#anyways working on abim again

[astrobei]

mid-apocalypse movie night

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Magic Circle

A JSE Fanfic

Hey, who’s excited for my first non-AU piece in a long time? Who’s excited for my first one-shot in like forever? If you’re excited for either of those things, then this is the piece for you :D I took some inspiration from Marvin’s video on Halloween to come up with this. Here, Marvin meets a magic group for the first time. Let’s see what happens :)

It’s a bright summer day outside. The sun is still high in the sky, despite it being almost five o’clock. There are people walking around the city streets, either going somewhere or even just taking a walk. Birds are chirping on top of the power lines and in the trees planted along the sidewalk. And Marvin was locked inside his room trying not to break something in frustration.

“Oh my goooood.” He puts his head down on the desk surface with a bit more force than necessary. It hurts, but he doesn’t mind. “Fuuuuuck offffff.” The desk before him is lit up with a lamp, despite there being sufficient light coming from the window. The lamp shines down on a laptop, open to a Google Docs document, and a leatherbound book, open to blank pages. Marvin drops his pen down on the desk. “Fuck it.” And with that, he pushes his chair back and heads over to the room’s door, unlocking it and heading outside.

He goes down the hall to the stairs, then down to the first floor. For a moment, he stops and blinks. His eyes feel...weird. Well, it makes sense. He’s spent almost all day staring at a computer screen or a blank page. The only time he wasn’t was when he was going to the bathroom. That probably wasn’t good for his eyes.

According to the wall clock in the downstairs hallway, he’s been trying for nearly five hours. That explains why he’s so hungry. Marvin heads into the kitchen and starts looking through the cabinets for something quick but filling.

Someone knocks on the doorframe behind him. Marvin jumps, and spins around. JJ is standing there. He waves. Hello, Marvin. Did you finish?

Marvin snorts and rolls his eyes. “Oh, I wish. I’ve done like...three pages. God. Fuck.”

Oh dear...JJ frowns. What’s wrong?

“I dunno.” Marvin rubs his eyes. “I just keep getting distracted. Opening up YouTube and stuff. God, it’s just so boring. Why do I even need to write it all down in a book? All my spells and shit are saved online.”

Some people are sticklers for tradition, JJ points out. But anyway, maybe you should take a break. You haven’t eaten anything, have you?

“Uh...no. That’s why I’m here.” Marvin resumes rummaging through the cabinets. “Do we have any crisps? I’m thinking of making nachos.”

You’re not just going to eat nachos, you haven’t had anything since you woke up at ten. JJ walks over and slowly pushes the door to the cabinet closed. Here, go sit down in the dining room. I’ll make you something.

“C’mon, JJ, you don’t have to. You were probably doing something else, don’t stop that for me.”

I was going to make dinner anyway, JJ shrugs. I know you don’t eat until later, usually, but please make an exception. You can’t work on that grimoire if you collapse from hunger.

Marvin sighs. “Yeah. Thanks.” He bumps his shoulder against JJ’s—a sign of affection that could easily be mistaken for clumsiness—and heads into the dining room.

He wishes he’d never found out about the greater magical community. Ever since he had, all it meant were problems. He had to learn all about the structure of this community, about how this organization called the ABIM made laws, about how certain spells were supposed to be regulated, about how things like wands, crystal balls, and other magical aides were supposed to be made certain ways. Marvin had always done his own thing. He didn’t exactly think he was the only person in the world with magic—after all, if that was the case, who wrote down all the spells he found online? But it hadn’t exactly registered that they were probably organized somehow, and that he should probably go look for others. Thanks to his total lack of searching for other magicians, the ABIM hadn’t realized he existed until about two months ago.

But now they know. And Marvin has to learn and keep up with a bunch of rules and regulations. The one that’s giving him the most trouble is the existence of a “grimoire.” Apparently, magicians are required to write down all the spells they know, and keep them in one place. And no, the document where Marvin had copy-pasted all the spells he’d found online doesn’t count. So now he’s spent the last week or so struggling to transcribe the online document into the book he’d purchased. Progress is...slow. Marvin just can’t focus on something as unstimulating as copying words down. There’s not even any new information to process.

Luckily, eating dinner helped him get some energy back. But when it’s all said and done, and he pushes away his plate, he’s dreading going back upstairs to try and ultimately fail some more. “Thanks, JJ,” he says.

You already said so, and you’re still welcome, JJ says. Then he pauses. Is there anyone who could help you with this? Other magicians lately?

Marvin groans. “Yeah, I guess I know some, but...I don’t wanna.”

Yes, we know, you’re very stubborn, JJ signs patiently.

“I can figure this out,” Marvin insists. “I can do things on my own!”

Except for making dinner, apparently.

Marvin can’t help but laugh. “Ah, ya got me there.” He sighs, and stares absently out the window. “Look, all the magicians I’ve met so far are part of this government group. And I don’t like them.”

Well, if you ask them for help, perhaps your opinion on that would change, JJ suggests.

“Well I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place if it wasn’t for their stupid fucking law!” Marvin snaps. Then he winces. “Sorry, didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just...tired.”

JJ nods. Maybe you should stop for the night. It could be easier in the morning.

“Maybe.”

And also, if you keep getting distracted, have you tried putting on music? Or perhaps doing something with your spare hand while you write? That helps me.

“Maybe.” Marvin’s still uncertain.

JJ pushes his chair back and stands up. Also, can you please do the dishes?

“What?! But you cooked!”

Exactly, and we both ate it, so it’s only fair we both do something about it.

“Oh come on, I’m all tired, please?”

JJ merely folds his arms and stares at Marvin.

“Alright, fine,” Marvin relents. “I’ve been sitting all day, might as well do something a bit active.”

Oh thank you! JJ says, beaming.

“Heh, act like you didn’t twist my arm,” Marvin mutters, shaking his head affectionately.

———————

Later that night, Marvin finds he’s having trouble going to sleep. He keeps thinking about JJ’s suggestion, the one about asking other magicians for help. Sure, he isn’t exactly fond of the ABIM magicians he’s met so far. But maybe someone else...then again, perhaps the problem with transcribing his spells is just with him, and not with the actual subject matter.

Still, it can’t hurt to get a second opinion, right? But how to find the magicians?

An idea starts to form in his mind. Marvin gets out of bed and walks over to the desk. His laptop is still set up from that day. He powers it on. The time on the computer clock reads 11:20pm. Wow, he’d only been trying to get to sleep for an hour, he thought it was longer. Anyway, he goes back to the document of his spells, searching through them for one specific spell.

Yes, there it is. The title is “Magic Minds,” a tracking spell he’d recently picked up. It’s supposed to be able to guide a magician to other magicians. Marvin hasn’t used it yet, since he had no real reason to. He didn’t want to run into magicians before, but why not now?

Marvin grabs his phone from where it was charging, and quickly changes out of pajamas and into regular clothes. He pauses, then also grabs his cape from his closet. There’s no real reason to wear it, but it would make him feel a bit better. And with all this, he heads downstairs and outside.

The spell is easy enough to cast. He’s done tracking spells before, and they all require the same basic steps. An incantation or a few gestures, then you follow whatever visual cue the spell uses to find your target.

He turns his wand over in his hands, flicking it upward, downward, side to side. Green sparks left behind by the movements make a cross, +, hovering in the air. Technically he could have used his hands, but he likes the wand. And with the cross sign hovering there, Marvin whispers a word, and blows on the middle of the cross. A wisp of green light dances out from the breath, and hits the cross. From the spot of impact, the cross turns from green to white, and falls down to be horizontal, parallel to the ground. It spins, reorienting itself, then one leg of the cross turns red as the cross settles, pointing somewhere. Marvin heads in that direction.

The cross acts as a compass, pointing in one direction. He hopes it’s not too far away. People would think it’s weird, seeing one guy with a magic compass in a cape wandering around the city at night. But unfortunately, it turns out to be far enough that he regrets not taking the bus. Then he remembers that the buses don’t run this late at night, and regrets not doing this in the daytime. How is he simultaneously the most impulsive and least impulsive person he knows?

He makes his way to a section of the city full of identical, red-bricked terrace houses. The compass starts glowing brighter. That must mean he’s getting closer. Though, looking around and seeing nothing but residential buildings around, he’s not sure he wants to break in to someone’s house. This situation doesn’t exactly call for it. He’ll probably just write down the address.

The compass flickers, drawing him out of his train of thought. It locks onto one direction, flares brightly, and then dies. Marvin growls, frustrated. This isn’t the time for the spell to fail!

“You couldn’t have waited to put it on?”

Marvin jumps a bit at the voice, and ducks into the nearest alley way. He glances around, and sees a pair of people on the other side of the street, walking. Oddly enough, one of them is wearing a black cloak. No...it can’t be this easy...

“Oh, who’s out to see it?” a different voice says. “It’s late.”

“It’s a busy city, you’re just lucky no one’s out in this section,” the first voice snaps.

The pair walks up to one of the houses, standing on the doorstep. They continue to whisper to each other, too quiet for Marvin to hear on the other side of the street. After a while, the door opens, and the two of them disappear inside.

Strange...Marvin walks out of the alleyway, staring at the house on the other side of the street. What’s this all about? He glances around, making sure there are no cars or people coming, then runs across the street, stopping outside the house. He pauses, then glances into the window quickly. The inside doesn’t look any different from an average house, but he’s not sure since he ducks away quickly so nobody inside will notice him. Though strangely, there aren’t any people inside, even though there must have been at least three. He glances back in, just to make sure they aren’t anywhere.

It’s then that he notices something strange. The image through the window is...shimmering. Like a heat wave in the air. But the glass isn’t warped or anything that would cause that effect. On a whim, Marvin presses a finger to the window pane.

And surprisingly, the window appears to shiver. A wave of warm yellow light ripples out from the point of contact, just like water across the surface of a still pond. Slowly, the effect ends, and once it does, Marvin can see people gathered in the living room. And they’re all wearing black cloaks.

What was this? A magic gathering? Marvin’s curiosity grabs a hold of him. He has to get inside. But how?

He gets out his phone, looking through the spells he has gathered again. There should be an invisibility one here somewhere. He hadn’t used it since his days as a stage magician, but he must still have it. Though it takes a while of scrolling, he does eventually find it. It’s just an incantation, but it requires the magician to use absolute focus as long as they want to remain invisible. He always had trouble with that part, which is why he gave up on using it as soon as his career ended. Until now, he thought it was only good for escape tricks.

Scanning the incantation a couple times to make sure he knows it, Marvin takes a deep breath. He puts his phone back, then rings the doorbell and quickly whispers the incantation. A rush of cool flows over him, like suddenly walking out of a heated building into a cold outside, and when he next looks down, he can’t see his own body. He gasps in triumph, but then he sees his body flicker, and returns to concentrating on staying invisible.

The door opens, and a man in a cloak looks around. Marvin ducks past him, and luckily just barely avoids brushing against him. “Hello?” the man calls. A few moments pass, and the man shakes his head and closes the door.

