8.

8.

“Mkay, so, let me just get this straight in my head.” Annabelle said, pacing unsteadily back and forth before her pod. “You dumbasses couldn't be bothered to take any notice of this 'sickness' in the Human world. As a result of your stupid pride, or ignorance, whatever... My idiotic, soft hearted sister decided to do your job, and went to go check it out. Ooh, Lemme guess old man, you 'told her off.'” She said, making air quotes as she glared at her father, who refused to meet her eyes. “Because that worked so well last time apparently,” she muttered under her breath, dropping her hands and resuming her pacing.

“She tried to convince the court to take her seriously, which they didn't. Big surprise there! She was then possessed by Elementals, because you were gonna be a******s and throw her in here to rot too. But, the Elementals managed to convince you that she was telling the truth, that the Fårie Kingdom is doomed annnnd... For some reason, I, am supposed to help you save it?” Annabelle held her arms outstretched, as if to offer a hug to the first one who ran to her, glancing between the other Fåries in the chamber while they all awkwardly avoided meeting her eyes.

“Ok!” She cried, making the other three Fåries jump as she clapped her hands together loudly. “Well, thankyou very much for stopping by for the catch up! It's been super fun! Cap'n Boneyard, I am ready to go back to prison now!” She declared, turning to try and clamber unsteadily back into her pod.

“I had forgotten that your daughter...” The Queen sighed lowly, pausing as she tried to find the right words.

“Had such a large mouth on her?” Dalun supplied easily, idly scratching his chin. “Yes, she was always rather like her mother that way.”

“Do not attempt to shift blame, High Chancellor. I knew your wife before she passed, and she was never so... coarse.” The Queen said slowly, slyly glancing at the Elder beside her. “I remember you in your youth, and how you had many a choice word for your own Elders. Though admittedly, never to your Queen.”

Dalun coughed and refused to reply, turning instead to watch as Mirabelle slowly approached her sister.

“This girl has faith in you, Annabelle Fadeleaf.” She said softly, her words seeming to flow like a gentle river.

“Ha, yeah,” Annabelle said with a grin, “well, my sister is a soft hearted idiot so... there's that.” She giggled, giving up on trying to re-enter her pod and instead sliding down it until she was sprawled in a rather ungraceful heap on the floor. She leaned her head back against the side of her pod, looking up at the girl who was her sister, but was also not. “Why, exactly, do you need me?” She asked curiously.

“You have knowledge of the Human world, whereas the others of your kind do not. They have not left The Glade in too long, and they do not know how to survive in the Human world.” Mirabelle explained, hugging her knees as she crouched down before her sister.

“Uh,” Annabelle began, casting a wary glance at her shocked father, and then catching sight of the furious Queen. “Oh crap.”

“You have been to the Human world.” The Queen declared, her huge goassmer wings twitching in irritation. “High Chancellor it seems you have deceived your Queen once again, how very-”

“Oh will you pipe down, your highness,” Annabelle drawled sarcastically. The Queen turned her furious gaze to the recently woken Fårie, preparing to snap at her also. “The old man never knew anything about it.” She confessed, though the Queen merely scoffed at her in response. “But, I still don't get why you would think that might help. I mean, a century here sure, its nothing. But, there in the Human world...” She shook her head dubiously.

“You still know more than any other Fårie currently in The Glade.” Mirabelle replied. Annabelle stared blankly at her sister for a long moment, before she began to positively howl with laughter.

Dalun exchanged a concerned glance with the Queen, their momentary dispute forgotten as the girl thumped the floor with her hands, her hair flapping wildly through the air as she laughed herself hoarse.

“Oh!” She finally sighed, the occasional giggle still escaping her as she wiped tears of amusement from her eyes. “Oh, that crazy b***h, she actually did it...” She chuckled, resting her head again on the aide of her pod and completely ignoring her fathers admonishment for her language.

“Who? What do you mean child?” The Queen asked, stepping closer cautiously. “What is this about?”

“The Elementals currently riding around in my sister, deliberately specified that I'm the most knowledgeale Fårie currently in The Glade...” She said pointedly, staring at the Queen as if willing her to understand. When the Queen merely continued to frown, Annabelle rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Wow, and you're supposed to be our great and mighty sovereign. Ok, well, tell me this my lady; who immediately comes to your mind when you think of a Fårie who might have knowledge about the Human world, who went there, regularly, until they were finally caught in the act..?”

The Queen's frown deepend, her eyes glancing to the other pods through the large open window before she began to shake her head in flat refusal.

“No. I will not free another from Coccoon.” She stated, and Annabelle began to roar heartily with laughter once more. “The only reason you were released was because I was assured of your innocence.” The Queen turned her furious glare to her High Chancellor, who raised his hands in surrender before her ire. “Assurances which apparently mean-”

“Oh my gosh, you are so stupid!” Annabelle gasped between heavy bouts of laughter. She grabbed a handful of her long hair and used it to dab at her damp eyes, chuckling madly as she used another handful to try and muffle herself.

