#this post was also partially sparked by me finding out i have 'tall girl energy'

[homosandhomies]

marley rose has short girl energy

[terrifyingrenegadelibrary]

New Story

Hi! So, the main reason for the existence of this blog is so I have somewhere to post a story I’ve been working on for a couple years now.

That story is called This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point mandatory), and it’s about a girl named Morgan.

Because I’m that sort of person, this story has only ever been written in script format, so that’s probably a fair thing to be aware of before going in.

The other primary thing to be aware of is that, while hopefully reasonably humorous, this story has the trigger warnings you might expect from a story with “death” as one of the words in its title. That being...you know. Death, death-adjacent, violence, etc. No sex though.

Anyway, without further ado, the first chapter of This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point included here both because it’s mandatory and because I’m excited)

Draw Aside the Veil

-a band’s playing-

-bass thumping-

-electric guitars strumming-

-singers singing-

-and flames arcing through the air around them-

Morgan (off): There but for pretty much everything go we.

-the band is only a scene on a phone screen, being watched by four people. The one who just spoke, a tall, pale girl with dark curly hair, is Morgan. Next to her is a much shorter, dark-skinned girl with short curls-

Quinn: And a brutal strike by Morgan to Allen’s self-esteem. But wait, there’s more…

-the two turn to Allen, a tall, dark-skinned boy with close-cropped hair. He sighs-

Allen: We’re never going to be as big as the Firestarters if that’s your attitude. Where’s your team spirit?

Quinn: Here it comes…

Morgan: I think my team spirit gave up the ghost when we spent an entire practice session just watching other people perform.

Quinn: And there it is. Pack it in, everyone, Allen’s dead. This is a murder scene, nothing to see here, just move along…

Allen: Quinn…

Quinn: Time of death, 3:41 PM, September 16, 2089…

Allen: Come on.

Quinn: Cause of death, Morgan Stein.

Allen: Quinn, this isn’t funny.

Morgan: …It’s a little funny.

-she and Quinn high-five-

Allen: Jacob, back me up!

-the three turn to Jacob, a heavyset, pale, and very, very pretty boy. Who is also fast asleep-

Allen: …Maybe you’re right.

Quinn: Yeah, what’s a band without its triangle guy?

Allen: Morgan’s the one who said he should play the triangle.

Morgan: You wanted him in the band. Not my fault you made it my job to find him an instrument he’d play.

Allen: But the triangle?

Morgan: What can I say? I’m a problem-solver.

-Allen laughs, despite himself-

Allen: Okay, okay, go away. Shoo. You’re obviously not taking this seriously, so practice over.

Quinn: I’m beginning to pick up a sense that we’re not wanted, Morgan.

Morgan: Such a shame. See you at school, Allen. Bring Jacob if he ever wakes up.

Quinn: Boom. Roasted. Back me up, Morgan.

-Morgan snaps her fingers, and a small firework explodes-

Quinn: And we’re out.

-and off they go with Morgan’s drums, laughing-

-cut to the two walking-

Morgan: Do you think Allen is ever going to realize that the only thing we’ll ever have in common with the Firestarters is an attractive lead singer?

-Quinn turns a vague red. Morgan doesn’t appear to notice-

Quinn: Oh, he’s pretty hopeless.

Morgan: Poor guy.

-she fiddles with a fireball, making it detonate playfully-

Quinn: It doesn’t bother you at all that you don’t know why you can do that?

Morgan: It doesn’t bother me that we don’t know why electrons do the thing, right?

Quinn: …Do the thing?

Morgan: Magic’s like that, I think. It just sort of is. I turned 13, I relit the candles on my birthday cake because I was mad at Holly for blowing them out first, and now I can do magic. That’s how it is.

Quinn: I think people do know how electrons work…

Morgan: ….Quarks?

Quinn: …I wouldn’t know.

Morgan: I rest my case.

-Quinn sweatdrops-

Quinn: As long as you’re happy.

-Morgan makes the fireball detonate-

Morgan: Everyone needs a little mystery in life.

