An active, character-driven Hogwarts experience set in the early 2000s. Unique items, plots, and features. Non-canon; this isn't Harry Potter's story, it's ours.
When Verity placed her hand on the lower right print, yet again nothing happened. And before she, or anyone else, could decide what to do next -- Kody and Marcus entered the house, shaking off some snow from their journey. Both looked quite tired, though Marcus immediately headed for the Kitchen.
Revealing many shopping bags, which were magically tucked away until then, he started sorting through it all. Most were groceries, though a few from an Apocathary were set aside. He trusted they were at least old enough for him to leave that in reach, though kept an eye on it if Ezra were to get curious.
As if sensing the mood in the house, Marcus mostly kept to himself -- also allowing Kody to take the center of attention after their journey. He did pause to glance at the wall Verity and Reena in particular were so interested in. He sighed, seeing the design on the wall, but his entire reaction and expression were unreadable.
He let them be, in any case.
--
Dinnertime was almost like a dream, as none of them could remember the last time they'd had such a home-cooked meal. Their grandparents had made some things there before, of course, but those were comparable to a Hogwarts meal or feast; the work of experienced chefs using the highest quality ingredients.
Marcus' cooking was just normal. It tasted great, but wasn't a work of art. He wasn't as experienced or intended it to be perfect; he was just a dad, making dinner for his hungry kids. Aubrey made a few things when she felt up to it, but most of the time that was soup, stew, or sandwiches. Marcus made chicken with mashed potatoes, vegetables, and plenty of gravy.
He'd had them set the table -- whoever was willing to do so, and they all sat down together to eat. Marcus didn't join them though, having set aside his plate for a bit later, as he continued working in the Kitchen. It was easily cleaned with magic, then a rather impressive dish-washing spell that Reena and Jaxen didn't have the luxury of growing up, and then he set about sorting the rest of the groceries.
But their day was a lot. Getting home on their own, their mother being missing, their father suddenly coming back, then everything else. Dinner warmed them but having a full belly at home was so rare it also made them sleepy. It being Christmas Eve (or perhaps to avoid Marcus who continued working around the house), they headed off to bed early.
Whether or not they slept right away or tossed and turned that night, well that was another matter.
--
Christmas morning arrived with sunlight starting to seep through the quiet house, but it was still very early even by those standards. While children tended to wake early on Christmas, the Ashworths had rarely experienced a normal Christmas and knew their mother wouldn't be up at such a time.
This year was clearly different, but the exhaustion of the day before was still a factor. If anyone did wake this early, for whatever reason, they would find Marcus in the Living Room. Overnight, the house had undergone some Christmas decorating -- complete with a twinkling tree all set up near the fireplace, with a wondrous pile of wrapped gifts underneath.
Marcus was sat on the couch, just staring at the flicking flames of the warming fireplace. He had no expectation of anyone being awake yet, and couldn't decide if he should be waking them or not. But since they'd had such a shock yesterday, he let them sleep. But if anyone were to wander downstairs, he would welcome the company.
Post by Jaxen Ashworth on Jan 21, 2024 23:22:21 GMT 10
That night when Marcus and Kody had returned, Jax had plastered on a smile and gone to meet them. He'd been pleased to see his little brother returned in one piece, not that he didn't trust their dad to keep him safe, but he hadn't really had any parental responsibilities in a decade, so there was some apprehension with letting Kody go off alone with him. In any case, Jax could breathe a little easier once everyone was present and accounted for... Well, almost everyone.
He didn't know what to expect for dinner, assuming they'd settle for a few hastily made sandwiches as that tended to be the default for days like this, but apparently Marcus had other ideas.
When they were called to eat, Jax had stared at the food on his plate with something that bordered on suspicion and had stabbed at his potatoes for a while before tentatively taking a bite. When he did, his expression changed to one of surprise and he tried to eat slowly, he hadn't realized how hungry he'd been until that first bite, and hadn't expected their dad to be able to cook anything palatable.
It was a valid concern, dead people didn't do an awful lot of cooking.
By the time he'd finished his dinner, Jax felt a heaviness settle over him that he hadn't felt in a really long time. He stifled a yawn against the back of his hand and reached for his plate out of habit as if to take it to the kitchen, but his hand stilled mid-way and then fell. If Marcus wanted to play house as if nothing was wrong, as if everything was normal, then Jax would let him.
