Lucky Rabbit

By the time everyone pulled themselves together, a fair bit of time had passed, and Pandy was sitting on nearly five hundred Corruption Points. She also had a small tyrant giving her orders, because Thaniel had realized that not only was she his sister, she was, technically, his younger sister, and apparently that gave him the right to tell her what to do.

“You haveta eat your vegetables,” he told her as they ate lunch. Pandy was already eating her vegetables, and for once she didn’t have to do it under the table. She was in her rabbit form so she could save the last three hours of her human time for the day, but she, along with the other elementals, had been granted a seat at the table. Or, in Pandy and Miss Cupcakes’ case, on the table.

“An’ make sure you wear a lot of layers,” her bossy big brother said. “Then you can take some off if you get hot, ‘cause it’s cold in the morning, and warm in the afternoon.”

Pandy nodded dutifully, a piece of parsley – or at least something reasonably similar to parsley – dangling from her lip. Thaniel seemed determined to give her every piece of advice anyone had ever given him, all as if he’d just come up with them himself. It was honestly adorable, though she had a feeling Thaniel wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment.

When Falconet shut down, all of the students and teachers had retreated to the library. In the days since, most of the children had been taken home by their families or, in the case of those who didn’t live close to Knightmere, friends. Most of the teachers had decided to take advantage of the paid vacation time Augustus offered them, and once the library reconnected to the school and all but the last few students left, they departed as well.

That pretty much left Lady Reedsley, Geraldine and Miss Cupcakes, Abbington and Brook, Hazel, and the people who were planning to head off on the much-delayed rescue mission. It felt like it had been forever since they discovered Lian was gone, but when Pandy thought about it, it was only… six days? No, that really was a long time to wait before setting off to save an abducted child, which was exactly what Lian was, in spite of his world-weary attitude.

Yes, Brook’s magic allowed them to see that he was still fine, but surely his kidnappers hadn’t taken him just so they could feed him and see how long it took an introvert to go insane when trapped in a room full of books they couldn’t read. For what it was worth, Pandy’s money was on Lian teaching himself to read the language long before he went crazy. Though he was spending a lot of time just staring around or taking out the same books over and over the last few times they’d checked on him, so it might be too late already.

“...and don’t forget to get plenty of sleep,” Thaniel said, ignoring his half-eaten lunch in favor of lecturing Pandy. She tuned back in in time to see him palm a piece of roasted turnip and drop it on the floor for Lord Winston, who was the only ‘pet’ who had indicated he preferred to remain at his mistress’s feet. Pandy was certain that had nothing to do with the fact that all of the children had developed the habit of dropping their unwanted food on the floor.

Pandy-as-Bunny wasn’t particularly good at giving Meaningful Looks – it was surprisingly difficult without eyebrows – but she pointedly chomped into her own turnips, which were shockingly sweet and delicious. She wasn’t sure she’d ever eaten a turnip before coming to this world, but every time she had one here, she wondered if the ones on her… No, not her first world, because this was her first world. Her second world, then? Did that make this her first world once-removed?

“It’s time,” a voice said, making Pandy and Thaniel freeze. They weren’t alone, either. Everyone was all too aware that more than half of them were about to go into at least potential danger, and friends and families were speaking quietly, their seats turned toward each other, reaching out and touching hands or arms as if to reassure themselves that their loved ones were still there and safe.

“The door will be connected in less than half an hour, and the citizenship cards are ready to be enchanted.” Professor Beeswick’s voice sounded normal, but there was a kind of pallor beneath his cheek-scales that Pandy had never seen before. The Dragon was tired.

Motioning to the people who were going on the expedition, Beeswick stepped backwards several paces. As he did, the carpet that had been covering the floor – or at least had looked like it was covering something that it seemed reasonable to think of as a floor? – parted, revealing heavy stone blocks that triggered a distinct feeling of recognition in Pandy. A cube of rock was a cube of rock, at least unless it was marble or agate or some other recognizable stone, but these were the exact same color, size, and shape as the ones in the not-a-basement of Avington House.

Reaching into his robe, the librarian removed a large, heavy cloth bag, which he opened and began to pour out. A fine, silvery powder dropped toward the stones, only to be gathered up in swirls of Air, dancing on a breeze that tugged at everyone’s hair and clothing.

Pandy glanced around, seeing that everyone else was as caught up in the moment as she was. Only Augustus glanced to the side, catching her eye and giving a slow wink and a Twinkle. She was still wondering what that was about when Beeswick intoned, “Step into the circle as I say your name.” It really was very dramatic.

“Isidor.”

