By seven o'clock, the summer heat has finally begun to loosen its grip on Camp Lava Lake.
The sun hangs low over the mountains to the west, bathing the campground in rich amber light. Long shadows stretch from every cabin, every pine tree, every forgotten stump, turning familiar paths into narrow corridors of darkness. The golden glow catches in the volcanic rock scattered throughout camp, making the black stone shimmer like cooling embers.
Most of the day's work has been finished.
The afternoon chorus of songbirds has quieted. Their place is slowly taken by the deeper sounds of evening. Crickets begin their rhythmic chorus beneath the brush. Tree frogs call from hidden pools near the shoreline. Somewhere high above, a raven lets out a single harsh croak before disappearing into the trees.
The breeze coming off the lake has grown cooler. It carries with it the scent of wet stone and rich earth. The water itself has changed color. What had been brilliant blue an hour ago has become a sheet of polished obsidian, reflecting the orange sky like black glass. Small ripples disturb the surface every so often, though no fish break the water and no boats drift across it.
At the big cabin, the old oak tree casts the longest shadow of all. Its branches stretch across the clearing, swallowing the grass beneath them in darkness long before sunset reaches the rest of camp. The bark appears almost black now, its deep grooves catching pockets of shadow. Thick roots snake across the ground, disappearing beneath the cabins foundations and vanishing into the earth as though the tree itself has spread beneath the entire campground.
Near the edge of the clearing, the forest has become a wall of silhouettes. The trails that looked inviting during the afternoon now resemble narrow tunnels disappearing into darkness. Even from camp, it's difficult to see more than a dozen yards beneath the canopy. Every fallen log begins to resemble a crouched figure. Every broken branch becomes a reaching arm.
Marco had finished dinner, and requested that Demi ring the bell on the porch to summon the others to dinner. A chill passed through Demi as he rang that bell summoning the others. He felt like he was being watched.
Emily
Location: Camp Lava Lake Skills:
Em has unconsciously shrunk away from her work. She has gone inside and cleaned up, changed into clean clothing that wasn’t sticky with sweat and caked with dirt. She had appreciated Demi’s help, though laughed that he had fled as soon as he had started to sweat. Boys were not as rough and tumble ready to get dirty as she had been once led to believe. Back when words like tomboy were used like blades from the tongues of adults who wanted to meld her into a shape they approved of.
“Nancy, dinner is ready,” Em called. Hopefully waking the other girl. Em leaving the group’s cabin squinted up at the sun, gauging how long till sunset. She guessed it would be shortly after 9 pm. Dobbs had said he would leave after dinner. Already his hammering sounds had ceased as he headed to the main cabin for dinner.
Soon they’d finally be alone. Just them. Just the criminals that had been chosen to work this summer camp as recompense for their crimes. Em seethed a little. Marco didn’t deserve to be here, but she’d keep him safe from whatever supposed killer there was.
Connie was much more focused on the wound she was tending to over the conversation. She caught parts of it. Enough to know that this accident had been caused by the book Cal had picked up. The book was their group’s mystery. Connie absolutely loved that her group wasn’t the only one risking death - sarcasm. She was pissed. Livid. True she didn’t know Cassie or Willow very well, but she was fond of Cal. Even Nicholas was endearing enough. They should not have been hurt. Especially not this badly. She could tell that she was not the only one who was angry. Even Nicholas and Barty seemed pissed. In a way she had not expected from the pair. That was interesting.
“Your hand was removed in a magical backlash. I couldn’t find it nor could I grow it back. I apologize. I will attempt, with help from Frankie maybe, to replace it with something suitable. That may take some time though. Hopefully it was not your dominant hand. Please eat something high in iron for the next few days as your body recovers. Also, please see Professor Ravoux to ensure everything has been done correctly, I will escort you there later. Now that you are awake I will tend to Willow.” Connie patted Cassie gently on the shoulder and stood up joining Barty at Willow’s side on the couch. Her voice was fairly flat, but she was attempting with her words to sound comforting. She held herself stiffly. As if she was trying to step away from the blood that had covered her during the process of healing Cassie.
“Barty, when I request it, please remove the shard.” Connie normally tried to avoid requests around Barty, Nicky and Finely. However, healing was the one area where she was in control. She was the only one in the upper classes with healing magic, and it had been her primary focus other than transformation magic. The two were close enough together as anatomy was necessary for both, that she had never felt stretched. She was painfully specialized in her opinion.
Again, Connie started chanting, the words belonging to a language she did not know. The words were different shapes than the ones she had used when healing Cassie, but of the same ancient tongue. The predecessor to several languages including her French and the Gaelic the Macleods spoke. These words spoke of diagnostics, of checking what was wounded, of sensing for unseen or unknown damage.
Connie’s magic sensed the poison. Her words shifted and focused on the poison, isolated it, then broke it down, neutralizing it. She gave a small sideways glance to Barty. Something only he would likely notice. Something that told him she had taken care of it.
“Willow, try not to breathe for a moment,” Connie requested before she returned her attention to the wound, her words changing slightly again. Her words now beseeching the wound to heal, to close, to knit the wounded veins and return Willow to wholeness.
The wound wouldn’t close. Her power pressing into it, but not knitting things together. Connie wasn’t sure if it had been because of the poison or because of the shard of magic, or worse her own magic failing her. She was afraid to have Barty remove the shard before the healing started to work. Afraid that Willow would bleed out if the shard was not there.
She reached deeper into her magic preparing to start anew and hopefully heal this wound.
Location: Neverish Grimoire: Skills:
“Hmm the lightning eyeballs would be very different from usual. The extra spark upon biting into them would be for a new sensation,” Finley commented as they started walking, nonchalantly, toward the cabin. Dysphoria did not seem to be stressed so they were unconcerned.
“Most do not appreciate being asked that. Though, she is a strange enough being that she may not find it as disturbing as others.” Finley stepped gingerly onto the porch, testing their footing ever so slightly before peering through a window to see what was inside the cabin. If there seemed to be a person in there they would be polite and knock. If not they’d enter.
Inside the building was a single open room. Finley smiled at the image of it. Reminiscent of the single family homes they had seen long ago. There was a metal stove, their smile dropped into a frown, a long pipe stretched into the ceiling. There was a lidded pot on the stove with steam curling out from under the edges of the lid. The fire was built up with wood. There was also a wood table, with three chairs - interesting exactly three - and three sets of porcelain tableware. In one corner of the room was a futon rolled up. From the ceiling several glass baubles hung. Finley assumed they may have magical concoctions within.
As they did not see a person, they went to the door and entered the building, not waiting for the other two.
Ralph caught sight of Tony and Constance as he was about to enter Sam’s room. “We are doing a bit of a group meeting and catching each other up on what we’ve found if you’ve got time,” he told them before grabbing his suit and then going into Sam’s room to get dressed as they talked. He figured that the performers of the group wouldn’t care. Sam had seen him naked already, and if Tony joined he was also a guy and wouldn’t care.
“We got dirt on Lawrence. That guy is more of a tool than I thought, and I thought he was a nasty piece of work before.” Ralph shook his head. They didn’t have a lot of time before the ball. “That girl, Lena, thinks he has killed someone before.”
The events of the day had taken their toll on him, but Percy was not ready to rest - not yet. He had teleported Dorian and himself back to Stark Hall so that way he could change into fresh, dry socks before tackling their next task - investigating Ser Nemo’s office. He didn’t know what he expected to find there, it could easily be a futile exercise and a waste of time… but if Nemo really was his future self, there would be clues there to find. Percy liked spy novels and movies, he enjoyed puzzles and mysteries - if he was organizing some great plan to change the timeline and spite the TVA, he would have left behind something in the event of his capture. And even if unintentional, there might be evidence as to what had happened, as to what set in motion the events of Nemo’s timeline and Dorian’s suicide.
Percy sat on the edge of Dorian’s bed, lacing up his shoes. He’d run a quick comb through his hair, taming it into a respectable neat and tidy state. The cat ears beanie was on the bed next to him. He pulled out his phone and opened the text chat with Dorian’s siblings. The others were busy with their own preparations. And stressed as he felt, he didn’t want the entire group there when they poked through the small office. It would be crowded enough in there with just Danni.
Dear April and Danni,
Dorian and I have concluded our conversation. We have relocated to your room at Stark Hall and will be leaving for Ser Nemo’s office shortly. Please meet us there at your earliest convenience. I anticipate that we will be going through the office for the better part of an hour, if not more should we find information of use.
Regards, P. Novikov
He then stared at his phone for a moment and sighed. Danni had specifically asked for him to send emojis as tone indicators.
💛
“Okay, I texted your siblings that we are ready,” he informed Dorian, as he stood up off the bed. He held out his hand to him.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩
👋 👑👩, we’re so 🫳. When 👉️👫 doing 👇️? 💡 we’re gunna be 👉️ 👍️ ⏱️! 😘 😘 😘 😘 🏃 🏃 💨 ⏰ ⏰ ⏰
Danni screeched excitedly as he fired back a text. The fearsome foursome had found their way back to campus and scattered to the winds, Danni escorting Ben back to his dorm to chill until his boyf got back from whatever adventure with Leah he'd found himself on. But this? This was perfect. He snatched up Ben and shook him excitedly.
“Omg, omg, omg, we gotta do t'is!” Danni shoved the phone directly into Ben's face, barely centimeters away from his eyes. “Wanna ‘ave some fun B&Ein’ it up tonight wit’ me? Please, please, please, please, please. Danni begged, hitting his knees and wrapping his arms around Ben's waist as he pleaded.
Ben blinked and pulled the phone and Danni’s hand away from his face so he could actually read the conversation. He had zero clue what Danni had responded with, but he got enough of the gist to know he had already said yes for them. Ben hoped Percy would be alright with him joining, at least it wasn’t Chase he supposed. “Uh, sure. I don’t know when Chase was going to get back and I don’t want to wait in his room, I don’t know who his roomie is.” Ben didn’t add that he didn’t want to go sit in his room alone to wait for Percy to come back or just hope that Chase came back. The pot of tea at the cafe had helped Ben a lot. He didn’t have the headache anymore.
“Yeeeeeees! T'is is gunna be so great! I can't wait ta get a crack at t'e old man's secries, ya know? ‘speeeecially now we know ‘he's Spicy? I got comments ‘bout t'at mustache.” Danni picked Ben up at the waist and twirled him around excitedly, before letting him down and dragging him down towards Poisson-Pas’ office. “Not t'at loungin’ ‘round t'e dorm wit’ ya wouldn't ‘ave been fun, but ‘ow often can ya pop inta a prof's office and snoop wit’ no chance o’ gettin’ in trouble?”
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩
Dorian watched as his phone buzzed several times on the wireless charger, having decided to get a bit more power into it before they went off to Nemo's office and then who knows where. Dorian's eyes slowly moved up, following the path he would like his phone to take as it gingerly began to hover in the air before snapping back towards him and in his hand. ”Interestin’ mon amour. Anot'er pictograph t'at most certainly isn't a language or even decipherable from you.” Dorian grinned, turning the phone towards Percy as he showed him Danni's response. ”En tout cas, it seems t'ey are ready and willin’ to go. Allons-y” He took Percy's hand in his before slyly using his telekinesis to replace the cat ears hat onto Percys head.
Percy had already been struggling to decipher Danni’s response on his own phone and the additional screen hardly helped. He felt like he had a concussion the longer he looked at it. A princess? Pointing in different directions? Clocks? He had no idea what any of that meant. Danni could have been telling him they were at the mall shopping, he could have been explaining they were playing Mario Kart, he could have been whining about losing his favorite watch. There was absolutely no way of telling. His face was scrunched up into a deep scowl, his eyes narrowed.
“Does Danni even know what he’s typing?” Percy muttered.
It took considerable effort for him to pull his attention away from the screen. Studying Danni’s use of language was a futile but addicting exercise, one he had already put many hours into. It wasn’t the priority for the moment. But if he could ever crack that code, it might just be his greatest achievement yet.
He gave Dorian’s hand a gentle squeeze, infuriation still clear across his face, and with a pop the world around them swirled and distorted, until they found themselves in the hallway outside of Ser Nemo’s office. They were entirely alone - no other students, no members of faculty wandering about. Just the empty silence broken up with the soft ticking of a hallway clock. The hallway was brightly lit, the dark oak of the door with a simple placard reading Ser Nemo, Time Travel Studies in golden lettering shining from the reflected light. There was a simple notice taped in the center, explaining to the Margaret Carter community that Ser Nemo had passed away, with resources for grief and counseling detailed. At the base of the door, several bouquets of flowers had been set, with cards and notes and drawings left behind.
Percy’s stomach lurched. It was a memorial. To him.
“I’ll unlock the door,” he offered quickly. He vanished from Dorian’s sight and a moment later, the office door swung inwards, allowing Dorian in without disturbing the memorial.
The silence shattered as Danni bounced into the hallway with Ben's hand firmly in his, chatting at a mile a minute. “Okay, so listen. Sometimes ya just gotta stick wit’ t'e chiller sauce. I'm a fan of t'e spiciest t'in's I can get my ‘and's on, t'at's why Spicy's mu bestie, but sometimes t'ese newer ‘ot sauces just drown out t'e flavor ‘cause t'ey just want pain. T'at's not ‘ow ya do it. Makin’ a good ‘ot sauce is all ‘bout balancin’ t'e ‘eat and t'e taste. If ya got a lotta ‘eat, ya need a real complex flavor ta make it a good Experience. I t'ink we outta do a ‘ot sauce tastin’. Got out ta a sauce shop and get like… 30 different ones. It'll be sups fun! And if we all end up cryin’ our eyes out, t'en t'at means we did it right.” Danni laughed, catching sight of Dorian in the hallway and Percy in the door way.
“T'e party is ‘ere!” Danni declared, plucking a flower from the memorial and taking a whiff of it. “These are super nice! So pretty, smell great - man, I wonder ‘ow many peeps are gunna be upsetti when t'ey find out t'e school lied ta t'em when we bring Poisson-Pas back? Oh, hm, I guess t'ese are your flowers t'ough Spicy. You wanna wear t'is one?” Danni asked, hand already halfway to tucking it behind his ear, pausing to level Dorian with a serious look.
“Dee, my fav brot'er, my bestie for life, my partner in crime - we ‘afta stop the mustache at all costs.”
Ben listened to Danni horrified. He was going to die. Danni was going to kill him with hot sauce. How could he escape this potential torture? They arrived at Nemo’s office, Ben took in the scene. He didn’t know the professor, he barely knew Percy. He nodded at Dorian and Percy, then looked down the hallway to make sure it was still clear. “Maybe we should go inside the office before someone comes,” he encouraged. He was not going to have the conversation of how he definitely wasn’t going to eat one hot sauce, let alone 30 different sauces.
Dorian took Danni's hand in his, daisychaining his powers down past Danni and into Ben as well as each of them began to turn incorporeal as he pulled them past the memorial at the doorway and into the small office of the late but still living Poissan-pas. As soon as Ben made it in, Dorian dropped the power so that each person was once again touching ground. ”Pas de chance qu'il grow it out. Its one of my contingencies now. No facial ‘air means new future, new future means no Poisson-Pas past. Oui?” He looked towards Ben, he didn't dislike the kid but he also didn't care for the misguided boyfriend of Percy's bully. ”Désolé. I didn't want to disturb the memorial of my late boyfriend.”
“What? No,” Percy shook his head sharply, refusing the flower. He ignored all the comments about the mustache, although he privately agreed. Whatever they could do that was different than Nemo would help to ensure a new timeline. Albeit with the added challenge of the TVA coming after them…
He stared at Ben for a moment. He hadn’t realized he was coming, too. Percy did not mind. But his face was still contorted into a glaring scowl. It wasn’t directed at his roommate. He moved past the others and shut the door. They didn’t need people finding them in here.
The office itself was a quiet affair - cool tone walls with dark wood furniture. In the center of the room, a comfortable desk sat with a well loved leather back chair, two bookshelves flanking a wooden frame painting of an overgrown library with a staircase curling up gently along a shattered wall. A globe, a tidy pile of books, and a lamp sat on the desk and a pair of black lacquered, gold coated ballpoint pens sat neatly next to a notepad.
Along one wall was a small table where an electric kettle and a glass tea display, along with two mugs, sat quietly and a suit of armor with a sword in hand watched over the room. A comfortable rug spread across the faded hardwood floors, one corner mussed as if someone had tripped and never bothered smoothing it out. Two chairs faced the desk, comfortable but smaller than Nemo's.
A thin layer of dust covered the room.
Danni rerouted the flower to behind his own ear and hummed as they settled into the room. He looked around, humming for a moment to himself. It wasn't terribly large but there was still enough space to walk around. “Deee, why are you talkin’ timey-whimey to me? I don't get t'at atuff, ya know t'at!” Danni whined, beelining it for the suit of armor and the sword. He rapped his knuckles against it and stared when it echoed inside. “Ooooh, t'is is like real armor! I wonder if t'e sword is real too “ Danni reached out and poked the blade, hissing as he caught the edge of the sword. A bit of blood welled up out of the cut and he stuck his finger in his mouth to keep the blood from dripping everywhere.
Ben saw the scowl and withered a little under the intensity of it. He didn't know where to start searching the room. He froze a little when Percy shut the door. The room was small. He knew he could open the door and leave at any moment. But it still...itched. Sighing, he started to search the desk. If anything was going to be written down it was likely to be there.
Most of what he found seemed to just be lesson plans and homework. Of note was a flyer for a different school, and notes about the Excelsior team. Though there were names he didn't recognize. There were training notes. He didn't think that is what they were looking for though.
“Hey... so what are we looking for?” Ben flipped through the notes.
Dorian telekinetically smacked Percy behind his head and gave him a look tellin him to fix his face as he saw Ben's demeanor change slightly before he began to search the office. Rolling his eyes, he began to make his way around the office to search for…well anything he guessed. ”Weird writin’ t'at might give you a ‘eadache if you look too long, somet'in t'at may seem outta place, I dunno, Perce its your future office, ‘ow would you ‘ide clues?” He asked jist moments before he felt his foot snag on the armors greatest, panicked, Dorian tried to phase through it as it began to fall over but instead ended up inside the armor and taking Danni down with him.
Percy flinched as something struck him in the back of his head, turning around on his heel only to see his boyfriend nonverbally scolding him. His nerves were shot already from having Chase around and for a brief second, his eyes looked pained before the mask slid back over his features, a little more neutral than before but still intense and focused.
“How am I supposed to know what’s going through Nemo’s thick skull?” He hated how much he recognized himself in everything here - in the neatness and the organization, in the heavy dark furniture, in the piece of art on the wall. He hated how much he still felt that irritation and rage when he thought of Nemo, even knowing the truth. He hated how suffocating this room felt, like a coffin ready to snap shut.
“I wouldn’t leave anything in obvious locations - so the desk is a waste of time. And I…” there was a clatter as Dorian knocked over the suit of armor, crashing to the ground with it and Danni. “… I might put something in there.”
The clatter of armor caught Danni off guard as he nursed his wound. He lunged to grab Dorian, only for him to phase and vanish, and screamed as the entire suit came crashing down on him. He managed to cover his head, but the heavy metal knocked the air from his lungs and left deep, pulsing bruises on his arms and sides. As the helmet rolled away and clanked against the door, Danni peeked his eyes open and gasped at the blade that hard buried itself inches from his nose. “OMG, Dee's! You almost-” Danni winced, his complaining cut short as he tried to wiggle out from under the armor but felt something dull and intense radiate out from his side. “Ow, ow, ow, ow! Dee, we're ‘bout ta go on an adventure and I can't call Pops ta ‘eal me or we'll get in trouble! You're so meaaaaan!” Danni complained as he gingerly scooted out from under the heavy metal, groaning dramatically the entire time.
Danni did stare at the blade. It was double edged and leaf shaped, a leather wrap around the hilt. Danni poked the pummel. “So, uh, Spicy, I t'ink t'is means you're learnin’ ‘ow ta swin’ a sword, ya know?”
Ben sighed, unsurprised that the desk was a dead end, according to Percy. He tried to put the file back exactly as he had found it when there was a massive clattering. He looked up seeing the armor now on the floor crushing Danni.