He excused himself for the night, suggesting that the others do the same, and then headed off to bed. He closed his eyes the moment his head hit the pillow, willing sleep to come, but of course it evaded him. Jax lost count of the times he tossed and turned, his mind racing with unwelcome thoughts and images.
He must've fallen asleep eventually, because the next time he opened his eyes the sun was up and the room was brighter than it had been the last time he'd opened his eyes. Looking across the room, it was difficult to tell if his baby brother was sleeping or had already tip-toed out of the room. He'd have to figure that out when he made his own way downstairs.
Slipping out of bed, careful to do so quietly to avoid waking anyone, Jax pulled his duvet off the bed with him and pulled it over his shoulders before leaving his bedroom. The bottom dragged along the floor, but he didn't seem to care too much about that. He looked towards the stairs, and readied himself to face whatever was waiting for him at the bottom.
Dragging his duvet with him as he headed downstairs, he glanced at the Christmas decorations and tried his best not to feel bitter about the whole holiday, this Christmas was turning out to be worst than the year before and he'd once thought that was impossible.
Jax headed into the living room and paused when he saw Marcus sitting on the couch. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he still felt the heavy weight of disappointment settle on his chest when he realized that this meant his mother still had yet to return home. For a moment he didn't move from the doorway, instead allowing his gaze to wander to the Christmas tree and the presents stacked beneath it, wondering where they'd come from and how they'd apparently slept through the assembly process.
Eventually, after several moments, he crossed the room to sit on the couch too, tucking his feet beneath him and pulling the duvet up and around him in a sort of cocoon. Jax stared at the fire as it flickered and crackled, not knowing what to say, but knowing it would look as if he was avoiding Marcus if he announced that he was going back to bed.
"It's Christmas" he muttered after a few moments, picking at a thread on his duvet. "It's dumb, but I really expected her to be here when I woke up"
He didn't want to think of what might've happened, but he couldn't shake the thought that maybe last Christmas had been the last Christmas. He didn't like that idea, it made his throat feel tight and he cleared it to rid himself of the horrible sensation.
"It must've taken you ages to get all the decorations ready, thank you" he was sure that the others would appreciate it, especially Kody and Ezra. It didn't really feel like Christmas without a tree at the very least, if even one of them enjoyed the day then he'd count that as a success.
Last Edit: Jan 22, 2024 2:15:57 GMT 10 by Jaxen Ashworth
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jan 23, 2024 5:42:48 GMT 10
The first rays of daylight filtered into their bedroom and Reena stared blankly at the wall where it cast a shadow of a plushed toy that was sat on the window sill.
It felt as though she had slept forever and at the same time she was certain she hadn't closed her eyes once all night. Her eyes were burning dry. Everything about her was heavy.
Maybe she had fallen asleep, or maybe she had just been absentminded, but the sound of footsteps in the hall snapped her back to reality.
She recognised the pattern as Jaxen, just as he headed down the stairs and she tore her gaze off the shadow on her wall.
With a deep, deep sigh, she turned to her other side, facing the room. Her eyes found their way towards Kody's bed, listening for her brother's breathing.
Was he sleeping soundly?
She'd have liked to ask him about his trip with ... Marcus now.
Last night she had not been up for it. Not that she wanted Kody to feel bad, but he was the last of her siblings she had wanted to talk to yesterday.
Part of her had felt betrayed, another part envious and a big part had just been too exhausted to talk and listen to anything.
Although Marcus had said nothing about the wall she and Verity had been unsuccessful with, which probably meant it was just another dead end, Reena suspected they could figure it out with Kody's help.
She stared intensely at what she could see of her younger brother's hair, wondering if it was true that people sensed if someone was staring at them, even when they were asleep. Perhaps she could stare Kody awake.
Reena heard a muffled voice from downstairs, Jaxen's and she broke her staring at Kody to glance at the door.
Her fluttering heart betrayed her as she waited to hear of it would be Marcus who answered, eventhough she could not make out any words from her bed.
Part of her had expected Marcus to have disappeared again. Now it appeared she hoped he had stayed.
