricate to the battle plans. It sounded like the whole thing was a huge misunderstanding and wrong information. It was shaking his faith in his orders, and his mind wanted to shy away from those kind of thoughts. If the Fairy King was so horribly wrong about this, what other things could he be wrong about? The things committed under their orders…he shuddered.

Pel was interrupted from this uncomfortable line of thoughts because they stumbled upon the meeting place between the two Kingdoms. The sunlight was bright, and when they stepped out of the trees into the field Marianne’s jaw dropped and Pel felt bile rise in his throat. His thoughts had escaped and taken tangible form it seemed.

~~~~~~

Bog groaned as he finally woke up. His head ached. He was in a dim room. He tried to move but found his arms were shackled, the chains attached to the ceiling with his arms stuck over his head. Straining against the bonds did nothing but hurt his wrists. He cursed the fairies and their metalworkings. He had messed up, he could see that now. He never should have downplayed the seriousness of the situation, he should have seen this coming. He knew that the Fairy King had been wanting an excuse to attack, and he had given him one. Furthermore, he hadn’t taken proper steps to protect himself. He had been foolish and now he was paying the price. He growled, madder than he had ever been. Everything was in jeopardy and he was helpless. At least Marianne was safe, but thinking of her just made him realize how much more was at stake now. Had he been close enough he would have beat his head against the wall for his stupidity.

He finally tired himself out struggling against the bonds. He wasn’t sure how long he fought against his bonds, but he was thoroughly exhausted. Once his breathing was back under control he heard a noise behind him. He struggled to maneuver around, and when he did and saw what had made the noise, he gasped. Things just went from bad to worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marianne looked around. The horror surrounding her knocking the wind out of her. Bodies of fairies and what she assumed were elves? littered the ground, along with a squad of goblins. She didn’t even notice when tears started falling, as she trudged into the battle field, taking care not to slip in the blood. The carnage seemed to go on forever.

She turned toward Pel and her make-up was making her tears appear black as they rolled down her face. She looked like a repentant death deity, with her purple coloring, dark clothes, and sword. She gestured around her “Look at this! This is on your hands! Your king’s hands! All this life, all these people, wasted! And for what? Because you didn’t like how they lived? IS THIS THE FUTURE YOU ENVISIONED WHEN THE ATTACK WAS PLANNED? IS THIS THE PEACE YOU WANTED!” She fell down on her knees, next to a large grass mound, covering her face with her hands as she cried, overwhelmed.

The gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on him. To his shame, the goblins in their party were casting him glares as separated the dead, but they were gathering the Fairies first. They lined them up the toward the Light Fields, taking care to arrange them peacefully. Only then did they start on the goblins, putting them on the border to the Dark Forest. Once they got to what he had assumed was a small grass mound, he realized it was actually the body of one of those big brutes. He heard one of the fishy looking goblins gasp “He’s still breathing!” Marianne’s head snapped up. “What?!” She ran over to large mass, helping the other goblins roll him over. “Brutus! Brutus! Can you hear me?” Pel shuffled closer, despite the obvious aggression rolling off the other goblins in waves.

Marianne wasn’t handling it well. The death and carnage had found her here, and it had shaken her to her core. It was all her fault, like it was always her fault. Her mere presence igniting a war. When Thang found Brutus still breathing, hope had bloomed in her chest. If she could save just one…
She had rushed to his side; Brutus’s breaths were horribly wet sounding. He struggled to open his eyes “they…took…him…” Stuff and Thang were crying, Stuff holding Brutus’s head in her lap. Pel looked like someone who’s world had been turned on his ear, but she didn’t have any time to dwell on his progress.

She wasn’t sure what to do, but she knew she had to do something. She reached out to feel Brutus’s pulse, and when her sleeve rode up her eyes got caught on her pink flames. She pursed her lips as she thought. As his breathes grew fainter and he felt hot to HER hands, she knew it wasn’t good. Taking a deep inhale she had to act, “Okay, everyone back. I’m going to try something” The goblins immediately backed up, dragging Pel back with a growl and a lot less care than they had used to drag him to this point so far.

Marianne stood up and paced back and forth a few times, psyching herself up attempt what she was about to do. She closed her eyes and thought about her sister, and how she always had such a healing presence. Letting that guide her, she laid her hand on Brutus’s chest and gently sent it out. The flames slipped under his skin as natural breathing. His horrible wet breathes became more rapid and shallow, and she could tell it was hurting him. But she gritted her teeth and kept sending the blaze through out his body, urging it to repair all the damage. He took a sloshing deep inhale and held it, and when he finally exhaled and it was dry and a little smoke came out, she knew she was done, for better or for worse. She called back the fire, and felt it slip back up her arm and settle back on her arm, crackling merrily.
She opened her eyes and looked up, a little startled at the expressions on the collective group around her. She still wasn’t used to people watching her use her powers, and definitely not used to them not running in fear. She couldn’t identify what it the expression was, but when Brutus took another deep breath, this one dry, and set up, it shifted to awe. He stood up and looked down at her, giving her a smile and clapping her so hard on the back he knocked her forward. Marianne squeaked as she fell down again. Brutus laughed but when his gaze turned to Pel, his face turned murderous and he advanced menacingly. Sensing the danger Marianne darted in front of him, “No Brutus! We need him!” She put her hands up, but he still went after the fairy, even when she pushed against his chest, her feet leaving trenches in the ground. “Brutus! He’s our way into the castle! You said it yourself! They have Bog!” He still advanced. “Brutus I saved your life, that means I can end it too! Stop this right now!” When she applied a little heat to her hands he finally stopped and met her gaze. He growled but stopped. Marianne breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Now, I know you feel fresh as a daisy, but the rest of us are tired and have been marching and doing magic. So, you keep watch, and give me three hours.” She started to leave but turned back. She pointed at Pel, “How do you dispose of your dead?” He was startled but answered, “funeral pyre.” She pointed to the Thang, “And you guys?” Thang, who had switched from crying heart-broken tears to tears of joy at Brutus’s return from the dead answered, “funeral pyre!”

Marianne set both piles of bodies on fire, making sure the fire was burning hot enough to get the job done, and then went and collapsed in a heap, too exhausted to care about anything but getting some rest.

Chapter Text

Marianne woke up later, by the position of the sun, she guessed it had been a few hours. Emphasis on guess. She had always heard of people telling time by it’s passing in the movies, but coming from a world with no sunlight, had never learned herself. She lay still contemplating the sun, just marveling in it’s light and how it bathed everything in gold. She sat up and glanced around, noticing some of the goblins had stirred, some were preparing to move out, all just going about business, ignoring the gift so readily available to them. She shook her head, knowing she was fixating on this to avoid more unpleasant thoughts. She wasn’t sure if she could go back to that meeting spot, but she needed to check on the bodies. She prayed that they were ash by now. She didn’t think she could face seeing them partially burnt, scattered about.

She stood up and stretched. She turned on her Tech-all again, softly this time so it wasn’t completely distracting. She heard some gurgling water and decided rinsing her mouth would be a good idea. She followed the noise to the stream and splashed some water on her face. She swirled water around her mouth and spit it out, before checking her make-up in her compact. It surprisingly didn’t need touching up. But since she had just smeared it all over the top half of her face, maybe it wasn’t so surprising. She gathered her things and headed back. When she go back to the clearing she was grateful to see that both piles had been reduced to smoldering ash.

With a start she realized all the goblins were assembled and waiting for her. Brutus and Pel were on separate sides of the group. Her lips twitched at that. She nodded to their guide, indicating that she was ready to set out again. As soon as they cleared the trees, she turned purple. She could tell the goblins kept shooting glances at her, but eventually they got used to it.

As they went along she took in the late hour of the day. Thanks to their rest they could travel on through the night, which was good because it was less likely they were to be spotted then. The goblins saw better in the dark anyway, they were used to the gloom.

Marianne was deep in thought, she needed to come up with a plan for when they actually got to the castle. She didn’t think marching in there and demanding Bog back in exchange for Pel would get her the results she wanted, no matter how nice a daydream it was. For one, Pel wasn’t nearly as important as Bog in the scheme of a Kingdom. Or was he? She turned a calculating look on him. If he knew of the truth of the Princess’s death…and that truth were to come out….if there was a cover up….maybe she could turn this to her advantage. She would need to get more information out of him. She cast a nervous eye to the sky. He could either be forthcoming or she could do this the unpleasant way. Assuming she didn’t lose control again.

She made her way over to Pel, “So…Pel. Tell me more of your dead princess. What was her name?” Pel gave her a scared look. “Why do you want to know?”
Marianne shrugged, “If her and I look so similar, I’m intrigued. I wonder if we were similar in other regards as well.”
Pel looked ahead again, but kept shooting Marianne looks out of the corner of his eye. She kept her face neutral, knowing he was searching for ulterior motives.
Pel sighed, “Her name was Marian.”
Marianne missed a step, “No shit? Are you serious? What was she like?” Despite this being a ploy to get more information out of him, she found herself curious. Their names were so similar…they supposedly looked identical…Marianne wasn’t one to believe in coincidences but this was getting too eerie for her.
Pel nodded, “Princess Marian. I did not know her well. I’m just a guard and she was a princess after all. But from what I could tell she was fair, if a little bit naive and idealistic.”
Marianne gave him a withering look, “She was so great you had a hand in her death?”
Pel looked uncomfortable, “It wasn’t supposed to end in her death. It was an accident. But she wouldn’t…” he trailed off, “I do not want to talk of this any longer.”
Marianne glanced at the sky again, the moon was on the rise. It was still full, but not all the way risen, it wasn’t bright yet. But she could feel it already starting to effect her, and she was distracted from her current goal. Her arm started to get more active, and the flames spreading. But she wasn’t burning. Not yet at least.
Marianne looked around, taking note of their surroundings for the first time. They had come upon some crop fields and in the distance she could see a village. It was around this time she saw some torches flare to life. They began to duck and weave, and she realized they were heading their way. She looked down and cursed her own stupidity. She shone in the dark. And glow wasn’t adequate for what she was now doing. Before she just sort of had a soft glimmer; now she was like a damn lighthouse. They were coming to see what the hell was going on.
She hissed for the group to come to a halt, her and Pel had been at the back and the goblins didn’t realize the new danger. And to the goblin’s credit, they didn’t panic, but immediately sprang into action and they looked around for cover. She blamed the moon. Now with the fire leaving her skin and dancing around her… She pushed it from her mind.
Thang came up excitedly, they had found a small cave. Cautiously the small party approached. When Marianne saw the ‘small’ cave she raised a brow, it was much larger than she had been lead to believe. And it was also eerily silent. The goblins were gathered in a small circle, they must have sensed something was wrong as well. When she drew nearer to them, they shrank back from her, Pel among them. Marianne sighed, she didn’t blame them. She could guess how terrifying she looked. She herself hadn’t adjusted to her just casually going super Saiyan under the light of the moon. As if she needed another thing to mark her as a freak and different. In the Sun she glittered, the the moon she look like she was on fire. She just couldn’t catch a break. How was she going to sneak into the Fairy Palace?
Marianne looked around, they were out of sight of the village so she didn’t need to duck down. Her new ability had scared Pel so bad he was actually taking his chances with the goblins, even near Brutus, who was less than thrilled about it.
She approached the cave, she didn’t want to be out in the open anymore than she had to. And she was the biggest risk to their safety. One thing to be said for her newest magical power, it was definitely making it easier to see in the dark.
When she got to the mouth of the cave, she took a deep breathe and stepped inside. The air wasn’t right. She motioned the others to stay where they were, not that they were eager to follow too close to her, and she entered. Out of the direct moonbeams she dimmed, the fire once again sinking into her skin. She growled, annoyed. She should be in control of her abilities, not they in control of her. Now was a good as a time as any to try and harness them. She had brought Brutus back from death’s door, how hard would it be to cover herself in fire? Especially since she had already mastered calling up fire balls.
She closed her eyes and drew in as much air as her lungs could hold. She held it for a count of seven, let it out for a count of seven, and repeated. She grasped her power in her minds eye, and focused on forcing it out of her skin. It came easily to her hand, but she was used to that. Just shoving the raw power out made her arm erupt, and she yelped, shielding her eyes from the sudden blaze. Forcing it up her arm took more than a little effort and a lot of finesse.

She slowly spread the flames up past her wrist to her shoulder inch by inch as sweat beaded her brow. She decided that was enough light for now. When she got back out of the cave she would try forcing the fire back under her skin. That was her bigger problem anyway. Holding her arm in front of her, she set off to explore the cave. She still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling, and when saw the reflection of large eyes in the light from her arm, she swallowed. She lifted her arm higher, and the light slowly revealed to be a large lizard of some sort. A low growl rumbled up it’s throat, and Marianne drew her sword. She was going to have to do this left handed, she needed her right to see by. She slowly backed away as the giant lizard advanced. It cocked it’s head as it eyed her, circling.

Marianne tried waving her flaming arm at it, “You don’t want to attempt to snack on me, I’m a little too spicy for your palate. I’ll burn your tongue” she grinned at her own terrible jokes, as the lizard circled closer. It’s head darted forward, teeth bared. Her arm flared brighter as she raised it, causing the lizard to flinch back in the sudden harsh light. Marianne called more fire into the limb. She didn’t want to throw it at the poor thing, she was invading it’s home after all. But she didn’t want to be eaten either.
The lizard tried to strike again, and Marianne dodged to the side. She decided to waft a tiny little fireball at the ceiling above the beast’s head. She tossed one up and prayed it wouldn’t move. Her luck held out as the reptile regarded her carefully, it wasn’t used to it’s prey fighting back, or staying to fight. When the mini explosion went off above it’s head, it shrieked in fear. The sound echoed and rebounded back, causing Marianne to squeeze her eyes shut and clap her hands over her ears. ‘Okay, so that was a terrible plan’ and pieces of rock started to fall. She stumbled back as something very large rushed by her. She opened her eyes to an empty chamber, and she heard screams outside. She scooped up her sword, turned and tried to run toward the exit, but could only manage an ungraceful shuffle on still unsteady legs.

She finally emerged into the night air and the bizarre sight before her. The lizard was circling the goblins, who had formed a tight ring and were throwing rocks at it, and the ones who had weapons brandishing them at it when it got too close. Pel was screaming, trying to hide in the center of ring. As soon as Marianne stepped out from under the cover of the cave, she erupted into flames again. She didn’t stop to think on it as she ran towards the group. She screamed and waved her arms. The lizard halted it’s assault and scurried back from the flaming woman rushing it. She didn’t stop there and peppered little pink fireballs at it. Attacking her was one thing, attacking her people was not acceptable.

The reptile jerked it’s head back at ever hit. Marianne made sure to keep them small, not doing any serious harm, but she knew the little things stung, and the beast shot her a dirty look before running off. She let out a grateful breath and turned to survey her team. They were looking at her with something too much like wonderment. She gave them a stern look, “Is everyone okay?” They slowly nodded.
Marianne indicated the cave, “Well it’s cleared out now, so we can head in for cover. I’m going to try to get this under control,” she indicated her lit up body, “before coming in.” She didn’t mention she couldn’t stand the way they were looking at her. She knew she disliked blind hatred and fear, but the reverent looks were giving her the willies. She just wanted to be treated like a regular person. It made her miss Bog all the more, her chest aching with longing. He was the only one who saw her. He wasn’t afraid of her, he didn’t off blind worship, and matched her ferocity. He knew what she was capable of and still cuddled her, still got close. He even helped her develop her powers.

She slumped into crossed-legged pose. Remembering Bog helping her to train reminded her that she needed to try and get her get her fireworks under control. She looked around to make sure there were no immediate dangers, before closing her eyes and trying her breathing. Like when she had been fighting her way back to consciousness, she started pulling the flames back into her skin. It was definitely easier than the last time. How long she was out there she didn’t know, but when she opened her eyes she was no longer glowing so brightly, and her tattoo was mostly back where it belonged. She looked down at herself and smiled. She was still softly lit, but it was much more manageable, not the shining beacon of before. Hopefully it would only get easier from here. She mulled over the thought of maybe being able to control what she looked like too. Would she want to be purple all the time? Or hide it?

She stood up and stretched, deciding she might as well get more rest while she could. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn’t hear the small form sneaking up on her. When it hit her around her shoulders and they both went tumbling, all her hard won control evaporated, and she erupted into flames again. Whoever had tackled her yelped and rolled away. She sat up and rubbed her head, “God damnit you’ve got to be kidding me! What now?!” She looked around as she stood up. She was rubbing her back when she saw her attacker, crouched and eyeing her warily. As least he wasn’t foolish enough to attack her again, she supposed being on fire did have it’s uses. They had landed with her facing the cave, and the two elves had their backs to it.

She rose to her full height, “Who are you and what the hell is your damage?” He stood up, and Marianne worked to keep a straight face. He was very short, about the size of Stuff. And the most nonthreatening person she had ever laid eyes on. His brown hair was held back in a red headband, and stood straight up off his head. She noticed his clothes were very shabby and she felt her brows come down. He had laugh lines around his eyes, but now they were struggling to look grave. Behind him the much larger elf was quiet, his clothes were in the same sad state and he looked just as nervous. She assumed they had come from the village she spotted earlier. But something didn’t add up. Pel’s armor was masterfully made of semi-precious metals. She knew he was a palace guard, but how could they justify such finery on a guardsmen while their subjects were in obvious poverty? She pushed it aside as something else to ask Pel at a later time.

The smaller elf didn’t back down, he stood up too and glared at her, “I won’t let you destroy the village the way you destroyed that clearing! So leave now…please!”
Marianne pinched the bridge of her nose, she should have just stayed in the forest and risked razing the damn thing, it would have been less trouble than that empty freaking clearing.
“I’m not here to attack the village, I’m actually just on my way to the castle. They have something of mine that I would like to get back.”
The elves gave each other uncertain glances. Marianne folded her arms across her chest and jutted out a hip, she was confident they wouldn’t try to attack again. The shorter one seemed to be in charge, “You’re not here to kill us all?” He seemed unsure now, and was wringing his hands nervously.
Marianne shook her head, “I have no desire to kill anyone. Like I said, I’m just trying to get back something that was taken from me.”
The elf eyed her suspiciously, “Are you planning on attacking the castle?”
Marianne shrugged, “It really depends on them. If they give me back what I seek, we will part amicably. If they resist…..” she trailed off, then met his eyes squarely, “Well, you saw the clearing.”
The little elf puffed out his chest, “So you’ll just go and start throwing fireballs again? Maybe leap up and rain them down?”
Marianne’s face turned calculating, “How did you know I can do those things?”
The smaller elf’s face flushed and his gaze darted away. The larger one behind him was looking back and forth between the two, not certain what to do.
She took a step closer, “Were you spying on me?”
They both gulped and took a step back, but the short one wasn’t going to be cowed, “It’s not spying if it’s on our land! You were the one trespassing!”
Marianne raised her voice, hoping to alert the goblins in the cave. They needed to catch these two, she didn’t want the castle getting warning she was coming.
She kept her posture carefully neutral, “Did anyone else see what happened?” The little elf shook his head, “No, it was just me, but we were under orders to be on the lookout for anything suspicious! And that was definitely suspicious!”
Marianne felt her shoulders tense, and struggled to keep her anger off her face, “Did you tell anyone what you saw?” The elf squirmed where he stood, “We were under orders! Everyone knows the goblins are planning to attack, with the Bog King and you practicing, I had to!”
Marianne put a hand over her face, she had finally spotted Stuff, Thang, and a few others creeping quietly out of the cave. She hoped they managed to keep Pel quiet.
From under her hand she replied, “The goblins are not now, or ever planning on attacking! It’s something the Fairy King made up because he’s a power mad, greedy, lying jerk!”
Both elves gasped and put their hands over their mouths, eyes darting around as if the King was there to hear her blasphemous words. Marianne rolled her eyes, “It’s true! We were just playing in that clearing because it was open! There were no plans to attack! Never.”
The little one moved his hands, “Then why are you trying to sneak up on the castle?”
Marianne put her hands on her hips, “Because your idiot ruler King-napped my Bog to start a war. I’m going to get him back one way or another. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but if he won’t see reason I may not have a choice. He forced my hand.” She nodded to the goblins behind the two, who pounced, “And I’m sorry about this, but I can’t risk you two running off to warn them again. You’ve done enough.”
The goblins made quick work of binding their arms behind their backs, and pulling them into the cave with Marianne following. While she had been outside the others had set up a small camp deep in the cave, they had some wood light and were huddled around the fire. Pel had been gagged and was against the wall, he was looking at everyone with a sullen expression. When he saw their new prisoners his eyes widened briefly before scowling, which was an impressive feat through the mouth gag.
When they saw the small horde, both elves started struggling, finally the big one speaking up, “Please don’t eat us! We won’t tell”
Marianne felt her eyes roll so far back in her head she would swear she saw her brain. “No one is going to eat you…” She trailed off to give Brutus a dirty look as he was shuffling closer to the little elf. He gave her an abashed look and backed away. Marianne looked at the elves, “So what are your names?”
The little one sighed, “I’m Sunny,” he indicated his friend with his head, “This is Pare.”
Marianne nodded, “Nice to meet you, even under these circumstances. I’m Marianne. This is…” The goblins around her were shaking their heads, apparently they didn’t want to get chummy with the elves. Marianne dropped the issue, she was sure they had their reasons.
She sat down near them, looking them over. Thang was busy stirring the stewpot they had somehow found and set up. For all she knew it was here already, or the goblins had more magic than she realized. It smelled good, and she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She just resolved herself to eat around the chunks of meat if they had any. She didn’t think either elf had seen Pel in the back of the cave, bound and gagged as he was. She had some questions for them. Both were staring at the pot of stew, ravenous looks on their faces. Marianne felt a pang of sympathy, she remembered all too well what it was like to go hungry. She made a note to make sure both got hearty helpings.
“So Sunny, why is everyone so convinced that the Goblins are going to attack?”
Sunny turned round eyes up to her, “Because the King’s agents tell us he’s going to. They have spies in the Dark Forest, they know” Stuff snorted, but otherwise kept quiet. The rest of the goblins had retreated, either quietly talking amongst themselves, or in the case of Stuff and Thang obviously listening. Well Stuff was listening, Thang was humming happily as he stirred and added seasonings to his stew.
Marianne shook her head, “Sunny, you’ve been lied to. The goblins aren’t planning to attack. They just want to be left alone in their forest.”
He gave her a disbelieving look, “No offense, but aren’t you new here? How would you know.”
Marianne gave him a flat look before waving at Stuff, “Stuff, tell’em” Stuff cleared her throat, “The goblin kingdom has no desire to take you over. All that open land? Daymare. We like our dingy home.”
Sunny bit his lip, and glanced at Pare, who shrugged.
Marianne leaned closer, “Look, I promise there are no plans to overrun the kingdom. We are honestly here to get Bog and get back to the Dark Forest.”
Sunny cocked his head and was suddenly very intently staring at Marianne. She grew self-conscious and was glad she still had the black make up smeared all over the top half of her face, it was harder to tell what she looked like, “What?”
He shook his head, “You just look like someone I used to know, before she…”
“Died?” A look of sorrow passed Sunny’s face. Marianne narrowed her eyes in thought, “Did you know her? The dead princess?”
Sunny nodded, “We were childhood friends, when everything was good. Before…” He trailed off, nodding down at himself, Marianne scooted closer, “Can you tell me about her?”
Sunny gave her a sharp look, “What do you want to know? Why do you want to know?” Marianne bit her lip, something about the elf made her feel like she could trust him. “I won’t lie to you, I am new around here, but from what I’ve heard I’m curious about what happened. How a Princess can die, and suddenly the Fairy Kingdom is out for blood. Especially since the Goblins had nothing to do with the Princess’s death? Because I’m not sure how the two are related.”
Sunny didn’t look like he was convinced. Marianne figured he would be the best source of information, Pel was too biased, and obviously protecting someone. And gossip flowed downhill, so Sunny and Pare would be her best options.

She gave Sunny a considering look, as he sized her up right back. Making up her mind, she pulled one of the knifes from her boots and leaned forward. He shrank back, but she just cut the ties on his arms, before leaning over to do the same to Pare. She shoved the knife back in her boot, “I’m trusting you, and I hope you’ll trust me. I truly don’t mean harm, and I want to learn,” her face grew stern, “But if you try to run, I will have no choice but to hobble you.”
Rubbing his hands Sunny nodded.
“Ok, I’ll tell you what happened.”

Chapter Text

Marianne settled into a comfortable position. It didn’t escape Sunny’s notice that she untied her sword and set it next to her on the cave floor, but kept her bag in the circle of her legs. She unarmed herself to talk to him, a curtesy never extended to elves. He studied the strange woman in front of him. When she wasn’t purple or covered in fire, she could almost pass for a fairy, albeit one without wings. And one more savage and hard than any fairy he knew would be. Everything about her screamed danger, but he strangely was beginning relax. She felt so familiar, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. It was too impossible, and with the black substance smeared over her face, hard to be sure. Her eyes were the same honey brown color, and appeared to flicker in the light of the fire. She was watching him intently as he suppressed a shiver, glad the flames seemed to be of the normal variety. And that the strange woman in front of him was no longer engulfed by purple fire. He reminded himself she was objectively terrifying, could do any number of things to get him to talk, but she just sat there quietly, patiently waiting for him to begin. And she had set aside her weapon. He glanced at it again, that one small, considerate act making up his mind.
Sunny took a deep breathe, wondering where to start, he decided the backstory would be the best place.
“Years ago everything was great. Marian was the eldest daughter of the King. My mother was her nursemaid, so I was always with the Princesses. Marian was born to rule. She always had a strong sense of justice, and she was very kind. She dreamed about peace talks with the Dark Forest, uniting the Kingdoms so there was no fear between the two,” a fond half-grin ghosted across his face, “She even talked about better treatment for elf-kind and the other creatures of the Fairy Kingdom. She said we were all citizens here, and we should all have a say in how we lived. A voice to be heard.”
He sighed, “As she got older, her convictions only got stronger. She wanted to broker peace between the realms. Many saw her as a radical, and some of the Traditionalists began grumbling that she was dangerous for the Kingdom and the balance of power. What they meant was they feared the loss of their influence. They are all old Fairy houses, with much to lose if the status quo was shifted.”

His eyes hardened and Marianne raised her brows. She didn’t want to interrupt his flow so she let him continue, but he answered her unspoken question, “This part isn’t widely known. I only know because I was a servant in the Palace, and elves are all but invisible there,” Marianne nodded, she knew what it was like to be one of the unseen, her time on the streets still fresh in her mind. Sunny was born into it. “So they hatched a plan. One of their sons, some pretty-boy airhead named Roland, would seduce her. Make her fall in love with him, marry him, and then he would seize power from her once she was crowned. Make her a puppet-queen.”
A pained look crossed his face, “I warned her, told her what they were planning. Begged her to exile him, or something. But she said she could handle it. And she did, for awhile. But he kept at it, he was always around, trying to woe her. And eventually, it was like she gave in. I don’t know what changed, but one day she had him at arms length, barely concealing her disgust, and the next she was singing sappy love songs. It was so bizarre. Talking to her didn’t give any answers, she would just moon over him, wouldn’t hear of any harsh words against him,” his features convulsed in sorrow, “And slowly her opinions started to change. She became less and less open to the idea of peace talks,” his eyes glistened and Marianne balled her hands into fists to keep from reaching out, “She started to distance herself from her servants and friends. She even began to act colder towards her family. She wasn’t the same….”
Marianne gave Pare a meaningful look and he scooted closer to Sunny, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. Sunny seemed to take some strength from the movement, he reached up one hand to grip Pare’s.
Sunny took a shuddering breath and continued, “Soon the day came and she announced her betrothal. They set a date, to be married long before she was crowned Queen, as her father was still in good health. I didn’t believe it at first, didn’t think it would actually happen, but the day came and they were wed. But something had happened that day, something bad. Marian was always sad after that. She would never speak of it, but it was like a part of her was broken. She soon began to stay in her rooms, refusing to see anyone, even her sister. Her father, King Dagna, in an effort to rouse her tried to give her more ruling power as the Crown Princess. Her signature was now needed on official documents.”
He took a weary breathe, “As soon as they were married, Roland began to whisper that the army needed to be built up. That it needed to be bigger and prepared for anything. Marian went along, signed off on the decree. Her father said nothing, hoping if he let her do this she would pull herself out of her sorrow. And he had pushed for the wedding, he wanted her to marry Roland, so he never said a word against him, not willing to see that’s what was wrong. So for two years he’s been growing his forces. They mostly just drilled and ate the kingdom out of house and home. Picked on us ‘lesser’ species. Since the Princess’s death they began to police the capital, it seems that anyone who opposes Roland mysteriously ends up doing something illegal, and taken away.”

He trailed off again, and Marianne waited. The other goblins were quiet now, given up pretenses of not listening. It seemed this was new information to them all. She glanced at Pel, and he was fighting against his bonds, his eyes furious as he looked at the elves. Brutus had him in his arms with his hand clamped over his mouth as extra protection from noise. Marianne jerked her head indicating he take him deeper into the cave, she didn’t want anything to upset Sunny now that he was getting to the important part of the story. Brutus nodded and retreated. She also couldn’t stand to look at his face, knowing the blatant racism his kind kept in place, her temper causing the fire to roll under her skin, lashing against her flesh in an attempt to get out. The small cook fire had grown steadily brighter and was whipping about more than it normally would. Marianne made a conscious effort to get her mood under control, and hoped no one noticed.

Sunny was staring into the flames, lost in the memories, she doubted he was even seeing the campfire. It was a look Marianne knew all too well. She hated that she was making him relive this, but the more she heard the more she needed to know. And she could feel an uncomfortable pinch in her chest. She knew the tale how a sad ending, with Princess Marian’s death, but this other stuff…it was entirely too like what was happening on her homeward for her comfort. She tried to quell the stirrings of anger in her belly, but it just twisted up her guts. She wasn’t a savior, this wasn’t her fight. She needed to get Bog and get back to the Dark Forest. She ignored the whispers in her mind that so long as this current ruler was in power they would never be left in peace.

Softly Sunny finally continued, “About a month ago they were trying to pass a new law. Stating that no non-fairies could own property. No citizens could own weapons, unless they were in the guard. It was the subtext, no elves or brownies specifically. I wasn’t there, but I’m told it was what finally roused Marianne from her stupor. She refused to sign the bill, she got into an argument in her quarters with her husband, Roland. His guards were there. Next thing anyone knew, the Princess was dead. The official story was she grew so agitated that she drew one of the guards blade, but tripped and fell on the blade.” He met her eyes, and she was taken aback by the starkness of his gaze, “But I knew Marian. She wasn’t violent. She would have never picked up a blade without reason, she preferred words to resolve her conflicts. And she wasn’t trained, she would have never attempted to battle guards and her husband, who had been a Knight of the realm before becoming her consort, unless she had no choice. Something else had to have happened, and it was something that made her so desperate as to actually pull a knife on someone. Even if it was an accident, they killed her.” He looked to the fire again and Marianne bit her lips in anger. But he wasn’t done, “With her death, her younger sister and father fell apart, devastated. So of course her husband stepped up. He strong armed the King to step down days after her passing, using her death as leverage, his grief against him. But since he wasn’t born to rule, law states he can only keep power until the younger Princess reaches maturity. He’s been frantic for loopholes. From what you’ve told us, there was never a threat from the goblins. He must have fabricated the whole thing as a way to keep power, no one will remove a battle trained Knight from the throne in favor of an inexperienced Princess during wartime. Especially not since she is still so broken up about her sister.”

Marianne nodded, it was a smart move, for a manipulative bastard. He was playing them all and it was working. And it sounded like he wouldn’t give up on this Dark Forest crusade until he had conquered them or found a way to keep the crown permanently. She rubbed her temples, this was going to be a lot harder than she originally thought. And it seemed like breaking Bog out was only going to be half the battle.

Thang announced, “Food’s done!” and Sunny jumped, startled out of his musings. Marianne made sure that both him and Pare got the first bowls, cautioning them to eat slowly, before allowing the other goblins to eat. She was surprised that no one objected, but when she caught Stuff giving another goblin a menacing scowl, she grinned. Stuff was raising in her esteem the more time she spent with the short goblin. She acted gruff, but she cared. She retied her sword to her waist, scooped up a big bowl for Brutus, and a smaller one for Pel before threading her way to the back of the cave. She would have to keep Pel away from their guests until she figured out what to do. Definitely until she heard the rest of Sunny’s tale, if there was more after that. Just from what Sunny had said and what she had seen of Pel, she was sorely tempted to gather up all the fairies into a pit and throw a massive fireball over the entrance, burying them all underground.

She came up on them and set down Brutus’s bowl in front of him, before turning a hard look on Pel. There was no way she was going to untie him to eat, which meant that she would have to feed him herself. She picked up the makeshift spoon and pulled off his gag, resisting the urge to jam the spoon down his throat until he choked. Sunny didn’t know for sure what happened in that room, but he had an idea. And after their conversations, Marianne herself had a pretty clear picture of what went on.

She glanced at Brutus, “You can rejoin the others for a spell if you want, I’ll have to feed the prisoner before coming to get you again.” Brutus shook his head and shot the fairy a threatening look. It was clear he didn’t trust him and wasn’t about to leave Marianne alone with him. She gave him a crooked smile before sitting down in front of Pel, looking him over with new eyes after Sunny’s information. She took savage pleasure in his red and blistered face, she didn’t want him to have any comfort after all that he had helped in taking it from others. She ignored the part of her the said she was getting too invested in Fairy politics.
She carefully moved a loaded spoon to Pel’s mouth, trying very hard to keep her face neutral. For his part he was studying her with narrowed eyes. After a few bites he didn’t seem to be able to hold it in anymore.
“It wasn’t like that!”
Marianne raised her brows, “Then what was it like? What was untrue about what he said?”
Pel puffed his cheeks out angrily, his face turning red, “The law was for their protection! Elves aren’t battle trained, any weapons would just cause them to hurt themselves! The army is for their protection too!”
Marianne set the bowl down angrily, “Don’t give me that shit. It was to disarm them so they couldn’t revolt and you know it! You knew the whole time how corrupt your king was, and you still followed him, what does that make you!?”

Pel glared at her, “Smart! Even being the Crown Princess couldn’t save Marian from death, what hope do I have? I wasn’t the one who killed her! Anyone who speaks out is silenced! Taken away! You have no idea what he does to keep control!”
Marianne poked him in the chest with the spoon, “But you aren’t just anybody, you were there! You know who did! And you do nothing! You could have came forward with the truth, set things right, but you kept it to yourself for your own selfish neck! It may not have been your blade that killed her, but your silence following insured that her legacy died too! You are a coward! And you believe the lies! You buy into that elves are beneath you. You think the goblins are savages, yet in all my time in the Dark Forest I have never seen even one that sickly looking. They are all in good health. Sure they fight, but they also take care of their own. Those two elves out there are skin and bones! There is full fields of food surrounding them, and they are starving! Their clothes are more patches than full cloth, and you have the gull to tell me that I don’t understand how hard you have it?!”
Pel hissed at her, “It’s not my fault! King Roland demands it all for his troops! All resources go first to the Nobles to keep them compliant, then to his army!”
Marianne felt bile rise in her throat, the fairies were monsters. She looked at Brutus, who was looking at Pel as if he very much wanted to pound him into the ground. Even the ‘savage’ goblins were disgusted by this behavior.

Pel lapsed into sullen silence and Marianne picked back up the bowl. She worked very hard to keep her hands steady and not murder Pel with her spoon. She also couldn’t let it go, “How bad is their village? The state of it?”
Pel averted his eyes and Marianne let out an angry breath. His silence was all the answer she needed. She had been in enough ghettos to make guesses as to what exactly the village was like. Even worse because at least there was electricity in her world.
“So far I am very unimpressed with your King Roland,” she growled, as a thought occurred to her, “Sunny said that in the beginning Marian wanted nothing to do with him. What changed her mind? Why did they get married?”
Sweat actually broke out on his forehead, and Pel clamped his lips shut. He shook his head hard from side to side.
Marianne leaned in menacingly, “You will either tell me yourself or I will be forced to get it out of you by other means.”
He still shook his head and Brutus lifted his arm eagerly, his intention clear. Pel shrank back from him but still didn’t speak.
Marianne sat down the empty bowl, and stood up, brushing off her pants. Pel left her no other choice, she needed answers and she needed to be sure they were the honest ones. Her jaw set she looked at Brutus, “Bring him outside. Looks like we are doing this the unpleasant way.” A savage smile spread across the large goblins face as Brutus yanked the gag back up over Pel’s mouth and threw him over his shoulder roughly. He followed Marianne. When they passed the others, she was grateful to see that both Sunny and Pare were relaxed and talking to the goblins assembled. When they weren’t cowering in fear or shaking from hunger, she realized they were both young, probably her age. They looked better, and she didn’t see any hint that the food upset their systems. She allowed herself a bit of relief, if they were able to keep down the stew without puking it probably hadn’t been too long since they last eaten something. They weren’t well fed, but they weren’t desolate. That was one thing less to worry about.

Stuff saw her coming and held up a bowl, but Marianne wasn’t hungry. Her stomach rolled at what she was about to do, and any food she might eat would just come back up. “No thank you Stuff. Brutus and I will be outside with the prisoner for a bit. In half an hour if our guests are still hungry, see to it that they get more to eat. The rest of you, you may want to stay inside.”

Sunny and Pare’s eyes went wide when they saw what Brutus was carrying. It didn’t help matters that Pel’s skin was still red and blistered from Marianne’s temper outburst the day before, he looked like he had been through the ringer. Pare started rocking back and forth on the ground and Sunny jumped up to pace, “Oh no this is bad…you’ve captured and hurt a fairy…that’s a crime punishable by death…they will kill us all!…I knew this was bad news…we should have stayed back but nooooo….” He looked closer at Pel before Brutus shuffled out of sight, “And he’s a palace guard; one of the King’s personal ones! We’re dead! He’s going to make examples out of us!”
Marianne tried to give him a reassuring look, “Sunny, I am not letting anyone kill you. Pel was our prisoner before you joined our camp. He was captured in the Bog King’s castle sneaking around. He was a spy in enemy land, sent to kidnap me as well. We are going to try and trade him for Bog.” Sunny looked doubtful, and Marianne didn’t have time to convince him. She wanted to get this over with and she needed to do it when the moon was at it’s highest. “Stuff, tell him please. And make sure they stay inside.”

As soon as she cleared the cave Marianne was covered in flames again, and felt energy flood her system. Without looking up she could feel the moon overhead at it’s peak. She sighed, in sharp contrast from the night before, tonight the power was more manageable, if still a little unpleasant. Like being a little too cold, or in clothes that were a little too tight. She didn’t seem to be putting off sweltering heat like the last time either. Brutus was patiently waiting, holding Pel in front of him with both hands around his torso. The fairy was squirming but couldn’t do much besides swing his legs. As she approached his movements got more frantic and she noticed Brutus tighten his grip. She stopped just out of reach of his kicking feet.
“Brutus, are you okay? This might get weird” He shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. She thanked the universe she was able to save him that morning; he was turning out to be a wonderful and steadfast ally. She figured she would need to touch Pel’s bare skin, so she indicated Brutus to lower him into her reach. He at once slammed him into the ground so hard his knees buckled and his armor rattled loudly, but he could no longer kick out at her. Marianne raised her brows but kept silent, she didn’t blame Brutus for his ire one bit.
“Brutus, I’m not sure what will happen next. But if I pass out, make sure he’s tied up and secured before helping me. I’ll be okay, but we can’t let him get away, okay?” Brutus looked unconvinced but nodded under her serious expression.
Pel’s eyes were wild, showing white all around his irises. His breath was becoming erratic. Marianne inhaled deeply, stepped forward, “This shouldn’t hurt, just stop struggling,” and touched her hand to Pel’s cheek.

