Karen POV
Seeing Cerys rather drastic shift in attitude now that her sister is safe just confirms every thought you'd had previously.
Absolutely reliant, protective past the point of sanity. Gil sends you a disproving glance out of the corner of his eye, but doesn't say anything more. You ignore him, even if you feel the slightly childish urge to let some of your smugness show.
Try to tell me that I'm wrong about people.
You blink and clear your thoughts, spinning on the spot and moving at a fast pace towards one of the many shortcuts within the base.
An hour to get there, five minutes to get through the security, leaves me four to clear out the entire place of magical objects. You step out of the wall into the garage, entering the second nondescript car, two others pulling away before you and one behind you.
Good luck, they're on the prowl tonight.
/Line Break\
The journey is almost entirely uneventful, a single call over the phone from a mildly infuriated Gil complaining about your ditching him.
If he thinks I'm letting him get a good look at my security, he's delusional. It's not that he would do anything particularly
bad with it, but you liked the thought of being able to sleep without waking up covered in whipped cream and surrounded by busty strippers.
Mmmm.
You pull into the drive without issues, passing through the security net with just a tingle.
Needs a tune up, someone else could have noticed that, it's coming on a bit strong. The door parts a moment before you reach it, only a slight squeak to be heard, though the noise echoes through the empty house loudly.
I really should have checked on this place sooner, all of the enchantments are starting to break down.
You make your way through the house, idly stepping around a cushioned pit and down into the basement. A pulse of magic alongside a puzzle later and you have the keystone in hand. You feel the large external enchantments fall immediately and it only takes you another hour or so to pull the magic from whatever things you have lying around.
It's a good thing this place is so new, otherwise I'd have to tear the foundations out to get rid of the ambient magic.
You think about emptying the house, but you didn't really keep anything here anyway, just some spare clothes and trinkets gathering dust.
Ah! You go back and close the basement, locking it tightly.
No point taking risks. It'll still take a few days for the ambient magic to disperse, but this should be enough for now. You take a quick step out the back, looking out at the valley below before nodding.
Perfect.
You step back outside, closing the door and locking it behind you. The garden is a little overgrown, more evidence of the flagging enchantments, and the hedges are starting to creep over the fence.
Honestly, for 20 years without maintenance, they held up pretty well. You turn the keystone in your hand over and rub a little dust off the top, peering at the words scratched into it.
To Karen, from your favourite person ever. You smile, lifting a tiny flap on which the words were written.
PS - You better make good use of this midget.
Your smile turns a little frail as you think about it's creator, your
mentor, as best the word worked. She'd been a light in your life, always bursting with energy even as old as she was. You look down at your perfectly smooth hand, untouched by the march of time, just as they were eighty years ago.
You were too honest with yourself, too good to keep going. The sharp edges of the cube press into your hands as they clench.
Too good to stay with me.
You feel something wet trickle down your hand, along with a sharp pain. You shift your gaze to your hands, where a tiny drop of blood is welling in your palms. You pull it back before any more can stain the cube, holding it awkwardly with your fingers as you quickly knit the cuts closed.
You shake your head, closing your hands around the keystone and restarting your walk.
I shouldn't be wallowing in old memories, after all. You look up, past the field and to the sky. The sun was just barely peeking through the clouds, doing it's best to be seen.
What was it you said, "Never stop moving, always chase it. The more you wait, the more it will pass you by." You close the gate behind you, sliding into the car. "Heh" You turn the ignition. "Nothing is waiting for me, I have nothing to chase." You pull out of the drive smoothly. "Forever and Ever, Alone until the End."
You aren't waiting for me and you've gone where I can't follow.
You look up, finding yourself in the middle of changing lane, doing a steady 80. You glance down at the notepad on the seat next to you, detailing the latest explosion your little charge had caused.
At least it's less than she did.
Your eyes move over to the side, seeing a nondescript car, a faint trace of magic wafting from it.
Fake, stolen.
A hint of a smile forces it's way onto your face, the edge of a fang peeking through.
Let's see where your little experiment takes you. You pull off the main road, following a route you know by memory.
Playing with the spirits is bad for your health, idiots.
You catch a glimpse of red as you take your final turn, flicking a switch on the dashboard and leaning forwards, slowly building magic in your fingers.
And so is following me.