-Quinn smiles as the two reach a house-

Morgan: I’ll see you tomorrow?

Quinn: Yeah.

-she pauses-

Quinn: I—

Morgan: Huh?

Quinn: Nothing. I’ll see you.

-Quinn smiles again and walks off as Morgan goes home. Morgan seems to see something in the bushes, but she shrugs and goes inside anyway. Inside, there’s a girl who looks almost exactly like Morgan, but with a different haircut and dressed in purple instead of black, sitting on a couch using a tablet to do something-

Holly: Practice go well?

Morgan: Allen mostly just wanted to show us inspirational videos of better musicians.

Holly: Somehow I had a feeling.

Morgan: Hence why you didn’t show up?

Holly: Some of us have homework on Sundays, Morgan.

Morgan: Well, uh…you’re a nerd.

Holly: You’re not wrong.

Morgan: I’m going to get some fresh air, nerd.

Holly: You haven’t gotten enough?

Morgan: Some of us like more than an hour or two a day of it, Holly.

Holly: I’ve never been partial.

Morgan: And that’s because you’re a nerd. Bye, nerd!

Holly: Mmm-hmm.

-Morgan deposits her drum, and goes back outside-

-cut to her in a graveyard, where she’s standing in front of an angel statue-

Morgan: Dear Creepy Angel Statue in the Cemetery…

Today was a pretty good day. Practice was…uh, impractical, but I think Allen’s maybe starting to get that we’re never going to be that good. Hopefully the next step is where he stops taking Gazillion Degrees so seriously and just lets us have fun?

The world can only hope.

-Morgan giggles, and then pauses as she seems to see something move-

Morgan: Did you…

-she sighs-

Morgan: Probably nothing.

-she turns to the statue-

Morgan: You think spending time talking to statues is making me see things?

-cut back to Morgan at home, Holly still on the couch.-

Morgan: You’re right where I left you.

Holly: A little consistency in life is important.

Morgan: Whatever you say.

-she goes further into the house, and then sticks her head back out-

Morgan: Nerd!

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-Morgan ruffles Holly’s hair before retreating-

-In Morgan’s room, she looks out of the window, frowning as she examines the darkening street-

Morgan: …Just a shadow.

-and she goes online-

-until she sees it again. There’s a dark shape in the bushes outside Quinn’s house-

Morgan: …Okay then.

-cut to her leaving the house-

Holly: Are you going somewhere?

Morgan: Yep.

Holly: Again?

Morgan: (sharply) Yep!

-and she goes out the door, sprinting towards the shape in the bushes as flames flicker from her hands-

Morgan: Hey! Get away from my friend’s house!

-the shape moves to see Morgan, and then flickers away, taking off down the street-

Morgan: …Okay, I know I said get away, but actually stay right there so I can kick your ass!

-and she’s off after it-

-it flees through the town, Morgan pursuing it and passing a number of interested-looking people along the way. Despite the figure’s speed, Morgan manages to keep up with it, pulling some reasonably impressive parkour moves-

-until she loses it at the graveyard-

Morgan: What, you think this creeps me out? I practically live here, asshole.

-fire still sparking from her hands, she makes her way into the graveyard-

-she slowly moves by tombstones-

-and suddenly the figure is in her face. It’s what appears to be a black cloak, but there’s nothing underneath it but an inky darkness-

Morgan: Ah!

-She jumps back. The cloak regards her in almost a quizzical way, and she quickly recovers her composure-

Morgan: What the hell are you doing, stalking my friend?

-no response. Morgan holds up a crackling fireball-

Morgan: Well?

-the cloak lets out a hissing noise and pulls back. In a shower of black sparks, a wickedly sharp knife appears in its hand, and it lunges at Morgan, who jumps out of the way-

Morgan: Got it. No clue what you are, but I’m going to make you burn.

-Morgan sends a fireball flying at the cloak, which dodges easily-

Morgan: Okay, you’re fast. I can deal with that.

-she launches more fireballs, but the cloak zips around them and strikes with the knife. This time, it manages to cut Morgan’s shoulder-

Morgan: Aaah!

