Chapter Fifteen

Lincoln smiled as he parked his car at the woodside and locked it, getting out. He didn't need a lantern because his eyes could see as well in the dark as they could in the light. Lucy gasped as she saw that his eyes were actually glowing slightly blue in the dark. If it had been lighter, her blush would have been visible. But he pulled out a LoudTech lantern and turned it on, gasping at the bright light that erupted from it. It was easily the brightest lantern he'd ever seen, though given that Lisa had created it, that stood to reason. She'd said that the lantern wasn't everlasting.

But that it could be left on day and night for over six months and it still wouldn't go out. The power source was legitimately that powerful. And it could be recharged within 6-8 hours, depending on the power of the source. Connected to a laptop, it would take longer. Connected to a wall source, it would be quicker. Lincoln took Lucy out into the woods, following her directions. The full moon meant that it was fairly well lit, despite it being night. And it was a beautiful night. This far out of town, there was hardly any light pollution. Lincoln looked up through the gaps in the trees.

He couldn't see all the stars, but he could see a decent number of stars. Though he would love to see this area when there was no light.

"Hey, Luce… Do you think we could come here at the New Moon sometime?" Lincoln asked. Lucy smiled.

"I would love to share the New Moon with you. The next New Moon will be on November the 4th. I eagerly await." Lucy said, wishing she could kiss Lincoln, but knowing they couldn't.

Out in public, even in the middle of the woods with only the rest of Lucy's coven awaiting them, they couldn't risk it.

"It's a beautiful night." Lincoln said, taking Lucy's hand. His breath was frosting in front of him. It was only October 20th, but the nights were becoming colder and this was the first time it got below 40 at night. Lucy loved the dark season, the season of the dead.

"It really is. The stars, the moon. The eclipse will be gorgeous." Lucy said. They continued walking towards the center of the woods and heading to where they saw a small open circle in the woods with a light coming out of it.

"Hello, my fellow witches. I'm sure you've all met my brother, Lincoln." Lucy said.

"Hi, everyone." Lincoln said.

"Hey, my name is Cormac, this is Lisbeth, Ellie, Deirdre, Noriko, er… Haiku, sorry. Alex and Declan." Cormac said. Lincoln waved at each of them. Deirdre smirked at Lincoln.

"Your brother's cute. He seeing anyone?" She asked.
"Yes." Lucy said bluntly.

"Happily dating." Lucy said.

"Oh, darn. Well, I'm not surprised." Deirdre said.

"Anywho, are we really doing a Demon summoning tonight?" Ellie asked.

"No. I feel that I'm not ready for it yet and honestly, the dangers of doing it might outweigh the benefits." Lucy said calmly. The group groaned, but ultimately heeded Lucy's word. It seemed that they respected her as the leader of the group, likely because she knew the most about the craft.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Lisbeth asked. Lisbeth was only 12 and still new to Witchcraft, eager to do anything that the group was doing, just excited to be part of a real witches' coven.

"We'll do our ritual for moon water. Who has brought a bottle of water to charge under the eclipse?" Lucy asked. The entire coven held up their bottles along with crystals that they wanted to use to charge the water as well.

"Excellent. Let us begin. Lincoln isn't a part of our coven just yet. But he seems to be showing some interest in the craft, so I wanted to bring him." Lucy said.
"I'm just excited to learn." Lincoln said. Haiku smiled at him. She knew what he was to Lucy. She hadn't told anyone else, honoring Lucy's request to keep quiet about it.

"Alright, let's get our bottles set up under the moonlight with the crystals. Remember, hold your crystals and water and imbue them with your own willpower, willing them to charge as you desire." Lucy said.

The eclipse would be beginning in about fifteen minutes and ending in about an hour and a half. It was going to be a pretty long eclipse and they would be able to charge their water and crystals all that time.

Lucy held her Rose Quartz, Pyrite, Obsidian, Selenite and Quartz in her hands, praying over them and imbuing her force of will into them, wishing the effects she desired. She focused on her breathing, allowing her energy to wash over the stones and water.

Finally, the earth's shadow began to cover the moon. The coven began to set up their bottles and stones to absorb the maximum amount of energy from the eclipse and sat back, watching as the earth's shadow began to drag over the light of the moon. Lucy unconsciously reached out to hold Lincoln's hand. Lincoln was watching the moon the whole time, recording it with his eyes so that they could have a video of it to upload on social media and YouTube.

They sat and watched as the shadow of the earth crept over the moon, bathing the earth in a blood red color, finally reaching the nexus and then beginning to pull away. It was a magnificent show and at the darkest part, Lincoln could see the Milky Way Galaxy in the sky as well as far more stars than he had ever seen in Royal Woods. He was grateful to be able to record it like this.

Finally, the eclipse ended and the coven began to gather their water and crystals and head back to the parking lot as a group.
"Thank you for leading this tonight. It was a blast. Are we going to be able to do this again in November?" Lisbeth asked.

"We should. If everyone wants to. Or we could charge our moon water individually. There is a certain added power that one gets from charging moon water as a group.

