Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
The pub was filled with Pirates, Unwanteds, and the secret group of rebels calling themselves the Circle. It was an odd mix to say the least. Hiro Fujimori studied their new allies with interest.
He'd known who the people in the Circle were, but Hiro had not had any idea that they were actually a secret organization bent on destroying the false King, Girard O'Daire. In the manga, they'd been friends who liked to share drinks and party. Only Herrick Henderson and Gabriel Evans had really been featured prominently in the anime, and Herrick was mostly portrayed as supplying weapons to anyone willing to pay a high enough price. Hiro had never suspected he was part of such a grand scheme. Everyone else had played minor parts, mostly only popping up when Flynn Westford was out drinking.
Suddenly, someone moved at impossible speed and joined them, snapping Hiro out of his thoughts. "Pour me a shot and fill me in," the hyper girl Hiro recognized said to Abaddon Leary, one of the pub's owners and the co-leader of the Circle.
"How the hell did you get in here?" Abaddon demanded.
"I used the portal line, duh." Genevieve replied as she rolled her eyes. "Now hit me."
Abaddon looked like he might take that literally and swing at her, but Alden Cutler calmly grabbed his arm and brought it back down. "Now, Baddie, be nice," he scolded him.
"Who the hell are you?" Abaddon demanded.
"Oh! My bad! I'm Genevieve. I'm here for the party. I never miss a party!" She replied.
"Hear, hear!" Herrick said, pouring her a shot and raising his own glass in a toast. This earned him a big smile from Genevieve.
"How in the hell did you get by our wards?" Abaddon asked.
"Genevieve is a daughter of Hermes," Luna Bretton, the Captain of the Pirates, replied. "And showing up unannounced and uninvited is kind of her thing, but she's on our side. She locked the False King in an inescapable box the last time she was around."
"Is that where he vanished to?" Keith Penn, a sorcerer at the castle who communicated with animals, asked in amusement.
"First vacation I've had in twenty years," Gabriel added with a laugh.
"Hey, guys," a voice said as a much calmer person entered the room.
"Jade!" Jennifer Jarmel, Hiro's girlfriend, cried in surprise. She immediately hugged the young woman. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Did you really think we'd miss the big fight? I didn't help train the five of you just to sit this one out." Jade smiled at her.
"Alright, here's the situation," Abaddon said. "The False King has already killed the innocent, so there's nothing we can do about that one."
"Dante's the ally," Gabriel said. He looked incredibly guilty as he added, "I gave him to the King."
"It's okay, Gabe," Hank Pratt, the liaison between the Kingdom and the Faerie Nation, said. "Zephyr sent help."
"Dante's alive, but barely," Luna explained. "Manny was able to stabilize him, and Lillith is trying to fix the damage the False King did." She paused. "Zephyr's orders got Jamie captured. Hank, you can tell Zephyr if anything happens to Jamie, I will personally remove his head from his body."
"Noted," Hank replied, not bothering to defend him.
"Moving right along, the untouchable is Teenie Choice, the youngest of the Unwanteds. She was captured by Marcus," Cecil Targus, a sorcerer and the other co-leader of the Circle, said.
"Neither Teenie nor Jamie are in the main dungeon," the noble Knight, Charles Rosen, said. "They must be in the hidden one. Unfortunately, I do not possess the spell needed to enter via magic, and this morning, the hatch was sealed with several layers of cement."
"I don't even know that spell," Gabriel said. "Flynn and Marcus are the only allies Girard trusted with it."
"Our dad knows it," Jason Kwan, Hiro's younger brother, replied.
"Yes, as the head Knight, Terros possesses the spell," Lucas Cross, one of the top sorcerers are the castle, agreed.
"I know it as well," Azra Ashwood said. "I can get us in."
"He's probably changed the spell a bit since you were in charge, Azra," Gabriel replied. "I'm sure the changes are minor, but they might make entering difficult."
"I can teleport in and out, but I can only take two people with me at a time," Chris Wilson said.
"Lillith or Mari could open a portal," Sphinx Xavier pointed out. "That would allow everyone to go at the same time."
