#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 90: 1912 #Titanic

#Wss366 Fare #MastoPrompt Hesitate #TimeTravelAuthors 04/9. Will your characters admit they're wrong?

“We want to go to an unoccupied first-class cabin on the Titanic on the afternoon of April 14, 1912, unless there’ll be a disaster on board before it reaches New York. If so, take us to the Golden Spike ceremony for the linking of the two sides of the transcontinental railway.”

This wish included several experiments: 1) a very specific location; 2) a conditional; and 3) complex instructions. Theoretically, we should arrive in the American West.

That wasn’t what happened; instead, there was a ripping sensation as red lights flashed before our eyes. I gasped in pain, staggered, and braced myself against a metal wall that had appeared. We found ourselves in a white room with two single beds, a carpet, a sink, a couch, and a writing desk. The steam pipes and painted walls were far less luxurious than I had expected. Still, after the Hindenburg, it seemed spacious. The #fare for this cabin probably cost a lot, though not as much as the wood-paneled suites I had imagined.

I sank onto the couch. “So only part of that worked. That’s too bad,” I said.

Emily shrugged and flopped down on a bed. As expected, she left no impression on the white sheets.

“I need to apologize,” I said. “I wasn’t supposed to risk the rabbits spotting us.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll both feel better knowing you tried.”

I spread the letters from the cache on the couch. That was part of why I’d scared Ms. Dubois, but I was glad Emily gave me credit for having nobler intentions. In hindsight, I could have grabbed the letters and ditched the professor. I #hesitated to give myself nobler intentions.

“There are only two notes here. We’ll never know what was in the one she was carrying,” I said.

Emily shrugged.

“Shall I?” I asked, holding up the first note.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Not Easy For a Modern Witch (Airisu POV) Post 23 – 2 of 2
#Wss366 Kit #MastoPrompt Gum

[Continued from previous post]

“Dōken-shin called you a reincarnated samayō miko. That’s a wandering shrine maiden. He said you used to bind spirits—now it’s your turn. Tell me about this book.”

“Book? Oh, you must mean the book I found at the bookstore.”

Sumika proceeded to relate how she had become a witch and found the Grimoire Obscuriea.

When she finished, I said, “You really are a nob. A grimoire is a book of magic, like a madousho.”

“Oh, is that why the name on the cover changed to Madousho Mōrō?”

“And that didn’t tell you there was something weird about the book?”

“It did. I’m not stupid,” she said.

I wondered, though.

“Besides,” she resumed, “a spell to summon a creature that would be bound to me had appeared in it. It would be a devoted friend and companion.”

“Sounds like a boyfriend.”

I heard her mutter, “I don’t like boys.”

“A girlfriend then, and you’ve got me. I’m a girl who likes girls.”

“You’re a crow! A rude, obnoxious bird!”

“Details, details, details.”

“Okay, back on topic,” I said. “Why did you come to Mikaeri Zaka?”

“It’s said to be a power spot and was one of the few places where I knew I wouldn’t be observed. Besides, it just seemed right.”

“I see. It called to you. So, tell me about the shrine.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Not Easy For a Modern Witch (Airisu POV) Post 23 – 1 of 2
#Wss366 Kit #MastoPrompt Gum

It turns out riding in the belly of the beast was every bit as terrifying as I’d imagined. The constant motion was compounded by a chaos of noise. I foolishly looked out a window and shrieked.

“Stop thrashing,” Sumika chided. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

I dug my claws into the seat and closed my eyes, which only made things worse as the vehicle lurched like a tree in a storm.

My eyes flew open. “I’m going to be sick,” I cawed.

“Just settle down and tell me what happened back there.” As she spoke, she touched the wound on her neck, then glanced at me reproachfully.

“Cruel, cruel mistress. Have some sympathy for your poor familiar.”

She touched her neck again, and I hurried on. “I only did it because you were going to give away the whole #kit and caboodle to that greedy kami. That would really #gum up the works. Ack…”

A glare shut down my cackle midstream, and I resumed. “Dōken-shin would have bound you in his service as a vassal. He’s not the kind of boss you want.”

“I’m a little fuzzy on what happened, so could you be more specific?” Sumika asked.

“As you command, oh great and powerful mistress. Ack, ack, ack! Mind you, this is only speculation, but Arakawa Dōken is a forgotten Edo kami who was deified to appease his ghost. ‘Hearing its voice is the time indeed when Autumn is saddest.’—ack, ack, ack—by Sarumaru Tayu from Hyakunin’shu.”

“Whatever,” she responded—no sense of poetry.

“He claims to have given you a book and now wants repayment. I merely did what any loyal servant would do. At enormous risk to my life, I came to your aid when he ensorcelled you.”

“You’re kind of rude, you know, but thank you, I guess. But why did he pick me?”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 89: 2025 Arkham 2 of 2

#Wss366 Rabbit / Easter #MastoPrompt Boredom #TimeTravelAuthors 04/5. Games in your story

[Continued from previous post]

Once I was out of sight, I whispered, “We need to head Ms. Dubois off before they learn about the letter cache. Be ready to time-trip if the #rabbits spot us.”

It didn’t come to that. The rabbits were focused on the professor.

We were also fortunate that the path the professor was on curved down into a ravine and then backtracked to the statue. That meant we could dive straight through the woods using an unofficial trail. The extra time allowed us to be cautious.

Periodically, we glimpsed ICE-nine uniforms and hid. It was a grim game of hide-and-seek. It kept #boredom at bay but was nowhere near as fun as playing pinochle or bezique with Emily.

While on our way, I came up with a plan and manifested a loose-fitting trench coat, fedora, and surgical mask. I also doused myself with Old Clipper cologne to hide any unique smells. Sus, I am sure, but I figured in the dim light I would pass as a man, someone clearly not Henrietta Bijou.

I was ready by the time we stumbled out of the ravine onto the path. I leaned against a tree, panting. A new idea occurred to me, and I hurriedly manifested an empty bottle of cheap vodka. Then I waited for my living counterpart to arrive. As she drew near, she moved to the far side of the trail. Yeah, I was suspicious, definitely creepy.

A look of terror came over Ms. Dubois’ face as I lurched across the trail. “Flee! The rabbits are on to you,” I whispered. Finished, I staggered away, dropping the liquor bottle. Lurching explained.

To my relief, the professor turned back, hurrying in the direction she had come from.

I turned in the other way and rushed to the tree to fetch the notes that were already there.

Emily drifted up as I shoved the papers into a pocket of my coat. “That was a plucky move,” she said.

Bezique

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri