(no subject)

[soulfulsin]

Fandom: Fairly Oddparents
Canon or AU: AU of an AU

Fic: Speak No Evil

A/N: I’m pretty sure I had a DuckTales fanfic called “Hear No Evil” that was written well before the series finale, back when I didn’t know Webby was related to the triplets. Ugh.

But never mind that. I’ve been in a dark place lately, probably because Mom’s birthday is coming up. Or what would’ve been her birthday. *sigh*

I have to reread Blank Space to get back into the groove for it. It’s only about 2/3rds done.

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Six and a half months ago…

They’d had no warning. Right after Wanda’s disappearance to The Lotus Hotel, all of the fairies and their godchildren had been transported to Fairy World. Cosmo and Timmy had been in mid-transit to the hotel when they were redirected. For a minute, Cosmo stared blankly, not comprehending why he was in the Fairy World auditorium instead of the hotel. Something didn’t add up. Normally, when things didn’t add up, he turned to Wanda.

Baffled, he realized he couldn’t sense her anymore. It was like someone had slammed a door shut in his face and blocked any hint of her. Heart in his throat, he stared at the surrounding crowd, all of whom looked as confused as he felt.

He tried to poof back to Earth, but his wand went limp. Cosmo shook his wand until it sounded like a dog’s chew-toy; nothing happened. Not even sparks flew out. He whimpered as the noise level grew. To him, the most important thing was that he couldn’t sense Wanda or pursue her. He didn't care about whatever else might be going on. Wanda was trapped in the hotel and Asmodeus’s prisoner. Asmodeus might be hurting her right now, and no one cared.

“Silence!” Jorgen von Strangle bellowed. The crowd continued nattering, and Timmy looked at Cosmo quizzically. He might’ve asked him a question, but it was impossible to hear him over the ruckus.

Cosmo tried again to leave Fairy World. This time, his wand remained limp. Trembling, Cosmo shook his wand so hard that it flew out of his hands and smacked another fairy in the face. The offending woman handed him back his wand and looked on the verge of flipping him off when she saw Timmy beside Cosmo. Instead, she gave Cosmo a dirty look.

“What’s the matter?” Timmy shouted in Cosmo’s ear. It was the only way he could’ve heard him.

“I can’t get to Wanda!” Cosmo said, his heart racing. “No matter what I try, I can’t leave Fairy World!”

Silence fell, and his words echoed unnaturally loudly. Cosmo was too worried to be embarrassed, and he burst into tears.

“None of you can return to Earth,” Jorgen said quietly, yet his sonorous voice rang out clearly. “The Fairy World Council has brought every active fairy godparent and their godchild to Fairy World for protection. Until further notice, Earth is off-limits.”

This occasioned more yelling. Jorgen had to slam his wand down until the room reverberated with the wand’s impact on the wooden floor.

“Wanda’s trapped in the hotel!” Cosmo cried. “We have to save her!”

“I know,” Jorgen said gravely, inclining his head toward Cosmo. “However, the Council has not decided on a plan of action yet. Until that occurs, the barrier between Fairy World and Earth will remain.”

“You’re leaving her trapped on Earth with a monster?!” Timmy shrieked. “Cosmo, I wish--”

“No,” Jorgen snapped. “There will be no wishing to return to Earth. There will be no rescue until the Council has planned it out precisely.”

His shoulders sank. “For Wanda’s sake, I hope the Council will construct a plan quickly.”

Thunder boomed in the distance; Cosmo had lost control over his magic. The sky opened up, and rain drenched everyone until Jorgen constructed a roof. Hailstones banged into the metal roof and left sizable dents. There was another thunderclap, and the fairies turned to look at Cosmo. Those nearby edged away, looking wary.

“What if they don’t?!” Cosmo said. “What if they leave her there?”

Jorgen scowled and flinched. His expression was uncertain, and Cosmo’s heart pounded so hard that it felt like it’d burst through his chest. Cosmo shook his wand, ripping the roof off and sending it twirling through the air like the house in Wizard of Oz.

Timmy’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit…”

Before anyone got hit with hailstones, Jorgen restored the roof and the weather to normal.

“They would not dare leave her,” Jorgen said, but there was no conviction in his voice. “No fairy has ever been stranded for long in an untenable situation.”

“What if they do?!” Cosmo said. A straitjacket wrapped around him, and Cosmo struggled madly to escape. His wand floated next to him, and he grabbed it with his teeth. At the best of times, Cosmo fought with logic, and logic normally lost. Cosmo’s sanity had snapped; Wanda was in danger, and no one wanted to help her. By the sounds of things, no one would ever help her.

That was the final straw. Cosmo saw the barrier shimmering against the rainbow bridge in the distance and attempted, channeling all of his fear and rage, to break through it. He didn’t care if he died in the process. You can’t reason with a madman.

The smallest crack, almost invisible to the naked eye, appeared in the barrier. Encouraged, Cosmo sought to widen it. As he did, he plummeted out of thin air.

