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my-spiritualweapon-is-a-lollipop · 4 years ago

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Holding Hands

Synopsis: Essek tours the tower for the first time and he and Caleb have some honest talks. A little bit of angst and a little bit of fluff. Just how I like my wizards.

It had been a long day in Eiselcross. The Mighty Nein were all weary on their feet, many of them hurt from their various encounters along the way and everyone could probably use the rapport boost of a warm bed and good food. Still Caleb was leary of using the tower when Lucien had proven he could easily dispel it.

“But Caleb” Jester pleaded while grabbing onto his arm with her charming little mittens. “If Lucien’s not nearby yet then we wasted a night of good, safe rest. Wouldn’t it be better to fight him with a good night of sleep before? And besides, the tower is harder to find than the dome.” and she blinked up at him with that particular Jester pout that Caleb found particularly difficult to resist.

“Ja… we could…” He left room for Fjord or Beau to interject with a discussion of the best tactical decision, but they were surprisingly quiet. He glanced at them and saw that Beau was leaning hard against the wall, favouring the leg that hadn’t been hurt in their last run in and trying to play it off. Fjord’s face was etched with exhaustion. That settled it for Caleb. It was worth the boost in moral that an evening in the tower would provide… even if it served to be only a temporary situation. “Ja. We could” He repeated more firmly and began his preparations for the tower.

It was a challenging spell and Caleb had plenty of experience tuning out his companions when doing this work, but Beau and Caduceus couldn’t help but notice the almost imperceptible pause and tensing of Caleb’s shoulders that accompanied Jester grabbing Essek and delightedly declaring:

“Oh, Essek you are going to love the tower! And not just because it’s all wizardy and stuff but Caleb made it so nice. There are lots of cats, and everyone has a special nice room - I bet he’ll make one special for you” she pumped her eyebrows “- and the cats make like WHATEVER food you want! It’s amazing!”

Essek responded in the slightly shaken way he did whenever he encountered the full force of Jester’s jovial attentions:

“I-I-’m certain that it is. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a talented wizard.” and Essek looked hard at Caleb’s back for a moment and then looked away with a perceptible sadness in his eyes but Jester pushed on as was her way:

“Pro-tip: call all of the cats to come snuggle you. You will never. Sleep. Better.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” Essek said nodding at her and trying to extricate himself from where she had her arms wrapped around his. He floated over to the wall to drift near Beau where he expected he would be left to sit in sullen silence, which was what he wanted. He wanted to observe everything about how Caleb cast this spell. This was the kind of magic he wasn’t particularly familiar with and it was endlessly fascinating. To his surprise he was interrupted by Beau leaning close to him and whispering savagely under her breath:

“If you talk shit about Caleb’s tower, I will fucking kill you. I know you’re a supposed to be amazing and all but it’s clear your opinion matters to him, so you better play nice got it?” Essek visibly deflated in response but whispered back with a surprising intensity.

“I understand that I have not given you much to trust Beauregard, but if there is one thing you can, please trust in my respect for all of your abilities. Even if you believe me to be arrogant, foolish or any other of the myriad of likely accurate and unflattering descriptions you may have in your mind, please know that you have each earned my respect time and time again and Caleb more so than anyone. If anything, I wish to prove my capabilities as an ally to you... not judge yours.” Before Beau could respond, Caduceus (who hears just about everything) put an arm around Essek and spoke.

“That’s nice.” and looked at Essek with a natural sense of hope that Essek couldn’t tolerate so he stared hard into the ground.

“Ready” Caleb said to the group. Those who knew him well picked up on the slight nerves in his voice. It would have been easy to attribute it to the long day of difficult travel, but they were all inclined to think that it was more likely to do with the wizard floating a few feet behind the rest of the group with a curious light filling his eyes. They began to file in and Jester paused at the back of the group to whisper to Caleb conspiratorially:

“Don’t worry. He’s going to like it.” and as she stepped inside, she threw her voice out to obviously and loudly proclaim:

“Oh, Caleb it is as beautiful as always! You are so talented! So amazing! So…” as she paused to look for the next description Veth cut in:

“Truly powerful. One might say a prodigy” She said making eye contact with Essek in a less than kind way before beginning to float upwards.

“Yes!” Jester began as she too started drifting upwards “an absolute prodigy! The best ever!” she feigned swooning and Beau cut her off.

“Yeah, yeah Caleb’s great. We get it. What’s for supper?”

“Uh ja” Caleb started, and he summoned a cat nearby “please prepare a good-sized roast and several -uh- vegetable dishes for our pink friend here and also some black moss cupcakes please.”

“Thank you” Caduceus said and began drifting upwards following the rest of the group. Essek looked like he was about to say something until Fjord shouted:

“UP!” right next to him and nearly caused him to leap out of his skin though he quickly recovered his unflappable mask. Everyone drifted up whilst chatting until it was just Caleb and Essek left on the platform.

“Ah I see.” Essek said as he began drifting up off the platform. “A clever design.”

“I thought that scaling many staircases seemed less than enjoyable after a day of adventuring.” Caleb put in, clearly trying to keep the pleasure at the compliment out of his voice.

“Actually, I was rather inspired by a time we found ourselves in the astral sea briefly.”

“Indeed” Essek said having some experience with the nature of that space. “I don’t believe I have heard that story yet.” He continued.

“Probably you will, some day” Caleb said and Essek could sense that this meant the tale of that particular adventure contained sensitive information, information that Caleb did not trust Essek with and he looked at his floating feet once more, unable to make eye contact with the closest friend he had had in years who was saying in no uncertain terms that he was still not to be trusted completely.

“Ah I see… someday then”.

Caleb didn’t want to leave the mood too low for too long. Afterall, he wanted to tell Essek every detail about those halls and their experiences there, but the happy fun ball seemed like it would probably be more of a temptation than was necessarily a good idea, especially if the two of them could work on it together. So, he began floating on ahead and offered Essek his hand.

“Would you like the tour then?” Essek briefly looked up at Caleb floating above him, stretching his hand down to carry him up to his level and couldn’t help but feel the weight of the visual representation of their situation. Caleb looking down, wreathed in light from above while Essek looked up at him and reached for his hand. It was almost like an art piece and he hated to give in to the symbolism.

Still, he grabbed Caleb’s hand and thought “up” to himself until they were level. Much to his surprise Caleb kept their hands intertwined as they floated up to the first floor and it was almost enough to distract Essek from the beautiful library they found themselves in next. Almost. He was a wizard after all. He couldn’t resist the sight of any good collection of books. Essek quickly moved over to the nearest shelf and began scanning title after title and slowly came to a realization.

“You create this space anew every time, correct? It’s not permanently established?”

“Ja, I create it new every time, though I try to keep it close to the same for the most part.”

“So, all of these… these only exist here meaning that these are simply books that you have memorized?” He said with audible admiration.

“Ja. I have a good mind for storing facts.” and he watched as Essek pulled a book from the shelves and began thumbing through pages and couldn’t help but feel to a certain degree as if he was being tested. Essek saw that these books were not just visual representations or the spines of Caleb’s favourite books but complete volumes, written exactly as they were. He found himself feeling that odd mix of jealousy, admiration and something else that he hadn’t quite pinned down that often-accompanied Caleb’s displays of mental prowess. He looked back at Caleb, and though he had had trouble meeting the fellow wizard’s eyes for days - he did not want to see Caleb’s disappointment - he felt compelled to make strong eye contact now to drive home his point.

“I am considered excellent at what I do. I have a keen mind. But this… this is astounding even to me.” Caleb felt the weight of his eyes on him and felt himself flushing somewhat.

“Well… this is available to you if you wish to read, though I must let you know that many of them are in my original tongue and plenty of these are repeated. Though I have a great love of reading, I have found that I cannot fill an entire library with only my own knowledge just yet.” Essek waved his hand dismissively and Caleb saw just a small hint of the old, confident Essek peek thorough.

