Member
FernStone
Estylwen
Jacobob The Kat
Mixtape Ghost N
Little Bird
Grijs
Einherjar 906
Bartimaeus
Atrophy
When our strongest struggle….Ten years agoDaylight burned away every shadow on the ground, and all the clouds on the planet seemed to fear this place. It was truly a beautiful day in St. Portwell, and yet it could not have come at a worse time.
In an untouched portion of the fancier part of town, Jack dragged himself across an old dirt road. The old forest of sycamore trees did very little to block the sun, and nothing but grass and silence kept him company on his death march. His body was wracked with a mixture of numbness and the worst pain he ever felt in his life. The snake got him good, there was nothing remaining of his left shoulder, just a fountain of blood that refused to slow. His leg, albeit intact, was functionally useless right now. He couldn’t even feel it if he tried.
Everything hurt, and everything felt ice cold. The Stygian Snake turned back time once again, meaning no one was at the usual “forward camp” they used as a meeting spot. The coven had a hideout that they would be in right now, but it felt like a million miles away for a kid who was cut off from his magic thanks to the damn weather. It was too bright for him to teleport, and even if he could, he just might make the broken ribs in his chest worse.
His head was spinning so much that it hurt to look ahead. It was like a dagger being plunged into his temple, but Jack couldn’t stop. He wasn’t a corpse yet, but he would be if he gave up and stopped before finding civilization again.
Looking up again, sweat, dirt and blood marred his vision. His right arm felt like it was going to fall off from the cauldron’s worth of things plaguing him right now. Jack recognized a pale gray shape flecked with green to his left, a large rock that wasn’t far from the hideout.
Not far for those in a car, at least.
I have to keep going.
And so he continued onwards, scratching and clawing at the dirt with half of his willpower and waging war against his lungs for breath with the rest.
Every pull across the dirt road painted the ground further and further with a stroke of dark red, every breath threatened to escape and never come back. Jack was on fire and at the bottom of the ocean, and he could not tell the difference when he dared to look up to get his bearings.
Aryin had been dragged far in their pursuit of one of those damned Apparitions that the snake had brought to battle the night before. They chased it through the town, through the woods, back into the town and then back out into the woods. They felt like this particular apparition had mocked them during their battle before it got scared and ran off, and it was this mocking that drew the ire of Aryin. It was weak, it was pathetic, and it said that she hit like a girl. The…fucking…nerve. If that wasn’t bad enough, the monster was always one step ahead of them no matter how fast and hard they ran. It always got out of the way of any blast that Aaron would send its way. Aryin wondered if it was even real or if the fucking snake had created it in their head to pull them away from the fight.
What mattered now was getting back to the lair, checking in with the coven to see if anyone else saw what they saw, and if no one did gaslighting them into thinking the monster was always there and present. Today would be a good day if they could do that, today would be a good day if nothing else happened that pulled them away from their plan and…… wait, was that Jack? Aryin’s head tilted as she saw the tell-tale signs of a hot topic addicted teenager walking her way, and she could sense the depressive aura from here. He was limping and he was…
”Oh shit,” Aryin whispered, stopping their steps as they did, as they noticed the missing arm and torrent of blood coming out of it. ”Oh shit,” they repeated as they felt their chest tighten and their heart rate increase. It was just a momentary hesitation before they took off in a sprint running as fast as their feet could carry them to their friends' side. ”Jack what the fuck we need to get you help,” Aryin said as they stopped and exclaimed the wounds, eyes wide with fear. ”Oh shit, guess who is getting carried? This emo kid who is about to bleed all over me!”
Initially, he didn’t even realize Ayrin was there until he felt his body moving. Unsurprisingly, blood sloshed off of his clothes and all down Ayrin’s arms and legs. His head rolled back as if he were unconscious.
All he could do to respond to Ayrin was wheeze and lazily open his eyes to look at her. There was no focus in those eyes whatsoever, just the threat of finally going to sleep.
”Oh no you don’t you fucking twink,” Aryin shouted as they picked up the pace and ran faster and faster and faster still. One of the benefits of their magic was their near-unlimited stamina, which allowed them to run as fast as their muscles allowed. They carried Jack along the old dirt road, never leaving the road until they hit the main road that would then carry them straight to the old mansion.
Consciousness eluded him further, being jarred around in Ayrin’s arms did not help with that. At one point or another, the world around him faded to black, and Jack was out cold.
Aryin burst through the door to the hideout and looked around for any of their healers. Fuuuuuuuuuck there were none in the front area of the mansion which meant that they’d have to carry this bleeding asshole all the way to the left wing of the mansion to the healers room. Already eyes were on the two of them as the coven watched in horror as the life began to fade from Jack. Aryin took off in a rush towards the room, shouting at everyone to get out of the way and to make room as they did. After a few more moments they burst through the door and spotted their healers who were already busy tending to the other wounded from the night before.
”He’s almost gone!” Aryin shouted to the room and was instantly met with initially angry eyes before shock, and fear took over. A second later a pair of hands grabbed Jack from Aryin and put him down into a bed as they began to work their healing magic,
The healers didn’t have an easy job with him. There was nothing remaining of Jack’s left shoulder, or the last two inches between it and his chest. His left leg was snapped in two places upon further inspection, and he had various skin-deep wounds all over his body. Some were deeply bruised from particularly violent attacks. He also had a pretty nasty concussion, indicated by cracks in the back of his skull that the healers had to treat carefully.