When Jaxen entered the room in his duvet cocoon, Marcus didn't immediately react. His mind seemed to be quite far away -- for a moment, Jaxen was reminded of Aubrey when she went into once of her trances. Then Marcus sighed, and blinked away whatever it was that weight his subconscious this early Christmas morning.
He glanced at Jaxen, and struggled to bite back an amused snort at his eldest son's appearance. His gaze was a mix of fondness and sadness for days gone, as he couldn't count how many times Jaxen had wandered around wrapped in a blanket.
Some otherwise naked bath-time escapes as a toddler, to sleepy trying to stay up until midnight battle of wills on the Living Room floor -- and all those random life's moments, when he was too tired or cold or too emotionally drained to bother presenting himself any other way.
Seeing his sixteen year old son still doing this was almost as adorable, but Marcus also looked away in contemplation. He wanted to maintain it as a habitual thing, not that perhaps Jaxen needed the emotional shield right now. Despite his best efforts, Marcus had apparently allowed in some false and unrealistic hope of being welcomed home with open arms by his kids who surely missed him terribly.
The coldness he felt from them after yesterday's events was something not even the lively fireplace could melt away.
Sighing again, he shook aside those thoughts and emotions. He had to be the stable one, as the parent. Something they've apparently lacked in his absence, hard as it still was to believe. Marcus gave Jaxen a warm smile in greeting.
'I know.' He nodded, glancing at Aubrey's bedroom door left ajar. 'A part of me did too.'
Marcus admired at the decorations. The least that he could do for them.
'Of course. Can't have Christmas without decorations,' he said, unaware that Aubrey usually forgot it was Christmas -- let alone to hang anything up. Thankfully, they had Jaxen and Reena. 'Are you warm enough? It was quite cold after leaving the window open for the owls.'
That explained many of the presents. The little Ashworth owl made herself known by wriggling comfortably in the tree's branches, nested between a green bauble and some twinkling lights. The tree was just a tree to the little owl, but its decorations were the most impressive they'd ever been -- with the added glitter and shine of magic.
Marcus got out the unopened envelope Aubrey had left behind, and just stared at it with reluctance.
'I know it hurts, and this is hard, but she loves you so deeply,' he said, though frowned to hold back his own emotions. 'Your mother can't bear the thought of being apart from you or your siblings for even a moment. The fact she isn't here now is an act of love, in her own way. Whatever her intentions, she's being brave. Her pain and fears didn't win this time; she did.'
He'd given up trying to convince them right now, but felt that Jaxen in particular needed to hear something sooner rather than later. Marcus knew that Aubrey had become especially attached to Jaxen over the years, no doubt from relying on him and in Jaxen's own grief of losing his father making him cling more to her. Marcus had seen in his eldest son's eyes that her absence meant something a little different to him, compared to the others.
But also, it was Christmas. Marcus couldn't allow his own thoughts and feelings to dampen that. He couldn't let the kids, some who were still quite young, remember this Christmas only as the time their mother was gone. He was still here. They didn't really see him, but he wasn't going to back down or hide away.
Aubrey had passed him the baton; that much he was certain of.
He tucked the envelope away, and took a bracing breath. Marcus offered Jaxen a reassuring look, and glanced towards the stairs. Should they wake the others now? The sun lit the room well enough to officially be considered morning. And it was Christmas, after all.
Maybe they shouldn't? Maybe the kids needed this extra rest to help them cope and process. The longer they slept, the less reminder there was of their mother not being there. Or maybe Marcus preferred it that way -- to avoid the look in their eyes, especially Reena's, when they came down those stairs and saw him instead of their mother.
He eyed Jaxen, and built his resolve. No, he was not going to ask his son for advice -- to put this decision on his young shoulders, as he'd been carrying for the last ten years. Marcus looked to the stairs again, contemplating.
Rising from the couch, he first went to Aubrey's room -- and emerged wearing a very Christmasy red sweater, and had conjured soft antlers onto his headband. Yet opted for bear ears instead of deer ones. Leaving it, he closed Aubrey's door, as if they could pretend she was still sleeping and didn't realise it was Christmas.
He checked her Studio was securely shut (he'd locked it again while they were sleeping), and glanced curiously at the design still displayed on the wall beside it.
Marcus energetically headed up the stairs.
'It's Christmas,' he declared, knocking first then poking his head into Reena and Kody's room.
