Page 23 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

"We need to call Phoebe," Lia said, pulling out her phone with shaking hands. "And Kaitlyn. They need to know what we found. And what was just stolen."

We gathered around Lia. The screen's glow illuminated the chaos around us. There was broken glass, scattered artifacts, and the lingering traces of power that felt both ancient and freshly awakened. Dre wasted no time in bringing Phoebe and Kaitlyn up to speed after they each answered the call.

"You're telling me," Phoebe's voice crackled through the speaker, "that not only did your ancestors use the Larmes du Bayou against the Lost Legends, but your entire family line has been connected to its protection this whole time?"

"Both sides," I confirmed. Lia had put the phone on speaker so everyone could hear. "The Smiths and the Yearsleys. The journal says they worked together. It mentioned something about the balance between determination and intuition."

"And there's more," Kota added, carefully picking through the broken display case. "These artifacts are powerful magical objects. Some were specifically designed to work with the crystal. We saw them being used in a vision."

"A vision?" Kaitlyn's voice joined the conversation. It was sharp with interest. "What exactly did you see?"

We took turns describing the scene. Each of us added details the others missed. The period clothing, the familiar faces, and the way the artifacts glowed with the same patterns we recognized from the crystal. "The Smith line stood guard while the Yearsley blood carried the key," Dea quoted from the journal. Her face was pale, but her voice was steady. "The spirit that led us here was one of the original guardians."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. When Phoebe spoke again, her voice was grave. "I owe you all an apology. When I accidentally awakened your powers, I thought it was just dormant magical DNA and I left you all to figure it out with Kaitlyn. I should have looked into it more. I should have known there was more to it. Your family was chosen. Destined to protect the crystal."

"You don’t have to apologize. None of us had any idea," Dre said. She was still tending to a cut on Lia's arm.

"And now someone's trying to steal our destiny," Kota snarled. "The question is, why did this come to us now?"

"Because you're stronger together than any generation before you," Kaitlyn's voice was tight with urgency. "Six sisters, each with a different aspect of power, all awakened at once? It's unprecedented. Your ancestors must have been waiting for this moment."

"The artifacts," Phi suddenly said. She held up an ancient ledger she'd found in one of the drawers. "They're not just amplifiers. They're keys, aren't they? To control the crystal completely?"

"That would be my guess," Phoebe confirmed. "And if the Lost Legends get their hands on even one of them..."

"Too late," Lia interrupted, comparing the ledger to the remaining artifacts. "According to this inventory, there should be seven artifacts in that case. I count six."

The silence that followed was deafening. Finally, Phoebe spoke again. Her voice was harder than before. "Don't touch anything else in that room. Kaitlyn and I are on our way. Whatever was stolen, we need to find it before it can be used." I was just glad she managed to make it to the city. I wondered if Kaveh teleported her.

After hanging up, we spread out through the room, carefully documenting everything we could find. Dre and Kota worked on sketching the layout of the displays while Phi and Lia photographed each remaining artifact. Dea stood in the center of the room with her eyes closed. She was clearly trying to sense any lingering spiritual echoes that might give us clues.

I found myself drawn back to the journal. Its pages now seemed to hold more questions than answers. Our ancestors had faced this fight before. They had won it before. But they'd hadgenerations to prepare, to learn, to understand their powers. We'd had weeks.

"Hey," Lia said softly, coming to stand beside me. "We'll figure this out. We always do."

"Together," Kota added, looking up from what she was doing.

"The Smith determination," Phi quoted with a slight smile.

"And the Yearsley intuition," Dea finished, opening her eyes.

Dre joined us, completing our circle. "Plus whatever chaos the six of us bring to the mix."

The feel of Kaveh’s magic announced Kaitlyn's arrival. As we headed downstairs to meet her, I caught glimpses of my sisters' reflections in the hallway mirrors. Power still flickered in all our eyes. It was a reminder of what we’d just experienced. And of our ancestors' strength and determination. They’d worked hard to get this room to us. I couldn’t wait to explore it when this was over.

The scent of ozone and displaced air mixed with the sweet magnolia drifting through the windows. Outside, the cicadas kept up their steady rhythm, oblivious to the magical physics being bent in our house. Kaitlyn’s eager expression spoke volumes. "Show me," she said without preamble. Her voice was tight with barely contained urgency.

As we led them toward the secret room, I couldn't help but wonder what other surprises our ancestors would spring on us. And more importantly, whether we'd uncover them all before our enemies did. Because one thing was crystal clear. This was just the opening act.

The Lost Legends weren't going to back down without one hell of a fight. But neither were we. This legacy—this destiny—it wasn't just about some magical rock anymore. It was about family. About the power that had always coursed through our veins, dormant but waiting, like a spell waiting to be spoken. And now that it was awake? Well, our ancestors better grab theirmetaphysical popcorn, because we were about to put on one hell of a show.

CHAPTER 9

DREYA

Sleep? Yeah, that wasn't happening with a bomb like ‘Hey, you're part of the Larmes du Bayou’ dropped in our laps. So, there I was, puttering around our magical kitchen. I was trying to look productive while my brain did backflips. I sorted herbs like a possessed Martha Stewart. I also counted bottles and checked expiration dates because apparently, even magical crap could go bad. Who knew? Meanwhile, my thoughts ping-ponged between ‘Holy shitballs, we're special!’ and ‘What the actual hell?’

The Smith determination, my ass. It was more like the Smith stubbornness. Plus, the ability to bang our heads against a wall until something gave. And don't get me started on this Yearsley intuition business. Was that what I'd been calling my occasional good guesses about which drive-thru had a working ice cream machine?

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