Chapter Text
The drive was, well, very interesting.
Bloom would have seriously doubted Ogron's driver's license, but she was honestly just thankful that she wasn't the one destined to drive through this storm. Or being out there in it, walking to their destination.
No thanks.
Never mind what she said earlier; holy shit, was she happy to be in this car.
It was warm, and the wizards hadn't attempted to kill them or brutally rip their wings off their backs- yet.
Once in a while, Duman shrieked to look out for a deer.
Ogron then had to try his best not to run the animals over with... varying success.
"Not a word." He growled, the steering wheel so tight in his hands that his knuckles were turning white.
"What do you mean, not a word! That could've been me!"
Then, somewhere around the half-hour mark, Stella asked if they could turn some music on. Bloom was honestly thankful, because this was becoming very awkward very fast. Especially since the backseat wasn't really meant for three adult people, so she, Stella, and Duman were very squished together.
Duman shrugged as best as he could while being compressed by Stella and the car door.
"We don't have radio. Don't ask why; you don't want to know. But we share a playlist if you don't mind the music taste."
"I mind the music taste." Gantlos groaned.
"Shh, you're blond and like hats, you don't have rights in this car."
Stella gasped.
"But... I'm also blond and like hats."
Duman narrowed his eyes at her, then he leaned forward to look at Bloom.
"What about you?"
"Are you... ignoring Stella?"
"She's blond and likes hats." He said, as if that explained anything.
Stella couldn't contain an incredulous laugh. Ogron groaned, and Bloom could almost hear him rolling his eyes.
"Just turn it on!"
Duman grinned like a madman, and Gantlos sighed and flipped the switch in defeat.
Bloom expected some kind of metal because... well... look at them! If these guys weren't metalheads, she wasn't a fairy!
But apparently, she'd have to question her status as a magical being now, because 'Mama Mia' came blurting out of the speaker.
"Just to clear this up, this is Dumans part of the playlist." Ogron grumbled.
Duman snorted and started kicking his feet.
"Don't you DARE shame Abba! You have no right saying that after still listening to Mozart and Bach!"
"They're good?!" Ogron's offended tone was honestly the most hilarious thing Bloom had ever heard.
"They're old, Grandpa. Get with the times!"
Gantlos just groaned and sunk a little deeper into his seat.
"Do we have to have this conversation every time we drive somewhere?"
"Yes, that's exactly why we're never driving anywhere." Ogron hissed.
Him and Duman shared a quiet glare before both huffed a laugh.
Bloom took in a deep breath when the next song started, and the singer went on about worshipping Satan and 'Year Zero' coming on. She could keep her status as a fairy after all.
"So Ogron, is this your part of the playlist?" Stella asked.
"Still Duman." Ogron and Gantlos said in unison.
Duman half-shrugged again, still squished.
"I like a little variety. Why can't I have some Satan-worshipping and relationship drama? It's both good!"
After that, they silently listened to more music, which was switching between every type of metal Bloom knew and some she didn't know, songs from the 90s, classical music, all the way over to 'Let It Go,' but Gantlos skipped that one, probably hoping they didn't notice.
After another while, and Ogron meanwhile struggling to stay on the street, Bloom cleared her throat.
"What- what do we do if we get there?"
Stella made a dismissive gesture.
"We're just gonna go in, go Believix and ask them if they have Flora and Anagan."
Duman raised an eyebrow.
"Oooor, we could drive the car through the front door."
"No!" Gantlos and Ogron yelled.
"We'd need to steal another one, again!" Duman rolled his eyes.
"Surrounded by goody-two-shoes and boring people, what a life."
Bloom gave him a confused look.
"Why would you want to destroy the property of the people who helped your friend out of a snowstorm?"
He held up a finger.
"Firstly, we don't know if they're even there; it's just the last desperate idea we have. Secondly, I am in serious doubt about the good in human nature. Means that if they're there, I doubt these people had good intentions taking them in."
"You don't know that!" Stella intervened."You don't know either, so how about we find out by driving through the front door?"
"No, Duman." Gantlos and Ogron said again. Bloom couldn't help the image of an old married couple with a hyperactive ADHD son popping up in her head. It was hilarious.
"We park out of sight of the facility and look for a backdoor. If we don't find one or we get spotted, we take a window."
"Why can't we just ask them?" Bloom asked.
Gantlos threw her a look.
"Bad experiences and vigilance. Better break and in say sorry later than be surprised by an ambush."
"An ambush... by some backwater scientists?" Stella raised an eyebrow.
"You never know." Duman chimed.
