From space she returned to the farm and panic placed a bubble around the whole thing.

"This is not optimum," Donner said. "But for the moment it will suffice."

"Why is today so frustrating?" she asked. "I didn't get the letter, I didn't close the portal, I met my dad and he killed me. This whole day is bad luck!"

"Focus, Luna. We need to think of the best way to hide your family from Ji-hun."

Well, there were a lot of things to consider. Ant still had places to go and people to see. She was writing her blog. Georgia had friends. "I could put them in stasis here or something. People would wonder what happened though so I don't think that would work. Also, you acted like it was pretty important that I close the portal. It's still open."

"With Ji-hun there as well, any lingering spirits will remain. Whoever leaves last will have the problem. Besides that, you came here from outer space, not the vampire house." Which was a whole issue in and of itself because what was a portal to space doing in the basement of a haunted house inhabited by vampires? "As for your family, you'll need to hide them more specifically if you want them to be able to lead their usual lives. Along with the house and land, which will be simpler as inanimate objects are not going anywhere."

"Okay, okay, don't explain too much or it'll be unnecessarily complicated."

The bubble remained until she felt sure Ant and Georgia were encased in a spacesuit of protection. The both of them, home for now but she knew they were leaving for a playdate within the hour, shivered, as if they felt something for a moment, but then went on as if nothing happened. After that, she redid the house and land.

"If you die," Donner warned, "I don't think it will hold. This is delicate magic."

So for once in her life, she would have to avoid dying.

"What will happen if he finds them?"

"It's hard to predict. It depends on what he wants at the time. Your cooperation in one way or another."

"Couldn't I have Ink Pen eat him?" Though she hadn't seen or heard from him in a while.

"I suppose you could, but," he paused, "I do wonder if Ink Pen really does what you ask it to do."

"He has so far."

"Yes, but it wasn't making your life much easier, was it? Didn't you say its goal is the ultimate destruction of the cosmos? As Life, you're actively holding that back. I wouldn't think it would devour someone who makes that more difficult for you."

She scoffed. "Ji-hun doesn't make that hard. It's no problem keeping Ink Pen back."

"I don't mean the effort. If he's a problem for you, it will make you more willing to want the world to end. And believe me when I say, Ji-hun can be a very big problem."

To the point that she'd rather everything never existed at all? That seemed extreme.

"He's never been my enemy," Donner said, "so it never mattered to me. He is, however, all the worst things a person can be. If he wanted to do it, I don't doubt he could become the next great dictator."

He was the guy she had to protect her family from?

"He would absolutely kill them if he thought it would benefit him. I don't know what you would do then."

Maybe wish none of this happened in the first place.

"Darn."

Ink Pen wasn't going to want him then. Donner was right.

"You still need his signature to get you into Arcane."

Double darn.

"Why do I need my deadbeat dad to do anything for me? Can't I kill him?"

"I don't know what sort of measures he's taken to protect himself from death. I would think you are capable regardless, but we have no idea what might happen once he's gone."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a dead man's switch or something like that. He liked chaos. I wouldn't be surprised if some designated wonder of the world blew up upon his passing."

"Yeah, but other people could deal with that."

"You would never be allowed into Arcane. They wouldn't want to handle your non-magic family members, no matter what you did to their minds."

Which was super discriminatory.

"It is," Donner answered her wayward thoughts. "But they don't care. It's more trouble than it's worth."

"Couldn't I-"

"No, Luna, there is no simpler way to go about this. You don't know enough about the magical world to falsify the memories of the entire school board, the students, and their families. In fact, I believe your work would extend to the whole of magical society's upper class. Arcane draws in the wealthy. No doubt the adults of the school have protections in place against such a thing."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Triple darn.

"He literally pushed me into a portal to space and then I came back!"

"Yes and no doubt he will shortly know your identity," he said. "While you remain at home he will have no access to you, but as your father, he will be able to track you down. Blood magic. The strongest kind." He wasn't sure why, but there it was. "The second you step outside containment, he will be upon you."

"What do I need his signature on? Can I get it ready now?"

"Unfortunately, no and this is one reason it wouldn't work out with your aunt. Even if you had your mother, they wouldn't accept you. He will have to travel to the school for them to see him in person. Ideally, you will go with him and your entrance examination will be done at the same time."

Ant and Georgia left for the playdate shortly and it was like they were people living different lives. It struck her at random moments, how far apart they were. Everything was different and leaving for school would solidify it. She didn't know how they would keep up a relationship with them once that happened.

"The magic and non-magic worlds, though they exist right beside one another, are indeed far apart. You're right. Arcane will cement this for you and your blood relations."