~~~~~

Bog was staring slack jawed at the sprite before him. If he hadn’t recognized her soft glow he would have never known he was looking at Sugar Plum. She was in some sort of magical web, but she looked awful. She fluttered weakly to the side closest to the Bog King. One of her eyes was swollen shut and discolored, he guessed that’s what it looked like when she bruised. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, as if she was trying to make herself smaller, which was odd because she was already much smaller than he remembered in that odd web.
She twisted her lips, “You’re the last person I ever thought to see in a Fairy Dungeon.”
He shook his head, “What are ye doing here?” A shiver of apprehension went down his back, Plum’s presence was not a good omen.
Plum gave him a sad smile, “Once you banished me I sought asylum with the fairies.”
Bog shook his head again, “But how did ye end up here?”
Plum closed her eyes wearily, “When I came here I had nothing, just a promise that I could mix up potions. One house in particular took an interest in me. They seemed nice, and they were. Said they were a fan of my talents, encouraged my work, bought me materials I would have never been able to procure on my own…, “she trailed off, and after a few moments Bog coughed. Sugar Plum was best known for one thing, and to make that she needed a very specific ingredient.
“Where did they git the primroses?”
Plum startled, shook her head, and waved one arm vaguely, “Your troops weren’t as diligent in chopping them down as you’d like to believe. Nor did they notice they were being followed on the way to dispose of the petals.”
Bog ground his teeth. He would be speaking to his border patrol about their lapse in duties.
Plum took a shaky breath, “Anyway, it turns out the fairy house was too big of fans of my work. They starting using my potions for…horrible things. I found out and tried to stop making them, and suddenly they weren’t so nice. They threatened me. So I tried to flee. With nowhere to go,” she gave him a sharp, accusing look, “I was soon recaptured and put in here. They have….ways to make you do what they want,” she brushed a finger against her swollen eye, wincing slightly at even that brief contact.
She sighed, and there was so much misery in it Bog felt guilt shred his insides. He was such a fool. But Plum wasn’t done with her horrible story.

“When the late Princess began to make waves….” She trailed off again and clutched at herself tighter, clearly distressed, “I never wanted this. I just thought it was harmless. I was making history. A way for besotted people to get their foot in the door with the object of their affection. If it turned into True Love the Potion would be useless, and unnecessary. If not, eventually it would wear off and no lasting harm done. I never thought….,” tears leaked down her face, “I never thought that they would make me find ways to make the Potion stronger, more potent. That anyone would use it to manipulate someone so completely. Take away their free will. Make them do atrocious things. Things they would never voluntarily do. This is my fault.”
She gave him a stricken expression, her voice barely above a whisper, “The King, he’s gone mad with power. He’s done horrible things. He has more horrible things planned. He taunts me with them, wants me to know. He’s going to use the Poti….”
Someone slammed something hard and metal against the cell door, “NO TALKING IN THERE!”
Bog winced at the loud noise, his head still aching from being knocked unconscious. Plum shrieked and flew away from him, as far from him as she could, shivering in fear. Bog felt another stab of guilt. This was his fault. He drove Plum right into the reach of his enemies, and now they were destroying everything he cared about. And he was unable to do anything chained to the ceiling.

He lapsed into silence as he examined his surroundings, trying to ignore Plum’s soft whimpering to think. Waking up in a dungeon, weaponless and chained, was a worst case scenario. With a pang he realized this is what he had done to Marianne, although at least he hadn’t chained her. He had vastly underestimated her instead, assumed she was weak. He twisted his lips, how wrong he had been. Thinking of her, he closed his eyes.

Marianne.

His chest ached when he though of her quick smile, her glowing eyes that missed nothing. He wondered if she was worried about him, what she was doing. He hoped she was safe in his castle, but if he knew her, she was probably plotting something, either retribution on him for sneaking out on her, or a way to infiltrate the fairies. He didn’t doubt that somehow she would know exactly what happened. His heart sped up, what if she was already on her way?
His current situation was giving him another healthy dose of respect for her. She had escaped his dungeon with ease, taunting him and laughing as she did it. She never once showed fear, she treated it as if it was a given that she would escape, even offering him a chance to correct his mistake of locking her up before she was forced to act. He marveled anew at her strength. He missed her, found himself wishing selfishly that she was here. With her twisty mind and ingenuity she would make quick work of this cell. Would have probably already been out raining her vengeance on whoever got in her path.
She had escaped and he could do no less, he would get back to her.
With the thought of her in his mind, he returned to studying the cell, his eyes landing on Plum’s prison.
He studied it, had never seen it’s like. He wondered if she knew how it worked, and if it was possible to get her out of it. But looking at her shivering, broken form he didn’t even know if they needed the prison. She was so throughly trapped in her own fear… This would take some work.
He gentled his voice, “Plum, listen ta me….”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Marianne’s hand touched Pel’s cheek she was submerged in him. It wasn’t reading his thoughts per say, she didn’t get everything, she was only privy to his secrets. Some ghosted through her mind as sound, and some she saw.
She was in much more control than she had been when Bog had grabbed her. Without the added battle of having to fight to be in command of her growing powers she was able to keep herself separate, instead of being fully immersed in Pel’s head. Of course she still caught random things. Pel was the middle brother of triplets; he always felt like his brothers outshone him. So he tried harder to stand out, he had volunteered for the scouting/kidnapping mission of the Bog King’s castle because he wanted to impress Roland. Him and his two brothers were Roland’s three most trusted guards, but he always felt like an afterthought. That he was only included because he was part of a set.
Marianne curled her lip in disgust. His secrets were so petty. Everything he had done had been to try and get out from his brothers shadows. He didn’t even believe the lies this Roland told, he just wanted to be someone important. Went along with the cruelty to fit in.
Finally she got to what she had been looking for, the day of Marian’s death. As she was learning, all major, defining memories were in detail and played out like a movie.

