The Aftermath Of Sid’s Vanishing Act
Ashlyn blinks, her hand still hovering in the air where Sid’s shoulder had been only a second ago. “What.”
Evelyn waves her hand through the spot that once held Sid. “She fucking vanished!”
Carter and Haley walk back in from gathering snacks in the kitchen. “Huh? Where’s Sid?” Haley asks.
“That’s what we’re wondering,” Malum says, reaching his own hand out to wave it around the spot.
Ashlyn still hasn’t moved. “I-I don’t understand what just happened.”
Haley sets the snacks down. “Maybe she... got distracted by something? Another imagining?”
Carter too sets down his tray of snacks (consisting mainly of cookies). “Perhaps... but it looks as though she left without warning, am I correct?”
“Just a concerning amount of staring at the wall,” Evelyn confirms. She’s still moving her hand around the spot. Malum is doing the same, though he seems to be focused on something whereas Evelyn is doing it simply because she’s not sure what else to do.
“Well, that’s not like her at all. She always gives a warning, you know how much she prides herself on being polite.”
Malum rubs his fingers together. “Something’s very wrong.”
Evelyn turned to Malum, incredulous.“Well yeah, no shit. Sid freaking disappeared into thin air!”
“No, beyond that.” Malum let’s his disguise drop a bit, revealing his demonic eyes and the claws on his hands. He swirls his hand in the Sid-less spot. “There’s... a feeling of loss.”
Evelyn looks ready to fight. “Oh no you fuckin’-”
“Not the meme, Evelyn!” Malum snaps. “Actual, real loss. Something... important.” He pulls his hand away and stands up. “We need to find her.”
Ashlyn looks down at the couch cushions. “Yeah. Because that-” she finally moves her hand, and points to the cushion where Sid had been sitting, “-is not normal.”
A small purple crack has appeared in the cushion, somehow both glowing and absorbing all the light around it.
Carter reaches to touch it. Ashlyn smacks his hand away.
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Carter groans and tosses the magic mirror at the wall. “Disney lied. Mirror’s are a simply terrible method of locating someone.”
Malum rolls his eyes. He focuses back on chasing the sensation of loss, trying to figure out where it leads.
Ashlyn checks her bow. “Hmm... Evelyn, do you have any new bowstrings?”
“Why would I just have those on me?”
“I don’t know. You have a lot of weapons.”
Haley gets up and pulls a string from her purse. “Here you go.”
"Wh- why do you have that? You have a magic necklace!”
“I have it for exactly this reason.”
Evelyn thinks about it for a second, then shrugs. “Fair.”
“I think... I think I’ve got it,” Malum announces, hesitant.
“You don’t sound very sure, dear,” Haley says.
“It’s... faint. I-I’ve never tried tracking someone based on tragedy before.” He closes his eyes, his disguise wavering as he put all of his concentration into following the trail. “I... I think she’s still here, somewhere.”
“In the apartment?” Evelyn asks.
Carter shakes his head. “More likely she’s somewhere the city, I’d think.”
“No, no, she’s... she’s still in her imagination, and she’s close to here, just... a little out of sync.”
Evelyn nods. “So... now what?”
“The crack is getting bigger, guys,” Ashlyn says, looking at the couch cushion. The purple crack has indeed spread, moving to the other cushions.
“I... don’t know.” Malum keeps his eyes closed, trying to think of a solution.
Carter looks between Malum and the crack. He shrugs and lunges for the crack.
“Carter no!” the girls all shout at once. Malum’s eyes fly open just in time to see Carter’s hand touch the crack. The god’s body flashes violet, and then he’s gone.
Everyone stares at the crack.
“What the FUCK is he thinking?!” Evelyn exclaims. “He should have just told us he was going to do that!” Ashlyn is just a second too slow in grabbing Evelyn’s arm as she, too, reaches out and touches the crack.
Evelyn vanishes in the same way.
Ashlyn throws her arms up in the air. “Fine then!”
“Ashlyn please don’t-” Haley starts, but Ashlyn’s already vanished.
Malum and Haley look at each other. Malum sighs. “Well... they might have figured out how to find Sid, at least.”
Haley takes her husband’s hand, and together they follow their friends.
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(Little bit of a dry piece but I hope it set up the conflict well.)
@victory-cookies @a-humble-narcissus @meisamyth @musical-in-theory
