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terrifyingrenegadelibrary · 7 years

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New Chapter!

In a shocking twist of fate I will actually update this regularly.

Actions and Reactions

-in Morgan’s house, she and Holly are talking-

Morgan: You’re completely sure you’re okay?

Holly: As far as I can tell. I told you, I can’t explain, and neither can any of the doctors. It just…is.

Morgan: Nothing weird? You’re not…like, a zombie or anything?

Holly: …No?

Morgan: Are you a Magician now or something?

Holly: I’m not certain. Perhaps we’ve run a test for that? Once every year ever since you first manifested your own magical talents?

Morgan: I just don’t want to ignore anything that might be going wrong.

Holly: You may be overlooking the obvious possibility. I’m fine, and it’s inexplicable. Inexplicable things happen. That’s why we have scientists, so we can explain them.

Morgan: If you’re certain.

Holly: You’ve been watching over me all week. I hate to say it, but you’re being a little irrational.

Morgan: Forgive me for being concerned about my sister.

Holly: You’re forgiven.

-she smiles-

Holly: Really. There isn’t any need to worry.

-Morgan stares at Holly for a while-

Morgan: Well, in that case, you should have no problem coming to band practice.

-Holly’s eyes widen-

Holly: Well, actually, I should really be working on—

Morgan: Nope! Come on!

-she yanks Holly to her feet-

Holly: Wait! I could be concussed!

Morgan: Too late now!

-cut to the band playing. It’s late evening. Allen’s on guitar. Quinn’s singing, Morgan’s drumming. Jacob really is a triangle guy. Holly is watching and looks vaguely morose-

-the piece builds up in intensity, until-

Allen: Hit it, Morgan!

-Morgan tosses her drumsticks in the air, raises her hands-

-and a scythe appears, nearly decapitating Quinn-

-Quinn ducks-

Quinn: Aah!

Allen: What happened to the fire? Where’s the fire, Morgan?

Holly: And you were wondering if I was doing anything unusual?

-a voice comes from offscreen-

Evan: Having performance issues?

-Morgan whips around, the sparks ceasing-

Morgan: Evan, what’s going on?

Quinn: Hey, you’re the guy from school the other day. With the…uh, the…

Evan: Oh, look at my schedule. That was all the time I had in my day for listening to you.

Morgan: Evan, don’t you dare treat my friends like tha—

-Evan takes a ball of yarn from his pocket-

Evan: Strix.

-the yarn unspools, forming a barrier around Holly and the band. Allen shouts something, but it isn’t heard-

-Morgan forms her scythe, and slams Evan into the bubble-

Evan: This is exciting.

Morgan: Let them out, Evan, or I use you as a scythe sharpener.

Evan: I don’t think magically-generated objects need sharpening.

-he taps the blade of the scythe-

Evan: This one could use some though. Shoddy work.

Morgan: Fix them.

Evan: Oh, they won’t remember this anyway. Now, about your magic. I hate to keep bringing this up, but you made a Contract with Zaresi, and so it’s Zaresi who’s so graciously providing you with the ability to cast.

Morgan: So everyone says.

Evan: When your band was your sponsor, you cast fire magic thanks to that ridiculous name, but now that you’re working for an actual god, you cast Death magic, and maybe nobody explained this to you, but you don’t get to switch back and forth.

Morgan: But—

Evan: Bup! Now, I’m borrowing you for the day, so let’s just get your friends out of the way…Varia.

-and the bubble drops-

Morgan: You don’t need to wipe their minds.

Evan: I don’t?

Allen: I literally have no idea what just happened.

Quinn: I’m pretty sure I’m too in shock to tell anybody anything…ever.

-Holly says nothing, staring wide-eyed in confusion, and makes a lip-zipping motion-

Evan: And as for Rip Van Winkle over there?

-Jacob looks up, finally seeming to notice the others-

Jacob: Hey, Morgan, did you just do something weird?

Evan: There it is. Say Buteo, everybody!

-he holds up a camera, which flashes-

-the flash goes off, and Allen, Jacob, Holly, and Quinn are left looking dazed-

Evan: Thanks for letting me watch you practice! Now, I just need to borrow Morgan for the rest of the day. See you~

-and he drags Morgan away as they walk off down the street-

Morgan: Was that necessary?

Evan: Really? It was hilarious.