Marvin finds himself standing in a living room, decorated in warm colors. At least ten people are gathered, all wearing black cloaks, though it appears they’re wearing regular street clothes under them. There’s a coffee table in the middle of the room, with a few various desserts lined up on it. A low buzz of chatter fills the air.

“What was it, Callisto?” a woman asks.

The man who opened the door shakes his head. “Nobody was there. Probably some kids’ prank.”

“In the middle of the night?” the woman asks doubtfully.

“You don’t know this neighborhood,” the man—Castillo—grumbles.

“You should have taken the cloak off before answering!” Someone else says.

“Shut up Basil, nobody would’ve cared,” Castillo snaps.

Marvin walks closer into the gathering, trying not to be distracted by the various conversations. It was difficult. Words kept sneaking into his awareness despite his best efforts. No, stay invisible. Stay invisible. Complete focus.

“Why does everyone keep bringing desserts to the meeting?” A woman nearby complains.

“Because it tastes fucking good, duh,” another woman next to her says.

“Can we get started already?” asks a man. “Hey Castillo! Everyone’s here, right? Can we get started?”

“Jeez, who lit the fire under your pants, Leo?” Someone mutters.

“Hey, I’m only pointing out that it’s almost midnight, Lily,” Leo says. “We’re running out of time!”

“Alright, Leo’s right, we’re getting close to the time,” Castillo sighs. “Alright, listen up everyone! We’re heading down to the basement to get started!”

A wave of chatter breaks out, and everyone files out of the room. Marvin rushes to the side in order to avoid anyone bumping into him. He watches silently as they all move into the hall and then down a set of stairs. What are they doing? He hesitates, then follows cautiously. A bunch of people in cloaks heading down to a basement for some sort of ritual? Every movie, book, and game ever says that’s a shady thing and should not be checked out. Yet he’s so curious. Is this what other magicians do?

The staircase isn’t too long, and it opens up into a large, wide room. Marvin was expecting a concrete floor and visible rafters, but it looks more like an entertainment room. The walls were painted a pale yellow, the floor was mostly carpeted, there were sofas and chairs and even one of those huge beanbags. It’s lit up by lightbulbs mounted directly into the ceiling, which makes it look just like any other household room. The only thing different is a square section of dark hardwood floor with a circle drawn on it in, well, what looks like salt. A few tall candles sit around the edges of the circle, in alternating purple and orange colors.

Marvin walks closer to the circle. There are some symbols drawn around its edge, also in salt. He’s surprised to realize he doesn’t recognize any of them. They’re not part of any runes he knows. But he does feel like he’s seen them before, somewhere else. Maybe it’s a different runic alphabet? But what does this mean?

“Hey, did you see that?” someone asks.

“See what?”

“I dunno, I thought...nevermind.”

“C’mon, Morgana.”

“Well, I just thought it looked like a person out of the corner of my eye.”

Marvin inhales sharply and goes back to concentrating on staying invisible. This is the last place he wants that to wear off.

“It’s five minutes to midnight!” Castillo calls. “Everyone in position!”

There’s a bit of awkward shuffling as the group moves to stand around the circle. A few people whisper about watching the edge of the salt to make sure it doesn’t get knocked out of place. “Someone get the lights,” Castillo says.

“Uh, shouldn’t we light the candles first so it’s not dark?” Basil points out.

“Oh, I have a lighter!” Morgana volunteers.

“Oh yeah.” Castillo nods. “Mor, you light the candles. Uh, James, you’re closest to the lights, knock them out, will you?”

“Everyone watch their hems,” Morgana says as she starts going around the edge of the circle and lighting the candles. Once they’re all lit, a man dashes over to the wall and hits the light switch, plunging the room into darkness except for the candlelight.

“Hands, everyone,” Castillo instructs. Everyone grabs their neighbors’ hands, forming a connected circle. “Two minutes to midnight. Time to start. Make sure you chime in at the right time.”

Silence falls. Marvin holds his breath, waiting for something to happen. And soon, the circle starts murmuring. No, it’s not just that, they’re actually chanting, all in a low, quiet voice. More voices join in, and they all get louder. Harmonies break off as different strings of words jump in, until the group is singing, their voices echoing off the walls.

Lines appear on the floor inside the circle. Lines of orange light, each one starting at the feet of one of the magicians, then ending at the feet of another. There were so many, connecting each magician to every other member of the group. The light coming from them grew brighter, and then—

SNAP!

Sparks flew into the air in the center of the circle. Quicker than what should be possible, they grow into a fire, hovering about three feet off the ground. The flames start orange, and then flicker between different colors—red, yellow, green, purple, blue, pink, white, and everything in between. It was as if a firework had gone off in the room, completely contained within a small part of the air. Marvin couldn’t help but gasp. And, as he stared closer into the fire, he realized there weren’t just colors...there were images as well. Shapes of people and objects forming scenes. They pass by too quickly for him to fully make out.

The chanting reaches a crescendo, and the fire breaks down into small balls of flame. Each one shoots toward one of the magicians, disappearing into their chests. For a moment, all the magicians glow with the colors of the fire. And then it fades. The lines on the floor disappear, and the magicians slowly stop their chants.

There’s a brief moment of quiet, like the heavy sort of silence one hears after having finished a good book and absorbing the story it contained. And then: “James, can you get the lights again?”

The man from before walks over to turn on the light switch. Everyone gasps and blinks in the suddenly bright room. Idle chatter starts up.

“Hey wait a minute, who’s that?!”

Marvin gasps as one of the magicians points at him. They all turn to look, and he realizes too late that he’d forgotten to concentrate on the invisibility spell.

“Who are you?!”

“What are you doing here?!”

“How’d you get in?!”

And Marvin panics. He turns and runs up the stairs, hearing the magicians shout behind him. Skipping the last step, he bursts out into the first floor hallway and starts to sprint for the front door.

Someone shouts something, and there’s a burst of red light. Then only blackness.

———————

Marvin only realizes he lost consciousness once he starts regaining it. He groans, feeling a headache spike in his temples, and opens his eyes.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” A man is sitting next to him, wearing a black cloak. It takes Marvin a moment to recognize him as the Castillo guy. But upon recognition, he bolts upright. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down!” Castillo holds his hands up, slightly pushing Marvin back down. “You’re not in any trouble. Persephone hit you with a blackout spell, but she’s sorry about that.” He glares to the side. “Riiight?”

Every other cloaked magician is standing nearby. They’re all back in the living room from before, with Marvin lying on one of the sofas. “Uh, yeah, really sorry,” a woman says. “I freaked out and acted on instinct.”

“How are you feeling?” Castillo asks, turning back to Marvin. “Some people have allergic reactions to blackout spells. Are you having any trouble breathing?”

Marvin doesn’t answer, looking wide-eyed at the people around him. Now that he’s actively facing the prospect of talking to other magicians, his throat has closed up. It’s probably made worse by the fact that he technically broke into their secret meeting.

“Uh, sir?” Castillo reaches out and makes to grab Marvin’s arm.

“Don’t!” Marvin flinches away. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“Oh, okay, sorry!” Castillo sharply withdraws. “Just wanted to be sure you were breathing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fine, so don’t touch me,” Marvin grumbles. He shifts awkwardly, glancing around at the others. They’re starting to mutter among themselves. He can’t tell what they’re saying, and that makes him nervous. Are they mad at him? It would be understandable. But he’s terrible with tone of voice, so he can’t even tell, and the uncertainty makes him even more worried.

“I got it, no worries.” Castillo gives a friendly smile, no doubt meant to reassure Marvin. “But you are okay, right?”

“Yeah, fine,” Marvin mutters.

“That’s good,” Castillo nods. “Um...do you mind if I ask how you got here? This house is warded from any teleportations.”

“Yeah, if you guys tell me who you are first,” Marvin countered.

“We’re the Magic Circle, duh,” one of the other magicians says.

“Well I’ve never fucking heard of the Magic Circle, so excuse me for not knowing!” Marvin sits up on the sofa, scooting away from Castillo.

“Huh? Really?” Castillo looks puzzled. “Well, specifically, we’re the Mirygale chapter of the Magic Circle, it’s a nationwide organization.”

“Are you guys like a coven or something?” Marvin asks.

“We’re just a group, man,” another magician says. “We meet up, cast spells together, not that hard to grasp.”

“I’ve never heard of magic groups,” Marvin says warily.

Castillo blinks. “Seriously?”

“Well, I know the ABIM guys,” Marvin admits. “But that’s it.”

“ABIM is different,” Castillo says dismissively. “They’re like a government, and a loose one at that.” He pauses. “Are you...self-taught?”

“Yeah. Why the fuck does that matter?” Marvin demands.

It must have mattered significantly, because a chorus of “ohhhhhh” passed through the group. “Ah, that explains why you don’t know about magic groups,” Castillo says. “You’re a bit old for being self-taught, though. Most magicians from outside a magical family find—”

“—find out about the greater magic community when they’re in college, yeah, I know, I’ve heard that speech before,” Marvin says through clenched teeth. “So I’m a few years late, I was busy. Anyway, what are magic groups? Just like, magicians gathered together? Is that allowed? What do the ABIM think?”

Castillo laughs. “The Magic Circle is much older than the Association, they couldn’t get rid of us if they wanted to.” He shrugs. “Well, magic groups aren’t too hard to figure out. It’s just a bunch of magicians gathered together.” He sweeps his arm around the room. “Spells cast by a group are more powerful than just a single magician alone. We share spells with each other, come to each others’ aid in times of magical crisis, study magic together...they say two heads are better than one, you know? Stronger in numbers.”

Marvin nods slowly. “So...what were you doing in the basement?”

“That? That was a combination divination and prosperity spell,” Castillo explains. “Something like that you can only get in a group. It shows us significant events in the next year, then gives us good luck.”

“Never heard of a good luck spell...” Marvin mutters.

“Well, you’ve been practicing on your own, and doing luck spells on your own is a tricky business,” Castillo says. “So now it’s our turn. How’d you get inside?”

Marvin shifts uncomfortably, then reluctantly explains the whole thing with the Magic Minds spell and the invisibility.

“Ohhh, I know that spell!” One of the magicians says excitedly. “But you’re supposed to include your target’s full name in the incantation, otherwise it’ll just lead you to the nearest magician.”

“Why were you looking for magicians?” Another one asks.

Marvin looks down. Now that the time has come for it, he’s kind of embarrassed. “I dunno, I...sort of wanted help with this grimoire thing. But it’s stupid. Nevermind.”

“Huh? What kind of help?” Castillo asks. “You know the Magic Minds spell and an invisibility spell, you seem pretty knowledgeable.”

Marvin scowls. “Well, apparently, it needs to be in a book, not online at all. Which is fucking dumb. Why do I have to copy it all over?! It’s all already there!”

“Have you tried listening to a podcast while doing it?” One of the magicians suggests. “It gives you something to focus on.”

Castillo chuckles. “Well, if it’s a problem with focus, I don’t know if magicians specifically could help.”

“Shut up,” Marvin mutters. “Maybe there’s a spell to copy it all over for me—”

“If you found one, let me know, will you?” Castillo jokes.

