“Do I click my heels three times and say ‘there’s no place like home’?” Amy replied. It came out a lot snarkier than she had intended. “Oh wait, I don’t have ruby slippers.”
All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them. -- Walt Disney
Hablex hummed a low note. Clearly these names, these gods, had more of a meaning to everyone from this world and not her own, but even she could hear something powerful with every proper name.
Hearing the god of death being called a nickname was a weird experience. Something told Hablex that Amy was referencing to a story that people here would know, but nothing of ruby slippers struck a bell.
She sure likes knowing that magic could be real in certain scenarios, though, with the appearance of Thanatos and now Hecate and the cabin house itself.
“Is that a reference to something Amy?” She did want to learn more about this place.
name: key/string/perks pronouns: she/her/hers and they/them/theirs
novel: the clocktower (camp nano apr 24) poetry: the beauty of the untold (napo 2024)
Wren couldn't help it - a little smile lit up her face at the reference. She knew that Amy was being snarky, but it was Wizard of Oz. That was the first play she ever acted in. She hadn't gotten Dorothy like she had wanted to back then, but she had been a part of the ensemble - and that was even better than being the leading actress.
She managed to tone back the smile when Hecate spoke again, returning her glasses to her face and her cleaning cloth to its little case in her pocket.
"You don't have to do anything," Hecate reassured her. "All I have to do is speak the words to the spell."
She opened her mouth again - theoretically to just that - but then Thanatos gave her arm a little tug. She turned back to him. Thanatos whispered something in her ear; Wren couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
"You don't have to go just yet if you don't want to," Hecate offered, grinning. "I don't know what your lives are like away from here, but you can do whatever you want here - and I can send you back whenever you want, too."
She glanced back at Thanatos and gave him a grin, too.
Wilson wasn't sure whether or not she should comment on actually needing Hecate's help or not, but decided it was better not to complicate things. She smiled.
"I'm pretty sure most of these guys want to go home, but I'd be down to stick around and hang."
"I'd, um, actually like to stay a bit, too," she said, glancing over at Wilson and giving a tiny smile. She didn't have anywhere she had to be right now, and spending some time here with the knowledge of what it was and how to get home sounded really nice.
"I... want to go home," Amy said. "Back to my time. Sorry."
She figured she'd have plenty of time to live her life before she got to the point in time where the others were. But right now, she liked being a twenty-five year old middle school English teacher in 1996.
With her family. Before the destruction of the Twin Towers. And God knew what else. The cabin was nice, she supposed, but all the Monty Python reruns and hot chocolate couldn't give her what she wanted most.
Amy bit her lip. "Can you take me there?"
All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them. -- Walt Disney
"I understand," Hecate said, still giving that warm, friendly smile.
Thanatos nodded to show that he understood, too.
"I can send you back home," Hecate reassured Hablex and Amy. Wren felt a pang in her heart - even if Amy and her had disagreed, and even if Hablex was still mostly a stranger to her, she was going to miss the two of them. "It only takes a few seconds, so you'll definitely want to grab everything you need and say any goodbyes. When you're ready, I'll send you back."
"I'm ready," Amy said. She turned to the others. "It was nice meeting you all. Maybe, see you again in the future."
The next thing Amy knew, she woke to the sound of rain and the familiar feel of an uncomfortable spring mattress. She knew this place. She was in her apartment in Seattle all right. She woke up, happy to be home. The calendar on her wall said October 1996. Good.
She was wearing her ankle length Garfield nightgown. One she actually owned. She saw her Walkman on her nightstand and grinned. The Electric Light Orchestra one was already in.
Amy laid on her bed and let the sound of Mr. Blue Sky motivate her. She sang along. It was funny how that song could always make her feel like she was on top of the world. Even if it was cloudy and pouring rain outside.
It was Saturday and she had the whole day to herself. Too bad she was so far away from Adam and Tara. She would loved to have seen either of them for the day. Maybe she could go to the movies.
God, that was some dream. The most vivid one she'd ever had. Just then, she saw something weird on top of her dresser. She stopped the music. It was a drawing. Of her, ice skating.
What if...?
Amy shook her hand, pausing the song for a minute to put the drawing in her bottom drawer. Not wanting to consider the possibility. She'd deal with it in time. She resumed the song and went into her kitchen to make coffee.
All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them. -- Walt Disney
Wilson watched as Amy was swept back to her original time with a small, fading smile. Amy had been so stressed out by everything going on, so she was glad that Amy got to go back home where she could breathe and be herself, and not worry about things that were magical or confusing.
She looked to Hablex. In a fraction of second, she was there and back - unnoticeable to even the keenest of observers. Because, in reality, technically, she was never really gone. Such was how she bended time.
She pulled Hablex's drawings out from behind her back. None of them missing, each one neatly stacked atop the other.
"Here you go," she said, before pausing. "That is, unless you wanted to grab your drawings for more time to uh, say goodbye."
Wren wished she had gotten a chance to say goodbye before Amy disappeared from the cabin - she wasn't sure what she would have said, but it felt wrong not getting some kind of closure with her.
But Hablex was still there.
Wren took a deep breath to steady herself and went over to Hablex's side.
She hesitated for another moment before throwing her arms around Hablex's shoulders - hoping that the other girl wouldn't mind the sudden hug.
"I hope this isn't the last time we see each other," she said. "I liked the time we got to spend together, even if it was confusing."
Hablex smiled, first at Wilson retrieving her drawings, then at the embrace from Wren. Neither of these things were expected at all, but she appreciated them both.
She thanked Wilson, then hugged Wren back, delighted that she might have made a couple of friends in this weird time.
“It was very nice to meet you,” Hablex replied. After a few seconds of thinking, she added, “you have the most amazing power, but you were kind to me. And I would like to think we are friends now.”
“All of us,” she said, looking at Wilson and thinking about Amy. “I hope you’ll both accept my drawings of you.”
Hablex left off the part of missing them, not wanting to make either people the same sad emotion she did.
Last edited by keystrings on Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
name: key/string/perks pronouns: she/her/hers and they/them/theirs
novel: the clocktower (camp nano apr 24) poetry: the beauty of the untold (napo 2024)
Gender:
Points: 1630
Reviews: 1260