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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 0:11:18 GMT -5
Camilla wasn't usually this curious about the lives of her Godchildren. Usually they were huge brats and the more time spent away from them, the better. But Jasper was a bit different and damn it, she wanted to know what was in the Endless Wastes that he had been walking into them that one day looking like he was heading home.
This place had been really hard to find, and she'd only managed it because she had a vague sense of where all her God Children were. And now she was hunched under a window, her wand being used as a listening device. For once, she was dressed for the part. Kind off. She was wearing jeans (dark and trouser-cut as to not appear informal). Which she hardly ever did. And her feet were in flats, not heels, for once, taking away from the height Camilla usually appeared to be. The conversation she was listening in on was helping Jasper make a lot more sense to her. Although she was vaguely curious to whom the gravelly but definitely female voice belonged to.
Diaspro was pacing, slowly and carefully and awkwardly so she didn't break the floor.
"We need more things happening." She complained. "That stupid spanish twit fell through and nothing has changed. We've got to be bolder."
She clapped her hands together, which was pretty much the key for an instant headache and even outside Camilla winced.
"But don't worry. I've got my hands on some dream bombs." Got her hands on meant she'd bitchslapped the proprietor of the black market stand and taken them. He hadn't complained (mostly because he had been unconscious).
"We're going to plant them, where? C'mon, I can't do this all by myself. Where?"
James, who was watching her pace with concern for the floors from his position on a couch, spoke up. "The Castle?"
Just then, of course, a little waste-rat scampered across Camilla's shoe and she screamed bloody murder, standing up and shaking her foot like she was trying to do the hokey pokey.
Diaspro's eyes snapped to the window and widened considerably. Remembering to be cautious in her steps, the stone-woman marched to the window, threw it open and grabbed Camilla by the hair, yanking her forehead down on the sill. This caused the Fairy Godmother to crumple to the ground outside.
"Jasper, go fetch the spy, will you?"
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 0:24:29 GMT -5
Jasper was only half listening.
It seemed most of their conversations centered on the need for a bigger and better plan. The scream jolted him out of his reverie and he was on his feet instantly, one hand resting on the but of his pistol. His eyes widened at the same time Diaspro's did, but for different reasons.
"No--" he began, too softly and too late. He grimaced as he heard the dull thud of Camilla's body crumpling to the ground.
Pressing his lips together, he nodded and was outside in three steps with his long legs. He walked around to the side of their hideout and crouched by Camilla's fallen form. He touched her neck gingerly. Still alive, at least. Like picking up a pillow, he scooped her into his arms bridal style and carried her back.
He glanced pointedly at Diaspro. "I'm of the opinion she's not a spy," he said.
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 0:34:13 GMT -5
Diaspro raised a sculpted eyebrow at him, "And so she was just outside our window for kicks?" She ambled over to Jasper to look over the unconscious women (a surprising amount of people ended up unconscious around her). "Right. Put her on the couch or something." She said as she plucked the woman's wand from her limp grasp and snapped it in half.
Glitter poured out onto the floor and almost immediately, Camilla looked grayer. "We'll figure out what she is when she wakes up." Diaspro threw the broken pieces into the corner and stepped over the pile of glitter. "Clean that up, won't you James?"
Who of course, stumbled to his feet to fetch the broom after shooting a single concerned glance to the unconscious woman. What if someone came looking for her? Or what if she was dead? She looked like a Dream. They weren't supposed to kill dreams.
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 0:45:32 GMT -5
Jasper inwardly cringed as Diaspro snapped the wand, though outwardly only his eyes tightened, and only a little. His eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted to Camilla again. Did she look worse than she had two seconds ago? Perfect. Diaspro had probably just shattered her lifeforce or something.
He laid her tenderly on the couch and pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. Cool, and a little clammy, but not dead cold.
Could she grant wishes with her wand broke? He really hoped so.
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 0:55:36 GMT -5
The glitter was swept away and Diaspro almost went back to rambling on about the dream-bombs when she looked over at Jasper who was treating the woman with a tenderness she'd never seen in him before. A certain kind of jealously arose in her. Not because she was at all romantically inclined to him, but because he owed his loyalty to her. Not some dumb bimbo-spy.