Marvin glares at him, then stands up. “Well, I’m sorry for interrupting your Magic Circle shit, I’ll just go now, because clearly this was a stupid fucking idea—”

“Hey wait!” Castillo stands up as well. “What’s your name, bro?”

“Don’t call me bro!” Marvin growls. “But it’s Marvin. Marvin Moore.”

“Wait holy shit like Marvin the Magnificent?!” A magician says excitedly. Marvin recognizes him as the James one. “You had real magic the whole time?! No wonder people couldn’t figure out your tricks!”

Marvin can’t help but smile proudly at that. “Hell yeah, people loved it.”

“Well, Mr. Moore, you have some powerful magic in you,” Castillo says admirably. “You bypassed all the wards I set up here without even trying.” He walks over to a table with drawers, pulling one open and taking out a pen and notebook. After scribbling something down, he tears out the page, and walks back over to hand it to Marvin. “This is all our information, and my personal phone number. If you ever have a group you want to join, call us, okay?”

“Oh! Do it!” James encourages. “Then we’ll be thirteen, it’ll be the ideal number for most spells! And we’ll have a famous guy in our chapter!”

“Hey, let him make his own decision,” a nearby magician says.

Marvin scans the information from the paper. There could be benefits to joining a magic group...one of which being that he’ll finally have more than five people to talk to. And were these spells cast by groups really more powerful? A familiar feeling starts to grow inside him, a feeling of wanting to know, of wanting to be the best. That feeling led him astray in the past, got him mixed up in branches of magic he probably shouldn’t have been involved in. But if he’s with other people, it’ll be different, right? He hesitates for just one moment longer, then asks, “Hey, so uh, what if I’ve already made my decision?”

———————

The next day, Marvin finds himself sitting at his desk once more, with his laptop and his unfinished grimoire before him. But there were also a couple other things as well. A slim book, its cover decorated with the same sort of symbols he’d seen written in that circle of salt, and a sphere of black crystal. “Consider these your entrance-level gifts,” Castillo had said. “I don’t know how familiar you are with the types of magic the Circle likes to use, so this’ll be your beginner’s course.”

Marvin actually isn’t familiar with these branches of magic at all. And that makes this book all the more fascinating. It contains a guide to the symbols they use, the principles of the magic, and a few basic spells. Interestingly, it seems to be derived from alchemy. Or maybe it is alchemy, Marvin doesn’t know. He’d never had any reason to look up what alchemy was before this.

He sets the book down, taking a moment to pick up his new crystal ball and look it over. He can already think of several uses for this, but that might have to wait until later. For now, he really needs to at least make some progress on the grimoire.

And where better to start than with the new, interesting spells? It’s sure to keep his focus if he’s copying down information he’s never heard before. Marvin puts the crystal ball down and picks up his pen. But before he starts writing, he puts on his headphones. Listening to a podcast, huh? Maybe that will help.

He can feel that something new is in the air. Something is changing. Marvin had never worked with other magicians before. The prospect is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. But however this ends, he knows now that things will be different from here on, in some way or another. And he’s certainly excited to find out.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Twice Bitten, Never Shy

A Stitched Story

JSE Fanfic

My mind is going blank for things to say about this part. Maybe I’m tired. Anyway, the boys have themselves a couple of new allies, and just in time to get attacked again! Timing! And that’s about all I can think of. Besides, I feel like my descriptions are getting long, so I’ll just stop. Hope you enjoy reading ^-^

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read where it started: Stitched Together | Season One | Season Two

Previous Season Three story: Torn Apart | Tales to Tell | Threads

Taglist (finally): @bupine​ @violet--majesty​

“Sorry for dropping in on all of you like this. But we really need to talk.”

For a moment, everyone just stared at the person who’d just walked into the room. The same magician from...was it really just earlier that morning? One of the ones they’d fought with, the one named Delyth Mae. It took a moment to sink in. And then everything burst.

Schneep shot to his feet, wielding his scissors like a knife blade. JJ threw his hand in an arc, conjuring a shield right in front of Delyth, in case she tried to cast any spells. Chase cried out and tried to stand up but was dragged back down by Jackie still clinging to his arm. Jack scrambled backwards, tripping over the chair’s arm in an attempt to back away. “What are you doing here?!” Schneep snarled.

Delyth looked unfazed. She raised her hands like she was surrendering. “I said we need to talk,” she repeated calmly.

“You tried to kill us!” Chase squeaked.

“No,” Delyth emphasized. “That was never the plan. It wasn’t even the plan to fight you unless you were hostile. Tavish and Nairne were out of line, and I’ve removed them from this team. Now, I hope to approach this diplomatically.”

Schneep barked out a laugh. “You think we are going to trust you—”

JJ lowered the shield.

“Jay what the fuck?!” Chase shouted.

“Wait, what? What just happened?” Schneep asked, suddenly shifting his mood to confused.

“Your friend seems to be reasonable,” Delyth said, stepping further into the room. “I’m so sorry to impose on you, Mr. Akela.”

“Uh...no, it’s fine,” Malcolm said, remaining in the doorway. “I’m just...gonna...wait here.” He looked visibly awkward, standing in the entrance to his own commandeered living room.

“Hey, uh, JJ, I appreciate your...trusty-ness,” Jack said, warily edging around the room. “But is this a good idea?”

When the other two magicians were fighting us, she was trying to stop them, JJ remembered. I think she’s willing to talk it out, at least.

“She tried to stop the other two who were fighting us, huh?” Jack repeated. “I guess that makes sense.”

Schneep grumbled, but lowered his scissors. “Fine, but I will stay on my guard.”

Delyth walked yet further into the room, now standing in the center. She looked around, and her eyes landed on Jackie. “Oh hello.”

Jackie blinked. “Do I...? No, I definitely don’t know you.”

“Just say why you are here,” Schneep prompted.

“Well, last time, I told you about the unusually high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth folded her hands. “I believe you may know something about it. If you would give us information, I give you my promise, the ABIM will do everything we can to help you with any troubles you may have.”

“Huh...I guess that could be helpful,” Chase said reluctantly. “If you’re telling the truth.”

“Of course I am!” Delyth’s tone became suddenly impatient. “Look, we’ve been chasing this soul magic for a long time now, people above me want results. I’m sure we can help.”

“Uh...well I guess it might be good to have some magical knowledge when it comes to this.” Jack held up the water bottle with the duct-taped lid.

“Jack, please,” Schneep said, exasperated.

“Oh, sorry, Hen, I’m just talking about the strings,” Jack said.

“Well, I could get context clues, but still.” Schneep hummed. “I suppose you are right.”

“Well, I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement, then,” Delyth smiled. “Now. Can you please tell me what—wait, hold on a second.” She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small tape recorder. “I have to record this as a testimony. None of you mind, do you?”

I would like to point out that you can’t record me, JJ immediately said.

“Yeah, JJ uses sign language, how’s that gonna work?” Chase asked.

“Well I suppose one of you will have to translate,” Delyth said. “Other than that, is everything okay?” Everyone made sounds of agreement, though Schneep’s was a bit reluctant. “Great.” Delyth pressed a button on the recorder. “This is Delyth Mae, member of the Magi, Investigation Level 4. Case 3-10100703. Witness interview for information. Please state your names for the record.”

Uh...” Jack blinked, and glanced around at the others. “I’m, uh...Jack McLoughlin.”

“I’m Chase,” Chase says, now squirming to adjust positions while Jackie was still refusing to let go. “Chase Brody.”

“Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein,” Schneep states clearly. “And this is our friend Jameson Jackson, who unfortunately cannot talk for your recorder.” JJ waved.

“Thank you. Now, two of you, Mr. McLoughlin and Mr. Schneeplestein—”

“Doctor,” Schneep said tersely.

“Sorry, Dr. Schneeplestein.” Delyth paused. “Out of curiosity, what are you a doctor of?”

“I...was a surgeon,” Schneep said slowly.

“Well, the two of you give off distinct signatures of soul magic, is that correct?”

“Apparently,” Jack laughed nervously.

“And on that basis, I thought that you may know something about the high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth seems to be providing an explanation for the tape recorder. “Now, can you tell me what that is, that you know?”

Nobody really wanted to start. But after a moment of admittedly awkward silence, Chase said, “Well, I guess it started with this guy and his roommate.” Chase pointed to Jackie. “This is...well, he’s a friend of ours.”

“What’s your name, sir?” Delyth asked.

Jackie blinked. “I’m—we’re—I’m Jackie. But I think I—we—I have more names than that.”

“Look, it’s a long story,” Chase interrupted. “Just...don’t say anything until we’re done.” And he started to explain.

— — — — — — —

Someone was walking through the city streets. It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and a lot of people were out, pedestrians and drivers alike. But no one seemed to notice him. Which was unusual, you would think a man wearing half a mask, stained blue and shaped like a cat face, with green string stitching across his neck, eyes glimmering blue and green and occasionally red...you would think a man like that would be noticeable.

He was heading somewhere. He wasn’t sure where, but he could feel it tugging at him. Like a string pulling him to a destination. Though he didn’t know where he was going, he knew what would be on the other end of the string. More pieces of him. They were all together.

A woman was following him for a while. Until she noticed he was going in a straight line. Directly straight, cutting through alleyways and yards whenever he could. Puzzled, she opened up a map of the city on her phone, tracing a straight line in the direction he was heading. There wasn’t really anything important in that part of the city. Just a section of townhouses. But he might have been going to one of them. She hurried ahead, and halfway through running, poofed into a cloud of blue smoke. When it faded, she was gone.

The man hadn’t even noticed her disappearing. He hadn’t even noticed her following. All that was important were the missing pieces. And he was getting closer.

White noise flickered around his grinning face.

— — — — — — —

The silence after the explanation was deafening. Delyth didn’t say anything as she processed what had just happened. Chase had done most of the explaining, though naturally, there were parts he didn’t know and the others had to fill in. Malcolm had left halfway through, muttering something about stupid crazy magic shit. Jackie had stayed, but he’d stayed silent the whole time, and after a while closed his eyes. Nobody thought he was sleeping.

“This is...frankly unbelievable,” Delyth finally said.

“Don’t worry, we know,” Jack muttered.

“It’s just—” She couldn’t even come up with words to describe it. “The four of you—well, the five of you—you knew Marvin Moore?”

None of them had expected her to grab onto that, out of the whole series of events. “Well, Jameson didn’t,” Jack said. JJ shook his head, but said nothing, aware it wouldn’t be picked up on the recorder. “But yeah, we all did.”

“You know me,” Jackie said, giggling. His eyes stayed firmly closed. “You know me̶.”

The others stared at him for a moment. After a while, when it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Schneep cleared his throat. “Why is that significant?” he asked.

“Marvin Moore was one of only two soul magicians in this city,” Delyth said. “Both of them, coincidentally, had a history of subverting ABIM regulations.”

Chase blinked. “I...never knew Marvin was part of this magical organization. Or, uh, going around it, whatever. Though to be fair, we didn’t think Marvin’s magic was actually magic until all this crazy shit started happening.”