Morgan: Ugh. So I can’t do magic for the band anymore?

Evan: Not unless you like me showing up to wipe your friend’s minds.

Morgan: I don’t even like you showing up for other things. How am I supposed to explain that to them?

Evan: Sounds like your problem. Now, as for today’s mission—

Morgan: Mission?

Evan: Did you think I just showed up to be friendly?

Morgan: I would never assume that.

Evan: City Hall was yesterday. Vorn’s on the move.

Morgan: Vorn?

Evan: She’s the local goddess of War. Real nasty type. Naturally, a politician.

Morgan: Naturally.

Evan: You see, magic flows out from humans along invisible lines of interest and care. A god ties themselves to the concept of something with their own magic, and after that they can gain a little power boost from the people around them focusing on the things they’re in charge of. For instance, whenever you go to the graveyard and talk to that ridiculous angel statue, Zaresi gets her metaphorical espresso shot. City Hall in session? Vorn gets a boost, decides it’s a good day to juice up her Spirits and pick a fight.

Morgan: You really like explaining things, don’t you?

Evan: Well, either I talk or you do, and I know which one I prefer. Follow me.

Morgan: Why?

Evan: Got anything better to do with your evening?

Morgan: Yes.

Evan: Like what?

Morgan: Well, if having my fingernails removed doesn’t work out, I guess I could always just go for a dip in some battery acid.

Evan: Might be hard with everything closed and everyone you know refusing to leave their homes.

Morgan: What?

Evan: When a god’s on the move, if they’re smart, they don’t want humans interfering too much. Vorn’s likely got a couple rituals set up to make sure anyone leaving their house today feels a weird pull to turn back around and go inside. Just give someone a little tug to the magic and they’ll pretty much go where you want.

Morgan: I didn’t feel it.

Evan: You’re a Magician. You’re not nearly as susceptible to that sort of thing. Try and keep up.

Morgan: My friends didn’t go inside either.

Evan: Two explanations. Either you’re somehow subconsciously protecting them, or they’re idiots.

Morgan: Evan—

Evan: I vote latter.

Morgan: Shut up.

Evan: Anyway, you’re needed on the battlefield.

Morgan: What.

Evan: Battlefield. Fighting. Should I speak more slowly? Gods don’t enter the battlefield themselves, that would be in complete violation of the Convocation. Keeps them safe from direct attacks, but it also ties their hands when it comes to direct interference. Which is where we come in. Magicians and Spirits fight so the gods don’t have to. Case in point.

-he points-

-as the two round a corner, they encounter a Reaper fighting a large suit of red, glowing armor-

Morgan: Wha—Another one?

-she conjures up a scythe, swinging it at the Reaper. It twists aside faster than the one in the graveyard, avoiding both Morgan and the armor. The armor suit tilts its head, but takes a swipe at Morgan, sending her flying-

Morgan: …I’m confused.

Evan: Idiot. You look at the giant suit of armor wearing red and you go after the Spirit wearing the same colors as everyone on your side?

Morgan: Didn’t you have me kill a Reaper the other day?

Evan: Because it was nuts, sure. This one, while utterly uninspiring conversation, is nonetheless with us. Hey, Reaper!

-the Reaper turns its head, avoiding another strike-

Evan: Clear off! This fight’s ours. Go find someone else.

Reaper: Of course. I finally find a Makhai my size, and it gets bogarted by the highers-up.

Evan: Oh, go get dry-cleaned.

-the Reaper disappears down a side street-

Evan: I swear, they shouldn’t even have disparate personalities at that stage in their development, and that one manages to be more boring than the others.

Morgan: Uh, what’s a Makhai?

Evan: That is. Spirit of War, just like a Reaper’s a Spirit of Death.

Morgan: Oh.

Evan: I just call them Goblins.

Morgan: …And we’re fighting it?

Evan: Well, you are. I’m just observing to see what you can do.

Morgan: Oh.

Evan: Just fight the goblin.

-Morgan turns back around in time to avoid a strike from the Makhai, backpedaling and drawing her scythe-

Evan: That’s still the best you can do?

-the Makhai draws a sword from one of the many sheaths on its back and swings it at Morgan, who parries with the scythe. The explosion sends her skidding back, as she generates another scythe and slashes it upwards. The Makhai takes a step back to dodge-

Morgan: Nothing to say?