And there was the fact that he had lost a lot of blood by now. Enough that he had passed out before getting indoors.
They were able to stabilize him eventually, but Jack was going to be in absolutely no condition to get out of bed for a few days. Over the next few hours, they kept a close eye on him as he drifted in and out of a blurry consciousness. It was like fog rolled over his mind, and he was neither fully asleep nor fully awake. The healers could not leave him alone for more than a few minutes at a time, or else Jack might not ever wake up.
Aryin was one of the people who kept a close eye on Jack. They were still covered in their blood soaked clothes as were their arms and chest, and they couldn’t help but shift uncontrollably due to the emotional nature of her race against death. If he hadn’t been as fast as he was, or if she tripped and fell on his face, then Jack would be dead. Just another dead friend on the growing pile that had begun to build in the hearts and minds of everyone. She had spent this entire war protecting her friends, and Jack was yet another friend that nearly died despite his efforts. “Don’t you die,” Aaron whispered to himself as she watched over Jack, ” You fucking twink.”
Quietly, someone walked into the medical wing of the building, and laid a gentle hand on Aryin’s shoulder. ”Knowing him, he’s seen worse.”
Reza sat down in a chair next to her and across from Jack. He looked to be at peace, no doubt worried about Jack just as much as she was. ”I came as soon as I could, they told me you got him here just in time. He’ll pull through, and you did good.”
”I did good,” she paused as she scoffed, “the difference between him being alive and dead was the difference of single step over and over again” Aaron paused as he looked at Reza with tears in his eyes, ”I had to be perfect,” Aryin paused as she swallowed a cry, If I made one mistake his wounds would’ve gotten him. I don’t know if I can do it again. Keep doing that again without making a mistake.”, Aaron paused as he wiped the tears from his eyes, ”I don’t know if I can do that, be that savior again. I just don’t.”
He scooted over and put an arm around. ”It’s easy to feel that way, isn’t it?” He asked, gently. ”That your race has been run, like you’ve run out of things to give? I know that feeling. There’s nothing that brings a person down more than that. But you aren’t alone. The strength of this coven is its people, not one person. You made it here with him and saved his life. Don’t be too hard on yourself, you’re worth better than that.”
Aryin took a deep breath as he let his head rest on the side of Reza’s. Reza was right. While things like this were hard, scary, and impossible in this fight against the snake, they had the support of a great group of people who were fighting and dying to save the world. If anyone could support them as they did everything to protect everyone it would be someone found in this coven. “The fate of the world is on our shoulders. We’re just kids, and we’re forced to suffer through this,” she pointed towards Jack with his arm, “it’s not fair.”
”I know, there are so very few fair things in the world.” Reza was talking from experience, it was how had come this far to St. Portwell in the first place. ”But things will be better, one day. They’ll be better because of us. We fight today so we don’t half to once we overcome this.”
He believed in everyone, and he had to. It was part of him. ”When this is behind us all, we’ll make everything fair together. I promise.”
”I hope so,” Aryin stated as she finally fully saw just how much blood covered her body. Her shifting had finally slowed enough to allow her to focus, ”will you stay with him? I need a shower and some sleep before tonight.”
Reza nodded. ”Of course I will. Go on, and rest afterwards. And I don’t mean just physically.”
”Is he still alive?” Another person joined them, voice coming from the doorway. Jinhai leaned against the wall, eyebrow raised, eyes on Jack. He didn’t look particularly tired, but most of his night had been spent directing others rather than on the frontlines. ”All other stragglers have been collected, we’re moving to the ‘day shift’. I’m in charge today…”
He trailed off, eyes narrowing at Jack. ”Making sure no idiots go chase after the Snake in other worlds.”
“Our healers are good so I think so,” Aaron paused as he cleared his throat. It was evident that she had cried recently. ”I was lucky to find him when I did.”. Aryin moved towards the doorway and gave Jinhai a weak smile before he headed towards the shower and the sleep she needed.
”He’ll live. I’ve gone over his escape plan dozens of times before with him, when he goes out,” Reza told him, beckoning for Jinhai to come over and stop being shy in the doorway. ”He knew what he was doing.”
”Oh I'm sure he knew what he was doing going out without a radio and making it nearly impossible to find him,” Jinhai shook his head, with a dry smile. He came over to the bedside, leaning over it to stare at Jack with narrow eyes, ring on his finger glowing slightly. ”But correct, he'll live. But I'm worried other hotheaded idiots will try to follow in his footsteps.”
”I always make him bring a radio when he goes on these missions. But the fact he didn’t use it tells me he must’ve lost it, or it was damaged.” Reza leaned forward on his sword, resting the end against the floor in its scabbard. ”Besides, who else would even consider doing something like that, and actually have the magic for it?”
”There are plenty of other Purple lux users. Drake, if he put his mind to it,” Jinhai pointed out, moving away from the bed to lean against a wall. ”Reckless enough with access to the magic, and he’d drag people like my sister along.”
”True. But, I don’t think Linqian would. And Drake wouldn’t be subtle enough, have you ever seen someone hide with a sword made of lightning?” he commented. ”I do agree, though. Sometimes I wish he’d at least try to teach his spells to others. He’d be great at it if he could find the-”
At last, Jack stirred awake, with a groan of pain.
