Posted using PostyBirb",
"writing": "“Someone help!” Niel ran to where the car slid to, telling himself the lack of blood meant Roland was okay. It had to have dragged him along as it moved forward and then back at the vole’s command, but he had to be okay. “He’s trapped under it!”\n\nHe had to be under. Roland threw himself down just before the metal barrel collided with where he’d been standing. He had to. Niel hadn’t seen it, but that had to be what had happened.\n\nHe grabbed the edge of the car and pulled. He pulled as hard as he could; screamed as he did. “Where’s Hubert? I need his help!”\n\nGrant joined him, then Thomas, but even coordinating their efforts, the car didn’t move. The rat whispered, implored, as he strained. Others joined them, and as one, they pulled. The car budged an inch, maybe two, then someone let out a pain yelp, and the weight increased.\n\n“No!” Niel tried to support it. With each person losing their grip, more of the metal cut into his hands. He wasn’t stopping, not giving up on Roland. Thomas and Grant were still on each side. They could do this.\n\nSomeone ran a finger along Niel’s bloody hand, and a high pitch whistle sounded as Jacques wrote sigils on the metal in blood. He shook his head to clear it; it was the strain. The whistle came again, nearly brain drilling with how high the pitch was. He glanced over his shoulder where it sounded like it came and stared, his mind unable to resolve what he looked at.\n\n“Niel!” Thomas yelled. “Hold on, Jacque’s almost done!” Thomas had tears down his cheeks, Niel saw that in his peripheral vision, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the two-inch stick man waving an arm at him, moving minuscule fingers out from between his lips.\n\nNiel shook his head to clear the hallucination.\n\n“Roland?” he asked when it remained.\n\n“Finally,” the tiny rat yelled, his voice faint and high-pitched.\n\nThe wreck hit the ground.\n\n“Roland!” Thomas scooped up his tiny, naked brother. “You’re alive!”\n\n“Looks like this is my power.” The rest was muffled into imperception by Thomas holding him against his chest.\n\n“Mom would have killed me if I’d let you get dead.”\n\n“Thomas,” Grant said, “take Roland to the barn. It looks to be in good condition. He can get back to his normal size.”\n\n“About that,” the tiny rat said, struggling out from between his brother’s fingers. “I’ve been trying to get back to normal since getting out from under that wreck.” He hesitated. “I think this is permanent.”\n\n* * * * *\n\nNiel threw up bile at the sight of the collie when he rounded another wreck, looking for more injured people. The collie was half under it, with a transmission shaft through his chest.\n\n“Don’t,” he said at the motion in the corner of his eye. “You don’t—”\n\n“Hubert!” Jacques yelled, then Thomas was there. Standing over the badger as he held the collie against him. Loss was written deep on both their faces and Niel made sure no one else approached.\n\n* * * * *\n\n“Thomas! Roland!” someone yelled, and Niel looked up from where he sat against the barn. He’d been helping with the injured after the few dead had been moved out of sight and covered. They had magic to help with healing, but few people in a state, or with the knowledge of sigils, able to do it. Jacques was the only uninjured person there, and even Thomas hadn’t been able to get him to leave Hubert’s side. \n\nThe person yelling came into view from the side of the destroyed winery. Victor stopped in his tracks, looking at the devastation. Behind him, Orinda held the twins, their faces against her so they couldn’t see. And behind her, an utterly exhausted kangaroo trudged along.\n\n“Thomas!” Victor yelled in desperation, and the rat ran around the barn toward his brother. They hugged. Victor asked something, again looking around with worry. Niel saw motion in Thomas’s breast pocket, Roland waved, and he readied himself to go help with the coming freakout. Instead, Victor hugged his brothers again, crying.\n\nNiel left them be.\n\n* * * * *\n\n“Niel?” Thomas called.\n\nThe raccoon sat facing the setting sun, wishing its remaining heat could chase away the cold that had settled on him as he helped carry those too gravely injured for the knowledge the arriving Mercier had to the cars. Jacques had mentioned his family was in art, so he wasn’t surprised at how lost most seemed on exiting their cars, unprepared for what they found. Someone spoke in authoritative French, and the badgers moved. Niel helped until he couldn’t take anymore and found refuge alone.\n\n“Niel. How about I take you home?” The rat was next to him, looking as exhausted, but also determined. His passenger was gone, though.\n\n“You should see to the others,” the raccoon replied, not opening his eyes, willing heat to seep in.