Who: Carbosse and Oberon
Where: the edge of Carabosse's property
When: a few days after this log and this log
What: Oberon approaches Cara to learn what he can or kill her and Cara lays it all out on the line


After the appearance of Warren, Mabb was almost certain her next guest would be Mabb herself. If she had any gift for clairvoyance she'd laugh at herself and those expectations that never bore fruit.

However she thought to encounter her guests at the border of her property from henceforth, carefully disguised as a raven perched in a nest in one of the trees of her dark garden. She hadn't taken this form in a good many years. It was almost like riding a bike; she still had balance, didn't fall off.

Hours passed and became days. She waited so patiently, so carefully. As the dark figure moved through the woods she felt her heart flutter. Give me a chance to find his memories before you destroy me completely. She shivered, her wings fluttering.

Surprise took her as Oberon appeared among the trees. He stepped carefully between the trees. He knew all of the ways to find Cara, had used many of them in their shared youth. She was no easy faerie to find; he knew briefly of Mabb's frustration at Cara's hidden trail.

She felt sadness settle over her. Memories unbidden, memories that had been burned away and returned her came flying from the shadows. His determination. His plan of action that she was bound to follow. You, he insisted. Cara, you're the only one I can trust with this.

She hadn't been allowed to witness the scarring, the application of iron to memory. They were drawn forth by magic, any memory of Mabb, any memory of his decision to commit to this course of action was brought to the surface. As the iron burned his flesh it vaporized those fragile memories, committing them to air. Some of them had been trapped by magic, kept in jars. Some of them had been utterly destroyed.

Cara didn't know which of his memories still existed, or where. This was far more muddled and far more complicated than she wanted. She was truly all on her own, with only his feelings to plead to.

She was fairly certain that he wasn't mad at her betrayal, the only emotion that she could base her arguments on and convince him of the truth. He was her last ally besides Puss and she really didn't want to share her blood for a little magic.

Swooping down from her branch and altering her form as she landed. "Oberon," she said so softly it was almost a whisper.

He saw her and frowned. "Carabosse." He hadn't expected to be greeted so.

"Bewitched," she muttered.

"And do you mean by that?" he asked, his tongue snapping as he temper flared.

"Mabb has you so wrapped up in words of love." She made a sound between laughter and disgust, a little exhaling of air that could be neither at the same time. "You won't believe the truth."

"And why should I believe you after all you've done to me?" he replied, his words chosen so very carefully. Answer the questions I haven't asked Cara, was the silent challenge.

"Are you mad?" she whispered quickly. "Has my betrayal angered you to the point where you cannot stand to look at me."

He was taken aback by her question. He had not been mad. When angered Oberon practically crackled with magic, drawing forth energy to destroy whatever had displeased him. Clearly, something was amiss here. Not even a single pop or flicker of rage.

"They did more than erase your memories of her Oberon. They erased other things as well. They drew all of your careful plans to the surface and burned them away. Perhaps even trapped them. I do not know how much of your memory is recoverable, but some of it is out there, somewhere. I know that they kept something," she said with certainty. Warren had alluded to the existence of memories, though he did not know their possible location.

"How do you know all this?" he asked, as if he might believe her with the right words.

"You trust me," she replied, her tone tired. "Most of the council didn't know that you had told me everything. They couldn't erase what they didn't know of. They couldn't steal the one failsafe you planted before you let them take it all away."

"I did not let them do this," he replied vehemently.

"You knew it would be easier if they erased your plans. Warren understood," she added, taking a chance by bringing his name into the conversation. "You did too. If you didn't remember any of it you wouldn't have to bear the guilt of your actions. You wouldn't know that you had betrayed Mabb. You really do love her," she said, almost as an afterthought.

A line appeared on his jaw, from muscle tensing beneath the skin. "And if I don't believe you Carabosse," he whispered harshly, "you understand that Mabb expects me to kill you."

She drew in a long slow breath, inhaling all of the bad blood from the past. "That's a calculated risk Oberon. Everything I do is."

He looked at her, accused and defenseless. He should have been feeling a lot more anger and a lot less guilt if her words didn't ring with some kind of truth. "Find my memories," he said. "Do not let Mabb find you. If she knows you live…"

"Then we're all done for," Cara finished. "Understood."

He stood quietly for a long time. Carabosse was always so good at touching raw nerves and then grinding him with the heel of her boots. She was well practiced in earning his ire, though rarely the punishments that went with it. She was his best friend, next to Puck. He hated that he wanted to believe her. He sighed loudly before turning away from her. "Do not come to me until you have them," he said without looking at her. "Should you never find them you will never see me again."

Cara wondered if this was his way of protecting her or manipulating her. He had to know that she would find those memories at all costs, if that was the only way she could ever see him again. Watching his back as he walked away she couldn't feel the loss yet. Not until her search for his lost memories was over.

Tags: oberon, carabosse