”...Time.”
”Is it time for round two already, Snake?” He opened his eyes and looked around like he had just woken up from being blackout drunk. Everything was blurry. ”Is that you, Jinhai?”
”And he’s awake,” Jinhai chuckled, leaning forward again, hand moving in front of Jack’s face. There was a light glow around his ring as he cast a green lux health check spell again, and more basic healing. Enough to help with his vision, perhaps. ”Yes. Me and Reza are here. How are you feeling?”
”Numb. Like I just passed through a tundra. A few pounds too light…” He blinked and looked down at what used to be his left shoulder and arm. ”That’s not coming back, is it?” He asked, a dry smile crossing his face as if it was funny.
”No, it’s not,” Jinhai replied with a light laugh, as if going along with the joke. Then his eyes narrowed, and his tone turned more serious. ”Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive? You’re a fucking idiot, Jack. If Aryin hadn’t chased an Apparition too far, you’d be dead. You’re lucky it was just your arm.”
Reza quickly pulled his phone out to send Aryin a text: He’s awake.
”Well… You’re welcome,” For someone as intelligent as Jack, he wasn’t seeing the fact that it objectively was a crazy thing to always be spying on the Snake. ”It shifted time back again, that’s why I went out. I still have notes about what was lost in the shift as usual. Someone has to.”
”Not alone. You die, then what? We’re already lacking people who can teleport- your suicide missions arent helpful. You’re just giving us more problems!” Jinhai tilted his head back, hand coming up the bridge of his nose. ”This is a team effort, not something to boost your ego with.”
”How many teleporters, of the ones we have, could’ve teleported through a time funnel? Other than me? Drake’s teleportation is too erratic, Kenshiro’s would take too long, and he would run the risk of being caught in the gap.” He looked up at Jinhai, not exactly brimming with confidence but still sure of himself.
”It doesn’t make us any less worried, though.” Reza stood up and walked up to the bed, taking Jack’s hand into his. ”You’re alive, that’s what matters.”
”All of that is why you’re indispensable, so start acting like it,” Jinhai sighed. ”Reza’s right… you’re alive, and you won’t be going anywhere for a while.”
The assembled group would hear a commotion starting far away. It just sounded like pottery shattering on the ground, before a muffled pair of voices entered the shuffle of sounds. Move, move get out of the way were heard before an equally loud chorus of what the fuck- fucking bitch -you’re crazy . The sounds drew closer and closer before the towel clad Aryin entered the room. He was shifting uncontrollably again, and she smirked. She had two towels on, one tied tight around his waist and a second wrapped across her chest. The towels, formerly white, were stained deep with the blood of Jack that Aaron had only just started to scrub off. ”You fucking bitch.”. Aaron paused as he laughed a hearty laugh as he leaned against the door frames.
Jack blinked slowly, grinning at Aryin and all the blood they were covered in. ”You look terrible.”
Aryin grinned before her jaw dropped ever so, ”you should see the other guy,” Aryin paused as tears welled in her eyes, “I’m glad you’re back with us,” Aryin paused as she walked across the room and gave Jack a big hug. ” Promise me you will be more careful”
”Yes, promise that you'll be more careful,” Jinhai echoed Aryin, fixing Jack with a hard stare.
”I am always ca-“ Jack’s answer was a pained choke as he felt his ribs sliding around under his skin when Aryin hugged him. ”Careful. But I’ll keep being careful, if that’s good enough.”
”Be more careful-”
”I heard that Jack's- oh fuck, Aryin, you kill someone while showing? It's a good look.” Linqian barged into the room, curls practically bouncing with the way she ran in. She screeched to a halt before properly crashing into Jinhai. ”Fuck, Jack, you've lost an arm!”
”What? Me? This?” He moved a shoulder that wasn’t there anymore. ”I’ve had worse,” he said, bluntly.
”We get worse every night, eh?” Linqian laughed, leaning over to slap Jack on the still existing shoulder.
”Linqian, seriously?” Jinhai hooked an arm around his sister’s neck and pulled her back.
”Ow.”
”Fuck off, Jinhai, what is it they say- laughing’s the best medicine? Some shit like that,” Linqian rolled her eyes, before pointing at Jack. ”Don’t go fucking almost dying again, you piece of shit.”
Aryin walked over to Linqian and punched her in the arm. “Someone tried to sneak a peak. I had to do what I had to do.” Aaron looked back to Jack and rolled his eyes. “You would’ve been worse if I wasn’t in the right place at the right time. With that said, I gotta hand it to you. You’re always ballsy as fuck.”
No one said anything for about five seconds. Instead, they just stared at Aryin.
A cough was heard coming from somewhere in the room.
”This is nothing. I’ll be fine. You think this might slow me down, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Watch.”
He pointed to where his sleeve and shoulder used to be, and now there was a flickering shadow in its place, shaped like the limb that the Snake was currently digesting.
”Problem solved.”
“You’re a problem.” Aryin chuckled to herself. The shifting had finally gotten itself under control and she laughed a little bit harder. “Don’t do that to me again, okay?.”
”I’ll try. For now, I can’t feel my left leg, so I’ll be stuck in this room for a few days. So, here…” Jack reached into his bloodied clothes and pulled out a notebook that was somehow only slightly smeared red.
”Updates on what was lost in the last rewind, before the Snake bit me. Reza knows how to read this if you need his help and I’m not awake.”
