the-earnest-system

[the-earnest-system]

Back to the Heart of it All

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Forty-Nine

A JSE Fanfic

In which a whole bunch of different things happen so I wasn't quite sure what to name the chapter XD But I like this one. It feels poignant, as we're drawing close to the end of this story. The Phantoms are ready to disperse, and all our main group are going to Suilthair to help Jack sort things out over there. Chase spends more time with his kids, Henrik says a temporary goodbye to someone special, and Jack has to build up some confidence so he can confront who the spirit left in charge. Hope you enjoy! :D

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

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It was hard for Chase to believe how much his life had changed. If someone had told him a year ago that next summer, he would be in a former rebel base, helping the King of Glasúil get saddled on a horse, he would have advised them to see a doctor for possible illnesses. But here he was. “You’re doing great, Jack, really,” Chase assured him. “Your muscle memory must be working.”

Jack laughed nervously. “It must be. But I’m worried about staying on as well.” He leaned forward, gripping the reins of the horse tightly. He looked tempted to grab onto the horse’s white mane as well, but held back.

“Well... you still have your enchantment powers, don’t you?” Chase said. “I’ve heard stories of enchanters being able to communicate with animals. Can’t you tell the horse to be careful with you?”

“I’m... probably out of practice with that...” Jack mumbled.

“Out of practice with what?” Jackie walked over. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.”

“Hi, Jackie.” Chase smiled. “How are you feeling? Everything is healed?”

“As healed as it can be.” Jackie stretched his arms above his head, then winced. “Okay, stretching is a bad idea, still, I’m remembering that. In any case, I don’t want to delay going to Suilthair any further. What are you out of practice with, Your Majesty? Horse riding? I’m sure if you ask Vsevna, he’ll make space for you on the Serpent’s Wake. That’s probably faster, anyway.”

Jack shook his head. “N-no, I don’t think it will... be good for me, to be stuck on the water. Having sea legs won’t help my balance. Besides, I’d rather take the time during the journey to think.”

Jackie nodded slowly. “That does make sense.”

“Besides, I was... talking about... my enchantment powers,” Jack mumbled. “Chase suggested I try to use them on the horse to ask for a smooth ride.”

“...well, that seems like a good use of enchantment powers,” Jackie said slowly. “And from what I know, something like that is easier and... less invasive than other enchantments.”

Jack sighed. “Yea... that’s a good point. Maybe I’ll try... but I-I’ll see if I can stay on the horse from my own power, first.”

“That’s a good idea.” Chase smiled. “Now... I have to get on my own horse. Can you handle it from here?”

Jack nodded. “I’ll stay here until we’re ready to go.”

Jackie glanced at Chase and mouthed, I’ll keep an eye on him, too.

“I’ll see you again once we get started,” Chase said. He gave a small bow, then headed off.

Not all of the Phantoms were going to Suilthair. Some of them were going to other camps to help figure out what the Phantoms there were going to do now—try to either dismantle the camps or repurpose them for something else. Others were staying here, maintaining this position just in case. Still others were going home. Some already had. And Chase couldn’t blame them. He wanted to go home, too. Though that was a bit difficult since his village had burned down. So, the second best thing was in Suilthair, anyway—Stacia was still there, along with a lot of the other villagers. He had to see them. To see her. To see if... her reaction to him had only been because of the enchantment or... if there was a kernel of truth to her feelings.

The party heading to Suilthair was gathering at the edge of camp. The horses they were taking had been brought here originally by the warriors—most of whom were also coming to Suilthair, as their return would lend everything a bit of credibility. There weren’t enough horses for everyone, so some people would be walking, but Chase had been lucky enough to claim one—mostly because he said that he wanted it for the kids.

Said kids were looking up at the horse Chase had claimed in awe and confusion. They hadn’t really seen horses regularly before. As Chase approached, he saw Jameson talking to them. They’re really friendly once you get to know them, but you do have to be confident, he was saying. Trust that they’ll take care of you. If you grip the horse too tightly, it will just make them nervous.

“They sense fear,” Amabel whispered, then giggled.

A little bit, I suppose! Jameson said, smiling. But they’re also very scared creatures themselves.

Quentin reached up towards the horse’s head, looking a little nervous as he patted its nose. The horse seemed docile enough, though. Chase still didn’t know much about horses, but others told him that this one—white with large brown patches—was the most docile of the ones the warriors had brought. The best one for the children. “Hello there!” Chase announced as he walked close. “Are you two ready?”

“Dad!” Amabel waved excitedly. “Come meet Locket! She’s so pretty, isn’t she?”

“I’ve already met her, Amy,” Chase laughed. “Right before I went to help Jack. I helped saddle her up.”

“Ohhh.” Amabel nodded. “So... we... get on her, then?”

Quentin swallowed nervously.

“Don’t worry, Quen, I’ll be right behind you two,” Chase reassured him. “Here, I’ll help lift you up first. Is that okay?”

“Y-yea.” Quentin nodded. He raised his arms into the air and Chase crouched down, wrapping his arms around his tiny waist.

“Alright, swing your leg over here,” Chase grunted. “Yes, just like that. I’ll just push you into place. Here, you’re tiny enough that you can hold onto that bit of the saddle in front instead of the reins. Yes, you’re doing great!” He let go of Quentin, who sat stiff as a board in the saddle. “Great job, Quen.” Chase smiled. “Now, Amy? Do you need help?”

“I... I can use the stirrup!” Amabel said decisively. “Just, uh... I need a stool or something.”

Jameson grinned. He linked his hands together and put them close to the stirrup—acting as a step. Amabel nodded and stepped onto the man-made step, then onto the stirrup. She tried to swing her leg around but accidentally hit Quentin on the way, causing him to yelp. But she quickly shimmied into place after that.

“Hey!” Quentin frowned and tried to look back at her. “You hit me!”

“Sorry,” Amabel said. “I was focusing. Thank you, Jameson.”

Jameson shook his hands. Not a problem, Amabel! You three will have a great trip, I’m sure. Locket has been totally unbothered this whole time, she’s a very good pony.

Amabel smiled. “Hear that, Quen? Good pony.”

“Good pony,” Quentin repeated absentmindedly.

Chase took a deep breath and also got on Locket. It was a bit cramped with the kids in front of him. But if things got too uncomfortable he was okay with getting off and walking beside the horse. “Alright, Jameson. Are you ready to go, too? Or... get on your horse, at least?”

Jameson nodded. I’ll see you on the road, then? 

“See you on the road,” Chase repeated, grinning.

Jameson gave him a small salute, then walked over to his own horse—again, borrowed from the warriors. All of the horses were being put to use, either for riding, or for carrying supplies. The black horse Aneirin rode as in the latter category, as Jack felt uneasy around the tall steed. By now, almost everyone who was going to Suilthair was ready and mounted. Chase scanned the area. Jackie was on his own horse, and Marvin was nearby, preferring to walk with Draco at his feet. Henrik was coming, but he wasn’t here yet. Chase didn’t blame him for that, though, as he had something very important to do.

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Henrik stared out at the ocean, watching as boats rowed back and forth between the coast and the Serpent’s Wake, still anchored just off the side of the Cliffs of Feall. Though not for much longer. They’d stayed for weeks, doing all they could to help the Phantoms and the warriors recover from the battle. But they could only stay in one place for so long. “Where will you be going now?” Henrik asked.

Next to him, Vsevna shrugged and leaned back, resting his weight on his arms. The two of them were sitting near the edge of the cliffs, watching the ocean together. “Before we joined up with the Masked Phantoms, we were a simple merchant ship. Perhaps we will go back to doing that.”

“So... you will be leaving the island, then?” Henrik asked tentatively.

“Eventually, yes.” Vsevna nodded. “But you knew that, did you not?”

Henrik sighed. “I did. You have always been a sailor. But... I will miss you.”

Vsevna scooted closer to him. “I will miss you too, sova. Sometimes, I miss you even when we are away for only an hour.”

“Well that is a bit extreme, is it not?” Henrik chuckled.

“Heh. That is exaggeration, but you know what I mean.” Vsevna laughed as well. “You are... dear to me. And you always will be. I promise you that.”

Henrik nodded. “You are dear to me as well.” After a moment of hesitation, he leaned his head against Vsevna’s shoulder. “But I know that you belong on the ocean. That is your passion, and I would not keep you from that. But I... I just hope you write to me a lot.”

“Every night I will write down anything interesting that happened, so that I can put it into a letter when enough is piled up,” Vsevna said.

“Oh, you do not have to do that—”

“I have just decided that I will. I have spoken it into the world and so it must be fulfilled.”

Henrik laughed. “Then I will do the same!”

“You will probably have a lot more to write about, then.” Vsevna glanced back at the camp behind them. “I know that a lot will be happening in this kingdom in the next while. Which is why... I don’t think we will be leaving the kingdom behind entirely for a while more. We will probably be doing some internal shipping, from one city on the coast to another. But ah, the Wake, you know it is meant for deep waters.”

“It would be a shame to keep it too close to the shore,” Henrik agreed. “It runs more risk of running aground.”

“The very idea scares me.” Vsevna shivered, a look of exaggerated horror on his face. Henrik couldn’t help but smile.

They fell silent for a bit. The rowboats’ journeys became less and less frequent out on the water. Until, finally, just one more rowed out to the base of the cliffs. Henrik could barely make out the faces of the passengers far below. One of them belonged to Yuko, Vsevna’s second mate. She looked up towards them and waved. Vsevna waved back, then held up a single finger. She nodded, and turned away. “That is the sign for you to go, then?” Henrik asked, trying not to let his sadness into his voice. 

“Yes, unfortunately.” Vsevna sighed and shifted his weight. Henrik leaned away so that he could get to his feet, then stood up next to him as well. “We are going to make our first stop at Kroswealosh, I think. It is a big port city, very likely to have things that must be shipped. I want to send you a message once we arrive. Should I tell Yuko to send the bird towards Suilthair?”

Henrik nodded. “I feel as though that is where I will be for a long while. Perhaps I will even... settle down there. Become a city doctor, instead of a traveling one. I-it will make it a lot easier for you, if you do not have to worry about where to send the message bird each time.”

“I do not want to stop you from traveling, sova,” Vsevna said softly. “After all, you are not stopping me.”

“Well, I think it is different for me,” Henrik said slowly. “You... you love the adventure, you love the seeing new places. Travel is not so important to me. It has always been because... that is how I thought I could help the most people.”

Vsevna chuckled. “Of course it has. I know this about you. Brilliant, caring Henrik.” He turned to face Henrik completely and reached out to grab his hands. Henrik let this happen, gripping Vsevna’s hands tightly in turn. “I hope... I hope things work out with your medicine, Henrik. I-if something goes wrong while I am gone, I... I want you to message me, yes? Yuko is leaving one of her birds here—”

“I know she is,” Henrik said.

“Right, of course you know, I-I told you.” Vsevna laughed nervously. “But... please do not only tell me... the happy news, yes? Do you understand? I-I know you may be scared, you may not want to worry me or... risk pushing me away. But I want to know the bad things as well. I want to know, so that I can send you back the reassurances and whatever other comforts you need. That is what we do in this situation, yes?”

“Yes.” Henrik nodded. “In that case... you must do the same. We can tell each other all the good and bad things, and it will be like we are right with each other. Do you promise?”

“I promise. Do you?”

“Of course.” Henrik smiled. “Now... I do not want to keep you waiting, so—”

Suddenly, Vsevna leaned forward, pressing his face against Henrik’s. The movement—the meeting—was unexpected, and Henrik gasped slightly, the sound muffled. Vsevna quickly pulled back. “S-sorry, did you not want to—”

“No, no, I-I did.” Henrik laughed. “I just... I thought you would say something first. Or move slower. H-here, here, let’s try again.” He leaned forward, and after a split second of hesitation, Vsevna did as well, the two of them meeting in the middle.

The kiss lingered for a good few seconds before they both stopped at the same time. Henrik couldn’t stop from smiling, and he saw the same dumb grin on Vsevna’s face, too. “Next time, I will say something,” Vsevna said.

“Let it be the first thing you say to me,” Henrik said. He squeezed Vsevna’s hands one last time, then let go. “Now... please go join your crew. You might be worrying them.”

“Oh, I think they know what the delay was for,” Vsevna chuckled. “You keep an eye out for my message bird, sova.”

“I will. I will send a reply back straight away after.” Henrik nodded. “Stay safe. Farewell.”

“Farewell, Henrik.” Vsevna smiled, then turned and hurried to the path down the cliffs.

Henrik watched him go. He leaned over the side to watch Vsevna get in the row boat, and stayed watching until the boat got out into the water. Then he took a deep breath and went back to camp. No doubt the others already had all the horses saddled up to go already.

Part of his heart was already aching. But he thought back to that last moment, to their closeness. And he couldn’t help but smile again.

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The journey to Suilthair was long and not very interesting. Despite how they were traveling with a squad of warriors wearing the royal crest, as well as the King himself, they didn’t attract much attention. Then again, that might be because they deliberately avoided towns whenever possible. They didn’t want to cause a fuss or risk something delaying them. It was crucial that they get to the city as soon as possible.

Over time, Amabel and Quentin both grew to really love and appreciate the horses—especially Locket, who they usually spent most of the day riding on. Neither the kids nor Chase really liked horseriding, as it was very bouncy and sort of uncomfortable. But they got used to it. It was a small price to pay for a quick pace.

Jackie wasn’t too fond of horses either, but unlike Chase and his kids, he couldn’t get off the horse to walk sometimes. Henrik insisted that he not walk because it might open his wound back up. Despite Jackie protesting that he was “almost completely healed” by this point. Once they got closer to the city, Marvin got tired of hearing Henrik and Jackie argue about this, and used some magic one night to heal the rest of Jackie’s lingering injury. Chase... didn’t know that was something he could do. “Why hadn’t you used magical healing before?” he asked. “That would’ve come in handy countless times!”

Marvin glanced side to side, then pulled Chase close. “Because the only healing spell I know involves me actually taking on the injuries and pain of the wound,” he explained. “I think there are other ones, but I never bothered to learn them because they all have consequences along those lines.”

“Oh!” Chase’s eyes widened. “Will... will you be okay for the rest of the journey?”

“Of course.” Marvin snorted. “Jackie’s ‘wound’ by this point has been naturally healed down to a small cut. Henrik is just being overprotective. But you have to let him be, sometimes. It’s how he shows he cares.”

Jameson spent the first couple days on the trip looking at his new mask. Or rather, the new decorations on his old mask. He’d agreed to take over as the lead for administration, letting Anna go home to see her family. Now, dark blue circles colored the inside of the rabbit’s ears, while the nose was made purple. A pair of curving, light blue lines traced the shape of the mask, one to the left and one to the right. Anna hadn’t had any colored decorations, but Marvin, Jackie, and Henrik all insisted that he have some. “You came with us into the Wyldwood, Jameson!” Jackie had said. “You’re a huge part of this. You deserve some color.” Which was true, Jameson supposed. Even so, it didn’t really feel real. He never would have guessed his life would lead him here. But as the journey progressed, he started to settle into this new role... which wasn’t really too new to him, anyway. After all, before all this, he’d been a noble, training to take over the responsibilities of the Jairsolas family one day. It took him a bit to remember his old lessons about leadership, but... something told him he would figure it out.

Jack, meanwhile, was becoming more and more nervous the closer they got to Suilthair. Everyone could see it. He hadn’t been too outgoing in the first place, but as time went on he began fidgeting, his face drawn, barely picking at his food during meal times and constantly shifting back and forth while riding his horse. By the time they were a day away from the city, it was beginning to actually be a problem, as dark bags from lack of sleep were clearly forming under his eyes.

While the group was riding, Chase stalled for a moment to get off Locket, handing her reins to a nearby rider so that she wouldn’t go off course (and take his kids with her.) “I’ll be right back,” he said to Amabel and Quentin, then hurried over to Jack, who was riding nearby. “Hey Jack.” He looked up at him, maintaining a brisk pace so he was even with the trotting horse. “We’re going to reach Suilthair before nightfall, you know.”

Jack tensed slightly, gripping the reins of his horse tighter. “Y-yes, of course I know. I heard you all talk about it when we were breaking camp.”

“Right, we were.” Chase nodded. “So... how nervous are you about that?”

“Nervous? What makes you say that?” Jack gave him a smile... nervously.

“You’re... not exactly doing a great job at hiding it,” Chase said slowly. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way, there are a lot of reasons why you might, but... I just wanted to check on you.”

Jack’s smiled faded. He looked away and sighed. “You’re a really good man, Chase.”

“I try to be.” Chase laughed a little. “So... how nervous are you?”

“Very, I think,” Jack admitted. “I know that your group has been doing some, uh... research into the city’s current state—and the whole country’s, too, of course. I know that we’ll be walking into a place that’s mostly confused, but... I can’t help but be afraid that some people there will remember what I—what Aneirin did to them. All the enchantment, and all the harm he caused... Not to mention I distinctly remember he left Thalia Tinechroí in charge as regent, and she’s not exactly the most pleasant person, even though she tries to be charming.”

Chase laughed. “I think Marvin and all the rest of us would agree.” Then he looked ahead as well—down the road leading to Suilthair. His expression turned serious. “I know it’s probably going to be hard. And complicated. But we’re here to stand by you. You have us with you—and a squad of warriors who probably have high ranks in the, uh... rankings. We’ll all lend you support and backup. In whatever way you need.”

“I know you will, Chase.” Jack nodded. He took a deep breath. “It’s just... hard not to think about all the bad things that could happen.”

“Well, at least nothing will be as bad as that spirit, right?” Chase shrugged.

Jack laughed. “You’re fucking right about that!”

Chase grinned. “Besides, you’re a very good man, too, Jack. Everything will be fine. You just... need to look royal. And speak royally.”

“That might be a bit tricky,” Jack said slowly. “I don’t feel very royal.”

“Hm... well, maybe there’s some magic that could help with that?” Chase suggested. “I saw you talking to your horse a couple times during the journey. Is that... helping you get... familiar with your magic again?”

“O-oh, you... saw that.” Jack looked a bit embarrassed, but pressed on. “I guess it has.”

“Maybe you could make some sort of illusion around yourself,” Chase continued. “Like how the Fair Folk are said to wear glamours to change their appearance.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard of that.” Jack nodded. “You know, it’s funny, I picked up on some tidbits from that spirit while it was... h-here.” He went a bit pale, but again, pressed on. “Back in his day, there was a rumor that Smauel’s father was a Fair Folk—explaining why he had such strong enchantment magic. I... guess that would mean the spirit’s father was the same. With them being twins and all that. So... I could probably do a Fair-Folk-like glamour. I doubt I could make myself look like an entirely different person, but I could probably make some slight modifications to my appearance.”

“You might want to get rid of the dark circles under your eyes,” Chase suggested.

“I have dark circles?” Jack blinked. “Alright, uh... Chase, do you mind watching me while I practice this? Tell me when the dark circles disappear.”

Chase smiled. “I will. Not a problem.”

Later that day, shortly after they stopped for a quick lunch break, the Emerald Lake came into view, its water gleaming in the sunlight. The group had spent a lot of the journey avoiding the roads, but now they met up with one, hoofbeats and footsteps thudding on the packed dirt. They had to take the ferry to the island in the center, of course, but they’d worked out the timing carefully so that one would definitely be there when they arrived. The small dock area where the ferry arrived and departed was pretty much empty except for the sailors who ran the place and a handful of warriors. The traveling group was easily spotted—in part because Jack had put on the King’s golden circlet again. It had been tucked away for most of the journey—and indeed, it had been tucked away since the end of the battle at the Cliffs. But now it was out again, and though there was a bit of dirt clinging to it, Jack had practiced enhancing its shine with his powers, making it so that anyone who looked at it thought they saw it perfectly clean and almost glowing. He’d done the same with the rest of his clothes, dusty from travel, and had made himself look less tired and drawn, with Chase’s help.

Everyone nearby stopped and stared at the group as they approached. Then one of the warriors gasped. “Ronnie!” They ran towards the group, and while the Phantoms all tensed instinctively, one of the formerly-enchanted warriors laughed and ran forward to meet this other warrior, and the two of them embraced. That certainly broke the tension.

“Your Majesty, you—you’ve returned!” gasped one of the sailors. “You’re—do you—you wish to use the public ferry?”

“It seems the most efficient, doesn’t it?” Jack said. His tone was lighthearted, almost joking. The sailor couldn’t see the way he gripped the reins of his horse tightly. “We’ll be leaving our mounts in the stable here. How soon can you be ready to depart for the island?”

“A-as soon as possible!” The sailor bowed, and so did everyone else. Some of the formerly-enchanted warriors hurried forward to explain the situation to the warriors here. Or at least, to give them the most basic of basic rundowns. There probably wouldn’t be time to explain everything.

One ferry ride later (the whole group was pretty crowded on the small boat), and they had arrived in Suilthair proper. Everyone spilled out of the ferry and onto land, immediately garnering attention from the regular cityfolk, who stopped in their tracks to stare. Then, once they realized who was among this group, they all gasped. The King?! With not only royal warriors, but some of those mask-wearing rebels as well?! And they were all... getting along?! Talk began to buzz around them like a hive of bees. Some shouted at others to come look at this, and people began leaning out the windows of buildings to look at what all the fuss was about.

Chase made sure that Amabel and Quentin were close to him. He held Amabel’s hand tightly in his left, and Quentin’s in his right. His eyes darted around. At least people didn’t seem angry. They didn’t seem happy, either, but he wasn’t expecting that. They mostly just seemed shocked and confused.

“Alright, Your Majesty.” Jackie stepped close to Jack, scanning the crowd for potential dangers. On Jack’s other side, Lydia the warrior did the same thing. “Let’s get to the castle fast.”

“Right.” Jack nodded. He looked out at the crowd on the docks and raised a hand, waving in greeting with a half-smile on his face. “Sorry! We have business to attend to.”

The fact that the King actually spoke to them just seemed to shock and confuse the crowd more. “Okay, really, everyone go.” Jackie began ushering people forward. “We don’t want to create a bottleneck on these narrow wooden paths.”

The group hurried through the city, the wooden pathways bouncing under the weight of their many boots but never dipping too far into the water. Despite Jackie’s best efforts, there were occasional spots where their progress slowed because of the onlookers. A crowd was starting to develop, some of said onlookers following the group as they made their way towards the palace in the center. It seemed to disperse for a moment as the group stepped from the wooden pathways to the actual island, but then it began to gather up again in even greater force. None of the onlookers got too close, always keeping a couple arm’s lengths away from the edge of the group, but they were there. Jack smiled slightly and waved a couple times. And every time he did, the crowd was clearly surprised.

Then they reached the castle wall.

The crowd fell back a bit, reluctant to get too close. A pair of warriors outside the front gate looked at the group as they approached, wary at first but then becoming more confused as they saw the King and some royal warriors walking among the strange masked rebels (though not all of the Phantoms wore their masks, nor did all of the warriors wear their tunics with the royal crest.) Jack stalled for a moment. The enchantment he was sending out hid his anxiety, but Chase knew it was there. “You can do this,” he whispered.

“Yea, Mr. Your Majesty,” Amabel added, nodding seriously. “You can do this.”

Jack looked down at her in mild surprise, then nodded back at her. He stepped past Jackie and Lydia, who had taken the lead during this walk, and looked at the pair of warriors. Taking a deep breath, he said, “As you can see, I’ve returned. Open the gates. Please.”

The guards hesitated. “Your... Your Majesty?” one of them asked slowly. “Is that... really you?”

“As opposed to...?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Your eyes are... different,” the other one said.

“Yes, I know they are,” Jack said calmly. “There’s a reason for that, though I know if I say it, it will sound very unlikely. Do you want to hear the reason, anyway? Because I know I will have to explain to Lady Tinechroí, and it will likely be much more efficient to only do it once. Let me inside so I can do that, please.”

The warriors glanced at each other. “Your Majesty, we... we were told not to open the gate for any visitors the Lady did not approve beforehand.”

“And that includes your King?” Lydia asked.

Jackie nodded. “Whatever Lady Tinechroí ordered, you know she is outranked by the King.”

Again, the warriors glanced at each other. “Can you wait outside while we alert her?” the first one asked.

Jack glanced at the Phantoms and warriors around him, who had all started to close in. Then he looked at the crowd of onlookers further back. He nodded slowly. “If you’re quick about it.”

One of the warriors looked upwards at the top of the castle wall and shouted for someone to go get Thalia. A figure on top hurried off, and silence fell for a moment. Chase glanced at Jack. The illusion was still in place, but it couldn’t hide the slight trembling all over his frame. As Jack looked back at Chase in turn, Chase gave him an encouraging smile. Quentin and Amabel also gave him thumbs up with their free hands, which caused Jack to laugh fondly a little.

The group shifted around as someone came closer to the front. First, a small off-white cat—Draco. And then following him, Marvin. “I knew she would try something like this,” Marvin muttered. “Your Majesty. Jack. You have to stand firm. She’s very stubborn. Worst comes to worst, say you’ll be speaking to her parents, or maybe mention that you doubt she could handle a high-up position if she won’t listen.”

“Thank you, Marvin,” Jack whispered back. “Ah... are you... sure you want to be in sight? It might just... make things worse for everyone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Marvin said, reaching up to pull his mask down over his face. “She won’t even know it’s me.”

“Draco is a bit of a giveaway,” Chase muttered to him.

Marvin tried to gently push him out of sight. Draco stubbornly remained where he was for a whole minute before he finally got annoyed and trotted away, heading back through the group until he reached Jameson, who quickly scooped him up and carefully moved so that he was hidden from view.

After a few minutes, the castle doors opened. Thalia Tinechroí stepped out. She looked very noble, her hair flowing around her face in a blonde wave, wearing a deep yellow dress with ruffles and a thick skirt. Next to her, Enid, her dog and familiar, stuck by her side, sniffing the air. Somewhere in the back of the group, Draco wriggled about and narrowed his eyes. “Your Majesty,” Thalia said calmly. “I am glad to see you back after such a long delay. I know you said you were not sure when you would be back, but we expected it to be sooner.”

“Yes, I am aware,” Jack said, managing to stay calm. “Lady Thalia, a lot has happened in the past half season, as I’m sure you can tell just by who stands before you. But I have returned—truly returned, and I need to know what state the kingdom is in.”

“What state the kingdom is in?” Thalia repeated. “Your Majesty, I can promise you, I’ve done my utmost to serve as your regent.”

“Yes, I am sure you have, and I’m sure you’ve done a fine job,” Jack said. “Thank you for all you’ve done. I am ready to return to my duties.”

“You say that, Your Majesty, but I can’t help but look at your eyes,” Thalia said. “They seem to have shifted color. Such a thing is not natural. How are we to know you are the true King, and not some sort of trick? After all, those people in the masks have been working against the crown.”

“If you ask me any question the King should know, I can answer it,” Jack said. “For example, I know that before I left, you stopped me and awkwardly hinted that you would be ready for an engagement, by using some sort of metaphor about butterflies and flowers?”

Thalia’s jaw dropped. She was clearly trying to say something, but no words came out. Her face turned very, very red.

“The reason for the change in my eyes is simple.” Jack looked around. Some castle servants and warriors had gathered on the wall above, while around them, the onlookers had crept forward into earshot. “The truth is... for as long as you’ve known my eyes to be green, I have not been... myself. A spiolash invaded my body and took control. For the past seven years.”

Everyone muttered at the sound of the possessive spirits’ true name. That was not something said lightly.

“With the help of these Masked Phantoms, I have been freed,” Jack continued. “And the spirit’s spells have ended. I’m sure you all must have felt something shift in the air some time ago.”

More muttering, mostly from the growing crowd of onlookers.

“I have taken some time to recover and now I am ready to return to my duties,” Jack said. “Again, I thank you for your help running the city and the kingdom as I did so. But I ask you to step down now.”

Thalia blinked slowly, eyes darting back and forth. “And, ah... these Phantoms, as you call them, are to be allowed into the palace as well? How well do you... know these people, Your Majesty?”

“Well enough,” Jack said. “And if you have doubts, I have with me here several of our most trusted warriors who can also vouch for the Phantoms—as well as verify my story of the possessive spirit.” Lydia nodded, as did the other warriors in the group.

Thalia looked at the guards who’d been at the front gate. “Do you recognize these warriors?”

“Yes, of course,” one of them said. “Though it has been a while since we’ve seen their faces without helmets. There's no doubt who they are.”

The onlookers muttered among themselves, some of them pointing at Thalia. She saw them doing this and stiffened slightly. Apparently the idea of looking bad in front of a crowd made her uncomfortable. Enough that she nodded. “V-very well, Your Majesty. Welcome back. And welcome to all the rest of your group as well.” She looked up towards the top of the castle wall (where servants and warriors had gathered to watch). “Open the gate!” 

The servants up above moved about quickly, and the massive front doors soon opened. Behind them was a portcullis blocking the way, which rose upwards. The onlooking crowd all gasped and murmured, sounding very interested and curious as to what’s going on. Jack looked at them and waved, smiling slightly. Some of the crowd—mostly the younger ones—waved back. And with that, the group all headed into the castle.

Chase tensed slightly as they walked through the wall. The last time he was here, he was helping Jameson escape. He glanced back through the group towards Jameson, and saw that he also looked a bit pale and worried. But he was standing strong, so Chase felt like he should be able to as well.

“I... assume you’ll be wanting to go back to your rooms, King Aodhán?” Thalia asked slowly. “The servants have been keeping it clean. But, ah... where will the rest of your... friends stay?”

Jack glanced back at them. “Well, some might prefer to stay in the barracks on site, but I know that we have the whole east wing and towers full of guest rooms for the others. Though I’ll warn you guys now, they’re probably in disrepair.”

“That’s fine, Your Majesty,” Jackie said. “We’ve slept in worse places.”

Thalia blinked and looked at him. More specifically, at his mask. She narrowed her eyes. “Have we met?”

“Yes,” Jackie said. “But don’t worry about it. We both have the common goal of helping the kingdom, so there’s nothing to worry about, is there?” He looked at her pointedly.

“...right,” Thalia said slowly. She glanced at the other Phantoms and all their masks, clearly taking note of ones she was familiar with. “Your Majesty.” She stepped forward, leaning close to Jack despite how Jackie and Lydia both stiffened as she got close, unafraid of how several of the Phantoms and warriors reached for their weapons. “May I speak with you alone later?”

Jack hesitated for a moment. Then he made a decision. “No, if alone means with just the two of us, you may not. I know that you mean the best, but this is a very tense situation we’re in right now, and I don’t think it would look good if I spent time alone with one person. These Phantoms here might think you’re trying to conspire with me. You may speak with me in a group setting, though.”

Thalia blinked. “I... simply want you to think about the type of people you spend your company with. If you can really trust them.”

“I am thinking about that, Lady, I assure you,” Jack said. “And if you keep pushing the matter, I may start to reconsider my trust in you.”

Thalia immediately shut her mouth. She nodded, and gave a little curtsey. “As you wish, King Aodhán.”

“Thank you.” Jack nodded. “Now, if you could please alert the servants to open up the east wing and towers.”

“Right away, Your Majesty.” And Thalia turned, crossing the gardens of the castle grounds and quickly heading to the palace.

The moment she was gone, Jack let out a long breath, his posture deflating. He glanced back at Chase, who smiled. “You did a great job, Jack,” he said quietly.

“Very great,” Amabel agreed.

Jack smiled slightly, then looked at Jackie and Lydia. “Do you two mind... staying nearby for the rest of the day?”

“Of course.” Jackie nodded, and Lydia bowed.

“Your Majesty, do you... actually trust her?” Marvin asked. “Believe she put her best foot forward, and all that?”

“Not fully,” Jack said. “I don’t trust her character, but I trust her to be consistent—and to not do anything that would make her lose favor. Don’t worry, we can all keep an eye on her.”

Marvin nodded, looking relieved.

“Alright...” Jack sighed. “Let’s see what a mess they’ve made of the castle.”

It took all day for everything to settle down. The servants and warriors of the palace were surprised to have the King back—and shocked that he was so different from what they remembered. Many of them were relieved, but a bit confused. Still, none of them questioned Jack’s orders, and went about opening up the parts of the palace that had been closed, doing their best to get it all back in order. The Phantoms helped, even though most of them didn’t know anything about how to maintain rooms in a palace.

A brief meeting was held around dinnertime where everyone talked about what happened in Suilthair since the King left, and about the news that had come in from the rest of the kingdom. It seemed that the moment the spirit had been banished, all the enchantments he made had disappeared, meaning that a lot of warriors and servants came out of trances they’d been in for years, and even common citizens of Suilthair felt as though they’d awoken from a fog. There had been confusion, but Thalia had managed to keep order—seemed she was good at that, at least, even if she was just doing so to cozy up to the King. The servants and warriors had maintained the status quo in the castle, but loosened up, generally. Many people living in Suilthair had left, but others had come in from the surrounding countryside, wondering what was going on in the city and why rumors said the King had gone. Overall, it could have been much worse. But there was still a lot of work to be done.

Later that night, Chase found himself settling down for bed in an actual room for the first time in a long while. Jack had asked him to stay close by, so the room was rather fancy, being in the royal wing where Jack’s rooms were. It was dirty and dusty and the legs of some of the chairs had snapped off, but it could have been worse. Marvin, Jackie, Henrik, and Jameson all shared another room also nearby, though theirs was bigger, with an actual connected living room. They offered to let Chase share, too, but he declined. He would rather have a room with just him and his kids.

“This is a really nice bed,” Quentin said, bouncing on the mattress—then sneezing as doing so caused a lot of dust to fly into the air.

“Careful, Quen, you don’t know what’s in there,” Chase chuckled.

Amabel climbed onto the bed next to Quentin and threw the blankets to the side. “Hm... I don’t see anything.”

“Good idea to check, though,” Chase said.

Quentin nodded. “Good idea. Now, come on, Dad! It’s night time!”

Chase smiled and climbed into bed next to them. “Are you two sure you want to share with me? You’re not too ‘big’ for that? There’s a nice sofa in here I could use.”

“The bed is giant, Dad, it’s no problem,” Amabel said. “We’ll be on one side and you can be on the other!”

“Ha! Good point.” Chase had brought a candle into the room for light. He set it down on the table next to the bed while he and the kids got comfortable. “Alright... you two know what we’re doing tomorrow, right?”

The two of them looked at him and nodded seriously. “We remember where Mom lived,” Amabel said. “I hope she’s still there.”

“Of course she is,” Chase reassured her. “And she’ll be so happy to see you again.” Though he was a bit nervous, himself, he knew that Stacia would have been so worried this whole time. He could barely stand to delay seeing her for another night, but she would probably be asleep by now, anyway. “Alright. So we have to all get some good rest tonight. Got it?”

“Got it, Dad,” Amabel said, and Quentin nodded. “We’ll be so rested. Look.” She pulled the blanket up to her chin—meaning that it was up to Quentin’s nose, as he was still much smaller than her.

Chase chuckled. “Okay. Good night, you two. I love you.”

“Love you too,” both kids said in unison.

Chase leaned over and blew out the candle, then settled down for the night. Tomorrow, the family would be fully reunited again. Tomorrow would be the start of the rest of their lives.

[the-earnest-system]

Solo Mission

Paranormal Preteens: Episode 35

A JSE Fanfic

Okay so I’m actually pasting this fic into Tumblr on mobile for once, so I don’t know how to add the links I usually do. Hopefully those will be there soon haha. Please forgive any formatting weirdness for the same reason. I forgot to add the fic into the queue earlier and I don’t have access to my computer rn but I’ll fix mistakes later. Anyway, summary time! Chase keeps thinking about the stuff Anti said, and eventually decides to do something reckless. He’s going to try sneaking into a Circle hideout by himself. Not his best idea, but he hopes maybe it’ll remind others how fun this stuff is. I’m sure nothing will go wrong at all! Enjoy! :D

Previous Episode | More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

A week passed, and nothing happened. It was incredibly frustrating. Chase couldn’t even concentrate in class, because he was spending too much time thinking about the Circle and what the heck Mom and the other adults were doing about them. He missed, like, four homework assignments in a row—something that Schneep was really concerned about. “How are you supposed to learn more if you do not do the assignments?” he asked one afternoon while the two of them sat at the kitchen counter, snacking on a plate of cheese and crackers Mom left out.

“Well homework is stupid anyway,” Chase mumbled, kicking the stool legs idly. “They should keep all the learning in school.”

“...you are not paying that much attention in class, either,” Schneep said slowly. “I saw you fall asleep yesterday.”

“School shouldn’t start so early!” Chase grumbled.

Schneep tilted his head. “Do you think Aunt Jess will be... concerned? I-I know she will not be mad, but... she cares about you a lot. I-I know that—that your birthday is coming up! A-and she probably... does not want to worry about your grades... while that is happening?” He trailed off, uncertain. “Does this make sense?”

“Hah.” Chase smiled a bit sadly. “Honestly, my grades were really bad around this time last year, too.”

“Ah?” Schneep blinked. “Why? Is the schoolwork just really hard right now?”

“Uh... I-I mean... kinda, I guess...” Chase mumbled. “But also... a-a lot was happening around this time... last year.” He looked down at the counter, eyes tracing the dots in the design.

“...what...” Schneep paused. “Do you... want to... talk about it?” he asked hesitantly.

Chase squirmed in his seat. He put a slice of cheese on a cracker and took a big bite out of it.

“Y-you do not have to, of course!” Schneep said hurriedly. “It is just... I-I feel better after talking sometimes. I-in therapy, but also... talking to you. And to Aunt Jess, and our friends.”

Chase paused, then swallowed his bite. “Th-that’s a good point.” After all, wasn’t that why he tried talking to JJ during the whole doll thing? And didn’t talking with Marvin help the two of them get closer? But... it felt different when it was... about this. “I just, uh...” He kicked the legs some more. “About a week before my birthday last year, I heard Mom and Dad mention... that they were gonna... not be together anymore. A-and that... really... spoiled the fun, hahah.”

“...oh.” Schneep blinked. “I-I am sorry, Chase. That... that is... that is terrible.”

“Yeah... it sucked,” Chase said quietly. “But, um... they didn’t tell me the news until a couple days later. So I just... kinda had to sit there. While we were doing all the fun stuff together, a-and I just, uh... knew. I-I just knew.” He remembered looking at them, him sitting on one side of the table while they were on the other, the birthday cake with lit candles between them. He remembered wishing that he’d misheard or misunderstood. But he also remembered the way they smiled... he remembered how tight they looked.

“O-oh!” Schneep blinked. “Well, they... probably did not want you to worry. They wanted you to have fun.”

“Yeah, I guess they didn’t want to ruin the mood,” Chase agreed. “But like... I found out anyway, so...” He shook his head. “I mean... guess it was my fault for listening in. And... not telling them I heard. But... still. I-it sucked.” He sighed. “At least I also met Jackie around that time... He was my babysitter.”

“Huh.” Schneep blinked. “Well... perhaps they should not have been discussing such heavy news where you could hear? I do not think it is your fault for overhearing.”

“Maybe...” Chase muttered. It still felt like it was his fault sometimes. Like, if he had just... Well, he didn’t know what he could’ve done different. But something. He knew that wasn’t really the case, that he shouldn’t worry too much about his parents. But sometimes... his heart didn’t know that.

Schneep nudged Chase. “I think that Aunt Jess is a very good mom. And you are a very good son.”

Chase laughed a little. “I-I’m uh, not really concerned with that, y’know.”

“Hm... of course not,” Schneep said slowly. “But... it might bother you anyway.”

“Hah... it might.” Chase looked down at the counter again. A lot of things were bothering him lately. Like... Jackie. They hadn’t been able to see much of him lately. And he kept thinking about what Anti said, too. About how everyone would leave... except Anti himself. Chase couldn’t deny that everything felt... very different from last summer. When they were just running around town fighting monsters. Everything was much more complicated, and yet, nothing was happening, either.

“I think you have been... quiet lately,” Schneep said softly. “Is it because of this birthday in your past? Are you thinking about it too much? That... happens with me, sometimes.”

“I think that’s part of it,” Chase said slowly. “I’m also worried about the Circle. I don’t like that we’re not doing a lot about it.”

“Hm... yes, I suppose that is... worrying,” Schneep said slowly. “I-I do not like that we are less involved now. But... we started this, s-surely Aunt Jess would let us finish it?” He smiled one of his nervous smiles. “Besides, Anti would not let us leave, would he? Though he has been pretty quiet lately.”

Chase nodded slowly. “Maybe he... got the hint. And is giving up this game thing.”

“You do not sound sure about that,” Schneep pointed out.

“I’m not.” Chase took another bite of cheese and cracker. “Maybe he’s jus’ doin’ wha’ever he doz when he’s no’ both’rn’ uz.”

“Chase! Do not talk with your mouth full!” Schneep laughed.

Chase smiled, grinning wide.

“Do not show me your food like that either!” Schneep lightly shoved him. “You are messing with me on purpose now!”

“Mehbeh,” Chase said, holding back a laugh as well.

Little moments like these were... nice, but... they only fought back the distraction for a little bit. Anti’s words kept ringing in Chase’s head, especially when he tried to go to sleep at night. The idea that everyone will leave. But that Anti will always be there. Anti will always be willing to play. Sometimes, Chase thought that sounded really creepy. But... sometimes...

Sometimes he... thought too much about it.

++++++++++++++++++++

At lunch one day, when everyone was gathered up, Chase tried to bring up the subject of the Circle again. “Like, I know Mom and the other grown-ups are working on stuff, but... we should do something, too,” he said. “Aren’t you guys getting... I dunno... worried or something?”

“I mean, I don’t really like that some of our teachers are probably part of the group,” Marvin said. “But also, what are we supposed to do? Break into city hall?” He paused. “That could be kind of fun...”

“B-but very risky!” Stacy pointed out.

Well, they give tours of city hall, don’t they? JJ asked. It seems easy enough to get in... it’s exploring around that’s harder. They might have security cameras and stuff.

“Well, Marvin has greenlight powers, maybe that could come in handy?” Chase asked.

Marvin grinned. “Maybe I could come up with something.” He wiggled his fingers, and a miniature brick wall appeared, all in green. “Block out the cameras with something like this, maybe. Oh! Or maybe... I could...” He pointed into the air, and a tiny bolt of green lightning zapped from the tip of his pointer finger. “You know, do stuff like that?”

“I-I do not think that is a good idea,” Schneep said hurriedly. “If w-we get caught...” He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. “I-I agree, we should do something when it comes to the Circle and Anti, but I think... it is not a bad thing, to leave this particular part to the adults.”

“You’re not... upset?” Chase asked. “Upset that we don’t know what they’re doing?”

“I... I s-suppose a little,” Schneep said slowly.

JJ frowned. I’m not a fan of not knowing, but I don’t want to bother your mom, Chase. She’s so nice, you know?

“Why don’t you bother her for us, Chase?” Marvin asked jokingly.

Chase started. “I-I don’t want to bother her!” But... at the same time, that struck a nerve inside him. If he wanted to do something, if he wanted to help, he should tell Mom, right? “Uh... maybe I’ll just... talk to her about it, though...”

“Yeah, tell us what she says,” Marvin said. He glanced around. “Hey, have any of you guys seen Jackie lately, by the way? Beanie Boy’s done fuck all when it comes to this.”

“He’s probably busy with school,” Stacy said. “I hear that when you get to his year, you really have to start buckling down and concentrating on your grades.”