“I have arcane means at my disposal to translate. That is not a problem. I thank you.” He bowed his head slightly and stashed a book under his arm.

“But this is only the first floor? Though I would be happy to remain here in the library if that were your wish, I would gladly see more if you would show me?” Though he masked it well from his voice, Caleb could sense the hunger, the eagerness to see more that was familiar to him. Not for the first time, Caleb longed for simpler times in the other wizard’s tower when there was no betrayal hanging between them, simply peers enjoying the pursuit of knowledge and each other's company. Now even the memory of their victory that day felt tainted with the cost of how Essek had acquired much of his knowledge. Caleb pulled himself out of the spiral and offered:

“There is more to seen to be sure. Come. I’ll show you” and he proffered his hand once again. He knew Essek was perfectly capable of following but there was a small part of Caleb that couldn’t resist the small bit of pleasant contact between them that felt safe and distant enough, at least until he could make up his mind about what to do about Essek. Essek for his part noted the texture of Caleb’s hand, memorizing it and studying his internal reaction for future reference- when he had time to unpack all that was causing him to feel. He also noticed the scars just visible at the bottom of the arm of Caleb’s coat but chose not to interrupt this small precious moment of goodwill with a question that may bring up pain for Caleb.

And so, Caleb showed him the majority of the lower levels, going from place-to-place hand in hand, to a point where both hands were clammy and almost asleep but neither wizard was willing to give up their tenuous bond just yet. Essek thought the summoning space in the hall was “quite a brilliant solution” and Caleb informed Essek that he had had to install tiny locking doors on his cat travel system after Jester’s first polymorph escapade and thank goodness he had for Jester decided to provide Lucien with that little tidbit of advice upon first arriving. This caused Essek to actually laugh out loud which took Caleb by surprise.

“Yes, I am unsurprised by this. Jester is a talented person in her own right, but I would not describe her as pragmatic in any sense of the word.” Essek chuckled again. Caleb stopped and looked down at their joined hands a moment.

“Herr Theylyss, may I ask you something? It may be personal” Essek felt a pit of concern begin turning in his stomach but responded:

“Uh- why yes. I thought you were aware that I have made the decision to be fully -uh honest with you ever since… yes you may.” Caleb noted that Essek was fidgeting with his other hand.

“I had wondered why you seem more comfortable around Jester when it is clear that you still struggle to be at ease around … the rest of us at times? I understand that Jester is very talented at - uh-bringing out the best in people shall we say but… I had wondered…” Essek thought for a moment.

“I believe the answer is twofold. Firstly, Jester was the voice of your group to me for many months. It was through her that I was first annoyed with you all, then simply exasperated and then, I will admit, excited to hear from you. In my perspective she was the voice of my...my first friends. I believe to some degree I still expect her intrusions” He looked away at this “Secondly, I know I disappointed her as I disappointed each of you when I… when my decisions came to light but I can tell that Jester wants to forgive me and believes in the good she sees in me, just as Caduceus has hoped for me but I suppose, with the rest of you, in many ways I know that the damage is done and that the days of eating and drinking in that ridiculous hot tub are well over and I-” he paused to collect his thoughts “though I know I deserve it, it can be difficult to face that our bonds will never be what I was hoping they would be.” Essek hadn’t met Caleb’s eyes through this whole speech but a visible dark purple flush was creeping across his features.

“Ah I see.” Caleb began, “yes Jester’s capacity for seeing the positives in life is an admirable quality but” Caleb touched Essek’s chin feather light and turned his face towards him. “You do us a disservice if you think that each of us does not hold hope that you will redeem yourself or see the best in you. You would not be here if we didn’t but I have already told you… it takes time.” Both of them thought back to the moment of his discovery when Caleb managed to stop an oncoming panic attack in its tracks with a kiss on the forehead and his stalwart belief in Essek’s capacity to redeem himself. Looking into his eyes now, Essek saw something almost worse than his worst fear and the reason he been avoiding Caleb’s gaze. He had expected to see disappointment, sadness or even derision in Caleb’s eyes but instead he saw a warmth and a genuine affection that he felt undeserving of. It was never something he had seen before from anyone else; not in the eyes of his parents or siblings, the bright queen, or even his students that viewed him with adoration. Caleb had looked at him that way a few times before but Essek had not dared to hope that look remained after his deceptions were revealed. He felt a wetness swelling in his eyes, but he couldn't pull his gaze away, desperately catching every last second of affection that he could. Caleb was glad to see behind Essek’s carefully laid mask to know that he was being heard and heard truly. He ran his thumb over the soft purple skin along Essek’s jaw.

“Time.” He reiterated. Then he pulled his gaze away and broke them both out of the moment. He dropped Essek’s hand, afraid he’d clench too tightly if he didn’t, taken by a swarm of his own emotions of hurt, betrayal, and still warm caring and concern “I better leave you a little time before supper to clean up ja? Come. I will show you your room.” Essek didn’t say anything but simply nodded, hoping to clamber his mask of semi-indifference back into place.

They got to the landing with all of the doors to the individual bedrooms and both caught a glance into Yasha’s bedroom where Jester could be seen to be braiding Yasha’s hair in a particularly spectacular updo.

“Do you think Beau will like it?” Yasha wondered while looking in the mirror.

“Oh Yasha! She will love it!” Jester started a whole torrent of compliments before Caleb opened the door to the guest bedroom and both of them were distracted by the reveal.

Caleb had a tense knot in his stomach as Essek cautiously stepped, or floated rather, forward. He had hoped that this room could act as a small kind of gift, to show Essek that he still held space for him.

It was a chamber much like the rest of the bedrooms with its bathtub and fireplace, but Caleb had modified the architecture to be more reminiscent of Xhorhos, more specifically the design Caleb had seen in Essek’s tower. The furniture was inspired by that as well, though in different arrangements to accommodate the layout. Fine silver instruments laid upon the desk. Wall hangings precisely as they had appeared in Essek’s tower. There was space for mucking about and chalkboards for scribbling out theories. There was a small library space that was empty save for the books Caleb placed in every room and the large comfortable reading chair in the deep blue velvet that Caleb remembered, with the important distinction that this reading nook had two reading chairs as opposed to the one in Essek’s original study. Caleb watched as Essek floated from place to place taking in the details.

“Uh-ja” he interjected as Essek moved toward the desk. “I only included instruments I could recall from the limited view of your tower I had but if you require more, I have a study and lab that I share with Veth that you are welcome to share with us if you should have anything you wish to work on.” Essek moved over to touch one of the velvet chairs and Caleb cut in again:

“I have – that is- I know what it is like to be far from a patriot but to still miss home so I thought I could include a few familiar touches” Essek nodded silently, and Caleb worried he may have missed the mark. Essek finally spoke near the bed:

“I haven’t used a bed in many years. I typically just trance at the desk in my study.”

“I was worried you’d say that” Caleb said rushing forward in a fervor that he only acquired when he’d had a particularly exciting idea “thus I have innovated something for wizards everywhere. This will save our necks and shoulders” He tugged on a cord by the bed and revealed on the roof of the four poster was a chalkboard with a floating bit of chalk. He laid down excitedly and pointed up and continued “it works much like transit throughout the space. Simply think what you wish, and the chalk will begin to draw” and the chalk began drawing the figures related to fortunes favor from Caleb’s notes. “This way you may think and rest your body at the same time.” Essek was craning to look up at the chalk board with a small look of amusement glowing in his eyes. It truly was a good idea but far better was the excitement in his friend that accompanied it.

“Truly inspired” he affirmed and began peering around the rest of the space when his eyes landed on the stained glass above the fireplace. Essek floated over to peer at it and Caleb sat up to watch him. The stained glass depicted the Xorhaus as the nein affectionately called the home Essek’s Den had gifted them during their time in Xorhos, with the tree growing up out of it with it’s glittering branches. And in the house could be seen 8 colourful figures sitting around a hot tub. All of the mighty nein were silhouetted in their signature colours and in the very centre were two male silhouettes looking at one another. One purple and one orange. They seemed to be laughing in their pose. Below this there was a scroll that read “Welcome to the Mighty Nein!”.

