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Peri did not like pixies.
Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He just didn’t like the Head Pixie, mostly. He’d heard the stories about the day of his birth and how he’d been kidnapped by HP and Anti-Cosmo. Sometimes, when he was a kid, he’d have vague nightmares about it.
Sitting there in the corner of a dark cell, tied up in literal red tape, he felt just as useless and powerless as he did back then. It did not help that he was wearing gray , which had never been his color. And that stupid cone hat… he struggled against the ties, if only to get rid of that goddamn hat. No luck. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Kicking the bars of his cell uselessly, he sighed in exasperation and shut his eyes tightly. He’d been separated from Dev and Irep in the commotion. Hopefully they were having better luck than him with stopping this whole ‘forceful merger’.
★☆★
“HP! It’s been a while, huh? I haven’t seen you in years.” Irep grinned, leaning against the pixie’s desk. HP just nodded with a lackluster sound of agreement. Irep and Dev had been kindly escorted into his new office by a few pixie underlings. Dev thought he heard something muttered about how HP was, like, some sort of honorary uncle to Irep. Weird.
The kid stood anxiously next to his anti-fairy godparent, fiddling with his hoodie string absently. All this just after he’d promised Hazel not to get involved in another takeover of Fairy World! Irep was no help at all. Dev assumed that he had a plan of some sort, but hadn’t been told anything. At least, he hoped Irep had a plan.
Irep did not have a plan. He was beyond livid. It was taking everything in him not to lunge at HP and start beating the hell out of him. “So, HP, listen. While I respect the ruthlessness of this merger, and I do, you have something important to me stashed away. Take Fairy World, sure, I don’t care, but I want Peri back.” Irep’s little smirk became a bit colder. Darker, almost, with an undercurrent of lunacy.
HP startled at that, raising a single eyebrow slightly and leaning back two full millimeters. “What? The Fairywinkle-Cosma child? Why? I thought you two were enemies.”
“We are. I want him back.”
The pixie shifted tactics quickly, aiming for something closer to friendly diplomacy. The smile was very unsettling. “We need him for the plan. Even though he’s no longer a baby, he is still extremely powerful. A fantastic battery, of sorts. You could join us. I know your last plan involving Fairy World didn’t go as you’d hoped, but this one will. With your help, especially. We’ll even let you keep the child, if you want to.”
Irep gritted his teeth together. “Sure. Whatever. At least take me to see… the prisoner. The ‘battery.’”
HP wrinkled his nose. “Sorry, Foop. No offense, but I don’t think I trust you enough yet to allow that. However, you’re more than welcome to explore the new and improved Fairy World. We can handle the boy for you.” Irep swiftly moved in front of Dev. Just trying to maintain his cool. Trying not to kill the magical being in front of him. It was taking every ounce of the little self control he had.
“Thank you so much for the generous offer, but Dev will be staying with me.” HP nodded, waving them out with a hand as he began to chat quietly with Sanderson. Dev thought he saw them kiss as the door swung shut, but he might have just been imagining things. He quickly trotted after a very angry anti-fairy, who began pacing the hall.
“Irep! What- what should we do?” Even with the sunglasses on, it was easy to tell that he was very worried. Irep gripped his wand so tight that his hands trembled.
“Simple. We find Peri and rescue him. Then we get out of here before HP catches us.”
“But, shouldn’t we try to help or something?”
“Dev. Listen to me carefully. I know you’ve been trying to be better. It disgusts me, but Peri would be proud. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to be proud if he’s dead.” Irep’s manic pacing did not slow. Dev nodded, swallowing.
“...okay.” Dev thought for a few moments. “Let me see if I can access their security logs. Magical tech is weird and a bit different from my dad’s tech, but it hasn’t been too hard to figure out so far.” Irep smiled at the boy, full of relief and a little pride. Dev was so cunning. It was an admirable quality to have.
★☆★
Peri had been curled up on the floor for who knows how long, facing the back wall. He just glared emptily into space. How did he suddenly become so useless every time the pixies came around?? It made him feel nauseous.
He perked up when he heard loud footsteps echoing down the hall. The only person here who would need to walk…
A wide smile spread across his face as he watched Dev bound towards his cell. An anti-fairy fluttered close behind him.
“Guys! I’ve never been more happy to see you. Get me outta here!!”
Irep shot a beam of magic towards the fairy, slightly too close for Peri’s liking, but he couldn’t find it in him to care as the tape and bars turned into bats. Odd but effective. He rubbed at his wrists for a moment before the human boy practically fell into him. The two embraced. Irep rolled his eyes as Peri pulled him into the hug, too, but still hugged them both tightly nonetheless.
Once Dev finally released him, Peri stood and dusted himself off. He made another face down at the gray suit, but didn’t say anything. There were more pressing matters at hand than fashion. Irep had no such qualms, though. “Grey is definitely not your color, darling.”
“Right!! That’s what I’ve been saying. So, what’s the plan? How are we going to fix this? They’ve got my parents locked up, and Hazel’s on vacation in the human world, right?”
Dev frowned, “She would love this, with all the bureaucracy and paperwork and whatever, but we probably shouldn’t bother her unless we need to.”
Peri nodded in agreement. “I think we can handle this ourselves.”
Irep scowled at the ground. “Well, I suppose I’m outvoted. We’ll have to stop HP’s plot, and I know just how to hit him where it hurts. What do either of you know about Sanderson? More importantly,” he pulled out a list of both pixies’ weaknesses and fears, “Do you know where to get any of these items in Fairy World?”
“Why do you have that????”
“Oh, I have one of these for everyone,” he said, as he winked at the fairy.
Peri did not know whether to be impressed or horrified.