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breakingsomething · 4 years

Text

the fall part twenty one - rise

basic summary: marvin and naomi try to be normal. the jackson-schneeplestein brothers aren't getting along. and jackie, aaron and rhea do something that may have disastrous consequences.

trigger warnings: mentions of suicide, murder and abuse, experimentation, hypnotism

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow @graveyardlettuce @lower-your-expectationss

summary of what happened last time since it's been a full month: jamie hung out with his family on his birthday, resulting in a small breakfast over carving pumpkins. anti brought jamie a birthday gift. rhea and aaron had an argument that ended with jackie accidentally hypnotism aaron to make him shut up.

"you know," marvin said, pausing to sip his hot chocolate. "this is nice."

"it is," naomi agreed. she fumbled with her muffin, picking out a blueberry and popping it in her mouth. "it's been a long time since i've been on a proper date with someone. years, even."

the two of them had made an impulse decision that morning to go to costa and buy muffins and drinks, and it was turning out to have been a fantastic idea. the weather wasn't the best, and it was drizzling outside, but naomi gleefully exclaimed that she loved the rain, and marvin joked that maybe she was a flower herself and needed it to photosynthesize, and naomi pouted and called him a fire, jokingly suggesting that the rain might put him out and teach him how to have fun. he was very glad they had decided to sit outside now. they could listen to the rain from their cozy spot under the canopy as they drank their warm drinks, watching people go by. the air smelled like fresh rain. like jamie's magic, marvin thought, but less sharp. less cold. jamie was like ice. always had been. it was strange to think about.

"you alright?" naomi asked, snapping marvin from his thoughts. she smirked, shaking cinnamon hair from her eyes as she put on an exaggerated playful tone. "enjoying the view?"

he laughed, leaning forward in his seat. "of course! these muffins are absolutely beautiful, stunning, really -"

she smacked his hand, laughing before taking a chunk out his muffin. "you're right, they are! especially yours." she flashed him a grin, a small smudge of chocolate on her lips. marvin brushed it away with his thumb, grinning and bumping their noses together. he could hear naomi giggling. "you're such a soft bastard. aren't you going to try and steal mine?"

"no, i am not, because i am the one winning," he said softly against her lips, then pressed his mouth to hers. she tasted like chocolate. he pulled away after a moment, chest shaking. "fuck, this is so much harder to do while i'm still laughing."

naomi dropped her head to his shoulder. "such a romantic," she chuckled. "god, we are becoming the sappiest couple, aren't we?"

"maybe so." he ran his fingers through her hair, watching a van trundle down the glistening street. "who cares? life is short, might as well drink hot chocolate and be cheesy in a costa. we're all gonna die anyway."

naomi sat up, shaking her head. "a romantic indeed," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes with a smile. she flicked a blueberry at him from her muffin. "you sure know exactly how to flirt with a girl -"

"hey, hey, hey, i'm clearly - clearly a fantastic flirt," he said, holding up both hands. "you're dating me, after all."

"ha, yes, because i felt bad for your awful romancing skills -"

"rude!"

they continued jokingly bickering as they ate until both muffins were fully gone, partially eaten by each magician. the rain had gotten heavier, and naomi pulled up her hood, tapping her chin as she stared off into space. marvin tapped her arm. "penny for your thoughts?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. naomi jolted then sighed, relaxing into her hand and staring down at her hands.

"i dunno," she murmured. "so much is happening all at once. i feel like it can't all be real. you know what i mean?" she traced a finger round her plate in circles, frowning. "that could be just me. i swear i've been taking my meds."

marvin shook his head. "no, i get it. everything's bullshit, world is a fuck." he glanced around before lighting the tips of his fingers on fire and brushing them over his drink to heat it up again. "but it is real, ok? you're not imagining this or making it up."

she chuckled. "i don't know whether to be reassured by that or not. also, stop with the flames. you'll get us in trouble."

marvin shrugged. "nah, the veil will cover it up," he said nonchalantly, but extinguished the flames anyway. he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "mhm. i'm so tired, nai."

"go to bed earlier, then," she said playfully, but with a quiet tone. she pat his hand, watching the rain fall.

he heard his phone ring.

"shit," he muttered, not moving to answer it. instead, he leaned back in his seat, picking up his spoon and twirling it in the air. "weather's nice."

"your phone's ringing," naomi pointed out.

"let it ring." he reached across the table and kissed her again, touching the back of her head gently. "we should do this more often."

she giggled and was about to say something else when marvin's phone went off again. he sat back with an exaggerated groan, rolling his eyes to the sky.

"place your bets," he announced sarcastically, pulling his phone out and blowing a raspberry at naomi's amused expression. "will it be… chase, calling to ask if i ate the last bag of prawn cocktail crisps? i did, by the way, but don't tell him that. or will it be henrik, calling to ask where i am despite saying i was going out with you this morning? or will it inexplicably be anti, using the scraps of magic he has left to yell at me for some reason? find out within the next couple seconds, because - hello?"

"marvin," came kazuki's voice. "so, bad news. your magic book has been stolen, and i don't think it takes a genius to find out who took it."

chase clinked the spoon against the side of a cup as he stirred his tea, pausing to dump more sugar in it. henrik watched all this from the kitchen table, slightly amused. "mein gott, chase, you're going to have a heart attack and die."

"and when that happens, i'll have a doctor right here to save me," chase grinned smoothly before knocking back half the cup. immediately after he did he began to splutter, coughing and dripping tea down his chin. "shit - shit, fuck, hot hot hot hot!"

"lovely," henrik deadpanned, taking a calm sip of his coffee. "how graceful a man you are."

chase flipped him off, wiping his chin as jamie wandered in, confusion plastered across his face. "good morning?" he signed, his expression suggesting it was a question.

"morning, james," henrik greeted warmly. "chase is dying."

"that's not ideal," jamie said, sitting down at the table and stretching his arms out. "are you alright, chase?"

chase nodded, face bright red. "very hot," he coughed. "very very hot. i'm fine, i'll live."

henrik chuckled, shaking his head. "you're a wreck of a man. drink slower. or do i need to talk to you like you're connor?"

chase rolled his eyes. "shut it, you. where's marvin?"

"out with naomi," henrik said, shrugging. "he should be back soon. all dying aside, how are you this fine morning?"

chase finished his coughing fit and laughed, grabbing a tea towel to wipe up the spilled drink. "doing alright. how's you, james? sleep better?"

he nodded, smiling softly, but his eyes were far away. chase frowned, picking up his mug and sitting back down at the table. "hey, what's up?"

jamie shrugged. "anti," was all he signed. "thinking."

"oh, yeah," chase murmured, suddenly interested in his patterned socks. he and everyone else was all too aware of anti's visit a couple days ago to bring jamie his gifts. he noticed henrik had noticeably soured, staring into his mug. chase cleared his throat. "what… what are you thinking?"

another shrug. "don't know. a lot."

henrik muttered something that neither of them could quite catch. chase decided to ignore it, but jamie sat up, looking at him. "what?"

henrik blew the air out his cheeks, watching jamie's hands but not his face. a benefit of speaking sign, chase and henrik had long ago agreed on, was the lack of eye contact. "i don't want to talk about anti," he mumbled. jamie's face fell just slightly.

"ok," he signed carefully. "don't have to."

there was a tension in the air now that hadn't been there before. chase caught a breath, sipping his tea cautiously.

"you never ate the cookie he brought, did you?" henrik asked without warning. jamie raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across the table.

"what's it to you?" he said, movements almost flat. the tension was obvious now, and chase found himself standing up to make another mug of tea. why, he didn't know, but his heart was racing and he didn't want to turn to look at the others.

still, he could hear henrik's scowl in his voice. "because he could have poisoned it it something. who knows with that man?"

there was a pause, and chase made himself turn round to see jamie's response. "i know," he was saying cooly. "he's my brother and i know him better than any of the rest of you."

"i'm sure you do," henrik muttered, and both him and chase jumped when jamie suddenly slammed his fist to the table, making henrik's mug bounce. jamie had ice in his eyes, cold and unnerving. despite how ridiculously selfish it sounded, chase was glad he wasn't the one on the receiving end of the glare. if looks could kill, henrik would be very dead.

"if you have a problem," jamie signed, slowly, meticulously, so no one missed a word. "tell me upfront instead of being vague."

the kettle had finished boiling, and chase turned to finish his tea while henrik responded. "well," he heard him say, silent fury evident in his tone. "there is the small detail of your brother having held me in his own torture basement for over two months. i feel like - i feel like, with all the shit going on with jackie lately, you lot have forgotten this!"

chase flinched as jamie's fist hit the table again, slightly less furiously than the first time. "no one has forgotten," he signed, and chase wondered if he was imagining the trace of rain and petrichor in the air. "we know anti is not a good person. and we -"

"you're saying "we" a lot," henrik interrupted, and his gaze was also cold, calculating. he and jamie were never opposites; they were two peas in a pod, far too similar for their own good. "i don't think "you" know anything."

the room went very, very silent.

"you think so." jamie's expression was blank, his hands moving far too slowly. "you think i don't know anything, think i don't understand anti."

"jamie," henrik said, suddenly uncertain. "i - didn't mean -"

"no," jamie said. the smell of petrichor was stronger now, something cold radiating off of the man. "no. you spent two months of your life with anti. silly me. of course you understand him better than i do."

"i wasn't implying -"

"then what were you saying?" jamie suddenly exploded, knocking his chair back to hit the fridge as he stood. chase grabbed his mug, burning his fingers as he held it. "what, that you've seen him at his worst? that i couldn't possibly understand how bad he is? that only you went through trauma and that makes it all the worse for you?"

henrik's eyes were wide, and he managed to shake his head, month opening like he wanted to say something. jamie smirked dangerously, coldly. "oh, now you change your tune. because you remember that i spent - how long? over two years with anti? that i've seen far more of him than you ever will?"

jameson hit the table a third time, cold rage lining his face. "i've seen him at his best and his worst. i've seen him when he's vulnerable and hurting, i've seen him covered in blood after a kill, i've seen him have a panic attack after a nightmare, i've seen him when he's manic and making terrible decisions, i've seen him when he's shaking and desperate for someone to touch him, i've seen him depressed as fuck and joking about suicide, i've seen him furious and not paying attention to who it is he's hurting - and who do you think was there for him each time? who stitched up his wounds when he got into fights that he swore weren't intentional, who comforted him when he was hyperventilating and couldn't breathe through panic, who stopped him from committing multiple murders, who took the blows when there was no one else around?" jameson paused, resting his hands for a brief moment. "that was dear dapper jack. dapper jack the time traveler, dapper jack who was fucking made for anti, dapper jack whose very purpose was to fix anti's mistakes. do you have any idea of the things i've seen?"

there was a very silent pause.

"no," henrik murmured, eyes cast to the table. "i don't."

jameson wasn't smiling anymore, even mockingly. "that's right. you don't. you haven't seen the things i've rewinded, the things only i remember."

he took a shuddering breath, his gaze suddenly far away. "you haven't seen. you don't know how many times i've watched people die, people break, people say things they didn't mean to say. i've seen anti die, did you know? i've seen anti break and nearly kill himself, kill me. i've rewinded in my last moments of life. you - you don't even know it, but i've saved your lives as well. and i remember. i always remember." he goes silent. "i always remember."

chase's tea was lukewarm now. he still didn't drink it. henrik didn't say anything. his eyes were transfixed on jamie's, looking far away.

"so don't you dare tell me," jamie continued, and there was something in his face now - grief, a deep sadness, some kind of pain. "don't you dare tell me that i don't know anything. don't you dare. because i know far, far more than you could even begin to comprehend. far more than i wish i knew."

he raised his hand like he was going to hit the table again, but he didn't. he just stormed out the room, leaving behind only the smell of rain.

neither chase nor henrik spoke for a moment. chase was shaking. henrik was staring into the distance, and then let his head fall to the table, forehead resting against the wood.

"ich bin ein idiot," he mumbled. chase didn't disagree. just sipped his near cold tea and looked away.

"this is a terrible idea."

"oh, don't be such a paranoid worrywart, mckenzie. this is going to work perfectly."

jackie, aaron and rhea were in the city centre, sitting next to the fountain and quietly planning things out. rhea had insisted they all went out to get fresh air, which aaron had also protested was a bad idea ("we're literally fugitives running from the magic law, rhea, in what world is going out for no reason a good idea -"), and now the three of them were here instead of at rhea's place. and jackie, quite honestly, was beginning to get tired of the two of them fighting.

"i'm beginning to get tired of the two of you fighting," he sighed, stretching his leg out down the steps. "we're all in the same boat, so why don't we get along?"

"i think i've made my side of this plainly clear," aaron muttered, but didn't say more. rhea smiled up at jackie, and his heart swelled with guilt. he knew why aaron was being more reluctant to fight. his head still hurt thinking about the hypnotism he'd accidentally placed on his boyfriend, and he looked away, staring at the shops across the street.

"we're all enemies of restitutio now," rhea was saying, tapping on the notebook she'd brought along with her to doodle in and take notes that neither jackie nor aaron understood. "so we have to be really careful. i'm probably going to be your best bet, being blake's sister and all. i know how to get in and out. mckenzie, you know where the other two necklaces are, correct? i'm assuming they're in the same place as jackson's one."

aaron frowned. "ok, first of all, stop calling him jackson. second of all, do you not know any of this information yourself? i figured with you being bl- being - being the stiùiriche's sister and all."

rhea smirked at his inability to say the name. "i can call jackson whatever i want. why, does it annoy you? also, blake always hid the information from me. guess he never trusted me, huh? he was right not to, but it still breaks my heart." she clapped a hand over her chest, expression unchanging. jackie sighed, preparing to jump in the middle of another fight.

but he didn't have to. aaron just grinned sharply, shaking hair out his face. "ah, so you're relying on the dunderhead to get you the necklaces, huh? how funny. yes, i know where they are. do we have, like, a map of the place?"

rhea rolled her eyes. "a map? are you serious? oh yes, mckenzie, i have a map of the goddamn secret magic organization base that my family has been working to keep hidden for years -"

aaron threw up his hands. "ok, so there's no map, i get it, chill. sorry for insulting your bloodline or whatever." he grabbed rhea's notebook from the fountain steps and began to draw, much to rhea's loud dismay.

"did you - are you drawing a map?" she asked in disbelief. "how do you remember the layout so well?"

"i just do," aaron sing-songed, the red pen gliding across the page. "with our knowledge combined, then i suppose we'll know enough that this isn't a suicide mission. rhea, you're taking the stiùiriche, yeah?"

she nodded. "yep. shouldn't be too hard, he's a pussy when it comes to me. loves me too much, even though i've done such terrible things." another smirk split her face. "so full of weakness. he and your anti are very similar. think themselves strong but are honestly just pathetic. slightly unrelated, but do you guys wanna hear something fun?"

jackie nodded while aaron groaned. "is this something that's gonna get us killed?" he sighed deeply. rhea placed a finger over her lips, gathering up her stuff and leaping to her feet. jackie and aaron scrambled after her, exchanging glances.

"here's a secret," rhea said, and she appeared to be leading them to the co-op on the corner. "i'm not actually a shapeshifter. i know, surprising, right? but i'm not."

aaron snorted softly as they entered the shop, the air instantly warmer and the bustling of people replaced with the hum of a heater. "like hell you're not. we've seen you do it."

rhea grinned. "have you? have you really seen anything? nothing is real anymore, mckenzie, better get used to it."

"if you're not a shifter, then what?" jackie interjected quickly before aaron could say anything in response. "you can change your appearance and such. that's something i'm certain of."

rhea walked down the frozen food aisle, casually inspecting the variety of pizza brands. "i can change my appearance, yes, but not like that. you both know of the veil. what would you say if i told you it was possible to control it?"

jackie blinked. "i'd say… nothing surprises me anymore?"

rhea grinned. her eyes changed from golden yellow to bright pink, growing larger, hair shrinking back into her scalp as her nose turned up and smile became wider, teeth darkening to a near solid black. "not real," she said, and skipped down to the next aisle, grinning at them before changing back with a crack. "just an illusion."

"you're… you're saying you can manipulate the veil?" aaron said skeptically. he crossed his arms firmly. "prove it."

rhea cocked her head, raising an eyebrow. then she walked up to the cash register, a spring in her step, and grabbed a bag of popcorn and a chocolate bar from the shelf next to it. looking the woman behind the counter dead in the eye, she turned and left the store without paying. jackie and aaron followed, mouths agape in shock.

"how did the cashier not notice?" jackie said in disbelief, following rhea back to the fountain. rhea shrugged, smiling wickedly.

"veil manipulation," she said casually. "you could probably do it too. not as well as me, but you could do it. here, let me show you."

she raises her hands, motioning for the other two to follow her. jackie does so, feeling a bit silly. "you have to concentrate on what you want other people to see. it's like knitting in the air, but with illusions. have either of you done illusions before?"

jackie nodded, while aaron shook his head. "i specialize mostly in attack based magic," aaron explained.

"and i used to do light based illusions for -" jackie paused, stiffening. he didn't want to think about chase's kids right now. "yeah. is it anything like that?"

rhea raised an eyebrow at jackie's cutoff, but didn't press it. "in a way. but it's not like manipulating a real thing you can see. light is different. you're taking actual strands of light from the sun, or from fabricated light if you're indoors, and weaving them into shapes. the veil is different because you can't see it, and you can only feel it if you're connected to it. and if you want to connect with it, you have to understand exactly what you're doing. let's start simple." she turned to them, cross legged, and slowly blinked. her eyes changed from gold to purple. "you have to be confident, and you have to be aware. falter, and the illusion falters."

both men blinked, practically straining with the useless effort. "how are you so good at it?" jackie asked, frustrated.

"years of practice," was the response. "since i was born. my mother taught me. she always favoured me over blake, and she was an incredible magician. better than my father, i'd say. honestly, me and blake should have fought for the position of stiùiriche. i would have won." her eyes cleared and she shook her head, realizing how off track she was getting. "but yes, it's hard. we'll have plenty of time to learn later." she straightens, pulling out her notebook again and grinning at jackie and aaron satisfactorily. "for now, we have a magical organization to rob."

"so," aaron said. "this is it?"

jackie could not believe the irony of there being a secret entrance to restitutio right next to anti's old waterworks. a crack in the universe just between the trees, a literal hole in reality that no one else had ever found. "holy shit," he breathed, shaking his head in shock. "no fucking way. no fucking way this has been here since you were a kid and the bastard somehow never found it."

rhea shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with herself. "i found it years ago. when you told me anti used to live here, i almost couldn't believe it." she slipped through the trees, narrowly avoiding catching her hair on a branch. "to be fair, you'd have to be an extremely powerful magician to find this without knowing the spell word, and anti is not, and never was, a powerful magician. oh, bitch boy can teleport and fly as a cloud of static? bitch boy can fuck with computers? he's not special. he can't even fully control it - sorry, couldn't, because he's got nothing now, huh? well." she shot jackie a glance. "almost nothing."

jackie winced, remembering anti's brief teleportation that had managed to hurt rhea. he still didn't understand how that had happened, given that jackie thought he had all his magic. "unimportant now. we need to focus on where we're going. you two know the place far better than i do, so -"

"yes, we know, jackie," rhea snapped. she pulled aside a branch and sarcastically gestured for them to go through. "after you. and when you get inside, duck as soon as you can. go."

"wait, the entrance is here?" aaron started, and rhea rolled her eyes before pushing him through. aaron yelped and - disappeared. jackie was given only a moment to gape before he was pushed after him.

he was now in a black room, and a quick, frantic grab around him told him he was in some sort of closet. there was a door in front that was almost entirely made of glass, and jackie now understood why rhea had told them to duck. he feels aaron beside him, breathing heavily in the dark. "hey," he managed to say aloud. "how's it going?"

"shut up," hissed another voice, and jackie jumped before realizing it was rhea. "we're in a closet that's connected to a hallway, so anyone could just walk by. stay still while i check."

they didn't move as rhea slowly rose, a faint mist around her face. "coast's clear," she said softly, and the door opened with only a tiny click, exposing them to a plain white hall with no other defining features other than a camera on the wall. rhea sighed. "jackson, would you like the honour of fixing that?"

jackie really wasn't accustomed to using anti's magic. but he'd been practicing, and with a single flick of his hand, he could somehow see into the camera, see every inner working, see everything it was connected to. "woah," he breathed, raising his hand higher like he was trying to get a signal. "if this is how anti always saw things, i can see why he went bloody mental."

"hurry up and loop them," rhea reminded, and jackie startled before doing as she asked. with the cameras fixed, they fully stepped out into the hall, pressed against the wall as they caught their breaths, rhea already calculating the way. "ok, so jackie, you keep an eye on the cameras. i'll do my best to hide us all if anything happens. mckenzie, you're our backup in case everything goes to shit. you're our attack dog."