”You’d better not be awake if I come in here, Jack,” Reza chuckled, squeezing the edgy Adept’s hand.
“Good. You better listen to Reza, or else,” Aryin paused as they cracked their knuckles, “I am going to get clean, and then get some sleep. Rest up.” Aryin waved to Jack and walked out of the room. A few seconds passed before she ran back in, punched Linqian in the arm, shouted “BITCH,” before running out of the room again towards the showers.
”HOE!” Linqian yelled back, managing to wrangle herself out of the chokehold Jinhai had put her in.
Jinhai rolled his eyes. He then held out his hand towards Jack. ”Why don’t you hand it over so we can go through it with Reza, and you’re not tempted to stay awake.”
Jack handed it over to Jinhai. ”I’m not very tempted to be asleep right now, either. But I’ll behave myself… Perhaps, at least.”
Reza fixed a weary smile on him. ”I’m glad you made it, but don’t let me catch you sneaking out tonight, okay? You’re on house arrest.”
”If you say so,” Jack grinned. ”Sorry about the scare, but it takes more than a demigod to kill me. And on the bright side, now I have a new spell idea to work with. I’ll be alright.”
Jinhai took the book and tucked it under his arm. ”We’ll post guards around your room if you try leave. Actually, we’ll leave Linqian here to keep you company if you don’t think you’ll sleep. You can tell her all about your new spell.”
”What the fuck, no fucking way, you can go to hell, Jinhai,” Linqian kicked her brother’s shin. ”I’ve been hauling ass all over the city all night fighting that bastard, you keep him company.”
”I would love to, but we need to go through everything that was lost.”
”The worst of it was Hagan walking into a trap, which was reset, and Goro losing progress on his newest artifact. Hagan goes out at 7:30pm tonight, and a hydra ambushes him. It comes from the tourist district and-“
Reza cleared his throat.
”…You’ll see what I mean.”
A gasp could be heard from the doorway. “You okay, Jack?” Michael asked as his eyes remained wide at the sight of the shadow arm thing.
”Michael?” Jack looked over and smirked again. ”I will be, once I replace my lost limb,” he said without any reverence for the traumatic experience.
“That……looks painful,” Michael squirmed in place. A moment later five crows burst into the room and swooped around Jack as if they were examining the wound for the the themself. They rested on the surrounding area after a short while.
It was painful. Jack felt his arm despite losing it an unknowable number of hours ago. But the wound had been sealed up and taken care of. The shoulder was gone, there was a recess where someone’s bones should’ve been. But he was fine.
”I will be fine. Our coven has good healers.”
“Goo…good” Michael said with a sigh. He rubbed his neck with his hand, “Do feel better, Michael said with a half smile as he walked out of the door, and his crows soon followed.
Reza turned and left, smiling one last time at Jack.
”You’re crazy, you know that?”
Jack grinned, feeling so smug.
”Where would any of you be without me?”
we help them see the light…Aryin could not stand to stay around the others after that disastrous meeting. It was a complete waste of time for everyone, it was a complete waste of time for Greenwood, and it was time that Aryin would rather spend doing anything else but this. Aryin walked through the streets, her steps echoed off the sides of the buildings and people scattered around her less they dare challenge the wrath of a person walking with vengeance at their back. They walked for several minutes before the walked past the old mansion that served as their home base ten years ago. Aryin continued past it before their steps slowed to a stop. She took a few steps back in order to get her eyes on the ruined structure. A tear welled in her eyes. Aryin was not bound by their dead friend's trauma, she had risen above it, she made herself stronger because of this. And yet she’d never been to the mural.
It was time to actually visit an old friend. It was time to reaffirm her commitment to this coven.
Aryin walked around the outer perimeter of the mansion, her eyes darting around the yard. Memories flicked into her mind of carrying Jack who was bleeding out, of practicing her joint spells with Linqian, and being chased by Lila’s crow after she accidentally ate some of the snacks Lila brought to feed them. Aryin smiled at the latter two memories, but the first was related to the person she came to see. Aryin finished wrapping around the building and saw it for the first time in nearly a decade. The tree, that beautiful tree, still stood strong even ten years later. As well, Aryin gasped at the beauty of the flowers that surrounded it. Someone had spent so much time and effort to make this peace as serene as possible. Aryin smiled. Their past may be marred by trauma and loss, but they did well at honoring their dead. Aryin took several steps forward but soon stopped as she finally saw the letters engraved on it. Tears began to well again, and she wiped them from her face
Aryin walked all the way to the mural and began to drag her finger down the list. She had long since forgotten what the code words meant, vaguely remembering that the animals were somehow related to the lux, and the trees to the role, but the extent of which was lost to time. As she reached the end of the list she gasped. She did not remember the code name she was looking for. Aryin tried to search the mural several times more before a few tears finally escaped her face. Instead of leaving, instead of hating her memory, Aryin committed to a new plan. Aryin sat down in front of the mural and cleared her throat and took a deep breath. She looked up at the mural with a smile.
”Hey everyone,” Aryin paused as she used her arms to pull her knees close, ”I hope that you are all still proud of us. I’m sorry it’s only my first time coming to see you.”
”They would be, if they were still here.”
