𝔼𝕪𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞

It was in the middle of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥 (because apparently the girls did know what Disney was, even if they were never allowed outside and didn’t understand the concept of nicknames) when Ash’s phone rang. They answered it as Dani buried her head in Ellie’s shoulder during ‘𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴’ — apparently she wasn’t a fan of Ursula.

“Mars…?”

“Hiya!” Mars’ bright tone seemed wildly at odds with everything Ash could see, something that shouldn’t be audible in a house like this one. “Guess who I’m with?”

“Wha- how do you expect me to be able to guess that?”

“I may or may not have met with Finch and co at the shop… but, like, they’re all so much nicer than you’d expect? Even if Finch is weirdly callous, I swear, it’s kinda terrifying?”

“I really can’t picture the two of you together, you know,” Ash muttered, casting a glance at the sisters. “And my theory was right — they’re triplets, but they’re not allowed outside. They still know what Disney is, though.”

“Hm. Not allowed out, but they know about films. That’s… so weird.”

There was a rustling noise at the other end of the line, and then silence.

For far too long.

“Mars?”

Ash tried not to panic. The thought of someone finding a dead body with bright red hair was suddenly much too real, and while nothing about the three boys their best friend was suddenly talking to — out of basically nowhere, might they add — suggested that they were likely to murder anyone, the mention of Finch’s hard-hearted nature didn’t do much to settle the nerves.

“Marceline?” they tried again. “Marceline Deanett? Oh, for God’s sake, what’s going on?”

“You probably don’t want to know…” Mars’ voice trailed off, and then there was another rustling sound.

Then a new voice, one Ash only recognised vaguely.

“Ask those girls if anyone ever comes to the house to do… eh, tests on them.”

“Why on Earth would I do that?”

“Because I’ve got a theory, okay?”

Ash hung up after that, already resolving to tell Mars that there was evidently a good reason nobody spoke to Finch.

Dani was apparently trying her hardest to shrink, twisting herself into a very uncomfortable-looking position while Ellie and Roxy continued watching the screen closely.

They’d gathered that 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥 was Ellie’s favourite film, and quite likely Dani’s least favourite, with very little effort. Hopefully working out other preferences would be as easy.

And just as Ash decided that babysitting these kids was going to be a simple job, the light above their head began to swing wildly.

It took several seconds for it to click — an impossibly strong wind was tearing its way around the room, and sending several smaller things flying — and Ash shuffled backwards on the couch. They didn’t think about where this could possibly be coming from as they beckoned for the triplets to join them, or when Roxy’s face went white with shock, or when Ellie struggled to untangle herself from a likely-dissociating Dani.

The two older sisters (another thing Ash had learnt very easily) almost threw themselves onto the couch, and the wind kept picking up. Two cushions from the chair nearer the window were tossed towards the ceiling and almost hit the light, still swinging around as though it had a mind of its own.

It couldn’t be possible.

This wasn’t normal at all.

“Danica!” Ellie shouted, her words ripped away too quickly for Dani to be hearing them. “Dani, calm down!”

They wanted to ask how Roxy and Ellie weren’t just as panicked as Ash was, but decided against it for two reasons.

One, they’d never be heard.

Two, it was a strange question to ask. And hey, maybe they were just as terrified. Maybe they were just better at hiding it?

Dani was still crouched in the middle of the room, and it crossed Ash’s mind that such a position meant she was probably in the centre of the whirlwind, but what did that little detail matter?

Instead, they struggled off the couch, and made their way over to the small girl, kneeling beside her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She screamed, then, and insanely enough the wind seemed to howl along.

And it hit them.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 — 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 —𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙.