After a rather stressful day, we all like to unwind a little. After three stress free days to unwind while under 'doctors' orders to rest, I think we'd all go a little stir crazy, right? ..just imagine how badly Hannah's been handling it!.. Events unfold including but not limited to: Pixies attack some left over vegetation, a discussion is had about bunny/fish (while it proceeds to eat a campfire) and Hannah threatens to give a career soldier a blue-rinse perm! Admit it, ya'll have missed the craziness, right?

 

“Don’t forget to call ahead Ari.”

With a heavy groan I finished pulling my sock up and shot a glare to the ceiling.
I’d glare at Mum but honestly she’d probably not take it well and it’s not exactly her fault or anything.

..I’m just in a bad mood really..
Three days ago I may or may not have kicked over an anthill commonly known as ‘the Hub’.. more specifically, in the course of trying to flee from a psychotic fae Queen, I may have also accidentally kicked off and consequently won a rather anti-climactic fae civil war in the process..

Then I topped it all off by almost killing a squad of Hub SWAT soldiers for shooting my, at the time trying to start her own smaller civil war, ‘Aunt’ Grace who now just happens to be missing in action..

THEN I went and blew myself up by overloading my core in a stupid attempt to warp outside and confront a group of Hub staff that’d come to apologise for their actions while looking to find out just what the hell I did to turn their reception area into an, apparently accurate, replica of my own ‘golden palace of excess’ with a still spreading infection of my magic..

So.. yes, I’m in a bad mood for some unknown reason at the moment?

It doesn’t help anything that I’m practically under house arrest now either honestly.
One little detail of becoming ‘Lady Hannah Garnier-Cooper, heir of Maxarmius and daughter to Arista’ that John just HAPPENED to forget to mention in his rush to turn me into a political super-weapon was that, apparently, if you get a long-winded title like that then the Hub get the damn fool idea into their collective heads that you must be SPECIAL in some way.. special enough to need PROTECTION!

Mum was kind of annoyed that I managed to turn our garden into an overgrown jungle of wildflowers at first but I think she’s feeling sorry for me enough at this point to let the topic go for now luckily, so that’s something I guess?
I’ve not left the house in two day’s and not left our newly expanded ‘clan compound’ since I escaped from the Hub the day before that to be honest.
The plan today is for me to go into town though at last!

Gran’s finally cleared me as being ‘stable’ enough to be trusted on my own without supervision.. not that it matters really considering I personally doubt anyone’s going to let me do a damn thing on my own from now on?!

My little shopping trip, which started off as me planning to go get myself some more ‘lazy’ clothes, possibly a new swimsuit and dropping in to visit Edith at her shop while I was in the area, has now reached a point of being just plain silly in all honesty.
Sarah wouldn’t hear of me going shopping without her so I’ve had to delay all morning until she could get back from whatever she was doing, which she now has and is currently in the process of getting changed into something more ‘shopping appropriate’ from, naturally.

Eris has been even more clingy then usual since I passed out, so there wasn’t much of an option on leaving her behind for me there either, but her presence is still worth noting too.

At this exact moment John is ‘scouting the area’ in town along with a sizable chunk of my ‘children’ because of their paranoid belief that I’ll somehow hurt myself just from going shopping if he doesn’t have the whole town on bloody lock-down!

On top of ALL of that we have the Hub’s new ‘security protocols’ to deal with.. basically after I passed out John spent a few hours hashing out details with Trudy, once they’d gotten past the initial almost all-out war that happened when the family found me unconscious in her arms of course, which have added yet another wrinkle to my plans of a quick shopping trip by adding in a full security detail worthy of the president from out of bloody nowhere!

As Mum just suggested I’ve been ‘informed’ that for my own protection I must call my new security detail’s representative, a rather severe grey haired man with an air of military experience about him by the name of ‘Paul’, who will bring their car’s around to pick us up at any time day or night that I feel the need to leave the compound in the slightest.
..is it wrong that I miss being a nobody?..

To REALLY add insult to injury I have a new problem tha-

“Hey! Stop that!”
Eris giggled to herself from her position leaning against me at the kitchen counter which really didn’t help things at all to be honest.
When my initial cry didn’t get much of a reaction I gave a huff and waved my hands around my head, creating just enough of a breeze to send the stupid little flutter-bug’s whizzing away from my hair again with giggles that sounded like tinkling bells of some kind.

-where was I?

Oh yeah, so the latest problem to rear it’s annoying little army of heads is that something I’ve done, either when I turned our garden into a flower filled paradise or when I ‘beat’ Maven back in the Hub, has made the fae pay a lot more bloody attention to me than they ever did before!

In some cases it’s simple, but weird, things that kind of make sense like yesterday when I almost tripped down the stairs and suddenly found myself floating on a mob of chittering, happy little imps who ‘helped’ me glide my way back down to solid ground again unharmed.. but on the other, more aggravating, hand there are things like the pixies that keep popping up out of nowhere and platting my hair full of wildflowers when I’m not paying attention.

It doesn’t help that they are so damn silent and tiny either!
I know it’s not like they’re some great evil or threat but YOU try to keep track of what is essentially a pack of sneaky little flying, and mildly glowing, girls who only seem to make noise when they giggle to themselves once their ‘job’ is done?!

Eris finds them funny too so she doesn’t say anything and after the first few times I caught them they started only appearing when my back was turned so they could follow behind me and work without interruption.

..speaking of Eris..
I cut my eyes down to her with a sigh as the barely visible multi-colored little lights that are pretty much all I can see of the Pixies converged around her to lift her hair around playfully while giggling quietly to themselves.

I have honestly NO idea why, but when they can’t get their hands on me the Pixies seem inordinately fascinated by Eris?
It probably doesn’t help things that she encourages them so much really.
For practically invisible little beings that are more a magical construct then actual creatures the Pixies are turning out to be possibly THE most determined, yet harmless, fae I’ve ever met!

“Here you go..”
My head jerked up to watch Mum’s happy little smile as she placed a small dish full of wet lettuce down on the kitchen counter.

The Pixies almost instantly lost all interest in both me and my favorite little brown-haired limpet to converge on the dish with the sound of tinkling bells as they broke out in excited giggles to each other.

Thank the powers that I still have my books with me, it took almost a full day of having them constantly trailing behind me before I finally found the entry about Pixies in ‘Magical menagerie and modern methods’ that listed their one true weakness.

Apparently they can survive on absolutely nothing but ambient magic like a lot of fae in general do, but for some odd reason they LOVE dew drops on vegetation?
It was first noted centuries ago when someone who’d set up a garden near a fairy circle noticed all the glowing lights hovering above his cabbages every morning but as time’s gone on it’s become apparent that it’s not just the natural morning ‘dew’ they love but all tiny water droplets in general.

Eris looked mildly put out that she’d been left so easily by her new little firefly friends but I shot Mum a thankful look and took this chance to stand up so we can get moving at last.
I’ll have to call the Hub in a minute obviously but I’m not going to chance saying anything to draw the Pixies attention back upon me at the moment.

I’m SO glad Mum’s handling all of this magic stuff so well too!
It was her idea to run some left over veg from the fridge under the cold tap when the dew in our real garden stopped being enough to distract the Pixies away from me and I’m honestly impressed with how well it seems to be working.
If they didn’t seem to get ‘bored’ of the ‘dew’ in general after a while I’d be tempted to just keep a load of dish’s out and be done with it at this point, sadly I’m not THAT lucky though..

I brought my hand up to my ear in the universal ‘phone’ gesture towards Mum and nodded silently to show her that I’d call Paul in a minute.
She nodded back with a gentle wave before turning her eyes back in fascination to the glowing little orbs flitting about on the dish instead.

Eris resisted for a few more seconds as she watched her new ‘friends’ having fun without her but after a long huff she turned to follow me as always.
We quickly made our way outside through the front-front door but even then I didn’t let myself relax until we were past Mum’s rock garden which yesterday had been the Pixies preferred location to sun themselves in the afternoon apparently.. that’s where they were hiding when they pounced on Eris at least according to John.

I found myself shivering a little as we stood in the shade of the nearest tree to our house.
I’ve gone simple and kind of sloppy today with a rather loose maroon tunic top that goes down to my knees, covering the top of a pair of dark leggings and pulled in slightly at my waist by a thin leather belt which is honestly there to hide the fact that my ‘invisible’ suppressor’s belt is already pulling in my waist suspiciously otherwise.

My eyes drifted down to follow Eris’s progress towards me and with a bit of chagrin I found myself dipping down slightly so I could scoop her up onto my hip when she got close enough to send me an almost pleading look that requested quite plainly to be carried again.

She looks adorable in her own tunic and leggings of course, as if she’d let us wear different clothes at all, although hers is colored in a more childish shade of light red that I’d be tempted to call a dark pink if I was feeling picky at the moment.

It’s really not good that I can’t seem to resist picking her up when she wants it but I have no idea how to stop myself sadly.

Sometimes she just LOOKS at me and I can’t help but want to cuddle her close.. it’s even worse when she finally does end up on my hip and I get some unreasonable thrill of joy when she settles her head above my heart!
I almost wish I had more access to my past-incarnation memories involving Eris sometimes just so I could work out the ‘why’ involved in some of the reactions I have to her at times, but then the reality that more memories would mean more problems rearing their ugly heads all over again corrects that silly idea pretty quickly.

My reincarnations are like one big vicious cycle I swear!
Damned if I don’t but damned if I do accept them all at the same time?!

“Mom, you gotta call Mister Pauly..”
Her voice made me jump a little in surprise but after a moment to gather myself back together again I offered her a weak smile in thanks before diving into my pocket with my free hand to get my phone out.
..I REALLY don’t want to be doing this..

Despite my misgivings my fingers slowly tapped away until I had the number up.
Even then I hesitated for a moment or two but there really isn’t anything to be done about it all, if I want to go out today then I’ve got to play by the ‘rules’.. however stupid they may seem at the moment..

“So-Com Ops Commander Paul Dulton”
In my experience it appears that my erstwhile ‘head of security’ is very much a man of few words.
Admittedly I’ve only spoken to him twice before, only once in person at that, but each time he’s introduced himself with his full title and name for some reason?

“Hi Pauly, today’s the big day! We’ve got a party of three leaving the compound including me so I guess you need to prepare or something?”
There was an almost worryingly long silence over the line.
I really don’t think he likes being called ‘Pauly’ but then I don’t like being treated like some precious artefact that needs to be shipped around under armed guard so I guess we’re even huh?
Finally I ran out of patience and continued on without his input anyway.
“Great talk Pauly, look forward to seeing you and the goon squad, bu-bye.”

Eris giggled to herself when I hung up on him.
Slowly I turned my head to fix her with a warning look but it kind of failed with the smirk tugging at my lips being so painfully obvious at that exact moment.

“Come on then giggler, we’ll go catch some sun on John’s car until Sarah gets her ass in gear shall we?”
I jostled Eris a little more making her giggle slightly harder for a second before easing forward and making my way across the street to the Martial’s driveway where John’s poor, virtually forgotten at this point, old car sat in a nice bright patch of sunlight.

It took a bit of work but eventually I ended up sitting on the sun warmed hood with my back resting on his windscreen and Eris tucked into my side as we both stared up at the clouds creeping their way across the sky far above us.

“..that one looks like a bunny..”
Eris shot me a confused look for a second so I pointed my finger up at the, to me, very ‘bunny’ looking cloud as it moved in to attack the poor unsuspecting cloud that looks like a campfire of some kind.

“It looks like a fish to me?”
The incredulous look on her face mixed with her complete disbelief set me off in a quick burst of laugher that seemed to actually confuse her even more somehow.

As the ‘bunny’ cut downwards and took a large chunk out of the campfire’s ‘flame’ I settled in a bit more so I could be comfortable while explaining the nuances of cloud watching to my poor little captive audience of one.

She’ll understand the difference between a bunny and a fish if it kills me!

======

“That’s a Pixie!”
I shot her a disbelieving look for a moment before following her finger and blinking in surprise.

.huh, turns out she was pointing at a plane flying across the sky?..
Admittedly it’s pretty far up and the sun’s glinting off of it enough that it kind of does look like some tiny speck of floating light so I guess I can’t blame her for that one really.. at least she’s getting the hang of this whole ‘using your imagination properly’ thing if nothing else, right?

“So it is.. Ah! That one over there looks like a big pair of boo-”
I cut myself off harshly and coughed in an attempt to hide it.
The last time I went cloud watching it was on this exact same old car’s hood with John, you can’t really blame me if a few old habit’s show themselves sometimes.
“It looks like two bowling balls!”

Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it?!

For a long moment Eris squinted up at the boo-BOWLING BALL looking clouds before turning her head back over to me with curiosity and confusion obvious on her little face.

“What’s a bowling ball?”
Huh?..
Oh! Uh, right?.. she grew up with traditionalist mages didn’t she?..

“It’s a ball you shove your fingers in and throw down a slippery path to knock over some wooden stumps at the far end.”

“.. sounds pretty stupid?..”
..well when you put it THAT way I guess?..

How do you explain bowling to someone who’s never-
Ah HA!
“It’s not stupid, come on I’ll show you.”

She grumbled to herself at having to get up but still followed me despite that fact.
I glared around our little dead-end street thoughtfully for a few seconds before moving out into the road and measuring up lengths in my head.

It’ll take a bit of improvisation but shouldn’t be too hard to pull off.

“Step back a bit Eris, I’ve just got to do a few things so we can play.”
She didn’t look any more convinced that this was in any way a good idea but she dutifully stepped back a few paces anyway.

..okay! Let’s get this started!..
I clapped my hands together and flexed my fingers a little as my magic jumped up, ready for action as always.

======

“STRIKE!”
Eris spun away from our improvised ‘bowling alley’ to give an adorable little dance on the spot in celebration that she may or may not have picked up from the me the first time I actually hit something.

“Well done! Give me a second to reset and we’ll go again, yeah?”
She shot me a bright grin before nodding in agreement.

With a dip into my lines and a flick of my wrist the conjured pin’s at the far end picked themselves up and reordered into the traditional triangle on the ground.
I’ve cast this little bit of slightly fancy telekinesis so many times in the last fifteen minutes it’s practically ingrained into my magical muscle-memory at this point!

A little bit of willpower and shaped casting later the frozen trail of our ‘alley’ solidified over again leaving behind the smooth edges of two raised gutter rails and a nice long slick surface for our conjured balls to roll down.
It’s all by no means perfect but it’s only temporary and ice is easier for me to make new shapes out of then anything else now so I’ll work with what I’ve got.

“Who’s winning?”
I couldn’t help but jump so hard I almost dropped my ball before frantically trying to catch it at the last second and spinning around to face Sarah.
..she came from bloody nowhere I swear?!..

“On second thought, don’t tell me.. she’s winning isn’t she?”
Much to my surprise Sarah eased over and rubbed her hand in Eris’s hair earning a giggle for her troubles.
I didn’t even get a chance to comment on the surprisingly warm interaction between the pair of them before a rumbling sound caught our attention and made us all turn to face up the road in surprise.

Continuing an apparent spate of annoyingly good timing, four large black jeeps came to a sharp stop in front of us, disgorging a full squad of gun touting men and women from the lead jeep who seemed to sweep the area for threats before finally standing down their guard to step back as the recognisable grey hair of Paul Dulton made himself known at last.

“Unit Alpha-Romeo reporting, ready to commence operations on your mark.”
I couldn’t help but shoot Sarah an exasperated look which she answered with a confused but mildly amused look just because she could.

“Give us a moment Pauly while I clear this away and we’re all yours for this little pantomime procession.”
Paul Dulton is obviously a tough, no-nonsense soldier at heart but I think even he winced slightly for a moment there.

A few seconds later it became obvious why when one of the men behind him snorted out a poorly suppressed laugh at his expense.
I glanced around us and noticed that more than a few of the gathered soldier’s in ‘casual’ SWAT uniform of black-on-black baggy fatigues were looking rather more amused than they probably should for some reason.

Rather than comment on the whole thing I offered them all a dry smirk before turning back to our bowling alley of ice and breaking it down.

The pin’s fell to non-existant dust easily enough, breaking down something you conjured isn’t exactly hard after all.
After a moment’s consideration I cast a basic ‘warming’ charm on the ice to make it melt almost instantly to water.

When I turned back around I found myself the unwitting focus of everyone as they stared at me with looks ranging from surprise to awe.
..I guess these guys don’t work with mages that often?..
Oh well, their problem not mine!

It barely took a thought to make my conjured bowling ball disappear like the pins before it but when I turned to Eris for her one she actually drew back slightly and hugged the stupid ball to her chest protectively.
For a long moment or two we stared at each other but in the end I caved before she would.

With a put-upon sigh I waved her closer and scooped her onto my hip with the ball awkwardly tucked between us.

I’ve really got to remember how possessive Eris can get with things I conjure for her?
The first time a dress I made for her disappeared she apparently cried over it until John finally managed to calm her down somehow for powers sake!

“Which of the four unreasonably large and completely unsubtle jeeps are we traveling in then herr-commander?”
Just for the fun of it I popped off a rather sarcastic mock-salute to Paul which got more than one wry smile from the troops behind him if nothing else.

Better they all get desensitised to my sense of humor now rather than have it come as some kind of surprise later on.. it helps that I’m still kinda annoyed at needing to even HAVE an armed escort just to go shopping now and he’s an easy target of authority to take aim at right now.

Looking at it logically, he should probably be thanking me honestly?
Mage’s and stress don’t mix well after all, with my magic being as unruly and responsive as it’s been lately it’s better I amuse myself now at his expense then try and suppress it until I pop again.

For all we know my magic might decide to turn all his troops into gerbils or the jeeps into sheep’s!
I barely trust my magic on a good day lately, let alone when I’m stressed and feeling resentful towards the people who are going to be my rather obtrusive ‘shadows’ for the foreseeable future.

“You will be in the third vehicle Ma’am.”
He didn’t break his tight stance or even quirk up a sarcastic eyebrow at me!
..I’m actually starting to like this guy..

“Lead on Mon Capitaine!”
Another round of hidden smirks went up from the troops but he just turned on his heel rather than letting me enjoy his reaction to march smartly back towards the second Jeep which is apparently going to be HIS ride at least.

I sent one more dry smirk around at the troops before marching forward as smoothly as possible when you consider that Eris was tucked into my side with her rather heavy new ‘toy’ clutched tightly between us.

“Come on Sare, if you don’t hurry we’ll leave without you or I’ll claim the whole back seat as mine.”
Sarah let of a squawk of annoyance and quickly jogged forward to catch up with us.

One of the troops, a woman about my height with her dark blonde hair tucked up under a rather uniform looking black cap, opened the door for me with a pleasant smile as I jostled Eris a little and shifted her around to get her in easier.

“Uppsi-Daisy”
She giggled and I tried to suppress my blush with willpower alone but the words had just kind of slipped out without a thought sadly.

When she’d finally landed on the seat and slid across to the far corner, bowling ball in tow, I let out a huff and pushed my now shoulder-length hair back out of my face before sliding in to join her.

A moment later Sarah practically bounced into the back seat next to me, her eyes alight with amusement and joy.
The door slammed shut behind her and the black-clad female soldier made her way around to the passenger seat without a second look at her, although that did nothing to stop the slowly forming grin on Sarah’s face.

“Did you just say ‘uppsi-daisy’?.. oh that’s just ADORABLE!..”
My blush went up another notch and I shuffled over in my seat to be a bit closer to Eris as an excuse to be a bit further from my now far too amused looking sister.

“..shut up Sare..”
Her grin turned sharp for a moment and she leaned even further into my personal space so I couldn’t avoid her eyes again.

“You’re a total ‘Mommy’ now, huh?”
I blanched hard, cutting my eyes away from her sharply as my blush spread to my ears at last.

“She’s always been a mommy?”
My eye’s landed on Eris’s confused little face and I found myself flinching again.

..really not helping sweetie..

======

“So are you gonna do something about your hair? It’s looking pretty sorry for itself at the moment..”

Finally! It only took us the drive from our house to the Running Y’s front gate before she’d finally stop grinning at me in annoyingly happy silence and move onto a new topic, even if it IS an almost equally awkward one.

“I told you before Sare, I’ve got to keep my hair this color until I’ve established myself or people might get suspicious?”

“Look around Han? Pretty sure you’re ‘established’ enough to walk around naked in clown makeup without people being fooled in the slightest at this point honestly?..”
One of the two Hub soldier’s in the front seats snorted heavily to themself, I’m pretty sure it was the woman in the passenger seat judging by the tone but either way it annoyed me to know they’d heard that exact statement thank-you-very-much.

From what I’ve seen over the years, soldiers are even worse gossips then mages, with a much greater inclination towards finding embarrassing situations hilarious too sadly!

..she’s kind of got a point though..
Yeah, much as I hate to say it, she PROBABLY has a point at the end of the day.

You can’t get much more ‘established’ then being a political super-power unto yourself with a full guard of Hub staff following your every move and a rather public ‘fight’ with the world-wide recognised ‘Queen of the Fae’ after all.
Mixing up my look once in a while will only muddy the waters even more for anyone trying to hunt me down anyway so it can’t exactly hurt.. right?

“What are you thinking then?”

Sarah smirked and glanced over my hair thoughtfully for a second before answering.
“Change the color to something that isn’t stupid, grow it out a bit and we’ll drop into a salon to get it styled properly.”

After a long pause to digest that idea I reluctantly nodded to her and dipped into my lines quickly.

Better I do it now before we’re quite out of range from the magical haze that saturates our neighbourhood now then trying to do it in town and calling every powers-damned husband of mine within a hundred mile radius right to our door at least!

It took a bit more focus then I would have liked to drop into my lines and cast the modified ‘hair color’ version of the old ‘perfect hair’ spell again but that was mostly because I felt a bit distracted for some reason.
My magic itself has been almost calm in the last few hours, a big change from the unstable thrashing mess it’s been lately if nothing else, but now it’s bouncing around like an overeager puppy begging to be used.

I brought my hand up and ran it along my hair to cast the spell.
For a moment my head felt warm but slowly it cooled back to normal at last so I shot Sarah a curious look.

She turned her head slightly for a moment before slowly nodding in response.
I turned to Eris and received an almost amused look in return.

“Red suits you”
My eye twitched a little and I reached up to bring a hand full of hair up into eye range while already suspecting what I’d find.

It wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting, more a deep auburn with a few brighter highlights mixed in than anything else.. it was certainly better than the obnoxious blue I’ve had to put up with lately at least.

..now just to do the rest?..
I dipped into my lines again and despite my reservations I cast the OTHER hair charm I developed out of that initial wild magic surge laden mistake so many weeks ago.

With a sweep of my hand it was done.
After a long pause my hair grew hot again and a few seconds later it started growing around me to trail down my back in thick waves until it came to a stop somewhere around my waist.

I couldn’t help but let out a rather put upon sigh as I brushed thick curls away from my face so I could glare at Sarah when she sniggered to herself instead of just bloody HELPING me!
..it’s only been a few days but I’d already forgotten how much of a PAIN long hair can be..

“Turn around Han, I’ll braid it as best I can and we’ll drop into the Salon on Main Street for a quick cut as soon as we get there, okay?”
I allowed myself one last heavy sigh before following her command by twisting my body around to face Eris’s smirking face and giving Sarah free reign on my now far too long again hair.

Why do I get the feeling Eris is enjoying me suddenly being a ‘ginger’ a bit too much for all our sakes?..
My warning look at her only received an innocent look in return but I’m not dumb enough to fall for that one again at this point sadly.

======

“So.. what’s going on with you and John, huh?”
My head twitched automatically to turn and glare at her but that idea ended pretty damn quickly when all I got for my troubles was a sharp pain of pulled hair across most of my head.

“What?! There’s nothing going on with-”

“They’re dating again”
My eyebrows shot up in offended surprise as I fixed my attention back onto Eris’s now smugly grinning little face.

“Really?”
No! Not bloody REALLY Sarah?!

“Uh huh, I can tell.. they both keep giving each other these silly little looks when they think no-one’s watching like always and Mom’s magic feels all giggly when he’s around.”
Wha?.. Puh!..
I!..well-

“..oh realllyyy?..”
Wipe that smirk of your face Sarah!
I can feel the damn thing from here without even looking at you!

“They kissed at the Bazaar and since then Mom’s constantly wrapping us up in his magic too.. it’s kind of romantic really but still a bit naughty to do when other people can see them, huh Aunty Sarah?”
TRAITOR!

How does she even know about that?!
She was A-bloody-SLEEP when I wrapped us up in John’s magic for Powers sake!

“Eris sweetie, remember what we said after the project baby brother conversation?.. time to stop talking now..”
Shut up you little brat!

“Project baby brother?”
DAMN IT!!

“It’s a long story that basically boils down to the fact that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about Sare so don’t even start with-”

“I do SO know what I’m talking about!”
My eyes cut back over to Eris and while I’m sure in any other situation her puffed up little cheeks would be adorable, at this exact moment all they did was make me want to cringe very.. VERY hard..
..this isn’t gonna be good..
“You said back at Lou-Lou’s that Dad’s magic makes you all tingly when he’s happy and you love it when he smiles at you because it shows how much you love each other an-”

I finally managed to get my hand over her mouth to stem the tide of embarrassing words spilling out of it at last, much to my relief as a hot blush burned across my cheeks that could probably light up the night sky in response to them.

Damn mages and their long memories!
That was bloody CENTURIES ago!

Hell, it was any number of INCARNATIONS ago for Powers sake?!
I can’t be held responsible for the things my past incarnations might have said.
That’s not bloody FAIR!

..it’s kinda true though?..
Oh shut UP brain! Nobody asked you!

Eris did NOT look happy at being stopped obviously but a stern look from me seemed to go a long way towards finally getting through to her that this is NOT the sort of conversation I want to be having right now, let alone one that she needs to be ‘helping’ me with.

“We’re not dating, end of story”
Sarah actually let go of my hair at that declaration and I found myself being swiftly turned away from Eris’s now disbelieving little stare into an almost identical one on offer from my DEAR sister.

After a long awkward pause where it became pretty obvious from their silence alone that they didn’t believe me in the slightest I let off one last sigh and sunk my head down in defeat.
..damn nosy family..

What’s the point in trying to tell them the truth when they just plain ignore it on a whim anyway?!
John and me.. we are at BEST ‘Man-besties’.. depending on his mood and just how willing I am to put up with his crap at the time I’d even go so far as to question our friendship sometimes!

..he was there for me though..
He’s always so WARM and nice to me, and he listens when I need him to and he’s got a pretty cute smile when he isn’t busy smirking like an asshole or grinning like a Psyco a..an..
DAMN IT!

Shut up brain, he’s my man-besty, simple as that so THERE!

“You have possibly THE most adorable reactions to being teased.. you know that, right Han?”
YOU can keep quite too Sarah!
This isn’t funny and we both know you were being entirely TOO serious about this whole thing for it to be called ‘teasing’ in any sense of the word!

“So how are things with you and Tor anyways? You banging each other’s brains out every few hours yet?.. would certainly explain a few things if you were..”

“WHAT?!”
A smirk formed on my lips but I didn’t lift my head up to enjoy the probably horrified look on her face despite desperately wanting to at first.
Two can play this game dear sister!

Now for some way to stop Eris from speaking too mu-

“What’s ‘banging each other’s brains out’ mean?.. sounds painful..”
Ah.. crap..

Sarah burst out in a fit of laughter that was possibly just a little unhinged but it was hard to tell really because it blended so well with the snorts and chuckles coming from the front seats as well.
..I totally walked into that one, didn’t I?..

“Uh.. Eris.. sweetie, it means.. um.. it’s like playing together with drums! Yeah!”
Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it!

“Oh.. I like drums! If you conjure me a set do you think anyone will want to bang my brains out too?”
Ah.. just.. j-just.. SHIT!

“Not that kind of drums sweetie. These are adult drums, only adults get to play them.”

“That’s not FAIR! Aunty Sarah gets to play with them and I’m WAY older then she is by like a BILLION incarnations!”
THAT’S NOT THE POINT YOU LITTLE-

DAMN IT!
I’m in hell?.. this is literally my divine punishment for every time I played the part of the precocious, well-meaning but completely tactless little angel as a child, isn’t it?!

This is my punishment for back when I was four and I told Mum’s boss that she might have an overactive-thyroid problem because I’d just finished reading about the symptoms in Medical America.
Between her complaints of tiredness, feeling too hot and her having such a worrying amount of double chin’s, despite her generally slim build, it seemed the most likely culprit.. I was really worried for her health at the time but apparently that’s NOT the thing you say to a woman who’s just had extensive liposuction!

Mum can NEVER find out about this.. she’d have a field day!
She had to put up with ME as a worryingly smart child, the irony would just be too much for her to handle I think.

“How about this sweetie.. when we get home I’ll conjure you a full drum kit, all for yourself, as long as you NEVER bring up the ‘brain banging’ thing ever again.. okay?”
Eris’s little face scrunched up thoughtfully for a painfully long time before she finally seemed to work something out because her eyes lit up with understanding of some sort.

“This is like the B.D.S.M thing, isn’t it?”

YES!.. I mean, NO!
No, it isn’t at all like that because I made it SO much worse by trying to cover up my mistake damn it!

“Daddy promised he’d get me a kitty if I stopped asking about B.D.S.M last time and then we got Mau, so I guess it’s okay, huh?”

John. promised. her. WHAT?! I’m gonna KILL him!
That no good son-of-a-!

“Yes.. sweetie.. it’s like the BDSM thing, so let’s never talk about it again, okay?”
As I watched her, with a slightly twitching eye that was the only visible sign I would allow myself of just how annoyed at John I was feeling right about now, she almost nodded along in agreement before pausing at the last second with devious little smirk on her face.

“Can we go swimming tomorrow too Mommy?”
DAMN IT!

“Yes, fine, whatever.. just no more BDSM and banging talk or else swimming’s cancelled and Mau’s going to live with the pet shop owner again.”
Finally, now that’s over with we can-
..oh, Powers damn it!..

“Shhh, shh, shh.. it’s okay sweetie I was only joking!”

It took a bit of frantic movement but I managed to get her belt undone and shift her into my lap while dropping her now seemingly forgotten bowling ball to the side so I could encompasses her in a great big hug as tears trailed down her little face.
A glance over at Sarah’s slightly stunned expression proved that I’d have no help coming from that quarter at least.. can this drive get any worse at this point?!

“Mau..”
I almost didn’t have to look to know what was happening when our resident ‘creature of the mists’ feline menace decided to crawl his way out from the shadows under the front passenger seat, obviously summoned by us invoking his name so many times no doubt.
..I had to say it didn’t I?..

“Mau?”
No I didn’t ‘call’ you stupid little fur-ball!
Can’t you see I’m kinda busy here sorting ou- HEY! Oww! That’s my boob you little-

“It’s Mau! Where have you BEEN?!”
Using my now sore breast as a launch off point, Eris ended up laying awkwardly in the cramped footwell of the backseats with ‘Mau’ clutched tightly in her arms as if he’d disappear at any moment.

Considering he most likely GOT here by shadow warping under the seat, that’s probably not quite as stupid an idea as it would first seem, but I’m not feeling charitable enough to give her the benefit of the doubt at this point..

I sunk my head back against the seat’s headrest and closed my eyes tight to stave off an already throbbing headache.

After a few seconds of silence, punctuated by Eris’s baby-talk towards ‘her’ pet and the cat’s warbling little ‘meows’ that were starting to get on my nerves by just how damned understandable they seemed to be, despite apparently only consisting of that one single sound repeated over and over again, Sarah seemed to jolt back into reality.
She lasted possibly a second or so more in silence before practically bursting out in a fit of laughter that made the whole backseat shake annoyingly as her arms curled into her stomach from the overwhelming force of her amusement.

For once in our lives this was one time Sarah would laugh alone and I was NOT going to join her in it automatically out of sibling loyalty or whatever the reason it is behind our usual synchronised sense of humor!

Why is this journey taking so bloody long?!
Maybe we should just cancel the trip and I’ll order some stuff online instead!

====

“Alpha-Two this is Alpha-Three we are ready to disembark on your mark.”

For a long moment I considered just line-of-sight warping outside the car considering I’m kind of trapped with Sarah on one side looking entirely too amused still to be in a rush and Eris taking up all the foot space between me and the other door which also happens to have the female soldier standing guard in front of it as if she’d already worked out where my thoughts were going at this point.

“Clear Alpha-Three, One and Four are in position. Mother-goose is ready to go.”
..EXCUSE ME?!..

I don’t speak soldier Jargon but considering we’re in the third car and that’s definitely Paul’s voice coming in over the radio I don’t think it’s much of a big step to assume that I’M this so called ‘Mother-goose’.

“You have five seconds to come up with a new call-sign for me or I’m going to turn half of Main Street into an ice-skating ring soldier!”

To my surprise the driver who’d been talking into the radio actually seemed to listen to me on that one?
Judging by just how quickly he fumbled with his handset to hit the ‘Speak’ button I think he actually took me seriously too!

“Alpha-Two, client has requested new designation under threat of a stage three magical exposure event.. please advise?..”
He sounded so nervous I almost felt sorry for him for a second but then I gathered up my sanity and reminded myself that THEY are the ones calling ME ‘Mother-bloody-GOOSE’!

“Alpha-Three, request accepted. All teams be advised Mother-goose will now be reassigned as ‘Princess’ until further notice, Alpha-Two out.”

REALLY not the time to be testing my patience Pauly!
It’s not cute and it’s not clever so just.. just..

..what’s the use?..
I give up!

Today’s going to be a complete write-off at this point, I can tell.
Better to just go along with it all until I can get home and sulk in peace for a bit.

“Time to get up Eris”
She huffed to herself but after juggling Mau in her arms a little uncertainly he decided to hop off of her instead, landing in my lap just because he could no doubt.

Her little legging-covered butt hit the backseat again as she shot Mau a betrayed look which happens to make a bit more sense when you consider that John apparently told her that he’d be HER cat, I suppose?
Before I could really comment on that look, either positively or negatively, the door next to her opened and the female soldier waved for us both to step out at last.

In the end I settled for giving Eris a light push forward that she reluctantly followed by slipping out of the Jeep, with me following behind her pretty quickly so I could stretch my legs at last.
The sound of a door opening behind me with an accompanying huff from Sarah probably means she got out too and she may have felt a little offended that no-one decided to open her door for her.

Guess that’s what you get for laughing at me Sare?
Apparently I’m the nominated ‘Princess’ now so I get the royal treatment by my army of unwanted bodyguards and you get to open your own door like a normal person, so HA!

Without thinking I tried to crack my back when I finally stretched up out of the car properly but that didn’t do much more then make me thrust out my chest in a way that caught more than a few of my ‘guards’ attention for less than savory reasons, naturally.
..never thought I’d find a reason to miss not having my magic..

“What’s the plan then? Most of the good stores are off of Main Street but the Salon’s up the road a bit so..”

“Salon first Han, then clothes or whatever, even my hairdressing skills aren’t QUITE up to handling the mass you’re currently sporting sadly.”
..smart-ass..

Instead of answering I just settled for a nod as I bent down to scoop Eris up onto my hip again.
She shot a look around us uncertainly as if she wasn’t quite sure she wanted be carried in such a public place but that didn’t last very long in all honesty because eventually her head bobbed down to rest just above my heart as always.

The ‘Honor Guard’ of four rather intimidatingly large men from the front Jeep moulded around us in a loose formation, their baggy black clothing doing a pretty poor job of concealing their guns..
Five of them of various sizes each by my estimation and at least two knifes strapped to their backs too!
It’s a little overkill in my opinion, but then having a guard in the first place is more than a LITTLE bit overkill to start with so I guess what do I know, huh?

We moved across the street as a surprisingly smooth unit.
For a moment I almost forgot they were there and started to enjoy myself in the mid-day sun but then we reached the front of the Salon where the troopers waved us back so they could essentially ‘breech and clear’ the doorway to make sure there was no-one hiding in wait for us behind the big clear glass windows..
..people are stupid sometimes..

Rather than wait for their little war game’s scenario to run its course I ended up pushing my way past them and stepping inside with an awkward, slightly apologetic smile on my face for the unsurprisingly worried staff and patrons.

“Sorry about this everybody. New bodyguards, you know how it is, takes a while to make them realise that just because a place looks obviously NOT a trap that doesn’t mean that it DEFINITELY is one.”
I only got one rather startled sounding laugh for my troubles but that’s honestly better than I was expecting sadly.

One of the four Honor Guard members twitched as if he was going to step further into the room but I’d had enough at this point.
I turned sharply around and gave a push to his chest, subtly aided by a tiny burst of magic naturally, sending him stumbling back outside again to join his friends.

“No men past this point boys, so sorry. Next one of you that comes barging in for no reason before I’m done is getting jumped for a free makeover on me, tell that to Pauly too, I’m sure he’d look just LOVELY with a blue-rinse perm!”
My piece said I yanked Sarah inside and slammed the door in their faces.. which I’ll admit had a bit less impact because of the whole ‘glass’ fronted door thing they had going on.

“Way to go Mom”
Eris sounded almost unreasonably impressed with her awe filled tone of voice.

Before I even had a chance to glance down at her someone behind us started clapping lightly which quickly built into an uproar of sorts as others joined in.
I turned slowly around and came face to face with several now rather amused women in various states of being.. hairdressed?.. I guess..

As always when confronted with a mildly embarrassing situation that I can’t easily get out of with magic I did the smart thing and blushed brightly all the way up to my now just as red roots.

“Sarah Cooper, is that you?”
I stiffened slightly as an older looking woman I’d assume to be somewhere in her early sixties, although if I’m right then she looks good for her age, moved her way towards us in a rather impressive looking suit that was only marginally countered by the bright purple hair bonnet she was sporting above it.

“It IS you, my how you’ve grown.. so this must be little Ari we’ve been hearing so much about?”
Her attention swung around to me at that point obviously and I couldn’t help but cringe a little.
Not only does she seem inordinately interested in me from the look of it but so does everyone else now AND she called me bloody ‘Ari’ which is a very bad thing for that whole ‘cover story’ idea we’re running with.

“Oh sorry dear, it’s Hannah now, isn’t it?.. names are so important at that age, aren’t they?”
She sent a warm smile at a few of the seated women who mirrored it back at her before turning to Sarah with a knowing look that seemed to actually amuse my sister a fair bit if I’m still a good judge of her facial expressions in general.
Either way, I REALLY don’t like being mocked so blatantly thank-you-very-much!

“We call her ‘Princess’ now, the guards seem to like it and it fits her surprisingly well honestly.”
I will HURT you Sarah if you keep this up I SWEAR it!

My head turned ever so slightly so that I could shot her a look that was at once disapproving and apologetic.
I got my hit in on her back at the Jeep and now she’s retaliated so it’s time for us to stop playing and focus on the worryingly attentive, suspiciously intelligent looking old woman before us instead.

“Oh my, well that WOULD be appropriate wouldn’t it?”
For just a moment the woman shot me an assessing look that was almost cold in its intensity before it faded seamlessly back into her more benign ‘innocent little old lady’ smile with precision that could only come from years of experience.

All at once an idea hit me and I honestly felt a little nauseous at the thought of it-
..oh powers there’s two of them!..
-so THIS is what Edith would be like if she wasn’t a mage, had any sort of fashion sense and aimed her evil little yoda mind towards social engineering on a large scale instead of just generating pure profit!

Almost automatically I turned my body slightly away from her to better protect Eris in some way.
No wonder she’s been so quiet since we got in here, she didn’t exactly enjoy meeting the real Edith after all and she’s usually a pretty good judge of character in general for her age.

“Congratulations Hannah dear, do tell your Mother that she simply MUST join us for the community supper on Tuesday won’t you?.. to think that Susan could go so long without properly introducing you to us all..”
..what?..
“I’m sure you’ll join us for the Ball in December of course? Your sister is past due for her outing as it is but you’ll need a proper showing before your nuptials obviously.”

..NUPTIALS?!..

“uh.. ball?..”
My eye’s cut down to Eris almost instinctively but I jerked them back up a second later feeling immensely stupid for my troubles.
Get your head in gear Hannah and stop thinking about that stupid bowling ball we left back in the Jeep!

“Yes dear, the debutante ball of course? It’s being hosted by the Yacht Club this year as part of their mid-winter regatta. I’m sure you’ll get along marvellously with everyone and we have quite a few junior debutantes this year so you’ll be in good company.”
..Debu-WHAT?!..

She reached out and patted my hand in something approaching a reassuring way, the kind of subtle movement that I’d always imagined a grandmother would give but could never actually imagine Gran doing in the slightest now.

“Don’t worry dear, you can bring your new beau Maxarimus of course. I’m sure everyone will be rather pleased to meet this mysterious Prince of yours after all..”
For a single long moment there was an almost predatory gleam in her eyes again but she hid it quickly behind that same overly-happy persona she’s been using since we turned up.
I blinked in surprise and tilted my head slightly as if that would somehow make her words less nonsensical.

After a few seconds where, if anything, they just seemed to get worse in my head I let out an almost silent sigh and nodded to her in the vain hope of just ending this whole conversation while I can.

Damn it John! Just what EXACTLY have you been TELLING people?!
I KNEW it was a bad idea to let him out of my sight this morning!

To add insult to injury Sarah sidled almost silently up to me and turned her head just enough to hide her smirk before whispering a question that was pitched so low even I strained to hear it with my mage hearing, although her amusement was almost palpable despite that.

“So.. not dating huh?..”

Shut UP Sarah!
This is neither the time nor the place for more games damn it.
..what the HELL is going on?..

Just WAIT until I get my hand on John, I’m gonna KILL him!

A day on the town, new haircut, new clothes and an excessive amount of money.. why does that seem so idyllic in the movies? Events unfold including but not limited to: The salon vultures swarm, A lot of relationship status's come into question (some for very good reasons, others.. well..) Meanwhile Hannah decides that life is unfair and Tuesdays suck!

 

“Stop laughing”

If anything, all my hissed demand did was add fuel to the fire as Sarah squirmed in the chair next to me, obviously trying not to move too much as the woman behind her washed her hair despite her giggle fit.
I didn’t even get the chance to glare at her for it before someone else moved into the suspiciously empty seat on my other side and I was forced to offer yet another fake smile for their amusement.

Eris shifted uncomfortably in my lap.
I already told her she’d have to get off when the actually hair cutting starts but I can’t really begrudge her wanting to stick close at the moment with how badly the sharks are swarming us.

It seems like every woman in here knows far too much about me and yet FAR too little at the same time!

They’re all apparently EVER so interested in learning more about me though in either case.
From what I’ve gathered through the last few conversations I’ve had with several, obviously well-to-do women who have taken the spare seat before this new one, it seems like this is all one big misunderstanding brought on by a very recognisable lethal duo of thoughtless gossips that I’d never in my wildest NIGHTMARES considered might actually pair up to wreak havoc on the world together!

Echo.. Echo and bloody ‘Dite!
They apparently joined John on his self-appointed ‘reconnaissance mission’ this morning but got bored pretty early because they came in here for a bit of pampering instead.

I haven’t quite got the full picture yet obviously but somewhere down the line they got chatting with people?
Between ‘Dite’s thoughtless naivety and Echo’s unstoppable need to apparently repeat everything she hears to people in the form of half-understood gossip they’ve managed to convince everyone in here that all those ‘strange’ people who had suddenly swarmed the town this morning we’re in fact working to protect one ‘Lady Hannah Cooper-Garnier’.

Evidently when questioned further on my name they acknowledged my relationship to Mum too because people seem to have connected the dots from there and ‘worked out’ my identity pretty easily.

The fun doesn’t stop THERE though.. oh no, no, no!

When can my life ever be THAT simple after all?!
No, they went on to blab about John’s dubious position as the ‘source’ of my new Ladyship and possibly added several ideas they may have about our relationship status which we will be having WORDS about LATER!

“Lady Cooper-Garnier, may I just say that it really is an honor to meet you.”
With a wince I turned slightly so I could glance at the new woman out the corner of my eye before slowly moving my face into that close approximation of a smile again and offering her a gentle nod.

“Please, call me Hannah, you all know me but I’m afraid I must admit that I’m not nearly as well informed?”
It’s taking every shred of acting skill in my arsenal just to keep this going honestly.

I’m having to dig pretty deep and drag out some long abandoned ‘social’ training memories from some long integrated past-incarnations just to keep a civil tongue in my head actually!

“Oh! Of course, I’m Mary, Mary Chapman the chairwoman of the Southern Oregon Visitors Association.”
With that said she offered her hand out for me and I reluctantly accepted it in my best ‘limp’ handshake while offering her an encouraging smile just because it’s expected at this point with so many people watching me like salon-going birds of prey.

Sarah snorted to herself in amusement for what felt like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.
She’s enjoying this WAY too much in my opinion.

“Charmed Ms Chapman, have you met my sister Sarah? She’s a rather successful TV host, you may have seen her show on PBS, I hear they run it practically by the hour at this point.”
The annoying woman’s eyes cut away from mine quickly to shoot Sarah a suddenly much more interested look.

For a long moment I got to enjoy the way Sarah froze under a wave of sudden scrutiny all around her before sadly it all turned back to me again.
Sure she’s ‘famous’ and a ‘local’ celebrity.. but she’s not the one apparently about to marry some prince no-one’s ever heard of.. one that happens to be suspiciously good looking even if he does seem to be barely in his twenty’s, if that!

Sooner then I’d have liked, the conversation started up again as the beautician sat me up to start working on my hair with a hairdryer/brush combo in hand and Ms ‘Just call me Mary’ Chapman made her big, oh so subtle, sales pitch for getting me to help provide some advertising opportunities in aid of tourism for Klamath in general.

The way she described it you’d think me and John were going to be some huge tabloid power-couple with our own hyphenated little nickname and a near constant following of journalists willing to document anything even remotely ‘of interest’ we might do!

I honestly had to just stop listening when she suggested petitioning the local chamber of commerce about nominating us as Klamath Falls own little unofficially-official ‘Royal family’..

======

..thank the powers!..

My torture lasted both far too long and barely any time at all before the hairstylist, a woman called Sarah apparently, started bringing out scissors and purposefully placed herself between us to cut off the conversation.

I rolled my eyes up to her in gratitude and received a smirking wink in return that I would have honestly expected to come from MY Sarah more than a random stranger.. well.. if MY Sarah wasn’t busy giggling to herself over how many apparently ‘important’ woman just HAPPENED to be sitting in here having some kind of unofficial town meeting that we just HAPPENED to stumble into at possibly the WORST possible time considering they’d just gotten some rather juicy gossip that paints me as some kinda of previously hidden ‘woman of breeding’!

If I didn’t know better I’d think she planned this or someth-
Damn it Sarah! Come to think of it I DO know better and she probably DID plan this to some degree!

This is her usual ‘out of work’ hair salon.
She looked entirely too amused and completely unsurprised when the not-Edith, who’s name I can’t remember by the way, confronted us!

SHE suggested I do something with my hair and SHE suggested we go here moments later!

My eye’s swung around to Sarah automatically.
She didn’t even try to hide how smug she felt from her face.

Obviously she’s worked out that I’ve worked out that this was all her doing just from the annoying expression on my face!

My hand twitched a little at my side and her eyebrow rose slightly in response.
To anyone else it would have seemed like two unrelated movements but to us they held practically a whole conversation inside them, my hand saying ‘she would pay for this’ and her eyebrow saying ‘I know but I had my reasons’.

With a mildly frustrated huff I settled down in my seat a bit more and folded my arms underneath my cape.

At some point in the procession of movement surrounding the hairdresser Sarah pulling out her scissors, Eris slid off my lap and moved over to stand in the gap between me and the smirking menace’s feet like an awkward little cherub.
A look of sweetness and innocence was plastered on her face, one that might just be enough to convince someone she wasn’t up to something if they didn’t know her first!

“Eris.. whatever your thinking.. Don’t..”
She turned her wide little eyes over to me and fluffed her hand through her hair as if suddenly nervous.
Somewhere behind me someone made a little ‘aww’ sound at the sight of her which REALLY didn’t help the twitch I could feel developing in my eye in the slightest!

“I don’t care if you think it would be funny or if you think your dad would approve.. you do it and no drum kit until you’re eighteen young lady.”
She winced and sunk her shoulders slightly in submission while staring at me through her eyelashes as if silently offering me an apology, one that I accepted with a gentle smile that seemed to calm her down at last.

Wait! Did I just use Mum’s ‘young lady’ trick on her?
It bloody WORKED too!

Huh?.. so that’s how it feels from the other side of things..
No wonder, she used it on Sarah so much when we were kids.

A slight tugging on my cape brought my attention back down to Eris again.
She’d moved over on silent little feet and with a few meaningful glances that bordered on twinspeak or telepathy I finally gave in to her, pushing my hands up under the cape enough to make space for her as she shuffled her way into my lap underneath it so she could both hide from everyone around us and sit with me without getting coated in any hair that gets cut off.

I swear someone behind me made an almost yelping sound of glee, not doubt at how ‘adorable’ we were being for some reason, but they were shushed back into silence before I could turn my head to see who’d done it sadly.

“I think we missed an introduction somewhere along the way Hannah dear?”
The not-Edith woman’s voice made me wince slightly with just how amused she sounded as I glanced over at her.

Hairdresser Sarah moved ever so slightly to the side giving me a clear view of the suit wearing older woman from her new position, calmly seated in the ‘spare’ chair in a way that would almost be casual if it wasn’t for the burning curiosity in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I became so distracted by meeting you all that it slipped my mind..”
Far from my mind, on the vague hope that I could get through this nightmare without having to come up with a cover story for why I have a toddler in tow!
“This shy little bundle of giggles is my.. uh, her names Eris..”

..Bravo Hannah? Really, I’m utterly impressed by your complete ineptitude at-..
Shut UP Brain!

As attempts to distract from the sudden elephant in the room go it was beyond terrible, I KNOW okay?!
Give me a break will you!

I never prepared for this sort of thing.
People tend to see us more as a unit lately, the question of ‘who’ or ‘why’ Eris is in relation to me or how close we are hasn’t really come up so far.

Trust the little all-woman army of socialite busy-bodies around us at the moment to be the first people to think of asking such awkward questions so openly.. damn it..

To my surprise she didn’t prod any further on the topic and seemed to have an almost knowing look on her face that, if I’m reading her right, held mild distain for me that she was carefully trying to temper behind her apparently normal ‘benign’ look.

Eris shifted awkwardly under my cape and I moved my hands up to cup her head to my chest a bit better.
After a few seconds she settled down again, letting off an almost silently contented sigh that made some annoying part of my brain want to join her automatically for some reason.

“..at least we know it’s not a shotgun wedding?..”
My eye twitched heavily at the muttered comment coming from the hidden audience behind us.

"Ladies, please..”
Not-Edith’s mild rebuttal might as well have been a gunshot with how quickly it silenced the muttering group.
I found myself sending her a thankful look despite my misgivings about her motives, mostly because she didn’t have to help me out like that and in my experience people like her don’t do anything nice without reason.

It’s not like the opinions of this lot really MATTER as such, I guess?
I mean, they might be able to cause some hassle for Mum if they decide to turn against us just by their apparent positions of power in the local community but as soon as I get my accounts sorted out again Mum could just quit work and spend the rest of her life sipping margarita’s on some tropical beech..

In fact I think I may actually own a private tropical island somewhere come to think of it?
..it vaguely feels familiar..
Pretty sure I captured some evil mages clichéd ‘skull-faced island volcano lair’ at one point at least.

Either way, while I don’t particularly like people getting the idea that I’m going to marry John at some point.. or that I’m some kind of new society bride.. or that I was a worryingly young mother, giving birth to Eris somewhere in my early teens at best..

I’ve been in worse situations and honestly, what’s the worst that can come from it all huh?

“So I’ve heard what everyone else does for a living so far, what do you do exactly?”
Despite my rather rudely stated question not-Edith’s eyes lit up in amusement as she went to work, explaining just how VERY important she was to the Klamath Falls social scene and society as a whole.

Turns out her family owns a lot of things in a lot of places and she personally set up a finishing school for ‘young ladies’ which both reassured me on her motives for suddenly including Eris in things while also making me rather nervous about them at the same time.

I don’t care what anyone thinks about me and John, I’m not sending Eris off to some school designed to turn little girls into the perfect little society brides of the future!

======

“Stop playing with it Han, it looks fine.”
With a jerk and a huff I pulled my finger out of the biggest side-swept barrel curl that kept moving into my field of view every few seconds.

Showing my ignorance of hair styles in general, I’ve got to admit that I barely understood one-in-three words my Sarah and Hairdresser Sarah exchanged while discussing the end result of her hard work.

All I know is that my now auburn locks didn’t lose much length, thanks to Sarah’s quiet request, but have gained an amount of curl and luster that borders on the stupidly large mass I got from my initial ‘fun’ experiences with what happens when you mix hair styling magic with wild magic.

The biggest difference is probably with my bangs or ‘fringe’ in Brit-speak, if my past life memories are to be believed?
Essentially what was once a smooth curtain of hair that I split out of my face by brushing behind my ears or usually by braiding it back has now been cut, leaving me with a long side-swept set of wide curled hair that blends back in with the rest of my hair at about neck-length below my right cheek.

Despite the mirror, Sarah, Eris and the delegation representing the now mentally dubbed by me ‘Ladies of Klamath’ all assuring me that they look ‘pretty’ this way, I’m more focused on the fact they’re wholly ‘annoying’ instead!

“Stop fiddling with them Han”
I shot Sarah a glare and pulled my hand down again from where it had subconsciously moved up to brush the hair out of my eye for what feels like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes.

“This isn’t practical Sare? I’m losing nearly half my peripheral vision for the sake of some arbitrarily decided definition of beauty!”

We both stopped in the middle of the street.
My annoying body guard’s stumbled to a halt around us and the ‘subtly’ following us Jeeps pulled up at the curb as well.
After a few seconds of staring at each other challengingly a little sigh from my chest made us both glance down, breaking the tension and the moment so efficiently I can’t help but think that was entirely Eris’s intention when she did it to be honest.

“You’re both right, it looks good Mom but she has a point about it being useless in a fight too Aunty Sarah.”

With her piece said Eris pushed herself up slightly in my arms and brushed a hand through my new bangs until they were out of the way.
As she pulled her hand back I felt a tiny discharge of magic brush along my skin and the annoying hair stayed in place neatly despite having nothing to hold it in pla-
..oh, yeah?..

Using magic to stick hair together like Eris showed me the other day is still a ‘thing’.. I really need to pay attention to this stuff!

“Thanks Sweetie”
She nodded almost officiously before settling her head back down above my heart with another contented sigh in response.
“Okay, problem solved, sorry Sare I’m just in a bit of a weird mood?”

Sarah seemed mildly surprised by Eris’s actions but nodded to me in understanding anyway when I finally caught her eyes again.

“Sorry too, I forget that your this hard-trained fighter at times.. it’s kind of hard to believe with the way you normally act I’m afraid..”
Not much of an apology there Sare but I’ll take what I can get at this point.

“Is there anything else you want to do while we’re here? I’ve got to get some clothes and drop into Edith’s place on the way home but aside from that I’m open to suggestions.”

She cut her eyes over to me thoughtfully for a second but she shrugged it off pretty quickly as we started walking down the street again.

“Wouldn’t mind dropping into the flat to pick up a few bits; I need to go into the studio at some point and check on how editing’s going on the new season too?.. Tor’s down south visiting family so I’m pretty much the only one that can stop the studio techs from messing things up in the cutting room sadly.”
She huffed out a breathy sigh but offered me a smirk anyway.

..I wondered where the big guy had disappeared to?..
Feels like ages since I last saw him, guess it makes sense if he’s out of state though.

“When’s he getting back?”
Sarah grimaced slightly and hesitated in her next step but quickly caught up to me again as if nothing had happened.

“It’s going to be a while, the studio’s talking about replacing him for the next season so he can have some down time..”
Ah.. oh dear, that’s not a good sign..

“You told him then?”
Her eyes flew up to mine in shock.

I’m not sure why to be honest; it’s not exactly hard to put the pieces together?
We get back after an emotionally taxing trip, they get a few days alone to sort themselves out while I was busy dealing with Mum and suddenly he disappears off the face of the earth to ‘visit family’ without any warning or apparent forethought involved.

“You okay?”
She shifted uncomfortably but that didn’t last much more than a step or two before she leaned heavily into my side, almost making me tip over due to our proportionate differences in height and weight.
“..that bad huh?..”

The only response I got was a heavy sniff and some frantic head movement that may have been a nod of some sort.
I felt a little like sniffing sadly to myself too at this point but that’s hardly going to help things is it?

Bloody relationships!
Why can’t people just be honest with each other about their feelings?!
I know for a fact that Sare is ‘ga-ga’ for Tor and while he can be a man of few words, Tor’s made it pretty obvious from his actions alone just how much he cares for my sister if nothing else..

Wouldn’t life just be easier if people could decide they like someone then just come out and SAY they love-
Something large and warm came down harshly on my ass making me yelp in surprise as I span around suddenly to face my attacker.
-John!

“Damn it John-boy! We were having a moment here, don’t just randomly go around slapping people on the ass you pervert?!”
Despite the heavy conversation we’d been tentatively working our way towards Sarah surprised me by bursting out in a sudden fit of giggles and pulling herself away from me so she could try to stem the flow.

Her laughter was obviously infectious because not only did I feel my lips twitch slightly in an aborted attempt at smiling too as usual, several people behind John let off their own little bursts of it too.
Pretty soon it seemed like only me, Eris and John were left holding our composure in a sea of inanely laughing people with no hope of rescue.

“He didn’t ‘just randomly go around slapping people on the ass’ Han, he only did it to you.. big surprise there huh?”
Part of me is glad she seems so happy and amused all of a sudden but the other part is NOT finding what she’s suggesting at ALL funny in the SLIGHTEST!

My finger came up almost automatically to point between John’s eyes as an angry, embarrassed growl worked its way up to my throat.

“Do that again and you lose an arm, you got me John-boy?.. don’t think I won’t do it!.. I’ve got MAD ice mage skills now and you can just ask the last guy who slapped me what it feels like if you’re that curious.”
The laughter around us died down a little at my obvious anger but even John didn’t seem entirely convinced that I wasn’t at least bluffing or at worst joking.

Before I could really lay into him my eye’s caught on a still giggling pair of people behind him that I had a much more pressing need to talk to then John-bloody-Jones!

“Echo, ‘Dite! Follow me, we need to talk.. NOW!”
I stomped ahead of everyone slightly down the street leading toward Sarah’s apartment complex.
The movement was so sudden that the security team had to scrabble around to keep up.

There wasn’t really a need for me to look back when I can feel their magic from here and while everyone else seems to be hanging back a little in worry, even Sarah for some reason, Echo and Dite’s magic WERE progressively coming closer to me as I went on so checking on them can wait at least.

Finally they caught up with me and I let out a heavy breath before starting in on them.
Eris seemed to be shooting adorable yet smug looks over at ‘Dite for some reason, probably because she’s in trouble and Eris will apparently take any chance to rub something in her ‘older sisters’ face when she can..

“Now then.. I happened to go to the hair salon on Main Street earlier, you wouldn’t BELIEVE the rumors I heard coming out of that place?”
They both cringed and for a moment Echo actually slowed her pace slightly as if hoping she could drop back into the following crowd behind us without notice but of all people Eris shot out a little hand and snagged her sleeve before she could really make a break for it.

The subtle reprimanding head shake she gave the poor girl was almost as obvious as the wide amused grin plastered on her face.
..oh yeah, she doesn’t like Echo much either does she?..

“We’re going to have a nice long chat about what is and isn’t information you should be sharing or misrepresenting to the general public, either magical or non-magical.. is that okay with the pair of you?”
I got two almost simultaneous nods followed by rather obvious gulps in response which made my growing smirk turn a bit feral for a moment.

Let’s see how much damage they did intentionally and how much of it was just out of stupidity or ignorance shall we?

======

“So let me get this straight.. YOU told everyone that I’m now going by the name ‘Lady Hannah Cooper-Garnier’ because you heard some of the wolves talking at dinner yesterday?-”
My arm swung around to point at ‘Dite much to Echo’s obvious relief at this point.
“-and YOU told everyone that I’d recently started dating a mysterious nephew of the Martials called Maxarimus because you heard someone talking about it at breakfast and thought it was common knowledge from what you’d seen of our recent actions?-”
The accusing finger of doom swung back around to Echo’s no longer relieved looking face for my final incredulous point as I continued on.
“-which YOU, oh so helpfully, added fuel to when questioned by showing surprise that this random group of non-magical busy-body’s had no idea who your ‘famous’ Uncle Max was and eventually left yourself in a verbal corner, frantically scrabbling around for a plausible reason to give them on why you’d assumed they would know who he was when it finally registered in your head that they were in fact non-magical, and for some powers-forsaken reason you settled on making him a PRINCE of some unmentioned country or another?!”

The only sound I could hear for a seemingly eternal stretch of time was our feet hitting pavement and the rumble of life moving on around us without a care for my problems and woes.

Eventually the awkward silence was broken by Eris giving a stifled snort which progressed into a full blown giggle fit that had me clinging onto her for dear life in case she fell as she kept swinging her eyes between the pair of them and promptly laughing even harder to herself.

I’d like to think that in any other situation I’d see the funny side of this too but I’m REALLY not in the mood for it now!

“You’re both grounded, no talking to anyone who isn’t family for a week unless it’s life or death.. now go find somewhere to be where I don’t have to look at you for a while.”
They both winced at the disappointment obvious in my tone but quickly shuffled back into the pack of people following behind me like an annoyingly large procession.

Before I’d really gotten a chance to gather myself back together again after that brain-meltingly horrid conversation, one that both explained SO much about what happened back at the salon while leaving me feeling lost from the stupidity of it all in general, a warm hand landed on my butt and squeezed gently as an equally warm body sidled up to me with a face attached that seemed to be permanently etched into his usual smug smirk.