“If what you say is true...” Delyth said slowly. “About this...together...fusion...thing...” She couldn’t help but give Jackie another wary glance. “Then this thing would probably have soul magic as well, thus accounting for the high amounts of trace soul magic in the city. Sounds like it was...active. Until recently.”

“Well, these string things might be...whatever’s left of him.” Jack shook the water bottle, hearing the faint sound of the strings inside. “And they’re very active.”

Delyth shook her head, visibly stunned. “Nothing like this has ever—ever—happened before. Not in all our records, and they go back quite a while. Influencing electricity, this intense hypnotism—opening the Nightmare, for god’s sake. ‘Black magic’ doesn’t even cover what this thing is. It’s—it is a magical abomination.”

Jackie’s eyes suddenly flew open. They seemed to flash red, and he growled, glaring at Delyth. She tensed, her eyes glowing a slight purple in return.

The tension was broken by the doorbell ringing. Malcolm, who’d been listening quietly, made a cry of frustration. “I swear, if it’s anyone else involved in this fucking stuff...” He muttered under his breath as he went to get the door.

“But even if you’ve never heard of something like this before, you can still...like, fix it, right?” Chase asked hopefully.

Delyth frowned. “That isn’t my area of expertise. I know some things about soul magic, but I haven’t studied it, exactly. We’d need to call in people who know more about experimental magic than I do, just to even figure out what we could do.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “So how do we do—”

“Hey!” Malcolm shouted.

Everyone looked towards the sound, just in time to see a young woman with purple and blue hair run into the room. “Mae! It is you!” she said, visibly relieved.

Malcolm ran into the room after her. “I’m sorry, she just pushed right past me, do any of you know her?”

Delyth blinked. She quickly turned off the tape recorder and stood up, shoving it in her pocket. “Yvonne Bell. What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story, but basically—” Yvonne looked like she was starting with a conversation, but then she glanced around the room and stopped. She stared, wide-eyed, at the group. “Wait, who are you?” 

“Bell, please,” Delyth said, exasperated. “You are on thin ice already—”

“Ohhhh no, wait, I get it now,” Yvonne covered her mouth with her hand. “You’re friends of his, right? Marvin.”

“Oh my god, how the fuck does everyone know Marvin?!” Schneep threw his hands in the air.

Are you a magician too? JJ asked.

“You—also—magician,” Yvonne said out loud, watching JJ’s hands move. “I’m assuming that’s what that is, I’m a bit rusty. Yes, I am.”

“Yvonne Bell is the second soul magician in the city,” Delyth explained. “It’s only natural that the two of them knew of each other.”

“Well, uh...yeah, you can say that,” Yvonne said, her voice slowly rising in pitch. “Hey, so uh, Mae, I ducked in here cause I thought it was a bit weird, sensing you in this area, I thought you might be able to help, but I think I ended up finding something more important. You are friends of Marv, right? I think I recognize you. Definitely recognize him.” She pointed at Jackie, who was now looking around as if searching for the source of a strange noise. 

“Yeah, we knew him—know him,” Jack said. “Uh...why?”

Yvonne laughed, a bit hysterically. “Well so long story short I ran into him and he’s pretty off his rocker! And also he was heading in this direction last I saw so I tried to find where he was going and that might end up being here.”

Silence fell instantly. It stayed for a few seconds, and then Malcolm immediately turned around and left, muttering something under his breath. Everyone in the living room heard the sound of the stairs creaking. “You know honestly I don’t blame him for that,” Chase sighed. “Uh...Yvonne, is it? What do you mean he’s off his rocker?”

“H-he showed up at my shop last night,” Yvonne started. “And he—well, he was bleeding from this wound on his neck, and at first I thought he was acting weird ‘cause of the blood loss, but it wasn’t that big. He didn’t know where he was or who I was or who he was, kept switching from I to we, saying stuff about puppets, it was all really weird. Then there were these green strings—” Everyone stiffened. “—that showed up, and he, like, it was creepy how he acted with them, and some of them reached him and—and he was all hostile, and he headed out, and it was like he was looking for something, but that must be you, right?”

Another few moments of silence. “Jesus,” Chase muttered, and stood up, managing to push Jackie away only because he seemed more concerned with...something. “You’re not joking, right?”

“Why the shit would I joke about that?!” Yvonne yelled. “It was freaky as fuck!”

“So when you say ‘green strings,’” Jack said, “do you mean this collection of green, slightly glowing, pieces of thread that crawled across the ground like creepy worms?”

Yvonne blinked. “Yeah, why?”

Jack held up the water bottle and tapped the side. “They showed up here, too. We caught them, but...Jackie reacted weirdly to them.”

“Clearly, these strings are somehow connected to the both of them,” Delyth said.

“Well no shit!” Schneep snapped. “Anti was held together by string, it is probably what is left of him!”

“Okay, look, we can discuss it later,” Yvonne said. “Right now we have to—”

Jameson happened to glance towards the window at just the right time. He stiffened, and threw out a shield. The window burst, glass flying inward. Most of it bounced off Jameson’s shield, which managed to cover Chase, Jack, and Jackie, all sitting close together. Schneep yelped, but was mostly blocked from the shards by Yvonne, who threw up her arms to try to protect herself. Delyth reacted as soon as she heard the sound, conjuring a personal shield of her own out of crystalline purple magic.

Strands of blue light started to crawl inside the broken window. Jackie suddenly snapped to attention and shot to his feet. Chase grabbed him, sure that this couldn’t be a good thing.

The blue light—blue strings—wrapped around Jameson’s shield, twisting along the edges. Jameson took a step back, the magic flickering. Without warning, the strings shot towards him, wrapping around his torso and pinning his arms to his side. The shield died.

“What is this?!” Delyth asked, scrambling to her feet.

“Watch out!” Yvonne shouted.

Something jumped through the broken window, moving too fast to be anything but a blur. Jack was suddenly knocked to the ground, dropping the water bottle, which rolled across the floor. He gasped, partly because the breath was knocked out of him, partly because of the sight before him. It was recognizably Marvin, but...at the same time, too strange. He was wearing a mask that looked rather like his old cat-shaped one...if it was blue instead of white and snapped in half. Behind that mask, his eyes flickered between blue and green, teeth clenched in a snarl. Green stitches crossed a line across his throat.

Jackie shouted something, and pushed Chase away. He only took two steps forward before Chase tackled him to the floor. “Marvin!” Yvonne shouted, and ran over to pull him off Jack. Delyth quickly joined her. While they were doing that, Schneep was by Jameson’s side. Trying to pull at the magic strings proved unsuccessful, so he took out his scissors and cut, managing to slice right through them, though he got very close to Jameson’s skin a couple times.

There was a burst of light, and Yvonne and Delyth got thrown back, covered in blue strings that stuck to the walls. Schneep spun around. “What is happening?!”

Jack sat up, Marvin suddenly gone. He looked around for where he went, and caught sight of him just as he grabbed the water bottle with the strings inside. “Don’t let him grab the bottle!” Jack shouted, lunging forward and landing on Marvin’s back. He managed to startle him enough to make him let go, but as the bottle rolled away, Marvin hissed, and reached for it. Jack grabbed his arm. “Chase, help?!”

“Sorry bro, bit busy!” Chase was dealing with a struggling Jackie, who kept trying to get closer to Marvin and the bottle.

Jameson shook off the last of the magic strings, and flung a disc of magic forward. It rolled across the floor and hit the bottle, knocking it across the room. Marvin and Jackie shouted in identical unison.

Schneep finished cutting Delyth and Yvonne out of the magic strings, and Delyth yelled something in a strange language. The ground quaked, and a purple spike shot out of the ground directly under the water bottle, sending it flying into the air, in a perfect arc right into Delyth’s hands. She wiggled it, as if taunting Marvin and Jackie, then threw it out the window.

Marvin screamed, and disappeared in a flurry of white noise. Jackie’s eyes flashed red, and Chase was thrown backward, staggering, bleeding from a cut that went straight from his shoulder to his navel. Not even looking back, Jackie ran forward and jumped out the window.

“Come on, outside!” Delyth said to the room. “There’ll be more room to maneuver!”

It took a few moments for everyone to get their bearings, but they knew time was of the essence so they hurried. As a group, they all ran out the front door onto the street.

Marvin had picked up the water bottle, and was struggling with the duct tape holding the lid closed. Jackie was standing a few feet in front of him, eyes fixed on his face. After a moment, Marvin seemed to notice, and looked up as well. The two of them were frozen.

Just long enough for Jameson to throw a shield up between them. Jackie stepped back, his surprised expression turning to anger. He cried out, and red light started slicing at the shield. Marvin was smarter, and whirled to look at Jameson. He threw out his hands, and more blue strings shot forward. Chase pushed Jameson out of the way, but got entangled himself. Schneep ran to him, and upon feeling the strings, started cutting at those as well.

“Get the bottle!” Jack shouted, running forward. Marvin turned to him and scowled. More strings burst out of the ground, wrapping around his legs and stopping him in his tracks.

Jameson’s shield flickered and died, and Jackie ran forward, latching onto Marvin’s side. Marvin seemed to relax a bit, his eyes starting to glow a softer green. Jackie’s eyes glowed as well, the exact same color.

“No no no no no.” Yvonne ran forward, stopping right behind Jackie. She pressed her hands to either side of her head. “Dor me sonum,” she whispered, and Jackie’s eyes rolled back in his head. He crumpled to the floor, but then Marvin’s eyes instantly locked on Yvonne. She didn’t even have time to react before she was sent flying backwards, landing heavily on the asphalt of the street, and not moving again.

“Fuck this!” Schneep hissed under his breath, turning towards Marvin. Marvin laughed, static crackling along with the sound, and threw out another wave of strings. But Schneep disappeared. And between one step and the next, he was behind Marvin, grabbing at the bottle he was holding. He managed to wrench it out of his grasp, then stepped backwards and disappeared again.

Delyth turned to Jameson. “Can you keep him busy?” she asked. He looked surprised, but nodded. “Good.” She took a deep breath, and started muttering something.

Jameson stepped forward, throwing a disc of light at Marvin, who seemed stunned at the fact that he was no longer holding the water bottle. He didn’t recover in time to avoid the disc splashing in his face. He gasped, and stumbled back, then immediately glared at Jameson. He raised his hand, and a few more strings curled around his arm and shot outward. Jameson ducked just in time to avoid them, but another few quickly wrapped around his arms, pulling him downward. “Useless f͡a͟͝ke magician,” Marvin hissed. “W̵or͠thle͟s͞ś replacement.”

“Leave him alone!” Chase shouted. In one swift motion, he pulled out his gun and BANG!

Marvin staggered backwards, more surprised than hurt. He glared at Chase and reached upward.

Delyth suddenly threw her hands out in front of her, eyes glowing bright purple. A wave of purple light flew out from her in a circle. Once it reached Marvin, pale lavender crystals started to grow out of the ground around his feet. He looked down, but the crystals accelerated, and soon they were covering him up to his armpits. There was only enough time for him to scream out in frustration before he was completely encased.

