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maderrI'm now 6,000 words behind on my nano story, but I think I can finish another 2000 before work. Hopefully. Here's the latest chapter for those that care, and ARTWORK! by my darling friend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amasugiru
Impossible Wish
Chapter Six
"What do you mean you messed up? Do I need to start calling you Gareth?" Bethany tossed aside the journal on her lap, rising from her chair and crossing the attic to where her best friend sat dejectedly on the floor.
Rosemary looked up, half hearted glare on her face. "Oh be quiet. I summoned Nomolos just fine - that much I got right. For some reason though he didn't come here, I don't know why. The symbols are correct…the spell cage…I don't get it, Beth."
The red haired woman sat down beside her friend, looping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure it's something ridiculously obvious that we both overlooked. Hmm…let me see…" Moving away, She stood up and examined the elaborate symbols painted on the wooden floor of Rosemary's attic room. Are you sure we didn't forget something? I mean it looks exactly like the picture in Gareth's journal. Every symbol is exactly right, we checked them a million time and then some."
"Heck if I know." Rosemary rose to stand beside her friend, brow knit as she thought. Suddenly her eyes widened, "Ah, fuck me!"
"I love you darling, but no."
"Stop that. I mean - I know what we did wrong. I can't believe I only noticed it now. I feel like an idiot. That stupid demon has all the luck."
Bethany poked her friend in the arm, exasperated, "Would you stop babbling and tell me how we screwed up?"
Rosemary pointed to the pattern on the floor, "Look there, the top right section of the circle. That area designates the location of entrapment. Namely, here."
"Yeah, so…" Bethany raised a brow.
"So…it looks exactly like it did in the picture. We didn't change the location to indicate he should come here. This still reads that he should appear wherever ultra-great grandpa Gareth summoned him."
Bethany smacked her hand to her forehead, then turned a threatening look on her friend. "I'm going to beat you senseless. You're supposed to be the expert here - how did you miss that?"
"I'm not a summoner, give me a break. You know I don't dabble much in the family business, I just run mama's shop now."
"Oh, whatever. We both know you dabble plenty in the family business." Bethany grinned.
Rosemary giggled, "Perhaps - but not the summoning part of it. Anyway, you should have noticed too."
"Yeah, yeah." Bethany waved a hand. "Doesn't matter. The important thing now is - where the hell did Nomolos go?"
"Hmm…lemme see…" Rosemary strolled over to a long worktable, reaching up to the shelf above it and pulling down an old book. "Where is it…here somewhere…ah ha!"
Bethany had come up beside her, yawning and half leaning on the worktable. "You know where he went?"
"Yeah, it's right here. Without a point of origin, the summoned creature will just sort of "bounce" to the nearest point of stability." Rosemary frowned in thought.
Bethany looked mildly curious, even as she yawned again. "Point of stability?"
"Yeah, a point of power strong enough that a summon gone wrong can lock onto it and give the summoned somewhere to 'land' so to speak. Like…an emergency runway, sort of."
"I see. Any idea what sort of runways we got in this area?"
Rosemary snapped the book shut and placed it back on the shelf. "Not a clue. Basically we just have to wait until he finds us."
"Great." Bethany groaned.
"Come on, I want some tea." Crossing the room, Rosemary threw open the door and descended the stairs, exiting out into the hallway that led to her apartment over the store. Crossing to the far end, she flicked on the lights of the kitchen and wandered over to stove to begin preparations for tea.
Several minutes later they both sat at the small kitchen table, sipping from steaming mugs. "So what do we do now? My brother has the genie, and we just lost Nomolos."
Rosemary shrugged, "The first isn't any big deal. I still say it was too convenient that your brother found him after all our searching for the past few years. Something tells me he should have Kasimir."
"I agree, I agree. But that will make it much harder for us to fulfill my side of the bargain later." Bethany looked tired.
Waving a hand carelessly, the other woman took another sip of tea, "I'm not worried about it. One way or another we'll free the genie - and besides, I just screwed up my half of the deal. There's no point in worrying about your half until we find the missing demon. Unfortunately, it's pretty much as I said - we have to wait for him to find us."