-she clutches her shoulder, but oddly, while it’s clearly causing pain, there doesn’t seem to be any damage-

Morgan: Was that…was that magic?

-the cloak gives no answer, instead continuing to slash at her, but this time she’s more careful to keep out of the way-

-at least until it tackles her to the ground-

Morgan: Ack!

-she grabs up a handful of dirt from the ground, and jams it into the cloak, but there’s no reaction. The cloak summons another knife and brings it down, but Morgan catches it by the handle-

-the knife starts to glow black, and Morgan winces in pain-

Morgan: Come on…what kind of magic even is this?

-little flickers build up around her hands-

-the cloak, meanwhile, summons a second knife and brings it down, Morgan only just moving her head out of the way. More knives appear, spreading out to different angles-

Morgan: No…

-and then something clicks-

Morgan: No!

-a spiral of fireworks burst from Morgan’s palm, throwing the cloak away. She leaps to her feet, flames whirling around her-

Morgan: I don’t have the slightest clue what’s going on here, fine! But let me tell you something, tall, dark, and silent! Nobody creeps on my friend and gets away with it!

-the cloak hisses, dozens of knives appearing, and lunges at Morgan-

-and a column of fire bursts from her palms, swirling around the cloak and knives-

-Morgan stares at the fire, eventually clenching her fists to cut it off-

-she’s left in an empty graveyard, staring at where a cloak used to be-

Morgan: …What just happened?

-suddenly, a pulse of black energy lights up behind her neck. She screams-

-pan around to the cut on her shoulder, which is glowing with black energy and appears to have become necrotic very rapidly. Morgan topples to the ground as her vision starts to fade-

Morgan: This…sucks…

-cut to a boy and girl standing over her-

Boy: She really killed it in one hit? That’s fairly impressive.

Girl: Is that really the immediate concern?

Boy: Whatever.

-The boy reaches down and says something that Morgan can’t make out, and suddenly the pulse goes away-

Boy: See? I saved her life. Are you happy now?

Girl: You don’t think that was sort of the least we could have done for her?

Boy: Ugh. Tell me if she lives or dies.

Girl: Yeah…

-he wanders off as Morgan blacks out-

-Morgan awakens, still in the graveyard, a little while later. She sees someone leaving, but can’t make out who-

-she looks around, seeing no evidence of the fight from earlier-

Morgan: …Did I really just fall asleep in the graveyard? And it was such a weird dream, too…

-she makes her way back home, ignoring the long, thin scar now present on her shoulder-

-when she gets there, she’s greeted by Holly-

Holly: Where were you?

Morgan: Uh.

Holly: I called your phone, and you didn’t answer. Was something wrong?

Morgan: Oh, no. I…uh…I fell asleep in the graveyard.

Holly: What?

Morgan: I’m as surprised as you.

Holly: I don’t think that’s possible.

Morgan: Well, I thought I saw someone outside Quinn’s house, so I chased them away, and somehow I ended up at the graveyard again--

Holly: As per usual—

Morgan: And then I was really tired so I guess I took a nap. Had the weirdest dream.

Holly: Your dreams aren’t really my priority here.

Morgan: Anyway, I’m home now.

Holly: …You should go to bed.

Morgan: Probably.

-Morgan walks past Holly-

Holly: Hey, Morgan?

Morgan: Huh?

Holly: Where’d you get that scar?

Morgan: Scar?

Holly: On your shoulder. Look.

-Morgan looks. Where she was sliced by the Reaper, there is a thin line that looks marked with a small burn-

Morgan: …Huh. Looks like a glue gun accident to me.

Holly: Really?

-she sighs-

Holly: Honestly, what you’d do without me…

-another timeskip. Morgan is in school, looking largely uninterested as she stares uncomfortably out the window. Quinn is more attentive. Allen is deeply focused on something else. Jacob is asleep-

-the day ends, and everyone mills out of the classroom, Quinn and Morgan going together-

Quinn: I think that’s probably an all-time low for attention.

Morgan: Uh…yeah.

Quinn: Including right now. Something on your mind?