Chase frowned, idly tearing at the cardboard of his small milk carton, watching droplets of liquid sink into the new cracks. Grades were important, yeah, but why couldn’t Jackie spare one afternoon to meet up with them? What was so damn important about this? ...wait, did Chase just think a swear word? Was he really that upset? Was he... mad at Jackie? No, no, he shouldn’t be mad. It wasn’t Jackie’s fault... it wasn’t true that he would... leave them behind.

“Are you okay, Chase?” Schneep asked.

“Huh? Oh, uh... yeah, just... thinking about school and stuff.” Chase sat up straight. “Anyway. I-I’ll ask Mom if we can help.”

++++++++++++++++++++

“Help? With the Circle?” Mom looked away from her cooking to face Chase, who was leaning on the kitchen counter and bouncing in place slightly. “What did you have in mind?”

“I-I dunno,” Chase said. “Just like... maybe when you go to city hall, we can come with you, a-and try to... find any secrets they have.”

“Chase, we’re not actually going inside city hall,” Mom said patiently.

“Huh? Then what are you doing?”

Mom paused. “I... I guess I haven’t really been clear, huh? Sorry about that.” She sighed. “It’s just... been a lot of boring stuff. Phone calls, and sharing around that video and recording of Jackie, and... it���s just really tedious.”

“Yeah, you’re gathering together a bunch of grown-ups to go fight the Circle, right?” Chase asked. “Once you’ve done that, can we come with you?”

“We’re not going to fight the Circle, I thought that was—” Mom leaned back, looking at the ceiling. “The plan isn’t to... go storming into their secret strongholds. What we’re going to be doing is a lot more subtle. We’re trying to figure out who, exactly, is a member of the Circle, and once we find someone, the plan is to get them out of whatever place of work they’re in. That way, we can operate more freely in that place—and the Circle will lose access to whatever benefits that position gives them. Of course, eventually we’re going to have to find these Fissures, or what you called them, so we’re all looking for places that might have secret entrances—”

“Yeah! We can help with that!” Chase said, picking up on the first thing she said that he really understood.

“Chase, the Circle has already proven that they’re willing to hurt you guys,” Mom said gently. “A-as your mother, I couldn’t... I can’t let that happen. You have to stay somewhere safe—away from them.”

“But... but we’re the ones who started this, aren’t we?” Chase asked. “We know how to fight monsters and stuff! A-and Anti’s gonna keep bothering us until we defeat the Circle! He’s not gonna be happy that you guys are doing it instead of us.”

“That’s... very true.” Mom paused for a second, then sighed. “Chase, I’ll tell you and Henrik and all the others when we have a plan you can help with, okay? I promise you, Richard and I are insisting that you be involved. But right now, we don’t have a plan that can include you. Does... that make sense?”

Chase stared at her. After a moment, he slumped. “I guess,” he mumbled.

Mom smiled. “I think it’s great that you want to help. I like that you’ve found something to be so passionate about. But you have to be patient, okay?”

“Mm-hm.” Chase nodded. “I’m not really, uh... good at that.”

“It just takes practice, like anything else,” Mom said. “Now, in the meantime... have you decided on what you want for your birthday? Last year we got you that skateboard, are there any... skateboard... accessories you want?”

Chase tensed slightly at the mention of his birthday. “I-I don’t know. Uh... maybe I want a hacky-sack or something.”

“A what?”

“It’s like a little soft ball full of beads and stuff, you like... kick it around and do tricks with it. I’ve seen other guys with them, they look fun, I guess.”

Mom nodded. “Got it. And do you know what you want to do on your birthday?”

“No, not really,” Chase mumbled. “Uh... Mom? Is the spaghetti sauce supposed to smoke like that?”

“Huh?!” Mom turned back to the stove. “It’s smoking?!”

“I thought it was. Maybe something fell out of the pan.” Chase hadn’t actually seen smoke. He just knew that would distract her. “Anyway, I should probably go tell Sch—Henrik that dinner’s almost done, right?”

“Yes, that would be great, sweets,” Mom said, nodding along. “Thank you.”

Chase smiled a little, then hurried out of the kitchen.

Later that night, he found he had trouble sleeping once again. He stared absentmindedly at the patterns in the ceiling, tracing their familiar shapes. There was the one that looked like a bird, there was the one that looked like a crooked star, and there was the one that looked like a loaf of bread—one of those fancy French ones that was all round. He thought again about what Anti said. The game was fun, wasn’t it? He liked fighting monsters and defeating the Circle, didn’t he? That was why he was so frustrated about nothing happening, wasn’t it?

Anti had told him that there was a Fissure in city hall... he said that he even disarmed the traps on the door leading to it. “They might fix the traps or add another, though, so you have to be fast about it to get inside,” he’d said. Chase hadn’t told the others about that—he hadn’t told them that Anti showed up to talk to him at all. It felt... wrong to tell them. Too... personal. So that knowledge sat in Chase’s mind, eating away at him. He had to do something. If he told Mom, she and the other grown-ups wouldn’t do anything with the information. Or, maybe they would, but he doubted that he and his friends would be invited to come with them. So what if... Chase just... snuck in there? One day?

But wait, even if he wanted to do that, shouldn’t he tell his friends, too? They would want to come, wouldn’t they?

...wouldn’t they?

Jackie... might be busy.

And sure, they could all go without him, but... the thought left a pit in Chase’s stomach.

Well, maybe he didn’t need to tell any of them! Maybe he could—maybe he could go try this on his own! Yeah, he could do that tomorrow! It was a weekend, so he didn’t have to worry about school. He could set up his handheld game controller in his room and set the volume up high, so that Mom and Schneep would hear the level music of a game and assume he was playing. The one problem would be getting to city hall, but... he could probably skate his way to a bus stop. Yeah. Yeah! He could totally do this on his own! He didn’t need to wait for Mom or anyone! He didn’t need anyone to come with him!

And then... maybe, if he showed that he could do this... Jackie would... be impressed. He would... want to do stuff with him again. He wouldn’t want to leave. Not that he was going to! Not that Anti was right about that! But... maybe Jackie would realize that... he needed to be there with Chase. More than he needed to do school stuff. Because of course, Jackie needed to have fun with them again! He just... had to remember what it was like to do this stuff! Chase would show him!

With a vague idea forming in his mind, Chase drifted off, sinking into a restless sleep.

++++++++++++++++++++

The days were starting to get longer again, so Chase decided to wait until after dinner to enact his plan. During the day, he went into Mom’s room to use the computer, looking up the bus routes and also what times city hall would have their tours. Dinner was always around 5:30, so if he ate fast and then hurried to his room to set up his trick, he could be at city hall in time for the 6:20 tour!... hopefully.

After he looked up the times, he made sure to close the browser tab and then hurried to his room. He would probably need to climb out the window, right? Maybe he could form a rope out of his clothes like in movies. He’d never climbed a rope, though... but he could do it! He looked out his window to the ground—and immediately felt his heart freeze at the sight of the sheer drop. Maybe he should just... sneak out the front door when no one was looking.

He acted very normal for the rest of the day. Schneep did give him a bit of a confused look when he said he was going up to his room after dinner, but that didn’t mean anything! Chase closed his bedroom door tight, set up his game system like he’d planned, and waited, listening. After a bit, he heard Mom go down the hall to her room, and then he heard Schneep go past Chase’s door to the bathroom. Chase immediately—but quietly!—opened his bedroom door and snuck out. He carried his skateboard and helmet under one arm and his shoes in the other (so his footsteps would be quieter.) He carefully closed the door tight again and hurried down the stairs. He didn’t look behind him as he went to the front door and slipped out.

The bus stop wasn’t too far away. Even though Chase had never gone on the bus before, he’d seen the stop whenever they drove past it. Once outside, he quickly put on his shoes and helmet and skated down the street, flying as fast as he could towards the stop. In the end, he arrived just in time to see the bus coming down the street. He waved it down and it slowed to a halt next to the stop. Luckily, he’d brought some coins to pay the fare. He climbed on board the bus, took a seat near the front, and tried to relax.

But even as he tried, he was so distracted that he nearly missed the stop for city hall. And he definitely failed to see the second shadow trailing behind him. The one with eyes that seemed to be watching him.

Chase arrived to city hall and quickly spotted a group of people gathering outside. He shoved his skateboard and helmet into some bushes to hide them, then hurried over and tried to casually blend in with the group. There were a few kids there, so he didn’t stand out too much—though the kids were all a lot younger than him. But if he put his cap on and pulled it down over his eyes, he was sure he would blend in.

The group walked up the steps to city hall and Chase followed, his heart pounding in his ears. He braced himself for anything... but the inside of the building seemed kind of... plain. It looked more like the office building where Mom worked than anything else. The walls were boring white, the carpet was short and gray. There were stiff plastic chairs in a row for people to wait in, and a big desk for a receptionist. Chase was momentarily taken off guard by how normal this all looked. But then he started glancing around wildly. He needed to find the door that led to the Fissure! It probably wouldn’t be right here, where everyone could see. He would have to sneak around.

A woman in a red vest appeared, introducing herself as the tour guide for the group. Chase made sure his cap was pulled down as he followed, staying kind of in the back. As they walked down a hallway—which still looked very boring—Chase looked up at the ceiling. That was where security cameras usually were, right? He saw a couple weird black domes... were those cameras? He’d never seen one like that before, but... maybe?

As he looked away, trying to hide, he failed to see the shadowy hand that reached towards each camera, causing a faint red light to go out.

Once Chase thought the tour group had gone deep enough into the building, he started looking for an opportunity to slip away. The tour guide walked them down a hall lined with doors, and he jiggled the handle of each one. Most of them were locked, but after a few tries, he found one that managed to turn! Quickly, he ducked inside, not thinking about what might be on the other side. Luckily, the room beyond was empty. Because it was a closet full of cleaning supplies. Chase stood there in the small, dark space for a minute, until he heard the footsteps of the group fade away.

Alright. He had to be careful about this. Where would the Fissure be hidden? The one in the planetarium had been behind a door tucked away behind an exhibit. So... the door to the Fissure here would probably be hidden like that. There weren’t any exhibits here, but... maybe he should look behind bookshelves or something?

“Are you lost?”

Chase jumped at the sound of the voice. “A-Anti?!” He hissed.

A giggle echoed through the small space, and suddenly, Anti was there, as if the shadows in the corner had shapeshifted into his form. “Surprise. I saw you snuck out of your house. You’re here to use that hint I gave you, huh?”

“N... no,” Chase lied.

Anti giggled again. “Do you want another hint?”

“No! Shut up! Go away!” Chase hissed.

“Alright, alright. The point is to see if you can beat the challenge, after all. It’s not fun if I just do everything for you.” Anti floated backwards, back into the shadows. “But you should be fast about it. They already think something’s wrong.” His voice faded away, leaving Chase alone.

Chase stood there for a second, blinking wildly in the darkness. Then he took a deep breath and slowly opened the closet, glancing at the hallway beyond. Nobody in sight. But if Anti was telling the truth, he should hurry. And try to avoid as much attention as possible. Slowly, Chase slunk out of the closet and started walking down the halls, sticking close to the walls.

City hall was a bit of a maze. It didn’t help that everything looked so similar. The only real difference was that sometimes the floor was carpet, and sometimes the floor was tile. The hallways had signs up, giving people directions on where everything was located, but Chase didn’t pay too much attention to those. The Fissure door wouldn’t be marked down, after all. He wandered for a while, occasionally ducking into a closet when someone walked by. It was rare that anyone did, though. Most people seemed to be staying inside the rooms. He would occasionally glance through doorways to see them working at desks or stacking books on shelves.

But even though he wasn’t being caught, he wasn’t finding anything, either. There were a lot of doors, but how was he supposed to know which ones were normal and which ones weren’t?! His stomach began to flip around as it filled up with fear and desperation. He had to do something! He had to find this door! Or else—or else—what was the point of it all?! If Mom found out that he’d done this, she wouldn’t even think about letting him help with the Circle in the future! And if Jackie found out—if Jackie found out...

If Jackie found out, he might stop hanging out with Chase altogether. He might think that Chase was just some dumb kid.

Chase felt warm prickles in his eyes at the thought of that. He paused, reaching up to wipe his eyes with the hem of his shirt.

And when he lowered his shirt again, he saw a man walking around the corner of the hallway, coming straight at him!

Chase inhaled sharply. He looked around—there weren’t any doors nearby! The closest hiding place he could find was a big potted plant, its leaves spread out wide enough to easily hide him. Chase quickly ducked behind it, the leaves rustling as he did so. Oh this was such a dumb hiding place, his feet were sticking right out in the open! He was going to get caught he was going to get caught he was going to get caught—

But the man walked right by without even glancing his way. He was busy looking down at a sheet of paper in his hands, frowning. Huh. Maybe Chase didn’t have to hide so quickly. Even so, he was tempted to stay standing here for a bit while he tried to calm down. But it was really uncomfortable. The long plant leaves kept tickling his face and there was something pressing into his back—

Wait a second. His back was to the wall, wasn’t it?

Chase turned around, and found his face inches away from the wood of a door. It had been painted the same beige color as the wall around it, so he hadn’t realized it was there behind the big plant. But now that he knew it was here... could this be it? Swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, he reached forward and grabbed the door handle, turning it and pushing.

The door slowly swung open, going inwards, and revealing a plain stairwell beyond. Metal steps going back and forth, cutting down through cinder block walls and fluorescent lighting. A secret way down. Just like in the planetarium! Just like the hospital! Just like the school! This had to be it.

Grinning triumphantly, Chase hurried forward, footsteps clanging on the metal stairs. The staircase turned once, twice, three times, and then stopped. He found himself at the end of a hallway lined with doors. Two to the left, two to the right, and a set of double doors straight ahead. Again, he was reminded of the hospital. The layout of the underground hall there was similar, though this one was shorter. So... the Fissure was probably behind those double doors, right?

Chase glanced at the doors on either side of the hallway, then ran forward, sprinting past it all. It was so quiet down here. The city hall above had been quiet too, but he’d been able to hear things like the AC going, or the distant sound of people moving in other rooms. It was dead silent in this hallway. Not even the lights were buzzing.

He ran for the double doors, stopping just in front of them. White doors, with silver handles—the sort that are shaped like bars, that move on a hinge when you push them in. He took a deep breath, and did just that, pushing on the handles and opening the doors, walking into the room beyond.

The room was a vast space, lined with bookshelves and filing cabinets. They might have once been in rows, but they’d all been pushed to the walls, leaving the room looking empty. The reason they’d been moved was clear. The middle of the room had fallen away, leaving only a hole into darkness below it. The hole was eye-shaped, getting narrower at either end, practically dividing the space in half. Chase froze in place at the sight of it. There were crystals growing around the edge. Like at the hospital. But these crystals were much bigger. Round ones as big as his fist, spikey ones almost six inches tall, all of them clear or slightly cloudy... except for the biggest ones around the edge of the hole. Those ones had light inside. Flickering, green light.

This was it. This was the Fissure. Chase felt a pang of fear at the sight of it, but it was quickly eclipsed by triumph—he’d done it! He’d found the way here! But... then the triumph faded to confusion. What was he supposed to do about a Fissure this big? They hadn’t known how to take care of the one at the other locations, either. The planetarium had collapsed on top of the one there, but... they couldn’t exactly do that here, could they?

All these thoughts flashed through his head in about three seconds. Chase would’ve gladly stood there thinking for longer, but he couldn’t.

Because at that moment, the light in the room—all of the light except for the greenlight—turned red. The crystals grew brighter and started to vibrate, humming at varying, clashing frequencies. Chase stepped backwards towards the door, eyes wide, not wanting to look away.

Greenlight shot through the crystals, forming lines through the air—a circle! And in the center of the circle, something green began to gather. Just more light at first, but as it grew bigger, it began to change. A liquid... no, a solid! No... something in between. A large pile of green ooze, forming into a tall column with five or six tendrils attached to it around the center like wiggling, spaghetti-shaped arms. Several lights gathered in the top of the column, swirling around each other. Chase stared at it in shock.

And then, two of those tendrils shot forward, reaching for Chase!

Yelping, Chase scrambled back, pressing against the doors. The tendrils squished against the wall on either side of him, and two more rotated around, aiming at him. Heart suddenly pounding, Chase spun around and pulled the door open, ducking through. The slime monster’s tendrils slammed against it, closing the door fast—and catching Chase’s ankle in the process. He yelled in pain, then wrenched it free. That only made the pain worse, and tears sprang to his eyes as he forced himself to run down the hall.

Behind him, the slime monster squished through the gap in the door. It was slow, but those tendrils reached far. They stretched after Chase, and soon he felt their cold, slimy grip wrap around his torso. “B-back off!” he shouted, twisting around to try and karate chop through the slime. It worked, he was able to sever part of one of the tendrils—but there were still two others grabbing onto him. “No! No!”

He just had to move faster! He just had to keep running! Chase turned back around and tried to make his legs go faster. The tendrils stretched, but there was still some tension holding him back. And the main body of the slime monster was getting closer! He grabbed onto the handle of one of the doors and tried to turn it. It wasn’t locked, but the door was heavy. Panicking, breathing fast, Chase threw all his weight against it, and managed to get the door open wide enough to shove an arm inside. While the slime was still trying to pull him back, he felt around the inside, finding something like a metal bar. He grabbed onto that, holding tight, and reached his other hand inside to grab that bar as well. Pulling... pulling... please! Please!

Step by struggling step, he pulled himself through the doorway. As soon as he was sure he was fully inside, he threw his leg out to the side and kicked behind him, trying to slam the door shut. The heavy door bounced for a moment on the slime tendrils, but then began to close. Chase kicked wildly, throwing his whole weight at the door—and after a couple tries, the tendrils broke, slime splattering everywhere. Chase scrambled back from the door and stared at it, panting. The room was dark. He could see light from the hallway seeping in around the cracks of the door... light that soon turned green as it passed through the translucent body of the slime monster beyond.

It couldn’t get through, right? Those cracks... were too small, right?

Chase’s eyes darted around. He couldn’t make out a lot of the room, but there were... rows of things in here. Tables, maybe? A couple things that looked like chairs... he should probably turn on the lights. Where was the switch for that?

...by the door. Of course it was.

After a moment, Chase inched forward again, reaching for the switch. He put his whole hand on it as he went to turn it on—

And a tendril of green slime shot towards his hand, wrapping around his wrist.

Chase screamed. The slime has squeezed through the crack. The door was slowly opening. He waved his arm frantically to get the slime to let go, turning the light on and off a couple times as he did so. Once he was free, he spun around to look at the room. Maybe there was something he could use to fight back in here!

...no. There were only rows... of beds. Hospital beds, and the occasional chair next to them. Chase shuddered, and looked back at the door. It was creaking open, two tendrils of slime reaching inside... reaching for him. He should run. He should back up, at least! But his legs wouldn’t move. His knees felt wobbly.

This whole thing was a bad idea. It was a stupid idea, a really really stupid idea. Just like all his ideas were. Just like everything he wanted to do was. He shouldn’t have done this. He should’ve accepted that everyone would leave, just like Anti said, and not tried to... what did he even think coming here would accomplish? Did he really think that this would somehow show Jackie that this was better than anything else he was doing? If anything, Jackie would just panic and say Chase should never do this again. Just like Mom would.

The door burst open. Chase shrieked and finally found the strength to turn and run, but there was nowhere to go. The tendrils grabbed onto him, wrapping around his arms and legs. They began to drag him back towards the main body of the slime monster. No no no! He knew what these sorts of monsters did in stories! He didn’t want to be buried in goop! But—the creature was too strong now that he was so close to it. His struggles weren’t doing anything... so he stopped.

Maybe, if something happened to him, the others would at least be spurred on to do something. Maybe, if something happened to him, they would at least think about why he tried to do this. Maybe, if something happened to him, they would at least know how much he was hurting.

A sharp whistle pierced the air.

The slime monster moved away from the door, pulling Chase with him. Standing in the doorway was a tall figure. A woman, backlit by the brighter light from the hallway. Chase had only seen her once, but he knew who she was. “...Chase Brody. Am I correct?” Iris asked.

Chase stared at her, blinking. What the heck was he supposed to do right now?!

“Ah, right, you’re probably—one second.” Iris reached into the pocket of her fancy suit jacket and took out a long, thin crystal, pointed at one end. She pointed it at the slime monster and tapped it with her fingernail. The crystal buzzed and glowed green, and the slime monster glowed green in response and melted down to a puddle that spread all across the room floor. “Sorry about that. We have security measures in place. The Limus is our last line of defense, so it’s a bit aggressive.”

Chase continued to stare. He trembled slightly. “Wh-wh-what a-are you going to d-do to me?”

“Nothing!” Iris said, looking shocked at the question. “Well... we’re going to have to figure out something, but... I promise, we’re not going to hurt you, Chase.”

Like he would believe that. Chase wrapped his arms around himself, stepping backwards.

“...do you want... some water?” Iris asked awkwardly.

Chase shook his head.

Iris stood there. Chase stood there. The two of them just stared at each other for a while. “I’m... going to call your mother,” Iris finally said, backing out of the room. “You stay here, okay?” She grabbed the doorknob and started to pull the door closed as she left.

Panicking, Chase ran forward—but slipped on the slime puddle, landing hard on the ground, banging his knees and elbows. When he looked up again, the door was already shut. He started to shout, but then stopped himself. Iris probably wouldn’t care. So instead he scrambled to his feet, slipping a bit on the slime some more, and hurried for the door, trying not to fall again.

The door was locked, of course. He pushed and pulled and slammed his fists against it, but it didn’t budge. “H-hey! Hey!” he finally shouted. “D-don’t leave me in here! With the slime monster! Hey! Hey! L-let me out!”

But there was no response. Iris was probably already gone.

Chase sunk to the ground, kneeling on the floor. He didn’t believe that Iris was going to call Mom. Or if she was, it was going to be after something else happened. He doubted that the Circle would just let him walk away with the knowledge of where their big secret Fissure was. Maybe... they were going to erase his memory, or something?

The tears couldn’t be held back any longer. Chase leaned back against the wall, pulling his knees close to himself, and buried his face in his arms to sob.

++++++++++++++++++++

Bonk. Bonk. Bonk.

Jackie looked up at the sound bumping against his bedroom door. It was almost like someone was knocking on the wood, asking to come in, but it was too close to the ground. “Hello?” he called.

Bonk. Bonk. Bonk. Then, after a minute, footsteps. “Sam? What’re you doing?” Jack asked, on the other side of the door. “Don’t bother Jackie. He’s doing shit.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jackie said. “You can open the door.”

Jack did so, and Sam bounced into the room, staring at Jackie. Bouncing back and forth.

“What is it?” Jackie asked. “What do you want?”

Sam continued to stare at him, bouncing backwards now. Jackie blinked. Why... did their look give him chills? It felt like... they were telling him something important. Like something really bad was happening. Jackie looked up at Jack, and saw his own worry reflected in his face. So he wasn’t just imagining things, at least.

What was going on?

[the-earnest-system]

The Council of Heroes

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 42

First Part | Previous Part | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Sorry about the delay, Deltarune took over my brain for like three days FHDJKSAL I just had to play it for a bit. Anyway! I also managed to finish this! Jackie takes a plane ride to go meet up with the Council of Heroes in person. He's pretty nervous about that, but they just want to get a handle on the whole Anti-Virus situation. After all, there's been no word from him ever since he revealed what he is, and that's starting to get concerning. Honestly? I probably could have made this chapter even longer but I simply didn't have time, even IF I hadn't been playing Video Gaem all week XD I hope you enjoy!

===============

It was frustrating how nothing happened during the next few days. A supervillain was on the loose, holing up inside the SepTech buildings—not only a villain, but something they’d never seen before! Who knew how much strength ANTI was gathering while inside there? If he was even limited to being just inside there in the first place. He’d already proven to be able to send messages and see through cameras regardless of where he “was.”

But regardless, there was probably something stored inside the SepTech buildings. And the SepTech board was not giving permission for anyone to go inside. Even Jackie, as Windstorm, was forbidden from breaking in. What was the point?! 

Well, at least ANTI didn’t seem to be doing anything, either. There had been no sign of him, or of any of those weaponized SAMs, in the weeks since he’d first revealed his true nature. But that just made Jackie more nervous. It felt like something was building.

At least Chase was feeling better. Slowly, he started opening up a bit more, returning to his normal self. There was the occasional moment where he went a bit quiet, but he was more or less normal again after a while. Jackie made sure to keep an eye on him, though, just in case.

He met up with Schneep and Marvin a couple times, always in their designated meeting spot of Neun Park. The two of them were getting annoyed with SepTech’s refusal to let anyone—Hero, police, or anyone—break into their buildings. Marvin was especially pissed about it. “Don’t they know the risk they’re facing?! Why doesn’t the League just say ‘hey, this is more important than your fucking investments?’ I bet they just don’t want to risk losing access to SepTech’s technology.”

“Perhaps I could... go in to check for myself,” Schneep mused. “Nobody would spot me.”

“No, don’t do that... yet,” Jackie said. “I-I’ve been summoned to meet with the Council of Heroes. Maybe I can convince them to talk with SepTech some more.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “The big guys have summoned you? I didn’t even set foot in the same room as them until, like, my fourth year as a Hero. What’s up with you?” He narrowed his eyes. “Do they know about Jameson?”

“I-I doubt they do,” Jackie said hurriedly. “It’s probably because ANTI is... you know. This whole new digital thing. They want to know as much as possible.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Marvin agreed reluctantly.

Schneep sighed. “I suppose I will wait until after your meeting to take action. Or... until something urgent happens. Whichever is first. In the meantime, I’ll turn my attention to trying to find Dahlia. I... I-I hate to think about what’s happening to her, since we now know the supervillain who took her is... a computer.”

Jackie shuddered. “Yeah... I-I don’t think he’d do anything to endanger her. She’s his leverage, after all. But... good idea. Good luck with that, Schneep.”

“And good luck with your, ah, meeting,” Schneep said.

“I bet you’ll need it,” Marvin added.

Sooner than Jackie expected, the day for the meeting came. On December 21st, his alarm woke him up at 7:30am, which he then immediately snoozed. And then immediately regretted the immediate snoozing. He had to be at the local airport by nine if he didn’t want to miss the jet! But... it was so early... and he hadn’t slept well at all last night, since he was so nervous. He groaned, trying to mentally convince himself to get up... and then next thing he knew he jolted awake again as his alarm began to blare again, the snooze wearing off. “God! Damnit!” He shouted to the air. “Alright, I’m getting up!”

A little while later, he was all showered and dressed in his super suit. He made some toast from the kitchen and grabbed an apple, as well. For additional fuel. Then he knocked on the door to Chase’s room. “Hey Chase? You awake?”

“Mmmrm?” Chase’s voice groaned from the other side.

“I’m going to that meeting with the Council now.”

“Mrmkay.”

“I don’t know when I’ll be back and I’m not bringing my phone. So I’ll see you later.”

“Mkay.”

Clearly, Chase was still mostly asleep. So Jackie decided to leave a quick note for him on the kitchen table, just in case Chase wasn’t actually processing anything he said. So a quick scribble later, he scarfed down breakfast and headed out through the window, flying off into the dark morning.

===============

Daindover had an airport, but it was located some ways east of the city, so it was a long flight to get there. And since it was winter, the air was chilly, even through Jackie’s insulated super suit. But he was sort of glad for that. At least the cold was keeping him awake.

He touched down right on the tarmac. The League of Heroes’ jet was a distinct, deep blue color, with a supersize logo on the tail... or whatever you called the end of an airplane. Was it a stabilizer or something? Jackie wondered that vaguely as he landed, staring at the logo and standing in place until someone hurried over to him. “H-hello, Windstorm!” A woman with a copper LoH badge pinned to his vest, panting slightly from running too much. “Right on time. Here, we’ve prepared the jet for you, you can board right away and wait for the takeoff.” She gestured behind her, where a tall staircase led to an open door on the jet’s side. “The flight won’t be too long. Here, follow me.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Jackie nodded, following her to the stairs, then up them into the jet.

It was pretty nice in here. Jackie had never been inside a plane before, but he knew they normally weren’t like this. Though the jet was smaller than a commercial airliner, the inside wasn’t packed full of seats and luggage compartments like one of those would be, meaning it seemed a lot bigger. There were only eight seats total, divided into four rows of two. The bathroom was near the front of the plane, and looked bigger than most bathrooms he’d heard people complain about. At the other end of the plane, in the back, there were cabinets of food and what looked like a simple bar as well. The floor was carpeted, looking especially plush under the seats. Said seats could recline far, and each had a folded, fluffy blanket on top of it and a screen that could lower down from the ceiling.

“I hope this area is suitable for you,” the woman said... maybe she was the stewardess? “It’s rather small but built for comfort.”

“It’s lovely, don’t worry,” Jackie assured her. “I’ve never flown before—uh, not on an airplane, at least.” He chuckled. “So I’m not sure how I’ll react to all this. Uh... how long did you say the flight would be?”

“If conditions are favorable, it will only be two and a half hours,” the woman reported. “I’ll be here to assist you with anything. Of course, that will start with the safety speech I have to give, so if you’ll please sit down for a moment.”

Jackie sat down in one of the middle rows of chairs, watching as the woman gave him a quick safety presentation, complete with props. It was nice, though a bit boring. But probably helpful! Though... if there was an emergency... couldn’t Jackie just fly away? It would no doubt be very stressful, but he could totally do that.

After the woman finished with the presentation, she said, “Alright, keep the chair upright and the seatbelt on for takeoff. Once the seatbelt sign turns off, you’ll be free to move around.”

“Got it.” Jackie nodded. “Thank you.” As she headed to the back, he settled down against the seat, pulling on the seatbelt and making sure everything was in place. He unfolded the blanket it came with and draped it over his legs. Soft... warm... He leaned back against the seat... 

===============

And then suddenly jolted awake as the plane rumbled slightly around him. He looked around wildly before he remembered where he was, then he glanced out the window. The jet was in the air. Far beneath it, there was an endless expanse of water. The ocean. Of course it was the ocean, the Council of Heroes always met on a small island in the Atlantic, protected from various villains. Huh. He’d slept right through takeoff and most of the flight. That’s funny.

Jackie sat up straight, rubbing his neck. His head had listed to the side while he slept, and now the side of his neck and left shoulder really hurt. He had a strange dream. There were no visuals, but there were voices... robotic voices. And the sound of wind. It left him with an uneasy feeling. He tried to shake the dream off, looking around at the jet interior. This was... a really nice jet. He hadn’t really been able to appreciate it, since he fell asleep for so long. Though... did he really need all these things? It probably wasn’t a good idea to have a drink before a meeting with the Council. Was this... what the League spent their money on? Was it... worth it?

The jet rattled a little bit as it went through a patch of wind, startling Jackie out of his thoughts. Turbulence felt so different from inside a plane. Somehow, it seemed more dangerous. Maybe it was because of the sound. He looked around, and saw the woman from the start of the flight sitting in the back of the plane, along with another. “Um... sorry, do you know how close we are to the... destination?” Jackie asked.

“We should be arriving very soon, sir,” the woman from before said. “You might be able to see the island out of the window, even!”

“Huh.” Jackie leaned over and pressed his face against the window. Yes... if he turned his head far enough, he could see a lump on the horizon. No doubt that was the island they were looking for. It had gone by many names throughout the years, but these days it was simply known as Council’s Island. Honestly, Jackie much preferred The Island of Heroes, which is what it was called up until he was about 22. It might be a bit cheesy, but it wasn’t as cheesy as the island’s very first name: the Home of Justice. That name pushed it a bit too far.

“Can we get you anything, sir?” the second woman asked.

“Uhhhh...” Jackie felt a little weird. Since he was the only guy on the jet, it felt less like these two were doing a job helping the whole plane and more like they were there to... serve him? The whole dynamic felt off. “No, I-I’m good, thanks.”

“Alright, let us know if there’s anything we can do,” the first woman said.

“Right. Yeah.” Jackie nodded and went back to looking out the window, watching the distant island get closer.

The jet circled around the island, getting lower and lower in elevation as it got closer. Soon, Jackie had a great view of the Council’s Island from above. It was pretty small. Besides the airport and its runway, there were only three buildings. Jackie thought back to the test he had to take to get into the League; the layout of the island had been included there, so he knew what all the buildings were for. The long skinny one was a live-in space for the Council members and any friends and family they’d want to bring to the island with them. The tall one was like a hotel where any other League members could stay when they came to the island for business. Jackie supposed that if the meeting went long, he could get a room there so he could stay overnight. And the last building, the one with the domed roof, was where the Council met to discuss important matters. The Councilhouse, it was called. That was where Jackie would be heading, once the plane touched down.

Landing took an infuriatingly long time. Jackie was really beginning to regret not bringing his phone. What was he supposed to do without the silly games or videos he could find on it? (And also, he was beginning to think it might not have been a good idea to fly out into the middle of the ocean without any way to contact the outside world... but surely the League had phones of some kind.) As time went on, and the landing dragged on, Jackie began to seriously consider asking if he could just jump out the door. But then he remembered how in movies, opening the door would cause everything—and everyone—to get sucked outside, and he thought he shouldn’t risk doing that to the stewardesses.

Still, it was agonizing, just sitting there. Trying not to think about the upcoming meeting. Once the jet landed, he couldn’t even leave right away! That wasn’t in the movies!

Eventually, though, the seatbelt light turned off and a voice came on through the intercom. “Alright, this is your pilot speaking. It is now safe to depart. Have a great day here on the Council’s Island.”

Jackie stood up, rushed to the door—realized it was closed, waited for one of the stewardesses to come over and open it—and then hurried outside, practically sprinting down the staircase. The air outside was chilly, a tang of salty scent in the wind. And at the base of the staircase, a familiar face was waiting for him.

“Windstorm. Good to see you again.” Kinetics nodded.

Jackie stopped short the second he saw her. He hadn’t expected to see one of the Council members so soon. “Ah... y-yeah, good to see you too,” he said, voice somewhat hoarse. He coughed awkwardly, then finished walking down the staircase, now at a much slower pace.

Kinetics chuckled. “Still nervous, I see. Don’t worry, I understand.” She was wearing her white supersuit, but her silver helmet was tucked under her arm. Made sense, it looked uncomfortable to wear for a long time. “The last time we spoke, I told you the League was willing to give you every possible resource in search of this Anti-Virus villain. But you still continued on, mostly without aid.”

“...sorry,” Jackie said slowly.

“No, no, it’s impressive what you managed to do,” Kinetics said. “Even if, as we now know, that search is much more difficult than it seemed. Are you hungry? Can I get you a snack or a drink?”

“N-no, I’m not hungry,” Jackie said, swallowing nervously. “Maybe... some water, though?”

“Of course.” Kinetics took a few steps to the side and looked back at the jet. Jackie turned around, and saw a glass bottle and two cups fly out of the open doorway leading into the plane. They sailed down the staircase, then circled around to stop between him and Kinetics. The lid of the bottle unscrewed on its own, and the lid remained hovering in place as the bottle tipped over, pouring water into both cups. “Go on.”

“Th-thank you.” Jackie took one of the floating cups, and Kinetics took the other. Part of him thought that she might be showing off with her telekinesis, but also, if he had the ability to move things without touching them, he’d do stuff like this all the time. He took a drink of the water—and only then realized how thirsty he really was. Soon, the water was gone, quickly gulped down.

“I know plane travel can ‘dry you out,’ so to say,” Kinetics said. “So if you need a moment to tidy up, there’s a bathroom in the Councilhouse you can use.”

“That would be nice, thank you.” Jackie had no doubt that sleeping with his mask on had led to some weird imprint lines on his face. “Uh... lead the way.”

Kinetics nodded and spun around. Jackie started to follow her, but hesitated. He looked down at the empty cup in his hand, unsure what to do—only for it to be pulled out of his hand by an invisible force and go flying back onto the plane. Along with the bottle and other cup. Huh. Well that takes care of that. And so he quickly hurried to catch up with Kinetics.

The walk to the Councilhouse was quiet. Jackie wasn’t sure how to make conversation in this situation, and Kinetics didn’t start up small talk either. She merely led him down a path, which wound back and forth between some decorative fountains and pools of water, towards the buildings with its dome-shaped roof. The architecture here was sleek, modern. A lot of chrome and white concrete, with the occasional highlight of (hopefully fake) gold. Outside the front entrance to the Councilhouse was a statue of the first five members of the Council of Heroes: Red Huntress, the Shadow, Lightning Man, Jungle Cat, and Comet. The statue was done in marble, very classical in style. Jackie took a moment to pause and look at it. All of them looked very heroic. Of course they did—they were the Heroes! But... Jackie didn’t feel the admiration he expected to feel upon seeing this.

“Windstorm?” Kinetics turned around to look at him, realizing he’d fallen behind.

“Coming!” Jackie hurried after her.

The interior of the Councilhouse was much like its outside. Grand and smoothly modern. The ceiling of the entrance hall vaulted high above, and almost every single entrance was a set of double doors. The only exception Jackie could see were the bathrooms and one other door that probably led to a supply closet. “Once you’re done freshening up, walk straight down this hallway here to the set of doors at the end,” Kinetics said. “Knock on them and I’ll open them for you. Please don’t take too long, we want to get right to business.”

“O-of course. I’d hate to keep you waiting.” Jackie smiled a little. “Be... be right back!” He hurried into the bathroom, leaving Kinetics behind.

Even the bathroom followed this grand style. It was a bit intimidating, being in a restroom with marble counters and chrome columns in the corner, but Jackie tried to ignore the decor. He went over to the sink and pushed his hood and mask back, looking at his face in the mirror. There were deep bags under his eyes—and he was correct, sleeping in the mask had left weird indent marks around his face. Not much he could do about that, but maybe if he cleaned up a bit they wouldn’t see the marks.

Jackie turned on the tap, took off his gloves (don’t want to get them wet!) and splashed some water on his face, rubbing his skin to hopefully... stretch out the marks? Would that work? He also took some soap from the dispenser and applied it to his face as well, then washed it off and grabbed some paper towels to dry the whole mess. He patted them against his face and paused for a moment, hands pressing them deeper. Then he lowered it all and looked at himself in the mirror.

...he still looked tired. And nervous.

Guess there was only so much soap and water could do, huh?

Jackie took a deep breath. In a minute, he’d be standing before the Council of Heroes. They’d ask him all about Anti-Virus, and he would have to do his best to answer their questions. He needed to look like the best Hero he could be. Like the sort of person who wouldn’t help break a notorious villain out of the highest-security prison there was. Even if that villain was a good friend of theirs. Even if they knew about the neutrinalin thing going on in there. Which! They wouldn’t! Because a person—a Hero like that... wouldn’t ask questions, would they?

He was starting to feel a sinking dread in his stomach. But he took a deep breath and pulled his mask on, then his hood. And just like that, he looked like someone else entirely. He was Windstorm, protector of the city, the hero who helped the defenseless! He was always confident in what he was doing. He was not a ball of anxiety in a supersuit. He... had probably kept the Council waiting long enough. 

Another deep breath later, and Jackie left the bathroom, hurrying down the hallway Kinetics had pointed out earlier.

The double doors at the end of this hallway were twice as tall as him, made of shining metal and carved with a giant version of the League’s logo. Jackie quickly knocked on it before he could think too hard about what was coming. Immediately, the doors opened, moving smoothly despite their immense size. And Jackie walked into the Central Council Room.

Light streamed in from a skylight high above. The wide, circular room took up the center of the Councilhouse, and went right up to the dome. Columns lined the walls, and between them were mosaics, abstractly depicting heroic figures, mostly in the form of generic posing figures surrounded by colorful lines. A large, dark wood desk curved around the room, and behind it, sitting in large-backed leather chairs, were the six Council members. Jackie looked up at them—the desk and chairs were on a taller dais, so even though they were sitting, they were at least a foot or two higher than him.

“Welcome to the Councilhouse,” said the man sitting in one of the center chairs. His supersuit was mostly brown, blonde hair peeking out from his helmet decorated with feathers. This was Eagle-Eye, known for his fast flight and enhanced vision, much like a bird of prey. His appointment to the Council meant that a lot of flying heroes began taking inspiration from birds like he did. “Let’s get some formalities out of the way. This meeting is currently being recorded, for future referral. Today is December 21st, 2019, 11:40 am. Now, you are Windstorm of Daindover, correct?”

“Uh—yes, sir,” Jackie said awkwardly.

“And your secret identity is Jackie Skye? 29 years old?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, this meeting has been called to discuss the... villain?” Eagle-Eye looked unsure about that. “...Known as Anti-Virus.”

“Villain is a very human term, isn’t it?” That came from the chair on the far left, where Red Huntress was sitting. She was the oldest Council member, her curly black hair developing gray streaks, but her red jumpsuit still fit her frame perfectly, the bright color contrasting her darker skin. There were rumors about her retirement, but Jackie always doubted it. “Should we really be humanizing this thing? Perhaps simply calling it a ‘threat’ would suffice.”

“I suppose that depends on how human it acts.” And that came from the chair between Red Huntress and Eagle-Eye, where a very unusual figure sat. He looked more like a three dimensional shadow than a human, his hair, clothes and skin all entirely black, without much dimension to speak of. He seemed to have no facial features other than a pair of glowing green eyes. Appropriately, he was called the Shadow, and he was the only original Council member besides Red Huntress to still be sitting there. “After all, I don’t need to tell you guys how looks can be deceiving.”

“Windstorm, what do you think?” Kinetics asked from her chair to Eagle-Eye’s right. “You’ve fought Anti-Virus. Does it deserve to be called a villain? Or is it merely a threat, more in line with an asteroid or rogue weapon?”

“Uh—” Jackie swallowed a lump in his dry throat. “I-I think Anti-Virus—the ANTI, a-as he was originally called—even though he’s... technically a computer program, o-or a bunch of programs, he... he thinks and acts too human to be ‘just’ a computer.”

“I see.” Eagle-Eye nodded. “And so... we need you to update us on what exactly this ANTI is. You’ve been pretty clear that this is a situation like we’ve never seen before, but we must know how it came to be.”

“Hey, the guy might not know that!” said a voice to Kinetic’s right. This came from a young woman, her black hair done in braids, a black eye mask barely hiding her features.

Jackie blinked. “Um... s-sorry, who are you?” The black and yellow costume was similar to Shockwave’s, but Shockwave was a man, and also older.

“Oh, call me Shockwave II,” the woman said. “Father is stepping down soon, so I’ll be taking over the mantle. The news hasn’t yet been sent out to the League or the press, so keep it on the down-low for a bit.”

“O-okay.” Jackie nodded slowly. She must have inherited her father’s powers—such things happened sometimes when superhumans had kids. Still, he hadn’t heard of a second Shockwave. Well, he could think about this later. “In any case, I... I do know where ANTI came from. Dr. McLoughlin told me about it. In fact, I only realized Anti-Virus’s true nature after he told me.”

“Dr. Jack McLoughlin of SepTech?” Red Huntress asked.

“Y-yes.” Jackie nodded.

“There hasn’t been hide nor hair of him in the past couple weeks,” Red Huntress said, glancing at the screen of an open laptop in front of her. “Is he working with the Anti-Virus?”

“No! Not.. willingly, at least,” Jackie said slowly. “Um... maybe it would be easiest if I started from the beginning?”

The Council members glanced at each other. “Yes, of course, go on,” Kinetics said. “Tell us the events that transpired, the ones that led to your discovery of ‘the ANTI.’”

