A Rational Magic || ONC2022

Fifteen || Project: MALIS

Lani looked ill.

And I honestly couldn't work out why.

As the various fairies and elves began arguing amongst themselves as to what the best plan of action was, she stood up and fixed her gaze on something outside that I couldn't see.

"What is it?"

"Person, I think," she said stiffly. "Uh, fairy, with more standard little-girl-story wings, I think... oh, wait, one, two, three... uh. Four, and five, six, seven..."

"Is it—?"

"All men, I think, there's one fairy, and that is a child... oh!"

"What is happening?"

And, in typical Lani fashion, she just whirls round to grab my sleeve before dragging me out of the room.

"Lani!"

She won't say a word, even as she fumbles with the lock on the door leading to the site of my crash-landing and pulling me outside with her. Into the blackness.

When the door closes, I can't see a thing, and Lani lets go of me at this point, because of course she does. I think she's fidgeting, since I can hear a foot tapping, but given the fact that she apparently saw nine people in the square... seven men, one fairy, one child... it could be anyone making the sound.

Then she curses, which is incredibly unlike her, and mutters 'one, two, three...?' to herself — I assume, at least, because whatever she's seeing is a mystery.

"Took you lot long enough."

The voice is strange. It's hovering somewhere in the in-between of male and female, deep and somewhat sweet in a dark way.

This is the fairy. It just has to be.

"This one's been difficult," one of the men says with a cold laugh, and someone almost cries out. A boy, if I really had to guess. Someone's probably covering his mouth. "Kerrigan had him a few weeks back, but the little brat has a couple of friends in Terrenfell from the sound of things. They saved him, and now he's locked up."

Kerrigan?

Don't we know...?

There's no way.

"Ah, well. You have him now."

I tune out what the fairy's saying very quickly after that, suddenly thinking about the time when Ivy and her friends — while quote, unquote 'babysitting' us when we were seven or so — decided to watch some horror movie or other and forgot to force us out of the room.

If I remember correctly, there'd been a plot element of the standard 'sacrifice a girl' type (standard according to Ivy, at least) which seemed horribly similar in some parts to this situation. Was there some kind of curse that required the sacrifice of a child to... initiate? Was that a thing at all? Did Lani have any more clue what was going on than I did?

Hopefully she did.

I didn't even know what any of these people looked like.

"Lani."

No answer.

I took a careful step forwards, trying not to be too loud, trying not to draw any attention to myself. It was clear that the people in the square couldn't see us, since nobody had grabbed me yet, since Lani hadn't screamed yet... but how can I really be sure?

"Lani? Where are you?"

I can't speak any louder than a whisper, little more than a ghostly breath in the silent air of the city, but a hand settles on my shoulder anyway.

"Shut up."

Well. That is not Lani, since the speaker sounds male. And unfamiliar.

"Now, where is that child of yours?" the man who mentioned Kerrigan asks, and the hand on my shoulder stiffens for a fraction of a second.

Guess I might know where he is.

"Stay here," he whispers. "Your sister could be fine if they catch her, but you need to stay put. Fighting blind isn't easy."

And then he's walking away, presumably towards the group, and I can't help but question everything that just happened.

So I do.

I end up sitting there, somewhere near the edges of the square, ignoring the conversation, and just trying to work out how I got into this mess.

Every time, it swings back to Lani.

~|•

"Anya?"

I don't answer her immediately, mostly so she understands that I am not happy about her abandoning me in the dark, and for once she understands.

"Sorry, sis, I didn't think. Never do, really, do I? Here, we're alone. We're safe. Can you see anything now?"

It's not light, not by any stretch of the imagination, and my glasses are long-lost, but I can make out a blurry Lani. Which is better than nothing.

"Better than before."

"Well, yeah, you've lost your glasses. D'you think we could find some shop for them or something here? I feel like a half-blind hero is a rather useless hero..."

"Lani, shut your mouth," I sigh, standing up and trying my hardest to look her in the eye — though I think I ended up squinting at her left eyebrow for a moment. "I hope you paid attention to that, because I didn't."

"Project: MALIS," she says slowly, slipping something into my pocket. "It's awful. They're planning to destroy Azaevelum, Anya, and we're... involved."

"I'd never have guessed."

"Who do you think the 'brat's friends' are?" Lani asked.

"Us...? But who... hold on."

Kerrigan.

We have heard that name — or Lani has, and told me afterwards.

"He called the man 'Mr Kerrigan'," she says quietly, enough so that Soren (sitting on my left) doesn't hear. "I didn't get a first name."

And it's falling into place.

Kerrigan had him a few weeks back.

This is what the men we saw on our way to the well were doing.

The little brat has a couple of friends in Terrenfell.

Finding their would-be victim and taking him for real.

They saved him.

That's us.

And 'he' is Mercury.

But what could the boy we saved have to do with destroying the fairy world?