"course i am," aaron muttered, but didn't complain. they set off round the corner, rhea still leading, aaron in tow. they didn't see anyone for a while, and they moved slowly, jackie getting the hang of looping the camera feeds as they went.

suddenly, rhea stopped. "shit!' she gasped, and threw her hands up. a blurry shield of sorts lifted over them, and they all went dead silent as two men walked by, wearing dark outfits and speaking in hushed tones. pressed against the wall, the three of them didn't breathe. jackie could feel all three of their thoughts aligning to please don't catch us, please don't catch us, please don't catch us. he could hear aaron's heart beating and gripped his hand tightly, feeling how hot his palms were.

"- don't understand why she never bloody listens to me," the first man was saying quietly. he had light brown hair and almost greyish skin, a cloak shrugged over his shoulders. "i do everything for her. everything! i gave up meat for her, i basically stopped smoking for her - and yet i'm the problem! what the fuck does she want?"

"maybe you're shite in bed," sniggered the other man, who had dark skin and an unfortunate mullet. "or maybe you're just a dick and she doesn't like you."

the first man elbowed him in the side, slowing to check his phone. jackie's legs were shaking, and he lifted a hand to clamp over his mouth so he wouldn't cry out. "fuck off," the man scoffed as the second man laughed. "she loves me really. she just never cares - i say "i'm off to work," and she says "are you actually going to meet up with edward again" and maybe i am, but she doesn't know that and still doesn't trust me!"

they slowly began to walk again, and the second man slapped the first man on the back. "perry," he giggled, shaking his head. "sometimes i wish you'd listen to the horseshit that came out your mouth before you made me hear it."

the two of them continued bickering quietly as they rounded the corner, and as soon as they were gone, jackie gasped and fell fully into aaron, burying his face in his chest. "motherfucker," he heard rhea say as she dropped the illusion around them. "that guy was a right prick. i hope his partner cuts his d- jackson? fuck, what's up?"

jackie was clinging to the front of aaron's jacket, shaking. "i -" was all he managed to get out for a moment. "mistake, this is bad, we need to stop and go back -"

rhea scoffed. "don't be such a pussy. you get one scare and that's enough to send you running?"

"he said he doesn't want to!" aaron said loudly from above him. jackie felt the man's fingers curl into his hair protectively, holding him close. "and i don't want to either. this is fucking bullshit, and i -"

"hello?"

they all froze.

rhea went very, very pale.

"blake," she mouthed, and grabbed the two men by the collar, yanking them down the hall as fast as she could. they flew through the door to a stairwell and practically fell down them, listening to voices getting closer. at the bottom was another door, which they shoved through into a different hall with a fake window on the end. jackie could barely breathe, wiping cameras as quickly as he could, and then suddenly rhea was shoving them into a room and shutting the door, leaning against the small window. they could see a blurry shape on the other side - jackie couldn't tell if it was the stiùiriche or not - before they disappeared, leaving the three of them in silence.

"thank fuck," rhea whispered, voice very high. "that was definitely blake, and he would have seen through any of my illusions. shit, we're lucky to have gotten away with that."

aaron was tugging on jackie's sleeve. "jay," he hissed. jackie couldn't even turn, just closed his eyes and let his forehead rest against the door.

"where are we now?" he said quietly. his breathing was slowing back to normal, and he shuddered briefly, sighing.

"jay," aaron said again. "jackson."

"we should be just under the floor we were on," rhea murmured. "we're close now, so we might as well -"

"guys!"

they both turned in unison to see what aaron wanted. "what's the pr-" jackie started, before he finally took a look at the room they were in.

it genuinely looked like a lab from a horror movie. the room was lit up blue, a desk and trolley full of beakers and surgical tools next to bottles of multicoloured liquids, like potions. curtains hung over strange rectangular boxes. but none of that was what they were focusing on. in the centre of the room was a large, complex looking bed surrounded by black machines, and in the bed was a man. dark, greying skin and shaved coiled hair, wearing a white hospital gown. tubes stabbed into his skin, connecting to the machine. a nasal cannula on his face. pale and sickly, dead looking. it took jackie a moment to recognize him and when he did, it was like a direct kick to the chest.

"holy shit," aaron said in a high voice. "is that - is that not your brother's ex boyfriend?"

because yes, it was raymond. marvin's bastard ex. jackie couldn't breathe.

rhea stepped forward, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "my god, they did it," she murmured, tapping the side of the machine. "the fuckers went and did it."

"did - what?" jackie managed to choke out. "i - rhea, what are they doing to him?"

rhea turned back and rolled her eyes. "why do you care? it's your fault he's here in the first place. you chose to bring him here. didn't you say you hated him, hated him the same way you hated anti?" a raised eyebrow, another smirk. "didn't you want to hurt him?"

"this is so fucked," aaron sobbed, clamping his hands over his ears as he groaned in disgust. "rhea, for fuck's sake, tell us what they're doing to him!"

she sighed. "they're extracting his magic." she said this in a tone so casual that it took a moment to sink in. "i didn't think they'd manage it, but this machine is new. it tears every strip of magic from your body and, depending how much of it was in you, you'll either literally shrivel up and die or you'll lose half your senses and maybe a limb or two."

aaron turned and threw up. jackie found himself at rhea's side, watching the skeletal man's chest rise and fall, wheezing. "is he dead?" jackie breathed, something hot and unpleasant stirring in his chest. "and - why are they taking his magic?"

"he's not dead, no," rhea said matter of factly, leaning against the dark machine. "not yet. and as for your second question - think of it this way. you know how you took part of anti's soul and therefore gained most of his magic and a bunch of his memories? it's like that, only slightly different. they don't take the soul. only the pure, unreached magic. they use it to fuel their own. so they won't gain this man's powers when they use it, but instead, their own magic will be stronger."

"this is so messed up," aaron moaned, straightening from the corner he'd been vomiting in. he was pale, shivering. "we can't - we can't do this. we can't."

"oh, come on!" rhea said loudly, throwing up her hands and letting then flop to her sides. "you helped torture anti, did you not? he's human too, probably! human like this guy! both of them pricks, correct? both of them people who have hurt one or more of your brothers? why is it so wrong for anti to hurt and not him?"

even jackie didn't have an answer. not only that, but… there was a small, disgusted part of him that was almost satisfied to see raymond like this.

he wondered what marvin would say if he could see him now.

"this isn't important right now," aaron suddenly spat. he stormed towards them and grabbed jackie's hand, holding it tightly in his own. "are we going to get these bloody necklaces or what? let's go, i'm tired of fucking standing here."

both rhea and jackie were surprised by aaron's sudden change of heart, but neither one complained. they checked that the coast was clear and set off again, clicking the door behind them. jackie didn't look back at raymond.

"blake's corridor is over here," rhea said, guiding them through a hall and briefly throwing up a veiled illusion to hide them from someone walking by. jackie held his breath until they were gone. "the stiùiriche always gets a corridor to themself, lucky bastard. mckenzie, this is your time to shine. hopefully we can get in and out without too much trouble, but if not…" she cracked her neck. "blake is mine."

the hallway was dark, and no one was around. "he doesn't like people being around," rhea said quietly. their footsteps were the only sound they could hear. "back when he was announced as the new stiùiriche, even i wasn't usually allowed to - shit!"

she grabbed them and pulled them against the wall. on the staircase, seen through the window across the opposing room, staring right at them… was a man. short brown hair, pale skin, a black hoodie. jackie recognized him. fuck, but jackie recognized him.

is someone up above trying to fuck with me today? he thought. what the hell is going on?

"shouldn't we move?" aaron said. "he's seen us!"

"too late," rhea murmured. "way too late."

the man watched them.

"will he tell the stiùiriche?" jackie asked, heart racing.

"most likely," rhea replied.

aaron leaped forward, holding up his hands with a look of confusion on his face. "am i missing something? who is that?"

"unimportant," rhea said immediately. "let's go. if he's over there, blake probably is too. hopefully we'll be ok."

she took off down the hall. aaron fell into step beside jackie, shaking his arm to get his attention. "jackson. are you hiding something from me?"

guilt rolled in his chest. "shut up," he mumbled, hating himself as he said it. "i'll tell you later."

he did not plan to tell him later.

aaron let go of his hand.

"is this it?" rhea asked. they'd gone through another few rooms, seeing no one, and was now in what looked like some sort of strange dressing room, lit up yellow, lined with shelves and full of closets and desks. "or are we near it? you guys are so lucky i know the spell words to get into blake's places, by the way, otherwise you'd so be screwed. this place is fucking weird."

"we're close," aaron muttered. he'd been very quiet since seeing the man on the stairs. he moved across the room, opening closets and peeking inside. "i found this place when i left a meeting with the stiùiriche and went looking through some of the rooms while the spells were down for me. i was a rather well trusted member, and the magician who was to escort me out basically told me to go by myself. normally, i wouldn't have taken anything, but something seemed to be almost… compelling me. and i guess i'm glad i did." he paused in his search, expression unreadable. "maybe."

a few minutes of looking, and it was rhea who found what they were looking for in one of the many closets in the room. "blake's hidden safe," she breathed, staring into a black void with no apparent end. "i never knew where it was. he never let me in here. mckenzie, you legend!"

aaron just snorted, looking distant. "yeah, sure. let's go in and get the shit and then go home and be powerful, i guess." his tone was dripping with sarcasm.

jackie went in after rhea, staring in awe round the place. it was a literal abyss, with only a few glowing lights, like beacons. "your brother sure has a thing for creepy voids," jackie joked, trying to lighten the mood.

rhea wasn't paying attention. she marched across the floor - jackie blinked behind his glasses, because it looked like she was floating - and went up to the farthest beacon, eyes wide. "here," she gasped, beckoning jackie over. "quick, come here!"

it was the necklaces, laying on two white pedestals under glowing lights from an unknown source. they looked a lot like jackie's necklace, only slightly different colours; while jackie's was jet black, one was a deep silver with a red gem and the other was a golden copper with a green gem. "souls," rhea murmured, picking up the golden one and turning it over in her hands. "weapons. i wonder if they work the same as yours, jackie? mckenzie, come and - mckenzie?"

they both turned. aaron was gone.

"well, that's not good," rhea said lightly.

"shit," jackie hissed. he grabbed the other necklace, wincing at how it burned his hands, and darted back over to where the glowing entrance of the safe was. his feet didn't make a sound as he ran. "we got what we needed, let's find aaron and go."