Morgan: …Nah. Start-of-year doldrums.

Quinn: As opposed to your usual end-of-year apathy, and the middle-of-the-year exhaustion, I guess?

Morgan: Uh, right!

Quinn: Well, consistency’s important.

Morgan: You sound like my sister.

Quinn: Yikes. Walk you home?

Morgan: You say this like we don’t live next to each other.

-even so, she follows along-

-cut to the house. Morgan and Quinn are walking along, Morgan playing with a fireball again-

Quinn: So, uh, Morgan.

Morgan: Yeah?

Quinn: We’ve been friends for a while, yeah?

Morgan: Sure. What’s going on?

Quinn: Well, I was thinking...

Morgan: I’m not gonna kill Jacob for you, no matter how much you beg.

Quinn: No, Morgan, that’s not it. I—

Morgan: Quinn, have you been a ghost the whole time? Or wait. Are you a magician? I could use another magician friend. There’s like one other person in town, and he’s weird.

Quinn: Morgan! This is important!

Morgan: -laughing- Sorry, sorry. I’ll be serious. –swipes hand across face- See? Serious Morgan. What’s on your mind?

Quinn: Morgan, I think I-

-Morgan’s phone rings-

Morgan: Um, sorry, is it okay if I get this?

Quinn: Uh, yeah, fine.

-Morgan checks her phone-

Quinn: Sooooo? What is it?

Morgan: …Holly got hit by a car.

SCENE FADE

-Quinn and Morgan are in the hospital. They’re looking at Holly, who’s unconscious in a hospital bed-

Quinn: Is…is she going to be okay?

Morgan: (quietly) The doctors don’t think so.

Quinn: Morgan…I’m sorry.

-she puts a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan subtly shrugs it off-

Morgan: …I need some fresh air.

Quinn: Oh, I’ll come—

Morgan: Empty air. Thanks.

-She’s gone before Quinn can protest. She walks through the town, passing by people. A number of people recur periodically-

-suddenly, a boy appears out of nowhere. He’s about Morgan’s height, with light skin, soft features, and rather long hair-

Boy: Excuse me, I—

-she brushes past him-

-the camera pans to her perspective, showing the angel statue, and she begins to speak-

Morgan: So look. I don’t know who to talk to right now, but you and I? We get along. I don’t know if you’re supposed to be a real angel, but just in case anyone’s listening, maybe pay me back for the years of conversation?

-she stares hard at the statue, looking it in the eyes-

Morgan: Please, just…give me my sister back.

-Silence-

???: And if I do? What do I get in return?

-Morgan looks around-

Morgan: Who said that? This isn’t funny.

???: It is not funny at all. I can offer you your sister back, in exchange for your service.

Morgan: -pops a fireball- If you’re some ventriloquist with a sick sense of humor, I’m gonna roast you. But if you can really save Holly…you’ve got whatever you want.

???: Then the Contract is made.

Morgan: What?

???: Under normal circumstances, I might demand a task of you as a token of your service, but you have already assisted me once.

Morgan: I have?

???: The creature from earlier. It was a threat to the town, and I had been tracking it for some time, but you destroyed it for me. So thank you.

Morgan: Wait, what was it?

???: It was a Spirit of Death, a Reaper. A creature made of pure magic given physical form. Nominally a servant, but as demonstrated here…occasionally dangerous.

Morgan: Wait, but—I killed it. How did I do that? Since when can magic be a weapon?

???: Magic has always been a weapon. It is in your genes. You simply needed the proper impetus to tap into it. Now, I believe I owe you a favor.

-Morgan’s phone buzzes-

Phone: Holly’s up and fine

Morgan: Wait, what?

Phone: Total miracle. Someone’s looking out for us.

-Morgan stares at her phone, and then looks up at the statue-

Morgan: …Did you do this?

???: I certainly did.

Morgan: …

-she drops to her knees-

Morgan: Thank you.

???: Think nothing of it. Welcome to my service.

Morgan: Who are you?

???: I am Zaresi. Goddess of Death.

-Morgan blinks-

Zaresi: I will be in touch.

