Naturally, it didn't go as smoothly as any of the three witches would have hoped.
Because of Meredith and Dennis' injuries they couldn't go charging in as they'd wanted to. Laurel had sent Arthur in ahead to talk to Cyrus, to stall him. Amber was going to rush him with the sword once he was distracted; they'd reasoned that once he was dead and Kalina was at least unconscious, they could worry about turning off the Ocularis then. Unfortunately, that just wasn't the way things worked out.
Arthur and Cyrus argued, Amber rushed in with her sword drawn and her eyes blazing. Cyrus stepped to one side and brought up his own weapon, a cane much like the one Meredith's father had. Only this one...
Meredith gasped.
Amber noticed just in time to roll with the impact, but not quick enough to get out of the way. The cane impacted on her ribs with a flash of what could only be described as negative light. A flash of blackness, of shadow so complete that it dragged light into it. She flew across the room, narrowly missing Maggie, Dennis, and Meredith.
"Oh shit..." Maggie muttered.
Amber's eyes practically glowed, she was so angry. Meredith could hear her mutter, "Oh, you're going to pay for that, you bastard..." right before she put out a hand to stop her. Unfortunately, she hadn't reckoned on Dennis lunging forward.
"Dennis, no!"
In a way, she understood why he was doing it, why he had thrown himself at the ghost after she'd been crushed against the wall. In his place, she might have done something very similar. He felt responsible for the whole thing, felt as though if he hadn't agreed to imprison the ghosts with Cyrus, this whole thing wouldn't be happening, they wouldn't be getting hurt, nearly killed. The guilt leaked through Meredith's shields, eating away at her like cancer, making her heart ache, adding to the pains in her chest. She exchanged a look with Amber and Laurel, a look of pity and compassion and worry, right before Cyrus clotheslined Dennis with the cane and actually lifted him a very short ways into the air with the impact.
The young man flipped backwards, going down in a sprawling heap of gangly arms and legs. He screamed as the movement jarred his shoulder, bruised his spine. He screamed again as the cane slammed down into his leg with the sound of snapping bones. Amber rushed Cyrus again before he had a chance to bring the cane down a third time, but was once again knocked backwards, this time knocking Laurel down as well.
"You little whores..." Cyrus said, his voice low and unpleasant. "You think you can march in here and dictate to me what I will do? You don't even have the faintest comprehension of what I will accomplish with this machine..." Meredith pushed herself up against the wall, trying not to scream as she felt something pop in her chest. This sounded like it was going to turn into a full blown rant, which was good. It gave her time to figure out what the hell Kalina was doing.
"You think that because you know a few tricks, with a little love, a little goodness, that it'll all be all right... you..." he pointed at Meredith, who prayed silently that he wasn't going to do anything too drastic. "You think that because you have the blood of a sorcerer, that you can match yourself against a sorcerer..." he sneered. Meredith swallowed and closed her eyes... just yelling. She could handle yelling.
"You," he pointed at Amber, "You think that the power of your long-forgotten Goddess will give you the ability to win any fight. Your Goddess is dead, girl, and you haven't even begun to fight for anything real." He pointed at Laurel. "You think that you can heal everything, that goodness and the light will always prevail."
Meredith ignored this... as long as he was ranting at her coven-sisters, she could focus on what Kalina was doing. It involved something in a case in the far corner of the room, something that looked like a box, or a small wire cage. Most probably it was a containment spell of some kind, but was she trying to trap the ghosts, or one of them?
A movement from Cyrus distracted her as he brought his cane down and stood in an attitude of perfect calm, spoke softly and evenly. That was more chilling than any ranting he had done so far. "Arthur, you fool. You've put your trust in girls who don't know what they're doing." He could have been chiding his brother for making a bad investment.
Meredith frowned, squinting at Kalina's face, trying to read her lips while her head was bowed and her face turned away. What was she saying? What was she doing? ... Did it really matter? Kalina had never been particularly pleasant when they'd last met, and now she was definitely working for Cyrus. That spell would have to go. But Cyrus was changing direction again...