"aw, do we have to?" rhea complained. she was fixing the necklace to her neck, letting it fall to her chest. "he's boring, can we leave him? he's probably off being emo because you wouldn't tell him who that other guy that you handed over to blake was."

"shut up!" jackie spat, stumbling out of the cupboard. panic was beginning to spike in his chest, and was it just his imagination, or were the lights flickering? "this was too easy, this was - this was a mistake. this was so a mistake, oh my god -"

"oh, yes. it was definitely a mistake."

that last voice wasn't rhea's. or aaron's.

jackie turned to face the stiùiriche himself.

he looked the same as last time he'd seen him. salt and pepper hair, galaxy suit that shifted as he walked, black cape, black eyes. he carried an aura of power and of demanding respect, head high and eyes blazing. already jackie was sinking, submitting to the pure magic the man radiated.

but then rhea stepped in. "blake," she said curtly, a polite grin on her face that only thinly disguised her malice. "how have you been?"

the stiùiriche glared down at them, arching an eyebrow. "stealing from me again, sister," he said, and he was looking at the necklaces in both their hands. "haven't you taken enough?"

rhea scoffed, her mask of indifference slipping. "mm, have i? i can think of a few more things i could strip you of. your position of power, your heart, your -"

jackie suddenly found himself swimming out the haze of near magic hypnotism that he'd been under, immediately beginning to shout. "where's aaron?" he cried, swaying on his feet. "what have you done with him?"

the stiùiriche frowned. "aaron mckenzie? the traitor man, the one who stole from me the first time? he is here too?"

"don't play dumb!" jackie roared, and before he could even think, his eyes and veins were blackening and the necklace was tightening on his chest. "give him back to me!"

then a hand was on his shoulder, pushing him back down when he hadn't even realized he was rising. "stop," rhea said sharply. "he's mine."

the lights in the room snapped off and plunged them into darkness.

when they turned back on… they weren't really back on. they were in another black void, like they always seemed to be with this guy. "is this one of your magic specialties?" jackie spat, leaning against rhea to keep her close. "weird black rooms?"

"pocket universes," he heard blake say, his voice echoing all around. "my specialty, yes, next to my… natural charm. hypnotism. i'm very good at it, jackieboy man, wouldn't you agree?"

"i -" he tried to direct a bolt of magic towards him, but the void seemed to swallow it up, and he couldn't even seem to pinpoint the stiùiriche's voice. "shut up! just shut up! stop it!"

"don't let him get to you," rhea shouted. she pressed her back to his, and the two of them briefly were one, spinning round, on defense, watching. "he uses emotion to his advantage. use your light! you're a photokinesis magician, are you not?"

jackie breathed in sharply, whimpering in sudden pain. "i am, i am, but - i - since the necklace, i -"

something began to laugh. "oh, that is rich," came the voice of the stiùiriche, and a sudden wave of magic hit the two of them, causing rhea to stumble and jackie to fall to the floor. "your light magic - it isn't compatible with the black soul magic that you stole, is it? the irony. the irony!"

"shut the fu͠cķ ͠u͞p̶!"̴ jackie screamed, and his magic began to thunder through his veins. rhea howled, and she was a wolf, she was an owl, she was a beast. something glowed - the stiùiriche's suit - and he hit them again. jackie, for a moment, couldn't move. he could barely see rhea, lashing out with coils of weak darkness, and blake, laughing, laughing.

"your illusions don't work on me, piuthar," the man said loudly, and jackie's vision spun. black inky shadows seeped from his eyes and nose and ears and in between his fingernails, and he attempted to use it to push himself to his feet. it worked, and he stumbled, looking frantically for rhea as blake rose, never staying in one place. "i see right through you. always have. how goes your quest to redeem yourself, rhea bird?"

"don't you dare," she hissed in the voice of a snake. something collided with flesh. something burned. "i have redeemed myself plenty without you. i have many powerful magicians under my control, wrapped around my little finger. you have no idea."

jackie did not know what she was talking about. he shot a bolt towards the dire direction of the man's voice, and seemed to get a lucky shot. the stiùiriche screamed, and something blew into jackie's face as he swayed, trying to get to rhea. "fuck," he moaned, feeling his body go light. "rhea, aaron, m-marvin… marvin…"

"where's your fucking boyfriend?" rhea cried, and jackie saw her leap aside, something dark coiled in her hands. "he was our attack dog, the bastard! this necklace isn't doing shit!"

jackie was going numb. his stomach lurched, head spinning with hypnotism, stronger than anti's own. fuck, he wished he knew how to control all this magic better. he was starting to become delirious. "marvin!" he yelled, voice breaking. "i can't - aaron, marvin!"

"jackson!"

aaron's voice. through jackie's blurred vision, he could see him in the broken doorway that hadn't been open a moment before. "come on!" he shouted, holding the doorway and straining as blake attempted to close it from where he was standing. "hurry up, i can't hold it!"

"traitor!" the stiùiriche screamed. rhea took this opportunity to roundhouse kick him right across the face. without even the use of magic, blake stumbled; the closing of the door paused, and jackie even within his delirious state knew to race over to the exit. "you traitor, pathetic boy! you could have had power!"

once again, jackie had no fucking clue what he was talking about. it seemed like he was feeling like that a lot lately. all he knew was that if he didn't get out, he'd be trapped in blake's pocket hell world, and that wasn't something he wanted. "rhea!" he called, feeling his legs beginning to give out beneath him. "come on, we've got what we need!"

the doorway was bright, and aaron's face felt even brighter. "thank fuck you're alright, hurry up!" he gasped, ushering jackie out the void. as soon as he was back in blake's strange dressing room - how many pocket universes did he have in these closets, because he was coming out of a different one than before - his mind began to clear, and fuck if it wasn't unnerving. had he really been hypnotized so easily, just by being in blake's presence? how was he still that weak, after everything?

"run, run, hurry!" aaron was shouting, and jackie snapped back to attention as the man grabbed his hand and pulled him out the room back into the hall. he could hear fighting behind them, something crashing, something exploding, something slamming into something else, someone screaming.

jackie tried to stop. "rhea, we need to wait for rhea!" he yelled over the noise. an alarm was blaring - rhea had mentioned that if they were caught, there was a chance an alarm could be set off. someone ahead was shouting - pounding footsteps, magic blasts - "stop, aaron, we have to make sure rhea's ok!"

"fuck rhea!" aaron panted. three other magicians materialized in front of them. fire glowed in one of their hands, and jackie and aaron stopped dead. "shit, shit -"

one of them lifted a hand, chanting something -

and jackie threw himself into aaron's arms, wrapping his arms around him as the sound of static filled the air louder and louder like a broken crescendo -

and they were in the trees next to the waterworks again.

they held each other for about thirty seconds, neither man daring to breathe, shaking, listening to each other's heartbeats in the silence.

"you teleported," aaron said, his voice very high. "you glitched, you did it, we're out, you -"

"where were you?" jackie whispered. he was too scared to pull away, too scared to let aaron see the look on his face. too scared to look at aaron's face. "where did you go? you left us, i was - aaron, i was…"

aaron pressed his lips to jackie's head, holding him upright with a hand on his back. "had to do something," he mumbled, something jackie couldn't understand in his voice. "i'm sorry. i'm sorry."

an awful feel began to sink in jackie's chest. "aaron. if you did what i think you did… i think rhea will genuinely kill you."

"then let's leave her," he said loudly, and sat straight up, eyes wide and desperate. "i have the necklace, which i really didn't need, but i have it. thank you for getting it for me, by the way." he took it from jackie's hands, admiring the unnatural silver shine. "we… we can go. we don't need her."

jackie pulled away so he could look at aaron's face, though he kept his arms round him just to keep him grounded. "you - what? we can't leave rhea, what the hell? why would we do that?"

aaron hesitated. "jackson. she's - she's fucked, she's with her brother. there's nothing else we can do, babe, we have to -"

"oh, planning on leaving me, were you?"

the two of them whipped round to see that yes, it was rhea emerging from the trees. she must have gotten out through the hidden portal in the closet again. her hair was singed, her nose bleeding and scratched, but she was very much undoubtedly alive. "rhea," jackie breathed, and without thinking, he broke free from aaron and ran over to give her a hug. she didn't return it. "rhea, what happened, i thought you were -"

"dead?" she laughed. something in her voice was harsh and cold. she didn't appear to find it funny at all. "nope. just got a bit caught up. nice to see you waited for me, though."

jackie winced, stepping back between aaron and rhea. "i - i wanted to, rhea, but some magicians were closing in and i ended up teleporting -"

"what's your excuse?" she suddenly said, turning to aaron. the mood in the air soured even further, the tension thick enough to be suffocating. "why did you leave?"

aaron, to his credit, didn't break as she stared him down. he stood tall, unblinking. something unspoken traveled between them. a threat. a promise.

jackie couldn't stand it. "let's not do this," he said quickly, raising his hands to act as a shield between them. "we can talk later. we need to get away in case the stiùiriche follows us or something. come on."

for a moment, neither aaron nor rhea moved. then the woman smiled, snakelike. "ok then. let's go. we can talk about all this later, yeah? we've got all the time in the world."

jackie didn't like the threat in her voice. but he had no choice but to follow her out of the trees and back to anti's old waterworks.

#boop writes #the fall #marvin the magnificent #chase brody #henrik von schneeplestein #jameson jackson #jackieboy man #naomi gudmundson #aaron mckenzie #rhea maclaren

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breakingsomething · 4 years

Text

the fall part twenty - all hallow's eve

basic summary: it's jamie's birthday, and his brothers are determined to make his day good for him. also, rhea, jackie and aaron do bad shit again. surprise, surprise.

trigger warnings: flashback, extreme distress, hypnosis

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow @graveyardlettuce @lower-your-expectationss

"jamie, jamie, jamie! get the hell up, man!"

jamie groaned and rolled over, unfolding his arms and blinking in the sudden light. above him, he could see a blonde head, blue eyes and a big grin, along with a hand that shook his shoulder. "wakey wakey, eggs and bakey. well, pancakes and bakey. or just pancakes. we made pancakes. jamie, wake u-up!"

jamie pulled a hand from underneath the covers and flipped chase the bird before yanking his blankets over his head.

