Power Without a Price

[curiousdiscoverer]

The first time Ezra finds Milliways he spends most of the experience overwhelmed by psychic sensory overload. Postcognition doesn’t really mix well with inter-dimensional nexus.

However when he walks out and tells about the experience, the true nature of the place is eventually revealed, furthermore he discovers that the Traders are very interested in using the unique location to seed magic to other worlds and they pay very generously for it. So Ezra’s family all hear about the story and stay in the look out for another door, just in case.

Years pass, and Ezra’s family gets a little smaller, and starting wishing for a door to show up.

Because resurrection is possible, but expensive and bringing three people back is impossibly costly without extreme circumstances.

So Ezra feels extremely lucky the day he finally finds a door again, with family in his apartment where they wait behind after Ezra grabs a few things while Temps holds the door.

He is now in better control of his powers and Milliways massive history doesn’t overload him anymore.

Ezra looks around the bar, sits on a table with a nice view and observes.

Is anyone here that could want and deserve magic?

Comments

[of_all_trades]

Most likely he will.

The fall isn't big enough to break any bones even if without the mud to soften the impact, but any way down is covered with moss.

Also, covered with moss is Temps, since it is all glowing moss it makes her easy to spot. She still is giggling.

"Help me down?" Franklyn asks the sisters.

[can_i_stay]

Ann eyes the way down for a moment and then offers her arm to Franklyn. Two people should be more stable than one, right?

Meanwhile Sabrina has tried to grab Lucy by the hand. Lucy shakes her off and gives her sister a look. "Luck powers, remember?"

[of_all_trades]

Franklyn climbs down and helps Ann down. He turns his head to Temps.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Temps is still giggling, but she points at the chest right next to her.

"It was..." She has a fit of giggles "so polite... the magic!"

[can_i_go]

Lucy helps Sabrina down and skips to the chest. "Oh wow, my magic is literally the best! You should open it. To see what's inside."

If Temps doesn't do it soon Lucy might not be able to contain herself.

[mage_see_mage_do]

Temps managed to control herself by now.

"Seriously," Temps says "I felt the magic going 'I am sorry for doing this but you are going to like the results'!"

Temperance opens the chest.

A soft orange glow emanates from it. Coming from a large, thin bottle that seems filled with flames, three other bottles reside next to it and a old book. The three other bottles seems to be filled with a transparent liquid, something that looks like brownish sand and some kind of fog-like gas. The book has a purple cover.

[can_i_go]

Technically they're Temps' things and Lucy shouldn't touch other people's stuff.

[can_i_stay]

A second after she raises her hand to touch one of the bottles a hand yanks her backwards.

"Look with your eyes, not with your hands," Ann says.

[mage_see_mage_do]

Temperance's hand hovers over the flame-filled bottle but then decides to take the one with transparent-liquid.

She hmmms while holding it for a second, then she opens the very elaborate and intricate cap. Waters pours from it, with enough pressure to hit the floor several feet away, it's obviously far more water than the bottle could contain.

"Cool," Temperance says.

She pokes the other three bottles.

"These bottles create the four elements when you open them."

Temperance takes the book and starts reading it, using a flashlight from one of her pockets.

Franklyn takes a step forward and reads over her shoulder.

[can_i_go]

The text on the first page looks... kind of familiar Lucy who peers at the text too.

"Binky the Blanket, my new best friend: It will love me and hug me and never let me go. For the times when Sabrina doesn't feel like cuddling and I'm all out of teleports. b(~_^)d Certified the best at keeping me warm.

It even knows me enough to change color before I ask. Everyone who says making magical things with personality is dangerous is a butterface.

The Bottle(s) of Eternal Fire/Water/Air/Earth: Why do I have to make these notes? They make one thing each, consult the names to know what. Not good at cuddles, would not recommend. =__________="

Lucy snags the book from Temps' hands.

"Aha! I knew it. Binky is the best name for it!"

She leaves through the rest of the book. It's full very crudely drawn pictures of mostly mythical animals for the first twenty pages and nothing after that.

[can_i_help]

Sabrina looks at the book over Lucy's shoulder. "Lucy... You didn't write this, did you?"

When Lucy shakes her head, Sabrina sighs. "How in the world did these end up here?"

[mage_see_mage_do]

"Can you imagine Lucy hiding a handful of magical artifacts in a cave?" Franklyn asks.

"I think Lucy's alt wrote this," Temps says reasonably "from the sound of it, her world has lots of magic, or enough that infinite elemental supplies sounds boring to her."

[can_i_stay]

"Well, it is Lucy we're talking about. I'm almost certain that if she'd have to choose she'd take Binky over the bottles every day of the week."

She reads the text again. "Funny. It mentions Sabrina but not me. I wonder if she's from a world where we never met."

[can_i_help]

"Or maybe her Ann lives so far away she'd need to use a teleport for cuddles."

[can_i_go]

"Oh man, I wish I had a cuddle-port spell! Besides, it doesn't mention Miri either."

[can_i_help]

There's a slight pause. "That's not quite the same thing, but you're right."

[of_all_trades]

"The bottles are interesting," Franklyn says looking over the ones in the chest "but I don't get why she would need infinite fire and earth... or air actually. Infinite water bottles sounds great."

"They have spells?" Temperance says "maybe she could reshape earth, or control the elements some way. I don't get enough information from the artifacts. The air can be used like a air blower, and it is fresh air so..."

Temperance blinks (which isn't quite clear give the suboptimal light) and then says.

"I think that if I copied Lucianne and both of us boosted this bottles..."

"huh?"

"We could seriously speed up Mars' terraformation."

Temperance and Franklyn are now staring at the bottles like they are filled with water and they just walked through the desert for a week.

[can_i_stay]

"You should take them then. After all, it was you who found them."

[of_all_trades]

"Seriously?" Franklyn says surprised "those look powerful."

"I think..." Temps says quietly "that my copy of Lucy's power contrived for me to find that... huh, it must be in a part of the power that I don't usually feel," She turns to Lucy "Do you think your alt would be okay with that? I wouldn't normally go along, but the Mars project would be huge if we manage back home."

[can_i_go]

"Why does it even matter? It's her own fault that she left her bottles here. She didn't even write 'Do not touch' on the chest."

She's silent for a moment.

"Besides you are my friends, and that's almost her friends. I would definitely give my bottles to her friends."

[of_all_trades]

"Huh," Franklyn says "Binky sounded really well liked... maybe it was stolen?"

[mage_see_mage_do]

Grabs the Bottle of Eternal Air and uses it's wind to clean the moss away.

"I know how we got here," This utterance is accompanied with a flare of magic "but your guess sounds good. I don't think Bar would be okay with storing stolen items. In that case I don't want to leave anything here if the potential thieves do return."

When Temperance is clean enough she puts the bottle away and says to Lucy.

"Thank you!"

She opens her arm for a hug.

[can_i_go]

"Aww yiss, hugs!"

This hug is going to go on for uncomfortably long.

"You know," Lucy says without letting go of Temps, "If they were stolen then you should take them even more, better for you to have them and do some good than to evil thief people hide them in a cave where nobody can find and benefit from them."

[mage_see_mage_do]

It actually takes some time before Temperance gets uncomfortable, but then she does.

"We should return to Milliways" Temperance says "show off the awesome loot!"

[can_i_go]

Lucy reluctantly lets go of Temps.

"Yeah. I'm getting kinda hungry too, do we have any food left?"

Ann digs out a chocolate bar from her back bag and wordlessly gives it to Lucy. She always has something.

They walk out of the cave with no further setbacks or pleasant surprises and set their way back to Milliways.