He conjured a snowfall of confetti from the ceiling; no loud bangs, and they vanished before reaching the beds.
'Come on, sleepyheads,' Marcus said with a fatherly smile. 'There's a pile of presents waiting for you downstairs. Chef Dad is also taking requests for breakfast.'
After doing the rounds, he headed to the Kitchen to make hot chocolate -- intending to hand it out to help wake up sleepy children. Not that Kody ever needed much waking up on Christmas, but he'd had quite the tiring day yesterday. What kid said no to chocolate anyway, right? Maybe it'll help melt some of the ice around their hearts, too?
Last Edit: Jan 23, 2024 23:09:21 GMT 10 by Lena: plucked some typos from existence
Post by Kody Ashworth on Jan 23, 2024 23:40:41 GMT 10
The rest of the evening had been something of a blur for Kody. Driven by hunger and then fatigue, he had been on autopilot until he was able to crawl into bed -- fully clothed. He had, at least, managed to kick off his shoes, but that was about it.
In the morning he was a tangle of teenage boy and blankets, soft snores letting his older sister know that yes, he was having a lovely sleep.
He was dreaming about wearing his cape and riding a big dragon through the underground part of Gringotts. Honestly? It was amazing, and everyone else should be jealous of the great fun his imagination had conjured up for him.
The fact that it was Christmas morning hadn't entered into his brain space (yet) and Kody was about to do a sick barrel roll when the world around him started shaking.
What!
"No... Mister Dragon..." He mumbled as a knocking echoed through his dream. Kody was in-sync with his dragon buddy, and they were going to avoid any falling rocks that were suddenly cascading down around them.
It seemed like Gringotts was falling apart and only Kody could sa--
"Goorabledla!" Kody sat up suddenly and wiped drool from his chin. It took a second, and then he frowned at the snow.
"What... No, I was having such a good dream... Reena, whyyyyyy..." The last word was dragged out by a whine as Kody figured she was somehow to blame for it, only to realise their dad was standing at the door.
"Christmas? Christmas! PRESENTS!" Kody's brain finally caught up with everything, and he tossed his duvet to the side and knocked his pillow to the floor in his haste. He tugged on shoes and didn't bother with changing out of his yesterday clothes. Not yet, anyway.
His smile faltered as he tugged on a hoodie and looked at Reena, "You're staring... What's up...?"
He knew she wasn't exactly jazzed about the whole dad situation. Even so, surely she wasn't mad about it being Christmas, was she? His stomach growled as he thought about what kind of amazing breakfast they would have... However, he stayed put.
If Reena had something to say, Kody would listen -- and then race downstairs for his breakfast and presents!
Last Edit: Jan 24, 2024 10:17:05 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jan 24, 2024 4:21:08 GMT 10
It appeared she had been misinformed and people didn't wake up when you stared at them quietly. That, or perhaps Kody's unconscious mind simply didn't register her staring as a threat. Which was fair enough, since she was his sister and by no means dangerous (eventhough she sometimes liked to think she was).
She vaguely registered a man's voice - Marcus' - from downstairs, then heard footsteps come up and towards their room.
Reena's eyes fluttered shut as the knock sounded against the door, accompanied with the reminder that it was indeed Christmas. She should brace herself. Christmas was always the worst time of year.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a middle aged man, her not-actually-dead father, stepping into her bedroom wearing antlers and Christmasy red sweater casting snow confetti at them.
She was too bewildered to even protest to being blamed for the snow-fetti by her brother who apparently had had the dream of a life time.
After the innitial shock subsided, something clicked inside Reena's head.
Of course.
Christmas was the worst because it was dad's favourite. Marcus' favourite.
His silly antlers, the spell that was pointless apart from entertaining children, the energy he had displayed in waking them -- he was a dad, through and through.
And they had been robbed of all that, ten years of it.
Reena could feel her throat swell with some emotion but she swallowed it away, stubborn as she was.
She kept looking at Kody however, who, once again, appeared all too happy to accept Marcus' attempt to make up for years lost.
She felt almost mad at him, but she knew she was just worried. Worried about how he would fall apart when Marcus disappeared from their lives again -- and she was sure he would.
Just a matter of time, right?
Adults came and went. They only truly had each other.
"Ah. I wanted to tell you about the cool thing Vee and I found," she said.
