Immorternity - Chapter 37: Detonism
Created | Updated Jul 29, 2023
Chapter 37 - Detonism
Splash!
Ava felt herself being enveloped in water, pounding on her ears. She struck out to reach the surface before the prescribed gulp of breath ran out, dodging the frantic whirling whales.
Gurgle!
As Ava broke the surface, she noticed a loud and prolonged gurgling sound. Looking around, she saw that the water in the middle of Hydrid's grail was caving in and started to turn clockwise.
'Hi again!' she heard in dripping unison as both Raven and Rusty popped up out of the deep.
'What is happening?' Ava asked in an accusatory tone.
'Maybe the other grail is interfering. I never took one grail inside another one. Let's hope we don't reach some sort of critical mass. That would be bad for the Universe.'
'How did you manage to do that? We were inside, remember?'
'I may have tied a piece of string around the narrow bit and tied the other end to my ankle. I won't bother you with the spatial arrangements that made that work. Just think "genie-magic" and keep it at that.'
As the whirlpool started to gain momentum, large bubbles and black lumps resembling barbeque briquettes came to the surface all around. After an initial revived feeling, Ava started to feel an irritation in her throat and lungs, followed by dizziness.
'Oh, no!' Raven said. 'It is sucking in the water and dumping Oxygen, Hydrogen and Carbon! Let's hope there isn't any fire nearby.'
'But I love fire!' Rusty squealed with joy.
'Not when you are talking about things like detonation speed, girl.'
Suddenly, all fell silent and the whirling and bubbling ground to a halt. Little islands of carbon floated off on the remaining water flow.
Raven was pulled under.
Rusty dove after him without hesitation. The pair resurfaced after what looked like a short struggle.
The Carbogenie spat out some water and said: 'It looks like the Universe has been saved by a whale that wouldn't fit through the pinch of that grail. I wonder if this is how swordfish evolved.'
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'Hydrid will probably go mad if she hears one of her whales is potentially hurt.'
'Good guess, pal!'
Hydrid had risen from the depths like a raging killer whale. She snapped her fingers to lign up a destructive wish that would have hurt Raven and Rusty considerably. It is highly likely that they would have voluntarily chosen to undergo just that, if it could have averted the carnage that resulted from the spark from Hydrid's fingers.
Given space and font size limitations, we will now summarise the ensuing explosion as 'BOOM!!!' This doesn't do it justice. By far.
Ava sensed solid ground underneath. It was dark. A high pitched whistling noise was ringing in her ears.
Looking around, she thought she recognised the contours of certain style elements that reminded her of the kitchen in her parents' house.
The extractor hood over the induction cooker was hanging on by one corner. The glass surface of the aforementioned induction cooker was shattered. Bits of carbon stuck into all the walls like birdshot. The solid oak top of the kitchen table was level with the floor as the table legs appeared to have been smashed into the floor. A cracked and smoking grail that may have once been blue was lying next to it, red lightning crackling across its surface. Ava noticed with some satisfaction that the kitchen windows were still in place because Mom's stickers had held them together. Those were good value for money after all.
No sign of the genies.
She poked the grail with a piece of broom handle retrieved from the ceiling. The grail appeared empty and the crackling discharged on the broom handle and stopped.
A barely dressed Eddy and Caoilinn picked their way down the remains of the stairs, taking in the damage.
'Hi Sis! What are you doing? Did you do some late night explosive redecorating? I like the result! Do you have a name for this style? Avaism? Detonism?'
Eventually Eddy shut up due to the sheer lack of response from Ava.
Caoilinn took the smoking broom handle out of Ava's hand and led her to the least ravaged bit of the sofa.
A slightly bruised Mom and Dad appeared at the top of the stairs. Dad carrying a fire extinguisher, eager to put out any fires. He looked disappointed when he couldn't spot any.
It took some time to get everyone sorted, dig up an old petrol-fired camping stove to make some tea and retrieve enough unshattered biscuits and the last unbroken plate to put them on. It transpired that the sheer size of Eddy's bed was the only reason they hadn't been blown out of it by the explosion. Mom and Dad didn't have that luxury. The plastic chandelier inflicted some interesting but minor bruise pattern on Dad's back when it had come tumbling down. Mom had woken up on the floor, screaming: 'The Goblins have come! Hide!' before Dad managed to ensure that no Goblins were in fact coming.