“You okay?” he asked? Ben watched the door for a moment hoping no one heard them and came to investigate. He didn't need a second detention. The room was cramped enough that he stayed on the other side of the desk to not crowd the armor. If Danni needed help he would help. But he would rather stay out of the way first.
Dorian groaned lightly, rolling off of Danni as he splayed himself on the floor. ”I'm good. Danni you ok?” His eyes stayed closed for a moment as his head rang from the helmets thud before rolling off. The sound resonating within his own head. He stood up slowly, standing back to where the armor had been and phased back out of it, holding his hand out to help Danni up.
Percy let out a small sigh of relief as he saw that Dorian and Danni were unharmed. “Maybe we should avoid using powers in here.” He said this mostly for Danni. He didn’t want to see his friend burn them all alive - and destroy what evidence they could find. He approached the two slowly and carefully, before evaluating the sword. He pulled on the grip, expecting it to come free, but it remained lodged into the boards. He gritted his teeth and pulled harder, the scowl returning to his face, but it still wouldn’t budge. His temper flared. “Дурацкий древний меч, почему ты, блядь, не вытаскиваешься?” he swore in Russian. “It’s Ancient Greek - a xiphos. It makes no sense for Nemo to have paired it with medieval armor, it’s a complete anachronism.”
Danni accepted Dorian's hand. “Ot'er t'an feelin’ like a rock in a rock roller? Yeah, I'm chill!” Danni pouted at Percy's suggestion. “But like… what if Poisson-Pas ‘id stuff wit’ like invisible ink? And we need ‘eat ta read it? Or like… idk, lemon and ‘eat? Poisson-Pas should ‘ave some, ‘e ‘as it wit’ ‘is tea sometimes, yeah?” Danni watched as Percy struggled wit’ t'e sword and bounced over to help.
“‘I can ‘elp and it doesn't take powers!” Danni carefully grabbed both sides of the hilt, keeping his fingers away from the edge so he didn't get cut again. “Okay, okay, okay on three. One… two… t'ree!” Danni counted down and pushed up while Percy pulled and it slid out of the floor boards with ease.
“Aye! Look at us! Just like if we lat'ered t'is baby up wit’ a little bacon grease and butter.
Danni and Dorian were both okay. Good. Ben sat down on the chair. He thought for a moment, before leaning so he could see under the drawer. Sometimes in spy movies they'd hide things under the drawer, maybe there would be something there. He didn’t expect it, but it would be a bad search job if he didn't look.
There was a cockroach. He blinked. “Hey there buddy. How long have you been here? Are there others?” Maybe the cockroach could help. He held out his hand for the bug to climb onto.
” I've ‘eard of t'e Sword in t'e Stone but not t'e one in t'e board.” Dorian joked as Percy and Danni struggled to pull it out until they finally managed it. ”So why would you put somet'in’ anachronastic wit'in your office? Does t'at make t'e armor t'e clue or t'e sword? T'en again given ‘ow many swords were in t'at vision I t'ink it may be t'e sword.” Dorian moved away from the two however, not wanting to get stabbed by anything in the office. ”Future you better put t'at t'in’ in a sheathe. Students can ‘urt t'emselves wit’ t'at you know? Even mine stays sheat'ed.”
Dorian began to look over the books that littered the shelves, after all his boyfriend loved to read, and so perhaps a clue would be hidden amongst the literature. Beyond that maybe a secret door. He stopped when he noticed a book he hadn't heard of, Greek in nature but nothing he could tie back to Homer's Canon that it was placed by. ”Perce. What's t'is?”
“Yours isn’t always sheathed,” Percy cast a somewhat heated look over at Dorian, before returning his attention to the sword. He held up the sword for closer inspection, offering a grateful nod to Danni for his aid. It was expertly maintained, the xiphos - it was a secondary weapon used by the Greeks, a supplement to a javelin or a spear. They were typically about two feet in length but could be as short as a foot. This one he’d guess was about two feet but…
Percy frowned. Again.
“It’s… shrinking…”
The blade rapidly lost about six inches of length, without any shimmering lights or other signs of magical activity. It simply became smaller. And once it ceased shrinking, it felt perfect in Percy’s hand, as if it had been made for him. It very well may have been. It was Nemo’s sword. He hated how right it felt.
He looked up at Dorian and somehow managed to frown even deeper. “What? That’s nonsense. There’s no γοητεία.” His brain stalled out for a moment as he searched for the meaning of the word.
Danni watched the sword shrink in awe. “Wow! Look at Poisson-Pas, givin’ ya a sword t'at can change ta be perfectly cute just like you! So adorable!” Danni marveled, but frowned at Percy's comment. “Deeeee, you gotta remember ta sheat’ your sword! What if ya trip and fall like t'at and ‘urt yourself? Or like, Spicy ‘as a rough ‘port so ‘e just like, pops in and sits right on it by accidnet?” Danni chastised his brother, bouncing over to see what Dee found.
Danni looked at the book with an empty, blank stare and shook his head. “Imma let t'e nerds ‘ere ‘andle t'is cause Imma be ‘onest, t'is looks like a buncha gobbledygook tbh so ‘ave fuuuun.” Danni scooted across the room to see what Ben was looking at.
The cockroach skittered around a little, the sudden movement, light, and sound startling it. It tentatively scooched closer to Ben's hand and its antenna tested his fingers apprehensive. It did not understand time so could offer no answers; only expressed hunger and loneliness and confusion. It wished for food or to be returned to where it came in. Ben would get a gist of where it scampered through: a crack in the wall near hidden hinges behind a painting.
Ben looked up and around, looking for the painting from the little bit he had gotten from the bug. “Hey, I think there is something behind the painting there.” Ben gestured with his free hand. Then reached into his pocket and pulled out some tea crackers from his pocket. He put a few of the crumbs on the palm of his hand for the cockroach. “This little one came from behind the painting,” he explained.
Dorian scoffed. ”I only unsheath it when in a fight. Even t'en I rarely pull it out. Appa says you should never remove your sword from its sheath unless you are ready to take a life. I mostly use mine as a focus in battle to visualize psionic cuts.” He couldn't help but hold back a laugh as Percy exclaimed his sword was shrinking. ”Maybe it's cold. “ He joked as he made his way towards Ben to help with the painting. Tugging at it from one side as it swung open and revealed a safe with a number combination lock on it.
Percy coughed. “Yes, I wouldn’t want to accidentally sit on your blade.” He set the sword down on the desk somewhat awkwardly. He hadn’t seen a sheath for it, and he hoped by putting it there, it would minimize the chances of someone else getting hurt on it. He made a mental note to ask Dorian later about his training with his father - was his appa a swordsman, too? A swordsman devoted to his mage?
Instead, he turned his attention to the shelves and pulled out the book Dorian had found. His eyes slipped as the letters on the title rearranged themselves, from γοητεία to witchery. And as he opened it, familiar symbols filled the page, symbols he knew he had seen before but he couldn’t place. They accompanied the occasional drawing, circles and wheels and rough sketches of terrains. But the symbols, they covered the pages, all written in a penmanship he could not help but recognize as his own. He couldn’t read them, though. No matter how many times he tilted the page, no matter what symbol he stared at, it was all nonsense to him, as decipherable as Danni’s text messages.
“Can you read this?” he asked, turning to show the book to Dorian, only to spy a safe with a combination lock.
His face flushed. “Try 10-10-2038.”
“Oooh, t'e bug is tell ya secrets of t'e room, eh? Nifty! Oooooh, t'at should be t'e buggies nickname!” Danni clapped excitedly, proud he came up with such a good nickname. He gasped at the safe in the wall and rushed over to it, wiggling in next to Dorian obnoxiously to start playing with the combination dial. “Leavin’ Spicy ta do all t'e work wit’ t'e books I see. I'll get t'e safe, t'ough why would t'at be t'e combo? Seems ‘eckin’ specific. Kinda like a date, ya know?”
Danni twirled the dial, tongue sticking out as he listened for the satisfying little clicks. On the final one, he gave a little shout of excitement as the safe unlocked but he paused for a moment. He checked it just like Poisson-Pas explained it to them: looking for wires, testing for tension, tapping for anything hollow but after a few minutes, Danni was satisfied and threw it open.
There was a long beat of silence.
“Oh.” Danni said softly and then slowly closed the safe again. It stayed barely cracked but Danni didn't look away from the safe door. “T'at won't ‘elp us. We can just look for somet'in’ else.”
Ben felt happy that he could help. That Dorian had listened to him. He smiled. “Yeah, I guess so,” Ben responded to Danni. Ben came over to the painting, looking for the crack and offering it to the cockroach so it could go back home. It had hopefully gotten enough crackers for now.
It was lost on Dorian as well as to why that combination would work. He figured it was some significant date to Poisson-Perce but at the moment hadn't thought beyond that. What he was focused on was how weird Danni was acting towards whatever was inside of the safe. Dorian pulled on the door with his powers, gently, but with enough force to swing it open and see what Danni was trying to hide. Anger flashed across his eyes as he spotted the bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon, sat within a glass dome case not too dissimilar to the rose from Disney's tale. Etched onto the glass was a note ‘Break in Case of Failure.’
” Absolument non!” Dorian exclaimed as he made his way past Danni, phasing his hand into the glass casing and grabbing the bottle before vanishing down into the floor with it.
“It’s our anniversary,” Percy explained, his face turning even redder. It felt like a lifetime ago that Dorian had invaded his room for a study session, complaining about being unable to parse the Iliad without even making an honest attempt at it. He noted that he’d been entirely ignored about the book and he sighed, closing it and deciding to figure out what all the fuss was about a safe…
… only to see that Ben was apparently taking advantage of the prime real estate and making it into a home for a cockroach.
Why had Danni brought this person?
He furrowed his eyebrows, staring daggers into Ben’s back - this time intended at him - and completely missed what Dorian was doing. Danni seemed a little quieter than normal, but he didn’t think much of it. He might have also just been confused about the bug. Danni was often confused.
“Ooookay, whelp, t'at's t'at!” Danni clapped his hands loudly and slammed the safe shut, letting it click close and spun the dial like a game show. Danni did not want to think about what that meant so he didn't! Instead, he let the cockroach scuttle into a crack near the painting's hinges and gently moved it out of the way before shutting it. He spun around, propped his hands on his hips. “Whelp, t'e safe was a bust soooooooo maybe t'ere's somet'in’ else ‘ere, ‘u’? Idk, Spicy where else would ya ‘ide stuff? So far, we got a sword and a book we can't read!” Danni laughed, a little too loudly even for him.
Since Percy was glaring at the back of his head, Ben didn't notice this time. He was distracted by letting the bug go. He dusted his hands of cracker crumbs. He looked around the room to see if there were other hiding places for things. He went over to the globe. Trying to think if there were trick globes that had secret hiding spots in them. That seemed like something that would exist. Though it made him think of James Bond and hidden drink sets. The globe didn't seem to have hinges or anything else strange about it. However, it did look like it hadn't been moved in a long time.
Dorian flew off towards his dorm, placing the bottle into his bag that he was going to pack for Otherworld. He'd have words with Poisson-Pas about his future choices and how he needed to think better of them. He'd gathered shards of the broken teacup, only two decently large pieces that he'd originally needed to identify and find the replacement he had for Nemo what felt like ages ago. Dorian took those two and quickly scribbled down a note ‘A Reminder that you can always fix what has been broken’ He gathered the items and went back towards Nemo's office, phasing back to the safe only to notice it was once again locked and closed.
Annoyance joined the anger within him. Using his powers to flip open the painting, turn the dial back to its open code, and fling the door open before he phased the two items into the glass case, snagging one of the teacups he'd gotten Nemo and putting it alongside them before closing it all back up and phasing back into space as he dusted his hands. ”Perce you ‘ad a book or somet'in’ for me to read? And why is your face like t'at? I t'ought I told you to fix it “
Percy tore his attention away from the bug at Danni’s question. He didn’t notice anything off about Danni’s laughter. As for where else he would hide something… his eyes darted towards the carpet on the floor, noting the way the corner of it was bunched up. He frowned and set the book down next to the sword, and knelt down on the floor, pulling the rug back. He tilted his head to the side. The floor board underneath was loose. “I read too many spy books,” he huffed, as he pried the board loose to reveal a tattered old suitcase, with S. Nemo embroidered on top.
“The book’s on the table - and my face is just like this. I’m not doing anything.”
At the sound of the floorboard being pulled out, Danni scampered away to get his hands on whatever he could. He cheered at the sight of the suitcase, kneeling down beside Percy. “Yeeeees, let's see what secrets Poisson-Pas kept from us.” Danni eagerly dragged the suitcase up out of the floor and popped it open. He was expecting secret letters, piles of cash, maybe some weapons, but what he found inside instead… Danni couldn't stop the sniffles as his eyes teared up.
He held up the monster mash photo of everyone in She-Ra outfits first. He'd been a little lonely during that, the rest of his siblings pairing up and only him left out, but it was still a great night (and even great shots. Damn, he could work a camera.) that ended pretty rough but the energy they all had before that? Amazing. He wasn't certain what the ring was, but no doubt it was important. A photo of a pair of kids that Danni couldn't recognize but they looked like they were having fun. Maybe he was going to be an uncle one day and these were Dee and Spicy’s kids.
“Aw, look at my nephews." Danni cooed, still trying to hold back tears. It was all for naught as he picked up the slightly melted bracelet that he could recognize as the friendship bracelet he'd made Percy. He turned to look at Percy with big watery eyes and blubbered out “You kept our friendship bracelet t'is long?”
Ben gave up on the globe and moved so he was standing behind Danni as he rummaged through the suitcase. It was mementos. Ben was about to step back and let them look through it alone, when Danni claimed one photo was of his nephews. Ben looked at it and recognized a younger Chase. He wanted to show the picture to Chase, but part of him worried that if Chase saw it he'd fall into a spiral of self pity. He had lost so much of his color during the experiments. Chase looked endlessly tired. Ben didn't care. He still thought Chase was attractive, but this childhood photo was adorable. He stepped back away. Unsure of where to look still. They hadn't seemed to have found whatever they were looking for. Unless the book that Percy had found was it.
Ben sighed and sort of gave up. He just started picking up books at random hoping one would stand out.
”Right.” Dorian replied curtly as he made his way over towards the book. He began flipping over the pages, trying the trick that Nemo had taught him to read the Journal given to him. His let his vision unfocus, let the words begin to blur and mix, but each time it felt as if he had it, the words slipped away. Twisting and turning in his mind in a way that made him feel incomplete, like he was missing someone for this equation. His eyes glanced at Percy, over by Danni and the pulled up floorboard, and he wondered if this was enchanted so that only they as one could read it. After all it is Poisson-Perce's book, and if he felt he was missing someone…
Dorian made his way over, quick strides of determination as he grabbed Percy's hand. ”I t'ink we need to be one to read t'is book.” He pulled Percy in close, as if they were about to dance, chest to chest, when suddenly their bodies began to form into one. It wasn't like his possessions, it felt closer to what he'd done with Billy and Danni yet even more so different. Did they just physically entangle? The new form stood there, book in hand, with icy blue eyes, pale skin and rosy cheeks, mop top dark brown hair, and taller than Percy has ever been. A swirl of emotions as the two collided, anger, annoyance, and an internal conflict Dorian didn't understand.” Perce wha– you ok?” More annoyance ran across their now shared emotions, but a clear cut concern followed right after.
Percy hadn’t had a chance to say yes to this, hadn’t even gotten a moment to consider what Dorian had asked of him. Just one moment he was staring at the tiny mementos of a sad, weary life that awaited him and the next, he was somewhere dark, restrained and unable to move, as something - as someone - as Dorian forcibly took control. Annoyance and anger that were not his bled into the rage and turmoil that was, and he felt himself speak, could see the book in his hands and the room around him, even as he was a prisoner in this body.
I’m fine! Percy strained against what bonds held him, trying to find the place where he started and this other - and Dorian ended.
Dorian snatched Percy up without so much as a hello to Danni, suddenly whirling into one person as Ben wandered around aimlessly. Dorian and Percy seemed to change and shift and then suddenly, poof! new person. Danni gaped in astonishment, bracelet still outstretched where he was showing Percy. Danni was a little overwhelmed at this revelation, that these two could become one beyond the whole tied together thing. “Wha- Who? ‘ow-” Danni stammered, for once struggling to reach for words. “Omg, anot'er circuit? Please be careful! Do not change t'e reality, do not mess wit’ time, do not not do anyt'in’ crazy now. Gotta start slow - I know we did. Ig, scary stuff last time but t'at took a lot outta us and we gotta be leavin’ pretty soon. Ain't got a buncha time ta recover!” Danni warned shrilly. Danni shook his hands wildly as he tried, for once, to think and he landed on Ben.
Ben!
“Wait, no Bennie, Ben, Bennie Ben can you like, make a cup o’ tea? Poissan-Pas ‘as a whole selection t'ere. T'e last time Dee circuited, we stripped a whole island of a curse and t'en built a whole buildin’ and gave everyone we loved a ‘ug and it was rouuugh and Spicy was already on like scotch bonnet going on chocolate habanero. Idk why but it was def t'ere if ‘e was snappin’ at Dee like t'at so maybe a cup o’ tea will chill t'is circuit out before t'ey do timey-whimey, ghostie stuff.” Danni pointed at the tea set up. The makeshift bar hosted a variety of bagged and loose leaf teas, an electric kettle, a tea pot, mugs, and a sink. The container that sat out off the display was Russian Caravan tea and was the least filled, clearly much loved. All the teas were used to some extent, except the one container labelled Kukicha. It seemed pristine and untouched compared to those around it..
Ben was poking at books uselessly when Percy fully went away. So did Dorian. They both just disappeared and a new person was standing where they had been. He blinked at them confused. Danni made it make some sense though. Reminding him of what happened during the Contest.
“Oh, yeah sure,” he went over to the tea set up. First checking the water, it had clearly been sitting for a while so he dumped it. He refilled the pot a little bit and then shook it to clear out any residual dust or other grossness. He might like his tea cup build up, but the water should be clean and good. After refilling the pot and starting the kettle he grabbed two cups, paused and grabbed a third. He read the side of the container to see how hot the water should be for this type since it wasn’t his usual black tea he couldn’t be fully sure. He continued to work on that while Dorian and Percy... did whatever it was that they were doing.
”Fine? Perce I can feel what you're feeling. What we're feeling.” He crossed his arms, leaning against the desk ”You wanted to go poking around for information and now that we have a few leads you're being all…you!”
Percy flinched inside the entanglement and his vision went red, as he violently came into better awareness of the body. He kept his arms crossed but his trademark glare was plain across his face, contrasted only with the cat ears that remained on. “Oh, my apologies for being me. I’ll work on that. I’ll be someone you prefer better next time - how about Billy, hmm? Would that be better?” The books in the office began to rattle, threatening to fall off of the shelf. The tea cups in the safe clattered against the glass display, the album in the suitcase opened up and the pages began to fall rapidly, and the handle on the door shook.
Danni laughed nervously. “Okay, okay. ‘member we can get in lots of trouble if anyone finds out we're ‘ere.” Danni reminded them from his spot on the floor, gingerly putting the bracelet back into the suitcase and shutting the album, putting all his weight on it. Danni never thought he'd be here but Beanie wasn't and neither were t'e ‘rents and Danni was really, really good at talking so maybe this wouldn't be horrible. “Dee, maybe give us some specifics rather t'an makin’ it sound like ya don't like your boyf? And Spicy, can we avoid t'e low blows and t'rownin’ old crushes back in someone's face? Can you ask for some more words or like, verbalize t'at t'at was ‘urtful and t'en maybe say whats upsettin’ ya, ‘cause clearly ya aren't ‘appy? I t'ought we was ‘avin’ fun but I'm startin’ ta t'ink ya aren't ‘avin’ fun.” Danni paused, but his curiosity got the better of his common sense and his question spilled out despite every attempt to hold it back.
“Also, are y'all like… one person? Two person? Or are y'all t'ere plus one more person t'at is bot’ y'all?”