"In that case I could really use some more caffeine." Bethany held out her empty mug.
Rosemary grinned and reached for the mug, "Coming right up."
~*~*~*~
"Neil!" A gentle but hassled voice called from behind.
The red haired man turned, already placing the name, "Sheridan."
Halting in front of Neil, Sheridan took a minute to catch his breath, bent slightly over, "I've been trying to talk to you for the past few days. Why don't you ever answer my phone calls? You're never at school either - I'm lucky I saw you in here. My dad is about to kill me."
"Your dad?" Neil shifted impatiently, looking out over the crowd in the coffee shop as if searching for an escape route. "What's he got to do with anything?" He turned his gaze back to other man.
Sheridan rose to his full height, a little shorter than Neil. "He…I'm supposed to help you with your search, if you'd like. My family has records of it's own, plus I'm as familiar with your family history as you are. I have the time; most of my classes are independent study so I have plenty of free time. Plus fall pause is coming up soon."
"There's no reason for you to get dragged into this idiocy, Sheridan." Neil frowned. Fingers tapping idly on the counter, he watched the workers scrambling back and forth to take and make orders.
Sheridan shook his head adamantly, "I don't mind! I know we don't really talk or anything, but I know how much you hate the whole thing and believe me I hate it just as much. So let me help, it's really no bother. Besides, you know how my dad is."
"Yeah." Neil shrugged, "If you really want to help me find something that doesn't exist, by all means. What did you have in mind?"
Sheridan stared up at the board a moment, perusing the menu. He looked back at the other man, "Umm…I thought we could split up. Your family history is sort of scattered, I thought we could just split up. Are you going back to the estate any time soon?"
People jostled around the crowded shop, and the two men moved closer to the counter to try and get out of the way. Neil glared at the other people, "Yeah, I'll probably head that way tonight or tomorrow. I've got permission to miss classes and all, and I'd rather finish this as quickly as possible."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Sheridan asked "Do you really think you can finish it so easily? I mean, it's been a legend for centuries Neil."
Neil rolled his eyes, "No, I don't think so. But if I start looking hardcore right from the start, maybe when a year is up and I don't have the damned stone my hard work will work in my favor. I mean, what choice do I have?"
Sheridan looked briefly startled at Neil's words. "That's a good way to look at it. Umm…so where should I look here in the city, if you're going back out to the estate?"
"Try my brother's apartment, you can take my spare key," reaching into his book bag Neil pulled out a ring of keys, fiddling with them a moment before pulling one free. He tossed it lightly to Sheridan, who caught it clumsily. "I'm sure my brother can think of other places, though really there can't be that much more. You said you might have some stuff?"
"Oh - yeah. Well, we've been working for your family for how long? I'm sure we've got stuff on the Carnelian somewhere." Sheridan stuffed the key into the pocket of his dark denim jeans.
"I suppose so. All right, I need to get going." Neil glared at the crowd again before disappearing into it with a careless wave toward his new partner.
"Wait-Neil! Ah, he's always like that." Sheridan stood unhappily a moment beside the counter, before a voice broke into his thoughts.
"Did you want to order?" The owner of the nasal voice looked tiredly at Sheridan.
"Huh? Oh sure - just the house special, large." Digging into his own bag, he pulled his wallet free and withdrew a few ones to set on the counter as the man came back with his coffee. Accepting it, he made his way slowly through the crowded shop toward the exit.
~*~*~*~
"Did you get my donuts?" Neil halted in front of the figure sitting on a park bench.
"No, this bag is just for decoration." Kasimir picked up the bag resting on the bench beside him and tossed it at the red head. "I'm supposed to grant wishes, not run your damned errands." He rose to his feet, smoothing his heavy black slacks and straightening his cream colored pullover.
"Hey, the sooner we get my breakfast, the sooner we get out of here." Neil rifled through the bag, nodding in satisfaction at the contents. "Not too bad, looks like they had everything I wanted."