This mural had no words for her. It had no solace to offer Aryin, just cold depictions of a time that will never return. But she wasn’t alone. There was a faint sound of someone walking over grass, getting closer and closer as Jack came within view. He had left the meeting around the same time as Aryin, and it had gone great until one crack in the glass showed itself. Beyond that point, it was downhill, between tempers flaring and a ghost from the past making itself known. Jack was considering it a win regardless. After all, he was the reason that meeting happened in the first place, but the others just couldn’t last one meeting without going for the throat.
”It’s hard to believe that,” Aryin used her hand to pat the ground next to her, inviting Jack to sit down, ”Hi Jack. I came by to see Reza but could not remember his name. Figured I’d try and remember as many as I could instead,” Aryin sighed as she returned her arm to the outside of her knee.
Jack kneeled down beside her, and pointed to one of the names. ”This one. Reza Cabrerra… Hero of the World Tree,” he read, remembering carving the name into the tree himself, back then. ”Fitting for him, I felt.”
”I forgot how to read our code names, who was what animal,” Aryin looked to where Jack pointed and squinted, ”hi,”
”The animals were symbolic of Adepts. Crows for black Lux, a tortoise for green. A snowy owl for white… The Aberrations were different, their names were simpler. Reza was named a Hero of the World Tree, because he was just that, a hero.”
”Is that how we did it,” Aryin chuckled at that mural and tried to remember what his friends' animals were. He wanted to see, alongside Reza, Ella. ”It’s easy to forget we were kids back then. Yet when you see that codename system, and how obvious it was, it’s like bam, only a kid would think of something like that,”
He nodded. ”We had families to hide from. They would never know, and it was a cruel world we lived in. Us, the weight of extinction, and a demigod bent on enacting it,” Jack mused aloud, staring up at all the names.
”The All-Verse is infinite, one cannot quantify the universes it holds. And yet, each and every one of them had all been in danger. If the Stygian Snake won against us, darkness would have befallen every corner of creation. We saved them all, more places, worlds and realities than we will ever know… Some things were best kept from our loved ones.”
”It was better to keep them in the dark,” Aryin said as she looked up at the mural. ”Do you remember which one was Ella?”
”Sun Conure of the Manchineel. Towards the bottom,” He said, pointing to her name. ”Every last one is here.”
Aryin emotionally swapped to Aaron at the sight. Their red flannel was now a bit too big, and their once oversized jeans now sat snugly on his waist. “Hey Ella,” Aaron said as he stared at her name, “I am sorry this is my first time coming to see you. I wanted to let you know I still carry a part of you with me. I still do that thing I learned where I, like some fucking anime dweeb, announce all my attacks before I send them. And,” Aaron paused as a weak smile spread across his face. “I think, I think I learned how to do that ‘Falcon Punch’ idea you had before,” Aaron paused as he looked down, “well, you ended up on a mural. I just miss you so so much, I miss all of you. This coven is missing something, and I often wonder what would be different if you were still here.”
Aaron looked over to Jack and asked, “if you could say anything to Reza, what would you say?”
Jack glanced at Aaron, and looked back at the mural. ”That I never forgot the time I spent together with him. That I never will.” It was a question he had asked until it could not be asked anymore. A question that he carried with him as he pressed deeper and deeper into the Void, as if he’d find the border.
”Wherever he has gone, I know he rests easy, and that is enough for me.”
“Do you remember the time I literally had to outrun death carrying you,” Aaron smirked as he remembered one of his hardest saves, “Reza was the first one there after the healers got you patched up. He was so wise as a kid. The strength of the coven was in the people, not the individual. Blew my mind back then, helped me fight harder to support everyone. What would he say right now, with everyone being this fucking awful,” Aaron sighed, “I’ve always felt that the snake took our heart, and without that heart,” Aaron paused as he looked at Ella, Reza, the rest of the magical girls, and finally the mural as a whole, “how will we accomplish anything like that victory again?”
”We will find it again, Aaron.” Jack had learned things from his descent into oblivion, wisdom that carried him further now. ”There are infinite possibilities in the world of magic, but something so very few people in life come to truly understand is that nothing is permanent. Everything has its season, and will not last forever.” Even in the Void, there were scarce traces of reality. Figments of entropy that had bled through the cracks, like the Shadowzone, as ruined as it was.
”Not life, not fortune… Not love,” he continued. ”But endings, too, are finite. Even darkest Winter gives way to brightest Spring in time. With each passing day, this infighting wanes, as all things do. We will find our way home, as we have found our way back to St. Portwell.”
“I want to find it soon,” Aaron joked as he wiped another tear from his eyes, “if not for us then for them,” he paused as he looked for the mural. “I haven’t felt this connected with my magic since a decade ago, and I think that’s because I’ve been back with everyone. I don’t want to lose this family again, you know?”
”Of course not. And neither do I. But old wounds must be healed before others are willing. Some of us have moved on, and these things take time, therefore. I learned, from my time in the Void, that all roads can lead to a place you once thought forgotten, if you walk far enough.”
“I feel that. I have some of that bad blood and it’s not my place to fix it,” Aaron said in reference to, “what if we try to bring the various groups together on an individual basis? Lila is right, we’re better in our small groups but I want us to be together again. As a whole. Without them realizing that’s what we’re doing.”
”We worked best when distanced from one another as children,” Jack pointed out. ”We all knew where we stood, it is not different now.”
“It sure feels different, Aaron said as he stood up, “I just don’t want to feel like I’m constantly losing, you know?”