"oh, don't be like that," he heard chase scoff. suddenly the blankets were being torn off, and jamie hissed playfully, unable to hide a grin. chase laughed. "get up, lazy ass! and happy birthday! happy halloween birthday to the pumpkins!"

he left the room, leaving the door wide open. jamie rolled his eyes with a dramatic sigh despite no one being there to see it. he sat up and finally got out of bed, glancing at his phone (not that he needed to in order to know what time it was, he was always aware of the time anyway) to see it was eleven o'clock. he'd slept a full ten hours. better than usual, he thought as he pulled some clothes out of the assorted pile his brothers had put together for him from their own wardrobes. usually he only got about seven.

he brushed his hair and went downstairs, where everyone was sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast with innocent smiles. they had been talking in hushed tones but immediately went quiet when jamie came in, trying and failing to act completely natural. "ok, what's going on?" jamie sighed dramatically, swinging his hands out as he signed. "is it a special day or something?"

"happy happy birthday!" marvin cheered, pushing a huge box from underneath the kitchen table. henrik and chase followed suit with slightly smaller boxes, grinning. "you're thirty and also three now! like two birthdays in one!"

jameson couldn't help but laugh. "i don't need presents - you guys are sweet, though. please, don't do too much just for me."

"but it's your first birthday with us!" chase cried, lifting his box onto the table. "this is fudging special! also, we have to do gift unwrapping and cake cutting soon, cause i gotta go get the kids in like, half an hour. stacy's actually coming with us to take them trick or treating, how cool is that?" marvin and henrik cheered, and jamie clapped with a big grin at the delighted look on chase's face. "i know, right? oh my god, before we do birthday stuff, guess what louise is going as for halloween."

"sonic," marvin said immediately.

chase giggled, pushing his cap up further as jamie sat himself down on the seat next to him. "you'd think, huh? but no. try again."

"someone from teenage mutant ninja turtles?" henrik asked before taking a sip of his coffee. chase shook his head.

marvin blew his hair out his face. "anyone from sonic at all?"

chase grinned and nodded. "she's going as tails the fox. do you wanna know why?" the other three nodded. chase leaned back in his chair. "because she's making connor go as sonic. she wants to be tails this year because he can fly."

there was a pause before everyone laughed, henrik choking on his coffee. "dear god," he managed once he'd finished his coughing fit. "that's the first time in maybe four years she hasn't gone as sonic, correct?"

"yes!" chase wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes. "she came up to me and stacy and was like "mama, papa, i don't want to go as sonic this year" and we were internally like "finally, she's leaving her sonic obsession behind" and stacy goes "oh, so who do you want to be?" all sweetly and connor - connor fudging runs in dressed all in blue like "i'm sonic now!" swear to god i lost my mind. i'm still losing my mind, christ."

jamie listened to them chatter for a few minutes, content just to hear them talk. he'd missed a lot in his life, it seemed. maybe now was the time to catch up. just the thought made him smile.

"so jamie!" marvin said, snapping him from his thoughts. "present time! open mine last, i think you'll really like it."

"my present is probably the most pathetic," henrik said sheepishly, sliding the crinkly, rectangular package over to him. "i didn't really know what to get you and i've been - ok, i won't give excuses. i hope you like it anyway."

jamie smiled wide. "thank you, henrik. i wasn't expecting a lot anyway. honestly, i don't like receiving gifts. makes me feel strange. but you guys are too nice, you really are."

he gently undid the paper and grinned at the contents. a large stack of candles, all different scents and such. "henrik, this is great!"

henrik shrugged, trying to hold back a small smile. "i'm glad you like it. i was worried you would think it was silly."

the next present was chase's. he seemed very excited to hand over his present, practically vibrating as he passed him the large box. it rattled as jamie took it, something sliding around the top. "it's two presents in one," chase beamed, shaking hair out his face. "come on, open it!"

"give the man a second to breathe, chaser," marvin laughed as jamie rolled his eyes teasingly, deliberately making fun of chase's impatience by opening the box extremely slowly. by the time he'd opened it fully, chase was almost standing in his chair. jamie stuck his tongue out and pulled out a box of chocolate poptarts, to which he raised an eyebrow with a grin.

chase groaned. "those are just extra, look at the real present beneath! i wanna see what you think!"

it was a strange sort of ball. "it's called a moon light," chase explained. "they're so pretty! i thought you could use one for your room, even if you can't see the colours."

jamie turned it over in his hands, smiling. "it's beautiful," he signed once he'd set it down. "i love it so much, thank you."

marvin pushed his box over, grunting with the effort. "ok, so you said not to get you much, but your room was so empty and i wanted to get you something good," he said. "i think you might like this. but be careful, it's fragile."

jamie groaned. "oh, good gods," he signed before picking the box up - it was very heavy - and setting it on the table. "marvin, i don't need anything big."

"hey, it's just one thing," marvin protested. "we've barely given you anything."

"you gave me a home," jamie said without thinking. "you didn't have to do that but you did, even though you had no reason to trust me. you could have sent me away and you didn't and i honestly believe that's the best thing you could ever done for me."

he stared at the package without blinking and didn't look up at his brothers.

"oh - oh, jamie," marvin said softly. "fuck, of course we'd give you a home. you're our brother and we love you."

"yeah!" chase chipped in. "we know you're not anti, and we know you don't think like him. jackie was the fool there."

"you've never given us reason not to trust you," henrik murmured. he placed a hand on jamie's, so gently. "you're a wonderful man and we all know it. we wouldn't do all this for you if we didn't trust you, and we do. we do, ok? we love you so much."

jamie suddenly felt lucky he talked using his hands, otherwise he'd be bursting into tears. he nodded vigorously and quickly unwrapped his present, gasping softly when he saw the beautiful vinyl player inside the box. shiny and dark, with a frank sinatra vinyl at the top of the box. jamie blinked, taking it in. "marvin, it's - beautiful, thank you. this is too much, how much even was this?"

marvin grinned. "a magician never reveals his secrets."

"let's set it up in your room," henrik said excitedly, eyes shining. "oh, i love vinyls, i don't even have a player for them but i own so many and i'm sure you can borrow them -"

"ah, 'scuze me," chase interrupted, holding up both hands. "i have to leave very soon. it's saturday. let's do cake and then i'm bolting."

marvin leapt up, singing to himself as he danced round the table, and jamie snorted. "we're actually doing cake? seriously?"

"of course we are!" marvin almost shouted, digging through the fridge. "who do you think we are, james? a family that doesn't do cake? unheard of." he turned round, an enormous grin on his face as he lifts the pink cake up. "it's cake time, gentlemen!"

they cut slices of the cake, laughing and talking and complimenting marvin on the cake, which he'd apparently baked himself. jamie got the biggest slice and almost couldn't manage the full thing despite how good it was. about twenty minutes later, chase got up to leave, ruffling jamie's curls as way of saying goodbye. "see you fuckers later," he said, doing finger guns before wincing. "shit, i should stop swearing. fuck. i mean - not fuck. just - ahhh, i'll see you dorks later. adios."

"dorks? really?" henrik called after him. chase stuck his hand through the front door again to flip him off.

the rest of the day passed pretty smoothly. chase texted them a few times with updates, at one point sending pictures of the kid's fantastic costumes mixed in with heart eyed reaction images. the three other brothers went out to mcdonald's for lunch and got enough chips to fill nearly a whole tray, which was apparently enough to make chase jealous. he later sent pictures of him, connor and louise at the park with huge ice creams in hand. "gods, it's no wonder people call us childish," jamie laughed teasingly, dipping about ten chips into his own tub of ice cream at once.

"who's calling us childish?" marvin jokingly exclaimed, crossing his eyes and making an exaggerated face of anger. "give me names, i'll challenge them to a duel."

"point proven," henrik sing-songed, sticking his tongue out. "don't cross your eyes or your face will get stuck like that. james, i cannot believe you eat your chips with ice cream and genuinely believe it tastes nice. you are a disgrace to humanity."

"let's all dip our chips in ice cream to piss off henrik," marvin grinned, and he and jamie smacked their soggy chips together with a cry of "cheers!" henrik spluttered, shaking his head in disgust.

"people like you are the reason the mcdonald's ice cream machines are always broken," he scoffed, flicking some ketchup from his burger at marvin. "the employees see you coming and go "ah, scheisse, it is the magic cat bastard again, about to dip his chips in ice cream like some kind of animal. sorry, sir, machines are broke." you disgust me."

"a-w, what about me?" jamie pouted teasingly, sticking out his bottom lip.

"not you, jamie, you are a treasure and we're happy to have you here," henrik said warmly. then he made a face at marvin. "you, however -"

they were interrupted when chase sent a photo of him, stacy and the kids, chase proudly holding up a cheese and onion bake from gregg's. they then all collectively agreed he was a teasing bastard and moved on.

they bickered all the way home about what movie to watch. "it's halloween," henrik argued, smoothing his hair out his face. "we should obviously watch a nightmare before christmas."

"i think we should watch dawn of the dead just to piss chase off," marvin grinned.

"what, dawn of the dead, 2004, you mean?" henrik laughed. marvin shook his head, grimacing and widening his eyes in mock horror.

"i think chase would kill us," he giggled. "which might be funny, but it's jamie's birthday, so he should pick." they both turned to him. "what do you think?"

jamie shrugged. "i don't know. i haven't seen all that many films, even when i was with you. i did watch a few with anti, though."

"ooh, like what?" marvin asked curiously. he nearly walked into a streetlamp but managed to smoothly dodge it. "what movies did the fantastic antisepticeye have to show?"

jamie wiggled his mustache, thinking. "hot fuzz. and i watched a documentary about penguins when he was passed out once. then there was the night we were both up with nightmares and pulled an all nighter to watch a movie about chickens."

"another documentary?" henrik wondered. "anti doesn't seem like the documentary type."

jamie shook his head. "no, an animated one. it had a chicken and a - a fish and a goose and a pig? i think?"

"...charlotte's web?" henrik guessed slowly.

marvin elbowed him. "charlotte's web was about a spider, you numpty. d'you mean, uh… chicken run?"

"free birds?" henrik asked. "me and chase watched that last year with connor and louise."

"wasn't that about turkeys?" marvin giggled.

henrik rolled his eyes. "and when was there a fish in charlotte's web?"

"there was definitely a fish in charlotte's web!"

"they lived on a farm -"

dapper whistled sharply, interrupting them. "no, no. there were aliens. robot aliens. made the sky fall like jackie did."

the two went silent. then henrik spoke. "are you saying you and anti watched chicken little?"

jamie snapped his fingers. "that's the bitch!"

marvin let out a disbelieving laugh. "chicken little? the little bitch with the glasses and the goose girlfriend or something? and anti watched it with you?"