Ben tried to ignore what was happening. The cups shaking did not help. It sort of freaked him out. He put all of his focus into making the tea. Carefully cutting the water off at exactly the right time. He poured the hot water over the leaves. Watching the time on his watch to make sure it brewed for the exact right amount of time. His hands were shaking, but he was trying. He didn’t know if the others wanted sugar or cream. He grabbed a fourth cup. He hadn’t planned on drinking this tea since it wasn’t his usual but he needed it now.
“How do you like your tea? Sugar or no? I wouldn’t trust the cream.”
The jab about Billy made Dorian shrink within themselves. He didn't understand why Percy was being so angry, so hurtful. They'd never had issues like this before with possessions post dating, but that sense of inner conflict and turmoil kept coming back and he didn't understand why. He tried to stay calm, to keep his cool so that they both weren't raging messes, but it felt as if Percy's emotions were swallowing him whole. He was drowning inside of themselves and he needed to breathe. So Dorian pushed, taking back control over their body as he sat down on the ground, back against the desk. ”Sugar please.” His voice sounded almost defeated. ”I'm not trying to shut you out Perce, but…look at what's happening. My powers go haywire every time I get too emotional, it's why I try not to. It's why I push so much stuff down and bury it. But I don't want you to do that. Danni’s right, we gotta talk this out. I don't want you to change or be someone else, or someone better because there is no one better. But you also can't be sending glares at people you don't even know. We talked about this before. So please…talk to me.” The shaking in the office had stopped, for now.
The feeling of smallness rippled across to Percy, hitting his chest like sharp, red shards of glass. Control slipped away from him as Dorian pushed, and his senses dulled again, as everything became further and further away, the vibrations in his chest as Dorian spoke simultaneously muted and distorted. Everything around him was a haze, the anger and the rage moving into him like gravity, like an enchantment he could not fight. Each time he tried to set it aside, a horrific, pervasive sense of sorrow filled him - a vacuum that could not stand. He didn’t know how to not be angry. He didn’t know how to set these feelings aside. It was the only defense he had against the emptiness, against his fear.
But he had to try. The anger was as much a poison as the alcohol.
I didn’t mean to glare at him!
He curled up into a ball inside the entanglement. There was a brief break in the red fog, a small parting of the storm clouds. I hate Ser Nemo. I hate being in this office. I hate his unreadable books. I hate his xiphos. I hate his tea set-up. I hate his concealed safe. I hate the suitcase under the floorboards. I hate the flowers outside. I hate his fancy pens. I hate his beautiful painting. I hate his mustache, I hate his clothes, I hate his obnoxious fake accent. I hate his stupid name. I hate that he failed to do the one thing that mattered.
Danni bit his tongue as his question went ignored and he felt a little proud of himself that he didn't whine, complain, or cry. The pair there seemed to have it under control, or at the very least Danni couldn't hear the other part of the conversation, so he instead turned his attention to the photo album he'd been keeping closed, back to Dorian and Percy to give them some semblance of privacy as he would absolutely hang onto every word. His eyes grew wide as he saw what was inside, morphing into a look of pure horror as he felt compelled to flip through it faster and faster and faster.
Ben poured the cups of tea and added a bit of sugar into each cup. He stirred them, then taking one at a time and handed them out. First, to...the Dorian Percy hybrid. He put it on the ground in front of them, and slid it closer. Then he took the second cup and offered it to Danni. He was flipping through a photo album looking distressed. “What’s wrong? What did you find?” Ben’s voice was quiet. “Oh, here I made enough tea for everyone. I actually pulled out four cups because I don’t know...how long they’re going to be like that.”
”Perce….” They sat there, quietly for a second as Ben slid them a saucer of tea like they were a wild animal he needed to keep his distance from. ”Thank you Ben.” They said as they picked up the cup and took a sip, letting the flavours wash over their tongue in an attempt to help soothe Percy more. ”You don't mean any of that.” He began to stand up, placing the tea onto the desk as he looked around the room. ”Look at all of this. This is everything you ever told me you wanted. Antique books line your shelves in amazing conditions, a Xiphos more likely than not plucked from its very own period of time, same goes for the suit of armor, that case the photos were in, this painting of a fantastical world. Perce, you said when you wanted to grow up you didn't want to be a hero. You wanted to be an adventurer who explored time. This is a testament that you succeeded in doing all of that. So why would you hate any of it? Look at how much you have accomplished, you invented a language even your powers can't solve! Think about how crazy that is! A language based puzzle that makes you have to think and not rely on powers. Only you could do that. And…I know what you're going to say, I know you won't believe any of it matters because in the end he failed. But he didn't, you didn't. He is alive, waiting, and he has given us all the clues we need within these four walls to ensure he finished enacting his plan. Because if I know Nemo, if I know you, he's going to see my message I left him, and he's going to remember that no matter what, what is broken can always be fixed. And you two would do anything needed to fix it.” Dorian held a metaphorical hand out for Percy to take, to help lift him up above the raging clouds of anger and self pity and to the heights of self acceptance from within their new body. Helping Percy see the office through Dorian's eyes with pride.
The tea tasted nice. The name always struck him as a bit on the nose, but it was the same tea his grandfather would bring when he’d come to visit from Moscow. It was a contrasting mixture of smoky and sweet, the flavor bold and strong just the way he liked it. Percy could feel the calming wave slowly enveloping him, Dorian’s emotions and the soothing tea bleeding into him. The shield of anger was collapsing on him like weight, threatening to crush him - and it was only Dorian’s hand, somehow tangible in this in-between space - that pulled him up and out of it.
Looking through Dorian’s eyes, hearing the pride and the praise - hearing that this was everything Percy ever wanted - it healed something in him just as something else broke, as a dam gave way, the sorrow gushing out of him. “I don’t want any of that stuff,” he mumbled, the new body’s shoulders slumping as their eyes watered. “I don’t care about any of that if it means I end up old and sad and miserable and alone,” they choked out, the tears now freely falling.
Danni flipped back to the first page, a photo of Nemo much younger than he was now. Dressed in the bold colors and synthetic fabrics of the era, Nemo stood in front of a fountain with an angelic figure on top and a beautiful lake behind it. He wore Percy's familiar awkward stoicism (how Danni didn't see it before, he didn't know but wow). Danni may have seen the deep sadness etched into his face or the loneliness in the slant of his shoulders or the awful responsibility that surviving placed on him, if it wasn't for the humongous, ginormous, huge…
Mustache.
“Bennie boy. Open your eyes, baby boi. Look at t'is monstreoty. It's a crime against fashion! It's a crime against life.” Danni whispered furiously back to Ben. His version of a whisper still… carried, as Danni would not be tempered by something as modesty. He stared flipping through the pages and pointing accusatorily at Nemo in each one. “And look. It. Just. Gets. Worse. T'is is ‘ow I know we weren't ‘round. If ‘e ever came ta me and said “Danni, my bestiest, deariest friend, ‘ow do ya feels ‘bout me mustache” or even showed up wit’ one, I'd burn t'at garbage right off. Buckle up, Spicy, ‘cause you're ‘bout ta ‘ave sweater 2.0 bb. Friends don't let each ot'er suffer t'ese kinds of cries for ‘elp.”
Ben looked at the mustache. It was objectively bad. He wasn't about to say that in earshot of Percy though. “Uh, I'm going to be honest I'm not sure what is going on. How is Percy this guy? How is this guy your missing professor?” Danni might not be the right person to ask this. But how had this happened? He understood that Dorian died and that hurt Percy. But what caused all of that?
You're not gonna end up sad and alone, Perce. The future isn't set in stone. Your own mother even knows that. She can peer into countless versions of us and yet still here we stand as our own unique selves. As a matter of fact… Dorian had gained glimpses of the future before from his astral projecting. Percy had the power of jumping around in time. Perhaps in this new form…
The entity phased out of view, as they slipped into the astral realm. A dazzling landscape of fantastical colors, swirls of pink and green and blue and gold bleeding into each other. There was no gravity here, as the body floated, the hair standing up straight, their form now one of warm, pink light - occasional bursts of red and purple poking through. White light rippled out from their hands, dispelling the fabric of the astral for a moment, allowing a glimpse into another reality, another life, another future…
Through the small crack in between worlds, they could see a quiet, unassuming street. The sort of town where everyone knew everyone, where leaves fell gently to the ground as the seasons changed, and pumpkins adorned each and every storefront, lively music floating through the town without any discernible source. Their view turned and moved, pushing up on a popular cafe - Bean Voyage: A mid twenties Dorian stood behind the counter, wand tucked behind his ear, as he expertly brewed drink after drink. The door jingled as an early twenties Percy entered the shop, a leather doctor’s bag at his side as he approached the counter, Dorian pulling him in by his tie to offer him a kiss. “My favorite customer.”
The fissure in reality closed and they fell forward, spiraling out of control only to come to a halt in front of another gap - this one old and dusty, a dark tomb lit only by torchlight. Each step sent dust spilling down from the ceiling, rocks tumbling at the disturbance that had not occurred in a thousand years. Dorian was dressed with rogueish charm, a cowboy hat on his head and a whip at his side, as he held his hand out in front of him, warily stepping across the tiles, Percy’s head furiously buried in a journal as he scribbled away, noting everything in sight. A gigantic sarcophagus dominated the space, flanked with statues of jackals and tablets promising rebirth and return. “The tomb of En Sabah Nur… The first mutant.”“Nerd.” In the distance, a rumbling sound came closer and closer.
They were flung forward once more, this time plunging them into a scene of a city suspended in the sky, filled with neon lights and bustling hovercraft. At the lowest levels, where smog filled the air and grime covered every surface, there was a small junkyard, filled with dismantled droids and broken ships. A Dorian in his mid thirties was covered in sweat and grease, his tank top almost thoroughly destroyed from the work, as he pulled broken component after broken component out of the droid. At the desk next to him sat Percy, mustache prominent on his face and well cared for, as he poured over datapads, editing programming on the fly as a maestro revised scores.
Dorian watched each future, each moment of time that they got to spend with one another, in absolute awe. A slight irk that in one universe he had a job, but it quickly faded away at the sight of them excavating the first mutant. The final vision he saw brought out a feeling of nostalgia for a time he hadn't experienced yet. It felt so domestic in a way that tugged at him to want to do more with his talents in mechanics and robotics. He'd been so busy sharpening his powers recently he'd fully put aside his love for tech. But above all else, he felt love, for the man he would be with and the life they would lead. A future unwritten.
A blush colored the body’s face, as Percy witnessed these different possibilities, these different lives they could have, the different people they could be. He knew Nemo’s future, knew the darkness and the sorrow that lingered, knew that the TVA had deemed that what was going to happen… But rather than feel despair, rather than mourn what could be, he felt hope, buoyant and life, felt the warmth of his boyfriend’s love wrapping around him. The storm clouds and the rage lifted, the sorrow banished for just one night - they could have their silly fanfiction coffee shop AU, they could be adventurers, they could be domestic. Together, they were unlimited. His walls and defenses fell away, the sharp edges that had defined where Percy was and where Dorian was in this shared form fading, leaving behind a harmonious, entangled being.
Percy-and-Dorian. Dorian-and-Percy.
Gemini.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩
“Oh! You needs t’e deep lore! Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Well, buckle up Bennie boi. It’s a lot.” Danni turned away from the photobook and launched into his explanation, the disappearance of the other entity missed as his focus was fully on Ben and his story. “Okay, so t’is is Spicy, also known as Perc, Percy, the P-Man, all t’at fun stuff. We met last semmy and it was a scorcher. Spicy boops ‘is way inta our way and ‘e gones boom ta t’e ground, right? Dee was super duper upsetti ‘cause like, rude, but t’en it was all ‘eart eyes and rainbow vommy ‘cause ‘e was in love or somet’in’, right? Well, Spicy was as ‘is name suggests, spicy AF. Like, makes me look like a candle kinda ‘eated, yeah? So I try ta do t’e whole light t’in’, ya know, where ya got t’e flashlight or whatevs and get t’e eyes ta do t’e t’in, yeah? Aaaaaaaand I was just tooooo good at what I do so I maaaaay ‘ave, possibly, kinda, sorta set ‘is jacket on fire. Now, in my defense, who in t’e world wears veltet in t’e summer in Cali? It’s waaaaay outta season, not ta mention function? Yeeeesh, velvet gets even a speckle o’ dirt and it’s over. Just trash t’e whole t;in’. So anyways, ‘e gets even spicer, like cali reaper spicy yeah? And I’m chill ‘bout it. It was ‘is fault for runnin’ inta us, but I don’t say t’at or it’ll be a whole debacle and I’ll cry and ‘e’ll wanna fight and not wort’ it, trust me. So of course, t’is is all on Dee’s birt’day, so I be t’e better person and I ‘ave Pa make me a new jacket on t’e fly ‘cause ‘member, Dee’s all ‘ead over ‘eels so I wanna be t’e better person on Dee’s bit’day and give ‘im t’e jacket as a pressi ta make up wit’ lover boy all t’at. And t’en we all try out for t’e Contest, Dee and I get on t’e same team but Rillie get’s separated which I only cried ‘bout for like…. Three or four days. Nah def like a week, but Spicy is on our team, right? T’at’s when we meet Posson-Pas, our Prof. We don’t know t’ey’re double trouble - well, not t’e Double Trouble, but like t’e same person, ya know? - and so, fyi I will keep callin’ Poisson-Pas Poisson-PAs so ya know I’m talkin’ ‘bout Spicy and not Poisson-Pas. Wait, no ot’er wya ‘round! - So, Poisson-Pas tries ta blow us up, first day trainin’ was an obsti course and t’en a bomb. Idk if ya know t’is but I may seem real confident ‘round explosives, Idk ‘ow ta disarm one. So t’at was stressful, especially since Poisson-Pas was teleportin’ Beanie and ‘im ‘cross stuff t’at I coil- no, Spicy was teleportin’ t’em, not Poissan-Pas, sorry - couldn’t fly ‘cross yet and it was whole t’in’, yeeesh. I was t’e Spicy one durin’ t’at. Who t’e ‘eck make a canoe a cross walk? Poisson-PAs is gunna get a talkin’ ta after all t’is. Anyways, so now we got two Spicy’s, two Poisson-Pases ‘cause Spicy can pop t’rough space and[ time sp Poisson-PAs is Spicy who is retired after all t’e bad stuff ‘appens. But, Spicy starts ta date Dee, is like a whole little puppy trailin’ ‘round behind Dee all t’e time, yeah? Spicy stiiiiiiiiiiiiiill doesn’t wanna say we’re friends, even t’ough we totes my goats are. Fast forward ta ‘alloween and t’en we ‘ave t’is real spooky ‘aunted ‘ouse. I reaaaaaaaally didn’t wanna go get t’e ‘ouse but I get everyone dressed up in She-Ra stuff and do photos and it’s super awesome, but also like kinda not ‘cause Rillie and Dee get in wit’ t’eir peeps and so it’s just me and my little lonesome all over ‘ere ‘cause Rillie like, ‘ooked up wit’ our group friends so t’e group just kinda pops me out, but t’at all got fixed up so its good, I def don’t think ‘bout t’at anymore! So t’en t’e ‘aunted ‘ouse rocks Rillie’s world. Unconscious. Down for t’e count. All t’ese t;in’s and so Beanie and me, or was it Leah and me idr, get inta it ‘cause like I’m chillin’ out Rillie and t’ey come in tellin’ me I’m wrong so Spicy is nice enough ta pop t’em all t’e way over ta t’e dorms and plops t’em in a ‘allway ‘cause like, Spicy did not ‘ave t’e range, but did it anyway and t’at was real nice o’ ‘im!”
Danni paused for a half a second to grab air. “So t’en, we all nearly get murdered by ‘Cadie. We wanna do t’e trainin, we wanna do t’e cool stuff, we wanna rock and roll, but ‘Cadie ain’t ‘avin’ it, yeah? We’ll, some timey-whimey stuff ‘appens and t’en one version of us is dead and t’e ot’er version of us, t’is version of us, is not which I’m down for. Dee and Beanie convince ‘Cadie ‘e should go ta jail and t’en we all go on break - a little break wit’ a loooooooooooot goin’ on, no need ta go t’rough all t’at - but we come back and we ‘ave a little meetin’ wit’ Couli-poo and we all get As in all our classes! Which like, t’ank goodness ‘cause I was def gunna fail somet’in. What, idr but I feel like one teach ‘ad it out for me. Ya didn’t turn in your ‘omework on time, t’at’s not ‘ow ya spell t’at, t’at’s made up, no your brot’er can’t take t’e test in your body ‘cause it’s still cheatin’ yadda yadda, always somet’in’, you feel? Kinda rude, but whateves. I got a A ‘cause t’ey almost let me die so who won? Me!” Danni stated smugly, looking like the cat who got the cream. “Oh wait, t’is is ‘bout Poisson-Pas and Spicy. Aaaanyways, do ya know who doesn’t show up? Dee and Spicy! Do you know why? I wish I didn’t. ‘Cause t’ey did, ya know, butt stuff for t’e first time. And do ya know ‘ow Dee tells me? I’m walkin’ up ta t’e dorm after t’e meetin’, Spicy and Dee are outside t’e door, Beanie and Leah and Rillie are all t’ere already and t’en guess what, guess ‘ow ‘e tells me, when I’m fully plannin’ on tearin inta ‘im for leavin’ me ta fend for myself? Text! No gentle let down, no winin’ and dinin’, nope. Just lay it aaaaaaaall out t’ere. And ya know me, I’m a little… reactive so I promptly set ‘alf t’e dorm on fire, especially since I mad everyone friendship bracelets! Buuuuut t’is is ‘ow t;is cute was finally born! Shock induced inferno!” Danni poked at the snoozing dragon in her harness.
“So of course, I’m a little jelly ‘cause like, someone is stealin’ my best friend and brot’er away from me, yeah? ‘Course, tbh, reaaaal ‘ard ta be angy when ya got a newborn dragon in your ‘ands. So t’at kinda, sorta fades away right? So fast forward ta t’e Contest and we’re all ‘ittin’ t;e field. Lotsa weird stuff ‘appens wit’ t’e ot’er team and we all get slammed inta t’e same one. Spicy is ‘bout ta give up ‘is spot - which was super lame. If we ‘ad too many peeps and someone tried ta tell me t’at I wasn’t gunna be on t’e field, it would been a whole lotta more t’at ‘alf a dorm - but Vicky doens’t wanna fight so ‘e slips and slide right inta t’e open slot and ‘its t’e field. Ya saw t’e whole t’in’ of course, eeespecially when I almost smacked inta ya.” Danni booped Ben on t’e nose and laughed. “And t’en t’e whole Entity t;in’ and I give t’e whole team a ‘ug because t’ey all deserved it after goin’ t’rough all t’is stuff and also, ‘ow often can ya do a mass team ‘ug of everyone and each o’ t’em at t’e same time? Def t’e first time I ever did t’at much magic and will def be t’e last time. Dee can keep ‘is mambo jambo, no t’ank you. I was so sick after t’at I could like see t’e inside of me ‘ead,. Did not like t’at one bit. So, t’en we ‘ave t;’is whoooooole adventure durin’ winter break, yeah? Spicy needs ‘elp removin’ Fred so ‘e kidnaps me from my ‘ouse and plaps me in ‘is. And we get real close durin’ it! Like, Spicy tells me ‘bout ‘is whole touchy, feely t’in’, but after I sit in ‘is lap ta ‘elp deal wit’ Fred and ‘e watches me shower, even t’ough I almost burned down ‘is ‘ouse and ‘e popped us inta a bay and ‘e almost drowned if I didn’t get ‘im and almost do CPR, I finally get ‘im ta France right? ‘Is whole closet, btw, suits. Formal wear, which like get it but also color? Hello? So I get ‘im ta our usual place and we do a whole photoshoot for Dee for Christmas. Was it for Christmas or just ‘cause? Idk, but I can show ya one day once Spicy is a little chiller wit’ t’e new peeps. I do good work! We should do a photoshoot for you and Sauna Boi sometime too. He seems like t;e kinda guy who wants his boyf as cute as button. And like, you already fit tat but a little clothin’ and phot magic? Take t’at ta t’e whole next level ya know? Danni framed Ben with his fingers, humming to himself as he thought but he jolted back to what he was doing.
