There's a crackle and some feedback through the room.
"You're not freeing anyone," Will sneers over the loudspeakers. "You're all staying put until Vordenberg is ready to teleport the castle and everyone in it."
Kirsch frowns. "Did the Wizard ever get that mechanism she was talking about to lock down the whole castle?"
Laura shakes her head. "The people asked for the funding that was supposed to go to that project to go to my trip to the Vegetable Kingdom. She tried to say no, but it got a little crazy. Even the palace guards agreed it'd be a better use of resources for my trip than to fortify a building that's never been under attack."
"Well, except for the attack from the Wicked Wi--" Danny catches herself as she feels Laura and Carmilla glare down at her, and clears her throat. "Right. Never been under attack."
"The only thing that can be locked down is this room," Laura says.
"So we just have to find a way out of this room," Kirsch says, running his hand along the wall. "Maybe a secret passage or something?"
"Look at you," Carmilla comments with a snicker. "Using your brain."
He grins at her and continues searching, with Danny joining him, mumbling, "Maybe there's something down here."
Carmilla turns to check on Laura and rushes over when she finds her sitting with her head in her hands. "Hey," she says in concern. "H-How are you feeling?"
"I don't think the poppy is entirely out of my system, yet." Laura winces. "Guess I wasn't kidding when I asked for five more minutes. I feel like I had a whole other brain crammed into my skull. I could really use a cookie right about now. Like, the whole tray that we baked last weekend."
Carmilla sighs and sits down beside her, letting Laura lean her head on her shoulder.
"Really scared me there, cutie."
"Sorry," Laura mumbles.
Mattie walks over with something in her hand and she gives it to Carmilla. "Dropped in. Tunnel," she says carefully. "All the trouble. Upgrading. Just to drop?"
Laura smiles up at her as Carmilla grins sheepishly and takes the pointed hat from Mattie. The same pointed hat Laura had given Carmilla during their first date at the Ozdust ballroom, which had become part of the Wicked Witch of the West's iconic look.
"Upgrade?" Laura asks. "Does that mean you managed to...?"
Carmilla winks. "Of course."
"I'm so glad you can speak again, Mattie," Laura says as she examines Carmilla's hat.
Mattie shifts uncomfortably from Laura's compliment and crosses her arms. "Can. Insult you. Again."
Carmilla lets out a snort and Laura laughs.
"You two really spent too much time together these past five years, cutie," Carmilla comments. "Mattie told me to trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap."
Laura frowns in confusion. "I actually... don't think I've ever said that to her? I've really only said it to you and heard it from my parents."
Mattie rolls her eyes so far Laura's not sure if they'll ever roll back. "Where. Think. Mom heard it from?" She points at herself. "Me. Is f-first lesson of magic. Carmilla knew already. You knew phrase already. Never made... connection?"
Laura's eyes widen. "No."
Mattie narrows her eyes with a grumpy huff. "Always with the planning. Never actually listen to instincts."
Laura pouts. "Y'know I did just almost die, right? Can't you be a little nicer to me?"
Carmilla lightly nudges Mattie.
"Sorry," Mattie says stiffly. "Am unhappy to be stuck in here."
Laura nods and looks around them as Kirsch and Danny continue to scour the room. "It's just too bad that whole sonic scream thing was a myth. Could really use that right now."
Mattie's eyes widen. "Not a. Myth."
This gets Laura's attention. "Wait, what?" She jumps to her feet, albeit shakily. "Do you think you could use it to blast the door and gate open?"
"Maybe." Mattie walks over and knocks on the door to test the density.
"Who's there?" Kirsch asks, earning a smack from Danny.
Mattie rolls her eyes. "Very thick."
"Yes, he is," Danny says as she walks over with Kirsch.
"Apparently Mattie's sonic scream wasn't urban legend after all," Laura explains. "I was hoping she could blast our way out."
Mattie frowns. "Sense something."