Isidor stepped forward, passing through a perfectly-timed gap in the swirling silver powder.  Isidor approached Professor Beeswick, who was absolutely holding something long and pointy. The pointy thing stabbed down toward Isidor’s extended hand. After that, it became difficult to see what was happening, because the powder formed a veil like a tame sandstorm, but Pandy knew her turn was coming. Why did all the magic in this world seem to involve blood? Or was it just Dragon magic? Should she be even more worried about what might be in Hazel’s cookies? 

To her surprise, everyone else going on the expedition was called in one by one, with each one returning to their seat nursing a wounded finger. Pandy debated healing them, but she didn’t know if that would interfere with whatever Professor Beeswick was doing, so she held off for now.

When all the others had gone, and only Beeswick and Isidor still remained inside the column of glittering particles, the Dragon finally said, “Pandora.” She debated hopping in, but decided human form was called for, so she jumped off the table, casting Shifting Faces as she did so. There were a few indrawn breaths as she landed neatly on her human feet, and Pandy had to admit to a niggling sense that she might actually have looked a little cool there for a second.

Shifting Faces successful.

02:57:33 remaining today.

As soon as Pandy’s feet landed on the stones, she felt something. All the hairs on her body lifted, and she had a momentary flash of gratitude that she hadn’t tried to come in as a rabbit. Her fur would have been standing on end, and any illusion of calm composure she might have managed to foster would have been stripped away in an instant burst of bunny fluff.

“Here,” Beeswick said, pointing, and Pandy bopped the heel of her hand against her ear. She’d never been able to afford to fly anywhere, but she’d gotten this muffled feeling a few times when she had ear infections, and she didn’t like it. She could still hear, but a kind of natural depth to the sound of Beeswick’s voice was just missing.

Isidor actually gave her a grimace of sympathy when she looked back up at him and the Dragon, but Beeswick was all business. Pandy hurried over, seeing that a small part of the silvery dust was now lying on the floor, tracing out complex sigils. Isidor stood in the center of one, while Beeswick’s bare, taloned toes looked like they were actually digging into the stone in the midst of another. A third and fourth stood empty, and it was to the last that Beeswick pointed.

As soon as Pandy’s boots stopped in the middle of the dust, it resettled around her, repairing a spot where her toe had scuffed the design. Her ears popped loudly, and Pandy gasped, wishing she dared stick her fingers into her ears, which were itching like mad. Instead, she held out her hand expectantly, one finger extended as she readied herself for the jab of a blade.

But the knife wasn’t in Beeswick’s hand anymore. Instead, he held six cards made of what looked like several layers of the paper he’d shown them earlier, all glued together with something subtly bumpy inside. Each of them had a streak of blood smeared across one side, while the other side was blank.

“I’m going to apply the blood I’ve just extracted from each of your companions to the cards. As I do, I need you to focus on binding that blood to Isidor’s blood, here.” Beeswick held up one blood-smeared card. “I’m not a Dark elemental, nor have I had the opportunity to speak with one in quite some time, but I believe this should,” he tilted his head thoughtfully, “come naturally to you?”

Pandy wanted to tell him that nothing ever came naturally to her, but she wasn’t certain that was true anymore. How much magic had she done since entering this world? Yes, a great deal of it was with the help of the System, but not all of it, and when she really needed to do something, somehow it usually worked. Still. “You have extras of those, right?” she asked, nervously eyeing the cards. “Just in case?”

Beeswick bared his teeth at her. “No.”

Oh. Well, that was… fine. It was fine. “Um. Okay. Well, when should I-?”

The Dragon dropped all but one card, the wind picking up the extras and spinning them in place as he reached into his robe and pulled out the pointy thing she’d thought was a knife. It turned out that it was the kind of enormous hypodermic needle cartoon characters chased each other with, and Pandy very nearly jumped backwards. She and needles were old enemies. For good or ill, her feet now seemed to be glued in place, so she just kind of jiggled as a drop of not-quite crimson fluid was extruded onto the card.

Oh. Oh, it was time already. Somewhat desperately, Pandy thought, , and thrust some part of herself toward the card. She only realized it was her hand when her finger brushed against the liquid, and she received a notification.

+10 Corruption Points for Contaminating the Blood of a Knight

How long had it been since Pandy got Corruption Points for anything other than tears and Dark Aura? Oh, and Offerings, but that barely- There was something in the center of the card. Something that drew in her magic like a sponge. She could feel it tugging, trying to pull her Mana in, and she let it happen. Honestly, she wasn’t certain she could have prevented it, which was a little worrisome, but helpful in this context.