She was in a large room, the walls appeared to be a grey rock of some sort. There was a bed made of what looked to be a rose hanging from the ceiling. There was a wrought metal vanity next to three windows, and flower petals littered the ground. A figure was sitting in the window, slumped over in obvious defeat. The Princess was leaning against the side of a window, looking out. She had long brown hair to her waist, and beautiful purple and black butterfly wings that drooped behind her. Marianne swallowed, the colors were so similar to her arm. She realized the Princess wasn’t alone, and she saw Pel, and what must have been one of his brothers standing guard on either side of the entrance to the chamber. She knew the third would be outside the doors. She immediately felt this was to keep other people from coming in, it was obvious the broken figure of the Princess wouldn’t be going anywhere. She felt a spark of her temper, the Princess wasn’t in this room because she wanted to be, she was a prisoner in her home.

Marianne wanted to go to her, to shake her, to warn her of what was coming, she wanted her to fight. But she could only watch. Soon the doors opened and a figure in armor entered. She turned to look and almost jerked out of Pel’s head, her stomach rolling. She knew that face. Had kissed that face. Regrettably had been intimate with that face. It was Randal. Somehow he was here. Her breathing became erratic and she felt herself beginning to panic. Her mind was rejecting what she was seeing. When the scene flickered, she forced herself to calm down, she didn’t want to lose this opportunity, she examined him. Logic kicked in, this couldn’t be Randal, this person had orange and black moth wings. He had long, pointed ears, not round human ones. He was wearing green and gold armor, with a gold metal crown. She realized he was speaking, and his voice had a hint of a twang. Randal spoke clipped city talk. He only wore soft, well-made clothes. He would never wear armor. He wasn’t a fighter.
She struggled to concentrate on what he was saying, she was still reeling from seeing his face.

“…. you need to sign this.” He was holding out an official looking scroll. For the first time the Princess looked up. Marianne sucked in a breathe, they did look alike. No wonder everyone thought she was her. Although the Princess looked like Marianne when she was at her lowest, after her family died, when she was living off the streets. Her face was gaunt and her eyes were slightly glazed, but held a deep sorrow. She struggled to focus on Roland.
“What do I need to sign?”
Roland advanced on her, “This document.”
Marian shook her head trying to clear it, “What’s it for?”
He gave her a syrupy sweet smile, “Nothing serious darlin’, you know how we were talking about how only the army should have weapons? Just need you to sign here and make it official.”
Her eyes came into a little more focus, “Let me see.” He pursed his lips but handed over the scroll. With surprising speed she read it. When she looked up there was a little touch of defiance in her eyes, peeking through the haze, “I’m not signing this.”
The smile slipped off Roland’s face, turning it into an ugly mask, “You will sign, don’t make me convince you.”
Marian rose unsteadily to her feet, “I will not be responsible for this. I let you get away with a lot, but not this. This will destitute anyone who isn’t a noble house! Making it illegal to own a weapon? A crime punishable by death to hurt a fairy?? How would they defend themselves if attacked? I’ve seen your fairies in action,” she sneered at Pel and his brother by the door, “I won’t do that to most of my subjects.”
Roland grabbed her arm roughly, “You don’t have a choice”
Marian yanked her arm out of his hold, “I don’t have much these days, but I won’t do this.”
Roland raised his hand, “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be darlin’.”
She saw Marian’s eyes widen with fear, and then something snapped. But instead of cowering, she lunged forward and grabbed his belt dagger. Roland laughed as Marian slashed wildly at him with it, clearly she had never wielded a weapon before in her life, “Get back! I’m through being your puppet!”
Roland put his hands up in mock surrender, calling over his shoulder, “Kel, fetch the Princess’s medicine, her last dose is wearing off.” The black-haired fairy saluted and slipped out the door.
Marian’s eyes narrowed, “No, I won’t, you can’t keep making me take that vile concoction!” She lunged, and Roland laughed as he easily countered her, spinning to the side as she fell past. She turned quicker than he anticipated and lunged again. He barely managed to grab the hand holding the dagger, twisted it painfully, and yanked her to him.
Marian’s face was shocked, then went blank with confusion, then horrified as she looked down.
The dagger was sticking out just under her ribs, angled up toward her heart. When Roland had twisted her hand and pulled her toward him, he had impaled her upon it. He dropped her arm in disbelief and backed up a step. Marian reached out one hand to him, the other clutching the dagger still in her breast, before falling hard on her rump, gasping for breath. Some blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were sharp now, the pain burning away whatever drugs he had given her, the glazed look completely gone, she fixed Roland with such a vitriol look he flinched.
The air grew colder and she rasped out, “I curse you with my last breath Roland of House Wesel. You will reap what you sow, and my death will bring the agent of your destruction. May you never know true peace until your last breath, and beyond.”

Her gaze shifted and she was looking directly at Marianne, who took a step back. Her eyes bored into Marianne’s before she nodded to her, “raze it all,” and she slumped over. Pel was looking around in confusion, trying to see where Marian had been looking, clearly spooked.
“Who was she talking to??”
Her sprawled form snapped Roland from his stupor, he screamed for Pel to rush to the Princess’s side and turn her over. Pel jumped to do as he bid, he nervously looked up at Roland, “Dead, your highness.”
Roland was quickly starting to panic, “Are you sure?! Shake her!” He rushed over and grabbed Marian’s shoulders, shaking her body roughly, “Buttercup! Wake up!!”

It was the Buttercup that did it. Marianne retched. Randal used to call her that.

Back in the real world, Pel jerked around, swept his legs out in front of him, and knocked Marianne off hers. She landed flat on her back with an “oomphf” in the dirt. She opened her eyes to see Pel’s armored heel coming down straight for her head. She rolled out of the way just in time, his heel slamming into the ground where her face had been a moment before. She was still disorientated so she didn’t sit up right away, but yelled at Brutus to hold the fairy still. Brutus had been momentarily distracted, and hadn’t noticed the quick movements in Pel. He growled and yanked him up and away from Marianne, shaking him so hard his teeth rattled.
Pel fought against his hold, “You’re awful! I could feel you, I could feel you rooting around in my head! HOW DARE YOU?? Who gave you the right??”
Marianne rolled over and vomited, violently. It was mostly bile, and the dry heaves racked her body. She took deep gasping breathes, every time she thought she had it under control, she would remember and start again. Roland was Randal. Randal was here. Or rather, an alternative version. And the Princess had died cursing him. And that’s how she ended up in this place. Her life was ending, and the universe had yanked her here, to right a wrong. It seemed Randal was just as vile in this world as he was in hers, worse because here he wielded an empire. He was going to ruin everything. She had not expected that. Seeing his face again, knowing what he was capable of, what he had done….she sunk her fingers into the dirt, forming fists.

This changed everything. She was here for a purpose.

She could never get revenge on Randal for his betrayal of her, which she was beginning to suspect went deeper than she initially realized, the parallels in both universes were too strong to ignore. But she could settle the score for Marian. She could make sure the genocide back home didn’t happen here.

She stood up slowly, so angry she was frizzling. She could hear the air crack around her. She took a step forward, only stopping when she saw Brutus wince. He was doing his best to not let his fear show, but she could see it in his eyes. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her temper, not wanting to hurt him. After another few breathes she realized she was too riled up to calm down, so she tried to pull the heat back into her body, along with the fire. She had more success with that, and it was a little bit easier than the last time. But she could feel it there, beneath the surface, wanting out, and pulling it inside did nothing to make her dimmer. The darker part of her wanted to go super nova and cleanse this land of people ruining it, and with the free light of it’s solar bodies, she could. Marianne ignored the whispering, focusing on Pel.

He tried to turtle into his armor, the color draining from his face as she looked at him. It was as she was looking at his terrified, sour milk face, to Brutus’s attempt at stoicism, but with his own fear peeking through, Marianne suddenly felt her anger go out as effectively as if someone had snuffed a candle. Pel was too pathetic to hate. He was a scared little coward, and not who she was really mad at. She saw in his eyes he realized who she was, what she represented. And she saw the truth of it. He had been sent to scout the Bog King’s castle because Roland was terrified of the curse. He was convinced his end would come from the Dark Forest. Marianne gave a feral grin, how right he was, with his actions he had summoned her, and she would make sure she was his doom. She would come through for Marian. She would also do this to protect her love and his kingdom. But first she had to rescue him.
“Tie him back up securely and put him in the back of the cave out of earshot, I need to talk to our Elvish friends. The mission just changed.”

And she walked back into the cave.

Chapter Text

Marianne paused just inside the cave, at the entrance. Brutus was inside, having quickly retreated to the back with Pel, and the others were gathered around the fire. She could see their forms huddled, heads together, deep in discussion with each other and the two elves. She quietly backed up and drifted further from the entrance, just wanting a few moments alone with her thoughts. To decompress and just take a moment to catch her breath.

Now that she was calm the moon was a comforting light on her skin, almost apologetic. She sat down hard against a rock, leaning up against it. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting out the breath she was holding.
‘What have you gotten yourself into this time girl?’ Funny how the disapproving voice in her head always sounded like her father, even after all these years. She could even hear the weary resignation in the tone. Disappointed, but knowing the di was cast and there was no other course of action but to see this through. At least this time it was for a worthy cause. But then, to her they had all been worthy causes. She had no doubt in her mind that he would agree with her this one time.

Marian had pulled her here to avenge her death, to fix things. The universe had picked her because it saw an opportunity to right multiple wrongs. She couldn’t waste this opportunity. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was in the right place at the right time. She had a chance to really make a difference and do something here. She was terrified that she would blow it. Even as the fear coiled hot in her gut, she felt the gentle light of the moon on her. It was flooding her with energy and strength.

She felt brave enough to open her eyes and looked up at the celestial body. It was brighter than even the other night, she didn’t think she would ever get used to seeing it. It silvered everything around her, she was the one spot of color in the landscape. It was a comforting presence now. She knew what she was now, who she was, her potential unlocked. It had kept her secrets but didn’t need to anymore, was content to be a source of power. She looked at it thoughtfully, wondering if it was the same moon in every universe, but shook her head at the folly. That was impossible, right?

Marianne sighed, relieved. She was getting used to having so much energy at her disposal, every moment it seemed to get more bearable. She was growing into herself. And with her purpose here revealed, even though it was a daunting task, she felt more at ease. She would have never have guessed how much of a shadow of her true potential that she was. It was hard not to think about how things could have been different had all these energy been at her disposal back on her world. She forced her mind to the present, and her future, Bog. She felt her expression soften, thinking of him. She deeply regretted not kissing him more, but he seemed so new to the whole affection thing she hadn’t wanted to rush it and give him a heart attack. But now she was kicking herself. She would never forgive herself if he died. Her heart gave a lurch at the thought, and the fire erupted from under her skin again, flaring so bright it lit up the whole area. She forced her mind away from those thoughts, she was going to give away their position if she kept flaring like a damn lighthouse every five minutes.

What was she going to do next? She knew she was here to right a cosmic wrong, two in fact if you count what was done with her, but the question was how? She couldn’t just storm the Fairy’s Castle by herself. She didn’t have an army, just a small war party. And none of them were familiar with the Fairy Castle. None of them knew it’s layout. So an open attack wouldn’t work, and a sneak attack with her current assets wouldn’t work either. What she needed was someone who knew the Castle’s layout. Someone who knew the schedules of the people within. Someone who knew the ins and outs, who wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Her eyes drifted over toward the cave entrance. The elves. Sunny, in particular. He mentioned he was a servant in the palace. He would know where everything was. He would know who everyone was. She’d wager he even knew stealthy ways to get in and out of the castle as well. As an elf he would have the guard schedules mesmerized. It’s what she did when she was in hiding, remembered patrols. The prey learned the movements of the predators.

