Wizards and Thieves - Chapter Five
Chapter Five: Down to the Dungeons to see the Zombies
"So, what exactly does this anklet do?" Petros asked. "How does it work?"
"Normally this device tells the group watching me where I am at all times. I have to stay within a radius or else the alarm will go off. At the moment, the lights are off, meaning that the signal isn't being sent to the FBI," Neal said. "Of course, that doesn't do me any good here in another world, but it should mean that Peter will be alerted that something is going on."
"My counterpart from the other world, am I wrong?" Petros asked.
Neal nodded his head. "You look like you could be twin brothers."
"THen it is a good thing that he is alerted, working magic from both sides, we might be able to send you back home and bring the chosen one here," Petros said.
"Only one problem with that," Neal said. "There's no magic in my world, so it's not like Peter can wave a magic wand and send me home."
"No magic?" Petros said. "That explains your reaction earlier, I suppose."
"Still, if it is one thing that Peter is good at, it's finding me and capturing me," Neal said. "I don’t know how he's going to do it this time around, though."
"We'll have to give him some help," Petros said. He sighed. "This was something that I was hoping to avoid."
"What is it?" Neal asked.
"We must find the high priest and take his staff from him," Petros said. "I believe that you and the chosen one are linked, so if you touch the staff again, you should be switched once more."
"So where is this high priest?" Neal asked. He glanced around the room like he would find the high priest propped in the corner.
"I have my men looking for him now," Petros said. "The rumor is that he vanished after the magical backlash."
"So this guy has disappeared," Neal said. He frowned, the idea pinging his radar that Peter had built up with all of their cases. It sounded suspicious to him. "That's odd."
"It is no matter, my men will find him," Petros said. "In the mean time, why don't I show you my zombies?"
"You were serious about the zombies?" Neal asked. He tried to wrap his mind around Peter and Zombies and failed. He was certain that Peter would survive a zombie apocalypse, but he couldn't ever think of Peter raising the dead.
"I suppose you've never seen a zombie before, have you?" Petros said. He shook his head, giving a Peter is Appreciative look. "You're world must be something else. But, zombies really are the best workforce that magic can buy."
"We write horror stories about zombies in my world," Neal said. "They attack everyone and cause the end of the world."
"Horror stories, huh," Petros said. "It is true that they do freak some people out, but none of my force would ever attack anyone, unless ordered."
"Of course," Neal said. He was strangely comfortable with this version of Peter. He had the same feel of justice as his Peter did, but he also had a dark streak through him. It reminded Neal of when he suspected Peter of kidnapping Kate. That had been hard to believe, but this took the cake, really.
"Come on, now," Petros said. He led Neal out of the tower room, waving off the guards that waited outside, and they made their way down the stairs. They went straight past the entrance that Neal had come through in the beginning, and headed down further into the castle. They emerged in the dungeons, complete with all of the torture implements. The room was not set up for torture, though; it rather looked like a lab to Neal. He glanced around, amazed at everything that he saw. He couldn't see any zombies at the moment, instead there was a woman standing in front of one of the counters.
Neal blinked when he recognized who it was and he grinned. "Elizabeth." He then paused as he realized and turned towards Petros. "Or, I'm guessing some other form of the name?"
"Elisabet," Petros said. He gave Neal a weighty glance. "I do think that this confirms the alternate world theory. I assume that things are close enough that this would happen. So, my counterpart has an Elisabet, too."
"El is a gem," Neal said.
"Counterpart?" Elisabet asked as she looked up from what she was working on. She blinked when she noticed Neal. "You didn't say that we were going to have company, dear.”
“I thought that it was going to just be one of the chosen ones, so I didn’t bother to say anything,” Petros said.
“But things have changed now?” Elisabet asked. She left what she was doing and came over to look at Neal. “I’m sorry; my husband is being such a pain. My name is Elisabet. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Neal Caffrey,” Neal introduced himself, shaking Elisabet’s hand. “Not the chosen one.”
“They sent someone else instead?” Elisabet asked.
“I was getting to that point,” Petros said. “Neal is from another world. How cool is that?”
“Another world?” Elisabet asked, blinking in confusion.
“You know that magical backlash that swept through recently?” Petros asked.
“I could feel it hitting the buffer zone," Elisabet said. "That was what brought Neal to this world?"
"The most recent chosen one stole the high priest's staff," Petros said. "I think that he did something to the staff and set it off so that it switched the two Neals."
"Oh, dear," Elisabet said. She frowned and absently patted Neal on the arm. "So what are you thinking about doing about it?"
"Obviously we need to find a way to send Neal home and I suppose get back the chosen one," Petros said.
"Well, from what I understand, I don't think that this chosen one would be that bad," Elisabet said. She motioned towards Neal. "He's going to be a lot like Neal, right?"
"Since they are two halves of the same coin, I would say that they are probably very similar," Petros said.
Neal shrugged. "He stole the staff from the high priest."
"Okay," Elisabet said, staring at Neal, knocked off balance by his comment. "Given that, though, I am sure that you'll be able to get along well with him."
"What makes you say that?" Petros asked. He wrinkled his nose. "He's a chosen one, and you know how all of the others turned out."
"You get along well with Neal, though," Elisabet pointed out. She smiled at her husband and pecked him on the cheek. "So you should make an effort when we get our version."
"We have to get him back first," Petros said. He clapped his hands together. "Why don’t we focus on that?"
Chapter Six