Evan: They’re not the most talkative. Can’t you do anything besides summon the same paltry weapon? At least put a little death into it.

Morgan: Would be nice if you could explain how.

-she dives aside from the Makhai drawing a bow and firing an arrow just over her head-

Evan: Stop being so constrained by what you think makes sense. You’re literally making weapons out of thin air. Why stop there?

-Morgan dodges the swing of a mace-

Evan: Sure, the entire theory of spellwork is flawed and if you want to really accomplish anything you should start doing rituals like I do. But if you really want to keep practicing inferior magic, you could at least put in a little imagination. Original thinking.

-Morgan backflips away from an axe-

Evan: Your magic will naturally bend to your will. All you really need to do is give it something to bend into.

-Morgan takes a few steps back from the Makhai, and focuses-

Morgan: Something to bend into, huh?

-a wavery shield appears in front of her-

Evan: Or you can just die, I guess. You’re a free-willed creature.

-the Makhai brings down its axe on the shield, which explodes-

-the shards scatter across the ground, noticeably not disappearing-

-the Makhai lets out a triumphant roar and takes a step forwards-

-and the shards then pick themselves back up, jabbing into the Makhai’s foot. It stumbles, and falls to its knees-

Morgan: Gotcha.

-she turns away-

Morgan: Like that, Evan?

Evan: Huh? I wasn’t watching, I was too busy staring at that crow. Look, it’s beautiful.

Morgan: …

Evan: Anyway, I’m bored. Jubula!

-he takes his yarnball out of his pocket again. It glows, and unspools, entangling the Makhai and burning into it-

Morgan: Hey! I had that! Didn’t you see me being awesome?

Evan: I told you, I wasn’t paying attention. Anyway, fight’s over, put away your stick.

Morgan: Wait, so now what?

Evan: I mean, I could kill it, but that would probably get Vorn, and by extension Zaresi, pretty mad at me.

Morgan: It would also be morally repugnant.

Evan: Uh, yeah. Sure.

-he leans in close to the bound Makhai-

Evan: I’m going to let you go, and you’re going to run back to your goddess and tell her you lost. Is that clear?

Makhai #2: Bite me, Evan.

Evan: That could be arranged, you know.

-he takes his knife out of his pocket-

Evan: I don’t have to let you go. Can you honestly tell me you’re not expendable? Do you even have a name yet?

Morgan: Um, Evan? I think you’ve made your point.

Evan: Whatever. Lettii.

-the yarn stops glowing, and once again rolls itself up. The Makhai grunts, and slumps to the ground-

Evan: Let’s go find Richard.

-he gives the Makhai a nudge with his foot to make sure it won’t move, and strides away, Morgan waiting a moment before following-

Morgan: Was that really necessary?

Evan: Please tell me that isn’t going to become your catchphrase.

Morgan: Answer my question.

Evan: Spirits don’t develop an identity for a long time after they form. It’d be like replacing your toaster.

Morgan: Evan!

Evan: Can’t you go back to just not questioning things?

Morgan: …No.

Evan: Look, it’s our job to fight enemy Spirits. What part of that escapes you?

Morgan: I thought our job here was keeping townspeople safe?

Evan: Sure. So we fight the other gods when they do stupid things like try and take over the town.

Morgan: Take over the—

Evan: Are you normally this slow on the uptake? If a god really wants power, the best thing for them to do is make sure that they have a way to make people focus on the things they care about. If we don’t stop Vorn when she tries to pull something big, she can set up a ritual to provoke artificial conflicts. She can use those conflicts to power herself, and keep the ritual going. Classic positive feedback loop. There are treaties prohibiting it, sure, but really those are to deal with the large-scale stuff. Town like this probably wouldn’t register.

Morgan: Oh. Is that what we do?

Evan: If we did, a lot more people would be dead.

Morgan: Oh.

Evan: We’re the good guys, idiot. It’s our job to keep people from doing that kind of thing.

Morgan: The god of Death…is the good guy?

Evan: Well, yeah. Death is literally the absolute incarnation of rules. It’s Life you have to watch out for.

Morgan: …And War?

Evan: And they said you were dumb.

Morgan: Who said that?

Evan: I did. Just now. Yes, War are the crazy ones.

Morgan: I…guess that makes sense. What other gods are there?