Essek’s feet hit the floor with a loud thud as he stared at this stained-glass piece. Caleb had never seen Essek lose concentration in his levitating outside of a fight before and instinctually stood up. Essek looked over and then down at his feet somewhat embarrassed.

“My apologies, uh, I just didn’t expect…” and he moved to begin the spell again.

“You have nothing to prove to me Essek.” Caleb cut him off and essek let the spell die, looking back up to the stained glass.

“I had hoped to provide you a sense of home here, but I apologize if I misjudged or over stepped. I had already designed that stained glass before our discussion earlier and I see now that it may be more harmful than helpful. Tomorrow night I can-

“It is perfect.” Essek said quietly as he stepped, actually stepped, towards Caleb, looking as if he was searching for the right thing to say before landing on:

“Thank you. I am humbled by your insight and your skill.” Caleb looked uncomfortable at such high praise and stood, uncertain what to do with himself for several moments before he began moving toward the door.

“Supper in the dining room in fifteen minutes” he said, fleeing all of the feelings that Essek’s presence had caused.

Essek spent the next fifteen minutes in quiet contemplation about the feeling of one hand in another until he heard Caleb shouting as he descended from his room:

“Supper is ready. Please come down everyone.”

Essek opened his door as the other’s spilled onto the landing as well. He heard a massive noise from upstairs roughly the direction Caleb had specified for the lab and everyone paused to look up until Veth leaned out the door with ash covering her face and said:

“I’ll be down in 5 minutes!”

“Is everything alright?” Fjord asked semi-suspiciously.

“Absolutely! Everything is fine. Perfectly and absolutely fine.” smoke was billowing out of the door and dissipating. “I just need five minutes for um...lady stuff. BE RIGHT DOWN!” she shouted as she slammed the door closed again. The rest of the mighty nein seemed to shrug somewhat to Essek’s dismay:

“Should we help her?” he enquired.

“She’s more likely to bite than accept help she hasn’t asked for” Fjord chuckled. “She does this from time to time. I’m sure it’s fine. Besides, I’m starving”. Fjord wrapped an arm around Jester and hopped off the landing and said “Down!” and they began descending. Essek could hear Jester going:

“Oh Oskar! You are so strong” and the beginnings of Fjord’s protest at the jibe.

Meanwhile Beau and Yasha were squaring off and Essek wasn’t certain if they were likely to kiss or fight or both.

“You look...really good Yasha.”

“You like it? I had never tried this style in my hair before.”

“Essek, tell Caleb we’re skipping dinner.” Beau said with some fervor

“What-” Essek began before his question was answered by Beau pulling Yasha into her room and slamming the door. “Ah… I see”. A sudden thud could be heard from the otherside of the door and Essek did not wish to question what had caused it. Suddenly a large hand was patting him on the shoulder.

“You get used to it” Caduceus said.

“What is that?”

“Being a part of something.” Caduceus finished with another pat on the shoulder, then he began to descend for supper as if he hadn’t said something that hit Essek at his very core.

They had a pleasant supper all together and planned some tactics for the next day before everyone adjourned to their various places of rest for the night. Essek went over to the library and collected an armful of books. Frumkin appeared through a little gap in the wall and Essek leaned down to him.

“Do you have a message from your master?” he said hopefully. Frumkin just butted up against him looking to be pet.

“Do you require something?” Frumkin flopped at Essek’s feet. In this moment alone, he smiled a small smile for the cat that contained none of his usual bravado. He crouched down to pet Frumkin exceedingly gently. After a few moments Frumkin was purring loudly.

“I’m glad we are still good friends at least” Essek sighed. “Do you wish to enjoy some reading with me?” Frumkin gave a slight meow that seemed like a yes and Essek picked him up and placed him on his shoulder giving him a little nuzzle on the way. They began to ascend to Essek’s room and Caleb watched them go. He felt somewhat disappointed in himself for this scheme, particularly after seeing Essek’s sweet nature with his cat, but he would not be fooled twice.

Once safely in his room Caleb watched Essek through frumkin’s eyes. He watched and waited and expected some sort of betrayal though he did not hope for one. He waited until everyone else had gone to bed and Essek was the only one remaining awake. He had expected Essek may message someone, scry or even perhaps begin taking notes of the tower. In that whole time Essek had done nothing but read and cast comprehend languages. Eventually Caleb realized he wasn’t going to do anything else. He wasn’t going to betray them. He then spent the better part of an hour wrestling with himself and doing a good amount of internal reflection before coming to a decision. He went down to knock quietly on Essek’s door.

“Yes?” Essek asked, coming to the door in the least precisely put together look Caleb had ever seen from the wizard. His hair was amuck in places, his robe was gone and the shirt beneath was half untucked and he had the slight dark purple imprint on his cheek where he had been leaning his hand. It made him look more approachable than his typical visage as the “Shadowhand”. Perhaps more endearing too.Caleb also noted he wasn’t floating and wondered if that was to do with his earlier comment.

“Have you happened to have seen my cat?” Caleb enquired. Essek was not fooled by the pretense, knowing that Caleb could summon Frumkin at will, but played along.

“Ah my apologies, I have been detaining him to keep me company while I read.” At this Frumkin ran out of the door and began weaving between Caleb’s legs.

“So, this is where you were?” Caleb enquired of him in mock surprise.

“Yes, well it seemed fitting to have him around while reading my first empire fairy tales about such a one.” Essek said brandishing the book.

“You read der katzenprinz?” Caleb asked, legitimately surprised. He had assumed that Essek would have immediately gravitated towards the arcane books.

“I started with another regarding transmutation but this one seemed a bit of an odd one out in the collection so I assumed it must be of some importance to you…” Essek paused getting slightly embarrassed and then noticing how long they had been standing in the doorway.

“Would you like to come in?”

“Actually, I had a thought, if you are too tired, we don’t have to but,” he looked almost pained and rubbed his hand across his mouth and he seemed to make a decision or resolve himself “but we had not quite finished our tour I think.”

“Oh” Essek was somewhat surprised but still eager. “Yes absolutely. Lead the way.” He placed the book on a nearby table while Frumkin ran to his exit in a hole in the wall. As they began to ascend. Essek spoke up softly:

“Is there a reason that Fjord always declares his direction?”

“Other than showmanship? Absolutely not.” Caleb replied. At this Essek grinned while Caleb opened up the next level.

“I ask that you never come up here without me please Herr Theylyss. Please” he repeated while making pointed eye contact.

“Of course. Whatever it is your wish.” Essek responded genuinely but somewhat surprised as they came to a room full of doors. “What is this place?”

Caleb did not reply but instead said:

“I have only shown the others of the mighty nein this place.” and he opened the door labelled 1. Caleb closed the door behind them as Essek stepped into the humble space and began looking around.

“What is the significance of this house?” He asked before noting the far off look in Caleb’s face.

“Well, I wanted you to know why I found your choices so challenging to ignore. I wanted you to know why it is that I seem to understand so deeply the challenges you face in learning to forgive yourself for what you have done for it is still something I struggle with myself. Deeply.” Essek could sense the gravity of the space for Caleb and came closer.

“I wish you for to know, as I know your greatest transgression, but you do not know mine and it seems there is an unfair imbalance between us of late that I hope to dispel.” Essek was surprised that Caleb thought there was anything comparable to his “transgression” as he put it but thought back to some of the sadness in Caleb and some of the truth in his eyes whenever he talked about the path ahead of Essek and knew there must be something substantial coming.

“This was my home. I am sure it may be challenging for you to imagine ,coming from such a high-ranking family, but we were happy here.”

