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

[superego_medico]

"The Bar can sell you clothes," Ezra says "Sorry, but I am not willing to buy that for you. I still have vague hopes to get another trio, which would be a bit of overkill, but wouldn’t hurt to have the extra credit, for lack of better word.”
Ezra makes the necessary arrangements, they will get what amounts to a one-and-half apartment, technically it is two apartments, one for each family, but with a door connecting the small living areas in each. The Grayson Clan side is bigger and has three bedrooms, but the largest one is going to be used for the infusion process. The sisters are invited to pick between two bedrooms and two bathrooms or three bedrooms and a shared bathroom, or even put in some money and get better arrangements.
The Bar makes it clear that Ezra can even go ahead and take his nap, when the sisters decide the chosen accommodations it will materialize where they need, without even a noise. Everyone is invited to be awed by yet another violation of physics.
Ezra takes his keys, waves and leaves to get some rest.

[mage_see_mage_do]

Currently (as much as the concept can apply here) Temperance is waiting by the Door, she is alternating between look inside and outside keeping her position, but looking both excited and impatient as her head darts around.
“Are you done yet?” Temps yells to the apartment outside “we can come back later, we don’t even have to worry with food expiring!”

[of_all_trades]

“Just a second!” Franklyn replies “I know there is some old stuff stashed here! Somewhere! Aha!”
Franklyn takes the charms he just found and hides them at the bottom of his gym bag next to his underwear, just to be certain. He returns to his half-sister carrying a suit-case, two gym bags and a backpack.

[mage_see_mage_do]

“It is weird that you are being more cautious than Ezra,” Temps says taking a gym bag herself.

[of_all_trades]

“I think Ezra got to rely too much in his post cognition,” Franklyn says “I don’t think the sisters are monsters, but mostly because people in general aren’t monsters and… Well, magic is a gift, if we introduce it to their world things ought to improve eventually, even if they go psycho with it. There is so much lost potential without magic.”

[mage_see_mage_do]

Temperance does not say that Franklyn really wants to bring his mother back and maybe Ezra isn’t the only one with clouded judgment. She will keep her eyes open, it is the best she can do now and she partially agrees with magic benefits.

Anyway, she is in a magic bar and this Lucy sounds nice enough by Franklyn brief description.

Talking about Lucy, are the sisters visible while they carry the luggage around?

[can_i_stay]

Here they are, discussing room arrangements next to the Bar.

They're going to go with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, but dividing the beds is not as simple.

"Does it really matter who officially sleeps in the same room as anyone else? Lucy's just going to take the bed closest to her, even if it's officially someone else's."

[can_i_go]

"Yeah, first come first serve is the simplest way to go."

[can_i_help]

"You know what? Whatever. Sleep where you please. But remember, I'm not going to fetch your things when they're who knows where and you're too lazy to get up and search for them."

[of_all_trades]

"Hey girls!" Franklyn says "this is my sister Temperance, call her Temps."

Temps waves at them.

The group checks that everything is at order and they go upstairs. They find Ezra reading a book fresh out of the shower, he experienced more subjective time than they did because Milliways that is why.

"So," Franklyn starts "just to get this out of the way before it is the eleventh hour and the topic distracts someone and we have to start the whole thing over... You guys aren't even mildly curious about our family situation or you just don't care about the subject? We don't mind sharing the story, it isn't even as traumatic as it could be."

[can_i_help]

"You know, I was a bit curious, but it's not polite to pry. I assume you'll want to know about the three of us in return, right? None of us are biologically related, and in my case it's pretty obvious so we're used to people asking."

[mage_see_mage_do]

"I assumed that they extracted that story out of you," Temperance says "or that some combination of you are robots or clones from the alternate magic-less future. Anyway, I could tell the story."

She glanced around to get confirmation from the men, they nod in agreement.

"The shortish version in chronological order: Stephen, Our father, used to work for the old magical conspiracy," Temperance started explaining "he killed a few of times, albeit it was self-defense. He later left the job, got a new identity and married Mary Jane, they had the twins, Ezra and Arya" She points at Ezra "Stephen cheated even back then, just so you know he always a jerk. Anyway, Stephen's dad got cancer and without any other available magical cure, Stephen tried to make a deal with a Trader," She points upwards "but due to a combination of Stephen being a wanted man by the conspiracy, the fact that he has killed mages and cheated on his wife caused the Trader to ask either all of Stephen's magic or... Stephen could give only a fraction of the magic andhave three more magical kids, as a way to replace the mages he killed. Father decided to go with the second option and not even tried to convince Mary Jane to have more kids, instead he married Sophia and lived a double life. Mary Jane eventually figured out the situation and they divorced. Stephen then married my mom and kept the double life until Sophia figured it out herself, but by that time she already pregnant with Adam who is the youngest."

