cascade | kotlc

16. Some Years of Solitude

i hate writer's block

-

- J. R.

"Nevermind, maybe you do need to control the power," June yelled in the vortex of gold. "Are we always going to teleport back in time when something happens?"

"Not usually," Fitz grunted, clasping onto her hand as they twisted and thrashed. All the gold seemed to seep into them, tear at their components until they were a mesh of aureated filaments, an amber net cast over their skin.

"I just wonder where we're going this time."

"Yeah," he agreed, flailing his arms. "Also, I can't really hear you. Everything is tick-tock to me."

June grunted, shifting her body so that she was awkwardly positioned on top of Fitz. "Can you get the gold to stop?" she asked, squinting into the distance where a vibrant spot of yellow was pusling. "Or are we just gonna swim until something happens?"

"The latter, probably," Fitz screamed, his eyes flashing with anger. "Sorry! I'm not mad at you, it's just the fucking tick-tock. I swear to god, this will be the death of me."

And then the gold ended, and with several flashes and a particularly ear-splitting CHIME like thunder, the smell of new grass wafted around and June slammed into an outstretching pasture.

"Gotta work out those landings," she mumbled, trembling on her arms. "This might be even worse than Sophie's teleporting."

"I'd imagine teleporting through time would be more turbulent than teleporting through space," Fitz said from beside her. "By the way, you're sitting on my face."

"Gah!" She hurried to scramble off, blushing a shade of nuclear red.

He sat shakily, scratching his head. "Do you know where we are?"

"No, I don't-"

Pterodactyl screeching interrupted her, and as she watched a purple cantaloupe lobbed through the air and an argentavis snatched up the fruit and chomped it to shreds. Slimy ooze trickled down its beak as it shook out its feathers in a rain of brown.

- F. V.

"Is that an argentavis?" he asked, screwing up his eyes at the flapping beast. "I've never seen one in person before."

"Yes, that is an argentavis," June mumbled. "And... I think I know where we are. This... this is..."

Fitz stood, taking into account the vast lands and the windswept grass. In the distance he saw an array of albertosaurs treaded the hills, their deep purple fur flapping as they gobbled up a stack of fruits.

Over the meadow to his left several pens stood, the cold metal glinting in the sunlight, sasquatches and suncatchers and sirens bound in harnesses strolling on the ground. A familiar bright neon green dinosaur swallowed up a flock of seagulls that flew too low.

Across the plains the waves lapped under a steep cliff that bordered the grass, and in the center of the greenery stood an elegant glass and gold house overlooking the sea.

"Havenfield," Fitz breathed.

June blinked away tears. "Verdi's here. This is when she ate those seagulls. So... a year before I went to Foxfire. When I was ten. And when..."

She wiped her eyes, squatting down and hugging her knees, lowering her face within her arms and blinking rapidly.

"When Sophie wasn't here yet," Fitz finished, kneeling down and caressing her back, feeling her shoulder-length hair slip through her fingers. "When your parents were shutting themselves away, and they were... horrible to you."