“You handled that surprisingly well, I was expecting to see them both run off in tears from the look on your face.. although honestly your guilt trip might actually have been the more effective way of getting through to them somehow..”
I grit my teeth down hard and shot John a completely un-amused look which he chose to ignore with his usual aplomb for such things.

“I learnt what works best from my mother.. now take your HAND off my ASS before I remove it FOR you.. PERMANENTLY!”
Even through gritted teeth the overall venom in my voice was hard to miss, I am NOT in the mood to put up with whatever silly idea John’s got in his head that involves him cosying up to me so much while we’re in public for other people to gawp at!

In a move that annoyingly shows that he will always find some way to defy my expectations, John’s hand practically flew off my butt only to shift up slightly and settle again around my waist instead.

“Not. Better!”
He actually had the audacity to laugh this time as he squeezed me into his side and allowed little lines of his magic to leak out so they could ‘casually’ rub against my aura with at once pleasant and REALLY aggravating side-effects that one might expect from two naturally volatile sources of magic coming into contact with each other.

Reluctantly I found myself leaning into him despite my best efforts to the contrary.
Eris let off a little huff that probably had some deeper meaning but I’m honestly in no state of mind to be analysing the breathing patterns of a three-year-old at this point in time.

..I’m tired..
I’m tired and frustrated and I’ve got all this stuff I want to get done but people keep getting in the way and now we’ve got this new thing with the ‘Ladies of Klamath’ to deal with a-and what the hell even IS a debutant ball for anyway?!

It feels vaguely familiar for some reason, I think I remember seeing something about them online at some point but my usually helpful incarnation memories are drawing a rather suspicious blank at the moment which isn’t helping anything in the slightest.

“..I’ve got a headache..”
John rumbled some nonsense sounds deep in his chest like a giant cat purring to itself and I found myself leaning a bit closer into his side.
“..I’ve got a headache and I’ve got to deal with Edith soon..”

I allowed myself a flash of amusement when I felt John’s magic suddenly stall in surprise before rolling back into action with a general feeling of pity and worry coursing through it instead.
..at least he knows when to stop mucking around for once..

Is it Tuesday today?
I’m not completely sure.. feels like a Tuesday..

I hate Tuesdays!

======

“Got everything?”

Sarah slid her keys back into her pocket and nodded as she dipped down to scoop up a backpack that’s now full of whatever it was she wanted to collect from the flat.
Originally I was going to go inside with her but that became a bit of a moot point when the ever expanding entourage of ‘children’, both small and adult sized, decided to follow us up and fill the stairwell with bodies.

I don’t want to admit it but after spending five minutes of mindless walking while being hugged by John I feel a bit better about things and life in general?.. which has left me ALMOST ready to deal with a few of the more annoying tasks at hand such as explaining to a group of surprisingly sheltered mages why expanding the staircase’s width with magic so they can all fit in more comfortably would be a VERY bad idea in a purely normal building owned by a purely normal landlord!

I’m starting to see a pattern forming and I’m sorry to say that at this point I honestly think mage’s, even my own apparent ‘children’, are still people.. and therefore also to be considered, on a whole, to be ‘idiots’ for the sake of saving time if nothing else.

“Henry! If I see you try and scrape ONE more half-assed ‘happy feelings’ rune into that banister you’ll join Echo and ‘Dite in being grounded young man!”
Henry in particular definitely falls into the ‘idiot’ category sadly..

The lanky teen still looks far too close to John in appearance for my sanity’s sake.
As you might be able to guess considering his past exploits of joining a previously all-female dog-pile on top of John when this lot first turned up, along with the mischievous look he shot me before disappearing from my sight back into the crowded stairs with ease, he happens to take after his ‘father’ in more than just looks.. much to my newfound frustration.

..it wouldn’t be so bad if he was actually good at runes?..
Even from here his attempted chicken scratch markings really ARE almost offensive to my experienced eye.
If he keeps this up I’m going to have to hold a class on how NOT to get yourself killed by your own poorly formed rune-clusters!

“How exactly are we going to get back downstairs Han?”
I shot a look over to Sarah and huffed to myself again in frustration.
..I have no bloody clue..

A sharp whistle from my side brought the entire hallway to an almost eerie silence instantly.

“EVERYBODY OUT, WE’RE MOVING ON!”
My jaw dropped a little as the mass of bodies before us started shifting in an almost orderly manner back down the stairs and outside like a well-oiled machine in motion.

A glance over at John earned me yet another amused smirk for my troubles so with a heavy sigh I slapped a hand to his chest and offered him a weak smirk in return.

“Not so useless after all John-boy.”
For a moment he looked pleased before his face fell and he realised what I’d actually just said at last.
His mouth shifted into an exaggerated pout that got a giggle out of Eris, only encouraging him to keep going, much to my chagrin.
“Don’t be an ass, come on we’ve got places to be and stuff to buy.”

“Yes Ma’am”
He popped off an almost military perfect salute before capping it off with a deep bow taken right out of history itself.

Eris giggled again and even Sarah snorted in amusement.
I just let off one more huff before moving down the now clear stairs without response.

I get that he’s trying to help by lightening the mood a bit but I just want to get this all OVER with now!
My happy little shopping trip has gotten progressively bigger, longer and more annoying as the day’s gone on.

“If you’re quite done playing the fool?”
His magic jumped happily at my muttered comment but he didn’t respond verbally as he nabbed Sarah’s bag from its awkwardly held position at her side and followed behind me in a pompous ‘quick-step’ that had his watching audience of Eris giggling to herself against my shoulder all over again.

..I really hate Tuesdays..

======

“No, I’m not buying it and that’s FINAL!”

The little shop I’d originally come into with the hope of getting either some nice baggy clothes for lazing around in or at the very least a new, more covering, one-piece swim suit has become a complete bust.. and even worse every woman in my ever expanding entourage seems to have an opinion on what would suit me best too?!

“What about this one?”
FOR THE LAST TIME JOHN STOP OFFERING ME THAT BLOODY HOT-PINK STRING BIKINI BEFORE I STRANGLE YOU WITH IT!!

With a frustrated little yell that actually managed to shut them all up at last I found myself stomping out of the store, leaving a scrabbling mass of people behind to sort themselves out as I made a bee-line for the street I vaguely remember leading back towards Edith’s place.

Just one more stop to go and I can finally END this stupid trip with my dignity mostly intact by not having given up despite all odds and omens pointing to the contrary; I know Sarah said something about going into her work but she’s gonna have to do it on her bloody-own because I am NOT going ANYWHERE else with this lot in tow EVER again!

I’m not anti-social I swear.. but I HATE People!..
Too much noise, too much mess, too much bloody.. bloody.. URRG!!

“Hannah, wait up?”
If that isn’t a cue for me to start moving faster than I don’t know what is!

I HATE Tuesdays!

======

The bell above the door to my favorite little magic shop rang out loud and clear.
Hearing that familiar sound did a lot more then I would have expected in calming me down or at least bringing me back to myself a little bit.

Eris seemed to agree with that sentiment judging by the way she settled her head back down on my chest again, having spent the walk over here being alert and attentive as if looking for danger of some kind for some unfathomable reason?

The bell rang out again and I jerked around to slam my hand hard on the door, forcing it shut as best I could despite the mass of bodies trying to push their way in.
Almost instinctively I shoved some magic into my hand and legs to reinforce my position and with a few staggering steps I finally managed to get the door shut tight and keeping the rest of them out at least.

Just for my own sanity more than anything else I dipped into my lines and almost instinctively summoned a nearby cupboard in front of the doorway, sealing it in place with an overpowered application of the hair-sticking trick Eris showed me in the form of a few hand slaps full of my magic to the back of the cupboard and the doorframe itself.

John fought his way to the front of the disgruntled crowd around the door.
He didn’t say anything but his annoyed stare was full of disappointment and frustration so it’s not exactly hard to tell where his thoughts are going.

“Just give me five minutes, take them all to the park by the Hub and keep them there ‘till I catch up, okay?”
He stared at me a little harder for a moment but in the end he sighed and shrugged in acceptance before saying something that forced a few of the people closest to him back, starting a chain reaction where the mass of people began moving apart enough that he could push his way to the front and start leading them all away in an admittedly reluctant but generally calm mob.

“Useless girl be shuttin’ doors and blockin’ customers out? Bad for business!”
I turned around slowly to fix Edith with an incredulous look.

..what customers?..
She rarely gets a few per day if that, just before lunchtime on a Tuesday isn’t exactly peak business hours or anything!

“Great to see you too Edith. You said we needed to talk, so I’m here?..”
Her wrinkled old yoda face scrunched up thoughtfully for a moment before smoothing back into her usual disgruntled look a moment later.

“I got ya money useless girl.”
..huh?..
“From fae pets, for gettin’ past the barrier.”
OH! THAT money!

It seems like so long since we both stood outside the Hub’s sealed entrance and she ‘helped’ me get through the barrier with her stick and a malicious little smirk on her face.

I can’t even remember how much they owed me now?
I know we fleeced them something rotten for the fun of it but I was pretty distracted at the time what with John having walked into a trap inside and all..

Edith moved behind the counter and came back out with her JuJu stick in one hand while hugging a worryingly large paper bag to her chest with the other.
“I be ownin’ a magic shop girl, not a bank!”

She practically tossed the bag at me with more speed than anyone her age, physical or actual, has any right to be capable of.
Lucky my reflexes are up to par still or I’d have probably hurt myself from her wild toss if nothing else.

“Appreciate it Edith. Was that all you wanted me for?”
It’s hard to tell sometimes if she would really be so insistent we talk just over a bag of money or not; over the years I’ve found it easier to just ask her then assume she’s acting within the bounds of normal logic honestly?

“Ba! Don’t be bein’ stupid useless girl, I be needin’ to speak with ya about others too.”
She almost seemed to shift uncomfortably for a moment before continuing on anyway.
“Big things be happenin’ an’ you be at the center of them girl-”

I opened my mouth to argue that point but she rose her hand for attention before I could speak.

“Not your fault useless girl. Big people be playing big games with big consequences and they be usin’ you to get what they want.. trust no-one useless girl, enemy’s be saying only what they be wanting you to hear and friends not being much better..”

“Edith?”
The expression on her face was one I never thought I’d see there to my dying day.. regret?..
Regret, sadness and a hollow pain that seemed so RAW when coming from her of all people.

“E..Edith?..”

She opened her mouth to speak again but before she could get anything more out someone came bouncing into the room and caught both of our attention from the shock of it more than anything else.
I couldn’t help but gawp as Fena shimmied her hips in a pair of skin-tight but artistically ripped jeans while throwing her hands up sending the baggy sleeves of her ancient looking Black Sabbath t-shirt flying around her along to the beat of some unheard music that I suspect is coming from the headphones on her head.

“Fena, we be havin’ company!”
Despite the volume of Edith’s yell Fena went on dancing to herself obliviously, pulling seemingly random books off the shelves and putting them back into other spaces according to that weird, convoluted sorting system of hers no doubt.
Ediths yell certainly got Eris’s attention at least, judging by the way her head snapped up suddenly and she stared wildly around before finally focusing intensely on Fena.

“FENA?!”

In seconds our resident Goth dancing-queen went from several embarrassing levels of ‘boogie’ to being crouched dangerously to the side with her hands positioned in a way that almost looked like something I’d expect from one of the werewolf men back home if it wasn’t for the ball of sparking electricity she had cupped in her palm out of nowhere.

It took a moment or two for her to realise what was going on but I could forgive her that for the sake of the cute but embarrassed little tight-lipped smile she offered us afterwards if nothing else?
She slid back up to her feet awkwardly and pulled the headphones down to her neck with that annoyingly attractive grace she’s had ever since I first met her.

“Hey Al..uh.. Hannah?.. sorry, still new..”

“Useless girl be here to get her money an’ be talkin’ to me Fena. Books can wait for-”
Edith’s grumbled sentence was cut short suddenly by a rather unexpected fearful voice with an rather unhelpful question.

“Josephina?”

We all turned our eyes down to Eris, having ignored her little form tucked into my side in relative invisibility as usual up to this point despite her yell a moment ago having finally got past Fena’s music where Edith’s had failed.
Her attention didn’t even twitch away from the amazed stare-off she was now having with Fena though..

“Eris?”
I’ve never heard Fena sound so vulnerable and confused before.. even when she finally realised I was me when I ‘came back from the dead’ and she stopped calling me Kinslayer in such a dangerous tone!

“Edith?”
The yoda glanced between the pair of them before looking thoughtfully at me for a moment and eventually shrugging her heavy little shoulders in confusion.
“I take it you two know each other?”

Both Fena AND Eris turned slightly nervous looks at me before glancing back at each other and then turning their heads away quickly in opposite directions.

“We.. uh, dated?.. a while ago..”
Really?!

“Several hundred decades ago to be more precise..”
REALLY?!

“Oh don’t do that? Can’t you just let something go without correcting me for once in your life E-”

“I didn’t do anything! You’re always like this when you’re having a dry spell, when was the last time you got laid?”

“WHAT?! How DARE you, you little-”

Before things could escalate much further I swung my body around breaking their line of sight with each other which, like with all good predators, helped a fair bit in making them both calm down slightly.

“Enough of that you two, your mages, not children.. well.. one of you at least?.. the POINT is that your both old enough to not be at each other’s throats five seconds after reuniting through centuries of not seeing each other!”

Surprisingly that half-baked attempt at sounding wise and reprimanding actually seemed to work somehow?
Fena’s shoulders sunk a little to show she wasn’t thinking of jumping us anymore and Eris sunk her head onto my shoulder as usual while looking out the window behind us instead.

“You dated?”
This time it was Edith who broke the awkward silence that had fallen around us.
She really sounded surprised this time.

It’s been a day for weird reactions with people reacting in unexpected ways sadly so I don’t really know why it’s still throwing me off pace to be honest?
Hell, this sort of thing is pretty much ‘to be expected’ when it comes to mages.. although it IS a bit weird to find out that the cute goth girl I’ve been friendly-flirting with for years also dated my new little toddler psudo-daughter in a time long-long ago, possibly in a place far-far awa-
..wait a minute..

“You’re AWAKENED!”
Fena shot me a confused look before focusing her eyes back on Eris again.
“Why didn’t you ever SAY anything?!”

“You never asked?”
Oh powers DAMN IT! That’s such a cop out and she knows it!

I know we don’t exactly share much about ourselves in general considering how long we’ve known each other and I kind of DID ‘forget’ to tell her I was awakened for more than a few years so I guess it’s kinda fair.. but it still doesn’t feel nice to find out something so important about someone out of bloody nowhere!

Eris huffed out a breath into my neck before turning her head back around to study Fena intently for a second.
I had to shift my weight a little to compensate for her movement but overall I didn’t exactly feel like speaking again since Fena kinda brought up a valid point that I really don’t want to dignify with a direct answer at the moment.

“You look.. pale?”

“-and you look like mommy’s precious little two-year-old princess, let’s leave looks out of this shall we?”
Ouch.. I think she hit a nerve of some sort there somehow?

..Ugh! I’ve had enough!..

This has been the longest day I’ve had in ages.
At this point I just want to curl up on a forgotten sofa somewhere with a good book and ignore everyone for a few hours at least!

“What were you going to say before Edith? We should probably go soon so-”
Edith waved me into silence and shot a cautious look between the other two, lingering slightly on Eris for a few seconds before turning her attention back to me with a thoughtful frown.

“It be waiting useless girl. Take funny baby home, be comin’ back when you can.”
..uh, okay?..

If she says so I guess?
It seemed pretty important before but questioning her on it at this point is probably just going to annoy her in some way.
When Edith decides she doesn’t want to talk about something she’s harder to talk to then a hungry bear with a toothache!

“Funny baby?”
Eris tensed in my arms and shot Fena a dirty look for the giggle she was obviously trying to suppress all of a sudden.

“..shut up Josie..”
Fena tensed, opening her mouth to retort but I quickly spun us away from her and made tracks back to the front door.

The cupboard-turned-barricade that I’d put up earlier to keep everyone out pulled itself free and levitated to the side.
I turned my head and gave Edith a thankful look for helping me leave before things can escalate even more between these two.

Next time I come here I’ll have to make sure to leave Eris behind.. and maybe call ahead.. or just invite Edith over to our place instead I guess?..

“Thanks for keeping the cash safe Edith, I’ll see you again as soon as I can, we’ll probably need some supplies when we put in the new wardstone if nothing else.”
Edith grunted in response then started making her way towards the back-area door behind the counter.
Fena moved slightly as if she wanted to say something more but by that point I had the door open and she took a step back without further comment.

I sent her an apologetic look which got an awkward yet still cute smile in return before I turned my attention back to the street, hefted Eris on one arm and my new paper bag of money in the other.

John had better be ready to leave with his army of followers when I get to the park or I’m gonna scream!

I just want to go home at this point, I’m pretty sure the fact that I wasn’t allowed to leave the house for various reasons may have colored my memories about shopping and so called ‘freedom’ a bit too much with nostalgia at this point because after sampling both for the last few hours I really can’t remember what I thought would make it worthwhile anymore in the slightest?

Four Jeeps pulled up alongside us and started rolling along at a snail’s pace, to keep up with my walking speed obviously.
In the front seat of the Jeep nearest to us just happened to be Pauly.

I shot him a glare and upped my pace a little bit just to make them all shuffle slightly faster out of spite then dropped back down to a casual walk so I could watch them all slam on their breaks, making Pauly jerk forward slightly in his seat and glare at me for the sake of it.

At this point I’ll take any fun I can find sadly.
It’s his own fault for accepting the job of following me all the time damn it!

“You know you could get in the Jeep and we’d run you over to meet with your family, right?”
My eyes cut over to the familiar female soldier who was leaning lazily out of the rear window on the third Jeep with a smirk on her face.

“You know you could all get real jobs and leave me to my annoying life in peace, right?”

She didn’t have an answer to that.
Good thing too, I’m not in the mood to pull punches at this point.

We came to the last street between me and the park at last so I shot her one more smug look and jogged over to the grass where they couldn’t follow me in their stupid looking vehicles.
Even the noticeable upsurge of flowers and plant life that formed in the general area around me when I stepped forward onto the grass wasn’t enough to break my smug little smile in the slightest.

What did break my smile was a quick scan of the mage group milling around the park area trying to look both uninteresting and not bored at the same time.. but lacking a very obvious pair of annoying additions in the form of Echo and bloody ‘Dite?!

“John, I know I said to keep everyone here until I got back.. so I also know you wouldn’t have allowed anyone to leave for some silly reason or another would you?”
He cringed a little and glanced around himself as if looking for help from someone but failing spectacularly.
“Right.. John?..”

“Echo felt guilty for cutting your shopping trip short, ‘Dite did too so they asked to go back and pick you up some things while you were busy.. a few of the others went with them just to be safe..”

Oh they ASKED, did they John?
Well that’s all fine then isn’t it!

It’s not like I might have told you to keep everyone together for a reason or anything or.. or.. URGH!

“I’ve got a bloody headache! Sort yourselves out and I’ll see you all at home.”
Without another word I moved back over to the waiting Jeeps at an awkward jog and pushed past the female soldier holding the door for me so I could put Eris inside first.

In only a few seconds I was in and the team were all in motion getting us ready to leave.
John started belatedly coming after me but he’d barely got half way across the grass before the troops were finished and we were off on the seemingly far too long drive home.

“Turn the radio up and don’t talk to me for a while. I need to center myself before I accidentally-on-purpose turn you all into something amusing to me but highly unfair to all of you.”

“Yes Ma’am”
You’ve got to love the military, private or government funded, they know how to follow orders if nothing else!

I found myself slumping heavily into my seat in relief as the sound of something with a thumping bass and not much else going for it came blasting out of the speakers around us.
Eris allowed me all of five seconds before she decided to crawl up into my lap properly and hug herself around my chest as best she could.

My arms came up to squeeze her close and I let off one last sigh as I settled my chin down on top of her little head while dipping partly into my lines to start the annoying task of calming down my bubbling, overexcited from my aggravation, magic.

Today’s definitely a Tuesday.. I HATE Tuesdays!

You can tell a lot about someone by observing how they react when stressed. You can also find out how powerful their right hook can be too if you're not careful! Definitely something to keep in mind if you ever decide to go 'sleeping bear' prodding in any case, right? Events unfold including but not limited to: Sharks with laser beams being mentioned to comedic effect, some chicken gets chased around a stone doughnut (I WISH I was making that bit up!), and Hannah is declared a goddess while finding multiple interesting ways to relax at last, with John's help, naturally.

 

“You accepting visitors yet?”

For a long moment I considered telling him to get lost but it’s kind of hard to keep a sulking rage going when I’ve had a few hours of peace in a comfortable, well-conjured chair with a good book or five to keep me company.

“Sure John, you okay making a seat or want me to do it instead?..”
He cocked his head to the side curiously but shrugged at the same time so I guess he didn’t take my outburst earlier too personally at least.

Hopefully Mum didn’t take it personally when I practically dropped Eris in her lap from my haste to get lost for a while as well?
Eris too actually, come to think of it.. I barely said a word to her on the ride home..

I’ve probably got a few people to apologise to over the next few hours to be honest but in my defence, today was supposed to be a bit of ‘me’ time where I could just relax while getting a few chores done and it evolved into this horrible dragging mission to just keep everyone in line while TRYING to at least get something done without it all going wrong in one way or another!

“Did Sarah send you in to find me or- HEY! Don’t-”
Despite my protest’s John kept going as he squeezed himself into my nice comfortable one-seater sofa, actually pushing himself down into its cushions enough that it practically popped me out of the seat for a moment before he threw an arm out and pulled me into his lap instead of letting me fall.

I turned awkwardly from my new perch to shoot him an angry look but he just smiled away as if he’d done nothing of interest in the slightest.
My glare lasted an almost painfully long twenty seconds of utter silence before I finally gave it up as a lost cause with an annoyed huff.

Trying to make someone who is entirely unapologetic for his actions feel guilty for them with a look is like trying to win a fight with a brick wall by head-butting it into submission.. your much better off cutting your losses and coming back later with reinforcements, possibly even a bulldozer or two..

“I come representing several worried parties from both within and without your motley crew of family members, even your grumpy old guard guy ‘Pauly’ asked after you, if you can believe it?”
Despite myself that one got a snort of amusement out of me.

No doubt he was so very subtle and stiff about the whole thing if he did ask.. then again I wouldn’t put it past John to just say he asked to get exactly this kind of reaction out of me?
..sneaky bastard..
“Of course, I was coming to find you anyway. Can’t have you hiding away and pouting to yourself on a nice day when we could be doing so many other, much more fun, things instead now can we?”

Slowly I let myself relax against him, his warm magic making every point of my body where we touched tingle in a deliciously interesting way that almost reminds me of the physical responses I sometimes get from spells coming too close to my skin or just being near powerful magic sources in general.

“What kind of fun things are you thinking of?.. you’d have to buy me dinner first, I’m not that sort of girl you perv..”
This time he snorted as he pulled his arms a little tighter around my waist and gave me a gentle but reassuring squeeze.

“I was actually thinking of us taking a late picnic lunch down to the lake so we can get to work planning out the new wardstone’s rune schemes in peace.. figured you’ve already got any number of utterly insane idea’s you want to try slipping past the ever-watchful eyes of the MPA at this point?”
My shoulders untensed a little more when he didn’t take the obvious bait for once.

I actually HAVE got some idea’s I’d love to try out, I need to check the area where the stone would be sunk first to see if they would work though.. which makes the idea of a late lunch on the waterfront seem a lot more appealing then I’d like to admit.
..I’m kind of hungry too..

Damn him for knowing me so well!
..stupid John..

“Fine, there’s only so much theory-based advanced mathematics I can study at a time without going a little insane anyway.”
He cocked an eyebrow up at me for that comment so I waved the book I’d been happily reading a few minutes ago, before he so graciously decided to interrupt me.

In all honesty I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of reading the works of Martin Gardner and his ‘Mathemagician’ ilk, whether it’s their fact-based works, fiction novels or their almost inevitable progressions into real magical theory either by accident or intent.

The man was one of the biggest sceptics I’ve ever heard of, working tirelessly to debunk everything from faith healers to wildly destructive religious doctrine and beyond.
It must have blown his mind to discover magic’s existence for the first few seconds it took him to process the idea then start breaking things down and trying to find empirical evidence in an effort to get REAL proof on its existence, one way or another.

It’s fascinating to see something as complex and often times nonsensical as real magic being broken down to its core, vital and often overlooked functions using the universal language of math and the mind of someone with a genius level IQ who can’t actually DO magic in the first place.

It almost feels like what would happen if you took a highly advanced mage from New Avalon who only vaguely understands that ‘clockwork’ is a thing that could work even without magic being added to it, then dropped them in at the deep end by giving them their own brand new Trans-Atlantic passenger airplane with the task of working out what made it fly!

Taking someone who’s considered one of the best in their fields, dropping them into a whole different world of possibility’s without telling them all the rules and only allowing them what little they can gather from their much dumber, disinterested or frankly theory-light new peers to start working from can produce some amazing things.

Reading Gardner’s theory on making internal combustion engines work using magically rich metals as a containing medium to replace the ignition source with pure, unfiltered magic is just.. just so INTERESTING!

Seeing the theory behind it all laid out so simply like massive, complex mathematical jigsaw pieces that just seem to FIT so perfectly into place seamlessly despite the seeming impossibility of that fact.. all in a beautiful dance of numbers..

I want to DO something like that someday!

I have no idea what, I have no idea HOW.. but I want to come up with something so earthshakingly important with potentially world changing repercussions for both mages AND the normals.
Even if my work gets ignored in the magical world for being ‘weird’ or hidden from the normal world like Gardner’s later pieces were, the chance to do something so completely NEW with magic makes me slightly light-headed just on principle alone!

“Has anyone ever told you that it’s cute the way you stare at books as if they’re your baby’s or something at times?”
My head snapped up from my reverie to fix John with a fierce glare.
He chuckled to himself and lifted his hands up into view as if offering a surrender which eased my annoyance to some degree.

Someone HAS told me I look cute when I’m studying before.. then he died..
..thanks for the reminder John-boy..

“-Much as I could quite comfortably sit in this REALLY well made chair with you perched on my lap for the rest of the day. I can’t get up and start sorting out this picnic until YOU get up sadly and not letting that scary little brain of yours loose on the wardstone designs before I have to start working on them would just be a crime at this point!”

It took a bit more effort than I’d like to admit for me to bring up a smile for him in response this time.
The sudden wave of sadness that came washing over me from the direction my thoughts had just taken at his unintentionally painful comment hit me a bit too close to home sadly.
It quickly became easier to handle though as I forced the emotions back into a corner of my mind to be sealed away safely along with every other bad ‘Karl’ thought that I tend to have these days.

With a shove to his knee’s I staggered back up to my feet and dropped my book on top of the nearby pile of its peers for later reading.
..I’m going to have to do something to ‘claim’ this room as mine now..

After randomly wandering through the golden halls for a while and checking doors to see if there was anything interesting inside without much success, this one room just seemed to appear out of nowhere., already furnished with a surprisingly well made magical window showing a view of some kinda sunny beachfront, walls colored in a soothing shade of sky blue which fitted my mood and needs almost TOO well at the time.

The first step I took inside led to a creak from the obviously somehow real wood flooring underneath the thick, warm white carpet inside the room completely sold me on using this place to relax for a while to be honest.

“What kind of locking spell do you think I should put on the door to keep everyone out of here while I’m gone?”
John shot me a confused look for a moment which slowly morphed into an incredulous one before finally settling on a highly amused smirk that said he knew something I didn’t.
“What?”

He chuckled under his breath and stepped over to ruffle my hair in that same annoying way he always used to do under my hood back in school.

“You honestly have no idea do you?”
Huh?.. what’s he on about now?!..
“This is YOUR dimension Han, you can shape it however the hell you want. Did you honestly think you just found this room that’s practically tailored to your tastes at random?”

Well.. yeah?.. I did actually..
..seems kind of stupid when he puts it that way though..

“Let’s try something quickly, think hard about wanting this door to lead out into the main entrance hall of your realm, then close your eyes and open the door.”
I shot him a glare just for the fact that he’s giving me orders but when that only seemed to amuse him more I gave it up with a huff and turned to do as he’d suggested.

The idea of wanting to be in the entrance hall quickly was easy to fix in my mind at least, I REALLY don’t feel like walking twenty minutes through the golden maze again right now!
Attaching that thought to the door in front of me was pretty easy too.

The whole task reminds me kind of like the way I have to create and ‘set’ thoughts in my mind when grafting new diversions to my magic, like the now infamous ‘ice to water’ one I did a few weeks back.

Slowly I closed my eyes and reached out to grasp the door-handle.

With a twist and a pull it opened smoothly allowing a burst of noise to come inside before cutting short suddenly to be replaced by gasps of surprise.
I peeked open my eyes only to come face to face with a relatively large group of ‘family’ members all looking back at me with obviously wide-eyed shock.

“Congratulations, you just consciously moulded reality within your own personal dimension so that your new ‘study’ room could move its door and contents, including us, to a much nicer location in an area I believe once consisted of an empty patch of wall at the back of your entrance hall.”
It took everything I had not to wince as dawning comprehension washed over the faces in front of us from John’s little speech.
“Welcome to being the god of your own ridiculously huge dimensional kingdom Han!”
His smirk was practically burning a hole in the back of my head at this point.
..smug bastard..
“Your Gran will be happy, she’s been desperately trying to work out a way to make the travel times between the dorm rooms and the dining hall shorter somehow.. I think she was trying to make some kind of low-yield waypoint beacon the last time I checked?”

Murmurs went up in both volume and frequency a little more as everyone shot me, at the very least, slightly cautious looks and started disbursing off to continue their previously planned journeys.
Most likely with a new goal to go spread gossip on me in mind sadly, as mages tend to do in most new situations.

There’s a REASON why rumors travel so worryingly fast with mages after all!

“Now, as for your lock idea.. why not just make the door disappear until you need it again?”
With obvious care, and more than a little sarcasm in his movements, he stepped out of my new study room while turning to offer me a raised eyebrow that was equal parts curious and mocking, much to my annoyance.

For a long moment I just stared back at him, still trying to process the idea that I just broke the laws of time and space for my own convenience.
Eventually my brain finally caught back up with reality and with a worried gulp I stepped out of the room too, turning to give his idea a shot at least.

..there’s no way this will actually work, there’s no way I can have THIS much power inside here?!..
I nodded along with that thought even as I ignored it’s sentiment to fix my mind on the idea of making the door in front of me disappear.

My eye’s squeezed shut but I didn’t even need to open them again to know that it had worked when another round of gasps started up, I did open them anyway of course and was met with an innocently blank expanse of golden wall for my troubles.

“HA! That’s so awesome, I had no idea if it would actually work or not of course, but I kind of figured if anyone could do something so amazing with unconscious ease it would be you Han.”
..damn it John!..

“You just had to spoil it, didn’t you? For ONCE I actually came out of a situation thinking you could be wise without being an ass about it..”
He cocked his head to the side again and offered me a grin that reminded me distinctly of some massive soppy looking dog, one that has no idea what his owner is saying to him but is just pleased to have her attention if nothing else!
“..forget it.. let’s just get started on this picnic before you make me do something else that should be impossible out of misplaced curiosity, shall we?”

He nodded firmly and seemed almost proud as led the way across the hall, completely ignoring the watching crowd of whispering family we left behind in our wake.

At one point he demanded someone step out of his way or else he’d get ‘Goddess Almighty Hannah the Wrathful’ to lock them in a room she can create with her mind as punishment, but the tone he used and the silly arm waving he added in helped to defuse the threat into something that even got a wry smile out of me to go along with everyone else’s laughter.

By the time we’d made it across the hall to the exit doorway everyone seemed a lot calmer about my sudden ability to change the world at will.. even me, I’m sorry to admit?
I found myself sidling up to John’s side and nudging him slightly with my elbow before walking on past him.

“..thanks John..”
I didn’t need to look back to confirm the grin on his face that formed in response, I could practically FEEL the bloody thing shining out in his magic, even if decades of knowing him hadn’t already told me it would be there to start with.
“Enough preening John-boy, I’m hungry so let’s go!”

“Yes Ma’am”
..smug asshole..

======

“So.. a romantic little picnic dinner, huh?”

“Don’t start Sare..”
I shot Sarah a warning look and continued making my sandwich while nibbling at a few spare bits and pieces to keep myself going despite my hunger.
“..it’s a working lunch”

“A working lunch, together, at seven-thirty?”

“It’s later then I thought when the idea came up.. now stop talking..”
The knife in my hand twitched slightly above the next sandwich in line to be cut.
She’s not going to stop, is she?

“A sunset picnic, on a blanket together, by the lake with a nice little basket and everything?”

“YES! Okay?!.. I get it.. it’s suspicious as all hell but I’ve had a stressful day and I’ve been holed up inside ever since I got home so the idea of working out the rune equations for our new wardstone while surrounded by nature sounds really good right about now and he asked and it was really nice of him to think of it an-”

“Whoa! OKAY!.. Jezz, don’t blow a blood vessel over it Han.. learn to take a joke?..”
We both fell into silence again, I don’t know about Sarah but I had to take in a breath or two to get myself back together for a bit longer then I’d like to admit for some reason.

The only sound available to stop things from quickly becoming awkward was the now almost continuous thrum of people that’s basically become the soundtrack to our house lately.
Even my cutting paused as I tried to stop myself from carrying on defending my dinner choices anyway, despite her protests that they were unnecessary.

I don’t know why she got to me so much there anyway?
..yeah, bullshit, I totally do..
SHUT UP BRAIN!

“Can you just.. just give it a rest Sare?”
She pulled a face that said quite clearly she was anything but happy with letting things ‘rest’ at this point but she didn’t voice that opinion out loud, which was something at least.

“I know it’s weird and I know I need to be careful with John.. but he’s changed, ya know?”
Her eyebrow rose slightly sceptically but again she held her tongue, showing a surprising amount of restraint from the usually quite vocal sister I’m used to.
“It’s not like you would be worried about us doing this sort of thing if I was still male right? We used to spend hours going out of town into the wilds with a takeout dinner to talk and you had NO problems back then after all!”

I’d kind of expected some kind of reluctant agreement from that comment but all I got was a long awkward silence and slightly flushed cheeks from Sarah as she looked away from me guiltily.

“The rules are different now Han, you can’t just go around alone with guy’s anymore, especially John-”
She hesitated before carrying on as if she wasn’t really sure she wanted to continue but something pushed past her reluctance despite her obvious misgivings.
“-it wasn’t exactly okay to start with to be honest, I just kind of figured you two were.. ya know?.. and you seemed happy enough so I let it go on without saying anything so..”

oh.. really?..
She thought we were together, even back when we were both guy’s?!
Well that’s.. awkward?.. I guess

“John’s only into girls Sare and by the time I had to face the fact that I didn’t mind either way he’d disappeared into the psycho-zone far enough that it was pretty much a non-issue anyway.”
After a few seconds to process that idea her face twitched slightly and a few moments later she started lightly laughing as if suddenly relieved for some reason.

“No offence Han but even when you two couldn’t possibly have kids or anything else that comes into the whole ‘generic heterosexual relationship’ package deal you’ve got going for you now, I REALLY didn’t want to end up with that egomaniac as a brother-in-law!”
She laughed a little more and I felt my ears turn slightly red in embarrassment at the idea of it all.

“He’s not that bad anymore.. he’s still a dick at times and he wouldn’t be himself without that smug sense of superiority about him but he doesn’t mean it most of the time, it’s more habit and a front that he puts up than anything else..”
She shot me a disbelieving look for a second but that disappeared pretty quickly as my face started tightening into an annoyed glare for her doubting me.

I know John, I don’t know much else at times but if I say he’s getting better than he is!
I’m the world’s only expert in John-studies.. John-tology?.. John-ography, maybe?..

“I still think you can do better-”
With a heavy sigh I gave in on that point, mostly because it’s pretty obvious that she’s not going to be the one giving in on things at the moment, just from the tone of her voice if nothing else.
She offered me a tentative smile and pulled me into a one sided hug that practically lifted me off my feet for a moment before she let me free again.
“-I just worry about you. Logically I know you could kick his ass six way’s from Sunday if he tried anything you didn’t like but your still new to all this Han and take it from the expert here, female hormones are nothing to scoff at.”

Despite her advice I did, in fact, scoff at that idea moments later.

“I’m serious Han.. it gets easier with time but when I first got hit by the boob-fairy in my teens there were a few months at least where I became a drooling boy-hungry mess.. blaming hormones is cliché I know, but it’s cliché for a REASON!”
She huffed to herself and squeezed me a little bit more before finally letting go.
“I’m too young to be a biological Aunty Han.. plus, can you IMAGINE what Mum will say if you end up waddling down the aisle with John before I’ve even gotten my love life sorted out? I’ll be the butt of every backhanded comment you can think of involving ‘spinsters’ and ‘old maids’ until I become so desperate I grab a random guy off the street and go for a quickie Vegas wedding just to shut her up!”
..seriously?..

I really didn’t want to laugh at her rant, because honestly I can tell she’s being partly truthful in her worry and the idea of me ‘waddling’ down the aisle with ANYONE is just plain TERRIFYING right about now.. but that didn’t stop my instincts in the slightest and after a short snorting burst which I attempted to hold in, I ended up leaning against the counter while laughing so hard it made me just a little bit light-headed.

Luckily I didn’t have to suffer alone because after a few seconds of looking indignant at my obvious amusement when confronted with her potential ‘horrifying’ future Sarah joined in, leaning against the counter next to me and chuckling to herself.

We really do have a problem with resisting the urge to laugh when the other laughs, don’t we?
I hope it really is a ‘twin thing’ because otherwise it’s an ‘us’ thing and that would make us both shift slightly further into the ‘weirdness’ end of the normality scale, a scale that I’ll reluctantly admit we’re already pretty far from center on to start with..

“Okay, okay! So, the big question that comes to mind now is, just what the HELL did you two do all the time if you weren’t sneaking off together to snog or whatever in the back of his busted up old car?”
The bluntness of her question set me off on a whole new roll of laughter sadly and we didn’t get much done for a while as our laughter fed into itself in an almost continuous loop that only seemed to pause if we looked far away from each other for a long time without speaking.

“Well.. we went star gazing and-”
I didn’t even get to finish that first thought before Sarah burst out again, collapsing practically on top of me so hard I almost fell to the floor before she could straighten herself up again.

“No seriously, what did you two do?”

“um.. star gazing?”
It was no use, she went off again, dragging me with her with the silly mood that had overtaken us all of a sudden.
“I’m serious Sare, we went cloud watching t-too!”

..okay, now I’m starting to see the funny side of it again..

======

“Hi Han, you two okay? I could hear you both cackling away from upstairs.”
At John’s sudden appearance Sarah let off an almost yelping giggle and ducked her head down to hide her grin.

Under her breath, almost too quiet even for me to hear, she muttered ‘sharks with laser beams’ which made my eye twitch as I fought hard to not join her in giggling again.
Slowly I brought my hand up to my mouth as if hiding a cough or something just so I could allow myself a wide grin to relieve the pressure a bit without him noticing my amusement at his expense.

In hindsight, telling Sarah about John’s ‘teenage fantasy’ of owning some huge secret base full of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads, for defence and toast making purposes naturally, which was an idea he apparently stole from a movie he saw on TV and only mentioned to me at the time because he was reminded of it by a worryingly specific formation of cloud cover that even I couldn’t really deny looked EXACTLY like someone being eaten by said laser wielding sharks, was probably not the wisest thing I could have done?

It’s hard to take anyone seriously when you find out how much of a dork they were back in high school after all!

“I made the sandwiches John-boy”
He blinked in surprise and shot us a slightly confused look as Sarah continued sniggering away to herself quietly and I took another stab at poorly hiding my ever-growing smirk.

“I was going to.. oh well, what did you make, anything interesting?”

“Irradiated extra-large tuna, fresh from the secret lair?”
Before I could respond Sarah had muttered out her own answer at a slightly louder volume this time which I really doubt John could miss, even from this distance.

He paused and shot her another confused look before turning to me suspiciously.
I held it for a few more painfully long seconds but eventually I couldn’t help but bust out in laughter while offering him what I hope was an apologetic and slightly guilty shrug.

“You told her about the Castle of Doom idea?”
Sarah wheezed heavily as if she was trying to laugh on top of her already existing laughter, no doubt because of the silly name he’d just inadvertently let slip that I’d previously avoided mentioning to save him at least some credibility.
“..you suck..”

“She sure does.. god, I forgot how big a pair of dweebs you two were back in high school, to think I thought you’d been off doing stuff which could get at least one of you technically ‘laid’ before your twenty’s?!”
With one more evil little cackle Sarah slapped a hand on my back before waltzed off into the house, leaving us in an awkward silence that made me want to cringe even without John’s withering stare being fixed on me at the same time.
“Don’t know what I was thinking, you two getting laid?.. as if!”

John’s withering stare went up another notch at Sarah’s parting shot but a few seconds later it at least shifted away from me to Sarah’s retreating back instead.

“Sorry John-boy, it just kind of slipped out..”
Slowly he turned back to me and despite everything his lips twitched up almost fondly to show that he wasn’t seriously pissed at me over it or anything too bad.
“If it helps, Sarah pee’d the bed semi-regularly until we were ten?”

His little lip twitch went up dramatically into a wide devious smirk this time.. THAT’S the John I know!
Give away something embarrassing about him and he’ll get huffy, but give him some ammunition in return and all’s forgiven without a second thought!

“Come on, we still have to walk down to the lake and I’m pretty sure even MY Mum isn’t going to ignore it if her ‘teenaged daughter’ is out past midnight with a guy she silently considers to be ‘practically dating’ her..”
He nodded and shrugged, finishing the movement with a flick of his wrist that had the sandwiches I’d been working on packing themselves neatly into the basket he’d left by the stairs specifically for the purpose of carrying them.

“Lead on, oh great unable-to-keep-a-secret one!”
His amused smirk was almost a direct counterpoint to my face’s sudden dip into frown territory.

“..just get the basket John, without the sarcasm please for powers sake.”
..asshole..

======

“Here look good?”

I glanced around us thoughtfully before offering him a slightly uncertain nod.
You’d think it wouldn’t be too hard to find a nice picnicking spot by a lake the size of the Upper, but after a while you tend to forget just how many tree’s there are around here.
Hell, most of them even lead all the way up to the water’s edge too surprisingly!

“It’ll do? I’m hungry and walking further probably isn’t worth the effort.”
He nodded before dropping the basket down to the floor at the base to one of the bigger trees and flexing his fingers a little.
Part of me wanted to point out that if he’d used magic he could have saved himself the discomfort he’s now experiencing from carrying it all this way but another part found the fact that he hadn’t thought of it at least somewhat endearing, enough that I won’t embarrass him over it.. for now..
“You need a hand setting up?”

For a second he hesitated with his arm elbow deep into the basket, which is suspiciously NOT big enough to fit his arm that far inside itself.
That didn’t last long though because a smile spread across his lips and he shot me a slightly mocking look a few moments later.

“You made the sandwiches, I’ll set up.. you could see if you can find anything to make a fire pit with for when the sun goes down though if you want?”
I couldn’t help but shoot him a suspicious look out of habit more than anything else and despite his obviously fake attempt at looking ‘innocent’ I couldn’t really find fault with his logic if nothing else.

Technically fires are illegal around here as we were told repeatedly back in school every time some group of kids from the resort started one during the summer and the adults somehow decided to blame us locals instead for some reason.
The fact is though, I now technically OWN this forest and beside that we’re mages!

It’s not like we can’t just flash freeze the fire if it gets out of control.. or hit it with some summoned water from the lake.. or even cover the pit in loose dirt then let off a blast of my diversion into the ground to regrow all the grass and hide it completely at the same time, after all?

“Fine, you set up your little tea party and I’ll go be the big strong lumberjack.”
A smirk spread across my lips at the indignant squawk he let off in reply.
Obviously I didn’t hang around long enough to give him a chance to REALLY reply because, let’s be honest here, he’s better than me when it comes to one-liners and he’d only find some way to turn the joke around on me if given half a chance.

I couldn’t be obvious about that fact though so instead of running off I sauntered away in an admittedly slightly awkward quickstep from how uneven the paths are around here.
A quickstep that may have looked slightly silly out of context but offered the added benefits of giving a little teasing wiggle to my hips and allowing me the pace needed to flick my hair a few times just to mock him a bit more as I went.

I’d almost got out of hearing range, even for my magically reinforced ears, before he spoke up again in a hushed tone I honestly don’t think he intended for me to hear.
“..too cute to be a lumberjack..”

My cheeks flared to life with a deep blush in seconds and without a backwards glance I dropped the teasing pace in favor of just leaving the area a LOT faster than previously planned.

..I may not look like much of a lumberjack but he’s prissy enough for a tea party still at least..
Yeah, stupid John!
Don’t just go calling people cute like that!

I’m not even TRYING to look cute at the moment damn it?!

======

“I didn’t actually mean for you to cut a tree down you know?”

Despite not being physically taxing, it’s surprisingly annoying to levitate several rather large logs through an area full of trees that they can get caught on easily.
When I finally made it into our little clearing, walking backwards with them all in tow, I ended up falling on my butt in the dirt as I let them drop to the floor with a huff.

If I didn’t need a moment or two to sort my magic out again I would have shot him an annoyed look for the stupid comment though at the very least!

“They were all lying around on the floor already smartass. I figured we could use the big damp ones to mark out the pit’s edge safely.”
It’s surprisingly hard to find rocks on a forest floor for some reason?
..maybe I should look into that at some point..

I swear there’s a really easy way to make shaped bricks from mud or something but aside from feeling vaguely familiar I’m honestly drawing a blank on the how’s and why’s at the moment.
“We could have just used safety flames anyway so I don’t see why yo-”

Oh.. that’s why?..

John offered me a slightly nervous smile and after a few seconds of indecision he tried to play it all off as a joke by sweeping his hand dramatically around us as if offering me a prize on some game-show.. before finally settling into an awkward half-bow with a nervous look just on the edge of blooming upon his usually vaguely stoic face..

With wide eyes I pushed myself back up to my feet and stepped a bit closer into the.. I guess you could call it a ‘den’?.. that he’s made in my absence.

The little clearing has changed a lot in a surprisingly short amount of time.
I’m pretty sure he had to have conjured at least SOME of this stuff to manage it because I’m not sure our little food basket could honestly have held THIS many throw pillows to sit on, massive drapes of cloth to hang from the trees above us and especially not the funny looking doughnut-shaped stone table in the middle of the pillow piles that he’s covered in various foods of all shapes and sizes.

“You’ve been busy?”

He smirked at me as he drifted back up out of his bow and nodded almost proudly to himself.
I took another cautious step forward, taking my first reluctant step onto the velvet looking clearing-wide carpet he’s setup, which I GUESS could technically count as a ‘blanket’ if you squinted a little?

It took me a moment or two to notice at first but when I did then I found it kind of hard to take my eyes away from the artfully shaped little flower display he’s put at the ‘front’ of the round table full of food.. it’s not so much the fact that he’s done it, or that he used flowers so nicely either?
No, the thing that really had my attention was the fact that he’d left a space in the center of his little display that was JUST big enough to fit my poorly made sandwiches, in pride of place, above all the rich fruits and assorted foods I only vaguely recognise from movies as the kind of stuff I NEVER thought I’d get a chance to try in real life back in my teens!

“This is way too much John.. where the hell did you even GET some of this?!”

He moved over to plant himself on a little chair of pillows he’d obviously already planned out for his use and waved for me to sit down too before answering that rather important question.. sort of.
“Have you even looked into all the stuff you inherited from Ari yet, Han? I know for a fact that she has her own Caviar farm down in California and several vineyards in France that she had set up to build her private stores of the stuff for her own personal daily use in her next incarnation..”

Rather than answer him and admit that ‘No, I hadn’t even thought to check that sort of thing out yet!’ I huffed loudly and threw myself down onto the surprisingly comfortable pillows around the table in a vague hope of changing the topic somehow.

He didn’t buy it in the slightest of course because he’s just an annoying ass like that sometimes, but he DID at least hold back any smug comment I may have been expecting.. which actually threw me off slightly to be perfectly honest?

I shuffled to get myself a bit more comfortable and John took that chance to raise a hand full of fire up before flinging it in a wide ark to land dead-center within inner space of the doughnut table where it promptly lit some kind of unseen wood-pile up with a mildly worrying roar of flames.

My incredulous look didn’t do much when it met the full force of John’s happy little grin.

..he’s actually proud of himself for managing all of this..
I don’t really want give him the encouragement that would come in admitting that he’s impressed me right now but privately I’ve got to admit this is a lot more effort and forethought then I’m used to seeing him put into anything that isn’t in some way a mildly mean joke at someone else’s expense.

“Got any other little tricks in place you want to show off?.. also could you REALLY not think of any better excuse to get rid of me for a while then collecting wood that you don’t even need?!”
His lazy shrug would almost be enough to annoy me if my hunger wasn’t overriding most rational thought when faced with a bounty of interesting foods mixed with large quantities of cut meats, all made with several different preparation methods each.

Trying to be subtle, I reached out a hand to snag up a chicken leg that smelled AMAZING even from here and just before my hand made contact with it the plate suddenly jerked to the side, just out of my reach.

A sharp glare at John didn’t get me anywhere because he just sat there smiling back at me, looking highly amused but completely unrepentant and not the least bit guilty, with his hands laid flat on the table for some reason.

Slowly I moved over slightly on my pillows before jumping forward with a sudden burst of speed in the hope of snagging some chicken-y goodness before he could do anything else to mess with me again.

All it achieved sadly was to leave me sprawled out on the velvet ‘blanket’ underneath us with empty hands outstretched though because, yet again, the plates all decided to shuffle over JUST enough to be out of my reach!
..that’s just cruel..

“As much as I love watching you make a fool of yourself, and trust me I REALLY love watching it, I’m pretty sure if I get between you and fresh meat any more at this point you’ll probably decide to see what cannibalism is like from the murderous look in your eye?”
I pushed myself back up to my knees and kept my glare going despite his words, a glare which finally managed to make him shift ever so slightly back in his pillow seat nervously before he carried on at a slightly faster pace.
“The tables charmed, put two hands on the stone and push it slightly to move dish’s around either left or right until you have what you want, there are some empty plates we can fill up at the far side.. and don’t worry, the table is also charmed to keep things warm, so there’s no need to rush while eating the hot bits.”

Having said his rather rushed sounding spiel he placed his hands on the table again and pushed slightly to the left making the plates all slide around until those juicy looking chicken pieces were sat right in front of me at last!

Before he could do anything more to slow down my nice meal I snagged two chicken legs up and set to work eating them while shooting him cautious glances to make sure he didn’t have anything else planned for his own amusement purposes at my expense.

“Not that you asked, but you’re RIGHT, there IS a certain lack of bugs or mosquitos flying around despite how bad they’ve been lately and the fact that we’re sitting right next to a large open body of water?”
Between mouthfuls of chicken I shot him a mildly disapproving glare to show that I didn’t appreciate being mocked, even if I did happen to be ever so slightly curious about how he’d managed to stop them, now that he’s brought it up at least.
“The drapes aren’t just there to look pretty, they’re charmed to repel insects.. they’re also charmed to repel dog’s, bears and wild badgers while attracting dormice for some reason too but it’s kind of annoying to redesign a spell just to get rid of a few bonus abilities it may have that you don’t strictly need..”

He did all this with just spells?!

..one of these days I REALLY need to show him how to craft runes properly..
If he knew how to do things properly then he could have gotten all those effects permanently enchanted into the table and drapes, along with any changes he could want to put in place at the cost of just a few hours’ worth of calculations, instead of having to do the no-doubt overly complicated and possibly silly looking dance-like ritual steps necessary to get the same effects with an existing spell-matrix of THAT complexity!

..no rush to disillusion him on his own ‘awesomeness’ though..

“Chickens good”
My honest opinion given rather succinctly, I sunk my teeth back into the almost unhealthily nice tasting meat in my hands and watched on as he spun the table around until the spare plates and cutlery came into view.

I swear, only John could plan a picnic and think four different types of dessert spoon would be in any way ‘necessary’ for two people to enjoy a simple working lunch?!
It probably shouldn’t be as much of a surprise as I’m making it seem though, whether he’s John or any incarnation of Max that I can remember, he’s always gone just a LITTLE bit too far in anything he does for one reason or another sadly.

I’d say that he’s compensating for something but I’ve seen him naked and that’s DEFINITELY not an issue in this incarnation at the very least!

Oh well.. sometimes overkill is okay, I guess?
It’s not like I’m not guilty of going over the top sometimes too after all.
“Pass the Mango slices John-boy”

..yeah, there’s definitely some bonuses to trying too hard at things sometimes..

======

“uhhhgg.. I can’t move..”

With a wobbly gesture I tried to pathetically reach out for John’s arm but he’s much too far away for it to actually work sadly.
The attempt managed to get a laugh out of his equally, if not quite as obviously, full up and content body as he lay reclined against his pillows like some kind of overly privileged Sultan of old.

I probably should have stopped at some point but.. but, there was so much MEAT and it was all so NICE!

Already I can feel the sleepy daze that comes from overeating to a silly degree coming over me?
Before the feeling could get too strong a hold over my senses, enough to stop me doing anything for safety reasons if nothing else, I dipped into my lines and lifted myself off the ground with a relatively simple combination of levitation spells.

It took a bit of awkward arm waving for balance to stop myself from flipping over by accident of course as I hovered across the carpet-blanket space between us.
Self-levitation is always a bit hard to pull off, despite the simplicity of the magic involved, but eventually I reached roughly the right position and rather than trying the complicated bit of timing needed to let me gently drift back to floor level I cut the spells instead making me plummet down onto the pillow fort around John’s stretched out form, landing heavily at John’s side with a hazy little giggle of success much to his apparent amusement.

He shifted slightly, just enough to move the pillows and let me drop the last little gap to be properly seated next to him.
I didn’t even think about it when my magic tentatively reached out in response to a subconscious thought of mine and pulled that wonderfully warm blanket of his magic loose again to wrap around me tightly.

“Thanks for this John.. I really needed a chance to just de-stress a bit more after today..”
He rumbled something in his chest and put a loose arm around my shoulders.
It wasn’t much but I could work out from the context that he was at least somewhat agreeing with that idea if nothing else.

My eyes drifted lazily over the table for a few seconds and settled on the ‘centerpiece’ of flowers.

For a long moment I tried to work out what was wrong with it when compared to the image of it I had in my head but eventually it clicked.
..I really don’t handle being full and comfortable well..

“You ate my sandwiches?”
John grunted and hugged my shoulders a little tighter in response.

I kind of wanted to ask for clarification that one but I really can’t bring myself to ruin the moment at this point.

In fact, my body had apparently already decided on its own ideas for why he would have eaten them without any form of proper confirmation, judging by the way my cheeks heated up slightly against my will and I found myself snuggling down a little deeper between his warm body and the pillow piles around us.

All the food.. with some of the most exotic, delicious and above all else quite often meat related flavors on offer.. and he ate my crappy sandwiches?..

Yet again my body betrayed me in snuggling a bit tighter into his hug and resting my cheek against his chest before I let off a happy little sigh that kind of bled together into the yawn that broke loose a few seconds later.

This is becoming a suspiciously regular problem, isn’t it?..
..stupid body!..

“We should really get to work on some of this rune work for the wardstone or Sarah’s going to tease you even more and you won’t legitimately be able to claim that this was some kind of ‘working lunch’ situation?”
This time I did the chest rumbling non-answer instead of him.

The way I’m feeling right now I honestly couldn’t care less if she mocks me for days over it all.
I’m full and sleepy and he’s so WARM and it was so nice of him to do all this just for me an-and..
“..love you John..”

The words tumbled out of my mouth as my mental filter apparently faltered against the awesome power of, possibly cat related, ‘your warm and fed so sleep’ instincts.

I didn’t even manage to really register how important or embarrassing those three words truly were, OR look for John’s reaction to them, before finally giving in at last and slumping heavily against him, practically dead to the world in seconds within a nice happy food coma.

======

“-can’t take it anymore, I want the watermelon!”

“Eris don’t!”
I jolted awake feeling more than a little out of it and disorientated.

My eyes winced open ever so slightly, just so I could check for threats more than anything else.

Although, it didn’t help much considering anyway considering there seemed to be some kind of ever-growing mass of swinging limbs moving around over to our right?
As I watched on, slowly trying to wake up properly, more bodies joined the pile as people came shooting out of an apparently endless stream of tree-line hiding places to join the melee.

On some level I wrote it all off as ‘them’ using the given excuse to kick off old fights again just like last time when they dog piled John and I let my attention drift over to a now grinning little girl who had herself perched on the big table in front of us surrounded by watermelon slices, currently half way through munching into a slice while watching the chaos she’d started with glee.

A warm arm squeezed me a little bit which felt pretty nice from my current position.
I cut my eyes up to the side of John’s smiling face before letting my head drop back down to his chest again with a tired sigh.

“We have very strange children, don’t we?”
He chuckled making my head bob up and down slightly in the process before his chest settled back down again at last.

“Yes.. yes we do.. let them fight it out Han, you go back to sleep and I’ll sort out the bodies when it’s all out of their systems.”
A rumbling purr of agreement left my throat and John shifted slightly to let me get somehow even more comfortable in my nice warm little pillow pit.

“M’okay.. your fault.. night.. stupi' John..”
His chest rose as he took in a breath to say something in response but I was dead to the world again far too quickly for any of his usual ‘whit’ to come into play, back into my nice comfortable sleep haze before he could even get a single syllable off in all honesty.

..Mmm..so warm..

Some things in life are so unbelievable we doubt if they actually happened or not, Other things are so embarrassing that we wish they hadn't really happened, and sometimes things fall into that awkward spot somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. What can you do about it at the end of the day? What can HANNAH do about it more importantly! Events unfold including but not limited to: John being trapped by a disappearing wall and Eris has a front-row seat to the creation of a universe. Meanwhile some familiar familiar's get familiar with each other (try saying that one three times fast), and Hannah goes on a power-trip while wearing a long white silk nightgown!

 

“Ari, time to get up.”

“Mmmnufrrrnn..”
Apparently that groan was enough of an answer for Mum because I could hear her stepping past the door with annoyingly heavy footsteps until she got far enough away that even I couldn’t hear her anymore.

..Urgh!..
I was having SUCH a good dream too, there was food, and John, and pillows.. then Eris turned up and thing’s got a little crazy but I fell back..to..sleep..

“..crap..”

That was all real, wasn’t it?
..without a shadow of a doubt..

What the hell was I thinking?!
Sarah’s going to be impossible now!

You know what mages are like, with the amount of them that were apparently spying on us last night, there’s practically no chance at all that I’ll be able to lie my way out of it all!
Especially with how much they all apparently love to gossip constantly when I’m involved.

“..craaaapppp..”

My bedroom door burst open and a little bundle of brown hair came whizzing in with the hem of a rather cute, long white nightgown flying around her ankles as she built up speed for her inevitable leap on top of me.
I only JUST managed to brace myself for impact but even then her little knees ended up landing in my gut despite my best efforts to prevent it, forcing a rasping gasp out of me in the process.

“Morning Mom! Gran Cooper says you gotta get up or she won’t keep saving some of the leftovers from the meal you had with dad yesterday and just let everyone else eat them instead.”
She didn’t even wait for me to respond before bouncing around on the bed excitedly with a happy giggle or two, apparently just because she felt like it.
“Come on, get up! I want more watermelon and Gran said I can have it if I get you up quickly!”

..powers-damned vindictive mothers..
It’s too early for this crap.. far, FAR too early..
..What time is it anyway?..

I shifted my hips a little awkwardly, making Eris topple over onto the bed with another round of playful giggles as she went.
The movement was enough to get me in range of my phone so I snatched it up and blearily stared at the numbers on it until they started making some sort of sense.

It’s only seven-thirty?
..Uugggg!..

What the hell did I do to piss Mum off?!
Making me get up this early on a day that I’ve got nothing important going on is just EVIL!

“Fine, fine, I’m up. Go tell Mum I’ll be down in a minute, I just need to have a wash and stuff..”

Eris giggled to herself again and like the overly energetic little bundle she apparently is this morning she hopped off the bed before practically sprinting out of the room.
If I’m not mistaken, I think she actually almost crashed into someone on the way out judging by the sudden surprised yelp that came from outside.

Either way, when no more raised voices could be heard for the few seconds afterwards I figured it wasn’t really something I needed to worry about at the moment.
With a heavy sigh I pushed my bedcovers back and sat up on my elbows but froze in surprise seconds later.

Who the hell would hav-
SARAH! Powers damn that sister of mine.

Even when I sleep OUTSIDE she still manages to find a way to get me wearing something embarrassing to bed!

Cautiously I picked at the lace on the relatively low neckline of my new nightwear for a few seconds in disgust before finally realising why it looked so familiar.
Eris’s cute little ankle length white nighty had this EXACT same mix of awkward, almost Victorian looking, detailing on it!

There’s no way Sarah could have bought this without my knowing unless she had help.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally her over-the-top feminine style of course but she’d have never have thought of it otherwise.

My sisters not dumb by any stretch of the imagination but she tends to need a REASON to get creative when she torments me in some way or another usually!

I really doubt she’d have been able to find a matching mother-daughter set of nightwear in THIS particular style easily anyway, so it’s VERY probable that she either got two identical ones and had someone to shrink Eris’s one to fit her or she got someone to go out of their way to find a matching little copy of mine at short notice.. which leaves only one realistic option for her accomplice..

