Miranda had been spoiled rotten, she was bold, brash, demanding, and always craved being the centre of attention. She only showed signs of some possible empathy when she had been very small, but that soon gave way to laughing at others misfortune instead. Miranda's father had, and instructed his employees to dote on her endlessly, she got everything she wanted, except later on when she started getting interested in boys. That was when she and her father sometimes fought.
As for NT, she was a fairy who had been born under some unusual circumstances, sharing the same biological father as Miranda. But NT's mother was a fairy whom he had enslaved so her could expoint her magic. it might've been possible that NT was already trying to stop the master when still in the womb. He had complained more and more frequently of feeling drained as the time of NT's birth got closer. He came out and said there was something about this baby that was making him feel literally sick. In addition, NT was always terribly restless whenever he was around Ariel. she jumped around like mad just at the sound of the taskmaster's voice. with the due date getting close and his strength running out, he decided to go to some world to buy a slave to replace Ariel, then teleported and stranded Ariel in a remote, uninhabited location to have the baby, hoping she would die in childbirth and the baby would starve to death.
But Ariel, being a fairy, used the last of her strength and magic to prevent the baby from such a cruel fate. She turned the feetus into music, let it ring out they way she had done when producing music via magic before. Then, what appeared to be an adult fairy formed, ghostly at first, then took solid form.
Ariel barely had time to name her before fading away, thanks to the cruel magic of her master.
But his magic couldn't win against love, which was what eventually brought Ariel back for however short a time, and she and NT were reunited.
But vengeance is a pretty powerful force, and dark magic can be used to stalk the innocent, and that was how this confrontation was able to happen at all.
Ariel and NT were just about to walk with their friend Ameh over to the little shopping center for a few things. From the sidewalk they were standing on, they saw a fancy car pull up right in front of the house.
Ariel turned pale as a ghost and shuddered. "How did he get here?" She whispered shakily to no one in particular as she recognized the man and a young girl getting out of the car.
NT picked up on Ariel's alarm, and new there had to be only one reason for it. She tugged at Ariel's arm and gestured toward the house. "Let's get inside." she whispered and started trying to pull Ariel along.
But Ariel seemed unable to move, frozen in fear or, was it?
NT turned back, noticing Ariel wasn't following. "Run!" she mouthed urgently to her - and then she realized what had happened.
Ameh too, had warning bells sounding off in her mind about this as well. "Please don't tell me this is happening." she muttered to herself, and tried to nix the spell.
Someone had just put a magic freeze on Ariel so that she couldn't move!
"Blast it!" NT hissed. She concentrated a moment, and Ariel could move once again. But by that time, it was too late.
The occupants of that car had approached Ariel, but they hadn't reckoned on dealing with NT and Ameh.
NT returned to her mother's side, but stared the two strangers down, both to get a good look at them and to let them know they were not welcome.
Ameh eyed them with suspicion, reaching the same conclusion about these people as NT had.
The man was middle aged with long hair that might have been dark once upon a time, but was now gray, almost white. His eyebrows were very bushy, his features, coarse and cruel looking. He was dressed in an expensive suit.
The young girl with him appeared about 15 and had reddish blonde hair that was held back in a single French braid. Her expression was a sort of smug pout. Her complexion was very good, but she certainly had enough makeup on, and her features, though they might be considered perfectly formed, were sharp. Her green eyes looked as cold and full of self-importance as the man's brown ones did. She was curvy and walked like she knew how to show herself off, she looked like a typical naughty preppy party girl.
Ameh decided to give them the brush off. "Sir, ma'am - you'll have to move your car and park it across the street and down the block, and, whatever you're selling, we're not interested."
"She's right." NT said shortly.
The man spoke up. "Now young ladies," he tried to humor Ameh and NT, "Is that any way to greet guests?" Then looking at Ameh, he said, "I do not believe this concerns you."
Ameh looked briefly at Ariel and NT, and back at the man. "Anything that concerns them, concerns me, Mister." She shot back, narrowing her eyes.
NT flushed, then tensed, prepared to react if the man so much as looked at her and Ariel the wrong way. She knew that horrid low snarling voice of his, she'd heard it all the time when Ariel was still carrying her. It had boomed and roared like a dozen motorcycles in her head then and it had frightened and hurt her mother.
