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Summer vacation elapses, and sees their storefront doing one heck of a business in the Avalon with the help of their griffin employee. There is a suggestion box for new spells they should invent, some of which have to be long-term projects but others of which are converted into new product fairly promptly.
School starts up again. Darren and Bella are both skipping straight into twelfth grade. (Bella looked into just starting college early, but while she does technically have the sort of resume that can lead to that kind of thing, she can't exactly write an essay about how she saved the life of another person and this caused her to have Moral Character, let alone about how she started a small business - so skipping one grade it is.)
They apply to colleges. They both get into University of Washington and get sufficient scholarships to accommodate both going there.
Summer ensues again.
One afternoon, Bella is over at Darren's, and has fallen asleep - in purring fullform - across his lap on the couch.
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shesepankh
There's a big fusebox on the wall over there.
morethanimaginary
Oh, how nice. All of these switches that are switched on? They get to go off now.
And on the first day, Savannah said, "Let there be darkness."
Lo. It was dark.
And on the first day, Savannah said, "Let there be darkness."
Lo. It was dark.
castmyown
Darren flinches in alarm at the darkness. Wing, over Bella, she is going to be safe. That - must have been where the ink monster went. Clever bastard. Okay, well, ice has been the only thing that's worked so far, but Darren can't draw out the runes for it in the dark.
The problem is not that there isn't a solution. He came prepared. Night vision goggles weren't possible on short notice, but a scroll to help with seeing in the dark? For him? Much easier. He just has to get to it. And to find the right one, that requires being able to see, which requires the scroll and - well, catch twenty-two.
He solves it by using his cellphone. Just enough to see by, and - bam, scroll. The light from it was possibly noticeable, but so's the ice ring, and he needs to see in the dark. Worth the risk.
One murmured chant later, and Darren can see in the dark.
The problem is not that there isn't a solution. He came prepared. Night vision goggles weren't possible on short notice, but a scroll to help with seeing in the dark? For him? Much easier. He just has to get to it. And to find the right one, that requires being able to see, which requires the scroll and - well, catch twenty-two.
He solves it by using his cellphone. Just enough to see by, and - bam, scroll. The light from it was possibly noticeable, but so's the ice ring, and he needs to see in the dark. Worth the risk.
One murmured chant later, and Darren can see in the dark.
The guards, for their part, have flashlights.
The ink monster stays near the doorway, where there's sunlight, rather than following them back in. It is a puddle at the door.
The ink monster stays near the doorway, where there's sunlight, rather than following them back in. It is a puddle at the door.
morethanimaginary
Yeah, Savannah figured they would. She'll just - use them to see by, too.
She floats to a place out of the way but near the guards. Some place they can get to but not easily. She switches to her other voice (the male one) and then says, pathetically, like she's wounded, "Help, please, is - someone there...?"
She floats to a place out of the way but near the guards. Some place they can get to but not easily. She switches to her other voice (the male one) and then says, pathetically, like she's wounded, "Help, please, is - someone there...?"
"Boss?" says one of the guards. "Where are you, what happened?"
morethanimaginary
"Over here, something - didn't see them, sphinxes, maybe - attacked me. It broke my leg, I can't move."
"Are the sphinxes still here? Is the antimagic area intact?"
morethanimaginary
"It said something about - teleportation. Probably going to grab the one we got and teleport away with her. Augh -" she winces with false pain, hoping it's convincing in this foreign voice, "- come get me, I think once they get her I think they're going to kill me, but you can't - can't let them get away with the sphinx."
As in, split up, gang. C'mon, fall for the ploy. You know you want to.
As in, split up, gang. C'mon, fall for the ploy. You know you want to.
"I'll call an ambulance," one suggests. "We need to find the antimagic zone or we're sitting ducks."
morethanimaginary
"You wanna explain the torture equipment to the ambulance?" hisses Savannah. "Because I don't. Just - carry me out, I need cell reception, I know someone that can help -"
"Paramedics won't have to go far enough in to see anything," argues one of the guards.
"Do you know how to get the dark thing someplace they won't see it, though?" asks one of the others.
"...Point. Boss? How do we control the dark thing?"
"Do you know how to get the dark thing someplace they won't see it, though?" asks one of the others.