..John?..
Bloody John and his stupid sense of humor and his stupid.. stupid!..
..He was probably the one who brought me back to the house too..

How on earth I didn’t notice being picked up and carried, I’ll never know!

I plucked at the lace again self-consciously before giving it up with a huff.
It could have been a lot worse at least, knowing Sarah I could have ended up wearing vintage Playboy magazine lingerie if she was feeling vindictive or just generally playful.
At least this thing’s modest, even if it IS modest to an almost silly degree in parts.. maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fussy lace an-

“ARI! Thirty-seconds before I let the Were’s eat your breakfast!”

Crap, I’ll get you for this Sarah I SWEAR it!
“Coming Mum!”

Sliding out of bed was a little awkward with my legs being held relatively close together by the ankle length nature of the nightgown, a style I’m not exactly used to or anything, but I managed somehow and with only some minor grumbling I got back to my feet at last.

With the clock ticking I don’t exactly have time to waste getting changed or taking a shower now annoyingly, so I compromised by letting off a tiny pulse of magic to ‘refresh’ myself, then snagged a suspiciously convenient long white silk dressing-gown that I’m PRETTY sure wasn’t hanging behind my door this time yesterday morning.

A quick glance in the mirror had me tossing my hair, pushing the wide shoulder straps on ‘my’ new nightgown up a bit better and giving myself a little pout of commiseration on the understanding that it’s probably the only sympathy I’m likely to get this morning knowing my family.

“ARI!”

“I’M COMING!”
..Jeez, she’s pretty high strung today isn’t she?..
I gave my reflection one last annoyed glare before turning with a sigh to head downstairs at last.

I KNOW I’m gonna get some crap for wearing this to breakfast, my life just sucks like that sometimes.

======

“Well good morning little Miss Sunshine, took you long enough, love the nighty it really suits you..”
Judging by the little smug smirk on her face Mum is more than a little aware that wearing it in the first place wasn’t my choice at all.

“Morning Mum, where is everyone?”

“In the dining room of the elevator space as usual I suppose.. or sleeping of course.”
Of course, sleeping, like I should currently be doing!
..thanks for that one Mum..

“I take it the whole ‘I’ll give everyone your food’ thing was just a bluff then, huh?”
She grinned and nodded to me cheekily.

For a long moment I just processed that idea but in the end all I could really focus on was the fact that my bed is still calling me and I still have a chance to actually get changed before someone, who isn’t Mum or Eris, sees me in this getup if I can just get back to my room quick enough.

“Well, in that case I’ll just go back to-”

“Park your butt missy! I want to talk to you and you’ve got a busy day ahead of you, your Gran’s really excited about some idea she’s had for making the elevator space easier to travel through because of something you did yesterday and YOU promised a certain little girl that she could go swimming in the lake today, apparently?”

Ugh, damn me and my promises!

My last wistful glance back toward the stairs full of hope and despair all rolled into one was interrupted nicely by the sound of plates being placed with slightly more force than strictly necessary behind me, an old favorite trick of Mum’s to remind us not to make a fuss in the morning considering both Sarah and I get our early-hour bad tempers from her to start with.

I turned regretfully and sank into my preferred stool at the kitchen counter while kicking my legs a little to make the nightgown settle right.
A few tugs and butt shifts later had ‘my’ dressing-gown wrapped around me well enough that even I couldn’t see any cleavage from my admittedly awkward viewing angle.

“What’s for breakfast then?”

Mum moved a few plates around on the counter and loaded a few bits onto another plate before answering me with a suspiciously casual tone that wouldn’t fool anyone in the slightest.

“Mixed meats, John told me your favorites then claimed a few bits for himself and Eris too before moving all the other stuff into the elevator for everyone else to eat when they want.”
Oh.. well.. that’s nice of him, isn’t it?”

What makes him think he knows my favorites in the slightest anyway?!
Even I didn’t know half the things I found myself enjoying last night would be.. things I’d enjoy?..

..until I tried them at least..

Trust him to be a so big-headed and full of himself that he woul..would-
Almost subconsciously I took in a deep breath and found my mouth watering a little bit.
“Is that chicken? I thought I ate all of that yesterday.. and sausage.. fried tomato’s?..”

..Mango slices!..

Mum shot me a knowing look while she turned around holding a plate that was practically full-to-bursting with gorgeous looking foods that left me feeling all warm and fuzzy from the smells alone.

“Thanks Mum!”
She snorted to herself and turned back around to start making drinks from the look of it while I dug right in by shoving a piece of perfectly cooked chicken in my mouth.

“Don’t thank me Ari, thank John, he chose it all.”
I grunted rather than actually answer her but I have no doubt she noticed my practically glowing ears at the thought of thanking John for this.
..it’s going to be bad enough just talking to him after last night..

“He’s a nice boy, I approve of your tastes at least, even if I do think your relationship is progressing a bit too quickly for my comfort-”
..RELATIONSHIP?!..
“-don’t get me wrong Ari, I’m glad you’re happy together but your my little girl and you’ve grown up so fast without me being there to s-support you.”

She sniffed heavily with her back toward me.
Knowing what was expected of me, along with just a touch of guilt from the hand I had in helping this new ‘life story’ of hers along as well, I dropped my fork back onto my plate and moved around the counter to give her a hug.

Her breath hitched a little for a moment but the dam broke pretty quickly and in seconds I found myself practically supporting both of us as she leaned her larger frame around me in a tight hug while she cried heavily for the decade or so of ‘my’ life that she thinks she missed.

..thinking about it, we kind of did miss a decade together really?..
We barely talked to each other when I was in my teens and then things kicked off and.. well..

I sniffed a little as some sleep-dust got in the corner of my eye awkwardly making them water up a bit.

..stupid female body with squinty watering eyes..
I’m NOT crying damn it!

======

“I’m sorry Ari. I don’t know what came over me.”
..you’re not the only one..

We pulled apart at last and I made my way back around to my stool again.
I’d like to say that things weren’t awkward but honestly, they were totally awkward now!

Neither of us is usually very ‘touchy-feely’ in general.. well.. Mum was like that with Sarah obviously, however as we are all keenly aware at this point, I am NOT my sister.

Mum busied herself making tea while I focused almost unbelievable amounts of intense attention upon my breakfast so we could both pretend her mini-breakdown and my lapse in sanity by trying to comfort her, despite my general lack of ability to do just that for anyone usually, never happened.

..ahh, the perils of coming from a dysfunctional, emotionally stunted home environment..
Shut up brain!

======

“Morning Mom!”

Those two simple words, that just happened to be echoed from several suspiciously different voices made me cringe a little inside.
Slowly I turned around on my stool and found myself face-to-cleavage with an over-enthusiastic hug from a certain rather over-endowed former goddess of beauty.

A few seconds later a giggling little bundle bumped into my leg too.
Obviously, even when it just comes to hugs, Eris isn’t willing to be outdone by her ‘big’ sister.

The pair of them giggled and squeezed me tightly for a few seconds until ‘Dite finally had enough, letting me go so I could take in a slightly relieved breath and catch a brief glimpse of Sarah letting Mum out of a similarly tight hug on the other side of the counter.

Eris took my moment of freedom as an excuse to leap up onto my lap, nightgown swinging wildly as she scrabbled around to get comfortable.

It was painfully obvious that we made a somewhat ‘adorable’ sight cuddled up together with our new practically matching, if adjusted to be age appropriate, nightwear just from the fond look that came to Mum’s face when she looked our way.
A few seconds later Sarah looked over at us and a couple more after that ‘Dite glance over as well with her own fond smile that made Eris sink a little harder into my chest in embarrassment.

“I take it you had a hand in our current attire Sare?”
Always one to take credit when she can, Sarah nodded in response while sharing a conspiratorial wink with ‘Dite that said all I needed to know when you add in Mum’s rather telling guilty glance to the side moments later.

..they were ALL in on it?..

I should have guessed really.. there’s no residual magic in either of our outfits that I can feel so the obvious answer would be that they were purchased, not conjured.
The only people who had a chance to get new clothing yesterday were ‘Dite, Echo and whoever else went off with them to ‘pick me up a few bits’ as an apology back in Klamath proper.

Let’s be honest, the odds that Sarah turned down a chance to buy me more embarrassing clothing are slim-to-nil even on a good day, so she probably went with them too on a little shopping adventure of her own at some point while I was busy claiming my new study area and reading to calm myself down.

“..at least it’s not as bad as the monstro-nighty..”
That little grumble got a few raised eyebrows and a rather sharp, almost thoughtful, look from Mum but luckily before I had to explain myself to them John decided to make his, as always, grand entrance instead.

“You know, you owned a nightgown practically identical to that one back in Versailles, right?.. the whole ‘innocent virgin’ style with white lace look suits you Han, even if it IS complete bullsh- oof!”
His annoying little snipe cut short easily under the onslaught of my elbow striking his gut as he got within reach.

It’s nice to know we’re back to normal and he’s not going to be all weird with me after last night at least, even if it’s painfully obvious everyone else is buzzing for information about our ‘working lunch’ turned apparent ‘dinner date’ since so many of them practically camped around us for the night to watch from the shadows and everyone else currently in our kitchen area is glancing between us curiously.
..stupid nosy family..

John settled onto the stool next to me while offering me a playful but slightly apologetic look that sadly worked quite well to mellow my attitude toward him in spite of the annoying ‘virgin’ comment he just tried to make.

A few seconds later Mum planted a plate down in front of him full of mixed of meats and fruits from yesterday’s over-the-top selection.
Seeing where things were going as Mum turned around to grab yet another plate, Eris quickly detached herself from my lap and hopped onto the stool on my other side, neatly forcing ‘Dite to take the last seat in the row in a way which, I’m SURE, was entirely accidental.

The fact that she then proceeded to jump between sending sweet innocent looks at me, eager hungry looks at Mum and smug teasing looks at ‘Dite would also have nothing to do with her actions either of course..

After a rather amusing but surprisingly short few seconds of watching the wild changes in her demeanor and facial expressions as she unsuccessfully tried to keep the three different looks going in quick succession, culminating in her awkwardly giving me a smug look and turning sweet innocent eyes over to Mum, she got what she wanted anyway as a plate full of watermelon and other fruits was deposited into place by her now highly amused ‘Grandmother’.

As Mum turned away to sort out her own breakfast while valiantly protecting her toast from Sarah’s wandering hands she gave me a warm look that I returned happily before blissfully going back to my nice meaty breakfast at last.

“Your Gran’s been bugging me to get you to sort out the room arrangements upstairs, now that you’ve shown you can manipulate the dimension at will and all..”
I shot John an exasperated look but only received a bored shrug in return as he focused more on his breakfast then the actual conversation we are apparently now having.

“I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to sort things out like that? I’ve only managed to move one room so far an-”

“Yeah, I told her that, I said you’d probably give up pretty quickly considering how uselessly out of control your magic’s been lately and all-”
My cheeks flared red in indignation at being cut off, quickly followed by my ears burning from embarrassment at how easily he dismissed my abilities.
“-I said it would be a long shot that you’d even manage to move a few rooms at best, of course, but she’s got some ideas for things she wants in her head that she just won’t let go of easily.. did you know the bathrooms are almost a twenty minute walk away from the dorms in there at the moment?”

I hadn’t known that but then it’s not like I’ve really had a chance to explore or anything.
Honestly it’s kind of amazing I’ve managed to get anything done with how hectic things have been lately an-

“Everyone understands how hard it must be for you at the moment. You’re new to all this and we really need to cut you a bit more slack with how delicate you’ve been lately..”
..DELICATE!..

Listen here John-boy, I’m not the one who went around DYING recently!
I’ve been changed, I’ve been kidnapped, I’ve been attacked and caged, but I’m still going strong and if anyone around here is bloody DELICATE then it’s been bloody y-

“..we figured that maybe it would be better to work on the low yield waypoints instead honestly, considering how long it might take you to build up the power and fortitude to change things in th-”

“That DOES it!”

My hands slammed down hard on the table making everyone but John flinch slightly.
He watched me with obvious amusement as my fingers twitched slightly with a chill of magic rolling across my finger tips from my agitation.

Delicate?.. DELICATE?!..
I’ll show him fucking DELICATE!

“Han, where are you going?”
I growled under my breath rather than answer Sarah as I launched myself off my stool and marched off towards the staircase, nightgown flying behind me like some demented silken cape.

A few seconds later I was joined in my march by a slightly out of breath Eris who’d run to catch up with me.
I barely broke my stride as I dipped down to pick her up, receiving a slightly relieved sigh of gratitude from her in the process.

My mind wasn’t really on her honestly, I was focused on John and his stupid.. stupid.. URG!
I’m NOT delicate! I don’t need him protecting me from a bit of effort or ANYTHING else for that matter!

Who the HELL does he think he is talking about me like that?
Like I’m some pathetic little shrinking violet that can’t even handle an honest day’s work?!

I’m a MAGE damn it!

I’m a powers damned Locus Point with more magic then I know what to do with half the time!
How DARE he suggest I can’t handle some simple renovations to MY personal dimension so that MY family don’t have to be uncomfortable as they live their lives safely inside it!

We reached the top of the stairs and the few family members, notably an older group of women who appeared to be playing some kind of card game on our dinner table, all shot me surprised looks as I stormed past them and into the elevator without another word.

The familiar, somewhat annoying, glare of the golden football field sized entrance hall just served to annoy me even more honestly.

Despite my simmering rage at John’s mocking me and my determination to prove him bloody WRONG, I still had enough mind left to let Eris down before getting started at least, although it was a close call for a few moments there.

The second she landed back on solid ground she took a tight grip on the back of my open robe, pulling herself close into my side with, what I can only assume, was some degree of worry.
Rather than focus on that annoyingly jarring problem though I fixed my mind on the task at hand and dipped into my lines to enhance my magic senses.

Last time I managed to move a room by focus and willpower alone but that’s so MESSY.. that’s not how I WORK usually in the slightest damn it?!
Any fool with enough power can do messy work, I’m above all that and despite what John seems to think I’m not going to let some stupid powers-damned N’th dimensional space beat me!

With a grunt and a forceful mental push I forced out an almost flat wave of magic from my body in a ring around me on all sides, creating the perfect circumstances necessary to use another of my old favorite ‘dirty tricks’ that is supposed to be practically useless in most cases except for the annoyingly common ‘few’ times when it isn’t and it can show it’s true worth if you know what you’re doing with it.

It took every bit of focus I had to tighten down my senses and ‘feel’ out the rebounding echoes of my magic as the thin wave I sent out spread around us in all directions, shooting off down the hallways at speed and marking out anything of interest for as far as it could keep going.

Internally I started making a mental ‘map’ of the land that was coming into focus around us.
It quickly became apparent that everyone has been dealing with an unnecessarily complicated maze here as hallway after hallway pinged up on my senses and were added to the hive of tunnels on my new mental ‘map’ of the area.

When it finally felt like I had a good handle on the area around me I started getting to work.
I focused intensely on what I wanted to happen and, being so deeply in touch with my senses as I am at the moment, I could actually feel the magic moving from my mind through my core and out of my feet into the floor below us this time.

Eris let out a gasp of surprise that I can’t really blame her for if the hallways are behaving as they feel like they are in my head.

In short order I managed to tie all the branching halls of my mental map together into one big ball of interconnected pathways connecting together into one single entrance I allowed to remain connected to the main football field sized area we’re stood in for the time being.

My magic jolted slightly for some reason and the rate that it was leaving my body sped up slightly in response.

As my connection to the world around us grew, it became almost pointless to keep focusing on the map as I started to actually FEEL the halls around us like an extension of myself.
I could feel all the inhabitants of this space, of MY space, blissfully carrying on their activities in almost total ignorance to the changes going on around them with a few exceptions where people happened to be traveling between rooms at the time that I started tentatively moving things.

With barely a thought, all the hallways currently being travelled by, now hopelessly lost, members of my family jumped position and almost instantly joined together into a little knot with a single exit leading back out into the main entrance I’m currently stood in to let them all escape before they started to panic or anything else people tend to do in these sort of situations.

That little problem sorted, I started the far too easy process of trimming off unnecessary hallways until all the rooms that I could feel had been used recently were left connected together by a single long corridor.

My task done I let myself drop out of my lines again and came back to the world to find myself being watched by a rather awed audience of mixed family members, an almost shivering Eris and a smirking John who was leaning casually against the wall nearby.

It was hard to concentrate on them all though when, despite my having returned to the ‘normal’ world, I found myself being flooded with information about the world all around us still anyway?
The walls practically thrummed with my magic along with the floors and everywhere else.

It should have been overwhelming but honestly all I can feel is comfort from it all at the moment.
It’s an amazingly calming feeling, to know that you’re completely in control of the world around you..

“Be honest, if I hadn’t mocked you, do you really think you’d have managed all this in one go?”

Case in point, the moment that smug little statement of fact disguised as a question slipped past John’s lips, the wall he’d been leaning against almost instantly disappeared sending him into a wild tumble backwards that would have been amusing enough if my mind hadn’t kept going with the joke.
Before he could even realised what was happening the floor rose up underneath him in a rolling wave that started undulating steadily to trap him in a smooth continuous state of ‘falling’ as he slid from one curve into the next like a hamster spinning on an out of control running wheel.

I couldn’t help but laugh along with Eris at the surprised yelp he let off, one that quickly dissolved into grunts as his mildly desperate attempts to get free increased and my mind had no problem subconsciously stopping him at each turn with a few tweaks to whatever he tried to use as an anchor point of sorts.

Even better, he can’t warp out because the constant tumbling must be disorientating as all hell and there’s a very real possibility that he might find himself falling on his head if he warps at the wrong moment!

I let the rolling go on for a few more turns before his magic shifted slightly giving off the vague feeling of unease that I’ve come to associate with nausea over the years.
Without even a conscious thought the rolling stopped and one edge of John’s continuously curved floor-tumbler flattened out, letting him slide across the floor to freedom at last.

He came to a stop as a huffing, slightly green looking, pile at my feet and sunk his head down heavily to the floor with a tired grunt.
My magic sung with amusement and shifted excitedly around my body in a way that almost made me feel light-headed for a second.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet John-boy”
..call ME delicate will you?..

My magic surged and the room around us rippled in response.
A chair formed up out of the floor below John and moved him bodily into itself so he was sat up again with a rather stunned look on his still slightly disorientated face.

I threw my hands up, more for dramatic effect then actual need, and the golden walls around us shot off in all directions.
Within seconds we were in a room that was suddenly the size of a few football fields strung together; a moment more and it had become the size of at least ten fields while showing no signs of stopping any time soon.

The hallway doors holding my family inside them, along with the doorway leading back out of here to our house, obviously disappeared into the distance with the walls at first but with a thought they appeared in front of us again, mounted into the front of squat little box rooms formed out of the golden floor in a loose three-sided ring around us.

As the walls kept expanding outwards I found that I didn’t even need to focus on them anymore.
My magic, the magic of this dimension, knew EXACTLY what I wanted to achieve at this point.

When the walls finally got so far away that their edges had literally disappeared off behind a suspiciously appearing ‘horizon’ line, I turned my attention back onto other things.. mostly a bit of desperately needed interior decorating.

With a thought and a pulse of magic the golden floor beneath our feet bulged up for a moment before practically bursting forth in a tidal wave of grass and wildflowers.
I found myself letting off a happy cackle of laughter as waves of euphoric magic formed up around me and the ceiling high above us started bleaching itself white before progressing on into a much nicer ‘sunny day’ shade of sky blue.

I’d barely even thought of that comparison before my magic ran with it and a Sun formed itself up high in the sky making me laugh happily all over again as its warm ray’s hit my face.
..so much power..
SO. MUCH. POWER!

It barely took a thought to change the remaining hallways from gaudy gold into nice long stretches of white marble full of tastefully designed pillars with paintings lining the walls at random, replicated directly from my mind, ranging from famous artworks to movie posters and beyond.

A giggle left my lips as I felt my magic tweak the paintings slightly, adding little hidden people to some of them, removing key objects in others and even going so far as to ever so slightly tilt a few of them against the walls just for my own amusement.
..this is amazing..
THIS IS AWESOME!

“HANNAH!”
John tried to reach me but with a happy giggle the chair he’d been sitting on reformed under his feet and seamless curves came into existence around his wrists, holding him tight to his new chair.

I don’t need his help!
..MINE!..
This is MY realm! MY place!

With a thought the ceilings of the now marble covered hallways became great arching curves of hardened quartz, hard as diamond but crystal clear in a way nature could never manage.
Despite the hallways existing outside of my marvelous, near endless at this point, field-like ‘entrance area’ and its borders they now clearly let everyone inside them see my beautiful clear blue sky and warm sun at last!

Again my magic followed a barely even half-thought idea and suddenly the ‘sky’ above us was in motion with clouds, birds of all colors and a slowly progressing flow of ‘time’ visible for everyone to see.

I always hated how the Hub’s never had a sense of time!
Without a day and night cycle people tend to start going a little crazy.. crazy.. craz-
..URGH! NO!..
The halls! My lovely halls!

Changes started happening all around us wildly.

To the south, a lake the size of the Upper formed along with its own fresh water spring, tumbling waterfalls and miraculously pretty soft-sand beach front.
To the north, tree’s formed up into a thick and inviting forest that sent a delightful wash of smells out that made me huff in a deep breath of joy from just how nice they were.

Even the doorway’s around me changed from open hallways mounted inside small box rooms with wooden doors, shifting as they began to contort wildly until finally they’d become startlingly realistic replicas of the few still standing carved stone arches left at Stonehenge instead.

..I love Stonehenge!..
The welsh boy’s that sourced the stones for us were ever so nice and we had so many fun solstices dancing naked around th.. the.. the-

“HANNAH!”
With a thought a thick piece of his chair moved to cover Max’s mouth before he could.. could..

..oww?..
Magic pressed in on me from all around oppressively and for the first time I realised just how much it HURT!

The pressure, the endless waves of magic dancing at my fingertips, eager to be used and shaped and formed and.. and..

..URRGH!..
The hallway full of family rooms tucked behind the now open stone archway in front of me multiplied and shifted around into a layout I’d not even realised I wanted until they were done forming already.
Along with it, several more stone arches formed up around us and throughout the endless field of flowers far off into the distance.

Most of them formed up with simple looping connections between each other, just empty shortcuts waiting for a use later on.
There’s a very specific reason, one that I barely even started to consider as a possibility before they were finished forming, that they remained as simple useless looped connections but before I could really focus on what that reason was the main ring of huge stone doorways around us started moving, settled firmly into a wider ring around us and suddenly filled themselves with hallways of all kinds imaginable.

My senses stretched and I could feel the world expand out as the hallways grew, containing everything my mind could think to add.

From one filled with giant multi-story shopping malls to one with multiple natural spa hot spring resorts and ones filled with nightlife places like cinemas to an entire wing dedicated to libraries, they all formed at a whim as magic swirled around me in a joyful rolling wave that left me wanting to giggle and puke all at the same time.

My every thought is manifesting in here before I can even realise I’m thinking them?!
My finger twitched and a red-light district full of all manner of sex relevant shops formed up somewhere at the far back of the hallway I’d subconsciously decided was to be the ‘dirty underbelly’ of my new universe.

..this power..
SO MUCH POWER!

I can shape the world to my desires!
With a thought I can create life or DESTROY it!
I’m the Alpha and the Omega! I’m a GODDESS INCARNATE!
I’m-

“Mom?”
Eris’s half-gasped, fearful plea cut through my mental haze like a knife.

In seconds I found myself back inside my body, being battered on all sides by oppressively strong waves of madness-inducing magic and the only thing holding me fixed in reality was the tearful, almost terrified eyes of my daughter.
..my Eris..

Both my hands came up to the sides of my head as I tried desperately to hold it all in, building up wall after wall of defences to keep the magic out which barely seemed to make it pause!

With a wild gesture of my hand John’s restraining chair disappeared leaving him to fall heavily onto the soft grass in the same way I did moments later as my legs gave out and I collapsed forward in pain.

“John.. help..”
He staggered to his feet and rushed over to my side.

The magic seemed to martial itself at his approach, a desperate scream rent the air and I was only vaguely aware of it leaving my lips before the magic crested again, shattering my defences with an unfathomable wave of power that tore at my very BEING on impact!

Suddenly, as fast as it had started, the attack ended leaving me a weak sobbing mess on the grass below us.

John and Eris made noises for a while but I couldn’t focus on them enough to understand what they were saying.
The only thing I could feel.. the only thing I could concentrate on at all was John’s magic?

He’d encapsulated me in a bubble of that wonderfully warm magic he lets me borrow sometimes.
Compared to the horrible PRESSURE that the magic around us had been forcing upon me, his was like the gentlest of hugs.. so warm.. so soft.. so caring but so frightened?..

..my head hurts..
My head hurts.

“Hannah?!”
That’s my name!
My name, my world, my family, my John..

I giggled to myself happily as my eyes squinted themselves shut against my will and the world finally stopped hurting at las-

======

“Mmrfurna-ank”

“You’ve got to stop doing this Han.. it can’t be healthy to pass out this often, you’re going to give yourself an aneurism if you keep it up..”
I grunted and, after one or two failed attempts to sit up on the nice squishy bed underneath me, I gave up and settled for shooting an arm out from under the covers to offer him my middle finger in response; an action which at least earned me a laugh, if not actually getting my point across quite as eloquently as I would have liked.
“Ever the lady I see.. how are you feeling?”

My raised middle finger bobbed in the air a little as my arm started to tire but eventually I managed to make my hand co-operate, shifting my fingers into the universal symbol for ‘okay’ before my arm gave up on me to collapse back to the bed with a soft thumb.

“As much as I’d love to find out what the hell happened earlier you’re apparently under your Gran’s care and she’s stated clearly that.. ahem.. ‘if that foolish girl wakes up before tomorrow at the earliest then I’ll personally come in there and knock her out again myself!’-”

I found myself grinning into my pillow at the idea of Gran saying something like that.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d totally believe it, we established ages ago after all that Gran’s a psycho when she wants to be!

Just the idea of her doing it though feels somewhat amusing when you consider the usually calm exterior she lets people see in general.

“-have I mentioned how much I like your Gran by the way?.. smart lady, knows how to put you in your place when you need it.”
I’m sure she does John-boy.

I wonder how many times she had to zap him before he’d listen to her if he now thinks that highly of her methods?
Despite my apparent inability to move much at the moment I still managed to snigger a little to myself under my breath at the idea of Gran giving John shock treatment until he’d agree to stop dragging me into the stupid crap we end up involved with so often lately finally sunk into his thick head.

“Now you’re awake there’s a certain little bundle of joy that’s been reduced to biting people who try to make her leave standing guard outside your door right now.. she REALLY wants to see you again.. I’ve told her you need your rest and that ironically you really are ‘delicate’ at the moment so she’ll be careful.. if you want to see her?”

My hand twitched frantically for a second as I tried to make it do what I want again.
My motor control is apparently shot to shit at the moment.. it feels like someone scrambled my brain around something fierce!

Finally my hand decided to co-operate at last and I managed to give him a shaky ‘okay’ sign before shifting it into a middle finger again for the ‘delicate’ comment.
He got me good earlier and, catastrophic side-effects aside, he was actually right that getting me riled up in indignation was a good way to motivate me to do things I would never think possible, just to prove a point to him if nothing else.

I hate to say it but my ego CAN be a weakness at times and John is one of the few people on earth who knows how to trigger it let alone use it for good.
..he’s still an ass though..

While I was busy mentally tearing into myself for being so easily manipulated by him as usual, he laughed under his breath and stepped closer to me so he could brush his hand across my hair gently for a second before pulling his hand back sharply as if only just realising what he’d been doing in the first place?

He didn’t get a chance to do much more then turn slightly away from me in embarrassment before I managed to forcefully push my hand out and snatch his one up in a weak grip that made him freeze mid-step.

I let my magic rub gently against his for a second, getting a nice warm tingle in return for my troubles, and offered him the best reassuring squeeze I could manage until my strength gave out making my hand flop back down harshly.

He turned back around and with almost worryingly gentle care, lifted my hand back up onto the bed.

After a long moment where I could feel him run his thumb over my knuckles reassuringly a few times he let off a sigh and moved away properly this time.
“Get some sleep Han, doctor’s orders.”

I buried my head back into my pillow to smother the grin that came to my lips along with the slight blush on my cheeks.
..it’s nice to know he cares..

A door opened and, after a few mumbled words outside, quick little footsteps entered the room until the bed bounced slightly and I found myself with a long haired little bed-invader snuggled into my chest tightly.

After a few seconds of indecision she lifted my dead-weight of an arm over herself into a cuddle and sighed happily to herself as she nuzzled her cheek into my chest.
I held off for a moment or two but finally gave in and sighed happily too, giving her what I hope was a recognisable squeeze before letting my body relax properly and drifting back off into a far more comfortable, warm state of sleep that I apparently needed at this point pretty desperately.

Explanations, questions and repercussions can wait!
I’m tired, I ache and I’ve got my Eris with me.

..life is good..

======

“Morning girls”

We both staggered forward on slightly unsteady feet along the short trip from my bed to the dinner table outside my room, which I have to say will just HAVE to act as a breakfast table again today because I REALLY don’t think I’m up for tackling the stairs right now.
Eris’s little mouth split wide into an almost painful looking yawn and I’m sorry to admit that mine followed quickly behind hers a moment or so later.

“You look a bit better?”
I shot Mum as warm a smile, although it was interrupted slightly by yet another yawn anyway.

..I actually feel better honestly?..
My body still ache’s a little but it’s more of a ‘you ran a marathon you fool!’ kind of ache then the full body WEIGHT I felt pressing down on me yesterday at least.

..my motor control is certainly better!..
To prove that point, more to myself then anything, I clenched my hands into fists for a moment before flexing my fingers out a few times.
There’s still a slightly numb tingle in my fingertips obviously but that tends to happen for a while after you channel too much magic through your hands at once, so it’s probably no big deal at this point.

“I’ll be the judge of her condition Susan, thank you.”
The amusement in Gran’s voice didn’t detract much from the steel present behind it as she wandered into my view range and carefully cupped my head into her hands, shifting her gaze between one eye and the other a few times with a thoughtful hum.

She moved on to checking my pulse and breathing a little then finished off by snagging a spoon from the table and tapping me pretty hard on my nightgown covered knee making it jerk slightly, in a completely involuntary reaction on my part.

“Good enough I suppose, certainly not enough to postpone you’re swimming trip today as long as you have a good swimmer nearby to keep an eye on you.”
Eris seemed to go from ‘zombie’ to ‘perky’ in the blink of an eye when the dreaded ‘swimming’ word was mentioned.

I gave Gran a slightly pained smile that she returned fondly before tweaking my nose between her fingers and moving over to one of the free seats nearer to the windows.
Not to be outdone, Eris hopped into my poor lap getting a tired puff out of me as she landed

..urrgg, it’s too early for this crap..

I suppose even almost dying from a sudden bout of power-induced megalomania only allows me a slight delay on abuse and demands when I’ve made a promise to an impressionable little girl, doesn’t it?

It’s obviously going to be tiring in general but I’m sorry to say that swimming actually sounds kind of nice to me right about now honestly.. not so much the whole ‘effort’ and ‘swimming’ part of it but I could DEFINITELY get behind some ‘floating weightlessly’ and, admittedly useless considering my magical nature, ‘sunbathing’ at this point if nothing else!

Yet again I’ve spent too much time indoors lately for my sanity’s own good.
Maybe it really is some kind of latent ‘cat’ instinct brought out by that whole mess with us blocking my seer talent and awakening my apparently rather strong connection to my spirit animal but if it is connected to that then I’m fine with it because the sun’s nice and warm enough today already that sunbathing with a good book is a completely acceptable waste of a day to my mind.

..speaking of cat’s..
“Where’s Mau?”

Nobody even got a chance to open their mouths, let alone answer, before the weak shadows created by the sunlight streaming in through the windows nearby moved slightly and something furry bumped into my leg.

“..Mau..”
Yeah, yeah, ‘you called?’.. very funny..

..smart-ass little fur-ball..

“Okay, what about Felix?”
I doubt he was stupid enough to go back to the Hub considering the towering rage Maven must have for both of us at this exact moment.

This time I really did receive blank looks of confusion from everyone at first.
Finally Eris seemed to realise who I was talking about and belatedly I realised in turn that I hadn’t actually introduced him to Mum or Gran yet.

I barely even mentioned his name around Eris either for that matter?
My mouth opened to explain who exactly Felix is to the adults in the room but I found myself interrupted by a dual set of squeaky shouts coming from behind my chair.

“Hip-nabin!”
‘We-fight!’

The little imp came flying in out of nowhere and tackled Mau from his position at my ankles, sending them both into a rolling tumble under the table which quickly started knocking over empty chairs and causing a lot of noise.

“..I’m really not well enough to be dealing with this crap..”

A glance around the room didn’t exactly inspire me with confidence considering Eris has ducked her head under the table and appeared to be alternatively cheering on whoever was ‘winning’ at any given moment as the two fought on.
Gran offered me a slightly pained smile and Mum just watched on in a kind of stunned silence which really wasn’t helping much either honestly.

“Turu-je-benta salvig-VEES!”
‘There-can-be only-ONE!’

In any other situation, seeing an imp posing dramatically on top of a slightly worried looking kitten with a butter knife raised high in the air like a sword.. before cracking up with a serious case of the giggles and dropping it in favor of pulling the kitten into another tumbling melee of fur-covered limbs would have been considered somewhat fun or at the very least cute in my option.

As it is, the only thought I had going through my head as they continued their now apparent ‘play fighting’ was the sheer horrified question of ‘who the hell let Felix watch Highlander?!’
The answer wasn’t exactly hard to reach sadly.

With a frustrated growl I threw my head back and yelled out as loud as possible to make sure he bloody-well heard me no matter where he’s currently hiding.
“JOHN!”

“You called?”
I’m sorry to admit I shrieked like a little girl when his voice came moments later from right behind me.

If I’d been thinking properly I’m sure I would have felt him coming, from his magic or something if nothing else, but I WAS kind of distracted by Felix and Mau’s rather unexpected free-for-all battle.. a battle that now appears to have reached yet another peak with Mau posing over Felix’s ‘fallen’ body, sitting back on his haunches with his little front paws tucked under his chin in the air.

“MAU!”
I don’t.. he can’t..
‘KHAN!’, seriously?!

Slowly I turned to fix John with a deep glare.
Despite him being himself as usual, he still flinched slightly at the obvious anger shining through my eyes even as my lips twitched hard in an aborted attempt by my body to form some kind of laugh I desperately didn’t want to let out right about now.

“Star Trek, John? I sleep a day away recovering, meanwhile you let them watch Highlander and the second Star Trek movie?!”
The now restarted melee of rolling fur paused for a moment, Felix on top this time, and with a breathless little squeak he turned his head to offer me a grin.

“Ful-is-nenkik fen-plac Bii San-ya”
‘All-of-them actually Lady Death’

“ALL OF THEM?!”
John cringed and shot the pair a mild glare of admonishment.
It may have been my imagination but I’m pretty sure he mouthed a silent ‘traitors’ towards them before turning back to face me with an entirely unconvincing smile on his lips.

“They were at each other’s throats Han, I had to do something before they hurt someone or set something else on fire, so we sat down and had a ‘guy bonding day’.. they aren’t much for conversation obviously but they understand English much better than most familiars manage usually so it was kind of fun watching them get so into the classics like that.”

..they had a ‘guy bonding day’ without me?..
That’s so meaannn!

..whiney much?..
Shut UP brain! I mean it’s, ya know, unfair and stuff.. because I’m a guy and John’s my man-besty not theirs and.. and, um?..

..quit while we’re ahead..
RIGHT!.. wait.. what did he mean when he called them ‘familiars’ anyway?

The tumbling fur melee paused again with the pair of said ‘familiars’ rolling to a stop at my feet so Mau could shoot a big innocent-eyed look my way, one that really couldn’t have been more unconvincing if he bloody tried.

“..Mau..”
What do YOU mean ‘you told me so’ you annoying little fuzz-ball?!

“They are NOT my familiars!”
The whole room went silent at that simple, slightly louder than necessary, statement of fact.

Eris pulled her head out from under the table to shoot me an incredulous look.. one that was mirrored by Gran across the table, John at my shoulder, the tumbling duo on the floor and even copied by my bloody MUM of all people!

“What?.. Th.. they’re not!”

“..you’re so naive sometimes Mom..”
I gasped and turned my eyes down to stare at Eris with a hurt look which quickly morphed into a light glare at the amused grin on her face.
..traitor..
“Mau’s a great pet and he’s really cute but you’d have to be a bit of an idiot to not see the connection between you two? You even act like he’s actually TALKING to you sometimes and that would just be weird if he wasn’t your familiar!”

He’s.. got a very expressive face and meow and-

..denials kind of pathetic when it’s this obvious, isn’t it?..
Crap, he’s ACTUALLY my familiar, isn’t he?

Power’s save me, he’s going to be unbelievably smug about all this!
..stupid little fur-ball machine..

“Mau?”
Yes, I know you’re not stupid, it’s just a turn of phrase an-
Damn it, stop reading my thoughts!

You’re a cat, you’re not allowed to read my mind even if you ARE my familia-
Crap crapping.. crap.. well, there goes my shot at denial!

Well.. well, at least I KNOW that whole bit about Felix being one too is bullsh-

Certain throw away facts and memories decided that THIS was the best moment to make themselves known again by flashing quickly through my brain in an almost painfully fast succession before I could even finish trying to convince myself that Felix was innocent in all of this.

‘I’m going to force some magic out of my core.. it’s going to hurt Felix, I’ll only be able to do it for a moment. Can you gather up what I release and shove it all into this glyph here?’

‘are-you-okay my-bonded?’
‘I-am-here my-bonded.’

The blood runes I used to stop Handyman’s army of Golems.. Felix sucked up some of my magic to activate the rune for me and, when I got past the pain of it all, his eyes were LITERALLY sparkling from excess magic!

That strange second voice thing in my head that lets me understand him, despite not knowing how to speak imp in the slightest didn’t start up until after that point either.. and he only started calling me his bonded AFTER running the hell away from me when I confronted him about being able to understand him too!

“..I’ve got two familiars.. one’s a kitten demon that does Kirk impressions and the other’s a fae imp that likes Highlander..”
John snorted to himself and threw a comforting arm around my shoulders to give me a squeeze, which actually seemed to help a lot more then I’d like to admit sadly.

“Make that three familiars, the whole ‘unresolved bad faith binding’ you gave me basically labels me as yours until you sort it out, after all.. isn’t magic wonderful?”
He squeezed me a little tighter and mushed his cheek into my hair like some sort of overgrown house cat playing with a favorite toy.

For one horrid moment I actually believed him.. between the brands known effects so far and Edith calling him my ‘pet’ the other day it all made so much sense, as much sense as my connections with my ‘other’ two apparent familiar’s did at least.

It wasn’t until Eris finally snorted in an attempt to contain a fit of laughter that she just couldn’t hold back anymore, setting off John and breaking the moment entirely, that I came back to myself with some sense of reality and realised that he was messing with me again in some stupid attempt to lighten the mood.

“That’s not fucking FUNNY John! You damn near gave me a heart attack for a second there?!”

“A- Hannah, Language!”
I shot Mum an incredulous look which really wasn’t helped much by the obvious giggles she was trying to hide, nor the smirk Gran was offering me from her position at Mum’s side.

“URG! I’m too ill for this crap!.. I’m gonna go get ready for swimming and I SWEAR to the powers if you lot have lumbered me with some stupid frilly piece of floss for a swimsuit I’m gonna.. I’m gonna.. URRG!”

My position on things eloquently put out there for everyone to hear I turned and stomped off to the safety of my room at last.

The dramatic exit was probably lessened to some extent by the kitten, imp and now not able to laze about in my lap little girl who all jumped to their collective feet moments later so they could trail after me like a row of massively deformed ducklings of course, but I’m beyond the point of caring about looking stupid by now luckily.

My personal dimension tried to possess me, my daughter thinks I’m an idiot and I ended up bonding two bloody familiars without bloody noticing it for at least two BLOODY weeks?!

Stupid familiars, stupid kids, stupid John, stupid LIFE, stupid.. STUPID!

“Mom, can we wear the new matching swimsuits Aunty Sarah got us the other day?”
Damn it! I KNEW Sarah would have something embarrassing up her sleeve to make things worse somewhere as well!

..stupid sister?..
Yeah, stupid manipulative clothes-buying sister too!

A day at the lake during the mid-summer heat, full of barbecues, family and mildly confused neighbours. It could almost be considered idyllic if you ignored certain unfortunate clothing choices being thrust upon certain poor unsuspecting people by their pushy sister and daughter.. Oh well, let's hope that's the worst of Hannah's problems today, shall we? Events unfold including but not limited to: Wet John cuddles and stolen T-shirts being stolen. Large hands being used for various things (to rather worrying degrees of success as well), Meanwhile Hannah drools on John's crotch and a pow-wow is interrupted rather rudely by a matriarch on a mission. Hold on tight folks, it's swimming trip day at Klamath Falls!

 

“..I’m not taking it off..”

“Oh come ON Han, it’s not that bad, everyone else is swimming and Eris wants to play in the water with her Mom.”
..that’s playing dirty..

It doesn’t help that, what I thought was going to be a little trip down to the water for an hour or two, has apparently become a family daytrip.
The Aussies have even dragged the barrel drum barbeques over and everything!

To make matters worse, the neighbours between our house and the waterfront came to find out what was going on with the mass migration of people towards the lake and were enthusiastically invited to join us too, Mum’s obviously having the time of her life reconnecting with old friends in such a lively setting but it’s practically become a rather waterlogged BLOCK PARTY at this point which is NOT something I’m in any way equipped to deal with at the moment.

Understandably, in my opinion, I’m not exactly interested in taking my nice big baggy freshly-washed, previously owned by John but now officially stolen by me, T-shirt off and exposing myself in front of so many people I grew up having to be bloody polite to!

It’s not even the ‘exposed’ part of it all that’s got me twitchy.

I’m not good with crowds and while it’s easy to ignore just how many people we have staying at our house lately, that becomes a lot harder to do when they’re all out HERE instead of safely tucked away back in the.. not-so golden palace of excess?..

..I definitely need a new name for that place..
Considering it’s neither golden, nor a palace of excess anymore the title IS kinda in desperate need of an overhaul.

“Fine, keep the shirt on but just get your ass in the water already.”
Sarah gave me a mildly annoyed look for not answering her within some arbitrarily decided ‘acceptable’ time frame before pushing me a few steps closer to the water’s edge.

As encouragement methods go, let’s just say I really doubt she’ll be writing an in-depth award winning novel on her ground breaking techniques any times soon.
Case-in-point, I spun on a heel to glare at her, receiving only an exasperated huff in response much to my annoyance.

“Why do I have to go in when you don’t?”
She shot me a withering look before dipping to the side and grabbing a massive orange bottle of sunscreen.

“Unlike you I actually have to worry about getting sunburn.. or freckles.. or sunburnt freckles..”

“Well I should stay up here and help you make sure you’re well covered in that cas- mmph!”
Her free hand came up, cupping over my mouth obnoxiously as she turned her head away to search the water’s edge with a frustrated frown on her lips.

Finally, at the point when I’d seriously started considering going with the old standby ‘lick the hand gagging you’ technique, she seemed to spot whatever she was looking for judging by the smirk that flickered across those same lips.

“JOHN! Come collect Hannah, the little mermaid here doesn’t want to go near the water without you!”
I gasped and yanked her hand away forcefully while reaching out my other hand in a vaguely considered attempt at somehow stopping her from talking entirely.
“What’s that Han? You want to ride on his back like a horse as he takes you off to the island for some alone time?!”

“SARAH!”

She cackled in amusement and broke into a run at pretty much the exact same moment that I broke into my own to chase after her.
We managed a few hundred meters of sprinting at best before I started to tire, a problem which she unluckily didn’t have the consideration to also suffer through along with me.

She took a sharp left into the treeline and I found myself half-collapsing against the first tree I came to as she disappeared pretty quickly into the thick foliage around us.

For a few glorious seconds I rested my head against the tree in defeat to catch my breath before a warm arm attached to an equally warm and slightly wet body encircled my waist, practically lifting me off my feet easily as if I weighed nothing at all.

“What’s this I hear about little mermaids and horses?”
Gah! Don’t breathe near my ear John-boy!

“Forget it, Sarah’s just being a bitch. She got me a new swimsuit an-”
John shifted his grip slightly as we turned.
I found myself leaning my weight against him as he stepped us back around to head along the water’s edge and re-join the ‘party’, with a hopefully unnoticeable shudder from just how nice his magic feels rubbing against my body.

My suppressors are currently still down for repairs but luckily my magic seems pretty calm since my last big blowout.
I really wouldn’t have even chanced coming out here today without them on otherwise of course, the real problem with that at the moment though is that it turns out wearing suppressors for so long has a tendency to make you kind of ‘hyper-sensitive’ to magic when you take them off.. or at least it feels that way, because I SWEAR it never used to feel this good having his magic touch mine!

“Huh, so you DO have a swimsuit on under that shirt?.. well damn, I owe Eris a free ice cream..”
..WHAT?!..

I twisted hard in his arms and stumbled backwards a few steps before swinging out a hand to slap him on the bicep a few times.
All it really did was make him laugh in response without much actual reaction to it all which is kind of ‘to be expected’ I guess considering I wasn’t really TRYING to hurt him.. he just.. he’s such an ASS sometimes?!

“Yes John-boy, I have a bloody swimsuit on under this shirt where it’s bloody STAYING so don’t even start with m-HEY!”

While I ranted at him pre-emptively against any stupid idea’s he might get about somehow getting a peek at the stupid swimsuit I’ve got on, the one I’m only wearing under protest because Eris begged me and Sarah hid all my other ones just in case I refused, he took a lot more of a direct route then I would have expected from him to get what he wanted.

When my arms came up as part of my admittedly over-dramatic hand waving he simply leaned forward, took ahold of the loose sides on my stolen shirt and yanked the bloody thing over my head in one smooth motion!

My words died out as my hands flew up to cover the childishly embarrassing bikini I had on with a yelp and John fell back on his ass laughing heartily at my expense.

It’s practically a foregone conclusion that Sarah is to blame the most for this mess although I have no doubt Eris had a hand in her choices too.
She’s currently splashing around with the other young children in an equally childish, if much smaller sized, bikini of her own with differing colors involved but a matching.. ‘theme’ I guess?..

“L..Little mermaid!”
John broke down into another fit of laughter that looked like it hurt.
..or maybe that’s just me wishful thinking?..

Taking stock, maybe he has a reason to laugh, I probably would too if it wasn’t me bloody-wearing it at least.
My currently red hair is hanging loosely around my shoulders and down my back as a heavy mass of tangled curls, not helped by the fact that a certain sister of mine refused to help me braid it earlier for now obvious reasons.

Added to that is an almost literal ‘shell’ bikini top in deep purple that does an annoyingly good job of both compressing my boobs while somehow emphasising them at the same time despite its almost ridged shape and a pair of green ‘scale effect’ boy-shorts style swimming bottoms with an attached little peplum of lighter green cloth on either side above my hips, just to finish the look according to a smirking Sarah, as most people could probably have worked out at this point.
..stupid little mermaid..

I WILL get Sarah back for this one, if it wasn’t for Eris’s reaction when I first refused to put the bloody thing on I’d.. I’d..

“Can you stop bloody laughing John-boy?! It’s not THAT funny!”
His half-aborted snort of amusement would beg to differ on that point but I stand by it anyway.
It’s not funny, it’s annoying.. and now he’s gone and shown everybody!
“Give me my shirt back”

He shot me a curious eyebrow and shifted the black cloth in his hands thoughtfully for a second before his eyes caught on the ‘shells’ of my bikini top again and he had to forcefully stop another laughing fit.
I reached out to grab the shirt off of him but even in his distracted state it wasn’t enough to stop him from instinctively pulling it out of my reach, launching himself back to his feet and holding the shirt aloft like a trophy above my head.

For one long moment I considered just sucker punching him, either physically or magically, to get it back.
..the idea’s certainly tempting..

In the end logic won out and instead of punching him I hopped a few times on my toes then launched myself forward into an awkward maneuver that involved sliding behind him and scrabbling up his back so I could snag the shirt and throw myself over his head, sending him tumbling back on his ass from the force of my kick-off and me sailing away to land gently back on the riverbank with a smug smirk.
He laughed again from his new position and offered me a relatively rare nod of submission for once.

HA! Hannah wins!

With that thought in mind I lifted my prize up and started untangling it enough that I could find what was a sleeve hole and which end was the neck one.
I’d managed to more-or-less sort things out and lifted the shirt up to pull it on when a scream rent the air making me flinch in surprise while John shoot up to his feet again, all humor lost as the initial scream was joined by several more much louder screams a few moments later.

We both broke into a sprint, my shirt swinging from my fist as I forced my complaining body to go faster before we were too late.

It was practically neck and neck between us as we finally rounded the last outcropping of trees and came to a stop, staring at a scene of utter pandemonium where our family were enjoying themselves only a few minutes ago.

It didn’t take much for us to work out why everyone was screaming and running at least, my eyes grew wide and the shirt fell forgotten from my hand to flutter into the water below us as we both stared out across Upper Klamath lake in horror.
Far out towards the center of our little stretch of lake, a giant swirling vortex had opened up, slowly but surely pulling more water in as time goes by at a progressively faster rate.

While that was all unusual to say the least, presumably the real reason why people were so freaked out and running away right about now would be because of the giant scaly arm.

It was about the size of our house at this point, sticking out from the very center of the gaping hole with its monstrously large and equally scaly hand somehow resting flat on the swirling water below as it slowly performed some kind of twisted, one-armed pull-up to drag more of itself higher and higher out of the watery depths below.

“John.. what the hell is that thing?”
He shot me a wide-eyed look that quite plainly stated he didn’t have a faintest bloody clue.
..lovely, at least we’re on the same page now..

The arm juddered slightly for a moment or two before, with a seemingly monumental effort, it shifted its grip to the side slightly allowing room for another massive scaly hand to appear over the vortex’s edge.
From there it was nothing but pure nightmare fuel as the hands were joined by a second arm, then the top of a horribly misshapen reptilian face full of patchy uneven skin that was none-the-less easy for me to recognise from one of my more pleasant, if still worrying past-life visions.

“Cetus.. it’s the Cetus beast that almost ate me back in my Andromeda incarnation?”
There’s no mistaking it, I thought the massive blast of fire magic Andromeda let off in its face killed the bloody thing though?!
..if it’s here then that means..

“..oh shit, it’s Poseidon..”

John opened his mouth to answer me but no words seemed to be able to pass his lips as the beast kept rising out of the water, already dwarfing the trees around the lakes edge and giving no signs of stopping any time soon as it’s head cleared the gap followed by a longer than normal neck and worryingly large shoulders with two, almost insignificant looking from this distance, people perched on its left bulging shoulder in full regalia.
..I swear it wasn’t this big last time?..

“EVERYBODY RUN! GET BEHIND THE WARDS!”
The few brave family members, mostly mages, who’d stayed to watch the spectacle unfold didn’t need telling twice.

I shot a frantic look around to make sure Eris wasn’t hanging around or something else equally stupid, just catching sight of her as Sarah of all people sprinted off with her clutched tightly to her chest, heading into the trees towards our house again.

With a relieved sigh I turned my eyes to John who was now looking increasingly nervous.

“What the hell are we gonna do John?”
He flinched at my voice but before he could answer me he was interrupted yet again by another voice, a voice so loud that it practically shook the ground beneath our feet as it reverberated around us in a deep angry growl.

“LOKI! You would defile one of my precious granddaughters?!”
..oh shit..
You can say that again brain, of all the things to come and bite us in the ass, it had to be THAT one didn’t it?!

“I know you’re here Loki, your magic touched these waters, there’s nowhere to hide!”

What the HELL are we gonna do?
He’s big and loud and powerful and he’s got a giant monster here and.. and..

..hold on, is he facing the wrong way?..

I had to choke back a surprised grunt when it finally registered in my head that, yes, the big muscular old man in a toga standing on the still raising beasts shoulder actually WAS facing the wrong way.
..if I’m not mistaken he’s currently yelling at the Yacht club?..

“John, we need to move.. we need to move RIGHT now!”
My hand latched onto his arm and with a heave I managed to get his almost catatonic body moving in a lurching half-jog back towards the treeline.

If we can just get back to the wards we should be okay, I honestly doubt that giant beast of his can do anything without malicious intent so it won’t even be able to cross the wardli-
With a boom that literally threw me on my ass from the vibrations alone a massive scaly hand the size of a school bus landed right in front of us, cutting off all hope of retreat in one easy motion.

“THERE you are Loki!”

We both turned to face Poseidon in all his withered glory as he almost casually stepped off of Cutis’s shoulder and walked down on a rising set of ‘stairs’ made out of what looks to be pure water from the lake being pulled up to support him and the smaller man followed closely in his wake.

“You’ve brought my precious Granddaughter along with you too, how nice of you to give me my-”
The old man reached his last water-platform, stepped out onto dry land and paused mid-sentence to twitch the glasses perched on his wide nose.
His attention didn’t seem to be fixed upon John with murderous intent suddenly at least but instead he was giving me an intensely confused look as his lips curled up slightly in obvious disgust.
“-I thought you said he’d kidnapped the blue one with the D-Cups?”

For a long moment I practically froze solid as the air of mystery and fear-inducing power around his, still muscular but obviously aged body, faltered slightly.. and I was left staring at an old man offering me what can only be called his best ‘pout’ as he gave me another once over with obvious attention given to my chest of all things.

“The messenger from Triton said that the Thunder-oaf found his daughter Aquata in the care of Loki sire.. although she’s obviously not-”

“Do you take me for a FOOL man?!”
The small male figure standing partly in Poseidon’s shadow shifted awkwardly in place, his hands going into the pockets of his ill-fitting suit self-consciously as he bowed his head in submission to the much larger old lunatic before him.
“Are you sure she’s my darling Aquata? she’s not got blue-hair or big tit’s at all.. this one looks more like the little red-headed tomboy with the fork obsession and the flat chest.”
He gestured wildly at said chest as if somehow proving his point completely, much to my growing indignation.
“The messenger must have gotten the message wrong, have him killed when we return!”

The small figure behind him flinched visibly but quickly set about making a note in a little book he kept in his front pocket while babbling to himself quietly as if trying to build up the courage to actually disagree with his ‘sire’ openly or something along those lines from the looks of it.

“Yes, yes I remember you now girl, you’re the air-headed little ginger that kept swimming off after that normal boy day and night, aren’t you?.. little what’s-her-name.. little Flat Chest, there we go!”
..HEY!..

“Uh.. Arial sire, I believe the name you’re looking for is Arial.. but she’s not-”
Poseidon turned his eyes away from my ‘shell’ bikini covered chest at last to fix his little assistant with a thoughtful look that made the man freeze in fear instantly.

“AH! I’ve got it, Arial! My youngest and most undeveloped Granddaughter, I don’t know what took me so long, the legs are pretty memorable for your lot, aren’t they?.. now, where was I?”
The assistant let off a relieved sigh that was obviously tinged with more than a little exasperation before answering yet again.

“Triton’s message about Loki kidnapping your Granddaughter, sire?”

“LOKI!”
The old man spun around again to face John, throwing an accusatory finger into his face for good measure.
“My youngest Granddaughter Loki?.. Do you have no taste man?! You could have at least gone for the brunette with the huge tits, have some standards you useless old twit!”

I watched on in disbelief as the assistant sighed heavily to himself and actually turned to shoot me an apologetic look as he moved to step a bit closer to the old man’s side again.
“Attina sire.. her names Attina..”

“I knew that one Arion you incipient nancy-boy! Do you really think I’d forget the name of the only spawn from that useless son of mine who actually managed to get past a D-cup?!”
The old man swung his hand around violently making the assistant, Arion apparently, duck out the way with almost practiced ease.
“It’s all that swimming I tell you, the lack of true gravity is not good for a girl’s development!”

“..I’m sure it isn’t sire..”
Arion sighed once more and stepped closer to the old man, bringing a careful hand up to pat his arm reassuringly as he went off into a rant to seemingly no-one on the pros and cons of different methods throughout the centuries for increasing the size of a woman’s bust.

While they were both distracted I moved slowly over to John’s side and nudged him to get his attention away from the horrified curiosity-laden gaze he’d settled into as we’d watched Poseidon carry on.

With a quick glance over at the ranting old man and his poor assistant again I leaned a bit closer to John and whispered the most pressing question I had at this exact moment.
“John.. what the fuck is going on?”

John blinked a few times as if still trying to process everything then he settled for giving me a slightly delayed half-smile.

“Honestly?.. I have no idea..”
He shifted his feet slightly and shot another cautious look over at the pair before continuing.
“At a guess, it looks like Thor was more of an idiot then I gave him credit for and instead of telling Poseidon he has a new daughter with Arista he somehow managed to find the man’s son Triton instead and accidentally mislead them all into thinking I’d kidnapped one of HIS daughters..”

Well.. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I guess that about sums up what I’m seeing here at least?

“Crazy old bastard must have gone senile early in this incarnation; I really don’t know how he could have thought you were one of Triton’s kids after even glancing at you otherwise?”
He sighed heavily and bumped his shoulder against mine reassuringly.
“Aquata has blue hair so I guess that’s something in his favor going from the description Thor would have given them but as far as I remember she also has a blue tail to match so..”

Great.. as if mages aren’t bad enough to deal with when they’re in possession of their full mental capacities!

A long silence stretched out between us, interrupted semi-regularly by Poseidon’s progressively more detached and abstract comparisons between different types of well-made fruit produce and women’s breasts as a whole.

“You people are all fucking insane, you know that right?”
John snorted and leaned over to nudge my shoulder again while taking an almost bored sounding deep breath in through his nose.

“Don’t try and distance yourself from this mess Han, he’s your ex-husband after all, you’re just as much one of ‘us people’ as we are..”

“HEY! I happen to be SANE!”
My angry retort seemed to catch Poseidon’s attention, bringing his running comparison between aubergines and an older french-woman he met at some point to a sudden halt.

I winced as he stared between us with a lost look for a few seconds before his little lackey Arion leaned in and whisper something to him, making his eyes widen and his face redden with an angry flush.

“..yeah right, keep telling yourself that..”
John, this is REALLY not the time to be mocking me!
This could be really bad, if Poseidon-

“LOKI!”
Oh crap..

We both dived in opposite directions as Poseidon materialised a three-pronged staff from seemingly nowhere, one that looked kind of like an oversized salad fork made of gold in my opinion, and shoved it towards us causing arcs of lightning magic to come pouring out of it and scar the dirt we’d just been standing on.

John managed to recover himself with an awkward roll and took off sprinting down the water’s edge, the lightning chasing him as Poseidon turned to follow his movement with an enraged snarl.
I wasn’t quite so quick on my feet and due to the slight incline on my side of the waterfront I ended up landing chest first in the mud near the lake with a loud disgusting splat instead of escaping.

“Excuse me?”

WHAT! Can’t you see I’m a little busy here getting mud out of my-
Oh.. it’s him?.. what does he want?

“Lord Posiedon has demanded that I, uh.. ‘rescue you from that foul fiend Loki’s clutches’, Miss?”
The little man called Arion turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth to call out to the two battling idiot’s further down the coast.
“NO OFFENCE MAX!”

Vaguely I could hear John let off a disbelieving laugh that he followed quickly by dodging into the trees slightly to avoid yet more lightning.
“NONE TAKEN FLOUNDER!”

The little man in front of me’s face turned bright red and he stamped his foot down hard into the mud making even more of it splash up around us, much to my annoyance.
“My name is NOT Flounder!”

“Um.. while we’re on the topic of names, you know mine isn’t Aquata or Ariel either, right?”
Reluctantly he turned away from John to face me again and a rather annoyingly long pause in conversation ensued as he stared at me like I was some kind of idiot.

“Yes, I had kind of noticed your lack of a tail Miss. I apologise for all this but my Lord Poseidon can be a bit hard to dissuade from his ideas sometimes, maybe if you give me your real name then I can sort things out with him a lot sooner.. honestly, I don’t know why we even bothered coming today, who trusts a fool like Thor at his word?”
Huh?.. so the little guy has some snark in him after all..

“Hannah, my names Hannah Cooper”
On reflex more than anything else I stuck my hand out for a shake which he accepted with a seemingly equal reflex action in a limp grip neither of us was really trying to maintain in the slightest.

“Things would be a lot easier with your REAL name Miss, not the pseudonym Max has you using.”
It’s not a bloody ‘pseudonym’, it’s my real name damn it!

“Look you little twerp, I don’t care what anyone else says, my name is Hannah Coop-”
My building rant cut itself short as Poseidon returned to us looking a little out of breath but rather smug at the same time.

“I tagged the little son of a sea-worm through the trees, a few thousand volts should teach him not to mess with my lot I’d say!”
As his supporting pillars of water slowly collapsed in on themselves he settled back in the mud on his rather large bare feet and focused all his attention on us again.

I’d like to say I wasn’t intimidated by the senile old coot.

In reality however, in all honestly, the guy might be old and crazy but he’s still a good couple of heads taller than I am currently with a lot of hard-won muscles everywhere that would put a professional body builder to shame despite his thinner skin and visible veins which are probably the biggest give aways, aside from his white-grey hair, to show just how old he really is.

“Still not got her ready to travel Arion you little pansy?”
He shifted his gaze away from me to glare at the little guy before looking back over to me again.
“I have to do everything around here.. Cetus! Grab her and let’s go you brain-dead hulking great brute!”