“How dare y-” The Queen began, but was cut off as Annabelle began to flutter her hands dismissively at her.

“Oh please, just stop talking.” She giggled, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. “Ok, first off; I already told you that the old man over there didn't know anything about how I used to flit between the worlds... I mean, did none of you wonder just how I knew the spells to clean Mirabelle up? You know what, on second thought, don't answer that. I don't want you to embarrass yourself any more than you already have.”

“Why you insolent littl-” The Queen fumed, a pink tinge to her cheeks as fury blazed through her at the insults the young Fårie threw at her.

“Oh, please, don't act so wounded.” Annabelle sighed, rolling her eyes. “It's

not like I don't respect you or anything... well, ok so I don't really but its nothing to do with you being the Queen and everything to do with you being a naïve, biased asshat who can't see past her own nose.”

“How dare-”

“How dare I, yada yada yada, blah blah blah.” Annabelle mimicked, waving a hand dismisively towards the Queen. “Because its true. You locked me up without even attempting to find out what had happened, and you were going to do the same with my sister, all because we remember what it means to be a Fårie.”

“Oh, and what is that exactly?”

“Well for starters it means not ignoring the Human world to the point that its almost destroyed.” Annabelle scoffed, groaning as she forced herself to her feet. The Queen clenched her jaws shut, firmly refusing to answer, though the silence reeked of her guilt. “I mean, by ignoring them, you've very nearly killed off your own world. The Fårie Kingdom cannot survive without Humans to believe in us, you knew this, once upon a time. So why are you being so stubborn?”

“It is none of your concern. The Humans are violent and they-”

“Yeah, yeah, I've heard the speeches.” Annabelle sighed leaning heavily against her pod. “I'm asking for the real reason though, your highness. You know, the reason you've never actually said because you have such a bunch of pretty little lies that other idiot Elders are only too eager to gobble up 'cuz they're so scared the big bad humans will come stomp on their poor itty bitty wings..?”

“What are you implying, child?” The Queen demanded.

“Exactly what I said.” Annabelle replied. “Look, you're speaking with someone who has actually been to the Human world and has actually seen a Human now, remember?” She threw the monarch a withering glare. “You can't bullshit a bullshitter, Royal Majesty Ma'am.”

Dalun groaned, muttering about his daughters language, while the Queen merely avoided the young Fåries gaze, although she did appear thoughtful.

“They did not come to our aide, when we needed them most,” the Queen said slowly. “As a result, we lost that which was most beloved to us.”

Annabelle stared at the Queen her deep green eyes seeming to pierce straight through her. After a long pause which seemed to last an eternity, she nodded her head and finally averted her eyes from the Queen.

“Ok, see, now that is something I can believe.” She said, trying to scoop her long hair over her shoulders and growling to herself when she failed to move all the long tresses without more taking its place. “Don't you feel better now? Finally admitting that were willing to let all those Humans die, because you blame them for the loss of the King? Even the ones who didn't even exist all those years ago. They have shorter lives than us, as you know...”

The Queen remained silent, her regal posture seeming to droop somewhat with each word Annabelle spoke.

Dalun cleared his throat, drawing the attention away from the Queen so that she could regain her composure. “What does this have to do with this, other Fårie, Annabelle? Get back to the original point, please.”

“Would you please stop calling me that?!” Annabelle whined, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes tightly shut, while pulling her long hair in frustration. At her fathers chuckle she opened her eyes and sighed.

“Fine, look, the point I was trying to make, before you all got all 'oh no, its Annabelle, she can't possibly know better than us!' and stuff...” Annabelle cleared her throat at her fathers glare, hastily deciding to move herself along. “So, if I am the most knowledgeable Fårie currently in The Glade, yet we all know that she knows masses more than I ever could... then do you really not see? You don't need to release her, do you?”

The Queen and High Chancellor exchanged a glance, confused by her explanation. When the Queen glared pointedly at the Elder, he merely shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his daughter as she sighed loudly.

“Oh my gosh, how do you not get it?!” She cried, “she's already in the Human world!”

“Ridiculous.” The Queen scoffed immediately, “she was sent to Coccoon decades before you were yourself. Impossible.” She declared adamantly.

“Psh, all that means is she's been in the Human world, longer than I've been locked up in here.” Annabelle laughed. “A century and a half, probably closer to two though, right?”

The Queen opened her mouth to deny the impossible statement, but was taken aback when she realised that Annabelle was staring not to herself for a reply, but at her possessed sister.