"I'd watch that tone if I was you, madam," the man responded coolly to Ameh.
The teenaged girl also shot Ameh a contemptuous glance, then turned her face away in a stuck-up, repulsed manner.
Ameh only stared coldly back at them both.
NT piped up then. "Did Ameh invite you here? Or Danae, or Pippi?"
"Who?" The man asked.
"I thought not. And I didn't invite you, so get lost!"
"NT," Ariel whispered in her ear, "Please don't provoke him, he was my master - he's very dangerous."
"There is nothing magical he can do to me," NT whispered back.
"But he can take me back and make me serve him again. He could use the law of the place he's living in now to do that." Ariel whispered.
"Not if I got anything to do with it!" And NT moved so that she was directly in front of the man, trying to block him from getting to Ariel.
"Ariel," the man demanded, "I came here to take you and your baby, if she really exists, back to Central, this is no place for you. But I want to know, who is this girl with you? And that blonde?" and he stepped to the side, around NT and closer toward Ariel. "Tell me you malignant thing or I'll--"
But the man's sentence was cut off by NT, who moved herself between him and Ariel again, and this time, she didn't hold back.
Before he could even react, she slammed her body along with a few magic blasts hard into him, punching, hitting, scratching, biting and kicking at him.
It would've been better for him if NT was just angry, and she definitely was. But she was also terrified that he would take Ariel away from her and abuse her again. NT's outrage at the way he treated Ariel in the past, combined with the overwhelming fear of losing her mother to him again, drove everything else from her mind. All she wanted now was to make him pay for his mistakes and leave so he would never come for Ariel again. She didn't care that she was hurting him, and was probably even oblivious to that fact.
Now, he was taking the brunt of all NT's pain from losing Ariel the day of her birth, to every other violent thing NT had ever heard of in her nine months of life, but had been futile to prevent or stop. And just as in the past, along with the extreme stress, her magic reactions kicked in and things about the area that could be moved, started flying furiously about, and NT screamed again and again at the top of her lungs for him to go away or else.
The angry screams and shouts from NT and some other young girl, and absence of similar sounds from Ameh and Ariel, got Pippi and Danae, who had been inside, out in a hurry, afraid something was happening to Ariel or Ameh. They saw everything from this point on.
The blonde teenaged girl tried to break up the fight but got shoved forcefully by NT. The man tried to hold the fairy at arm's length, but she sent a magic sensation that made him let go, Then the fighting continued. Again and again, NT pounded wildly at the man and tore his expensive new suit, and he kept struggling and backing off. But he wasn't truly retreating, and NT was trying to drive him off so he'd turn tail and run. She finally resorted to blasting him so that he staggered and collapsed. Then, she turned her attention to the teenaged girl, warning her to make tracks if she didn't want the same thing happening to her.
The man was only down for a moment, but once he got up and dusted himself off, he still refused to take the hint. Instead, he became irate at NT for threatening his daughter, and he refused to leave.
"I can only guess who that is," Danae said to pippi, indicating the gray haired man.
Pippi nodded, and the two of them joined the others on the sidewalk.
"What!?" The man suddenly exclaimed just as Pippi approached to break up the fight. "You can't even fight this little monster with magic!" He had tried to send NT sprawling, then attempted to freeze her, but absolutely nothing worked. All he could do now was struggle and try not to injure her in the process. He knew he would face a lawsuit if he did.
"All right now, that's enough," Pippi took hold of NT's shoulder, and Ameh got in between the man and NT.
"who is this wench?" The teenaged girl asked, pointing at NT.
"An' who are you?" Danae demanded of the blonde girl in turn.
"Don't call me a wench, jerk!" NT shot back.
"Girls!" Ariel tried to stop the quarrel that was developing between the teen and the fairy.
"Me!? You just attacked my dad, WENCH!" The blonde shouted.
"Miranda!" Ariel shouted back, evidently she knew who the bratty teenaged party girl was.
"He deserves it! He abused my mother, and if he tries anything with her again I'll pitch 'im into space!" NT yelled back.
"NT!" Ariel protested.
Did not, you liar!" Miranda screamed.
