Spot raised an eyebrow. "What's with dese people, they're weird." He muttered under his breath.
Xavier nodded and smiled. "If you wish, you are welcome to come." He turned to our small group. "You should stay here at the castle where it is safe."
Spot and Jack nodded. "Okay." They replied at the same time.
I shot them both a glare before looking at Xavier defiantly. "I'm goin' with you, unlike some coward I could mention." Jack and Spot looked at each other and shrugged casually as I glanced in their direction.
Lauralin nodded. "And I as well."
Xavier turned to Dutchy, who was watching Clover sadly. "Dutchy, will you stay here... to protect the princess?" He added, nodding at Clover a little.
Dutchy sighed. "Yeah, I'll stay with... the Princess."
After a few more words from the King we walked out of the palace down the silvery walkway.
The girl with teal hair spoke up again. "How do you propose we find Telperion?"
Xavier drew a deep breath. "We don't, he'll find us."
I eyed teal-hair suspiciously. "If you're a fairy, where are your wings?"
She looked my way. "They disappear when I'm not my normal size." She smiled kindly. "I'm Tinuviel, the Queen of the fairies."
Lauralin nodded at Tinuvial. "I'm Lauralin, of the elves of the sea breeze."
I sighed and rolled my eyes a little. "My friends call me Flicker. You know, the manly men back there who were scared to go on a quest a bunch of girls were going on."
"Hey!" Xavier said indignantly. "I'm here too."
"Sorry, a bunch of girls and Xavier." I said, laughing a little. "So, are we just gonna walk until we run into this guy?"
Xavier stopped and thought the question over. "I don't know... I-"
He was cut off by a cloud of smoke. I waved my hand in front of me and cough a little. "Man, dis place is all smoke an' mirrors an' blindin' flashes of light. Talk about dramatic entrances." I muttered as a man that gave meaning to the phrase tall, dark, and handsome appeared out of the smoke.
"You wish to fight me?" He asked lightly, examining his fingernails.
Xavier's eyes widened in fear. "Uh... yes, I challenge you to... a uh... a uh... battle of magic." He stammered nervously.
Telperion laughed shortly. "If you insist. I do enjoy crushing pathetic magicians such as yourself."
Xavier grit his teeth. "I am a wizard!" He said and muttered a few words, sending a puff of smoke Telperion's way.
"What was that?" I asked incredulously. "Is that the best you can do?"
He examined his hands. "Hmm... that was supposed to be a deadly ball of fire." He cried out as an invisible force caused him to fly backwards and hit the ground.
I glared at Telperion and picked up the sword Xavier had dropped. "Hey, back off!" I yelled, swinging the sword in a wide circle, and hitting air as Telperion disappeared and reappeared five feet away.
Lauralin drew an arrow, but also missed as Telperion moved again. Tinuviel frowned and flicked her hand in his direction, resulting in a cloud of glittering dust. We all looked on in amusement as Telperion started sneezing and muttered. "Stupid fairy dust."
I smiled and swung the sword at him again, seeing my chance, but frowned as he managed to dodge the blow. He glared at me. "You are all starting to annoy me. Enough play, I'll destroy you now."
He muttered a few words and pointed a finger in Xavier's direction. Xavier, who had just regained his balance, yelped and curled into a ball. My mouth fell open and I glared at him. "You idiot wizard, do something! Repell the spell!" I yelled as a bright ball of light flew towards Xavier. Telperion snapped his head around to face me again with a look of shock on his face. "What?" I asked, then saw his light ball fly back and envelope him for a second before he disappeared. I blinked in surprise. "How did that happen?"
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Um... I believe you cast a spell when you rhymed, possibly because you held a magical sword. Your spell reversed Telperion's spell and whatever it was he intended to do to me, backfired."
I looked at the sword and held it out to Tinuviel. "Here, it's defective."
She looked at me askance. "Defective?"