"Or we could use my tunnel, but that'll take longer, and it involves going through Bitchy Becky's Chamber," Scythe said.
"Some of us will use the tunnel," Dean Duncun said. "We shouldn't all use the same point of entry. We need to cover all of the castle grounds without them seeing us coming."
"He's right," Turner Simon said. "Girard has allies everywhere. We need to cover as much ground as possible before we strike."
"We don't have time to waste," Luna said sharply. "Jamie and the kid are in immediate danger."
"Well, Girard expects Gabriel back shortly. Lucas, Keith, Aaron, and Charles can all return and act like they're just tending to their duties until it's time to join up with us," Herrick said. "That'll get us eyes and ears on the inside."
"But they can't get into the Chamber," Joanna Choice argued. "That won't help Teenie or the Pirate."
"I still say Mari and Lillith are our best bet," Sphinx said.
Trish Choice began fidgeting nervously with her bracelet. Hiro recognized it from several scenes he'd drawn. The youngest Choice sister, Teenie, had made it for her when they were younger. Trish never took it off. Her eyes glazed over then, and Hiro understood what was happening. He knelt in front of her.
"Get away from her," Joanna said sharply.
"She's having a vision," Hiro said.
"I said back off."
"I won't hurt any of you, Joanna. The four of you were like extensions of myself when I wrote the manga... I grew up as an abandoned, unwanted kid, too. I always wished I had a bond like the four of you have to help me through everything. There are evil people in the other realm, too. I understand you girls better than you think." He looked her in the eye, knowing she was reading his mind. After a brief hesitation, Joanna relaxed slightly.
"You really do understand," she said softly.
Trish's eye suddenly focused. "Oh, God... Teenie..." She whispered with tears in her eyes.
"What did you see, Trish?" Hiro asked gently as the eldest Choice sister, Moira, stroked her back soothingly.
"She's defenseless... Sleeping because of the King... And Marcus... Marcus is lurking..."
"We need to go after her now," Joanna said firmly.
"Marcus won't kill her," Turner replied. "It has to be Girard."
"There are worse things that Marcus can do to an unconscious teenage girl than killing her," Hiro said softly. "Joanna's right. We need to rescue her."
"I'll go," Chris volunteered. "I can take Marcus if I catch him by surprise."
"With all due respect, Bogley, we can't risk you," Hank said. "Not knowing who you are to this Kingdom. Your time to fight is coming, but we can't send you in alone. Zephyr's right. You aren't ready for that."
"Screw Zephyr! He sent Jamie on a suicide mission and he doesn't give straight answers. The dude's annoying, which I could have let go, but one of my friends is in mortal danger right now because of him. He can go to hell."
"To be fair, the Fae rarely give straight answers," Hank replied calmly, "but I understand your frustration. I've know Jamie since they were a child. I'm not happy about how Zephyr handled this either, but this isn't about him. It's about protecting you, Bogley."
"Teenie is fourteen, Hank. I don't care about the risk," Chris argued.
"Let the kid go," Abaddon said. "It's worth a shot."
"He's the reincarnation of King Tobias," Hank said bluntly.
Abaddon coughed as he choked slightly on his whisky. "Okay... Never mind," he said after a minute. "Sorry, Bogley. Hank's right. We can't risk you."
There was a knock at the door. "More visitors?" Cecil asked in surprise.
"Alden, go see who it is. If they don't belong here, I'll get rid of them," Abaddon said.
Alden cheerfully walked away. He returned moments later with Manny Beaufort and Mari. Trish squeaked in surprise. Joanna's face turned unreadable. Moira smiled at Manny sadly.
"Hello, Manny," she said softly. "It's good to see you again."
Manny hesitated as he looked at them. "Moira..." He said softly.
She walked over to him and gave him a tight hug. Trish apparently decided to follow her lead, running into his arms.
"Oh, Manny! I missed you!" Trish said as he held her, looking startled.
"Trish? My God, you're all grown up..." Manny mumbled.
"They've captured Teenie," Joanna said coldly. "In case you care."
