elizabeth_oswald

Chapter Two hundred nine – Can’t Beet Fate

George carried the pasta carpet through the door The Father held open for him.

Lord Conroy glanced around furtively, then closed the door behind him, but it didn’t quite latch, leaving a Pandy-sized crack in a door that had never been there before.

Pandy slipped through, ducking to the side as soon as she entered, watching for either of the totally-not-suspicious men. The space was empty of all but a set of stairs that spiraled upwards, and a few tables with vases sitting on th...

Chapter Two hundred eight – Hare and Back Again

Time passed in a kind of haze. Thaniel took Pandy everywhere with him, and she recognized the Dunning estate, where Thaniel had grown up and lived until the night of the raid where he was meant to die.

It was filled with mostly-blurry figures who swept floors, hung laundry, and took care of the grounds. Those grounds were far better-tended than they had been in Pandy’s time, with flowers blooming, and a pretty path down to the stream that must have been overgrown when she saw it.

Chapter Two hundred seven – Through the Lapin-Glass

Carl didn’t touch Thaniel. Instead, he pulled up the chair and sat beside the bed, staring at the boy’s sleeping face.

Thaniel was smiling, as he so often did – a fact which only made this worse, because Pandy actually felt slightly guilty at how much she wanted him to wake up.

Several long beats of silence dragged by as the man traced the child’s sleeping features with his gaze, until just as Pandy was getting ready to do… something, the air started to feel heavy. It w...

Chapter Two hundred six – Cottontail Conspirators

School was back in session. Pandy was supposed to have been introduced as a new teacher.

She should have been able to walk around the school, as a human, meeting all of the people who had treated her with such well-deserved disdain when she was Ms. Wellington.

Instead, she laid beside Thaniel, curled into the crook of his arm. There were no beeping machines or tubes in the quiet room, just a cloth bracelet that went around Thaniel’s wrist, and would presumably call for help if ...

Chapter Two hundred five – Dream a Little Dream or Three

Kaden and Eleanor were whisked off somewhere. Isidor tried to follow, but one of the knights – one who had a cute little half-cape draped from shoulder to hip – placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

A little while after that, another carriage arrived, and another familiar face got out. Healer Sinnett had been in charge of the people Augustus and Pandy discovered in the underground warehouse, and now he hurried over to take a look at Thaniel.

For her part, Pandy wa...

Chapter Two hundred four – The Ship Hits the Pan(dy)

Eleanor was much, much too calm, almost like being kidnapped was just another day in her life – or maybe like she’d been trained for this exact scenario.

Once her hands were free, she explained what had happened in quick, concise terms, with hardly any sniffling or sobs in between the words. Pandy desperately wanted to give the little princess – and the other children – all the hugs, but she couldn’t at the moment, so she focused on what she could do.

So, they were in a...

Chapter Two hundred three – Shortly Before the Fur Flew

Pandy stepped into the office, only vaguely aware that Sir Bailey was speaking quietly to someone who wasn’t there.

The Knights could obviously communicate across long distances, so they were probably calling for backup or this world’s equivalent of a prison bus. It didn’t matter. What did matter was the figure sitting behind the desk on the other side of the room.

In Gacha Love, once Clara or her companion defeated the ghost of General Avington, that was it. She e...

Chapter Two hundred two – Claw to Arms

Almost before Miss Cupcakes could sink back into the deep-darkness, all of the humans poured back out of the house.

The older-kittens encircled the little ones, and the hunter-chancellor and Father-Lord stood at front and back, guarding, while Mother-Lady tightly gripped the hands of Ellie-girl and rabbit-friend-Thaniel. She was watching her own kittens, Geraldine and maybe-sister-Clara, but she held onto the others, protecting.

Older-kitten-Isidor slunk somewhere off to one side...

Chapter Two hundred one – Past Purrfect Tension

Miss Cupcakes was draped across her person’s lap, being stroked intermittently as Geraldine stared out of the window of the carriage.

When the fingers paused once again, she considered turning over to expose her belly – and her claws – but decided it was too much trouble and simply focused on the other humans. Would any of them be an improvement over her current semi-functional petter?

Her person’s mother sat beside them, but she was chattering excitedly to her mate, her h...

Chapter Two hundred – Mori-bunned

The final boss of Avington House towered over Pandy, filling the hallway and blocking the door to the office, as well as M. Piers Avington’s fallen form.