\n\n“I only have one teleport left in me after what we went through. No amount of fucking’s going to change that, so how about I get you home so you don’t miss classes?”\n\nNiel snorted. “I don’t know if I can bother with that, not after everything we lost here.”\n\nThomas sat next to him. “As stupid as I know this is going to sound. What happened isn’t your fault, Niel. It’s not mine, or even Grant’s. The idea was that with all the magic hidden around the property as part of protecting the staff, Victor and his family would be safe. How could anyone know the Chamber would attack today?”\n\n“Who are they?” Niel asked, happy for something other than how he felt to focus on. “I never got an answer.”\n\n“They’re the polar opposite of Grant.”\n\nNiel chuckled. “That’s not as helpful as you think. I barely know the guy.”\n\nThomas ran a hand over his face. “He’s all about finding staves and keeping their owners safe. The Chamber, they’re just interested in amassing as many staves as they can so they can use them. They’ll create people, basically manufacture them, just so they’ll end up creating a staff, then they’ll push until only the staff is left and they hand it to someone who’ll be happy to use it. Don’t ask about that part,” Thomas said as Niel opened his mouth. “I asked for an explanation once, and I’m still reeling from that headache.”\n\n“So they’re what? Normal people who make magical ones?”\n\n“No. They’re magical too. Don’t tell Grant that, but the way I figure, they follow the same god. It’s the only way they can also use the staves.”\n\n“Those things don’t like us.” Niel shook a hand at the memory of the pain.\n\n“Tell me about it. But it’s not us, as in Society. It’s anyone from a different faction. Grant sees them as some other group, because he was raised by one of them, groomed into making his staff, and set to be killed so they would gain it. He escaped, obviously, but anytime the Chamber gets their hands on a staff; a hidden one, or a practitioner that had escaped them until then, Grant takes it personally. This one’s made worse because Kingsley was involved. They have a history that, I think, goes back to when he escaped them that first time. Kingsley isn’t who raised him. I worked out that much, but Grant’s tight lips about the depth of the animosity between them.”\n\n“And that’s the short version, isn’t it?” Niel massaged his temple.\n\n“Yeah.” Thomas chuckled. “When the cleanup here is done, I can drop by Minneapolis and tell you what I know of the long version, but you’ll want to talk to Grant if you—”\n\n“I really don’t want to know.”\n\n“Really? A history buff like you? I’d think you’d want to document everything.”\n\n“I’m just too burned out on this right now. How’s Roland taking being two inches tall?”\n\n“He’s happy that they confirmed it’s not permanent, although no one can tell him how to get back to his full size. Everyone’s different. When I left him, he was running around the historical winery a few acres back, letting the twins chase him like he’s one of their figurines.”\n\nHe sighed. “Now, I wish he had gotten super speed. I lost him three times, and a Mercier nearly stepped on him.”\n\n“Is the other building where Vic and his family will be staying?”\n\nThomas shook his head. “The Chamber destroyed the protection here in their assault, so it’s no longer safe for him to stay. And I’m not sure if I can use the barn as a landing spot anymore with how damaged the inside is. You know about how I need ‘intimate knowledge of a place’ to land there, right?”\n\n“That you have to have had sex there, yes, I know?”\n\n“Don’t I wish it was that easy. As soon as the Dumiers get here, they’ll be moving my brother to their estate. Francois offered to drive Victor and his family there instead of waiting, but them helping here isn’t enough to make me trust the Mercier. The estate is my other landing spot in the country, so once we have a place for them, it’ll be easy to get them there.”\n\nNiel nodded and went back to looking at what was left of the sun. He sighed. The only heat it gave out anymore was in his imagination. He stood. “Who else is coming?”\n\n“You get to have the Thomas Express to yourself this time.” The rat placed a hand on Niels shoulder, and as Niel rolled his eyes at the stupid name, Kuno was pulling him away from Thomas and into a bone breaking hug.\n\nWhat followed was Niel’s discovery of how the Society dealt with grief, which was mainly through sex. Maybe accompanied by slightly more foreplay than usual.",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "“Someone help!” Niel ran to where the car slid to, telling himself the lack of blood meant Roland was okay. It had to have dragged him along as it moved forward and then back at the vole’s command, but he had to be okay. “He’s trapped under it!”