Jackie nodded. He took a deep breath; luckily he’d been thinking about what to say constantly for the past couple days. And so, he let it all spill out, making sure to sound confident with every word. He even told the Council about Marvin and Schneep being there—in the guise of Spitfire Cat and the Specter, of course. That was the part he was most nervous about, but during their last meeting, Kinetics had said that he wouldn’t be in trouble for working with villains. But he tried to downplay his connection to them as much as possible, explaining that it had been their idea to investigate SepTech (true) and that he simply intervened to make sure they didn’t go too far (sort of true) and that he hadn’t had contact with either of them between the Puppeteer incident and this (false). He explained how he went in to confront McLoughlin about how suspicious it was to have those SAMs hidden in the building, how McLoughlin had protested and started acting odd, how he eventually told Jackie about ANTI, and how Jackie had put together a wild theory—which had then been confirmed when ANTI made the whole lab attack him and the Specter. “We only really escaped because of Spitfire Cat,” he finished. “If not for him, I might have... might not be here today.”

“So... this Dr. McLoughlin was being... controlled by this program?” the Shadow asked slowly. “How is that possible?”

“Ah, Dr. McLoughlin has some, uh... cybernetic parts,” Jackie explained. “It seems like ANTI had access to them through McLoughlin’s, uh... internal implant that let him connect to his SAM. Mentally.”

The Shadow shook his head. “Well that was a dumb thing to give himself.”

“To be fair to McLoughlin, how was he supposed to know the program he developed would be sentient?” Red Huntress asked.

“He probably should have thought about it before scanning his brain! Of course the program would eventually develop its own thoughts.”

“What do you mean ‘of course’?” Red Huntress raised an eyebrow. “How could anyone have expected that?”

“Dr. McLoughlin was playing with a science that shouldn’t have worked at all,” Eagle-Eye said assertively. “We don’t currently have the battery capabilities to power this—this mind program. And yet, it exists.”

“We can talk about what to do about McLoughlin later, once we actually find him,” said Shockwave II. “Right now, we need to focus on Anti-Virus.”

“It’s been proven able to hack into our systems,” said the final Council member, speaking up for the first time. Bolt Runner was leaning back in his chair, looking more bored than anything as he idly played with the gloves of his blue and white costume, strands of hair coming loose from his gelled hairstyle. “Clearly, we must get rid of it. Eliminate it, like the virus it is.”

“H-hey, uh—” Jackie cleared his throat. “I know that ANTI may not have a physical body, but his mind is human. That means he should... be treated as one is. Even the worst villains need to be imprisoned before their sentence is decided.”

“How?” Bolt Runner looked at him with unnaturally bright blue eyes.

Jackie opened his mouth... but nothing came to him. He had no idea how to stop Anti-Virus. He didn’t even know how to find him—after all, he existed in the digital sphere, and Jackie wasn’t exactly an expert on that—much less how to keep him from simply hopping somewhere else through the Internet.

“Windstorm is right, though,” Shockwave II said. “We can’t eliminate Anti-Virus. We have to figure out why it exists! We have to study it. Maybe we could figure out a way to... tame it?”

“Perhaps Dr. McLoughlin could help with that,” Kinetics said. “After all, he knows it inside and out. If we could simply... find him...”

“Yes, that should be the next step,” Eagle-Eye agreed. “It’s likely that McLoughlin has fled the city, possibly even the country. We should put our resources to finding him.”

“Um.” The Shadow raised his hand. “You might want to rephrase that. McLoughlin didn’t ‘flee.’ That implies he did it of his own free will.”

Jackie let out a breath of relief. He was thinking of a way to say that, himself. “Ah... I-I don’t know if you could ‘tame’ Anti-Virus, by the way,” he said slowly. “That... that seems... He probably has defenses up—a-and also, he’s not a program, he thinks like a person, I did establish th—”

“Well, even if he was made from someone’s brain scans, anything digital can be reprogrammed,” Shockwave II interrupted. “After all... McLoughlin did that in the first place, didn’t he? You said that the original project blew up, and he salvaged what was left to be his digital assistant.”

“Yes, but... but that... w-we don’t know if that worked...” Jackie said slowly. “ANTI could’ve been pretending to follow commands but... not actually. H-he did that a couple times, you know, and also just... lied. And stuff.”

“Besides, we need to have a whole debate on the ethics of that,” Red Huntress muttered. “We don’t want another ‘permanent neutrinalin’ debacle.”

“Speaking of debates, should we talk about Windstorm here apparently teaming up with the same villains once again?” Bolt Runner asked. “I thought we discouraged that.”

“I’m not—I don’t—” Jackie stammered. “I-it wasn’t really a team-up! I just... They were teaming up with each other, and I stepped in!”

“It’s alright, Windstorm, don’t be so nervous,” Kinetics said. “Bolt Runner’s just a bit of a stickler. We trust our Heroes to use whatever means they deem necessary to do their jobs, and I agree that this temporary team-up you did was the right call. You knew Dr. McLoughlin was suspicious, so you took advantage of the plan the villains had to confirm.”

Jackie nodded slowly. It... didn’t sound right when it was put that way. 

“Our next plan should be to put our technopaths to work,”  Eagle-Eye said. “They might be able to find Anti-Virus. Windstorm, you should focus on the physical effects of Anti-Virus. Finding McLoughlin... and dealing with these Machines. We must take care of them.”

“Y-yes, I agree,” Jackie said. “But isn’t SepTech not allowing us inside their buildings?”

The Council members all mumbled among themselves. Sounds like none of them like that fact very much.  “We’ll keep trying to negotiate with them,” the Shadow said. “In the meantime, you should search for other caches of these Machines. There might be backups.”

Jackie frowned. “Can... i-is there any way I can... go... into the SepTech buildings without the company’s... No, n-nevermind.”

“Well... technically speaking, as a Hero, you have jurisdiction to go anywhere you think criminal activity might be going on,” Shockwave II said. “SepTech will not cause trouble for you if you head into the building without their permission. But they can redirect that frustration to the League—specifically, they might cut their contracts with us.”

“I see.” Jackie figured that was their logic. So if he did anything to mess with that, the League might take him off the Anti-Virus problem. And that was the last thing he wanted. He might need to rely on people who aren’t beholden to League rules, after all. Like Marvin and Schneep. “So... the League will take care of... trying to find Anti-Virus?”

“You don’t sound very happy about that, Windstorm,” Kinetics pointed out.

Jackie winced. “I just... I’ve been working on this since we thought it was just the Puppeteer. It... If I could do something to help, I... I would like to... But I-I know that I’m not... My skills aren’t aimed towards digital searching. But I would like to... try?”

“You are, of course, able to do your own search on your own time,” Eagle-Eye said. “We will just be putting our own team on the case. Though, if Anti-Virus proves to be a more direct threat, it’s likely that we’ll ask you to join other Heroes in a team effort.”

“I... understand,” Jackie said slowly.

“Do you believe Anti-Virus is a large-scale threat, Windstorm?” Red Huntress asked.

“H-huh?!” Jackie jumped in surprise, not expecting to be asked. “Well...” He thought for a minute. “I think... ANTI has already proven that he’s... very capable of... hacking secure databases. H-he was definitely behind that data leak, uh, recently. Or, not recently, but... the most recent one. If he wanted to make a large-scale attack, he probably would’ve done that by now. I think... he might have... another sort of goal.” He didn’t realize he felt that way until he said it out loud, but it made sense. ANTI had only hacked into the League database to threaten Jackie away from looking for him. If he wanted to cause chaos, he would have done it by now. So... what did ANTI want?

“That does make sense,” Red Huntress agrees, nodding. “It’s likely that we don’t have to worry about that sort of thing yet.”

“Still, it’s worrying to have this... villain out there,” Eagle-Eye said slowly. “Windstorm, do you mind going over the encounter you had with Anti-Virus once more? The one in the lab with Dr. McLoughlin.”

Jackie nodded. “Alright...” He took a deep breath, and started again.

===============

He had no idea where he was. He... didn’t know much, these days. His memory was so spotty, and he was finally starting to realize that it wasn’t normal. There was something... different about him. And... it was his own fault, wasn’t it?

The space he kept waking up in was cold, the walls covered in graffiti, dirt piled in the corners of the concrete room. Flickering lightbulbs lit up the center of the rooms, and nowhere else. He’d never been here before, but strangely, it seemed so familiar. Had he been here before? Had he seen these designs before?

This must have been underground. There were no windows anywhere, and everything was stone and concrete. There were no doors outside, only more hallways, endless hallways. Occasionally staircases, but whenever he started to go too far up them, he would suddenly appear back downstairs. He knew that he wasn’t actually teleporting around—his clothes got progressively dirtier, and he felt more and more tired every time—but the way his memory suddenly stopped and started felt more like it than anything else. Like a sudden cut in a movie.

There was always a SAM nearby—one of his creations, but they always felt so... hostile. Their cameras always facing towards him. Sometimes, they would be plugged into a computer bank nearby (there seemed to be a lot of random servers down here for some reason?) but sometimes they would just be hovering. Staring at him. His own, special SAM had vanished. He hadn’t seen it since Windstorm came to visit him in the lab.

Since... that day... everything had changed.

He’d already tried screaming at the SAMs, tried running wildly through these passageways, tried hiding in a collapsed alcove and crying to himself as he prayed that the blackouts wouldn’t come again. Nothing worked. The SAMs were too strong, and the blackouts would always come, anyway. His only consolation was that he probably wasn’t going to die down here. Sometimes, after a sudden blackout, he would find a supply of food nearby—packaged stuff, things like bottled water, fruit snacks, pretzels in bags. It wasn’t exactly nutritious, but he would stay alive.

He knew who was behind this by now. He was smart enough to figure it out. Right after he’d spoken to Windstorm about his ANTI project, about the Anti-Virus villain that coincidentally had the same name, this had started.

Why? What did it want from him? He would understand if it was asking him for something, if it was trying to force him to make another ANTI, but it wasn’t. It was just... keeping him down here. Causing the blackouts. Probably... using his body for something. The thought made him sick.

He should never have developed that implant. At least... he was the only one who had one. He was the only one who was suffering from this.

Or... that’s what he thought, at least.

After one sudden cut, he found himself not in those dirty, rundown underground spaces. But instead, in a very clean, very bright room. He blinked. Despite the sudden difference in lighting, his eyes didn’t hurt... like they’d already grown used to the brightness without him. The walls were chrome, with no windows, and the floor was corrugated metal. A single door led in, made of thick-looking, sturdy metal, without a handle. And in the center of this room... was a bed. And in the bed, was a person.

He glanced at the door for a brief moment, but then decided he should check on the person first. They looked really pale. An oxygen mask covered their face, hooked up to a machine nearby. Another machine displayed various lines, spiking and falling. He’d seen this sort of stuff in a hospital before, but he didn’t understand it. He had no idea if things on the screen were going well or going poorly. All he could do was look at the person in the bed and try to assess their condition that way.

They were very pale, eyes closed, the oxygen mask hiding most of their face. Long brown hair spilled over the pillow. A woman, probably around his own age. She looked vaguely familiar... but he wasn’t sure where he would have seen her before. In any case, she seemed... alright? He guessed? He hesitantly reached out and put a hand on her arm, feeling her skin. It was a bit cold, but not to a worrying degree. Her chest was rising and falling steadily, and after a moment of hesitation, he turned her wrist over and pressed his fingers to the inside to feel for a pulse. That seemed normal.

Confused, he glanced at the door again. After a moment, he walked over and tried to push it open. But it might as well have been part of the wall. It seemed like he would be stuck here. Until either someone came for him, or another blackout happened. At least there wasn’t a SAM in the room. He never thought he’d feel such dread thinking about them.

There wasn’t a chair or anything in the room, so he sat down in the corner. “At least I have someone to talk to?” he mumbled, then laughed drily.

His words bounced off the empty room and died in the silence.

[the-earnest-system]

Worth the Risk

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

As I write this description, I am EXTREMELY tired. So forgive me if I skip the usual chat about the chapter writing process and go straight to the summary fhsdjakl After sneaking into the IRIS facility last chapter, the guys wait to see if the proof they found is able to drive IRIS out of Mirygale so they can return. Meanwhile, Distorter appears again with a vague statement: Return to Mirygale now, or else. The group debates what to do. Enjoy! :D

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

“I didn’t even know Internet cafes still existed,” Jackie said, leaning close to the computer monitor. “In the year 2019? Who even uses these places?”

“You’d be surprised,” Anti said, calmly scanning the website he’d pulled up. “Not everyone has reliable Internet or access to a computer or smartphone. Even in this day and age. Case in point: we’re here.”

“Well... we kinda have... special circumstances.” Jackie glanced around as he said that. The cafe was pretty empty around them, except for a couple teenagers gathered around one monitor and a couple scattered adults each with their own computer. The monitors are lined up on long tables, and the air is hot from all of the running CPUs, the scent of coffee at war with the smell of electronics. A cloudy afternoon sky lets in little light through the wide windows.

“Fair enough,” Anti muttered. He frowned, not satisfied with what he was seeing, and opened up another webpage in another tab.

“Whoa, how’d you just do that?!” Jackie gasped.

Anti couldn’t help but laugh a little. “If you click a link with the middle mouse button, it opens it in another tab in most computers.”

“Middle mouse button?”

“The scroll wheel. I’m surprised you don’t know any of this.” Anti grinned. “If you click the scroll wheel on a blank page, you can also get this smooth scrolling thing. Watch.” He did just that, moving the mouse up and down. The webpage scrolled in accordance with the movement.

“God, you’re a wizard,” Jackie mumbled.

Anti laughed louder. “I’m not. I just picked up a lot of stuff from experience.” The smile faded from his face as he actually read the webpage now. “Hm... no news about IRIS here, either.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jackie said. “It’s only been a day since we sent the footage.”

Yesterday, Anti and Jack had gone to the library to use their computers, spending the whole afternoon uploading the footage from the camera to a hard drive that the group had bought during the tech-buying spree a few days ago. From there, they sent the raw footage to various news sources. Just about as many as they could find before the library closed. They also printed out screenshots, copied photos, did just about everything they could to get backups, and this morning Jack and Stacy had gone to send packets of the physical copies to other news sources. They also sent both digital and physical copies to the Mirygale police, since Detective Kikelomo had said she’d start an investigation into IRIS.

This all might’ve been a bit overkill, but none of them wanted to take chances. They knew that some news places might think the whole thing was a big prank. But they needed someone to take them seriously. Otherwise, IRIS would still be a threat.

“Y’know... have you thought that... maybe this plan won’t work?” Jackie whispered, not wanting to say it out loud. “I mean, just because IRIS’s experiments might be exposed, it doesn’t guarantee they’ll forget about us.”

“...Yeah, I know,” Anti agreed, his voice just as quiet. “But the plan’s not to take them down forever. We just need to get them to leave us alone long enough for us to deal with Distorter. And like... these guys seem like the type to avoid taking risks. That detective lady is probably our best bet. If IRIS knows that a city is onto them, they’ll pull out, at least for a little bit.”

Jackie nodded. “I guess that’s all true.” He laughed a little. “Good thing Schneep ran into her, right?”

“Hrm.” Anti grumbled wordlessly.

“What?” Jackie looked at him, rolling his desk chair a bit closer to Anti’s. “What is it? You don’t like her?”

“No, it’s not just that.” Anti shook his head. “It’s just that... She happened to be in town? The town that’s at least an hour’s drive from where she lives? In the exact same shop that Volt and Jackson went to? At the exact moment the two of them went out? It’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?”

Jackie blinked. “Well, look at it this way. Why would she plan to be there? What sort of nefarious scheme required her to run into Schneep and promise to investigate IRIS for him?”

“I dunno. Maybe IRIS hired her.”

“Well if they did, it’s a good thing we sent the recordings and photos to people besides Rachel,” Jackie pointed out. “Besides. I don’t think that’s IRIS’s style, anyway. They’re a lot more... direct.”

“...true,” Anti admitted. He opened another tab on the browser and typed in another address. “So... what if it was Distorter? We know he doesn’t have to be nearby to...” He trailed off. “Y-you know. To... do his thing.”

Jackie shuddered. “That’s true. But Schneep and JJ are very experienced in spotting the signs of Distorter’s control. It’s not exactly subtle. They would’ve realized she was different.”

“...yeah.” Anti nodded slowly. He was quiet for a minute, searching through the site he’d pulled up. Then he whispered, “Thanks.”

“Thanks?” Jackie repeated, confused.

“For, uh... keeping me grounded, I guess,” Anti mumbled. “I have... problems with that.”

Jackie was silent. Then he nodded. “No problem.”

They continued to read and search for a while, but after about an hour, they had to give up. It seemed like one day wasn’t enough time for news to arrive. It also didn’t help that they were being charged every thirty minutes for using the computer. The two of them paid for their time in cash, then headed out onto the street.

“The library didn’t charge me and Jack for using their stuff,” Anti muttered. “And we had to use their special computers with editing software and shit.”

“Well the whole point of the library is to offer things for no cost,” Jackie pointed out. “An Internet cafe is not the same. We could’ve just gone to the library again, you know.”

“No. They might’ve realized I was there two days in a row,” Anti said stubbornly. 

“I don’t think the library cares about how often people visit,” Jackie laughed. “In fact, I think they’d be delighted to see you there so often. That’s probably good for, uh... numbers, or whatever.”

Anti grumbled some more. “I just don’t want to stand out. I already look pretty distinct. Even though the streaks in my hair are really fading.”

“You’ll be fine,” Jackie said, nudging him. “But if you’re really so concerned, that cafe didn’t cost that much, really.”

Anti grunted noncommittally. 

They walked down the street until they reached the bus stop. It was a nice bus stop, actually. There was a little metal structure with a bench inside and plants on the roof—a good way to bring some green to the otherwise dull gray urban landscape. Jackie checked the schedule hanging on the inside of the stop. “Alright, if all goes well, the bus will be here in five minutes,” Jackie said. “Probably closer to six.”

“Cool.” Anti folded his arms and leaned against one of the metal support poles. He idly watched the few cars going down the street, eyes flicking back and forth.

Jackie sat down on the bench. “So... uh, how have things been?”

“I dunno.” Anti shrugged. “Same as you, really. How have things been with you?”

“Well... I’ve been worried about Marvin,” Jackie said. “The whole, you know... ‘time freeze having an effect on him’ thing...” He sighed. “He’s been acting weird since then, have you seen it?”

“Not really...” Anti started to say, then trailed off. “I mean... I guess a little. He’s been kinda quiet, maybe?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah, that! He’s not really talking to anyone that much. Even JJ. I wonder what’s going on.”

“He’s probably having some existential shit,” Anti said. “That’s what always happens in time travel stories. Or to people with time manipulation powers. You start to wonder about the nature of stuff. And in Marvin’s case, do you think that if Volt and Jackson hadn’t been with him, he’d have just disappeared?”

Jackie shuddered. “I don’t want to think about that!”

Anti grinned. “When I was younger, I wasn’t much for reading, but there was this one series I remember very distinctly about time travel. One character could pause time, though as the story went on she began to lose control of the ability and could only stay in the normal flow of time by holding onto another character. She ended up defeating the villain by letting go of the second character, grabbing onto the bad guy, and disappearing into a void together. Then her molecules pulled apart and she disappeared from the timeline.”

“Jesus fucking hell!” Jackie blinked. “How old were you when you read that? Cause if you were a kid, that’s pretty dark and intense!”

“I thought it was cool.” Anti chuckled. “Besides, kids love that dark shit. But yeah... I wouldn’t let Will read that series until he was at least thirteen. Wish I could remember the name of the books, though.”

“I-I-I really hope that sort of thing wouldn’t happen to Marvin...” Jackie muttered.

Anti blinked. “Well, I’m sure... I’m sure it wasn’t like that. From what he told us when you all got back, I bet... I-I bet he would’ve just snapped out of the spell.” He hunched his shoulders. “...sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“No, it’s fine, really!” Jackie said hurriedly. “I just... it’s not what you said, it’s just me being all anxious and stuff.” He smiled at him hesitantly. “I’m sure Marvin would’ve been fine too. JJ seemed to think he would be... eventually.”

“Yeah. Jackson’s the magic expert, listen to him.” Anti nodded. He continued to watch the cars, his vision blurring a little as his eyes lost focus. “I don’t think we should use that spell again, though. Unless we really have to.”

“Oh yeah, no, definitely,” Jackie agreed. “I think Marvin’s been a bit scared off from experimenting with his cards for a while... which is actually... kind of sad, I think. I mean, he seems to really like those cards. I guess cause they’re a connection to his life before Distorter got involved. Though that’s just me guessing, of course. I-I mean, aren’t they also the reason he got transported to this time in the first place?”

Anti didn’t answer. Something was... off. He’d seen something on the other side of the road. But when he tried to focus on it, he couldn’t quite make it out. In fact... he couldn’t quite make anything out. It all felt so... distant all of a sudden.

This immediately put him on alert—but even that alert felt distant. “Jackie,” he said quietly. “Something’s wrong.”

“Huh?” Jackie looked over at Anti. His eyes widened and he gasped. “Anti! Your eyes are bleeding!”

Anti inhaled sharply, wanting to feel more distressed from that news than he actually was. He reached up and touched his face. A single drop of blood had fallen from one eye, tracing down his cheek. “He’s here.”

Jackie shot to his feet. “W-we have to get out of here!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys, I had a dream about him,” Anti said idly.

“What?! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“It, uh... felt private,” Anti said slowly.

Jackie threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “I’d be more mad if I didn’t know you and your habits. Come on!” He grabbed Anti by the arm and pulled him out of the bus stop. Anti stumbled, trying to run but having difficulty, his body feeling disconnected from his mind.

The thing on the other side of the street laughed. “Don’t worry... I’m not really here,” said a voice.

Jackie froze for a moment. Then stiffened and started to run down the street, pulling Anti behind him.

“Not even going to listen to me, are you?” Distorter made a tut-tut sound. It wasn’t clear where his voice was coming from. It was just... there. “That’s not fair, Jackie.”

“H-hey! Leave him fucking alone!” Anti shook his head, trying to push past the fog. He focused on the grip Jackie had on his arms, on the way the air passed through his nose and mouth. Things started to come a bit more into view. Focus! He wouldn’t let this bitch control him! “What are you even doing here?! Just fucking with us?!”

“I wanted to tell you something,” Distorter said.

“Don’t listen!” Jackie continued to pull Anti down the street, but Distorter’s voice remained around them.

“Maybe it’s better to say, I want to warn you,” Distorter continued. “I’m starting to miss you guys, you know? I think you should hurry back. Or else... something might happen.”

Anti stopped. Jackie tried to keep running, and yanked Anti’s arm painfully in the process. “Ow! Fuck!”

“Sorry!” Jackie stopped as well, glancing back at Anti apologetically. “But—what are you doing?! He can’t actually do anything, you know!”

Distorter laughed. “I can do a whole lot. Just because you guys are far away doesn’t mean I’m powerless. For every day you don’t come back, something will happen. I’ll be generous. You’ll get to have the rest of this day. Then, tomorrow morning, something will happen... and it will be all your fault.”

And then, abruptly, everything shifted. Anti blinked, finding himself once again aware and present in the world. He shook his head, then looked at Jackie. Jackie stared back with wide eyes. “He can’t... mean that, right?” Jackie whispered. “It has to be a bluff.”

Anti just stared back, a grim expression on his face. “We have to tell the others.”

———————

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell us about that dream?!” Jack, usually pretty calm, seemed kind of pissed by this news. Anti and Jackie had gathered everyone up in the apartment’s living room, telling them about Distorter’s sudden appearance—and Anti told them all about the dream he had with him. “I was literally right there! I checked on you! Opportune moment to say something!”

It does seem like something we should’ve known, JJ added tentatively.

“Look, we had more stuff to think about after that,” Anti said. “We had the whole IRIS time freeze shit to deal with. It kinda just slipped my mind. Besides,” He looked at Jack. “I wasn’t going to say anything in front of Will. I know he’s a strong kid, but he’s still a kid. It would freak him out to hear I had a dream where Distorter tried to claw my throat out.”

Jameson shuddered, his hand going up towards his own throat. Marvin, sitting on the sofa next to him, patted his shoulder comfortingly. 

“Well... yeah, that makes sense,” Jack mumbled. “Sorry. I just... that seems really important.”

“I can’t believe him hearing about me upset him so much,” Stacy said, looking off to the side thoughtfully. “Well... actually, I can believe it, since it sounded like you just kept pushing him. That wasn’t the smartest thing to do.”

“Yeah, well, I guess I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally,” Anti said. “Maybe some part of me wanted to get under his fucking nerves, even.”

“...probably not the best idea,” Jackie said, agreeing with Stacy.

“Look, can we focus on the most recent problem?” Anti asked. “The guy tried to threaten us. He basically said ‘come back to Mirygale or else.’”

“Or else what?” Rama asked. “Is he going to attack us?”

“If he is, it will not be physically,” Schneep muttered. “Even though he cannot be hurt by most things, we still outnumber him by a great deal. As long as we are all together, he cannot hurt our bodies. Our minds, however...”

“Do you think he’ll go for the kids again?” Jackie asked quietly, glancing down the hall towards the bedroom where Will and Michelle were. The adults had asked them to stay out of this conversation, saying it was ‘grown-up stuff.’ Will hadn’t really been happy about not being included, but he went with it. Michelle was just happy she could make him play with her while the adults talked.

“I... don’t know,” Anti admitted in the same quiet tone. “There’s always a chance. Or there’s a chance he’ll use his powers on us. Like... what happened with you, Jackie, that day at the park.”

Jackie shivered, and Rama walked over to his chair, putting their hands on his shoulders. “We won’t let that happen again,” they said.

What he’s planning to do doesn’t really matter, I think, JJ said. What matters is if we’ll cave to this demand to return back to Mirygale. We still don’t know if it’s safe there. IRIS might swoop in and grab us. In fact, for all we know, Distorter might WANT them to do that!

“That’s crazy,” Jackie said. “IRIS is very interested in Distorter, I don’t think he’d want to risk a run-in with a potential enemy.”

“Well... he definitely took advantage of me being locked in there,” Anti muttered.

“That is different, though,” Schneep said. “That is merely making the best of a bad situation... er, the best for him I mean. I agree with Jackie, I do not think Distorter would go out of his way to get IRIS involved.”

“Yeah!” Jackie nodded. “I don’t know what IRIS’s plans are for Distorter and the house on Aspen Street, but knowing what we know now, it can’t be good. At very best, they’ll hurt a lot of people by throwing them into the house’s weird pocket dimension. Distorter knows that and wouldn’t risk it.”

Do you think IRIS is powerful enough to contain him? Jameson asked.

“Yeah, what do you think, Jackie?” Stacy asked. “You, uh... have the biggest history with them.”

Jackie bit his lip, looking momentarily ashamed of his past decision. “...maybe. They’d struggle with it, and I can definitely see him escaping a few times and causing damage along the way, but he’s still just one guy, you know? IRIS has him beat on numbers alone. And... I think they’re trying to prepare for anomalies like him.” He glanced at Schneep.

Schneep folded his arms and glanced to the side. “That is true...”

“Maybe we could pit them against each other somehow.” Anti grinned.

JJ tilted his head. If IRIS caught Distorter, maybe they would leave the rest of us alone...

“I... don’t think they would,” Stacy said slowly. “I mean... you guys have magic and stuff. I don’t think they’d forget about that so easily.”

Jameson’s shoulders slumped. I know... I suppose it’s just wishful thinking. Again, Marvin patted his shoulder. He hadn’t said a word this whole time, but he’d always be there for his friend.

“We will keep that idea in mind if we need it, though,” Schneep said. “For now... what could Distorter possibly do to us if we do not return to Mirygale? Should we risk him finding some new way to hurt us?”

“Why does he even want you guys to go back there?” Jack asked. “He’s not... stuck there, is he?”

“Nah.” Anti shook his head. “He was able to go all the way to that IRIS place to break me out. I know he was physically there, I saw the weird claw marks he left behind. If he could go that far, he could reach here. It’s almost the same distance, just in the opposite direction.”

“Hm.” Jack frowned. Something moved in his hoodie pocket, and he looked down. “Sam?” Sam squirmed out, flying into the air nearby. “They say that they feel like if we don’t go back soon, something bad will happen. But also that something bad will happen when we do go back.”

“Wow, that’s very helpful,” Anti drawled.

Sam flew over to him, a streak of green light through the air, and smacked hard against his shoulder.

“Ow!” Anti rubbed the spot they hit. “God, it’s like being hit with a bigger-than-usual paintball. I get it, though. Sorry, Sam, I know you’re just trying to help.”

Sam bobbed up and down, and Jack laughed. “They said, damn right!”

Anti burst into laughter as well. “Who knew something so cute could swear?”

“They’re also flattered that you think they’re cute,” Jack reported as Sam flew back over to him, settling on his shoulder this time.

“Well, as unspecific as that is, it is good to know that both our options are bad,” Schneep muttered. “So now we must simply decide which is worse.”

Rama pursed their lips. “In my opinion, the worst thing we can do is bring the kids closer to danger. And I don’t think taking them back to the city where this thing lives is the best idea. A-at the same time, though... I know Michelle’s been missing her friends from school.”

“She wanted to start playing football this fall...” Jackie said quietly. “Hard to do that when we’re hiding from IRIS.”

But that brings up the point of IRIS again, Jameson said. Even if we return to Mirygale, we probably can’t go back to things as normal until we’re really sure that they’re gone. So... we’d still be in hiding for a while regardless. It’s just more risky to be hiding in Mirygale, closer to all their centers of operation.

Rama nodded slowly.

“Perhaps this is an empty threat?” Schneep wondered. “What can Distorter really do to us when we stick together? Historically, that has been the best way to defeat him. He cannot affect all of us at once—and he cannot affect me at all anymore.”

“I really doubt that it’s empty,” Anti said. “But... we agreed to take care of IRIS before we did anything with Distorter. Cause we’re not gonna be able to do fuck all if we’re hiding from them. We should stick to that idea.”

“Yeah... the last thing we want is to get caught again,” Jackie said slowly.

Stacy shrugged. “I’m good with whatever you guys want to do. Though I’m not really in any hurry to get close to him again, so... there’s that.”

So we’re all in agreement, then? JJ asked.

“U-uh...” Marvin coughed, clearing his throat a little. Everyone started in surprise and glanced at him. “M-maybe... I coul’... use my cards?” He offered hesitantly. “See... into the possible futures?”

Jackie blinked. “Do you... really want to do that?”

“If... it’s easiest,” Marvin said quietly. “We coul’... know what’s comin’.”

“Marvin, please do not force yourself to do something you are uncomfortable with,” Schneep said softly.

“I-I’m not—!” Marvin started to protest.

“It, uh, definitely seems like you are, sometimes,” Anti said. “You’ve been real fucking quiet lately. Something’s bothering you. Probably what happened at the IRIS place. Like, obviously we don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you’ve been acting different ever since then.”

Jack nodded. “This has all been a lot of pressure, you know? And what happened with your cards was... really scary. I-it’s okay if you’re feeling off. You don’t have to feel obligated to help.”

Marvin glanced back and forth between the two of them, then slumped back against the sofa. “Fuck you, McLoughlins,” he muttered.

Jameson grinned slightly. They’re right, though. We’ve all been worried about you.

Marvin sighed. “I’m... I’m jus’ t’inkin’ about a lot.” He twisted his hands in his lap. “T’is... is a lot of... power. I-I want to help. To... use it to help.”

“Thank you for that, Marvin,” Schneep said. “Truly. But you do not have to.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Jackie added. “But just... we want you to be comfortable. With yourself. And your cards. And just in general.”

“Mm-hm.” Marvin looked at his hands. “I... jus’ want to help.”

Jameson nudged him. Don’t force yourself to, though. That’ll just hurt you in the long run. Remember what you’ve told me about spreading myself too thin? Same idea here.

“I guess you’re right.” Marvin smiled hesitantly. “I... I-I guess I won’ use my cards. But... I wonder if we shoul’... go back to Mirygale. Jus’ in case.”

“...we’ll give it a couple days,” Anti said slowly. “See if something happens.”

The others all nodded. It might be a bit risky, but going back to the city felt even riskier. They would wait, and hope nothing bad happened in the meantime.

———————

Over the next three days, Anti kept returning to the library and the Internet cafe to repeatedly check for any news on IRIS, each time accompanied by one of the others. Jack again, then Jameson, then on the third day, Schneep. It was a bright, sunny morning when the two of them took the bus to the library together. “Hm... this place does not look much like a library on the outside,” Schneep said as they walked in.

“It’s the architecture, right?” Anti said. “You usually think of libraries as... classical, for some reason. Not modern and urban like this. It’s like someone attached metal pillars to a metal box and plopped it in a concrete square surrounded by artsy shit.”

Schneep chuckled. “That is exactly what it looks like. And I think people think of libraries as classical for two reasons. One, that sort of classic architecture is considered intellectual, probably because of the association of it with the Renaissance and the rise of ‘modern science’. Two, we are old, and that is what libraries looked like when we were little. Perhaps as more modern libraries are built, younger kids’ views of libraries will broaden.”

“Hm.” Anti shrugged. “I guess. I never really explored a lot of libraries growing up. The only one I really knew was the one attached to my secondary school. And then, when I was, like, a young adult, I had other shit going on.”

“Really?” Schneep tilted his head. “This... is probably the most I’ve ever heard you talk about yourself.”

“Hah... I’m trying to make an effort with you guys,” Anti said. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Of course not.” Schneep chuckled.

As the two of them talked, they walked into the library and took the elevator up to the second floor. There were computers on all stories of the library, but Anti had noted that the ones on this floor seemed a bit newer than the others. They walked past the round help desk (where Anti grabbed a temporary library card) and the shelves of books, reaching the three rows of computers on tables. Looked like no one else was here today, except for one woman going back and forth between a computer on the end of a row and the nearby printer, fussing over them both.

Anti sat at the far end of the bottom row, powering up the computer there. It asked for his library card number, and he entered in the one from the temporary card. “Hm... do they just hand out cards these days?” Schneep asked. “It has been so long since I went to the library.”

“No, these are just for internet access,” Anti said. “See how this is flimsy?” He waved the temporary card back and forth, showing how it flapped. “They mass-print them out, and each one only works for a day. Maybe a couple days. I don’t remember.” He quickly opened up the browser and went to the same websites he’d been checking recently.

“Fascinating,” Schneep said. “It is very handy that they just hand those out. I saw a sign for free chargers on the way in as well. Fascinating. Fascinating. Fascinating. Fascinating.”

“You good, Volt?” Anti glanced at him.

“Y-yes.” Schneep shook his head slightly. “I am just... feeling a bit off. I think it has been too long since I took my medicine, you know?”

“Hm... another reason to go home soon, I guess,” Anti muttered.

“I-I will be fine,” Schneep said. “Don’t let me distract you.” He dragged over a chair from another computer so he could sit next to Anti. “Now. Local news sites? I use those quite often myself.”

“Yeah, you were the one who gave me some of these addresses,” Anti said.

“Oh. Right.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Anti looked at him again, concern on his face.

“Yes, I am sure,” Schneep insisted. “Just continue to scroll through the page, please.”

Anti scrolled. “It’s easier to Control F and search for IRIS, you know. But yeah, no harm in being thorough—”

Schneep inhaled sharply. He pointed at a line on the screen. “A-are you seeing this?!”

Anti blinked. He hadn’t really been focusing too much on all the headlines, but now he leaned forward. The headline read: Fire at Local Coffee Shop Almost Burns it Down. It was accompanied by a picture of a building with soot-stained walls. A building that looked familiar. “Isn’t that... the shop you worked at?”

“Latte Lake,” Schneep said idly. “Y-yes. So... it is real. C-can you click on that?”

“Yeah.” Anti did so, and both of them leaned forward to read intently. Apparently a worker said that she might’ve left a stove in the back on when she closed up shop. ‘I was... in a daze [that night],’ the quote read. “That—that is Jennifer,” Schneep muttered. “We often had the same shift. She was always very focused. To the point of being a bit intense about the closing-up procedure. She... she would not... leave a stove on. Even if in a daze.”

Anti stared at the text on the screen, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He returned to the main page of the website, using the Control F command to start searching for specific phrases. Addresses, place names, people names—“Oh my god.” Anti clicked on another headline. “What’s the name of Jameson’s stage manager, again?”

“Darla,” Schneep said. “I think.”

“That’s what I thought. Last name?”

“I-I do not know.”

Anti bit his lip. “Me neither. But look at this.” The headline read, Car Accident Leaves Woman Injured. The article listed the woman’s name as Darla Knight. He used the same command to search the phrase ‘stage manager’—and found it listed as the woman’s occupation. “Oh my god.”

Schneep inhaled sharply, his eyes going wide. “That—there are—look! Th-the statement from her, she mentions she is ‘in a daze.’”

“‘It was like my body stepped into the road on its own’,” Anti read, that feeling of dread growing in his stomach. “Oh my fucking god. Shit. Shit.”

“Th-this could be a coincidence, right?” Schneep asked hesitantly. “A coincidence that... two people we know back home... have been caught in tragedies...”

“Do you know the names of any people Jackie works with?” Anti asked.

“Ah, there is Dr. Green, I think? I cannot remember his first name right now. B-but Jackie’s hospital is Mirygale Saint General, remember?”

Anti was already searching that up. After a bit of scrolling, he found a single article—dated from three days ago. There was a theft of supplies at Mirygale Saint General Hospital. They were looking for suspects, but it was still early. Anti would bet that they’d find the culprit to be someone Jackie worked with frequently, though. “This is what Distorter meant,” Anti whispered. “We thought he’d target us. But... h-he’s making it hard for people back home...”

“A-are we sure?” Schneep asked.

“Look at the dates on these! This hospital thing was the morning after Distorter made that threat. Then the car accident was the day after, and the fire was this morning!” Anti shook his head. “Three times is too much to be a coincidence.”

Schneep sat there, staring quietly. Then he shook his head. “I-is there any news about IRIS?”

“Nothing I can see,” Anti said, quickly scrolling. He searched up IRIS, using both the Control F command and the website’s built-in searchbar. “Nothing at all.”

Schneep stood up. “We have to go home. Not to the flat. To Mirygale.”

“I... I think the others will agree,” Anti said quietly. It was still a risk, but... their friends were caring people. They wouldn’t let others suffer for their choices. He logged out of the computer, then stood up. “We need to tell them right now.”

...

A few hours later, a large group of people—mostly adults, but accompanied by two young kids—boarded the train across the country, the line heading north.

They couldn’t avoid it any longer. They had to take the risk.

[the-earnest-system]

The Lingering Scars

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Forty-Eight

A JSE Fanfic

I'm pretty sure that this series will end at Chapter 50 or 51, if all goes well and I nail the pacing XD Which is just CRAZY to think about. My Inverted series will have more chapters, but that went on for a shorter period of time, cause I published it twice per week in the beginning. It's going to be wild to not post this anymore. But! We have not reached that point yet. The guys and the other Masked Phantoms are still working out what to do, now that Jack isn't possessed anymore. How is the kingdom going to recover from the spirit's reign? And also, how is JACK going to recover from the spirit? It's going to be difficult, especially since some people can't help but remember what the spirit did... Heheh. Enjoy the chapter! :D

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It only took them about a day to get the camp on the cliffs back to functional order, but it took another two days after that for things to be fully repaired and back to a relative normal. The Phantoms had to arrange sleeping quarters for the newly freed warriors, after all. That first night was awkward, as everyone had to double up on tents or crowd together in the nearby Serpent’s Wake. But slowly, everyone started to get used to each other. There was a lot of talking in these first couple days, as the warriors and Phantoms swapped stories about what it was like for them under the spirit’s reign.

Chase reunited with his kids as quickly as he could. His worry about them didn’t fade until he actually saw Amabel and Quentin’s faces right in front of him. And then the two of them immediately tackled him in a hug. He didn’t want to let them out of his sight after that. And he didn’t have to for a while, as they all spent the night on the ship. After that, once camp was set up again, they all shared the same tent near the center.

Jackie and the other injured stayed on the ship for a while longer before being moved back to the shore. Though Jackie insisted he was fine and able to work again, Henrik firmly told him to rest. “Doctor’s orders,” he said. “The rest of us can take care of any problems that might arise.” Jackie protested, but eventually relented—though he seemed restless whenever Chase and the others came to visit him. He kept asking what was going on, and the others assured him that everything was handled.

Everything was being handled, but it was... difficult. Though the Phantoms knew the warriors had been mind controlled, and the warriors knew the Phantoms were just defending themselves, some tension lingered between the two groups. It was hard to forget the wounds that had been inflicted—quite literally. Several fights broke out over the next couple days, though luckily none of them had involved drawn weapons. The most intense one involved some shoving. Marvin had stopped that one, conjuring up a shield between the two participants. That seemed to shock them to their senses.

The main point of debate was Jack. Chase and the others had explained to everyone that Jack had been possessed and the spirit, Aneirin, had been banished. After a brief debate, everyone agreed that Jack didn’t need to be tied down or anything (particularly because he was still having trouble walking under his own power) and gave him a small tent to stay in. But they still kept an eye on him. A Phantom was posted near the tent at all hours, and would follow him around if he ever left (which he didn’t.)

Most people didn’t seem to fully trust Jack, but Jack clearly didn’t blame them. He was quiet, but polite to everyone, spending most of his time on his own trying to remember how to move his body. Chase stopped by at least once a day, usually more, to check on him and chat. “Nobody’s bothering you or anything, right?” Chase asked one day, sitting on the floor inside the tent.

“O-oh, no, not at all,” Jack assured him. “They’re just... they’re very...” He paused. “They’re very vigilant. But everyone is kind, don’t worry.” He then returned his attention to the bowl and spoon he was holding, adjusting his grip on both as they’d started to shake a bit.

“Nobody has... said anything?” Chase asked. “Or... looked at you strangely?”

“They’ve looked, but it’s not a problem, really,” Jack said. “I understand it.” He went quiet, eyes becoming shadowed.

Chase tilted his head. He could tell this all bothered Jack. Why wouldn’t it? The whole camp was treating him like he would snap and attack someone at any moment. And not because of something he did himself, but something that was forced onto him. Even though Jack was being very understanding about all this, it must have still stung. “Well... you know you can always tell me if you need anything,” Chase said.

“Thanks, Chase. I know. And I’m glad.” Jack smiled at him. “Just... don’t wear yourself too thin. You’re probably really busy lately.”

“It’s not a problem, really,” Chase said. “I want... I-I want to make sure you’re alright. I can always make time for that.”

They chatted for a bit longer, then Chase got up and left the tent. It was getting late in the day—though it was summer so there was still plenty of light. He planned to drop off Jack’s dishes at the cooking fire so that whoever was in charge of washing could clean them. Then he would go back to his tent to spend some time with Amabel and Quentin. But those plans were interrupted by someone waiting outside the tent for him. Hello Chase, Jameson said, waving.

“Oh! Elders, Jameson, you scared me a bit.” Chase let out a breath. “Wh-what is it?”

Just wanted to ask you if you were coming to the meeting tonight? Jameson asked.

“The meeti—oh!” Chase winced. “Right. I-I forgot about that. Sorry, I’ve been... I was thinking about other stuff. Yes, of course I’m coming. When is it starting?”

Jameson smiled wryly. In a few minutes.

“What?!” Chase gasped. “Shit—uh—o-okay, I’ll just drop these off really fast, then stop by my tent on the way.” He hurried across the camp, footsteps landing solidly on the bare dirt. None of the grass had grown back from the fire yet.

Jameson ran after him. Are you sure you can come? It seems like you had plans.

“N-no, I—this is important,” Chase said. “Th-thanks for reminding me. How, uh... how long were you waiting outside the tent?”

For ten minutes or so, Jameson said.

“Ten minutes?! You know you could have ducked in to remind me, then left. Then you also wouldn’t be running the risk of being late.”

Something flashed across Jameson’s face. He shook his head. No, I was fine with waiting.

Chase nodded. “Right. Of course.” He knew that Jameson had been particularly keen on avoiding Jack. He hadn’t once stepped foot in his tent, or even glanced Jack’s way on the rare occasion he was sitting outside. The reasons were obvious. And Chase wasn’t about to force Jameson to interact with Jack. But... this avoidance couldn’t last forever, could it? Out of all of the Phantoms, Jameson and Marvin were the ones most likely to interact with the King again. They were nobles—and Jameson was the last of his line. He needed royal help to get his claim back. Eventually, he would have to talk to him. They could only hope that went well when the time came.

I’ll see you in a few minutes at the meeting tent, Jameson said, snapping Chase out of his thoughts.

“Right.” Chase nodded. “See you then.”

Chase quickly dropped off the dirty dishes, then swung by his tent to tell Quentin and Amabel that he couldn’t stay like he wanted to. This meeting was probably their most important one yet, he had to make it there. Amabel tried to insist on coming so that they could still spend some time together, but Chase pointed out that she would probably be bored and overwhelmed by all the strangers talking about things she didn’t know. So she reluctantly agreed and told Chase to “Be back soon, cause we need one of your bedtime stories, cause it’s been ages since we heard one!” Chase laughed and promised to be back before nightfall, then left and hurried towards the meeting tent.

The tent wasn’t actually a full tent, but more like cloth propped up to form a roof. They were still dealing with limited supplies, and so they’d decided that the central meeting tent was probably not too important anymore, and could afford to be open to the air. That way, the canvas for the sides could be used to make other tents for people to actually live and sleep in. Even so, they kept calling it a tent out of habit.

It looked like everyone else was already there by the time Chase arrived. Even Jackie, who had insisted on being present for this one. Henrik and Nemet were there to make sure he was not about to open up his wound again. “Sorry,” Chase said, panting as he ran up to the others. “I, uh... forgot.”

“Don’t worry, Jair already told us you were busy,” Marvin said.

“Hey Chase.” Jackie waved from the corner, where he was sitting on a wooden box. “Can you believe they’ve made me sit down?”

“Yes, I can believe it a lot, actually,” Chase said. Henrik laughed at that, and Jackie looked back over his shoulder to make a face at him.

“Alright, so... this is everyone?” That question came from a new face—Lydia, tall and thin with chin-length blonde hair. One of three warriors standing in a huddle, all of them here to represent the warriors as a whole. She’d taken charge from the beginning, and the other two had been chosen by the rest of the warriors because they were popular or smart or something. Chase didn’t know the details.

“Yes, this is everyone,” Marvin said, looking around. Obviously, Marvin, Henrik, and Jackie were the leaders of the Masked Phantoms, so they had to be here. Chase was here because the part he’d played in defeating the King had pushed him to equal status. Jameson was here not because of his oracle status, for once, but because he’d really taken charge in organizing things during the camp rebuilding. Anna said that he was better at this than even her, and even told Chase yesterday that they should consider giving Jameson a leadership role (Anna was also here right now, though). The other local leaders—Lukas, Holly, Tripp, and Nemet—were standing in a cluster to the side, while Vsevna stood next to Henrik with his arms folded behind his back. As captain of a ship, he’d sort of fallen into being important enough to be here.

“Alright, so let’s get started.” Jackie clapped his hands together. “It’s about time we had this conversation. We... need to figure out the future of the kingdom. I mean, from their perspective, the King has been gone for weeks. We can’t just walk into the capital and announce that an evil spirit was controlling him for years. So many misunderstandings could come from that.”

“The spirit was surely smart enough to put a regent in charge while he was gone,” Henrik said.

“He did,” Lydia confirmed. “That... wizard noblewoman. Thalia Tinechroí.”

Marvin’s lip curled. “Oh. I see.” He sighed. “It’ll be hard to convince her to step down. I... agree with Jackie. If we go in with a blunt, unbelievable explanation, she’ll take it badly. We’d be lucky if we could escape the city.”

“Surely all the enchantments the King cast wore off when the spirit was banished,” Nemet said. “The warriors here shook off the spell immediately.” Lydia and the other two warriors shift uneasily.

“Yes, that’s probably what happened,” Marvin said. “The enchantment power might’ve been Jack’s—um, King Aodhán’s. But it was used by the spirit’s will. Once that will was gone, all enchantments it had cast would’ve dispelled. And I don’t think Jack would have recast them.”

“Or even could have,” Tripp added. “The King is powerful. But I don’ think he’s able to cast spells halfway across the kingdom. That was only possible because that spirit was multiplying his power with its own.”

“Yes, thank you, Tripp,” Marvin said, nodding.

Do we even... WANT the King to retake the throne? Jameson asked slowly. Once people wake up from their enchantments, they’ll realize what he did, and... well, he won’t be very popular. 

“Besides, the man’s been through a lot.” Holly folded her arms. “I hear being King is very stressful.”

“Jack... wants to take the throne back,” Chase said slowly.

“Did he... tell you that?” asked one of the warriors.

“Y-yeah.” Chase remembered it distinctly. It was the day after they’d set up camp, when they gave Jack his tent. Chase had shown him the tent, said that it was his space, and Jack had asked Chase to stay for a bit now that they had privacy. There, he told Chase, still stammering slightly over his words, that he wanted to be the King again. “He said that he wanted to try and right the wrongs Aneirin did. He wanted... to make everyone happy.”

“‘Make them happy’ in what way, though?” Lukas asked. “Through magic?”

“Lukas!” Holly gasped.

“I trust Chase’s judgement in this,” Lukas quickly added. “If he says King Aodhán is a good man, then he is. Most likely. But not everyone will think the same way. They’ll be suspicious... and scared. They won’t want the man who enchanted them to be put in the position to do the same thing.”

Henrik sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “I think we have to deal with the spirit’s allies before we deal with the everyday folk. Not everyone helped him because they were enchanted. Some of them were... rotten eggs, shall we say.”

“Hm... I think they have a point, sova,” Vsevna said. “We do not want a fight on two sides, yes? We should make sure that most people know the circumstances around your king’s sudden shift in personality. Then we can deal with the bastards.”

“I repeat, we’ll need to deal with Thalia first,” Marvin said. “Even if the King tells her to stand down, she’ll do everything she can to claw her way back. So will the other Tinechroís.”

Jameson looked at him. Perhaps... if we find noble allies, they’ll be able to help keep them back. We’ll have to do a lot of talking to people. A lot of persuasion.

Marvin groaned slightly. “Great. My favorite.”

“We can help with that, I think.” Lydia raised her hand. “Us warriors. We... were high-up in the ranks. We command respect.”

That would be much appreciated, Jameson said. But remember, you’re under no obligation. You’ve been through a lot, you can go home to your families if you want.

Lydia looked at him. “We all know. Trust me, I think we’ve all decided what we want to do.”

Jameson nodded. In that case, thank you for your help.

“If the King tells Thalia Tinechroí to leave her position as regent, she would, right?” Chase asked slowly. “She’s not... she’ll still listen to him, right?”

Marvin bit his lip. “I think so. But she’ll grumble about it, and scheme, and try to get back into whatever important position she had before. We need to be prepared for that.”

“Well, if she will listen to the order, at least, then that is not so bad,” Nemet said. “We must therefore focus on making sure the people of the kingdom know that King Jack will not be like the spirit was.”

“And we also need to focus on weeding out the people who took advantage of the situation for power,” Henrik added. “Not to mention, help everyone who was under an enchantment recover from its impact on them.”

“Maybe... we can do all of this?” Chase asked hesitantly. “The Masked Phantoms already have this whole organization, uh, structure in place. We can just... tweak it a little.”

“Yes, I agree, Chase!” Jackie pointed at him. “I have experience in the royal warriors, I can help with anything in there. We have doctors who care about people’s wellbeing, and we have magic-wielders who can... I don’t know, scry for things we need.” He sighed. “I know that a lot of the Phantoms will want to go back to their families. A-and we’re not going to stop them, of course. Everyone deserves a rest.” He looked at Chase in particular as he said that. “But the ones who want to stay and help... we’ll find a place for them. And for others who want to help as well.”

“And... we’re sure we’re putting Jack back on the throne?” Marvin looked around. “Nobody has any problems with that?”

“Do you have problems with that?” Henrik asked.

“Well... uh... n-no?” Marvin shifted on his feet awkwardly. “Jack wants to be King, and... I-I’m sure he’ll be a good one. At the very least, he won’t be as bad as Aneirin.”

Chase laughed. “That’s a pretty low bar to jump over, but yes. I... think he’ll be a good one, too.”

The meeting continued on, getting into the particulars of what they will be doing and how they will be doing it. They knew that Jack had to return to Suilthair to establish himself again, but when was a good time to do that? And how would they do it? Just walk right in? The warriors confirmed that the King was seen leaving with the squads of royal warriors he took, so it would probably be a good idea for him to return with as many of them as he could. Then perhaps there could be Phantoms interspersed throughout the group. Oh, and they needed to send instructions to the other Masked Phantom camps across the kingdom! Anna had already sent all her messenger birds with the news of the King’s defeat, asking the Phantoms to await further instructions. But now it was time to give them those instructions. Were they going to gather everyone up somewhere? Tell everyone to pack up their camps? Or tell them to hold fast, and let people who wanted to go home leave?

Once it started getting dark, though, Chase excused himself. He felt like he didn’t have much more to contribute, as he didn’t have any knowledge of how the Phantoms worked, nor any knowledge of nobles and royal warriors. The others waved him off, and Henrik assured him that he would tell him all the relevant details later.

Chase hurried across camp back to his tent, stopping to grab some rolls from their food stores. Most of the food had been destroyed in the fire, so the Serpent’s Wake provided some provisions. The rest was made up with thorough hunting and gathering. Chase himself hadn’t gone hunting yet, being too busy with all the business that comes with defeating the King. He sort of missed it. At the very least, it would probably be easier than all that organization they were doing in the meeting.

“Hey pumpkins.” Chase ducked through the entrance of his tent, grinning. “I got us some snacks. These rolls have honey on them! Or... they did once, it might be gone now.”

“Dad!” Quentin waved wildly. “Hi!”

“Oh, you’re lying in bed, I see.” Chase sat down next to Quentin’s bedroll. Amabel was also sitting next to it, though on the other side. “Do you feel alright?”

“I’m just a little tired, I’m good!” Quentin said cheerfully.

“Alright. Let me know if you start feeling sick. They have a lot of doctors here.” Chase handed Quentin one of the rolls, and Amabel the other. “What have you guys been doing while you were waiting?”

“Not much.” Amabel shrugged. “Quentin fell asleep for a little bit so I practiced stringing your bow.”

“My bow? My big bow?” Chase looked to the side, where his spare bow was sitting on the ground. “You didn’t smack yourself with the wood part, did you?”

“No! I know better than that now!” Amabel said. “But, uh, I didn’t get very far in the... stringing thing.”

“Well of course, you know it’s too big for you,” Chase said. “Why’d you try that?”

“I don’t know. I was bored.”

“You could have asked Philip for a book,” Chase suggested, naming the Phantom who slept in the tent across from them. He had a handful of storybooks that he’d managed to salvage from the flames.

“But what if I was reading it when you got back? And I had to stop in the middle of a thing?” Amabel asked.

“Hah, that’s fair, I guess.” Chase chuckled. “We have to get you a bag of marbles to play with or something. Maybe some dice or cards.”

“That’d be nice,” Amabel said. She folded her legs. “But right now. Story?”

“Story!” Quentin grinned, sitting up a bit straighter.

Chase laughed. “Yea, time for a story, huh? Get in bed, Amy.” As Amabel scrambled over to her bedroll, Chase leaned back, thinking. “What story do you want to hear today? Another one about Miarch the hero? Or what about one about the Fair Folk? Do you still like Clever Clara, or are you too old now?”

“Do you have any fun stories about being in the Phantoms?” Amabel asked.

“Yea, I want to know what it was like in the Wyldwood!” Quentin nodded.

Chase blinked in surprise. A warm feeling spread across his chest, though he wasn’t sure why. “Yea, I guess I could tell you some things that happened there. Hm...” He thought about it. What was something that wouldn’t scare them too much? “There was this time Marvin was woken up by an enfield. Do you know what those are?”

“No, what’s that?” Amabel asked. Quentin leaned forward to listen.

“Well, it’s sort of like a fox,” Chase said. “But with wings. Luckily, they seemed to be friendly...”

Chase continued to tell stories as it became darker outside. Sooner than any of them wanted, the kids fell asleep. Chase blew out the lantern and went to bed himself as well. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No, I’m being very serious, Jameson, you’re really good at this. I know you’re probably going to stay with the Phantoms in some way, so I think you would be a good fit.”

I really couldn’t take that from you, Anna, Jameson said. He’d been about to head to the cooking fires for lunch when Anna cornered him in the middle of camp to talk about ‘something important.’ You’ve been the head of administration for a long time, I can’t just suddenly swoop in and take it from you.

Anna laughed. “Believe me, I wouldn’t mind. I’m glad I’ve done what I could to help the group, but I want to go home soon. See my family, you know? Last I heard, my sister was making her name known as a tapestry weaver, I want to see how far she’s come.”

Jameson pressed his lips together. Why didn’t you bring this up last night at the meeting?

“Well, I thought you might feel pressured if I brought it up in front of a bunch of people,” Anna explained.

That was fair. He probably would have felt pressured. But still. Jameson turned away. I just don’t know if I’m really the best fit. You don’t have to stay in the Phantoms if you don’t want to, Anna, but why me? I also have business I need to attend to once all this is sorted out.

“I’m not saying you have to take over my position, I just think you’d be a good candidate,” Anna explained. “I know that I probably won’t leave the Phantoms altogether... I might come back and decide that I want to keep doing this anyway. But I doubt it. I think if I come back, I’d want to do something else. Something with a bit less parchment involved.” She chuckled. “Look, I’ve already talked to Marvin and Henrik about this. I would’ve talked to Jackie too, if he wasn’t still hurt. They think you’d be good at this too, but they said they won’t make you. You can talk to them about all this if you want to.”

Yes, I’ll probably do that. Jameson nodded. Thank you for... bringing this to my attention, Anna. I’ll think about it.

Anna smiled. “That’s all I ask you to do!” She patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Sorry to stop you. Go on, I’ll see you later!”

And she hurried off... right in the same direction Jameson was planning to take. Well, he couldn’t follow her, that would be impolite. And worse, it might imply that he wanted to talk more, which he definitely didn’t. Not because Anna wasn’t good company or anything, just because he... had to think about this some more. So, he decided to wander off to the side and take a zigzagging approach to the cooking fires.

Anna really thought he’d do a good job at managing all the Phantoms’ administration and keeping track of all the documents needed for whatever came next. Because if there was one thing that was guaranteed to happen because of all this, it would be a lot of reading and writing things. A lot of sending and receiving letters, a lot of keeping track of money spent, a lot of records and everything. And honestly, Jameson didn’t mind doing all that. He even enjoyed it, on some level. The others would probably be really surprised to hear that—Henrik in particular complained about how boring this stuff was. But it was nice to momentarily lose himself in the words and all the administration duties. It took his mind off of... more complicated matters.

Jameson knew he could definitely take over Masked Phantom administration if he wanted to. He was sort of already qualified, as his rabbit mask told everyone, its forehead marked with the star that the administration usually used. But... if he did that, would he have time to do other things? Would he be required to stay in Suilthair, instead of returning north to the home he hadn’t seen in years?

Getting the Jairsolas claim back in order was going to be a task and a half. He’d done his best to keep an ear out for news of the claim while he was... kept around the King. He knew that it was currently being kept in order by royal advisors and warriors, the people who directly worked for the crown. Jack could call them back to Suilthair easily enough, but... what had they changed in the claim in the years that a Jairsolas hadn’t been watching over them? Had they increased taxes on the towns? Fired all the people who’d worked for Jameson’s family? Had they neglected to provide aid during droughts and famines? The claim was at the base of the Northaven mountains, and traditionally, the Jairsolas family was to oversee the mining operations there. Those had probably gone to shit in some way. Jameson shuddered to think of all the poor workers who suffered during these past few years.

There would be a lot to do. Could he do it by himself? Could he do it while also overseeing the Phantoms’ tasks? Though... since the main fighting part of the Phantoms’ mission was over, maybe the two things were more related now than they would be in the past. The Phantoms would now be doing their best to rebuild the kingdom, and wasn’t ‘rebuilding the Jairsolas claim’ also part of that?

It would be nice to help the Masked Phantoms who’d helped him. That was why he joined them in the first place.

Jameson was so deep in thought as he walked, that he didn’t realize he was walking past an open tent flap until someone ran into him as they exited the tent. The person yelped and immediately started to fall. Jameson gasped and grabbed them, pulling them to their feet. “Th-thank you,” the person said breathlessly. “Sorry, I-I didn’t see you coming. I’m not—I’m still not very coordinated...”

That voice. The hesitant tone was so different than what Jameson was used to, but he would never forget that voice. He’d heard it in his nightmares often enough. Jameson froze in place, and looked down at the King. 

The King stared back at him, just as shocked as Jameson was. His wide eyes were blue now, but Jameson still saw the green ones flash in his memory. For a second, the two of them just stared at each other. Then the King pushed him away. “Sorry! I—” He quickly started to fall over, and Jameson instinctively reached out to catch him before he fell. The King yelped, then looked at Jameson and gave him a small, sad smile. “S-sorry. Uh... thank you. Again.”

Jameson nodded. He pulled the King upright and slowly let go, watching carefully to make sure he kept his balance.

“Okay...” The King breathed. “I... I-I’ll be going now.” He started walking, heading down the clear aisle between tents. He was... heading in the direction Jameson was going. Well... shit. That meant they would run into each other at the cooking fires.

Jameson glanced around. There should be a Phantom nearby keeping an eye on the King—yes, there. A tall man with an otter mask attached to his belt, his gaze locked on the King. The Phantom realized Jameson was staring, though, and looked over at him, waving slightly. Jameson waved back, awkwardly. He couldn’t just stand in place! That would be strange! Maybe he could change his mind and not go to the cooking fires after all? No, he could feel hunger gnawing at his stomach. He needed food. Well, did he really need it that much?

...okay, this was getting ridiculous. He couldn’t just avoid skip a meal because the King would be there. Maybe he could just... hurry past him? No, that would make it clear he was avoiding him. Jameson didn’t want the King to know that! Because the King—Jack—had already suffered so much with the possession. Jameson didn’t want to add to what was surely a difficult time for him. Maybe he could take the long route around? No, they’d probably still run into each other, and then the King could come to that same realization.

Jameson sighed. He took a deep breath, and started walking the same direction the King was going. They just wouldn’t talk to each other on the way. It would all be very normal.

The King was not walking fast. He kept glancing down at the ground, making sure he didn’t trip over a rock or anything. His gait was... odd. Almost like a limp, but not quite, because the dragging effect was happening with both legs. Jameson quickly caught up with him, but then slowed down a bit. He didn’t want to make it look like he was in a rush. And also, maybe if he stayed out of sight they wouldn’t have to—nope, the King looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps. The two of them locked eyes for a moment. Then the King turned back around, facing forward again. 

Silence. Neither of them acknowledged each other for a while. Jameson didn’t even speed up to pass the King, even though he knew he could have, with how slow the King was going. The Phantom with the otter mask was also walking nearby, occasionally looking at Jameson with a confused expression. What? Couldn’t a man walk slowly in peace?

The King looked back at Jameson again. And he stopped walking. “You, uh... you... know you can... walk past me, right?”

Jameson also stopped walking, his face quickly growing hot with embarrassment. He nodded.

“Yeah. So... if you want to go ahead, you can,” the King said.

I’m fine, Jameson said—then paused, realizing that he didn’t know if the King could speak in hands. The spirit couldn’t... but that wasn’t a problem with how he could read minds. Wait, didn’t the King still have that power? Did he know that Jameson was avoiding him?!

“You’re... okay?” The King glanced at Jameson’s hands. “I-is that what you said? Chase, uh... has been teaching me handspeak, just in case I... ever needed it, o-or... anything.”

Jameson nodded. Yes, that’s what I said.

“That’s what you said? Okay. Good. I-I’m glad to know I have that knowledge locked away.” The King smiled slightly, though it quickly faded. “You... you really can go past me. I won’t... I-I don’t mind.”

Well how was Jameson supposed to react to that? After a moment, he slowly began walking forward. The King waited for a bit, then turned and kept walking as well. It wasn’t long before the two of them were walking next to each other—because despite the King’s insistence, Jameson couldn’t bring himself to go faster than him. He wasn’t fully sure why. It just... felt like a bad idea. Like the man would stab him in the back if he wasn’t looking. Which Jameson knew he wouldn’t! But he couldn’t help the nervous feeling jumping around his stomach.

After a bit of quiet walking, the King suddenly blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

Jameson blinked in surprise and stopped walking. He looked over at the King—and realized that he had to look down a bit to do so. Strange... the King had always been taller than him. Was Jameson standing up straighter now? Or was the King shrinking into himself?

“S-sorry! I mean— you don’t have to—” The King stammered. “This—this probably isn’t a good moment for—sorry. I’ll just—we can keep walking.”

Slowly, Jameson asked, Sorry for what?

Jack flinched. “For... everything,” he whispered, voice barely audible. “I... I-I did... a lot of... things to you.”

That’s what Jameson thought he meant. That wasn’t you, it was the spirit, he said, hands moving somewhat stiffly.

“No, I-I know that,” Jack said, looking away. “But... it was... still me. I-it was... still my voice. And my hands.” He looked down at his hands as he said that, quickly clasping them together. But Jameson saw how they trembled slightly. “My power,” he breathed. “I... I-I know that... it wasn’t my will, but... it was everything else. A-and I’m... I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

It’s alright, Jameson said.

“I... maybe?” Jack blinked furiously. “Maybe it’s alright. But it doesn’t... feel alright. I-I can’t forget the things I did. I felt it all... even if all I could do was watch. I-I know I can’t make up for everything I did, or... restore everything that...” He trailed off. “But... I’m still sorry.”

Jameson looked at him quietly for a moment. It’s alright, he said again.

“I-I understand that you... you can’t forgive me,” Jack said, not making eye contact with Jameson. “But I hope that... you know I... I am truly, deeply, sorry.”

Wait a second. What do you mean? Jameson asked. You think I can’t forgive you? I already have.

Jack started in surprise as he saw Jameson say that. “Y-you... huh?”

I know it wasn’t really “you,” Jameson said. I know now that... I’d never met the real “you” during that time. The person I knew that way was basically an imposter who’d stolen your name. The moment I realized that, I knew that you were never to blame. So... there’s not even anything to really forgive you for.

Jack stared at him. “But... but...” He shook his head, confused. “Sorry, I-I don’t understand. You... I... A-am I misreading your... expressions? You don’t... You’ve never...”

Oh Elders, Jack had caught on to Jameson’s avoiding him anyway.

“I-I mean, you’re not the only one, of course,” Jack said quickly. “So—it’s not your—you shouldn’t worry about that. I don’t plan to single you out, it’s just... I think I hurt you the most. Or at least... in the most personal way. And... for the longest time, too, I... I think.”

Jameson blinked. He held his hands in the air, unsure what to say.

“I-if you’re just saying all that to, uh... make me feel better, o-or something, you really don’t have to do that,” Jack said. “I can handle your feelings. They’re well-deserved, anyway. I know that what I’ve done is... not easily forgotten.”

It’s not, Jameson admitted. But I mean what I said. I know it wasn’t you.

Jack tilted his head. Now it was his turn to be unsure.

The thing is... I just... Jameson hesitated. When I look at you, I still think of... him. Your looks haven’t changed that much, after all, other than the eye color. I know... it wasn’t you. And I don’t blame you. But... there’s this part of me, the part of me where the fear lives, that doesn’t seem to understand that. The message doesn’t quite reach that far. So... I can’t help what I feel when I see you. But it’s not because I blame you at all. It’s because... Another pause. Because you’re right. It was a long time. I’m... used to being... on edge. I can’t... forget so easily. Just like you said.

“I... I-I see.” Jack looked down at his hands, clasping them again. “I’m sorry.”

Please stop apologizing, Jameson said. It’s not needed.

“I feel like it’s needed. I just...” He gave a small, dry laugh. “Fuck, I hope I’m understanding you correctly. This handspeak thing is a bit tricky.”

You read minds, Jameson said. Why even rely on hands when you can do that?

“No, I don’t just ‘read minds.’ I can, but... I don’t want to.” Jack shook his head. “I’m not like him. I-I don’t want to do something like that without permission. It only hurts everyone involved. Like... eavesdropping, or reading a diary. I’d only do that if I was allowed to—or if I thought I was in danger and needed to do so. I’m not... like him.”

Jameson looked at him, his gaze going up and down, and landing on Jack’s blue eyes. I know, he said. I really do. That’s why I don’t blame you for what you did. I’m... sorry if I ever made you think I held you responsible.

“No, you’re not supposed to apologize to me,” Jack insisted.

Well, I am. Because I really... don’t want to hurt you. Jameson sighed. I know that we were both victims under those circumstances. And you likely saw many more things than what I did. So... I’m sorry. I wish I... could change how I remembered your face.

“Hah... I-I see.” Jack looked at him and smiled hesitantly. “Well... maybe you need... more memories? Better ones. Maybe the recency will push the bad ones back farther.”

Jameson looked at him, then also smiled, just as slow and hesitant as Jack was. Maybe. 

“Yea.” Jack nodded. “Um... I... I-I know I can’t... undo what happened to your... to your family, Jameson. But i-if there’s any way I can help make up for it, if I can... I don’t know, lend you funds to restore things in the claim or something, I... You can ask me anything. I... want to make up for it. So that I can earn that forgiveness.”

Maybe you need to allow yourself some forgiveness first, Jameson said. You can’t keep blaming yourself forever.

Jack started. He stared at Jameson, then looked outwards, towards the distance. Revelation dawned on his face. “I... didn’t realize I...” He trailed off, then laughed. “I-I’m pretty good at reading people, but you just showed me up, didn’t you?”

It’s hard to read yourself, usually, Jameson said. Like how you can’t see your face without a mirror.

“Yea. I guess that’s true.” Jack nodded. Then he fully looked back at Jameson, eyes raising from his gesturing hands to his face. “You... you really can pass me, you know. I don’t have a problem with that. I-I know I’m still slow.”

Jameson tilted his head to the side. We can... walk together.

“Are you sure?” Jack asked quietly.

Jameson nodded.

“Hah... th-thanks.” Jack gave him a small smile. “I’m guessing you’re going to the cooking fires too? You’ll probably have to lead the way, anyway. I-I’ve only been there a couple times.”

Of course. We’re heading straight there, no problem. Jameson faced forward and started walking again. Jack stuck by his side. The two of them said nothing, but they stayed together.

[the-earnest-system]

I love the incredibly fair and functional justice system in Ace Attorney

[the-earnest-system]

THE GATHERING OF THE MARVINS

Come and join! Honestly, it's nothing much. I just wanna make a post collecting all the Marvins' designs every now and then, in case some people redesign theirs, or are just now making a new one. (also a good place for me to look back in case I wanna do some kind of project👀)

[the-earnest-system]

A Growing(-Up) Distance

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Thirty-Four

A JSE Fanfic

A shorter chapter today, but it's packed with character stuff :D I really do love writing these kids. I also love playing with the themes of this story, and this chapter does both those things ^-^ Since it's on the shorter side (for me) I'll give you guys a very short summary. Since Mom and the other adults are trying to figure out what to do about the Circle, Chase wants to take a break and have everyone hang out. But Jackie's been pretty busy lately. A fact that a certain shadow is quick to point out. Hehehe. Enjoy!

Previous Episode | More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Now that they had the proof that the Circle existed, Mom was spending a lot of time on the phone. She and Jackie’s dad, Mr. Mann, were talking with all the people they could think of that would be open to the whole ‘supernatural green energy and secret society trying to control it’ thing. Chase asked if he could help, but she just smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry about a thing. Me and Richard will take care of all of this.” Which... made sense, Chase guessed. It wasn’t like he knew any grown-ups’ phone numbers.

But... still. It felt weird that he was just sitting around while Mom did all the hard work on the stuff that he and his friends first discovered. They’d handled everything up until now! And yeah, maybe Chase didn’t want to spend a hundred hours talking to adults about how magic is really real and they needed to do something about the Fissures and stuff, but... but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to do something about it!

Maybe he just needed to wait until after Mom and Mr. Mann did all the boring stuff. Maybe once they had a group of grown-ups who believed in the greenlight, Chase and his friends could step in again to help. They should at least tell the new group about Anti. After all, their group were the only ones who’d met him so far!

And so, the week passed with absolutely no excitement. Schoolwork began to ramp up again as the semester continued on. Every single teacher seemed concerned with the end-of-year exams, even though that was like... months away. Schneep also seemed concerned with the exams even though that was like months away. He kept rereading passages from his school textbooks even while they were watching TV or playing games together (even though Schneep really only ever watched Chase play the game.)

“You’re not gonna be able to pay attention to anything with your nose in a book,” Chase said on Wednesday after school. “I’m gonna have to explain the whole cutscene to you after it happens!”

“Huh? What did you say, Chase?” Schneep looked over at him.

Chase rolled his eyes, laughing a little. “I said you’re not gonna see or hear anything around you while you’re reading! You can put it down for an hour or something, you know.”

“You could do with picking up a book, you know,” Schneep said. “I do not know how you have time to study with all the video games and such you do.”

“I mean... I guess I don’t really study,” Chase admitted. “I do the homework. Why do I need to read more stuff after that?”

“Because it helps you remember things better,” Schneep said.

“If the homework doesn’t make me remember something then it’s not doing a good job at making me learn stuff,” Chase said. “That’s the homework’s fault, not mine. I don’t want to do more boring reading if the homework sucks anyway.”

“Some of this stuff is not boring.” Schneep bent down further over the book. “Did you know that the reason elements heavier than iron exist is because they were fused together in a supernova explosion billions of years ago?”

“No,” Chase admitted. Honestly that still sounded kinda boring. How was school able to make stars exploding sound boring? “But that’s not the point. The point is, you gotta do some fun stuff, too. Mom says that we shouldn’t waste nice weather.”

Schneep looked at the screen, then at Chase. He raised an eyebrow. “And yet we we are sitting inside. Where we cannot feel that ‘nice weather.’”

“Well... maybe we should go do something, then!” Chase said. “It’s been a while since I went skateboarding! I know you can’t skate, but... but you can come to the park with me anyway! You can, uh... watch me?”

“I do not want to watch you fall, Chase,” Schneep said gently.

“Hey! Who said I was going to fall while skating!?”

“Oh, I mean, of course you are very good,” Schneep said. “But everyone messes up, ja?”

Chase grumbled a bit. “Alright, if you don’t want to come with just me, maybe we can call the others and ask if they want to come and do stuff at the park.” Maybe they could talk more about the Circle stuff, too.

“Alright, perhaps we could do that,” Schneep said. “Maybe tomorrow? Or on Friday after school?”

“Yeah, sure!” Chase grinned. “I’ll call everyone right away to ask! Oh, uh... after I save the game, of course.”

Chase did that, then stood up and went upstairs to his room to grab his cell phone. He’d call Jackie first. As he dialed, he wondered who he should call next. For some reason, thinking about calling Stacy always made him nervous, so maybe he should just text her... and it was always safer to text JJ and Marvin’s number cause JJ usually had their phone... 

The other line of the phone rang and rang and rang for a bit. For long enough that Chase started to get worried that Jackie wasn’t going to pick up. But eventually, on what must’ve been the very last ring, he did. “Hello? Chase?” he asked. There was some faint music playing in the distance, and his voice echoed slightly.

“Hi Jackie!” Chase said. “Sorry, is this a bad time?”

Jackie chuckled a little. “It’s fine, little man. Probably not the best time, but not the worst. I’m at work, you see. Ducked into the bathroom real quick so I could talk. What’s up?”

“Oh! Right, you’re at Zelly’s.” Chase forgot that Jackie worked after school on Wednesdays. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to the park after school tomorrow. Schneep’s been doing way too much homework and I wanna take him outside to, like, go skating or something. I mean, I’ll do the skating and he can hang out. With you and the others, if they wanna come, too.”

“So we’d all be watching you on your skateboard, then?” Jackie asked, amused. “Is that the idea?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess?” Chase said. “I dunno. Maybe we can go around the edge of the park. Cause Marvin and JJ have their bikes and Stacy has her scooter, and I dunno what you have but I bet you have something. Schneep doesn’t know how to ride any of those, though, so maybe we could all teach him or something.”

“Hah. Maybe. That sounds fun, Chase, but I can’t. I’m working until seven tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Chase blinked. “I don’t... Do you usually work on Thursdays? And that’s... pretty late, isn’t it?”

“I’m, uh... saving up,” Jackie said. “Cause, uh, when I go off to uni in a couple years I want to be sure that I can afford everything, you know? My mom left some money for school, but I-I don’t want to dip too far into that, it’s really only meat for like... textbooks and groceries and stuff. If I want fun stuff or classes that have fees, I gotta pay for that myself.”

“When, uh... when is college happening?” Chase asked hesitantly. “Like, for you. Sixteen-year-olds don’t go to college, so you don’t have to worry about it for next year, right?”

“Hah, no, I’m not going off just yet,” Jackie assured him. “It’ll be, uh... two or three more years, depending on other school stuff. But I-I want to be really prepared.”

“Uh... okay, then.” Chase nodded to himself. He wrapped his free arm (the one that wasn’t holding his phone) around himself, making a sort of squeezing motion, like he was weakly hugging himself. “So, uh, what about on Friday?”

“I... I guess I could, but me and some of my friends were gonna get together and do more school stuff,” Jackie said.

“What sort of school stuff?”

“The boring sort. Like, practice exams and all that.” Jackie gave a small laugh. “Just to make sure, you know? We all want to graduate with good grades.”

“Well if it’s boring you can come to the park for a bit, right?” Chase asked. 

“Maybe...” Jackie said slowly. “But also... apparently Celine and her family are going to move after this school year. They’re going to, uh, California, I think? So I want to, you know, spend some time with her before she goes and stuff. Even if it’s while doing school things.”

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “O-okay, yeah, you should do that.”

“I can see if I can leave halfway,” Jackie offered.

“No no, you should spend a lot of time with her before she moves,” Chase said. “I know that when me and Mom and D-Dad moved here, I really wished that my friends had, uh... done that. So... maybe we can go to the park on Saturday? Are you working or doing school stuff then?”

“I... I-I took a shift in the morning to cover for someone,” Jackie said. “But don’t worry! I’m free Saturday afternoon, no problem! We can hang out in the park around then.”

“Are you sure?” Chase asked.

“I’m very sure,” Jackie said. There was more noise in the background of the phone call... though this was actually in the call itself. Sounded like static. “Oh, sounds like our connection is breaking up a bit.”

“Yeah.” Chase squeezed his arm. “I’ll call you later. I gotta see who else is gonna be able to hang out on Saturday.”

“Great idea,” Jackie said. “Maybe message me, I don’t know if I’ll still be at work by the time you’re done with that. Texting is easier for work cause I can wait to answer them.”

“That makes sense. I’ll message you, then. See you.”

“See you, Chase!” Jackie said cheerfully. “Bye.” And with that, he hung up.

Chase stared at the phone for a second more. Jackie was going to be working more now, huh? And he was going to do school stuff on Friday, huh? That... that was fine. Jackie was just busy. It was... fine.

So why did he have this bad feeling in his stomach?

Something flickered out of the corner of his eye. Chase whirled around towards it—but it was just the branches of a tree moving outside his window. He let out a breath of relief, then sat down on his bed to continue calling the others.

Behind him, the branches of the tree continued to move as a figure made of shadows leaned close to listen.

++++++++++++++++++++

Jackie found that he really hated getting up early on Saturdays. This was the second time in about a month that he’d agreed to take a Saturday shift to cover for someone else, and though he’d managed to convince himself that it wasn’t so bad, the truth was that he really didn’t want to do it. But hey, it was getting him more money for his eventual trip to uni, right?

Zelly’s was pretty busy on Saturday mornings. There were a lot of families with younger children visiting here, getting drinks and ice cream now that the weather was heating up. He spent a lot of his shift running back and forth between the kitchen and the many, many tables he was serving. Then once his shift was over, he hopped in his car and drove home to change into more comfortable clothes and maybe take a nap before going to pick up the kids for this park visit. He was pretty worn out.

But once he arrived home, he saw something unusual. There were a bunch of cars parked outside his house, in the driveway and on the curb. He recognized some of them as belonging to PTA members—his dad was a prominent member so they often met at his house. But today wasn’t a meeting, was it? Either way, it was annoying, because Jackie had to park on the curb way down the street because everywhere around the house was taken.

He walked inside and found the living room filled with other adults. Some of them were definitely PTA members, but others were unfamiliar to Jackie. They all looked at him when he walked in, though, which made him feel very self-conscious.

“Oh, hi Jackie!” Someone stood up—Jack, with Sam on his shoulder. He carefully excused himself from the group and hurried over to Jackie. “Hey, uh, your dad invited a bunch of people over to talk about the... the supernatural stuff. I-I kinda got roped into... trying to explain.” He laughed a little nervously.

“Oh. I-I see. Okay.” Jackie nodded a little. “Well, uh... you can go now, if you want. I can... take over the explaining thing.”

“...are you sure? You looked kinda tired,” Jack said.

“I’m sure, I’m sure.” Jackie nodded. “I know more about all this stuff, anyway. You can, uh... go hang out in my room, if you want? Or downstairs, but it gets pretty cold down there sometimes.”

“Uh, I guess I’ll go downstairs,” Jack said. “Oh, uh... your dad also wanted to talk to you about something. He asked me where you’d gone this morning.”

“He did? I told him I was going to work.”

“Guess he forgot.” Jack shrugged. “Anyway. I’ll see you later.” And with that, he headed off.

Jackie looked at the crowd of adults standing and sitting in his living room. He gave an awkward little wave. “Uh, hi. I guess you’ve already been, uh... briefed. On the supernatural stuff.”

“Hello, Jackie.” One of the women waved at him. Jackie remembered her as Madison Everett, a frequent attender of PTA meetings. “It’s nice to see you. I can’t believe you and other kids have been facing such an... ominous group.”

“Oh. The Circle, yeah.” Jackie nodded. “We really just, uh... fell into it, I guess.”

“Well if there’s anything any of us can do to help, just let us know,” Madison said.

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Jackie!” His dad walked into the room from the dining room entrance. “There you are! How was work?”

“It was fine, you know?” Jackie said, shrugging. “Anyway, uh... you invited a lot of people over to talk about the supernatural stuff, right?”

“Yes, me and Jess have been sharing around that conversation you had with Mayor Hopkins,” Dad said. “Jack has also been helpful explaining his possible history with this group. This means that the Circle has been around for at least eight years, maybe nine. It’s very troubling.” The others all murmur in agreement.

“Well, uh... I can help answer any questions you guys have,” Jackie offered.

“Actually, can I speak to you for a moment?” Dad gestured towards the dining room. “Over here.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah.” Jackie nodded.

Dad led him through the dining room into the attached kitchen, away from all the guests and to a quieter part of the house. “I was wondering if you’ve decided on a major for uni yet?” he asked.

Jackie tensed slightly. “Uh... n-no. I-I really have no idea. S-sorry.”

“It’s okay, Jackie,” Dad said quietly. “You don’t have to have it decided just yet. I didn’t know what I’d major in for a long time. But... well, it does help you decide where to go if you have something in mind. If you don’t know what you want, you could always go for somewhere with a wide variety of options.”

“Okay... yeah.” Jackie nodded. “Uh... did you pull me back here just to ask about my major? I got worried it was more, uh, serious than that.”

“Oh right, sorry. Guess I got distracted.” Dad laughed slightly. “Well, I bring this up because Lia told me something interesting when she arrived. She has a brother who works at Carmine—that university over in Redderford. Today, they’re having a special tour for kids your age, ones from fifteen to eighteen. You can see classes in progress and even get a free meal from their cafeteria. I was wondering if you wanted to go check it out. See if it’s a good place for you.”

“...today?” Jackie blinked. “You want to drive to Redderford? Like... when?”

“Well, once everyone leaves,” Dad said. “We’re basically done talking about the basics, I just need to get everyone’s numbers together and see what their schedules are like. It won’t take too long. Just a couple hours, really.”

Jackie frowned. “I... I was going to hang out with the kids today. They wanted me to drive them to the park.”

“...ah.” Dad glanced around. “For... special reasons, or—”

“No, just to hang out,” Jackie said. “We’re not going to do any monster hunting or shit. Just... they want to play and stuff. You know?”

Dad nodded. “Well, uh, you can definitely go do that, if you want.”

“Yeah, uh...” Jackie hesitated. Dad sounded a little bummed out. And though Jackie knew that Dad wouldn’t ever be disappointed in him, he couldn’t help but worry that he was, indeed, disappointing him by not going to this thing. “Well, uh, this tour thing, do they run it multiple days? Or is this a one-time thing?”

“I believe they run it on Saturdays around this time of year,” Dad recalled.

“Huh. Okay.” Jackie nodded slowly. “And, uh... it’s only a couple of hours?”

“From what Lia told me. She could be mistaken. I can ask her again.”

Jackie bit his lip. It might be easier to get this out of the way right now, so that he could have a lot of free time to spend with the kids later. This Circle stuff could get serious, and he wanted to be there for them during it instead of completely inaccessible in another city.

“Maybe Jack could come with us as well, if you decide to go,” Dad said. “He could see if he wants to attend university. I know he’s taking a gap year, but perhaps in the fall?”

“I’ll ask him,” Jackie said slowly. That could be good for Jack. Though knowing him, he’ll probably not want to go. After all, his future is kind of uncertain, since he doesn’t know what’s going on with his parents and the Circle. “Uh... maybe I’ll go check this place out today. I just... need to change clothes and tell the kids I can’t drive them there.”

Dad brightened. “Really? That’s great! I’ll talk to everyone else in the meantime, sort all this out.”

“Yeah.” Jackie smiled slightly. He wondered if he was making the right decision here... it felt kinda bad to skip out on the park today. But it’ll probably be better for everyone in the long term. He’ll be more free in the future, and he’ll figure out if this university would be... good for him.

He just really hoped Chase and the others would understand.

++++++++++++++++++++

“And it’ll take two hours?” Chase asked. “Can’t we just... go after you get back, then?”

“Well, I don’t know that for sure,” Jackie said. “There could be traffic on the motorway or something. By the time I get back, it’ll be dinnertime, anyway.”

“Hm... I don’t think Mom will let us go out after dinner,” Chase mumbled. “Even though it’s still kinda light outside.”

“Yeah, I expected that,” Jackie sighed. “We can go to the park tomorrow, maybe? Or next week?”

“Everyone else is already ready, though,” Chase said.

“I mean, you can go without me today!” Jackie said cheerfully. “But we can all go some other time.”

“Next week could work, then,” Chase said slowly. “Yeah. Okay, we can do that. That’ll be fun.”