"Oh good, because I couldn't bear the thought of your displeasure." Kasimir snorted, turning around to look out over the park. An aggravated, muffled shout sounded behind him.
"Why the hell are you always so bitchy? Would it kill you to just smile at me every once in awhile? Rather than piss me off? It's not my damned fault you're a genie." Neil glared at the genie's back.
Kasimir stiffened, turning back around to stare coldly at the green eyed man. "You're no one special, I treat you exactly like I've treated all my masters. Like the asses you are."
Neil narrowed his eyes, "Look, if we're going to get into another fight, can we at least do it someplace warm? Gimme a sec to call my brother." Pulling his book bag forward, Neil rifled through it, muttering to himself. "Where the hell did I put it? I hate the stupid - ah, here it is." Withdrawing a small cell phone, he flipped it open and flipped through the memory for his brother's office number.
"Mr. DeMarius' office. How may I help you?"
"Eliza, it's me."
"Ah, Neil. Your brother's been expecting you to call. I'll put you through."
A moment of silence, and then the familiar tone of Darrell's phone rang twice before his brother picked up. "It's about damned time you called. I was beginning to think you'd snuck away again."
"Is that why you've stuck me with this stupid phone? I said I'd call you before I leave, give me a break." Neil frowned into the phone, his tone impatient.
His brother matched him tone for tone, "Keep that cell phone until I ask for it back. Don't go losing it like the last one either, or I'll lose your rent money. Understand me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, I'm going now. I'll call you once I get to the house okay? Tell Bethany that I said bye and whatnot."
"Stay out of trouble. And don't look too hard for that stone, we both know it's a waste of time."
"Whatever. Later." Disconnecting and flipping the phone shut, Neil tossed it back into book bag. Resettling the bag on his shoulder, he picked up his coffee and donuts again. "Finished sulking, Kasimir?"
"I'm not sulking." Kasimir turned hard blue-violet eyes on him.
Neil rolled his eyes, "Yes you are - it's all you do. "Poor me" this and "My life sucks" that. Honestly, if you actually stopped being prickly and tried to laugh every now and then you might surprise yourself.
"Oh, and you're such an expert? All you ever are is rude and abrupt with everyone that talks to you. You could give me lessons in how to alienate people!"
Neil's right hand clench in a fist at his side, crushing the top of the bag he held. His left tightened around his coffee, barely noticing the heat. "I could give you lessons? What kind of joke is that? I've never met anyone as hostile as you - one little comment and you're ready to declare war. You're so busy misconstruing everything I say you don't notice I'm trying to be nice!"
Kasimir snorted in disbelief, laughing in contempt. "Nice? What's nice about keeping a slave? What's nice about taking advantage of the skills of someone who has no choice in the matter? Huh? You're as rotten as every other human, take and take but never give."
"You don't know anything! Clearly you've had some lousy masters but that doesn't mean--" Abruptly he stopped, teeth clacking together as he forced himself to stop talking. "Can we please take this somewhere else?"
"Whatever you wish, Master." Kasimir replied with a sneer.
"Shut up, alright? Just. Shut. Up. I wish we were at the family estate, in the entry hall."
"As you wish." Kasimir stepped forward, clamping a hand down on Neil's shoulder, dragging the other man closer to him as he muttered beneath this breath. Familiar with the spell, Neil stood close and remained silent.
A second later, they vanished.
amasugiruImpossible Wish
Chapter Six
"What do you mean you messed up? Do I need to start calling you Gareth?" Bethany tossed aside the journal on her lap, rising from her chair and crossing the attic to where her best friend sat dejectedly on the floor.
Rosemary looked up, half hearted glare on her face. "Oh be quiet. I summoned Nomolos just fine - that much I got right. For some reason though he didn't come here, I don't know why. The symbols are correct…the spell cage…I don't get it, Beth."