"Jasper, do you know her?" She asked with a bit of a nasty, knowing grin. James shot a worried look over at the three of them, all near the couch now and put away the broom before coming to Diaspro's side.
Camilla groaned a little but then didn't move. She opened her eyes in the tiniest slit possible and looked at the blobby forms she could make out. She was pretty sure the hand on her cheek had been Jasper, and she knew the woman casting her thick shadow over her was the one who had smashed her head into the window sill. Camilla was left wondering what the hell kind of mess she'd gotten herself into.
Diaspro didn't notice that Camilla had awoken, but James did, but in a rare moment looked to Jasper to see if he should tell. He loved Diaspro, but she did get overzealous sometimes, and now with the added fact that Jasper knew her, he could tell their leader was on edge, probably suspecting a double cross or something equally paranoid. And the woman didn't really deserve to die for that.
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 15:59:21 GMT -5
Jasper kept his eyes downcast, not answering at first. He saw her eyelids flutter and he stiffened. He glanced up and caught James eye. With a barely perceptible shift of his jaw, he shook his head. Not yet.
"I've just seen her before," he replied. "At the hospital. She's in charge there, and she's a Dream. That's why I don't think she's a spy."
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 16:28:11 GMT -5
"She's the hospital director? What the hell is she doing outside our window then?" Diaspro was beginning to feel nervous, James was right. It wasn't exactly legal to have dreambombs on hand and the woman had probably overheard all of that, not to mention she somehow knew where their supposedly secret layer was. Taking a deep breath the living statue threw up her hands in frustration.
"When the stupid thing wakes up, come get me." She grumbled and fixed James with a commanding glare. She couldn't always trust Jasper to do exactly what she said, but James was another story. And with that she lumbered away, down some steps into were she was apparently keeping the bombs.
When she was sure the loud-voiced woman had left the room, Camilla tried to figure out what to do next. If Jasper was in cahoots with her, then perhaps she shouldn't really trust him. And there was someone else there, too. Her hand stretched to find her wand and couldn't help but panic when she couldn't find it. She opened her eyes and started patting her usual storage spots. Her sleeves, her pockets, her hair, and when it yielded nothing, she opened her hand and the two pieces wobbled out of the corner towards her, somewhat pathetically.
Still lying down, she took the two pieces in hand and looked up at Jasper, still-glazed eyes looking slightly off in an expression of naked fury.
"Let me go." Although what she was going to do if he said no, she hadn't a clue. Camilla sat up (slowly) but even the simple action left her feeling dizzy.
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 16:41:37 GMT -5
Jasper leaned away, trying not to crowd her, as she searched for her wand. He exchanged a silent glance with James, wondering if he would run off to Diaspro. He was loyal to Diaspro, and their cause, but Camilla wasn't a part of that, and he didn't want her to get hurt for it.
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not restraining you," he said pointedly. "Are you alright?"
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 16:46:12 GMT -5
"Are you alright?" She mocked and tried to fit the two pieces back together, but it was hopeless and she knew that. She chucked the broken thing away from her and rested her face in her hands for a moment. She was so screwed. "Oh yes, just dandy. Had my head smashed into a window sill and my wand is broken. Do you know what that means?" She growled and then tried to stand (and failed. Her legs didn't seem able to support her and they collapsed and she fell back onto the couch).
"I can't even poof out of here now." Loosing her wand wasn't the end of the world. It did mean no wishes and no poofing until she got another one, but getting a replacement wasn't impossible. Just incredibly difficult.
James was waffling between going to tell Diaspro, or holding off because the poor woman looked like she was about to cry. But what had she been doing outside their window? "I-I-I won't tell." He hushed a moment later. He didn't want Jasper to hate him and Diaspro didn't have to know, right?
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 16:53:51 GMT -5
A smirk tugged at Jasper's lips, but he quickly pressed them together, swallowing any amusement. Now she'd have to walk like everyone else, and her distress at her lack of magic might have been funny, until he thought about losing one of his pistols.
"Try and relax," he said. "What the hell are you doing out here in the first place?" He glanced at the door Diaspro had disappeared through. "If Diaspro comes back, you hate Nightmares and you love Queen Hina, understand?"