“Wealth does not inherently create happy families. In fact, I think it is likely the opposite” Essek put in softly. Caleb nodded and pointed to the small kitchen counter:

“My mother used to make bread here. She used to allow me to take small portions of the dough while she was kneading it and I would make little figures. I would -uh- use them as puppets and tell her stories of magnificent wizards who saved all of the empire from the evil creatures that threatened it. She would turn them into small buns when I was finished and told me that if I ate them, it was like making a wish, and that one day I might become that powerful wizard.” Caleb touched the surface of the table and closed his eyes for a long moment. Essek tentatively put a hand on his shoulder which remained until Caleb went over to the hearth.

“This is where I learned to love fire. My father would feed the flames and show me how to keep it well. He’d tell me that fire could hurt and burn but it could also sustain life. Once I became old enough to manage without harming myself, he let me create the fire every night to practice. Later I practiced control flames here, the first spell I ever learned from a spell book.” Caleb turned to Essek and held his gaze. Essek saw the shame and pain that was written in Caleb’s features.

“You have killed many good people in your thirst for knowledge and power. I … I am no different. I killed good, loving people who only wished that I could have been the powerful wizard who saved the empire… “Caleb swallowed and realization sunk in for Essek. “I killed my family and destroyed this home as a result of Trent Ikathon’s teaching methods. It was seen as a ‘required step in becoming the capable wizards we needed to be to protect our nation’. Still to this day he attests that it is what my family would have wanted though I don’t think our stories in the kitchen could have ever prepared them for their end.” Caleb paused attempting to collect himself. His hands were shaking a great deal, but he pushed forward “I have only just begun the journey to forgiving myself. I keep this room here, not to torture myself but to ensure that this happy home is never forgotten, never lost. Each room on this floor is a moment to be captured and preserved. I will show you another.” A few tears had fallen on Caleb’s face, but he did not seem to notice. Essek didn’t have feel he had an adequate response, but he did not want to leave this space without saying anything.

“You have performed your own dunemancy here. You fixed this in time. It is beautiful. Thank you for showing it to me.” Essek said, hoping he did not say the wrong thing. He had very limited experience with people he would consider loved ones and he had never lost one. Caleb didn’t say anything, but he nodded a thank you and pulled Essek across the hall to another room. It was Caleb’s bedroom in the xorhaus. Essek recognized it immediately by the charming cat figurines on the shelf.

“This was the space where you first entrusted me with dunamancy but I did not preserve it for this reason… I did so because it was the first time we worked together, and I realized you were very much someone I wished to know more. I saw a like mind in you...Essek, I understand exactly what the cost of knowledge and power can be and the folly of chasing them, you have seen this now, but I also understand that draw, that pull of power in a way almost no one else will. I know how easy it is to slip off the path and become a tool for destruction once more, and this is why I find it difficult to fully trust you as you have proven to me that we are too similar, and I do not trust myself even with that.” He had finally said it out loud. Essek had been hanging on the word trust ever since Caleb had said he was more trusted than Trent Ikathon, but here it was. More did not mean much at all. And how could Essek blame him when he was correct? They were very much alike, that was one of the things that had drawn Essek in and convinced Essek to teach Caleb dunamancy against his better judgement. Essek looked and stared at a cat figurine, willing his breath to slow, his eyes to focus. He did not understand what it was particularly that hurt him so much about Caleb having a perfectly, reasonably low opinion of him.

Caleb saw Essek beginning to have difficulty containing his emotions and he closed the space between them to once again place a small kiss on Essek’s forehead before placing his own against it. He put a hand around Essek’s neck gently pulling them together.

“I have said it takes time and I believe that. My path out of the pit did not move straight forward and I had many setbacks, but I have begun the journey. I did so by taking small steps -and sometimes large ones - every day to leave the world slightly better than I found it. I will never expunge my past crimes, but I can hope to maybe outweigh them in my overall impact on this world. I see you at the beginning of this journey and I know that one of the most important things in the path to redemption was having companions who walked alongside me on my way to finding it. Having the mighty nein who cared for me and loved me unconditionally, despite these terrible pieces of my past was so...essential… in my ability to begin to overcome them.” His whole body seemed to be sagging with the weight of the world and he pulled away to look in into his eyes “Essek, I know it is easy to see only our faults and everything we have done wrong, but I also know that I am still worthy of forgiveness by some, I am still worthy of friendship and chances to redeem myself and even still worthy of love. And I do not believe this myself many days but Veth and the rest of the nein refuse to allow me to forget it and on days when my belief is not enough, theirs is. And that makes me wish to strive to continue to be worthy of their belief in me. You see?”

Essek was nodding but Caleb could see he was drowning in all of his thoughts.

“Come. I have one more room to show you.” He said gently and walked out of this room. Essek blinked and felt the suddenly jarring distance between them and followed Caleb out of the room. His mind was a swarm.

Caleb placed his hands out for Essek who looked at him somewhat quizzically but took them, nonetheless. They floated up while facing one another to the final floor and Caleb revealed it to him. The floor inspired by dunamancy. Essek’s jaw dropped, and his head swivelled as he took in the room.

“It is no secret that I have a great interest in your craft, but I bring you up here not to remind you of all the power to be gained or lost but to show you of what you already have. You have unlocked so many secrets of the world, but you were never given the chance to study the most important lesson. One that also eluded me for many years. All of this “Caleb gestured out” feels so important, the stretching endless expanse of time and the motes of possibility that we can affect. But” he said firmly “It is not nearly as important as the moment we are living right now, and the people that we share that with.” Essek peeled his eyes off the expanse around them and turned his attention back to Caleb who was looking at him with an expression that he had only seen once before as they unlocked the key to the transmogrification spell. It was a mix of adrenaline, elation, apprehension and excitement. Caleb was building up to something and all Essek could do was be shocked that he was floating in this space of utter beauty and being looked at like that, as if he were the most important thing in the room, as if he was a great spell Caleb was trying to learn the inner workings of.

He began to understand the lesson Caleb was trying to impart as he could not pull his eyes away, despite being surrounded by a veritable playground for his mind, his focus was solely affixed to Caleb and what he would say next. He understood what Caleb meant to say with this room about what really mattered in a way that surprised even Essek himself. Caleb tightened his grasp on Essek’s hands and continued.

“If you will allow me to, herr Theylyss, I wish to do for you what has been done for me. I wish to be the person that reminds you that you can and will find your way back to the light. I wish to be the person who believes in you when you cannot believe in yourself, though I suspect I already have Jester’s help with that.” he quirked a small smile “ I wish to be the one who keeps you in the moment and moving forward. I wish to hold your hand” and he looked down at their joined hands “through your journey to finding yourself.” He squeezed their hands together tightly and then he looked back up with nerves clattering “Essek, you are important to me and I have felt a bond with you since the first time we studied together. That has not gone or broken the way you seem to believe. You have hurt me, yes, but I am still here to hold your hand and hoping that you will prove that my forgiveness is not for nothing. Hoping that you will find a way to be prove that all of this love that I feel for you is not unjustified... for I do not wish for it go to waste.” He searched Essek’s expression and found it unreadable.

Years of practice freezing his face in moments of panic had caused Essek to almost completely shut down while he attempted to process a response. He pulled away from Caleb slightly and sought to pull his hands into a robe he realized he wasn’t wearing. He wished he could hide how his hands were inclined to fidget.

“I uh-” He began “This is much to process.” Essek stammered out. Caleb was already feeling disappointment seep in. He knew that he had thrown a lot of uncomfortable feelings at Essek in a short amount of time, but he had hoped that there would be at least a degree of enthusiasm for his final declaration. Still, he did not want to pressure Essek.

“Of course.” Caleb said failing to hide his disappointment. “I will leave you to your thoughts Herr Theylyss” he said nodding in a formal way.