Manny looked like she'd slapped him. "We'll get her back, Jo," he replied stoically. He gently released Trish into Moira's arms before he walked toward Joanna slowly. "I'm sorry it's been so long... I just..."
"It's fine," Joanna cut him off. "You were grieving. I get it. That's not why we're here."
"I should have tried to keep better track of you girls."
"You didn't owe us anything. We have a mutual enemy now. Let's focus."
"Are you at full power, Manny?" Luna asked, obviously realizing it would be a good idea to change the subject.
"Jason's staring at his abs again, so I'd say yes," Sphinx said with a laugh.
Hiro realized that his brother had, in fact, gone into a bit of a trance. Luna smacked the back of Jason's head lightly. "Snap out of it, Pretty Boy! There's work to do," she said. Hiro could tell she was struggling not to laugh as Jason snapped to attention.
"Right. Sorry," Jason mumbled.
"Happens to the best of us, Kid," Abaddon said with a smirk as he briefly admired Manny's abs himself.
"Guys... Teenie doesn't have much time," Trish said softly. "I can tell my vision's about to come to life."
"Right," Luna said. "We need to rescue Jamie and Teenie immediately. Now, since we've ruled out Chris, it's good that Mari is here... You can get into the dungeon, right?"
"I can... And I've got an idea," Mari replied.
"What is it?"
Mari paused for a moment before she said, "There is someone in my realm who has a connection to Jamie."
"How?" Hiro asked in confusion. "Your realm isn't supposed to be connected to ours."
"Alright, the time for secrets is over, right? Hank... Where did Jamie come from?" Mari asked.
"I don't actually know. Zephyr told me they just appeared one day in the woods, abandoned," Hank replied. "It quickly became clear what their powers were, and that's why no one really wanted to take them in. Zephyr looked out for them, but they were mostly left with the servants to the Faerie Nation's Royal Family, being raised to serve them and constantly being reminded that they needed to behave."
"Zephyr's a liar," Mari said bluntly.
"What do you know that I don't, Mari?" Hank asked. He didn't seem entirely surprised by her statement.
"Jamie isn't from this realm, Hank. They were born in my realm. Our faeries feared their powers would turn them evil, so they cast them out and sent them to you... But they have a brother. He's pure light and the faeries kept him and raised him as a Royal."
"A Royal... Does that mean that Jamie has Royal blood?"
"Their mother was part of my realm's Royal Fae line. She was evil. There's some debate if it's because she was born that way or just went insane from the abuse she suffered in her life, but either way, she used her powers to torture innocent people... The same powers Jamie has. If Jamie's brother has the same powers, he's never shown it. He's gentle and has an affinity for other magic that the faeries approve of."
"Do you think Jamie's brother can help them?" Luna asked.
"Yes, I do... And it just so happens that he lives on my property right now." Mari paused. "You know I come from the same realm as Lillith. The entity you knew as Doe originated in our realm. The evil entity used Doe as a vessel to come into this realm because she can't stay here without one. I believe that our realms are kept separate from each other because that entity wants to make sure no one from our world can mess up her fun when she comes through here, but Lillith and I can travel between the two realms. One of the reasons we can do that is because both of us have portal magic that is almost impossible to block, but I think another is the fact that Jamie is here. That opened up a door between our realms that can't be sealed as long as Jamie remains here."
"Why does Jamie's brother live with you?" Sphinx asked.
"It's complicated, but he and his protector are in hiding. Everyone believes they're dead. I gave them a sanctuary when I realized they needed it."
"How long will it take for you to get them here, Mari?" Hiro asked.
"Give me a couple of hours," Mari replied.
"Teenie might not have a couple of hours," Trish said in despair.
"I'll make sure someone helps keep her safe until I get back." With that, Mari vanished into a portal.
"That girl makes an impressive exit," Cecil said with a nod of approval.
"Okay, so as soon as Mari returns, we'll make our move," Luna decided. "Let's work out the details while we wait."
The others began strategizing. Hiro took a deep breath. This was it. They were about to face Girard and his followers in what he could only think of as the season finale.
Someone always dies in the season finales, he thought. He was determined to ensure that it was Girard.
