Chapter III: Power Hour, Part 1
It was safe to say that Lynn was plenty scared.
And it wasn't just for herself, however. She'd just witness not one, but two horrifying events in the course of less than a minute. One, her hands were glowing. Two, Luan was beginning to turn more translucent as time went on. And now she was starting to panic. Sharp breaths. Dilating eyes. Shaking body. A racing mind. This wasn't something that normal humans did. Scratch that, it wasn't something that any humans did for that matter. And the situation was getting stranger for the both of them. The warm sensation that came with her glowing veins was spreading up her arms to her shoulder, and Lynn didn't need to see it to know what was happening.
Luan wasn't faring much better. Spots on her body, ranging from her shoulders, legs and even her head had started to change along with her arm. Splotches of translucent spots had begun to pop up like some sort of strange breakout. There was also a faint glimmer to them, slightly different than the burning glow from Lynn's anomalous effects.
"Wow Lynn, looks like we're putting on a bit of a freakshow," Luan let out her inner joker at what might have been the most inappropriate moment in their lives, and Lynn couldn't help but throw a glare at her sister for being so indifferent at a time like this.
"You're seriously going to do this sort of crap right now?" Lynn hissed.
"Sorry, okay? I'm just, y'know, trying to cope with what's happening to us. Jokes are my go-to," Luan explained, but Lynn wasn't buying it.
"Well now ain't the best time for jokes now, okay? Just look at us!" Lynn restrained herself from letting out a full-fledged scream at her sister, but only barely. Not like they needed the whole house to see what was going on with them this early in the morning. Lynn slumped down on the ground, hiding her face behind her knees as she desperately tried to not let her sister see that she was about to spill some tears.
"W-We're turning into freaks, Luan," Lynn whimpered, her tough-girl facade completely gone, "What're we gonna do? What's gonna happen to us? Do you think we'll be taken away by some government crew? Never see our family again?"
"Lynn," Luan knelt down to grab her sister's attention, putting her unaffected hand on her shoulder, "Lynn! Look at me, okay. Just look at me."
Lynn, after a few deep gasps of air to calm herself down, looked into the eyes of her big sister.
"I know this is scary, but this isn't something we should be panicking about." Luan said, and Lynn opened her mouth to argue but was beaten to the punch, "Let me finish. I'm scared as well. How do you think I feel knowing that I've got a body that's in the middle of a disappearing act? But no matter what, we've got to keep our heads together. I know this is a little weird hearing me of all people say that, but we'll get through this, me and you. Us Louds stick together, remember?" Luan finished by gracing Lynn with a smile. Slowly the jock stood up, wiping the edges of her eyes to rub the unspent tears away.
"W-What do we do?" Lynn whispered, carefully making sure that she was as quiet as possible. She really wanted to let out a cry for help, but that would mean waking up the family in the middle of a Saturday night, something that neither of them wanted to deal with. "Is there anyone that can help us?"
"Hmm. Maybe Lisa knows what's going on," Luan scratched her chin in thought, "After all, she's the scientist."
Lynn let out a gasp.
"Lisa! Of course!" Lynn pounded her fists together, "I knew that little poindexter might have had something to do with this. She probably put something in Dad's omelets this morning! Maybe it's also the reason why I melted my bat."
"We shouldn't bring the heat on anyone yet, Lynn," Luan argued, "For all we know, this could be a completely random thing. Mom and Dad had already told Lisa that she wasn't allowed to use us as her human guinea pigs anymore, so there's a chance it's not her fault."
"You honestly think that's stopped her before?" Lynn countered, and let out a deep yawn. She was still really tired from not getting any sleep this night, and now after having a near panic-attack her body was on the verge of shutting down. "Ugh, why does this have to keep me awake? I'm so darn tired."
"Perhaps we should wait until morning to figure this out. Staying up all night isn't going to help us out at all," Luan also let out a yawn, "Plus we've got Chore Day tomorrow and we really need some shuteye. Don't want to get on Lori's bad side again."
Lynn let out a short whine. She felt like fate was toying with her. Of course there was Chore Day tomorrow, but that also lead Lynn to think of something else. Just before she pushed the door open completely, she turned around and faced her sister.
"What if whatever's happening to us doesn't go away?" She asked, starting to feel the cold chill of fear again. If the rest of her sisters saw her like this then who knows what would happen. "What if they see us like this?"
"Lynn, I know for a fact that no matter what happens they'll still be the sisters we know and love," Luan replied, a gentle smile on her face, "They'll help us out, even if we change for the worse. Now let's get some sleep and call it a night."
"Okay then," Lynn said, but not before returning to her sister to give her a hug, "Thank you Luan. It means a lot."
