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 Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:23 pm
Quote: Return of the Merchant (10): Investigation for the curious meteor impact may yield few results for the civilian scientists of Destiny City--but they don’t have the keen eye and aura sensing ability of their local powered warriors. Cloaked by a mysterious device that emits a unique energy signature, the impact site of the meteor is hidden inside a strange, watery bubble that spans easily a hundred feet in all directions around it. This strange shield seems to reflect light, making it appear as though there is nothing inside--but, if you look for long enough, you can make out shapes and movement. You cannot pass through the barrier, nor can sounds or light. If you attempt to walk through it, you simply pass through the other side, as if you’d walked in a straight line. That might be peculiar on its own--except, there’s a sign posted where the energy signature is strongest. Painted in fancy, iridescent ink, elegantly scrawled, the sign reads ‘Temporarily Closed for Business.’ Beneath that is a painting of a wispy, floating little orb. Text below the picture reads, ‘WANTED. Will reward handsomely.’ The shop may be closed for tonight, but tomorrow is a different story. It might be worth comping back if you can find one of those wisps.
Unless her sister requested her presence somewhere.
Tonight, it was dinner.
They went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with good food and minimal crowds, ate their fill, then went for a walk. It was a nice evening, as far as summer evenings went. Warm, but not too humid. Every once in a while, a meteor would streak by overhead.
“They never did say where the one fell the other day, did they?” Celeste mumbled, more to herself than to Charlie.
Not that Celeste paid too much attention to it. She was working at the time, and experienced it as nothing more than a brief flicker of the lights. She read about it later, just enough to note that a location and damage report were never given, only to put it out of her mind soon after.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:37 pm
It was a shame that Celeste had such a busy work schedule, otherwise Charlie would have tried inviting her out more. Not that she wanted to wear out her welcome with her older sister, but she happened to think Celeste was good company, despite what anyone else said. Sure, she could be a bit moody and brooding and complained about things, but that was what made her interesting! To help cheer her up, Charlie had even found a pair of matching pink star charms from one of the festival vendors earlier that afternoon! Celeste hadn't rejected it, so that was good, right?
“I don’t think they said the exact spot, but I think it was somewhere around here!” Charlie gasped after a moment of trying to remember if she had read anything about the meteor impact. “It’s a good thing no one was hurt. Oh, Claudia is going to be so upset she didn’t get to come with us. I bet she would love to look for a meteor. We should try to find it,” Charlie decided, pulling out her phone so she could turn on the flashlight.
Not that she had any idea what she was looking for, but a nice walk in the park with her sister. It had been a while since they’d talked, so of course she told Celeste all about what she was working on, how she, Celeste, and Claudia should check out the Wishing Tree at some point before the Star Festival was over, and plans for the holiday with just the three of them--
Until she looked up and there was some kind of weird bubble right in front of them. It was too late for her to stop without crashing into it, but when she blinked, expecting to fall flat on her face or something, she was no longer standing next to Celeste, but on the other side of the strange dome.
"Celeste?" she called, looking behind her to try and see through the dome if her sister was maybe in it... or just on the other side.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:42 pm
Celeste was on the other side.
She wasn’t a chatterbox like Charlie, which meant she was able to pay more attention to their surroundings. Celeste saw the strange, watery bubble as they approached it, but she didn’t warn her sister because she figured her sister would notice. It was, after all, fairly large. Difficult to miss, unless you were babbling on about festivals and wishing trees and holidays — all things Celeste didn’t particularly care about.
So Celeste came to a stop when they reached the bubble’s edge, while Charlie went right on through.
“Son of a b***h,” Celeste mumbled — definitely to herself this time, seeing as Charlie was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Staring through, Celeste could see nothing at first, but the harder she looked and the longer she tried, the more she could begin to make out vague shapes and the occasional bit of movement.
She was very lucky Charlie was no longer beside her when she scowled and said, “What White Moon garbage is this?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:51 pm
“What kind of amazing magic is this?” Charlie gaped at the dome now that she took a step back to get a better look. It was definitely something magical, but she couldn’t exactly power up and check it out. Not with her sister there. Well, she could trust her sister, but she didn’t want to get her pulled into something that she definitely didn’t have time for.
She took a few steps back, and then carefully started circling around the dome until she could try to catch sight of Celeste. Charlie lifted her phone into the air to wave and get her sister’s attention, but there was no way she would be able to walk around the dome quickly. The thing was huge. But because she’d already made it through just fine the first time, walked back into the dome and…
Was on the other side!!
“Wow, this is cool, isn’t it? Do you think the meteor did this? I bet it did! There’s all kinds of weird things going on in this city, isn’t there?” she rambled, obviously excited about their discovery.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:02 pm
Celeste had no intention of powering up.
Trust was a tricky thing. She trusted her sister in most aspects of life, if only because her sister had never given her a reason not to. When it came to the Negaverse, however, Celeste trusted no one unless she knew they were already involved.
Even then, her trust could be hard earned.
She surveyed the area as best she could without the abilities offered by her more powerful form, but turned up nothing suspicious. Just the bubble, and a sign nearby she would have to approach to read.
Celeste was on her way over when Charlie reappeared, circling around from wherever she ended up.
At least she appeared unharmed.
“So you think it’s a good idea to just wander in and out of this thing without knowing what it is?” Celeste asked the next time Charlie was within sight. “You’re too reckless. If this is one of those weird things, it could be dangerous.”
Celeste was dangerous herself.
If she had it her way, Charlie would never know that.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:34 pm
“That’s part of the adventure!” Charlie smiled brightly still at her sister. She hadn’t gotten hurt, so there was nothing wrong with it, right? Just like, a portal that bent space and time.
Now that was cool.
“What’s that?” she pointed to the sign that Celeste seemed to have noticed before she did. “Oh, those look cute. I love the linework. This font is fantastic,” she gushed over the sign with the iridescent ink and elegant script. “What is it, though? Maybe we can have Claudia come and look for whatever those things are. Maybe they’re mushrooms.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:44 pm
“Claudia isn’t going to have anything to do with this.”
Sometimes, Celeste hated being the oldest sister. It meant she had to be responsible, because if she didn’t stop her sisters from doing dumb things in her presence, their parents would blame her for it, ask her why she didn’t stop them, and Celeste really didn’t want to have to deal with that, especially at the ripe old age of thirty-three. She didn’t have the patience for it any longer.
Celeste scrutinized the sign and, without any other evidence, deemed it some White Moon bullshit. She would investigate more thoroughly if she could power up, but, again, Charlie.
“I don’t particularly care what they are. It’s weird, which means we’re better off keeping our distance,” Celeste decided, urging Charlie away. “Come on, let’s get out of here before the aliens show their ugly green faces.”
She would have to come back later, check things out when she didn’t have a vulnerable witness, or send August to do it for her.
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