"to be fair, we were both tired and miserable and didn't really care all that much," dapper signed casually. "i think we fell asleep anyway. i just remember during the incident with jackie, i was thinking about that chicken."

there was a long pause as they crossed the street and walked past the corner shop in the direction of their flat. "i don't believe it," henrik eventually mumbled. "fucking - anti. fucking anti willingly watching chicken little with you. i can't picture it. i can't. that's literally incomprehensible to me."

by the time they got home, it was four o'clock, and they decided on ordering pizza for dinner. "i haven't eaten a single healthy food today," marvin announced, almost proudly. "i want a meat feast with barbeque sauce and stuffed crust."

"how much money do you think we have, bastard?" henrik despaired, but when he called the pizza place to ask for hawaiian for himself and plain cheese for jamie, he heard him add stuffed crust to marvin's order.

they sat down in the living room and started up the tv, the three of them snuggling up on the one couch. "you mock us for chips and ice cream, yet you eat pineapple on pizza," marvin accused, throwing his legs across jamie's.

"hawaiian pizza is perfectly respectable," henrik said lightly. "anyway, let's watch a movie. then we can set up the player in jamie's room while we wait for chase to come back."

"will we get trick or treaters?" jamie wondered. neither man saw his hands, so he whistled and repeated the question. henrik shook his head.

"we don't get them because we live in a flat," henrik said. "i suppose since we're on the bottom and therefore get two floors, we could technically try it. maybe next year."

"definitely next year," jamie agreed. "it sounds fun."

they did end up watching a nightmare before christmas while they ate their pizza. the music and animation was lovely, and henrik didn't shut up the whole time. "i absolutely love this song," he said as the oogie-boogie man appeared on screen with his dice. "i used to listen to the soundtrack of this film all the time, it always manages to fit with each character and such -"

"henrik," marvin said gently. "shush."

it was near the end of the film when someone chapped at the door. "i thought you said we didn't get trick or treaters?" jamie asked, to which marvin got up and went to go answer. jamie took henrik's hand. he hated the small part of him that was still so ridiculously afraid, especially on today of all days.

they heard the door open. "trick or treat!" came two small voices, and one familiar one. jamie and henrik laughed in relief upon hearing chase and the kids coming inside, laughing and chattering loudly. marvin peeked into the room and grinned.

"guess who's back!" he cheered. behind him, connor and louise leapt in, still wearing their costumes. everyone cheered as they posed to show them off, huge grins on their little faces. "it's sonic and tails themselves, in the flesh!"

"uncle jam, hen, marv!" the children cried, cheeks dark with cold and excitement. "look at us, we can fly and go super speed!"

"very nice!" henrik affirmed warmly, and he lifted connor onto his lap as he spun by. "come here, you ridiculous fox boy. how many sweeties did you get?"

"lots!" connor cried, and he tossed his bag from his gloved fingers onto the couch besides jamie. "dump it out, uncle jam, i wanna show off my sweets! louise - no, tails, come over here! come show your sweets. papa! where are you?"

"right here," said chase. he was laughing, and jamie realized why as he came into view; he was wearing a mask with a frankly terrifying face on it. "evening, gamers. how are we all doing?"

"what - what are you?" henrik asked in horror over the sound of marvin and jamie's laughter.

chase pulled up the mask and made a mock hurt face. "hey, i'm shadow the hedgehog! i'm being a good father by cosplaying with my kids." he lowered his voice as he shrugged his jacket off. "they made stacy go as amy."

"although technically sonic and shadow aren't friends for a long time, because shadow's really sad about maria's death and he does a lot of bad stuff that sonic doesn't like to make up for it," louise suddenly said, dropping to her knees on the floor and spilling her sweets out. "although shadow does help sonic save the world in sonic adventure 2 to try and fulfill maria's last wishes. it's not all shadow's fault, though. he was made to save maria and he failed and that really hurt him. he also got put in suspen-ded ani-ma-tion for a while, then he got used as a weapon by eggman. he's not really a bad guy. he's just had a lot of bad stuff happen to him and i love him. oh, con, i got a wispa!"

"lemme see!" connor shrieked, leaping off henrik's lap to join his sister on the floor. jamie turned to henrik and marvin with raised eyebrows, slightly taken aback and completely astonished.

"she knows a lot about sonic," chase whispered, sitting down beside them. "it's her favourite thing. one of my favourite things to do is ask her any question about it and listen to her ramble. it's so sweet. hey, lou!" louise turned round to look at him, a chocolate bar hanging out her mouth. chase grinned. "tell us some more about shadow and maria."

louise's eyes lit up. "oh! ok! well, maria was the granddaughter of this guy called gerald robotnik, who's eggman's grandfather, and gerald, kinda, he created shadow as an experiment to help maria, who was really sick…"

it was maybe ten minutes before henrik went to go make some hot chocolate for everyone, and then shouted out in surprise. "hey, what the f- what are these pumpkins doing here?"

"oh!" chase yelped, leaping to his feet. "i completely forgot! guys, guys, i said i was gonna get pumpkins for us to carve and i did! jamie, come see, we're carving pumpkins!"

and he had indeed bought pumpkins. connor and louise had each already picked one out, and jamie, henrik and marvin made a big show of arguing over the others, which really made the kids laugh. as they set up plastic bags all over the living room floor, jamie began to get really excited. he knew that he has carved a pumpkin in his introduction video that jack made, the video that had been deleted minutes after being uploaded with only anti able to recover it, but jamie didn't remember it. the weight of the pumpkin didn't feel familiar in his hands. smooth, slightly wet. the sensation was kind of awful. but jamie wasn't about to tell anyone else that. the kids were enjoying themselves, and he wasn't about to ruin that.

"now we draw faces and whatnot on them," chase said, pulling some sharpies from his pocket and tossing them in the air. "let's go, gamers. con, lou, i'll help if you need any. are you doing scary face or silly face? i can do both."

it was nearly seven o'clock now. jamie wasn't sure why, but he found something felt so off with every line he drew on the pumpkin's surface. a strange feeling of deja vu. which was ridiculous, of course. jameson hadn't ever carved a pumpkin.

"ok, now the cutting!" chase announced cheerfully. too cheerfully for the words he was saying. even in context, jamie felt sick. "louise and connor, you are absolutely not doing this part yourselves. henrik, can you - thank you, thanks. looking fantastic, jamie! how are you enjoying your carving experience?"

jamie managed to smile as he looked up, head bobbing like a doll. "good," he signed, dropping his pen. he noticed connor had gone with a scary face with gnashing teeth, and louise had gone with a cheery face with squinty eyes. "they look great, kids."

"thank you, jam-jam!" connor squealed in a silly voice, with louise repeating right after. jamie laughed silently, feeling his head spin.

"you know how to carve it, right, james?" marvin asked. jamie jumped at his voice. marvin had pulled his hair back into a bun, a sharpie behind his ear. his grin faded slightly. "are you ok? you look a little pale."

"fine," jamie signed. he picked up the knife.

he picked up the knife

he picked up the k

"come on, dapper. you just - cut right here." anti's voice, free from static. warm and irish. "you can do it, dap. i believe in you."

blood blood blood blood blood bl

"dapper - dapper, look up. come on, you useless fuck - don't - oh, don't pass out. i'm right fucking here."

blood blood blood

"hey, dap. you're doing good. keep a hold on that knife now, eh? don't let anyone sneak up on you. always be on the lookout, that's my motto."

blood

"hey, dapper ----. look up, lift your chin."

anti's face swam into view. he looked younger. stubble on his face, shorter, less curly hair, thick gauges in his ears. a black scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. he flashed a forced smile, showing sharp fangs. "there we go. stay still and let me get these bandages on you. i'm sure you're tired, having used so much magic to keep yourself alive." he laughed hoarsely, shaking his head. "a time traveler. i can't believe ---- sent me a time traveler. ha, happy one year death anniversary to us, ----, thank you for this lovely present -"

he was more talking to himself now. dapper ---- was happy to let him. this man was kind, helping to fix up his wounds. anti - his name was anti, right? - gently wrapped the bandages round his cleaned throat. his fingers were cold. so were his eyes. dapper ---- couldn't tell what colour they were, but they looked like ice. when their eyes met, he felt a shiver go down his spine.

"look at you," anti murmured, and he smoothed dapper ----'s hair from his face. it felt nice, and he leaned into the touch. anti hummed softly. "look at you. my time traveler. so much untapped power. i think we're gonna have fun, dapper ----." he smirked. "ha, maybe i should come up with a better name. dapper's a shit name. and as funny as it would be to call you ----, i think i'd have to kill you. look up, dap-dap. ok, nevermind, that's an awful nickname. dapper it is."

he took his hands away and leaned back, studying him. they looked so alike. twins, almost. dapper ---- lifted his hands to his neck to grace the bandages, wincing. anti watched him.

"thank you," dapper ---- signed.

anti frowned. "what's that sign?" he repeated it after him, placing his hand to his chin and extending it outwards. "i don't know any bsl."

dapper tried to mouth the words, but he wasn't used to moving his mouth to form words, and he knew he looked clumsy. "thank you," he signed again, trying to make his tongue go to the right places. anti's eyes widened in understanding, and he signed it too, both of them moving in unison.

"ok, cool!" anti beamed. he made the sign again. "i should learn bsl. might come in handy, and i suppose if i have to put up with you, i might as bloody well. oh, don't look so put out, dap." anti tilted his head and his smile faded to a more genuine state, less forced. "i suppose a weapon like you is worth learning a language for."

"jamie, jamie, jamie - look up, hey. it's just me, be - be careful, drop that knife. drop that knife, james. look up. look up at me."

his hands were covered in - no, they weren't covered in blood, they weren't, they weren't. they were shaking. just shaking. pale, white hands. silver knife. dapper knew what silver looked like.

"jamie." warm and irish. not anti. of course not anti. dapper would never hear anti's voice again. "jamie. hey - chase, get the kids upstairs. pumpkin's are basically done anyway. jameson, hey, it's me. it's marvin. henrik's here too. can you look up, hon? come on, it's ok, you're ok. just us."

just them. kitten, doctor, jinx, dapper, and the gunman's children. six peas in a pod. he was going to be sick.

"fine," he signed numbly. "i'm fine. i'm fine."

once upon a time there was a scared time traveler without a voice and without a soul of his own, born into a world that wanted him dead from the beginning, a world that he came into bleeding, a world that knew the pain that was in store and tried to end it for him early, a world that was cold but contained a brother who spoke in lies and said he loved him, said he was safe, anti, i was never safe and you are a fucking fool, why did you let me save myself, why do i have to still love you?