Evan: Nalis, god of Love, Erian, goddess of Weather, Novju, goddess of Parking…

Morgan: Parking?

Evan: Yes, Parking. We try not to pay too much attention to her. Anyway, those three are small-timers. It’s really only Vorn anyone needs to worry about.

???: Now, Evan.

-a fairly androgynous human, with straight black hair that has been rather vigorously transformed into a small mohawk, strolls around the corner. Morgan blinks-

Person: Are you making up stories?

-They pull a gun, and shoot Evan in the chest. He’s sent flying, and crashes to the ground, lying there-

Morgan: Oh my god!

-she forms a scythe, turning around-

Morgan: You just—I mean, I can’t exactly blame you, but you just shot him!

Person: Uh, yeah? He’ll live. That wasn’t a real bullet.

Morgan: What?

Person: People don’t really go flying when they get shot, you know. That was magic!

Morgan: Oh. So you’re—

Person: Magician for Vorn, yep! You’re the new girl Zaresi picked up, right? I’m Janice, it’s nice to meet you.

Morgan: …I’m Morgan.

Janice: Cool. So, don’t take this personally or anything, but we are working on a big ritual, and I was given some very specific directives about not letting anyone from Zaresi see it or interfere with it. So unless you pretend you didn’t see anything and go home…I’m going to have to shoot you too. And while it won’t kill you, it will very definitely hurt. A lot.

Morgan: …

Janice: What are you gonna do, right?

-there’s a pregnant pause. Morgan takes a step forwards, starting to swing her scythe, and Janice casually shoots it. It explodes into smoke, and Morgan stumbles backwards-

Janice: Oh, wow, you really are new to this, aren’t you?

Morgan: Uh, very. But…why?

Janice: Depending on what flavor it is, magic does different things. Fire magic, for instance, obviously starts fires. Death magic, like you’re using, burns through other magic. Like, that scythe should go right through a Spirit.

Morgan: Did, once.

Janice: Well, you obviously lost your touch. Try thinking about something you really want dead. Anyway, War magic just blows up anything it touches. In this case, your scissor stick.

Morgan: Oh.

Janice: Yeah…sorry about this.

-they point the gun at Morgan, who takes a step back-

-and a shield appears between the two, stopping the bullet-

Morgan: Wha—

-and Laura emerges from an alleyway, holding out a hand-

Morgan: Laura!

-Laura turns around, and grins at Morgan, but is forced to turn back around when a bullet impacts her shield-

Janice: Laura! Hi! I didn’t know I warranted Zaresi’s whole set of Magicians!

Laura: Just stopping through…Morgan, are you doing okay?

Morgan: Been better.

Laura: Uh, yeah. When Evan wakes up, tell him to actually do his job and go shut down Vorn’s ritual? There are sigils all around City Hall.

Morgan: …Sure.

-Laura blinks, and forces a laugh-

Laura: Hey, don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You got the Reaper alright.

-the two are interrupted by Janice firing at the shield again. Laura winces-

Laura: I’ll take care of this. Get Evan and go on ahead, I think Vorn’s set up by the park outside City Hall.

Morgan: You sure you’ll be okay?

-Laura smiles brightly-

Laura: I’ll be fine!

-Morgan goes to get Evan-

Morgan: Are you dead?

Evan: Nope.

Morgan: Just resting, then.

Evan: Well, I was hoping that Janice would get distracted and leave me an opening—

Janice: Don’t count on it!

Evan: --And Laura got in the way.

Laura: No me agradece, solamente salve tu vida…

Morgan: Well, I appreciate you, Laura.

Laura: Thanks!

-she ducks another bullet-

Laura: …You should go.

Morgan: If I have to.

Laura: Oh! Evan! How’s Morgan’s fighting?

Evan: Utterly disappointing.

Laura: I’m going to take that as a compliment. Congratulations, Morgan.

Morgan: Thanks!

Janice: Take cover!

-there’s a bright explosion-

Laura: …Seriously though, go. I’ll be fine.

-and they go-

Evan: You shouldn’t waste so much time talking, you know.

Morgan: Maybe I’d waste less time if I didn’t have to run at short-person speed.

Evan: You’re so close to being funny.

Morgan: Hey, why do you shout things out whenever you do anything? Laura and I don’t. Janice doesn’t…always? I couldn’t tell.