Laura looks around in confusion. "What is it--"
"USE YOUR PHOTO!!!!" a voice echoes through the hall, making everyone jump.
Laura bunches up her face in confusion. "Mel?"
"What the frilly hell?" Carmilla growls, pulling out her photo hesitantly.
"SAY YOU WANT TO SEE LAFONTAINE."
Laura and Carmilla look at each other in disbelief.
Carmilla clears her throat. "I... wish to see LaFontaine?"
The picture glows in her hand and suddenly they can see the other side of the door. Sure enough, the red-haired Winged Monkey is glancing into a pink box, with Perry the Lion peering over their shoulder.
Mel also squints into the box before looking around her. She locates where Carmilla's picture is watching them. "This isn't creepy. At all."
"How did you do that?" Laura asks.
Mel shrugs and points at LaFontaine. "They held up this box and started motioning at my mouth. It was weird. Like a very, very boring game of Charades. With no prize at the end except to see you guys. Yay, me," she says flatly.
"It's a prototype," Carmilla says. "It was meant for Laura to be able to see me and hear me, but it wasn't finished, yet. I was still playing with the audio levels."
"Yeah, I think they wanted me to tell you to say that you wanted to see me, but I wasn't about to tell some glowing magic box my name," Mel points out.
"Okaaaay," Danny says. "But we still have no way out of here. Mattie has her sonic scream but doesn't think it's strong enough to blast through the door."
LaFontaine and Perry perk up and start excitedly chattering and grunting at Mel, gesturing at some object out of view from the picture.
"Alright! Alright, I'm tel- Would you both calm down or I'm not telling them a damn thing--" Mel annoyedly steps away from them. "LaFontaine is pointing at that fan they brought. I assume they want to use that with Mattie's scream?"
Carmilla mulls this over. "That could work."
They all stand back, with Laura giving Mattie an encouraging pat on the hoof.
"Okay," Mel says on the other end as LaFontaine also gets into position with their fan. "And... ...go!"
Mattie clamps her eyes closed and opens her mouth wide, letting out a screech that shakes the air around her, the force flying forward into the door with a blast. Everyone covers their ears, but Carmilla doesn't seem affected, so she also covers Laura's ears, holding her close.
Several seconds go by as the door shakes. Finally, it collapses and crumbles to the ground in pieces.
LaFontaine stands on the other side, having taken to the air to avoid the blast. They proudly and smugly hold up their fan, grinning when Perry applauds from the side.
Mel steps through with a sigh. "Okay. Now, what?"
Laura and Carmilla look at each other.
"Now," Laura says, taking a deep breath, "we go stop the... Wicked Wizard of Oz."
~*~
"Uhm, Carm?" Laura says once the team has split up to evacuate the Animals. Laura and Carmilla had opted to look for the Wizard's announcement booth that connects to the entire castle, as well as the city.
Carmilla turns to look back at Laura and checks her frantically. "What? What's wrong?"
Laura chuckles softly. "No, nothing. I'm fine. Well, I mean not fine-fine, but I'm, y'know... alive."
Carmilla visibly relaxes. "When this is all over, we'll get you a whole plate of those cookies."
Laura laughs softly before she wrings her hands together nervously. "It's just... While I was locked in a cell with the Dean..."
Carmilla frowns. "Yeah, sorry. That must've been awful. She didn't hurt you, did she?"
"Other than the shock stick, no," Laura replies slowly. "But we, uhh... Learned something."
Laura stops walking and Carmilla stops as well, not pressing Laura until she's ready.
She reaches out and touches Carmilla's necklace, playing with the charm between her fingers.
"You were right. About this charm fitting into something."
Carmilla furrows her brows in confusion.
Laura takes a deep breath. "It fits into the Dean's broken necklace charm."
"...What?" Carmilla blinks, not understanding. "Why would it do that?"
"It does that because..." Laura forces herself to look Carmilla in the eyes as she swallows hard. "She's your mother."
Carmilla stares at her for several seconds before snorting and continuing to walk. "I think you caught my bad timing for jokes, cutie."