"And you..." he turned to Dennis, who started scrambling backwards frantically as soon as the sorcerer turned his attention on him. "Dennis Rafkin. A nobody of little power and less worth who thought he could stop me. Poor Dennis..." he mocked. "Poor, pathetic, whining Dennis. Did you honestly think you could stop me? Tell the truth." He leaned in closer. "Did you honestly want to?"
Dennis moaned, trying to retreat further. Meredith reached out a hand to try and drag him behind her, try and put herself between the sorcerer and the psychic. It didn't work. Cyrus grabbed him by the throat and swung him up and around, putting his back to her and practically lifting Dennis off the ground.
"You thought that they would protect you. You thought that if you stopped me, it would magically make your life better. I have an idea for you, Dennis, NOTHING is going to make your life better. Nothing. You are a pathetic, whimpering article who doesn't know the first thing about making efficient use of what he has given. You do not deserve the gifts you were born with..." Cyrus's fingers tightened around Dennis's throat. "And you certainly do not deserve to live."
Kalina looked up from the box and grinned spitefully.
Arthur started to babble, pleading for Cyrus to stop the killing.
The children, weeping and crying since they'd entered the room, stared silently through the whirling blades.
"Good-bye, Rafkin."
Chaos.
"Wait."
Meredith's quiet, thickly choked voice somehow managed to break through Dennis's hoarse gasps, Cyrus's ranting, Arthur's pleading, and the kids' screaming. Her mind raced as she tried to reconcile her words with her thoughts... why had she spoken up? She didn't have a plan. She didn't have an idea of what to do. They were all going to die, right here and now, and she was going to give them a slow death instead of a quick one... panic chased her thoughts in circles for seconds that seemed to last aeons. She didn't know what to do. Dear Goddess, she prayed. Don't let me fail them.
Calm seemed to fall over her. In the distance, like the sounds of the seashore, Meredith could hear the ravens calling. She felt the familiar mantle of huge black wings settle on her like a cloak over her shoulders, or a mother's embrace. Her pain lessened, pulled back enough for her to concentrate. Words echoed in her mind, and she knew what she had to do. "Wait." Everyone turned and looked at her; she stood at the edge of the center of the Ocularis.
Cyrus turned back and looked at her as though she'd finally done something interesting. "Yes?"
"If I ..." she paused, wondering how to phrase it. She had to give enough of a hint so that Amber at least would understand. "Give myself to the Ocularis, will you let him go? Let him live?"
Kalina opened her mouth to protest, then seemed to remember that she hadn't actually told anyone about the activation mechanism, and stopped. Then she looked puzzled. Perhaps she was remembering that the witches had guessed anyway.
"Now that's a curious proposal..." Cyrus smiled. It was a very nasty smile. Unable to speak, Dennis' eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, mouthing words at her. Don't do it. Don't. Arthur and Maggie were staring at her in horror and confusion. "You would willingly give up your life to save this..." he squeezed Dennis' throat a little tighter and shook him till he choked. "Witless, spineless boy?"
She giggled a little at the word 'spineless,' remembering the events of a few moments ago. The action sent fiery pain shooting through her sides again, and she fell to her knees. "Yes," she whispered. The pain burned for a few more minutes, and then she could stand again.
Amber and Laurel stared at her in confusion, wondering just what the hell she was up to. She could hear their voices clamoring in confusion outside her mind; calmly, she shut it out. She needed to concentrate now.
"You, who barely know this boy... you would sacrifice your life for him... for what? Your witch's principles?"
Bide by the Wiccan Rede ye must... Her lips formed the whisper. Her thoughts projected it onto Laurel and Amber. Their eyes widened. Meredith flexed her ethereal wings, briefly glad that neither Cyrus nor Kalina had their glasses on. The ghosts were all visible, they didn't need them. Amber and Laurel could see the wings, though... she only hoped they understood.