The red haired woman sat down beside her friend, looping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure it's something ridiculously obvious that we both overlooked. Hmm…let me see…" Moving away, She stood up and examined the elaborate symbols painted on the wooden floor of Rosemary's attic room. Are you sure we didn't forget something? I mean it looks exactly like the picture in Gareth's journal. Every symbol is exactly right, we checked them a million time and then some."
"Heck if I know." Rosemary rose to stand beside her friend, brow knit as she thought. Suddenly her eyes widened, "Ah, fuck me!"
"I love you darling, but no."
"Stop that. I mean - I know what we did wrong. I can't believe I only noticed it now. I feel like an idiot. That stupid demon has all the luck."
Bethany poked her friend in the arm, exasperated, "Would you stop babbling and tell me how we screwed up?"
Rosemary pointed to the pattern on the floor, "Look there, the top right section of the circle. That area designates the location of entrapment. Namely, here."
"Yeah, so…" Bethany raised a brow.
"So…it looks exactly like it did in the picture. We didn't change the location to indicate he should come here. This still reads that he should appear wherever ultra-great grandpa Gareth summoned him."
Bethany smacked her hand to her forehead, then turned a threatening look on her friend. "I'm going to beat you senseless. You're supposed to be the expert here - how did you miss that?"
"I'm not a summoner, give me a break. You know I don't dabble much in the family business, I just run mama's shop now."
"Oh, whatever. We both know you dabble plenty in the family business." Bethany grinned.
Rosemary giggled, "Perhaps - but not the summoning part of it. Anyway, you should have noticed too."
"Yeah, yeah." Bethany waved a hand. "Doesn't matter. The important thing now is - where the hell did Nomolos go?"
"Hmm…lemme see…" Rosemary strolled over to a long worktable, reaching up to the shelf above it and pulling down an old book. "Where is it…here somewhere…ah ha!"
Bethany had come up beside her, yawning and half leaning on the worktable. "You know where he went?"
"Yeah, it's right here. Without a point of origin, the summoned creature will just sort of "bounce" to the nearest point of stability." Rosemary frowned in thought.
Bethany looked mildly curious, even as she yawned again. "Point of stability?"
"Yeah, a point of power strong enough that a summon gone wrong can lock onto it and give the summoned somewhere to 'land' so to speak. Like…an emergency runway, sort of."
"I see. Any idea what sort of runways we got in this area?"
Rosemary snapped the book shut and placed it back on the shelf. "Not a clue. Basically we just have to wait until he finds us."
"Great." Bethany groaned.
"Come on, I want some tea." Crossing the room, Rosemary threw open the door and descended the stairs, exiting out into the hallway that led to her apartment over the store. Crossing to the far end, she flicked on the lights of the kitchen and wandered over to stove to begin preparations for tea.
Several minutes later they both sat at the small kitchen table, sipping from steaming mugs. "So what do we do now? My brother has the genie, and we just lost Nomolos."
Rosemary shrugged, "The first isn't any big deal. I still say it was too convenient that your brother found him after all our searching for the past few years. Something tells me he should have Kasimir."
"I agree, I agree. But that will make it much harder for us to fulfill my side of the bargain later." Bethany looked tired.
Waving a hand carelessly, the other woman took another sip of tea, "I'm not worried about it. One way or another we'll free the genie - and besides, I just screwed up my half of the deal. There's no point in worrying about your half until we find the missing demon. Unfortunately, it's pretty much as I said - we have to wait for him to find us."
"In that case I could really use some more caffeine." Bethany held out her empty mug.
Rosemary grinned and reached for the mug, "Coming right up."
~*~*~*~
"Neil!" A gentle but hassled voice called from behind.
The red haired man turned, already placing the name, "Sheridan."
Halting in front of Neil, Sheridan took a minute to catch his breath, bent slightly over, "I've been trying to talk to you for the past few days. Why don't you ever answer my phone calls? You're never at school either - I'm lucky I saw you in here. My dad is about to kill me."
"Your dad?" Neil shifted impatiently, looking out over the crowd in the coffee shop as if searching for an escape route. "What's he got to do with anything?" He turned his gaze back to other man.