It was the best option she had. Really, it was the only option she had. Now she just had to convince him to help her. She rose to her feet, despite being full of energy, she felt a million years old. She wasn’t ready for war, but war was ready for her. She squared her shoulders and marched toward the cave. She paused at the entrance, and cast one last look at the moon before stepping into it.

~~~~~~

She approached her small band, and was surprised to see the goblins had separated themselves from the two Elves and were huddled up, holding a quiet conversation amongst themselves. Sunny and Pare were off to the side, shooting them nervous looks, Sunny was pacing. Marianne quirked her lips to the side and sauntered over to the Elves, not wanting to interrupt her band, and not wanting her movements to appear threatening. Brutus and Pel were nowhere to be seen, which was for the best. She wasn’t quite sure what she should do with that coward yet, and she’d rather not look at his face.

She crossed her arms over her chest, “What’s going on?” Sunny jumped, he had been so enraptured with the goblins he hadn’t noticed her approach. He gulped as he looked up at her, “I’m not sure. They were talking to me and Pare, asking questions, when they suddenly shuttered us off to the side and start conversing amongst themselves.” He was wringing his hands.
Marianne raised her brows, “What were they asking you about before they separated off?”
He glanced up at her, “Just about what day to day life was like here as an Elf. What sort of things we did, what it was like living under the Fairies rule as an elf.”
Marianne raised her brows but didn’t comment, she had no idea why the goblins would want to know anything of the sort. She watched them in silence for a few moments when she realized Sunny was fidgeting at her side, and she got the sense that he wanted to ask her something, but was too nervous. She shrugged, figuring he would spit it out eventually. Maybe if she asked him some questions of her own it would put him more at ease. She fluidly sunk into a cross-legged pose, hoping that making herself shorter would put him more at ease. She was going to need his help, and wasn’t sure if he would be willing to give it.
She arranged her features into a calm expression, “Sunny, I need to know where they would take a prisoner in the Fairy Castle.”
He stopped his pacing and looked at her, biting his lip as he considered, “They have two sets of dungeons. One for political prisoners, like if they want to imprison a noble, but don’t want to be too harsh about it in case they need their support later, or they are too powerful to treat poorly. Then a second prison for everyone else.” His face soured, and she guessed it was a lot less welcoming than the political prison, which she assumed were similar to what Marian had been shuttered away in.
Sunny went on, “I think they would take your -“
Marianne raised her brow “The Bog King”
He gulped, “I think they would put the Bog King there. King Roland wouldn’t want to risk his escape.” Then as if he couldn’t resist, his next questions exploded out of him, “Did they really King-nap him? You said it before but I wanted to be sure” He was looking at her anxiously.
Marianne nodded, “He did. Under the guise of official Monarch business, he staged an ambush. He killed numerous goblins and many of his fairy knights were slain as well. We found the evidence on the border.”
Sunny worried at his lip, “But that could start a war! Why would he do that! If you guys weren’t planning on attacking..?!”
Marianne gave him a too-patient look, “He wants a war Sunny. It’s the only way he can keep power, is with the threat of the Goblins. He’s buying time, using fear to tighten his grip. He killed your princess because she wouldn’t comply, even with whatever that ‘medicine’ was he used to control her. If this war doesn’t pan out, it wouldn’t surprise me if he came up with a plan to marry your spare”
Sunny choked, his eyes growing wide, “Princess Dawn? You think he would do to Princess Dawn what he did to Marian?”
Marianne registered the fear on his face, and the protective edge that worked it’s way into his eyes at the mention of the younger Princess. There was something there. She could use this. One the one hand maybe she should feel bad about playing on his feelings for this younger Princess, but on the other, if it got results and was for the good of all…
“Yes Sunny. I have no doubt in my mind that he would do whatever he could to stay in power, and that includes brainwashing this Dawn as well. But I can be of assistance there. Help me Sunny. Help me save Bog, and I will help you save Dawn.”
He gave her a confused look, “And what are you going to do? How will you help? And just you? Why would you help us?” His eyes darted over to the goblins, still in their circle, it looked like it was getting heated, “Are you even their leader? Can you command them? Why do they follow you? What are you? Why should I trust you?”
Marianne sighed, reaching into her bag for a cloth. She would have to show him why he should trust her. She began wiping off her face, and replied to him from under the rag, “I’m going to rescue the Bog King and then re-evaluate from there. Just me if I have to, but I’m hoping you’ll agree to help. I don’t command the Goblins nor am I there leader. They follow me because I’m dating their actual Leader. And Bog’s mother told them to I think.”
“Dating?”
“Er, right. You would call it courting. I guess you could say I’m courting the Bog King,” her face was still behind the rag, she didn’t see the incredulous look he was shooting her, “Anyway, I’m not a fairy. And here’s why you should trust me” She moved her arms down to her side, praying that her face was clean enough to confirm his suspicions, that she was a carbon copy of the late Princess Marian.
When she saw him freeze in place and blood drain from his face in the light of the fire, she knew it had worked. His eyes were impossibly big in his skull. Pare fainted. “You…you…you…your….no…this is impossi….what…how?”
Marianne nodded, looking over at the goblins again, “I know. I look just like her. Sunny, I’m not from here. I won’t go into the details of it, mostly because I’m not even really sure of the mechanics myself, but I’m here to set things right. And as for what I’m going to do?” Her expression hardened, and Sunny skipped a step back involuntarily when she looked at him again, “Simply put, I’m going to kill Roland.”
She eyes were flickering in the firelight, and Sunny swallowed. He hoped he was never on the receiving and of her anger.
“And then what?” He straightened his spine, he needed to be tough. He didn’t want to help her if she was going to do something crazy like seize the throne.

Marianne regarded him carefully, puzzled by his question until it dawned on her why he would be asking, “Then rule will fall back on your royal family, and hopefully they will be strong enough to reclaim their rightful place, and not fall prey to another Roland. I do not want your throne, if that is what you are asking.”
Her expression was so open and calm he believed her, and with her next question he felt his objections crumble away, “So, will you help me?”
“I don’t know how much help I can actually be” he hedged.
“I’ll need someone to sneak me into the castle. My first priority is getting to Bog and making sure he is safe, then springing him out. Especially if I’m going in solo. I’ll need him to help me fight our way out, because my guess is getting in is going to be the easy part. After that, we’ll make our way to wherever it is Roland stays and I’ll kill him in his sleep. Easy peasy”
Marianne was under no illusions that this would be as simple as all that, but she could hope. She had faith in her abilities. Best case scenario, it was that easy. Maybe she would get lucky for once in her life.

Sunny chewed his lip, fidgeting as he considered her plan. She really did seem to intent on doing this. He had a feeling that if he didn’t help her, she would find a way there herself, and would just end up storming the castle with her demands. It’s what Marian would have done, before this whole Roland thing. He wondered how alike the two were, if it went beyond looks. He looked at her, really looked at her. She was dressed in strange fabrics. Her sword was of a design he had never seen before. He had seen tastes of her power, and it was nothing he had ever encountered, or even heard of. Armed with all that, plus her face, and they might stand a chance at pulling this off.
He tilted his head, a surprisingly calculating look coming over his face, “What are you?”
Marianne gave him a mysterious smile, “The less you know, the better at this point. The only answer I’m leaving you with, is I’m the hand of Justice. Sunny, I will do this with or without your help, but if I’m not alone my chances of success are much greater.”

“You won’t be alone”
Sunny turned and Marianne leaned around him, to look at who had just spoken. It was Stuff.
The Goblin had a stern look on her face, “We are going with you. We started this as a rescue mission for our King, with a vow to follow your orders. But we’ve talked it over. We can’t sit idly by as this happens. First we get our King back, then we deal with this. And you’re going to be our Queen” Marianne felt her cheeks pink at that comment and she raised her hands out awkwardly, “woah, woah”, and Stuff’s watchful eyes shifted from Sunny to hers, “Maybe not soon, but someday. And we won’t send our Queen into battle without support. We are with you until the end.” She nodded, and the goblins at her back nodded too, their expressions mulish.
Marianne swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. That they would just accept her like that, that she wouldn't be alone, meant the world to her. It eased a knot inside of her chest she didn’t know she had.

“I’m going too” a deep voice said from behind them.
It was Marianne’s turn to whip around, Pare had woken up, and he was looking at the Goblins, but shifted his gaze to Marianne’s incredulous one, and Sunny’s wide-eyed one. “These are our lands, these are our lives. We can’t ask you to do alone, to sit back while you took all the risks. And you won’t have to…there is…” He lost his nerve and nodded to Sunny, too nervous under all those eyes to continue. Sunny picked up where he left off, “There is a resistance. A small group of elves and brownies who oppose these new laws and Roland’s rule…” He trailed off at the wide grin spreading across Marianne’s face, “Are you saying you have freedom fighters?!”
“Uhh yea. Mostly brownies and elves. But there are even a few fairies who oppose it as well. They don’t really fight so much as try to gain alliances and pass along intel. I can get a message to their leader. I haven’t met them, but they’ve reached out to a few select elves in the past.”
Marianne sprang to her feet and started pacing, “Now this, this we can work with! Now what to do…what to do….” She turned to Sunny, “Can you get me a meeting with these leaders? We need to pool our resources and figure out a better plan, a more concrete one. With a more sizable force, we can do more.”
Her eyes weren’t even truly seeing him, he could see all the plans forming in her head.

She tilted her head, eyes shifting to the present, “My first objective is always going to be Bog. I want you to know that going in. But I have some ideas, this opens up some opportunities for us, having allies.”
Sunny nodded, “I can do that! Tomorrow we’ll head to the village, I can arrange it all from there.” He gave her an apologetic look, “I just don’t want to move you under the cover of night. No offense, but you kind of stick out, I don’t think we can be too stealthy with you along.”
Marianne bit her lips to stop her scream of frustration. While she was anxious to set out tonight, her control wasn’t so great that she wanted to risk it either. Sunny was smart to ask that they wait. What little she had been outside earlier could have been enough to alert someone to their presence. Especially since that was how Pare and Sunny had found them to begin with. She worked her expression calm again.
“That would probably be wise. My control isn’t infallible yet.” Sunny relaxed a fraction, he had half expected her to rush into the night and demand they do all this now. Marianne glanced toward the opening of the cave, “If we are waiting for morning, I would prefer to set out with first light. And if that is the case, we will need to rest.” She swept her gaze over everyone gathered, “We will have a lot to do soon, grab what respite you can.” And she walked to a wall, away from everyone, to attempt herself to get some rest. She slid down the rough cave rock with her back against the wall, as she felt the beginnings of doubt stir.

She couldn’t even control herself now, how was she going to use her abilities in the days to come? What if she destroyed something she didn’t mean to? What if she gave away their position because she was so visible? What if she couldn’t do this, and got them all killed?

Her thoughts were spiraling when she realized she had been followed. She looked up and met Stuff’s gaze.
“Yes?”
Stuff held out a bowl of the stew, “You need to eat something”
Marianne shook her head, “Thank you, but I’m not hungry” When Stuff frowned at her she elaborated, not wanting her to think she was ungrateful or being stupid. “It’s not just nerves. I don’t know how to explain it but, I don’t feel like I need to eat. I think…” She bit her lips and looked past Stuff to the night sky beyond the cave, “I think I get all that I need from elsewhere. Eating will make me sick.”

Stuff pulled the bowl back and gave her an indescribable look, “So it’s true then.”
Marianne raised her brows, “What’s true?”
“That you are a Vestai.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down!” She glanced around anxiously, but no one else was paying them any attention.
Stuff scoffed, “You’re fine. Not many know what that even is anymore, and the others wouldn’t care if they knew. They just know your different. And we like different” She cocked her head and looked thoughtfully at the two elves, who were deep in their own conversation now, “Those two, I’m not so sure. They might not know either. I don’t think it was a common story among the Light Fields.”
“Story?”
Stuff gave her an amused look, “You didn’t know you were a legend?”
Marianne froze, her heart pounding, “Umm what? No? How do you mean?”
“It’s an old story. Not many remember it anymore. I can’t even recall it exactly, you’ll have to ask one of the older ones when we get back. But the gist of it is that the Vestaiis were Guardians of a sort. Each one had a specific duty, embodied a specific strength. Many years ago they vanished, rumored to go where they were needed, and were never seen again. Until you.”

Stuff paused to look up and down Marianne, “You turn up, it’s because the we’re in trouble. It took me awhile to remember, and it wasn’t until I saw you change colors and burst into flames that it all clicked.”
Marianne swallowed, it was a lot of pressure when she thought she was just pulled here by Marian to avenge her death, now Stuff was saying she was going to have to save them all? But she had told Sunny that’s what she intended to do, but hearing someone else have faith in her suddenly made it a lot more real.

Marianne slumped down, pulling her arms around herself, “Stuff, I think you got it wrong. I’m not all that. I’m the…last. After me, there is no more. We were wiped out. I wasn’t strong enough to save my own sister, how am I going to save an entire land? I didn’t even know what I truly was until recently. I’m just a woman from the streets who got sucked into all this by a mad twist of fate.”
Stuff shook her head so hard her ear fins flapped, “I don’t know where you were, but it must be a strange, horrible place. Especially if you think you aren’t special.” She paused, then nodded as if deciding something, “Thang and I were who found you, you know. When you crossed over. You were passed out in the woods. Looked a mess. Clutching your side like you were holding your guts in, even while being out cold. You didn’t twitch at all when we moved you, if it weren’t for your breathing, we would have thought you were dead.”

Marianne didn’t know what to say, “Well thanks for not leaving me to the elements, I guess. I still don’t know why this would make you have all this faith in me, why you would think I’m worth following. Let alone how I will convince a bunch of elf, brownie, and fairy freedom fighters.”
Stuff shook her head, “It was all we could do to get your arm from your side to get it looked at. And by the time we did, it was already healed. Only evidence of the wound was a bit of blood and the hole in your shirt. Marianne, you survive. You kept fighting, even while unconscious. And how long was it after you woke up, before you escaped? You’re a warrior. A survivor. And that is why we will follow you. In that clearing? When you saved Brutus? You didn’t even stop to consider that you could. I saw your face, you were unsure, you didn’t look like you had an idea of what you were doing, but followed your instincts. Acted anyway, and saved a life. Then, you took care of the dead. Not even just ours, but theirs as well. You are honorable. You are worth following. And they will see that tomorrow.”
Stuff sighed, worry wrinkling her brow, “So if anyone has a chance of pulling all this off, uniting a force, a daring rescue, and a coup, I think it would be you.”

Marianne swallowed heavily, she wasn’t sure what to say to that. She had no idea how observant Stuff even was. She wanted to show some way that her kind words were appreciated, that her support was appreciated. She reached out with her left hand, the arm that was covered with pink and orange flames, and laid it on the goblins arm. She coaxed a little bit of the feeling she had felt earlier, the one that had enabled her to save Brutus, down her limb and through her hand, and she could tell when it flowed into the small goblin. The worry melted from her face, she brightened, sitting up a little straighter, and gave a contented sigh. She looked at Marianne’s arm, then glanced up at her face.
Marianne gave her a grateful smile, “Thank you Stuff. That means a lot to me.”
Stuff gave her an awkward smile in return then stood up, bobbing her head, “Whatever you need boss.” And she shuffled away, embarrassed by the show of affection.

Marianne leaned back against the rock again, suddenly feeling a lot more positive about tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Morning seemed to come all of a sudden. One moment Marianne was asleep against a boulder, using her bag as a pillow, and the next she sat up wide awake, unsure of where she was, just with a sense of urgency that she needed to be awake. It took a moment for it all to come back. Seeing Pel’s memories. Talking with Sunny and Pare. The meeting today with the leaders of the Freedom Fighters. Freedom Fighters! She looked around, shaking the remaining cobwebs from her head. The two elves were still with them, and still asleep. Pare was leaning up against a wall, and Sunny was leaning up against Pare, snuggled under the larger elf’s arm. Marianne stifled a giggle.

She seemed to be the first one awake, so she took her time getting to her feet. Sleeping on stone did not agree with her. As she stretched, she stifled a wince as she felt all her vertebrae pop one by one up her back. Her eyes drifted toward the back of the cave, the offshoot that Brutus and Pel were hidden away in, far from the others. She nibbled her lip, unsure what to do about the fairy. She couldn’t drag him to the meeting, he would be disruptive. Not to mention if things went south she would not want him to be able to identify anyone, even if it was merely by voice. She didn’t want to leave him here, as he would need to be watched and she didn’t have the numbers to just leave Brutus behind. Especially not since he was her biggest supporter. Literally.

Could she take him with her, gagged and blind folded, and hide him in someone’s hut until after the meeting? Would that work? Could it be done in a stealthy manner? Would the elves be willing to help? She guessed she would have to wait and ask Sunny when they woke up. The day was going to be long enough, she didn’t want to make it longer for the small elf by denying him the last few minutes of rest.

To calm her mind she went outside. The sun was up but still low. It’s gentle rays kissed her skin, and she closed her eyes as she felt the subtle ripple across her flesh that meant her coloring changed. She looked down at her hands bemused, wondering if she would ever get used to not having to hide it. She opted to do some pattern dances with her sword. It usually helped to clear her mind. She popped her Tech-all out of her ear and stretched it out, playing some soft ambient music to help her focus. This was her mediation, she needed to calm her turbulent thoughts.

She was through with the basics and well into her complex dances when she heard a noise, successfully breaking her out of her reverie. She looked up to see Sunny, Stuff, and Thang watching her. Suddenly self-conscious, Marianne sheathed her sword and ran a hand through her hair.
She started walking over to her Tech-all, “Something I can help you with?”
Sunny came cautiously over, “What is that?”

She looked up to see he was indicating the Tech-All in her hands. She leaned over to show him, “It’s a device from my home world. It has all my pictures - ah portraits, music, films -plays-, and stuff stored inside of it.”
Sunny turned wide eyes to her, “All that fits in there?”
Marianne bit back her grin, “Not like you think. Where I’m from, all those things, intangible things, can be stored via a recording in pieces similar to this. It’s somewhat hard to explain. Here, let me show you a bit.”
Sunny watched as she stretched the odd device out, hit a sequence into it, and a picture came up. Sunny watched in amazement as it started moving, and sound came out.
“See? It’s like a play. I have thousands of the things on here. Even more music. Way less pictures.” She said the last part bitterly, and Sunny was disinclined to pry. He looked under her hands, behind the Tech-all, and Marianne stifled a giggle. Thang had scampered over and was watching the movie with rapt attention, his eyes riveted to the screen. Stuff was doing her best to act aloof, but her gaze spent more time on the screen than off.
Sunny looked up at Marianne in amazement, taking in her appearance in the sunlight, “You really are from another world. Last night, the goblins said you were, but I thought they were just pulling my leg.” He sat down hard on the ground, still looking at Marianne in astonishment.
Marianne gave him an awkward smile, “Surprise!” She gave him weak jazz hands.
“I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t think it was important. Also I didn’t think you would believe me either. But Sunny, do believe that I was sent here to help, to make things better. You can trust me.”
Sunny chewed his lip, “I do, it’s just a little hard to take in. I mean, last night you were on fire. This morning you’re purple. You have little people trapped in some mystical artifact that you act as if it’s normal. Your clothes are weird. You sword is like nothing I’ve ever seen. And you move in ways I’ve never seen anyone move before.”
“Which is why I didn’t tell you.”
He tilted his head, “If you have all this stuff, your strange portrait machine and your sword and your abilities, why do you need help? Why not just storm the castle on your own?”

Marianne snorted, “If you recall, I was going to. But for all my gadgets and power, I am but one. I can be overwhelmed. I am not infallible. I need numbers. I need support. I can fight for your land, but you need to fight for it too. I can’t do it alone. I’m not” she swallowed, her dad and sister jumping into her mind, the people she couldn’t save before, her face grew stark, “I’m just not capable by myself.”

For the first time since meeting the odd girl, Sunny realized that’s what she was. A lost, scared girl who had stumbled upon another world, to get caught up in a war that wasn’t hers, but she was going to fight in anyway. Because it was right. He nodded. Any doubts he had that this was the right thing to do vanished.

Marianne looked at Stuff, “Are we packed up? Ready to head out?” Stuff nodded, “We are. Although we were talking, and we think it’s best that you go alone to this meeting. A small squadron of goblins may make the village and leaders nervous. We want to do what is best for your chances of success.”
Marianne pursed her lips, “I think you’re half right. However, I want you and Thang to go with me. We will leave the others here. This cave is close enough that we can retrieve you easily enough before we move on the Castle.” Stuff opened her mouth to protest, but Marianne held up a hand, “I need at least a few of you there. To show that I do have Goblin support, as much as can be spared on such short notice. To show I’m from your Kingdom. Not only because it is your King, but to show that we want to foster peace between the two nations. And of the whole group, you are the one they listen to the most, and Thang is the least intimidating.”

They both turned and looked at Thang, who was laughing at something happening on the screen. He realized belatedly that he was being watched, and looked up, “Have you seen this?! This is magical!”
Marianne smiled and Stuff sighed, “I do see your point. Ok, we will go with you. I will tell the others.” She trotted off toward the cave as Marianne breathed a sigh of relief. This solved her temporary problem of what to do with Pel quite nicely. She nibbled her lip, she would have to come up with a more permanent solutions later though. She looked down to see Sunny watching her closely.
“What?”
“It’s just, I’ve never seen anyone command like you do. You don’t order the goblins around. You differ to their judgement, then make your own points, and reach a compromise. It’s….different. Different, but nice”
Marianne flushed, “I’m just…not….I’m not used to commanding anyone. I’m new here, I don’t know how stuff works. I do know strategy from watching like, a bazillion war movies, spy movies, rescue mission movies. So I’m just following my instincts. And doing what Ellen Ripley would do.”
“Who is Ellen Ripley?”
“Badass warrior woman who is determined to save others, even at great cost to herself. She single-handedly takes on and defeats a horde of Aliens-enemies. Many times.”
“Then you have good instincts. And a good role model in this Ellen Ripley. The goblins are lucky to have so wise a Co-Ruler.”
If it was possible, her cheeks flushed darker purple, “I am not their Ruler”
“But you are courting their King. And in his absence, you are acting as Regent. Won’t that mean eventually you will be? By marriage?”
Marianne sputtered, “I don’t really know what it means for our future, we haven’t talked about it. I stumbled upon this by accident. And if I was really a Regent, I’d be back in his castle, but his mother is in charge back there. I’m mounting the rescue. No regenting for me. No sir. I’m a commander, not a Ruler.”
Sunny didn’t look convinced, “If you say so.”

Luckily Stuff returned at that moment, Pare trailing behind her, and Marianne could dodge any more invasive questions from the short elf.
“Are they okay with their orders Stuff?”
“Yes, they will hide in the cave and be ready to head out when we need them. Brutus has joined them. They know not to discuss anything about today around the fairy. If they do, they will talk in the Goblin tongue so he doesn’t understand.”
Marianne gave her a startled look, “I wasn’t aware you had your own language. Why don’t you speak in it all the time?”
Stuff shrugged, “It’s very old, and impractical. Especially since everything else speaks Common. We keep it to ourselves for when we need to have private conversations on the rare occasions we are around the fair folk.”

Marianne nodded, “Good. Even if he is tied up, I don’t want him to know what we are doing. Just in case. He’s a risk we can’t afford to not have under control.” 
She walked over to Thang, “I need this back Thang, it’s time to go.” She gently pulled the Tech-all from his grasp, turning off the movie and shrinking it back down to tuck into her ear again. Thang pouted, Marianne smiled at him, “How about when this is all over, we have a movie night? I can make this think project the images on a flat surface and the sound gets pretty loud, so a lot of us can all watch something together.” Thang brightened. She turned and gave Sunny an expectant look.
“Okay, we are ready to head out.”

Sunny had pulled his lips in, and was glancing between Pare and Marianne, as if unsure if he should say something.
“What is it Sunny?”
He nervously shifted from foot to foot, “Well, Pare brought up a good point. If we all walk into the village like this, we might scare some people. Some of the scouts my not understand what’s going on, and report back to the village strange things, so they are on high alert when we come in. They will be upset at the addition of two Goblins anyway, but you…they won’t know what to make of you. What you are, who's side you are on, or what is happening.”

Marianne gave him a blank look, “What are you suggesting? I do not have powers of invisibility. I don’t think the Goblins do either” She glanced at Stuff and Thang, who shook their heads. Thang so hard his ears flapped.
“Not them, you.”
“So I should….?”
“Well I think it’s mostly your coloring? So can you like, make it stop?”
Marianne blinked at him, so caught off guard she didn’t even have a reaction. A small part of her was offended, but the logical part of her said he had a point. She had just gotten used to not having to hide, and the thought of having to do so again made her feel a bit queasy. She focused on Bog, and reminding herself that this was for him, he was worth all this.

But that didn’t mean she was going to be mature about it. With exaggerated, angry movements she reached up, and flipped her hood up, pulling it low over her face. She tucked her hands into her pockets, thankful heat never bothered her. The sun was up fully and already beating down on them. Stuff and Thang, not used to the direct light, were looking vaguely uncomfortable.
Sunny nodded uneasily, and Marianne regretted her lose of temper. It was gone as quickly as it had come. But really, she was a creature of fire, was it so surprising she was volatile?
She gave him a deep slow nod, indicating they were ready.

The unlikely party set off. Marianne felt ridiculous traveling in this manner. The hood hid her coloring, but it did nothing for her height. And the two goblins were out of the ordinary enough to draw suspicion. But she reminded herself, she did not know how things worked here. Perhaps two goblins walking down the way with two elves and a shrouded figure was normal. She snorted, but didn’t offer her thoughts when her companions glanced her way. She subtly reached up under her hood and pressed a sequence on her Tech-all, turning the music low as a distraction.