"Yes."
Cyrus's eyes gleamed. "And you know what will happen after that, don't you...? You do. You must..." he seemed almost to take delight in coercing a witch to sacrifice herself, a true sacrifice of love. "And you make the sacrifice willingly."
"Perfect love..." she murmured. "Yes."
Briefly, too fast for Cyrus to follow, one eyelid flickered, winking. Amber's eyes brightened.
"All right."
Cyrus released Dennis, who fell to one side, gasping for air. He landed on his injured shoulder, screamed hoarsely, curled around himself, and then somehow crawled to his knees. Amber and Laurel held Maggie and Arthur back, and Cyrus laughed. "No, don't do anything stupid, Arthur. I have my fist around the boy's heart... and your children's hearts. One wrong move and they all die." There were gasps of horror around the room from everyone except Kalina, who was looking positively gleeful..
"Merry..." Dennis choked out, rolling his eyes up in his head to look at her as best as he could. She was struggling to breathe under the heavy wings, struggling to walk forward. "You don't have to do this... please. Don't..."
"It's okay, Dennis... It's all going to be okay." she found herself whispering. She was smiling. "I am a true daughter of the Morrighan. It's all going to be okay." It wouldn't mean anything to him. Oh well.
She took as deep a breath as she could manage and stood straight, wincing as pain shot up her spine as well. She locked eyes with Cyrus and took a step forward, towards the spinning, razor-sharp blades. Another step. Dennis made a whimpering noise in the back of his throat. Maggie turned away. The kids started screaming again, and Meredith shut it out. Another step. Kalina was almost cackling with glee. Another step. Cyrus licked his lips with anticipation. Amber flickered in and out of street clothes, to armor and back, blinking crazy. Laurel edged towards Kalina. Meredith was almost in the blades now. Another step...
Bang!
Meredith lunged forward and covered the two kids with her body just as the spinning wheels exploded upwards and outwards. Shards flew everywhere, cutting her back to ribbons. She could hear screaming, crying, the sound of moving bodies. All around her, the glass was shattering as pieces of the Ocularis flew through the walls at many miles per hour. It seemed to go on and on, even as the kids squirmed underneath her and crushed her already injured ribs. She gritted her teeth and held on. Finally, what seemed like centuries later, it was over. She rolled off of the kids and lay there, panting.
"What the HELL was that?" Maggie yelled as she staggered to her feet. Meredith was just able to see that she was okay... cuts and bruises from the flying debris, but otherwise unhurt. Arthur, Laurel, and Amber looked all right for the most part as well; Laurel was standing over the unconscious body of Kalina.
Cyrus lay on the floor a little ways away, very obviously dead.
"Magic..." Meredith said as she lay on her back and giggled. Then she gasped as the wings, the ravens, and the protections left her. All the pain came flowing back. And an irritable voice in the back of her mind... "Someone let my father in? He's demanding to know what's going on."
Laurel chuckled. "I'll go keep him from grounding you for your next ten lifetimes," she said, and started off. "You going to be okay?"
Meredith rolled onto her side and pushed herself up, making sure to stay out of the way of the kids stampeding towards their father. "Nothing a good hospital and several tabs of codeine won't cure..." she sighed. Laurel nodded and left.
"No, seriously..." Maggie said, picking her way over to the Kriticos family through the glass. "What happened? Why'd the Ocu-thingie explode?"
Amber crunched over and knelt by Dennis, checking him for cuts and bruises. He looked dazed and in shock, but he'd been either prone or hunched over throughout the explosion and had suffered very little as a result. "It took me a while to figure it out, but after the first few seconds..."
"The key," Meredith coughed, "Was what Cyrus called my 'witch's principles.' " She looked over at Amber, not sure how to explain it.
"Bide by the Wiccan Rede ye must In perfect love and perfect trust."