Sheridan rose to his full height, a little shorter than Neil. "He…I'm supposed to help you with your search, if you'd like. My family has records of it's own, plus I'm as familiar with your family history as you are. I have the time; most of my classes are independent study so I have plenty of free time. Plus fall pause is coming up soon."
"There's no reason for you to get dragged into this idiocy, Sheridan." Neil frowned. Fingers tapping idly on the counter, he watched the workers scrambling back and forth to take and make orders.
Sheridan shook his head adamantly, "I don't mind! I know we don't really talk or anything, but I know how much you hate the whole thing and believe me I hate it just as much. So let me help, it's really no bother. Besides, you know how my dad is."
"Yeah." Neil shrugged, "If you really want to help me find something that doesn't exist, by all means. What did you have in mind?"
Sheridan stared up at the board a moment, perusing the menu. He looked back at the other man, "Umm…I thought we could split up. Your family history is sort of scattered, I thought we could just split up. Are you going back to the estate any time soon?"
People jostled around the crowded shop, and the two men moved closer to the counter to try and get out of the way. Neil glared at the other people, "Yeah, I'll probably head that way tonight or tomorrow. I've got permission to miss classes and all, and I'd rather finish this as quickly as possible."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Sheridan asked "Do you really think you can finish it so easily? I mean, it's been a legend for centuries Neil."
Neil rolled his eyes, "No, I don't think so. But if I start looking hardcore right from the start, maybe when a year is up and I don't have the damned stone my hard work will work in my favor. I mean, what choice do I have?"
Sheridan looked briefly startled at Neil's words. "That's a good way to look at it. Umm…so where should I look here in the city, if you're going back out to the estate?"
"Try my brother's apartment, you can take my spare key," reaching into his book bag Neil pulled out a ring of keys, fiddling with them a moment before pulling one free. He tossed it lightly to Sheridan, who caught it clumsily. "I'm sure my brother can think of other places, though really there can't be that much more. You said you might have some stuff?"
"Oh - yeah. Well, we've been working for your family for how long? I'm sure we've got stuff on the Carnelian somewhere." Sheridan stuffed the key into the pocket of his dark denim jeans.
"I suppose so. All right, I need to get going." Neil glared at the crowd again before disappearing into it with a careless wave toward his new partner.
"Wait-Neil! Ah, he's always like that." Sheridan stood unhappily a moment beside the counter, before a voice broke into his thoughts.
"Did you want to order?" The owner of the nasal voice looked tiredly at Sheridan.
"Huh? Oh sure - just the house special, large." Digging into his own bag, he pulled his wallet free and withdrew a few ones to set on the counter as the man came back with his coffee. Accepting it, he made his way slowly through the crowded shop toward the exit.
~*~*~*~
"Did you get my donuts?" Neil halted in front of the figure sitting on a park bench.
"No, this bag is just for decoration." Kasimir picked up the bag resting on the bench beside him and tossed it at the red head. "I'm supposed to grant wishes, not run your damned errands." He rose to his feet, smoothing his heavy black slacks and straightening his cream colored pullover.
"Hey, the sooner we get my breakfast, the sooner we get out of here." Neil rifled through the bag, nodding in satisfaction at the contents. "Not too bad, looks like they had everything I wanted."
"Oh good, because I couldn't bear the thought of your displeasure." Kasimir snorted, turning around to look out over the park. An aggravated, muffled shout sounded behind him.
"Why the hell are you always so bitchy? Would it kill you to just smile at me every once in awhile? Rather than piss me off? It's not my damned fault you're a genie." Neil glared at the genie's back.
Kasimir stiffened, turning back around to stare coldly at the green eyed man. "You're no one special, I treat you exactly like I've treated all my masters. Like the asses you are."
Neil narrowed his eyes, "Look, if we're going to get into another fight, can we at least do it someplace warm? Gimme a sec to call my brother." Pulling his book bag forward, Neil rifled through it, muttering to himself. "Where the hell did I put it? I hate the stupid - ah, here it is." Withdrawing a small cell phone, he flipped it open and flipped through the memory for his brother's office number.