“We should hurry to get out of here,” Delyth said, not wasting any time. “That spell only lasts an hour at best. Quick, let’s all get in my car.”

“Your what?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah, what?” Chase repeated.

Delyth pointed to the side of the road. A blue car was parked there. “It should be a tight fit, but I think we can all squeeze in. Bring Bell and that...what was his name? Jackie?”

“Hang on!” Schneep had finished cutting Jack free of the strings, and was now standing up straight and glaring in Delyth’s general direction.

“I just pointed to it,” Delyth said, annoyed.

“I am fucking blind!” Schneep snapped. “Was that not obvious?!”

“...oh.” Delyth had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I suppose that would explain some things I noticed. I just thought that...nevermind. My apologies.”

“It’s okay, I’ll get you there,” Jack said to Schneep.

For his part, Schneep looked frustrated. “The first thing I am doing after everything settles down is getting one of those white canes. That way everyone will know and I can find what is around me without asking people.”

Where are we going? Jameson asked.

“Yeah, where are we going?” Chase repeated. “You’re a magician, are we going to some secret magic place?”

Delyth glanced uneasily at Marvin, still frozen. “I’ll explain on the way there.”

— — — — — — —

The car ride was short, which was lucky, since it was also very cramped. Delyth drove and Chase was in the front seat, which left the other three to fill the backseat. It wouldn’t have been a problem if they didn’t also have to fit in Jackie and Yvonne’s unconscious bodies. So they ended up having those two partly on top of them.

True to her word, Delyth explained while she drove. “Marvin clearly means you harm. We need a place with strong wards to protect you from him. And somewhere to keep those...strings safe. To study them, as well as what happened to your friend Jackie. I know a place that fits all those qualifications, near the center of town.”

After a while, Delyth parked in front of what looked like an old bookstore. The sign had fallen off and the windows were dusty, but through the clouded glass you could see lines of shelves and empty displays. They all piled out of the car, watching Delyth as she ran her hand along the edge of the building’s front door frame. It lit up with purple light, which faded to white before disappearing entirely. And without an explanation, she opened the door and stepped inside. Confused, the others quickly followed, with Chase and Jack carrying Yvonne and Jackie.

The interior wasn’t at all what it looked like it would be from the outside. In fact, it looked more like a hotel lobby than anything, decorated in white and gold colors. “Wait, what?!” Chase blinked in surprise.

We stepped into a TARDIS, JJ said succinctly.

“Fancy,” Jack commented. “Looks like the entrance to a hotel or something.” This last statement was probably for Schneep, clinging to his arm.

“This is an ABIM Sanctuary,” Delyth explained. She walked over to a desk with a computer and started typing something in. “It’s for any Magi agents or employed wizards to stay while in town.”

“I...cannot take the phrase ‘employed wizards’ seriously,” Chase said.

Delyth huffed. “‘Wizard’ just means they study magic. It’s an actual term with a long history—you know what, I can explain later. Or maybe Bell can, when she wakes up. We should probably get one of the healers here to look at her, make sure the damage from that blow wasn’t too severe.”

“What about Jackie?” Jack asked.

“It looked like Bell hit him with a sleep spell,” Delyth said. “He should wake up any minute now.” She backed away from the computer. “There. I’ve checked you all in, as my guests, now I’ll show you to your assigned rooms.” And she headed towards a set of elevator doors in the back of the room.

You said we needed strong wards, JJ asked. Does that mean Marvin can’t find us here? And what about these strings? You said we could study them. Jack translated the signs for Delyth.

“Yes, the wards here are very strong,” Delyth said, pressing the Up button next to the lift. “Tracking spells shouldn’t be able to break through them. And we’ll have to talk to some of the wizards here about the strings, I’m sure they can help. If not, I’ll call in for backup. Now come on.” The elevator doors dinged open.

Surprisingly, there were seven floors to the building, which had been just a single story from the outside. Delyth led them to the third floor and down a series of corridors, all lined with doors, until they reached one labelled 314. “I have two extra rooms, they all have two beds and a sleeper sofa. Bell can stay with me. You five can work out who stays in 312 and 313. Don’t worry, the doors aren’t locked to any of us; I put your names on the registry.”

“Uh...I’m gonna assume that’s some type of magic and say ‘thanks,’” Chase said. “Uh...well, if Jackie’s gonna wake up, I think I should stay with him? I-I don’t know, he might get upset if I don’t.”

“Okay, yes, but Jackie also became...aggressive,” Schneep said. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah...” Chase said, sighing.

I can stay with you, Chase, JJ offered. That way, if Jackie does try to attack, I can protect you.

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “Um...thanks.”

“So it’s you three, then me and Schneep,” Jack summarized. “I guess we’ll take 312 then.”

“Excellent,” Delyth said. “Now can you please hand me Miss Bell so I can take her inside?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Jack handed her off to Delyth in an awkward transition, and Delyth quickly went inside her room. “I guess we should just...check out our rooms, then.”

They all dispersed. Chase was mildly surprised when the door to room 313 opened without resistance; that didn’t seem very secure, but then again, it could be magic. He flipped on the lights, revealing what looked like a hotel suite, with a living room and kitchenette in view, two open doors showing the bathroom and bedroom. There were a pair of thick curtains on the opposite wall, no doubt hiding a window. Like the lobby downstairs, the room was mostly decorated in white with hints of gold. Chase walked over to the sofa and set Jackie down, breathing out slowly. He turned back to JJ, who was looking through the kitchenette’s cabinets. “I, uh...don’t know if they have food, bro.”

Well, it can’t hurt to look, JJ said.

“Haha, yeah...” Chase trailed off. He shifted awkwardly. “Hey can I uh...talk to you about something?”

Jameson stopped his investigation, and looked over at Chase curiously. He nodded.

“So, uh...about that...comment I made,” Chase said. “It was, like, a couple days ago. About you not having friends before we met you. I, uh, know I sorta apologized but it was really awkward, and...just, are you still mad about that? You probably are.”

It did sting, to say the least, JJ said. His expression was hard to read, but that might have been because he still had the scarf covering the lower half of his face.

Chase winced. “Yeah...look, I really didn’t mean it. I said it in the heat of the moment, I was frustrated about...just stuff, I guess. It was horrible and I’m really sorry, I...”

Chase, it’s okay, I’ve forgiven you, JJ interrupted.

“R-really?” Chase breathed.

Like you said, it was in the heat of the moment, JJ said. You were upset about the possibility of never seeing Jackie or Marvin again. And, well...you’re not technically wrong. I wasn’t too good at getting to know people. I’m still not, really.

“Yeah, but that didn’t mean I had to say it,” Chase said. “Really, I’m so, so sorry, a-and I really appreciate that you’re staying with me to protect me even though I said it—”

Of course I am, we’re still friends, right? JJ asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

One fight isn’t going to change that. JJ’s eyes crinkled like he was smiling under the scarf.

Chase chuckled. “Well, yeah. I’ve fought all the time with Schneep and Jack, and we still hang out.” He sighed. “It was still just...a bad thing to say.”

It’s water under the bridge, JJ assured him. 

After a moment, Chase reached forward and grabbed JJ’s hand, squeezing it. “Thanks.”

There was the sound of rustling fabric, and a groan. Chase and Jameson looked around, and saw Jackie sitting up. He seemed confused as he glanced around. The confusion soon gave way to some sort of frantic panicking. “Where am I? Where am I?!”

“Whoa, hey, Jackie, it’s fine.” Chase ran on over. “You’re in a safe place, okay? It’s fine.”

“But where am I?!” Jackie insisted, scrambling to his feet. “Where is the rest of me?! We were here, all of me, and now not anymore. Where is the other me?!”

Chase felt his heart sinking. “It’s fine,” he repeated. “We’ll...figure it out.”

Jackie’s eyes locked onto him. “Chase! Do you know where I am?”

“Uh...no, but we’ll figure it out.” He didn’t have much else to say.

“Figure it out, out, out,” Jackie muttered. He started walking around the perimeter of the room. Aimlessly, automatically, like he was just looking for something to do. “We’ll find me, we’ll find me.”

“Um...yeah.” Chase glanced at JJ, who gave him an uneasy look in return. “For now, let’s just...relax. It’s been a long day, and it’s only noon.”

Sounds good, JJ said, and turned back to the cabinets, looking through them again.

Chase collapsed on the sofa, and watched as Jackie continued to walk, walk, walk. Hopefully these magic people could figure out what to do about him And those strings. True, Delyth had said that nothing like this had ever happened before, but he believed there was a solution. One that would save everyone. And he did mean everyone.

He had to keep believing that. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he stopped believing.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Digging Up the Past

Septics Inverted

A JSE Fanfic

Alright, this is a bit of a shorter one, relatively speaking. But I wanted to focus on only a few things, and honestly I’ve been enjoying writing shorter stories lately. Jack and Stacy finally get the help they need to find Anti, and meanwhile, Jackie’s still travelling around with some others. Not much to say, really. Hope you guys enjoy!

Read the intro story: Part One | Part Two

Various other AU-related stuff found here

Taglist: @watermelonsinmyattic @asunachinadoll @a-humble-narcissus @odysseus-is-best-boi @acuriousquail @beerecordings @human-being-kinda @romanticslimecreature @samisabigmess @rachelclutch @septic-nebula-art @toboboby @the-parentheticals @rammypaige @jc-pavanne @amyxmiaplay @rats-this-username-is-taken @immabethehero @eridangan @bupine @violet--majesty

The moon overhead wasn’t quite full, but it still provided enough silver light to illuminate the field. Stacy, apparently not trusting the moon, had her flashlight out, shining the beam over the circles drawn in the grass. “This looks like a setting from a horror movie,” she commented.

“Hey, there’s nothing horror-y about this at all!” Jack said, grinning. “We’re just two young people out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest, meeting up with a guy we’ve only known for a couple days—whose eyes sometimes glow red—so that we can use a mysterious ritual to summon a dead spirit.”

Stacy rolled her eyes, but chuckled a bit. “Speaking of this guy with the glowing red eyes, where is he? We kinda need him.”

“Hmm.” Jack looked back towards the cabin. It was some ways away at this point. Apparently for safety reasons; Tiernan said that if the spell went haywire, he didn’t want it to ruin anything. Which wasn’t a good sign, if Jack was being honest with himself. “Oh, there he is.” Jack pulled out his own flashlight, shining it on an approaching figure. “Hey!”

Tiernan looked up, waving at the two of them. He quickly picked up the pace, clutching a backpack to his chest. “How’s ev’ryt’ing lookin’ out here?!” He called as soon as he was in earshot.

“Oh, it’s just grand!” Jack answered.

“You ever notice how your accent gets thicker the longer we’re here?” Stacy mentioned.

Jack laughed. “Ah, it’s the blood of the motherland! Bein’ back here’s awakened my good ol’ Irish heritage.”

“Okay, now you’re laying it on.”