Reena was surprised Kody had noticed anything about her at all, in his excitement for Christmas presents. She gave him a small smile.
She had started to change from pjs to jeans and grabbed a washed out black hoodie with some green creature print on it, that had been worn out too much to recognize what it had been. Not the most festive piece of clothing, but it was comfortable -- and she had to work with whatever she hadn't taken to Hogwarts with her, since she'd only brought a few selected things with her in her backpack.
"Though, I suppose I could show you."
She pulled the the hoodie over her head and pulled it down to her waist. Much to her dismay she noticed that she was outgrowing it -- shame, it had been her favourite some time ago.
She kept the hood up for now, but peeled her hand inside to get her long hair out of it.
Reena then waved for Kody to follow her, though stopped briefly at Verity's door to let her know they were going downstairs. She feared their sister might opt out of breakfast, which truly Reena could not hold against her, as she had thought about doing the same.
"Vee, I'm showing Kody the prints," she called softly at Verity's door, then actually took the stairs.
Passing by the closed door to Mum's room, Reena could not help but avert her gaze. There was a hollow feeling she tried to shake.
She'd have to check in with Jaxen sooner rather than later. See if he had a plan yet.
Finding the drawings near the studio door, Reena stopped and pointed at them. She ignored the smell of cocoa, not sure she felt like accepting a bewerage that was surely a bribe.
Just like that butterbeer in Hogsmeade must have been. Reena could feel the muscles in her her jaw tighten at the thought.
"They're still here," she stated. She was actually kind of surprised by that.
"They just appeared there yesterday. Think those are ours?"
She turned to see if Kody had followed her or if she was talking to herself. She sure hoped he was still listening. Their little creatures expert.
Post by Ezra Ashworth on Jan 24, 2024 13:01:07 GMT 10
As the house started to awaken for the day, and faint voices drifted through the walls, Ezra let out an unhappy little whine at the disturbance to his sleep and tried to bury himself further under his blanket in an attempt to escape.
Just five more minutes in dreamland. Please! That was all he asked for.
He hoped that another dip into sleep would grant him a more normal dream - like the one with the ice cream mountain that reached all the way to the stars! That was always a good one!
Way better than the weird dream that he’d had last night anyway.
Last nights dream adventure had been less adventure and more a confusing twist on reality where dead didn’t really seem to mean dead. Or at least not in some cases? Because even in the dream his and Vee’s dad was one hundred percent gone.
Unfortunately for Ezra, and his desire for a normal dream that night, the noise drifting through the house did not give him the chance to drop back off. Instead he was dragged further out by an excited shout echoing from somewhere. Something about presents?
“Ja’?” he mumbled around a yawn, automatically seeking his older brother now that he was awake. Well, awake maybe, but still not quite with it.
He wondered if he should tell Jaxen about his dream? Or if it would make him sad to hear that Ezra had dreamt that Marcus Ashworth was alive and had kidnapped Kody?
Fortunately, once he had done battle with his duvet enough to be able to squint across to Jax’s bed, the decision to tell or not had already been taken from him. Jax was apparently already up.
Well. He was either up or an evil monster had taken him, duvet and all.
Ezra decided to believe the former for the time being, since that meant that he did not have to do battle with a monster armed only with his pillow. If he was to go into battle then he at least needed Ree.
With his pillow clutched in one hand, partly as a just incase but mostly because he had forgotten to completely release his teddy bear hold on it, Ezra stumbled his way downstairs.
He had a brother to find. Or, failing that, a sister to find and a monster to fight.
Instead, as he bumped into the door jamb of the living room, he was faced with.. Christmas?
Ezra rubbed sleepily at his eye as his brain attempted to catch up to what was going on. There were decorations around! A tree even! With pretty twinkle lights!
Even as he had yet to cotton on to what was happening, Ezra found that his feet had dragged him over to the tree to gaze in awe at the twinkles. They were so cool! And pretty!
Finally, as he wiggled his finger hello at the little owl that had made her home in the tree, Ezra caught on to the fact that it was really Christmas.
Christmas and they were all home, but Aubrey wasn’t.. Instead.. Oh!
Ezra’s eyes darted towards the kitchen where he could hear noise. The fastest that he had moved so far that morning, because it hadn’t just been a dream.
