Alex
I understand you’re angry.
She tries to glare at him, but it’s hard since she still can’t see him to know where to glare.
Alex
But doesn’t the fact that I went through all of this prove just how serious the situation is?
Alex
If you tell the world what I told you about magic, we’ll both be sent to the Bermuda Triangle for the rest of our lives—
Alex
And trust me, it is not fun even by prison standards.
Leah
Alex! You have to know I would never do something like that without your consent—which makes ONE of us, apparently.
Leah
Thought what? Exactly how much THINKING did you do before deciding it was okay to rearrange my brain?
Leah
What if, God forbid, my grandmother died yesterday and you took the last memory I had of holding her hand?
Leah
Or if I was diabetic and I couldn’t remember the last time I took my insulin?
Leah
Huh? Did you THINK about that?
Jeremy whispers under his breath to Alex.
Jeremy
Well, she’s definitely got spirit. You know, the non-ghost kind.
Alex looks down at the ground.
Alex
Leah, if it means anything, I AM sorry.
Leah taps her foot, impatiently.
Leah
Got any truth potion on you so I can test that?
Leah
Well, then… I suppose I’ll just have to trust you. The way YOU’LL have to learn to trust ME.
Jeremy
For the record, I don’t trust either of you.
Leah
What’s your name again?
Jeremy points at himself.
Jeremy
And I, Jeremy, am going to go to work now.
Jeremy
But if you could avoid breaking any major laws while I’m away, I’d appreciate it.
Alex
You have work during a Power Outage?
Jeremy
Animals are funny that way. They kind of have to eat, regardless.
Jeremy
I work at a magical animal rescue.
Jeremy
You know, flying pigs, sphinxes, that kind of stuff.
Leah
I can see why you wouldn’t want a day off.
Jeremy
Actually, Alex, I believe you owe me one million favors.
Jeremy
Since Bootsie won’t be there to help me out today, what do you think about lending me a hand shoveling unicorn poop?
Jeremy scratches the back of his head.
Leah
Normal person, remember? We’re weirdly obsessed with unicorn anything.
Jeremy
I feel like this is the start of a beautiful, rainbow-colored friendship.
Leah runs her fingers through the angel-white feathers on the tiny piglet’s back, before reaching up to scratch between its ears.
Jeremy
Come on, give her up.
Leah
Do I really have to?
Jeremy
It’s time for Penny here to go back inside with his flock.
With gentle fingers, Jeremy takes the pig from Leah, and locks him back in his cage.
Leah
So you’ve told me what happens to people who expose magic, but not the reason for the secrecy.
Leah
Wouldn’t it be—easier—for your kind to just be out in the open?
She automatically turns towards Alex, only to remember that he is still invisible and will be for a few hours yet.
Alex
Some of our kind believe that, but most agree it would just start another witch hunt.
Leah
Oh come on, this isn’t the 1600s.
Leah
You don’t seriously think that anyone would come after you?
Jeremy
It might be the 21st century, but there are still homophobes and people who don’t believe in global warming…
Jeremy
So, no, I don’t think people are necessarily more open-minded.
Leah
But that still doesn’t mean you can’t do stuff from behind-the-scenes…
Leah
Like cure cancer, stop hurricanes, feed the hungry…
Jeremy
Have you ever heard that the solution to one problem is the start of another?
Alex
If we cure cancer—not that that would be an easy thing for us to do—that would only cause some other disease to pop up to take its place.
Alex
I mean, that was how the Black Death started.
Jeremy
It’s just how it goes. You pluck one grey hair, you get two more.
Jeremy
You stop a hurricane, you get a volcanic eruption.
Jeremy
And not even we can create stuff, especially food, out of thin air. You have to steal it from somewhere else.
Jeremy
Next stop on our tour is the dragon pen. And by pen, I mean an impossibly large dragon safari magically contained in a much smaller space.
Jeremy
Yes, I’m guessing Alex swiped that scale from King Midas the last time he was here.
Jeremy
Talk about a cheap gift, man.
Leah
Although, harvesting that scale didn’t hurt the dragon, right? Not like taking a tusk off on elephant or something?
Jeremy
Nah. As dragons get bigger, they grow larger scales underneath their smaller ones. The outer layer eventually becomes quite itchy, so they rub themselves against trees until the unwanted scales fall off.
Alex
I’m pretty sure there’s not supposed to be a gigantic hole in the door of that cage!
Jeremy
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
Alex
In Jeremy-speak, that means the magical barriers in the cage must have gone down with the Power Outage…
Alex
So the dragon was able to burn his way out.
Leah
You got all that from cursing?
Alex
I speak Jeremy. You’ll pick it up over time.
Jeremy
OK, what I need you guys to do is stay here. Dragons are smart. He won’t come back to his cage voluntarily so you’re in the safest place you can be.
Alex
And what are you going to do?
Jeremy
I’m going to find a way to recapture him. Or die trying.
Jeremy
I’d say there’s a fifty-fifty chance.