He could feel through his Bond with Wanda that Asmodeus was violating her. Cosmo couldn’t breathe for the sobs that erupted. He had to reach her. Had to, especially when he felt someone else join in. His skin crawled as he felt fingers probing her before Asmodeus and his crony took her.

“Enough!” Jorgen roared and ripped the wand out of Cosmo’s mouth. Cosmo was in hysterics, and Timmy hugged him. Pressing his face into Timmy’s arm, Cosmo wept uncontrollably and rambled incoherently about Wanda’s assailants. It felt like they intended to rip her apart from the inside out.

Cosmo was ignorant of everything but horrible sensations and a sick feeling in his gut. Turning away from Timmy, he vomited. The Bond was rioting; the magic repelled Asmodeus and his cohort due to their black magic and because they weren’t part of the Bond between Cosmo and Wanda.

It almost felt like someone was forcefully inserting themselves into that link while also attacking Wanda. Cosmo’s head spun, and his body felt like it was on fire. Wanda was bleeding profusely, and everything below her waist burned like it’d been dipped in acid. Timmy had to smack Cosmo’s back to prompt him to breathe normally, but it didn’t last.

“I wish you’d calm down!” Timmy bellowed. An awkward silence fell. Cosmo was unable to grant the wish without his wand; Jorgen did it for him.

“Thank you, Timmy Turner,” Jorgen said. Cosmo panted against the wood floor; though that pervasive soporific effect lingered, it didn’t remove the real problem. Wanda was desperately reaching out to him through the Bond, but the barrier rendered assistance impossible. It was unlikely that she could sense him the way he sensed her. He couldn't even comfort her with his presence.

“As I was saying,” Jorgen said, grimacing, “the Unseelie Court has abducted Wanda and other fairy godparents. Until the Fairy World Council has constructed a suitable plan to rescue them, Fairy World and Earth will remain separated.”

Cosmo whimpered. He couldn’t possibly be hearing what he thought he was. Fairy World would never abandon Wanda to monsters who defiled her and carved pieces out of her for shits and giggles. They’d never be so cruel.

“We will debrief more later,” Jorgen declared and then sent everyone to their respective homes. A few seconds after Timmy and Cosmo materialized in Cosmo and Wanda’s house, Jorgen appeared. He cast away all the dust; Cosmo and Wanda hadn’t stayed in Fairy World in decades, if not longer. Cosmo honestly couldn’t remember the last time they’d taken a break. They’d had a lot of godchildren back to back.

“This cannot be a permanent solution,” Jorgen said. As usual, when he appeared in a fairy home, he looked too tall to fit. “I cannot believe that the Council would forsake Wanda for political expediency.”

“What if they do?” Timmy said, tears brimming in his eyes. “What if they decide it’s easier to leave her alone?”

Jorgen’s expression darkened. “For their sake, I hope they do not. If too much time has elapsed and they have still not created a suitable rescue plan…I will see what I can do to nudge things along.”

“Like what?” Timmy said, confused. His forehead wrinkled.

“I do not know yet,” Jorgen said. “Hopefully, it will not come to that. I can provide a power boost to break through the barrier, but only in the direst circumstances. It is against my version of Da Rules.”

Timmy nodded. He was pale and shaking. “What do you think the odds are that they’ll ignore her?”

“I do not know,” Jorgen repeated, looking thunderous. “We shall see. In the meanwhile, try to keep Cosmo from flying off the handle.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Timmy said in a dubious tone. “I can’t promise miracles.”

“I know,” Jorgen said. He freed Cosmo from the straitjacket and handed him back his wand. “If I can help Wanda, I will. This is a terrible situation, but I cannot imagine the Council would hang her out to dry for weeks, let alone months. I am certain they will construct a plan in a few days.”

Cosmo and Timmy nodded. Cosmo wanted to believe Jorgen, so he did. In the meantime, though…

Cosmo vomited again. He felt weak as a newborn kitten and just as vulnerable. Jorgen vanished, and Cosmo whimpered.

“Wanda…”

“At least you can’t see what they’re doing to her,” Timmy said, trying to inject positivity into the situation. Cosmo shook his head.

“What does that mean?” Timmy said, frowning.

“I can’t see it, but I can feel it,” Cosmo said faintly. “Jorgen’s right. There’s no way the Council would abandon her. She’s a fellow fairy. They wouldn’t throw her under the bus. Why would they? We’re the good guys.”

He paused. “At least, we’re supposed to be.”

Remembering Jorgen’s lack of confidence earlier was not helping. Still, Wanda had to be okay. She had to be back in Fairy World soon. Cosmo didn’t know what he’d do without her, and he didn’t want to have to find out.

Wanda was his world. They loved each other, and he needed her, probably far more than she needed him.

Someone dealt her a stinging slap across the face on Earth, and Cosmo sighed. Timmy’s wish prevented him from going off the deep end, but he doubted the wish’s effects would last forever. Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to. Hopefully, before the week was out, Wanda would be back in his arms.