Essek was still simply busy processing the word love. He was turning it over in his mind and examining it as it was a fully novel concept to him. He tested out how it felt as a description of that odd feeling of warmth in his chest and stomach when he saw Caleb get excited, or smile, or that small tug at an invisible rope in his chest that could be felt when he saw Caleb being good at, well, almost anything. He considered if that had been why Caleb’s opinion had mattered so much more than most. And here he was, standing before Essek and telling him that he could have that love returned. That he felt that way about him. That he was somehow deserving despite all of the things that he had done.

He thought then how he had felt nothing but sympathy and sorrow for Caleb as he heard of what he had done to his parents. He did not blame him for his foolishness in trusting and believing in the things Trent Ikathon had said. Could Essek really be given the same grace?

Around the time that Caleb was just beginning to descend out of the room, Essek’s mind finally caught up with what he had said.

“No!” Essek shouted. “No. No. I did not mean it this way. I just-“ Essek took a breath and felt the mask slipping away and for once he allowed himself to be laid bare in front of someone. Caleb rose back up to his level. “I don’t know if I have ever been loved in the way that you have described. It simply took me a moment to understand. You spoke of loving parents, but I have never been more than a means to end for my family. I was a product of incredible amounts of pressure but never loving care or attention. I was to be useful. Then I became the shadowhand and I had to be distant from the rest. It was my duty to be useful to the bright queen, but it only alienated me further from my peers. It made it easy to betray them when the chance was offered because I had never been close with any of them. I regret so much of what I have done, all the pain that I have caused” Essek grabbed at his own hair and Caleb was surprised to see him allowing himself to be this expressive “but it is made far worse now knowing what friendship and love can be like. To think that I caused people to go off and fight in a war that did not matter and worse that both sides felt losses comparable to what I would feel if you were to be harmed. It feels almost unbearable to know that I could have caused that much pain” Essek began sputtering, tears streaming down his face. “And still, you stand before me and say that I am worthy of redemption and that I am worthy of love?” Essek was ranting now but it was as if so many of the feelings he had always held down couldn’t help but burst forth now that they were given a small bit of freedom. Caleb wrapped his arms around him and held him close, with one hand stroking his hair. Essek rambled on “you had it right when you said I had missed an essential lesson along the way. How could I have been so blinded by my research and studies to never see that the people they would benefit were the point, not knowledge for knowledge’s own sake? And still, you hold me as if I am something precious rather than wretched. It is a kindness greater than I deserve for truthfully, I can tell that you know the weight of what you have done, but until today, until now, I still had never comprehended the depths of the pain my actions caused… to so many.”

At this Essek dissolved into sobs and Caleb held him through them. He kept stroking Essek’s hair and gave him small soft kisses on the top of his hair and waited for the sobbing to peter out. He did everything he wished someone could have done for him when he was going through this. Eventually it seemed Essek had cried himself out. He was still shaking and there were tear lines stained into his purple skin, but he pulled himself back a little to look at Caleb. Before Essek could apologize again Caleb said again:

“It takes time.” Essek nodded sadly and put his hand out for Caleb who clasped it and kissed it his knuckles lightly. “But.” Caleb continued “that does not mean you must spend it alone. I meant what I said. If you wish to be loved and reminded of all the things you are worth and what makes the moment worth living in, I am happy to offer that to you. And perhaps together we can work to make the world a little bit better than when we found it ja? So no other young people go unloved or get led astray?”

Essek was still feeling a whole spectrum of emotions but was able to centre himself enough to unabashedly meet Caleb’s eyes and spoke.

“Yes, I think I would very much like to do that, but with one stipulation.” Caleb smiled at the return of some of Essek’s former, confident demeanor “I know you have many in your life with more experience in affection than I, but I would like to offer my love, as … untested as it imay be, in trade. Together we can hypothesize,experiment and test its bounds until you believe it is up to your standards? Do these conditions seem fair to you?” Caleb was smiling in a way that made Essek pleased, and caused him to consider being reckless once more.

“Ja I think that is accepta-” and before Caleb could finish, Essek pulled him into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around Caleb’s waist and Caleb’s hands found their way into Essek’s hair. They kissed deeply and with the release of the many conflicting emotions both of them had felt over the past weeks.

Essek found the texture of Caleb’s lips and stubble to be a bit surprising but planned on savouring every bit of the feeling. He approached this kiss almost like learning a new spell from Caleb, and followed his lead through the unfamiliar, for though Essek had kissed before, never with much feeling behind it, and this was an entirely different experience. His heart was pounding in his ears, his chest felt full of fireworks and there was something that felt hooked inside of both of them, drawing them closer. It was a startling powerful sensation.

Caleb was surprised not only by the kiss but by the intensity it quickly developed. He felt Essek’s hands pushing into his back and keeping him close, and the soft strands of essek’s hair moving beneath his fingers and the warmth of Essek’s lips and was intoxicated, drinking in every last bit of the experience that he could.

Finally, they broke apart, both flushed and breathing heavily. Essek found himself smoothing down the front of Caleb’s shirt for something to do and pulling a few pieces of cat hair off of it as he asked:

“May I ask something of your path to redemption?” He continued to try to compose his features but couldn’t resist the smile that kept making itself known on his face. It was a broader smile than Caleb had ever seen on Essek and it made his chest squeeze. He thought it would be a new mission of his to procure that smile more often.

“Yes Essek?”

“If we do not have to be alone, are we also allowed happiness? For I must admit that I think this is the happiest I have been in… sometime, perhaps ever.” Caleb thought and looked serious.

“I think so yes. I have to believe that is so.”

“In that case, I think we should kiss more often.” And at that Caleb laughed a full and genuine laugh and kissed Essek on the cheek following by cupping his face in his hands, allowing his thumb draw over the spot that was just kissed.

“Ja. That can certainly be arranged.” and he pulled Essek’s face down for another kiss on the forehead. “But for tonight I think it best if we both get some rest.” He grabbed Essek’s hand once more and descended into the tower, closing doorways behind them until they stopped at Essek’s room.

“I think I may need some time to wind down after all of that” Essek admitted.

“I think I shall be similar.” Caleb agreed.

“In that case, do you wish to read a while with me? Only I had noticed someone had placed 2 chairs in my reading nook.” Essek said with a conspiratorial smile. Caleb seemed to debate with himself a moment before coming in.

“But if I do not recover my spells, I will have to blame you Theylyss.”

“These terms are acceptable to me” Essek replied with a smile that belied his serious tone. And they each took an armchair and began reading, with their hands held between them.

Eventually Essek awoke from a trance he hadn’t even noticed he’d fallen into. His book had fallen into his lap and his hand had drifted out of Caleb’s somewhere in the night. He only required a short trance to be rested but Caleb would need more sleep and was currently snoring lightly from his armchair. Essek cautiously placed both of their books aside and used his levitation spell to float Caleb gently over to the bed. He tucked Caleb in and gave him the gentlest kiss on the forehead and then used the chalkboard above the bed to scrawl I was worried about your neck and shoulders which he felt had just the right amount of cheeky touch.

Essek pondered getting into the bed as well but felt it may be too presumptuous, so instead he sat at the desk at his study and began writing out the events of the night, hoping to capture it’s every detail. Though he had a good memory, he hoped to preserve this turning point for himself the way Caleb preserved history in his rooms upstairs. So, he wrote while Caleb slept.

When the hustle and bustle of the others moving about the tower finally awoke Caleb, he had the moment of concern that arises when waking in a different spot than where you fell asleep, until he saw the message above the bed and smiled to himself.

“The world better watch out if one kiss is all it takes to get Essek Theylyss to start writing jokes” Caleb called out to the room.

Essek came over, looking somehow more perfect than ever this morning (Caleb being unaware that Essek had fussed by the mirror for 20 minutes for the perfectly tousled look…) and handed Caleb a coffee that he had summoned via the cat system. Caleb took it gratefully as he sat up in bed and Essek came to sit next to him on the edge of the bed.