The closer they drew to the village, the more nervous she became. What if the leaders weren’t willing to help? What if they just rolled over for Roland’s rule, and she had to do this by herself? What if they didn’t trust her and turned her in? She glanced upward under her hood, would it be better to attack by night or by day if she had to do it solo? As soon as she finished the thought, her instincts screamed NIGHT. She was a daughter of the moon, her power was fed through it’s light. Plus if she could manage to keep her flames in she would have more cover at night…and once things started exploding she would go unnoticed in the confusion….

She was brought out of her musings by Thang bumping into her. She looked down into his earnest face quizzically. He attempted to whisper, “We’re almost there! And we are being watched!” He waved his hand off to his right. Marianne just nodded at him, resisting the urge to lift her head. She had to stay hunched over with her head down. Belatedly she realized her attire would be a dead giveaway, but maybe from a distance it wasn’t too obvious that the material was completely foreign.

When they finally reached the village, there was a small group of mixed Elves and what she assumed were Brownies waiting for them. Brownies were odd looking little creatures, furry, about the same size of Elves with flappy little ears off the sides of their heads. All were looking at their party with unreadable, stern expressions on their faces. She kept her head down and stayed back behind the others, knowing she looked shady as all get out, but not knowing what else to do.

Sunny took a deep breath, “Wait here, I’ll talk to him about arranging a meeting.” Sunny squared his shoulders and approached the small band, Pare a solid presence at his back, his silent support clear. Marianne was startled to realize how big he was compared to others of his species. He was a massive anomaly, and she had no doubt his support of Sunny carried some weight. Sunny’s voice easily carried over the distance, his tone as cheerful as his name, “Hey guys!”

An elder Elf stepped forward. He was barely taller than Sunny, slightly stooped with age. His robes were a brown, and less patched than the other villagers behind him. His hair was bone white, his face withered. His eyes bright with intelligence. They were still sharp and quick for his age, his examination of their small party was quick and thorough, although it was clear from his expression he didn’t like his conclusions. He leaned in to Sunny and lowered his voice, but Marianne could still hear him, “Sunny, what have you brought to our door?”
Sunny glanced behind him, and Marianne had a brief moment of utter terror and panic that he was going to call the whole thing off and turn them in, but he lowered his voice and whispered back to Elder. He used a true whisper so Marianne couldn’t hear what he said, but whatever it was it made the older Elf jerk his head back in surprise, and his gaze darted back to Stuff, roamed to Thang, than lastly landed on her. She could feel his burning curiosity as he attempted to see her face through the shadows. She averted her eyes, knowing how they tended to glow in the dimness and resisted the urge to tug her hood lower. She didn’t want to risk him seeing her hands.

Sunny and the older Elf were deep in an intense, low conversation. It was clear from their postures it wasn’t going very well. The Elder’s stance was rigid, his face contorted with anger. Sunny, surprisingly, was defiant and standing his ground. He was clearly still nervous, but he was standing his ground. He was widely making gestures wit his hands. The others of the village’s group had retreated to give them some respectful distance. But they were whispering and pointing to the three of them, not bothering to hide their interest in the odd company.

Belatedly Marianne realized they could have handled this better. Maybe had her and the two goblins wait out of sight while Sunny talked to the village, then brought them in. She sighed, hindsight 20/20. They were in it now. She looked around. The village was in poor conditions. The clothing of it’s occupants were all just as patched and frayed as Sunny’s were. Some worse. All were too thin. The huts and structures had once been made of good material and sturdy, but were haphazardly repaired. They were probably still sturdy, but it was clear they were repaired with whatever was scavenged rather than proper materials. Marianne grit her teeth. Marianne motioned for Stuff and Thang to follow her under a blade of grass, further away from the villagers, placing herself out of sight of them. She had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Whether it was nerves or a warning, she hadn’t decided yet.

She crouched down so she could be quieter, “What do you think?”
Thang looked around, then back at her, while Stuff answered, “We make them nervous, that’s to be expected, but you, you are an unknown. Your dress is strange and they can’t see your face. You’re too tall and thin, you spook them. I think if it weren’t for those two elves with us they would have reported us on sight to the Fairy patrols. As is, I’d put our chances at 50/50 that they may still turn us in.”
Marianne nodded as Thang chimed in, “I think they are too curious to report us. They will at least listen to what we have to say before deciding on what to do.”

As they were conversing a little elf child approached. Her eyes were wide with curiosity, her dress patched so many times over it was impossible to tell what was original fabric and what was patches. She was dirty as children tended to be. She had a thumb in her mouth, and a large, ugly looking cut down one of her arms. It couldn’t have been more than a day old, the flesh around it an angry red color, the blood dried with dirt into a dark scab. When they realized they had an audience, all three shut up and turned to her. Thang spoke first, “Can I help you?”

If possible, her large brown eyes went even wider, “Are you a Goblin?” Thang smiled while Stuff rolled her eyes, but her frown wasn’t as deep as it normally was. Marianne grinned under her hood.
Thang answered her, “I am. My name is Thang. She is too. She’s Stuff, and she’s Marianne, what’s yours?” He gestured toward Stuff, who wiggled her fingers in response. Marianne nodded once to indicate her name.
The little girl looked at them both, “I’m Narcissi.”
Marianne tilted her head in acknowledgement, “Hi Narcissi, how did you hurt your arm?”
The little girl glanced down at her arm then back up at Marianne, “I’m not supposed to say. They told me not to.”
Marianne frowned under her hood, but it was Stuff who spoke, “You know, if someone hurt you, maybe us Goblins could go and scare them, make them leave you alone.”

Narcissi smiled around her thumb, her eyes brightening. She whispered, “It was the guards. I was playing in the fields when they came through for their drills, even though Mama told me not to. I didn’t get out of the way fast enough.”
Stuff and Thang exchanged dark looks, and Marianne balled her hands into fists in her pockets, “So a Fairy did this to you?”

Narcissi nodded, but became distracted, “Are you a Goblin too? You’re tall for a Goblin. Skinny too.” She tried to peer under Marianne’s hood, but she couldn’t see much beyond vague shapes. Marianne smiled in spite of herself at the innocence of children, even as Stuff snorted and Thang patted his belly in confusion. “No, I’m not a goblin.”

Narcissi tilted her head, “What are you then?”
Marianne glanced around, making sure no one else was near. Thanks to the grass she was completely out of sight of view of the villagers, but Stuff and Thang were not. She motioned Narcissi closer, then leaned in conspiratorially, “Can you keep a secret?”
The little girl nodded eagerly. Marianne quietly went on, “Hold out your arm.”
Stuff and Thang watched with rapt interest, knowing what was going to happen, but eager to witness nonetheless. When they thought Brutus was dying they were too distraught to understand what was happening. But now they could actually see up close, they wanted to watch. Narcissi looked unsure, but Marianne reassured her, “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Slowly Marianne pulled her left hand out of her pocket, in the shade her hand appeared fleshy, completely unlike a Goblins. Narcissi looked sharply at the hand, then tried to see Marianne’s face again. Marianne concentrated, calling for the smallest pink flame along her palm and fingers. Narcissi gasped but didn’t move, spellbound by the flicking pink lights dancing along Marianne’s hand.
“I’m someone that’s here to help” and she gently laid her hand on Narcissi’s arm. She sent in a small flame, and the small girl and the two Goblins watched transfixed as it sunk into Narcissi’s arm. Her appendage glowed briefly as the fire twinkled under her skin and her cut healed before their eyes. When it was done, Marianne called it back and withdrew her hand.

The little girl looked from her arm to Marianne in disbelief. Stuff and Thang had that awed look back on their faces. Marianne was smiling in satisfaction at Narcissi’s arm. She was getting the hang of this. Healing soothed a part of her she didn’t know what raging, like she was giving back. She wasn’t all destruction after all. It was like a part of her sister was still alive. All three of them jumped when they heard a voice behind them.

Unbeknownst to them, Sunny and the Elder had finished their conversation and he come around the blade of grass to where they were, wanting to meet the three of them personally before retiring to one of the houses, out of sight. In sharp contrast to his closed off aggressive body language, the Elder was suddenly relaxed, his face calculating and surprised. Deep in his eyes she thought she saw a glimmer of hope, but it was hard to say, “Well Sunny, I see what you mean. This does indeed change things. You may be right…” He trailed off, clearly thinking hard about something.

Marianne put her hand back inside her pocket and stood up to her full height. This was important, now was not the time to be timid and hide. She needed to show strength to these people if she was going to get their aid. “So you’ll arrange a meeting for us?”
The Elder came out of his musings, “Hmm? Yes. Immediately. The three of you follow me, we should get out of site of the air. A patrol is due soon, and I don’t want to give them reason to stop.”
Marianne didn’t move, “I need to know that we are safe here. That your people won’t turn us in. How do I know we can trust you?”

The Elder gave her an amused look, “My dear, How do we know we can trust you? We are both going on a leap of faith. I assure you, our people are loyal. Now come, we really must get you indoors.”

Marianne nodded, and followed along. Stuff and Thang taking up positions on either side of her and a little behind, making it clear from their positioning that she was in charge and they had her back. They marched through the village towards the biggest hut, then at the last second turned and went into a smaller one next to it. Marianne looked around, the rest of the village was as shabby as her first impression of it. She saw signs where the inhabitants were making the best of it, some had tried to spruce up their place with paint, some had coaxed flowers to grow interwoven with their structures, giving the illusion of pretty.

She swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. It was both so different and yet still so similar to the slums she had been forced to live in when she had been on the run. She felt foolish for questioning the Elves loyalty. She remembered how it was in the neighborhood, you didn’t turn on your own. But a small voice whispered that she wasn’t one of their own, she was an outsider. And communities did turn on outsiders, especially if they thought they were a threat. She couldn’t make up her mind either way, but decided to be on her guard. At best she felt foolish, at worst she was prepared for the worst. She took a deep breath once they entered the small hut, and as the Elder pulled back a rug and revealed a trapdoor and some stairs, she took another.

Suddenly the thought of going underground amped up her nerves again, but it was too late to go back. She pictured Bog, this was for him. She would only be underground for a short while. She needed to do this. With him in mind and Stuff and Thang’s comforting presence at her back, she followed the Elder down.

Chapter Text

The stairs were not that long, and when they came to the bottom of them the Elder lit a lamp and started walking. Marianne could feel the temperature dropping and the air getting damper, and she realized they were walking down a decline. She couldn’t see anything beyond the ring of light cast from his lantern. She was tempted to call her own fire to see better, but didn’t want to spook the old man more than she had. Nor reveal anymore abilities.

The Elder was leading the way, and she was glad he was in front and didn’t glance back. Or else he would see her glowing. Of course not enough to see, but it was obvious. She frowned down at herself, maybe one day she would get her powers under control and not give herself away all the time. She hoped Stuff was right when she had said that the Fairy Kingdom didn’t have knowledge of the legend of her people. She’d rather be a mystery than be crushed under the weight of the legacy left to her. She wondered if her dad knew. How much he hadn’t told his girls, hoping their ignorance would protect them.

At last they reached the bottom of the incline. Marianne had no idea how far down from the surface they were. A small door was at the end, and the Elder performed a series of knocks before opening it. Marianne’s brows rose, glad at this obvious sign that they were more organized than she had originally thought. There was the sound of scuffling on the other side, then silence. The four of them entered a medium sized room. It had a worn, beat up wooden table that could seat 6 comfortably, more if they squeezed and extra chair were supplied. The walls were bare save for a map on one of them, with small thorns holding it up, and colored thorns marking certain points on the map. There were two other doors, but where they led Marianne couldn’t begin to guess.

The Elder gestured to the seat as he went around the room and lit the torches along the walls. He still hadn’t glanced in their direction again and Marianne was relieved as light flooded the room. She wouldn’t immediately be given away when the others entered. She checked that her hood was still pulled low over her face, casting it in shadows. She debated marking half her face again, but decided against it. She may need her looks to convince one of these parties.

Finally the Elder turned and surveyed them, “Please wait here. A messenger was sent to the Brownie leader, she should be arriving shortly. As will hopefully our Fairy ally.” Marianne nodded, “I would like Sunny to be included as well.” The older elf frowned, “Why?”

Marianne’s brows drew down, “Why not? He’s the one that brought me to you, isn’t he part of the resistance?”

The Elder hedged, clearly not wanting to go into too much detail, “No he is not. He has….personal reasons for not joining, and we have had no choice but to respect that, despite offering him a position numerous times.” He sighed regrettably, “He is the best scout we know of, the best at recon. It’s a shame he never joined. No one not of the alliance is supposed to be present at our meetings.”

Marianne didn’t pull her hood back but made it obvious she was looking in his direction, “I trust him, and if he will agree to it, I would like him to be here.” She stated it simply, a hard edge to her voice. The Elder chewed his lip then nodded, “I understand. He seems to trust you, so perhaps it will be beneficial to have him here. I will see that he is.” He walked to one of the other doors and opened it, giving orders to whoever was inside. There must have been another exit through there, because no one came through but when he turned back around, he told them, “It will be done.”

Only then did Marianne take a seat. Stuff and Thang took sentry posts on either side of her, Stuff looking as stoic as she always did, Thang doing his best to follow her lead. Marianne crossed her arms, still feeling nervous about this meeting. Being this deep underground was unsettling to her, she felt as if the weight of the world was pressing down on her, trying to smother her and snuff her out. She wondered if they ever got earthquakes here. She turned her mind away from imagining what it would be like, to be slowly crushed by the weight of the ground, dirt filling her nose as she slowly suffocated. She shook her head, not liking where her mind was wandering.

The Elder sat down in the chair opposite her. They sat there as the silence grew and Marianne wondered what on Earth they were supposed to talk about. She had never done this before, had never spearheaded an uprising. Do they even have small talk here? Should she bring up the weather? Ask about the crops?

She was mulling over her conversational choices when the door the Elder spoke to before opened, and Sunny was thrust through, the door slamming behind him. He stood up, scowling, as he dusted himself off. “I said I would come, you didn’t have to strong-arm me!” He shouted through the barrier.

Marianne shot a glare at the Elder, not that he could see under her hood, “Sorry Sunny, I asked for you to be here since I know you, I just assumed they would ask you politely and lead you here, not throw you through the door. If you want to go you can, but I’d really like it if you’d stay.”

Sunny glanced at the Elder’s unreadable face, then back to Marianne, “It’s fine. They said something about this place needing to be a secret so I had to be blindfolded.” The faint scowl on his face wasn’t convincing that he wasn’t put out and Marianne felt a stir of unease. Was this due to the Fairy regiment being brutal in their dealings with elves? Was it so bad that they would treat one of their own in such a manner to hide themselves? Her mind flashed an image of Narcissi and her ugly gash. Yes it was so bad. These people were acting harsh because when they were called to heel the Regiment didn’t care who was hurt so long as they punched down with their whole fist.

The Elder sat down in the chair across the table from her, and made no secret about studying her. His scrutiny made her uncomfortable, but since the company was so few and the room so sparse, there was not much else for him to look at. His curiosity was almost palpable. After what felt like hours (but was probably 30 seconds) she couldn’t take it anymore. Stuff and Thang were still doing their stoic act and Sunny had sat against the wall and was playing cats cradle with a bit of silk string in his hand. She stopped pretending to study the room and pointed her head in the Elder’s direction, “So what’s your name anyway?”

He shook his head as if to clear it, and she wondered if he had just been staring off into space instead of studying her like he appeared to be. “Malakai”

Marianne nodded, “I’m Marianne Fayfields.” Malakai looked puzzled, “You have two names?” Marianne nodded, “Yea, doesn’t everyone?” He still looked confused, “Why do you need two names?” Marianne shrugged, “to identify me. I’m not the only Marianne in the world and if someone is referring to me other people need to know which Marianne I am. Does it not get confusing here with no way to distinguish between names?”

Malakai shook his head, “No, Never. We would just say Malakai, of the Middle Plains clan.” “But what if there are more than two people in the same clan with the same name?” He still looked baffled, “That never happens. Names are approved by the Council, who writes down all citizens names in the registry. No two living citizens of the same clan can bear the same name.”

Marianne could feel a headache coming on, “Are you telling me the Fairy Court won’t let you use certain names?” He nodded, “Of course! It’s how they count us and keep track. Many clans go back generations and they want to keep tabs on the older ones. For Fairies I imagine it’s to keep bloodlines pure since they concern themselves with that sort of thing.”

Marianne rubbed her temples, this place was a nightmare. She had thought the chaos of the Dark Forest was a bad way to rule a country (Not that she say anything, it wasn’t her business after all), but it was a practical paradise compared to what these people were living through. “This is insane! How have you not all run away?? Left? Gone to the Dark Forest and seek asylum!” If it was possible the room got quieter. Stuff and Thang held their breath, as if breathing would set her off. Sunny had grown very still and was watching with wide eyes, the thin wisp of spider silk entwined in his fingers falling limp from where he froze in the midst of playing with it.

Malakai carefully looked only at Marianne, not even glancing at Stuff and Thang, “Because this is our home. We want to stay here, it’s why we have started the Resistance, we know things are bad. Why do you think we are fighting? Our blood is here, we can not leave. Other kingdoms are not so welcoming as you seem to think they are. We had no reason to even think they would help. ”

Marianne’s shoulders slumped, it was more of the Goblin prejudice at work. The ruling monarch had gone above and beyond with his fear mongering. The Goblins weren’t even a viable option in the denizens of the Light Fields eyes. She glanced at Stuff, “Would you guys have turned them away?” Stuff shrugged a shoulder, “Maybe. It’s possible. We aren’t exactly on friendly terms with them, but up until a few days ago I would not have said we were unfriendly either. We keep to our side, they to theirs, trespassers are promptly shoved back onto the right side of the border, their actual trespass usually written off as an accident. Anyone who wanted to stay would have had to swear fealty to the Bog King and then live life as a Goblin.” She looked around at the room, “Although it doesn’t appear it would be a hard transition. Their decorations are just as sparse as ours.”

Marianne grinned, the plain room did remind her a bit of Bog’s halls. He let the tree be it’s own decoration. Malakai sputtered, indignation clear. “So Malakai, how do you guys expect to take down this Roland?” Sunny ducked his head, his face draining of color, and Malakai pursed his lips, his eyes darting around as if Roland could hear them. Clearly just saying “Roland” was like calling the boogyman’s name, it was as if they were afraid he would swoop down on them if they said it too much.

“Our plan to take down the King is…” he trailed off, and at that moment a series of knocks sounded from the other side of the last door in the room. Malakai looked relieved, “Enter”

A short, extremely furry creature entered. It (she?) had a brownish green fuzz, the long ears that seemed to be a common characteristic of this world. She wore a patch over one eye and Marianne could see the edges of a scar peeking out up to her brow ridge and extending down one cheek. Her face was serious and no nonsense. She had a rapier strapped to her side. She had a confident air about her, and as her eyes scanned the room, Marianne could tell she was not to be trifled with. She immediately liked her.

Her good eye took in Stuff, Thang, and Sunny before landing on Marianne. Marianne resisted the urge to squirm and calmly met her gaze from under the hood. One side of the creatures mouth twitched and Marianne relaxed, she had passed the first inspection. She stood up and inclined her head, “I’m Marianne”. The small creatures mouth twitched again in approval and she inclined her head back, “I’m Qadira”. She turned her laser eyes on Malakai, “My sources in the castle say our Fairy contact is having trouble slipping away at the moment,” her eyes briefly flickered to Sunny then away, “Word was sent that we begin without them, and they will catch up when they can.”

Malakai looked less than pleased, but nodded. Marianne guessed he was type A of the group, liking everything to go according to plan. Marianne sat down, and Qadira did the same. She apparently was not the sort to waste words or time, because she just jumped right into it.
“I’ve been told you are leading an assault on the castle and want some help. Why are you taking a fight to the King?”

Marianne stifled a grin under her hood, oh yes, she liked this Qadira very much. She was right to the heart of things. She squared her shoulders. “From what I can gather, your King has been brewing a war for some time now. He declared it the minute he Kingnapped Bog. Bog was not his to take, and I will get him back. At all costs.” She hedged, “I will be doing this with or without your help. If you help me, and we are successful, you will reclaim your home. If I do this without your help, there’s a very good likelihood I will raze this land to cinders.”

Qadira just watched her, and Marianne felt compelled to share the rest. “This part also sounds kind of crazy, but I was pulled here from another realm and I believe it is my fate to set things right here. Roland has to be stopped. At all costs.” Qadira raised a brow, and Marianne launched into an abbreviated explanation of how she came to be here, glossing over what she had seen in Pel’s mind. Qadira just sat there, face giving away nothing, until she was done. She quirked her mouth to one side, “So you claim to have abilities? Magic?” She gave Malakai a meaningful look, “Healing magic?”

Marianne nodded, nervous for the first time. Would she not believe her? Would they refuse aid? Retelling her story it seemed pretty far fetched, even to her. And she lived it. Without warning Qadira drew her sword, “Prove it.” Marianne sucked in a breath, frozen by this turn of events. But Qadira just gashed her own arm. Marianne gaped in silence, the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Malakai looked scandalized. Qadira just had that same calm expression on her face, “Well? I’m waiting.” She seemed unfazed by the stream of blood leaking all over the table, and pooling onto the floor.

Marianne stood up, shaking her head, “You’re crazy, you know that?” Qadira gave her a predatory grin, “We all are. That’s why we’re here, overthrowing a Monarch isn’t something sane beings do.” Marianne pulled the pink fire into her hand, and Qadira’s face brightened. She watched with keen interest as Marianne reached out, took a hold of her arm, and sunk the flames under her fur. Within a few breaths the gash was completely healed, as if it had never been there to begin with.

Marianne withdrew and put her hands in her pockets, returning to her seat, Marianne’s voice was just a touch sour, “Satisfied?” Qadira nodded, “Very. Amazing. Unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. If I had you around I may not have lost my eye,” she gently brushed her patch, “I prefer to see things myself rather than relying on someone else to tell me. You’re the real deal kid. Which leads me to one last question before I throw all my oars in with your lot: what do you plan to do after you win? Who do you want to put on the throne?”

Marianne waved her hand dismissively, “That is not my business. I assume you have someone in mind, someone who would be a good candidate. I want no part of your politics. Never did, I am only here to get back Bog, and to strike some cosmic justice. All I want is a vow that when we are successful, the two Kingdoms have peace and better communication. Because this really leaves some things to be desired.”

Qadira gave her a grin, “I like you. As a matter of fact, we do have someone we want to put on the throne. And like it or not, you’re knee deep in our politics.” Marianne sensed Sunny stilling behind her to listen intently, and she wondered what she was missing. She frowned down at her left arm, the fire was suddenly acting all fluttery, something it had never done before. It was much more active than it had ever been, even more so than her purple arm.

“But there’s one thing I still don’t understand, you claim you were sent here, that you are the one who is supposed to fix this, why? If there are worlds stacked out there, and you somehow managed to cut through one and end up here, why were you chosen? What makes you so special?”

Marianne smirked, “Besides the obvious?” She juggled a ball of purple fire, tossing it high in the air before catching it, and slowly letting it slip beneath her arm. Qadira had watched the fire with rapt attention, struggling to keep an weird expression off her face at the display. Marianne regretted her show boating, recognizing her expression as hope. This was serious. She needed to take this serious. This was life or death, not just for her and Bog, but an entire population.

She raised her hands, “Well I was chosen because I have an uncanny resemblance to…”

Just then one of the other doors flew open, and Marianne became a statue, ice flooding her veins. The movement was so quick her mind blanked, not believing what she was seeing. A blond fairy zipped into the room. She had on a blue dress and short hair. She was talking a mile a minute. She knew that voice. She knew that face. How was she not prepared? How had she not realized this with all the other coincidences?? “Sorry I’m late! It was so hard to give my guards the slip today! Sleezeball kept trying to talk to me and invite me to tea, saying he had something vitally important to discuss with me about, and I couldn’t get away fast enough! You guys know how it is though…”

She trailed off, suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her. Sunny looked like he was choking on air, he was holding his chest and his eyes were fully bugged. Marianne was still as stone, her mind skipping as she attempted to take in what she was seeing. Stuff and Thang were still doing their unimpressed act. Malakai stood up, “Great great, you’re here. Marianne this is Princess Dawn, she’s our contact in the Fairy Castle. And our choice for the throne. She…”

Sunny apparently couldn’t take it anymore, ”Dawn?” He stood up, still looking shell shocked, “How…you are…why didn’t you tell me??” The Princess actually looked sheepish, glancing at the others before turning back to Sunny. Qadira had shut the door, and was shooing her into a seat. “Sunny, now is not the time…”

Sunny shook his head, “Now is the time! All along, I haven’t joined because of you! I didn’t want to oppose you, hurt you in any way, and you were leading the Fairy Resistance? We’re best friends and you didn’t tell me!”

Marianne was grateful to watch this all unfold. She felt like she was going to have a panic attack. Dawn looked and sounded exactly like Aurora. Her arm was going crazy, and only stilled when Dawn had flitted by it. Marianne was transfixed by her wings, they were the same colors as Aurora’s flames. She had the urge to rip off her jacket and put them side by side, to be sure. She dimly wondered when she would regain control of her body and mind. Her mind flickered over all the other similarities between this world and hers. HOW HOW HOW DID SHE NOT SEE THIS COMING?? Why had no one mentioned it? She was completely blindsided.

Dawn looked guilty as Sunny chastised her. “I didn’t want you to worry! I was afraid you’d get caught, or worse, get caught because you were trying to help me! I thought this was safest for you!”

Sunny shook his head, “I still can’t believe you. I didn’t join because I wanted to keep you safe, I thought they were going to try and get rid of you, and I wasn’t going to be a part of any movement that wanted that.”