"And as bad and made from scrap paper in five minutes as it is, sorry Ogron, I take 'sneak in through window' any day over 'go and ask nicely.'"
"Yeah, but- but-"
Duman interrupted her with a buzzer noise, "Errrh, you're outnumbered, sweethearts. So, either you help us sneak in, or we split up."
Bloom shook her head in frustration.They couldn't just break into a lab! But fighting with the wizards wouldn't solve their problem either. Splitting up would create even more problems. What if she and Stella found Anagan? What if the wizards found Flora? What if they didn't find them at all but wasted time searching the whole facility individually? No, this wasn't going to work.
She sent Stella a questioning look.
They had a silent, very stern conversation until Stella relented with a sigh.
"Fine."
Duman's ear twitched, and he turned to her.
"Excuse me?"
Bloom nodded at him. "We're going with you, under the condition that no one will be killed."
"What about maiming or fatally wounding?"
They stared wide-eyed at the shifter.
"No, no, of course not!" He groaned and leaned back into his seat in a bored manner.
"You know, I kind of forgot who you are for a bit; thanks for reminding me." Stella said.
He smirked at her before going serious again.
"But you will let me bash people's heads in, right?" They looked at each other and back at the maniac they were squished together with.
"Riiiiight?"
"No? Just- please go out of your way to not cause unnecessary harm today, okay?"
"What about arson?"
"Burning buildings hurts people!"
"What if I get everyone to safety and then commit arson?"
Ogron took his eyes from the road for a moment to give Bloom a tired glance.
"Just give him something, he won't relent." Wow, tired dad energy much. Someone clearly spoke from experience. Suddenly, Bloom wondered if the destruction the wizards had caused would have been minimized greatly if Duman hadn't been on the team.
"Okay, let's say you can burn a trash can?" "Can I chuck it at someone?"
"No!" Stella and Bloom half-yelled.
She wondered if this was how Ogron felt. Duman groaned once again, but after a second of silence, he hesitantly agreed. Stella tried to regain her semblance after her tiny outburst.
"How is Gantlos the wizard of destruction and not you?" Duman took that as a sign to turn into a grey fox with pink-tipped ears. "Because shapeshifting is my thing, and it's great. Gantlos can have destruction."
Gantlos spoke up without looking at them.
"I gave up questioning it a long time ago."
But Stella was more relieved by the space she now had.
Fox-Duman took way less space than human Duman.
Bloom was kind of relieved too, as she felt the blood return to her poor, squished arms.
"So, you could have done this the whole time?" She asked.
He flicked his ear.
"Yeah, I kind of forgot. Don't shame me as if you don't sometimes forget you're magic!"
"I-" Bloom had to think back to earlier, when she hadn't thought of using Tracix, even though Flora's life depended on it. Luckily, Stella intervened.
"Yeah, but we're 17, and you're probably a thousand years old or something."
Duman audibly gasped.
"Holy fuck, I think I am very offended right now?"
"Ehh, sorry?"
"No problem. Also, I am NOT a thousand years old. I'm not Ogron, thank fuck."
"I will just pretend I didn't hear that." Ogron muttered.
"Better for both of us, honestly."
Stella had the courage to nudge Duman slightly. Or maybe it wasn't courage, but an excuse to touch the soft fluffiness that was his fur.
"Well, how old are you?" He made the fox-equivalent of a shrug.
"Maybe around three hundred and fifty or something. I don't know; I stopped counting at 90.
"The shine Stella's eyes had gathered after touching the fur, died.
"You don't celebrate your birthday? That's awful!"
"Nah, it's like any other day of the year. I just pretend every day is my birthday; that's way more fun."
"Wait a minute, we just jumped over Ogron being a thousand years old?"
"Not answering that." Ogron quickly threw in, before Duman could completely out him as the very old guy he apparently was.
The rest of the drive was filled with surprisingly lighthearted banter, mostly between Duman and Stella.
But everyone screamed in terror (yes, even Gantlos; Bloom was amazed too) when Ogron almost drove them down a cliff.
Duman had transformed back to human in shock and was promptly pressed against the window.
Bloom had to admit that she wouldn't have been able to drive in these conditions at all; she couldn't even make out the street anymore, but that didn't lighten the shock.
Stella was the first to catch herself. She cleared her throat.
"How about some more Satan-worship music? I have no idea who he is, but I really need the vibe right now to distract myself from almost dying."
That brought Duman back on track too, a big grin spreading on his face.
"Gantlos, just put Ghost on."
"Fuck you, I'm still having a stroke over this."
"Recover quicker, old man; we want to worship Satan."
"Honestly, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Gantlos." Bloom said, her heart still beating in blind terror.