"And just like you told me all those years ago in the attic here... I'm not joking." Laura sighs as she trails after her. "She was pregnant when she was trying to make the portal to go back to her world. And then when the portal exploded, she was convinced she'd lost the baby. But she said everyone in proximity of the explosion died—except for her. She assumed the blast had sent her flying into another room, but what if..."
Laura searches Carmilla's face, but her expression remains unreadable.
"What if the fact that you were conceived in Oz by two parents from another world is what gave you the ability to teleport you and her away from the explosion? And that's why you've been able to cast magic without saying spells, and why you're the only one who can read the grimoire that came out of that portal?"
Carmilla's eyes widen. "I... But... How does the necklace charm fit into this?"
"I think it broke during the explosion and you teleported off with it to safety to wherever you were found and put up for adoption. Sort of like when you teleported out after you got trapped with the whole... SJ thing."
Carmilla clamps her eyes closed, her breathing shaky.
Laura carefully closes the gap between her and Carmilla, waiting as she seems to be letting the information sink in.
Finally, Carmilla mumbles something and Laura has to strain to hear it.
"I guess I really am Wicked after all."
Laura shakes her head immediately. "Carm. No. No. You are the farthest thing from wicked. You are a good, kind person." She reaches for Carmilla's hand. "You really think all these Animals followed you here to rescue me just because of me?" Laura shakes her head again. "They're here because of you, too. Because of us. Because we're a team. Because they believe in us and what we're doing. Because we've found a way to show them kindness and acceptance for who they are, with no conditions and no reserve."
She squeezes Carmilla's hand.
"You and I are heroes. We are the heroes in this story and I'll be damned if I let the Dean or Vordenberg make you question that, for even a second."
Carmilla chuckles, tears in her eyes. "Oh, you're not?"
Laura swallows hard. "I heard you, y'know. Through the cold darkness."
"Yeah, well, the Kirsches were all about learning proper public speaking. I really know how to do it from my diaphragm," Carmilla teases.
Laura narrows her eyes in a playful glare. "Maybe you should've been the ones giving those big public spee--"
Suddenly her knees go out and she almost falls, but Carmilla manages to rush forward and catch her. They settle down on the steps while Laura holds her head.
Carmilla sits quietly for a while, removing her hat. After a while, Laura realizes it's not a comfortable silence, so she turns so she can examine Carmilla.
"What?" Carmilla finally asks.
"I don't know," Laura says slowly. "You tell me? What are you thinking about?"
Carmilla takes a deep breath.
"I was thinking..." she swallows hard. "I was thinking I should turn myself in to Vordenberg in exchange for him letting you guys go free. Maybe even ask for all the other Animals who already had Life Force drained from them to also go free. Save you."
"Give yourself up?" Laura's mouth drops open. "Let Vordenberg use you for who knows what? No!" She starts gesticulating wildly in a panic. "Is this because of finding out who your mother is? Because I promise, you are nothing like her--"
"No, that's not it. Or, not just that." Carmilla averts her gaze. "It's... Seeing you like that... Now all I can think about is losing you. And if I did, I think I'd go mad." She sniffles. "But if there's a chance I can save you, the way you saved me all those years ago, the way you keep saving me..."
Laura stares at Carmilla, tears forming.
"What about our life together? Our future? You're just gonna give up on that?" she whispers.
Carmilla finally meets Laura's eyes and sees the hurt in them. "Laura, I'm not giving up on--"
"Coz we're supposed to have arguments over who does dishes, and cupcakes to celebrate big days at work, and grandkids... What is that going to look like if you're being used in some other world by some crazy old man?"
Laura's crying now and it breaks Carmilla's heart.
The fight during Laura's birthday comes rushing back, when Laura thought that maybe Carmilla didn't want to be by her side and would even end things.
Carmilla shakes her head slightly. "You think I don't want those things, too?"
