Life, Death, and Time - A Books Of Beginning Collection

Oneshot: The Darkness Of Devotion

Background: Heavily AU. Emma was never taken prisoner at the end of The Fire Chronicle, however the Dire Magnus did return and start attacking his enemies. The magical world was deemed unsafe until Dr. Pym and his allies could secure Loris and its resources for good. Meanwhile, the Wibberly siblings are under the care of Gabriel in the human world, hiding for several weeks. More is explained in the oneshot. 

Content: ANGST! Hurt No Comfort. Darkness. Death. Mature Topics. Kate x Rafe/The Dire Magnus. Some vulgarity. Also known as me intending to write a fluff oneshot but then getting this dark as shit idea instead. Read at your own risk. 

Kate wondered how long she could keep pretending that everything was going to be alright. It had been four weeks since she had returned to life and the present, four weeks since the Dire Magnus returned and begun waging war against his enemies. Four weeks since Rourke had attempted to kidnap Emma, only to be stopped by Gabriel at the last moment and being forced to flee. And four weeks since Dr. Pym had sent the children and their loyal protector away, to hide in a flat in the human world, while he and their other friends tried to protect the magical capitol of the world. 

Four weeks, and already she was losing her mind. 

She wasn't an idiot, not by any means, and being sequestered away in the middle of nowhere, after being next to no information other than to stay safe, felt far too much like when Dr. Pym sent them back to Baltimore and Ms. Crumley, then declined to contact them for nearly eight months. She felt ignored and patronized and paranoid all at once, and she knew Michael and Emma were taking things even worse. Dr. Pym said that as the keepers of the books of beginning, one of which had yet to be found, it was imperative that they stay safe. But staying safe felt like it might be the death of the Wibberlys. 

The first week in the safe-house, one of many set up by Dr. Pym in case of emergency, they hadn't bothered to leave. The most that happened was Michael penning and then trashing letter after letter to the elf princess Wilamena, who was, according to a gleeful Emma, his girlfriend. Whenever this topic was mentioned, he would become deflective, face turning red, leading Kate to decide to stay out of whatever was happening with Michael's love life and whatever teasing Emma was piling on him. Though she did note the lock of sunlight colored hair tied off with a sky blue ribbon and tucked in Michael's bag. 

While the house was furnished nicely, and well stocked, it also was tiny, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living area, and an attic to store things in. The place quickly grew suffocating, especially to active, energetic Emma. With Emma and Michael sharing a room, arguing had quickly become frequent, and Kate and Gabriel, who were taking turns with the other bedroom and keeping watch on the couch (Gabriel had protested but Kate had insisted that he needed sleep too, and besides, she was an insomniac, she wouldn't mind), were losing their patience. Already the warrior and the time traveler were in a state of constant fear that they would be found by their enemies, and constant annoyance with Dr. Pym for sidelining them with so little information. 

For the last three weeks, Gabriel had been insisting that Emma and Michael go outside and get their energy out, so that the constant fighting would stop. There were rules for their protection, of course - they had to stay on the street the safe-house was located on, or the field at the end of the road, unless accompanied by Kate, and none of the children were to leave the neighborhood without Gabriel. Blessedly, the new policy had helped curb the arguing some.

Emma had, for the last three weeks, been roped into soccer and tag and other games with neighborhood kids her age or younger. She seemed to be enjoying herself, not through making friends with the friendly human children, but through a physical release of all her aggression, and getting to be competitive. Michael, on the other hand, would sit under a tree with a book while she played, and while Gabriel stocked up on food supplies and patrolled the area for signs of danger.