cascade | kotlc

tw: fire, bl/od 

"Hold up," Wylie said, shaking his head and holding his hands up, almost like a surrender gesture. "Please tell me what the hell is going on, and why I suddenly found you outside my window."

"June wanted to ask you about the Lodestar mirror," Linh explained as she unwrapped the thread from her harness, fumbling with the straps awkwardly. To be honest, she had no clue how the harness worked. At least she couldn't miss if she shot everything.
"The Lodestar?" Wylie frowned. "It's just a mirror to tell you your purest form comes from power, not appearance. What's so special about that?"

"The Neverseen have something called the Lodestar Initiative, and it seems like it's related to a symbol of some kind? We found one that said Alabestrine, and its light is pure, and the Lodestar reflects pure light, so it seems like too much of a coincidence. I understand coincidences exist, but this feels different,"

"I don't think there's anything too special, no," he told her, tapping the edge of his bed as he collapsed onto it and picked up his book, flipping through the pages. "I've just been reading Foxfire history, and... ah, here. Here it says the Lodestar was built several thousand years ago. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with the Neverseen."

"Hmm, that's interesting."

"Ask him if the Lodestar does anything else, aside from reflecting pure light," June suggested, making her jump. She forgot their comms were still on.

"Does the Lodestar reflect anything else?"

"Anything else? Well... you can see yourself in the mirror, but that's just a mirror. I don't think that's significant. But pure light is a very strange topic, at least for Flashers." He snapped his finger, and a green orb of light glittered to life atop his fingertips. "It's light that hasn't been touched by any other light, but once it's reflected off, it loses its purity, and it's really, really weird. I don't think it does anything special, though. It's just a pretty cool term."

"That's unfortunate."

"Can he take us to see the mirror?" June asked. "Perhaps if we saw the Lodestar for what it is, we'd be able to get some hints."

"You didn't have to break into Foxfire, you know," Wylie grumbled, rubbing his temples. "You scared me so badly when I heard rapping. I thought-" his voice cracked. "I thought the Neverseen was attacking."

"I'm sorry," Linh mumbled. "It's just, we were afraid something bad was going to happen tonight. It was a selfish decision on our part. The Neverseen definitely won't be-"

The door burst open, flying off its hinges as a windstorm struck the room, tearing through everything as they slammed into the bed and figures rushed into the room, yelling something inaudible as someone tackled into them, tearing at Wylie's registry pendant. Linh screamed, levitating something off the shelf and tossing it at the invisible figure. The glass jar shattered against him, and he slumped down. Linh kicked against the figure as a white light flickered around them, trapping her in place. She struggled against the force field, and it shocked her, zapping her muscles as she screamed again.

"What happened?" June asked frantically, seemingly scurrying. "What's happening in there?"

The figure pulled out a cloth from his pocket, fumbling with it as he spread it open into a handkerchief-

"How do you break through force fields?" Linh yelled, rolling over and jerking painfully as she was momentarily paralyzed.

"Light, or shadows, or-"

"Light, Wylie!"

He understood, snapping his fingers, and beams of golden light flickered to life, ricocheting off the dorm walls as their force fields fizzed and flashed, erupting in white flames as fire roared to life, striking against the bed and lighting the soft wood alight. The winds faded as the Neverseen shouted instructions, and Wylie pressed his body to Linh, tears streaking down his eyes, as he whispered, "Help," whimpering in pain as flames licked up his shirt.