"Mr. DeMarius' office. How may I help you?"
"Eliza, it's me."
"Ah, Neil. Your brother's been expecting you to call. I'll put you through."
A moment of silence, and then the familiar tone of Darrell's phone rang twice before his brother picked up. "It's about damned time you called. I was beginning to think you'd snuck away again."
"Is that why you've stuck me with this stupid phone? I said I'd call you before I leave, give me a break." Neil frowned into the phone, his tone impatient.
His brother matched him tone for tone, "Keep that cell phone until I ask for it back. Don't go losing it like the last one either, or I'll lose your rent money. Understand me?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, I'm going now. I'll call you once I get to the house okay? Tell Bethany that I said bye and whatnot."
"Stay out of trouble. And don't look too hard for that stone, we both know it's a waste of time."
"Whatever. Later." Disconnecting and flipping the phone shut, Neil tossed it back into book bag. Resettling the bag on his shoulder, he picked up his coffee and donuts again. "Finished sulking, Kasimir?"
"I'm not sulking." Kasimir turned hard blue-violet eyes on him.
Neil rolled his eyes, "Yes you are - it's all you do. "Poor me" this and "My life sucks" that. Honestly, if you actually stopped being prickly and tried to laugh every now and then you might surprise yourself.
"Oh, and you're such an expert? All you ever are is rude and abrupt with everyone that talks to you. You could give me lessons in how to alienate people!"
Neil's right hand clench in a fist at his side, crushing the top of the bag he held. His left tightened around his coffee, barely noticing the heat. "I could give you lessons? What kind of joke is that? I've never met anyone as hostile as you - one little comment and you're ready to declare war. You're so busy misconstruing everything I say you don't notice I'm trying to be nice!"
Kasimir snorted in disbelief, laughing in contempt. "Nice? What's nice about keeping a slave? What's nice about taking advantage of the skills of someone who has no choice in the matter? Huh? You're as rotten as every other human, take and take but never give."
"You don't know anything! Clearly you've had some lousy masters but that doesn't mean--" Abruptly he stopped, teeth clacking together as he forced himself to stop talking. "Can we please take this somewhere else?"
"Whatever you wish, Master." Kasimir replied with a sneer.
"Shut up, alright? Just. Shut. Up. I wish we were at the family estate, in the entry hall."
"As you wish." Kasimir stepped forward, clamping a hand down on Neil's shoulder, dragging the other man closer to him as he muttered beneath this breath. Familiar with the spell, Neil stood close and remained silent.
A second later, they vanished.
Mmm
Date: 2003-11-11 12:20 am (UTC)Re: Mmm
Date: 2003-11-11 05:28 am (UTC)Aren't they? I abosolutely adore her work, she spoils me rotten when she draws stuff for me.
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Date: 2003-11-12 01:23 pm (UTC)and the stroy rocks my socks off too!!!!
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Date: 2003-11-12 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-12 01:48 pm (UTC)mmmmmmm *licks again*
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Date: 2003-11-12 02:37 pm (UTC)sorry I disappeared, had to get a shower. now for work *grumble grumble*
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Date: 2003-11-14 02:47 am (UTC)My second hour was up and I was dead so I took off too. Hope work was alright.. but I won't hold my breath ;)
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Date: 2003-11-14 02:49 am (UTC)Work is work. Getting the hang of the keyboards yet?
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Date: 2003-11-14 02:52 am (UTC)no;p:e;@
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Date: 2003-11-14 02:53 am (UTC)wow, traditional style. that must've been interesting.
lol. I see.
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Date: 2003-11-14 03:00 am (UTC)It was awesome. the lady didn't know what to do with us at first.. But she was really cool and put up with teh crazy americans ;)
I keep switchng back to japanese and then have too go and delete all the characters and make them english again
Well it's off to Gamers with me ;) I'll talk to you later!!