"The energy of the group enhances each person's water beyond what could be done individually. But if everyone prefers to do it solo that night, that has its own benefits." Lucy said. She was open to either. The Full Moon would be on the 19th of November while the New Moon would be on the 4th of November.

"Are you giving me a ride home, Deirdre?" Lisbeth asked.

"Yes. Hop in." Deirdre said.

Lucy got in Lincoln's car and they drove back to their house.

"Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" Lucy asked. Lincoln thought for a moment.

"I don't mind. Get your teeth brushed, your jammies on and hop in." Lincoln said. They went into the house quietly. Lucy had good night vision and Lincoln could see perfectly in the dark as well as in the light. In fact, Lincoln's bionic eyes allowed him to see better in the dark than a normal person could see in the light.

Lincoln went up and brushed his teeth with Lucy and they went to bed together.

"I love you, Lincoln. Good night." Lucy said.

"I love you too, Luce. Sleep well." Lincoln replied.

-0-

The next day dawned early for Lucy, who had forgotten about school that day. Lincoln was already out of bed, having honored Lynn's offer to keep quiet as long as he trained with her in the morning. Lisa had been all in favor of that, wanting to see how far Lincoln could push his new bionic organs, now that he had fully acclimated to them. Lynn too was adapting well to them. The extra weight that they added to their bodies hardly seemed noticeable anymore.

Lincoln sighed as he came in and went upstairs to shower. Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan weren't in line for the shower, having fully moved out. Lori and Leni had fully moved out a while ago, each having their own homes and lives. But they came home occasionally and their rooms were available for them when they did. Soon, Lynn would be moving out herself, having gotten a small but nice house across town. She wasn't rich, but she was able to pay for it using the money she made off of , YouTube videos, sponsorships and advertisement proceeds.

She had a small gym in the house mostly filled with weights and other gear that companies had given her after she advertised them for them. But the only machinery she really used was Lisa's, which was far more advanced than any others currently on the market. As a result of the fewer people in the house, there was a far shorter line. Lola grimaced.

"Linky! You stink!" The 11-year-old protested. Lincoln shrugged.

"What do you expect when I just ran 6 miles with weights on my arms and legs?" Lincoln asked.

Lola pinched her nose.
"You need the shower more than I do." She said, letting him skip ahead of her. Lana was fixing up the house almost constantly now. The parents were talking about selling the house. They had been somewhat passively looking at new properties around town and had seen a nice one that had a very modern looking home on it. It was being sold for a fairly reasonable price. It would have space for all the kids and would look far nicer than their current home.

Lana was still fixing their place up with Lisa's and Lisa's robots' help in order to make sure their home was structurally sound. Lynn and Rita were never sure if Lisa was joking when she said that the house could collapse if they weren't careful. Lisa's rather dry wit tended to come across as far too serious to be a joke.

Finally, Lincoln got in the bathroom. He took a quick shower and scrubbed himself off, heading back to his room to get dressed, going down for a relatively small breakfast. Thanks to his bionic organs, he didn't need to eat nearly as much as he used to, even with the highly active lifestyle he had.

"I'm gonna walk to school. I need to cool down a bit after that run." Lincoln said. He put on his jacket and headed to school. He could have driven. But he liked the exercise and the cool morning air.

-0-

"Hey, Lincoln! My dads said they saw you out running with Lynn this morning! Do you have a new exercise routine?" Clyde asked.

"Oh… Yeah, Lynn asked me to help her train for the Olympics. There's still a few more years before the 2024 Olympics. It's only 2021. But she wants to break a few more world records before the Olympics, so she wants to have someone to train against." Lincoln said.

"Oh. That's cool! I got some exciting news too! This summer, I've been accepted into a chefs' program in Italy! They'll be teaching us both genuine Italian cooking and baking! I'll be learning awesome recipes for Italian dinners and desserts! I'm so excited!" Clyde said eagerly.

"Clyde! That's great!" Lincoln said, high fiving Clyde, doing their patented handshake. They slapped hands, back slapped hands, bumped up, bumped down, bumped forward, pulled back, grabbed hands, gripped, wiggled fingers, then explosion.

"Way to go, buddy! I know you've been talking about that program for months! How did you get in?"
"There was a center in New York City where I went to the tryouts that weekend. We had a cook-off with thirty-five other contestants. The judges decided that mine was the best." Clyde said eagerly.
"Wow! Thirty-six people from all over the country?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah! And I still won!" Clyde said.

"Oh, but the other contestants were really good.

"I was sure this girl from Los Angeles was going to beat me. She made some delicious looking balsamic glazed steak rolls." Clyde said, walking into the school with Lincoln.

"Well, the best person won, right?" Lincoln asked. Clyde nodded.

"What did you make?" Lincoln asked.

"I made Cassoulet." Clyde said. Lincoln smiled.

"I… Don't know what that is." Lincoln said.

"It's a French casserole. It's usually made with duck, pork and sausage." Clyde said.