Tiernan reached the edge of the design drawn in the grass, looking it over. The main body was a circle, slightly larger than the average living room, with three lines inside creating a triangle. There was also another smaller circle sitting on the perimeter of the larger one, this one just big enough for someone to stand in the center with their arms extended out. Flat stones with symbols drawn on them sat at regular intervals along the circumference of both circles, with three larger, pointier ones at the places where the tips of the triangle met the circle. “Very good,” Tiernan said, nodding. “Jus’ about perfect, I’d say.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Stacy said, sounding a bit relieved. She looked up at the sky and yawned, then checked the time on a watch she’d borrowed from Tiernan. “It’s almost twelve-thirty. We should probably hurry.”

“Yea. But first.” Tiernan unzipped the backpack he was carrying, turning it upside down. Four large crystals spilled out and thudded against the floor. “Y’remember what I said ‘bout waitin’ to retrieve the magic until th’last possible moment?”

“Oh yeah.” Jack nodded. “That’s this moment, then?”

Tiernan nodded, picking up a particularly lumpy crystal. “Already did all the smaller ones,” he said, turning the crystal over in his hand. For a moment, it looked like the crystal was lit up from the inside, crimson light flaring. Then it faded, and Tiernan’s eyes started glowing red. He whistled. “Wow. T’at’s a...talk about a rush.” He looked at the other two. “Hey, wait just a moment. Where’s Sam?”

“They’re back in the cabin,” Jack said. “They wanted to rest.” He rolled his eyes affectionately. “Even though they’ve done fuck all actually helping us set everything up.”

“Ah, I see.” Another crystal lit up, then darkened. Tiernan shivered. “Oh wow.”

Stacy frowned. “Please tell me you’re not, like...getting high off this.”

Tiernan frowned. “T’at’s not somet’ing t’joke about. Some magicians have done stupid t’ings with crystal storage and retrieval. T’ere’s a division of ABIM dedicated to it.”

“...oh. Sorry.” Stacy mumbled.

“‘t’s fine, ye didn’ know.” One more crystal was drained of the magic stored inside. By this point, Tiernan’s eyes were glowing like flashlights, fireflies of red magic blinking around his hands. “I’ve had a lot o’practice wit’ t’is, but never t’is much at once. It’s...I don’ know how t’describe this. Good and bad.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “It certainly...looks cool, at least.”

“Aw, really?” Tiernan flashed a smile; his teeth were rimmed with red light. 

“A little demonic, not gonna lie,” Jack added.

“Eh, ‘m used to t’at. Ye can’ pick what color your magic takes.” The last crystal was drained. By now, Tiernan was practically buzzing with magic. He winced a bit. “Okay, at t’is point, holdin’ onto t’is much isn’t exactly pleasant. Let’s hurry t’ings up.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Stacy checked the time on her watch again, then shut off her flashlight. “It’s the middle of the night.”

Jack turned off his flashlight as well—Tiernan was glowing enough to light up everything. “Alright. We’re really doing this, then.”

“Course we are!” Tiernan grinned. “How often d’you get to talk t’spirits two millennia old? You two remember what t’do, right? ‘Specially if I pass out or somet’ing?”

Jack held up a sheet of paper. “Yep. And we can double-check it all right here.”

“Alrigh’. Here we go, t’en.” Tiernan stepped into the smaller circle. “Y’know, people often t’ink necromancy is witchcraft,” he muttered, tugging up the sleeves of his aviator jacket. “But t’at’s not the case. Witches may talk to the dead, but only magic can summon them. It may be because necromancy requires rit’als similar to witchcraft, but the diff’rence is t’at the magic is stored in the person and the symbols channel it, unlike magick where ev’ryt’ing is in the runes.”

“Um...is this important?” Stacy asked, glancing back up at the moon above.

“No, not really. ‘M ramblin’. I do t’at.” Tiernan shook his head. “Anyway.” He brushed his hands against each other, causing streaks of red stars to fly away. The circles on the ground started to glow crimson, the symbols on the stones lighting up. Stacy and Jack instinctively backed up. 

The magician took a deep breath, and started to chant something. Perhaps on its own, it wasn’t too impressive, but his voice layered over itself, harmonizing, different layers repeating different phrases. His eyes lit up entirely red, crimson devouring his iris and pupil, red starting to glow from inside his veins. The triangle drawn on the floor suddenly shot to life, bright red tracing the lines.

“Oh my god!” Stacy gasped, covering her mouth. Jack was at a loss for words. He’d seen many magical things before, but nothing like this. The whole field was lit up by the red glow coming from the ritual, almost as clear as day. And in the center of the circle, it was growing brighter. Shooting stars were trapped in a whirlwind, steadily spinning faster, and faster, their light increasing with every pass around. Jack and Stacy shielded their eyes, then closed them—

And then the supernova burst, fading into a steady glow. After a moment, Jack opened his eyes, then patted Stacy’s shoulder, telling her it was safe to do the same.

There was now...someone...standing in the center of the larger circle. It was hard to make out features, but the figure appeared male. He wore a cape pinned at the right shoulder, a hood covering his head. Underneath the cape was a tunic with elaborate designs woven around the edges. It was difficult to pin down the colors of the clothes, as the figure was wreathed in a red glow. But the glow was...a different type of red than the crimson glow surrounding Tiernan and the circle, a darker berry red that danced like firelight, not starlight.

“Holy shit, it worked...” Jack breathed. He glanced at Stacy, who was equally wide-eyed, and the two of them walked up to the edge of the circle.

Tiernan, hearing them approach, turned to look at them, smiling and bouncing in place. “Look at t’is!”

“Uh...yeah, we sure are looking,” Stacy said, eyes appropriately locked to the figure at the center.

“We better hurry.” Though he sounded excited, there was a bit of strain in Tiernan’s voice. “I don’ know how long I’ll be able t’hold a spirit t’is old here.”

“Oh. Right.” Jack waved on. “Go ahead.”

Tiernan nodded, and turned back to the spirit, starting to speak in a language that sounded almost like Gaelic, but mostly like something else entirely. The spirit seemed to respond, though the other two couldn’t hear any words, and Tiernan nodded again, looking at Jack. “Alrigh'. Step into the communing circle.”

Jack glanced at Stacy, raising an eyebrow. She took a step back. “Don’t look at me. Someone needs to be out here in case you two pass out or something.”

“Fair enough.” Jack shrugged, and stepped over the glowing red line in the ground.

Everything on the other side seemed to fade away, smearing over like he was looking at it through a foggy glass pane. But the spirit in the center was suddenly clear. Slightly transparent and still glowing red, but Jack was able to make out his features. “Jack, t'is is Caedmon Draíocht,” Tiernan said. “Caedmon, t'is is...”

Jack took a moment to reply, stunned by the fact that there was an actual ghost standing in front of him. “Oh. Uh, Jack. Jack William McLoughlin.”

“T’ere we go,” Tiernan said.

The spirit—Caedmon—tilted his head. {What do you require?}

Jack gasped, taking a step back. Tiernan had told him that spirits communicated directly to the mind, to prevent any language barriers, but it still caused an instinctive flinch. “We—we need information,” he said.

{About what?}

Jack glanced over at Tiernan, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. Well, he was the expert in these matters. “Um...” Jack coughed awkwardly. How was he feeling self-conscious talking to a ghost?! “Well, you see...we heard—read that you know—knew a friend of mine. Anti—”

{You feel like him!} Caedmon’s voice held a note of surprised delight. {Yes! He found his perfection!}

“Um...thanks, I guess,” Jack said. “I don’t...what does that mean?”

{A perfect match. The one he was made for,} Caedmon explained. {Eantaí always thought there was someone out there who would be the best connection, though he said I fit well.}

“Uh...”

The light around the circle suddenly dimmed. It flared brighter, but not quite to the level it was before. Tiernan gasped, clutching his chest. “Int’restin’ as t’is information is, we’re short on time. Burnin’ t’rough a lot o’power.”

“Shit. Right, sorry.” Jack hurried ahead. “Anti’s been missing for a while. We think he might be in his home...dimension, I guess. And we want to know how to get there.”

{Ah.} Caedmon’s expression shifted, looking concerned. {There is a spell that could send you there. I only cast it once, and it drained me completely. Are you sure?}

“Oh no,” Tiernan muttered.

“What?” Jack turned to him, confused.

“When spirits ask if you’re sure ‘bout somet’ing, it’s...not a good sign.” Tiernan shuddered. The light from the circle flickered, and for a moment, Caedmon disappeared. “It’s up t’you, Jack,” Tiernan said, voice a bit breathless, the glow from his eyes starting to fade. “Ye want t’hear it?”

Jack hesitated. Was this spell dangerous? It certainly sounded like Tiernan was implying it. Part of him suggested that maybe they didn’t need it, that Anti would turn up eventually. But they’d gone to the trouble of summoning a dead spirit for this information. And Jack still had a bad feeling about Anti’s absence. “Yes, I’m sure,” he said.

Caedmon nodded. {I’ll impart the spell directly to the summoner. Thankfully this won’t take as much preparation as...} He gestured around at the circle. {But it will need power. My child, may I share the spell?}

“What? Oh, t’at’s me.” Tiernan laughed. The circle flashed wildly, and his laughter quickly faded. “Yes. Ye—hurry.”

Caedmon nodded again, and stepped forward. His hand reached forward, pressing against Tiernan’s forehead, transparent flesh sinking slightly through. Tiernan’s eye flared a darker red, then the glow faded completely. “T’ank you,” he whispered. The red light from the circle was rapidly fading now, like the sun going below the horizon. Caedmon’s form faded, flared, then faded. “Fuck,” Tiernan said. “I can’—can’ hold it. Jack...any—a-anyt’ing else?”

“I...guess not,” Jack said slowly. In truth, he had more questions about Anti. But he hadn’t expected the time to be so limited.

Caedmon smiled. {I suggest you be the one to go looking for Eantaí}, he said. {Not only are you connected to him, but I can tell you are linked to other worlds.}

Jack blinked. That just raised more questions.

“Th—can’—” Tiernan gasped. He doubled over, blood starting to leak from his nose. “T’ank you for your assistance, Caedmon. Ye may return to where ye came.”

{Happy to provide,} Caedmon replied. He bowed his head, and faded away.

Tiernan let out a long breath, and in one instant, the light coming from the circle winked out. Jack looked around as the world outside the circle returned to normal—or rather, as the world inside the circle did. Stacy was staring, gaping, looking back and forth between the Jack and Tiernan and the spot where Caedmon’s spirit had been.

“Well...” Jack looked back at her. “Anything bad happen while we were gone?”

Stacy shook her head slowly. “That...wow.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “Though...did it seem short to you?”

“A bit, considering all we did for it,” Stacy agreed.

Tiernan suddenly shot straight up, throwing a hand in the air. “Two thousand years!” He shouted, and then immediately collapsed.

“Fuck—!” Jack lunged forward, barely managing to catch the magician as he fell. He looked back at Stacy with wide eyes.

“He did say this might happen,” Stacy said, though she still looked concerned. “Uh...we should head back to the cabin, then?”