“Oh, but Spicy at t’is point is tots dead. Like, ‘eart attack durin’ t’e tourney, it was very upsetti spagetti. We was eatin’ t;at like nobody’s business. So we t’row a ghost meetin’, idr what is called, so Papa take us ta t’e room and tries ta call Spicy. Shoot, no Poisson-Pas, I’m talkin’ ‘bout Poisson-Pas, not Spicy. Tries ta call Poisson-Pas, which duh doesn’t work ‘cause ‘e ain’t dead, but ‘fore we could talk ‘bout t;at, Beanie gets inta Papa’s ‘ead and drags us in wit’ ‘er and t’at’s a biiiiiiig no no in our ‘ouse. Pops is deat’ly terrified o’ telepat’s ‘cause when ‘e was in the MU, ‘e got ‘is brain rocked a lot and always ‘ad ta try ta kill t’e peeps ‘e loved. So t’at’s a whole problem t’at kinda makes us forget ‘bout Poisson-Pas not showin’ up when we called. But now, fast-froward, Dee has t’is journal t’in’ from Poisson-Pas back when Poisson-Pas wanted ta talk wit’ ‘im after t;e first disaster wit’ Spicy, which ‘e knew would ‘appen ‘cause it already ‘appened ya know. Dee ‘as a vision of… ‘onestly, idr but it showed a buncha dead people, ‘cludin’ ‘im and us!, and t’en ‘e reads t’is journal and we learn t’at Poisson-Pas is Spicy after we all get got and ‘e goes full on alcoholic bender, but wit’out t’e alcohol I t’ink if t’at makes sense, and t’ats what all t’ese photos are but t’en ‘e settles ‘ere ta try ta change t’e whole timeline ta stop us from gettin’ got and Dee from takin’ t’e silly slide in ta t’e next realm but someone found out and now Poisson-PAs got got and we are gunna ungot got ‘im!”
Ben listened attentively to Danni’s explanation. He had questions, but for the first time in a while he felt like he had a grasp on what the last few months had been like for Danni and his friends. He also understood Percy a lot more now. He sipped his cup of tea, sliding Danni’s over to him. There was a small weight lifted while Percy and Dorian were gone. Though, he was unsure of where they had gone. It did give him some time to think though. Ben didn’t consider himself smart. He was decent enough at science, which he attributed to his parents' love of the subject. With Danni’s explanation, as convoluted as it got, he was able to put the pieces together, finally. Ben nodded along.
“Thank you. Okay, so, something terrible happens. Percy time travels and becomes your teacher under the pseudonym Nemo. Puts you guys through the wringer trying to impart the skills you will need for this future terrible thing. Got in trouble for this and was falsified as dead. You guys figured out he wasn’t dead. Dorian has the book with clues. We are trying to find more information before we go and rescue Nemo.” Ben nodded again. That made enough sense. He was obviously going to keep helping. There was no reason not to, actually there were a plethora of reasons to help.
“Unless that book with the strange writing is what we were looking for... we should get back to searching. We don’t know how long it will be until a teacher happens to be passing by and hears us.” Ben made a mental note to clean up the tea set too.
✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩
Gemini closed the tear in which they were able to see the future events of their lives. Turning towards a fountain Dorian had seen many times when entering the realm, and seeing his new form within the reflection of the water that flowed. A soft, quiet, exclamation as he realized they did more than simple possession, more than what had happened with the DemiUrge. They'd become one being. He did, however, still have a job to do, and as his hand stretched out towards the open space before him, a simple appeared, the symbol of Gemini ♊️ with its left half was a deep red, the right a soft purple, and the center of it all began to glow a soft pink hue before opening up and showing the office where Danni and Ben were sat. Gemini stepped through the doorway, sitting on Nemo's desk as he picked up the book that was meant to be translated, and looked towards Danni and Ben. ”Sorry about that guys…we worked it all out.”
He opened up the book, his legs crossed beneath him, one hand curled and tapping against his chin. The symbols and letters seemed to shift and move before his eyes, as the meaning that previously had been undecipherable became obvious. He craned his neck, absorbing the information as he quickly turned through the pages, not reading in depth but understanding the general content of Nemo’s journal. He made a pleased noise, before snapping the book shut. “This is Poisson-Pas’ notes on the structure of Otherworld and its politics. We should bring this with us. It’ll take us a while to read it all.” He then picked up the tea he had left behind, before tossing it back and draining it in a single gulp. ”Thanks again for that, Ben.”
“Oh yeah, Poisson-Pas def ‘as a lot more-” Danni did a double take. “Wait, ya got t'at? Like, all o’ it? Like, no more questions, no need ta repeat myself, not'in’ ‘bout ‘ow ‘ot'in’ I said made no sense or was too much or my accent was too ‘ard ta listen ta?” Danni blinked a few times, stunned at that. Sometimes, Danni didn't even know what he was saying and he was the one who said the things. He really didn't fault anyone for it; Danni also forgot half the things that came out of his mouth because there was a lot.
“Cool, cool, cool, cool.” Danni swallowed the knot that was forming in his throat and instead sipped at his tea, wrinkling his nose at the taste. It was better than nothing but Danni heavily preferred coffee. He took a few more sips before a new voice suddenly appear and Danni yelped, his cup tumbling from his hands and hitting the ground. It shattered, tea and ceramic scattered across the ground, and Danni whirled around to face whoever was there.
“I ‘ain't even realized you disappeared! I told you ta stay put ‘cause ya don't know what kinda stuff ya could do! And ya missed my amazin’ recap of t'e Spicy-Poisson-Pas pipelines, which Ben ‘patently understood 100% ‘cause tbh, I ‘ad no idea what was comin’ outta my nout’ for like… 60% of t'at. It was all let t'e brain take t'e wheel and ‘ope it makes sense.” Danni bounced back over to Ben and squished his cheeks. “Aren'tcha just t'e bestest Benni boi? Oh shoot, I gotta clearly t'at up or t'ey're gunna know we were ‘ere!” Danni gasped as he spotted his own mess, hastily pulling open cabinets to try and find cleaning supplies.
“Uh, welcome back, and you’re welcome. Is that book what we were looking for then?” Ben smiled at Danni after he wiggled out of Danni squishing his cheeks. “And I don’t know if I understood 100% of it, but I understood enough to make the pieces make sense. Your accent isn’t that complicated. I’ve heard harder to understand ones. It did take me a bit to understand it, but I get it now. Honestly, once you get going on a subject and you mostly stay linear with what you’re saying it isn’t that hard. It is only when you bounce around between a bunch of subjects that I get a bit lost.”
Gemini scooted off of the desk, removing his legs from underneath himself as he stood on the floor, one hand on his hip holding the book the other pointing out towards the mess that Danni had made. ”Missed it? D I lived it. Any roads, I know exactly what I can do thank you very much.” He stuck his tongue out at Danni. Soft pink energy began to glow around the mess and shattered porcelain before it moved backwards in time fixing itself and returning to how it was before Danni had shattered it. ”See? But yeah, seems like this was the secret we expected him to be keeping. Not sure we'd find much else of use in here beyond memories of a time that hasn't happened.”
He paused for a moment, before picking up Danni’s teacup, and knocking that one back as well. ”I know you hate tea.”
“Poissan-Pas and Spicy are bot’ super picky ‘bout cleanliness, ‘ow does ‘e not ‘ave-” Danni heard the porcelain clatter as it fixed itself and Danni glanced over, gaped, and then a mischievous smile crawled over his face. He sauntered over to Gemini and threw his arm over his shoulders. “Well, well, well, t'at's a real inchrestin’ power ya got t'ere. Ya know, I gotta few pranks t'at we could pull ta start t'e year wit’ t'at kinda stuff. ‘ow long ya gunna be stickin’ ‘round? We gotta a few ‘ours still ‘fore we gotta pass out.” He blew a kiss at Ben.
“You are like t'e only one who t'inks t'at, Bennie boi. But I love t'at ‘boutchu.”
Ben felt his face warm up when Danni blew the kiss at him. “So, uh, what now?” He had been heading back to his room when they had been pulled into this distraction. Ben wasn’t sure what to make of... whatever it was that Dorian and Percy had become. Their power was interesting and he had a sort of an inkling of how they could do it considering Percy’s power set. He knew that when Dorian did the merging thing it would create powerful beings. Part of him wondered what his power combined like that would be. He let it pass by though and looked at the tea cabinet, he needed to clean all of that up before they left. So he set to washing the tea cups and dumping the leftover tea and water.
Gemini didn’t stiffen or appear the slightest bit unnerved as Danni threw an arm around his shoulders. “What did you have in mind?” he asked with a devilish grin. A few options immediately populated in his head. There were some members of the group who could be fun to mess with, yes, but he had far greater ambitions. There were some people at this school who had gone unpranked far too long, people who were thought to be untouchable. Headmaster Coulson. The Scarlet Witch. Firestar. They could prank them all. And he would. He was about to get into his scheme when his stomach growled loudly, and his gaze drifted to the bowl of (doubtlessly expired) candy on Nemo’s desk.
He attacked it like a starving piranha. Gemini turned to face Ben as he asked his question, mouth full of candy, some that contained the plastic wrapper still as his tongue stopped midway from unwrapping it. A Werthers fell out and onto the floor, rolling loudly in the silence as he contemplated Ben's question. ”Food. Oooooo and a movie! You guys wanna watch a movie? Pleeease!”
“OMG, yaaaaas. T'e carnival is still goin’ on so we can t'ose t'at terrible, pore cloggin’ delicious corn dogs, fried ice cream, churros- pretty much everyt'in’ terrible for ya before t'ey start slammin’ t'e reality ‘healthy stuff at ‘cha.” Danni bounced up and down excitedly, his own stomach growling at the idea. “Ben, whatcha wanna get? ‘ave ya ever ‘ad fried ice cream? Omg, we can share one of t'ose giant hot dogs! Can we, please, please, please? It'll be fuuun!” Danni bounded over to Ben while Gemini snatched up the candies and stuffed his face to help put the dishes away. He hip checked Ben gently as he slid in next to him.
“What movie we wanna watch? Technically, its Spicy's b-day bit I guess it's Gemini's too ‘cause it's ‘is first day ‘ere so bday boy's pick!”
“Americans,” Ben sighed. “How the heck do you fry Ice Cream? Wouldn’t it just melt? But yes I guess I’ll share a hot dog. But no mustard on my half, or hot sauce.” There was probably something else that Danni could add to his hot dog to make Ben suffer from the spicyness, but he hoped his point would be caught at least.
“I’m down to watch a movie. I don’t really care what. I’m not super picky. My parents had very different tastes so we’d always watch something different when we watched movies together. They’d switch who was picking.”
Gemini snorted, wiggling his eyes at Danni and Ben. ”Try not to smooch when you get to the middle of the dog you two.” He vanished from where he stood, appearing against the wall, leaning against it as he looked at the pair before him. ”Get me a chili dog, four churros, two bags of cotton candy, aaaaand…like five fried ice creams. I can get the movie room all set up for us. I'm thinking …Pirates! Jack Sparrow! Will Turner, the whole Shebang!” He mocked swordplay as he spoke, snatching up Nemo’s sword. The sword shifted once more, elongating to match Gemini’s frame, and he pointed the blade at the pair in a challenge.
“You best start believing in ghost stories, Danni, Ben. You’re in one!” he cackled. Gemini giggled, but it echoed around the room like a phantom child running amuck in a haunted house.
“Oh, it's so good Bennie Boi! Ya gotta wrap it in cornflakes and sugar and cimimmin and pop t'at yumminess in t'e fryer! So gooooooood.” Danni explained excitedly, helping dry things as Ben rinsed. “No mustard? Wiiild choice, Bennie, but we can work wit’ it, we can work wit’ it. Just ketchup t'en, or ya a relish kinda kind too?” Danni scoffed at Gemeni's teasing and flicked water at him.
“Listen, I ain't no ‘omecter. If either o’ t'em wanna kiss me, t'en t'ey need ta talk ta each ot'er first.” Danni stuck his tongue out at Gemini. “Plus, I t'ink ‘is boyf would be reaaaaaal comfy spookin’ me for t'e rest of my life.”
Danni laughed at Gemini's playfulness. “Okay, perf! You know ‘ow ta set up t'e movie nest. T'e extra stuff is in my bag - I get ta be in t'e middle!” Danni wiggled his finger in Gemini's face. “And I take my movie viewing very seriously. I will cry if it's not perfect.”
“I like relish.” Ben liked pickles in general. He froze for a few seconds when Danni insinuated that he or Chase could kiss him if they talked about it and wanted to. Then went back to finishing cleaning up the rest of the mess from making tea. If Dorian/Percy combo wasn’t there he would have told Danni right then and there that Chase and him had talked about it, and that Ben did want to try kissing Danni. He had become more certain he had similar feelings for Danni that he had had for Chase. His feelings for Chase were deeper now. “Pirates is a good movie. I’m down,” Ben agreed to the movie choice.
Gemini quickly bit Danni’s finger, before popping again and reappearing on Nemo’s chair. He put one leg on each arm rest, roughly balancing, before he snagged the chair with his telekinesis and slowly began to spin it. Evidently one of the people who made him up had undiagnosed ADHD. “Yes, yes, I know how to build a nest, I’ve spent enough time on AO3.”
Danni screeched as his finger was chopped on. He pouted at the faint teeth impression. “What is AO3 and ‘ow does it ‘elp you make a movie nest? T'at's a very specific kind o’ nest.” Danni shook his hand out and then slipped his arm through Ben's. “Okay, let's get rollin’! T'e night ain't gettin’ any younger and we got a ‘uge order ta fetch! Ready, Bennie boi?”
Ben nodded. He looked at the door. They had been phased through it previously and he had not forgotten the piles of flowers and other things outside it.
“Are we just barging out, or...” he trailed off leaving the question hanging.
Gemini had a mischievous grin upon his face. Giggling once more as the haunting echoed through the space and he wrapped his arms around Ben and Danni's shoulders. ”Oh don't you worry about that Ben. We've got you two covered.” Soft pink energy enveloped them all, time seemed to halt as all sounds died around them, and in a bright flash of pink, they all warped out of the space. Ben and Danni would appear out into the fair grounds, time frozen until the pink dissipated and sounds and motion came crashing back into life, while Gemini appeared within the trios room and began to set up the movie nest.
A little less than thirty minutes later, the three boys were reunited, Danni and Ben struggling under the weight of the food - and Amelie sniffing a little too curiously at the fried ice cream. Gemini had already plopped down on the right side of the nest - a tangled mess of blankets and pillows, the couches in the school’s movie room rearranged and shocked together to create a makeshift conversation pit - and the moment the other two settled down, the movie began to play, brought to dazzling reality with the Future Foundation’s proprietary liquid crystal display. It was probably for the best that Ben had already seen Pirates - while Danni talked nonstop throughout it, Gemini delivered every line of Keira Knightley, descending into a fit of giggles when Elizabeth tried on the corset, choking out “difficult to say!”, and jumping up to his feet to scream “parley!!!”
Despite shoving his face with enough food to feed a small army, Gemini slowly crashed - the quotes coming less often, pillows barely being randomly thrown at Danni and Ben, and the last fried ice cream only half heartedly eaten. Like a child, he curled up next to Danni, one hand loosely on Danni’s arm as his eyes fluttered closed. He was snoring softly soon after, completely missing Elizabeth and Jack’s rum consumption.
And then, suddenly, there were two sleeping boys where there had been one, Percy held securely in Dorian’s lap, his head tucked into his neck, Dorian’s free arm entangled around Danni, and Percy’s hand lightly holding onto Danni’s.
Ben had been quiet while they got food. He had tried a fried ice cream before placing his own order of a couple. He did like it. Though it was decadent in a way he wasn’t quite used to. He spent most of that time thinking about what Danni had said. During the movie he happily said quotes along with the others, he was a bit less exuberant than the other two. Overall it was fun and he was glad he had seen the movie before. If he hadn’t this would have been stressful. He made a mental note to never watch an old movie with them without watching it first.
Finally Gemini fell asleep and popped into two different people again. Ben blinked at the pair of them sleeping on Danni’s leg. He sat there quietly for a moment, making sure they weren’t going to wake up suddenly. Then spoke quietly to Danni, “Hey, you know how you said that you wouldn’t kiss me unless Chase and I discussed it first?” He took a deep breath. “We actually have. Chase was a bit jealous of you. I met you on the same day, but you were my friend first. And when we were on the trip I was texting you a bunch that Chase wasn’t sure if we were an item. We talked about it, and he said that if I like you too that’d be okay with him. He wouldn’t be mad if we kissed... If you wanted to kiss.”
Danni stared at Ben blankly. He'd been about to comment how relieved he was they were two people again, he was about to suggest they get them into bed, he was about to start brainstorming all the silly little pranks they could play on the two (shaving cream mustaches were permanently banned after seeing Poissan-Pas's trauma revolving around them) but everything in his head hit a hard wall as Ben informed him with no warning Ben and Chase discussed kissing him. Danni opened his mouth once, twice, and shut it each time as nothing came tumbling out. Anxiety bubbled in his stomach.
Kissing was nice, Danni liked kissing. He liked cuddling and kissing and hand holding and casual affection. And he envisioned having Ben wrapped up in his lap or popping his head on Ben's shoulder when training was real rough, of having him sit on the sink counter while Danni did his facial routine and listened to his day, or of getting into pillow fights at the strangest hours of the day just because they'd been coupled up for too long while it was raining and it sounded real nice. He didn't dare imagine Chase - pressed up against his back while they laid in bed as the morning broke and an alarm was blaring, racing to the top of stairs to see who got to give the other a piggyback ride, sparring with powers and without simply because they were a tough match up for each other. And he certainly couldn't bring himself to imagine all of them - playing footsie under a table while they picked food off each other's plates, board games nights at the Kingston-Grey's where the three of them sat on one sofa, limbs entangled, and argued about the best way to take down their parents, swapping lazy kisses and words of affection as they stared at the stars from the patio of a cabin far away from everyone else.
He didn't want to think about what came after that.
Instead, what Danni focused on was the jealousy. “Sauna Boi made you cancel on me and t'en claimed us talkin’ was a problem?! ‘ow rude!” Danni grumbled, unwilling to wake the sleeping pair. His hand tightened around Percy's. “Okay, uh, well, Bennie boi. I'mma be ‘onest ‘ere wit'cha. You are cute as a button and I t'ink anyone would be crazy ta turn ya down, so do I wanna smooch you til ya can't breat’? Yes. But I also know ya ‘ad a ‘ard connection when comin’ ‘ere so I don't wanna be like a thanks for bein’ my friend t'in’ kiss. I can get t'at kiss on the cheek or somet'in’ out and ‘bout but if ya t'ink you want more of us, t'en pop on up ‘ere and kiss me.” Danni patted his thigh.
“Also, cause I don't wanna wake t'ese two silly ducks.” Danni admitted sheepishly.
That was fair. It didn’t feel like a rejection either. He had opened up to Danni and didn’t feel like he was shutting him out. So Ben smiled and shook his head. “It isn't a thank you for being my friend kiss. I don't want to wake them either, but I do want to kiss you.”
Danni smiled back, a little shyly, but gingerly unwound Percy's hand from his and slid it into Dorian's. He carefully shifted Dorian down into the nest with Percy still in his lap and wiggled away from the slumbering pair so they wouldn't disturb them. He swung forward so he was kneeling instead and gently brought a hand to cradle Ben's face, a thumb caressing his cheek as he pressed their foreheads together and their noses brushed as Danni scanned the younger boy's face for any hint of changes.
“T'is okay so far?” Danni murmured into the silence of the room. Danni could feel the anticipation buzzing in him and he waited for confirmation, his eyes darting down to Ben's lips and back up again.
Ben could feel his heart pounding as Danni touched his face. He was a little surprised because he had thought Danni would want to wait. This quiet moment felt right though. He smiled and nodded. “Yes,” he said in a whisper, his voice soft, and breathy.
Danni hummed at the permission. With a feather light touch, he tilted Ben's head back and tilted his in time so he could glide down with barely any effort. Danni paused just a moment, once last glance to ensure he was comfortable, and then pressed his lips to Ben's, nibbling softly at his bottom lip. His lips were chapped, a little rough on his, but Danni let out an appreciative noise at the contact.