Uncle Marcus was alive and in their (his?) kitchen making-
“Hot chocolate?”
Ezra hesitated for a moment, glancing at the siblings that he could see about (was Ree staring at a wall? Had she been naughty?), before he decided that possible hot chocolate made it worth checking on the weird situation on his own.
He tiptoed over to the kitchen and then slowly crept closer to the strangely familiar-unfamiliar man, his safety pillow still clutched close. As a comfort or a weapon, who even knew anymore.
Ezra rocked back on his bare feet once he reached Marcus’ side, his eyes darting up to take in the man.
“I like your ears!” he eventually blurted out after he had nibbled at his lip for a moment, his eyes caught on the additions to Marcus’ headband. “They look like Jax ears.”
Ezra wiggled slightly on his spot, his fingers curling and uncurling into his pillow as he tried to figure out what he was allowed to say to his no-longer-dead-uncle.
“Is that for us?” he settled on, his head tilted as he eyed what was being made. Hot chocolate seemed safe. Hot chocolate and bear ears.
Post by Kody Ashworth on Jan 25, 2024 20:06:35 GMT 10
Kody waited for Reena to scold him about sleeping in his clothes and wearing them again, but it never came. Instead, she seemed to be worried about something and then said she had something cool to show him?
Well, that definitely had Kody's interest.
"Cool things are fun!" Vee was involved too? Kody hadn't asked his siblings what they had done while he was away with their dad. He had been too tired and hungry to even explain what had happened at Gringotts.
Was he even allowed to talk about it?
When he thought about it, he was certain their dad had mentioned that Reena had gone with him before or something. He'd have to think about it more when he was properly awake and ask her if she remembered.
"Lead the way." Kody gave his older sister an easy grin and followed her out of their bedroom.
A short pause was made at Verity's door, but Kody didn't listen to whatever Reena said, he was too distracted by the smell of... Was that hot chocolate? His stomach knotted with hunger once again.
Off Reena went and Kody followed like a loyal puppy. He stopped when she did, though he did almost walk into her, as he hadn't expected her to halt by the studio.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" He asked, gazing at the prints on the wall. At the same time, his sister seemed surprised that they were still there, and Kody was certain he had never noticed something like this before.
"A circle of five animal footprints--" Kody mumbled to himself as he stared at the wall. He leaned in a bit, studying each of the prints in turn so he could be certain he knew what they were before he'd tell Reena.
Last Edit: Jan 26, 2024 1:52:46 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Marcus placed a wooden tray on the dining table, complete with a warming charm, containing mugs of hot chocolate. Not the cheap cocoa blend they were used to -- but much richer, thicker, and chocolatey. It would be a familiar, homey taste for Jaxen and Reena.
Keeping to the Kitchen area, awaiting their breakfast requests, Marcus casually observed as Reena showed Kody the design on the wall by the closed Studio door. His expression was unreadable regarding it, though the fact they bypassed the Christmas occasion to examine it amused him. Of course it did; truly his kids, no doubt.
His smile softened further as Ezra sleepily made his way to the Kitchen, clutching a pillow. Marcus paused for a moment, trying to remember the location of some old toys and comfort items. He'd have to have a look later.
It gave him a flicker of hope as he was tentatively approached the only Ashworth kid who wasn't a teenager yet. A poorly-restrained snort of surprise and amusement escaped him as Ezra suddenly complimented his enchantment. Marcus ruffled his hair, and crouched a bit so he could get a better view of his decoration.
'Yes, they do. Jaxen and I are both bears.' He smiled, touching the silver headband as he straightened.
Giving Ezra a nod of permission, Marcus gestured encouragingly towards the mugs of hot chocolate. Marcus calmly got out his wand, in clear view and nothing hasty -- conscious of the fact they didn't fully trust him right now or know what to expect.
'Would you like one too?' he asked Ezra, his wand ready to conjure them. 'Antlers and rabbit ears? Also, what would you like for breakfast? Chef Dad is here to take your order.'
Meanwhile, Kody was given the freedom to have his first proper glance at the design on the wall. The middle of the circular, hand-drawn (though with what, they didn't know) design was blank -- but close to face height for the middle Ashworths; Jaxen would have to look down, and Ezra would have to look up.