Meredith shrugged. "It sounds really, really tacky when you say it, but it's true. Cyrus listened to all the flakes out there, believed witches were all sweetness and light. We aren't. He thought that by my walking towards the blades... a sacrifice of perfect love... I was finishing his machine, powering it up. He forgot about the perfect trust part."
"A group of witches..." Amber continued, picking up Dennis almost bodily, "... especially one as close-knit as the bunch of us... we've been together so long... we trust each other, we have each other's backs. Meredith took all the attention off of us when she was walking towards the Ocularis, and cued us by referring to the Rede." She half-carried Dennis over to Meredith's duffel bag and propped him up against it. "Merry, you got blankets in here? I think he's going into shock."
"I'm fine."
"Shut up. You get no say in this. Merry?"
Meredith laughed weakly. "Sure..." She tottered over to the group. "The Ocularis exists in both the physical and the spectral realms. Amber pitched her sword into the rings just before I got there. It jammed them up, and the force of it all... well, simple physics. What happens when you put a stick in the gears." She shrugged. "Boom."
"Perfect trust."
Maggie stared from one witch to the other. "You guys are completely out of your damn minds, you know that, right?"
Meredith and Amber just looked at each other. They started to giggle. Maggie looked at them, her arms around Bobby as Arthur hugged and comforted his daughter, and then she looked at Bobby and they started to giggle too. Kathy started giggling next. Then Arthur. Then, suddenly, they were all on the floor, rolling around in the debris and laughing hysterically. For the next fifteen minutes, as Laurel came in with her father and an ambulance crew in tow, they couldn't stop laughing. Meredith was even giggling tiredly as she was loaded onto the ambulance, her worried (and not a little bit angry) father hovering over her like some sort of deranged Drosselmeyer.
Dennis was the only one not laughing. He watched the witches surreptitiously clean up the obvious material-plane weaponry and fuss over their friend, watched Arthur and the children huddle together and stumble out of the house. He watched the cleanup and beginnings of the impromptu victory celebration. He wondered why he felt so empty.
Because of Meredith and Dennis' injuries they couldn't go charging in as they'd wanted to. Laurel had sent Arthur in ahead to talk to Cyrus, to stall him. Amber was going to rush him with the sword once he was distracted; they'd reasoned that once he was dead and Kalina was at least unconscious, they could worry about turning off the Ocularis then. Unfortunately, that just wasn't the way things worked out.
Arthur and Cyrus argued, Amber rushed in with her sword drawn and her eyes blazing. Cyrus stepped to one side and brought up his own weapon, a cane much like the one Meredith's father had. Only this one...
Meredith gasped.
Amber noticed just in time to roll with the impact, but not quick enough to get out of the way. The cane impacted on her ribs with a flash of what could only be described as negative light. A flash of blackness, of shadow so complete that it dragged light into it. She flew across the room, narrowly missing Maggie, Dennis, and Meredith.
"Oh shit..." Maggie muttered.
Amber's eyes practically glowed, she was so angry. Meredith could hear her mutter, "Oh, you're going to pay for that, you bastard..." right before she put out a hand to stop her. Unfortunately, she hadn't reckoned on Dennis lunging forward.
"Dennis, no!"
In a way, she understood why he was doing it, why he had thrown himself at the ghost after she'd been crushed against the wall. In his place, she might have done something very similar. He felt responsible for the whole thing, felt as though if he hadn't agreed to imprison the ghosts with Cyrus, this whole thing wouldn't be happening, they wouldn't be getting hurt, nearly killed. The guilt leaked through Meredith's shields, eating away at her like cancer, making her heart ache, adding to the pains in her chest. She exchanged a look with Amber and Laurel, a look of pity and compassion and worry, right before Cyrus clotheslined Dennis with the cane and actually lifted him a very short ways into the air with the impact.