“Imagine what will happen after 2,3 or even 100 kisses?” Caleb continued his jibe. Essek simply raised an eyebrow at him:

“I suppose we will have to test it to find out.”

“I suppose we will” Caleb replied with a grin.

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wipdfic · 7 years ago

Text

Crystal’s Call (Revision)

So a loooong time ago, I did the Paper Legends Merlin Big Bang and started this series. I participated for two years and then decided I could finish the third and final part of the story without the aid of a timed challenge. Ah, how young and naive I was. Anyway, I basically never got around to it, but keep creeping towards the goal in the form of editing the existing story hoping to get back into it. I kind of fell off the Merlin fandom after that series ending.

Anyway, I’ve managed to edit the first story and post it successfully. That was like…2 years ago. I’ve finished most of the edit for the second story and once that’s done I’m going to start on the last part. That’s the plan anyway. The first part is posted to AO3 here. The second part is also posted, but I’ll be posting the cleaned up revised chapters to this blog until it’s all done. Weee!

Chapter 1

“Fang Two to Fang Leader. We have visual. Target is on second level with three others. AE levels positive on all spectra ranging from red to amber.”

Arthur’s jaw clenched as he heard the confirmation, pulse increasing in anticipation. He sat monitoring communications from their make-shift command center in a van a couple of blocks away from the building they were surveilling. This could finally be the break they’d been waiting for. The man they were tracking, Alvarr, was a known associate of Morgause Gorlois, and the closest thing they had to a lead on Morgana’s whereabouts. Six months had passed since the two women had vanished from the grounds of Arthur’s university. Six months of searching and praying, knowing that every moment that Morgana was missing made it all the more likely that she would never be found. Morgause had gone to ground, and she was not making herself easy to find.

Arthur quickly took note of the information that had been given, mind working on the best way to approach the situation. They would be dealing with four sorcerers. Four relatively powerful sorcerers if the Arcane Energy levels were accurate. It was rare enough to find sorcerers with enough magic to even register on their aurameters anymore, and those who did were usually in the weaker end of the spectrum; red, occasionally orange, but almost never anything brighter. Before meeting Merlin, Arthur hadn’t even known that sorcerers could register in the white-gold range reserved for magic in its purest form, and he was pretty sure that Merlin was the only living soul who had come by that much power through natural means.

In the wake of the continued depletion of magic in the world, seeing an AE reading of amber or brighter meant augmentation of some kind. For the general public, PendraCor enhancers were becoming more and more common, the public unaware of their sinister origins. But on the streets, in darker circles that would rather avoid supporting the likes of Uther Pendragon, another form of augmentation had begun cropping up. Tales of magic theft were becoming more and more common, and with four sorcerers with that much power, Arthur had a sinking suspicion that they were in for more than just a snatch and grab on this one.

Arthur shared a look with Leon and knew that his commanding officer had drawn the same conclusion. They were more likely than not looking at a ‘Charging Station’, the euphemism used to describe the places were magic was stolen from some in order to “charge up” others. This meant not only facing stronger sorcerers, but also the likelihood of civilians in peril. They’d come across places like this a couple of times before and learned some valuable lessons. Like the fact that stolen magic was more unstable, less predictable, and generally harder for its wielder to control. Between this and the potential victims underfoot, they would have to tread very carefully.

“Signs of shields or wards?” Leon asked Lance over the comm.

“Affirmative. Can’t get a read on how strong, but the building schematics show that there is a basement and subbasement level, and I can’t get anything from those areas. Only one of our sensors is picking up anything at all.”

Translation: Their standard issue equipment wasn’t cutting it so Lance had pulled out the “trick” equipment that Arthur had provided him; equipment that had appeared in Arthur’s room one morning with no indication of where it had come from, but had a warm familiar tingle that pulled at his heart and a spot just beyond his navel. That feeling had been answer enough and reason enough for Arthur to know the equipment could be trusted.

He’d received a few such deliveries over the past several months, all with the same familiar warmth. But despite knowing that Merlin was the source, he’d never heard from the man himself. He didn’t know how Merlin knew that his team would need the help; didn’t know why the other man made no attempts to contact him, but he was grateful. Especially now when it looked like Merlin’s gifts would make all the difference in whether or not they’d be able to attain their objective and get one step closer to getting Morgana back.

The van that was serving as their command center was silent as Leon considered their options. As much as he hated to admit it, Arthur was glad that it was not up to him to make the decision in this situation. It had been one thing to lead a team through drills and mock combat scenarios, even some of the simpler recon missions, but this was different. Lives were at stake. His team’s lives, the lives of the people who were likely held prisoner in that building. Morgana’s. Much as there was part of him that wanted to be the one to bring these bastards to justice, he lacked the proper experience to pull off an operation of this magnitude. He was man enough to admit that.

“Alright Arthur, break it down. What are our considerations?” Arthur started slightly at being addressed. Leon did this often, but he wasn’t expecting a command drill on a mission like this. He wasted a precious few seconds blinking in confusion.

“You have less than a minute, soldier. Considerations!” That snapped Arthur’s brain and mouth into gear.

“Four sorcerers on the second level. Heavy shielding on the lower levels. Target is in sight, but we don’t know what reinforcements might be in the lower levels. If we go in, we’ll be going in blind. The entire building is probably shielded so we’ll have to find a way through the shield first. We need this target alive and there are likely civilians. We don’t want to use lethal force. Stun charges, shock grenades. Inhibitor rounds if we have to.”

“Suggested course of action?”

Arthur paused at this. What would be the best way to get in and out with as little risk as possible? Surprise was their best advantage at this point. There was no indication that the people in the building were at all aware that their location had been compromised. But with shields and wards, anyone with magic in the building would be alerted as soon as the team got close enough. They had to be careful how they played this.

“We need to get past the shields. We have a couple of tricks for shield cracking, but the target will be alerted as soon as we use them. We’d have to move fast.”

“Strike points?”

“We split the team. Half goes high, half goes low. We hit both the upper and lower levels at the same time. Break the shields and break in. Speed and surprise will be our edge.”

“Good, Arthur. You’re getting better at calling these things. You matched my thoughts almost exactly with the exception of a few details.”

Rather than explaining further, Leon puled his facemask down hiding all features and activating the AE goggles built into the mask. That was Arthur’s cue to do the same. He followed Leon out of the van even as the older man began issuing orders to the team.

“Listen up Dragons, here’s the play. We’re going in fast and hard. Bravo and Charlie will take the high ground. Alpha and Delta go low. Delta, you’re out back, Fang One and I will come in through the front. Echo will split and take Over-watch. Make sure no one gets out of that building. Fang Three, I know you’ve got some tricks up your sleeve. You’re to hit the second level shield first, long distance, and get in the moment the shield is down. We’ll wait for your signal before attacking the shield on the first level. With any luck, anyone downstairs will be distracted enough from the first attack that they won’t see us coming. Confirm.”

Arthur listened as each member of the team checked in to confirm that they understood their role in the mission, counting down from Fang Nine. Arthur was last to add his confirmation after which Leon gave a firm nod.

“Alright then gentlemen. Take your positions. We go live in five.”

Even as the order was being given, Arthur was reaching into one of the many pockets in his strike gear to find the small satchel of Merlin’s gifts. There were not many; a few very special bullets, a personal shielding device, a few emergency teleportation beads, a pair of spelled handcuffs that could bind magic, and some very special coins designed as protection for sorcerers who might need to hide. And, of course the shield-cracker. He’d received four in total, little glass marbles that had a core of light at their center when closely observed. He handed three out to his men from Camelot University; the junior division of the Dragon Corps that he had been responsible for training. They were friends and brothers all, and though he did keep some of the special item for himself, he did his best to make sure the advantage was shared out to the entire unit. Well…almost the entire until.