He had to be under. Roland threw himself down just before the metal barrel collided with where he’d been standing. He had to. Niel hadn’t seen it, but that had to be what had happened.
He grabbed the edge of the car and pulled. He pulled as hard as he could; screamed as he did. “Where’s Hubert? I need his help!”
Grant joined him, then Thomas, but even coordinating their efforts, the car didn’t move. The rat whispered, implored, as he strained. Others joined them, and as one, they pulled. The car budged an inch, maybe two, then someone let out a pain yelp, and the weight increased.
“No!” Niel tried to support it. With each person losing their grip, more of the metal cut into his hands. He wasn’t stopping, not giving up on Roland. Thomas and Grant were still on each side. They could do this.
Someone ran a finger along Niel’s bloody hand, and a high pitch whistle sounded as Jacques wrote sigils on the metal in blood. He shook his head to clear it; it was the strain. The whistle came again, nearly brain drilling with how high the pitch was. He glanced over his shoulder where it sounded like it came and stared, his mind unable to resolve what he looked at.
“Niel!” Thomas yelled. “Hold on, Jacque’s almost done!” Thomas had tears down his cheeks, Niel saw that in his peripheral vision, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the two-inch stick man waving an arm at him, moving minuscule fingers out from between his lips.
Niel shook his head to clear the hallucination.
“Roland?” he asked when it remained.
“Finally,” the tiny rat yelled, his voice faint and high-pitched.
The wreck hit the ground.
“Roland!” Thomas scooped up his tiny, naked brother. “You’re alive!”
“Looks like this is my power.” The rest was muffled into imperception by Thomas holding him against his chest.
“Mom would have killed me if I’d let you get dead.”
“Thomas,” Grant said, “take Roland to the barn. It looks to be in good condition. He can get back to his normal size.”
“About that,” the tiny rat said, struggling out from between his brother’s fingers. “I’ve been trying to get back to normal since getting out from under that wreck.” He hesitated. “I think this is permanent.”
* * * * *
Niel threw up bile at the sight of the collie when he rounded another wreck, looking for more injured people. The collie was half under it, with a transmission shaft through his chest.
“Don’t,” he said at the motion in the corner of his eye. “You don’t—”
“Hubert!” Jacques yelled, then Thomas was there. Standing over the badger as he held the collie against him. Loss was written deep on both their faces and Niel made sure no one else approached.
* * * * *
“Thomas! Roland!” someone yelled, and Niel looked up from where he sat against the barn. He’d been helping with the injured after the few dead had been moved out of sight and covered. They had magic to help with healing, but few people in a state, or with the knowledge of sigils, able to do it. Jacques was the only uninjured person there, and even Thomas hadn’t been able to get him to leave Hubert’s side.
The person yelling came into view from the side of the destroyed winery. Victor stopped in his tracks, looking at the devastation. Behind him, Orinda held the twins, their faces against her so they couldn’t see. And behind her, an utterly exhausted kangaroo trudged along.
“Thomas!” Victor yelled in desperation, and the rat ran around the barn toward his brother. They hugged. Victor asked something, again looking around with worry. Niel saw motion in Thomas’s breast pocket, Roland waved, and he readied himself to go help with the coming freakout. Instead, Victor hugged his brothers again, crying.
Niel left them be.
* * * * *
“Niel?” Thomas called.
The raccoon sat facing the setting sun, wishing its remaining heat could chase away the cold that had settled on him as he helped carry those too gravely injured for the knowledge the arriving Mercier had to the cars. Jacques had mentioned his family was in art, so he wasn’t surprised at how lost most seemed on exiting their cars, unprepared for what they found. Someone spoke in authoritative French, and the badgers moved. Niel helped until he couldn’t take anymore and found refuge alone.
