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It is a fairly typical rainy August afternoon. Edie is lounging in civvies with a good book, and Emily is snacking on some leftover birthday cake while transformed and working on a metal sculpture.
"I don't know why you're bothering," Edie says of the copper-and-verdigris design. "I mean, the rest of it is going to go green too eventually, right?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Emily says stubbornly. "I could coat it with clear paint or something to prevent oxidation."
"Fair enough," Edie says, and returns to perusing her book.
whatamithinking
whatamithinking
"...I think I have met you before, in passing. Half of you. The healer half. Probably? I volunteer at Crouse Hospital sometimes."
from-midnight-waters
"...ooooh, hell, back when I still went out solo," she says. "Yeah, maybe. Listen, can you do us a favour and maybe not talk about us much? We're trying to keep a low profile."
from-midnight-waters
"We have approximately zero chance of maintaining a secret identity if we ever get seriously famous, so we're trying to put that off as long as possible."
whatamithinking
"Fair enough. We don't really have secret identities as such--the whole reason we knew to find this place was that a friend of ours knew to run to us when she managed to escape--but I know it matters more to other people."
from-midnight-waters
The maze ripples, and ejects a large pile of guards. The ones who were previously trapped amid Ironwill Shields are unconscious with the rest. Then the walls begin to retreat.
"Oh, I guess Star found the controls," says the fusion.
"Oh, I guess Star found the controls," says the fusion.
who-are-dreams
Just as she's finishing the sentence, a coded message comes in from Star via the Si Vales Valeo spell: Objective complete. Safe. A pause, and then Safe again.
Then the maze implodes, and the message is obliterated by the feedback from what seems like a full-body wall impact at ten times the strength of previous encounters.
Then the maze implodes, and the message is obliterated by the feedback from what seems like a full-body wall impact at ten times the strength of previous encounters.
whatamithinking
"...Okay, so the first thing is that my sister and I have a healing spell that tells you what happens to the person you cast it on passively, and we worked out a code involving biting our hands in various places, and I cast on your sister before she went to turn the thing off and gave her the basics of the code. She says 'objective complete' and then 'safe' twice and...then when the maze imploded she. Uh. Do you know what happens when you hit the walls?"
from-midnight-waters
"Nothing good?" she guesses, not looking particularly alarmed. "If she sent 'safe' twice, that was her way of saying 'whatever heinously alarming thing I'm about to do, I have it totally under control and you don't need to worry'."
whatamithinking
"I had guessed that, but I'm...not totally unconcerned, because what just happened was like hitting a wall but ten times worse. Maybe if I knew her better I'd be assured that she knew that was going to happen and wasn't just expecting one, but I don't."
whatamithinking
"It hurts. A lot. And it doesn't stop hurting when you're not touching the wall anymore."
from-midnight-waters
The last ripples of distorted space clear out of the place where the maze used to be, and now there is just the interior of an abandoned factory, dimly lit and grimy, lined with skeletal rows of pillars. Some objects and furniture are scattered on the concrete floor in the distance. Presumably, Star is out there somewhere too.
"Oh, yeah, she'll be fine," says the fusion. "I mean, heal her if you're worried, if you haven't already, but she'll be totally fine."
"Oh, yeah, she'll be fine," says the fusion. "I mean, heal her if you're worried, if you haven't already, but she'll be totally fine."
from-midnight-waters
The fusion laughs. "Then yeah, good call. One sec, now everything's settled—" and she incants something in a foreign language and steps into thin air. A moment later, there is a flare of brilliant silver light from the junk heap, and the feedback stops.
whatamithinking
Well then.
"Does anyone have a working phone? I'm guessing not, but it's possible that the walls might have interfered with the signals such that they wouldn't bother taking them..."
"Does anyone have a working phone? I'm guessing not, but it's possible that the walls might have interfered with the signals such that they wouldn't bother taking them..."
not-a-sunrise
Lots of head-shaking from the members of the crowd who are close enough to hear her easily; the rest pass the message along.
Another, brighter glow from the junk heap.
Then a new fusion appears, stepping back out of thin air. There are tiny white stars gleaming in her hair and on the darkest parts of her sky-coloured cloak; her boots and gloves shimmer with the red-purple-black of a dark and moody twilight; her dress is a sunset gradient of purple-pink-orange-gold.
"Need anything else before we go? And do you have an email address or something? We wouldn't mind keeping in touch."
Another, brighter glow from the junk heap.
Then a new fusion appears, stepping back out of thin air. There are tiny white stars gleaming in her hair and on the darkest parts of her sky-coloured cloak; her boots and gloves shimmer with the red-purple-black of a dark and moody twilight; her dress is a sunset gradient of purple-pink-orange-gold.
"Need anything else before we go? And do you have an email address or something? We wouldn't mind keeping in touch."
iamnotpolaris
Emily, who still has her Mercurial Metal Manipulation spell active, repeats the pseudo-business card trick.
not-a-sunrise
"Nice," she says, accepting the card. "I swear one of me saw a phone around here somewhere... let me go check the wreckage."
She uses her teleport spell rather than cross the wide expanse of floor between the crowd and the junk heap. A few seconds later, she reappears and hands Edie a cellphone presumably sourced from the kidnappers' belongings. "Will that help?"
She uses her teleport spell rather than cross the wide expanse of floor between the crowd and the junk heap. A few seconds later, she reappears and hands Edie a cellphone presumably sourced from the kidnappers' belongings. "Will that help?"
whatamithinking
"Almost certainly! Thank you."
To the crowd of formerly kidnapped persons: "Is there anyone who has people who can show up to give them a ride home if you call them?"
To the crowd of formerly kidnapped persons: "Is there anyone who has people who can show up to give them a ride home if you call them?"
not-a-sunrise
Many of the formerly kidnapped persons assert that they do. The fusion glances over this scene, then shrugs, waves, and teleports away to parts unknown.