//------------------------------// // Arc XVII Episode X: Sand and Coral // Story: Family Begins With You // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// “Mind if I make use of one of your monitors?” Micro asked, “I’m going to make a few…edits to the school’s website.” Such an idea intrigued Coral, so she slid over and took him up on his offer. “Be my guest, MC. While you do that, I’m gonna see if I can get in contact with anyone else that may have escaped from the school.” She turned to her leftmost monitor and began to type, which caught the attention of her brother. “Woah, you can do that?” Sandbar asked with a sense of amazement in his eyes. “How?” “Lots and lots of big-time agency tech, big brother,” Coral replied with a giggle, “But don’t worry, Sweetie Drops said it’s okay for me to use in emergencies and I think this counts as one. I knew something was wrong as soon as neither of them answered their phones.” “Hot damn, so you’re really workin’ with ‘em, eh?” Coral rubbed the back of her neck. She realized that this was the first time her brother had been informed of her work as an agent-in-training. “Well…I was gonna tell you at some point…” Sandbar folded his arms and closed his eyes. “Normally, I’d chew you out for not telling me something like this and go into a whole spiel about how a little girl like you shouldn’t be doing all this on her own…” “H-hey! I’m in the 8th grade, Bars!” she huffed, puffing out her cheeks in a defiant manner. “I’ll be headed to CHS next year anyway and you know it! I might even get into that new professor’s class!” “...” The boy tilted his head back and started to chuckle, then laugh aloud. “Ahaha! You’re adorable, Cici!” “...What?” Coral tilted her head, “Are you alright? Did you eat from mom’s stash again, big brother?” “Not lately, no,” Sandbar shook his head, “What I mean is that I’m proud of ya.” “Wait what--” Before she could properly react, Coral was on the receiving end of a heartfelt pat on the head followed by a bear-hug from her brother. “I knew you were smarter than me! It was only a matter of time until you worked towards it!” “...Wait…you’re happy? I don’t get it--” Coral was hesitant on the embrace, choosing to question what Sandbar meant for the moment. “It doesn’t bother you that I’m better with computers and math?” “Pfft--naw,” he shook his head as he put her down, “I’m more of a sea leg guy myself--I know I’m not good with that kinda stuff, which is why I’m glad you’re here to help me when I have trouble.” “Wow…I…here I was being jealous of you,” Coral muttered under her breath while twiddling her thumbs, “You’re so relaxed all the time and nobody makes fun of you for it. Heck, you even have a girlfriend. Wish someone would look at me the same way Yona looks at you…” “Hol’ up--” Ever so quick on the uptake, Sandbar was able to pick out a piece of her statement and ask, “Who’s makin’ fun of you at school?” He cracked his knuckles. “They gon’ wish they didn’t.” “Ugh--we can worry about that later,” she denied his concerns as she changed the subject, “What’s going on with you guys is more important. If that magical crap spreads and infects the whole city, we’ll have a big problem. Mom will fall victim to it--I’ll fall victim to it,” she placed her open palm against her chest, “We can’t afford to let that happen, Bars.” “...Alright,” Sandbar agreed to her terms. “But when this is over, I’m payin’ a visit to your school. I used’ta go there too, remember?” Coral knew she couldn’t stall her brother’s wishes for very long. She simply replied with an earnest smile and a nod. “...Okay. Thanks, big bro.” Sandbar smiled in return, “No problem, Coco.” “Guuuugh…” she threw her head back and groaned as she faced the monitor once more, “Quit it with the baby names, please.” “Ahem--sorry if I’m interrupting,” Micro Chips spoke up from the leftmost monitor, “but I think I’ve got the solution we’re looking for.” Meanwhile, at CHS… Aidon opened his eyes, but he could not see. He opened his mouth, but he could not speak. “...?!” Thankfully, he could still hear, but all he could make out was a faint giggle at best. “What the devil is going on?!” he thought to himself as he tried to move his body but to no avail. As it turned out, his arms were restrained behind himself upon something that felt…hard, wooden… “...A chair? I’m being held captive?!” The realization was enough to send a cold shiver down his spine along with beads of sweat. When he tried to move his lips, he realized that they were covered by what felt like duct tape. “...What’s happening?! Where am I?!” While the man of darkness could easily make use of his abilities to break himself free, his lack of spatial awareness was a key deterrent from doing so. “No…I’ve seen how this plays out in movies. I’m probably lined up alongside a bunch of other captives at this very moment. To activate my abilities now would run the risk of harming those around me.” His concerns had decent reasoning. Though in reality, he was sitting alone--tied to a chair with a burlap sack over his head--in an empty room beneath the school. An old supply bunker that was used in the event of emergencies with a long series of passageways that would lead to safety in case disaster struck. Unfortunately, the bunker was being used for the exact opposite purpose on this day. At long last, the sack would be removed, allowing him to see. And what he saw…shook the very confines of his heart to its core as his eyes started to bulge out of his head. “MMM?!” “...He’s mine, Tia,” Luna said as she stepped out of the darkness of the dimly lit room and into Aidon’s view. There were hearts in her eyes and a devilish smile on her face. “Don’t interfere.” “On the contrary,” Celestia walked up alongside her with an equally unsettling grin, “I intend to fight you for him if need be.”