“You’re, uh... okay, right?” Jackie asked. “I know it sucks, and I’m really sorry, but... there will be other days, you know?”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine!” Chase quickly said. “This sounds like important stuff. You go do that. I hope you have fun.”

Jackie laughed a little. “I don’t know if it’ll be fun, but it might be interesting. You guys have fun, okay?”

“We will!” Chase nodded. “I promise!”

“Great. I’ll see you later! Call me any time.”

“I will. Bye, Jackie!”

“Bye!” And then, Jackie hung up.

Chase stared at the phone in his hand. There was a sinking sort of feeling in his stomach. It was fine if Jackie couldn’t come. The rest of them could all meet up, they’d just need to figure out other ways to get a ride over there. It would still be fun. He could still try to teach Schneep how to skate or ride a bike. But... Jackie wouldn’t be there. He said he would.

Jackie was cool. He liked cool stuff, like good music and superhero comics and taking pictures. He was always sure what to do, and he always cared about Chase and the others. Chase... really liked Jackie. He thought it was amazing that they hung out so much! But... it really felt like they were hanging out less. Cause Jackie was doing other stuff.

Something flickered out of the corner of his eye. Chase looked back, expecting to just see the tree outside his bedroom window again.

But that wasn’t what he saw at all.

Instead, he saw a shadow move through the glass of the window and into his room, where it solidified into Anti, grinning at him. The light overhead flickered slightly.

“You!” Chase gasped. “You—what are you doing here?! Get out!”

“It’s not very fun, is it?” Anti asked, ignoring Chase’s question and demand.

“What?! Sh-shut up!” Chase looked around wildly and picked up his nerf gun from the ground, already loaded with darts. “I’ll hit you with this if you don’t go away!” He aimed it at Anti.

“No you won’t,” Anti said. “You won’t hit me if I don’t want you to. That’s how it works.”

“Shut up!” Chase said again. “I’ll do it! Or—or I’ll shout for Mom and she’ll come running! She’ll really freak out on you when she sees you in here!”

“Why would you do that, though?” Anti asked, his lip curling slightly. “Grown-ups shouldn’t be playing the game with us, you know. They just make everything boring.”

“That’s mean.” Chase glared at Anti... but his aim wavered slightly. Hadn’t he been thinking that exact thing lately? Having Mom around was good in some ways, cause he didn’t need to worry about her finding out and freaking out. But... there was a lot of talking about stuff now. And not a lot of monster fighting. Even the thing they did with Iris was just more talking. Chase had thought it would be like pretending to be a spy, something he liked to do with Dad when he was really little, but... he’d just sat in a car for a while.

“Yeah, you get it.” Anti nodded.

“What? No!” Chase’s aim steadied again. “I don’t ‘get’ anything about you! You’re like, almost a grown-up too, you know! You’re like... eighteen or something! You should count!”

For a moment, some expression ran across Anti’s face—but it was hard to tell what, because Chase’s bedroom light flickered at the same moment, making it hard to see. “No, I don’t count, cause I’m different,” Anti said stubbornly, sitting down on Chase’s bed and folding his legs.

“Just get out of here,” Chase said decisively. “Why are you even here?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the Fissure in your house,” Anti said. “I’m sorry about that. I... didn’t mean to do that. But it’s not getting bigger, so that’s good. It probably would get bigger if you gave it some blood or put some crystals around it, so... don’t do that. Or... do! If you want more of the greenlight around!” He smiled excitedly. “That’d be fun, right? You could get superpowers like me!”

“I don’t wanna be like you,” Chase grumbled.

“That’s mean,” Anti said, echoing Chase’s exact tone from earlier. “Anyway, when I stop by to check on the Fissure, I also check on you. I need to know if you guys are actually gonna do anything, or if you’re just going to keep sitting around like you did all winter.”

“We didn’t sit around all winter!” Chase protested. “We did stuff on Christmas! And we went to Ireland! We found Jack, you know!”

Anti stiffened slightly.

“What’s your deal with him anyway?” Chase asked. “Why did you decide to hang around him?”

“I didn’t decide anything,” Anti stated. “That’s just always how it’s been. Until the Circle showed up. Now stop asking me stuff, I wanted to talk to you. Because I heard what your friend said on the phone. You guys had plans, and he decided not to go, didn’t he?”

“He was busy,” Chase said.

“But then why did he say he wanted to hang out with you?” Anti asked. “That’s just not fair. You made all these plans, and he decided to do school stuff instead? You’re more exciting than school.”

Chase blinked, confused. “Thanks?” He never expected Anti to say something like that. But... it sort of made sense, didn’t it? Anti always wanted to ‘play’ with him and his friends, and he also didn’t go to school (because no school would let a weird shadow guy start attending, but even if they would, Anti seemed like he wouldn’t want to go anyway). 

“You’re welcome,” Anti said, smiling.

“Wait, no!” Chase realized he’d lowered the nerf gun slightly and raised it up again. “You’re just saying that because you want—you want Jackie to stop hanging out with me! Like how you wanted Marvin to stop hanging out with JJ!”

“I don’t want him to stop hanging out with you,” Anti clarified. “I think the hoodie boy is cool. He’s smart and strong and drives you guys around. I just know that he’s going to leave.”

“...that’s just another way of saying you want him to leave,” Chase muttered, confused.

“No, it’s not, it’s really not.” Anti leaned forward. His whole body moved with the motion, scooting forward to the very edge of the bed, where he sat. Half on the mattress, half floating in the air. “I would love if the hoodie boy stayed around, but he’s not gonna. You heard what just happened right now, right? He said he was coming, but then didn’t.”

“Cause something came up!” Chase protested. “That happens sometimes.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t an emergency or anything,” Anti said. “He didn’t have to change his mind and do that instead. But he did. And there’s only one reason for that. It’s because he’s going to leave you. Everyone leaves you.”

Chase flinched slightly. For some reason, tears were coming to his eyes. But he forced them back; he wasn’t going to let Anti get to him! “Shut up. I have friends! You should know that, cause you’re always trying to get us to do your stupid let’s-fight-the-Circle ‘game.’” He put one-handed air quotes around the word ‘game.’

“I don’t mean ‘you’ like just you,” Anti said. “Like Chase specifically. I mean everyone leaves everyone after a while. They go do school stuff, or go get jobs, or go move, or whatever. And they don’t care about hanging out anymore. They don’t wanna play games or go to the park together or do anything that’s not school stuff or job stuff or moving or whatever. And then they’re gonna forget about you.”

Chase’s grip on the nerf gun tightened, but it was shaking more than ever. No matter how hard he gripped it, it continued to shake. In fact, holding it tighter just seemed to make it worse. “N... no they’re not,” he said. “That’s... that’s not what friends do.”

“Yeah it is,” Anti said bluntly. “It doesn’t matter how best of friends you are, the second that something else starts happening, they go do that instead.”

Chase opened his mouth to protest, but his throat suddenly felt really dry. He coughed a little, clearing his throat. “And... and w-what’s your point?” he said weakly. “Are you saying that... that Jackie’s going to do that? He’s just busy. You can’t... tell the difference between someone being busy and someone ‘leaving’.”

“Being busy is what happens before leaving, all the time,” Anti stated. “But you can turn around in the middle of being busy and go back to being friends. It doesn’t look like hoodie boy wants to do that, though. Otherwise he would’ve done something as easy as going to the park.” Anti leans forward some more. Now he was right up against the nerf gun, but Chase couldn’t feel any pressure or anything. More likely, Anti was passing right through it. “But you know what, Chase? I’m never gonna get too busy and start to leave. So I’m always gonna be here to play.”

“I d-don’t—I don’t want to play with you, though,” Chase stammered.

“Why not?” Anti didn’t sound upset. He just sounded... confused. Genuinely baffled as to why Chase would want that. “I mean, the game is fun, isn’t it? You get to battle all sorts of monsters and defeat a bunch of evil bully guys. That’s just like a movie or game, right? Why wouldn’t you want to be in a movie or game in real life?” He blinked. “Didn’t you like doing all of this? Fighting the monster dog, and the pool water monster? Defeating the ghost and going into that fantasy game with the dice? It was all really fun, right?”

“I...” Chase blinked. “Y-yeah, I guess...”

“So why don’t you want to keep playing?” Anti asked.

“Well—because—because—” Chase spluttered for a moment, trying to come up with a reason. “Because it’s dangerous! And like—how are we supposed to even start fighting the Circle now?! We can’t fight a whole group just by ourselves!”

Anti made a face. “You’re starting to sound boring.”

“H-hey! No, I—I’m just—I’m not wrong!” Chase protested.

“Alright, what if I give you a hint?” Anti tilted his head to the side. “You know that city hall building? All the important people in the Circle go there a lot. There’s a really big Fissure in the basement there. The door to get there had some traps on it, but I got rid of them for you guys. They might fix the traps or add another, though, so you have to be fast about it to get inside.”

That was... actually pretty helpful. Maybe they could figure something out with that information—wait, no! Chase shook his head. “Why should I listen to you? What if you’re lying?”

“I’m not gonna lie to you,” Anti said. “I don’t like liars.”

“Then why are you telling me that at all?!”

“I told you, it’s a hint!” Anti smiled.

“Well what are we supposed to do once we find this ‘really big Fissure’?” Chase asked, annoyed. “We can’t just cover it up like we can with the one in the coffee table.”

“I don’t wanna tell you everything,” Anti said. “That’s part of the fun. But I can tell you, uh... crystals. Crystals and blood are important. You can do all sorts of stuff with those two things.”

“...okay???” Chase stared at Anti, waiting for him to say more.

“Okay!” Anti leaned back. “I really want to keep playing with you, Chase. Even when the hoodie boy leaves, I’ll still be here and ready to do stuff. I won’t leave like everyone else does. I’ll still be playing.” And with that, he turned into a shadow and disappeared. The light above grew brighter, making Chase realize it had been really dim the whole time Anti was in here.

The room was silent. And as that silence weighed down on Chase, he felt those tears coming back. This time he let them fall, though he wasn’t really sure why he was crying. He kept seeing Jackie’s face in his mind... and for some reason, sometimes it looked like Dad’s face instead.

After a minute, Chase wiped his eyes, using the edge of his t-shirt to clean up the tears and slight snot. He hurried out of his room, still carrying the nerf gun, and went into the bathroom, staring at his face. It looked like he’d been crying. Well... because he had, but he didn’t want to look like it! So he kept wiping and dabbing at his eyes until he thought he looked normal again.

Anti was wrong. Anti was always wrong. He wasn’t going to listen to the guy who pushed Marvin down the stairs, gave JJ a cursed doll, and threw a temper tantrum that opened up a Fissure in his living room. He wasn’t going to!

But... if he wasn’t lying about that Fissure under city hall, it could be... nice to know. Maybe... to check out? Mom wouldn’t want Chase to do that. Jackie probably wouldn’t, either. But it couldn’t be too hard to get into city hall, right? Some classes in school went there for field trips sometimes. It might be harder moving around inside, but if he was very sneaky... 

Chase shook his head. He didn’t want to think about this right now. He wanted to go to the park. And he was going to. He was going to ask Mom to drop him and Schneep off, and then he was gonna text Stacy, Marvin, and JJ to tell them that they all needed to find some other way to get there, cause Jackie couldn’t come. It was going to be fun. They could talk about whatever, and ride their bikes and scooters and boards. Stacy said she wanted to bring this wagon that she had, so maybe they could pull Schneep around in that, if he couldn’t pick up riding a bike that fast. They could climb trees and find cool rocks and maybe go to the playground. Then maybe afterwards, they could grab treats somewhere. Or they could go to that old movie theater Marvin and JJ liked. They could do anything, really. It was going to be so fun.

Even if Jackie wasn’t there.

[the-earnest-system]

is this anything?

[the-earnest-system]

Most Important to a Hero

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 41

First Part | Previous Part | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Forgive me if the title makes no sense, I came up with it late at night after a busy day. Anyway! We are continuing the aftermath of the world learning about ANTI and the truth behind SepTech. Everyone is freaking out, but Jackie has other priorities in his life. What good is being a superhero if he can't emotionally support his friend (Chase) after something strange leads him to act odd? The group also stops by JJ's safe house to tell him the details about the Anti-Virus stuff. Enjoy the chapter! I think it came out pretty good ^-^

===============

The next few days were a frantic blur. The news of something going down at SepTech spread quickly, but the details of it were all fuzzy. Most people seemed to believe that Anti-Virus had hacked the facilities. That would explain the SAMs, and why all of the cameras and computers in the SepTech system stopped responding to any inputs. Jackie wasn’t sure how to tell the public the truth. How would people respond to what Anti-Virus—what ANTI really was? A scanned copy of someone’s thoughts, made into a digital assistant... it would give half the population an existential crisis.

He’d told the League, of course, as well as the police. He felt like he had to. There was no way he could deal with ANTI on his own. He simply didn’t have the resources for dealing with an enemy that had such a wide reach. But after his initial news broadcast telling everyone to stay away from SepTech, he tried to avoid any more news personnel, despite how his Red Line was always buzzing with requests from news stations wanting an interview.

But even though he ignored the requests, reporters still tried to ambush him while he was flying around the city on his standard patrol. If they seemed vaguely professional (like if they had a badge or an official logo on their clothing somewhere) he would stammer out something about Anti-Virus controlling SepTech. If he couldn’t tell, he just apologized and flew away; he couldn’t be sure that all of these people were reputable. Some of them could’ve worked for a tabloid, been eager to slander him, or just been some online superhero enthusiast who wanted him to confirm their Anti-Virus theories.

Meanwhile, the League was scrambling to make sense of the news he’d told them. He was constantly getting messages from Magnify saying that the higher-ups wanted more details about his encounter where ANTI revealed himself. Even though Jackie had already written up a detailed report. He had no idea what was going on internally, but he knew they were reeling from the shock of it all. He knew it, because he himself was also still reeling.

SepTech had basically shut down in Daindover. The buildings had been emptied of all the employees—thankfully no one was killed, though a few people had injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones—and no one could get back in. ANTI had taken control of all the systems and locked everyone out. McLoughlin had vanished, but the board of directors had made an emergency announcement saying they had nothing to do with his actions and had no idea what Anti-Virus was doing. They said that the five Daindover locations were inaccessible through their internal system, but that operations were continuing in other cities. Jackie really hoped that all the employees were alright. It would really suck to lose your job because of all this.

If there was any silver lining in all this, it was that Anti-Virus hadn’t made another move since locking down the SepTech buildings. But Jackie still didn’t like that. It felt like ANTI was... preparing for something.

And through all of this, through all the calls and the news and everyone bothering him, Jackie had barely any time to check in with Chase. He knew that something was up with him. After that busy day where ANTI revealed himself, Jackie had come home to find Schneep there. Schneep explained that there was some sort of incident at work, that Chase had stopped responding or something, and that Chase was physically fine but something had happened that he wouldn’t talk about. “Please just... try to be there for him, yes?” Schneep said. “I know you will probably have a lot to do, but... try to make time. See if he will talk to you.”

Jackie did try. He really did. But the ANTI business was running him ragged. Even when he was home, he was so exhausted from constant calls and constant texts and constantly going out to look for signs of ANTI that it was all he could do to make sure they both had something to eat. He spent a lot of his free time lying in bed, his laptop on the mattress next to him as he watched videos. Chase also spent a lot of his free time in bed. Jackie knew, because he was keeping an ear out for the sound of his and Frosty’s footsteps. Schneep had given him a doctor’s note for work, getting him some time off to recover from... whatever was going on.

Most of the time, Jackie and Chase’s interactions were limited to a couple times a day when Jackie got up to make food (or pickup the takeout he ordered) and take it to Chase. He would ask how Chase was doing, try to gauge how he was feeling and if he was up to talking, and then inevitably leave when Chase didn’t really respond to his attempts at a conversation.

He had to do something more, he knew that. He had to ask Chase straight-up what was wrong, or tell him that staying in bed this much probably wasn’t good even though he was also doing it, or try to convey how worried he was that Chase was shutting down like this, or—or—something! But he didn’t know what! He wanted to sit down in Chase's room and beg him to tell him what was wrong and what he could do to help, but for some reason, he couldn’t make himself do that! Why?! Why couldn’t he just talk to his friend?! Was he really that tired, or was it something else? And if it was something else, what was it?!

His frustration grew. Mostly aimed at himself. Was he just nervous about hearing what happened? Or was he not prepared for what Chase could be feeling? Not prepared that it might be something... serious?

After a week, though, he couldn’t handle it any longer. Chase wasn’t really getting up again, and Jackie was convinced that he wasn’t going to until he talked about what was on his mind. He knew that Schneep had also been texting Chase regularly—because Schneep was also texting him about Chase—but wasn’t making much progress and was also busy with work (apparently the SDER department was still sorting out paperwork and stuff with the injured SepTech employees). It was up to Jackie to do this. He had to take the final step. But... he also didn’t want to suddenly upset Chase. Maybe if there was something good they could have at the same time?

And so, one evening, Jackie found himself walking into Chase’s room, balancing a pizza box on one hand like a waiter with a serving tray. “Hey... guess who ordered Dice’s Pizza?” Jackie said, naming their usual pizza joint. “I figured... we could eat it together? Maybe watch something?”

Chase was in bed still, with Frosty lying next to him (partially on top of him.) He opened his eyes and looked over at Jackie. “O-oh. Yeah. We could. I guess.”

Jackie smiled slightly. He walked further in and set the pizza box on top of the desk, pushing Chase’s mouse and keyboard out of the way to do so. He also had a few paper plates on top, which he’d taken to using instead of their actual dishes recently. Less to wash. He opened up the pizza box and put a slice on two of the plates, holding one out to Chase. “You gotta sit up to eat, you know.”

“Yeah.” Chase patted Frosty, shifting position slightly, and Frosty immediately jumped to action, pushing him up. He then whined a bit, ears drooping as he sniffed at Chase. Jackie had never before seen a dog look so concerned.

“Here you go, man.” Jackie handed the plate to Chase. 

Chase looked at the slice, blinking slightly. He looked at the now-open pizza box, noting the toppings covering the whole pie. “Pineapple?”

“Yeah, I figured I could pick it off mine, anyway,” Jackie said, sitting down in the desk chair with his own slice. “I’ve always stopped you from ordering it, I figured... you know. If you’re so insistent.” He smiled slightly.

“...huh.” Chase’s expression was hard to read. Not because he was trying to hide anything. But rather because there was a lot going on there. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They ate in silence for a little bit. Jackie wasn’t too happy about the lingering taste of pineapple that remained even after he picked off the pieces, but he was happy that Chase was eating. He couldn’t help but note how Chase had been picking at his food lately, but he seemed to be really enjoying the pizza.

Jackie made sure Chase was mostly through the slice before he cleared his throat. “So... h-how... have you been doing? Th-this past... week?” he asked haltingly.

“Fine,” Chase said. There was no shortness in the single-word answer. Nor was there any other tone at all.

“Y-you’ve been saying that, but...” Jackie paused, trying to figure out what to say. “I-I know you. We’ve been roommates for months now. You do spend a lot of time in your room, but... not all your time. A-and Schneep told me... that... s-something happened. And that he... got time off from work for you because of it.”

Chase stiffened slightly. He avoided looking directly at Jackie. “I... It’s fine.”

“I don’t think it is,” Jackie said quietly. “A-a-and I... But I... I don’t... I-I want to...” He took a deep breath, reorganizing his thoughts. “I... care about you, Chase. A-and I want to help, but... I-I don’t... know what... to do. I’ve been so... I haven’t been able to... Th-there’s been a lot going on, so I haven’t been able to talk to you much, but... I want to know... what’s been happening.”

Chase stared at him quietly. He opened his mouth, but no words came out for a while. Then he shook his head. “I... don’t know... h-how to explain it, anyway.”

“Well, uh... maybe just start talking and the words will come to you,” Jackie suggests.

“Hm.” Chase went silent again. “I guess... to start at the beginning.” He took a deep breath. “While I was at work... Anti-Virus... called me.”

“He called you?!” Jackie repeated, eyes wide.

“He pretended to be you, at first, but... I knew that something was off. So I didn’t give away that much, I... I think.” Chase’s eyes glazed over. “He wanted to know how much you knew. And... like an idiot, I said some stuff. I’m... so fucking stupid. I knew it wasn’t you from almost the start but I still... I still...” He trailed off.

“He knows we’re connected,” Jackie breathed. He didn’t know why that rattled him so much. Anti-Virus once called him as well. Anti-Virus knew his secret identity. Of course he would know about Chase as well. “Chase... wh-what did he say that... caused all this?” Jackie asked slowly. “If he just taunted you a bit, I-I don’t think that would... get to you so much. Even if you told him some information, I don’t... know why you’d... shut down like how Schneep said you did.”

“I don’t really know, either,” Chase muttered. He set his plate on his bed and pulled his knees closer to himself, curling up. “I’m just... like that, I guess. Dunno why.”

“...Chase,” Jackie breathed. “Don’t say stuff like that. I know you, and I know you’re not ‘like that’. I don’t know what ‘like that’ means, but I know that it’s wrong, because you’re using it in such a... a self-deprecating way.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Chase continued to stare into space, not looking at Jackie.

Jackie waited for a bit, but when it was clear that Chase wasn’t going to continue, he leaned forward. “What did he say, Chase?” he asked quietly. “I need to know, I... I can’t... I-I can’t know what to say if I don’t know the details. Please.”

“Don’t worry about me, Jackie,” Chase said in a dull voice. “Really. I don’t... Y-you have more important stuff to be doing.”

“I really don’t.”

“You have all your Hero stuff, you have to like... talk to people about ANTI and go looking for crime and stuff,” Chase mumbled. “Just... go and do that, and don’t waste time with me.”

“No time is wasted when it’s spent with you,” Jackie said quietly. “Look, I-I promise, I’m not going to do any Hero stuff tonight. I’ll stay in. We can do stuff together, if you want, o-or we can just... exist in the same space. Because I like that. I like you, Chase. I wouldn’t have moved in with you if I didn’t. I wouldn’t have told you my secret identity if I didn’t.”

Chase glanced at him, then looked away again. He sighed. “ANTI... basically said that he was the reason all my records got deleted and shit. And when I asked why he would do that, he... he said that it didn’t matter. Because I didn’t matter. And... he’s right. I don’t.”

“Don’t you fucking say that, Chase!” Jackie said. “You—”

“You’re going to tell me ‘of course you matter’ aren’t you?” Chase interrupted, looking at Jackie again. “I appreciate that, I really do. But it’s just words. It doesn’t mean they’re true.”

“What Anti-Virus said was also ‘just words’!” Jackie’s voice raised in volume, like he could get through to Chase easier if he was just louder. “It also doesn’t mean it’s true! Chase, I—I-I know that it probably feels really shitty. You found out a lot about yourself in such a short time, a lot that—that’s probably changed how you feel about yourself. The henchman thing, the family thing, they’re both big things. And then this computer asshole comes along and just adds fuel to the fire by saying—what, that you don’t matter?”

“That I’m not important, that’s what he said,” Chase muttered.

“Well that’s a fucking lie, because you’re very important,” Jackie said. “Just because you’re not, like, a superhero or anything, it doesn’t mean that you don’t—that you’re not—” An emotion welled in his chest, making him stammer over his words. “Everyone has an impact, you know? And your impact on me, on Schneep, it matters a whole lot.”

“Yeah... I’m important cause of what I do for people,” Chase said. “I get it.”

“No! Fucking—gah!” Jackie stood up and walked over to Chase, gripping his shoulders so he could look him dead in the eyes. “That’s not true at all, dude. I don’t like you because you let me move in with you or shit like that. I like you because you’re caring, because you’re funny, because we have good times together! Because you’re passionate about this YouTube thing you do and you love talking about the intricacies and history of video games. Because you’re a great fucking person, regardless of what you do for me! And I can promise, Schneep feels the same way. And at this point, I think JJ and even Marvin feel the same way too! We like you cause you’re a good dude, not because you’re a guy who helps us or what-fucking-ever. Don’t fucking do this to yourself, man! You’re just... causing pain. For no reason.”

Chase stared at Jackie, then blinked slowly. “A...Anti-Virus—”

“Is a fucking supervillain!” Jackie said. “He wanted to hurt you, for whatever reason. And because his thought process is probably, like, a hundred times faster than a human’s, he quickly came up with the perfect thing to say to hurt you the most. Why are you listening to that guy instead of your friends?!” He shook his head. “Even if—even if you feel like you’re not important sometimes, you have to remember that we love you, Chase. If you can’t trust in your own self-worth, then... then remember that we see worth in you.” His eyes were getting hot, welling up with tears. “Does that make sense?”

Chase continued to stare at Jackie. Then he turned his head to the side, taking a shaky breath. The light sneaking in between the window blinds glistened off his unshed tears. “Yeah. Y-yeah, I... yeah. I guess... I guess it does.”

“Great.” Jackie let go of Chase’s shoulders and slowly backed away. “You... are you alright?”

“Yeah.” Chase nodded. “I... I think. Maybe. I-I dunno, I still feel... shitty.”

“Maybe you... need a shower or something?” Jackie suggested.

Chase burst into sudden, incredulous laughter. “After all that heartfelt talk, you’re going to tell me I’m stinky?”

“Wha—no!” Jackie hurriedly shook his head. “I’m just saying, I—I-I’ve also done this thing where I stay in bed a lot! And afterwards, I—I always feel a little better after I finally take a shower! It’s like... the water washes away all the funky feelings along with the dirt.”

“Hah... no, I get it. I get it.” Chase’s laughter faded to a faint smile. “You’re just... looking out for me. Thanks.” He looked at Frosty. “I probably should get up. If only to take care of my big fluffy boy here... and also so I don’t smell like wet dog. Thanks for, uh, taking care of him these past few days.”

“No problem.” Jackie nodded. “Got his food, took him out on walks... I think the biggest obstacle I had was, uh, cleaning up after his business. It really stinks.”

“Yeah, you learn to tolerate it.” Chase chuckled slightly. “Thanks for falling on that sword for me.”

“No problem,” Jackie repeated, making an OK sign with his hands. “Though, uh... I have a question, by the way. Did ANTI... say anything about why he would delete your records?”

Chase frowned, thinking, then shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t... really remember the details of our conversation so much. Just the vibes of it... and what he said at the end. That part... really stuck with me.”

“Hm.” Jackie frowned. “Even if ANTI claimed you weren’t important... the fact that he did that in the first place kind of contradicts that, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe he just wanted to be sure that he could delete files with no one realizing?” Chase asked.

“ I mean, I guess it could’ve been something stupid like he was just practicing his hacking skills, but... I don’t know. It’s too much of a coincidence. Most people would probably realize that their details were missing pretty quickly—like at their next doctor’s appointment, or if they needed to apply for a new job, or do taxes. He just so happened to erase the records and digital history of a guy who has amnesia? The one guy in the city who wouldn’t realize ‘hey, where’s all my digital shit’?”

“He could’ve erased them after I lost my memory,” Chase suggested.

“Hm... I don’t think so,” Jackie said. “Let’s think about your accident for a bit, if that’s okay.” He waited for Chase to nod before continuing. “So, you get caught in this building collapse. You get found and taken to the SDER department. Unconscious, right?”

“Right.”

“The second you woke up, they would’ve asked you your name, right?” Jackie said. “To identify you. And when you didn’t remember, and didn’t remember anything else, they would immediately ask for any ID you had on you, right?”

“Yeah, they did that.” Chase nodded along. “I had a driver’s license.”

“Then they used that to look you up, right?” Jackie asked. “Immediately after you handed it over? So they could see if they could find your medical history.”

“Yeah, where are you doing with this?”

“My point is, there probably wasn’t any time for ANTI to delete everything,” Jackie said. “There wasn’t much time between the ‘oh shit this guy doesn’t remember anything’ moment and the searching. I know he has a computer brain, or whatever, and I just said that was pretty fast, but to hack into a protected server and delete a lifetime’s worth of information? That’s gotta take a while. A processor doesn’t have, like, infinite computing speed.”

Chase frowned. “I guess that makes sense... but what if he was, like, keeping an eye on me? Maybe he was already in the hospital cameras, or whatever, and the moment he realized I didn’t remember he got to work.”

“Well, that would imply that he had some sort of interest in you in the first place,” Jackie said. “If he was keeping tabs like that. No... it’s too much of a coincidence. He must have had an interest in you in the first place. He must have had a reason. But then the question is, why? Why did he want to erase your identity so badly?”

“I... I-I don’t know,” Chase said quietly, his eyes really wide. “Maybe I... worked for him, or something? If I was a henchman, then... working for villains... it’s sort of their whole thing. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know we were connected cause he wanted to stay secret until now,.”

“That’s a good idea, but... it would imply that ANTI was active as a villain almost three years ago,” Jackie said. “And I... I don’t think he was. I don’t know. Maybe? But... I don’t think it fits. I don’t have proof of that, really, it’s just a gut feeling. Besides, why would he hire a henchman if he can... control McLoughlin?”

“I don’t know, maybe he couldn’t do that at that point,” Chase said.

“Hm... maybe.” Jackie paused, his thoughts whirling. “Something’s just really fishy here. He says he only wanted information on me from you, but he also confirmed he erased your records years ago. That’s a contradiction. One of those things is a lie.”

“Computers can’t lie, though,” Chase said.

“Well he’s not a computer,” Jackie pointed out. “He may be digital, but his thoughts are human. He’s lied before. Hidden information before. He’s basically a person’s mind stuck as data.”

Chase shuddered. “That’s fucking existential. I don’t want to think about it. It reminds me of that video game, SOMA.”

“What?” Jackie blinked.

“Yeah, in it, you play as a copy of a guy’s consciousness. It gets real freaky.”

“I’ve never heard of that game.” Jackie slowly sat down in the desk chair again.

“I can... tell you about it?” Chase offered slowly. “If you don’t... mind.”

Jackie smiled slightly. “Yeah, tell me all about that game.” He picked up his pizza again. “I’d love to hear you talk about it.”

===============

Jackie spent the rest of the evening with Chase. They stayed up long into the night, talking about games and watching fun videos on YouTube. Near the end, Chase promised he would text Schneep in the morning and say he was ready to go back to work. Jackie asked him if he was sure about that, but Chase insisted that he at least try. He said it probably wasn’t going to be busy tomorrow, anyway. “I mean, it gets busier than usual in general this time of year,” Chase said. “Cause families get together for the holidays and decide to do indoor activities cause it's colder outside. But Tuesdays are always the least busy day of the week.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Jackie had said, and then he went to bed not long after.

And then, the next morning, he woke up to the Red Line ringing off the hook. He’d silenced it for the previous day, but the Red Line had a timer on how long it could be on vibrate, and the moment that timer ran out, it began making all sorts of beeps as the notifications filled up. Grumbling, Jackie grabbed it and scrolled through the messages.

Some more news requests that he didn’t want to respond to, some texts from Lorelei being like ‘holy shit you’ve been fighting a program this whole time???’ (seems the news was finally being trickled down to other Heroes), and some updates from Magnify. Two of them seemed most important. One, the League was trying to get permission to break down the doors of the SepTech buildings to get in, but SepTech was being awfully wishy-washy about it. Apparently they didn’t look kindly at their property being damaged, even if it was covered by super insurance and there was an evil villain inside that needed to be stopped. And two... 

...

Jackie was being summoned to meet with the Council of Heroes.

He blinked, rereading the message over and over. He’d been half-asleep reading most of this, tiredly taken in more of the news. But that one woke him up immediately.

He... was being summoned to meet with the Council.

With the leaders of the whole League of Heroes. The most well-known and well-accomplished superheroes this side of the globe.

This... made sense. Something like ANTI had never existed before, of course they would want to know all about him, and Jackie was probably the foremost expert on the subject. He’d already met with Kinetics to discuss the Puppeteer thing, this was just an extension of that, wasn’t it?

But still... he couldn’t actually believe it was happening to him!

He was excited, of course. These were amazing Heroes! But also... he was nervous. What if he made a bad impression? What if they disapproved of the way he’d been doing hero work? Would they scold him for working with villains like Spitfire Cat and the Specter—like Marvin and Schneep? Oh god, what if they found out he helped break JJ out of jail?! Even indirectly?!

And what if... what if the Council... wasn’t what he thought they were?

There was no doubt that they’d done great things in their Hero careers. They’d helped so many people, stopped the most evil of villains and prevented global catastrophes of all sorts! But... at the same time... the League wasn’t perfect. Marvin’s past with them proved that. JJ’s experience with the Vault solidified it. But also also, he knew that there were good people in the League, so... would the Council be good too? Or would they be...? He didn’t even know what.

He clenched his fists, then leaned over and picked up something else from the dresser. A small, circular wooden maze. He’d bought this ages ago from Jameson’s shop, and had been using it as a sort of fidget toy ever since. He turned it in his hands, watching the metal ball inside move, focusing fully on it. Listening to the way it rolled, seeing the light from the window shine on its surface... it was grounding. Once he was calmer, distracted from his worries, he picked up the Red Line and read the message again. Looked like he needed to make his way to the nearest airport, where a League jet would pick him up to take him to the Council’s headquarters. The jet was going to leave at nine am on December 21st, and if he wasn’t there at the time, he would miss the meeting.

Okay, so this was non-negotiable. That made sense. Even at his old job, meetings with the bosses were always set up by the bosses themselves. He could clear time in his schedule for that. Just in case, he’d make sure that his whole day was clear, because he didn’t really know how long the meeting would take.

Sighing, Jackie got out of bed. He wouldn’t be able to get to sleep again after that shock. So might as well get ready for the day. He had something he wanted to do today, now that things were starting to calm down (news notifications notwithstanding).

He headed into the kitchen, and found Chase there, sitting at the counter, quietly munching on a piece of toast. “Hey,” Chase said, nodding. “Morning.”

Jackie smiled at him. “Morning. You’re still going to work, then?”

“Yeah, we’re going to try.” He patted Frosty’s head. “If I can’t handle it, Schneep promises he’ll get me out of work early. Doctor’s orders. My manager’s been alerted and everything. It’ll... be alright.” Chase smiled, but his gaze still seemed somewhat distant. That was to be expected, of course. Something like this didn’t just go away. Jackie was just glad that he was trying, as difficult as it would be. “What are you gonna be doing today?”

“I’m going to meet Marvin at Neun Park,” Jackie said. “Schneep too. We’re gonna go visit our friend. Update him on... everything that’s happened.”

“Ohhhh.” Chase nodded in understanding. “Well, you should make a good breakfast, then! Better than the plain toast I have here.”

“Hah. I don’t know if we have much more than that, actually. We gotta go grocery shopping.” Jackie sighed. “We’ve been so busy lately.”

“Hah, yeah... busy.” Chase’s face fell slightly. “I’m... sorry about all the trouble I caused you and Schneep, by the way. This past week—”

“Literally don’t worry about it, dude.” Jackie patted his shoulder. “Do I need to reiterate how much we care about you? When we care about someone, then something like this isn’t trouble.”

“Yeah it is,” Chase said. “Objectively, it sucks to have someone who doesn’t help with chores and shit.”

“Hey, honestly, I didn’t do a lot of the chores, myself,” Jackie laughed. “And besides, even if it ‘objectively sucks,’ then it sucks less because it’s someone you care about. Which I do. So... get loved, idiot.”

Chase burst into laughter. “Alright, alright. Uh, thanks.”

“No problem.” Jackie opened their cabinets and searched for food. “Hm... where’s the bread...?”

A short breakfast later, Jackie was taking the train across the city. He got off at the right stop and headed to Neun Park, where he sat down at a bench and waited. And waited. And waited... God, he wished he had his phone to play games on, but he didn’t want to risk ANTI spying on them. They knew he could do that, after all. And with ANTI’s identity being revealed, Jackie was willing to bet the program would be monitoring as many things as possible. But still. Maybe he should’ve brought something to do. A... hobby or something? Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn’t have any hobbies that didn’t involve electronics in some way. He should probably fix that. At least buy a book or something.

After a bit of spacing out, he saw two people hurrying towards him. Marvin and Schneep. He blinked and stood up, waving them over. “Hey guys! Over here!”

“Hey, Jackie,” Marvin said, waving back. He was frowning slightly.

“Uh, everything okay?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Dunno, you look... vaguely unhappy.”

“Oh. I’m just a bit tired.” Marvin shrugged. “The station’s been pulling in all staff for extra shifts. Fucking sucks.”

“Oh.” Jackie blinked. “Well... thanks for agreeing to go to the safehouse with me on such short notice, anyway.”

“Eh. I was going to go check on them, anyway,” Marvin said. “I try to stop by as often as possible.”

“The same,” Schneep said. “But unfortunately, work has also kept me very busy this week.”

“Has, uh... anyone told them about the... Anti-Virus situation?” Jackie mumbled.

“Very briefly,” Marvin said. “We, uh, said we’d explain everything better later. I guess this is the time to explain.”

“With all three of us going, that makes sense,” Schneep said. “We were all there, after all.”

“Yeah.” Jackie nodded slightly. “Well... let’s go, then.”

===============

A few days ago, Marvin had stopped by the safehouse in a rush, knocking heavily on the door and hurrying inside once JJ opened the door for him. Jameson and Soren had been worried that something was going wrong—and though Marvin had assured them everything was alright, the news he’d brought had been dire indeed. The villain who’d tormented Jameson, who’d blackmailed him into doing all sorts of terrible things... was a computer program? Well, that explained why Jameson was always made to do the dirty work—or to control others to do the dirty work instead. If Anti-Virus truly didn’t have a physical body, a super with the powers Jameson had could come in handy. But also, if that was the case... how the fuck were they supposed to stop it?!

Marvin hadn’t been able to stay long, but he assured Jameson that there was no way ANTI knew about the safehouse. The no-computer policy meant that he had absolutely no control over the place. But still, later that night, Jameson found himself having a panic attack in bed. He’d laid there, staring idly at the wall, breathing quick as his body filled up with this frantic sort of dread. What were they supposed to do? How were they supposed to find Dahlia? They were never going to find her, weren’t they? Maybe she was—she was already—If ANTI was a computer, computers wouldn’t risk unknown variables so that meant she was already—already gone, and there was nothing he could do about it, he was going to have to return home without her and soon he would be attending her funeral—and all his effort to protect her would have been for nothing—

“Hey. Jameson.” Soren sat up from where he was laying, looking over at JJ in concern. “Are you... okay? You don’t look it.”

Jameson gripped his head, not turning back to look at Soren but trying to focus on the sound of his voice. He had to pay attention, he had to not think about ANTI—about how ANTI had killed his sister and was probably going to find and kill him next, and then all his friends would mourn him—

“Hey. Hey.” Soren reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Breathe.”

Can’t, Jameson signed shakily.

Soren paused for a moment. Then he sighed. “It’s too late for this. Uh... Jameson. James. I can... help you calm down enough to get to sleep, you know. With... my powers.”

Jameson glanced back at him. The tears in his eyes and the dimness of the room made it hard to see the details of Soren’s face... but when he blinked them free, he could see the concern lying there. You can do that?

“You... y-you feel scared cause of the Anti-Virus thing, right?” Soren asked gently. “You know my powers. I can take away that feeling long enough for you to get to sleep. Only if you want, though.”

Jameson nodded, not hesitating for even an instant. Please.

Soren nodded back... and immediately, that frantic, dreadful feeling faded away. Like he was waking up from a dream. All the tension drained from Jameson’s body, and he wiped his eyes in the pillowcase. “We’ll talk more in the morning, alright?” Soren said. “About... what you’re feeling.”

Do you really want to hear all that? Jameson asked.

“I do. I... I want to help.” Soren nodded.

Jameson sighed. Thanks. You... you’re probably feeling a lot from the news, too, right? I can... listen to you, too.

“Hah. That’d be nice, JJ.” Soren smiled slightly. “In the morning though. We need a lot of rest.”

Over the next few days, the two of them slowly started talking about the situation, bringing up a little news at a time. Soren assured JJ that the anxious thoughts he was having were unlikely to be true, and they were only hurting him when he began to spiral like that. In return, Jameson did everything he could to help Soren as well. Obviously, JJ was a lot more involved in this whole thing than Soren was, so his feelings were a lot more intense, but Soren admitted that he was struggling a little with some different things. “I know it’s necessary, but I really don’t like being stuck in here,” he’d said. “It feels like... we’re being cornered. A-and I hate that.”

At least it’s better than the Vault, right? Jameson said. Here, maybe we can do some activities to keep you busy, that might help. You like to cook and bake, right? We can ask Kanchana to bring us some more supplies when she stops by.

Soren smiled. “I’d like that, JJ. I’d like that a lot.”

That’s what they were doing when there was a knock. I’ll get it, Jameson said, backing away. Soren nodded, remaining concentrated on rolling out the dough they’d made. JJ hurried down the hall to the living room and peered through the peephole in the front door... but didn’t see anyone on the other side.

Then that knocking sound happened again, and Jameson turned around, stopping in the hallway this time. He knelt down and slowly lifted up the trapdoor.

“Hey, JJ.” Jackie waved up at him. “It’s all three of us.”

JJ waved back, and then stood up, allowing Jackie, Marvin, and Schneep to climb out of the secret trapdoor on their own. Good to see you guys. Hey... Jackie? Henrik? I thought about it, and I actually think that the doll idea might be... pretty good to communicate with others. I’ve actually... made some strings for the doll... if we want to try it out.

“Huh? Oh!” Jackie nodded. “That’s good to hear, uh—very good to hear. I-I can take that back to the apartment, then. But, uh, first... Marvin said he already... talked to you? About... stuff?”

Jameson sighed. He knew they were here to talk about that. Yeah. But I’m guessing you want to talk more? Here, let’s all go into the dining room.

They shuffled in, and Soren looked up at the group as they arrived. “Ah. I’m guessing it’s time for The Talk, then? And I don’t mean the one teenagers get.” JJ giggled a little.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Marvin asked, looking at the bowls and dough on the kitchen counter.

“We were making shortbread, but seems like that’ll have to wait.”

“No no, ah, you two can finish while we talk,” Schneep said. “At the very least, you can... finish the dough.”

“This feels like something we need to concentrate on, though,” Soren said, standing up straight and dusting off his hands.

“No no, go on, really,” Jackie insisted. “We’ll just, uh... explain fast.”

JJ and Soren glanced at each other, then shrugged and decided to at least get the dough into the oven while the others spoke.

The three explained everything that happened after Schneep and Marvin’s infiltration into SepTech, including the details of how Jackie figured out the villain was ANTI all along (“Honestly it was mostly guesswork and vibes” Jackie admitted jokingly) and what the current situation was with the SepTech buildings being locked up. “Jackie told us on the way over that the League is trying to get permission from SepTech to break down the building doors,” Schneep said.

“Which is stupid,” Marvin grumbled. “I don’t know why they’re being so troublesome. There’s a fucking evil computer in there, you know! You have super insurance! I know you do! No business wouldn’t get that!”

“It is most annoying,” Schneep said. “I think Heroes would be justified in breaking down the door without asking.” He glanced at Jackie as he said that.

“I’m... thinking about it,” Jackie said slowly. “I don’t... want to get in trouble. I-I know that... the League isn’t the best, but... I can’t deal with ANTI all on my own! He’s—he’s everywhere!”

“Definitely seems... difficult,” Soren said slowly. “But from what I know about computers, ANTI may be connected to a network, but it exists on a physical drive somewhere. It’s not some intangible ghost.”

