The Kids: Ash and Ashley and a Nosy Theodore
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AndrewJTalon
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Amethyst groaned as she leaned back in his chair in the small study room the Future Children had gathered in. Petra was meditating near a pillar, occasionally typing things out on her Scroll. August was on another desk, lying back and typing while staring up. Nicholas was surrounded by books, and scribbling down notes almost frantically. She glared over at Xander, who was typing on his own Scroll at the head of the room, putting in data points from the various kids. Many of whom weren't even around! The jerks.
"Can we take a break?" She whined. "And can't I see Moses? I feel like Dorothy's been hogging him!"
"I am not!" Dorothy huffed, floating overhead.
"Are too!" Amethyst protested.
"We're almost to bed time, there's not much point in a break now," August sighed, flipping through images on his holoscreen, "Hmm... The pass has more defenses now..."
Leandra and Leander appeared out from behind a pillar, making Amethyst squeak.
"Eep! Little warning next time you do that?" She complained. Her half-siblings snickered.
"That would defeat the point," Leander smirked. He held up some supplies. "Got what you wanted from the store, Xander!"
"Great, put it down there," Xander indicated.
"Though teleporting all the way out to Vale is a trek for us," Leandra groaned, sitting down across from Amethyst. She dumped her bag of supplies on the table, and began sorting through it. "Let's see... Who wanted Winkies?"
The snack cakes vanished in a burst of golden petals, and Julian Arc-Rose reappeared nearby, eating the confectionary happily.
"Mmmm... So much sugar," he moaned. "Not as good as Mom's but pure sugar!"
Xia walked in after him, looking a bit awkward.
"So, this where we doing our homework?" Xia asked, holding up her Scroll.
"That's right!" Dorothy cried, descending from the ceiling with a grin. Amethyst twitched again, as Dorothy hovered nearby.
"Do you have to do that?"
"It helps me think," Dorothy said cheerfully, "Besides, there's still a lot more to get through."
Amethyst moaned and slammed her forehead into the desk.
"I'm a jeweler, how much could I possibly know?!" She demanded. Leander reached out to pat her on her shoulder.
"There there..."
Nicholas grinned as he saw a message on his Scroll.
"Klein and Granny have agree to look into some more parts we need," he said, shaking his head, "It's amazing how much tech changes in just twenty years."
"Doesn't help that all of our stuff uses magic, which isn't exactly in widespread use now," Julian mumbled, munching on more sweet treats. He vanished in a flurry of petals to reappear near a stack of books, which he began to flip through.
"Applied magic in our timeline," Dorothy volunteered, "Though it's mostly tracing glyphs with Aura and Dust to create a set of logic gates to emulate Boolean logic in computers."
"Ah," Nicholas said with a nod, holding up his sword, "My weapon uses similar glyph logic gates to enhance my Glyph use. With it, I'm able to mix and match the Dust amounts I deploy to every Glyph."
"WOW!" Julian enthused, shooting over to look the weapon over, "That's cool! I use something similar in Crescent Rose: Take Two!" He proudly held out his sniper scythe. "No physical gears needed! Just Glyph Gates that act as magnetic bearings!"
"Big deal," Amethyst scoffed, "I use Magic Glyph Gate tech in my studio! It's common in my timeline!"
"It's common in all our timelines, but it only became common with the defeat of Salem," Theodore spoke, teleporting in and hovering down to the floor in front of them all, "Right now, there's nothing."
"So we need magic to interface with this stuff," Julian said cheerfully, already scribbling some notes on a holopad. "Or at least some workarounds until we find some!"
"Maybe we could ask Granny Izzy to loan us some magical items from Radian," Xia suggested, "I think half the things in Nana's basement were magical artifacts."
"Yeah, but without actually knowing how to use it, it was all mostly junk," Theodore sniffed, looking over some supplies as well. "A mirror that insults you, a hairbrush that turns you blond..."
"Why would she have one of those?" Leandra asked with a frown. Theodore shrugged.
"Got me. Her side of the family collected all sorts of magical items from before the Moonshatter."
"Weird," Xia pronounced. She scanned around with a frown. "Where are Ash and Ashley?"
Nicholas shook his head, going back to his books.
"They're working on something in private," he said. Dorothy frowned deeply.
"You're... Not worried about that?" She asked quietly.
Amethyst scowled.
"Their mom... Their mom isn't evil in their timeline," she said flatly, "And neither are they!"
"I'm not saying they are," Dorothy said carefully, "But when it comes to family? It's hard to stay objective."
Theodore grinned.
