Cassia and Eli sat across from each other at the small shack that was apparently the only restaurant around this section of the beach. When Cassia had asked where they were, Eli had only smiled and kept walking until they reached this place. Then he ordered ice creams for both of them and sat down at a table looking out over the beach.
“Where are we?” Cassia asked, or rather demanded, when she finally couldn’t take it anymore. The leprechaun sighed, then took another bite of ice cream before replying.
“If ya must know right the ‘ell now,” he began, sounding fully put out. “We are on a beach, on Earth-29.” He went back to his ice cream, apparently thinking that he had explained their situation fully. Cassia glared at him, but when he didn’t look up to see it, she had to resort to speaking again.
“Ok…and what are we doing here? Besides eating ice cream?” She added the last bit in a hurry, trying to cut off Eli’s delaying tactics. The bearded man sighed again, heavier this time.
“We are waitin’ ter make sure we’re not about ter be arrested by the IPF.”
Cassia raised an eyebrow at this, and eventually the leprechaun sighed once more. He finished off the last of his ice cream cone and hopped down off his seat.
“Should be in the clear by now,” he said. “Let’s go break in ter me home.” He immediately set off down the small path of sand and dirt, without waiting for Cassia to follow. Fortunately, he couldn’t outpace her for long on his short legs, and she quickly caught him.
“You have a home on more than one Earth?” she asked as they walked. Eli nodded, a smug smile on his face. Cassia thought for a moment, and then frowned at him.
“Wait. It’s not your home, is it?” she asked. “Not technically, anyway. It’s another Elias Thorn, right?”
She felt a small measure of satisfaction to see the silly grin wiped off his face, though she was still irritated at having to pry the information out of him. She briefly wondered if all of Thorns, across the entire multiverse, were as odd and unbearable as the ones she’d met so far.
“Close ‘nuff,” he muttered. “S’not like he’s using it right now anyways. Somehow the IPF caught up tuh ‘im a while back, and I’m fairly certain he’s spending some quality time on Earth-6 getting a lil attitude adjustment.”
“This Thorn was apprehended by the IPF recently?” Cassia asked in surprise. Eli didn’t look at her, but nodded.
“I was here!” Cassia exclaimed, realization dawning on her. “He was picked up by the IPF because he was giving us time to get out through the hidden garage!” At this comment, the leprechaun looked sharply up at her.
“How do ya know about the garage?” he asked, somewhat aggressively. Cassia frowned back at him.
“I just told you,” she replied. “I was here when the IPF knocked on Thorn’s door.” The leprechaun thought about this, and for a while they walked in silence. He didn’t seem to like whatever it was he was mulling over. Eventually, though, he shrugged and continued to walk. Cassia tried to be patient, but she was so out of sorts that she finally had to ask.
“Can’t you just, I don’t know, magic us somewhere? Like you did to get us here in the first place?”
Eli just rolled his eyes at her.
“I can’t teleport,” he said flatly. “I used magic tuh universe hop, which is very difficult magic tuh perform, by the way, so yer welcome.” He seemed to be expecting some response, so Cassia inclined her head towards him.
“Thank you for bringing us here, Eli,” she offered, managing to keep most of the sarcasm out of her voice. He raised an eyebrow at her, so she must not have fully succeeded, but he did continue.
“Magic is a fickle mistress, anyway,” he said. “She may let ya do somethin’ downright crazy, or she may not. Doesn’t matter, though, ‘cause teleportin’ ain’t somethin’ ya can do. What ya would ‘ave to do is jump somewhere an’ jump back. Basically a teleport, but I don’t know any of us have that kinda power.”
Cassia still didn’t really understand magic, but she was content for now that Eli was willing to even attempt to explain. She almost was going to ask how much longer the walk was going to be, when Eli led them straight up to a drop off and then stopped to peer over. Cassia stepped up beside him, and gazed down at the beach below.
“We’re ‘ere,” Eli said simply. Cassia looked around again, but didn’t see anything resembling a house, or a garage for that matter. Then she looked at Eli, who again was displaying a smug grin, and she groaned.
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“It’s below us, isn’t it?”
The leprechaun smiled wider and nodded, then pointed his finger at a sizable rock near Cassia’s feet. His face took on a more concentrating look, and Cassia suddenly felt a force of some sort emanating from him. The rock rolled over on its side, and she looked up to see satisfaction replace the focus in Eli’s face. She was busy thinking about how interesting it was that the magic followed him across universes, implying that it was somehow related to the leprechaun himself, that she missed the small mechanical noises.
Suddenly the ground disappeared, and she dropped down a chute into darkness. She could hear Eli’s cackling growing further away as she slid rapidly down the slide. After a few moments, she launched out onto a small pad. Quickly, she made room for Eli, who she assumed would be following close behind. Looking around, she realized she was back in Thorn’s garage. The vehicles were all still there, minus the green SUV that she and Grit had taken. She also noticed that the garish pink ice cream truck was missing as well.