”No one does.” Jack also stood up. ”But we are relearning our old ways. Give them time, it will all fall into place.” He knew this, and knew it was correct because it had to be.
“I don’t suppose you have any special alcohol you’ve found on your hero’s journey, have you,” Aaron said as he chuckled. He could use a drink.
”…I do, now that you mention it. I tend to hoard things that are good for gatherings. Not that I ever have a use for it.”
”Want to have a drink? To toast our friends, to commemorate the alliance you built, and to help with your hoarding problem,” Aryin said as they placed a hand on his shoulder, ”you fucking twink.”
Jack grinned. ”Certainly. Follow me,” he said, opening a doorway to the Eleventh Path.
”Faith,” Aryin said as she threw her arms around Faith's shoulders and hugged her from behind. Aryin was wearing one of Jack’s trademark coats, and she quickly turned around and grabbed Jack by the shoulder and pulled him to the table and pushed him into a chair. There was no chance she was going to let him miss out on some socialization outside the coven. ”Faith thank you for inviting us out,” Aryin said as she giggled as she sat down, ”you all should’ve seen the place we just came from, mind fucking blown. Oh. OH. This is my good friend Jack, Jack from the coven! He nearly died ten years ago and we’ve been besties since. This is Faith. Lori, and Thomas. They’re really nice Jack.”
Jack didn’t resist getting pushed into a seat… He didn’t remember this place existing back when they were kids.
Faith had invited Aryin to The Flying Dutchman. It was a small dive bar off the beaten path frequented by paranormal beings. It was kept safe for the blind and the one eye open by an adept who could sense a person's lux. If there were creatures inside they would be turned away. It was a rough bar, it was a crude bar, but it was a safe and queer bar. The vibe was also more relaxed and laid back than any other queer space in St. Portwell.
Faith looked at Aryin and chuckled. “You’re drunk already?” Faith was wearing a simple fit, a black bralette and a black puffy jacket on top, and jean shorts and tights on bottom.
Thomas smiled as he looked at Jack, extending a hand towards Jack’s good arm. “Thomas, pleasure to meet you.” Thomas wrote a simple striped sweater, black skinny jeans with a chain that fell off his left hip, and red converse.
Jack took the hand and shook it. ”Jack Hawthorne.”
“Sick arm,” Lori said as she leaned in close. She wore a simple overall over a colorful striped sweater, “how’d you lose that?”
”The Stygian Snake swallowed me whole, so I cut my way out of its stomach. I didn’t leave in one piece.”
Faith raised an eyebrow, and then raised a hand into the air and summoned a waiter. “Put his drinks on my tab.” Faith looked over the arm and then the man it was attached to. “So, you mean to tell me that you cut your way out of an all-verse threat and only lost an arm when you were, what, seventeen?”
“We might need to reconsider Octavia’s offer,” Lori said with a smirk, “that group would love to hear this story.”
“My liver can’t keep up with that group,” Faith said with a chuckle, “besides, despite your coven's best attempt to detail that meeting earlier it seems we are a part of the same alliance now. I want to be regaled by stories of a man who has seen so much.”
“How did the Stygian Snake eat you, and how did you not die,” Thomas asked, “and what do you drink?”
Jack leaned back in his sweet, resting his chin on his fingers. ”When we were in a war against it, I tracked the Snake across worlds to maintain awareness of time that was reversed. It caught me; I did not die because I have something of an advantage against creatures that prowl in the darkness; I’ll take a dark rum, thank you.”
“Cool,” Thomas said as he flagged down a waiter, “a round of a dark rum for the table, please,” Thomas waited for the waiter to walk away before he turned his attention towards Jack, “that was a lot of words that, individually, make a lot of sense. But together? So the war, and you tracked the snake across these words. What were those worlds like? I’ve never left shimmer.”
“Ask Alex,” Lori said as she finished her cocktail while she awaited the next round of drinks, “they can take you to a different world.”
“Nononooo. I do not like traveling through the art dimension,” Thomas paused as he looked to Faith, “what can we talk about?”
“Be open,” Faith said, “we’re all friends here.”
“The citizens of that dimension hate me, I can feel it,” Thomas said as he returned his gaze to Jack, “so. What are those other words like?”
”They were often in worse conditions than Shimmer, at the time. In Glare, I followed it to their version of Paris, which was overrun and no longer exists. Shade had a much more efficient analogue to the PRA, and they were able to defend themselves well enough,” Jack mused.
”Though, I did not stay for long. I preferred to follow it and move when it moved. It was safer, that way.”
“Fascinating,” Thomas said as the waiter returned with their drinks.
”He took a lot of risks, sometimes they paid off, sometimes they didn’t. But they’re a fucking hero if I ever saw one,” Aryin said as they grabbed a drink, their voice slightly slurred from the alcohol the two drank at the 11th path, ”yay,” she squealed as she grabbed her drink and took a big sip.
“Didn’t you go out just last night,” Lori asked.
”Shush,” Aryin said as she slapped Jack on the shoulder.
“So you saw all this death, destruction,” Faith said as she placed her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands, “and, as a kid, you kept following it. I have talked to my Sycamores and they told me tales about that time, it was a wonder any of you made it out.”
“What have you done since,” Thomas asked with a grin.
Jack didn’t answer immediately, but…
”I spent most of the last decade walking through the Void.”