I barely got a chance to drop my jaw in shock before the earth shook and I found myself wrapped in the surprisingly gentle but still horribly solid scaly grasp of the massive sea monster who’s hand had moments before been acting as a wall, blocking my escape on two sides with apparent ease.

The great beast leaned back and swung its fist, me included, up high into the sky.
The constant movement and shifting that came from it settling itself back to its terrifyingly big ‘full height’ left me feeling sick to my stomach, meanwhile its other arm stretched out to form almost a ‘bridge’ for Poseidon and Arion to walk along on their way back to its shoulder for the ride ‘home’ no doubt.

I shuddered hard when its tongue, twice the size of John’s truck easily, slid out stupidly and it panted to itself like some kind of overgrown lizard-dog nightmare incarnate!

The whole thing wasn’t helped by the dopey look on its face that’s a lot easier to make out when you’re THIS close to it; part of me wanted to call the thing in some way ‘cute’ while a larger, more rational side of me just wanted to puke in fear.

The rational side, mixed with some valiant help from my motion sickness, won out in the end and I promptly vomited over the knuckle of its big green thumb.
On the one hand vomiting is never fun but on the other, big scary scaly hand, the beast seemed to freeze after a few seconds to stare down at me in some lumbering lizard dog-like form of wonder.

I probably could have predicted what came next, but if I had I probably would have made things worse by losing the rest of my breakfast so I’m kind of glad for the almost numb feeling settling over my brain as I watched its great big face come closer and closer to me.
The skin between its snake-like snout came to a stop at last, practically squashed against my face, and it proceeded to take in a massive sniff of air that sent my hair flying and made it feel like my neck was being pulled from my body just from the force of it all!

Naturally, the leftovers of my breakfast on its thumb didn’t stand half a chance and practically shot straight up its nose, much to my disgust.

At least the sudden nostril invading mass made its sniffing stop prematurely as it reared back its head with a choked-off snort and it sneezed loudly with a rolling, almost majestic, head-flick that reminded me of a T-Rex roaring from a certain dinosaur movie Sarah got rather obsessed with at one point in our childhood.

Finally it paused and sniffed a few more times before throwing its head back and bellowing out an almost joyful sounding roar that made my ears ring, throwing my equilibrium off in a way that’s almost as nauseating as the violent fist swinging that followed it.

I didn’t really have much more to lose, stomach wise, at this point which helped me focus a little bit at least but I’ve never exactly been good at dealing with nausea in general.
Either way, while my brain reeled from the wild monster-born rollercoaster ride I found myself ‘enjoying’ my ears were still working enough to catch the conversation that followed it.

“Sire, Cetus says that she’s not Ariel, she’s ARISTA!”
My blood ran cold as Arion’s statement of fact threw me instantly out of the violently swinging pan and into the potentially VERY dangerous high-burning fire.

From what I could see, it looked like Poseidon took the time to study me a little bit before answering which is really not reassuring.

I found myself holding my breath and cringing slightly in expectation of the pain to come.
Arista doesn’t exactly have a good track record with the family members that apparently LIKE her, let alone Poseidon with his own personal brand of crazy!

“Do you think me a fool?! Arista is the blonde one with the red tail and C-cups you insipid little -”
Arion yelped and ducked away from Poseidon’s swinging arm, popping back up on his other side with almost practiced ease as he responded.

“Not THAT Arista, Sire, THE Arista! Your Ex-wife!”
Even the monstrous lizard-dog Cetus seemed to pause in shock at that almost frantic declaration as they all turned as one to stare at me hard.

My shoulders slumped in defeat and I slowly tried to move myself deeper into the beasts grasp to hide from their judgemental eyes.
I’m not good at being the center of attention, the fact they think I’m Arista too really isn’t helping honestly..

Eventually Poseidon stopped squinting at me and turned his surprisingly thoughtful eyes away at last, settling on Arion instead.

“Are you sure? She looks more like my mother then that little minx..”
Arion sighed to himself, his shoulders slumping heavily as he shuffled awkwardly next to the much larger man beside him.

“For the last time Sire, your mother Rhea was an incarnation of Arista, just like your wife after her.”
..ohhh, not good..

Seriously?! This is just getting ridiculous!
How many messed-up bloody-incarnations and family ties does Arista bloody-well HAVE?!

“Stop talking such utter swill you blue-gilled gelatinous frog-humping cretin! I specifically remember Thor saying that Loki stole my poor, brain-dead little flat-chested granddaughter Persil so she can’t be-”

“Arial Sire, not Persil.. I mean, NO! No Sire, he said nothing of the sort, I-”
Arion almost managed to look angry for a second but that indignant rage gutted out pretty quickly as Poseidon waved his hand dismissively and shuffled a bit further onto Cetus’s wide scaly shoulder.

“Bah! We’ll take her back with us and let Triton deal with her, I don’t know why I even agreed to helping him retrieve the little bint in the first place, how the man puts up with seven of the little bubbleheads I have NO idea!”

“I.. but.. Sire she’s not..”
Arion trailed off and he did a passable impression of me as his shoulders slumped heavily in defeat.
You can’t fight stupid or crazy with logic sadly, I learnt that fact a long time ago.

“You can’t just kidnap Arista Sire? People will lose their MINDS if-”
Poseidon’s shoulders tensed and Arion cut himself off in an almost painful looking stall of fear.
“..f-fine, yes Sire, a wise decision as always my Lord..”

“That’s better! We’ll make a proper assistant out of you yet boy!”
With a hearty chuckle, Poseidon’s hand flew up to slap so harshly against the poor man’s back so hard that he stumbled forward a few steps in the process.

“..I’m three hundred and fourteen years old you decrepit old windbag..”

“Huh? You say something boy?!”
The respect I’d almost let myself feel for the small man having finally stood up for himself at last fizzled out quickly as he shrunk back into himself in fear all over again.

“Nothing at all, my Lord, I was just trying to work out the logistics of transporting ‘Arial’ back to Triton’s castle.. Nothing worthy of your attention in the slightest..”

In a show of concentration that should be held up as a true example that ‘crazy’ doesn’t in any way mean ‘stupid’, Poseidon fixed Arion with a highly un-amused look that lasted for far too long to be in any way comfortable before giving off a loud huff and turning away from the little man in disgust.

“Prepare the portal you little ingrate.. Cetus is getting bored..”
To my eyes the great big lizard-dog monstrosity looked more constipated than anything else, with the fist holding me up remaining blissfully still for the time being but it’s other one moving in an almost human-like gesture to reach up and pick away at one rather frighteningly large nostril.

Honestly for a moment there I was forcefully reminded of the time a MUCH younger John got told off in first grade for ‘mining for nose gold’ during our head teacher’s, admittedly long-winded and boring, speech about civil responsibility to a load of disinterested six-year-olds.

“We could all just agree to disagree and move on with our lives?”
It was worth a shot at least, I’ve not exactly been proactive on the whole ‘escape’ front so far after all.
..I don’t think their buying it..

“This is why I don’t have any daughters Arion.. women, so full of strange ideas and thoughtless suggestions.”
..HEY!..

Sexist much?!
I don’t care if he IS a senile old man that’s no excuse for-

My offended glare at the rude old codger was suddenly interrupted by a rather disturbingly up-close view of John’s swim shorts covered crotch, luckily it lasted less than a second as he dropped to his knees on Cetus’s massive thumb and wrapped his arms under my armpits in a tight hug.
His head twisted to the side and without a word we disappeared in a nauseatingly fast line-of-sight warp to safety.

======

I collapsed forward onto nice soft grass as we both fell the last few feet back to solid ground because John had apparently slightly miscalculated our rushed-as-all-hell warp destination.
My stomach heaved painfully as it tried to empty its already empty depths but nothing came out no matter how hard my stomach tried to ‘help’ me.

“Hannah? Han, quick! Get up! We need to get through the wards before they-”

“LOKI!!”
Poseidon’s enraged yell echoed out around us despite the relative muffling that should, in theory, have been offered to us by the trees on all sides around this little mini-clearing.

My body didn’t want to cooperate for obvious, heaving related, reasons but John didn’t need more incentive to get moving in the slightest apparently.
He hooked his arm around my waist and lifted me bodily up onto his shoulder in a rather undignified ‘fireman’s carry’ that was none-the-less surprisingly effective as he broke into a sprint back towards the house.

With more speed then I would have expected, possibly aided by his magic in a suspiciously similar way to my own disused speed and stamina boosting blood magic tricks, we practically flew through the trees in as straight a path as possible to reach the ward-lines safety.

Roughly twenty seconds, or forty trees distance away from our starting point depending on how you feel like counting it, a roar rumbled around us making the very ground beneath John’s feet shake and showering us in falling leaves from the trees above.

Something very big, very heavy and worryingly fast was now moving in our general direction.
..it doesn’t take a genius to work out what it is of course..

We broke through the treeline with John desperately gasping for air and I couldn’t help but let out a cry of relief when I felt the tell-tale tingle of our overpowered wards flitting over my skin.
The cry didn’t last long though as the moment we crossed the line John collapsed to the ground in a panting heap with me stuck awkwardly underneath AND on top of him at the same time from my rather painful fall.

“Nice save John-boy, I really appreciate it and the good timing too.. but I swear if you don’t get your face out of my crotch in the next few seconds I’m gonna shove you back through the wards for Cutis to play with!”
To hammer home my point a bit better I kicked my free leg, the one that hadn’t somehow managed to currently hook itself over his head as we landed hard, into his ribs a few times for good measure.

It’s not that I don’t get the gravity of the situation or understand just how MUCH he just saved my ass, but let’s just say that having him anywhere near THAT spot on THIS body is a very bad idea in general and his breath on my thighs is making me more than a LITTLE bit bloody-uncomfortable!

My forth kick to his ribs apparently succeeded where his other ones failed as he finally rolled over with a grunt leaving us both laying side by side, in perfect position to watch on in mounting horror as the massive lumbering form of Cutis crashed its way through the trees towards us.
The beast practically collapsed forward in its haste to reach us which was unfortunate because when it came within range of the wards it was launched off of its webbed truck-sized feet to crash with earth-shaking force across the green of the golf courses ninth hole with an unmistakably loud rumbling groan.

..the resort people are SO not going to be happy with us for this one..
Yeah, no kidding, I think there are more important problems to consider right now though?
..namely the fact that its already getting back to its feet!..

With slow inevitability Cutis pushed itself back up to a bent knee and leaned a massive scaly palm out to rest against our wards again.
At first I thought it was the ill-intent ward holding it back but, the more I stared up at its prodding fingers and the arcs of rippling magic come off of its hand where they made contact with the ward, I couldn’t help but think some other part of the wards must be in effect too.

Ill-intent wards DO have a certain.. ‘bounce’?.. to them, but they would never be able to get even close to having enough power to blast something of Cutis’s size back THAT hard all at once!
The ward is designed to be more focused on making it’s ‘victims’ forget there’s even a place or person inside the ward-line that they want to harm than anything else.

Sure, on a human, the ‘bounce’ can cause some pretty serious harm by launching them bodily into the air if nothing else.. but Cutis isn’t a human.. definitely, definitely NOT a human..

“Bash your way in you stupid beast!”
My eyes cut down from the strangely curious looking eyes of our lizard-dog pursuer to stare at Poseidon as he marched out of the treeline at a pace that belayed his obvious age.

For one painfully long moment I thought Cutis might ignore or at least question that order but that all fell to nothing moments later as it’s webbed scaly-fingers clenched down into a fist again and it reared back to slam a knockout punch hard into the wards, catapulting it’s fist back from the force of the strike but managing to stay in its kneeling position a lot easier this time as it swung in again for a second strike.

“Well.. what’s the plan now then Han?”
I shot John a highly un-amused look and scrabbled back to my feet, fixing my bikini a little to bring back some sense of decency to my bruised ego while giving me an excuse to hide the nervous shake of my fingers.

This is bad.. this is very, VERY bad!

======

“I checked the wardstone myself Hannah, it will hold for a good long time yet, grab a cup of tea and join the pow-wow.”

Gran smiled at me warmly and passed a hand over my shoulder as she made her way out with her own cup of coffee to join the other family mages outside.

Apparently in a situation like this everyone from the lowest level Garnier mage to the fully awakened ‘powerhouses’ that make up the bulk of Arista’s kids has an opinion on what exactly we should be doing to prevent our collective impending doom, despite having no real world experience or helpful knowledge on the topic to boast of.
..they are in no way ‘helping’ despite their best intentions sadly..

In fact all they seem to be doing is coming up with more and more unworkably complicated plans, while arguing constantly about said plans, in all honesty.

..Gran’s helped a little at least..
I’ve not had a chance to really check over the wardstone in our elevator shaft and for all I knew the bloody thing could be moments away from cracking from the pressure of Cutis’s now all-out assault on the houses wards in general.

John’s been acting as my semi-permanent shadow, following behind me so closely that it feels like he’s worried I’ll break at the slightest of breezes or something too so help really is thin on the ground right now.

Every non-combatant including Mum, Sarah, Eris, most of the Weres, and anyone physically under eighteen aside from me is already sequestered in the formerly-golden palace of excess.

We may have time on our side now to plan but I’m not STUPID or anything!
A risk remains a risk until you eliminate it yourself.
Not to be mean about anyone outside taking part in the ‘pow-wow’ but all the important people, for me, are now safe no matter what.. and if I have my way that lot will be joining them all shortly too.

..John doesn’t count, he can take care of himself..

I snagged one of the few remaining cups slowly cooling on the kitchen countertop and turned, coming nose to chest with John and letting off a startled little yelp.

“Powers John, will you back up a bit?! I’m not just gonna disappear because you’re not standing RIGHT next to me for powers sake..”
He DID take a few steps back at that but far fewer then I’d hoped he would.

“..wouldn’t be the first time..”
Oh don’t you give me THAT asshole!

I’m not the one who went running off to who-knows-where while fatally wounded!
I’m not the one who went insane and disappeared off the grid for YEARS, only cropping up to play the classic ‘evil super-villain’ act from the shadows and disappear again without a civil word or a ‘how’ve you been?’ to show for it all?!

“Come on, we’ve got an army of frightened civilian mages to calm down and a plan to come up with that can somehow fix this mess.”
He nodded but didn’t look too pleased with my non-response to his little jab in all honesty.
As I slid past him to go outside he snagged the last remaining coffee and took a deep swig from it before jogging slightly to catch up to me again.

“Any progress on that whole ‘plan’ thing by the way?”
..smart ass..

“Yes, actually, I figured if I we conjure a giant catapult we can put you in it and launch you head-first at Cutis.. even a genetically engineered magical super-monster from the depths of the ocean won’t stand a chance against the almighty power of your rock-hard head.. dumbass..”
Despite the bite in my words John offered me an almost fond, but definitely exasperated, smile as we hit the path and started wondering over to the group of panicking mages that Gran was trying her best to keep as calm as possible.

“Looks like these people need a Matriarch or something?”
He grunted and took his next few steps slightly faster to bring himself next to me properly at last.

“Hold this”

He almost fumbled my tea cup when I passed it into his empty hand and he definitely spilt a little of the precious sanity-restoring nectar inside when I shoved my fingers in my mouth and blew out a loud whistle to get everyone’s attention.

With every eye in the garden fixed on me, even Cutis having paused in his beating against the wards to stare at me from on-high, I tried to gather myself together and prepare to be the hardened battlemage they need right now instead of the actual scared-as-all-hell Hannah that I really am.

“I’m gearing up for a really annoying fight and I’ve already got a headache so I’ll keep this quick.. anyone who has less than fifty awakenings under their belt, anyone who hasn’t at the very least taken down a higher demon or two solo, anyone who can’t cast without a using a focus or their lines.. get the FUCK back in the house and go hide in the elevator room!”

There was a lot of shifting feet and awkward staring while the crowd as a whole tried to see if I was really being serious or not.

“Did I stutter?! Get your asses to safety before the abomination hammering away at our wards is the least of your bloody troubles!”
Still no-one moved.
“You’ve all got ten seconds to get moving before I start inserting heads into asses and making y’all into the world’s biggest emotionally-scarred CONGA LINE!!”

That got them moving at last, all it took was a bit of magic pumped into my voice and my aura.
..powers, mages can be so STUPID sometimes..

“Don’t think I don’t see you both skulking in the shadows too, Felix, Mau, back inside the house. Make sure Sarah, Mum and Eris stay safe no matter what, okay?”
Reluctantly my recently acknowledged, if not fully accepted, ‘familiars’ moved towards the house with everyone else while shooting me doubtful looks and giving off resigned little sighs to each other all the way.

When the crowd had thinned down to the few stragglers who were really reluctant to leave and Gran, I found myself being pulled into a warm hug by said Grandmother.

“Are you sure about this Hannah? We can help, I’ll admit we don’t exactly know how but numbers have proven to help in most fights throughout the years.”
I sighed and squeezed her back before pulling away from her a little so she could see the reassuring, if forced, smile on my face.

“Numbers only help when you have a severe lack of skill available and ALWAYS come with a cost that’s far too high for me to even consider.. get everyone inside Gran, we may not be quite ready yet but you’ve got the current incarnations of Arista and Maxarimus working on a solution here so it’s not like a lack of skill is the overriding problem we’re facing, huh?”
She still looked unconvinced, I can’t really blame her on that one, but she accepted my words for what they were and pulled away from me completely to help move the last few stragglers back towards the house for safe keeping.

“Getting rid of all the possible reinforcements we could have had.. I’m starting to see your plan now, how sneaky of you..”
Oh shut UP smartass!

I don’t hear YOU coming up with any better ideas?!

If they stayed to help, the odds are heavily weighted towards them ALL getting killed in the first five-seconds of the fight.
Family is family but when it comes to a fight my family are pretty much useless.

I wasn’t lying either, we have all we need right here as long as we use our advantages to our.. advantage?
..that sounded less stupid the first time I thought it..

“My current plan is to cause a distraction, get them away from the wards and back to the lake, cause another distraction, then in the melee I’ll inscribe some gravity runes onto Cutis’s legs with blood until the dopey bastard sinks so deep into the mud that it can’t move and we can finish off Poseidon in a two-on-one fight to the finish, all without letting anyone die or flooding Klamath Falls from his raging water magic.. you’re thoughts?”

John sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Your insane.. and suicidal.. and insane-”

“You said that one already”
He didn’t look even slightly amused by my snarky little interruption.

“As plan’s go, you’ve had worse, but that’s more a statement of your terrible planning skills then that plans actual validity as a real option.. can’t you just.. I dunno, seal the giant fish-stick up like a demon or something?”
HA! Dream on John-boy, who the hell do you think I am, some kind of ‘Miko’ or something?!

“If you gave me, say.. two months?.. I could have a nice glyph pattern designed to seal Cutis into a vase or whatever, all it would take is the blood or magic of several virgin girls with the seer’s touch and four hours of careful application across Cutis’s whole body.”
For a painfully long time the only response I received was silence as we held a little battle of wills but eventually even John had to concede defeat this time.

“..you could have just said ‘no’..”
Yeah, I could have but where’s the fun in THAT John-boy?

“I’m an enchanter John, not a miracle worker, runes can do a hell of a lot but there’s a cost-to-payoff ratio in place. In general, bigger the bang, bigger the time and math involved before casting.”
The only way to avoid that kind of problem is to have glyph patterns already planned out in advance but ‘being under siege by the monster from the black lagoon on steroids’ was never high on my priority list for glyph development surprisingly?!

I barely know any restraining techniques in general for powers sake, most of my skills are heavily skewed towards the ‘kill’ end of the battle spectrum sadly.

I’ve got a few ‘stun’ spells and runes I can toss out there but they aren’t going to make a dent on Cutis’s thick hide, aside from that and compulsion spells that make me feel a bit wrong when I cast them, the only thing I really have for restraining people is my conjured restrain..t..s?..

My head swung around to stare up at Cutis in almost horrified glee.
It can’t work.. can it?..

“John.. how BIG do you think Cutis is?”
He shot me a sceptical look for a second but obviously something on my face tipped him off to what was going through my head because a grin slowly slid across his lips in response to my thoughtful half-smile.

“I like that face, that’s a promising face! What have you got Han?”

“I’m thinking, if my conjuring is even half as good as I think it is, then we can kick this whole thing off by giving Poseidon’s massive pet super-weapon the Maven treatment.”
John’s smile turned downright evil as he processed the idea and turned his eyes to stare thoughtfully up at Cutis’s looming form.

“What do you need?”
John’s mumbled question brought me out of my wild calculations and I couldn’t help but shoot him a smirk.

“A few minutes hopefully.. and a whole lot of luck?”

He shifted his feet slightly and gave me a quick one armed hug.
“Have I mentioned lately how much I love that big, beautifully twisted brain of yours?”

“Yes.. but it never hurts to repeat it often though just to be sure I remember, of course.”
He laughed heartily and nestled his face in my hair for a second before pulling back again, giving me room to get started.

“I’ll be lost for a bit as I work on this, make sure nothing squishes me in the meantime.. and don’t you DARE get fresh with my semi-comatose body you dirty perv!”

To the echoing thumps of Cutis’s assault and John’s laughter I sunk into meditation pose with a deep calming breath.
..it should be fine, it’s just like all my other restraints, just bigger..

“I swear John-boy, you so much as LOOK at my boobs while I’m doing this and you’ll get your own first-hand experience with just how amazingly awesome my enchanted restraints can be!”

======

Demon restraints as a base.. enlarge them.. that bit won’t work, his forearms are too long..
That’s better.. what else?..
AH! That bit needs to be wider!

Just a few more touches..
Add an extra strap there.. and there.. and there..

..why not just add a few more too? Can’t hurt right?..
Sooo true!

I think.. yeah, that’s what I want?..
Now I just need to.. OMMPH!

======

Back in the real world I ‘woke up’ with a gasp and found myself lying sideways with my head rested on something warm and soft?
The magic I’d built up and carefully shaped inside my body surged before I could analyse the situation more than that though, causing the flower strewn grass in front of my face to became a massive tangled mess of thick black leather straps as the conjuration finally manifested into the real world.

“I take it that means you’re awake now, huh?.. good, your drooling on my thigh was getting mildly annoying..”
I twisted in Johns lap and glared up at his smug face.

“How about you don’t mention my drooling on you again and I don’t comment on the suspiciously hard spot I can feel pressing into the back of my head which I REALLY hope isn’t precisely what I KNOW it is?”
He blanched and quickly waved his hands up guiltily in defeat.

The hard spot didn’t go away though annoyingly so he’s obviously not feeling THAT guilty about it!
..stupid perv..

“Anything I can do to help?”
With a shove I forced myself back into a seated position and cast a thoughtful glance over the leather restraints I’d just created before answering him with an uncertain shrug.

It’s all runes from here and seeing as I’m the only person who has the restraint system memorised I doubt he can actually help for now.
Plenty of time for that later, I’ve still not sorted out just HOW I’m going to get these stupidly heavy and completely unsubtle restraints near enough to Cutis that I can activate them without getting myself killed as it is.

“Give me a minute and we’ll talk, I just need to get the runes done quickly.”
He shrugged and stayed seated in his cross-legged position as I wandered off to move the straps around a bit, giving me better access to the parts I need while forming and setting the rune matrixes.

“This is so much bloody easier when the straps are human sized..”

======

“John-boy, come give me a hand. I’ve got to activate these and there’s the slightest possibility that I won’t have enough control to stop the whole system from blowing up in our faces, if it does then get us out of here, okay?”
He nodded and made his way over to hug his arms around my waist a bit tighter then strictly necessary.

To be honest he didn’t need to ‘hug’ me at all, a simple hand on my shoulder would be enough for him to side-along warp me to safety but I’m not going to tell HIM that at the moment.. his warm magic feels nice where our bodies are touching and I need all the help I can get to keep calm considering how out of control my magic’s been lately.

“Okay.. three.. two.. one”
With a dip and a shove I started loading a steady stream of magic into the storage runes on the restraints, bigger restraints mean bigger storage runes and bigger everything else really.

To my surprise the drain wasn’t too bad and my output stayed stable at a manageable rate for the full thirty-seconds it took to fill the runes to bursting.
I brought my other hand down on the control cluster to my right when the runes lit up at last and with another pulse they set, the glow of my magic fading away until the runes had blended in nicely with the dark leather they were written on.

Instinctively I leaned back with a relieved sigh and found myself nestling tightly into John’s hold.

For a moment his presence surprised me before I remembered why he was sitting so close but that quickly got surpassed by a sudden need to hold in the pleased purr that wanted to bubble its way up from the back of my throat.
..I love the way his magic makes my skin tingle..

“You can let go now John-boy, no big boom for once.”
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just my imagination when he hesitated slightly before letting his arms come loose from around my waist.

I think he got scared earlier, it’s not often that I end up being captured in general and he’s been a bit clingy ever since he rescued me too.
..stupid John..

“So.. any idea’s how we’re going to drop these things on Cutis’s gigantic hea-”
A lack of sound finally registered in MY head as I ran through the different ways we could catch it unawares and I turned sharply to look at the beast in fear as my blood ran cold at the sight before me.
..nothing but empty sky and the treeline?..

Where-where did it.. WHEN did it stop beating away at the wards?!

“SHIT! Where’d it go John?”
He turned thoughtfully towards the same, now empty, patch of land before turning his eyes back to me with a warm smile.

“He left about two minutes ago, went lumbering off towards the lake again. I figured he needed to get a bit more water and he’d be back when he was done, no big deal.”

No big deal?!
NO big BLOODY deal!

It’s a massive sea beast keeping us trapped behind the wards, it wanders off to who KNOWS where and it’s not a big DEAL?!

My brain kicked into hyper-drive with worry as possibilities flew around, each more dangerous than the last.
A beast of that size wouldn’t need more water for ages.
The only reason it would retreat would be to regroup or to change tactics under Poseidon’s command!

I opened my mouth to voice my fears but my voice stalled out when a loud enraged roar echoed out around us making the ground shake from the force of it.

Almost instinctively I found myself dipping into my lines again.
In seconds an old wooden pocket telescope like the one we used to use when playing ‘pirate’ as kids formed in one hand and my free hand was flying up to my mouth to provide the needed blood.

John watched on with more than a little surprise obvious on his face as my bloody fingers skittered out along the wood forming vision runes, targeting runes and a complex pattern of recording runes I perfected years ago all together into a makeshift Glyph I was redesigning practically on the fly.

Less than fifteen seconds after the first roar reached us the telescope was complete.
I shoved myself away from John and before he could question my actions I forced a pulse of clockwise magic into the floor then hit it with a pulse of anti-clockwise, launching myself high into the sky from the reaction.
..just like Edith trying to reach a tall shelf but with a lot more power in it..

From this distance it was hard to make out anything going on by the lake but it wasn’t hard to see a now rather angry looking Cutis leaning over something at the far bank on the opposite side of the lake from us.

The telescope extended and I had it up to my eye without a thought while I practically hung in the air for a moment or two as gravity fought magic to decide who would win.
I swung the telescopes lens around wildly in Cutis’s direction but couldn’t get a much better idea of what was happening before gravity finally won out sending me plummeting back to earth again.

“HANNAH!”
John yelped and leapt up slightly to catch me with a cushion of his magic covering his arms to stop my fall.

..kind of lucky I wasn’t at terminal velocity or he could have killed me..
Stupid John

“What the hell are you doi-”

“SHH!”
My finger came up to his lips but it was practically an involuntary action as I clutched the telescope to my eye and turned my head to stare in the direction of Cutis again.

As I’d hoped, while the image wasn’t the best or anything, my rough and ready runes managed to capture a still image of everything they saw in my wild swing from on-high.
With a few taps to the tuning runes at the side I had the image zoomed in a bit better and I stared hard at the other side of the lake to see what was going on.

Crap.. CRAP!..
I dropped the telescope to the floor and stared off at the trees in horror.

“The MPA are here and they’re trying to piss Cutis off!”

It wasn’t perfect, I couldn’t see everything, but it’s kind of hard to misjudge the massive army of mixed mages and SWAT teams aiming at a crouched Cutis who appeared to be actually roaring a challenge towards them in the exact moment that I managed to capture.

“We need to go! We need to go NOW or they’re going to get themselves killed!”
I went to race forward towards the wardline but found myself pulled up short by John’s unreasonably strong grip on my wrist.
“John! What are you doing?! We need to GO!”

I yanked a few more times to try and break free but he just stared down at me with a pained look on his face.

“I’ll warp out there with the restraints Han. Tell me where to hit to activate them, I can warp above Cutis and drop them on him before warping back to safety.”
..NO!..

“I’m NOT letting you fight this thing on your own John! Anything could go wrong, Poseidon’s there too and you just appearing could even set the MPA off!”
..we need to stop this in person..

“It was my great idea to get rid of Thor with that stupid story Han, I started all this and I’m not gonna-”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sharp rebuke sadly, being interrupted by a rattling cacophony of explosions that all blended together into a worryingly loud sound as a whole.

“Shit! The MPA have opened fire John! We don’t have TIME for this, Cutis is going to go ballistic, we have to protect them!”
I shoved his chest to give myself some room and tried to make another break for the trees but yet again he pulled me up short by my arm, this time his face set with determination instead of worry.

“The MPA know what they’re doing Han. It’s their job to protect everyone, it’s my job to protect you! Screw everyone else, you’re the important one Han. Let the MPA handle things-”
My free hand flew out and slapped him hard across the cheek.

For a dull moment I was shocked by my own actions but righteous indignation flooded in to cover for my stalling a heartbeat later.

..How DARE he?!..
He doesn’t have to PROTECT me!
I’m not more important than all those innocent people!

WE brought this down upon them with OUR careless actions and I’M going to fix it, for powers sake!

“Let. Me. GO!”
I flailed uselessly against him but he swung me around and looped the arm he already had holding my wrist across my chest to hold me tighter to himself.
“Damn it John! People are going to die if we don’t st-”

“I DON’T CARE!”
His roar cut me short and I trembled slightly at the force of those words.

“You’re what’s important to me, if it means keeping you safe I’d sacrifice anything.. s-so just stay here behind the wards and we can-”
My free hand flew out awkwardly but managed to slap him hard enough across the head to stall him out once again.

“Screw you John! Don’t give me that bullshit, he’s here because of US! People will be killed because of the lie that WE told to save OUR asses!”
With a forceful bounce I launched my feet up then pulled them tight to my chest before kicking them down again, throwing off John’s balance while forcing us both into a forward roll.
As his grip loosened in surprise it was just enough for me to twist and slide out from under him as he landed on the grass hard.
..whoever said Judo was a waste of time..

“We’re not the bad-guy’s John!.. at least.. at least I’m not, and I didn’t think you were either?..”

My vision blurred slightly and my breath came in sharp little pants for some reason.
For a moment I couldn’t work out why until I found myself sniffing automatically and a damp trail formed on my cheek.

DAMN IT! Why the hell am I crying?!

“Han don-”
I’d had enough of it all and didn’t wait for him to continue, my arm forcefully scrubbed away the evidence of my stupid tears and without another word I span on a foot to sprint off towards the lake.

..stupid John..
I thought he’d changed!

I thought he’d stopped treating people like throw away objects and he’d finally started being a normal human again but he’s just the same as he always will be and I’m an utter FOOL for thinking otherwise!

Stupid John!
Stupid FUCKING John!!

I’d barely gotten to the edge of the wards before something big and heavy tackled me to the side, sending us tumbling to the ground in a mess of flying limbs and wildflowers.
We came to a stop with me pinned underneath John’s body, my hair splayed out around me and a glare stuck firmly on my face as I stared up at his panting form in anger.

“Hannah, LISTEN to me for a second damn it!”
I struggled against him but my every attempt was suppressed with an annoying amount of ease.
He knows my best tricks, even bucking my hips and twisting was stopped handily when he dropped his knee down hard into my hip in retaliation making me pull back with a pained hiss and go back to glaring at him impudently instead.
“You’re not going to help anyone if you just go charging in like this, YOU’RE going to get killed instead!”

“BETTER ME THEN THEM!”

A silence rang out around us as John tried to digest those words.
I don’t know why he’s struggling so much to be honest, one semi-immortal mage verses hundreds of innocent normals?
Of COURSE it’s better if it’s just me!

They have families and people need them and there’s so many of them tha-

“..you don’t mean that.. Han, you can’t mean that?!”
With a growl I bucked my hips again rather than answer him.
He moved his knee to stop my escape almost unconsciously in his partly stunned state which was useful because it left him wide open when my knee rose up to smack harshly into his groin.

I barely even noticed his pained grunt as he tilted slightly to the side, only registering it at all because I made sure to capitalize on my low-blow’s effect to the max by forcing myself free of his grasp and jerking myself back to my feet in a sloppy roll.

“Hide in here if you want John, I won’t let other people die for my sake!”
He managed to gather himself together enough to reach a hand towards me but before he could say anything else I was gone, rushing past the ward line and off towards the lake as fast as my legs would carry me.

======

..what the hell am I doing?..

Oh crap.. Oh crap.. Oh crap!
WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!

On the outside, I was cool, calm and collected despite my heaving breaths.
As I sprinted through the trees of our home, trying to convince myself I was some kind of warrior ready to charge into death or at the very least capture, to save potentially thousands of innocent lives.

On the inside however.. well..

..this is insane!..
I know.
..what the hell am I THINKING?..
I KNOW!
..no plan, no backup, no spells worth a damn against that thing!..
I get it brain now shut UP!

I'm trying to do math here.
No matter how many times I run the numbers it all ends up the same.

For me to build up a big enough blast of my magic to take down that thing without getting squashed or flooding half of Oregon, I need at least twenty seconds to focus on building it all up internally where I'd be practically defenceless.

I can’t do it at long range; the spell would have to be released practically point-blank to get through Cutis’s thick skin!
Even after that I'll be left wide open as a giggly mess like the time I brought John back to life too, the human body just isn’t BUILT for casting so much magic through itself at once.
..this is practically a suicide mission..
I KNOW!

Powers, I need help?!
I need a distraction, something, ANYTHING at this point!

Finally I broke through the trees and I found myself coming to a halt at the water’s edge, looking out as Cutis in all his monumental glory roared away and battered his scaly fists hard against what appeared to be some kind of ward bubble wrapped around the MPA teams who were focusing most of their efforts on apparently irritating the beast with gunfire, which didn’t actually seem to be DOING anything to the stupid thing!
..stupid MPA..

“Okay Hannah, you got yourself this far you stubborn idiot, what’s the plan?”
For once I didn’t actually have an answer for myself there.

My only ‘good’ idea at the moment was to use my overpowered magical storage abilities to vaporise Cutis out of existence but that needs time I don’t have to pull off and would leave me completely open to retaliation from Poseidon afterwards too.

“You know.. I was going to ask the exact same thing in a few more seconds..”
I jumped and let off a frightened yelp when John’s voice came from practically right behind me.
As I span around I found myself staring in stunned surprise as John offered me a still rather pained smirk and jostled one of the thick leather straps of the restraints he’d piled up behind him.

Instinctively I found myself feeling out the area with my mage senses and the tell-tale signs of warp residue gave an explanation for his sudden appearance if nothing else.
How on earth he managed to warp here directly with the restraints in tow though, I’ve got no idea?

“What do you want John-boy? Can’t you see I’m busy!”
Get lost you heartless bastard!
I thought you’d changed, I thought.. I thought..

“Little point in staying away from the battlefield if the only person I want to protect is determined to run headfirst into things with her eyes shut, is there?”
The smirk on his face looked almost apologetic for a few seconds but it quickly gave way to amusement instead.
“Besides, situations like this are why I normally do the planning for both of us.. powers save me from overly-emotional women..”
..HEY!..

I was doing PERFECTLY well without you John!
I’ve got a plan.. it’s not a working plan, I’ll admit.. but it’s a plan so screw you!

“I be agreein’ with the fop, useless girl. Plannin’ not be your area of expertise, head too thick, I be tryin’ but I can only be doin’ so much..”
..Edith?..

In all her withered glory Edith came rocketing out of the trees to my right, landing next to us while using her JuJu stick, one foot kicked out for balance and the other planted firmly on the slanted stick like some kind of demented wooden Segway scooter, as an apparently rather fast method of transport that I’ve never seen her use before.

“What be the plan then girl? Fae pet’s try an’ recruit me earlier but I be knowin’ you’d be involved in this mess somehow, it be your nature!”
She broke off to cackle madly to herself and shoot a thoughtful look between me, John and the piled up restraints as if she could decipher what was to come from just those few clues in general.
..Edith..

I sniffed back hard to stop any stupid girly ‘happy’ tears from escaping me as I watched my mentor hop around slightly with an uncharacteristic amount of energy and enthusiasm.
“I be havin’ history with Poessy, ya be lettin’ me take a shot at him an’ I be givin’ ya a discount next time you visit the shop useless girl?”

My eyes cut between Edith’s practically glowing smile to John’s now smug smirk and back, my shoulders slumping slightly in what may have been relief but felt a lot more like defeat than anything else for some reason
..ask and ye shall receive..

A locus point, her deviously heartless best-friend and her ancient mentor verses a senile old god of the sea and his pet abomination against nature..
..I actually like our odds surprisingly?..

John warps the restraints onto Cutis then distracts it while I charge up and Edith gets to play with ‘Poessy’, keeping him out of the fight until we’re ready for him?
..it’s better than anything else we have planned at least..

“..Okay.. Okay, here's what I’m thinking-”

======

“We ready?”

“Well DUH! Come on John-boy, you want to live forever?”
Edith cackled to herself and so did I at the almost offended look on his face.

“Preferably? YES! You arrogant little-”

“I can’t hear you John, I’m running off into certain doom, come save me like the hero of legend you obviously think you are before I get squished because you’re too busy picking your nose to do your part on time!”
That said I dipped into my lines and cast a pair of on-the-fly ‘velox ped’ enchantments to my sandals simultaneously.

He barely managed to yelp out my name before I was off, sending mud flying for a moment before I hit the water’s edge and launched myself out to skid my way across the water’s surface like a human shaped jet ski suspended above the water on twin cushions of air that kicked up an arc of displaced water in my wake.
For a moment I smiled as Edith joined me, employing a similar technique I didn’t quite catch the name of to turn her stick into some kind of propellant system as it’s tip sunk below the water line and jetted her forward at speeds that exceeded even my maximum.
..she always has to be just that LITTLE bit better, doesn’t she?..

We angled our way past the shallows around Buck Island and off towards the giant beast ahead of us, the sound of rapidly moving water drowned out practically all noise for me aside from the spray itself and my own hammering heartbeat.

..we’re insane..
We are definitely, DEFINITELY, insane!
If this works then I’m going to have to start finding luck gods to praise because they obviously like me enough already as it is at that point to name myself as a high-priestess at the very least?!

As agreed, Edith shot off ahead of me to find her own route to Poseidon while I shifted my feet and set myself into a holding pattern, doing wide doughnut shapes in the water so I could focus internally and start the painfully too slow, yet hopefully worthwhile process of building up my compressed magic to dangerous levels.

If anything is going to be enough to take Cutis out, it’s gonna be a blast of magic that has so far proven itself powerful enough to break all rules that I can think of and bring back the dead!

Vaguely I noticed when John warped in high above the beast, dropping the now glowing restraints on its head which quickly went ridged as they began slithering around its form to hold it rigidly in place, I couldn’t focus too hard on it though because one of my compressed balls of magic surged due to my inattention and I had to frantically scrabble around to secure it back down before things got out of hand.

Luckily I shouldn’t need ‘resurrection’ levels of magic for this and it took me about fifteen seconds before my chest started hurting from how much magic I had squashed down into the relatively small confines of my icy core.

Just like last time, my body started to feel heavy and the world slowed as I finished the last rolling compression that I felt safe doing.
With a twitch of my feet I pulled out of my latest rotation on the water and practically flew across the distance between my latest doughnut and Cutis’s towering form.

My eyes took everything in at once as my brain worked overtime processing it all in that single instant.

Off to the side Edith was visible hopping around on the water while running rings around Poseidon like the annoying little Yoda wannabe that she is.
In front of me the MPA have apparently all ceased fire to stop and watch as John flits around the barely restrained form of Cutis in confusion.

..how John can warp that many times at once I have no idea?..
Just the idea of consecutive warps makes me sick usually but even as I moved towards him and our prey I could see him warp yet again, disappearing with a blue glow only to reform on Cutis’s other side and send a kick to the great beasts ear as he falls through the air making it roar in anger while thrashing uselessly against its restraints.

A moment later I crash into the beasts leg, practically sticking myself to it as my feet kicked up to stop my forward momentum and my core protested at all the magic I have locked inside me, all at the same time.

I turned my eyes up at the main part of Cutis’s body I’d have to aim for, biting back a grimace at the fact that this left me staring at his very large, very monstrous, very MALE crotch.. and swirled my magic in the most common form of generic ‘lethal’ attack spell arrangement in existence.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a water mage, a fire mage, a lightning mage or an ice one, the basic framework for a blast of pure magic is still the same.. which is useful for me because I have NO idea how to shape my diversion offensively otherwise and the alternative would involve turning Upper Klamath Lake with the surrounding few miles around it into an ice sculpture sadly!

I’d like to say I had some kind of ‘witty’ name for the attack planned out or at the very least some kind of catchy saying to throw out there but honestly my lips parted and a gasp ripped itself from me as the magic inside pulsed with all the tightly compressed ‘balls’ of power inside my core beginning to unravel at once.
It was all I could do to just let it all loose as I manifested the spell matrix at my fingertips and pointed my palms vaguely up towards the beast above me with a pained yelp.

For a brief moment it felt like the world disappeared as my senses collapsed around me and my body convulsed with the force of magic leaving me all at once.

======

I came back to myself as I fell back-first into the water below.. which felt like hitting a far too hard, far too wet mattress for the few seconds it took before I bobbed back up to the surface sputtering liquid past my already building uncontrollable, unnatural giggles.
My eyes fixed high up into the air so I could watch what my amazing blast of magic had achieved.

Some part of me registered that I should be, at least somewhat, worried by the completely undamaged nature of the monster crotch facing me.

Some part of me even started to REALLY begin worrying as its feet lifted in the water a little sending waves crashing around me.

Some part of me decided that trying to use magic, that’s so far proven to be excellent at healing or repairing things and nothing else, as an offensive weapon was probably not the BEST idea in the world?

None of those parts were apparently ‘in charge’ anymore though because despite my best efforts I sprawled lazily in the water and cackled insanely to myself as the beasts skin seemed to literally glow in golden power before, with a flex of its massive arm muscles, it tore my conjured restraints to shreds from physical force alone.
..that’s not good..

I’m gonna die! That’s so awesom-
..NO, FOCUS HANNAH!..

I’ve beaten this before, I can do it again damn it!

Before I could really get any kind of solid grasp on my senses at last, a huge scaly hand reached down and scooped me up almost delicately from the water into its depths while swing me up to eye level with the beast that I just failed to kill.

I’m not ashamed.. okay, maybe a little ashamed?.. to admit that when it brought me up to eye level with its seemingly even larger then I remember eyes, I wet myself a little bit.
..not the water diversion kind of ‘wet myself’ either..

As its jaw dropped open to show row-upon-row of gleaming teeth I started losing track of reality in general from fear clouding my mind on an almost equal level to the powerful forced waves of joy that inevitably come from over-using my magic, which are pressing in on me as well at this exact moment.

I didn’t even manage to twitch my fingers before my still recovering magic surged forth again, forming up the now familiar golden ‘bubble’ shield effect that it did while I was facing Maven.
A second after that, tendrils of gold started slowly pulling themselves loose from the bubble and lashing out around me defensively.

Cutis moved its giant snout closer to sniff at me but before it could get too close the tendrils surged and began hitting his scaly skin with more force than I would have thought possible from a magical construct, solid or not.
..I didn’t tell it to do that?..

Cutis’s free hand came up with a finger ready to poke at my shield but was stopped short as the tendrils moved violently to the side and broke the monumental finger in one clean twist, causing the beast to roar out in pain.

As I lay on the giants palm feeling almost disconnected from it all my magic went to work on the beast, beating or breaking anything that came within reach aside from the palm I was resting on itself.

The weirdest part was still to come though when a chill spread down my spine and slowly, painfully slowly, the color of the dome shield around me started to change?
Light blue bled into the gold and with prodding, jerky movements it beat back the gold until the entire dome was a cold feeling shade of blue instead.

My eyes couldn’t seem to settle on any one spot for long but I could still see as the blue began its march up the length of the tendrils, despite the gold’s best efforts to hold it back.
..I DIDN’T TELL IT TO DO THAT!..

As the last of the gold was forced out of the tendrils in the form of a wispy golden mist, more tendrils started to form all across the shields outer edge, quickly growing from little nubs to long thick tentacles that draped down out of sight and wrapping so tightly around Cutis’s body that it could barely move at all.

Slowly the bubble shield thinned and deformed, wrapping itself around me like a two-inch thick full-body cloak of power.
As it finished, more tendrils formed on my back and pushed my body up into a standing position so I could stare into the, now blown-wide in fear, eyes of Cutis.

..this can’t be happening..

My magic’s out of control again?! Why’s it doing this?
I’m not.. I’m not in control..

‘Why is my magic DOING this?!’

"That would probably be because it's not your magic to start with Alice.. it's MINE.."
The words spilled from my actual, physical lips at almost the exact same moment that I lost control my body completely.
A hand rose up and flexed itself thoughtfully within my eye range.
"Sit back for now Little Alice, you tried your best, time to let Mummy handle this one."

Something non-physical seemed to slam into my strange new 'not really there but very real feeling' chest out of nowhere and as I watched blue wisps of magic roll freely across my fingers my gut rolled in pain to match it.
The hit was so hard I gasped out in surprise, although the sound never reached my actual lips.

With a jolt I found myself falling towards the flat white endless floor of my mindscape from pretty high above my usual starting point inside it!

======

I crashed to the ‘ground’ with a groan, still winded and highly confused from the whole mess.
“..what the hell just happened?..”

“Looks like you finally messed up again, sister dear.. no Theodora to save you this time either, bet you regret ignoring me so much now, huh?”
Shakily I managed to raise my head slightly and stare up at the girl standing before me.

Between her new, almost childish looking purple party dress and the admittedly impressive but no less odd, fussy hairstyle she’d gained, it took me a few seconds to recognise her past the throbbing in my poor abused head.

“..Ellie?..”
Her eyes darkened in rage and she stepped closer to me, pointy little heeled shoes clicking in the silence of my mindscape loudly as her skirts swished around her knees at my eye level.

“My NAME is HANNAH!”
Alongside that almost wounded sounding cry, she reared back her foot and let fly with a hard kick at my face that hit with unerring accuracy across my left temple making the world blossom with pain and the white mindscape around me grow unbearably bright for a second before instantly disapp-

There's a time for jokey introduction statements; this isn't one of them. Arista is awake... I repeat, Arista is awake! Events unfold including but not limited to: Ellie having fun babysitting Alice, Hannah takes a stream of interrupted naps (none of them by choice), and Arista has unreasonably large breasts, apparently. Get ready to strap in again folks! The countdowns started and we're in for a bumpy ride!

 

“So powerful?”
My lips curled in joy as my fingers waved listlessly through the air in front of me leaving trails of blue magic in their wake.
“How utterly glorious!”

My wrist flipped out and without a single input from me the thick tendrils of condensed magic around me started to grow once more, weaving their way further and further down Cutis’s form until he was practically cocooned in my magic’s icy grasp.

“Oh Alice.. oh my darling girl, you are without a doubt my greatest creation..”
My eyes scanned around us listlessly for a second despite my attempt to halt their movement, pausing slightly on John where he lay panting on the shoreline far below with people rushing to his aid before moving over to stare at Edith’s almost dancing battle across the water with Poseidon, which still showed no sign of ending any time soon.
“It’s a shame she got her claws into you so early, I’m sure we can fix that with time though, can’t we?”

My hand rose up with a few arcing finger movements and an ornate hand-mirror appeared in my palm, slowly my hand continued up until it reached eye level with my face and the smirk on my lips twitched just the tiniest bit wider.

“Hello Alice, you can see me, can’t you?.. how extraordinary you are my clever little girl..”
My head cocked to the side and an almost tired sigh left my lips as they shifted down slightly into a pout.
“I have a sea beast to send home, an old man to put in his place and a victory to claim before I’m ready to chat properly with you Dearheart.”
A smirk spread across my lips as my eyes twinkled slightly with some deep amusement that I couldn’t hope to understand.
“You don’t want to watch all that, do you?.. it will be ever so dull..”

My hands moved again, one drawing the mirror closer to my eye while the other pulled down my eyelid ever so slightly with such gentle care.

“Don’t worry Alice. I’ll keep up the act for your sake, even play the love-struck little imp with your ‘John’, and when I’m done, I promise that I will explain everything you need to know my dearest daughter.. don’t fight me Dearheart, mother knows best.. how about you just.. Sleep?”

The word, spoken from my own lips, hit me hard and the world grew hazy as I stared into my own sparkling eye until it all finally faded out into the oblivion of slee-.

======

“Huh? Hardy little shit aren’t you sis?.. admittedly I’ve never kicked someone like that before but you have and usually they’re out for a few hours, not a minute..”

“..oww?..”
Slowly I rolled myself over and winced at the bright white light all around me but eventually my eyes focused enough that I could see Ellie’s face properly at last.

“Oh well! Guess that just means I’ve gotta hit you harder this time.”
I barely had a second to blink before she reared back her foot and punted me in the face so hard that blood flew everywhere.
“Oops?.. Silly me, I missed. Hold still now and this won’t hurt a bit!”

Judging by the slightly manic grin spreading across her face I’m not completely convinced that the ‘miss’ was in any way unintentional.

“Ellie don’t-”
With a now rather predictable roar of rage she pulled back again and kicked me so hard in the side of the head that something broke.
In a heartbeat the world turned fuzzy and proceeded to go dark all over again for me.

======

“-I appreciate your help Elder, I doubt we could have succeeded this day if it wasn’t for your aid.”

“Ba! Useless girl be needin’ all the help she can get.”
My eyes finally came back into focus and I found myself staring at Edith while we both stood on the shoreline.

At this point I’m not sure of anything, especially what the hell is going on right now, but I think Edith is giving me the sceptical look she usually saves for those rare times that a Hub staff-member is stupid enough to claim some level of knowledge or competence in her presence?
It’s a subtle shift from her usual grumpy frown to her sceptical-grumpy frown in all honesty but it’s one you come to recognise when the change can be the difference between a shop discount or a cry of ‘BAD JUJU’ followed by the sound of wood meeting skull.

With all my hopes that the whole ‘talking to Arista as she took over my body’ thing was just a bad dream leaving me, panic set in and I found myself frantically trying to move my body in some way or another.

I’ve not got much experience with mental magic in general but willpower happens to be a rather large factor whenever two mages face off against each other for control in any situation.
A fire mage can beat a water mage if their magic, focus and will are stronger then the water one, despite their natural type disadvantage, after all!

In a purely metaphysical sense I ‘held my breath’ and forced my will as hard as I could towards the idea of moving my body.
After a painfully long pause and the beginnings of a truly monumental headache for my troubles my left leg suddenly buckled sending my body awkwardly sideways mid-conversation.

It wasn’t much but it was something, proof that all hope wasn’t lost yet if nothing else.
That being said I felt exhausted from the effort now and, as if the universe just wanted to mock me, John practically appeared out of nowhere to catch me before my body could fall too far towards the water again.

“I’d be the first person to say you rock that whole ‘utter lack of grace’ look like a ‘nerd goddess of falling injuries’ Han, but I think it’s time you stopped pretending and admitted that your exhausted. You’re magic is weak as all hell, which isn’t that much of a surprise considering that crap you pulled on Cutis, but you need time to recover.”
For a long moment my body stiffened within John’s grasp, a problem that got even worse as his magic gently brushed over mine like it so regularly does lately, asking permission to cover me in it’s warm depths, before Arista apparently came to a decision and let herself go limp against his side.

John obviously took that as a sign because he quickly shifted himself and scooped us up into his arms in a ‘bridal carry’, turning away from the water’s edge towards the trees without another word.
My eyes strayed around the treeline for a few seconds but while they moved around my focus remained on what I could see of Edith and John’s faces out of ‘my’ peripheral vision.

It may just be my fear driven desperation talking but I could have SWORN they both shared a meaningful look over my head?
It’s kind of hard to tell properly when you can’t control where your eyes are focusing obviously, if I didn’t know both of them so well and their facial expressions specifically then I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell anything was happening in general honestly..

‘Awake again Alice?’
If I could feel or control my body in the slightest at this point I’m sure a cold chill would have gone down my spine as Arista’s version of my voice echoed awkwardly into my brain without coming from my physical ears.
‘My, my, you’re more persistent then I gave you credit for Dearheart.. whatever am I going to do with you now?’

My body stayed practically immobile in John’s arms as we moved off into the trees.
While I don’t like making assumptions, sometimes that’s the only option available and I think it’s a pretty safe bet to assume that in order to talk to me like this Arista’s had to disconnect herself slightly from my body?

..very dangerous move..
Very dangerous move indeed!

Before she could say another word I pulled together all of my willpower that I could martial and did the only thing I could think of.
Out in the real world my body jerked harshly to the side making John stagger slightly and stare down at me in surprise.

“..John..”
The word left my lips without any of the force, without any of the power and desperate screaming fear I wanted to give it even as the rest that would follow disappeared into nothingness.

I couldn’t get another word off before I lost contact with my body again and Arista started forcing us to cough heavily as if it would cover my word in some way, while an overwhelming pressure pushed down upon me from whatever weird space of existence I’m currently.. existing in?..

Focusing on her actions became a secondary priority a moment later though because in my drained state something managed to slam into my consciousness again and, just like the first time she forced me into my mindscape, I lost my tenuous contact with reality to the white abyss once more.

======

“Aaaaaaahh-oof!”
Falling out of the sky in your mindscape, only to come crashing down against an endless expanse of white never gets any easier or less scary apparently?
The falling wasn’t too bad objectively but the stopping hurt like a bitch sadly!

I just lay there on the white floor that so painfully stopped my fall at first panting heavily and trying to gather my whit’s from the wild ride I’d just ‘enjoyed’.

I didn’t even know it was possible for a metaphysical representation of your consciousness shown in the form of a ‘body’ to ache but apparently mine can because it does, and my head hurts, and it feels like I cracked a rib or something on impact this time too..

“Well that one lasted a bit longer at least? Maybe I just need to get more creative in how I knock you out?”
..oh no..
“I hurt you accidentally before knocking you out last time too.. better be safe than sorry I guess?.. don’t worry Alice, this will hurt you a lot more then it’s gonna hurt me, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.”

Her feral grin told a completely different story as Ellie walked towards me with an almost casual air about her.

“I promise this has nothing to do with any kind of resentment I may rightfully harbor against you for mistreating me, locking me up inside your head in isolation or teasing me by first giving and then tearing away the only family I’ve ever had in a matter of days.. this is strictly business.. Momma wants you to take a timeout until she’s done sorting your messes out for you and she left me in charge of you.”

“Ellie.. please, don’t-”

“MY NAME’S HANNAH!”
The world shifted, endless white walls darkening into an ominous shade of red and a creeping black, meanwhile the floor underneath me surged and rolled until I found myself laying splayed out on a table formed out of the floor with solid restraints moulded from the table itself holding me in a spread-eagled position.

“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll remember my name.. I can promise you that much Alice.. I can promise you that much.”
Her hand waved in the air slightly and a pair of dangerous looking, extra-large sharp-edged shears formed out of thin air to rest in her palm.
She twisted them over as if inspecting them before turning her eyes back towards me with almost gleeful anticipation obvious on her face.
“Where should we start? Fingers or toes?”

“Ell-Hannah? Please don’t do this..”

“SEE! You CAN learn, imagine how much progress we’ll make with a bit of time and effort?”
She stepped closer to me and I frantically tried to struggle my way free to no avail.
“I think we should alternate, a finger, a toe then rinse and repeat.. one snip for every year you left me trapped in here all alone sounds fair, doesn’t it?”
She cocked her head to the side almost thoughtfully, it didn’t last long however before her smile brightened again with malicious glee.
“We’ll have to get inventive when we get past twenty I guess.. don’t worry, I’m good at being inventive.”

“Hannah don’t.. No! No, No, No, NO!”
She leaned in to snatch up the pinky finger on my left hand and, with a crunch that will haunt my nightmares for years to come, her ‘fun’ began in earnest.

======

The real world materialised around me as I finally, blissfully fell unconscious within my mind scape.

For a long time I couldn’t focus on anything of importance.
If it were possible at that exact moment I would have rolled my body into a tight ball and just sobbed myself into oblivion.. the things she did to me.. the pain was unimaginable!

While ‘waking’ to find my body still completely out of my control isn’t even close to a ‘good’ thing, the fact that I couldn’t directly feel my fingers and toes but could see them as Arista apparently took time out of her busy evil plotting day to paint my nails in a dark shade of purple nail polish, one that I know for a FACT I don’t own, at least reassured me that damage done to someone inside their mindscape doesn’t translate into the outside world.

..it was a long shot to start with but then again you never know with magic, right?..
Exactly!

I took just enough time to catalogue my body in general and the fact that we were apparently resting on my bed for some reason, before moving to much more important things like my desperate need to cry my heart out for the pain and suffering I just had to live through at the hands of ‘Inner-Hannah’.. definitely Inner-Hannah, not Ellie, never again am I going to call that psychotic bitch in my head ‘Ellie’!

“Back again, Alice? This really is becoming a bother, can’t you just be a good girl and play with your sister until I’m finished working?”

‘She fucking TORTURED me you insane MONSTER! Do you really think if I knew how to move from my mindscape to this psudo-waking state at will I wouldn’t have done it when she got the fucking SHEARS out and went to town on me for the fun of it?!’

I almost wish I could pant my breath or something for the emotional relief it might offer at this point, not having your body’s natural reflexes to emphasis any point your trying to make dramatically is probably a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things but.. DAMN IT! I need to focus on the little things right now to ignore the very big, very painful things I don’t want to focus on at all at this exact moment!

“Torture?”
‘Our’ hands stopped delicately brushing nail polish on as she froze mid-stroke and our eyes twitched heavily for some reason.
“TORTURE?!.. damn that girl, what the hell is she thinking?”

A now familiar pressure built up around me but instead of a forceful shove back into my mindscape I found myself swept up in a raging swell of power heading right for my mind if my guesses are in any way useful at this point.

======

“-told you to keep her busy and quiet for a while, not knock her out!”
My head throbbed nastily at someone’s raised voice.

For a few seconds I couldn’t really work out where I was or what I was doing but the disorientation didn’t last long and it took all of my hard earned acting ability to not react or twitch, giving away that I was in any way ‘awake’ yet.

“..she was pretty quiet and busy, especially after the third time she woke up..”
Inner-Hannah’s voice sounded almost pouty at first but it wasn’t hard to hear the enjoyment thinking about what she did to me last time I was in here brought to her by the end of it.
It took everything I had left to hold back my flinch, and the following urge to run far away from her, down to a few half-hidden twitches of my body.

On the plus side, the twitches let me know that all the damage she did to me in here has been fixed at some point in the process of my mind being thrown between the real world and back into the prison that my mindscape has become.

Despite my best efforts to stay still, my fingers twitched slightly and my face blanched as I felt them move when my brain was busy telling me that I shouldn’t have any fingers left to twitch!

“She woke up repeatedly while I was busy gathering my whit’s darling, everything in here is symbolic, what did you think would happen if she lost ‘consciousness’ in here?”
Arista sighed heavily before continuing on in an oddly gently tone of voice.
“There are only two places she can go, here and the ‘real’ world outside.. think before you act next time Hannah, I had to force her back to sleep several times and you KNOW how much I hate forcing my girls to do anything.”
To my surprise Arista actually sounded like she really meant that?

Overall, aside from the whole ‘taking over my body’ thing, she’s honestly been surprisingly gentle and soft spoken up to this point really.
..it’s a trick..
Well obviously, but I can’t see what her game is yet or what she thinks she’s going to gain from it all.

“She locked me in here alone for DECADES! No control, no feedback, just the endless white void and me! When everyone else finally awakened she suppressed me completely and only let me out when I could be useful to her!”
Inner-Hannah’s accusations hit me harder than I would have expected at this point.

It sounds pretty bad when she puts it that way and it’s all technically true too.
In my defence, I didn’t know she was a conscious entity at the time?
Hell, the first time I actually saw any emotion on her face came after she took over containing all of.. the.. other incarnations..

..shit..
Double shit! No wonder she’s going insane and she went all ‘reservoir dogs’ on me!
She’s been overwhelmed, helping Arista and apparently letting her out aside, she’s still holding back a tidal wave of past-incarnations that range from insane to bat-shit crazy on the ‘Arista’ scale of evil historical women!

“-Shh, shh, shh.. it’s okay darling. Take deep breaths, think calmly for a moment.”
I must have missed part of their conversation in my surprise; an inability to multitask properly is a rather annoying side effect of being in my mindscape sometimes.
As it is, yet again, Arista seems to be trying to offer a calm soothing voice for Inner-Hannah instead of the heartless bitch-queen I’d have expected from all I’ve heard about her over the years.
“She didn’t know you existed at the time darling, how could she? Take a minute and think of what you know about Alice, do you REALLY think she would do something like that to you intentionally if she knew?”

A worryingly long moments silence passed, eventually interrupted by a sniffle and more calming noises from Arista.

“I’m sorry Momma, it just.. it hurts.. my head hurts and everyone hates her so much and I can’t.. I can’t..”
Inner-Hannah.. Ellie, I guess, now that she’s not being a raging psychopath again?.. really did break down at that point and burst into tears from the sound of it.

Taking a big risk I peeked open one eye to stare up as a much older and larger looking version of Arista then I would have expected considering how most of our incarnations look in here, cuddled the still childishly dressed Ellie close to her chest while she tried to soothe her with mumbled words and gentle strokes of her hair.