“Probably the best idea.” Jack grunted. “Man, he’s a lot heavier than he looks. Should we be worried about the nosebleed?”

“I don’t know. It’s...probably okay?” Stacy walked over to Jack and grabbed one of Tiernan’s arms, throwing it over her shoulder. “It’s like...magic overexertion, y’know? As long as he doesn’t seem hurt beyond that, I think it’s alright.”

“Let’s just keep an eye on him,” Jack said. “C’mon. Back we go.”

The two of them started walking across the open field back towards the cabin, supporting Tiernan between them. After a while, Stacy asked, “So...what now?”

Jack shrugged. “Well...the whole thing was a bit...rushed, and kinda...stilted? I dunno. I think maybe there’s only so much spirits can do when interacting with, y’know, not-dead people. But he did give us a spell. So I guess we’ll have to wait for Tiernan to wake up and recover enough for it.” He didn’t mention how the spell was potentially dangerous. In fact, probably dangerous.

“Alright. Guess I’ll have to call Matilda and tell her that she needs to keep watching the kids,” Stacy sighed. “I really hope she doesn’t mind.”

“She is getting paid for it, right?”

Stacy laughed. “Of course.”

They arrived back at the cabin, and despite sleep seeming welcoming, the both of them stayed up to make sure nothing happened to Tiernan. A couple hours passed, and with nothing seeming to change, Jack volunteered to stay awake so Stacy could get some sleep. She protested at first, but kept yawning through it, and eventually accepted the offer.

And after a while, of course, Jack realized he needed to sleep as well. The sky was starting to lighten when he retreated to the guest bedroom, muttering a greeting to Sam, who was now awake, before falling into bed and immediately drifting off.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Wake up! We have to leave!”

Jackie jolted awake as the lamp beside him was turned on. Groaning, he looked up at Frederick, then over to the window, seeing how it was mostly dark outside. “What...?” he asked.

“We have to leave,” Frederick repeated. “It was Heather’s turn to wait in the lobby, and she says that Jameson and Yvonne checked out. We have to hurry! Who knows where they’re going now?! Get up, get dressed!”

“Get dre—? Oh my god!” Jackie pulled the covers up over his head, suddenly remembering that he wasn’t wearing his shirt or his eye-patch. “I will, just—just don’t look!”

“Jackie, I’ve seen your ch—okay, if you say so.” Frederick backed away, disappearing into the hotel bathroom. “But be quick!”

“I will!” Jackie threw aside the covers and stood up, running over to the corner where he’d dumped his shirt and hoodie the night before. Frederick had dropped him off in the hotel room, putting a magical alert on the door so he’d know if it opened—which Jackie knew was to make sure he didn’t leave the room, not to make sure no one came in—then disappeared. He’d waited, a bit tense, to see if Frederick came back, but when an hour passed and nothing happened, Jackie had realized he might not show up again. Apparently Jackie had been excluded from the discussion of what to do about Jameson and Yvonne. The thought made him squirm with shame. He’d come along to help, and he couldn’t even do that, because Frederick didn’t trust him anymore. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone off last night.

“Okay, all good,” Jackie said, pulling on his hoodie and grabbing his bag.

Frederick reappeared in the main room. “You okay?”

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“I dunno, you just kinda freaked out. Just making sure.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I just...never mind.” Jackie looked away. Even though he knew Frederick had seen his scars when he showed up to heal him, there was something different about it outside of that context. It felt a lot more...personal. Which was weird, usually he wasn’t that self-conscious about things like that. But then again, he had new, extensive scars now, and Frederick was...nice. “Uhhh s-so what did you do last night?” Jackie asked. “I didn’t see you come in before I went to sleep. Did you get the, uh, proof you needed?”

Frederick’s expression fell. “No. Heather and I kept trying to look into their window so we could take pictures, but they kept coming out blurry. I wonder if that might be Jameson’s fault. And besides, we realized still pictures wouldn’t do much to convince ABIM that Eve is hypnotized and not doing this herself. Need a video or something.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time. “After a bit Heather went to sleep in her room and I decided to stay in the lobby to see if Jameson showed up. Then we switched. And now they’re leaving and we have to go.”

“Well, let’s go, then!” Jackie fumbled about inside his bag and pulled out his eye-patch, putting it on.

The two of them headed down to the lobby and checked out, and soon they were on the road again. Frederick handed his phone to Jackie. “Tell me if Heather texts,” he said. “She went on ahead to follow them again.”

“Alright.” Jackie glanced down at the phone. The lockscreen was a pattern of rings and familiar pixellated characters. “You like Sonic?”

“Yeah.” Frederick glanced over at Jackie. “That surprising?”

“A bit,” Jackie admitted. “You don’t seem like the type to play a lot of games.”

“Well, I grew up with the Adventure games. Then forgot about them for a while, until Yvonne insisted I play them all.” Frederick smiled fondly. “She also really likes the Adventures, but her favorite is Heroes, I think. Anyway, I got into them from there.”

“Dude, Sonic Adventure 2 is my childhood,” Jackie said, laughing. “I spent so much time on that game. I think I 100% completed it, Chao Garden and all. Your girlfriend has good taste.”

Frederick chuckled. “Well, if you insist. Honestly, the gameplay’s a bit...frustrating, at times. Also, Eve’s not my girlfriend.”

“No, I know that, it’s just, uh, a joke,” Jackie hurried to say. “Probably...not a very good one. Just, uh...shorter than saying...nevermind. You probably have a different girlfriend.” He looked out the window, feeling his face heat up.

They stopped at a red light. Frederick looked over at Jackie, raising an eyebrow and quirking a smile. “I had one girlfriend in fifth year. When she told me she loved me for the first time, I panicked and left the room, went to the bathroom and screamed, then left the whole building via bathroom window.”

“Oh my god,” Jackie whispered. “Oh, that’s such a fucking mood. But you really just had one date your whole life?”

“No, I’ve dated since then.”

“...ah.” Jackie coughed awkwardly. “Uh...the light’s green.”

Frederick turned his attention back to the road. After a moment of silence, he asked, “What about you?”

“About me? I mean—like, dating?” Jackie shrunk down further in his seat, hair falling in his face. “I’ve had lots of partners. I mean, not in like...the last three years, I think. Tried not to get any of them...involved. In the whole...crime-fighting thing.”

There was a small moment of silence. “Oh. Of course.” Frederick’s voice suddenly seemed less warm. “Well, that’s a...good idea. Wouldn’t want anyone to know about that, then?”

“Well, I mean, if I dated someone, they would be in danger,” Jackie explained. Why did he feel so...bad about mentioning his vigilante activities around Frederick?

“No, I know. Makes sense.”

The phone vibrated. Jackie glanced down to see a text appeared on the screen. “Heather says they’re heading out of town, going west on this road called Harrison.”

“Got it.” Frederick turned left. “Where’re they going?” he muttered.

Jackie shrugged. “I dunno. Been a while since I’ve been here, and it’s a big country.”

“Not that big.”

“No. Actually, it’s kinda small, I guess, compared to others. Maybe average size?” Jackie shook his head. “Getting off topic. Anyway, don’t know where they’re going. Maybe Jameson’s been here before, wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Hmm.” Frederick considered this. “Would he be up to no good, you think?”

“Oh, almost definitely. Dude’s a schemer. This is probably part of some greater plot.” Jackie frowned. “I just don’t know what.”

Frederick sighed. “Well, good thing we’re on his tail, then.”

They drove for some time, adjusting course as needed according to instructions from Heather. Soon the urban landscape faded into suburban towns, then countryside occasionally broken up by small rural villages.

They were on the edge of said small rural village when they saw a familiar car on the edge of the road. Frederick frowned. “Did we...catch up with Heather?” He slowly pulled over.

The other car’s window rolled down, and Heather poked her head out. She started talking even before Frederick lowered his window to hear her. “—could be further up, or they could’ve taken a turn at the three-way fork back there. I have no idea.”

“We’ve lost them?” Frederick asked, surprised.

Heather sighed, looking down. “I...I think so.” She fell silent.

Jackie looked around. There really wasn’t much here. “It can’t be that hard to find them, right?” He asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

Neither Frederick nor Heather responded. Heather kept her eyes down on her lap. Frederick was very still, expression unreadable. Slowly, Jackie’s heart started to sink. Had they come all that way for nothing? Could he...could he really not make up for leaving Yvonne to Jameson’s hypnotism?

“Jackie, hand me my phone again,” Frederick suddenly said.

Jackie jumped, and passed it over to him. He watched as Frederick unlocked it and opened up the phone’s browser. “What’re you doing?” he asked.

“Checking the MRDb for who lives in the area,” Frederick said absentmindedly.

“The...what?” Jackie asked.

“Magician Registry Database.”

Jackie blinked. “So...magicians are online? And also, what’s that?”

“Of course magicians are online,” Heather piped up. “I mean...their websites are magic, so most people can’t access them, but they’re online. There’s no, like, aversion to technology or anyone stopping them from using the Internet.”

“The MRDb is the place where every magician is listed, along with their place of residency and all that other information you’d find in a census,” Frederick explained.

Jackie frowned. “Magicians get...registered? That sounds a bit sketchy.”

Frederick rolled his eyes. “Most governments register their citizens. And it’s not like anyone can access it. Only those with ABIM jobs, and even just specific ABIM jobs. How’re we supposed to send aid to them if we don’t know where they live? Help with magical problems, supplemental income, stuff like that.” He paused, typing something. “Saw the sign for the town back there. I’m trying to see if anyone nearby would be able to help us track them. Maybe someone better at it than me could figure out how to do that.”

“Oh. Uh, makes sense.” Jackie settled against the seat. “I’ll just...be here, then.”

It took a few minutes for Frederick to find what he was looking for, during which Jackie just waited quietly, playing with the ends of his hair. He really hadn’t been able to do much on this trip. All he did was give Frederick the idea. Though, maybe he could’ve done more if he hadn’t lost Frederick’s trust the night before. Which...maybe he lost it for a good reason. Most of the time, when someone spoke up against him for his acts of vigilantism, he thought they were doing it because they just didn’t understand. He just wanted to protect people. But Frederick wanted to protect others too. He tracked down black magic, for god’s sake. And, well...Jackie thought he had good judgement. He seemed like it, at least. So...maybe there was a point, somewhere here?

“Okay, since we’re in the middle of nowhere, as established,” Frederick said, interrupting Jackie’s train of thought, “there aren’t a lot of magicians out here. There’s no one in this town, but there are a few in a close-by one. And one who lives out in the woods.”

“So, which one is most likely to help, then?” Heather asked, leaning out of her car window.

Frederick frowned. “I’m not sure. We need to at least talk to them.”

“Let’s do that, then,” Heather said. “Who’s closest?”

“Uh...” Frederick glanced down at the phone. “They’re all kinda far. What’s closer, the next town or the forest?”

“Isn’t the forest right there?” Jackie asked, pointing out the window at the line of trees. A smaller road branched off the main one, heading around the edge of the woods.