"Well! There's an easy way to find out. Excuse me."
He dropped through another Glyph, sending up a gust of wind that blew several papers and books off the desks. Xander rolled his eyes.
"He did that on purpose," he muttered.
"What was your first clue?" Xia asked sarcastically.
- - -
It was a tight spot. Between the wall and the insulation in the castle, behind a suit of armor on display. Ash tapped directly into a network bus, while Ashley worked on her Scroll. The screen glowed a low blue in the dark confines, lighting up their faces.
"Any reply yet?" Ash asked, keeping an eye on the transceiver array they'd cobbled together.
Ashley sighed.
"No... But that could mean anything."
Ash stared intently at the screen, and slowly nodded.
"Yeah," he murmured. He reached down and squeezed her hand. "It'll take time."
Ashley nodded slowly. He smiled.
"It's going to be okay," he murmured.
"Well, well, well!"
Both twins brought their dagger pistol hybrids up to point overhead. Theodore Arc grinned down at them, his head poking out of a Schnee Glyph. He held his hands up.
"Hey! Easy with those things!"
"How did you find us?" Ashley demanded. Theodore shrugged.
"I use this little nook at Beacon too," he said, "Usually when I want to get some downloads of new Mistralian animes. Or to hide from Shu when she's mad."
The twins gave him a deadpan look in unison. Theodore shook his head.
"So... Contacting your mom?"
"And if we were?" Ash asked, tense. Ashley adjusted her grip on her gun.
Theodore chuckled.
"I'm sure you know what you're doing... But be careful. And keep me in the loop, huh?"
Ashley's eyes widened. Ash scowled.
"That's it?" He asked.
"That's it," Theodore said with a shrug, "She's your mom. You'd do anything to save her. And hell..." He grinned and winked. "I'm not about to abandon my family either, am I?"
Ash and Ashley stared up at him. Theodore grinned and saluted.
"Anyway, don't run off to meet her without telling me, eh? She's still working for the bad guys. And when you got a moment, join us. We're gonna need your intel most of all."
"We can wait for a reply later, I guess," Ash murmured. Ashley nodded.
"Sure... We all want to kill that witch," Ashley stated.
Theodore grinned.
"Works for me!"
A Glyph opened up under Ash and Ashley. The two fell through, squealing. They landed on the floor of the study room, not enough room to land properly. They glared up at Theodore, who appeared via another Glyph overhead and floated in the air.
"Yay! Now we're all together!" Theodore cheered.
"And you say I'm the immature one," Julian muttered, eating more sweets.
- - -
"Can we take a break?" She whined. "And can't I see Moses? I feel like Dorothy's been hogging him!"
"I am not!" Dorothy huffed, floating overhead.
"Are too!" Amethyst protested.
"We're almost to bed time, there's not much point in a break now," August sighed, flipping through images on his holoscreen, "Hmm... The pass has more defenses now..."
Leandra and Leander appeared out from behind a pillar, making Amethyst squeak.
"Eep! Little warning next time you do that?" She complained. Her half-siblings snickered.
"That would defeat the point," Leander smirked. He held up some supplies. "Got what you wanted from the store, Xander!"
"Great, put it down there," Xander indicated.
"Though teleporting all the way out to Vale is a trek for us," Leandra groaned, sitting down across from Amethyst. She dumped her bag of supplies on the table, and began sorting through it. "Let's see... Who wanted Winkies?"
The snack cakes vanished in a burst of golden petals, and Julian Arc-Rose reappeared nearby, eating the confectionary happily.
"Mmmm... So much sugar," he moaned. "Not as good as Mom's but pure sugar!"
Xia walked in after him, looking a bit awkward.
"So, this where we doing our homework?" Xia asked, holding up her Scroll.
"That's right!" Dorothy cried, descending from the ceiling with a grin. Amethyst twitched again, as Dorothy hovered nearby.
"Do you have to do that?"
"It helps me think," Dorothy said cheerfully, "Besides, there's still a lot more to get through."
Amethyst moaned and slammed her forehead into the desk.
"I'm a jeweler, how much could I possibly know?!" She demanded. Leander reached out to pat her on her shoulder.
"There there..."
Nicholas grinned as he saw a message on his Scroll.
"Klein and Granny have agree to look into some more parts we need," he said, shaking his head, "It's amazing how much tech changes in just twenty years."
"Doesn't help that all of our stuff uses magic, which isn't exactly in widespread use now," Julian mumbled, munching on more sweet treats. He vanished in a flurry of petals to reappear near a stack of books, which he began to flip through.