"No prob Lynn," Luan said as she gave a hug back. The two separated and left the bathroom, returning to their own rooms to hopefully get some hours in before sunrise. Luan eventually hid herself back under the covers of her bed after gazing over her changing body in the mirror. She'd seen just how far her affliction had gone, and so far it hadn't progressed to the point of no return. She had high hopes that whatever was happening would reverse itself by morning.
As she closed her eyes, she hoped Lynn would get some shuteye as well.
...
The morning came, awakening the early risers of the Loud residence to a new Sunday sunrise. Walt gave a short chirp from his cage, and Lori came out from her room. The eldest Loud sibling rubbed her eyes and stretched her back, making sure that she was the first one to the bathroom. As the oldest she had the most rights and could do as she pleased, so she had no reason to rush. Nobody else was awake anyway.
Or so she thought when she passed by Lucy's and Lynn's room, the door slightly ajar. Which was odd since Lucy always made sure to close it before bedtime. Thinking something was off Lori peeked through the small gap and saw Lucy's coffin closed. With one little sister in the green, she turned over to Lynn and was shocked at what she saw.
Lynn had fallen asleep with her back against the wall in a sitting position, her head slumped down and her hands out in front of her like she had been holding something. Perhaps she had a nightmare again, and her stubborn pride once again refusing help.
Lori walked in, concerned for her sister now that she'd seen what was going on, and gently shook Lynn's shoulder.
"Lynn," she quietly said to wake her up, "Lynn, you okay?"
After a couple more shakes Lynn awoke, her eyes slowly peeling open to wonder what was going on. Lori saw that they were bloodshot, noticing the faded dark rings under her eyelids. It seemed like she hadn't got a wink of sleep for the entire night.
"W-Whuh?" Lynn slurred out, and saw that she had been woken up by Lori, "O-Oh, morning Lori. What's going on?"
"That's what I'm wondering about. Did you literally get any sleep last night?" Lori asked, crossing her arms. Though she asked the question she very much doubted it.
Lynn gave it some thought, and in the depths of her mind she suddenly remembered what happened last night. Her hands!
Oh god, don't tell me Lori saw them glowing! Lynn panicked as she swiftly looked down, and when she saw that the veins on her hands were no longer glowing she felt amazing relief. Gone were the rivers of heat that once plagued her appendages. They were back to normal, and that must have meant that Luan was right and had probably reversed as well. Lynn didn't stop herself from letting out a great big sigh of comfort. No more freakish incidents for this girl.
"Uh, you okay Lynn?" Lori noticed Lynn's expression change from fear to solace.
"Oh! Yeah, I just had a crazy dream last night," Lynn quickly made her excuse from a movie she saw some time ago with her baseball team, "There was some angry dude with burnt skin and a glove with knives on it. He cut off my hands and made me play sports without 'em."
"You mean the guy from Nightmare on Elm Street?"
"Yeah, that guy!" Lynn said, pointing a finger at her older sister, "It was so real, I woke up and thought my hands were actually gone."
"Well, I hope you know that mom and dad are going out to meet Pop-Pop in a little bit so we'll have the house to ourselves for a couple hours." Lori said to Lynn. The sporty sister wasn't expecting that little tidbit of news from her elder sister. That meant that Lori was going to go all "Miss NO" for as long as she wanted, but at least the parents would be gone. "So, I'm gonna let you sleep in. Just this once."
"Really?" Lynn said with a smile, "Oh thank you Lori, I owe you big time!" Lynn darted for her sheets and plopped her head on her pillow, and it didn't take long for her to drift into slumber. Lori watched with some worry. Ever since she'd returned home with a slagged bat strange things had been happening to Lynn. Maybe the nightmare she had was related to it. Sports were Lynn's everything, so a bad dream about losing her hands would definitely keep her up at night. Getting some actual time asleep would work wonders for Lynn.
Yet when Lori left Lynn's room for the bathroom, she failed to notice the small cracks of black scattered across Lucy's coffin, and the faint warbling noise within.
...
Morning had turned to midday, and the rest of the Loud house arose. The sun had been covered up with dark gray clouds and the soft patter of rain. By then most of them had started their day with some strife since it was a Sunday, and also Chore Day. However while it had started off as a normal day, it would end with anything but. Rita grabbed her purse hanging from the hooks by the door before she made an announcement to her children.
"Alright kids, Lori's in charge! Remember to stay safe. Your father and I will be back by at least midnight so please try to keep the house in one piece!" Rita shouted so that the whole house could hear her. Lynn stood nearby awaiting for his wife as the taxi finally arrived. "Lori, my credit card's on the counter. Please be responsible with it. I'm also trusting you to make sure they get the rest of their assigned chores done, and do their homework, brush their teeth, and be ready for bed by 9."
