Disclaimer: If after all of these disclaimers, you still think I own this, well, lets just say that I'm surprised that a gully dwarf figured out how to get on this site.
Scare Tactics
The rest of that week, and the next passed slowly. Takhisis had not publicly humiliated anyone, but her silence only put a great sense of foreboding on the Krynnish mages and their impromptu allies. "You are not going to get me into a dress." Joan complained the night before the dance at the mages' weekly meeting.
Raistlin sighed. They had already had to persuade Rebecca that she needed a new, really fancy, dress. "Come on. No one will care," Maeg wheedled. "Even I'm wearing a dress, and you know how much I hate stockings!" For once, Maeg and Raistlin were on the same side, for, despite Maeg's reluctance to go to any school dance, she understood the importance of this one.
"Now," Raistlin called the group to order. "Remember, you must take the mind of anyone you can lock eyes with. I will create an illusion so that everyone who has been taken over by our coven will get my rather conspicuous eyes, rather than the normal colored ones that you all have. This way, you will not be fighting each other for allies we already have. It is crucial that among you, you manage to take everyone who is not directly allied with the Goddess. Anyone you don't she will use."
Dalamar looked at the group with serious eyes. "Remember, you must use as much force as necessary. If someone is resisting, it is because Takhisis already has him or her in her clutches. It is better to be incapacitated then to be Her pawn. If you feel you cannot do what is needed, call one of us over silently, or place a tracing spell on your target. We will be there as quickly as possible." Maeg shuddered at those implications. No matter how much she disliked anyone, she was squeamish about any casualties in this war.
Raistlin resumed speaking, with a glare at his apprentice for cutting in. "Lenny, I presume that you have learned enough about smaller weapons to make yourself useful?" His voice was acidic; Lenny reminded him so much of his brother that Raistlin had stopped even trying to be civil.
Unlike Caramon, however, Lenny was quite aware that he had been insulted, and again contrasting Caramon, would not take it meekly. "Do you think I've spent the past month doing nothing?" This question was obviously rhetorical, since Lenny had dropped at least a pound a day since he had started to work with Kiri-Jolith. "I have plenty of weapons, large and small, enchanted against evil." He left it at that, leaving the mages to interpret whether he meant it as a threat or simply a statement of what is.
Maeg looked pained; she hated how the group had so many arguments. Despite her own disagreements with Raistlin, she worked hard to keep them either to herself, or to berate him in private so as not to add even more tension to the group. "Hey, Lenny, after this is all over, would you teach me swordplay?"
He grinned, the insult all but forgotten. "Sure. And once you've learned, I'll still kick your butt." Maeg smiled back – at least she and Lenny were still able to bicker amiably as they always had.
"We'll see about that." She mock-glared threateningly, still grinning. Raistlin cleared his throat murderously. With a slight true glare his way, Maeg stopped laughing and grew serious once more.
"So…" Jess, noting Maeg's plan, searched around for something to say to break the tension once more. "We're all set for the limo?" They'd decided that there was safety in numbers, so they'd all go to the dance in a limo. The question was rhetorical, so none of the Earthlings bothered to answer.
Raistlin was already peeved about all of the hesitations and the interruptions, so his voice was harsh. "Yes, we have already established that the limo is fine. Must we go over this endlessly? How many repetitions does it take to get things set into your extremely small minds?" Thus steaming, he stood abruptly. "Everyone will need their rest for tomorrow. Do as you wish, but I am leaving."
With that, he disappeared, gone to his own home. Jess looked mortified at having been berated by her idol and prom date. With a shrug, Dalamar disappeared to, and after that, the others silently got up and departed for their cars. Maeg, who was sleeping over at Jess' house, where the meeting had been held, touched her friend's shoulder in sympathy, and then failed to hold back a yawn.
"Much as I hate to admit it, he's right. We do all need a lot of sleep tonight." Knowing she'd want to go to sleep right after the meeting, Maeg had changed into her pajamas beforehand. With another yawn, she crawled into the pullout bed and pulled the sheets over her head to create her own little darkness. With a sigh, Jess soon followed suit, turning off the lights before she did.
The next morning was Thursday, the day before a long weekend, and the day of prom. Maeg woke up suddenly, half a minute before the alarm clock went off. She glanced out the window out of instinct; the sky was a threatening color of deepest grey. She jumped once more, heart in her throat, when the clock started to beep. She wondered what manner of ill dream had left her in such a state of unrest. She shrugged it off, placing it in the back of her mind as she always did with troubles that could not be dealt with.
When they got to school, all of the magi were edgy, not sure what to expect from Takhisis. However, the quiet of the past couple of weeks continued, and nothing unusual happened. Finally, it was time to go back home to get ready.
