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

[can_i_go]

It's snack time for Lucy. Unfortunately what she finds behind the kitchen door is not her father's kitchen, but a bar she's never seen before.

She blinks and yells for her sister.

"Aaaaann, where did the kitchen go?"

There's a muffled answer, and Lucy yells louder.

"No really, the kitchen's not here anymore!"

[unblinkered]

Max is carrying his copy of Interstellar Physics: History, Principles, and Engineering, vol. 1-6 (Omnibus Edition), by habit, as he walks through the front door of Brenda's. It has been a week or so since he left Milliways, and he's since been studying advanced physics in hopes of understanding the thing.

A pair of people, whispering to each other, push past him as he heads inside- and before they can turn and... apologize, Max assumes, although they sounded more frantic than that- the door swings shut.

And, unceremoniously, he finds himself in that non-Brenda's location. Its claims that he might find a door again have, it seems, been confirmed. And... it's the same door as last time, which he finds suspicious, but...

Milliways has a different person in it this time.

[parental_guidance]

Emma decides she doesn't like the Washington Metro. She doesn't like cities much to begin with, really. Suburbs are so much calmer, and the city is so busy. This particular subway car is, at least, not horribly full. She and Phil found seats, and Alli is ignoring the extra seats to hang over them and chatter excitedly about her new boyfriend, which Emma is attempting (and failing) to focus on.

Mostly, she is focusing on not focusing on Professor Reed. They ran into her on the platform boarding the train; there's only so many ways off campus, after all. Emma didn't want to bother her- it's a holiday, after all, that's why they're exploring, why make Professor Reed do more work than she has to?- but Jenny of course immediately walked over to chat about their latest kinetic assignment, and it's making Emma squirm uncomfortably on her behalf.

All such thoughts become irrelevant when there is a loud Bang! and the car starts filling with smoke. Awful, caustic, burning smoke, soaking in through the doors and filling the car. Emma pulls her turtleneck over her nose and mouth, but it only does so much. Alli's done something similar, but Phil's doubled over coughing horribly.

There's more smoke in Jenny's direction- Emma casts her a frightened look, but Phil's coughing is getting worse and Emma doesn't know what to do. Announcements start coming over the emergency speakers- they're hard to hear, but Emma can make out 'move towards the station'. This, at least, gives her a goal: get out of the car, don't breathe, go back towards the station they only just left. Panicking, trying not to show it, she has to help, if she panics she might get hurt, Phil might get hurt, keep it together- she and Alli manage to haul the still-coughing Phil upright and drag him through the subway door towards the next car.

Except-

-this isn't the next car?