Pippi and Danae exchanged knowing looks, and Danae cast the man a hateful glance. "So it's you, is it?" she snarled.
"I figured that's who you were!" Ameh ranted. "You scum and your daughter or trophy wife or whatever she is can go to - " But Ameh's sentence was cut off by a very indignant Miranda.
"I'm his daughter, you stupid dweeb!"
"That figures." Ameh shot back contemptuously.
The fight between NT and Miranda continued.
"He didn't abuse your mother, you liar!"
"Yes he did, moron! And I don't lie!
"Go make yourself useful and play in the street, wench!" Miranda shouted.
"Show me how, idiot!" NT yelled back.
"Miranda! NT! That's enough, now be quiet, both of you!" Pippi managed to raise her voice above the quarreling girls.
"Miranda," the man said, looking at the teenager, "Go back to the car."
"But daddy--"
"Just go!"
The girl withdrew reluctantly.
"NT, go inside." Ariel said.
But NT wasn't going to leave her mother and friends out here with that monster. "No, not until they're gone." She scowled up at the man. "You can take you're own advice any time, get into that homely car and hit the road - without my mother or anybody else here."
"You know this girl, Ariel," the man said, looking at his former slave, "Tell me who she is."
"Your worst enemy!" NT snapped at the man.
"NT, please try to settle down so we can get to the bottom of this." Pippi interjected.
"Don't tell me to settle down, and this situation has already reached rock bottom, with *that* monster!" NT retorted.
"No doubt!" Ameh agreed.
"Ariel, I won't ask again!" the man threatened, causing Ariel to shudder.
"You bet you won't!" NT shot back, raising a tightly clenched fist.
"She's my daughter, sir.
"No, she can't be," the man said in disbelief. "She would have to have been born to you while you were under the witch's curse and that's impossible. She's a mage you've been secretly conspiring with against me!"
"You got the part about being against you right!" NT spat, giving him an acid look.
"She was only born this late winter, sir," Ariel responded. "She's still a baby, sir, but I had to give her a head start with some things at birth so she didn't lie there starving to death if I died.!"
The man studied NT more closely, realizing that with Ariel being a desperate fairy at the time, she could've used magic to help NT along a little. Now as he looked at the girl, he could see that she was very young, with no signs of the usual teenage oily or acned complexion, and no signs of ever having that. He touched her face, but she slapped his hand away forcefully.
There were other signs he couldn't ignore. NT's dark hair, the color his had been years ago as a youth, her eyes were the same color as his, but the similarities ended there. What gave away her young age was the fact she still had her baby teeth and her skin was so soft. There had been a couple of odd things about her right from the start of this confrontation - well, that was it.
The man paled. "This can't be! Our baby?" He finally said once he recovered enough.
"I'm *not* your anything!" NT said, clearly the idea was making her sick.
"Does she know--" The man's question directed to Ariel, was cut off by NT again.
"I know about you all right! NT began confronting him again. "you freed Ariel from a curse but threatened to put it back on her again if she didn't do exactly what you wanted, when you wanted! And you called her names! And you got her pregnant! She almost died because of you! I hate you!"
"Oh God." Ameh gasped.
Pippi's heart sank. She and Ameh, and Danae had figured this was what had happened. But they didn't know for sure, and had no idea NT had figured it out as well. Now, there would be no shielding her from the cold, hard truth of the matter.
"When I thought she was dead, I asked myself over and over again why you didn't die instead of her!!!!" pain and rage threatened to overwhelm NT completely.
The man was shaken and tried to justify his actions to placate NT. "But child, if I hadn't rescued your mother and, well, you wouldn't be here."
Now utter anguish and self-loathing showed in NT's expression and voice. "And do you have any idea how many times I wished to God I wasn't!? When Ariel almost died after giving me life, I thought that was my fault because what *you* didn't take from her, *I* *did*!" Her voice broke and tears streamed down her face. She turned her back to him, not wanting to show him her tears, while at the same time, displaying an unmistakable disdain for him.
"NT, none of what happened to me is your fault, don't ever think that." Ariel consoled trying to hold NT and move her away from the horrid man.