"Don't worry mom, I've got it covered," Lori assured her. Sitting on the couch nearby was Luna strumming her electric guitar, and next to her was Lincoln playing an intense game of Breath of the Wild on his Nintendo Switch.
"Have fun, guys!" Lincoln said, giving a thumbs up.
"Stay safe, dudes." Luna added.
"Farewell, kids! We'll see you soon!" Lynn waved goodbye as he and Rita left the house, leaving their home in the care of their oldest. The moment they heard their parents enter the taxi and leave Lori reached over to her phone and dialed in a number. After a few moments of soft ringing, someone picked up.
"Carol? Yeah, the parents are gone. You still up for hanging out at Becky's later after I'm done with my chores? Sweet, I'll call you back," Lori hung up and turned to her brother, "Lincoln, you mind waking up Lynn for me?"
"What's that? Oh, Lynn. Sure I got it," Lincoln said as he turned his Switch off and headed upstairs. The door to Lynn and Lucy's door was open, revealing Lucy sitting down in the middle of the room surrounded by lit purple candles and a spellbook in her hands. Lynn was still fast asleep, snoring away as Lucy practiced her incantations without being bugged by her sister. She noticed her brother standing at the doorway watching her work.
"Hello Lincoln, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to wake up Lynn, that's it," Lincoln responded, "Chore Day's about to start, might as well get her up."
"Could it wait? I'm very close to finishing this spell and I don't want any more interruptions, especially from Lynn." Lucy said as she began to murmur the bizarre words that made up her book. Lincoln for the life of him couldn't understand how she was able to read it, but somehow she knew, "I don't get that much me-time in here, plus Lynn always pokes fun at me for my spells, so I'd like to treasure what little time I have before you wake her up."
"Sure thing Lucy," Lincoln said back, "You do your thing." He saw that out of the corner of his eye the inside of Lucy's coffin was covered in a spiderweb of dark cracks. To him it just looked like someone had tried to vandalize it, probably one of his sisters. If it was of any deal to Lucy, she didn't say.
"Thank you Lincoln," Lucy went back to reading. This time she stuck out her right hand, like she had a puppet on strings wrapped in her fingers, and began to speak in a dialect far from what Lincoln had ever heard. The candles surrounding her began to flicker in an invisible wind, and Lucy's hair began to flow as well, just enough to be noticeable but not enough for her bangs to reveal her eyes. Lincoln backed up a step in slight fright. Lucy was known to be a bit of a conjurer, but this was something else.
"Lucy, what the heck's-?"
"Quiet!" She hissed, "I'm almost done, just a bit more and..." Lucy opened up the hand in front of her, Lincoln bracing himself in case anything actually happened, just to reveal...
Nothing. A big fat wad of nothing.
Lucy stared at her open palm. It didn't work?
"Another dud, Luce?" Both their heads snapped to see Lynn awake, and had presumably watched the whole thing without them noticing. "I keep telling you those spells and enchantment things are more bogus than Lincoln's comic books," Lynn laughed at another of her sister's attempts to use spells. Just another day of living with Lucy.
"Grr. They're not bogus." Lucy grit her teeth, embarrassed at having shown herself up in front of her brother and older sister. Add in her sister's laughter and she was on the verge of jumping on top of Lynn and strangling her.
"Oh yeah? Could've fooled me with all that fake mumbo-jumbo you were saying." Lynn shot back, easily getting under her spooky sister's nerves.
"Alright, that's enough you two." Lincoln interfered, but a little too late. Lucy's arms were trembling as Lynn continued to laugh, and that meant a fight was about to start. Poking fun at Lucy's questionable abilities for the arcane was always something that riled up the little goth. She prided herself on being able to connect to the other side, and hearing Lynn call them bogus and fake was driving Lucy up the wall.
"Hey, I'm not the one over here who's practicing her phony spells like some witch," Lynn said to her brother. Lincoln furrowed his brow. Why did Lynn have to be so combative?
"It's still a little rude of you to say Lynn." Lincoln said, "How about if Lucy made fun of your basketball skills?"
"I can actually back it up, unlike Miss Dreary over here with her fake crap!"
That does it.
"I said," Lucy seethed in her monotone, "they're not FAKE!"
In her moment of anger Lucy stuck out her palm like she did before, as if trying to prove her sister that it was indeed real.
Only this time something did happen. A small, shimmering purple-white circular glyph of some sort extended from her palm, decorated in an unknown language and ornamental designs. A gentle hum could be heard emanating from the glyph itself. Lynn and Lincoln barely had time to register what it was before an arc of black lightning blasted out of the glyph right at the sporty Loud. Lynn shrieked and dove for her covers as the lightning impacted the wall behind her, obliterating the framed jersey hanging above her bed and leaving behind a large scorch mark and a shattered frame.