-the presence fades from the area. Morgan slowly rises to her feet-

???: Uh, welcome to the team.

-Morgan leaps to her feet, reaching for magic-

-energy pulses from her hands, but unlike before, it’s black, and instead of fireworks, it twists into the shape of a scythe-

-or begins to, but is destroyed by a sphere of black light. Standing behind the sphere is a girl about Morgan’s age, with brown skin, straight black hair, and at the moment, a look of shock-

Girl: Dios mio, we’re on the—

-she sees Morgan’s face, and pauses. She coughs. Morgan stares at her for a long time as well, before eventually speaking-

Morgan: We’re on the?

Girl: …Uh. We’re on the same side, is what I was going to say. I’m—

Morgan: Wait, so what happened to my magic?

Girl: Well, you work for a goddess of Death now, so you use Death magic, not Fire magic. Anyway, I’m—

Morgan: Wait, what?

Girl: Uh, look, this isn’t the best time for me to be explaining this. I’m—

Morgan: So what just happened?

-the girl sighs-

Girl: Si pararia de hablar por un segundo…long story short, the Reaper used to work for us, but it went nuts, so when you killed it, we wanted to hire you.

Morgan: …Right. I’m going to write this off as a hallucination and go see my sister.

-she walks off-

Girl: Hey, w-wait!

Morgan: What?

Girl: I’m Laura! It’s nice to meet you!

-she gives a weak grin-

Morgan: …Yeah. Bye.

-as Morgan leaves the graveyard, she nearly runs into a boy about her height, with long hair and soft features. As Morgan attempts to step past him, he coughs politely-

Boy: Ah, hello there. Again.

Morgan: Hi. Look, I’m trying to get home, so I’m not really in the mood to talk with people. Can you—

Boy: So, I heard you swore in with Zaresi. Shame. I heard the news, and I was hoping this might be an opportunity to make an overture, but I guess it’s too late now.

Morgan: …Who are you?

Boy: An enemy, at least for the time being. See you around!

-he strolls off lazily. Morgan stares after him uncomfortably-

Morgan: …Whatever. Too many weird things for one day.

-and she continues walking-

-Morgan arrives home, to see Holly, who is standing up, and immediately runs to hug her-

Holly: Hello to you too, Morgan.

Morgan: You’re… okay!

Holly: I certainly am. I can’t say I understand how, though.

Morgan: Yeah, been hearing that a lot lately…

Holly: Huh?

Morgan: Nothing.

Holly: Well, it’s good to be up and about again.

Morgan: Hey, Holly?

Holly: What’s up?

Morgan: You know I love you, right?

Holly: Of course I know that. You’re my sister.

Morgan: Just thought you should know. Get some sleep, okay?

Holly: Don’t act like you’re older than I am.

Morgan: Last time I checked, I was.

Holly: By eight minutes!

Morgan: Just go to bed. Love you, nerd.

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-cut to class the next day-

Quinn: --She just woke up! It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

Morgan: It was lucky. I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.

-Quinn hugs her-

Quinn: She in school today? We should go bug her.

Morgan: She’s still at home, despite her best efforts. I thought it was better if she stayed home to rest up, and my parents agreed.

Quinn: Can’t hurt.

Morgan: Unless you’re a perfectionist like Holly, of course.

Quinn: Still can’t hurt to live life like the rest of us people who are occasionally sick.

Morgan: Or just playing hooky.

Quinn: Or just playing hooky.

-she laughs-

Quinn: So, Morgan, do you have some time? I was kind of hoping to talk to y—

-the window shatters, and a massive tendril of darkness rushes in, knocking Quinn into a wall. She doesn’t get back up. Morgan steps in front of her, hands flickering. The tendril expands outwards, surrounding Morgan in darkness-

Morgan: What.

-the cloud continues swirling around her, before looming in on Quinn-

Morgan: Hey, don’t touch her!

-the flickers grow stronger-

-the cloud doesn’t pay any attention, and tendrils begin growing out of it, wrapping around Quinn-

Morgan: I said…

-the flickers form a cohesive shape-

Morgan: Don’t touch her!