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 16:59:30 GMT -5
Camilla placed hand to her wildly thumping head. When he told her to relax, she almost clawed the side of his face with her nails. "Are you kidding me? I'm in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of lunatics. This is how horror movies start." She complained and then blushed a little. "I was just curious, okay?" Her tone dared him to make fun of her for it.
"And if Diaspro comes back, I'm going to kill her." She growled although she was well aware she wouldn't have a chance agaisnt the hulking stone woman. James also looked a little discomfited by the sincerity in Camilla's voice.
Maybe he should tell. Slowly, he moved a single inch towards the door, carefully, but didn't yet make a run for it, or call her name, which would surely bring her crashing up the stairs (poor stairs).
"You don't mean t-t-that?"
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 17:04:06 GMT -5
"There will be no killing," Jasper assured James. He looked back at Camilla. "On either side."
He puzzled over her earlier words. Curious? Curious about what? A lone shack in the middle of the desert?
"James," he said softly. "Help me think." Thinking wasn't his strongest point. "Is there a way to get her out of here that won't.... irritate Diaspro?"
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 17:22:47 GMT -5
James wasn't so great at thinking either, but at the very least he knew Diaspro, who was. "If we just let her out, the land is flat enough that Diaspro will see her even if it's hours before she comes upstairs. And she'll know that we weren't overpowered. I think you should play dead." He said to Camilla.
But that made Camilla nervous. There was so much that could go wrong with playing dead and she shook her head. "How about you all stop being complete lunatics and just let me out? What the hell is wrong with you all? I didn't do anything and we're talking like I need to be snuck out from a top secret facility. It's a fucking shack in the middle of no where."
She was getting angry, this made no sense and there was no way she wasn't going to report all of them to the King the moment she got back to civilized country. But Diaspro, who wasn't deaf, heard Camilla's raised voice and began to lumber up the steps leading to the basement.
James looked panicked, he was about to be caught not doing as she had ordered. He took off and ran down the steps to meet her, and you could hear his needling voice trying to placate (and accidentally distract) Diaspro.
"She just, just woke up. I came right away to get you, I swear."
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Post by Miss Jack on Aug 17, 2008 17:28:14 GMT -5
"Great," Jasper muttered. He glared flatly at Camilla. "Happy?"
He rose from the couch and flipped his pistol up, checking the carriage. Fully loaded. Not that he was planning on shooting anyone, but it made him feel better.
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Post by Jules on Aug 17, 2008 17:38:50 GMT -5
"Oh yes. Ecstatic." She muttered right back and stood again. She was still wobbly, but at least she remained upright this time. Hopefully she could give off the illusion of strength and somehow get through the psychotic Diaspro.
Who had pushed passed James' whining excuses and was at the top of the stairs, staring at Jasper and then Camilla, looking furious. "What the hell is going on?" She graveled, taking her clumsy-awkward steps towards them. "Why where you spying on us?"
James came up behind Diaspro, looking somewhat ashamed of himself, eyes downcast. Camilla however, returned Diaspro's stare three-fold. "I'm going to report you if you don't let me go. I know you have dream bombs."
Which was actually kind of terrifying to think about, especially in the hands of this one. But it had also not been the smartest thing to say, for Diaspro's stony eyes bulged and she reached forward, slapping the fairy godmother clean across the face.
Camilla staggered, but Diaspro had only done it half-heartedly (if she'd truly meant it, Camilla would've been on the floor again), but the stone of the woman's hand was going to leave a mark. It was like getting hit in the face with a rock. Her hands went to cup her throbbing cheek.
"You won't tell a soul. And who says you're going anywhere?" "Di, we have to let her go---people will come looking for her." James pleaded. "How do you know that? I doubt anyone actually likes the little twit."
Camilla's mind raced, who would come looking for her? Her staff might start to wonder, but they'd probably just take the chance at an extended vacation, maybe drop a line at the L.O.S if she hadn't yelled at them all recently for being so lazy. She frowned, and hated to admit it, but she was having trouble coming up with anyone who she actually called a friend.
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