Xavier smiled a little. "Come on, let's get back to the castle... Oh and that whole cowering thing, let's keep that between us, shall we?"
Lauralin, Tinuviel, and I shared evil smiles. I smirked a little. "The only guy with enough guts to fight the big bad wizard, and the girls still have to do the dirty work. What would you call that little trick you pulled, Xavier? The roll in a ball and pretend to be invisible defense?" He glowered at me as we walked into the castle and the others laughed.
Xavier's POV
I sighed as Jack, Spot, and Flicker stood in a small circle. Dutchy was saying his good bye's to Princess Alethea a few feet away. The King and Queen had thrown them a ball for helping the Princess and now I was about to send them back to New York. Tinuviel was bidding them all farewell now, along with Lauralin whose eyes were filling with tears as she glanced at Jack adoringly. The two seemed to have become quite taken with each other in their time together. I had explained to Jack that Lauralin, as an elf, couldn't possibly go with him. I had almost received a black eye for my troubles.
"Okay, it's time to get on with it." I said, a cue for Dutchy to join the others and for Tinuviel and Lauralin to back away from them. We all bid them one last farewell and I muttered the transportation spell and concentrated, sending them back to where they came from... I hope.
I heard a small chorus of sighs as we all looked at the empty space where our friends had stood. Elf and fairy walked off somewhere to sulk, and Princess Alethea made her way into the garden. I sighed and followed her out into the crisp night air filled with the scent of flowers. She stood at the edge of the pond, watching the moon reflected on it's silvery surface, broken only by the occasional lily pad or gold fish. I looked around at the garden of flowers, hedges, and stone walkways, bridges, and fountains, realizing how little time I had taken to appreciate this kind of beauty. "Princess," I started, and pulled out a bouquet of flowers in a puff of smoke, trying to cheer her up. "Ta-da! See what I can do?"
She shook her head a little and a tear escaped her eyes. "Yes, do you see what I can do?"
I looked up at the sea of stars, sparkling in all their glory tonight. No one had ever seen a unicorn cry before. "You really loved him?" I asked, wondering if I had made the right decision by keeping her here. She nodded, and I went on. "How much do you love him, Princess?"
She looked at me solemnly, her eyes meeting mine. "I would die for him."
I nodded and looked away again. "I thought so."
~*~*~*~*~
Flicker's POV
Jack, Spot, Dutchy and I walked along the street quietly, on our way to Medda's. Dutchy and Jack were still moping about returning the day before. None of the others could guess why, and we couldn't really tell them since we had returned only seconds before we had left. I looked up at the stars, noting sadly that they weren't nearly as bright as in Nochlaur. I kicked at the ground a little, thinking, 'Nothing in the city is that beautiful.'
"Hey, you newsies!" A silvery voice yelled.
We all spun around to see a small group of people walking out of the shadows. Three girls, one with light blonde hair, another black hair, and a third with hair that almost seemed to be teal, and one boy with black hair. Clover smiled as she reached us. "Xavier agreed to bring us all back."
We nodded dumbly, and finally I motioned behind us. "We were just on our way to Medda's. You guys want to join the party?"
The girls all smiled and linked arms with Jack, Dutchy, and Spot. I turned to Xavier. "You're all staying?"
He shook his head and took my arm as we followed the others. "No. Lauralin and Alethea both wish to stay. However, Tinuviel just had a strong desire to see her ancestral home, but she must go back as she is the Queen of the fairies. I must go back to continue practicing so I can become a better wizard." He seemed to see a look of disappointment cross my face, and smiled a little. "I'm sure you'll get along just fine. You've always got Spot."
"But, how did you know?" I stammered, caught off guard.
He grinned a little. "I just sensed it. You hide it well though, as he does."
I blushed and looked at the ground. "Will you ever come back here?"
"If the King and Queen don't kill me first." He said jokingly. "I might come back.
The King and Queen might send me back to look out for Alethea." I nodded and smiled as
we walked to Medda's to watch the show.