-and she lashes out, the flickers solidifying into the shape of a wickedly curved scythe. It slashes through the tendrils, which withdraw. Morgan stares at the scythe-

Morgan: What…

-and then her face hardens, as the tendrils start regrowing, and she slashes at them again-

Morgan: Hey! Maybe I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m pretty sure that attacking my friends isn’t part of the water cycle!

???: I’ll give it a 5 out of 10. That’s not a cloud.

-a boy slips around the fog, strolling over to Morgan. He’s white, with bright green eyes and buzzed brown hair, and while he’s shorter than Morgan he’s still of reasonably average height-

Morgan: I don’t know who you are, but I think I hate you.

Boy: Evan. Zaresi’s right-hand magician. Pleasure. You’re the new girl, right? Laura mentioned you. I’m on your side.

Morgan: That’s great for you. Mind helping out?

Evan: What, with this?

Morgan: Yeah. It’s another Reaper, right?

Evan: Obviously not. Reapers are Spirits. This is just a Fae; it causes trouble from time to time. You seem to have things well in hand.

Morgan: I do?

Evan: Of course not. You’re hopeless. Now distract it while I do something that works.

Morgan: Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?

-nonetheless, she moves to the side as much as she can while still slashing away-

Morgan: Uh…distraction!

-Evan takes her spot, removing a small mat from his backpack and unrolling it. It’s covered with runes and a pentagram-

Evan: Not the most creative, but I suppose it’ll do.

-he steps onto the pentagram-

Evan: Fae, understand that your actions here today are in violation of the Divine Convocation. While it is indeed perfectly plausible that you are not necessarily self-aware in a way humans would understand, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Larus.

-the runes glow as Evan steps onto the carpet. A tendril of shadow reaches for him, but is burnt away by a sudden burst of black light-

Evan: Now for some real magic. Argentatus.

-a beam of darkness blasts out from the runes, piercing through the cloud of shadow. It recoils, and retreats back out of the window, coiling away into the sky and dissipating-

Morgan: …Handy. Don’t suppose I could get my hands on one?

Evan: If you’re nice, I’ll teach you how.

Morgan: So, situation dealt with, right?

Evan: It’s not dead, so it could definitely be more dealt with. But I guess that’s not bad for your first fight.

Morgan: Second fight.

Evan: Definitely bad then.

Morgan: Great. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume—or, perhaps, pray—that we have some masquerade to keep up, and I can pretend I don’t know you when we’re not working together to kill angry thunderclouds.

Evan: Nah, that won’t be necessary.

Morgan: Damn it.

Evan: Watch and learn.

-he saunters over to Quinn, who is still out cold, and pulls a pouch from his backpack, taking a pinch of clay out of it and making a small circle on her forehead-

Morgan: Hey, what are you doing?

Evan: Nothing dangerous. Buteo.

-the clay fizzes and vanishes, and Quinn’s eyes snap open-

Quinn: What happened? Who are you?

Evan: There was a little storm, and a tree branch went through a window and conked you on the head. Don’t worry, I saved you.

Quinn: …That’s nice?

Evan: Yes, yes it was. Anyway, I’m borrowing Morgan.

Morgan: You are?

Evan: Yes. Aren’t you excited?

-Morgan and Evan are now outside-

Morgan: What did you do to her?

Evan: Memory spell. Pretty simple, really. We use them all the time when people see things they shouldn’t.

Morgan: …That can’t be ethical.

Evan: Oh, don’t worry. You get good at making things up after your first few days on the job.

-Evan shrugs and continues walking. Morgan stares after him for a moment, her face hardening, but she follows-

Morgan: What about the rest of the school? Didn’t they see the Fae too?

Evan: Of course not. Only Magicians see magic. And only Magicians who are contracted to a proper god can see everything.

Morgan: But…when I cast for the band, everyone sees the fire.

Evan: Sure, because that’s a side effect. But only you can see the magic keeping it all in shape. The only people we need to wipe are the ones who were actually in the middle of the whole mess, like your friend back there. Everyone else, they’ll just assume there really was a little freak storm.