The young man flipped backwards, going down in a sprawling heap of gangly arms and legs. He screamed as the movement jarred his shoulder, bruised his spine. He screamed again as the cane slammed down into his leg with the sound of snapping bones. Amber rushed Cyrus again before he had a chance to bring the cane down a third time, but was once again knocked backwards, this time knocking Laurel down as well.
"You little whores..." Cyrus said, his voice low and unpleasant. "You think you can march in here and dictate to me what I will do? You don't even have the faintest comprehension of what I will accomplish with this machine..." Meredith pushed herself up against the wall, trying not to scream as she felt something pop in her chest. This sounded like it was going to turn into a full blown rant, which was good. It gave her time to figure out what the hell Kalina was doing.
"You think that because you know a few tricks, with a little love, a little goodness, that it'll all be all right... you..." he pointed at Meredith, who prayed silently that he wasn't going to do anything too drastic. "You think that because you have the blood of a sorcerer, that you can match yourself against a sorcerer..." he sneered. Meredith swallowed and closed her eyes... just yelling. She could handle yelling.
"You," he pointed at Amber, "You think that the power of your long-forgotten Goddess will give you the ability to win any fight. Your Goddess is dead, girl, and you haven't even begun to fight for anything real." He pointed at Laurel. "You think that you can heal everything, that goodness and the light will always prevail."
Meredith ignored this... as long as he was ranting at her coven-sisters, she could focus on what Kalina was doing. It involved something in a case in the far corner of the room, something that looked like a box, or a small wire cage. Most probably it was a containment spell of some kind, but was she trying to trap the ghosts, or one of them?
A movement from Cyrus distracted her as he brought his cane down and stood in an attitude of perfect calm, spoke softly and evenly. That was more chilling than any ranting he had done so far. "Arthur, you fool. You've put your trust in girls who don't know what they're doing." He could have been chiding his brother for making a bad investment.
Meredith frowned, squinting at Kalina's face, trying to read her lips while her head was bowed and her face turned away. What was she saying? What was she doing? ... Did it really matter? Kalina had never been particularly pleasant when they'd last met, and now she was definitely working for Cyrus. That spell would have to go. But Cyrus was changing direction again...
"And you..." he turned to Dennis, who started scrambling backwards frantically as soon as the sorcerer turned his attention on him. "Dennis Rafkin. A nobody of little power and less worth who thought he could stop me. Poor Dennis..." he mocked. "Poor, pathetic, whining Dennis. Did you honestly think you could stop me? Tell the truth." He leaned in closer. "Did you honestly want to?"
Dennis moaned, trying to retreat further. Meredith reached out a hand to try and drag him behind her, try and put herself between the sorcerer and the psychic. It didn't work. Cyrus grabbed him by the throat and swung him up and around, putting his back to her and practically lifting Dennis off the ground.
"You thought that they would protect you. You thought that if you stopped me, it would magically make your life better. I have an idea for you, Dennis, NOTHING is going to make your life better. Nothing. You are a pathetic, whimpering article who doesn't know the first thing about making efficient use of what he has given. You do not deserve the gifts you were born with..." Cyrus's fingers tightened around Dennis's throat. "And you certainly do not deserve to live."
Kalina looked up from the box and grinned spitefully.
Arthur started to babble, pleading for Cyrus to stop the killing.
The children, weeping and crying since they'd entered the room, stared silently through the whirling blades.
"Good-bye, Rafkin."
Chaos.
"Wait."
Meredith's quiet, thickly choked voice somehow managed to break through Dennis's hoarse gasps, Cyrus's ranting, Arthur's pleading, and the kids' screaming. Her mind raced as she tried to reconcile her words with her thoughts... why had she spoken up? She didn't have a plan. She didn't have an idea of what to do. They were all going to die, right here and now, and she was going to give them a slow death instead of a quick one... panic chased her thoughts in circles for seconds that seemed to last aeons. She didn't know what to do. Dear Goddess, she prayed. Don't let me fail them.