Qadira snorted, “You’re both fools. We each make our own decisions. And you’re both here anyway, so can we move on?”

Sunny rounded on Malakai, “Why didn’t you tell me? You knew my reasons!” The old elf shrugged, “It was not my place to tell you. I couldn’t reveal secrets of the resistance to an outsider. And I couldn’t be sure if I told you that you wouldn’t do something foolish like run off and try and talk her out of it. We didn’t want to influence you either way, and have you join for the wrong reasons. We want believers Sunny, people with convictions. We are trying to make a difference.” Sunny scowled at him, but didn’t say anything else.

Dawn shot Qadira a thankful smile, “Yes, please. Let’s get on with it. The message was brief, just saying that there was someone here who could help? Who was taking the fight to Roland?” She turned to Marianne, “I’m guessing it’s you?” She looked behind her at Stuff and Thang, actually clapping her hands in glee, “And you have goblin support! How wonderful!” She flitted closer, still ignoring the seat Qadira had drawn for her. She held out her hand, “I’m Dawn.”

Marianne felt the ice thawing, her control slipping back into place. She took Dawn’s hand, perhaps squeezing it a little too tightly. But she had to know that she was real, that this wasn’t some cruel hallucination. Maybe she was dead, but she didn’t feel dead. Every nerve in her body was alight and buzzing. Dawn frowned at her hands, “Where are you from? Your hands are like mine” She peered closer, “Are you a fairy? What land do you hale from?” She pulled her hand away and took a short step back, quizzically looking at Marianne.

Qadira interjected, “You came at a good part, she was just going to show us what it is about her that made her hand picked by the universe for this job.” Sunny looked nervous again, apparently this wasn’t something he had thought about either. He kept looking back and forth between Dawn and Marianne. Marianne felt her hands moving slowly upward, almost as if they had a mind of their own. “My name is Marianne.” Her voice was low, but Dawn stiffened when she heard it, her own eyes growing wide, “And I was brought here because…” She pulled her hood back, revealing her unmarked face, “I am the alternate universe incarnation of your Princess Marian. Hello Dawn.”

Malakai grabbed his heart, sitting down hard. Qadira put her arms behind her head and laughed darkly, “This is perfect”, her face showing delight at this turn. But Marianne and Sunny only had eyes for Dawn, who had fainted.

Chapter Text

Marianne rushed over to Dawn’s prone form, reaching for her fire, worried she had hurt herself. Sunny was somehow faster, and cradling Dawn’s head in his lap before she even reached her. He was gently patting her cheek, murmuring to her. Marianne’s mouth was dry, “Is she okay?”

Sunny nodded, carefully running his hands over where Dawn’s head had hit the floor, “She didn’t break the skin, but she will have a slight bump” Dawn started stirring and Marianne immediately retreated, just out of her line of sight, worried that her face would make Dawn faint again. She hastily drew up her hood while she was at it.

Dawn slowly opened her eyes, and smiled groggily up at Sunny, who smiled back so tenderly that Marianne had to look away. Some things were becoming clear to her. Qadira caught her eye and mimed gagging. Marianne felt her lips twitch in response. Dawn’s voice was soft and drew Marianne’s attention back to her, “Sunny, it’s you. I just had the strangest dream that some woman was here who looked exactly like Marian…” She trailed off at how serious Sunny’s face suddenly was.

Her voice got even quieter, “It wasn’t a dream was it?”
Sunny shook his head.
“Is she still here?”
Sunny nodded.
“Did she see me faint?”
Sunny grimaced and nodded again, and was suddenly thrown back from how quickly Dawn shot up. Her wings were quivering as she sought out Marianne. Marianne held very still, afraid moving too quickly would startle her. If Dawn was anything like Aurora had been she would be a gentle soul, and she didn’t want to frighten her.

Dawn squinted at her and Marianne resisted the urge to squirm, uncomfortable with the close scrutiny and worried she wouldn’t measure up. “Could you low….Would you mind…Can you remove the….” She mimed pulling the hood down and Marianne slowly obliged.

She forgot there was anyone else in the room, her and Dawn just stood there staring at each other for what felt like an eon, drinking in sight of the other. With the exception of the wings, ears, and her long hair, Dawn looked exactly like her sister. Same bright blue eyes, same face, same expressions. Dawn came closer and was peering into her eyes when Qadira cleared her throat with a very pointed cough, “We don’t have all day ladies.”

Both Marianne and Dawn started, and shared a sheepish look before turning away. Marianne’s heart leaped with hope, it was something her and Aurora had done many times. Dawn spoke, “Sorry, it’s just…so…” She trailed off, not sure how to end that, hands weakly grasping at air.

“…impossible” Marianne finished, and Dawn nodded, glancing at her again before her eyes darted away, “It’s a lot to take in.” She set her face and flitted over to the table, taking a chair, “But you are right. Time is limited and we need to talk about this.”

Marianne admired her commitment. She was clearly still in turmoil, but what pushing that aside to do what was right for her people. A little knot of tension eased out of Marianne’s breastbone, she had been worried the favorite for the Fairy throne would be as bad as the other fairies she had seen. With the exception of her fainting, she was handling coming face to face with a near perfect duplicate of her dead sister well. In any rate, about as well as Marianne was currently handling it.

Marianne returned to her seat, across from Malakai, Qadira to her right, Dawn to her left. Sunny sat behind Dawn, and Marianne doubted he was even present mentally. He seemed to be thinking very hard about something. The way his gaze kept suddenly jolting to the present and darting to Dawn she could guess what.

She squared her shoulders, she needed to follow Dawn’s lead and take charge of the situation. Using supreme effort, not unlike what she had to do to marshal control over her burgeoning powers, she pushed the fact that Dawn looked like Aurora from her mind. She ignored the tingling up her left arm, pushing it out of her head with the rest of the things she did not have time to think about. These were military leaders and she was going to look them in the face. Dawn’s eyes kept twitching toward her but never seemed to linger, always ghosting away when Marianne glanced her way.

Marianne was never one for patience, or beating around the bush. She looked at each of the three before her in turn, “So, what is your reach? Your talents? If we are going to make a plan of attack, I need to know your strengths and weaknesses.”

Qadira gave a feral grin, Malakai looked mildly scandalized, and Dawn still looked serious. It was Qadira who spoke first, her tone eager, “The Brownie population is the smallest, but we have the highest rate of fighters. We specialize in Guerrilla warfare and recon. You need someone to hit it quick and disappear, we are your people. We are invisible in the foliage. You need spies out in the field, no one beats us. We are the best trackers, and the best with handling animals, like the Squirrel mounts.”

Marianne nodded, she would expect nothing less from someone who carried a rapier. It was an offensive, fast weapon, designed for quick, furious attacks, before a rapid disengage. She could use that.

She looked to Malakai. His voice was steady, “We can get anywhere. Elves are the preferred servants in the Palace. (Qadira made a disgusted noise at that) No one looks twice at us. We are fast as well, and can get messages anywhere, get in places in the Palaces and the Noble houses no one else can and be gone before they realize we were even there to begin with. In physical combat our smaller size is an advantage, we are harder to hit, but just as strong as a fairy. We have excellent endurance. What we lack in physical presence we make up for in numbers. We outnumber the fairies 5:1.”

Marianne tilted her head, “But what percentage of your numbers are in the resistance?”

“Roughly 60%. Some are too afraid to oppose the fairies head on. Some see no reason to, are happy as things are and worried they will get worse. But we still outnumber them, even as is”

Marianne nodded, that was similar to what she had witnessed of the Elves so far. Sunny was quick, she remembered well him tackling her and how rapidly he had got off of her when she had burst into flames. He had bitterly mentioned it in their previous conversation that Elves were all but invisible in the Palace. That they could definitely work to their advantage. She would need him, or someone with knowledge of their way around the castle to help her find Bog.

But one thing was curious, she was almost afraid of the answer, “Why do they prefer Elf servants over Brownies?”
Qadira made the disgusted noise again, her face sour, but surprisingly it was Dawn who answered.

“Because Elves look enough like Fairies to not be offensive to the purists.” Her voice had a quality like this was something she had heard many times before and was just repeating it, but Qadira scowled, and the elves looked at the floor. Marianne put her hands under the table and clenched them together so the others wouldn’t see. She didn’t know why she was surprised, everything else she knew about Fairies was repulsive, the bar was so low, why exactly was this still shocking?

Maybe it was because Dawn had said it, and Dawn looked so much like Aurora. It felt wrong. But Dawn looked shamefaced, and her eyes were pleading with Marianne to believe that she did not feel that way at all, “This is the attitude that needs to change, the one we are working toward changing. Not all the Fairies feel this way, that’s why I’m here” her hands were clasped together, and Marianne tentatively put out a hand and covered them with one of her own, “I know.” She squeezed slightly before quickly taking her hand back, still not sure how to act or what to do with this woman who was and was not her sister. If she even could treat her the way she had treated Aurora.

A quick glance around the table showed both Qadira and Malakai giving Dawn approving looks, and she felt another knot leave her chest. They clearly liked the young fairy, and were eager for her to take the throne. Marianne turned to Dawn, asking with her eyebrows what her alliance brought to the table.

Dawn took a deep breath, “Well I have connections to some of the more liberal Nobles, they have pledged soldiers from their houses, so in addition to having some fairy fighters, so in addition to boosting our numbers, it would be taking directly from Roland’s. Our greatest advantage is flight, which will put us on a more even field with the Fairy Army, but we don’t have enough to attack outright. I know some of the Lesser Nobles are on board too, but they can not do much in the way of battle, but will be good allies in what is to come after. They have enough voice and influence to sway some of those on the fence.” Marianne nodded, ready to ask another question but Malakai, who had looked like he was on the verge of speaking suddenly bursted around, “The fairies overwhelmingly have advantage of flight though, how do you plan to work around that?”

Marianne glanced at him, then turned thoughtful eyes to Dawn, eyeing her big wings, a calculating look on her face. Dawn looked at her and to her wings worriedly, clearing not liking the direction of Marianne’s thoughts.
“How do they work? Do they have any weaknesses? What happens if they get damaged? Do they grow back?”

Dawn shrank back “Well” She bit her lip, “When they get wet they are all but useless. They soak up the water and become too heavy for use”
“Ok, we can work with that… What’s the weather like around here? Does it rain often? When I first arrived it rained for a month straight but I haven’t paid too much attention since.”
“This time of year it rains rarely, and usually in scattered showers when it does. Typically not heavy enough to prevent flying.”
“Drat, there goes that plan. Too bad my element’s fire and not water….” She looked at her hands, and her thoughts must have shown on her face because Dawn’s voice was stern, “We’d like to refrain from maiming forever if we can. We want a take over, as peaceful as possible.”

Marianne bit her lip, not sure how to tell Dawn that physical battle was unavoidable and the fairies wouldn’t pull their punches, so they couldn’t afford to either. She wondered if she was even fully aware of the cruelness towards the other races. Qadira’s face was enough proof that when it came down to it, she would have no problem inflicting damage on anyone who opposed her. Truthfully she looked eager for the coming conflict.

Malakai spoke up as the voice of reason, “Of course we do. But we must prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. Like it or not, Roland will not like to be challenged. If he catches wind of our plans he will have the army out for blood, with him at the center of a ring of soldiers. They won’t be handling us gently. Our goal is to get rid of Roland, as quickly as possible. But realistically there is probably going to be fighting involved. We are talking about assassinating a King after all.” He folded his arms. Marianne was impressed, he seemed so opposed to regicide, but at some point he came around to the idea and was now the voice of gentle persuasion to Dawn. When this was all over he would make a great addition to Dawn’s council.

The Brownie in question finally spoke up, “All of this is well and good, but we don’t have enough for a head on attack, and organizing the different troops will take time, what is your plan?”

Marianne was thinking hard, looking at the table, “Then we will just have to whittle them down…..” suddenly the secrets stolen from Pel’s mind came to her. Roland’s favorite tactic was to drug people to get his way. She quickly raised her head Malakai, “How familiar are you with poisons?” Dawn looked apprehensive, Malakai confused, and Qadira calculating.

Dawn objected again, “I don’t think killing them outright is the way to do this! Fighting if it’s unavoidable, ok I can try to get on board with that, but to just kill them? Preemptively? In their sleep or at a meal? That seems so…underhandedly. And not the message I want to send about my rule.”

Marianne shook her head, “You misunderstand. Poison, not kill. Give them something that makes them ill to get them out of the way. The Army is Roland’s body. The body protects the head. If you cut off the head the body stops, because without the head the body is useless. We incapacitate his troops long enough to kill him, they will take their orders from someone else. Say, the next in line for the throne?”

Dawn looked relieved and the others nodded eagerly, Marianne went on, “We could have an Elf slip something into their rations, and then strike when it hits. It’ll need to be something that doesn’t make them immediately sick, but is delayed. Is there any such substance that fits that bill any of you know of?”

All three of them gave her blank looks, Marianne soldiered on, she wanted to get this out before she lost her train of thought.

“Well come back to that, meanwhile this won’t work for all of them, but should take enough of them out. Dawn, get to your allies that they need to be wary of food from the ration station, and tell Malakai which houses to not poison so we don’t put our own allies out of commission. I’ll sneak into the castle and search for Bog, then that vile man, if the rest of you can keep the remainder of the soldiers busy with attacks out here, to buy me time. If we are lucky we may be able to just pull this off without too much bloodshed or too many people knowing what is happening until it’s over.”

Marianne felt a nudge in her side, and leaned in to hear what Stuff had to say, “We know of a toxin that might work. If they gather it for us, Thang can brew it up. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours once we have the ingredients necessary.” Marianne looked at her sharply, and Stuff shrugged, “Just because we aren’t hostile or seeking war doesn’t mean we don’t keep tabs on our enemies. Or have ways to defend ourselves. We weren’t always so peaceful with one another in the past.”

Marianne sat up straight to tell the others what Stuff had just relayed to her, but she didn’t get a chance, a Brownie burst into the room, panting for breath, “They’re coming!!…..(pant pant pant)…I mean (pant pant) they are here, almost here. (gasping and wheezing) A squad of Fairy soldiers. There’s a turncoat (shuddering gasp, and they were able to stand up straight), someone told. Said there were Goblins escorting someone who had entered a house here. They are on their way to arrest the trespassers and punish the villagers!!”

Malakai, Sunny, and Dawn all had identical expressions of horror and panic on their faces, Qadira growled and drew her sword, “Then we fight them off! Ahead of schedule!” The others looked at her, “But there’s no time! We aren’t ready! We’ll be massacred!” Dawn was wringing her hands, “They can’t find me here! Do you have any idea what Roland would do??” Her eyes filled with tears, “We’ve lost, before we even had a chance to begin.”

Marianne’s heart clenched, her mind was racing, this was her fault. Her presence had triggered these events. She couldn’t let an entire village burn because of her presence, couldn’t let Roland do something to Dawn, she had seen firsthand what he was capable of, when she thought of something, “NO! This is perfect! I’ll go out to meet them, lead them away on a chase! I’ll let them capture me, they’ll take me to Bog!” She stood up and handed her bag to Stuff, “Keep this safe, and this” she handed her her sword, “Whatever you do, don’t draw it. I’m the only one who can wield it. Find me when the others assault the castle, I’m going to need that!” She grabbed the taser out of the bag and slipped it into the inside pocket of her jacket, zipping it up all the way before quickly smearing black all over the upper part of her face again, hoping it would be enough to obscure her resemblance to the late Princess. She was a little too generous around her nose and it caused her to sneeze. But the sneeze was fortuitous, it changed her color to purple.

Qadira and Dawn gasped, and Marianne looked down. “Well that’s helpful, hopefully it holds….” She looked up into the suddenly quiet room, “What? Guys, I told you I was from another world. This is why Roland wants me so bad. I told you I’ll be fine.” Qadira nodded, and Dawn bit her lip, looking worried, but finally nodded as well.

Qadira spoke up, “We can’t let you do that! We need you to help plan more, prepare you for the layout of the Castle! What if they kill you?”
Marianne snorted, “They won’t kill me, I told you, Roland wants me too badly. He sent an agent of his to kidnap me.” Her eyes widened briefly, “Ugh! Pel!” She looked at Stuff and Thang, “Help the Elves and Brownies, don’t let Pel go, but do what you have to do to put him out of commission until after this is all over. We can’t risk him getting free and warning anyone, and we don’t have the bodies to just sit one out to babysit him. We need the others. If only to show Goblin support to ensure peace when this is all over.” They both nodded to show they understood.

She turned to Dawn, “Once I’ve lead them away, slip out and get back to the Castle! Rally your allies, but keep your head low. Have Malakai poison the troops in a days time, that should be plenty for Thang to brew it, me to escape, find Bog, and be ready to attack Roland. Draw his focus on random attacks by his troops. Keep them small so he doesn’t think it’s a full scale attack, worse still that he thinks it’s the Goblins and mobilizes the army immediately.”

She stood up, turned to the Brownie, “Lead me the quickest way out of here where I can make the most bang” She cast Malakai an apologetic look, “I’m sorry to have brought this to your door. And I’m sorry for what I’m going to have to do, I’ll have to burn down a house to make it look like I’m attacking you, before leading them away. Find the mole, the ah…umm person who sold us up the river, and take them out. And find out who their allies are, to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Qadira frowned, “We’ll find out who it is, and make sure they can’t do this again.” Malakai raised his brows at the venom in her voice, but his own face showed agreement.

“Wait!” Dawn got up, and came over to her, “I know we just met, but all things considered…” and she threw her arms around her. Marianne felt her throat close up, as she returned the hug fiercely. Dawn pulled away and wiped her eyes, “Please be safe, when this is all over, if you are willing, I’d like to get to know you better. Maybe it’s weird, but I feel like we are getting a second chance.” Marianne nodded, her own eyes bright, and she saluted the others, before nodding to the Brownie that she was ready.

“Follow the plan, it’s a good one, we can do this, and don’t worry about me! I can more than take care of myself” and with that she willed her flames to leave her arms, and the Brownie ran out of the room, Marianne closely on her heels.

It was silent for a few brief moments in the room before Thang spoke up, “What are you waiting for! She’s giving you a chance, we need to get ready to sneak out of here!” And startled the others into action.

Chapter Text

Marianne needed to be careful. She needed to cause just the right amount of damage, too much and she could hurt someone; too little and it would not be believable. As she followed closely on the heels of the Brownie in front of her she wondered if she should have kept her sword. But she did not want to risk it getting confiscated. This way she would know where it was when she needed it.

She patted the taser in her pocket, relieved to at least have it. In their metal suits the fairies would be excellent conductors of the electricity, and she felt an evil grin spread over her face at the thought of being the person to deliver it. Maybe it was not the best mentality to have when she was supposed to aim for peace, but having seen everything the fairies had done, she couldn’t help but feel justified.

Much quicker than it took to get down to the room, the Brownie halted her by the exit door, placing it’s ear against it, holding up a finger to her to wait. After a few moments it nodded. On the other side she could hear the chaos. Elves and Brownies were running for cover, trying to batten down the hatches on their houses. She felt her stomach drop, it was so familiar a scene. She pushed it from her mind, she needed to be in the present. She couldn’t change the past, but it was not too late for the present, for these people.

“Which way is the palace?”
The Brownie looked confused and Marianne resisted the urge to shake it, “The Fairy Castle. Which way. I need to lead them away for…” She raised her brow in a meaningful look.

The small creature nodded enthusiastically and pointed in one direction. Marianne nodded, “Thanks. Which of these places is most likely to be abandoned?” It pointed to a house that luckily was not in the same direction of the palace. “Okay. Now get out of here to safety.”

Marianne ran away from the door, toward the building. She called a large pink fireball in her hand, and threw it near the top so it’d be easy to see from the air. She didn’t want to decimate the area, so she would need to stick with her left arm. She laughed giddily, using her powers was heady, a rush she was not yet used to. And she needed to make it look like she was on a rampage. She didn’t want to reveal too much of her abilities, so she pulled the flames back under her skin until just her hands were covered, with the right being mainly for show. She stopped briefly, she wanted to be certain that the patrol saw her and followed.
She did not have to wait long before she heard the drone of something. She had to pinch her arm, reminding herself that there was no electricity here, the drone wasn’t electric, just eerily similar.
She was startled when she saw bumblebees approaching with a fairy astride them, among other fairies using their own powers of flight. They all had moth-like wings like Pel, and she felt her lip curl remembering Dawn’s beautiful butterfly ones. She had a feeling that in addition to being racists, the fairies were probably sexist as well, believing women couldn’t be warriors. Her mind flashed to Marian’s defeated form, her clumsiness with a blade.

She would show them.

She launched another fireball then took off. She was worried that she had gone unnoticed when she heard a shout. A quick glance behind her showed they had spotted her, and were in pursuit. Marianne grinned a bit, she had been running for a long time, she would give them a hell of a chase. She put more speed into her steps, glad she hadn’t been lazing about the last month and had kept to her exercise routine.

The landscape was much different than what she was used to, yet somehow still so similar. The flowers could easily be streetlights, the rocks buildings. And the grass was as numerous as the people she had had to dodge when she fled in the past. The rare tree a skyscraper. Running in the open actually felt great, and she took care to singe the plants as she passed, so she would be easier to follow.

She dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged her way through fields, surprised that the guards weren’t making better headway on her. She was good, but they shouldn’t be this bad. She paused on the far side of a boulder to catch her breath, and to glance back. She looked around, realizing that they were closer to the village than she had initially planned, heading back toward the way of the palace. With a jolt she realized they were attempting to herd her. She felt now was the time to show them a taste of what she could do, a healthy display of her abilities may give them pause in the confrontation to come.

She waited until they were closer, then jumped out from behind the boulder, launching fireballs. She was careful to only hit the ones not on the bumblebees, unwilling to hurt an innocent creature. They were undeterred. She charged the line when they got close, scattering them. Instead of running off into another direction she held the position. She crouched and spun, dragging her right arm behind her, making a line of deep purple fire at her back, to prevent anyone from sneaking up from behind. She stood, raising her fist over her head as she did so and brought the wall higher, taller than she was. She could feel the heat beat down on her as the flames licked the sky. She laughed again, a maniacal sound that gave those facing her pause. She was sure she looked quite mad, with her wild hair, her obscured face, odd clothes, and the wild purple inferno at her back.

She could see the fear glinting in their eyes as they retreated a safe distance from the heat, watching her warily. She shook her arms, loosening them up for a fight. She would not come at them full cocked, she did not want to give everything away, but they needed a healthy dose of respect.

She grinned as they landed, then huddled to confer. A few circled from the air, trying to to find a weak point in her defense, but due to the temperature could not venture too close. Her grin turned predatory and she gave the air troops a little wave, to let them know she was on to them. They hastily fluttered away whenever they made eye contact with her.

While they conferred she calculated how long they had been at this since leaving the village. She guessed the better part of an hour and a half, plenty of time for word to spread about her attack, and for Dawn to slip back into the palace. Now was her chance to take the pressure off and try to let herself be captured.

She glanced at the sky again, although maybe she would drag this out to give Dawn just a little bit more time, and to make these fairies sweat. And the Goblins to go into hiding, and the rest of her allies to get into place. She hoped they were safe and able to get to a secure location.

But the fairies had other plans. A new one had joined their number, and she did not like the shrewd look on his face. He looked vaguely familiar and with a jolt she realized he looked alarmingly like Pel, but the hair poking out from the back of his helmet was blonde. She realized a second later where she had seen him before. In Pel’s memories, specifically the night Marian died. He had been the one sent to fetch the ‘medicine’ Roland was using to control her.

Anger gripped her, and without thinking she took a step toward him, followed by another. Soon she found herself marching up to the small squadron, her vision tunneling. They parted in shock, not sure what to do about this new tactic. But Marianne was too focused to notice. The bastard actually smirked as she drew near, which fueled her umbrage. Once in range she drew back her fist and punched him square in the nose, the edges of his helmet grazing her hand, peeling back the skin. She didn’t even notice, and the cuts healed almost instantly with the sun still beating down on them.

He fell back, and she screeched, “YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!”, and she drew closer to kick him on the ground when she was tackled. She had forgotten about the rest of the squad in her single-mindedness. She tensed to struggle, the hit had knocked her sense back into her. This was her chance. She gave a few feeble attempts, not wanting to showcase how strong she was, and after a few minutes was forcibly brought to her feet.

A fairy was on each side, one hand on each shoulder and the other holding her wrists behind her back. She was glad she kept her fire to her hands, and she was wearing long sleeves, else they might be too afraid to hold onto her arms. Or worse. She had an inkling of how cruel they could be. If one of them got near her with a sharp blade….

She struggled and snarled when the fairy she had clocked approached her. She was savagely glad to see his face was swollen, and it was already starting to bruise. She hadn’t punched him with her full strength, but looking at his rapidly distorting features she hadn’t held back as much as she meant to either.

He was no longer smirking. And she had obviously broken his nose, his voice had a nasally quality to it, and it was slightly wheezy as he spoke. She felt a feral look cross her face as she relived the feeling of his bones crunching under her knuckles. The battle fire was still singing in her ears and she couldn’t make out his words.

She felt the rage building up in her again when his arm flicked out, and some powder hit her in the face. She coughed, and felt the world going dark, and belatedly realized he had hit her with some sort of sleep powder. For the first time fear coiled in her belly, she had not considered their penchant for drugs to get their way when she decided on this course of action. Her last view was of the ground rushing up to meet her, as she heard that bastard laugh, and tell the troops to search the area for accomplices.