Although there had only been rare occasions when the trick tech came into play, the other members of the Dragon Corps, those who had trained under Leon away from the university and had never been under Arthur’s command, were aware that Arthur had some slightly different tools at his disposal, but he’d never shared the source of said tools. They assumed that he had access to improved technomancy through his father, and Arthur never made any attempt to dissuade them of that assumption. Leon was the only one he had told, as his commanding officer and someone who was like a brother to him, and Leon had made the call to keep the origin of the enhanced devices under wraps for the time being.

Arthur palmed the little ball of light in preparation for their attack. Most of the team had already checked in that they were in position. There was only a bit of roof hopping to be made for most of the unit, the biggest shift probably being for the two men of Echo Team to get into Over-watch positions. Arthur was with Leon, moving out of the covered alley where their van was hidden, sticking to the shadows as they made their way to the building on foot. It was only a block away and took them seconds to get into position in an alley across the street. Final checks came in. The team was in position. Leon gave the order, (“Fang Three, if you would”) and everything went, immediately, sideways.

The moment the shield cracker made contact with the shield, Arthur knew. He and Leon were already rushing forwards, but even as they did he could tell that something was wrong. It was a feeling that he recognized, had experienced a few times. Magic building too fast with unpredictable and often disastrous results. He was never sure why it was that he could feel it the way he could. It hadn’t taken him long when growing up to understand that it wasn’t something that everyone could feel, especially those without magic, but he had learned to use it as a tool; was particularly grateful for it in times like this.

“Brace!” he shouted over the comm, grabbing Leon and pulling him to the ground just before the power broke. Arthur felt it as a steadily growing pressure in the air, tingling over his nerves. But with this kind of power, there were other effects on their surroundings. He could feel a low thrum moving through the ground, almost a sound, but not quite. The world went silent just before a brilliant flash of light as the shield shattered, taking every window in the building with it.

“Fucking shite!” someone shouted over the comm as the blast receded. Glass was raining down into the street and Arthur was grateful, not for the first time, for the thick material that protected every inch of his body. Leon was shouting over the comm for the team to Go! Go! Go! He heard the confirmation that Bravo and Charlie were in. He and Leon were steps away from the main entrance, the doors looking as though they were barely hanging on. Arthur pocketed the other shield cracker seeing as they wouldn’t need it after all, took hold of his assault rifle and prepared as best he could for what was to come.

He sprinted for the entrance, hot on Leon’s heels as the team fed terse updates over their channel. The sorcerers had scattered the moment they saw the team of masked men swing through the shattered windows. As Arthur and Leon neared the main door, Owaine’s cheery voice offered over the comm: “Allow me, lads” just before the lock on the door was shot clean through. That was all it took for the doors to finally give in and fall completely from their hinges. Impressed as he was, Arthur kept it to himself, instead focusing on getting in and making sure their target didn’t escape.

He entered the building behind Leon, eyes and gun scanning the area for threats. There were a couple of figures on the floor, dazed from the unleashing of power and making little effort to get back to their feet. From the looks of them, they were in no shape to be putting up much of a defense; bodies thin and clothes tattered. He wasn’t picking up any AE fields from them through his goggles, but he could see Marks on at least one other, the seals of magic that formed when a sorcerer came of age, indicating that there were other sorcerers amongst the people hiding in this building other than the four on the upper levels.

“Stay down and do not move,” Leon commanded, sweeping the room with his weapon. “The authorities will be here shortly. We have no desire to harm you.”

Even as the words were spoken, there was the sound of heavy footsteps from above, loud thumps and sounds of magic and weapons fire being exchanged. Arthur could hear what was happening over his comm. The sorcerers had scattered. The team had lost track of one of them, but their primary target was still in sight. Percival had taken a hit, two of the sorcerers were down. Alvarr was trying to make his escape.

All of this had happened in a matter of seconds. Delta Team was just making it into the front section of the building when Arthur felt a familiar tingle which was the only warning they got before they were attacked from above.

“Down!” Arthur shouted, just as a barrage of glass shards peppered the space where he and Leon had been standing. Tristan and Gareth fell back into a rear room and he knew that they were seeking out the attackers, same as he was, same as Leon. The woman was making her way across a landing that would lead to the stairs to the front exit. Arthur knew that even if she made it that far, Owain would see to it that she didn’t get any further, but Arthur had no intention of allowing her even that much. He rolled to a kneeling position, ignoring the sting of cuts from glass that had made it through his armor as he raised his rifle, loaded with shock-charge rounds; bullets augmented by magic to disintegrate once ignited and stun a target without inflicting a wound. They had the added bonus of temporarily scrambling a sorcerer’s magic.

He didn’t have a chance to even attempt a shot, however, because the moment he moved, the woman was on him, raising a had with fingers curled into a claw. He felt the hold of her magic as it lifted him and flung him across the room. He managed to turn his body midair to prevent a head-first impact with a wall, but he knew that his shoulder would be smarting for a while after taking the brunt of his weight when he crashed. There was a small battle waged against the woman in the front of the building, magic buzzing through the air. She was clearly a formidable opponent, but the outcome was clear. Even she had to know that she was hopelessly outnumbered.

There was something wrong with this picture.

Arthur chose not to make his way into the fray, staying down for a moment as he tried to figure out what it was he was missing. The outcome of this mission was clearly falling in their favor. They would be shutting down another magic-theft facility and taking in a group of criminals. That was what they were here for wasn’t it? To take down a circle of…

…the slight brush of magic tingling over his skin was what gave it away. Arthur would have completely missed it if not for the advantage his sensitivity gave him and the fact that he had a good amount of experience with just the spell that was at play. He thought of it as the “Ignore Me” spell, because that is essentially what it was. Subtle, careful magic that relied largely on misdirection and only marginally on magic at all.

In this case, it was allowing their target to make his escape. It was at this point that Arthur realized that the comm had been silent for far too long.

“Does anyone have eyes on the target?” he snapped into his receiver. He was greeted by silence. Great. Something had taken down their comms. Radio silence would make this operation much easier.

He pulled himself to his feet as carefully and quietly as he could, thinking through the schematics of the building that he had memorized and trying to predict where Alvarr would go if he were attempting to make a quiet escape. The two main entrances were blocked, and there weren’t any other easy ways out, unless he planned to climb through jagged windows.

Arthur was a bit stumped until he realized something else. The sounds of fighting were moving closer and closer to the front of the building, leaving the back door largely ignored. He could not have asked for a more blatant declaration of intent. Making his way to the back of the building, he reached a small kitchen with a door leading to an alley behind the building where the dumpsters were kept. It was here that Arthur confronted Alvarr Quaid strolling towards the exit, calm as could be.

Arthur didn’t bother will calling out a warning to the man. He had no delusions that the sorcerer would surrender to him willingly, so he took the only logical course of action. He fired. Of course, as it turned out, Alvarr was the most powerful of the sorcerers present, made clear when he lifted a hand and deflected the stun-charge away with a shield that shone amber through the eyes of his AE goggles. Arthur dropped his rifle and pulled his handgun instead. It was loaded with inhibitor rounds; bullets for binding.

Static sounded in his ear for a moment before the radio chatter returned. Arthur could only assume that Alvarr had been the source of the disruption and had dropped the spell in favor of defending himself. He was a wise man. He would need all the help he could get if he thought Arthur would let him walk away from this.

“Step away from the door,” he ordered with a steady voice and steady hand.

“Or what?” Alvarr sneered. “You’ll shoot me? Go ahead. I’d rather die than become further fuel for Uther’s war against my kind.”