Unfortunately, Cosmo couldn’t bring himself to believe it deep down. His gut told him that if the Council didn’t move soon, they wouldn’t move at all.

---------------------------------------------------

Wanda didn’t dare move. Every time she twitched, pain shot through her body. She was awash in blood and other unmentionable bodily fluids. Sobs hitched in her throat, and she didn’t want to cry because it would ignite agony from the multiple lacerations, bruises, and broken bones Asmodeus and his new commander/lover had inflicted. She’d called out to Cosmo desperately before to tell him to get help from the Council, and she’d heard nothing back before a strange magical wall fell between them.

Asmodeus knew the moment she’d lost contact with Cosmo because she’d gone rigid with shock and fear. That had inspired him to greater cruelty, and she bore the brunt of it. They were up to eighteen marks, and she was bleeding below her waist like she’d suffered a miscarriage. Today, Asmodeus found out that he could use her magic against her and warp himself to do further damage.

She knew rape wasn’t about pleasure so much as control and power. Asmodeus was recording this “for future generations,” though she knew he meant specifically the Fairy World Council. His cronies in the Unseelie Court loved watching the videos, too, and she suffered the consequences of their amusement, often physically. Goddamn it, she’d told herself that she wouldn’t cry.

The situation was too dire for anything else. Heart-wrenching sobs erupted, and she cried harder, knowing that it hurt and there was nothing she could do about it. Asmodeus had taken her wand-he’d insisted she hadn’t needed it. He told her that he’d heal her in “due time”-whatever the fuck that meant.

It probably meant whenever he wanted another go at her.

She couldn’t believe Cosmo had abandoned her. Cosmo and Timmy. She could understand Cosmo taking Timmy to Fairy World for protection, though she thought it more likely that Timmy would argue against leaving her behind. However, the notion that they had forsaken her induced harder sobs until she couldn’t breathe from crying.

She felt like she’d never stop. Everything hurt, and dimly, in the back of her mind, she wanted a desperate escape, but she couldn’t even move without pain. How she intended to flee the hotel, she didn’t know.

How could Cosmo have left her to this fate? Cosmo was a coward, true, and he usually hid behind her when it came to physical attacks (“If you wanna get to Timmy, you’ll have to go through Wanda twice!”). That didn’t mean he would abandon her when he knew what the stakes were. She’d told herself earlier that he’d gone for help, but by now, she knew that wasn’t true. Help would’ve arrived immediately if it were going to come.

She needed to calm down before she suffocated herself. That quiet little voice, the one that advocated for escape, wondered what the point of it was. Without her wand and with the curse on her, she was trapped in the hotel for the Unseelie Court to appropriate at will.

“The mirror crack'd from side to side. ‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried the Lady of Shallot…”

She lost track of the hours she spent languishing in pain and misery. At some point, she must have cried herself to sleep because when she woke up, a strange woman was examining her. Wanda screamed, recoiling and scrambling back. Her heart pounded, and she reached for her wand instinctively before remembering Asmodeus had it. Her heart sank. Once again, she was utterly helpless before an Unseelie Court fairy.

It was unusual, however, because she almost never saw female fairies. There weren’t many female fairies high enough in Asmodeus’s esteem to permit them access to Wanda. The few females she encountered when she walked out and about in the hotel scorned her and considered her lower than dirt. She was Asmodeus’s “concubine”, which translated into “Court slut.”

The black female stepped back and made no moves toward her. She had long neon pink hair that fell to her waist; her eyes matched, and though she wore a black dress that fell to her ankles, she felt brighter and more vibrant than the Unseelie fairies Wanda had met thus far. Appearances could be deceiving; sadly, Wanda knew this from experience. Just because the woman hadn’t made any sudden moves didn’t mean she was incapable.

The woman’s heart-shaped face crumpled at Wanda’s expression, and her crescent moon earrings swung when she shook her head. Wanda was disappointing her in some unfathomable way.

Wanda was in pain, though she’d long stopped bleeding, and she was in hell. She didn’t know what this woman wanted, and the geas was absent. There was no compulsion to satisfy her, and the woman stayed out of arm’s reach.

Wanda paused. That had never happened before. The geas almost immediately slammed down on her once someone entered the room. Without it, she remained cautious and worried. This was probably a trick or a test by Asmodeus. No one ever visited Wanda without an ulterior motive.

No one in the Unseelie Court was pure and innocent enough to avoid insulting or hurting her. Or both. Wanda’s lower lip quivered, but she was all cried out. She’d fallen asleep with a headache from dehydration.

“Hello, Wanda Cosma.”

Wanda’s breath caught in her throat. “You know my full name?”

”Of course,” she said. “Everyone does-they’re just too rude to use it. It wouldn’t do to set off on the wrong foot by calling you the ‘Seelie slut’ or whatever dirty moniker is making its rounds around Court.”

If anything, this made Wanda more apprehensive, not less. She couldn’t trust anyone. Maybe her offspring, because they were young and innocent, but certainly not a full-grown woman.