-there’s a pause, and Evan snickers-

Evan: Did you really think the gods could keep themselves secret if John Q. Public could see them walking down the street?

Morgan: This is the third time in the past two days someone’s mentioned gods. What are you talking about?

Evan: …Didn’t Laura explain anything to you?

Morgan: I think she might have tried to.

-Evan gives a sigh of disgust-

Evan: Look, a thousand years ago or so magic was a big deal, and it was apportioned out by real gods, not whatever crappy two-bit Spirit was managing you.

Morgan: Hey!

Evan: But then there were a ton of wars over territory and magic and whatnot, they held the Divine Convocation, the gods all agreed to go into hiding, and magic turned into a cheap joke. Nobody knows how it works, and everyone thinks all it’s good for is bands.

Morgan: The voice in the graveyard, uh, the goddess of Death…Zaresi?

Evan: That’s the one.

Morgan: She said magic was always meant as a weapon, and that I knew how to use it like that. And she was right.

Evan: Well, of course.

Morgan: And my magic is different now.

Evan: Obviously.

-Morgan glares-

Morgan: So people do know how magic works?

Evan: You thought it was all a big mystery? Nah. A lot of work goes into keeping that true, but the people who matter? They know what’s up.

Morgan: I don’t know if I agree with your assessment of who matters or not.

Evan: Fortunately, I don’t care what you think.

Morgan: I don’t like you.

Evan: See previous comment.

-Morgan sighs-

Morgan: Okay, but if the gods all hid, what’s going on now?

Evan: Well, nothing stays hidden forever, obviously. After a while, gods started resurging, just a whole lot more secretively. Now we’re here, and I’m standing in front of you explaining what a blinkered moron you and everyone else in the world is. Any more questions?

Morgan: …Can I talk to Laura instead?

Evan: Nah, she takes online classes. Point is, Zaresi has the two of us and a few odd Spirits, and that’s just one god. Maybe there aren't so many Magicians in this town, but believe me, there’s plenty of mind-wiping to go around. The Fae could have killed half the people in the school, and after five minutes, the survivors would be going along with their day.

Morgan: And you’ve done this before?

Evan: Pretty frequently.

Morgan: To me? Or my sister?

Evan: -shrugs- Probably. You people all just blur together after a while, honestly.

Morgan: …You’re sure I can’t talk to Laura? I think I liked her better.

Evan: Funny, she said the same thing. But no, you’re stuck with me. Exciting, isn’t it?

Morgan: In a Russian Roulette-y sort of way, sure.

Evan: I’ll take it.

-he starts to walk off-

Morgan: Evan!

Evan: Morgan.

Morgan: You can wipe minds, right? Can’t you just…wipe mine? Make me forget I saw this, and let me go back to a normal life where magic’s just a cool thing some people can do and nobody really cares about it past the icebreakers?

Evan: I could.

Morgan: Great.

Evan: Seems a bit cowardly, though. You’ve already had two encounters with the magical side of the world, the Reaper in the graveyard and the Fae here.

Morgan: So what’s a Fae?

-Evan waves a hand dismissively-

Evan: I’ll explain it later. There’s all sorts of supernatural mischief going on, even in a small town like this one. It’s our job to keep people safe from it.

Morgan: I can’t picture you being into that line of work.

Evan: I’m insulted.

Morgan: Look. I only fought the Reaper to keep my friend safe, and I only agreed to work for Zaresi to save my sister. Zaresi did something for me, I did something for her, so why can’t I just be done?

Evan: The agreement you made was your service for your sister’s life. By backing out now, you’d be reneging on your Contract.

Morgan: What?

Evan: If you aren’t willing to hold up your end of the deal…

Morgan: You wouldn’t.

Evan: Of course I wouldn’t. Just making a point. You’re kind of a limited resource, and we’re fairly invested in you sticking around.

-Morgan glares. A spark plays around her hand-

Evan: So, Morgan. Are you in, or are you out?

-he walks off without a backwards glance-

-Morgan stares after him for a while, until her gaze hardens, and she follows-