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Two girls are moving their hands through the air and speaking together in perfect parallel.
Two girls are looking expectantly at a circle of red chalk on their floor.
Two girls have done something exceptionally stupid.
Nick in Elcenia
"It would be an enormous hassle to get the iron into your circle," objects Korulen. "We would have to draw an entire separate circle, and conjure the iron - realistically I'd have to do that - and we weren't planning on keeping you that long."
"Hey, I could totally conjure iron," objects Saasnil, pouting.
"Hey, I could totally conjure iron," objects Saasnil, pouting.
"If you're not going to do anything for me in exchange for showing me off to your magic friend, put me back where I came from please. Preferably before my ship runs into anything without me there to pilot it."
"...Um," says Korulen.
"What?" asks Saasnil.
"I'm pretty sure reversing this will put you back in the same place relative to the planet you came from."
"What?" asks Saasnil.
"I'm pretty sure reversing this will put you back in the same place relative to the planet you came from."
"And you broke my glider. Do NOT put me back where I came from."
Seeing Korulen about to object to the glider thing, "Yes, you broke it, not me. Fuck. You're teenagers, aren't you? I need to talk to someone in charge."
Seeing Korulen about to object to the glider thing, "Yes, you broke it, not me. Fuck. You're teenagers, aren't you? I need to talk to someone in charge."
"Neither of us is a teenager," objects Saasnil.
"He means adolescents, it doesn't matter that you're twelve and I'm past forty," sighs Korulen, hand over her eyes. "Ugh. This is a mess. Why did I let you talk me into this?"
"I didn't have to convince you very hard!"
"He means adolescents, it doesn't matter that you're twelve and I'm past forty," sighs Korulen, hand over her eyes. "Ugh. This is a mess. Why did I let you talk me into this?"
"I didn't have to convince you very hard!"
Nick has dealt with teenagers before. He's angry enough that saying anything would not improve the situation, so he ignores the bickering and starts trying to take off his jacket without breaking the glider any more than it already is.
"We're going to have to tell my mom -"
"No! No don't noooooo -"
"What do you want to do, let him fall from where his scoot used to be and see if he's an air mage, I'm betting he's not! We can't just leave him in the circle forever. It'd be a hassle giving him a brick of iron, you want to try feeding him? To say nothing of keeping it hushed up! Telling her now is better."
"We'll be in so much trouble! I'll get expelled!"
"You won't get expelled."
"No! No don't noooooo -"
"What do you want to do, let him fall from where his scoot used to be and see if he's an air mage, I'm betting he's not! We can't just leave him in the circle forever. It'd be a hassle giving him a brick of iron, you want to try feeding him? To say nothing of keeping it hushed up! Telling her now is better."
"We'll be in so much trouble! I'll get expelled!"
"You won't get expelled."
"We aren't going to kill you," says Korulen. "She'd need my help to -"
Korulen pauses midsentence, going white.
"...Korulen?"
"You can't co-cast a reversal," she says. "No, no, no, even if we - fixed his glider or sent him back with somebody who could fly or something, we can't send him back at all - why did I let you -"
"It's not my fault! Anyway, we could send him, couldn't we, doesn't that fix it both ways -"
"We can't send him, he's not from here!"
Korulen pauses midsentence, going white.
"...Korulen?"
"You can't co-cast a reversal," she says. "No, no, no, even if we - fixed his glider or sent him back with somebody who could fly or something, we can't send him back at all - why did I let you -"
"It's not my fault! Anyway, we could send him, couldn't we, doesn't that fix it both ways -"
"We can't send him, he's not from here!"
"They'll expel meeeeee," howls Saasnil.
"No. They. Won't. You're my backup, okay? If nothing else. I have to tell Mom."
Sniffle.
"No. They. Won't. You're my backup, okay? If nothing else. I have to tell Mom."
Sniffle.
Well, the wall is very durable, but it doesn't go on for very long. The door opens. An adult - although she doesn't look far if at all past twenty, she is an adult - with green hair enters the room.
"Shoo," she tells the girls, and they shoo.
"I'm very sorry about all this," she continues to Nick.
"Shoo," she tells the girls, and they shoo.
"I'm very sorry about all this," she continues to Nick.
"Okay, but that doesn't actually stop my ship from killing someone without me there to stop it! Full engines, flying straight towards a town! It was a few miles off, so maybe it won't hit them but maybe it will and this is an absolute disaster godammit!" He punches the ward again.
"Approximately forty-five minutes. Do you use minutes? About... Six times as long as I've been here already."
"Assuming that you cannot go back, but someone else can go to the ship, what should they do about it?" she asks.
"Someone from here? If they can't fly it, deliberately crash it into the deeps by puncturing all the gas cells."
"No. Unpiloted objects and uncontrolled fire are the only really dangerous things I can think of, and I try not to use fire at all. But how is it being handled, exactly?"
"My husband is drawing a sending circle, will be done in less than the described amount of time with plenty of safety margin, and will then - provided it's safe to do so - send me or one of our employees to go and puncture the cells and then be unsent."
"Can you fly? Quickly? You'll need to catch it if they can only send you to where it was. And come to think of it cutting open the cells wouldn't be very safe, you might breathe the gas. You should just hold open the valves from the control room instead."
"I can fly," says Keo, "but he can send me where it is now, so I shouldn't need to. He can put me in the control room. May I scan your mind to see which valves you mean, in case a description wouldn't be adequate?"