It was hard to judge age, especially with fairies. The woman was adult human-sized, which in Fairy World would’ve meant she was old and powerful. In the Unseelie Court, it meant next to nothing. Almost all of the adult fairies were of human height unless they were dwarves or gnomes. Only the children were children-sized.

“What do you want?” Wanda asked flatly. She folded her arms across her chest and then winced. Ozymandias had carved a crown across her breasts because he found it uproariously funny that Seelie fairies had crowns above their heads. Naturally, that was one of the first things to go once Asmodeus repossessed her.

”Repossessed her.” She sounded like a car someone had missed too many payments on. Wanda’s breath hitched in her chest again; she couldn’t risk being vulnerable in front of the enemy.

Instinctively, she reached toward Cosmo to comfort herself and remind herself that he was there, and then, like the wand, it crashed down on her again that Cosmo was gone. Wanda balled her fists and tried not to cry. A dry sob escaped anyway.

”Would you believe I am here to study you?”

Wanda glared. “No.”

“Your trust has been sorely abused in this court,” she said sadly. “My name is Irina, and I promise you that I will not harm you.”

Wanda barked a laugh. “That’s rich. I’ll believe it when I see it, hon.”

”I believe this is yours,” Irina said and handed Wanda her wand. Wanda eyed her cautiously. She wondered what Irina wanted in exchange for this favor.

“Are you going to let me heal myself?” Wanda asked suspiciously. “And if so, what do you want from me?”

”I want nothing from you. Not yet. I need you to feel better first,” Irina said. Wanda scowled; her frown deepened when Irina pressed the wand into her hand.

“Please heal yourself. I insist.”

The geas forced her into it, which was odd since she couldn’t remember the compulsions helping instead of hurting her.

Wanda sighed, relieved, as warm magic swept over her, and she could breathe again. For good measure, she restored her clothes, too. Since she was feeling a tad vindictive, she brought back her yellow shirt and black pants. Though she was missing her wings and crown, not to mention her normal height, she felt more like herself in her old clothes.

“Do you feel better?” Irina asked.

“Yes,” Wanda said begrudgingly. She folded her arms across her chest; gods, having her wand back was such a profound relief. She could breathe again.

“Good,” Irina said. “May I sit on the bed? Oh, you might like to clean it up before I join you.”

Wanda rolled her eyes; the comforter and sheets were saturated with dark, sparkling blood. She shuddered at what had occasioned it. Irina stroked her face, and Wanda jumped. Her heart pounded.

She removed the blood and other unpleasant fluids and trembled. Irina sat beside her and held her hands. Wanda jerked out of her reach. There was nothing compelling Wanda to allow touch, oddly.

Irina had the strangest look on her face. Sympathy. It was enough to threaten more tears. No one in the Unseelie Court had ever looked at her as anything more than a piece of meat. Wanda pressed a hand against her mouth to suppress sobs.

”Hey,” Irina said gently. “You’re okay. I promise. I won’t hurt you.”

Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Not unless you want me to, that is.”

”No!” Wanda choked. She rubbed her arms self-consciously, especially the scars on her left arm. They still burned from the iron dagger. Irina held her left hand, and when Wanda tried to jerk away, Irina said gently, “Don’t. Your wand can’t fix what dark magic wrought, but I can at least soothe the injuries.”

Reluctantly, Wanda let her heal the burns. Tears pricked her eyes and then slid down her cheeks.

”Why are you being so good to me? What do you want? This can’t be for free. No one ever-“

Irina leaned into her and then scowled. “They yanked out your hair. Barbarians.”

Wanda shrugged. She was getting an odd vibe. Beyond Irina not threatening her, there was something else. She thought Irina might be coming onto her, but not like Asmodeus and Ozymandias did, where they took what they wanted by force. Instead, Irina was giving her the option of letting it happen.

Wanda’s throat tightened. She’d never been attracted to women before, and she doubted that would change any time soon. However, Irina was offering something Wanda knew was in short supply in the Lotus Hotel-genuine affection. Wanda didn’t know how Asmodeus had missed this.

There had to be a catch.

Irina thumbed away Wanda’s tears.

“As to why I’m here, it’s simple,” Irina said and then smiled. “I’m to be your child’s nursemaid. I thought it best if I at least met you beforehand.”

Wanda shifted uncomfortably.

“No one here is nice without a price,” Wanda said. It was hard to talk with her throat constricted.

“Perhaps not,” Irina said. She stroked Wanda’s cheek. Wanda caught herself leaning into the affection. After what she’d endured earlier, this felt heaven-sent.

That didn’t mean she wanted Cosmo any less. She sobbed, yearning for him with everything within her. Cosmo was a coward, an idiot, and sometimes callous. But he was hers. And he loved her. He would never have let this happen.

If he loved her. If he hadn’t abandoned her here.