NT tried to compose herself enough to talk again, and looked at Ariel. She continued, stammering as she tried to get the words out without breaking down completely. "It wasn't clear at first. For a while I thought he just made you feel obligated because he undid the witch's spell. I couldn't figure out why he could make you work for him. But he used to be stronger than you with magic, and he used that to coerce you. Didn't he?"
"Oh NT," Ariel said as she too, started to weep, "When I was giving birth to you, and you were getting my information, I tried to ward out that part of my life so you wouldn't know."
"She can get through wards like nobody's business," Ameh told Ariel.
NT continued, "And one of those coercions brought about--" She gestured toward herself, unable to utter that awful word "me". "Sometimes I just wanna die, but it's wrong to kill yourself and I know you wouldn't want that for me, and neither would Pippi, or Danae - anyone that cares - I love you guys," and NT squeezed Ameh's hand, then Ariel's. Then What she said next came out as more of a wailing sob than a shout. "It's sickening - being here 'cause of - some vile, cruel act!!!" She couldn't talk any more. All that came out was heart wrending sobs.
"Daddy, she's lying!" Miranda came back. She couldn't stay away with all the commotion going on.
"I told you to stay in the car!" he snapped. The last thing he wanted was Miranda to lose control and do something to get herself in trouble or embarrass him.
Miranda went nuts. She ran over to NT and hit her. "Shut up you lying piece of crap!"
NT didn't even seem to register this, and only continued to cry.
Ariel slapped Miranda in return, "Don't you dare lay a hand on her!"
"Or what? You listen to me and Father, remember?" Miranda taunted.
"Woman! You will pay for laying a hand on my daughter!" the man roared.
But when he started for Ariel, he got thrown back by a desperate magic blast from NT.
"Curse you!" he yelled at NT next."
"Shut up!" she screamed back.
"You leave Daddy alone!" Miranda shrieked.
"You shut your stupid face!" NT yelled and lunged for Miranda.
It took Ariel and Pippi to separate the two brawling girls.
The man ordered Miranda back into the car.
She huffed, stamped her foot, spat, cussed and glared at everyone, but at the sound of her father's partially raised voice, she stomped back to the car, got in, and slammed the door.
Danae tsked in disgust. "What is she, sixteen going on two?"
"Madam," he glared at Danae, "I will not have you addressing my daughter in such a fashion."
"What you do not have, sir," Danae fired back venomously, "is the authority to tell me how to address anybody!"
"We shall see." he replied coldly.
"Well then," Ameh piped up again. "I hope you like the view, because it isn't gonna be pretty if you don't get smart and get lost!"
"My, oh my, but you're a feisty little thing, whoever you are." the man condescended to Ameh.
Her stare turned even icier. "Like I said, clear out while you still can!" she warned.
"Go back to Miranda," Ariel said quietly, looking at the man, "You can see NT wants nothing to do with you."
"I just came here in the first place to take you and our daughter back to Central, I thought we'd all start out fresh there."
"Because slavery's all fine and dandy over there, and you thought you'd never get caught?" Ameh demanded. "Did you think NT wouldn't know the difference because she's so young? Or maybe you just hoped she had died!"
"How dare you!" he roared indignantly at Ameh. "The fact is, Ariel arrived in Central without a baby. I only found out about it through Central's gossip, so yes, I thought she had lost it."
"You were hoping she would!" Ameh accused. "Less inconvenient for you without a baby around."
"Woman!" he raised his voice indignantly at Ameh.
But Pippi spoke up next, narrowly managing to avert a conflict between the taskmaster and Ameh. "So you never searched for her,"
"Lucky for him!" NT choked out.
"I wouldn't have found her anyway. I would've been looking for an...average...infant." The man replied. "Oh well, she'll be orphaned soon anyway, if what Ariel claimed was true, she wouldn't stand the site of the child."
"Don't start that crap with any of us!" Danae stepped forward to confront him next. "You get yer sorry, stinkin butt off this property before I lose what's left o' my temper!"
This time, the man wavered a little. He wasn't frightened by Ariel, or Ameh, and was a bit weirded out by NT; but Danae seemed like someone he better not try to cross just yet. She simply managed to look and sound the most intimidating of the whole lot.
