𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 ♛ ꜱᴘʏ ✗ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ

ೃ⁀➷𝘗𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯

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It had felt so real. The physical tangibility of lithe alloy and intricate detailing. The convenience of receding hairline guy to lose his gun, a gun of the exact same shape and size, at the same moment.

I must've just imagined it in the heat of the moment.

...Is what she would've said if she were lacking the bare minimum of common sense. However for plot convenience, this is not the case.

So that's it? Random stuff just appears from absolutely nowhere and disappears just like that? What a shitty power.

Unbeknownst to her, Anya was also listening in with a thoughtful frown.

And I can't even control it.

At least it confirmed that the aforementioned stuff came from somewhere in the real world and wasn't just made from nothing. The last thing Lia wanted was a god complex on her hands.

But that didn't mean she couldn't take advantage of it. She stuck her hand back into her pocket, creating a vivid imagery piles of gold, ones that would burnish and glow under the crested fuchsia clouds.

To her disappointment, her hand emerged empty.

☏

"Papa!" Anya ran forwards, almost tumbling into Loid and hugged this leg. Lia shyly joined in and let the background hum of lame excuses go right over her head.

"We were playing tag with some old guys," Anya said convincingly. Lia hadn't thought Anya would be the type to lie believably but maybe she was mistaken about her. Maybe there were many things Lia didn't know about Anya.

"Oh I see, did you have fun?"

"It was a little scary."

"Don't worry, there was this guy that helped us. And get this- he sounded just like you," Lia chipped in.

"Did he? What a coincidence."

Lia held onto the silicone face mask in her pocket she'd snagged off the side of the road earlier with minimal effort.

- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛ 10 minutes earlier ❜┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌

"What's with that look? It's a souvenir."

"Anya thinks big sister is kinda weird."

"Well you're one to talk."

She considered exposing him but decided not to. After all, he had come through for them when it counted despite his lack of redeeming qualities in the parenting department.

"Okay enough with the sappy group hug," she broke away with a grin. "What's for dinner?"

Some words were better left unsaid after all.

☏

The day had finally come. The day that decided their fates. If destiny existed, Lia certainly hoped it was on her side because luck certainly wasn't. And so, the dysfunctional family of 3 waited in bated breath for the outcome of their labour.

Even though they had basically cheated even if Loid refused to accept it ("it's not cheating, it's adapting, using your strengths to your advantage"), Lia still couldn't be certain of their success.

The seconds ticked by like hours as she desperately scanned the list of successful applicants. It was too beautiful a day to fail.

The autumnal leaves fell around them, apricot flames dancing in the wind. For once, the sun had shed it's cloudy coat, it's rays casting a buttery radiance on them. All in all, it was a good omen.

"There's mine!" She crowed proudly. She shut her mouth when she remembered who was standing next to her.

Anya's face scrunched up and her lip began to tremble. Lia could sense another breakdown on the horizon if this kept up.

"Keep looking, we haven't seen all the names yet," Loid instructed calmly, though he had this triumphant smile on his face like he'd already won.

"Yeah it has to be- oh! Wait, it's over here!" Lia pointed out 'Anya Forger' in small lettering in the corner.

"Anya passed?"

"Woohoo! You passed!" Lia cheered. "God, you had me worried there for a second that you were gonna be ship-" she paused when she realised Loid was still right there.

"Anyways," she blustered on. "Congrats!" She pulled out a confetti cannon from seemingly nowhere and releasing the colourful paper into the air.

So yeah, she'd obtained some form of control over the 'power' since the kidnapping.

After almost pulling out a gun at the dinner table when trying to find a handkerchief, she realised that objects that 'disappeared' didn't really go away.

After experimenting, she also found out it was a lot easier to summon objects from her pocket if she'd already placed in them before.

Take Loid's cosplay mask for example. When she tested her theory and willed it to appear and reappear, it only took 30 tries. Compared to the 60 tries it took to summon a single peanut, it was definitely better.

And Lia reasoned that the only reason she could even summon a peanut was due to the fact that she had summoned it unintentionally before and it's relatively small size.

It seemed as if the only times she could summon things she hadn't previously put in was by complete accident. Which is why she stocked up on the confetti cannon from a local party shop before they left the apartment.

Lia dubbed this power 'pocket dimension'. Half because she thought it sounded cooler than it actually was and half because she wasn't actually certain where the items went when she wasn't using them.

It wasn't unreasonable to think that they could potentially being going to a whole other dimension if-

"Hey! No littering on the grounds!" A disgruntled groundskeeper was marching over in their direction with a rake.

"Oops, guess that's our cue to go."

And there's our happily ever after. The protagonist overcomes the obstacle. Everyone is happy and there is nothing to worry about.

T H E E N-

Except not.

Except there was one tiny detail Loid had failed to mention. More of a glaringly obvious detail really. One had the potential to derail the entire plan.

The interviews required two parents. And, if you hadn't noticed, they were pushing one assuming Loid even counted.

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