“Alice is a sweet girl darling, just like you, she’s had a rough life which hasn’t been fair in a lot of ways.. all because of that heartless bitches manipulations, just like you, and she’s scared.. just like you..”
Arista’s hands came up to rub circles on Ellie’s still crying back as she let out a gusty sigh and lowered her head down to rest on the shorter girls shoulder.
“We’ve all suffered because of her manipulations darling. Nothing Alice has done to you is intentional, she’s just a pawn in a much larger game to Mother and blaming her for it all would be pointless.”

Slowly Ellie nodded her head against Arista’s rather full chest and pulled away with a heavy sniff.
Our eyes connected and I cringed away from her, my fingers and toes curling tightly in response to where my mind went instantly.
That obviously wasn’t the right thing to do because Ellie broke down crying again and looked away from me in what I can only imagine was some form of shame.

“I’m sorry Alice.. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.. I didn’t mean to hurt you so badly!”
Arista held her tightly and turned almost worryingly maternal eyes towards me.

“I can’t imagine what you went through Alice. Please don’t blame Hannah for her actions though, she’s under a lot of pressure and the incarnations inside her tend to get restless when I’m not nearby.. you know what it’s like to have incarnations influence your actions by now, right?”
My mouth went a little dry as I tried to process her words.

..this isn’t my fault, is it?..
Of course it’s my bloody fault! Ellie was practically a walking coma patient when I first brought her back and the first thing I did was shove millennia upon millennia of unruly incarnations into her head!
..when you put it that way..

“..my name’s not Alice?..”
The words just kind of slipped out honestly, it wasn’t really a conscious decision but just the first thing that spewed forth while my mind guiltily started tumbling in circles over everything.

To my surprise Arista laughed and even Ellie snorted from her position against her ‘older’ looking form.

“Little Alice.. oh my little Alice, you really don’t see it, do you?.. There’s much we have to discuss and many things I need to explain before Mothers evil can be stopped but that must wait until I have enough time, tonight preferably, and I’m sure this little part will be okay to tell you for now.”
She shifted her body sideways to better face me and turned Ellie aside as she went until she rested in a one-armed hug that looked surprisingly comfortable considering the situation.
“I think it’s about time we were introduced properly.. My name is Aris-Ta, one time daughter of the Ta clan and often called the ‘Mother of Magic’.”

Her face brightened into a warm smile as her intelligent green eyes gazed down at me softly.

I don’t want to admit it but she LOOKS like a mother to me?
Tall, taller than Ellie by at least a head or two, wide hips and a relatively large bust, all held in a comfortable looking white cotton dress.
It’s hard to place ages, nearly impossible with mages generally, in this case though, I’d have to put her in her late thirties maybe early-forties?

To be honest, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was going out of her way to look like what I would consider a ‘classic modern-day Soccer Mom’ version of me from the future.. possibly with bigger boob’s then I’m ever likely to develop though, I hope..

“You are a daughter of my mind.. probably the last of your kind.. your name has been and always will be ‘Alis-Ta’ Cooper .. my little Alice, Alis of the Ta clan, I’ve waited SO long to finally meet you.”
She actually had the gall to offer me a watery smile after making that ridiculous statement!

“What?! You can’t just.. I didn’t.. My name was Alistor, my MUM gave me that name!”
She snorted amusedly in almost perfect synchronisation with Ellie as they both fixed me with pitying looks at my denial, as if I was a particularly slow child that just didn’t understand how the real world worked.

“I hate to burst your bubble Dearheart but your Grandmother gave you that name, under your Mothers advisement.. under MY advisement.”
She took a step towards me and I jerked my body back sharply across the empty white floor between us.

With a hurt looking frown she lifted her palms up slightly and took a step backwards to show she didn’t mean any harm in the movement.

“I believe the complete wording was ‘Lou-lou dear, if your youngest daughter ever has a child, she should call it Alis-Ta, trust me it will make sense one day’..”
She sighed heavily and offered me a pained half-smile.
“Poor Louise tried her best but even our greatest seer’s wouldn’t have been able to predict you being born male, the universe apparently has a sense of humor about things.. it probably doesn’t help that she’s always been a little bad at memorising names, I should have written it down for her in hindsight, although I guess ‘Alistor’ was better than her forcing your biological egg-donor to name her bouncing little boy ‘Alice’ though..”

My jaw dropped and I stared at her indignantly.
I’m not quite sure what offended me more, the idea that she put THAT much effort into selecting my name so long before even my Mum had been conceived, the fact that she thinks Gran’s got a bad memory or the fact that she called my Mum an ‘egg-donor’!

“Oh, I’ve gone and upset you again.. I just can’t do anything right today, can I?”

Well, you took over my body pretty much unopposed, how’s that for apparently doing something right?!
Before I could outright say that to her, her head cocked suddenly to the side and a frown creased her face slightly.

“Someone’s trying to wake me up. We’ll talk more tonight girls I promise.”
Her eyes cut between me and Ellie for just a moment before she seemed to finally come to a decision about whatever was bothering her.
“Not that I don’t trust you darling but I think it’s best for everyone if we separate you two for a while. This way you can relax a little too, let the incarnations that are bothering you out for a while without worrying about hurting Alice.”

Ellie smiled at that idea but it filled me with dread above anything else.
Arista’s eyes squinted shut for a moment and I found myself propelled across the floor suddenly as the endless expanse of white around us seemed to both contract and expand at the same time.

For a few wild seconds I couldn’t really tell what was going on, up was down until it wasn’t and in a tumbling mess I ended up falling a few feet only to land on the soft bouncy surface of a bed instead of the hard white floor I’d been expecting.

When I finally managed to struggle upright I was left to stare out in confusion at an almost identical copy of my childhood bedroom, with the obvious exception that it was all FAR too large to be normal!

I tried to shuffle off the bed but found the skirts of my suddenly appearing, very fluffy, party-dress getting tangled up around my waist instead.
That brought my attention to the much bigger.. or should that be smaller?.. problem of the moment.

“What the hell? Why the fuck have I shrunk?!”
A loud crashing sound came from outside ‘my room’ and seconds later Ellie came into view, pressing herself up against the big thick bars that seemed to appear out of nowhere just outside of my doorway.

“Aww, you’re adorable Alice, when Momma gets back we’re gonna have to ask her to make it permanent, I’ve ALWAYS wanted a little sister!”

With a squawk I rolled myself off the bed in a tangled mess of net-underskirts and practically sprinted across the too big room to shove all of my, apparently much reduced, weight against the door until it swung shut in her face at last.

From there I slid down to the floor and ignored the almost worried sounds coming from Ellie behind me to pull my knees up to my chest and cry a little.
It’s too much, it’s all far too much, first Maven then Grace, Poseidon and Cutis a few days later, now Arista and Ellie!

..let it out..
I didn’t need any more prompting.

Tears trailed down my now tiny little-kid face and I shot to my feet only to run back over to my bed for some much needed stress relief in the form of a temper tantrum which is now apparently both an age appropriate response to things AND the first thing that came to my mind to do.

I hate my life!

======

“Alice?.. Alice do you want some food? It’s really nice, even if you don’t need to eat in here it helps, trust me.”
At some point in my rather undignified crying jag I must have settled into a kind of ‘numb’ half-sleeping state, because Ellie’s voice jolted me ‘awake’ in surprise for some reason.

Every once in a while as I lay there on my now far too big bed facing the wall, I could swear I was seeing something else, movement and colors with accompanying muted sounds that almost felt like I was trying to watch a movie underwater.. I guess it would make a bit of sense for something like that to happen considering ‘sleeping’ while in your mindscape apparently sends you back into the real world, so half-sleeping would leave you in some weird crossroads point between the two planes of consciousness, right?
..best theory I have at the moment..

“Alice, come on, please? I’m sorry I embarrassed you, I’m sure Momma didn’t mean to de-age you so drastically too, you know what mindscapes are like, our unconscious desires shape things in here and if nothing else Momma’s already shown that she considers you her LITTLE Alice, right?”
Part of me didn’t want to listen to her and her wholly too logical sounding rationalisation of my current.. child-ification?.. but a more vocal, ironically more childish, side of me just wanted to ignore her for the hurt she brought me last time I was trapped in here with her if nothing else.

..my fingers still feel weird and my toes too..
With that thought I wiggled said digits and turned over slightly to stare at the pudgy little baby-like replicas that had taken the place of my previously slender ones.
As things go, baby-fingers are a step up from no-fingers at least, right?
..definitely..

“I know you’re not sleeping Alice, Momma would have come back and complained by now if you were.”
That statement sparked an idea in my head that had me shooting up on the bed in a rustle of far too puffy little girl dress material.
“I’m gonna leave a plate of food at the bars for you. The others have found out how to set the TV to show re-runs of shows you’ve watched before and I want to know what happens with the ‘soap’ thing they’ve just put on.. I’m really sorry for earlier Alice, I wasn’t in my right frame of mind but I’m a lot clearer now..”

I didn’t respond to her obviously and with a heavy sigh I heard her moving away from the door at last.

For a long moment I just sat there trying and failing to focus on my new idea rather than any potential food that may be sitting outside despite the fact that it doesn’t really exist in the first place and this is all in my bloody mind and.. and.. GURH!

FOCUS HANNAH!

If I can work out a way to sleep, or at least lose ‘consciousness’ then I wake up as a passenger in the real world where I can talk to Arista.
If she turned me into a little kid by mistake then I can demand that she FIX it!
If she turned me into a kid intentionally.. then at least the masks can fall and I can get a real idea of what kinda twisted monster I’m dealing with, past the motherly smiles and unrealistically large breasts for a woman who is apparently genetically me if mentally aged a few decades by some stupid trick she can pull off inside my mindscape!

I think at this point I’ve accidentally proven that just trying to sleep isn’t going to work, I’m pretty sure if it was I would have drifted off at some point during my wall staring session at the very least?
So that only leaves.. knocking myself out somehow?..
..oh joy..

“Okay Hannah, what do you have in your room that can be used to knock out a small child?”

No baseball bats that I can remember, no poles or sticks..
My eyes drifted around me and settled on one patch of clear wall next to my wardrobe that used to have a clothes hamper in front of it, back before I moved out for the first time at least.

“I am NOT running headfirst into a wall! There’s got to be a better option than that, I just need to get creative..”

======

“..I can’t believe I’m doing this..”

Twenty minutes of searching and I found a few little things like a sock I vaguely remember losing when I was about eight-years-old and one of the hairclips that Sarah ‘let’ me keep when she got a matching set of them for starting elementary school.

Almost subconsciously I slid the sock on my, otherwise bare, little foot and the clip into my, far too long for this age, hair as some kind of ‘rebellion’ against Arista’s perfect little imaginary daughter image she’s foisted off onto me all of a sudden.

Something about the hairclip especially made me feel just a little bit more confident, or at the least slightly less silly, when faced with the prospect of intentionally running headfirst into a solid feeling mental construct made to simulate the pretty thin but otherwise also solid real-world walls of our house.

It’s almost like I can hear Sarah egging me on to do it just because she’d find the whole thing hilarious, or maybe I’m just going crazy from all the stress this whole headache of a situation is putting me under?
Either way, it’s wall time!

..this is a very stupid idea..
Well DUH?! Of course it is, but if it’s stupid and it works then it’s not stupid now IS it!

Stupid brain! This really isn’t the time to have your input here considering my mind is being used against me by Arista to start with, my gut instinct says this will work and I’ve got nothing else on the table anyway, options wise.

Before I could lose my nerve I took a deep breath and ran as fast as my now little legs would carry me, finishing with a diving head-butt to the drywall.

The pain was surprisingly intense and only exacerbated by the fact that it was ultimately pointless because I was still conscious enough to feel it.
..I think that’s a sign I should give up?..
NO! I’m not giving up!

“AGAIN!”
With uneasy steps I staggered back then leaned into another sprint that ended with another painful but unsuccessful head-butt.
..seriously, this is getting stupi-..
“AGAIN!”

This time when I staggered back to my feet I ended up falling backwards onto my ass as the room span around me unhelpfully.
For a long few seconds I just stared at the blood mark on the wall in front of me before dazedly bringing a hand up to feel the sticky mess coming from my forehead in surprise.

“Alice? Alice, are you okay? We heard banging an-”
I stopped listening as the world started going in and out of focus a few times, my eyes locked on the blood on my fingers.

A feral grin came to my lips and I forced my uncooperative little body to move as best it could.
A few more staggered steps followed by a lurch had me hitting the wall again with an explosion of pain that finally led to the oncoming darkness I’d been hoping for from the start and with suddenly worried shouting coming from outside ‘my room’ I collapsed to the floor, unconscious before I’d even fallen half way.

======

“-got to be something that can.. Alice?”

My eyes blinked furiously and for a few seconds I thought they were doing it under my command but when they stopped suddenly it became pretty obvious that it was just Arista’s surprised reaction to my sudden appearance in the back of her mind instead.

She’s getting better at noticing me too, I didn’t even have to say anything this time, that’s probably not good for me in the long run honestly?

‘It’s bad enough your caging me in a replica of my bedroom, apparently for my own protection, but why the hell did you turn me into a little girl in the process?!’
Surprisingly Arista twitched her eyes around nervously and from the body language she gave off I could only pick up worry from her in general for the few seconds I got before she reigned herself in, going back to an almost unnatural stillness that I assume is her way of hiding things from me now.

“The mind is a strange and wondrous thing Alice, even a master of the mind-arts cannot always foresee the effect a simple thought will have within a mindscape. I promise you that my intentions were pure. I’ve got a lot of things to start doing out here in the real world and as contrite as she is now, I can’t trust that Hannah won’t fall to her inner-demons again, potentially harming you in the process.”
Our feet shifted slightly and she blinked a little too quickly to be entirely normal before continuing.
“Separating you, while allowing her to let the other incarnations she contains out to roam seemed the best temporary action possible until I have time to sort things out properly, my intention was to provide a safe space for you to rest.. my mind however must have looked deeper than that and provided you, my little Alice, a safe space taken from your own mind while shifting you into a form I subconsciously assigned to you.”

‘..stupid magic..’

“Exactly Dearheart, magic IS stupid and while it should be respected like any powerfully dangerous beast, it can never fully be under our control when we rush or don’t take due care with it..”
She sighed heavily and glanced around us, inviting me to see that we are apparently in some off-the-beaten-path area of my newly remodelled ‘realm’ if the high quartz ceiling and dappled sunlight slowly moving across the marble pillars around us are any estimation.

“I apologise Alice. I do not wish to harm you with my actions, we are very close to the end of a VERY long game being played between myself and Mother.. for the last few centuries she’s had the upper hand and even now she works against me through you.”
A small smile tugged at my lips which felt weird to experience in such an abstract way.
“I love all my children equally of course but, just between us, I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you Dearheart. Whatever you may think of me now, I beg that you wait for tonight where I can finally sit down and explain events, past, present and future, to you. Everything I do is for the betterment of the world, if left in Mothers care we will be led to nothing but ruin.”

For a long stretch of seconds I processed all of that, trying to win a battle between the honesty in her voice and my rather obvious doubts about trusting her in any way, shape or form.

..she’s got to be lying..
I know my body and I know my tells, if she’s lying then she’s better than I could ever dream of being at it?
..John said Arista was evil..
John says a lot of things, only a few hours ago he admitted that he’d be willing to let innocent people die just to protect me for powers sake!
..she can’t be trusted..

It’s not like I have much of a choice here?
She’s kinda got me over a barrel with the whole ‘body possession’ thing and her own enforcer squad in my mindscape to keep an eye on me.
The best I can hope for is that she, or one of the other incarnations, lets enough information slip that I can gain an upper-hand of some kind, through luck alone.

I REALLY wish I’d taken the time to read up more on mind magic when I had the chance now!

‘Everything I’ve ever heard about you says that your evil incarnate, willing to kill on a whim and enjoying the suffering of others to an almost unhealthy degree..’
At this point I really doubt honesty can hurt much and maybe, just maybe, she’ll let something slip because of my bluntness if nothing else.

“Of course everything you’ve heard about me decries me as evil Dearheart, Mother has had a long time to stack the deck in her favor and with you being so close to her favorite mouthpiece, your ‘John’, it would be a surprise if you HAD heard anything nice about me to be honest.”

She sighed and brought her hand up to the ridge of my nose in an action that was so jarringly ‘me’ that it threw me off for a second before she continued speaking.

“You and I both know that the world is never as black and white as some people wish it could be.. as Alistor were you a hero or villain?.. you murdered thousands in cold blood to protect some nebulous concept of ‘innocent people’ and ‘the greater good’, while secretly being manipulated by others into acting as their oblivious killer-for-hire-”
If I could, I would have blanched in response to her words.
..apparently I’m not the only one who can be blunt about things..
“-is it our intentions or our methods which make us evil, Dearheart? Some of the greatest crimes in human history have been perpetrated by those with the best of intentions after all..”

We sunk into a momentary silence again as she shifted our feet a little and glanced around us thoughtfully.

“I will not claim to be perfect or truly innocent Alice but in this war of attrition between Mother and myself neither side is truly ‘innocent’ by any means.. at least I’m willing to look at my faults for what they are and work towards improving my methods for the next time I face such a situation, which is a LOT more than can be said for HER!”

Despite the almost bitter bite to her words I couldn’t help but feel a little reassured by them-
..I shouldn’t trust her..
-I’ve met bad people who monologue on about their ‘best intentions’ before though and they have rarely, if ever, been so clear and logical about everything.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to trust her as such, especially considering the whole ‘body possession’ thing still hanging between us.. I guess.. I guess I’m willing to hear her out at least?

It’s not like I have much of a choice anyway and maybe I really WILL get some bloody answers at last instead of vague hints or rushed half-truths like I’ve been getting from all sides lately.
The fact is, it looks like she needs me on her side against Ari, or ‘mother’ as she calls her, a lot more then I need her right now which is potentially one bonus to this whole messy situation.

I’ve known for a while now that something big was happening around me out of my view, too many coincidences, too many crazies popping up from nowhere, too many convoluted tangles of old relationships and new problems coming home to bother me one after the other.
The last month or so has felt like it was purposefully crafted to drive me right up to the edge, then back again repeatedly and, if I’m being honest here, it’s worked.

I’d like to think that this big takeover bid by Arista is the end of things but my gut tells me it’s not even close.

As much as my ego might disagree with me on this one, I’m just not THAT important in the grand scheme of things?
We’re talking about entity’s who were present at practically the dawn of humanity, fighting a near endless silent war of backstabbing and forward planning to a degree that hurts my brain just to consider the timescales involved.. I really doubt that after all that time, possession of one ‘daughter’ by one of them is really the ‘end goal’ they’ve both been working so hard to reach.

There’s something more going on and I’m sorry to say that playing nice while keeping my ears, eyes and even nose open for clues is probably the only way I’m going to have even a chance of foreseeing what’s ahead at the moment, let alone stopping it!

It’s as Arista herself said earlier, I’m just a pawn in a much larger game.. luckily she seems to have forgotten that if given half a chance and enough time to move, even a pawn can become a Queen in chess.

‘I’ll wait until tonight to hear your side of things Arista.. can you provide me something to do while I wait though? Sitting around in a room bored out of my mind really isn’t going to leave me in a very receptive mood towards anything you might have to say honestly.’
A smile twitched across our lips again before she let off a gusty sigh as if very put-out by my ‘request’ and trailed into a half-stalled out attempt at laughter.

“Of course Alice, give me a moment and I’ll do you one better. I’ll add a television to your ‘room’ where you can either watch your own memories or view a real-time link to what I am seeing and hearing at that exact moment, how does that sound Dearheart?”
Well.. that sounds amazing actually?

Far more then I was expecting or even hoping to get out of her, with this ‘TV’ I can actually keep an eye on her to make sure she’s not up to no-good with my body.

How oddly accommodating of her?
..and suspicious!..
Very true, suspiciously accommodating, but still potentially useful for me to gain information that I DESPERATELY need at this point in time.

“Come Alice, I’ll return you safely to your room and sort this out quickly before going back to my business.”
Something nudged into my consciousness, a lot gentler then the last few times have proven to be, and I found myself being pulled along with her, back into my mindscape once more.

======

This time instead of ‘waking up’ either mid-freefall towards a stark white floor or flat on my back, I ended up landing almost softly, face-down onto the recreation of my bed within ‘my room’ instead.

After about thirty seconds of silence the door opened and Arista walked in with a smile on her older, motherly face which didn’t even twitch as the bar’s reformed behind her causing Ellie to jump back in alarm from her now aborted attempt to follow her inside as well.

“Now dear, where do you want this television to be? Anything else I can provide while I’m here? Some books perhaps, or some food to enjoy the taste of if you get truly bored maybe?”
A feral grin spread across my cheeks as I considered the possibilities.

As long as she’s offering.. well..

“I don’t suppose you know what a popcorn machine, a Jacuzzi or a games console are do you?”
She cocked her head to the side slightly for a moment before a slow smile came to her lips again and she nodded in agreement.

If I have to be a prisoner, at least I get to be a comfortable one!

======

“What the hell is she doing?”

I rolled my neck uneasily and stared hard at the massive, wall-wide TV sitting in front of me showing Arista’s point of view where she’s apparently getting drawn deeply into a conversation with Gran, of all people, about gardening of all things?!

Slowly my far too small shoulders slide a bit deeper into the nice bubbly water of the Jacuzzi she really did end up giving me, having to expand the size of my room by several degrees in order to fit it in with a good view of the TV as requested, and my arm lazily moved over to snag some more popcorn which surprisingly hasn’t gotten at all sickly or filling for me yet despite my near constant eating of it since she left back to the ‘real world’.

..there’s got to be something I’m missing here..
I need to think strategically, what could she possibly be gaining by sitting in the dining hall of my realm discussing gardening with Gran?
She didn’t put in all this effort to take over my body, just to talk about trimming weeds or nurturing wildflowers with the now ex-Garnier matriarch I can see smiling away happily on the screen before me!

I don’t get her motives?
I don’t get what she wants or even what she needs?

Why do even my evil body-stealing past-incarnations have to be so bloody complicated?!

Arista turned her attention to the side and nodded to something Sarah chipped into the conversation with a happy laugh.
Slowly I slid just a little deeper into the water, allowing one of the air-jets to hit JUST the right spot in my lower back to feel OH, so good for a moment or two.

..I don’t like this at all..

======

“No! Don’t-”

Obviously she can’t hear me and much to my embarrassment I was treated to a second-hand view of what it’s like when my body creeps up behind an unsuspecting John, pinches his ass, then when he turns around in surprise catches his lips with mine in an almost desperate looking kiss.

After an almost annoyingly long time they finally pulled apart and John stared at me through the screen with a dazed look of confusion on his face.

“Han? You feeling okay?”
Arista’s only response was to purr low in the back of my throat and pounce on him again, sending them both tumbling to the floor with another searing kiss that made me both equal parts embarrassed as all hell and kind of turned on at the same time to my utter shame.

“Just to check, have you been drugged and brainwashed at all or is this like the cat-girl thing again where you’re just really horny?”
My view cocked to the side slightly as Arista took a moment to decide on the best answer to that one before our eyes batted furiously and squinted a little shut in pleasure.

“Meow?”

John laughed and actually pulled my body closer with a warm hug that Arista settled into with almost practiced looking ease.
“I swear if this all turns out to be a joke or you wake up and don’t remember any of this I’m going to be majorly pissed off you know?”
The view turned up from his chest to stare into his eyes.

I had to turn away from the screen a little as the painfully obvious look of love, care and happiness radiated out from John’s normally rather stoic face and they went in for another kiss that looked VERY enjoyable indeed.

For a moment I was half-tempted to just drown myself in embarrassment or at least do it so I can escape to the real-world and tell her to stop bloody kissing him?!

Despite my best efforts though I found my eyes drifting back towards the screen and getting lost in watching what was quickly becoming a pretty heated make-out session between the pair of them.
If I stared at the screen hard enough I could almost feel phantom touches caressing me as his head moved to the nape of our neck and he started nibbling in a way that made Arista gasp out in enjoyment before purring a moment later.

One thing is for sure, I definitely know where the whole ‘cat personality traits’ thing came from at this point.
..stupid Arista..

======

“Thank the Powers, that’s over!”

I tried to sound relieved at that statement but even to my ears it hardly sounded convincing at all.
While I’d much rather never have to face or even admit to them in the slightest, I HAVE had fantasies about a certain stupid warm-bodied asshole friend of mine in the past.
They seem to come almost annoyingly often these days actually.

I’ve even found myself spacing out once or twice and having to shrug my inattention off as me ‘getting lost in thought again’ while trying to subtly hide my new body’s stupid little pop-up pervy thought alarms as I went.

I want to state for the record that I don’t love John!

I just.. he’s so warm, and his magic feels amazing, and he understands me so well, and we’ve been friends off-and-on practically forever and.. and..
..quit while I’m ahead..
Yeah, I think the points been made at this.. point?.. maybe.

From a purely aesthetic standpoint I can appreciate John’s aristocratic good looks.
From a purely logical standpoint I can understand that my now icy core reacts in a rather interesting way when its magic comes into contact with his fire core’s magic.
From a purely.. purely.. I dunno?

I just know that I don’t love John and I don’t find him attractive despite what my stupid body and my stupid brain and my stupid.. stupid.. GAH!

Why did she have to do that?!
I thought she was trying to ‘keep up the act’ and be me, that’s what she said at least?

Having a make-out session with John-boy is NOT ‘keeping up the act’!

Letting said John-boy, the dirty perv that he is, get worryingly close to second-base with my body while purring to herself like a cat-in-heat the whole way is NOT in any way, shape or form ‘being me’ damn it?!

..it was an interesting experience at least..
SHUT UP BRAIN!
..I should give him a chance when I get my body back under control..
QUIET!
..I bet his warm hands would feel amazing on my bre-..

ENOUGH!!

Powers, you’d think having my mental avatar changed into a little girl would stop these sort of thoughts but if anything watching Arista with my John has hit me like a freight train of hormones and suppressed lust out of bloody nowhere!

..my John?..
Shut. UP. Brain!

With a tired sigh I leaned so far down into the hot tub that my head went under the water and I ended up letting off a long stream of bubbles instead.

Who knew being stuck as a passenger in your own body-
..while the self-titled ‘Mother of Magic’ runs around snogging your unreasonably handsome best friend/redemption seeking enemy/often intentionally obvious man-besty for such a long time that you actually become a bit curious about just how good your lung capacity is from watching them go at it non-stop..
-could be so bloody EXHAUSTING?!

..at least it’s over now..
From the looks of it everyone’s making a move to go to bed and she’ll finally have to face me in here to explain her actions at last.

I’m not sure if my first question for her will be something pertinent like ‘why are you possessing my body?’, something useful like ‘when are you giving me back control?’, or just some kind of inarticulate sound as my best attempt at showing her just how embarrassed I am that she gave John’s tonsils a thorough, nearly hour long, check-up without consulting either him or ME beforehand!

When I get my hands on her I’m gonna-
Oh.. the screens just gone blank?..

I guess I’ll get to give her a piece of my mind faster than expected after all!
..why do I suddenly feel rather nervous about that idea?..

What is 'right' and what is 'wrong'? Morality is a personal ideal, a human construct, or so some would have us believe? It doesn't make certain people or actions any less irredeemable though. No matter how you try to spin it, forgiveness just isn't possible ever again in some situations. Events unfold including but not limited to: Hannah reliving some rather racy fantasies, Arista tells a story about a magical princess-turned-queen (fictional elements being both optional and undisclosed), while John wears lip-gloss for a very short period of time.

 

“Hello Alice, how’s the water?”

I glared at her from my current position with my eyes resting just above the hot tubs water line.
She can’t see it but my arms are folded forcefully and my nose is pretty pinched from suppressed anger at the same time, the whole look is kind of undermined by the blush that apparently refuses to leave my cheeks sadly, hence my face being mostly hidden by conveniently placed water right about bloody now.

“Mind if I join you Dearheart?”
She didn’t give me a chance to answer before, with a flash of light, her motherly looking cotton dress was replaced by an equally motherly looking, in my opinion, black one-piece swimsuit.

I opened my mouth to protest as she stepped towards me but ended up taking in a mouthful of water by mistake leading to a choked coughing fit that burned my lungs, leaving me sputtering and thrashing in the water until a gentle pair of hands caught me around my waist, depositing me effortlessly into a rather well padded lap.

For a few long seconds I froze in horror as my brain processed what she’d just done.

“I’m not your daughter”
I’m not sure if it was me or her I was trying to reassure there but it was a statement that needed to be made judging by the way her hands came up to play with my too long hair and a little smile drifted across her lips a moment later.

“You are many things Alice and my daughter is most definitely one of them..”

“My name’s not Alice, it’s Hannah, Hannah Cooper.. ya know.. because my Mum’s Susan Cooper and all!”
Try as I might I just couldn’t get the right amount of force behind my words with this almost squeaky sounding childish voice she’s given me and the way she was holding me against her, as if holding me close was the most natural thing in the world for her to be doing at this exact moment, was just messing with my head completely too.

..even Mum never held me like this when I was little..
Shut up brain!
..She’s doing it on purpose..

I don’t know what she has to gain from it all but she’s definitely doing it on purpose!

“Oh my, is that what you think of me Alice? That I’m somehow trying to manipulate you into trusting me by forcing myself into the rather vacant ‘Mother’ position in your life?”
WHAT?!

I didn’t say that!
..out loud..

“You don’t have to say anything Alice. In your mindscape there is nothing you can hide from me.. here, let me show you.”
My eyes winced shut in anticipation as her hand moved down from my hair to apparently cover the top half of my face with one far too large palm.

As she pulled her hand away I was left blinking furiously and the world seemed to shift around me, melting out of all color until all that remained was the hot tub and an endless void full of whizzing, moving objects I couldn’t hope to focus on from the speed they were going.

“Oh silly me, let me slow it down for you.”
She waved her hand in the air and everything slowed to a crawl.

The bottom fell out of my stomach as I stared at image after image slowly revolving around us.
..they’re memories?..
MY memories!

“Consciousness is just a stream of connected thoughts Dearheart and if you know where to look then anyone is an open book within a mindscape.”
..this is impossible..

Well, not impossible but highly-
‘Well, not impossible but highly-’

My thought trailed off as an echo formed up around us at an almost unreasonable volume, the perfect tone and pitch of it making my skin crawl.

That can’t be my-
‘That can’t be my-’
Shit!
‘Shit!’

“Language Alice.. my you certainly do have a rather active inner-monologue going don’t you? Most people only say the odd word or phrase but you speak full sentences to yourself as if you’re holding an actual conversation.”

..bitch..
Yeah, keep your nose out of m-
‘Yeah, keep your nose out of m-’
URG! This is driving me insane! I can-
‘URG! This is driving me insane! I can-’

“I think that’s enough for now. There’s a reason we don’t naturally get to hear our own thought processes after all, it can be rather distracting, can’t it?”
Too bloody right it can!
‘Too bloody right it can!’

“Language Alice.”

“Who do you think you are my Mu.. m?..”
Even before the clichéd response had left my lips I knew it was the wrong thing to say and the pleased smile that spread across her face a moment later only proved it even more.

“Why yes, I do actually.. now back to this inner-monologue of yours, as I was saying, I can hear your every thought and there’s nothing you can hide from me in here Alice so let’s just be honest with each other, shall we?”
My name’s Hannah damn it!

The echo didn’t happen again thankfully but I still flinched in expectation anyway and Arista definitely heard my thought too judging by the frown that flickered across her face for a moment before smoothing out again.

“Now, get comfortable Dearheart because I think it’s about time you saw just how deep the rabbit hole really goes with this horrid mess Mother has dragged you into..”

My mind flashed quickly over to Theodora’s use of that same phrase seemingly so long ago.
..No! She’ll see it!..

Before the actual words Theodora used could fully manifest in my mind I slammed them back as hard as possible by focusing on the much more visceral memory of Storyteller’s arm falling to the floor as one large bloody slab of half-formed ice instead.

“..you really are extraordinary, you know that Alice? No formal training in mental magic’s and after just a brief demonstration of my ability to see your thoughts you’ve already found a rather disgusting work around.. I wonder how long you can maintain it though?”

Just to rub salt into the already open wound that was my sense of self, she jostled me on her knees a little, breaking my concentration JUST enough that I lost track of that one repeating memory and making a knowing smile blossom across her already smirking lips once more.

“I’m going to tell you a story.. it’s a tale of a magical Princess-turned-Queen, a story of prophecies and hubris which would be almost deliciously funny if their results weren’t so painfully real.”
I tried to clamp down on my thoughts again rather than focus on her but yet again all it took was a little twitch of movement from her to break my concentration, apparently that’s the problem with trying to meditate inside your own head sadly.

“Do pay attention Alice, this is important.. now then, our story starts in a time long ago before cities and countries, before modern technology and even before humanity had truly started to consider itself one species as a whole.”

She shifted a little and her chin came to rest on top of my head in a way that HAD to be calculated for effectiveness, just by the sheer ease that it instantly managed to distract me with thoughts of the time John did that exact same maneuver, much to my annoyance.

“Our magical ‘Queen’ was a kind ruler to her people, beloved by servant and family alike.. there was one exception however, her youngest daughter had what is now considered the ‘seers touch’ and from an early age she fought against her mother’s rule, breaking the poor woman’s heart in the process..”
..she can’t-..
Where is she going with this?

“In a last ditch attempt to repair their broken bond the Queen came to her daughters home with a rather asinine request, offering an olive branch between them by showing acceptance of her daughters gifts in the only way she knew how.”
This feel’s familiar?

“The daughter could not see past her own ego, past the often terrible things she saw with her powers and in a fit of malicious anger she would later come to regret she used the full force of her abilities to dump a complete accounting of her near-immortal mother’s future into the unsuspecting woman’s mind.”
..she can’t do thi-..
Oh shit! I know this!

I know this, I saw that happen in my visions!
Arista and her ‘not-Edith’ daughter arguing in a little hut, an argument that ended with Arista laying as a sobbing, broken mess on the dirt floor.

“Those visions, those twisted examples of a potential future broke the once kind Queen. For years afterwards she separated herself from friends and loved ones, focusing all her attentions upon making a new form of magic.. a darker form that the world had never seen before.”

For some reason I suddenly developed a splitting headache out of nowhere.
At my yelp of pain Arista blinked in surprise as if coming out of a trance but quickly moved to comfort me as I rode out the pain as best I could.

“She doesn’t want you to know this Alice. She needs you to be ignorant and to trust her, you need to fight past the pain, to prove that you’re in control.. not her.”
Arista’s words didn’t mean much but they gave me something to focus on at least, slowly as I sunk into my old control techniques the pain eased until it finally died away into a mild annoyance at last.

“Well done Alice, never forget that you are in control of her, not the other way around.. I’m so proud of you..”
To punctuate that confusing statement she hugged me a little tighter and sighed to herself happily as she rocked us slightly from side to side before picking up where she’d left off in her ‘story’.

“As I was saying, this darker form of magic was ‘completely necessary for the good of her family’, according to the distraught Queen. She believed heavily in prophecies you see, despite having no talent for the skillset herself, and in her fear of what could happen if she did not see this prophecy through to conclusion she did something terrible.. she split her core, her very essence was divided almost straight down the middle as she created a new persona for herself..”
..no, she-..
It’s like me and Ellie?

“She knew she didn’t have the heart to do what must be done so as the new-born portion of her mind, a daughter in all but body, came into being she hammered away at it with every compulsion spell she could design.. shaping this other-half of her mind into something entirely new and separate from herself.”
Arista sighed once more and rested her chin on my head almost lovingly.
“We’re a lot alike Alice, you and I, we were both created for a dark purpose by those who mean well.. both harmed by our creator in any number of ways as well.. as I took on the role of my Mothers sword, you too took on a similar role to your poor sister.”

..that’s not-..
I didn’t!

“You went forth into the world and killed mercilessly, did you not?.. so your sister didn’t have to face such evils?.. you took that path by choice, which is something I wish I could say the same about for myself.”

Slowly she leaned her head back against the rim of the hot tub.
Despite the supposed ‘hot’ portion implied by the name ‘hot tub’ I felt distinctly cold as the water flowed around us to accommodate her movements.

“Mother couldn’t handle the things she would have to do for her visions to come true so she made me do it all instead, as time went on I got stronger while she lost ground to her guilt and depression, the final straw was when she let her emotions get the best of her and she tried to stop me from fulfilling my purpose, triggering the compulsions she’d instilled in me with her well-intended attempt at ‘fixing’ her mistake.”

Slowly her hand came up to stroke my hair again in an almost unconscious petting action that made me feel pretty uncomfortable, although she didn’t seem to even realise she was doing it.

“I’m not the bad guy Alice, I’ve never wanted to be the bad guy.. but the compulsions?.. you must know what it’s like by now with all the mental problems you’ve had, the compulsions are unstoppable and while one minute I can be rational and calm, the moment someone tries to change things, stop me or get in my way I just.. it just takes over?..”
Her head dipped down to rest her forehead in my hair and after a long moment I felt her whole body convulse underneath me, quickly followed up by a muted sob that hurt just to hear coming out of her for some reason.

“Mother created me, she made me a monster and despite my best efforts she’s succeeded.. I’m so close now, we’re all so close, if I finish what we started then I’ll finally be free and the future of the human race will be assured!”
She squeezed me a little harder and shook even more violently for a second as another sob broke through her grasp.
“I want you to know that I love you Alice, I love all my children and everything I do is to save them from a future of pain and suffering the likes of which you can’t even imagine. The horror’s I’ve seen.. the horrors I’ve COMMITTED.. if I stop now then it’s all for nothing, do you see that?”
My throat felt tight, too tight to answer at first.

Her words were dangerous, but the intent behind them?.. I can sympathise with her, possibly even understand her motivations if nothing else.
I’ve been in that situation before, I’ve been the monster that has to do bad things to good people just to potentially save even more people in the future.

My last mission, the one I took before Sarah fell into her ‘coma’ and Tor called me..
I destroyed an entire town!
Everyone, women, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents!

They were all being controlled by a powerful demon at the time but that doesn’t change the fact that I wiped an entire population off the map to stop one demon from spreading it’s influence across the globe.. and at the time I didn’t even blink an eye over it because it was just another ‘mission’ to me..

“You’re methods are questionable, your motives worrying and your goals confusing as all hell.. but yes I understand why you would do what you think you have to for everyone’s sake?.. that doesn’t mean tha-”

“I’m glad you understand Alice.. for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
I can’t believe she cut across me!

..what does she mean she’s ‘sorry’?..
Now that you mention it, she’s got a really strange look in her eyes all of a sudden and her body’s gone all stiff.. almost as if she’s falling under some kind of memory spell like Mum used to do or maybe a compul..s..ion..

Oh.. crap..

Before I could even get another word off the world around us started contorting and shifting.
The hot tub was gone, I was wearing the overly fussy dress again and Arista held me to herself as if I weighed nothing at all while the familiar endless white walls of my mindscape came back into focus around us.

Without a word, thick dark metal bars came slamming down from the sky and with an almost negligent toss Arista threw me inside what was effectively a huge cage bisecting my mindscape as far as the eye could see.

I rolled to a stop and staggered to my feet only to stare on in horror as the other side of the bars became populated with worrying speed, first Ellie who was now wearing a strange looking floor-length hooded robe and a dark malicious smirk, but more and more incarnations formed up along the bar’s as time went on, all with that same malicious glee present in their eyes.

“Every plan has its casualties Alice. So does mine.”
Arista stared at me through the bars, her eyes cold and calculating in a way that I wouldn’t have believed possible having seen only her ‘motherly’ form, until now.
“All I needed was time to get settled in, time and a distraction to keep you occupied while I cemented my hold on this wonderful body of ours.. which you so easily gave me..”

..shit..
Double shit! She tricked me?!

Was any of that even real or was she just playing me with some sob story the whole time while she worked her magic to take over completely in the background?

“We have a bright future ahead of us Alice and you are the key to it all. Mother has banked all of her efforts on you, she never was good at contingency planning.. it’s going to be so delicious turning her own weapon against her.”
..NO!..

“I really must dash, I’ve got so many things to do, items and people to prepare before the big event. Don’t worry Dearheart I’ll be back.. some things I want you to see, others I NEED you to see.”
Her smirk turned cold as she stared down at me.
All around her more and more incarnations were appearing, spreading themselves out against the bars to stare at me with that horrible mix of anger and vindication on their faces.
“Play nice with your sisters now Alice, I’ll be back for you eventually. Ta-ta!”

With that she faded out of my mindscape leaving me facing a wall of angry incarnations.
Front and center, with that twisted smug look on her face was Ellie.

“Took you long enough, I thought you’d crack far sooner than that Alice.. get her girls!”

They couldn’t reach me through the bars obviously but, against everything I knew about mindscapes as a whole, when they pulled their hands back almost as one I was treated to a sudden infusion of bright glowing colors as they powered up spells which should be impossible to cast in here and launched them at me!

For a few frantic minutes I dodged backwards successfully but then a lightning spell clipped my foot and my body locked up just long enough for seemingly thousands of spells to come crashing down upon me all at once.

The pain was indescribable, it felt like it only lasted for a second yet also turned into a horribe drawn out process as spell after spell crashing against my psyche leaving me no way to protect myself from the jeering crowd of incarnations in front of me, all at the same time.

I’m honestly not sure how long it really lasted.. a second? an hour? a day?.. maybe even weeks from the feel of it all!

Eventually I passed out as the feeling of my very ESSENCE being assaulted on all sides, torn apart repeatedly by a constant stream of violent elemental spells, only to mend and start over again until finally someone went too far and I really did pass out at long last.

The world disappearing into a numb darkness that at that point I craved SO much!

======

“Oh my, they really didn’t waste any time now, did they?”

Despite knowing what had happened again and having no ability to control my body in the slightest, I still gave a mental wince as the phantom pains left over from all the spell damage I just ‘took’ lingered on in my head around me.

The bright sunlight shining in ‘our’ eyes didn’t help either my headache or my sense of time considering the last thing I remember clearly before this all started was Arista going to bed for the night, both moments and an eternity ago depending on how my poor brain decided to process my most recent experiences at each given moment.

“I’m glad you’re here actually Alice, I seem to be having trouble connecting to Mothers nature.. the wellspring of golden magic which allows us to breathe life and magic itself into things.. I assume by the redecorating you’ve done within my realm that you’ve had some kind of contact with it lately and I need a few rooms you seem to have hidden returned to me so I can access them I’m afraid.”
Her voice sounded pleasant, if a little stilted as it left my physical lips, but it’s obvious that this isn’t the same ‘Arista’ I’ve been dealing with up to this point, just from the way the muscles in our body are all so tense all of a sudden if nothing else.

‘Go fuck yourself!’

“Well, that wasn’t very nice?.. I think you should be punished for that, good little girls do as they’re told and help their mothers after all.”
Her mockingly sweet tone didn’t match the vicious smirk that crossed my lips as she spoke them.

‘Try me, you’ve already stolen my body and set me up to be tortured, what more can you do to me?’

“Oh Alice.. always thinking about yourself..”
What? No I don’-
“Let’s see how long your determination to defy me stands up against an example or two, shall we?”
She turned on a heel and stared off up the corridor ahead of us with a gentle smirk playing across her lips.
“Let’s go for a walk”

Without another word she marched us out of the newly dubbed ‘realm’ at the back of our elevator shaft, down the stairs and out into the apparent early-afternoon sunlight of our back garden.

The few people we passed along the way offered her greetings which she smiled her way through politely while making it pretty obvious she was too busy to stall any potential conversations that could give her away.
..she’s crazy, not stupid..

“Hannah! I’m surprised you’re up already, it’s only gone noon after all?”
Our body turned and a smirk played across my lips as Arista watched John’s almost too casual approach towards us.

When he got within arm’s reach she didn’t waste any time in leaning forward and pulling him close for a deep, passionate kiss that caused more than one surprised gasp from the milling family members around us.

‘What the hell are you doing?!’
For a moment she paused, our tongue half-tucked into his cheek mid-french kiss, before continuing on with the same passion she’d shown before.

‘I would have thought that would be obvious Alice? He’s your boyfriend after all, I’m just enjoying the results of your hard work.’
Her mocking response made me shudder at just how wrong it felt to hear her voice echo around me without physically leaving our currently rather busy lips.

‘He’s not my bloody BOYFRIEND!’

‘Oh please, don’t be coy dear. I’m in your head after all, I’ve seen the memories that fly across that little brain of yours whenever he’s mentioned in the slightest.’

Unbidden by me, the world shifted and I found myself leaning heavily against a messy desk, panting hard in excitement as a suit wearing John came closer to me with Max’s sharp little smirk firmly on his face as his hands trailed their way up my bare thighs, pushing the skirt of my school uniform up as he reached down for-

With a sudden jolt the world shifted again and I found myself flat on my back staring down my bikini covered form as John crawled his way up my body peppering kisses at any exposed body part he could find until he finally reached my face and paused for just a moment with joy in his eyes before lunging in for one final kiss-

One more time the world shifted again and I found myself perched on John’s warm knee at a blackjack table, wearing a glitzy red dress with quite a lot of exposed leg and cleavage while his hands stroked my waist tantalisingly before slowly moving down my legs until one of them slid quietly under the high slit on the dress under the table pulling a gasp from me that was quickly smothered by a pleased purr until-

All at once I was back in reality as the, progressively more heated, make-out session between John and my body continued on for my viewing pleasure.
If I could, I’m pretty sure I would have been a panting mess from the heated moments that had just flashed across my mind, almost too real in their detail and feel to NOT be real at this point!

‘You both lead such diverse lives, I rather like the fashion of this time too, I might have to look into acquiring some more of those outfits at some point.. that last dress was so delightfully naughty of you after all..’
The amusement in her tone was matched a moment later as she hitched our body up slightly and rubbed our chest against John’s with a happy little giggle in the real world, before the pair of them finally pulled apart at last for air.

‘Those aren’t.. they weren’t my MEMORIES! They were.. uh.. they-’
I found myself stalling out in shame as Arista reached up to wipe a trace of lip-gloss I didn’t know we were wearing from John’s goofy looking smile with fond amusement obvious in every movement.
‘They.. they were f-fantasies.. just fantasies okay? we haven’t.. I.. that is..’

‘..Oh..’
For a long moment I got the impression that she may ACTUALLY be feeling a little embarrassed over the misunderstanding but that faded quickly as a naughty little grin lit up our face suddenly.
‘Well he seemed to enjoy it anyway, no harm done. Besides, Max always was good in bed and your way behind on your children quota as it is, so he’ll do for the first few I guess’

“That was lovely, sorry John, I just couldn’t resist. I’m going for a walk down by the lake, don’t worry I won’t go far, I just need to clear my head a little bit darling.”

If the implications she’d just hinted at about using John to get me bloody p-pregnant weren’t enough then the sickly sweet tone to her voice, so unlike me it’s not even funny, would have certainly tipped me over the edge into a full blown bout of nausea at this point .. ya know.. if I had control of my stomach or any body-part enough to do it at all of-bloody-course!..

‘You can’t get away with this for long Arista, people will see through your terrible attempt at acting like me soon!’
As our body turned and wandered off in the completely wrong direction to be heading for the lake with a swing in our hips and a smile on our lips she finally let the mask slip slightly as our face darkened considerably in one smooth motion.

“Oh Alice, you truly have no idea what’s going on, do you? I don’t need to fool anyone Dearheart.”
We disappeared from view behind the treeline and she dropped the swinging walk for an almost feline-like predatory gait that I really doubt I could emulate properly without years of practice at this point.

“You’ve joined us all in the final days of a war that has progressed since the dawn of humanity, the sides have already been drawn, no mage worth their awakening is innocent in this fight and by tomorrow night I will have finally won!”
A low rumbling purr issued forth from our lips as she kept moving on through the trees.
“I didn’t lie to you before Dearheart, this is nothing but a war of principles. Mother is too weak to accept what must be done while I am perfectly capable of doing anything necessary to protect the future of my children, whether I agree with the needed methods or not.”

I didn’t answer her, I’m not sure I was up to speaking any more at this point to be honest?
I learnt a long time ago that trying to fight crazy with words is just a recipe for disaster and, as she just proved, nothing I say is going to get through to her really one way or another sadly.

..insane monster..
She’s a fanatic, obsessed with her plans and goals to an unreasonable degree and willing to do anything to see them reach fruition!

At the moment, I can’t shake the feeling that she was right the first time we ‘met’ in my head, however long ago it was in ‘real world’ time.. I really am just a pawn in something that’s way beyond my understanding at this point.
..thanks to her..

We passed another clump of trees and I felt a shudder vibrate through my senses as we crossed outside the wardline around our house. Arista didn’t seem to even notice the passing, a fact that I quietly catalogued away for potential future use while a feeling of foreboding came over me as we walked on.

Where exactly are we going?

======

“Lady Hannah Cooper-Garnier?”

We paused mid-step and Arista turned us smoothly around on a heel to stare at a tight grouping of dark skinned, dark haired people who I’d guess from their features were both Native American in decent and related directly to some degree or another at the same time.
The person who’d spoken was an older man with considerable bulk to him standing at the front of the group, wearing a loose T-shirt and track pants in vibrant shades of yellow and orange respectively.

“Who’s asking?”
Arista took them all in with a dismissive sniff, showing more outward disgust then I’ve come to expect from the short time I’ve ‘known’ her.

“We come representing the will of the Chiloquin magical council of the Modoc and Yahooskin tribes. Day’s we have waited for you to leave your fortress un-protected and finally our wishes have been granted.”
The large man paused long enough to send an over-dramatic (in my opinion) look of victory towards us before continuing on with his hand outstretched to wave uselessly around as he spoke on despite the completely un-impressed look on my face courtesy of Arista.
“News has reached us that you have been gifted lands by the so called ‘USMPA’ which were formerly owned by a tribe member of ours before he was lost some two-hundred years ago.”

Our eyes tightened down in consideration as Arista scanned the group as a whole while focusing sharply on every slight movement that happened in quick succession, cataloguing it all, in a way that felt eerily close to my own method of analysing a potentially bad situation.

“We have petitioned to have these lands returned to us, their rightful owners, for generations but the USMPA refuses to provide us with the deeds without a direct request from our lost kin himself which is sadly not possible..”
Our eyes tightened down even more, practically into slits, as Arista examined the speaker intensly.

‘Why would it not be possible for him to claim his lands?’

For a long moment I wasn’t sure if my input was truly needed as the man continued speaking but I got the vague sense that Arista was waiting on my response for some reason so with a completely pointless huff of ‘breath’ I spoke up finally despite my reservations.

‘Many Native American tribes hold distrust towards the reincarnation memories they receive in their awakenings, considering them an insult to the ‘Earth Maker’ and lies at best, corruption of their true reincarnation cycles at worst, which they consider sacred and bring on by other means known only to the tribes. Since the spread of colonialism they’ve worked out ways to entirely block their awakening memories, to preserve themselves and stop this perceived corruption.’
My answer was literally textbook, in both delivery and content, the information taken directly from the data sheet available in my mages guide when I read it so many years ago.

Personally I’ve got nothing against the tribes or their methods.
In fact, having lived with the mess that can happen when an awakening goes even slightly wrong, I can honestly say that I kind of envy them for having the option to purge themselves of their incarnation memories so easily at this point.

‘..savages..’
For a moment Arista threw me with that statement but her focus drifted back to the real world again moments later, pulling me along for the ride.

“-if you do not comply then we will be forced to enforce Blood Law in the hope that whoever is your inheritor will be more understanding to our cause..”
..not good..
No bloody kidding!

“Is that a threat?”
Our feet shifted slightly and the group before us moved uncomfortably at Arista’s brazen question.
“I’ll warn you now, I don’t deal well with threats to either myself or my family as a whole.”

“It is not a threat, simply a statement of intent should you defy us, the Cherokee may have outlawed our actions after the civil war but we are those gifted with power beyond mortal means by the Earth Maker himself! We will have our rights or blood as recompense!”
The large man seemed to be getting more agitated by the second as he rose his fist in the air, joined moments later by the rest of his group.

..oh great, more fanatical psychos who think they’re above the law just because of their magic!..
Just what I needed at this point!

If I could I would have sighed heavily at the irony that this problem decided to surface right now, in the one time when the person in charge of my body is on practically equal terms with their self-entitled mentality, instead of being someone who could actually calm tensions down, like ME just for examples sake?!

‘They would dare.. attributing my gift to them as some kind of divine providence?’
A wave of disgust hit me like a punch to the gut as our shoulders tensed and Arista moved into more of a battle ready stance.
‘Watch carefully Alice, I came out here to show you what I would do to those you love if you continued to disobey me on an innocent or four, but these cretins are more deserving than most..’

‘Wh-what are you going to do?.. Arista?.. ARISTA!’

Despite my protests she continued moving, her hand rising to point towards the group as a force from deep within my body tipped me off to the magic she’d begun to build up, colder and sharper then I’m used to but still recognisably similar feeling to the initial output from my icy core that I’ve come to know over the last month or so.

The moment she started to build up magic the group before us moved into action.

Some of them stepped back and began their own processes for building up magic to cast with, others stepped forward holding strange wooden devices that looked like some kind of modified cross between a spear, a rudimentary crossbow and an arrow, while yet more moved into close range with a shimmer of magic flickering over the obviously enchanted gloves on their hands.

At the very center of all that movement stood the large speaker, standing dead still as if he were carved out of stone while he glared imperiously down at us with cold judgement in his eyes.

The ‘close range’ fighters got within a few paces of us at the exact moment that the spear/arrow throwers let fly with their volley and the mages rose their hands up into casting position with surges of shaped elemental magic rolling across their fingers.

At that moment Arista smirked darkly and almost carelessly snapped her fingers.
One moment we were being borne down upon by a well-coordinated taskforce of warriors and the next we were standing before a large frozen block of ice the size of a single story house.

Arista scanned the scene with amusement and satisfaction on our face while I could feel nothing but horror.

Even though they technically started it and they also struck first, admittedly with provocation from Arista, seeing such a large group of people reduced to nothing but ice in a heartbeat was truly terrifying when mixed with her obvious lack of reaction to their frozen faces staring back at us, it made me almost wish I was safely back inside my mindscape prison, instead of witnessing her almost awe-inspiring power and madness first-hand.

She stepped our body forward slightly and rose a hand up to grasp one of the strange spear/arrows by the tip that was protruding out of the ice with a thoughtful frown slowly forming across our lips.

“Enchanted arrow tips, backwards and ungrateful they may be but even the stupid can be useful for new ideas if nothing else I guess.. try to remember that Alice?..”
With almost gentle movements she grasped the shaft of the spear which had flown furthest towards us, before being caught mid-air by her ice magic, and snapped it off to take the head with us like some twisted kind of trophy.

“These people didn’t matter to me in the slightest Alice. I love my children but they are immortal and if I must kill their corrupted current incarnations to encourage you then I will not even hesitate to do so, in comparison it would be easier to breath then kill your precious sister and ‘Mother’.”
She let out an almost bored sounding breath and rolled the arrow/spear’s length between our fingers before continuing.
“I’m too close now to let sentimentality hold me back and nothing you do will stop me, all you can do is delay my victory by a matter of hours while causing yourself great pain in the process Dearheart.”

‘You’re sick!’

“I’m what my Mother made me to be, I do what is necessary for the survival of humankind, both magical and normal.”
She sighed and slowly rose her free hand up again while aiming it toward the massive block of ice before us.
“You are my daughter Alice and I love you dearly but you are just as expendable as the others in the end, you can either help me achieve my goals or I will destroy your mind and take what I want anyway.”

‘Fuck you!’

“Belligerence is most unbecoming.. you must have gotten it from Mother’s influence?.. as expected from that meddling old cow.”
What the hell is she going on about?!

I know theoretically that there’s more than one Arista and I know she’s talking about ‘Ari’ when she talks about her supposed ‘Mother’ if the sob story she gave me earlier has even a grain of truth to it, but I’ve never bloody MET Ari!

..she’s insane..
Totally and completely insane!

“Ice is a beautiful thing you know Alice? With the right conditions and cold enough ice, everything shatters.”
With that final word she snapped her fingers once more causing the entire slab of ice before us, including all of its ‘contents’, to shatter into a fine snow-like powder which drifted to the floor and began melting almost instantly as the afternoon sun started to work against it.
“Imagine this happening to your ’Mother’ Alice, or your sister?.. not even a body left to morn over, all because you refused to be a good girl and help Mummy get what she needs..”

..I can’t help her to do thi-..
I’ve got no other choice!

“Ah.. I see you’re finally coming around at last Dearheart, now, how do I reach Mother’s power directly? How did you manipulate it enough to reshape my realm to such a staggering degree?”

..LIE!..
With a jolt of inspiration that just HAD to be more instinct then thought to even have a chance of working, I focused all my attention on the image within my head of my suppressors, of me wearing them while shaping my diversion magic and any other easily remembered moment when they’d been visible on my person.
“Still reluctant to help me? Oh well.. I suppose I’ll have to provide you another example soon, but for now no matter, I have what I need.”

She turned on a heel and started the long tree-covered trek back towards our house while a smirk played across our lips.

“I’m still in your head Dearheart, I’ve never left, you cannot hide anything from me. When I get my hands on these interesting looking little accessories of yours then we will be one step closer to our goals at last.”

It took everything I had to not flush with success and ruin everything, I had to focus my mind on what could happen if things go wrong from here on out instead, just to block out the possible give away signs to her from my thoughts alone if she looks for them.

Images of Mum and Sarah frozen within constantly shattering pillars of ice chilled me to my metaphysical bones but became an image I could focus on above all others with horrifying clarity.

Judging by the slight shift in our body language Arista had looked at my mind again and was pleased by the very real fear she found there if nothing else.

..it’s going to be a long walk back to the house at this rate..
What a depressing thought.

======

We made good time back to the house surprisingly.
The journey certainly felt a lot shorter than the trip out had to my admittedly questionable sense of time at least?

Surprisingly, or maybe not THAT surprisingly, the garden was empty when we got back.
I guess everyone’s either inside my ‘realm’ having lunch or just generally hiding from the heat like sane people tend to do at this time of day.

We stepped up through the back-front door and my eyes took a moment to correct for the dimmer light inside at first.

Mum was busying herself making something with her back to me at the counter but I couldn’t see or hear anyone else in the area which made me feel slightly uneasy for some reason.
Our footsteps sounded oddly loud when we stepped onto the wooden flooring, in a way that felt horribly familiar for some reason.

Before I could work out why this whole situation felt so annoying familiar all of a sudden Mum jumped and turned to stare at me with a flash of fear in her eyes as she dropped the knife she’d been using onto the counter-top.

Her mouth opened and the world seemed to slow down all of a sudden as realisation hit me of where I’d seen this scene before.

My visions.. my future visions..
It was only a flash of her at the time. but she turned just like that and her eyes opened wide in surprise like they are doing now then she said-

“Ari?..”

I could feel my shoulders tense as Arista stared back at Mum with a cold rage bubbling away under the surface.
For just a moment I threw everything I had into fighting off Arista’s control, anything to stop the nearly inevitable events I could already see unfolding before me from actually happening!

‘I am you’re Mother Alice, not her.. but you would do anything for her without question, yet not for me?.. such a conflict of interests can’t remain. For your own good you need to be removed from her influence at long last.’
My best efforts to stop her failed completely and as my hand reached up to point at her, Mum staggered back into the table behind her hard in obvious fear.

“Ari, I love you sweetie-”
Her words were cut off almost instantly by Arista’s horrible echoing ‘click’ and all I could do was stare on at the frozen statue of ice that stood where my Mother had been moments before in lost disbelief.

..she knew?..
I can’t.. I..
..she knew that I wasn’t in control, that’s why she said it..
I.. I..

In that moment I would have given anything just to look away but all I could do was stare at her frozen form as Arista enjoyed the emotions rolling off of my psyche.

“Do you see now Alice? This is because of you, you did this, you caused her this pain like you always do to everything you love.”
..She’s feeding on my pain, she’s seeing all my guilt playing out before her eyes and she’s using it to hurt me even more!..
Knowing that doesn’t stop it from working though sadly.
“Look at her Alice, look at the betrayal on her face when she realised that her supposed ‘daughter’ was going to kill her, this is the consequence of disobeying me Alice. If I request something then you can either do it or I will destroy your life piece by piece until there is nothing of you left but an empty husk!”

She didn’t need to say any more at that point.
She could hear me crying in whatever astral plane my consciousness currently resided in, feel my pain and loss through our connection just as surely as she could feel my overwhelming guilt.

“Say goodbye to your ‘Mother’ Alice.. try to steal my children will you, foolish woman.”
Her fingers snapped and my heart broke as Mum’s frozen visage fell into a fine powder of snow on the kitchen floor.
“There, isn’t that better Alice?.. now there’s just you and I at last.”

‘I hate you’
The words came out in a cold monotone I’ve not used in a long time.
They were a simple statement of fact.

Arguing or trying to make her see reason is a wasted effort at this point.
Nothing I do from this position can help me stop her effectively.
I’m bloody useless like this and Mum paid the price for it!

“I’ll just clean up this mess and then we’ll go find those lovely accessories of yours, shall we?”
A heavy weight settled in my chest as Arista waved her hand and the snow on the kitchen floor disappeared completely without a trace.

Mum.. my.. my Mum’s gone..
Not a trace, not even one single thing to show she’d ever.. she.. she’d e-ever..

The reality of the situation finally hit my addled brain and I let off a scream of pain so hard that, with a jerk to my chest, I found myself being thrown back into my mindscape again as Arista tried to stop the noise I was making by force.

======

My mindscape formed up around me, this time it appears that I somehow managed to skip the fall, just appearing flat on the ground already, although I didn’t care enough to question it as I pulled my knees up to my chest, screaming as hard as I could in a wild mix of rage and pain!