"Sounds interesting. I'm happy for you, Man. Good luck with the trip. Only eight months to go." Lincoln chuckled. Clyde laughed as well.

"Well, I know, so I can prepare for my trip. I can't be rusty in my cooking skills. After all, I want to do gourmet cooking for a living someday. Gotta take every opportunity I can to increase my skills. I'm bringing tons of index cards with me to write down the recipes I learn.

"That way I can bring them home and practice them, really make them my own." Clyde said excitedly.

"Well, I've never known anyone more naturally gifted at cooking than you. I'm sure if anyone can make it as a gourmet chef, it's you." Lincoln said. Clyde nodded and headed into his first class. He and Lincoln had several classes separate from each other that year. And while Clyde was still getting used to that, he was doing well. Jordan stopped Lincoln on his way.

"Hey there, hot stuff." Jordan smirked, kissing Lincoln on the lips.

"You busy after school today?" She asked.

"Not really. Did you have something in mind?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, nothing special. Just maybe do our homework together and have some dinner. Then you go home, I stay at my place and the world goes on." Jordan said. Lincoln smiled.
"Sounds like fun." He said.

"Have you gotten stronger lately?" Jordan asked, feeling his muscles.

"Possibly. My bionic organs and nanomachines keep me energized well past the point I would have been able to work out before. My body still gets tired, but not as fast. I can go to bed later and get up earlier. Mostly I fill that time studying for my SATs. Lisa insists that the bionics and nanomachines will help me with memory retention, though I'm not sure how. Still, I do seem to be studying more effectively than I used to. So who knows? With Lisa's stuff, nothing is ever entirely straightforward." Lincoln chuckled.

"Hmmm… Remember my offer about trying out the Dark Side? Still interested in that?" Jordan whispered in Lincoln's ear.

"I consider myself more of a Grey Jedi than a Sith. But I'm willing to take a dip and find out how Sith techniques suit me." Lincoln continued the joke. Jordan laughed, slapping his chest lightly.

"You're such a dork!" She chuckled.

"I guess that's one of the reasons I like you so much." She said.

"Feel free to bring Lucy with you." Jordan said. Lincoln hesitated uncomfortably.
"I think that would be a really bad idea. I appreciate that you're so open. But between you and me, Lynn found out about my relationship with Lucy. That was… Well, Lucy said that she had been having second thoughts about sex after my first time with her and… Look, I really rushed into things with her. It was ill-advised and stupid and all that. She and I are still dating. But we're not going to be having sex again until sometime in the future, probably years and that's fine with me.

"It was stupid of me in the first place to think it was ever okay to do that with a thirteen-year-old, no matter how mature she is." Lincoln said. Jordan sat down with him.

"You still feel guilty about it. I can understand that. I may have jumped the gun myself with it. Having a three-way relationship is exciting. And if you're both cool with it, then I certainly am. I don't want to back out of it as long as you and Lucy don't want to. But I think you're right. As exciting and taboo as it is to be with your sister, she's too young to be with her in that way.

"You and she take your time getting where you two want to be. I'm still with you till the end." Jordan said, kissing him to let him know that she wasn't breaking up with him. She was just supporting him with his and Lucy's decisions to take things a little slower from here on.
"So… Lynn found out, huh?" Jordan asked. Lincoln sighed.

"Yeah… Not the ideal situation. Lynn isn't… Exactly known for her discretion. But she promised to keep her mouth shut about it as long as I train with her in the morning from 4:30-7." Lincoln said.

"Whoa! What kind of training? Like boxing or more like Parkour and such?"
"Well, closer to Parkour, but not really that either. Just running, biking, swimming. She needs a partner to train against. The Summer Olympics aren't until 2024, but she's preparing as if they're next year. She wants to break a few more records for time and speed before the Olympics in '24." Lincoln said.

"Wow. I admire her dedication. But why you?"

"Because after her, I'm the second most athletic person in the family. I'm hardly Lynn Loud level. But I can run pretty fast, faster now that I have the bionics and nanomachines. I can work out pretty hard, harder now that I have the bionics and nanomachines and… Well, you get the point. My abilities are tepid compared to Lynn, but she still gets a decent workout competing against me and my abilities grow because I have to compete against her." Lincoln said.

"So she'll keep quiet about you and Lucy." Jordan said.
"She says she will. I guess we'll just have to wait and see for ourselves if she really will." Lincoln said, trying to wave it off with a passive joke. But Jordan could tell he was anxious.

"Couldn't you… You know? Get Lisa to like mind wipe Lynn or something? Get Lisa to wipe her memory of the event so that you don't have to worry about it?" Jordan asked.

"I could… Probably. But I don't want to risk damaging Lynn just because I was incautious with Lucy." Lincoln said. Jordan smiled. Lincoln really was good to his siblings, even ones he had a beef with.

"I can respect that. But don't put yourself out or cause yourself unnecessary stress with this either." Jordan said. Lincoln nodded, kissing Jordan lovingly and then heading to his class while she went to hers.