Ben closed his eyes as Danni’s lips met his. Warmth and a slight tingle spread from where Danni nibbled on his lip. Ben enjoyed it, he wanted more. He couldn’t help cataloging how he felt kissing Danni compared to Chase. His body’s reactions were similar. Danni was gentlier, soft and guiding. He liked both. Ben could tell that he would want to kiss Danni more, if he’d let him. He kissed back, pressing into Danni a little more. A small noise of enjoyment escaping between their lips.
Danni smiled into the kiss as Ben pressed closer and Danni deepened the kiss, his tongue running gently across Ben's lower lip in permission as he wound an arm around his shoulders. The rougher texture of Ben's lips on his was a pleasant sensation as Danni sighed contently, shifting forward until he could straddle Ben's lap and wrap both his arms around Ben's shoulder. One hand came up to play with the hair at the back of Ben's neck and the other dropped down his back, fingers tracing the knots of his spine.
Ben parted his lips at Danni's questing tongue, giving tacit permission. He wrapped his arms around Danni as he climbed onto his lap. A shudder went through him as Danni's hands started to explore him. He definitely liked this. There was no question in his mind about that, as his body reacted. Warmth spread from every spot Danni touched and he wanted more. Ben started to explore Danni with his own questing hands, one going up and pulling Danni in closer. Deeper into the kiss.
Danni hummed happily, his tongue dipping into Ben's mouth to glide along his tongue. He felt tingly and warm all at once and the space where their bodies pressed together was comforting. Danni had always been a tactile person and kissing let him experience so much more. He chased the taste of Ben, letting Ben draw him deeper into the kiss. Danni'd missed kissing and he drank Ben deeply, indulging shamelessly. He wanted to wrap himself around Ben and snuggle, swapping kisses all night (although Danni made a note in the back of his head to start putting chapstick on Ben anytime he applied it himself).
However, Danni had burning questions so he broke the kiss, eyes fluttering open slowly. He pressed a chaste kiss to Ben's lips, his nose, and his forehead before resting his head gently on Ben's. “So, ‘ow ya feelin’ t'ere starlight?”
Ben let out small sounds while kissing Danni. He tried to keep it from getting too loud considering the two sleeping boys next to him. Disturbing them would end the delightful kissing he was getting from Danni. When Danni pulled away he followed for a moment and then made a slightly unhappy sound at being separated from him. “I feel really good. You?” He liked the nickname, it was the first non-bug themed nickname someone called him since he had come here.
“I feel great. Kinda wanna keep kissin’ ya.” Danni whispered back, leaning in to do just that when his phone buzzed. He reached into the blankets and fished it out, tongue between his teeth as he propped his chin on Ben's head and scanned Chase's text. “Oh! Sauna boi is puttin’ on a party!!!! We gotta go!” Danni exclaimed loudly, clapping his hand over his mouth as he leaned back to check on the other two. When he realized that they weren't bothered, he sighed in relief. He leaned in to snatch one last peck from Ben and wiggled off his lap, turning to tuck the sleeping pair in a bit more and press a kiss on the top of each of their heads. He held his hand out for Ben to help him out of the ocean of blankets and pillows and stuffed animals.
“Come on! Let's go party and let t'ese two get t'eir bueaty rest!”
Ben had been about to agree that he would very much so like to keep kissing Danni when the text came through. The fact that Chase was putting on the party meant that even if Ben could convince Danni to stay put and keep making out to the siren song of the Pirates movie, he had to go. He was not skipping a party being put on by his boy friend, especially not to make out with... someone else. Hmm, he’d have to talk with Danni to see if there was a label and if so what they would use. For now kissing and cuddling buddy was fine with him.
He ignored his phone that had buzzed at the same time, assuming that it was the same text. “Alright, let’s go.” He took Danni’s hand and climbed out of the pile. He did look around and found a blanket to put over the sleeping Dorian and Percy. Danni and Ben left to go find the party.
“I will,” Jeanne said with a smile. She left the room and before the door closed behind her they’d see her cross through the dining room to the foyer. If they followed her upstairs they’d see her go through the family’s private rooms. Just as Jeanne reached the top of the stairs Ralph would be coming out of the bar.
Ralph
Location: Château de La Lune Skills: N/A
Ralph wondered how a photo that had only ever existed physically had been brought here. That was what concerned him the most. He frowned. Millicent was right though. The internet held onto information way too much.
The rest of the conversation set him on edge. Millicent and Brandon had found something but didn’t feel like they could share it. Last time they needed to talk to everyone in the group as a whole everyone had gone out into the woods of the island and found a dead body. He blushed slightly at Sam mentioning how Sam being naked wasn’t something he hadn’t seen before.
“Well let’s get upstairs then. I do want to change into formal wear, but we should talk real quick. Hopefully, we can grab Tony and Constance too.” Ralph hoped they hadn’t wandered off too far and with everyone gathered up again they could collect their knowledge together. He stood up and headed out of the bar and up the stairs. He saw Jeanne at the top of the stairs as he started up them.
Location: The Statue of Ardyon’s room -> Mikkail’s Sitting Room Grimoire: Cure wounds Skills: Biology +2, Healing +2
Connie sat on her heels next to Barty. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment about his attitude. She was used to it. Jake... or she supposed she should call him Jacob, would get used to it too.
“Hmm, I have not tried to shift an empowered glyph before.” Her eyes flickered over the statue. She wanted to try to make him flesh again. “That may be the puzzle before it is safe for me to shift him to flesh-” Connie was cut off from saying anything more as Jacob exclaimed that he was in pain. She was about to go to her feet to go to him when Barty covered her with his cloak, protecting her from the blinding flash of colored light that Jacob released.
Barty apologized and grabbed her. She flinched. Thankful for the glove protecting her as he dragged her. Together they arrived at a gruesome scene. Connie only froze for a moment. All thoughts of anything but her medicine and healing was driven from her mind. She crouched near Cassie. Connie looked around hoping to find the missing hand, but in a quick look around she couldn’t find it. Time was too precious to waste any longer.
Magical light surrounded her and flowed into the stump on Cassie’s arm as Connie whispered words. To her they had no meaning except for how they felt. However, they were from a long dead language. Warmth spread and the wound healed over. Unfortunately, due to the lack of hand to reattach Connie couldn’t return the limb.
Location: Neverish Grimoire: Skills:
Dysphoria was, to say the least, displeased.
“We were not informed of sudden drops and freezing threats!” Dysphoria shouted up into the inky void that was once a gate, the need to keep their Darling safe in full force. They'd felt the sudden shock of cold and the ground fall out from under their feet and Dysphoria wrapped their Darling in their own body. Theirs could break and form and break and form over and over and over and Dysphoria would rather die than let this strange place touch them.
As the world changed around them, Dysphoria's eyes slitted and eyed the trees rising. They did not know what waited for them at the bottom, so they slung a tendril out, tugged themselves closer to a rising tree, and dug their claws into the wood to slow their descent, screeching to a halt several feet above the ground. They leaned out and watched the woodling pause just before the ground. They waited a moment after his feet touched, dropped, and let their tongue taste the air.
“We do not taste a threat. Would you like to come out, Darling? Are you feeling better?”
Finley did not fear much. The fall was terrifying but adrenaline inducing. Considering the unknown factors of this place they did not let out a whoop of excitement. With the frostbite beaten back by Dysphoria they felt warm and comfortable embraced by them. “I do feel better, my love.” They did not say thank you, though for Dysphoria they could without incurring a penalty. They were too bound up among each other for things like fealty and favors. “Let us join Rohan.” Finley considered dropping down and scaring the wood-cursed being, but decided the iron sword was enough of a threat to not risk his ire. “Rohan,” they spoke, letting their voice carry to him.
Dysphoria leapt to the ground, settling in next to Rohan. Dysphoria carefully, cautiously pulled back to reveal their Fae and curled around them. The Symbiote twisted tendrils between their fingers and nuzzled up closed. “This is a strange place. No animals, no food. We do not care for it.”
“Remember this place is not normal. It is between places. I do not think animals could survive here. Are we entering this house?” Finley looked at the hut. Their fingers caressing Dysphoria’s tendrils.
“Actually, better idea. Let’s go to my room. We can talk there. I can update you on everything that happened to me after we parted ways, and you can catch me up too. Though, we definitely need to talk about that vision. But if we don’t get out of here we’ll get swept up in something.” Andy insisted, and started walking. She paused and looked over at Gideon. She wanted privacy, but didn’t want to just leave Gideon to her own devices. “Gideon, do you mind if we use our room for a bit, privately? We can go somewhere else if you want to go there.”
Gideon shrugged her shoulders. “Go for it.” She’d find something to occupy herself with. Probably stealing back her sword. She didn’t anticipate any of the others would invite her on their own tasks.
“Thanks, I’ll text you when we’re done.” Once a decision was made, Andy led the way. Andy’s side of the room was fairly sparse, though the plants she had inherited from original roommate Mai were spread out around on her desk and the window depending on how much light they needed. There was an intricate stained glass picture made out of colored sea glass in the image of a sunset on her nightstand. Her bag sat unpacked on her bed, some stuff had obviously been removed, as the bag was open with some clothing spilled out. She took off the letterman jacket and hung it over the chair at her desk. Andy sat on the bed, letting Glimpse have the chair if she wanted it. Though she could also sit on Gideon’s bed, that had been made with military precision. God today had been a wild day. How was it all still one day?
“Alright, I said I’d give you a bit of a quick summary of what happened before we got too into the weeds about that vision from Sabine just now. So... you left before we fought the X-Cutioner. We won that fight, but only technically. Sapphire sacrificed herself to freeze everything and everyone because he had set off a bomb of M-Pox. We all became people-popsicles for a few months. I don’t know if you heard about Genosha, but I woke up there. It was months later, like mid-summer.” Andy didn’t remember the exact date, but it was after her birthday. She still hadn’t had a birthday since then. Andy wasn’t sure of her chronological age anymore. Had being frozen kept her from aging for those months? If so she might have only recently creeped over to properly seventeen.
“Anyway, Genosha was... a lot. I mean it was supposed to be a paradise, but the bad thing happened and well see Zari had this prophecy that turned out to be about Genosha. She had to make sure something specific happened so that she’d be born. After that, and the final battle of Genosha, she could go home. I joined her. Her home just happened to be now. Zari went fully home recently. She’s back in her reality now. But because of her I enrolled into this school, met everyone you met just now. Then more chaos happened. It is a lot, if you want I’ll go into it, but it honestly isn’t important right now. However, I did find out that April, Danni and Dorian were Max, Ben, James and Casper’s kids. Then we went to visit and we all caught up.” Andy shrugged. She had glossed over a lot, but hopefully it was enough for Glimpse, for now. She’d fill in the details later.
Luna thanked Andy for her quick thinking and action, and happily followed Andy to her room. Once the door shut, Luna sagged with relief and exhaustion. Her situation wasn’t ideal, but she wouldn’t be stranded here. She’d get back home, even if she was freaking out about how many coincidences were happening since being her.
Luna took the chair, curling one leg under her and listened to Andy give her the rundown. It was strange, Luna felt like she was talking to a long-lost friend. Not someone who had been a kid the last time they had seen each other. In this moment, they were the same age. At least physically.
”So something happened in Genosha to prevent you from ageing?” Luna asked, hoping for some clarification on that. She beamed when Andy filled her in on who some of her classmates were. James had kids. Everyone had survived and made something of their lives. That was good.
”I didn’t stay in contact with anyone after I left. After everything…it just seemed better that way, safer. I thought about some of you often, though. But I’m glad you’re still here, and the others seem to be doing well. Are you still in contact with Veil?”
“The age thing is... well complicated. I don’t know if I’ll age. But I was cursed as a vampire for a while. But that’s gone now, so I don’t know if that’ll still make me immortal. But really I time traveled. I didn’t live the last seventeen years. I jumped from 2022 to last year. That’s why I haven’t aged,” Andy explained.
“I just met back up with Veil... Val. She goes by Val now. She’s married to Eva, a popstar. Gideon is obsessed, it is kind of cute. You mentioned kids... looking the same age as your daughter. So are you married?”
Luna's eyes widened as Andy revealed more of her tale. Vampires? Time travel? ”You've been busy,” Luna laughed.
She wrapped her arms around her legs, smiling at the thought of her family. ”Yes… for twelve years now. We have three daughters, all adopted. We want a fourth as well, although we are hoping to have her naturally. They're all…amazing. Stubborn as hell but amazing. My eldest is very dedicated to her work with the guard. My second, she's the one I am now the same age as, is just like me I swear. Even though we aren't blood, she carries the same attitude and temper as me. My youngest is twelve. She is more like my wife, even tempered and always knows the right thing to say. She's wise beyond her years but I think that has something to do with the Fae heritage she has. Oh, I'm also part Fae on my mother's side. I'm learning more about her people since being in the Otherworld.”
Luna looked sad as she finished talking about her family. ”Anyway, what is your girlfriend's deal? Just so I refrain from stepping on her toes again. I truly didn't mean to overstep. It was just a knee jerk reaction after seeing the changed tarot card.”
“Gideon is protective. She’s also a little blood thirsty in general. I’ve seen her without a sword in her hand... or at least arms reach... Once. And that was today when it got confiscated. She sleeps with it.” Andy glanced at the perfectly made bed. “There is a lot I still don't know about her. But she’s slowly talking to me about her past.” Andy sighs. “Yeah, it’s been a wild... year. All of this, everything that’s happened, meeting the MU, that wasn’t even a full year ago for me. I met you guys in February. It is January.” Andy shivered a little. Christmas had been hard, but she had met new friends and getting through it had been alright. A little easier than she had feared it might be.
“Family doesn’t mean blood. My father is more of a parent for me than my mother and he isn’t blood to me. And the two people I considered family more than anyone until he adopted me weren’t related either. I still carry their name. I always will.” She smiled softly.
“So... you’re part fae... and we’re going to the Otherworld. What can you tell me about it? What should we be wary of? How can we get there? I have a lot of questions. Like who were the other people in that vision?”
”Oh, as wary as any of us should be when venturing into new lands. There is a lot I could tell you about the Otherworld, but perhaps we should wait until we know where we end up. Crossing to the Otherworld is fairly simple. Have you heard of fairy rings? They are comprised of mushrooms in a perfect circle. Those are doorways to the Otherworld. Simple enough until you get there. I feel I would be able to give a better description of what to look out for if I had known why I was stripped of my rank.” Luna paused, looking down at her clothes.
They seemed to lack the usual sophistication and shine that they had while in the Otherworld. Not only did Luna feel weak, but her clothing did as well. She fiddled with the torn fabric where her rank as the head of the Captain Britain Corps once sat.
”The vision, that was a lot, but it explains why I have Lady Saturnyne’s tarot deck.” Luna pulled the deck from her pocket and laid out the cards on the ground before them. ”Each one of your friends is now on this deck; they each represent one of the tarot cards. Why, I’m not sure, other than you are all clearly meant to venture to the Starlight Capital. That is where Nemo is being held before execution. Why do you want to save him anyway? You do know his own partner turned him in, yes? As for the others, you saw Lady Saturnyne; she was the woman in white. There was Giselle, captain of Lady Saturnyne’s guard, and I’m not sure why, but there was a ball, all the fae courts were gathered, and then the swords were all housed in the armoury. I haven’t exactly analyzed the vision yet, but if I were a betting woman, I’d say there is some sort of coup about to happen. I’m just not sure if we’ll be the ones leading it or trying to stop it.” Luna sighed and leaned back in her seat. She could use more of that tea Chase had offered her.
“Nemo was one of our professors and coaches. He is important to several of the group.” Andy knew that if it were just up to her she wouldn’t risk going into what looked like a war. However, she knew her friends (even if she had missed the memo that Percy was Nemo).
“I didn’t know. What is he in trouble for?” Andy couldn’t guess what Nemo did to get himself in trouble. Something bad enough that his own partner, who she sort of remembered from the Halloween party, had turned him in. Why? Andy couldn’t imagine doing that. There was a reason the court didn’t allow spouses to testify against each other if they didn’t want to.
”Treason,” Luna said bluntly. She uncurled herself from the chair and walked around Andy’s room, examining her trinkets. ”For crimes against the TVA. He was messing with the timelines, and the TVA has headquarters in the Otherworld. He’s set to be executed.”
Oh. That was very bad. Part of her was suddenly worried this was her fault. She had been asked at the Contest if the TVA wanted her... what if they did and she had been protected by Nemo. Could she fix it? She felt all the work she had been doing towards being less scared about everything shatter around her. Andy closed her eyes and took a couple slow deep breaths. The others were already determined to help him. They’d go save him. They’d fix this.
“Okay, how do we get him back? I can’t let him be executed. None of us will let that happen. Are you good to help us? We’ll get you home and hopefully back to your normal powers and body. The others will be willing to do that much if you help us save him. They are a lot. I know. I can keep playing a bit of a buffer but any time spent with them and you’ll see how intense they are. Especially as one big group. I usually prefer to spend my time with them in small groups. But we can make this work.” She was going a bit off trying to reassure Glimpse, but she knew if they didn’t have her help they were doomed.
”They are a lot more boisterous than the MU were. Even Casper was tame compared to them,” Luna said with a laugh. ”You’ll have to point out who is related to whom for me. I’d like to get to know James’ kids if they’ll let me.”
Luna admired the sunset-stained glass that sat on Andy’s bedside table. ”I can walk everyone through the Starlight Citadel, where the dungeons are, where the execution is set to take place, and the guard rotation, but Andy… That is my home now. There are people I care about there. Good people just doing their jobs. I don’t think I can willingly work alongside you knowing some of my friends are going to be caught in the crossfire and potentially killed.” Luna looked at Andy.
”I would need time once we are over there to get word to my wife and some others I trust. If I understood better about why I was thrown out and why Nemo was messing with the timelines, I could be of better use. Which could be a problem. I might not be allowed to cross over.”
“I can’t be certain what he is doing to mess with time... but what if it is my fault? I time traveled here? I don’t belong.” She shuffled her feet looking at them. “There was something else that happened. We were training for the contest and this guy... Arcade. He said he wanted to help us. But instead he trapped us in an attempt to kill us. I escaped and Zari and I fought him but he did kill everyone else. They all died. So Zari has this watch thing and she reset time back ten minutes. We fought him again and saved everyone. What if that wasn’t supposed to happen? What if we were all supposed to die?” Andy couldn’t think of what else Nemo had changed. She didn’t know that he had saved April. She didn’t know that Percy was Nemo. She hadn’t heard any of the future things. So this was the best guess she could make.
By the end of the story Luna was sitting on the bed next to Andy, staring at the ceiling. She sighed heavily, scrubbing her face. ”That's… that's not good Andy. I mean, I completely get it, but that's something the TVA would be furious over. Messing with time, with fate? That's a tricky thing. Was Nemo somehow involved?” Did he take the fall for Andy and Zari?
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him... but,” Andy paused and bit her lip. “The West Coast Avengers were there really quick. If they had been contacted it could have been him. But why? And I’ve been here for ages. Zari went back in time in the first place to make sure she was born. If something specific didn’t happen she’d have never been born. Why didn’t the TVA show up then? Nemo didn’t know us yet he had no reason to interfere? Or even when I first showed up before I started going to school. Maybe Zari was messing with their readings because technically she’s from a completely different universe. I’ve been there. How does the TVA even know when things are being changed?” How big of a mess did she make just by following Zari?
”I wish I could be of more help in that department. Whenever I’ve worked with the TVA, they have always come directly to the Citadel. And I only know what I’ve told you about Nemo, as I was there when he was brought in. As for your involvement with messing with time, I wouldn’t worry about it until the TVA comes for you. If that happens, we’ll…we’ll figure something out.”
Andy sighed a little relieved but still held worry in her shoulders. Glimpse would recognize her posture from the old days, though with a bit less of the kicked dog look on her face. “Okay, well we won’t ask much of you if you don’t think you can help. But do you think you can handle working with the others for a bit at least? Long enough to get us there? Connect with your family and start figuring out what we can do? We won’t want to get you implicated in anything we do.”
Luna flopped back on Andy's bed and stared up at her ceiling. It was funny. Luna always wished she could connect to her own daughter this way, maybe this would help her to do so. She smiled.