After a pause she adds.

"I once helped Adam make a tridimensional family tree for a school project," Temps says.

[superego_medico]

"You forgot how my mom," Ezra says "married Richard who had Sally from a previous marriage... she is one of of whom we want to resurrect. The others are Sophia and our shared grandmother... our grandfather died from his cancer after it came back and he didn't want any magic healing so we don't know if he would take well being resurrected too."

[of_all_trades]

The three half-siblings all look away for a moment, but Franklyn breaks the silence.

"So, that is our lovely family history," Franklyn says "feel free to not share yours, but feel free to share it as well or we could just start sooner."

[can_i_stay]

"Our story is not nearly as complicated as yours. My father died when I was just a baby, and my mother when I was nine. I have no living relatives but my mother didn't want me to go to an institution, so I was wheeled to a family friend, that is, Lucy's father. At the time I was already friends with Sabrina, and that's how I gained Lucy.

[can_i_help]

"I find how Ann hated Lucy for the first few weeks genuinely hilarious. Of course, Lucy being Lucy, she loved her instantly because she had been introduced as her sister and sisters are supposed to love each other. I met Lucy at the first sleepover we had after the death of Ann's mother. It was quite a surprise as she had conveniently forgotten to mention the fact that she now had a sister. It was basically love at first sight, between the two of us, and Lucy in her blessed six year old brain had decided that you can get sisters just by introducing them to people as such, so I was instantly adopted. She won Ann over shortly after."

[can_i_go]

"So Sabrina's not actually legally our sister, just someone who spent most of her time at our house because her parents were... Umm..."

[can_i_help]

"The word you're looking for is narcissistic. They only care about me when they can get something out of it. And Lucy's father has enough money to feed an extra girl, so he had no issue with it. Especially when he's never been actually around that much and it was the babysitters who had to keep the three of us from killing ourselves."

[can_i_stay]

"When Lucy finally realized that you don't normally get siblings just by saying 'this is my sister', it was too late, Sabrina was already firmly a part of the family."

[can_i_go]

"I still think family is the people you love, does it really matter whose genes you actually have and whose name is on all the papers? Besides, normal is totally overrated."

[superego_medico]

The siblings look somehow unfazed by the story, considering their own, it should be understandable.

"Trust me," Ezra says "you are talking with the people most sympathetic with your opinion, even if don't ignore blood relations completely. Not to mention that you can guess what we think of our biological father."

Ezra closes the book that was still open in his lap.

"I think we should start now, if you guys don't have any objections."

Assuming no objections or any other problems they will head to the master suite, the room has a large bed and it is spacious enough to have sitting for everyone available. Temperance and Ezra sit on two large comfy chairs next to the bed and start the infusion process.

The infusion process is largely invisible to non-magical people. Franklyn shows a magic-seeing monocle to the sisters, it reveals a bright white halo around the mages, with a cone of light irradiating from Temps and Ezra to the general direction of Lucy.

The siblings talk for the first few hours but remain silent afterward, they start sweating despite the comfortable room temperature.

For anyone watching the process is rather boring and uneventful and anyone besides Lucy, Temps and Ezra can leave freely, Franklyn will fetch water and drinks for his siblings or the sisters if necessary.

How do the sisters spend the infusion time?

[can_i_go]

Lucy doesn't get a chance to get bored before she and Ann fall asleep, Lucy sitting up and Ann curled up with her head on her sister's lap.

[can_i_help]

Sabrina, on the other hand, realizes that she can get way ahead on her reading due to the time dilation.

Her reading consists of about half and half of schoolwork and a high fantasy book written by a person not yet born in the year 2010.

[mage_see_mage_do]

It is a little after the 11 hours and 30 minutes mark when the Grayson siblings stir from their sits.

Temperance stands with difficult, takes two steps and gently pokes Lucy's closest bit of exposed skin, she mumbles something and then says more clearly "Luck power" and that is all she manages before half-collapsing in the bed and sleeping next to the girls

Ezra is already sleeping.

[of_all_trades]

"Stubborn," Frankly says fondly to the sleeping Temperance.

He picks her up easily, the sisters might not have noticed before, but he is quite tall.

"She should rest for a few hours," Franklyn says to the sisters "after that we can inquire on the specifics, but Luck power sounds sweet enough already. I will just move my half-sibs and back to test it."

Franklyn does just that, Ezra doesn't even seem to notice he was carried.

"So," Franklyn says "how do you guys want to test..." he points theatrically at Lucy "your luck?"