"...Point. Boss? How do we control the dark thing?"
morethanimaginary
Fuck.
"You won't be able to," she says, thinking on her feet. "Too complicated - I've got it, but I have to be close, drag me to it, I'll get it. Then - paramedics."
"You won't be able to," she says, thinking on her feet. "Too complicated - I've got it, but I have to be close, drag me to it, I'll get it. Then - paramedics."
"Right then," and they move towards her voice.
morethanimaginary
"Some of you - I need you to check on the anti magic field, if it's intact that's where we need to be, paramedics or no, I don't know if the sphinxes are still here."
Meanwhile, in Savannah's head - maniacal laughter. It's working, it's working. Ha.
Meanwhile, in Savannah's head - maniacal laughter. It's working, it's working. Ha.
"Garcia, Johns," says the guard in charge, "you get him, we'll check the antimagic."
Garcia and Johns obligingly peel off towards Savannah.
Garcia and Johns obligingly peel off towards Savannah.
morethanimaginary
How nice of them.
Savannah just needs to wait until the other guards are out of sight, and then she swoops around and glides behind the two of them, landing on quiet shoes. She has the absurd urge to say, "I am the night" but then she realizes where that's from and decides that she's been spending too much time with her brother. The nerdiness is spreading.
She stalks the one in the rear, and then when the other's eyeing something else - slice. One more, down. One to go, then she deals with the other group.
Savannah just needs to wait until the other guards are out of sight, and then she swoops around and glides behind the two of them, landing on quiet shoes. She has the absurd urge to say, "I am the night" but then she realizes where that's from and decides that she's been spending too much time with her brother. The nerdiness is spreading.
She stalks the one in the rear, and then when the other's eyeing something else - slice. One more, down. One to go, then she deals with the other group.
The other group knows where the antimagic field is. The entrance to it is - right behind Darren and Bella, actually.
They're invisible, but the ice isn't.
"What the hell -"
They're invisible, but the ice isn't.
"What the hell -"
morethanimaginary
Savannah takes care of the second guard, and then she's in the air and heading towards Darren -
castmyown
Darren barely dares to breathe.
He needs to shield himself and Bella from gunfire, but - but they'll hear him if he chants. So he stays absolutely still and just - waits. To see what they'll do.
He needs to shield himself and Bella from gunfire, but - but they'll hear him if he chants. So he stays absolutely still and just - waits. To see what they'll do.
"Sphinxes?" asks a guard dubiously.
"Doing what? Well, step careful."
They go over the ice, step by step.
"Doing what? Well, step careful."
They go over the ice, step by step.
morethanimaginary
Savannah - doesn't know if Darren's inside that ice circle, but she has suspicions. That wasn't an accident, he deliberately did that, it must have been to protect himself and Bella from the ink monster. Worth giving up the element of surprise if it means her brother doesn't get shot.
"We're doing stuff," says Savannah, in her own voice, from behind them in the air, adding a laugh for theatrics. "The others are gone with her, we win, fuck you. You can tell 'cause of the ice circle, for future reference, it means they teleported."
"We're doing stuff," says Savannah, in her own voice, from behind them in the air, adding a laugh for theatrics. "The others are gone with her, we win, fuck you. You can tell 'cause of the ice circle, for future reference, it means they teleported."
Now there are guns firing in her general direction.
morethanimaginary
Of course there are. She expected that. She expected that, right? Fuck, this was a bad idea. Darren owes her one.
One of her wings catches a bullet, and she hisses and uses the other to - spin to the floor, shifting mid-way to full human to get her delicate wings out of the way of any more harm. She's had better landings, certainly, but this one's hard to hear over the gunfire.
She hopes to hell Darren is actually there and can use the distraction she just bought him.
One of her wings catches a bullet, and she hisses and uses the other to - spin to the floor, shifting mid-way to full human to get her delicate wings out of the way of any more harm. She's had better landings, certainly, but this one's hard to hear over the gunfire.
She hopes to hell Darren is actually there and can use the distraction she just bought him.
castmyown
Darren is both there, and he can use this to his advantage.
A scroll, a mumbled chant, and then - the guards are all on fire.
A scroll, a mumbled chant, and then - the guards are all on fire.