-A story route requested by another user-
Athena let out a sharp breath, pushing her bangs out of her face.
Currently sprawled across one of the Wright Anything Agency's couches, she was bored. Horribly bored, actually. Apollo and Mr. Wright were out tackling the out-of-office errands, and she was stuck inside with Trucy, just waiting around on the off-chance that a client happened to appear from nowhere.
Trucy, meanwhile, was doing her best to keep herself entertained, but clearly finding the day quite dull as well. She'd run through her entire magic practice routine a couple of times now, and without Apollo around to act as the assistant, she couldn't do much else but repeat the whole thing again.
She flicked her arm forward, expertly tossing a single playing card through the air. The card whizzed through the still air of the office like a thrown knife, striking the inside edge of her spare magician's hat and dropping down and out of view. She'd managed nine perfect throws like that one in a row now. Her record was twenty-two, and given how little was going on right now, she was confident she could break that record today.
She drew another card, and was just lining up her shot when she heard a sudden rattling noise from the end table next to her seat.
"Hm...?"
She had a glass of water sitting there, and it was shuddering. Curious, she reached toward it, but stopped when the whole room rumbled without warning.
"Whoa-...!!"
Athena sat upright, opposite her position.
"I-is that an earthquake...?" the redhead asked aloud. "I didn't hear any warnings..."
"Me neither." Trucy said. She was about to stand, but an even stronger rumble made her drop back to her seat with a soft yelp of surprise.
"H-hold on to something...!" Athena said, shifting over on the couch to secure herself. Trucy followed suit.
"This one feels kind of bad... I hope Daddy and Polly are OK..."
There was a pause, and then a shockingly powerful rumble nearly made Trucy fall from her seat entirely. Her hat tumbled off, and she scrambled to grab it.
When she looked up, Athena was leaning over her in concern, offering a hand.
"C'mon! We've gotta get to some cover!"
Moving together, the girls ran toward the pair of desks that Athena and Apollo used during their usual work days. Trucy ducked in beneath Apollo's, while Athena took her own.
The rumbling was getting even stronger. Loose objects could be heard dropping to the floor around the room. Trucy ducked her head, feeling scared not only for her own safety and that of the office itself, but especially for her father and Apollo.
Neither of the girls noticed a shadow suddenly falling over their office building.
Looking down at the Wright Anything Agency, the whole building now only tall enough to reach just below his waist, Apollo felt incredible.
He and Phoenix had made their way back here in what felt like no time at all, navigating the diminished streets and marveling at the sights around them. Sure, there were still countless buildings around that were far taller than either of them, but there were also more than they could believe that were hopelessly outclassed in height.
Trucy and Athena had to still be inside. He wondered if they had noticed just what was causing the commotion all around them yet.
He had a sudden idea.
"Mr. Wright, watch the front door." he said quietly, glancing back. With that, he crouched toward the office and set a hand on the edge of its roof. His palm could cover almost a third of the entire rooftop on its own.
With a firm enough motion to make it noticeable, but gently enough not to cause serious damage, Apollo began to lightly shake the whole office building in place. He could feel the structure shuddering with his movements, and the sense of power and control that had already overtaken him only got stronger.
He waited, continuing to playfully shake the office until at last, he spotted the front door opening.
Phoenix had already positioned himself with one hand just below the front steps, and immediately, both Trucy and Athena stumbled out into view, toppling right into his waiting palm. Apollo released his hold on the building, looking on in amusement. The girls had collapsed on top of one another in their effort to escape the building. No doubt they'd believed it was about to crumble right on top of them.
Deftly moving his lowered hand, Phoenix brought the pair of them up to his face, offering a smile.
"Hey, Truce. Athena." he said, as if nothing strange was going on. Apollo moved in beside him, looking them over as well.
Trucy was wide-eyed, her hat lying next to her and her hair looking a bit messed up.
Athena was on her hands and knees, looking quite breathless and confused. Apollo brought his own hand up and gently closed his fingers over her, lifting his favourite co-worker right out of Phoenix's palm. She instinctively clutched at the side of his thumb, but then tried to stagger away, frightened.
"Hey..." he said softly, wondering if he might be able to calm her down. "Take it easy, Athena, it's just me..."
She was still trying to scramble away from him, but no longer had anywhere to go. She just froze, looking down at the drop of several dozen feet to the road.
"Don't be scared, Trucy." Phoenix was saying. "I've got you..."
The girls were freaking out, it was obvious. That was expected, but still... Apollo had been hoping for a slightly less panicked reaction after the first few seconds, at least...
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