She was back to crying so hard that she couldn’t breathe. Irina hugged her, and Wanda hated herself for latching onto the comfort. She kept telling herself that there was no such thing as a free lunch, but it was impossible not to succumb. She’d been battered, bruised, molested, broken, and lacerated, not to mention discarded and left for dead or worse.

“Cosmo…” Wanda whimpered, pressing her face into Irina’s neck. Irina rubbed her back, where Wanda’s wings ought to be, and that only exacerbated the issue. It drew attention to how far from home she was and how she might never return to Fairy World. Utterly despondent, Wanda lost herself in weeping.

Irina stroked her hair the way Cosmo used to, and when Wanda turned her head, her vision destroyed by tears, Irina kissed her. Wanda drew back, confused. While she’d known intellectually that Irina was coming onto her, it hadn’t dawned on her emotionally. She didn’t know how to handle it; a woman had never seduced her before.

It sounded strange, especially since she was almost ten thousand years old, but she’d been with Juandissimo and Cosmo. Never anyone else. She’d never felt attracted to a woman, either.

At the same time…this woman was showing her affection at a time when Wanda needed it the most. There had to be a trick, but Wanda’s mind felt like molasses. When Irina pushed her back onto the bed, she let her.

Irina pulled back and studied her. That was, Wanda remembered belatedly, what Irina had said she was here for in the first place.

”Are you all right?” Irina asked. Wanda gawked; that was another question she’d never heard here. Puzzled, Wanda pulled herself into a sitting position. Irina sat back on folded legs and sat close by, but not enough to intrude on her personal space.

Wanda flushed. She didn’t know how to purport herself or how to tastefully reject someone offering something she craved, but in a form she found unattractive.

”I’m sorry,” Wanda said.

“Does it have to do with your marital vows?” Irina asked, and Wanda snorted before she could help herself.

”Does anyone here actually care about marital vows? Or make them?” Wanda said. She blinked. “Sorry, that was rude.”

Irina frowned. “I’m aware that others here disrespect you, to put it mildly, but I will respect whatever decision you believe you must make. If you feel you are being disloyal to Cosmo, then I will desist.”

A tremendous weight lifted off Wanda’s chest. “It’s not that. Well, it is that, but that’s not all of it, hon. I’m…”

Wanda chewed her bottom lip. “I’m straight. I’ve never found women attractive.”

Irina laughed, and Wanda stared, confused.

“Oh, is that all?” Irina teased. “So’s pasta until it gets wet. Oh, no, I joke, I joke. Don’t worry about it. I thought you might want some comfort after…Asmodeus…but I get it.”

”I’m not spurning your offer,” Wanda hastened to add, “I’m saying that-“

”You’re saying that I’m not your type. I’m not offended, don’t worry. Sexuality is fluid in the Unseelie Court.”

”It’s fluid in Fairy World, too,” Wanda said. “Along with gender. I’m just not on the spectrum. I’m sorry.”

Irina smiled gently. “Don’t be. Like I said, I understand completely. No hard feelings.”

Her smile faded. “It wasn’t easy getting to you, as I’m sure you’re aware. Asmodeus screens anyone who accesses the penthouse, let alone enters your suite.”

Wanda winced. “I’m not surprised. That’s why I don’t understand how you got in here. Asmodeus only allows people who want to hurt me.

“Unless-“

”No!” Irina said quickly. “I’m not here for that. Oh, goodness, no. Wanda…”

Wanda flinched, and her lower lip quivered. “It’s kinder if you don’t use my real name. It reminds me…”

”Of your husband and godson,” Irina finished, and Wanda nodded, a lump in her throat.

”Well, I was here to comfort you, but that won’t come to pass. However, I would like to get to know you a little before you give birth to the heirs. That way, I might be able to help your heirs adjust to life without you.”

Wanda blinked, back to being confused. “They won’t know me. I assume Asmodeus will rip them away after their birth, and that’ll be the last I see of them. It’ll also be the last they hear of me.”

Irina’s smile went from kindly to sad. “They’re magically bonded to you. They would know you in a crowd. Even after they’re separated, they will still know you. Such a link cannot be ripped asunder by mere physical distance.”

Wanda frowned. “I’d rather they didn’t. I don’t want them to experience what I have. I don’t want to experience what I have.”

She choked. She couldn’t believe Cosmo had left her like this. And Timmy. Never mind them-Fairy World had hung her out to dry. Oh, gods, she didn’t want to dissolve into sobs again. She was so alone. Alone in hostile territory.

“I understand,” Irina said, sighing. “Unfortunately, my time with you is short. It was difficult enough convincing the sprites to cease monitoring you. Asmodeus would rather no one touch you than for you to experience comfort and affection.``

Wanda smiled bitterly. “I figured as much, hon.”

Irina hugged her. “I’ll come back when I can. Just call for me, and I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Wanda stared. She didn’t know whether she’d do that or not. Moreover, she doubted she’d get the opportunity.