As I rocked myself on the ground and my head turned slightly in the process, I caught sight of the mildly amused audience of evil past-incarnations who were watching me with rapt attention from behind those horrible thick black bars dividing them from me.
A flash of rage welled up within me as they made mocking gestures and laughed to each other about my suffering.

I’m not even sure what compelled me to do it but just like Arista moments before me, I rose my hand to point towards them and snapped my fingers.

To my surprise there was a brief bout of screams as they all staggered back from the bars before their frightened faces and those ugly bars disappeared from view behind a glacier sized wall of ice that formed up, followed quickly by the loss of all sound from the other side of the bars at all a moment later as it grew so high and thick that I couldn’t even make out its end from my current position.

My body sagged, partly in relief but mostly in depression as I found myself finally alone.. alone to grieve..

She wasn’t perfect.
She wasn’t particularly kind for most of my life either, but.. b-but.. she was my Mum?..
She.. sh-she..

The last of my resolve cracked and I lost track of everything to the heart-wrenching pain in my chest and the tears that refused to stop falling from my face.

With a heavy breath I tried to pull my emotions back under control, practically slipping into a trance as I started the worryingly hard task of suppressing my emotions as much as possible like I used to do back when I was Al.

I need a clear head if I’m going to come through this alive, and more importantly if I collapse now then all hope of stopping Arista, avenging my Mother and protecting the few people I have left from her clutches would be bloody wasted!

======

“Do you really think this is a time to sleep, little Alice?”

I jolted awake properly again in surprise at the sudden voice behind me, not that I’d been particularly paying attention for however long it’s taken me to finally sort things out to some degree.

I hadn’t exactly been sleeping yet.. but after crying myself dry and working for what felt like an eternity, with the pull of my now mostly bottled emotions constantly fighting to overwhelm me again at the same time, I’d honestly been on the very edge of passing out from exhaustion if nothing else before she spoke up, causing a burst of adrenaline to pulse through me.

That voice.. that hated, horrible voice managed to shake away all my tiredness as a burning determination replaced it instantly.
..I’m gonna kill her!..

A surge of strength to my muscles and I was up on my feet again with my fist swinging out towards Arista’s voice, before I finally processed what was in front of me and I stumbled to a stop with my jaw dropped open in surprise.

A long purple dress, more of a toga than anything else, barely held up by its loose shoulder straps and a recognisably moderate amount of cleavage led up to a mildly bored looking version of my face which seemed to be busy inspecting the nails on her hand for some reason instead of paying attention to the fist that just barely avoided smashing her face in a moment or so before hand.

Slowly her head turned and she offered me an almost shark-like grin that probably shouldn’t have been as reassuring as it was to me, considering how crazy it made her look.

“..T-Theodora?..”

“Long time no see little Alice, love what you’ve done with the place, that’s one mighty-fine endless ice wall you built there!”
She bounced on the balls of her feet and glanced away from me, drawing my eyes along with hers to stare at the thick, smooth ice wall standing between me and all of the dark incarnations on the other side.

Did I.. did I make that?..

“Now, I’d love to chat but duty calls, Mother will be in to check on you soon and we can’t let her know you have reinforcements now, can we?”
She stepped forward almost casually and in seconds she’d scooped me up into a tight hug, her chin resting on my shoulder with a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry for your loss. It won’t help but know that you are not alone, I lost both of my parent’s at a young age as well and so did several of the others.. the pain.. the pain never goes away but you will learn to deal with it eventually.”

With her piece spoken she let go of me and stepped back leaving me to stare at her in confused awe.
That was surprisingly helpful and, ya know.. not crazy?.. of her to say.

“On to more pressing matters, don’t trust John’s help, don’t worry about Sarah and whatever you do DON’T start questioning Mothers motives again until you’re inside the array!”
..what?..
“Oh! Almost forgot, when she tells you about that loud-mouthed old remnant at last, try to remember that your life isn’t a lie and while you may be a piece on a worryingly large chessboard, even a pawn can best a Queen if the situation plays out correctly.”
..WHAT?!..

“Theodora what are you-”
She spun on a heel and held a finger up to my lips silencing me instantly from the worrying amount of speed involved if nothing else.

“No time, got to love you and leave you kid, things to do, incarnations to wake up, magical memories to corrupt, metaphysically non-existent bonds to weaken.. keep up the good work while we handle the rest of things from behind the scenes and when you get the chance, don’t hesitate to kill my bitch of a Mother and damn her ‘soul’ for all eternity while doing it, okay?”
My jaw dropped for the second time in as many minutes and she took advantage of that to dive in for another hug before planting a kiss on my cheek with an almost worryingly light giggle.

“Never forget, you’re not alone Alice. She’ll try to tell you differently, everyone tells you what they want you to hear, she needs you to believe her on that one important point but you are NEVER alone and despite how it feels we’re going to win this war, just you wait and see!”

It seemed to take forever for me to process the words she was saying but she didn’t give me much of a chance to handle it all before she span on the spot and literally seemed to just fall through the white floor of my mindscape into non-existence again!

..what the hell is going on?!..
Seriously, I need a timeout right about now..

I can’t.. I can’t deal with this shit!
First Mum and now Theodora and there’s Arista and Ellie with her army and.. and.. URGG!
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

“I think I can explain that for you Dearheart.. first I need your help finding these illusive accessories of yours.. come along now, there’s a good girl.”

I tried to swing around and hit Arista, more out of instinct then as part of a conscious action, but she caught my shoulder with ease and in seconds there was a jerk that pulled us back into the waking world again with nothing but my frustrated yell of rage to show for my efforts.

..what does she want now?..
I don’t care! I’m gonna kill her!

A wise person once said: 'No-one messes with my family!' Another wise person once responded with: 'I'd like to see you try and stop me.' They weren't having a conversation or anything, just two random statements of fact across the centuries which have no connection or relevance to anything whatsoever really, I'm sure. Events unfold including but not limited to: A zap, a snap, and some screaming. oh, but the screaming... Not one for the faint of heart I'm afraid, but all is not lost quite yet, we can only hope.

 

“If you’re quite done pouting Alice?”

I ‘glared’ at her with all my non-existent might but remained silent despite that.
She wants me to speak, if I speak she can use it to her advantage and I know DAMN well that she can tell what physical motions I’m trying to do at this point too so screw her!

“I really didn’t want to do this Alice.. if you would only behave..”
She sighed heavily as if I’d disappointed her somehow and turned my body around to face the stairs forcefully.
“You have ten seconds to assist me before we go hunting for your sister.”

..I can’t tell her wh-..
‘NO! Not Sarah! Go find John, last I knew he had them on a syphon device to help recalibrate them after I overloaded them and burnt out the control runes!’

“See, that wasn’t so difficult now was it Dearheart? Isn’t it so much better when we work together like a real mother and daughter should?”
There was no irony in her voice, despite her having just KILLED my MOTHER in-bloody-front of me!

‘I hate you’

“You’ll get over it eventually dear, they all do with time.”
Apparently that was the end of our conversation because she started walking towards the stairs in search of John instead of waiting for my response to that load of trash she just spouted!

When we reached the foot of the stairs she turned around and gave a last long, hard stare at the kitchen as if silently taunting me with what she’d done.
A roiling bubble of pain, grief and anger fought its way back to the surface inside me, after I’d tried so hard to work past it for Sarah’s sake, and it threatened to swallow me up all over again just at the sight of Mum’s favourite spot in the house.. the spot she died in because I wasn’t strong enough to save her..

‘I fucking hate you’

======

“John, I’ve been looking for you dearest.”

Yet again her imitation of me was paper-thin at best.
Part of me wants to believe that John’s already seen through it at this point but I have my doubts and Theodora’s message about not trusting his help is pretty damning too sadly.

“I need my enchanted leather equipment back, is it finished being repaired yet?”
It really wasn’t my imagination this time when John’s eyebrow twitched slightly but he managed to wrestle it back under control and unless she’s actively checking my mind, which I really doubt because she’s busy interacting with the real world at the moment, I don’t think Arista will have noticed it at all with any luck either.

Come on John! Get it together buddy!

“The repair was finished a few hours ago, they’re in my room, follow me Han.”
His calm tone, lack of overt teasing in general and suspicious avoidance of calling the items in question my ‘suppressors’, filled me with a burst of hope that maybe this nightmare was close to finishing at last.
“I’m glad you moved everything around in here, it’s so much easier to find a spare room now then it was a few days ago.”

Yet again his tone was calm and I became fully convinced that John knew what was going on.
He’s doing small-talk.. John Jones does NOT do small-talk.

I swear John if we pull this off I could kiss you, you beautiful lying bastard!

“This way, middle hallway, take the first left past the painting of Godzilla fighting Barney over who gets to destroy the Eiffel tower and then a right by the statue of me naked.”
Arista didn’t outwardly react to his words aside from a slow blink, but me on the other hand.. well..

..WHAT?!..
Powers damn my subconscious!

I swear if that statues actually a thing I’m gonna kill him.
THIS is what you get for designing a massive living habitat while high on intoxicatingly strong magical power, damn it!
Damn it all and damn my subconscious, damn John too just because I bloody-well can!

..stupid sexy John..
Shut UP brain!

======

“Ladies first”

He waved his arm dramatically and pushed the door open with his other one to show off a rather large room that I assume was originally intended to be a dorm but John seems to have claimed it all for himself at this point judging by the changes he’s made to the decor.

I’m still fuming slightly over the discovery that the statue he mentioned is not only a real thing but also seems to have been carved directly from my memory of walking in on him naked back in Seattle.

Luckily that annoyance is helping me keep a lid on everything else running through my mind at the moment and judging by the small smirk on our lips that Arista allowed to form after we found the thing, along with the fact that she apparently hasn’t seen any of the worry I’ve got building as we get closer to my possible salvation, it’s helping a great deal to mask anything that could tip her off at the moment.

Sitting pride of place on an ancient looking huge wooden desk were my suppressors, laying innocently on top of a large slab of slate with runes marked into it in an almost sun-dial like pattern.

Without my input my heartbeat sped up rapidly at the sight of them, so I’m guessing Arista recognises them from the ‘memories’ that she saw earlier?
Either way she quickly stepped her way into the room and moved over to them without hesitation.

‘How do I activate them Alice?’
She only dropped out of reality for a moment to ask that question before jumping back into control of my body again which was probably a wise move when you consider John had followed behind her moments later and come to a stop at our elbow with a reassuring smile on his face.

‘You.. you put the small ones on your legs, the medium on your wrists, the long one on your waist and the collar around your throat. When you’re done there are two runes on the left-hand side of the collar’s clasp that activate everything and your magic should start the conversion process by moving down towards your feet, then cycling about a lot’
For a long moment she didn’t move as she stared down at the leather and chain devices, which I dare not name at this exact moment, with a thoughtful frown.

‘Why are you being so straightforward about this Dearheart?’
She only dipped down long enough to speak yet again but it was enough to make me cringe internally.

‘John and Sarah.. I.. please, they’re all I have left.. I can’t.. I can’t lose anyone else today?..’
I could feel ‘my’ eyes soften at that and a wave of regret swept over me from nowhere before being hastily replaced by determination and pleasure.

It’s probably premature of me, but I think I’d like to put forward my nomination for the ‘best actress in an unmitigated disaster situation caused by magic’ award at this point and I’m going to do it anyway though.
I’d like to thank my fans and this manipulative idiot leech-bitch Arista inside my body for being so bloody gullible when she thinks she’s winning, thank-you-very-much!

The fact that she didn’t hesitate to take that last step or flinch when John offered to help her slip all the pieces on only solidified my opinion on that point luckily.
I watched with bated breath as the final piece, the ‘collar’, was slid around my slender neck and John helped her to clasp it shut at last.

His job done, John stepped back a pace or two with a reassuring smile and a nod to us as he went.
Arista reached up my hand to search for the two runes in question leaving me to hold my metaphysical breath in anticipation.

At what seemed like the last possible second, the door to John’s room burst open and Arista’s hand dropped to her side at lightning fast speed.
Standing in the doorway was Gran panting heavily and equally out of breathe Mrs Jones?!

“Mum?”

Mrs Jones leaned heavily against the door frame and offered John a weak wave while still trying to catch her breath.
Meanwhile Gran stepped over to us and leaned slightly against John in exhaustion too.

“Hannah.. dear..”
She tried to speak but ended up stalling out to take in a great big gasp of air before continuing.
“Hannah, there’s an emergency and-”

I only caught it out of the corner of my eye but it was far too late for me to do anything even if I wasn’t stunned by what was happening or completely unable to control my body to start with.

Gran’s hand had slowly crept upwards, ghosting its way up John’s back before latching on around his neck from behind.
Before he could react in the slightest, sparks flew between her fingers and his whole body crumpled to the floor in a twitching mess as his nervous system got zapped to hell by Gran’s lightning magic!

“Sorry Mother, we were almost too late. The items you were about to activate are part of an incarnation suppression system that Hannah designed after a few incidents involving her losing control of her body, which scared her enough to design and use them despite their limitations.”
Said body stiffened and a frown formed on my face as Arista stared at Gran for a moment.

Eventually she nodded to her in acceptance and started slowly removing the suppressors, piece by horrifying piece, until they lay on the floor as an inert pile of leather, no use to anyone at this point.

“Oh Alice.. my poor stupid Alice.. what did I tell you would happen if you defied me again?”
Gran and Mrs Jones both blanched but straightened themselves nervously a moment later before offering Arista an almost simultaneous set of deep bows.

“You both did well considering the circumstances. It’s a shame, but this is the last straw I’m afraid.. Louise, make the preparations to modify the ritual.. tell Dante he was right after all..”
Gran straightened up, only to dip back into one more quick bow and make her way out of the room at a hurried rush.
“Natasha, be a dear and make sure your idiot son won’t be bothering us for a while, then come join me outside the nearest Hub so we can move on.”

Mrs Jones also straightened, only to bow again sharply.
Instead of marching off however she moved cautiously over to John’s unconscious body and started checking his pulse while Arista lead my body out of the room with her apparently standard graceful but predatory walk.

‘..where are we going?..’
At this point I wasn’t really expecting an answer, kinda figure she’s going to be PRETTY pissed at me for obvious reasons at this exact moment.

Much to my surprise she actually did answer me a moment later, as we matched down the hallways back towards the main areas of the ‘realm’.

“I always have a contingency plan Alice, while the storage rooms I had here were the easiest for me to access, I have several more across the globe and I’m sorry to say that I’ve lost all trust in you at this point Dearheart.”
..shit..

“Mom!”
..oh no..

“Han? Where have you BEEN?”
Oh no..

Arista turned my body around to face the approaching voices and my stomach dropped as my worst fears were confirmed.

Sarah and Eris we’re approaching us with warm, oblivious smiles on their faces.
A small sly smile crept its way across ‘my’ lips as Arista took them both in and a wave of contented feelings washed over me yet again.

‘Please Arista, I’m begging you! Don’t hurt them because of me!’
The smile slipped from our lips into a more thoughtful look for a moment or two before she responded.

‘Call me ‘Mother’ Alice.. call me Mother and I promise to not permanently harm either of them.’

I can’t.. I can’t believe she’d..
..that sick bitch?!..
She just KILLED my mother damn it!
..what other option is there?..
I d-don’t have a choice.. do I?..

‘Please M-Mother, don’t hurt them..’

“Much better”
With that muttered statement Arista bent down and allowed Eris to run into my arms for a warm hug.

The little limpet wriggled around a fair amount until she finally managed to settle herself against my hip as usual and slowly let her head dip down to rest above my heart.
Arista turned her attention on towards Sarah for a moment before Eris went ridged in our arms and slowly her little head rose up as she stared into my face with fear in her eyes that was painfully obvious for anyone to see.

“Y-you’re not my Mom?”

As if her words were a gunshot going off everything happened at once.
Arista’s hand shot up and a heavy ball of ice formed out of nowhere to smack hard into the side of Sarah’s face, knocking her to the floor with blood flying freely from her now wounded head.

Eris kicked and fought to be freed for a few seconds longer but when Arista turned her attention down to her again she froze in fear. Thick tears fell down her cheeks and across her trembling top lip as she stared up at us like we were some great beast about to eat her.

I’ve never seen her look this terrified before!

“You remember me, don’t you Eris?”
Slowly the shaking little girl nodded her head before shifting the nod into a shaking motion of denial a moment later.
“Ah, you don’t consciously remember me of course but deep down you’ve never forgotten the fear.. clever girl.. clever, clever girl..”

‘Arista please don’t-’

“Bored now”
She cut across me and her free hand came up in a lightning fast movement that I could barely see.

In a sickeningly familiar motion that I’d seen happen to this exact same little girl from a completely different perspective when I had my vision of the insane vampire countess so many weeks ago, my hand jerked to the side and there was a horrible echoing snap that seemed to engrave itself into my memory in seconds as if branded there.

As Eris’s limp body collapsed backwards and Arista let her fall carelessly, I screamed.
I screamed and screamed, and screamed in agony at losing my daughter to this sick MONSTER in my own flesh!

“Oh do shut up Alice, she’s perfectly fine, I just needed to reset her compulsions.”
My screams died off slowly as I took in her words with a numb, confused haze.

..how can she be fine?..
How can she perfectly FUCKING fine when she just snapped her neck with my FUCKING HANDS?!

“I’d be more worried about your sister if I were you. Eris has been an immortal child for centuries, Sarah on the other hand.. well.. thanks to your existence she’s so painfully mortal at this exact moment.”

I wanted to yell at her, I wanted to thrash and fight and.. and just do SOMETHING to stop her, but my mind was going numb from an overload of.. of j-just everything..
It’s too much, it’s all too, too much for me to handle!

“I planned to punish you by killing your poor sister Alice but I’ve just thought of a better way to get my message across.”
She sunk to our knees and rolled Sarah’s head over until she could reach the still bleeding wound at the side of her face.

With precise control that I could never even dream of achieving, her magic rolled and her hand started to glow in a soft shade of light blue.
After a few heart stopping seconds she pulled back again letting Sarah’s head fall to the ground while almost lazily casting a mild transmogrification which turned Sarah’s shirt and jeans into thick binding chains to hold her in place.

As she sat back with a sigh there was a loud cracking sound from behind us which would have made me jump if I had any form of control over my body.

A knowing smile spread across our lips and Arista turned to face Eris’s crumpled body as her head jerked a few times and she suddenly shot up into a sitting position with a deep gasp of air.
Despite my almost numb state I let off a pained sob as those gorgeous little eyes fluttered open and her delicate little mouth broke into a wide yawn that stalled out half way, as she stared around herself groggily.

“Mommy?.. my head hurts..”
Arista quickly made her way over to her and scooped her up into my arms.
I strained to feel the physical sensations, anything just so I could know that she really was alive!

Slowly Eris’s head settled on the spot just above my heart and she seemed to drift off into a fitful sleep in the space of a few seconds as something tugged at the loose strands of magic drifting off of ‘my’ core, heading towards her ear.

..so THAT’S how she knew Arista wasn’t me?..
Every time she rests her ear above my heart she must be checking my magic somehow?!
Her little face scrunched unhappily for a few seconds but there was no mistaking the even breathing pattern she took on for anything but sleep a moment or two later.

“Hmm.. should be about long enough..”
Arista eased Eris out of her arms and gently settled her body flat out on the floor where she curled herself into a sleepy little ball.

‘Wh-what did you do to her?’

“Oh Alice, the world is a very big place and you are so painfully naive about it at times..”
She sighed and brought my hand up to brush my hair out of our face.

“Eris.. is a form of ‘golem’, I guess you could say?”
A gasp ripped itself from my non-existent lips as she continued on.
“Part-golem at least, her constant dying all the time was so terribly distracting to my work. I’d spend years shaping an incarnation to do what needed to be done only for them to toss it all away in order to save the useless little brat, leaving that incarnation broken and equally useless to me all in one go.. I knew I had to do something about it..”

I couldn’t process what she was saying at first.
No matter how hard I tried the idea just did NOT want to sink in at all.

Eris.. Eris is REAL! She’s my DAUGHTER!
She’s MINE!

She’s not.. she’s not a THING?!

“Oh don’t get so sentimental over this Alice. Eris was once human, she was once that same annoyingly precocious little girl you’ve come to know and for a time she even grew up to be an equally annoying precocious young woman.. but she got in the way, and you know what happens to people that get in my way, don’t you?”
If I could I would have shuddered at the suddenly cold tone to her voice.
“A suite of compulsion charms set to specific triggers and a hundred years or so to gain almost exclusive access to the old garden realms was all it took to eliminate her as a problem, turning her into a surprisingly useful asset instead.”

..she’s a monster..
No, she’s WORSE than that! I’ve met demons who are more human then she is!

“Who are you talking to Alice?”
What?
“I’m still in your head Dearheart, never forget that, you just disagreed with someone?”

What’s she going on about?
..I’m just talking to myself..

“Mother you’re making this far too easy, I couldn’t confirm it before but now..”
A slow malicious grin formed on our lips as Arista turned away from Eris’s now sleeping body to focus back on the slowly waking form of Sarah instead.

W-why is she smiling like that?
..she’s insane, that’s why!..

“Hello Sarah”
Arista moved us even closer to her until my face was hovering above Sarah’s and even as my sister thrashed against the restraints holding her still, her eyes widened in fear.
“Now while your dear sister slowly comes to terms with the fact that she shares her head with my manipulative old mother, who has spent decades subtly shaping the way she thinks at this point, I’m going to tell you a story.”

“Han? she’s still.. can she hear us?”
YES I CAN SARE!
..she can’t hear me..

“She can hear you Sarah and that’s going to make this story all the more fun to tell, now don’t interrupt me or I’ll be forced to hurt you and none of us want that to happen again, do we?”
Luckily for my sanity if nothing else, Sarah decided that now would be the perfect time to keep her mouth shut for once in her life as she nodded her mute acceptance up at us.

“Wonderful, now, a long time ago, let’s say twenty-four years ago, give or take a few months?”
Arista shifted on our knees to get comfortable as a smile spread across our lips.
“A set of twins were born, one magical and one for all intents and purposes, not.”
Oh, it’s about us.. great..

“This state of affairs didn’t last for long though when the twin’s Grandmother came to the maternity ward and ‘borrowed’ the pair for a few hours.. you see, the child without magic was a very special child, destined for greatness if only it could have the right.. motivation?.. to grow correctly.”
Where’s she going with this story?!
..not like this..

Arista moved our body again, pulling herself uncomfortably close to Sarah so our hand could come down to stroke her face almost lovingly.

“Plan’s had been in place for generations at this stage, all to help create this one perfect child. Through a set of rituals and a lot of hard work your Grandmother achieved what many would consider impossible.. she transferred an un-awakened magical core from one human-being into another..”
Sarah gasped aloud, her face clouding over with repulsion and sadness.
I wasn’t quite following the story well enough apparently because it took Arista’s next words to really make me see why Sarah reacted that badly all of a sudden.
“You’ve always felt lesser to my Alice, haven’t you Sarah?.. Well, aren’t you glad to know that it wasn’t just in your imagination now?.. She IS better than you, she stole you’re magic after all, you’re just the pathetic little mess that remained-”

‘STOP IT!’
Arista stalled in her speech at my internal shout but the damage was already done.

Sarah’s face crumpled as all of her childhood insecurities were dragged to the surface by Arista’s words and her own self-doubts that have always been so ready to drag her down again, despite how she acts normally, surged painfully forward once more.

If what Arista said is true then so many things in our lives would make more sense.

Our connection growing up, far deeper than what just being twins normally entails would be an almost inevitable consequence of us sharing a ‘soul’, right?
The way Sarah would always freak out as a kid if I was too far away from her and the way she always used to be so CLOSE to me constantly, rubbing herself against me as if desperately trying to make us into one being again..

The implications.. it doesn’t matter if Arista hurt’s her physically at this point?.. she’s already hurt Sarah more than I would have thought possible with just those few simple sentences.
She’ll never be able to look at our lives the same way again.. she’ll never.. she’ll never be able to forgive me for this?..

“Now, now, no need for tears darling girl. Today is a happy day!”
A warm chuckle rumbled out of my throat, one that hurt me to feel my body give off almost as much as it hurt Sarah as she stared up into my face with a lost look of despair in her usually bright eyes.
“Alice awoke her locus point to its truest, fully stabilised form a long time ago.. put simply, she doesn’t need your core anymore darling.”

A smile played across our lips again, despite the tears I wanted to let lose otherwise.
Sarah’s crying, if she cries then I cry, we’re twins, that’s how it works damn it!

‘What are you going to do t-’
Before I could even fully voice my question Arista continued her speech, raising my hand up to my chest almost casually as I felt my magic roll around inside us with an almost painful twist.

“I think it’s about time she gave it back to you, don’t you?.. this is going to hurt both of you very much, but don’t you worry darling.. I’ll be fine..”
The smile on my face stretched and practically glowed for a moment as Arista did something to my magic and I found myself yanked out of the real-world into a massive snow covered world filled with ice as far as the eye could see.

======

After a few seconds of disorientation things started settling into my head a little better and as I stared down at the far too organised looking cracks trailing a massive web of lines through what parts of the ice below my feet were visible past the snow, I finally realised where I was.

This.. this abyss of a frozen wasteland.. these are my lines.
This must be what my lines look like to Arista?
Gone are the circuit-board like layout and the golden glow coming from a single ball of bubbling power at its center and in its place..

All I can see is snow, ice and the bitter darkness from the eclipsing sun sitting high above me.

“Lovely, isn’t it? My beautiful ice..”
I jerked on the spot and found myself facing Arista again, a younger Arista.

Her face was oddly blank despite the almost dreamy quality to her voice all of a sudden.
She looked like a clone of my usual mental avatar which, I belatedly realised, I was back in the form of as well with all the recognisable traits of my current real-world body I’d expect to find normally.

“What are you going to do Arista? Stop this madness! Leave Sarah alone and just.. just do something else!.. p-please, leave her out of this?!..”

“Oh Alice”
She glided forwards and cupped my cheek in her palm lovingly, somehow making my whole body lock up on the spot and stopping all resistance I could hope to give in one gentle movement.
“I’m setting you free Dearheart. For my plans to work you need to be unhindered by that girls nasty fire core, so we can finally join together properly at last as we always should have from the very start.. just you, me and that wonderful locus point ‘core’ of yours.”

She turned my head slowly and as my vision panned across the endless seeming, frozen wasteland before us something caught my eye.

Far off into the distance a storm was raging, violent and heavy feeling even from here, with flashes of lightning going off for miles around.. and at it’s very center was a tornado that must be the size of a state!

“It’s amazing what you can do with a few compulsions really, isn’t it Dearheart?”
Arista let my gaze linger fearfully on the tornado for a few moments more before turning my face back towards herself.

“You would think someone of your intelligence would have seen something like THAT in here a long time ago, wouldn’t you?.. unless you didn’t want to see it.. or COULDN’T want to see it at least..”
Once more she turned my face again until I was staring up at the eclipse happening high above us in mild confusion.
“Look familiar darling? You came so close at one point to truly seeing what’s been right in front of your eyes this whole time, but you fell at the last hurdle in your rush to go save your precious ‘John’..”

As I stared up at the eclipse, connections started forming in my head.

A flash of memory from a few weeks ago, back when I frantically tried to get a grasp on the connection between my brand and John’s core so I could find him.
I never did manage to find the point where it connected to my core properly.

Despite all my efforts at the time, the point where it connected to my core stayed tantalisingly out of view, as if my core was turning with me to keep it hidden some..how..

“What did you do?”
A smirk formed on Arista’s lips that chilled me to the bone despite this not being a physical realm at all.
“W-what did you DO Arista?!”

Her free hand came up and waved in my face mockingly before it shot forward, plunging into my chest effortlessly and making me gasp in surprise, although not in pain oddly?
That almost welcome state of being didn’t last long as Arista’s hand latched onto something deep within me and twisted hard.

My legs gave out and my whole body went limp as pain on a level I never imagined possible radiated out from my chest and through my mind where it seemed to only get worse with every twitching movement she made.
High above us the eclipses light moved slightly, allowing a shining ray of warm sunlight to come down upon us, illuminating Arista’s rictus grin in horrifying profile as she pulled and jerked her arm around inside me.

The pain spiked and so did the sunlight above us before finally, with a stab of pain that almost made me pass out entirely, her arm came free from my chest and the light around us died out instantly, only to be replaced moments later by a warm radiating glow from Arista’s palm.

I stared at her hand with dazed amazement as a molten ball of fire, a ball of fire I remember so often seeing on a much larger scale whenever I came into my lines to cast a spell, back when I first started to learn magic years ago to a degree that I practically have its rolling patterns of liquid light memorised.
Exactly the same as it used to be.. but shrunken down to a worryingly small size.

My core?.. My FIRE core!
The core I used for so long before my second awakening where it changed over to an ice.. one..

It didn’t change into an ice core, did it?
..no..
Yes?.. No, that’s not.. That’s not possible!

The eclipse! This world is symbolic, just like my mindscape, and with that logic there’s only one thing that could have been blocking out the sun-like power of my fire core so perfectly at this point.
My ice core.. I’ve got two of them?..

One was Sarah’s stolen fire core and the other.. the other is ARISTA’S ice core!

“It’s all about perspective Alice, do you feel it yet? The chill as my magic finally runs free across your body unopposed by this disgustingly bright little flame.”
I could feel it, a choking cold, as if someone had replaced all the blood in my veins with cold bubbling soda water!

“Take a deep breath now darling, this might hurt a little bit, don’t worry though I’m sure Sarah will thank you some day for returning her core to her.”
Arista’s knowing smile was malicious and only fed into my fears about how Sarah would react to all of this.. how she would blame ME for it, no matter how unfair and out of character that action would be for the adult Sarah I know now..

As the waves of cold power crashed down around me, burning in my veins, I couldn’t see any other ending to this horrible messy situation.

“We really must get on with things Alice, you should have held your breath when I suggested.. Goodnight Dearheart..”
With those last ominous words Arista grasped m-SARAH’S fire core tightly in her hand and pulled herself harshly away from my crumpled form.

The world whited out.
All I could see was pain, all I could feel, think and breath was an unstoppable pain that seemed to burn almost as much as it chilled me beyond rational thought!

If we were in the real world I might have puked.
If we were in the real world I might have passed out.
If we were in the real world I might.. might have screamed..

As it is, all I could do was lay there, crumpled into a twitching pile within the mental plane of existence I call my ‘lines’ as my brain shut down completely with a horrible finality.

======

“-back you little beasts before I destroy her mind and you will NEVER see her again!”

It wasn’t anything like waking up.
I don’t know much at this exact second, but I know that I’ve never felt this strangely disconnected feeling before.

The moment where my conscious mind went from true ‘non-existence’ and back to being ‘awake’ within a nano-second, without there really being a transition between the two states.

At first I wanted to wince and blink a few times on reflex alone but that wasn’t possible with Arista in control so I found myself staring angrily at a platoon of golem-mounted imps instead.
The golems were all pointing rather big guns at me while a multitude of other fae races could be seen nervously moving about behind them as if preparing for a fight.

“Your mistress is asleep, not gone, if you allow me passage to retrieve my items then within the day I promise you that there will only be one consciousness left in this body and you can join with your precious ‘Lady Death’ again for all I care.”

The imps shared worried glances among themselves from their perches on the oddly familiar looking golem’s shoulders, inside the oddly familiar looking golden hallways we were apparently now standing in.

It took a few more disorientating seconds before I could finally put names-to-faces, as it were, and things started to ‘click’ at last in my head.

I know those golems because their MINE!
I stole them fair and square from Handyman.. and then the imps stole them from me while Felix thanked me for them as if they were a bloody gift?!

These halls, these garishly designed golden hallways shouldn’t exist at this point considering I changed my realm so drastically.. although a moment later the worryingly obvious answer to that problem came to the surface as well.
..we’re in the Hub?..

My ‘infectious’ golden magic has been changing the hub into.. into ‘my realm’, all this time?!

‘Oh shit..’
..awake at last?..
‘what?’

..nevermind, more important things..
Important things like Arista, her current situation and finding out what the HELL she did to Sarah!

I swear to the Powers if she hurt her again, I don’t care if she is some nearly omnipotent leech-turned-oppressor inside my own body, I’ll KILL her if it’s the last thing I do!

‘Awake at last Alice? You had me worried for a while there.’
If I could I would have glared at her for the almost jovial tone to her mental-voice.
She’s enjoying this!

‘Of course I’m enjoying this Dearheart, the fae are always amusing and the fact that you’ve inspired such loyalty from these semi-sentient little bugs in such a short time makes me ever so proud of you, despite the way it’s currently working against us slightly.’

My first instinct was to rage and yell at her but that’s gotten me pretty much nowhere lately and, if anything, all it’s done is harmed me in the process so I think it’s about time for a change in tactics?
..calm works, calm helps..

With the best approximation of ‘calm’ that I could offer I ‘sighed’ heavily and turned my attention back to Arista as she squared up for her little stand-off with the group which can only be described as MY imp-golem army at this point.

‘Tell me you didn’t kill Sarah?’

Our face twitched for a moment in surprise making the imps in front of us shift worriedly and share another uncertain chain of looks between themselves even though it apparently wasn’t enough to make them move out of Arista’s way yet.

‘Of course I didn’t kill her darling, that would just be a waste after all the effort I took in putting her core back inside her body.. which I’ll admit wasn’t much considering the unreasonable amount of power that you obliviously allow to run rampant through your body at any one given moment usually..’

I gave off the impression of my shoulders relaxing in relief at that point
It wasn’t exactly intentional but having been back in a physically body, to my perspective while visiting my lines, I could feel a bit of a stronger connection to the metaphysical idea of a seperate ‘body’ existing in general and instincts from actually HAVING a body are kind of hard to shake off honestly, especially when-

‘Whether she actually survives the core transfer is a whole other thing of course, but if she dies it’s from her own weakness and nothing I’VE done at least.. last time I saw her she was.. hmm..’

Without warning a memory blasted across my eyes, a memory of Sarah’s body laying splayed out on the floor of my realm, wearing only her underwear as fine lines of red flickered all over her body, in some places becoming so bright that they burned dark black marks into her skin before dimming out again into a patchwork mesh-like net across her skin.

‘W-what did you DO?!’
Arista sighed internally again and our eyebrow popped up incredulously for a moment before she answered me.

‘All I did was give her back her core, what you’re seeing is her long forgotten ‘lines’ waking up to a rather rude invasion of fire magic from a fully established adult core being slotted into her barely developed system.. to be honest the poor dear will be lucky to walk away from it magically crippled but alive I’m afraid, but then, I’ve been wrong before with you two haven’t I.. so who knows?’

Our lips twisted up into a malicious grin as Arista obviously enjoyed the franticly worried, half-formed thoughts shooting through my mind as I created and then tossed away thousands of plans to help save Sarah which all had the rather vital flaw of requiring me to actually have an actual FUCKING BODY!

‘Language Alice’
FUCK YOU!
‘Well honestly, you try to be nice and look what it-.. oh? Looks like their leader has arrived..’

We both focused on real world and stared at the back of a larger imp who’d suddenly appeared before us in a flash of sulphuric smoke, one of us by choice and the other because I lacked any alternative option aside from just swearing uselessly to the parasite inside me who apparently couldn’t care less aside from mild rebukes about my ‘language’.

“I take it you are their leader, little imp?”
The imp slowly turned around to face us and if I could have, I would have gasped in worry.

It’s Felix!

“Felix, the imp leader”
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
“Alice has spoken of you to me, I’ve just been telling your compatriots that I mean no harm and simply wish to take back what’s mine so I can be on my way.”

Felix glared back at us harshly, a fire burning in his eyes that I can only remember seeing once before when he faced off against Maven herself in my vision of their argument.
Slowly, with more than a little reluctance, he nodded to us and waved the other imps on their golem-mounts back to allow a pathway to open for Arista to walk through.

Despite knowing that they were all on my side, it was still unnerving to ‘walk’ down a hallway lined with glaring imps.

We carried on down seemingly random yet surprisingly lifeless hallways from there, with the exception of the fae, who seemed to be waiting for us at every corner with glares and sometimes gnashing teeth on show.

..she’s really not making any friends in here is she?..
Nope, feels like we’re walking through a heavy metal crowd singing pop music at the top of our lungs from the almost tangible but restrained hostility at every corner.

“Talking to Mother again Alice?”
What?..
..ignore her, she’s crazy after all..
Yeah! Stupid crazy Arista..
“There you go again. I’m curious, is it wilful ignorance at this point or are you just THAT far into denial?”

Seriously what the hell is she going on about?
..crazy people equals crazy crap..
True, she seems to be a bit frustrated though for some reason?

“This is just pathetic.. Alice, darling, you have someone else in your head. She’s had a lot longer to bond with you and she likes to hide in the shadows making others do her work for her when possible. That questioning little voice in the back of your head you keep arguing with is my MOTHER you useless little twit!”
WHAT?!
“Well? The game’s up now mother, aren’t you going to say anything?”

We fell into a long awkward silence where the only sound to be heard was our feet hitting the floor as Arista continued to walk through the Hub’s confusing mess of hallways with apparent ease and, as the silence stretched on, I started to feel progressively more worried.

Something doesn’t feel right?
Usually this is the point where I’m challenging the crazy person’s opinions with logic, facts and..ya know?.. statements like ‘stupid vaguely-insulting-description-of-the-person-in-question’..

“That awkward silence would be the sound of Mother finally realising that all I needed to do to turn all of her hard work for the last twenty-five years against her is to tell you the unvarnished truth Alice, I told you when we first met that she’s been manipulating you, shaping your thoughts for her own gain into the perfect weapon to stop me.”

..that’s not how it- um..
You what?
..umm, well I.. SHE! uh...
YOU!

“I’ll leave you two to talk, why don’t you take a timeout in the mindscape to sort this out with Mother-dearest little Alice?”

..NO! Don’t let her-..
There was a violent shove to my chest and the world disappeared with HER sentence half-formed.

I’m honestly not sure if I’m glad for that fact or not at the moment?
I can’t believe she.. and I!.. all this time that little voice in my head, my ‘brain’..
The one encouraging me when I needed it, giving me hints an-and? DAMN IT ALL!

Why can’t anything ever just be simple for Powers sake?!

======

I came crashing down from the sky within my mindscape and I ended up having a relatively comfortable landing on ‘my’ bed rather than the hard floor for once, which was a bit of a relief honestly.

..-FUCK!..
One thing that wasn’t a relief on the other hand was the sound of HER speaking again!

“Ari, I take it?”
I could feel a few different emotional shifts in my head ranging from awkwardness to embarrassment, feelings that I doubt I would have ever picked up on from how weak they were without specifically looking for them.

..um, yeah?..
My shoulders slumped and I pushed my face down into the mattress below me with a heavy sigh.
..sort of, it’s complicated..

“Isn’t it always?”
Despite the situation, I found myself letting off a little burst of laughter at the absurdity of it all, stopping a moment later when my laugh was mirrored almost perfectly by the voice that’s seemingly always been with me but is apparently not part of my psyche at all.
..I kinda am part of you, as I said, it’s complicated..

Slowly I rolled over on the bed, taking a moment to appreciate that Arista hadn’t turned me back into the tiny little girl version of myself that she did before at least.

“I honestly have no idea where to start on this one..”
..are you going to be okay? What she did to Mum and John and Eris a-and Sarah? I d-don’t..

Tears started gathering in my eyes at that rather unwelcome, awkwardly delivered reminder of everything I’d lost or almost lost at Arista’s hands in the last twenty-four hours.

Before I knew it I was crying openly as the pain overwhelmed me and, weird as it may be, it felt reassuring to hear ‘Ari’ crying right along with me, with an almost equal level of pain and loss radiating through our weak bond.

Theodora’s words about ‘never being alone’ tried to push themselves forward into my brain for some reason but they were quickly swept away by grief as I cried hard to myself as if the tears would purge the pain from my heart somehow if I could only let enough of them out.

..I hate her for what she’s done to us!..
You and me both Ari, you and me both.

We’re going to stop her.. I don’t know how yet but I’m going to stop her plans dead in their tracks somehow and THEN I’m going to purge her insanity from my mind at long last like the parasite she really is!

Have you ever got half-way into a group project and realised that you already regret pairing up with the people your working with? Too late to change now, history lesson or no, we work with who we have sometimes and just pray we don't get an 'F' in the end. That being said, even I wouldn't expect a passing grade if one of your team members was basically lobotomized, the other crazy and your starting to envy schizophrenics in general, honestly. Events unfold including but not limited to: Big people playing big games, Boat rides being ignored, Subtext being read (or not, depending on who you ask), and Hannah gets to play 'spot the historical figure' bingo, whether she wants to or not.

 

My knees were curled up to my chest and great big sobs echoed in the empty space around me as I just let it all out in the ruined sanctity of my own mindscape.
There’s definitely some kind of catharsis to be found from crying so openly with someone suffering right along with you I guess because eventually, as with all things, my crying had to come to an end.

I honestly feel a tiny bit better from all the tears somehow at the very least.
Not good, not really calm either or in any way ready to deal with Mum’s loss let alone what happened to Sarah and Eris.. but maybe a little bit more in control?

In control enough to start planning Arista’s downfall if nothing else!
..Count me in!..

It still feels weird to hear that voice in my head, the one I’ve always thought was my conscience or my subconscious or.. I dunno?.. something related to me more than my past-incarnations are at least. Certainly not THE incarnation, Ari, the first Arista I’ve heard so many mixed reports about lately.

..That title sounds far too grand..
Yeah, well, not my fault you’re famous..
..I’m really not, you know? In fact you and Arista are pretty much the only people who know I’m in here right now..

Why did you do it? Why pretend to be part of me for so long?
..I know it’s hard to take in but I AM a part of you, or you’re all of me, I’m not really sure, mind magic was always more her thing then mine..

Well that’s just great!
All I need is yet another poorly informed voice to give me more, completely useless until it’s too late, partially correct informa-

I froze mid-rant as my eyes finally registered what they’d been blankly staring at while I argued with the latest voice in my head.. not in my mindscape, but in my head in my mindscape an.. URG!
You know what I mean?!
..Yes, I do..

How long has Theodora been standing there?

“Long enough to watch you tie yourself in knots over this, and long enough to decide that maybe now isn’t the time for the crazy-wise soothsayer act, but rather it’s time someone was finally straight with you about what the hell is going on around here?”
FINALLY!

..I honestly thought she was crazy?..
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m definitely crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong by any means.”
..Touché..

Great, another mind reader, this time one that can read the mind INSIDE my mind while being in the form of my self-declared ‘crazy’ sex-mad seer past-incarnation!
..her title is more fun than mine..
“It certainly is!”

The delight in Theodora’s voice was the last straw.
With a tired sigh I flopped down on my ‘bed’ again which puffed up around me invitingly.

If it were physically possible, I’m pretty sure I’d have a headache right now.. in fact I know it isn’t, yet I’m pretty sure I have one any-bloody-way?!
..You don’t have to keep narrating you know, I’m right here after all..
“It really is pretty distracting to hear your thoughts even if they can be rather amusing.”

URRG!!
..no need to shout either..
“Yeah, what she said.”

Slowly I lowered my hand to glare at the now widely grinning form of Theodora in front of me.
“I hate my life..”
..Ditto..

“Try being a past-incarnation. It’s boring as all hell and we only get an audio-book about your life for entertainment, narrated by you with your stupid squeaky voice.”
My voice isn’t squeaky!
..Compared to Al’s one that we’re all still used to? Kinda is really..

Quiet! I think I preferred you when you were a figment of my imagination.
..and I preferred you when you were oblivious to my existence, so I guess we’re even..

“Ladies, please”
I groaned at Theodora’s passable impersonation of not-Edith from the Salon a few days ago, which only seemed to encourage her sadly.
“I call to order the first meeting of SO-O-CP.. uh?.. SCPA-CCA-I!”

What the hell is she on about no-

“Stop Our Out of Control Parent/Sibling/Child/Pain in the Ass Commonly Called Arista, Initiative!”
My eye twitched heavily as I stared at her in incredulous disbelief.
“Why initiative you may ask?”

I didn’t want to nod and encourage her but I didn’t really have to because Ari’s heavy sigh was apparently all Theodora needed to carry on of her own volition.

“-because every acronym sounds better if it ends with Initiative!.. also I’m pretty sure the ‘SOOCPSCPACCA project’ has already been trademarked by NASA, possibly ripped off by several rather clever members of the National school board association too during their annual office Christmas meetings..”

All I could do was stare blankly at her feeling hopelessly lost.
..She’s a seer, I hate to say it but she’s probably right..
Knowing her, SHE was probably the one who trademarked that stupid acronym in NASA’s name for them somehow, AND she was probably the several different members of the school system that coined the phrase too!

“You both give me too much credit while being equally far too naive for your age and far too stupid for your own safety.”

I’m getting that headache again, I hate you so much Theodora..
..In total agreement, minus the headache..

“I can tell this is going to get fun! Now, onto someone we all hate even more than me, I’d like to open debate with the suggestion that we somehow telepathically control the president into launching a nuke and land it on Arista’s head at point-blank range? All in favor say ‘Aie’!”
Headache.. getting worse..

Why couldn’t I have gotten one of the Roman girls? or a sane version of Ellie?.. or just.. even that muttering one that kept pinching herself!
..She really WAS a weirdo that one..
“Why out of all the possible incarnations on offer am I stuck with YOU as help Theodora?”

She didn’t look offended as I’d anticipated, although trying to anticipate anything with her is just begging for trouble to start with I guess.

“Please call me Dora, and to answer your question, that would be because all the other assimilated incarnations are busy ripping every little sticky claw that Arista has within your subconscious out of place so we have a shot at finally being rid of her when the time comes.. also I may have accidentally created a rollercoaster with seats made out of naked John’s when I got bored half-way through and they all think I can do less damage out here with you then in there with your subconscious at my fingertips.”

She said the whole thing with a straight face.. she said the whole thing with a straight bloody-face and absolutely ZERO regret for what that naked-John rollercoaster might have done to my sexual preferences by having it placed in my bloody SUBCONSCIOUS?!

..I didn’t even know we had a literal subconscious?..
Me either but apparently I do!

“Of course you have a subconscious, where did you THINK all the absorbed incarnations went? We’ve got a nice big city all to ourselves now and everything, it’s very cosmopolitan.”

Must not.. strangle.. my only chance at freedom!
..Huh, I wonder where it is?..

“Where else would a SUB-conscious be? It’s below the ground in your mindscape, DUH!”

Two sets of memories flashed through my brain suddenly at that statement in annoyingly quick succession, as they seem to be doing a lot lately.
The first consisting of all the time’s that Theodora has either risen out of, or sunken back into the ground of my mindscape since this mess with Arista started, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to her.
Along with it came the time I searched the area around Rosaline’s suddenly missing ‘house’ weeks ago where I could still vaguely smell roses on the ground that had held it previously, despite the spot now just being a slightly darkened, empty patch of white floor instead.

It’s like the universe is mocking me!
Giving me just enough completely and utterly useless information for so long instead of just outright telling me about things when they could have come in bloody-handy, and now happily rubbing it in my face with its chosen messenger of Theo-bloody-DORA!

“Theodora, best queen of the Byzantine Empire ever! Best ‘actress’ and seer of the Byzantine Empire ever! Honorary saint of the Miaphysite religion and now chosen messenger of the universe.. I LOVE it!”
..How come she gets such a cool long-winded title?..

Oh powers, they’re both as bad as each other..

..HEY! I’m part of you, don’t go blaming me for your own craziness at this point..
“While we’re on the topic, can you stop blaming me every time you have a pervy through about a guy? It’s highly offensive, I liked women just as much as men you know?”

As if to punctuate her point Theodora took a flying leap onto the bed, which I barely managed to dodge, and in doing so ended up with my face being squished into her relatively small but well supported cleavage a moment or two later as I rolled over in a desperate attempt to not fall off the bed in the confusion that followed.
She practically purred to herself in pleasure and ran a hand through my hair lovingly while my first few frantic attempts to get free failed miserably, leaving me with no other option then to just let myself go limp in defeat instead.

..Can’t.. breathe..
YOU DON’T NEED TO BREATHE, I BLOODY DO!
“No fair, it’s not fun if you don’t struggle properly”

This is getting ridiculous.
Can we PLEASE just get on with stopping whatever the hell Arista is planning?!

Almost instantly Theodora dropped her arms from around me and sat up, for all the world looking like she was actually going to be serious for once.
..That’ll be the day..
I know, wishful thinking really..

“Come on then you two let’s get on with this. First of all, a history lesson!”
I groaned loudly to myself and felt my headache throb slightly when ‘Ari’ joined in with an identical despairing groan of her own.

Who put Theodora in charge again?
..Wasn’t me!..

======

“Okay.. so let me get this straight-”

“Oh, please do! It’s always funny watching you trying to pretend you’re straight when you’re more confused about your situation than a dormouse on the moon!”
For a single beat I paused long enough to glare at Theodora, although it’s a pretty sorry testament to how long this whole conversation has been going on that her interruption didn’t surprise or really offend me in the slightest at this point.
“As I was saying,-”

She didn’t take the bait, so thankfully I could continue speaking at last without further interruption.

“-as I was saying, just to be sure we’re all on the same page here..”
Yet again Theodora didn’t interrupt which honestly surprised me a little bit, especially when you add in the suddenly rather serious look on her face as well.

With a tired sigh I swallowed forcefully to give myself a moment to actually get my words in order so I look like less of an ass then usual if nothing else.
..We can still hear you by the way..
“Ditto”

“Powers damn it! Okay, so your ‘history lesson’ boils down to the fact that my visions were real?”
I stared up at Theodora who had a wide knowing grin on her face as she nodded happily.

“Thanks to you unconsciously tapping into my awesome self as I tried to defend you from Arista’s army of incarnations that were working to wear you down mentally, yes”
She looked so damn pleased with herself that I don’t really feel like pointing out that she wasn’t exactly innocent in the whole ‘break Hannah mentally and take over her body’ situation.
..Moving on..

“The vision about the ice queen was real.”

“Yup, mother dearest got her ass kicked by Max and Eris, and thanks to a miscalculation on Max’s part, they managed to re-split ‘our’ core moments before we died allowing both ‘halves’ of our core to go out into the world as two separate weakened ‘souls’ with their own independent reincarnation cycles and incarnations.”

As much as I hate to admit it, that makes some sort of sense at this point.
I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on it before now but something has always seemed a bit off about my incarnation memories, the incarnations are so different from each other to such a dramatic degree that it wouldn’t really make sense at all unless they were coming from two different core personalities.

That’s not even going into the timeframes involved and the very real possibility that more than one of my incarnations were actually alive at the same time as each other, which should be physically impossible if I couldn’t literally be in two places at once at the time.
..Can still hear you by the way-..

“Shh! At least we know she’s listening for once.”
Smartass insane bitch!
“Pouting child with an inferiority complex”
Well at least I don’t go around making naked-John rollercoasters in other peoples subconscious!
“As if you had enough imagination to-”

..CAN YOU BOTH JUST STOP?!..

We all fell into a moment of silence.
Eventually I let out a heavy huff and stretched my arms a little bit to relieve some of the tension in them.

I’m not really mad at Theodora, or even ‘Ari’ come to that.
We’re all in this together now no matter what may have happened in the past between us and we have a mutual enemy to focus on, this is just like when I used to get stressed with Sarah and we’d end up bickering for hours instead of getting stuff done.

..Apology accepted..
What? I didn’t apologise!
“Close as we’re going to get to one from you Princess.”
DAMN IT THEODORA, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

..Let’s get back on track shall we?..

“Yes, right, okay.. so for centuries ‘Ari’ and ‘Arista’ were completely separate people but everyone just figured they were still one person, one core, that kept flipping between the two personality extremes?”
..Precisely..

“Uh huh, Mages are stupid”
I think we can all agree on that one sadly..

“So while Arista went proactively evil, playing a massive game of primitive, magically assisted genetic-engineering bingo on my family line in search of creating a stable ‘Locus Point’ for currently unknown reasons, you took a more passive approach in a vain attempt at having a quiet life which Arista took great joy in ruining whenever she could?”

That statement was met by a cold silence from ‘Ari’ and after a few seconds of awkwardness Theodora decided to intercede for all our sakes.

“She won’t answer that one, she’s sulking, duh?”
..I’m not sulking!..
“She’s totally sulking”

“OKAY! Again, let’s try to stay on topic here.”
How do schizophrenics handle talking to themselves so much? I’m going to go insane at this rate!
This whole conversation’s just getting to be a bloody nightmare honestly.
“So, you reckon that the vision I had about ‘Arista’ facing the vampire countess that killed Eris at the time was actually an un-awakened version of ‘Ari’, facing a malicious and awakened version of Arista instead?”

Yet more silence greeted that question annoyingly.
For a previously rather talkative past-incarnation masked as my conscience, Ari’s really not being very helpful right about now.

“That’s a ‘yes’ by the way Alice, learn to read subtext faster.”
Shut up Dora, I’m having a hard enough time understanding all of this as it is!

Theodora huffed loudly to herself and settled on the floor in meditation position instead of responding to that snipe from me, but I think it’s pretty easy to see the subtext from HER actions enough that it’s safe to continue at least

“To run a long story short, Arista is still following the guidelines of this prophecy that you saw Ari.. the same prophecy that was so horrible and important that you panicked over it for a while before forcefully splitting a part of yourself off, creating her, so she could fulfil the parts of the visions that you didn’t think you could handle. All without realising that you were, in fact, opening Pandora’s box by playing with magics that you had NO idea what you were doing with in the first place?”

Her only response was a protracted silence that frustrated me even more sadly.

“Arista’s close to completing her plan which required her to, at the very least, create me.. a stable Locus point with a carefully crafted genetic history going back millennia which YOU unwittingly helped her make in a vain attempt to form some kind of a ‘weapon’ powerful enough to stop her?”

More silence.

I growled low in my throat and banged my fist on the mattress below me to calm myself slightly.
Now’s really not the time for more yelling.

“All this work, all this effort put in with the express purpose of.. what, exactly?..”
Theodora and I both paused for a long moment, waiting for Ari to give some kind of answer to that very important question.
When I’d just about given up hope on her she finally decided to speak up, making me jump a little in surprise.
..I don’t know..

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?! You were bloody THERE!”
..She stole my fucking memories of the prophecy, OKAY?!..

That damned silence came back again, this time with a lot more awkwardness on my part along with a slight amount of guilt too.

..W-when she merged us back together inside you she shredded my psyche to pieces..
I winced, having only the vaguest of ideas how much that must have hurt.
..I clung on to as many incarnations as I could and it cost me a lot more than you can EVER imagine..

As a wave of regret, anger and sorrow came over me through our connection I found tears leaking out of my eyes all over again, not for my pain but from hers this time instead.

..My memory is practically Swiss-cheese from all the holes in it at this point and what little was left of ‘Me’ when she was finished had to merge into your new-born psyche or face falling into the abyss from all the damage she did to me..
My eyes turned towards Theodora for help but she just stared back at me with a sad look on her face as if she’d known this moment was coming all along but wished it didn’t have to.

..I’m more YOU then ME anymore!..

My lips trembled as a cry tried to force its way out of me with the waves of her emotions that were overwhelming her and spreading out into my own head through our connection.
It took everything I had to not just breakdown all over again until, much to my surprise, a gentle pair of hands settled around my shoulders and I found myself being pulled into a tight hug by Theodora.

For a moment or two longer I held out almost desperately against her comfort but from the instant she’d reached out to me I knew it was a futile effort, with one shuddering gasp of breath I pushed my face into her shoulder and started really crying again.

For Ari, For Me, For Mum and everyone else that Arista has harmed in her monstrously long lifetime.
..I fucking HATE her!..

======

It was more than a little awkward, the moment I realised that ‘Ari’ had stopped crying but I hadn’t and Dora seemed less than willing to let go of our hug in any event.
I’m not sure how long this latest crying jag went on for but it felt like an eternity at least.

“Ready to keep going now? We don’t have much time left before she returns for you.”
If you’d told me even an hour ago that hearing Theodora talking to me with so much worry obvious in her tone of voice would be reassuring in any way I’d probably have laughed at you honestly.. but here we are and, as much as it probably shouldn’t, her presence DOES help in some strange way.

“Good. So we’ve established that Ari is useless as a Font-of-all-knowledge in this case, let’s move on and see what we can get from deduction alone, shall we?”
I snorted to myself in amusement at her suddenly almost perky tone of voice while leaning my head back a little to stare at her now smiling face thoughtfully.
“Aside from her little trick with stealing Sarah’s core before it could fully form inside her body, in order to bring the two halves of ‘our’ original-self back together again inside your body, what else do we know that she’s doing to prepare for this ‘end goal’ of hers?”

My face scrunched up at the reminder of Sarah, as an image of her lying on the floor of my realm twitching violently as dark lines of fire burned their way across her form, flashed viciously through my mind for a brief moment before I forcefully pushed it back to focus on the question at hand instead.

“She needs something, some items? They must be important because she tried to force me to give them to her but they can’t be rare if she has more of them in backup locations around the world, including the Hub.”

“Good! Items are important, possibly a weakness if they can be destroyed, what else?”
The warm smile on Dora’s face felt awkward for some reason but the light in her eyes as she watched me try to think things through left me feeling like I was some kind of prized pupil answering questions on a difficult test or something for a proud teacher.

“A ritual.. she sent Gran off to tell D-Dante that the ritual needed tweaking for some reason?”
Dora’s smile widened slightly in what I can only guess was relief.
“Dante, that sick Lich-king bastard is still alive and he’s WORKING with Arista?!”

“Yes he is, while his current incarnation has become rather twisted from diving so deeply into necromancy, he is and always will be a Knight of Arista.”
My blood ran cold, which really shouldn’t have been possible considering the fact that my ‘body’ is a metaphysical form crafted by my mind to help me deal with my mindscape in general.

“The Knights.. like Handyman’s knights?.. a-and..”
A memory blasted across my eyes again, this one from my later visions where Handyman was arguing with Storyteller while he drew runes out on a rocky area that felt vaguely like a mountain at the time.
“..and Storyteller is with them too?..”

Theodora winced at the lost confusion that had slipped into my voice at the horrified statement of fact that I’d barely hidden as a question.
“The rabbit hole goes deep Alice, I told you that, everyone tells you what they want you to hear.”

More memories flashed across my eyes at her words.
All the times one of my suddenly appearing enemies went into a monologue or ranted about something to me, all the times they said something which turned out to be false or at least unreliably presented in order to get me to react a certain way.

All the times I’ve faced unbeatable odds lately, yet somehow managed to just scrape through on pure luck and raw instinct alone?!

“They set me up..”
Theodora winced again and squeezed my shoulders reassuringly in response.
“Those bastards are all working for her and they SET ME UP!”

“She needed you weakened, she needed you unstable enough to let cracks form in your mind that she could abuse for her own gain, until you finally snapped and she could take over properly.. did you think it was a coincidence that the only expert in mind-magics you would even have a chance to meet in general would be Hel, one of her people?”
Theodora squeezed me again and sighed heavily.
“I did what I could to hold us together but when she locked me away it was only a matter of time before Arista took over..”

For the second time in history I felt my non-existent blood run cold as a thought occurred to me.
A thought that hurt so much, it felt like someone was physically pulling my heart out through my rib-cage.

“John..”
Theodora winced yet again, glancing away from me almost guiltily for a moment or two.
“He took me to her!.. He said it would help!.. He tr.. he..”

The words wouldn’t come.
A deep pit of dread formed in my gut as so many things started making more sense, most important of all being clarity about all the warnings Theodora has been giving me about trusting John in the slightest ever since we first met.

“I can’t be sure, all I know are his actions, his intentions are his own but I will say that something about him is off.. he’s not-”
She sighed heavily and shifted her head a little to the side in thought.
“-he’s not the Max I knew so many years ago and I think that could mean something?”

My teeth clenched down hard as I glared at her, hurt and pain rolling around inside me at the idea that John would betray me again, betray US again, just when I was starting to-

“What do you mean you don’t know for sure?! You’re a bloody SEER! Can’t you just.. just ‘vision’ the answer or something for Powers sake!”
Her eye twitched a little in what I think might actually have been a suppressed glare of her own at some point before she got it back under control.

“That’s not how being a seer works for me Alice.”
Her legs shifted uncomfortably and she glanced around us for a moment before continuing.
“First off, I can’t exactly control when I’m going to have a vision and second of all I don’t tend to have perfect clarity in remembering what I say or see while in a trance for very long so-”

Great! Just fucking great!
I have the oldest mage on record with a Swiss-cheese memory and the ‘Greatest seer of her line’ who can’t remember what she bloody-well SEES?!

“Thirdly, Alice-”
Theodora paused long enough to glare at me for my internal rant, one that she obviously heard but I honestly don’t bloody-CARE if she did at this point because this whole situation is just so fu-
“-Thirdly, Alice, even if I could see the future on some things I might have to lie to you about them because me just telling you about specific events could work against us and allow Mother the final kick she needs to win against you in the end.”
-ucked..

‘Big people be playing big games with big consequences and they be usin’ you to get what they want.. trust no-one useless girl, enemy’s be saying only what they be wanting you to hear and friends not being much better..’
Edith’s voice echoed around in my head as fact’s slotted neatly into place with that last confession.
I couldn’t help but stare at Theodora in fear as Edith’s warning finally sunk in for what it truly was.

“You’re using me? You’re ALL using me!”

“It’s not quite like you think Alice but-”

“You’re just as bad as SHE is! Telling me what you want me to hear, nudging me towards some end goal you don’t think I need to know about, all for your own gain?!”
Theodora blanched and wouldn’t meet my eyes, which was practically an admission of guilt in my opinion at this point!
“..get out..”