All around the table everyone’s mouth dropped. Thomas was mid drink when he heard the word and immediately the drink fell from his mouth. Lori’s bow hissed from her violin case. And faith looked to Aryin with suspicion. They all heard the stories about the Void. No one wanted to ask the obvious questions, questions like how could one survive there? How can one remain sane after a day, let alone a decade? And would he be a threat? Anyone that wanted to hear more would be labeled a mad person.
“I would like to hear more,” a voice spoke from behind Jack, the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor soon . The man spun the chair backwards and sat down next to Jack, and then the man rested his arms on the back of the chair. The man had short, messy hair and glasses that seemed a decade or two out of style. He had a black and white vertical striped shirt, ripped black jeans, and entirely too many brackets on one wrist, and entirely too many rings on the other hand. “What was your average day like? Was the trip to the market better or worse than Shimmer,” the man paused as he realized there was something he forgot to say, “I’m Cyrus, pleasure.”
Jack turned around, taking a contemplating sip of his drink. ”There were no “days,” there. Time is a concept intrinsic to the All-Verse, not the space beyond it. One “day” in the Void is one and a half, or perhaps two in Shimmer.”
“Cyrus, you came,” Faith said with a half smile. “I didn't think you’d actually leave your little cave. And Hope? Was she going to come?”
“Of course I came,” Cyrus said with a half hearted laugh, “you just promoted me to the major league. I wouldn't miss my first night out as an official 317 member. Hope is on the way, don’t you worry.”
”Cyrus is a wizard with the camera, he runs a studio in the 317,” Aryin filled Jack in, ”he tends to be very sarcastic and dry with his sense of humor… and he can be a dick,” Aryin warned as she looked at Cyrus with a stern look.
”What, can’t a guy ask how another man survived in the void for ten years,” Cyrus paused as he placed his bracelet laced hand on Jack’s shoulder, “let me rephrase, how did you eat?”
”I didn’t,” Jack answered. ”There is no entropy in the Void, and time does not exist in the same way as the All-Verse. So I could spend years without food.”
“How did you avoid the pit on your journey to and from,” Cyrus questioned further.
”That, unfortunately, is a secret.”
“Alright keep your secrets traveling man,” Cyrus chuckled as he patted Jack on the shoulder, “how did you not go insane though?” Cyrus was asking questions that the rest of the table wanted to know, everyone had their heads firmly on Jack and seemed to hang on every word, except for Aryin. Aryin had her eyes on Cyrus with a neutral expression on her face.
”It takes more than eyes to see into the darkness,” Jack said, cryptically as fuck. ”Sometimes, the abyss gazes back. And sometimes, it is simply blind.” What did that mean? Who the hell knew?
“Fascinating,” Cyrus said as he looked over the rest of the group, he could tell that they were wanting to know more. They were practically hanging on each and every word that he had Jack spill forth. “But you must’ve faced threats? Anything memorable?”
Jack leaned away, and took a sip of his drink. ”Aside from being repeatedly banished back to Shimmer by the creator of reality, staring through the infinite eyes of the Denizens, and learning to navigate a place where direction is meaningless?”
”...A few things.”
”How’s enrichment feeling for you Jack,” Aryin said as she took a big drink.
“A decade away from Shimmer surely means its light shines brighter for you, no,” Cyrus continued Aryin’s question.
Did it?
”There are no shadows without the light. All roads lead back to it, it was only a matter of time before I returned. Not a question of if.”
“Well we’ll have to make sure that we enjoy you and your stories while we have them. Regale us some more funny magic man,” Lori finally erupted at a loud volume.
He took a contemplative sip from his glass. ”If I had known I’d be telling this many stories, I would have brought one of my books,” he joked. Jack had a book with him already. Granted, that book was his channeler, but it didn’t count. He wasn’t going to show something that important in front of strangers. ”Once, I had returned to Shimmer in another country, and a paranormal woman set me on fire in an attempt to learn my secrets.”
Cyrus leaned back off the back of his chair and scanned Jack from head to toe. “Well I’m glad to see you got better.”
“Shuuuush,” Lori said as she leaned forward, “deets, now!”
”She had, unfortunately, noticed me returning and stalked me for days. She was quite the power-obsessed individual. A chronomancer, no less… I despise time manipulation,” he explained. ”Imagine, if you will, being tied to a street lamp, drenched in kerosene and repeatedly immolated as time rewound until you broke. I did not.”
“That.. is awesome,” Lori said as the violin bow vibrated in the case.
“Painful,” Faith said as she took a deep drink.
“How’d you get away from a chronomancer,” Cyrus asked, though this tone was less playful than usual. It carried his honest intrigue at the situation.
”A simple task. Often, those who manipulate time are so fixated on one aspect of it, that they cannot see another. She dove into my past, expecting to find her answers there. By the time she had given up, I was no longer there.”
Jack was a vindictive trickster at heart. He played people for fools, outplayed them with his magic and laughed all the way to the bank. Umbramancy had its strengths, and one of them was making those shots in the literal dark land. ”And then, I teleported directly into her home, stole everything that wasn’t nailed to the ground, and left Shimmer.”
“I like this guy,” Cyrus said as he finally turned the chair the right way around and sat down again.