Jackie sighs. “Yeah, that’s true. I just... i-it’s a lot.”

Jameson tilted his head to the side. What about Dr. McLoughlin? He made ANTI in the first place. If you can find him, make sure that ANTI can’t control him... then he might be able to help.

“Yeah, good point,” Jackie muttered. “But the hard part is finding him. He’s completely vanished. I wouldn’t be surprised if ANTI made him leave the city, or even the country!”

“No, I don’t think he would go that far,” Marvin muttered. “As long as ANTI has business with Daindover, he has a reason to keep McLoughlin nearby, just in case he has some physical stuff he needs to do that he can’t do with just robots.”

JJ shuddered. Poor guy... He knew what it was like to be controlled. He’d seen the results enough. But he put that aside for the moment. Thanks for the update, you guys. I think... that should be your next priority.

“Uh, no, obviously my next priority is Timekeeper,” Jackie said. “I’m not going to abandon your sister!” He folded his arms. “I’m sure she’s still in the city somewhere, I just don’t know where.”

“Well, obviously you should check anywhere SepTech has a hold,” Soren said. “If the ANTI is the main program of the company, and it can also control one of the highest-ranked people there, the most secure place is somewhere both those guys can access—and only those guys.”

Jackie blinked. “Some sort of... top secret SepTech stuff... huh. Makes sense. Dunno why I didn’t think of that.”

“I think we have all been pretty scrambled,” Schneep says.

“Hah, yeah.” Jackie grinned back tiredly.

...do you three want to stay for shortbread? JJ asked. You can take some back to Chase, too.

The other three glanced at each other. “I wouldn’t mind,” Marvin muttered.

“If it is no trouble,” Schneep said.

“I think Chase would like that.” Jackie smiled.

Sometimes, a little thing went a long way. Sometimes, a shortbread cookie was the perfect distraction.

[the-earnest-system]

Tachysensia

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

Honestly I really thought for a while that this chapter would be delayed, as I struggled with how to format it without it just being a lot of description. But I think I've managed to hammer it into an interesting shape by now XD The group all gathers together to figure out how to use Marvin's time magic to break into IRIS again... and while they do that, Marvin has a breakthrough in said time magic. Three of them head to the IRIS facility to try it out. Surely this time magic will have no consequences whatsoever (It will XD). Hope you enjoy! :D

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

The rented apartment’s living room was crowded, as everyone was crammed into the area. The sofa, armchairs, and stools from the kitchenette cabinet were all taken, and even then, Anti and Schneep had to lean against the walls. Will and Michelle had been put to bed in Jackie’s room, and the adults had stayed up late into the night discussing things.

“I’m so fucking tired of talking,” Anti said, rubbing his eyes. “Why don’t we fucking... go to bed? People aren’t, uh... they don’t... brains don’t work when tired.”

“I do remember you saying once that your thoughts and emotions get all weird after nine pm,” Jackie muttered, glancing at the wall clock which read 11:26.

“They do,” Anti confirmed. “So let’s just wrap it up here, huh? We can talk more in the morning.”

“But I feel like we have made progress!” Schneep insisted. “If we go to sleep now, we may forget all the ideas we’ve come up with.”

“What ideas?!” Anti demanded. “All we really got is ‘time magic, somehow.’”

“I feel like I shoul’ be offended by t’at,” Marvin mumbled, idly shuffling his cards on the kitchen counter.

We have much more than just “time magic, somehow,” JJ protested. Our magician friends have told us that our best bet for using Marvin’s cards is pausing time. We’ve all agreed that the best moment to pause time would be to sneak into the IRIS buildings somehow and get the proof we’re looking for.

“But Marvin doesn’t even know how to pause time!” Anti emphasized.

“I can figure it out,” Marvin said. “I jus’ have to remember what I stumbled on before, an’ figure out how to change it slightly to be more... sustainable.”

“Anti has a point, though,” Jack said. “Whatever plan we make has to be built around the time freeze. We need to know how the time freeze works in order to structure everything else around it. And... he also has a point about how it’s pretty late.”

“Maybe Marvin can use his time magic to make it not late,” Anti grumbled.

“Oh do not be a bitch like that, Anti,” Schneep said. “I know you get like this when you are exhausted, but Marvin still does not deserve that. He is trying. And he’s going to be the one at the greatest risk, since we do not know what troubles time magic can lead to.”

Marvin nodded silently, stacking his cards up so he could cut the deck and shuffle again. JJ reached over and put a supportive hand on his arm.

“Here’s something I don’t get,” Stacy said slowly. “Whisper... is your future self, right? That’s... what you told us earlier. Why... why doesn’t future-Whisper-you just come back and help us with that some more?”

Maybe that could cause problems, JJ suggested. Like... maybe this is a fixed point in time. Or maybe traveling through time causes strain on his body.

“Maybe he already has come back in time and helped us, just in subtle ways that we don’t realize,” Rama pointed out. “I still think it’s a hell of a coincidence that Henrik ran into that detective lady.”

“We’re getting distracted,” Jackie said. “We need to focus on the plan.”

“The next time I hear someone say ‘the plan’ I’m going to stab this wall,” Anti grumbled, hitting the plaster next to him.

“I think we don’t need to know every detail about the time freeze to plan around it,” Jackie continued. “The basics won’t change. We’ll go to one of the IRIS facilities, find our way in, through magic or something else, gather what we can, and then leave. Then once we’re done, we’ll, uh... Did we decide for sure if we were going to give the evidence to the police or just find a way to post it online?”

“Why not both?” Rama suggested, shrugging.

“I agree, can’t hurt to cover all our bases,” Stacy said.

But who’s going to go to the IRIS facility? JJ asked. We need two people minimum: Marvin, and someone to drive him there. But we STILL haven’t fully decided who’s going.

“I thought we did,” Schneep said. “It will be me. With your Magic Circle friends casting that good luck spell, I am sure it will all go smoothly.”

They didn’t promise they were going to do that, JJ pointed out. Aoife and Persephone just said it was a possibility. The spell would need to be cast at a very specific time on a very specific day, and it might now work out. He looked at Schneep. Besides, are you sure you want to go? What if the time freeze wears off and you’re caught in there? That... disabling thing... probably still works. What if I went instead—

“Jameson, we all know how much that place haunted you,” Jackie interrupted, his voice soft. “You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. Maybe—maybe I should go, I-I know how their systems work, I-I might be needed, to, uh, navigate around their databases—”

“If you go, you should not actually go in,” Schneep said firmly. “You are capable, yes, but the guards in there have equipment and training that can easily overpower you. I have my abilities, I am the best choice.”

“Besides the thing they can do that makes you immediately collapse, yeah, sure.” Anti rolled his eyes.

Schneep glared at him. “Do not give me that expression!”

The group continued to discuss things—though at this point, it devolved into a debate of who should even go near that place. Everyone wanted everyone else to be safe, safe enough that they were willing to take the risk instead. Marvin looked down at the kitchen counter as he thought about that. It was nice that everyone cared about the others so much, but god, were they not getting anything done at this point. Eventually, someone had to back down, and someone else had to step up, otherwise they were in a stalemate forever. He found it funny that in all this debate, they never asked him to step down. Even though he was the only one who used the cards, it didn’t mean others couldn’t use them at all. They were talismans, not inherent magical ability like JJ’s powers were. Maybe everyone figured that since his future self had them, that meant they shouldn’t interfere with him having them now?

It was... weird to think that he had a solid future in mind. One way or another, he would be going back in time eventually to help his past self. The future had never before felt so... certain. At the same time, it didn’t really bother him too much. He saw it more as a deadline than an inevitable fate. After all, he knew he was the sort of person who would want to do something like that anyway. So it didn’t feel like he was being forced into it. It was just something he had to remember to do. Eventually. Once he had this shit figured out.

While the others’ debate continued to rage on, now degrading down to snappish remarks (and reminders not to snap at anyone because they’re all tired), Marvin began laying all the cards on the counter. He looked at the runes on the back, vaguely recalling what each one meant. The card formation he’d made before had nine cards. The most cards he’d used yet. Obviously the jokers were a part of it. He was pretty sure they were both in the center. He remembered leaving the card formation in place so that the spell wouldn’t be disturbed, but eventually, time had unpaused on its own. That wasn’t ideal. And what was also not ideal was the fact that the spell just affected him. He knew he wasn’t the best choice for breaking into an IRIS facility. To make sure this went as smoothly as possible, he needed at least one other person with him.

There was another card in the center of the formation... a red one, wasn’t it? Yes, a high-number diamond. He began looking at those, trying to figure out which runes would make sense. Maybe... the one on the seven? It was shaped like an upside-down V, and he remembered from his research that it meant ‘motion’. He remembered the center card being upside-down, which... made some sort of sense? Upside-down ‘motion’ was like... the opposite of ‘motion.’ ‘Frozen,’ or something.

Maybe he... needed to use two of those runes? The seven of hearts also had the motion rune on it. If he used them both... maybe...

He shuffled the cards around some more. He remembered using other high-number cards... maybe if he switched those out for even higher numbers? Like, face cards? The runes had to make sense, though, and they needed to be arranged in such a way that the lines on the back designs matched up.

Meanwhile, the others had calmed down a bit. “I’m... sorry,” Anti said haltingly. “I just... I’m frustrated. I-it feels like we’re barely making progress at all. A-and Distorter is still out there.”

“I know, that’s... that’s scary to think about,” Jackie said quietly. “But... I really don’t think we can deal with him and IRIS at the same time. W-we have to choose one, and it’ll be a lot easier to deal with Distorter if we don’t have to worry about IRIS doing... e-experiments on us.”

Anti nodded slowly. “I get it.” He looked to the side.

“Your frustration is... It’s real, though,” Jack said quietly. “We all get it.”

“Thanks,” Anti muttered. “I... I-I really think we should go to bed. And... a-and sorry. Again.”

“It is fine, Anti, do not worry about it,” Schneep assured him. “I agree. Maybe it is time to stop here. The ideas we have are not worth the arguing we are all—”

And everything stopped.

JJ looked at Schneep and frowned. What is it? he asked, wondering why Schneep had suddenly cut himself off. Only he soon realized that wasn’t what happened at all. Rather, Schneep was... frozen, his mouth still open. And the others were unmoving as well. Not even breathing.

Marvin laughed. JJ looked over at him—when did Marvin grab his arm? How come he didn’t realize he did that? “Oh, so t’at’s how I can do t’at!” Marvin said, grinning triumphantly. “It’s who I can hold onto!”

What’s going on? JJ asked. He looked at the others, frozen around them... and immediately realized what happened. He gasped, going white in shock. Is this what a time pause looks like?!

“Yep!” Marvin said, grin widening. “Okay okay okay. T’is new formation I’ve come up wit’ seems to work, but we need to test how long it’ll last, since the last one ran out of magic after I spent too long frozen, maybe it didn’ wan’ me to get too out-of-sync wit’ the world. Oh, but first! We tell the others!” He picked up one of his cards from the table.

“—doing,” Schneep finished. “We can talk more in the morning, after we rest.”

“Oh! But first!” Marvin waved his hand for attention. “I figured it out!”

The others all snapped their attention towards him. “What, just now?!” Jackie gasped.

“I suppose when you have time powers, some things go very quickly,” Rama mused.

Anti stood up straight, eyes glowing with curiosity. “Okay, fuck getting some rest. Tell us about that first, we’ll spitball some ideas, then we’ll rest. Figure out the details in the morning.”

“Sounds good!” Marvin said cheerfully. “Okay, so, o’ course you need to make sure the formation isn’ disturbed, t’at breaks it immediately...”

———————

The group wanted to stay up, but basically forced themselves to go to bed. Upon waking up in the morning, they immediately went back to planning, until they felt like they could actually pull this off. In fact, they could probably pull it off soon. And they probably should. After all, the sooner they did this, the less time IRIS had to find out where they were, right?

So, only a few days later, some of the group found themselves in the car, driving back towards the facility they all dreaded returning to. Only four of them were going on this mission, which felt like too few people and too many at the same time. But they’d done some experimenting with Marvin’s newfound spell, and found that it only worked if he maintained contact with people while the spell was cast. And there were only so many ways you could have him do that while also not impeding anyone’s movement. So, after much discussion, the group decided that Marvin, JJ, Schneep, and Jackie would be going. Anti, Jack, Stacy, and Rama would stay home to look after the kids, with Anti keeping an eye on a phone they’d bought, waiting in case of emergency. Jackie would have the other phone. He would also drive the four to the IRIS compound and wait in the car outside. If they needed information about something inside, the three infiltrators would return to ask him about that.

It was a gloomy evening as they got close to their location, the ceiling of gray clouds matching their moods. Jackie gripped the steering wheel tightly and pressed maybe a bit too hard on the gas pedal, especially as he soon turned off-road and began driving across the bumpy, grassy fields. The others didn’t complain, though. They were too busy looking out the windows for any signs of a threat. After the group had already broken into IRIS once, surely IRIS would expand their security around the perimeter. They probably couldn’t get as close as they could before.

Because of this fear of more security, Jackie stopped the car the moment the barest hint of the compound wall came into view. He parked it and turned off the engine, and Schneep glanced at him oddly as he did that. “Why are you turning off the car?” he asked. “What if we need to suddenly flee?”

“I don’t think the few seconds it’ll take for me to turn the key will delay us that much,” Jackie said. “Besides, I know IRIS has access to, like, infrared heat vision. The heat signature of a running engine would stand out a lot more than the heat signature of me sitting here by myself. I-it’s probably a bit paranoid, but... better safe than sorry.”

“Ah.” Schneep nodded slowly. “That... is fair.”

We’re sure we don’t need to worry about cameras, right? JJ asked nervously.

“Jamie, try to relax.” Schneep twisted in his seat to look at Jameson and Marvin in the backseat. “We tested this, remember?” He picked up the video camera they’d bought last week. During their testing, they tried to see if the camera filming could pick up anything about the time freeze. But it did not. Marvin would freeze time, grab a cup from the kitchen, then return to unfreeze time, and from the camera’s perspective (and everyone else’s) it just looked like Marvin snapped into a different position and suddenly held a cup. “Besides, even if they do catch us on camera, or if we trip some security measures we do not know about, none of it will activate until time unpauses, and by then we will already be back here.”

Jameson nodded and took a deep breath. Alright. No time to waste, then... Let’s get out of the car to do this.

The three of them opened up the car doors and headed outside. Marvin knelt down on the ground and took out his cards, looking around for a place he could lay them mostly-flat. The grass was fairly long, but it had been flattened by the car tires, so he scooted over next to the tracks to work, laying out the ten-card formation... but leaving the jokers slightly out of place. The spell wouldn’t activate until every card was in position. Then he looked over at Schneep and JJ. “Okay. Ready.”

Schneep nodded. He slipped the video camera into the backpack he wore, where the polaroid camera and voice recorder already were. The latter probably wouldn’t be helpful, since sound paused while time was frozen, but they all agreed it was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Jameson, meanwhile, took out the roll of new duct tape they’d bought. Are we sure about this? he asked.

“JJ, it’ll be fine,” Jackie said firmly from where he was still sitting in the car. “If Anti were here he’d say something about how you always get cold feet.” He smiled gently. “You don’t get this nervous before shows, right? Just try to think of this as one big show.”

I’ll try, JJ said. He took a deep breath, then reached down to help Marvin up. Ready?

“Ready.” Marvin nodded, and reached out to Schneep, grabbing onto his upper arm. During the testing, they’d figured out that the spell was centered on Marvin. Anything he held onto or had on his person was also brought into the spell, and that included people (and whatever they were holding.) But there was a limit to it. If he dropped anything, it would return to the normal flow of time. Stopwatches would suddenly stop, and he wouldn’t be able to get them to work again even though he could pick them back up. Similarly, if he let go of someone in the middle of the spell, they would also return to the normal flow of time. They did not want that to happen in the IRIS base.

JJ pulled on the duct tape. It made that loud ripping sound as he unrolled it, and began wrapping it around Marvin’s hand and Schneep’s upper arm, taping the two together. “T’is is such an inconvenient spot,” Marvin muttered.

“Well, unfortunately, Jamie and I need our hands,” Schneep said.

“I know. Doesn’ mean I can’ complain.”

Jameson handed Schneep the duct tape, and Marvin reached out to grab JJ’s upper arm as well. Schneep taped that in place. Once he was done, the three of them were standing in a line. Schneep on the left, Jameson on the right, and Marvin in the middle.

“That... looks ridiculous,” Jackie said, smiling a little. “I know we can’t do this, but it would’ve looked a lot less ridiculous if you just held hands.”

The price of letting me freaking talk, JJ said. And doing magic and all that. And I guess Schneep needs to do his shocking thing, too.

Jackie laughed. Then he took a deep breath, his expression quickly becoming grave again. “Alright. Good luck guys. All goes well, you’ll be right back before I can blink, evidence in hand. All goes medium, you’ll be back here with questions and this whole thing will only take a minute.”

“It will be a lot of walkin’ on our end, to come back with questions,” Marvin said. “But yeah.” Unfortunately they won’t be able to contact Jackie at all while time was frozen, so it wasn’t like they could just radio him to ask stuff. They would have to walk alllll the way back from the IRIS compound. But hey, at least it wouldn’t take that long for Jackie. 

“We will see you in only a second!” Schneep said, trying to sound cheerful. “Marvin, when you are ready.”

Marvin nodded. He looked down at the cards on the ground. He’d practiced this maneuver a couple times back home, but he really hoped the grass wouldn’t mess him up now. Slowly, he reached out and moved the jokers close to the other cards with the toe of his shoe. Making sure one was in place, and then the other—

And everything stopped.

At the sudden silence, Marvin quickly raised his leg—and almost lost his balance, yelping as he started to fall backwards. JJ nearly fell with him, but luckily was able to catch himself using the car. Careful! he signed once he was upright again. If we fall while taped together, it’ll be a hell of a time getting up again!

“Yeah, yeah.” Marvin nodded. “Sorry.”

Schneep looked around. “Huh. I did not realize there was a breeze blowing through the air until the whooshing sound disappeared.” He scanned the field of grass, seeing how some of the longer strands were at a noticeable diagonal angle. “Alright... no time to waste.”

“Technic’ly we have all the time to waste,” Marvin laughed.

“You know what I mean,” Schneep said. “We should start walking.”

“Yeah.” Marvin sighed. “I really hope I don’ get tired while time is stopped. Let’s go. Everyone step at once!”

It was an awkward few seconds figuring out how to walk while stuck together in this strange position, but once they got a pattern going they were able to move quickly, heading to the IRIS compound in the distance.

———————

The experiments they’d done with the time freeze had given them a basic understanding of how it worked—and they’d done them all in a short amount of time, since it was a time freeze spell. After preforming the spell over and over again, Marvin figured out that he didn’t get hungry, thirsty, or sleepy while time was stopped, maintaining whatever state he’d been in when he first put the cards in position. He could technically eat and drink, but it didn’t resolve anything. By taking a stop watch with him (and making sure not to drop it) he was also able to figure out that the spell lasted for an incredibly long time from his perspective. He’d taken a book with him, sat down, and managed to finish the whole thing without the spell ending—the stop watch read three hours by the time he decided to unfreeze time, which he only really did because he wanted to talk to JJ about the exciting twist at the end of the book. For all they knew, the time freeze spell could last even longer.

The walk to the IRIS compound definitely felt like three hours, even though it was probably closer to just thirty minutes. Thirty really boring minutes. But eventually, they made it to the wall around the compound. “So... this part will be fun,” Schneep said slowly.

JJ sighed. Alright, you two, make sure to watch your step. He raised his hands and pointed at the wall, whispering words under his breath. His eyes glowed bright blue, and platforms appeared in midair, jutting out from the side of the wall to form a staircase. He quickly walked forward, dragging the others with him, and started to walk up the stairs. There was only so long he could maintain this! The stairs only lasted as long as he could keep repeating the spell words—which might be easy for some magicians, but with his damaged throat, he would soon be physically unable to keep going. Not to mention the constant drain this was on his magic. They had to hurry.

Schneep scaled the stairs easily, but Marvin found himself nervously glancing at the edge way too often, the fear slowing him down. He shook his head and kept going, though, pushing himself forward despite how his heart was pounding. Once they reached the top of the wall, JJ took a breather, coughing slightly. The staircase disappeared, but luckily the top of the wall was wide enough for them to stand on with no fear (or as little fear as possible.) “Are you alrigh’, Jems?” Marvin asked.

Jameson nodded. Going down will be easier, he signed. Just... give me a minute. He cleared his throat a little, then started up the chant again, conjuring up a staircase heading down the other side of the wall. It was a bit scarier, looking at the drop, but he forced himself to concentrate on the chant.

They made it down without any problems. Now... they were inside. “Alright, Jackie said that the symbol on that building there means administrative,” Schneep said, pointing at a building to the side.

“We were also goin’ to... go back into the main buildin’, righ’?” Marvin’s eyes drifted to the side, towards the building they’d all been imprisoned in. “T’at’s where we can take pictures an’... an’ all t’at.”

Schneep nodded slowly. “Y-yes, of course. But we should start there. The administration is only one story, while the other is multiple floors, and we will not be able to take lifts. I-I would rather make sure we get something concrete before we spend a lot of time looking for staircases.”

Marvin shrugged. “Fair enough.”

The group ran over towards the administration. It was easy, which was a relief for Marvin. He didn’t feel any more fatigue than he usually did. Good. He hadn’t brought his cane, since he couldn’t hold it with his hands taped up like this, and he’d feel bad for leaning too much on Schneep and JJ.

Once they reached the building, they circled around until they found a door with a keycard on the side. Schneep grabbed it with both hands and sent a shock of electricity through it. Instantly, the light on the side went off. He let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, it works, that’s good,” he muttered. They hadn’t been sure that shocking items would disable them; that had been one of the few things they’d been unable to test. But they were clearly able to interact with items while time was frozen, so they guessed it would be the same principle.

The three of them headed inside. Immediately, they stumbled across a pair of people, frozen mid-stride as they walked down the hallway. A man with curly hair in a lab coat, and a woman in a simple button-down shirt. JJ gasped silently at the sight of the woman. “You alrigh’, Jems?”

Jameson nodded. I just... remember her. He seemed a bit pale. Let’s hurry.

Marvin squeezed his arm comfortingly, the duct tape crinkling with his movement. “We will.”

The doors in here were all locked with similar keycard scanners, so they were easily able to search through them no matter how securely they were locked. Some of them were mere storage rooms, full of nothing but spare computer parts and folding chairs. But others were offices, with desks and computers and personal-looking knickknacks... as well as filing cabinets. In the first office they found, JJ tried to use the computer, but found that even though he could move the mouse around and press the keyboard buttons, they didn’t seem to do anything. So the group turned their attention to the filing cabinets, ransacking them and taking any files that looked interesting.

They then proceeded to do the same in all other offices they came across. IRIS’s filing system was weird, as they used a lot of numbers to identify things. But Jackie had filled them in on stuff earlier. “Essentially, you need to look at the letter prefix to figure out what the thing is for,” Jackie said. “Like, device prototypes are shortened to DPS. Then there’s the date of the file at the end, and the numbers in the middle are a serial number for whatever the issue is.” Most things ended up looking like DPS-18773-1502014 or EXS-00338-3005017. It was a bit confusing, but they had all the time in the world.

At some point when searching, Schneep suddenly cried out in horror and dropped the file he was looking at. Marvin and JJ’s attention snapped to him. “Hen! I-is everyt’ing okay?!” Marvin asked. He and JJ glanced down at the file on the floor... and saw a diagram of a human body, gray lines overlaid on top of it in a circuitry pattern. “O-oh...”

You don’t have to look at it, JJ said hurriedly.

Schneep took a deep breath. “N-no... this is exactly what we are looking for, yes?” He crouched down to pick up the papers, shuffling them back into a pile. “JJ, put these in the backpack.”

JJ nodded and slid the papers into the backpack Schneep was wearing, since Schneep himself couldn’t take it off to access it. 

“I t’ink we might... need to move on,” Marvin said slowly. “We’ve already been doin’ t’is for a while... an’ I t’ink the, uh... the paper t’ere is the best proof we’re goin’ t’get in here.”

Schneep paused, then sighed. “Y-you are right... we cannot avoid the main building any longer.”

Let’s get in and out quickly, then, Jameson said nervously.

They ran across the green fields around the buildings, and Marvin was amazed that he still didn’t feel tired at all this activity. All this walking, running, searching around... it would normally be a lot for him. He felt a bit bad that he couldn’t do much of the searching, what with both his hands being used to keep contact with the other two, but he was honestly just glad he wasn’t slowing anyone down.

Although... he was starting to feel a bit... strange. A bit... floaty? It was hard to describe. His body didn’t feel tired, but... it wasn’t really feeling much at all, either? Maybe that was normal, though. He didn’t remember what his life was like before the fatigue, maybe this sensation was what everyone else felt when they weren’t tired. Though... it wasn’t much of an improvement to feeling tired... 

Before Marvin knew it, they were inside the building, and they’d found a locked door on the first floor that led to a stairwell. “I knew they would have one,” Schneep said, zapping the keycard reader to open the door. “It would not be safe to have only a lift. What if it broke down?”

That would be very inconvenient, JJ agreed. I’m glad we found it, though. With how weird this building is... and how weird IRIS is... I half-thought they would limit access to the other floors, regardless of how inconvenient it might be.

“In any case we should head down now,” Schneep said chuckling. “There is a lot downstairs that people should know about.”

And then—

“Well this is very inconvenient, in any case, since it is so tucked away,” Schneep said.

I don’t think they want to make it convenient for anyone at all, JJ said.

“In any case we should head down now,” Schneep said chuckling. “There is a lot downstairs that people should know about.”

Marvin blinked. What... was that? Did Schneep just say the same thing twice? With... the exact same inflection? And the exact same little laugh? “Didn’ you... jus’ say t’at?” he asked. “Or... huh?”

The other two looked at him in confusion. “Say we should be heading down?” Schneep asked. “N... no?”

Are you alright, Marvin? JJ asked. You look a bit pale.

“I do feel a bit odd,” Marvin said. “But it’s not a problem, I promise. Let’s jus’ hurry and take the photos.”

JJ and Schneep looked worried, but they glanced at each other and nodded. “We will hurry, don’t worry,” Schneep assured Marvin. “Come on, we will walk slowly.”

Suddenly, they were downstairs. JJ was taking the video camera and polaroid out of Schneep’s backpack, handing the video camera to Schneep. Marvin blinked in confusion, and looked around—

No, they were still walking down the stairs. Marvin stumbled a bit in shock, but managed to regain his balance. JJ grabbed him, helping to steady him. Are you sure you’re alright?

Marvin blinked slowly. “Y-yes, I-I’m sure I can... last long enough for us to take care of this. Don’ worry abou’ me, promise.”

If you look like you’re going to fall over, we’ll leave immediately, JJ said. I swear to I don’t think you know how to use one, that’s why.

“Ah, fair enough.” Schneep nodded. “I do not, but surely it cannot be hard to figure out.”

They were downstairs again, in the middle of the hallway, looking around at the strange doors. Marvin inhaled sharply. What just happened? Everything had shifted in the middle of JJ’s signing. Schneep and JJ didn’t seem to realize anything had happened. Though... had anything happened? Maybe Marvin just... spaced out for a little bit?

Schneep fiddled with the video camera. “JJ, do you have any way to open the doors? I think seeing the inside of the cells will be a lot more

They were still walking down the staircase. Marvin’s head was spinning.

They were downstairs, with JJ taking a photograph with the polaroid, making sure to capture all the details of the room beyond. He looked pale just staring into this place. Marvin’s head was spinning.

“Marvin, are you sure you’re okay?” They were standing somewhere else in the hallway, with all the cell doors closed. Schneep was staring at Marvin intently.

“N... no, I... I-I t’ink somet’ing strange is goin’ on...” Marvin said slowly. “Haven’ you two noticed how everyt’ing is jumpin’ around?”

“Jumping... around?” Schneep repeated. “N... no?” He glanced around. “Perhaps we should leave.”

“No, no, i-it’ll be fine,” Marvin insisted. “Jus’... I-I’ll jus’ be a bit quiet. I-I’ll tell you if t’ings start to get really bad.”

Schneep nodded reluctantly and turned away.

Marvin’s head was spinning. His body felt... not much at all. It was like... a dream. Dreams were all in your head, and therefore, you didn’t have a body in a dream. Was this... a dream? Was that why everything was falling apart?

His vision shifted wildly. He was down the hall, he was standing in one of the cells, he was watching JJ try to magically pick the lock of a door, he was shuffling out of the way as Schneep slowly panned around with the video camera. He was able to follow what was going on, but it was like he was watching something on a screen, instead of experiencing his own life. Snippets of conversation flowed past his ears.

“Can’ believe you two were kept in rooms like t’is...”

“Should we go upstairs and take more pictures there?”

“I s’pose we shoul’ find a way into t’ese ‘training rooms,’ t’en.”

“I wonder where all the guards stay.”

Everything became faster and faster, more and more disorienting. Marvin tried to close his eyes, but it was like he could see through his own eyelids. The images and visions wouldn’t stop. What was happening?!

At one point, he became aware of JJ looking at him in concern. At another point, he saw Schneep shaking him, though he didn’t feel the shaking itself. They were outside, they were in the building again, they were running, they were standing, they were talking, they were filming, they were looking at each other, they were looking around with worry on their faces, they were looking at him, looking at him, looking at him, looking at him, looking at him—

And next thing he knew, Marvin was lying on the ground, the cool feeling of grass beneath his back. JJ and Schneep were staring down at him with concern... and so was Jackie. They were back over by the car, weren’t they? Marvin blinked and turned his head side to side, where he spotted the cards, knocked completely out of formation like someone hurriedly kicked them. “H-huh?” Marvin mumbled.

Jameson let out a sigh of relief. Marvin, can you understand me? How many fingers am I holding up? He held up two fingers.

“T-two...” Marvin said. “An’ I... can understan’ you. Wha... wh-what... happened?”

“That’s what we were going to ask you,” Schneep said. “We had been walking around for a while, gathering evidence, when we suddenly realized that you looked very... pale. A-and not in the way people usually get pale. It was like... the color was... draining from you. All of you. Your hair, your clothes... i-it was...”

Jackie let out a breath. “You seem... fine now,” he said slowly. “I checked your vitals before this, but... can I do so again?”

“Hm? Oh, uh... yeah.” Marvin nodded. Jackie immediately began checking his pulse and breathing. Marvin stayed pretty still for that.

“You seem fine,” Jackie said, leaning back.

Jameson looked down at him, worry clear on his face. Are you sure you’re alright, Marvin? It was... it was scary. To see that happening to you.

“It was... too confusing to be scary,” Marvin mumbled. “It was like... like everyt’ing was... breakin’ up? A-and jumpin’ aroun’... I was in one moment, t’en I was in another...”

“It seems that the time freeze spell is not without consequence,” Schneep muttered. “If JJ and I had not been there...” He trailed off ominously.

Marvin felt dread pool in his stomach. He pushed himself upright. “I-I feel fine now, don’ worry. Jus’... exhausted.” It had been a while since he’d felt this fatigued. That time he was sick recently didn’t count. “Did we... get enough?”

“You guys got a lot, don’t worry,” Jackie assured him. “Now... since you’re alright, let’s get out of here quick. JJ, can you help Marvin up?” 

JJ nodded. He started to scoop Marvin up, but he resisted for a bit. “W-wait! Th-the cards!”

“I will get them, don’t worry,” Schneep assured him.

Marvin nodded, and let JJ help him into the car. JJ climbed in after him, and after a minute, Jackie and Schneep got into the front two seats. Schneep handed the cards back to Marvin, who double-checked that they were all there. They were, and so Jackie didn’t hesitate to start the car and zoom off towards the distant road.

Had they done it? Had they truly gotten away with it? It didn’t feel real... All of them kept expecting IRIS personnel to suddenly appear and chase them down. But... nothing. So far. IRIS must not have a counter for a time freeze. But then again, who did?

And so, with tentative hope, they drove onwards. But that strange breaking-of-things lingered in Marvin’s mind. They were worried about the consequences of messing with time. Seemed they’d stumbled upon one of them today. He hoped he never had to experience that ever again.

[the-earnest-system]

Marvin's Magic!

Shadow City AU - Chapter Six

A JSE Fanfic

Time for another one of these chapters! I had a pretty busy week, but luckily I had this half-done and found the time and energy to completely finish it. It's been a while, so to remind you what happened in the last chapters: Chase got acquainted with Jackie and Schneep, and would have met Marvin if Marvin didn't suddenly decide to help JJ find the city blood bank. But after that delay, Marvin is ready to meet Chase and teach him about witchcraft! Chase also figures out that he can do even more ghostly things, since he's such a strong spirit. Enjoy the chapter! ^-^

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

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“Are you serious?” Jack pressed his phone closer to his ear. “I’ve never heard of a vampire binding spell. That’s... very messed up.”

“Extremely,” Marvin said on the other end of the line. “I’m going to do all the research I can on it. I know that if I report this to the Night Council they’ll do all they can to help, too, but... I-I don’t know. JJ’s a nice guy. He doesn’t deserve this. And if I can change that, I want to.”

“Hm.” Jack glanced around. He was at work right now, sitting at his desk. Short walls separated his area from the others around him. A lot of the time when he wasn’t on call for crime scenes, his shifts were taken up by just hanging out here, sometimes doing paperwork on his computer. Nobody around him seemed to be paying attention to his phone call, so he continued on at the same volume. “Are you sure witch magic could undo vampire powers? They don’t overlap well. That’s why witches who get made into vampires lose access to their powers.”

“I know, I know, but there might be a chance, right?” Marvin reasoned. “Magic is strange and vast. And I am quite powerful, you know, heh heh heh.” Jack could practically picture the smug grin on Marvin’s face as he said that.

“You’re not a blood witch, though,” Jack pointed out.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, vampires are all about blood and stuff, right? If they have some sort of binding spell, I bet blood is involved. So you’d need to have the magic to affect that.”

“Hey, we don’t know how much blood is involved,” Marvin said. “Vampires can have powers that aren’t related to blood. Like shadow travel. Or animal transformation. Or that spider climbing thing that Schneep does that he doesn’t like to talk about.”

Jack laughed. “Yeah, that’s true... still, doesn’t mean that your magic can do anything. What if it turns out that only vampires can do this? Or... that there’s no way to sever the bind at all?”

“There’s a way to undo any magic,” Marvin said firmly. “Or counteract it. This binding ritual is a form of magic, even if it goes by another name. So there must be a way to break it. I bet it won’t be easy to find. If anything, it’ll be fucking difficult, cause I bet the vampires who used it in the past want that to be hidden. But I have a lot of free time on my hands. And if it turns out my magic can’t do anything on its own, I can find some vampire to do it for me, I’m sure. D’you think Schneep could do it?”

“I don’t think so,” Jack said slowly. “He’s not really one of those mystical types.”

“Hm, yeah, true. Oh! Schneep and JJ should meet, actually!” Marvin said cheerfully. “I can introduce them to each other! I bet if JJ knows some of the vamps in the city, he could... I dunno, talk to more people about it. You know?”

“Yeah, it’ll probably be good for him to have a support system,” Jack agreed. “Schneep definitely improved a lot once he met the vampires over here, you know?”

“Exactly!” Marvin said. “I should call Schneep after this, see if he’s willing to meet up with JJ. And the same for JJ, of course. I got his cell phone number after I dropped him off at the hotel, we can text.”

“He has a cell phone?” Jack blinked. “Huh... Actually, yeah, I remember he does now. An old one. I gave him my card. This Anti guy is so controlling, but he lets him have a cell phone? That’s weird.”

“I guess in this day and age, it’s hard to get away with not having one,” Marvin figured. “Or maybe Anti wanted to be able to always contact him. I don’t know, and I don’t really care, as long as JJ has one. As long as he has that, we can reach him. Bring him into the shadow world and shit.”

“Speaking of bringing people into the shadow world,” Jack said. “When would be a good time for you to meet Chase?”

“Ah, right.” Marvin hissed. “Sorry I had to cancel on you for that, by the way. I felt like JJ’s situation was... a bad vibe.”

“No, yeah, that’s perfectly understandable,” Jack agreed. “Don’t worry about it. Just while I got you here, you know?”

“Well, uh, you know my schedule,” Marvin said. “It’s the same all the time. I can close the shop for any day you need me to. Maybe like, a couple days from now?”

“How does Friday sound, then?” Jack asked. “I don’t have a shift that day. Same time as the original plan?”

“Yeah, that works out,” Marvin said. “Fridays are usually a bit busier than other weekdays, but I can lose the hours. Benefits of being the owner.”

“Ha! True.” Jack grinned to himself.

“How is Chase, by the way?” Marvin asked.

“Like, mentally? Emotionally? What?”

“I dunno, all of those?” Marvin said. “And also... is he beginning to fade at all? Or is he staying as strong as he was before?”

“Oh definitely staying strong,” Jack confirmed. “Sometimes, when he’s just standing in the middle of the room talking, I forget that he’s not actually an alive human being. And then I look at the wound or he walks through the sofa or something, and uh... yeah.”

Marvin laughed slightly. “Yeah, I can imagine that’d be freaky. He’s... handling the whole... supernatural creatures thing, well? After Jackie and Schneep talked to him?”

“I think so,” Jack said. “And I think he likes the others, especially Jackie. The two of them really got along during the meeting last night.. Him and Schneep, too, which I’m a bit more surprised about, honestly. Chase and Jackie have similar personalities and stuff, Schneep is a bit different, you know? Very cool, but a bit, uh...” He trailed off.

“Yeah, I get it,” Marvin said. “Not bad. But you’re always surprised when he gets along with someone well. I guess in the case of Chase and Jackie, it’s like... opposites attract, you know?”

“True,” Jack agreed. “Anyway, the point is Chase is doing good. I think he’s processing the whole thing as well as he can. Still has a ton of questions, but I think he’s slowly getting to that point where he just kinda... asks questions when they apply, instead of constantly bombarding people. You know?”

“Mm-hm,” Marvin hummed. “Okay, I gotta open the shop now. I’ll stop by your house on Friday. Tell Chase I’m coming! And tell him I’m a witch so he can prepare.”

“We already told him when the other two visited, but I’ll remind him,” Jack said. “Good luck with the shop today.”

“Thanks! Good luck with your work! Hopefully you have a slow day.”

“Hopefully!” Jack laughed a little. “See you.”

“See you! Bye!” Marvin said that cheerfully, then hung up.

Jack put his phone back in his pocket and then turned back to his desk. Back to paperwork. Sometimes, he wondered what Chase was doing while he was here at work. He hoped everything was going well at home.

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Chase spent a lot of his time alone experimenting with his powers. Slowly, he found he could go further and further from the house. He could walk past his nextdoor neighbors’ gardens and into the yards beyond. He could even go across the street. But eventually, that tether around his chest would keep him from going too far.

He also figured out a new trick altogether. One day, while he was practicing picking up and holding things without them going through his hand, he had the idea to try grabbing something from a shelf and slowly moving it to the shelf beneath. He pulled open the cabinet door for one of the kitchen cupboards and reached up to grab a big plastic jug from the top shelf—which he did easily. But then he realized something was off, and that his view of the kitchen shelves were a bit different from what it usually was. Once he looked down, he realized that his feet were actually a few inches off the ground! He was so surprised that the jug tumbled from his hand immediately.

So he could fly! Or... float, more like it. And it was surprisingly easy to do. He just had to think about it. Honestly, it didn’t even feel like he was floating sometimes. He always imagined that flying would feel sort of like swimming through the air, but floating as a ghost felt... natural. To a point, that is. The higher he tried to get off the ground, the slower he floated, until he eventually stopped when his head was in the ceiling. And he did mean in the ceiling, as he passed through it and looked into the empty space in the roof. There were a lot of spiders up there, which was something he’d rather go his whole afterlife without knowing.

He also spent a lot of time thinking about everything he’d learned from Jack’s friends, Schneep and Jackie. His head was still spinning sometimes, to think that werewolves and vampires and ghosts were all real, and that he’d never seen any his whole life. He knew they had special powers and all that, but you would think that with modern technology, someone would have realized there was more to the world than met the eye.

Maybe there were some people out there who did know. Ordinary people—everydays, as they were apparently called. He wondered how many times someone saw something supernatural, tried to tell people, and were called crazy for it. Jack told him that ghost hunters usually didn’t find anything real, even if their instruments worked, but maybe there were people out there that did. Who knew? Not him, apparently. God. The supernatural was real. It was... easier to accept than he thought. Maybe being a ghost had opened up his mind. If life after death was possible, anything might as well be.

Speaking of anything being possible, Jack told him that his friend Marvin was visiting soon. His friend who was... a witch. Huh. For some reason, Chase was more confused about what to expect there than he was with anything else. All other things he’d heard of had been easy enough to wrap his head around. Werewolves and vampires had distinct traits. It had been strange to see Jackie and Schneep in person, but once he’d been told what they were, he knew the sorts of questions to ask. In the case of Marvin... what was it like as a witch? What could a witch do? Did they fly on broomsticks and make potions in cauldrons? Did they wave wands around, conjuring fireworks? Or was it something more... sinister? Like summoning demons and making sacrifices? He didn’t think that Jack would introduce him to someone dangerous; he seemed too nice for that. But that still left a wide range of possibilities for witchcraft.

But soon, Friday arrived. Chase spent a good chunk of the day using the Mirror of Revealing to practice on being visible. He wasn’t sure how good he was at it, but he was slowly getting used to it, used to thinking about how he appeared all the time. Though it did make him a bit self-conscious. Especially about the fatal wound in his head. It was normal to him now, but anyone else would be really freaked out by that, wouldn’t they? He didn’t want to scare anyone...

Jack was hanging out in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Chase jumped in surprise and hurried over to the armchair, sitting down. His mind was racing, focusing on being solid enough that he didn’t fall through the cushion. “Coming!” Jack shouted, leaving the kitchen and hurrying to the front door. He opened it up. “Marvin! Come in.”

“Coming in.” A man walked into the room, shoulder-length brown hair half-pulled back, wearing a black shirt underneath an open short-sleeve button-up with a design of lemons and leaves. “Huh. Nice place. Could be better, though.”

“Thanks for your honesty,” Jack laughed, closing the door. “But would you believe it? The rent is cheap. I hear something happened here or something, I dunno.”

Marvin grinned, then looked around the room. “Is Chase here right now?”

“U-um, y-yeah, I’m here.” Chase raised his hand. Deep breaths, Chase, this guy is normal, just like Jackie and Schneep were. Wait... breathing. Uh, well, not literally deep breaths. But the point is, stay calm!

“Oh!” Marvin looked towards his voice, smiling. “Hey, nice to meet you. You’re... invisible?”

“Right, yeah, uh, give me a second.” Chase stood up and concentrated on what he looked like.

“Oh fucking hell!” Marvin jumped slightly, then quickly covered it up. “Sorry about that. I was expecting the wound, but not the... the empty eyes.”

“The—oh, oops.” Chase thought about his eyes. “S-sorry.”

Marvin relaxed slightly. “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I know it’s difficult for ghosts to be seen. Jack’s introduced me to a few, and he’s told me a lot about them. Uh, you? You. Anyway, nice to meet you, I’m Marvin Fletcher.” He waved.

“Chase Brody.” Chase smiled slightly. “Uh... welcome to my home. Mine and Jack’s. You’re... a witch, right?”

“I don’t really look like one at first glance, do I?” Marvin spread his arms wide and did a small twirl around.