“Yeah, but we’ll have to drive a bit, still,” Frederick said.

Heather started her car again. “I say the woods. Cause then we won’t have to, like, search through an entire town to get to this magician guy.”

“Alright, sounds good, I suppose.” Frederick put his phone away and started his car as well. “I hope they have food, though, it’s almost lunchtime.”

“We can always order pizza,” Jackie said. “We never got to do that yesterday.”

Frederick chuckled.

The two cars headed down the small branch of the road, going as fast as the narrow path would enable. Soon the village had passed out of sight, and they were well and truly surrounded by nothing. About a half an hour later, they passed through a small stand of trees and saw a cabin, out in the middle of a field with a path leading up to it. There were two cars parked nearby. Frederick pulled up next to them, and Heather stopped behind them.

Frederick glanced out the car window as Heather stepped out. Then he looked back at Jackie. “Hey, you wanna walk up and talk to this guy with me?”

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Just in case this magician turned out to be sketchy, it would be better for two to talk than just one.

Frederick and Jackie climbed out of their car and walked up to the front door, Heather close behind. While Jackie hovered back a few steps and bounced in place, Frederick knocked on the door, the sound of wood on wood different from a regular knock. A few minutes later, the door opened. “Hi, I’m looking for...” Frederick trailed off. “Wait a minute. What?”

The man who opened the door was wearing a black hoodie, his hair brown but holding the fading remnant of green dye. There was also a glowing green eyeball sitting on his shoulder.

Jackie’s eyes widened. “Wh—Jack?!”

“Do I—wait. Oh, holy shit, Jackie?!” Jack covered his mouth with one hand. “Oh my god, what happened to you?! What happened to your eye?!”

Jackie laughed. “Oh my—it’s a fucking long story, man.”

Frederick looked back at Jackie. “You know this guy? Actually, why am I asking that, you probably do know someone who looks so much like yourse—wait.” He turned back around. “Your name is Jack? And this is Jackie? That can’t just be a coincidence.”

“Actually, it is,” Jackie said.

Heather waved. “Oh hey, I remember you! Didn’t I run into you in the prison a few days ago? What’s with the thing on your shoulder? Is that an eyeball? Aren’t you a YouTuber with an eyeball as a logo?”

“Uh...” Jack took a step back. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I’m looking for Tiernan Rua,” Frederick said. “Doesn’t he live here?”

“Yeah, but he’s kinda, uh...” Jack coughed awkwardly. “...unconscious. Right now.”

“Oh.” Frederick blinked. “What happened?”

“He...I think it’s cause he used a lot of magic on a spell? But he’s been unconscious for, like...twelve hours now, so...”

“Oh shit, that must’ve been one hell of a spell,” Frederick said, eyes wide.

Jack sighed. “It was.” He went quiet, eyes landing on Jackie again. Jackie looked away. “Do you three...want to come inside?”

“That would be great, thank you,” Frederick said, trying to sound cheerful. “I’m Frederick Chiu, this is my friend Heather Bell, and you already know Jackie, right?”

“Uh...yeeaahh,” Jack said, glancing back at Jackie one last time. “Anyway, come in. I’ll...be right back.” Jack disappeared further into the house.

The three of them walked into the house, looking around the living room. “Well...that could’ve gone smoother,” Frederick muttered.

“Yeah, Jackie, what’s your deal with him?” Heather asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind. I know that you, like, kidnapped him, but—wait, no. Shit.” Heather hit herself in the forehead. “I legit didn’t mean to say that.”

“I didn’t kidnap him,” Jackie said quietly. “Chase did. With Marvin and Schneep’s help. And then he recruited Jameson to hypnotize him.” He paused, looking over at the other two. “I never wanted any of that, y’know.”

Frederick narrowed his eyes. “But you didn’t do anything.”

“...no.” The word was barely audible. “I didn’t.”

Quietly, Jackie walked over to the nearest sofa, moving a stack of papers in order to make room for him to sit down. Soon, Frederick and Heather started talking to each other, their voices a dull background noise.

Things had just gotten even more complicated.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Only Truth That Sticks

A Short Septics Inverted Story

So originally this was meant to be at the end of the last story, but I thought it worked better on its own. It’s a little shorter, so you get some Inverted content, like, super early. Anyway, I moved the taglist to under the cut. Hope you guys like this ^-^

Read the intro story: Part One | Part Two

Various other AU-related stuff found here

For a while, the cabin was as undisturbed as it’s always been. The trees around it were motionless, no wind or animals rustling the branches. The sky above was the dusky blue color of just after sunset. The cabin was the only building in sight, and it looks well-settled in its place in the earth.

And then the air changed, like it shifted uneasily. There was a puff of purple smoke, and suddenly a man was there, stumbling and leaning against the nearest tree.

Marvin closed his eyes, breathing heavily. His hands were shaking slightly, and he couldn’t stop shivering. So many teleportation spells in a row, across so long a distance, had drained him. But it had been worth it. There was no way anyone could find him here. He stood up straight, looking at the cabin. God, how long had it been since he’d seen this place? He barely remembered it, how could anyone else connect him to it?

The inside looked untouched, a layer of dust covering every surface. Marvin didn’t bother to turn on any of the lamps; though it would be dark to anyone else, he could see well enough. The cabin was small. The living area had a tiny kitchenette attached, and there were only three doors visible, leading to the bedroom, bathroom, and storage closet.

Bookshelves lined the walls of the room, but every single one was empty. That’s right, he remembered. He’d taken all his books with him when he decided to move. Kept them all downstairs in the basement, all piled everywhere with no organization. Until Jameson came along and—

Marvin’s breath hitched. No no no no, why was he thinking about this? He should be thinking about anything else. Not about how the ABIM who’d found him had surely taken all his books away. Or how they’d probably taken all his other stuff away. Because Jameson had told—and they hadn’t taken all his stuff away, because Jameson took his soul searcher and—and Jameson had—

Marvin found his breathing growing quicker, every inhale tearing at his lungs. He threw himself on the nearest sofa, burying his face in the throw pillow. The mask dug against his face, so he pulled back, undid the straps, and threw it against the wall, not bothering to look to hear the clatter of it landing.

Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it—he couldn’t. His mouth was open in an attempt to get as much air as possible, but it wasn’t enough. Tears leaked from his eyes as he gripped the cushions, opening and closing his fist in an attempt to calm down. Small whimpers escaped his throat. 

There wasn’t room for thoughts in his mind. Just waves of feelings crashing into him that he couldn’t name if someone asked him to. Something that ached inside so much it hurt, like touching ice so cold it's scorching. Something that hit him and spun him around, a windstorm of hail. Something that felt like an empty wound bleeding onto the floor. It was too much, too much, too much. He gasped for air, running a hand through his hair as his other clawed uselessly at the sofa beneath him.

Why? Why was it that every time he opened the gate for someone, they burned the garden inside?

He couldn’t say how long he stayed there, hyperventilating so hard his throat started to burn, crying so much his eyes dried out. Eventually, he ran himself out. He huddled into the corner of the sofa, hugging the throw pillow and running his hands along the fabric. At some point he’d started chewing on the edge of his cape. He didn’t mind. It was almost...grounding, in a way. Made him feel less like an empty balloon that had deflated until it was lying sadly on the floor.

Maybe he would’ve done the same thing as Jameson had, if he’d been in that position. But he didn’t know. He had no way of knowing. And it didn’t stop him from thinking that Jameson should have found another way around it. There had to be one. Maybe if he’d told him the situation, he could’ve helped him find it. There just—Jameson couldn’t have wanted to do it. It couldn’t have been that way. All of it, all those late nights in the library, all those times they came to each other’s assistance, all those thoughts Marvin had felt safe enough to share, safer than he’d ever felt with anyone else...it couldn’t have meant nothing.

Was that all it was worth? Nothing?

Marvin gritted his teeth. It didn’t matter, did it? All that mattered was that he’d been taken in again. Left out in the cold. Every time. Every time he let someone in, it ended like this. Why the fuck did he keep doing it?

He sat up straight, muscles aching as he uncurled from his position. Maybe he should just stop. Just stop everything. If fucking Jameson did this, then anyone could. And anyone did! That’s what they all did, leave someone at the curb at the first opportunity! With a sudden yell, he threw the throw pillow across the room, smacking it against the wall. Before it even began to fell, it was hit with a bolt of purple magic, eating up the fabric and burning the stuffing inside.

Marvin was breathing heavily again, though for an entirely different reason now. He shot to his feet and threw out his arms, flinging an arc of purple across the room, where it began to sizzle through every surface it touched. He made a gesture like he was holding a ball and brought his hand down. There was a sound, almost like metal clanging against metal but a thousand times louder, and shockwaves of magic traveled through the room. The furniture suddenly launched away from him, hitting the walls. He covered his ears and screamed, and the furniture cracked with purple light and exploded, shards of wood and metal and glass flying everywhere.

It wasn’t enough. Spinning on his heel, Marvin turned and sprinted back outside. The door burst outward. He ran and ran and ran between the dark trees, until he stopped, not even thinking about where he was, and screamed again. The branches bent backwards, the bark of the trees turning purple and rotting away. The trees had no time to recover before there was purple light slicing through their trunks, felling them in some places. Violet magic dripped like sludge to the ground, and the grass and shrub withered and died instantly. Whirling purple meteors screamed as they careened through the trees, turning whatever they touched black and twisted. Marvin was in the center of it all, ribbons of violet twisting around him, glowing circles expanding ever outwards. And he kept screaming.

It always ended in disaster, crashing and agony. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried. Well, he wouldn’t try then. No more. No more! No more! If they wanted to get past the garden gate this time, they’d only find ash beyond.

He kept screaming, even after his throat became raw. He kept pushing magic outward, even as the ground beneath his feet blackened. Even as the trees crashed to the ground and decayed to nothing. Even as his legs collapsed and he fell to his hands and knees. Even as blood began to drip from his nose and ears and his mind started to spin. Even as he lost the strength to hold himself up and fell to the ground, heaving up thick, dark blood.

He kept pushing even as there was nothing left to give.

Until he was beyond empty.

And Marvin closed his eyes, and stopped moving.

Throughout the night, the land remained silent, as if it was mourning that circle of dead earth. The stars and moon ahead went on their course, peering down at the black, poisoned land and the one lying in the center of it all. The sun rose, weak rays barely touching the rocky ground around the magician, let alone the magician himself. The day passed, the course of the planet unaltered, and the sun sank below the horizon again, the moon resuming its vigil.

His fingers twitched.

His arm moved back in a jerky motion, followed by the other. He pushed himself into a kneeling position, and from there clambered slowly, awkwardly, back to his feet. He swayed back and forth.

From there, he reached up, hand splayed open and stretched to the sky. In the center of his palm grew an orb. Burning magic. Dripping magic. Magic that was violet along its edges, but grew yet darker towards the center, until the core of it was black.

He opened his eyes. No longer blue, but purple, dark fluid dripping from the sockets.

A smile twisted his face, and in a flash of dark smoke, he was gone.

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