Evan: They use spells, as do you unfortunately. They just mold magic into a shape and use it. I use rituals, which involve coding the magic beforehand, and then I can store them in everyday objects and activate them later with a keyword. Much more useful.

Morgan: …Seems a lot less practical.

Evan: Quiet.

Morgan: Oh, Laura said we need to go to the park by City Hall.

Evan: Didn’t we already establish that I was totally awake while you two were chatting? I know where we’re going.

Morgan: She said something about someone named Richard. Isn’t there a Richard at the music store? I got some drums from him.

Evan: That’s the one. He’s one of Vorn’s top magicians.

-Morgan blinks-

Morgan: Is he stronger than Janice? That’s kind of scary.

Evan: Please, Janice isn’t that tough.

Morgan: You spent the entire fight insensate.

Evan: We already established that that was a clever plan on my part.

-they keep moving-

Morgan: Laura said talking about sigils. What are those?

Evan: Finally you ask an interesting question.

Morgan: Are you going to answer it?

Evan: I certainly am. Remember how I told you about magic flowing down invisible lines?

Morgan: Get to the point.

Evan: Magic follows a language. It’s complicated, and it involves spellwork, sounds at particular frequencies, and sometimes even material sacrifices. But mostly, it involves sigils. Magic can be stored in carbon, so you can create a sigil pretty easily by just drawing it in pencil and giving it a little charge of magic. Sigils influence the lines of magic and change its effects.

Morgan: What do they do?

Evan: All sorts of things. Mostly, however, they affect the organization of the magic around them. Negate it, redirect it from point A to point B, that sort of thing. In this case, Richard is most likely using them to amplify a small-scale ritual so that it can cover the town. When a ritual’s going to go off with that much kick, you can’t store it in an object like I do with yarn or my camera. It needs to be created on the spot, which means that that’s what Richard’s doing right now.

Morgan: …Sounds like we need to get to City Hall.

Evan: That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all day.

-they keep moving-

Morgan: Are you sure we’re going the right way? I haven’t seen a single Makhai.

Evan: They’re called goblins!

Morgan: Makhai definitely sounds better.

Evan: I’ve never been this insulted. Anyway, we’re going the right way. Richard wouldn’t want any flunkies getting in his way or picking fights that might mess up his sigils. Look.

-he points at a tree at the edge of the park-

Evan: Like that one.

-indeed, a series of circuit-like patterns are engraved into the wood, extending across the ground into the woods-

Evan: Okay, just destroy that.

Morgan: Uh, sure.

-and she does, using a scythe to disfigure the tree. The circuit patterns go dark-

Morgan: You’re telling me nobody sees these?

Evan: No one. Non-Magicians might as well be wearing eyes as a fashion statement. You have to have magic to notice things.

Morgan: Oh, so you noticed those, right?

-she points behind Evan, where a pair of humanoid figures are rising out of the ground-

Evan: …Damn it.

Morgan: Makhai?

Evan: Tulpas. Artificial beings made of magic. Richard’s welcoming committee.

Tulpa #1: Halt!

Tulpa #2: Exit or be destroyed!

-Evan takes out his yarn-

Evan: Megascops!

-he hurls the yarn ball, which detonates in black light against the two tulpas, shattering them…and they immediately begin reforming-

Evan: Ingens. Damn it.

Morgan: …Performance issues?

Evan: Be quiet. They’re drawing energy from the trees in the park to keep themselves in shape.

Morgan: So what do we do?

Evan: We run.

-and the two run further into the park. The tulpas are left behind as they get further in, but more start forming out of things. They’re in various shapes, other humans, birds, dogs, etc.-

-and they both run headlong into a wall-

-there’s a small, circular barrier around a small area of the park. Inside, an older man, with tanned skin and a short beard, is sitting cross-legged, magic slowly flowing out of him in odd, twisted patterns, into lines that extend outwards through the park. Every so often, he hums a note loudly. The tulpas herd Morgan and Evan over to the barrier. Morgan slashes at the barrier, which flickers but otherwise doesn’t respond. Evan throws his yarn at it to similar lack of effect-

Evan: Richard!

-he turns his head slightly-

Richard: Evan. Good day.

Evan: Having fun with a ritual?

Richard: I don’t do fun.

Evan: Of course you don’t. You’re aware your ritual exists in pretty stark violation to the treaties, right?