The three paw prints and two bird-shaped ones were familiar to Kody, though weren't to realistic scale; just about the same size, with the radius of a child's hand. On the palm of each was a rune, though nothing even Reena was versed enough in to understand. These runes were different somehow, possibly even custom-made.
The prints were positioned with two near the top, one on either side, then one at the bottom -- yet arranged as a neat circle.
With Kody being their residential creatures expert, he was able to use that knowledge, and a thoroughly careful glance, to identify them: the top left was a bear; top right was a parrot; lower left was a fox; lower right was a duck; and the bottom print was a rabbit.
Post by Kody Ashworth on Jan 27, 2024 20:29:08 GMT 10
The smell of the hot chocolate was a little distracting but Kody wanted to be a good little brother.
He nodded to himself as he looked at the markings and then turned to his sister, "You're right. There's one for each of us, for sure."
Kody pointed at them in turn, "Top left one is a Bear, this one on the top right is a Parrot. Then lower down, on the left is a fox and the right is a duck. Finally, at the very bottom, we have a rabbit."
"They're not life-sized? If that makes sense, and they look like... Well..." He didn't know how else to say it, and he was a tad amused.
Still, he held back the chuckle that he wanted to release and finished with, "They're the size of a child's hand though? I don't know if that means we had something to do with them when we were younger and we just don't remember or..."
He glanced towards the kitchen to where their dad was talking to Ezra. Kody wondered if maybe his dad had a hand in this?
"What are you going to do with them? I don't recognise these marks?" He pointed at the runes. Kody knew enough to know they were supposed to be runes but it wasn't like it was an area of study he was particularly interested in.
"I doubt we'd have any books here to help... Do you think we could just, maybe, ask dad? I'm sure he'd be happy to help?" Kody knew it was risky to bring that up but since they didn't have a school teacher here to ask, why not?
And if their dad couldn't help, they could go from there.
His stomach rumbled again and Kody wanted to try the hot chocolate (and request breakfast) but it felt rude to just walk away from Reena. Hopefully they would be done soon!
Last Edit: Jan 27, 2024 21:18:08 GMT 10 by Kody Ashworth
Post by Reena Ashworth on Jan 27, 2024 23:00:21 GMT 10
Kody had indeed followed her and she stepped back a little to let him inspect the design on the wall.
At the sound of smaller footsteps that passed by them, she instinctively turned around to glance at Ezra, in case he needed anything. He was clutching his pillow and looked as though he had just rolled out of bed with it, which was frankly adorable.
She couldn't help but smile at the sight of the youngest Ashworth. A smile that quickly died down as her gaze followed Ezra towards the kitchen, where she caught Marcus' amused glance towards her and Kody.
She swallowed and focused back on the wall and Kody's assessment of it. Though, not without pulling the hood deeper and adjusting her hair to shield her face from Marcus' view.
It was so strange to see him just stand there. Not to mention painful.
It was better to focus on something else. Eventhough the smell of hot chocolate was tempting her focus away.
"I don't know. I've never seen those runes before."
It hadn't even crossed her mind that they may have drawn the prints themselves. She supposed it wasn't impossible that they had had something to do with the design at least.
"They're magic though, changed colour when I touched them," she said.
Which one was supposed to be the fox? Lower left one, Kody had said.
She looked at it, then at the rabbit one. They looked almost identical to her untrained eye.
Her brother had posed an important question.
What was she going to do with them? The obvious answer was to touch the rune in the fox print, but what would she do after? What if they didn't reveal anything about Mum's whereabouts?
Reena shrugged and stepped closer to the wall again, eyeing the fox print, never doubting Kody's expertise for even a second.
At her brother's suggestion to ask dad, she stopped in her motion to lift her hand towards it.
She supposed he did know more about runes and this kind of magic than they did. It would only make sense to get his opinion. Perhaps they had even been placed there by him, as Kody suggested.
However, she really did not want to.
"No."
She shook her head decisively.
He was busy with breakfast, anyway. She gave Kody a sympathetic look when she heard his stomach rumble. Perhaps she had been selfish to keep him.
Reena finally touched her hand to the fox print on the lower left side of the animal print circle.
When Reena placed her palm to the fox print, it glowed bright blue for as long as she maintained contact. Then a pure white line of magic trailed from the glowing print to the blank section in the middle. It reached the center and and stopped.