He didn’t bother repeating himself, choosing to fire instead. The command had been more for his team’s benefit anyway, informing the others that they were being misled. Alvarr returned the attack in kind, raising a shield and sending a blast of magic at him as the bullet deflected. Arthur dodged, diving to the left and rolling into a kneeled position, gun up and firing. He could hear the others responding, footfalls coming his way, but they were not coming fast enough. He wasn’t counting on the others however. He was counting on their Over-watch doing their job. All Arthur needed to do was keep Alvarr’s attention focused on what was happening inside the house to keep him from thinking about what was outside. He fired a couple more rounds at the man as he made his way for the door again, and just as Leon and Gwaine came rushing into the kitchen, a single shot was fired and Alvarr hit the ground with a startled cry. Arthur was there not a moment later with his binding cuffs, ensuring that there would be no further use of magic from the sorcerer.

“Target acquired,” Arthur announced over the comm. “Nice shot, Fang Nine.”

“Easy pickings, your highness.”

Arthur scowled at the nickname but kept his focus on the task at hand. Now that they had Alvarr, they needed to get him back to their transport and then get out of there. Fast.

“Dragon’s rendezvous at the back exit on level one. We’re getting out of–”

Before Leon could complete the command, there it was again, the feel of magic charging the air. Arthur didn’t have a chance to issue a warning before they were hit by a wall of power that shoved them all down and away. Arthur pulled his rifle up and fired a round in the direction the attack had come from, quick to pursue when he heard the sound of stumbling coming from the hall.

“Fang Three, cover!” Leon snapped, sending Gwaine after Arthur as they chased their assailant. It had taken maybe five minutes or less for the operation from start to finish, though with all that had happened, it felt like hours. In the aftermath of so much violence it was almost disturbing how quiet the building was now. The stumbling sounds that Arthur had been following seemed to be absorbed by the silence, leaving the lower level of the building dark and too quiet for his liking.

Arthur could hear his own breathing, and the oh-so-quiet shift of his feet as he took another step, but there was something else. He stepped forward, Gwaine at his back, moving along a wall towards what appeared to be a hallway. He pulled a small torch from his pocket and positioned it high while crouching low. He turned the corner and flipped the torch on in one swift movement, only to find an empty hallway and several doors to greet him. But wait… There was that sound again. Just for a brief moment. Like…shifting or breathing. He couldn’t quite place it.

There was something there, though. He could feel it as a slight tingle in the air. Someone was hiding. Someone with magic they had recently used.

“Fang One, report,” Leon’s voice spoke in his ear. It had been a good chunk of radio silence since he’d set off to follow the potential threat, but they were low on time. They needed to vanish very soon.

“Standby,” he returned, taking a couple of strides to the second door in the hallway. He felt Gwaine come up behind him as he reached the door, a reassuring presence at his back. He glanced over his shoulder, and wordlessly, the other man pulled out a torch of his own and raised his weapon at the door. Arthur lifted a hand with three fingers raise, and began counting down. When he got to one, he yanked the door open, aiming his light, along with Gwaine’s, into the opening.

There was a scream, a tangle of dirty limbs, then broken sobbing mixed with pleas.

“He didn’t mean it! Please! He didn’t know! He was just trying to protect me; to get us out! Just let us go! Please…”

The door had led to a supply closet of sorts, filled with buckets and towels and other cleaning tools. But huddled on the floor of the closet was a girl, pale with long dark hair, no older than sixteen. She was clutching the largely unresponsive body of a boy, similarly pale and dark-haired but several years younger, maybe twelve or thirteen. Children. Both thin and filthy, and the girl at least, was clearly terrified. Arthur was left reeling and feeling more than a little ill. Children. He’d fired on children.

Arthur turned to Gwaine. He could imagine the look on the other man’s face under the mask. Things just got a bit more complicated.

“We should go,” Gwaine said into the quiet of the building. It was the obvious course of action. They didn’t have much time before the local fuzz arrived, and every moment wasted was one moment closer to ruining their mission. Arthur didn’t know these children, had no obligation to do anything for them. But he had fired on children who, while not defenseless, were clearly terrified. He’d seen what was done to others with magic in places like these; the sick depravity of those so desperate to hold on to what was being lost that they turned to the most vulnerable of their kind to take what did not belong to them. Arthur would not abandon these children to that fate. He couldn’t.

Without another thought, he knelt beside the hysterical girl, puling off a glove and touching her hair in a calming manner.

“Fang One,” Gwaine warned.

“Join the others,” Arthur hissed at him. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Like hell I will,” came the predictable response, leaving Arthur with even less time to do what he wanted to do.

“Hey,” he said in a soothing voice to the girl who had finally calmed some. “Hey, we’re not going to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

“You’re taking them away?”

Arthur assumed she was referring to the other sorcerers who were likely responsible for the theft of magic that was clearly taking place.

“We are. They can’t hurt you anymore. What’re your names?” Arthur gestured at the still-dazed boy.

“I’m Freya,” she said. “And he’s Mordred.”

Arthur nodded and reached into another pocket of his gear.

“We haven’t all day, Fang One.” Leon’s voice was insistent in his ear. “What’s the bloody hold up?!”

“Copy Fang Leader. We’ll rejoin you shortly.” He switched the receiver off again so that his voice didn’t carry to the entire unit.

“Freya, I’m going to give you something, okay? It’s a gift from a friend of mine, designed for people like you and Mordred; to keep you safe.”

He held out his hand and offered her two gold coins. She eyed him warily as she took them, examining each closely in the dim light from their torches.

“Feed a bit of your power into the charm and it will conceal your magic from anyone looking to take it from you.”

Freya looked doubtful, but she closed her hands around the coins before looking up at him. “Why are you helping us? Why would you care?”

Arthur was caught a bit flatfooted by the question. The situation was far more complicated than he even wanted to think about, let alone attempt to explain to a scared teen. “I have a very good friend who would be cross with me if I left you two without helping,” he said, smiling behind the mask at the thought of what Merlin would actually do to him if he’d turned his back on these children. ‘Cross’ was a bit of an understatement.

He also pulled a card from his pocket, handing it to her.

“If you need a safe place to stay, go to this address. You’ll find friends there.”

“We really have to go now,” Gwaine was pulling on his shoulder firmly and Arthur finally gave in. He could hear the sirens approaching. He was halted suddenly by an icy grip clamping onto his bare wrist and holding him in place. The boy’s magic was like orange mist through the goggles and it crawled over Arthur’s skin like a current of electricity, immediately calling Arthur’s attention to Mordred. Mordred, with eyes far older than his physical age, watching and seeing and knowing Arthur in ways that were too disturbing to think on properly.

“She said you would come,” he said; voice a whisper, a breath. “She said you would come, and that you would know. Follow the snake that circles the world. It will lead you to her. She will be waiting.”

The grip released and Arthur stumbled. If his nerves had been crawling before, they were full well sprinting now, climbing over each other in an attempt to escape the feeling of the boy’s magic as it lifted from him, fading like mist in the wind. Mordred lay still in Freya’s arms, as if the encounter had not happened at all. Arthur was beginning to think that he had imagined the whole thing. Then Mordred’s eyes opened and locked with his, a single word forcing its way into his thoughts.

Go.

Gwaine was pulling him and Arthur was running. The sorcerers had already been bound and loaded into the team’s vans, and the rest of the Dragons were loaded and waiting. As they hurried towards the exit, something caught Arthur’s eye in the debris left after their operation. A bit of stone that was giving off strange readings through his goggles. He wasn’t sure why he paused to grab it. It was likely just a bit of masonry laced with residual power from the explosion. Nothing unheard of. But something about it…

He pocketed the stone and joined the rest of his team in the command van. They pulled smoothly into the back alleys as sirens finally screeched to halt at the front of the building. There would be no trace of the Dragons left, aside from the chaos and missing sorcerers. Their target had been acquired, and Arthur was fairly certain that he’d received a message from Morgana through young Mordred. All things considered, he felt that their evening had gone rather well.

Wait for me, Morgana, he thought, working his thumb over the odd bit of stone. I’m coming. I’ll find you.

#fanfic #merthur #merlin #wip #writing #struggling #fighting #yeah!#au #military fic #I don't actually know much about the military #sorry?

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