Irina left, and, for a few minutes, Wanda laid back on the bed and breathed. She wasn’t injured, she wasn’t in any danger, and she could be herself. Asmodeus was probably busy, which meant she would be safe for the time being, however long that lasted.

She’d lapsed into a doze when the door slammed open. Wanda bolted upright and then yelped-it was Asmodeus. Her heart thundered in her ears.

”A little birdie told me that you had company an hour ago,” Asmodeus said, stalking into the room like a lion after its prey. Wanda’s chest tightened with fear. She watched Asmodeus and waited for him to strike.

”That same little birdie said your visitor didn’t leave a mark on you but actually healed you,” Asmodeus said. He tisked in disapproval. “That just won’t do. You can’t have agency. Then you might be allowed to have hope, and who knows where that might lead.”

Wanda knew she wouldn’t like where this was going.

Asmodeus chanted aloud, words she didn’t recognize yet filled her with dread, and the constriction in her chest tightened until she saw black spots. Asmodeus backhanded her into the headboard, and she bit her lip. Blood filled her mouth.

She resisted the temptation to spit it out. Asmodeus cupped her chin and then slammed her head into the headboard. Dazed, she didn’t react when Ozymandias entered and grabbed her wrists. He chained them together and then used her wand to produce a hook from which he dangled her; her arms stretched out, and the bed was gone. She dangled by her arms, which were already starting to feel the strain.

”What…” she gasped, choking and spitting out blood. Asmodeus ripped her clothes off and then set them on fire.

“Your clothes offend me,” he snapped. “Fairy World attire offends me, but you knew that, you stupid bitch. You dared to wear that in my hotel, in my Court.

”Did you really think you’d have warmth and compassion here? Think again, slut. You exist to serve me and to punish Fairy World.”

He snorted. “Clearly, your husband and godson agree because they left you for dead. More power to them. I’ll get them in the end, but I appreciate that they understand your place.”

His eyes flashed. “If only you did.”

Ozymandias shoved a dirty rag into her mouth, and Asmodeus shook his head.

”The curse should work soon enough.”

”Curse?” she gasped. “What curse?”

Asmodeus sneered. “You can’t summon someone by their name if you can’t speak.”

Chills went down Wanda’s spine.

”You can’t reach Fairy World, and now you can’t call anyone to you on Earth. A fitting punishment for flaunting my rules.”

He slapped her across the face, and she rocked on the chains. It yanked her arms further out of alignment, and she screamed as the bones pulled. Tears pricked her eyes. When she swung closer to Asmodeus, he punched her in the face.

Every rocking motion wrenched the muscles and bones further. Already, it burned. She had no idea how long Asmodeus intended to leave her like this.

Her toes grazed the carpet; she couldn’t stand and support her weight, and she couldn’t straighten up. If she were in her normal form, this wouldn’t be as much of a problem. She wouldn’t weigh anything. Now, in a hybrid fairy-elf-human form, she weighed as much as an adult human female. Her arms were supporting all of it and holy fuck, this was agony. She knew this was just the beginning.

”You were right,” Asmodeus said to Ozymandias. “It was a good idea to start here.”

Gods, she almost wished Asmodeus would just rape her and get it over with. Then, it’d be quick, he’d be done, and she could suffer alone.

“Spread her legs,” he ordered Ozymandias, who held her wand. He squeezed, and chains appeared that wrenched her legs apart as far as they would go. Now, both her arms and legs were stretched painfully.

Asmodeus nodded when Ozymandias procured a baseball bat for him and then swung it fast and hard at her kneecaps. Wanda screamed as they shattered. Cold sweat beaded on her face, and she could barely breathe. She wanted to beg for mercy, but her lips couldn’t form the words. When she tried to speak, no sound escaped.

”Can’t call anyone if you can’t say their name, can you?” Asmodeus taunted. He snagged the wand and produced an impressive curved dagger. It wasn’t iron, but that didn’t reassure her. It reassured her even less than it became slimmer, and he shoved it between her legs. It slashed at her thighs and then tore at her insides.

She had a feeling her voice would become hoarse from screaming. Asmodeus twirled the dagger around until she was gushing blood.

Stop…gods…stop…

She lifted her tear-streaked cheeks and appealed to them mutely, knowing it was useless. In response, Ozymandias fingered her from behind and then produced just enough lube to avoid hurting himself before slamming into her. He grabbed her hips to keep from falling out, and she screamed again, helpless to do anything but endure it.

Asmodeus elevated himself after taking the wand and, floating in front of her, forced her to give him fellatio. Wanda could barely breathe, and the geas was still compelling her to pleasure him while Ozymandias took her from behind. Every movement was agony, and she prayed she’d faint.

The blood gushed onto the carpet, and her vision was too blurry to see. Not that there was much to see, anyway.

Cosmo…

Cosmo wouldn’t have let this happen to her, right? If he’d known what was going on, he would’ve put a stop to it somehow. Maybe not in person; maybe he would’ve brought Jorgen and the Council in on it, but he wouldn’t have let it go on.