Richard: Technical provision. In a town this size, nobody on a wider scale will notice anything wrong if people start fighting a little more often.

Evan: That’s the spirit of the law. You’re violating the letter, though.

-he draws his knife-

Evan: Okay, Morgan, I’ll walk you through the procedures just this once. Repeat after me.

Morgan: Repeat after me.

Evan: Richard…

Morgan: Richard…

Evan: Understand that your actions here today are in violation of the Divine Convocation.

Morgan: Understand that your actions here today are in violation of the Divine Convocation.

Evan: Should you not cease immediately, a reaction will be provoked.

Morgan: You didn’t say that last time.

Evan: I was talking to a cloud of dubiously-sapient gas. Repeat it.

Morgan: Uh…should you not cease immediately, a reaction will be provoked.

Evan: Now do something flashy.

-Morgan forms her scythe, and slashes one of the larger tulpas, a knight in armor, in half-

-Richard hums a note-

Richard: That was irrelevant. They’ll only reform.

Morgan: Oh, yes, I saw your sigils. Nice work, by the way. I mean, you shouldn’t have put them somewhere so obvious, but still.

Richard: Pardon?

Morgan: Well, anyone could fiddle around with them. Change where they’re getting their power from, maybe?

Richard: …You’re bluffing. You don’t understand magic well enough.

Morgan: Evan does. You know how you never really feel tired when you use magic, until suddenly you’re fresh out?

-and she slashes a tulpa in half again. It reforms-

Richard: …

Morgan: Wanna bet you can beat us before we burn you out? You’ve heard what happens to Magicians after they cast too much. Subzero’s lead caster until 2062?

-Richard grits his teeth-

Richard: I don’t follow music.

Morgan: Boom. So, let me just…

-and she slashes another tulpa apart. Evan blasts several to pieces-

Morgan: Feeling lucky?

Evan: And you ruin it. Drop the barrier, Richard, or we’ll be picking what’s left of you out of the grass.

-Richard glares-

-Morgan and Evan glare back-

Richard: …Damned Makhai. Not a one can properly guard anything. I—

-and Laura sails out of nowhere and crashes into the barrier, springing to her feet-

Laura: Ow.

Janice: Hey again, everyone!

-they march out of the woods, toting a machinegun, and open fire. Laura forms another barrier-

Janice: Morgan! You’re still alive! I owe Laura ten dollars, I guess.

Morgan: …Thank you for betting on me.

Laura: It seemed like the least I could do.

Janice: Oh, Richard, someone triggered the sigils you set up to summon those tulpas? Which are looking lovely, by the way.

Richard: Ah, Janice. Would you kindly tell me where the tulpas are drawing their power from?

Janice: Trees in the park, last I checked. (aside) I checked a lot.

Richard: Thank you.

Evan: You couldn’t have held them off two more seconds, Laura?

Laura: Excuse me for not dying.

Evan: No.

Janice: Hey, Evan! Present arms!

-they throw out a handful of sand, which expands outwards into a storm of red. Evan runs for his life, the sand blasting out craters around him-

Janice: …I’ll clean it up later.

-meanwhile, the tulpas all charge as Janice runs after Evan, and Richard returns to chanting-

-Laura and Morgan are left to deal with the tulpas. Laura punctures a few with spheres of Death, while Morgan continues swiping away. However, her attacks have limited effect-

Laura: Watch out!

-she steps in front of Morgan to form a barrier, stopping an attack from a bird tulpa. Morgan jumps over the barrier and jabs the bird with a spear, forcing it back, but it doesn’t withdraw long-

Morgan: Thanks.

Laura: No problem. You look like you’re having some trouble there?

Morgan: Everyone keeps telling me I need to put more death into it. I don’t get it. I can make something the shape I want—

-she demonstrates this by splitting her scythe in half and slashing through a number of tulpas, but they reform almost instantly-

Morgan: But I don’t understand what people mean.

-Laura frowns, though the amount of attention she can pay to Morgan is limited by fending off a massive dog-

Laura: You’ve certainly come to the right person.

Morgan: I thought you might know a little more about it than Evan.

-Laura beams-

Laura: Well, uh…normally I might teach you this a little more calmly, but it does seem immediately relevant.

-she ducks a slash from a knight, which Morgan skewers with half a dozen spears. The knight keeps moving, and Laura jabs it with a barrier, forcing the spears in deeper-

Laura: What you have to realize is that anything you make with magic is yours. You’ve already gotten that a little, but you need to really believe it.