The question addresses Laura's fear and she swallows hard. "Please don't give up on our life," she whispers, like a prayer before looking away, tears streaming down her face.
For the past five years, Carmilla had been so busy lost in her own insecurities, wondering if Laura would no longer want to be with the Wicked Witch, that it never occurred to her that Laura might be feeling some—if not, all-- of the same fear, too.
Also waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Also wondering if this was too good to be true.
"I'm not giving up," Carmilla replies quietly. "But I can't keep running away. Not after what you've done for me."
She gently places a finger under Laura's chin and lifts it up so they can look at each other.
"I'm limited. Just look at me. I'm limited. And just look at you. You can do all I couldn't do. Laura..."
"Don't you dare." Laura shakes her head as she stands up slowly. "Don't you dare say that it's up to me to do this for the both of us. I'm limited, too. But together? Together, we're unlimited. You aren't going to do this alone."
Carmilla's face softens and she also rises as the pair begin to continue their search. "I just... I can't lose you. That was too close before. Even if all of Oz burns, I won't lose you again. I can't... watch you die. I love you." The hat slips from her fingers.
Laura shakes her head, more firmly this time. She bends down and picks up the hat. "Well if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost."
Carmilla swallows hard. Laura regards her carefully as they walk in silence for a bit.
"Carm, that can't be what we are to each other. The Dean loved someone, and they died and now she's burning down all of Oz. All of this, the chaos, the misery, it's because she'd rather pull apart the world at its seams than let go. We can't be like that."
She winces and leans against the wall for support and Carmilla rushes to her side.
Laura smiles at her gratefully. "We found each other, Carm," she says. "And, yeah, half the time I wanna strangle you. But we've had kisses, and festivals, and stars, and dancing. That's so much more than nothing."
Carmilla nods, silent but receptive.
"We need to show everyone that—together, alone, whatever-- everyone deserves the chance to fly. If one of us doesn't make it, the other one can't end up like the Dean. Mad and bitter and destroying everything we touch. I don't want that to be our story. Okay?" Laura sighs. "Our story is that we made each other better. So, we do this together."
"Okay," Carmilla says, her voice cracking from emotion. "Okay. Together." She chuckles. "Just like all those years ago when the Wicked Witch and Laura the Lovely were born."
Laura's eyes widen. "That's it."
She grabs Carmilla and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, smirking as her grip on the pointed hat tightens.
"I know how we'll stop Vordenberg."
~*~
"Are we sure all of my Corvae followers that defected from the palace guards are present?" Vordenberg asks, running final checks on the machine.
Will nods. "And they're all covering the exits for any Animal trying to leave."
Vordenberg grins, clasping his hands together in glee. "Most excellent. You and Mister Straka go and find that green freak and her mistaken lover and make sure they don't interfere with my plans."
Will and Theo descend the ladder from the attic, chattering in excitement about the gun and how many Animals they can shoot with it.
"Finally, some peace and quiet," Vordenberg grumbles.
A couple minutes pass before a set of footsteps echo back up the ladder and he sighs.
"Yes, yes, if you find the witch with the girl, you can shoot the girl. Just leave the witch unscathed," he says dismissively, keeping his back turned.
"That's kinda rude of you to say," a female voice snaps, making him turn in surprise. "I thought we actually hit it off when your house dropped into Oz."
Vordenberg sneers at the source. "Miss Hollis." He glances behind her. "Wicked Witch."
Laura crosses her arms. "We're not letting you start that machine."
Vordenberg waves his hand at her dismissively as he steps away from his machine and pulls out a device with a button on the side.
He presses it and there's a small beep.
"William, Mister Straka, please return to the attic. We have some guests up here," he says into it. "Over."
A few seconds pass before Theo's voice comes through. "Roger. Over."
"It's called a walkie talkie," Vordenberg says.
"I don't care what it's called," Laura says. "They're not gonna be able to help you complete your plan."
He narrows his eyes at her. "I'll give you this—I did not plan for this. The fact that you're standing at all is quite some miracle. Your whole body must be aching from pain. Ready to give out at any moment. You should be dead."