“Niel. How about I take you home?” The rat was next to him, looking as exhausted, but also determined. His passenger was gone, though.
“You should see to the others,” the raccoon replied, not opening his eyes, willing heat to seep in.
“I only have one teleport left in me after what we went through. No amount of fucking’s going to change that, so how about I get you home so you don’t miss classes?”
Niel snorted. “I don’t know if I can bother with that, not after everything we lost here.”
Thomas sat next to him. “As stupid as I know this is going to sound. What happened isn’t your fault, Niel. It’s not mine, or even Grant’s. The idea was that with all the magic hidden around the property as part of protecting the staff, Victor and his family would be safe. How could anyone know the Chamber would attack today?”
“Who are they?” Niel asked, happy for something other than how he felt to focus on. “I never got an answer.”
“They’re the polar opposite of Grant.”
Niel chuckled. “That’s not as helpful as you think. I barely know the guy.”
Thomas ran a hand over his face. “He’s all about finding staves and keeping their owners safe. The Chamber, they’re just interested in amassing as many staves as they can so they can use them. They’ll create people, basically manufacture them, just so they’ll end up creating a staff, then they’ll push until only the staff is left and they hand it to someone who’ll be happy to use it. Don’t ask about that part,” Thomas said as Niel opened his mouth. “I asked for an explanation once, and I’m still reeling from that headache.”
“So they’re what? Normal people who make magical ones?”
“No. They’re magical too. Don’t tell Grant that, but the way I figure, they follow the same god. It’s the only way they can also use the staves.”
“Those things don’t like us.” Niel shook a hand at the memory of the pain.
“Tell me about it. But it’s not us, as in Society. It’s anyone from a different faction. Grant sees them as some other group, because he was raised by one of them, groomed into making his staff, and set to be killed so they would gain it. He escaped, obviously, but anytime the Chamber gets their hands on a staff; a hidden one, or a practitioner that had escaped them until then, Grant takes it personally. This one’s made worse because Kingsley was involved. They have a history that, I think, goes back to when he escaped them that first time. Kingsley isn’t who raised him. I worked out that much, but Grant’s tight lips about the depth of the animosity between them.”
“And that’s the short version, isn’t it?” Niel massaged his temple.
“Yeah.” Thomas chuckled. “When the cleanup here is done, I can drop by Minneapolis and tell you what I know of the long version, but you’ll want to talk to Grant if you—”
“I really don’t want to know.”
“Really? A history buff like you? I’d think you’d want to document everything.”
“I’m just too burned out on this right now. How’s Roland taking being two inches tall?”
“He’s happy that they confirmed it’s not permanent, although no one can tell him how to get back to his full size. Everyone’s different. When I left him, he was running around the historical winery a few acres back, letting the twins chase him like he’s one of their figurines.”
He sighed. “Now, I wish he had gotten super speed. I lost him three times, and a Mercier nearly stepped on him.”
“Is the other building where Vic and his family will be staying?”
Thomas shook his head. “The Chamber destroyed the protection here in their assault, so it’s no longer safe for him to stay. And I’m not sure if I can use the barn as a landing spot anymore with how damaged the inside is. You know about how I need ‘intimate knowledge of a place’ to land there, right?”
“That you have to have had sex there, yes, I know?”
“Don’t I wish it was that easy. As soon as the Dumiers get here, they’ll be moving my brother to their estate. Francois offered to drive Victor and his family there instead of waiting, but them helping here isn’t enough to make me trust the Mercier. The estate is my other landing spot in the country, so once we have a place for them, it’ll be easy to get them there.”
Niel nodded and went back to looking at what was left of the sun. He sighed. The only heat it gave out anymore was in his imagination. He stood. “Who else is coming?”
“You get to have the Thomas Express to yourself this time.” The rat placed a hand on Niels shoulder, and as Niel rolled his eyes at the stupid name, Kuno was pulling him away from Thomas and into a bone breaking hug.
What followed was Niel’s discovery of how the Society dealt with grief, which was mainly through sex. Maybe accompanied by slightly more foreplay than usual.",
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