-she forms a sphere and sends it ricocheting through the tulpas-

Laura: Magic is your own energy, being poured out into the world, and so you can control what it does. It can have any physical properties you want, sure. You can make it bouncy, hard, denser…but you can change more than that. You can adjust its magical density too.

-more magic pours into the sphere, and it grows darker-

Laura: More magic doesn’t have to mean more stuff. It can mean more power just the same.

-and she launches the sphere. It burns straight through the knight, which explodes into nothingness-

Laura: Evan can say what he wants, but the possibilities of spellwork are limitless. The only obstacle is you, and I think you can get past that. I believe in you.

-she pauses. She and Morgan are staring at each other, and both abruptly turn away-

Laura: …That is to say, it isn’t so hard.

-Morgan stares at Laura, and smiles-

Morgan: For someone I don’t know that well, you’re the most helpful person here.

-Morgan lowers her stance a little, her scythe forming. As tulpas bear down on her, more and more energy flows into the scythe-

-until she slashes straight through every tulpa attacking her in a single strike-

-and they all dissipate-

Morgan: Thanks, Laura.

-and the two are brought face-to-face-

-she smiles. Laura stares-

Laura: ...Ningun problema.

-the tulpas begin to regenerate, but it’s slow and kludgy, and their hearts don’t seem to be in it-

Laura: ...Wow. You sure did a number on them.

Morgan: I had a good teacher.

-there’s a bang from offscreen-

Janice: Gotcha!

-Evan, meanwhile, is lying on the ground, looking more genuinely insensible than last time-

Morgan: …I have to keep him from dying, don’t I?

Laura: I mean, they probably won’t kill him.

Morgan: I sense a “but”.

Laura: But Richard would have plenty of time to finish his ritual. We’d lose.

Morgan: …

Laura: I can deal with Janice. You just keep an eye on the tulpas to make sure they don’t reform, and wait for Evan to wake up so he can take down the barrier, okay?

Morgan: Mm, no.

Laura: …You’re sure?

Morgan: Gotta get some practice sometime.

-Laura tilts her head-

Laura: …You have the knowledge you need. Try not to die, okay? Cuidate.

Morgan: Was that a ritual?

Laura: It’s Spanish, Morgan. Take care of yourself.

Morgan: …Thanks for the advice.

-she turns to face Janice, drawing a scythe, which Janice shoots. The scythe shatters, but the bullet doesn’t push Morgan back even slightly-

Janice: Hey! Nice job with the tulpas! And good work with your magic, too. You’ll be a really good fighter someday.

Morgan: …Uh, thank y—

-and Janice opens fire. Morgan dives sideways, climbing onto Richard’s barrier and ducking around the bullets, forming a barrier to repel the next few-

Janice: And versatile, too!

-their handgun disappears in a puff of magic, and they conjure a pair of machineguns, firing at Morgan. Morgan ducks behind Richard’s barrier-

Janice: Oh, that’s clever. It won’t save you, but it’s clever.

-they run after Morgan. Laura attempts to block their way-

Janice: Oh, take cover.

-and an explosion forces Laura back. By the time it clears, Janice and Morgan have disappeared-

Laura: …Oh dear.

-deeper in the forest, Janice fires at Morgan, who blocks with a scythe. The scythe hisses where the bullet strikes it, but doesn’t break-

Janice: You really are getting better. Though I’m inclined to think you should take cover.

-they throw another ball at Morgan, who ducks as it explodes in light. When the light clears, Janice is gone-

Morgan: …You know, I did this with a Reaper too!

-she begins stretching wires of magic between the trees, before standing very still-

Morgan: Okay, now where are you?

-one of the wires goes taut, and then snaps. Morgan whips in that direction, but another one snaps, and another, until all of them are gone-

Janice: Surprise!

-Morgan turns around, and Janice shoots her, sending her flying into a tree-

Morgan: …Ow.

Janice: Too much?

Morgan: …Eh.

-Janice forms a rifle, twirling it cheerily-

Janice: Last chance to surrender? I won’t tell anyone what went down if you don’t.

Morgan: I’m good.

Janice: Well, okay. Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Morgan: I’m an art student, you know. Creative type.

Janice: …So, left-handed?