NT had started crying in earnest, and Ariel had to work hard just to try and reach her. "Shhhhhh, there there, NT, you are the one thing good that came out of it all, and I love you. This is not your fault. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you did nothing wrong, and there's nothing wrong with you. You're my beautiful little girl and don't you forget that. I could never regret having you, no matter what." Ariel cooed softly as she took NT and moved a way off with her.
"That's right!" Ameh exploded at the man, "if anyone should be ashamed, it's you!"
Ariel looked back at Ameh, nodding in agreement. But she continued trying to comfort NT and fighting against her own rage and devastation.
"Who is this little brat?" The stranger demanded, pointing rudely down at Ameh. He began to walk in the direction of Ariel and NT, desiring to scare Ariel into submission once and for all.
"Uh-oh, scared stupid o' takin on the big 'brat' are ya?" Danae seized him by the collar, stopping him from reaching Ariel.
Ameh wasn't finished with him by a long shot. She stepped over to the man and got right in his way. "You wanna fight someone with magic?" she challenged, "Here!"
The stranger went flying backwards with a loud, ticked off holler..
"This 'little brat' is gonna kick your sick butt all the way back into the dark ages, where you belong!" Another blast sent the rotter into the street.
"Way to go, Ameh! When you're done with 'im, let me have a go!" Danae jeered.
A car door slammed, followed by the sound of quick, stomping steps as Miranda came back. "You leave my Daddy alone!" she hollered.
"Danae, Ameh..." But Pippi might as well have saved her breath, since neither fairy was listening to her.
Then Danae took over. "My turn now!" She sent him flying up in the air, crashing down, then suspended in an upside down position.
"Put him down, you stupid ugly wench!" Miranda yelled, and started for Danae.
"Oh, look what we have here, wanna join your Daddy?"
"Danae, please be careful, she's just a child!" Pippi protested.
"with blinders and a bad attitude." Ameh retorted.
Miranda howled as Danae put her in a magic whirl.
It only lasted a few seconds, and then Danae released her, turning her attention back to the taskmaster.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" He yelled like an idiot as Danae continued the punishment.
"Stop killing him!" Miranda shrieked. "How could you be so cruel!?"
Ameh rolled her eyes and looked at Pippi. "So he enslaves somebody and maroons her on an island to have her baby, and *we're* cruel."
"I'm not killing anything!" Danae responded, rolling her eyes at Miranda.
Back and forth, back and forth he went like a giant pencil along the road. His hair got mussed, torn and pulled out by the street's rough surface.
The taskmaster bellowed at Danae to stop at once, along with other utterances of displeasure.
Danae only continued, sending him reeling in the air, then spinning him wildly on his way back down. "You DON'T come around here, threatening to take these people somewhere they don't wanna go!"She put him in a fierce whirlwind of magic, and he was tossed about like a piece of driftwood in a sea storm.
He howled helplessly, unable to strike back with his own magic because he wasn't kept still long enough to focus on Danae and friends.
"Danae!" Pippi called out, trying to get her to stop.
Ameh joined Danae, and together, they played a bizarre sort of magic basketball, with him as the ball and some trees serving as baskets.
When Miranda got too close, she found herself caught up in the whirling magic as well.
Pippi became concerned these two irate fairies might take things too far and injure the mage and his daughter. Then it would be them who would get in trouble later. But if calling their names wouldn't get their attention, she realized she would have to use physical contact, which could be dangerous if she got in the way of their magic. But she didn't know what else to do. So, carefully, she approached Danae from behind.
So far, so good, now to make contact.
Pippi put her hands on Danae's shoulders, and still, the magic didn't effect her. Clearly, Danae was only causing problems for the taskmaster and his daughter up ahead.
Finally, Pippi gave Danae a shake to get her attention. "That's enough now, Danae, let him go!"
After a few moments, Danae finally set him free from her angry magic grip.
But Ameh wasn't through with him yet. She stopped tossing him around, but advanced toward him where he now sprawled on the sidewalk. Then Ameh said, "I'm warning you. If you turn out to be who I think you are, the next time we meet, you will regret it more than anything in your whole life!"
With that, Ameh jolted open the driver's seat door of the man's car and sent him whirling into it. Then, she did the same thing to Miranda, sending her in through a passenger side door.