Unless Cosmo didn’t love her as much as she thought he did.

Or unless Asmodeus was right. Maybe she deserved it.

Head lowering in shame, she succumbed to despair. No one cared enough about her to rescue her, and there was no one who would rescue her. She was Asmodeus’s plaything, and that was all she was worth anymore.

Asmodeus didn’t let her pass out until an eternity later when he and Ozymandias had liberally coated her in cum and blood, the latter of which was all hers.

The chains loosened, and she crashed to the floor in a heap. It was a blessing to finally lose consciousness. The last thing she remembered was sobbing hysterically and then wonderful darkness.

---------

Cosmo was in the middle of wandering around a fairy shopping mall (which required its customers to float, and Timmy had to make a wish before falling between the random gaps in the floor) when he poofed back to the house in a hurry. Confused, Timmy had a few seconds to take in that Tootie, the twins, and Leander were there before he saw why Cosmo had panicked. Wanda had collapsed to the couch and was gasping, curled into a ball with cold sweat beading her forehead and cheeks.

”Wanda?” Timmy said, wincing at how high-pitched his voice was. He cleared his throat and spoke normally. “Wanda? What’s wrong?”

”Flashback,” Cosmo said weakly. “Bad one.”

”They’re all bad,” Wanda murmured. “I told you that earlier.”

”You can talk?” Timmy said. Wanda’s eyes were squeezed shut, but she made an effort to open them to look at him.

“Temporarily. The twins did something,” Wanda said. She forced herself to straighten into a sitting position. “Cosmo may be right. That might’ve been the worst one I’ve had. The good news is that that was when Asmodeus jinxed me. The bad news is that in order to tell the Council what the spell was-I have to relive it. I don’t know if I can.”

”That bad, huh?” Timmy said, and Wanda nodded, wincing. Her gaze dropped to the floor.

”They…there’s no polite way to put it,” she said. “They beat me, broke bones, and then abused me until they finally let me pass out. By the time Asmodeus allowed me to heal, I had two dislocated shoulders, two broken kneecaps, and I had almost bled out.”

Cosmo whimpered, and Wanda’s smile was humorless.

”As Cosmo knows now,” she said. Her expression was tight. “I hadn’t wanted to tell him. I would’ve preferred he never found out.”

“But it was bad! You were in pain!” he protested.

”I know,” she said. Her glance was still askance. “I would rather have suffered alone than let you see it. Cosmo…”

She swallowed hard, and tears glistened in her eyes. “You didn’t just see it. You felt it. You know how hopeless I felt. I really thought you and Timmy had left me there to die. Or worse.”

A sob caught in her throat. Cosmo hugged her tightly, and she squeezed him back. Their eyes met, and he brushed his lips against hers. Gently, he pushed her back into the couch so that his head rested on her chest. With shaking hands, she stroked his hair.

“You know I tried to get to you,” Cosmo protested.

“I didn’t know that six months ago,” she pointed out. Cosmo stroked her cheek, and she leaned into the affection. He kissed her again, and she kissed him back briefly before shaking overcame her.

“I love you,” she whispered. “I love you both so much.”

”We love you, too,” Timmy reassured her. He sat on the couch beside her, and he wrapped an arm around her.

“It’s still so fresh in my mind,” she said. “It feels more real than this couch and this house. I feel like I’m trapped there, and this is only a pleasant diversion from the truth.”

“You’re not!” Cosmo and Timmy protested in unison. “You’re here!”

”It doesn’t feel like that,” she reminded them. She nuzzled Cosmo, and he shifted to kiss her again. Timmy knew Cosmo probably felt helpless; Timmy sure as hell did.

Timmy played with her curls, and Wanda flushed, obviously pleased with the affection between him and Cosmo. She drew a shaky breath.

”We’ll need to talk to the Council again now that I can talk,” she warned. She closed her eyes and leaned back. “Once I figure out how to bite their heads off and get them to take me seriously.”

---------------

She was still rattled from that flashback when she arrived with her family in the Council chambers’ waiting room. Part of her wished that she’d lingered with Cosmo and Timmy a little while longer, but she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had no idea how long she’d be able to keep talking, and she intended to use that time wisely.

Wanda knew Cosmo wanted to comfort her about the flashback; it was haunting him, too. He was also jealous of Irina and not hiding it well. Under other circumstances, it’d be amusing. Right now, she was having a hard time finding anything funny.

She expected the Council to blow her off again. Perhaps it was time to start throwing her weight around. After all, she was Big Daddy’s daughter, and it was the Council’s fault she was in this predicament. They owed her big time.

Before the guard had a chance to apprehend her, she snapped, “I’m aware the Council is probably busy. I don’t care. I have vital information for them, and I’m sick of them shoving me aside for no reason.”

For a few seconds, the guard gawked, mouth agape. He probably wasn’t used to guests being so direct. She didn’t care. Her patience had worn thin and then snapped. Despite what she’d told Timmy, she had no choice but to relive that last memory. It played ad nauseum in her mind; worse, she couldn’t erect a mental wall to protect Cosmo from its insidious evil.