After showering and getting changed, all of the ladies in the coterie met at Maeg's house to finish primping. Despite the fact that she almost never cared enough to do anything, Maeg was pretty good with curling or straightening hair and applying makeup, and was helping some of the other girls. With a bit of help for the back, her own hair was a mass of ringlets, thick banana curls that streamed down her back. She wore a dress of pale turquoises, blues and greens.
Jess was currently in Maeg's computer chair, the impromptu barber's seat. She was getting a lock on either side of her head curled, and the rest was already in a tight bun at the back. A deep maroon dress hugged her figure. Joan was standing to the side, looking uncomfortable in a dark blue gown that had transformed her normal tom-boyish appearance into that of a lady.
Rebecca wore a dress of deep forest green. She too was helping with hair, though, like Maeg, her usual styles were simple and functional. She was trying to tease Maria's thick, curly hair into a braided masterpiece. Maria wore a dress of bright red. As the girls primped, they talked.
"What do you think Dalamar meant by his warning?" Rebecca finally broached the topic that they had all been carefully avoiding. Everyone in the room shuddered slightly.
Jess looked around. "He meant exactly what he said. Lets just not think about it, and get going. I'm sure that everyone will be fine." Her words rang hollow, even to herself.
Even though the answer was not a satisfying one, no one wanted to dwell on that subject for any longer than they had to. They all put the finishing touches on their makeup, and walked across the street to the mages' house, where the limo would be picking them up. The mages greeted them on the driveway, and to everyone's surprise, they had completely dropped their Glamours and were dressed in their best robes. Everett and Lenny were standing with the mages, looking completely out of place in perfectly normal tuxedoes.
"Those who know nothing will remember nothing, and those who already know about us will not be affected." Raistlin answered the shocked stares on all of the girls' faces. He made a courtly bow to Jess, and took her arm. She flushed in pleasure, and Maeg made her way over to Dalamar.
Finally, the limo came. The driver got out of the car, and opened the doors for the mages and teens to get in. As the ladies started over, Dalamar and Raistlin exchanged a glance. Suddenly, they shot into action. "Don't get in! Get down!" Dalamar screamed as he raced towards the girls. The girls, who had gone in front of the men, stopped in puzzled shock.
"Wha-" Maeg began to speak, when she was hit by Dalamar, who, in an act of desperation, had flung himself at the girls and pushed them all to the ground. As they fell, a searing blast of heat fell over them, scorching Dalamar's back, as well as some stray locks of hair from various teens. Seeing that Dalamar was winded from his flight, Raistlin cast a shield over his apprentice and their young charges as the car exploded and sent shrapnel flying across up the driveway and across the yard. Not pausing to so much as blink, he entrapped the chauffer, who had pushed the button.
Everett raced down to the fallen teens, and Lenny sped towards the chauffer. Within seconds, Lenny had a sharp dagger out and at the man's throat. Raistlin sighed audibly. Some people never learned tact. However, he supposed, another guard on the man couldn't hurt. About the same time, Everett's long legs got him to the bottom of the driveway where there was a sizeable pileup in all colors of the spectrum, looking like a macabre rainbow.
"Is everyone all right?" He helped Dalamar up from on top of the teens. He began pulling the shaken girls from the ground.
Dalamar flexed his shoulders experimentally. "Its not a bad burn. I'm worried that some of the ladies may have gotten hurt in the fall." Indeed, the girls on the bottom had torn their dresses and scraped their knees and elbows as they hit the hard pavement. Everett, at silent command from Dalamar, went to help his yearmates first. Maeg, who was near the top, due to waiting with Jess for the mages to catch up, hurled herself into Dalamar's arms. Her breathing was harsh in terror, and she clutched at his robes desperately. Dalamar held her close, trying to ignore the throbbing burns on his back.
Jess was dealing with her fear only a bit better, and had walked unsteadily up the way to where Raistlin was standing. She stopped a foot in front of him, but then, almost as an afterthought flung herself at the frail mage. For a minute, he could only stare in shock at the slim body pressed against his. He then put his arms around hesitantly, awkwardly, and spoke quietly to her until she calmed down.
Everett was trying his best to calm the other girls, healing their scrapes effortlessly. He caught Lenny's eye, and called the bigger boy over to stay with the girls while he went to heal Dalamar's back. After Maeg and Jess had calmed down a bit, the mages made their way down to the wreckage of the limo to survey the damage.
Due to Everett's quick and efficient healing, the only problem remaining were the many rips and tears in the fancy dresses of the girls. Looking for something to keep her shaking hands busy, Rebecca took the hem of her dress in her hands and concentrated. Soon, the hole had disappeared as she made the fabric of the dress weave itself back together. She turned to her peers to help them as well.
