The Primarch Keeps Breaking Things

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> Lucian!?

"Sadly not," comes the reply.

"Lucian!" Your eyes widen. Stifling the mental image of him lying naked amid a tangle of succubi, you say, "Where's Aedan? Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, Miss Elana, for better or worse. Aedan's presently preoccupied."

"Preoccu...! Where in the megaverse are you? I've been trying to reach you for half an hour!"

"The discrepancy between our timezones is larger than I thought," Lucian murmurs. The jumbled voices in the background nearly swallow his words. "Aedan sends his apologies. We've had an eventful morning."

Oh, they better have. Aedan owes you a wyvern-leather purse for every lie in your inbox.

"OK, OK. Whatever. You're here now, and that's wonderful." Breathe in, breathe out. You consult the clock on your nightstand. "Whatever Aedan's doing, it can wait. Come home."

"That may be difficult, Miss Elana." The gravity of his tone makes your insides knot. "Attempting chronospatial magic from where we are is, ah, inadvisable."

"Oh, yes? How so? Are you standing on top of a power plant?" You're not often sarcastic, but time's wasting. Your knuckles blanch as you grip the comm. "If it's not a matter of actual, legitimate life-or-death, I want you here now. I need that stupid wand back."

For a moment, you hear nothing but chatter and distant, clinking cutlery.

"Ah, yes. The wand."

"Please tell me you didn't lose the wand."

"Very well. We didn't."

"Oh, thank goodness. Don't scare me like that! It's--"

"Broken."

"What?"

"The wand's been obliterated from the handle up. Your brother sends his apologies."

The colour drains from your face.

"How'd you manage something like that? Aren't you supposed to be watching him?" You hurl the comm to your bed, where it lands with a 'fwump'. Your whole body follows. "That wand was stolen goods, Lucian. The real owner could show up any minute, and trust me that they won't be satisfied with 'my twin broke your priceless artifact'."

"That is troublesome." Lucian's voice skews towards the thoughtful side of neutral. "I imagine Mesdames Primarch haven't returned from the Six-Ring Conference?"

"Um, would I be flipping out if they had? I'm in trouble here!"

Frustrated, you drag your hands over your face from hairline to chin. Lucian makes a thoughtful sound.

"Aedan kept the news from you because he wants to repair the wand," he says. "Do you think it's worthwhile, or shall we return with the remains? I'm yours to command. However..."

"Ugh, of course there's a catch. However, what?"

"There may be repercussions for the locals on our end. Magic is outlawed here. One doubts the authorities will ignore a whirling rift in spacetime that would take several dozen mortals to create."

"Luciaaaaaan, I'm not in the mood for moral quandaries right now!"

Regardless, you need to do something.

>_