It was, of course, the ghost of General Avington. He was a bit older and softer around the middle than the statue in Golden Park, but it was recognizably him. He even wore the same uniform – one that made the sleek, modern uniforms shown in Gacha Love seem like formal wear. This was a uniform Meant for Business, and the e...

Delay to tomorrow!

So, I had to pick up a part-time job, and I had my first day today. I'm a substitute teacher, so I actually get to kind of pick my own days, but not my hours, so it was a long day. I went with Friday because if my brain was Fried (see what I did there?) I could write tomorrow. Which I will do. So hang in there, and M. Piers will get what's coming to him on the morrow!

Chapter One hundred ninety-nine – Cha-cha Into the Abyss

The actual foundation of the house was in surprisingly good condition. Floorboards were intact – except where they’d been intentionally altered – as were walls and ceilings.

The stairs were the same, each step solid beneath Pandy’s foot until she caught herself relaxing and reaching for the banister. Nope, definitely not doing that.

She ducked reflexively as her head reached the second floor, but in fact there was no trap there. In Gacha Love, there was brief ani...

Chapter One hundred ninety-eight – Move-in Deadly

When Pandy stepped through the door into the library, she drew in a deep breath of Books – paper, ink, even a hint of the wood the shelves were made of.

Then she sneezed sharply as the poignant perfume was followed by earthy notes of mold and mildew. Professor Beeswick definitely wouldn’t be happy about the way these old tomes had been cared for – or not, as the case may be.

From the darkness, a voice said, “Excuse you.” The words were immediately followed by shushing n...

Chapter One hundred ninety-seven – Things That Go Hop in the Knight

Pandy’s rented carriage arrived in front of Avington House as the sun descended rather precipitously toward the horizon.

Pandy climbed out and waved to the driver, who waved back quite cheerfully as he drove off. She really needed to figure out how much a gold was worth and keep some change in her inventory. Everyone always seemed so pleased when she told them to keep the change.

“There you are at last,” came M. Piers Avington’s voice as he approached, pushing aside the o...

Chapter One hundred ninety-six – Lop Before You Leaf

All of the children were back the next morning, and breakfast was lively with Geraldine and Eleanor telling everyone about their Idomoros.

Not that Eleanor could get into too many specifics, but she said she scrubbed her grandfather’s crypt, and ‘walked and walked before my candle went out.’ Geraldine admitted that she forgot to protect her candle from the wind, and it blew out, but that was all right, because Clara gave her her candle, and that one ended up being the last one in...

Ad-vice?

I've been playing with the new ad, and I'm still trying to nail it. Here's what I have. Anyone have suggestions to make it more clickable? Better words? Better colors? Which do you prefer?

Chapter One hundred ninety-five – A Thousand Bright Goodbyes

Now that Lian was at Falconet, he seemed reluctant to leave, so Augustus invited him to join them for dinner, and sent a message to Kestrel's chancellor to that effect.

They ate early that evening, so everyone could get bundled up and head out with their candles as the sun set. After dessert was cleared away, Augustus called the few children remaining at school to him and told them that he had personally contacted each of their families, and gotten permission for them to go out with hi...

Chapter One hundred ninety-four – Frankly, My Crêpe, I Don’t Give a Dear

Thaniel and Lian wandered just long enough for Thaniel to start complaining that his feet hurt before Augustus showed up.

They simply turned a corner and found themselves walking side by side with the chancellor, who said, “Are you hungry? There’s an excellent crepe shop on the next block.”

Thaniel gave an enthusiastic nod, but Lian halted, glaring at the newcomer. “Now you show up? Where were you when that man was attempting to threaten and intimidate us?”

August...

Chapter One hundred ninety-three – Family Plot

On the way to the cemetery, Lord Andres regaled the boys with stories about his mother, their aunt.

Apparently, even though she was younger than The Father, she married when she was only eighteen, and had Lord Andres when she was nineteen. Andres was already grown when Lian was born, so they’d never really had much chance to spend time together.

At least that was what Andres said, but Pandy had her own suspicions about what had happened. At least on the surface, the story was r...

Chapter One hundred ninety-two – Cryptic Relations

Idomoros was always Pandy’s favorite day of the Fall Festival, and not just because it was the day Clara spent with Edgar.

In the game, of course, it skipped straight to the evening, when Edgar and Clara walked the candlelit streets together in complete silence – other than the eerily beautiful instrumental background music.