~~~~~~~

Bog finally allowed himself to relax, rolling his shoulders. He was making a lot of headway. After he had calmed Plum down he had talked to her for hours. The result was she now seemed more sane. Well sane for her. And she had explained how her prison worked. She was trapped inside, but he could pull her out. All he had to do was convince her now to let him get her out, so she could pick the shackles on his arms. He had no doubt they could do this. And she did seem much better. It had been hours and no one had bothered them. He suspected the guards were under strict orders to not feed him, hoping it would weaken him. The fools. He frequently fasted to keep his mental fortitude. He could go much longer without eating than a day or two. Water would begin to be a problem soon though. He would need to act now.

He looked at Plum, she was sitting on the side closest to him, amusing herself with some creations she made galavanting around the cage. It was quiet out in the hallway, and had been for some time. His instincts were screaming that he needed to do this now.

“Plum”

She looked up, her wide eyes no longer scared.

“We’re getting out of here.” She cast a panicked look around.

“Plum, I’m serious. I’m gonna ta reach in, n’pull you out with my leg, then you get me out o’these shackles.”

She gripped her arms tightly around her midsection, “What if we get caught?” Her voice was a faint whisper, so low he almost couldn’t hear her.

“We won’t. We need to get out of here. Before they do anything worse.” She bit her lip, clearly conflicted. He gave her a serious look, “Plum, you know what they are planning on doing next. What he wants you ta brew. And I can guess what’s going to happen to me. This isn’t about you n me anymore. Other lives are on the line.”

She looked away chewing her bottom lip, debating. But then she looked back at him, and slowly nodded.

Carefully he stretched out, the odd web was so close, but still too far. He frowned and repositioned, not quite there. He reached out again, this time he was able to graze it with his talons. He bit his cheek in frustration, pulled on his shackles until they dug harshly into his arms, and strained again. This time he managed to hook a claw on the top of the stick, and pulled. As her prison began to topple Plum started to shriek then clapped her hands over her mouth, as her jail tumbled down and she was thrown about inside it.

He winced in sympathy, whispering, “Sorry Plum” She rose up and shook her head to clear it. He gave the web an apprehensive look, “So I just….poke my leg in, you grab it, and I can yank you out?”

“Yes. That’s how they always did it before. I don’t think they required any special thing.”

He nodded, and grit his teeth. This was going to be unpleasant. He plunged his leg into the web and bit back an oath. It shrunk on the other side, which was freaky, and slightly stung where the web touched him. He felt Plum gingerly grab his ankle, and nod she was ready.

He pulled, grunting when he met resistance. He hopped on his other leg, wings rattling automatically to help him keep his balance. He yanked, and with a faint pop Plum and his foot came out of the web. Plum crashed into his other leg, knocking it out from under him. He winced as the shackles bit his wrists into the tender bits were they met his hands as he struggled to regain his footing with Plum tangled up in his legs.

A few moments of scrambling and she had gotten out of the way, and he was able to stand up. Biting back a curse he glanced up at his arms. The metal cuffs were starting to do some damage, and he was sluggishly bleeding out on one arm.

Plum’s eyes were darting around the room frantically, her fingers running over her lips, one arm wrapped around her body. Her breathing was becoming erratic.

“Plum…Plum…PLUM!” He hissed, trying to get her attention. He rattled his chains and that finally got her to turn her panic filled face toward him. He gave her a meaningful look, “Calm down. First part’s over. We still have a ways to go. I need you to get these off me” He lightly rattled the chains again for emphasis. Plum nodded, and drew nearer. He didn’t look up, not wanting to see what kind of magic she used, afraid his reaction would startle her. He vaguely wondered why Marianne’s displays of power fascinated him, and Plum’s made him uneasy.

A few moments later she was done, and he gingerly brought his arms down, rubbing his wrists, sighing in relief. The blood rushed back to them all at once and he pursed his lips in pain, holding in a curse. He would rip them limb from limb before this was through. Plum squealed in delight and he shushed her. She sealed her lips shut, and he motioned her to follow as he made his way to the door, Plum silently floating along behind him, her hands now clamped over her mouth to prevent any further involuntary outbursts.

When he got to the door he paused, there was a lot of commotion on the other side. He held his breath, wondering what was happening. He heard someone shout “Quick! Put her in here!” and he felt his stomach drop out and his heart start to pound. There was only one person that could be. A million thoughts started racing around his mind, possibilities, and different strategies he would now have to take into consideration.

Plum was twitching at his back, and he retreated back into his dungeon room to think. Plum glanced nervously at him, then back to the door, “What is it? What did you hear?”

Bog gave her a serious look, “I’m not positive, but I think they’ve captured someone. But if it is who I think it is, our plan just changed.” He reached a decision, “For now, we wait. I need to be sure.”

~~~~~

Marianne groaned as she came to. Her head was aching. How was it even possible for teeth to hurt this much? She hadn’t felt this bad in weeks, not since before she was transported to this strange land. Her limbs were stiff and her mouth felt dry.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, pressing the heels into the sockets. Slowly it was coming back to her. The meeting, the patrol, the chase, and her capture. Her head shot up and she looked around. She was in a cell of some sort, on a flower of all things. She almost laughed, what was it with her captors putting her on plants as beds?

She gingerly got to her feet, wondering why she was hurting so much. She pushed through it and explored her cell, noting that it was stone and the door was metal. There were no windows. Besides the flower/bed there were no decorations, just a few sparse lanterns. She sat back down, her exploration of the cell making her dizzy.

What was in that powder? She needed to burn the effects out of her system. She turned up her left palm and tried to call her fire.

Nothing.

She frowned and tried harder. Still nothing. She pulled off her jacket, panicking. The flames were still there, but moving sluggishly again. She felt fear coil in her belly again. This was bad. This was very bad. She had miscalculated. She pulled her jacket back on, ignoring how her hands were shaking. This was so bad. So so not good.

Marianne allowed herself to wallow for 10 minutes, before deciding enough was enough and she needed to take action. And the first order of business, was sending out a signal so Bog knew she was here. She would figure out the rest later. As she rose again and got to the door of her cell, a face appeared on the other side of it.

It was the fairy she had punched. She dimly noted that the swelling had gone down some, but his bruise had bloomed into a full dark purple riot across his cheeks. She felt a twinge of pride and amusement that her colors would decorate his face. It was a subtle reminder that she was not helpless, abilities or no. It helped marginally to stifle the balloons of panic rising in her chest since she woke up.

“What am I doing in here?”

He glared balefully at her, “You’re under arrest. For crimes against the Fairy Kingdom. This is your cell.” His tone implied she was slow.
She snorted, “And how long am I in prison for? How long was I out for?”

He went on, clearly annoyed by her response, “You have been out for hours. Our King has taken an interest in you. Once he is finished with his other duties, he plans to speak with you himself.” His look turned meaningful, “A high honor. Show respect. But he is the one who decides your fate.”
He was obviously trying to intimidate her. She almost laughed, he had a long way to go to rank among her nightmares. Powers or no, she was confident that she could take him. She just needed to play smart. She would take them all down. He had numbers on his side, and apparently drugs, but she would not balk in the face of this challenge. Too many depended on her.

He came closer, attempting to loom over her to make himself seem more frightening. “You are in very real trouble. The King does not take kindly to threats.”

She tossed her head, voice dry, “Well and here I was thinking we had nothing in common.”
He frowned and went to speak as she cut him off, “Look, I’m a reasonable gal. I’ll make you an offer, you let me out of here and give me back what is mine, and I will go easy on you. The longer I’m locked up, the grumpier I get. And the grumpier I am, the less reasonable I become.”

He laughed. The bastard had the gall to laugh at her. When he finally stopped, he gently wiped tears from his eyes, “Oh, he’s going to love you. You are spirited.” His expression turned chilling, his voice like ice, “And he loves breaking spirits.”

Marianne swallowed, and he suddenly reached in through the bars, grabbing the front of her jacket. In a swift yank he pulled her towards the door, slamming her face against it. He dropped her, “That’s for daring to strike me.”

Marianne gasped as she heard him walk away, the pain blooming in her face and radiating down her neck. Blood was pouring from her nose, and she rolled onto her back, pinching her bridge, her mind whirling.

As if she needed further incentive to burn this place to the ground. She now had a vested interest in his death, he had made it personal. No matter what Dawn had said about keeping this as civil as possible, she was going to kill him with her bare hands. Or by her own hands. She still hadn’t decided.

After a time she felt the blood stop, and she sat up, spitting out the thick red fluid that had drained down her sinuses into her throat. Her eyes landed on a lantern on a wall, and she had a thought. She carefully rose to her feet, and approached one. It was firmly affixed to the stone, so she took off her jacket, wrapping up her fist. A few hard hits shattered the glass. The flame flickered merrily, unconcerned with the world around it. She cautiously reached out, afraid to put her flesh to it, would she finally know what a burn felt like?

She took a deep breath and stuck her left hand in. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then slowly it turned pink, and her skin absorbed it; she felt profound relief as she felt her arm flicker in response. The small candle was snuffed out, but she felt the pink flames travel up her arm, and her face tingled. The bone knit back together, but she stopped it from repairing more than that. She still needed to look injured, didn’t want them to know she had any bit of her abilities back.

She looked around the room, there were two more such lanterns. She repeated her actions with both. Not enough juice to burn the drugs from her system, and not enough to do anything more than small healing.

Her room was now plunged in darkness, and she sighed deeply, scrunching her eyes shut. What had she been doing before all this? Signal to Bog. Right. How was she going to do that? She scratched her ear, and felt her Tech-all. She bit her lip when she felt a grin beginning. She knew exactly how to signal him.

When she opened opened her eyes she was startled to see that she was glowing again. The tight coil in her gut abated, this was reversible. She wouldn’t be walled away from her gifts forever, they were slowly trickling back. It gave her the energy to stand up. She pulled the Tech-all from her ear, and clicked through to that first song she had played for him, back during their Dance Party. As the beat started, she clutched it in her fist and stuck her hand out a gap in her cell door. The stone was an excellent conductor of sound, and she had no doubt that wherever Bog was, he would be able to hear it. When the lyrics started she actually smiled, the wild energy of the song stoking the battle fire within her.

She was a fast machine she kept her motor clean
She was the best damn woman that I ever seen
She had the sightless eyes telling me no lies
Knocking me out with those American thighs
Taking more than her share
Had me fighting for air
She told me to come but I was already there
Cause the walls start shaking
The earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it
And you shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long

I'm working double time on the seduction line
She's one of a kind she's just mine all mine
Wanted no applause it's just another course
Made a meal outta me
And come back for more
Had to cool me down to take another round
Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing
Cause the walls were shaking the earth was quaking
My mind was aching
And we were making it
And you shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long
Knocked me out I said you
Shook me all night long
You had me shaking and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me
When you took me

You really took me and you
Shook me all night long
You shook me all night long
Yeah, yeah, you shook me all night long
You really got me and you
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me
Yeah you shook me
All night long

~~~~~~~~

Bog was sitting against the far wall of his cell, head in his hands. When he heard the sudden music, his head shot up, and he hastily got to his feet. He knew that song. It was the first song Marianne had played for him. It was her, she was here. She had come for him. Plum huddled close to his side, “What is that? What does it mean?”