Carmilla looks over at Laura in concern, but Laura remains standing tall. "And you never should've come to Oz."
Theo and Will make it up the ladder, the former eagerly training the gun on Laura.
"It really was sweet that you both came here to stop me together," Vordenberg sneers. "Predictable, but sweet." He turns his attention back to the machine while Theo's gun aim holds the girls in place.
The roof above them opens up as a mechanism loudly clanks within the walls. The night sky soon becomes totally visible.
Laura looks at Theo, clenching her jaw. "You can blame Carm for your life all you want, but the truth is regardless of whether you'd been adopted into a wealthy family, you would've turned out rotten to the core."
Theo scoffs. "It's like you want me to shoot you."
"Well, you're so easily manipulated that you're pretty predictable," Laura comments.
Theo's nostrils flare and his grip on the gun tightens. "Oh, yeah?" He walks over to a work bench, places his gun on top, and reaches under it.
Before anyone can react, Theo brings a bucket back and swings it forward, splashing water all over Carmilla.
Vordenberg lunges forward and smacks the bucket out of Theo's hands, too late.
Laura's eyes widen as smoke appears above Carmilla. "Carm!" she gasps in horror.
Carmilla yelps as more smoke appears. "You cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting," she growls at Theo. "Melting. Oh, what a world," she snaps dryly.
Laura reaches out just as Carmilla disintegrates before her very eyes, before she even has a chance to fully react to what's happening.
"C-Carm?" she mumbles to the steaming spot on the floor. All that remains is the pointed hat.
She turns to Vordenberg and Theo, mouth open in shock. "What did you do?" she whispers in horror.
Vordenberg growls and hits Theo on the back of the head. "You! You used all of the water I specifically told you was meant to be used to torture the witch! You've ruined--"
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3," a voice echoes through the entire castle. "Testing. Is this thing on?"
Vordenberg gapes at Laura. "H-How... how is she...?"
Laura grins and picks the hat off the ground. "Well, Vordie. Maybe someday you'll stop monologuing for five seconds to realize when you're being played. Or at the very least, realize when only one of the people standing in front of you is speaking. And when the other one is a projection."
She flips the hat so he can see inside it.
"Carm's been working on a smaller mobile version of the device she was using to project herself around Oz and put it into the hat, which she enchanted to float on its own. Still no audio, though. Which was fine coz, I always was the more distracting talker." She waves the hat tauntingly. "She's just watching on her magic picture for cues. Too bad when Theo wasted your entire weapon like that, all it did was break the device."
Vordenberg snarls and his eyes dart to the gun on the workbench. Laura gets to it first, swiftly putting it into her pants rear pocket and taking several paces back before he can go for it.
"We don't have time for this," he declares, whirling to face Will and Theo. "At least now we know where the witch is. The coward is hiding in the Wizard's booth. Go find her and bring her to me!"
They start to leave and Laura continues to look smug. "Not grace under pressure, are you?"
He turns to face her, grabbing them to halt them, fury in his eyes. "What?"
"She's not hiding there," Laura says slowly. "I'm not Plan A. She is. Like I said, I was just the distraction."
"Okay, now that I know I'm reaching the entire castle with this message and have put some other things into place—hi, everyone," Carmilla's voice comes through. She clears her throat. "The Wizard has been captured and Laura has been rescued. But there's a bigger problem. A crazy old man who flew to Oz in a house is trying to take this entire castle to another world to experiment on and sell off Animals. Everyone needs to evacuate immediately. Laura and I are going to keep the old man from doing this for as long as we can."
Laura pulls the gun out of her pocket and aims it at Vordenberg. She has no intent of shooting him, but he seems frozen in place away from the machine regardless.
"There will be guards at the exits trying to stop you from leaving. But there's more of you guys than there are them. Especially now that Laura's bought us enough time for me to summon Ginger again to bring reinforcements." There's a smug pause from Carmilla. "Oh? Do you hear that?"