Calm seemed to fall over her. In the distance, like the sounds of the seashore, Meredith could hear the ravens calling. She felt the familiar mantle of huge black wings settle on her like a cloak over her shoulders, or a mother's embrace. Her pain lessened, pulled back enough for her to concentrate. Words echoed in her mind, and she knew what she had to do. "Wait." Everyone turned and looked at her; she stood at the edge of the center of the Ocularis.
Cyrus turned back and looked at her as though she'd finally done something interesting. "Yes?"
"If I ..." she paused, wondering how to phrase it. She had to give enough of a hint so that Amber at least would understand. "Give myself to the Ocularis, will you let him go? Let him live?"
Kalina opened her mouth to protest, then seemed to remember that she hadn't actually told anyone about the activation mechanism, and stopped. Then she looked puzzled. Perhaps she was remembering that the witches had guessed anyway.
"Now that's a curious proposal..." Cyrus smiled. It was a very nasty smile. Unable to speak, Dennis' eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, mouthing words at her. Don't do it. Don't. Arthur and Maggie were staring at her in horror and confusion. "You would willingly give up your life to save this..." he squeezed Dennis' throat a little tighter and shook him till he choked. "Witless, spineless boy?"
She giggled a little at the word 'spineless,' remembering the events of a few moments ago. The action sent fiery pain shooting through her sides again, and she fell to her knees. "Yes," she whispered. The pain burned for a few more minutes, and then she could stand again.
Amber and Laurel stared at her in confusion, wondering just what the hell she was up to. She could hear their voices clamoring in confusion outside her mind; calmly, she shut it out. She needed to concentrate now.
"You, who barely know this boy... you would sacrifice your life for him... for what? Your witch's principles?"
Bide by the Wiccan Rede ye must... Her lips formed the whisper. Her thoughts projected it onto Laurel and Amber. Their eyes widened. Meredith flexed her ethereal wings, briefly glad that neither Cyrus nor Kalina had their glasses on. The ghosts were all visible, they didn't need them. Amber and Laurel could see the wings, though... she only hoped they understood.
"Yes."
Cyrus's eyes gleamed. "And you know what will happen after that, don't you...? You do. You must..." he seemed almost to take delight in coercing a witch to sacrifice herself, a true sacrifice of love. "And you make the sacrifice willingly."
"Perfect love..." she murmured. "Yes."
Briefly, too fast for Cyrus to follow, one eyelid flickered, winking. Amber's eyes brightened.
"All right."
Cyrus released Dennis, who fell to one side, gasping for air. He landed on his injured shoulder, screamed hoarsely, curled around himself, and then somehow crawled to his knees. Amber and Laurel held Maggie and Arthur back, and Cyrus laughed. "No, don't do anything stupid, Arthur. I have my fist around the boy's heart... and your children's hearts. One wrong move and they all die." There were gasps of horror around the room from everyone except Kalina, who was looking positively gleeful..
"Merry..." Dennis choked out, rolling his eyes up in his head to look at her as best as he could. She was struggling to breathe under the heavy wings, struggling to walk forward. "You don't have to do this... please. Don't..."
"It's okay, Dennis... It's all going to be okay." she found herself whispering. She was smiling. "I am a true daughter of the Morrighan. It's all going to be okay." It wouldn't mean anything to him. Oh well.
She took as deep a breath as she could manage and stood straight, wincing as pain shot up her spine as well. She locked eyes with Cyrus and took a step forward, towards the spinning, razor-sharp blades. Another step. Dennis made a whimpering noise in the back of his throat. Maggie turned away. The kids started screaming again, and Meredith shut it out. Another step. Kalina was almost cackling with glee. Another step. Cyrus licked his lips with anticipation. Amber flickered in and out of street clothes, to armor and back, blinking crazy. Laurel edged towards Kalina. Meredith was almost in the blades now. Another step...
Bang!