Bog looked down at her, “She’s here, she's on our side. And that is the signal we've been waiting for.”

~~~~~~~

As the song faded Marianne pulled her hand back in, shutting down the Tech-all and stuffing it into her pocket. She heard the sound of booted feet approaching as she shrugged back into her jacket, closing it back up around her. She felt something heavy in her breast pocket, and a feral look crossed her face. Her taser was still with her. It seemed modern clothing was beyond the fairies as well. Or they were sloppy. She was reminded of her other weapons, checking her boots, startled to see both knives were still inside. She shook her head at their folly, and her good fortune. She pulled out her taser and flicked it on, ducking out of sight of her door. She was ready for them.

Chapter Text

A few minutes later her patience was rewarded. Someone came to a stop just outside her door. They must have had a lantern, the edges of the light spilled around the bars. She could sense them peering about the room. She wondered if they were truly dumb enough to enter without guessing she was just to the side. But it seemed her luck ended with the discovery she wasn’t stripped of her weapons. A gruff voice met her ears, “Step away from the door. Where I can see you.”

She slipped the taser into her back pocket. Stepping away from the side with her hands raised to show they were empty.

He looked exactly like Pel and the other one, except his hair was black, his eyes an eerie yellow. What chilled her blood was the complete lack of emotion in his expression, just cold, calculating curiosity. If Pel was the passion, the blonde was the fighter, then this one was the intelligence. She felt her hackles raise.

He carefully set the lantern down by his feet, “So you are the one causing all the trouble. Tell me, what was that ruckus just a few moments ago?”

Marianne gave him an innocent look, “What ruckus?”

His lips twisted into a sour expression, “That strange noise! From mere seconds ago. You must have heard it or seen the cause. It was louder the closer I got to this section of the castle.”

She tilted her head, her face still the picture of innocence, “Can you describe this ruckus to me?”

She could see him grind his teeth, even with his helmet obscuring the sides of his jaw.

“I have never heard it’s like. I hesitate to call it this, but it was almost like music. There were instruments, like none I’m familiar with. But I do recognize a beat when I hear it. It was so loud it reverberated down the halls, disrupting the whole palace.” She thought she saw a flicker of amusement, but it was gone too fast to be certain, “Many of the nobles were….upset.”

“Hmmm odd. You would think I would have heard something so loud it vibrated the whole…” she cast a dismissive look around, putting her arms down, “castle as you say. But alas, I heard nothing.”

“I find that hard to believe”

“And yet…you have no other alternative.” She examined her nails, watching him carefully from under her lashes.

He pursed his lips, “It would be wise to cooperate.”

She looked up, quirking a brow, “Would it? Or what? You’ll throw me in jail? Imprison me for made up crimes?” She snapped her fingers, “Oh wait, you’ve already done that.” Marianne leaned forward, continuing in a stage whisper, “I’ll make you the same deal I made the other one. Your brother. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Let me go, give me back what is mine, and I’ll go easy on you. But leave me in here, and I will have no choice but to do things in a way you would find most unpleasant.”

For the first time she saw a flicker of interest in his eyes, “You are in no position to make demands.”

She stood straight, waving her hand dismissively, “Not demands, strong suggestions. But I can see that you aren’t going to take the easy route. I just want the record to show that I attempted to give you an out. What happens next, well that is entirely on you.”

His expression went back to blank, but his eyes were still curious, “You mentioned my brother.”

“Yes. I had the displeasure of meeting him. If memory serves he hit me in the face with some sort of powder, after he had his troops hold me down. I have got to say, as a warrior, not very impressive. Needing a whole battalion of men to take down one mere scrap of a girl. And even then, having to drug her to bring her in. Poor form.”

“I think we both know you are no mere girl. However, if that is how you want to play, I will pretend to believe you. But Mel has always been a buffoon.” His tone was disproving, and Marianne felt her ears twitch in interest.

Marianne squinted, watching him carefully, “You almost look disappointed. Can’t say I blame you, if I had a sibling that inadequate, I’d be embarrassed too.”

He sounded almost wistful, “It’s not that. I was actually hoping you had seen…”

Marianne kept her expression neutral, not trusting this seemingly vulnerable side to him. She decided to opt for ignorance.

“Someone else? Don’t tell me there’s another one of you out there. A whole genetic set of asshole fairies. Surely life isn’t that unfair.”

He was watching her just as carefully as she was watching him, “Oh but it is. My brothers and I are the three most trusted guards of the King. We’re triplets.”

Mariannes tone was bone dry, “A high honor I’m sure. So what do they call you?”

“I am Kel.”

Marianne pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, “So you’re Kel, one brother is Mel, and what’s the third mystery brother’s name?”

“Pel”

She couldn’t help it, she laughed, “Kel, Mel, and Pel huh? Okay. Your parents are hilarious.”

He didn’t appear amused, “And what is your name?”

She bit her cheek to stifle her laughter, deciding against giving him a fake name at once. Her instincts were telling her lies would do more harm than good here. She opted for over enunciating, “Merry-Anne”

“And where do you come from Merry-Anne?”

She shrugged, finally able to stifle her giggles, “Nowhere you’ve ever heard of.”

He folded his arms across his chest, “Try me.”

“It’s a place called Aoindra.”

“And how do you get to this Aoindra?”

She shrugged again, “I honestly have no clue. I don’t even know really how I got here. Let alone go back there.” She couldn’t stop the shadowy look from crossing her features, or the urge to wrap her arms around herself. She got lost in thought for a moment before turning her bleak eyes on him, “I know right now we are enemies, but trust me, you don’t want to go there.”

She was satisfied to see him suppress a shudder. She knew in the dim glow from the lantern her own eyes would be gleaming and flickering with that strange light they acquired since she’s been here.

He seemed to accept that answer, and pushed on, “Are there more like you?”

She furrowed her brow in mock confusion, “Yes there are lots of women were I’m from. Roughly half the population in fact. However, I haven’t seen any around these parts, the real question is are there more like me here. I didn’t see one lady guard at all in your little hunting party. I haven’t seen any lady fairies at all.” She raised her brows, “Are you an mono-gendered race?”

“Combat is no place for a female. Ours know their place, which is in safely away from fighting of any sort. They are too excitable. The King showed us the error of our ways.”

Marianne froze at his words, her eyes narrowing, “Is that so?”

“It is. Besides, they are physically weaker anyway. What use would they even be in combat?”

“Interesting. So interesting. Care to test that theory? Your best warrior against me?”

He laughed, “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She scowled, fingers itching to wipe the smirk from his lips, “Funny, your brother didn’t share that sentiment when he bashed my face into the door.”

He stopped laughing, taking a closer look at her face, “He did no such thing.”

Marianne was glad to still be wearing the heavy make up, coating her from the nose up, but her features should still be obviously swollen, even through the black paint, “Of course he did.” She stepped aside and pointed to the small puddles of her blood on the floor, “There’s your evidence right there.”

Kel chewed his lip, “He should not have done that. The King was clear. He felt you and us have gotten off on the wrong foot. He wanted to try a fresh start.”

Marianne raised a brow, “By hunting me down? Then throwing me in a cage? That was his idea of a fresh start? Serious question: Is he insane?”

He stabbed an arm toward her cell, his tone hinting that he thought she was being unreasonable, “This is our nicest cell!”

”BUT IT’S STILL A DUNGEON!!” She threw her arms in the air. “What did you expect?! He’s an idiot if he thinks putting me in a cage with a what?” She gestured angrily at the flower, “A nicer bed? A prettier flower? than the other cages is going to do anything other than piss me off.”

“King Roland is not an idiot!”

“Well he’s certainly not smart. Please, when you report back, give him this message.” She flipped off Kel.

He gave her a blank look, “I do not know what that means. What is the significance?”

Marianne was glad the black paint covered her cheeks, she could feel herself blush at her mistake. “Oh sorry. I sometimes forgot there’s a cultural difference. It means tell him to go fuck himself.”

Kel’s head reeled back as if struck, “You would dare…?!”

Marianne marched up to the door, and Kel actually took a step away, “Oh enough with the outrage already. I dare. I’m not afraid of your so-called King. There is no misunderstanding. I know exactly the sort of man he is. We will never be on good terms. Now begone. I believe you have a message to deliver. And I have a cell to escape from.”

He regarded her thoughtfully, his own face carefully blank again, but there was something in his expression. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but maybe she wouldn’t write off Kel as a lost cause just yet.

“You won’t be able to escape, no one ever has before.”

Marianne put her arm up to her mouth and made a rude noise against her skin and started looking around the cell again, mostly for show. She knew her best bet was the door, which she hadn’t had time to examine yet. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Kel and would have sworn she saw his mouth twitch.

When it was clear she was no longer interested in conversation he turned and walked away, quickly out of sight of her door, leaving his lantern behind. She rushed forward, eager to examine the door for weaknesses.

The whole thing was metal, and unlike the Goblins that used gravity to keep their prisoners trapped, the Fairies used locks. The hinges were welded together. She nibbled her lip, deep in thought. She wondered if she would be able to pick the locks?

Marianne slowly reached down to pull out the daggers while she contemplated the lock when she heard booted feet coming down the hall. She hopped back a pace, keeping herself out of arms reach of the door and waited for whoever it was to come into view. She examined her nails in an attempt to look nonchalant.

She did not have to wait long as an armored fairy she did not recognize came into view. She raised her brows but said nothing, curious as to why he was here. It had not even been 2 minutes since the other guy left. But he just turned around and took up post by her door.

Realization dawned. He was a guard. They had stationed a guard at the door. Probably under Kel’s orders. She knew she should be more upset, but it really felt nice in a bizarre way that someone was taking her seriously. For once. It was exhausting being treated like an angry kitten all the time, no matter how handy it was that people constantly underestimated her. She chewed her lip, but this would admittedly make her job harder.

“Hey you, guard. What’s your name?” She could tell he heard her because he momentarily froze, but other than that he made no indication he had. She narrowed her eyes, he was under orders not to speak to her. Or he was scared of her. “Fine, be rude. Don’t answer a Lady when she asks a direct question.”

She tilted her head, but he still didn’t acknowledge her. “Could it be you aren’t talking because you are scared off little old me?” She faintly heard a snort and his head twitched a bit in obvious amusement. Okay, so the fool wasn’t scared of her. It had to be direct orders not to talk to her. She could work with that.

She silently crept closer to the door for a closer inspection of this fairy. He was completely encased from head to toe in that armor. From when he came into view she new that even his face was completely protected. By metal.

She bit her lip hard to keep in the growl. If she still had her fire it would be child’s play to cook him in his metal suit. It was like these guards were tailor made for her to fight. She judged the distance between them, the guard was standing just out of reach. But he was already swaying. All that metal had to be heavy, and she knew these fairies were weak from what the goblins had told her. All she had to do was wait him out.

She silently sighed, patience was never her strong suit. And waiting quietly just made her thoughts race with wondering if Dawn had made it safely back to the castle, if her allies were setting the plan in motion, if they were ready to act and waiting on her. And worried that Bog hadn’t gotten her message and was still trapped, alone and helpless somewhere in this stupid rock they thought was fancy.

She struggled to stay silent as she waited. Her nerves were shredding her insides simultaneously with being as bored as she had ever been in her life. How long had she been waiting? 10 minutes? 5? An hour? But her patience was rewarded. The fairy shifted ever so slightly to lean briefly on the corner by her door. Marianne sprang, ready for him.

She grabbed the back collar of his armor and yanked back with all her strength, pulling out her taser with the other. He hit the door with a clang like a bomb going off but she did not care. She let go of him and with her other hand tased him where his neck was exposed between his helmet and chest piece for good measure. His body spasmed, more than she had ever seen with all that metal acting as a conductor to every limb and he slumped wordlessly to the ground.

Not wasting any time she slipped the daggers free of her boots, twisting one into the proper shape, and set about picking the lock on the door. She almost had it when she heard someone else approaching. She cursed and kept at it, hoping she was done by the time they came into view. She couldn’t afford to start over again, the longer she was in this cell the more likely it was that someone would come for her. And she wasn’t ready to face Roland yet. Emotionally or physically.

She was almost there when the sounds of approach grew louder. The glow was getting brighter. She stuck out her tongue….almost….there…..

And she heard a deep chuckle as the person came around the corner and almost dropped her daggers.

Bog.

Her brain short circuited for a few heartbeats. Bog was here. Bog was standing outside her cell. With a blue floaty woman. He was free. And standing there. Giving her that smirk that made her insides turn to jelly and she couldn’t even throw herself into his arms because of this blasted door.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this Tough Girl”

Her toes curled in her boots, his voice was even better than she remembered.

“What is it with the men in this world throwing me in jail? Be honest, it’s because I’m too cute right? Not fair to everyone else?”

He laughed, the motion moving his arms. Her eyes were drawn down to the tinkling of metal, to see a ring of keys in his hand. He noticed her gaze, smirking again and holding them up, “Need a hand?”

She scowled at him, concentrating on her lock again, “Don’t you even dare. I am here to rescue you. I can’t have you letting me out when I’ve come all this way. Not in the home stretch.”

He shook his head, “Stubborn as ever. Just let me help” He took a step nearer to the door, singling out the first key to try. “Bog Ulysses King, do not take….another…step..” He paused, putting his arms down, an incredulous look on his face, “Is that what you think my name is?”

“Of course not. But it distracted you long enough to do this,” as the lock clicked. Marianne jumped up with a triumphant expression on her face, “HA HA I TOLD YOU I’D DO IT!” She frowned down at her daggers, one was twisted and ruined from her ministrations, the other was fine. She threw the ruined one on the ground and slipped the other back into her boot as she stood up, kicking open the door.

Bog and the odd blue woman were frozen in surprise. Bog was the first to recover, as the small brunette barreled toward him.

Marianne launched herself at Bog, jumping up into his arms. He caught her and cradled her to his chest, taking a deep inhale of her hair. Marianne buried her face in his neck, not caring his scales scraped slightly at her cheek. She pulled back after a few moments to look up at him. He pulled back and met her gaze, and she gave him a watery smile, her voice a whisper, “I was so worried about you”

His expression softened, “I knew you’d come for me.” He raised a brow, “Finding you in jail was a surprise though. I thought you’d kick open the front door and demand my release.”

She giggled, “That was my original plan. Turns out, it’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Tell me later.” And he closed the distance left, pressing his lips to hers. Marianne sighed happily, returning the kiss. Step 1 and 2 were completed. Bog was safe.

The blue woman apparently had no idea how monumental this moment was because she fluttered closer, twisting her hands nervously, “Knock it off you two. Someone could come around the corner at any moment. We need to get out of this place. And far away from here.”

Marianne pulled away with a growl, wiggling out of his embrace, “You’re right. But it’s not so simple.”

Bog looked disappointed at her pulling away out of his arms, and sighed deeply, “It never is with you Tough Girl.” He shook his head and gave her a rueful smile.

She gave him one back, “Well you know what they say, nothing good in life comes easy.”

“Who says that? I’ve never heard that saying”

“I dunno, people. People say that. Anyway, your floaty friend is right. We need to get out of the open and let me fill you in on what’s been going on since you’ve been captured.” She pursed her lips before continuing, “It’s kind of… a lot. So we better get a move on.”

She looked both ways down the hall, “Any idea which way would be best to avoid patrols?”

He glanced back the way he came, “That way was mostly cells. No good places to duck into.” He glanced at Plum, “Oh, Plum, this is Marianne, Marianne, this is Sugar Plum Fairy.”

Marianne looked back at Plum to give her a smile and a small wave, startled to find the odd blue woman floating right in her face. Plum tilted her head, scrutinizing her. Marianne had the uncanny feeling that Plum could see everything.

Bog turned to look when Plum didn’t say anything to Marianne. He was surprised to find her in Marianne’s face, peering into her eyes. Marianne seemed frozen in place, her eyes wide.

Suddenly Plum laughed and clapped her hands, “Oh…this is great. He has no idea what he’s done. Oh that foolish foolish man.” She grew a fraction brighter herself, and seemed to perk up. “This way you two. My workshop is down this way. We can break in and fortify ourselves with some of my concoctions.” She headed determinedly in the opposite direction she showed up in, looking over her shoulder, “And Bog, you’re really going to want to hear this.”

She turned the corner. Marianne blinked and gave Bog a confused look, he shrugged, “At least she’s back to her normal cryptic self. We’d best follow her.” He tentatively reached out, still not fully believing Marianne was here and in his grasp. He grabbed her hand, about to pull her after Plum when he really looked at her. She had her warpaint on and now that he was paying closer attention, something was off. She still glowed, but not brightly.

He blinked, voice a guttural growl, “Marianne, why are you so dull? And why is your face swollen?”

A look of venom crossed her face, “It’s a long story.”

He was about to demand she tell it when Plum poked her head back around the corner, hissing at them, “Hurry up! We don’t have much time!”

Marianne gripped Bog’s hand back tightly, “I’ll tell you once we get to our destination. It’s kind of a long story. One you aren’t going to like.”

He didn’t like it but she was right. He chewed his lip, whoever had laid a hand on her would pay. Oh would they pay.

Chapter Text

Bog sat down on the stool hard. He put a hand up to his head, scrubbing it down his face. He started muttering to himself in another language and his eyes got a far off look.

They were in Plum’s workshop, having made it without incident. Unlike the cells, the door was wood, with a padlock on it. Bog easily smashed it off with one of the wall lanterns. Marianne had been absorbing them along the way, hoping to regain a glimmer of her full power. She needed to find a way outside, hoping the unfiltered light of the sun or moon would trigger another power awakening.

The odd woman in question was flitting around the room, also talking to herself as she sorted potions and powders into two different piles. She kept throwing a few ingredients into a cauldron.

Now wary of potions, Marianne kept her distance. She had immediately begun to fill Bog in, Plum half listening. Every now and then Plum would nod or laugh. At one point hissing, but mostly focused on gathering things from her shop. Now that she didn't have a yoke around her neck she seemed hellbent on getting quite the ammunition collection together for the upcoming fight.

But Bog was riveted. He was the perfect audience and if it had just been a story and not her real life, she would have loved telling him. He scarcely moved, reacting at the right parts. At one point he reached out and clutched her, she thought he was going to yank her to him but after squeezing her shoulders he released her, tucking his hands under his arms so it wouldn’t happen again. He did not want to distract her from her tale. It wasn’t until she got to the part of where this world’s Marian drew her here that he sat down on the stool.

Marianne paused to give it a moment to sink in. Shortly he waved her on with the hand not currently covering his face. When she got to the part about the state of the Fairy Kingdom and the Freedom Fighters he removed his hand, casting a guilty eye over toward Plum. Eventually, Marianne came to the end, finishing with how she had promised to help kill Roland, since it was her destiny and all. She plucked at her fingernails, nervous about his reactions.

But he just reached out, covering her hands with his own and gently drew her to him. He cradled her against his chest to rock her back and forth. Marianne sunk into him, soaking up the comfort. After a moment she felt his lips brush her hair, “I know I said it before, but you certainly have a knack for finding trouble Tough Girl.”

He sighed, “But I hear nothing good comes easy, and if this is something you have to do, I am ever at your service.”

She grinned against his chest, hugging him tighter, “See I told you people say that.” She regrettably pulled away, blinking away her suddenly damp eyes.

He smiled at her, “Your war paint is smudged TG.”

She stuck out her tongue, “Better fix it then. I don’t want these mooks finding out the ace up my sleeve just yet. 50 credits say they are superstitious.”

He gave her a thoughtful look as she pulled out her mirror from her pocket and redistributed the black paint around her face. It was holding up surprisingly well, smudginess aside.

“Ahm not gonna ask what a credit is. So what IS your plan?”

Marianne tucked the mirror back into her pocket, “Honestly I didn’t think I’d get this far so soon and I don’t think my luck is going to hold out. I figure enough time has passed that our allies will be in place. I’m kind of hoping I can just stumble upon Roland’s bedroom and behead him in his sleep. But I’m guessing by now they've discovered we’ve all escaped. Well if they haven’t then they will soon. So the castle will be on high alert.”

She looked up at him regretfully, “I think our best bet is going to be to split up. I think I’ll send you and Plum out to rendezvous with the troops, while I stay here and try to find the head of the snake. To cut it off.”

He stood up, wings rattling, to tower over her, “If you think for one moment I am going to leave you here with that…that beast in charge and hunting for you, you must have been hit in the head harder than you thought.”

She put her hands on her hips, and the weak fluttering in her arms instead of them erupting into flames just made her madder. None of this was how she imagined anything to be. “Listen here you, that kingly voice may make your subjects cower, but don’t you dare use it on me. And are you forgetting? I was loose in your castle for weeks before I let myself be captured. If you think I can’t handle a few measly hours in this,” she cast the room a dirty glance, gesturing to the whole rock vaguely, “rock pile with these assholes you are underestimating me.”

He glowered down at her, tone quieter but with no less steel to it, “I do not like it. I’ve been around them longer than you have. You donna know what they are capable of, what they do.”

She glared back, “Yes I do. Weren’t you listening? I was there Bog, I saw what they did to that poor girl. I know exactly what they are capable of” She gestured angrily toward the walls, “And I’ve been out there. I’ve seen what they are doing to their people. Their subjects. The people who’s back this empire was built on and they treat them like trash. Worse than trash. This is the same way I was treated in my home world. Before they hunted us to extinction. I know what kind of people these fairies are better than you think, and certainly better than you. Which is why I need you and Plum out there, leading the charge, while I work from the inside. Think of the statement that will make, the Goblin King, escaped and coming to end the tyranny. It’ll set the stage for future peace!”

His face lost the anger, and grew stark, “Marianne…” he gently reached out and cupped her cheeks, “Ah donna want to be apart from you when ah just got you back. If anything happened to you….”

She gave him a gentle smile, “You big softie. You’ll never lose me. Don’t you know? I’m self-healing” She closed her eyes in concentration and slowly the swelling in her face went down, “See? Nigh indestructible.”

He didn’t look convinced and she grew serious, “Bog, I’ll be careful, I promise. This whole thing started to get you back with me. And I won’t rest until I do just that. You and I can retire to the Dark Forest and live happily ever after.” She bit her lip before continuing, not knowing when she would get another chance, and hating that she might not, “Also, you should know, the goblins have already accepted me as your consort, whatever that is. They told me. My guess is per your mother’s orders.”

He groaned, “Ah’ll slaughter the lot of them for telling you before ah could even officially ask.”

She gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen, “You were going to ask me to be your consort?”

He gave her an incredulous look, “Of course Ah was! Ah love you Marianne. Ah want you to be with me always. And….less consort more co-ruler/partner.”

She rocketed up on her toes and he came down to crash his lips against hers, murmuring out between kisses, “Does this mean yes?”

She muttered back, “You’re goddamn right it does.”

She was about to take things a step further when a small explosion from the other side of the room startled her into jerking back. She gave Bog a sheepish look, “Seems like this will have to wait until this is all over. Something to fight for, eh?” And winked, slowly extracting herself from his arms and going over to see what Plum was up to. Bog couldn’t keep the silly grin off his face until he also reached Plum’s station.

Marianne eyed the cauldron as if she expected it to come alive and take a snap at her. Plum looked up at them both, eyes glowing, voice singsong “It’s done it’s done it’s done. We’ll use this to get out and to get them.”

Marianne shared a glance with Bog before asking, “What’s done Plum?”

The sprite clapped her hands, “The modifications! I have everything I need here.” She grumbled the last part, “Not enough, someone was dipping into my supplies but it’ll have to do….” She gestured toward some small blue vials, “These are sleeping droughts.” She pointed to some green ones that contained a powder, “These will cause someone to forget what is happening, I think only temporarily. Not sure, not enough testing. So if we get caught just throw it in someone’s face and take off. You have approximately 5 minutes before they return to normal. In theory. Maybe.”

She nodded toward the red ones, “When thrown down those will create a minor explosion and release a lot of smoke. Especially good if you need to set fire to something.”

Her face practically glowed when she got to the last vials, a deep deep purple, almost black, with something swirling inside. The vials almost looked like shadows that had come alive. As she got more excited her speech got choppier, “And these are antidotes. To the obedience potion. Few key people in the castle are soon to be targeted. King already under spell.” She handed a few of them to Marianne, “Take with you. Just in case. Put them in those great pockets.” Marianne grabbed a handful and slipped them into one of her outside compartments on her jacket, zipping it up securely.

Marianne bit her cheek and looked up at Plum, “What did they hit me with? Out in the field. I couldn’t see what color it was, but it knocked me out and ….walled away my abilities. Drained them? Something, I don’t know.”

Plum looked like she was waiting for Marianne to ask this very question and zoomed over to her, causing the short woman to back up until she ran into Bog.

Plum came closer still, looking hard into Marianne’s eyes. She reached out and opened one wider, before tilting Marianne’s head back and opening her mouth, examining her teeth. She pulled back and patted her cheeks, before turning her head and looking in her ear.

Marianne shared a confused look with Bog, who just shrugged, “Umm Plum? Is this really necessary?”

Plum had picked up one of Marianne’s hands and was holding it up to her ear, like she was trying to hear the ocean in it.

The sprite looked up at her, “Yes, very necessary.” She yanked up one of Marianne’s sleeves and was tracing the fire moving lazily across her arm. She ministered the same treatment to the other arm. “Have they always been like this?”

Marianne shook her head, “They were, back in my home world. When I came here they were for the first month. But the first time I stepped into the sun…”, she nodded to her left arm, “this one came alive.” She smiled at her right arm, “And this one the first time I was under the moon.”

Plum hummed, “Yes yes the explosion. That explains it. Uncontrollable. Many hurt in blast from trying to get close to it. Fools.”

Marianne hung her head, “I didn’t mean to.”

Plum shook her head so hard her ears flapped, her words so fast they were almost hard to decipher, “Misunderstand. You didn’t grow with your powers. You grew then had them thrust on you. Unable to control because nothing to control before, no concept. Risk. Should have been a better way.” She sighed, “Your people should have never left.”

Marianne’s head snapped up, “Left?! What do you mean left?!”

Plum went on, unconcerned with the fact she had just rocked Marianne’s world off kilter, “Many ages ago Vestai live in this world. Keep peace. Guardians. Soon they discovered other worlds layered with ours. Figured out how to use power to open gateway. Set off to explore other worlds. Peace here and wanted to bring peace to others. Best guess, based on what you say about your home, they ran out of a power source. Became trapped there. Slowly died off. Hunted for natural resources.” She patted Marianne’s shoulder, “Bet old world soon dies and collapses if that bad. Restart, life begins anew. You’re well out of it, forget that place.”

Marianne’s head was spinning, how did this crazy blue woman know all this? What even the hell were sprites?? Was that supposed to be comforting in any way??? “Umm, how do you…? What….?”

Plum waved away her question, continuing to examine her, now apparently measuring her hips with her hands. Marianne thought she’d try to take off her pants and boots next but she stopped and floated back.

Plum looked up, capturing her eyes with hers in an unblinking gaze, “Sprites are…were…complicated. But we were always here. We were…helpers of a sort. Recorders of history. Researchers. Not really involved unless a nudge was needed here or there, maybe with a certain potion. When the Vestai left, things were fine, for a time. But soon the balance of power shifted, and things slowly became what you see now. There used to be many, but…just started fading. No one knows why. Or how to stop it. I was the last, and I was starting to, I could feel bonds to this world weakening, and I was ready for it. This place is too twisted and cruel, I thought beyond redemption. I was ready to fade from this reality. When suddenly, the Princess died, you were drawn here, and my reality was reinforced. The fade stopped, and reversed. I had no idea why at the time, not knowing you were brought back, until the rumors trickled down to my cell about a mysterious purple woman who commanded fire. And even then I didn’t believe. Couldn’t afford to believe.”

Her large eyes shifted to Bog, then back to Marianne’s spellbound ones, “When Bog was captured, I thought that was it. There would be no one left to stop the Mad King, and I was powerless to do anything. And I wasn’t even fading anymore to escape. With me gone, at least that tyrant couldn't get more of his vile supply of obedience. But Bog talked me into escaping. Said help was on the way. And here you are.” She squeezed her gently, “Did not believe until proof right here. You will prevail.”

Marianne shook her head, it was too much, for a few painful heartbeats she felt the weight of the world crushing her again, and she sagged against Bog. She was just one person, how was she going to accomplish all this? His arms came up and he gently put his hands on her shoulders, applying a little pressure. His voice was a whisper, “You got this Tough Girl. And I’m with you all the way.” She closed her eyes and leaned back, soaking up his support. Her spine got a little straighter.

“Why didn’t my people take yours with them?”

Plum shrugged, “Can’t. This world, first. We are tethered here, where magic is the strongest. Could not leave. Other worlds only echoes. Maybe another out there, but too far. Couldn’t go.”

Marianne rubbed her temples, she thought she understood, but it was making her head ache. The implications….and they did not have time to dwell on the implications.

Plum was tapping a finger against her chin for a few moments with a faraway look, deep in thought, unseeing anything in front of her, before focusing again on Marianne. With the shift in demeanor she appeared to have forgotten the bomb she just dropped on Marianne, “I think I know what happened. Someone was in here, messing around. Appears they were trying to amp up the obedience potion, most likely for you. But I don’t label ingredients. Recognize on sight and auras. Also trained. Anyway, didn’t account for your….your… what is word,” she snapped her fingers, “Makeup. Your makeup. Didn’t factor in that it’d be different. Instead of making you obedient, knocked you out. Isolated you from…” She gestured toward her arms.

Marianne nodded, she thought she followed. Plum talked fast and skipped words, but the gist of it seemed to be she should be glad she woke up unable to burn the place down, rather than under the control of any one of these maniacs.

“Okay, good to know. So will one of these antidotes….?” she fingered the zipper on her pocket

Plum shook her head hard, “No, no telling what effect it would have on you. Don’t risk. Best bet would be to find source naturally. Go from there. Or wait for effects to wear off. Antidote never tested because made without King’s knowing. Besides, obedience didn’t work, cure not work.”

Marianne grit her teeth, why was nothing ever easy? But they needed to get a move on, they couldn’t hide in this place forever, “Well, is there a secret entrance around here that one of you happens to know about?” Both companions shook their heads. Marianne tapped her fingers quickly against her leg, “We need to find a way out of here. Since both of you can fly, it could potentially be a window….” She trailed off, it occurred to her that Plum glowed, much like she did. “Ok maybe not night. Ugh I don’t know. I was unconscious when they brought me in.”

She looked up at Bog, “You remember the way out?”

He shook his head, “I was unconscious too.”

Her fingers against her thighs sped up, “It appears to be that we are winging it and hoping for the best. Much like we’ve done so far.”

She turned abruptly to Plum, “Unless you happen to know a way out? Surely they did not render you unconscious every time they moved you. It doesn’t even have to be a door, since you two are capable of flying out, it can be the nearest window.”

Plum chewed her lip, for the first time since Marianne had met her she looked nervous, “I think I may know the way. But…what if we run into someone? If we get caught?”

Marianne swept her eyes around the room, there was not really too much that could be used in the way of an obvious weapon.

“We will trust in your potions. And I may not be able to roast anyone, but I’m still pretty strong. And hard as hell to take down in a fight. Bog has strength and reach on these clowns.” She patted her jacket, “And I may have one or two tricks up my sleeve yet.”

She crossed to the door, pressing her ear up to it, hearing nothing she pulled it open and glanced around. All quiet.

She opened it wider and gestured to the others to follow. Not knowing which way, she took her best guess, aiming for the opposite way they had come. At least she was used to navigating strange buildings, and had developed a sense of direction for such things.

Their luck held out a little bit longer. Marianne could tell they were heading upwards, her heart beating a little bit wilder at the prospect of getting to the sun.

From far away they heard the echo of a shout, and what sounded like someone running full tilt with armor, or rather, flying. The clanking was evident this far away, the noise must have been unbearable closer to the source.

It served to put a little more oomph into their movements, which must not have been fast enough for Bog’s taste because he scooped her up and motioned Plum, and they sped down the hall at a much quicker pace. Relatively silently too, thanks to Plum’s floating ability and the low thrum of Bog’s wings.

The halls were getting steadily lighter, which at least meant day, and they finally came to an opening. Bog set her down and she rushed to the window, then swore. It was cloudy out. Of course it was fucking cloudy out. Now she would have to do all this the harder way.

The dirty look was still on her face when she turned around, to see Bog eyeing her like he was thinking the same thing, but also like he was going to grab her and zoom out the window. She skipped back into the wall and put her arms up, “Don’t you dare. I’m staying and that’s final”

He opened his mouth, but the look on her face must have stopped him. Plum was twisting her hands nervously, gaze darting around. He settled for a curt nod.

Marianne gave him a look that conveyed “I love you but I’m staying and if you try to take me with you I’ll clock you one”

He ushered Plum out the window, swooping in to kiss Marianne one last time before he followed her out, “We’ll be back as soon as we can Tough Girl,” his blue eyes turned pleading, before he used the King voice again, “Stay alive until we do.”

She gave him a salute, “Go to the Elf Village, they’ll tell you where to go. You should make it there to find out where the forces are with plenty of time to spare,” and they were gone.

She allowed herself one moment of crushing panic, before straightening up and turning from the window, determined to find her way.