“No, I... I-I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, so I don’t... know what a first glance would do,” Chase said haltingly, unsure if what he was saying made any sense.

“Well, let’s talk about that first, then.” Marvin walked into the living room. He had a shoulder bag with him, which he took off as he sat down on the sofa, setting it on the cushion next to him. “What do you think of when you think of witches?”

“Uh, I was thinking about this earlier, actually.” Chase sat down on the armchair again. “I think it’s like, Halloween witches, you know? With the pointy hats and black cats and brooms and stuff. And I also think of, like, the Salem Witch Trials, you know? They taught us about that a lot in high school. Wait... were there actually witches in the witch trials?”

“I dunno about Salem, I’m not American,” Marvin dismissed. “But I know that here in Europe, witch trials didn’t always catch actual witches. In fact, they usually didn’t. There are real monster hunters, but they’re different. Also, you’re disappearing, by the way.”

“Shit!” Chase focused on his appearance. And as a result, slowly started sinking into the armchair. He gave up on trying to sit on it and instead sat on the ground, folding his legs. That felt a bit childish, though, so he slowly floated upwards while keeping that same position, until he was eventually at the same height as Marvin (who looked impressed). “Uh, yeah, Jackie and Schneep mentioned that monster hunters were a thing. That... sucks.”

“Well you don’t have to worry about them, cause you’re a ghost.” Marvin grinned. “There’s not much anyone can do to you right now.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a plus,” Chase said. “Anyway... I think of Halloween. When I, uh, think of witches.”

Marvin nodded. “That’s what most people think of.”

“It’s funny that you brought up cats as a defining trait of witches,” Jack said, grinning. “Because Marvin’s shop is absolutely full of them.”

“You own a shop?” Chase asked.

“Yep,” Marvin said, emphasizing the P. “I sell all sorts of magical supplies. Real magical supplies, made for and sold to people who walk in the shadows. Though I do get a fair amount of ‘tourists’ too. People who stop by to look at stuff and also maybe get their fortune read. Some people try taking the piss out of it. I love using actual magical fortune telling on those guys. The expression on their faces when I start dropping extremely relevant facts is always priceless.”

“That seems dangerous,” Chase said. “If they’re a stubbornly skeptic guy, wouldn’t they think you were stalking them or something?”

“I always know when to pull back,” Marvin said. “Uh... now, at least. I got punched once and learned since then.”

“Jeez. Sorry about that, bro.”

“It’s fine, it was a long time ago.” Marvin shrugged. “I didn’t even have my two best kitties then.” He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. “You wanna see pictures?”

“Wh—” Chase laughed in surprise at the sudden change in subject. “Yeah, sure, dude. You have two cats, then? But—” He looked at Jack. “You said that his shop was ‘full’ of cats, right?”

“Absolutely full of cats,” Jack confirmed.

“I take in strays,” Marvin explained. “Offer them up for adoption. But these are the two I actually own.” He showed the phone screen to Chase. “That black and orange one is Sam, she’s my tortie—a tortoiseshell. And the white and gray one is Higgins. They’re my sweeties.”

Chase leaned closer. “Oh they’re very cute. I’ve always been more of a dog person, but cats are cute too.” He paused. “Are they like... related to your witch magic?”

“Heh. In a sense.” Marvin grinned. “It’s hard to explain, but... I talk to them. They give me advice. And also constantly ask for treats, but any cat would do that if you could talk to them.”

“Interesting...” Chase nodded slowly. “And... that’s... a spell you can cast?”

“No, that’s just something I can do,” Marvin said. “Innately. It has to do with the source of my magic. I mean, you can cast spells to speak with animals, but I can just talk to Sam and Higgins on my own.” He put his phone away. “Anyway, you’re probably wondering what I mean by ‘source’ of magic.”

“Uh, yeah, actually.” Chase blinked in surprise. “How’d you know?”

“Because if your knowledge of witches basically comes from Halloween and stories about witch trials, that word was probably pretty confusing to you.” Marvin grinned. “I bet you have a lot of questions. I did, when I first started learning about magic.”

“Hah. Yeah.” Chase smiled weakly. “So, uh... I guess start by explaining that ‘source’ thing?”

“Hm... okay...” Marvin leaned back against the sofa. Jack sat down next to him. “How to explain that in a way that makes sense...? Hm... Okay... so. A magical source is where you... draw your magic from? It could be anything, really. Some witches draw power from the natural world around them, but some are able to draw power from more... conceptual sources, like love or dreams or chaos. Basically, if you can think of it, there’s a witch that uses magic related to it.”

Chase tilted his head to the side. “So... it’s kind of like a magic source is a battery?”

“I mean, I guess?” Marvin laughed. “Maybe it’d be easier if I said there are different types of witches. Water witches, fire witches. Light witches, darkness witches. Paint witches, photo witches. Death witches, life witches. Happiness witches, anger witches. Truth witches, deception witches. Plant witches—”

“Okay, okay, fuck, I get the point!” Chase was starting to feel a bit dizzy. “So... basically, magic is everywhere?”

“The current theory is that magic starts to appear when you’re really passionate about something,” Marvin said. “Or when you feel deeply about something, you know? The source is the ‘why’ of your magic. But the spells are ‘how’ you wield it.”

“How do spells work?” Chase asked. “Do you need a wand or a staff or something?”

“For some spells,” Marvin said. “The point of a wand or staff is to sort of... direct your power. Cause you can, like, point them. You can also use weapons, tools, and art supplies for that. Or, if you’re experienced enough, you can just use your finger. Some spells, though, need other tools. Others don’t need tools at all. You keeping up with me?”

“I... I guess?” Chase blinked. “I think this is too complicated for me.”

“Maybe you’d learn better by a demonstration,” Marvin said. “I brought supplies.” He patted his bag.

Chase nodded, leaning forward—floating forward, unintentionally. He’d been to magic shows before, but those were tricks. This was going to be real magic. The thought made him dizzy again. Weird that he could get dizzy when he was a ghost. Maybe it was an internal, emotional dizziness, and not the actual physical sensation.

“Alright, here we go.” Marvin took out two things. First, a plastic cup. Second, a mask of some sort. Shaped like a cat face, with some black and green markings on it.

“What sort of spell needs your mask and a cup?” Jack muttered curiously.

“Oh, I only need the cup for the first one, I was just moving this out of the way,” Marvin explained, setting the mask on his lap.

“Nice mask,” Chase said. “You... really like cats, huh?”

Marvin beamed. “Hell yeah I do. They’re little darlings. Except when they’re assholes. And even then, they’re usually cute about it. Anyway, my mask helps me with a lot of spells. It gives me a little boost and helps me channel some magic, especially for spells that need my senses. But we’re not doing one of those spells now. We’re doing a simple one, to introduce you to how they work.”

He picked up the cup and put it on the coffee table, gesturing for Chase to look into the top. Chase did so, partially going through the coffee table to get a good angle. Marvin ran one finger down the side of the cup and muttered something under his breath. Chase couldn’t exactly make it out, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t English or any other language he knew. As he watched, the cup filled up with water! It raised up from the bottom and stopped just a bit under the lip, fizzing slightly for a bit before the fizz quickly faded. “Whoa!” Chase gasped.

“Cool, right?” Marvin grinned. “Very handy. For this spell, there are three components: the cup, the words, and the gesture I just made. Simply say the words while running your finger down the side like that, and it will fill with water.”

“Very cool,” Chase whispered in awe. “What’re the words you said?”

“Lían se le kipa húis,” Marvin recited.

“What language is that?”

Marvin smiled. “It’s technically Irish, but not really. The grammar is off. Spell words can be any language, but the way they’re put together is... weird. Basically, if I cast the same spell in English, it would be something like... ‘water fi-ill this gla-ass fill it.’”

“Huh. Okay, I see what you mean.” Chase nodded. “And... this is a simple spell?”

“Mm-hm.” Marvin nodded back at him. “It doesn’t take that much magic to cast, has minimal components, and has a very simple effect.”

“What’s a more complicated spell?” Chase asked.

Marvin perked up. “I was thinking about this, actually, and I know one that would be very relevant to you.”

Chase tilted his head. What sort of spell would a ghost need? Unless... “Is it... a spell I can do?”

“Oh, uh... no.” Marvin deflated slightly. “Ghosts can’t do magic. Even if they could do magic in life. Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Honestly, being a ghost was sometimes confusing enough, he didn’t want to add witch stuff on top of that. “So what is it, then?”

Marvin’s energy returned. “Okay, so, you’ve probably realized by now that you can’t go too far from the spot of your death. That’s true for all ghosts.”

“The range gets bigger with time, right?” Chase asked, and Jack nodded.

“That’s correct, but even so, it’s really inconvenient to travel as a ghost,” Marvin said. “Think about it. You can’t ride buses unless you’re always concentrating on not falling through the floor. If you think of that for even a second, you’ll slip through and the bus will suddenly be miles ahead of you, farther than you can get to ‘cause you can’t really go any faster than a running speed. And don’t even get started on trying to drive. But! Certain types of witches can summon ghosts to any location.”

“...like with a Ouija board or something?” Chase asked.

“I mean... there’s probably a spell that uses one?” Marvin guessed. “But no, the one I know doesn’t use that. For it, I’ll need to draw a ritual circle, put on my mask, say a chant, and do some vague gestures. Once I’m finished, the ghost I summon will appear in the middle of the circle!” He grinned. “So basically, I could take you anywhere around town—though I’m pretty sure you’ll sorta fade back to this location after a little while.”

“...huh.” Chase... wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “And... any witch can just... do that?”

“No, not any witch,” Marvin said. “Just certain types. Like, death witches are probably the most likely to summon ghosts.”

“...is that what you are?” Chase asked.

Jack interrupted. “No, but don’t bother asking what type of witch he is. He’s never told anyone, even his friends.”

“...huh,” Chase said again. “Why?” That last bit was directed at Marvin.

Marvin shrugged. “It’s not a very common source. But other than that, it’s a long story, and I don’t feel like explaining it to everyone I know. Basically. Anyway, yeah! I can summon you! Isn’t that handy?”

“It’s, uh...” Chase paused. “I-I don’t like the idea that... someone can just grab me and take me somewhere without me... wanting to.”

“...oh.” Marvin slumped slightly, excitement draining. “Well, yeah, I can... I can see why you’d feel that way. But... hey, they can’t summon you without knowing your name, at least. So it’s unlikely that you’d be summoned by some stranger, you know?”

“And if it makes you feel better, Chase, you should be able to return here whenever you want,” Jack added. “Ghosts can sort of teleport back to their place of death at will.”

“Really?” Chase blinked.

“Yeah, just think about doing it,” Jack said.

“Huh.” Chase tried not to think too much about his ‘place of death.’ He tried not to look at that spot beneath the window. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t realized this before? But he might as well give it a shot now. He thought about being back in that spot, and for a brief moment his memory of ‘waking up’ as a ghost flashed through his mind—

—And then suddenly, in a snap, his view was different. He was looking over at Marvin and Jack from a completely new angle. Jack twisted around to look at him, gasping in surprise and then grinning. “Yeah! See, I told you!”

“Huh?” Marvin looked in the same direction. “Chase, are you there?”

“Uh, yeah.” Chase nodded, trying to concentrate on his appearance again.

“Oh god!” Marvin jumped. “Chase, the eyes.”

“Sorry!” Chase gave a nervous little laugh. “It’s hard to think about what your eyes look like, I think. Anyway... yeah, knowing that does, uh, reassure me.”

“That’s good!” Marvin smiled. “If you want, I can try summoning you sometime. You gotta be bored here all the time when Jack’s out at work.”

Chase laughed. “A little bit. I usually end up, uh... not sleeping, but I go into this trance thing that’s kind of like sleeping. And that’s how I pass most of the time when I’m not practicing my ‘ghost powers’.” He wiggled his fingers in a spooky manner. “Honestly things would be a lot more exciting if I could just... turn on the TV or something.”

“Have you ever tried?” Marvin asked.

“Uh... no, actually,” Chase admitted.

“You know I could just turn it on for you,” Jack pointed out. “Like, when I leave for work, I could just leave the TV on.”

“No, no.” Chase shook his head. “It’s fine. I’d want to be able to turn it off or change the channel if something I didn’t like came on. I mean, I guess I could just... leave the house. But... I dunno. It’s different, I guess.”

“Hm.” Jack nodded slowly. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“But seriously, if you’ve never tried, you should try now,” Marvin said. “Ghosts can press buttons!”

Chase looked over at the TV. “Alright, might as well. It might take some practice, though. I’m still having trouble even causing coins to move.” He headed on over to the TV, crouching down in front of the power button. Normally he would just lean over to look at it, but he wanted to get a close look at it. Why did pressing a button feel so tense right now? Trying to ignore the nervousness, he reached out and poked at the power button.

And then the TV turned on!

“Aha!” Marvin grinned. “See? That’s awesome!”

“Nice, Chase!” Jack was clearly impressed.

But Chase... was confused. Usually, the power button made a click sound when it was pressed all the way in. Just now, though... Chase leaned even closer, his hat partially passing through the screen as he stared intently at the power button. “Hey, uh... I don’t think I did that?” Chase said slowly. “I didn’t press the button, I-I don’t know why the screen is on now.” He leaned back again, looking at the TV. It was turned to a simple blue screen, tuned to the HDMI. But there were a few bars of static going across it that usually weren’t there.

“Really?” Jack blinked, tilting his head to the side. “Hey, uh... put your hand near the power button and think about turning the TV off.”

Chase almost asked what that was about, but figured Jack knew what he was talking about. He did as he asked, holding his hand close, pretending to push the power button without actually getting close to it. The screen immediately went black.

Jack jumped in surprise. “Chase, I... I think you can mess with electronics.”

“Is that something ghosts can usually do?” Chase asked, looking back at Jack and Marvin. “You told me that ghosts are mostly electricity. Is this... cause I’m a strong spirit?”

“I... yeah, I-I think so.” Jack looked a little stunned. “I’ve heard that some spirits can do that... but it’s normally poltergeists, not a single ghost. Huh. That’s... weird.”

“Maybe it’s cause of the necromancy,” Marvin said idly.

“Huh?!” Chase’s attention snapped towards him.

“The necromancy that... that’s the reason you... Jack, did you not tell him about that?” Marvin glanced at Jack.

“I was planning on doing it after he met you,” Jack admitted. “Once he’s used to magic.”

“What necromancy?” Chase asked, worry creeping into his voice.

Marvin glanced at Jack, who gestured for him to go ahead. He then sighed and crossed his legs, getting comfortable. “Jack’s told me how unusually strong you are, and I think the reason for that is because someone used some necromancy—spells all about conjuring up spirits—to, uh, make sure that your soul stayed here once you died. And that’s why you’re so strong. Because you were basically magically-created.”

Chase blinked. He looked down at his hands. They still looked normal to him... there was no sign of any magic or necromancy or whatever. He reached up to touch the side of his head. “Do you... think that someone did this? And then... did that magic stuff to bring me back as a ghost?”

“That’s one possibility,” Marvin said slowly. “There’s also a chance that someone put the spell on you earlier, which activated when you died.”

“I-I didn’t know about any of this magic before now, though, so... i-if that’s the case... they did it without me knowing,” Chase said quietly. He paused for a moment, then continued. “I... I-I think it’s more likely that this happened the night I died. There has to be a reason I don’t remember any of it. Jack’s told me that ghosts all instinctively know the circumstances of their deaths, but I don’t, so... something has to be messing with that, right? Magic or something. So... maybe someone broke into my house, k-killed me, and then... brought me back? Cause... we know I died in here... so at the very least, someone was in my house. But... why? Who the fuck would want to—to go to all that effort for me?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “I-I’ve told the Night Council about what happened here, they’re aware of what happened, but there aren’t any clues so far.”

“The Night Council...” Chase repeated absentmindedly. “M-maybe I should... talk to them myself? I-I don’t know... how much help I’ll be, since I don’t remember anything, but...” He trailed off.

“That could be helpful, but I think you should get more used to this stuff first,” Jack said. “The Night Council is pretty deep in the supernatural, it could be a shock.”

“But if you ever want to, it’s easy enough to contact them,” Marvin said. “Schneep—you remember Schneep, right?—he has a friend who’s one of the vampire representatives. Her name is, uhhhh...” He snapped his fingers a couple times. “Clara! Clara something-or-other. She has a really silly-sounding last name. So we have an indirect in, you know.”

“That does make me feel better,” Chase muttered. “I-I guess I... still need to get used to all this stuff, anyway.” He paused. “If... I was magically brought back... was it a witch who did this to me? O-or is there some other, uh... being that could do this?”

“A witch is my first thought,” Marvin said. “We’re the only ones who can do necromancy, usually. But there’s a chance there’s something else that can do that, something I’ve never heard of.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Occam’s Razor, it’s probably a witch behind this.”

“Hm.” Chase nodded slowly. “And... there are like... secret magic shops and stuff, right? A-are there... places where... people hang out? Supernaturally?”

Jack laughed. “Yeah, there are a ton of secret places where people from the shadow world meet up. Jackie and Schneep have this pub they hang out at a lot, the Harvest Moon. It’s great.”

“We also have the library!” Marvin said cheerfully. “And other shops. We even have secret restaurants, though I don’t know how much help that would be to you. And there are, like, events too. Every October, there’s something called Nevermore, it’s kind of like a carnival. And there are sports, if that’s what you like, but I never really got too into those. Witches’ duels, though? Those are fun.”

Chase smiled slightly. “Maybe... maybe you could... summon me somewhere, sometime? So I can... get to see these places?”

Marvin nodded. “Yeah! We can all go out sometime. I’m sure Jackie would love to introduce you to the rest of his pack.”

“Hah. I’d love to meet them, too.” Chase’s smile widened. “So, uh... do you have any other spells you want to show me?”

Marvin’s expression brightened. “Yeah! I brought my grimoire of useful stuff to show you.” He took out a book, its leather cover emblazoned with a Celtic knot design. “This is where I write down all the spells I want to remember. I think... hm, I could maybe show you guys the cleaning spell I use?”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if I like what you’re implying there.”

Chase burst into laughter.

The next couple hours passed with Marvin showing off some of his spells and magical items. Chase could tell that he really liked doing magic by the way his eyes lit up—literally, sometimes. And Chase could see why! A lot of this was so exciting! Items flew through the air on their own, globes of light appeared in the air, and Marvin changed his outfit into a different one with a poof of smoke. Chase couldn’t believe he never heard of magic while he was alive. But then again, magic was probably good at hiding things. There were invisibility spells and all that.

Marvin left, but promised that he’d figure out a good time to summon Chase later. “We’ll do something fun, I swear,” he said. “It’ll be great.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Chase said.Once Marvin was gone and the amazement of the magic had worn off, though... Chase’s thoughts returned to what happened to him. Was he the target of some evil witch’s strange plot? Why him? He had nothing to do with this world before he became a ghost. He wasn’t special. Why him? Why? Why?

[the-earnest-system]

After the Battle

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Forty-Seven

A JSE Fanfic

Who's ready for some aftermath? :D The final confrontation of the story might've just happened, but the story isn't over yet! It's getting close, but we have a few chapters of winding down to do. Starting here, with what happens directly after the last chapter. The battle between the Masked Phantoms and the royal warriors comes to a sudden stop. Chase has managed to defeat the spirit, but Marvin, Jackie, and the others have some clean-up to do before night time. Jameson and Henrik also must return to camp, having left when the fight started. Enjoy reading, guys! :D

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rain started to fall from the sky. Marvin, breathing heavily, looked up. A droplet fell right through the eyehole on his mask and landed on his eye. “Gah!” He jerked back, throwing his hands up defensively in the process. A weak shield of magic flickered in front of him. He was in the middle of a fight! He couldn’t afford to be blinded right now!

But his opponent... lowered their sword. And looked around, confused. Marvin stared back, blinking water out of his eye, also confused. Why wasn’t the warrior attacking him? This would be a perfect opportunity to! But... instead, the warrior dropped the sword and reached up to tear the helmet off their head, revealing the face beneath for the first time.

All around them, similar things were happening. The royal warriors had suddenly stopped. Many of the Phantoms stopped in turn, hesitant. There were a couple scuffles still going, but the other Phantoms nearby reached out to pull the opponents apart. 

Marvin felt something brush against his legs. He looked down and saw Draco, now shrunken down back to his normal size, rubbing against him. Draco looked up at him and purred. He sounded... content?

“What’s going on?” Holly, nearby, was holding her sword still but wasn’t pointing it at any of the warriors. She looked over at Marvin. “Do you know?”

“I... I-I don’t know for sure...” Marvin said slowly. “But... I wonder if... the control has been broken?”

“The King’s control?!” Holly gasped. “What happened to break that?!”

“I-I don’t know!” Marvin shook his head. He looked at the warrior he’d been fighting only a minute ago. With the helmet off, he could now see that the warrior was a man younger than him, with long brown hair pulled up into a bun. “H-hey... you there. Do you... know where you are?”

The young warrior looked at him with wide eyes filled with uncertainty. He took a few steps backwards.

“I-it’s... alright,” Marvin said. “You’re... alright.” His reassurances were awkward and clumsy, but he tried to sound friendly. “I’m not going to hurt you. N-no one here is.”

But the warrior still seemed wary. Around them, other royal warriors were taking off their helmets and throwing them to the side. Some of them were gasping, as if it had been hard to breathe in there. Others had fallen to their knees. All of them were looking around warily. Some of the Phantoms were just as wary—mostly the ones who’d been injured—but others were trying to reach out, tentative hope on their face. A slight murmur started up.

The young warrior in front of Marvin shook his head as if to clear it. “Who... who are you?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Who are all of you?”

“We’re...” Marvin paused, scrambling for something to say. “We want to help. You... y-you’ve been under an enchantment. Do you know that? Do you know where you are, or what you’re doing?”

“S-stop talking!” The young warrior’s voice cracked slightly and his hand instinctively went to his scabbard as he continued to back up. 

Marvin’s hand also went to his focus—but even if he wanted to fight, which he didn’t, he was about spent. Now that the fight was over and the rush was fading, he felt very dizzy, heaviness dragging down every limb. The rain did not help, as water quickly soaked into his clothes, making everything harder to move. He knew he wouldn’t be able to pull much power from his focus without reaching his limit. “Let’s all just... calm down,” he said slowly. “There’s no need to keep fighting, we... we don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The young warrior was breathing heavily, eyes darting around. “Th-then tell me who you are! T-tell me!”

“We’re... a group of people who wanted to stop the King,” Marvin said. “H-he was the one controlling you! D-do you know that?” He took a step forward.

“Stay back!” The warrior quickly grabbed his sword from the ground. It wobbled in his grip slightly; the warriors must’ve also been exhausted.

Marvin stopped walking right away. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

But the young warrior continued to back away. The other warriors were doing the same, some of them reaching down to help up the ones who’d collapsed. The Phantoms were trying to help, but whatever they were trying, it wasn’t helping. The sound of voices continued to get louder, joining with the increasing rain to form a layer of noise.

Then someone whistled sharply. Everyone, Phantom and warrior alike, turned to look at the source. Jackie had stepped up onto a rock nearby to get some height, his head poking above the rest of the crowd. “Everyone! I know you must be frightened! I know you must be confused!” He reached up and pulled off his wolf mask, revealing his face. “But I promise you, everything will be okay.” He smiled gently. “We are not your enemy.”

Marvin blinked. He reached up and pushed his own mask back. Upon seeing Jackie and him do that, the other Phantoms also removed their masks. A lot of the warriors relaxed slightly, unconsciously trusting them more now that they could all look each other in the eyes.

“Whatever’s happened, it’s over now,” Jackie said. “I understand that some of you might’ve been enchanted for a very long time. But it will not happen to you again. The King has been defeated. You are free to leave if you’d like, but if you would prefer to stay, we can help you. Our camp may be gone, but we’ve salvaged a lot, and we can lend you food and supplies, and tend to your wounds.”

The warriors glanced at each other. Slowly, one of them walked over towards Jackie. Tall and thin, with chin-length blonde hair. She hesitated. “Who... w-who are you all? Why did... the King want us to...?”

Jackie smiled slightly. “I’m called Jackie, and we’re the Masked Phantoms. We’ve known about the King’s true nature for some time, and we’ve been trying to stop him. I’m... sorry it took so long.”

“Don’t... don’t apologize,” the warrior said slowly. “It... We just...” She shook her head. “Th-thank you.”

The other warriors relaxed further. Some of them looked over at the nearby Phantoms. The voices started up again, but were more... not friendly, exactly, but... open, maybe? The young warrior across from Marvin looked over at him, lowering his sword until its tip touched the muddy ground. “You... You all... stopped the King?” he asked quietly.

Marvin nodded. “It seems so. One of our members went to confront him, and I think he succeeded.” He smiled slightly. “I know it’s no doubt been very scary. I can’t possibly know what it was like. But... we’re able to help. We can help you get home, if that’s what you would like, or... anything else you’d want.”

The young warrior stared at him, then nodded slightly and sheathed the sword. “O-okay... Okay. Wh-what do we do now, then?”

Marvin wasn’t exactly sure... but he looked around and tried to figure it out. “We need to find shelter. I think the tents are pretty ruined now, but maybe we can salvage the canvas and fabric. After the rain, though. Holly?”

“Yea?” Holly looked over at him.

“We have to start getting everyone together. Start directing everyone towards the nearby forest.”

“Of course.” Holly nodded. She looked forward and whistled for attention again. Others nearby looked at her. “Everybody! We’re going to the forest for shelter!” She began waving people in that direction, and everyone nearby quickly moved in response, realizing how hard the rain was coming down.

Marvin lingered back, making sure that the news was getting to everyone, and that they were all heading towards the forest together. Jackie was also staying in place, moving his arms in sweeping gestures to direct everyone. He looked over towards Marvin and smiled slightly, gesturing for him to come over towards him. Marvin did so, taking careful steps so he didn’t slip on the forming mud puddles. “So... Chase did it, didn’t he?” Jackie said. “The vision came true?”

“That’s what it seems like.” Marvin looked down at Draco, who was continuing to rub against his legs. “I suppose we need to find him, then?”

“I was going to ask if you could,” Jackie said. “And then I can make sure everyone gets to the forest.”

A pair of figures approached the two of them. “Don’t worry about that,” Lukas said. He looked exhausted, blood trickling from cuts in his clothes. “I’ll take care of that.”

“And I’ll make sure this guy doesn’t push himself too hard trying to find everyone,” Tripp added.

Jackie and Marvin glanced at each other, then nodded. “Thanks, you two,” Jackie said, hopping off the rock—and wincing slightly as he landed. Marvin tilted his head, wondering what that was about. “Come on, Marvin,” Jackie said, walking over towards the cliff. “I think Chase went this way.”

Marvin nodded and followed him.

Their camp was a mess of ash, and smoldering ruins. By now, the sudden downpour had put out the worst of the flames, but some of the tents still smoldered. Marvin’s eyes darted back and forth, taking in the destruction. So much had been lost today... but... the King had also been defeated. He must’ve been, if all those controlled warriors suddenly broke free of their enchantment. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sad looking at all the tents that had been reduced down to lumps on the ground. He knew that he’d had some stuff he’d left behind here... no doubt it was all cinders now. The thought sent a pang through his chest.

He tore his eyes away from the tents—and his gaze landed on movement through the rain. Instinctively, he stiffened and reached for his focus... but then he realized what—or rather who—the movement was. “Chase!” Marvin gasped.

“Marvin! Jackie!” Chase grinned, waving. “It’s okay! We—w-we banished the spirit! Together!” Leaning heavily on him was another figure, one clad in a green cape.

Marvin tensed further. “Is... is that...?”

The other figure raised his head. There was no mistaking those features... though they looked rather strange with that expression of fear twisting them.

“The King!” Jackie gasped. He grabbed Marvin by the arm and ran forward, stumbling a bit over rubble. He inhaled sharply, flinching a little when his step landed heavily. “Chase! A-are you okay?! How—how did you do it? Did you do it?!”

Chase laughed. “It’s a long story. Here, guys... let me introduce you to Jack.” He jerked his head towards the King. Now that Marvin and Jackie were close, they could see the color of his eyes... the striking shade of blue. “Jack, this is Marvin and Jackie. I... I know you guys have all sort of met before, but... it’s different now, you know?”

Jackie nodded. He smiled. “Ah... hello, Your... Majesty.” He bowed awkwardly. When he stood up straight, he listed to the side and lost his balance, leaving Marvin to catch him. “Or... i-is it just Jack? Is Jack okay?”

The King—Jack—smiled slightly, a crooked smile that looked very different from the sinister grins the spirit would put on his face. “Dh... J-Jack ‘s... o-okay.”

Marvin blinked. “Is everything alright?”

“He’s been like this since we banished the spirit,” Chase explained. “I think... I-I think it’s because it’s been a while since he’s been able to use his body. In reality, I mean, and not just in some dream world.”

“Ah...” Marvin nodded slowly. “I... I think that will get better with practice. I’m sure that doctors know some ways to help, you know.” He inhaled sharply. “Oh, speaking of which, we need to somehow contact the Phantoms out on the Serpent’s Wake. That’s where most of our doctors went, and we have injured to take care of.”

“Can you send some sort of magical message to the ship?” Chase asked.

“No, I-I don’t think so,” Marvin said. “My magic is spent.” He looked down at Draco, who was currently trying to claw up his leg, and bent down to pick him up. “Draco has problems with crossing water, otherwise I’d send him.”

“Let’s head to the forest with the others and see if there’s a wizard who can do that,” Jackie said decisively. He looked at Jack. “Your Maj—uh, Jack. I-I think we should... I think you should... take off that gold circlet, maybe? We... don’t want anyone to make any wrong assumptions.”

Jack nodded. He reached up with a shaky hand and pulled off the royal circlet he was wearing. His fingers trembled and he lost his grip, sending the circlet tumbling down into mud. All of them looked down at it. For a second, they just stared at it as it was covered in gunk and dirty water. All of them were wondering the same thing: was it even worth picking up? But after a moment, Jackie crouched down and grabbed it. “Alright, let’s go,” he said.

The walk to the forest was silent as the four of them moved as quickly as they could, wanting to get out of the rain as fast as possible. Jack kept stumbling and staggering, even with Chase supporting him, and eventually Chase asked if he could carry him. Jack agreed, relieved, and Chase scooped him up in his arms. The group was able to move much faster from there... though Jackie was running a bit slower than he usually did.

While they were gone, the other Phantoms and the newly-freed royal warriors had tried to set up camp as best they could in between the forest trees. A few sorcerers were able to make campfires, using branches from the somewhat-dry forest floor as kindling for their fire magic. Everyone huddled around them, pressed up against the trunks of trees, trying to get warm and dry. Any heavy armor had been quickly discarded. Nobody wanted to wear something that retained that much water.

Chase felt Jack press his face against his chest, trying to hide from the gaze of the Phantoms and warriors. Clearly afraid of being recognized. Chase smiled at him reassuringly... but he could hear mutterings passing through the crowds of people as they walked past. Even if Jack wasn’t wearing the royal circlet anymore, many of them recognized that green cape. The warriors pressed close against each other, their fearful eyes reflecting the firelight as they stared after Chase and Jack.

“Hey! Jackie, Marvin!” Holly got to her feet, standing taller than everyone around her, and waved the group over. Nearby, Tripp and Lukas sat at a campfire, along with a handful of Phantoms and a couple royal warriors—most notably, that woman who’d first talked to Jackie. “We’ve got everyone as settled as we can. As far as we can tell, this is all of us. Except for the guys on the ship, of course.”

Jackie nodded. “Hey, Holly. That’s good to hear. Any casualties?”

Holly winced. “A few... Phantoms and warriors alike.”

“I see.” Jackie sighed. “I always hate to hear it.” He shook his head, steeling himself. “How is everyone? Injuries?”

“Quite a few,” Holly said. “Luckily, some of us thought to keep medical supplies on us. We don’t have many, but the most serious wounds have been covered up, at least. I think most of the supplies went on the boat with—”

“Is that him?” The warrior from before—the woman with short blonde hair—pointed at Chase. “Is that... the King?”

Chase felt Jack flinch. “It... i-it is,” Chase said. “But, um—h-he’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.”

The warrior frowned. “How do you know? He’s the same as he’s always been. You didn’t restrain him or wound him or anything. Did you put a spell on him?”

“Oh, uh... n-no, but—but we don’t need to,” Chase said. “This might be hard to believe, but... the King was, uh, possessed this whole time. But I-I’ve banished the spirit. He’s gone, and J—the King is back to normal. Um... Y-Your Majesty, show them your eyes. That might help.”

Slowly, Jack raised his head. Bright blue eyes darted around nervously. Everyone at the campfire looked surprised—and the warriors were downright shocked. They muttered to themselves, and one leaned over to say something to others nearby, and the others also looked shocked and leaned over to tell others about what they heard.

“What... w-what if the spirit comes back?” The warrior asked. “Or what if—what if this is a trick? A-an enchantment?” Her voice cracked with fear.

“It’s not,” Chase said firmly. Then his voice softened. “I know, it’s... hard to believe. But Ja—the King is just as afraid as you all are. And besides, he’s not able to do much right now anyway. He’s... pretty weak.” He saw the way the warriors still glanced at each other nervously, and he sighed. “Would it help if we... did something to secure him?”

“...maybe a little,” the warrior said quietly.

“We can do that, then,” Chase said. “Assuming we have something to... do that with.” He walked around the campfire to the nearest tree and crouched down nearby, setting Jack on the ground between its roots. “Are you okay with that, Jack?” he whispered gently.

Jack nodded. “D-do wh... what you... n-n-need.”

Chase smiled gently. “I’ll be right here.” He looked back at the others. “Um... Marvin’s out of power, so we can’t do this with wizardry. Any other ideas?”

Holly and the other Phantoms all patted themselves down. After a few seconds of that, Tripp cleared his throat. “We have belts for scabbards an’ such. Maybe we can use them to bind his arms and legs?”

“That feels... like too much,” Lukas said slowly. “Maybe we can tie all the belts together and use that to tie him to the tree?”

Everyone agreed that was the best option. A flurry of movement later, Jack was pressed up against the trunk of the tree, a makeshift rope wrapping around his torso. “Sorry about this,” Jackie muttered.

Jack smiled slightly. “‘t’s fffine.” He hadn’t put up a fight or fuss at all the whole time. 

“Hopefully it’s only temporary,” Marvin said. “At the very least, we’ll have to move once this rain lets up.”

Draco wriggled out of Marvin’s arms, landing on the ground. The cat shook, sending water from his fur in all directions, then trotted over to Jack and climbed onto his lap. Jack stared down at him with wide eyes. Draco stared back... then began kneading the fabric of Jack’s trousers and eventually curled up in a ball.

“Heh... he likes you,” Marvin said, smiling slightly. “More than he likes me, I think.” He sighed, and sat down next to the campfire. “I... might fall asleep at any moment.”

Jackie nodded. “I agree. Though, uh...” He swayed a bit. “Now that all the action is done and sorted... I... have something to... show you?” His red cape had been wrapped tightly around him this whole time, but now he opened it wide. A dark stain was visible on his lower left torso.

“What?!” Marvin gasped. “Jackie! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Everyone was so busy—” Jackie started to say.

“No, shut up!” Marvin snapped. “Sit down! Lie down! Holly, you said we had medical supplies?!”

“We—we don’t have much,” Holly said. “We might’ve used all we had. Tripp? Can you go search for some?”

“Righ’ away!” Tripp scrambled to his feet and darted off. After he’d gone, Jackie took his place at the fire, sitting on the ground and wincing as he adjusted his position.

“What happened?!” Chase demanded, staring at the blood. “You—you wear that chain mail shirt all the time! What could’ve broken through that?!”

“A really thin knife,” Jackie explained. “A warrior got in a lucky stab. My guess is the blade slipped through one of the gaps and broke some links.” He shuddered. “Thin blades like that are practically designed to fight armored warriors.”

“Y-you’re going to be okay, right?” Chase asked worriedly.

“I’ve lived through a lot of stabs, I’ll be fine,” Jackie said, giving him a weak smile.

“You usually don’t hide the stab wounds, though,” Marvin muttered. “You’ve lost more blood than you would’ve if you’d just told us.”

“...yea,” Jackie breathed. “Probably.” He sighed, and leaned back until he was lying on the ground. “I... I-I should have said something, I know. But... I-I don’t know. I don’t know. I-I’m sorry.”

“Henrik is going to have words with you once he realizes what’s happened here,” Marvin muttered.

“Hah.” Jackie smiled faintly. “I know.”

Chase bit his lip nervously and looked towards the coast, as if he could see the Cliffs of Feall through all the trees and rain. He wondered how those on the boat were doing. And... he wondered how Jameson, Amabel, and Quentin were doing. He hoped they’d gotten to safety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rain happened quite suddenly, forcing the small group of three to go deeper into the forest to avoid getting wet. It was the children’s idea, actually. Jameson wanted to stay on the coast so he could keep an eye on the ship and the distant fires on the cliffs... and so Chase would be able to find them on the rock outcropping Jameson had mentioned to him. But Amabel insisted that getting wet while out in the wilderness was a sure way to catch the shivering. So, they retreated.

It was very dark in the forest, but luckily, Jameson still had his bag of supplies from the Wyldwood trip with him. In it, he’d brought a small lantern, just in case. Even though Marvin described the Wyldwood as glowing, he thought it was better to have one than not. They never ended up using it, but it was coming in handy now. He lit the small wick inside with the firesteel and flint from his tinderbox, and it soon took flame and lit up the area around them in a circle.

“I guess it’s dry enough here,” Amabel said, stomping the ground. “We can wait here for the others. Oh! It’s going to get cold, so we should make a campfire for warmth! Can you do that, Jameson?”

Jameson looked down at her and Quentin. Well, I’ll need to find wood for that, he said. And I don’t want you two to get too far away while it’s dark like this.

“Hm... so we leave the lantern here and all grab stuff close to it!” Amabel said.

“Yea!” Quentin nodded in agreement.

Jameson chuckled silently. Alright, but you two need to be able to see me at least a little bit. I can’t call out to you, you know.

“You can whistle, can’t you?” Amabel asked.

Yes, I can. But what if I need to tell you about something important? A whistle won’t be good enough. In truth, he didn’t want the kids to leave his sight. He was going to look out for them until Chase came back, and that would be hard to do if he lost them in the shadows.

Amabel nodded. “That makes sense. Alright! Let’s go find firewood!”

They split up—though not too much. Jameson made sure he could still see the kids moving about in the darkness. They weren’t able to find many dry pieces of wood lying around—it was the beginning of summer, all the trees were at the prime of their life, not many dead branches falling to the ground. But the group made sure to scoop up everything in the area and gather it together. It was mostly a bunch of small sticks, though Amabel managed to find a thicker branch, its diameter the same as her arm. They all gathered around and Jameson lit a fire, again with the tools from his tinderbox. It was indeed starting to get quite cold, even though they were mostly sheltered from the rain. They all huddled close.

“Do you think...” Quentin started to say something, then trailed off. “Um... do you think that this fire will last until the storm stops? We don’t have a lot of wood.”

“Mom taught me something, actually.” Amabel picked up one of the sticks they hadn’t used in the fire (too damp) and started drawing in the dirt. “Maybe she taught you this too, Quen, but you forgot. But there’s a witchcraft thing you can do to make campfires burn slowly.”

Jameson raised an eyebrow. Really? I didn’t know about that.

“I don’t think a lot of people do,” Amabel said. “Mom said it was a ‘mountain village trick.’” She walked all along the edge of the fire, drawing a circle of little pictures. Once it was complete, the drawings flared with orange light for a second before fading. The campfire still burned, though it didn’t seem to be devouring the sticks at such a rapid pace anymore.

That’s very helpful, Amabel, thank you, Jameson said.

Amabel grinned proudly, then sat down again.

Quentin stared off into the distance. “Do you think...” He started, and then again, he trailed off.

Are you worried about your dad? Jameson asked gently.

“...a little,” Quentin mumbled.

Jameson smiled. I understand that it’s scary, but your dad knows what he’s doing, you know. He’ll be okay. We’ll just wait for him or one of the others right here.

Quentin nodded. “Yea... I know. I just... I like Dad.” He pulled his knees close to himself.

And you don’t want anything to happen, Jameson continued. Yes, I know. Like I said, it’s scary. But it’s going to be alright. He paused. Do you want to do something while we wait? So that you’re not spending so much time worrying?

“...we could tell stories?” Quentin suggested hopefully.

We could. But I don’t know that many, so... maybe you could tell me stories? Jameson suggested.

“Oh we could do that!” Amabel nodded excitedly. “We know so many! Like, uh... You’ve probably heard a lot of stories about Miarch the Brave, but have you heard the one about how he outsmarted a banshee?”

Jameson smiled. No, I haven’t! How does it start?

He listened to the kids ramble on about the stories they knew for a while, the rain coming down on the leaves of the trees above them. They were safe and mostly dry under the tree, with their fire and lanterns there to keep them warm. Until... A rustling sound came from nearby. Jameson sharpened to attention, and Amabel stopped in the middle of the story she was telling. “...I don’t think that’s an animal...” She said slowly.

Stay where you are, Jameson said, standing up. He reached down to his side and drew his hunting knife, which felt way too small suddenly. Amabel grabbed onto Quentin protectively and glared out towards the noise. Jameson slowly slunk forward, hiding behind trees, until he saw lights in the distance. Then he stopped, peering around a trunk. He clutched the blade tightly and squinted towards the brightness.

People. People wearing... white masks.

Jameson let out a breath of relief. He hurried over, though still a bit cautiously. At first, the Phantoms tensed up, but then a voice shouted out, “Jameson?! I thought that would be you!” One of the figures pushed past and ran over to Jameson, starting to give him a big hug before stopping short. “Ah! Oh you have a knife out, better watch out for that.”

Quickly sheathing his blade, Jameson returned the hug, squeezing tight before letting go. Henrik! Good to see you’re okay. How did you know we would be here?

“Well I did not know it was you specifically,” Henrik said. “But when we saw the light coming from the forest, we were pretty sure it was other Phantoms.” The rest of the group got close: Phantoms from the Serpent’s Wake crew. Jameson recognized some of them from their journey down the river away from Suilthair. “And I hoped that it would be one of my friends, even though I likely knew it wouldn’t be. But I must have had a feeling! Because here you are!” Henrik beamed.

I’m not the only one here, Jameson said. Come on. He turned and hurried the short distance back to the campfire where the kids were waiting. The two of them looked nervous, so he made sure to smile and wave reassuringly, and that seemed to help.

“Ah, the little ones!” Henrik gasped. “Chase’s children.”

“Hi Dr. Schneep!” Quentin said, waving shyly.

Henrik waved back at them. “I am glad to see you two. Where is Chase?”

Amabel shrugged. “He said he had important stuff to do, then went back into the camp.” She glanced in the cliffs’ direction nervously.

“He... went back into the camp...?” Henrik repeated. Nerves flashed across his face, but he quickly schooled his expression so that the kids didn’t see it. “W-why would he do that?”

Because, Henrik. Jameson looked him directly in the eyes. This is the moment of my vision. The moment of the King being defeated.

“What?!” Henrik gasped. Some of the other Phantoms who could speak hands murmured among themselves excitedly, translating the news for the others.

Well... it might have already happened, actually, Jameson said. In my vision, there was no rain. So... we’ve now moved past the time it would have happened. If all went well, that spirit is no longer a problem.