In real life, people flocked to cemeteries and churches to pray for their lost loved ones, and care for their graves, headstones, and crypts. Lord Reedsle...

Chapter One hundred ninety-one – Hare-spring Heartstrings

Edgar and Isidor came running down the road as the knight carried Kaden back up. Two more knights were with them, weapons bared.

The prince was already demanding to be let down, and those demands redoubled when he saw Edgar and the others. With obvious reluctance, his would-be rescuer did so, and the prince only swayed a little before he began tugging at his clothes.

Pandy had returned to her rabbit form as soon as she was certain she was out of sight around the hill, then landed...

Chapter One hundred ninety – Hare-raising Heights

Augustus and Isidor rode horses when they headed out after the carriage, and Pandy was terribly tempted to ride with Augustus when he patted his saddle and raised his brows at her.

In the end, however, she opted to fly, because while her sense of direction wasn’t the best, there was no way she could miss Celestine Point, and she wanted to be there when the carriage arrived.

The Point was almost precisely in the center of the city when traveling from west to east, but a bit clos...

A question of age

I admit, I had this idea of the kids in Lucky Rabbit starting school at the same age as kids in our world, and it got stuck.

At this point, it's obvious that the kids think and act like they're older than six. Now, Eleanor is actually seven, and Geraldine is almost seven, while Isidor is a solid fourteen, but still, it's jarring. So I intend to change the youngest kids (Thaniel, Geraldine, Eleanor, and Abbington) so they're all eight or nine instead. There are some story adjust...

Chapter One hundred eighty-nine – The More the Merri-hare

The third day of the Fall Festival was the Day of Gratitude, where everyone expressed their thanks for their friends, family, country, and even their goddess.

In Gacha Love, this event was spent with Kaden, though Clara could write notes or buy gifts and give them to the other boys off screen. This was when Clara found out that ‘Aiden’ was Prince Kaden, but only at the end of the day, when he took her to meet his mother. Clara needed high Graceful Presence and Eloquence ski...

Chapter One hundred eighty-eight – Shell Game

Pandy stared morosely at her stat sheet.

Honestly, it was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? She could jump off walls like a ninja, leap over small sheds, Bite through metal bars, and fly – as long as she didn’t allow any part of herself to touch something that could probably hold her weight, or whatever it took to convince the System she could land there. She even had enough Corruption Points to do almost anything she needed to do, at least in the short term, and she knew ho...

Chapter One hundred eighty-seven – Glitches Get Stitches

By the time the Reedsleys brought Thaniel and the others back to school, it was very nearly dinner time.

All of the children had bright, slightly sun-burned faces, glowing eyes, and the enthusiasm of someone who had exceeded their sugar saturation point by at least three thousand percent. Only Clara was her usual silent self, but even she looked oddly contemplative, her eyes lingering on Geraldine whenever the younger girl wasn’t looking.

By now, there were only a few other peo...

Chapter One hundred eighty-six – A Bit Corny

As soon as M. Piers Avington disappeared into the crowd, Augustus hurried to Pandy’s side.

“What was that?” he demanded. “You know that man just tricked you out of-”

Pandy held up a hand, her gaze flicking around to make sure no one was within earshot. Given the fact that magic and elementals were real things in this world, and she knew for a fact that M. Piers Avington had an elemental, she felt that her caution was entirely warranted. Without really thinking about it,...

Chapter One hundred eighty-five – Turnabout is Hare Play

When Pandy stepped out of the carriage, it was like stepping into Gacha Love.

Each time Clara traveled from one place to another, there was the image of a little carriage, followed by a short video sweeping into the new area. It started up high, showing the entire space, then came down to eye level, merging with Clara’s view.

Golden Park was exactly what its name suggested – a perfect park filled with equally golden people and golden statues of former kings and queen...

Delay today

I have a bunch of events going on today and tomorrow. I will get a chapter done, but it almost definitely won't be today, I'm sorry! Now I have to go blow up balloons and dig out my garage enough to find the balloon arch (not necessarily in that order) 😬

Chapter One hundred eighty-four – The Lore You Know

On the way out, Pandy threw several Minor Heals in the direction of the pale, prematurely aged woman who sat staring blankly out the window covered in yellow curtains.

The first few landed for the full twenty points, and the third for sixteen. Mira sat up a little straighter, some color actually returning to her cheeks. Her gaze didn’t regain its focus, however, and she didn’t jump up and dance a jig, which would have been a very satisfying conclusion.

Minor Heal fail...