“I’ll handle this,” a Council member snapped, materializing in front of them. The twins froze, perhaps not expecting someone to poof in, and then edged closer to Wanda. If it hadn’t been for that dark spell preventing her from miscarrying, Wanda was positive she would’ve lost every child she’d ever conceived. Chills went down her spine. The amount of trauma she had undergone would’ve ensured that she miscarried.

Unfortunately, the Council member who had elected to respond was the blonde bitch from earlier. Wanda’s mental hackles rose, and the twins brandished their rattles threateningly. Leander simply stared, bemused, and floated beside Cosmo.

“You’re finally ready to talk, I see,” the Councilwoman said. Wanda growled.

“I’m finally capable of speaking,” she retorted. “Temporarily. I have no idea how long the twins’ magic will last.”

The Councilwoman snorted. “So the half-breeds have a use beyond creating an inter-Court nuisance.”

“Are you going to stand here and help, or just judge?” Wanda snapped. Her blood was running hot, and she didn’t know how much more disrespect she could tolerate, inferior to a superior or not. She was not going to let this fairy give her a dressing down, much less her children.

The woman gave her a once-over, and Wanda’s eyes flashed. Her grip was so tight on the wand that she could hear its wood creaking and feel her pulse pounding.

“I’d rather retrieve the memory without your interference,” the woman said.

“You mean without my being conscious,” Wanda retorted.

The woman shrugged. Raising her wand, she brought the group to the Council chambers. Wanda was so angry that she had difficulty choking back her rage. It infuriated her further that she might suffer another inability to speak based on how incensed she was. Rage might strangle her throat.

Jorgen’s presence mitigated the anger slightly. He inclined his head toward her, and she reciprocated. Cosmo and Timmy elected to sit further away from her, but the twins stood by her side. Their presence clashed with the memory’s remnants, and she wondered if they’d felt it when Ozy had smashed her kneecaps.

The intense sensation of bone-shattering induced nausea, and she swallowed back bile. This was the first time a flashback had intruded and then returned a short while later. It didn’t bode well for this meeting.

“Do not force yourself to speak if you cannot,” Jorgen said. Her throat loosened slightly, and she squeezed her wand to eradicate some of her tension.

“I can,” Wanda said, shooting the blonde woman a nasty look. “And I will.

“I remember the spell that started it. Unfortunately…I can’t separate it out from the rest of that day.”

She shuddered, conjuring the gloves instinctively. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to banish the memory of that dagger sliding between her legs and bit back a whimper. Without looking, she knew it was the blonde fairy who had scoffed.

“She’s in no condition to give testimony.”

“You are in no condition to judge, Vesta,” another Council member reprimanded. “Might I remind you that it was partly due to your stubbornness that we couldn’t reach a majority to rescue Wanda?”

Wanda’s eyes flew open, and she ignored the tears sliding down her cheeks. Her stomach twisted into knots. Vesta was one of the formerly nameless faces who had consigned her to her fate. Shock overrode Wanda’s fury. She was gobsmacked.

When she’d thought it was the Council in its entirety, it was easier to write them all off. Now that she knew there’d been dissent, she had someone to blame.

Perhaps for Vesta’s good, Wanda was too stunned to react properly. She couldn’t access her prior temper, though she felt it lingering in the background, along with her memories of that horrible day.

“Mama…” the twins whined. They sensed her distress if nothing else.

Wanda’s gaze sharpened, and she glowered hatefully at Vesta. Loathing thickened her tone as Wanda said, “I’d rather relive the memory than prove Vesta right in being unable to testify. I’ll do it.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” Timmy said, and Wanda gave him a withering look.

“No offense, sport, but stay out of this,” she snapped. She balled her fists and glared at Vesta again. “Maybe you’ll have a better sense of what I went through when you see it firsthand.”

“Timmy might be right,” Cosmo ventured quietly. “I saw it…and I don’t know if you should…”

“I don’t have a choice,” she snapped at Cosmo. A lump formed in her throat. “I’m still reliving it. I might as well make the memory useful.”

Both of them, Ozy and Asmodeus, raping her simultaneously…

Wanda’s gorge rose, and she swallowed it back with difficulty.

“I won’t give her the satisfaction of thinking I’m too weak to handle it or that I need to be locked up,” Wanda snarled at Vesta. “Let’s go.”

The twins glared at Vesta, too, and shook their rattles for emphasis.

“Let’s go!” they roared. Her little cheerleaders. It was almost enough to improve her black mood, but not quite.

“Yay,” Timmy muttered. “Trauma.”

She decided to ignore him. There were bigger problems, and she knew he was worried on her behalf. Like Vesta, he had no idea what she’d lived through. Unlike Vesta, Wanda was unwilling to subject Timmy to it. She waved her wand, and Timmy fell asleep.

Wanda’s pink eyes flashed warningly. “Now, we can begin.”