“Alice, I really think you should just try to calm do-”

“Get out of my head! My name’s Hannah damn it and I’ve had enough of all you selfish, narcissistic GHOSTS trying to manipulate me into doing what you want!”

For a few moment’s there, I actually thought she could be trusted?
I thought I’d finally found someone to help me make sense of all of this mess at last.
Edith was right, ‘trust no-one’, trust no-one because every time I fucking trust someone they turn right around and betray me!

I trusted Dad and he ruined Alice for us, then ran away.
I trusted Sarah and she treated me like crap for years growing up.
I trusted John and he’s been working with bloody-Arista this whole time!

I trusted.. I trusted Mum and she went and fucking DIED on me!
No more, I’m fed up with being the victim of my own mistakes!

“A-Hannah, you really should calm down and jus-”

GET OUT!

I didn’t even vocalise the shout.
The moment I thought that rage filled cry of pained frustration the world around us shook and in the blink of an eye my childhood bedroom was gone, replaced by sweeping wave-like walls of ice on all sides and a few tiny spots of blood left on the only blank patch of white floor visible where Theodora had stood moments before, obviously having either chosen to escape back into my subconscious or been forcefully thrown back into it by my anger as the world changed around us.

..Was that really necessary?..
SHUT UP! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut UP!

I’ve had it with the LOT of you!

I’ve had enough of being treated like some brainless pet that you can all lead around and show off with smug little looks on your faces!
This is MY mindscape damn it and if Arista wants to take it then she’s gonna have to fight me for it!

“A lovely sentiment Alice, I admire your spirit, even if it’s really more of an empty gesture than anything else at this point.”
I swung around almost instinctively, my hands up in a sweeping arc that sent a new wave of ice flying towards that horrible, smug voice at last.

My other hand came up to finish the job and freeze her into a solid statue or something satisfyingly painful before my eyes finally realised what I was seeing.

Arista was standing in front of me, her hand risen casually with a glowing blue ball held in her palm and a wide space left free from the touch of my attack against her where this, so far pretty devastating looking, new ice magic I seem to have gained inside here had been completely negated?

“Don’t try and use my own element against me Alice, I didn’t think even you would be that stupid..”

In the blink of an eye she disappeared suddenly and the first indication I got of her reappearance was when a slender hand grabbed tightly around my throat, lifting me off my feet before slamming me hard against the ice walls I’d created all in one smooth motion.

“No more.. acting then.. I take it?”
It was hard to get the words out past her death grip on my throat but I managed it anyway somehow.

For the shortest of moments Arista’s smile slipped but it was quickly back with a vengeance as her fingers tightened a little more, cutting off any further statements I might try to make easily.

“I haven’t been acting Dearheart, you are my most precious daughter and nothing will ever change that.”
Her free hand came up to stroke my hair lovingly and no amount of half-baked twitches from me could shake her off, no matter how hard I tried to fight for my freedom.
“I love you darling, but this is for your own good.. for the good of the world as a whole.. you need to be ready and so do the others.”

Slowly she leaned our faces closer together until our noses were practically touching and her breath ghosted across my cheek in a horrible parody of intimacy.

“I must be cruel to be kind Dearheart, it’s a mothers duty to make sure her children grow up properly after all.. now, it’s time to go, our family and history await.”

Her grip on my throat eased ever so slightly but before I could capitalise on it there was a tugging sensation in my chest and the world disappeared into a now familiar darkness as she pulled us both back into the real world again.

======

“-re here Mother.”

A wide smile split our face as Arista grinned at the vaguely familiar looking blonde woman who appears to be acting as a driver to the long car we’re sitting in the back of.
One which, if I’ve not missed my guess, happens to be a rather high-priced looking stretch-limo of some kind?

“Thank you Pythia darling, I’m sorry I wasn’t more attentive, your sister required some assistance in preparing for tonight as you can probably imagine.”
The driver ducked her head with a flush on her face as if just having Arista speak to her directly was embarrassing for her in some way. To be honest it kinda looks like she’s got some kind of crush, either romantic or just plain old hero-worship, on Arista of all people to my relatively experienced eyes.
“Do you happen to know if preparations are on schedule? Dante is a sweetheart but time management has never really been his thing I’m afraid.”

“Everything is running smoothly Mother, I spoke with Athena and Esti about ten minutes ago, apparently we’re just waiting on a few stragglers so you should be okay to go meet everyone-”
The poor driver trailed off uncertainly, her blush getting worse for a moment or two before her head snapped back up in horror and she began babbling frantically.
“-I mean, if you want to of course Mother?.. or I could drive us around for a bit longer if you wish, or we could stop somewhere to-”

A warm chuckle left our lips and Arista rose her hand in a calming gesture getting near instant silence from the still vaguely familiar looking woman.

“Calm yourself Pythia. I am not so easily offended by presumption from one of my children, especially one who only wishes well.”
Our lips twitched up into a warm smile to match the chuckle and the driver seemed to almost melt as she basked in Arista’s words to a degree that just felt wrong as an outsider watching her reactions.

I don’t know what she did to her in the past but something has obviously left this woman as a rather fanatical follower of Arista if nothing else.

“I shall disembark from here for now to join the others, don’t worry yourself darling, after tonight we will have all the time we could ever want to truly bond with each other at last, like real family should.”
As Arista shuffled our legs slightly to get out of the car, our poor driver seemed to be lost in a dream world for a moment or two before jolting back into reality and quickly making her way outside to open the door for us.

It wasn’t until Arista glanced down at our legs to check her footing that I noticed the change in outfit that we’ve apparently undertaken while I was busy conferencing inside my mindscape.

One smooth leg stuck almost tantalisingly out of a thigh-high slit on the glittery black formal dress we’re now wearing as she moved the last few inches needed to place one black high-heeled shoe down onto the relatively rough path outside the limo.

Our exit was quickly aided by the now far too eager to please driver as a slightly shaking hand held onto ours through the deep red, almost black, elbow length gloves Arista apparently chose to add in an attempt to finish off this little over-the-top ensemble she’s chosen for us to wear.

When Arista finally got her footing at last she leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on the drivers forehead before leaning back to smile at the woman indulgently as she melted into a jibbering, stuttering mess all over again with almost glowingly bright-red cheeks to match.

‘The masses are so easy to keep under control, aren’t they Dearheart?’
A shudder went down my metaphysical spine at the amusement present in Arista’s voice.
‘I love all my children of course but some incarnations are more expendable then others naturally.. it will be a shame to see this one die though, Pythia is always good for entertainment at the very least..’

..See this one die?..
What does she mean ‘see this one’ die?!
..I’d assume it’s a hint of what’s to come, she likes giving those I’m afraid..

I froze for a moment or two as worryingly horrific scenario’s played out across my minds-eye about what she could be ‘hinting’ at with those silent words.
..Also, while we’re on the topic, don’t say anything back to me at the moment Hannah, we can’t let her know that I’m still here after you’re little blowout scared Theodora off so easily..

It took all of my control to not instinctively respond to her words but I managed it somehow luckily.

..Your still responding, this narration problem of yours was amusing and has been useful in the past but it could be a problem now..
Well what the bloody-hell do you want ME to do about it?! It’s instinctive for powers sake!

..I’ll stop speaking unless it’s necessary for now, you just focus on keeping Arista busy until we can finally finish this mess once-and-for-all..

Her orders w- oh..
Uh?.. La la la, not thinking about it, la la la!
-better, now I can get back to Arista instead of thinking about- GAH!

Damn my brain and this stupid inner-monologue of mine, ‘ignoring’ her is impossible at this rate!
It’s like having someone tell you not to think about pink elephants.
The moment they do you can’t help BUT think about them!

‘Pink elephants? Alice, really I worry about your thought patterns sometimes.’
If I could I would have jumped out of my skin in fright at the sound of Arista’s mental voice to a rather astounding degree and-
‘Please pay attention Dearheart, I’d hate for you to miss the introductions, these peoples futures all rest on your shoulders at the moment and it’s vital that you understand all the good your sacrifices will bring for us all’

..Sacrifices?..
Not good.

“Michelangelo darling!”
Our body moved with that same predatory sway I’ve come to expect to see while its under Arista’s control as she moved quickly over to give a rather squat older man a warm hug which he awkwardly, but not unhappily, returned as best he could.

A crowd started to form up loosely around us as Arista chatted away with a few people like long lost friends, our arms constantly moving so she could reach out and stroke or just generally touch members of the crowd like some kind of Messiah blessing her flock as she slowly made her way towards what appeared to be a rather steep cliff-edge up ahead, just visible through the thick treeline and crowd around us at this point.

As we moved along she would greet people in that same light, falsely enthusiastic way of hers while secretly throwing in short comments to me about each person we meet as if trying to tempt me into speaking back to her in return somehow.

“Catherine darling, how is Peter doing?”
Our eyes scanned up and down the rather heavily-built woman who gave a regal nod to Arista before announcing almost proudly that Peter is, in fact, dead again apparently.

‘Even by Russian standards she’s a nasty piece of work, she has a kind soul like any of my children naturally but still not one to be trusted lightly Alice.’

“Nicholas, Perenelle, as resplendent as ever.”
A middle-aged couple wearing outfits that appeared to be crafted almost entirely out of gold, bowed reverently to us for a long moment before stepping forward for a hug each.

‘Show offs. Ever since he made that little stone, he can’t resist making everything he can into solid gold. It’s so garish that it reminds me of Mother’s decoration tastes annoyingly.’
..HEY! It’s not like I chose the form my magic naturally takes when it’s injected into an unclaimed dimensional space or anything?!..

“Eliphas, come give Mommy a hug darling.”
A young boy who honestly gave me the hibbie-jibbies from just how close a likeness he held to most modern depictions of ‘The Anti-Christ’ out there, with his dark bowl-cut hair and deep-set shadow laden eyes that looked far too old for his young little frame, came running forward to be scooped up onto our hip in a way that felt painfully similar to the way I always end up holding Eris.

That reminder jolted something painful inside me and led me into a fit of internalised worry and sadness so powerful that I almost didn’t hear the next comment Arista tacked silently on to her external conversations.

‘Creepy little guy obviously but his research into demonology was the foundation to how I finally reigned in those half-sentient beasts at last so he has his uses at least and he’s just so adorably pliant too!’

I stopped focusing on her voice from that point on, my mind going into a pretty dark place that I’d been trying to put aside to keep going for now.
My thoughts jumped from worry over Sarah’s condition, a numb disbelief from the still raw pain from losing Mum by my own hands no less, and that horrible echoing snap that came from Eris’s little neck breaking which only seemed to get louder as time went on until it was all I could hear in my head and-

======

‘Do pay attention Alice’

Her words didn’t really have much effect on me with how lost I’d become inside my own mind at first but the sharp mental tug she gave to my chest, as if she were about to send me back into my mindscape, did shake me out of my growing depression enough that I could take in our surroundings at least.

After a long pause where my brain tried to take everything before me in and failed due to the growing pit of terror forming in my gut as our eyes scanned around the high stone basin of land surrounding us on all sides with almost loving care as Arista savoured my reaction to it.

I know where we are.. I know where we are, and while part of me is a little confused how I managed to completely miss the apparently sunset-draped boat trip I assume we must have taken to get across the water filled caldera to reach the mini-mountain peak of ‘Wizard Island’ that we’re currently standing on, with seemingly thousands of people standing around us and even more sitting out on a variety of ‘ships’ in the water below, a much larger part of me wanted to desperately run far away because I’m not an insane-bloody-IDIOT!

‘Why are we at Crater Lake?’

“Oh, you CAN speak after all Alice? I’d started to wonder with how silent you’ve been lately.”
Needless to say her voice was painfully smug at her having finally broken my silence but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to care.

We’re at Crater Lake.. we’re at one of the biggest inactive ley-line hubs in America just north of Klamath lake and, if you believe the old myths, a once proud volcanic mountain home to a god which collapsed with his death so long ago.

A place where twelve worryingly powerful ley-lines once met until the Mountain imploded somehow, forcing the Earth’s magic itself to shift and divert around it in what was thought to be a temporary natural change but has yet to show signs of repairing itself despite that admittedly hope-filled statement and several millennia to work on the problem.

‘Why are we here?’
What can she possibly hope to gain from coming HERE of all places?!
The Crater is magically dead, it’s about as barren as you can get magically at this point.

She can only be here for one of two reasons, she either needs to be magically isolated from the rest of the world for some reason or she wants to specifically stand right on top of twelve currently cut off ley-lines for whatever ritual she’s planning.. neither option has ‘good’ implications for what she intends to do in either case!

“Now then Alice, shall we reach the top of the island and settle down to wait for our destiny to finally be fulfilled?”
I tried to throw all of my mental energy against hers in a desperate attempt to stop her as she turned around on a heel to lead us onwards up the rough path leading towards the mini-caldera at the top of Wizard Island.

Every step we took upwards brought a slightly stronger pulse of magic pushing down upon our entire body with such force that even in my partly suppressed state I could feel it tingle across my skin.

..That shouldn’t be possible, you said this place is magically dead!..
This shouldn’t be possible and-
Oh crap.. crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!

A smile slowly twitched its way onto our lips as Arista obviously listened in on my ranting stream of panicked swears.

‘Language Alice’
I wanted to be annoyed at her for that little jab but I’ve got much more important things to be focusing on right about now.

Down on the dusty old magmatic stone path in front of us, that Arista happens to be so casually walking along without a care in the world, is a string of partly covered runes that appear to have been burned into the underlying rock itself with painstaking care.

They’re slightly worn from what I imagine is age judging just by the scale of them in general as more and more become apparent now that I’m actually looking for them but not badly enough to be a problem considering all the dust and debris that normally appears to cover them from the elements otherwise.
..Runes? She’s put runes over this entire half-mile wide island?!..

A standard rune array is about the size of your palm..
A complicated one can be anything from the size of a human body to a wall..
The most convoluted, reality warping, soul destroying, world changing ritual arrays I know of are usually around the size of a house at worst..

She’s got runes covering an entire bloody island!

‘What the hell are you trying to do here Arista?’
Our pace didn’t slow in the slightest but the already painfully wide smile on our lips spread a little more in real joy as we finally crested the top of the hill and stood on the lip of the almost half-a-kilometre wide caldera below that appeared to be covered from every visible corner by freshly burned dark runes, all squeezed into tightly packed clusters that even my eyes can’t make out properly from this distance in the dusky light around us.

“We, Dearheart, WE are going to change the world for the better and YOU are going to help me birth the new magical renaissance that you were born to create, one that will save the human race from itself and prevent any other danger that may come for us all after that!”

Our eyes scanned around the caldera once more before she took that last step over the edge and magic roared to life around us from some hidden, previously unfelt source deep beneath our feet.

As the magic built higher and higher to my muted senses, it finally crested in the form of a thick ice-blue barrier that sprung up around the edge of the caldera to lock us inside the hole like a shining cage of almost unbelievable power.

It was all I could do to stop myself from falling apart in fear as Arista stared up at the barrier with glee.
..This is big, this is WAY bigger than anything we’ve had to deal with before!..

I-I’m scared?
I’m scared and I don’t know what’s about to happen, I don’t know what to do an-and.. I.. I..

“How about I explain things to you Alice? We have time, the ritual can’t begin until the others arrive and Esti performs the final checks, after all.”
A warm smile played across our lips yet again as she hummed a somehow familiar, yet tuneless song to herself and settled my body on a small stone dais sat at the approximate ‘center’ of the hole we’re now trapped inside.
“It wouldn’t do for you to die without knowing why these events must be, darling. You deserve to know, you ARE my favorite daughter after all.. the one who can free me at last..”

..DIE?!..
Oh no, oh powers what is she going to do?!
I can’t.. I don’t!.. I?..

“Into the mindscape we go Dearheart.. you seem troubled? Don’t worry, Mommy will make it all better.”

..NO!..
Ari’s shout echoed in my mind uselessly for a second as the tugging sensation at my chest returned and the world around us disappeared to be replaced by the white glow of my mindscape, the stark remains of my ice-magic fuelled rage fit from earlier still present on all sides around us and my ‘bedroom’ nowhere in sight.

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?”
Ari didn’t answer at all after a few seconds which didn’t help my growing panic in the slightest sadly.

“We are so screwed..”

There's always two sides to every story, sometimes more, which can get rather messy in all honesty so it's probably better to stick with just two for now, right? The problem with bad guy's is that, rather predictably, they lie sometimes. It makes it rather hard to take anything they say seriously... unless they offer proof at least. Events unfold including but not limited to: Arista explaining the world as she see's it, Ari being useful at long last (although not half as useful as John apparently is) and Hannah has enough dignity left to blush when confronted with the truth about her relationship with the smirking-wonder from multiple, utterly annoying, angles!

 

Slowly I pulled myself up from the splayed position that I apparently phased into my mindscape already sat in, boobs pressed hard into the stark white floor a bit awkwardly but I’ve got to admit is a better than the last time Arista got done pulling me along with her at least.

“Take a seat Alice.”
My eyes scanned around to find her amused voice and settled on an unnervingly rich looking ornate round garden table, piled high with what appeared to be some kind of ‘high tea’ set up for us as Arista sat expectantly in one chair while waving me towards the free seat on the other side as if it was the most normal thing in the world for her to be doing at this exact moment.

“I’d rather not if it’s all the same to you..”

Her smile dipped slightly and the world around us as a whole seemed to grow darker to match her mood. A moment later the floor beneath me bulged up until I was forced to reluctantly stand on my own two feet out of necessity more than anything else.

My hands came up to brush myself down in annoyance but before I could even finish doing that simple little action the floor beneath me twitched again, shifting my feet forwards suddenly as if I was standing on some kind of invisible conveyer belt until I came to a halt right in front of the seat opposite a mildly amused looking Arista.

“I hate to seem heavy-handed Dearheart but I control this mindscape now, I really think you should sit down..”
Naturally my first response to that ‘suggestion’ came in the form of a defiant glare that she didn’t find amusing in the slightest, judging by the way the space around us darkened ever so slightly more, despite her expression not changing at all.

I opened my mouth to respond to her but before I could get a word off she’d obviously lost patience with me because the floor shifted again, in a way that reminded me slightly of the time I rolled John around back when I got ‘lost’ shaping my realm under the effects of far too much overwhelmingly powerful magic running wild through my system, as it rose up to shove at my shoulder just enough to put me off balance so my butt landed heavily in the seat at last.

The moment I landed, the empty space around us brightened suddenly as Arista’s smile became noticeably less sinister in general.

..she’s subconsciously controlling our mindscape somehow?..
She’s consciously controlling it too judging by the less then subtle nudges it took to get me sitting here like this.
..give me a minute to think on this, I might have an idea..

What the hell am I meant to-
..just keep her busy damn it! Be annoying, your good at that..

“There, isn’t this much better now Alice?.. Tea?”
As Arista moved forward to pick up the suddenly steaming teapot between us I seethed internally at Ari’s cheek almost as much as the situation I’m stuck in now.

“Got any beer? Bet I could drink you under the table if we started doing shots instead an-”
Arista’s frown returned.

The room around us darkened suddenly to a deep red for just a moment before brightening again and leaving me momentarily disorientated.
It took a few blinks for me to realise that the room had changed during that flash of darkness, or gotten bigger at the very least, and a few more for me to put together my change in perspective which, when mixed with Arista’s suddenly sunny smile, was enough for me to see what she’d actually just done without even glancing down to double-check.

I’m a bloody kid again!

“Turn me back you sadistic evil old b-mmph!”
As I closed my mouth to continue with the next syllable of my tirade against her my lips stuck together tightly and refused to open up again.

Frantically my hands shot up to feel along my lip-line but despite being able to feel the texture and shape of my lips in general I couldn’t get even a fingernail between them?!
In one foul swoop she’d completely silenced me by LITERALLY removing my ability to speak!

“There, children should be seen and not heard Dearheart.. besides, Mummy has a lot to tell you in a short amount of time so you need to listen carefully, okay?”
With an angry grunt I slammed my hands down onto the arms of the chair I’m sitting on, only to get my arms caught in a froth of unnecessarily large skirting attached to a party dress that had apparently also formed up out of bloody-nowhere around me on her whim too.
“I’m glad you agree Alice. I’d hate to have to go further to keep your behaviour in check after all..”

Her smile dipped for a moment but if anything the room around us brightened with happiness which sent a cold shiver down my spine at the implications involved if nothing else.

“Now then, you’ve heard Mother’s side of things at this point no doubt so I think it’s about time you heard my side of things too.”
Despite having fused my mouth shut to stop me speaking the crazy bitch still went on carefully pouring us both out cups of steaming hot tea, mixing in milk and sugar with precision as if it really mattered when none of this is real and even if it was I wouldn’t be able to bloody DRINK IT at this point in time anyway!

“I was created as a foil to Mothers weakness, from the moment I was ‘born’ she shaped me, designed me to complete one goal.. Esti gave her a prediction of the future so horrifying that she knew someone like me was needed to stop it, even if my very existence went against everything she stood for..”
Careful to not set her off again I shifted my now smaller body a little so I could lean more heavily into the chair and relax a bit better despite the stupid fluffy dress around me.

So far I’m not hearing anything new or particularly impressive honestly?
Ari mucked up badly in her desperation, not exactly shocking news considering how well ‘we’ tend to handle being under pressure when our families are involved apparently.

“This won’t do.. you’re not really understanding the importance of things are you?.. I know!”
Arista’s free hand came up to point at me suddenly and I barely had a chance to flinch back before the world blew up around me.

======

Suddenly I was no longer sitting inside my empty mindscape but stood in front of a large heavy-looking metal door, someone behind me reached past my right shoulder and almost gently pushed the door open onto a scene that burned its way into my mind with a wave of horrified disbelief.

Mages.. thousands and thousands of naked mages.. all lined up and attached to huge metal frameworks with electrodes, and probes, and machines with blinking lights surrounding them like something taken straight out of every mages worst high-tech nightmare?!

“A-T-Four-Nine-Seven, step forward”
Outside of my control my head shook from side to side and a tiny squeak of fear left my lips as my body tried to back-peddle away from the glassy, pain-filled eyes of the mages in front of me.
Those same hands that had opened the door came down and picked me up around my waist, holding me tight to their chest as they walked further into the room.

The sobs of pain and despair around us seemed to increase with each step my carrier took until we came to a stop before a metal framework like all the others.. except for the fact that it was empty..

My eyes darted from the blinking lights to the electrodes and probes before settling on a large set of five-inch long metal needles bundled together, blood still dripping from them in a way that sent a jolt of fear through me with each passing droplet that fell.

The person carrying me shifted his grip and turned me to face him as he leaned forward to fit my obviously small form into the monstrosity of metal and technology ahead of us.
His face was calm, almost bored really, his eyes and hair were a non-descript brown while the uniform he wore consisted mostly of a dark blue jumpsuit and some kind of beret cap that reminded me vaguely of something I’ve seen military forces wear before.

As I took all this in my body didn’t remain idle, it thrashed and yelped in a desperate bid for freedom but with little-to-no success.

With a heavy thump, restraints came down on my legs followed moments later by my arms as the man casually pushed my too small hands up into the ‘proper’ positions.
From there all I could do was watch and whimper as he set about disrobing me, the sound of Velcro pulling apart making me jump internally while my body still thrashed around uselessly until finally slumping in defeat as what little clothing I had was removed completely.

He set about fitting the electrodes and probes to my body, some with medical tape and others with a sticky adhesive pad that he had to place upon them first as he went.
Finally all of the dangling cables seemed to be in place and I thought that it was finally all over.. but then he reached up to a handle near the top of the framework and pulled it, spinning me around in a circle to face away from him entirely in the process.

My eyes scanned the area before me in fear as, no matter where I looked, all that could be seen were the backs of other imprisoned mages heads.. all with a set of small cabled nubs sticking out of them in a way that sent a new shock of fear through me all over again.

The blood covered needles I saw before.. he’s going to.. he’s gonna..

With my one last moment of clarity I found my eyes landing heavily on a dirty, obviously disused, sign hung high above my head, tucked away within the stacks of human-beings all around me.

‘Battery three-nineteen, Element B, Subsector HC-Seven’
A battery.. a magical battery?.. they’re taking mages and using us to-

Something large clamped down hard on the back of my skull.
My body barely had time to gasp before a loud noise started up behind me, sounding horribly like some kind of large electric drill, and with a piercing jolt the world disappeared into an endless white noise of pure incomprehensible pain.

======

With a jolt we were back inside my mindscape, Arista staring at me thoughtfully as I collapsed forward onto the table with massive heaving puffs of air coming through my nose that did nothing to help my half-panicked NEED to breathe in the slightest!

“Hmm.. yes, that was a bit more effective I think? Direct memory transfer is definitely the way to go if I’m to convince you in the time we have left Dearheart.”
It felt like my forehead was burning for some reason but luckily the table I’d rested it on had cooled dramatically in a short amount of time which really seemed to be helping if nothing else.
“That, my dear Alice, is what I’m fighting for.. that is the future you were born to stop.”

People.. bloody.. PEOPLE!

I’d like to say I was shocked but that would be an outright lie.
I’ve seen the depths that humanity can sink to before and while I’d always hoped that, if the time ever came for the magical world to be exposed to the normals on-mass, things would work out in the end.. a part of me always knew th-that something like THAT was a possibility!..
One which no amount of blind hope could ever get rid of entirely, despite my best efforts.

“As you can imagine, all steps must be taken to stop that future from coming to pass. At first I used what knowledge I had and came up with a plan, I’m not sure if you’ve realised it yet Alice but there’s a REASON we are known collectively as the ‘Mother of Magic’.. can you guess what it is?”
Please stop talking. My head hurts, my eyes hurt, everything hurts!
“They call us the Mother of Magic because that’s exactly what we are Dearheart, there isn’t a single mage alive on this planet who wasn’t born from us in one way or another.”

She paused dramatically and shifted a little in her chair while my body screamed at me about the pain, along with everything else wrong with me at this exact moment, and my mind slowly started to digest what her words truly meant.

Every single magical alive?.. every mage on Earth, was born from ‘us’?..

“Oh, do keep up Alice, I know, maybe this will help.”
My body protested but didn’t hinder me too much as I shot up in a vain attempt to stare up at her in horror but it was too slow of a reaction in the end and once again the world exploded around me into nothingness.

======

The first thing I could feel was pain as the world resolved around me.
I couldn’t tell much about where I was by the sheer fact that my eyes were shut tight in a near permanent wince.

My stomach felt like someone was tying it in knots and something was pushing sharply against my spine in a way that almost seemed to burn from the force of it all if nothing else.

I thought the bloody period was bad but this is beyond anything I’ve eve-AHH!

“One more push”
Instantly I know what was going on and with a numb sense of horror all I could do was lay there, suffering along with the incarnation I’m currently stuck in as she goes through labor pains and the inevita-AHH!!
“PUSH!”

The pain didn’t cease but the indescribable stretching feeling in my lower body stopped suddenly leaving me to quiver and shake as waves of pain hit me at levels I never thought possible before.

In the ensuing mess of noise there was a clear slapping sound followed quickly be the sound of a baby’s loud wailing cries.
My eyes peaked open slowly without any input from me to see a poorly lit hut of some kind with a large woman standing in front of me covered in gore and a small twitching bundle of flesh in her arms that was quite possibly a baby of some kind underneath it all.

“What will you name her?”
My breathing wouldn’t settle and waves of pain were still hitting me enough to make my thoughts hazy but as the world started to darken I clearly heard my own voice speak in little more than a whisper.

“Eir.. her name will be Eir-is..”

======

The world reformed around me and my blood ran cold when, instead of the nice clean white space of my mindscape, I found myself staring up at some kind of tented ceiling instead?
A moment later the pain struck again, somehow worse the second time around as a heavy compression set in and my body cried out in utter agony.

“It’s okay ‘ista the baby’s fine, you’re fine, just breath.”

Things progressed from there with a horrible sense of inevitability and the moment my eyes landed on the squealing little mess of amniotic fluid and flailing limbs the ‘midwife’ assured me was a healthy baby boy the world disappeared again.

======

On and on the procession went from there.

Sometimes I was lying down, others I was standing on an awkward set of bricks for some reason or perched on a stool with someone behind me supporting my back.
Sometimes there would be a team of women rushing around me in their times equivalent of relatively high fashion clothing or a gallery of what appeared to be richly dressed spectators watching over us, while other times it was just me and an older woman or even just me on my own.

More than a few times I even came back into existence to find myself blisteringly drunk or high on some now considered illicit narcotic or two!

Finally after what felt like an endless stream of births the world faded out and I found myself seated in a chair while blissfully not in any sort of pain aside from a blistering headache.
My eyes resisted slightly, my body did too honestly, but with a lot of effort I managed to roll my head back against the chair and glare at Arista’s far too pleasant smile.

“For centuries my duty as the only woman capable of bringing life to new magical children and the compulsions placed upon me by mother turned me into little more than a broodmare.. what you saw was nothing compared to the true extent of my efforts to help our species grow enough to survive the normals clutches someday.”
She sighed and the room around us dimmed slightly to match her mood once more.
“Naturally I tried to find other ways to do things; having the growth of an entire species hinge on a single woman’s ability to have children is monumentally stupid, even when you factor in our immortality.. then it happened..”

I opened my mouth to plead against what I knew she was going to do but yet again I was far too slow to react and the world exploded all over again to my senses.

======

“ARISTA!”
The world formed around me suddenly and moments after there was a stabbing pain in my gut as a man in thick leather armor practically fell toward me, sword at full extension.

My magic twisted and thrashed around us violently, ripping the man to pieces in the process as something warm inside me grew cold and my body collapsed to the ground in a growing pool of blood.
Slowly my shaking hands came up to my stomach to hug at a large bulge there and heart-breaking sobs pulled themselves from my lips as some tiny spark of power under my palm died out into nothingness.

“..my baby..”

======

With another jolt I was standing up suddenly, no blood or remains of the man in sight as I leaned heavily against a wall of some kind and watched people fawning over a young girl with long blonde hair who practically glowed as everyone paid attention to her, or more specifically the small bundle of cloth in her arms.

A single bitter tear left the corner of my eye as the baby in her arms started to wail, as they’re want to do at that age apparently, but with an almost unnatural shift in stance the tears stopped and my body turned away from the crowd before me to leave the room sharply.

Outside, my eyes drifted up to the star’s twinkling above us and one shaking hand came up to cup at my now flat stomach.
“..my baby..”

This time the world took its time to dissolve, as if lingering on that final scene for some unknown reason.

======

When I came back to myself again I was facing Arista in those same chairs with the tea-set sitting between us as before but the sorrow on her face and the watery smile spread across her trembling lips gave me a moment’s pause, allowing her to be the first one to speak.

“That day, I realised that my children didn’t NEED to come to full-term in order to be reborn.. seeing a child which should rightfully be mine, seeing one of my many daughters being elevated above all others in our families eyes for having miraculously had a completely ‘new-born’ magical child when none but me had ever managed it before..”
Her lips trembled harder and she ducked her head a little as the room around us bleached out of all color into an inky darkness beyond anything I’d ever seen before.

“Oh Alice, I did something terrible.. the compulsions saw a way to improve our chances of survival and I had to.. I had to do what they wanted no matter my feelings on the topic, can you see that?”

I couldn’t see her face in the sudden darkness but the feeling of the world exploding around me was unmistakable as I slipped into yet another of her memory streams.

======

What followed was nothing short of a horror show that will live with me for the rest of my days.
A parade of incarnations, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, I lost track of them honestly when it all became too much for me to witness and I did everything I could to somehow block out the unstoppable visions of the past before my eyes.

Stabbing, poison, hammers and falling.. about the only thing she didn’t try was suicide in order to pre-emptively end her pregnancies!

======

When the ‘show’ finished at last I slumped hard into the big chair around me and sobbed openly in disgust, for her, for me, for all of us and the truly twisted foundation which our magical culture was apparently built upon.

“I refined it down to an art-form Alice, it takes two weeks for the core of a new-born magical baby to become stable.. I learnt to feel it and when the juvenile core within me stabilised I would end it to start on the next one as the compulsions demanded.”
She sighed heavily and brought a trembling hand up to rub against her face slightly before turning back to me once more with a weak smile on her lips.
“Mother finally saw past my actions and realised what her compulsions were forcing me to do, she tried to stop me and the compulsions saw her as an enemy.. my own hatred for what she’d made me become trapped us all within this cycle with only one path of escape open to us.”

My eyes widened as things slowly started to sink into my numb brain, making a horrible sort of sense in a way I desperately hoped they shouldn’t.
‘my favorite daughter Alice’
‘the last of your kind’
‘free at last’

“What are you planning here today Arista? Why me?”
She laughed loudly, almost brokenly, as her eyes settled on my horrified face with nothing but warm love shining from within them.

“You see it now Alice, don’t you? The lengths I’ve had to go to and the things I’ve had to do, all leading up to this one precious moment.. the day the world stops needing a ‘Mother of Magic’ anymore..”
She’s going to.. she can’t just-
“I’m sorry to say that I was forced to breed your line with precision just to create you, the world’s first truly stable human Locus point, a nexus where all magic of all forms meet within one perfect child.. your body will be my template Alice and with this ritual I can finally let all of the daughters trapped within me out at last, finally be free of my responsibility by creating a new breed of mage, powerful, unstoppable, perfect.. and able to reproduce without my aid..”

..she’s insane!..
The math alone to work something like that out would be mind-bending.
It would take her centuries, millennia even, just to get CLOSE to a result worth trying an-and..

..and that’s exactly what she’s had, isn’t it?..

She can’t do this Ari?!
..She can, we can’t let her obviously but she most definitely can manage it..

“Why?”

..Why, what?..
“Why, what Dearheart?”

“Why all of the cloak-and-dagger manipulation? Why all the tests, suffering and everything else you’ve put us all through to reach this point?”
Why can’t we let her do it?

“You’re core needed strife Alice. Locus points don’t just form from nothing and even then most of them reach a point of premature-stability where they just become regular, if rather powerful, cores unless they are constantly challenged and pushed to their limits progressively over time.”
..because if she succeeds it will swing things too far the other way..
“You needed to be pushed beyond your limits until your core finally reached a level of self-sustainability that no other living core has managed before!”
..Mages will take over and the normals will die in ways just as bad as you saw them do to us!..

I sat back in my chair heavily, my mind rolling with a mess of contradictions and conflicted feelings.
Ari is right, Arista can’t be allowed to continue like this, there must be a better way out there somehow.. on the other hand, if that vision she showed me of our future is true?..
Thousands, possibly millions of mages being tortured for who-knows-how-long as a power source for the normals!

“There is one unfortunate side-effect to all of this which I may have neglected to mention before Alice-”
Arista sighed and stared at me with an almost pained look on her face.
“-the new mages need to be strong in body, mind and conviction if they are to prevent that disgusting future you saw.. for that to happen there must be a few sacrifices, the weak, the timid and the broken..”

My mind spun at the implications of those seemingly simple words.
Ari was right, mages are only human after all and it’s human nature to punish the weak for our own gain, ‘the weak, the timid and the broken’ ..

More dots connected slowly in my head and-
I think I’m finally seeing the true picture here at last?

She wants to ‘sacrifice’ the weak personalities within our core so that they aren’t ‘freed’ like the others she controls; and the only incarnations I’ve ever successfully managed to integrate into myself are..

The weak.. those too young to have properly gained any useful knowledge or spent most of their lives unaware of their magical nature?

The timid.. Rosaline, the brutes and all the other incarnations who fled from Arista’s wrath in fear to hide under my protection?

and the broken .. Theodora, Dexi and any number of others inside my head who are awkward, or weird, or jus-just plain crazy!

Arista planned for me to be unstable, weak, in a time when she needed me to be mentally strained, so she could take over my body eventually.
She planned for me to face enemies who would force me to overuse powers I still don’t fully understand and face the consequences afterwards!

She planned for ‘Ellie’ to let specific incarnations out, both to keep me off center, to strain my body, mind and magic to their limits at a crucial time leaving me with no other option BUT to integrate them all into myself.

I’m her recycling bin?

Arista has tossed all of the incarnations she doesn’t want into my mindscape and she’s going to.. she’s gonna get rid of me somehow. My eyes shifted up to Arista’s face in fear and the knowing, almost apologetic look on her face didn’t help in any way-shape-or-form.

She’s really going to do it?
She’s going to kill me in cold blood!

“I think you understand what’s at stake now Alice, what I must do to finally end this cycle of life and death at long last, for the greater good. I’ll give you time to process things, speak to Mother again if you wish it doesn’t matter now, it’s far too late for you to change any of this and I WILL see my plans to fruition no matter what the eventual cost.”
Slowly she rose to her feet and stepped away from the table.

“When you’ve come to terms with things, leave this place, come join me for the final hours so we might enjoy them as much as possible.”
With a wave of her hand a doorway appeared in the distance which seemed to just lead to an endless darkness at the moment, from her accompanying nod I’d infer that it should somehow lead me back into the real world if I walk through it at some point though, I guess.
“I love you darling, never forget that, you will always be my favorite and live on in my memory.. but some events must come to pass whether we wish them to or not.”

In an instant Arista was gone leaving me alone with my swirling thoughts, my fear and my numb sense of un-reality at everything I’d learned in however long we’d spent talking about ‘her side of things’.

======

..Now that she’s finally gone..
Ari’s voice caught me off guard slightly by coming so suddenly out of nowhere but her presence, for what it is, did help a little bit by giving me something different to focus on if nothing else.
..How about I tell you my plan to stop all of that crap she just said from actually happening?..

Oh yes, anything, yes Ari!
Call me selfish or useless, or a hopeless optimist, but one thing is clear above all others in my mind right about now.

I’m not Arista’s obedient ‘little Alice’!
I’m HANNAH Powers-damned COOPER and I’m NOT going down without a bloody fight!

Maybe her motives are right, maybe she’s just lying to me again?
Maybe what I want to do will make me the ‘bad guy’ in the eyes of history but I don’t bloody care!

She manipulated me.
She killed all those people, she killed my MUM!
She turned Eris into some messed up little programmable doll then harmed her just to get a reaction out of me and above all else she hurt Sarah..
NOBODY hurts SARAH!

“What’s the plan?”

======

“Are you sure this will work?”
..As long as we get an opening and she’s distracted enough..

Basically Ari’s plan falls into three main parts:
The first step relies on me going out into the real world and finding some way to entice Arista back within our mindscape again.
The second is kind of the lynch pin to it all and will require a little bit of experimentation in a moment or so, to make sure it’s even possible at this point.
The third.. the third part requires me to prove that I’m my ‘mothers’ daughter in all of this, sadly.

I’m sorry to say that the only way to beat ruthlessness of Arista’s level is to be equally ruthless yourself, if not more so.. I’m not completely sold on that idea yet honestly but it’s not like we’re swimming in options here or anything.

The main part of Ari’s plan I CAN get behind though stems from the simple fact that Arista wants to get rid of me.
She weaken me to the point where she has dominance over my body and my mindscape, then she’s going to toss me aside for her grand master plan to be completed.

Fair’s fair, I’m totally willing to turn the tables on her there if at all possible!

“Let’s try this then, you reckon that I’ve still got control of my mindscape despite her ability to change things so much?”
..I saw the world shift in subtle ways according to YOUR emotions, just as it did more dramatically to hers..

Slowly I scanned the empty white space around us with a tight glare but nothing seemed to change or be out of place at all despite her words.

“That doesn’t mean I can have any sort of control though, especially enough to overpower her in here?”
..That’s just a matter of believing in yourself..

My eyes scanned the area once more and I focused all my willpower on making something, anything happen to prove her right.
..Magic is about willpower above all else, never forget that..

It’s funny, John said pretty much the same thing to me at one point, I think?
He was right too in the end. When I’ve pushed myself beyond my limits and thrown away all my preconceived notions, I’ve managed to pull off things that moments before I just KNEW weren’t possible at all!

“Cut away the emotional instability, cut away the self-doubt, the panic attacks, and all that’s left is you.. my best friend, Hannah nee Alistor Cooper.”

“John?!”
I spun on the spot and stared in awe as a slumped version of John smirked up at me from his position seated amongst the roots of an old tree with a suspiciously empty space next to him that felt at once familiar and worryingly wrong.

“You really have NO idea about magic do you?”
With a shriek I spun around again and came face to face with those expressive, taunting, eyes of his that were so full of amusement as he stared at me in confusion.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret Hannah.. if your powerful enough.. the rules don’t apply..”

My hand came up to touch his smiling face but flinched back at the last moment as doubt and pain resurfaced with sickening thoughts about his possible role in all of this that came roaring back into my head with a vengeance.

“John.. be honest with me, what’s the real reason you didn’t tell me?”
One last time I spun around in surprise at hearing my own voice and found the strange sight of him sitting in a partly visible seat staring to his side at a blurry, feminine shape as raw emotions played across his face.

After a long drawn out pause the entire scene seemed to jump and John suddenly had a coffee in his hand out of nowhere as he stared slightly further to the left then he had moments before.

“How do you do it John? How do you hold back Max so easily?”
My mouth went dry as my own voice echoed around me again.

“I don’t”
Even now those two words made my blood chill with just a touch of fear.
“Mages, there’s an old trick we developed centuries.. millennia ago. I can teach you but you need clarity first, that’s why I’m taking you to her, so you can have enough clarity to pull off the first crucial steps.”

That’s right?.. he DID say that..

I’d forgotten in all the mess with my visions and the whole ‘Cat-Hannah’ thing, but he said that right to my face before we even went to see his Mother and there wasn’t a hint of a lie in his magic even as his thoughts went into turmoil making it hurt just to sense them second-hand through his magic!

“Have I mentioned lately how much I love that big, beautifully twisted brain of yours?”
I didn’t have to turn around to recognise the scene this time, having lived through it less than a day ago, his voice was like a soothing balm to my nerves though as my doubts about him seemed to melt away behind some indescribable trust I could feel rekindling in my heart.

The same warmth that made me give him a second chance, seemingly so long ago, when by all rights I never should have even considered it as an option but I did it because.. because.. that’s my John?

The John that understands me.
The John that uses inappropriate humor to cover every time he’s uncomfortable in the slightest.
The John that has a moral compass so twisted it’s not even funny but will still rush into insanity to protect me if needed.

..The John that loves you?..

Ari’s question broke my moment of reverie but let me focus on the here-and-now again which I guess is something I should be thankful for in some way or another, even if it did leave me glowing red in embarrassment from the implications of it all.

“This is me controlling my mindscape, isn’t it?”
..Strong emotions are often good starting points with magic..

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair distractedly as another scene appeared off to my left of John playing with that same hair while I lay inert in bed with a gentle smile on his face.

“How did you know this would happen?”
..I didn’t, I suspected it would though, you don’t hear it usually but he’s in here more then you are..

“WHAT?!”

..whether you want to admit it or not, the fact remains that you stopped living your life until he came back to you again, you’ve felt more passionate and inspired in the last month then you did for all those years working ‘missions’ as Al..

I didn’t!- I mean, he didn’t.. we.. I don’t!..

..You’re young and in love, forgetting everything else, why are you surprised that he would be a source of power and inspiration to you?..
My eye’s scanned around us as more and more scenes started appearing, multiple versions of me and him all laid out in their own isolated little worlds within my mindscapes otherwise blank existence.

Some were happy, some angry, some laughing, crying, kissing..
“OKAY, ENOUGH!”

That simple yell caused the world around us to shudder and in the blink of an eye they were all gone, leaving just me standing in the once-more bleak landscape around us with glowing hot ears and a slight tremble in my hands.

“So it works, I can have control in here.. how do we distract Arista long enough to get anything done behind her back then?”

For a few seconds there was nothing but silence from Ari and I could practically feel her judging, non-existent gaze upon me as if I were a particularly obstinate child who refused to listen to reason.
Eventually however the Grand-high voice in my head deigned to speak once more despite her obvious annoyance with me.

..Craft a distraction from memories, reach into HER subconscious to find HER nightmares, then use them..
How the hell can that work?
..She can do it to you, we saw your fantasies plain as day after all, so it’s possible, the rest is just willpower and belief..

Great, thanks for the helpful step by step guide there?!
I SWEAR one of these days someone will have to just GIVE me a bloody straight answer instead of expecting me to come up with them all on my own!

Fine, okay, let’s do this.. damn it..
This is all in my mind, I have control. To see Arista’s nightmares all I need to do, in theory, is WANT them hard enough and BELIEVE I can actually find them in the first bloody place apparently.

Focus Hannah.. Focus.. Arista’s nightmares.
I need images that will torment her into silence and leave her completely unable to notice as I try to stop her plans permanently while she’s occupied.
Focus.. focus.. fo-URAGH!

I can’t DO this!
Why is it when I think about John he starts popping up all around me but when I need to find something that could literally save my life I can’t do a damn thin-

“You’re public awaits..”
Spinning around with a flustered gasp I found myself facing a smirking John stood before a wide, ragged hole that seemed to have been torn directly into my mindscape.

It can’t be that easy, can it?

“You’re public awaits..”
Urg! Powers, even in my head he’s still a smug bastard.

“FINE! I’ll go through the dangerous looking hole torn in my mindscape, you happy?!”
The image of John flickered for a moment before disappearing and a quite mumble came to my ears from right behind me making me freeze up instinctively to stop myself from facing it again.

“I love you.. Hannah..”
Damn smart-assed bastard always knows what to say.

“I swear to the Powers, if this hole leads to a realm of unending torment or something equally terrible I’ll find a way to win the battle for ownership of my body with Arista on principle alone just so I can come back to reality and beat your rock-hard head in John you son of a bitch!”

My stipulations stated, I carefully stepped forward until I stood at the very edge of the tear in my mind before taking a deep breath and leaping inside.

======

I landed in an awkward stumble when it turned out that the ‘leap’ was more of a ‘hop’ as my feet hit a floor that happened to be equally as high as the one in my mindscape, leading to me staggering forward slightly with all the usual grace and poise that I’m ever-so famous for.
The darkness inside the tear around me grew brighter as I moved forward until all I could see was a wide white space filled with millions of flying little objects moving around so fast I could barely keep track of them.

Almost instinctively my hands came up in a halting motion and the world froze.
With a few sweeping arm movements and pointed gestures the moving objects, memories from the look of it, formed themselves into some kind of order and I was left staring at quite a few scenes playing out in real-time as if I were watching them on large floating TV screens.

“No way? Talk about being messed up in the head.”
I stared at the scenes before me in surprise, with more then a little bit of disgust evident on my face, as multiple scenes involving a worryingly young me and an older Arista arguing played out from all angles around me in different settings throughout history.

Slowly those initial reactions bled away into a wide, malicious grin as each ‘nightmare’ reached its apparently inevitable conclusion.
“THIS.. This, I can work with..”

Look out Arista, someone just got a secret weapon, or twenty, up her sleeve!

“Now how do I make copies of the-”
The world span and a pile of orbs formed at my feet out of nowhere.
“-se.. okay?.. so maybe I can-”
The world lurched again and suddenly, where there was once a pile, there now sat a large suitcase full to the brim with orbs, its zippers mostly closed aside from an awkwardly wide gap at the top.

“This is so unfair, how comes her mindscape is so much better behaved then mi-”
As if to add insult to injury a large book about the size of my chest landed heavily on top of the suitcase with a thump.

Cautiously I shifted closer and peeked at it only to slump in relief a moment later, letting out a long breath as the title shined tauntingly up at me.
‘Mind magic’s for nosy, idiot children by Aris-Ta’

“Powers, even her mindscape is a snarky bitch?”
Slowly my frown turned back into that same malicious grin yet again as an idea struck me that made me want to dance in glee.

“When in Rome, huh?”

======

..THERE you are! What happened? I lost connection with you for a minute there?!..

“I.. uh.. kinda invaded Arista’s mind and stole a load of junk?”
An awkwardly protracted silence followed that statement, probably not helped by the incriminating bags full of knowledge in the form of insultingly titled textbooks I had piled up behind me no doubt.
“She stole my body, I stole her abilities.. seemed kinda fair at the time honestly?”

The silence stretched on for a moment more before she answered at last.

..You’re unbelievable you know that?..
“Hell yeah I am, that’s why I’m gonna win this thing. All’s fair in love and war so-”

“I love you.. Hannah..”
With an angry growl I flicked my hand behind me dismissively to get rid of the annoying phantasm of John that decided to crop up again for no apparent reason.

..I want to say I’m surprised, but all I’m feeling at the moment is a strange mix of pride and pity for you for some reason?..
“Thanks, I guess?”

We both sunk into another awkward silence.
To my left an image of John offering me an equally awkward and thankfully silent smile appeared before I banished it away again with a frustrated growl.

“That’s going to get SERIOUSLY annoying!”
The only response I got was more awkward silence which made me growl once more.
“Let’s just get started with this, somewhere in the book of mind magic skills I stole from Arista must be some kind of technique to force an invader into a false reality or something, right?”

“You dropped you’re book again Al.”
I practically jumped out of my skin as a little child, no older than ten and with the unmistakable face of my best friend, offered me an annoyed stare as he held up the mind magic ‘book’ with his thumb stuck between two seemingly random pages.

Gingerly I took the book from his little hands and glanced down at the page he was holding, only to see a chapter titled ‘false realities and how to not muck them up’ which left me slightly stunned for a second or two.

By the time I gathered myself together again enough to look up and thank the little John-clone, he’d already disappeared sadly.

..He was really cute as a kid, wasn’t he?..
Shut up Ari, now’s really not the time, I’ve got a book to skim read like my life depends on it.
..Fine, be that way, you know I’m right though..

That’s not the point damn it!
Gah! Stupid smug voices in my head!

======

“Sooo.. it’s like, this?.. then..”
With carefully slow movements I grasped the memory orb-thingy in my hand and tossed it underhand to a patch of clear space a little-ways away from me.

The moment it struck the ground the orb burst into a flash of light and in its place seemed to be some kind of brightly shining ward-like bubble instead.

..That looks about right, the same as the books picture shows at least, although it’s a different color..
Hopefully it works the same way too or else I’m seriously screwed here, our whole plan kinda hinges on this little thing and it’s soon to be existent buddies working after all.

..It’ll be fine, just get the next one and remember to charge it a bit more then you did the last one-..
“-so the eventual ‘bubble’ it creates is slightly bigger and encircles the last one, forcing her to get dumped into it when the first bubble breaks, yes I know, I read the same damn book as you did for Powers sake!”

Ari didn’t respond to my frustrated yell but I’m getting used to reading her emotions pretty well and I think it’s safe to say she’s in a huff now.

“I swear you really ARE someone’s mother, you’ve got to be with the amount of nagging you do.”
..If you didn’t run headlong into big holes in your mindscape like an insanely stupid CHILD I wouldn’t have to nag so bloody-much!..

To the strains of this now annoyingly familiar argument on my priorities and apparent ‘death wish’ I grabbed the next memory orb, charging it up slightly, before tossing it over to hit nearly dead on the spot where the last one broke causing another flash of light and another colored bubble to form up just outside the borders of the last one.

“Two down, a couple hundred more to go, I guess?”
..Are you even listening to me?!..
A heavy sigh left my lips as I reached down to snag up the next orb.

I miss having private time in my own head.

======

“So I just step through the door that Arista left behind and hope for the best, right?”
..Be annoying and act uncharacteristically childish, it will add to her confusion when she gets here..

With a heavy sigh I took another step towards the doorway and cringed a little in anticipation, before taking that last heavy step, only to find no purchase on the other side and having my whole body tip forward into a seemingly endless fall of inky black nothingness until, with a bright flash of light, the world reappeared in all its technicolor beauty, filled with a rather uninspiring view of the rune covered crater floor that we’re apparently still surrounded by.

“Welcome back Alice, you took longer than I thought you would, the ritual is about to start-”
She shifted our butt slightly to get more comfortable as she spoke in that same annoyingly ‘motherly’ tone of hers.
“-once Esti finishes her final inspection and the last component arrives, we can begin at last.”

Our eyes drifted upwards without my control, settling on a familiar crouched form that appeared to be tapping her fingers against the shield above us with a frown on her aged face.
My stomach dropped out even as my brain span, trying to deny what was right in front of my eyes.

The same hunched form.
The same sharp eyes.
The same tightly clenched jaw.

She’s not wearing her usual shapeless dress and fluffy slippers combo, apparently choosing to wear a loose fitting black formal-robe with some kind of Blue insignia above her left breast instead for some reason, but it’s unmistakably her from this distance.
My heart hammered in my chest and all thought of plans went out the window as a single word slipped out of me in a pained whisper.

‘..Edith?..’

A wise, presumably enchanted, group of entrance-ways once sung: "This is the end, my only friend, the end." Rather fitting right about now I guess.. or is it? Events unfold including but not limited to: Dirt-brown magic splashing on things, Several (either literal or metaphysical) tug's-of-war, and Hannah has nothing left to lose! Do I need to mention how potentially dangerous that last point could be for everyone involved by now?

 

“Oh, you haven’t been properly introduced to Esti have you?.. it wouldn’t do for you to go without understanding the true extent of things Alice. She’s one of my most loyal followers after all, instrumental in shaping events that led up to this glorious day.”

WHAT?! She can’t be-
..Edith would NEVER!-
I can’t.. she.. I?..

‘Edith?!’

“There’s no need to cry Dearheart, Esti helped shape your ascension perfectly and she deserves to see your appreciation.”
With that said Arista slowly stood us up and started carefully walking along the rune covered floor towards the shield edge that Edith.. ‘Esti’?.. appeared to be testing at this exact moment.
“How are things looking Esti, is the main shield stable enough for me to drop it yet?”

“Yes Mother”
The smooth, deferential voice that came from Edith’s body made a shudder go down my non-existent spine.. where are the half-muttered words? The slurred speech patterns and Yoda-like barely decipherable rambling I’m so used to hearing from that exact same voice?!

“Oh.. you actually believed her odd manner of speech was natural?.. you really are painfully naive sometimes my darling Alice.”
SHUT UP! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut UP!

‘Edith wouldn’t.. Edith would never do something like this, what the HELL have you done to her?!’

“I’ve done nothing to her darling. Since the day she told Mother of the prophecy, Esti has always looked for a way to make things right again, and when she finally spoke to me honestly about her fears we came to an agreement on how things must come to pass.. it’s just that simple.”

Betrayal, burning hot anger and a horribly heavy sense of loss settled over my heart as we stared up at Edith’s almost obliviously hard-working form above us for a few painfully long seconds.

‘First Gran, then John and now E-Edith?’
..don’t listen to her..
‘It’s too much, it.. it hurts?’

IT HURTS!

“Oh those are only the start of things little Alice-”
Arista paused as Edith straightened, as much as she ever seems capable of doing at least, and offered us a slight nod before stepping back.
“-after all, who do you think created the MPA in the first place?”

With even steps Arista brought us back down to the little pedestal we’d been sitting on before I woke up and carefully stepped up onto it with her usual smooth grace.

“Do you really think there’s a single high-level awakened mage in existence who doesn’t work for me at this point Alice?”
She spun us around with a flourish, sending the thigh-split on her black sequined dress flying like some strange knee-high cloak that would make Vlad proud with it’s over the top nature.
..Show off..

“I plan to win this day Dearheart and while it hurts me ever so much that you must suffer, it is a necessary evil so that we may all avoid even worse fates as a species.. people are selfish creatures; phrased like that even the most benevolent of my children will bow to logic with time.”

The shield above us flickered out of existence and the pedestal under our feet rose up slightly from the ground with a great rumbling shudder.
After a moment’s pause Edith bounced over the lip of the hole we’re in with her JuJu stick held at her side to cushion her landing next to us, the moment she’d settled her feet properly the shield sprung back to life trapping us inside all over again.

“How long until we’re ready Esti?”
Edith glanced up at us, not with her usual annoyance but a look that I can only describe as pride, as she did the math in her head silently.

“About another minute Mother.”
That being said she knelt down and started examining the burnt runes around the hole that the pedestal we’re standing on just rose out of.
“You can begin the ritual preparation; my presence will not effect anything.”

“Thank you Esti”
The bright smile Arista offered her felt false to me, but then, a lot of the motions she makes with my face and body feel wrong anyway so that could just be me being bias I guess?

After a deep calming breath Arista slowly moved us down into mediation position, paying careful attention to the slit on her dress so that she wasn’t showing anything unnecessarily, despite Edith being the only person within range to see us anyway.

Our eyes closed for a moment only to shoot open again as our arm came up to catch a fast moving object coming towards our head at worrying speed.

It took me a moment or two to realise what Arista now held tightly in her white-knuckled gasp but when I did a gasp left my non-physical lips and my heart sored with new hope as Edith glared up at us from her crouched position, her JuJu stick held in an almost motionless tug-of-war between her hand and ours.

“Really Esti?”
Edith’s glare softened slightly, not in compliance but in amusement which again made me want to cheer as loudly as I could, seeing that at least SOMEONE hadn’t truly betrayed me in all of this mess!

“You be planning to hurt my student, can’t be blaming me for trying ‘Mother’.”
Her words made that burgeoning flame of hope in my chest dim as it became obvious that her plan had already been thwarted before I’d even known it was coming.

To add insult to injury Arista flexed the muscles in my arm slightly and with a pulse of magic through my body she ripped the JuJu stick out of Edith’s grasp, tossing it aside as she stepped down from the pedestal to face Edith on even ground.

“Why Esti? We are so close, why now of all times would you decide to show your true colors?”
Edith took a step or two backwards before squaring her withered shoulders as best she could and fixing us with yet another angry glare.

“You be hurtin’ Fena and now you hurt the girl, Mother or not, your madness needs to stop an’ who but your ‘most loyal’ would ever have the chance to do so?..”
The mocking way she trailed off that sentence with just the slightest hint of a smirk on her lips made our blood boil with rage that was purely Arista’s in nature.

“I should have seen your betrayal for what it was long ago; you never forgave me for what happened to that useless sister of yours, did you?”
Edith’s smirk slid away into possibly the most intense glare I’ve ever seen on her often grumpy looking face.
“Of course you bonded with Alice over these last few years, Louise said as much but I ignored her warnings foolishly..”

‘Yeah, having your trust in people betrayed is going around these day’s apparently.’
..HA!..

“Shut up Alice, Mummy’s busy!”

A pressure pushed down on my chest as it always does when Arista forces me back into my mindscape but something was different this time?
I could feel the pressure, feel the drawing sensation pulling me towards the lines connecting to my mindscape again but I could RESIST it at last!
..Looks like Theodora and the others have been busy..

“Alice? What are you- how are you doing that? You can’t-”

Before Arista could finish her building rant at my disobedience a wrinkled old hand flew towards our face at speeds that shouldn’t be physically possible and managed to just clip our ear from Arista’s distraction, although it felt like we’d been hit by a sledgehammer despite being the barest of touches in reality.

Arista flipped my body away from Edith and staggered to a stop a few paces away, her hand flying up to our ear and coming away covered in blood which made our eyes dilate in rage all over again.

“You would DARE?!”
Arista swung her eyes up to glare at Edith only to throw us into another near panicked roll as a bolt of brown magic flew towards us, only to splash against the floor in a seemingly harmless discharge instead moments later.

“Useless girl is my student Arista, you told me once that the old ways must be respected above all, you do not HARM what is MINE!”

Edith practically spun on the spot and as she finished her spin a barrage of dirt-brown magical bolts shot after us in quick succession as if rapid-fired from a gun or something equally insane.
It was all Arista could do to keep moving and ensure Edith didn’t land another hammering blow against us, although there were quite a few close calls and she never really had a chance to retaliate in the process either which I’d say is a good thing at this point.

“You’re goals were good once Arista but your methods have gone too far, the woman I once called Mother would never even consider harming one of her children no matter the end goal.. the fact that you wish to send one into the void is beyond anything I could ever accept!”

With one more roll Arista managed to get us into a crouched position and threw a hand up, creating a shield of solid ice on our palm to deflect the next volley away and get some breathing room.
She went to stand up again and close the gap between us but with a force of will that I’m slowly becoming used to using I managed to twist my ankle hard enough that it actually translated into the physical world as I forced back Arista’s control in a minor but potentially important way.

She stumbled.

In a battle at these speeds with this much magic flying around, a stumble is all it takes to finish a fight, I cringed as yet another round of brown bolts flew in towards our now open side and even Arista winced our eyes shut momentarily in anticipation of the impact.
When the bolts hit I was expecting something close to what I imagine being hit by a semi-truck would feel like in all honesty, and it momentarily threw me when all I could feel was, at worst, a solid punch or two to our ribs?

Arista still cried out in obvious pain but she also shot our eyes open again to stare with dark amusement at Edith’s now widening eyes as those same fast-moving brown bolts of magic that just hit us practically bounced off of our body and flew straight back at their caster.

The whole reaction took seconds and left Edith with little-to-no time to react before landing with a crushing force to her chest that threw her back across the crater until she hit the wall hard and slumped down to the floor with a blood-filled sputter of breath.

“Do you really think I wouldn’t plan ahead for something like this Esti?”
Our eyes winced slightly as Arista took a step forward in obvious pain but she didn’t hesitate in stalking towards her now fallen prey with a renewed sense of superiority virtually radiating out of her mind and into mine.

“I will admit that I didn’t suspect you of such duplicity, but Max has been acting strange of late and when you factor the rather unavoidable need for me to work with Lichs on a regular basis while having an entire supposedly ‘secret’ resistance movement working against me as well, then it should be no surprise that I would tend to become just the slightest bit paranoid about such things, no?”

We came to a stop over Edith’s still sputtering, beaten body and Arista crouched down to be on eye-level with her once more.