Nothing else happened; the other prints remained unremarkable by comparison. Whatever was supposed to happen or appear in the middle was incomplete.
Post by Kody Ashworth on Jan 28, 2024 0:31:38 GMT 10
Kody watched as Reena touched the print and what happened. He was amazed to see the white line of magic, and he chuckled, "Okay so no dad but..."
He put his hand to the Duck print on the lower right and looked at his sister. He hoped his touch would have the same reaction because the only solution to what they should do was a pretty obvious one.
"We should all touch our prints at the same time, the lines of magic will join in the middle, right? So they'll reveal something or do something then?" His sister had probably already thought about that.
But Ezra was here and so was Jaxen. Kody tried to see if Verity had appeared yet, but with his hand on the wall, it limited how much he could turn around without removing it.
Which he didn't want to do.
"We should get the others to touch their animal prints too..." He added and left it to Reena to rally the rest of them. Kody knew they would listen if she asked them to come over.
And while she didn't want their dad involved, Kody knew it wasn't something they could exactly hide doing either. That being said, their dad hadn't said anything about what they had found or if they shouldn't touch it.
So it had to be okay for them to continue, right?
Kody's thoughts about the prints and what they would do or meant had helped him to forget (for now) about his hunger. He was curious to know what would happen if they all touched the correct prints.
When Kody placed his palm to the duck print, the process repeated itself; with the print glowing blue while he maintained contact, then the white magic line trailing to the middle. When the two white lines touched, stopping at the perfectly centered point, their palms felt a little warmer.
And once again, the other prints remained as they were. Progress was being made, but the process was still incomplete.
By now, it was quite clear what they needed to do; and with each correctly-placed palm to print, the prints glowed blue and the white line trailed to the middle -- also warming those already in place.
Post by Verity Ashworth on Jan 28, 2024 7:37:10 GMT 10
Verity hadn't gotten much sleep. For the first thing, she was annoyed that Marcus was there at all. She'd spent most of dinner silently sulking, refusing to talk to anyone, especially Kody the Traitor, who would be Kody the Helpful as soon as Verity could do anything about it. With Marcus around, she wasn't sure what was allowed.
The second part was wondering what was on the wall. Or in the wall. Was it just another thing for Marcus to hide from them, or something that Aubrey had put into place first?
She'd tossed and turned, almost entirely forgetting that it would soon be Christmas. Not that she knew what to expect, which was another thing that would've made her nervous if she thought about it. In fact, she'd probably only managed to get a few hours of sleep when she heard Marcus making some sounds outside her door.
Verity grumbled, still annoyed with her uncle. She hid under the covers in case he came in, not wanting to have him be the first thing she saw in the morning. When she was certain that he'd gone downstairs, she got out of bed and brushed her hands through her hair. Maybe she should dye it...
As she was fighting her clothes (putting them on), Verity heard Reena's voice at the door and grumbled something that sounded like "whatever." Kody was probably the only one of them who could identify the animals anyways.
She ignored Marcus and whatever was going on there entirely. If it had been Reena or Jax that put it up, she would've been complimenting it and sharing in some Christmas spirit. As it was, well, she still wasn't sure if she could trust Marcus.
She was almost tempted by the smell of the hot chocolate and the idea that there were presents. Presents! She wasn't expecting anything too big. Marcus didn't even know her. She wondered if Aubrey had told him anything about her. If he still thought of her as the young kid she was when he left.
She did hope that there were some presents from their grandparents. She glanced at Ezra and shot Jax a glance that hopefully conveyed the meaning of 'don't let your dad do anything mean to my baby brother' successfully. Verity didn't want Ezra's Christmas to be ruined just because something new was happening, something none of them could have expected or prepared for.
She missed Kody's explanation of which print was which, but seeing that he'd put his hand over the one on the lower right and she'd already figured out which of the prints were birds, she slapped her palm over the top right print that she assumed was a parrot. Maybe a majority of the kids would be fine.
Hah! Verity almost laughed at that. But it would be kind of uncomfortable to get them all standing together in the same place. Maybe it would work without the crowding? She glanced at Marcus now and then, certainly he'd seen this, but he was letting it happen.
Which meant, what, exactly? That this was meaningless? That he'd set this up? That he didn't think it was important enough? Verity ground her teeth as she considered it.
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