"i want this to stop," dapper signed, jameson signed, damien signed, mustache signed, anti signed, what was his fucking name again? "i'm just tired. i'm sorry."

"that's ok," kitten - marvin - murmured softly. he touched dapper's - jameson's, jamie's - hand just slightly, grounding him. "we're here. it's ok. it's ok."

it wasn't ok. it was never ok.

that night, jamie awoke with a nightmare.

he wasn't sure what it was, just that when he sat up in bed, his heart was racing loudly in his ears and he was sweating, breathing hard like he'd been running. maybe he had, in his dream. a few minutes passed before he slipped out of bed and padded down to the kitchen to get a drink of water. he definitely needed one.

he couldn't believe he'd lost it like that. in front of the kids, as well - jamie had never been so ashamed of himself. just from holding a knife! he shook his head in disgust, balling his fists up and digging his uneven nails into his palms. it was pathetic how easily upset he was. how easy it was to become silly, naive little dapper again. some days he wondered if he was even jameson jackson at all.

he got a drink. a cup of water, then another, to soothe his pounding headache. his whole body felt slightly numb, and in the silence of the house, he could hear his slightly wheezing breaths. he drank more water. his chest felt that little bit looser.

then something crashed outside and jamie was up like a shot.

he could hear someone just outside the front door. someone scrabbling to pick something up, someone groaning and making small, pained noises. jamie's heart raced as he marched to the door, hand on the lock. he realized he wasn't armed. didn't have a knife on him like he usually did. always be on the lookout, was his motto.

well, if there was anything jamie had learned from being dapper, it was that anything could work as a weapon if you were caught off guard. he grabbed the broom that was leaning on the sideboard and threw the door open, jabbing the handle out the door to hit whatever intruder might be there. instead, he heard someone gasp loudly, and just managed to see a glitching flash of light before the person scrambled to the side of the door, just barely out of jamie's line of sight. they'd left a bag on the ground. a black and white flying tiger bag - one of jamie's favourite stores back when he was dapper. he picked it up, not looking to his left to see the intruder. he could hear them breathing. jamie peeked inside the bag, blocking everything else out as he looked.

a black sketchbook. a black sketchbook and a plastic container of greyscale markers. not only that, but there was a millie's cookies bag, containing what jamie knew to be a deluxe rainbow cookie. anti had always joked about the irony of them being his favourite. he laughed silently and opened the sketchbook to the first page. inside, scribbled in the top left corner, was the word "payback" with a small >:) face next to it.

jamie could see anti out the corner of his eye, still pressed against the wall. he didn't look at him. instead, he pulled his phone from his pocket - thank the gods he'd fallen asleep in his clothes - and quickly opened his text to speech app. there was an awkward pause while he did so, and for a moment jamie was afraid anti would bolt regardless of whether he was still there. but then it loaded and he wrote what he had to say, fingers flying across the keyboard, and held the phone up for the other man to hear.

thank you for the present. and thank you for having the sense to not try and deliver it until you thought i was asleep, even if you are a dumbass and alerted me anyway. night, anti.

anti didn't reply, of course. jamie didn't look at him. he simply closed the door and went back inside.

"evening, auggie! you're back early, i thought you were having a halloween celebration or something."

anti rolled his eyes at the sound of his roommate's voice. it was coming from the kitchen, so anti shrugged his jacket off and went straight to his room instead. carlos followed him. "hey, where you going? it's an all hallow's eve full moon, mate! come on, have a drink or something."

anti flipped him off. carlos pouted, sticking his already very pointy chin out further. he looked a lot like shaggy from scooby doo, anti thought, and tried not to laugh at the thought.

carlos held up a hand before turning and darting into the living room, coming out a moment later with a notebook and pen. "gotta keep one of these handy at all times, huh?" he laughed, snorting. anti resisted the urge to roll his eyes again, and carlos collected himself. "so. were you at a halloween party or something?"

anti frowned and began to write. no, why the fuck would i be? do i look like i go to holiday themed parties?

carlos raised his hands. "ok, ok. you left with a bag, and also you asked if we owned "wrapping paper or some fucking shit along those line, maybe even a bloody bow at the very least" earlier, so i assumed you were going to a party."

who the fuck gives presents for halloween???

carlos shrugged. "i dunno, you?"

anti sighed deeply. it's my brother's birthday, fuck's sake. can you move out my way so i can go to my room please?

"what - oh hey, no, stay and have a drink!" carlos protested, moving to block anti's way again. "come on, august, you're no fun. anyway, if it's your brother's birthday, why didn't you stay and celebrate with him? it looks like you just dropped his present and bolted."

anti snorted. basically. we're not on the best of terms. he wouldn't have wanted to see me. also, i can't drink. i'm fairly certain i've told you this.

carlos shook his hair out his face, scratching the back of his neck. "why'd you give him a present then? also, i know you can drink because you bought like, three bottles of jack daniel's a week or so ago, you're talking pish. now stop being antisocial and have fun for once."

anti's pen scribbled across the page. i have epilepsy, you bastard. also, i don't have to explain myself to you. so go away.

carlos crossed his arms. "this is my flat. you're the one who's paying to stay here. also, also, you probably shouldn't be drinking if that's a trigger for your epilepsy or whatever? that's not a good idea? why would you do that to yourself, anyway?"

because i hate myself. also, you pay to stay here too. you just paid first.

he tried to push by carlos, but the man spread his arms out to block his way, a cheeky grin on his face. anti wanted to hit him. "now now, auggie, i am not letting you spend the rest of your night being depressed in your room. you do that every night. even if you don't drink, come and sit in the living room at least! i was planning to invite some friends round if that's ok by you. it'll be fun!"

anti clenched his fists, face twitching before he calmed himself enough to write again. i'd rather sleep for twelve hours than watch you make out with your partners all night. if you aren't going to move i will fucking stab you and i am not joking.

to anti's absolute rage, carlos just laughed upon reading what he'd written. "you're funny, aug. and they have names, you know. johanna and robert. they're cool people! you might like them." he raised an eyebrow, showing his palms to the ceiling. "johanna's a firefighter, and robert collects knives. you like knives, right? i think you could be friends."

anti tried to keep ahold of his anger, but really, he was still partially in a good mood from jameson accepting his present, and he was also too tired to do much. he sank into himself, blowing the air out his cheeks. i don't want to, ok? not tonight.

carlos sighed. "i - sure. sure. but mate, you really have to stop isolating yourself. i'll admit i don't know a lot about you, but i'd like to, you know? you seem like a cool guy." he stepped aside, leaving room for anti to go into his room. then he widened his eyes, and held up a hand. "wait! let me show you what i learned." he pinched his thumb and pointer finger together in an open and closed motion in front of his face. the sign for "talk." then carlos frowned. "i, uh, forgot the sign for "later." i swear i learned it. i'm trying to learn, like, basic phrases. here, i can -" he held up his hands and signed each letter of the word "later," grinning proudly once he'd finished.

anti blinked in surprise. he wasn't even sure what to say - the fact that this man he barely knew was doing anything for him was amazing. slowly, hesitantly, he put out his pointer finger and dragged it through the air, pausing a couple of times. "later." carlos repeated after him. he smiled wide.

"cool!" he breathed, signing the full phrase. "i should definitely learn more bsl. might as well if i'm gonna be putting up with you, eh, august?" he laughed and stepped back, nearly walking into the living room doorway. "thanks. you're cool, mate."

anti just nodded. then he turned and went into the darkness of his room.

he didn't want to turn the light on. it was far too quiet, so he threw himself down on his bed and put his headphones on, staring out the window. carlos had been right - there was a full moon. a full moon on halloween. strange. that almost never happened.

anti's heart was racing and he wasn't sure why. he placed his fingers on his wrist to check his pulse, then on the area behind his ears. why was he suddenly so worked up? he almost laughed. it was always the littlest things these days. always the littlest things.

he closed his eyes and listened to the music in his ears.

kazuki kamata was an unusual woman.

anyone who knew her would tell you that. while she was kind, she was also sometimes merciless, and would do almost anything for those she cared about. she was a protector. she was fire and she was ice. no one knew where she went at nights when she left hecate. no one knew who her friends or family were. no one knew if kazuki was even her real name. some speculated she was on the run for murder. one man swore he heard a rumor that she was a world famous arsonist.

kazuki never indulged any of these rumors. she'd never needed to. people parted for her in the streets, magicians or not. people could sense her power. who would dare argue with that? no one with sense. no one ever challenged her.

until him. that skinny, green haired bastard that one of kazuki's magicians had brought in one day, the hyper irishman who apparently had no magic specialty and just did whatever the fuck he wanted. marvin mcloughlin. kazuki disliked him from the start. he was a dickhead and he didn't follow rules, he was arrogant and selfish and loud and he was an embarrassment to their organization. she couldn't count the amount of times naomi gudmundson, the poor agrokinesis girl, had come to her office to apologize for his behaviour without his knowledge. he was, to be frank, a fucking idiot. and kazuki was sick of him.

she planned to give him a notice of leave, informing him that he would no longer be welcome in their organization. it was a few days or so before she was going to do it when she found the man in the stairwell of one of their halls, curled in on himself and sobbing. kazuki had just waited to see if he'd notice her there, because what else was she supposed to do? eventually he'd glanced up, gasping at the sight of her. "i - i - miss kazuki, uh, miss kamata!" he'd spluttered, scrubbing fat tears from his splotchy red face. "i'm - i should - i'm sorry, i'll go, didn't mean to disturb -"

"it's ok," she'd said softly. to his disbelief, and her own, she'd sat down on the step next to him, wincing at the cold, hard floor under her. she shifted, trying to get comfortable. "are you alright, mr mcloughlin?"

he'd shook his head, sniffling and desperately trying to cover up his face while he wiped it off. "i'm fine," he muttered, turning away. "it's nothing, i'm ok. you should probably go. i'm sure you have important hecate work to do or some shit."

kazuki narrowed her eyes. "i'd kindly thank you not to curse like that in my presence, mcloughlin. i don't take well to such disrespect."

marvin had flushed, shoulders shooting to his ears. "sorry," he mumbled. "very sorry. i don't - i don't mean to be rude."

his face crumpled further, and he buried his face in his knees, shaking slightly. kazuki found herself softening. she knew she shouldn't. she knew she should get to her feet and leave before something happened that she would regret. but she didn't. "tell me what's wrong, mr mcloughlin," she murmured. the air around them seemed to thicken, and marvin sat up slightly, shaking his head and blinking rapidly as though it would stem the rapid flow of tears.

