"Iskall..."

"Nope. Not hearing it. I can tell when you're working yourself up and I'm not gonna allow it." He instantly cut Scar off, the tell-tale waver in the wizards voice was a pretty good indication that he was thinking of the worst case scenarios.

Scar pouted as he finished packing the last of the supplies he needed into a shulker, most of the "preparation time" used up by searching through the pile of chests spilling out his front door. And yet, somehow, books full of spells and runes, crystals, food, rockets, and his shiniest set of armour made their way into the shulker, which made it into his bag.

"Scar I know you're worried. I'm scared too, but whatever happens, we have each other. Okay?" Iskall offered, his apology disguised as reassurance. The wizard nodded, taking a deep breath before throwing himself off of Larrys shell and firing off several rockets to take to the skies, Iskall following suit.

"Professor Beak? Can you lead the way?" Scar called from the sky and the parrot in question squawked as it too flew into the air, remembering the path Mumbo took and leading Scar and Iskall the same way.

Don't worry, Grian. I won't let you down this time.

~~~~

Grian nodded at Mumbos suggestion, deciding to fill in any blanks about the fae that the spoon didn't know.

"Why was Thorn so hung up on getting my name?" Mumbo asked, tilting his head at Grian.

"Having someone's name allows you to control that person. To avoid handing your name over, you can say things like 'call me Red' or 'I'm called Dust' and the faerie will know your name but not have it. The important part is that a faerie is asking for a name- which is why I didn't 'have' yours when we first met.
"Though giving names is different. If you give a name away, that's it. You gave it away and anyone can give someone else's name...which is why Thorns stunt back there nearly worked." Grian sighed, picking at the floor and fidgeting with a stray pebble.

"Makes sense and all. And Thorn's doing all this...why? It doesn't make sense to go after the both of us only now."

And so Grian told him everything about Thorn that the faerie knew, from when the King poisoned Feather to his own daring escape. Mumbo was a good listener, sitting on the floor of the cell and listening to the words that flowed easily from Grian's mouth. He was an excellent storyteller, words rich with imagery and Mumbo could almost see how the court used to be, the easy laughter and brighter air. It was as of Grian were spinning a world for Mumbo to explore about in, allowing him to escape the cage for a moment.

"So he's doing this...because the world is running out of magic?" Grian nodded, encouraging Mumbo to continue. "And he thinks that you're the solution. Because you know ancient magicks that barely anyone else knows." Mumbo got another nod. Might as well stick a gold star onto his lapel- he was acing this.

"And I've been teaching you some as well. Not the vine moving thing- that's something most fae can do. The runes however..." He trailed off.

Mumbo nodded wisely, finishing off Grian's sentence. "Are not."

"Precisely. Besides, it's nice to have a prentice." He hummed happily, thinking back to when he tried to teach his old friend the ancient magick that seemed to come so naturally to him. His friend failed miserably, half of the runes he drew blew up in his face in a rather comical manner.
But those were simpler times.

"I feel like I should be asking how we're gonna get out of this mess." Mumbo gestured to the bars. "And not to mention fix the problem that marches around with dead flowers in his hair called Thorn."

"I haven't the slightest idea for the first but for Thorn...I think there's a few ways to go. We find someone to step up as the Seelie ruler and fill the power vacuum Feather left behind, or we stage a coup and kill Thorn."
The way Grian said it made it sound easy. And yet both of them knew that actually usurping Thorn would be anything but.