“What advice would you give a group of individuals who are going to be thrust into fighting for the first time,” Faith asked, “I’ve taught them all I could, Aryin has talked about the fights against the snake, as have Jasper and Aislin, but given your unique perspective I’d like to hear more.”
Jack leaned forward, thinking about the question. ”If you cannot fight directly, then do not. Cut the enemy’s legs out from beneath them, prevent their retreat. Avoid a direct confrontation if it is ideal. Victory is often decided by who has more options… Personally, I play tricks on my enemies.”
“And I turn my enemies into my tricks,” Faith said with a chuckle. “Let’s keep drinking. And I to know some more cheerful stories. Come, another round on me and let’s get to know each other more.”
” You should ask him to play some music. Another round,” Aryin laughed as she took a healthy drink to finish off yet another rum drink and got a healthy cheers in support from everyone else.
Three hours later
Jack had built the Eleventh Path with Kenshiro to be a place of safety. It was warmth, in a world where everything was cold. When his Lux flowed through for the first time, it was given out of love for those who were still on the Earth. He hoped, with a bit of effort and time, that it’d be a crossroads to bring back everyone who needed solace.
And now, all he could feel was loss.
He and Aryin had gone back, after a few more drinks, and now he was splayed across the couch in his room of the building. He stared up at the ceiling with his old, dusty guitar from better days in hand, as his hands recalled a song that Reza always loved. He felt empty, despite everything he had done in so little time.
At least she was here with him.
Aryin was holding strong. Despite the copious amounts of alcohol, despite the foolish decision to challenge Leon to a fight, despite getting the confirmation that the fight was on, despite a time remembering their lost friends, and despite that clusterfuck of a meeting Aryin was still holding strong. And then Jack started playing that song. Aryin swapped to Aaron and he sighed as he looked over the back of the chair he was draped across
“Was that the one Reza loved,” Aaron asked as tears continued to well in his eyes, “keep playing it.”
”I learned to play it… Just for him,” Jack said, and his voice was small. He kept going, thinking back to everything that had brought them together.
”It was only three months that we were all together. Three months, countless stories of life and death… There are gods in this life who search longer for something so priceless.”
“Three months that felt longer than the decade that followed,” Aaron joked as he wiped a tear from his eye. As the song kept playing Aaron found it harder and harder to stay composed. “I wish I would’ve appreciated the good that was there in those three months because I could really use some of that right now,” Aaron paused as he tried to laugh, “I wish I could’ve actually said goodbye.”
At the mention of a goodbye, Jack stopped playing.
And he laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh, it was just an empty pantomime of one.
”…Goodbyes are such a cruel thing, wouldn’t you agree? Every time we say our farewells, we admit to ourselves that someone is never coming back.” There was a small crack in his voice.
”I left Shimmer because I believed that there was nothing left of us, did I ever tell you? Did I ever say my goodbyes to everyone who deserved to know whether I’d survive the Void? No. I left, and I never told anyone I’d be back. I have… Aaron, I remember nothing of my life from before the coven. Before that very same day Britney found me in a public library, tucked away reading books about pagan witchcraft,” Jack continued. ”I know nothing of who I was before I came to St. Portwell, or what circumstances introduced me to the paranormal. The- The earliest stages of my life were this coven…”
He craned his head towards Aaron. Long strands of black hair stuck to his face. He had tears dripping down his eyes. ”And even after Reza was killed, I abandoned you all.”
“You didn’t abandon us,” Aaron said to Jack in between sobs, “we should’ve been there for you,” Aaron paused as he matched Jack’s eyes, “I should’ve been there for you,” Aaron chuckled in between sobs, “I knew you were hurting the most near the end, and sure we were all hurting, but I saw that you suffered more than most, you know? But you leaving is not your fault. You were so alone at the end you went to the place you would truly be alone,” Aaron paused as he wiped the tears from his eyes, “It’s ours. Mine. I’m just glad you came back despite it all.”
“Goodbyes are a luxury,” Aaron said as he smiled, “and seeing friends grow old in spite of it is priceless.”
”I could have stayed Aaron. I could have rebuilt the coven with you, with Sloane, Drake- We could have found answers to 8th Street long before they wanted to kill us.” All things that Jack dwelled on for a decade, walking through the darkness before existence.
”There was nothing left of the Sycamore. I did nothing. Nothing. I surrendered, left you all to fend for yourselves. My own family.” Jack wiped the tears from his face with a hand. ”I… You were all the world to me. Every single one of you. I should have done more.”
“Oh Jack,” Aaron said as he stood up and walked across the room and pulled Jack from the couch and into a close hug. “You did the most already.”
He hadn’t been hugged since he was a kid. He let the guitar slide off him and onto the couch, and Jack just leaned into Aaron’s embrace, quietly, and rather drunkenly sobbing into his friend's shoulder.
”It is not enough,” He said. ”Not enough, until we are all safe again.”
“If this father wolf thinks he has a chance,” Aaron paused as he hugged Jack tighter, tears streaming down his face,“he doesn’t know that we’ve seen worse than him. Let’s do our old friends proud and make sure that our coven is safe again.
That was all Jack ever wanted. Everything he did. He did for them. He put his arms around Aaron and held him close, like he would disappear if he didn’t.
”…We will. I swear it.”
Reza would never come back, nor would Saskia, or Kari, or all the rest. But nothing lasted forever. They wouldn’t have to come back. Everyone would be reunited one day, in time.
And for today, that was enough.