Morgan: Not my point. I’ll admit, I don’t really get a lot about what’s going on here.

Janice: …I’m confused.

Morgan: But, I’ve been learning a bunch of lessons today! From you, and Laura, and even Evan. Don’t tell him I said that.

Janice: Of course.

Morgan: So I think I get how to use magic now, more or less. But I brought the problem-solving skills on my own.

-above the two, the wires haven’t disappeared, and sneak up into the trees-

Janice: …Okay, look, I’m just going to break one of your arms, okay?

Morgan: Okay okay I’ll get to the point the wires were a trick and they didn’t actually explode and while we were talking they got into the trees and you just got totally distracted by it and ow my ribs hurt!

Janice: Wait, what?

-up in the tree, the wires saw through a chunk of foliage, which falls down onto Janice. They cover their head, dissolving the gun, and Morgan takes the time to conjure a new scythe, extending the handle to pin Janice against another tree-

Morgan: Gotcha!

-Janice stares up at the scythe blade-

Morgan: …Okay, admit it. That was cool.

Janice: Extremely, yes! I mean, there’s some room for improvement, but I didn’t see that coming at all. Nice work.

Morgan: …Do you surrender? Or…um…whatever it is you do?

Janice: After one lucky hit? I don’t think so.

-they form a gun. Morgan’s eyes widen-

Laura: Uh, I wouldn’t.

-the two turn to see Laura leaning against the tree, a pair of spheres floating in the air-

Laura: Evan woke up, so I left him in charge. Barrier’s probably coming down as we speak.

Morgan: Sounds like you just lost.

Janice: …Give my regards to Zaresi.

-they dismiss the gun, and raise their hands, Laura and Morgan march her back to Richard, who is being held at knifepoint. Meanwhile, the boy from last chapter sticks his head out from behind the tree, frowns, and walks away-

Richard: Your form is as sloppy as ever, Evan.

Evan: …You’re old and you wear old man clothes. And we kicked your ass.

Richard: As is your wit.

-he turns to see Janice-

Richard: Ah. Janice. We lost.

-Janice sweatdrops-

Janice: So we did…sorry.

-Richard pats their shoulder. They beam-

Richard: There’s always next month.

Morgan: …There is?

Evan: Unfortunately, if we offed them now, people would start noticing.

-he rolls his eyes, and stows his knife-

Evan: Go on. Shoo. I hope you learned your lesson.

Richard: Mm.

Janice: Bye!

-and the two leave-

Morgan: …That’s all?

Laura: Well, we should destroy the sigils that weren’t already broken.

Morgan: But they just get to do this again next month?

Laura: …Pretty much. There’s not a whole lot we could do to change the status quo.

Morgan: That doesn’t seem a little…pointless?

Evan: Oh, completely. Haven’t you ever seen a television show? Being the good guy gets old fast.

-he strolls off. Laura and Morgan stare after him-

Morgan: …That was a downer.

-there’s a long, awkward pause-

-at which point Laura hugs Morgan-

Laura: Look at you, winning your first fight! How’s it feel?

Morgan: Uh…painful.

-Laura disengages, grinning sheepishly-

Laura: Lo siento. So, how’d you do it?

Morgan: Well, Janice said I should be focusing on something I really want dead.

Laura: And?

Morgan: I just kept an image of Evan in my head.

-Laura bursts out laughing-

Laura: And that bluff? With Richard? Perfect. That’s what being a Magician is all about!

Morgan: Lying really well?

Laura: I was going to say creative thinking, but I guess that works.

Morgan: So, that’s all? I can go home?

Laura: If you want, sure.

Morgan: Oh, thank god.

-Laura winces. Morgan starts to walk away, when Evan sticks his head back into the area-

Evan: Oh, and Morgan?

Morgan: What?

Evan: You still can’t cast for the band.

Morgan: Of course.

-cut to Morgan with Quinn-

Quinn: Wait, so what was all that about? Where were you?

Morgan: Um.

Quinn: Got it.

Morgan: …Sorry. It’s just…not easy to explain.

Quinn: This isn’t like the time you tried to start a magic club at school and nearly burned it down, is it?

Morgan: …No.

Quinn: I’m sure we’re good then.

Morgan: Good.

Quinn: For now, anyway.

-she nudges Morgan, who doesn’t seem to share in the joke-

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