Blindsided

Borderline

MUCH THANKS to Dotemms for her beta work! Song is Borderline (Vanic Remix) by Tove Styrke.

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  She was screwed .

  Nothing turned up in the library. Nothing in the archives. Even her grimoire had failed her. Sarvente had no idea how the kids could go back.

  The only way she could think of getting them back would be a far lengthier and more dangerous process than seeing if it was in a book somewhere: they'd have to recreate the circle from memory and walk through the whole disruption step by step and then construct another circle specifically to send them back from scratch. She remembered making the ritual to empower a Greater Circle of Temporal Manipulation when she was young; it had taken her six years, six months, and six days. High Ceremonial Magic of that caliber was time consuming and notoriously difficult. Even one thing wrong, be it the wrong material used for the drawing of the circle or accidentally varying the width of a single line too much, could be disastrous.

  As well, it took an intense focus and concentration during empowerment to jump the correct time frame without shorting or overshooting your mark. A lack of mental discipline or a small distraction had the potential to send someone hurtling through time and space with no real direction at best. At worst, it could tear you apart and scatter you through time and space. She was almost impressed; Selever was many things but she wouldn't consider disciplined to be one of them. The fact that he apparently jumped through time frequently, no matter how short the jumps were, was astounding for someone his age with his temperament. She would have been immensely proud if she wasn't also cursing his sheer recklessness.

  She ripped her habit off her head and scratched violently at her scalp, hair falling in waves down her shoulders as she growled. The growl grew to a great roar as she swept her hands across the tabletop, sending an antique fountain pen, an inkwell, and several books flying and papers scattering in her wake. Her head fell to the table and she heaved her shoulders as she sobbed, completely and utterly overwhelmed.

  She couldn't do it. The longer they stayed the more likely the timeline would be damaged beyond repair and they would cease to exist entirely. She'd failed.

  Heavy boots thundered down the hall and she heard the library door swing open as Ruv skidded to a halt, taking in the chaos of her breakdown. Carefully, gently, he picked his way through the mess before reaching her chair and kneeling to look her face-to-face. She sniffed, and he reached up to wipe at her tears as she let out a fresh wail and folded into herself.

  He said nothing as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her, shushing her as she cried. When the tears subsided and she was left hiccuping and exhausted, he picked her up out of her chair and walked her to their room. He had to help her out of her costume and into her sweater like a child, coaxing her to lift her arms and tugging the collar over her head. He led her to bed and laid her down, tucking the comforter to her chin when she was just too tired to do it herself. He then pulled over the chair and swung a leg over the back, and watched over her as she laid with eyes boring a hole in the wall, unseeing.

  After what had to be an hour but felt like a lifetime, he finally spoke. "You're working yourself too hard, Sarv."

  She shrugged. He took off his ushanka and it dangled from his hand as he scratched his scalp and looked away.

  "I know it looks hopeless. I know you feel like you failed. But I know you, Sarv. You're not as inexperienced and young as you were when you made the ritual to begin with; I think if you include the kids you can probably figure out this mess and get them home a lot faster than you think. They're smart kids, if it means getting home they'd be more than happy to help."