Laura smirks, being able to imagine Carmilla sarcastically cupping her hand over her ear.
"That would be all the palace guards who did not defect to your Corvae Corps, Vordie. Think your guys can handle the dozens of Animals roaming the halls in addition to their own guys?"
Vordenberg's eyes widen and finally unfreezes. He shoves Will and Theo. "Get out there and stop my fuel source from leaving!"
Will stares at him, bewildered. "How? We're severely outnumbered—"
"FIND. A WAY," Vordenberg roars at them.
Will and Theo grudgingly make themselves scarce, clearly having no intention of completing the task at hand.
Vordenberg seems oblivious to this as he whirls to face Laura, who seems increasingly disturbed by the man becoming unhinged before her. "YOU!"
He steps towards her.
"You're gonna pay for this."
~*~
Carmilla turns off the broadcasting device in the Wizard's booth and looks at her magic photo. Will and Theo have just run out of the room, very obviously hoping to escape the guards she's asked Ginger to bring here. Now it's just Laura and Vordenberg.
Laura watches him warily, still not willing to pull the trigger on the gun.
Vordenberg looks up to the night sky, doing his best to address Carmilla. "You green creature! I will not stand for this!"
Laura looks nervous at how unpredictable his antics are becoming. "Look, if you just... calm down... turn the machine off and agree to come with us peacefully..."
Vordenberg offers no warning before he dives at her with another syringe in hand, plunging it deep into her neck.
Laura shoves him off her, stumbling backwards as the gun clatters to the floor. "Wha-What..." She stumbles and falls with a grunt. "What did you... do... to me?"
Carmilla watches in horror as he stares down at Laura, eyes cold. "Since that first injection didn't do its job, maybe this one will."
Vordenberg looks up again. "You can run, but you can't hide. Or maybe you will, and be a coward as Miss Hollis suffers the consequences. Just as she has been since your stint as the Witch began."
Laura gasps weakly, clinging onto consciousness. "The only coward here... is you. Carm is the bravest person I know."
But at that moment, Carmilla doesn't feel brave.
She feels nothing but overwhelming fear.
Before she knows what's happening, she feels her head spin and her body flung across space until she's looking down at Laura, crumpled and trembling on the ground.
"C-Carm," Laura whispers. "No... Get outta here..."
Carmilla shakes her head and kneels beside Laura. "No. I'm not running away. I'm here. With you."
Laura's eyes droop closed and Carmilla lets out a sob.
"Foolish and sentimental," Vordenberg spits out. He grabs Carmilla by the arm and forces her to her feet, dragging her towards the machine. "It's done preparing. You will now channel the Life Force through it and teleport this castle."
Carmilla stares at him numbly.
"You have nothing else to live for." He gestures at the machine. "Do it. Now."
Carmilla's hands clench into fists at her side. "No."
He quirks an eyebrow. "What?"
"I said, 'no,'" she growls in his face. "Laura and I didn't spend the past five years together helping people just for you to carelessly toss them aside as a commodity. Their lives matter. They're people who deserve to live a life and accomplish their dreams. As someone told me lately... 'Everyone deserves the chance to fly.'" She stands her ground. "So, no."
Vordenberg lets her go and scoffs. "They're monsters," he declares, stepping away in disgust.
"Yeah, and you call me a monster, too," Carmilla comments. "I'm not helping you."
He nods, suddenly an eerie calm. Then, he bends down and picks up the gun Laura had dropped and aims it at Carmilla. "Then I guess it's time to cut my losses and slay the monster. That witch-goat Miss Belmonde is another option."
He pulls the trigger.
There's a ripple in the air and Carmilla frowns when it feels both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.
The bullet never hits her. Rather, it hits a cookie.
Vordenberg and Carmilla both stare at the cookie as it falls to the ground, a bullet lodged into it.
"Like hell you will," a weak voice murmurs from behind him. He and Carmilla look at Laura, both in surprise.