”Of course I will. You just might have to do some translating for me. Those kids talk a mile a minute. Like that Danni guy, I think his name is? Do they ever take a breath?”
Andy laughed lightly. “Yeah. It took me a few months to understand either of them. April is easier to get, they at least breathe when they talk. Danni is James and Casper's kid. He was adopted while we were on Genosha. Ben was resurrected at the same time. He and Max adopted Dorian. And I think all four of them adopted April. I'll introduce you to everyone else in due time.” Andy looked at the tarot cards that Glimpse had. She wondered what they all meant. “Ready to risk the group? I'm sure they've spread out by now and it'll be a bit easier. They are all going to have a lot of questions for you. It might be easier to write up a FAQ that you can just hand them.”
Luna sat up, staring at Andy. ”Danni is James'? Incredible.” She turned away, pondering that fact for a moment before she gathered up the tarot cards.
”That might be easier. Or one question at a time sort of thing, rather than all ants in the pot. We should also gather some supplies before we make the journey.” Luna tucked her tarot deck away before she stretched.
”It is really good to see you, Andy. I'm glad things worked out in the end and you're still fighting.”
Andy smiled. She’d do her best to keep Glimpse from getting overwhelmed by the group. “It is good to see you too. I didn’t think I would ever see you again.” She hadn’t thought she’d see any of the MU before learning who the K-G trio’s parents were. Andy stood up and led Glimpse out of the room and back down into the general populace areas. She wasn’t sure what sort of supplies they might need but if Glimpse was recommending they gather some she’d make sure they had whatever might come in handy.
As the group dispersed and the heavy weight of serious revelations along with it, Danni bounced up and down on his toes. “Okay, okay, okay, okay! So t'at was a lot and I need a break from all t'e crazy stuff goin’ on sooooo…” Danni slung his arm around Ben and dragged him closer. “You're stuck ‘an'in’ out wit’ me! We got lots ta cover: a tour, karaoke, dinner, exploring your dorm room, touring my dorm room - its t'e best one btw - and we're burnin’ day light. ‘ave ya ever fed a dragon? Ya can feed Amelie tonight too! She can get real messy though so ya might wanna wear somet'in’ easy ta clean. The mess is such a pain ta clear out. Oh, ya know I can introduce ya ta t'e fam too! Obvi, Dee's a tiny, eeny, weeny bit busy soooo ya can meet my sib and my cuz! Riiiillie, Miiiillie we're gunna ‘an'out while t'e others do big spooky t'in's!” Danni shouted unnecessarily, waving wildly and swaying side to side as Amelie squaked excitedly and wiggled around in her carrier.
“Rillie, Millie, t'is is Bennie Boi! T'is is t'e guy I ran inta at t'e market durin’ break and low key kidnapped! Bennie, Rillie is my siblin’ and suuuuper good at crafty t'in's so if ya ever need somet'in’ like t'at, t'is is t'e sib ta go to.” Danni introduced them and then turned Ben to Millie. “And Mill-illi-illi-pede- waaaaaait, t'at's a buggy name! Oh you two were totes meant ta be friends! Ben's all ‘bout bugs so like, it's fate or somet'in’ t'at y'all are gunna be besties!! So cool! Millie is my cousin buuut she's like, sups famous and we ‘aven't seen ‘er since like… idk, before Rillie so I'm sups excited but ‘ave next ta not'in’ ta tell ya ‘bout ‘er! I get ta low key meet ‘er again too!”
Danni paused, checked the angle of the sun, counted how many people where in the group on his fingers, and nodded resolutely. “Okay, t’oughts. Karaoke, tour, food? Or we wanna do somet'in’ else? You wanna see somet'in’ else? Wait, Bennie are you a Karaoke kid? I feel like ya got t'at kinda sin'in’ t'at's good for like alt music but instead of bein’ read hard and depressin’, it sounds kinda sweet and innocent even if it's super terrible stuff.”
Ben hadn’t fed a dragon before, he hadn’t done a lot of things, and Danni didn’t give him much of a chance to respond. He shook his head to the question, and waved shyly at both Rillie and Millie. Ben doesn’t listen to pop music so he doesn’t recognize Millie.
“Do you like bugs?” he asked Millie? He was unsure if just calling the nearest insect to him would be a good idea, or if it would be better to leave well enough alone. “Uh, I haven’t ever done formal karaoke, but I sing along with songs and stuff? Does that count?” Ben wasn’t sure if his singing voice matched what Danni was describing at all. He felt a bit weird about being separated from Chase, but if he wanted to integrate into Danni’s friend group it might help to try to stand on his own. At least he had Danni. He didn’t know if he could handle the group of more than two at a time without Danni there too.
“Rillie and Millie is def going to get a little confusing,” April giggled. “Please call me April!” They hesitated for a moment. Dorian had specifically asked them not to. But… all the bad things had already happened and this wasn’t anything bad, this was something good - and Dorian had just wanted to avoid pulling attention from Percy’s birthday and Percy definitely didn’t want that attention from the way he acted. “Um, I’m using they/them pronouns now, btw!” The question about bugs seemed to be directed at their cousin, but Danni had mentioned before that Ben really struggled when it came to making friends, so they thought they’d try to help out and engage with him a little bit more. “I love dragonflies - the ones that skim along the top of the water are so pretty and it’s supposed to be good luck if they land on you… Absolutely no spiders though. I almost flooded the dorm room last year when I woke up and one was on the head of my bed, you would’ve thought I was being murdered!”
Millicent let the overload that was Danni give some introductions to one of the few she hadn’t gotten to know super well yet. Which was saying something since it seemed like she had gotten a crash course in meeting the others. ”Agreed, though Millie is the logical nickname. So Millie or Millicent, whichever is your preference.” She gave a warm smile to Ben as he proceeded to ask her a question that…well she had never considered. She fought off the gut instinct to recoil when talking about bugs, but it wasn’t like she hated bugs. She just preferred to be 10 feet away from them at all times.
”Oh goodness, well….I guess if I had to pick a favorite, I do like butterflies. They are so pretty. Also bees are fairly chill and they help the planet and whatnot. I’m guessing you’re big into buggies?”
Per Danni’s suggestions as to what to do, she considered them in equal measure and definitely didn’t have a preference. ”I mean you know I am going to say karaoke, but I don’t think that’s fair. I’m up for whatever, provided the drama is turned down to a minimum. I’ve hit my quota for the day.”
“Oh my God, YAAAAAAS! We need a chill, sups fun, problem-free hangout sesh!” Danni agreed with Millie wholeheartedly. Though, he felt a little left out of the favorite bug question so he giggled and bopped Ben on the nose. “And t'is buggie boi is my favorite bug! Now, let's get going! Since we don't ‘ave stron’ feelin's on what we wanna do, we should start wit’ a tour! I gotta show y'all t'e Tree. Y'all are chill wit’ ghosties, yeah?” Danni asked, snatching up Ben's hand and leading the group away from the Drama Zone.
“T'e ‘aunted tree is like t'e best spot ‘ere, tbh. Peeps say t'ere's t'is little kid's ghost ‘auntin’ t'e t'in’. Some peeps t'inks its a student t'at got got ‘ere, some peeps t'ink its t'is t'e ghost of a cat t'at takes t'e form of a little girl, and some peeps t'ink, like me, t'at it isn't a dead person, bit someone actually transformed into a tree and got stuck like t'at!”
“I’m not a bug,” he sighed. He didn’t know how many times he had to explain that. Just because he had powers to talk with insects. “And don’t worry April. I don’t like spiders either. They technically aren’t even insects. They are actually arachnids. So if they show up that wasn’t my doing. I can’t talk with them at all.” A tour would be nice. Ben didn’t really know the campus that well. Though the way things were looking they were likely going to play hooky within the first week of school. His uncle would be pissed. Danni had been talking up this tree for days.
“A tour would be nice,” he agreed, letting himself be swept up into Danni’s enthusiasm despite being just so tired from the day's events.
“Maybe next Halloween we break out the ouijia board around the tree?” April never knew which theory about it they believed the most - Margaret Carter wasn’t that old of a school, but the tree was massive and old. Anyone could have died around it. But no matter what, it couldn’t be as scary as Nimue’s haunted house. “Is there particular stuff you guys wanna see? I’m guessing you already saw through Stark Hall - or Stank Hall as people call it once it gets warm, soooo many people need to wear more deodorant than they really do - but that’s where the dorms, dining hall, and laundry are. Millie, I’m guessing you wanna see the performing arts center? Ben, hmm, are bugs your main thing or are there other stuff you’re into, too? Some of the science labs are pretty sick, if that’s your thing?” The tree wouldn’t take too long for them to look at. It might have some bugs that Ben would like to look at, though.
Millie felt a little insulted her bug picks weren’t acknowledged, but she figured her’s weren’t the most exciting picks. A tour would be good considering she hadn’t gotten one yet. ”A tour would be fantastic. I am down for whatever. I signed up for some performing stuff so I imagine I’ll get to know the performance center inside and out soon enough, so if we want to hit the other sights first, I am game. This tree sounds interesting, though. I’m not normally a fan of the spooky stuff, but what’s a little haunting amongst friends?”
“‘aunted tree, ‘aunted tree, ‘aunted tree!” Danni chanted excitedly, rushing along once he was given the go ahead. He'd been talking about this tree to Ben all break and now he actually got to show him! Danni get a firm grip on Ben's hand, weaving through other students of the festival, until it thinned out as they left the main space of the events and the noise slowly dimmed behind them.
In one of the courtyards between the school and dorms, a 40ft wych elm grew in the center to offer shade and shadow to the several benches around it when its leaves were in, but it had shed them for the season. Lights hung from the bare branches, small little things that would glitter and glimmer like fireflies when they were on, and a comfortable grassy space was permitted to grow around it. Danni bounced up to the edge of the grass and made a grand sweeping motion with his arm.
“Weeeelcome ta t'e ‘aunted tree! Its a nice little space, as long as ya like t'e specter o’ deat’ studyin’ along witcha!”
Ben let himself get pulled along after Danni. He was already getting used to being dragged about by him and he didn’t mind. As they walked Ben asked Millie, “What type of butterfly do you like? There are a lot of different types. I think my favorite of the butterflies is the Yellow Swallowtail. But California has a really neat migration for the Monarchs that I want to check out sometime.”
When they got to the tree he looked around. Ben wasn’t sure he was super fond of the idea of studying with a ghost, let alone a specter of death, but he wasn’t sure if that was real or just Danni being enthusiastic about a rumor. It was hard to tell. He reached out mentally and felt around for insects in the area. Unfortunately, Ben knew that butterflies were unlikely to be around. They were very out of season. That meant he couldn’t call any over for Millie to see. But maybe there was something else cool nearby.
Ben did sense a lot of insects in the area. Most he wasn’t surprised by. Happily there was a Darner. Since April liked dragonflies he reached out and called the dragonfly to him. Regretfully it was larger than the dragon! Almost as big as Ben himself.
“What the bloody hell!?” Ben yelled! “I’ve never seen a dragonfly that big.” It was a little unclear if his yelling was fear or excitement... probably both.
The darner was absolutely huge, magnifying the tiniest of features to be plainly visible, from the segmented nature of its body, the variations in texture and coloration reminding April of bamboo, to the intricate webbing of its wings, like something woven together by a master, and the wisps of white fuzz around its head, no different than dandelions scattered in the wind. The body was easily four feet in length, the arms and legs a foot each, and the head the size of a cat. It took a moment for April to even register it as a dragonfly, as their first instinct was to exclaim…
“It’s a fucking Pokémon!” April squealed. “A yanma, right? That’s so cool! How’d you get one? Both my brothers have pets and I’m kinda jealous tbh, so I’ve been thinking on trying to get one, calling it emotional support or something. What’s their name? Can Amelie play with them? Are you gonna bring them to Otherworld? What’s it eat when it’s that big? What do tiny dragonflies eat anyway? Besides water? Do you have, like, kibble for it?”
Millie had considered Ben’s question, mainly because she didn’t know that many species of butterflies. She just thought they looked cute. ”I don’t really know the name, but the one that is black and that pretty blue color? I haven’t seen that many back home, but I would love to visit the zoo or something that has like a butterfly house in it.”
As they approached the tree, Millie gazed at it curiously. What made it haunted again? Was it a spirit inhabiting it? Or did it just attract the ghosts? ”What’s the history behind it? Does the school have a dark, secret history?” It stood to reason, anyway. They were in America after all.
Without prompting, a huge dragonfly flew out and surprised Ben, but not April. She startled a bit, but knew dragonflies were not dangerous or bothersome, really. ”That thing is huge! Though I guess we are at a superhero school, so this shouldn’t surprise me. Sweet Pokemon reference also, April. Favorite starter type? And know I will judge the answer.”
“OMG I KNEW IT WAS ‘AUNTED! IT WANTS TA EAT US! I DON'T WANNA…” Danni panicked for a moment, Amelie wiggling out of his arms and up on his shoulders, wings flaring out at the arrival of a huge bug. Amelie puffed smoke out of her mouth and Danni darted behind Ben. When it didn't seem to do much more and the others didn't react, Danni peered at it closer.
“Oh, I guess it's just ‘ere for Benni. Is t'is a friend o’ yours? Or is it like a pet? ‘ow did ya get it ‘ere wit'out anyone knowin’?” Danni gasped as he realized what this was. “Omg, is t'is t'e ghostie of t'e tree? I didn't t'ink they became a dragonfly, but I guess they couldn't be a tree, t'at's silly! But legend ‘as it t'at t'is is t'e last tree of t'e forest t'at used ta be ‘ere and t'at when they tried ta cut t'is one down, t'e people cuttin’ it got cursed and t'eir machines got all torn up on t'eir own and t'e people workin’ ot just vanished, only t'e sounds of a cryin’ little girl were left behind for t'e police ta find.” Danni reached out to pet the dragonfly carefully.
“Did ya eat all t'e people tryin’ ta chop down your tree?” Danni asked, looking at Ben. “Wait, t'is doesn't wanna eat us does it?”
"Monarch probably.” Ben said half paying attention as he looked over the dragonfly. “It is a Fawn Darner. I called it here. I didn’t mean for it to be a giant one. I just wanted to show April... There aren’t any butterflies. I mean there are moths nearby, but that isn’t the same. Dragonflies don’t eat... people. But they are carnivorous and eat other bugs a lot, so maybe a giant one eats people?”
Ben focused on the dragonfly, and asked it, “Are you a spirit of the tree or some mutant dragonfly?” Ben was quiet for a moment as it listened to the dragonflies feelings of how trapped it had felt before, how freedom had felt, and that it had come when he called, but that it was hungry. “Uh, well it is hungry right now. But I don’t think it’ll eat a person.” Ben sent out another summon for other insects that he knew that dragonflies liked for it to eat. He felt a bit bad about that, but that was the cycle of life.
“Is it basic of me if I say my favorite starter type is—” April did a double take, their jaw dropping at Ben’s explanation. The dragonfly hadn’t seemed too scary a moment ago, but now they were imagining a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, a bloodthirst urging it on as it devoured other gigantic dragonflies. “It’s a cannibal???? My favorite bug is a cannibal????” Danni was right, this had to be the spirit of the tree! It was the only rational explanation for how a giant… “ohmygoditsamutantcannibal!” It had an X gene just like them. Would it only eat bugs? Or did it only eat mutants? “Ask it if it wants to eat mutants,” they squeaked.
”Well, cycle of life. Animals eat other animals, though I never heard of a dragonfly liking people, especially mutants. Granted, never saw one as big as that, but I doubt it’s dangerous. Plus, Benny boy here will help, surely. He’s the bug whisperer, which is a better job for him than me because I would pretty much say stand 15 feet away from me at all times. Look but no touch.”
Danni froze where he was going to pet the dragonfly. “Wha-? No touchy? It wants ta eat mutants?” Danni swallowed hard, Amelie staring unblinking at the dragonfly still all puffed up. He laughed awkwardly and inched very, very slowly away from the giant dragonfly. A cloud of other insects wove its way toward the group and the dragonfly's wings barely paused as it launched itself at the cloud, mandibles snatching them out of the air viciously.
“Oooookay, well, t'is is a great example o’ why t'is is t'e ‘aunted speed ‘cause t'is kinda stuff ‘happens!”
“It went for the other bugs first. I don’t think it’ll eat people, mutants or not. It only knows other insects. Hmmm. I was thinking I’d send it back to wherever it came from.” Ben watched as the dragonfly ate the other insects he had summoned. “Besides, Millie is right. I’ll make sure it doesn’t eat you all, don't worry. Dragonflies don’t normally eat people. If it were a giant mosquito I’d be more worried. I think it should be safe.” Ben hedged his bets, with ‘I think’, but dragonflies were pretty chill. “What should we do with it?”
Hearing that the giant bug wouldn’t eat mutants was reassuring. But April had absolutely no idea what to do with a giant bug. They shrugged their shoulders and raised their hands up. “Idk tbh,” they refocused their gaze on the tree, though. They tilted their head, a little confused as they saw something they didn’t remember being there before. It must have started growing over winter break. “Does it like mushrooms?”
Millicent actively avoided watching the dragonfly munch down on its meal of other bugs. Even if she understood that this was how the animal kingdom worked, it didn’t mean she needed to bear witness to it. Leave that for the nature documentaries narrated by Morgan Freeman. ”I say we let it do its thing and maybe go elsewhere? I wanted hauntings and while I am sure this will all come back to me in a nightmare, I’d rather not have to continue watching nature take its course.”
Danni waved good bye to the bug before turning to start at the mushrooms, poking one cautiously. “I didn't even know t'is tree grew mushrooms. I've never seen them ‘ere!” Danni tilted his thoughtfully. “Oh,okay. We can go see somet'in’ else, I guess. Maybe we could see t'e cafeteria or t'e trainin’ rooms or t'e theater or t'e… Actually, Benni Boi do ya want ta see somet'in’ specific or do ya want ta let Rillie pick t'e next place?”
Ben watched the dragonfly eat. He let go of the tenuous tether that had brought it to him. “Hmm, I don't think dragonflies eat mushrooms,” he told April. “I wouldn't even know what to look at so Millie or April can choose.”
April gave the mushrooms another look. They were odd, growing on the tree in a ring. They’d never seen mushrooms coming off of trees before, usually finding them littered on the ground - but fungi were weird, and given that a giant dragonfly had just buzzed around, they weren’t going to let this be the thing they saw today that drove them nuts. “Did you all know that mushrooms have, like, a giant hive mind? They’re ancient as fuck and we’re just little blips in existence for them - like elves or something. But more horror flavored. Kinda like Appa’s tentacles, no one really knows where mushrooms come from.”
Millie and Ben had already seen the field where the festival was being held, and they’d gone through Stark Hall, too. “What if we take them through the gym, and then go grab some hot cocoa at the coffee shop nearby?” April suggested to Danni. “It’s so fucking good there, way better than what they serve in the cafeteria,” they added for Millie and Ben’s benefit.
The gym wasn’t too far from the Haunted Tree - Margaret Carter was a relatively small campus, the buildings arranged with the main field in the dead center. The Steve Rogers Gymnasium was directly across the field from Stark Hall, easily the same size if not bigger than the residential building. Nestled behind the building were tennis courts, a baseball field, a soccer pitch - everything needed for the pursuit of outdoor sports. And despite being the carnival, it was fairly busy, students coming in and out, dressed in yoga pants and sweats, carrying gallon jugs of water as they took their post workout selfies.
“So this is the gym - named after Steve Rogers, obvi. First floor is pretty basic, standard stuff - like we’ve got spots for weights and cardio, there’s a pool which… we are not going to go see right now! But um, Danni can show you later. The climbing wall is pretty fun, you can learn how to belay and all, I’ve been wanting to get into that. There’s rooms for practicing dance and fighting - oh, and the room you both will probably need to go to!” April guided them down a maze of hallways, before they reached one with a variety of rooms marked Training Room A, Training Room B, and so on. “This is where coaches have us training for the contest, you’ll have to do that in the fall. But it’s also where your combat 101 classes will meet, which idk who is running them, as the person running them last time turned out to be a robot instead of a cat, which, mega yikes. But these rooms are intense, apparently they’re rated to hold a nuclear blast, which idk how you test for that but… Go crazy in there! Summon more pokemon!”