The loud crack of thunder left behind a sheer silence. Lincoln's mouth hung wide open, and Lynn peeked over her covers to check if there was gonna be anything else thrown her way. Even Lucy was stunned by what she did, looking down at the small white glyph in her hand. And as quickly as it was there, the glyph was gone, dissipating into tiny flickers.
So much for no more freakish incidents.
"Holy crap Lucy!" Lincoln practically screamed as he found his voice, "What the heck was that?!"
"I don't know," the goth stammered at first, flexing her hand, "It appears that I've somehow developed arcane abilities. Gasp! Am I actually turning into a witch?"
"Oh god," Lynn whimpered, realizing that whatever was happening to her and Luan was spreading like some sort of virus, "Not you too Lucy!"
It took a couple moments for Lynn to realize her slip-up just as it left her mouth. The jock clammed up, eyes wide as she looked at her siblings. Lucy and Lincoln stared at the blanket-clad girl with curious, if not astonished looks.
"Oops, heh heh," she squeaked. Smooth one, Lynn.
"Lynn?" Lincoln slowly said, "What do you mean by, you too?"
"U-um..."
"DUDES!" Luna's scream pierced the house and saved Lynn from an explanation, "Come here, quick! You gotta see this!"
The family rushed over when they heard what Luna said. Whatever it was sounded very serious. Lynn, Lucy and Lincoln were the first ones there followed by the rest of their siblings as they stopped by the rocker's open door. In their room Luna stood next to Luan, or what seemed like Luan. Unlike the night before Luan had now turned completely transparent, the background of her bedroom blending in with her body. They could see straight through her like a looking glass. The jokester sheepishly waved at them. Leni let out a scream of terror.
"What happened to Luan?! She's turned into a ghost!" Leni shrieked, hands on her face. Most of her sisters and brother shared her shock, except Lynn. She looked like she was ready to pass out.
"Correction, second-eldest sibling. Luan had turned clairvoyant, not into a ghost as you believe," Lisa pushed up her glasses as she spoke, "Though this is quite an interesting dilemma we have."
"Guess I'm leaving you all aghast since you all got to see what's going on with me, get it?" Even in times like these, Luan still found room to make a joke. The siblings let out a groan. "Ha ha ha, two for one! But seriously, I'm not a ghost. I'm very much alive." Thankfully she was still her normal self, and it didn't seem like she was in any sort of pain.
"B-But you're-!" Luna flubbed out, pointing a shaky finger at her roommate.
"I'm not invisible, see? Watch this," Luan somehow grabbed her sister's hand and shoved into her transparent stomach, and Luna felt her finger tough nothing. But the sight of her finger piercing her sister without any sort of interaction caused her to jump back yelling while flailing her arms, "Ha ha ha! Looks like you felt that one! And neither did I!"
"LUAN!"
Before they could descend into another argument about what to do Lincoln stopped them.
"Hold on a moment girls," Lincoln rubbed the bottom of his chin, "Lynn, earlier you said "not you too" after Lucy nearly shot you with a lightning bolt. Did you already know about what was happening to Luan?"
"Wait a second, Lucy did what?" Lori stressed out, and on que Lucy summoned a glyph for her shocked sisters to see, and they all looked at it with wide eyes.
"Wow, so you can actually use magic now? That's awesome Luce!" Lana said excitedly.
"So that loud booming sound was you?" Lori asked again, "That nearly gave me a heart attack, Lucy!"
"Yes, and I apologize for that. I was under some great annoyance from Lynn," Lucy responded, and Lynn let out a gulp. She noticed that all of her sibling's attention was directly on her, and none of them looked too pleased with her being a pest to her sister. The gentle hum from Lucy's hand grew louder, and she saw that Lucy was aiming the glyph right at her face. She slightly recoiled at the sight, remembering what happened earlier in their room.
"Looks like you're in the hot seat now, Lynn," Luan quipped. Please take the hint, she mentally urged.
"Well?" Lincoln asked with a sharp edge with his fists on his sides, "Mind explaining yourself, Lynn?"
Lynn looked around the room, and seeing that she was essentially cornered, there was no other option.
"No point in hiding it anymore," Lynn groaned, and willed her body to start. With a single flex she felt the heat return to her skin, her veins once again aglow with the same burning feeling she had the night before. And just like Luan, her newfound ability had also changed. It wasn't just on her arms anymore, the glowing effect had reached her eyes, the formerly brown irises in her eyes had changed to a burning yellow-orange. And underneath her jersey where her heart should be was a huge glowing spot, almost bright enough to poke clean through her shirt.
Between a burning sister, another turned untouchable, and one using magic, Lori had some appropriate words for the situation.
"Holy shit."