Vordenberg finds his voice first. "H-How..."
"I closed my eyes. Trusted my Instincts. And leapt," Laura replies, ignoring the poppy burning in her veins. "And my instincts told me to save Carmilla."
"Decades of murder and discrimination, and you save my life with a fricking cookie," Carmilla chuckles.
Vordenberg shakes his head in disbelief, then in anger. He grabs Carmilla and presses the gun to her temple. "Stop this."
Before Laura can stop herself, images flash through her mind.
Of Vordenberg pulling the trigger.
Of Carmilla falling to the ground, lifeless.
Of all the Animals they've saved being herded off to some other world, where they'll be enslaved or experimented on.
Of the entire world she's fought to save, up in flames.
Of sitting at Carmilla's grave. A failure.
Fear takes over. Fear—an emotion Laura never let herself feel.
Even when her father crashed the courage and it caught fire and she knew she had to save him.
Even when she and her mom went flying off the road in a carriage.
Even when her father told her they had to lie to all of Oz about what really happened.
Even when the Wizard sent palace guards to hunt down her and Carmilla and threatened their entire future.
Even when the effects of the poppy kicked in and the chilling cold seeped its way through her body.
She faced it all with forced bravery.
But the idea of losing Carmilla like this?
It made her afraid.
And just as she did moments before, she gave into the instinct to save Carmilla—no matter what.
That's when she feels it.
It starts as a tingle in her hands that shoots up her arms. A second sensation begins at the core of her heart, radiating strength outwards. And the final part starts in her brain.
All she can see is Carmilla. Her soul mate, her roommate-turned-lover.
And Vordenberg, the monster from another world who flew here in a house.
The house.
Laura channels all of her energy at the house she can see unnaturally clearly in her mind.
And as it comes into full view behind her closed eyes, she suddenly becomes very aware of the other person in front of her.
Vordenberg gets ready to pull the trigger when the earlier ripple in the air is felt again, at a much stronger multitude. Deciding not to take a chance, he starts to fire the gun.
Then Laura's eyes snap open, and she slowly looks up. Carmilla and Vordenberg do the same.
Vordenberg gapes up as the house he'd arrived in to Oz is suddenly hovering above him in the night sky. He shoves Carmilla aside and uses the momentum to scramble for cover, but it's obviously too late as the house comes crashing down on top of them.
Laura dives to the side and the house lands in the castle attic, narrowly missing the time machine, going through the floorboards, and halting only after the beams hold it up—barely.
She rushes to her feet and peers through the rubble with bated breath.
"Well, that was a rush," a voice says above her as the dust settles.
Laura lets out a long sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
Carmilla slowly drifts to the ground, hopping off her broomstick. "Not that I'm not grateful, hon, but... how did my broom stick sweep me out from under that house? Hell, how did that house even appear?"
Laura swallows hard. "For all my talk about trusting my instincts—Mattie was right earlier. All I've ever done is make plans and plans for my plans. I listened to those around me instead of just doing something without some kind of contingency." She reaches out for Carmilla's hand. "But... When I thought he was going to kill you... I didn't care. I just wanted to save you."
Carmilla smile sadly at her. "Speaking as the person you just saved, and on behalf of the dozens of Animals whose lives he didn't give a flying crap about... you did the right thing."
Laura sniffles, the guilt clearly already taking its toll on her. "Yeah?"
Carmilla nods. "Yes."
Laura huffs a sobbed laugh. "Mattie's gonna be so mad that after five years, the only lesson I was missing to be able to perform a spell was Lesson Number One."
Carmilla pulls her in for a hug and kisses the top of her head. "We really are the perfect team."
Laura nuzzles her face in and sighs happily. "Not disagreeing, but what makes you say that?"
"I can teleport myself and you can teleport other objects," Carmilla replies.
"Oh."
Laura pulls away and gives her a devilish smile, leading to a confused look from Carmilla. "What?"
"That's gonna make it so much easier to cheat at games."