Meredith lunged forward and covered the two kids with her body just as the spinning wheels exploded upwards and outwards. Shards flew everywhere, cutting her back to ribbons. She could hear screaming, crying, the sound of moving bodies. All around her, the glass was shattering as pieces of the Ocularis flew through the walls at many miles per hour. It seemed to go on and on, even as the kids squirmed underneath her and crushed her already injured ribs. She gritted her teeth and held on. Finally, what seemed like centuries later, it was over. She rolled off of the kids and lay there, panting.
"What the HELL was that?" Maggie yelled as she staggered to her feet. Meredith was just able to see that she was okay... cuts and bruises from the flying debris, but otherwise unhurt. Arthur, Laurel, and Amber looked all right for the most part as well; Laurel was standing over the unconscious body of Kalina.
Cyrus lay on the floor a little ways away, very obviously dead.
"Magic..." Meredith said as she lay on her back and giggled. Then she gasped as the wings, the ravens, and the protections left her. All the pain came flowing back. And an irritable voice in the back of her mind... "Someone let my father in? He's demanding to know what's going on."
Laurel chuckled. "I'll go keep him from grounding you for your next ten lifetimes," she said, and started off. "You going to be okay?"
Meredith rolled onto her side and pushed herself up, making sure to stay out of the way of the kids stampeding towards their father. "Nothing a good hospital and several tabs of codeine won't cure..." she sighed. Laurel nodded and left.
"No, seriously..." Maggie said, picking her way over to the Kriticos family through the glass. "What happened? Why'd the Ocu-thingie explode?"
Amber crunched over and knelt by Dennis, checking him for cuts and bruises. He looked dazed and in shock, but he'd been either prone or hunched over throughout the explosion and had suffered very little as a result. "It took me a while to figure it out, but after the first few seconds..."
"The key," Meredith coughed, "Was what Cyrus called my 'witch's principles.' " She looked over at Amber, not sure how to explain it.
"Bide by the Wiccan Rede ye must In perfect love and perfect trust."
Meredith shrugged. "It sounds really, really tacky when you say it, but it's true. Cyrus listened to all the flakes out there, believed witches were all sweetness and light. We aren't. He thought that by my walking towards the blades... a sacrifice of perfect love... I was finishing his machine, powering it up. He forgot about the perfect trust part."
"A group of witches..." Amber continued, picking up Dennis almost bodily, "... especially one as close-knit as the bunch of us... we've been together so long... we trust each other, we have each other's backs. Meredith took all the attention off of us when she was walking towards the Ocularis, and cued us by referring to the Rede." She half-carried Dennis over to Meredith's duffel bag and propped him up against it. "Merry, you got blankets in here? I think he's going into shock."
"I'm fine."
"Shut up. You get no say in this. Merry?"
Meredith laughed weakly. "Sure..." She tottered over to the group. "The Ocularis exists in both the physical and the spectral realms. Amber pitched her sword into the rings just before I got there. It jammed them up, and the force of it all... well, simple physics. What happens when you put a stick in the gears." She shrugged. "Boom."
"Perfect trust."
Maggie stared from one witch to the other. "You guys are completely out of your damn minds, you know that, right?"
Meredith and Amber just looked at each other. They started to giggle. Maggie looked at them, her arms around Bobby as Arthur hugged and comforted his daughter, and then she looked at Bobby and they started to giggle too. Kathy started giggling next. Then Arthur. Then, suddenly, they were all on the floor, rolling around in the debris and laughing hysterically. For the next fifteen minutes, as Laurel came in with her father and an ambulance crew in tow, they couldn't stop laughing. Meredith was even giggling tiredly as she was loaded onto the ambulance, her worried (and not a little bit angry) father hovering over her like some sort of deranged Drosselmeyer.
Dennis was the only one not laughing. He watched the witches surreptitiously clean up the obvious material-plane weaponry and fuss over their friend, watched Arthur and the children huddle together and stumble out of the house. He watched the cleanup and beginnings of the impromptu victory celebration. He wondered why he felt so empty.