She walks onto the roof, looking over the edge hesitantly. "I despise this..."

The wind was stronger here, tugging at their hair and making her gown snap like a sail. Far below and all around them, the city sprawled out like a glittering carpet of stars.

Several raised glass skylights sat in the middle of the roof, emitting a fluorescent green glow

She looks around the roof before staring back over the roof.

"There," Ash muttered, pointing to a mezzanine twenty or so feet above the floor, and maybe thirty feet below them. Through the glass, they could pick out a blur of poison-green amid the stark grays and whites, surrounded by several faeries in black armor. Virus walked to the edge of the overhang and gazed out over a crowd of assembled fey, ready to give a speech. There were Thornguards and wiremen and a few green-skinned men in business suits, along with several other fey. The scepter pulsed yellow-green in Viruss hands as she swept it over her head, and a muffled roar went through the crowd.

"Okay, so we found her," Puck mused, pressing his nose against the glass. "And it looks like she hasnt gathered her whole army quite yet, which is nice. So, how do we get to her?"

Ash made a quiet noise and drew back. "You dont," he muttered. "I will." He turned to face them. "For all she knows, Im still under her control. If I can get close enough to grab the scepter before she figures out what happened..."

She glared at Ash, her face showing her annoyance and anger at that plan. "And risk your life again? That's a horrible idea, we do this together." She says, glaring over at him.

He gave her a patient look. "Anything we try will be dangerous. Im willing to take that risk." His hand came up, fingers brushing the spot where Puck had stabbed him. "Im still not completely recovered. I wont be able to fight as well as I normally do. Hopefully, I can fool Virus long enough to get the scepter from her."

She just stared at him silently before looking over at Grim, "Tell him it's a stupid idea, please." She says, desperate for any way to convince Ash.

"What she did to me was bad enough." Ashs silver eyes glittered as he turned back, cold as the moon overhead. "What she made me do, I will never forgive. If I am discovered, I will at least create a big enough distraction for you to slip in and grab the scepter."

"SHE IS RIGHT." Ironhorse stood on the other side of the glass, watching them. His eyes glowed red in the darkness. "IT IS TOO DANGEROUS. FOR YOU."

"Thank you, Ironhorse. See? He agrees with me. What about you Puck?" She says, looking over at him. She totally ignored what Ash just said, fixed on keeping him away from Virus.

"PRINCESS." Abruptly, he bowed. "IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR. WERE THINGS DIFFERENT, I WOULD GLADLY SERVE YOU UNTIL THE END OF TIME." He looked to Ash and nodded. "SHE THINKS THE WORLD OF YOU, PRINCE. PROTECT HER WITH YOUR LIFE."