Her magic saturated the card, filling it from one side to the other, like a tiny part of what she’d felt when she was inside Avington House. She was the card, and the card was her, but there were two sources of other there as well. They didn’t belong together, but what lay between them was a connection, a bridge, and Pandy’s magic was the water that flowed beneath it, binding one side to the other.

Distantly, she heard someone gasp, and thought it was Isidor, but she was too busy feeling. Whatever Professor Beeswick had done to prepare this paper, it knew what it was meant to do, and it longed to do it. It tugged at Isidor’s blood, pulling it deeper inside itself, where it mixed into Pandy’s magic, blood in water. The same was happening on the other side, and when the two came together, a bit of one wound into the other, coiling like twisting rope.

“There,” Beeswick said, his voice strained. “Hold that. That is your task. Do not allow them to part until I tell you you can let them go.”

Ah. This was something she had done before, or almost. It was like holding poison at bay, but instead of keeping it from advancing, she was preventing it from coming apart. She could do this.

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -7.1 Mana/sec

That was… a lot. Pandy’s Mana had been full when she started, but even with almost a thousand Mana, she couldn’t hold this for more than a few hours. If they expected her to maintain this spell for however long it took to get Lian back, they were going to be very disappointed.

“Again,” Beeswick commanded, releasing that card and grabbing another one from the spinning cloud. Pandy started to open her mouth to tell him she couldn’t, but it was too late. The instant the blood was expelled from the syringe onto the card’s surface, Beeswick pushed it beneath her fingers. Pandy’s magic filled it, this time without disturbing the fresh blood, and another message formed in front of her eyes. And another. And another.

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -14.9 Mana/sec

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -23.4 Mana/sec

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -31.6 Mana/sec

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -43.8 Mana/sec

Mana flooded out of her, and there was still one more card to do. Pandy’s knees were starting to wobble, but she hung on. Professor Beeswick emptied the final blood sample onto the final card, pushed it into Pandy’s hand, and the world caught on fire.

The rest were… not easy, but natural. Pandy’s magic knew what it needed to do, even if she didn’t. But this was antithesis. Inverse. Contradictory. Two things that were never meant to come together, but those two things weren’t Isidor’s blood and the person who had given this final sample. They were Pandy’s magic and this blood, this magic, this essence of some person who was not meant to be combined. Isidor’s blood entered Pandy’s magic smoothly, easily, familiar by now, but this stopped as if it had struck a wall.

Professor Beeswick made a sound that could only be described as a growl, and he started to pull the card away. Pandy’s fingers spasmed, and she held on. There was something. Some aspect of this opposite force that still called to her. She knew it, recognized it, refused to be pushed away and… there! Stretching out, she grabbed onto it, pulling it in. It was spiky, uncomfortable, and disturbingly reminiscent of shoving her face into a nest of wasps – why did that comparison feel so familiar? – but she had it.

Halted Chromatin Decay.

Maintenance cost -66.6 Mana/sec

“Now,” Professor Beeswick said, pulling the last card from Pandy and practically throwing the whole little cloud of them toward Isidor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball of lightning, hesitating only briefly before thrusting into the center of the little card-storm. Electricity arced, connecting Isidor to the cards, and the connection between the cards and Pandy’s magic snapped.

She dropped to her knees like a rag doll, gasping for breath and vaguely surprised to find that she really needed every iota of oxygen that entered her body. A moment later another body thumped down across from her as Isidor sat down, causing a puff of silvery powder to swirl back up into the air. Isidor, too, was pulling in deep lungfuls of air, but somehow the tiny particulates hanging all around them never entered their open mouths.

Professor Beeswick took the empty cloth bag back out of his robe and held it open. The silver dust performed a very neat trick as it swirled itself back together, churning and twirling into a tighter and tighter spin that eventually emptied every single speck of silver back into the bag, which Beeswick carefully returned to his robe.

With a final gesture, the Dragon sent the floating cards back into the hands of the people for whom they were meant. Each of them held their card with varying amounts of wariness, but Beeswick ignored them as he looked down at Pandy and Isidor. The Dragon’s skin was nearly white, making the tiny lilac scales dusted over his cheeks and down his neck glitter like symmetrical gems, and his talons had clawed deep furrows into the stone.

“When you’re ready, go out the door. You will not be able to return the same way, so leave nothing you need behind. I have done my part. Now it’s up to you.” His voice was exhausted, but oddly satisfied.

Pandy and Isidor simply nodded, and Professor Beeswick turned and walked directly toward the nearest wall. A door was there, waiting for him, though there most definitely had never been one there before. As he walked, wooden floorboards reformed behind him, making Pandy and Isidor scramble to get out of the way before their feet and buttocks became one with the library.