They then pointed to the nearest staircase. “Aaaaand now we go upstairs,” they prompted, leading the group on up. “There’s locker rooms up here, some in the basement too. Communal showers and stuff - oh, I forgot to mention there’s a sauna downstairs by the pool. But! Up here is where there’s an indoor track, there’s a roller skating rink, aaaand if you look to your left, you see that door with all the intense padlocks and keep out signs on it? That’s where we keep stuff for the Framework - it’s this, like, virtual reality software we can use for training, so no one can get hurt… except Arcade tried to murder us in there last fall soooo…. Yeah! Aaany questions? Anything you super wanna see in here? Most of our group spends a lot of time in here, except for Percy - he’s a soft boi.”
Millicent had 1,000 questions starting with tentacles switching into a robot slash cat and ending with Matrix murder? Still, she followed along. She was unsure she’d use the gym outside of combat classes. And she wondered if she would learn much outside of what her uncles and aunts taught her. Real world experience versus a classroom. ”Okay, cool. Loving the vibes. Except for the whole murder thing? I know that was brought up briefly, but I have tons of questions, but totes understand if that’s like a trauma thing.” Goddess knows she still has flashbacks to her own attack.
”Is the combat classes where we learn to use our powers? I haven’t used mine since…well, for a bit now. I could probably brush up on it.”
Danni nodded absently, eyes sparkling with wonder as he stared at the roller skating rink. “Oh, yeah. They'll putcha t'rough t'e ringer, tbh. Possion-Pas put us t'rough a course day 1 wit’ a real bomb at t'e end and t'en even once we all got t'ere, still set it off even t'ough we were takin’ its arms off, ya know?” Danni explained distractedly as he watched people skate. “And nah, totes all good. Ask away! Lotta peeps got spicy ‘bout it , maaaybes don't talk ta like, Leah or Beanie or some o’ t'e other's. They got real on t'eir ‘eads ‘bout it, but like, t'e Kingston-Gray's were chill!” Danni stared vibrating, gripping onto Millie with a white knuckles grip.
“We gotta do a skate night. I like, totes forgot t'is was even a t'in’. I might not ice skate tons ‘cause fire and ice are a spicy mix, but get me on a pair o’ does babies and we're cookin’ wit’ gas!” Danni grinned. “But yeah, t'e combies will teach ya. Ya should come watch one of Rillie and me's spars. It gets real intense, ya know?”
Ben’s eyes lit up at the idea of the rock wall. He liked climbing. He hadn’t done a lot of rock climbing but Parkour skills had to overlap some. Ben had heard a bit about the Arcade situation from Danni. He didn’t quite understand completely what had happened, but he knew enough to keep away from that touchy subject.
“I like climbing. I do Parkour, skateboarding, and I’ve done a bit of ice skating. Not enough to be any good at it, but I can keep my feet under me... mostly.” Ben hadn’t had a lot of a chance to use his powers either, well, his combat power.
“Nimue didn’t throw a bomb at us - but she did make us fight the Questing Beast,” April recalled. “Huuuge fan of swords. But I guess that is gonna pay off with Sugar Cube’s vision! Whoever you get as a coach, be prepared for them to throw some gnarly shit at you… Especially things you aren’t prepared for. I think they’ll keep Excelsior together for next year, but maybe you two could be on a team together if you’re lucky!”
April grinned, seeing that Ben was coaxing his way out of his cocoon. “Yeah? You should def hang with Leah some time. She’s one with the rocks like a fucking Jedi. Just mind her hair. It’ll flay you alive. Used to give me a bit of a scrape when we’d kiss.”
Millicent almost wondered what the hell went on in this school if there were literal bombs and questing beasts, but she figured that the school would now best, right? Prepare them for the real world. A villain isn’t going to hold back because you weren’t trained in how to dispose a bomb. ”All right, looking forward to it.” Millicent was a bit concerned about the whole Arcade thing though.
And Millicent didn’t let it slide that April mentioned kissing Leah previously. If anything, it felt like drama that she had already suggested they forget before their eventual foray into the Otherworld. ”Guess we’ll have to get some team practice in Benny boy. Learn how to use our powers together. And Chase and Marlena also.”
“Oooooo, yeah, and Leah can just make ya a new course if ya get bored or too used ta it, ya know? Just a wham bam thank you ma'am!” Danni bounced along eagerly, heading back towards the stairs to continue the tour. “And if t'e framework gets back up anytime soon, t'en you can do some real cool team up practice! So when you're t'inkin’ of stuff, don't limit what ya wanna try ta just this place. You can toss customize the world ya set up in if ya wanna try so real crazy stuff. Different planets, bottom o’ t'e ocean, tots new places, t'ough we used ta ask ‘Cadie for t'at so maaaaybe avoid t'at. But if ya wanna get good, aim for t'e wildest stuff ya can imagine and find your limit!” Danni recommended eagerly.
“Oooh, and combo moves! Def t'ink o’ combos. Dee and I got one, Rillie and I got one, gotta figure out ‘ow ta get a triple move down for next year's Contest, and t'en I wanna try wit’ Leah too. ‘ad an idea over break so I was gunna use t'is semester ta work on it ya know?” Danni paused for a moment and frowned. “‘ow long do ya t'ink we're gunna be tryin’ ta save Poisson-Pas? Do ya t'ink its just gunna be like… a day? Or like, a real long time? Like a few weeks? A year?”
Ben nodded, nervous at the idea of training with any of the group from Excelsior. Millie was a bit more approachable. She didn’t downright terrify him like those he had seen in the contest. “Sure,” he told Millie softly. He could do this. He could.
His eyes widened at the mention of trying to save a professor he had never met... or he supposed Percy's future self. How long would it take? Were they just going to ditch school? His heart sounded at the thought. Not the idea of being truant itself. He had done that plenty of times. It was the knowledge that the last time he had ditched school his parents had died. His whole life had been thrown into turmoil. He shoved the thoughts away, and just shrugged.
“From the vision it looks like we have some intense things to deal with.” They'd have to get to that final battle. “I don't think it'll be a day trip. But I don't know how long it'll actually take... and I don't know if it is real but doesn’t time run differently? Like Rip Van Wrinkle or whatever his name is.” They could be there for an hour and a hundred years pass or the opposite, trapped for a hundred years to come back and it's been an hour like the Narnia kids coming back through the wardrobe.
“Hmm, I mean we know where we’re going, and we have so many teleporters around with Percy and Chase, probs less than a day, tbh?” April shrugged. “I’m gonna bring my meds with me just in case, but we should def be back before classes and all start. We got auto A’s last time and I wanna get at least B’s this semester, so skipping school is not the move to make… and I think the ‘rents would kill us, ‘specially Danni, for skipping. Dori’s got the annoying ability to sleep through an exam and still somehow ace it, so.” They went down the stairs with the rest of the group and back out the gym entrance, reemerging into the frosty winter air. “Is Van Wrinkle a British superhero or something?” they asked Ben, confused.
”I mean, does anyone know how that place works? Could be the opposite where one day there is like 5 months here. We could go and come back within an hour and a whole year has passed with our pictures on milk cartons or whatever. Might be best to inform the parents and caregivers where we’ll be going? I know my aunts and uncles will be very worried, but otherwise I think chill about it? Especially if I am amongst the team that kicked ass during the contest.”
“Millie, no. You cannot tell t'e ‘rents nada. Not'in’ at all. I ‘ah ta kick and scream and cry and everyt'in’ in between just ta be allowed ta go ‘ere. I am not gunna give Pops anyt'in’ else ta use against ne on t'at. So mums t'e word til we show up, ‘avin’ saved Possion-Pas, draggin’ t'eir MU days friend along as a distraction.” Danni quickly jumped in, waving his arms around wildly. He shivered a little as they reimerged into the chilly air and blew warm air into his hands, letting it ignite and drift off towards the others. He made four balls of fire that bounced around them, casting warmth in a comfortable ring.
“Ooookay, gym is done so let's go get some ‘ot coa- Ouch! Amelie! ‘ey! Stoooop! T'at's a- touchy! T'at's my eye!” Danni stuttered and flailed as Amelie suddenly darted out of her harness and used his nose and eye as climbing points, chasing eagerly after the little balls of fire. Danni shifted her, sticking his tongue out at the playful bites and growls she gave him, and sighed in relief as her sharp little claws weren't digging into his face anymore. “Ooooookay, round 2! Tryin’ t'at again! So ‘ot chocolate from our fav coffee place? Its just outside t'e school so we can get away from t'e craziness a but! It's called Secret IdentiTea and it's super cute! Nice chairs, weird music, an espresso machine t'at looks like its actually from like an industrial factory. T'e whole vibe ya know? But they make a meaaaaaaan cup o’ chocolate and they ‘ave all sorts o’ toppings, even those real big ones t'at are all t'e rage.” Danni slipped his hand back into Ben's and slid his arm into Millie's before leading them out through the crowded school gate and down the road, where city life sprung up immediately. It was barely a block and indeed Secret IdentiTea, a domino mask and a steaming cup of tea their logo, stood in cool, dark tones.
The door mingled as it opened, the aroma of espresso, teas, and sugar racing out to meet them. Laid back, underground music played through tinny speakers, and a few people sat in the mismatched chairs shoved into corners and awkwardly around tables with laptops, board games and the periodic notebook as a monocled, twisty mustache barrista glanced up, offered them a nod, and turned back to the hissing machine. The board above him, done in chalk and big bold lettering, detail a variety of items, including a full topping bar for any drink that claimed a quarter of the menu.
“Tada!!! ‘ere it is! Great place ta kick it after gettin’ dragged up and down t'e sparrin’ ring by a ghost!”
“Uh... no? I think he was just some guy. It’s a story. Not real... I don’t think. Something about him going to sleep for 100 years I think,” Ben explained to April. Danni telling Millie that they couldn’t tell the “‘rents” where they were going made Ben more nervous. Matt would be pissed. Maybe it would be okay for him? Since Matt didn’t know Danni’s ‘rents.
“Do they do tea?” Ben was pretty sure he was going to get hot chocolate. There was no way this place would have tea that fit his standards. If they did though, that’d be awesome. He looked over the menu trying to see the options for tea.
“Oh!!! You mean Captain America!!!” April giggled. It must have been hard to keep track of the names of another country’s superheroes - April knew they couldn’t name who the current Captain Britain was, after all. “It’s Steve Rogers, btw - like the gym we were just in.” They hadn’t ordered the tea at IdentiTea much before, but it was part of what the shop was known for. “I haven’t tried it, I tend to get a cortado when I get here, it’s sooo fucking good. The hot chocolate is super super good, probably the best in all of Los Angeles, if not the planet - like even better than what Appa makes on Christmas Eve.” They beamed, waving excitedly over at the barista. “Dan-Thé!!!! How’s it going, man???” They bounded on over and threw their arms around the monocled man, giving him a hug. “Dan-Thé is probs the best barista here - and tells the most incredible stories. I’ve pretended to study here for hooours.”
Millicent didn’t like the idea of not letting her aunts and uncles know where she would be going. It wasn’t like she didn’t break the rules or rebel, but she was new to the school. She didn’t have a contest win under her belt. Even if they managed to save Nemo and come back, would everyone be so forgiving? Not to mention the fact the team had apparently been held captive and killed in some video game. Danni meant well and she knew that a caregiver could be too safe, but there was a bond of trust there.
She bit her tongue though as she followed the others to the coffee place. It looked like a popular place and given how close it was to the school Millicent figured she would be here often. A hot chocolate sounded awesome at this point. ”Hot chocolate sounds delish.”
“Why, ain't it my favorite waterbender?” Dan-Thé laughed, scooping April up in a brief hug and then sent them back around the counter. “And friends, I reckon. Now don'tcha'll follow this one's example - behind the counter is employees only.” He pulled the milk off the steam wand, gave it a quick wipe down, and poured the flat white, pitcher coming up over his head as he kept the stream steady. He passed it across to a waiting woman, hair up in a clip as messy as can be and glasses slightly askew with a bit of tape on one leg, and turned back to them.
“Okay, so one cortado for this one and Grandma's hot chocolate with all the fixin's for Danni Bannani.” Dan-Thé was already pulling cups out and Danni nodded eagerly. “I think I heard another hot chocolate from little miss Pop here. Welcome ta my shop, by the way! You want it the same way as Danni, with all the fixin's and made from the small batch or you want something a little more modern?”
Dan-Thé closed one eye as he peered through his monocle at Ben. “And did I hear tea? I can getcha a little of anything really, but I'm thinking you want ta stick with the tried and true. English Breakfast, two sugars, a splash of cream?”
Danni leaned over to Millie. “Def get it Grandma's way wit’ all t'e fixin's. It's basically a meal at t'at point.”
Ben's eyes lit up with happiness as Dan-Thé suggest exactly how he liked his tea. “Yes please,” he said a little shyly but with obvious excitement and relief in his voice.
April laughed, letting themself be chased back around the counter. It was honestly something of a miracle that Dan-Thé didn’t mind their presence too much. They were getting better at not spontaneously bursting pipes around them, but they definitely had had to text Pa before to ask for some magical assistance at the cafe. “Yeah, this is Millie, our cousin - and then our new friend, Ben! He’s proper British and all, and I think desperate for a cup of tea he hasn’t had to make himself.”
Millicent felt like the person in front of her was the embodiment of a warm embrace. She would definitely be spending a lot of time here. ”I’ll get it Grandma’s way then. May as well go all out. It is very nice to meet you. You’ll be seeing me around a lot. Guaranteed.”
Dan-Thé laughed at the responses and plucked a glass jar of loose leaf tea, labelled English Breakfast, off the shelf and a glass tea pot. “Well, Ben. As a way of saying welcome, I’ll do a pot on the house, how about that? Enjoy more than just a cup and you keep coming back while you’re here with us anytime you just need a fix.” He filled an electric kettle and set it to heat, while he pulled out a small glass, a bottle of sprinkling water, and two huge, oversized white mugs.
“I can’t offer you a whole pot of Grandma’s way, but I’ll make sure yours is on us too. I take it you’re attending school? I know a few people curious why one of their favorite artists vanished inta thin air.” Dan-Thé chatted as he continued to pull things out from under the counter - a black and wood serving tray, two glass tea cups, a glass sugar container only large enough to fit about ten sugar cubes, and a clear cream cup into which Dan-Thé poured a comfortable amount of crea. “Grandma’s way takes a touch longer than the rest, fair warnin’. We use Boyacán cocoa and melt it to order. Takes ‘bout ten minutes in the back, but has lovely notes of roasted almonds and honey, and we fold a touch more sugar inta it to take the darkness in it out all the way. Y’all wanna go sit and we can bring it out in a moment, or ya want me ta start that cortado already, waterbender?”
“Woooooooow, not given’ it ta us on t’e ‘ouse too?” Danni sniffled and draped himself dramatically over the counter, tears welling up a little. “Us, your favorite customers. US, your most loyal customers. Us, who brin’ new people ta t’is place.”
“Mhm, spot on.” Dan-Thé laughed at the wounded sound Danni made. “Let’s not talk about all the extras I’ve given you over the years, hm?”
“But t’at was t’en and t’is is noooooow.” He sighed when the barista made no move to change anything. “Fiiiiine, I suppose I’ll just suffer.”
In the corner, one of the tables went silent as they started at the group. Hushed whispers broke out as they leaned into each other, fingers flying furious across phone screens and one angling their camera not so subtly towards them.
Ben could have cried tears of joy. He didn't care about having to pay or not. He was very excited, as April pointed out, to have a cup of tea he didn't have to make that was perfect. He had already forgotten the conversation about Rip Van Wrinkle or Captain America.
“I'll definitely come back. Danni is my friend so I'm sure I'll be here again with him. And my boyfriend will want to join too. Thank you very much.”
Ben noticed how the noise level in the cafe shifted. He looked around confused trying to figure it out.
“Could I get the cortado now and then get a cocoa when the others - wait, hold on,” April held up a finger, interrupting themself. “Benjamin Button, we’re friends too,” they protested. “Why’d you just say Danni? Everyone is gonna want to bring you here with us, we come here all the time.” They stared at him like he was some particularly confusing problem, like he had sprouted a second head and a tail all at once without an explanation. The silence that had rapidly occurred in the shop was lost on them. “Are we not friends?” April asked, almost sounding hurt.
”Ha, disappear. It’s funny because I left and went to school and that’s one of my powers!” Granted, Millie didn’t know if the joke was intended or not, but still. ”And the drinks that are being paid for can be my treat. As a way of saying thank you for the tour.” She noted the small, rising tension of Ben and his comment. Millie didn’t feel any ill intention. After all she had just met and gotten to know Ben a bit. ”Well hold on. I don’t think Benny boy meant anything bad. After all, I just got to know him and while I like him, I would also hesitate to use the word friend. Acquaintance, maybe and I fully intend on hanging out with him more and moving into a friendship, but that takes some time. As cool as everyone is, people get to judge for themselves on who is a friend or not. I think we use that word too loosely sometimes.” Millie knew from experience how people assumed that with her being nice that meant she was a friend, especially fans who got too parasocial. ”We got a good group here. Let’s not cause unnecessary problems when we already had a day full of them.”
“Yeeeeees. Danni threw his arm around Millie. “Exactly! I totes agree we deeef don't need more drama, which is why we're all friends! So let's go chill at our table while Dan-Thé finishes off the drinks! We can play some games, we can gossip about people, I can show you my totally awesome and not at all dangerous juggling skills. It only has a little fire and is definately not aaaaall fire but-”
“No fire in the coffee shop, Danni.”
Danni stuck his tongue out and skipped over to a table that had a map of the world printed on it, a scotch mark on one corner, and clearly had a few of the legs replaced. Danni slumped into a chair and patted the table for everyone to follow. “Okay, soooooo wit’ t'is bein’ two outta four first time here, at school t'at is, ‘ave ya started t'inkin’ ‘bout your spring break plans yet? Are we doin’ ‘an'outs, you just chillin’ wit’ your folks?”
Ben was startled by April’s response. They had literally just met a few hours ago. Yeah, he knew about them, and they probably knew a fair amount about him because of Danni... but they didn’t really know each other. Ben shouldn’t be surprised that someone related to Danni would be that quick to make friends considering how Ben’s friendship with Danni had started, but he was. His experience prior to coming to America had been one group of friends made while they still wore diapers and he had never looked back. He didn’t know where the line of acquaintance and friend was. Millie at least seemed to understand. They had just met. How could you call someone you had known less than a full day a friend?
“But I don’t know everyone. I know Danni. I just met you a few hours ago. I’m not saying we won’t be friends. Like Millie said. It isn’t that I don’t want to be friends with you. But what makes someone a friend? I don’t know, not really. All of my friends before were my friends because we all lived in the same apartment complex. Are we friends because Danni and I are friends? Or are we friends because we share interests?” Ben shrugs. He didn’t want to go into how his first impression of April wasn’t actually a good one. They had trapped him in a room of ice that Danni had to get him out of. The whole thing had been very upsetting and only a few hours ago. It hadn’t been intentional to hurt Ben and he knew that, but it didn’t change that it had scared him. He was scared of April. He was scared of basically all of Danni’s friends. They were good fighters and he wasn’t. If he was honest with himself, which he wasn’t very good about, he was friends with Danni because Danni made any other option impossible.
Danni’s questions pulled Ben from going farther down that thought process. He definitely hadn’t thought about Spring Break. That was a million years away. “Uh, I don’t know Matt will probably want some time with me. But I’m sure he’ll be happy to have you come over again. I don’t know if he would allow everyone to come over though. He will probably let me go to your place without much issue... after he meets your folks.” Matt liked knowing the parents of his friends. He had made that clear with Chase.
April frowned. Causing unnecessary problems? It was important to them to be friends with their siblings’ friends. That didn’t seem unnecessary at all. In fact, a lot of the drama from the previous semester had boiled down to lines and divisions in their group - Sabine had been best friends with Danni but hated Dorian and ignored April, and had April been friends with her too, the entire failed polycule mess could have been avoided. Andy had been friends with - well, people who weren’t in the group anymore - but hadn’t been on good terms with Danni. And Percy had only been friends with Dorian but nasty with everyone else. Vicky had been stressed about the idea that she couldn’t hang out with Danni at the same time as April. Maybe things were different for Millie, but there wasn’t anything unnecessary about affirming friendships at all to April. But if Ben didn’t want to be friends, April wasn’t going to push it.