Eli landed next to her with a small thump, and was quickly back on his feet. He seemed almost giddy as he ran towards the vehicles.
“What’s with this guy and trapdoors that shoot you down slides?” Cassia grumbled as she followed. Eli barked a short laugh.
“You know, I’ve never understood that,” he said. “What’s wrong with regular secret doors?”
“This coming from a guy who used magic to knock over a rock that I could’ve just kicked,” Cassia said, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, that was important for the gravitas of the moment,” Eli protested, stopping in front of a baby blue Camaro that looked to Cassia like it was older than the rest of the vehicles. “Let’s take this one.”
Cassia frowned as Eli threw open the door and then pulled the keys out of the glove compartment.
“Won’t this stand out?” she asked. Eli grinned at her from the driver’s seat.
“I hope so!” he called. “It’s a ‘67 Camaro, it should stand out! Get in!” Reluctantly Cassia climbed in next to him, and he immediately slammed the gas pedal to the floor. The car growled and then leapt forward, racing across the cement floor. Eli laughed maniacally, and Cassia desperately scrambled to put her seatbelt on. They careened straight towards a garage door at the other end of the gigantic room, and Cassia was unsure if Eli noticed that it was closed.
At the last second, he jabbed a series of buttons on the dash, and the setting shifted abruptly. Cassia’s stomach lurched, and she was barely able to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. They were suddenly speeding down an off ramp, approaching a stop sign. Eli slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a stop. He looked around, confusion evident on his face.
“That’s odd,” he mumbled. “Not where I was aiming.” He punched the buttons on the dash again, and Cassia felt the familiar ripping sensation of a jump, yet her setting didn’t shift. Eli cursed loudly, and punched the buttons once more. The same sensation repeated itself, but they stayed in the same location.
“Somethin’ wrong with this ol’ beater,” Eli complained, but Cassia shook her head.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I think something’s wrong with the universe. Or more specifically, the place in between the universes. Something is out of whack.” Eli looked surprised, but didn’t provide a quippy response, so he must’ve agreed with her on some level.
A car honked from behind them, causing both of them to jump. Eli started the Camaro moving forward, and they cruised into the town they’d found themselves in, both of them looking around for any location clues.
“Atlanta,” Eli declared after a while. “Or somewhere nearby.” He pointed to a road sign indicating the direction to the city. Cassia nodded.
“But who knows what Earth we’re on,” she replied. “Or how to find out.” Eli considered for a moment.
“There are ways to find out,” he said, then gestured to the sun beginning to sink below the horizon. “But for now, we probably need to get some rest. It wasn’t that long ago you healed yourself from near death, and I heroically saved both of us.”
Cassia rolled her eyes, but found that she agreed with him. Just mentioning getting rest had caused her to realize how tired she felt. Eating food back on Earth-29 had helped, but the fatigue was still lurking. No wonder Eli didn’t want to magic jump more than once. She watched as a group of people on the sidewalk stared at them as they passed.
“Eli, I think we’re standing out a little too much,” she said quietly. To her surprise, he nodded in agreement.
“Fortunately,” he replied, “magic can actually help us ‘ere.” Cassia watched as his face took on the intense look of focus from before. She blinked, and suddenly he was dressed in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. He grinned at her surprise.
“I mean, I was referring to the car, but that is…much better,” she acknowledged.
“Don’ worry, lassie,” he said, the accent standing out even more against his new clothes. “I took care o’ the car too.”
Cassia looked out the windshield, and sure enough, the baby blue color was gone, replaced by a dirty gray color that was rusted in spots. She was impressed, and turned back to Eli to say so, but something caught her eye.
“Wait, I think I’ve been here before,” she said. Eli’s eyes widened, and he stopped the car. Cassia looked around at the buildings slowly falling into disrepair.
“Somethin’ look familiar to ya?” he asked, and she shrugged.
“I’m not sure yet,” she replied. “Keep driving.” When he didn’t immediately comply, she frowned at him.
“If we keep moving, maybe I’ll figure out why this place is familiar,” she said, then realized that Eli was staring straight ahead.
“Could be ‘ard to do that at the moment, lass,” he said. Cassia twisted around in her seat to look out the windshield. Sure enough, a group of tough looking men were slowly approaching the car, walking down the middle of the street. A gang of some sort, she knew, though that could mean almost anything depending on which Earth they were on. No matter the Earth, though, it meant trouble. Eli seemed to have already reached the same conclusion.
“Get out of here!” Cassia exclaimed, but Eli shook his head, and gestured towards the rearview mirror.
“Too late,” he said, but Cassia had already turned to see a car blocking their way out the back.
“Of course,” she said, frustrated. “Something’s going on with the multiverse, and we’re stuck on some back alley getting attacked by the local gang. What more could we want?”
As if in response to her words, there was movement to their left. From a different alley came a different group of tough looking men. Eli groaned.
“Now ya done it.”