"had a fight with my brother and his friends," he mumbled. "it's - it's so stupid. i'm sorry, i'm - i'm really sorry!"

he gave a gasping sob and doubled over, shoulders shaking. kazuki screwed up her face. fuck, but she had no clue what to do. the kid was having a full blown panic attack from the looks of it. should she… without thinking, she stretched out a hand and touched his shoulder, warm magic flowing through her hand. "you're ok," she reassured, watching his turquoise eyes calm. "you're alright. what were you fighting about?"

he shook his head. "dumb shit. my brother's friend h-henrik, he got hurt recently and he hates me, and yet jackie - my brother - he gets mad at me when i get on at him, but he's such a p-prick and his brother used to like me b-before i met henrik but now he's - he's mad at me too, they all are. assholes." he let a hiccuping sob that sounded almost like a laugh. "i sound like such a ch-child, i'm sorry. i'm just really tired. i'm sorry. i'm always such a dick and i don't mean to, i'm just really angry all the time and i don't know why and i'm sorry, i really don't mean to be -"

he gasped, and kazuki gripped his arm tightly. "breathe," she said quietly. "you're going to pass out if you don't calm down."

"please don't kick me out!" he blurted, more tears pooling in his eyes. slit eye pupils, like a cat's. diamond shaped. kazuki had never noticed that. "please, i know you're going to kick me out of hecate and i really don't want to - to go, i - please, i promise i'll stop being an asshole and i won't pick fights with raymond and i'll -" he coughed wildly, covering his mouth. "i'm so sorry. i've b-been acting like a child. i promise you i'll be better."

and it was then that kazuki came to a quiet realization.

"you can stay," she said firmly, and marvin's face lit up. she held up a hand to stop him. "but you do have to promise that you'll be more careful of your words and actions in the future. we've had several complaints about you from other members, and if you don't change your ways i'm afraid i will have to do something about it. do you understand?"

he nodded frantically, a smile cracking his face. "yes, of course - thank you, thank you so much." he wiped his face with his sleeve again, sniffling. "i - i don't want to leave this place. it's basically been my escape from home when i'm not with naomi, and i wouldn't want to lose it. really, i… i don't mean to be a dick. i promise."

kazuki learned something that day. and what she learned was that no matter how hard she tried, she was always going to come back to love. she was always going to feel empathy, she was always going to want to comfort people who were hurting, and there was a part of her that was always going to feel so painfully human. she saw herself in this young, green haired magician. and she unfortunately grew to care about him as time passed. even once she'd discovered he'd been practicing darker magics and made him promise to stop. even once he'd left hecate. she was so human sometimes. it was nice to be reminded of that.

tonight, back in the present, she was thinking about him.

she did that sometimes. it made her wonder how things might have been if she had been different towards marvin. if she had been less cold. kazuki didn't like to be close to people. kazuki didn't want to let herself care about anyone. she thought maybe, if she stayed indifferent, she'd stop. but… she hadn't, had she? she loved marvin. he was like a dumbass child who cursed a lot and interrupted meetings and made a nuisance of himself. and she loved him. he reminded her... he reminded her of her brother who she'd lost so long ago.

she suddenly remembered his book of magic. the one he'd given to her in exchange for her help all those months ago. she still had it in her drawers in her office, right at the back of the one on the bottom. really, she shouldn't have taken it from him in the first place. "you're an idiot, kazuki," she sang to herself under her breath as she pulled the key off the chain on her neck. "you never know what you want."

the drawer was empty.

kazuki stared into it. the drawer was empty. the drawer couldn't be empty.

she stood and marched briskly out her office, heart racing but face void of emotion. she was good at that. "alana!" she snapped, and the purple haired magician who had been walking by stopped dead with wide eyes. kazuki frowned down at her. "have you seen anyone come into my office at all today?"

alana shook her head. "no, miss kamata. only you."

kazuki's heart skipped. "alana. what do you mean, only me?"

the girl looked confused. "you were here earlier, miss kamata. you told me and tony to look alive, i believe? why?"

kazuki just shook her head. she couldn't breathe all of a sudden.

"because i haven't been here all day," she murmured, far too quietly.

it seemed the past was catching up to her.

"this is perfect!" rhea cackled. she was spinning in a circle with the book clutched to her chest. "so much magic, so many spells! can you believe that air magic bitch kept it in a drawer in her office? fucking sentimental sap. shouldn't make things so easy to get to."

"ok, and was risking our fucking lives worth that stupid book?" aaron suddenly spat from the couch he was curled up on. jackie flinched. rhea did not. she stopped spinning and glared at him, eyes narrowing with venom.

"it was, actually," she said, her light tone contrasting with her ice cold expression. "jackie's brother is extremely powerful and he has basically every spell he knows in this book. is that correct, jackie?" she turned to him, and jackie took an instinctive step back. "tell your boyfriend that i'm right."

jackie… honestly wasn't sure what rhea wanted with marvin's magic. however, it had been her idea to sneak into hecate and steal it while jackie and aaron kept watch, and the plan has worked, so he supposed no losses had been made. but it seemed aaron has taken this as a personal attack. "you fucking asshole," the blonde hissed, suddenly getting to his feet. "do you have any goddamn care for anyone but yourself?"

jackie laughed nervously, raising his hands. "guys, let's not do this."

they both ignored him. "you're a selfish fucking cunt and all you want is to use us for your gain," aaron seethed, his face red with sudden anger. "we could have gotten in big trouble - breaking into a place like hecate is no fucking joke, rhea, and we're not up for playing your games anymore. tell her that, jackson!"

rhea smiled at aaron cruelly, not an ounce of warmth in her face. "i'm apparently doing a better job of protecting you two than you are," she beamed, voice strained with a thin veil of rage. "you're completely incompetent without someone to guide you. i'm trying to help you and have been from the goddamn start. you would have fucking died without me and i'm honestly starting to wish i had let you."

jackie jumped in before punches could be thrown. "guys!" he shouted, pushing them both away from each other. "you're being fucking ridiculous. rhea, explain why you needed us to get marvin's magic when we already have access to basically all his black magic spells. aaron, you…" he hesitated. "you just… calm down."

aaron spluttered while rhea sat on her couch nearest the window. "ok," she smirked, folding her legs under her. "your brother is an extremely powerful mage, jackie. and while his black magic is strong, the rest of his magic is stronger."

"nothing is stronger than black magic," aaron said through gritted teeth. jackie took his hand and ran his thumb along the back of it soothingly.

rhea cocked her head. "and that's where you're wrong. white magic can be just as powerful, if not more. see, aaron, you're like - you know how in movies there's the dumb guy who always tries to solve his problems by using brute force, and it works for a little while, but then the smart character comes in and uses their brains to solve everything?" she pointed at him with an innocent smile. "you're the dumb guy."

jackie pushed aaron back down before he could do anything he probably wouldn't regret. "let's not poke sticks right now, huh?" he said, shooting the last word at rhea. "explain what you mean, please."

she sighed. "there is no concrete line between black and white magic," she said. "and there is no actual hierarchy of magical strength. it all depends on who's controlling it, who's magic it began as, and how the spell is conducted, among many other things. it's not just "what the spell is." if it were that simple, any magician could shift as well as me, or i could bend air as well as that japanese magician." she paused to take a breath. "point is, this magic stems from a very powerful man, which would make the spells powerful. we could use these."

"and it was worth our lives?" aaron interjected smoothly.

rhea snorted. "yours, maybe."

"rhea," jackie snapped. "aaron is my boyfriend, and if you want my help, you'll have to deal with him too."

"i can fight my own bloody fights," aaron spat, pushing jackie's hand away. he glared at rhea with murder in his eyes before turning back to jackie. "and what, am i just an accessory to you? something to be dealt with? i'm a human person, jackson, and i demand respect."

rhea scoffed. "i don't know that you deserve it."

"guys," jackie protested. "aaron, just shut up -"

"you're supposed to be defending me!" aaron shouted, whirling round on him. "i'm your boyfriend, i've known you for a year now, you just met her like three weeks ago! you - don't - you're gonna trust her opinion over mine?"

jackie shook his head. "it's not like that," he said weakly. "but we need rhea on our side -"

"i don't trust her and i've made that plainly clear!" aaron despaired, grabbing jackie's shoulders without warning. "please, listen to me -"

"aaron - aaron, let go -"

"you don't believe me! i'm not just being paranoid!"

"aaron -"

"you never listen to me, you fucking asshole, i'm trying to warn you -"

"aaron, shu̸t ̸uṕ͜!"

the sudden wave of panicked magic nearly knocked him out. he staggered back, clutching his head, before he noticed what he'd done. aaron was swaying on the spot, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. jackie's heart dropped. no, no, not again, not again -

"aaron - shit, i didn't - didn't mean it," he choked out, wrapping his arms around himself. "shit -"

"oh, well done," came rhea's voice. he turned to her, vision blurred with tears, to see she'd stood up again and was now beside him, a small smile on her face. "you know, jackson, i didn't think you were the type to hypno your own boyfriend. that takes guts."

"accident," jackie sobbed. "it was an accident -"

"but you wanted to do it," she said quietly. she took his hand, and her face softened. "you wanted to hypnotize him to make him shut up. i don't blame you. you know i'm right and you feel bad because your boyfriend doesn't believe that i'm to be trusted. it must hurt. but i understand."

she pulled him into a gentle hug, facing him away from aaron so he couldn't see his face. jackie stared numbly out the living room window as rhea pat his back, speaking softly. "this is a very hard situation for you. i get it. but… you're gonna have to admit it. aaron isn't good for you. he's just holding you back."

"he's my boyfriend," jackie mumbled into her shoulder. "and he's my best friend. i love him. he's never once held me back from anything and i love him."

rhea pulled away. she studied jackie's face for a moment, expression blank. then she shrugged. "ok. well, i made you a profile on my netflix. i set your picture as the blue wally guy from black mirror because i thought it was funny. watch whatever you want, i don't judge. i'm going to my room. see you tomorrow, jackson."

she skipped out the room, jackie staring after her.

#jacksepticeye #boop writes #jameson jackson #marvin the magnificent #chase brody #jackieboy man #henrik von schneeplestein #antisepticeye #aaron mckenzie #rhea maclaren #the fall

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