“Where did you go?” she asked and he gave her a very quick update on what was happening, telling her that if he was taken she had to make sure the hole was cut in the mesh before he got back. 

Astrid lifted the lid off the cage and reached in. Carl’s heart dropped as her finger closed around him only for her to toss him aside before grabbing Crystal. 

“You’ve had a long enough vacation, it’s back to work for you” she said and without another word replaced the lid and walked out of the room with Crystal. Carl was relieved but also felt bad that she’d have to suffer one more time.

He waited for a short while after they had left to be sure she wasn’t coming back then hurried over to where he stashed his climbing gear and got to work. 

He put a glob of the slime on each knee and elbow then a small dab on the spike that he stuck his hip and after attempting to carry the thread over his should but realizing that wasn’t going to work, he tied one end around his waist and began the climb.

Using his wings to help it was surprisingly easy to ascend the glass wall and he was at the lid in no time. Cutting through the mesh, however, was proving to be quite difficult. It took him several minutes to get halfway through one section and as he worked he began to sweat making the slime less sticky and could feel himself peeling off of the wall. Lucking he thought fast and pulled the thread up the rest of the way where he ran it through a slot in the cover so he had a safety harness of a sort and spent the rest of the day alternating between sawing and resting while hanging from the thread.

When he was finally done he secured the thread to the top and slid down to get ready for Astrid and Crystal’s return. Looking up he was fairly certain Astrid wouldn’t be able to see anything, it was tough for him up close and with his fairy vision, it would be almost invisible to a human. He hid the supplies and went over to wait for them.

Before long he heard the door open and Astrid came in, dropping Crystal inside but this time not leaving and just standing over them.

Carl wasn’t sure what her game was now but knelt down next to Crystal and used the healing spell to restore her stamina and was going to wait for Astrid to leave but instead she was sitting on a chair a few feet away looking like she was waiting for something. 

“What’s her deal?” Carl asked

Crystal looked devastated when she said, 

“She wants me fixed up and ready to go right away tonight. She said she’s feeling extra frisky and wants to play with her favorite toy. I…” she began sobbing, “…I don’t think I’m going to be able to get out with you”

Desperately searching for answers, Carl tried to say they’d find a way. Or maybe just wait until tomorrow but she shook her head, 

“No. You take this opportunity to get out while you have it. If you get out you can try to find help” she was trying to smile to hide her fear but he could see through it, “I’ve been here for a long time. A few more days won’t kill me”. He told her he’d be back, and with someone who was going to make this monster regret everything she’s done and Crystal embraced him in a large hug that kept him from speaking further. 

While they were embracing Carl felt Crystal pulled away from him as Astrid took her away and left him alone.

He paced the length of the tank many times trying to come up with a solution. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he heard a voice call up to him from the floor, 

“Little fairy? Are you there”

“Yes!” He shouted, “I’m here”

“Good!” The voice answered, “Now hurry and come to me. I don’t know how much time we have”

He climbed the thread, and once at the top and through the hole he had cut, took one more look down into the tank at the bed he and Crystal had shared and promised he’d be back to save her as soon as he was back to normal. He then leapt off the top and used his wings to slow his fall until he was on the floor and standing next to a group of moles.

“Where’s the other? I thought there were two of you?” one them asked

“She, she’s not coming” he said sullenly and the mole nodded and lead him through the tunnel.

He walked through the tunnel, noticing that it was made large enough for Crystal to pass through on her hands and knees which made it possible for him walk only slightly hunched over. As he entered the tunnel he looked back at the moles collapsing the entrance behind him and felt a pang of remorse for having failed Crystal. But he kept going knowing that the faster he was home the faster he could get back here. He had never been a violent person but he found himself looking forward to seeing how Astrid handled someone bigger than she was, and despite only seeing her as a giant the whole time, he knew he was significantly larger as a human. His perception of height was off but he figured she couldn’t be more than a little over five feet.

Eventually the hole came out underneath a bush outside the house where he got his first taste of fresh air in a while. He walked out several feet from the house and could feel his magic come back when he was out of range and took that opportunity to fly up and land on a tree branch to catch his breath. As he was standing on the branch catching his breath and enjoying the cool breeze, he heard a familiar voice rushing toward him and soon had the wind knock out of him as he was nearly tackled by someone still bigger but not as towering as Crystal.

“Carl!” Cassy cried, “I was afraid I’d never see you again” as she pulled him closer for a long, passionate kiss. She could tell from the look on his face that he’d been through a lot,

“What did they do to you in there?” she asked and he told her what had been happening, asking if she knew what Astrid was doing to them in there but Cassy didn’t know. Just then another fairy approached, Cassy whispered to him that her name was Gemma. She was shorter than Cassy but still a bit taller than Carl. This made Carl wonder if he was shorter than everyone but didn’t say anything while she answered,

“She seems to be combining ancient magic and modern technology to try harvesting our power, I need to get in there and see what she’s managed to achieve. But first we need to remove this magic blocking spell she somehow managed to put up around the house”, then to Carl she said, Did you see anything that might help us disable it?”

Carl looked back and said he didn’t, then Cassy joined in, 

“I know what we can do!” she said excitedly, “I found out what I did to make you into one of us. I thought I had found a simple shrinking spell but it was actually a fairy transformation spell, and since there are no male fairies it did the only thing it could do and made you into a woman so you could be one of us. It’s not as simple to reverse as I thought but it can be done, all we have to do is head back to the place I cast it and I can have you back to your old self in no time. And then when you’re a human again you should be able to get in there with no problem”

“Perfect”, Carl said, “Let’s go”, then to Gemma, “Can you watch this place and keep trying to get in? I promised Crystal I’d get her out as soon as I could”

Gemma nodded and Carl got ready to fly away with Cassy when suddenly another fairy landed next to them, this one once again taller than him. She was a little taller than Cassy as well, she looked over to Carl and asked, 

“Who’s Emma?”

Carl went white when he heard that name and told her that was him and explained why he was using that name, leaving out the part about his resemblance to the human actor the other fairies likely had never heard of. Gemma said that was a good idea but and asked the new arrival where she had heard that name.

“The human is out in front of the house calling for her” 

Carl scoffed, “Let her keep calling. I’ll be back when I’m normal again”, but the new arrival said that there might not be enough time, she was holding someone in her hand and threatening to do horrible things if Emma didn’t come back. 

Upon hearing this Carl’s hope for a quick return were dashed. As much as he wanted to get back to human form, he could never live with himself if he did it at the cost of Crystal’s life. He and his three companions flew up and over the house, making sure to go high enough to avoid the magic cancellation, and landed on a tree branch overlooking the front of the house where Astrid was holding Crystal in one hand with a pair of scissors opened over her neck with the other one.

“Come on out Emma!” she called, “I know you’re out here!” when he didn’t answer she added, "Or stay where you are if you want to see your friend lose her head!”

Carl sighed, and turning to Cassy said, 

“I’m sorry, I have to go back. You keep looking for a way in and come get us both as soon as you can.”

Cassy wanted to stop him but she understood what he was doing and let him go. He gave her one last kiss and leapt up to fly over to Astrid. Looking back he could see Cassy saying something to Gemma who seemed unhappy with what she was hearing but he didn’t have time to listen in and kept moving.