“She has resided in the Human world now for two hundred and eleven years.” Mirabelle confirmed easily, though she did not meet the others eyes, instead looking thoughtfully into the great hall filled with pods.

“This is utter nonsense, child. What you suggest, it is not possible.” The Queen stubbornly denied. Annabelle rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air, as if giving up on the discussion.

“Show us,” Dalun suggested to Angor, who turned his empty gaze to the High Chancellor. “Show us this girls pod.” He clarified, but Angor was already shaking his head.

“Unless there is a blood relative present, the Queen may summon no other pods.” He explained in his emotionless rasp.

“But, iss there no other way? A manual override, so to speak?” The Elder insisted, but the skeletal warrior merely shook his head once more, and said nothing further.

“This is wasting time.” Mirabelle announced. She walked to the edge of the open window and held out her palm towards the pods. A brief rumble sounded within the floor, before a great vine sprang from ground, snaking through the thick stalks of pods.

“What are you doing?!” The Queen demanded, hurrying to the nearest corner of the window and staring in disbelief as the new vine curled around a pod and tugged it from its branch.

“You will not believe the girl. You must see the truth with your own eyes, so the girl may begin her journey.” Mirabelle snapped, sounding impatient for the first time since she had been possessed. “The more time you waste here arguing, the less time the girl has to seek the answers to the questions, and find the cure to the sickness now destroying the Human world.” The girl explained, her voice changing rapidly as her eyes flitted across the great stalks of pods. The rogue vine crashed through the window, effectively ending the conversation and roughly deposited its prize. The pod rolled across the room, only to stop beside the emotionless skeletal guard.

“Um...” Annabelle cleared her throat, staring at her sister with obvious respect. “Ok, is Mirabelle still going to be able to do sh-”

“Annabelle!”

“To do cool stuff like that when you guys... go back, wherever it is you were before..?” Annabelle corrected herself with a sigh. “'Cuz I gotta say, that was so awesome... I mean, totally badass right there. Way, better than her little 'sunshine helps the flowers grow!' magick that she has... Sorry Mirabelle but, had to be said.” She apologised, just incase her sister was able to hear her still.

“This girl will no longer have access to our affinities with the Elements when we leave her. She cannot possess such power on her own. No Fårie can.” Mirabelle said, her eyes flashing briefly with what could have been either regret or amusement.

Annabelle clucked her tongue and shrugged her shoulders, “her loss.” She said.

“Indeed.” The Elementals within her sister agreed. Annabelle frowned but decided not to comment any further, instead choosing to see the Queen and Angor checking the wayward pod.

“So, while her royalness is occupied...” Annabelle murmured lowly, hoping her voice wouldn't carry across to the Queen. “Do you have a rough idea where exactly I'm supposed to even start looking for our missing friend?”

“Most likely somewhere the two of you knew well.” Came the equally quiet reply, though she still jumped in surprise. Dalun watched as his daughter shifted guiltily, smirking at her discomfort. “No doubt somewhere laced with depravity, alcohol and sin?” He suggested.

Annabelle rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and studiously avoided meeting her fathers eyes. “Yeah, there might have been a couple places that you could maybe describe that way...” She mumbled reluctantly, her cheeks reddening in her embarrasment.

“Shocking.” Dalun drawled dryly. He rolled his eyes at his daughters sullen shrug, before he moved to join the Queen and the Chief of Guardians.

Angor shook his head in reply to something the Queen had asked him, and motioned to the side of the pod. The Queen nodded and took a step back, allowing the guard to move forward and press his bony finger to a small switch hidden by the leaf design on the pods exterior.

The great leaves began to peel themselves free, one side catching on the flooring from the uneven way it lay on the ground. The pod rocked against the floor, rolling slightly as it attempted to open. When the leaves finally succeededin peeling aside, it revealed exactly what Annabelle had promised it would; an empty pod with no sleeping Fårie held captive.

“This is not possible...” Breathed the Queen, shaking her head in refusal of what she could see with her own eyes. “It is the wrong pod.” She declared.

“It is not Queen Mab. We assure you.” Mirabelle trilled, lightly hopping to the top of Annabelle's pod. “This is the only pod with a residue of magick, other that that which is used to put your prisoners into their slumbers. The only one with such magick, yet no life force within.”

“The Elementals say true, Majesty.” Angor confirmed, his head tilted as though in confusion as he beheld the empty pod. “This pod held a Fårie, yet now it does not. It should not be possible, but it is clear, a prisoner has escaped Coccoon.”

“It is not possible.” The Queen denied vehemently, turning her back to the empty pod and instead staring at the remaining pods deep within Coccoon.

“Of course it's possible.” Annabelle scoffed, not at all detered by the implausability of the situation. “I mean, she built this place for you. You didn't really think she would do that without making sure she had a back door out, just incase she ended up here too?”