"Maybe I should find a way to erase myself completely. Now they think I'm off at some gifted educational outing or something." The real problem there was Ant's relationship with the internet. Too many people knew she existed in this household. Though the following wasn't in the millions or anything, it was significant enough. Miss a few people and they'd start conspiracy theories about what happened. "Like the Mandela effect."

But she wanted to find a way. It seemed the kindest thing to do for them. And, maybe, she could make it so Ji-hun never knew about them to begin with.

"Will he know about the hospital and everything?"

Donner had to think for a minute and answered, "No, I don't think so. The magical community wasn't involved and shouldn't have records of it. However, if you're going to do it, you must do it quickly. He will no doubt start going through all the flings he's ever had, searching for the women. I have no idea about that side of his life so I don't know how long it will take him to get to Arizona. He will know your mother isn't magic and that will narrow his search."

Once he knew about Pink, he'd know about her family. But, it was possible that she, Luna, didn't know them and if she didn't then they wouldn't mean jackshit to her and would, therefore, not be worth using for leverage.

"I have to get rid of the hospital records, too."

"Yes. What you're considering is not a small task and the real problem remains. How to make all those people forget you exist. Kill yourself. Time passes differently and you've got none to waste."

She hung in a rarely used closet in case something went wrong with the time thing. It would be extra, super awful bad if they came back and found her dead. LIke the worst ever.

On the same old bridge that never changed except, now, for random people walking across it, she walked and talked with Donner. Into the city. A place they'd never been before.

It was deserted and half-real. The skyscrapers ended abruptly and smaller buildings had jagged edges. No one ever came here.

"Okay, here's what I'm thinking," Luna said. "Since Ant uses the internet to talk to them, I should do that, too. It's the easiest way to reach all of them. I'll wipe her and Georgia, put them to sleep, and do something to her blog. But I don't know what yet."

"That's not a terrible idea. The issue of reaching them all remains." They stopped and looked at a bagel shop. Empty except for bagels. On the walls. Whoever constructed this didn't know much about the world. It was all a facade. Once you looked for details, it fell apart. "Your aunt has incredibly good engagement on her blog, but still, not everyone reads every post."

"Can I make it so they have to? Like, the next time they go to her website, they will definitely see it?"

"I don't see why not. A popup."

"A magic advertisement that tells them I never existed."

"This is a bit difficult," he warned her. "You are trying to use magic on something intangible. Even the air has molecules, but what is the internet? You must think of it as something real or it won't stick."

"Should I look up what the internet is made of?"

"No, it would confuse us both. As you said earlier, it's easier if you don't know for sure. Assume what it is and go with it. What was it you said?"

She quoted herself, "If I don't know I can't do it, I probably can. Those are words to live by right there!"

"Words for you to live by. In your case, ignorance is bliss, but don't go around trying to convince anyone else of that."

She looked around the city and back the way they came. It would be a long walk to the bridge. Did they have to do all that?

"Okay," she cracked her knuckles. "Let's try something different."

She grabbed his hand before he could object and charged through the doorway of a red brick rubble fire station.

"Oh wow, it worked!"

"Great," he grumbled in her mind as she clambered out of the tiny room for coats and back into the hall. "At least you didn't leave me behind. Again."

"You honestly can't get out by yourself?"

"NO."

He didn't want to talk about that, she could tell. "Oh shit," and she'd thought of another complication. "I forgot about the people Ant knows in real life. What do I do about them?"

"Something similar," he said. "Give her business cards to hand out or something. Make her give them to those friends she meets for Georgia's playdates."

"Oh, okay." So it wasn't the catastrophe she thought it would be. That was good.

She got down to business immediately. The business cards, rigged to burn once the magic was complete, the plan for the website, and then she waited for her soon-to-be former family to return to end their relationship once and for all.

"Where do I go after this?"

He didn't like the answer, but it made the most sense. "You find Ji-hun before he finds you."

"How do I explain myself?"

"You don't. Give him nothing. He's a patient man. If he wants to know, he'll assume he can find out eventually."

"You think. I don't trust that. I need a cover story and how am I supposed to find him?"

"As for finding him, you can go to the Annex, though you should first check the vampire mansion. Your letter may be there. It shouldn't be left lying around."

"What if he didn't close the portal? Then I'll be the last one there and still have to do it!"

"So be it. It won't be as much of a chore. You can appear beside it if you want to."

"And what about my cover?"

Deep inhale and long exhale. "Tell something of the truth. You were with Cædmon. That was the home you called your own. The vampire expired somehow. You don't know what happened."

"You know I can tell you're annoyed when you sigh like that, right?"