"Applied magic in our timeline," Dorothy volunteered, "Though it's mostly tracing glyphs with Aura and Dust to create a set of logic gates to emulate Boolean logic in computers."
"Ah," Nicholas said with a nod, holding up his sword, "My weapon uses similar glyph logic gates to enhance my Glyph use. With it, I'm able to mix and match the Dust amounts I deploy to every Glyph."
"WOW!" Julian enthused, shooting over to look the weapon over, "That's cool! I use something similar in Crescent Rose: Take Two!" He proudly held out his sniper scythe. "No physical gears needed! Just Glyph Gates that act as magnetic bearings!"
"Big deal," Amethyst scoffed, "I use Magic Glyph Gate tech in my studio! It's common in my timeline!"
"It's common in all our timelines, but it only became common with the defeat of Salem," Theodore spoke, teleporting in and hovering down to the floor in front of them all, "Right now, there's nothing."
"So we need magic to interface with this stuff," Julian said cheerfully, already scribbling some notes on a holopad. "Or at least some workarounds until we find some!"
"Maybe we could ask Granny Izzy to loan us some magical items from Radian," Xia suggested, "I think half the things in Nana's basement were magical artifacts."
"Yeah, but without actually knowing how to use it, it was all mostly junk," Theodore sniffed, looking over some supplies as well. "A mirror that insults you, a hairbrush that turns you blond..."
"Why would she have one of those?" Leandra asked with a frown. Theodore shrugged.
"Got me. Her side of the family collected all sorts of magical items from before the Moonshatter."
"Weird," Xia pronounced. She scanned around with a frown. "Where are Ash and Ashley?"
Nicholas shook his head, going back to his books.
"They're working on something in private," he said. Dorothy frowned deeply.
"You're... Not worried about that?" She asked quietly.
Amethyst scowled.
"Their mom... Their mom isn't evil in their timeline," she said flatly, "And neither are they!"
"I'm not saying they are," Dorothy said carefully, "But when it comes to family? It's hard to stay objective."
Theodore grinned.
"Well! There's an easy way to find out. Excuse me."
He dropped through another Glyph, sending up a gust of wind that blew several papers and books off the desks. Xander rolled his eyes.
"He did that on purpose," he muttered.
"What was your first clue?" Xia asked sarcastically.
- - -
It was a tight spot. Between the wall and the insulation in the castle, behind a suit of armor on display. Ash tapped directly into a network bus, while Ashley worked on her Scroll. The screen glowed a low blue in the dark confines, lighting up their faces.
"Any reply yet?" Ash asked, keeping an eye on the transceiver array they'd cobbled together.
Ashley sighed.
"No... But that could mean anything."
Ash stared intently at the screen, and slowly nodded.
"Yeah," he murmured. He reached down and squeezed her hand. "It'll take time."
Ashley nodded slowly. He smiled.
"It's going to be okay," he murmured.
"Well, well, well!"
Both twins brought their dagger pistol hybrids up to point overhead. Theodore Arc grinned down at them, his head poking out of a Schnee Glyph. He held his hands up.
"Hey! Easy with those things!"
"How did you find us?" Ashley demanded. Theodore shrugged.
"I use this little nook at Beacon too," he said, "Usually when I want to get some downloads of new Mistralian animes. Or to hide from Shu when she's mad."
The twins gave him a deadpan look in unison. Theodore shook his head.
"So... Contacting your mom?"
"And if we were?" Ash asked, tense. Ashley adjusted her grip on her gun.
Theodore chuckled.
"I'm sure you know what you're doing... But be careful. And keep me in the loop, huh?"
Ashley's eyes widened. Ash scowled.
"That's it?" He asked.
"That's it," Theodore said with a shrug, "She's your mom. You'd do anything to save her. And hell..." He grinned and winked. "I'm not about to abandon my family either, am I?"
Ash and Ashley stared up at him. Theodore grinned and saluted.
"Anyway, don't run off to meet her without telling me, eh? She's still working for the bad guys. And when you got a moment, join us. We're gonna need your intel most of all."
"We can wait for a reply later, I guess," Ash murmured. Ashley nodded.
"Sure... We all want to kill that witch," Ashley stated.
Theodore grinned.
"Works for me!"
A Glyph opened up under Ash and Ashley. The two fell through, squealing. They landed on the floor of the study room, not enough room to land properly. They glared up at Theodore, who appeared via another Glyph overhead and floated in the air.
"Yay! Now we're all together!" Theodore cheered.
"And you say I'm the immature one," Julian muttered, eating more sweets.
- - -