“No prob!!” They took a seat down next to their brother.
They still didn’t seem to understand, but she wanted to avoid drama, so avoid drama she did. She followed Danni and sat down across from him and April. ”I hadn’t thought about it. This is my first time away from home so I am not ready to go back so soon. Plus I got music to write.”
The energy surround the concept of friends was lost on Danni as he batted at Millie. “Noooooo! You're gunna ‘an'out wit’ t'e fam! You can't do work and school and train and come see t'e fam! T'at's soooo much! It sounds exhaaaaausting.” Danni whined. “What I'm t'inkin’, and I've been t'inkin’ real ‘and on t'is since I saw t'at picture on t'at billboard out t'ere when we were comin’ ‘ere so ya know its seriously awesome, is a ‘uuuuge luau wit’ like a ‘uuuge bonfire and like, we can invote t'e whole group, right? But. But. ‘ow do ya keep everyone entertained? Course we're gunna bot'er t'e ‘rents and get a big ol’ pool and maybe like some skatin’ stuff for Sauna Boi and Bennie Boi. And obvi gotta ‘ave like a real big bonfire so we can do s'mores and like, fire dancin’, but t'ere's a murder. And it's like a villian creeped in and got a person and t'ey're impastanin’ someone so we gotta figure it out and catch ‘em! And idk, whoever figures it out first gets a big prize, like a super hug or somet'in’, idk. Cuddles wit’ one person of t'eir choice, t'at sounds fun. But yeah, I t'ink murder mystery luau party!”
Ben wasn’t sure if his point had gotten across. He didn’t think people could be instant friends. That you had to work at it. Maybe it was because he had never had anyone but his group growing up. When he had first met Chase even he hadn’t wanted to be friends with him, but Chase sort of kept showing up. They kept hanging out. He’d be friends with April eventually, sure, but calling each other friends immediately... he didn’t quite understand. He smiled and sat down, letting the conversation switch gears again. It was hard to stay on one topic with Danni.
His eyes went wide at the mention of a murder. Danni was planning on killing someone!? But then Ben caught on. A murder mystery game. That made more sense. He relaxed a little. It seemed like an extreme way to keep everyone entertained. It could be fun. Impastanin? Ben guessed Danni meant impersonating.
“How long is Spring Break? Can we spend some time at home with family and do this?”
“Umm, it’s about a week - but your uncle lives really close by, right? So you shouldn’t have any issues. And transit isn’t really a worry because of your boyf - and if it was, Percy can hop you around, or Pa can - or Dori if you wanna push your luck and see how his aim is with the sling ring that day.” Distance wasn’t much of a factor - it was more a time thing. “Do you have any, like, pop star friends you’d wanna bring? Oh! Danni remind me when Dan-Thé comes over to give him the big update!! Also, obsessed with this idea, we need to have a Traitors watch party for ideas, and I want to be guaranteed cuddles with you even if I don’t win, by the by, bc you know I can’t sleep well by myself anymore. It was the woooorst when I was on my grippy sock vacation. No cuddles for a millennia.”
April then gasped and practically screamed. “WAIT! You need to take Sauna Boi to the sauna!!!” They shook Danni by the shoulder wildly, disturbing poor Amelie.
”I still have to work Danni. I have concerts upcoming that people have bought tickets long in advance for. So I need to make some new songs. Shouldn’t take up too much time. And you know I am always down for a party. And a murder mystery luau? Sounds right up my alley!”
Millicent considered April’s request. ”I am sure I can put some feelers out and see who wants to come. It’s a fairly busy time of year, but with the promise of good food and a stage, some would drop what they have going on and join. I can def ask!”
Dan-Thé busted over as Amélie started screeching at the aggressive jostling, Danni clinging onto April for dear life. “Save that excitement for the drinks; jostle these old tables too much and you might end up wearing them!” He placed the tray down, setting the teapot, cup, sugar, and cream in front of Ben, one cup already poured. He placed the cortado, a little wave in the foam, and a glass of sparkling water in front of April. Danni and Millie both received hulking mugs of hot chocolate, topped with a layer of melted marshmallows, house made whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, caramel drizzle, rainbow sprinkles, half a brownie, and a whole chocolate chip cookie cut in half and placed on the rim like a garnish. “Tea for Ben, cortado and water for April, and two Hot Chocolate Grandma's Way.”
Danni screeched excitedly; Amélie matched the energy in a much more confused way. “OMG YAAAAAAAAAS!” Danni bounced in his chair as everything was set in place, the previous conversation nearly forgotten. He snatched a cookie garnish off the rim and used it as a scoop for marshmallow goodness, batting Amélie away from it as she tried to lean down and snatched it up.
“OMG! YAAAAAAAAAAS RILLIE!” He said around a mouthful of cookie. He had no qualms talking with his mouthful. Danni pointed at Ben. “Your boyo owes me sauna time. Gotta drag ‘im in kickin’ and screamin’.” Danni shoved the other cookie in his mouth, offering a scoop of marshmallows to Amélie.
“Gotta talk ta Pa ‘bout ‘ow big ‘e can make t'e ‘ouse but yeah, brin’ any o’ your friends! Any friends o’ yours are friends of mine!” Danni lifted the cup to his mouth, a thumb hold back the brownie, and took a long, scalding sip. He moaned as the thick chocolate hit his tongue and he did a happy little wiggle in his seat.
Ben was excited when the drinks were brought over. He smiled and said, “Thank you.” He sipped tea. It was perfect. He melted a little bit into his chair. Generally he didn’t mind making his own tea. There was a certain ritualistic aspect to making tea that made him feel better. But it wasn’t often he got a cup this good. Matt tried, but he was more of a coffee convert. Chase was learning, and getting good at it. “This is perfect,” he quietly told Dan-Thé before he left.
The reminder of the sauna time Ben nodded. “Chase knows. I promise.... But that is a just the two of you thing. Not sure I want to go into one of those.” He shuddered a bit at the idea. Ben considered if he wanted to say that all of his friends were Danni’s friends, or Danni himself. He liked Marlena, but was she a friend? Danni had claimed friendship with Chase already. “I don’t really even know anyone else here, except Chase obviously, and Marlena. I don’t know if you know her, but she’s cool. Met her at the skate park. But we’ve only hung out that once.”
“Well, the only way to change that is while hanging out with people and asking them questions about themselves,” April offered with a shrug, taking a sip of their cortado. The bitterness of the coffee cut right through the milk and they let out a content sigh. They tended to favor sweet drinks, but every now and then, they craved the unaltered taste of good espresso. They did turn slightly pink as Ben mentioned Marlena and April decided to side step that particular minefield for now. “And we’ll have tons of time to get to know each other more in Otherworld.”
Millicent watched as her hot chocolate, if it could be called that since it seemed like an oppressive dessert than a comfort drink, was put in front of her. ”Dan-Thé, from one artist to another, you are a visionary. Truly, this is the best drink I have ever laid eyes on, let alone consumed. Brava!” She was excited to dig in, but how did one approach this? Did they eat the cookie or brownie first? Would eating them make the hot chocolate go room temperature too quickly?
She felt herself spiral a bit, but it was fine. ”I think we got a good group with everyone. I don’t know everyone too well apart from you all and some I talked to already like Marlena, but if you guys are cool with the others, then they are cool with me. And like April said, we got a whole ass adventure coming up. That tends to form bonds.”
Emily parted ways with Aster. She had a couple of hours still, and the hottest part of the day had started to dissipate. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. She’d have to make sure she devoted the earlier part of the day to the trails so the later part could be used for cooler things. The breeze helped. She shivered slightly as it wrapped around her. Em took a deep breath of the fresh air. She coughed slightly. No, not fresh. Something acrid rode the wind. It wasn’t quite sulfur but it made her think of it nonetheless. Then the smell was gone. Maybe some creature had had a really nasty poop upwind of her.
She saw the trio heading toward the big house. It looked like they had figured it out and at least Nancy was mostly walking under her own power. She was using her brother for stability but didn’t seem to be leaning on him. Em nodded and grabbed the wheelbarrow she had been using and started up toward the trail she had last been working on. All of the debris she had pulled would be good for a fire later.
Location: The Statue of Ardyon’s room Grimoire: Skills:
Connie flipped Barty off as he pushed past them and into the room they hadn’t even entered yet. There was no heat in the gesture. She followed after him and looked at the letter, the note about getting access to more information was frustrating. Of course it was gated. Connie felt a wave of weariness that was timed with the pulse of the sigils. That wasn’t good. Quickly she made a note in her book about it. The weariness passed. Jake mentioned that he felt it too. A lot of what Jake said worried her. “That sensation is not normal. It is likely the statue pulling magic from you. Remember the warning of those who come in here becoming insane. There is a reason we have a time limit. Also Jake is normally a shortened version of Jacob. Pedro’s name has flexibility for diminutives,” she explained to Jake.
“Of those of us here, my hair is the only one long enough for a good braid, which it is.” She pointed to the braid of hair going down her back. Connie sat down looking at the glyphs. She had some knowledge of the magic type. It wasn’t her main focus.
These glyphs were odd though. Almost inverted or scrambled. “These aren’t normal glyphs.” she started to explain. She pulled out her clean notebook and flipped to a page of glyphs with notations. “Standard glyphs look like this.” She held up the book for Barty to see.
Location: First Gate -> Neverish Grimoire: Skills:
Finley put Franklin out of their mind. It was an unfortunate loss as he would be useful in this situation. Rohan went through the gate and Finley stepped in after him. There was little need for more discussion. The shadows of the gate seemed to welcome Finley.
It was frozen darkness. The cold rapidly set in. Finley’s hands burned with the cold, breathing was difficult. It made Finley think of the paths of the Cait Sidhe, paths that were forbidden to Finley. The cold was so intense that Finley’s hands were frostbitten. They felt Dysphoria shift and cover them, the damage to their hands healed. Finley felt safe and warm wrapped up by their dearest companion.
The pair fell into the darkness. Hopefully after Rohan. It would be quite unpleasant if they were to be separated in the first moments. They mentally reached for the heart of blood the group had created the day before and felt the tether connecting them. Good. If they were to be separated they could still find their way back out.
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/0BmP29s.png[/img][/center]
I am bad about keeping this updated
RP's (Updated 2/13/25)
[u]Upcoming[/u]:
Northwood - A slice-of-life horror rp
[u]Currently Running[/u]:
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5595988]Château de La Lune[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5623805]Camp Lava Lake[/url]
[u]Currently in[/u]:
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189613-avengers-academy/ooc?page=4]Avengers Academy[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195905-strange-academy-journey-into-mystery/ic]Strange Academy[/url]
An incomplete and in no particular order dead or ended RPs I have participated in:
[hider]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/163808-x-men-cosmic-crusades/ooc]X-Men[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195600-the-season-of-the-enlightened/ic]Season of the Enlightened[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195033-welcome-to-havenwood/ic]Welcome to Havenwood[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/176265-heroes-of-olympus-the-next-age-of-heroes/ic]HoO[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/191794-the-dead-dont-die/ooc]Dead Don't Die[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185787-ride-or-die-for-the-republic-morose-kirah-nallore/ic] Ride or Die for the Republic (Morose & Kirah & Nallore) 1x1x1[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/179952-once-upon-a-time/ic]OUAT[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5456713]Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH![/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/181849-heroes-of-olympus-the-hidden-gem-nallore-morose-kirah/ic]HoO Romans 1x1x1[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/172808-agents-of-shield-the-terrigen-bomb/ic]AOS[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/176039-the-gifted-thisisforever/ic]The Gifted[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/182285-hotel-valhalla-the-gods-of-asgard/ooc]Hotel Valhalla[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/166080-the-wolves-of-red-lake-completed/ic]Wolves of Red Lake[/url] (completed)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/181921-forgotten-space/ooc#post-5109978]Forgotten Space[/url] (A spiritual successor to Liquid Memories and Darkness Below, closed due to time constraints)
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/91286-salem-witches-institute/ic]Salem Witches Institute[/url] Canceled
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/180901-harry-potter-and-the-alchemists-quest/ic]HP[/url] Canceled
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/169901-through-the-doors-of-our-hearts/ic]Doors[/url] (completed)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80219-finite-incantatem-au-harry-potter-rp/ic]Finite Incantate[/url] (Co-GM) Canceled
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81224-invincible-chapter-i-origination/ic]Invincible[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81373-wink-murder-who-killed-mr-jig/ic]Wink Murder: Who killed Mr. Jig[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/79223-wolf-manor/ic]Wolf Manor[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/171303-for-queen-and-country/ic]For Queen and Country[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80486-northwood-academy/ic]Northwood Academy [Open to new apps][/url] (GM, spiritual successor to the school in the woods)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80083-the-town-at-the-end-kirah-apollo/ic]The Town At The End[/url] (1x1)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/78659-among-the-ruined-season-4/ic]Among the Ruined (closed)[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75858-the-triwizard-champions/ic]Triwizard Chapions[/url](1x1x1)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66106-forsaken-children-of-war-kirah-and-mchaggis/ic]Forsaken Children of War[/url](1x1)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/92946-ch-teau-de-lalune/ic]Château de Lalune[/url] (GM, closed)
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/137021-hogwarts-world-tour/ic]Hogwarts World Tour[/url] (Closed)
[URL=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/88884-the-mundane-small-town-teenage-superheroes/ic]Mundane[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/83121-frontier-full-sci-fi-firefly-inspired/ic]Frontier[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/86402-sector-x-invite-only/ic]Sector X[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/83344-being-human-in-between/ic#post-2834120]Being Human[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/82451-cold-blooded-vampire-rp-continuation/ic]Cold Blooded (Vampire RP)[/url]
[URL=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/79382-hogwarts-school-of-witchcraft-and-wizardry/ic]Hogwarts School[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81373-wink-murder-who-killed-mr-jig/ic]Wink Murder[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75219-the-school-in-the-woods-mystery-fantasy-roleplay/ic]The School in the woods[/url]
[URL=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/78515-to-survive-the-end-reboot/ic]To Survive The End (reboot)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/77989-the-golden-pelican-harry-potter/ic]Golden Pelican (HP)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/76945-into-the-black/ic]Into The Black (GM)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/70492-darkness-below/ic]Darkness Below[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/69882-alive/ooc]Alive[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/64701-hogwarts-we-are-now/ic]Hogwarts we are now[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66022-threads-of-power/ic]Threads of Power[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66109-liquid-memories/ic]Liquid Memories[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/65351-hogwarts-legacy-of-lord-voldemort/ic]Hogwarts Legacy of Voldemort[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/13573-the-monsters-under-my-bed-are-real-supernatural-rp/ic#post-301076]Supernatural RP[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/6053-through-time-and-space-kirah-and-carsgovroom/ic?page=5#post-374859]Through Time & Space (Doctor Who)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/15852-doctor-who-im-so-sorry-me-and-kirah/ic]I'm so Sorry (Doctor Who)[/url]
[/hider]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/0BmP29s.png" /></div><br>I am bad about keeping this updated<br><br>RP's (Updated 2/13/25)<br><br><span class="bb-u">Upcoming</span>:<br>Northwood - A slice-of-life horror rp<br><br><span class="bb-u">Currently Running</span>: <br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5595988">Château de La Lune</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5623805">Camp Lava Lake</a><br><br><span class="bb-u">Currently in</span>: <br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189613-avengers-academy/ooc?page=4">Avengers Academy</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195905-strange-academy-journey-into-mystery/ic">Strange Academy</a><br><br>An incomplete and in no particular order dead or ended RPs I have participated in:<br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="Hider">Hider [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/163808-x-men-cosmic-crusades/ooc">X-Men</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195600-the-season-of-the-enlightened/ic">Season of the Enlightened</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/195033-welcome-to-havenwood/ic">Welcome to Havenwood</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/176265-heroes-of-olympus-the-next-age-of-heroes/ic">HoO</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/191794-the-dead-dont-die/ooc">Dead Don't Die</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/185787-ride-or-die-for-the-republic-morose-kirah-nallore/ic">Ride or Die for the Republic (Morose & Kirah & Nallore) 1x1x1</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/179952-once-upon-a-time/ic">OUAT</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5456713">Inferno - STRIKE THE MATCH!</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/181849-heroes-of-olympus-the-hidden-gem-nallore-morose-kirah/ic">HoO Romans 1x1x1</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/172808-agents-of-shield-the-terrigen-bomb/ic">AOS</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/176039-the-gifted-thisisforever/ic">The Gifted</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/182285-hotel-valhalla-the-gods-of-asgard/ooc">Hotel Valhalla</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/166080-the-wolves-of-red-lake-completed/ic">Wolves of Red Lake</a> (completed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/181921-forgotten-space/ooc#post-5109978">Forgotten Space</a> (A spiritual successor to Liquid Memories and Darkness Below, closed due to time constraints)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/91286-salem-witches-institute/ic">Salem Witches Institute</a> Canceled<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/180901-harry-potter-and-the-alchemists-quest/ic">HP</a> Canceled<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/169901-through-the-doors-of-our-hearts/ic">Doors</a> (completed)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80219-finite-incantatem-au-harry-potter-rp/ic">Finite Incantate</a> (Co-GM) Canceled<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81224-invincible-chapter-i-origination/ic">Invincible</a><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81373-wink-murder-who-killed-mr-jig/ic">Wink Murder: Who killed Mr. Jig</a><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/79223-wolf-manor/ic">Wolf Manor</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/171303-for-queen-and-country/ic">For Queen and Country</a><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80486-northwood-academy/ic">Northwood Academy [Open to new apps]</a> (GM, spiritual successor to the school in the woods)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/80083-the-town-at-the-end-kirah-apollo/ic">The Town At The End</a> (1x1)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/78659-among-the-ruined-season-4/ic">Among the Ruined (closed)</a><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75858-the-triwizard-champions/ic">Triwizard Chapions</a>(1x1x1)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66106-forsaken-children-of-war-kirah-and-mchaggis/ic">Forsaken Children of War</a>(1x1)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/92946-ch-teau-de-lalune/ic">Château de Lalune</a> (GM, closed)<br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/137021-hogwarts-world-tour/ic">Hogwarts World Tour</a> (Closed)<br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/88884-the-mundane-small-town-teenage-superheroes/ic">Mundane</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/83121-frontier-full-sci-fi-firefly-inspired/ic">Frontier</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/86402-sector-x-invite-only/ic">Sector X</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/83344-being-human-in-between/ic#post-2834120">Being Human</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/82451-cold-blooded-vampire-rp-continuation/ic">Cold Blooded (Vampire RP)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/79382-hogwarts-school-of-witchcraft-and-wizardry/ic">Hogwarts School</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/81373-wink-murder-who-killed-mr-jig/ic">Wink Murder</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/75219-the-school-in-the-woods-mystery-fantasy-roleplay/ic">The School in the woods</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/78515-to-survive-the-end-reboot/ic">To Survive The End (reboot)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/77989-the-golden-pelican-harry-potter/ic">Golden Pelican (HP)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/76945-into-the-black/ic">Into The Black (GM)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/70492-darkness-below/ic">Darkness Below</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/69882-alive/ooc">Alive</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/64701-hogwarts-we-are-now/ic">Hogwarts we are now</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66022-threads-of-power/ic">Threads of Power</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/66109-liquid-memories/ic">Liquid Memories</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/65351-hogwarts-legacy-of-lord-voldemort/ic">Hogwarts Legacy of Voldemort</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/13573-the-monsters-under-my-bed-are-real-supernatural-rp/ic#post-301076">Supernatural RP</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/6053-through-time-and-space-kirah-and-carsgovroom/ic?page=5#post-374859">Through Time & Space (Doctor Who)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/15852-doctor-who-im-so-sorry-me-and-kirah/ic">I'm so Sorry (Doctor Who)</a></div></div></div>
KTostada
Morose
Scrawl Banditta
Neziul
Blizz
Forsythe
BlueSky44
Achronum
Simply Not Real
Hey Im Jordan
