The man lead them through all sorts of crazy tunnels and stairs that Wefios could barely get down and windows that seemed to take up the entire wall and showed a place like she never saw before. The fairy was tempted to stop and look at all the shiny buildings that leapt up toward the window like they had legs of their own. Buildings with legs! The idea was funny enough that she giggled despite the fact that Wefios was haltered and being lead like an idiot. That thought sobered her again and she scampered to his side telling him how sorry she was for looking and that she didn't mean to leave him. The mule only grunted in annoyance and planned all the ways that he would rip this man apart when they were free. The omni was too strong to think about hurting but it was pleasant to imagine him with the halter-holder being ripped to pieces even if he could heal himself or disappear or whatever a fairy that could so easily rip holes between worlds could do. Special healing couldn't do much to stop an eternity of torment. Yes, that was the ticket, eternal torture. The familiar took great care to hide these thoughts from his fairy. It would not do for his gentle Ree to know that he thought suck things, nor for her to start thinking them.
Finally they reached a door. The fairy leading them muttered to himself before tapping the side of it. Ree took great interest in what he was doing because it looked like he was just hitting something with squares but the squares lit up and made a noise when enough were pushed that made her even more excited. It was a special magic square! The fairy crowded against him to poke at it herself but her hand was batted away by the fairy before she even got to touch it. With a hmph she went back to Wefios' side and stared at the fairy until the door opened for them. It was outside but it was... different. There was no grass! There wasn't anything but hard stone that she had never seen before. The fairy-man urged them outside and she hesitantly stepped on the new stone to make sure it wasn't a trap for Wefios if he dared to step outside. Nothing happened to her but he was much bigger so she jumped a little and from block to block but nothing happened so she let him know he could stop being as stubborn as always and walk on it as long as the fairy-man walked in front of him just to make sure.
“Where are you going?” The question was barked so suddenly the fairy had no answer for him. “C'mon, tell me where you're going. They'll look for you soon. Why the hell did you have to use magic on Earth?” The fairy was almost angry now. He would have to do so much after this just to be able to keep himself out of a cell for letting her free. Should I tell him Wefios? He had gotten them out of the room but the red-head still wasn't certain whether or not she could trust him. The others had seemed nice but then they'd bumped her on the head really hard and given her to him so he was probably in league with them and would take her to another box. She stared really hard at him and the halter rope he held and huffed when Wefios made no comment on whether or not she should tell him.
“How do I know you won't hit me over the head too? They hit me over the head and then you captured me. You're probably with them! Take the halter off Wefios now! You... you... monster! I'm not telling you!” This turned into a tantrum so complete that even Wefios looked impressed by it. The red-head stomped her feet and waved her arms and looked as though she might at any moment throw herself down and start wildly kicking at the floor. The man looked at her as one would watch a child until she stopped and then repeated his question in a more even tone. That alone made the fairy believe that she hated him more than anything. He wouldn't leave them alone! And he wouldn't take the halter off Wefis, just stood there holding the rope and staring at them like nothing she said mattered to him. No matter how much she stomped and yelled at him he just stood there and watched her until she muttered that they were going to Versailles. Wefios looked up at her with his ears back and a tug at the rope that held him in place but he continued to not say anything to her. He was angry, she knew that, but why wouldn't he talk to her? He must be angry at her. He must hate her for bringing him here. It wasn't her fault the omni-man had sent them here! He had never minded before, either.
The fairy-man was saying something but she paid no attention to him as she cuddled against her familiar and sent happy thoughts to him and tried to make him not-angry at her. The girl even went so far as to pull at the harness on his head until her familiar shifted his head in agitation as it was tightened further. It was a weird material and stayed together strangely and she almost wept when she realized how much it must bother him that it wasn't even something familiar feeling and that she couldn't figure out how to take it off of him. “Take it off him! I don't care what you want after that, just take it off him now!” He rolled his eyes when she interrupted him and muttered something beneath his breath before unbuckling it and pulling it off. Wefios huffed and snorted and shook his head in relief but made no motion toward the man. Not yet. Not while his fairy was here.
“Now will you listen? I can get you to Versailles. You have to listen very carefully though No more outbursts, no more screaming. I doubt you know Earth geography but you're in Italy. You were taken by them when they tried to transport you; you're much too valuable to be left in the hands of the nomads. Earth does not take well to fairies of any sort, especially fairies that manage to kill or nearly kill an entire group without a single weapon. They'd use you for war, spying... anything they could thing of as long as they got rid of your familiar first. So if you want to stay together you do what I say and stop fighting me. You,” and he pointed at Wefios, “are lucky you didn't speak. They'd never have left you together then. Playing dumb animal is undignified, but it'll keep you alive and with her. That includes a halter where people can see and traveling in a trailer rather than with your fairy. For your part you,” and here he gestured to Reece, “will have to hide your wings and magic. No more killing people with crystals, no more handing rubies big enough that no one can explain it. Now let's go, they'll be looking for you.”
His speech ended the man turned and strode away. After a brief look at each other the two followed him warily. It was better than staying here and he was the only person that spoke anything they understood. Or why Wefios wearing a halter was so unbearable. That didn't make Wefios love him any more but he recognized that this man could help him. After that... well, after that whatever came could happen and he would not worry himself with the thought of bad things happening to the wretched fairy that had dared to halter him. |
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