Page 45 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

"And possibly some property damage," Dre agreed.

"Definitely some property damage," Phi corrected.

"Chief," I said to Lucas, trying to ignore how his concerned look made my heart do funny things, "I need you and Noah to coordinate with Terrence's teams. Keep the mundies from accidentally wandering into displacement zones. The last thing we need is tourists from 2024 swapping places with people from 1824."

"And what are you going to do?" he asked, though his tone suggested he already knew and wasn't happy about it.

"Oh, you know," I grinned. "Just going to crash a ritual, save Dea, prevent reality from completely unraveling, and maybe blow up a historical landmark in the process. The usual." He gave me a grim nod, and we set off.

Getting to the Ursuline Convent was like playing the world's most dangerous game of temporal Frogger. Rifts opened randomly across our path. One moment, we were dodging French colonists. The next, we were avoiding Confederate soldiers. Then, we were swerving around jazz musicians from six different decades simultaneously.

"Look out!" Dani shouted as another Legend materialized in front of us. Based on the curves, I swear it was a woman. She rippled between states of matter. Her robes were made of pureenergy. And her face... well, let's just say Picasso would have said it was a bit too abstract.

I swerved around her and dropped a magical bomb in the process. "Anyone else notice our powers are getting weaker the closer we get to the convent?"

"The crystal's drain is strongest near their nexus," Phi confirmed. "They're using our connection to power their manifestation."

The French Quarter was in beautiful chaos. More so than it had been hours before, which was saying something. Every once in a while, we caught a glimpse of Dea suspended in their stasis field. Her energy was being forcibly channeled into the crystal. The corruption was spreading faster now and turning the pure light we'd learned about from Hannah and the guardians into something dark and twisted.

"Terrence's teams are in position," Dani reported as she checked her phone. "They've got the perimeter secured, but they're having trouble with displacement zones."

Kota quirked a brow as we passed a group of tourists who were stuck in a loop of taking selfies with a street performer. "Yeah, those areas where people keep experiencing the same moments over and over are getting worse."

Jackson Square was a masterpiece of mayhem. Andrew Jackson's statue was now leading an army of pigeons in military drills. Street artists were painting portraits that aged backward. And I'm pretty sure I saw one version of Marie Laveau giving tarot readings to herself from three different centuries.

"The evacuation's not going well," Dre observed as we passed. "Most people think it's just another street festival."

"To be fair," I said, dodging an eddy that tried to send us to the gods knew when, "it does look a bit like Mardi Gras had a baby with Doctor Who."

We finally reached the convent and encountered Terrence's men. Looking at the convent through the reality tears was like trying to watch a 3D movie without glasses while high and hallucinating. The building's original construction, various renovations throughout history, and several versions that definitely violated both architectural principles and basic geometry were on display simultaneously.

"They've got guards," Kota pointed out the individuals who patrolled the grounds. Their bodies were mostly solid, with very little flickering. Of course. They were powered by the crystal's stolen energy and our sister's forced connection. The sight made my hands itch to introduce them to my fist. I wasn’t sure my magic would cooperate.

"And traps," Dani added. "They've set up fields that will trap us in time loops if we trigger them."

"Okay," I said, gathering what remained of my magic. I was trying not to think about how Hannah and the other guardians would be disappointed. We just couldn’t manage to let the situation go sideways. "We need a plan."

"Since when?" Dre asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Since our powers are about as reliable as a politician's promises and reality is having a breakdown," I replied. "We can't just go in guns blazing."

"Why not?" Kota grinned. "It's worked before."

"Name one time it's worked," Dani challenged.

"That thing with the alligator shifters? We didn’t have a well-thought-out plan then," Kota replied.

"We had access to all of our magic then," I reminded her.

"Focus," Phi interrupted. "I think I've found a way through their defenses. The distortions are creating blind spots. Moments when reality is too unstable for their traps to function properly."

"We time our approach with these unstable moments?" I asked, already seeing where this was going. "Use their own temporal chaos against them?" It was better than nothing, which is what I had.

"Exactly. But our timing will have to be perfect." She paused, adjusting something on her equipment. "And by perfect, I mean we'll need to coordinate our movements through multiple versions of reality simultaneously."

"Of course we will," I sighed.

Kota smiled at me. "Nothing in our lives can ever be simple. You should know that by now." I laughed at that and nodded in agreement.

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