“You could have had it all Esti, power, dominion, anything your heart desired but you had to throw it all away.. for what?.. what have you achieved in this pathetic attempt to stop me?”
The smug bitch actually leaned in closer to hear any kind of answer Edith might be able to offer while her fingers gently ghosted across the bare flesh on Edith’s arm leaving tiny little patches of ice as they went.

“First lesson.. useless girl..”
Arista leaned back sharply, surprise radiating out of her as she tried to understand the meaning behind those words and her magic lashed against mine in what I’d assume was an attempt to extract the answer she sought in a much more direct way then I think I’d ever want to imagine she could possibly manage.

Whatever the others have been doing to remove her ‘little sticky claws’ from my subconscious is obviously working because I barely had to even think about stopping her invasion to repel the once overpowering force of her magic with ease.
More importantly then that though, is the fact that I recognise that ‘lesson’ and it wasn’t a pleasant one to learn first-hand in my years as Al, I can tell you that much!

‘Don’t gloat until the enemy is dead useless girl, when they be dead, THEN rub victory in their faces.’

The slightest of sounds from behind us made Arista spin on the spot in paranoid fear which left us completely open when a large chunk of wood most commonly referred to as a ‘JuJu stick’ came flying in from its discarded position across the crater to smack almost perfectly against our forehead with seemingly shattering force.

The blow was so powerful that it sent Arista sprawling to the floor and even then it obviously wasn’t finished because the physical pain was quickly surpassed by a bone-deep tearing sensation in both my chest and my brain itself.
For a moment it felt like someone was trying to pull my brain and heart apart with their bare-hands.. but even that didn’t last long before, with a final searing blast of unimaginable pain, something deep within me broke and Arista’s presence disappeared from my mind with an agonised scream.

For the first time in what seems like years I could finally feel a direct connection between my mind and my body?
I promptly chose to use said miraculous new-found power of control to roll myself over slightly so I could throw up whatever Arista has eaten in the last day or so in shock and pain more than anything else.

“Useless.. girl..”
With a few heavy pants and a lot more effort than I’d like to admit I managed to roll myself away from the disgusting pile on my right to face Edith’s not-smiling, horribly pale face.
“Real battle.. be inside.. you.. girl.. go, quick!”

She finished that painfully slow statement with another wracking cough that sent blood flying and I couldn’t help but notice the frantic twitching of her arm where the spots that Arista touched appeared to have settled into tiny little patches of frost.

“Edith? Edith I-”
My hands came up to reach out to her but she shook herself forcefully, starting another round of painfully sharp coughs.

“GO! Stop.. Mother..”
My mouth moved soundlessly for a moment or two but anything I could say didn’t seem to want to leave my lips for some unfathomable reason?

I wanted to thank her for helping me when I thought I’d been deserted by everyone.
I wanted to beg her to hold on, to survive despite the damage I could see had been done to her.
I wanted.. I wanted..

“I love you Edith, don’t die on me you evil little Yoda-wannabe.”
Her pained wince twitched a few times before finally settling into an amused smirk that I know all too well from years of watching her torment other people for her own amusement.
“Fine, I’m going, bossy old witch..”

If she could, I think Edith would have laughed at that point.
Instead she made a heavy wheezing sound which really didn’t help me concentrate on following the lines to my mindscape, especially when you added in quite a few curious faces that seemed to be slowly appearing around the edge of the shield high above us.

My last sight was that of Edith’s blood splattered but warm smile before my lines connected at last and the crater around me disappeared.

======

I materialised into a world of chaos.

All around me my mindscape was changing, in a constant state of flux, as wild colors fought against my usual endless white for dominance and massive black tears formed around me only to collapse back into nothingness moments later.

“Holy fuck?.. FUCK!”
A rift formed up practically at my feet and I had to frantically roll away before I fell into the endless abyss inside.
“What the HELL have you done Edith?!”

One good thing came from my roll to safety and the movements that followed it at least, as I dodged yet more rolling chaos all around me, my view point shifted enough that I got to see Arista standing in her ‘adult’ form within a set of ever shrinking rings of multi-colored memory bubbles.

The whole set of constructs made from her very nightmares were apparently untouched by anything outside them, just as we’d hoped they would be.
If the bubbles are working like they are supposed to then she’s currently watching all of her nightmares come to life in a far too vivid reality, hopefully that’s enough to disorientate and delay her for a while.

Even I was a little surprised to see that pretty much every one of her nightmares involved me, or rather a younger, much cuter version of me, and that they all followed basically the same plotline where we would argue about anything from ethics to fashion until every one of them ended practically the same way, with her reaching out in anger to silence me only to find her magic lashing out and freezing the little-me to death in an instant.

There’s probably some deep psychological meaning behind all of that but I’m content to settle for ‘crazy woman is crazy’ at this point considering I’m kind of busy trying not to fall into whatever keeps trying to tear its way into my mindscape in general at this exact moment!

“Alice!”

I jumped in fright at the sudden voice behind me, only to turn and see yet another tear hovering in the air before me, this time however instead of an endless void there were people inside.. lots and lots of near identical girls I know all too well.

“Theodora?”
She didn’t get a chance to respond as the rift between us shut itself violently moments later leaving me alone once more and feeling truly helpless.

..You’re not alone..
Thanks Ari but that’s not exactly helping when-
‘I’m sorry for your loss. It won’t help but know that you are not alone’
‘Never forget, you’re not alone Alice’
‘She needs you to believe her on that one important point but you are NEVER alone and despite how it feels we’re going to win this war, just you wait and see!’
-What? Where did that come from..

Oh powers damn it, I REALLY hate seers!

‘they be usin’ you to get what they want’
‘She doesn’t want you to know this Alice’
‘some things I want you to see, others I NEED you to see’

‘Where else would a SUB-conscious be? It’s below the ground in your mindscape, DUH!’
For a moment the world span and I watched on as Theodora twisted her body on the spot before literally just falling through the white floor of my mindscape into non-existence again
‘everyone tells you what they want you to hear’
‘enemy’s be saying only what they be wanting you to hear and friends not being much better’

OKAY, I get it already!
‘people are going to see what they WANT to se-’
ENOUGH!

Stupid memories, more pushy then bloody Ari is.
..HEY!..
“Sorry, force of habit, so how do we do this?”

..What makes you think I know what to do?..
“Stop playing innocent, it’s pretty obvious that whatever the real plan is Theodora’s got you involved. Let’s just get on with this before Arista realises that she’s-”

There was a tremendous ‘boom’ that shook my mindscape as a whole and a deep pit of dread formed in my gut in response to it.

The rifts started to slow down their previous pattern of forming as a nearly incandescently glowing Arista launched herself forward, bursting her way through the nightmare bubbles using nothing but willpower and rage alone.
She let off a wounded roar that shook the ground beneath our feet as her head whipped around in search of me.

“Ari.. little help here?”
The sound of my voice made Arista’s head snap around to glare at me darkly as she huffed like an animal and practically broke into a sprint, every movement seemingly etched with some raw new pain that can only come from having watched your own hands kill a loved one before your eyes.. I should know what that looks like at this point after all..

..It’s you’re mindscape. Think, feel, and do it already dumbass!..
I barely took the time to process what she’d said, my instincts already roaring in my ears so loudly, the same information pouring into my brain from some outside source along with my long developed primal instincts to flee shouting above the confusion and fear.

Arista dived at me and at the very last second a rift opened up beneath my feet making me fall straight down into it, only to snap shut before she could follow after me.

======

Seemingly a moment later a rift re-opened below me within the inky black void I’d fallen into and I slid once more into the tattered white expanse of my mindscape with a heavy thud.

It took me a moment to catch my breath but when I did a smirk slowly formed on my lips.
..Told you so..

‘Think, feel, do’ my ass!
One part panic, two parts desperation and three parts actually being the owner of an already unstable mindscape is more like it!
I literally have no idea how I pulled that off an-

“ALICE!”

“Shit!”
With another forceful mental push, my best attempt at copying the sensation I felt when the last tear opened up, I fell back into the floor again only to fly out sideways this time, so far away from Arista’s enraged form that I could barely see her along the horizon line of my mindscape.

“Okay, that’s not dying covered, what’s next?”

..How about you listen for once?!..
Damn it! I need help here, not a moral lesson on my admittedly poor record for retention of seemingly unimportant details wh-

‘I’m not a Seer damn it!’
‘My gut instinct says this will work’
‘more instinct then thought’

My own voice practically taunted me with the facts involved.
My instincts have always pointed me in the right direction, I just never though that they could be-

‘be havin’ the touch f’sure. No stomach to ya!’
‘Bad Juju be cloudin’ ya eye’

‘even if I could see the future on some things I might have to lie to you about them because me just telling you about specific events could work against us’

That’s getting REALLY annoying!
You know what? FINE!

For the record I’m not a bloody seer and just because I have a good gut instinct, and Edith is obsessed with my stomach.. and Theodora lies constantly like everyone else.. that has NOTHING to do with trusting my instincts in this case because it’s not going to work an-
..Your rambling..

Gah! Fine I’ll trust my bloody instincts!
I swear if I die from this I’m blaming that crazy little Yoda for it all and haunting her ass or something.
..That’s the spirit!..
Really NOT the time for puns Ari!

“Okay, instincts, trust my instincts, instincts, instincts, instincts, COME ON!”
My eyes flew around the empty patchwork mess of my mindscape, settling on a rapidly approaching figure who practically glowed with waves of tightly controlled magical power.
“Oh sure, when I WANT you to start bugging me you get shy?! Told you I’m not a bloody seer Ar-”

“Have I mentioned lately how much I love that big, beautifully twisted brain of yours?”
My whole body froze for a moment before spinning around to face a proudly grinning copy of John.
Behind him were two more rifts floating in mid-air, one leading to that same strange city-scape full of my integrated past-incarnations that I’ll assume is my subconscious at this point, and the other leading to a mental-scape I’m all too familiar with but never thought I’d find inside my bloody mindscape itself!

As my eye’s flicked from one to the other, hesitating as they were drawn back to the usually bright ball of magic that makes up my core and the golden lines of power streaming away from it in all directions.

It all seemed so dull for once, the light of my core and lines obviously weakened for one of any number of possible reasons, but while looking at it I had just the barest hints of a plan forming in my panicked mind.. a possible route that I could take to finally end all of this, end it the same way that Arista planned to do to me in the first bloody place!

The mental space that I call my ‘lines’ looked good in general, back to how I remember it being instead of that weird ‘weather’ form it took under Arista’s control at least, but the core..

As my core spun around slowly in front of my eyes a great big pair of brown cracks became visible on the outer edge of one side.
Honestly, it almost looked like a giant glowing segment had been ‘cut out’ from my core and it was only that one section which showed any kind of roughly marked out ‘cracks’ compared to the rest of my core which just looked dimmer then usual somehow, instead of dividing the whole thing completely as I imagine would happen if my core were naturally breaking.

As the core turned a little more, a tiny stream of magic reached out from the divided off portion of my core only to be slapped back by an equally weak stream of the brown-crack magic I recognised all too well, as everything finally clicked in my head and weeks, years even, of manipulation started to make a horrible amount of sense.

Edith was always so focused on teaching me how to use my lines?
I spent more time learning how to manipulate and cast spells in there then I did any other form of magic and she never WOULD tell me why it was all so important to her!

When having such total control of my lines made learning blood magic, enchanting and any number of other tricks that saved my life over the years relatively easy to learn I just kind of gave up asking and accepted that she obviously had her reasons from the proof alone that it had helped me in the end.. but that’s not why she did it..

‘it’s going to be so delicious turning her own weapon against her’
‘the perfect weapon to stop me’

“When this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk about keeping secrets Ari!”
..What you don’t know she couldn’t find out, sorry?..
“How long have Edith and you been working on thi-”
..DUCK!..

My instincts kicked in at almost the exact same moment Ari yelled out to me, in a way that I’m now both much more aware of than ever before and completely unsure if it ever happened in the past without me realising it honestly.
Either way it gave me just that tiny micro-second extra to twist myself out of the way as Arista came barrelling in on a poorly judged dive to tackle me like a bull in a china shop.

Before she could turn around I pushed my magic and fell through the floor into yet another rift that I’m actually becoming worryingly good at manipulating at this point.

======

When I came out of the void on the other side I found myself so far away from Arista that I couldn’t even see her anymore, I didn’t aim for that or anything, the rift just seemed to either judge what I needed or work on blind luck, I don’t have time to work out which at this point.

"Theodora of the Byzantine I call you forth!"
I’m not sure if the words are necessary or intent will do, I’m not sure if anything I’m thinking of will work honestly but those were the first words that came to my mind as my hand shot up to point palm first at the floor to my right so they will have to do hopefully!

For a long, tense second nothing happened before a tiny dark spot appeared on the floor I’d gestured at and widened rapidly until a figure I never thought I’d be happy to see came shooting out of it with an ecstatic giggle.

"Yes! Yes, yes, YES! You clever little monkey Alice, for once in your life you bloody listened!"
She started hopping around happily and waving her arms in the air as if directing some grand symphony but I really don’t have time for her special brand of crazy right now, let alone her manipulative seer personality that she hides underneath it all so well.

“Shut up Dora, I’m trying to concentrate!”
My brow furrowed as I threw both my hands together and aimed them at the empty space on my left.

"I call-”
Theodora skipped over to my side and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug that threw me off completely in a way that I can only imagine was intentional from her at this point.
“-I call-”
Her face moved up and she nuzzled under my chin, her tongue coming out like an over-grown cat to lick at my neck and once again interrupting me by-

“ARRG! Screw it, YOU LOT GET OUT HERE! We’ve got work to do!"

A great cheer rose up as my once empty and now falling-apart mindscape was flooded with past-incarnations, many of which I hadn't seen in weeks but all of which were offering me proud and eager looks as they congregated at my side while a giggling Theodora looked on smugly.

“Don’t think I’m not angry at you all for letting Dora manipulate me into this situation.. but I have to admit I’m glad your all here despite that, I guess.. now who’s ready to get rid of an annoying brain-leech once and for all?”
Another cheer rose up and everyone started moving into neatly uniform lines as if they’d been practicing for a military style parade or something over the past week, which honestly, I wouldn’t put past them all at this point.

“I take it you all know the plan, right?”
When no-one outright denied it I felt like letting off a frustrated growl considering I only just came up with the bloody plan five-seconds ago.
..Annoyances like this are what you get when you start working with seers sadly..

“Shut up Ari, really not the time..”

So now, all that’s left to do is open up another rift to-
“What kind of heartless bastard would I have to be to not rescue a helpless little school girl in need?”
I spun around to glare at yet another fake-John who’d decided to crop up out of bloody nowhere!

Despite the seriousness of the situation we’re all in at this exact moment, more than a few of the girls around me sniggered at the annoying quote that the stupid copy echoed out at us with his usual, annoyingly perfect timing.

To make things worse he was standing in John’s over-the-top ‘game-show presenter’ pose while a wider than usual rift floated behind him leading directly into whatever part of my mind holds my lines and the mental representation of my core in general.

Sometimes.. sometimes, even knowing that this is all some big symbolic representation of how my mind is processing events inside my body that are far out of the preview a normal human brain was built to handle, just isn’t enough to stop it all from being REALLY aggravating!

“Well hello John-boy..”
Theodora practically oozed forward and cozied herself up tight to the fake-John’s side with a contented purr.

Slowly she turned around to face me again with a wry smirk on her face that said far more then I feel ready to deal with about how funny she finds the fact that my brain apparently thinks John is the best way to point my attention towards things ‘subtly’ in any way-shape-or-form..

“Enough playing around Dora, we’ve got work to do before Arista finds us again.”
Just to make sure she was listening I grabbed her arm and tugged her back into the mass of girls behind me before turning to face them all properly for what I’ll admit is probably not going to be the most inspirational of speeches in human existence.
“Just so we’re all on the same page here, we go into my lines, we all grab ahold of my core then we pull that damn parasite Arista from our mind once and for all by bloody force if necessary.. half of you stay out here to stop her if she finds us, the rest follow me, any questions?”

For a long moment all I got in response was a bit of awkward shuffling but that quickly gave way to a surprised gasp or two and some smattered laughter for some reason; a reason which became perfectly clear when a warm pair of arms attached to an equally warm body wrapped themselves around me in the gentlest of hugs a moment or so later, naturally.

“Arista could never have made something so.. brilliant..”
DAMN IT FAKE JOHN-BOY, DON’T BREATHE IN MY EAR!

“..I hate my mindscape sometimes..”

======

Everyone else seemed more than a little cautious as they followed me through the rift into my lines, although the wide-eyed looks and muttered comments that came afterwards point to the very real possibility that I might get my curious nature from more than a few of the incarnations currently under my dubious ‘command’ as a whole.

“How do we do this then?”
I turned and shot Dexi an uncertain look.

Honestly.. I have no clue?.. my stupid gut instinct just keeps telling me this is the right place to be if we want to stop Arista, something about the way my core looks with its fractured surface and lazily waving loose threads of power jus-
oh.. oh, that could work?

“We all stand around my core and grab the loose strands of magic, I’ll take Arista’s broken portion and on a count of three we all pull as hard as we can?”
It took everything I had to sound even partly sure about that plan in general and even then it came out more as a question then the cool statement of fact I’d been hoping for.

My lines shined brightly around us in response to my presence, flickering with sparks of wild magic and that brilliant golden glow as always which helped calm me down just a little bit at least, having something familiar around always helps me take a step away from the edge when I’m close to panicking or just generally getting worked up over something luckily and any improvement in here is better then nothing.

“You heard the Boss ladies. Take your places for the first ever, hopefully not annual, great core tug of war!”

For a long second or two I blinked slowly at Theodora’s back as she practically skipped forward and started not-so-gently picking through the tentacle like strands of magic drifting loose from my core to find one that she apparently felt was in some way ‘superior’ to the others.

Is it bad that I kinda miss when she was just outright crazy, instead of this weird hybrid between an actual person and the insane seer caricature that I’m used to?
..Completely understandable, she creeps me out too..
Well that’s reassuring at least.

When Theodora apparently found the stream of magic that she liked at last and was promptly NOT absorbed by my core or any other horrible thing they could imagine happening when an incarnation comes into direct contact with the core that houses them, the others started reluctantly moving closer and picking ‘tentacles’ of their own to hold onto as best they could.

For my part, I walked over to the ‘broken’ side of my core and tentatively reached out to touch one of the strands coming off of it.

The moment my hand made contact with it an almost irresistible wave of rage hit me like a freight train, apparently Arista is still mad at me for the whole ‘nightmares of killing a younger me’ thing.
Big surprise there, I guess?

It took everything I had to not start yelling from the vicarious anger that came pouring into me from her magic dumping directly into my brain, and even then I ended up letting off a snarl that was more than a little bit feral in a way that I’m sure would make certain members of my extended family rather proud of me in all honesty.

When I reached a tipping point where it almost felt like I was losing control to her overwhelming power, and no matter what I tried to do I couldn’t seem to let go of the tendril in my grasp, the pressure suddenly cut off leaving me to gasp out in relief.

My eyes shot down to my hands and widened in surprise when what appeared to be mittens made of brown magic formed up over my hands with tiny strands connecting them to the cracks full of equally brown magic still separating Arista’s section of my core from the rest of it.

“..Edith?..”
Tears came to my eyes and I let them fall as waves of trust, love and an overwhelming sense of pride came over me from only one possible source.
It took me a few moments to gather myself back together again from the initial shock of emotions that were so overwhelmingly strong from the woman who I’d always considered to be so controlled and repressed with her real feelings that I couldn’t help the wet smile which formed on my lips as the seconds ticked by.
“Powers damn it Edith you sappy little Yoda.. fine, let’s get this over with at last!”

I scanned around what parts of my lines I could see and made eye contact with more than a few equally watery-eyed incarnations who seemed to have felt at least part of the emotions running through me by extension of being.. well.. part of me, I guess?

“On the count of three!”
Everyone tensed up and I squeezed my magical-mitten covered hands down tightly on the strands I had as well.
“One, Two, THREE!”

As one we leaned back and pulled for all we were worth.
The moment we started tugging in earnest a bone-deep pain that felt horribly familiar to the way I’d felt when Arista tore Sarah’s core out of our chest less than a day ago made itself known and the world around us started shaking uncontrollably, making a few of the girls around me scream in fear.

With one more desperate surge I threw my back into it and my feet slipped slightly on the ground until with an almost deafening crack the chunk of core connected to the tendrils in my hands shifted ever so slightly forward, disconnecting it from the main heart of my being at almost the exact same moment that the world around me exploded and an all too familiar jerking sensation took over my body as a whole.

======

“-other?! MOTHER!”

My head shot up with a gasp as my chest burned like I’ve been running a marathon or something.
Within seconds I was scanning the area around me and patting my body down frantically to make sure everything was still where it should be as I slowly began to realise that I’m not only back in the real world but fully in control of my body too!

‘WHAT DID YOU DO?!’
..Oh, well that’s a novel experience..

So this is what it feels like to have someone else riding shotgun in your head?
I definitely like things from this perspective a lot better to say the least!
Now, let’s see if this still works shall we-

‘Hello Arista, lovely to hear from you again..’
HA! Less than a day’s practice and I’ve totally got this whole ‘mind speaking’ thing down like a pro!

‘Alice? Alice Dearheart, what’s happening? Tell Mummy wh-’
..Does she really think that’s going to work?..
‘Shut up Mother! Alice darling let Mummy just take-’

“Yeah, no chance.. almost proud of you for trying that one still though honestly?”
She growled loudly at being interrupted again and I had to hold back a laugh from seeing my once all-powerful tormentor stuck in the same position she’d put me into not so long ago.

“Mother! Can you hear me?”

My eye’s shot up to the craters edge above us with a frown as several curious, rather worried looking faces peered down with fear obvious on each of their faces.
The speaker happened to be a rather familiar looking old man who helped John and I create an identity for a newly registered ‘Hannah Cooper-Garnier’ back at the Hub.

I knew there was something wrong with him when we first met, no-one with a soul shrugs me off when I’m trying to be purposefully annoying!
..I’m really starting to wonder just who WASN’T involved in this plot of Arista’s at this point?..

“I’m okay-”
Shit, what’s his name?!
“-darling?..”

For a few seconds I really thought I’d blown it already but lucky for me Arista apparently really does have a terrible tendency to use that stupid term of endearment with practically everybody she meets because none of the faces perched above me seemed to notice anything wrong with my use of it in the slightest.

“Darling little Alice put up more of a fight than I was expecting at the last second there but everything is sorted now, can one of you lower the shield over the crater for me? I feel tired and could really use a short break before we start the ritual at long last.”
Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it!

All the heads shifted and glanced at each other uncertainly for a moment or two before the old Hub pen-pusher spoke up again with a slightly more worried tone to his voice.

“The ritual has already begun Mother? As you requested, we activated the outer runes the moment that Esti made a wrong movement against you.”
..shit..

‘Did you really think I wouldn’t have a contingency plan in place Alice? I ALWAYS have a contingency plan, my mission is too important not to, even now with this miraculous take-over you’ve achieved I will still win this day Darling.’
..She’s bluffing!..

Oh Powers, do I HOPE she’s bluffing?!

“Are you sure everything is okay Mother? We’re coming up to the Layline pulse and everyone is anxious to move into position.”
A ‘Layline pulse’? What the bloody-hell is a LAYLINE PULSE?!

‘Oh Dearheart, you really have no idea what you’ve gotten into do you?’

..I’d assume it would be some kind of pulse through the local Laylines..
I would assume so, yes, thank you Ari; I couldn’t have gotten that far on my bloody own of course?!
..No need to get snippy just because your stressed out..

OF COURSE I’M BLOODY STRESSED OUT!

‘This is all rather amusing but perhaps you should answer the dear boy, he seems slightly perplexed by your silence.’
URRG!

“Tell everyone to prepare, then leave me to rest for a while, I’m feeling out of sorts at the moment.”
The heads around the craters rim all shared another set of uncertain looks but eventually they shrugged it off and disappeared slowly to leave me alone at last, or near enough, with nothing but the rune covered crater, Edith’s barely breathing body and the voices in my head for company.
“What the hell are you planning here Arista?”

‘I could tell you but.. how did you put it?.. ah yes, Shan’t, Can’t, Won’t!’
A growl slipped past my lips and I almost felt like punching my own head just to spite her for that one, it’s never a good sign when the bad guy feels safe enough to start mocking you.

Okay Hannah, time to put that brain you’re so proud of to work!

‘What do you really think you can do?’
Now that she said it, there are definitely some things I can do at this exact moment.

My eyes hesitated for a second while scanning Edith’s heavy breathing, slumped over in her baggy robes and seemingly unconscious, form with worry but after a deep breath to fortify my stance I forced myself to keep going despite the pale tone to her skin and my fears for what my currently screwed up magic might actually do unintentionally when used.

It took more effort then I’m used to and my chest ached just from the act of me even reaching for my magic but I built up a relatively small ball of golden ‘diversion’ magic pretty quickly before the pain became too much, forcing me to let it off in a concentrated burst that seemed to bring at least some color back to Edith’s face even as it tore something deep inside me and making the whole world disappear in a crash of unimaginable pain.

======

“She’s back!”

..Owwie..
That. sucked..

“The core’s moving again! Quickly, man your lines girls!”
Craaaapppp..

With a monumental effort I managed to push myself up from the floor and glance around to get my bearings again.

It looks like I’m back inside the rift room to my lines, nice to know I didn’t move in here when I got so unceremoniously thrown back into the real world at leas-
..Hannah get up and pull, Arista is trying to reattach herself to our core!..

It was a mad dash few seconds for me to get standing again but as I reached out to snag up a handful of the wavering tendrils of magic hanging out of Arista’s core fragment Edith’s brown magic encompassed my hands again to protect me from her influence as if it was second nature for it to do so at this point.
..Thanks Edith..

“PULL!”

I threw everything I had into tugging at the insidious lump once more and with a string of tiny ripping sounds that reminded me of the time I split the seams on my jeans as a kid, along with the accompanying build-up of pain deep down in my chest, the core fragment moved slightly further away from the rest of my core by a few more inches or so.

My feet slipped at the last second but before I could even land back on my ass the world went crazy again and the pain in my chest exploded, once more throwing me out into the real world without any warning whatsoever.

======

“Uuugh.. Bouncing between reality and my mindscape is SO not healthy at the moment!”
..You’re mindscape is kind of in shreds so I can’t really say I’m surprised..

‘I don’t know what you think you’re achieving Alice but for both our sake’s I suggest you stop trying to destroy my core without the proper protections in place.’
..Proper protections?..

That almost sounds like- No..
She couldn’t have.. could she?

“This was your plan to start with, wasn’t it Arista?”
..Huh?..

The evil tumor in my head remained suspiciously silent at my question, which probably said enough in itself honestly.

She said it earlier, she wanted to get rid of me, she loaded me up with all the ‘useless’ incarnations and was going to toss me aside!
How ELSE would you get rid of a load of incarnations which are directly connected to your core then to actually REMOVE them from your core entirely?!

She hadn’t planned on me being the one in control during this ritual that I’ll assume for the moment is designed to make it easier for her to remove parts of our core, or at least keep our damaged core stable somehow, after the piece she’s trying to discard is gone.
..That isn’t much to go on..

On its own, I’d have to agree with you Ari and say that the knowledge of what she’s planned in general would be almost worse than not knowing anything at all.. but it isn’t on its own, is it?..

Think what you like about her, personally I’m at the point where I wouldn’t piss on Arista if she was on fire considering the things she’s done to both me and my family, but there’s one thing I’ll give her if nothing else.. she’s confident!

She confident to the point of arrogance and that’s going to be her downfall on this one.

“Oh Arista, for someone older than human civilisation, you are so STUPID!”
My eyes flew wildly around the rune covered floor around me, already pieces are coming into focus, connections being made in my head with wild abandon as I broke down and analysed what she’s done here.

The first step to breaking, fixing, creating or even just copying any rune system in existence is knowing what it bloody-well DOES!

“You took possibly the most dangerous rune mistress on Earth today, one that also happens to specialise in both sympathetic magic and blood rituals, just like you.. then you put her in a crater full of unhidden control clusters directly connected to the truly awe-inspiringly complicated ritual circle you’ve made?”
Even Dante, insane Lich-bastard that he is, knows that you don’t let ANYTHING potentially effect the ritual when it’s in progress!

When it comes to rituals you don’t cut corners, you don’t assume anything is safe and you don’t EVER allow something to go wrong because the effects can be catastrophic for everyone involved.
When it comes to rituals you use double layers of shielding to protect everything, backups for everything if necessary, doubles to all components involved within easy reach and a kill-switch whenever possible as well.

The same is true for runes to a lesser extent and it’s practically suicide to ignore something THAT important when you’re mixing both fields together into one horrendous mass of magic!
All I need to do is find something recognisably important an-

‘Your bluffing Alice, no-one can break down a ritual this complex alone in any kind of useful time frame.. and more importantly every second you waste playing around out here I come closer to regaining control of our core as it tries to heal itself from the damage you’ve done to it.’
That would be a very true and valid problem, if I actually needed to break down the ritual..

Ah, hah! There it is!

“Correct me if I’m wrong Arista.. darling.. but, no matter how you go about things, precision in a ritual is key.. so I wonder what would happen if I tweaked this boring little amplitude cluster right here up from what I can only assume is meant to be something close to ‘one-percent’ to, say, ‘one-hundred-percent’?”
The silence was back but my gut is telling me that I just scored a critical hit on her so I stood there, staring down at the rune cluster in question and calmly waited for her response one way or the other.

‘..You wouldn’t dare..’
SCORE!

“What have I got to lose Arista? If you get your way then I’m doomed to be cast out into the void for all eternity anyway, apparently ‘for the greater good’.. you KILLED my Mother, left Eris and my sister for DEAD and dragged John off to who-knows-where while basically crippling Edith right here in this great big sacred pit of yours!”

Slowly I leaned forward and hovered my hand carefully over the one specific rune that could honestly do anything at this point without really mattering, all I need to know is that me changing it would be bad enough to make even Arista nervous and THAT is something I can definitely work with!

“So tell me Arista.. WHAT DO I HAVE LEFT TO LOSE?!”
My hand dropped another inch or so and Arista gasped in horror.

‘STOP! You can’t do this Alice, I know you and you’re not a killer, if you change that rune then instead of using every person inside Crater Lake right now to help heal my core you’ll drain them all dry, every SINGLE person here will die by YOUR hand!’
Despite everything I’ve been through in the last day or so I still flinched guiltily at that idea.

I’ve killed before, I’m a killer.. or at least I was..

Al could be that cold hearted monster the world needed to keep it safe.
Al could weigh a bus full of orphans’ verses a town full of adults and calmly reach a decision on which one’s blood would be splattered across his face come morning.
Al could.. Al could-
..Basically Al was a sociopath..
-and try as I might I can’t be that monster ever again?
The very idea of being such a cold, emotionless killing machine once more just twists me up inside!

‘Thousands of innocent mages Alice, tens-of-thousands even, all out there and completely blind to the danger they’re in as they celebrate the long promised days of glory to come.’
..Don’t lie to her Arista! No-one here is innocent..

If you ignore everything else, if you ignore the personal bias I have from being turned into their unwitting sacrifice and all the crap Arista’s pulled to get me here, then they STILL agreed to join a cult-like group who at best want to sacrifice an innocent person in exchange for stopping a vaguely explained potential vision of the future given by Edith of all people millions of years ago.

‘I know who you are Alice, I MADE you who you are!’
..Ignore her! We may not be able to stop her completely but you have a plan now so do it already!..

Much to Arista’s apparent amusement I hesitated with my hand hovering over the amplitude rune.
One thought just kept running through my head over and over again.

What if she’s right?

What if she really has set this whole thing up to somehow ‘sample’ tiny amounts of power from the cores of her followers as a way of fixing OUR core after she throws MY part of it away..
She’s crazy, but is she really THAT crazy?!

It would take refining sympathetic magic down to an art form to pull off successfully.
It would take more runes then I can imagine, with an insane level of math to back them up!
It would take.. it would take so much work, time and effort.. but that’s the point I guess?
It WOULD take all of that and more, but it’s POSSIBLE, theoretically at least..

‘Take as long as you wish to decide Alice, the clock is ticking in my favor at this point.’
Shit.. shit, shitting, SHIT!

..She’s messing with your head Hannah, don’t let her-..
Shut up Ari!

I can’t just.. just.. URRG!

The magic in my core reacted violently to my frustration.
Almost instinctively I reached out with my senses and grasped it all tightly back into myself as wave after wave of pain hit me from my protesting core in response to its release.

‘Poor little Alice, you really are just a child still, aren’t you?’
..Oh for powers sake just-..

“That DOES it you smug parasitic bitch!”
With almost practiced ease at this point from how many times Arista had forced me along this same well-worn path within my lines I dropped my consciousness back towards my mindscape, dragging her along for the ride.

I’m stressed out, under pressure and feeling completely lost.
Someone just volunteered to be my well-deserving stress relief target!

======

With a jerk I reappeared inside the rift to my core, mid-stride already as my anger pushed me onward.

“Hannah?”
I growled low in my throat making all the girls that had moved to assist me back away again really-bloody-quickly and for good reason.

“Not. Now. Dora!”

My hand came up in a grasping motion and with barely a thought Arista appeared out of nowhere only to choke loudly a moment later when my hand clenched down into a tight fist around her windpipe before she could even realise what was happening.
When squeezing as she thrashed desperately against my single hand didn’t satisfy me enough I reached up with my other one and squeezed as hard as I could, actually making her face turn blue for a second before I threw her heavily to the ground, making it easier to stamp on her ribs with abandon.

“I found something out recently because of you Arista!”
My foot came down once more, getting a satisfyingly loud crack for my efforts.
“As long as you don’t pass out, I can do whatever the hell I want in here to hurt you and there is NOTHING you can do about it!”

She tried to pull her knee’s up to her chest protectively but with a swing and a full power kick her legs went limp as I quite possible broke at least one of them from the sheer force behind my strike.

Why didn’t I think of doing this earlier?!
Fuck you Arista! Fuck you and your taunting words, and your stupid overly complicated schemes, and your FUCKING INSANITY!!

“You KILLED my MOTHER!”
My foot pulled back again and with a wild swing I managed to send blood flying from her mouth as her teeth met a gruesome end.
“You STOLE my DAUGHTER!-”
Another kick flew in, this one hitting her arm so hard that the crack it let off practically vibrated up my leg on impact.
“-AND YOU HURT MY SISTER, YOU PSYCHOTIC BITCH!”

At that final cry of blind rage mixed with sadness, worry, fear and all the other emotions I haven’t been able to allow myself to feel as I worked to find some way to stop this madness, I collapsed to my knees above her and reached out to end her life with my own bare hands.
I’ll show her who’s not a killer!
I’ll show her who’s weak, who’s pathetic, who’s USELESS!
I’ll-

A pair of large hands came down on my shoulders heavily, almost gently as they pulled me away from the puddle of flesh and broken bones that used to be my tormentor.

The only men in here that I can think of are the fake-John’s that my mind creates when I need them, but it didn’t matter if he was real or not when I turned away from her to bury my face in his chest as my sobs overtook my ability to process the world as a whole, finally being released properly at long last.

“Shhh.. it’s okay, it’s going to be okay, she can’t hurt you anymore..”
At the oddly familiar voice speaking into my hair I jerked backwards slightly to stare up at its owner.

“Al?”
My old, far too wide for my new face to handle comfortably, smile beamed down at me with pride as I stared up in shock at a face so close to Sarah’s with just those few minor differences only someone who’d seen it staring back at them in the mirror for years could ever hope to detect giving any sign of what was really happening.
“What.. I.. I thought you were dead?”

Slowly his warm eyes softened ever so slightly and one curious eyebrow popped up at me in the same way mine always used to do when I was busy mentally mocking Sarah for being slow.

“You’re not him, are you?”
He blinked a few times but didn’t deny it, instead focusing on my comfort as his hands ran up and down my arms gently in a way I vaguely remember doing to a distraught Sarah once upon a time.
“You’re just like the fake-Johns, aren’t you?.. my mindscape made you to help me.. because I needed you to be here?”

“Close enough”
I flinched as he pretty much acknowledged my fears.
I’ve said it before but my mind is a SCARY place sometimes.. especially when it can pull off crap like this without warning!
“She’s not worth it Hannah, you know that, and we’ve all got much more important things to focus on right about now like this ‘Layline pulse’ with whatever might happen when it hits us.”

After a few moments just staring up at his calm face in awe at the logical, almost calculating way that he said those few important words, I leaned back slowly from him and glanced wearily around me so I didn’t have to stare at the fake-incarnation that my mind created to help me for too long as I tried to re-focus on what’s really important right now.

Several of the girls standing off to the side of my core met my eyes but none could hold my gaze for long sadly, considering the pathetic wheezing sounds coming from Arista’s crumpled body at my feet I can’t exactly blame them for that at this point either honestly.

“Someone get Arista out of here so we can get back to work Ladies.”
My eyes shot back over to the fake-Al who offered me a reassuring smile I couldn’t help but mirror back at him despite myself.
“Do you want me to take control for you in the real world Hannah? I can make the changes to the runes while you focus on removing Arista from our core before the pulse hits.”

The offer was so tempting.

As much as the idea of willingly giving up control of my body to ANYONE again is horrifying at this point.. he’s Al?.. he may be fake, he may be a construct produced by my mindscape to help me deal with everything but at the end of the day he’s still a part of me.

A part of me I’ve been in denial of for a long time I’m afraid.

“Thanks for the offer Al, I really do appreciate it.. but it’s time I stopped hiding from reality behind the mask I’ve made for myself as ‘Hannah Cooper’, it’s time I accepted myself for the monster I really am.”
He sighed heavily and leaned closer to pull me into a nice tight hug all over again.

Maybe it’s just the stress talking, but I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a big brother?
Someone who’s male that I can rely on and take comfort from without him being.. well.. John, I guess?

“You’re not a monster Hannah, no matter what you must do to protect the ones you love, that very conviction TO protect them in itself is what stops you from becoming a monster.. that stops you from becoming me again.”

“..You weren’t the bad guy Al..”
The words tumbled out of my lips but the bright smile I received for them made me glad that they did pretty quickly.

Back when I was Al I always wished that someone could be there to see what I was going through, someone who could understand why I did what I did.. someone to tell me that I wasn’t the bad guy no matter what my self-doubts had to say on the matter.

“I know that now, death has a funny way of putting things into perspective after all.”
He laughed again and I did everything I could to burn that laugh into my memory as a dull ache formed in my chest from all the little things I’d lost in truly becoming Hannah, things like that damned infectious laugh of mine that could brighten the room in seconds on the rare times I allowed it to get loose.
“Besides, you’re the one who’s struggling to understand her morally ambiguous nature here so let’s not focus on the hang-ups of a dead man, shall we?”

Stupid smug asshole.. no wonder me and John became friends with an attitude like that!

Al, I can’t think of him as anything but ‘Al’ now despite knowing his true nature, he slowly let me out of his arms and with that same measured stride I remember teaching myself so long ago he paced over to the fractured part of my core that houses everything that makes up ‘Arista’ in her entirety.

As he came close to it the remnants of Edith’s brown magic, that was still busy holding the divide between the two halves of my core, reached out to him and a dazzlingly warm smile crossed his lips as the glow from Edith’s pride and love for us seemed to sink into his very being almost as quickly as it formed those same protective mittens on his hands that it’d done for me before.

He finally sighed heavily and reached out, taking ahold of the tendrils swaying loosely from Arista’s core fragment with a determination and confidence that I only WISH I could copy right about now!

It figures that the only incarnation besides me that could be trusted to hold on to those dangerous tendrils would be him.. poetic in a way.. he really was the only person she could never corrupt, no matter how hard she tried for most of our life after all.

“Ready when you are Hannah, Ladies? Care to give me a hand?”
The watching crowd of past-incarnations around us that weren’t busy dragging Arista back outside at the moment all started nervously moving forward, still giving me a wide birth which I’m sure will take more than a few minutes of hugging for me to make up to them sadly.

“Let's give that bitch Arista hell and take no prisoners! “
I jumped slightly in surprise when Al’s eager shout burst forth suddenly but more than a few of the approaching incarnations seemed to take strength from it for some reason.

“This is for you, for all of us, for everyone she’s ever hurt or may ever hurt if we don’t put a stop to her TODAY!”
His second shout was full of pride and warmth which I’d honestly forgotten he could ever pull off without faking it completely until now, Al always did have a way with words, and judging by the smattered cheering that rose up at his words this time as more and more girls came forth to take up their positions holding counterpoint to him on the un-tainted side of my core at last, they thought so too.
“For the past, the present and the future!”

I’m pretty sure he could have called out just about anything at this point and gotten the same, much louder, cheer that he just did all the same honestly?
He’s got them eating out of the palm of his hand just like I used to be able to do with people when necessary with an almost terrifying amount of ease.

“For us! For Hannah!”
The cheer they all let off as they tightened their grips and turned their eyes to him for guidance almost shook the space around us in its intensity.

..He really could have been a great leader..
Yeah, he really could have.. hopefully I can live up to that image he’s projecting for them someday.
..You will..

As reassuring as those words were intended to be they honestly didn’t help much in convincing me in the slightest sadly.

“Let’s go Ari, I’ve got a genocide to commit.”
As I tugged at my magic to send myself back into the real world once more Ari remained worryingly silent on my last comment.
It didn’t matter in all honesty, I know she’s just as uneasy as I am about what I’m about to do but, just as we know that violence doesn’t have to always be the answer, Al’s presence has reminded me of the flip-side to that nice sounding ideology.

“Sometimes the peaceful way isn’t worth the potential losses involved.. sometimes the world needs a monster to do the things it can’t without losing the very innocence we fight to protect.”
I’m not sure if anyone heard me but I needed to hear it out-loud again anyway, just to reassure myself on the very deep hole I’m about to put myself very close to falling right back into all over again.

It’s ironic really, Arista did all of this ‘for the greater good’ and now here I am, not only casting her out of my body into the open void where her very being will fade into nothingness as all energy does without a container, but taking her followers along for the ride too.. all for the greater good..

As my self-proclaimed ‘mother’, I’m surprised she isn’t more proud of me at this point honestly?
I’m going into the family business apparently.

======

‘Alice don’t do thi-’
An angry growl from me silenced Arista’s protest quickly but sadly it didn’t last long.
‘-you ca-aaAHH!’

Her next attempt bled out into a scream of pain, not that I could enjoy it when it felt like someone was trying to pull my heart out through my chest using a hacksaw all of a sudden!

Eventually the latest round of, what I assume, was Al and the others forcefully pulling my core into two fairly uneven pieces with willpower alone finally finished, I came back to myself while huddled into a ball on the rune covered floor panting heavy breaths into uncooperative lungs as best I could.

“Sorry, you were.. saying something.. Arista?”
Before she could respond properly to my admittedly weak jab the pain spiked once more, possibly worse than the first bloody time too!

======

I think I blacked out for a moment there?
The world feels weird around me, like I’m on the very edge of passing out all over again or something.

‘Stop this.. Alice..’

Arista’s voice sounded distant now and really weak too.
Rather than answer her with words I let my actions speak for me.

In practically a diving motion towards the floor I slapped one barely charged palm full of magic against the rune I pointed out to her before and, using years of experience in rune modification to my advantage, I altered it in that deceptively simple but oh so crucial way.

I added ‘two zeros’ to it.. well, it was more of a squiggle and a looping swirl really but you get the general idea.
Arista screamed in mixed rage and horror as the new magical pattern behind the burnt rune settled in, changing the look of it to signify its new value as it went.

The pain in my chest spiked again and her voice dwindled into nothing before, with an explosive force that almost felt like something was bursting out of my chest, a misshapen ball of cold blue magic flew out of me to sail straight through the shield high above and out into the world where it could dissipate harmlessly at long last, taking all of my magic with it.

For a long moment I sunk down to the floor in relief but it was short lived as a gnawing pit of emptiness made itself known almost the second that I landed.
It felt like I was starving, but instead of the feeling being centered on my stomach it was fixed on that spot just above my heart that Eris always used to put her ear to whenever she could-

“..Eris..”
Tears formed in my eyes and my hand came up to clench into a fist on the dress material above my heart as if that would somehow help stop the growing pain within me.

As the tears finally fell, my mind flew from one smiling face to the other.
First Mum standing in her kitchen with a teasing grin on her lips, then John with his smug smirk and Edith’s tiny twitches that could be barely considered a ‘smile’ on a good day, before inevitably settling on the most important face of all.

“..Sarah..”
I don’t even know if she’s alive?

If she is, will she ever want to speak to me again after finding out I, however unintentionally, stole her magic from her when we were kids?!
..Focus on Edith, Hannah..

Why would I focus on Edith?
Sarah’s the important one a-
HOLY SHIT, EDITH?!

My eyes snapped open with more force then I honestly thought I had left in me to give at this point and with a grunt that was more reflex than anything else I rolled over so I could peer at the spot I left Edith in earlier, only to find a sight that instantly burnt itself into my memory, to better fuel nightmares for years to come no doubt.

Where Edith had once lain, breathing heavy and body wrapped up within her dark robe as she fought to cling on to life as best she could.. was little more than a statue of solid ice, shaped like a vaguely human ball with her tired old face sticking up on top of it in a grotesque mockery of life itself.

When could she.. HOW did she-?!

A memory flashed across my mind, as they all seem to love doing of late, and I had to bite back a gasp before promptly turning away from her to vomit in a guilt-ridden fit of despair.
Arista’s fingers gently ghosting across the bare flesh on Edith’s arm leaving tiny little patches of ice as they went.
Edith telling me to go finish Arista off with a wracking cough shaking her whole body, sending blood flying and my eyes being drawn down to the frantic twitching of her arm where those same tiny spots of ice appeared to have settled with a vengeance.

..Edith knew?..
She never said anything, even when I tried to heal her and failed miserably due to my damaged core, she already knew that Arista’s ice magic was spreading like a horribly slow version of the same thing I did to Storyteller’s arm back at the Hub!

“E-Edith?”
My hands came up to gently trace the well preserved lines of her face, completely ignoring the bone-deep chill that burnt my fingers as I did so.
“I’m so sorry Edith.. I’m so sorry..”

My body practically moved on its own as I leaned in to plant a kiss on what remained of her wrinkled old forehead.
“..E-Edith..”

The fight left me at that point.

Slowly I slumped to the floor next to the frozen corpse of my mentor and all I could do was cry.
Even when cheer’s started rising loudly over the edge of the crater and twelve thick lines of magic burned their way across the sky high above us, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

They all converged on a point directly above the crater in the peak of Wizard Island that I was sat watching it from, before exploding out in a net that probably covered the whole of Crater Lake if not even more than that in all honesty.. that’s when the screaming started..

Part of me wanted to cover my ears but a stronger part, a part of me I’ve suppressed and run from ever since the old magic of that ancient ritual chamber triggered my second awakening, refused to hide from the pain and destruction I’d caused.

As thick streams of multi-colored magic, so powerful that they were visible to the naked eye without any form of magesight activated, converged on that same point high above me, I took the time to breath in deeply and blow that breath out in one long calming gust.

I did this, I caused this suffering.. and if given the option I’d do it all again?
If that makes me a monster then so be it.

There are worse things to be in life then a monster.

“..Goodbye Edith, I’m sorry I failed you..”
The magic flashed so bright it blinded me for a moment but before the effects of that flash had even cleared properly it surged downwards with such speed that it left a burning trail in the sky.

The ‘Layline pulse’, with its cargo of thousands of recently removed human magical cores crashed into the shield at the lip of the crater and for one glorious moment all I could see was a kaleidoscope of colors cycling before my eyes, until the barrier finally gave way and the magic struck me head on.
A scream ripped from my lips before the power surging down on me took even that as the world disintegrated into pure white nothingness.

All I could do was focus on my family, what’s left of it at least, it helped me fight through the pain just enough to stay lucid for those few vital seconds it took for me to work on redirecting as much of the incoming magic as possible into a returning blast straight up and away from me.
It’s all I can do at this point, a surge of this strength into the Laylines of the Earth would probably shatter the planet, if we’re bloody lucky!

I happen to like this planet.
It’s got Sarah and Eris, tuna-sub sandwiches and even bloody John on it after all?

Still.. suicide missions suck sometimes..
Especially when the dying part hurts this mu- AHH!

The shaky pattern I’d managed to form in my lines finally connected and, with a blinding flash of gold, a blast of pure uncontrolled magic burst out of my chest leaving a burning trail of it’s own in the sky as wide as Crater Lake itself when it peaked while seemingly endless in length to go with it, high up into the atmosphere above me.

With a final scream, my core feeling like it was shattering in my chest and my stomach twisting harshly in upon itself for some Powers-known reason, I passed out into oblivion for possibly the last time without any real warnin-

======

======

End of ‘Magic is..’ season one.
Look for season two at all good websites sometime this fall.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank all of you who have stuck in with the story for so long and hopefully still enjoy it as we go on. I can’t promise much, but I can promise that the next ‘season’ is on its way; honestly I just need a break to recharge my batteries before carrying on? lol

That being said, there’s a little teaser addendum for what’s to come still to go, bridging the season gap as it is.

Thank you all for reaching this point with me along Hannah’s Journey so far.
Don't forget to stick around for the 'Magic is..' After-Credits !

======

 

"owwie.. "

"Yeah, no kidding, magical overload hurts like a bitch. Give it an hour or two and you'll be feeling better I'm sure"
What? Where am I..
What am I..

Wh-Why? I’m.. I’m..
"I'm alive?"

"You most certainly are little sister. Congratulations, you’re influence is spreading at last, we've all been waiting to meet you again with bated breath I assure you!"

"I'm.. I'm Alive?"

"Yup, have fun with that by the way. It's been good catching up 'Lady Death' but I've got to get back to work, the universe doesn't run itself ya know?"

Slowly I rolled over with a pained grunt to stare up at the dark cloudy sky above me in confusion.
Wasn’t it day time a minute ago?.. or was it night time?..
I can’t tell, my head hurts too much to think at the moment.

My eyes trailed down from the cloudy sky to focus on the flattened slab of sold black stone I’m apparently laying on, only just being able to catch a glimpse of a strangely tall, overly hairy man standing above me as he turned away almost lazily.

"Who.. are you?"
He laughed, a warm, deep, lovely laugh that lifted my spirits despite my confusion and pain.

"When the time is right, you'll know little sister.. for now I have work to do and you have a mortal mate to comfort.. have fun with that too, of course."
Without another word he just seemed to fade out of existence before my eyes until all that was left were a few wisps of lingering dust that floated down to land across the otherwise pristine black stone mass beneath my numb body.

For a few long moments I tried to process everything that was happening but I quickly decided, with more than a little encouragement from my poor aching head, that if he'd even existed in the first place then he can wait for another bloody day to be dealt with!

Slowly as the seconds ticked by my foggy mind started to become hazy on the details of his face, eventually even those faded until I could draw nothing but a complete blank about him and his existence in general, as if he were just a dream and just as easily forgotten as any other daydream tends to be.

======

"Hannah? Hannah!"
The sound of running feet and a frantic skid greeted me, followed closely by an almost silent cry of 'Holy shit!' before more frantic footsteps brought the worried face of my best friend into view at long last.

It took a few attempts before my lips decided to cooperate, by which time he’d already reached my side and wrapped those warm, warm arms of his around me in a vice like hug as almost painful waves of worried, scared and yet joyful magic poured out of him, seeping into my skin like the most refreshing of summer rainstorms.

"..john?.."

"Hannah!"
His eyes cut around me in horror for some reason before coming back to focus on me at Last.

"..You’re real?.. right?.. not a fake-stupid John.."
The words tumbled past my lips but I didn’t regret them when a smile that could only be equalled by the warmth of his arms quickly lit up his whole face because of them.

Those strong, warm hands cupped underneath me and I found myself being lifted high into the air suddenly, hugged tight to his chest like I was the most precious of treasures he’d ever seen in his life.

Carefully he turned to start walking us back across the wide, completely flat black surface I’d been laying on which, on closer inspection, appears to be some kind of obsidian if my eyes are to be trusted in the slightest at this point.

His eyes swivelled around with worry every few second which I found highly off-putting for some reason and, out of curiosity more than anything else, I shifted my head over to better glance around us this time.

At first the only thing that greeted my curious eyes was an edge to the obsidian flat-top, but as we kept moving on we crested that edge and were met by a deep trench where I think water used to be?
One that seemed to contain a sea of a completely different verity now as thousands of dried up, half petrified corpses lay stretched out as far as the eye could see inside it’s recessed depths.

My traitorous memory fished up barely recognisable or acknowledged faces that were, at the time, attached to unquestioningly ‘alive’ bodies in matching clothing to the corpses before me, dragging an upwell of guilt along with them which hit me so heavily that it was all I could do not to cry out in pain from the power of it and the accusations burning inside me from all of those cold dead eyes.

I killed them.. I killed them all.
I drained them dry to stop Arista’s plan in practically a suicide mission, but then somehow survived it anyway?

A horrified sob pushed itself out of me and with an almost frantic jerk, I twisted away from their cold eyes to stare blankly into John's nice warm chest instead.
His hands shifted a bit and he shushed me delicately while draping a blanket of his warm magic around me as best he could to drive away their angry stares at last.

I didn't acknowledge it outwardly but even in my guilty haze I had enough mind to reach out with my strangely muted feeling magic to pull the ‘blanket’ closer around myself for comfort.

I’m alive and I won.. but at what cost?
Why doesn’t it FEEL like I bloody won?!

I feel dirty inside, the residue of more than a thousand dead mages haunting me from the inside out!
It’s a stink that feels like I’ll never be able to get clean from!

How did Al deal with this?
This horrible clawing, nauseating guilt?!

Despite what I said, despite my actions and my thoughts at the time, I'm not a monster.
I'm just Hannah, I've just done something horrible to save the world for the first time in my incarnation’s lifetime and it doesn’t feel like a victory in the slightest!

No matter.. no matter what happens now, I have to accept that about myself.
I have to accept it and the fact that whatever innocence I have left in me is now forever tainted by this.. this gnawing guilt that HURTS so damn much!

No matter the reason. I just murdered a LOT of people.. in revenge?.. of all things I did it for revenge and hatred, and to give all my suffering meaning at last.
Words are pretty but facts are facts.

Al would be so disappointed in me for this.

Maybe Pastor Roberts was right all those years ago after all?
Alice is bad.. Alice has always been bad and she just proved it!

"..Alice is bad.."
I rolled in John’s arms slightly so my eyes could trail along the practically mummified trail of bodies piled up around us again, memorising each one as best I could to burn them into my memory for all time.. my punishment for what I’ve done..
“I'm sorry”

"Huh? You say something Han?”
Part of me wanted to smile at his obliviousness but a much larger part of me just wanted to curl into a ball and cry instead.. so that's what I did..

John walked, I cried and the world kept turning until finally I gave in to the exhaustion I could feel crashing in around me at long last by falling into a fitful sleep filled with accusingly blank eyes and the fearful cries of my ‘victims’.

A mantra formed up, echoed by those same wailing voices in my head to the point of utter madness.
‘Alice is bad’
‘Alice is bad’

‘Alice. is. Bad!’

======

“Han? Where are you going?”
I smiled at him as best I could, trying to keep my nerves and the tremble in my hands as hidden as possible.

“I’m just going to bed John, don’t worry.”
For a long moment he inspected my face, it took everything I had to not crack and start crying again under his scrutiny.
“I’m tired that’s all. We can sort everything out in the morning, okay? I’m glad Sarah’s going to be okay and Eris too but I just need to rest now.”

I need some alone time.
If I didn’t know full well that he’d stop me I’d have warped out to one of my boltholes the moment my head started to clear honesty..

I really AM glad to hear that Sarah’s okay, but I can’t face her right now.
I can’t face anyone.

I just want to be alone, I j-just need to be alone!

“..Han..”
It all got too much for me, with that one simple word, my name of all things, he broke me.
It was said with all the care and worry he could muster tucked tightly behind it and a ragged breath left me again as I turned to run away from him before I could just collapse into him like the useless puddle of guilt that I feel like right about now.
“HAN!”

He was too slow to catch me for once.
With barely a few steps I was through the doorway into my realm at last.

The world inside our elevator seemed to brighten to greet me for a moment but before anything else could go wrong or John could catch me the magic of this realm, my magic, surged up to form a rift in the air just like the ones I learnt to create in my mindscape while fighting Arista and I sprinted into it as it snapped shut tightly behind me.

I just want to be alone!

That’s all, just alone for a while so I can lick my wounds and avoid having to face S-Sarah or anything else that I’ve got coming as a result of the last few days.
I need to work.. I need to focus on something that isn’t messed up beyond all reasoning like my bloody LIFE is right now, is that so much to ask?!

Another rift opened up before me, leading into a wide room set up like a rather large workshop that I’m pretty sure didn’t exist until a moment ago.
It didn’t matter though, I sprinted through the opening anyway and the moment it snapped shut behind me I let out a heavy sigh before sinking to the floor and curling up into a tight ball so I could cry or sleep or.. or ANYTHING, just something other than the guilt that just won’t leave me ALONE!

‘Alice was bad’

======

Left? Right?
Door’s shut, no sound from outside.. I think I’m clear..

Like a nervous little rodent I sprinted out of the rift that had formed between the void that holds my workshop and one of the lesser used food storage areas of my realm.

John’s obviously found a new way to track me faster because the last two times I went on a food run he’s popped up far too quickly for my liking.
I tried to make a bracelet that hid my magical signature completely but he still bloody found me so I’ve got no choice but to be quick about things sadly.

With a grunt I snatched up a bag of potatoes to toss into the rift followed closely by a chunk of magically preserved meat.
That should keep me going for another week or so at least!
Maybe two if I stretch it out a bit an-

“HANNAH?!”

“SHIT!”
The door to the storage room crashed open as a panting John burst through it at full sprint.
I barely had time to dive through the rift and have it snap closed at me heels before he would have actually gotten within grabbing range this time.

“It’s getting bloody dangerous, I need to find a better solution for this.. maybe I can find a way to create food from nothing? Sure, it won’t have much nutritional content but it’s better than.. well, nothing?.. at least.”

Ari’s continued silence and the strange feeling of my stupid broken core pulsing in tandem with what I can only imagine is my now fully ‘activated’ Locus Point, was truly maddening for the second or two that I allowed myself to pay them any attention, luckily that didn’t last long and with a grunt from me the potato sack with accompanying meat slab floated into the air from the ambient magic of my realm alone, to follow behind me slowly as I made my way back towards my lab.

“..Stupid persistent John..”

======

My stomach rumbled loudly again, followed quickly by a tight hunger pang that I’ve come to realise is an indicator that I forgot to eat again, AND that I’m a few days off from my next joyful visit from Mother Nature.

Slowly I set the pocket wardstone I’ve been working on aside and lay my head down on the desk.
I didn’t get much sleep last night, or the night before.. week?.. month maybe?

John’s got this whole tracking thing down by now.
I can barely open a rift at all anymore before he comes flying in out of nowhere to try and bloody grab me!

“What do you think little guy? Think it’s worth trying?”
My roommate ‘stared’ blankly back at me for a moment or two before snapping his mouth a few times to flash his teeth in that strange way that I’m starting to find at least somewhat ‘cute’ as time goes on.
“You’re right. Everything’s worth a try, no progress without risk, huh?”

Slowly I rose my hand up and as my magic rolled excitedly around the room a rift about the size of my palm formed up at just the right height for me to quickly shove my fist through.
I’d barely gotten my wrist past the opening before my hand came into contact with something hard and someone let off a startled yelp of pain in response, frantically I spread my fingers out and grabbed the first thing I could feel before yanking my arm back out and letting the rift close once more.

“SCORE! Fresh cooked chicken leg, come to Mommy!”
My roommate flapped his awkwardly wide ‘tongue’ out at me hungrily but I was already two bites into the drumstick and there’s no bloody WAY I’m sharing!

It’s not like he really needs to eat or anything anyway, stupid greedy little bastard!

“Hunger problem solved, now if I could only work out these thrust calculations at last, finish the dagger prototype and find some permanent solution to stop this stupid body from bleeding so badly every month I’ll be golden.”
Meat finally gone to the great abyss of my grateful stomach I paused with the bone to stare at my dopy looking roommate with his surprisingly expressive ‘face’ turned towards me pleadingly.

Finally after a long pause to consider him I waved the bone back and forth a few times before tossing it over to him so he could snatch it out of the air.
The bone disappeared quickly and his mouth finally stayed shut for once as he got to work digesting it; that should keep him busy for a day or two at least!

“I really should get around to naming you, shouldn’t I?”
He ignored me, much more focused on what little meat remained on his bone then my voice, not that I can blame him really, I’m not even sure if he understands me or not honestly?
“How about Darren?.. hmm, no, you don’t look like a Darren on second thought.. how about-”

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And, cut! Roll credits!
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Executive Producer... Nessa M

Screenplay by... Nessa M

Fact checking and location information by... G Oogle

Script Supervisor... Licorice

English Translation by... Anam Chara

Alternative language Translation by... G Oogle

Theme tune by... Y Outube

Best boy... John (as if he’d let anyone else claim it)

Dolly Grip... Eris (she won’t let go!)

Boom! Operator... WHO GAVE SARAH EXPLOSIVES?!

Graphics designer... *Placeholder*

Breakdown Artist... Hannah (*sigh* too easy..)

Key Hair Stylist... The other Sarah from the salon, I guess?

In loving memory of:
Hannah’s Mum

Edith

The thousands of extra’s that died during filming for the final act due to an unfortunate miscalculation on just how well magic works in the real world, because we forgot to hire a special effects guy.

In smug memory of:
Arista, may her core fragment disintegrate over a septic tank of some description for all eternity.

Special thanks to:

All of the readers who got this far! :3
See you all in the sequel!

Nessa M