“If all went well...” Henrik repeated slowly. Then he shook his head. “In any case... we should get you and the kids to the ship. It may be a little cramped with all the people aboard, but it is certainly better than being out here in the rain.”

“We’re going to the ship?” Amabel repeated. “Okay!” She stood up, helping Quentin to his feet as well, and then kicked dirt over the witchcraft drawings she’d done around the campfire. Immediately, the flames consumed the last of the sticks and winked out.

Henrik blinked. “What was that?”

Apparently Amabel here knew some witchcraft to keep the fire going for longer, Jameson said.

“Really?” Henrik’s eyes sparkled, interested. “You must tell me about that as we go to the ship, Amabel. I love learning about new witchcraft, and that seems very helpful!”

“Of course!” Amabel said, nodding excitedly.

“Is that all who’s in the area?” asked a woman in a fox mask. “Just you and the children?”

Jameson nodded. Just us.

“Great question, Yuko,” Henrik said. “Now... let us go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One short (but very wet) boat ride later, Jameson and the children had joined the Phantoms who’d been moved to the ship. There weren’t nearly enough guest cabins for all of them, so everyone had taken up as much space as they could on all the various decks. Upon realizing that children had boarded the ship, Vsevna offered to give up his captain’s cabin for them to stay in, but Amabel and Quentin insisted they were fine with staying in the cargo hold. “Alright, but if there is any trouble, you tell me and you can stay in the cabin, yes?” Vsevna said, before hurrying off to make sure that everything was going alright on the ship.

The rain continued for a while longer, but started to peter off in the evening. Clouds cleared just in time for the people on the deck of the Wake to see the sun setting in the west. They soon spread words to the others below deck, and a few climbed up to watch the sky turn pink and orange.

Henrik whistled. “It is quite a beautiful one.”

Next to him, Nemet nodded. “Do you think it is a sign? That something good has happened?”

“I would like it to be,” Henrik said quietly. He sighed and leaned forward onto the railing around the ship. He was... tired. So tired. He’d spent most of the afternoon tending to various injuries and checking in on Jameson and the kids. Running back and forth, mixing up medicines and applying bandages, making sure that everyone was as clean and comfortable as they could get while cramped together in a ship... it all added up to exhaustion. He wanted to lie down and rest, but he couldn’t. Because as great as his desire to take a nap was, it was exceeded by his desire to know what was going on at camp. He wouldn’t go to sleep until he had that knowledge.

“Ah! There you are.” Vsevna hurried over to Henrik and Nemet. Behind him, Jameson and the kids trailed after him, forming a small line. “We are getting ready to send a boat to the camp to scout things out and ask for news. Jameson is insisting that everything there is fine, but said he wants to head out with the boat to check. I was going to ask if you wanted to join, sova? Or you, Nemet?”

Nemet looked at Henrik. “What do you think? I think that whatever happened, some doctors should go to check on things.”

Henrik hesitated. Then he looked at Jameson and the kids. “Are all of you going, or are Amabel and Quentin staying behind?”

“We’re staying,” Quentin said before Jameson could answer.

Amabel nodded. “Jameson said we should. That it might not be safe.”

I didn’t say it might not be safe! Jameson quickly protested. Just that we don’t know what will happen there, but there will probably be a lot of movement and we don’t want them to get lost or anything.

“My explanation was shorter,” Amabel said.

Henrik chuckled. “If the children are staying, I will stay with them.” As he said that, he saw Jameson’s posture slump with relief out of the corner of his eye. So Jameson was nervous about leaving them behind, even though they would be surrounded by friends. Henrik felt the same way. He felt like... someone should be there for them until Chase returned. The two of them were probably scared without him, though they were handling it very well.

“Are you sure?” Vsevna asked. “You do not want to find out what happened at the camp as soon as possible?”

Henrik started a bit in surprise, then laughed. “That is exactly what I want. You know me so well. But I would rather keep an eye on everything here at first.”

Nemet shook her head decisively and looked at Henrik. “I can take care of things here. You should go to meet your friends.”

Henrik started. He glanced at the kids. “B-but—”

“Dr. Schneep, you should go!” Quentin suddenly spoke up. “You and Dad are friends, right? You should go meet him.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about me and Bellie. Just... send back that Dad is okay? Please.” Amabel nodded in agreement, taking her brother’s hand and squeezing it.

Henrik hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Jameson looked at him. Are you okay, by the way?

“As okay as I can be, I think,” Henrik said, stretching his hands above his head. “Very tired.”

Jameson smiled slightly. In that case, we’ll be very quick when stopping by camp. So you know the news as soon as possible before taking a nap. I know you’ll want to make sure everything’s okay before resting.

“You also know me so well,” Henrik mumbled under his breath.

“You are not that hard to read, Henrik,” Nemet laughed. “Now go! Get a boat ready!”

Vsevna laughed. “We can do that very quickly. Come on, Jameson, sova.”

Jameson looked down at the kids. You guys stay close to Nemet, okay? Then he glanced at Nemet. Are you okay with looking after them?

“Not a problem,” Nemet said, smiling down at the two. “Any family of Chase are friends of mine.”

Amabel smiled quietly. She and Quentin seemed a bit shy, but alright. “Good luck you guys!” Amabel said. “Be back soon!”

“We will be,” Henrik assured her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the rain began to let up, the large group in the forest slowly began to move back over to the remains of the camp. While some of them tried to salvage the tents and make them into something usable again, others went scavenging for anything that escaped the fire, gathering it all in the center. The wounded, meanwhile, gathered on the edge of camp, right where the circle of burned ground ended and met up with the untouched grass near the cliffs. Those wounded included Jackie. They hadn’t been able to find any bandages or healing salves, so Marvin and Chase had torn Marvin’s cloak into strips and wrapped those around the wound. Now, Jackie laid on his back in the grass, staring up at the sky, his tunic and cape bunched together to form a pillow while his chain mail sat in a lump nearby.

“Alright... we haven’t found much, but I did spot these small jars under some soot.” Chase walked over to Jackie, sitting down nearby. He held up one of four narrow vials, each one made of clay and sealed with a fitted lid. “The labels got a bit damaged, but... maybe they’re something related to medicine?”

Jackie glanced over at him. “Hm... I think they are, but I’m not sure what. I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to test them out until we know for sure. Maybe ask Marvin? If his magic has filled up again, he might be able to... fix the labels? At least clean all the, uh... ash and stuff from them.” He closed his eyes...

“Hey, no.” Chase snapped his fingers in front of Jackie’s eyes. “Keep them open. We don’t want you to fall asleep until we’re sure it’s okay!”

“Sorry.” Jackie opened his eyes again. “You know... I am glad that most of our doctors were out of the battle, but it’s, uh... unfortunate that so many of them went away.”

Marvin walked over. “You would think that the ones who stayed would know what to do in this situation.”

Chase jumped in surprise. “Marvin?! You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on Jack, not following me around!”

“The King is fine,” Marvin said, shrugging. “Draco is with him, and so are Holly and Tripp.”

Chase frowned, and got on his tiptoes, eyes scanning the camp. After a minute, he spotted a faint, but distinct, green cape near the center where all the stuff was being piled. “I should... go check on him...”

“It will be fine,” Marvin assured him. “The King won’t do anything anymore.”

“I’m not worried about what Jack can do, I know he’s not quite... capable right now,” Chase said. “I’m worried about how others will react to him.”

“It will be fine,” Marvin repeated. “Holly and Tripp are very capable, and Draco can come get me if something really bad happens.” He looked down at Jackie. “Hey. How are you, by the way?”

Jackie blinked, his head turned to the side. “Boats.”

“Hm?” Marvin and Chase followed his gaze, and both gasped in unison. “Boats!” Marvin said. “Everyone, boats from the Wake are coming!” As he shouted that, others repeated his words, the news quickly spreading.

A couple rowboats were indeed crossing the water towards the Cliffs. By the time they arrived and docked, a handful of Phantoms and a couple former warriors had gathered near the path to greet the people now coming up to the burned camp. Chase rushed over as well, his eyes scanning the area, looking for—“Jameson!” he cried. “Henrik!” He waved his hands through the air.

The two others spotted him quickly. Henrik’s posture visibly slumped in relief, while Jameson ran over and wrapped his arms around Chase, giving him a brief but tight hug. Henrik ran over while he did that. “Y-you are okay!” he gasped. “Th-that is a relief. And—a-and Jackie? And Marvin?”

“They’re okay!... more or less,” Chase said. “Jackie got wounded... but he should be fine with some time, I think. How are you two? Jamie, h-how are Amy and Quen?”

They’re fine, too, Jameson assured him. They’re on the ship. If you want to come check on them, you can.

Chase let out a breath of relief, a weight disappearing from his shoulders.

And since you are okay... Jameson hesitated. The... the vision. Did it...?

“Yes.” Chase put a hand on Jameson’s shoulder and squeezed. “The spirit won’t bother you again.”

Jameson nodded. Some lingering shadows in his eyes seemed to clear. Shadows that Chase hadn’t even realized were there until this moment.

“I-I want to see Marvin and Jackie,” Henrik said.

“Well lucky for you, they’re only a short walk away,” Chase said. “Come on.”

Marvin and Jackie remained sitting in the spot where Chase had left them, among the wounded. As Henrik hurried over, so did a few other people—doctors from the Phantoms, recognizable by the bird masks. Other Phantoms hurried to meet them, and the doctors quickly began asking for updates on the wounded. Henrik, though, headed straight for Jackie. “Schwestern, Jackie, the whole left of your undershirt is covered in blood!” He gasped.

“I’m fine.” Jackie smiled slightly. “Marvin and Chase managed to stop the bleeding.”

“After a while, yes,” Marvin muttered. “You should have said something earlier.”

“You didn’t tell them that you were injured?!” Schneep said, immediately catching on to what happened.

Jackie smiled. “Well, obviously I wanted to wait for the best doctor to treat me.”

“Congratulations, you are getting that.” Henrik knelt on the ground beside him, taking off the pack he was wearing. “You are lucky Nemet reminded me to prepare some things. You will need to stave off infection, of course, and try to replenish some blood—”

“Jair!” Marvin gasped as Chase and Jameson came over. “You—you’re alright!”

You’re alright! Jameson echoed the same sentiment to Marvin, smiling with some tears in his eyes. Everyone is alright! More or less.

Marvin got to his feet, stumbling a bit in his urgency, and hurried over, wrapping Jameson in an embrace. He let out a sigh of relief. “The King’s been defeated, you know... but he’s still in the camp. Right over there. I’m... letting you know now so you won’t... be surprised.”

Jameson stiffened slightly, then nodded. I know Jack is different than the spirit. But... thank you. That would be a shock.

“Nice to see you’re okay, Jameson,” Jackie said, smiling.

The same for you—though obviously I wish you were more okay.

Chase burst into laughter. He couldn’t help it. The others looked at him, surprised for a moment, before Marvin also started to chuckle, and Jackie and Jameson grinned, and even Henrik managed a smile despite being focused on treating Jackie’s wound. It was... a joy. A joy to have everyone around them, to know that... they’d done it. The spirit plaguing Glasúil was gone, and all five of them were here.

The sun was setting. Some work remained, but for now, they focused on the immediate problems, repairing the camp and healing the wounded. They and the rest of the Phantoms worked into the night, some of the former warriors helping as well. And soon, they could all fall asleep. Tomorrow there would be more, but for now, they rested.

[the-earnest-system]

thinking about eeaao again and the choice to translate movie star universes waymond's speech to "in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you". because thats such an insane translation that doesn't capture the heart of his words. thats not what hes saying!!! hes saying "IF WE HAD another life, i still would have CHOSEN to do laundry and taxes with you". hes not being wistful for some hypothetical alternate universe, hes saying KNOWING ALL HE KNOWS, LIVING THE INCREDIBLE LIFE HE HAS LIVED, IF HE COULD DO IT AGAIN, HE WOULD CHOOSE THE LAUNDRY AND TAXES, BECAUSE HE'D HAVE HER

[the-earnest-system]

Just remembered this and wanted to post it.

A few months ago I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, after having seen piles of tumblr posts/memes with The Quote from it (“In another life, I would have really liked... just doing laundry... and taxes with you.”).

And when I got to the line, it struck me how little any of the uses I’d seen of it got at what it was really about! It was far more powerful in the movie! Because, here’s the thing, it is NOT saying “I would enjoy a quiet boring life with you.” In the movie, the main character’s laudromat is on the edge of financial failure, she is being audited on her taxes which is going to push the business over the edge at best, her family life is absolutely falling apart, and she’s also, well, a total jerk. In the multiple-universes premise of the show, she is actually told that she is the most unsuccessful version of herself to exist in any universe. In the universe where the quote is said, she and her alt-universe husband are both superstars.

It’s not saying “I wish we could have a quiet life.” It’s not even saying “I would choose a simple, mundane life with you over anything else.” It’s saying “I would choose a life that completely sucks and where I am with you over any other life without you.”

That’s so much more meaningful.

(One of the other things that struck me was that an Oscar-winning movie and a D&D playthrough used basically the exact same joke about an Everything Bagel as a major plot point. Is this just a really common joke that I’d never encountered before?)

[the-earnest-system]

how dare the item of clothing i developed a weird attachment to and have worn almost every single day since i bought it start to show signs of wear

[the-earnest-system]

Meeting Iris

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Thirty-Three

A JSE Fanfic

This is pretty much a direct continuation from the last chapter. I mean... there are timeskips, but it's all about the same thing: trying to figure out how the Circle is connected to Jack and Anti. It's maybe a bit shorter than I wanted but sometimes you don't have more to write. And also short for me is still like... 5500 words, sooo XD Jack manages to get in contact with one of the Circle members he'd heard about, Iris Hopkins. She agrees to a meeting and the others quickly hurry to it, hoping to get more information and proof of the Circle's misdeeds. And yeah, that's about all there is to it. Enjoy! ^-^

Previous Episode | More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Jackie poked his head into the living room. Jack was staying here for the time being, making a bed of the sofa in the living room. A bunch of blankets were curled up on the cushions, and Jack’s suitcase was pressed up against one of the walls. And Jack himself was currently sitting on one of the armchairs, curled up with the house’s cordless phone in one hand and a phone book on his lap. Jackie coughed. “Hey, dude. Uh... you look kind of frozen? Everything okay?”

“Gah!” Jack jumped in surprise and looked over at Jackie. “O-oh. Hey, yeah. I’m uh... I-I-’m just nervous about making that call.”

“To... one of the Circle members, right?” Jackie walked on over, sitting down on the sofa nearby. “For the plan? Have you decided who you’re going to reach out to?”

“Yeah... I found the number for that Iris Hopkins lady.” Jack held up the phone book, open to a page of numbers. “I figured that she seemed to be, uh, the most important so it was best to reach out to her. Cause... she was important.” He laughed nervously. “But... I don’t know. Maybe it’s not a good idea... maybe she’ll ignore me.”

“Hey, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Jackie assured him. “All evidence points to your parents being really involved—” Jack winced slightly “—or at least, uh, aware of the Circle. So I’m sure if you just say that you’re the son of the McLoughlins and that you’re here to figure out what’s going on, then she’ll listen! Or you could call any of the other people from those letters, you know? If you think Iris is too much.”

Jack sighed. Nearby, there was a thunk, thunk, thunk sound. He leaned over the side of the armchair and reached down. When he straightened, the small eyeball, Sam, was sitting in his hand. It jumped up to his shoulder, and Jack smiled slightly. “Hah. Thanks.”

“Sam really likes you,” Jackie said, smiling. “That’s sweet.”

“Yeah, the little guy’s gotten really attached to me, even though I haven’t been here that long,” Jack said, reaching up to pat the eye. Then he looked at Jackie. “Uh... maybe if I… put the call on speaker? So you can hear, too?”

Jackie blinked. He didn’t think that putting the call on speaker would do much on a practical level... but it was probably more for Jack’s moral support than for any practical reason. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just sit here quietly.”

“Hah... Th-thanks.” Jack took a deep breath. Then he carefully dialed the number on the cordless phone. The call rang and rang and rang... until it eventually went to an answering machine. Jack quickly hung up without leaving a message. “Oh... I should’ve said something, right?”

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry,” Jackie assured him. “Just call again.”

Jack nodded. He steadied himself and dialed the number again. 

It rang and rang and—“Hello?” A woman’s voice answered.

Jack coughed in surprise. “Uh—uh, i-is this Iris Hopkins?”

“...who is this?” the woman’s voice asked. “How did you get this number?”

“Um... m-my name is Jack McLoughlin,” Jack said slowly. He glanced at Jackie, who gave him an encouraging grin and a thumbs-up. “I, uh, found your number in the phone book, and I, uh, recognized your name from these... letters my parents kept?”

“Jack McLoughlin, you say?” The woman asked. “Are your parents named—” She listed off two strange names.

“Y-yeah! That’s them.” Jack nodded, despite knowing that the woman couldn’t see him. “So—you do know them? A-are you really Iris Hopkins?”

“Yes, that’s me,” the woman said. “Forgive me for my initial rudeness, I’ve gotten calls meant for my office directed to my personal phone on occasion. Jack McLoughlin, huh? You parents have letters from me, and you found them. What can I help you with?”

“Well, uh... do you... Y-you really knew my parents, huh?” Jack stammered a bit. “I, uh... I-I have some questions. You—you and my parents were—are—part of this group or something, right? I-I want to know more about that. About why... wh-why my parents kept that from me... you know?” His voice got choked for a moment, but he took a deep breath. “I know that you’re... the mayor and stuff, so you’re probably pretty busy, so... maybe we could make a meeting about this? Or something?”

“A meeting, huh?” Iris mused. “Yes, I suppose we could arrange that. But first, what sort of questions do you have? I have to know in order to prepare.”

“Uh...” Jack glanced at Jackie in panic, who mouthed the word Improvise! “I don’t... really know off the top of my head, it’s just sort of a lot of stuff and... feelings and stuff. I just... w-want to know what you guys are doing, and why my parents were part of it... I-I think that there’s some... weird stuff going on? Like, uh, I-I found... old photos of this... imaginary friend I thought I had, except he was real? And uh... my parents wouldn’t explain about that...”

“An imaginary friend, huh?” Iris said. “Would that friend happened to be a boy who looked a lot like yourself?”

“Y-yeah!” Jack gasped. “I called him Anti! I think. You—you know what’s going on with that?!”

“You’re right, that’s probably too much to explain over the phone,” Iris said. “I can meet you tomorrow at 4:30, perhaps? Just stop by city hall.”

“Uh—I-I don’t know if I can meet then,” Jack said. “I’m taking—online classes, and some of them have timed video lectures. But I’m free on the weekend? Like... on Sunday?”

“Hm... yes, I can meet on Sunday,” Iris agreed. “One second, let me check my schedule.” Some creaking sounds came from the other end of the line, then some clacking. Iris was clearly tapping on a keyboard. “How about you stop by city hall at 6:15?”

“Does it... have to be city hall?” Jack asked nervously. “I... don’t... I-it’s been a while since I’ve been in this city, I don’t...” He glanced at Jackie for help, but Jackie was scrambling for an explanation as well. Their whole plan would go out the window if Jack actually went into a building.

“Don’t think it’s a good idea to meet up with a stranger?” Iris asked. “City hall is a public place, you’ll be safe there. And you’re the one asking to meet, after all.”

“I-I don’t know, I just... maybe we can meet outside city hall or something?” Jack suggested tentatively.

“Hm... yes, I can do that,” Iris said. “We can meet on the hall’s front lawn. There are some benches where we can sit and talk. Sunday at 6:15, then?”

“Yeah... y-yeah, I can do that.” Jack nodded. “Um... thanks for meeting with me.”

“You’re welcome,” Iris said. “I look forward to really meeting you.” And then she hung up.

Jack immediately slumped into the seat, so far that he started to slide out. He let out a long groan. Jackie leaned closer to him. “I think that went well,” he said helpfully.

“A-are you sure?” Jack asked, looking over at him. “I... I know it was a short conversation, but... I-I don’t know. I think my hands a-are shaking.” He held up one hand in a demonstration. His fingers were indeed trembling slightly. Sam hopped from his shoulder into his palm. “Hah. Yeah, Sam, I’ll give you attention.” He pulled them close to him, gently petting the small eye.

“I think it went well,” Jackie repeated. “I mean, she didn’t sound too suspicious. She seemed... pretty normal. Even though she’s part of this Circle, and I mean, we know they all suck.”

Jack smiled nervously. “Well... that last thing she said stood out to me. ‘I look forward to really meeting you.’ What does that mean?”

Jackie blinked. “I think... maybe it has to do with how your parents talked to the Circle? Maybe they told them about you?”

“I... I-I don’t like that.” Jack shuddered.

“Yeah... I guess... it would be a little freaky,” Jackie muttered. “Me and the kids kinda got caught up in this stuff slowly. We knew about the cool supernatural stuff before we found out about the secret supernatural group. You kind of got introduced right to Anti and the Circle.” He looked over at Jack. “Do you... want me to take your place? In the meeting?”

“...yeah,” Jack whispered. “If you’re... okay with that. I-I’d rather stay here and spend time with Sam.” Upon hearing him say that, Sam jumped back to his shoulder and snuggled up against him.

“No problem.” Jackie gave a thumbs-up. “I’ll just let everyone know so we can get all our plans sorted.”

++++++++++++++++++++

Mom was usually calm and collected in most circumstances. Which is why Chase was a bit freaked out to see her visibly nervous. He could see her clenching the steering wheel of the car tightly enough to make her knuckles all turn white. He got why Mom was anxious in the first place. They were about to meet up with Iris Hopkins—not only a confirmed member of the Circle, but also the mayor of Hollewych! They were going to confront her about the Circle stuff, and they were going to hopefully get a recording of her talking about it.

Jackie was riding in the front seat of Mom’s car, his leg jiggling with nerves. In his lap he clutched his camera in its bag. Chase was sitting in the middle of the backseat, with JJ and Marvin to his left and right respectively. Marvin was coming in case his magic would come in handy, and JJ was coming so he could film everything with his handheld camera. He’d offered to give up his spot for Schneep or Stacy to come, if they wanted, but Stacy didn’t want to go out so late on a school night. And Schneep denied going, too. “I do not know what I could do to help in this situation,” he said. “But here, I found this tape recorder. Perhaps that could help?” Chase now had that tape recorder in his backpack. But he found his thoughts straying to Schneep a couple times. “Do you think Henrik is doing okay at home?” he asked.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Chase,” Mom said, glancing back at him in the mirror. “Jackie’s friend seemed very responsible. What was his name, again?”

“Uh, Sylvester,” Jackie said. “And yeah, he knows how to look after kids. He has some younger siblings and cousins he’s watched before. Pretty big family. Anyway, uh, yeah he’s a great guy. I’m sure Henrik is very okay, Chase.”

“Yeah... it’s just that this is the first time he’s basically home alone since, like... forever,” Chase said.

“You’re very sweet to worry about him,” Mom said, smiling at Chase through the rear-view mirror. “But he’s alright. I have my cell phone and he knows my number, he can call us if there’s an emergency.”

“I think we’re the ones who might have an emergency,” Marvin muttered, looking out the window. “Oh that came out wrong. I mean that like, we might have to fight people or something. I didn’t mean it like the bathroom.”

JJ laughed. Nobody was thinking about the bathroom except for you, Marvin!

“I kinda thought about it that way,” Chase admitted, and he and the twins giggled.

“Alright, boys, very funny,” Mom said. “We’re here, by the way.”

That shut the kids up pretty quickly. They all leaned close to the windows, looking out at HolleWych City Hall. The front of the building was impressive enough. There was a grand staircase and two marble sculptures of angels with wings on either side of the entrance. A green square of grass served as a front lawn, some paths crisscrossing it and meeting in a white circle in the middle, where there was a modern-looking fountain made of cubes serving as a decoration. But the back and sides of the building were less impressive. They looked very... what was the word? Utility... utilitarian, that was it. Other than the front entrance, city hall looked pretty utilitarian, with undecorated walls and concrete steps and ramps leading to plain metal doors.

 And the same could be said for its neighbors. On either side were boring-looking gray office buildings, and across the street were small restaurants and shops lined up in a row. Mom parked the car in front of one of these restaurants: Brenda’s, a fast-food place. It was weird to see such an everyday sight directly across from the place where the mayor and all the city council people worked. Chase felt like the place should be more important somehow. He was at least expecting a wall or something.

“...can we get food?” Marvin asked, looking at the Brenda’s.

“Did you two eat before you left your house?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, but we didn’t eat that much,” Marvin said. “We had to go up to our room in a hurry so we could get out of our room as quickly as possible!” The twins had apparently snuck out through the window, forming a rope with Marvin’s greenlight magic to help them get down. They then rode their bikes to the park where Mom and the others picked them up. “Come on, can we at least get a chilly? It’s finally starting to get warm enough for ice cream again!”

Mom checked her watch. “Hm... I don’t know if we have time to spare. It’s already 6:05. We only have ten minutes to get ready. Jackie, are you sure you can do this?”

“Hey, we’ve come too far to back out now,” Jackie pointed out. He twisted around in his seat to look at the others. “Okay. I’ve been thinking about this on the way. JJ obviously has his camera, so he has to get close enough for it to pick up audio. Marvin, do you think you could make some sort of... invisibility thing with your magic?”

“Hm... I dunno, I haven’t tried invisibility yet,” Marvin mused. He looked out the car window at the city hall yard where they were supposed to be meeting. “Oh! There are like, hedges around the edge. Maybe me and JJ could hide in one of those? I’m pretty sure we could fit.”

It’ll be thorny, though, JJ protested. I’m wearing short sleeves!

“Well then I’ll wrap my cape around you to protect your arms!” Marvin said decisively.

Jackie laughed a little. “That works out. Right, Ms. Walker?”

“Yes, just... make sure you’re in view of the car,” Mom said.

“As for the camera and the tape recorder, I should probably take the recorder cause we don’t know how much it’ll be able to pick up,” Jackie said. “Chase, trade me your backpack for my camera.”

“You’re letting me take your camera?” Chase blinked. Jackie hadn’t let anyone hold his camera in the months they’d all known him. He was always the one taking the pictures. It was an honor that Jackie was handing it to him now. “Okay. I’ll be very careful with it.” They carefully made the trade. “So... Mom and me are gonna stay in the car and take pictures?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Jackie said. “Are you okay with that, Ms. Walker?”

“Hm.” Mom frowned. “Maybe we should park the car a bit closer if that’s the plan. Look, there’s a parking lot right next to the yard.” She put the car into gear, making a U-turn.

“A parking lot?” Marvin repeated. “It’s a car park, isn’t it?”

Mom smiled slightly. “Yes, that’s one term for it. I grew up hearing it called a parking lot, so I still call it that.”

“Whoa,” Marvin said. “I knew that you guys were like, not from here, but I think that’s one of the first times I’ve heard you guys use a weird word like that! Though I think Chase calls some coins ‘quarters’ sometimes.”

“Quarters is fun to say,” Chase said, shrugging.

Mom parked the car in a space right next to the city hall yard. “Okay,” she said, turning back to the others. “There’s a bench right near a hedge over there. I think it’s close enough for us to hear and see what’s going on. Hopkins is going to be out soon. Are you all ready?”

The kids all nodded. Jackie pulled on his clothes, checking to make sure everything was in place. To look more like Jack, he’d left his usual red hoodie and beanie at home, instead wearing a gray one and a flat cap like Jack usually wore. His hair was longer than Jack’s, but he’d done his best to tuck it away under the cap and hood. “Alright... I’ll go first,” he said, opening the passenger-side door.

“Good luck, Jackie,” Chase said.

“Thanks.” Jackie smiled. “Good luck to you, too.” He closed the door and walked carefully over to the bench, taking Chase’s backpack with him. Then he set the backpack next to the bench, unzipping the pocket a bit so the tape recorder inside could pick up sound more effectively.

Once Jackie was settled down, JJ opened the car door on his side. Here we go, then! he said.

“Be careful, you guys,” Mom said.

“We’ll be very careful, don’t worry!” Marvin grinned, then opened his door as well. “See you later, Chase and Chase’s mom.”

“See you!” Chase said, watching as the two of them got out. They scurried over to the hedge and stopped next to it, looking it over. After a discussion of some sort (Chase could see JJ signing complaints about how they might get all scratched up) the two of them crouched down next to the hedge and slowly... sort of... crawled in through the branches.

“Oh that does not look comfortable,” Mom whispered.

“They’ll be fine,” Chase said. “They do this sort of stuff a lot.”

“Crawling in bushes?”

“Uh, I think so? I don’t know for sure, I guess, but it seems like the sorta stuff the Jackson twins would do. Marvin would probably crawl in a bush if he saw a cool rock inside it.”

Mom chuckled a little. “Yeah... you would do that sometimes too, back when we lived in California. Do you remember going on nature walks? You loved it.”

Chase blinked. “Oh... yeah, I think I do.” That was weird... he hadn’t thought of those walks in a while. They’d been a family activity, just the three of them. Thinking about them... gave him a sort of pit in his stomach. There weren’t three of them anymore. “Uh, we should probably roll down the windows, right? Then get out of sight.”

“Yeah.” Mom looked back at Chase oddly. “Um... Chase? How are you... feeling, by the way? It’s been almost a year since... you know. Things started going south.”

That pit in his stomach opened up a bit more. But he smiled. “I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry about it.”

“Well I can’t help but worry,” Mom said. “It’s my job as your mom. Is everything okay? I don’t want you to...” She paused. “I-I hope you’re still enjoying things, you know?”

Chase looked at her seriously and nodded. “Yeah. I am. I-I like having these guys around, I think... I think they’re better friends than I used to have.” He smiled again, smaller this time. “Um... but really. We should focus. She’s gonna be out any minute!”

“Right, right.” Mom nodded and rolled down all the windows in the car, then stopped the engine. “I just want you to know I’ll always be there for you.”

“...yeah, Mom. I know.” Chase felt a lump in his throat, causing the words to be a bit choked. But then he focused up. He had to get good pictures of what was going to happen! He unbuckled his seat belt and got down onto the floor of the car, kneeling next to the window with just his eyes poking up over the edge. Mom saw what he was doing and also did the same, pushing the driver’s seat back a bit so there was room enough for her to do that.

And only a few seconds after they’d settled down, a woman came walking out of a side entrance to city hall. She was wearing a gray button-up with a matching pencil skirt, her straight white-blonde hair down to her mid-back. Was that her? Iris Hopkins? She looked kind of normal to Chase. Shouldn’t the mayor of the city have a badge or something? She just looked like any office worker out there. That was the sort of outfit Mom wore to meetings.

But it must be her. Because as soon as she walked out onto the hall yard she immediately spotted Jackie and walked straight for him. Her footsteps clacked loud enough against the concrete path that the sound carried all the way over to the car where Chase and Mom waited.

Meanwhile, in the hedge, JJ carefully took out his camera and started filming, making sure that everything was recording and there weren’t any problems. Marvin shifted uneasily, running a finger along one of the many scars on his palm, ready to channel the greenlight at any moment.

Jackie saw the woman approaching. His eyes widened and he started to stand up, but then hesitated and sat down again. He’d started the tape recorder, right? Yeah, he was sure he started it a couple minutes ago. There would be some silence at the beginning, but that was no problem, right? Oh god, what if he only thought he started the recorder and was only misremembering?! No, no, he was pretty sure he definitely started it. These thoughts and others like them swirled around his head, tying his stomach in knots as the woman walked closer to him. She stopped just a couple feet away from the bench, her blue eyes glancing him up and down. Wait... they weren’t both blue. Only her right one was, while the left was gray. “You’re Jack McLoughlin, right?” she asked—and her voice was unmistakably the one on the phone.

“Y-yeah. I mean, y-yes. Yes... ma’am?” Jackie swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. It traveled down to join the knots in his stomach, making them even worse.

“I’m Iris Hopkins. We spoke on the phone.” She held out her hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah.” Jackie stood up and stepped closer to shake her hand. “A-a pleasure to meet you, too.” He spoke slowly, trying his best to imitate the way Jack spoke. Jack had a thick Irish accent, but he often tried to make it sound more neutral, and he also had a softer, more hesitant way of talking than Jackie did. “Um... can we sit down?”

“Of course.” Iris walked over to the bench and took a seat. Jackie quickly sat down as well, making sure he was as close to Chase’s backpack as possible. He carefully grabbed it with his feet and pulled it over so it was on the ground between his legs. Iris didn’t seem to think anything of that. “So... you wanted to talk about your parents, right?”

“I-I-I did.” Jackie nodded. “I just... I-I don’t understand why they wouldn’t explain anything to me when I asked them about all this. That’s why I-I came to this city, you know. To... get it straight from the, uh, source, I guess.”

“So... you talked to them about the Circle?” Iris asked. “Do you remember what they said?”

“Uh...” Jackie’s mind scrambled to remember Jack’s talk with everyone a few days ago. “They said something about it being ‘better that I forget.’” He remembered Jack looking really shaken as he said that. “They didn’t... really... explain that much about what the Circle was. I-I don’t know. We had a whole fight, it was... a lot.”

Iris nodded slowly. “This fight... was it about this boy you remembered? Your imaginary friend?”

“Uh—that was part of it, yeah.” Jackie nodded back. “I-I think that’s what they said the forgetting thing about. About Anti. Uh, that’s what I call him. Did I tell you that?”

“Yes, you did,” Iris said calmly. “Mr. McLoughlin... Jack. What would you say if I told you that this imaginary friend you had was actually real?”

Jackie blinked. “I’d say that it makes sense, I guess. Cause of the pictures I found and everything.”

Iris nodded. “The truth was that this boy was indeed real. Real and alive.” She leaned back in the bench. “Now, this was technically before my time. I was around for it happening, though I didn’t have that much control of the situation. But this group you found out about, the Circle... they sent this boy away.”

“Sent Anti away?” Jackie repeated slowly.

“Right, yes, you called him Anti.” Iris nodded. “They sent him away, without your knowledge. You may realize, looking back, that your memories with Anti suddenly stop. That’s why.”

“But... but why?” Jackie asked. “Why would the Circle do that? A-a-and what is the Circle in the first place?” He added that second question hurriedly, remembering that Jack wouldn’t have that knowledge according to their cover story.

“We are... a secret society,” Iris said carefully. “Jack, there are... Hm, I don’t know how much I should explain. We’ll start with this. There is this... form of energy in the world. We call it transformation energy. It’s extremely dangerous, but also extremely powerful. Are you following me so far?”

“Like magic?” Jackie asked.

“It may seem like that at first,” Iris said. “But it’s not as fantastical as that. It can be understood. That is what the Circle aims to do: understand this transformation energy. And protect people from the dangers of it.”

“Okay... what does this have to do with Anti?” Jackie asked. “Why does—Why do I remember him, b-but then suddenly not? Why did the Circle send him away?”

“Because... that’s what needed to be done.” Iris looked away from Jackie. “I wasn’t personally involved in the decision. But I suppose we all signed off on it, since none of us really protested. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have separated you two. We... misunderstood things.”

“Why did you need to send Anti away?” Jackie asked insistently.

“In order to harness the transformation energy,” Iris said.

Jackie blinked. “I-I don’t understand. Does... Anti control the gr—Does he control a-all of this... transformation energy or something?”

Iris laughed. “Oh heavens, no. The very thought is—Perhaps your memories of Anti have been a bit skewed. There is no possible way he could ‘control’ the energy.”

“Then does he block you from using it or something?” Jackie didn’t hide his confusion; surely Jack would also be confused in this situation.

But Iris just laughed some more. “You... you really don’t know much about him, do you? Ah... that’s sad, in a way.” Her expression became very serious again. “Or... it would be if you really were Jack.”

Jackie’s heart went cold. “Uh—wh-what do you mean? Of course I’m—”

“You can’t fool me,” Iris interrupted. “Your accent is slipping, it’s very different from the boy’s on the phone. You’re that Mann kid, aren’t you? I forget what your name is, but I remember hearing a lot about you.”

Everything froze for a moment. Jackie just stared, resisting the urge to look around, to look at the others hidden nearby.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt or threaten you,” Iris continued. “I had a suspicion that you put the McLoughlin boy up to it, so I wanted to explain to him. Though it also works out that it’s you. I understand that we probably seem pretty scary to you kids—”

“Pretty scary?!” Jackie burst out. “You’ve tried to kidnap us! And you actually did kidnap Marvin!”

“That was a misunderstanding,” Iris dismissed. “He wasn’t going to be hurt.”

“From what he told us, it sounded like he would be!” Jackie said defensively. “The dark doctors took him to a secret basement where one of them pulled out a knife!”

“Dark doctors?” Iris repeated, somewhat amused.

“Don’t get drawn down in the details!” Jackie snapped.

“Marvin was going to be fine,” Iris said, seamlessly returning to the first subject. “They were going to draw some blood and then return him to his family.”

“I don’t believe you,” Jackie said stubbornly. “If that was the case, you could’ve just taken blood the way doctors usually do—you didn’t need to kidnap him and keep him in a basement for a whole day!”

“Unfortunately, we did have to,” Iris said. “The potency of the blood is most effective straight from the source. And the timing had to be very precise for maximum energy withdrawal—”

“Are you even hearing yourself?!” Jackie gaped at her. “Marvin’s fourteen! He was barely fourteen at the time! You can’t be serious!”

Iris looked at Jackie quietly for a moment, then sighed. “It’s... distasteful. All of it. But it’s what needs to be done, to keep our city safe—and possibly even the world. We call it transformation energy for a reason, you know. There’s a chance that anything it touches will... change. Become alive and hostile. If others out there knew about the energy, who knows what they’d do with it? Can you imagine? What if the worst person you knew had the ability to make monsters?”

Jackie frowned. “That wouldn’t be good... but that doesn’t mean you can... you know. I-I mean... what about us? We’re just kids!”

“Exactly,” Iris confirmed. “And that’s why we don’t want you to get close to this. You’re young, and this is dangerous.”

“Because of the Circle!”

“Please just think about it for a moment,” Iris said gently. “Have we actually done anything to you or your friends? Since the Marvin incident?”

“...no...” Jackie admitted. “But the Marvin incident was bad enough.”

“I assure you, nothing of the sort has happened since then,” Iris said. “Listen. I know you all want to help. But you’re just kids. If you talk to us in another four years, when you’re twenty or so, we might allow you to join.”

Jackie started in surprise. He didn’t want to join the Circle, but... he wasn’t expecting to hear they were... open to that? “What... about the others?” he asked slowly. “Marvin and the younger kids?”

“Well, hopefully they’ll grow up and think that this was all their imagination,” Iris said.

“Their... huh?” Jackie blinked. “How young do you think they are? Do you think that they’ll doubt themselves that much as they get older? The shi—the stuff that happens to you when you’re little really sticks with you, you know. Clearly you think I’m old enough to not ‘think it’s my imagination.’ Well Marvin and his brother aren’t that much younger than me, in the grand scheme of things. And the others aren’t that much younger than them.”

“I’m sure the other five’s parents will convince them eventually,” Iris said calmly.

Jackie growled. “No, I think that Chase’s mom is too good a parent for that.” He stood up. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” He turned around—and took the opportunity to hurriedly glance around. The car was close by, and he could spot the top of Ms. Walker’s head through the window. Even closer by, he caught a glint of something in one of the hedges. Must be the video camera lens.

“Are you sure?” Iris asked. “I don’t want to scare you away, you know. We just... want you kids to be safe.”

“Ha! Sure.” Jackie shook his head. “No, we’re done here. Goodbye.” He started to step away—

“One second,” Iris said, standing up. “You... sounded genuinely interested in Jack’s—in his ‘imaginary friend.’ I know that it was probably something Jack told you, but... why?”

Jackie hesitated. “I can’t be worried for a friend?”

“...worried for him?” Iris whispered, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean—you know about Anti!” Jackie said. “If Jack was around something so freaky as a kid—even if Anti didn’t hurt him—then I should be concerned about him! Wonder if there was an effect or something!”

That did not assuage Iris’s confusion. “Something. Something so... freaky.”

“Yeah!” Jackie nodded. “You know what I mean!” Though... clearly, Iris didn’t know what he meant. What was going on? “You—you had to send him away! You must’ve seen him!”

“Hm...” Iris frowned thoughtfully. “Have you seen Anti?”

“Ye—” Jackie snapped his mouth shut. He had the feeling he shouldn’t tell her about Anti.

“You have,” Iris muttered. “But... that’s impossible. He was gone before you... It’s unlikely you met him as a child, you were too young... So does that mean—” She gasped, suddenly going very pale. “He... came back? That’s... impossible.”

Jackie didn’t say anything. He just reached down and slowly picked up Chase’s backpack. “I’m... going to leave now.”

Iris nodded slowly, and turned around, heading back down the path the way she came, her expression deep and lost in thought. Jackie waited until she disappeared back into the side entrance she came from, then turned and hurried towards the car—but made sure he didn’t run, just in case she was watching and thought that would be suspicious.

As soon as he passed the hedge, the bush rustled, and the twins came tumbling out. Marvin’s cape was covered in tiny twigs, and leaves dotted their hair. “We’re coming!” Marvin hissed, and he and JJ scrambled to his feet and ran to the car. Jackie sighed slightly; there went all his concerns about suspicion.

Chase popped into view, and his mom clambered up as well, at a slower pace. “We heard most of that, I think!” Chase whisper-shouted. “She knew it was you the whole time?!”

“I don’t think she knew the whole time,” Jackie said. “But she definitely figured it out.”

Mom frowned. “Do you... think... you’re in trouble?”

“I... don’t think so, no,” Jackie said slowly. “She definitely doesn’t want us to be looking into the greenlight stuff, but she claims it’s cause we would be in danger.”

“Booo!” Marvin said. “I think she knows we’re gonna stop her and the Circle! Fuck!” JJ laughed at the swear but otherwise looked serious.

Mom got into the driver’s seat again and pulled the seat back into place. “Alright. Let’s get out of here. I’m glad that didn’t... I-I’m glad that went well.” She took a deep breath. “And now... I think we have what we came for. With these recordings and pictures, I’m sure we can convince more people that the Circle exists. Now we... just have to find people we can talk to about it.”

“I think Dad mentioned he knew some people from the PTA who could help,” Jackie said. “Not all of them, though. Some of them are jerks, but he trusts most of them.”

“That’s a good place to start,” Mom said. “Now. Everyone in.”

The three kids all piled into the car, and Mom started it, getting out into the street. “Can we get Brenda’s now?” Marvin asked.

“We’ll go to one that’s farther away,” Mom said.

“Whoo!” Marvin threw his hands into the air. “Fuck yeah!”

The others laughed, but Jackie looked thoughtful. As they drove off, city hall disappearing into the distance, he twisted around to look at the others in the back seat. “Hey... do you guys think that... maybe Anti wasn’t always as... strange as he is now?”

Chase blinked. “I mean... maybe? He was just a shadow at first. Then he got stronger. So... maybe he was just a shadow at first?”

“No, I mean...” Jackie paused. “Do you think he could’ve been... a normal guy once? Like us?”

The other three glanced at each other, and all shook their heads. I don’t think so, JJ said. He’s too... 

“Weird,” Marvin finished.

“Hm.” Jackie frowned... and so did Chase. He didn’t understand. Were they missing something? What was Jackie thinking? He didn’t seem eager to share anymore. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter,” Jackie said, turning back to the front.

The group stopped for food at a different restaurant, and Jackie remained quiet the whole time.