As she worked, Rebecca's face grew grim. She could not help but think about what had just transpired. Ever the practical one, she turned to Raistlin. "She just tried to kill us." Her voice was blunt, and there was no need to explain who "She" was.
Raistlin answered quickly and definitively, surprising everyone with his answer. "No." He rolled his eyes at the teens looks of shock and disbelief. "She tried to scare us. She knew that even my apprentice would have realized something was wrong with that car and driver. She also knew that, among us, we'd easily be able to heal any minor injuries that were sustained. On top of that, she knows, as we all do, that whichever side causes the most destruction first will be the side that will lose."
Joan looked at him quizzically. "What? Why?" Her voice was incredulous.
Raistlin's voice became patient with the strain of having to spell everything out for lesser mortals. "You live in a town untouched by warfare. You and your peers should be fearing nothing more than the self-destruction all teens are capable of causing. If there are any casualties, it will bring both sides into this new, harsh reality too abruptly. You do not want to see any of your peers die, no matter how much you may despise them. If I killed one of them, you would be quick to rethink your alliance, as would those on Takhisis' side. True, some of them are bound to her blindly, but it takes too much energy for her to do that for all of her followers. If any of you had gotten killed in the blast, we would have gained support from most of the people on her side, as well as most of the town. She's too smart to let that happen. Now, we must get going so that we're not late."
Maeg stared at the mage in shock. First, his cold-blooded speech, not reassuring them or comforting them, just saying that they hadn't died because it would be a bad tactical move on the Goddess' part. Then, actually suggesting that they continue on as if nothing had happened. "You actually expect us koo goe koo hroom afffer awl hoffat?" The last part of her sentence was muffled by Dalamar's patient hand over her mouth.
Raistlin smirked. "Of course I expect you to continue on. I told you, she wanted to scare us. We must not admit that she did, whether it is true or not. Now, hurry. We cannot afford to lose time. Every minute we tarry is another minute she can use to get a stronger hold on the general populace."
A/N: Well, I was thinking about going farther in this chapter, but I decided I'd rather post today. By the way, I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for my Art: it took me several minutes with my hand over my mouth to figure out how to phonetically type a very muffled "to go to prom after all of that". So, please, review! Constructive criticism is welcome! Oh, I nearly forgot: I did not forget about the limo driver, he will be dealt with in the next chapter. Now, to answer all of my lovely reviewers!
Lazy.kender: I'm so sorry! I didn't see a review for chapter 17 from you, but I may've just missed it. Oops! And I agree, Raistlin asking Jess out definitely made the day a lot better!
Wytchkat: Heh, I think he figured out long ago that modern schoolgirls are way more complicated than elven politics!
Jade Limill: Um, oops. That's the problem with not updating in forever – I forget who had an alias and who didn't! Thanks for being such a careful reader!
Kari2500: Yeah, by now, Takhisis has become an amalgam of my English teacher and my real global teacher. Hehe, I'm glad you liked Raistlin's little dilemma. Thanks for all of the praise. And by the way, seeing reviews (especially long ones like yours!) makes me jump for joy!
Pet: Hmm, were I really in that position, I think I would definitely opt for dating the hot evil wizard and suffering the consequences! Hope to talk with you soon!
Fetch-thranduilion: Wow, you actually liked that chapter? I'm glad someone did – I hated it! I hope you don't mind – I decided to use your idea about putting Raist and Dally into their robes rather than tuxes. Um, the only other person in this story whith a fanfiction account is "Jess", whose penname is Rivin Tarinius Majere. Oh, I'm sorry, I cannot answer your question about exactly what Raistlin is writing on these quizzes: I don't want to have to rate this "M" (or whatever that new rating is…) for a response to a reviewer!
Evenstar02: Don't worry, he won't get really evil, just a bit 'darker'. Thanks for the compliments on characterization!
Elven-girl10: Thanks for the lovely review. I will definitely try to keep up the tensions.
Kenderling: Glad you like my story so much. I have similar reactions to reviewers! Thanks for saying that this story isn't too Sue-ish. I did understand what you were saying in your review, and I really appreciate it, because my worst fear is creating an insufferable Sue that is impossible to kill. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Kilyn: Hmm, I look forward to seeing Fie (my dear muse) attempt to persuade Raistlin he has to dance!
Raablyn: Wow, thanks for all of the great reviews! Is there somewhere (or somebook) that I could learn Drow? I've started on the Forgotten Realms books recently (most specifically the R.A. Salvatore ones) and would love to add Drow to the list of languages that I know a smattering of words in. Oh, about the Star Wars made up movie title, I was just trying to think of something that I'd like to see, and the chapter was written sometime near when I started posting, so I did not yet know the real name. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! (And now, I have over 150 reviews! OMG!)